#AH WELL i still want this here ^^

[cherubchoirs]

we're at the combination ash valentine's wednesday

[anewp0tat0]

i lied i had like atleast one more weston thought to expell from my brain, before i miss this boat entirely. we're heading to green lands woooo

[titaniumions]

OBLIGATORY KISS REDRAW FOR ALL THE 1.7ERS OUT THERE

[swift-kwikster]

A comic about Sam and Max being trans guys, taking place at Sam's old job as a stewardess before he transitioned. Being that it's Sam & Max, weird ridiculous hijinks ensure.

So... After two years of working on this on and off, it's finished! I had posted pages as I was making them on here before but those posts are no longer on my blog- I actually redid most of the pages with new jokes and panels, and fixed a lot. I'm really proud of how far this has come. :)

Please reblog if you can if you like it, so more can see it! It'd mean so much! Thank you. <3

[sollucets]

the ye baiyi effect

[avalonlights]

Happy Halloween 1984! 💘🎃

[sysig]

can i ask for larry and kabu.... is it allowed......... if not i can ask for something else lol

Day 2 - Warm feelings

[spacebubblehomebase]

Without colors or context, this simple and stupid comic of mine feels so, so tense; It's ominous. The difference from the tone of my last doodle is low-key hilarious though. But please, *insert ace joke here* cause I swear this is nothing serious. I don't even know why I gave in so much effort or show ya'll my progress before finishing, yet here we are. -Bubbly💙

[belligerentbagel]

smüch

[codexbrainhasbrokenfree]

Idk if yer still accepting people asking abt yer thoughts on Yakuza 7 but uhhh

What's your opinion on the karaoke songs in the game and their connections to the characters?

(ngl, I think some are quite weak links to the characters and shit but that's just my opinion)

oh man, okay, this is something i didn't think about in too much depth, mainly because everytime I hear one of these songs I want to sing along more than I want to sit down and Think About It. Of course I roughly know about the themes of each karaoke songs, but I didn't take the time to analyze them.... YET.

I'm going to read fan translations (i don't trust the official translation but i guess i will check it out as well) for each songs and come up with analysis for them and I'll come back with THOUGHTS.

OKAY IM BACK (sorry this ask too so long i had to take my time with it (by that I mean "i took my time for yume mita sugata e" because of course i did))

I will comment on each song individually, starting now :

1 · Baka Mitai (Nanba)

Clearly this song was added to Y7's karaoke selection because it's iconic and no other reason. And because of that, its relevance to Nanba's character is... well, limited. The topic of the song doesn't really fit him, unless you imagine the one the song is singing about could be interpreted as being Mizue, the girl Nanba protected by being fired from the hospital for the faults she had commited... But even for me that's a bit too far-fetched to even consider as a possibility. Not only does Nanba clearly states that he had no romantic interest for Mizue, which wouldn't fit with the song's lyrics, but the way the woman of the song is described doesn't even match Nanba's perception of Mizue so, yeah, this interpretation is a dead-end.

However, I still like the choice of giving this song to Nanba specifically, because I feel like it fits with how he is characterized within the ichigang : compared to every other members of the group, he is the one who is the most "realistic" when it comes to his expectations out of life, and most of the time he acts like a very pessimistic guy who complains a lot about how much his life sucks (partially because compared to Ichiban, everyone becomes a downer, and also because Nanba really has those kinds of personality traits). So I think it is very fitting to have him sing the overly miserable song! Especially since it is so obviously a parody of this kind of songs, it is very funny to have Nanba's behavior being made fun of in a caricatural way during his karaoke. It highlights how much he stands out of the rest of the gang on a surface level, which is what the karaoke songs should do in my opinion (in Y7 specifically, since the karaoke songs in this game are supposed to be light-hearted and easily accessible. I do believe the previous games worked with more serious/sadder songs, because of the context of Kiryu singing alone. the tones of the games are simply not the same!).

