#cato fairscribe

[rosesnink]

My shaylas 🥹💕

[cakevaljean]

Crowd Reactions to Dancing with LIs at the Dawnslight Gala

Dessa and Cato:

check reblogs for the others, as tumblr only allows 10 photos. Unfortunately I don’t have Leona’s :(

[the-unconquered-queen]

My night’s going great, in case anyone’s wondering

[lover-also-fighter-also]

With the power of all my affinities...I present my newest Spellfyre MC !!!

Name: Rayaan Hamza Dreadbane (Rayaan translates to gates of heaven which is ironic for the life he had so far and Hamza translates to lion, a fitting name for Andros Dreadbane's pride)

Pronouns: He/him

Sexuality: Gay

Affinity: He's a Penthos through and through. Act first, think later. 🔥

He's short-tempered, has a strong sense of justice and never takes crap from anyone. But as much quick to anger he is also quick to forgive when he sees genuine remorse

He likes to keep his circle of people tight knit and small, and doesn't trust easily (anger issues and trust issues)

Loves grape juice. Lots of it.

Romances: His endgame is gonna be Talyn but also has attraction towards Cato and Bardic as well

Tags: @somerandomjewelleryonthefloor @peonyblossom @choicesmc @choicesgodfanatic @the-unconquered-queen @a-cloud-for-dreams @battnatt

[synergysilhouette]

Love & Magic: Spellfyre review (thus far)

I should say that I'm the type of person who comes off as overly critical; I often seem to hate things even when I actually like it. I'm trying to work on it, but I do want to clarify that before this review. I'll also include TLDRs after each paragraph if you're intimidated by walls of text (I'm like that too at times, lol).

Dislikes (Outside of the narrative): I'm not a fan of the chapters being split into scenes (depending on how long the scene it, it can fee like nothing really happened, despite the chapter itself usually having a good amount of things going on), as well as the fact that as I'm writing this, restarting your storyline does NOT restore your purchases, meaning you have to buy keys and diamonds all over again. I also think it's insane how many diamonds are required off the bat to further your ally relationships, and I'm mixed on the fact that they seem to happen outside the main story; I like that they seem almost like webisodes to accompany a tv show, but there's also a question of the events not really being acknowledged in the narrative thus far (and side note: couldn't Niel's brother just used as her male counterpart if you just wanted to romance guys?). Plus it's weird to me that Niel is supposed to be your default friend, but she still requires currency to raise her level. What would've happened during the exam if I didn't have the required ally level for her and just played without her? I'm also not loving the fact that magic seems very neutral here; similar to Choices' "The Elementalists," you have a specialization, but you can actually manipulate any affinity and are made to learn the basics. Even worse, you have a specialization for ALL affinities; while it makes sense for why you get to choose your specific affinity if you don't like your test results, it feels very imbalanced--but maybe I'd like it if we ALL weren't taking classes for every affinity. It feels like the story is more linear than it lets on if we're automatically learning certain spells rather than it being path-dependant. And please stop with all the titles/updates or whatever you call them for events we can't control; telling me that I had a bad first day at school, people hate me, etc. when that's a part of the main story and not the result of my choices is unnecessary. It's one thing to explain stuff to me going into a situation, but giving me milestones so frequently when I'm just beginning the game and haven't really carved out my character is...annoying to say the least.

TLDR: I disliked the splitting of chapters into scenes, loss of purchases upon restarting, high diamond cost for ally quests, Niel toeing the line between default friend and someone you have to pay to stick by you, the magic system making affinities seem pointless, and the constant title/milestones for content that isn't choice-based.

