#and what the game is trying to convey by it

[twst-drabbles]

Malleus 17

Summary: Most of Malleus’s day is spent zoning out while bathing in sunlight. It’s always fun to see his little lizard brain occasionally spark up an idea.

(I used to have pet lizards. Loved the way their eyes convey the absolute emptiness going on in their brain.)

Malleus hasn’t blinked for the past hour. He just sits there, on the window sill, face turned towards the sunlight as he stared into the lush yard outside. From a certain angle, he almost looks forlorn, like a doll abandoned by the side of the road.

If Sebek was here, he’d certainly be fretting around Malleus, trying to snap him out whatever trance he was caught up in. And Silver would whisper his concerns into your ear, hoping you’d give him ideas as to what’s wrong with Malleus despite being his owner for longer. And Lilia, cute bat Lilia, he’d be trying to goad Malleus into playing a flying game with him just to get him moving.

You walked over, leaned against the window sill, and poked Malleus on the forehead. He didn’t so much as twitch, his eyes remain unblinking. You pushed your finger against his head and watched as he practically became a wobble doll. You let go and Malleus still body rocked back and forth until he was stable again.

Malleus was still staring off into the distance.

You snorted. “Not a thought behind those eyes, huh? Empty-headed little critter.”

Bathing in sunlight always does this to him, like the warmth of sun soothed all the chaos in his head into nothingness.

There’s nothing wrong with him, Malleus was just zoning out for the moment. He’ll be back online in a moment. It’s always entertaining to hear the way Silver describes him, like this little pet was some always caught up in some grand and mysterious scheme. A magical genius so smart that his thoughts escape everyone’s comprehension.

That’s not quite it thought. Malleus is Malleus, and he’s more the kind of pet to get stuck on one particular thought or subject for weeks on end. All pets have different phases and routines, and long-living fae pets such as Malleus were no exception. He’s just slower to get to the next phase.

You opened the window. The wind gently blew right past the both of you, guiding the falling leaves and gently caressing your curtains. You took a deep breath in, and sighed it out.

Suddenly, Malleus’s eyes snapped wide open, back stiff and wings jittery. Energetic, excited about something.

“Oh?” You lowered your head. “Did you get an idea?” Are the gears finally turning again in his brain.

You scratched at his soft belly scales and laughed when he practically launched himself out of your hand. He was practically a rocket as he shot out the window, barely more than a blur as he flew in a pattern only he knew.

This month’s obsession seems to be dizzying flight patterns. All because Malleus witnessed Lilia’s flying right after he finished eating some of Crowley’s fermented peaches.

After a round of unsteady figure eights, Malleus finished with a belly flop on the grass, as Lilia did before. He got up, cleaned himself off, and fly once more. He’s nothing if not determined, that’s for sure. Still, it’s hilarious that he spent the entire day zoning out at your house.

Sure, you were a little concerned when he first did it, but you figured it out soon enough. You did as you usually do and let the pets do their own thing.

Maybe that’s why Malleus likes to come over here often. You’ve never been much of a person that fusses. Unless they’re putting themselves in active danger, you’re not going to bother them every single second of their life.

Well, whatever the reason may be, it’s still made clear that your house is a place to zone out in. You know you do that often. And, you will admit, you love the way Malleus's eyes go all empty like that.

[ghostdiva]

ok so the new trailer for episode 3 just dropped. big hype. here are some theory's, notes, and observations.

also I took a lot of screenshots...

anyway here we go.

so the adventure is set to be "The Mystery of Mildenhall Manor". Now, I do think that Caine is gonna be the quest giver this time, sending the gang to find something inside the spooky, probably haunted manor.

small guess is that they gotta find Matilda, one of the ghosts haunting the manor, and trap her in a vacuum. idk why, it's literally just a hunch.

Jax also takes a moment to harass Pomni with a vacuum, which just makes me think of Luigi's Mansion.

anyway, the gang (minus Zooble) are gonna go in the manor and try to find whatever they're looking for, and either by agreement or random set of events, the gang is gonna split up, Pomni and Kinger being paired up. I don't really know if Ragatha, Gangle, and Jax stick together or not, as they're not really shown much in the trailer.

