So I finally saw the Fyre Festival documentary on Netflix, and because I overanalyse everything, I'd like to talk about the way people in this hour-and-a-half long documentary are put into frame.
First things first: this is a visually very appealing documentary, especially considering how seemingly simple the setup is.
The docu is made up of two kinds of footage.
One the one hand, there's 'found footage'. Most of this comes from marketing shoots made to promote the festival. There's also clips from I'm assuming Twitter or Instagram, video's that people made with their phones during the deeply unpleasant events at the actual festival site. Near the end there's also footage taken from another promo shoot, this time for the new ticketing scam McFarland was working on.
This is all action cam footage. It's people dancing, swimming, toasting. It's the team typing and working, coming up with plans and strategies. It's them 'hustling. The guest footage from the festival itself is at times reminiscent of a horror movie: shaky cam, bad lighting, people just in general shock.
Rarely are people standing still in these images. There's a lot of energy here, be it positive or negative.
The atmosphere you get from these images is the liveliness, the 'in the moment' feel.
Billy McFarland himself, one of the main antagonists in this documentary, the one behind it all, is all over this found footage. That makes sense because, again, he's one of the main players in the organisation.
If these images are action cam, chaotic, energetic, it's because a lot of them have him as their main focus.
The first image we see of him from the aftermath is him walking through New York, on the phone, chased by journalists.
It's good footage, because it not only puts him as the main 'prey' of this documentary, but because, judging by the witnesses, this man is a whirling dervish, a hurricane of energy and wire fraud.
Contrast that with Grant, another one of the organisers, who in what little footage we have of him, is sitting down, visibly stressed and freaking out. They're the general and the accountant, the one who pulls everyone along with inspiring speeches, and the one that has to make things happen.
Ja Rule, finally, the third antagonist, is usually shown partying. He's not around in the later images, and seems to have missed any of the actual practical setup and eventual disaster. He's just there to promote, to have fun.
Looked at like this they become almost simple characters. The numbers man, the hype man, and in the middle of it all: the firestorm.
But what I found most interesting were the shoots the documentary takers filmed themselves. These are the interviews with several of the employees and witnesses after the fact.
And what's striking is that these are all very similar in their framing.
The interviewee is invariably sitting in the very middle of the frame, usually viewed from the waist or knees up, with close-ups for dramatic moments.
This works to make a visual break between the events themselves, which are chaotic and full of action, and the commentary afterward, which looks almost academic. The participants are sitting down and reflecting, calmly, on what the hell just happened.
This framing also gives a certain personality to each of the witnesses, or at least seems to reflect them in some thematic way. I think the most visually striking one is Andy, the host, who sits in this very warm, seventies style den.
It makes sense for him. He's the experienced one, potentially the oldest of the interviewees. He mentions a few times that he's done this for thirty years. He's a great character, because he looks like a dad, but he's also the one with the blowjob story.
But this style of themed imagery is all over the interview footage.
The creative director is almost perfectly colour coordinated with his background.
The asian lady that worked for the app sits in front of a beautiful book case, giving the impression that she's intelligent or at least highly trained, perhaps bookish.
The worker from the island sits on a simple wooden chair in front of greenery and palm trees. He sits outdoors, in the environment that suits him as a builder, and he is by far the most relaxed of all the interviewees.
The cook, meanwhile, is filmed in front of her restaurant, on the Exuma beach, under a gorgeous sunny sky. This is the one actually sitting in this promised paradise, close to the festival site. She's also the only one that cries on camera.
It's nice, because the visuals are pretty, but they also seem to write a small story of their own.
Seth, the guest that had his personal lawyer sue Fyre, sits in a kitchen that feels like a Hamptons home, a Pinterest style environment for rich people.
The stage guy is in one of the more bare environments, with less light, possibly some warehouse associated with storing this kind of equipment.
These locations are, by the way, very clearly picked.
The journalist sits in a messy office, but it's clear that it isn't hers. Journalists don't usually work in offices, they work in open plan newsrooms. It's probably her chief editor's or a publisher's or something.
A lot of them look like they were interviewed in some meeting room, after work.
The festival consultant sits behind a beautiful wooden table, in front of a glass wall that shows a big office.
The software engineer sits in a bright cubicle office environment.
But that's the interesting thing about most of these: the location is usually decidedly hipster.
The marketing guy that filmed the promo is in this large hip office space with high industrial walls, as is the CEO for the media company.
The creative director for the Fyre app is also pictured in a large, high ceilinged office building.
These visuals are not neutral. High ceilings, bare brick, tall cast iron industrial style windows, those are usually associated with a specific type of New York architecture. These are the environments frequented by the affluent, the hip and rich. In a way, it seems, these are still millennial elites, the very same people that McFarland, it is mentioned, was is so good at targeting.
I suppose it's a comforting thought that these people do seem to have gotten back on their feet.
One of the main outliers (apart from the actual island employees) in this regard is the young man that worked for Fyre media. The one that had to book the artists. He is by far the youngest of them, and it looks like he's sitting in his parent's bedroom.
"Babe, what's this?"
Dante lifts the plate curiously, a look of disgust on his face that is not even seen by empusa in the seconds before their death.
"Dinner, hun", you say patiently, filling up a second batch. "It's pita bread. I figured we'd try something else, and this is close enough to pizza."
"Whatever you say", he hums, shaking his head as he plops onto the kitchen chair to poke at the parcel in front of him.
His face falls.
"Damn, you hid a ton of vegetables in there."
"They're not hiding, they're part of the dish", you say and you take you plate to the table.
He shrugs and grabs the bread envelope with both hands, lifting it up as if to find some deeper wisdom underneath.
"How is this supposed to be pizza again?"
"It's bread", you point out. "And there's cheese."
A chuckle. "Is it hiding underneath the vegetables or something?" he asks.
"Yes darling", you say, and you take a bite out of your own.
"Mmmm, these came out great!" You happily munch your food, exaggerating maybe just a little, as Dante watches in amusement.
Then he leans back, one elbow over the back of the chair and tilts his head.
"So what's this about?" he says, just as you attempt to take another bite. "You've never tried to feed me health food before."
You stop, look across the table at the man whose continued wellbeing has instilled fear and worry in your heart for sustained periods of time ever since you two met. The events that keep unfolding around you inspire a helplessness you have trouble putting into words.
But there he is, somehow still alive, seemingly without a care in the world.
