#apparently my goal is to use every character in this somehow

[ryuzakistoe]

Rin Itoshi (x reader)

Rin Itoshi x reader, breakup au, fluff, fem!reader, angst

You and Rin broke up a couple of weeks ago and only recently has he realized he made a mistake. He can't seem to get you out of his head despite that it was his idea to break up with you. He really wants you back.

a/n: So like this is my first ff here on tumblr...pls tell me if its good enough😖 ANYWAYS IM SOOO OBSESSED WITH RIN ITOSHI and maybe sae...actually most of the bllk characters.

Empty.

That's all he felt.

He thought that maybe letting you go would be the best option. Apparently not.

You were the cause of his distraction during soccer. You were the reason he couldn't keep his focus on the game and almost lost in the finals.

Well, he at least thought.

After that game, he felt somewhat frustrated. He was frustrated at himself for losing focus but also felt somewhat frustrated towards you. You were the reason why he couldn't think clearly.

The way you beamed with joy when he scored goals. The way you shouted his name across the field. The way your eyes sparkled every time he received the ball...

It was all stuck in his head. He just couldn't shake away the image of you.

And yet, THAT was the problem.

You rushed toward him, cheering and shouting his name with a big smile on your face, which he always loved. He also loved it when you jumped on him and hugged him tightly.

But for some reason, all he felt during that moment was annoyance and slight anger.

He didn't hug you back and of course, you immediately thought something was wrong.

Taking your hands back slowly, you gazed at him. "Rin, are you alright?"

...

"Let's break up."

...

He will always remember the way your expression changed. The way your face turned white when he spoke. The way the admiration in your eyes vanished..

But how could he possibly also forget the icy gaze he fixed upon you? Those piercing teal eyes, lacking of any emotion, seemed to burn right through you in that moment.

He regretted that deeply.

He soon left without saying anything more, leaving you to process and replay his choice of words.

Hell, even the way he walked showed no remorse or emotions either.

…

Now, here he was a couple weeks later on the field, going against some lukewarm team. (see what I did there😏)

In the middle of the game, it seemed like he was instinctively trying to find you in the crowd. He kept looking towards the front row and then at the seat where you always used to sit. The same seat that was right next to Rin was now unoccupied.

That's when it hit him. From this point on, that seat would always be empty.

That same feeling he felt the day after the breakup, it all came back--hitting him twice as hard.

All that regret, sadness, loneliness--it all came tumbling down on him.

He knew that he missed you but he didn't think he did THIS much.

He remembers how your eyes looked that day. He remembers the tears welling up and the quiver in your lip. He remembers how your voice cracked when you said his name. Yes…he remembers it all.

Only now does he know that he really did fuck up.

During the match, he realized he wasn't performing at his best. Whenever his teammates passed the ball to him, it was either intercepted by the opposing team or slipped through his grasp.

This was the worst he played.

He clenched his teeth in frustration. Why couldn't he concentrate? Why couldn't he score? Why couldn't he make it across the field?

Oh right.

It was you again.

Ever since he left you, his playing somehow worsened. Well, he already knew it was bad with you around, but this time, it was even more chaotic.

Every minute, every second in his mind seemed to be filled with you.

He remembered how you used to run up to him after every game, laughing out his name as you got closer, your hair gently running alongside you, and your arms outstretching to embrace him in a tight hug. He missed all of it.

While he was busy trying to push aside his thoughts, surprisingly, his team managed to turn the game back around and claim victory, but that didn't calm him down.

The same thoughts that had been running through his mind during the game were still lingering in his head, refusing to settle or go away.

He missed you. He needed you. It was wrong of him to push you away.

It was as if he couldn't find rest unless he was back with you. Back in your arms, back in your embrace, back in your heart...

Arriving back home, he immediately whipped out his phone and scrolled down to your contact.

'Love❤️'

He gazed at the name of your contact. He couldn't muster the courage to delete the contact or change the name.

The grip on his phone tightened. He really really needed you back.

The pain in his chest and mind wouldn't disappear until he had you back. He was certain of that.

He wanted to make everything right again, he wanted to make it up to you.

But the question was, would you let him?

After a bit of contemplation with himself, he finally clicked on your contact.

'RING RING RING'

His heart pounded in his chest. He felt like his guts were going to rupture from nervousness. Had he ever felt this nervous and desperate before? Probably not.

As he started having second thoughts, the ringing finally stopped.

"Rin?"

Oh, how he missed that voice.

It seemed as if all his doubting and nervousness in his body had been healed by just hearing your voice.

That's how much he needed you back.

"Y/n. Can we talk?"

Now it was your turn to be nervous. 'Talk?' What was there to talk about? He made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with you. All the texts and calls you sent him after that day have either been ignored or declined. At one point, he even blocked you.

But you couldn't deny that hearing his voice again felt relaxing--calming even.

You craved day after day to hear his voice one more time, but of course, you knew that would be impossible.

Well, you thought it would be impossible, until now.

"Talk? Talk about what Rin?"

Shit. What was he supposed to say? Tell you that he was wrong and that he wants you back?

...Well...technically...yeah.

How? How was he going to say it properly though?

He had to think quick. He knew he had to at least say something regarding that line. This may be his ever only chance.

"Y/n...I want to talk about us. I'm sorry. I truly am. I never realized how much this would impact me...but if you can, can we meet up? I want to apologize properly. Not through some device." Rin breathed out.

Wow.

You never thought you would be hearing these words come out of his mouth after a break-up.

But now, the question was if you would accept his apology and agree to the meet-up.

You loved Rin. You always have as a matter of fact.

Even after the breakup, you couldn't stop loving him. It felt like your love for him only grew stronger. But now, it felt like the universe was finally listening to your heartache.

You felt your heart beating irregularly, but the thought of seeing him again made you happy despite feeling sad and upset before.

You already knew the answer to his question. You knew how desperate you wanted him back. You knew how much you loved him and still do.

Without wasting any more time, you replied.

"Sure Rin. I'll see what you have to say." You smiled, knowing Rin couldn't see that precious smile of yours that he adored.

That was all he needed to hear from you.

"Let's talk at the garden by (ST. NAME) St. at 6. Okay?"

"Okay."

...

Rin hung up after bidding goodbye. A small smile plastered on his face. He let out a sigh as he rested on his sofa.

He was happy. No. More than happy by your consideration.

The anticipation of seeing you again grew inside him, increasing steadily. He couldn't afford to mess up now. All he had to do was be honest, right?

Yeah. Honest.

A small frown replaced his soft smile as he had to tell you how he truly felt, how much he missed you, how wrong he was, and how he regretted the whole thing.

He had to tell you how sorry he really was.

But he knew he definitely wanted to tell you how much he needed you back in his life, to fill that empty seat.

__________________

He couldn't take his gaze off of you.

The way the afternoon sun coated and highlighted all your features, making it seem as if you were glowing. The way the wind brushed threw your hair, as if your beautiful locks were being combed in sections by the gentle breeze. And the way your eyes softly squinted as your face morphed into a delicate and soft smile.

It was as if he was falling in love all over again.

Except this time, it was the same girl he still loved.

He began walking towards you, taking appropriate strides.

Gosh.

He couldn't help but admire you. You looked even more beautiful up close.

He let out a breath, preparing his words.

“Y/n…” he mumbled

“Rin.” you muttered back, your smile never faltering.

