#i need to design a protag for a game idea but i don't know what kind of bug i should go with :I

[lesbianneopolitan]

Hey, any other Neo AUs you've drawn or been meaning to draw but fleshed out in your head? Like you have vampy Neo, and Hazbin Neo now, and the P3 Reload Neo you drew. Any other neato Neo'd you got cooking?

I don't even think I would count with P3 Neo because it was just one drawing, like, I would say I didn't flesh that out at all in my head aside of getting some basic questions about her arcana choice, it was more of a 'I like the style! I'll try to draw a Neo in it' for the small challenge than anything xD

Nevertheless, I may as well make a list of the Neos I've drawn in the style of other series, that were done for fun, rather than to flesh an AU

When it comes to the fleshed out AUs inside my head we have:

THE VAMPIRE AU

It was the first, I know a lot of people know of its existence, but I had to mention it anyway because I'll forever be fond of it. Like, vampires are one of my main hyperfixations, so I almost always gotta have a vampire AU if the character in question isn't one already.

Even if the main timeline is up to happen in a modern setting, I've actually written some of Neo's past in RP format to develop her life with her parents, when she was still a recently sired vampire and stuff.

CYBERPUNK 2077 AU

I think the doodles speak very well by themselves, but the main idea with this was that Neo was an ex-Corpo that used to work for Salem (Grimm Corp.), which treated to experiment on Cyberpsychos in order to turn them into mechanical aberrations (like the Hound, but more Cyberpunk).

I was partially inspired by the run I played in my own Cyberpunk 2077 game lol

Nevermore AU

My bestie and I watched the Wednesday show and ended brainstorming an AU for the academy that the protag stays at. I actually wrote a bit of Neo in the setting as well with my bestie, for the fun of it.

POKEMON AU

I actually learnt a few things while doing this one and brainstorming ideas, because I had no idea they use Ditto in the mangas to shapeshift people, as in, Ditto can cover a person and use the shifting powers so the person has a disguise like, WHAT?

Anyway, a Pokemon AU of my Neo. Mimikyu was her starter as a kid when still known as Trivia. The Espeon actually helps with transmitting Neo's thoughts if she needs to communicate real bad, Ditto is for her own shapeshifting...

She also has a Vanilluxe and a Zoroark (her biggest ace in the sleeve) for proper battle and help with her crimes due to illusions. Vanillite and Ditto are the ones swapped for them in that case.

ROCK AU

THE FUCKING ROCK AU HAS ONE OF MY FAVE NEO DESIGNS! Like I love her, I loved designing this one. It was fun. I should draw her more, honestly.

In this one, Neo ACTUALLY had a voice at first, she was actually a vocalist and keyboard player before an accident that left her vocal cords fucked up- had to go through an operation, but she never recovered her voice.

She's a musician that actually uses old records of her voice to develop a system that will replicate her voice for new songs, think like, Vocaloid, sort of.

She eventually meets Cinder and joins her band as a guitarist to honor Roman.

...eventually also falls out with her and ends with Ruby's band, initially to spite Cinder for kicking her out.

MAFIA AU

Bruh, I even went ahead and designed all the members of the Ever After Mafia in this one. Neo wasn't initially part of them and had her own thing -Roman's Mafia- which she inherited after Roman died.

Cinder is like a double agent in this one and eventually betrays Neo and leaves her to die (following Salem's orders), but Neo survives and ends in the Ever After, desperate to have revenge against Salem's Mafia for what they did.

The Curious Cat is the big boss initially, but he was a motherfucking manipulator that took advantage of the other members when they were in their lowest, even Neo.

So Neo eventually has enough and kills him, becoming the boss instead, even if she honestly hates the responsibility. It's when Neo becomes the Mad Hatter for the group.

EXORCIST AU

The recent one- I'm sure people don't need that much info of this one because it's pretty recent.

Other AUs: Rusted Knight but it's Neo suffering the time trap ; Werecat AU ; Serial Killer AU ; Jennifer's Body AU

And now for other crossovers:

Among Us, TCOAAL, Hellborn Neo (Succubi + Demon Cat mix)(HH, Helluva Boss), Homestuck, Helltaker, Adventure Time, Sinner Neo (HH), Persona 3, Disney Cat

[fullbrave]

if i was going to make a direct sequel to bravely default 2 (and don't think i won't. move over team asano) here's how i would do it

friends and family alike will be shocked to learn that i'd borrow heavily from bravely second. not just in terms of style and gameplay qualities that i want to bring back, but also in the sense that i'd make a party comprised of two new guys and two returning guys. if you would guess that the two guys i'm choosing to return to the party are elvis and adelle, then you know me well, but you would be half wrong this time. i'm picking SETH and adelle. my reasons for this are twofold:

firstly, i just think that gloria and elvis have the most potential to be interesting as non-playable characters the way agnès and ringabel were. the newly crowned queen of a fallen kingdom? the laid-back scholar whose kindness transcends age-old conflicts? hell yeah, tell me more!

(in trying to boil post-bd2 elvis down to his bare essentials there i almost made myself CRY but seriously!! i can see him serving in some official capacity as ambassador to mag mell but at the same time being so unserious about it. have i ever told you guys i love him)

(by the way, in this game i would bring back the whole rebuilding-a-destroyed-thing minigame. we're rebuilding musa. it's right there. seth can be the guy in the party who's in charge of the rebuilding effort because you KNOW he would offer to do absolutely anything he can for gloria)

(bravely) secondly, and more importantly, seth and adelle both have personal character stuff the first game left unresolved that really bothers me. seth is obviously the more notable case of the two but i also wanted the game to dive deeper with adelle sooooo bad.

if one of the new guys was the Main Character™ then seth would have to be written differently to fit a supporting role (like tiz was!) and i think this could work wonders for him. a sequel would be a perfect opportunity to make him less of a vague plot device, more of a person.

and then with adelle, of course you can get into figuring out what the FUCK happened to edna to make her end up like that — something happens to make this relevant again in a way that adelle can no longer ignore, which i imagine has been her coping strategy up until now.

