#i always have such a hard time choosing between which route to do on another story god damn it 😭
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you know you're back at the lowest point of your life once you're welcomed by these bitches on your screen again
#ahaha yea...#i caved in and went back to my roots once again#mystic messenger#mystic messenger memes#WATCH ME GO THROUGH A MENTAL CRISIS OVER SAVING V OR SAVING RAY AGAIN#i always have such a hard time choosing between which route to do on another story god damn it 😭#I WANT TO SAVE THEM BOTH OK#otome game#otome games#otome
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Mapping Radiant Orders (Stormlight Archive) to the Fears (Magnus Archives)
Because I really like categories, and some of the orders/fears just work together so nicely! And also, both end in archives, which just makes me happy for no real reason. Yes, I know there are 14ish fears and only 10 orders, so some fears will just have to sit out :(
Windrunners: The Vast. Endless sky to fall through... forever... especially since the use of Lashings is not technically "flying", but "falling" towards a different direction.
Skybreakers: Though the Vast does fit the flying part of their powers, the Hunt better embodies the determination of Skybreakers to hunt down whoever breaks the law, to any end necessary. I mean, just look at Nale and what happened in Edgedancer.
Dustbringers: Dustbringers want to break things, and have the handy dandy surge of Division to do so. Desolation is the first fear that comes to mind, given the common themes of destruction, but I could also see a pretty strong relation to the Stranger. Dustbringers don't break things for the mindless purpose of breaking things, but to find out how they work. The inside. Sounds a little like the mechanical contraptions and the changelings of the Stranger? Except the Stranger usually breaks people, and the Dustbringers... well, actually, they probably could as well.
Edgedancers: A tricky one at first, because the edgedancers are so darn good all the time. But given that their oath is "I will remember the forgotten", the step to Lonely, while a little paradoxical, is not a large one - most Edgedancers (like Lift), were once the people who were forgotten by society.
Truthwatchers: Ah, what could make a better match than the Truthwatchers and the Eye. Both committed to seeking truth and knowledge, while the Eye represents the ideals of a Truthwatcher taken too far, such seeking truth is not merely a tool to create positive change in the world, but an end within itself.
Lightweavers: Again, Stranger is vaguely tempting because of the Lightweavers' capacity for disguise, but I think that Spiral better represents the illusory aspects of their powers in tricking the mind, as well as the deep lies that Lightweavers often have to confront within themselves.
Elsecallers: As an order whose oaths deal with reaching one's self-potential, Elsecallers are... difficult to lump into a fear. The surge of Transportation matches the Spiral's connection with doors, but Elsecallers are anything but unsure of one's own mind. But Elsecallers do make excellent strategists and scholars because of their rational nature, meaning that the Web is not a bad fit.
Willshapers: Willshapers are all about freedom, self-determination, and the capacity to choose whatever route you want to walk. The Vast and the Lonely fit into the idea of exploration and freedom against being bound by society or a greater power, but we've already used those. The Buried is the opposite of the Willshapers, but unlike the Edgedancers, I think that there's such a difference in ideals between the two that they can't be reconciled in the same way. If you have a solid argument for a better fear, I'd love to hear it.
Stonewards: You know what's always there for you? A Stoneward. You know what's also always there for you? The ground, if only because you're trapped inside a cave that's slowly crushing the air out of your lungs and will never let you go. The rocky resemblance is just too good of a fit.
Bondsmith: Another hard one. Unity is not really a big theme among any of the powers, except maybe Corruption in the sense of a hive and some of its twisted feelings of love. But there is something that all living things are united in - death, aka the End. Is this crazy to map them to? I don't know, it's the best I've got.
Some of the orders just don't work that well with the fears, but I gave it my best shot. Opinions? Arguments? I'd be glad to hear them :)
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At last….I have Katerina thoughts……That is. There is consistent reference to the dichotomy of good/evil in Katerina’s character, in her words, how others speak of her, and her narrative position as arbiter between Nina and Victoria. Her character concept states that Katerina previously “served as independent arbiter to opposition of the two Mistresses,” and likewise Lara’s portrait quote: “Who could survive between Nina’s rock and Victoria’s hard place? That’s how the town worked back then—upon this rock Nina was forging it, while Victoria maintained a firm stance to keep it in check; Katerina was the one to ensure the balance was in place.” Katerina’s prior position appears in her philosophy in-game, where she tells Clara that three ends are possible and that while Simon generally bound Utopians and Termites, “I insist that he’s built the town as a triangle… and so I declare loyalty to the third idea—the faith of Humility! I am their Mistress. There’s neither heat nor cold anymore; there is only Earth…” Katerina again identifies herself in between dichotomies, in Town philosophy and earth as opposed to heat and cold.
I think this connection to good/evil per se first appears in the Bachelor Route, when Katerina tells Daniil “Any conflict that has two sides inevitably turns into a battle of good and evil” and the infamous question she poses to him: “Do you favour good or evil?” Altogether a little precursor to a later delicious dialogue between Katerina and Clara:
Katerina Saburova: A period of your antagonism with Maria is beginning. Along what lines will it be? Which of you will be the good one, and which one wicked? Will it be up to the Kains once again to determine the meaning of good and evil? How are you to take the good path if Maria doesn't choose the evil one...?
Changeling: Why divide everything into good and evil right away? Could that have been your mistake? Our mistake...
Katerina Saburova: That was what I thought—when I chose my own dark path... I thought the conflict was not between good and evil, that neither good nor evil existed... That wasn't true! For it is in the nature of humans to translate even a dichotomy of red and green into the language of good battling evil. We are doomed to make choices...
Changeling: But did you really choose evil?
Katerina Saburova: I now think I did... Nina could control it at the time... and I couldn't. Nor was Nina wearing the black tiara... But don't put your trust in what is more alluring, more attractive! That is usually where evil lies!
To properly analyze this I want to first discuss how Andrey and Lara characterize Katerina’s failed attempt to emulate either Victoria or Nina. Andrey claims, “As the Mistresses were dying, Katerina was throwing herself hither and thither, unable to choose a role; she tried to be Nina and she tried to be Victoria, but neither light nor darkness have worked out for her—she sucks at both.” Lara echoes this claim: “When Victoria died, Katerina rushed to take her place—she was quite afraid of playing games with Mother Darkness by then. The last of the Mistresses was struggling and throwing herself from one extreme to another.” Both dialogues emphasize Katerina’s inability to adhere to either part of the dichotomy, yet other dialogues suggest Katerina favored darkness. Maria claims Katerina “always found evil attractive,” and Lara states that after Nina’s death, “Katerina, who had been inclined towards Darkness before, became the Black Mistress…” The latter of course reinforces Katerina’s response to Clara that she chose evil, but I think Lara/Aspity’s portrait quotes and her character concept again complicate this and. Might I add. Make it far more devastating.
Aspity describes Katerina as “A queen turned witch. That’s what you get for dabbling with the spirits of the night. After Nina died, Katerina shamelessly rushed to take the place of the Dark Mistress; the burden of caring for the town was Victoria’s […] She got carried away though…” Aspity implies that Katerina became the Dark Mistress only because Victoria was still alive—because there were only two Mistresses, and Victoria was “good,” Katerina must be “evil;” this idea appears again in Katerina asking how Clara can take the good path “if Maria doesn’t choose the evil one.” This makes me wonder: was Katerina truly drawn to Darkness or was she just led to it by virtue of being half of a dichotomy? Her character concept states that Katerina “heartily replaced the infernal Nina. After Victoria’s death, she was left on her own and rushed to become the white Mistress, but it was too late. The evil seeds grew strong roots in her soul.” Which could imply that she *did* favor evil, or suggests her desire to be a proper Mistress (more on that momentarily). The last sentence parallels Aspity’s assertion that Katerina “got carried away” and perhaps Katerina’s own claim that she could not control “evil” as Nina could or Lara saying that Katerina was “afraid of playing games with Mother Darkness” by the time Victoria died.
To me, it feels less like Katerina was always drawn to evil—maybe she was, but the way these quotes describe her, it feels more as though she had to choose evil and was subsumed by it through no fault of her own. The main culprit instead being, of course, the Rat Prophet. The character concept reads: “[Katerina’s] game with the poltergeist called the Rat Prophet, who appeared to her as both her inner voice and a character of prophetic dreams, went too far. The poor woman who wanted to become a Mistress so badly was deceived.” Which contextualizes a line of Katerina’s which obliterates me: “There is nothing to tell. Everything is clear. I never had the power. I am not a true Mistress. I lied… but not for gain. Merely because I wanted so much to be like them. No… wishing for a miracle is not enough to become a miracle-worker…” AGH that last line makes me goddamn throw up blood !!!!! Even more so how her character concept concludes ??? “The Rat Prophet indoctrinated her with the idea that the Town’s demise is inevitable and fighting it would be as pointless as resisting the coming of winter.” TRAGEDY !!!!!!!!
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Lucaya COULD have been endgame, but here's why it wasn't.
To put it simply: Disney.
It's well known that Disney doesn't often allow more than 2-3 seasons and with the complex plot ideas that Girl Meets World wanted to cover... that's not enough time. I believe if the writers had more time, Lucaya could have been pushed, but because it was limited, the writers ultimately decided to go the easy route and just stick with the "original" pairings Rucas and I say this loosely-- Joshaya since they didn't have much time left for build-up and storytelling. The rushed writing really shows on the last episodes of the last season because of how illogically they played Lucaya off (this post hits the nail on the head as to why it was badly done).
