#even above the titular hero!

[grey-spark]

OMORI Color Symbolism

Some of this will be obvious. Some other stuff won’t be. Enjoy! (TW: Suicide, depression, OMORI spoilers)

White: Purity/ Sterility/ Dissociation

White is the color of OMORI. The game and the character. An oppressive white that banishes all impurities. White space is a place to become nothing. White is not good. At least not until later. White is simple like a tulip, and that’s probably why its Sunny’s favorite color, but Sunny has taken simplicity to a toxic new level. We also find another white flower, the Orchid Egret, a white flower that connects the dream world to the real one. Almost acting as an anchor, grounding the real world to Whitespace. At the end of the game, white and sterility is given a new meaning: redemption. It’s the sign of a clean slate. Sunny has come to terms with Mari’s death, his part in it, and has confessed. He can move on with his life.

Beige: The Past/ Dullness/ Decay

Beige is Sunny’s main color. Maybe even more than white. It’s the color that differentiates him from Omori. Unlike his evil doppelganger, Sunny is a person with memories. At the end of the game when the real Sunny explores his childhood home, all of his memories are cloaked in a sepia beige. It’s the color of old photos and old times. Towards the end, we seen the plant life surrounding basil’s forest die and decay into a sullen beige. Showing how his attachment to the past is stalling and killing his growth as a person. In the real world, Sunny wears beige cargo shorts, in a empty house with beige walls and floors. Lacking in color, the inside of Sunny’s house feels muted and dull in comparison to the vivid blues and greens just outside his front door.

Orange & Yellow: Joy/ Excitement/ Agitation

Orange is almost exclusively Kel’s color. Serving as a more fashionable alternative to yellow, it’s a bright, happy color that conveys the same positivity. Its warm and welcoming. It’s also the main color of the titular “Orange Oasis” an area of Headspace that’s easy going. But even in such an area, there is a truth teller, Mr. Outback, draped in orange. Poking holes in the fantasy and stirring up the waters. Orange is a loud, aggressive color, similar to red. It annoys and aggravates people. Just like Kel. But in doing so it can generate much needed disruption to break stagnation. Kel instigates the whole plot of the game, and in the end everyone is much happier for it.

Yellow is the game’s designated color for happiness, though sometimes it blends green into the happy symbolism as well. A core example is the sunflower, a yellow and green plant that Basil admires for its ability to see the bright side of things. There’s also Kel and Hero’s parents. In their family photo the parents wear yellow and green, subtly showing that the core value of the household is the happiness of the family above all else. Finally, there’s the Big Yellow Cat. The centerpiece of Sunny’s dream world, serving almost as an unofficial ruler of Headspace. Protecting the very precious thing Sunny treasures most, the happy memory of his old friends. It’s interesting to note that all three of Sunny’s childhood imaginary friends are babylike pastel primary colors. The cat is yellow, representing Sunny’s happiness in the dream world. Abbi’s tenacle is red, the arm of the wisest who was discontent with that world. And then we find Humphrey is a baby blue, the starving sadness that Sunny keeps tucked away at the bottom of it.

Blue: Sadness/ Truth

Blue is the color associated with sadness, and more importantly, the truth. All the horrific real world nighttime scenes are portrayed in blue on black. Meanwhile, the final hospital scene when Sunny confesses the truth is shown in blue on white. Visually showing the importance of truth in the story, as well as the suffocating sadness of the situation.

Hero is blue. A color that accentuates his masculinity and dependability reflected in his manly can-do attitude, though his conventional masculinity is often subverted by him wearing a feminine pink apron while cooking. However, the main reason he’s dressed in blue is because as mentioned before, it portrays his sadness. Hero is a character that is perpetually depressed. His intelligent mind over thinks things and blames himself. Mari’s death was no exception, so like Sunny, Hero seals himself away in a cocoon of sadness. Consider Humphrey, the big blue whale (the final boss of Headspace) that eats Sunny over and over again. Swallowing him deeper in a devouring cycle of depression. By escaping Humphrey, Sunny gets a chance to escape his depression and fantasy, just like Hero did before. Rejecting his fantasy, Sunny can start reintegrating into the real world outside.

Blue is one of the two main colors associated with the Real World, along with Green. We see it most prominently in the cloudy sky, showing the status of Sunny in the real world on the final title screen. Unlike the oppressive purple sky of dream world, the real sky is blue, wide and filled with many possibilities. It’s reflected in the blue picnic basket at the secret lake, its blue and white like the sky. Sunny describes it as “not as good as Mari’s” but it’s a real picnic in the true world. The only world where Sunny can learn and grow.

Green: Growth/ Change/ Basil’s Envy

The color of growth. Plants are the keystone metaphor the story. In the duet sequence we see the plants growing, and the children alongside them. OMORI at its core is a coming-of-age story. One that homes in on the worst part of growing up: facing traumatic catastrophe. And being able to grow in spite of it. One of the kids hit hardest by this trauma is Basil. The gardener. A boy with a green thumb and green eyes (not literally, figuratively.) Note that Basil’s envy is never a malicious thing. But its made clear that he was always questioning his place in Sunny’s friend group. Taking photos but never feeling apart of them. Basil wants to be someone else. Someone loved. He wants to change. Lacking options, he turns to gardening, so he can make something beautiful to add to the world. Hoping that maybe he can change along the way.

As mentioned before, Green is portrayed as a happy color too. And is almost always portrayed in a positively light, being the second main color of the Real World. Though it also has a place in the dream world as well. It’s the color of the Vast Forest. The one that reminds Sunny of the tree that changed everything. It’s even the color of Space Ex-boyfriend’s hair, where its made abundantly clear that green is the inverted color of pink. If green is the color of growth and change. Pink is quite the opposite.

Pink: Innocence/ Childishness

Aubrey’s color. Her punk pink hair, originally meant to be a testament of her girly innocence, has since become a symbol of defiance. But this is only one instance where innocence is defiled by the toxicity of their shared catastrophe. Pink is the color worn by Sally the baby, the most innocent character in the story. But most pink characters appear as obstacles. Aubrey is the most obvious example, but pink is also featured on all three of the major Headspace bosses. Spaceboy’s pink hair. Sweetheart’s strict adherence to pink attire. And Humphrey’s monstrous parasite form is a sea of pink. Each character once had innocent origins but are all lashing out from an unwillingness to move on. For Aubrey, its from Mari. For Spaceboy, its Sweetheart. Sweetheart can’t move past her heartbreak to love anyone. And Humphrey fights to maintain the “blissful ignorance” of Whitespace itself, refusing to let Sunny wake up from his childish dreaming. After all, the very floor of the Neighbor Room is pink. Pink almost appears as an antagonistic unnatural color. Or rather, pink is the childishness Sunny and Aubrey need to overcome to mature and grow.

Though for Aubrey’s case, there’s a second meaning. Pink and purple are considered a feminine color, though purple is decidedly more mature of the two. Growing up, Aubrey didn’t have many feminine role models. Since Aubrey’s mother is emotionally unavailable, Mari is the only other girl Aubrey has to relate to. So they planned to style their hair to celebrate this connection. By asking Mari to dye their hair pink and purple, it appears that Aubrey is seeking to share her feminine experience with Mari.

Purple: Lavishness/ Love

Mari’s color. Purple is a color that exalts femininity and abundance. Traditionally associated with royalty and luxury, purple provokes a feeling of richness. Although in Mari’s case, this richness is not material wealth but rather takes the form of doting and indulgence. Representing how Mari goes out of her way to express her love to others in the form of gifts. This is also the main color of Headspace, since the color black is missing from that world replaced by infinite purple indulgence of an escapist fantasy.

Black: Mystery/ Repression/ Fear

Black is not evil in this game. It’s simply darkness. Hiding something important from sight. Something, the ghost, is black. All of them are. And of course there’s Black Space itself. All of it hidden, all of it pushed down. Black is also the exclusive color of fear, and is tied explicitly to the Truth. In earlier versions of the game, Fear was going to be just another emotion. In fact, super early concept material even indicates that somethings and black space were just going to be a haunted level. Not so in the final game. Black stands out as a special nightmare, that not only encroaches on the dream world, but even the Real World. All colors are swallowed by a darkness that torments Sunny and hides something awful.

Red: Anger/ Guilt/ Trauma

The color of blood. Of her blood. The color of guilt. Of being caught red handed. The color of unbridled fury for doing something awful to someone who loved you dearly. Across the game, we see Sunny being lured into the red lights. Red is the destructive impulse to seek revenge for Mari’s sake. Take from himself what he took from her. In Red Space, Sunny fights Omori. He faces his own self-hatred and overcomes his darkest impulses. 

Anyway, I think that’s all the main colors. Happy Birthday Sunny!  I try to make time for lore posts like these whenever I find time.

Thanks for reading.

[lyrainworld]

Based of OG Ace Attorney cover, here's Leorio Paradinight crossover!

It was part of the HxH Game crossover event I 've decided to take part in.

If you want to learn more about this au, please click read more

About this au, some things are changed some stayed the same but just so you know, characters are kind of based on:

^Phoenix Wright - Leorio, aspiring defense lawyer, he wants to protect those whom people are averting their eyes from. He more or less willingly gets mentored by the stupidly smart brat Killlua who seems to know any law term and norm. They banter a lot but actually become decent friends.

^Maya Fey - Gon, a spiritualist of a world-renowed family Freecss with traditions. The rumors say they can contact the true spirit and connect with the netherworld. Has been saved by Leorio and Killua both, joins hands with them afterwards

^Edgewotrth - Kurapika, got mentored by the Zoldycks on how to become top prosecutor. He's utmost driven to not let any true criminal go unpunished. Gathers renown until the day he'll be able to catch Phantom Troupe and bring justice to the fallen, has a companionship with Killua bordering on sibiling bond

^Mia Fey and Franziska mix up - Killua, he has a pivotal role in leading Leorio's carier and actually becomes his mentor after triyng to cut off his ties to his inheritance as the Zoldyck heir, a true tycoon of the prosecution world. During trials if he decides to participate he takes on a role of a consultant.