2 · Machine Gun Kiss (Adachi)

Even if this one is uninteresting to analyze it's a banger so i don't mind having it on the karaoke selection. I especially like the difficulty of this song compared to the other ones, it is quite challenging to get 100% on this one, and it feels very good when you do :)

I've always seen Adachi giving his all for this song as a way to prove he's still "cool" enough to hang out with "young people", even though most of the group is middle-aged and probably don't care about his age hehe. We can see in some Party Chat that Adachi feels a little bit out of place being the oldest in the group, so it doesn't feel that out of character for him to try every chance he gets to show off how he can still shine in a group made out of people younger than him every chances he gets... Which would somewhat works with his performance on Machine Gun Kiss because he does sing it very well, but it also sounds like an old song an old people trying to be cool would choose lmao The english dub kinda supports this interpretation I have, because Adachi doesn't even remotely sounds like an old man when he's singing this song in the dub. Not that I care a lot about the english dub, I just thought this was funny.

3 · Like a Butterfly (Eri and Ichiban is there cheering)

if you'd tell me Eri was added in the game just so that someone could sing this song I would believe you /j

Eri is so bland as a character i don't think there's anything to be read in Like a Butterfly that could be relevant to her in any meaningful way. I don't mind it, because Ichiban's cheers are very funny, and the song itself is very good. It's my favorite to sing with my brother so it wins bonus points in my heart just for that.

4 · Akuma no Jigoku (Zhao + Ichiban)

I'm going to consider this song as being Zhao's song, because the player unlocks it once Zhao joins the team, so it seems that canonically, Zhao is the one who intially knew the song, and then introduced it to Ichiban. Which I find hilarious btw, Zhao's ENTIRE introduction as an official member of the ichigang is hilarious, but the specific mental picture of Zhao showing up at Survive uninvited (i mean he was invited by Joongi, but the others didn't know he was coming), announcing he is now living here and immediately grabbing the microphone to sing karaoke, all the while Ichiban is looking at him like "wow this guy is so cool I gotta learn to sing like him", this is very funny to me.

This song fits Zhao's character perfectly, even if only concerning his surface-level character traits. But it makes sense for him to sing about his most commonly known interests (cooking) and personality (the demonic vibes of the song match Zhao's seemingly chaotic behavior and his affinity for light-hearted trickery) given the fact that we know from his Drink Links he isn't used to nor really likes to be true to himself around other people. So for his song to be a culmination of the few characteristics of himself he hides his true self behind in order to look a certain specific way to the others watching him, it makes a lot of sense and is easily justifiable.

I do love the fact that the cinematic of this song features all the members of the ichigang. Once again coming back to Zhao's introduction to the group, I will forever think the way he got integrated so easily in the group despite having no reason to be part of it was because he brainwashed everyone into thinking they were already friends by hyping them up with this song. And now it has become their friend group's theme song everytime they go out to eat together. For me this song's cinematic being the only one with all the ichigang members in it can also be linked with how lovable Zhao seems to be. Because he puts on the front of the cool funny guy everyone loves and barely ever takes it off.

5 · Harukaze (Saeko)

Now this one is complicated. I KNOW the song is talking about a lover who broke up with her in order to find a better life for himself. HOWEVER.

The way the song focuses on Saeko's resolution to never be part of this person's life again because she believes they will find a better future far away from her, and she is happy with that, AND the fact the romantic connotations of the song literally cannot be found anywhere aside from One (1) line in the first verse... I'm tempted to say that Saeko chose this song because it makes her think of her sister who chose to cut all contact with her.

The song's lyrics mentions how the person Saeko used to share her life with has now become a different person than who she used to know, and at every chorus the pain of seeing that person from far away only for a brief instant is brought up, as well as the satisfaction and relief to know that they are doing okay. This is very similar to the relationship Saeko has with her sister Nahona, as she's forbidden to come back into her life, but also watching over her like a guardian angel without her knowing. Plus, the song keeps on repeating that as long as this person the singer lost is happy living their own life, then it will be enough for the singer to be happy as well. But the song ends on a line suggesting that EVEN if the life the person is living isn't as good as it could have been, EVEN if it ends up being a "dead-end", they would still be glad to keep watching from afar to see their loved-one keep on fighting for the perfect life they want to have, even if they know they will never be a part of it. This makes me think of how Saeko found out about Nahona working at Ohime Land during Y7, and how she first felt sorry for her sister to have end up working at a soapland, but she didn't use that information in order to get back into her life even though it could have been a very convincing argument to proove that Nahona cannot take care of herself and their father alone. Instead she did what she always did, kept watching from afar, kept supporting her sister who hates her.