Smiling. Right here across the table.
You take a deep breath.
"Pizza has very little nutritional value," you say.
He quirks an eyebrow at you.
"I'm just saying... You were stuck in hell for weeks on end. It would probably do well to take care of your body a little. Humans need vitamins, you know."
He huffs. "I am in peak physical condition, babe", he says, and he throws you a smirk that could melt the last of the icecaps all by itself. "Certainly heard no complaints from you last night."
"Well," you cough. "That's certainly, um, true. But also, you're a forty year old man. Just eat the damn vegetables? Please?"
You pout and his shoulder sag, resigned.
He takes a bite and under your watchful eye there is a moment, just a flicker, of delight, before he manages to get a hold of himself. He frowns grumpily as he chews, but he finishes the bread long before you.
"So?" you say, lifting your eyebrows. "Good?"
"It's ok, I guess", he shrugs. "Wouldn't mind another one, even."
He leans forward across the table and waggles his eyebrows. "Then maybe we'll see if my physical condition has improved, eh?"
Because sometimes you gotta combine obsessions into an AU, yaknow.
Otoya, the Rogue. This guy has a classic 'street urchin with a heart of gold' type backstory. Grew up in rough circumstances and learned to be quick on his feet, and quicker with his fingers, to survive. Incredibly bubbly and friendly, in an almost naive way, despite his experiences. Specializes in relieving the rich of their coin, and giving it to the poor, which sometimes means himself, but not always. Definitely has a weak spot for helping the downtrodden.
Masato, the Ranger: The scion of a very strict clan of holy warriors up in the mountains, Masato has undertaken a journey to see the world and prove himself, before he heads back to become chief. He is almost laughably serious in anything he does, despite hiding what appears to be a soft side, and definitely a large number of repressed feelings. Wears elegant hide armor and wields a beautiful carved bow, inherited from his mother. He has a surprisingly delicate touch when it comes to crafts, be it making arrows or sewing clothes.
Natsuki: Multiclass Druid-Barbarian (no, listen). Natsuki is the meekest of gentle giants, the soft protector of the Grove, whose favourite spell is Speak with Animals. His Herbalism mastery means he makes very effective potions, but somehow they always taste like utter crap. It doesn't help that he keeps trying to 'improve' the flavor. No one really knows how he got two levels in Barbarian and why, and he certainly doesn't talk about it. This part of him only seems to come out when he or his loved ones are attacked.
Tokiya, the Wizard. Nothing delights this book lover more than tomes of ancient knowledge. He can usually be found studying in some forgotten library, with nothing but his cat familiar to keep him company. It is advised to not bother him when he's doing this. Specialises mostly in Divination and Enchantment. He's been chipping away at his craft since a very young age, and you could say he was a child prodigy, much to the chagrin of his parents, who had hoped for a more religious career. A bit aloof, and not exactly happy about being stuck on a quest with *these weirdos*.
Ren, the Bard. (Obviously) This dude is a natural at shmoozing people to gather information, and he's definitely the type to try seducing his way out of a dragon encounter. Ren is incredibly perceptive, seeing through most people while putting on plenty of masks himself, which aids him greatly in this class. His instrument of choice, particularly for performing counterspells and Vicious Mockery, is the shawm. Part of him is definitely doing all of this, just to piss off his family of lower nobles.
Syo, the Monk. Drifted into Natsuki's Grove some years back and kinda stuck around as a weird soft of bodyguard/companion. His lithe, small frame doesn't make it seem like he's be good at hand-to-hand combat, but that's before you notice just how friggin fast this guy is. He's pretty much impossible to hit. His craft is leatherwork, and he has a whole array of colorful and aesthetic wrappings and boots and hats to suit his moods.
Cecil, the Paladin: Cecil is an actual prince from a far-flung, starting out on a quest to find himself a princess. In doing this, he does not seem burdened by much wordly knowledge or even common sense in some cases. The fact that he didn't get robbed at the first stop is probably due to his protection from his god. Not the most diplomatic, but certainly the most earnest of warriors, he wears gleaming fullplate armor, fights with a rapier and has an honest to god white horse.
Reiji, the Cleric. One of the calmest and most… sociable dudes in the party and therefore usually the peace keeper, despite his array of bad jokes and an overly flirtatious nature. He's surprisingly unreligious, for, ya know, a cleric. He just has a chill relationship with his trickster god, who he 'sacrifices' lunch to. A serviceable cook, raised by a single mom, who's just trying to make the world a little better, and have some fun in the meantime.
Ranmaru, the Fighter: Ran is, predictably, the more gritty of the troupe. He carries a two-handed sword and wears scuffed halfplate, a reminder to the battle that saw his family lose their lands. He's been trying to get them back ever since, gaining allies and fighting for coin with a single-minded determination that can, at times, be a little scary. It's hard to gain his trust, but once you do, he'll lighten up. If only a little.
Ai, the Sorcerer: Ai surrounds himself in mystery, but it's undeniable that he can bank on some innate, buit in talent that makes him a formidable magic user. This is the type of perceptive guy who can learn to perform a spell, just by watching someone else use it. A very studious person, Ai does look at the world with an oddly detached, almost clinical eye. He serves as the unofficial chronicler of the group, writing down everything that happens in an ever -expanding journal.
Camus, the Warlock. A noble from one of the northern kingdoms. This guys has a bit of a dark side that not a lot of people know about. He is, on the surface, a very friendly and charismatic man, almost submissive in his mannerisms. His friends or party members, however, know him to be occasionally cold and aloof. He serves someone called the Queen, but it's not clear who the hell that's supposed to be. He, too, has a familiar, an oddly elegant stark white hell hound named Alexander.
Personalities based mostly on the mobile game
Yes, I'm aware of the rules and several of these are bad builds, don't @ me.
It's nearly summer, so it's time for me to attempt to clean out my brain space again. And for you, or those interested, to vote on where I should focus said brain space, AKA what should I write.
Disclaimer: This poll is primarily for informative and motivational purposes. All of the entries here are stories I want to write, but writer brains are wonky and aren't always capable of actually doing the write thing for the story that 'wins'. However, if you look at previous polls, you'll see that I do eventually end up writing a bunch of them. What the poll does, is give me some direction in where to go in the massive buffet of fragments and fic ideas that flutters around my skull.
So. Without further ado, tell me where to focus my energies first:
Finish the damn Godbook, Lethey (Haikyuu!!)