I am inclined to believe it is a set of events that separates the gang tho.

it's the one of the reasons I can think of that'd make Pomni climb on the door like that.

I mean... outside of the very spooky decorum.....

which Pomni has a pretty reasonable reaction to

btw, I fucking love Pomni's cartoon physics with the squash and stretch rubber-hose animation. it's so expressive and fun to watch.

anyway, it seems Caine is determined to have Zooble go on adventures. so he literally sits them down and tries to therapize them.

though with Caine being an AI with very little knowledge of how the human mind works, this goes predictably horribly.

I imagine Zooble tries on some level to convey to Caine the ludicrousness of their situation. stuck in a digital world getting repeatedly traumatized by meaningless adventures that seem to do more harm than good. though I get the feeling Caine would miss the point, leading Zooble to correct him, and/or get upset at him for not understanding. watching this verbal fight happen between these 2 will probably lead to us, the viewer, understanding more about Zooble.

anyway, back to the manor with this cute little guy.

look at him, he's so cute and squishable. unfortunately this guy is the only cute and squishable NPC here because Pomni and Kinger seems to really be going through it.

they're mostly poking around, opening drawers and stuff. maybe they're looking for a key to get back with the others or something? who knows.

they both probably stumble around in the dark for a bit, both figuratively and literally.

they might end up stumbling into an antagonist NPC, which is the only way I can explain some of these screenshots.

it looks to me like Kinger is facing something. I mean, He's missing an eye in the first one, smacking something with a gun in the second, and looking really worried in the third. Plus the fist 2 have similar lighting so I'm inclined to believe those 2 pics come from clips in close time frames to each other.

there's also another image that has similar lighting...

now... this may sound weird, but I think that either Pomni got Possessed somehow, or something tried to take her shape. Possession seems more feasible since we know at least 2 of the NPC's in this adventure are ghosts, and at least in media ghosts are known to possess people. seeing as digital circus seems to love pulling from video game mechanics, this wouldn't surprise me at all.

this would also kind of explain why in the "POMNI WAKE UP!! IT'S TIME TO GO ON AN ADVENTURE" video, in the "Kinger with a shotgun" clip, he seems to be hitting Pomni with the gun. it makes a lot more sense if Pomni ends up getting possessed somehow, forcing Kinger to hit her in order to defend himself from the ghost.

this also could tie back to the worried look on Kingers face in the screenshot before Possessed Pomni. Cause he'd know what he has to do, even though he doesn't want to hurt Pomni.

Hell, I'm pretty sure Kinger even openly protects Pomni in this episode.

because of the shot in the trailer taken from this hole's perspective

not only is Pomni hiding behind Kinger, but he has one of his hands out in front of her, as if to protect her from whatever is in that hole.

also in regards to guns, Kinger isn't the only one who gets to have a gun.

Pomni gets to wield a shotgun too, and it's likely to help both herself and Kinger fight off whatever was after them in the hole.

Ghost possession and gun-slinging aside, I do think that Pomni and Kinger have a little heart to heart in this episode.

boy doesn't that screenshot look familiar. reminds me of episode 2 with the blue lighting and concerned expression on Pomni's face. That scene in the test room where Pomni comforts Gumigoo. this time tho, she's comforting Kinger. it almost makes me wonder if this will be a reoccurring theme, with all the other characters eventually having a heart to heart with Pomni, and Pomni comforting them.

it'd really make her live up to her quote in episode 2 "I guess I just don't want you to feel like you're nothing. I don't want anyone to feel like that".

the only thing I do still have questions about, is wtf is Kinger looking at here?

I mean, it looks like the eyes of a ghost, if they could make their eyes glow like that.

ya know what, maybe he's looking at a mound of pillows or something.

yeah, like that.

[youzicha]

Simulacra, Simulation, and Girls' Generation

That take that "anime girls don’t correspond to anything" reminded me of one of my own pet theories, which is that the same is true about Kpop groups.

Groups like Girls' Generation are like the opposite of American singer-songwriters. The singer-songwriter's core value is authenticity. Their songs are taken to be autobiographical, and to be valuable because they are a true description of the emotions that the songwriter felt. The singer-writer must be a single person so we can be sure that nobody has tampered with the depiction before it reaches us. This is Baudrillard's "first order" image, we in the audience should believe that the song is "the reflection of a profound reality".

