#The amount of detail they put into this game is insane

[girlinthemirrorbluenight-library]

My art for the first ever @destielaureversebb. You can check out the fic here by @ravenfuchs who wrote a beautiful story about queer joy and finding community and also saving the bees.

Sharing some details under the cut.

So for the first piece which is what I submitted for claims, I really wanted a Dean who was just so comfortable with himself and happy and queer. In my head that means tons of tattoos and jewelry. The idea is these tattoos started out sort of impulsively with random flash like the little pizza and mom heart, but eventually he started putting more thought into it and got larger pieces like the solar system and the ocean. His jewelry is also all cosmic themed with stars, moons, suns, and the aquarius symbol which is his star sign. The bracelets I also imagine were made by a friend or maybe someone who came into the center where he works.

Confession, I've never actually been to a Pride parade, I know. I have been to different pride events though including queer bingo hosted by a drag queen. But I thought about both tables I've seen at events and looking up different LGBTQ center websites to see what resources they had. I probably didn't need to type an actual list out but as you can probably tell I really went for the details with these pieces so we have a full list of real services and original pamphlets.

From the second piece, we have some fun details with Dean's jewelry where he has this fun little charm bracelet a little inspired by Lucky Charms and earrings that match his frog t-shirt.

So these guys along with the Yoda plush are things Charlie actually owns in the show. The Pez dispensers are at her desk at Roman Enterprises. I showed these to my dad who is a huge Tolkien fan to see if he recognized them and it was a success.

Scooby Doo Clue is a real board game variant of Clue that Dean would 100% own. Drawing this board game with the actual details for all the rooms along with all the accurate game pieces took an insane amount of time but hopefully it was worth it? This is definitely the most detailed digital background I've ever done but it was very fun if time consuming.

Some Charlie house details. The board games are all either common ones or ones I thought she'd enjoy. She does canonically enjoy TTRPGs but most of these are more traditional board games. I actually own a couple of Star Wars games including Star Wars Risk and Star Wars Life, but not Outer Rim or Rebellion. The books are all canon references. Charlie canonically is a fan of the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire series and of course The Hobbit is very important to her and is what she used to read with her parents before the car accident. The rest of the books are all based on her aliases. She uses a combination of a Stephen King character + a sci-fi/fantasy author. So we have The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin, The Halloween Tree, Fahrenheit 451 (which yes I did misspell oops), and The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, and a couple Stephen King books including Carrie and Fire Starter which is where Charlene comes from. These book titles actually took a really long time because Krita does not have the most robust text tool yet but oh well.

[trainwreckgenerator]

preview of my piece for @palimpsestzine !!! i had a really good time working on this, i cannot stress enough how much love and care and passion every contributor put into this project. every single piece i watched get made knocked me clean off my feet and into low earth orbit im serious its gorgeous GO CHECK IT OUT !!!!!

this pentiment fanzine will be out march 31st for pay-what-you-want, with all proceeds going to librarians with palestine!

[sillyredconverse]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN KEANU REEVES IS GOING TO PLAY SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG IN THE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 MOVIE BEING RELEASED ON DECEMBER 20TH 2024

WHAT DO YOU MEANNN?!?????

[quarterlifekitty]

Something, something, König picking up gaming in his free time, not uncommon for an older guy especially with a cute little thing who has a nice set up for gaming and he absolutely takes to it with flying colours. Kinda pissing you off how he’s gotten leagues better than you at one of your favourites in such a short amount of time. So when that skin you absolutely NEED drops you’re going insane grinding for it. It’s frustrating too because all the sweats have come out of the woodwork to grind for it too, leading to a lot of swearing and groaning on your end, coincidentally, König’s free time aligns and he’s more than happy to help you grind the tougher parts if you sit pretty on his lap and drain his pent cock.

What’s better than two stress relievers when he comes home from a high tension workplace environment?

(Bonus points if he’s your weird online long distance boyfriend who definitely told you an age younger than what’s on his ID and the place he comes home to is just your apartment that he decided was his too.)

Brother. The way this ask is in my mind. I would like to preface this by saying if you or a loved one is playing a video game with microtransactions and limited edition skin drops it’s not too late to get help. We can beat this together.

cw: he’s kind of a creep in this. Red flags abound. Somno/dubcon type stuff

Gonna make a couple of amendments to this one if that’s ok. 1) König is never going to be a god gamer because his hands are too fucking big and also I WANNA BE THE DOMINANT GAMER IN THE RELATIONSHIP. My ass is carrying HIM in apex. I don’t care that he knows how to shoot real guns. Don’t take this away from me

2) while he didn’t outright lie about his age, he did not say shit that would lead you to believe this man was over 40. He shared very few details about his personal life. Just that he was in the military, Austrian, and now? A gamer. Those are all the hallmarks of being a man in his 20s! Except the Austrian thing— that can happen to anyone.

I like to imagine he treats you like his discord kitten tho. You ask how old he is and he’s like “I’m an adult, if that’s what you’re worried about” or “old enough” or “don’t worry about it” and you say “okay 💖 yay 💖”

And he’s 100% your sugar daddy. Constantly buying you games just so you can co-op with him, gifting you in-game currency to spend on battle passes, absolutely ravaging your wishlist— steam, amazon, or otherwise.

He finds himself in your area for work and you tell him your address so he can meet up with you.

And you’re kind of a stupid femcel so when this dude shows up at your door, almost seven feet tall and wearing a surgical mask, scarred face with a healthy grey streak in his hair, it’s not setting off any alarm bells. There’s like at least 5 red flags here but you’re colorblind and inviting him in.

You didn’t realize that he was planning on staying with you while he was in the area. You also didn’t realize that the moment he found out he’d be stationed near you, he decided it was time to take your relationship to the next level.

Which is how you end up stretched out on his cock on the same day that you met in person for the first time, with him grunting in your ear about how he dreamed of this— thought of it every time he jerked off when you fell asleep during a discord call. He could tell just from your voice that you’d be pretty and soft and tight and perfect for him— and he was ready to settle down.

Good thing you didn’t really have any plans for the rest of your life, or you might find how fast he moves a little scary.

So it makes sense that you’re still a little shy. Too nervous to initiate things usually. So he just has to motivate you a little.

This skin’s an exclusive, can’t be earned with currency, and available as a drop for just 7 days. You can’t put in the hours to get it on your own, not to mention how tedious it is, and it can’t be bought. But it’s so cute.

So he makes the offer. He’ll spend his precious leave time helping you earn it if you keep his cock warm while he does it. He’d initially planned on using that time to rearrange your guts, so you’re gonna have to make it worth his while.

And maybe you exaggerate a little. You’re used to saying these things over calls— where nothing has any repercussions in the real world. Where you can promise anything from the safety of being on a screen a world away.

You tell him you’ll let him do whatever he wants to you if he can get that skin for you. After a moment you realize the implications of saying that to someone who can and will hold you down and make out with your cervix using the tip of his cock.

He borrows one of your elastics to tie back his hair.

He’s gonna get you that skin. And then he’s gonna get you pregnant.

You did say anything.

[b0tster]

As a game dev, what's your take on Cities Skyline 2's poor optimisation and the insane amount of detail they apparently put into the character models?

i dont care. all this does is encourage harassment over a simple mistake overworked ppl make. be it pokemon, starfield or whatever else (sometimes its literally faked) im sick of this 'lazy / bad game developers' trend.

dont get mad at overworked developers slipping up. get mad at the corporations that made the terrible working conditions in the first place.

[fandombandomfics]

If I Killed Someone For You? (Salesman x female!reader)

Y/N’s POV 

My boyfriend���he isn’t the most conventional person. When he told me what he does for a living, I was taken aback. He recruits people who are in an insane amount of debt to play ddajki to win money. When they play enough rounds, he gives them a card to play in the Squid Games. I didn’t like the idea, didn’t really talk to him for a few days to process what he said. It has been a few days since I saw him, now we are grabbing dinner together since his work is done. 

“Recruiting done?” I ask, as I sip my wine. He nods, taking a sip from his own glass. His black hair slicked back as usual. His brown eyes gaze into mine, looking exhausted yet still put together. 

“Yeah finally, it’s always draining this time of year,” He says and I nod. Yeah sending people to their deaths. 

“I’m sure it is…glad it’s over,” I say 

“Yeah I get to spend time with my favorite girl,” He says with a soft smile. I smile back and give him a small nod. 

“Gong Yoo, do you feel guilty about what you do?” I ask and the tension in the air increases. He stops mid cut of his steak and slowly raises his eyes to look at me. 

“Oh sweetheart, I don’t,” He says, a glint going over his eyes. Something in his eyes changed, something….dangerous. 

“You don’t feel an ounce of guilt?” I ask, seeing the look in his eyes not changing. He smirks at me and leans back into his chair. 

“Those pathetic human beings went into debt themselves, I simply just gave them a nudge,” He explains and I shift in my seat. Listen, knew my boyfriend was crazy but this is a whole new level. 

“They are still human being,” I say and he scoffs. 

“Listen here darling,” He starts, getting up from his chair and walks over to me.  As if he is a predator about to pounce on his next meal.