A Daichi x Suga moderate burn, in which Suga is a reincarnated god, and Daichi comes from the past. Heavy on the shenanigans and the semi-sibling squabbling between Kuroo, Oikawa and Suga (and poor little Yachi that has to keep the peace). Urban fantasy with heavy greek mythology influences and a sequel to a Yachi x Yamaguchi slowburn set in the same AU. Currently in limbo around chapter 4.
Moar Shinsou! (Boku no Hero Academia)
Deliverance is a story about Shinsou Hitoshi taking up a job as a delivery guy, bringing Highly Suspicious packages to various strange people. Turns out Aizawa's customers aren't exactly normal, and maybe Shinsou is a little special too. Urban fantasy, set in 90's Seattle, with a lot of music references and best boi Tokoyami as a love interest. Currently stuck on chapter 5.
Do the V fic (Devil May Cry 5)
V x Reader - Vergil x Reader. This fic is essentially the stages of grief, as I'm dealing with them, following the ending to DMC5, but in fic form. Reader is in a happy relationship with V, but is distraught to find that he dies and is replaced with a white-haired asshole, who still appears to have lingering feeling for her. Porny, corny, needless angst. Very much attempting to write itself despite my best efforts to shut that thing down.
Indulge the abo thing because apparently that will not die (Kuroko no Basuke)
Hanamiya x Reader. A continuation of this thing. Reader is an omega with a Condition, and Hanamiya is willing to help, as long as he can be utterly insufferable about it. Porn. Like, porn with feelings and plot and shit, but still: porn. Kinky to boot. And Abo. All kinds of problematic.
My player party of four contains three (3!) book nerds, so I made some lore to explain why they can’t just buy All the Magic Books.
The printing press has been invented, and was perfected some eighty years ago by gnomish artisans in the Assembly of Free Nations, a sprawling region of loosely allied states. Only a few years after its invention, printing came to the empire of Tarask, where our characters reside. It was imported at the behest of Claudia Cicero, an entrepreneurial, if rather elderly, teacher. In her native city of Catilina she is known as the Matron of Books, and she founded the printing company Scholastic Publications out of a sense of, so it is said, community spirit. The original company printed mostly school books and research projects, next to the occasional vanity project for one of her wealthy patrons. However, she always did keep the technology used closely guarded and it wasn't until after her death, when the blueprints for the printing press were found, that the industry really boomed.
A wealth of printing companies rose up like mushrooms after rain and started competing with each other over dime novels, news leaflets, advertisement posters and more. Soon, they started competing with bottom prices and… other means. For a period of five years, the district around the original location of Scholastic Publications descended into what is now called the Printing Wars. It was a violent time, in which printing companies blew up, people found themselves stabbed on the way to work and many a writer would discover that their mail was poisoned the day after they chose a publishing house. It eventually got so bad that the government stepped in.
The head of the empire's administration, took possession of Scholastic Publications and renamed the company Capital Printing. He then forced all of its competitors to fuse into a single business. The talks that would eventually lead to Cuomo Publishing took a few weeks, in which a surprisingly large amount of entrepreneurs drowned in their bathtub.
That was sixty years ago, and the situation hasn't changed much since. Every now and then a small printing company will start up, either in the capital, or in a provincial town farther away, and within weeks they will come upon some kind of misfortune, be it a fire, a malfunctioning printer or - in one particularly tragic case - an accident involving a kitchen knife and a decapitation. No foul play is ever proven, but the whole thing does mean that there are, in essence, two printing companies in Tarask. Larger regional towns might have a small press, but it will always be an affiliate of one of these two.
Capital Printing is the publisher of the empire and prints mostly books drafted by its many research institutes, such as the Archaeological Society, the Geographical Society, the Scholastic Society (which provides all educational resources for schools), the Military Academy and more. Any edicts written by the emperor or his government, and any laws and instructions that have to be sent throughout the land, can also be provided by this company. Capital Printing has recently started a news publication, The Statesman, that focuses on the many great deeds of Tarask citizens, and the wise decisions of its government.
Cuomo Publishing, then, is a more profit-oriented company. It will occasionally print on-demand, if a wealthy patron wants to distribute their own book and is willing to pay the full printing costs. Mostly, however, it specializes in the kind of literature that can be sold to large audiences. They will publish many saucy romance novels, intriguing mysteries and shocking horror stories, as well as compilations of classic popular plays, Gnomish limericks, or well known Elven poetry. Cuomo Publishing is the company behind the highly lauded Cuomo Almanac, a tear-off calender with jokes, factoids and small prayers on the back of each page. This company also recently started a news publication, The Informant, which seems to focus mostly on horrific crime stories, tales of dragon invasions and the sordid affairs of the wealthy inhabitants of Catilina.
This means that a book nerd looking for affordable literature will mostly find either popular novels, or state-sponsored research. For more niche information, especially pertaining magic books, they will be limited to hand written books or imported goods, both of which are discouragingly expensive, and hard to find outside of speciality shops.
I sincerely doubt the world needs this, but that sort of thing has never stopped me before. Have an extremely biased guide of several dating sim games, organised by some arbitrary metrics.
Word of warning: this will be long (4k words), because I've played an embarrassingly large amount of otomes.
As a disclaimer: obviously this is a personal opinion. If you (as a lot of people do) enjoy the more forceful bad boy type in your dating sim, I’m not going to judge you. I, however, don’t, so this list is very specifically going to call out games for how they treat the protag.
Featured here: Amnesia: Memories, Blood in Roses, Cutie Demon Crashers, Destined to Love, Dream Daddy, Hatoful Boyfriend, Hustle Cat, Ikemen Revolution, Ikemen Sengoku, Lost Alice, Midnight Cinderella, Monster Prom, Mystic Messenger
A note on play styles.
These games come in a few flavours, which is important to know if you're gonna try them.
The vast majority of the mobile games here follow a basic visual novel structure. You pick a guy and read through the different chapters, and depending on your answers you'll be leaning toward one of two or three endngs. Since these are free to play mobiles, there's a bunch of challenges you will need to log in daily to pass.
Mystic Messenger is the main outlier, since it's a chat simulator that plays in real time.
The pc games tend to be more complex, with interlocking routes and more endings, generally. You'll need a number of skill points to meet character A for instance, or you'll need to do a series of actions to reach ending B.
