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esper-union-lounge · 3 months

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Starting Small...

Li Ling (Nezha) x Reader

Summary:

Li Ling is used to always winning, be it in sparring matches, or videos games in the arcade. Yet, when it comes to you, he's at a lost. How can he ever win the attention of someone like you?

Tags: Canon Divergent, pre Yun Chuan timeline, unrequited (Li Ling), slight Kuudere! Reader, song inspired fic

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"Just watch, [Y/n]. One day you will pay attention to me!" he growled.

*****

It was early in the morning.

The Esper Union’s headquarters was quiet, as the first sunlight emerged from the crack of dawn.

The hinges of the door turned, a small rusty squeak ruined the tranquillity of the early hours. You and Li Ling entered the lounge, tired and somewhat dishevelled.

The large Esper, Li Ling, immediately flops down on one of the couches, while you went to the bar area in search for an ice pack, tending to the bruise that began to show on your wrist.

On the couch, Li Ling was gazing at the clock on the wall spacing out a little from the lack of sleep. Listening to the ticking sound of the clock’s hands, he counted the minutes remaining until he needs to clock in for duty.

"You know, you could give me a thanks for saving you back there," he piped up, a smirk followed inevitably, as he turned his head to look at you. However, you didn’t care to entertain him.

"I thought I already did," you simply replied, refering to the incident last night. Yawning, you took the first aid box from the cupboard. A hiss escaped your lips when you apply the disinfectant on your wounds from a fall that you took.

A frown appeared on his face when he heard your dismissive answer. Li Ling pouted his lips, and returned his gaze to the clock. His brows furrowed slightly, feeling a little frustrated.

There was a moment of silence between you two. The unsettling feeling in Nezha's chest made him enquire, "Are you going to see that Bounty Hunter again?"

He asked without looking at you. His voice was low and half-hearted.

You stopped what you were doing. A little perplexed by the shift of his tone. He, somehow, sounded a little upset.

"Yes, I am." you simply replied.

Li Ling remained quiet as you continued to patch yourself up.

"I'll be heading back home now," you said, and walked over to the Esper. Li Ling was spacing out you waved in front of him to get his attention.

The motion snapped Li Ling out of his thoughts, "Oh, okay," he spoke as he watched you heading towards the door. He was annoyed, and that feeling sat on his chest. This was not post-rescue scene he had imagined it to be. If only you could stop being so uptight about getting that intel from the bounty hunter, he wouldn't have wasted a night's sleep just to follow you, and save you when things went south.

It was the most anti-climactic victory he ever had.

Unsatisfied, he quietly clicked his tongue. "Hey," Li Ling called out to you.

You are just about to push the door open when you hear him, you stop and turned to him.

"When and where are you going for that 'date' with that Bounty hunter?" he asked.

You gave him a questioning look comprehending what he just said. You rolled your eyes at what he was implying.

"Tagging along like last night?" you asked sarcastically.

Li Ling gave a smug toothy grin, his sclera turned back to into white. "Wouldn't want what happened last night to repeat itself, right?"

"It's not a 'date'," you quickly corrected him, "I am just looking into something."

However, Li Ling held a sceptical look. He had noticed you got friendly with that Bounty hunter, maybe too friendly for his taste.

You only shook your head and headed out. Leaving the Esper alone in the lounge, with a feeling of unsatisfactory lingering in his chest.

Soon after, the topic of the bounty hunter ceased for a while between you and Li Ling. He tried to bring it up once, but you return a silent response to his question. Denying him the attention he wanted from you.

As time went on, your attention began to drift away from Li Ling. Too busy, with your intel gathering to even look at him anymore. Li Ling started to become a little more aggressive in his approach to get your attention.

He tried to show off his flaming hot wheels, yet, you were looking at your phone.

He scored the highest score at the arcade, yet, you were looking around the arcade and chatting with Mona.

He even tried to show you videos of his victorious sparring matches, yet, you were disinterested.

"Ack!" Bardon cried.

A smirk plaster on Li Ling's face, he had won the round of arm wrestling. Bardon let go and fixed his robotic arm. "I don't think anyone can beat your arms in any round," he commented.

Grinning wider, Li Ling scoffed, "They always say, I am the strongest of Tangton for good reason."

Lewis shook his head and replied, "It's only your Esper arms that are strong, but let's see if you could win against me?" he challenged with a smile.

"While you guys are at it, please don't break the table," Tang Xuan butted in," I don't want to pay for something I didn't break."