you know, i almost held back from saying more about adelle because i was like "this is too self-indulgent..." bitch, in my self-indulgent bravely default post? on my self-indulgent bravely default account? please. i'm going to say more: for reasons i actually won't expand on here because i feel like it's digressing i think adelle becomes the next fairy queen post-game, but i also don't think it's a smooth transition. i don't think she sees herself as a leader, and she's still carrying a lot of guilt over everything edna did, so she'd be pretty resistant to this idea. but i do think people would WANT her to lead. so i guess she's just going to have to go do some soul-searching and figure out what she wants to do! perhaps on some kind of journey, or adventure, accompanied by three other guys... (not unlike edea's bsel character arc, now that i think of it!)

this goes without saying, because i'm me, but i'd also want to flesh out the fairy lore a whole lot more. i need to know so much more information about bd2 fairies right now. yesterday. two years ago, even. who's with me? so that's another great reason to keep adelle in the party. maybe one of the new guys can also be a fairy. that'd be fun. just throwing out random ideas now.

edit: oh i knew i was gonna forget something. this didn't occur to me until i was posting my broken-ass twitter thread, but of course the original protags would all have new designs in this game, and adelle's could proudly include elements from her fairy form, because she doesn't have to hide anymore... this is important to me.

regarding crystals, seth and adelle keep their blessings, but the water and earth crystals choose new guys for whatever reason. if elvis and gloria are missing from parts of the story for reasons similar to agnès and ringabel that could be interesting, and would explain this — that doesn't necessarily have to be the case though. as we saw with sloan and aileen, the crystals can just kinda choose a new guy whenever, and i can also very much see gloria and elvis being retired from the hero of light business on purpose. i think i prefer that idea, in fact; it's a choice that makes sense for both of them in a way that it wouldn't for the other two, in my opinion.

a new party means a new fun little acronym, though! AGES had its day, now it's time for something new. on twitter i joked that the new acronym should be SWAG because i couldn't think of anything serious, but then i realized: if it's going to be a key part of the story that you're rebuilding gloria's kingdom, obviously it should be MUSA instead. so brb i will now be making up some bravely ocs whose names start with M and U.

"but darcy, seth can't be a supporting character because the player gets to name him in the first one!" way ahead of you. another thing i'm doing is retconning that moment at the end of bd2 when it would have been perfect for seth to reveal what his real name is because that was SUCH A WASTE! i totally don't think about this every day of my life or anything, but i just think that making a big deal out of the fact that the party's initials spell out an important word despite the fact that the player has the power to mess this up for literally no reason is the height of nonsense, so this is not how i would do things. personally ❤️

so you can name my new protagonist guy but whatever name you choose has to fit the MUSA acronym. just kidding, you can't name them. sorry women

(incidentally, if i couldn't bring seth and adelle back, and i was in charge of making a brand new party, i would make their initials spell REVO. nothing but respect for my president.)

when i thought about the way bravely second brought back most of the asterisks from the first game, i wasn't sure at first of how best to pull that off in this game, but then it hit me. elvis has them. every time you want to get one of the jobs from the first game you have to go fight elvis. square enix you can USE these ideas just GIVE ME CREDIT.

but that doesn’t mean all the asterisk holders who are still alive aren't around! they are! in fact i think it’d be funny if they were all part of the sidequests for their respective asterisks but every sidequest still ends with you fighting elvis for some reason. i won't bring any dead asterisk holders back because as fun as it was, that too was the height of nonsense. “couldn’t you just use the stone portal things from bd2 to allow the player to fight asterisk holders, dead or alive?” sure but i like my idea better.

(in fact it kind of gives me plot ideas. maybe elvis has been entrusted with the asterisks but it comes to light that someone is making NEW ONES and the party is charged with finding out who it is and what their deal is. could be a fun way to explain why there's new jobs!)

anyway, i ensure that revo comes back to write the music by offering him a trillion dollars, which i have. seth's new special theme is called "the seafarer's skills tame the storm... 2!" and adelle's is called "please stop praying for the wandering flame she's risen too high she broke out of the hospital". the game itself will be known as bravely default². thank you, and GOOD NIGHT

[mx-mind]

hey sky!! for the OC ask meme you recently rb'd on your other blog, could I ask: 1, 4, 11, 19, 23, 32 (feel free to swap horror out with the like.. yume nikki-esque type of game! i'm curious to know! :D) 40, 44, and 50? :]

it's a lot to ask, so feel free to skip over any if you'd like! and sorry for asking so many! your ocs are very cool and i like learning more about them ^-^/

HI SARAH thank you for all the questions I love OC questions :3 Sorry for taking so long to answer these ^^;

1. Your first OC ever?

Twas a My Little Pony OC named Western Cat (name received from a generator). This was also generated, but she was "a unicorn with flame colored hair, a golden coat, and purple eyes". I interpreted flame colored as red and yellow hair, golden coat as golden yellow, and purple eyes as. Well, purple eyes. I then turned her into a Sonic OC, and years later made a human design based on the Sonic OC and changed their gender to match mine and wait a minute... That's Sky! My OC who acts as a fictional in-story representation of myself! So yeah, my sona is actually my first OC (after dozens of revisions over about 8 years of existing)

4. A character you rarely talk about?

Hasedonia! Mostly because I don't have too much for her and her story yet, but I also tend to talk about H&R! less than R&RWG. She's another person who's been isekaid to Phitania and appears to be half dragon

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?

Bailey is probably the closest to sunshine? I originally thought "just as a kid though", but she's still optimistic as a teen.

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

I don't really talk about these characters too much since I don't really talk about my regular novel stuff, but one of the main characters is a Jewish girl named Talia. She works in a bookstore and the story opens with her... not exactly in the best place. She's been fired from many places, she's a huge people pleaser and ended up getting dumped for that, she's still not over her ex, and she feels like she disappoints everyone she meets. Her arc has her moving on from her ex as she and her old friend Cassie reconnect. Instead of it ending with her and Cassie dating as would be typical of a YA story though, she just stays single. I don't think the story is really YA anymore since she and everyone else have aged up as I've gotten older, but I created her back when I kept missing an old ex-BFF. I also just like that she doesn't end up in a relationship at the end because YA stories I read at the time ALL had romance in them. Before I really started to realize I was arospec I felt like teens should have the opportunity to see characters that stay single and are okay with it in order to send the message that you don't have to date. I don't even know if Talia is arospec or not yet but either way it's important that she has the option to not date and still learn to be happy without one

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

The Sun King is a benevolent ruler who acts as Shiko's guide and confidante in his journey through Phitania, a magical world where Shiko becomes the hero. Hey, I think I should add more to this guy. *Turns around and now he's the main villain and his character and actions are now similar to the likes of King Bradley from FMAB, Kyubey from Madoka Magica, and Belos from Owl House* Oops...