Great games
Ikemen Sengoku
Hands down one of the best mobile otomes out there right now. I found this when searching for pics of Masamune Date (from a different game) and I've sort of been obsessed with otomes since.
Platform: Android (free to play, pay for premiums)
Story: MC gets sucked into a wormhole and finds herself 500 years back in time, in Sengoku era Japan. She drops in on the exact moment where Nobunaga Oda, the Demon King, would be assassinated at Honno-ji. She stops the murder, disrupts the timeline and now there's a bunch of hot warlords vying for her attention.
Protagonist’s spine: Reinforced steel. This is one of my favourite protags, because she is Super Sassy and doesn't take shit, unless she's literally being threatened with a sword. The protags where I feel like I understand their actions are few and far between, but this is one of them. Except when she goes far beyond mere bravery to get her man, and decides to forgo tampons and, like, wifi, to live 500 years in the god damn past.
Squick factor: Low. This game is made by Cybird, a company that appears very big on consent. The guys generally treat MC with respect, probably more than could be reasonably asked of a Sengoku warlord. The only worrying stuff happens in the Obvious Yandere route, but you kinda know what you're getting yourself into with that one.
The Good: I friggin love the writing for this game. The guys feel like real characters, there's a ton of interaction between them and I need to give this game extra points for the story events, which are almost invariably gold. This is where the makers stop giving a shit about realism and just go for what they want to write. There's ones where all the guys are suddenly idols, there's a Christmas episode, there's one where they battle through cooking and cleaning. It doesn't take itself serious, is what i mean, and it's Hilarious.
The Bad: This is one where the in-game art (aside from the CG's) is actually not that great. Hideyoshi's smile is kinda weird looking and the models feel a little outdated at this point.
Best Warlord: This is very difficult, because a lot of them are dreamy, but let's just say that I need a Mitsuhide route so very badly.
Ikemen Revolution
The newest Cybird game and my current fave.
Story: MC falls down the rabbit hole when she tries to give a rushed White Rabbit man something he dropped. She ends up in Cradle/Wonderland, where war is about to break out between the Red and Black army, the Hearts and the Spades. Everyone is hot dudes and MC is considered Alice the Second (after the one from Through the Looking Glass).
Squick factor: Low. Again: Cybird game. This means there is steamy situations and sex scenes, but they're blatantly consensual. The routes I've played so far keep well within the bounds of what I would consider romantic.
Protagonist’s spine: Varnished wood. In general MC is self-propelling with occasional bouts of bravery. You can tell why she's doing the things she's doing and how she reacts to situations feels sort of logical. She's hard-working and caring and a little naïve, but the fact that she's canonically a woman from early 19th Century London does put a lot of her actions in perspective (like the amount of bullshit she puts up with).
The Good: The writing is fun. There's a good mix of angst and just… general comedy. The characters interact with each other a lot, and it feels like they're a big loud family, especially in the Black Army, which is more like a frat than anything else. The art is also decent. The backgrounds are utterly gorgeous and most of the guys are very good looking. When I first started the game I was weirded out by the blinking animation, but I have since gotten used to that.
The Bad: I found some of the plot rushed. Like you spend so long slow burn growing toward each other, and then suddenly stuff has to happen action movie style because we're running out of chapters. The final chapters of Fenrir's route were just plain dumb. Like could that BE more of an obvious trap. Come on MC, I expected better of you. Also, since this is a very new game, not that many routes are out (four at the time of writing).
Best boy: Hooo man. Of the routes that are out, Ray is very… oooof. But my fave chars are probably 'so done' Sirius (the fact that he's voiced by Suwabe has nothing to do with this, surely) and 'also quite done' Kyle, who is both a doctor and an alcoholic wreck of a human being.
Mystic Messenger
You know Mystic Messenger, it's like one of the biggest otome's of the past few years.
Platform: Android, iOS (free to play, pay for extra saves and stuff)
The Story: MC follows a text message to a weirdly high tech apartment and this somehow puts her in the position of party planner for a secretive group of weird people. It only gets more complicated from there. The game plays out in real time, via chat conversations and the occasional story segment.
Squick factor: Um. I personally wasn't weirded out, but I also decided very specifically not to play Jumin's route. This girl did her research. The routes in Another Story are also very over the top and would probably bug me. While I love the Saeran character, I don't think I'd be able to handle that route. So: highly dependent on chosen route.
Protagonist’s spine: Adderall. It takes a specific kind of person to download a chat app and follow the instructions given by a random stranger therein. It takes a much stranger person to sit in an apartment with a bomb and just keep inviting people to a party. MC is on a different level from us mortals.
The Good: I loved the game mechanic, because it felt very real. The player is following a chatroom, just like the character is. Besides that, the story is completely bonkers and I appreciate that.
The Bad: Did I mention it plays in real time? Because it plays in real time, meaning you get chat conversations at two in the morning. I was very sleep deprived when I played this.
Best boy: 707. Dude is funny and deep and hot and relatable and smart and I want to give him all the hugs.
Dream Daddy
One of the few decidedly mlm games I've played so far. You've probably heard of it since it was the subject of much hype and much controversy. Markiplier played it. Friggin Buzzfeed has video's on it.
Platform: PC and Mac (it's on Steam)
The Story: MC is a Dad who moves into a neighbourhood with a lot of other single(-ish) dads. Time to work it.
Squick factor: Low. This is primarily a humour game: there's a ton of dad jokes and silly mini games, and a distinct lack of kabe don's. The canon routes are all very thoughtful.
Protagonist’s spine: Barbecued sausage. Player Dad just goes for it. He’s flexible and caring enough to handle the more sensitive subjects, and self aware enough to deal with random crime and weird drunks.
The Good: I remember opening this game and, in the character creation screen, telling a trans friend of mine 'omg you can wear binders', and the sheer Glee of his reaction. That's the kinda stuff this game was, partly, made for and it is appreciated. I really liked the tongue-in-cheek writing, most of the jokes landed and the whole thing is just a lot of fun.
The Bad: Some of the minigames are annoying. Why the hell are you making me play Bejeweled with fish? I also had a hard time sympathizing with some of the kids. I mean… Lucien straight up tries to murder someone? Ernest is 'rebellious' but he's also an ass.
Best dad: Damien has the best route, but have you Seen Mat? Holy moly.
