#addition:

[camelopardius]

They have matching names guys

Ryland from “rye + land” and Colton from “coal town”

Food and fuel, essentials for life (I’m putting both of them on the Hail Mary)

[sainzers]

silly man with accent and curls, sign me the fuck up

[art-blogge]

Track B-3

Where was her Warden? He was late again. Lady Sneasler hated when her Warden was late- How was she supposed to groom him before that flute-playing child came around?

He'd recently forbidden her from entering his lodgings, and with good reason-- She did have a tendency to sit near him and purr. Absolutely nothing ever got done when she did that to him, but she refused to take responsibility. It wasn't HER fault that her Warden enjoyed it so much!!

Lady Sneasler proceeded to decide that she didn't care for his silly rules and barged in anyway.

Her Warden wasn't there. How odd, she thought, she never heard him announce that he was leaving. Was he even there? Had someone ELSE stolen him? The very idea infuriated her, and she had to step out as to not damage anything. ---- She returned some time later, having taken her anger out on some trees. The loggers had better thank her later for her service, she had decided, as if it would ever happen. Stepping inside, she took a more careful look around. Had the bedding always been up against the mirror...?

No. No it hadn't.

Approaching it, she was able to hear something. Something very quiet and shaky, but there nevertheless. A voice. HIS voice.

Ah. There he was. He was nearly impossible to see while he was curled up in all of the bedding, especially with the angle the mirror was on. If Lady Sneasler hadn't heard him, she might not have ever found him.

"Please don't leave me..." her Warden mumbled, shifting slightly against the mirror. Lady Sneasler knew this wasn't directed toward her, but she accepted it despite this. She sat down next to him and carefully pat his shoulder, not wanting to startle him too much. When he gave no sign of stirring, she changed to shaking him. Sure, her Warden was sometimes difficult to wake, but not this difficult.

His brow furrowed, and he tightened his grip on the bedding, shaking. Was he sick? Was her Warden sick?? Lady Sneasler got up and anxiously paced around the room, her head in her claws. She knew how to care for her own children, but a human? Was a human just a weird Sneasel?

Lady Sneasler burst through the front doors, beelining for Zisu. It didn't matter that Zisu was training one of the Hero's cooler Pokemon right now-- This was urgent! She tugged on Zisu's sleeve and pointed back towards her Warden's room, agitated.

"I'm not waking him up for you again, Lady Sneasler. I'm sure you can figure something out," Zisu confidently stated, looking back towards the dark type she was training. When Lady Sneasler kept pulling, Zisu stopped and turned towards her.

"Is something wrong?"

Finally! Lady Sneasler nodded emphatically, pulling for a third time. She was about to topple poor Zisu over from pulling so hard when the little Hero approached, flipping through that large book of theirs.

"What's this you're showing me?"

To answer Zisu's question, the Hero stopped on a page near the back- One showing the same pitch-black dark type Pokemon she'd been working with.

"Oh, is this it, Lady Sneasler? A nightmare of some kind?"

Lady Sneasler nodded, and turned her glare towards the dark type. She didn't actually know their name, and she didn't ask- It wasn't important. The dark type, in response to seeing her so angry, ducked behind their wielder, their single blue eye peering out from behind the Hero's hair.

A few tense moments passed. Unable to take the pressure any more, the dark type dove into the Hero's shadow on the ground before speeding towards the village gates. With a shout, the Hero gave chase to the fleeing shadow, already pulling out sticky globs to stop them from going too far.

Lady Sneasler was proud of herself. She'd driven the threat away without even needing to battle! She puffed her chest out proudly and smiled at Zisu. Look what she did! She did good, right?? ---- It turned out she hadn't done any good. It'd been a total accident, and the dark type was deeply apologetic. Even worse, now there was a second strange Pokemon sitting with her Warden, and in her spot! The absolute nerve of this flying set of unripe nanab berries to be in her spot..! Even if them being there stopped her Warden from crying out in his sleep, even if them being there got him to wake, Lady Sneasler was still very bitter.

