#jeanne loves horror

[brothertedd]

Hellbound: Hellraiser II💀⛓

from Gutter Garbs

[littleragondin]

Jumping on that cover redraw train for my current Kamen Rider watch ~ (´∀`* )

[ghostbustermelanieking]

new book ask meme

send me a book and if i've read it i'll tell you the last line (and whether or not i guessed the content/knew the line without looking)

[seoafin]

can i ask what your fav genre of games are (saw your post about night in the woods) ? i liked the ori series bc it was beautiful, but if you like unsettling things like i do, then pixel horror is a tasteful genre imo :D

and may i in return ask for game recs? i feel like the games ppl play/like to watch are so interesting !! its fun to see what ppl like despite what they seem (totally not talking about how youre a certified gojo hater and yet you write the best pieces for him, gojo lovers could NEVER)

omggg i'll play anything just like i'll read anything!!! i will say that the majority of the games i play are otome games, visual novels, and RPGS/ARPGS, but i also love love love horror games just as love horror as a literary genre. i love games like resident evil, bioshock, hellblade senua's sacrifice, silent hill, sally face, etc. i love pixel horror too!! i've only played the binding of isaac and omori but ori series is also on my list. also im not sure if wadanohara counts as pixel horror but i was OBSESSED with that game when i was younger. it 100% traumatized me but it changed me fr

i think in terms of games i definitely prefer games with a strong narrative focus/visual novels. i love games like life is strange and what remains of edith finch. i know a lot of ppl criticize plot driven games as books more than games but the utilization of gaming functions to drive a narrative forward is sooooo. it's such a unique and fun format and gives to an interesting perspective that can't be found in traditional books. obsessed.

i think nier automata is the one ARPG that actually fully hooked me in in both terms of gameplay and amazingggg plot. i 100% recommend the drakengard series but only if you can stomach yoko taro's extremely fucked up mind. along with all the aforementioned games, some other games i recommend are fe3h, wolf among us, dmc 5!!!

[kuiinncedes]

in new apartment by myself 😎✌️✌️✌️✌️✌️✌️

[neversetyoufree]

GOD I just realized.

When Jeanne goes to Gévaudan in the present day, she's dead set on killing Chloé. And that sense of obligation isn't just due to her sense of duty as a bourreau; she very clearly feels personal guilt about failing to kill Chloé the previous time. Why?

Jeanne goes into Gévaudan thinking that Chloé really is the Beast. And that means she thinks Chloé's been killing the people of Gévaudan, which she must know Chloé in her right mind would rather die than do. Hell, Chloé even asked Jeanne to kill her when they met on the cliff as beast and bourreau, as she really was laden down with the guilt of "causing" the deaths of her family and the horror of the true nature of the "beast." Jeanne has every reason to think that Chloé has been killing her people and is suicidally miserable about it.

And it's not just that Chloé wants to die and Jeanne failed to kill her. As far as Jeanne can tell when she comes back to Gévaudan, Chloé is still alive and living Jeanne's personal worst nightmare. When Jeanne cries to Vanitas about the fear of losing herself in the atelier, she's not just scared of a loss of identity or control. She's terrified that her violent impulses and loss of self will one day bring her to hurt Luca—the person she loves and most wants to protect.

Chloé is absolutely devoted to the people of Gévaudan. Jeanne knows that, and when she thinks Chloé is the beast, she thinks she's been killing them. She thinks that Chloé has lost herself to her violent impulses and is hurting the people she most wants to protect. So of course Chloé has to die! Jeanne herself also desperately wants to die rather than risk hurting a loved one. It's why Vanitas's promise is a comfort to her.

Jeanne is haunted by the thought that she failed Chloé by not killing her, and that guilt is informed by a bone-deep understanding. Jeanne wants to kill Chloé because she sees herself in the horror of what she thinks Chloé's situation is, and she cannot allow Chloé to keep living their shared worst nightmare. Chloé has to die because she cannot exist in a world where she's hurt her people, and Jeanne can relate to that better than anyone.

That's why Vanitas has to emphasize that Chloé never hurt the people of Gévaudan when he finally talks Jeanne into saving her. Jeanne's guilt may not be the only reason she tries so hard to kill Chloé. There's also her job as a bourreau and her sense that she's simply bound to carry out orders, but I don't think she initially enters Gévaudan with the blank mindset of a thoughtless drone.