Rin enjoyed hearing his name spoken by you. It was the only thing that could calm him down. The smooth, comforting sound of your voice saying his name...he needed to hear and keep that heavenly voice in his life forever.

Rin took a deep breath before finally speaking his heart's content.

"Y/n.. I want to apologize. I kept pushing you away because I couldn't stop thinking about you while I was playing soccer. But even when I wasn't on the field, you were still on my mind," Rin said.

"During that game...my mind was still drifting back to the thought of you. That's what made me distracted during the game.

I thought that maybe breaking up with you would settle my thoughts and help me focus more on soccer. But I was wrong. The fact that you were no longer by my side only made me more distracted than I already was." Rin explained before continuing.

"Every day, I would feel empty and lonely without you. At one point, I thought that those feelings would go away after some time. But I was wrong. They only grew day after day.

That's when I realized that breaking up with you was a mistake. I need you Y/n. I need you to be here with me. I need you to stay in my life. Without you, I only feel empty and hollow. I want you to come back to my games and continue cheering me on. I want to look forward to your hugs and embraces after the games.

Please Y/n...I miss you. Will you consider staying with me?"

Shocked. Amazed. Surprised.

You felt almost all of the above.

Those words...that tone...his movements...they seemed heartfelt.

You gazed up at him, eyes wide, mouth agape, body still. You absorbed all his words and felt as if some kind of shackle around your wounded heart had been mended.

It felt relieving to finally hear the truth.

Noticing your motionless state, Rin grew a little worried. Were you mad at him? Upset? Angry? He couldn't tell.

What if you're angry at him with the whole "pushing you away from him to focus on the whole soccer thing"?

After having some negative thoughts in his head, they all seemed to have been pushed aside at the sight of your smile.

"I missed you too Rin. I missed you so much that my heart would swell at the mere thought or sight of you. Morning and night I would go to bed, hugging myself, wondering what it would be like if we were still together and what I could've done differently.”

“Every day I have not been able to stop thinking about you. I even haven't been able to stop loving you as well." You softly chuckled.

Now he was the one who was shocked. He always had a thought lingering in the back of his mind, wondering if you had ever moved on from him or not. Now he knew the answer.

He quickly and gently pulled you into an embrace after hearing your words.

You still loved him.

And of course, he still loved you.

He felt so relieved and content after hearing your words.

His smile only grew wider as he felt you reciprocating his hug.

"I love you Y/n. I love you so much. I promise to not leave you over something stupid like that ever again." He spoke quietly into your ear.

Now, it was your turn to smile wider at his words.

You knew that he meant every word. You knew that he still loved you. You knew that he would keep his promise. You knew that he was being genuine.

"I love you too Rin." You spoke back.

_____________________

a/n: BRO I DID NOT LIKE THE ENDING OF THIS ITS SO ASS buttttt I was starting to feel lazy😣 BUT OMG IM SO EXCITED FOR S2!!!

P.S I might take a long while to post more stuff like this bc I'm just so busy with school and life

P.S.S HES SO HANDSOME AND BEAUTIFUL WHAT

[thewayuarent]

Boston is the worst

And how we get into stupid game of compared morality that doesn’t actually exist

This moment got me thinking. A lot. Mostly something like “Sand, honey, are you okay?” but also about how it doesn’t make sense for Sand to say that. Like even Ray was like “Hmmm, babe, actually, no”.

And then I got it. It’s not about why Sand says it, it’s about why narrative implies it so often.

But why is it constantly implied by narrative that Boston is the worst? Not just bad, or shitty, but actually the worst of all of them? And I kind of feel that I got it. But first, let’s go through the whole list of Boston saying be gay do crimes and compare it to other characters. And yes, I know that all those situations and motivations were different. I understand that this is not the same situation playing out the same way every time.

1. Boston recorded Ray and Mew intimate moment.

So as Nick recorded Boston and Top and Top recorded Sand and Ray. And Drake’s character I forgot his name again did with Boston.

2. Boston shared it with Top.

So as Nick, Sand, Ray and Mew did with BostonTop tape and Mew did with TonDrake clip (I kind of get Ray a half-free pass in that cause in my opinion he was more a tool than active participant but I still remember him).

3. Boston manipulated Nick’s feelings for his own goals.

So as Mew did with Ray on several occasions, and Sand did with Ray that one time to hurt Top, and Mew did with Top and the whole using sex as a test thing. (Also Ray kind of tried it with Sand but Ray sucks at manipulation and failed miserably).

4. Boston slept with Top when Top was in a relationship with Mew.

So as Top probably (?) did with Boeing. And you know who also did this? Yep, Sand. With Ray. Who also was with Mew.

5. Boston chased Top against his will.

So as Ray constantly chased Sand since ep 2, and Top constantly did with Mew since they broke up. And Nick did with Boston at the Halloween party. And Atom now doing it with Boston.

(Honestly, the only normal reaction to that in my opinion was from Ton who was like fuck off to Nick and Atom. But it kinda worked for both Sand and Mew so good for them I guess?)

6. Boston took an advantage of Top on several occasions.

So as Ray with Mew - twice, Ray with Sand (seriously bro stop it) and Top with Mew (and yes, hugging your unconscious ex who can’t give his consent and who told you several times to fuck off is not okay, I’m sorry. Try to put yourself in Mew’s place - not cool)

7. Boston outed Ray’s personal information.

And so as Ray did to everyone in the bar, and Mew did with Top and Ton in the Halloween disaster party TM.

8. Boston gets violent with Nick.

And so as Sand and Top, and Mew with Ray, and Sand with Ray, and Ray with Boston, and Top and Ray, and Mew and Boston, and literally everyone to everyone except Nick who is apparently hippie.

9. We all know that Boston didn’t cheat on Nick, right? Their relationship was communicated pretty clear. But I’ve seen those takes so.

Yeah, Top and Ray both did it with Mew.

10. And don’t even let me start to talk about slutshaming and purity culture. Ton is constantly dragged down for his active sex life both by other characters (Mew, Cheum, Ray, Nick) and the audience.

And yeah, Top is the same, and Sand is the same, and they never told us about Ray but did you see that guy? He’s the same.

And what distinguishes Boston from others is that he actually always - since the very beginning of the show - owns his shit. He’s almost never remorseful (for now), because he knows who he is. Bitch and proud, I would say. And I believe that it’s actually the case - because it’s way easier to feel superior towards someone who’s not denying their wrongs.

And this is about characters, but also about the audience. Every week, whatever happens in the show, Boston gets his amount of hate. Ray was winning after episode 8, but somehow Boston was still there. Boston, who actually didn’t do anything since episode five. It’s nine episodes aired already, can we leave him alone, please?

Every character in this show does shitty stuff. And it doesn’t make any of them bad irredeemable people. It makes them complicated, and young, and stupid, but not evil. This is not the “who’s the worst” competition. But somehow, for whatever reason, Boston keeps winning it.

Because the audience kind of get used to it. Because he doesn’t look remorseful. And who cares that he was punished by narrative way more than once, right? That he is isolated from his friends group - the only friends he has, and we can see that it affects him. That he was betrayed by Nick who he trusted. That he was a victim on revenge porn not once, but twice. That he did his best to clarify his boundaries but still get the creepy stalker behavior both from Nick and now from Atom.

