Aster

I post about random topics related to things I've read or watched ·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ NOT spoiler free!

[saisaixchan]

If I were to give a general estimation as to when i think Maomao gained romantic feelings for Jinshi, it would have been at the end of LN4

Jinshi saves Maomao from her kidnapping, and she returns to working as the Verdigris House's Apothecary. With Jinshi's true status revealed, Maomao assumes she's never going to see him again

She thinks about this a lot, about how she's too low born for someone of his status to ever see her, and how he doesn't even need her help with his injury anyway, because Luoman is at the rear palace now. There's no logical reason for them to ever see each other again. And it itches at her

And so she starts her experiments again, harming herself. There doesn't seem to be a purpose for the concoctions she's making either, as if she's trying to treat something with no obvious cause. Something too deep for the failed medicines to reach

So she goes to cut off her finger. Specifically, her left pinky finger.

Again, there doesn't seem to be a purpose for this behavior at all- until you remember that her mother cut off the tip of her left pinky, out of anguish and rage at Lakan for abandoning her. Fengxian's love for Lakan is the reason her mother harmed her.

Maomao relates that particular finger of her's to romantic love, because of her parent's tragic love story and the trauma it caused her

Maomao knows how stupid love can make even the most intelligent of people, and has consciously and subconsciously avoided it, because she doesn't want to experience that same sort of attachment and hurt. She's heard her parent's story, heard stories of those seeking love at the Verdigris House, how courtesan's speak about love in hushed tones, and how it always ended in pain for everyone involved

But when she thinks she's never going to see Jinshi again, she goes to cut off her left pinky finger, as if on instinct. The finger she associates with romantic love. The same action Fengxian did, when she thought she'd been abandoned by Lakan.

Maomao is doing the exact same thing as her mother, for the exact same reasons.

It's only when Jinshi walks in through the door that Maomao unties her pinky and puts away the knife, and returns to her normal self.

It's one of those things where - I don't think even Maomao understands the reasons behind her actions here. Something was bothering her, something deep, and she went to the only solution she could think of to fix it- cutting off the piece of her that she associates with romantic love- but she stops feeling that subconscious itch as soon as Jinshi comes to see her. As soon as he's back in her life, things are right again, and she stops hurting herself

it's a moment i think about a lot, and it's one of my favorites in the series, because of what it represents for Maomao specifically. it says a lot about her character and how she feels about Jinshi, even if it takes years for those feelings to fully bloom

[arashidono]

Yunan’s life a as a magi - Magi volume 32- Omake

After nine lives of sorrow, a small beam of hope…?

Really, Ohtaka knows how to tug at our heartstrings… Poor Yunan…  

Originals scanned by @kamapon, typesetting by @naoscifra, translation by @arashidono and QC by @eleore.

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK 184 Detail/Thoughts - Riverside

Nii-sensei is amazing at emoting character expressions

Natsuki is introduced as a very angry, hurt kid. Makes sense, her mom left her and she's now forced to move to a group home where she knows no one, and everyone is "pitying her, fake sympathy, so pushy, and not listening to her at all". She just came to the home last night, but everyone's making a loud ruckus and wanting her to have a big party to celebrate her arrival - she didn't even want to be there! and to have Ume, Kotoha and the other teenagers say that she's their new younger sister? she doesn't WANT to be a younger sister, AND she doesn't want to see them as older siblings either! She has a mom who abandoned her without a single word, and she spent DAYS waiting and waiting and hoping but her mom never came back. At the group home, it's clear Ume and Kotoha and Furin Garden's approach of big smiles and enthusiasm is not compatible with how Natsuki approaches things. She's already emotional from the change, and now they throw all these new things at her? both emotional and environmental overload.

Not to mention, she sees Sakura as this weirdo with his two toned hair and eyes, and continues to lash out and run off.

After Sakura saves her from the ruffians, she's still emotional and not ready to talk... even gets super upset and in denial when he (correctly) points out that she's actually scared of getting involved with others. But unlike last time, her anger doesn't last long;

If anything, her anger evaporates the moment she sees his very genuine, melancholic expression.

