#and then the backstories would be different in game than it would be in SL Rag

[i-bring-crack]

No one in the history of ever:

Every creator out there that got their hands on the rights of adapting Solo Leveling: Mind if I just *starts packing shit ton of more SL content*

#and we love them forever #eternally grateful for people looking at Chugong's work and being like: baby i can fix you *spams more lore MORE CONTENT* #now the thing is that things begin to contradict each other a lot more than usual #for example the LN SL will have Esil dead #and then in other interpretations she is alive and or she isnt #and then the backstories would be different in game than it would be in SL Rag #and like you can choose which ones you like #but you also are free to not follow canon as much as you want #because these characters arent defined entirely even by canon standards #they are fully fledged in some things #and at the same time they arent fully cardboard #and the more sl content they add the more they feel real to you #but it doesnt stop you from making them however you wish to interpret them #its odd and quirky. but thats cuz we mostly see everyone in a serious situation and not in a realxed one per say #but somehow anything can fit #anyways time to shut up #solo leveling #solo leveling ragnarok #SL Arise #Solo leveling anime

[crusherthedoctor]

4, 39, 40 :D

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

The first one is obvious… Sonic himself! Wouldn't make sense to spend so much time on a Sonic fic if I didn't care about his universe. That said, I don't intend to pull an Archie with the lore. Stellar focuses on its own story and setting that just so happens to partially incorporate one previous bit of lore, in a similar manner to what SA1 did with the backstory introduced in S3&K. There are some mild references to other lore, but never in a way that tries in vain to wrap it all together in a neat little bow.

The environments are also largely inspired by that of previous Sonic locales. Mostly from non-mainline installments, since for various reasons (being on a handheld ala Advance/Rush, being a racer ala Riders/Rivals/Sonic R, being on motion controls ala Storybooks), they didn't have the same level of freedom as those in the main games, meaning there's a lot to expand on and make something new out of.

The other major influence for environments and aesthetics is, you guessed it, Spyro. I make no secret that le purple dragon has helped shape up the world of Viridonia aesthetically, but unlike fans who think Sonic should be little more than Furry DBZ, or IDW making random anime references that don't work, there is some thought put into it, and never at the expense of the Sonic universe's own identity. I think both worlds are very similar in aesthetics anyway, so if I see something in Spyro that makes me think "Wow, that would be so cool to see in Sonic!", I then think of how to translate it in a form that benefits Sonic's world, as opposed to wondering why the square doesn't fit in the round hole.

For the mystic entities that are tied to the Ethereal Zone, since they each have different powers, shapes and colours, I got the idea to base each of them on a different mythological creature for a subtle thematic resonance despite how otherwise different they are from each other. They're not one-to-one like the creatures they're inspired from mind you, they're definitely Sonicy interpretations (eg: the fire-themed one is a mix between a phoenix and a feathered serpent ala Quetzalcoatl, since I wasn't sure if making it a phoenix straight-up would make it sound too similar to Ifrit from Rivals 2), but I thought it'd be a fun twist on the giant monster schtick… though it helps that all of them are controlled via Time Eater-esque cybernetics by a certain round chum. Going out of control? Upstaging Eggman? In a Crusher fic? Not happening, son.

And speaking of the doctor, obviously I've took notes from many of his game portrayals, with S3&K's determination, SA1's dickery, and Forces' cunning being three of the biggest examples. But another influence for my interpretation of the doctor is the Mother 3 portrayal of Porky Minch: specifically, how he is clearly working towards a big end goal, yet is also simultaneously setting up seemingly unrelated projects all over Viridonia, playing its population (save Trudy) for fools, and overall treating the island as though it's his personal playground. This is not a Mephiles situation however: all of this does turn out to play a part in his endgame. He just happened to plan it out in a way that can also feed into his ego and hedonism in the meantime.

And Trudy… is Trudy. There were some mild influences for certain aspects of her design, but her personality pretty much grew upon itself as I built on her. I wanted to create a character that was mellow, but still fun and quirky, and could still bounce off Sonic and Co without being seen as "the boring one" or "the nag who can't be bothered with Sonic". I also find an appeal in shy characters finding the courage to do things they'd never expect themselves to do, so y'know.

There are other bits of inspiration I could mention, which includes concepts that are neither Sonic or Spyro-related… but I don't want to spoil more than necessary for now. XP

39. Share a snippet from a WIP

Note: This is a slightly older draft of the moment in question, so there might be some minor differences in the final one.

Sonic grew concerned by her stunned reaction, hoping that he didn't offend her. "You don't mind it, do you?"

"No, of course not. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. It's just…" Her right hand clutched the fingers of the other, subtly squeezing them in the process. Her vision was directed at a nonspecific pile of red leaves not too far away from them. This all seemed so silly. There was really no justification for this. No excuse for her to treat such a thing with the kind of awe reserved for being within the presence of an omnipotent. And yet…

"No one's… no one's ever given me a nickname before…"

Sonic appeared to be puzzled by this, which was then followed by him exchanging a brief glance with Tails. His lifelong pal simply gave him a shrug in response.

"If it's any consolation," the fox piped up, with a faint hint of a smirk morphing on his face. "Some of his nicknames are better than others."

"Hey!" Sonic playfully raised his arms in defense, which did nothing to hide his sheepish grin. "So what if they can get a little simple! If she doesn't like it, I can totally drop it! If I have to get my head around the right pronunciation of her name, then so be it!"

"No, it's… it's nice," she insisted softly. A gentle smile slowly found itself on her face as well. "It's an honor, truly. You can call me that if you want to."

"You sure?"

A simple, meek nod was what he received, and it was at this point that her eyes shifted once more. After what appeared to be some hesitance, they gained the courage to meet with Sonic's own.

Sonic's eyes held onto their shared gaze for a couple of seconds, before he turned to Tails again. The fox only gave another shrug, this time to suggest that there was no further reason to debate the matter. After a silent understanding between the two heroes, the hedgehog nodded triumphantly.

"Well then," he announced, with a wink for his new friend. "I guess it's truly Trudy from now on!" As he gave a characteristic thumbs up, she could only continue smiling at the display, and her ears lowered ever so slightly. This was all so very sudden for her even now, but if they sincerely value her company and assistance, then maybe... maybe... it wouldn't hurt to keep tagging along with them.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

I wouldn't be fussy, since I'd be grateful for any moments, or environments, that they decided to portray.

But if I had to pick one… I suppose a certain confrontation between Trudy and Eggman would be awesome. Or a certain heart-to-heart between Trudy and Sonic. :>

#Crusher's Asks #Sonic the Hedgehog #Miles “Tails” Prower #Lutrudis Hadeer #Dr. Eggman #Fanfiction

[sarunohadaki]

DQXI/Octopath Traveler Crossover

Crossover week: Home | 1 | 2 | 3| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |

Anyone call for a story idea with just character roles planned but no plot? Oh boy do I have the post for you! I’ve only played through chapter 2 of Octopath but from how things are going I have a few ideas for plotlines… on the whole, however, this post outlines each of the characters and their backstories.

Character descriptions under the cut because it’s long! Mentions of a character who's deaf, another character who's trans, and another character with DID.

I’ve been loving Octopath Traveler, but if there’s one thing I had to nitpick, it’s that there’s not enough moments woven in between all the characters! There’s a “travel banter” feature that covers the thinnest bases, where at some points in the game, the option for travel banter will appear on your screen and you can select it to see two characters have a short conversation. You have no choice in which characters talk to which, and you can’t go to that chat feature whenever. Also, let’s say you’re doing someone’s storyline. The other characters don’t talk in other’s cutscenes!

It sort of feels like there are eight games in one when you format the game that way. It's a little… disjointed.

Premise: Another fusion fic where the eight characters in Octopath are swapped for the team in DQXI (plus Gemma). Each character can still have their own backstories and subplots, but I am hankering hard for an overarching plot and antagonist. Maybe there’s, like, an evil League of Villains or some cult. Shouldn’t be too hard to find a place to slot that in, right?

Just like in the game, you stick to one character’s perspective and travel around to pick up the rest of your team, only in this fic, there’s varying dynamics between all the characters and oh boy it’d be prominent.

Characters

H’aanit ➡ Elimelech (El)

The Hunter

Born deaf, Elimelech hunts with his wolf companion and a quiver on his back. Despite appearances, El is not one to be underestimated; he is the pride of his village, which has recently celebrated his rite to adulthood. However, with adulthood comes an unexpected discovery, one which spurs him to leave the village in search of answers to his true heritage.

A literal strong, silent type. But has his shy moments, too. I can imagine you having to tap his shoulder to get him to see you talking to him sometimes, and he has this cute, brief look of curiosity on his face… 🥺

Similar to how H’aanit spoke in Middle and Old English, I think sign language would be interpreted the same way in this world. So everyone’s comprehension of SL is good, signing back… maybe not so good.

Animal companion (Sandy but beefed up into a wolf) would help him interact with the world, or at least keep him out of trouble.

Therion ➡ Erik

The Thief

Like the muck wiped off someone’s shoe, Erik’s not much wanted in most places, but luckily not thought about, either, which helps when he’s stealing coin purses. After a heist goes wrong, he’s tasked with retrieving priceless heirlooms to get back something important.

Does Derk fit well as replacement for Therion’s best buddy? (Sure?)

Therion was apparently well-known despite no one knowing what he looked like. Maybe I can make the opposite work for Erik.

The whole thing with Therion was getting a silver band off his wrist but I still like Erik’s canon plot more, so I’d find a way to shove that in.

Tressa ➡ Gemma

The Merchant

An ambitious and overly friendly adventure wannabe, Gemma uses an anonymous journal as her guide to the wonderful — and perilous — world beneath her feet.

Original plot for Tressa tracks fine, although wouldn’t it be cool if Gemma’s journal were written by Sudo Nim??

Old Dragon Quest had merchant classes, too. Wonder if there’s anything in those mechanics I could add to this fic.

Gemma and El hit it off right away and converse excitedly about everything from cuisine to cute boys. Though… no one tells Erik, who thinks they’re crushing on each other. (love triangle that really isn’t, haha!)

Cyrus ➡ Rab

The Scholar

Newly retired and looking for a new purpose in life, Rab decides to answer a decade-old mystery. While scholarly work has always been a hobby for him, he’s prepared to get to the bottom of this puzzle and hone his analytical skills in the process.

Definitely NOT following Cyrus’s plotline here

I could still have fired Rab (similar to Cyrus) and claimed workplace discrimination, but I like my alternative: “Rab was the head of a royal estate but got bored and ‘quit,’ putting someone else in charge so he could go fart off elsewhere.”

Is Rab related to El in this??? He could be. (Sercretly.)

Alfyn ➡ Sylvia

The Performer

A talented performer with an elusive path, Sylvia has called many places home. Following in the path of a traveler who once changed her life, she sets out to bring smiles to people’s faces and avoid the roots of a past that refuses to leave her alone.

Alfyn was last on the list when I was doing matching so sorry Sylv that you got matched with this backstory. But I can adjust it to make it work

Sylvia and Alfyn both have the goal of cheering up sick kids and ya know I think Sylv could learn some healing stuff along the way! She’s much more than just a pretty face, you know.

Someone from Sylvia’s path definitely shows up again and that will be trouble for her

Primrose ➡ Jade

The Dancer

Jade’s patience and sharp mind have sustained her through years of hard living, although it is all worth it when she finds her chance to exact revenge upon those who killed her father.

— Pretty straightforward, can take a lot from Octopath’s plot for this one.

— Hard decision of whether to somehow incorporate this into Hendrik’s storyline or make Jade’s father and the king Hendrik serves two completely different people

Olberic ➡ Hendrik

The Warrior

An erstwhile knight of a fallen kingdom, Hendrik melts into life in a quiet mountain village until word comes of a former comrade who’d turned traitor and killed their liege.

Jasper is the traitor, obviously!

As for their slain liege… can it really be Carnelian again when that’s Jade’s storyline? Like a plot twist that they were both following the same guy this whole time? Probably not. Probably needs to be someone different. Or Carny can just be twice as dead.

Ophilia ➡ Serenica (Serena and Veronica)

The Cleric

A level-headed cleric, Serenica serves the faith alongside her adoptive family. She takes up the torch to fulfil a traditional pilgrimage to rekindle light across the realm.

This one is complicated and I’m not sure how I’m going to do it yet

I wanted Veronica and Serena to both inhabit the same body and considered them having Dissociative Identity Disorder. I am very not sure about this. If I do it that way, I’d want to do it properly, with a sensitivity reader, research, etc. Because being respectful is Cool.

(P.s. There was fanart but someone (me) misplaced the art and never took photos of it???)

#Crossover Week #my fic ideas #my writing #Octopath Traveler #dqxi #deaf character #dissociative identity disorder #trans character #character with DID #why am i nervous hahah...

