#i feel like prologue stuff is fair game

[brynnmclean]

Re: the beginning / prologue bit of Banishers, I was thinking about it this morning, but the Nightmare shapeshifting to impersonate Antea and singing "three blind mice" to taunt Charles, Antea, and especially Red-- the three Banishers who are trying (and failing) to figure out what her deal is-- is Very Good.

Also I've watched a few playthroughs now and I feel like so many people don't hesitate outside the meeting house like I did, so they miss the Nightmare outright singing "Run, Red, run... Run, Red, run..."

[hsr-texts]

find your cinderella

꒰‧₊˚✩彡‧꒱ ┊ ━━━━ prologue

꒰⸝⸝₊ʚ♡ɞ ┊ streamer!reader x mystery hsr character ꒱

꒰⸝⸝₊ʚ♡ɞ ┊ otome event ꒱

꒰ ☰ WORD COUNT ┊1.4k ꒱

꒰ ☰ DESCRIPTION ┊ ━━ When you do an unboxing livestream for your subsribers, you find an invite to an exclusive event called the "Find Your Cinderella" masquerade gala where you are guaranteed to find your supposed true love, as a rather enthusiastic manager told you. ꒱

꒰ ☰ NOTES ┊HIII omg you guys THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT!! Getting 1k followers is so crazy for me because I've never had a blog be received with this much love and support before so I've decided to make an extra special otome game style fanfic! ꒱

“Guys, look! The package just came in!”

You rushed into your studio, holding a sizable metal box. Inscribed on the sides was a logo of two masks, resembling a certain Aeon. Placing it down on the floor, you gave a sigh of relief. “Aeons, that was heavy!”

Your eyes glanced at the live chat and saw all the messages, curious about the package.

“Seems like you guys are more excited than I am,” You couldn’t help a small chuckle leaving your lips. “It took me quite a lot to get a hold of this limited edition package from LumiPro. Like, do you guys know how much it cost?”

A few comments popped up trying to guess the price.

You shook your head. “100,000 credits.”

The chat then flooded with shocked emotes and comments. It was more than a fair reaction. You found yourself silently thanking the stars that your current occupation as a streamer granted you a steady income. Otherwise, you probably would’ve had to eat the same type of cup noodles for months.

“Anyway!” You clasped your hands together. “Let’s open it up already! I’m dying to see what’s inside. What could possibly warrant such a steep price?”

Your index finger pressed on the button at the top and heard a voice.

“Vocal identification. Please state your name.”

You uttered your name. It was a good thing you added an auto-censor to your setup so that any sensitive information that could get you doxxed would be redacted in the stream. You didn’t want stalkers showing up at your home after all.

“Permission granted.”

Faint clicks of metal against metal could be heard as the mechanisms worked to unlock the box. A hissing noise came from it as the lid opened. You watched, feeling anticipation and eagerness bubble within your chest.

A hologram was projected from the box, showing a person wearing professional attire. They smiled.

“Thank you for purchasing from Luminous Productions. We’ve curated a package that we believe would be of most use to you. For further questions, you may contact support on our site. We hope you enjoy it to the fullest.”

You took a peek and gasped at the sight. “Guys, oh my god, they just gave me a new PC!”

They must’ve done their research because you did mention in your stream a month ago that you were looking for a better PC.

The chat seemed to be as excited as you were, knowing this meant you’d be able to go back to your regular streaming schedule.

You could tell this was a real high end PC after seeing the graphics card and CPU model. Not only that, but it came with a new headset, keyboard, and mouse. You took out the stuff and gently placed them on the floor, letting the viewers see it.

After noticing that there was more in the package, you rummaged around for the other objects. Your hand made contact with some sort of fabric so you pulled it out.

Your eyes widened as you realised that it was a fancy outfit. Upon looking, you could estimate that it was your size too. Was this tailor made?

“Holy shit…”

It seemed like it was for a real special occasion, not even just your run-of-the-mill party that regular people go to. This outfit would probably fit right in with a red carpet event for rich folks or celebrities. Well— One may say, “Hey, aren’t you a celebrity too?” but you weren’t cocky enough to claim the same status as those with inter-galactic levels of fame.

A slip of paper fell out of the outfit’s pocket and you turned to see what it was.

You squinted in confusion. A ticket…? After picking up, you couldn’t help but notice the holographic shine to it first. How pretty.

“Find Your Cinderella Masquerade Event?” You mumbled in confusion. Who was Sugo? You couldn’t recall knowing anyone that went by that name.

Suddenly, the screen flickered for a moment and a new window popped up next to your stream.

A person showed up, wearing what you could only describe as a pink clown outfit that somehow combines cuteness and gaudiness in one. They grinned at you with amusement.

“Heya to all those viewers watching at home!” Even the way they spoke seemed to have a theatrical ring to it. By the way the chat was going insane, the people watching the stream could also see them.

“My name is Sugo and I’m the event organiser of the Find Your Cinderella Gala, or the FYC Gala for short,” they introduced themselves with a flourish. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Uh… hi?” You didn’t know how to respond. This was quite a bizarre experience to have someone hijack your stream to introduce themselves. Was this legal…?

They chuckled. “Yeah, sorry for the sudden appearance but I figured that it would shake things up a little. I’m sure your dear fans appreciate having two exciting things happening at the same time. You can bet that this’ll go viral too~”

“Right… So what exactly is this Find Your Cinderella Gala?”

“Glad you asked, dear anomaly!” They beamed. Eh? Why were they calling you anomaly?

“See, I’m doing a collaborative project with LumiPro. I proposed to them a large-scale event with celebrities from all over the galaxy, which would be broadcast to every streaming platform out there. The premise is simple, all attendees are there to find their one and only, their true love, their Cinderella, you get the idea.”

“So it’s a speed dating event for rich people?” Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It sounded like a stupid idea. And yet, a part of you was intrigued.

“Right on the money! What a clever streamer, it’s no wonder you got such high compatibility ratings with the other attendees~”

“A what?”

Their eyes gleamed with amusement. “So, we didn’t just pick the celebrities at random. I bet you’re wondering why a small time streamer is getting an invite to such an exclusive event, right?” They tilted their head, leaning on their desk.

You nodded slowly. It was still a mystery to you why you’d be invited when there are far more famous people in the galaxy.

“Behind the scenes, we’ve been developing an advanced algorithm that can find your best match in a group. How it works is that we pick a participant, feed it available information on said participant, then it calculates how well the person would get along with those within the group,” they explained, “What’s interesting for your case is that your average compatibility score with the group is 90%. Most folks that got tested only came up with a 60% average compatibility rating.”

You raised an eyebrow at this in skepticism. “Don’t you think that’s just a bug or something?”

They shrugged. “It could be, but we’ve done several tests and it always came out the same. We were hoping to add you in to act as an outlier to our pool of data.”

“So I’m just a guinea pig for your weird little experiment?” You gave them an unamused look.

“It’s just to see if your results were really true or if it was just a mistake on the algorithm’s part.” They shrugged. “I’m sure it’ll be a fun time for you regardless of my motives. A win win for all parties involved, don’t you just love that kind of thing?”

“I guess but doesn’t this come with strings attached?”

Sugo whined. “Ughhh, you’re gonna make this way less fun if you go in already knowing what you’re getting!”

“What kind of sane person would do something without knowing the full details?!”

A groan came from them. “Booo, that’s so boring! Life needs a special surprise factor that keeps things fun and interesting.”

They sighed after. “But fine. If you’re so skeptical, then I can throw in a 500,000 credit compensation if you end up not enjoying it. So even if you do lose, you still gain something!”

You stayed silent, trying to figure out if this was really worth the trouble of dressing up and going to a party.

“Anyway, that’s all the information I’m contractually allowed to give out. It’s your choice whether you want to go or not.”

“Can I have some time to decide this?” You asked them.

Sugo nodded, smiling in amusement. “Of course! It’s not good for a show to spend too much time on exposition, after all. Let’s give the player some time to shine, hm?”

“I have no idea what you’re saying.”

They giggled, ignoring what you said. “Bye bye! I’ll see you at the gala!”

Their window disappeared, leaving you with your viewers again.

You sighed. What a strange person. Did you really wanna go? It’s not like you had much to lose. Plus, you would be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t want to find out what that compatibility rating was all about.

“What do you think, chat? Should I go?” You turned to the screen, waiting for their input.

[lvis44]

Sweet Escape - Pt. 3 // LH44

Lewis Hamilton x Y/N

Warnings: Swearing, 18+ (mentions of sexual acts), angst, minor injury, alcohol consumption, age difference, jealousy, not edited

Word Count: 5.1k+

Summary: Paradise is supposed to be fun and relaxing... a Sweet Escape, but when unspoken feelings and jealousy rise to the surface, everything can be turned upside down in the blink of an eye.

Notes: A lot of reflection and angst coming for you in this one! I still can't stick with a singular tense so once again, ignore that lol. Thank you all so much for all the love, I hope you enjoy this next chapter! I am not a professional writer and all of this is a work of fiction and is strictly for fun. Enjoy! xxx

Previous Sections: Prologue - Part One - Part Two

You could cut the tension with a knife. The volleyball tournament was in full swing and Lewis was doing his absolute best to ignore you in entirety. Not that you particularly wanted his attention at this moment, but he was making it rather obvious to everyone else that something was up between the two of you. You were doing your best to ref the games like Miles had asked, and you felt like you were starting to get the hang of it. It didn’t go unnoticed to anyone that if a call had anything to do with Lewis, he wouldn’t respond in any way, he wouldn’t even look over at you. To the untrained eye it would look like he was simply a sore loser, which to be fair he could be sometimes, but everyone knew that if things were normal, he would be taunting you and throwing things back at you any chance he got. Your heart ached while your mind burned with rage. It had only been a few hours and you already missed him, missed the energy he always carried when he was around you, but with a horny brain, he swiftly ruined it.

Talia had made the ridiculous choice to come down and spend her day on the beach as well. She was sprawled out on a towel like a house cat in a kitchen window. Thankfully, she had set up her stuff further down the beach, far enough that you wouldn’t have to interact with her at all. You couldn’t help but find it both amusing and sickening that on this beach, there were two women that Lewis had slept with, or at least tried to, and now both women were livid. For a man that usually got anything and anyone he wanted, the last three days definitely hadn’t been much of a winning streak for him. You wanted to imagine that his ego was at least bruised, but you knew better than that, he was probably just looking at it as another drop in the bucket. You would both be replaced the second he made it home, hell you could probably be replaced before then.

You were watching the game from your camp chair, trying your best to pay attention, but irritatingly enough, your focus kept returning to Lewis. No matter how mad you were, your brain wouldn’t let you ignore just how attractive he was. This was no time for those thoughts to be bouncing around in your head, you needed to keep his actions in the forefront of your mind, but watching him was inevitable. He was glistening with sweat, his tattoos more prominent in the sheen. His torso was speckled with sand from the times he had tried to dive for the ball and landed flat on his stomach, his swim trunks had started to ride up on one of his thighs, showing off the thick muscles. You were so engrossed in staring at the man who had all your emotions haywire, that you didn’t notice that Miles had accidentally punted the ball directly towards you. 

“Shit, heads up.” You heard him yell, but it was too late as the ball made contact directly with the side of your head.

You let out a shriek before you groaned ,”Fuck.’ Grabbing the side of your head where the ball had collided.

Within seconds, everyone had crowded around you. To your surprise, Lewis was the first one there, on his knees in front of you immediately. His eyes held so much concern as they looked over you as if he was making sure you were in one piece.