This reminds us of a scene that our dear Hiragi and Kaji senpai passed on to Sakura:

Unliked the cramped group home, Sakura and Natsuki are alone at the riverside. Its quiet, peaceful, and open, and allows her to calm down and take her time to process things.

Its very obvious to Natsuki that Sakura wasn't trying to make fun of her or try to push her to change her feelings: he was just making an observation and stating it. When he correctly points out that she's 1) scared of being around new people after being abandoned 2) she doesn't actually want to be alone and she wants to be others, she starts to lash out again, but is quickly stopped when she sees Sakura's expression:

We find out next chapter is that out of all the pained, heavy emotions he felt as he was staring out at the river, what Natsuki understood from it was he looked super lonely. It was super obvious to her that Sakura wasn't like the others who were all very openly smiles and energy; he was quiet, reserved and honest. It's hard for her to lash out to someone who was so calm and gentle and non-judgmental of her feelings. If anything, he gave her validation. She's free to choose what she wants to do, but he was once in her situation, always angry and hissy, but he found friends and family her and he wants her to give everyone a chance before she gives up all hope.

At this moment, Sakura felt so relatable - and thus Natsuki was able to finally calm down and process all these new complex feelings. With Sakura's gentle and upfront talk, he was able to reach Natsuki and have a genuine conversation with her. She saw how such a lonely look disappeared when he recalled his friends and gave such a brilliant smile... so if he experienced the same fear and loneness she did, maybe she could too? maybe she needs to give the other kids at Furin Gardens a chance... and thus, without anything flashy, Sakura was able to earn her trust and help her move forward.

Yet another example of good guy Sakura, who continues to grow and mature. The words he gave Natsuki this chapter were a result of internalizing and applying the advice he's gleaned from everyone at Makochi and Furin ;w;

[blushkurasakunyan]

WBK detail - Sakura and water 1

When I first watched episode 12 of the anime, i found it interesting that as cat-like as Sakura is with his flexibility, agility and quick reflexes, he stopped when Risa-chan leapt off the bridge:

He can parkour and scale buildings

He can flip over sudden obstacles and land on his feet

Yet at the last moment, he stops, while Kaji flies on ahead and jumps in the water. I did think it was weird... I did expect him to be just like Kaji and just plow on ahead. Why did he stop like that? Was he scared of the water? For a guy who rushes on ahead and is pretty sturdy, he can handle a fall into a river like that. We find our answer much later in chapter 169 during the beach episode:

Turns out Sakura just can't swim.

These panels suggest to me that while he HAS gone to the beach before, he may not have set foot in the water until now. Otherwise, he got his first pair of swim trunks, he's in such awe at stepping in the water, feeling how cold it is, and he was excited when the others brought those inflatable rings so he can wade in the water with the others. Its ok if he can't swim - Nirei's floating along with him in shallow waters, Kiryu and Suo aren't even the water at all. The other dues are playing beach ball or swimming around, everyone's just having fun at their own pace!

So in the end, Nii-sensei had foreshadowed to the readers that Sakura is wary of water since he can't swim, but it's not like he's afraid of it - as long as he has tools and support he's willing to go into it and have fun :>

[asteriass]

9 R.I.P. | Minami route thoughts

❝ All that there can ever be between us is despair. ❞

Personal Rating:

10/10

I LOVED HIS ROUTE SM I really didn't want it to end 😭❤️‍🩹

A great balance of romance and plot!

Minami's contradictory personality was super intriguing to explore ( ≧ᗜ≦)

Full Thoughts:

It's kinda funny how you have to practically max out Misa's Insanity stat in the game to even get to Minami's route—quite literally have to be almost crazy to get into a relationship with him LOL

Speaking of the Insanity stat, I really enjoyed how we got to see the impacts on Misa with it being so high! Her decision-making was definitely a lot more different than how it usually has been in routes prior. Not to mention, the almost cryptic voice in her head that started appearing as we moved into Minami's route. It was the loudest whenever Misa was distressed or in a similarly unstable state, and it was interesting to read her interactions with... well, herself! Especially during the Imaginary Nightmare bad ending.