"You're on!" Li Ling said.

On cue, the door of the lounge opened. You walked in. You noticed the boys were at their usual spot doing their own thing, and you simply headed to the bar area.

Seeing you entering the lounge, Li Ling immediately switched his tact. He removed his Esper arm from the table, instead, he placed his arm on it.

"Oh? Changing your mind?" Bardon said.

"I reckon I should play fair," Li Ling replied.

"Ha, since when do you play fair," Lewis laughed.

Arranging their arms and hands, Tang Xuan prepared both parties, "On your marks... Get set..."

Immediately, Xuan releases the hands. Both Espers began their battle.

You were by the fridge looking through the items inside. Completely unaware of how Li Ling's face was scrunched up; making the extra effort to give Lewis a swift defeat.

As seconds went by the tension grew, both Li Ling and Lewis were at their wit's end, trying to bring each other down, but their strength was equal drawing an inconclusion of who was going to win.

You had found what you wanted and swiftly grabbed it off the fridge. Closing the door, you turned to head back out of the lounge. Taking a glance, you saw how the arm wrestling was turning out, but quickly ignored it, for you were never interested in such endeavours.

He can see how you were not paying attention to him. Li Ling gritted his teeth, and with all his strength he pushed Lewis's hand down.

Slam!

The sound from the impact made you jump, dropping the pudding off your hands. The cup fell, messing up the carpeted floor of the lounge.

You cursed and rushed back to the bar to gather paper towels. Li Ling stood up, showing he came out victorious.

His eyes travelled around the room, trying to find you, to see your reaction. However much to his dismay, you were busy picking up the mess on the ground with Bardon; who was kind enough to offer help.

"Hey," Li Ling called for you. Your head went up and gave him, rather, a cold look.

"Did you see that?" he asked, all proud.

"See what? ," You gave him a confused look before returning to the mess.

"What! You didn't see any of that?!" Li Ling exclaimed.

Dragging your head back up you said, "No, I didn't. Why don't you be useful for once and help with cleaning the carpet?" you sighed with annoyance.

Turning to Bardon, with a smile, you thanked him.

"No worries," he replied, "I am glad that I could help."

The look on Li Ling's face was not a pleasant one. He kicked the chair.

"Oi, calm down!" Tang Xuan said, "What's the matter with you?!"

Li Ling clicked his tongue turned to a corner and sulked. Lewis and Tang Xuan could only look at each other, confused at Nezha's sudden behaviour.

You, on the other hand, can see him sulk by the corner. Feeling a little guilty over how you spoke to him.

Remaining quiet, you finished cleaning the floor and went over to the bar to wash your hands. By then Tang Xuan, Lewis and Bardon bid you a goodbye before leaving for their retrospective task. Leaving you alone with Li Ling, who was still sulking by himself.

Letting out a sigh, you decided to approach the Esper and called for him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" you asked.

He turned his head slightly towards you, but the pout was still evitable on his face. Like a child, he turned his cheek the other way.

"Li Ling," you called out his name, this time your patience was running a little thin.

Hearing you call his name he finally turned to look back at you. "What?" he asked.

"What's the matter?" you crossed your arms, "you have been acting brash lately."

"... Why can't you get it through that thick skull of yours?" he said bluntly, "isn't it obvious?"

You let out a defeated sigh. You contemplated for a moment, thinking back at the times Li Ling was acting brash in front of you. It started right after that night with the bounty hunter.

"You are just trying to get under my skin," you replied.

"Is this what you think I am doing! ?" Li Ling said, still frowning.

"What else? You were acting so insufferable in front of me," you stated.

Furrowing his brows, Li Ling spoke up, "That's because you won't pay attention to me!"

Eyeing the Esper with a sceptical gaze, you have no idea what he wanted, and only questioned, "Why should I?"

"Because," Li Ling began, "I am the best. I have a lot of victories under my belt. This proves that I am the strongest, so you have to respond to that, no?"

You remained silent, while he continued with his confession, "I am doing this to win your attention! What must I do to get it? And, I am not going to lose to our bet! " gritting his teeth, Nezha crossed his arms, and let out a huff.

Ah, yes, the bet.

Standing in silence, you weren't too happy with his outburst. You know that Li Ling always has a rather childish tantrum when things don't necessarily work out.

Although, at times, the intent behind such behaviour was an understandable one, a gesture to show he cares about his close friends, and you, deeply, yet, as of late, it became nothing but a source of headache to deal with.