“Those humans are in such debt they won’t be able to pay it off in their lifetime. I simply gave them an opportunity to pay it off,” He explains further, cupping my face with his hands. 

“By sending them to their deaths,” I say plainly. He chuckles, the glint in his eyes becoming darker as he continues to speak.

“That’s simply up to them,” He emphasizes the last part with his dramatic change in tone. He tightens his grip on my face slightly, making sure I have no choice but to look at him. 

“How can you be so ok with it?” I ask and he chuckles, a dark menacing chuckle. 

“Oh darling, you knew who you were getting involved with when we started dating,” He says, his tone dropping low and rough. I look up at him, my eyes gazing into his. The look in his eyes was a mix of lust, love, and contemptment. How can he be so content in being compliant in their deaths?

Later that night 

As I get ready for bed, my conversation with Gong plays in my head. The look in his eyes, the chuckle, it’s all coming back to me. I sigh as I finish doing my nighttime routine. When I exit the bathroom, Gong looks up from the book he was reading. 

“Ready for bed my love?” He asks and I nod, walking over to him. Before I could react, he throws me on the bed. My back hits the softness of the mattress as he hovers over me, pinning my arms down to the bed. 

“Gong what are you doing?” I ask. He studies my face, as if he was remembering every detail of it. 

“I need to ask you a question and answer me truthfully darling,” He says, caressing my cheek with his thumb. I nod, wondering what question he could possibly ask me.

“If I killed someone for you, would you love me more?” He asks and I’m taken aback by this question. 

“Gong I–,” “Answer the question,” He says, more like demands. The look in his eyes is telling me to answer him truthfully and quickly. My mind goes a million miles a minute, the more I find myself leaning towards the answer I never thought would ever leave my lips. 

“Yes…” I say and he grins, no more like smirks. 

“That's what I thought darling,” He says before capturing my lips into a heated kiss. I close my eyes and let myself get lost in the feeling of his lips on mine. He smirks against them before pulling away. 

“I’m taking my time with you tonight,” He says, his voice low and husky, I feel a shiver down my spin. Tonight is gonna be a long night. 

[iangeeluv]

Yuji Itadori Boyfriend Headcanons ♡

warnings: none (all fluff)

a/n: This is my take on what Yuji Itadori would be like as a boyfriend! ✧.*masterlist✧.*

bf!Itadori who loves making secret handshakes with you

bf!Itadori who always proposes to you whenever he has a Ring Pop

bf!Itadori who has a whole album of just 0.5 photos of you

bf!Itadori who admires you from a far when your not looking

bf!Itadori who won't let you carry any bags, he'll always hold them for you

bf!Itadori who holds the door for you and says "ladies first"

bf!Itadori who makes your ass his personal pillow

bf!Itadori who always texts you using an insane amount of emojis

bf!Itadori who wipes crumbs off your face and be very focused on it

bf!Itadori who always hugs you from behind and whispers compliments into your ear

bf!Itadori who purposely loses so you win the game (though you don’t know that)

bf!Itadori who puts his hand in your back pockets while you walk (as long as you have a back pocket)

bf!Itadori who never allows you to pay at restaurants, saying it’s the “manly” thing to do

bf!Itadori who lays on your chest or thighs so you can play with his hair

bf!Itadori whose love language is physical touch

bf!Itadori who laughs so hard he’d be rolling on the floor kicking his feet

bf!Itadori who takes down any evidence of Jennifer Lawrence in his room and stops talking about her once you two start dating.

"Jennifer Lawrence? Who's he?"

bf!Itadori who forces you to watch his favorite movies with him and watch your every move to see if you like it or not

bf!Itadori who is always sending you constant funny videos he sees online, and gets grumpy when you don't respond to them

bf!Itadori who is always trying to show off to you

bf!Itadori who is extra caring during that time of the month (he is there at your every call)

bf!Itadori who sends you "good morning" and "good night" texts every day

bf!Itadori who remembers even the smallest details about you

bf!Itadori who is deathly afraid of eyelash curlers and is always nervous when watching you use them

bf!Itadori who isn't afraid to kiss or hug you in front of his friends

bf!Itadori who LOVES to have matching pajamas with you

bf!Itadori who repeatedly kisses you and pouts when he wants attention

bf!Itadori who is the best hype man, he is always making your confidence skyrocket in whatever you wear

bf!Itadori who always has to be touching you. either holding hands or touching legs together

bf!Itadori who has a note in his notes app that has a list of all the things you like

bf!Itadori who always says “bless you” when you sneeze as a reflex

bf!Itadori who swears that he's going to marry you

a/n: thanks for reading! As always comments, reposts, and likes are greatly appreciated <3

[gb-patch]

hello!

just dipping in to say: thanks so, so much for this game. it's rare that i get to see chinese americans in dating sims, and even less often are they as charismatic and fleshed-out as Qiu. being able to interact with someone who acts like a real person, who looks the same as i do and isn't reduced to a cripplingly shy, bookish type, who can be as funny and as terse as the asians i know in real life, has been kind of crazy for me.

the amount of parallels my life has to the game is insane. nothing else i've played has captured what it felt like for me to grow up, suburban and queer and Chinese American, as well as this game's sliver of demo managed. the amount of projection i've done on the story is straight up unhealthy.

even in the limited amount i've played through, there's been so much that i've been surprised by. changing what i call my mom so something custom, being able to set my ethnicity, having it acknowledge Qiu if you put in "Chinese" -- when I saw that the expanded demo let you mention you knew what 秋 meant in the prologue, i punched the air in Real Life with my Real Hands. i know the MC has to be very General American in order to represent the player base fairly, but even these minor details are more than a lot of VNs give.

i just wanted to say that the choices you guys made, regarding the cultures of the MC and LIs, really hit home (with a sledgehammer) in a place that mattered (into the solar plexus.)

I'm really sorry for such a late reply! This was a lovely ask. Thank so much for the kind words and super cute sketch. It's wonderful seeing that Qiu felt like a relatable person. We definitely hoped they would make people happy, seeing that was the case really brightened my day.

We'll keep doing our best with what's coming next and are gonna include more nods to the MC's identity and Qiu's as well 😄

[ducklingpia]

⋆˙⟡ 𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 & 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛’𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 🍎⋆˙⟡

ℋℯ𝓁𝓁ℴ 𝒟𝒶𝓇𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔⟡ ݁₊ . (Charlotte Tilbury's voice) After I read all of his content, I have been thinking about this man the concerning amount at this rate. So instead of letting them float around and occupy my rotting brain to the point of insanity,I decided to write this full summary of Caleb’s story in chronological order. Main reason is to put all my thoughts out of my brain and let them rest. But also- for the people who don’t have all of his cards I hope this can help you understand him a little bit better.

Words count: 16k (This is like a whole damn fic I’M SO SORRY)

Notes: I’m giving credit to @slimepuparibaba because I’ll be following their present & alternate timeline based on this post. Thank you so much for the guideline.

Warning: spoilers of all caleb’s content in game so far (Main story,anecdote, tender moments, secret times, Standard myth memory, Standard 5 stars card memories,Limited 5 stars memory, Affinity phone calls and messages ) although I’ll try to be as vague as possible and focus on my interpretations more than the details in each content.

I will separate his storyline into 3 sections : Past timeline, Current Timeline, Alternate/future Timeline 

Let's go ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

── .✦ 𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆

Content featured: Some flashbacks in main story, Standard Myth, 4 star cards Tender moments (Borrowed Promise,Summer’s Echo, Longtime Yesterday, Stage Observer, Skyline, Verified Rumors), Anecdote (Pathless realm),Bond memory (Rain’s Embrace), Secret Times(Solace)

─ .✦ So here’s the thing, please correct me if i’m wrong but from my understanding - Only the events that happen in Main-story, World underneath, Anecdotes, and maybe bond memories are considered ‘main timeline’ meaning whoever you chose to romance, these events are still happening in your universe. Usually we consider the 4 star/ 5 star memories to be an alternate timeline for each guy, right?

but for Caleb it’s a different story. all of his 4 star cards that will be mentioned in this section were happening in the past. all of them have “old days:_____” written on them.

What does it mean is that - these events are not an alternate timeline. All these memories will still be happening no matter whether you choose to romance Caleb or not.

whoever your Li is, you still grow up with Caleb and experience these memories the same way. These memories had shaped MC to be the woman she grew up to be at the current timeline. If we keep this in mind then we will see their dynamic in a deeper perspective.

Flashbacks from childhood

─ .✦ Let's start with his villain's origin story. There are several flashbacks about mc’s relationship with Caleb throughout a lot of the content. I can’t remember in specific details which information came from which content. but here are what I can randomly gathered so far

Caleb also was an experiment test subject from the same lab as MC. We don't know since when but from his anecdote we know that he has been experimenting on up until 9- 10 years old

He possessed an ability to use his Evol from a young age. It has been hinted that he’ll become a force comparable to a black hole given time. Not even light could escape it.

I’m not sure when the first time the 2 of them met. Could it be in the lap? could it be after the First Wanderer attack? could they meet after grandma adopted them? . One thing for sure is that Caleb fell in love with MC the moment she held his hand for the first time. He immediately positioned himself in a role of “older brother” (Gege,Nii-chan, Oppa) in order to protect & take care of his new found-Family. They grow up together under the same roof.