[carbootsoul]

ace attorney :•)

omg miles thank u for sending me this ask completely unprompted <3 love wins

favorite character: apollo justice :) my little guy

least favorite character: man ace attorney has so many bad characters. a whole wealth of them. that fucking pedo puppet man from turnabout big top is probably very high on the list tho

brOTP: apollo and athena r SO funny investigating together absolute trans rights with those guys. same with ema + nahyuta + simon + klavier the dynamics between the 4 of them.. hilarious. they r in laws and partners in crime and mortal enemies and also in a band

OTP: faraskye :) and lanamia but i don't talk about it much bc.. no content :(( also hear me out hear me out valant gramarye/guy eldoon. match made in heaven. valants hair kind of looks like noodles too AND they both deserve good things (aka other middle aged men with silly little tragic backstories)

OT3: hrm hrm hrm. honestly i am not rly an ot3 person. if a character has romantic chemistry w multiple other characters i usually err on the "different ppl different times of life" thing bc i think it's more dynamic. that said. sighs kristoph/phoenix/edgeworth over the 7 year gap is a little fun maybe (i am not a freak i promise).

NOTP: oh so many. i am ignoring all the actual freak stuff bc u already know it sucks. so my controversial opinion is i don't like nahyuta/ema because i think ema's a lesbian. i think it can be kinda fun if it's like nahyuta/ema/simon MAYBE but even then. shrug. they're more fun as friends.

favorite storyline: thinks about turnabout trump and blows up. that was so wild and for a first case?? insane. also obv every final case in the trilogy

least favorite storyline: turnabout big top <3

what I wish had happened but didn’t: AURGH AJ TRILOGY WOULD HAVE SOLVED ALL MY PROBLEMS OH MY GOD. can u imagine.. also UR-1 being a case that's handled in about the same way SL-9 was w a rfta type case except athena comes back sooner than ema does. actual character development for klavier.. apollo getting character growth without stealing someone elses game.. phoenix fucking off.....

what happened that I wish hadn’t: hrm. u know i really wish they hadn't made everyone sit though penumbra podcast type kissing noises when narumitsu canon that was kinda uncomfortable

#leo.ask #thank uuuuuu miles #gotta ruminate on de for a while

[blueaura]

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart

A/N: This was written as a birthday gift to a very good friend of mine @only-for-cee​. She was the first person to encourage me to post my stuff online and I absolutely adore her. So M, hope you enjoy this one-shot and Happy Birthday! Love ya ❤

Pairing: Dean x Mukta

Word Count: 2.3k

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart

The cold was what woke her up. She couldn’t remember the last time she didn’t have her own personal heater wrapped around her when she woke up in the morning. Dean Winchester wasn’t an early riser by any means, and the fact that he was somehow up before her perplexed Mukta.

She got out of bed and made her way down to the library. Sam was there, still in his jogging attire, dripping in sweat. She wrinkled her nose at the stench – he’d clearly just come back from his morning run. Mumbling a quick ‘morning’ to Sam, she went to the kitchen in search of coffee. And Dean.

To her continued displeasure, the kitchen was also empty, the freshly brewed coffee being the only sign that someone had been in there that morning. Grumbling, Mukta poured a cup for herself and again went in search of her soon to be dead boyfriend. This was not how she wanted to spend her birthday.

Coming back to the library, she asked Sam, “Where’s your brother?”

“Someone’s in trouble,” Sam snorted, clearly amused by Mukta’s pissed off expression. He quickly composed himself when her glare turned to him. It tickled her to no end that the giant was afraid of her.

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen yet. I thought he would still be with you,” Sam decided to be helpful but only managed to piss her off even more. She wasn’t mad at Sam though, just her stupid partner. She sighed, cursing herself once again for falling for Dean instead of the younger Winchester – but the heart wants what it wants, and hers had been steadily enamoured by the green-eyed hunter, even if he forgot her birthday and drove her crazy half the time.

“I’m gonna freshen up and go out for a walk. If you see him, tell him he’s dead,” she said and started to walk away.

“Hey, M!” Sam called out, smiling at her when she turned around, “Happy Birthday.”

She grinned at him – at least someone remembered. “Thanks Sammy! I would hug you but,” she gestured to his sweaty appearance, “I don’t want to,” she cheekily said.

Sam suddenly got a playful, evil gleam in his eye, and she knew she’d put her foot in her mouth yet again.

“Oh no. Don’t you dare!” she started running away as he chased her around the library, before picking her up like a sack of potatoes and mushing her face in his sweaty shirt as she squealed.

“Let me go, you monster!” Their laughter echoed in the empty bunker, a feeling of contentment washing over her as Sam finally put her down.

“I hate you,” she tried to sound angry but the grin wouldn’t leave her face. Sam just laughed at her and pushed her out of the library, urging her to go on that walk as the weather was lovely.

The weather was actually lovely but her mood only got worse the more time she spent away from the bunker, without Dean keeping her company. This was the first-year things were quiet on any of their birthdays’ and even if she was too old to get excited for this shit, dammit she was excited for it! At least she had been yesterday.

She had met the Winchesters like any other hunter did – on a hunt. She was one of the few hunters who actually hunted because it was fun and felt great. She didn’t have a tragic backstory like the Winchesters – she even had a job which she loved. She had heard about the Winchesters, of course, but meeting them had been surreal. They just instantly clicked, working like a well-oiled machine to gank the monster, and trading hunting stories over celebratory drinks afterwards. There was also an instant attraction between her and the elder Winchester. Although she thought both of them were ridiculously attractive, she’d only had platonic feeling for Sam since the get-go.

After a few more hunts together, the brothers had invited her to their bat cave and she’d decided to crash there for a few days while she explored the rich history of the place. Her very first night in the bunker, she didn’t even make it to her room, following Dean into his instead. Dean made her happy, and from what she could see, the feeling was mutual. He still acted like an asshole from time to time, but she loved the jerk and had decided to stay with him.

Mukta spent the rest of the walk reminiscing about the past 3 years and all of their greatest hits – like the time they went to Vegas and almost got drunk-married before Sam saved the day, or that time when Dean almost got into a fight with a group of drunk guys who had been making lewd comments about her before Sam steered him away. Come to think of it, they probably would have been arrested ten times over if it weren’t for Sam. God, she loved that moose.

Her stomach grumbled, making her aware that she hadn’t had anything except a cup of coffee that morning. Deciding to head back to the bunker, she pulled herself out of happy memories and focused on thinking up different scenarios to dismember and torture a certain hunter.

The bunker came into view and she pushed open the giant door, making her way down the steps. She paused halfway down at the aroma filling the air. Curious, she made her way to the kitchen. Sam certainly wasn’t the best cook, neither was Cas, leaving only one other person. Sure enough, her boyfriend was slaving away in the kitchen, meticulously handling several dishes at once, with a content look on his face.

She felt herself unintentionally melt at the sight, her anger abandoning her at the sight of Dean dancing around the kitchen, making breakfast. Dean looked at her and grinned, as she tried to school her face into an angry scowl, finding it more difficult by the minute to not smile back.

Before she could even say anything, Dean was making his way towards her, still grinning away like an idiot.

“Heya sweetheart,” he said, taking her hand and kissing it, pulling her towards the table. And just like that, she was no longer mad, only curious as he pulled out a chair for her and made her sit down, kissing her swiftly on the forehead before going back to his food.

“Where were you?” she tried to ask sternly but it ended up coming out as a whine. Dean just winked at her, not saying anything, humming softly under his breath.

“I was cold,” she tried again, this time with a lilt in her voice, making Dean pause for a minute.

“I went out to the store to get all this,” he gestured around the kitchen, smiling apologetically.

“You were supposed to still be sleeping,” he said, raising a brow, “since when do you wake up at 7 am?”

“You weren’t in bed,” she just shrugged, making Dean shake his head and come back around to quickly kiss her – an apology.

“What is all this anyway? Where’s Sam?”

“This was supposed to be a surprise, but since it isn’t anymore, I’ll just have to think of something else,” he said, eyeing her and licking his lips, making her blush. Even after all this time, the man had a way to unnerve her with just a look. He smirked knowingly at her.

“As for Sam, he’s made himself scarce for the day, going to visit Eileen, I think. He’ll be back for dinner to celebrate,” he said, not phased at all. “Cas dropped by earlier but since you weren’t here, he’s gonna be here later as well.”

“Celebrate what?” she was fishing, yes, and she wasn’t even ashamed.

Dean knew how to play this game though, and didn’t say anything. Her frustration started to rise again, but then he was there, pushing a plate of French omelette, fresh cut strawberries, sausages and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. He went back to get his plate as well and they shared a lovely breakfast together. Talking with Dean was always effortless, and she didn’t even realise that their plates were empty and they had been sitting and talking for a long time.

“Come on,” he held out his hand for her to take after he had cleared away the dishes. She instinctively put her hand in his, allowing him to pull her along.

“Where are we going?” she asked, already knowing she wouldn’t be getting an answer.

The Dean cave, she realised, taking in the set-up. The chairs had been pushed aside in favour of a mattress laid on the ground, surrounded by at least eight pillows. There was a comfy blanket and even a make-shift headboard to lean against, which she had no idea how he managed, but was a welcome addition none the less.

He made her sit down and covered her with the blanket before going out of the room. 5 minutes later, he came in with a bowl of pop-corn and more than enough candy, plopping down next to her in front of the big plasma TV.

“Guess which movie we’re watching?” he asked, pecking her cheek and nuzzling his head in her neck. Settling down into the mattress, he pulled her into him, wrapping his hands around her.

“Harry Potter?” came her muffled reply.

“Harry Potter,” he confirmed, kissing her head again. Dean was very affectionate when he wanted to be and all the hardness seemed to leave him when he was with her. Well… almost all the hardness, she thought to herself and giggled.

They watched three movies, skipping lunch in favour of popcorn and candy. Dean kept throwing the popcorn at her which she tried and failed to catch in her mouth.

“You know you still haven’t apologised for leaving me alone in bed this morning,” she said halfway through the fourth movie.

“Wasn’t the amazing breakfast apology enough?” he said in that deep voice he used when he wanted to tease her, cocking an eyebrow and smirking down at her.

“No. But I can think of some ways you can make it up to me,” she smirked right back.

“Oh yeah?” he asked, muting the now forgotten movie and pulling her into his lap, “go on.”

Instead of saying anything, she leaned down and kissed him. He responded in kind, deepening the kiss. He pushed her down into the mattress and spent the next few hours thoroughly apologising.

Sam retuned early evening and found them sleeping in the Dean cave. He woke Dean up so he could get started on dinner but not before clicking an embarrassing picture of his brother’s best impression of a koala bear.

Dean left a note for when Mukta woke up, telling her to go get ready for dinner. When she woke up in another hour, she did just that and came down to find Dean, Cas and Sam chatting in the kitchen while Dean was working on patties for burgers. Dean Winchester and his burgers, she thought wryly as she walked up behind Dean and wrapped her arms around his waist. His own hand immediately came up to rest on hers.

“This is the second time you’ve left me alone in bed today Winchester,” she said, only half-joking.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you later,” he quipped back, turning around to wink at her. Leaning down, he kissed her again.

“Gross,” Sam said loudly, interrupting them like the shitty younger brother that he was.

“Oh yeah? And how’s Eileen doing Sammy?” Mukta asked innocently.

Sam threw a piece of tomato at her and petulantly mumbled out a ‘shut up’ as he hid his face behind his hair.

“Hey! No food fights in my kitchen,” Dean ordered.

Mukta walked away from Dean in order to hug Cas. She always had a soft spot for the angel.

“Happy Birthday, Mukta,” said the angel, awkwardly hugging her. He hadn’t yet fully grasped all human habits, but Mukta was working on it.

“Thanks Cas,” she grinned as he too smiled at her.

She looked at Dean and raised an eyebrow in question, but again Dean ignored her. Sam snorted, making her find the very piece of tomato he’d thrown at her to return the gesture. He looked like he wanted to retaliate but one stern look from Dean stopped him and he went back to making his salad.

Dean finished up with the burgers and Cas opened a bottle of wine instead of their usual beers, marking it as a more formal celebration even though none of them were dressed up. She was wearing one of Dean’s shirts because somehow, they were more comfortable than anything she owned, but it still felt like the best celebration she ever had – with the people she loved all around her.

Dinner was spent imbibing copious amounts of alcohol (even Sam indulged for once) and telling old stories. It was all laughter and food and wine and cheesy jokes and it was the best fucking birthday she could have asked for.

After dinner, Sam and Cas both hugged her and wished her again before each bidding goodnight and leaving her and Dean alone.

Instead of closing the bottle of wine, he took it and their glasses and lead up to their room. Putting the glasses on his bedside table, he pulled out his phone and pressed play. The sound of Billy Joel singing Vienna rang out in the room and Dean put out his hand to her.

Shaking her head, she willingly went into his arms and they swayed to the soothing melody. He twirled her around, making her laugh. As the song was ending, he asked, “Am I forgiven yet?”

She straight up laughed, leaning into the hand that came up to cup her cheek.

“Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.”

Tags: I’m going to start the ‘forever tags’ thing so that I know who wants to be tagged for all spn posts and who just wants to be tagged for Lost and Found. Send me an ask or message if you want to be tagged in all spn fics written by me!

#supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #spn #spn fanfic #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #castiel #Cee tries to write

[theotomemaiden]

♥️ 10 Characters Tag ♥️

🖤 10 Characters Tag 🖤

Rules: Make a new post, name 10 characters from 10 different fandoms that you like, and then tag 10 people.