Jeanne goes to Gévaudan to kill Chloé because she knows that Chloé would rather die than live having hurt her beloved people. There is no saving her once she's crossed that line. And Jeanne understands that because she's terrified of the exact same thing.

[iamsosmaug]

Miraculous Fic Recs

Recently I've been complaining a lot on the internet how sucky the recent seasons of ML have been, and how much better the old fanfics are; I'm going to prove my point by sharing my tried-and-true rec list. Here we go.

Back To Us - Written in 2017, so some things are inaccurate. Basically Marinette, as Ladybug, kills Gabriel Agreste on accident by pushing him off the Eiffel Tower and Adrien moves to Milan. Seven years later Marinette is a rising fashion designer, her long-lost partner comes back seven years later but hot, and a new Hawkmoth shows up on the very day Adrien comes back. Suspicious. INCLUDES: Antihero!Chat. Alternate superhero names for Alya, Nino + there are only seven miraculouses which honestly I like a lot better than Ladybug just busting another one out whenever she feels like it. At one point, it was the longest fic in the fandom but now it's not even close. 446k. Requires an Ao3 account to read.

Second Chances- Again, written fairly early in the fandom. Adrien is a single dad and Alya volunteers Marinette to be his daughter's nanny - the premise sounds like it could turn out really weird but I promise it's not. Adorable adorable. INCLUDES: Past ChloexAdrien and MarinettexNathanael, and Adrien never went to school. Reverse best friends (Alya + Adrien, Mari + Nino). 105k.

Whose Woods These Are (I Think I Know) - Ladrien Cinderella AU. Super well-written in a kind of fairytale style. I honestly love this fic. 105k.

Spotty Connections - Adrienette texting fic (no miraculous AU, but does incorporate LadyNoir). Tikki & Plagg are M&A's cats. One of my favorites ever. 66k.

Film It - Adrien is a youtuber! Soon all of Twitter ships #adrienette. INCLUDES: Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting. Endgame Adrienette. Superheroes exist, but LB & CN aren't a huge part of this. Also worthy of note: #thatfoursome and a decent amount of Twitter formatting. This has pretty much everything I want in an Adrienette fic. 56k.

Chasing The C/h/atwalk - Project Runway AU. Marinette is a designer and Adrien... is her model. Shenanigans ensue. INCLUDES: Some LadyNoir, mostly after the identity reveal. #MarinetteInDenial. 100k. I love this fic.

Lucky Us - No Miraculous email AU. See Spotty Connections: LadyNoir incorporated without the actual superheroes. Fluff with a tiny bit of angst but still happy ending. 136k.

Secret Santa - fluff. Pure fluff; classic in the fandom. A bit cheesy and very outdated but very nice. Time for a reread. It has a sequel called New Year's Ball. 52k.

Être Majeur - horror, AU, fairly short, creepy and strange but really well-written. 24k. M for horror elements.

La Pucelle Et La Coccinelle - Absolute favorite. Explores Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc in this story) with the Ladybug Miraculous. INCLUDES: Actual historical references, lore for the miraculouses, and a flashforward to the future at the end with Marinette. 38k. I have it printed out, I love it so much.

Pray For the Children You Lost Along the Way - Silent Hill AU (Emilie Anderson from the arcade game is Adrien's mom). It has been on hiatus since 2019, but is still worth a read because so many things tie together in a satisfying way. 86k. Rated M b/c of Silent Hill-type things.

Under Lock and Key - Huge classic also published on Wattpad. Author/artist collab with Maerynn & EdenDaphne - Maerynn passed away while the fic was being written and ED finished it. Very nice art by ED. I view this fic as the quintessential 2017 era Adrienette fic. Very sweet and fluffy. 34k.

Tripped at Fencing - Gabriel hits Adrien. INCLUDES: Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting. Accidental identity reveal (Marinette finds out first). Only 5k but a classic.

The Butterfly and Her Brother series (Generations Past and Future) - written c. 2016. Gabriel is NOT Hawkmoth; Gabriel is not a villian in the least so technically OOC. First couple are set in the 1990s, then a couple in ~2016 and the latest in like 2044. I haven't read the last one in the series but WHATHGAWAATG (Europe gets taken over), featuring the next gen of Agrestes, is really good as well. Many things are outdated/false as this was written based off of s1, but I honestly like this interpretation of the Miraculous much better than how the show does it. Mama Agreste's name is Adele (again, s1) and I quite like her character. I freaking LOVE this series. I have it downloaded to my phone and I reread it when I'm feeling sad. 340k in total, but the longest work in the series is about 166k. SO many kudos.

a fight that you were born to lose - "Adrien finds out that Gabriel is Hawkmoth, and Gabriel gets to bring his long-waited plan into action." TW abuse, emotional manipulation, forced dieting. Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting. Fairly short for how well-rounded it is - 17k.