It has been said that MC lost a lot of her memories during childhood. she went into a deep ‘fever’ and kinda reset herself every time she came back to normal. She forgot the time she met Rafayel at the beach, she forgot Caleb as well.

This probably happened several times - and every time she forgot about him, Caleb will introduces himself the same way “I’m your (gege,Nii-chan,Oppa) I’ll always be by your side”

Both went through the same traumatic event. What makes Caleb different from MC is - He does not forget. He remembers the time he has been in the lab. I strongly believe this has an effect on him psychologically when he grows up.

there’re also multiple call-back in small details that Caleb has been taking care of her all the time growing up. He himself probably formed his own identity as somebody who always be MC’s protector.

4 star card Tender moments: Borrowed Promise

─ .✦ This is the first time- skip we see MC and Caleb. The memory happened in her high school days. It’s a random summer day where Caleb dragged MC out to the park. The very first thing that I can see so clearly in this card is - He spoiled her ROTTEN. And he does it so naturally, like breathing. The amount of care & attentiveness that he has for her lowkey gives me whiplash since I just finished the main story the day before. This is the old version Caleb that grew up with MC- the one she always relied on. in here it already shows a hint of romantic feeling Caleb has for her when she talks about her “friend”

Another thing is, if we take a second to think about it. Caleb in this card was probably in high school as well. and to think a boy at  this age acting like him is something so unusual. Made me kinda wonder how much he has to grow up so fast and be such a responsible ‘brother’ figure for her without having his own childhood.

4 star card Tender moments: Summer’s Echo

─.✦ Another fluffy card that shows more of Caleb’s softer side. He’s already in college here. Again, we can see HOW MUCH he spoiled her. every little thing that he does for her so naturally.He’s dotting on her to the max, MC seems to be used to it tho. It also mentions how Caleb fulfilled MC’s every wish and desire growing up. whatever she wants he will get it for her

Anecdote (Pathless Realm)

─.✦ The Anecdote shows his time when he was a pilot student in college at Skyheaven. We have a glimpse of Caleb’s other side. We also get to know more about the reason why he became a pilot (spoiler alert: MC) .

There are few important points that I wanna yap about in this one

1. his low-scored psychological test, one of his answers in the test

2. when he went to that test where he flew into the deep space tunnel and flew out of the designated path. Not sure if he did that on purpose? Maybe it was an accident

There's an underlying issue here, Caleb seems to have lost the fear of death. It’s like he’s numb to it. For a human to lack this instinct which is the most important fear we should have for survival. He lost it a long time ago. Do you realize how much he had to go through in his childhood to no longer feel afraid of death? 

At his very last moment before he lost consciousness in the deepspace tunnel - going back to MC is the only reason for him to stay alive and survive that incident.

Bond memory (Rain’s Embrace)

─.✦ On this one we see more of his ✨Yandere ✨ side peeking through a bit. MC was already in college. I think from this moment MC starts to grow more onto her own self and starts to seek her own independence

There’s a guilt in him where he accidentally locked MC up in the attic all night when they were kids. He probably thought that MC forgot about it but she doesn’t. He probably felt so bad about it that he was the reason that made MC cry. He also swore to never lock her up again (well….)

Caleb also accepts in here that it’s not MC who’s not capable enough to protect herself, it’s him who’s not ready to accept that he’s not needed anymore + seeing that MC is still scared of loud thunder and covered in fear in his arms. Caleb asks to be the one to ‘protect’ her one last time from the storms.

4 star card Tender moments: Longtime yesterday

─.✦ This memory happened at MC last summer break before her graduation. Caleb took her to visit his former teacher from the Aerospace Academy. More moments of Caleb taking care of MC like a princess here (why can’t this be meee 😩). And more obvious hints of his feelings for MC. The way he uses her belonging as an excuse to keep other girls away from him is so 🤌🏻

4 star card Tender moments: Stage Observer

─.✦ Ok so this memory finally affirms my sus. Both of them obviously have an underlying romantic feeling for each other at this point dude. Can’t deny it. MC found a cute ass letter in Caleb’s dorm and went 58 steps to make him tell her who the girl is. The way MC reacts to Caleb potentially having a girlfriend is nowhere near platonic. She also kisses his cheek in front of the whole ceremony (poor dude was short-circuiting for a whole minute).

His graduation speech was basically a proposal to MC. Caleb is giving MC a little more hint with what he feels about her. But at this point both of them are still scared to cross the line.

4 star card Tender moments: Skyline

─.✦ MC went to Caleb’s workplace in Skyhaven before her hunter qualification exam. He shows her around, taking her to see different airplanes. They reminisce about when they were kids, when Caleb took her to watch the Airplane for the first time. The fact that he remembers every detail about that day made me wanna cry bro.

Another card where Caleb lowkey confesses to MC.When MC told him that she wanna be his ‘childhood friend’ in the next life He legit told her  ‘What if I don’t wanna be your childhood friend anymore?’

With the EN localization I’m pretty sure we can just replace ‘the childhood friend’ to ‘gege/nii-chan/oppa’. so basically he asked her ‘What if I don’t wanna be just your gege anymore?’ what if I wanna be more than that?.

Although he tryna make it more lighthearted by saying he wanna be a seagull instead. MC’s response after this is really obvious that she knows.

Secret times (Solace)

─.✦ In my opinion this Secret time is happening in the past. there’re a lot of contexts in the dialect hinting that they were still living together. It’s basically a period ASMR that every Li has. Again, The way he took care of her & coddled her is making me so freaking emotional. 

4 star card Dynamic Date: Verified Rumors

─.✦ This card is not available yet since it’s the reward from 10 days with you log-in event. But judging from the artwork I assumed that this memory is from the past timeline.

── .✦ 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆

Content featured: Main story (Under Deepspace Chapter 4, Homecoming Wings), 5 star standard memories (Endless Summer, Exclusive Aftertaste), Standard Myth (Lucid Dream)

Main Story (Under Deepspace Chp.4)

─.✦ well, the kaboom chapter. many ppls speculated that Caleb knew about the explosion all along. I personally disagree. I think he’s just the victim like grandma & MC

Most of us players met Caleb the first time in this chapter so we might not feel the effect it has on MC much. But if you go back and experience all the content I listed above then come back to this chapter again, it really hits different….

Main Story (Homecoming Wings)

─.✦ Well, so many things happen and hit all of us like a truck in these 2 chapters. Let's hold each-others hands and recap some important information for a bit shall we?

Caleb got saved from the explosion, I assumed it was by that same professor that adopted Kevi.

It implied that he lost his arm from the explosion. They replaced his arm with a mechanical arm and put that zombie chip into his body as ‘the price’ for him being brought back to life

He created a new identity by being a colonel from the farspace fleet. Doing some kind of secret mission that involved putting a zombie chip onto everybody in the fleet.

The whole purpose of that Processor however, is still unclear. whether he wants to create a ‘perfect’ weapon or wants to help EVER do something. all of them seem to involve using MC’s Aether core power

I guess that somewhere along the way, Caleb found out about this. So he has no choice but to play both sides. There’s no way he’ll let these people touch the love of his life. But he also has to do what these people told him to, otherwise they will throw him away and ‘abandon’ him like what he said to us. in order to protect her he needs this power.

The problem is that- MC suddenly comes back to his life. now at the worst time possible. I think with all the traumas he had gone through so far+ the effect of the zombie chip, his behavior starts to change.

All crazy stuff happened and then MC found out all the things that he’s done behind her back. MC kinda realizes that this is not Caleb she used to know anymore.

They part ways not on a good term. There is some bitterness lingering between them. At this point, MC (player) has to decide whether she will continue to rebuild the relationship with the most important person in her life or move on from him.

5 Star card: Endless Summer

─.✦ From now on, starting with this memory, some people might consider this card to be an alternate reality if you chose to romance Caleb. But since the story is still pretty much about their reunion and they’re really awkward (although it’s so obvious what Caleb feels about MC) with each other. I will still count this as a main timeline event. In this card you can see Caleb being unsure if he should come back into her life. MC also feels some resentment for him after 2 weeks have passed in the main story. His Yearning for her is so strong in the kindle scene tho. the sadness, the hurt, the longing. Sooo yummy 🤤

5 Star card: Exclusive Aftertaste

─.✦ Another episode of their reunion arc. Caleb takes a visit to Linkon and MC sees him. Again in this one you can consider it as an alternate timeline already since some of their interaction starts to become a little bit romance-forward.

Caleb is still unsure about his place in MC’s life. MC is also unsure whether to let him back in fully.

At the end she gave him her apartment’s key and told him to visit her anytime he wanted to.