When It comes to filtering , Disney does it best and it really showed with Lucaya's campfire scene aka supposed-to-be kiss that was took out because of Disney's one kiss rule. Disney is extremely basic when it comes to romance and they always go for the more simple fairytale type-of love stories like Rucas because of its younger audience and according to Peyton the writers also took the feedback very seriously. Meanwhile Lucaya was more mature, realistic, and complicated. It doesn't help that Girl Meets World was already deemed too mature and unrelatable for Disney's audience at the time which is one of the reasons it was canceled despite its success in ratings.
They could have made Lucaya "endgame" but between the way Riley's character was written, Disney's filtering, and many other things, it would have required too much de-tangling for the short time frame that the writers would have had to work out the kinks. So, the ending would have still felt rushed and left people unsatisfied no matter what due to Disney imo. Had another network picked up Girl Meets World, I think Lucaya would have had a better chance of happening and would have been handled with more care. Although I do believe the writers would have went through with Lucaya had the circumstances been different, I also believe they held themselves back with Riley being the main character and heavily leaning on the nostalgia Boy Meets World by wanting her to have an ending similar to Cory's.
And this is absolutely no hate to Rowan because I believe Riley wasn't a very strong or interesting main character as it is, but Sabrina really stole the spotlight. Peyton even talked about how he and Sabrina had a lot of on-screen chemistry and were the closest out of the cast at the time. In Peyton's words "I think the writers wanted it to be Lucas and Maya" and I definitely agree. There's many theories about why they added a Lucaya romance arc into the show if they were just going to stick to the original plan, but I believe Lucaya could and would have been worked into the show given it was on a different network, had more seasons/episodes, and if the writers were able to make up their mind (because according the Peyton they had a hard time choosing Riley or Maya and chose the safer option lol). Or it simply never would have happened had Sabrina and Peyton not been chosen to play Lucas and Maya.
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Maturing is realising that Ayato is the Diaboy who shares the most qualities with Yui. 🤭
// I'm pretty sure that was Rejet's intention, haha. This is primarily due to the fact that they are both 0 blood type blueprints.
In Japan, blood type is a way more important indicator of someone’s personality than zodiac signs and if you search the 0 traits, you’ll see that they fit both Ayato and Yui perfectly: energetic, honest, easygoing, strong-willed, reliable and so on. Even the blood type is called 楽観主義 which means “optimism”.
I believe both of them are really mentally strong characters, which is one of the reasons why I love them. Another similarity is that they are both extremely empathetic and forgiving, to the point of appearing uhm… not so healthy anymore. I understand that those qualities are desirable, but there is a thin line between being compassionate or understanding and still trying to maintain good relations with people who who gave you such a hard time (as mentioned here in Ayato’s case).
I feel like the reason why they are so forgiving and empathetic is actually because they don’t want others to feel alone.
It is well known that as Yui grew older, Seiji became increasingly busy, making her spend a significant amount of time alone. Ayato used to play with his brothers until Cordelia tried to make an heir out of him, forcing him to spend his entire childhood alone in a room studying. Even the butler admitted in LE that he treated Ayato differently (in the negative way) than the others due to Cordelia's orders, but he eventually apologized to him.
You can see that throughout the routes there are a lot of times when Yui says "But if you do that, you will be alone…" or "I don't want to leave -inserts name- alone!". Ayato also seems to be like that, as he tells Laito in his LE route that no matter how much he despises him, he will always be there for him because he doesn't want him to struggle alone any longer. The same could be said about Kino's LE route because Ayato is the first person to recognize Kino as his brother because he realized he was Karl's abandoned son and wanted to make him feel like he belonged to the Sakamaki family too.
What I'm trying to say is that, while Ayato and Yui dislike being alone, they're not the "I need you because I'd be alone without you!" type, but rather "I'll be there for you because I don't want you to be alone anymore!" type. In some ways, they are projecting their fears onto others, but in this case, it is simply because they care too much.
They're also the only characters Laito wanted to see suffer because, in his eyes, they are the ultimate good people. The way Yui continued to be kind to him and resist in HDB only made Laito want to break her even more, and he also admitted hating Ayato for being honest and pure-hearted, and mentioned hoping to see him suffer. He did and said such things because he believes that if Cordelia hadn't defiled him, he would have been the same, and this is what hurts him the most.
Something I like so much about Ayato and Yui is how neither of them is afraid to confront or even disagree with Karlheinz; Yui's "I'll be the one to decide my life and future." (DF) and Ayato's "I don't need your powers, I choose my own destiny." (CL) are two of the most powerful phrases ever spoken in Diabolik Lovers because this demonstrates that they will not allow themselves to be controlled by Karlheinz or by anyone. Both of them may be dumb at times, but being badass can take many forms; it isn't just about fighting an enemy or devising elaborate plans.
Last but not least, they both believe in Santa Claus and that’s the cutest thing ever! I mean, if vampires exist in the DL universe, why wouldn’t Santa Claus exist too? xD
I am aware that both Ayato and Yui can be too silly and childish at times, but keep in mind that they are supposed to represent teenagers, so I believe people should be less judgmental here. ^^”
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My thoughts on OMORI and its message
I feel like I should talk about the impact OMORI had on me as a whole and recent posts made the thoughts I had after finishing the game for the first time come back, so here we go!
Remember this is my own interpretation, so don't take anything I say as the irrefutable truth! Likewise, feel free to add anything I might've missed in either tags or reblogs! I love hearing about other people's interpretations of the game!
Lastly, please forgive me if something I write isn't clear or easy to understand, I just needed to get this out of my system, so apologies for any typos/formatting issues ヽ(*。>Д<)o゜!!!
TL;DR: OMORI is a complex game about acceptance and choosing to move forward, and how the choices you make will influence the path ahead of you.
There are two routes the player can choose to follow during OMORI, as well as three endings you can reach based on those choices. The true route (which can lead you to either the good ending or the bad ending) and the hikkikomori route (which leads to the neutral ending).
As I've stated in previous posts, I firmly believe this game is not about "unconditional love" or "always forgiving"; rather, it's about not running away from your mistakes and confronting, accepting, and moving past them.
The hikkikomori route
One thing I've seen a lot of people do is disregard the fact that Sunny completely forgot about Mari's death. Yes, even if Headspace Basil or Stranger remember, and even if Something is a constant "reminder" of the truth, Sunny does NOT remember this UNTIL the day before he moves away, which in turn leads to him looking for Basil and thus, this resulting on a fight breaking out between the two of them which lead us to the hospital, where we choose one final time.
We know the cycle and resetting of Headspace has happened AT LEAST four times before the events we see in the game thanks to this dialogue found right before the Black Space segment of the game.
What we don't know is if Sunny actually remembered the truth during those instances or if Omori managed to put a stop to it. Personally, I like to believe this is the case. Why, you ask? Simple. I like to believe the hikkikomori route is but another one of these cycles.
Nothing special happens, nothing that alters Sunny's routine. Sure he is going to move away, but he still chooses to isolate himself in his house and wait until that day, doing nothing but the occasional chore and sleeping. He doesn't open the door for Kel, there are no external stimuli that indicate something is wrong and the ones that are already present inside the house have been blocked (the piano room, the closet, the backyard). And so, there is no reason for Sunny to question anything. There's no reason to accept or forgive anything.
To Sunny, Headspace is real. To Sunny, the truth is that his name is Omori and that he goes on all sorts of adventures with his friends while his dear sister stays behind. This is the truth he's accepted for four years, the life he's taken on and the life he'll continue to live should he not open the door.
Sunny has forgotten himself. He cannot accept the truth or forgive himself because of this. Daddy Longlegs confirms this thanks to the following dialogue:
Not only that, but Sunny also starts seeing himself as Omori in the mirror at the end of the hikkikomori route, which only solidifies the fact he has lost himself at this point and has given in to the safety of Headspace.
Lastly, let's not forget one of the biggest differences between the true and hikkikomori routes—the "boss" fight. Whereas in the true route, it's Omori, in the hikkikomori one, it's Stranger.
Something really interesting is the change of Stranger's dialogue between the true and hikkikomori routes. Here is the dialogue during and after the fight we have against him:
There is a distinct aggression that Stranger lacks in the true route. Stranger is the embodiment of everything Sunny wishes to forget. No matter how hard he tries to separate Basil from the incident, the truth is that he will always be linked to Mari's death one way or another, and, as Daddy Longlegs says:
However, even if Sunny didn't open the door, the fact he is moving away remains. We know this causes Sunny some sort of uncertainty and discomfort, as seen by the "Time" area in Black Space. Sunny is aware something will change and that causes him anguish. It's both figuratively and literally, a timer. To leave and forget or to step outside and find out the truth.
The reason Stranger is the final "boss" of the hikkikomori route is precisely because he is the last obstacle Sunny must "overcome" before he's able to fully forget himself. He is moving away and he's chosen to go with it, to let go of the past forever and completely abandon his identity as Sunny to embrace Omori fully.
Stranger, of course, knows that Sunny has chosen to turn a blind eye to the truth, so as a last attempt, he forces him to face him, to confront everything he's run from, and try to snap him out of it. But by this point, Sunny has given up all hope. He refuses to accept the truth, he refuses to see the pain and suffering his actions have caused, and so, Stranger backs off. Because he knows that at this point Sunny is far too gone.