Why does he need to change his personality to get some level of understanding and compassion? Why is he’s the only one who doesn’t deserve it? Because he’s a slut. And a bitch. And a bad person. Because while we have Boston it’s so much easier to apologize whatever other character we want. Because while Bostons exist it’s way easier to compare ourselves with them and keep winning some moral high ground points.

Because instead of thinking about these characters as complicated and trying to understand the motivation behind their sometimes morally wrong and questionable behavior, it’s so much easier to brush it off saying “Well, at least they are not Boston”, right?

[thelostgirl21]

Jaskier, The voice of the Continent,

meets

Radovid, The Voice of the Fandom...

Seriously, it's like they decided to have a character fall in love with Jaskier, and finally tell him everything we wish someone would have told him since the beginning of watching this show...

You gorgeous, loyal, empathetic, caring, devoted sapioromantic pansexual bard with a heart of gold and the voice of a freaking angel, that sees others as they are, and brings out the best in them often at your own expanse...

It was high time someone finally saw you, too - caught a glimpse of the pain and weariness you carry in your heart (yet keep downplaying and brushing aside, afraid that others would be made to feel bad about it and stop enjoying having you around to keep them entertained if they paid too much attention to it) - and took the time to remind you that you are, indeed, enough...

Radovid kept insisting for a song...

And you gave him one...

Not a song singing his own praises - with the goal or making him more sympathetic or famous to an audience (so that the world could see him and care about him the way you do)...

Not one asking him for what he yearns for, while being frustrated and heartbroken over him apparently being so set on self-sabotaging that he's unable to return the love of those that do love him...

No, for once, you decided that you were done "entertaining others", and singing about what you think they want you to sing...

Instead, you chose to sing a song about what you need and yearn for in life...

And he learned it...

Jaskier sang to him before he left the palace, and Radovid freaking learned Jaskier's song by heart, after having attentively listened to every note and every word he sang only once...

How's that for a pie without filling?

They somehow managed to turn that new ship into a whole freaking Cruise Line in just 4 episodes!

Don't get me wrong, I do love Geralt and genuinely think he was attempting to push Jaskier away out of both self-hatred and a desire to protect others from himself in Season 1... But the things he said, and the way he used to treat Jaskier, still hurt him, affected his sense of self-worth, and left some scars.

I'm therefore not drawing comparisons to bash on Geralt and Jaskier's own relationship, but because I love the healing opportunities that Radovid's hopefully genuine romantic interest in Jaskier are providing.

i.e. They better not pull some sick twist on us, by having Radovid be revealed as a cruel, scheming villain that took advantage of Jaskier's goodness, feelings, and needs for his own gain; because I've a feeling heads would be found in boxes!

Just let him have his big gay spoon, alright? Or little spoon! But I kinda want Jaskier to be the one spooned with someone firmly holding onto him with no intention of ever sending him away right now, so...

Also, what's the new name of that ship, Jaskovid? I'll go with Jaskovid...

I also found it very interesting, from a LGBTQ+ representation standpoint, that they are seemingly going the route of a polyamourous pansexual character that might be somewhere on the gray-romantic spectrum.

i.e. That Jaskier would specifically need to experience a sapioromantic connection - be attracted attracted to one's wits and insightfulness - in order for him to experience any desire to enter a romantic relationship with them.

Will Jaskier remain polyamorous, both romantically and sexually, should Radovid himself be monoamorously romantically/sexually exclusive, and the two of them choose to fully commit to their romantic connection?

I guess we'll have to see!

But I still thought it was a very nice nuance to bring to the character.

And I could see this going many different and equally interesting ways!

Jaskier could enter a deeply committed romantic and sexual relationship with Radovid, with one, or the two of them, remaining romantically and sexually non-exclusive (ex: one of my polyamorous friends has a main romantic/sexual partner that they live and share their lives with, and another one that they regularly go on romantic dates with, but without the need for them to build their lives together, or see each other as often).

Jaskier could enter a deeply committed romantic and sexual relationship with Radovid, with one, or the two of them, staying romantically exclusive, but enjoying sexual polyamory with lovers that they have no committed romantic connection to.

Jaskier could be revealed as being more ambiamorous than polyamorous, and be completely comfortable and happy being in a romantically and sexually exclusive relationship with a monoamorous partner.

As an ambiamorous panromantic demi-pansexual myself, I've personally discovered that, while I'm comfortable being in a romantic polyamorous relationship, sharing an exclusive romantic and sexual relationship doesn't feel forced, nor like I have to make any efforts and deprive myself of anything I enjoy, if I so happen to be romantically and sexually attracted to a person that isn't polyamorous.

It's like my monoamorous v.s. polyamorous instincts are naturally determined by the preferences of my romantic partner.

i.e. In the absence of any romantic connection to my sexual partners (that I do need to share a strong emotional bond with, however), however, I'm sexually polyamorous.

If the sexual desires occur in the context of a romantic connection with a monoamorous partner, I genuinely stop experiencing any sense of romantic and/or sexual attraction towards anyone else than that partner.

If the sexual desires occur in the context of a romantic connection with a polyamorous partner, however, then it's like my heart and my body will naturally remain open to forming multiple committed partnerships with other people, often with one of those romantic/sexual partnership being perceived as a domestic/life partner.

So, with Jaskier, it's perfectly possible that he might lose all interest in ever romantically and/or sexually having relationships with anyone other than Radovid, should Radovid be revealed as a being a romantically and sexually monoamorous individual himself.

Just like he could be polyamorously romantic and sexual all the way, and being unable to offer Radovid any exclusivity (which wouldn't make the romantic connection they share any less real, deep, nor valuable).

Whatever path that relationship takes, however, as long as the love and empathy between them remains genuine and real, I'll be extremely happy!

[bleue-flora]

not sure what you mean by cdreams arguement and not your opinion I can't find anything in that vod stating his perspective on suicide but I do see now that it could have been about vikk. The reason I and many people assume its about his suicide specifically is because of how desensitized he is to death and how he know how painful death is. I know the ''I know how painful death is'' line could have been referring to c!tubbo taking his final life, but the way he phrases it to me sounds like he has experienced it countless times before and gone to limbo many times. And why wouldnt he test suicide revivals, it would make sense for his character to off himself for the sake of finding out knowledge that maybe killing lazar and vikk or others couldn't provide. And yeah the ''death by revival book'' i said was written at like 5 am i was not writing properly

[context]

That was more so me telling people to not misconstrued my words and take me talking about Dream’s argument where he uses the Revive Book to highlight how Tommy’s suicide would have been meaningless to mean that I personally think in any sense that suicide is meaningless (as there have been people who came for my head, taking these types of statements and using them to say that I’m unempathetic and such…) which is really besides the point.