5 Star pair cards: Standard Myth (Lucid dream)

─.✦ This is so important. The myth story explains further about Caleb’s motive at his current position in the main timeline. It explores deeper into his lore and his back story with MC back when they were kids. MC received a special mission with the farspace fleet and went back to Skyheaven. Their relationship is a lot better here. But when we remember that this is still Love and depression myth. it gets dark and freaking sad real quick. I cried when I finish this Myth ngl

one thing I realize after reading this myth tho. MC. IS. CRAZY. ok? Sometimes we players kinda forgot that this girlie pop is lowkey sick in the head. what she did to herself in this myth is beyond me. Anyway we got more information about that damn zombie chip and reasons why Caleb didn’t really get affected by it like other dudes in the fleet (it’s the power of love everyone….I’m kidding)

We also got the first kiss mentioned in the story… yeah, they kissed already.Not directly on the lips but still…  but the situation and the whole context of it were so damn depressing. At the end both of them silently agreed to forget about it.

── .✦ 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆/𝑨𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆

Content featured: 5 star standard memories (Hidden Waves), 5 star limited memory (Painful Signal),4 star card Tender moments (Longtime Moments), Linkon New Year event Chapters, 4 star card dynamic date (Intertwined gold)

─.✦ From this part forward we are in the alternate / future timeline with Caleb - all of these will happen if you choose to romance him.

5 star card: Hidden Waves

─.✦ hands down my favorite 5 star card of Caleb. This happens after the event in his Myth story. MC visited skyhaven to see him and they had an argument. Caleb got sick & MC butting heads with him to let her take care of him. Caleb is being overprotective as usual & MC being stubborn as usual. they match each other’s freak tbh. after reading what they’ve done in the myth story I’m kinda done with these 2 lol.

In this card it really shows how much Caleb had been holding on to this ‘reliable presence’ to MC. All his life he has always been the one MC can relied on to the point that he refuses to let her see his weaker side. It's kinda sad.

Mc starts to take more initiative towards him in this. I really love the animation in the kindle scene. His facial expressions are so full of emotions. The whole story feels really intimate & domestic.

5 Star limited card: Painful Signal

─.✦ The debut of his mechanical arm. Their dynamic in this card is way more playful & intimate. the ways they act around each other are more like when they were in the past timeline now.

That graveyard scene where he took a selfie with his own grave? Iconic. peak Gemini energy. We also met his REAL sidekick (not that snake man thank god) , his old colleague from the Aerospace Academy. But remember this is love and deepspace. It took a different turn real quick.

Basically MC found out about his robot arm. It kinda hinted again how much this man has to endure all this time.

4 star card Tender moments: Longtime Moments

─.✦ In this memory I can see the shifts in their dynamic more. they’re a bit more flirty. The elevator scene had me curling my toes and giggling like a teenager. With MC coming to terms that her old version of Caleb is transforming into a different man in her eyes now. Caleb also starts to accept MC’s ability to fight alongside him also. They fought alongside and made a really good team together.

Linkon New Year Event Chapters + Intertwined goal 4 star card Dynamic date

─.✦ Since all the Event chapters haven't been unlocked yet. We don’t know the full story but from what I’ve read so far, they went on the fighting shenanigans together. Their relationship is more smooth. In the dynamic date it took a full on romance route now. with how close they already were compared to other Lis from the beginning. Their interaction feels really cozy and domestic here.This is where the relationship really shifted for real I feel. Caleb finally confesses, MC also confesses, they almost kiss. Life is good again ☁️🕊️👼🪽

✧₊⁺ In conclusion:

─.✦ I had a big ass crush the moment I met Caleb in chapter 4 before he got kaboom and gone. then got completely swept off my feets by Rafayel. The moment I found that he will be back as a new li again,I opened a new account preparing for him immediately (back in late November). So when he’s out I was able to get all of his content the very first day. but I made a mistake (like 99% of us) by going straight to the main story without checking out his 4 star memories first. safe to say that I finished the chapters with such a bitter taste in my mouth. I had to take a break from him the next day. At some point I even regretted making an account for him. But I decided to give him a chance and read all of his content bit by bit. I re-read his main story chapter again as well.

Now that I complete all of his contents, my feelings toward him have completely changed. He went from being at the bottom of my tier list when I finished the main story to now breathing at Rafayel’s neck and ready to snatch me away.

I just hope this post can persuade those of you who are still unsure about this man. If you feel put off by him after reading the main story but still wanna give him a chance, I highly recommend starting from 

his 4 star cards in the past timeline. you can get them in the wishing well shop. they’re relatively cheap. or you can watch them on youtube.

Read his anecdote

If you can, I recommend pulling at least one of his myth pairs. You can unlock the full story in the special event for a limited time even if you have only 1 of them. or again, you can watch them on youtube.

I also wrote another post about the controversial topics regarding his character in this post. You can go take a look if you wanna read my take on it.

That’s all, please feel free to add your own thoughts in the reply if you wanna talk about him. I’d love to read them. 

English is not my first language so I apologize in advance If I make any mistakes.

Time to go back to my main man 🚶🏻‍♀️ gosh I miss my stinky fishie so bad I’m gonna go annoy him in the cafe for the next 5 days now. Bye bye 👋

[violetdawn001]

What is with the Dreamers' Houses?!?! Monomon's Archives

Okay, we can all agree that Team Cherry put a LOT of thought into crafting the backgrounds and environments of Hollow Knight. But why is nobody talking about the designs for the Dreamers' houses?! Especially compared with their base forms?  Well, let's start talking about it!

Behold! Monomon's Design!

Taken from Monomon-the-Teacher.jpeg (1280×720) (punishedbacklog.com)

Taken from: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Yn7QtF-wkSY/maxresdefault.jpg

When you meet the Teacher, the first reaction is either "She's beautiful…" or "WHAT IS A JELLYFISH DOING IN A KINGDOM OF BUGS????" If one isn't your first reaction, then it will most certainly be your second.

I could go on about how Monomon pairs her elegant beauty with her mysterious origins, but then I would be repeating words all day. Let us pause and consider how Monomon, as THE Teacher, would teach Physics…while defying them. It isn't too much of a stretch to say Monomon would float outside of her tank when the all the other Jellies in game do.

Next is her Archives that to my knowledge, lacks books.

We are immediately treated at the entrance of Monomon's Archives.  The only word that could sum it up would be awe: awestruck due to the beauty and the mystery. Looking at Monomon's house from the front can't help but remind one of how Jane Austen would describe a character's house…and how the house perfectly matched the character.

Entering the Archives, we quickly guess that no one has been here in a long time.

But walk in far enough…

And you can't help but guess what an awesome place this must have been.  Take a look at the detail!

The insane amount of knowledge stored here is amazing…and we're on the first floor!

Though we can't read most of it…and what we can read…

Why Monomon, why? Even STEM students need to be proficient in spelling. Source: my engineer brother.

Moving on, the pathway to Monomon's tank is very straight-forward. So much so that we never get a chance to see all of the Teacher's Archives. One point that strikes me is that we never get a chance to see any classrooms. We see Monomon as a researcher as noted by the Charged Lumafly tank and entry:

We know Monomon as a collector of information:

We even get glimpses of Monomon being a mad scientist by creating the Uomu, Oomu, and Uummu.

But the only sign of Monomon being a teacher is by her relationship with Quirrel and the name of her Archives. Unless I am missing something, (or we are simply not able to enter the classrooms) the Archives are more of a library and research center than a school. While I am of the mind that we simply do not see the whole Archives as we are so dead-set on getting to Monomon herself, it really says something about Monomon that we can only see the Madame as a Teacher in her relationships with others.

I would love to further this point, but this essay is for the Dreamers' houses, not necessarily the relationships the Dreamers had unless the relationships are implied in the housing designs themselves, such as the masks in Herrah's Den. Another essay would be required so the Dreamers' relationships can be given the focus and care they deserve.

Returning to Monomon's Archives, it is strange that of all the rooms we get access to, it is not ones that Monomon's students can enter. The pathway to Monomon's tank is blocked by acid.

Yet we are the ones able to see Monomon in her resting place.

Besides Quirrel. But Quirrel has a habit of getting into places most wouldn't dare enter. And it is fitting that Quirrel, Monomon's closest student, is the one to enter Monomon's inner sanctuary.

The Tech in the room is simply amazing and begs more study. Atlas, I fear I might have missed a great deal when it comes to the Teacher. If there is anything more, I hope another member of the Hollow Knight community will step up to fill the void, pun intended.

Now, let us discuss a resting place not for Monomon, but for the player.

Is not this place so elegant in its decay? The perfect symmetry and the framing of the moss ceiling…it is a terrible pity we could not see the Teacher's Archives in Hallownest's prime.

Moving past the pity, let me share a little detail. Team Cherry, when designing each location, placed signs of the ruler of said location in the framework of the place, usually in the fencing. For Teacher's Archives…

It's right at the bench! Which means Monomon is in charge!

The above statement, while made in good jest, possibly bears more weight than on a passing glance. We see no Hallownestian Seals or crests imbedded within the walls. There are also no King's idols or any item to be retrieved from the Archives. Everything in the Archives is centered around Monomon and her research.

This idea gives rise to a theory that perhaps the Teacher's Archives was not part of Hallownest, but rather neutral territory where ANYONE could come to learn about anything in peace. This would not be the first time in media where such a place existed. The TV show "Babylon 5" tells the story of a space station created as a place where the different alien races can learn about the other races in neutral territory for the purpose of creating peace.

 To answer some objections, yes, "The Pilgrams' Way" does pass through Fog Canyon, but it also passes through Greenpath which technically belongs to Unn, not the Pale King.  And the Archives is one of the few places that has its own, unique bench. 