The true route
With that out of the way, let's focus now on what is canonically considered the true route of the game. We all know what happens: Sunny opens the door and steps out of his house for the first time in years, which leads him to reconnect and mend relationships with old friends and make new ones, all within the span of three days until he moves away.
This is already a huge difference to the alternate route, as he actively interacts with all sorts of people and environments, allowing him to explore the real world and reconnect with it again. Of course, Headspace's influence is still present (as seen by the Headspace imagery that we can see around Faraway on the first day we go outside), however as time goes on, these disappear and instead Sunny starts remembering memories he had buried deep underneath the vibrant colors and fantastical aura of his dreams.
We all know this, so why am I bringing it up?
Thanks to all the stimuli that he's being exposed to, Sunny is able to remember more and more of what happens. He can no longer run away because Mari's death is a fact that he is constantly being reminded of by the world around him. Little by little he pieces what happened back together right until the sleepover he has with everyone else at Basil's house.
During three days, Sunny begins remembering who he is, and although Omori is him, he is not Omori. He is not as strong as him, nor is he able to ignore his fears like his counterpart. Just like the branch coral dialogue indicates:
Omori can mimic a human, but Sunny will never be an empty husk. His human nature remains above all and that is precisely why he can only run for so long. One way or another, Sunny must confront his mistakes and choose.
He can still run away by not opening the door on the second day, he can still escape during the sleepover by choosing not to save Basil, but by this point, he's already faced with the truth.
Now, let's talk about Basil and Sunny's fight. Although Sunny realizes Mari's dead, he doesn't learn the full truth until after Black Space. Again, one of the main things that distinguishes these routes is what happens with Stranger after we've explored this area. The main difference is that, unlike in the hikkikomori route, in the true route, Sunny knows that he has people he can count on. He knows he is not alone, as stated by Stranger:
Sunny is no longer isolating himself. He can finally see that people care about him and that he counts with them. This is reinforced by Hero, Kel, and Aubrey's dialogues right before the fight with Omori:
As well as Basil's before Sunny enters his house for the last time>
Both of these scenes happen right before Sunny takes the initiative to confront and accept what he's done. The difference between the true and the hikkikomori routes is the fact Sunny is no longer alone and he trusts that he'll have his friends by his side until the very end.
And then, we reach the final moment. The final decision.
Just like how Stranger was the final boss for the alternate route, we stand before Omori, who readies his blade as he blocks your path. Sunny has learned the truth, he has seen what he's done and now he has to fight. To prove that he is ready to move on.
Omori has been Sunny's shield for so long. So now Sunny must show Omori he is ready to let go and be himself.
This is the difference between the journeys we go through on each route.
The reason I believe that the hikkikomori route ends with a “neutral” ending is because Sunny never faced the truth. He didn’t even try to do so, instead choosing to hide away and forget, rejecting the idea that Mari died once again. Whereas in the true ending and the bad ending, he accepts this fact and embraces it. He sees the incident once again and remembers the role he had in everything that happened over the course of four years. And then he chooses if he wants to move forward or not.
Let's look at the cutscenes that play after the fights with Stranger and Omori respectively. (I will be using the good ending cutscene for the true route):
One of my favorite things about these is the fact that in the Hikkikomori route Sunny is still submerged in the darkness of Black Space. He is still blinded and therefore he can't see those who still care for him, those who cheer on him and wish him to move on. Instead, all he sees is Omori, because that's all he's known for four years. He is the only one who's been able to provide comfort to him because he won't let anyone else inside.
This changes during the true route, and regardless of what happens in the fight, one thing is clear: Sunny has accepted the truth. He is no longer blind to what happened, and he has finally come to terms with it. Only then does he decide if he wants to take the next step forward or not.
My thoughts
If you've read this far, thank you! Now, you must be wondering what does all of that have to do with the game's message. Well, I'll get to that.
First, I want to make one thing clear. I firmly believe Sunny's journey is not one of forgiveness but of acceptance.
Sunny's been stuck in an endless loop for roughly four years. All he's done is relive the same stories and go over the same path again, just as the following dialogue shows:
He will never be able to move forward unless he accepts the truth. What's done is done, and no matter how many times Headspace is reset, Sunny will never be able to undo it.
This is why the hikkikomori route is a neutral ending compared to the bad ending, even if the outcome is considered worse but most of the fanbase. Because in the hikkikomori route, Sunny never took a step forward. Nothing changed. Meanwhile, in the bad ending, Sunny knows what he's done and he chooses to take his own life as a response. He took a step forward but didn't have the courage to take the next one.
This leads to the last ending. In the good ending, Sunny takes two steps forward instead of one.
In the secret cutscene for the true route's good ending, when Sunny and Basil’s Somethings disappear, it isn’t their guilt or their regret. Rather, it’s the delusions (both literally and figuratively) that have blinded them for so long, the delusions that made them unable to move on. And now they can finally see past them and find each other.
They can finally accept that YES, Sunny killed Mari, and YES, both of them hurt the rest of their friends AND each other with their actions.
That’s the first step for them to heal.
But it’s definitely not the last one.
Trauma doesn’t go away so easily. And sure, life will be rough for a while. But at least they’re LIVING. They finally see things for what they are, and they are able to move past them and try to forgive themselves.
Maybe they won’t forgive themselves. And their trauma is never going to go away. But at least they’re no longer trapped in a lie and can choose what they want to do with their lives.
This is why, to me, OMORI is not about forgiveness. The story never shows Hero, Kel and Aubrey's reactions to the truth because this isn't what the game wants to focus on. Sunny's journey is for him to accept the truth and come to terms with it. But it's not the only journey we see along the way. Take Aubrey for example. She too came to terms with her actions towards Basil during those four years, and although there is not a conclusive ending to this, we see how she realizes her actions weren't justified no matter how hurt she was and she chooses to try and make amends.
Choices are extremely important in Omori. Sure, we can choose if we want to run away from an enemy or fight it, we can choose if we want to buy an item or not, we can choose to play the minigames or do the side quests we get along the way. But at the end of the day, the choices we make determine the future of the characters.
By opening that door, we can see the different outcomes of the story. And to me, that is just how real life is. We don't know what will happen in the future, we don't know if we are going to hurt others or if we'll regret our actions once everything's over, but what's important is to have the courage to make those decisions in the first place, the courage to accept when we're wrong and then choose to move forward or not.
Omori has taught me that making mistakes does not equal you being a terrible person. It is your choice to learn from those mistakes and improve. No matter what, you must have faith in yourself and those around you, and know that even if you didn't make the "right" choice, you can learn from it and you can become a better person thanks to it.
And I think that's beautiful.
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I really hate the inconsistencies that exist just to make SB (and CF technically) work, but also how hard Petra basically simps for Edelgard to the point it deconstructs aspects of her character.
In Houses she mentions her siblings being in danger if she died, but in SB she just doesn't even make any mention of them in this situation. She's just willing to possibly die all of a sudden for someone who never actually treated Brigid like its people were independent (which she could've done at literally any time from the moment she became emperor). She was relatively vocally I guess you could say "good" to Petra, but the way the writing handles Petra's response to all of it feels like Petra's just been brainwashed.
Petra says she would always choose survival and makes a point to emphasis that, but in SB she's completely and carelessly willing to risk her life and possibly throw it away... for Edelgard? Who still has not actually officially freed Brigid? And if Petra were to stop being Edelgard's ally?
"Reconsideration". Because Brigid was never freed and now they're not going to be as long as Edelgard is in charge, because their queen is no longer bending to her will and fighting for her. If she was ever truly planning to free Brigid, Petra's decision alone not to fight for her shouldn't have changed that fact (especially since she supposedly gives her the choice in Houses to fight for her or not, and on non CF routes she does this by sending a letter, to which Petra refuses).
It should, of course, be obvious with this that everything is very not hunky dory between Adrestia and Brigid, but then...
...eh wot hooligans???
I mean sure, if you considered forced vassalage to be "peace" and not being a free people "peace" then sure. But like... it's not a peace her people want and she should know that, but the game tends to do this back and forth with this topic. I hate it though because it makes it come across as being forced into submission and not having the means to fight back is "peace".
I know this game has lots of issues with uh, if you're attacked or if you were defeated by another military force you should submit and be happy about being taken over, and when you can't fight back anymore that's "peace" because nobody's fighting... but uhh... why is that only an issue with the Empire? I mean, we know why - the devs wanted to walk with her and they admitted it! But like... they should still know when they're writing something reeeeally icky.
Duscur doesn't have this problem and they're not under Edelgard's foot. Anything under Edelgard's foot though is treated like they should be thankful for her control and/or invasion(s). That just overall sends a really nasty message. I don't know that the devs meant to do that as far as an Empire, but I do think it's because they went a little hard with the Edelgard bias and somehow forgot what it would look like to an audience playing the game.
It's like they know it's not a good thing but they keep pushing the "Brigid isn't actually free but it's still peace because nobody is fighting" narrative.
Like... I don't care how much you love a character you're writing. You can't tell me that oppressed nations would just call oppressions "peace" or that their leaders would be more than happy to fight and die for the leader of the nation oppressing them. It gets even worse when you get into the racial territory of it, but that's a topic I've already covered so I'm not gonna go over it again here.
