#<- haven't played for 2 days bc i was drawing. this

[fxnker]

happy new year 😌🍾

[pinkiepie-04]

Seams~

sylusxfem!reader. college au

Synopsis:

Exams always have you on the ropes, but a certain someone is always there to pull you out of your thoughts. Years later, you're burnt out and barely holding it together. You didn’t expect him to find you again — or see the cracks you hide so well. Under pressure, perfection feels like a cage. But maybe, just maybe, breaking down isn’t the end.

cw. None? to be safe, I'll just say it's a little angsty depending on how you look at it. Reader had a rough childhood (I didn't go into any details) that left her quite the perfectionist. If a reader that is too harsh with herself is triggering for you, PLEASE AVOID! readers self worth comes from her academic performance and how she is perceived by others. reader is me

TL;DR - the smidgiest smidge of angst ever. Sylus sees through reader like glass.

a/n: exams are over and i can finally do other things with my time! (^o^) I wrote this after my notes app reminded me of a long ass rant I wrote about a guy at the end of hs 2 years ago and met again in college. Made it about Sylus instead bc i can

wc. 2.8k (I haven't written anything in so long, hopefully its not waffly!)

8 AM.

Exam day… an hour and a half to go. The first exam out of a set of possibly the most   important exams of your life are happening  in an hour and a half. Psychology. You adore it… you despise it. Initially, you thought it was the most obvious choice for a throwaway subject. Something you were passionate about, but didn’t have to take too seriously, but when passion turns into obligation, it begins to rot. Slowly. From the inside out.  But what you feel about it doesn't matter because you’re good enough, you’re better than good.

Everyone's words ring in your ears. Every affirmation of praise for your intelligence you’ve ever heard sounds in your head like a bell. 

You’re so smart. You work so hard - you’ll be fine. You’re a literal genius. If you struggle, then there’s no hope for the rest of us. You’re amazing, you're flawless. 

You’re perfect.

Perfect.

It’s a funny little word really. Perfect. A combination of 7 little letters that have haunted you  since the day you understood what they meant.

It’s a compliment - sure. But what they don't understand is how damaging it can be when it’s all you ever hear about yourself. When they tell you you’re perfect, it only leaves you with no room to slip. No room to be human. No room to be anything less than perfect. Reinforcing the expectations that wrap around your throat like a noose. They suffocate your humanity - drawing it out of your lungs to be expelled like it’s some sort of waste product. Leaving only behind some sort of sentient robot in its place. No cracks, no errors in its code, clean, polished - perfect. Expected to function, not feel. What value do you have if you don't reach perfection?

Perfect. ‘Good enough’ is make-believe. Decency won't do. You won’t ever be enough if you’re not– 

“8 a.m. is a little too early to be spaced out like this, no?”

You blink yourself back into reality. That smooth, deep voice echoes louder than the monotonous voice of doubt in your head and evicts the murky fog of self-hatred that has taken residence in your mind, pulling you back into consciousness. Sylus Qin.

“Orrrr, 8a.m. is too early for me to make room for others to be in my business.”

You reply. Sharp. Quick.

You look up and have to battle with the muscles in your face that seem hell-bent on expressing your shock. I can’t believe he’s talking to me right now… it’s been a while.

“Prepared for the exam?”

You keep your voice light, airy, curious but detached. Every move you make is calculated.

“Guess so. Prepared enough.”

His reply reeks of nonchalance and you don’t even try to fight the eyeroll that plays on your face like a scheduled animation.

“You know, it’s not a crime to be kinda stressed. This your first exam?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Yeah.”

He nods and takes a seat at the desk at the back of the room. Furthest away from where you stand at the podium.

“What, you think I’m here to give you some last minute study session? That's why you sat in the back like a student who rolled in late to class?”

You raise an eyebrow, small grin on your lips, hands on your hips as you lean forward. Be cool. Normal. Don’t do too much. Don’t be dismissive.

He chuckles, low, gravelly, hot. Your little grin stretches out across your face before you’re able to flex your bodily autonomy and control your expression. A couple words and a laugh and I’m cheesing like an idiot. God. You do your best to withhold a self-deprecating sigh.

“You offering to teach?”

He leans back in his seat, arms laced behind his head, legs stretched out– clearly he’s far too tall to keep them somewhat near 90 degrees bent under the damn desk.

“You look awfully relaxed for someone who’s got an exam in a couple.”

He snorts with an air of too much confidence. “I’d like to think if I didn’t know the content by now, there’s no point sweating over it.” You doubt it's completely unfounded though.

Damn. His response gives you pause… You’ve never thought that way. About anything. Must be nice to be so carefree. Unfortunately, being your own worst critic - after having the mantle passed down to you by your not so adoring parents - is a full time job with no pay.

“Your confidence is very unique.”

He leans forward at that.

“Unique?”

“It’s… oddly optimistic.”

He clicks his tongue, then proceeds to poke it against the inside of his cheek. You avert your gaze, looking at your laptop, then your books, your phone. Then you repeat the circuit. you clear your throat, quickly flicking through a couple flashcards. 

“Who did research into the effects of misleading information on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony?” you ask, clearing your throat and hoping it’ll clear the tension that’s backed up in your chest.

“Loftus and Palmer.”

His response is instant. Then he fires back a question of his own,

“What explanations did they give?”

You match his speed.

“Response bias, meaning that the questions didn’t change the witness’ memory, only influenced how they chose to answer. Annnnd then memory substitution which is the idea that leading questions can actually change the content of what people remembered. Some participants recalled seeing glass in the video of the car accident even though there wasn’t any.”

He raises his brows. 

“Very quick. Nice.”

The two of you keep at the back and forth for the next hour or so. It hits 9 AM and you have to go to the exam hall for registration. 

Sylus stands and his long legs carry him from the back of the hall to the door in record time, but he doesn’t leave. You look over your shoulder and notice him waiting. For you.

You shove your laptop into your bag and leave it behind before doing a slight jog on your tiptoes to catch up to him> All that remains is a single textbook clutched to your chest. You thank him softly as he holds the door open for you. He hums in response.

“You know you can’t bring any notes to the exam right? Much less the whole damn textbook. It’s not open book, sweetie.”

Sylus smirks, looking down at you

You scoff, your face scrunching up as you reply,

“Obviously I know that, I’m just doing some last minute reading before- wait, ‘sweetie’?”

He chuckles at that and your eyes narrow as you look up at him.

“Yes, sweetie. Now stop overthinking and worrying. You’re going to do just fine. You always do well.”

You open your mouth to respond, but then snap it shut again. You always do well. There it is again. The expectation. The demand tightening the hold it has on you like a plank of wood in a mechanical vice. The grip is unyielding. It’s unforgiving. The standards you’re consistently held to mock you, taunt you as if you don't work your ass off to meet them every single time– without fail. As if you don’t put yourself through hell to surpass them. Your response comes harsher than you would've liked.

“I hope you realise how stupid you sound telling someone not to worry about life-changing, pivotal exams.”

He falls silent after that. Way to go genius! You’ve done it again. Killed the vibe when he was just trying to be nice. And you wonder why nobody sticks around you long enough to– 

“I just noticed your outfit. It’s different, really out there– in a good way.”

Your brows draw together, thrown off by the sudden topic change.

“You’re so cute. You look adorable-- like a kitten."

Your heart stops, your pace falters a little and your tongue grows heavy in your mouth. Cute? Adorable? Those aren’t words you’ve ever heard used to describe you, especially not to your face. You thank any listening deities that you’re not blushing too hard– or if you are, he graciously decides not to comment on it and tease you further. You’re embarrassed enough as is. You’ve always had a little crush on Sylus. Who didn’t?! Yes, it may have lay dormant for a while, temporarily covered under the rubble of past let-downs that you took too personally. He may not have meant anything by it, but dammit, the ache doesn’t care about the semantics. It bursts through all the disclaimers and claims a spot in your chest, nestling itself deep in your heart in the space of 60 seconds. Pathetic! Why am I This way?!

You mentally berate yourself whilst you try and fail miserably to stave off the soft smile that inscribes itself on your lips and extinguish the joy that ignites in your eyes.

“You’re soooo-”

You  struggle to find the appropriate words to convey your emotions. Overthinking as usual.

“Well. I got you to stop worrying, no? I’ll consider that a mission’s success”

Sylus smiles down at you and your heart leaps. Or maybe that's an oncoming stroke. What’s the damn difference?

You click your tongue, nod, and look away slightly, slipping through the next door he holds open for you as you both make your way to the stairwell.

