#who is gonna give me this verse? 🙃🙃 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tartrazeen · 8 months

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I'm playing with the Mystic Knight polycule today 😝

I've never actually considered polycules in a fandom before, but as soon as @schimmelspore put it in my head, I dunno - this time, it clicked. This show lends itself so well to one because each character gives you a concrete personality to work with. It means even when certain dynamics aren't getting the same kind of screentime to show you what would happen, it's still easy to picture how it would be playing out somehow.

The dynamics all have something unique about them too, which might be why I've never thought a lot about polycules before. What I've been stuck with is "Okay, you two date like this, and you two date in the exact opposite way, and then when you switch, here's how you make sure all these exact same roles are in play but with different people doing them." Like a constantly self-enforcing hierarchy where every single one of them has a clear rank within the group, or a checklist of 'top/bottom/verse' that everyone has to complete. Or like a rote partner swap. Not fun for me.

But this is fun, because if two or three people are together at a time, you can't just slip in someone else without changing absolutely everything about how they interact with each other. Their relationships are distinct, and there's an equally distinct consideration that has to be made when someone else is added to the mix. There's always a slight moment of, "Is this person intruding on what these other ones are doing, even if they have all independent relationships outside of this?"

The best part is how I feel totally free from the boringly standard, "This person's a top and therefore also the dom, and this person's a bottom and therefore also the sub" fandom patterns. Like - putting aside how these characters seem so fluid across those anyway, since it's not something that just gets boiled down into sex, it feels like as soon as the tone or mood changes, everything else could change on a dime. There's a certain level of receptiveness that I get from them where they adapt to each other rather than inherently stick to their 'assigned role'. Even purposely 'sticking to a role' is situational.

There's just so much drama in this group that nothing has any reason to be consistent. Especially with the royalty factor involved in terms of who has a title, who grew up with a title, who's willing or able to put titles aside at any given moment, and how that holds up to the relationship that exists outside of any titles at all, there's a constantly shifting balance of power. To me, there are as many times where someone's insisting royalty plays a part in an interaction as there as times where it's purposely inverted, subconsciously maintained, mutually cancelled out, or inevitably overruled by the rest of the relationship (particularly where Angus is involved for that one). And like I said, depending on the tone or mood at that moment, that can all shift and shift again. Someone says something off-handedly and - bam. Things change, and there's a new question on whether they try to ignore it, notice and embrace it, or stop to figure out what it means.

And that's before we start counting the number of brain cells involved to realize, "ohhhhohohoho these guys are doomed if they pull on that thread" or "they are not gonna fucking notice that 🙃"

So for me, even though this hyperfixation of the past-several-months has been filled with many, many scenarios and daydreams of everybody getting along (or not lmao), one thing I haven't visualized is how everyone would get together. Obviously I have my favourite dynamics within everything either along the way or after everyone's discovered this can exist for them, but I'd like a little fanon narrative for how they first come together - so I can immediately reimagine it in forty other different ways 😝

Link to the full thread (the rough, messy draft version) for now :3

Yaaaaaaay here we goooooooooo

1. Angus and Rohan

Not like you'd think! I don't see these two getting together right away. In fact, I think they'd be dead last in getting officially together, and that it'd almost represent the polycule being 'complete' - quote unquote. :)

It's almost like they're bookending the whole thing: they're at the heart of this, they're the ones with the first connection of any kind (canonically!), and they're the ones with the most increasingly obnoxious "will they or won't they" that serendipitously serves as a springboard for everyone else to learn new things about themselves, mostly 'cause the others get to take a look at these two's mess and go, "LOL we are not fucking doing that."

But yes, they are my foundation for everything else. In my mind, if it wasn't for Rohan, Angus would very happily shack up with the other three at varying levels of shallowness or sincerity, but they would be entirely independent of everyone else. In other words, Angus would be cheating on all of them with all of them, and there'd be nothing bringing them all together. Rohan's the door to something 'real' - something Angus can't carelessly break and throw away, can't really outrun, and can't neatly separate into 'public' and 'private' relationships since Rohan doesn't 'do' that kind of discretion. Rohan's a painfully all-in type of person; he's the walking embodiment of a powder keg. Compared to him, everyone else is on the 'manageable' end of the scale when it comes to Angus confronting some genuine feelings, since everyone else is automatically less intense than Rohan is, and by the time these two actually figure something out with each other, those genuine feelings for everyone else stop being as scary to grapple with - 'cause again, everyone else is a thousand times less intense about it.

Likewise, if it wasn't for Angus, nobody would be getting together at all. Deirdre is too prim and proper about being a princess to initiate anything herself. Ivar's a guest in this kingdom, and while I could see him openly pursuing someone else in Kells - or Garrett, actually - I don't see him going anywhere near Deirdre (his host) or Rohan (waaaaay too much work to get him on Ivar's level). If Ivar did go after anyone, I definitely don't see it connecting to Deirdre or Rohan eventually. Those two are quite content to stare in sadly from a window, pining for romance with some theoretical soulmate that might've been in that cancelled season two lol. And Garrett? 😑 The reason Garrett wouldn't be bringing these people together is "Garrett." 'Nuff said.