As you can see, though Leorio is the titular attorney, Killua is the glue connecting everyone in here. But that just leaves all the more unresolved conflict because he hides the truth of his heritage. He found Leorio by chance and he got impressed by him after a second third take with the attitude he has, how it's not about money but bringing the truth to the table, pretty much opposite of the Zoldycks. I'm not good at writing but I'll try to say few things about their cases? It's more or less basing of "The Trilogy"but with the spin of HxH characters being themselves, it sure would reflect in the plot,

-A case about mysterious animal being spotted, the legendary Chimera Ant! Gon is a huge deal on this case because his spiritualist power call back to the wilderness and all the instinct one gets from it.A lot of logic/belief topic going on here and killugon spotlight

-A case of murder on the "Hunter X" movie plan, it's related to Gon because he was there to meet the main hero, Kite, his godfather. He gets roped into the investigation and is considered suspect for some time before

-Another case in which Gon is the main suspect. Since he's from family of spiritualists, vibing with the nature and otherworld. So when there's a case against him Killua is determined to find his innocence. Even if it means going against Kurapika. That's also the case that showcased Leorio and Kurapika's banter and whatnot so major old marriage leopika vibe

-There's a huge final case in which member of the PT's is murdered and who would have guessed, Kurapika is found bloodied on the crime scene. This is a very turnaround case because the one responsible for prosecuting it, is no one else but Killua after he disappeared (made a tactical retreat) from Leorio's side. Perhaps family pressure? Illumi blackmailing him? Being ashamed of 'tricking' Gon and Leorio and leaving Kurapika to deal with everything alone? All of the above, because now he stands against everyone he grew to be fond of. Eventually, the true killer gets found giving a chance to mend strained bonds, by joining hands in catching the real culprit all along that was hiding among the witnesses. The fake group member [wink] -Ps, Netero's just playing along for the trial's sake even if he's got the truth like way earlier, he's not naive, but likes seeing 'entertaining trial' as long as it's goes the right way eventually

-Leopika & killugon featured, all aged up, imagine lots and lots of banter and sexual tension in the court

That's it, thank you for reading my thoughts <3

[fantasyfantasygames]

Scramble World

Scramble World, Jenny J. Jensson, 2011

Scramble World is an extremely badly named RPG with a fairly generic premise and fantastic execution.

The titular world is one of those weird mixed-up dimensions where dozens of different worlds have crashed into each other for unknown reasons. You play characters from different RPGs, teaming up to prevent catastrophes or at least be there to help afterward.

The setting is like Torg, but without our world as the base and without the cosms having well-defined boundaries. It's like Rifts but again without our world as the base, and with all the most flavor-packed parts of each worldbook crammed into an area the size of Pennsylvania. And with less racism. It's a world whose major powers did not evolve in each others' presence, so their mutual existence explicitly does not need to make sense. Scramble World is in constant catastrophe and will be until the sky stops being red and worldbergs stop crashing through the bleed.

Remember We Were The First, where the alien species were all randomized in ways that made sense together? Well, here your character sheet is randomized. I don't mean that you roll for your stats, no, I mean you roll to see which stats you get. You get pieces of the character sheet, suggested locations to place them (you can change those), and half-pages of rules that connect to them.

One character might end up with a standard-six-stats block that goes 3-18, an extensive skill list, and a set of emotional attributes that trigger XP conditions. Someone else might have the same stats but they go -2 to +4, a set of Apocalypse World style moves, some Merits and Flaws, and a Vancian spell system if you choose to pursue it. It's an amazing setup. It was clearly well-tested: there was a character generator online to speed things up for you, using the same mechanics as the random roll tables, and I've never seen it come up with a non-viable combination.

Because there are so many options, some of them boil down to the same thing under the hood. For instance, everyone ends up rolling for (or otherwise generating) a Likert-scale success measure and comparing with each other to see what the actual winner gets. Each character sheet fragment has only half a page to get in, explain things, and get out, so a lot of things have to do double duty. Kudos to Jenny for keeping this as small as possible, even if "as possible" does a lot of lifting in that sentence.

There are lots of "world fragments" described in the book. Out of 304 pages (in 6x9 / A5 format), they take up about 200. Each one is roughly 5 pages, with one piece of art, descriptions of their leaders and common people, a few key landmarks, and a "heroes from here are like X" section. A corebook overflow supplement ("World Omelette") adds another 20 pages of rule fragments and 60 pages of world fragments. They range from "pastiche" to "homage", but none of them feel like "ripoff".

The art is taken from a dozen different types of action-oriented RPG stock art, thrown together with slashes or tears or glitches between them. I'd like to see a version that showcases a small number of artists rather than just stock art, but it's used very well for what it is.

I've already spent a lot of words on Scramble World, so I'll stop here, but hopefully you can tell that I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

* For those of you who are less mathy, 1d100 has a max of 100, a minimum of 1, and an average of 50.5. All numbers are equally likely. 1d10 x 1d10 has a max of 100, a minimum of 1, but an average of 30.25. Not only is the average 20 points lower, but it's also more closely concentrated. Less than 5% of the results are 60 or above. 🌈The More You Know!⭐️

[angel-of-hunky-doryness]

How Disney (Unintentionally) Created The Most Sympathetic Disney Villain

Yes, we're talking about Hades. So strap in, folks, this is gonna be a long one.

It may or may not come to a surprise to some of y'all that Mr. Hot head is my favorite Disney Villain. His charm, his sass, and above all his sarcastic one-liners, what isn't there to love about this walking-talking wheeling and dealing Mephistopheles archetype with the most basic villainous ambition of taking over the world.

Okay, fine, the cosmos. But at the end of the day, Hades has a very cut and dry appearance in Disney's Hercules. He doesn't even have nearly as much screentime as other Villains as I had previously believed.

First appearing quite apropos in the shadiest corner of Olympus ready to raise hell and all manner of chicanery just to incite misery to a newborn baby, only to exit stage left to cue the villainous side-plot with a bit of prophetical verse thrown in for good measure. A plan comes into being and he orders a hit on the aforementioned baby, only for the hit to fail despite y'know being the yutz in charge of the land of the dead *cough cough*

18 years pass and suddenly Hades has to completely 180 his plans, focusing not on his intended target of Olympus but the prophecy hero he thought he already axed. And so he unleashes a horde of monsters upon the city of Thebes as a result. The Titans are freed for some reason, Olympus is easily defeated and rescued, and then so is the plot device- I mean the Titans, and Hercules gives Hades the one punch man treatment, and so Hades is left to reconsider his life choices for all of eternity swirling in the Phlegethon/abyss. Pick your poison, either work.

Alright, cool, glad I got that out of the way. Oh, hold on, my sponsor, is giving me that beady eyed stare to remind our lovely audience that Meg was also an unfortunate victim in Hades' scheme. We'll get to Meg and Hades' relationship in a future post, but to summarize, Hades' treatment of Meg is far, far harsher and has tons more animosity than Hades and Hercules- the titular character mind you- ever had.

But I digress.

Despite, Hades' antagonistic role in the film, there are many, many nuggets that Disney gives that allows the audience to sympathize with his lot in life.

In his very quick introduction- it's a Disney movie the plot has to establish quickly cuz animators have lives too. Insert obligatory pay animator's fairly line here.

We have what I like to call Exhibit Alpha: The Introduction.

Now Disney Villains are no strangers to a dramatic introduction.

I couldn't find the exact gif of Maleficent appearing, but I ended up putting the one above because it proves my point. Everything about Maleficent strikes fear in the hearts of her audience. Everyone is watching her every move because they know she's a formidable threat.

When Hades makes himself known, the Olympians aren't scared or spooked like King Stefan and the 3 fairies were when Maleficent first appeared.

They're annoyed.

To them, Hades is the weird uncle no one invited, but shows up anyway. If anything, it looks like the gods have dealt with him before and know how to put on the cold shoulder to get him to leave faster.

The only one oblivious to all this is Zeus who invites him to stay and enjoy the party. But Hades isn't an idiot. He's very aware of the chilly reception he's getting and declines with this one-liner:

Keep this line in mind, we're going to circle back to it.

Zeus then proceeds to meet Hades with a quip right back and a very punny one at that, earning the first laugh since Hades arrived, and one at Hades' expense.

A laughing fit ensues and Hades storms off in a quiet rage.

A short scene indeed, but it tells us a lot about Hades, Zeus, and the gods.

Hades is an outcast.

Boo-hoo, homeboy just needs a girlfriend. Maybe a flaming flower-picking one, but that's neither here nor there.

Now, the interchange between Zeus and Hades makes it very clear how Hades started to become excluded from his family. Hades is absent to a lot of social gatherings and most of it is because of his job. A job that deals with stiffs, the dead, the dearly departed, however you wanna slice it.

Now before you say- well he was scheming to take over the cosmos on his free time, what do we see in the very next scene?

Over 5 billion souls served. Hades is a busy guy and the movie makes it really clear that even in his spare time meeting with the Fates, the work is piling up. Maybe that's why he's a fast talker, he's always moving and grooving so he can get some time to relax.

Yeah, yeah, we saw him smite some of his people on his small world boat ride, but considering we only see one god working in the underworld, he doesn't have the time of day for them and after eons of this drudgery he's gotten quite apathetic to their pleading.

The shades are just as doomed as him really.

Now we're going to gloss over a few scenes and move to Exhibit Beta: The Thebans.

Hold the phone, Hades isn't even in this scene.

My point exactly. Hades is a bit busy amassing a horde of monsters. Hecc, none of the disgruntled Thebans even mention a monster in their list of disasters. The Monster Mash party starts after Hercules rolled into town thanks to Meg after her failed recruitment of Nessus.

So what does that tell us? Whoever causes floods, earthquakes, fires probably caused by lightning incited these disasters not Hades. Hmm, on a weird side note, I don't think Hades' brothers, the earthshaker or god of storms, fit those descriptions at all.

All these disasters were happening while the Olympians did nothing. It wasn't unheard of for the ancient greek gods to send wayward mortals to do their bidding and help people or free them from monsters, so why does Phil put it upon himself to take Hercules out for the hero life? (Yeah Disney should've included the presence of other gods working on earth to make them out to really be responsible and helpful, hell maybe have Hermes fly in congratulating Herc for completing his training and direct him towards Thebes)

It's almost like Hades is the only god who's present or aware of the woes on earth. Sure he adds to it, but are the Olympians really lounging about doing nothing in this movie?

Exhibit Gamma: Storming the Palace

....

I have no words. Zeus and Hera could've been doing paperwork?? Looking out for their son??? Have a meeting with the Pantheon and that's why they're suddenly blindsided by the Titan attack???

Hades, though sassy, though sarcastic, and just a bucketful of ruthless and malicious described the Olympians to a T.

Hecc, the Olympians had no idea the Titans were out destroying the world until they were literally on their front doorstep. If Hades had told them to destroy half of Greece, they would've done so before the Olympians noticed.

And it's so contrived, but the only reason Hades lost was b/c Hercules shows up and frees some of the gods. Like if one other god was not on Mount Olympus they could've come save the day. But every god was there. Make that a fanfic y'all. ONe where the one god who was- I don't know confined to their island or something wondering where her mother went and so she has to gather all the nymphs and natures spirits to save olympus or some drivel like that.

Hermes had to sound the trumpet like judgement day to get the gods rocking and rolling. And that's not even considering how Hades gets punched into oblivion.

Exhibit Delta: Revelation 20:14 (NIV)

The one god who did his job has been thrown in prison??? Zombie apocalypse??? Is that you??? Where's Shawn when you need him???

Confine him to the underworld, Wonder Boy. Get your Greece Lightning father to take care of business in a flash. He'd get you Meg back in an instant. Just ask nicely. We know Psyche is in attendance. Meg deserves it after all she went through.