An Impromptu Proposal - what it says on the tin. Reverse love square kinda: Ladynoir requited love bc Adrien never went to school. Includes identity reveal and Hawkmoth!Lila takedown. 33k.

On The Prowl - Criminal CN. Also on ffn.net. Good story and TOTALLY a classic, but also uses 'ravenette' and 'sapphire orbs' unironically. The writing is okay if a little melodramatic. 53k.

Chat Noir's White French Man Hit List For Feminist Purposes - pretty much what it says on the tin. Sentimonster!Adrien. 7.8k.

i think it's time i told you (i'm a fan of your universe) - ladynoir proposal. v v nice. Just 5k. Smidge of angst.

The Ladyblog Comment Section - what it says on the tin. 27k. Hilarity and crack.

spark - Tinder AU. Lots of Marichat. Angst with a happy ending. 49k. Slow burn w/ eventual identity reveal.

all dressed up and nowhere to go - No Miraculouses modern royalty AU - human Tikki and Plagg. Mostly DJWifi but a mild amount of adrienette and a smidge of chlogami. Includes arranged marriage Adrien x Alya but they don't end up together. "Twenty-five-year-old Marinette is a wedding dress designer, business blooming in her trusty shop, Ladybug Bridal. When the engagement of Prince Adrien Agreste and Ancient Princess Alya Césaire is announced, all she expects is an influx of work. What she gets instead is... a bit different." 35k.

tangled ribbons - Ao3. ballet/dance AU (no miraculous). Adrienette with some DJWifi and human Tikki & Plagg. "Marinette is a small studio dancer who wins a scholarship to a summer long ballet intensive. Adrien is a famous ballet dancer who would rather be at home than at said intensive. The end of the summer will bring about a showcase that could make Marinette's career, if she can ignore Chloé and focus on something other than Adrien." 82k. The slowest of burns.

Where timing is kind to us - Ao3. marichat discusses quantum physics. 4.3k. This is a beautiful one-shot with a one-sided reveal.

[sapphirepastries]

Umbra Witch Yuu (Bayonetta x Twisted Wonderland)

will anything stop me from crossing twisted wonderland over with anything? no. do i plan on stopping? no. with that in mind, i was inspired by this post by @twisted-dreamscape! i love bayonetta and seeing an idea for an umbra witch yuu was really cool, so i went and wrote down some stuff on if yuu was an umbra witch! here is what i got!

Umbra Witch Yuu

training under bayonetta with jeanne sometimes coming in and helping

not an umbra witch from bayo’s time, but a modern umbra witch

has not contracted with a demon yet, will be oc inferno demon maybe named madama abyss? i am unsure on this one

will eventually have contracted with the usual bayonetta demons

became an umbra witch due to strong spirit energy that bayo and jeanne took notice of, also she kinda got involved accidentally in a battle with paradiso maybe? because of her strong spirit energy, the angels took notice of her

bayo often takes her to the gates of hell, rodin is fond of her

enzo eventually starts taking orders from her thanks to bayo

probably joins between bayo 1 and bayo 2? or maybe after bayo 2

very shy about the more…mature parts of witch training

she can be confident like bayo but after the moment passes she gets very embarrassed at what she just did

unsure about putting her soul on the line due to a demon’s contract, but ultimately accepts that it’s part of being an umbra witch. seeing how confident and sure of themselves bayo and jeanne are gives her the confidence to search for a contract. plus, she feels that the angels of paradiso ARE a bit full of themselves. just a little

does get into some sort of crisis after realizing that she’s gonna be sent to hell while her parents are in heaven because “oh my gosh my parents are going to flip when they see the moment their daughter’s soul gets flung into hell”. bayo just pats her on the back (note: her parents are already gone)

will probably get her contract during malleus’ overblot

her guns are blue, but not the same color as love is blue. they’re a more lighter blue. maybe the same color as grim’s flames or idia’s hair?