It's Angus who's that common ground. :D It's Angus who's universally approachable, enticed, willing, and rule-breaking enough for "Hey, you wanna make out a little" to be a question any of them could actually be brave enough to ask (not Rohan; I mean the others), and for "Hey, you wanna make out with us" to be a question they get asked without immediately slapping the asker in the face and saying no. Unless that's their 'thing' and it's actually how they say yes. 🤔 Angus is too open for anything for his own good lmao, I love him.

So yeah - Angus is everyone's initial connection to each other, and Rohan's what turns it from being a fun romp that can end whenever into a full-blown committed relationship. Not to say that everyone's going to be as ungodly serious as Rohan is, but he's going to at least show that that is on the table. And I said 'initial' connection for Angus, because I do think some of these relationships could exist even if things fall or drift apart, but there wouldn't be something with just Rohan, Deirdre, Ivar and Garrett that could last. Angus needs to be in there to do a surprising amount of maintenance and distractions across these competing personalities. They'd kill each other without him, is what I'm saying.

But as for how they - Angus and Rohan specifically - are with each other...

My God. These two. A mess.

I'm not as concerned with whether or not either of them consciously know or suspect anything. I have my preferences, which I'll get to in a sec, but given how both of them are, they're - hilariously - gonna act the exact same way no matter what combination of 'knows' and 'doesn't know' you'd use.

My favourite is that Rohan felt something for Angus back when they were kids. He consciously remembers the moment, and in my head, it was just that they were lying in the grass and making up stories about the stars, and Angus happened to look over at Rohan in a way that stuck in Rohan's mind forever. And in a very 'Angus' way too, so Rohan keeps seeing reminders of it again as they're growing up, since - like... well, it's Angus' face. That's just what his face is. And sometimes there'll be a moment where Rohan's like, "Hm, like that one night," and then go back to whatever it was he was doing - which he's become very good at, since he mostly thinks it's a neat childhood memory.

That's 'cause Rohan, our resident genius (even though he gets a tiny pass because he was a kid when this started), has taken this feeling as proof that they're best friends. The thought that it might not be platonic or familial has not even entered the farthest reaches of his mind, and every parallel sign he sees in other people's romantic relationships translate back to him as, "Haha that's almost like me and Angus. :3 Anyway, back to sweeping or whatever tf it is I do as as an apprentice." Sexual? OH-HO-HO that's an embarrassing thought, but it's totally normal because they live together and anyway Angus says he has dreams of 'lovely maidens' so it's basically the same thing and they don't have to talk about it. Ever. Hahaha.

And in my head, even though I have different ideas for what starts that conversation off, Rohan only 'gets' it after he's talked to Ivar. This is completely separate from anything Ivar has going on with Angus, btw, because Ivar can be trusted to compartmentalize his friendship with Rohan and his one with Angus.

Rohan - for one reason or another - asks for Ivar's opinion on him and Angus. It's a somewhat generic question 'cause Rohan's never said this shit out loud and usually doesn't even question it, so Ivar gives it an equally generic answer. But Rohan's not quite satisfied with that and tries asking again, still wildly generic but more insistently about it, and the repetition is enough for Ivar to see that Rohan's trying to get at something in particular but isn't sure how. They talk for long enough that Ivar gets it, and then continue talking long enough for Ivar to explain it to Rohan. Slowly. Multiple times. Small words.

And this is Rohan having to really, really push back on what he's hearing, getting borderline defensive to cover an increasing sense of panic (classic Rohan), because if what Ivar's saying is true (it is), then that means the entire friendship since at least that night under the stars has to be re-evaluated. And Rohan's brain has only got one little hamster running in its little wheel, so this is a long process that ends with the conversation winding down as he's completely consumed by his thoughts, only to pick up again a few days later when Rohan's gotten exactly 3% further in putting it together.

The only good news is that with him being so caught up in his thoughts, he has nothing to act on yet because he doesn't understand it - so even if he's being quiet and frowning while that hamster's spinning as fast as it can, Angus can ask if everything's alright and Rohan can honestly say, "Yeah, just thinking," without it feeling awkward or concerning. This is normal for Rohan; it's what he always does when he's thinking about something big, and Angus is comfortable moving around him like this as he's staring intensely at a wall and poking him in the face when he's stopped eating again. He'll just snap out of it when he's done ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

But then finally, the hamster's finished. And then finally, Rohan gets it. And that is when it suddenly becomes incredibly awkward for Rohan to be around Angus at all. Which is - uh... when Angus starts being a little worried, because it starts to seem like Rohan's avoiding him as if he's been the problem all along. But Rohan's there insisting "EVERYTHING'S FINE" in a way that means Angus shouldn't take offence, so Angus does the only thing he really can do and carries on as close to normal as he can until Rohan figures his shit out.

And oh 👏🏽 my 👏🏽 god 👏🏽 there 👏🏽 is 👏🏽 that 👏🏽 mess 👏��

The number of conversations Ivar gets pulled into with Rohan trying to check and double-check - thank God Ivar thinks it's funny and is being patient with him because it's funny, or Rohan would honestly implode. I kinda imagine that these conversations happen so often that Garrett stumbles onto one of them at some point, and even though they both freeze so Garrett doesn't hear anything, Ivar decides to just invite Garrett into this since who else would love to watch a human being tear himself to pieces by squirming? Garrett. Fuckin' Garrett. Of course. They probably wouldn't invite Deirdre since is Man Talk and she's a Girl™, but no one really escapes because Rohan is all-consuming and the story will eventually find you and he will take that as permission to unload all of his angst onto you too and then take none of your advice.