“Hey, hey, you okay?” His voice was rushed but soft as he reached out to place his hand over yours on your head, his other hand grabbing your other arm. Any other day you would have been overwhelmed with comfort, but in this moment it just made your head hurt more.

“I’m fine.” Your voice had a bite to it as you brushed him off, moving to try to stand up. You hoped that your aggressive tone would be read as annoyance to getting slammed with a Volleyball.

“Take a second.” Charlotte said softly, placing her hand on your shoulder to push you gently back into the chair.

“I’m so sorry,” Miles said from behind you, his hand coming to rest on your other shoulder, giving it a light pat, “I really didn’t mean to, I would never hurt you on purpose. I feel so bad.”

“It’s okay, it was an accident. I should have been paying more attention.” You reach up to grab his hand, squeezing it gently.

“Well I guess you were right, Volleyball really does end in concussions for you, even when you’re not playing apparently.” Miles laughs, trying to lighten the mood.

“Apparently,” You laugh with him, “I’m gonna go sit in the shade for a little bit, you guys keep playing.”

They all move back a bit to let you stand this time.

“Are you sure? We can head back up to the house if you want.” Charlotte offers, still looking worried.

“No, you guys keep playing, it’s still early. I’ll just be over there,” You gesture your head over towards a shady spot near the path, “and I promise I’ll keep an eye out for runaway balls this time.”

You turn to grab your chair but Lewis has already picked it up and is walking over toward the spot you had mentioned. You realize you unfortunately have no choice but to follow him. As you come up behind him you feel nothing but dread, you don’t want to talk to him right now, about anything really. He wordlessly places your chair in the shade before making his way over to the cooler full of drinks. He comes back with a cold water and a frosty can of something.

“Drink this,” He says putting the water in the little cupholder on the arm of your chair before extending the can to you, “and put this on your head for a little bit.”

You take the can, mumbling a quiet “thanks”. You hope that will be it, that he’ll turn and rejoin the rest of your friends, however, much to your dismay, he squats down in front of you. He holds your eyes with his, staring at you deeply.

“Are you sure you're okay?” His voice is so full of concern that it makes you want to yell at him, instead you just let out a scoff.

“That’s a pretty weighted question right now Lewis.” You say as you shoot him a look.

He grimaces before he shakes his head, “I’m sorry, I-” He starts before he cuts himself off, “Right now I’m worried about your head, that ball is hard and it came in pretty hot. Everything else can wait.”

All you can do is roll your eyes, looking over his shoulder at the ocean.

“I’ve had a fair amount of head injuries myself, I know what to look for, can I?” He continues, doing his best to ignore your attitude.

“Well that explains a lot.” You fire back, finally looking at him again.

You could be wrong but you swear you see an almost smirk on his face as he shakes his head. He raises his eyebrows at you in question, prompting you to actually answer him.

“Fine.” You huff, lowering the can to your side.

He moves in closer to you, just barely, and you can feel yourself tense. He goes through a variety of little tests; making you follow his finger with your eyes, shining his phone's flashlight at your pupils, having you answer stupid questions about yourself and historical events.

“I think you’re alright,” He says with a soft smile as he moves back, patting the outside of your knee, “might have a small bump though.”

“Thanks.” Your voice comes out as barely a whisper as you try to offer the same smile back at him.

He stares at you for a moment longer, making you want to squirm in your seat. He’s looking at you with such care and concern, as if he’s assessing every ounce of you, physical and emotional.

“I really am sorry,” He says softly, “I don’t want to lose you.”

His words make your heart clench but the anger comes back to the surface as you're reminded of the situation he’s put you both in.

“I’m not doing this right now.” You say firmly, attempting to shut him down. This isn’t the time for the conversation you need to have, especially not when his ex is down the beach and all your friends are waiting for him mere feet away.

He nods solemnly, a small frown on his face as he stands up. He takes a few steps backward before pausing, “Let us know if you need anything, okay?”

You simply nod before he turns and runs back toward everyone. You take the time to enjoy the beautiful view of the coast, listening to the sound of the waves crashing in harmony with the joyous laughter of your friends. It’s melancholy, you can already feel a sense of longing for something you haven’t truly lost yet. You’re overcome with a sense of worry, it feels like nothing can ever be the same. You’re worried that you won’t be able to be around him anymore, that he won’t want to be around you and your friends will have to take sides. You know they all love you, but they’ve known him for nearly a decade, you’re still in many senses, a newcomer. Part of you knows it irrational, he evidently still cares about you, but how long will that last before the awkward exchanges and anger override the history of friendship between the two of you. You know Miles and Charlotte would never truly abandon you, but you can’t help but feel nothing will ever be the same.

As you tried to work through your emotions, you felt someone’s presence at the base of the trail. She spoke before you could even turn your head to look at her.

“I’m headed up to finish packing.” She said, you figured she would leave it there but to your surprise she continued, “How’s your head? That looked like a nasty hit.”

You couldn’t mask the shock that was written across your face, she sounded almost compassionate.

“Uh, it’s fine, thanks.” You stuttered out, confused by the interaction.

“Well make sure you keep ice on it, you don’t want a bump.” She offered you a small smile, confusing you even more. Once again you thought that would be the end of the conversation, but no, “And hey, don’t fall for it,” She gestured her head over toward where Lewis was, “it’s amazing until it’s not. You’ll get hurt.”

With that, she simply walks away up the path, leaving you stunned. 

. . .

Everyone is working on making dinner, the house full of music and laughter as Charlotte bosses people around the kitchen. You had tried to help but Miles deemed you “far too injured for manual labor” and parked you on a bar stool at the kitchen island. You had managed to sneak into Lewis’ room, grabbing your stuff and putting it in Charlottes so you could shower without worrying you would run into him. She had given you a questioning look but hadn’t said a word, leaving you to get freshened up. Lewis was nowhere to be seen, you figured he was showering, getting ready to bring Talia to the airport. You’re still not sure why he had offered to drive her, but whatever got her as far away as possible as soon as possible was fine by you. The interaction from earlier was still running through your head on repeat. Her behavior had been almost alien, nothing you had seen from her in the past. Part of you wondered if she was still trying to keep him for herself, scare you away from him, or was she truly offering you advice. Not that you needed it, you were pretty confident you didn’t need to hear it to know what she said was true, which is why the situation hurts so much. 

“Turn the heat down! You’re gonna burn it!” Charlotte just about shrieked as she hip checked Daniel away from his pan, quickly taking over.

He laughed, putting his hands up in false defeat as he made his way over to the bar, happy to be kicked off dinner duty. You gave him an accusatory look, laughing when he shrugged with a smirk, you know he had done it on purpose. You heard the rolling of wheels coming down the hall, Talia emerging with her packed luggage. She gave everyone an awkward smile, holding her hand up in a wave before making a b-line to the front door, not saying a word. Miles looked like he wanted to burst out in laughter, Charlotte elbowing him in the ribs with a glare despite the smirk on her own face. Shortly after, Lewis came down the hall, his keys in hand. He was dressed nice, much nicer than everyone else who was preparing for a night in. He had a colorful silk shirt on, most of the top buttons undone, paired with a pair of perfectly fitted black slacks and dress shoes. He had lots of jewelry on, much more than you’d seen on him in the last few days, a large watch perched on his wrist.

“Well don’t you look spiffy.” Steph teased him, taking a sip of her wine.

“I’m headed to the airport to drop off Talia.” He announced, ignoring Steph.

“Quite the fit for airport duties Bruv.” Miles continued the teasing.

“I’m going out after.” He kept his explanation short, clearly annoyed that he was being questioned at all.

“What?” Charlotte exclaimed, whipping around, “We’re in the middle of making dinner. Not to mention it’s fucking vegan because of you.” She pointed a finger at him.

“Sorry, throw some cream in it or something.” His voice was full of sarcasm and you could tell he was on edge.

“That’s not the point Lewis, you could have told us sooner.” Charlotte stayed strong, her hands on her hips like an accusing mother.

“I’m going to get dinner with-” He hesitated, his eyes shooting around the room before continuing, “with a friend.” He rushed the last bit of his sentence out.

“Oh.” Charlotte seemed content, a look of understanding crossing her face.

“Yeeeahh,” Daniel drawled out, “I’m suuure you are. Dinner.” He chuckled into his glass.

Your stomach flipped at his comment, you wanted to believe that he really was just getting dinner with a friend but the knowing tone from Daniel made you second guess it. The look of guilt on Lewis’ face didn’t help either. You wanted to believe he was a better man than that, but his actions over the last few days have proven otherwise. You wondered if the friend was the  mysterious Marina. You still had so many questions but you were pretty sure you would never get an answer to any of them, especially while you didn’t know where you stood with Lewis. Lewis didn’t say another word, heading toward the door, but Charlotte ran after him. You watched as she wrapped him in a hug, whispering something in his ear before she patted his back and let him go. You gave her a look but she just shrugged.

The atmosphere throughout dinner felt normal, and you were grateful for that. Noone brought up what Lewis was probably out doing, no one mentioned him at all actually, and it felt a little foreign. His absence was noticeable but not abnormal, it was frequent during the season that you would all have dinner without him. 

You later found yourself in the kitchen with Charlotte, tidying up the dishes while people got ready for bed.

“Hey, I know your room is technically open and all but if you still want to room with me, my door’s open.” Her voice was soft and kind, like a hug that you so desperately needed.

“Thank you, I’ll probably take you up on that if you don’t mind.” You sent her a grateful smile, somehow she always seemed to know what you needed, even if she didn’t know why.

“Of course, besides I’m still waiting to cache in on my cuddles.” She teased you gently.

“Oh, how could I forget?” You giggled.

“You go get ready for bed, I’m just gonna finish up out here and I’ll be in, just give me a few.” She nudged you out of the kitchen toward her room.

You did as she said and made your way down the hall. You couldn’t help but stop outside the door to your old room, it was open and you could see the unmade bed from where Talia had slept. It sent pure annoyance through your whole body, if you hadn’t had to change in Lewis’ room you probably wouldn’t be in the situation you are now. You knew it wasn’t fair to blame her for his actions, he’s a grown man who knew exactly what he was doing, but you couldn’t help it. Part of you wondered if she had put the thought of you in his head during her explosion. You never thought he felt that was about you and then all the sudden he had you pinned up against a mirror with his fingers inside of you. It was like a flipped switch that you couldn’t undo, the light was on and it would stay on for good. You tore yourself away from the doorway, making it all the way to Charlotte's room before stopping in the doorway and looking at Lewis’ door across the hall. The door was closed but you swore you could smell him, it almost seemed like he was standing on the other side of the door despite not even being in the house. You could smell the cologne he had put on for whoever he was trying to impress tonight, you could picture him adjusting his collar and placing the chains around his neck just right. You knew just how he would have rolled up the sleeves of his shirt so he could decorate his wrists with diamond bracelets and an expensive watch, exactly how he would slip each and every ring onto his fingers, spinning them until they were the perfect angle. You’d seen him do it all before, waiting for him as you all got ready for a night out, teasing him about taking longer to get ready than you. He would always joke that perfection takes time, winking at you as he would make his way over to you. His hand almost always found your lower back as he would guide you out of the random hotels or one of his homes, meeting your friends in the lobby. Maybe you should have seen it, maybe this was always his plan. He frequently found ways to make sure he was alone with you, having you come over and get ready with him, having the two of you take a separate car than everyone else so you would meet them there. If that had been his plan all along, why didn’t he make his move one of those many nights, alone in his hotel room or in the back of a town car.

Your head feels like it’s spinning as you think through almost every encounter you’ve had with him over the years. You shake away the fogginess, quickly making your way into Charlotte's room. You can feel your cheeks heating up and your eyes getting blurry as you slip into your coziest pajamas. You sit down on the end of the bed, putting your head in your hands. You don’t know how long you sit like that, trying your best to will away the tears that are fighting so hard to fall.