I mean you can absolutely take his statement like that. That is entirely reasonable and I follow the logic, my designs for stages duo has them having white strands of hair for their many deaths after all [Dream & Punz]. But I will also say that that statement in particular is to highlight that Tommy isn’t unique in experiencing pain or death, since Tommy tends to have this delusion that he is the only one who can get hurt. And based on Dream’s words we know that he has died at least once before. So he really does know how painful death is, and is highlighting that Tommy knowingly causing his painful death just yesterday. But I also think Dream perhaps experienced things more painful than death so him being desensitized to it would make sense in that way as well…

Why wouldn’t he test suicide to learn more about death? Because it’s unnecessary and risky. And also though I think prison give us the impression that Dream has little self preservation, I’m starting to wonder if that’s not entirely true either. Because the way I see it is if they only tested if the book works after prison [post], then that highlights that Dream was very naive going into staged finale and prison. That the book was really truly his very last card to be spared by the server. And that naiviness I think means then that perhaps it’s not that his self-preservation is poor, but he was too trusting. Which honestly more so aligns with what we see of his behavior anyways, isn’t it? Throwing bombs from the sky, always wearing armor, using other people like Wilbur to achieve his goals… etc like he doesn’t seem to just go out and risk dying and be uncaring about getting hurt. So perhaps he does actually want to avoid pain and suffering, that he didn’t knowing or intentionally put himself in a torture box, and if that’s true then maybe killing himself over and over wouldn’t be very in character after all.

Not to mention, that based off Dream’s own definition of Limbo that it changes based on all of the circumstances surrounding their death, meaning that you could kill yourself with the same knife in the same spot and Limbo could change. In which case, it seems rather pointless to study in the way we have assumed because you’re never going to discover every Limbo. And why would studying Limbo help answer the questions of the world anyways. It just doesn’t seem important to me in the grand scheme of things when mind control and the End are apparently also somehow connected to the book…

But in general it’s not that I can’t see why you’d make this assumption, it’s a reasonable assumption to make. One whose strongest argument would actually probably be this line from Dream:

“But we haven't tested… is somebody being selfless and dying a hero. We don't know anything about that because… we—can't test that because we're evil, we're so bad and—murderers—bla bla bla, whatever—who cares. But… We can test that now.” [clip]

Implying that they are not heroic enough to test dying a hero themselves. And yet, that point is oddly not the one I’ve often seen people use. XD However, this is also part of his set up for the bs saw trap thing and staged duo lay on their villain roles here real thick, so can we really take his words at face value? I don’t know, you could make an argument both ways…

At the end of the day, my point isn’t to say you are wrong or that your assumption is a bad one. My point is only to highlight that there is just as fair and reasonable, maybe even more reasonable, of a case to be made that these experiments are not what we as a collective have assumed them to be this whole time, and what does that say about staged duo’s relationship? What would that look like? What are the other possible outcomes, circumstances, answers that could apply if we make a different assumption?…

[inposterumcumgaudio]

dr. faraday!

I think Dr. Faraday is a very crucial character in terms of how she compares to so many other characters in the game. She gives us insight into how they might have fared under different circumstances.

The most obvious is Sally. They're both successful female scientists and yet, up until til Faraday's decision to stop enabling the police state of Wellington Wells, she seemed to have the sort of working life Sally could only dream of: a lab to herself with some guys out front to keep people from bothering her (granted, Roger and James were apparently not the best at this) with no expectation of entertaining anything but the science.

And this is why I rag on Sally so hard, aside from that she is one of the game's professed "three moderately terrible people" but how seems to escape a lot of players. One time I said as much in a WHF discord server, that she was just as bad as Arthur and Ollie, and whoo-boy! Several people were typing! All to tell me that I just didn't understand Sally's story. That. It. Is. About. Feminism! A lone woman and her precious baby against a cruel world seeking to exploit and abuse her at every turn!

Y'all.

Faraday is but one example of how women in Wellington Wells rose to and seized the opportunities presented to them by the town's lack of resources and ability to maintain status quo. And like many others (Gemma Olsen, Margaret Oliphant, Penelope Snug) she has done this without the help of men. Which Sally could do too, if she were so inclined. People hit me with the "but that's how she was raised!". Do you think these other women were not raised this way? Faraday herself had a husband and right up until he went on holiday, she lived Sally's same brilliant-assistant-who-gets none-of-the-credit role. But time's had appreciably changed by then. Instead of finding another man to play second fiddle to, Faraday hired a pair of houseboys to screen her calls and make her sandwiches, then went into business for herself.

I think her success up to the point at which she has her change of heart is also an interesting comparison to Verloc's role at Haworth Labs. That is, they have similar temperament and lack of emotional intelligence, but they are apparently brilliant when left the fuck alone. I think Verloc's chief problem is that he's in a role where he has to manage and delegate to others (others who operate at varying levels of detriment due to Joy use) and he is ill suited to the patience that requires. Faraday, on the other hand, fashioned for herself ideal work conditions for her similar personality: a private lab in her home with all her creature needs seen to and distractions minimized. Again, Roger and James aren't the best at providing this (although I think Faraday is unduly harsh in her criticism of them), but she only has to manage the two of them as compared to a whole factory, they try their best, and they are aligned with and supportive of her goals for the most part.

Another person we could compare her to is Percy.

Arthur surmises that Percy would have made a good scientist due to his analytical way of thinking and that "you don't have to talk much to be a scientist". This is, as said above, only true if you arrange things this way and don't find yourself in charge of an entire factory.

My close friends and I sometimes like to suppose especially hot takes for this game and a relevant one that comes to mind is that Percy would not have been able to conform effectively to Wellington Wells' society the way Edmund was able to because he has resting bitch face, he cannot tolerate any kind of discomfort, and his lack of social awareness does not endear people to him the way Edmund's does. As such, Arthur may have actually given him a shot at survival in abandoning him to the train.

But, I do think if somehow Percy had fallen into a Faraday-like circumstance before succumbing to any of the town's social perils, he would have done quite well for himself in Wellington Wells. Indeed, he might have even made a very good lab assistant to Dr. Faraday.

I do have some Fun Faraday Facts for you: there are cut lines in Cub Reporter/Start Spreading the News that state that she and Margaret Oliphant were schoolgirl friends and that Margaret's cat puzzle was designed by Faraday.

There's also a cut quest called Blow Up for Sally in which Faraday would task her with preventing the explosion of a motilene power station and would give Sally a walkie talkie to track her progress. The walkie talkie model used in They Came From Below is a salvaged asset from this quest.

One of the objectives for this quest involves Sally making a trade with Bobby Catesby, which she is reluctant to do.

126 Then you're going to have to set the snuffer charge! Otherwise the whole station will melt down.

128 You can't just go to Lionel Castershire and buy a bomb! You'd have to-- the only man I know who'd even-- I'm not going to bloody Robert Catesby for a bomb! He hates me!

130 If that station melts down, the whole motilene system will go up in flames. But I can understand how it's difficult talking to some men.

132 I'll find him. And I'll reason with him.

134 That's ma girl!

Tell her ass, Dr. F.

Dr. Faraday's idle waiting animation before you tap on her window is the sitting-on-the-floor-and-sobbing one.

Roger's idle animation is crying before you approach the house too though so I wouldn't read too much into that.

[amoransia]

Leviathan: "Oooooooooh"

Beelzebub and Asmodeus: (This could've been an email.)

!!!Chapter 65 spoilers below!!!

Good fucking food and good chapter as per usual. Thank you for showing me my snake wife (Satan) again. Loved every page, and I hope Fukayama-sensei is taking his time recuperating from his surgery and doesn't push himself too much.

I say this because those pages were out of this world. I love the spookiness factor they're finally adding. A lot of exorcist manga just focus on the action and completely forget they're dealing with demons (and other creatures of similar nature) so I'm glad Aruma added that in. Belphegor's pathetic poltergeists(?) are really funny, too lol.