It should go without saying that Rohan is doing a fucking awful job of playing it cool around Angus back at home. When he isn't avoiding the guy, he's being a weird little teenager who just got his first crush, and that includes all those annoying moments of staring, stammering, walking into shit, completely forgetting to talk, talking in totally meaningless strings of words and almost-words, and then trying to brush it off with a power pose and a deliberate silence.

So Angus isn't having a good time.

Except that within that, there are still times where Rohan actually manages to relax and me a normal human being again. Conversations get past the awkwardness and finally start flowing again, chores get done, patrols are walked, herbs are picked, they don't train together because Rohan's a tragedy, and it's... nice. It's familiar. It's the closeness they've always had and it feels effortless in those moments, and as fun and safe and warm as it always has.

And then the conversation naturally peters out and Rohan is looking at Angus, wondering how he didn't see this between them before, grateful to have this with someone who's so easy to be close to...

... and just stares way too fucking long and goes back to making an ass of himself. And then runs off to go find Ivar and Garrett, who are - I cannot stress enough - loving this. It's so dumb.

As for Angus, idk, I kinda always thought he knew Rohan was clingy and touchy and generous beyond any other friend he's had, but took one look at Rohan and said, "That is a small hamster and a tiny wheel, he's got nothing backing that up," and wrote it off as harmless. Was it a crush of some kind? Maybe. Or maybe Rohan was just 'like that'. Either way, it wasn't causing Angus any problems, he enjoys the attention overall, and if it wasn't for Cathbad being shitty about 'bad influences' on Rohan, Angus could've happily lived without a single reminder that Rohan was a bit too attached at times.

So all of this? What Rohan's doing right now? It's very inconvenient at best. But at worst - and it's a race for Rohan to figure something out before Angus makes this conclusion - his idiot friend just decided he's in love with Angus after all, which would be horrible 'cause Angus does not need to deal with that. They've made it too far for Rohan to screw up what was a perfectly stable arrangement, and if that's what Rohan's trying to do, ruin it, then Angus is gonna be mad as hell.

And that's the first step in the polycule. :D

2. Angus and Deirdre

The complete and utter opposite situation is happening with these two. They've been openly flirting for a while, and the tension's always been there between them. Obviously with Deirdre being a princess, there's a line that can't be publicly crossed, but there's a lot that be heavily and plausibly denied.

It's mostly teasing from Angus at first - making fun of the princess as a joke with Rohan, then as a joke for just his own sake, and then as a joke that Deirdre starts to anticipate. She moves from being reproachful and scolding, reminding him of his place, to drawing a loose sense of enjoyment out of having someone she can return fire on. There's some calibration, I guess, in how hard they're allowed to go with that (again: princess), because some jokes carry a bit too much truth to just put out there. But Angus is surprisingly patient and Deirdre's actively checking to see if something went too far, and they're able to forge a shockingly healthy way to communicate.

They learn to gauge each other's reactions to see if their jokes landed like they intended, and they especially learn how to walk back what they said without killing the momentum overall. They're able to riff on each other, pause, take the feedback (which might be just be a purposely scrunched nose), and replace it with something better, or actually break character to explain what the problem was before going back to it, newly enlightened.

Angus and Rohan could never.

The effort and care put into learning how to tease each other, finding the line and carefully skirting it, and occasionally warning the other that they're going to try purposely crossing the line to see how it feels, becomes such a welcome way to talk that they start actually talking. Deirdre asks questions about life outside of the castle when the villagers are able to speak freely, and Angus gets curious about royal stuff and - well, Deirdre herself. On his side, some of it is just to be polite, and some of it is a hunt to find more things to tease her with later, but sometimes he's genuinely interested. She'll lie across his chest, head tucked under his chin, crown off because she's almost poked his eye out twice on that thing, and he'll idly play with her hair while she tells him what she remembers about her mother. He doesn't reciprocate on those topics, but he likes listening to her through it and being able to ground her while she's holding onto him. Maybe it's cruel to let her open up when he has no intention of sharing the same, but he's able to comfort her and distract her before she ever slips too far. He has a lot of practice with that.

Btw, they are absolutely the first two to get in bed together. This is all "deep conversations in the afterglow" talk - they absolutely had to burn off their energy before they could slow that far down again, and most of the time, 'comfort and distract her' just means Angus brings her back for the next round before he has to go to the hut. He can't exactly spend the night, and it's best to leave everything on a high note - which they can hit, because they have somehow mastered talking to each other. I have to imagine that at one point, they rolled over and high-fived. That seems like the bad influence Angus would be on her. 😝

There's discretion in their private relationship, because they're both highly motivated to keep this quiet. Deirdre can't risk anyone knowing she's been with anybody before her marriage, especially someone like Angus, so she keeps it tight-lipped. And Angus agrees with that, on top of having Rohan as his other consideration. In Angus' mind, Rohan and Deirdre are such an easy answer to his problem: it doesn't matter whether Rohan's got a crush on him or not if there's a bigger, more official relationship between Rohan and Deirdre. Then Rohan's accounted for! Problem solved! And Rohan likes her, at least agreeing with Angus every time Deirdre's brought up, so they're halfway there already.