This was HER Warden!

""He's not going to be here forever, you know,"" calmly said a voice in her head, and Lady Sneasler squinted at the psychic nanab berry Pokemon.

""I know that,"" Lady Sneasler growled back, quietly as to not alert her poor Warden, ""But until then, this is mine. I found him. Not you, Berries.""

The psychic type considered this.

""Berries is a nice name. Thank you.""

Lady Sneasler put her face in her claws. It was going to be one long day.

[causeimanartist]

Heeeeey

Can you guys send in some simple doodle requests? I’m trying to bring my motivation back

[homeinchaldea]

Finally finished LB2! My long winded rambling ahead:

I have heard that the story itself is more likely based on otome games (Ophelia being the protagonist wooed by various love interests like Napoleon), and while I never played any otome games, it kinda shows? We have scenes of two male servants being interested on a female master romantically (complete with wooing), and focusing on said female character’s views on love and so on. Whether it affects the story negatively or positively depends on the viewer, I guess.

The story does a good job in portraying Ophelia’s character and her development, from a someone stuck in her fear and stasis, to a person willing to embrace the uncertainty. I feel for her during the scenes of introspection, and again, her sacrifice scene made me tear up.

Also the Valkyrie sisters! I did not think much about them when they first came out, but then there’s the fight between them in Brynhildr, and how the older two end up throwing their lives away lamenting on how they cannot understand or have the emotions and humanity Brynhildr had learnt from her relationship with Sigurd.

And Ortlinde! Being the surviving triplet who reflects on the loss and later makes the decision to save someone for her eldest sister’s sake. Adding the fact that she’s the least like Bryn in power and appearance (meaning less favourite compared to her sisters), and Ortlinde’s role in the story does break my heart.

Napoleon is a pretty enjoyable character, full of charisma as much as leadership. I confess I find his flirting with female characters / insistence of Ophelia being his fiancée (tho more typical in otome games. Maybe) highly questionable, but aside from that he’s fine. I like it better when the story focuses on his role as a military leader. It’s easier to follow as the character to look up to and being less silly / questionable.

Nevertheless, I do find the part when Napoleon’s sacrifice helps giving Ophelia the strength to defy Surtr genuinely heartwarming.

I did not think much of Sigurd / Brynhildr aside of official couple stuff, but the story does help me to find appeal to the ship. They are adorable together, especially after the trials they went through throughout their origin story and Lostbelt up until that point. Let’s hope I can get Summer Bryn to reunite them.

One thing I do find pretty weak about the LB2 story, is Skadi’s characterization. I dunno, the idea of Skadi being the smothering mother figure of humanity is an interesting idea and I like it. The problem is, the execution of the concept made her seem like a airheaded regent who never stops thinking and talking of motherly love and never does anything concrete to really deal with Chaldea even tho she has the means to do so (because they are her beloved children too, I guess?). Not until the final chapter do we get why she acts like that, the desperation of the surviving goddess having to take care of humans and the Giants at the same time and finding the best solution she could find.

Overall, I just kinda wish the “surviving goddess trying her best to be a motherly leader” could be better executed and shown sooner (maybe like a “slip from the mask” scene) without ending up in obvious dialogue or being inexplicably negligent in dealing with threat of her home world.

I confess, Gerda barely gets any screen time compared to Patxi, so her characterization is kinda seem weak in comparison. But then again, her being a sheltered child not questioning her life does add to the theme of “humanity being docile cattle and how it’s not a good thing”, and the story is mainly about the Crypter (Ophelia) compared to other lostbelts (Her Lostbelt is a direct reflection on her ideal world where the Sunday could never come), so I’ll just let it slide. I do tear up during her Hopping scene.

TL;DR, while the LB2 is not as good as LB1, it does have some good moments and interesting themes.

[viptower-archived]

violence anger malice

[skautism]

being emo/scene is rly just "what is it with me and bassists"