Babacat confirmed!! Troperrific called it! I had my money on Cattan instead, lol. Regardless, this basically means she's been spying on Priest since the very beginning, so there's a high chance she'll try to talk-no-jutsu him into corruption(?) using what she knows about him. What Vergilius couldn't convince him to do, she'll probably (almost) succeed? If that's her goal, anyway...

Surprise! Chicken legs, as per her folklore of having a chicken leg-powered house. Nice to see that Aruma-sensei has some basic knowledge on her. As usual, they do look into things. Which makes me happy. I thought the chicken was kinda cute until her disemboweled headless corpse waddled in. Jesus.

Apparently, disembowelment and beheading are the punishments given to schismatics in the Ninth Bolgia in Dante's Inferno. Yeowch. Perhaps this is her punishment because she wanted to help wrongly convicted souls while not inherently being a non-believer and merely disagreeing? I don't know.

I'd also like to mention that Mikhail is probably going to gain a more prominent role when it comes to Baba Yaga. He was the first to recognize it was Baba Yaga, and I think this is because he's more familiar with Slavic folklore than the rest of the cast. After all, Mikhail is a name of Russian origin, so he's probably from around there. He probably got told stories of her as a child.

(I used to affectionately dub Mikhail "Florida man" because of his crazy antics, but he also does fit those crazy Slav dudes that post videos of themselves randomly bringing down abandoned buildings with only bricks. Anyway.)

Really hilarious that Priest can somehow tolerate the horror fuckery that happened this chapter but can't handle horror MOVIES or Japanese spirits. My MC is truly built different and I love him dearly. Someone get him a good therapist and multiple trips to a bunny café.

Just look at him go!!

Imuri's face didn't show up even once in this chapter, by the way! Probably means nothing, but it'd be curious if her reactions were obscured because she was familiar with Granny somehow. Imuri's lived quite a long while, too, after all. Wouldn't be weird if she knew some people here and there.

(Might I add that we've yet to see the mysterious Cass friend she texts... He said he hesitantly submitted a request to see her to the Church, but it's been a while since that...)

This line alone is either a red flag or a green flag, but I'm hopeful it's actually a green flag, since it goes against Satan's wishes. Maybe Baba Yaga will actually sympathize with Priest, since she's been watching over him... dunno!

Additionally, this is also something I mentioned on my Twitter, but to me, it appears that she's being set up as another parallel character to Priest:

Both are the strongest of their team

Got called "it" and "thing" by their respective benefactors

Both want(ed) to help people

Witnessed or witnessing wrongful accusations against the innocent

Priest even sympathized /explicitly/ with people who were wrongly tried for supposed witchcraft in chapter 64. Surely she must've heard him say that? I previously thought Vergilius would take on the role of the parallel, but I think Granny is a more deliberate one!

Welcome back Tachibana my beloved boss girl, in the most literal sense. She even has a big ass coat on. Is she single? We should ask Aruma-sensei. Please do a Q&A, I pinky promise to be civil.

Anyway, I'm convinced Mammon is coming back too, then, since she is extremely capable. Mammon's (first) arc was definitely rushed due to the looming danger of the axe, so I'm excited to see him being pathetic again. He's grown on me, for the wrong reasons. I think he's a big fan favorite amongst the JP sphere as well. He's the only Demon Lord that I feel truly values his human connections, so that's no surprise.

All in all, it was a perfect chapter, and I have nothing to say about the Japanese and/or translation of the chapter; I have but one single complaint:

Chapter 65

Chapter 36

THEY CLIPPED HIS FUCKING NAILS!!! NOOO!!!!!!!!!!! HIS EVIL SLY BITCH SWAG... it's GONE!!!!!!!!!! It has been STOLEN!!!!! Someone has to die for this FUUUUUUUCK

[iamtheothersideofthemoon]

Gaming Rant

-another reason video games are a benefit to the world; go deeper than just the surface and see what you find…-

My rant on my current escape to the world of video games ❤️

As most of the world is playing the new Dragon Age, I am reliving - again - my favorite of all time, Dragon Age Origins ^.^

I thought I’d take a short break to babble, for any other gamers who may relate or… just to give me a topic to write on, as I have promised myself I’ll be writing at least one piece daily, here I go!

A lot of people seem to think gaming is a waste of time; I personally use it as an escape from the pain of reality and of the work I do.

But that shall be a piece I write another time.

I am currently on the pause screen, about to go back and fight my way through the circle of magi… I don’t have any idea how many people here are gamers or if anyone is reading this, but, if you know the part of the story I am in, you know that upcoming is, for me and apparently many others, the lovely “maze/puzzle” as a demon gets into you and your party members minds, separating you.

The goal: get out of your head by successfully defeating the enemies that come your way. At some point in each you gain a skill, for example, one skill is to become a mouse thus making you small enough to move around via the dreaded mouse holes and get to places otherwise off limits.

Another is the ability to become a person of flame, for lack of better name, thereby allowing you to walk through the fire as fire, death no longer an option so long as you don’t change forms mid way through, but…that probably goes without saying. 🫢

There are two more, but you get the idea. Probably the only positive I find in this crazy maze / puzzle from hell are the perma buffs you find randomly about as you explore trying to find your way traversing through the only part of my favorite game that I would describe bet as hellish.

I suppose I can call this part positive now, for me at least - and if you are still reading I thank you- for this part is about to be upon me and I drreaaaad it 😒 I am not sure why entirely. and though I never have cheated my way thru but I came close at one point a few years ago.

I had beaten the game numerous times over the years, not once cheating, though, that night I decided to look it up. Perhaps it’d be okay to find a way to cheat past (let me proudly and painfully say I did not, and won’t be this time either, cheat! I take pride in that. But, I have been tempted in the past.)

It felt like a waste of time, reliving the misery of this part of the game; and much to my delight (and somehow, surprise,) I found not only am I not alone in my hatred for this place, there is even someone who hated it so much they made a mod so which allows you to skip the “puzzle/maze” and obtain the buffs without any of the effort. Apparently, the game acts as though you never skipped a beat.

I’m not big on mods though and I am a sucker for punishment so I dropped the idea, and did the dreadful maze. There is no feeling of success or gratitude by skipping over, no matter how many times it’s been beaten the hard way.

That applies to all aspects of life, I suppose. Anything worth any good rarely comes easy, rarely comes without setbacks or frustrations, rarely comes without dread or effort. in life I have found nothing yet I can say I am proud to have done or gone after that ended in with a sense accomplishment that didn’t require the above. It does create balance in life, I suppose.

It also builds character, speaking for video games and especially for life… if we do not walk towards a struggle and face it head on we definitely do not have the upper hand. And there is something to be learned from every situation, no matter how many times faced.

If we chose to always go the easy route we may as well just bury our heads or look away, missing out on the opportunity to help others, to learn something or to help educate. To grow be it as a character in a game, or more importantly as a human and as a spiritual being.

Ascension cannot come from running from our problems, nor can growth. Life and pain come together whether we want it or not. Looking at it from this perspective, perhaps I can start seeing even the hardest things as positive in the light that no matter how bad it is, at least I am growing.

I’d rather fail than look back at life, whatever the task I am facing, and say “I tried” than not be able to say anything other than I was too scared or whatever other excuses I could come up with, and I’m sure I have plenty.