I really adored Minami and Misa's relationship. From their bickering and their "will-they-won't-they" (as Minami put it) stage to them being willing to go to massive lengths for the other's sake. Honestly, even in general, these types of dynamics really appeal to me. I'm a huge fan of romances where the leads initially start off with very opposing goals, but over time grow to trust each other immensely—something that was a notable part of Misa and Minami's relationship as well.

An aspect of the two's relationship that was really interesting was how, to a certain extent, the two almost paralleled each other. At one point or another, both struggled with holding onto their identity and being changed by the pressure from somebody else. Of course, the circumstances and the severity were vastly different for both; however, for both, there had once been that worry about their "identity". Furthermore, there was also a battle between their consciousness and their inner "desire" that the two struggled with (in this route, particularly). In Misa's case, the voice in her head would often tell her to do things she couldn't dare bring herself to do—killing Minami, to doubt his trust, to look out for her own self only. Something which Misa's consciousness would have to actively tell that voice to stop doing. With Minami, similarly, his inner desire would war with his consciousness. He grew to love Misa, and so even if that darker part of him told him to just take her soul, he couldn't bring himself to do it, and had to actively go against that other desire.

By the way, from his character design down to his personality, Minami fits my tastes to a tea. He was honestly a big reason why I actually bought this game, and I'm SUPERRRRRRRR happy that he didn't disappoint 🥹. I really adored Minami's arrogant and cheeky side; characters like that have always been my favorite! And with his internal struggle about his identity as a demon and being afraid of losing who he really is...it's as if his character was practically made for me! :(⁄ ⁄ᵒ̶̶̷́⁄ ᵕ ⁄ᵒ̶̶̷̀⁄ ⁄):

About the route itself, what was most shocking was definitely... THEM DOING IT??? HELLO???? I WAS SO SHOCKED 😭😭????? Prior to this, since Koyo's route, I'd been wondering if the most "incubus" part about Minami was just... his dream-related abilities and powers of coercion. So honestly, it's not that I didn't expect it, but rather, I'd talked myself down from having that expectation lol. So when Minami actually went "skin-to-skin ritual," I was super surprised lmao. I enjoyed the moment though!! Super sweet and lovely 🥹!! Also, that CG of Minami is probably my fav 🤧!

Speaking of CGs, with Minami having the most CGs, I felt super spoiled ( ,,◕ _ ◕,, ). I believe in the common route alone he had 4 (not counting the individual CG variants). Plus, one of his bad endings also had a CG (which had like 3 variants!), something with no other LI so far has had. So it was a really tasty buffet for me huhu...

WAHHHH all in all I super enjoyed his route!! The voice acting by Nobuhiko Okamoto was top-notch. The voice range expressed for Minami was really great~~ Like Hibiki and Koyo's routes, Minami's route was one of those that I wanted to replay immediately after finishing it lol. I really enjoyed both of Minami's good endings (and the Imaginary Nightmare bad ending too lowkey cause I liked the angst...). I'm really excited to see where they take his character in the sequel!! [Minami's at the forefront of the poster alongside Mr. Hidden route, so that makes me even more excited 👀]

[asteriass]

9 R.I.P. | Seiya route thoughts

❝ I'd like you to be my burden. ❞

Personal Rating:

8.5/10

Seiya's banter with Misa was so super amusing (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)

Definitely the most romantic of all the routes so far

Seiya and Misa's occasional imaginary scenarios about one another were entertaining lol

Full Thoughts:

Definitely the route that made me want to squeal the most! Usually in otome games, I'm not super big on heavily flirty characters, but Seiya... he captured my heart (づ>/////<)づ♡

What I particularly liked about him was that totally dramatic way he'd flirt, saying the most heart-throbbing things with the most amusingly serious tones just to tease Misa haha. Truly, the twos back on forth made the whole route pretty fun!