"Well obviously, being all about power and muscles isn't going to work," you spoke in a rather calm tone, for you don't want to trigger Li Ling any further.

"Why don't you start with something small?" you said and crossed your arms. You only say this just to get him off your back, and to stop the boastful acts he has been doing around you.

"Like what?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Shrugging, you walked towards the door, opening it before stopping, "That's for you to figure out."

Suddenly your phone vibrated, you realised the Bounty hunter had sent you the address to meet up, a promise to relay the intel in exchange for a certain price. Without a word, you replied to the text.

Li Ling only looked at you with a sour gaze, "The bounty hunter?" he asked.

You quickly place your phone back in your pocket. Looking at the Esper, your head shook. Telling him to not question any further.

"It's the 'date', isn't it?" he asked once more.

"It's not a date," you sighed, and left the lounge.

***

You weren't sure what to expect when the bounty hunter asked you to meet him in front of a fancy restaurant. However, you weren't expecting yourself to be waiting for an hour and a half on the street.

The sky turned dark by then, and the air grew a little cold from the time of the year. Rubbing your hands together, you asked yourself when the Bounty Hunter was ever going to show up.

"Excuse me," the waiter by the door asked, "Are you going dining in with us?" clearly a little fed up with you standing by the entrance.

"oh no, I am just here waiting," you piped up, "My 'friend' is coming."

"I doubt that," a familiar voice spoke behind you.

Turning around you saw Li Ling with this signature smirk.

"What are you doing here?" you asked, a little annoyed.

"Just tagging along~" the Esper chimed.

"Listen, I am not going to pay for your meal once we get in," you huffed.

"I know," he replied, "Because we're not eating in that fancy place anyway."

You remained quiet. Ignoring Li Ling as he continued to grin like a go-lucky kid. Hoping, he would get bored by the lack of your attention and walk away.

Despite so, Li Ling grabbed you by the arm and began dragging you across the street.

"Hey!" you yanked your arm away, "What's your problem?!"

"You are waiting for that Bounty hunter, right?" he said, "you know, he's never going to show up."

Your expression turned into a surprise.

"I looked into him a while ago, and someone like him is obviously a crook. He doesn't have the intel. You're just wasting your time, [Y/N]."

He showed you a report file on the bounty hunter on his phone.

Your perplexed expression soon turned into a frown, clicking your tongue, you cursed under your breath, "That bastard..."

You had been scammed, and couldn't help but to feel played. An angry scoff left your lips.

"I should have known something was off about him when he asked for a deposit!" you stomped your feet.

Li Ling chucked at you, "Well, ya' got to be careful next time. If you aren't sure about the people you meet then, you can always come find me. I'll help you out."

"Come on, I know a good place we could eat!" he added.

You looked a him smirking a you. Your stomach growled telling you that you were indeed feeling hungry.

"Fine..." you said and followed Li Ling.

He took you to a food truck place and ordered two portions of food, while you ordered one.

As you both sat and ate your meals, you noticed Li Ling was looking at you, feeling all giddy as he ate his burger.

Wiping the sauce from the corner of your lips, you took a glance to see the Esper smiling.

"What?", you said.

"Nothing," he shrugged while smiling, "just feelin' good."

"Huh...", you said.

You both ate in silence, and for once, you seem to enjoy Li Ling's company. Food always taste better with people around.

"... Thanks, by the way..." you said, "If you didn't come to fetch me, I probably still be left in the dark by that bounty hunter."

"Hey, no worries. Just got to do what is right, you know?" Li Ling replied, and he smirked. He kept looking at you as you ate.

You couldn't help but let out a little smile, "Why are you...doing this...", you asked,"...for me?"

You meant to say, he didn't have to accompany you and treat you for a food truck dinner.

"Well...you got to start with something small..." He chuckled.

His words came with a bit of surprise for you.

It was rare for Li Ling to act rather gentle with others, especially with you. He was a 'go full out, or go home' type of guy. Yet, the Esper was being subtle. In all honesty, he wasn't all that bad to hang around.

You let out a chuckle, rolling your eyes at him and shook your head.

"Hey [Y/N], pinch me would ya'?" he said.

You furrowed your eyebrows, confused by Li Ling's request. Nevertheless, your arm reached out and gave his shoulder a little pinch.

"What is that all about?" you asked.

"Oh, nothing..." Li Ling shrugged," just want to make sure I am not dreaming~". He let out a toothy grin.

*****

"In your wildest dreams," you scoffed.