“Smooth. Very smooth.”

College life is certainly… something, you suppose. It can be fun, sure. But experience has shown you there’s not a lot of fun to be had when you’re neck deep in uncompleted assignments and falling behind on content for upcoming exams. You started the year off strong, but before you knew it, exhaustion had crept its way into the deep crevices of your mind and taken permanent residence there– free of charge. How inconvenient.  Daily late night study sessions have become your norm. You wouldn’t be shocked if the librarian knew more about your life than your own friends at this point. Becoming estranged from your friends in times of academic stress is no new experience for you. You’ve been here before, and though you had hoped you’d never be here again, life has a funny way of forcing you into situations you’d rather steer clear from.

It’s dead silent in the study room you find yourself in. Secluded somewhere in the back of the 24-hour student library, you sit still, slumped over the desk with the coffee-stained notes you’re supposed to be perusing. Scribbled diagrams, half-annotated and wrinkled, mock your sleeping form. You’d been pushing yourself to the edge again. Five more minutes - you told yourself. Five more minutes, then maybe a quick break. Breaks are important, after all. They keep you sharp. Somehow, five minutes of downtime turned into bad posture with your spine curled uncomfortably against a medically hard sofa and drool slipping from your slightly parted lips. It seems that within 5 minutes, your energy crashed as low as the bottomless fiery pits of hell.

He walks into the final available study room hoping for some time alone. He’d do it in his shared apartment if he could, but with all the half-finished robotics projects scattered around the place, he had to begrudgingly accept that completing his light night study session in his room was not a feasible option. There was also the issue of his loud and rowdy flatmates; two twins who couldn’t mind their business if they tried. They were tolerable– for the most part. But even the most stoic and brooding individuals like Sylus needed a break from their shenanigans every now and again. 

The room is dim and silent. The only sound audible is the low sigh of relief he releases as he notes the empty room. He steps towards the table to place his stuff down before stopping abruptly in his tracks.

Fuck.

There’s someone else in here. He grumbles quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. This room was his final hope at getting any work done. Unfortunately, the unexpected presence here had cut through those hopes like sudden lightning on a relatively sunny day. He takes note of the sleeping body– a girl curled in on herself with a slight twitch in her balled up fists, almost like she’s mentally solving something in her sleep . It’s not usually his style, but the girl is so still, he might just suck up the extra company and get to work anyway.

Irritation fading slightly, he sets his bag down on the opposite couch as quietly as possible. It’d be horribly uncomfortable if you were to wake up whilst he was unpacking his stuff. That was a conversation Sylus wasn’t mentally equipped to engage in. The preceding day had ensured his patience was stretched far too thin to entertain any sort of social awkwardness. He looks over to the girl on the couch again and notices she looks small, not weak per se, just… unguarded. He was grateful for your stillness and silence, but even so, he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of worry. Curse the hold human decency and responsibility had on him. His earlier annoyance soon fades into concern, and Sylus finds himself reaching out to tap your shoulder - the least he could do was make sure you were alive and well.

You blink awake softly and slowly, your eyes focusing on the large hand reaching out to you. It’s a nice hand you suppose. Looks slightly rough, definitely belonging to a tinkerer of some sort. A nice hand?  You’d roll your eyes if you had the energy too. That lack of sleep must be catching up to you if the first thing you’ve begun thinking up in-depth reports of strangers’ hands. You jolt back in surprise - at least sleep doesn’t dull your reflexes. Sharp as always. Your eyes flick up to the stranger and you hold his sharp gaze. Carmine eyes scrutinise your sleeping form, but there's something akin to worry in his stare that makes them soften just a touch - or maybe your tired brain is making things up. You notice his eyes narrow, not in suspicion, it’s something else… you’d be able to name it if you weren’t so damn tired.

Wait a sec, red eyes? No fucking way. Now that's definitely something you haven't seen in a while. Seriously, what are the odds of you winding up in the same college as the guy who-

“I was just… checking on you -  making sure you were okay or whatever.” 

His voice is smooth and deep. It strikes a chord in your heart that had lay dormant for months. The sensation unsettles you entirely - you hardly know the guy! As always, the low timbre of his voice has a way of pulling you out of your thoughts and back into the present moment. It’s not lost on you how odd it is that your body still responds to him in the same way. You’re unsure of whether you should be irritated or intrigued. Perhaps both.

“Caught me lacking, huh?” You force a tired smile onto your dry lips, voice hoarse and strained.

Your response is bordering on sarcastic, using wit as your ever faithful armour, shielding you from the intense scrutiny of his gaze that threatens to peel back your layers until you’re bare before him. You blink through the fluorescent blur of half-slept hours. Papers stick to your skin, your mouth tastes like stale coffee and guilt. You roughly wipe your mouth, feeling your saliva pool at the corners of your lips. How horribly unbecoming of you.

Sylus is standing awfully close, you notice. Definitely older now. Somehow he’d grown taller - maybe it’s a trick of the light. He crouches slightly before you, but even then he doesn’t reach your eyeline. The same knowing look is plastered on his face like a taunt, but a little softer around the edges. It’s as if time has taught him not to say everything he thinks. You rub your eyes, lips stretching into a grin like it doesn’t physically and mentally hurt. 

“I was supposed to have a five minute break, and then-” you shrug before continuing. “I’m just a little tired. Midterms and misery you know? Classic combo if you ask–” you find yourself cut off mid sentence. 

“You don't need to explain yourself to me.” His face is mostly blank, but there's a flicker of unnamed emotion you can’t quite put your finger on. He doesn’t move. “You used to wear tired like a badge. Now it’s wearing you.”

You laugh again, sharp this time. “Poetic. Did you come here to psychoanalyse me or–?”

“No.” He looks down. “Just didn’t expect to see you like this. Didn’t expect to see you at all.” 

Well. That hits. The past creaks open like a door on rusted hinges. You straighten up too fast, spine protesting. “Well. Now You have. So... congrats.”

And you want to leave it there. You need to. But something about the silence after makes your stomach twist. Because you can feel the words you’re not saying thickening the air between the two of you. You’re not perfect. He saw it.

And for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, you don't have the strength to perform around someone who’s already seen the seams.

Any constructive criticism would be appreciated, but be nice-- I'm sensitive

This was also initially written in first person before i edited it to make it an x reader- so if there are any slip-ups, do let me know!

[acetechne]

Condensed Milk - A Dirty Money Comic pt 16

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [part 6] [part 7] [part 8] [part 9] [part 10] epilogue: [ part 11 ] [ part 12 ] [ part 13 ] [part 14] [ part 15 ] [ x ] [ part 17 ]

will this comic Ever end???

I was blocked on this for the longest time but Justin's resignation kind of reminded me of the spirit of the thing again and I realized, wait, we haven't really explored what pushed Bertie to board that plane and show up like a wet r*t on the doorstep. Any excuse to draw more prairie bros :)

(and you know, not that this comic takes place in the present day any longer with how slowly I've been adding to it, but you just Know bertie is one of Those Guys who bases his entire personality around hating Justin... even after he's gone...)

some notes and explanations where I think of them

sorry sask i can pick on you because we Both have annoying premiers, ours is just louder (although this flashback represents [groan] simpler times)

back at u of t when wexit was big in the news, the western canadian contingent of my cohort formed a group chat called wexit and "let's wexit on out of here" became a common phrase during our trip to ottawa, so it's stuck with me lol. Fond memories of showing our Ontarian classmates our shitty Alberta health cards at their bougie rest stops.

BC isn't real. would a person who's definitely not hiding in BC say that? Maybe.

I did try to think of spicier insults than "liberal" but the only one i could think of that wasn't gross was hypocrite and that didn't fit contextually, sigh sigh. but it remains an enormous insult in alberta at least ahaha

i feel bad for putting mani through this but in a short time from this comic he will have a premier everyone is jealous of. hang in there, mani...

obligatory reference to bert's og bio where he gets drunk and sleeps it off at 24 hour tims

the flashbacks include bertie kissing the cod / getting screeched in, playing hockey with ben and the rupert fam, skiijoring in banff, regatta day in st. johns, checking out borealopelta at the royal tyrell, and a quilting bee with the atlantic coasters

HE DID MAKE THE SHORTBREAD WITH HIS OWN HANDS!! i think bert is the guy who doesn't know how to cook rice BUT he can do shortbread/pie crust really well. Trust me.

something something i spend enough time torturing bertie i need to remember him happy so that i can also remember to be happy in these Trying Times

[scribz-ag24]

Hey, same user that was inspired to play EOS thanks to your art here! I finished the...basic?? story line and SE 5 and I'm enjoying myself a LOT!! THANKS ONCE MORE FOR MAKING ME WANT TO PICK UP THIS GAME AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--- Here's a lil something for you, after playing the game I love this three a lot more waaah. Anyway have a good day! :D

I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed EoS!! id reccomend to play it till the end, and even check out some other entries in the saga. Gates to Infinity has an amazing story and cast of characters, although if the gameplay is too much, I think watching a playthrough might be more than enough to enjoy it. Super Mystery Dungeon is also very VERY good, even though it's more enjoyable if you've played previous entries so you can understand the cameos and references.