In terms of the plot, it was really nice to see how Seiya's personal background impacted the way he approached other characters--and how this was noticeable even without the game directly mentioning it to our face. For example, even though Hibiki himself didn't show up in Seiya's route, I couldn't help but think about the type of relationship he and Seiya had. We see in other routes how Seiya is sympathetic towards Hibiki, and it's even mentioned how he, in particular, provided Hibiki a lot of emotional support. Seiya said he wouldn't take his eyes off Hibiki until he crosses over, and given Hibiki was damned for similar reasons as Seiya, it really is apparent why Seiya decided to take responsibility over Hibiki, since Seiya is somebody who to an extent would've been able to understand Hibiki. Another instance would be with Misa herself, during Seiya's route. He was able to recognise that Misa's mother still struggled to move on from the death of her husband, and he was able to give appropriate advice based on that, since he too knew the struggle and heartbreak that came with the loss of a loved one.

In terms of endings, I think I prefer Seiya's Godly End slightly more, but honestly, the Heavenly End was really great too!!

All in all, a really lovely route!! Heavy doses of amusing dramatics and romance that made me smile each time. I really love the way they executed his character dynamic as well!! His route truly didn't disappoint 🥹

[asteriass]

9 R.I.P. | Koyo route thoughts

❝ I found you the first time, remember? Finders keepers. ❞

Personal Rating:

9.75/10

I can see why he's so popular cause OMG???

The way he pulls up his mask whenever he's flustered... super adorable 🥹

The voice acting in route was so good! Sold me on all the tense moments!!

Full Thoughts:

I think I mentioned this before with Kureha, too, but especially in Koyo's case, character design-wise, when I first bought the game, he didn't really pique my interest that much. However, y'know, as they say, first impressions and everything, and OMG did his route blow me away!!!

Right from the beginning, and down till the climax, I was incredibly invested. Usually, as I play otomes, I look forward to CGs a lot. However, I got so invested in his route that I didn't even realise I had not gotten any CG in his route, save for 1, during my first playthrough. And because I was so invested, I didn't even mind lol. So far, Koyo's route has to be my favorite, writing-wise. The execution of the backstory scenes was also my favorite out of all the other routes so far.

One thing that also particularly stood out about Koyo's route was that his endings were pretty happy compared to all the other guys. And while the blissful ends didn't inherently make me enjoy him more, what made them really good is, once again, the execution. Like, I'm a major fan of the supernatural romance genre, especially the angsty ones, and a lot of them end up in the pitfall where the writers give the characters a "happy ending" for the sake of it. But it didn't feel like this with Koyo at all. About midway through his arc, we learned that, similar to Misa, Koyo is also a living ghost (which is what allowed the two to have a "happier end", since Koyo was dead dead). And I was thinking about it as it was revealed, and I realised that the story had been hinting towards this slowly. For example, unlike Kureha, Koyo didn't have adverse effects whenever he touched Misa. Back then, Misa had simply rationalised it as potential being due to Koyo mentally telling himself that Misa is a real ghost, and so psychologically her warmth didn't make him go crazy. And even outside of that, unlike the other love interests, the game never really explicitly tells you "Streamer Yozora (Koyo) passed away," I think? We are only told that he hasn't streamed in quite a while, and thus, it is assumed that the likely cause of this is his dying. However, that is then very similar to how Misa is assumed to be dead because nobody has seen her after her accident. And with both Misa and Koyo, that assumption is furthered by the fact that they are ghosts. But because these similarities exist, it isn't out of nowhere when we learn that Koyo is also a living ghost similar to Misa. You get what I mean? So like, his "happier endings" make sense and are well done.

Speaking of his endings, I enjoyed both his Godly and Heavenly endings. There were different aspects of both that I really liked, and regardless of either one, the romance between Misa and Koyo is really lovely, like seriously... KOYO WAS SO CUTE (≧ヮ≦) 💕 I really enjoyed his interactions with Misa. Even his small jealous moments... super adorable! (´▽`ʃƪ)♡

All in all, Koyo's route is one of the best I've played so far in the game. I wasn't a fan of his before, but I totally get the hype now 🤧

Side note:

Minami's first introduction is through this route (if you're completing all the Realms in order), and they absolutely nailed it. Sure, it was a super tense moment (which is what made me enjoy it even more), but I was smiling to myself the entire time, so much so my cheeks started hurting haha. I love you, Minami. I'm excited for your route ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

Also, I really enjoyed Sena's role in the climax as well! I adored his relationship with Koyo ❤️‍🩹

[ikemen-revolution-archive]

Read from right to left.