So basically yeah he was supposed to just be a stock king character until I wanted to develop him more. He's still the ruler of Phitania and initially appears to be an ally, like he acts like the perfect dad towards everyone and the country is at peace, and then after Shiko dies he reincarnates him back on Earth and tells him he needs to send people to Phitania and then he can be brought back. Originally there was no real reason except hey we need isekai protags, but uhhh you know how I mentioned Kyubey as being inspiration? Yeah... Turns out everyone in Phitania is someone who had a miserable life who got "sent" there and he gave them happiness but has secretly been draining them of their hope and determination in order to become all powerful! And he was just supposed to be some guy...

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

Neil! This can work as both a human and a truck. He has a lot of trauma, and his life is basically a horror game. Even though he can drive himself around as a truck, Shiko can still take control of him at any time and that tends to happen when they have a target they need to run over. Like imagine at any moment your freedom can be taken away and you're forced to run through someone at top speeds in order to kill them. That's so fucked up

For Yume Nikki protag, I'd say Evanthe. Its whole story is it running through various scenarios to decide what to do with its newfound sentience, so the open-ended nature of a YNFG combined with a vague ending would work well with this. God now I wanna make one...

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

Jaxon is the first OC I got fanart of from my friends! This is the first attack I got of xim on Artfight, and then here's another drawn by my excellent and talented friend @lab-labrava

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

They all try to fight against their fate and have fun colored hair :3

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

Nova Armstrong! Ze's a Batman Rogue OC I recently came up with based on the Rookie from Lego DC Super Villains and the first Planet Master (old Silver Age villain who only appeared once; ze's actually related to him but I dunno how yet). Nova is a henchman for hire and can temporarily steal people's powers and strengths. Ze will also copy other people's personalities, though this is due to an effort to fit and unrelated to hir powers. Ze does this to fit in with any rogue ze wants to get hired to

Hir reasoning for working in the rogue industry is ze's trying to find hir brother, but after ze does find him, ze ends up becoming a solo villain called "The Black Hole". Now ze goes really overboard with the "steal people's powers and strength" shtick and keeps trying to find ways to make it permanent. I haven't designed it yet beyond "this needs a long flowing cloak with a hood" and "stars" but hir whole costume is based on space

[blookmallow]

ok here is the Post Of Morbid Questions im trying to find answers for due to fallout ocs.... if anyone has any ideas or knows how to find answers on these let me know bc i have Not been successful

what might the Courier's bullet scar look like, and what longterm side effects might they be coping with after taking a bullet to the head

the game's answer to this seems to just be handwavy "stimpacks fixed it" since you don't visibly have a scar when the player character's face is visible, but i want my own designs to reflect that injury and i cannot find a clear answer on what it might look like. mostly it seems like they should've been missing a lot more skull than they were. best answer i could come up with for the side effects is that brain trauma can lead to memory loss, seizures, problems with impulse control/emotional regulation, vision problems, and a whole lot of other things. so ive tried to consider that for my new vegas characters. i havent really done much with anyone other than bonnie though. anyway my attempts at researching this mostly have come up with "you'd just be dead" but what if you DIDN'T dead, though. what happens then

also, as a sidenote question, would it be possible that doc mitchell (i keep calling him doc marten. why am i doing this. stop it) could have extracted the bullet intact enough for the courier to keep it. i want bonnie to have it on a necklace but i cant get a clear answer on that either

2. how exactly would chems work / how would it affect them

i dont really know anything about real world drugs so im not really sure how to approach this subject. i know a little about how addiction and withdrawal works, but not much other than vague awareness of how people act when high on weed, and lsd makes you hallucinate. i dont really know what it feels like, why someone might use them, what longterm effects it might have

i learned med-x is pretty much just morphine, which is intended as a pain killer, also apparently can cause "feelings of euphoria," so that sounds like it would be a very likely addiction in the wasteland. makes it all hurt less. makes you feel good. i think initially taking it for pain (justifiable, it is medicine, after all) and then developing an addiction would be an easy trap for wastelanders to fall into. i think both my fallout 4 protags would be susceptible to this especially if they hang around hancock and get talked into it

psycho seems to cause some kind of... berserker mode mind break, so it makes sense that would be popular with raiders, but im not sure why you'd want to use it otherwise. just sounds like a great way to get yourself killed to me. i never use it in-game so im not really sure what its for

as far as i can tell buffout is just steroids, so. desire to be strong/push yourself to the limit/unbeatable is obvious living in wasteland conditions

mentats seem to be like. adderoll, or something? increased focus and cognition. im not sure why hancock uses them, though. he's told me it's his favorite ("makes me feel intellectual") but im not really sure what recreational purpose that serves if he's not using them to focus on tasks or something. i think im not fully understanding what these do. i think it makes sense for my courier, struggling with cognitive damage after the head injury, to use them pretty regularly though (and new vegas gives you a lot of situations where you can use them to help pass intelligence/perception checks so i Do use them)

jet is the one i really dont understand. i see this one a Lot with in-game chem addicts/find them all over the place in raider drug dens so it's clearly popular but i do not understand what it does. game mechanics-wise it functions to make time appear to slow down, but i don't know why you would want that outside of a combat situation where you need to be able to react fast. the wiki says it also provides a rush/high, i suppose. could just be that it's the easiest to get your hands on

it's also made from fertilizer. so there's that. no one talks about that and i dont know why

3. what changes or long-term effects would the vault 111 survivor have after being frozen for so long

i cant find anything on this and i guess it's probably due to "we don't know" since that kind of cryogenic technology doesn't really exist in the real world. we've never frozen someone for 200 years and then let them out again. the game doesn't acknowledge this having any effect on them at all, and i just can't believe there wouldn't be something. what's preventing them from going into shock and just dying of hypothermia / extreme frostbite. i dont really understand the science of how cryostasis would work. even if we just accept "it just works" i still feel like there should be some kind of longterm side effects. nerve damage, maybe? i think ruby (my first fallout 4 protag) at least has some trauma around feeling too cold or feeling like she can't move. cryo mines/grenades probably fuck her up.