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Author's notes:

Li Ling will forever be my baby girl UwU.... But all jokes aside, this fic is a long time coming. I promised that I would edit it, but life in general is just kicking me hard and by the time I get to the fic, I am too tried.

Anyway, this is one of the very first fic I wrote when I started playing Distlye. Not sure has Li Ling's characterisation changed from the countless of in-game retcons, but nevertheless, I enjoy writing his character.

#dislyte #esper union lounge #dislyte li ling #dislyte x reader #dislyte fanfic

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esper-union-lounge · 4 months

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Yes, I draw as well 👋👋

Dislyte log/sketch studies 1

#my art #dislyte tang xuan #dislyte fanart #dislyte li ling

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esper-union-lounge · 4 months

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I spat my drink.

((I haven't done the event yet))

🐉

#dislyte #dislyte feng xun #meme #reblog

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esper-union-lounge · 6 months

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Character Design: Favourites

Back with another "Review"! (I am still very bad at it but I am learning, lol) this time I am going to talk about characters and their designs.

We all know character design is one of Dislyte's strongest selling points, and I was also fully enticed by how unique and diverse the designs look. As I played the game, subsequently, I have my favourites among the entire casts, and some not so favourites. (I will also make a review on that.)

This review is going to be base purely on the design aspect of the character and their sprites. Please, do remember these are MY opinions and MY taste.

So please do not, either, take my words as offense, or my word's as gospel.

((Note: None of these characters are in particular order))

Norah (Muse)

To be very honest, I didn't get to do her featured event during her patch. When I first saw Norah, I was convinced I wasn't interested in her design.

Yet, the more I look at her the more I come to realised her design is actually quite well done. I like to think that this is the turning point of Dislyte moving away from the Bi-shouen/Bi-Shoujo type of design; the design that has a Bi-Shoujo/nen and just slapping some ornaments with cool looking clothes.

But, for Norah (and also, Anna), I think her design is really well rounded, and really conveys the vibe and type of Esper Norah is.

Her outfit is gorgeous. The dress has a tasteful amount of bling and frills, I can see it's somewhat inspired by those really fancy looking fishes, yet, I can also see the dress could be somewhat reference to orchestra musicians, how they dress during concerts. Given, the Muses are born as Water Nymphs, and were once deities that was worshipped in the relam of music.

There is a mermaid-quese quality to her design. Her splash art silhouette uses a lot of flowing lines, might be to reinforce the aquatic element of the character.

The colour scheme of Norah, herself, is quite muted and desaturated. I like how the splash help us draw attention to the character with the use of a bright pastel elements of the flower and harp to make a dark and desaturated character to be the focal point.

Overall, a really wonderful splash art, and really in character design for the Muses. I really like Norah, and I might go back to read through her story event.

Ethan (Pan)

Okay, I was one of those people who voted for him.

The reason I voted for him is because: 1. The use of a saturated purple. I can tell you, purple is one of the hardest colour to work with.

2. They went hard on this design. Not even Queen Mother and Chiron went that hard.

Pan, originally a deity with heavy association with fertility in the myths, has became an iconography for what the church would call, Satan, and may other things associated with such.

In Ethan's design, there is a dark vibe to the way he is dressed, kinda like emo, goth, with a bit of witchcraft elements as well. (The symbols, his eyes, and his familiar.) Along with the accordian, it makes him look to be a dark entertainer of some sort.

Honestly, I was really surprise they added Pan. And the design they went with is legit, a Pan. In my opinion. That was kind of a design risk. I have never seen such a good design for a Pan. Usually, the ones in the media are more close to past designs in mosaics and paintings.

I am glad that the dev team didn't went with an ordinary transformation with this character. I love how Ethan looks so whimsical and fun in this form.

Yun Chuan (Yang Jian)

Such a bold splash art, I really like Yun Chuan’s character design. When he was first revealed, he gives me an impression of a villain. Maybe, it’s because of how much dark colours he has in his design, and how rough he looks. With the texture leather sleeves and trousers, the sharpness of his hair, his sharp gaze, and the posing, it exhibits a rough and bold presence of his character. A contrast to the typical imagery of his patron deity, Yang Jian.

I love the use of purples, and the vibrant red of his wolf dog. It makes the splash art intriguing with the contrast of dark colours and bring neon colours. The brilliant use of the bold diagonal line from his spear, rounding the whole composition with Screamer's energy manifestation. It gives a really unique silhouette of "ø", and a great way of using negative space.