I refuse to let fear or discomfort stop me from experiencing and living the life I want; be it in another world or in the “real” world.

If you managed to make it this far, I applaud you. Thank you…

[theworldvsyoshiko]

Robot's Ocean has already gone on for about $80k wealth higher than any of the previous colonies and my save file seems precariously close to being bricked, so I've been thinking about wrapping the colony up and moving on.

As a sanguophage mechanitor with psylink level 6, every (non-mechanitor) implant she can possibly get that doesn't come with significant drawbacks, 9+ in every skill, and now a spouse, I think Yoshiko's development has kinda plateaued. Making her dramatically stronger (by, say, making all the sanguophage stuff into endogenes and then stacking a new xenotype on top of that) would take a ridiculous amount of time. Otherwise, the only real ways for her to get stronger are luciferium or by upgrading some of her bionics to archotech, and once you're at the 'every body part is bionic' stage already, those are pretty marginal upgrades. Skill-wise, all but two skills are into the range where they decay, and since she uses almost every skill on a daily basis, the levels are just going to keep fluctuating up and down as her focus shifts. Also, she's like... 35 now. It'd be weird if she ended up older than I am. So this doesn't feel like a bad spot to let her retire from active duty and enjoy the rest of her immortal life in peace.

Which leaves me debating where to take things in the future. Somehow I'm not bored of this yet, and the blog's follower count has doubled over the past week or so, so apparently somebody still wants to read this. Various options include:

The strongest contender in my head is roughly repeating the original start, but without the mechanitor part. Starting off with a lone child who doesn't have robots to fall back on. (Obviously this would be a different girl named Yoshiko.) This would probably involve making a custom scenario to give her appropriate gear and starting tech, because useless child Naked Brutality might be a bit much. Not sure if I'd go for the orphanage thing again, or try a different goal. It'd need some limitations, or else the kid can just recruit some adult help in the first month, which kinda defeats the purpose. I'd also probably have to disable the exostrider corpse in the scenario, or she could just rush becoming a mechanitor anyway.

As above, but start as a non-baseline xenotype to shake things up a bit. Incompetent 13 year old sanguophage could be an interesting way to help the kid survive while introducing its own problems to work around. Otherwise, maybe yttakin, impid, or waster? Yttakin and impid both have powers that would make combat a less dicey proposition early on. Waster could live in wastelands, which comes with its own benefits and challenges.

Or start with a new 13 year old mechanitor, but try the solo mechanitor thing, never allowing anybody else to join the colony. This would remain an interesting challenge for longer, but it also might be a little boring to talk about since there wouldn't be any character interactions.

The way opposite option would be something like using VFE - Tribals to start out with a pre-neolithic group and try to progress from 'what the fuck is ""fire""???' up to building a spaceship or something. Which would very likely be a generational kind of deal, because historically that takes a while.

Just start a new colony with Yoshiko and Cindy and keep going. The orphanage thing has been pretty fun to play tbh, and while Robot's Ocean is pretty secure now, as the Hospital Rockets Incident demonstrated, just because she's super-competent doesn't mean that bad stuff can't happen. On the other hand, starting with two competent adults, I think things would snowball a lot faster. This would probably involve using Character Editor or something to ditch the current save and start a new one, presumably with a mod or two disabled. Although unfortunately, one of the prime candidates for the mod that's breaking things is the one that allows for humanoid mechs.

Or have Yoshiko pass off the torch, giving a mechlink to one of her kids upon 13 and sending them off into the wilderness to continue the cycle??

[thatndginger]

OC Deep Dive Tag

thank you very much @pandoras-comment-box for the tag (their answers for the fantastic Cal and Finder here!)

Rules: answer the following questions for your OCs!

I used a random die roll to pick which character got to answer these, and apparently the universe really likes Warrick right now, because he's the winner~

What uncommon/common fear do they have? 

Warrick is scared of heights, and also of outer space. His reasoning for that last one is that it is a near-perfect vacuum devoid of anything except for bullshit fake-but-actually-not stuff called ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’. Of course he should be scared! Also: aliens.

Do they have any pet peeves? 

For someone who doesn’t really care about germs, he really hates it when people don’t wash their hands before putting them anywhere near their mouths. Or any orifice, really.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom? 

A duffel bag full of spraypaint cans. A poster for the “4th international motorcycle speed event” of 1964. A white, sheer silk shirt with a floral pattern.

What do they notice first in a person? 

Confidence, or lack thereof.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance? 

For minor injuries 3/10. For major injuries 8/10. He’ll whine to hell and back about a stubbed toe, but will try to play off a dislocated joint like it’s no big deal.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure? 

Usually flight, unless he’s been backed into a corner.

Do they come from a big family/are they a family person? 

Yes, because Warrick considers the Pack to be his family. There are roughly 20-30 people who consider themselves Pack (the numbers fluctuate some as people come and go) which is a big family. And while he’s kind of flighty and forgetful Warrick’s end goal is to make sure they’re safe.

What animal represents them best?

…. Well, he is a werecougar. But if I had to pick another animal, it’d be a labrador retriever: friendly, loyal, sometimes kind of dumb, and 10th most dangerous dog breed in the US statistically.

What is a smell that they dislike? 

Banana.

Have they broken any bones? 

Yup. He’s broken a couple toes and fingers, and once one of the bones in his tail while in cougar form.

How would a stranger likely describe them? 

Cute in a gangly goofball way, flamboyant, fantastic hair, a little spacey.

Are they a night owl or a morning bird? 

Night Owl 100%. His preferred schedule is staying awake until 5am and sleeping until 2pm. Or later.

What is a flavor they hate and a flavor they love? 

Hate - sweet potato. Love - Fenugreek

Do they have any hobbies? 

Graffiti art, urban exploring, fleecing unsuspecting fools in games of pool.

Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprises? 

After he manages to restart his heart, Warrick is so fucking jazzed. People want to celebrate him? And they went to the trouble of planning a surprise party? This is the best thing to ever happen to him. Will try to pretend that this doesn’t make him want to cry happy tears, but is going to hug every single person in the room at least once and will be smiling like a loon the entire time.

Do they like to wear jewelry? 

Oh my god, yes. In addition to being a fashion disaster when it comes to clothes, Warrick loves accessorizing. He’s got a couple ear piercings and an eyebrow piercing that he’ll change out regularly, and always has some assortment of rings, bracelets, and necklaces. He doesn’t stick to one material either, so it’ll be a mix of gold, silver, leather, shell, or whatever else he’s found. It shouldn’t look good but somehow usually does.

Do they have neat or messy handwriting? 

Messy. So messy. Which is hilarious considering his graffiti writing is usually very neat and stylized. But give him a pen and it devolves to chicken scratch.

What are the two emotions they feel the most? 

Excitement and boredom.

Do they have a favorite fabric? 

Silk. Followed closely by linen. He’s a fan of natural fibers.

What kind of accent do they have?

A generic American accent with a bit of that northwestern accent (saying egg like “aygg”, caught as “cot”, pawned as “pond”)

I shall gently tag @sliceoflifeshepard @aritany @half-hell @a-crystallen-author if y'all would like to rant about an oc or two!