Likes (Outside the narrative): It goes without saying that I'm pleased I can play this as a guy. Most RPGs with customizeable main characters and romance usually don't cater to guys, and when they do, it's usually aimed at gay men (which I am) but made to surround around your sexuality with a very weak narrative, ie "Whispers" or "Scripts." he fact that the main narrative isn't pay to play like a lot of visual novels is really freeing. I'm not bombarded with various outfits I may or may not like in order to succeed in a scene, and I'm alerted ahead of time that if I want to involve a companion more, I need to have them at a certain level. I'd hate to go into a scene and they block out an option or straight-up tell me "because you're not level 5 with Cato, you weren't able to pass the exam" or something. I also like that Niel only requires coins. Honestly, as a monosexual, I wish the characters I didn't want to romance just costed coins instead of diamonds. It'd make the different currency make more sense, as well as make both of them feel valuable. At this point in time, I'm just saving my diamonds for the guys since they're the only ones I'm interested in. Plus I love that you aren't FORCED to raise ally levels; you can just play without allies involved. I also think it's fun to be allowed to choose your affinity if you don't like the one you got (when I first played, I had a 3-way tie and got to choose, but when I restarted and changed one answer, I was locked in for one, but had the choice of picking something else). Not to mention having choices connected to them; not sure how much they'll affect the narrative, but I like them. And have I mentioned that they ask your sexuality immediately when making a character? Love it.

TLDR: I liked the game having a GOC MC, the plots aren't reliant on buying outfits, we're warned about ally requirements before starting a scene, Niel's ally quests using coins since I wouldn't use diamonds on her, being able to play without allies, choosing your sexuality and affinity, and options given based on said affinity.

Now, onto the narrative! Keep in mind, I only played the guys and Niel's ally quests since I'm not paying for Leona and Iridessa's, but I did check videos on them and comment a little on them.

Prologue (Before title screen)--Honestly? It was fine. If this was just a book among many in an app, perhaps I'd be less critical, but since this is the intro to the the whole app, I'm underwhelmed. I get it if the team didn't want to overwhelm or bore us with lore and worldbuilding, but that does affect my interest. Giving us a vague overview of evil daddy's legacy making you hated in a magical world felt very cliche. To this point, your life growing up isn't very detailed, and your childhood best friend being traumatized by you meant nothing. This is someone who knew you for years, and then they flip on you when you accidentally hurt them. It'd make a lot more sense if this was a random townsperson or a servant in your household who always feared you. And the fantasy sequence with Talyn or Iridessa was...not my fav. Don't get me wrong; it was hot, and it sold the romance aspect of the game that will surely gather a lot of romance fans (would I still play this game if romance wasn't a major part of it? Eh, maybe; the narrative isn't strong enough yet on it's own), but it came so suddenly, and doesn't feel like strong writing. Many romance games either make it a slow burn I'm impatient with or immediate attraction that feels unearned. I know mobile games rely on instant gratification/returns, but I do think that the thirsty dream being the first thing you see in the game makes it feel like the pacing is gonna be very off. And your mom isn't even mentioned; I'm half-expecting her to be a cliche plot twist at some point, but her being dead would be just as bad. Can we get a story where the MC's non-evil/alive parent is present in their lives and not used as a "I have a secret" subplot.

TLDR: Needs deeper lore and worldbuilding, the fantasy sequence was unneeded (but appreciated) fanservice so early in the game, and not getting your mom mentioned AT ALL was a letdown. She better not be a plot point.