I know it's more dramatic, but the world of Hercules is absolutely screwed. Talk about a happy ending with terrible implications for the state of the world. Meg and Hercules are going to die and be sent to an afterlife with no deity to even send them to Elysium, and that's if Hades comes back at all.

*Takes a long drink from my pina colada*

I didn't mean for this post to turn into a hate show on the Disney Olympians. I'm just, I always knew Disney messed up hard on this movie. And yes I adore the hell out of it, but making a villain more sympathetic and likable than the hero? When I started writing this I didn't think it would get this bad, but the more I looked into it?

I haven't even touched how Hades has the worst employees, having to put up with his imps? The Titans who don't even know where the tallest mountain is?

For all his manipulation with Meg, Hades did give her everything he promised her. He's a devil sure, but he's a god of his word. He couldn't even force Meg to seduce Hercules, he had to convince her with some extra added relinquish your soul type bit. Hell, he was even willing to negotiate with Hercules after hurting his dog.

To finish off, even with those nuggets sprinkled in, at the end of the day Hades is a villain through and through. Yes, he's fun, yes, every single one of his lines is an improvised banger, but that's kind of the point.

One of the directors of Hercules once described Hades as being the type of evil that's attractive. Drags you in with promises of honey until you find yourself drowning in mercury. He's Mephistopheles offering you a Faustian deal, Satan with the apple, and this author trying to advertise their terrible fanfic that delves into this very topic.

I remain ever yours, dear readers.

Till next time.

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

Original Writing Project: 916

OKAY, now that I've edited the first few chapters enough, I think it's finally time to have its debut to you all!

This is an original sci-fi story completely written by me, with MAJOR influences from things like Gundam and whatnot.

I want to post it here to get your all's feedback and just to share some good ol' storytelling, so please let me know what you guys think of it, your feedback/comments is always read by me!

I expect to have the first few chapters out sometime during this week after your normal schedule of simping, but this post will just be covering what the main idea of the story is/what shows/games is influencing it.

Below the cut is the blurb, inspirations, main characters, and a story excerpt!

First of all, thank you so much for even pressing the keep reading tab/showing any remote interest. I understand this isn't really what you come to this blog for, so it means the world to me!

Anyways, first up is the story blurb:

===

Story Blurb:

The year is 1177. Thirty-four years have passed since the battlefield had been introduced to the bipedal warmachines known as Soldat D’acier. Though they only stand a few meters above tanks, they were able to reduce armored divisions to scrap metal, and fortresses once thought impenetrable transformed to piles of rubble.

The entire continent of Anis rushed their militaries into an arms race to have their own versions of these steel behemoths.

In the name of expansion and rightful conquest, the country of Florence had declared war on Cumbria in 1155. The invasion saw countless deployments of Soldats on both sides, and death quickly followed in their wake. The two nations signed a peace treaty to end hostilities after five long years, but their crimes wouldn't be so easily forgotten by the people, nor its creations.

Now, the man-made atrocities emerging from the "Enhanced Human Initiative" stoke the flames of war once more, forcing an uneasy alliance. And from the same crime that threatens them, comes their final hope: Enhanced Human 916.

===

Inspirations:

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Mobile Suit Gundam: Narrative Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeta The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, Scarlet Nexus, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Girls' Frontline,

I was not joking when I said the major influences are from Gundam. At first I was worried about not being 100% original, but eh. Write what you love, right? Elements of the story, themes, suits, and a unholy amount more is snatched from all the Gundam shows listed above.

Armored Core 6 is what inspired the look of the "Soldats", and how combat flows in the story. The main lead, 916, is called numbers bc of the player character 621. (I also learned that the reasons I chose that number came from my subconscious, specifically Darling in the Franxx and that character, 196 aka Ikuno)

Scarlet Nexus inspired some of the tech things regarding the pilots being able to "read each other's minds" so to speak. Pretty much a less space-magic version of being a Newtype from Gundam, as well as other characters.

Trails of Cold Steel and Girls' Frontline inspired the other cast members, and speaking of which:

===

Main Cast:

Wolf Company

Enhanced Human 916, "Vi", Age: 21

A young man who escaped the "Enhanced Human Initiative." Due to augmentation and surgeries, he remains stoic and emotionless, but thanks to his adoptive family, has shown signs of opening up. Earned his nickname after his violet eyes.

He pilots the Soldat R1-N0, "Rhino", a bulky mech utilizing rush and ambush tactics, armed with a 60mm Autocannon and Heat Dagger.

A/N: Titular character, heavily inspired by Byleth (Fire Emblem Three Houses), and Mikazuki (Iron-Blooded Orphans). My second favorite character to write so far in the story, ironically.

David Collins, "Boss", Age: 53

Leader of a PMC called "Wolf Company". David took 916 in at a young age and raised him to be part of the "family". Loud and proud, he takes great pride in all serving underneath him, and has known to have a temper in anything regarding his age. Earned his nickname since calling him "Boss" was more comfortable for everyone.

He pilots the Soldat "Juggernaut', a machine with the legs of a tank, but upper half of a mech with arms. Armed with wrist-mounted machine guns and twin battle-cannons on top of its shoulders.

A/N: Inspired by Maine from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Don't look too much into that, don't worry. You can also tell from just his dialogue how much I like writing him too. He is my number 1 favorite to write.

Chloe, "Flare", Age: 35

Second in command of "Wolf Company. Chloe is extremely loud, complementing her foul-mouthed nature. Generally regarded as the "Big SIster" of the team. Earned her nickname from her extremely short temper.

She pilots the Soldat "Mantis", a lanky and smaller machine focusing on blitz tactics, able to leap surprisingly massive heights due to its inverted legs.

A/N: Inspired by Bianca (Gundam Thunderbolt), Sasha (Attack on Titan) and Miku (Darling in the Franxx). To everyone I have shown this story thus far, she has been the fan favorite, including her partner in crime:

Hayes, "Screw", Age: 32

The newest "rookie" of Wolf Company. Impulsive, a little too confident in himself but admittedly a talented sniper, Hayes is always eager to prove himself. Earned his nickname from either screwing himself over, or the enemy.

He pilots the Soldat "Phantom", a mech focusing on stealth and sniping, able to keep itself off enemy radar.

A/N: Inspired by Connie (Attack on Titan) and Zorome (Darling in the Franxx). Him and Chloe are a fun combo, as you will soon see.

There's eight more main characters, but I'll let you read their introduction yourself! 916 and Wolf Company will be the ones we'll be following the most throughout the story. Though this part of the cast was heavily inspired by Iron-Blooded Orphans. For those who watched the show, again, don't read too much into that.

===

The last thing I'll have for this post will be an excerpt from the prologue to get things started! Hopefully my slow ass will have the prologue out soon, so please look forward to it!

Without further ado-

===

Story Excerpt:

===

“Doctor Moreau, do you think we go to heaven?” asked the small girl.

Doctor Moreau stopped typing for a moment as her eyes glanced over the terminal, seeing the child laying on the operating table, standing out from the rest of the clean black walls and white tiles. The room was supported with soft lights illuminating the room, complemented by the blue screens and dizzying amount of automated surgical equipment quietly whirring into position.

Moreau pushed her aging white hair away from her eyes, looking at the child, subject designated 403. 403 was about seven, she barely stood up to Moreau’s stomach and had long black hair that stopped at her shoulders. The light blue gown was slightly too big for her, the sleeves extending over most of her hands and just revealing her fingers. Seeing her face again reminded Doctor Moreau of 403's rather inquisitive nature. 

“Why are you asking that, 403?” Moreau replied, her tone indifferent. Her fingers went back to typing as she sighed. “If you’re worried about the procedure, the chips are perfectly safe to implant. There has been no previous record of anyone dying from-”

“-But I’m going to die after.”

“...What?”

“After the chip goes into me. Will the others and I go to heaven?”

The question had caught the doctor completely off guard. Moreau had answered questions such as, “Will this hurt?”, or “Do I have to?”. This question was something she could not answer with her usual dismissive tone. She sat up straight in her seat now and turned to look at the child. 403's eyes were still fixated on the ceiling.

“Why are you so certain you’re going to die, 403?”

“That’s what my brother told me. When the chip goes into our brain, we’re sent off to die.”

The girl’s voice stated it as a matter of fact. There was no confusion in her tone of what was to become of her. Doctor Moreau had no response as she stared at 403 with her mouth slightly open. The child simply turned her head, facing her and expectantly waiting for an answer.

“... I certainly hope there’s a heaven, 403. I’m sure heaven will allow good kids like you and your brother.”

“What about my friends? Will they-”

“We’re about to begin the surgery. Please face up towards the light and close your eyes.” Moreau bluntly cut off the conversation.

403 pouted, but complied. It was clear that the answer did not satisfy her as much as she wanted it to. Doctor Moreau took a second to recover and focus back on the job at hand. Facing back towards the terminal, she began typing once more. With the input of several passwords and confirmations, the surgery to implant the combat data-chip into 403’s brain would commence. Afterwards, she would be sent to her brother’s unit, and be deployed to the battlefield.

Just like all the others.

This room had always been nothing out of the ordinary to Moreau. The same procedure had been repeated more times than she could count and yet why did this one make it so hard to breathe all of a sudden?

“Doctor Moreau?”

“Yes, 403?”

“Can I ask one more thing?”

“You may.”

“Can I listen to that song you always play? The one that goes ‘Lalalalala~’? I want to hear it one more time before I sleep. I really like it.”

Doctor Moreau’s lips suddenly dried up as she once again stopped typing. With a slightly trembling hand, she turned to the radio sitting on her desk and nodded.

“...Of course, 403. No more questions, please.” 

She could see the smile form on 403’s lips as the mask was gently put onto her face, the anesthesia slowly starting to pump into 403’s lungs.

“...Thank you.”

Doctor Moreau swallowed hard as her finger pressed the on switch of her old radio. Despite being in such a high tech surgical room, her radio was comically outdated. It was a small gray oval-like object that only had a speaker and a few buttons. To even put music in it, she had to insert a smaller rectangle that contained the songs in it via tape. It was a gift from her father when she was 403’s age, the thought of their roles being reversed not lost on the doctor.

‘Sing, sing a song Let the world sing along Sing of love there could be Sing for you and for me…~’

Doctor Moreau could hear 403 softly hum along to the song as her voice gradually became quieter, and eventually turning into soft breathing. The whirring of the surgical equipment and the radio being the only things in the room left making noise. The only remaining step was for Doctor Moreau to approve the procedure to implant the chip into 403’s brain.

“Is there heaven…” the doctor quietly repeated the question to herself, attempting to ignore 403’s startling self awareness of the situation.

"Authorization confirmed, Implant procedure beginning.” A deep robotic voice rang out across the room as the sound of a drill began drowning out the other equipment. Doctor Moreau sat on her chair as she closed her eyes, waiting for the procedure to be done and turning off the radio in the process.