4. follow up question, the absolute most SPECIFIC one i cannot figure out to save my life: if someone were to have an open wound, and then suddenly enter cryostasis for, say, several hundred years, what would happen

i ask this because i think lucas (my second fallout 4 oc) would have reacted violently to his wife's murder. he would have been fighting to get out of that pod until he was bleeding and it wouldn't even have slowed him down. i think he severely fucked up his hands, and then immediately got frozen again. so my question is, what would that do

if we can assume cryostasis does not cause frostbite damage to normal tissue, would it also not damage open/exposed tissue? or would the ice soak in and destroy the cells in that part of your skin. would you just unfreeze and it would resume bleeding again like it just happened seconds ago? would it heal while it was frozen?

my best guess is that it would sort of... heal wrong, like a poorly set broken bone (and if he broke his fingers, it certainly would have) or get infected, at least. i want to say whatever happened caused him to lose a few fingers but i cannot figure out if that's viable or not. i like the image of him stumbling out of the vault confused and angry and broken with several dead fingers he now has to find a way to cut off. i want lucas doing horrendously ill-advised surgery on himself to be a recurring theme

[faekniight]

anyone have some favorite bugs they'd like to share 👉👈

[nihilnovisubsole]

when we engage in a difficulted novel our imagination is challenged and captured by imaginaries and ideas that we haven't encountered before, hence the difficulty. in video games everything is catered to the player. as a writer what allures you to that medium?, and what are you trying to achieve as narrative designer?

that's an interesting question, and while i'd like to be lofty about it, it's not something i can divorce from practical concerns. the plain truth of the matter is that a full-time job at a video game studio allows me to write for a salary. it gives me health insurance and a paycheck in a field where trying to pay bills is notoriously chaotic and miserable. it means i can support myself, especially after my mother retires. when you've been through the straits that we have, that looms large in your mind.

so at the outset, i was a writer who needed a good job, and to get that job, i needed to learn narrative design. the small-scale flavor branching we did at voltage didn't prepare me for the grand structure of RPGs, so i had a lot of catching-up to do. once i got my grubby little fingers into it, i realized how much theory and experimentation goes on behind the scenes. there's a whole community of gamedevs who are into things like systems and procedural narrative, which are too sophisticated for me to understand. depending on what you mean by "catering to the player," i'd bet there are indie games out there that directly challenge that. a lot of big-deal titles may have straightforward storytelling, but you might be surprised - as i was - at what else you can dig up.

when job interviewers ask me questions like the one you asked, i tell them about how much i love customizable protagonists. if i get to imagine, say, mass effect not as default shepard's story, but irina shepard's story, i have an ironclad bond with it. i feel like i've been invited into the writer's room, and in an interactive story, that's how i want to engage with it. i want to have my own ideas about who a player character is. i want to decide how events happen and which characters matter to them. i mean, i don't need permission. i can always change canon in fanfic, and god knows a linear plot or a set protag won't stop me. but when a game encourages me to play that way from the outset, they're speaking my language, you know? they want it to be personal.

now, designing a game is a lot harder than playing one, and i'm only an associate, so i don't make those high-level decisions. but it would be fun to contribute to a player feeling that feeling. i'd hope to write characters that at least a few players find memorable. in that sense, i don't think my aspirations have ever really changed. [i can't wait for the gifsets either, though. i love a good gifset.]

[gremedits]

hi!! for the ask game, could you do chiaki please? :) also have a great day you amazing person!!💖✨💖

anonymous asked : Chiaki nanami for the ask game please! Tysm in advance-

(aww tysm nonnie :'))//this ask game

1. favorite thing : HER DESIGN!!! its SO fun to doodle around and stylize. its also just so aesthethically pleasing and aaa i love it so much. from the shape language to- yea ill stop (her sprites are so cute too 🥺 and in the shes an absolute sweetheart. love her)

2. least favorite thing : shes kinda- no not kinda.. she's just really bland.. i get she's an ai and all and thats why i liked anime/the real chiaki more. she never really stood out other than a "oh she's cute!" so hajime's reaction to her death just kinda confused me

3. favorite quote : anything from her pre-execution speach to her appearance in chapter 6. im such a pussy in taking chances and breaking confinements so her words ring deep to me :') other than that prolly "hmm... slrepy" cause mood

4. brOTP : am i allowed to say this again cause HINANAMI- like man she just... she just wanted to play videogames w her bro :( and as a hajime kinnie her idea that talentless people are more free than talentled people really made me ":)"

5. OTP : her and mikan... adorable... mikan probably never got to play many games but i can see them bonding over calming games to make mikan less anxious... chiaki's also just rly good support for her.. nanamiki rightz

6. brOTP : hajime and nagito 🥺 platonic komahinanami man... just the purest,,,,, need i say more tbh theyre PERFECT- ALSO i dont even watch hq but HER AND KENMA???? if u dont want them to game together what's the POINT

7. nOTP : hhhhh not much man, i don't know many chiaki ships and all i know are adorable so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

8. random headcanon : she's one of those gamer girls who's room is absolutely DECKED in cute/pink gamer merch, yk like those kawaii gamer girl aesthethics.. belle delphine but make it sfw. she used to get made fun of for being a girl gamer and all that but now as the ultimate gamer people recognize her voice and just "shit."

9. unpopular opinion : oh i have some hot takes about her,, like i said i think she's just too bland of a character? maybe its just me but i never picked up on her status as a support character, or her bond with hajime at all. kirigiri and kaito were very openly close to the protag throughout the game so i picked up on their status immediately, but i was so confused when chapter 5 rolled up and hajime was really sad about the truth, and his reaction after her death made me just.. "oh so we're mourning for her now?" she feels even more bland when paired with komaeda. he was the most interesting character as of sdr2 and i kept my eye more on him and her normal introduction to hajime made her feel more of another character like hiyoko or nekomaru than the support character

10. favorite picture : (cause i still love her even tho i kinda dragged her in the last point)

(hwhhwhhwhhwwh mONOMI HOODIE... I WANT)

[aj-anime-blog]

Deca-Dence - Review!

