#slaps this monstrosity of a post into your dashboard

[junaou]

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋.

Brain worms said ‘go write Junao’s relationship call!’ so here I am, writing this relationship call. Please come and cherish this man. Or pick a fight, whatever’s your thing. Now, as of writing Junao is not in FGO servers outside of JP yet, so there are some spoilers regarding LB4 and all that. These are things I can usually leave out in normal threads/convos, but deeper social links would require me to prod into some of those topics. Tread carefully!

(This ended up being long. Like, really long. I’m so sorry.)

Like this post or reply with the number corresponding to the ideas below that you think would jive well with Junao and your muse. By default I’ll use Tumblr’s messaging system, but if you don’t prefer that/have other options my Discord ID is also available for the taking - just ask! I’ll also make sure to send any memes I find interesting, poke you when the brainworms come out, etcetera.

01. GENERAL IMPRESSIONS. 

Junao is a very pleasant person to be around, and chances are most would find him to be good company - especially if this is their first meeting with the guy. Small talk is a good start to being acquainted with him! Most of the time he’ll just be there to point out things, maybe lend a hand or two.

But at the same time one might notice that a lot of this is very surface level. Less mimicry and more detached if anything, like floating clouds. His optimistic behavior will always be directed at others. Junao is a god, an observer with no personal preferences. He doesn’t really feel emotional about a lot of things, so chances are you’re not gonna get a rise out of him: he’ll just simply disagree or agree, and move on.

02. OCCASIONAL CURIOSITIES. 

His world came into a standstill during ancient times. He might be aware of new innovations and modern changes thanks from Chaldea’s database or due to the circumstances of his summoning, but knowing and actually experiencing these things are two very different things. A lot of the environment is bound to catch his attention - whether it is about the urban horizon or the noise of arcade machines down the street. Junao would be up to trying out pretty much anything, so it’s really easy to entertain his questions or drag him into participating activities.

03. ARTS & CRAFTS. 

Creation and destruction are his domains as a god, but creating stuff with merely the use of his Authority wasn’t very fulfilling at all. There’s joy in the process itself, so even back in Chaldea he had been trying to create with conventional means. The end result isn’t as perfect, of course, but he still finds it fun regardless. The nature of the craft can vary, from carving wood to folding origami or even assembling model kits! Chances are if you find him in a shop he would be looking for DIY items to try out.

04. DIVINITY. 

Junao’s status as a god is quite strange. He wasn’t born as one and he wasn’t supposed to become one. Needless to say, his current performance as a god is…well, it’s not quite stellar. Of course it’s not like he hasn’t communed with gods in the past -  his father is one after all. But all of his prior experiences have been under the position of one who followed and worship them. Now that he walks among them, he’s not quite so sure. Anyone who also happened to be a god in their own world would be of interest to him, just to know how it is like for them to have divine inhumanity in their blood.  He has to realize that not every god shares his emotional detachment.

05. TO PURGE ALL EVIL. 

He inherited the majority of his divine aspect from Kalki, one who is said to cleanse the world of all evil. In his hopes and dreams for a perfect world he tried to remove all known sources of it, only to end up going overboard. (Overboard is an understatement.) Now aware of this flaw, Arjuna has narrowed down his definition to anyone who threatens those close to him, which is a good starting point! So uh, don’t mess with them or you’ll have to face the wrath of a god.

That being said, he’s aware that figuring out the complexities and the nuances between good and evil is something he needs a better grasp on, something that would take an eternity for one to learn. There are some things that he can easily consider to be evil of the bat, but the moral grey is something he needs to face directly and address if he wanted be do better at his job.

06. I HAND YOU MORE YEARNING. 

“How enviable. That is truly the form of a human. They continue to struggle even as ugly as they are. They act valiantly, but they continue to tremble in fear. They cry out saying they don’t want to die, and yet risk their lives to save another. Something inside me insists… ‘I want that. I want to be that.’”

Gods use humans as their proxies, but men do not become gods. Arjuna Alter’s existence is an anomaly, one that breaches this rule. And yet, no matter what happens, his status as a god shall never change. He can no longer return to become human again. That is why he looks at humans from a distance - in all their beauty and ugliness, their strength and their love and their passion, the way they rise and fall and rise again. Longing for something he has discarded.

07. BY CONTINUING TO QUESTION. 

So. Remember what I said about him being a god with no preferences, detached from all forms of desire and emotion?

Now throw all of that out of the window.

Arjuna is an imperfect god. Beneath all these layers of divinity, underneath the functions and the code, therein lies a human soul. One that by all means should have disappeared into the void once he has absorbed nearly every god and yet despite everything he has retained his individuality. Call it a paradox or a miracle, but this is something that can only be achieved by those we call heroes.

Of course this is something that not everyone would be privy towards, but if one pursues a closer relation with Junao it is inevitable that one would end up unearthing these aspects. This personality may be muted, but there are just simply things that he cannot help but react towards. What sides would resurface would depend on specific interactions, however. After all, Arjuna is human, possessing positive and negative traits in equal measure.

07A. WHITE. Bonds are important to Arjuna, whether it is from friends or from family. He is devoted to those who trust and respect him, and those he has grown to trust and respect in return. He still loves his theatrics, whether it’s showing off a skill or just being plain dramatic, and is a willing participant when it comes to competition. He’s no longer afraid of expressing himself, and thus any smile or sign of gratefulness is the genuine thing.

