I'm a little bit late to this one, but, I guess if there's one to be late to, it's the very last prompt! Nothing wrong with bringing up the rear.

Challenge #15

Talk about an unexpected joyous moment you experienced last year.

I had a few joyous moments last year, but a lot of them were, in some ways, expected. Something that truly felt like it came out of left field, though, was the Pokemon megaleak! I don't condone everything the leakers did, of course, but there was so much interesting information released all at once!! Never-before-seen full-res art, beta Pokemon, character profiles...! AH! For those days when information was still being leaked, I was undoubtedly in autism heaven.

Challenge #13

Interact with someone in fandom you haven't talked with before.

I sent an (... anonymous) ask to a pixel fanartist I really admire, telling them what I like about their art! I don't know if making it anonymous defeats the point of the challenge, but I have anxiety. Heheh.

Challenge #12

Create a Rec Countdown.

This was a very well-times prompt, because I just finished writing up the contents of my reclist page for my personal site! I'll be recommending 5 video games, 4 series, 3 vocal synth songs, 2 movies, and 1 YouTuber!

5 Video Games Recs

1. 31st March, Midnight
Genre: Visual novel
Commentary: This is the first of many free games available on itch I'd like to recommend. This short visual novel follows Amy, a game developer working on a spinoff for a game studio, as she thinks about her experience working in the game industry under capitalism's duress. I find myself coming back to reread this often, as it provides both pointed commentary on how visual novels are viewed in the west, and an honest depiction of how queer-focused games are often made behind the scenes.

2. BAD END THEATER
Genre: Visual novel puzzle/adventure
Content Warning(s): death, cartoon gore, implied homophobia
Commentary: BAD END THEATER is a visual novel-style adventure/puzzle game where you get to select your character and explore a wide variety of terrible fates! This cast of characters follows a set of tropes found in adventure stories. There is The Hero, The Maiden, The Underling and The Overlord. But don't let that fool you into thinking this game is cliche! BAD END THEATER is one of the most creative games I have ever played. It, too, is delightfully queer, as well, with 3 out of the 4 main characters being canonically queer in some way. Such a shame that all of their endings will lead to tragedy, right?

3. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK
Genre: ?
Commentary: This is the sort of game that, by its very nature, does not want to be summarized or sorted into a defined genre. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK is available on a pay-what-you-can basis on itch, and is described as an "interactive zine" by its creator. It's a vignette of multiple non-linear, interactive 'scenes', informed by the creator's struggles with trauma. This game has a very distinct visual style, displays a masterful usage of humor to humanize traumatic experiences, and contains many standalone quotes that I come back to often.

4. Fields of Mistria
Genre: Farming sim RPG
Commentary: Fields of Mistria is the only Stardew-alike that I consider to surpass the game it was inspired by. With a ton of quality-of-life improvements, a gorgeous 90s-anime-inspired art style and aesthetic, and a magic system to set it apart, I feel like it really shines best in how it puts a lot of love and care into its characters. The town feels like a genuine community, characters have relationships to each other outside of you, and I have yet to run into any repeat dialogue in my 40+ hours of playing. Characters are also very reactive: they will bring up when you hit certain points in the mine, complete mini-quests, talk about upcoming holiday events, comment about things you've submitted to the museum, and more. The dating sim aspects are especially very reactive and reciprocal. Additionally, the game is very clearly made with a queer audience in mind. Many romancables feel like they were made with the intent of capturing the interest of queer players (Hayden, Valen, and Balor, namely), and it is the only game that I know of at all that allows you to not only select your pronouns, but allows you the options to use he/she, it/its, and no pronouns at all. AND you can romance the dragon.

5. Love & Dehumanization
Genre: Adult fantasy visual novel
Content Warning(s): Violence, torture, suicidal ideation, and BDSM, and discusses negative body image, negative views of sexuality, and trauma. Much more extensive content warnings are provided in-game.
Commentary: Obligatory THIS GAME IS FOR ADULTS. IT HAS SEX. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS GAME FOR THOSE UNDER THE AGE OF 18. For those who are above the age of 18 and who have an interest in discussions of kink and trauma, though, I cannot recommend this game highly enough. This game is free on itch, and it takes place in a fantasy RPG world, following a girl who willingly becomes a monster. It is a story about the desire to be violated and dehumanized, how that desire can manifest, how it can traumatize people, and how to reclaim those desires in the name of self-love. It is a truly rebellious story which takes difficult-to-understand concepts (even and especially to those who know them most intimately), and boils them down to easy, but incredibly impactful language. After completing this game, I physically layed down on my floor and stared at my ceiling for multiple minutes on end in silence, and, if that's not high praise, I don't know what is!


( Continue? )

I'm having Not The Best Mental Health Time, so I'm gonna keep this one short!

Challenge #10

In your own space, talk about one of your fandom firsts. This could be your first fandom, your first fandom friend, the first fanwork you created, the first fanwork you interacted with... The options are endless!

I went to my first fan convention at around 14! It was an anime convention that I went to with my best friend at the time (we're still in contact!). I went cosplaying as the Hetalia character, Romano. Except my mom really hated that I wanted to cosplay a male character, so I just told her, actually, I'm cosplaying the genderbent version of him! (I did not do the genderbent version of him.)