With the kpop groups, what we enjoy is that the song does not represent any underlying reality. Each music video is the impersonal product of songwriters, producers, choreographers, stylists, video directors, etc. Rather than a spontaneous expression, you can see the moves being developed in the behind-the-scenes dance practice videos. The online discourse emphasizes the role of the entertainment agency (e.g. SM Entertainment): the group members themselves do not have "agency" so we can be confident that their own emotions didn't make it into the love songs they sing.

Let’s look at the music video for Oh! (2010) to see how this plays out. It's like a game of dress-up, showing off two different cheerleader uniforms. Argumate once wrote that Girls' Generation perform "a detailed sequence of dance moves that are very 'sexy', i.e. strongly coded as suggesting sexiness without necessarily being sexy-without-quotes", and I think we can say something similar about cheerleader outfits. They are not there to convey a message or story (and as if to stress the arbitrariness, the last few seconds of the video show the girls dressed in a completely different "strong woman" style, to tease the upcoming next look). Rather, the "sexy cheerleader" is itself a stylized, free-floating signifier to be quoted. "The whole system becomes weightless … an uninterrupted circuit without reference or circumference." (Although I believe it is still possible to overcome the ironic stance.)

So far everything is straightforward, but now consider the lyrics:

Oppa please see me, please look at me It's the first time I talk like this (ha!) I did my hair and I did my makeup too But why is it only you who doesn't know? […] Don't think of me just like a little sister You might regret that after a year

I claim that this also works in the opposite direction to the normal mode of storytelling. When creating a movie or play, the auteur-director starts with an idea or a story, and then casts actors to best represent his vision. Or, if that is not what it in fact took place, it is still the convention the viewer is supposed to apply to interpret the work. But with an idol music video, the starting point is the singer, who already has a fanbase. "Please see me, please look at me"—well, we already were. (This is not the only Girls' Generation song about looking at the idol, by the way, compare e.g. The Boys, which begins "I can tell you're looking at me / I know what you see".)

Given the opposite starting point, the representational function of the lyrics changes correspondingly. Rather than focusing on the new fictional person who emerges ex nihilo, the fan's attention is still on the singer, and the "little sister" character is yet another stock signifier for them to bring out and put on, much like the uniform. The function of the story is erasure: there was in fact a hairdresser and a makeup artist who styled Yuri, but instead we're invited to project a different fantasy over her. The effect is to further stress the unreality of all the symbols involved.

With this in mind, I think one Girls' Generation song has a really interesting concept for the lyrics. In Paparazzi (2012) the idol looks out across the crowds, spots a photographer who is trying to be discreet, and speaks directly to him: "shall I give you a better photo? let's be friendly, after all aren't we allies?"

It re-establishes the inauthenticity and unreality of the idol! As time goes by, pesky reality intrudes. People will follow the individual group members devotedly, and there are paparazzi images of them. Members will capitalize on their fame through individual brand endorsement deals. There is the perennial problem of girl group girls getting boyfriends, jarringly peeking out as an actual human being from behind the illusion. Or in the extreme case they can even use their new independent existence to leave the group.

In Paparazzi, those candid photos are re-imagined as performance. And furthermore, just like in Oh! we are invited to imagine a fictional character speaking directly to us. But in this case the character is superimposed not just over the image from the music video, but also over all the already existing photos. The actual person of the idol is crowded out by the fantasy…

[mymp3]

i finished the answer like 2 weeks ago i think? and i absolutely loved every bit of it, it was incredible. it's so funny to me that people dislike it so much they don't even try to describe why they dislike it other than grinding annoying. anyways, i had a wonderful experience, and i think it wraps up some issues sees were going through really really well.

[livsoulsecrets]

Flávia Saraiva “Flavinha” (BRZ) on her fall during warm-ups on today’s Olympic Final for Artistic Gymnastics Teams.

Interview for TV Globo.

P.S.: Guys, I should probably have used other expression than “come to” when I translated. Flavinha didn’t say she passed out, I meant to use “come to” in the sense of “when she realized what was happening”

I found her retelling of the fall so funny that I subtitled it to share here. Flavinha was a beast today and we’re all so proud!