#DCB Three Hopes Run#I know ppl have talked abt this before but it's still smth that bugs me and#frankly this game is only a year old so the issues that were present in Houses#now being present again in Hopes means they were not fixed at all in the writers room#as recently as a year ago. I'm glad they went back to normal FE formula with Engage bc of shit like this#And yeah reminder I discuss some of the negative/harder topics here and not just what I like#I don't tag anything like this outside my own tag(s) though bc I'm not interested in discourse#but I still want to be able to talk about this stuff and I do have some mutuals who are interested in these discussions#which I say this bc I have a section of mutuals who don't like these discussions#and a section of mutuals who do want to discuss this stuff and typically the ones who do go into these topics#tend to be on/posting/etc around the time I'm posting this one so I try to balance when I post these things#around the time those mutuals will be on and when the others are sleepingggg zzzz bc I got at least a bit lucky with that!#Generally one side of y'all are awake at once so it works out pretty well#I talk abt things in equal measure with things I love abt these games so if it's just smth that#I want to talk abt then I do with all my little details and stuff bc that's what I do for all FE games#If I don't like smth I'm gonna talk abt it just like if I like smth I will talk abt it
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favourite act 3 dialogues so far, a collection
(i love this mainly bc im like. ah. the 'looking back after killing cazador as a spawn and realising you were acting not dissimilarly to the man you hate so much and that you could have become just like him all over again if you'd gone through with it' is just delicious)
Lae'zel is just so tired, she's really going 'for fuck sake we have withers, a selunite demigod and her wife, scratch and the owl bear. must we take in *more?*'
CASSANDRA! YOU'VE KNOWN YOU WERE A CHILD OF BHAAL FOR A FUCKING DAY! STOP TRYING TO TELL EVERYONE! ALSO??? Babes im trying to redeem you so hard why are you making it so difficult for me to *not* pick 'recently unemployed, i quite like murders?' bc your intelligence stats make that so in-character
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(honorary bloodweave 'and they were bunkmates' setup)
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(back to quotes)
(i love Orin. I love the relationship she has with Durge. She'll kill them, want them dead and to take over their life from their position in life to their room to *everything* that could be them because she needs to know what made her the lesser choice; why did Bhaal have to *make* another bhaalspawn when she was right there?
But it's the inflection when she says he's been whispering in their ears; it's the anger, the indignity. I like to take it not as a 'you are shameful for falling for it' even though she obviously references that he could twist them when they had their memories, i take it as aimed *at* Gortash. He's taken her sibling, her rival, and twisted them against what Father wanted to the point she found she had to and then was able to usurp them! And then, then he dares to take advantage of their amnesia and try and turn them against Bhaal once again. Anyway. Love this gal, she's a hoot.)
(also i forgot to screenshot but what do you MEAN Orin thought that the best way to impersonate Gale (who i had be the companion who got taken from camp - which i immediately reloaded to avoid bc im trying to do stuff for his character quest rn damnnit and it isn't time to go straight to the temple!) was to imply he ran away and that she castrated him??? that's so funny)
(Orin being described as a sulky child has got the brainworms (ha!) wriggling ngl)
(also it's always lae'zel. she's at max approval each time as well!! like couldn't it be Yenna or smthing? like have a whole 'look at the murder-kin thinking it can *protect* life? Trying to make up for all those you've cut shorter than this one?? Also i kind of need Lae'zel for heavy hitter stuff as well but we can push through for now!)
(Us in general is my fave part of this game. What do you mean that technically to the outside world my durge looks like she's wandering around with a dog, a cute kitten/cat and a raven (from the He Who Was reward gloves) trailing after her!? AHHH.)
DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EGYPT-
Durge why are you like this.
Is there truly anything bouncing between their tadpoles that isn't some form of sarcastic comment?
WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS KICKING MY FEET AND GIGGLING.
Like. Durge. this is so funny, you've known you were a bhaalspawn for like a *week* what do you MEAN you've already figured out appropriate blasphemes?"
THIS LINE RIGHT HERE IS WHAT INSPIRED MY ENTIRE FUCKING TAKE ON DURGE IN SCION ON SCION VIOLENCE. THIS IS THE FOUNDATION FOR MY INTERPRETATION OF 'THE URGES'
Literally i am not kidding when I say this is one of my fave lines. The context, of Karlach seeing her friend (maybe even her best friend, her fucking *sibling* in all but blood) getting to fix themselves, getting to choose to live knowing she can't, she's fucked it isn't going to work. And yet, she can only be proud. Makes everything hurt so bad-
*stares in that one playthrough where i didn't realise letting her kill the nightsong was her bad route and was like 'yeah lets let her become a justiciar* Yeah babes. It'd be a real shame wouldn't it. (also love her just as much as Karlach, like parallels)
look. I'm an astarion simp through and through and I DO NOT CARE THIS LINE GETS ME EACH TIME!! He's like. This is great and all but since we're not questioning what the fuck withers is im going to focus on the sickening sweetness and BLEH too much. Too much emotional trauma yet to be resolved this is a little nauseating ' i love him. so much.
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since i went from a herald hater to his #1 fan literally overnight, it is now my duty to defend the herald romance route and recommend it for others. i am debating the points that were raised in this ask that i received a few weeks ago
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"in my humble opinion, herald shouldn't have even been a romantic option in the first place. i'd take it a step further and say, the fact that he is an option undermines sidestep as a character. from a character standpoint, it doesn't make sense for sidestep to want to have anything to do with him- let alone pursue him romantically- because no matter how you've built your sidestep, it's always the case that they don't really like him by virtue of him being the picture perfect hero, full of idealism and naivety, and without constraints. he is, at once, what sidestep was and what they wish they could be. so there's going to be a lot of resentment there, so much so, that it's hard to see how sidestep could look past all of it and see herald as a possible romantic partner."
this is all valid and true and i do agree that if there were, say, a canon or default sidestep playthrough it would not include interacting much with herald, imo.
however, it is equally true that you can play a sidestep where it would make sense for them to agree to train herald; one of the routes for a hero hunter sidestep is that they are "training" the heroes because there are things bigger and badder than they are that they need to be ready for. a sidestep with this or a similar motive (i imagine there is something similar that would work for an anarchist sidestep) would have reason to agree to train herald.
yes, there is a lot about herald that sidestep can harbour hate for. but if they decide to spend more time with him it becomes clear that there is more to herald than they thought and there are actually parallels between themself and herald. also, sidestep, as a telepath and an addict, has plenty of incentive to want to spend more and more time with herald; how his mind feels is just another addiction for sidestep to fall in, which increases their time with herald and increases how much they learn about him and allows their feelings to shift from negative to positive (im not saying its healthy, but its sidestep so it was never going to be)
"i think it's very telling that the trigger for his romance is just sidestep thinking he's hot. (sidenote: the amount of times "oh no, he's hot" came up as an option in conversations with him annoyed me so much.) it feels incredibly superficial."
good news ! you can romance him without clicking any of those options ! (im not a fan of how often it's an option either tho) unless i am misremembering, i did not choose any of those options in my most recent playthrough and i successfully romanced him, and it was very sweet and fun to read/play
"and i know he was given a bit more depth in retribution, and maybe if given more time to develop, his romance would reveal some nuance, but this whole thing to me feels like a misstep from the author. or i don't know, maybe i'm just not seeing it the way it should be."
there is a lot more to herald than meets the eye. there is depth there and nuance i promise.
i played a herald romance route with a sidestep who initially hated herald and saw him as his number one enemy, agreed to train him bc the heros need to be better and then agreed to spend more time with him because he was chasing a high, and then accidentally fell in love and more importantly trust with the last person he expected. because he is genuine and he is kind and he does care. playing as a telepath and choosing to spend time with herald feels so good; it can rewire your brain from a herald hater to a herald fan.
also. i super recommend playing a route where you pursue herald romantically while ghosting/friendzoning ortega. reasons: 1. the parallel of the older, more experienced hero ("hero") falling for the rookie 2. ortegas reaction if you decide to confess that you're going on a date with herald 3. (ending dependent) ortegas reaction when they find out that herald knew what you were before they found out - that you told him but they just happened to stumble on the truth 4. (if ortega + sidestep had a thing back in the day) the ghost of that relationship hanging over sidestep + herald's; it is like ceasar haunting cleopatra + marc antony in the second half of cleopatra (1963)
anyway, cannot recommend at least trying to get to know/romance herald enough it is honestly surprising how good his route is, i had an immensely enjoyable time in that playthrough. i also recommend the series How Not to Fall on ao3 it is very good
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Okay, 2 things I really, really love about your writing and DLB (be prepared for praise)
1. Your commentary and meta on the Force. Reading through your post on how western (Christianity) theology ruined the prequels— yes! I have been saying this for years but I never knew how to put it in words or explain why the force felt so different in the PT vs the OT, and why I always preferred the force in the OT more than the PT (you hit the nail on the head). And I appreciate that this is the route you’ve taken in your writing, and I have to say since I’m writing my own SW fic I have been reading through that post and applying it to how I write about the force in my own story, and looking at things with a more critical eye and being mindful of what the force is and how it does/doesn’t work.
2. Your characterization of Anakin. I think yours is the best characterization of him I’ve ever read in a fic (I mean it). When I read DLB, I feel like I’m actually reading an Anakin from the PT. I think when it comes to a lot of fics about Anakin, I think authors tend to write him more like he is in the TCW, which is totally fine (I love the TCW) but DLB is just refreshing to me, and I know it’s because you’re sticking mostly to the movies with added bits from the TCW. For me, TCW Anakin feels a lot different from PT Anakin (sometimes it feels like they’re two different people), and Ive always preferred the Anakin in the movies (which is why I LOVE DLB). And it’s not just Anakin, but all of the characters are just written extremely well and true to their portrayals in the movies: shmi, padme, obi-wan, the list goes on.