Li Ling (Nezha)

Of course, I can't leave out my babygirl one of my favourite character, Li Ling. He is my starter legendary. Li Ling is easily one of the most impressive designs I have ever seen in-game.

His design is just demanding for your attention; just the design concept alone would make an impressive character: bare chested, four floating arms, the weapon and wheels. It radiates so much power.

I am actually was surprised to see the Devs went with the "glow up" version of Nezha, because Nezha's iconography has always been a small child with two buns on his head, and sometimes sharp nails.

Love the pink, how it reflects the lotus flower. The golden accents of his wheels, arm accessories, and spear is a nice touch to the colour scheme.

I think it offers a contrast to the upbeat, neon, hip pop scene of Distlye. I think giving the gold a bit greenish tint is a nice detail to contrast with the pink.

The splash art is great, love how they balance Li Ling's silhouette with the spear to create more negative space. Because if there wasn't a spear to extend the composition, the silhouette would look too bulky, and concentrated.

Intisar (Kauket)

I didn't vote for her. I voted for the Fartum Sisters instead, because during that time, having a three people Esper was something very new, and the lore around it was interesting.

But, Intisar's design really did really got my attention. Her silhouette is just brilliant. For me, I have never seen such a top heavy silhouette. I love how the tail creates a line of flow to lead out eyes to look at Intisar. Love the concept of the Snake Helmet thingy (IDK if there is an actual name for the concept), I think they really showcased it well in her Esper profile video. Again, a very good use of the colour purple in her design; the vibrant saturated purple and the dull gold really balances the contrast with the neon green.

Nicole (Nephyths)

I love her.

I love her design mainly due to the effective use of a green colour scheme. Green is also a mother difficult colour to work with in character design, and with Nicole, it gives me a good example to follow, if I want to implement the use of green into my character designs.

Her silhouette looks great. Her hair is very will renders and done in this spite. It's messily not messy. Get it? It creates a series of lines that brings the line of sight to Nicole's body, kinda like Nora. Her hair also creates a triangluar silhouette at the top half, which gives a lot of attention to her midsection. To counter this, the bright green energy around her legs was use to ease the line of sight from her head to her legs. It also gives a "S" shape of line compotion to the spite.

I like to think that this is one of the strongest sprite designs.

Berenice (Bastet)

Seeing Berenice for the first time in the story quest, I was a little shocked. Despite the fact that she's a cat girl, there is a very unique quality to Berenice, that I think, makes her not your standard cat girl.

Her skin colour is the most obvious feature, and I was surprised to see such a bold artistic decision to give her a purplish grey colour. I like to think there is an element of shock factor in it.

It really helps to set the fact that Berenice is an Esper, and to make her stand out from the group of NPC Espers. Because, let's be honest, if Berenice didn't have purple skin, we might have a hard time thinking she's not a NPC. Compare to other Espers, her outfit isn't as unique nor does it stand out like the other. But the colour choices and artist direction really enhanced her look.

Fu Shi

Okay... He isn't my favourite character. But, I can not deny his design is really good. All I can say, he design is: Unique, unique, and unique.

I think his appearence really gives off mythical beast. The contrast of his face and the rest of his body, sets him off from the typical furry look, I think it gives him a interesting back story of how can his transformation be "incomplete" compare to the likes of Sander and Freddie.

The whimsical element of his design, like the swirls reinforces he took after a mythical beast rather than an animal. It could also serves as intergrading cultural aesthetics as well.

The balance of the turquoise matches well with the sharp, yet slightly destaturate orange. Normally, the opposition colour schemes can be too over used and cliche , but here, I think it looks great.

Over all, these are a few of the character designs that I like in Dislyte. I do think there will be more characters making their way into this list, but for now, this will suffice.

-Esper Union Lounge

#dislyte #esper union lounge #review report

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esper-union-lounge · 6 months

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Okay, given what is happening with Dislyte rn, I made a decision.

I have decided to keep this blog up and running.

The gameplay side might be on fire rn, maybe the lore/story side as well... But...I don't want to give up the world of Dislyte yet. Not the gameplay, or the game itself, but for the characters and the world building.

I don't mind if the Fandom is dwindling, or if I won't have much Dislyte friends. I just want to continue churn out brainrots even if it's self indulgent or what not.

Like, this blog is just my little bubble for dislyte.

I will still continue to make some "Review" posts, but this blog mostly be me archiving brainrots.