A fun comic about an alternate reason why Alice may choose to live in Cradle, drawn by none other than Ikémen Revolution's character designer TCB.

[asteriass]

9 R.I.P. | Sena route thoughts

❝ Please let me continue to watch over you... ❞

Personal Rating:

7/10

I really adore Koyo and Sena's friendship

If Sena was real, I'd definetly be charmed into fangirling for him ໒꒰ྀིっ⸝⸝⸝ ꒱ྀི১

His voice was really good, I especially loved the delivery of his lines when he's embarrassed/flustered haha

Full Thoughts:

Sena, as a character, was really great. Charming, sincere, yet coupled with a foreboding sense that only makes you even more intrigued about what is going on with him.

I really loved his character design too. He definetly a lot more on the pretty boy side in terms of visuals it's totally right up my alley (⸝⸝⸝- ᴗ -⸝⸝⸝ ;)

His route, though, I have a bit of mixed feelings about.

I enjoyed how different it was, in terms of development, from the School Ghost Stories arc. In that, Misa actually loses direct contact with Sena pretty early on as she goes back to her "normal" life. With a part of the conflict being how internally, Misa and Sena still want to hang out with one another, and (of course) be with each other.

However, even though I really wanted to like Sena's route, personally...it was a bit underwhelming. I really wish they had explored Sena's past and how he was forced to let go of his dreams due to his illness. Outside of the common route, where Sena struggles with coming to terms with the reality of his death, the route itself didn't really explore it as much as I would've like it to. But then really the most we got was the narration flashback.

And I just wish... it was a bit emotional. Cause the potential is really built into Sena's backstory, but the delivery of it in his route didn't hit as good for me.

In terms of good endings, I preferred his Godly End: Our Two Dreams. I adored the Tanabata references in it! Plus, I've realised that I generally don't seem to prefer endings where Misa just dies and ends up being with the Love Interest that way, cause both Sena's and Kureha's Heavenly end had that and I found myself not really enjoying it as much 🤔. Having said that, once again, Sena was really amusing in the Heavenly End as well. I also...really like his little possessive streak ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧

Overall, Sena was an enjoyable character; his route just wasn't for me, hence I couldn't rate it as high as I would've liked to. But y'know this is why I'm actually now quite looking forward to his route in the 9 R.I.P. sequel. I wanna see how he acts in the upcoming game 👀

[shungagbby]

From the heart of Gaza… A Father's Cry

Hello, I'm Ahmed, a father of two young children, living in Gaza. There may be no words to describe how difficult life has become for us since the last war… but I'll try.

Since the last aggression, I've been trying to provide the bare minimum for my family: food, security, and a roof over our heads. Our rent is $400 a month, and I can't afford it. I'm not asking for luxury, but I'm begging for a chance to stay under our roof.

Any amount makes a difference. If you can't donate, sharing this post could save me.

Help Ahmed's family start again

Ahmed’s family is talking to you from Gaza.

Last month I couldn't get the rent for the month but I solved my own problem, but this month I need your help, I will start collecting donations from today I will try again and again so that my voice is heard please share

@timetravellingkitty @mahoushojoe @fromjannah @virovac

@gothhabiba @gawki @everydaylouie @sarakipin

[asteriass]

9 R.I.P. | Hibiki route thoughts

❝ Your life, give it all to me. ❞

Personal Rating:

8.75/10

Misa is so right, Hibiki is absolutely adorable!!!!

So emotional (╥﹏╥)

Seiya's interactions with Hibiki and Misa were quite amusing

I really REALLY liked his voice... Shunichi Toki did a great job as Hibiki

His grin and smile, I love it sm

Full Thoughts:

I noticed this before too, but I really like how smoothly the common route flows into the romantic route.