[ninyard]

from: nicky, to: andrew

[yurucamp]

I was wondering if we'll be able to experience Over the Horizon in whatever form it's going to be anytime soon (or later)? I found the characters and the premise to be very intriguing! Thank you, have a nice day :7

thank you for being interested in my characters and stories, it sincerely makes my days so much brighter- i'm really happy and flattered QQ

i wish i knew- i'm not sure what kind of medium suits the story i want to tell best, i think it's most suited to comics which is a medium i need a lot more practice with to be comfortable telling stories (though i could see it as a visual novel, i'd struggle with how to convey the intended space/sense of scale)

so i don't have an answer but i'll definitely continue drawing the characters and making more narrative-oriented pieces, i'd like to start off with drawing very short comics/sequential drawings :-) no ETA but thank you again for being interested in it!!! i have a lot of environments from the story that

[yo-yo-yoshiko]

Daydreaming...

[dramarants]

Wanting more homoeroticism in the tension between the show’s leads as the narrative introduces greater intimacy and higher stakes between them, especially in a landscape that lacks queer representation who isn’t a villain or dies within one or two episodes, but also recognizing that core values/motivation for these characters lie in their relationships with one of two major female characters in an on screen sausage fest where the only other woman is a morally reprehensible femme fatale and erasing and/or vilifying female leads in favor of conventionally attractive males is a common practice observed in fandoms that’s rooted in misogyny and justified under the guise of rejecting heteronormativity, thinly veiled double standards, or claiming the woman is simply not interesting enough and not wanting to bolster that mindset

[thedrotter]

Do any of you remember a Youtube video about Re:Kinder talking about how the game is seen and percieved by some people (mostly touching upon and arguing against how it has been treated insensitively as some sort of weird legend like "ooo disturbing game with a hidden truth behind it" due to it's creator being dead), as well as talking about the charm of the game (even mentioning it's art at some point) and sadness of the themes without spoiling anything at the same time?? I remember the video avoided saying any spoilers at all and only touched on the literal plot as the kids being stuck in a dire situation in the town with all the adults dead without really getting into the why (it didn't even say one of the kids themselves was the cause— as thus, spoiler free), other than that it just touched on the emotional side of it and vaguely mentioned some scenes.

i also remember at some point the later half (at the very least if not in all of it) of the video, music by Siinamota was playing in the background. Does anyone remember seeing a video like this?

I can't seem to find it anywhere and don't even remember the exact year I watched it.😭 It was the way I found out about this game a while ago, which eventually ended up in me playing it, and I really wish I could watch it again. I thought it was a deleted video by someone called hazel as it was mentioned by a lot of people, but I found that one and it isnt it.😓 I'm wondering if anyone remembers watching something along the lines of what im describing and knows if it's still up.

[antoine-triplett]

katniss + bonding with non-verbal characters

PLUS:

[banqanas]

FANTARO DAY 2023 - Special Video-

Seguchi Leiya:

Hi~ Hi~ You doin' good? Can you hear me?

Uhuh. Huh. I see...

Oh, you had nikomi soba* for lunch? Huh... People don't usually use soba noodles when making nikomi... That's kinda...

*It's common to make nikomi with udon (thick noodles) instead of soba (thin noodles)

Oh, well, it's fine! As long as you like it, then that's a good enough reason.

Have you heard, we're going to do a celebration day for our fans on September 9th.

I'm sure the other members have said this already... But.

To you who is watching right now. Because of you who is always supporting us, we're able to perform, hold concerts and other activities daily.

Will you keep following us even after this?

Oh. That's a good "yes" but I'm gonna need you to say it a few more times...

Yeah, that's it! Just like that! I'm happy to hear that!

And on December we'll be celebrating our 5th year anniversary too. There's going to be a lot more celebration in store, so let's make time to see each other again.

See you later. Bye bye!

Call me anytime, okay? I'll definitely pick up within 3 rings.

[se7ens-oc-heaven]

Ok so I know I haven't talked Enough about legendkeepers for this to make total sense, but recently I talked about them to a friend about there being a group chat post-games, namely for the sake of keeping people in the loop for potential legendary incidents. Then I joked about how the missing/fallen ex-champion of Unova, Lena, could get rediscovered if you had Kimmie (Unova's stand-in champ) and Maciel (ex-member of Team Snagem and orre trainer) talking long enough, and this whole chatlog wrote itself!