And i am glad to hear you also enjoyed se5, it really enriches dusknoir and grovyle as characters, ESPECIALLY dusknoir, it really makes Explorers of Sky stand out among the franchise. Btw I'd also recommend playing special episode 2 if you haven't, along with se5, it's the most emotional special episode, esp compared to the others that are more light hearted and more episodic adventures (but still a lot of fun! ^^)

Oh. and that drawing. I'm being very normal about it

(^ Me being normal about that drawing)

SERIOUSLY THO IT'S SO GOOD THANK YOU SO MUCH.....LOOK AT THOSE LITTLE GUYSSSS THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH. THE PROPORTIONS ARE ON POINT, IT LOOKS SUPER CLEAN AND I LOVE DUSKNOIR'S WOBBLY EYE SO MUCHHH AAAAAAA

also i love the effect in the lineart that makes it look like there's two colors at once?? It looks very good and I wonder how you've done it,, bc it looks precious. Again, thank you so much for that pic i am saving it and i have already stared at it for so longggg aaaaaa

[flightyalrighty]

Hi. I noticed you were inspired to write infested from invasion of the body snatchers and 28 days later. Any other sources of inspiration? Would you be interested in similar stories/movies?

Like, would I be interested in similar stories/movies... To watch/read/play? Like, in general?

Uh, well, ah, to answer that, I fully admit that I am, ironically, a huge scaredy cat when it comes to most of that stuff. If I were gonna experience other horror stories, it'd have to be through comics. I can handle horror in comics just fine! For a long while I was into reading The Walking Dead and then got extremely bored with it because the formula got way way too repetitive. That's the trouble with a lot of zombie stories, really. There's only so much you can do with them if you're sticking mostly to the same formula. Makes for great games, though. Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 are faves of mine.

If anyone has any recommendations for great horror comics/manga (besides Junji Ito's stuff bc I am already very familiar with his work), do leave a comment!

As for other inspirations for Infested, nothing really comes to mind specifically in the horror department, but my very first Spider-Man comic was Spider-Man: Blue, which I think really cemented itself in my mind and is something I often think of when it comes to storytelling. The melancholic tone, specifically, of Spider-Man: Blue is something I feel I draw from a lot for those quieter scenes (that you guys haven't seen yet).

I've also mentioned a few times that the pacing of Mike Mignola's comics is something I very much put in Infested.

[vintagelacerosette]

Tag game 🩷🎀

Hosted by the wonderful Jess @jrooc

Sorry for the lateness!! I was tagged by these twinkling starlights Kaka @stocious Dosho @doshiart Kat @mybrainismelted Pie @gallapiech Ice @spookygingerr Michelle @mmmichyyy Willow @ian-galagher Jen @wehangout Georgia @iansw0rld Cyn @ms-moonlight-inn Evie @ energievie Gigi @guinguin1984 Becki @francesroserecs Michelle @michellemisfit

Thaaankss 🥰

Name and A03 handle:

Shermyn/Myn & Dynastyria (no written works yet!💕)

Current Location:

On the lounge couch

Favourite picrew (don’t have one? you can skip this or do this one)?

So many to choose from!!!

Picrew 1 (I am obsessed with cardcaptors) , Picrew 2 (Willow made of usss & I treasure itttt 😍) Picrew 3 & Picrew 4 (bc who doesn't love a good bread bowl)

What’s one thing you want in a picrew?

I think more body size inclusively 🙌🏻

Favourite thing you’ve created (or seen created) for the fandom?

Tie between Molly's draw this in your style/Gallacrafts & 2024 gallavich valentine's!

Why is it your favourite?

It's the first time a drawing really looked how I thought it did in my head & I impressed myself. Also, I'm obssessed with the pastels in the gallavalentine. 🩷🩵💜

Did it come easily or was it hard to create? 

Hard bc I find body poses hard, then I start to procrastinate bc of that, but then I've got the deadline so it makes me stressed haha

Last ao3 fic you commented on?

from way up there (you and I, you and I) by the amazing @sam-loves-seb It was the cutest I couldn't even!!!

Biggest WIP heartache you’ve ever experienced? 

Where the Feigned Wind Falls by the very talented & missed Jenna @ianrightsonly

Thank you for sharing your story & I hope one day you'll come back 🥰

Favourite trope or head canon you like included in a fanfic?

Ohhh gotta be lust at first sight, then we fuck our way into true tender feelings!! I'm a sucker for it!! Notable writers of this are Jane @captainjowl & Kay @goodkwuestion & they are so damn good at it

Least favourite?

I haven't seen with gallavich thankfully but turning one character in a gay ship into the opposite gender to make them het!!

Secret or surprising kink or trope?

Omg it's gotta be uniform kink bc of Ray @whatthebodygraspsnot Kinktober 2022. It awoke something in me & I was like I finally get it ahaha

Describe how you feel after you’ve created something new?

I feel relief & feeling proud. Then I stress about when's a good time to post for most of ya'll to see bc of timezones ��

Top hype man you have that always helps you get across the finish line:

My loves Benja @svltburn & Vey @look-i-love-u

I run to Ben in my art WIP bc like a kid showing art to an adult & Vey's given me amazing advice with writing that sparked inspiration 🥰

I'm in the headspace of desperately telling ppl about my fic ideas & wanting it to be a surprise so idk i may reach out for more hype men haha

It’s been a bad day, you turn to the fandom and you _____

Like Evie I mass reblog fandom works to spread love 🩷

I'm tagging these sparkling rainbow darlings if they wanna play & for anyone else consider yourself tagged 🌈

@ burninface @deedala @jademickian @sgtmickeyslaughter

@darthvaders-wife @matt404b @gallavichsbitch

@deathclassic @look-i-love-u @celestialmickey

@takeyourpillsbitchh @sickness-health-all-that-shit

@whaticameherefor @heymrspatel @gallawitchxx

@psychicskulldamage @sleepyfacetoughguy @doodlevich

@awa444 @suzy-queued @crossmydna @iandarling

@y0itsbri @michellemisfit @mikhailoisbaby @samantitheos

@pookiebearmick @reganmian @firecrxtch

@howlinchickhowl

[oh-my-may]

LET'S TALK GENSHIN AND REMURIA AND ARLECCHINO BEFORE I FORGET AND WE'RE ALREADY IN SECOND HALF OF THE PATCH WHY DOES TIME FLY WHEN YOU'RE AN ADULT

I'm gonna start the post with a few paragraphs I wrote just a few days after the patch went live:

So I finished the first Remuria world quest - it was beautiful. And really not as long as I first expected it to be. I probably could have finished it on the first day if I wouldn't have been as tired as I was

First of all the new map is beautiful. You'd think after 3? patches of map expansions where we already got underwater stuff it would feel repetetive but somehow it looks and feels different and refreshing. Maybe because majority of the map are caves where you can walk normally or they're ruins... idk.

I couldn't help but draw parallels between Remuria and HSR's Penacony tho, especially look-wise, the talk of a dreamscape and the theme of music. Especially now after finishing Penacony 2.2 I can't help but feel the two are very similar in certain aspects... the motive of Harmony and Song and Peace and saving a people and Gods? Also the way Remuria looks is so similar to certain things in Penacony? I already said rhis in my post on HSR, this is absolutely no hate whatsoever. I reckon there's only so much you can do with these motives? It's interesting how differently it looks in both games tho.

So yeah, Remuria is beautiful. The music is an out of body experience and encapsulates the whole thing perfectly. I haven't explored all of the map yet, but I like the new mechanisms a lot. The floating books look so cool and just generally the significance of music through it all... *sigh* it's so enjoyable.