Talking about Hibiki's route itself, I'm gonna be honest, a partial reason for why I probably enjoyed the route as much as I did is because I found myself relating to the characters at times too...

I really liked the way Hibiki and Misa were able to relate to one another in certain aspects. And so because of this, I was really able to enjoy the two's relationship. Hibiki's route is super character-driven. Majority, if not all, conflicts were due to emotional or relationship turmoil between the leads, and honestly, I enjoyed that. It was a bit different from how Kureha's route was set up, but I'm glad that the difference in direction is there. The plot was heavily focused on Misa and Hibiki's personal relationship, and because the two were constantly doing something...it didn't feel draggy. I really adored how both Misa and Hibiki grew throughout the route 🥹

Speaking of emotional turmoil, I really enjoyed the insight into Hibiki's internal conflicts that we got from scenes in his point of view!! It made the angsty scenes even more angsty... Having said that! I do wish the climax got a little bit more room to breathe. In both "Good" endings, he comes to terms with his hatred a little too swiftly? Not to the point that it's nonsensical, it really did make sense in both cases. But... I do wish there was a bit more time between his confrontation with Isao Tsukigami in Hell, and the final flower on Misa's sheet being colored... y'know... just a tiny bit more time for him to digest.

HOWEVER, I loved both of his endings (Heavenly and Godly). It's truly hard to choose a favorite... I loved aspects of both!! Both are bittersweet (and one even more than the other) and made me emotional, but they were great!!

Both in their own ways felt like fitting conclusions to me... very bittersweet though 😭

Hibiki's route is one of those ones that I'm likely to replay. Honestly, depending on my mood, his rating probably gets bumped up to a 9 lol. Hibiki is super adorable, and I wish to protect his genuine smiles... he truly deserves to be happy ❤️‍🩹

[amal0alkfarna5]

"They’re not collateral damage — they are being targeted."

The image you see is not from a war movie. It's a real X-ray of a Palestinian child. A sniper's bullet pierced her skull. This was not an accident. It was a calculated shot — to the head. How many children must bleed before the world opens its eyes?

I see this, and I tremble. Because I, too, am a mother. My own child is injured. He cries every night from pain. He needs urgent medical care — but we are trapped under siege, under fear, under silence.

How long before my son becomes another X-ray? Another hashtag? Another number?

If you're reading this, you have power — power to share, power to donate, power to care.

Help me get my son out. Help save him before it’s too late. Gaza’s children are not targets. They are lives. They are futures. Please don’t look away

Please Donate now:👇👇 👇

Donate to Join Us in Our Struggle: Save Our Family from War in Gaza, organized by Ghazal Naseer

‎‏Dear friends, ‎‏My name is Ghazal Naseer, from pales… Ghazal Naseer needs your support for Join Us in Our Struggle: Save Our Famil

Please

Yes, I will donate 😭💔

Yes, I will Reblog 😭💔

Voting ended onApr 14, 2025

✅️My campaign is vetted by el-shab-hussein& Nabulsi's, my number verified on the list is ( #355)✅️ 👇

Vetted Gaza Evacuation Fundraiser List

[kibby-reaper]

He has a long scroll with names, Jude...

- mod reaper

[asteriass]

One of the things I've always really loved about the manhwa Your Majesty, Please Spare Me This Time is the artist's attention to detail!

Earlier on in the series, Laliette (the female lead of the story) says “[Rupert] even skips meals in order to decelerate his growth, but at this rate, he’s really going to die“, & back I’d first come across that comment, in early season 2, I’d personally kind of passed that off as a slight over reaction on her. I knew Rupert was probably pretty malnourished but I didn't exactly know to what extent.

But as the story progresses, you get visual glimpses of how seriously malnourished Rupert is. I applaud the artist for adding these details (even though they only appear very briefly and aren’t at all the focus of the scenes they appear in). And by that I mean, you can literally see Rupert’s ribs showing in instances where he takes off his shirt, or similar. And logically this obviously makes sense. Since if he’s skipping meals to the point his growth is being impacted, it would in some way impact his body/take a toll on his body physically, and I like that the artist actually kept these small details in mind & included these in the manhwa.