the gun heels take a lot of getting used to as she isn’t used to wearing heels at all. she wonders how bayo and jeanne do it

as the newest and youngest umbra witch, bayo and jeanne teach her everything about their history, not wanting it to be forgotten

is fascinated that her hair can be used to make clothes

is embarrassed that her umbra witch clothes are very form fitting

is even more embarrassed at what happens when an umbra witch summons a demon

Umbra Witch Yuu in Twisted Wonderland

she’s deemed magicless because the magic in twisted wonderland is different from umbra witch magic

luckily, her guns had been transported with her, so she’s not defenseless. of course, she has to keep them hidden because even though this is a magic school, guns are still guns so she’s pretty sure they’re illegal and prohibited

despite it being a different world, she discovers that she can still use her magic. the bullet arts are obvious, but she can do things like the witch walk

potionology is a breeze because bayo and jeanne taught her how to concoct potions

when she finally makes a contract with a demon, her shadow will change just like bayo and jeanne’s. only the twst boys can see it and they are fascinated

when the overblots happen, the guns come out much to the boys’ shock because holy crap are those gun heels?!

-channels bayonetta- “looks like someone’s been naughty”

is immediately embarrassed once the battle is over

quite a few of the boys have, to their horror, an epiphany :3

[thepoisonroom]

hello sorry if you've been asked this recently but could you recommend some good adult trans books 👉👈 no worries if you don't!!

there are lots of good ones and i've fallen out of the loop since i left my bookstore job! there's sometimes this attitude that trans writers can only be successful in some genres but there are great trans writers in lots of genres! so have tried to include a mix of genres here to highlight some of that abundance, and because i don't know what you like so want to include many things that i think might spark your curiosity.

i'm leaving a lot of classics off that i'm sure you've heard of or have been told to read, as well as some stuff i read that i didn't love and don't feel i can vouch for. there's also lots of good stuff for younger readers (have esp heard good things about sisters of dorley hall and when the angels left the old country) which is really heartening when i remember furtively reading the one trans novel for teens at my library when i was little! and i like that there are trans characters for younger readers now who don't have tragic endings. but anyway:

i really like anything by casey plett, particularly her novel little fish! i loved ivan coyote's rebent sinner for kind of autobiographical vignettes as well as gender failure which they wrote with rae spoon. gretchen felker-martin and alison rumfitt are big faves if you like horror, they're both so smart and unsparing. your body is not your body if you want a good taste of lots of different trans horror authors. the seep by chana porter for meditative sci-fi. the fifth wound by aurora mattia which is hard to describe but v gorgeous. paul takes the form of a mortal girl if you want something kind of carefree and horny and fun and not devastating or upsetting. summer fun by jeanne thornton if you've ever been like what if velvet goldmine were based on the beach boys. i like confessions of the fox by jordy rosenberg but i think the ideal audience for this book is like transmasc grad students who are horny in a neurotic way so it's not for everyone. stone fruit by lee lai was my favorite graphic novel of 2022 and it's a really beautiful examination of breakups and caring for children as a queer person and also forgiving your family. gaylord phoenix if you like your graphic novels weird.

books from my own to-read list that i've heard good things about from people i trust (have included author names only where the title alone isn't specific enough to find the right book):

wrath goddess sing (if you like mythology remixes)

a natural history of transition (magical realist short stories)

manywhere: stories (unsettling also magical realist short stories)

chromatic fantasy (graphic novel, trans guy nun has sex with the devil and has a romance with a robin hood-type trans guy bandit)

finna (gay trans multiverse travel in an IKEA)

X by davey davis (bdsm psychological thriller)

idlewild (transmasc fujoshi tumblrinas have a toxic bestieship)

girlfriends by emily zhou (slice of life short stories)

boys weekend (graphic novel, bachelorx weekend turns into a cult murder mystery)

the boy with the bird in his chest (magical realist coming of age)

the call-out (gossipy novel in verse)

nettleblack (victorian transmasc hijinks)

the story of silence (medieval n magical french trans hijinks based on the historical poem)

unfortunate elements of my anatomy (horror short stories)

bad girls by camila sosa villada (magical realist coming of age epic)

apsara engine (south asian graphic vignettes)

future feeling (funny bizarre sci-fi)

everyone on the moon is essential personnel (cyberpunk body horror weirdness)

[peskybedtime]

Disguise and Gals

Chapter 1 - The Party on AO3

Our submission to the Elvis-o-Ween writing prompt...

Summary: It's October 31, 1957. Elvis faces some real-life horrors at Sy Devore's Halloween party. The beautiful and mysterious Jeanne helps unburden Elvis, in more ways than one.