-Esper-Union-Lounge

#dislyte #esper union lounge #thoughts

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esper-union-lounge · 6 months

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Okay... I wasn't expecting any engagement bc I've been gone for a while.

But, I just want to clarify why I made this copium post, because I feel like I didn't word things right or explain in a sense, and I don't want people to interpret my post the wrong way, I am not venting or crying, I was just typing out my reaction when I came back to Dislyte.

The team were never really strong writers. Recently I just feel their decisions in writing feels like an after thought, and, this is something, personally, I really don't like.

Idk how to explain it, but if Gaius is actually an antagonist, I think I won't be turned off by this writing decision if he was meant to be one at the start of his concept brief, and give foreshadowing in his event story that leads up to the new story mode. (Like, he can be just a lil' sus at the begining. The plot twist depends on how the writers execute it.)

This is just my opinion.

As for the Copium, I probably shouldn't have use that word, I said this is because I am starting get a little fed up that old characters are not getting the limelight that I think they should, because they are the Og cast and they kind of build the world of Dislyte from ground up since launch. Which is why when Li Ling and Tang Xuan were featured during the events I was happy, because I feel like I can finally get to know more about them through the event, when in the pass, the game only pushes for new character release and their content, but nothing for the og ones.

And, I think it would be nice to have a few events that are not new character centric, to just... Idk... Tell stories of Li Ling shenagians, or even a fun twist to a dislyte retelling of a retrospective pantheon myths???? Hence, I feel like I should make my own canon Divergent stories just to have this particular fix of mine.

Idk, I just feel turned off by the writing decisions they have going on.

Not sure about Swiftspace though. It just makes me confused about it being an immersion rpg. I have mix feelings about it.

I know I can't convey everything I want to say in this post, but at least I have tried to explain.

Thanks.

I came back to Dislyte to see this:

At this point, I think I should just write my own canon Divergent stories and just inhale that copium.

#esper union lounge #dislyte #thoughts #This is just my opinion

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esper-union-lounge · 6 months

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I came back to Dislyte to see this:

At this point, I think I should just write my own canon Divergent stories and just inhale that copium.

#dislyte #esper union lounge #thoughts #Why did they have to do that?#I always knew they aren't the best writers #Who approved this shit?

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esper-union-lounge · 8 months

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Dislyte's Character Design Director, Ono Dizi: To Design a Well Recieved Character (2.2/3)

Original post:

A continuation of the character design process. Last time, we left off on the second step: How to build a character. Due to the length of the post, I had to cut the last step :Characterisation, out.

So, this part won't be a long read. There are more pictures in this one, due to the pic limit, I will be adding ones that are necessary for the text.

Part 2.1 here

((Note: I am not a professional translator.I will localise the essay a bit more in the future. ))

Characterisation

Secondary traits

Realistic reference

Secondary Traits- Traits to be seen in character’s behaviour.

In character writing, there are two types of traits, Primary trait and Secondary trait.

The general rule of law is: If a character’s Primary Trait (Prim.) is positive, the Secondary Trait (Sec.) must be the opposite. Vice versa. In the context of in-game characters, it boils down to maintaining the ratio between Prim. and Sec.

7:3 is the golden ratio; numbers can be scaled up or down depending on the character. It is best to keep the ratio imbalanced. This is to prevent the characterisation getting muddled and unclear.

This ‘Ratio Method’ has always been a tactic for writers like Marvel, in their characters. A few example of their writing model includes:

Iron Man = “Technological Genius” (Prim.) + “A Play Boy” (Sec.) Personality Ratio: 6 (Prim.) : 4 (Sec.)

Dr Strange= “Highly Skilled Super PhD.” (Prim.) + “Prideful & Sharp tongued”(Sec.) Personality Ratio: 7(Prim.) : 3 (Sec.)

Ancient One= “Humble & Courteous” (Prim.) + “Dark Powers” (Sec.) Personality Ratio: 8 (Prim.) : 2 (Sec.)

Thanos= “Merciless & Lusting for power” (Prim.) + “Undying Fatherly Love” (Sec.) Personality Ratio: 9 (Prim.) + 1 (Sec.)

Examples from Dislyte:

In Dislyte, the character Melanie is blessed by Medusa. According to Medusa’s myth, her appearance was of a monstrous female with a head full of snakes. Anyone who looks into her eyes will be petrified into stone.

In her myth, Medusa was beheaded by Perseus with the help of Athena and Hermes. Medusa’s head was served to Athena, and was inlaid onto her shield since.