Wooooo Deca-Dence!

Deca-Dence was a summer 2020 anime, and that’s when I originally watched it! I've watched it about a dozen times since, as it landed itself right on my roster of my favorite animes, if not my favorite of all time.

Deca-Dence is an original piece, so no manga source material (whaaat!) and comes from the genius brain of Yuzuru Tachikawa, the director of other fan-favorites like Mob Psycho 100 and Death Parade (a review for Death Parade is in the making!). Original mangas are such a hit-or-miss recently, and I think that this one got the bullseye!

What's our concept?: Set in the future, the world is now plagued by monsters known as Gadolls. In an attempt to keep humans safe from them, mobile fortress Deca-Dence was constructed, where Gears, who live near the top, fight the Gadolls, and Tankers, who live at the bottom, provide support from inside Deca-Dence. Our protag, Natsume, is a Tanker who wants to fight with the Gears, but her prosthetic arm keeps her out of battle. That is until she meets Kaburagi, an older Tanker who seems to know his way around fighting and might have more to him than he lets on.

It's gonna be hard to go through this without spoilers, but I promise that I'll keep it spoiler-free until the section at the bottom!

So overall, what do I think?: 10/10! I've already said it, but Deca-Dence is one of my favorite animes of all time, and it deserves the spot! It has incredible characters, a story that keeps you hooked even through twists and turns, and a pace that manages to cram so much plot into only 12 episodes without feeling overwhelming or rushed! Deca-Dence presents ideas that, at the surface, may seem overused or old, but spins them in such a way that they're completely original. It follows through with character relationships, making them worthwhile and fulfilling.

Let's start with the story this time!: 10/10!! It's going to be really hard to explain the beauty of Deca-Dence's plot without spoiling it, but I'm doing my best! I really do recommend just giving the show a try, though, as it's really worth it! (Don't just drop it after episode 2, like a lot of people did :( That's just judging it wayyy too early!!)

Deca-Dence has a story that's thrilling and new. Everything that happens builds off of itself in a way that's natural and smooth. The elements of the story, no matter how different they may seem, play their part and work together well. The show isn't predictable either - don't go in thinking that you know what's going to become of it. Each twist feels surprising and new without feeling like they're coming out of left field.

I won't say much more in fear of ruining it, but Deca-Dence's story holds up well, and with its strong cast of characters supporting it, it becomes absolutely suburb. I think a lot of people fell into this pit of seeing only the beginning and tossing it aside, but no matter how strange the concepts in it may be, they wind together to form something really unique!

So those characters, huh?: 11/10, I love them so much! I'm a character nerd through and through, and Deca-Dence sends my little character-obsessed heart wild. The protags, Natsume and Kaburagi, are both fascinating, have incredible development, and engage in a character dynamic that is so natural and well-written that I never doubted it.

To be honest, Natsume doesn't have a personality that's anything new. She's young, determined to a fault, naive, and a complete sweetheart. She wants to fight the Gadoll and she'll do anything to achieve that dream. She's not a natural at fighting but her motivation to do so makes her believable and relatable. She's looked down upon because of her prosthetic arm and forced into a job that she doesn't like, but she never gives up on her goals. Even though she's so simple, her interactions and energy make her lovable and a wonderful protagonist.

Kaburagi follows the washed-out warrior trope, as he's an older man assigned to clean-up duty who keeps to himself and never shows too much emotion. While this type of character can sometimes get annoying, the show gives Kaburagi enough time to show his real feelings and explain how he got to his position. This proper development keeps him down-to-Earth and shows him as even more flawed than Natsume. Kaburagi's motivation, which I can't explain for spoiler reasons, is entirely believable and explains perfectly why he decides to put up with Natsume, even though she's his polar opposite.

The relationship between the two characters is balanced and beautiful. It's given the proper time to grow, mature, and ends up being extremely worthwhile. Natsume relies on Kaburagi, as he sees the potential in her and continues to support her in ways no one else ever has, and Kaburagi understands that Natsume is everything that he's trying to rebel against. Their relationship is emotional, runs deep, and leaves you wishing that there was more of them to watch, even after the show has ended.

The villain! The villain. I cannot talk all that much about the villain at the risk of spoiling. He is evil. I really really hated him, and that is a very good thing because it means that he's well-written. His motivation makes sense, his actions make you want to strangle him, his design was really really good! He's not the most interesting thing in the show, as his character is really only there to move the story along, but not every villain needs to be incredibly deep for a show to be good.

Lastly, our supporting characters! While none of them are as wonderful as Natsume or Kaburagi, they're still interesting and hold their own. They play important parts in the show and all of their interactions with the main two feel natural. Their conflicts make sense, their resolutions feel well-earned, and their personalities are all unique! For a 12-episode anime, there's a larger cast of supporting characters than you would think, and nearly all of them are memorable and loveable.

Time to shut up about characters, what about the art?: 9/10, ooooh yes the art! Deca-Dence is gorgeous! It's animated by studio Nut (bwahahhaha), who haven't done that much else in the anime world. Still, for a relatively new studio, it's absolutely amazing! The characters all have unique looks that make them stand out and the fight scenes are to die for. They lose a point on the CG, since it's a little bit less than amazing, but again, for a new studio, it's definitely not the worst I've seen!! (Admittedly, I also don't like CG much at all, so I'm always harsh towards it when it's used).

Deca-Dence switches between two styles that vastly contradict each other, one which is a colorful, happy-go-lucky style, and one that's the more typical anime style. I'll speak more about them in the spoilers section, but they do a wonderful job at maintaining the tone of the show, as to not let it get too dark, and forming a clear divide between the events of the two parts.

Oh goshhh the Gadolls look so cool. I'm so obsessed with cool monsters in anime and woah they look awesome!! They're original, with cool designs that I haven't seen elsewhere. The show could've so easily slapped in some pretty typical-looking dragons or wolves or whatever, but they instead spent time on these epic creatures, and it's so worth it! It makes the setting that much more unique and allows it to stand out from other animes.