I was tagged by @dlgenderbend , I love doing these things so thank you! 💕

Ah it was so hard to choose 10 different fandoms considering my most favorites are usually in the same fandom 🥺

1. Carla Tsukinami (Diabolik Lovers)

(My favorite character ever, the one true love of my life, my husband, my everything. He is my soulmate, I swear. I can’t wait to get more tattoos dedicated to him ♥️) I bury myself in merch of Carla everyday. He is perfection and I don’t give a damn if people think I’m crazy because of this obsession I have...this should be the least of their worries when it comes to me.

2. Camus (Uta no Prince-sama)

(My second favorite character ever. On Shining Live I have a bond of over 800 with him, and I am very proud. I have spent more money on this man than anything else and he still refuses to come home sometimes. He has robbed me of everything but I still love him. This icy cold count will always have a special place in my heart...not like I can abandon him after spending over $1,500 on Shining Live within the past 2 years...yes, I know, it’s insane. But my luck on gacha is horrible. This might sound really fucking petty of me but please don’t come crying to me when Camus doesn’t come home to you after you saved up all of your prisms for so long and haven’t spent a single penny on this game, when I’ve spent $600 on the Setsugetsuka photoshoot, and $300 on the Police Officer one, and he still never came home. I’m sorry but I can’t comfort you. And I don’t feel bad.) He is the second character that I have the most merch of...and I cherish it even though I feel betrayed by him sometimes lol. I will never stop loving him.)

3. Ukyo (Amnesia)

(Oh my heart, this poor man who I love so much...he deserves the world. I’ve played and watched Amnesia well over 10 times and still cry every damn time. There is no one who loves anyone more than Ukyo loves the heroine...I still love him after he developed severe PTSD turning into a Split Personality who is crazy...he still deserves everything. He has the biggest heart and I will always admire him. He is precious.)

4. Toshizo Hijikata (Hakuoki)

(One of my first anime boy loves and obsessions. He was my first dakimakura pillow and Hakuoki is one of the first otome games I had played. I traveled across the country to go to the Hakuoki fest and it was amazing. Hakuoki and Toshi will always mean a lot to me.)

5. Jakurai Jinguji (Hypnosis Mic)

(My first Hypnosis Mic crush even though I truly love all of them except Ramuda even though he comes home to me in the game constantly just to taunt me. I created a second account just to get the Jakurai SSR. I have loved Hypnosis Mic since it first came out and love to see the franchise keep growing, I was super excited for the game that me and a lot of others had waited over a year to finally come out. And now I’m excited for the anime! I love Jakurai’s character and personality and voice. I love the things he says and is really inspirational. There are so many times I’ve listen to him rap in the first Matenro drama CD where he tries to convince the girl not to commit suicide...his words have saved me countless times. He is a character I have such a deep appreciation for.)

6. Rin Matsuoka (Free!)

(Another one of my first real hardcore obsessions with an anime boy. I have all the figures of him and they are some of my prized possessions, especially the one of him with the water guns. Another character I deeply admire and look up to. I strive to be as an amazing friend as he is...I empathize with his past and really care for him. I love him, I really do.)

7. Vil Schoenheit (Twisted Wonderland)

(A fairly newer character compared to the rest of them but I’ve been obsessed since they first showed a picture of him in one of the teasers from last year. I love almost all of the characters in TW very, very much but Vil has my heart. As someone who is insecure but obsessed with beauty for most of my life due to being bullied, and as the makeup artist I am now, I admire his dedication and care. His dorm Pomefiore is the next episode and I am SO EXCITED. I really think he is the one who will overblot and he is going to look so fucking beautiful. I can’t wait until they make an SSR card of him...another game I also have 2 accounts on.)

8. Hikaru Osari (B-Project)

(One character I absolutely adore who has a personality that I usually don’t take interest in. He has such a big heart and will literally do anything to protect his friends. Although, when the other members of MooNs tease him sometimes, I feel so so bad for him and just want to protect him and his precious self. He deserves the best and I love him a lot.)

9. Uta (Tokyo Ghoul)

(My favorite Tokyo Ghoul character, his style is so similar to mine so I instantly took a liking to him. We have many of the same piercings and both have tattoos and little eyebrows lol. Since he is also a type of artist, I also have that in common with him. He is a man I would totally fall in love with who matches my aesthetic. Some of his quotes are really meaningful as well which I also love about him.)

10. Undertaker (Black Butler)

(A character I fell in love with even before I knew he had such a sexy face. My favorite Kuroshitsuji character from the beginning...especially when I saw him in that bucket of salt just sticking his tongue out and licking it. I was like “LOL IT’S ME.” He is hilarious and in Book Of Atlantic they finally showed his face and his darker side and I knew from that point on that I fell hard for him. His and the other reaper’s backstories I really connected with and understood. He is still very mysterious and much is unknown, but I know whatever more I find out, I will only love him more.)

I apologize for my rant, especially about Camus...I don’t mean to offend anyone on SL. I’m just bitter lol.

Well, this was fun. I’m not sure who to tag so, if you’d like to do this, I Tag you! 🥰🖤

#thanks for the tag! #tag game #i was tagged #favorite characters #character tag #my loves #fandoms #favorites tag #10 characters

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

New game, list all the dragonborn OCs/players you remember making:

Lets see how many dovahkiins I did I remember:

1) Very first Dragonborn, vanilla skyrim, was a Argonian called Stalk-In-Shadows (Technically, Shadow Stalker, then I mentally retconned the name to a lore friendly one), stealth archer with some early destruction and restoration spells, wanted to be just a mage at first then passed half my gameplsy crouching with a bow, self fulfilling prophecy if you will, with medium illusion and high conjuration magic. He ended up marrying Ysolda and was a generic edgy bitch, jack of all trades at times, one of the only two dragonborns who ever managed to kill Alduin. Main companions were Sven (Dead), Lydia (Left in house with Wife), Serana (Last One).

2) First Modded Dragonborn and second overall dragonborn was Ascarioth Hlaalu I think (or a name similar to that), Male Dunmer, this time managed to stay a mage also thanks to the spell mods. Only other Dragonborn who ever managed to kill Alduin, also married Ysolda, companions Inigo Sophia and Recorder at the same time.

3) The most long running Dragonborn I had with sex mods on was a Imperial Woman, Mia Sl*tbl**d (In Italian, dragonborns are named Sangue di Drago (Blood of the Dragon), and 1* years old me wanted to be edgy and topical and make a pun on it, even if in english)). Fucked half of Skyrim and was in a open romantic relationship with fellow sex positive woman Haelga from Riften. Didn't have a class given the... nature of her gameplay.

1-3) Months later got all 3 dragonborns the same backstory, three outcasts from Bravil, who met at a young age, and later become friends and then a love triangle and then a throuple. They decide to try their luck in Skyrim together, but during the Imperial Ambush 2 of them die. This splinters reality in 3 timelines where either of them survived and Akatosh turned them into a Dragonborn.

1B) Stalk-In-Shadow first tries to fulfill both his friends dreams of entering the college, drown his sorrows and survivor's guilt with that, his aptitude in magic is quite low tho so they give up midway and join the Dark Brotherhood after Sanguine's drunken blender. Adopts the Whiterun and Whindhelm orphans, kills the emperor and ulfric.

2B) Ascarioth drowns his sorrows in work. Is a Daedric Researcher, joins the college as a stepping stone for that, becomes a Vampire Lord to ensue eternal life, all to get closer to the mysteries of creation. Kills Ulfric, Miraak, Harkon, Ancano.

3B) Mia, who wanted to enter the college to research sex magic, just tries to drown her sorrows in hot bodies, doesn't finish any quest, just here to fuck. Does turn the peace council at high hortghar into a orgy tho, a real unifier that one. Doesn't kill ulfric but she does peg him.

At the end of their story each would die in certain circumstances and go to Sovngarde, where the timelines are reconnected and they find each others again as Dragonborns.

Both Ysoldas (Ascarioth's and Stalk's wives) are also there, so now it's a quintouple, if you will.

4) A Breton Shield-Mage, name forgotten, on his 50s. First Savior of the Forgotten City among my Dragonborns, Peryte Champion, Kills Ulfric, finds MARPHIN but doesn't fix him, First SSE Dragonborn, almost kills Alduin but is killed by his Draugr army before Sovngarde due to the Warzone Mod. No relation to the previous 3 Dragonborns. Killed Ulfric.

5) Several Iterations of the same, not Ascarioth Dunmer Dragonborn, male or female, mostly characterized by the Imperious Mod having them hear the whisper of their ancestors and go insane, trying to fulfill their wishes by killing people and shit. Never accomplished much, one of them even gets killed by Ulfric at Helgen when she finds him with Ralof during the Extended Intro Scene and her ancestors scream at her to kill him, another dies while trying to make camp in the cold wilderness. Most of them fix Marphin and save the forgotten city.

6AB) Vigilant of Stendarr, Imperial Man and then Breton Woman, each start as one with LAL, get a vigilant as a follower with AFT and leave the Halls to fix Dawnstar daedric problems.

A) Breton Woman learns that the ways of the vigilants are flawed after meeting and befriending Erandur, convinction empowered by the destruction of the hall and after she meets Serana, becoming more accepting if still weary of daedric folks. Kills Harkon and Ulfric. Fixes Marphin, saves firgotten city, Dies in slavery during the AHO mod, regretting her decision to trust that orc Triminac Follower she met at Dawnstar.

B) Imperial Man gets tempted by Vaermina with power and kills Erandur. Becomes Arthas, blood templar out in search for power to dominate his foes, kill daedras with daedras, gain their artifacts, fall of grace storyline culminating with him sacrificing the vigilant follower from the start to Boethia, tricking her into coming with him. Kills Miraak, Harkon and Ulfric, becomes a Werewolf, only companion among my dragonborns as to date. Dies during sex before he can become Harbringer for poisoning his husband Farkas with the ebony mail by mistake ("The Mail stays ON during sex") and triggering his transformation while he was getting dicked down.

7) Khajiit Dragonborn, sex mods on, escapes the LAL Dungeons by himself, befriends Inigo, world crashes the second he sees his blue dick after discovering wearing cloaks and tail armor at the same time turns khajiit naked. World is restored but different, saves Susanna from the butcher before he can kill her, butchering him right in front of Ulfric before telling him he's next, starts a open relationship with Susanna, attempts to seduce Janessa and even unlocks her tragic lesbian backstory, becomes Ysolda's Drug Mule and Boytoy, but then gets killed by my sudden desire to add maids to the game and the fact Mjoll's amorous mission didn't start, so I like to think he was Killed by Crime Lord, NTR Villain and Sex Criminal Aerin for snooping around Mjoll (trying to trigger her mission), who is a actual thing in amorous adventures I discovered later which is BAD like SO SO BAD.

8) Argonian Man. Tries to start the Maids storyline. Discovers is 10 times more heavy Gigabyte wise than vanilla skyrim + core set of mods, attempts to do so anyway, dies as the world burns and reality shatters in a orgy in Riften's market square, right at the start of his journey. Last Dragonborn in years, now to be suceeded by a new one.

#skyrim #dragonborn

[lonelier-version-of-you]

Would you have wanted the original Gaskell SL, if it hadn't been the bloated mess of bigoted sensationalist stuff it was, to deal with like. Everything? Like Henrik (and John's) sexuality, the abuse, however Jac fits into everything? Or just the first two? How do you like to think Henrik handles talking about All Of That with Russ?

Answering this in between making Dylan and Paula gifs, apologies if I'm not very coherent.

Obviously we all know I wanted Henrik's (and John's) sexuality dealt with upfront from the start. I mean, realistically it's probably better off that they didn't, because if they'd made Henrik explicitly bi sooner they would've been able to shove him into the 'bi cheater' stereotype they always end up using -_- But in my fantasy world where Holby aren't obsessed with bigotry, yeah, they really should have delved into that.

I actually think it would've been an interesting move, thinking about it, to confirm Henrik as bi during the Gaskell storyline... and still keep him closeted in-universe until Russ arrived. Play the long game with it. Show the audience he's bi, give us a Johnrik kiss or confirmation they slept together at uni or something, but keep the whole thing of him being shoved firmly back into the closet by John's betrayal (which in this universe would've just been about the unethical experiments. We didn't need the serial killer nonsense, and John would've been a far more interesting character if they just stuck to the idea of him genuinely wanting to do good with his work, but making the wrong decisions in the present just in the hope of eventually getting to his idea of some future "greater good").

Now that would have been something. I don't think I've ever really seen a soap do that, if a character is revealed as LGBTQ later on (rather than arriving already out like, say, Dom did) they usually come out or are outed within the same storyline. To subvert that could have been really fascinating.

I don't know if I would have wanted the abuse stuff addressed directly with Henrik in that particular storyline. Maybe if it had already been done by then in this fantasy universe (I'm still convinced it was planned in series 13/14 and then they backed out, either because Henrik's relationship with Sahira was meant to be integral to the storyline (but obviously in a different way than it was in the story we actually got...) and Laila Rouass quit sooner than they were expecting, or because they thought it was too much with Greg's CSA story also going on).