 “For me, I don’t think so…Heaven was lost to me long ago.”

...

‘Sing, sing a song Make it simple to last Your whole life long~’

The Doctor was snapped out of her melancholy as the music continued playing. Sighing, she moved to turn it off for good.

“Piece of junk is starting to-” She stopped as her finger was about to hit the switch.

The radio was still off.

Listening closely again, Moreau realized the singing was coming outside of the door.

‘Don't worry that it's not Good enough for anyone Else to hear~’

Creeping towards the door, the doctor put her ears to it and heard what sounded like a chorus singing. The song wasn’t over the intercom, otherwise the voice would be far clearer.

Instead it sounded like- 

A sudden sense of dread hit the doctor as she swung the doors open and ran towards the hangar. Multiple guards and scientists were opening the doors along the long gray hallway, joining Moreau and investigating what the noise was. When they finally got to the railing after the doors slid open, none of them could speak. 

‘Just sing, sing a song (Just sing, sing a song) Just sing, sing a song~’

Inside the massive hangar stood rows of countless Soldats, giant bipedal machines that stood several meters tall, lined up next to each other as if they were statues. Their bulky legs stood firmly in place and the compact yet slender arms did not move an inch.

The only things moving were their horned box-like heads, slowly moving side to side in perfect sync. Each of the voices emerging from the Soldats were different but singing in perfect harmony.

Their normally offline and horizontal segregated visors were suddenly flickering to life with blue lights, illuminating the large dark room with bright blue rays.

‘La la la la la, la la la la La la la la la la laaaaa~’

Doctor Moreau could hear the voices of security guards rushing down the stairs to halt the singing, shouting orders at the others to back away.

However, the doctor could only hear their cheerful singing along with her breathing becoming noticeably shorter with each second, feeling her chest tighten.

Once again, the question 403 springed up to the forefront of her mind.

“Is there heaven?”

...

===

And that's the first part of the prologue done, hope to have this out soon, and again if you got this far, thanks for taking the time!

See ya soon, and back to the normal content for now!

[flameswallower]

Briar's Favorite First Time Reads of 2023!

I read sixty or so books (start to finish) for the first time this year, which is pretty average for me. I liked most of them pretty well, since if I dislike a book I usually won't finish it. But there were some stand outs, which I'm going to list here.

First up: NOVELS!

Pseudotooth, by Verity Holloway (2017) is the first portal fantasy coming of age novel I've read in a long, long time that I found genuinely charming. It has a very dark Gothic edge to it, with shades of Gormenghast and Edward Gorey making for a uniquely unsettling and bleak fantasy world. The novel also deals frankly and seriously with themes of ableism, eugenics, medical abuse, xenophobia, socio-economic class, rape/sexual abuse, and the psychic fallout of rape/sexual abuse. But it's got a lot of whimsical absurdist humor to it, too, and a deep humanist compassion for its characters. The three young adults at the center of the story are all quite likeable, and though they are involved in a kind of love triangle, I found the particulars of it refreshingly queer, strange, and not the primary focus of the story.

The Marigold, by Andrew F. Sullivan (2023) is a pitch-dark, stone cold bummer that is also frequently hilarious and emotionally moving in tender ways that took me by surprise. In this dystopian satire, a bunch of down-and-out relatable characters and one horrible rich guy struggle to survive as near-future Toronto is engulfed by "the Wet"-- a sapient mold-based hive mind accidentally created by the depravity and greed of big business. The residents of the titular condominium/apartment complex feature in short vignettes that demonstrate the despair and alienation people suffer under late stage capitalism, and the way the Wet calls to these people, lures them in, hunts them.

The Open Curtain, by Brian Evenson (2006) is a harrowing nightmare about madness, violence, possession, Mormonism, and the destabilization of one's known reality (well, see also "madness"). It's a type of story that could easily feel shlocky and exploitative of people with certain mental disorders, or just predictable (there are some plot twists you'll guess very quickly if you've ever like...read books or seen movies before...), but Evenson's unornamented yet masterful prose, his meticulous attention to detail, and his non-condescending empathy for both victims of violence and people struggling with delusions, violent impulses, etc. make it rise above those potential problems. At least in my opinion! This one's very disturbing, will definitely leave you feeling like shit.

Hummingbird Salamander, by Jeff VanderMeer (2021) is very emotionally moving and a suspenseful, well-plotted eco-noir page turner! Also a bummer, but leaves one feeling awe and hope and determination as well as mourning the devastating loss of life that climate change has wrought. The protagonist is great, a truly unusual and unlikely detective. I loved her voice-- like any good noir hero, she can throw off a legitimately funny sarcastic quip with the best of them, but she's also prone to astute social observations and flights of breathtaking lyricism.

How to Get Over the End Of the World, by Hal Schrieve (2023) is a TRAGICALLY under-promoted and underrated punk rock magical realist YA masterpiece about trans high schoolers, and their dysfunctional adult mentors, putting on a rock opera to save their community center. This one, unlike most of what I read, is NOT EVEN KIND OF A BUMMER. It's delightful and hilarious from start to finish, though it's definitely not saccharine-sweet or afraid of conflict. In fact, it deals quite bluntly and refreshingly with topics ranging from the relationship one character has with his violent, abusive father, to sexual relationships between teenagers, to the ever-looming awareness of climate change. Every major character is trans! Every single one!! This is kind of a spoiler, but, like, not really lol

Sudden Glory, by Hal Johnson (2023) just goes to show that guys named Hal can really write comic novels. This book has perhaps the highest joke-to-paragraph ratio of anything I’ve ever read, and also probably the most varied types of joke: a person whose sense of humor runs to preposterous situation comedy, slapstick, and lowbrow sexual humor will find a lot to like here, and so will someone whose sense of humor runs to moderately esoteric literary/historical references, social satire, five-layer wordplay, and Wildean bon mots. Since it’s set in the New York City of 2003, there’s even room for a few 9/11 jokes, which could not have appeared without controversy in a book actually published in 2003. This slightly "politically incorrect" edge comes off as good-natured and in keeping with Johnson's commitment to absurdism-- there's never a "laughing at" vibe, more one of "laughing with" human folly, futility, pretensions, etc. At base, this is a story about a person who feels he can't tell the truth or be himself for fear of social rejection, and all the trouble that gets him into.

Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke (2020) is fucking gorgeous, probably one of my favorite books of all time now, this hole was made for me, etc. I can't reasonably expect that most others will have as intense a response to it as I did-- I felt it perfectly conveyed some very important and difficult to articulate things about, like, my personal experience of consciousness, and my experience as a person with certain types of neurological/cognitive/developmental disability navigating the world, through a kind of fabulist prism. But it got great reviews, so, you know, give it a shot! I think it's better not to know anything about it going in, but let me just say, if you're into weird, massive labyrinthine buildings, this hole might also have been made for you.

Devil House, by John Darnielle (2022) is exactly the novel you'd expect "the Mountain Goats guy" to write, in all the best possible ways. It's a story that elevates the inner lives of neurodivergent outsider teens to the mythic heights they deserve. It's a story that brutally critiques the true crime industry. It's a story about the problems of defining people exclusively by their victimhood, or exclusively by the worst thing they ever did. It's a story about the importance of having a little space to oneself, a shelter from the demands and threats of an often cruel world, and the lengths to which a person will go to defend such a shelter if it's broached. Also, there's a long, nauseating section about how it's actually really difficult and gross to chop up a human corpse for disposal.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Please, give us some loser heroes

Hahaha gladly

(this got long)

I mean, I've gotta say, one of the loseriest heroes I've read recently is Envy from Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco. I've said it before and I'll say it again--if you're looking for a fantasy romance to try, especially if you normally read historicals, this is it (and TotF does stand alone if you want to try it first versus the trilogy that comes before it).

Envy is like, on a quest to save his court, and he's ostensibly a Prince of Hell and therefore very strong and full of supernatural gifts but like... He spends so much of this book falling flat on his face, ESPECIALLY with his heroine Camilla, who is Extremely Unimpressed. (There's a moment wherein he has to do something amazing to save his own life, and she's genuinely like assuming he's just going to die lmao.) His brothers randomly show up to dunk on him throughout the book. Not even for like, plot, just to be like "Sooooo have you seduced her yet? No? Shocker." He does things he thinks are so cool and then is like "Oh God immediate regret mistake".

*love him*

Seven Nights in a Rogue's Bed by Anna Campbell is a recent read wherein the hero presents himself as very suave and confident, and he's like "I SHALL KEEP YOU HERE FOR SEVEN DAYS AND SEDUCE YOU, MY INNOCENT MUAHAHAHA" before being like "nooooo I have harmed the innocent, I AM A WORM!!!" when the heroine shows pitches an emotional fit at him.

Allegreto in Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale is another "muahahahahaha" hero, and he is like, legitimately dangerous and threatening (TW: noncon in the first encounter) but once the heroine, Elena, gets her hooks in him... He is.... a sad little baby. A sad little baby who doesn't think he can go to church because he's done too many murders and is going to hell. BUT HE'S COOL WITH THAT. He's totally cool with that.... he's cool.... Arguably even more of a loser if you read For My Lady's Heart first, which is set ten years earlier and features another couple (the hero is less of a loser but still has embarrassing moments like being visibly aroused in front of the heroine and getting called out on it by her in front of SEVERAL priests, and also thinking this heroine is his perfect lady who he's pledged to for thirteen years only to meet her for real and be like "oh my god she's kind of EVIL??? My life has been devoted to a VILLAINESS???? I'm so STUPID") and also a teenage Allegreto who does absolutely RIDICULOUS things like carry a plague apple around because he's scared of plague, and like, hold the hero's hand during sleep because he thinks the hero will ward off plague, and pretend to be A CASTRATO for an ELABORATE SCHEME which he HONESTLY DID NOT HAVE TO DO.

A Rose at Midnight by Anne Stuart (TW: a lot of dubcon between the hero and heroine at first, noncon in the heroine's past not with the hero) has another "I am such a villain, my lady!!!" hero who is actually a massive ball of guilt and angst. The first time they sleep together she actually secretly enjoys it and hates herself for it, but she didn't Get All The Way There and he walks away like "I'M SO EMBARRASSING I CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT" and like kicking rocks while pretending to be very above it.

Mafia Madman by Mila Finelli. Enzo d'Agostino's master plan is to kidnap the heroine by blowing up a bar for REVENGE and everyone around him is like "honestly your master plan... doesn't even make a lot of sense" even though it TOTALLY makes sense, y'all just DON'T GET IT. He then proceeds to get schooled by the heroine at every opportunity and become her dog (literally there's a bonus epilogue where she's gone for like 30 seconds and his brothers are like "look at what she did to him, he used to be a perfectly good mafia don, now he has anxiety").