Chapter 1: A New Beginning--Better than the prologue, but I have questions and concerns. I did kind of cringe the moment we learned that our magic school is rather cutthroat and give the obvious perspective that we're likely going the "society is wrong and dad's rebellion was for the good of the realm" route, but I'm praying it's more nuanced than government being bad and rebels being good. I also found it an interesting choice to focus on one house; all introduced love interests are part of this house, despite their various backgrounds suggesting they could probably be somewhere higher-ranking--but then again, maybe not; the houses seem random rather than based on personality or attributes, so it's not really a "Hogwarts" situation. But it does seem weird that the highest-ranking house's students go on to positions of wealth and power regardless of background. Does that mean Bardic, the son of a wealthy and powerful man, is screwed if his house is dead last? Bardic is big on improving the house's standing, so that's something to talk about. Speaking of, I think it's really fun to have a character like him who's very Draco Malfoy-coded, but he's not a bad boy or out to torment people; he just has an attitude, and I can't blame him any more than anyone else (though I think blaming someone for their dad's mistakes is imbalanced, but I must be the crazy one). BTW, I adore that the non-romanceable characters aren't bland in design; I know that makes people want to date them, so it's a double-edged sword, but I digress. I also found it fascinating that Niel and Talyn were the children of "villains" as well; while SUPER cliche to have the "bad kids" become friends/band together, I do appreciate the outlook (however simplistic/rushed it sounds) that if your house tops the yearly rankings, people will at least respect you, and Talyn himself has gotten a bit of respect due to his skills. And I was disappointed to say it, but WHY is an NPC a visual scene-stealer? Rhiannon's red outfit is eye-catching to me. While Bardric's green jacket helps him stand out, the rest of his outfit feels rather standard and devoid of personality in color and design, and Talyn and Niel's muted color schemes and Iridessa's monochrome fashion (granted, Rhiannon's was too, but white and gold? Really?) made them appear very lackluster. That said, Rhiannon, while I like her, kinda sucks as head of house. She doesn't really play mediator despite being concerned about elevating her house. She doesn't think solving a major infighting issue or at least picking a side (keep the Dreadbane child or kick them out) would make things a bit smoother?

TLDR: Hinting at the cliche "good guys are bad, bad guys are good" storyline without much nuance or subtlety, why the Onyx House has such variety is confusing to me since being last in the rankings could screw them all over (even ones from affluent backgrounds), the NPCs look great, Rhiannon's design beats the LIs out due to being vibrant (but as head of house she's not great), and your first allies being kids of other villains was cliche but cool.

Chapter 2: Wildest Dreams--Love the room, even if we can't see all of it. I am questioning Rhiannon once more, though; she assists us (maybe out of obligation, maybe out of kindness), but she isn't the most encouraging; telling MC that everyone will want to kill them or screw them over unless they manage to be so good and get Onyx House at the top of the rankings feels partially self-motivated--and maybe it is. But I'd rather Rhiannon either intervened more on our behalf or was just a self-serving manipulative (but not evil) character. Trying to get her to be the type-A with a heart of gold isn't entirely working on me. And I'm not sold on the need for a spellblade when we could just use our hands instead of combining a wand and a sword. BUT OUR AFFINITY TEST! This was fun. On my first time, I ended up with three results: Sikranos, Timoros, and Erolis. Leading up to the game I thought I'd pick Sikranos, but I felt gravitated to Erolis. On my retake, I changed one answer and got Sikranos (maybe that was a sign), but I manually changed it to Erolis. I appreciate the option to change. I was also surprised to see Bardic got Erolis, but I just realized everyone's outfits kind of allude to their affinity (though I wish Talyn had more red and Niel's clothes were more vibrant blues). I do wish the outfits we got related to our affinity were a bit more unique; I'd at least like it to be a skin we could use for existing outfits (which we need more of; our defaults being different colors of the same look already is kind of annoying). I'm also questioning WHY Niel's ally quests concerning her nightmares aren't just part of the main story. Her brother, parents, nightmares, and hometown flesh out her story a lot, and while the festival/cooking quests aren't major, the first few concerning who she is and where she comes from feel like they should have more attention. But CATO! I love a nerd who isn't stereotypical (ie goofy, unable to socialize, or a stuck-up jerk), though he still suffers from the bland color palette curse with his outfit, but meeting him in Professor Malum's gorgeous Ikaris classroom almost made up for it, and I'm glad the professor only gave off vague Professor Snape vibes instead of actually acting like him. That said, I'm torn about Cato's ally quests; he seems to open up quickly and shares things with you, and while he doesn't strike me as a loner or secretive, it still feels kinda quick for us to help him make a breakthrough with his powers. And Professor Zaratis feels PRIME "YA parody of famous magical school professor" material since he hates you and is pretty rough even to new students. I'm also realizing it's not explained how magic exploration works; does magic only materialize around MC's age, or can it appear earlier? And if it can, WHY are the students in mixed classes, since ones with more experience would obviously be at different skill levels? Or are the more skilled ones upperclassmen? I will say that I appreciate the fact that Bardric isn't an egotistical jerk; he doesn't have a problem talking to MC occasionally--not leisurely, but at least when it's important. He may see himself as better than you, but he's not entirely unreasonable. Talyn's side missions, unlike Niel's, don't feel necessary to include into the main plot, unfortunately because it's very standard/predictable; he lost friends to a monster and wants revenge, and you bond with him in the meantime. And more use of various affinities that aren't your own. Yay...That said, I do like the fact that he feels an affinity (no pun intended) to you because of your fathers--if only that meant something, since you've learned nothing major about your father or his, so the "solidarity/right-hand man/we're kinda repeating our fathers' roles" feels...less impactful or scary than it should be.