Not worth it games
Amnesia: Memories
This game should come with a friggin warning, so I'm giving it here. Its popularity and star rating is a terrible indicator for how much you may enjoy this game. It presents itself as a cute dating sim with gorgeous art, but it devolves into straight up horror, and not in the good way. This feels like a guidebook written in the 1800's to tell young women their place. Not even mortified intrigue could make me finish this.
Platform: PC (Steam or Google Play) and PlayStation Vita
Story: MC wakes up with amnesia. Someone hurt her and she doesn't know who to trust. You'll need to figure out what happened.
Squick factor: Super high. Like… so high. Everyone treats MC like shit and she just lets it happen, even developing all kinds of Stockholm Syndrome as she falls in love with these asshats. MC's childhood friend supposedly loves her but is such a tsun and just… doesn't communicate while also treating her like a small child. One of the other characters is so popular he has a fucking harem but MC is just supposed to wait for him to actually fall in love with her. And don't even get me started on that friggin yandere. *shudders* Even the secret route 'true love' character is a million types of wrong.
Protagonist’s spine: Undercooked custard. MC has the self preservation skills of a wet sponge and whoever is playing this is supposed to get turned on by high concept ideas of S&M that are just written out so badly everything feels like an abusive relationship.
The Good: *sigh* The art. The art is very pretty (I'm upset at the art since it sucked me into the horror). Also, as a visual novel, this one is complex as all hell. There's a ton of endings (most of them deadly) depending your actions as a player. It's vast, is what I'm saying. Also, I hear the clover route isn't as bad as some of the others, but I was too weirded out to try.
The Bad: See rant. This is one of those games that really seems to glorify the whole possessive, abusive boyfriend shtick, but it's ok because he loves you, really. Ugh. Just… ugh.
Best boy: Kent? I guess? He doesn't appear to be actively abusing MC at least.
Shall we date: Lost Alice
I wondered if I should include this because I literally played like ten chapters and then deleted it, but that in itself should give some indication.
Platform: Android (free to play, in-app premium purchases)
Story: MC wakes up in the forest with amnesia (I see a trend). Turns out she's in Wonderland and everyone thinks she's Alice. Most of Wonderland's characters are, predictably, hot men.
Squick factor: Unavailable. I didn't play far enough to see but some of the men are quite pushy and also it's a Shall we date app, so… tread carefully.
Protagonist’s spine: Cement. This is an MC that puts up a fight, which I respect. Sadly she does so in that 'needlessly aggressive' way that anime characters sometimes have. I didn't find her particularly sympathetic.
The Good: The art. It's always the art that gets me.
The Bad: The UI annoyed the shit out of me. This is a free to play, pay for premiums game, so some level of mindless clicking is expected if you try to play for free. This one had just too much. There was friend greeting and picture rating and princess lessons and got knows what else, all taking a ton of time. Trying to get to the home page popped up at least four different 'now on sale' screens every single time. The writing wasn't good enough for me to deal with that.
Best boy: Well there’s a cat. So.
Decent games
Hustle cat
This game is set in a cat café, that was all the encouragement I needed to buy it.
Platform: PC (Steam)
Story: MC is invited to take a job at a cat café. Turns out everyone in the café is cursed, and also they're into you.
Squick factor: Almost non-existant. This is a very tumblr friendly game in the sense that your love interests are both male and female, and none of them are particularly pushy. The relationships feel pretty natural and mostly consist of MC helping their love interest with some subquest.
Protagonist’s spine: Cucumber. MC is actually pretty cool. The game does that 'modern western game' thing where you get to pick a gender and a skin colour for your protag and the general atmosphere is 'tongue in cheek'. MC doesn't let people walk over them, but they're generally helpful.
The Good: CATS. The premise of this game is pretty neat.
The Bad: According to Steam I played this five months ago, and I pretty much forgot about it. Fun game but not particularly memorable.
Best cat: Landry. Tall, gentle giants are a particular weakness.
Shall we date: Blood in Roses
This is me giving Shall we Date another shot, because the amount of hot mildly medieval boys was intriguing.
Platform: Android (free to play, in-app premiums)
Story: There's two, because this app has been around for a while and now has two 'seasons'. The Witch stumbles upon a supposedly abandoned castle and gets imprisoned there by a bunch of vampires. The Hunter, meanwhile, seeks out the castle because she wants to stop an attack on her village. Both come to realize that the castle is now a hotel for monsters, and that its denizens are both not what they imagined, and also hot.
Squick factor: Highly dependent on route. The Witch literally starts in a jail cell, so you can imagine the Stockholm Syndrome shit that goes down. Also, this is a personal preference, but I'm really weirded out by a lot of blood play stuff so most of the vampire routes are gonna be… problematic. Shall we Date games don't shy away from sex scenes and I like that, but coupling them with drinking blood 'to get in the mood' is a rather specific niche. The game does offer a number of other options for you to court, from werewolves to wizards and… grim reapers? It's a mixed batch. If you're not into pushed boundaries I can offer one tip: stay away from the vampires.
Protagonist’s spine: Sand cookie. She has one, but it's brittle. I've mostly played Hunter routes and it's like… she tries, and she can take care of herself but she also tolerates more bullshit than necessary, ya know.
The Good: The art is good, and some of the storylines are intriguing despite my reservations. I'm still playing it (mostly in a quest to find a good ending where MC doesn't die to become a weird immortal creature). The UI, while annoying, isn't as bad as Lost Alice's, or so it seems.
The Bad: The writing is very hit or miss. There's routes where the guy just sort of lowkey stalks MC, until she suddenly decides she's incredibly in love with him. There's others that make even less sense, and then there's ones that feel more natural. In general, MC's actions don't seem to have a lot of thought put into them.
Best boy: So far: Gordon. He's cute and sensible and tortured and not incredibly antagonistic.
Midnight Cinderella
You'll notice a friggin ton of Cybird games on here.
Platform: Android (free to play, premium purchases)
Story: MC gets, mostly by accident, chosen to be the Princess of Wysteria. As such she must prepare to govern the country when the king dies, and choose a consort from a number of suitors.
Squick factor: Low. Not only are these men respectful of her, they're rather literally treating her like royalty. Having said that, there is a lot of the typical hurtful tsun stuff going in several routes.
Protagonist’s spine: Lightly done steak. There's something weird going on with the protag in this game. When it comes to governing, she's tough as nails. She's thrown into a situation she wasn't ready for, and while this stresses her out 24/7, she performs admirably. On the other hand, her main reaction to literally anything when it comes to love is 'Oh'. She cries a lot, at times she feels like a wet rag. There's a bunch of situations she could have just solved by going 'Yeah I'm into you'. She's complex, I guess.