With this interpretation in mind, if we agree on reading Harukaze as a song about Saeko and Nahona, then the cinematic showing her finding support within the ichigang also makes more sense, as Ichiban, Nanba and Adachi did come into her life at a point where she was at her lowest point regarding her relationship with her sister : She knew about how she needed money so badly she had to prostitute herself and about how her boss supposedly killed himself, leaving her without this additional income she apparently needed a lot, and yet she was unable to help her in any way on her own. It is thanks to the ichigang she managed to get back on her feet, which is nicely conveyed in the karaoke cinematic... If we assume the song is indeed talking about her relationship with her sister and not some random lover we never got to know. I will assume so from now on, i like this interpretation :)

6 · Yume Mita Sugata e (Ichiban)

I listen to this song when I'm feeling down. It never fails to cheer me up.

Without any surprise this song is my favorite of Y7's selection. Unlike Machine Gun Kiss, it is OVERLY simple to have 100% on it, and i think this is by design : the song is literally someone cheering you up and telling you you will be okay, just like they will be. It's a feel-good song, so it makes sense for it to be very easy, because ANYONE should be able to get the top score on this song, because they CAN be the best at everything they set their minds to.

As much as this song is about hope and believing in one's dream, it is actually quite dark in the topics it mentions, literally opening up on Ichiban asking the one(s) listening if they have ever felt so pathetic and useless they wanted to die, before Ichiban answers his own question by saying that he has felt this way before. This is FASCINATING to me because we KNOW for a fact that Ichiban had a few very bad teenage years, a time of his life that he refers to when he tells Mitsuo in Ch1 that he "never wants to go back to rock bottom". From what we know from the game, these years were bad for him simply because he had no idea where he would go in life, because the only things he felt was worth his time and attention were his video games. But with the context this karaoke song gives us, maybe Ichiban was actually more than just rowdy rebellious teenager, and actually felt real anguish when thinking about his future, so much so that he hid away into his video games all day long to avoid the cruel reality he was born in. This could give a new context to his immediate devotion to Arakawa as soon as he saw him for the first time. Maybe it wasn't because of what Arakawa had done for him that he chose to dedicate his life for him, but because his life literally had no other meaning nor purpose before that, and Ichiban desesperatly needed one.

The chorus of this song is everything we know Ichiban for. His perfect dream of becoming "the coolest, strongest hero in the whole wide world" is here phrased in a way that highlights the naivete and carefreeness of it all. But yet, the song treats this goal as being a honorable one. Because this isn't about if you can reach your dreams, it is about if your dreams make you want to live for another day as your best self.

The second chorus focuses on Ichiban's goal to help people, which is a very appropriate character trait to bring up in a karaoke song, since the only place the player will hear it will be at Survive, which is the place when the Drink Links happen, during which Ichiban's positive impact on people's lives is highlighted in almost every interaction he can have with the other party members. The song even directly refers to the Drink Links themselves with the lines "On those nights when you’re hurting or lonely | Come have a drink with me".

For me, the official english version feels a bit too silly, but I do love how they changed the "I'll rise up" of the chorus by "I'm gonna level up". Sure, it is cheesy, but Ichiban himself is a cheesy guy, and we know he does perceive improving himself or his life as leveling up, so it would fit his character. Plus, it would connect his interest in video games with his undying hope, the only things that supposedly kept him going when he was a child intrinsically linked to the man he is today. But I do also love "I'll rise up" a lot, as it seems to be a reaction to being stuck at "rock bottom", which the song also directly mentions in the first verse, and is a concept that consistently gets brought up in the game (and i have thoughts on that. maybe involving a blue guy. sooo something for another post)

The cinematic too is very good i think. The few seconds we get of 16yo Ichiban seemingly losing to one of his video games are precious to me. You CANNOT make a video game character hold a controller and facing the player and expect said player NOT TO think "omg he's just like me frfr". The fact 16yo Ichiban appears during this song also supports my interpretation that the "rock bottom" mentionned in this song is the same "rock bottom" Ichiban talks about when refering to his teenage years before he met Arakawa.