TLDR: Rhiannon gives me mixed signals, the affinity test was fun (took it twice), Niel's main quests should've been part of the main story, Cato is awesome (but bland outfit), I don't understand if people can get magic at an early age and if they're separated from people like MC who just awakened their magic, Bardric isn't a standard mean boy and I love that, and Talyn's ally quests are predictable and lack emotional weight relating to your fathers.

Chapter 3: Squad Goals--It feels very weird that Zaratis is so rough on his students, and no one says anything, nor do they notice his negative energy towards MC. Niel sounded so shocked, and I was like "REALLY?" IDK if he's being read as tough but fair, but I'd think the headmistress at least would've considered the idea that her teachers would not be impartial. Rhiannon wanting to throw a party and leaving it to two newbies feels like a disaster from the get-go. The head of house not doing it herself or enlisting upperclassmen to help feels very odd to me. I get it making sense to have Iridessa and MC show that anyone can get along, but that feels overwhelming, especially shortly after arriving at school and everyone will probably assume the worst. In hindsight, this could've been ignored since we have Old King's Day--the only difference is that that's a main quest that requires a certain ally level with Iridessa to interact with her more (so ironically the opposite of her ally quest). The dream sequence only furthered my idea that the father is actually a tragic character; they're not hiding it very well if it's supposed to be a plot twist. But as a Bardric fan, now was a time when I appreciated being in the same house as him, since you'll eventually run into him outside of class. I think his guard fell a bit too quickly, but like I said, I'm not a heavy fan of slow burns, so I'll take this. And like Niel, his ally quest actually felt like it should've been part of the main story. Him feeling like his dad controls him and you being stuck in a room with him would explain him melting a bit towards you (and being part of the same house helps). And LEONA! I always love when we get a tough girl character who isn't annoying or a jerk--even though I'm not a big fan of mischievous characters. Plus we FINALLY get a character who wants to be friends with us and isn't affiliated with the "villains" whatsoever. Of course, the diverse opinions on MC from the students make me crave more insight into the cultures of the world outside of the school and more of the dad's history. And AGAIN we get a love interest with a muted color scheme! WHY?! Shirtless Cato and Bardric was amazing, but I do feel like this was another fanservice/reeling in the romance fans things. Not saying I didn't want them shirtless, but I kind of expected/hoped for Cato to be the guy who found being shirtless unnecessary and Bardric being the prim-and-proper conservative type who didn't like showing off his body in public. But to be fair, that's just my read. I also find the concept of the chapter to be iffy; MC is supposed to be aiming to get people to join their team, but the only realistic options are Cato and Leona, given that Bardric already talked about being with Soren and Flatcher while Iridessa is with Mor and maybe Stel, not to mention neither Cato or Leona seem connected to anyone and thus feel like the obvious choices. However, Iridessa and Bardric are options to recruit. It would've made sense if Iridessa joined as an apology to MC/having a fallout with Mor, and Bardric could've joined if MC blackmailed him (or out of gratitude if you refused to blackmail him) in their ally quests, and they just frame it as "I wanna help my house/keep MC from hurting anyone." Or maybe if the teams were randomly selected rather than voluntary. But these explanations are never given; you just select one of them and it's treated as matter-of-fact, with NO ONE questioning it. And WHY should I have to raise Niel's level when she said she was gonna team up with me? What would've happened if I went in without her? Would she have been sick or forgotten about it? The trial was also another circumstance where I wish we had opportunities to miss or gain unique spells, rather than just selecting general options to help win the trial. I still don't know if grabbing allies helped.