Otherwise I think I would've rather had it delved into more with John (seriously, we got one scene about his backstory in his literal second-to-last episode, we needed more), and possibly Jac. Keeping up the parallels between the three, but not quite getting into where Henrik fits into it all just yet. Then still doing the Henrik abuse reveal later on, but like, done RESPECTFULLY and canon-compliantly instead of whatever the fuck it was we actually got. But as I say, I don't really know. It's a good question.

They REALLY should have delved into how Jac fit into everything. They set up that whole triad of parallels between the three of them and then just never did anything with it and it was so weird??

As for how Henrik talks to Russ about it all... that's something I hope to get around to answering via fic eventually. Russ clearly knows what happened with John, and knows Henrik was in love with him, but I don't get the impression he learned about it via Henrik actually talking to him (they don't seem to have had much contact for a while before Russ turned up at Holby). More likely he read about John in the news, and remembered Henrik telling him about John before (I still can't decide whether I think Henrik admitted outright that he had feelings for John, in which case he would've probably been very drunk because I can't see a sober 1990s/2000s Henrik talking about that, or just talked about him in such a way that it was obvious to Russ that Henrik loved him).

So they haven't had an actual conversation about it all yet. And of course the conversation would be a lot harder for Henrik now that Jac's gone, given how involved she was in everything, given that she wasn't the first of John's former trial patients to develop cancer...

I kind of wonder if the first time they'd talk about it would be when Henrik's upset about Jac. That it would come from him mulling over whether Jac's death was his fault (read: whether there was any chance John's experiments could've caused Jac's tumour, which, from Henrik Unhealthy-Amount-Of-Guilt Hanssen's point of view, would mean it was all his fault).

Then there's the question of how they'd talk about the abuse stuff, which was obviously very tied up into everything with John. If their first proper conversation about John and what he did isn't because of Henrik's guilt about Jac, then chances are it'll be when Henrik tells Russ about the abuse. I don't know how that initial conversation would start, but I can see Henrik murmuring something about how John understood, and from there... yeah.

#asks #anons #my meta #tw;abuse #tw;sexual abuse #tw;csa

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Hello After the release of the PQ2 trailers, I would like to know why you like Minako / Hamuko so much?I do not understand why a lot of people like it and I do not say that in a way that bothered me, I just do not understand.

Before I can get to her, I need to give a backstory on my relationship with P3. And really just a summary of how I got into Persona in general. But yeah, in this literal essay I will (attempt to muddily, and kinda all over the place) explain how I fell in love with a character I was 100% neutral on, on a game I had a rocky relationship to begin with, and how she actually made me appreciate both that said game AND the MaleMC (who I also had a rocky relationship on) more and more as the years went by. 

I should note I played the Persona games in this order: P4 (PS2, newly released), then P3FES, then Persona 1 PSP (didn’t finish tho), then P3P (and basically from the P1PSP on I roughly played them in order of release as we got them, so yeah....the thing to note is I played P4 first, then the original male P3 then years later I played the FeMC, so I did not experience her first).

Now I REALLY loved P4 when I played it, colorful cast, really loved their hijinx and chemistry, and the shadow Selves were just so much fun and dark. I thought the plot was fine, not god’s gift to this earth but it was fun. I found the characters and setting to be the biggest draw (I mean P4 is character focused not plot/story focused so that makes sense). I researched the series and found P3FES. People said it was a lot better than P4, I wanted to try and get P1/2 but.....yeah the only versions were PS1 and they were expensive, and I am but a freshman in high school with no job (too busy being an athlete and studying) and am lucky if I can beg my parents to let me get these games. And there was no way in hell I was getting P1/2EP which were both like $100 (I had to beg for P3/4 which were like $30 each).

Anyway I got my hands on P3 and......I....really didn’t like it. I liked the music, the setting, the style, and I was fine with the slightly harder combat cause of the AI (I accidentally played through all of Kanji’s dungeon with AI on not knowing I could change). But.....I didn’t like the characters. I got to Fuuka’s full moon before I had to put it down. I thought Junpei and Yukari were too mean, I hated I couldn’t SL with anyone on my team yet, Mitsuru/Akihiko were too distant, and the SLs i could SL were.....not really that great, and the MC was....really dull....like he was mostly neutral or silent (as opposed to Souji being funny, rude, neutral, silent, caring and a lot of interesting things with his dialogue options), sometimes he’d have a harsh but funny line but of course if I chose that I’d get a reverse link so that sucks. I decided to replay P4 again, trying to find what it was that really drew me to the series. By the end of that second playthrough I decided to pick up P3 again, give it a second chance (even tho Junpei and Yukari almost killed it for me). 

I powered through, got into a rhythm, opened up more interesting links (such as the bookstore people and Maiko). It still wasn’t as good as P4 imo, the feel was different, but it was more I felt the cast was too distant and ridged to the plot. It wasn’t that they were there own people with their own arcs, but that I ironically didn’t find them as fleshed out as P4′s (which was more character focused so maybe that explains it). But then I got to Aigis, and the plot really picked up (years later I find that’s where some people felt like P3 started getting good). And I ended up liking it! I didn’t love it as much as P4 (and I had a lot of issues with the way they handled how the P3 kids got closer, aka I feel like they it could’ve been better), but I did like it and appreciated it despite my rocky start. I should also note I did like Shinji, like “Oh neat design” and then when he died I was like “Oh welp that sucks” but I never blamed Ken, and I wasn’t a rabbid fan shipping girl for him (I did jump on the FeMCxShinji train for a ship tho, just cause I saw other people like it and I prefered it the most out of the other options at the time, but actually FeMCxTheo was my first ship for her XD)

Then P3P was announced. Me who had a PSP for P1 and KHBBS was like “Oh ok cool.” Then I saw there was a femaleMC and I saw the opening (cause iirc they announced it with an opening) and I was like “OH no this is horrible, I can’t believe they’re making Yukari an MC!” but then I looked at it again and realized it was some new character and was like “oh phew thank god, huh I wonder how you’re gonna be handled” (which is funny, because Soejima accidentally mistook the Concept!Heroine of P3 for Yukari, like he didn’t realize those were two separate characters in like the really early days of P3, so they have very similar concept designs. I think they even share one design XD). So yeah my first impression was a false negative turned into a “Ok cool I’ll try it out.” 

So months later it comes out, and I get it. And I start playing....and I don’t stop. Not like with FES. Like it had been awhile since I had played FES, and I knew if I “powered through it” to get to Aigis it get better but.....I...didn’t need to. Junpei and Yukari were a lot more tolerable, and I think that’s thanks to the SLs we got. And like WE GET TO START THEIR SLs EARLY! AND THE BOYS GET THEM TOO???? Like hot dang! Like Yukari, she’s available right at the beginning! You don’t have to wait! No like even if you are NG+ max charm, I had to wait till like Aigis joined before her SL would actually start (there’s a date restriction on top of it for the male, at least in FES I realized 2 years ago when I played it with some college friends). And Junpei, Ken, Ryoji, Koro, Shinji, and Aki (all characters that really needed a link to expand on them more) get more development! And Rio and Saori are great, Rio’s link is 1000% times better than Kazushi’s link (I hated how the only positive options is letting the guy just crumble, I felt like a horrible friend a lot of the times with the MaleMC, which is weird cause every non-main game iteration acts like he’s a great friend). Saori replacing Maya, well that and Akihiko replacing Minato’s Star guy was saddening, cause I liked them. But thankfully it was an even trade. The rest were a trade up from the MaleMC (Junpei was a lot better than Kenji, wasn’t a fan of P3!Chihiro, very creepy, and remember I saw her in P4 first and thought she was fine, I was sad about Yuko but I kinda like Koro more so...*shrugs* more or less a fair trade, Shinji was obvie a trade up, and I think Ryoji was a trade up from Mr. Fortune guy whom Yukiko would pretty much rip off his SL beat by beat but somehow do it a liiiiitle better). I also liked how Fuuka’s SL was changed....only cause I tend to remember a liiiiiiitle bit more of her FeMC link than I do the Male one (sadly I just....can never remember her whole link....). So I would say she had the “better links” because it helped expand more on the MC’s relationship with the guys and Ryoji (which I found was really lacking on the male side, esp when Junpei tries to claim us as even...normal friends). Not that the Male’s were (all) horrible, but the FeMC does replace a lot of the worst ones (namely, imo, Moon, Magician, and Chariot) with a lot better ones, and the good ones she also replaces are met with a pretty even/fair trade. Also again, Male SEES+Ryoji SLs. I mean Shinji/Ryoji’s links you need to “bust your balls” for those two, but...not really. XD I’m pretty sure (at least with Shinji, need to double check with Ryoji) as long as you say the right stuff, you get a rank up. The real ball buster was the Male’s side because you 100% need a guide to get every SL on his side, FeMC has a bit more freedom (not THAT much but a bit more).

She also had a larger range of personality options (aka it’s not her only personality, she could be a lot of different things) than the MaleMC (so she was similar to Souji in this regard). I could make her be a bitch, maker her peppy, nice, angry, conservative, a lot of things. I felt like there was a lot more to do with her (have her be emo? Sure! Have her be nice? Sure! and so on and so on). I felt like she was more than just being “there,” more than being along for the ride. I loved her anger issues and violent tendencies, the fact she was dark enough to be willing to kill someone, the fact she’s probably a stepford smiler and is actually really hurting underneath it all. I liked how she had personality you could trace and piece together and mess around with to make a different combo of FeMC, as opposed to MaleMC who is just....kinda there....his options are...there most of the time (sometimes some personality leaks out but not a whole lot)...and you have to come up with a personality all on your own instead of piecing together traces of one (they at least adapted this well into the movies by making him numb and depressed and then recovering as a means to explain this odd detachment in the game, but you probably don’t see it when you are first playing without that context). She could be more vocal at times (not all the time but times where the MC wouldn’t talk she would sometimes have an option to say something), she could also make a change as well (Shinji’s link). So yeah I liked how her side had some impact and could change some things. (I mean, in retrospect, I wouldn’t have minded if she had changed more, but I also gotta remember this is a PSP era game). But most importantly, I felt closer to the team. The SLs helped sooooooo much, I felt like the core of SEES, I connected everyone, we were all a unit. The extra events, even if they were the same as the male’s, felt deeper cause I felt like I was hanging out with an actual coworker turned friend rather than a ‘coworker who says I’m their friend but I don’t feel like we got there yet” type of feeling. When anyone was like “dang we friends” I was like “hell yeah we are.” 

I also like how, while she’s a bit more upbeat and friendly, it fits with the game. The game does start off light guys, it doesn’t really get dark-dark till Oct. If anything, her being friendly (if you player her that way) and getting along with people, and the just how it feels like genuine friends really feels more impactful when the dark stuff starts to come around....since she gets more shook and has to face the harshness and overcome it. It feels like it impacts her. MaleMC it....it can feel like it doesn’t as much (again the game, not the side content, the side content it does impact him). I feel like the MaleMC had a similar detachment as I did when I first played on FES. “Oh that sucks Shinji died, pretty sad, wonder what’s gonna happen next.” So like...THAT is just...there.....

So yeah, basically....I had issues with P3, and I felt like she fixed a lot, not all but a lot. Sure she has her own slew of problems (my issues are more that she might not change enough, like she changed enough to justify her, but I feel like they could do more. Also, connecting to that point, them repeating a lot of the same dialogue....I felt like some could/needed to be changed....Like Junpei’s jealousy works really well with the MaleMC but him suddenly being friends at the end doesn’t, while the FeMC they are friends....but he still has the same jealous out spurts and like......he can have that, but I feel like they should’ve changed it a bit and added more complexity to them since they are already friends).

Do I think FeMC is the better MC of the two? (Main) Game wise....yes. Her bonds are what I feel like is what Atlus wanted to do with the MC but messed up (evident with how they handle him with the manga, movie, dramacd, and PQ/P3D). Manga/Movie/DramaCD (and PQ/P3D) vs her? They are the same tbh, the FeMC is just the stronger game equivalent (bond execution wise, which was the male’s side’ issue and one that’s fixed in side stuff) to the other iterations of Minato than his actual equivalent imo. 