Except that Rohan's also been very slow to act on any of it. And for all Deirdre asks about their friendship, she doesn't seem to ask about Rohan for her own sake. So yet another reason to keep from reciprocating too much (beyond it being none of her business anyway) is that he doesn't want her to get too attached. Sex is fine - sex is just for fun, but the emotions are what make or break it. Fortunately Rohan being Rohan will sweep anyone away in those once he's got his mind set on someone, so it's only a matter of managing Deirdre until then and keeping her in a pleasant state of satisfied and noncommittal fun.

... And then she wants to date him.

As in 'publicly'.

Maybe 'date' is the wrong word, but she certainly wants him to escort her to more and more shit. She volunteers him for it without even asking - like she was Rohan, right down to the terrible communication - and then stares at him with pleading, guilt-laden and royal eyes while she waits for him to answer, "Don't you want to go with me?"

And he, being a peasant, can only get so close to saying 'no'.

So she hears 'yes' and keeps doing it.

He's always quick to reassure Rohan that it's to punish him or something, haha, their little joke, dragging the common thief to some who-the-hell-cares as her guest to parade him in front of those who properly matter. Rohan (who, as I mentioned, is working on that hamster wheel about Angus) seems to accept this without much convincing, assuming he heard what Angus said in the first place. And Deirdre, of course, is expertly convincing everyone else that this is just as friends. He's only got to worry about Rohan - and, uh, apparently the king, who just wants to make extra sure that this stays 'professional'.

There are only like two dads in this show and they're both suspicious of him. 🤣 And I wonder why he's got such a complex...!

3. Angus and Garrett

This one's fun, because it's Garrett.

Garrett has such weird arc in the show. To this day, I think the worst decision they made was having the episode where he leaves for a bit be so far after he's already disappeared (he's gone in episode 28 but isn't shown to be sailing away until episode 39 for some reason, then disappears again to come back for the final fight 🙄), but even within that he's got an odd arc. He starts off as super arrogant and dickish, which is a blast! Then he gets schooled by Fin Varra and comes down a little, then gets kinda neutral-to-nice near the end of the show. He really loses his spice. Less fun.

But in all the time we see him, we never see him get to a point where it'd make reasonable sense for him to tie someone to a tree.

Angus, as far as I can tell, has a unique way to get under Garrett's skin. On purpose too - he openly laughs at Garrett in that episode with the drageen ("ummm a baby dragon is called a drageen" shut up rohan, no one asked), and he's merrily scamming Garrett out of the Dragonbow later too. In fact, the only other real spice we get from Garrett at all is when he asks Angus what happened to the Dragonbow, 'cause other than that, the guy stays fairly bland.

So to me, Angus is having fun tormenting Garrett once he becomes a Mystic Knight, partly as revenge from Garrett's (justified?) decision to tie him to a tree and gag him, and partly because it's another royal who's overly prim and proper and look how much fun he's been having with Deirdre. And Garrett's even easier to rile up because he never lets himself stoop so low as to 'return fire'. It's heaven.

And then Garrett comes back and he's boring now. :/

'Fixing this' is the key to getting Garrett tangled up in what's to come. 😏 Sure, there's probably something going on with Lynette over in that wherever that Garrett was visiting, but Lynette was such a nice princess - even nicer than Deirdre - and that's boring. Garrett's boring. Garrett used to be so much fun and now he's all patient and helpful and a team player. And Angus takes it as a personal challenge to see just how far that patience and helpfulness will go, 'cause it wasn't that long ago he was tied up, and he known he can get that side out of Garrett again.

Their dynamic is an excellent "Why don't you make me shut up" deal, which fits the first episode where we even got Garrett, and balances End-Show personality with more of the defining characteristics we know him for. He gets to be both, because just like Deirdre, there's a separation between his private and public relationships: one, he's as arrogant and unbearable as ever, and two, he's a changed man who's found some peace from having to brag about his accomplishments all the time. And Angus is ecstatic that the switch between public to private is so immediate now that he's cracked through the shell.

I see these two as being purely physical, in a way where when Rohan starts complaining about how in love he is with Angus, Garrett doesn't see the need to mention what he's been doing behind closed doors. It isn't any of Rohan's business really, and it doesn't interfere with whatever mess those two have made of their confusingly devoted friendship.

Besides, if Angus wants to stop, they can stop. It would simply mean Angus loses.

And as Garrett was pleased to discover, Angus hates losing to him as much as Garrett hates losing at all.

Their situation is almost like a permanent state of combat. Angus should've balked by now, and Garrett shouldn't have ever come close to balking, but he starts to realize what kind of person would willingly choose to live - and be best friends with - someone like Rohan. For all the complaining he'll do and concern he'll show and caution he'll preach on the battlefield, Angus is kind of... crazy? Apparently? And as he's alone with Angus one moment being casually asked if he'd like to yield, and with Rohan the next hearing him whine about how difficult it is to decide what to do, Garrett slowly starts to gain a low note of empathy for the mighty, great, and legendary warrior Draganta, hopelessly defeated by telling his friend, "I like you."

The curiosity that it stirs has Garrett making the first move emotionally. It's not that they don't talk outside of their private wars, but they don't have the same friendship as everyone else. Despite things going well with Rohan and Ivar out on the battlefield and as fellow royals, newly or not, Garrett's still a 'guest'. An outsider. In a land that he was meant to one day rule alongside Deirdre. But good luck finding any help with that from Rohan, who's back to learning how to walk in a straight line. Ivar is more helpful in theory, but Garrett needs someone who's from this land.