Notes: How to explain this one?! @shakerattlescroll and I wanted to write something Halloween-themed, and we were both drawn to this party Elvis attended. As far as we can tell it's the only Halloween party he ever went to, the only time he wore a Halloween costume (if you can even call that mask a costume), and the only time he was photographed drinking beer. It was also a very chaotic time for Elvis' career and personal life, and his draft notice was right around the corner. We explore these themes and try to weave a thread between them. We were heavily inspired by the Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut, and moderately inspired by the Stephen Frears/Martin Scorcese film The Grifters. This chapter is pretty light on smut, but don't fret, we have plenty more of that in store.

Ratings: Mature/NSFW/No Minors

Warnings: Sexual themes but no real smut, alcohol use, some bodily fluids (but not the kind you're probably thinking).

Huge thanks to everyone who reads our stuff and encourages us, namely @thatbanditqueen @whositmcwhatsit @arrolyn1114 @be-my-ally @missmaywemeetagain @ellie-24 @vintageshanny @lookingforrainbows @from-memphis-with-love @powerofelvis @dkayfixates @precious-little-scoundrel @karel-in-wonderland @elvisalltheway101 @deniseinmn @ashtag6887 @doll-elvis @ooihcnoiwlerh @literally-just-elvis-fics

My sincere apologies if I forgot anyone - I'm still crap at Tumblr! Please let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist for Chapter 2.

[otomegamesandme]

Top Otomes of 2023

It's that time again! Normally this list is just whatever I played in the year and not new releases, but uh, for once I pretty much only played new releases lol. I'm gonna be honest, I hardly remember what I played because it's been a Year for me. But looking back, these are what stood out!

Norn9 Last Era

Look, I felt the need to add Norn9 on here in some capacity because it was one of the first big otome titles I played way back in 2015. I've been wanting the fandisc ever since, and getting it felt like a dream come true. If you played Norn9 recently you might enjoy this less, but since it's been a hot minute since I last replayed the original I didn't mind the rehashing of the story through the boys' perspectives and I enjoyed seeing their lives after the events of everything! This also helped with my biggest issue of the OG game; world building. Things were filled out and plot holes fixed and overall, it was nice to be with the cast again!

Titan Arum

I'm not sure I would have found this game if I hadn't joined the Velox Fabula game jam, but I really enjoyed this! Ironically, I also read one of the main inspirations for this game (The King in Yellow) this year as well, so seeing it being referenced was really cool. If you've been here a while, you know horror otomes are some of my favorites and I'm glad to have another one to add to the list of otomes I love!

Intertwine

This was just a feel good game that had my whole heart. Van was a lovely character through all life times, and considering I played it during the Worst Part of the Year for me, it really helped get my mind off things! I also will never shut up about the GUI in this game, it's so beautifully designed and some of the best I've seen in a VN!

Jack Jeanne

Is anyone surprised by my number one lol I was yelling about it for the entire month of July, and it was my most played Switch game of 2023 as well! The characters were fully realized and didn't just feel like the usual archetypes, the art was beautiful, the stories were wonderful (including the stories of the plays), and the music slapped. This game was truly the It Game of the genre this year and for good reason! Kisa is also one of my new favorite protags, she was fantastic. I'm really glad we were able to get an English release for this!

[woundthatswallows]

film recs?

i have a lot lol! i could break things up into catergories but since this is a general ask i'm just gonna cover mostly everything! i listed a lot of movies so i'd be happy to organize them a bit more into categories if anyone wants that, i just did it off the top of my head + w a little help from lists i've made on letterboxd. :)

here r some of my all-time faves that i’d rec: possession (1981) dead ringers (1988) harold and maude (1971) l’une chante, l’autre pas (1977) the piano teacher (2001) la morte vivante (1982) ginger snaps (2000) pink flamingos (1972) the rocky horror picture show (1975) twin peaks fire walk with me (1992) crash (1996) repulsion (1965) let’s scare jessica to death (1971) nekromantik (1988) + nekromantik 2 (1991) (second one is my fave but u have to watch the first first etc) girlfriends (1978) carnival of souls (1962) blue velvet (1986) martyrs (2008) a zed & two noughts (1985) multiple maniacs (1970) wild at heart (1990) 3 women (1975) dans ma peau (2002) dazed and confused (1993) kissed (1996) videodrome (1983) female trouble (1974) malina (1991) wings of desire (1987) persona (1966) the cremator (1969) the before trilogy teorema (1968) scenes from a marriage (1974) sunset boulevard (1950) les demoiselles de rocherfort (1967) the living end (1992)