If the Archives is not part of Hallownest, what does this neutrality tell us about Monomon? If the Teacher's Archives is indeed neutral territory, it shows how much emphasis Monomon puts on knowledge being open to everyone as the purpose of the Archives is a place to store all the knowledge she collected.

But if Monomon was neutral, how did she get involved with the Dreamer plan? Simple. Monomon cared about her students. Monomon welcomed everyone from anywhere, and everywhere was infected by the Radiance. To save her students, the majority of whom came from Hallownest, Monomon became a Dreamer. Unfortunately, it was all in vain as the world fell into stasis as one by one Monomon's students either died or fell to the Infection. The Archives, where you could find anyone from anywhere in Hallownest, now only holds jellyfish…

Before we wallow in sorrow, let us escape to the City of Tears and to the final Dreamer. Wait for part 3.0 coming soon!

This is a part series to see if I can fit everything in. I hope you enjoyed Monomon's Archives!

Part 1.0: Herrah's Den : Here

Part 2.0: Monomon's Archives (You are here)

Part 3.0: Lurien's Spire : Here

Part 3.25: More of Lurien's Spire: Here

Part 3.5: Lurien's Spire: Pillows and Patriotism: Here

Part 3.7 Lurien's Spire: What is wrong with Lurien's Office?! Here

Link to essay on Ao3: Here

[yukimomodivorce]

The Ghosts in IDOLiSH7 are a Literary Device, Mostly

(an essay by me)

People are always asking me, "Robin, what the fuck is up with those ghosts in IDOLiSH7? How come this otherwise completely non-supernatural universe randomly has these two ghosts that show up and then never get acknowledged again? Is it just canon that ghosts exist and only Riku and Momo can see them?" and I am always telling them that I have an analysis about this I just haven't written it yet. But that ends today, as do all of these very pressing concerns about the i7 Ghosts™, because here I am, finally writing the analysis. This essay will have two sections, the first on the training camp ghost from part 3/third beat, and the second on the Re:vale house ghost from Yuki's third chapter of Re:member. So, spoilers for all of part 3/third beat in both sections, Re:member in section 2, and there's one extremely minor spoiler for part 4 in section 1 but it's honestly so predictable I don't think it even counts. Also, I'll reiterate this once we get to it, but just a warning that section 2 will contain discussions of depression, suicide and suicidal ideation, and a brief mention of self-harm, so please stop reading after section 1 if you don't want to see any of that! Another less important disclaimer about section 2 is that I am going to spend an entirely unecessary amount of time talking about Yuki. I am normal about Yuki. Okay. Without further ado, let's watch my spiral into ghost analogy insanity unfold!

Game translations: @seigyokus Re:member translations: @ takara_time (+ scans and editing by @ waitamomoment) Rabbit chat translations: @osakaso5

Section 1: The Training Camp Ghost

This first point applies to both ghosts, but I wanna start by noting that I think superstitions and beliefs like this are more common in Japan than a lot of other places, so yeah it is entirely possible that ghosts are just a canon and accepted thing in Idolish7's universe and this isn't really that strange of a detail for the series to include. However, I don't have any real background knowledge about if ghosts are normal in non-supernatural anime/etc. and I am not committing to that kind of research, so we'll have to leave the specifics of the ghost canonicity issue to someone else. But regardless of how canon they are, I think we've established well enough by now that the i7 writers don't put much of anything in the series without reason (re:vale band name you will always be famous. to me), and that definitely applies here as well - both of our ghosts are doing a LOT of potential symbolic work in their brief appearances, and that's what we'll be unpacking today, starting with the TCG.

The infamous TCG (training camp ghost) of Atami needs no introduction, but I'll give her one anyway. During the filming of the Friends Day special, upon following the shopping group home, she offers her services to Riku (inexplicably the only person capable of communicating with her) for the evening entertainment group's test of courage, terrorises several cast members throughout the day, and finally brings us Soma Saito's incredible cover of Dis One before probably being sent back to idol fan purgatory forever. Who is she? Where did she come from? I have several theories.

1.1: The TCG is the audience

While the 'ghosts are real in i7' possibility is there, I think it's also important to note in this case that the whole training camp is very explicitly being filmed for TV, and the biggest vibe I get from this episode of the anime is that the ghost is a part of the show, and we're seeing that show through the eyes of its in-universe audience. This happens pretty often in i7 (for example, when we see the groups talk to their fans during concerts), and generally the line between the real fans and the fictional ones can get pretty blurred (which deserves its own much longer analysis but I Am Not Writing All That), so everything with the in-universe audience here kind of naturally extends to us as the real audience. The TCG would probably be easy enough to manufacture with special effects as long as Riku and the driver guy were in on it, and it would make sense for the Friends Day producers to include it to keep things entertaining and be a stand-in for their viewers/fans of the idol groups - the ghost is specifically a female fan of male idols (Zero), and a lot of her interactions with the cast would qualify as self-insert material (e.g. Tenn singing for her and Riku looking directly into the camera to smile at her). And speaking of Tenn and Riku,

1.2 The TCG is Nanase twins angst

I think this connection is fairly obvious in their exchange here. You could make a case for the ghost representing either one of the twins. Like Riku, she's being pushed away by Tenn before she's ready to leave, told that it's necessary and for the best that they stay separated - after all, they live in different worlds. Like Tenn, she's leaving despite Riku's protests and part of her not really wanting to go at first, because she believes it's for the best that they stay separated - after all, they live in different worlds.

There's also the association with ghosts of being ignored/invisible, and Riku being the only person able to see or talk to her. Maybe it's because he's the only one who's able to reach her. Maybe he can see her because he understands her on some level - she was torn away from life like he was torn away from his brother, and she's now practically invisible to everyone else around her, like Riku probably feels to Tenn (and arguably the rest of his family in some ways). Maybe he wants her to feel seen, and he can make Tenn acknowledge her in the way he wants to be acknowledged by him. I might actually be going somewhere with this so bear with me for a second.

1.3: The TCG is monster Riku foreshadowing

So my first thought when I watched the Nanase twin angst portion of this episode was 'well obviously the ghost isn't real and Riku is just using it to talk to Tenn indirectly' because they are always having indirect conversations like this and it makes me insane, and I do still think that's the idea here, just not quite in the sense that Riku is making things up. Going back to the whole 'ghost is a stand-in for the audience' thing, and assuming that she's saying the things that Riku wants to say and Tenn is telling her the things he wants to tell Riku, then we could say that rather than Riku purposefully having the ghost speak for him, this is an extension of the monster effect. I guess in this scenario the TCG is a real ghost (and a figurative representation of the audience), and Riku is having the same effect on her that Iori says he has on everyone else. He unknowingly projects his desire to connect with his brother onto her, and she tries to help him. Really, the only times we see her after she follows the shopping group to their cabin are when she's helping Riku, with the test of courage and then with speaking to Tenn. This gets convoluted so I kinda doubt it's intentional? But it's fun to think about.

1.4: The TCG is the friends we made along the way

Riku spells this out a bit more explicitly in the game here, but the TCG represents the each of the groups in the series in a couple different ways. I guess one way you could interpret this is that the ghost is meant to be there to emphasise how extraordinary it is that they're all together, but I don't think that really holds up considering how often they end up working with each other throughout the series anyway. What's important here is the idea of the ghost itself, something that can be present and felt even when it isn't physically or actually there. Again, the ghost is the audience - a constant influence for better and for worse on these idols even when they aren't watching, even in their personal lives; and vice versa, the ghost is the idols being able to reach their fans without ever actually knowing them. More relevant to what Riku says, the ghost is the groups to each other - friends, mentors, rivals, pushing them forward even when they aren't standing side by side. You could even say the ghost is ZOOL, friends who aren't here right now but will be someday. Re:vale and Idolish7 as groups don't especially fit the ghost description, but they have their fair share of ghosts - Banri, Haruki, Tenn, Aya, Sougo's uncle. Zero. The list goes on, for Trigger and ZOOL as well, but I think the most important way the ghost analogy applies to this section of the story is with Trigger. Because during the imminent Arc Where Trigger Gets Cancelled™, despite leaving their agency and disappearing almost entirely from the public eye, they're still very much there to their fans and to their friends. So. I kinda forgot what I was saying but to sum it all up the ghost here represents everything that stays with you even when it's far away or after it's gone from your life. Mikanseinabokura and all that. And now that I mention it-

Section 2: The Re:vale House Ghost

Once again, a warning that this section has a brief mention of self-harm, as well as in-depth discussions of depression, suicide and suicidal ideation (which I'm gonna be talking about pretty bluntly the entire time), so please don't proceed unless you're comfortable with all of that!

