#saw this from my Kancolle blog

[zero-ek]

A little ramble on Magireco's EoS

I genuinely do not remember how i did i ever got into Magireco, i do know it was before the NA version came and went, and i do recall being there for i think 2 or 3 annis, but apart from that i have absolutely no clue how that game ever came into my life.

Something that i do know, though, is that before, and even during some of my time with Magireco, i was always a lurker through and through, like, i wasn't very much into participating on fandom or even just talking about stuff i like into the void like i usually do now.

And to be honest that hasn't really gone away, like for example, i love Symphogear, it's a very dear show to me, but looking at my blog and Twitter, i never even mentioned it or engaged with the fandom once. I grew up with Nanoha and Kancolle and Sailor Moon, they're some of my favorite media ever, i pretty much never talk about them, i fell in love with Revue Starlight recently and never mentioned it again. I got a whole bunch of other examples but you get the gist of it.

The point i want to get at is that Magireco was probably the first time that i ever felt comfortable being active in a fandom, like, talking to people, being into art and writings and fanfics and all of that. Not only that, but Magireco was the first time that i felt compelled to contribute something of my own. I decided to translate some stuff whenever i could, definitely not as much as i wanted to, but the thing is i think that was the first time i worked on translations purely out of love for a fandom, out of wanting to get it out there more (i was in a couple translation teams and whatnot in the past, but i never really had that drive). And even now that's still something i'm inspired by for the other fandoms i'm in, like, i have a whole second blog for translations now, simply in the spirit of "hey this is really cool i think more people should see it."

I actually stopped playing the game itself a good while ago, i'm a casual all the way when it comes to games, and it's just the sad reality that casuals are the sworn enemies of any gacha game, having to choose between paying money or ceaseless grinding is simply beyond me. But even after leaving the game behind, i still decided to stay around the community, not only because i was still very intrigued by the story and where it would go, but also because by that point i was already so attached to Magireco as a whole. Plus y'know, there's always that one select group of people who make incredible art and writings and stuff that you grow very fond of and just can't let go (if you're reading this and happens to be one of those people whose notifs i live in, hi! Sorry for annoying you, but i love your posts!).

So y'know, even though i haven't actually played the game in years by this point, it still seriously shocked me to hear about the EoS, though to be fair it was finals week and something else happened, so there was a bit of that nervousness mixed in there, but still, it's just been in my head this whole time. I do know that like, people have been talking about it being a possibility here and there for a while, and i have to be honest with you, i loved Puella Historia, but with how seemingly definitive the closing of Arc 2 was, i couldn't see it as enough to launch a new storyline or serve as the game's driving force for an extended period of time (i thought Scene 0 would be that, given how it was marketed as this huge deal, and i do think that it was an attempt to try and reel more people into the game, thus the focus on the Holy Quintet).

I guess what i'm trying to say is that i do know that some people saw it coming, and i can't deny that even i felt that way a bit, but i don't know, it's always still so hard hitting to have that be confirmed outright, to know for a fact that something you loved ended, or will end soon. I suppose because it takes away the deniability you get with like rumours or omens, there isn't any "maybes" to cling to, it's over and you just gotta deal with it whether you like it or not, and that is never an easy thing to go through, i mean ask me from this January, she would know.

But in the face of that, the thought that i found comfort in, and why after the shock settled, i feel strangely okay with it right now, is that i'm much more happy to have been part of this fandom, that it was my first proper community experience. I know that i'm only in like a corner of it right now, and god knows it's hardly the most perfect fandom out there, but i still loved it, i loved reading through all of the stories, i loved the fanart and the writings and all the cool fanwork people have put out, i loved not just seeing the discussions, but actually talking to, and somewhat getting to know the people in the community, and i'm very happy that i got to contribute a little bit myself, i just had an all around great time being here these past couple of years.

For my first fully fledged fandom experience, i feel incredibly fulfilled, even now, i truly mean it when i say that Magireco is the best community i've ever been a part of. EoS be damned, i just don't see myself letting go of it anytime soon

I'll stick around for as long as this fandom breathes.

[usagichronicles]

What some of your best memories in the RPC?

Hmm... I’ll put this under a read more, since I’m in a self reflective and stream of consciousness mood. So this will be entirely unedited, and way too long.

I think some of the early happiness was the reception I got when I first started, about four years and ten months ago. People were excited to RP with me, glad I had decided to finally get involved.

At first I intended only for Cafe, and I put in a ton of work to get her set up. But by the end of my time writing KanColle, I had a lot of shipgirl OCs, and I mean a lot -- Trench Cafe, Spirit of Fire, Ohio, Atlantic Conveyor, Pilar, Houston, Langley, Gangut, Manila, New Zealand, Georgios Averof, Neptune, Leander, Achilles, Kiwi, Tui, Moa, Lanikai, Kirkwall, Jewel of Windsor, Emma Williams, Aotearoa, Helle.

A lot of the best early memories come from Cafe and her storyline. And I must admit, out of the above 24 characters? Cafe, Spirit of Fire, Manila, Kirkwall, Emma Williams, New Zealand, and Aotearoa got a lot of development. But satisfaction in how their characters developed? Only in Cafe, Emma Williams, and Aotearoa.

Cafe and Manila were the only characters who got endings. They were both happy endings. But only Cafe got one I am happy with. 