and then some movies that i love/like and think people should watch: cecil b. demented (2000) ringu (1998) excision (2012) hausu (1977) the belly of an architect (1987) moonstruck (1987) les deux orphelines vampires (1997) valley girl (1983) angela (1995) may (2002) nashville (1975) phantom thread (2017) daisies (1966) candy (2006) society (1989) nowhere (1997) velvet goldmine (1998) caché (2005) the mafu cage (1978) funny games (1997) les raisins de la mort (1978) mysterious skin (2004) true romance (1993) y tu mamá también (2001) vampyres (1974) under the skin (2013) alice sweet alice (1976) audition (1999) vagabond (1985) high life (2019) spring night summer night (1967) secret ceremony (1968) candyman (1992) belle de jour (1967) hatching (2022) brain damage (1988) happy together (1997) in the mood for love (2000) cat people (1942) cléo from 5 to 7 (1962) je tu il elle (1974) thirteen (2003) masculin féminin (1966) vivre sa vie (1962) lost highway (1997) le bonheur (1965) une femme est une femme (1961) les parapluies de cherbourg (1964) babette’s feast (1987) arsenic and old lace (1944) the daytrippers (1996) a history of violence (2005) polyester (1981) ganja & hess (1973) impetigore (2019) volver (2006) pea d’âne (1970) the addiction (1995) train to busan (2016) chungking express (1994) smooth talk (1985) death in venice (1971) the incredibly true adventures of two girls in love (1995) my beautiful launderette (1985) wild (2016) lake mungo (2008) possum (2018) jeanne dielman, 23, quai de commerce, 1080 bruxelles (1975) les cent en une nuits de simon cinéma (1995) lola (1961) the passion of joan of arc (1928) le cérémonie (1995) stoker (2014) contempt (1963) eastern promises (2007) les yeux sans visage (1960) shivers (1975) american mary (2012) serial mom (1994) pierrot le fou (1965)

[leonardcohenofficial]

hi :) if you feel like sharing i would love to hear your thoughts on skinamarink

skinamarink is the only movie i have ever gone to see twice in theaters within a twenty four hour period because i found it so deeply unsettling and paranoia-inducing that i immediately needed to experience and process it again. i think that i had the best possible viewing experiences by seeing it at the cinema (the first at a late-night screening the day it came out at my favorite independent cinema, the second at the AMC closest to my apartment) rather than seeing it on a small screen at home with distractions around. i previously described skinamarink as if "jeanne dielman, the shining, fire walk with me, and the sixth sense had a deeply terrifying love child and you’d have this movie" and i stand by that analysis; i think that kyle edward ball has a ridiculously strong handle on the intersection of slow cinema and experimental horror, and the way he builds dread is seriously close to (if not on the level of) more experienced filmmakers like david lynch without veering into completely unwatchable territory. the film was (is) really divisive and i totally get why people feel so strongly about it both negatively and positively; it absolutely freaked me the hell out and i cannot wait to see what ball does next. (you can also read my letterboxd review here!)

[versegm]

Feeling Some Kind Of Way about Jeanne specifically being the one to say "despite everything you have witnessed you would still call us heroes so of course we would come to your aid" considering her entire stance on things is "despite everything I have witnessed I still love humans." When you have seen every cruelties and every horrors humanity is capable of but still you are reaching for that star bottom text.

[protect-namine]

tumblr keeps eating my post about chui, but just know that I got chui's ending and I am going crazy over the lore and the implications of it all

there is an alternate universe out there where neji never left amber and kisa was placed in amber instead of quartz and neji casts her as the al jeanne for I Am Death and chui-kisa-neji becomes THE terrifying trio of horror/tragedy plays.

they're stuck in a feedback loop of "I need a mirror, someone to reflect back the monster and the human in me" > "I steal from other people to grow so I'm willing to be your mirror for that cause" > "you two are fascinating and I'm gonna break you down so bad and make something new out of you" > "I love suffering for the Art™" > "I need a mirror..."

everyone is happy but mentally unwell and obsessed with theater in an insane way. somewhere deep in the mountains, a weasel is crying

also. I want to see takihime!neji SO BAD

[chaoscheebs]

So I've gotten into visual novels a bit more recently, do you have any recommendations? I've been a gamer all my life but vns are kind of a blind spot for me. Maybe some of the more popular ones on the DS and a handful of PC ones are about all I know.