So far for Remuria... i definitely missed a few things I wanted to say but it's been like 2 weeks since I played this and I definitely forgot something haha

AS FOR ARLECCHINO THO

First of all she's broken omg. It is kind lf annoying that it'll take weeks to max out her talents, rn for me she's sitting at crowned NA and skill and burst are level 7 each. But she still hits for like over 50k with each normal attack when she has a bond of life. Don't even get me started on her with Yelan MY GOD.

Okay with that out of the way let me talk about her story quest. First of all I find it very intriguing that hyv gave up on the usual pattern of having the second weekly boss for a nation be tied to the Archon and their respective second story quest (besides Mond ig)... i mean yeah Fontaine's archon situatipn is very peculiar but technically Neuvilette has taken over the role for now, right? Neither him nor Furina getting a second story quest makes me think Neuvi's probably gonna get his way later because it'll be HUGE. Again I wanna say that lore wise Neuvi is my fav character... HES JUST SO FNDNDBDN. And Furina is probably gonna get a pretty "random" one at one point kinda like Yoimiya did or Cyno... like its gonna be a good quest but it'a gonna be random. ANYWAY

I wonder how much different I would habe perceived the quest if I hadn't watched the Animated Short about Arlecchino that they put on Youtube... like it's her whole backstory? I could see where the quest was going right from the beginning because of it... that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, tho

Childe's little surprise cameo made me so happy c: MY BOY. He's alive snd well AND IN FONTAINE. Let me remind ypu we last officially saw him in the last Atchon quest gwtting yeeted into a black hole by Skirk. Then it was mentioned at the end that he was being treated and sent gome to Snezhnaya. Well...

The whole cryptic talk between Arle and Childe was quite interesting... so this project by the Fatui, right? (Forgot the name rn bc it's been a few days since I played the quest) Is it fonna be significant for Natlans story? What does it entail?? THE TEASE NNNNGNNGHH

I wonder if at some point in the game we're actually gonna see Lyney become the new head of House of the Hearth. Like... it's mentioned quite a lot in his story as well as in everything that has tp do with the House and Sröecchino herself... I wonder 🤔

Throughout the story I was reminded that one of the first things we heard about her (Childes voiceline that came out in like??? 3.0 or so???). It was that she would turn her back on and betray the Harbingers (AND THE TSARISTA) without second thought. She even says this herself in her voicelines. I just wonder what her ultimate goal is? To free herself from the curse? Which btw they tell us nothing about in the story. Story is all about the House and its inner workings and Arle's feelings about it and plans for the future (which I love btw but still not quite understand)... we also casually get told that Arle is not even that old??? Like the whole thing with Crucabena is so recent that Freminet remembers her???? Amd Arle was maybe a Teenager when she killed her so like??? She's only around 10 years older than the kids????

So how come she's a descendant from Khaenri'ah? I don't know if I read somewhere abput it or if its a rumor but not confirmed or if its said in her personal story which I haven't read yet but... she'a from the crimson moon dynasty? Or has some ties to it? And her curse is definitely related to it BUT WHAT IS HER CURSE EXACTLY. WHY DOES SHE HAVE IT. If she's only in maybe her late 20s she couldn't have been an actual Khaenriahn citizen (same as Kaeya and he still gives me the same headache thinking about this) so how does it all tie together in the end?? Does it have to do with the God of time maybe??? (Nevermind if this is talked about in her personal story in her profile I haven't read that yet)

So yeah... the fight woth her was so cool. The animation??? I saw people get upset about the fact that Traveler couldn't beat her but I actually love that?? Like... She'a #4 of the Harbingers and has some curse probably tied to Khaenriah and she KILLED A HARBINGER WHEN SHE WAS A TEENAGER??? Traveler nlt being this almighty MC makes them so much mlre likeable like yeah... they are obv far from having their actual power back? It took us ... how many times to fight Shuki No Kami before we could defeat it in the final try to learn all the patterns? The game wants to tell us that there's much more powerful enemies in Teyvat and rhis is only the beginning. Let me tell you yeah we beat Signora but it was Raiden who killed her... it was Zhongli who subdued Azhdaha. We only healed Apep with Nahidas help. Traveler has never been able to easily defeat these big enemies, they always had help. Yeah they have been getting stronger, they've been getting access to more elements but the bis enemies are just getting stronger and bigger too... I wonder where that will lead. Maybe the twins are only gonna get their true power bavk once they're united... ANYWAY

Her weekly boss fight is cool too. Using different mechanisms again, with the whole Bond of Life thing and all. She does this one attack in her second phase that I just... can't get behind tho. Someone always has to be the victim, THE SACRIFICE, to get me through haha. Idk how to dodge or avoid that attack. The one where she floats above the arena and then these bombs? Idk? Come down and basically crash down on the whole arena and I haven't found a spot where you can aboid getting hit and therefore killed immediately idk.

So yeah that's all for now. Very excited to play Cyno's second story quest. Heard only good things so far about it, which is good because I really didn't like his first one 💀 probably gonna get around to play it one of these days. Same as with the rest of Remuria exploration, gonna need mlre Clorinde funds :3

(Gonna add screenshots later, it's been so long that the ones I took aren't saved in the PS App anymore 💀)

[my-castles-crumbling]

Anon Advice Asks - January 26th

taco anon - grayromantic anon (new) - no worries anon - 🐝 anon (new) - rambling anon (new) - middle grader anon (new) - label anon (new) - confidante anon (new)

Taco Anon

hey, it's taco anon

this is completely different from my last ask lolll but i wanted to share this bc little things like this help remind me that there is good in the world

im friends with these two boys and they've been best friends for a lot longer than i've known them. one of them is really musically talented - like he can hear a song and then know the keys on the piano and like play it after hearing it once. (i think this is so freaking cool) but i recently learned that when the other boy has a new favorite song, the piano one will learn how to play it for him.

it's honestly so sweet and i love them both so much😭😭😭

hope youre having a great day xoxo

OMG this is so sweet and it made my day 😍 honestly we need more reminders of good things like this

____________________________

Grayromantic anon

hi cas, how are you?

i needed to ask you how to get over a crush because i think i have a crush on a friend of mine

i don’t know what to do about it, because i really like him but he’s straight so i know he doesn’t like me back

the thing is, i’m aromantic or grayromantic or something, and i don’t think i would like to date him even

i like being friends with him, and i don’t want to date him. maybe i would like to be a bit closer but it’s not that important to me, you know? i’m just happy as it is now

which is why i have such conflicting feelings, because on one hand i think i do like him in a romantic way, but on the other i wouldn’t want to date him

i wish i could just forget about this and move on as normal

wishing you all the best :))

Hi!

Okay so I think at this point it might be a good idea to like..get some of these feelings out in a healthy way? You said you have conflicting feelings, you know? So I'd suggest maybe writing about it or drawing about it. Try to get those feelings down on paper and seeing if you can make a little more sense of them once they're not just rolling around in your brain. I know it's hard to have a million conflicting thoughts battling in you head to getting them out could really help <3

_______________

No Worries Anon

It has been a while since I sent an ask ig so I’m here for an update

Hello, it’s No Worries Anon

So… me and that friend reallllly haven’t talked at all outside of convos in class

And now that my class has ended, we have had legit no convos

Like… the last genuine convo through text that we had was earlyyyyy December, so it has been about 2 months since that.

They still haven’t called me my name. Still. Which sucks so much for me

Anyways, another person who hasn’t called me my name actually told another person my name, so that is cool

Nonetheless, it’s still rough having no one who respects me

Hi <3 I'm so sorry that things haven't gotten better. I want to remind you that whether or not you're getting respect, you DESERVE respect. Not only do you deserve to be called by the right name, but you deserve to be respected in every other way. Don't forget that <3

_______________________

🐝 anon

Hi! I know you said I didn't need to respond but I just wanted to say you are so valid for feeling overwhelmed. Please be gentle with yourself. I'm sending you so much love, and please try to take care of yourself, you deserve it <3

_____________________

Rambling Anon

His Cas! First of all, I just want to thank you for being so ridiculously sweet with everyone and always answering these asks. People often message me and leave asks too, but I’m so socially awkward that I never answer, and then I feel bad about it 😭. Like, the kind of bad where you stare at the unanswered messages, pretend they don't exist, and then suddenly remember them at 2 a.m. while eating cereal straight from the box. But I can’t help it. I have too much social anxiety.

Second of all... I've been writing a fic since May of last year, so… a while. I just hit 200k words, which is wild. And honestly? Terrifying. Like, how did I even get here?