Anyway, as the years went on I got more attached, esp when I compared and contrast the two MCs (btw as the years went on I grew to like P3 even more as well as Minato, so all of the above is just my first impressions), wished there could be a version of P3 where they are together, later wishing for a spinoff where there together, or a spinoff where she meets P4 kids cause I feel like it’d be interesting how she’d interact with them (cause it’d be different to Minato’s). Her clashing ideals with Male cast and P4 cast, her working together, working off each other. Her dynamic was just interesting, I saw potential and what she could bring to the table and it sucked she basically wasn’t allowed (mostly cause, as it was recently revealed, they didn’t know how to do it). I saw potential, and still do see potential, in the other MCs in all of the games, it’s just as each new entry came about....the need to see the FeMC’s utilized grew more and more (cause again, they were already utilizing P3/4MC’s potentials, and P1/2 were locked behind some possible legal tape, and PTS was retconned out with the only hope of it ever coming back being for it to be retconned again to fit into the story, so she was literally the only one of this group that could be used and had yet to be used). I also really wanna see a duo of FeMC/Minato and Tatsuya/Maya, I just....I really wanna....cause P2 had a lot of duality themes, and then P3 kicked it up to 20 notches, and I’d love to see P2/3 meld together! ;w;

(oh I should note I do like P1 and P2 a lot, I really love P1′s manga tbh, just in case anyone was wondering where I stood on them. So yeah it’s not like I only love P3P and P4. I actually like P2 a lot. It’s tied with P4 as my fav, tho FemC might be my fav MC, tho possibly tied with Maya and Souji. I do think they should come back, but I’m also aware they have....a stickier situation than the FeMC or even PTS.....and we all know where I stand with P5 so ahuhuhu 8U)

So uhhhhh yeah, that’s my story....on how I kinda slowly fell in love with this character, one of which I had a neutral stance (I didn’t automatically think “Female MC? Ok I LOVE her!” or think she was gonna change the game for me, it all just kinda happened). And how she made me appreciate P3 (and the MaleMC) more. And then by the time I realized it I realized I was in drought hell with pretty much nothing. :’D

[navigatorvega]

I think I’ve figured out what my issues with ZTD as a whole are. Spoilers below.

First, let me say that I’m incredibly tired, so I apologize if this is a little hard to follow or if I ramble. Now then, onto the substance.

Okay, so it’s no secret that I feel like ZTD is the weakest entry in the series. For a good while I’ve not quite been able to put it into words why, but I think something helped me realize exactly what it is: a visual novel called Root Double: Before Crime * After Days.

Now, what does that have to do with anything? Well, to put it simply, it feels almost like what would happen in the ZE universe if Espers became common knowledge. I won’t go into detail here so as to not spoil anything, but basically most of the story is told in a lockdown that threatens to take the lives of nine people (given the fact that the director of this game used to work with Uchikoshi, I get the feeling there was at least some inspiration there). And it is really well done. It feels very Zero Escape-y while at the same time able to stand on its own. But, then I got to thinking about it and I realized that ZTD DOESN’T feel the same.

How can that be? It’s because ZTD feels more like a Danganronpa game.

Now, I must preface this before I give anyone the wrong impression: I don’t dislike Danganronpa; as a matter of fact I quite like the series, and the only reason I haven’t posted a lot about it is because I haven’t caught up and thus am avoiding spoilers.

Anyways, Danganronpa, the series that has a lot in common with ZE, but has just enough different that it was able to set itself apart and become incredibly successful. But how exactly does it set itself apart? Well, for one thing, it’s set in high school, with characters suffering from the problems teenagers face on top of the whole closed circle, death game stuff. It also has a mascot character and social link-esque events that you can use to learn more about the characters. But what really prominently sets itself apart from Zero Escape is this: in ZE death is a threat, but in DR it’s the goal.

Now obviously I don’t mean that’s the player’s goal; in DR 1&2 neither protagonist actually kills anyone to escape. But, when you look at how the “school life” works and compare it to the Nonary Games, the structure is almost completely opposite. In Danganronpa, the only way to escape is to kill someone and hide the fact that you did it so well that no one suspects you. The main characters only escape due to a loophole in those games. Compare that to 999 and VLR however, where the only way to reach the true endings is by getting everyone you can out alive by following the game’s rules without too much unnecessary infighting.

But, fast forward to ZTD and things are very different. The way out of the Decision game is by killing others. The game’s true end only exists due to a loophole. Even the fragments themselves often feel like the sl-esque events Danganronpa uses, with them explaining character backstory independently from the main plot. 

Other similarities include the mastermind regularly interacting with the cast, having numerous characters whose backstories have nothing to do with the main plot (Seriously, Eric is only there because he’s dating Mira; Junpei is there because he was stated to be; Carlos, much as I love him, is completely and totally unrelated to anything involving Delta, the transporter, or Crash Keys), and characters being actively given motivation and/or means to kill someone else, among other things.

Now, are any of these bad? Absolutely not. But they are very different from how a ZE story is usually told and I believe that is the reason for why ZTD gives so many people such a weird feeling. It DOESN’T feel like it’s apart of the same series. Change a few character’s names and I would struggle to see how it relates to ZE at all. Hell, even terms the previous games use, such as Morphogenetic fields or espers, are only used once or twice if at all, instead using new distinct terms, such as Jumps now being called SHIFTs.

Even things such as how one-note the characters seem feels far more Danganronpa-y (I’d like to note that that’s not necessarily a bad thing; one note and simple characters aren’t inherently bad as they allow for larger casts that feel distinct and more varied situations, to name a few positives), with characters filling a niche rather than being more multifaceted.

Root Double on the other hand shares much more in common with the first two ZE entries. And I can’t help but wonder if that has to do with the fact that the game’s director worked with Uchikoshi pre-999 and it was released just before Danganronpa became big (July of 2012, vs RD’s Japanese release date of June of that same year) while ZTD came out long after DR had changed the game when it comes to closed circle survival stories.

#zero escape #ze #zero time dilemma #ztd #spoilers #analysis #danganronpa #root double

[overthinkingkdrama]

Jona's Top 5 Second Male Leads Who Deserved to End Up Alone

[Disclaimer: This list is intended for entertainment purposes. It includes spoilers for the tagged shows. This is just my personal opinion, so I apologize in advance if I’m bashing your fave. I just woke up this morning and thought, “You know, I haven’t pissed anyone off in a while.”]

In the Kdrama fandom much is made of SLS, or Second Lead Syndrome, that is the condition of sympathizing with the secondary character, usually male and usually the hypotenuse of a love triangle, over and above the actual hero and wishing he would get with the female lead instead. Most of the time because the hero is an asshole and the second lead treats her like a human being. There are occasionally examples of SLS regarding the second female characters, but it is far more common with male, because unfortunately second female leads have a tendency to be stock characters or finger-steepling jealousy monsters, instead of fully fleshed out people. God knows I’ve had my share of SLS in every flavor…

But this isn’t a list about SLS, but rather the opposite of that. This is about the second leads I had no patience for. The ones who are a waste of air and screen time. The ones who annoyed me with their shitty “nice guy” attitudes or frustrated me with their passivity. The ones I immediately wanted to punch in the face. In short, the second leads who deserved to end up alone.

5. Kang Shin Woo/ You’re Beautiful

I’ve gone off several times in the past on the infuriating species infesting dramaland I’ve termed the “passive pining second lead”. I really dislike this character type, it drives me up a tree. So you knew going in one of these boys was going to end up on this list.

It didn’t have to be Kang Shin Woo. It could easily have been Ji Hoo from BoF or Kang Woo from Master’s Sun. Or any number of other second leads who fit this archetype. But it had to be one of them.

I can’t really explain to you why Shin Woo earned my particular ire. Maybe it was just teeth-grinding frustration I felt with each successive, convoluted attempt to woo Mi Nyeo. Maybe it was the weirdness of that let-me-stalk-you-via-telephone-while-you-go-on-a-solo-date thing. Or that fact that the male lead was such an unmitigated moron.

Shin Woo managed to miss his window while Mi Nyeo was still crushing on him hard. He had countless opportunities to confess his feelings and just waited and waited until she was almost obliged to fall for Tae Kyung out of sheer impatience. This is the kind of character that makes me want to tear my hair and yell at the screen “USE YOUR FRICKEN WORDS!”

Luckily, there’s an appealing “third lead” in You're Beautiful who saves it from mediocrity, and the drama is otherwise such dopey, fluffy fun that you can’t help but be endeared. Jeremy saves this from being higher on the list.

4. Lee Ji Hoon/ The Best Hit

Talk about a character who has one of the worst cases of “Nice Guy” syndrome I’ve ever seen. Lee Ji Hoon was one of those characters I was initially rooting for, since Best Hit’s ambiguous love lines appear to leave things open ended as far as the end game couple was concerned. For the first half of the drama it seemed like things could go either way, and the friends-to-lovers dynamic between Ji Hoon and Woo Seung was endearing and heartfelt.

Also Kim Min Jae is pretty. So, so pretty…

For a while I was worried he was going to fall into the “passive pining” category, remaining silent, and losing his chance. But finally he made up his mind to confess and I was ecstatic. Yes! Go for it! And that was just about when it all went wrong.

The way a male character handles rejection and disappointment is make or break in my book. It takes them farther than charisma, looks and even moral fiber. (Give me a pirate or a conman over an entitled asshole.) And for me Ji Hoon totally failed this very important test. After Woo Seung told him she didn’t return his feelings Ji Hoon continually badgered and attempted to win her over even when she asked him to stop, intentionally made her uncomfortable, and thrust a surprise kiss on her. My frustration with his character grew until the point were he told Woo Seung that he regretted meeting her first as his friend, after which point he was dead to me.

Despite the potential ickiness of timetravel paternity shenanigans, I was so relieved when Hyun Jae ended up being our male lead. The Best Hit remains one of my very favorite dramas of the year and I still highly recommend it. But if you want to come at me about SLS for poor, poor Ji Hoon, kindly get out of my house.

3. Han Tae Jin/ Another Oh Hae Young

Han Tae Jin had all the makings of a really interesting, sympathetic anti-hero. After all, he comes across like the obvious wronged party in this love triangle. Due to a case of mistaken identity, Tae Jin becomes the target of the jealous spite of our male lead, Park Do Kyung, ultimately causing the ruin of his business, the breaking of his engagement with the titular Hae Young, and getting him sent to prison! Ouch. That’s a lot of angst wrapped in an attractive Lee “Chiseled Jaw For Days” Jae Yoon.

And yet, instead of cutting a fetchingly tragic figure, Tae Jin turned out to be a vengeful, bitter, violent man incapable of letting go of a grudge even for the woman he supposedly loved. He was such an emotionally unstable, loose canon that I was frequently uncomfortable when he was onscreen. If I’m not very much mistaken he assaults Do Kyung not once, but several times, to such a degree that Hae Young ends meeting him to beg him not to hurt Do Kyung anymore. It struck me as incredibly messed up.

I really didn’t want Lee Jae Yoon on this list twice– I have nothing against the actor–which is the only reason his Cruel City character Detective Ji Hyung Min wasn’t on this list instead. I actually like Lee Jae Yoon! Just not the characters he tends to play…Luckily, Cruel City wasn’t extremely focused on the love triangle, it was focused on the pain. I chose his character in OHYA instead because, being a romance focused drama the way they handled the love polygon was more important to me. By the end of the drama they attempted to redeem him and it just didn’t work for me at all. Keep this dude the hell away from me.

2. Lee Joon Hee/ Falling for Innocence

There are a variety of strategies drama writers use to make us root for the jerk chaebol hero over and against the started-from-the-bottom second lead with treats the female lead with tenderness and respect. They give their heroes tragic backstories, slowly grow them into human beings, build UST, and give them melodramatic redemption arcs. The options are basically endless.

But why go through all of that when you can just make your second lead a secret scumbag murderer! There…all sorted.

This was honestly the most confounding bait and switch love line I’ve probably ever seen. When the reveal of who was ultimately responsible for the death of Sung Joon’s fiancé finally happened I very nearly threw my tablet across the room. They go to a lot of trouble to give Joon Hee a sympathetic long time unrequited love backstory as well as motivation for his sometimes morally dubious corporate ladder climbing. They also give him frequent shippy scenes with Sung Joon where he takes care of her and worries about her or vice versa. While in contrast Min Ho is absolutely horrible to her for a good portion of the show, the only thing that redeems him being a literal personality transplant.

They go out of their way to present this like it’s a legitimate love triangle, when given all of the facts it’s nothing of the kind. It makes me wonder why they even bothered trying to get me invested in the character since it turns out he’s actually evil.

Upon rewatch (started this one again rather recently) I had a lot more fun with this drama. Since I already knew what I was getting into I had the resounding pleasure of yelling at the screen every time Joon Hee and Sung Joon get a cutsy or romantic scene, which is very satisfying. The real reason to watch this show, Min Ho’s horrid behavior in the first episodes notwithstanding, is because Jung Kyung Ho is absolutely hysterical. For me it’s still kind of a garbage show with a garbage plot, but, hey, I love garbage.

1. Goo Jung Hee/ Ms. Perfect

There are very few characters in drama land that inspire in me the kind of hatred I felt for Jung Hee throughout this series. There are villians that don’t fill me with such seething rage. There’s a lot of adjectives I could use to describe Jung Hee. Loathsome comes to mind. An incomplete list of others would include: spineless, selfish, sniveling, and “the slimiest weakling ever to crawl the earth.”

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. I hate this so called man. And yet, to my eternal confusion he is loved by and romantically involved with not one, not two, but three different women throughout the course of the show.

Actually, this entry poses a little bit of a problem regarding what we actually consider to be a “second male lead”. For the majority of the list so far I’ve been using the definition of the “second romantic lead” or, in brief, “the member of the obligatory love triangle who doesn’t get the girl” rather than “a male character with lesser narrative importance and/or subordinate billing to the male lead.”

In Kdrama the two things are usually one in the same. Usually, but not always. The reason is a) most dramas place a heavy emphasis on romance b) romantic fulfillment is usually the overt goal or the overt reward of the hero’s character arc and c) if a show ends without romantic closure (dating, marriage, babies ever after) it’s not generally seen as “satisfying”. But there are cases where the character with top billing or greater narrative importance is not meant to be our romantic lead, or even necessarily someone we root for. Jung Hee falls into this category, which made me wonder if I should even include him on this list.

