#fom update

Meanwhile, my daily farming chore loop is in shambles since autopilot still has me heading straight to the vacant dragon statue for our scheduled morning chinwag.

DRAGON HUBBY JUST LANDED IN MISTRIA BABY WHATS UP~~

You get to an 8 heart event and it’s like you have two options. “Generic statement about caring about you” or “Generic statement about caring about you BUT we include the words Best Friend in it” like I expected the romantic dialogue options to be explicit not the best friend ones. I would not assume that most of the romantic dialogue options were inherently romantic but the characters just jump on like you’ve confessed your love. It would feel more real if you had to be explicit about your romantic feelings, because that’s how it is in real life.

It’s funny but it’s also an interesting reflection on how people view romantic vs. platonic relationships. One, that immense care is default associated with romance. Two, that the 8 heart scenes kinda treat the romantic route as the intended version. The best friend routes are an amazing step forward in the genre and are a part of the amazing relationship systems in Mistria. They’re a huge win for aro people. But also as an aro person it’s fascinating the blind spots allo devs can have.

Another example in Mistria is the date mechanic. I love it and all the life it brings to the world and characters. I love that it makes relationships more active and reciprocated than the standard for farm sims. It combines with things like the Friday nights at the inn to make the world more real and textured. It just also baffles me that I can’t go in a hang out with my Best Friends. Toggle some dialogue between romantic undertones and platonic ones depending on the status, and the system works for dates and hang outs. We also take active part in maintaining reciprocal friendships, after all.

First off: he's not even a twink. He still has a bit of muscle when we see his titty out sprite. Actual twinks are far more slender. Hemlock was 100% a twink in his youth and he kept that slenderness even as he got older.

Second off: he's still not fully young looking. If you actually look at his eyes, he has eyebags that most of the older characters get. He might look younger than we anticipated, but he still looks older than most of the romance options.

And finally: He just spent the last several hundred or so years trapped as a stone statue, and says as he's rescuing you that he has very little power left. He's essentially been bed ridden the last several centuries. He has the chance to regain and grow muscle once he's rested up at his temple.

Speaking from personal experience, I think Caldarus gaining his human form and how he lives life now could easily read as an allegory for disability; the kind that leaves one bedridden, weakened, and requiring long rest in order to regain strength. It just depends on how the rest of his events play out.

Would I have loved a buff dragon or more monstrous dragon? Sure. But once I saw the character designs for the main romances prior to him, I tempered my expectations. And I think the rest of the fandom should do the same. It's fine to be disappointed, but some of them need to chill.

Hi! Thank you for this message.

First of all I'd like to say I'm always happy to try and insert positivity into things like this where I can. I think people jump to extremely aggressive reactions online way too often.

Secondly, I love your takes on this! I fully agree about him not being a twink. He's much more in some in between area if we have to use those terms (which I don't even like the way those specific terms box in character designs. Not aimed at your ask, I know it's the terminology other people use/are using). He's also quite literally ill and starved from being locked away so its strange to make such a snap judgement. But I haven't seen the data mined art so I can't fully speak on that and I'm not really interested in using those classifications going forward personally. I just find them too limiting of descriptions that due to overuse. I sort off feel like people are brushing off designs as "just another basic twink" kinda thing.

But even more so I think it would be so cool to have an allegory to disabilities within the game, especially shown through such a powerful character as Caldarus. Obviously we don't know how the rest of his events and the story will play out, but it would be great if it stuck with the theming. (I had really hoped in the beginning there would be more disability rep because I know those with disabilities get even less representation than plus sized folks)

Main entrance/My Cat's Room (only used for sleeping when I'm pressed for time, and forging (adhd, man))

My adventurer's bedroom (bottom left) that I don't spend a lot of time in, so I'm not really invested in it yet

Partner Room #1: Caldarus' Tea Parlor (bottom right)

Partner Room #2: Reina's Cafe (top right)

Partner Room #3: March's Gem Cave/Chest Room (top center)

Partner Room #4: Seridia's Throne Room (top left)