We also can see Ichiban cheering up a little boy in the cinematic. A little boy who is CLEARLY supposed to be a representation of Nanba (which is something my brother and I were disagreeing on before we got the entire "Nanba is a traitor" arc. after that he had to agree with me that the little boy was meant to be read as Nanba). I find the choice of making Nanba a child while Ichiban is still seen as an adult here interesting, because i believe it is part of a greater effort RGG Studios made in Y7 to NOT infantilize Ichiban in any way. I find it very impressive how Ichiban, throughout the whole game, never feels childlish or immature, despite his characterization which would easily fit in stereotypes linked to childlishness and immaturity (which could be linked to the fact he doesn't exactly comes off as a neurotypical guy but that's a topic for another day). So having him being the one (adult) lifting others (Nanba, a child) up, plays a part into the stunt RGG Studios managed to pull off when writing Ichiban's character.

[averlym]

May I please request some soft parrlyn please

morning vs night gfs

[baekuras]

i also did more applying (and got 2 no's already which....hello autmated email after automated scan through website answers only looking at my school...certificate instead of current grades but whatever)

this means i am now awaiting 21 answers and gotta do at least 6 more letters and search for more

[tm21-nuzcomic]

how do i make first posts again.

Howdy! Working on a nuzlocke comic and realized I might as well share progress as I go along. This is TM21, a dystopian gijinkalocke, and my baby for the past near-year. Premise is this:

Unova some decades ago gets walled off and completely isolated from the world in every single respect (trade, travel, internet, so on). At the same time, horrific mutant Monsters begin to start appearing in the region and terrorizing everybody. A gig economy emerges centered around Hunters: people trained in the art of exterminating monsters and serving the greater populace. Anyway, the main characters want to become Hunter celebrities.

It's been a lot of fun writing and developing this thing, and I can't wait to share this project with the world!! Please join me as a gaggle of self-obsessed assholes hops on that grind. Hopefully, I'll be ready to start uploading Chapter 1 by November. I'll try to use this blog semi-regularly.

Older deep-cut, but I was the teen behind Until Then (formerly Pantsing). To clarify—I'm in my 20s now. It is a project I ultimately want to return to, but the scope of it was too big—as typical for baby's first comic—and I did not stop having a rough year. For several years. TM21 was conceptualized to be a build-up back to that project, but while it's definitely a LOT smaller, it's still something I've grown equally enamored with.

My hope is to curate better work habits through uploading TM21. For starters, I want to finish it faster. I don't have an estimate on how long this comic will take—and it'll likely be wrong—but the game plan is to batch update every other week, similar to some manga...?

I also am trying to pre-emptively format this comic for print. This is for self-indulgence purposes: I want to print out my comic and hold it physically, I think that's badass. A lot of technical aspects will be planned around print. This, and the smaller page sizes (as compared to webcomics) are also part of why this will be a batch update comic: I do not want to pace the comic too slowly. Good lird.

[blighted-lights]

I feel like your approach to criticizing a certain fandom was the wrong way of doing it. Don't get me wrong, you are a hundred percent right about the lack of representation for certain characters. But you had to have known that you would've gotten backlash for insinuating that the only reason that content is being made is because people are... misogynistic? The characters are well-written; that's why they get attention. The women are also well-written, you're right! But instead of getting mad at the people who enjoy specific characters, you could contribute to what you want to see in the fandom. Make fanfiction, make art, talk about your favorite ships, talk about your favorite characters, talk about the head-canons you have for them, connect with other fans of those characters, make AUs with them, make the fandom you want to see! But I don't know what you were expecting when you come out and say in the tags "you must be misogynists for liking these characters and you must be awful people for playing around with AUs" even though every fandom on this website does that. That was hostile and was only going to get a hostile response in return especially when you specifically put it in the tags for fans of those characters to see. Because it reads as you insinuating that fans of these characters existing is why you don't get any representation of your favorite characters. Or, alternatively, that everyone only likes certain characters because they're misogynists who hate women characters. People make content of them because they like them and because they want to make content of them.