07B. BLACK. He is not above pettiness or resentment. One cannot easily forget pride and honor, and he would come to rise in his own defense or on others when necessary. There are things that are still capable of riling him up, such as injustices that he cannot find himself to forgive. While he is trying to rid himself of his perfectionism, a part of it still exists, and he might find himself going overboard when blinded by emotion. As much as he would deny it, there are things he has begun to question - about his destiny, about his dharma, things he would claim to be unfair despite declaring himself as the greatest sinner of them all.

07C. BHAGAVAD GITA. And herein lies the root of his existence, the point where the fates of the Berserker Arjuna has diverged from the Archer Arjuna. His decision to absorb all gods was a decision rooted in the deepest depths of despair. It was the overabundance of suffering and moral dilemma that has had him think that it would be better to feel nothing at all, and why he has given up his emotions and personality. Why he forgot what was he supposed to fight for in the first place.

He still cannot confront them, after all this time. To face it head on is to have it break down all the walls he has built up for millennia, and no matter when it occurs he would not be ready for that backlash. He has failed in where the Archer Arjuna succeeded, and he is full aware that to acknowledge them again would break him. It has already broken him before.

What lies beyond the song of gods? I do not know. But eventually he has to go back there again, to that time where he has sacrificed everything for nothing. And when he does, he needs to find an answer. May you help him find that, no matter what it may be.

If you have reached this part of this post…congratulations! And thank you so much for reading this up to the end. Of course, I am also open to any ideas that aren’t listed here. Feel free to poke me on messages, plotting is fun and good.

[lumsketch]

#spf character explanations

Over the past week or so, I’ve been posting character designs for a yet-unmade racing game called “Supafast”. Here’s what those characters do:

Each character has a weapon they can use by spending bullets, which they pick up off of the track like coins. You can carry a max of 12 bullets. Every weapon functions differently, but the overriding design philosophy behind all of them is they all give you some kind of warning before they wipe you out, giving you opportunity to dodge before you get hit.

Generally, weapons can only be aimed forwards, though there are a few exceptions. Damage operates on mario kart rules: there’s no health meter, you just get stunned or slowed.

MADS Weapon: Magnum Cost: 4 Mads readies her pistol, projecting a red laser sight aimed straight ahead. 3 seconds later, she fires, flipping anyone in the bullet’s path.

ZAZZLE Weapon: Battery Cost: 5 Zazzle charges up his backpack battery then unleashes an electric pulse that emanates out from himself 1.5 seconds later. While charging, the battery projects a red ring around Zazzle that indicates the pulse’s range.

CHOPPER Weapon: Buzzsaw Cost: 4 Chopper throws a buzzsaw in front of him that speeds up as it flies. At the moment he throws it, the buzzsaw projects a red indicator across the road that shows what path it will take. The buzzsaw will bounce off of walls if it strikes them at a shallow enough angle. MEEMIE/MUTIE (the mutant bluetongue) Weapon: Spittle Cost: 2 Meemie spits a glob of goop onto an enemy in front of her, which does not slow them down at all but reduces their traction. The goop stacks up to three times, reducing the targets’ traction with every hit. TRYX Weapon: Napalm Cost: 5 Tryx fires a spread of five evenly spaced napalm shots into the air ahead of her. They sail over the heads of the racers up ahead before landing in front of them, leaving puddles of fire that spin you out if you drive over them. SHEL Weapon: Airstrike Cost: 6 Shel fires a salvo of rockets into the sky that come down a little ways further down the track. The rockets’ landing sites are heralded by red crosshairs projected onto the road that show up just before the rockets land. You can also choose a specific target who is ahead of you to fire upon by holding down the attack button. VENUS Weapon: Zygote Cost: 7 Venus shoots a fast moving little flesh lump that does no damage on its own. If it strikes a wall, however, it bounces off and rapidly grows into a giant flesh monstrosity, which crawls around slapping karts out of the way for 5 seconds before melting away into a puddle of slime. GUINEVERE Weapon: Chainsword Cost: 3 Guinevere smites your arse with her holy blade. Hot tip for avoiding this one: Don’t be close to Guinevere. DOGTAG Weapon: Machinegun Cost: 4 Dogtag lugs an LMG onto his dashboard, and after a short delay, begins firing it into the ground directly in front of him. The more bullets from the gun that hit you, the more you get slowed down. Just before he fires, the ground in front of Dogtag is highlighted with a red glow. PATCH Weapon: Landmine Cost: 5 Patch drops a landmine behind him. Don’t drive over it. K-BOMM Weapon: Rocket Cost: 8 K-Bomm shoots a rocket ahead of her that picks a nearby racer to lock onto and home into. The rocket’s tracking is pretty poor initially, and if you trick it into flying into a wall it blows up, but the longer it follows you the better its tracking gets. BAWS Weapon: Barrel C,ost: 6 Baws hurls a big red oil barrel one handed into the air in front of him. It sails gaily through the air before hitting the ground and exploding spectacularly shortly after impact. SAWBONES Weapon: Injector Cost: 2 Sawbones shoots a racer in front of her with a fuel injector that gives them a speed boost 0.2 seconds later. With careful timing, she can trick opponents into driving into walls and off the course. AZUL’ITH Weapon: Rift Cost: N/A Azul’ith copies the weapon of a racer in front of him. After one use he loses it and has to steal another one. TOM-OS Weapon: Satellite Cost: 12 TOM-OS summons a hail of satellite lasers that target random positions all over the track. The lasers are especially concentrated just ahead of the player in first place. The lasers are heralded by red indicators a few seconds before they are fired.