Charlotte and The Seductive Spymaster by Grace Callaway has the titular spymaster who faked his death to keep his wife safe and IMMEDIATELY regretted it, returning from the dead twelve years later and getting mad that she's flirting with another man. So he like. THROWS ROCKS AT THE OTHER MAN??? FROM A SECRET HIDING PLACE? Embarrassing behavior. He also faints at one point. Like, it made sense, but I still laughed my ass off. And his wife is super competent, so she's constantly like "... really?"

Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas has Kev Merripen, who is extremely competent on paper because he's literally the only person in that series who has a real job, but emotionally... the boy ain't right. He literally thinks that if he sleeps with Win ONCE she'll get pregnant and die. He like, hides in the background. Married by Morning also has an extremely losery moment from Leo Hathaway in which he basically does that thing from that meme where he trips and drops all of his obsessive things about the heroine, and the obsessive things are tons of drawings he did of her wearing nothing but her glasses. And she's like ".... you sure have an active imagination". Honestly, Harry from Tempt Me at Twilight also has his share of cringe, like the time he thought he was super hurting Poppy during her first time, so he just jumped off her and hated himself for days and ran away and she had to literally hunt him down and go "I'm FINE now FINISH IT".

Hart Mackenzie from The Duke's Perfect Wife, I will always maintain, is a massive loser who pretend to be extremely competent. Like, he's all "Eleanor, as you know, we did it three times when we were engaged" and she's like "yes.... like a decade ago Hart... I'm not.... impressed". He's being blackmailed by a stranger who sent Eleanor (a reporter) nude photos he took years ago and he's like ".... well those certainly are photos I took Eleanor". He gets all growly at her and she boops his nose. It's pathetic.

Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole, aka "he's constantly being reincarnated after sleeping with the heroine, like they hook up and then he just dies half an hour later in what sound like frankly increasingly comical death scenes, and she's immortal so she finally just gives up on even kissing him"... One of the legitimately saddest heroes I've ever read, lol. He's been brainwashed into hating immortals (with some solid reasons tbf) so he's like, the head torturer in this prison of immortals (TW, it's kinda intense) and he HAAAATES the heroine and she's DETERMINED to kiss him to kill him this time because she HAAAATES him. But like. His body count is like 1.5 because he's never actually really been interested in anyone because, though he doesn't know it because he doesn't remember, his soul only wants HER. So he meets her and is very *boing* about her and HATES it, and they literally have a fight in his office where he ends up on top of her and she's like "... I can feel EXACTLY how into this you are" and he's like !!!!!!!!!! He's just increasingly confused.

Also, this leads very nicely into Lothaire, where the big bad of the series is revealed to be a frankly loony tunes nightmare who's like "honestly I'm only 50% lucid at any given time". And he does a lot of puzzles in his spare time. And he wears trenchcoats because he thinks it looks cool (it doesn't). And he's constantly getting OWNED by a 24 year old psych major dropout. Like, she'll just perfectly diagnose him and he goes "... well you got me there". At one point, she hops on it with their clothes on (because he's trying to menacingly be like "YOU HAVE NO CHOICE" but it was actually exactly what she wanted him to do) and he has an Incident in his jeans, and she later finds him in the shower and throws said jeans at him like "NEXT TIME YOU TRY TO BE ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY REMEMBER WHAT I MADE YOU DO LOSER". Sad of him.

Embry Moore in Sierra Simone's New Camelot trilogy falls in love with Ash when he's literally stepping on him. And it's honestly just a string of embarrassments after that.

The Master by Kresley Cole (Kresley kinda specializes in Powerful Losers) features a billionaire Russian mafia hero shivering in the rain while the heroine takes an important test texting her like "I hope you do well :D!" because he's trying to get on her good side again lmao I was frankly embarrassed on his behalf

A Demon's Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley features the demonic big bad of the last book coming back with AMNESIA and the heroine rescues him from getting beaten up in like, the first chapter. And he's all "wooooow she's so strong *_*"

Hugo and The Maiden by S.M. LaViolette has a sex worker hero who's all "I'M JADED, I CARE FOR NOTHING BUT MYSELF" getting shipwrecked while being transported on a tiny island, and he gets picked up by a giant, sweet guy who carries him like a baby (while he angrily protests) to this makeshift hospital where the heroine, a vicar's uptight, bossy daughter berates him, and it's like all downhill for his dignity from there.

We cannot forget my beloved Duke of Lockwood from The Duke Gets Even, who spends three books getting swerved or cucked or both, and finally admits he's into Nellie and is all "we shall begin a no strings affair" only to like, immediately fall in love with her. And the rest of the book is her being like "we aren't going to get married Lockwood" and he's all "but whyyyy" and she's like "because you literally said this was a no strings affair which is the only reason why I agreed to it. (Him: :(.) He's also completely broke and thinks that he, as a duke, has sway in America, and there's an entire scene where Teddy Roosevelt himself is like "I like you but I can't help you because you're actually just a broke loser here" after he tries to boss up.

Wynter from C.L. Wilson 's The Winter King is all, "I'm a conqueror, I'm so dangerous, if you don't give me a child within a year I'll leave you on a glacier to die" only for everyone in his employ to be like "girl the glacier thing is actually bullshit". He's actually a puppy. The heroine discovers that he makes sad little ice sculptures of his dead family because he's so lonely. I was like "aww" but also "Jesus dude go outside".

The Duke Gets Desperate features a duke who's an art history major, basically, and like all art history majors (I say as one) he has no applicable life skills and his estate is going under. (I LOVE a broke aristo.) So when the heroine shows up having also inherited the estate and is like "we're going to charge people for tours of the castle to make sure we can pay for it" he's all "GAAAAAASP MADAME DUKES DO NOT HAVE TOURS OF CASTLES DUKES ARE DIGNIFIED AND BROKE!!"

Mercy by Sara Cate features a hero who was literally a cheater in a previous book, a rotten SCOUNDREL finding out that what he really needs to straighten up is to be humiliated and dominated by an older woman (ideally, his dad's close friend).

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian has former highwayman and local sad man and cafe owner Kit begin tutoring dandy swordsman Percy on how to like, rob people. But Kit is ridiculously attracted to Percy, something Percy clocks immediately by being like "this loser is looking at my ankles" and whenever Percy Does Something to Kit Kit is like "THANK YOU OMG".

Oh, speaking of, Shane in Heated Rivalry is like, a perfect athlete and also a massive dork. He's also a "thank you omg that was amazing" guy and then is immediately like "I SAID THANK YOU???" At one point when he and Ilya do it for the first time his inner monologue is like "what if we get stuck together and the fire department has to come and pull us apart and EVERYONE WILL KNOW". A human ball of anxiety. Constantly embarrassed by himself. Ilya is more confident and smooth but also has some losery moments, like when they're camming for each other and he looks at Shane after and says in Russian "I'm so in love and it's horrible" lmao.

Lol Jamison from Tracey Livesay's American Royalty is notably pathetic because he's like, a frosty uptight British prince, and as soon as he sees the heroine he immediately becomes a slobbering ridiculous mess. He manages to keep up the frosty prince act for approx. five minutes.

Managed by Kristen Callihan. Scottie is so in control and prickly and TOGETHER... except for the scene where he fishes her dirty laundry out in the bathroom and does Unspeakable Things and then hand washes it and hides it under the mattress for Later and she FINDS IT.

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller has a virginal hero who believes he must be celibate to be an amazing operative, and he's great at the operative stuff, but he's soooo into the heroine. At one point there's a scene where she's bandaging him and she touches his ribs and he's like "pls stop" and she's all "why" and then Looks Down and goes "oh". Humiliating stuff!

Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez has a hero who gets caught by the paparazzi when he's servicing the heroine on his knees in a car. Very sad for his dignity.

[fandom]

Fandometrics In Depth: Black Panther

This post is entirely spoiler-free for those who have yet to see Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

It’s been an eventful five years since the original Black Panther film was released and the titular character introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As a fandom, we’ve experienced wins and losses. We got to witness history in the making and incredible representation. We watched as our heroes triumphed against Thanos and saved the universe time and time again. But we also lost a hero along the way. Midway through 2020, the world said a tragic goodbye to Chadwick Boseman, who brought T’Challa to life for the first time on the big screen, and whose memory and legacy will live on forever. In the series’ latest iteration, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, art mimics life as the nation of Wakanda struggles to find its place in the world following the passing of its king. This new chapter brings with it a myriad of old friends and new faces, a foe unlike any we’ve seen before, and a whole new civilization that lies deep beneath the ocean.

For this impromptu trip under the sea (see what we did there?), we analyzed engagement data—that’s searches, original posts, reblogs, and likes—around tags used in the last year, starting on November 2nd, 2021, right up until when this post was written to paint you the most detailed picture possible. Let’s break down the Black Panther fandom in depth:

A nation united.

The cast and crew for the Black Panther films are hands-down some of the most incredible in the business, so naturally, this next ranking is filled with talent that goes above and beyond. Sure, the list is based purely off of conversation on Tumblr, but we personally believe they all deserve to be number one. Check out the full breakdown below:

Lupita Nyong'o | 36.17%

Angela Bassett | 16.61%

Chadwick Boseman | 15.02%

Danai Gurira | 7.92%

Tenoch Huerta | 7.39%

Letitia Wright | 5.98%

Winston Duke | 4.29%

Michaela Coel | 3.83%

Ryan Coogler | 1.96%

Dominique Thorne | 0.83%

A world divided.

With every new entry into the MCU, Marvel strengthens fans’ relationships with their favorite heroes and brings to life new faces we’ve only seen on comic book pages. This time around, we’re introduced to Namor, who rules the underwater city of Talocan. Fans are so excited to see Mesoamerican culture featured so prominently in one of the most anticipated films of the year. Below are the most popular characters in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, ranked:

Namor | 20.93%

T'Challa | 19.81%

Shuri | 19.00%

Okoye | 10.25%

Riri Williams | 9.27%

Nakia | 9.26%

Everett Ross | 4.15%

M'Baku | 3.67%

Queen Ramonda | 2.07%

Aneka | 1.60%

Wakanda Forever.

Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is out in theaters now—if you’ve already seen it, we’re betting you want even more, and if you haven’t, we’ve got just the content to get you hyped up. 

Marvel Studios (@marvelstudios​) to keep up with incredible fanart created by the community, Answer Times, and exclusive cast interviews.

Follow the #black panther tag for GIFs, fanart, memes, and more! Don’t forget you can filter any tag from your dashboard for a spoiler-free experience. If you need a reminder for how to do that, check out this handy Tips page.

[luciaiscool7]

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. - Superhero Roundtable

How do structural mythology, cultural studies, and cultural history reflect the series’ world and world-building around superheroes? 