The problem is, I have no clue what I’m doing. English isn’t my first language, so half the time, I’m convinced my grammar is out here committing war crimes. I feel like my writing is clunky, my dialogue is awkward, and the whole story feels so dull that I second guess every decision I’ve made.

And what’s worse... I’m nowhere near done. At best, I think I’m halfway through if I stick to my plan. If I want to tell the story the way I imagined, it’s probably going to be 400k words. For my first fic. What was I thinking?! Every time I open my documents, I feel like I’m drowning in timelines and backstories and just everything.

The worst part is, I want so much from this. I want the characters to feel real, the relationships to feel natural, the development to actually make sense. I want everything to matter, you know? But the more I try, the more I feel like I’m losing control.

I know I should probably get a beta reader to help, but that involves, you know, asking someone. And since we’ve already established I’m a socially awkward disaster, and too shy to ask anyone. Like, they're about to spend hours of their time reading it, it's too embarrassing.

This story means so much to me, and I really want to see it through. I want to finish it. I need to at least try. I love what I’ve created, but at the same time, I can’t stop hating it. It’s this weird love-hate relationship where I’m so proud of what it could be, but I’m constantly second guessing if it’s even worth it.

Most days, I come home from work completely drained, and even though I’m exhausted, I feel guilty if I don’t sit down to write immediately. It’s like I owe this story every bit of energy I have left but then I sit there staring at the screen, overwhelmed, and end up doing nothing.

I’m sorry for rambling here. I didn’t mean to unload all of this. But I really wanted to ask... Do you have any advice? Anything that could help me keep going and actually finish this thing? I just want to make it to the end without completely losing my mind in the process. I love your writing and I love your fics. And your work really makes me want to at least try.

Hi!

Okay so first, thank you <3 trust me, I often get overwhelmed by messages, it's just...tumblr is easier for some reason.

As far as your fic.

I think you need to reevaluate the amount of pressure you're putting on yourself. Writing fanfic is supposed to be FUN. If it's not fun, you're doing it wrong. You have no deadline, and have no responsibility to anyone. So a few things:

If you have any comments on your fic, read through the comments. They always make me feel better.

If you have anyone who follows your fic already, maybe that could be a good person to ask to beta? They already are following, you know? It's not hard for them to jump in.

Remember it does not have to be perfect. This is not published. You can go back and change things a million times! Again, this is supposed to be fun <3 If it's not, try taking a few breaths and doing whatever brought you to fandom in the first place. It's okay to take breaks and take care of yourself <3

I wish you so much luck!

________________

Middle Grader Anon

Okay so basically this anon asked what zionism is.

And for this, I'm going to say that though I understand what it is in theory...I don't think I'm educated enough to give a properly nuanced answer. I would say the best person to ask would be a history teacher. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help!

_________________

Label Anon

Hiii, I just had a little question to ask you, there’s nothing bad going on my life or anything, I just wanted tips on how to find my sexuality. I know that this maybe sounds like a stupid question but I really want to come out to my parents and I know that they support but I don’t really know what to say. I would like for me to know what my sexuality is before I try to explain some things to them. I would understand myself better if I had a label so I really wanted to know how to find it, I searched some things online and I think the sexuality I relate to the most is omnisexuality, but sometimes also pansexuality so I don’t really know. Do you have any tips on how to find my label?? Tyy<3

Hi <3

I think this is a hard question because like...labels are very different and personal for each person, and you don't even have to have one. I think if you really feel you need one, maybe see if you can talk to someone with the labels you might relate to and see if you feel similarly to how they feel? But also like...your sexuality is valid whether or not you have a definitive label. It's okay to tell your parents you're queer, and leave it at that. You are still just as part of the community, and your feelings are just as real <3 You don't have to rush yourself or push yourself to find a more detailed label yet, or at all.

__________________

confidante anon

Heyy cas! I messaged a few days ago saying how i loved ur fics nd i cane across how ure constantly helping people you're the most amazing everr. Um im sending this cuz like i rlly need someone to talk to rn theres too much going on and i was wondering if u cold be my, idk, confidante? Lmk wht u think of that!!

Hi!

You're absolutely welcome to vent or ask for advice in my inbox any time, my dear <3

[rhytmrocket]

hey hey hey all! happy halloween and happy birthday to me, aaand happy last day of punchtober!! i decided to dump the prompts i’ve done today instead of tomorrow like i usually do because 1, i have rehearsal tomorrow and im gonna be so so tired after, and 2, i thought it’d be better to do it day of bc of the holiday and my birthday, so it’s cool

here are the rest of the prompts, then!

19, hoy quarlow

i'll start with some of the ones i've missed. hoy! uh, i don't think too much of this guy, he's kinda just scrangly grampa idk

20, childhood

this is kinda just a doodle i pulled out of my ass. i think if heike and dragon and narcis were friends when they were kids they'd play like this.

25, kabuki

kabuki i also don't think about very much. but, i know well what it's like to like a character that at most 2 other people feel the same way about, so i shall feed the kabuki fan (and the hoy fan) that i am still certain exists

now for this week!

28, knock out (and also 18, vulnerability but i didn't wanna start with this one so)

so this one's a bit different. i wrote something! in french, so that my poor writing skills can just be chocked up to not knowing french too well! translations will be in parentheses

[gabby has just beat joe in a boxing match. joe lies on the mat, ko'd] joe: « bon travaille! tu me battes! » (good job! you beat me!) gabby: « t’es bien? » (you ok?) joe: « ouais, mais un peu blessé. » (yeah, but a bit injured.) [gabby helps joe get up] gabby: « je n’ai jamais gagné un match auparavant.. » (i've never won a match before..) joe: « maintenant, tu as! » (now, you have!) gabby: « t’as gagné des matchs auparavant, oui?— » (you've won matches before, right?) joe: « euh.. » gabby: « vraiment?! tu n’as jamais gagné?! » (really?! you've never won!?) joe: « non, pas un match vrai. vous élèves, je vous battes car je suis votre coach, mais dans le wvba… » (no, not a real match. you students, i beat you because i'm your coach, but in the wvba...) gabby: « tu n’as jamais gagné. » (you've never won.) joe: « encore! je n’ai pas encore gagné! je crois que je peux gagner! …éventuellement… » (yet! i haven't won yet! i believe that i can win! ... eventually...)

yeah, uh, sorry if the french isn't that great. still learning, yk

29, alice and ape iii (and technically 31, halloween but i have another one for 31)

theyre silly :3 they'd dress up as eachother i believe

30, frank jr

crying i didn't have much of an idea for him. but i do think it is a rare moment when he has a thought

and finally*, 31, halloween!

decided to go back to my roots and draw mahou again! and clown, cuz hes my silly :333 so, i drew them, my two blorbos, dressing up as each other because ermm its my birthday and i can do what i want

so that's it, right?

*oh, this asterisk. the only prompt i haven't done yet is 14, paparazzi. and that's because i want to do an edit for it. but, i haven't had the freetime and motivation this month to make it happen. so, that will come at a later date. can't guarantee when or how soon, but i swear that it'll be a thing. éventuellement.

[inkymkk]

Hey, I'll be polite first obviously, how are you?

do you have some fanfics you like so much about Palletshipping?

I'm looking for recommendations to read :D thanks

I started reading a lot of their fanfics in 2014 in my own language (Brazilian Portuguese) but currently there aren't many stories lol but I wasn't much of a shipper, I just liked reading stories, I think I started to like it on the show more after rewaching OS...especially Jotho (it was from power and play - Blacky! Battle During a Dark Night!! I think, and Diamomd and Pearl when they appear for 2 episodes) Oh well, there's all of Kanto and Jotho in Portuguese by an old Fansub from 2006 until 2018, that even subtitled Black and White, but he didn't finish Battle Frontier (the only one, actually) so another Fansub is taking it to finish it.

Also, where in the anime did you start shipping them? If it's a separate post, can you send a link so if as not to repeat the question If you have already answered a similar question, but changed your mind about something or have something new, you can add it

This came out bigger than intended sorry lfmao.

A very interesting post about Zensho if you intend to read it unfortunately it is an almost lost media...It's very difficult to get a physical copy and the translation that is available is not accurate according to the translator himself but it's still fun to read (it's one of my favorites) It seems like a mix of fidelity to the Red and Blue games with elements from the main anime, but factual differences between the characters' stories. Mainly more stuff about Oak/Shigeru's family I think it could be incorporated into Gary's character or not, I think that's up to people.

I think Shigeru's jealous relationship over Satoshi winning multiple times is funny, but there's a good reason behind it and the conclusion is adorable so I'm okay with it.