3. (I know I only said 2, but I feel like being a Rebel). I think you’re one of the first authors of a SW time travel to bring up the very poignant point that just because it’s a time travel fic does not mean that we’re owed a big reveal. I mean, honestly, if I was Leia and I was dropped into that situation, I would do the exact same thing. My mouth would be wired shut, you’d have to tickle/torture me to get that out of me. Leia doesn’t owe anyone that part of herself and it’s not super relevant either, so why bring it up just to bring it up. If it does end up being relevant to the plot then I would very much enjoy a reveal, but you’re such a good writer that no matter where the cards fall I know I will not be disappointed either way— I am all here for how you write it. But the way you’ve written so far feels realistic and authentic to how a real person would react in that situation
I’ll end it here, but yeah! I appreciate you and DLB and I look forward to seeing where you take things.
I am blushing like crazy, you're so kind.
1) I know my rejection of an even semi-sentient Force isn't popular and doesn't mesh with current canon, but I prefer and stand by it. I'm glad that it resonates with someone else!
2) I agree that Anakin characterization is So Hard because he's not really consistent between the OT, PT, and TCW. I find my interpretation strongly influenced by TPM Anakin specifically (another Anakin!). That bright, kind little boy who was too smart and too talented for his own good! I love him and I want to protect him!
3) Be a Rebel! :) The "reveal" issue is something I think about a lot. I get lots of comments--ever increasing as the story goes on and the silence holds--about how excited or anxious people are for a reveal. What they think people's reactions will be. Why it must happen at some point. I can understand the underlying tension issue, and how people are probably on the edge of their seat. But I agree with you anon, Leia doesn't owe her past to anyone. There have been, are, and will be consequences to her silence. If and when she chooses to break it, it will be a Big Deal for whoever she trusts with the truth.
But for now, get comfy folks. Leia isn't going to break so easily.
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I mean... i just don't see a break-up NOT happening because this show has always had good build-up and payoff with the shit that actually matters to the story like everything involving Hunter and Caleb (including foreshadowing Flapjacks death).
Also... if Lumity was actually endgame they wouldn't drag Luz into the Caleb/Evelyn story... plus they could have just started a relationship between Hunter and Willow in Thanks to Them... but they're not doing it despite only having three, 44 minute episodes to work with.
Like... oh my god i hate explaining romance to other people - but just because Hunter and Luz do not interact with each other in a "romantic way" - it doesn't negate the romantic undertones they have. Characters do not actually need to be aware that a romance is unfolding between them to make their dynamic romantic...
I mean, us nerds who like to look at the details already knew Luz's and Hunter's dynamic had romantic undertones since Hollow Mind. But now, because of Philip calling Luz Evelyn and Hunter Caleb in the same episode, their dynamic is now UNAMBIGUOUSLY ROMANTIC - that is not something that is going to ever change. That is not something that will ever change no matter how many biphobes cry about it and try to gaslight everyone into thinking Luz is a lesbian and not a BISEXUAL GIRL.
This is not something you'd do unless you're planning on going somewhere with it.
Another thing to be aware of: They are choosing to go this route with Luz and Hunter despite only having three, 44 minute episodes left of the series. Alot of character arcs/screentime dedicated to character dynamics had to be cut to save time. Eda's and Raine's screentime had to be cut-out - so they're not going to get the spotlight as much as people were hoping for. But they AREN'T cutting out the romantic build-up with Luz and Hunter because Luz is the protagonist - she, and her love interests, take priority over other characters...
Soooo I just don't see them not going anywhere with Luz and Hunter... because if they didn't want to go there with Luz and Hunter they wouldn't have explicitly tied them to past lovers... while Luz is dating Amity... and Amity's and Luz's relationship has always had a really bad communication issue that won't actually be resolved until Amity comes down hard on Luz for lying and keeping secrets... which will happen this time around because Hunter knew Luz's secret before Amity did lol.
#lunter#like. if i was Amity and my girlfriend still didn't feel comfortable enough to talk to me about something that's bothering her#despite literally helping her make a ritual for her dead father and saving her life from a Covenhead - but she feels comfortable enough#to confide in someone who was her enemy for most of the series - i would be pissed and feel a certain type of way about myself#especially if i was a 14 year old CHILD with deep seeded insecurities surrounding inadequacy and had a history of being abused by my parent#this isn't going to end well for Luz lol
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Strauss lay on his back on his bed, listening to the muted tones of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' album on repeat. The comfortable familiarity of the beats consumed his senses and left his rational thought to wander freely. There were a few important things on his mind, he just had to figure out in what order was best to address them with.
He wanted to humor Sylvain's request to go through her records, and his own- but there were a couple of different paths to choose from to get to that point. The first option was the most obvious- subterfuge. He would have to find where the records were stored without getting caught, probably by accessing them under false pretenses; and find the two required entries and remove them without arousing suspicion. This would be very difficult to do while being watched, so he would have to find a way to break in when security was not manning the cameras and steal what he wanted.
Or, he could go the alternate route: come clean, tell them plainly what he wanted and why. He liked this option as it was the least likely to cause Frau Harker to shoot him, and it would also be a show of trust from him to Artemis. There were drawbacks to this however. Doing so would name drop Sylvain, who he was quite sure stood a decent chance of landing in mortal danger if Frau Harker turned her sights to her. There was also the troubling notion that when the info he wanted was handed to him, it might be redacted and lack truthfulness. He was painfully aware that others were not as open with him as he was with them.
No matter how close he tried to get. He grunted and rolled over onto his side. Sylvain was a stranger, yes, and one with an axe to grind. She was also a vampire, like himself, but 'better' she had claimed. Better at what, he wasn't sure, it probably had to do with her being able to feed freely without guilt, taking what she wanted to bolster her own strength- but he couldn't just set the proverbial dogs on her so easily. The death of a stranger was always heavy, which had made him a very, very skinny vampire. What was worse, if a fight were to break out between the two parties, someone in the Institute could also be hurt. Not just Frau Harker but perhaps her apprentices, or even Artemis or Troy if things went very wrong. The interest in nobody getting hurt was enough to kill honesty in his mind. If it came down to lies versus bloodhsed, it would have to be lies.
There was however the issue, of what kind of lies? He wasn't good at lying. If anything, he were too honest, and when presented with a question he did not want to speak to truthfully, preferred to shut it down with a firm 'no' rather than invent an answer. This lie would have to get him an excuse to enter the area where records were kept. It would have to be important enough to justify getting security clearance, yet casual enough not to elicit further questioning. Once he knew where to look, he could begin planning his 'heist.'
He reached over to his nightstand and hit 'stop' on the CD player. The music went silent. He sat up on the edge of the bed and took a breath. He didn't need to, but old habits, like himself, died hard. He slid into his slippers and set off looking for Frau Harker. She was in her office, grading papers while flicking through security screens. These dull tasks must have driven her insane with monotony, it would explain why she was so seldom in a good mood.
"Frau Harker?" He knocked quietly at the door frame. "Forgive my intrusion. When you are not busy, there is another item I would like to look for in the library."
"Again? You couldn't have brought it up the other night when we were back there? What is it this time?"
He swallowed hard. "I was wondering how complete the records were for the Institute. I am looking to find information on a name, a specific name, Viktor Pietsch." Was he sweating? He was sure he felt himself sweating. The name of course was fake, but alphabetically similar enough to 'Pietra' to find the correct drawer, or so he hoped.
"And who is this Viktor Pietsch?"
"Ah... he was... one of the vampires that, that murdered me, you see." He cleared his throat. "The only one whose name I remember. I was curious if the church had ever managed to slay the bastard." He curled his lips into a mean snarl as he spoke. Hopefully it made him look suitably serious.
Ursula paused and set aside her stack of papers. "You didn't think it was important to name drop this individual before?"
"Please understand, it is a very difficult subject for me to think about, let alone talk about. I had to do much convincing to myself to even ask permission to look."
She paused, then sighed, and got up from her chair. "Fine. Come with me. If he's in our records, we'll be able to see if he's been taken down either by us or by any affiliate organization. Older records can be spotty, so don't get your hopes up."
His shoulders relaxed, even while his hands shook terribly. He stuffed them into his jeans pockets and followed behind her. "Danke, Frau Harker. I hope perhaps I will get good news, and put these bad thoughts to rest. I should sleep easier after this."
"Bad dreams, Strauss? I hear vampires are prone to them. Ask the nurse for some melatonin if it continues." She led him back into the library through the hall. All of the metal filing cabinets looked much the same to him, but Ursula seemed to know just where to begin. The filing cabinets were, like most important things in this library, locked. Damn. He not only had to break in, but now also steal keys. That was less than ideal.
"Is this name P-I-E or P-E-I?"
"P-I-E, I believe."
"Here. Start with this drawer." She unlocked the cabinet and slid it open. A thick wall of manila folders and papers lay before him. It was stuffed full, and dotted with paper clips and the yellow and pink tips of post it notes and carbon paper. "Well, start looking. You can read."