“Hey, honey, what’s wrong?” Charlotte's voice catches your attention.

She moves quickly to sit next to you on the bed, rubbing your back softly. When you finally look at her even more concern washes over her face. You don’t say anything, just shake your head as a single tear falls down your cheek, the lone escapee.

“Y/N, sweetie, talk to me,” She says quietly, “you know you can tell me anything.”

You do know that, Charlotte knows more about you than anyone else. She’s never judged you, never made you feel bad for your feelings, but this feels different. She’s the same person for Lewis, the man that has you in tears.

“I think I should go home.” You croak out, looking away from her.

“What? Are you crazy? Absolutely not,” Charlotte is quick to argue, “Talias gone, we can finally have the vacation we wanted to have.”

“It’s not Talia.” You admit quietly.

“Does your head hurt? We can get you to a doctor here on the island.” Charlotte quickly suggests.

“No, Charlotte, it’s not-” You start,cutting yourself off and dropping your face into your hands once again, “Fuck, I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, why don’t you talk to me about whatever’s going on and maybe I can help you figure it out.” She offers reassuringly, wrapping her arm around you and pulling you in tight, her hand still rubbing your back.

And so you do, you let the tears and the story all out into Charlotte's shoulder. You tell her about the conversation you had with Lewis the night he disappeared, the conversation you overheard between the two of them, what he did later that day, you tell her everything. You tell her about questioning everything about your relationship with him, about wondering if he really wants to be your friend. You tell her about how he tried to take care of you on the beach, about Talia’s comment about him, how you wanted to be sick when Daniel implied Lewis was going out to get laid. You tell her everything that you so desperately needed to get out. Charlotte is good, exactly what you needed as she sits there listening quietly, still just rubbing your back and letting you vent about the whole thing. When you finally stop talking she stays quiet for a moment, just letting you cry into her shoulder.

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.” Is the first thing she mutters. It’s then that you realize just how tense she’s become as she listened to you talk, she seems almost as angry as you had been.

You pull away from her, trying to calm yourself down a bit, feeling ever so slightly better having gotten everything off your chest. The anger dissipates from her face when she meets your eyes, being overtaken by comfort and compassion.

“Sweetie, I’m so sorry. I love him like a brother, but he’s a right fucking twat.” She says, rubbing your arm, “You don’t deserve to be in the middle of his stupid fucking shenanigans, it’s so far from fair.”

“I just don’t know what to do, I don’t want to lose him, I don’t want to lose all of you, but I don’t know how that can even happen. Nothing can just be normal again.” You sniffle through your words

“Hey, you are never, ever going to lose us. Especially not me, and I think I speak for Miles as well, we’re not going anywhere. I’m rather confident that if you told the guys about all this they would knock his head in.” She says sternly, making her point clear. 

You let out a half hearted chuckle, knowing deep down that she’s probably right.

“Listen, we all know Lewis is a fuck boy, he has been for years and we all just let him do his thing. But to try to fuck around with someone that we all love, that crosses a line, he doesn’t get to fuck all of this up just because he’s a horny asshole.” She states firmly, her hand resting on your arm.

“You know what I hate the most of all?” You look at her, ready to admit the part you find the most embarrassing, “I let him do it, well up until I didn’t. Not only that, but I liked it, there’s part of me that wishes I didn’t stop him. And I’ve fucking thought about it since.” You scoff at yourself.

“I get it, he has a certain charm to him. He knows exactly how to make people fall to his feet, but you have nothing to be ashamed of. He makes people feel powerful and wanted, it’s addictive, even when you’re just his friend. There’s a certain aspect of being around Lewis that is like the best drug in the world, it’s almost impossible to kick.” She sounds like she talks from experience and you almost can’t help but wonder just how deep the experience is.

She can see the question in your eyes before you even have a chance to whisper it into the air.

“No,” she shuts you down quickly, her hand up in the air to put the thought to rest, “I have never and would never. I just mean the aura of him, even platonically he is impossible to deny.”

You nod, knowing the feeling all too well. Then another thought pops into your head.

“Where do you think he really is tonight?” You ask, not sure you actually want the answer.

“I know where he is,” She assures you but not giving you the information you crave, “he really is with a friend, nothing’s going on.”

“Marina?” You ask timidly.

She nods softly, not saying anything else about it.

“Who-” You start to ask but she cuts you off gently.

“I’m sure you don’t want to, but you should really talk to him about that. It’s not my place to tell.” She says, leaving you with even more questions.

You simply nod, she’s right you don’t want to talk to him about it, but maybe you should.

“I know he fucked up, and I’m pissed at him for it. He deserves a good smack to the head.” She starts making you laugh lightly, “But that being said, don’t question if he cares about you Y/N. I’ve known him for a long time and he doesn’t go out of his way for people he doesn’t care about, his personal time is precious to him and he doesn’t share it with just anyone, well unless they're in his bed I suppose.” She frowns.

“So Talia? He certainly went out of his way for her, he brought her on vacation the same way he brought me.” You point out, not entirely sure if you believe her.

Charlotte laughs, “No he didn’t, he was actually kind of annoyed she was coming at all. She was at his place one morning when he was making the plans and she invited herself. He told her she could come if she figured out her own way here, he was hoping she would give up but as we know she didn’t. He brought you on vacation because he missed you, he talks about you alot.”

“He does?” You ignore the story about Talia, not particularly surprised by it. Him talking to Charlotte about you though, that surprises you.

“Yeah, more than you would expect,” She chuckles, “if you guys spend anytime together I get the full rundown within like an hour. He’s like a teenage girl half the time. He will text me just to check how you’re doing because he doesn’t want to bother you if he knows you’re busy, yet he can’t go a day without knowing you’re alright. I hate to say it Y/N but I do think he likes you, more than you might realize. Unfortunately he’s an idiot who’s been emotionally single for almost a decade and has no idea how to show his feelings like an adult. He jumps to physical, and apparently has the worst timing of anyone on earth.”

Your head is spinning as you process what Charlotte is saying. You know she has an insight to Lewis that you could never dream of and you don’t feel like she has any reason to lie to you, yet you can’t let yourself believe it.

“Listen, it’s not my place to tell you how he feels about you, truth be told I’m not one hundred percent clear, but if I had to put money on it, I would say he really likes you, much more than just a friend. It’s honestly possible he doesn’t even really recognize it himself, like I said, it’s been a long time since he had an emotional connection with someone beyond family and friends, he’s shut himself down to it for a long time. I’m not trying to stick up for him, if you want to say ‘fuck him’ and cut him off, I truly wouldn’t blame you, he treated you like shit even if he didn’t mean to. He fucked up big time and he deserves to sweat, but I think you should talk to him, at least eventually. I know you both care about each other a lot, it would be a shame if it all ended.” Charlotte is calm as she speaks, each word coming out clearly and truthfully.

Her speech has you mind racing, there’s no way he likes you like that. Why the hell would he? He has his pick of the litter and as far as you’re concerned you were an easy target, you fell right into his lap at the perfect time when he wanted a distraction. Yet, on the other hand, it would make everything make a whole bunch more sense; the constant need to be around you, the unnecessary spoiling, the constant physical contact, the flirty messages and comments, the over protective behavior. Everything that you had chalked up to just being his personality, may actually mean something, something that maybe neither one of you really recognized.

“Okay, you’ve had a long day, how about we get some sleep and we deal with all of this tomorrow with a clearer head.” Charlotte suggests when you don’t respond, your mind still doing cartwheels.

You nod, sliding into bed as she takes her spot next to you. She turns off the light next to the bed before wrapping you in a hug. You start to doze off quickly, everything catching up to you.

“No matter what, you’re not going to lose us. I promise.” Charlotte whispers to you.

It’s the last thing you hear as you let yourself fall into a much needed deep sleep.

[relatableblorbopoll]

Round 1 of preliminaries, group 10

The first two places get a place on the bracket

Little reminder: there will be 2 more rounds of preliminaries, the losing blorbos of this poll still have 2 chances of getting in the official bracket

Propaganda under the cut

Nagisa Ran (Ensemble Stars)

"- autistic - grew up very isolated - nonbinary. to me. - they had a speech impediment veeeery similar to the one i used to have and their current speaking patterns are very similar to the way i speak - we both have a special interest in geology - i'd list more but the rest are just autism symptoms so. uhhh"

Waver Velvet (Fate series /The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II)

No propaganda

Shuichi Saihara (Danganronpa V3)

"sorry for submitting a danganronpa character but hear me out!! there's many reasons shuichi is a relatable character, such as: 1. he's def lgbtq+ actually. in the free time events with kaito momota (another male character), shuichi's inner monologue says "only someone like him could tell me what i need to hear." before he internally scolds himself saying he "shouldn't talk about another boy like that" 2. self doubt. throughout the game, he doubts his detective skills a lot. well, in earlier chapters. he grows out of it but yk. he feels like he isn't a "real detective" n all 3. a. autism. throughout the entire prologue and chapter 1, he wears a hat to avoid eye contact. while there is an actual reason that isn't autism, i still think that's autism behavior. also he seemingly knows a lot about true crime and at one point, when another character brings up the victorian era, he responds by mentioning jack the ripper. 4. he's very sad. chapter 1? cries. chapter 3? cries. chapter 5? cries. chapter 6? cries. he might've cried other times i don't remember though. although it is fair bc people are dying. but even outside of the death, he is sad. refer to number 2. also he feels like he shouldn't have solved the case that made him the ultimate detective. (there are reasons for that. also linked to the hat.) and more"

Opossums (real life)

"Nocturnal creatures that just like wanna chill and eat, plus they have to lay down when really stressed, they are like me for real."

Midori Takamine (Ensemble Stars!! Music)

"- literally just some guy that gets dragged into things (accidentally became an idol somehow) - his only real interests are mascot characters and vegetables + he finds talking to people bothersome - all of his friends are extroverted or very friendly while midori is just… there. - cringefail loser who can’t talk to people without being nervous despite being a 5’10 giant and an idol (179cm), only really talks a lot when discussing mascots - depressed, just straight up clinical depression but its ok cause he’s working on it and doesn’t let it get him too down"

Seven of nine (Star Trek)

"seven of nine is a big ball of identity questioning in one person. she literally has a whole section on her wiki page titled "identity crises". mood. as a child she's snatched up and made part of a hivemind, all these cyborg augments put into her, the usual scifi stuff. but her story begins when she's freed. against her will, even if it's ultimately for the best. she has no idea how to relate to these people, how to speak or act or dress or sound. big autism mood. big trans mood. big gay mood, because she has no idea what anyone is supposed to do when dating and it turns out she's into women and ends up with a girlfriend so it's no wonder she couldn't connect to all the lessons about boyfriends and the attempt to date a man! multiple times she's forced to assimilate and act more "human" and change her name but she won't! and the people who make an effort to understand end up important found family and friends. and she ends up in control of her own life and a captain!! legend."

[archiveikemen]

Ikemen Villains Prologue: Chapter 7

I do not own any of the Ikemen Series content being uploaded on this blog, everything belongs to CYBIRD. Please support them by downloading and playing their games.

read this before interacting with my posts

I glanced around the dining room and noticed two people who barely said a word, so I fixed my eyes on them.

Specifically the man in a long jacket who wasn't even trying to hide his dangerous aura. There was a villainous air surrounding him.

If I am to be honest, he appeared unapproachable.

The moment I made eye contact with him his face twisted into a displeased expression.

Sinister Looking Man: Tch… gross.

(Uh…)

I felt shaken by the sudden extreme expression of disgust directed at me.