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K centers on the titular character, Saiki K, a highschool student with Superman-esque levels of psychic power. He has trademark pink hair and must wear green glasses and antennae in order to limit his powers. Saiki, as one of the only actual psychic characters in the anime, actually doesn’t want to solve problems, or help anyone with his powers, and most of the show he uses his powers to minimize attention and keep to himself. His only really widespread use of power was changing everyone in the world’s hair color to also be colorful so that he doesn’t stand out as much. In direct opposition to Saiki’s nonexistent need for attention and immense psychic power, his classmate Kaidou, has no power whatever but claims to be The Jet-Black Wings, the only person standing against The Dark Reunion, an evil organization running the world behind the scenes. This is played for satire as Kaidou loudly brags about being the Jet-Black Wings and blames every mishap on the Dark Reunion, wears red bandages on his arms to “control his power,” and a dramatic action song “Judgement Knights of Thunder” plays everytime he does anything. 

Saiki K is a comedy anime satirizing the idea of a “superhero” through Saiki K, who kind of sucks and doesn’t care that much about other people, but even in using his powers selfishly, ultimately helps the people around him. This show challenges the idea that superheroes would necessarily swing to complete good or complete evil, and makes fun of those ideas in the example of satirizing binary thinking through Kaidou’s fake enemy, The Dark Reunion. Although the show begins with Saiki K doing everything he can to avoid attention and making friends, he warms up to his classmates over the show and uses his powers for their benefit, even as he convinces himself he’s just trying to help himself. 

The origination of manga in Japan was influenced by the globalization of American comics, including superhero comics, brought during WWII. Interestingly, as members of the Axis Powers, Japan and Japanese characters were featured in American superhero comics as enemies to the nation, often depicted as racist stereotypes for wartime propaganda. On an international scale, superheroes are associated with the US, as a national export and national representation of American might and power. This can be seen in superhero anime like My Hero Academia, where All Might represents the All-American superhero figure. Shows like Saiki K and Mob Psycho 100 have superhero-like characters and themes but distance themselves from calling them that, positioning themselves as psychics rather than superheroes.

In what ways are the superheroes and their abilities informed by their racial, gender, sexual, and cultural identities? 

Saiki K definitely participates in the de-racialization of characters as Will Bridges spoke to in “The Past Tense and the Future Perfect,” which we read for Cowboy Bebop. All of the characters are assumed to be Japanese, and are very homogeneous in appearance, save Nendo, whose butt-chin and weird mohawk are played for laughs. In many ways, Saiki represents the ultimate hegemonic male character who is conventionally attractive, cishet, middle class, and extremely able bodied. The only way that Saiki represents “other” could be through his lack of romantic or sexual interest in the show, much to the chagrin of Kokomi, the self proclaimed queen of the school, who appears with a halo of light around her at all times and has caused multiple stampedes of men chasing after her. The character Kaidou, who isn’t very popular with his classmates (somewhat because he always talks about the Dark Reunion), could be acting out social rejection through his fixation on being a superhero fighting evil, above the social dynamics of highschool.

In what ways do costumes and concealing identities further separate the superheroes from normal society? How necessary is it for the superheroes to hide their true identities to successfully achieve their goals? 

For Saiki, hiding his identity is his goal. To this end, he has changed everyone’s hair in the entire world to be colorful so that he doesn’t stand out. When the school has a sports test in gym class, Saiki has to tone down his supernatural speed and strength to blend in, including teleporting a ball back when he throws it so far that it can’t be seen, and squeezing a grip strength monitor so hard that that needle goes all the way around and it looks like he has an average score. For many superheroes, putting on a costume/disguise is necessary to carry out their goals, but for Saiki, his physical appearance is connected to his supernatural abilities, and the antennae and glasses he wears serve not to express his powers or his superhero role, but rather to minimize and control them.

How do the economic, political, and social events that occurred during the series’ creation and broadcast cultivate and inform the superheroes’ decisions and actions? 

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K first appeared as one-shot manga chapters published from 2012-2011, then serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2012-2018. The anime based off of this manga was aired from 2016-2018. I think Saiki K intentionally builds off of the context of preexisting superhero media to satirize it, questioning the characterization of other characters with superpowers as good and selfless or evil and self-serving- Saiki is literally just some guy and he doesn’t feel any pressure to use his powers for anyone. The anime creates a depoliticized superhero- he isn’t connected to any hero organizations or governments, he doesn’t have any enemies. He is so depoliticized and inactive as a superhero figure that his morals swing all the way around into questionable because he is so powerful, and could solve so many problems, but only changed everyone’s hair.

How do the superheroes question themselves, each other, and their obligations and duties to the people around them? 

Saiki K as a show challenges the superhero trope of questioning their purpose, sense of self and obligation to others by making Saiki antisocial and feel pretty neutrally about everyone besides himself. He always ends up helping the people around him, even when he doesn’t mean to, often doing so because it’s the easiest way to avoid being exposed, or not taking action will negatively impact him in some way. In one episode, he watches a magician on TV being locked in a box, and when it seems like he won’t be able to escape in time, Saiki teleports onto the set to save him. He does this in order to save the magician from a deadly incident which could potentially delay the rest of the tv channel, including Saiki’s favorite mystery show that after the magic show. He does help people, but his obligation is (allegedly) to himself first.

@theuncannyprofessoro

[aboutzatanna]

Interesting tidbit that has been quietly retconned over the years; Zatanna's dad was originally missing for ~20 years~.

Source: Justice League of America Vol 1 (1960) #51

This even made it one of her and father's earliest Whos Who page:

Both of these are from the mid-late 80's.

And a slightly more 'recent' one from the 90's:

However in DC's 'Blue Ribbon' #5 (1980) by Gerry Conway and Romeo Tanghal she was shown as much older when she first learned that her father went missing:

Later DC's Secret Origins #27 (1988) and her new Whos Who established that she was 18 when her father disappeared:

And that has been the case ever since.

So if initially, Zatara was missing for 21 years, who raised Zatanna? That has never been specified. Aging her up to 18 when her father disappeared was a more sensible explanation as it explains why Zatanna takes after her father so much. Her 2010 ongoing by Dini further emphasized how influential present Zatara was in Zatanna's life.

Secret Origins #27 also suggested that Dr Mist has been secretly orchestrating the lives of many characters including Zatara and Zatanna (hence the 'despite your gender I decided to raise you' line in the cropped scan above) but that's been ignored ever since and rightfully so I would say.

Only time the 20 years thing was mentioned was in James Robinson's Starman ongoing when the titular Starman, Jack Knight, met with the ghosts of various Golden Age heroes and he uses that fact to great dramatic effect to compare and contrast the relationship between Jack and his superhero father and Zatara's relationship with his daughter:

Source: Starman #37

(See more about Zatara's origins here)

As great as these two pages are, Zatara being missing for 21 years would never be brought up again. Zatara disappearing when Zatanna was 18 and only being gone for a few years instead of two whole decades is the current predominant canon.

Still, for an Elseworlds, it might be fun to consider what would have happened if Zatara did disappear when Zatanna was a child and how Zatanna might have turned out if she was raised by someone else for most of her life and how that might have affected her relationship with her Dad. What if she was raised by Madame Xanadu? Or Jason Blood? Or let's make it really bad and it was a villain like the Wizard or Felix Faust? How would her powers, costume and outlook on life be like?

[dysconymph]

The Boy and the Heron - Review

There’s a kind of joyous expectation many of us feel towards watching any new Hayao Miyazaki film. A nostalgia for those fairy-tale narratives abound with child-like wonder. This is what I was gearing up for when I went to see The Boy and the Heron - a box of tissues ready to hand. The beginning of the film sets you up perfectly for this. Some of the most beautiful animation pulls at the heartstrings as we see a young boy, our Protagonist Mahito, facing the death of his mother: the rough, drawn out style of the artwork heightens Mahito’s desperation as he runs through crowded Tokyo streets, emphasising the chaos and confusion around him. Moving to the countryside during the second world war, meeting his father’s new wife, the pace of the film drops dramatically. We get a languid, sensual, slow cinema marking the boy’s grief. Moreover, the introduction of the titular heron is done with such mythic grace that one is immediately spell bound by the power and horror of it.

Miyazaki films famously lean into the dual nature of traditional childhood fairy tales. Being at once moving and gentle whilst also leaning into darker topics: death, loneliness, fear, environmental collapse. Despite this common feature, this new Miyazaki film seems to be more mature in pace and style, darker even. The voice of the Heron aping Mahito’s mother, taunting him, is so horrifying I was shaken out of my initial ‘ghibli giddiness’ - falling deeper and deeper into the promise of this new twisted fantasy. However, the rest of the film fails to live up to this promise. 

In a typical hero’s journey, Mahito falls into a fantastical world (the afterlife? The spirit-world? The psyche? Who knows), saturated with a large cast of mind-bending characters. However, none of them are particularly well developed, if at all, and as a result it’s hard to find any emotional claim or hook to the narrative. In other ghibli films, the twisting, oneiric storylines offer us a close examination of the main characters’ fears and anxieties (Spirited Away); their sense of duties (Princess Mononoke); their pleasures (Ponyo) etc. However, in The Boy and the Heron, characters come and go with a light hand, scraping the surface just enough to keep the bizarre story going. Half way through the movie I couldn’t even keep up with what was meant to be going on, what was necessary to the plot and most importantly what was at stake. 

To some degree, in hindsight, this kind of light-handed, floating quality to the film makes sense to the themes of grief and loss. It feels almost as if Miyazaki himself was in some kind of lethargic slumber whilst making the film - unable to connect and ultimately commit to the verisimilitude of the fantasy world he has built. The Boy and the Heron becomes a series of beautifully crafted shots that never fully hit. Events pass the characters by with such little emotional investment that even the climax feels rushed and uncared for. As mentioned, maybe this is the point. The film doesn’t give us any revelation or catharsis, perhaps the most accurate depiction of how we move on from grief, but it also comes off as under-developped and inchoate. You’re constantly waiting for the penny to drop: for the world to fully invite you in and leave you wondering in that ghibli-esque state of awe. 

At the end of the day, a Miyazaki film will always be a masterpiece - even at its worst it rises above the rest. However, I wonder if I’m being dense, if maybe my inability to connect says more about me than the film, if maybe I set myself up to fail by expecting something more. But there was something in the beginning of the film: a dark, horrific splendour, one that I wish had been more consistent in the rest of the film.  

[mirror-ralsei]

MINI THEORY: A Holiday Hero

It's no secret there's a lot of Deltarune stuff in Undertale. But one of the less explored avenues is the Undyne the Undying fight.

Having Delta Rune imagery on her armor is one thing, but there's a lot more to it: "The wind is howling," the ocean sounds and heartbeat in "But The Earth Refused To Die," the titular Earth mentioned again in "Heroine reformed by her own DETERMINATION to save Earth," even Undyne's interlaced phase-in which matches the Deltarune title.

But one thing that's interested me is a particular bit of music.

The first melody (brought to my attention by Patton-the-Zorua) starts at 0:00, and seems to be some sort of "NEO" motif, as it's used in "Power of NEO" and "BIG SHOT."

The second melody starts at 0:44, and is the "Ruins" melody.