"Right." He knelt down and began meticulously going through the entries with the tips of his claws. Petra... Petri... Pieta... he slowed down. Suddenly, there it was, in blue ballpoint pen. "Pietra, Sylvain."
He bit his lip, and thumbed right past it. To linger on it would be to draw suspicion to it. He knew where it was, that was that, he had what he needed. Now he had to complete the ruse. "Hmmm." He looked up at Ursula from his spot on the floor.
"Regrettably, I am not finding dear Viktor in these records."
"Shame. That sometimes does happen when it's a vampire that old." She shrugged. "Once a record goes inactive, after a certain amount of time it is placed into storage. If Mr. Pietsch is not an active record, it either means he was slain by a known agent many years ago and was placed into storage after becoming irrelevant, has otherwise dropped off the face of the earth and his file has become inactive, or he was never known to the institute to begin with. The only way to know is to look in permanent storage, and I am sorry but I do not have time to take you there today."
"No, you have done enough. Danke, Frau Harker. I will bring it up with one of the interns and perhaps on their down time they will humor me by looking for it."
"Hmph. Those are MY interns you know. Don't distract them from their actual work too much."
She locked the file cabinet and led Strauss back out of the library. As he went, he glanced behind him, committing the location of the correct row of cabinets to memory. His own file was likely also nearby, though he didn't know exactly where. No matter. He had information, now he just needed an actual plan.
Perhaps some kind of distraction? But what could be big enough to draw all of security off the cameras long enough for him to make a move? Perhaps it wasn't a 'what' he needed, but a 'who.' Who was big enough, dangerous enough, hairy enough to draw all of security in an instant? Who was friendly to the cause, trustworthy and perhaps just curious enough to see how this played out?
When this was over, and he had the records he wanted in hand, he was sure he would owe Herr Cunningham many large favors.
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Dumb story idea: Murder game with microtransactions
Okay, let's see if we can make this less dumb.
Rambling about themes and stuff
When I say "murder game," I'm thinking something in the same vein as Mirai Nikki. An organized event where a bunch of people murder each other for some kind of (often supernatural) prize. For my followers who read Wildbow and don't watch much anime, think "Face". For my followers who watch much anime and don't read Wildbow, you probably thought of two or three examples before you read this sentence.
So. Microtransactions. They're profitable, but infamous for promoting a "pay-to-win" climate. And sometimes just being super crass (remember that time a Harry Potter mobile game designed its initial progression so you'd run out of free resources during a scene where your character is basically being tortured?), but let's focus on the pay-to-win aspect for a moment, because themes.
Pay-to-win mechanics vary greatly. Sometimes it's just paying to speed things up, to get the same benefits as a free player in less time (which still means being a much stronger player in the short term...and the long term if the power cap keeps creeping upwards). Sometimes it's a big boost explicitly restricted to paying players. Often, it's in between. Always, it's hated—especially by the free players, whose hard work is irrelevant in the face of players with deep pockets.
The real world is, in a sense, also pay-to-win. People with money can buy all sorts of advantages, getting better education, better housing, better opportunities to gain more money (often without having to do anything except invest some of your money). Bringing this real-world unfairness to the story would open a pretty fertile thematic vein and serve as a natural way to make our protagonist (who is not a whale)
Before I get to the premise proper: Some more recent death game anime have designed their games in a way that theoretically allows nonviolent conclusions to the game. Of course, for one reason or another, a significant number of players don't want to take the nonviolent route, because otherwise there wouldn't be a story. (Not that it's hard to come up with those reasons, since the author makes up the terms by which a game ends and the consequences thereof.)
I like the complexity this adds. The basic death game structure doesn't allow much flexibility; if A doesn't want to die, B needs to die sooner or later. This opt-out-of-murder thing does mean no "only one of us can survive this" angst, but that's pretty played out.
Anyways.
Rules of the Game
Imagine a world with futuristic technology, particularly biotech and the like, but a violently backwards value system. Only the worthy should rule, they believe, and only the strong are worthy. The world is run by private associations, and those associations are lead by the strongest within them. (So, Ghost in the Shell as written by Klingon Ayn Rand, kinda.) If you paid attention to the previous section, or the title, you can probably guess how the groups find their strongest.
Whenever an associations needs a new chairman, applicants enter into a big death game test of might. Applicants can choose to subordinate themselves to another applicant; this subordination makes them permanently ineligible for becoming chairman. When only one eligible applicant and their subordinates remain, that applicant becomes the association's chairman.
There might be smaller tests of might for lesser positions, but those are lower-stakes and hence less appropriate as a central plot. They'd work well as a way to build up the threat of antagonists, though. "Andrew Edison knows what he's doing; he's already won three tests!"
Arena
Should the test of might take place in public cities, like most death game anime, or should it have some kind of dedicated arena? The latter makes more sense; outsiders can't easily interfere (except by official channels), it limits damage to productive assets (and citizens), enables a more active level of surveillance than the standard panopticon.
So what would this arena be like? Well, it should be spacious and compartmentalized by enough cover/structures/whatever that teams can safely camp out and fortify said camp; nonstop gunfire until everyone dies would be quite a harrowing test, but hard to control, and harder to write a coherent narrative around. And it needs the infrastructure to distribute supplies, both for the microtransactions and for basic survival. And...
It would probably be possible to justify having the test of might take place in some Hunger-Games-style outdoorsy arena, or an abstract artificial space full of traps and environmental hazards. But I struggle to think of a reason why that would be better than a facsimile urban environment. Especially since we could lean into how shallow that facade is for symbolism. Also in ways that make it feel less like it's aping genre staples.
Which brings the question of how much of a city should be simulated. Filling it with android set dressing would stretch suspension of belief for little narrative benefit, but autonomous vehicles driving around the streets, mostly just serving as obstacles but occasionally being useful in schemes or to raid for spare parts, could be neat. And the occasional combat robot to serve as a hazard (or maybe to be directed via microtransaction) could also liven things up. But that's moving away from "simulated city" and towards "artificial environment". Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Anyways, I think most of the buildings should basically just be empty shells, perhaps with a couple upper floors and/or some chest-high walls for cover. Because facade. Symbolism!
Team Stuff
I'm a bit conflicted on how permanent subordination should be. Can subordinates willingly abandon their superior and subordinate themselves to a different applicant? What happens if a subordinate's superior is killed—does the subordinate become un-subordinated? If so, subordinates have an incentive to kill their superior; if not, a superior's death leads to a bunch of subordinates with no chance of survival if they can't subordinate themselves to another eligible applicant—and what happens if the only survivors are subordinates?
There are two options I'm leaning towards. One is "loose association"; subordinates remain subordinates, but can more or less freely change masters. This allows social/character dynamics between characters to play into the story more, but limits rules-based politicking. The only rule is "Join the winning team before the test ends," and it seems like subordinates would logically bail once they realized their team is losing. When only one non-subordinated applicant remains, that player automatically becomes chairman; it's assumed subordinates of other applicants would rather join the team than die.
The other option is "strict teams". Once you subordinate yourself to Alice, you're Alice's subordinate permanently. If Alice dies, you're screwed; you can't sign on with another eligible applicant. "Unlead subordinates" only have one chance at survival: If all eligible applicants die, all subordinates become eligible applicants again. I like this one for a few reasons.
First, it allows the rules of the game to be leveraged against other players for some interesting politicking. Second, those unlead subordinates make for a distinct "team" in a way emerges from the rules without being stated by them: If the unlead subordinates can kill every eligible applicant (or force them all to subordinate themselves to someone else), then they're back in the game. But it's a different team than the eligible-applicant-headed ones, because the unlead subordinates don't have any formal ties to each other; they have some medium-term interests in common, but character/social dynamics come back in full force.
It turns the unlead subordinates into a scattered out-group. They have common interests, but little to prevent infighting and no coordination. Plus, there are probably systems that subordination-based teams can use (like team chat or maybe some kind of funds-transfer system) which aren't available to the unlead subordinates.
The eligible applicants and their subordinates casually hunt them, background violence between big clashes; they're just petty threats, after all. Maybe the active subordinates would benefit from the unlead subordinates getting their way, letting them have a second shot at victory (or at least a second choice of leader)...but that would require the unlead subordinates to actually succeed, and it seems far more likely that they'd just weaken your team before dying.
(I was trying to discuss two decent options and accidentally talked myself into choosing one...)
I'm also considering the pros and cons of tiered subordinates. Like, if an applicant with subordinates becomes someone else's subordinate, do their subordinates just become normal subordinates of their boss, or is there something to be gained from making it more complex?
While I'm here: I know "eligible applicant" and "unlead subordinate" are clunky phrases to repeat dozens of times, but I like them. Subcategories named by adding an adjective to the category name feels "formal corporate," if that makes sense. It feels like something that would be written in a business textbook or accounting ledger. Cold, technical, bloodless.
Microtransactions
Cycling back around to the stupid idea that started me thinking down this route at last.
People in power are, of course, going to use that power to influence the outcome of these "tests of might". So they accumulate wealth, and when the test comes, they use that wealth to buy advantages. That's kinda the point of this whole thing.
Since we're drawing a connection between the death game and (usually) mobile games, we should probably steal some of their mechanics. At the very least, have microtransactions be paid for with a "currency" that can theoretically be earned in-game (e.g, by killing other players). Of course, it can be gained in far greater quantities with real-world cash, from the applicant, their family, or "campaign donors". (Possibly, some donors would be more like investors or Hunger Games viewers? Keep the options open until someone actually decides to write this.)