Victor: Don’t say that. Be nice to her, Jude.

Jude: No. What were you thinking, making use of Her Majesty’s power to trap this ordinary person?

(Ordinary person…)

(... Oh, is he trying to defend me?)

He seemed cold and distant from the other members of Crown, but maybe he’s a more fair person than I expected.

Kate: Nice to meet you, Jude.

I greeted him feeling a little hopeful, and he narrowed his eyes that resembled amethysts.

Jude: Sorry you got forced to come here. Want me to help you get out?

Kate: Huh?

His facial expression changed when I widened my eyes upon hearing those words whispered to me unexpectedly.

Jude: Kidding. What were you expecting me to do, idiot?

(Wha…!?)

Jude: Good luck to you, though. I dare guarantee you that you won't even last a month before you run away and get yourself killed.

After insulting me with his sharp tongue and a cruel smile, Jude left the dining room.

(As expected, he’s so unfriendly… his mannerisms also show that he has a brute personality.)

(But his accent… is he an immigrant?)

Tall Young Man: Don't worry about him. That's just how he talks to everyone he meets.

Kate: Wah…!

A tall young man was suddenly right next to me.

(Goodness, I didn't notice him there at all.)

(This guy is the one who suggested to kill me just now—)

Ellis: I’m Ellis.

He had a calm and gentle voice, and being near him made me turn cold.

There was this unsettling gut feeling that something was watching me from the darkness.

Kate: Nice to meet you… Ellis.

Ellis: Mm… nice to meet you too. I often go out of town with Jude to attend to some business, but I’ll make you as happy as possible while I’m here.

(Make me happy…?)

His words sounded so much like a marriage proposal, and what made it even more surprising was the fact that this was the same man who suggested to have me killed just a while ago.

I stared back at him, but his face remained expressionless.

(Maybe he only said that for politeness sake… albeit in a rather peculiar way.)

Kate: … Thank you. What kind of business do you do…?

Ellis: It’s a trading company. Jude’s the boss. I’m his assistant.

(That man is his boss…)

Victor: Alrighty, now you’ve got all their names, right? Some of these kids didn’t reveal their curses, but you’ll find out soon during your time as a “fairytale writer”.

Victor clapped his hands together and laughed merrily.

Victor: Allow me to show you a magic trick as a welcome gift before we start your castle tour.

Liam: Wow! *claps*

Roger: Another waste of our precious time.

Harrison: … This is insane. I’d rather use this time to take a shower than watch that lame stuff.

Alfons: Won’t it be so delightful to see the tomfoolery of the oddball who finds joy in embarrassing himself in public.

Victor: I need an assistant. Anyone up for the job? El?

Elbert: … I don't want to…

Victor: Mmm how are you still so charming with that sad face? Well then, what about Elis?

Ellis: If it’ll make you happy, sure.

Victor: I thank you for your altruism and self-sacrificing principles. Now, please lie down on the table—

(A magic show all of a sudden…)

They’re all laughing so happily right now. This is the same group of people who just took a life.

Even the sounds of their laughter made me fearful as I recalled their glares at the murder scene.

William: Are you scared?

Kate: …! Sir William…

[chireikiden]

What are the things in lore you would say ZUN 100% retconned/later ignored in regards to his own material?

This was a pretty broad question to answer at the drop of a hat, so I let it sit in my inbox for a while and wrote down a couple things that came to mind in the meantime.

As we all know, yadda yadda, Touhou is very good at simply not bringing things up again, and thus you can very rarely argue that some individual thing has been outright retconned based simply on its absence in later works. Add unreliable narrators on top, and that only really leaves the very clear contradictions.

Early Windows stuff: You can surely find more if you crawl more carefully than I felt like doing, but here’s some that I remember. The EoSD prologue tells us that Gensokyo is just a seldom visited region in the mountains with a few random humans living amongst monsters, implicitly no Human Village, and no barrier around it. Reimu is worried that the red mist would basically flow out of Gensokyo and into what we'd now consider "the Outside World", which may or may not be aware of Gensokyo and just ignoring it. It's not hard at all to slot into the current setting by moving around a couple things, but read on its own without anachronistic assumptions it's clearly different. Basically, it's a good example of how the essentials of Gensokyo as a setting really weren't fully formed until at least a couple games later.

As an extension of that, I think a lot of things associated with EoSD - like the preceding Vampire Incident, the spell card rules, or even the SDM being newcomers to Gensokyo - weren’t even a twinkle in ZUN’s eye at the time he made EoSD, and were only retconned into existence starting roughly with PMiSS. (Them being newcomers is arguable based on stuff like Reimu not knowing the mansion was there, but that’s also easily explained by Reimu being Reimu.)

PCB starts fleshing things out a bit more and has fewer outright contradictions, but still for example claims/implies that humans sealed up Gensokyo in order to lock the youkai inside. Not irreconcilable, especially if you assume an unreliable narrator yadda yadda, but I think it’s fair to consider it retconned.

By the time of IN, the main pieces are more or less in place and there’s a lot less stuff that would need to be retconned later on, but you can still find some messiness especially related to the Moon if you want to read it that way.

Reimu’s luck: While it’s come up on rare occasion, typically in the form of her “intuition” but also in LE where she uses it for gambling, I don’t think it’s ever again been anywhere near as extreme as that time in EaLND where she walked over a river by happening to step on random fish. If anything, she usually seems pretty unlucky at everything that isn’t specifically gambling or solving incidents, but that might be its own hair to split.

Just for bonus points: Since it’s been on my mind. The literal meaning of retcon is “retroactive continuity”. I think the manga, games etc. typically work on a Schrödinger’s Timeline that simply doesn’t exist until it is directly referenced somehow, and even then it’s only loosely defined. For example, CDS and Lotus Eaters started around the same time (in real life), which was also when the first Gouyoku Ibun demo came out. Lotus Eaters could be making long time skips for all we know, but the events of CDS have probably spanned only a couple weeks at most.

And now we have Lotus Eaters' latest chapters taking place shortly after the events of Gouyoku. In that case, when Yukari summons Flan into the Underground to act as her ballistic missile in CDS, is she doing it before or after Okina did literally the same thing in Gouyoku? When does CDS take place in relation to Gouyoku, or any given LE chapter? Or does it, and every Touhou story, merely take place “now”, even if it started in 2019 and it’s now 2023?

Since Touhou stories tend to only reference each other when they feel like it and are otherwise perfectly comfortable just not bringing it up in any way, there’s a good chance we’ll never know. Or they could simply say something in the next chapter just because. But usually not.

[mrfancyfoot]

Plots & Prosody is now live on AO3! :D

Prosody is my Patchwork Plots spin-off/alternate timeline drabble/snapshot series that features Raphael x Evie (f!human OC).

.

Rating: Explicit Summary:

All’s fair in love and war. Plots & Prosody is the equally indulgent Patchwork Plots spin-off (mis)adventures of Evie, set during the main events of BG3 and after, as she makes a new life for herself in Baldur’s Gate. And the devil attempting to court her while he takes over the Hells. . . Things are bustling in Baldur’s Gate as the city rebuilds. Life is looking up for Evie who has ambitions set on her (re-)inventions and business ventures as she juggles a certain vampire’s budding political career, the unwitting godhood bestowed upon her by a clan of fanatical fish people, and the increasing attentions of a devil who she believes woefully has no other friends.

Prologue: Fire and Brimstone

Summary: A snapshot of domesticity as it will manifest in the future. Warning: Suggestive language

“I read this all used to be green?”  Sitting in the nook of the window with her tea in hand, Evie looked out upon the crimson lands, much torched and barren from the constant onslaught of war.  The skies were occasionally punctuated by bright balls of fire crashing to the land.  A land she may never have the ability to set foot on despite now calling it home half of the time.

Raphael leaned on the wall behind her and followed her gaze.  “Mm, as it was first created by Asmodeus, before the Blood War.”

She tipped her head back to look up at him.  “And how do you see Avernus?”

“However we like, sweetling.”  His hand rose to run his knuckles over her cheek.  “Once the Blood War is curbed here, it may return.  Is that how you desire to see Avernus reborn?”

She leaned into the warmth of his touch.  “I think it’s more poetic for the Hells to greet with temptation.  Potentially more effective if you can smack them with the disparity of beauty and brimstone.”  Evie knew his priorities weren’t in how the Hells looked - yet - his focus on reining in the other layers under his - their - rule.

His eyes narrowed on her as he leant forward but there was a spark of humor in them.  “Are you certain it isn’t simply for a better view?”

“That, too,” she giggled.  “Speaking of beauty, I have to go visit the Underdark to see how my fishies are doing.  Depending on that, I’ll probably spend the rest of the day working out of the warehouse.  Or…hm.”  Evie touched a hand to her chin as she rethought that.  “No, I’ll stop by to pick stuff up and then go home.  I feel like I’ll need the sun and fresh air.  And a shower.  I need to have that seasonal room built.”  The research on the Underdark waters was well under way.  The first step towards identifying the sources of rot and pollution.  Her Kuo-toa could live in it but they were far from thriving - she wasn’t entirely convinced the rotting foods weren’t making them ill, but determining that was its own project as they insisted otherwise.  She couldn’t command them to not eat rotting foods until they had stable sources of fresh foods.

Where did she put her menthol rub?

“Be back for dinner,” Raphael commanded.  She knew better than to think it was a request.

Her brows rose in interest.  Dinner together was proving to be a very occasional luxury with how busy they both were.  Many contracts were struck over the evening hours - mortals wooed with the ol’ ‘wine n’ dine’ - keeping him out until the wee hours on the clock.  The rest of the night was typically paperwork and strategizing for a devil that needed far less sleep than she did.  Breakfast was their time together before meetings upon meetings ruled their days.

“Any occasion or simply dinner?”  Necessary to ask in case they were hosting someone she hadn’t been aware of.  He’d thankfully adopted her vastly more organised agenda system, so it was rare that such things surprised her.  Either way, by telling her, he was also saying that he was expecting her to be presentable, so she’d need to cook in time to get back and prepped.  She just needed to know what kind of presentable.

He took her hand in his own.  “Simply dinner with my Archduchess.”  Lips pressed to her palm with a look that promised more than ‘simply.’

She hid her mirth in her mug.  “Don’t you have a meeting?”

Raphael's smile turned dark and he hissed, “He can sweat.”

Uh-oh.  Someone was getting fired.  Quite literally by the look on his face.  She’d check the name again later to make sure it didn’t affect her own affairs.  Hers weren’t terribly entwined with his yet, so it was doubtful outside of a handful of people.  Raphael held very little patience for failure among his rank and file but there was always someone else itching and clawing to take a vacancy.

Evie turned and slid from the settee, then downed the last of her tea.  Time to get the ball rolling on the day.  From the perpetually bright fire and brimstone of Avernus to the cool darkness of the mushroom forested Underdark.  She had come to find a comfort in the latter as she tended to her piscine worshipers - perhaps one day she’d find the same here.

Reaching up to snag his collar before he turned away, she pulled him back down to press a peck to his cheek.  “See ya later!” she bid with a wave as she made to leave the bedroom, not missing the way his fist clenched against his urge to pull her back.  If he did, they wouldn’t be leaving the room for some time.

Now she just had to make sure time didn’t get away from her again.  The bruises on her ass had only just disappeared from the last time she hadn’t been paying attention and came home late without checking in.  ‘To serve as a reminder each time you sit,’ he’d said.  They’d probably last twice as long if she was late again…  Assuming he didn’t get creative with his discipline.  It was best to try not to find out.