Angus.

Obviously.

But to strike up such a conversation so suddenly might have been off-putting to the peasant, so Garrett tries to soften it by trying to get to know Angus better.

The first thing he 'knows' is to cut that shit out and get to the point. Fair enough.

So they talk about Deirdre, and while yes, Angus is guarded in what he says, there's plenty of useful information for him to work with. Importantly, there are plenty of useful events that Angus would rather genuinely choke than have to keep going to. Perfectly normal events in Garrett's opinion, but if Angus is going to throw a fit and waste that energy on Deirdre (who he very much knows about, since Angus at his most guarded is still fairly careless), then Garret gains nothing and might as well go in his place. And Angus is delighted to start arranging that.

But that still leaves one matter unsolved. And as noted earlier, Garrett hates to lose. So his attention starts to turn towards Angus' reluctance to start talking about himself, expecting to have to push, and is floored by the total lack of resistance. Instead, Angus dryly drops a list of facts about himself, sucking away any of the thrill of the hunt that Garrett was readying himself for. In their world, this counts as another loss, but the truly frustrating part is that Angus isn't playing it as one of his taunts. It's serious; Angus truly isn't interested in talking about himself. About things, sure, and about others, but he seems to have predefined himself as 'uninteresting' without any input from Garrett (who had also prepared to agree with that assessment, but wanted to make it himself). And that drives Garrett right up the wall. It's the first true challenge Angus has ever posed to him, and it's as inexplicable as it is insurmountable.

So Garrett does what he always does: refuses to be defeated.

He needs information, just like he needed it for Deirdre. Except now he needs it about Angus. And of course, the resident Angus expert iiiiiiiiis broken oh right Rohan is useless.

But.

Ivar isn't.

And Garrett isn't a fool.

The talks they've been having with Rohan have been including more insight from Ivar lately, and it's surpassing what even Rohan could've known pre-hamster.

(ya know what? i know these posts have a text limit on mobile, so i'll just post this here and continue it in the reblog. :3 please forgive any typos you see in this one - i'm just moving right along, which unfortunately locks them all in 🥲)

#mystic knights of tir na nog

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tetrakys · 8 months

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this was never in the history of forever ever gonna happen and i understand why it didn't and why it won't but i would've died 1000 deaths for a male mc in mcl. not even just in new gen, i would've loved to be gay asf in hsl, ul and ll too:') this isn't like a critique or anything but a guy can dream right😂😂?

lol anyway, just wondering if maybe you have any recs for otome with male/gn mc? or if not if you know someone who might? mcl is the only one I've ever gotten really into so i don't know about any other games like it 🙃

I'm sorry, friend. I really wish you and everyone were able to play the game as you wish and wouldn't have to "adapt" to what is available. Unfortunately some features like a male MC or multiple f/f routes are too expensive for a small company like Beemoov.

Tbh I haven't seen many otome games with a male MC around, otome by definition have female protagonists. There are lots of BL games around though (BL = boys love) where the MC is gender locked as male and all the crushes are male. I've never played one so I can't recommend any but if you look for BL games I'm sure you're going to find a ton!

Other than BL/yaoi games, there are games with no visuals of the MC so you can assume they are whatever gender you prefer (oten they let you choose pronouns). Generally these games have no illustrations or they do but only show the crushes alone without the MC. A few names I can think of are Arcana, Obey Me, Touchstarved (only the demo is out at the moment), When The Night Comes and other games from the same company (iirc there was some drama around it but I'm not informed). Again, take a look around because there are many! I think these games are generally referred to as Amare games, because they have the same formula of otome games but aren't strictly aimed at a female audience.

The only otome game with visuals I can think of which attempted to have both female and male MC and also multiple routes (5 male and 5 female) is Sweet Elite. However, I would say that it failed in this attempt, because in 12 episodes of the first season, there is only one episode with 1-1 illustrations with the crushes, then there is one episode where there are illustrations of the crushes alone, and everything else is group illustrations, max 2 or 3 per episode. (To me it ended up feeling more like a friendship game than a romance game.)

So, clearly, it's even more proof that when games have a big visual component and also offer customisation, it's basically impossible to have two genders MC. Unless it's a huge company producing them, but I'm not even sure that's the case because Is It Love? games for example were produced by Ubisoft and they didn't even offer look customisation, let alone gender customisation.

Another suggestion I can give you, is to check out mobile apps such as Chapters, Choices and Episodes. These aren't exactly otome games, but more similar to romance books translated as games. They have huge libraries and several titles are either gender locked yaoi or you can pick your own gender. You can even customise the looks of the MC and the crushes, but of course there are no CGs.

Oh, and one last thing that comes to mind, another option for you could be to check out dating app simulation games, basically fake tinder apps, they have lots of crushes each one with their own story, you can choose pronouns but your avatar will never appear in game or in CGs. A few names I remember are MeChat, Love Link, Love Verse, but I'm sure there are more. The stories can be quite entertaining so I suggest you check them out. (I remember MeChat had both a Lysander and a Castiel lookalikes).

So really, there are SO MANY games around that there's no need to stick to one where we have to adapt to game features we don't like. Ultimately MCL's main target audience are straight, cis women (with a very small offering of f/f routes) and I wouldn't stick to it if I weren't one. I remember when I started playing 11 years ago and I was looking for more games in a language I could understand and I could find very little, now instead there's so much competition that there's something for literally everyone.