Here is a handy list of the questions to make it easy for you:

What uncommon/common fear do they have? Do they have any pet peeves? What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom? What do they notice first in a person? On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance? Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure? Do they come from a big family/are they a family person? What animal represents them best? What is a smell that they dislike? Have they broken any bones? How would a stranger likely describe them? Are they a night owl or a morning bird? What is a flavor they hate and a flavor they love? Do they have any hobbies? Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprises? Do they like to wear jewelry? Do they have neat or messy handwriting? What are the two emotions they feel the most? Do they have a favorite fabric? What kind of accent do they have?

[lirhyapetitpain]

The events of Immortal Hulk depict a timeloop in which a desperate message from the end of all things reaches Sam and he takes that message to enact the events we see unfold, preventing the destruction of all.

Where do you feel Sam, who wanted to bring about this calamity, went wrong and ended up preventing the One Below All from claiming Banner?

Hah, that's a good question. I hope we'll now more about this, how did it reach Sam, of all the universe and time and people and infinite possibilities ? Is it because he was the only one who could prevent it or was it an accident ? Did he, somehow, was smart enough to intercept it himself ? Why did he want to bring a future where he's dead too considering the One Below All is the last entity remaining ? Did he even fail ? We don't know, the future he witnessed is so far away, TOBA/TOAA is still here so it can still happen, Immortal Hulk's ending is an open door (pun intended), it's not an ending and it left our characters with choices, all of them. Bruce is still wondering if he's going on the right path, Sam is no longer the Leader, they both can still pick a different path and it's up to other writers to write that and with all the references to Tamuz and Green Doors we get in Phillip Kennedy Johnson's run I really don't think the Green Door story is over, so far we can't really tell if that calamity was really prevented imo.

As for what Sam did wrong, as always his own arrogance, I guess he was bold enough to think he could trick TOBA itself and kinda become it and get its power, as he called himself a God (of hate) which TOBA is. And he did become that but not as intended, he was the puppet and not the puppeteer, TOBA's mask, possessed like a simple tool. Sam is connected to Bruce, they share a destiny and it seems TOBA needs both of them, something Sam failed to see 'cause he thought Bruce was the one and only missing link for the gamma flow or whatever when it was apparently him. They both have a part to play in this future and if anything so far Sam totally served TOBA's goal. After all Sam could manipulate the Green Door way easier than Brian and I don't think it's because he's smarter, Sam was always able to possess Gamma irradiated (Omnibus) and always able to create connexion with them (Rick, Bruce), he just never realized he could, it was an "accident" each time, even if when he reached Bruce he says that "somehow, through some door" (so Bruce's door) he was able to reach him. Sam always had access to it (and he's not the only one, I don't know if you ever read Al Ewing's first Defender run with Red Harpy but you should). Same for the shapeshifting, Sam had a shit tons of transformations already and being able to shapeshift is just the natural evolution of his manipulative power and liar personality so to me everything he got through TOBA's power is just a better advanced controle over his own, not a new one. Sam is about hate and so is TOBA, Sam is a connexion, he's not the host it was planning to keep but the connexion between gamma and irradiated it needed to reach Bruce. Or at least that's how I see it. Just like how Jackie is the eyes and can see the truth (I'll develop that one day, the link between truth and gamma), Bruce the strength and destruction etc etc to me the main irradiated all have a specific role to play, kinda like a chest game. As such I would say Bruce is the King, the one needed piece, Sam the Queen, the one that can make every moves and will kinda create the path y'know (I should draw them all as chest pieces now that I think of it...), you get my point. And ironically through his own over confidence he understimated himself and his role in this calamity, leading (lol) him to his own demise.

Anyway, feel free to ask more about the lore even if it's unrelated to art ! It makes me very happy to talk about that and feel free to agree or disagree, my answer is mostly interpretation, as I said Immortal Hulk ending is an open door and it left us free to have our own interpretation and that's something I really love about this story, while it gives us a real story with a beginning and an ending, we are free to have our own vision. Hulk forgiving Sam was a perfect exemple of this with Savage being for forgivness, Jackie being against it and refusing to forgive him and Joe being like "heh idk I guess that depends on what he'll do next" so you could relate to yes, no, maybe. And I think having a story ending with such endless possibilities is great so I really don't mind earing your own version of it, you or anyone else. That's why when I commission an artist to draw Sam I let them free, I don't want them to draw MY interpretation, I want them to draw THEIRS, I love sharing headcanon and theories with people. In fact the way I see Sam (and Hulk's lore) changed so much through people's own interpretation, it's truly fascinating and it's what a fandom should be about, sharing. Oh it doesn't mean you have to agree and adopt these headcanons, far from it, but other people's headcanons won't prevent you from having your own different ones and listening to others can bring very good point you didn't necessarly think about. As much as I love Sam and as much as I know everything about him, comics lore is way too inconsistant to have only one truth and one vision about a character.

[emcapi-gaming]

Important update from honour mode:

...Yeah so my plan for that fight went COMPLETELY sideways but somehow worked out in my favor.

Long as hell story under the cut.

The Enemy:

The Original Plan:

Inquisitor W'wargaz of the Githyanki creche, notorious honour mode run ender because of his legendary action. He summons 2 very powerful spiritual weapons every round, and unless you kill him really fast, you'll get swarmed by then. He also does the mindsteal link, boosting his defense by a ton.

The main goals were:

1. Kill him as fast as possible, and

2. Knock him prone as much as possible, because it apparently prevents him summoning the weapons and possibly interrupts the mindsteal link.

I also was going to send in someone with invisibility to sneak in ahead and crack open the hallway to the Lathander mace, and possibly grab it since we already had the crest, which would offer an easy escape route; enemies won't follow through doors into different areas, and you can fast travel out from that hallway.

The (Originally Planned) Team:

After that was set up, we'd go in, say hi to Vlaakith, take a little astral prism jaunt, and hop back out ready to kick githyanki ass.

1. KARLACH, best girl, as throw build barbarian.

2. LAE'ZEL, who got her personal development arc skipped ahead slightly and reclassed to Way of the Open Hand monk. (I had the thought before that this would be really cool character-wise for her, given the Orpheus situation and his monk honour guard.) Tons of damage, lots of stun and prone abilities. She's most of the reason Auntie Ethel didn't even make it to the fireplace.

3. ASTARION, double hand crossbow, thief rogue/gloomstalker ranger with sharpshooter feat, who can do a baseline 3 shots per turn + 4th shot on the first turn. (And who, I'm sure, is having the time of his undeath going "pew pew pew >:D")

4. WYLL, who wasn't set up to put out consistent damage on par with the other 3 yet, and therefore was not part of the frontline team. He had the critical job of being our insurance at camp to go running to Withers if things went south - which from the things I've heard, I fully expected. He would also be playing support/indirect heals via tossing potions at-

5 and 6, SHADOWHEART and RANDO CLERIC HIRELING, who were going to be rigged up to Lae'zel and Astarion via warding bonds to hopefully keep them alive a little longer, and tossing a couple of death wards and other non-concentration buffs on the frontline team.

What Actually Happened:

Per plan, Astarion went in with invisibility and cracked open the secret mace hallway.

And then, on my way out, I noticed that the npc standing closest to that hallway had only 36 health. Which Astarion could take out in one turn, easy.

I assumed it would flip the room to temporarily hostile and then Astarion could bail back down the hallway, then come back with the full team later, but now with one less enemy to beat us up and give W'wargaz that extra mind link.