[hazelplaysgames]

uuuuh since the SD card port went and just stopped, i really haven't felt like uploading clips. so. bleck. i think i can already chalk it up as a mixed year for me.

that said, i feel like i should make at least something now that the queue is unquestionably emptying, so. how about them phone games? i'll just make it one big one under a Keep Reading because, fair warning, they're all gacha games. on that front alone, i can't advocate for anyone getting in all willy nilly. keep in mind, i haven't spent anything on any of them. i got "luck" in my usual username for a reason.

let me start with the only one i've played since... ah, last august, actually, Blue Archive! it's going well, i just hit level 87, the level cap for the time being, a couple days ago.

i'm still having fun with that one, so. nine months of fun with that one, story that kicked me like a mule, definitely more out of my time with it than i thought i was gonna get. we're in the middle of new stories now, and to fill in the event void, we're getting this mini-event featuring a girl named Aoi, who basically just shows up for that event. been a while. as you might guess by me bringing her up unprompted: a minor character who doesn't show up often? she stole my heart. it's honestly kinda impressive. something about her voice, mainly.

also, good news from the JP servers: they're putting the twin catgirl gamers in maid outfits! well, i mean, that event is a repeat, those two already were, but we'll be able to take them home this time!

additionally, a few months back, they started this system that grants a 10 pull ticket that's good for a month.

it has been working out for me. didn't get any bunny girls for the collab after Cunifest, so i missed out on comedy, but i at least got the two collab girls in a pity pull's worth. the actual bunny event is coming up just after my birthday in June, and. well, i won't argue with bunnies for my birthday. probably post about that tuesday/thursday if it's REALLY good, or split it 100 pulls per those days?

nah, at most it's 20 screenshots, lets not drag that out. it can be done in 1 post.

next, i got into Nikke far more recently- a couple months is accurate- and like. i get a lot of sniper rifle users in that one. Frima was the first, Red Hood(who is widely considered by the userbase as one of if not THE strongest unit. i can believe it), Alice(who is still considered damn good with Red here. the loaned version makes me believe it), Trony, D: Killer Wife(i actually pulled D and her alt costume at the same time), Harran, Maxwell- why am i a sniper rifle magnet? is it 'cause i like to play Heavy? am i just an easy mark?

you know i just realized neither of those pages show the girls names. be amazed i got Kasumi and Hiyori in the BA ones, please please. at the very least, the numbers on the bottom left can tell you those were actually the first pulls of those two banners.

anyways. since it was after i got through the final chapter in BA, i kinda figured it'd have a good story as well, and, yeah, absolutely better than i first thought. but the story is gated behind levelling, and while this was a point against BA too, it's far more prominent here. like, i got through all of BA's plot once i hit the 60s back in like, January or so, the grind to get into the story is practically constant with Nikke. also, the main story is 30 chapters in, and they're now calling it the prologue. i don't really want to witness that unchecked growth.

that all said, the main reason i got into either in the first place was because of the music: lotta good stuff in these two. no one set style, no one set tone, sum of it all is great. it is hard to suggest a place to start.

uh, as for the only gun gacha game i dropped right now, Arknights. just never meshed even after a few months, and if i remember right, the story has a similar issue as Nikke in being levelling locked. that all said, Nikke is probably the one i'll drop once phone space gets scarce. i enjoy it, but for the fact it's still the largest of the lot, eh... sadly, the best choice.

oh, and speaking of bunny girls, looks like that's also gonna be the next event for Nikke. hilarious. Alice is finally gettin' a proper alt!

in any case, i don't wanna go ditchin' the two rhythm games! i'll talk about the two side by side, kinda, if you wanna call it that. the first of which, Bang Dream! Girls Band Party!, commonly just called Bandori, and the second, D4DJ Groovy Mix. they both got a good selection of songs, though i do have to admit that if Bandori didn't have Butterfly, the song from Digimon, i probably would not have got into it these two as much as i did. here's two pages for that one:

they recently made a push for 500 songs in it, so i'm only missing about 80. i feel quite proud for clearing all those Hard songs, i was barely kicking past medium when i first started in December. unfortunately for me, this kinda also stems the flow of free stars, i think i'll get at best, one or two more pity pulls within the year. for birthday banners. those are like, 1/3 of normal banners. it's a harsh star economy here. anyways, D4DJ:

it throws a lot more currency types around, and the story... it might be timing about the whole xross wars arc, but what it is now ain't hitting what i'm looking for. ain't saying bad, just that i was kinda expecting more mundane. the gems in this one are also fairly consistent, so unless i want a lot ASAP, i feel like i can get a good, healthy enough amount within the rest of the year, even if the pulls are pricier than Bandori. might be going a little harder than i need to for some birthday banners.

if i could give shorthand preferences, i'd say: i give D4DJ props for the gameplay and modes that can be played, as well as overall difficulty curve and even accessibility, while Bandori i'll give the characters and story. while i like Rika(the redhead in the bunny suit up there) and Rinku of D4, i can fill out several lines of characters i like from Bandori, so. most of them, actually.

above the rest, easily, Kokoro, the blond one up there, she's just so happy like a ray of sunshine, i adore her. whenever a Hello, Happy World! song demo starts playing, it's usually her on vocals, and like a moth to a flame, i wanna play it.

i feel like both have great song selections, but what they each encompass is a bit different: Bandori only has originals and cover songs, all lyrics, all the way, and i think most of them are good. meanwhile, D4DJ, while obviously having ori's and covers, also has some original songs from other artists, instrumentals, and game music straight from either the source or a remixer like Camellia, who made a few songs in Mad Rat Dead, and i really appreciate having those as well.

ok, i am underplaying Camellia's full efforts there, fella does a lot of good remixes and originals. i mean, a lot a lot. you can't go two rhythm games without seeing his name, and for good reason: he's that good.

also, i know both series have youtube channels with animated seasons to them, but i haven't given either a watch yet. i learned those channels existed like a week ago, never considered the possibility before.

also.

love these birthday banners! D4DJ even gives you a few free pulls once a day while the banner is up to celebrate, which i find nice.

i guess i did also try Love Live 2, but, by download size, that was actually bigger than Nikke, and it relied entirely on its original songs. it felt hard to get into, aaaand... it is shutting down in a couple days now. still, got Snow Halation in, Rin was cute, Nico Nico Ni, Nozomi Tojo, David Schwimmer, guest starring the "SKULLS" parasite unit. to explain the joke, Triple-Q's Friends Halation. i like most Snow Halation mashes.

all right, anything else i want to mention here and now... nah. i think that's good, i feel talked out.

[mihai-florescu]

sorry im back with more 18trip stuff but having finished the prologue (i read it on 82mitsu's blog but i think someone else has translated it too) and kafka is very eichi. apparently enough that the friend i was talking about earlier quote "this is the ninth time [they've] seen this comparison. [they] cannot turn a blind eye to it anymore."

but to be completely fair kafka says "Today, you felt it when going around HAMA, didn’t you? In the past, how it differs from the first trip that you gifted me… That the HAMA we know now—it’s in a tough spot. I’m no longer that ill person waiting for Kaede-chan’s tales of traveling. I’ll wager all that’s left of my life, and bring HAMA back on its feet. And in order to achieve that, I need you. That’s why…So, Kaede-chan, bet your whole life on me too." (Prologue 008, 82mitsu tl). Feel like that one speaks for itself. -📖

Yeah i also kept saying ppl compare him to eichi on my tl😭 or at least i saw eichiPs liking him. Im afraid i misread HAMA as HEMA and the idea of an idol game being set inside a HEMA store (which is, like, idk, the equivalent of a target where i live? Ive never been to target but that's the vibe im getting from how ppl talk about it online) was very enticing. If they ventured into roblox with SLAYMA whats stopping them from making an idol group? Someone put me on the phone with the ceo right meow

[friendsim2]

Looking back on the game so far is there anything you’d change? Is there a character you would’ve written differently or made more/less important?

(director/lead writer responding)

This is a tricky question to answer, because there's not really any one singular thing that I'd personally want to change in terms of, like, "I really don't like how this came out at all." And with some time for it to marinate, I really enjoy a lot of the elements of what we ended up doing (and there's some aspects coming up that close the loop on a couple things I'm excited for folks to see), although I do have a few things:

More low-end machine testing for the walk-around segments. Especially the Volume 3 style stuff, because there was a solution to the initial issues with control responsiveness and I wish we'd delivered it out of the gate being less frustrating to play. I was actually watching a livestream where someone was using the keyboard and realized just how bad it was. As it stands now, it's actually quite good (I re-wrote the control handler to use PyGame instead of RenPy's control layer), but on release it wasn't great.

Someone mentioned having a Marsti walk-around segment related to Volume 4 and I think that would've been really cool. Volume 4 was already one of our longest routes, so I don't know where we would've stuck it in, but I still think it's a neat concept.

I wish we'd had the resources to put something akin to the Volume 1 trial sequence into Volume 8 - I think it would've been thematically appropriate, but it also would've required a bunch of sprite resources we didn't have and additional time spent on a volume that was already a decently chunky amount of writing.

Character-wise, I'm pretty happy with the balance of how folks were written. I know some people were disappointed we didn't focus more on certain characters - and I'll readily admit that "I like writing this character" plays a role in how to prioritize stuff (which, to be fair, it did in the original game too). But also, I think even the characters that're less of a focal point still got some decent development (and yeah, you'll see more Vikare/Zebede coming up as supporting characters). I wouldn't have minded having a bit more Folykl and Kuprum since they were a lot of fun to write. Kinda wish that I'd wrapped Lanque back into Volume 6 and 7 a little bit more.

I feel like the prologue volume probably could've used another pass of editing. It's the first thing I wrote for the game, so you can definitely see where the tone of the original Friendsim and Pesterquest is more of an inspiration, and the game's unique voice hasn't quite started to shine through yet. Which I suppose would be considered a high point if you really wanted "Friendsim, but again" but also I feel like the differentiation for "this is going to be a sequel, not a repeat" doesn't really start to hit until Volume 1 starts. I'm not unhappy with the writing, but I can't help but feel a little so-so about it, especially since I'm really happy with Volume 1 as folks' first major experience with the game and its writing.

This is so incredibly out of scope, but I think it would've been neat to make the entire game a full-on Act 2 style adventure game merged with visual novel elements for literally every volume. It would've been a huge amount of work, required a different engine (or significant work to make the Volume 7 walk-around engine scale up better), and cost a bunch more money but can you imagine how cool it would be!

[relativelynormalgameshow]

GAMES I PLAYED IN 2023

I managed to chew through and bite into quite a few games during 2023.

The number of games I finished is much lower unfortunately.

In this summary I will try to sum up the interesting picks from MY last year.

I almost haven’t touched any of the games released last year as I still didn’t have a next gen system until December and I don’t really like playing on PC. That’s my last resort option to be actually honest… I will try to at least mention some objective stuff in the short bits of text that I dedicate to each game (Because trust me, my rants and reviews could go for ages...) but take it that the list is mostly my subjective feeling of me as a gamer. 

This list is divided into

- Honorable mentions

- Main mentions

- I ESPECIALLY LOVED THOSE GAMES

and

- MEH at BEST 

which is a category dedicated to the most of my personal disappointments of the previous year… Unfortunately featuring two great games due to… reasons.

Honorable mentions I don’t want to rant about for hours but would still recommend, even if I haven’t finished some of them: 

Super Mario Bowser’s Fury (8/10)

SIFU (8/10)

Astral Chain (Unfinished, Greatest prologue of all time tho)

No more heroes (Unfinished, 6.5/10 so far) 

Vampire Survivors (7/10) 

Marvel’s Spiderman Miles Morales (8.5/10)

Astro’s Playroom (9/10)

Observer (7.5/10)

Monster Hunter Rise (8/10)

Kingdom Hearts 3 (7.5/10) 

Attack on Titan 2 (8.5/10 Absolute must play if you love AoT Franchise ) 

________________________________________

1) Main Category! 