Like most things in Re:member, the RHG (Re:vale house ghost) makes me insane. Today I am going to attempt to form coherent thoughts about it and it is unlikely that I'll succeed, but try to bear with me. Though it isn't around for as long as the TCG, we have a little more info about the RHG - it's the ghost that haunts the shitty apartment Yuki and Momo live in together in their early days as Re:vale. Supposedly. All it actually does is slam the door of one kitchen cabinet and I don't think that this is definitive evidence of paranormal activity because most houses are just like that. It's all a little bit vague, but according to Re:vale, their house is definitely haunted by the ghost of someone who died in the kitchen, because when they move in there is a mysterious black stain on their kitchen floor. Momo introduces himself to the floor stain while Yuki stares at him in awe and blushes and shoujo filter flowers appear in his eyes. God I hate them. I think the RHG is just a figment of their collective imagination or maybe they're having one of those shared delusions or something. But that's really besides the point because this ghost exists for one very specific thematic purpose: the RHG is Yuki.

And on that note, let's go back and talk about Yuki for a few minutes (potentially hours) before we get to our actual analysis of the ghost scene. Mostly because I just wanna talk about him, but also because I do understand why some people think the 'Momo starts talking to ghosts' part of Re:member is kinda weird and random, and I think at least some of this is important to go over before we unpack it.

A consensus has already been established among Yuki scholars that our subject has autism (Kei et al. 2024). Today, I would like to propose an additional diagnosis: Yuki has depression.

2.1: "I lost my dreams, friends, and passion as well."

So, Yuki pretty clearly gets depressed when Ban leaves him. He loses interest in everything he used to care about, gives up on his dreams, blames himself for Ban's injury and disappearance, he's constantly sad, tired and irritable, and he lashes out at Momo (and Kujou, though there are some other pretty strong reasons for that one) and presumably everyone else he knows (I doubt he had a particularly good relationship with anyone else in the first place, but still).

He's grieving here, and it would make sense for him to react this way because of that fact alone. But I really don't think that's all there is to it, because he exhibits these symptoms (among others) long before Ban leaves him. He can't get out of bed in the mornings, he rarely leaves the house if he can avoid it, he has days where he can't eat or sleep, he's underweight and always tired and generally known to lack energy and be slow (or 'lazy') and in some cases listless and despondent. Ban even says that he wouldn't put it past Yuki to start slitting his wrists. And it's subtle, but there's one more really big one that really never goes away for him, even after he finds Ban.

2.2: "I don't need anyone to love me."

I'll get straight to the point. Yuki hates himself. Maybe only a little bit, maybe only sometimes, but it's there. Especially when he struggles with composing - he even says it himself in part 1 of his birthday photobook rabbit chat, almost immediately after saying that it made him want to kill himself but we'll get back to that part.

But it's really everywhere on what seems to be a mostly subconscious level for him, if you know how to look, even from the very beginning:

On paper, this line is just his frustration with being judged by anything other than his music, because it's something he cares a lot about and puts a lot of work into and he wants that to be acknowledged. But I think that if you take it in conjunction with some of the other things he tends to say, there's a little bit more to it.

I dont need anyone to love me. Yuki's songs are worthy of love. Yuki is not. There is nothing valuable about Yuki other than his songs, he has nothing else that deserves any sort of praise, and without them, he's just a useless burden with nothing to offer. He doesn't need anyone to love him - he doesn't understand why anyone would. And Momo does, and he's a good person, and Yuki doesn't deserve that when there's nothing he can actually do for him. And when that starts to change and he starts getting better at showing kindness to others and being there for Momo, he doesn't see it as learning to better express his feelings, he sees is as learning to feel affection and be a good person, because he believes that he is inherently not. As far as he can tell, Yuki is just naturally a bad person and a bad partner who isn't kind and isn't capable of love or compassion, not unless he tries to be. He knows, because he's heard it god knows how many times - even Chiba Shizuo blatantly tells him that neither of them can become good people - and maybe things are different now, but on some basic level it'll always be who he is.

Ok breaking character for a second, imagine you show up to your acting side gig and on the first day Keanu Reeves comes up to you and gives you $300 cash and then later he indirectly tells you that you're a nasty lonely egotistical failure. Now imagine you're Yuki and you have no fucking clue who Keanu Reeves is. He also shows you pictures of his top secret illegitimate son after talking to you for like 10 minutes and you have to lie to him about being straight. I think this is objectively the funniest situation to be in ever. Chiba Shizuo and Yamato both probably have depression also, but I'm not gonna spend any time on it, because every three months a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in Northern Queensland. I forgot what I was talking about. Anyway

2.3: Hey remember that one time Yuki just straight up tried to kill himself

Yeah, that one. As far as I know this is really never addressed or acknowledged again, so we're just gonna take the page-long gag from Re:member at face value and say that after Ban's disappearance, Yuki (almost) attempted suicide, and the only reason he didn't go through with it is because he couldn't find anywhere to hang the noose. And like, yeah you could say it's just because he thought Ban might have killed himself and he's always been the kind of hopeless romantic to be waxing poetic about how "I can't live without you," but at the same time, he had no apparent reason to believe this (even if Ban did have suicidal tendencies I doubt Yuki would've really known), and he was planning to go through with it (I know it's probably just for comedic effect but he left a will. He left a will. He's, like, 20, and surely not the kind of person who would just have something like that in order already). This is also emphatically not the last time or the only reason he thinks about it.

I told you we'd get back to the photobook chat! I think there's also a lot you can infer from all the times he says he'd probably be dead by now without Momo and he wouldn't be able to handle losing him, what with the whole "when you jump, you'd better take me with you" thing. But regardless, this really isn't just that one time that Yuki tried to kill himself. It's suicidal ideation, and it's something he consistently struggles with especially in the few months after Ban leaves him. It even comes up in how he sees the 'paranormal activity' his new apartment:

2.4: "It seemed as though someone had hung themselves there."

Yeah it's the ghost I'm finally gonna talk about the ghost. I'm done with my Yuki has depression rant we can talk about why the ghost is Yuki now. I guess it might be more accurate to say that the ghost is Yuki's depression/suicidal thoughts/Banri trauma/whatever, but either way I think it represents him and he might also be semi-consciously projecting onto it, and I'm gonna go through line-by-line and try to explain my interpretation.

I think if you want to there's definitely room to take the 'usual paranormal activity' super literally and say that Yuki was having outbursts and slamming doors at the time (which would also match up with him being startled by it). I think it's also important to note that this is happening around the time he mentions feeling suicidal and not being able to compose in the photobook chat, but the main thing here is that second line. Even though Momo is always so nice to him, he can't stop himself from getting mad and being difficult and depressed, and he can't return that kindness - he can't even be useful to him.

I've already mentioned how I think Yuki's conclusion about the stain here plays into his suicidal ideation, but let's look at it a little more thematically. It's the way that even though it's glossed over earlier in the manga, Yuki's suicide attempt and everything that accompanied it still follows him, and it hangs (lol) heavy in their house like a ghost. To Yuki, it's startling and eerie - it scares him, and he's expecting it to scare Momo once he sees that side of him too. And it probably does scare him a little, and he hesitates, but he doesn't scream. Again, there's room to interpret this more literally as Momo finding out about his attempt/ideation/depression, or just as him inevitably seeing how he gets on his worse days, but either way the outcome is the same. Momo is starting to know Yuki as a person instead of an idol, flaws and probable mental illness and all, and his first reaction isn't to shy away or start to hate him or want to leave. It's an introduction. He makes it clear that they'll both be staying here from now on, that he's willing to live with the 'darker' sides of Yuki, and to help him do the same. Another point on this that's up to interpretation (because let's be real they're probably never gonna deal with this stuff explicitly in canon), you could see the whole ghost thing as neither of them really being able/wanting to accept that Yuki's symptoms are actually a part of him (and this is veering completely into fanfic territory but now I'm just imagining both of them silently agreeing to blame the things Yuki does on bad days on the ghost) but we've had enough angst for one day.

Everything else lines up well enough with the ghost and Yuki, but it's really his reaction here that sells the whole thing for me. It's a simple gesture, but just by Momo greeting him, being by his side, waiting for him when he comes home, that constant reminder of all his darkest thoughts becomes just another mark on the floorboards. It's not gone, and it probably never will be. But at least now, he doesn't have to face it alone. And it doesn't look so scary anymore.

2.5: "Now I know joy, and the meaning of a smile."

I must confess that I lied to all of you earlier. I'm actually not done with my Yuki rant and also there's a good reason I've been ignoring all the parts of Re:member where he isn't being self-deprecating or trying to kill himself. The end of the ghost scene is only the beginning of the end of this analysis, and the end of this analysis is pretty much just me having a meltdown about Yuki. Also I'm running out of space for images so we're doing some of the quotes like this instead.

After losing Ban, I lost my dreams, friends, and passion as well. I could only feel a sting as the wind passed through an empty, gaping hole in my chest. But I breathed as best as I could, and he tried to clear the dirt out of that hole, filling it with his earnest words instead.

Yuki still exhibits a lot of symptoms of depression all the way through the series, like the low energy and the trouble eating and sleeping, and [redacted part 5 spoilers] makes me think there's definitely some sort of connection between his writers' block and his depressive episodes. He still mentions feeling guilty towards Banri in second beat, the suicidal ideation doesn't really come up explicitly but he kinda hints at it on a few occassions, and he's very adament that he was a bad person and still isn't really a good one. But it's like. I don't really know how to put this, but I guess it's not his default state anymore like it was right after Ban left (and possibly before that, too). For the most part, he really does get better, and these things become less intense and fewer and farther between. He would probably say that it's all thanks to Momo, and it is, but he also very much does it of his own volition. Momo refuses so desperately to give up on him, and because of that he makes that choice to keep going by restarting Re:vale with him.