Full disclaimer, even as I wrote this I anticipated it's ooc/incorrect for the stories, but I had too much fun not to share - even did a couple hasty scribbles to accompany it! Hope you enjoy the chaos! Optional author's 'notes' in tags

MASS TEXT

Rex, Ritsu, Maciel, Aspen, Kimmie, Xavier, Satsuki

-(xxx) xxx-xxxx has been added to the chat-

Kimmie: ok so she's been missing for 2 years now, but I'm including Lena's phone number in this group chat because she's Technically the one in charge of our guys 

Kimmie: so like if her phone ever works again she'll get these messages

Rex: smashing, absolutely not how to handle missing persons but sure why not

Maciel: Wait

Maciel: Lena Who

Kimmie: [img attachment] The missing champion of Unova???

Maciel: Wait

Maciel: [img attachment] 

Maciel: This Lena???

Kimmie: Get out

Kimmie: GET OUT?????

Kimmie: HOW DID YOU GET THAT AND WHERE IS SHE

Maciel: I took it just now

Maciel: she is sitting in my sidecar

Maciel: like she always does

Maciel: she doesn't know what's going on but says hi btw

Rex: I Have Been Corrected, evidently this somehow IS how you handle a missings persons case 

Rex: just include their phone number in a group chat and all problems will be solved

Rex: why didn't Xavier and I think of that???? 

Kimmie: Rex hush Maciel and I gotta work this out

Kimmie: Maciel istg if you're telling me that girl you hang with all the time is our missing champion I'm gonna heckin LOSE IT

Maciel: YOU'RE gonna lose it

Maciel: I'M the one being informed my amnesiac friend of 5+ years is evidently the missing champ of 2 years ongoing now

Maciel: which. Not to pretend I went to school

Maciel: but I'm decently sure that's not how math works last I checked??

Ritsu: I didn't go to school either

Rex: ???????

Ritsu: if that helps

Aspen: I have and still go to school and can confirm that's not how math works 

Kimmie: GUYS FOCUS HERE

Satsuki: guys I am trying to sleep over here in Hoenn several timezones away from all of you

Satsuki: why are you blowing up my phone???

Kimmie: MACIEL'S HOLDING THE UNOVA CHAMP HOSTAGE

Maciel: Evidently my friend Lena's the missing champ?

Maciel: wait WHAT

Maciel: I AM NOT

Maciel: SHE IS JUST SITTING HERE I'M NOT HOLDING ANYONE TO ANYTHING

Satsuki: Kimmie quit accusing people of kidnapping it's 3AM

Satsuki: well for me anyways

Kimmie: But he kinda is!

Kimmie: He's had Lena all this time and not said anything about it 

Kimmie: even though the unova champ going missing was big international news??

Kimmie: kinda sus he didn't say something sooner don't you think? 

Rex: Again, not how missing persons cases work

Maciel: I'M SAYING SOMETHING NOW DONUTHEAD 

Satsuki: I'm muting this chat so I can sleep. Ritsu can you lmk what everyone agrees on here?

Ritsu: sure thing, night Satsuki! Sorry we woke you ^^;

Aspen: so uh

Aspen: it sounds like she's safe and sound 

Aspen: right Maciel?

Maciel: [img attachment]

Maciel: I bought her ice cream. She's FINE.

Aspen: so

Aspen: why not just

Aspen: have her go back?

Aspen: or have Kimmie meet with her maybe

Aspen: wait that sounds dumb doesn't it

Ritsu: It's not dumb but

Ritsu: Like Maciel said, she HAS forgotten everything from before Orre

Ritsu: she's always sounded kind of like me, just 

Ritsu: dropped elsewhere on the map

Ritsu: and also not turned into a pokemon

Ritsu: so idk if she'll be much help as a Unova champ rn...?

Rex: The young Ritsu has a good point. This Lena individual may have suffered the same sort of temporal displacement as Ritsu himself

Rex: GDI CALYREX GOT HIS BLOODY PAWS ON MY PHONE AGAIN

Rex: One sodding moment. Ritsu we're having rabbit stew with brussels tonight

Ritsu: ^^;

Kimmie: guuuuys

Kimmie: who cares about that?