TLDR: Zaratis must have the best tenure since everyone should see through him, Rhiannon wanting MC to throw a party was dumb and served the same purpose as the OKD chapter, Bardric's quest should've been part of the main story, Leona was great but I question the worldbuilding and character designs again, sexy Bardric/Cato felt OOC in my headcanon, and the chapter's main premise of forming a team for the trial was poorly executed.

Chapter 4: Old Kings' Day--I suppose I could call this the best chapter so far due to it being a blatant fanservice chapter, though I maintain the whole "everyone gets sexy costumes and I'm annoyed at how easy it is, blah blah blah" thoughts. But moving on from that, I do question the requirement of Iridessa; if you don't equip her as an ally (which I didn't), she just doesn't invite you to the party--but you still go and she's still there, so there's really no point to it. I'm also bummed out at Leona and Talyn not getting into costume (I'm assuming Talyn didn't do it because it "wasn't his thing," but again, I do find it harder to believe that nerdy Cato and reserved Niel would wear the costumes they were in). I also wish we had MORE of the good parts of this chapter: OKD is a cultural festival that we don't get a lot of insight into, nor the mythology/folklore of the world; we got to see older members of the house and even a member of another house--and neat, someone who is a child of a "villain" and isn't a fan of me because my dad made their life harder. I did enjoy seeing Talyn act as a big brother figure to Breloc, as well as seeing everyone just having a good time. And fun part; the diverging route. During the party, you can sneak off with someone for a swim. I chose Bardric, and it actually played really well into what happened next: you're attacked by two masked figures (which you assume are Soren and Flatcher) and defended by a new character: Yvain. Whoever you swam with will come back to see what's going on, and as someone who picked Bardric, it almost felt like the canon route. He's warming up to you, and you to him, but now that you're being attacked by two people you think are his best friends, you're suddenly suspicious. It's so bittersweet, but it really worked for the narrative versus choosing someone else; Talyn, Leona, Niel, and Cato would automatically have your back, and Iridessa probably would, too (but let me know if I'm wrong), so Bardric, the one person you know has reason to want you harmed and/or killed, assisting his two friends in trying to harm you makes the most sense in your mind, and puts a wedge in your blossoming relationship. It does make me wonder where we would've gone if MC hadn't been attacked. Oh, and it was too short; I checked a playthrough of this, and omitting the ally quests in the other videos, this only came out to about half the length of the others.

TLDR: Best chapter for romance and blossoming sexy time, though Iridessa being an ally in this was unnecessary, I grieve Talyn and Leona not dressing up, and choosing Bardric as the love interest to sneak away with makes the most sense since two people you assume are his friends attack you, and you're left questioning if he actually even likes you. And WHY was it so short?