I wish more people knew Zensho because their dynamic is precious to me.

Another huge text omg...Thanks for reading again

Good!

I actually don't read Palletshipping fanfics often or even..at all.., But I do reccomends finding some at AO3, good shit there, I've seen really good mandarin shigesato fics actually, can't remember who wrote it..

Story time, I used to be a Gousato shipper actually.. (but for some reason when I saw the episode where Gary was coming back I was so excited and shit, mind you, I've never watched much pokemon anime prior to this, And the only pokemon anime I watched clips of was XY and black and white and yet the episode Gary came back I was jumping up and down.) I was in a relationship with a Gou kin back then but ya know some things never last.. just this year! I started to realize how much I actually truly liked shigesato (new year new me I guess.) I've always had liked it during my gousato phase (infact if I never invited that Gou kinnie to a RP server I used to be in I think It would've been a shigesato simp earlier lmao.) and once me and that old Gou kinnie started falling out I started to consume for Gary content and watching the original gen 1 anime and... That's when my storage space died bc I started downloading full videos and images.. teehee

Also that's a shame, hope someone in the fandom could find a link or something for the manga, I haven't had the time to research or find it yet so.. also I'm def drawing all 3 Gary versions one day, with all the blues...or green..or..glue..hhheheheh.... I want KitKat

[mushroomskykid]

Hi I'm finally here (Serene from main blog ) I came to ask questions, at least the ones I remember right now

Can you tell us a little bit more about Nana's mentor? Besides having adopted Mushroom, is there anything else about him?

If I remember correctly, there are rumors about Red that I don't think you've talked about yet, is it just something random or is there more?

Will Prince ever meet his old friends again?

Is there a reason why your characters have a title of some sort? I mean "Nana->Mushroom" etc

More importantly, can I pat Red? (Well technically Serene would do it in my place)

I'm leaving cookies for everyone here because they are too cute and they all deserve it

Hi, hi, welcome! ^^

Sorry, no drawings (it's late here qwq), but i'll add them later when i have a chance. Anyway let's start:

1. Sure! I haven't come up with any names for them yet, so i'll call them MM for short.

-MM is a funny mentor. They are charismatic jokester with laid-back personality and can be slightly annoying. MM loves stealing Grandma's buns whenever they have a chance, but it always ends the same - them being caught red-handed.

-One time MM tried to send Mushroom to get buns, but Grandma quickly figured it out and scolded them later. Mushroom was rewarded with extra buns that day.

-MM didn't want to be a veteran actually and never wanted to adopt a moth. They thought it was too much work and problems to deal with, but we all know they adopted Mushroom later on.

-MM has a mentor of their own! Or more like a parent than mentor. You could see them in chapter 6 in the background. ^^

-MM was inspired by my very first time trying to play Sky when it was just a demo version on steam. I wasn't able to play it bcs... I couldn't see anything. XD (Also yeah i didn't watch the first cutscene, so i only saw it later.) + stories from other players with veterans.

2. Right, the rumors are mostly about him being rude towards other skykids. It's actually a bit of misunderstanding.

Red tried to help one skykid to open the door and that skykid got pushed to the side by a small group. It made Red angry, so he started to honk aggressively at them. Sadly, someone he knew saw it and just told others to not interact with him.

3. Most likely, no. Prince thinks they hate him for leaving, so he thought it would be better to move with new friends.

But he misses them. After all, all of them were moths back then.

4. Oh, it's just my small headcanon. Like in a game you can give your friend a name/nickname, so I thought what if whenever skykid falls, they already have a name. (It could be Megabird who gave them or they just naturally know their name. They can change it freely.)

So nicknames are something their friends/mentors or themself can come up with.

Nana (name)/ Mushroom (nickname)

(i'm still developing this headcanon)

5. You can! His live reaction of being patted:

[dreamtydraw]

hi there!! so I was recently looking for visual novels to occupy my time with, and I came across 21 questions, so I played it. and I loved it. so I played tulipe. and I liked that one a lot too. then I checked out your social media and I was really curious about the ✨️paranormal club lore✨️, so I just played all of them-

I didn't realize it when I was playing the game, but I've seen a lot of your our life art here on tumblr and I can't get over how pretty it is! even when it's just doodles that you do for fun, I still really like your style cause you make everyone look so nice. even if you're just drawing clem in a clown suit, we still love that

I don’t usually draw anymore because even though I used to like it, I feel like I lack all motivation to do it now, but seeing your art is really giving me inspiration to pick up a paper and a pencil and start drawing again :D

I personally share your love for visual novels, and I enjoy replaying yours because they're honestly so nice. I guess I just like seeing the way the story progresses and how relatable the characters feel, especially as a non-binary person who struggles to see themselves represented in games. plus I just like the voice acting in 21 questions

if I'm honest, even if it wasn't my usual genre of romance, night shift was a good play as well, especially for your first game! I can feel the inspiration from horror games and I love those types of things sm. I get why you'd wanna go back and redo it someday, but I think especially in terms of the plot and characters, it had a captivating plot and it was well written... françoise betrayed us tho rip

also this isn't about the games but from what I've seen, it honestly feels like you're a really nice person who happens to be really talented and so you deserve really nice things. even if you haven't been getting them until now, I hope you do start because you deserve it!! I like reading your visual novel rambles bc I agree with a lot of stuff, just me nodding my head in agreement like I wouldn't look crazy if anyone saw me. and it feels nice to see that people still talk about fictif stories to this day cause god they've been collecting dust 😭 I miss those days where I'd be so excited whenever an update was announced... guess I'll never get my rime route now :(

lastly, I just wanna say that I love clem sm. they're literally so cool but still so adorable and I wanna give them all the love and affection. I want us to bake together and then paint each other's nails 💅

and this question has been keeping me awake at night so I just have to ask, I know that at the end of the game he said we'd keep in contact like aurore and her partner, but would they let mc just. follow them to London while he does his thing? there's no point in being in France without your blond french, and I've always wanted to move to an english speaking place anyways... clem can put me in their suitcase, I'll be good 🫶

thank you for listening to my silly rambles, I hope you're having a good day and if not, I really hope it gets better! remember to take care of yourself and take breaks whenever you need them, you're only human so you aren't always gonna be perfect, but at least you know you always try your best even if things don't go the way you want them to <3

Anon whoever you are I love you and I really wish you a wonderful day I started sobbing a bit too hard and now my eyes kinda hurt a bit but your message makes me feel a lot of things and I’m really grateful for such kindness. I’m fucking crying on my poor plushies cause I don’t have tissue, they are all wet and miserable 😭😭😭😭 Words trully can’t explain how much this message means to me, like, this is the kind of message that i’ll keep in my phone gallery to look at when i feel sad and it’s just so sweet and it rassure all the bad things I think about myself so I’m very emotional. It’s 2 am and I had a very long day so I physically and emotionally don’t handle it well but i promise it’s / pos i’m just blabling incoherent thoughts just to say thank you so much and I’m glad you enjoy what I create and I’m glad you draw again and I hope you find joy in making stuff you like + you get soft and cold pillow at night and warm meals in winter anon.

Now i am so sad to spread bad news BUT…. The canon ending of 21 questions is the platonic ending. 21q happens in 2019, Clem move to London in 2021 and ( spoiler alert ) will be spotted in Apple bag which takes place in 2022. Clem’s character and story haven’t entirely been revealed in his game for reasons that I’ll hopefully share in a futur but it’s for the same reasons that realistically… the relationship in 21q is destined to end with distance.

BUT that not the end if you imagine a future with Clem. If your intention is to romance them then there is an open window for the timeline where he’s a bit older. When exactly ? I won’t spoil but all I have to say is that this relationship can work on long term ! It’s just a good person, wrong moment situation and once you know everything about him, then his romance options become more real :}

Mystic talk sorry, like i said i just had an emotional breakdown and it’s late so i will shut my mouth and go to sleep ! Once again thank you so much for your kind words an hopefully you’ll like what I plan to release in the future. Tons of love ❤️

[delu-lusional]

(sideblog is valleygirlmukuroikusaba) hi!! 2 questions:

1. what ur opinions r on UTDP/USC timeline mukuro??

so like basically that canon material has been the main basis on mukuro content ive internalized thus far (im a newgen fan for context so technically im much more unfamiliar with the general consensus of fanon/non-disguise mukuro who has been more well recognized)

2. can you explain how u view mukuro with u see fit if the valley girl disguise feels like very surface level/not rlly getting to know mukuro as herself

getting feedback from ur rb a while back engaging with my au rlly got me thinking if ppl interpret my au rambles a lot differently than how i intended bc of these shift in perspectives with how other ppl in the fandom view mukuro n im interested in ur opinion on mukuro and if possible how differently my stuff reads when with ur own internalized notion with a bit more detail bc id like to learn more abt different mukuro ideas that isnt uh “valley girl bought from wish” LMAO

that’s a lot but hopefully it is a interesting discussion to rotate abt bc honestly im learning new things abt this fandom every day aha

oh.. oh i like you. i like your thinking.

i fear i haven't even watched any playthroughs nor played UTDP. it doesnt interests me as much as other installments of the franchise, but i might watch some playthroughs/look at screenshots of it later. (and dw, i too am somewhat of the new gen to danganronpa, around the v3 and udg era sadly..