Want more content of the things you want to see? Pay or support the artists and writers who make that content or start making it yourself. Its not helpful to complain that some characters get more attention than others but then make no attempt to contribute to it in any meaningful way. You cannot just get mad at people for liking characters and expect the fandom to magically decide its going to give you the content you want.

This is a long-winded way of saying you are correct in that the fandom seems to hyper-focus on some characters over others. But the way you approached that discussion was combative, hostile, and unhelpful, and you're not going to motivate a community into making content by being passive-aggressive to the people making the content they want to make. Be the change you want to see in the fandom, or support the artists and writers who make the content you want to see.

Its like... You can't complain your garden isn't growing if you're not watering it and not adding seeds, and instead are blaming everyone else for having plants in their gardens that you don't like.

anon i dont know how to tell you this but if you felt the need to write a five-paragraph essay talking about how i need to be nicer to other people when i am pointing out misogyny in a fandom space then, well... actually, i dont know what to tell you other than the fact that i was trying to be aggressive and im not going to be civil about misogyny. my post wasn't made in the hopes of getting people to make more content of the women in borderlands because that would never in ten fucking million years work. it was not a constructive post. you are assuming i have some sort of goodwill about this and i don't. i wanted to be an asshole because, surprise, i am an asshole. funny how that works.

you are also pulling so much of this out of nowhere and putting so many words in my mouth that i dont even know where to begin with it?? i mean this in the kindest way possible nonnie but. this is a wild response to make when all i said was essentially "wow it sure is weird that the majority of content made for bl is focused on only three men when there's a full cast of amazing women to look at" and then "its also weird that people are making aus to erase the canon abuse and exploitation of a CHILD in order to make jack a good father". but thanks for the essay, nonnie. i guess.

[megidoreyn]

Old doodle from last month. Walter was the topic of the Megaten ワンドロ/60min back on Oct 21st. Hoy!🔥

💙twitter post

[camels-pen]

mmm read a hurt/comfort Zoro fic recently and like. I get it now. That guy DOES hurt so pretty. kinda wanna try my hand at it.

-

A voice disappeared.

Zoro stopped in his tracks, feet rooted to the spot.

Who was it? Where? How-?

Just barely, he managed to block a blade aiming for his neck.

Luffy was ahead of him, laughing his head off. The cook was a bright flaming beacon in the sky.

The rest? C'mon take a count, Zoro. Make sure.

Usopp. Nami. Chopper. Jinbei. Robin. Cook. Luffy.

What? Two? No, where were-

His breath hitched as he blocked another attack.

Calm down. Take a breath. Count again.

Usopp. Nami. Robin. Cook. Luffy.

Fuck. They couldn't-

No, they had to have left the battlefield. These guys were smallfry, even for the so called "weakling trio".

Zoro took a moment to focus on the enemy around him. He let off a tatsumaki before focusing again.

One at a time, Zoro. Come on.

Usopp.

Robin.

Sanji.

Zoro jerked, eyes wide and searching frantically.

"No, no no no no no. He can't have-" Luffy would never leave before the battle was done, not without making some kind of grand exit. He wouldn't leave without telling Zoro- telling anyone- about it.

He wouldn't up and disappear into thin air like that. Not unless-

Zoro shook his head roughly. They were fine, he just couldn't see them. It would be too much of a coincidence for them all to disappear like that. He just needed to count again, then regroup with Usopp, Robin, and the cook, and figure out what was going on.

Stay calm, Zoro. Losing your head won't find your friends.

So, again, Zoro breathed. And Zoro counted.

Usopp.

The only voice left, was Usopp.

Zoro wasted no time.

He sprinted as fast as he could, cutting down anyone in front of him almost as an after thought, as he bulldozed towards Usopp's voice.

He'd nearly made it too, when some dead man kicked his side hard enough to stop him in his tracks.

Zoro turned to him, a snarl on his face. "Get out of my way before I kill you."

"Huh?" The man sneered. "I should be saying the same thing, watch where you swing those swords, asshole."

Zoro was about to retort when he noticed Usopp's voice moving away from him. He didn't have time for this.

Without warning, Zoro moved to slice through his opponent and, to his surprise, the man blocked it with ease.

"You wanna go? Here and now?" the man growled. "I'll kick your fucking ass."