I remember I got a few buttons of Hetalia characters, a Chibiusa print and a plush cat! I didn't go to any panels that I can remember, instead just shopping around and talking to other fans. I had a great time, but my mom apparently despised the whole thing so much that she made my aunt go with me instead to my next con, haha.

Challenge #8

In your own space, write a promo, manifesto or primer for a beloved character, relationship or fandom.

Okay, I know that I used the previous challenge to promote Dead Plate... but I'll be damned if I'm given the opportunity to promote it handed right to me and not take it! You've heard me tell you to play Dead Plate before, and you WILL hear it again!!! I'll be yoinking the template here from yuletide...

Title: Dead Plate

Media: Video game

Approx Length: About one hour if you want to get one ending, and around two hours if you get every ending!

Where To Find It: It's available on itch.io for free here!

What Is It, In Summary?: A short 2D restaurant tycoon-themed RPG horror game, with visual novel and point-and-click elements! Set in 1960s France, it follows Rody, a young man who was hired to work at a fancy bistro by a deadpan but charismatic chef named Vincent. Rody is determined to make as much money as he can manage in a week, but he starts having violent dreams, and starts being convinced that something is going on with the restaurant and the chef behind it.

What Do You Love About It?: Frankly, it's all about the relationships between the main characters for me. There's a very obvious queer metaphor at play here, and the things wrong with each character play with the things wrong with the others in such a special way that tickles my brain. Rody's a pathetic wet dog of a protagonist, Vincent is a calm, always-in-control man until he's not in control, and the third character leaves you guessing to the very end. The aesthetic direction of the game is also very strong, and I love the art and setting!

Content Warnings: Putting the content warnings that contain spoilers under a cut! If you want to go in blind, just keep in mind it is a horror game, so some common horror themes will be present.

( Dead Plate contains... )

Challenge #6

Share your favourite piece of original canon.

I wasn't sure what fandom to answer this with at first, but eventually ended on sharing my favorite scene from Professor Layton!

( Contains spoilers for Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask... Continue? )

I'm currently working on completely recoding and rethemeing my personal site! I've been considering doing it for over a year now, and I finally recently decided to go for it. I've got the skeleton of my layout done right now, which still leaves lots of art and CSS-work to do.

Things I want to do for this layout:

• More room for links
• Submenus
• No more iFrames -- ability to activate page reader on every page, and ability to link each page easier
• Use Javascript to preload the layout, so the viewer doesn't have to reload it each time they enter a new page
• Make a custom banner (done, pretty proud of how it turned out!), background (working on this!), and multiple pagedolls -- 1 human, 1 creature, 1 human with creature (I may use official art as placeholders and come back to this later)
• "Back to top" popup

Challenge #3

In your own space, talk about a fannish opinion you hold that has changed over time.

Despite describing myself as a fanfic author partially specializing in genfic, I didn't understand the appeal of gen fanworks for a very long time! For me, a self-defined hopeless romantic aromantic, romantic shipping was one of the main appeals of fandom, and I fell into the amatonormative belief that platonic relationships couldn't be as deep as romantic ones.

I believe what really changed this was being super into the Professor Layton fandom. At the time, I was sorting out how I felt about my parents, largely using Luke Triton (the young apprentice to the main character) as a method for that. While doing so, though, it always felt natural for it to conclude with him finding solace in Hershel Layton, who acts as a father-like figure to him throughout the game.

I also later began to unpack my amatonormativity specifically in the LEGO Monkie Kid fandom, thanks to the friendship between the main characters Mei and MK. I discovered I was arospec around this time, and I headcanoned Mei as aromantic too. Viewing Mei and MK as a queerplatonic partnership was a big catalyst to exploring the idea that platonic relationships could be equally as deep and meaningful as romantic ones.

Which, of course, leads me to today! A huge enjoyer of gen works, to the point of purposefully subverting typically-romantic AUs (such as hanahaki) in my fic, for platonic uses. I've basically done a total 180, in other words!

(Cross-posting from the dunmeshi community.)

I always say that shipping Farcille seems to make people's bodies be possessed by the ghost a master painter, so here are some examples of that! [These fanarts contain anime spoilers!]

The Centaur Kiss by tuherrus. Love the detail of Marcille's feet being stained with blood. I wish I could steal the way this person draws faces!

Just Girls Being Gals by skelliefrankie. The composition for this piece is amazing, and the limited color palette is striking! Falin's fangs HOUGH

I Am Death and I Will Make You My God by drakyutown. The shading here is absolutely gorgeous, and the bright red sigil behind Falin's head is such a fantastic detail, really drawing your eyes to her!

The Things I Devoured So I Could Devour You by queenoftheantz. The composition! The shading! The colors! THE LIGHTING!! I love this art style, too! Probably one of my favorite Farcille pieces of all time.

( 9 more under the cut! )

Challenge #1

Update your fandom information.

I ended up updating my profile's 'interests' section, my pinned post, and my pastebin of every fandom I've ever been in. (If you look at it, don't judge too hard, haha!)

It's also officially January, which means I'll start promoting dunmeshi! I'm also currently planning out a schedule for a Dungeon Meshi (re)watch party there. Overall, exciting stuff!