----

2. how i see mukuro is kind of an amalgamation of my knowledge of domestic abuse, ptsd via military, the very few breadcrumbs we get of mukuro in disguise (with a little from the anime unfortunately), and excerpts from fanfics I've read. Of course, I'm not all knowing about the intricacies of these nuanced topics, but by golly do I love me my brain studies.

something i tend to take in account with thinking of mukuro is how she was basically treated like a dog her whole life; obedient and subservient. she's never taken the time to find herself with junko breathing down her neck nor her instructors and fellow soldiers. she was brought up in chaos and war, so of course she'd struggle to find her true self.

I will say, i do think mukuro finds solace in war. she has control, she is able to let out frustration she never realized was building. she doesn't have to care about her sister on the battlefield, only about herself and her metaphorical brothers and sisters. that's why she's such a good solider.

with mukuro disguising herself as junko, I don't think she'd find much about herself through that experience since she's basically pretending to be someone. mukuro is cosplaying as an another identity all together, a memory of what her sister was (or, a memory of what she THINKS of her sister).

personally, i am of the opinion that mukuro cracked when sayaka was killed (not a surprise, i am quite the ikuzono truther). she wasn't in control like junko promised. she realizes that she is a pawn, and her confrontation to Junko/Monokuma was genuine. well- as genuine as can be when she's mimicking a fake person. I think DR-IF also talked about that. If you havent read it, you really should! it gave me a lot of mukuro centric headcanons that let me develop her further.

----

3. for your blog, i see it as an alternative route where mukuro was able to find herself. i also fw your design of valleygirl mukuro SO HARD. it makes me cry a little. i like how you think of sayaka as more competent and paranoid than canon. she would fr psychoanalyze everyone, very much to her own detriment. also her and junko being rivals? uh, yes please. more of this.

your au actually grew my wings btw. might just draw mukuro in valley girl/gyaru clothing, that'd be very fun.

i am probably going to add leon into the sayaka, mukuro, makoto, and aoi au group bc of you. your ideas are fire. ty valley girl mukuro truther.

[mirror-imaged]

idont think anybody understands sheffbrien the way I do (insane) I'm sorry they're literally so bad for each other (affectionate) I could go on and on forever. I will actually. sheffbrien post be upon ye. thanks to ashe for talking about this w me on discord. this is a kinda obrien centric post bc of that loll but I'm obvi getting into sheffields whole deal too

having reread tc22 again and done some literary analysis a few days ago on a plane at 2 in the morning (I'm out of the country rn helloo ^_^) I picked up on a lot of thematics for them I find very interesting. long post ahead!

1 - the dynamics in their relationship are so wildly interesting. I think their characterization in tc22 does wonders for them. firstly, there are a lot of false differences id say? they seem so different, but when you boil it down they have a lot in common. sheffield is affluent and intelligent but has a spiteful and hotheaded side, obrien is seen as angry or rude but is taken for granted with his intelligence quite often by others. he got into an ivy league school at 17. there's also how sheffield seems so charismatic while obrien is abrasive and lonely, but they both really have no other friends when you get down to it? and last example for now, sheffield sees himself as divine while obrien seems to have renounced religion, but he really hasn't done the work of removing his mindset from a catholic(?) framework. expanding on that,

2 - obrien has religious trauma and this is heavily established. he doesn't actually ever move past religion as a concept though, he just moves on from God. he replaces his concept of God with his concept of his sister. more on this later. sheffield also has a relationship with religion, but more in the sense that he inherently sees himself as something unlike humanity, something greater and to be revered. he refers to himself as an angel in a way that doesn't strike me as being ingenuine the way he does in other places. I need to draw art about this it makes me abnormal

3 - for obrien specifically, there are some insanely interesting threads left about his trauma creating a savior complex within him. obviously shown at the start of the story with professor harris, but there are also the times he mentions going into genetics due to his guilt and wanting to entirely eliminate the disease that disabled his sister and when he says he feels an involuntary sympathy for stella when he found out she didn't mean to kill harris. it also makes me wonder if that plays into his protectiveness of sera later on.

4 - obrien has some severe internalized ableism going on that I wish more people actually picked apart. I know tc22 is a small scale story and a lot of people haven't read it, but it's fascinating stuff. he obviously grew up with the mindset that his sister was somehow contagious and describes how he felt he would somehow fall ill because of this, and that sort of mindset does a lot to dehumanize somebody in a person's mind. after eventually passing on an illness to her that results in her death, he is driven entirely by guilt as a character. he becomes certain that if God were fair and true, he would have died instead of her. but, like I mentioned before, he never really renounces religion in any specific way aside from this. he even mentions how he now prays to his sister instead of God, which I think is so fascinating. he never saw his sister as a person, and by elevating her to this status of somebody he needs to grovel to or even just uses as a holy figure in his life, he continues to see her as inhuman. he recognizes his past ableism, but he never does anything to deconstruct and rebuild from it. much like with his relationship with religion!

5 - obrien is treated by dds2 as the morally virtuous character, but he's really not (if you get the context from tc22). my boyfriend put it as him being just on the right side of history, which I absolutely agree with. I know tc22 was probably written after dds2 and doesn't necessarily inform the writing decisions for the games, but it definitely adds juicy layers to me. obrien is seemingly not motivated by any true desire to help sera or the nameless sufferers of CATCH22, he is motivated by the guilt from his sisters death hanging over him like a shadow. not to say he doesn't care at all, but it seems more like a quest to make up for his sins in the eyes of his sister than a desire to do good, which seems awfully catholic to me. this is absolutely the most interesting part of his character presented by the narrative. God I wish they did this better in the games.

6 - moving on to sheffield, sheffield is actually one of the most interesting and real depictions of a character with NPD traits I've ever seen, hands down. I know I talk about this frequently, but it's especially strongly done in tc22 and one of my favorite parts of his character. to start, he's mostly presented with extremely minor and often-masked aspects of the disorder a lot of people don't really pick up on. vouching personally. he quickly becomes passive aggressive and seemingly personally offended when challenged, like by inspector Harvey for instance. he is a practiced and seemingly compulsive liar, able to make things up on the spot that nobody but obrien questions due to his confidence. he seems to get along swimmingly with people he doesn't know well, charismatic and understanding. he pays exceptionally close attention to other people's emotions, expressions, and demeanors to adjust and match theirs. he also is debatably depicted with real delusions of grandeur. he only seems to be able to let his guard down around obrien, actually. and my absolute favorite moment of his, really relatable for me, is that when he stops masking he does not become dangerous. he does not go into a rage, he just goes blank. entirely and visibly unable to express emotion "normally", and obrien is initially scared, but realizes he just doesn't understand sheffield as well as he thinks he does. this is incredibly accurate to real life for me. it's actually insanely well depicted. and what I really appreciate is that sheffield is never presented as truly malicious [IN THIS STORY]. with dds2 context, he can be seen that way for sure, but he isn't actually shown being morally reprehensible. he's dubious and seems to have trouble understanding where he crosses a line, but that's also very true to real life for me. he isn't necessarily trying to be evil, he's just nosy and invasive of boundaries on occasion. they also never actually label him as or call him a narcissist, which is so good?? props to tadashi for once?? I think he is one because I have the disorder and can more accurately assess this sort of thing, but labeling every character who's like Abusive as a narcissist is so tacky and distasteful to me. it diminishes the harm they inflict on other people as being something born of mental illness, which isn't necessarily true. he is definitely abusive to sera, but that is not related to his narcissism.