- - -

Game: Legend of Zelda: Tears of the kingdom Platform: Switch (Duh) Status: Unfinished Rating:  So far? 7/10 Recommend?: Play Breath of Wild first. 

This is one of the games, where if you didn’t like the first game, you won’t like this one as well quite probably.

The game is fun. I got a bit disappointed later in the game as I expected the sky islands to play a much bigger part in the gameplay, and the underground is just… meh after a while.

Still an amazing game without a doubt. It’s so intuitive and it really gets you hooked. The fuse mechanics are absolutely amazing. I like the story so far. The artstyle and OST’s are still amazing, as they were in BOTW.

- - -

Game: Persona 3: Portable Platform: Switch Status: 2/3 finished Rating: Amazing actually. Recommend?: Y E S !

This was a game I was gifted by my friend and I jumped right into it.

I’ve been having Persona 3 on my radar since I started playing Persona 5 years ago.

And for a good reason.

This game is edgy and emo as hell, and that’s why I am loving every second with the game. As with Persona 5, after the second third the game grows a bit repetitive as you are stuck in the same loop of dialogues - tartarus - social links - dialogues - tartarus - etc. So I got a bit of a break and still haven’t managed to get back.

Wanna finish the story at least. It really is an interesting game and I can’t wait for the remake hitting next gen’s in February 2024.

So far I’d definitely recommend the game. Even more on the Switch. Shame they used the compressed audio-files of the P3P but other than that, it is perfect for pulling up a bit of a game when waiting for a bus, or riding home etc. 

- - -

Game: NieR: Replicant ver.1.22474487139… Platform: PS4 Status: Finished the story (Without Route C) Rating: 7/10 Recommend?: … yeeeaaah? If you liked Automata in the first place tho.  

NieR: Replicant ver. THE PASSWORD THAT SHOULD FINALLY BE OK ENOUGH, is a difficult game to rate.

I love the same things I loved on Automata here. Interesting characters, AMAZING soundtrack, fun combat… But in comparison to Automata, this game severely lacks the interesting existentialism and deep meaningful insight that the later one has.

I mean, it makes sense! It's stuff that was added in the “Sequel” and it makes sense it isn’t here. This game focuses on other aspects, like human desperation, greed, etc. Also yeah, fair to note it dabbles into a bit of existentialism here and there, but it more focuses on the meaning of personal quests, villainy, antagonism etc.

Initially I wanted to get a platinum from this game, as I have platinumed Automata before and love the game so much I actually own it on both PS4 and Switch as physical releases. But honestly, Replicant is way more boring and slow paced.

Sure there are more action packed moments, and I must say that for example the bosses were fun. Also it was amazing to finally experience from where my most favorite game of all time stems from, but I just can't look at the game without peeking at Automata and treating Replicant with the parenting quote

“Why can’t you be more like him???” 

- - -

Game: Needy Streamer Overdose Platform: PC Status: Reached few of the endings Rating:  8/10 Recommend?: Not for the faint of heart.  

Since the mission Dream On in Cyberpunk 2077 I don’t think I ever experienced serious chills during a game.

Until I played NSO. This was a game that hooked me with its 2000s Tumblr aesthetic, its cute e-girl and goth lolita themes and with the fact I heard it's basically a Doki Doki Literature club with some extra steps.

(Fair to say, I haven't played DDLC, but I Saw a hefty bit of essays on how it handles horror.)

It’s possible this game in particular spoke to me because of things I was dealing with through my friends in the past… But from a game that is basically a streamer simulator, I didn't expect it would give me cold hands, force me to blankly stare into the screen and force me to close the game because it got me so depressed. 

I might dedicate a more detailed review to it once I finish all the endings…

But so far I just have to say that this cutely looking game is not for the faint of heart.

Having the life of another person, even if it's this pixelated double-faced creature, can lead to some very psychically harmful situations.

Ame-chan is both love-able and hate-able character at the same time. And since this game doesn’t fear to dip into su1c1de, s3lf-h4rm1ng, depre55ion, 4nx1ety, slut acts for attention and other kinds of attention desperation, it can make you feel very sick if these themes are hard to handle for you. It for sure made me feel sick from my stomach. And I thank this game for it.

I haven’t expected something so rough from it, but I must tip my hat to this game for managing to make me feel this way. 

- - - 2) GAMES THAT I ESPECIALLY WANNA PRAISE! 

- - -

Game: SIGNALIS Platform: Switch Status: Finished the story Rating: EXCEPTIONAL Recommend?: DEFINITELLY!

THIS SHIT BUTTERS MY BISCUIT SO DAMN MUCH! OH MY GOD! I WILL FOREVER LOVE THIS MASTERPIECE I WAS BLESSED BY! 

I tried the game when I was having a free trial of Game Pass on my PC and got a little bit over tutorial in the game.

Fell in love instantly so I later got it for the switch, where I binged the game pretty much.

I love the pixelated artstyle, the vibes, the lovecraftian space horror that combines Dead Space, and Silent Hill in this top-down view.

The story… is Heartbreaking. I mean depending on the ending you will get, as this game follows the basic structure of SIlent Hill-esque games and gives you multiple. I got an ending called Memory and I must say it will stay in mine for eternity.

Yes, I cried.

Yes, I don’t regret it.

Yes I will buy this game again for my PS5 and play through it again.

Might even attempt platinum… God damn do I love this game.

Go into it as blind as you can if possible and enjoy the ride.

It’s highly probable I will come back to rant about this game in the future.

- - -

Game: Neon White Platform: PS4 Status: Almost Platinum (2 trophies left) Rating: Hidden Gem! Recommend?: DEFINITELLY!

Neon White. A game I had on my radar for a while.

I knew nothing about it. Just that it's a parkour card based FPS… And that it is highly praised.

It didn’t take much for me to fall in love with this speedrunning madness.

This game is beautiful. And I mean ABSOLUTELY beautiful. That game is so f*ckin pretty it shouldn’t be possible! And so addicting as well! The story is basic, BUT, it’s put in a very captivating way, mainly because of its lead characters.

White, Yellow, Violet and Red are so loveable that there is literally no way for you to hate their stereotypes.

The game’s levels are interspersed with visual novel elements filled with either serious story elements, or goofy character interactions. I must say I laughed quite a lot at the stupid jokes these characters make.

But the biggest pro of this game are the boss fights.

There are three in the whole game but I’d say they are one of the best, most interesting and perfectly placed boss fights I EVER experienced. And it’s fair to note I finished Dark Souls 1 and 3 and Bloodborne. Every boss encounter is perfectly placed in the narrative. It has stakes, it feels like a battle between you and your enemy on equal levels, and each and every encounter between you two feels like you both got better and better. The culmination of your fight is amazing as well.

I needed to collect my dropped jaw from my lap quite a few times.

And the level design? Mesmerizing… Simply, mesmerizing. From the first level to the last, the locations are distinct, they have unique themes and soundtracks and they are just gorgeous. I couldn’t recommend you Neon White more. It’s quite a short game. Go give it a try. 

- - -

Game: Unpacking Platform: PC Status: 100% Rating: Great! Recommend?: DEFINITELLY! 

This game is one of the most chill games I have ever played. I pretty much finished it over one evening and I had a blast.

The amount of care that went into this game is insane. I especially love the meta narration this game does. The whole story is said through the items a person owns.

You follow a character from childhood to adulthood as they move from place to place. And you can tell so much about their family, partners, life, travels and achievements just from the stuff they own.

SLIGHT SPOILER

For example when your character gets their first partner, you find out that NOWHERE in their apartment is a room for the certificate they got in school. Nowhere. So this thing your character should and could be proud of goes where? under the bed… I must say that when I finally moved away from them, this was the first thing I searched for in the various boxes only to basically GLUE it to the wall in my living room. I was proud about them :3 And I wanted everyone to see what they achieved. And mainly my character, because they should be proud of themselves! :3

END OF SPOILER 

So, I’d definitely recommend you to play through the game. It's short, but it leaves you with memories. And I think that's what the game is ultimately about.

- - -

Game: Corpse Party Platform: PS4 Status: Platinum Rating: Great! Recommend?: DEFINITELLY! 

I don’t usually play RPG maker-like games. Not a fan.

But this was a game I knew a long time about. The 4 episode long anime adaptation was one of the first animes I ever watched. So naturally, I wanted to play the OG. And oh boy it’s so good!

I Was surprised it captivated me so much I platinumed the game.

The additional stories that the new edition brings are great but the main story? Every character is distinct, has a great personality, and you genuinely care about each and every one of them.

It was insane to see how many emotions and feelings they put into a pixelated game. The game can even be quite terrifying and disturbing at times.

The port on PS4 I played was playing amazingly well. I would for sure recommend this game. I think I finished platinum in two days and I regret nothing. This game would deserve bigger recognition. 

- - -

3) MEH at BEST 

- - -

Game: Ghostwire Tokyo Platform: PS5 Status: Finished story Rating: 5/10 Recommend?: …Only if you REALLY WANT

So… Ghostwire Tokyo was a game I was looking forward to oh so much. You could say it was one of the titles because of which I got a PS5.

The setting looked interesting, the combat was a kung-fu based magic which was new and creative and I am a sucker for japanese folklore and horror. But this is probably the most lukewarm game I ever played.

One of my problems with it is the amount of blind mindless collectibles. This game is a disgusting collectathon. It’s insane how much crap they """force""" you to gather here.

On top of it, the story is kinda boring for the setting they made, and the combat is not as deep as it could be, so it gets boring and repetitive after a while.

If the game would be cut down to maybe like 10-ish hours, maybe it could get a higher ranking. But for it to have a completion rate of 100% at around 40 hours is a waste of time honestly.

I myself finished the game after 23 hours of a slight collecting and mainly story rushing and I was coming off of it bored as hell. I expected more from the creators of Resident Evil and the Evil Within series… Let’s see what will Slitherhead bring. Hopefully not another disappointment. 

- - -

Here I will get into some hot takes so… bear with me. 

Okay, I am scared of the hate so… the next two games I think are amazing games at their high points. It's just that PERSONALLY I have so many gripes with both of them that I can't help but be disappointed after not only the studio’s history… But also the hype the people give it. 

- - -

Game: Elden Ring Platform: PS4 Status: Trying to find my love for it Rating:  …meh(???) Recommend?: eh. I guess? But also no. But also yes.

I will probably dedicate a separate blog post to why I think Elden Ring is in theory two amazing games that just don't work together…

For short… The game is stunning. It’s responsive, it’s beautiful, it has AMAZING LORE (Duh, It’s Miyazaki and R. R. Martin), and it genuinely got me inspired to move my ass and work a bit on my own fantasy story…

But the game is so bloated, filled with filler stuff that becomes boring the second or third time you encounter it. The lack of direction that was amazing in previous entries is absolutely painful in this game, the exp drop from enemies is so low that basically the only thing you can do is grind out the roaming bosses, which will become boring so very quickly due to the repetitive nature of them.

I don't think ER is a bad game. Not at all. I just think calling it Fromsoft’s best is more than an overstatement.

I am still trying to find my love for the game. As I said, the world is probably one of the most amazing, beautiful and stunning worlds I have ever seen. Margit, the fell omen, is one of my most favorite bosses of all time and I spent hours just gawking at the views this game gives you… but there is so much crap that just doesn’t work that I can’t but be disappointed at what I was delivered after such insane praise this game got. Bloodborne still stands tall as the BEST FromSoft’s title. 