But the third and most mysterious melody begins at 1:35.

As far as i'm aware, this melody stands out for a few reasons.

1: Subjectively, this motif is given a very striking solo, almost as if we're supposed to recognize it, in a similar way to the use of the "Determination" motif in "ASGORE."

2: Objectively, i'm pretty sure that the "snowflake-like" bullet pattern (see video above) cannot appear until this melody has begun to play, in a similar way to Asriel only using plain fire magic until the beat drop in "Hopes and Dreams."

3: To my knowledge, this melody does not appear anywhere else across the games.

This begs the question of what this melody is supposed to represent.

And in my opinion, one group of characters jumps to mind.

If we consider that this melody only appears for the first time in conjunction with these "snowflake-like" bullets, backed by an acoustic guitar harmony, and especially using sleigh bells as a very noticable percussion... i think it's worth considering if any of the Holidays are somehow connected to this fight.

Noelle and her mother are both associated with ice/snow and "cold." Dess is associated with an acoustic guitar. And all four of them could be associated with sleigh bells, particularly Noelle, who has them in "Girl Next Door" and "noelle.ogg". Does this motif belong to any of them?

Maybe it's a stretch. After all, there's no trace of the Holidays in the particular Undertale universe we visit, nor any reason we know of to explain why they'd be helping Undyne; and a new melody existing could be just that: a new melody specifically for this fight, unrelated to any other characters.

But there certainly seems to be more to the Undying the Undying fight than meets the eye, and it seems likely the answers lie in Deltarune. Could one of the Holidays be the missing link?

[zerm2v0hg]

Finally got around to watching Unicorn of War's RWBY Volume 8 two-part video rewrite a few days ago, and I strongly recommend it for anyone who wants a Better Version of V8, or even for anyone who didn't hate V8 but just wants a juicy RWBY story. (And be sure to give the Pt 1 vid above and the Pt 2 vid on YT a Like on YT to support the maker.)

Highlights include but are not limited to: multiple planned action sequences aplenty, focus on the characters we want focus on, the heroes actually being complex people and heroes trying their best instead of being Holier Than Thou narcissistic Millstones, the RWBY/JNR-vs.-Ironwood conflict over how to save Atlas being Grey-and-Gray Morality with Ironwood keeping his marbles instead of just "RWBY yay Ironwood boo," Salem actually being terrifying and capable, Hazel being pitiable instead of being a brute who beats a kid to a pulp, the titular heroines actually facing their bad guys down themselves, Cinder getting her ass burned again, Bumbleby working to form a healthier dynamic, another side of Penny emerging, Ciel and other members of the bloated cast returning, and some other spoiler-y positives.

I'm not without some criticisms against parts of it, like how it handles the "Vacuo evacuation" plan, but all in all, this is a very juicy RWBY story which is worth checking out.

[modernmisadventures]

Chapter 4: A Bookshop Encounter

‘A Dragon’s Touch’... No, no, she didn’t love dragons quite that much. 

‘Primal Attraction’... She’d already read that one too many times. 

‘The Morbol and the Lalafell’... Ew, no. 

‘The Sultan’s Handmaiden’... 

With a forlorn glance at the bookshelf before her, Jess let out a heavy sigh. Was there truly nothing good to read? Maybe something sporting a handsome Elezen as its titular hero? 

Not that she had preferences, of course… 

It seemed even the city’s largest bookstore simply couldn’t satiate her thirst - for reading, of course. 

Maybe she’d just have to read The Boy and the Dragon Gay for the hundredth time… 

“Oh! Jess, isn’t it?” The voice was soft, the accent something of a mix of Eorzea and Sharlayan, with a hint of Ishgard’s haughty tones at the edges. It belonged to the woman standing at Jess’s shoulder - a tiny Au Ra with indigo skin, obsidian horns, and starshine freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks. “It’s Kal’istae,” she reminded the bartender. “Looking for a good book?” She smiled cheerfully up at the other woman.

"Oh!" Jess gasped, nearly jumping out of her skin upon seeing the slightly-familiar face. "Um, hi, no, I was just… shopping for a friend." A lie, of course - it wasn't like she had any friends to shop for even if she'd wanted to. Not that the Au Ra knew that, for a mercy. 

She hastily turned her head away at the feeling of the blush rampantly rising up her cheeks, grabbing a random book off the shelves - she didn't care which one - and tucking it safely under her arm. 

"There, that should do," she muttered, plastering a smile upon her face. "I, uh… what brings you here?"

They were teacher eyes, those lavender-rimmed eyes that gazed so serenely at Jess. They saw that. They know better. “That’s a shame,” she replied. “I was going to offer some recommendations. Sometimes a girl just needs to sink into a soft, smutty romance with no plot and just a bunch of thick-hewed thighs and heaving bosoms.” 

She stepped past the bartender, tilting her gaze up to peruse the titles of the books arrayed before her. “Oh, that looks interesting.” Turning back to Jess, she smiles, a dimple flirting at the corner of her lips and a guileless look in those dark-and-light eyes. “Would you mind being tall for me? I hate to be a burden, but when it comes to bookstore shelving, female Au Ra and lalafells need not apply.”

Turning back, she points up towards a book several shelves above her head, the spine reading ‘Lessons in Lust’. What hints of the cover can be seen seem to indicate a classroom of some sort. “Not that I’d ever engage in such behavior, you understand,” she rambled on pleasantly, “at least not in my classroom. But it’s fun to dream, isn’t it?”

"I-it is," she stammered, taken aback by the woman's unreserved manner. "Though I can't say I've read this one." It brought a slight smile to her face as she acquiesced the smaller woman - being so short for a Highlander herself, she often forgot that she was, in fact, taller than a good amount of the population. 

"Never been much a fan of classrooms," Jess snorted, eyeing the book's cover before passing it off. "Though I'm not stranger to getting fucked in them - er, by test scores, mind you. Not… literally." 

Gods, if there was one important lesson academia had never taught her… it was when to shut up.

“Alas,” Kal’istae sighed, “I’m afraid I don’t know the feeling - literally or figuratively. But at least I can experience it vicariously through poorly-written yet still tantalizing smut.” She eyed the cover herself, approving of the svelte miqo’te woman - predictably wearing little to nothing - being ravished by the dark-haired elezen with the inexplicably ripped shirt. “I like how the tie stays on even though the shirt’s half-off.”

Flipping it open, she thumbed through the pages, pausing to read softly under her breath. “‘... cupped her rounded hips in his broad hands, his fingers inscribing themselves into her flesh as he lifted her effortlessly from the floor, placing her on the desk. She stared at him with wide eyes, bosom heaving’ - ah, there it is. A bosom must always heave.” Chuckling, she tucked the book into the basket dangling from her arm. “Long, lustful looks over chemistry books - that’s my thing. You? I bet you like swashbuckling adventures and chocobo racing across the moors, don’t you?”

"Am I that obvious?" Jess laughed, the tension slowly easing from her posture. "You got me - the sex is just best when there's a hint of desperation and danger in the presence of a world-ending threat. To say nothing of the nights under the stars, in the forests, at camp… All unrealistic, I know, I know. Though why fantasy writers so love to use sword euphemisms…" 

It was at that moment that she glanced down at the book under her arm, unable to disguise the horrified grunt that escaped her mouth. 

"Though, I admit, I'm picky, and there are just some things I'd rather leave for everyone else!"

Kal’istae’s dimple winked again when she grinned. “Unrealistic romance is the best kind,” she replied. “What’s the point of dreaming about it if it’s just commonplace?” Briefly, her smile faded, and when it returned, it wasn’t quite so bright. “Of course,” she murmured, “sometimes just a little romance goes a long way… but. Anyway. We’re talking about books, not…” Shaking her head, she instead glances at the book in Jess’s hand. “If that one is not to your taste, perhaps we can find one that better suits. What is it you crave - literally and literarily - today?” No, that’s not a word - but it still makes for a good pun.

What was it she craved? To know the love of another, to give her heart, body and soul to one who gave in turn. To feel the press of skin upon skin, another's lips on hers, to hear-

"Right. Books. We're talking about books. Um…" Jess bit her lip. "I guess I tend to go for the softer and sweeter variety, if you get me." 

Yet something in the Au Ra's tone struck a chord deep within her - a familiar ache, a longing to her words… 

"Wait a minute," Jess interjected, "someone as kind and soft and gorgeous as yourself, certainly you've got your fair share of romance in your life? What are you doing here in the section for hopeless losers like myself?"

Her question, of course, carried another meaning - she couldn't help but recall Thancred's words, and Ryne's pleas stop that. Maybe, just maybe, if she did the slightest bit of digging… 

Kal’istae’s laughter was soft, warm and rich and comfortable. “Aren’t you the sweetest thing? Darling, you’re no less gorgeous than myself, where’s your romance?” She shook her head at the bartender, still chuckling. “I’ve had my share of friends with whom I have shared mutual and extraordinary benefits, but I’m afraid there’s little room in my life for romance, between my work and my… extras, like dancing. And you’d be amazed at how many men and women shy away from the notion of dating a mage.”

Despite her apparent cheer, sorrow lurked beneath her words and her eyes didn't quite meet Jess’s. “Anyway, there’s no one interested in me that way in my life now, and I’m not interested in making any more… friends. Of a sexual nature, in any case, but I am very interested in making friends of a more platonic bent.” Her gaze lifted to meet Jess’s, leaving no doubt as to what exactly she meant. “Hard for a mage to find those sometimes, too. But a girl likes to have other girls to talk to.”

Jess couldn't help but smile, though there was a disappointment in her chest. So Thancred had been speaking the truth… He was smitten with her, yet she wasn't interested in him.

Of course, such things were understandable - gods knew Jess had found herself on the opposite end of that situation more than once, though her would-be-suitors were typically down on their luck hopeless sorts. 

Which, she had to admit, was an apt descriptor for herself as well. 

"Why wouldn't people like mages? Magick is all over Eorzea, almost everyone can do it. Well, I mean, everyone but me, but you get my point." She turned and motioned towards the bookstore's coffee shop - a better place to sit and chat than in the scantily-clad shirtless men section. 

But scantily-clad shirtless men are so therapeutic. Kal’istae was not adverse to joining Jess in the coffee shop. “Many people have access to their aether,” she agreed, “fewer can do much more with it than simple cantrips and household charms. Not everyone can be a conjurer, or an arcanist, or a thermautage. And those who can’t are often nervous of those who can. Or maybe it’s just me that makes them nervous.”

She followed Jess into the cafe, then stepped up to the counter to order a small cup of hot chocolate. “Do you want anything?” she offered to the bartender. “After everything we put you through the other day, the least I could do is treat you to a nice, non-alcoholic drink.” She studied the pastries in the display case. “Truth is, Jess, it’s probably not the magic. It’s probably something else. But the only thing anyone seems to want from me is sex. No one wants a relationship. And I’m tired of it. I want consistency, damn it.” Her laugh was soft and sad. “I want… well. That’s not important right now.”