The Good: The writing, while melodramatic, is nice. The art is good as well.
The Bad: This is an old game and it doesn't perform that well on my current-gen smartphone. Expect to push certain buttons several times before the game realizes what you're trying to do. Also the loading takes ages.
Best boy: For me, Sid, because he reminds me of Aomine Daiki and I'm weak for that type of personality. As far as routes go, Leo's probably had the most impact on me.
Destined to Love
I'll be honest, I started this because of an event in Ikemen Sengoku that would give me cross game storage. Don't judge me.
The Story: MC gets flung back in time (this is also a trend, it seems) to the 1800's, a few weeks before the Ikedaya incident will make the Shinsen-gumi a historic Legend. She meets, and chrams, a whole bunch of historical figures.
Protagonist’s spine: Cured leather. As a modern woman sent back in time, MC is probably fairly sassy by the standards of the time, but she remains mostly polite. She's tough, considering the circumstances, but quite pliable in that 'we'll see where this goes and make the best of it' way.
Squick factor: Low. There's one character that just screams 'red flag' but I have yet to try his route. Since this is a Cybird game, most of the guys are pretty respectful.
The Good: I really like the premise? As the title suggests, MC's love is part of a higher destiny, one that transcends time, and it's one of the reasons she has to go to friggin 1800's Japan. She has a hand in making history. This amuses me. Also, the guys are pretty good looking.
The Bad: This is a fairly old mobile game and you can kinda tell. On a technical level it's not as bad as Midnight Cinderella, but again the touch buttons aren't always responsive. Besides that, some of the writing is rather clunkily translated and a bunch of the art is low res.
Best Boy: I haven't played all the routes here, but Katsura is a god damn sweetheart, and Kyo and Yamazaki seem adorable AF.
The weird: the special ones
Hatoful Boyfriend
The reason I know otome's exist. This one shot to meme status a few years back.
Platform: PC (it's on Steam)
Story: MC is one of the last remaining humans after sentient birds took over the world. She gets enrolled into an elite school for pigeons.
Squick factor: Medium to high. The major thing to understand about Hatoful is that on the surface it looks like a particularly silly dating sim with pigeons, but dig deeper and it is Also a full blown apocalyptic horror story. And it follows the genre where a wrong move gets MC horrifically killed.
Having said that, several of the routes, including the god damn serial killer one, didn't bother me as much as something like Amnesia, because they were not sold as romantic. Maybe it's the whole pigeon thing, maybe it's the general weirdness of the plot, or maybe it is because said serial killer actually goes 'Surely you knew this would happen', before he guts you.
Protagonist’s spine: Gummy bear. MC is highly forgettable, but therefore also like… not annoying. The main focus here is on uncovering the many layered plot and the player character doesn't really have a scripted personality, she just embodies the player's actions.
The Good: This whole game is so out there. There's a reason it became so popular. It's an Experience. The plot is over the top and intricate and Weird, and that makes it intriguing. There's a ton of routes and endings, some more secret than others. The 'human' version of some of these birds is kinda hot (sadly that includes the serial killer).
The Bad: the plot is so weird and meandering that it's kinda hard to follow at times. I'm fairly certain it takes several guides to unlock all the endings.
Best Birb: It's been a while, but I remember liking Yuuya's route quite a lot.
Monster Prom
The new hype.
Platform: PC (Steam!)
Story: MC is a student at Monster High, and is trying to get a date for Monster Prom with one of the hot people.
Squick factor: None. I mean, nothing that happens here is in accordance to health and safety norms, but that's kinda the point. It's a parody game, making fun of all the hoops teenagers are willing to jump through to become popular.
Protagonist's spine: Coagulated blood. MC is willing to make deals with demons, wear corpses as a hat, anything really. The question is very openly: what could I do to make them like me.
The Good: It's a funny game. I like the characters, who embody everything from the Mean Girl to the Hipster Nerd and the Needlessly Aggressive Jock. The art is simple, cartoon style, but pretty neat.
The Bad: Everything is very tongue in cheek, which leaves it a little… light for my tastes. I don't feel like any of the routes matter in the grand scheme of things, MC hasn't truly touched anyone's heart. The whole thing is a joke game, so it's funny, but a bit shallow.
Best monster: Polly, the permanently stoned party girl.
Cute Demon Crashers
Technically a sex game? But a really very special one.
Platform: PC (free! Here!)
Story: A portal opens in MC's house and four Incubi/Succubi drop through. To apologize for the inconvenience, while they wait for a portal back, they offer to teach MC about sex.
Squick factor: I've written about this game before and the best thing, the very best thing about it is how incredibly consent-minded it is. Like, even if you're already in bed, getting it on, there's always an option to turn back and leave it at that. The demons are really just there to help MC find out what gives her pleasure.
Protagonist’s spine: Rock. Obviously, MC is mildly upset about four random demons showing up. As mentioned before, what happens next is mostly up to the player.
The Good: It's free and the art is pretty and I love the premise.
The Bad: Kinda short, but again: free.
Cutest Demon Crasher: *cough* Orias *cough*
So we were talking about tropes and how some settings feel a little overdone, so have a little inspiration to get you going in a new direction.
Band AU, only it's a travelling set of musicians following the Silk Road. They join merchants and mercenaries as they make their way from Constantinople to Yangzhou. One of them is following their dream to perform before Kublai Khan himself. Another is a spy, sent by the emperor Justinian to steal silk worm eggs from China and kickstart the silk industry back in the Byzantine Empire.
Vampire AU set in Nairobi. The characters navigate the skyscrapers and apartment buildings at night, going from bar to bar to feed off drunk office workers and the occasional lost tourist. They find an enemy in one very determined shaman, who has come from the planes to the city, looking for the murderer of his son.
Bonus: Noir Detective set in Nairobi, with the MC as the shaman, teaming up with a catholic priest to fight crime on the mean streets of the city, only to find that there's friggin vampires everywhere, and at least one werehyena, who may or may not have taken young men and women from his tribe.
Pirate AU, set on a boat in the 16th Century China Sea. The vessel is one of many in the fleet Ching Shih, a woman who commanded 80.000 people. One of the characters snuck aboard disguised as a man, only to find that there's entire families on here and no one gives a shit about boobs.