Good luck with your search, let me know if you find anything you like! 💕

#game rec #otome games #amare games #my candy love #mcl #if anyone has more recommendations please help the anon out!

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quiveringdeer · 2 years

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More musings on AoT Canon Verse

This time focusing on geopolitical interactions, immigration and such. Basically been thinking about this for the fic I've been dreaming of and the hyperfocus is deep y'all 😩 Pleeeease feel free to leave corrections or thoughts in comments, my dms/asks or reblog with commentary.

Concepts and thoughts on my Reader's potential background:

Reader's mom is from outside the Eldian/Marley empire and holds political power of her own through the ties of her father who is possibly a leading ambassador? Really want this version but with how it seems patriarchy is so pervasive in Marleyan society that if her mom was to marry into it somehow to put her in Marley long enough to form connections with the Warrior Candidates it just doesn't seem conceivable?

So her dad being Marleyan could be a potential still, but he'd have to be super progressive thinking. Or an implant spy like Kruger? Thought that's a shit ton of trauma and shit I don't know if I have the space to explore lmao

More likely her dad will be someone either military/diplomat from outside the Marley/Eldian reach of things, but for some reason does trade or work with Marley? Perhaps they're more a neutral country like Switzerland/Wakanda 👀 Cause reader's gonna have a smart mouth and progressive thoughts about the shit that's going on, so she'll need to be up in a family environment that will value that. Even if they're impressing upon her to not go talkin like that in public. Working from the inside to subvert things (sure know how that feels 🙃) — I think this would most likely lead to her mother being Marleyan? Cause like Marley folks seem xenophobic as heck/especially high gov officials so I feel like to walk around freely and not constantly be accosted she's gonna have to at least be part Marleyan. :/

I think this would also help her possibly relate to both Rei and Porco. One of her parents would have grown up in the Marley propaganda machine–even if somehow they avoided being completely indoctrinated and finding companionship and love with someone outside it to start a family.

One other thought is from the vague memory that other countries treat Eldians more like actual people and citizens than Marley. So perhaps her mom is Eldian, but escaped Marley via being a refugee or something else. This way she also, in some regard understands the Warriors on the terms of being oppressed. Which I feel like would be easier for me to hold mind space for and portray accurately.

With this I have to figure out a reason that her mother/parent would risk being found out and returning to Marley to give Reader opportunity to grow up with the Warriors :/

My other thoughts surrounding this is the culture of Reader's Nation being accepting of naturalizing refugees and such (what a utopia 😌/but also sheesh hard to comprehend given life) So once they arrive and go through a process they are now citizens of that country and maintain those legal rights when traveling. Even within Marley. Which would be a sticking point cause can't imagine they'd be ok with that. And they'd know this about this Nation's government to it would be difficult to just sneak in ya know? I'm sure there's other countries in verse with "white"/[cause we know this is an our world concept] folks but like what we mainly know are Eldians and Marleyan so if you can't walk the walk and talk the talk and have identifying papers of being Marleyan, then it ain't gonna fly living there.

There could be avenues of getting papers forged and falsifying connections to Marleyan family lines that are sympathetic to the cause? It's hinted that the doctor that helped Kruger falsify blood work was sympathetic so precedence for that. Also that reminds me that obviously they do blood tests! aiyiyi

#long but i want people to maybe skim #instead of glossing by a read more #aot #attack on titan #snk #shingeki no kyojin #marley warriors #eldians #aot meta #nat talks aot #porco x reader #reiner x reader #porco galliard #reiner braun #gabi braun #pieck finger #onyankopon

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faithinlouisfuture · 2 years

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Emmy talk to me about your concert!!!

OMG Sea. I’m forever changed 😭 I’m so glad you asked cuz this give me the opportunity to ramble to you about my track by track experience which I couldn’t include in my original show report! The show is paced so perfectly! Kudos to Steve and Louis for that!

From the get go We Made It live is just WOW. It’s perfect, it sets the tone for the entire night so perfectly! The drums feel so perfect with the wild beating of your heart that comes with finally seeing Louis live in person. It’s perfect in every way. Drag Me Down is definitely fun live, and also the crowd in Istanbul was literally 80% directioners so the energy of the crowd also added to it! DLIBYH is just so beautiful, he sounds so so so beautiful on it. I had to stop recording and just look at him and listen to him! Two of Us live is soulful, and feels like such a collective healing moment. Always You my beloved was made for a live performance! His voice sounds so sweet on AY, like it takes on this very different tone, I’m not a music or voice expert so I don’t know what the technical term for it is I’m sure you do please enlighten me as well, I just know there’s something different about his voice when he sings it.

He seems to have permanently axed TY but I’ve made my peace with it somehow, I thought I’d be more upset about not getting to hear it live but if Louis feels like it’s something that he no longer vibes with then fine, I’ll accept it (not that I have a choice but I was bitter about it before). Change/s live is EVERYTHING. It makes me so so so hopeful and hyped for lt2 that I can’t even explain. It felt like it was the one track that the entire audience didn’t know, not surprised being that there were probably a total of maximum 100 solos from a crowd of 12k plus people. 7 live Sea!!! He just turns into a different person altogether for 7 doesn’t he? Absolutely loved it. The mic riding?!? He was right in front of me humping that mic stand!!! I wanna post all of my videos but I feel like that would be madness, but OMGGG 🥵

Fearless!!! The theatrics he brought to Fearless with his little gestures, not once but twice! My little drama queen 🤍 the fearless musical solo live (not calling it the guitar solo cuz damn it the drums on that solo!!!) just on my knees for Michael Blackwell & Steve Durham honestly! What insane talent!!! And doing the Fearless claps with the entire crowd was so fun!!!