When the barista came back with her hot chocolate, she pointed to a pastry, then glanced expectantly at Jess, clearly hoping the woman would take her up on her offer of a treat.

And Jess was never one to say no to a free snack. She snatched it up at the first offer, practically stuffing the entire thing in her mouth in one bite. 

"You and me both," she snorted through her mouthful. "I mean, the relationship part, anyway. Can't relate to the rest. But I highly doubt it's because anyone finds you intimidating." 

She paused to gulp, her words ringing through her ears with a pang of regret. "I, uh, I mean- no offense or anything but you're kinda… dainty? Um… as in to say, not exactly- Oh, nevermind." She pinched the bridge of her nose with a grunt. 

"I'm sorry. Thancred always said the only thing bigger than my imagination was my mouth."

A bit bemused, Kali took her hot chocolate and her pastry and moved to a table, talking as she walked. “Looks can be deceiving,” she chuckled. “I’m less dainty than I look, though I would be surprised if I could intimidate a fly physically. No. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m not as pretty as you think. I look like a kid. A doll. Who wants to romance a doll?”

She slid into a chair, lifting her face and smiling - but her smile faded away at the mention of the psychologist. “Ah. Thancred.” She spoke his name as if tasting it, rolling it on her tongue. “Right. You… you’re his sister.” She lowered her gaze and toyed with her pastry. “You must be very proud of your brother. He’s… he’s something else.” The smile that curved her lips now was equal parts affection and exasperation. “I am… more than passing fond of him, truth be told.” She tore a piece from her pastry and popped it in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. “But I suppose you hear that a lot. I imagine he has plenty of girls interested in him.” She shook her head. “Not that I - uh. Hmm. You’re his sister,” she repeated, and a dull flush flooded her cheeks, turning the indigo to violet.

"But… Wait, you said you weren't interested in anybody, and no one was interested in you." Jess furrowed her brows. "But… but he said…" She brought a fist to her mouth, weighing her next words carefully - an unusual habit for her, to be sure. Gods, this was… confusing. A perfect example of why she herself didn't date.

"Um, well… I can assure you he's very very much interested - and he's in deep. Hopelessly, even. I've got receipts." She held up her tomestone to demonstrate said proof, should the other woman request it. Maybe she was meddling. Maybe she was doing Thancred a favor. She owed it to him, anyway. 

Shaking her head, Kal’istae smiled. “I said I’m not interested in another friend with benefits,” she corrected gently, “and I said no one is interested in me for a relationship. I’m very much interested in a relationship - and, forgive me, but I’m extremely interested in a relationship with your brother. He is,” she sighed, “so handsome. And sweet. And kind. And the way he cares for you and your siblings…” She trailed off with a faint smile on her lips, a dreamy, far-away look in her eyes.

A look that comes crashing back home as Jess continued. Startled, she stared at the bartender for a long, speechless moment. “I - interested in sex, yes,” she said, confused. “But you’re implying…” Her cheeks flushed again, then paled, and she wrapped her hands around her hot chocolate, seeking comfort in the warmth. “I’m sorry. I must be misunderstanding. Thancred Waters does not - they always said… I… Hmm. I knew him - his reputation - from Sharlayan,” she confessed. “He was a few years ahead of me at the Studium, but still very much a topic of conversation. He… doesn’t have girlfriends, I thought?” Despite her words, there’s a hesitant hope in her eyes.

"Trust me, I know exactly what you're talking about - that's why I lost my mind when he brought you into the bar." Jess snickered. "That means more to him than I think you realize. I've never met any of them before - I don't know that he's ever been interested in anyone long enough for us to meet."

She shrugged. "But you're different - he said as much, in words and in actions. And he's a great guy! Really! He's… got a job. He's got an apartment. He… uh… Well, he can cook. Um…" The Highlander brought a finger to her chin, desperately thinking of ways to sell the Au Ra on Thancred. "He's… a good listener? Uh, what is it people look for in relationships exactly?"

Kal’istae’s eyes crinkled at the corners as she grinned. “I think you’ve hit most of the salient points,” she said gently, “and you hardly need to sell me on your brother. I already think he’s worth the trouble - I just… you’re sure he likes me that way?” she asked, a bit plaintively. “I thought for certain all he wanted was to get in my pants. And while I might have obliged, I… well.” Huffing out a breath, she stared at her hot chocolate. “I’ve got a crush on him.” No. Really? “Gods, that sounds so high school.” Shaking her head with a helpless laugh, she looked up at Jess. “Well, they say you are what you teach. So you’re sure?”

"I heard it straight from the chocobo's beak," she nodded, holding her chin high with a feeling of pride. Had she done it? Truly? Had she won Thancred a tried and true girlfriend? It… There was no way it could be that easy. 

"I mean, I can call him and put him on speakertome if you really don't believe me, or you can read my messages. Cross my heart and hope not to die, I'm telling the truth as it's been presented to me."

For such a small thing, she really was being quite dense. 

Probably best not to count your chocobos before they’re hatched; still plenty of ways for this to go sideways. “No!” Kal’istae colored as she raised one hand. “Gods, no, that would make me melt into the floor. I don’t - I need some time to process,” she murmured. “I’m having trouble believing. Not you,” she added hurriedly, “just the situation. My luck.”

Shaking herself as though shedding water, she coughed softly. “Look, I know this is asking a lot - he’s family and I’m just someone who really wants to be your friend - but don’t say anything to him about this, or me, or what we spoke of? Not until I have a chance to figure out what to do. I need… I don’t want to fuck this up.” Are teachers allowed to say that? “I’m not chickening out, promise. I just… I need to let it simmer. We should go find you a book.” It’s almost as if she’s holding up a sign that says ‘Subject Change’.

"Right. Books. Though, given your interest in my brother, I somehow doubt we have the same taste in men," Jess snorted. All the same, she wasn't about to pass up a chance to talk about cheap romance literature with who she hoped was someone she'd be getting to spend plenty of time with in the not-so-distant future. Gods, she hoped so… For Thancred's sake.

[dotfifteen]

THE COFFIN OF ANDY & LEYLEY !

my total playtime: 14.9 hours

GENERAL REVIEW:

"TCOAAL is a game chock full of toxic edgy but hilarious humor and a lovely sibling relationship! Definitely recommend if you're into very characters driven stories. Nemlei's writing style is extremely compelling and makes you feel for morally fucked up characters! The puzzles sprinkled in help to break up the visual novel-ness of the game are simplistic yet work and even when the dialogue is at it's full its never a drag to read. Their conversations all flow naturally and feel human! The subtle mystery and the world-building you can find in the game really add to the charm of it all. Loving the mystery! Loving the story! Loving this game!"

BASIC INFORMATION:

The game is currently in Early Access* on Steam! Priced at $9.99 USD. *Once purchased you won't have to pay again for the full game. Currently has TWO CHAPTERS out of the 3 CHAPTERS that will be in the full game. Can be completed in SIX HOURS (based on my own playthrough)

STEAM GAME DESCRIPTION:

Cannibalism and codependency! Caught in an extremely toxic sibling relationship, our awful heroes must survive starvation, as well as each other. How will you escape death and the consequences of your actions? This is a story focused adventure game where you get to: 1. Explore a bleak world. 2. Solve some light puzzles. 3. Play as two characters. 4. Make choices that change the course of the story. 5. Kill some people for food (and fun?). 6. Discover multiple endings.

FEATURED STEAM PAGE IMAGE OF OUR PROTAGANIST'S:

[Image of Andrew Graves with labels; 22 years old, exists, doormat extraordinaire. Accompanying him is Ashley Graves with labels; 20 years old, very not good, in fact very bad.]

GAME CONTENT:

Game features themes of: Cannibalism, Occult, Demonic Entities, Satanic Rituals, Murder, Physiological Abuse, Codependency, Toxic Relationships, Mentions of Suicide, and Themes of Incest.

The game features 2 MAIN-ROUTES with 4* SUB-ROUTES. BURIAL: 1. Love Route (dif. names: Incest Route/Left Door Route) 2. Friendship Route (dif. names: Sane Route/Right Door Route) DECAY: 1. Andrew Route 2. Ashley Route 3. *Double Suicide Route (not considered a sub-route. Still has a different vision than the other two. Considered additional context for the first subroute.)

The game has a total of 6 ACHIEVEMENTS. 1. Vision Watcher 2. Present 3. Unkown Summon 4. Episode 2 Clear 5. Hitman Wins! 6. Episode 1 Clear

PLAY STYLE:

The game is self described as a walk-and-talk adventure! Heavy amounts of reading, akin to a Visual Novel, with extremely light puzzling that is still rewarding. Multiple fetch quests and cleaning objectives.

RATING:

9.8/10 - Recommended if comfortable with any of the themes, avoid if you can't extreme fucked-up-ness.

[Andrew and Ashley Graves, our two titular characters, are pictured above. Ashley holding a bloodied cleaver, Andrew holding a pair of bloodied eating utensils; a fork and a knife.]

[phantomofagoodtime]

New Muse

Name: Lee Yeon

Species: Nine Tailed Fox Demon

Show: Tale Of The Nine Tailed

FC: Lee Dong Wook

Short Bio - Lee Yeon, a gumiho (nine tailed fox). used to be a powerful mountain god until his mortal love died. He bargained with the higher powers for her recincarnation in return for his service. 600 years later, he is still waiting for her to be reborn and hunts supernatural criminals who threaten the mortal world. Lee Yeon is a hero type, he is privileged, nice and pines over one woman faithfully. He can sometimes have an almost-bratty attitude and sulk over minor inconviences at times.

History is littered with the tales of the nine-tailed fox, a legendary creature who seduces the innocent in order to satisfy their craving for human flesh. Though there are few in this modern age who believe in the ghost stories of the past. Lee Yeon does no eat people, although he can sometimes come across uncaring or heartless this is a mask to keep himself from getting close to people again.

Series Bio: The titular gumiho (nine-tailed fox). Former mountain spirit and guardian of Baekdudaegan, lover of Ah-eum / Ji-ah and half-brother of Lee Rang. He carries out missions from the Afterlife Immigration Office while searching for the reincarnation of Ah-eum. He encountered several look-alike of Ah-eum but none bore the fox bead. He saved Ji-ah when she was young, but she does not have the fox bead, making Yeon believe that she is not the reincarnation of Ah-eum. Later in the series, it is revealed that Ji-ah is indeed reincarnation of Ah-eum. Her fox bead appeared when Lee Yeon saved her from falling from a building.

Weakness - evening primrose that grows above tombs. Harm to those he cares about.

Likes/Loves - Mint Ice Cream

Appearance - smartly dressed, tidy short hair with a redish tint to his brunette locks. Usually accompanied by his trademark red umbrella with an embroided flower on one side.

Multi-ship and Multi-verse - So he can either be with his canon partner or we can write something for our muses together.