Surely there's a flaw in this anime? The pacing, maybe?: 9/10. Yeah, I would argue that the pacing is Deca-Dence's weakest point. Not that the pacing is particularly bad compared to other shows! I still think that, for a 12-episode anime, it does a wonderful job of fitting in a large amount of plot into only about 5 hours! But, at some points, parts felt rushed or confusing, as the show would zoom into them. I never felt like I was truly lost, though. Even if I did wish that there was a break from the action, I never found myself really thinking that the show was leaving me behind in the dust. It's not the kind of show that you can turn on and leave running while you multitask, though. Blink for too long and you might miss something important, which can ruin some of the hard-hitting twists that the anime works so hard to build up.

OK! Time for spoilers! I beg you, go watch the anime before you read past this, because it's totally worth it!!

Woahh episode 2 am I right?? I thought that I clicked into the wrong anime when I began it, it took such a wild turn, and so soon in the anime too. This is what I really mean when I talk about a show not being what it appears to be! Again, I really encourage you to watch it for yourself, but if you're that stubborn on reading this through before you turn it on:

Deca-Dence is not about the heart-wrenching battles between Gears and their desperate attempts to keep humanity alive, because Gears are just avatars for cyborgs! You see, there's a civilization of cyborg people who are living above the Earth, who log in to fight in mobile fortress Deca-Dence as a game. So the Gadolls are genetically grown as prey for the Gears and the entire story surrounding Deca-Dence's battles are scripted. Crazy right!? The best part: the Tankers aren't in on this at all. You heard me: Natsume and her human friends have no idea that Deca-Dence is staged.

From here, Deca-Dence has two distinct parts: we'll call them "Natsume's half" and "Kaburagi's half". Natsume's half refers to the mobile fortress, the Tankers who live unaware of the cyborgs, and the art style that premiered in the first episode. Kaburagi's half is the Solid Quake organization, the Gears who are avatars of the cyborgs, and the goofy, stylized art style with big lines and bright colors.

The twist and the diverging sides of the story set this show up as not your typical sci-fi anime, but as something a little deeper. The stakes are the same, as humanity is in just as much peril as it was before - it becomes abundantly clear that the Gears and cyborgs don't care about them - but the name of the game completely changes as you realize that our so-called "heroes" aren't really all that heroic, and there's a lot more going on.

Kaburagi is, of course, one of these cyborgs, cursed to live among the Tankers because of a mistake he made while playing as a Gear. Now, he's in charge of eliminating "bugs", or mistakes that the system finds. He's upset with his life, frustrated at what he's doing, and contemplating suicide. But when Natsume walks into his life, a little girl that the system considers legally dead, Kaburagi sees a chance to rebel, even the slightest, against the system. He's supposed to kill Natsume, but instead, he takes her under his wing, determined to protect what he's been instructed to eliminate. This development gives their relationship a deeper meaning, even if Natsume doesn't know it.

Deca-Dence does a wonderful job at showing the watchers both sides of the story but keeping Natsume's side in the dark. Even though we see scenes from Kaburagi's side, Natsume knows nothing about them. When Kaburagi leaves after Hugin kills his avatar, Nastume doesn't know where he's gone and has no reason to believe that he hasn't run away. There's no way she could guess that Kaburagi's new form - his weird orange Gear avatar - is the mentor that she once knew. And when Kaburagi, back in his original form, is killed in front of her, she really believes that he is dead. When Natsume finds out about the truth of the Gadolls - that the world she knows is fake - her horror is palpable and realistic, because there's no way she could've known any better.

Kaburagi's world has a goofy style to it, with the cyborgs looking cartoonish rather than realistic. While it might initially seem off-putting, I think that it ends up balancing the tone of the story much better. Consider the hellscape that is the reform facility that Kaburagi visits. Imagine how dark it would've been if it was not in a silly style! By keeping the style cuter rather than realistic, the show doesn't dip too far into dark and gritty, and I really liked it!

It also set up this harsh divide between Kabruagi's half, where things are easygoing, done for pleasure and fun, and not nearly as harsh as Natsume's world (Look at the name of the series! Decadence literally means living in excessive luxury!). Even when the cyborgs are in their Gear forms, which are drawn in Natsume's style, they're still a lot more colorful and vivid, showing that their lives aren't as harsh as that of the Tankers. The art styles reflect the differences between the two halves and give them both distinct tones and personalities!

& finally, let's take an in-depth look at one scene!: I had a really hard time picking what I thought summed up the series in a single scene. In the end, I think that Natsume and Kaburagi's discussion at the end of episode 7 was the best. Here, we see a culmination of a lot of the character development going on. Kaburagi, in this scene, is in a Gears avatar that Natsume doesn't recognize, meeting her for the first time since his normal avatar was killed. Natsume's been working with the Tankers to protect them from Gadolls that infiltrated the fortress, and she's motivated them all to rise up and fix the hole in the fortress themselves.

Kaburagi has encouraged Natsume to be a stronger person, even though she had to be independent and not rely on him any longer. His pessimistic view on the world - that they'll never defeat the Gadolls - has rubbed off on her, but it's only made her more determined to be stronger to stand up to them. In this scene, we see her breaking down as she considers that Kaburagi might be right, and that she'll never kill them all, but that she needs to continue fighting.

Though Kaburagi previously doubted Natsume and her endless determination, he now feels filled with the same motivation. Natsume has convinced him, time and time again, that he can't give up, and so he decides that he's willing to do anything to make sure that she never loses that hope. He wants her dreams to come true, and he knows that she can't accomplish them alone.

This perfectly shows the effects that they have on one another. Natsume is now stronger than she's ever been: independent, able to take down Gadolls on her own, and determined enough to patch up the hole that no one else thought could be fixed. Kaburagi, in stark contrast to his suicidal thoughts from episode two, is now completely devoted to make the world a safe place for Natsume. Their relationship has shaped one another into being the best versions of themselves, and this isn't even the end! They still complete their growth in the last few episodes, but I've rambled about them enough.

We're done!: That's my review of Deca-Dence! I really believe that it's one of the masterpiece animes in recent years, and I wish it got more attention. I'm sure that there's plenty of anime out there like this one - forgotten diamonds in the rough - that I'd love to dig up and fawn over. Tell me if you know any! Or, if you disagree with my review, tell me where you think I'm wrong!