Yuki allows himself to let someone else in and start to love again - his partner, his music, his life. Even while he's thinking that he's just a burden to those around him, he doesn't resign himself to his fate like he might have done in the past. He's determined to become a better person, someone who can be a source of strength for Momo just like he was for him. And in the end, he does, but it's not just that. Now he knows joy. Now he can genuinely smile. And now,

I want to hear them scream my name. The voices that called out had annoyed me in the past. But now, I'll smile, together with Momo, who'll be by my side.

Going back to what I said about some of Yuki's subconscious self-hatred coming through in the way he wants people to look at his music and not at him, I. Cannot finish a sentence. Do NOT think about Yuki learning to love himself and see himself as worthy of love because Momo loved him just that much in a way that he could accept. BAD IDEA. Okay. So. It's Ban's advice and Momo's fan letter that get Yuki to accept that his fans do genuinely love his music in the first place, and I think it's here that it really starts to turn into him accepting the idea that they love other things about him too? Or that he really starts to want it and be happy about it instead of just accepting it? Whatever. I give up. I don't even like Re:vale anyway

That day, I would play the guitar I'd almost thrown at Kujou, because I now knew the power of a song that could not be silenced. I would dry my tears, open the door, and say, "I'm home."

[airshipsinking]

[Image Description: A screenshot of the entrance doors of the Frozen Crypt level of Decked Out 2. The image has text overlaid at the top and bottom, reading: "The dungeon doors... open Saturday September 9th 10AM PDT" /End ID.]

ITS HAPPENING

[mrs-bluemarine]

JanAUary: Zombie Eaters (Apocalypse AU)

Dw only using that title because of the song ♥️ there's no cannibalism. This time (JOKE)

Day 1 of my Falling into JanAUary special!! I'm so late to my own game!! Lol. Sadly had to cut it short to post this on time. No promises but I do want to add a second chapter to this of them making out while covered in blood

Credits to @!cafekitsune for the divider!

Pairings: Phantom x Usami

WC: 1.6k

Notes: classic stuff for zombie apocalypses, blood and gore, guns, Usami

In times of pandemonium such as these it was always best to stay in groups. The easiest way to keep your head was to have someone watching the back of it, while you watched out for theirs. Despite traveling alone himself, Phantom wasn’t sure he’d like to come face to face with the person making the noises bouncing across the mall's empty walls.

The blackhead was met with viscera at every turn inside the building. Bodies littered the floor- the undead and their victims alike, surrounded in equal amounts of blood and yellowish-black fluid while loud laughing traveled over broken glass and brick walls and rolling gates to find Phantom. Since stepping inside the mall, finding himself on the second story by now, he hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting any reanimated corpses, as if someone had already taken care of that problem.

Curiosity had gotten the better of the man. He was following the sadistic giggling- cautiously, but he was sure if things turned for the worst, he’d probably win. By the sound alone there were never any gunshots. And as Phantom came closer to the source of the obnoxious sounds, meaty whacks could be heard, like something heavy meeting something far less durable, all followed by that same high pitched noise. But no gunshots. The possibility of this person being able to take out some undead without a gun was possible.

But a whole mall’s worth?

From a corner, Phantom poked his head out, scoping the turn. It was the food court- wide open space, kiosks and shops lining the walls, tables and chairs had been tossed during the first wave of havoc. Even more bodies than before were scattered about, and in the middle of it all was one man.

There was one last plop of sagging meat hitting against the tiles of the floor, head basically exploding into mush on contact, and he watched it happen with a familiar giggle. The guy’s back was to Phantom. It would’ve been the perfect opportunity for a sneak attack, to finally put the bastard out of commission to stop that insane laughing. And at this point Phantom was considering it.

He hesitated for too long, and the man with the close shave had turned around.

They immediately made eye contact. The psycho’s eyes were wide, a look Phantom could only describe as pure glee was trapped in his pale gaze, and that toothy grin on his lips only ceased when he found out he had an audience, slipping into a more pleasant smile. He was wearing a thick hide jacket, blood an important accent to his dress. Jeans weren’t spared of the detail, and the hammer in his hands was still dripping with it. When he realized he wasn’t going to be immediately attacked, Phantom stood up from his squat, finger steady on his rifle while he came closer, still keeping a healthy distance.

“Oh? Thought I was the only one here.” The stranger said. He tried to wipe some blood off his face with the back of his hand, but only made a worse mess.

“Just got here.” There was a slight hint of dryness on Phantom's throat when he talked and he tried to quickly swallow it away. He had to wonder when was the last time he actually talked out loud to someone.

His blue eyes took a quick glance at the corpse at the stranger’s feet, before realizing taking his stare off the guy was a bad idea and locked eyes on him again. “You and a crew cleaning the place out?” The blackhead asked.

“Just me.” The grin Phantom got in return was comparable to a kid on Christmas day. “They left me here to do all the dirty work while the rest picked up our supplies, it's my job to make sure the place is secure.”

Looks like he was doing a pretty damn good job, Phantom eyed the corpses on the floor again.

The stranger caught his attention again by walking closer. His eyes were still glazed over, smirk still stretching the two moles mirroring on his cheeks with his hammer resting by his hip. The shorter out of the two had his finger twitch against his gun's trigger, not going unnoticed by the other. It made his jagged lips twitch.

“I’m Usami. It’s only polite to introduce yourself, too.”

“Phantom.”

A single eyebrow arched up, more-so than what it already was. Like he didn’t believe it, but he carried on, constantly coming closer until he was circling around Phantom. “And what’s someone like you doing in a zombie infested mall? It’s dangerous, y’know.”

Phantom mirrored Usami’s raised brow. “I came in looking for supplies, isn’t that obvious?”

“Nothing else~?”

“What other reason is there?” His head twitched to follow as Usami disappeared behind his back, finger on the trigger doing the same.

“There’s lots of reasons.” The taller one murmured in his ear. “You could be here to kill me,”

“I only kill if I have a reason to.” Phantom shot back. Something from the corner of his eye caught his attention.

“Oh yeah?” Usami purred, “You have a lot of experience doing that?”

“Not before the end of the world.” Phantom said softly, eyes locked on the thing that caught his attention, hands and gun now ready to shoot. He added quickly. “And I’m about to get even more experience.”

An inhuman, high-pitched screech caught Usami off guard before he could question the stranger. He stumbled behind Phantom, eyes immediately catching the grotesque corpse running at them at break-neck speed. He shrieked, falling backwards just as Phantom raised his rifle. The undead creature wasn’t allowed fifteen feet between them before a bullet shot a clean hole through the thing’s head. It fell backwards, immediately down, followed by a second shot to the head, and a third in its chest where a rotting heart would be.

There was a moment when the gunshots cry ricocheted across the empty room where nothing was said. Usami was still on his ass, trying to catch his breath. After Phantom turned to look down at him with an unimpressed look, he tried to stand up, slipping on some blood on the way. “Not bad.” He said trying to talk over the way his heart was hammering and how the scare messed up his breathing. “It’s not everyday someone is so casual with taking a life.”

“But… it isn’t alive. They’ve been long dead.”

“I mean not everyone is so eager to shoot something, dumbass.” Usami snapped. “Human or not, alive or not. Normal people hesitate, you didn’t.”

Phantom looked down at his rifle. It was originally his father’s, not anymore. Lazy drunk was probably first to go, Phantom was pleased to see him dead in the driveway of his trailer house.

Why didn’t he hesitate?

He didn’t have long to think. Before his mind slipped, a bloody finger poked his forehead, taking him out of his thoughts. Usami was front and center of his vision again. He had that same smirk from earlier on his lips, looking at Phantom like a piece of meat. “We can use that in the group.”

“Hm?”

“Oh, come on!” Usami jumped away, a new pip in his step. He nonchalantly grabbed his hammer off the floor, using his fingers to lazily clean it off. “You’re a good shot, and you’ve got the hands of a cold blooded killer! You’d fit right in.” Usami shot him a smirk. “We do have Ogata. He’s good with a gun, too. Normally he’d be here with me, but he’s busy making goo goo-eye at our new ‘nurse’ and left me alone.” He rolled his eyes.

Standing up straight, he pointed his hammer at Phantom. “Let’s play a game.”

Phantom’s interest was piqued. So he allowed Usami to continue.

Smiling that smile, he began stalking around the shorter man again. Phantom’s deep blue eyes followed him, and when Usami disappeared behind his back, his fingers didn’t twitch against his gun this time. “The mall has one more floor,” Usami said pointing upwards, “To the West and East are two staircases. We’ll both take one, killing all the zombies we meet as we go, then meet in the middle of the floor, like now. Make sense?”

Usami draped himself across Phantom’s shoulders, mindful of keeping his bloody hammer from touching Phantom’s unscathed clothes. Not that it was any good, since Phantom could hear the borderline squelch of bloody clothes against his back. His eye almost twitched.

“Cleaning up will be quicker doing it as a pair. And if you don’t die, you can join our group!” He grinned. “How about it?”