That being said... I really enjoyed writing HMS New Zealand. I think she was one of my first ‘complex’ personalities, with a storyline that I really tried to plan a bit. It didn’t work amazingly, there was a lot that got derailed, but I enjoyed her.

Aotearoa is a happy story of missed chances. Her personality wasn’t quite so complex, but I thought enough of her, I converted her into a different format and wrote a CYOA novella, rewriting an RP arc that didn’t go the way I wanted it.

There is one other... But I’ll bring that up later.

Moving on from KanColle...

I did a lot of faffing about with Strike Witches. I had four characters. Adeline Kain, Rebecca Moore, Tui Gray, and Helen Clapham. One of those names might be familiar. This... is where Helen Clapham originated. Strike Witches being Strike Witches, there was no active RPC for the setting, and I don’t blame anyone for that. I convinced three others to write it, among them Kako, and we did a brief thing together. 

I stuck with it longer than the rest; I still had my SW characters kicking about by the time I shut down the old blog, and elected not to bring them to this one.

Rebecca Moore was a favourite of mine in that time. It helped, however, that I wrote her with Kako. She had a more sophisticated story than the rest, and on top of that, she had a storyline. She showed up before, she helped Kako’s character, she helped another person’s character who affected Kako’s character -- and though her story ended before I really wanted it to, in a way she also got a happy ending. Still fighting the war, even after she was ordered to go home, helped by Keiko. Pulling her weight.

I’ll skip my attempts at Halo. They had some fun times, but not enough to really bring up. My attempt at Girls Frontline was stillborn. 

Strike Witches is where Helen Clapham got her start (originally with UMP40 as her FC). The Agency version of her started off as an AU, of Helen Clapham, the ex-witch bomber pilot. An AU where she never became a bomber pilot, and fell into another world. Three years later, Helen Clapham the bomber pilot no longer exists.

Agent Helen does, and she’s been a bundle of happy memories. I’m genuinely proud of how she’s developed over time. She’s the muse I’ve stuck with the most, the one who’s seen the most, who’s had the longest storyline. One that sees little sign of ending. Through thick and thin, she’s brought me to tears, she’s brought me to hugging my pillow and giggling to myself. Always with the satisfaction and cheer of writing a character I really, really enjoy. Those tears were not of frustration, and though they were shed in reaction to parts of her storyline that sadden me, they aren’t tears shed because I don’t like it. So I think she’s a big one there.

Victoria Collet deserves a spot here, but she should really be above with KanColle. She got her start back then, after all. She’s ‘Jewel of Windsor’ in the list. She is the only character from the KanColle blog, who survived the transition to other areas of writing. I think she was one of the characters I absolutely loved writing, even back then. Her origin story comes from H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, which is a semi-annual obsession of mine. Though that origin no longer exists, her current form is quite lovely. I always have a goofy smile on my face when I think of her, and her travels with Maria and Kazuko. She’s just a good bisexual girl who’s massively confused by her friends, a lesbian who commonly crossdresses as a man, and a boy who lives as a girl. 

Fubuki has been a story of indulging myself in a guilty pleasure, and genuinely enjoying writing her own stories. A kitsune, a samurai kitsune, an Oda samurai kitsune, a shrine maiden samurai kitsune, it’s indulging in a lot of stuff I like but hadn’t wanted to write before her, due to some embarrassment over the subjects. But encouragement from friends, particularly Kako, saw Fubuki come to be -- and I’ve enjoyed much of her.

Tikva got off to a rocky start. I originally conceived of her as a way to keep writing Cafe, during a moment of weakness where I was lamenting how some things had gone. She was going to be a carbon copy, Cafe’s AI turned human. But the RP partner I was going to write that with stopped writing, and honestly, in Tikva’s case it was likely for the best. 

Tikva’s story is far different to what the original thing was going to be. Who Tikva is now, is very different from who Cafe was, and she’s far better off for it. I am extremely grateful to Kako for helping me with everything with Tikva.

Okoori was my first foray into Touhou RP, and Kako helped immensely in her creation as well. She’s a bit of another self-indulgence. A woman who lives to make people happy, someone who wears elegant cloting, a bit of exposed skin, a youkai concept (yuki-onna) I really like. Writing her helped me get confident enough to adopt Aya as a canon muse, and have Fubuki chase a demon into a magical land.

Grani. Grani Grani Grani. I will be the first to admit, I’ve latched on to her very, very hard. I’ve made tons of headcanons, spend tons of time thinking about her, discussing her, looking at art of her. Thinking of her makes me smile, and writing her doesn’t often cause me to pause and have to think. I can fall into her mindset rather easily. 

Some people say I’m a lot like Grani myself; I’m short, excitable and generally cheerful, I have a strong sense of justice and desire to help others. My only worry sometimes is that my own sense of self might bleed into Grani, but all of what we write has something of ourselves in them. I try not to worry too much. 

There’s far more I could say. 

I could go through each and every single one of my current muses, and I could likely find something good to say about them -- even Chloe, who I haven’t written in a long time. I am very, very happy with my characters. 

Roleplaying is my main hobby, and has been for more than two years now. It’s a passion that I don’t want to lose anytime soon. I put a lot of effort into it, because I love writing with everyone, and I love it when a thread goes well.

So I guess I can say that, many of my recent RPC memories have been happy memories.

It’s likely best if I end it there, rather than continuing. After all, this reply is up to 1,400+ words.

[hakutakucutie]

“It didn’t take you guys long unsupervised before you started making death cults, did it?”