Two words: were dingo
Merman/maid AU set in Srinagar, an Indian city surrounded by lakes. Our intrepid main character has some sort of existential crisis and, inspired by a play/painting/Bollywood movie, they decide to pack up their belongings and go live on a house boat on Dal Lake. While they fill their days finding themselves and writing poetry about the sunset, their nights become interrupted by a weird splashing, and a water creature with way more attitude than should be necessary for something that doesn't exist.
Steampunk adventure set in 9th century Baghdad, when the city is filled with scientists and scholars trying to figure the world out and invent maths and astronomy. One of the characters desperately wants to fly, while another has been playing around with Israelite golem technology and making automatons. They hate each other, seeing the other's pursuit as frivolous, until the city faces its greatest threat ever, and the sultan tasks them with finding a solution. Together.
Coffee shop AU (cacao shop au?) set in a parody of 7th century Calakmul. In this dark comedy, our characters have to navigate their own hormones and their overly demanding customers, while above their heads wars are fought between the royal family and the priest class, both of whom demand complete obedience and the occasional human sacrifice.
Three words: Were Polar Bear
Two competing salt traders are forced by circumstances (the circumstances are bandits) to travel together across the Sahara. When evening falls after a mad dash across the sand, they finally find an oasis. Their camels are tired, their hired bodyguards are tired. They retreat to one of the few tents not destroyed by the raid. There is only one bedroll.
So.
The good news is, my creativity has somewhat come back, in the form of me spending the entire first half of the day furiously writing.
The bad news is, it came back in the form of, uh, this. Which is a Hanamiya x reader weird short set in an omegaverse au. It’s not technically smut, but I wouldn’t call it SFW, either.
I suppose it’s more on the angst/comfort scale, with a lot of sexual tension. I know I’m not selling this well, but I’m still trying to get over the fact that my brain handed me an omegaverse story and that I just went and wrote it.
Word count: 2320
!alpha Hanamiya x !omega reader
Heat dynamics, Angst, Fear, Comfort, Sexual Tension, Thinly Veiled Rape Threats (no actual violence, sexual or otherwise)
You sit in the back of the tiny uni classroom, trying your best to hide.
"Please just come and get me," you whisper into your phone.
Your boyfriend grunts, barely audible over the sound of people talking and some beat playing in the background.
"Babe, I'm busy."
Frustration settles into hurt, but you try to keep your voice level.
"Listen, I'm about to go in heat and I need you. I locked myself in a friggin classroom and I don't know if I'll make it to my apartment alive if you don't come over."
"Then why the hell did you go out?" he sighs, and his words cut like steel. "You should have just stayed home."
"I had classes," you say, voice going high with a mixture of anger and pain. "It came up a lot faster than I expected."
"It always happens faster than you expected," your boyfriend grumbles, "you always do this. You don't think it's gonna happen, because you don't fucking think. You're always trying to do things you shouldn't be doing."
"Well excuse me for trying to lead an actual life," you growl.
Before you can say anything else, however, the call clicks off.
You call back. No answer.
Panic rises in your throat and you're left to stare at your phone, numbly watching the animation of a call failing to be connected. You realise that he's left you hanging, but it takes a few seconds before it fully sinks in.
You're alone.
He left you to deal with this by yourself.
You shift and focus on your breathing as you feel a first wave of heat hit you. It runs a shiver down your skin, electricity racing from the top of your head all the way to the ends of your fingers and toes. You clench your abdominal muscles, stifling a low moan.
It is pure, unfiltered desire coursing through you and it is an absolute bitch right now.
You're pretty sure you can sense a group of people gathering, just outside the door. You're hoping it's just your fevered imagination but experience, science even, says otherwise. Your body, treacherous thing it is, is giving off a sweet, wanton sort of scent, a desperate plea for attention that makes people around you stand to attention.
It speaks of untapped potential, of willingness, submissiveness and in any alpha near you it leads to a hunger that's hard to fight against.
Whoever came up with this biological marvel was an asshole, you think. You take a breath to compose yourself and spray deodorant in front of you in an effort to at least mask some of your scent it.
It's useless, probably, but what else can you do. You already know it's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better, and unless you can find release, you're basically stuck here all night.
"You alright in there?"
Someone tries the door handle. Thank god for locks.
"Go away, I'm fine!"
"You sure about that?" It's a second voice, and it sounds leery.
"Get the fuck away!"
You briefly ponder calling your parents. Never mind that they're in Osaka and you're studying in Tokyo. How long would it take them to get here? A few hours? Do you even have that long?
Clicking around your phone, you search for something like a help line for desperate omegas. An intervention team for people in heat. Surely something like that exists.
The sounds of a disturbance by the door take your attention away from googling.
You hear a shuffle, and a curse, the kind of aggression that doesn't bode well.
And then, in the silence that follows: a click.
Someone picked the god damn lock.
You look around for an escape, a closet to hide in, a window to jump out of, even if it's three stories down.
But your body is far from done betraying you. You freeze, left to sit on a table near the back wall, as the door slowly opens.
You can smell him, long before you see him. A cloud of scent that proclaims, without hesitance, that he owns the place.
It smells of power, of danger, of arrogance.
It smells like trouble and your body responds by aching for it. A thrill sparks through your veins and you clench once more, biting your lip.
Then the last person you want to see walks through the door, sporting a dark smirk and trailing a cloud of dominance.
"Hanamiya?"
You're lost in a maelstrom of hormones, flitting between desire and fear. You know, you are almost certain, that he'll hurt you if he comes close, and still part of you yearns for it, every back-stabbing hormone in your body screaming to be fucked, no matter the cost.
The more lucid part of you grips the hard wood of the table and scoots back against the cool wall. If you could only lose some of the heat radiating off you, you might be able to think.
With an icy calm Hanamiya closes the door behind him and locks it again, pushing back anyone who still dares linger in the hallway, in that stifling cloud of authority.
You swallow hard, sweat gathering in the dip of your sternum, a drop racing down the middle of your chest.
He crosses the room like a villain boarding a conquered ship, long strides taking him right in front of the table, where he stops. Eyes the colour of milk coffee look down at you, taking in the flush of your cheeks, the twitch in your legs, the sheer desperation in your scent.
His lips curl into a dangerous smile.
"Well, well, __-san. Aren't you in trouble?"
You try to speak but the words die in your throat as he bends down, one hand resting on table next to you.
"They say it's dangerous for little omega's to go out when they're in heat. Makes people crazy, you see."