OTB, the very definition of quality > quantity. It ends too quickly yet it packs the most impactful punch. There’s so much detail that I could go in and want to write about OTB and the pride flags situation in Istanbul, but I think I’ll save that entire essay for posting with my OTB video. Habit, I couldn’t help singing along cuz you know what? I really used to enjoy Habit and no one is gonna take that away from me, the real meaning of the song is so beautiful as an artist and fan experience. I didn’t however record it, and took the opportunity to just stare at Louis for the whole song 🙃 Copyx3!!!! LOUIS GIVE ME A STUDIO VERSION PLS!!! During Copy was when I felt like I would actually lose my voice, screamed it back at him that loud! It’s insanely amazing live! I can’t even explain. Defenceless 😭 and the PURPLE lights and we had a fan project for it! It was perfect, everything I wanted it to be (minus the little technical issues they had with the mic during some parts of it, don’t know if that translated to live streams). The way he literally asks now for us to yell the “by you” at him 😭 cheeky beautiful boy! Beautiful War - I think that I’ve made my feelings about wanting to have that song (by Louis Tomlinson, KOL who?) inserted into my veins and made a part of life source very clear. It’s truly a soul cleansing experience live! And him sitting down to take all the lights in at the end really makes you emotional! I noticed that when he stars singing BW he keeps his eyes closed for the first verse, and then opens them for the second just to experience that moment of seeing all those lights for HIM.

LBD intro!!! Michael sir, kindly behave yourself! He got just the reaction he wanted out of Louis though and absolutely loved it too! Cackled on stage when Louis said “That’s Michael Blackwell and this is Little Black Dress”. During the ending of LBD right before the outro bit, is when I think Louis noticed my sign (it read “Flew 3381 miles to make sure you’re real”) 😭 there was an extremely tall person ahead of me who raised their hands literally at that time, and also my video of him got all shaky and messed up too cuz he looked right in the direction I was in, and I’ve been crying on Twitter for someone to send me the entire video of LBD if they have it so I can make sure if it actually happened or if it was wishful thinking on my end lol 😭 Walls - cathartic. That’s the one word. Cathartic for Louis to have written and for him to sing and honestly soul healing for me to scream “YOU WERE MY BECAUSE” at him. (I promise I will post my videos after I get some sleep, I have the best one of that moment)!

TTD is the one 1done song I really vibe with (Louis’ version though) so I had an absolute blast during it! And now for the crowning glory; KMM. My favorite track off of Walls since day 1 - and Louis’ devil awakening moment every night on tour! It’s palpable the way the energy in the crowd gets built up throughout KMM leading to that eventual moment when he jumps down from stage which is then absolute pandemonium!!! Once he jumped, I had to just let go of all agency of my body, and let myself be shoved and pushed where the force of the crowd took me. I was in the fourth row from the front barricade facing the stage & in the third row from the runway barricade on the side; which is what allowed for me have my LOUIS LITERALLY RIGHT IN MY FACE moment 😭😭😭 when I say that I will never ever forget what that one moment felt like. It lasted barely one second I think cuz he didn’t stay too long on our side, just hopped on and yelled and hopped off, but in my mind it’s all in slow motion! I would like to live my entire life in that one moment. I saw crinkles up close 😭 HE WAS RIGHT THERE!!! I wasn’t able to touch him cuz I had my phone in one hand and was trying to steady myself with the other hand, and also he hopped right off and jumped to the other side where he stayed longer, but no matter what - that one second made my entire year! 😭 It made the absolute torture or being in that line from 5:30 AM worth it. I honestly don’t have the words to describe it. I cannot believe that it happened, and that it happened to me!!!

Thank you for letting me ramble on! I feel like I could write an entire book on my one show 😂 Trying to contain myself! Will definitely post videos and gifs soon. Hope that you’ve been doing well, and now that Louis is back and Louis content is back we’ll have a more positive and enjoyable fandom experience than what went down during the break.

#Sea 🧠#ltwt22: istanbul #sorry for the literal essays 🫣😭#I do not have the ability to express myself in succinct words #MY SHOW

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ofgentleresolve-a · 2 years

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🔥 (oKAY BUT ALSO??? BLACK KNIGHT!HYURICK, I?? I'll elaborate on this through the ask you sent me 👀 but I SEE IT, I SEE IT FROM HYUK'S PART, TOO? I hope it's okay to send these in ;W; PLS TAKE MUCH CARE AND I HOPE YOU'RE RESTING LOTS!!!)