- - -

Game: Sekiro Platform: PS4 Status: Unfinished, abandoned. Rating: I have no idea tbh Recommend?: Try it out for sure. 

Another game that I was disappointed with because of the hype. My friend has beaten the game 4 times on release. He borrowed it to me, I got properly owned, returned the game and since then, my desire for revenge only grew.

I got the game, got owned pretty quickly again, and abandoned it again.

The third time I got into the game, something clicked and I stormed through the beginning of the game… But Very quickly I encountered a reocurring theme of me learning the boss patterns for hours, beating it, and then instead of being happy I finally did it, I only realized I will now go meet another roadblock.

I can safely say I hate the minibosses more than the bosses themselves.

I had a lot of fun with Lady Butterfly. Even so much I consider her one of the best bosses I went against as well. Genichiro was amazing too (Even though I hated how many times my butt was kicked), and Gyobu? Oh, that boss is amazing…

But the game simply didn’t click with me. I got all the way to Headless ape and then I figured this game won't be for me. It’s the type of game that either clicks for you and it’s a 10/10. Or doesn’t and it’s 3/10. And for me it’s the latter.

Amazing setting, mesmerizing and gorgeous locations, satisfying sound design of the parry and new interesting battle system buried under the fact that this is one of the most player-specific niche games out there.

Real shame.

I am sorry, Sekiro, I don’t know if I am disappointed in you or in myself… but I probably won’t be returning again… 

- - -

So, that was it. IF you read all the way here, I thank you so very much.

Those were my feelings for the games I was able to play through 2023.

I will gladly hear your opinions on anything I mentioned.

Or what is your favorite game you played last year?

It’s possible I will come back to some games from this list in the future in a dedicated post. A lot of them deserve more attention.

And I am still trying to love Elden Ring so…

[ravenlking]

𝐆𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝

"𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐀𝐑! 𝐎𝐊𝐀𝐘, 𝐋𝐄𝐓'𝐒 𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐄!" vanellope von schweetz! oc headcanons

female oc (vanellope von schweetz inspired but not her) warnings: none genre: headcanons a/n: - pictures don't belong to me, they go to their original owners! - please give me feedback :)

Let me know if you'd like more!

prologue/heartslabyul/savanaclaw/octavinelle/scarabia/pomefiore/ignihyde/diasomnia

When she opened her eyes, she expected herself to be in her bedroom in the Candy Castle, surrounded by pink and white swirls. However, darkness greeted her instead, making her eyes widen as she tried her best to get out.

Grim breaks her out with flames, making her yelp before glitching somewhere else, making the cat feel incredibly confused. He could have sworn seeing someone in ceremonial robes with bright pink eyes but shrugged it off, moving to the next coffin.

Meanwhile, Liv couldn't believe her eyes when she reappeared in front of a weird crow-man who screamed like a little girl. To be fair, she just appeared in a flash of green pixels so... But seriously, which game is this?? She was just falling asleep in her room after racing the entire day.

"Who are you?! What was that-"

"Sorry but I gotta get back to my game," she interrupts him. She sticks her hands in her hoodie pockets and blows a stray hair out of her eyes. "Mind pointing the way, sugarplum?"

As per usual, Crowley ignores her and steers her to the Mirror Chamber. The Dark Mirror doesn't sort her because of her strange "magic" (actually, it is her coding that's wrong but ok-), chaos issues, blah blah blah

Only difference is how Liv JawBreaker is just chilling by the side, rolling her eyes as she watches everything go down. Even Taffyta would be doing something helpful and she's the mean girl of their game!

Afterward, Crowley brings her to Ramshackle before leaving her there. She meets Grim before adopting him ("Because I'm lonely!") and battling the ghosts, the usual stuff goes down.

Crowley keeps her as a handyman, making Liv feel highly insulted. Back in her realm, she's the queen of Candy Kingdom! And now she's reduced to this?? Worse of all, she doesn't even see anywhere to race nor does she see anything candy related. Everything's so boring and monotone, like come on! Where is the color in this school?

Still, she and Grim still get assigned to clean Main Street. She doesn't use much of her powers because she wants to keep it a secret and it's much more fun that way! Imagine their reactions when she pops out of nowhere-

Lilia feels a chill going down his spine before he unleashes a sneeze.

When Crowley comes to rain hell-fire on Ace and Grim for scorching the Queen of Hearts statue, you can bet that Liv's outta there. She's glitching out of the scene, leaving both boys confused about where the heck did she go. Meanwhile, Liv's chilling in the library, reading up on the Great Seven so she never suffers another humiliation like that ever again.

Pops back in to check on Grim, who's pouting because his henchman just left him. Liv just laughs and their day goes on as usual.

Somehow gets roped into going to the Dwarf's Cave. How, Liv has no clue. Ends up revealing her abilities to Deuce, Ace, and Grim and explaining that she's part of a video game and that she was written weirdly so she "glitches". They just think it's her unique magic and move on because holy shit what is that?!?!

Don't worry, they don't end up dying. Liv uses her ability to "bait" the monster so Ace, Deuce, and Grim can combo finish it off.

Crowley calls her beast-tamer (Liv's so confused) and installs her as Ramshackle's perfect. Everything's normal other than the fact that Liv makes Crowley do renovations on the run-down dorm so that Grim and her won't die if they take the wrong step. She bases it off Candy Kingdom, so it's practically a giant sweet haven over at her place. (only after riddle's overblot does she get crowley to install a magic race track and get her own candy-themed car)

heartslabyul chapter/headcanons with liv jawbreaker will come up soon!

[rvnwtch]

So I want to start this off by saying, ESO is my FAVORITE game. I literally have not invested as much time, effort and money (literal hundreds) into a game as much as this one. I’m also aware that my expectations are my own responsibility. Not to mention, things go on behind the scenes all the time that we don’t know about. Like maybe voice actors weren’t available or were sick or something… and that I completely understand. 

But with all of that being said, I have some thoughts. (And want to hear from you guys too!!! And I’ll TOTALLY untag this if the post upsets anyone I just wanted to hear what other people are thinking too?)

Personally, I feel a little bit let down. This is my favorite chapter of the game and I love the story very much. 

Adusa and the mad scientist vampire lab furniture set being added during the event were a fine idea, why not? But a lot of people got Adusa from the crown store last year in October. So what’s new for those people? What’s new for the returning audience? 

This is not a big Ravenwatch centric post (not the point at all here!) but Fennorian was a part of the main story line and we didn’t get any new dialogue from him? (Even after getting a mention about him from Gwendis during the Zeal of Zenithar event just a few months ago?) And nothing from Svana, or Lyris either? Hell, nothing from even Maugh or Mjolen?

Not to mention the Impresario feels very… empty? All she has is the fragment stuff from the year long event (very fair to include those!), the companion upgrades, group healing kit, and a clothing motif set that (from the top of my head) I don’t even recognize? I mean I figured we would get something Greymoor related that we would recognize or be excited for? Maybe some kind of Ravenwatch memento or vampire memento or a bat pet or something? 

And as for the event prologue quest I personally didn’t remember Mel. (Very happy for any Mel fans though!) I thought we were going to get something with Svana or someone in it? But you can’t even play the quest more than just once? I thought it was going to be a daily thing, so I was at least looking forward to that. But you can’t. It’s a one and done kind of deal.

I also don’t think we get any kind of XP boost or extra gold for completing quests in Western Skyrim. But I was waiting for that too? I started replaying the main quest on a new character and I’m pretty sure there was no incentive to replay the questline or for NEW players to pick it up?

So I’m just kind of wondering what the point of the event is, if there’s NOTHING new? No little easter eggs, or new dialogue or anything? And like, I’m aware that this all sounds kind of spoiled and bratty but I’m not mad. Just kind of sad because… what’s the point? Why do I want to play it? That sounds rough but when you’re writing a paper for class, professors ask you those same very basic questions. Who is your audience? Who are you trying to get to participate? and what’s the big WHY? For this, the audience (target or not) is going to be a LOT of people who have played through Greymoor before. It’s people who have most, if not all, of the dungeons and world bosses and delves completed. What’s NEW for all of us? We hear the Dark Heart of Skyrim event and we don’t think of JUST dailies (that we’ve probably already played through) and a pretty empty Impresario list. I’ve been excited for this event ever since it was first announced.

I’m also afraid that ESO might be using this to test audience interest in the zone/storyline. Like what if they wanted to see if we’re still invested in these characters and this area before starting/releasing something new including all of it? I definitely see participation falling off as the event comes to a close. Already fewer people are playing it than the first two days. At least when I was online anyway.

This just had the potential to be so cool and instead I feel kind of let down. And like I said, my expectations are my own responsibility, but… yeahh??

Sorry for ranting on main… I just don’t really get it and wondered if anyone else kind of felt that way?

[thebreakfastgenie]

For the WIP list game, tell me about all or any of your TWW fics! Bonus for 'donna moss fic 2' because that is one hundo how I name my files.

this got real long so I put it under a cut

so donna moss fic 2 is called that because many years ago I had a fic called "donna moss fic" that was supposed to be quick and ended up being 10k and taking like six months. that fic became Start Over. then in 2020 I watched the When We All Vote Special and two things happened. one, I rewatched the show and landed back in the fandom after drifting away because I basically could not watch it while Trump was in office. two, I noticed a detail in Hartsfield's Landing I had never really paid a lot of attention to before. Josh says the Flenders took Donna in and fed her, and that she was pretty pathetic. I realized this was in New Hampshire, probably right after she joined the campaign the first time. I once spent a night with volunteers who housed campaign workers, and I thought that would be a really fun story to tell about Donna.

and somehow this turned into doing the Donna campaign backstory fic, again. the full title is "donna moss fic 2?? why are we doing this" because why the hell I would that fic again after what I went through the first time, I don't know. but I do know. I can do it better now. it's not a rewrite of Start Over, it's an alternate version. some things are very similar and a few lines are exactly the same, but there are some differences. I revised the timeline and geography, for one thing. this fic drove me to the brink of actual insanity (it was lockdown time to be fair) trying to figure out the fictional presidential primary schedule. I also checked the actual color of the "Welcome to New Hampshire" sign in person (I was going there anyway lol).

the idea is that each chapter is a state Donna goes to, either with the campaign or on her own. there's a prologue about the end of her drive to New Hampshire, which is the only part that is strictly speaking "written." the chapters are New Hampshire, South Carolina, maybe South Dakota depending on if I think it needs another campaign chapter for pacing, Illinois, California, Wisconsin, New Hampshire (reprise) and probably an epilogue in DC, tying together the information we have from In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, 17 People, and Hartsfield's Landing.

when I wrote Start Over I kind of side-stepped the issue of Josh's father's death and this time I am attacking it head on. I should probably keep this to myself for maximum impact, but oh well, it'll be long enough for you to forget. the idea this time around is that she tries to leave before Josh gets back from his father's funeral, but he comes back early because of course he does and catches her in the act. I have a very heartbreaking scene planned. this is not a Josh/Donna fic because I can't stand pre-series J/D, but like most of what I write, it's written with the idea that these people do fall in love and get together a few years down the road. it's about the beginning of their friendship, with a few charged moments, but it's more about Donna as a person. I'm also trying to pepper in some backstory of how she ended up with Dr. Freeride in the first place and why she feels enough loyalty to go back. the scene where she actually does come back is so vivid in my mind. I can hear the exact inflection of "thank god, there's a pile of stuff on the desk."

the planned epilogue is the first "anniversary" when Donna gets flowers from Josh for the first time. I thought about folding in an idea I had for the transition, where Josh is forced by Leo to give Donna a job interview as a formality, but I don't think that fits here so it'll be on its own whenever I get to it. obviously the main relationship Donna has at this point is with Josh, but I want to show the beginning of her friendships with the other senior staff, too.

the original first scene, before I decided to add a prologue, was going to be Josh dropping Donna at the Flenders' house for the night, having called in a favor since they don't have a hotel room for her. the Flenders proceed to freak her out by serving some kind of local New Hampshire dinner and a full breakfast at 5am. that will all still happen, of course. basically I want to fill in the gaps!

here's a bit of the prologue. I hate writing opening lines, and this is one of my favorites because it's the rare one I actually like:

In Massachusetts, she almost lost her nerve. The broken-hearted rage that had propelled her across six states faltered as she waited to merge onto I-495 and it occurred to her, finally, how crazy this was. She could get off at the next exit, turn the car around, and go home. She could stay with her parents, hold her head high, grit her her teeth through the humiliation. She could do exactly what everyone expected of her.  A space appeared on the interstate; she nestled her dusty car between a shiny red sedan and an old silver van. Flying down the highway, she thought of the life she was leaving behind. Her dead-end job, her unfinished education, her tiny apartment, and him. She floored the gas, outrunning her doubts, her fears, her insecurities. 