Kimmie: that’s Champion Lena! Eating ice cream! With an ex-convict!!

Maciel: FU I was never convicted of anything

Kimmie: Arceus knows what you did

Ritsu: Actually I think that’s just a myth!

Ritsu: Arceus tends to know very little of what goes on with humans

Ritsu: Actually it has little power over us period when it comes down to it

Ritsu: I mean

Ritsu: why else ask an uncoordinated newly human to do an Arceus’s work you know? Lol

Kimmie: 8/

Kimmie: ooooook

Kimmie: look just

Kimmie: Lena’s got people who have been looking for her for AGES

Rex: two years is not “ages” Kimmie

Kimmie: Rex omgggggggg 

Kimmie: what I MEAN is

Kimmie: The league’s been looking

Kimmie: Looker’s. Uh. Looking.

Kimmie: Cheren and Bianca and N have been looking

Kimmie: I’VE been looking

Kimmie: can we please just have her come back?

Kimmie: just like

Kimmie: so we know she’s safe?

Maciel: Fine. I’ll ask

Maciel: she says she’s cool with it

Maciel: she’s always wanted to visit Unova anyways 

Maciel: she does want me to reiterate she doesn’t remember anything though. She appreciates people have been looking but doesn’t want anyone to get let down here

Kimmie: EEEEE TY TY TY TY

Kimmie: I’ll let everyone know!

Kimmie: about the amnesia too

Kimmie: how soon will you guys get here?

Maciel: uhhhh

Maciel: dunno. Haven’t had a chance to work that out

Maciel: we like. Just decided

Maciel: don’t exactly have money for plane tickets just lying around here

Kimmie: huh

Kimmie: oooooh wait ok I get it

Kimmie: you probably have the money but can’t use it all at once right?

Kimmie: draws attention and all that ;)

Maciel: can you quit accusing me of crimes every two seconds??

Maciel: I’m trying to work with you here and you keep insulting me at every turn

Kimmie: wait wait wait wait

Kimmie: bad joke

Kimmie: sorry :(

Kimmie: I have the money, I can pay

Kimmie: yours too

Kimmie: does that sound fair?

Maciel: yeah ok

Maciel: whatever

Maciel: Lena says she's flexible and so am I 

Maciel: you can just text me whatever flight works for you guys and we'll meet up with you

Kimmie: thanks

Kimmie: sorry again

Maciel: whatever

Aspen: glad everything

Aspen: uh

Aspen: worked out?

Kimmie: yeah!

Xavier: what

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

im only about an hour into this playthrough but im going to be honest... it really feels like style over substance rn with the cutscenes. except the style is apparently also kind of goofy

[offsidekineticist]

△ Qweck - what's sharing a living situation with Giliys like now that you know what's going on with him and Theo?

6/10

"Oh, I know what's going on with him and Theo? That's news to me," she huffs before wincing at the loss of control. "My apologies, that was...unbecoming. As for living with Giliys...It's fine." She sees the disbelief on your face. "No, it's...actually fine. Giliys is not the problem with our living situation, which is...unexpected." She rubs her eyes, and you notice the dark circles under her eyes, particularly pronounced where it overlaps with her bleached patch. "He spends most of his time taking care of Theo - helping him dress or feeding him or turning the pages of the book Theo's reading, and he's usually very quiet when he does that. Only speaks when he really needs to ask Theo how he wants something done. Which is understandable, considering that Theo snaps at every little mistake I make while doing his very best to ignore that Giliys even exists.

"I just...this isn't how it's supposed to be. Theo isn't supposed to be the mean one. Giliys isn't supposed to be the patient one. And I'm not supposed to be so...so...." She stops, a far off look in her eyes. "They're always looking for ship surgeons at the docks. Sometimes I think..." Qweck shakes her head, and with a quick blink, the longing in her eyes has gone. "It doesn't matter. You didn't ask about that. The answer is that living with Giliys has been fine."

[qomrades]

literally loving this hunger games resurgence everyone has so many interesting thoughts and ideas and reads the text in a way that really brings the themes in to the light. and just what she deserves!!!!!!

that being said i am also loving this hunger games renaissance bc it proves s*rah z WRONG and i live for that