Chapter 5: Fire Inside--The fallout for this chapter was very good, but the response should've had more variety; there isn't an option for MC to be more careful or to reanalyze the situation of the previous night, but to either investigate the Flamekeeper to clear everyone's suspicions of you, or to get revenge on Flatcher and Soren. I think addressing both situations are important, but the idea that clearing your name is gonna get people to stop trying to kill you is very naive, considering the animosity MC faced from the beginning. I'd have preferred to have had individual responses to both clearing my name and reacting to Soren and Flatcher. I do regret that Niel doesn't give any doubt to MC's claims, though; while I'm pretty sure it WAS Soren and Flatcher who attacked them, it isn't wise to just assume that just because you see two people attack you--which is why I'm glad you have the option of telling Headmistress Windworm that it was two masked students instead of just straight-up telling her that it was Soren and Flatcher. Though I think that may be a reflection of MC's trust rather than actual doubt over the culprit (as evident by the fact that if you tell her about your father after your affinity test, she will become suspicious of you, which in itself feels like it should've been canon). And concerning Niel's recent ally quest with lightning wings: um, isn't it kind of important that they change color in response to strong emotions? This better be used in the main story; do you know how useful it would be to tell who's a danger around you, or at the very least if there's a hidden enemy around? For the Penthos class, it felt like the most important course so far, given everyone in Onyx House is pretty much tense and brimming with acrimony. And I LOVE that Bardric is just trying to learn--or just wants to avoid angering Professor Xolin--and doesn't give into any of the fighting. Though I do question how the narrative wants us to see him, as an enemy or a friend/lover we have to break through to. I mean, it's obviously the latter, but it seems that they want MC to pump the breaks on their feelings for him after just starting to get close, only to find yourself still having feelings for him, platonic or not. I get the whole "fighting your feelings" thing, but it does feel like we probably shouldn't have made a lot of emotional progress with Bardric considering all that's happened. The dream with MC's father only furthers my suspicions (unless we're being being led on with someone manipulating our dreams to make him look sympathetic), and it was nice to know about Rhiannon more, especially as she notes she's in an arranged marriage. I'm hoping concepts like that are brought up more to contribute to the worldbuilding. She also felt a bit more likebable when talking on a personal level rather than it feeling obligatory. Leona calling out Yvain when he struggles to gain control over his power was hilarious since that was my first thought as well. I'm honestly surprised that Cato, Talyn, or Iridessa aren't allowed to join Niel and MC in order to investigate the main hall after the Flamekeeper's attack. And the second trial felt like an afterthought to me personally. It didn't really deliver on the emotional or magical level that a trial dependent on controlling your emotions and wielding fire. Talyn kinda hammered it home at the end, but I do wish it had been stronger, especially since most of what you know about your father is very surface-level, so it hasn't really been explained why MC should be afraid of being like him. If anything, it'd be interesting to see MC paired up with Soren and Flatcher to compliment that--though I guess that'd be a major story element, since that implies someone knew about your attack (and if you told Headmistress Windworm that you think they attacked you, it'd make her look responsible), so I guess they couldn't do it that way.

And I'm not really certain what the point of ignoring Zaratis was, since it wasn't really ignoring him; you nod, and he nods back, like he's suddenly okay with you.

TLDR: I liked the Bardric fallout (but I'm confused on how we're supposed to feel about him, or Zaratis for that matter), but MC is jumping to conclusions, and investigating the Flamekeeper vs dealing with who he believes to be his attackers shouldn't be an either/or thing, growing closer to Rhiannon was fun but dad dreams feel obvious and we learn nothing more on him, the Penthos class was super special to me but both it's lessons and the second trial felt underscored.

Overall, I like the idea that this game COULD BE, but I do have issues with the worldbuilding and currency. I hope to see improvement as time goes on! Forgive me if I forgot/misremembered something.

I probably won't make another post on this until the next few chapters are released, which means a few months at this rate. Just finished Chapter 6, but I'll save that for the next post. Make sure to check out my main page for the type of things I post about!

[aces-and-angels]

he gets it

[innerstorydunker]

I have questions. Why does Cato have hazel eyes? There is a spell to lube yourself? Of course, this is nerdy bodybuilder has a big spellblade in his pants. In the previous romance scene, you give him the gawk gawk 9000. You didn't notice his size then? Okay...

[urdilfred]

Gonna be whipping up Spellfyre art what kinda dog breeds do you think the love interest are? I think Iridessa is a cocker spaniel or Brozi. My MC is a German Shepherd wolf cross. Not entirely sure about the others tho.