I will be doing strawberry fields in another ask but just a quick (lol) rundown of the other two west wing fics:

the ellsberg variant

the ellsberg variant is called that because it sounds cool but it's also descriptive. Daniel Ellsberg worked at the state department and leaked the pentagon papers (this is in the movie the post) and in retaliation a group of guys better known for other work broke into his psychiatrist's office and tore the place up. either they were just trying to intimidate him, or they were looking for his file to find embarrassing information and just didn't find it because they were incompetent (the other work was Watergate). so I thought, what if that happened to Josh, but they actually did just get pictures or copies of the file and leave without evidence?

so in my imagining, burglars break into a psychiatrist's office in Virginia or Maryland because they know there are high profile clients, and just get photos and copies of any files they can, to sell to whoever might be interested. the Republicans plan to use the information to embarrass Josh during the hearings, like they did with Leo, but Bartlet takes the censure deal before they get the chance, so they end up dumping it in a tabloid in order to damage Bartlet's re-election campaign with claims that his staff is mentally incompetent and he's too checked out with MS to notice (the headline is "Bartlet's Loony Bin").

the White House finds out when an advance copy is delivered by messenger in a brown envelope to CJ's office. they try to figure out who warned them and why, as well as what they can do about it. CJ enlists Danny to help (without giving him the full story, but he figures a lot out) and he finds out about the break-in, which was downplayed by the security company to avoid embarrassment, meaning the patients (including Josh) were never informed their records may have been compromised.

I'm not sure where exactly it goes from here. the first scene is the delivery of the envelope from Carol's POV. I might have Josh call Mandy in as a personal consultant (I just want to give Mandy real character development) and Amy will probably be involved in some way too. there's definitely a conversation where Josh is worried about the Oval Office incident being made public, and Leo assures him the four people who were there (Josh, Leo, Sam, Jed) won't tell anyone, Josh points out they already did, they told Stanley. Josh tries to resign, naturally, but Jed refuses to let him. I know it ends okay, I just don't know exactly how, or have the intrigue plot worked out. I do have a backstory for the person who sent them the advance copy: an employee at the tabloid who can't afford to quit her job, but thinks printing the story is wrong. her father is a Vietnam vet with PTSD and everything. I don't know if the White House staff ever find out who she is, but it might be fun to end with a flashback to her sending the advance. there's also some exploration of Josh's trust in his therapist being violated and where he goes from there.

don't be a hero

I wrote almost all of don't be a hero on notebook paper during psychology class in college and a couple years ago I finally typed up what I have. in theory it just needs an ending, but I can write so much better now, I started rewriting it, and just haven't gotten around to finishing it.

in 2008, President Santos is giving a speech at a university and presenting an award to a professor who has consulted with the White House on counterterrorism work, when a bomb goes off in the auditorium. The target was the professor, who is Muslim (there had been an Islamophobic hate crime in the news recently when I started this). Santos breaks his arm, Sam gets some cuts when a light falls on him, but the Secret Service does their job and gets them out of there. Josh had stepped out to call Lou, who is back at the White House working on a critical vote, and Donna had gone to get him. Donna hurts her foot and can't walk, so Josh helps her out, and on the way out he thinks he sees someone trapped. While Donna is talking to the paramedics, Josh runs back inside to look for the girl he thinks he saw.

the girl is real and he finds her and is able to unblock the door that was trapping her in, but inhales a lot of smoke in the process and passes out. the girl runs outside and tells the firefighters what happened, and they go in and pull Josh out. the scene has mostly been cleared at this point, but Sam is still looking for Josh, and end up identifying him to the first responders, which contributes to the ensuing media circus when it comes out that the White House Chief of Staff ran into a burning building. Josh wakes up in the hospital and gets chastised by Santos and Donna and also most of the Bartlet era staff via phone. Donna also has a talk with him about how she's proud, but she was terrified. He also has a nice visit with Amanda, the girl he saved.

When I finish the rewrite, I'm adding a storyline where the White House communications staff suggest trying to control what Amanda says to the press, and Josh insists that she's 19 years old and someone tried to kill her, so she can say whatever she wants, but asks CJ to come in and advise her on how to handle the press, for her own wellbeing. Danny also tells Josh he thinks the media attention on the rescue is going to dig up personal history and find out about Joanie, so he should consider making a statement. He tells Lou about Joanie for the first time in the process of preparing that, and Lou wonders why he never told her before.

I think it will end with Josh and Donna's wedding a couple months later.

[nextinline-if]

hiiii <3

i played the demo just now, and i gotta say i loved it! i was so pleasantly surprised to see separate choices for gender and pronouns in character customisation - it's something I sadly don't see that often even in very inclusive IFs and it's also something that's making my whole experience a fair bit more comfortable. i identify as nb but i prefer she/her pronouns, even if pretty much any and every pronouns are ok for me - so i really wanted to say i appreciate that little detail!

i also liked the harbinger's oath - it's very cool how it stresses the importance of leadership and making a way when there is none, and not just, you know, staying faithful and loyal and stuff. the overall style, fashion and atmosphere are all very nice, the mix of ancient greek and victorian and original ideas is both familiar and new so it's hard to get bored!

oh, i loved the gods too. there isn't so many that either the author or the reader can get lost trying to untangle the threads of mythology, and you don't risk any of them being forgotten or becoming less prominent - it's nice! i loved the myths we've seen, the twins are charming! i thought I'd like to follow aurora since i usually go for sun aesthetic, but in this case i didn't really vibe with her. maybe it's because the 2 myths were mostly about euribia or at least her side of the story, so i just don't have enough info. so, here's hoping for some more mythology lessons in the future! ah, i also liked that fertility and love and marriage belong to different gods domains.

james and anna are dears, gotta tease them to marriage and (hopefully not) back :3

the ROs are... prominent, i guess? at this point i don't feel like the pc knows enough about them to see them for what they are, and i mostly used what i read from your blog to choose between them and orient myself. tbh I didn't quite like most of the flirting options (though it can be the case that I'm just picky lmao, don't take it to heart). i think i liked what you did with constantine - that some options aren't marked as flirting or anything but... they get a reaction from him, and in return the pc also reacts somehow. dialogues with him also feel less "cheap" - unlike some of the scenes where the so called flirting is just ogling or blushing and tripping over your words because of someone calling you lovely or something. constantine's scene also have this stuff but... to less extant? i think? i know it's some kind of imaginary world, but it's still hard for me to comprehend how a literal royal, a year before becoming the monarch, minutes after thinking "everyone is judging me i must be perfect" now goes around and makes a fool of themselves... but i still want to flirt! ugh! such dilemma! i loved margaret's first flirting option though - the one where pc asks anna to bring her another glass, now that was fun.

the "cold" options of dealing with f. were very nice too, i really enjoyed the balcony scene in the prologue!

anyway, sorry for ranting, and thank you for sharing the demo with us! wish you the smoothest progress and good inspiration and much free time to write! good luck 🍀💙

i was so pleasantly surprised to see separate choices for gender and pronouns in character customisation - it's something I sadly don't see that often even in very inclusive IFs and it's also something that's making my whole experience a fair bit more comfortable.

I'm so glad to hear this! I've found that it's really not much extra work on the coding side so I didn't think there was a reason not to add it.

the mix of ancient greek and victorian and original ideas is both familiar and new so it's hard to get bored!

yay! the last thing I want is for anyone to get bored playing my game aha I know it's a bit different and some people like things more traditional.

here's hoping for some more mythology lessons in the future!

there will definitely be additional myths.

the ROs are... prominent, i guess? at this point i don't feel like the pc knows enough about them to see them for what they are

The current demo is only a taste but the MC will be able to learn more as the story progresses and build friendship or romance as wanted. There are no straight "routes", as all characters have their own role to play in this story. I hope you will enjoy learning more about them. The rest of the chapters cover around a month of events each.

tbh I didn't quite like most of the flirting options (though it can be the case that I'm just picky lmao, don't take it to heart).

No worries, the flirting is something I added more shy options for because when I first released the demo, the feedback I received was that there weren't enough of those options. Also, flirting is the hardest for me to write about. But, my hope is that it will more natural and worthwhile in the rest of the game. :D

I may consider revamping the flirting that is available now but only after I get chapter 2 released.

Thanks for your feedback and thoughts! It sounds like you enjoyed it overall. I appreciate you giving it a go. I'm always open to feedback, whether I'm able to implement or change things depends but I'm eager to learn where I can improve.

Hope you have a great day!

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[descendant-of-truth]

Do you have hope that the new sonic game will be good?

I absolutely do!

My current expectation is that it'll be kind of rough around the edges; some optimization issues here and there, lack of in-depth momentum physics making it feel a bit awkward occasionally, stuff like that.

And I'm not a big fan of the current models for everyone, which is more than likely going to impact how I view the in-game cutscenes. Something about them just looks too... chunky?? Especially with Amy, since her bracelets and dress stick out way too much to make animating her look natural. And they don't seem to have very dynamic eyebrows, which is just. why. they have such big eyes let them emote

However!! Those are all largely visual concerns. And while games are a visual medium so they're fair critiques to have, it's also an interactive one, and from what I've seen so far, interacting with Frontiers is going to be a blast

The simple act of running around a big, pretty area as Sonic already has innate appeal to me - the amount of time I spent running around the hub worlds in Adventure, especially the Mystic Ruins, doing absolutely nothing but vibing is a testament to that.

So a Sonic game that's basically a bunch of giant hub worlds with actual objectives this time?? Sign me UP

Not to mention, Rise of Lyric always had a very specific appeal to me: being able to kick everything in sight

I haven't played that game yet but it taunts me with Sonic combos, and now Frontiers comes along with even more, even flashier combos?? Even the basic combo feels super punchy and that's just from looking at it, can you imagine the satisfaction of actually playing it???

What little I've seen of the writing and story looks really promising too, not to mention a huge step up from where we were for like. all of the 2010s in my opinion

I don't know the exact writing process, but Ian Flynn is at least doing the dialogue to my understanding, and if the IDW comics and the Knuckles prologue are anything to go by then that's great news! I'm so ready for a new Sonic story that's got big stakes and good character writing!!

(I would also take a Sonic game with lower stakes as long as it still had good character writing, though - like a new Riders game, please and thank you)

In conclusion: yes, I think the new Sonic game will be great, despite the gripes I have here and there. Will it measure up to my personal favorites in the series? Hopefully! But even if it doesn't, I can tell I'm in for a fun time regardless