But what are they buying, and how? If this was fantasy, it would be easy; they're buying boons, which they get by magic. But fantasy would clash with this story. It's mixing aesthetic/mechanical elements of modern mobile games with critique of how wealth disparity makes a joke out of the modern world's alleged meritocracy. That fits perfectly with cyberpunk, but poorly with the sensibilities of fantasy (which lie somewhere between ancient myth and the Wild West).
So. Cyberpunk. Suppose that all applicants have a certain base level of cybernetic augmentation. Maybe cyberarms or torso implants or what-have-you are standard in this society. (Which has further implications beyond the power system—for instance, people being forced to replace parts of their body with tools to keep a job.) Microtransactions could provide modules to upgrade those standard cybernetics, some of which are very powerful. Of course, smaller microtransactions could provide other things. Medical supplies and spare parts, ammunition, information, maybe food and cybernetic...energy...things. Sci-fi batteries. But the big-ticket items would be the modules. And maybe a "get out of death free" card, free resuscitation in case of death; no reason the rich and powerful should be subjected to the same risks as the plebs.
Here's how I imagine the module system working:
It's opt-out gacha. You can pay a lot to get a specific module you want, or pay less for a random module. You can pay more to get better modules; there's a "default banner" which can give any grade of module, and "premium banners" which guarantee you'll get a 5☆ module.
Applicants are limited in the number of modules they can purchase per unit time. Applicants of means don't buy more modules, generally; they buy better modules.
You can only install so many modules in your cybernetics. However, you can also give your modules to subordinates and allies if you want (or as ransom).
Recovering modules from the deceased is impractical; even if you avoid damaging them, corpses are swiftly recovered. But it's not impossible, if you have a good enough plan.
Most other microtransactions are unlimited. Control options like "make that big combat robot ignore my team" or "have vehicles cause problems for that one guy" would be exceptions.
Microtransactions involving physical objects would be limited to locations where the object could be physically dispensed. This probably involves some kind of dispenser machine—which can, of course, be destroyed by your rivals. Possibly, all (nearby?) players are alerted when a nearby dispenser is being used, for a bit of extra tension/systems to exploit. (It's also another reason to build your fortified camp around a dispenser location.)
These rules apply to stuff like food and ammo as well as big purchases. Resource management is key...unless you have enough resources that it's trivial.
Why play this rigged game?
Point 1: It's the only game in town. Point 2: Some people are idealistic enough to think it's fair, a genuine chance for the strong to prove their worthiness. Point 3: Some people might be forced into it, either literally (through individual contracts, or some policy written for the purpose, or something) or factually (they're out of options, so they go for the moonshot).
But that's pretty threadbare, isn't it?
Broadly speaking, I think there are two broad ways to justify people taking this risk without having the means to actually win. First, death benefits. Maybe someone who shows valor in the test of might (by killing other applicants) before dying has some fraction of their earned microtransaction currency cashed out and handed to their next of kin.
Second, networking. Joining the test of might gives you a shot at working directly for the future chairman! It's not just a chance to prove your worthiness to lead the association; it's a chance to prove your worthiness to the association's leader. If you bet on the right horse and impress the future chairman, or especially if you save their butt, they're likely to give you a good subordinate position. And maybe there's an expectation that anyone who willingly becomes your subordinate gets some kind of position out of it (if you survive and win).
That's better. Now onto something important.
Narrative
Alright, so...I feel like the primary themes should be obvious by now. Consolidation of wealth bad, equality under capitalism false. The veneer of competition is just a way to build legitimacy for people with power to maintain/expand their power. By contrast, non-hierarchical organizations and systems which actively distribute power are good and fair (to the extent that such systems can be portrayed in this aggressively hierarchical setting).
But that's just themes. What meat goes on this thematic skeleton?
One of the larger associations has a chairman opening, so it holds an exceptional test of might. Thousands of applicants flood in, some of whom held positions at other associations, all hoping for a shot at landing a decent gig at the big association.
Our hero is a mechanic with a bit of experience with handguns. He's contracted by an idealistic, hopeful applicant to become his subordinate and support his push for chairmanship. Said protagonist is mostly there because he can make cyberlimbs and modules work in ways that they aren't strictly supposed to work. Of course, he's not the only one contracted, and a few more applicants join the boss's team by force.
All of this establishes a normal for this kind of competition, but also contrasts the "normal" that other players expect with our hero's boss's attitude. He seems like a good dude; friendly, charismatic, pretty talented, and he pulled a top-rank module by sheer luck. The boss, the hero, and a few other notables on the team seem to be forming a five-man-band at the core of a bunch of misfit underdogs with the tools they need to take down this system.
And then the boss dies, along with some of the other major-seeming characters. Everyone on the team is an unlead subordinate, basically doomed to die. Some of the press-ganged guys start shooting the core members of the ex-team, chaos ensues, the hero and some of his former teammates barely get away.
Now that they're proper underdogs, lowest of the low, the story can begin. A story about trying to organize people at the bottom of the hierarchy, about trying to do something that could change things. Things they need to do to survive, but that doesn't make them easy to do.
I'm torn on whether this story should end like a modern dystopia or a classic dystopia. That is, should our protagonists ultimately succeed and Make A Change to the system, or should they be crushed by it? The former ending would be more uplifting, more empowering, more fun, but...it also goes against the core themes of the story. It would be the protagonists working hard, pulling themselves up by their bootraps, and beating their opponents despite the unfair advantages they bought themselves. The contest is fair after all! The people who deserved to win, did!
But maybe there's a third option. The hero's team tries to fight by the rules, gets battered for it, and decides to fuck the system. Forget the game, forget the rules.
Maybe I'll think of a good way to do that if I fill in the blanks in this outline. But that's enough for now.
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The Stars May Rise and Fall: The Annotated Re-read (Chapter 21)
So it’s time for Chapter 21, aka The Date. This is one of the most memorable chapters to me, both because it’s sort of unusual as a relative downtime in terms of the neverending onslaught of angst (sorry), and because this was where I took a break for about 5 years before finally figuring out where I wanted the story to go. (Eternal pantser… I wish I could plot, but alas, I can’t.)
Have a photo of Ochanomizu, one of the several locations for this date, before we dive into spoilers under the cut!
This is a pretty long chapter but a lot of it is kinda fluff, so there’s not necessarily a lot to comment on. Teru’s initial “What in the world kind of date is going to go over well?” worries are very much a reflection of his author! I wanted them to have a good time, but it had to be in character, so couldn’t be TOO ridiculously fluffy?
Teru really tries to be thoughtful here, choosing to take a route that avoids the subway “with its endless stairs and squat toilets” (the Tokyo subway is much better now, but it’s still sorely lacking in accessibility in a lot of ways, and the toilets were downright disgusting back in the day), but he still kind of underestimates how hard something like window shopping is going to be on Rei. It’s not at all his fault, and Rei understands that, but Teru does feel a little guilty… he says here that he wishes he had a car (or a license for that matter), and of course that ties into him actually HAVING a car in the last couple of chapters… maybe not FOR Rei per se, but I think they both make some self-improvements during the time between chapters 32 and 34 to kind of… become the kind of partner they wished they could’ve been for each other?
The music store stuff is mostly fluff, but I really especially love how Rei comes out of his shell a little and messes around on a piano in the middle of the store… and absolutely slays, of course. I’d love to have fanart of that scene. I think it was important to show him both simply having fun with music, and also still being able to play live in some capacity, and to do it well.
There’s a tiny bit of angst when they find a vintage guitar that is apparently something Rei has wanted for a long time… but now that he’s actually found it and can afford it, he can’t actually PLAY it, and that puts a little bit of a sad cloud over the date.
They go to Odaiba… originally this scene was set in Kasai Rinkai Park, which also has a Ferris wheel and is across the bay from Tokyo Disneyland, so you can watch the fireworks for free. But VERY late in the editing process, I realized that the Ferris wheel in Kasai Rinkai Park did not actually exist yet in July 2000, so changed it at the last minute to Odaiba, where the Ferris wheel did exist at the time (but did not exist in 1995, which meant it could be something just for Rei and Teru, since he couldn’t possibly have shared it with Saki). I rewrote the Ferris wheel scene so many times that I always have a hard time remembering whether they kiss at the top or not. There were versions where they didn’t, there were versions where they did. I’m glad I left the kiss in (and this is another scene I’d love art of).
This is also where Teru learns exactly how much older Rei is. He wants a ‘64 Stratocaster because that’s the year he was born, which would make him 36 in 2000. Teru also acknowledges that he would’ve been on the older side as someone still working toward a major label debut at 30. A lot of people wonder why I didn’t just make Rei younger, to prevent all the “ewww yuck age difference” stuff, but it was really important to me that he have that history, that the success he almost had was something he had worked his ass off for for almost a decade and a half… he wasn’t just some teenage prodigy, and the hardships he’s faced up to now aren’t ONLY the ones he’s endured as a direct result of the accident. I needed this character to have this history, and Teru is a full-grown adult, he can certainly decide to be fine with a 15 year age difference.
They then go to a cheap yakitori place for dinner, and Rei tells Teru a little about coming to Tokyo from Aomori when he was 16–not EXACTLY the same as Teru coming from Niigata at 18, but the general experience being something they can bond over, and we get to see Rei a little more relaxed and comfortable again. Honestly, I kind of wish I’d included more little dates or domestic-ish scenes between these boys. If I ever get around to writing that sequel that’s pretty much allll it’s going to be. I just really, really wanted to sell this to a traditional publisher so I streamlined all that stuff to “move the plot forward”. Sigh.