Because Yoon Sang Hyun received top billing and was considered, by all reports, the lead in Ms. Perfect there was a great deal of disagreement and turbulence surrounding the intended endgame of the drama. Sung Joon’s Kang Bong Goo readily fits the mold of the romantic lead but his screen time is about half of Jung Hee’s, so I can readily understand where these concerns came from.

I’m happy to report that Jung Hee remained a subject of sometimes pity, but more often disgust, and the only thing that really disappointment me with his plot trajectory was that he didn’t end up dying in a fire at the end of the show. Missed opportunity IMO. While certainly a weird and flawed drama, Ms. Perfect remained entertaining throughout its run and I honestly would recommend it if for no other reason that Shim Jae Bok is a goodamn queen. There is the notable downside that this character has forever ruined Yoon Sang Hyun for me as an actor, as I can’t even see his face without feeling slightly ill.

I hope you enjoyed my top fave LEAST favorite male leads. This list was requested anonymously and I would be interested in producing other, similar lists in the future. If you have a subject you’d like me to cover please send me an ask or reply to this post and I’ll take it under consideration.

Jona

#top 5 #second lead syndrome #least favorite #kdramas #kdrama stuff #you're beautiful #another oh hae young #ms. perfect #perfect wife #the best hit #hit the top #falling for innocence

[redribbons09]

Why do you not like Rise in Persona?

Hoo, boy.  I was expecting an ask about my opinions on characters someday, but I never thought it’d be this soon, nor was it about why I don’t like a character.  I mean, I’m just a tiny art blog in the corner who loves reblogging food, gaming stuff, cute stuff, and diamond boys and wolf husbands.

However, send me a polite question, and I’ll be sure to answer as coherently and as politely as I can.  

WARNING: This is an extremely long post with an opinion.  If you cannot handle that I have a different opinion to you, sorry, but that’s your problem.  It’s very much possible to disagree and be polite about it, but if you’re going to be passive-aggressive or whine, it won’t change my thoughts at all.  On the contrary - it’ll just make me more resolute.  

I do apologize if it’s too long, but when it comes to explaining my reasons, I tend to be highly analytical and don’t hold back.  Character analysis is also something I like engaging in, and I do not like thinks half-done.  Also, just in case someone will spout flames or ask again in future, I suppose I’ll just link back to this.

Without further ado, my reasons on why I hate Rise Kujikawa from Persona 4:

- Confusing Social Link (SL)

The first probably will get me flak, but I get flames over something fictional, honestly, I need the heat: it’s winter here in Australia, and I’m freezing my butt off.  What’s sad is that I know what Rise’s SL is supposed to be about: she’s having an identity crisis where she thinks people like Risette and not Rise.  However, I did not get that message.  On the contrary, her SL confused me and denoted to me that she was very ignorant.

In the 3rd link, Rise goes to the city with Yu and is recognized by several people.  When she’s alone with Yu, she gets huffy and goes, “They just never learn!” Excuse me, but what were you expecting? Idols are a big thing in Asia, and you’re out in the open with no disguise. 

Her 4th and 6th links started grinding my gears because she starts throwing tantrums at her manager, Inoue.  But it’s hard for me to sympathize with Rise when she was outright acting like a brat and when Inoue runs away, she says: “I’m his daughter’s age, so he treated me like one of the family…”

Honestly, that strikes me as being ungrateful.  And I say she’s ungrateful because if you look at the life of idols, she had it better.  Hell, I don’t even like idols, but I can still say that I have respect for them in their field.  They not only sing, dance, and perform, but their work schedules are so busy that it’s usual that they only get about 2 hours of sleep and disorders.  It’s worrisome.  Yet, they do this all because they love to perform, for money or fame, and they love their fans.

Cruel or demanding managers aren’t uncommon in the idol industry.  Sadly, it’s very common.  Yet here’s a manager who treats Rise like family, and here she is throwing a tantrum in his face instead of choosing to calmly tell him that no, she’s not going back.  He even just wants Yu to give a fan letter to her, and she fucking screams at him and claims she feels “betrayed” by him.  Uh, you just said that he treats you like family, so excuse him for worrying. Also, it’s especially noteworthy if he, a manager in the idol industry, wants you back since in reality, idols can get easily replaced.

Her 5th link made me facepalm.  She only wanted to be an idol just so she could go on TV and make friends.  Sorry, but if that’s your reason to be an idol, you’re in the wrong profession.  As I mentioned before - being an idol takes a tremendous amount of work to the point of barely getting any sleep, constant activity, and having to deal with obsessive fans, an image (yes, having an image is part of the industry) and rumours.  You’d then wonder why someone would want to be in such an occupation.  Simple: because the person is passionate about what they do.  Some also do it for fame or money and simply use their talents to fuel it.  The good fans are an additional driving force for idols to continue doing what they do.  Either way: those who audition for the occupation know what they’re getting into and how much it requires of them.  However, the world of idol industry is still problematic, but Rise’s SL does not denote that. 

So to hear this from Rise honestly made me feel insulted for idols who do work hard and genuinely want it, and know how much they have to sacrifice.  There are far better ways for you to socialize and get through your bullying - being a public image and entertainer who continuously works is certainly not the way.  And honestly, her bullying backstory just looked like a cheap way to get sympathy.  Especially since we don’t hear why she was being bullied - it’s implied it’s a lack of social skills, but it’s never explicitly mentioned.  Ai Ebihara’s SL link did the bullying background far better.  

My mind basically buzzed in and out link 7 onwards because I didn’t give much of a damn at that point.  Basically, she gets upset she’s replaced by some other idol, Kanami, and starts crying when Inoue reassesses that she was talented and it’s a shame.  She goes on how it’s unfair that he told her how talented she was and had that spark just then, and that made my mind buzz out because sweetie, “Actions speak louder than words.”  Inoue wasted his time (keep in mind he’s a manager in the idol industry - not the president or CEO) to come here and try to convince you back to show biz.  They could’ve easily replaced you straight away with Kanami - you even stated Inoue treated you like family, so I’m just…?

What doesn’t help is her crying that she lost everything.  Uhh…wasn’t this SL supposed to be about you embracing you as yourself? Also, that’s nice: what about Yu? What about the rest of the Investigation Team? What about your grandma? Though she does rectify it when you show comfort, it still left quite a sour taste in my mouth because it’s when you show comfort, which you already would be giving in the previous links, that she realizes this.

Basically, I felt that her SL was very poorly thought out and a huge waste of time.  Plus, I wound up being in a relationship I didn’t agree to just because I showed basic human decency, which leads to my next point…

- Clingy and possessive

As soon as you rescue her, Rise immediately clings onto Yu and will continue being flirtatious, clingy and even pretty possessive.  Call me old-fashioned but excessive flirting that’s not coming from my s/o is not my cup of tea.  Even when you try to be evasive as Yu and/or you’re in a relationship with another girl (I was in one with Yukiko already), Rise will not back off.  

Her flirting with me in just her SL in a nutshell:- 2nd link: asks me what my favourite type of girl is just after eating- 3rd link: dragged me out to go swimsuit hunting and tells me to pay attention to her when she wears it (no thanks)- 4th link: outright said she’ll fucking marry me just to get her manager to back off.  I quickly denied and she still tries to insist with the story by claiming I’m “just shy” (grrrrruuuhhhh).- 5th link: surprisingly nothing- 6th link: brings up the marriage proposal again - take note she even states she knew I wasn’t interested yet she somehow in the 8th link…- 7th link: gets pissy if I simply note a girl is cute.  ”She’s cute, huh…?” - it can be interpreted in any way, but Rise’s response is precise, “That’s not a question you should be asking when I’m standing right here!” (ugghhh…).  - 8th link: started a relationship with me just because I showed basic human decency (ugggghhhh…)- 9th link: nothing interesting considering I was forced into a relationship-10th link: since I had no choice, she’s in my fucking room.  She basically starts searching my room for porn or some crap like that.  I said I don’t keep any (there’s the Internet, yo), and she responds by saying she’ll give me a photo album of her (WRYYYYYYYYYYYY D’8)

Keep in mind: I was already in a relationship with Yukiko.  What sucks is that there aren’t any options to tell her off or say you’re not interested.  And when she breaks down in link 8, you’re given two options: either hold her or stand there.  

Because I don’t like seeing people cry, I opted to hold her.  And instantly I was apparently in a second relationship that I never even fucking wanted or agreed to.  That really pissed me off because seriously? Are you really that desperate you’re going to cling onto a simple hug from someone showing basic human decency as the cue to start a relationship? The only way to apparently get someone to back off is by being a complete asshole to them? Okay, got it.

And it’s not even just her SL, either.  She got pissy when I was hanging out with Ai.  Ai (rightfully) told her to buzz off since it’s none of her business (this also made me start to love Ai), and that she shouldn’t be interrupting a conversation she’s not involved in.  Rise responds, “What’s wrong with you?” at Ai.  Excuse me, but what’s wrong with you? Don’t just come up and blow up at me or my friend just because said friend is a girl.  Yu can’t have hangouts or bro times with girls now? If a girl did that to my guy friend, I’d tell her, plain and simple, to fuck off and that he belonged to nobody.

This also happens in Marie’s link where Rise gets pissy when you’re with Marie and just showing her around.  Bonus points that Rise also gets pissed when Yosuke shows interest in Marie.  Honestly, who gives a fuck if Yosuke’s a Risette fan? You weren’t dating him - hell, you were rejecting his flirtations - and he’s not your property, either.  If he finds a girl cute, so what? You were supposedly not interested in him, and I thought you were interested in your beloved “senpai~!”?

And honestly, by that extension, that makes Rise’s character borderline sexist.  Clinging onto a man and being possessive of him because he rescues you, getting up front in other girl’s faces because he’s with them, continuously chasing and flirting with said man even if he’s already in a relationship, desperately clinging to basic human decency he shows you and having that start a relationship with him even if he doesn’t want it?

It’s also sexist in that it’s a wish fulfillment for “nice” guys who think that if they show a girl basic human decency, it’ll reward him with the girl throwing herself at him and proclaiming her love to him.

- Pointless in the context of the story)

Because story-wise, Rise has no point to the story.  She’s an idol with an identity crisis, and…so? What does that have to do with the murders in Inaba?

Yosuke works at Junes and that’s the group’s meeting place and portal to the Midnight Channel, Yukiko’s family owns the Amagi Inn which is the scene of the first crime, Kanji’s mother owns Tatsumi Textiles which is a lead, Naoto is a detective brought to investigate, Teddie is actually from the Shadow world.  Chie already fills out the extra slot and even provides as Yukiko’s best friend.  So seriously, what is the point of Rise in the story? To be my cheerleader? For moral support? The other characters already give that.

As a result, her inclusion shafts others who had far more potential to her.  Ai Ebihara and Ayane Matsunaga are girls I think would’ve had far more potential since they had more compelling and interesting SL’s, but there’s one other character who I felt got the shortest end of the stick in this situation and that is Naoki Konishi.

Naoki is the younger brother of the second murder victim.  How this boy doesn’t have a major role in the story is beyond me.  Plus, his SL is quite intriguing because it captures grief and coping with the loss of a loved one quite well in retrospect that you can develop a sense of apathy (such as when you get suffocated by pity from others; society’s hypocrisy at loss by alienation or preaching rather than truly supporting; and how apathy can be seen as a defense mechanism).  That could’ve been played so well in the game especially since Nanako almost dies - considering Naoki lost his sister, that would’ve been a very heartbreaking scene.  Plus, Naoki is also quiet, polite and actually quite shy and awkward - he could’ve easily given the Investigation Team a new dynamic and dimension for interaction.   He’s highly wasted potential.  (He’s also voiced by Derek Stephen Prince - I would’ve loved to hear him more) 

Rise, on the other hand, exists only for wish fulfilment.  Since the Persona series is a fantasy where you’re Gary-Stu, Rise fulfills the desire for these fans.  She’s pretty, popular, an idol, flirts with you (excessively), possibly more sexually active in regards to you or is at least willing to give you sexy pictures, practically throws herself at you after you rescued her (power fantasy), and she repays your show of basic human decency with herself.  Honestly, to me, that is highly pathetic.

You can easily give her role of Navigator back to Teddie - no need for another character.  Or give it to Naoki or whoever else has far more potential to the story.

If I wanted sexy girls, I’ll go to HuniePop or Dead or Alive because at least they have a point (fanservice).  If I wanted wish fulfillment, I’d play an otome.

- Other gross behaviour

The Amagi Inn definitely rises to my mind.  People blame Yukiko, and yes, she is partially to blame for not accepting responsibility.  However, it’s Rise who tells the girls that they should be keeping it a secret and encouraging them not to apologize.  So really, the incident is her fault and cemented my hatred that she’s highly irresponsible.