Another instance of this attention to detail is the way, majority of the times Rupert used to wear chockers in his “Princess Rapertte” disguise, to hide his adam’s apple.

And the story never literally looks at the readers and spells out the reasons for Rupert’s styling choice, but rather they let us figure that out on our own based on clues and details already in the story:

Rupert isn’t fond of restrictive and stuffy clothing, so the chokers aren’t personal preference, but rather something he’s going out of his way to wear

The chokers only appear in (disguise) looks when he’s in a setting where people who don’t know he’s a man are bound to be The only exceptions to this rule are instances where he didn’t expect “outsiders” to meet. [E.g: Laliette entering his chambers while Rupert’s changing, Nigel entering his private office suddenly, etc]

You can notice that initially even near Laliette Rupert usually wore chokers (in the instances where he was expecting her to be around). So it wasn’t until after he realised that Laliette now knows his secret about being a man that he stops wearing them around her!

So yea, I really enjoy all these small details ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

[hseki98]

Moments from Ellis's route. Ellis is sure didn't know about "respectful distance✨" but still love this moment.

I actually don't know which moments more interesting, so I thought I'm going to ask you guys to suggest any interesting scenes from Ellis's route (except spicy one 😂 I can't draw that, I can only read)

p.s : I knew it that I forgot to add his necklace!!! aaaa! Oh well...

[asteriass]

9 R.I.P. | Kureha route thoughts

❝ I've had my eye on you even before you came to this world. ❞

Personal Rating:

8/10

Kureha is so sweet omg 🥹????

Embarrassed to admit but a few of the teensy jumpscares got me lol

Hinagaku's wraith sprite artwork was really good

Full Thoughts:

Y'know, playing this route really made me realise how many trust issues otome games have given me. Because whenever Kureha was sweet in the common route, I couldn't help but wonder... what's the catch...?

Turns out, there wasn't really one. He is genuinely a sweet guy whom Misa could rely on. I suppose another partial reason for my somewhat distrust might've just been because I immediately fell for the "He is the Divine Invocation executioner" red herring (even since the common route), which is ironic given his entire color scheme is red... but I suppose back then I merely took it as a red flag instead... (Not that color scheme is a good indicator of either lol)

Anyway, I really enjoyed his point of view segments. They were incredibly heartwarming to read, and gosh, the way he'd talk about Misa so lovingly!! Practically had me swoon~

Now, the route is shorter than I usually expect. I'm not sure whether this is just a characteristic of the School Ghost Stories routes (Kureha & Hibiki), or whether ALL future routes will be similar in length to this one. However, to me, it didn't feel like the romantic development was hindered due to it. I think it really helped that the common route already did a really nice build-up leading up to Kureha's route.

In terms of plot...it was kinda slow initially. It takes a nice while to get into the actual meat, and I kinda sorta felt bored initially. Not that it's bad, but the initial slowness, combined with the generally repetitive tasks they were doing, was not doing wonders for my brain... 😭

In terms of the Good Endings, I definitely preferred Kureha's Godly Ending, wayyyyy more than the Heavenly Ending. The former was a more true "happy ending", so it ended up being more satisfying because it managed to tie up the loose ends

Towards the end of his route, Kureha is described as a "reliable big brother" (due to how he was towards Hinagaku), and I like to think that though he didn't come to remember his memories of the past until much later, that "reliable" aspect of him stuck even after his death. And that's why he was so kind towards Misa--it was in his nature to look after others. He is somebody who is protective of those he cares for; he's somebody who wants them to rely on him. And I like how those aspects of him easily shone through, well before his past is even revealed (both to the player and him). As Misa said, there is no innate darkness in his spirit. On the contrary, he's a pretty gentle person.

So all in all, I'd say Kureha's route was quite lovely. In terms of character archetypes, he's not somebody I'd usually expect myself to be into but he won my heart!

[scalamore]

Lari's views on marriage throughout the series

While re-reading the Tapas version, I'm reminded of all the small mentions of Lari regarding marriage.