Considering Melanie’s character, *I thought about Medusa’s life story. The moment it was turned upside down when she, a young gentle maiden, was turned into an strange, and an *omen of a monster.

Taking that exact moment of Medusa’s life; having her life changed so drastically, we have a character who retains a young maiden’s innocence, while also having mental breakdowns.

Thus, taking such mental state/ characterisation, and reflect it in Melanie’s character.

There are a lot of Espers who uses this ‘Ratio method’.

Triki’s design was set to be a Gambler (Prim.) as the Core Feeling in his brief. Yet, in his Expression sheet, we did not focus on his Prim., but focusing on the “Influential Street Hipster” as his Sec.

“Flamboyant Gambler” + “Street Hipster”= Triki (Loki)

Triki’s Personality Ratio: 9:1

Lin Xiao, her Core Feeling is: “Chinese martial boxer who, is also a reinforcer of justice.”

Whenever Lin Xiao performs Chinese boxing, she becomes highly focus on her craft. Being absolute and intricate in her form and movements, it clashes with her impatience and brashness in everyday life.

“Strong & Reliable martial artist” + “Impatient & Brash” = Lin Xiao (White Tiger)

Lin Xiao’s Personality Ratio: 6:4

Ashley, according to Norse mythology, Heimdall is the guardian of the Rainbow Bridge. Legend says he has golden teeth, and pure white skin. Hence, he is dubbed as the ‘White Aesir’; with keen senses.

For Ashley’s Sec., we decided to give her a more feminine touch, and a girlish heart. In contrast to her Prim, which is her cold and stern exterior, and unwavering sense of justice.

“Strict & Aloof” + “Gently girlish” = Ashley (Heimdall)

Ashley’s Personality Ratio: 8:2

And, many more…

Realistic Reference- Making solid characters

To writing a believable character, we must have extensive knowledge of the character’s background.

Character lore alone is not enough to solidify our characters. The believability lies within references from the real world. From, works of art, or in real life people.

An approach we took was to collect inspiration and references based on the characters’ drawn design, and look into the reference’s history and background. Be it from literature, movies, animation, or liberal studies, these sources reflects humanity and its raw sets of personalities.

An example:

Prim: Strong and tough, scary looking fellow.

Sec: Cute. Into cooking and nutrition.

For the character, Djoser, we referenced from Ma Dong-Seok.

According to Ancient Egyptian mythology, Atum was originally the sun god in the Heliopolis cult. In later times, when the worship of Ra became prominent, it subsequently replaced Atum’s original role, even merging the two gods to create a new god, Amun-Ra.

In Dislyte, the characters, Narmer and Djoser are in different syndicate camps. The Core Feeling for Narmer was along the lines of, “A young and refined Godfather.” While the latter is more aligned in the direction of Latin American Narcos.

We gave Djoser the characterisation of Ma Dong-Seok, scary-looking yet, delicate, because we don’t want to solely focus on the anger and resentment aspect of Atum’s lore. But, to show an optimistic side of the character as well.

Thus offering a contrast between Ra and Atum in the game.

Narmer’s character image.

Djoser’s character image.

We can propose samples of characterisation, and discuss them with our Copy Writers to see which real-life references are the closest to the proposed sample. Be it by matching life-experiences, or similar relationships.

It is important to note, for a game that has many characters, not all of them needs to have a detailed and complex characterisation. The level of depth is determined by resources, character rarity, and the role they play. Sometimes, less is more.

All and all, when designing a character:

Step 1.) Establish the Core Feeling for the character based on the setting.

Step 2.) Design the character; convey who, where, and what

Step 3.) Characterisation. Design a Secondary Trait and take reference from real life sources.

Step 4.) Through basic drawing skills and design experience, mass experimenting and producing character image until the design is satisfactory.

(To be continued…)

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Translator’s note:

“I thought about Medusa’s life…” : Ono Dizi is responsible for designing Melanie.

“Omen” : The original word in the text means to describe something along the lines of ‘a bad mark/ symbol’. But, for lack of a better word, I used “omen” to suggest that the image of Medusa is a bad sign.

This part of the essay has to be the most I have did research into. There are a number of terms that I need to google them up to see what they are.

The concept of Primary and Secondary traits are hard to translate too. The original essay wasn’t very clear in explaining the concept. It took me a while to figure it out, and then interpret it into English. If anyone doesn’t understand, feel free to ask.