The second one is her treatment towards Kanji.  Say what you will about Yosuke, but I still cannot hate him because:a) He’s a stereotypical teenage boy - that’s how they act: they can be sweet, but they choose to be assholes because it’s more fun and amusing to get a reaction.  So basically, he’s a shit-stirrer.b) The homophobia argument falls flat when you realize he’s a Japanese boy raised in Japan - Japan is still very rigid in terms of gender and sexuality.  Even then, what Yosuke says comes off as teenage behaviour rather than him being purposely malevolent - he does mellow out as the game goes on, and give him a few years when he becomes an adult, he’ll most likely have matured.c) He still gets comeuppance, anyway such as getting beaten up, and Kanji can defend himself.

She shows the same behaviour towards Kanji but she never gets comeuppance.  And I was pissed off at hearing she called Kanji creepy just because he made stuffed plushies. 

In Persona Q, there’s a segment where you almost marry someone (yes, even boys).  I got Theodore (the damn adorable dork), and Rise’s objection to the wedding angered me: 

“Nooooo, not that kind of love! Senpai, look who you’re standing next to! It’s a guy!”

Say what you will about Yosuke, but I’m pretty sure he was never this blatantly homophobic.  Hell, Yosuke, who people accuse of being homophobic, says that "this isn’t the time or place for this [the wedding]."  Compare that to what Rise says, and all I can say is a hearty fuck you.

———————

TL;DR: I hate Rise because:- Her confusing SL where she strikes me as ignorant and a waste of time- Clingy and possessive behaviour- Being borderline sexist since she enters a relationship based on basic human decency- Having no purpose to the story other than blatant wish fulfillment- Her gross behaviour which never results in her being called out for

#answers #opinions #posts #analysis #persona 4 #rise kujikawa #this was way longer than i hoped #but again #when it comes to this sort of thing #i'm an analyzer #and i don't hold back #i do apologize to others who stumble by and see this huge-ass wall of text ^^; #Anonymous

[throwingideasatthewall]

Clone Wars    Kidnapped

Also, yeah how do you   follow up an episode like that?

    Also isn’t this like the     second kidnapped episode?

Oh

You know we actually needed the levity so that I am completely OK with the saving a   thing plot,

  Gives time to breathe-

Ho-nest,      This place looks pretty     neat,

[Though they still knowingly enabled     Tox be    hav-ior]

This is the equivalent of someone ditch    -ing productivity,      And att      -em       pt       Ing          To     Go     Straight         To     creat-iv-ity        Before      anything’s       set up,]

And I should really be careful   not   to get distracted by the pretty lights,

Wa-     rr    ior-

Well least      tox

  Whe         lp,       In-        Sti        gators       ,    Fe      ck,      -      Oh hey that   war we enabl     -ed

 Whelp

Okay, seriously who is that guy?         (Normally I wouldn’t be so nervous        (but the last few episodes                 Not Krell          The under water                   One)       Introduced a guy of a   random species that we have never heard or seen of    and he died before we ever did,

            So,

             I’m                   a                  Little                Nervous                    ,     (I like different   species,)

His design       seems      nice          ...    Neu       tral.

Yet we won’t assume the amount of   accoun-   tability necessary to     enforce it       Don’t get      me wrong;     I don’t want an  infinity war

  But if you enable, be prepared for the consequences and/or to push it back, (what      ever        You       Left,)         Whenever        it comes for your life,         For the rest of it,  (Or until you snap and       hold it accountable,)

      Pro-tection

Usual spiel    but it works.

You know that would’ve worked really well with overinvolved     positivity,

  Though at this point it’s pretty clear they are going for the clear-cut        Jedi- are      Posit         Ive          Ly         Over-          Involv        e               -d-            (Sith - negative)

  And more so         general   “everyone is a     shithead,”         Kinda         Vibe.

   Which is perfectly fine,

    Why?

   That’s a lot

 [also never mind with the     - warning - or get into lines,]

  Obi-Wan looks really young-er      in the scene for some reason

     -His face

         -it’s too smooth

           - and are his eyes a bit bigger?

  10

  Also yeah they specifically told us not to get involved and that they were going to do it on their own       I-n.       Ia        tiv        e

   But screw that

  “Let’s   escalate the situation!”

   Despite that being literally what the dude       fears and probably        his nightmares

                              [screw respecting other adult’(s) initia     tive]

    I know Dooku is implied to be really feckin tox also

   But talk means nothing

   Dude has to have the actions       Attempt it on himself and decide what to do for        himself,

     He’s decided to enable,          Ain’t nothing       that can be done         about that,

[What    was that look?

   [also did Obi-Wan not ask what happened               down there?]

               Great

                Time for   warfare

                 For the Jedi that can’t take a   “no,”             For an   an   -swer

 Gr      -e         a-t        -       ?       Voice    -act         -ing       -       People        Shield             -               What,          I’ve-         Watch          -ed             The     Watton           Boar         -         Arc-           -      -Battle

   Yeah but it’s      -also      pretty     bullshit          - (when have the separatist ever respected the Gen       eva convention?)

    Rex-        Has a           Feck’in            Point

   I

(Also that doesn’t tell them anything this could be    basic    clankers    when no   in fact they are commando droids              )

Ana       Kin’s         Voice      De-eper?

Com       -man                  do-

       [I have a feeling they’re really trying to contest           the we have no fig           -h-ters)

         Lin                  e-             -             A-g                  ain-

        O-h                           Sir,           Oh,           ,           Also, how?

     But also         ok that            guy,

               Surprisingly,     calm        ly      spoken-

    So this could make a great scene    contrasting Obi- won’s I believe   moral nature,       With another strategist that seems to be believing some kind of     chivalry

   [Also, OH SHIT,   is that where they’re keeping the     pris    oners,

  Whelp

   Anakin is a         dick to        holograms,

Seriously      you could’ve      just turned it off,

     [if you had news       or opinion to share        ?)- 

Ok, where the    fuck?

    [Don’t, get me wrong I know Anakin,         was an ex slave,           Everything else             is new..  .  

 Including his    rage towards it,

      Me,

 Hey, they’re being smart    about this,         -                        Up-   s-   et-

Yes,   thank you,   did I miss     something?

P-ast

Doesn’t     justify any of this     bullshit. .

I     mean,

Literally no one     is smarter   than anyone else

 So       Ana        Kin,      ,      OK but that’s a whole different species     and/or a group - -           this is not “past”    this is I just hate feck     -ing    sl-av        er s              -                       And possibly un-vented            anger at trauma-         -                          Either way pretty damn           va                 -lid                  -                         Dis-              trust                 -              Whe-  

Oka-y         ,          I don’t- 

  Also is that an animal or     sentient?            - A game      I find myself playing           to no         One         ‘s      Cha        -grin-         -,         Oh

    Arro         gan      -c-          e

    Ah- tak        e?          ,            Also he has a    non-evil       pet           -            That’s kinda          cute

       But also kinda sad,            Hint,ing          at the fact              Dude was probably intended to be some kind of   animal      focus        (Someone who works around or just generally likes animals - special             ity)

       Before he went     corrupt

            (Showing some    interest in keeping them out of the battlefield,                    And                  Fond-ness)

       Or this could just be a short han     d-e        d symbolism                 For              slavery          and   grooming          -          Both    -work           -             Do        -Tell           -          [oh yeah         dude totally gave away his plan,]

     Despite Obi-Wan almost clearly not being          in earshot

     Nice interaction         * introduction

   Also     ,doesn’t he         already know,            Holo-gra       -m    -         Formal     in-         tro         duc-          tions            -                Are           Nice,             -              Er-

    Seriously what is up with         these two            people?

     Also why did dude           growl?

    For people that look like cats      they sure act like dogs              (Bor- d       -er)        (Nothing wrong with that-        just-         curious-             “      -i

    How?

    Also they’re just really shout-ing their      plans out here      aren’t they?

    S-u        -rr          en-          der-            -           Obi- won    still playing        along..     ——           W-help            -           He       gave        him            a         chance             -         Whelp-

    O-k

  Honestly he’s acting pretty calm and      diff-erent-ly characterized,             The Kenobi we know wouldn’t raise             a hand to help even himself                   (In ani.)             Also            I’m surprised Aniken hasn’t stumbled across anything by           now,

       Thought that would be the        crutch            of the narr-ative tension in the          office,

       But          Aight           ,         Calling the chips early is completely fine I will never have an issue with chara-     ter     -(s-     acting slightly smarter than expected,

Though wish Anakin had shown some kind of      initia-       tive-

 Like the stories telling us that he’s really      pumped up   “about      the     whole      slave      thing,”          . . .         But has just found          nada when it comes down to      rescuing the slaves,         Or just finding any hints about this    oper     -ation      in general,

To summarize;     What the heck has Aniken been doing the last minute      and a half             ~              ?            No-thing

[like if everyone had told him to chill due to his       clear aggression     believe he caused some harm      in his rage,

   And sent         Ahsoka         in-stead

         That would make a lot    more sense,

  [and make up Obi- wan look like less of a              Irrational Dick        By sh(ar-ing) Anakin‘s backstory         without any permission       or reason,

    While there    he might have to explain to       Ahsoka    why he’s sending her      and not Anakin,]

  Just-        Writer       Th-       ough   -t-         -      Treat-        ment          -    “ You have broken        through my         defenses,”

   Emotionally             or            ...      physically?             . .           Never           mind-

        Would’ve              been nice      if someone actually took him up on that          offer               -              (Like some villain(/enabler) is like you know what my job sucks,    my boss sucks, I could really use an       nap...

    Sure]     ..     They were just standing there          ...      doing nothing,

     Like,      Dude literally just said       there were bombs planted all over the city,

  And, no one’s in a ru-sh            to fix that-

       Or use them to find the           kidnapped people..

[I   mean      fair       ...    but      geez.

   Colo      -nists,

     Again,      where are they?            . . .             You supposedly sent Anakin to find       - them but we haven’t seen anything           -               Also yeah the dude is totally going to give up    his only bargaining     chip         . . .           After being          out gunn        -ed-            -            Well             -           Also you have one button that only activate(s     one mine?

          Like did you, set that up just for the purpose of    in-timi     dating people

   Also congrats    you likely threw away    your only bargaining chip                 -      because from his point of view     the explosion already went off-                        -       And he doesn’t know that you had one     specific button just for that      one mine-             -      (Like it   doesn’t sound that loud but he could’ve gotten     hear-ing probl-em (s-) from the      near- by      explosions,     )

  We-         ll-

   “Col-on-ists,”

  Oh     good thing you told him after you destroy-ed the       thing-

   And he didn’t go into attack mode and you have a light saber press-ed to your throat-

   dumb

I’m sorry but that’s just so adorable

   Look         at            it;

   Man like(s soft squishy things and    he doesn’t seem to be      hurt          ing-           -it,

      Like,           How               ?

        Also, did       no one check               for               that               shit?

Like,      No-

Me-      dic

 Wh-       el        p-

  Bo-

 Several people      -just died           And he         comforts the    robot.. .

   Dick

Also, Maybe       It’s be       cause         Cody         is     Obi-Wan’s        Gen.       (Generation          or      General)            Doesn’t     make much         of a        dif-ference?            -         That          this        flies?      (I mean I can        understand him not giving       too much of a heck,       Due to this being a war      caused by this guys’             Gen,         But     seriously,)

     Also yeah            kinda          ,dick             ,          Screw         medical     attention,

      Well,

     That’s a lot of faith          for a whole              lot a          nothing,

     Also let’s go do the thing       we were supposed to be doing            this entire time,

   (I think)

  My brain started going numb and I half paid    attention            -         Oh, wait 

now we’re getting into the back      story?

 After they’re on the planet

  Without any       pre-emption?

 -Er

My brain      cells      are    asleep,        -        Al        -ive         -           Seriously, what is up with the   -bird     thing,

   (I really hope     it factors into his character)

   Or is brought up

  Frust-      trat-      Ion

“Zy,”

  Dude they’re slave traders    I really don’t think     you want to do that          (Just           a       thought)

Also maybe     suggest     trading        him some       exotic animals,

   Dude seems to have a pen      -chant

   And he seems to treat them    re-     lati       vely       well,

   (There   are some in cages but that just seems to be for      transport,                         ) -  no I thought you should ever take animals        out of a pre-         ferr              ed         Safe  climate

       But he could have one set up            abet a smaller one,

        Wha?             (The      voice acting           there           was         weird,)

       Also, really?

    That’s the     competition?

 (Is there ever a tradition..   

    That isn’t fighting?)

  Also, okay,

 but is it like some kind of style of fighting?

     (I swear he you challenges him to sword fighting.)

   Then again Zy-         ger-          Ian-       fighting-

  Dif-ferent rules   could be interesting

   Possibly establish           Obi-Wan                 as                a          well traveled              man,

                   (So long as he isn’t allowed to use his                         feck -in light saber,                             -) (Which     Anakin      hasn’t        been       doing         at all,

 Also lower      ed risks     are nice,

Again, not saying anything about     deactivating em,

Also what the fuck is with that guy’s facial   expressions,

  Like ever since that moment       it has gone     insane,       (As in I can’t for my life     read what they’re trying to express,       And that is the closest     translation;       I can come up with,

Never   mind      -   he’s an asshole      -    Even th-

  Screw         It

  (The       logic         is not on        the high setting           with this one.”