Even with the topic of "marriage", Lari's views go a drastic change throughout the series.

In the YM world, it's a very traditional, patriarchal, misogynist world. Women have no rights and are treated as property of either the father, brother (if she is unmarried) or the husband. They are not allowed higher education, and their only use is to look pretty as the lady of the home. All the decision making goes to the men. ALL the women in the series suffer some sort of sexist discrimination.

Amanda Belois - Has no say in House Belois decisions (eventually leaves the Count) Riche/Tris Gorten - married off to unhappy marriage Amelia Belois - tried to marry into power, died for her ambitions Eva - became a slave to the Emperor In TL1, Lari was any normal noble girl. She loved reading poetry and romantic stories, and dreamed of a marriage of happiness and love. However, she knew that such stories were unrealistic; as a noble she would have to marry for the prestige and prosperity of the House. However, even that bare minimum wasn't fulfilled: unbeknownst to her, she was the hidden Princess of the former Emperor, and was intentionally hidden away in the Southern Territory of the Belois manor. Count Belois intentionally blocked ANY suitors from approaching her. After she turned 15, she awaited letters from suitors but they never came. She was upset that Lehan was getting PLENTY of letters when he turned 15, and at age 18, she all had lost hope. At age 16/17, House Belois intentionally sabotaged her with a pathetic debutante to ensure no one would be interested in her. no one in the Belois manor wanted to help her with it, so she sought the help of Amelia Belois who also gave the bare minimum - as a result, Lari was shunned, mocked, ridiculed for being so plain at the most important event of her life thus far. Recall, the debunte ball is the event to introduce a young lady into society as a new young adult - but she received no attention at all. She only got the courtesy greeting from Rupert, who only cared about her as a "Belois" and not as "Lari". By the time she was 18, she lost all hope of ANY romance. After YEARS of mulling it over, she concluded she had a terrible personality, she was plain and unremarkable, and no one would ever want her. She had held hoped at age 16 that even if she was deficient, then some other noble would want her - but guess not.

Lari NEVER imagined that her own family was sabotaging her self esteem, because they had planned for her to marry her own BROTHER of all people. They never considered her their own daughter, just "someone who would become their daughter in law in the future." She may have learned perfect etiquette and all the skills required for a noble lady, but what was the point if she never married?

In the beginning, Lari pretends to not be bothered by the prospects of marriage - as she gave up already a long time ago - but she is still very much bothered by the concept. She often reminds herself she doesn't want it, doesn't need it, and unfortunately for Rupert, Lari is coping HARD regarding marriage.

At the end of the Belois vacation arc, she mentions again that she hopes for a marriage of love; but he reminds her how unrealistic it is, and she agrees. It's a nice thought, but utterly unrealistic and she knows that very well.

Years later, Lari's view on love literally breaks her: the 17yo Lari of TL2 is utterly uncapable of accepting Rupert's feelings. She spent almost 8 total years convincing herself no one will ever love her, no one wants her, no one wants her in their future, Rupert, the cold-hearted murderer would NEVER consider her a partner... yet here he is telling her point blank he loves her.

Throughout the series, Lari isn't an idiot, she notices his feelings, but she is in HARDCORE DENIAL about it. She makes every excuse under the sun to convince herself he doesn't like her in that way, that it's just because he's a nice, considerate guy.

Some readers may say it's because Lari's a cruel person, but I see it differently: Lari is so utterly broken and traumatized from the past, to her, the idea that "no one will love her" is her [truth].

To protect herself and her [truth], she pretended not to know, because she couldn't accept Rupert's feelings. She can't cope with it. For someone to be alone this whole time, to suddenly have someone tell her they loved her so much? it's too much for her. She can't suddenly undo 8 years of a belief just like that. It takes her over a year during the separation, and a few months after they reunite, but eventually through patience and positive encouragement, Rupert does manage to change her thinking, and Lari does understand she's a person who is worthy of someone's love, someone does want to marry her and be with her forever, someone wants to protect and care for her.. :)