[finding-fallen-stars]

YGO Questionnaire Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

So, my gf/bf @howaboutalittlehelpneos tagged me to do this again a... good long while ago, and I had wanted to wait until I'd finished my GX rewatch before trying this again. But ouch oof I accidentally also got through all of 5Ds again before getting to this lol

But the 5Ds rewatch definitely reshaped a lot of my thoughts, so... cracks knuckles. This won't be spoiler free, fair warning~

Favorite Series: ugh the formatting killed my original essay on this but okay GX and 5Ds are pretty tied in my book, now-- I love them equally, but in different ways! GX fulfills my love for subversive coming-of-age stories with a heartwarming, humorous, and also soulcrushing touch, and I love how each season brings a new story and new characters-- it's like reading installments of a novel series, and I think the formatting works wonders for it as a whole. It has some absolutely phenomenal character writing, too-- even the characters I dislike are ones I can appreciate for what they introduce to the story! And honestly, not enough people give the first two seasons of GX the credit it deserves: they're half the charm, really. How are you going to feel the full impact of the heartbreaking content in seasons 3 and 4 if you aren't properly attached to the characters?

But on 5Ds's side of things... it fulfills my love for stories with time loops, found family, human nature, and of course, love and death and how they intertwine. I love how the leading characters are just a bunch of broken kids from broken circumstances who all find a home with each other, and of course, how it highlights class disparity and how fucked up the prison/"justice" systems are. Yea, sure, maybe it underwent executive meddling and all, but I genuinely love it for what it is and I wish more people appreciated it... my only problem with 5Ds is the untwist with Z-ONE and then the ending s m h I adore it overall and I could go off for a long while on it. Overall, these are my two instinctive recommendations for anyone getting into Yugioh!

(look at these boys they're so important) Favorite Protagonist: Oh, believe me, absolutely nothing has changed here-- Yusei Fudo is and always will be my favorite protagonist, and my rewatch only solidified that.

I just... love him so much? He's seen so much hell in his life and carries so much guilt on his shoulders, but he still has room in his heart to believe in others and to believe that anyone can defy fate and find hope even at rock bottom. I love that he's initially introduced as this quiet, brooding figure when he really just turns out to be a huge softie who wears his heart on his sleeve half the time and wants to bring about change for Satellite and its people. Plus I just really love that his greatest flaw is something that would ordinarily be a positive trait-- he's Overly self-sacrificial, to the point where he's basically setting himself on fire to keep others warm, and that's not really framed as something Heroic

Just... he makes me so happy. I have two Yusei charms that I ordinarily keep on my keys (one was a gift from Zenzen) and they're a constant source of serotonin for me. He's Peak comfort character for me. Best protag in my book Favorite Rival: Same deal here-- still Manjoume!

look at him he's so important

While he spends a lot of the anime getting the good old damsel in distress treatment (getting suckered into a cult, getting knocked into a coma, becoming a zombie, getting fucking Killed, etc), I still think his character arc is really well-written overall and I only appreciated it even more when I watched GX again. I love the fact that he's got a soft heart he buries beneath the edgy facade, and that he's simultaneously really sharp and also kind of dense lol. He's just a fun character and watching how he evolves from episode one to episode one hundred eighty is such a satisfying journey.

Plus, props to him for being such a versatile duelist-- 50 wins in a row is HARD as is, let alone with a deck full of cards he just found laying around in the Arctic. Three ace monsters, three different archetypes... he's a really good duelist and I'm proud of him for it

Oh, but honestly, I don't really dislike any of the rivals-- I'm neutral towards Revolver and Reiji, but the remaining four (Kaiba, Manjoume, Jack, and Shark) compel me. yes I accidentally wound up liking Jack Atlas shhh Favorite BFF: Honestly, I really like most of the characters who fit this archetype-- Joey, Crow, Gongenzaka, Soulburner... I still lean a little bit more towards Joey, but I really appreciate all four of them. I'm gonna say Joey again, just because I find his evolution as a character the most compelling, but I appreciate the other three a lot. Soulburner has the best design though Favorite GFF: Oh absolutely still Aki, but I honestly... really love most female Yugioh characters? I'm assuming this is lead girls only, but like. I'm dumb and gay and I love Girls so this is naturally the most difficult one for me to answer lol

Aki just resonates with me the most because she's the prime example of how trauma doesn't always manifest in palatable ways-- when we first meet her, she's angry and lashes out at anyone and anything just because she wants the world to suffer in the same ways she's suffered, and then... we get to watch her grow from that, once she's free from Divine and able to heal the way she needs to heal. I know the second half of 5Ds didn't give her character the attention it deserved, but I'm still proud of her for winding up on the path she did-- seeing her channel her power and energy into wanting to heal and help others was just so good and was one of the few things I really Loved about the 5Ds ending.

oh, but like. Asuka Tenjoin and Aoi Zaizen are very close seconds for me!!! Aki just has a vice grip on my heart Favorite Villain: Okay, it's still technically Vector-- I think he's the most entertaining, well-written, and effective villain out of all of the ones we've seen so far, but... I also want to add Takuma Saiou and then all of Yliaster as honorable mentions?

As someone fond of tarot myself, I was naturally pretty intrigued by Saiou the first time I watched GX, but my attachment to him only grew the second time around where I actually got the chance to understand his character better. Plus, like... the visuals with him are fucking astounding and he's always so interesting to watch.

As for Yliaster, I just... really love how the big bad of 5Ds turned out to just essentially be a broken man desperate to save anyone and anything and three robotic reconstructions of the friends he'd lost. I still think the untwist with Z-ONE was stupid and I much prefer the idea of him and Yusei being the same person, but I'm still compelled by the other three-- well. Paradox less so, because we don't get a lot of Paradox lore, but. Aporia and Antinomy for sure.

ugh Yugioh has some damn good villains

Favorite Card: now that I actually play the TCG game...

Stardust is always going to be my favorite of all cards because it checks every box for me (my favorite YGO character's ace monster, space theme, what more could I want), but Aromaseraphy Rosemary has really become one of my aces in my best TCG deck! I'm still mastering irl plays, but I'm happy with my progress and I love my plant gang...