7 - sheffield is just such a good character in this. I raved already about his npd stuff but I want to get into other things a little too. firstly, he does seem to genuinely view himself as inhuman, which is something I also believe contrasts obrien a little. obrien has this deep internalized self hatred, while sheffield has this genuine belief he is on a different level from other people. despite this, he sees obrien as being his Equal in some way. as being worthy of his presence, his assistance, his friendship. the pizza scene really really drives this home for me. (that's another subtle npd ass trait but I've said enough). in addition, sheffield tries so desperately to present himself as worthy of something more, maybe backed by doubt, or maybe even just true belief. he tries to appear intimidating, has knowledge of how to get into people's heads, etc. maybe this is because he's young and people see him differently for being so ahead of his grade, but I also see it as a display of insecurity in an implicit way. his delusions of grandeur also play into this characterization, because delusions of grandeur are often born from extreme and severe self doubt (at least in those with mental health disorders, which I've already mentioned I believe he strongly aligns with). him coming from a wealthy background in Portland of all places would not help any of that kind of thing.

8 - i don't even know what else I could say about them. they make me so abnormal. not even a toxic romantic relationship between them (which I do like think about but obviously post tc22 I don't like their age gap) but simply their dynamic as two characters. sera is a figurehead for their conflict, really. all the things we learn about both of these characters really makes me question how much BOTH of them care for sera, not just sheffield's two-faced lies. she is representative of their ideological dispute. she is a small child who has the potential to save the world, but obrien is too scared of letting another child die as a result of his inaction and sheffield is too focused on his end goal of getting what he believes he deserves, divinity and becoming a revered savior of the world, no matter who falls along the way. they are built to contrast each other. you even see this through heat and serph to a degree, with how sera mixed them up. heat declares he is on the same level as God during the jp text of the vritra fight, while serph inevitably sacrifices his own life for the sake of sera.

9 - what happened between tc22 and the dds2 flashbacks? I actually need to know what caused their relationship to split so heavily. I'm fucking obsessed with them. post over please join my sheffbrien Island there's like 2 other people here

[theneighborhoodwatch]

Found this welcome theory video that i found interesting: https://youtu.be/9Lz6OcILeSc?si=tcPnCX3QC4JmAyC-

Thoughts :3?

(functional link to video)

i tend to avoid youtube coverage of welcome home because i'm petty, but fuck it, it's a new year and i've never actually heard of this youtuber before. i'll give it a shake. liveblog under the cut:

"y'know if it wasn't for the unsettling mysteries, the feeling that somebody is always watching you, and the mold.... i'd wanna live in the neighborhood" that's exactly why the mold and paranoia's so scary babeyyyy

"update number two" Tch.

i'm less inclined to call the writing in this update character development so much as it is just character establishment. especially since before the july 22nd update (bc that's what this video is about) all we knew about the other neighbors was what the WHRP was willing to tell us. i feel like i'm preaching to the choir though.

ok i laughed at the grindset alpha male howdy joke

"now i wanna move onto eddie bc i wanna make a connection between [eddie and howdy]" :D OH DO YOU NOW.

i do love the energy in this video, very infectious. i too have recommended people welcome home solely on the basis that they would have the hots for eddie and y'know what i haven't been wrong yet.

I WAS GONNA SAY SOMETHING ABOUT HOW LIKE. almost all of the characters have that backstory element of having coming from somewhere else before settling down in home, but i see the point about howdy and eddie specifically dealing with stuff that comes from someplace else as like, an actual job. putting a pin in it.

i'm not Sure how i feel about the idea that the world of home/the world in which home exists is Within our world? pretty much from the beginning i assumed it was running on re:creators/deltarune dark world rules (i.e. it is a world that was born from human thought and its existence is dependent on/influenced by our world, but at the end of the day it does exist on like a separate plane of reality) and i still stand by that. barbieland in barbie 2023 is a more apt comparison though.

"possession route" Tch.

ok actually i can't tch at that because i have talked about it in my own posts. TL;DR: i think possession/haunting theory could work but only if it's anything other than actual literal ghosts. as soon as you try to make it FNAF 2 i sleep.

don't have much to say about Real Poppy Lover Hours except emphatic smiling and nodding. although i will say i have seen people use "oh she's more like a mom/aunt/etc.!" as an excuse to sideline her in fanwork bc for some reason some folks think that her having a motherly personality means that she can't be shipped with anyone? even though all of home's residents are adults who aren't even related to each other? that's a gripe for another post, though.

THE CONCEPT OF SALLY BEING AS BIG AS POPPY IS KILLING ME. I PROMISE SHE'S SMALL SHE JUST HAS A BIGASS HEAD. she would want to be big though wouldn't she.

...actually now i want big sally. note to self to draw that later.

i do like the examination of whether or not sally referring to the audience is meant to mean anything. personally i think it's just a bit of wordplay/red herring action but You Never Know!

i misheard "girlboss bossgirl slay" as "girlboss boygirl slay" for like a split second. still fits tbh.

IT'S FUNNY THAT THEY MENTION THINKING THAT THE WHRP IS A SINGLE PERSON bc i do have an ask about that right after this. i'll save my thoughts for that response though.

it's funny that "was the majority of the gang being some form of queer/disabled/nd/etc. planned in-universe" is a question at all bc at the risk of sounding like an asshole it feels so obvious to me that it very much was not. the interview is definitely playing into those themes though.

"them <3" yeah

again. extremely refreshing to see a welcome home video from someone who actually likes welcome home instead of the clicks that covering it will give them.

BARNABY-SANS COMPARISON IS... DISTRESSINGLY APPROPRIATE.

he always knows when to show up, huh.... huh.... i've been trying to break away from being so self-referential ever since welcome home and consequently this blog blew up but. huh...

do i think he's a service dog? i think to answer that question we would first have to answer the question of whether or not he's even a Dog or just Shaped Like A Dog. the laws of his reality say he is a dog, but we can at least guess that even even those can't be trusted. i think it's possible that he may see himself as in service to wally, that he worries about what will happen if he doesn't butt in, but i don't know if this is an objective truth.

"[wally] being so mysterious i don't think is like, him wanting to be mysterious. [...] there just may not be that much about him." and then relating that to how typically protagonists in puppet shows have more subdued personalities than their co-stars so they can be more relatable to the audience. Teehee. (this is positive)

oh there's something kind of poetic about the idea that each bug video ends bc wally's snapped out of his dissociation by one of his friends calling his name when paired with the idea that he's disassociating in part due to his connection with the audience isn't there. being reminded of one's own personhood through your connections with others, and how that has the potential to become more bittersweet the more wally continues to risk it in the process of regaining a sense of purpose as The Audience Surrogate. oogh. that's just me waxing poetic though.

oooh that whole passage about the idea of remembrance and the pursuit of a "correct" story and tying that back into how welcome home in-universe has been almost universally forgotten and the themes of living as a disabled or mentally ill or queer person. beautiful connection.

"hmmm, how much agency do you have in your life actually" AHEHEHE. HEHEHEHE. HEHE.

conclusion: Good Video. thank you for sending it.

[pyrothecary]

been thinking of u after the insanity of 2.eveyrhitng in hsr... lawd have mercy

HIIIII HEY SORRY. I'M SORRY I DROPPED OFF THE RADAR FOR A BIT THERE HAHA LOL (cut bc godDAMN did i yap. also small hsr 2.something idfk penacony story spoilers)

this is some real shit though like Hooooly. i fully was not an aventurine fan at all when he first showed up (Srry guys) but after playing through the update? he's one of my faves i love himb </3 it always be the character u didn't like at first. when they get you they GET you

fun fact: i've been wanting gepard from day 1. my little pfp has been his drawing of the trailblazer since i got it. my signature has been "GEPARD COME HOME" for MONTHS. I GOT HIS SIG LC OFF STANDARD BANNER PITY WITH NO GEPARD IN SIGHT.

when aventurine banner rolled around i was finally like.. maybe it's ok if i don't get gepard soon i'll just use aventurine as a shielder.

Well Fuck Me Apparently bc Guess who finally decided to show up at the worst possible time 🔥

it's ok tho i'd been saving for a while so i just clawed my way back to pity and got aventurine in the end. it's so sexy when you have a playable character you can also fight as a boss. Yeah. Good stuff. if you are a boss enemy with a mask hididng ur face literally kiss me

i got robin too and wanted firefly but then i moved hsr to a different drive to make space and as soon as it wasn't on my screen all the time my object permanence issues made me forget it existed so i haven't played since week 1 firefly banner. not sure what's happening anymore other than jade drop(?) i heard there was a fire def shred cat guy from the xianzhou and that's pretty much it