This man- Zoro has never met him before, but nonetheless felt he would need to pay him his full attention to have a chance at winning.

But Usopp was getting farther and farther-

Oh, Zoro could hit himself.

"USOPP!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, startling the man. "STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE, I'LL BE THERE SOON!"

Usopp didn't respond, but he stopped moving, and that was good enough for now.

"Hey!" The man yelled, pressing down on Zoro's swords. "Whatever you need him for can wait until after our battle's over. He's got his own problems to deal with."

Zoro didn't bother wasting his breath. He cut and slashed, throwing attack after attack without abandon. It didn't matter if he was wasting his energy, he needed to get to Usopp before- before-

The man, infuriatingly, blocked almost every blow, and got a few hits in on Zoro himself.

Zoro would get to Usopp, even if it killed-!

Suddenly, there was a crackle in the air and all at once, Zoro's nerves lit up with pure unfiltered pain.

He dropped to his knees, blurry vision wavering on black shoes. He couldn't feel his arms. Or his face. And his head was getting lighter and lighter.

Zoro's fading thoughts were prayers, to a god he didn't believe in, to keep his friend safe.

-

"GYAHHH, ZORO'S GONNA KILL ME!"

"Nami-swan, a little help please?" Sanji said, voice uncharacteristically strained.

"If you're asking, how can I say no?" Nami said, smirking. "Get out of the way... now!" The moment Sanji pushed off Zoro's swords to hop away, she brought down her Thunderbolt Tempo on top of Zoro. He fell to his knees before crumbling to the ground, twitching.

"You could've knocked him out on your own though, why ask for my help?" Nami asked.

"Ah well, it seemed he had a couple screws loose and I didn't want to kill what little braincells were remaining." Nami nodded in understanding.

The two of them turned to Usopp as he inched his way closer. He carefully prodded Zoro's thigh with his boot. "He's really unconscious, right? Not gonna get up anytime soon?"

Nami shrugged. "It's always hard to tell with him. But don't worry," -she stood tall, holding out her Climatact- "I'll shock him as many times as necessary."

"That means I get to live another day, so you have the Usopp deal of approval." Usopp gave her a thumbs up.

"What'd you even do to get him so pissed at you, Usopp?" Nami asked.

"Nothing!" He paused and looked away. "Well, nothing recently."

"He wasn't just mad," Sanji said. "He looked..." Scared, Sanji wanted to say. But the word was so... simple. Too simple. And it didn't explain the desperation in his eye. The wet sheen. The way he hardly blinked.

The way he kept himself facing the direction Usopp was in, revealing his constant use of Haki.

This wasn't just Zoro scared. This was Zoro terrified.

And Sanji had never seen him terrified before.

"...off," Sanji settled on, furrowing his brow. "He looked off."

Nami and Usopp hummed in thought.

The three of them stared down at Zoro's prone body. An ominous dark puddle started growing under him.

The three of them sighed.

"I'll call Chopper-" Usopp felt a tug on his ankle. He looked down. Zoro's hand was holding his boot. "I thought you said he was unconscious!" he yelled, trying to break his grip unsuccessfully.

Sanji poked Zoro with his shoe. Zoro didn't move. "He's still unconscious, so you're gonna have to be his teddy bear."

"What?! No!" He gripped onto Sanji's shirt. "Sanji-kun pleaaaaase free me before my ankle's crushed in his sleep!"

Sanji rolled an eye. "You'll be fine."

"Then can you go get Chopper? Zoro's losing a lot of blood."

"The mosshead'll be fine too. Also," -Sanji pointed to Luffy and Chopper doing some kind of strange combo attack, with Chopper in Heavy Point using Luffy as a whip- "I don't wanna break up their fun."

"Sanji-kun," Nami piped up. "Go get Chopper, please."

"Of course, Nami-swan!" Sanji immediately ran off.

-

The two of them quietly watched him go.

"Did you see what caused this?" Usopp asked.

Nami shook her head. "I know about as much as you do: Zoro suddenly taking out a big group at once and then charging towards you." She bit her lip. "I don't think he recognized Sanji."

Usopp sighed, squatting down to pull the bandana from green hair. He stared at the slackened face of his friend, hands tightening in dark fabric.

"What happened to you, Zoro?"