-Esper Union Lounge

#esper union lounge #dislyte #review report #translation #I worked so hard on this #y’all better nice

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esper-union-lounge · 8 months

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Ahmed came home!!!!

#esper union lounge #dislyte #thoughts #That's it #That's it the post

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esper-union-lounge · 8 months

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Introduction

Hello, welcome to the Esper Union Lounge!

This blog is a fan blog for me to express creativity and input dedicated to the game, Dislyte. This includes fanart, reviews posts, fan writing.etc.

I might come and go on this blog as this is a side blog. However, I do want to establish some guidelines as to what I want this blog to be:

This blog is mainly a place to have my creative input into the world of Dislyte.

Creativity comes in many forms. I mainly write because I brainrot a lot, and it's an easier medium.

Assets, such as the header title and section boarders, are all done by me. Please do not use them.

A lot things I write is simiply MY opinion. Respect is all I ask, and if you disagree, that's fine. But if you are thinking of attacking me, or try to defame me because of MY own opinion, please disengage with this blog immediately.

These guidelines are all subjected to change.

-Esper Union Lounge

#esper union lounge #dislyte #introduction

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esper-union-lounge · 8 months

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🌌Mid-Autumn Festival

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕

Image from ilikedyourablogithere

It's been a while since I made a "Review post". This my first actual "Review".

In this upcoming update, I can see there are a number of things that are associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival, especially with the new Esper, Emma.

For this review, I am not going to go into depth about the myths associated with Mid-Autumn Festival because: 1. People always talk about Chang er's story to the point I feel like beating a dead horse.

2. I just think it would be more interesting to do a "Review" about my own 2 cents instead of retelling the same old story.

I was in for a surprise when I saw her design. I immediately knew the dev team are preparing for a Mid-Autumn update. This year's Mid-Autumn would be a little different. This is due to the date falling so close to China's National Day on 1st of October. Thus, a longer holiday. The more reason to enjoy the festivity of Mid-Autumn.

Image from the Dislyte Wiki

First of all, I was not expecting Emma to be a fully transformed animal Esper, like Trevor. So this is a really nice surprise.

I was begining to find Dislyte suffering from a similar design pattern of Bi-shouen/Bi-Shoujo designs, like the other mobile game, Onmyoji.

And, I think, the charm about Dislyte is their character designs uses a more western design approach to create characters while still having traces of influence from the dev's lens.((I am not saying which approach is better, be it western, Anime, or indie, they are all wonderful in their own ways. And, I am not here to create animosity. If you find my opinion not suited to your taste, tough.))

Emma's design reminds me of a Moon cake box for some reason. Nowadays, Moon cake boxes are designed and packaged lavishly, as if they are some sort of artwork of their own.

This, for one, attracts more young people to purchase moon cakes, paired with all the other modern and wacky flavours developed over the years. Two, it makes a perfect gift for friends and family.

The details of her wearing an astronaut suit, is really fun and cute, and I think it is a clever way to convey the Jade Rabbit's assosiation to the moon. I can see how Emma's design can be seen as one of a possible design on a Moon cake box.

I like how they gave her a pestle and mortar, in reference to the role of the Jade rabbits; often seen as pharmacist. Not the mention, the eye brows!

Her eyebrows stood out to me, because of how whimsical it is. I am guessing it is to reference how some mythical beasts have strange looking eyebrows or marks on their forehead. (I am sure Fushi got some wack eyebrows too.)

Honestly, I can't wait to see how she plays out in the gameplay, and her adventures with Ethan.

Image from the Dislyte Wiki

As for Heng Yue, I wasn't expecting to get her new skin for free. But it's Mid-Autumn, so... *shrugs*

To me, her new skin design, it got a nice colour scheme going on, but I feel as though, the dev team could do a little bit more than to simply give Heng Yue the typical Chang er design.

I understand that, Heng Yue's original design is somewhat in reference to the Hanfu boom in China; the trend where people uses Hanfu cuttings to design trendy and modern clothing.

This is just a personal preference, but I think if the devs could give the Chang er look with a refreshing modern edge, I think Heng Yue would look really cool and it fits more into the hip hop scene of Dislyte. I also think if the dev could add a Mid-Autumn special SFX effects in her in gameplay, that would be cool, and really complete the skin package.

As for the feature event, I unfortunately haven't picked it up since Javid, so I couldn't really make a comment or review about that.

Overall, I am looking forward to the upcoming patch, see what Mid-Autumn has installed for us.

-Esper Union Lounge

#dislyte #esper union lounge #review report

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