Phantom weighed his options. He was low on supply. And playing the nomad role was taking a toll on his energy, and quite possibly his sanity. Being able to settle down without the worry of getting attacked by a group of undead would be nice. And maybe… just maybe, he was starting to enjoy talking with this freak of nature.

On his lips was the ghost of a smile. Phantom turned his head slightly to meet Usami’s eye. “Sounds like a plan.”

He got a glimpse of shiny, sharp teeth when Usami grinned wider. That look of insanity in his eyes was attractive, in a weird way.

After agreeing to a pleasant, deadly race, they both trudged through blood and bodies, until Phantom was at one side of the food court, and Usami on the opposite. The blackhead was pleased to have picture directions to where his staircase was.

He got settled, legs ready to break into a sprint, hands on his rifle, while his eyes bore holes into the big black arrow pointing to his right.

“Ready… and, GO!”

[deadpanwalking]

ooh! i am Not Like Those Other Anons, but if you're still feeling generous-- ldo you have anything about, say, the technological and social advancements in 19th century london-- i'm thinking bazalgette and john snow and building the london underground, henry mahew and london labor and the london poor, shit like that, maybe as a gestalt or the zeitgeist or what have you?

I love the specificity! I hope it's not a cop out, but if it's zeitgeist and/or gestalt ye be wanting, I want to recommend an author instead of a book: Peter Ackroyd.

My first introduction to Ackroyd was through a literary biography of T.S. Eliot, which he wrote during a time when Eliot's widow, Valerie Eliot (in accordance to his wishes not to be the subject of a biography) refused almost all applications to quote from Eliot's published work outside of a literary context, or to quote at all from unpublished work and correspondence. Ackroyd, who had managed to track down an enormous amount of unpublished material during the course of his research, tried to argue his case with Mrs. Eliot, but she didn't budge—however Ackroyd was confident that the material could still be useful, and went ahead, opting to paraphrase.

T.S. Eliot: A Life was considered the definitive biography of Eliot for decades despite the unavoidable awkwardness of the paraphrasing. “The lines of Eliot’s life are well-known, and Ackroyd does not effect, or seek to effect, any radical re-limning of them. [Ackroyd's] strength,” Eliot scholar and absolute lad Christopher Ricks writes, “is local detail, patience, circumstantiality, respect. [...] He eschews psychobiographical plunges, and this makes the book at once more satisfactory to the hungry and less satisfying to the greedy.”

The reason for this tangent (aside from Eliot monomania and the fact that Pyotr's vet seems to have forgotten us in the exam room) is because I wanted to give you a sense of how resourceful Ackroyd can be when he approaches his subjects from a distance, without scaling down his ambition or using sensationalism to force the impression of intimacy.

In addition to literary biographies, Ackroyd has written (and is still writing 🥳) a lot of books about London and Londoners—I've only read two: London: A Biography and London: Under. I know historical sociology isn't always the best approach and constantly undermines its own credibility by oversimplifying some aspects of a complicated subject at the expense of others—but when it comes to writing about an era, you can't get more zeitgeistian than psychogeographical writing that focuses on everyday life. You cannot. You'd die trying.

The title of London: A Biography is straightforward: London lives, so it makes sense to approach it the way a biographer would. It doesn't quite fit the limitations you set (19th century) because it begins in the Late Jurassic period. Nevertheless, you might appreciate it because—despite its insane scope and breadth—it does something really great, which I can't describe better than Patrick McGrath did in the NYT blurb:

This, then, is an unorthodox history of London that is fascinating not only for what Ackroyd selects but also for what he ignores. There is barely an aristocrat to be seen in these pages. The Earl of Sandwich appears when, unable to tear himself away from the gaming table for 24 hours straight, he puts a piece of beef between two slices of bread and invents one of England's few enduring contributions to world cuisine. The House of Commons is mentioned only because it burned in 1834, ''which provoked some of the most picturesque London paintings,'' including works by Constable and Turner. ''These artists recognized,'' Ackroyd writes, ''that in the heart of the flame they might also evoke the spirit and presence of the city itself.'' The great statesman Pitt the Younger appears only once, in connection with the ''Bog House Miscellany.''

The other book, London: Under, is going to fit you like a glove, but it's more of a companion piece than a stand-alone book, despite being well-written—Ackroyd doesn't start in the Late Jurassic period, but definitely takes the scenic route from Roman Britain to get to Bazalgette's sewers, and Pearson's Metropolitan Railway. One of the reasons I'm recommending it now is because I always pore through bibliographies and references to poach for more books to read, and I distinctly remember that Ackroyd's bibliography contained some fascinating titles that I will, realistically-speaking, never get to because my own interests and priorities tend toward the literary. RIP to me, but you're different!

[oneknightstand-if]

I just wanted to let you know how much I adore your game! I tried playing it a while ago and for some reason I struggled with it, but then I tried it again and something clicked and now I can't put it down.

Out of curiosity, how in the world do you keep everything straight? The amount of variables in this game is insane and I keep finding new stuff despite having already played it 100 times, and was curious how you as the writer/coder managed it all.

Thanks for the comment!

Well, while it definitely has an important plot going on throughout it, One Knight Stand isn't a plot-focused game. It's more about the roleplaying experience and interacting with a highly reactive world. It definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea, particularly if they don't like slowburns.

Otherwise, I take copious notes and have always had a high attention for small details. The version of the game I use has a lot of annotations for what variable is doing which thing (and what will be kicking into effect X chapters down the line) that gets removed from the public release.

And then when I inevitably screw up something, hopefully the beta testers will catch it. 😅

[transamus]

Also here's my thoughts on the various aspects of Mario Eclipse, major spoilers though- I recommend going in blind if you plan on playing it at all.

Il Piantissimo feels phenomenal to play as. Not having FLUDD is compensated with a double jump, and the increased speed & jump height is insane. Luckily, you cannot choose to play as him in any episode where you would not be able to accomplish your goal. Additionally, the presence of water bombs for all characters when not using FLUDD works really well to make him still viable.

Luigi feels like the perfect middle-ground between Il Piantissimo's faster movement / higher jumps and still being able to use FLUDD. I choose to play as Luigi more often than not.

Warship Isle was full of tedium, my least favourite new level: however, where all the new levels do have some tedium, the tedium itself fit perfectly into the game. Nothing was more tedious than what Nintendo themselves asked of the player, and so it kinda ended up balancing out pretty nicely.

Lighthouse Isle had some camera issues, but overall starting the level stormy was a great choice, the custom boss battle was really well-done, and I enjoyed it a lot. My only other criticism is that the soundtrack was more "Grant Kirkhope" than "Koji Kondo", but none of the other levels' soundtracks had this issue.

Erto Rock was a beautiful level and a great way to interpret the concept from the cut content. I'm not a huge fan of how often, though, in new levels, you start with a mission that has a timer; I'd prefer personally to be able to take my time exploring the new levels first rather than kinda have to take it all in as quickly as possible. It's also nice having a more vertical level that feels simultaneously like it takes advantage of the Rocket Nozzle where the base game did not, as well as not making it entirely mandatory either.

Hotel Lacrima is a hilarious way to interpret the cut content; they chose to make it mafia based, because... hotel la-crime-a. That's really funny. The organized crime didn't feel out of place for a Nintendo game of this era, either, weirdly enough. The level itself is designed in such a way that the camera feels accommodated for really nicely, despite the inherent issues with the game's camera.

All of the new transition levels / areas feel really cute, and the vibes are immaculate.

Needing to beat shadow Mario in all of the new levels as well was unexpected, but I felt like it fit really nicely. This is usually one of the biggest criticisms of Mario Sunshine itself, but I think the amount of post-game content makes up for this.

Starting the game at Peach's Castle was also a really great choice; in the base game, you have all of 3 seconds to familiarize yourself with Mario's moveset before you obtain FLUDD. Having even this small change I think fixed that issue really well.

The ability to enter Corona Mountain pre-flood was a really nice touch; I do wish that it had been expanded into a full level, though. The attention to the cut detail of it being a Shrine was very appreciated.

I'm only just moving into the post-game content, but having it based around Daisy's Cruiser is a really adorable touch. The post-game content genuinely feels like Official DLC for the game, expanding the map outwards off of Isle Delfino rather than continuing to pile onto the island.

As a Blue Coins enjoyer, I'm really glad that they didn't remove the Blue Coins from the game, and in fact added some to every single new level. I've always stood by the fact that I'd rather have Blue Coins as a "portion of a major collectable" than distort the value of major collectables by throwing them literally everywhere (looking at you, Mario Odyssey).

While the original plan for Eclipse was to restore the beta Delfino Plaza, the beta plaza is nowhere to be found. On one hand, I wish they would have, and put it maybe on the north side of the island or something? but on the other hand, not restoring it does feel like it honors the choices the developers made more, making the mod feel, again, like an Official Product. I think the beta plaza would have stood out design-wise, and- like in the base game- was probably not included for good reason.

As someone who is super autistic about Super Mario Sunshine, this really feels like it hit every single thing I would've wanted in a theoretical remake- it feels like this is the game Nintendo's team would have made if they had been given unlimited time and budget to do so.