There was actually ANOTHER fluffy scene at the end of this chapter that got cut. The chapter is long already, and that specific scene didn’t really add anything new about either of the characters, so I guess I’m glad I cut it, but it might be a nice thing to get art of someday too. In that draft, when they were eating dinner, Rei said he liked Teru’s nails, which were still painted from their last show but starting to chip, so on the way home, Teru says he needs to stop by the drugstore for something and semi-secretly buys nail stuff and they give each other manicures. The idea is kinda cute, but there was really nothing that that particular scene SAID that wasn’t said elsewhere. It would be wonderfully adorable for Rei to give Teru a kind of shaky, pretty awful manicure but for Teru to wear it for a week anyway, and then for them both to keep practicing on each other until they got REALLY GOOD… but that’s more of a fanfic thing, so it got cut.
Instead, we (and Teru) learn that Rei also writes super mega pop hits and sells those under Chizuru’s name, thereby explaining how he has so much money, and Rei tells Teru that he’s going to Saki’s grave to kind of ask for permission to have a real relationship with Teru. Teru also admits that he does feel sorry for Rei sometimes—he doesn’t use the word “pity,” though, like Rei does—but that the respect he feels is much stronger, and the real reason he’s here.
Random shout-out here to my husband’s grandmother, who inspired Rei’s wheeled cart that he brings out the drinks on. One of the hardest things about sort of physically blocking any scene with Rei in it was that he couldn’t really CARRY anything unless it was something light enough and the distance was short enough that he wouldn’t need a cane or a crutch. But my husband’s grandmother used to put things on a little wooden serving cart and then push it around like a walker. She was still alive when I wrote this, and I really just used it because it seemed like a good idea, but now I’m really glad, because I remember her every time I read this scene.
It’s probably important to note that I stopped writing after this chapter for about 5 years, before coming back to draft the next chapter. When I started writing this, I honestly didn’t know if I wanted these characters to end up together or if I was going to end with them breaking up, but both having become better people for having known each other. In the end, I kinda did both?
But at the time this felt like a weird not-quite end. Teru and Rei are together. They’re comfortable enough together that Rei is taking off the mask and being honest (at least here) about his pain. Kiyomi is still around, but not really as a potential romantic rival. The band is doing well (the “Bara comes back” subplot didn’t exist in that draft, so there was no real conflict there)… this definitely isn’t a happily ever after yet, the story didn’t feel DONE, but I also didn’t know where the characters were headed, and where they needed to go next in order to get there.
This is kind of the end of “Act 1” anyway, and the second part is much less tied to the “Phantom” structure, except of course for the end.
#The stars may rise and fall#Annotated#phantom retellings#phantom retelling#Writing process#pantser#mostly fluff
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Okay! Time for a review! Yori x Yoshi Sequel - Yoritomo's END (No Spoilers!)
So like I expected....it's a harem route and in the middle, it divides into two branches, which opens further chapters depending on whether you choose Yori or Yoshi. I chose Yori because I want to be bullied!
Is the sequel good? and Is it better than the main story?
I haven't finished completely....only 5 more chapters left! But so far it is better than I expected. When I saw the trailer, my expectation was low because the trailer looked fantastic but inside I was scared because I didn't want the writers to go over the top with these demonic elements and make it cringe. But it's actually really worth it for me at least.
Is it better than the main story? Well...the sequel is happening in another timeline and has nothing to do with the main story. So did the sequel make me cry more? YES! Because Yoshitsune died to my surprise. I predicted that the story will go like this----
Bathwater demon shows up.
Gives powers to Yori and Yoshi
Yori and Yoshi will fight corpses
Both will fall for Yoshino.
In Yori's END, Yori tries to sacrifice himself for something IDK and Yoshino come to rescue him.
In Yoshi's END, Yoshi tries to sacrifice himself for something IDK nad Yoshino come to rescue him.
But to my surprise, the sequel had way more story than I thought.
Did I cry so much that I filled at least two buckets with my tears?
Well....I can say I did cry. Usually, I don't really cry when I see a death scene because I always predict it before it happens. But, Yoshitsune's death was unexpected. It did hit hard because writers did so much build-up even more in the sequel. We already are aware of their relationship in the main stories but in the sequel, they went even further and finally brought these two brothers together. Which we always wanted! But then things start to get worse and we players are scared to find out if their tender relationship will break or not. But still, both the brother believed in each other and their bond becomes stronger.
But again, something much worse happens, and that leads to Yoshitsune's death. At that moment I was surprised. Then I started to cry. I started to cry even more when I saw Yoritomo breaking down emotionally and showing his vulnerable side for the first time.
Do you have to play it? and will you love it?
That entirely depends on you. The sequel I guess focuses more on the bromance than the budding romance between Yoshino and the male leads. I went into it expecting that and got what I wanted. I don't really care about the bathwater demon or the hero's might. I just wanted to see more of Yoshi and Yori interact and them get along. I wanted to see them showing affection towards each other like Yori patting Yoshi's head, Yoshi calling Yori 'big brother', and more. So I did love it. And maybe it's because I choose Yori's end, Yori doesn't fall in love with Yoshino until Masako shows up which is very late in the chapter while on the other hand, Yoshi already is in love with Yoshino. So romance-wise, it's still there but the bromance takes the cake here.
I'm almost at the end, only 5 more chapters left and Yoshino finally fell in love with Yori. So the romance is at the very end.
#ikemen series#ikemen genjiden#cybird otome#cybird ikemen#otome#cybird#ikegen#ikemen mc#ikemen genjiden yoshitsune#ikemen genjiden yoritomo
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some ooc meta comm.
As you’ve probably noticed I have two primary verses, relating to the story of Desmond Hayden. That being 'a blade forged by will' and ' the masked forged by injustice.' I want to take some time to talk about the latter verse, and it's particularly heavy theme. Despite the crack I post sometimes, I really enjoy touching on some profound subjects and the struggles that exist in these mythical worlds. And for 'the mask forged by injustice' it exists as one of my favorite iterations of Desmond.
It is very important to me, as a person, to explore the themes of right and wrong. The concept of fairplay and doing right, regardless of the consequence to myself. Because that is what I think makes a good person. But the line between what is right and what is wrong is hard to determine a lot of the time, something I've learned painfully. And Desmond in almost all his verses serve some institution or organization with a questionable history, in this case, the Gotei.
The Gotei is an organization that was forged in blood, and on paper, uphold the balance between life and death. Not the primeval state of the world, but the world forged by the Soul King and Great Noble Families. And this world must make terrible, horrible decisions to maintain the status quo. And again, the status quo is not always a bad thing to maintain so long as you acknowledge the human cost. And in this case, it was the Thousand Year Blood War and the Hell Arc. Ok. Horrible necessities that on some level, can be argued for. Hayden is a soldier. He can accept that he doesn't understand, nor truly get, the immense depth that goes into making those decisions.
It isn't his place to question that. It is his place to serve, faithfully, The Gotei. Because it is, in his view, the best thing for the world overall.
However.
Desmond believes that if the Gotei, and Central 46 in particular, can enact decrees like imprisonment in the Maggot's Nest or the summary execution of people- then at the very least they can make a concerted effort to improve the outer reaches of the Soul Society. If the nobles have the money and means to execute people and construct prisons which there is no escape, then surely, some of that can be directed to aide people who live in poverty by no merit of the own save for being born wrong. Now, this is an extremely idealistic point of view. Desmond Hayden is an idealist, perhaps a bit sour at times, but an idealist. He will move mountains, or try to, if he thinks that it is the right thing to do.
So if, or rather when, he is met by the continued ignorance of Central 46 even after he rises up in the Gotei's ranks it does a number on him. He begins to question the institution he serves, if the Gotei exists truly to preserve a good world or if it is merely a bludgeon for those in power. And perhaps, he knows, that it serves both functions. That it can do good, while also serving as a blunt instrument for those in power to remain so. But these doubts build, as he finds that no matter the routes he goes- injustice remains. The voices of the downtrodden, and the daily injustices, begin to wear more on him before he realizes that this isn't a fight he can win.
And it breaks him a little. It is easy, to ignore evil when it serves your purposes. And Hayden chooses to leave. He becomes an exile. Maybe he thinks of another way, or maybe he just needs to leave to clear his head. Because he doesn't want to begin a bloody fight, he doesn't want to be a villain. And much of his 'the mask forged by injustice' is him wrestling with that idea, wrestling with if he's right or wrong here. If he's being ignorant or simply naive. And sometimes, he makes a choice to stand against the Nobility and in turn the Gotei. And he has NO IDEA if this is the right choice. And it makes him angry, so incredibly angry. That rage, it consumes him. Both literally and metaphorically.
Thats why I tag most of my musings for him as 'he was just a soldier hoping he done right.' At the end of the day, Hayden's story is just a guy hoping he's doing right. That when his time comes, when he is felled either by execution, battle, or old age- he did everything in his power to do good.
#v. the masked forged by injustice . rogue shinigami#ooc. rusted voice box#musings. he was just a soldier hoping he done right#sometimes i feel like my writing fails to convey this#and i really do try to provoke some introspection#blaah sorry
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