       Any way,              Per-

        That’s

         [do you know how back when I was revie-       wing the movie I thought about how the escalation one from         1 to 10 and the characterization switched on a dime?

               -Not to   insult,

    But this is starting to feel a lot like   that-

 My brain already very checked out at this   point-

Because I     really   don’t    need      it for     this-      -   W-

  Constant      Characteri-zation?!

   What-  

[Excuse me while I sit over here drinking my       ‘wtf just happened,’          juice

   You know      when I was reviewing (Earlier) scenes       like this;           I used to give it somewhat of a pass    saying;              (Some        thing       along           the          lines            of)

       Well people change on a dime,

  Which I’m starting to realize    getting further into this;        Is that you need some kind of sentiment       Or pre-       -empt         To        Connect          Those           Thoughts      -             The           eyes             need              to           narrow                 -               The             body          language            needs              to             change                 -      The     music       (perhaps)        a subtle       change in tone;         -        It can’t change on    that much of a dime        -

            I               don’t               need                   a                  lot;                 Just some kind of indication about what the      feck just happened,     -             Because otherwise it’s just    spaghetti      -         Like I’m sorry     but it’s true-              -      The expressions before were completely unreadable      and down          right-        unhuman,

      There was no word      ,cues to indicate anything

      And the music     which could’ve been a brief    Cue,        Of whether this is supposed to be        abrupt or         instigated,             Well I don’t,     think there is any,   

                        Fix scen;                                    e

                     This guy smirks, possibly chuckling, the bird leaving his           arm-, possibly pre-facing it with, “ well then,  let’s          be-gin,” or a body posture is simply leaning in before     pouncing,

      Telling me    this is part of the plan,

        And that’s Zygrians value a more wild style of fighting with the element of surprise      being      emphasiz       ed-

    Which makes sense considering what seems to be a      hunting         focus,

    With snark following up either confirming or     denying,  

    That as true           (Or          False)

     That his actions were        prec-        edent-        ed         or        not,

      As it stands,  

   There was no      Cue

    And I’m        completely          lost.              . . .           Whel            -p

                           Well that was a bunch of nothing                                                                                  .  .  .                               Which is a shame because it had a lot of good     subjects to focus on, Slavery, the difference between Wild and Order, tam-ing, groom-       Ing,      Cap-       tivity              -         The concept of an invasive species,

     Unfortunately the writing is so inconsistent,      And generally        poor,         That it can’t carry a beat for longer than a few     min-utes

        Well I’ve noticeably praised the attempt to take on a higher intensity material

         That doesn’t give an     excuse for the apparent drop in quality

          Often; i’ve said that            stupid villains are fine

        However       the thing that often irritates me         in those episodes;           Isn’t that the villain’s            Stupid   

          It’s the lack of          self-awareness             (Not in the poking            fun of one’s                 self                 way)

  Is that it isn’t        framed that way,

  (No snark,    very little realistic the consequences without drawing attention to it,        And very little change       except the     villain is now Stupider          Though it attempts to keep the same dramatic tension          and stakes)

   In sum        -mary:

    While I think this episode had a lot of interesting concepts to work with they will unfortunately             Wasted                   By the episode lack of commitment, consistency, and constant characterization,

      Most        notably;

     - Anakin’s resent             -ment                    Of          slavery             (His care of it turns off and on like a light switch and his intensity             varies)

         Functioning less like a Berzerk/.              accountability button                  (Mild               Responsibility)  

               And                 more                  like                   an                excuse            to have him             flip his lid,

             Make                   odd                 facial            expressions,  

             And generally put, shout  put emphasis In a nonsensical bordering on                  inhumane way

                What seems to be a disturbing trend (with the characters       ;)

               Specifically the                  Zygarian                     here

                 And                      Ani             

              -The                 difference               between            wild and tamed;                   Along with a constant theme of slavery,                  It’s paired with the constant imagery                 of animals in cages

             Which would be fine if it was actually presented as an               excessive detail,

             But the focus is put on it and nothing ever seems to come of it

            (Almost as if it’s expected that just by having      it there, the motif comes with it)

             Which no

             Animals in cages and...            What?

             Like, I have an idea         what they’re trying to hint at,

             But until           the story commits;

             “These animals           are very much like you,”

               Then it remains in                        limbo,

 As wasted time          And wasted     emphasis,            -

      The Zy-             Gar            Ian             (s)          backstory;           Note      this works off another point         about captivity,

        Now, from the little bits,  I could get from the conversation;

        The Republic                inter                   fer                  r                   e                  d,                   Note; this seems to be a pretty big deal

   The antagonist      esp          ecially             affec               t-                e-d

           By                  It,

  But we never learn much about it      or him        (How it affected)

    Yeah he re-peats           Some          po-ints;            But it’s never elaborate-         d on

         What exactly       hap-pened to him?

          What exactly       hap-pened with the conflict?

           How?

            To be more                  precise;                     This presents the idea of a rather fas-       cin-        at        ing      conflict about the over- involve-ment of an outside species into              a           Nother’s            Planet          -           And I don’t think it really       utilizes it

       Drop      ping it almost instantly,          For an almost emotion-    less        fi-        gh          t,        Where are dude repeats ‘they were happy,        And generally everything except “I”             (How he was affected)                 Or any authentic emotion

       Just unread         able        inhumane       expressions            . . .       Not much in the way of themes,        motifs,            Or anything of         real        sub-      stance-         -       Sub      Category;           The clones got injured in an            attack;             This is not treated with any sort of        heaviness              -             Or even note             (Nor to the status/            theme of captiv-               ity- or                Sta              Tus                In               The              Empire-)

            Or         represen-tation               of             order,

           (And is quite point blank pointless)

           Not to speak of the ending where the Anakin is         almost point-blank informed                  That the captives are being held on                    Ty-                    Ger                        ia/                        By the Ty-                       ger-ians

                Po-int being;                      This is pretty subst                  antless                          Sn                            -ack,                             That lacks any kind of consis          tence

       - And isn’t.          worth the                watch,

           (With             nothing              set up)

          (Might’ve wanted to go with an                 R2-D2/ (CpO?) episode)                   Work on that tone                first

               Before trying anything serious,                   With that robots scream of absolute terror                  upon its death..

[breegullbeakreviews]

Summary: Nintendo puts its fancy new controllers to the test in a brand new IP where extendable arms turn the art of boxing into a game of aiming and evading. Does Arms have the reach needed to become a mainstay in the Nintendo pantheon? Can these fists go the distance, or do they just get tangled up?

Overall: Of all the Nintendo games to not include support for those who aren’t very good at games, the lack of it here is the games downfall. If you want a game exclusively for partying than this is something to look into, but if you can’t get use to aiming punches than this game is a colossal miss.

Characters: As of the writing, Arms has 12 characters. The game launched with 10 including Spring Man, Ribbon Girl, Ninjara, Master Mummy, Mechanica, Min Min, Helix, Twintelle, Byte & Barq, and Kid Kobra. Since launch Max Brass and Lola Pop have been added in as part of free updates. Each character has a default set of 3 Arms as well as a unique ability. For instance Ribbon Girl can jump repeatedly in the air and Master Mummy heals while blocking. These abilities are unique to each individual character, but all Arms can be unlocked for all characters. Each has four costumes that can be selected from or applied automatically when multiple people select the same character.

I really like the character designs here. They’re all unique and strange. Each has their own backstory that isn’t really delved into outside of the introduction to the Grand Prix. Personally I mainly use Ribbon Girl for her endless jumps, but it’s not as refuse to pick up the other characters.

Stages: The stage count is exactly matched by the character count, and it looks like the plan is to keep things that way. Due to the over the shoulder auto locking movement of Arms, stages are generally pretty flat in design. Hell a whole stage is literally a staircase and another is a bowl. The most crazy and unique is the Snake Park which has rideable platforms that lead too much faster and more frantic horizontal movement. The various settings of stages are really varied, but sadly this variety isn’t brought over into some of the other modes where combat isn’t the main goal.

Control: Now let’s tackle the combat, and sadly this is where the game struggles and succeeds for much the same reason. Arms supports every controller configuration: Handheld, split Joycon, Pro-controller/Joycon grip, and paired Joycon.

Let’s get the worst method out of the way up front: under no circumstance should you ever play with a single Joycon. In one-on-one matches you have to use every button which doesn’t seem that bad, but even with reworked button configurations you can’t remove the biggest blunder, and that’s that the R and L buttons are used, not just the SR and SL buttons. By default this is the switch target button which minimizes its impact, but constantly accidently hitting a button was a common occurrence when I was playing with a friend using this mode. Playing one on one was fine, but as soon as we faced off against another team we got crushed because we were constantly switching targets by accident.

Now let’s cover Handheld and Pro/Joycon support. These solve the issue of too few buttons, but now we hit another problem that is a pretty big issue that will make sure that these will never be competitively viable: you can’t independently control your arms. One of the biggest features of Arms is how each punch can be controlled separately . By tilting the Joycons you can control the direction of the punch on the fly which turns the simple left and right punches into something that can support a full fighting game with enough depth to keep things interesting. Despite a second analog stick, your punches can’t be controller separately which means wide grabs and attempting to throw off opponents with two punches going in different directions isn’t possible.

Now we reach the split controls, the thing the game is sold on. Using the shoulder buttons almost exclusively (D-pad is used to switch targets when needed), everything outside of jumping, dashing, and using Rush is done entirely through motion controls. You tilt both Joycons together to block and tilt them in the same direction to move. Punch forward to throw a punch and twist that first in the desired direction to aim the punch.

Now we hit the games fatal flaw. Something that due to the design of everything I’ve yet to cover, makes this game damn near impenetrable to those who want to go beyond the most basic of punching. Aiming punches is insanely hard no matter the control method. When done via analog stick you have more control, but you lose the ability to control fists separately, something that the CPU never does. CPU and challenges are all designed around the fact that you can use your arms independently which pretty much shuts down everything but motion control, and that’s not any better. Maybe with a lot of practice I could master the art of aiming a punch using motion controls, but as it stands this is a brick wall I can’t get over.

Combat: Combat is at its best when it’s one-on-one. Due to the auto lock on based control, anything more than two combatants leads to complete chaos where the winner is almost always the one who stays out of the fight and isn’t double or triple teamed. What I like about Arms is that unlike most fighters there are no combos. Sure you can aim punches, but that’s it. It’s a simple concept that offers depth without a crazy move set you need to memorize with. It’s why outside Smash I’ve never got into other fighters.

Fighting is frantic and fun. It’s as much about movement as it is about punching. Since smaller faster fists can be stopped by heavier slower fists you need to manage the distance between you and your opponent. You can block a punch with a basic block, but you can’t block a grab in the same way. That needs to be dodged or deflected by punching the grab. This system means that frantic punches will often leave you defenseless and open to attack. This is where each characters special ability will end up getting matched to how you play. I throw punches like crazy and use my endless jumps to keep moving. Before each round you get to select between 3 fists for both arms. You can unlock more than each fighters default 3 fists, but you can only select between 3 before each fight which can be set in the games main menus.

Combat is also limited to 99 second rounds which keeps the pace fast. Higher level combat has obviously smarter opponents which means randomly throwing punches isn’t going to be effective. You can manage, but it’s going to be a crap shoot.

Modes: Numerous other modes exist. Hoops has players performing grabs to toss each other through hoops to score points until someone gets 10 points or the timer runs out. Volleyball has players punching an explosive ball back and forth over the net until it explodes.  First to 5 wins or whoever has the most points when the timer runs out. And then there is Skillshot. Skillshot’s removal from this game would be a major improvement. It’s all about hitting targets and hitting more than your opponent. This is all about aiming and therefore I am absolutely garbage at. There are other modes, but these 3 are the only ones I’ve played, and I’ll get to why later.

Online/Multiplayer: This is what made me fall in love with the game. That initial test punch is probably where I spent most of my time with this game. Party Mode is incredible. Casually throwing punches with random people is super fun. This game excels when you aren’t worried about the outcome. Ranked mode was previously locked to those who could manage beating the Grand Prix at a certain difficulty level, but as of now seems to be open to all challengers, just doesn’t seem like fun. If you have someone to play this game with you will have a great time.

Single Player: Well this is where it all falls apart. This is where those who can aim and those who can’t have a vastly different experience. Grand Prix is 10 fights with a final battle against Max Brass. Even on high difficulties you’d think this could be managed since there is infinite retires. This is where the modes come back in. Rounds 3 and 6 will be one of those 3 modes. V-ball is fine. Hoops is fine. Skillshot is impossible. The inclusion, or more appropriately named intrusion of this mode in particular has made it impossible for me to complete this singe player mode on anything higher than 2. Difficulty goes up to 9. I’m not good at the game obviously, but at least in a fight I might get lucky. In a mode entirely dependent on if you can aim, Nintendo created a brick wall that made me stop playing the game.

Unlockables: You start with all of the characters and stages, but the fists you need to unlock. How do you do this? Well instead of flat out buying them using the currency you build up by playing the various modes, you play Skillshot for a limited time that you purchase with a currency you unlock by playing. A currency that is incredibly slow to earn on lower difficulties. Yeah there is a reason I stopped playing.

#video games #reviews #arms #nintendo #nintendo switch