@jeoseungsaja *cries in ‘this is completely my fault, but i’m still gonna cry over them anyways*🥲🥲🥲

HELLO AGAIN I KNOW I SAID ID ANSWER THIS PRIVATELY BUT ALSO I NEED THE DASH TO KNOW ABOUT THIS ONE TOO 🥺🥺🥺 if main verse hyurick is wholesome, sweet with a lonnnnng ass slowburn, then hyurick in black knight verse is PAIN AND SUFFERING…..with a hint of hope 🥲

( also this is me @ hyurick in black knight verse....FOREVER CONCERNED EVEN IF THEY BOTH SAY THEY’RE DOING FINE...THEY REALLY AREN’T I DON’T CARE IF DETECTIVE SOURFACE MAKES A FACE AT ME 😭 )

I’m so glad we’re on the same page here bc now?? I get to tell u my thoughts on hyurick in this very painful au that somehow spawned from wholesomeness shsisidjdj

i think it’s very much like you’ve said: both hyuk and Patrick fragmented, shells of the ppl they used to be….whereas hyuk is even more belligerent, apathetic, and isolated from the world around him, Patrick is more anxious, jumpy, and even quieter….the last five years have NOT been kind to them…😭 and yet they’re both still hyper focused on their respective goals ( hyuk: finding out the truth behind his best friend’s death and Patrick: protecting hyuk by taking down ANACHRON ). And by being fixated on these goals, they justify the ( very self destructive ) lifestyles they lead.

something important to consider here is that when they do reunite, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll revert back to the ppl they were before Patrick’s ‘death’…..I can’t speak for hyuk ( although any emotions good or bad he might feel is COMPLETELY VALID….patrick did lie to him and he suffered for five years over that lie ), but I know Patrick, when he initially reunites with hyuk, will have to acclimate to being emotionally vulnerable with another person. like of course, hyuk can still read him like an open book but it’s one thing to be able to read the book…..it’s another thing to be GIVEN THE BOOK to read if that makes any sense….basically, at the beginning patrick will definitely be hiding ( or at least try to hide ) the depth of his feelings/how he’s been coping with, well everything bc that’s something he would be mortified for hyuk to find out 😭 along with that, Patrick also has to relearn every detail about his dear friend bc it’s not just hyuk who has to readjust what he knows about patrick...hyuk has also changed drastically in the last five years- good thing this is a topic patrick is very passionate about studying JFKSLFJKSL

but….BUT I do genuinely think their rekindled friendship ( and eventually something else too ) is something that will be GOOD for the both of them. for one thing, hyuk has something to lose again, but in patrick’s case, he feels like his sense of peace was taken in those last five years, so i think being around hyuk, someone he feels completely safe and at ease with, would in a way give him back some of that peace, if that makes any sense...? basically i think in being each other’s home, it wouldn’t necessarily fix each of them, but in wanting to be there for the other, i feel like their relationship would encourage each of them to begin to piece themselves back together....not necessarily into the ppl they were before, but more into people who are stabler and overall, happier...but YEAH I JUST...hyuk has always been a cornerstone in patrick’s life and especially in light of what patrick has gone through, he understandably would want to find home again. but not just ANY home, he wants the one that makes him feel safest and the comfiest aka hyuk and so in this sense, the only two ppl i could see patrick ending up with in this verse is either hyuk or felicity...but felicity’s dead, so hyuk sorry ur stuck him 4 life 🙃

BUT IN TERMS OF JUST?? THE TOUCH BARRIER?? if hyuk is more prone to breaking it, pls expect patrick, once he acclimates to being around hyuk and knows hyuk will be around for the long run, to be even MORE shameless about giving and wanting affection from hyuk via touch bc a. hyuk needs the reassurance that patrick is here in flesh and b. hyuk’s presence reassures and calms him, great for the paranoia really. ( also just patrick holding hyuk back and like, at first just being surprised that hyuk actually stopped...also pls catch patrick in this verse to be stopping hyuk from fighting via hugs WAY MORE OFTEN 🥲 ) BUT...just expect patrick to be brushing shoulders and knees with hyuk alot, wanting to hold hyuk’s hand a lot, and a TON of resting against hyuk’s shoulder bc he’s TIRED and REALLY WANTS TO REST ON A PILLOW CALLED HYUK’S SHOULDER IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR 😭😭😭

i too could go on for hours about these two in this painful verse ( i take full responsibility for sjdfklsdj ) THANKS SO MUCH FOR SENDING THIS ALEX AND PLS HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY 🥺🥺🥺

#jeoseungsaja #that would truly be wonderful ( answered. )#i having made you “a liar” would turn your lies into truths ( ft. patrick & hyuk || black knight verse )#ALEX!! THANK SO MUCH FOR SENDING THIS??#but also like thank you so much for all our wonderful dynamics regardless of the verse and for your wonderful presence as well 🥺#i will make a request to anyone else who is reading to PLS WRITE WITH ALEX #SHE'S WONDERFUL AND YOU'RE MISSING OUT IF YOU AREN'T #also send attention to hyuk in this verse....i will be reading very enthusiastically....lmao also just the thought of any muse who knows #both patrick and hyuk in this verse would totally be stuck in an awkward situation of 'what am I SUPPOSED TO DO'#BUT ALEX!! pls also consider that #nell and alfred really making theories about patrick's love life...#and then they see hyurick and they're like 'ohhhh. got it. yeah the professor's taken' sjdkflsjdfl #and also just the fact these two are literally gonna be two peas in a pod....won't see hyuk anywhere anymore without patrick somewhere #around the corner jsdkfldsjfl #team checkmate just being shocked by how clingy patrick is to hyuk #considering how he previously avoided him like the plague sjdklfsjdkl #ANYWAYS BEFORE DUMBLR CUTS ME OFF #THANKS AGAIN ALEX AND PLS HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY YOU WONDERFUL PERSON 🥺

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