Most of the ones I've played are adult ones (i.e. have sex scenes in them), but I can give some recs if that's not an issue.

All Ages:

-Jack Jeanne for the Switch is a really solid one and for something that includes hiding the protag's gender (she's in an all-boys school for theater), it doesn't fall into weird/horny tropes about it? Like no "oh no someone walked into me changing oh me oh my" nonsense, for example. Plus there's some characters that read very trans/gender non-conforming and I am living for it.

It's very slice-of-life, very pretty, and if you like/can work with stat-building dating sims and the rhythm game sections, I'd recommend it!

Guys Who Like Ladies (not all-ages):

--Princess Waltz is like my favorite VN of all time, it's so fucking good. It's about this (seemingly) normal dude who ends up entangled in this other magical world's tournament to pick a bride for the prince of a country in said other world, and boy howdy for something that is aimed at straight male audiences it is REALLY GAY (affectionate/positive).

The main "girl"? The prince. Who reallyreally comes off as a trans dude. It is awesome.

There's all sorts of cool fights, girls in cool/cute outfits, the "token loli" acts her actual age and is probably one of the most mature of the lot (god i love Suzushiro), it has Lun-Lun, the second best proper girl, yaoi fangirls, and a cute lil' dragon man.

I will provide a quick warning tho': it contains (accidental, they had NO IDEA beforehand) incest, potential adoptive sibling banging, and depending on how you see Chris, potentially misgendering. :c

If you can get past that, tho', it's fantastic and has a bangin' soundtrack.

--9-nine is a urban fantasy-ish multiverse-spanning mystery series in 5 parts: 4 for each girl and one extra epilogue game that wraps up the loose ends nicely. It also contains cool action scenes, has a great cast of characters, and even makes a Wild Arms 2 reference, which cements it in my heart forever.

Each game is a route, and while you could skip one and still get the story (and you might want to, one of the games focuses on the protag's main full-blooded sister who, uh, yeah, they eventually bang), but each part connects to the next and gives you more information to piece together, and it all comes together wonderfully. ;A;

Also, the male lead has a face, is voiced, and has a personality, which is a rare triple-crown in the VN world when it comes to het-focus stuff.

9-nine also has an "all-ages" cut, which can be found on Steam, if that makes a difference.

QUEER SHIT FUCK YEAH:

--Ne no Kami is a yuri VN which is in two parts (with a loosely-connected "prequel" that is plot-light called Sacrament of the Zodiac and has a successor plot-heavy series that has one part out called Watamari, all of which are yuri stores) and IT. IS. SO. FUCKING. GOOD. It and Princess Waltz battle for my heart for the number 1 spot.

The protag is a "normal" girl named Len, who gets drawn into this secret war against the ayakashi thanks to a mix of her childhood friend coming back into her life and her parents up and disappearing on her, and it gets... the actual images are never graphic in the violence sense, but it gets a bit brutal in the fight scenes. Which fucking rule.

It's a good balance of slice of life and battles (and girls kissing other girls of course) and the music fucking rules.

There is also an "all-ages" cut on Steam.

--No,Thank You!! is a BL VN, and it is also really good, but really fucking heavy and I have to give several caveats before recommending it. There is references to (and at least one on-screen instance of) rape, references to in-universe snuff films, non-consensual body modification to the point of body horror, drugs, and child trafficking, tho' everything mentioned past the rape is never shown on-screen.

If your can get past all that, you're in for a wild fucking ride. Haru is the (openly bi!!!!!) protagonist, who seemingly got amnesia in an accident saving this middle-aged man, and so the middle aged man, who is the protag of his own story that's interwoven in the background as he searches for his missing son and dips his toes into some Serious Shit(tm) as a result, sees to it that Haru has shelter and a job until he recovers.

Also, yakuza and a secret underground society that does Seriously Fucked-Up Shit(tm) are all interwoven into the plot, especially the latter.

Also Hiroyuki is best boy I make the rules.

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Anyway, that should be a pretty good starter kit. I'd also throw in Yume Miru Kusuri, which is a more grounded in realism story, but also it's really meta and not a good starter VN (... although it was MY starter VN, please give me a route for the canon gay dude in a fan disc I am begging you). It also. Um. Deals with heavy subjects (bullying, drug use...). So maybe see how you feel about these before that.