You press yourself against the wall, lips involuntarily parting.
"And that deadbeat boyfriend of yours? I saw him maybe half an hour ago. Going off to some party."
A knot forms in your chest.
It feels like a lie. The kind of cruel thing Hanamiya would say to get a rise out of you.
But you're fairly certain it's true, and that hurts all the more.
"Your alpha's not coming to help you, is he?" Hanamiya says, voice deep with mock pity. "He abandoned you."
You shake your head, desperate to protest.
"Pathetic," he says, looking down his nose at you.
He stills for a moment, apparently savouring the way you squirm and struggle to hold yourself together before him.
"It's a pity, isn't it," he finally murmurs. "Such a sweet smell too. There's a group of people outside just bucking to take care of you."
You grip the desk harder, shaking your head vehemently as a cold dread grips you.
Hanamiya's face folds into something akin to amusement and he reaches out a hand. Slowly, he brushes a stray lock of hair from your cheek, a touch that, despite the fear, despite the panic, runs a shiver of pleasure through you.
His eyes twinkle with mischievous joy as he continues, his finger tracking the edge of your jaw from your ear down to your chin.
It takes everything in you to stifle a mewl, your eyelashes fluttering as you grip the desk harder.
You want to wrap your legs around him. You want to cling on and beg him to fuck you, devour you whole if he needs to.
Much as you hate the thought, your skin crackles with a need to be touched and he knows.
God, does he know. You can see it in the burning of his eyes, the darkness of his smile.
"If only there was some other way," he coos, pinching your chin between his fingers. "Shall I do you a favour, __? Shall I relieve you of this little problem of yours, hmmm? If you beg, I just might."
He pushes your chin up, eyes boring into yours as he leans closer.
You force yourself to look away, focussing instead on the way his hair falls off his shoulders when he leans forward, black silk draping down, and you try to find your voice.
When it finally comes, it's in the form of a desiccated whimper.
"Please," you whisper, and your throat contracts around the word, impossibly dry.
"Oh?" he hums, lowering his eyes to look at you almost fondly. "Could you repeat that? I didn't quite catch it."
You swallow and try again.
"Please don't," you croak.
His eyebrows knit together and his tongue clicks, any semblance of warmth gone from his face in an instant.
With a sigh, he pushes off of the table and rights himself, hands casually shoved in his pockets.
"Stubborn little thing."
He turns his back and starts to walk out while you gulp air like a shipwrecked sailor washing up on the shore.
"Hanamiya, wait!"
You're not sure what compels you to ask him, of all people, to help you. Perhaps it's because in the two years since you started university , you have come to admire his intelligence, if not his attitude.
Perhaps you are desperate, in that moment, to believe that he could at least be bargained with or perhaps it's simply because he isn't actively trying to rape you and you're at the point where you consider that a good sign.
Whatever it is, you can only try, and hope.
"Please, Hanamiya, I…"
He turns around, curious.
"You what?"
You slump.
"I don't know what to do," you mutter.
The sheer amount of emotions and chemicals fighting inside of you are taking their toll, and the energy it took to keep yourself together is running dry.
"I don't know what to do," you repeat, and the way he looks at you makes any hope you had pack up and flee.
"My heat just keeps coming," you say, pushing through your distress. "For normal people it's every three months, just a few days, but with me it's non-stop."
Cold clay eyes regard you, and Hanamiya's face folds into something like disgust.
It's not enough to silence you, however, the words that have taken so long to get through your throat are turning into a stream, a geyser laid dormant too long.
"No matter how many suppressors I take, no matter what my boyfriend does," you babble, unhindered by the fact that Hanamiya could probably not care less. "I know I'm supposed to just stay home but I don't want to live my entire life indoors like some caged bird, so you can call me stupid for coming out here when it's dangerous but apparently that's a risk I'm willing to take. I've been fighting this shit for so long, and I'm so tired and if I can just make it home, I could..."
You don't know when the tears started, but they're very definitely here now, stinging your eyes and adding to the humiliation of whatever spectacle you're already making of yourself.
Frustrated, you wipe at them with clammy fingers.
"I just
…"
"God, stop whining already."
Hanamiya folds his arms and rolls his eyes. "You're a mess, I get it."
He takes a step closer and, without warning, slides his fingers in your hair.
You gasp at the rough treatment, but he pays it no mind, pulling your head to the side without a word.
Then he licks his thumb and dabs it on your pressure point.
"W-what are you doing?" you squeak, startled.
The air around you has changed, a musky scent overpowering everything else in the room.
It's not unpleasant, but it's confusing, adding to the whirlwind of smells and emotions already raging around you until it mixes and turns into something else, something almost soothing.
"I'm claiming you," Hanamiya says, simply, pushing your head up again.
"Putting a big old 'property of Hanamiya Makoto' sign on you that no one in their right mind is going to ignore."
He grins at your shocked face, his voice dropping a tone as he brings his face closer to yours.
"You're mine."
Pure adrenaline courses through your veins and you blink up, trying to make sense of it.
His hand in your hair causes static electricity all over your scalp, making it hard to think. You're a whirling sea, battered by storms but you manage, somehow, to speak.
"I'm not."
He lets go of your head with a dark chuckle.
"My, you're high maintenance. No wonder your boyfriend gave up on you."
You give him a hurt look, but he ignores it, instead reaching into his jacket pocket.
"Make no mistake, __-chan. I don't do favours without cashing them in. You will be required to pay me back."
He pulls out a small spray can and hands it to you.
"That scent mark will last for about half an hour. You'd better start running."
Blatantly confused now, you look at the can in your hand. Pepper spray.
"And this?" you ask.
"That's for if you don't run fast enough."
He grins and turns again. Walking toward the door.
"Uh… thanks," you say.
"Just remember that you owe me."
And with that, he opens the door and strides out, not looking back. In the open doorway, you can see the dark figures of a few stragglers, still lingering in the hallway.
With a deep breath, you slide off the table and onto wobbly feet. You take a moment to find your balance, and then you grab your bag and secure it around your shoulder, trying your best to stay upright and exude confidence.
You clutch the pepper spray in your hand and mentally brace yourself before you finally take a step toward the door.
The alpha’s outside lean back as you approach, and you rigidly pass by them, feeling like a deer surrounded by wolves.
Swallowing hard, you keep walking, slowly, deliberately, down the hallway, until you round a corner.