Favorite Episode: alright, here's where there's actually been a Lot of change, so...

Season 0: Episode 16: "Turnabout by a Hair's Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis" -- The more I think about this one, the more I love it; there's a... lot of corruption in the medical industry, and I've seen a lot of it firsthand, so just. Seeing a corrupt doctor get what he deserved at the end was cathartic, in a way? Plus, a Jounouchi-centric episode is always a good time.

Duel Monsters: Episodes 96-97: "Darkness vs. Darkness/One Turn Kill" -- this hasn't changed, I still love seeing Marik and Bakura bitch at each other for two whole episodes LMAO

GX: Episode 152: "Activate Super-Fusion! Rainbow Neos" -- This one hasn't changed and it likely never will-- I take so much pride in seeing Judai push forward, past the fear and guilt he's carrying, all to save Johan... it's cathartic and I never get sick of watching it.

5Ds: sweats. still all of Crash Town, but also episodes 137-147-- the Ark Cradle is one of my favorite parts of 5Ds and one of my favorite YGO arcs period, and even though each duel is a fucking gut punch, I love the emotional intensity and weight in each episode... It hurts but in a mostly good way

Zexal: Episode 143: "The Aloof Duelist 'Nasch': The Destined Final Duel" -- this one hasn't changed! Still hurts, still love it, I still weep over Ryouga Shark Kamishiro on a daily basis

Arc-V: Episodes 81-82: "Our Respective Battlefields/The Ultimate Falcon VS The Black-Feathered Thunder" -- Okay, honestly, this was hard because I... genuinely. really don't like Arc-V very much at all lol (it's just not my cup of tea, but more power to those who do like it!), but I thought this duel was a lot of fun! Shun is my absolute favorite from Arc-V and I really like the friendship he struck up with Crow a lot, so here we are

VRAINS (so far): Episode 25-26: "Virus Deck Operation/Three Draws Leading to Hope" -- honestly I am so biased because I just really love Blue Angel and I loved seeing her get a well-deserved victory like this lol. I'm not done with VRAINS, so this is probably gonna change, but anytime Blue Angel or Soulburner are on screen, I'm happy

Favorite Decks to Use: Aromages will always have my heart, but I adore Cyber Angels too! I'm building my Trickstar deck, my Synchron/Stardust deck (just waiting on Dawn of Majesty...), and my Magician Girls deck, too! Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum, or Link?: Synchros my beloved... but also Ritual Years in fandom: I've been here for just a little over one year now! and I wuv it... I'm never looking back Who am I tagging: no one I'm too shy

[pipchirisu]

Day 5 and last part of the playthrough!

I didn't get any megas 😭 (other than Omnimon who I think is moral route garanteed). My affinities weren't high enough maybe? Or is it not possible first time around? My highest affinity was Minoru at 49 followed by Saki at 46 and Aoi at 42. My lowest other than the fallen characters was Kaito at 28 who did not in fact go past champion. Ironic considering his whole shtick.

I liked the facing their shadow stuff just wish something came of that? I think reaching mega would have been great there. Especially with the megas being route dependent but looking forward to seeing how they do happen hopefully in the next run. The little hints each character had definitely makes me want to play again the only ones that felt weak were Kaito and Saki. It really feels like Kaito has nothing going on other than the protecting Miu thing. Meanwhile I know Saki has some kind of terminal illness so having her shadow not mention or hint at that felt weird. Not wanting people to hate/dislike her was a fine enough insecurity but not even a "you'll die soon and have lived a life where everyone hated you" to really dig at her? Again maybe it was an affinity thing. Maybe that is the mega section and I just didn't meet the requirements 🤷‍♂️

The ending was good! Don't love that the digimon stayed behind but it was very season 3 of them to leave them behind and have a promise to return. I really hope that promise is kept in one of the endings. The game finally using the word Digimon and having it be coined by the professor because of the social media aspect was really clever. The idea of the supernatural being kept alive through social media is actually really fascinating and they explained really well. Really brought their choice to not use the word digimon the entire time together.

Having finally finished one playthrough I can say the game was worth the wait and worth playing if your a digimon fan. It felt like going through an anime season but influencing the direction somewhat. However I can see why it's also kind of going under the radar :/ Which is unfortunate because Digimon needs the sales! I think they mentioned working on a more cyber slueth like game already tho so hope to see something from that soon! It should hopefully fair better than survive who I think will probably be more of a hidden gem cult classic down the line.

Character rankings based on this run:

Minoru/Falcomon (love a good shonen protag which he basically was and his mobility was great)

Saki/Floramon (very relatable from liking lopmon to finding veggiemon ugly and hints to what I still don't know! Having long range hits also helped)

Aoi/Labramon (being timid but being expected to lead is very relatable plus I like her design and digimon! Didn't love Cerbermon's close range style tho)

Shuuji/Lopmon( lopmon is my fave digimon so that one was a given but Shuuji gave me a lot to hate and a lot of drama and I loved hating him I guess? Gave me a lot to think about that the others I feel didn't so gotta give him at least this spot)

Kaito/Dracmon (He feels pretty one note but his dynamic with dracmon was interesting from the start and he was a good unit until he didn't get past champion...)

Miu/Syakomon (like the hints to some sort of incident and her parents hating her? But didn't get a lot out of her and as a unit annoyingly slow)

Ryo/Kunemon (was looking forward to a redemption arc before being rudely reminded this game had deaths in it lol Died to early for an opinion to form so looking forward to getting to know him)

Haru/Miyuki and Garurumon/Renamon were good liked the angst but not sure where to place them in comparison to the party characters. Above Ryo for sure I suppose. Compared to eachother I'd say I liked Miyuki/Renamon more both as characters and units. Sakuyamon was so good I prioritized bringing her on the team over everyone else lol

I also don't know where to place the Takuma/Agumon I have a hard time caring about MCs especially with games like this where I'm making choices. I think I'd like him more than your average goggles protag cuz he was on the less hotheaded side but he was fine. Like the little moments with Agumon especially when he was talking about taking selfies! That was really cute.

Final alignment was 42 moral 26 wrathful and 36 harmony