Good news: he did indeed take out that one npc.

Bad news: the rest of the room became hostile of the non-temporary variety.

Good news: Astarion had first initiative, and everyone else in there - except W'wargaz - was surprised. This was the first major way the plan failed in my favor, because we couldn't have gotten a surprise round on the way out of the prism.

Bad news: my original plan kind of hinged on Lae'zel's monk skills. Except I had no idea how pissed off she would be about the current state of affairs w/r/t "inquisitor trying to kill us," and because no savescumming, I wasn't willing to risk bringing her in. I did search and see that she would be more or less chill with whatever went down as long as we still went into the prism and told her about it after, though. The in-between part, I was less sure about. So. No monk.

Karlach, still in camp, grabbed Gale (since Lae'zel was a risk) and got as many of the planned buffs set up as possible, while Astarion stalled the hell out of the initiative order. In my imagination, he bought time by busting out his ridiculous villain monologue you just KNOW he's been planning out for decades, and basically became an unskippable cutscene nightmare to the githyanki on par with the Gaius Praetorium Elevator Speech.

The second way that my disaster of a plan ended up working for the better: I forgot that I had specced Gale as Divination. Which means he had portent die.

If you are unfamiliar with what those do: every morning he gets three or four (not sure the exact number) D20 rolls that he hangs on to all day. And then, when an ally misses an attack/saving throw, or an enemy passes one, if he has a portent roll on hand that's higher/lower than the target number, he can just go "nope!" and expend it to straight up replace the result to reverse a pass/fail.

This is, as you can imagine, VERY powerful.

So Gale and Karlach finally arrive, toss in some sneak attacks, and get things moving for real. Everyone took haste potions because if they couldn't get him down before 3 rounds they were probably dead anyways.

Karlach and Astarion start spamming their usual attacks. Gale, meanwhile, proceeds to both dump fireballs on W'wargaz's head (along with any other githyanki close enough to fit in the aoe), and flip him the Portent Die Middle Finger Of Fuck You on pretty much all his attacks, dodges, and saves.

He went down in just under 2 rounds and it took all of my restraint and remembering that we have neighbors to resist jumping up and screaming.

The rest of the room gets mopped up, Karlach gets to do a little wave at Vlaakith, and we go to meet the Dream Visitor. (I decided to be Awful and modeled them almost precisely after Tezalin, my beloved paladin Tav who romanced Karlach on my first playthrough. Which, uh... I still haven't finished because I was procrastinating the ending before the epilogues were announced... and then I got distracted with tactician and honour mode...)

And this is where I discovered the THIRD major way that my backfiring plan actually saved my ass:

Wyll, who was ungrouped from the party and chilling in camp as our contingency plan, ALSO GOT YOINKED INTO THE PRISM.

Meaning he would have gotten spat right back out into a horde of angry githyanki with the rest of the team in the original plan, rendering his contingency status pretty much useless.

In conclusion:

[bonesandthebees]

The book was Twin Crowns! It was okay, like Idid really enjoy the story and the worldbuilding, but there’s two pov characters which somehow made the ending feel really rushed despite it being 500 pages (I think it’s the chaos of having too much going on whike constantly switching back and forth between both characters). Also, it’s apparently part of a series, which I’m kinda meh about because I didn’t know when I bought it since the second book wasn’t out yet. And I’m not really sure if I want to stick with the series or not.

Yeah, there was a really long break between season 3 and season 4 because covid (I think). Tbf, animation also takes a long time. But the show didn’t get cancelled! In fact, it got confirmed for a total of 7 seasons, which it needs because it tends to tell a story over several seasons. Like 1-3 is one story and 4-7 is a different but still related story after a 2-year time skip. But yeah, I get not continuing. I almost quit after s4 because that one was a mess (they have a habit of making things canon in bonus material, which can cause for some amazing whiplash /neg when you haven’t read those), but I decided to still try season 5 to see if it was better (and it mostly was, the pacing is just still a bit all over the place). So I think I’ll stick with it for the last two seasons.

Oh and the original writing is going well! I gave myself a 200 words a day writing goal. It’s still relatively low so it’s easier to make myself write every day (mostly so I don’t drop it immediately when I don’t feel like writing, I just have to open the document and write 200 words, or 150 if it’s really not going). At the same time it allows me to make decent progress when I do feel like writing (mainly because I already have some scene written from when I was figuring out the story and characters so now I can use/rewrite those for this first draft). It’s a lot of fun and I feel like I’m actually writing something good for once. (continuously reminding myself that it’s just a first draft also helps to take the pressure off.)

Anyway, How’s your day going/gone, Bee?

-🌲

hmm yeah multiple pov characters can definitely make things feel rushed depending on how you use it. I try to avoid multiple povs whenever I can because it's just a lot to balance, but I think it can work. you just gotta be careful with it

if you're already feeling meh about the next book I'd say don't bother with it unless you hear some really amazing reviews about it. there's so many interesting things to read out there, if you've already given the story a shot and you're not into it, there's no harm in just reading the first one

oh that's cool that the show didn't get cancelled!! makes sense why I thought it did though if there was a really long pause. glad to hear they're still going strong!! though I gotta admit making stuff canon in the bonus material is. not a great way to go about it. guys cmon.

one thing I remember from that show though was that amaya could step on me and I'd thank her

that's a really good word count goal to have!! 200 words a day is really good progress but it takes so much pressure off for sure. also it's always important to remember that the first draft might end up not looking anything like the final draft so just do whatever you can to get the story down on paper. you can always edit later :)

my day's been alright! had to run some errands, go to appointments, figure out how to drag a gigantic tv box down to the dumpster in my buildings parking garage, cooked fish in an air fryer for the first time- just a lot of stuff lol

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Just the Best 2/2001 2001 Pop / Euro-House / Trance / R&B / Pop-Rock / Europop / Pop-Punk / Dance-Pop / Hip Hop

God, do I really love going through these Now That's What I Call Music!-type comps from Europe. Late 90s/early 2000s releases like these always make for such fun, eclectic trips down memory lane, but from the perspective of a different region of the world. Our top 40 charts in America share a lot in common with other places, and that leads to a nice nostalgia rush for everyone involved, but there's also a lot of music we don't share in common at all. So the goal when listening to these ephemeral things is to get some of that good nostalgia, discover a few sweet tracks that you weren’t previously familiar with, and then hopefully find something so patently absurd and terrible that you really can't help but just smile at how ridiculous it is. And fortunately, I was able to tick all three of those boxes with this 28th dispatch from Germany's Just the Best series.

So let's start with all of this goofy and gaudy, brain-melting Eurotrash madness first, because that happens to arrive immediately on this double-disc in the form of an unbelievably awful and BIG nu-rap-metal cover of, yep, you guessed it, "Kumbaya," by Mittermeier vs. Guano Babes. But get this, y'all (as I pull up a chair and proceed to sit in it backwards): they didn't actually end up calling their version of the song "Kumbaya;" they called it "Kumba Yo!" instead, which should really give you an idea of just how cool this song actually is 😎. I mean, they even loaded it up with turntable scratches and there's a quieter beatboxed portion too! It really is such a dynamic work!

But we're really only just getting started here, folks, because later on in this first disc is also an utterly mindless Italian Eurohouse groove by a group called The Pizza Boys, who deliver their debut hit, "Oh Le Le," with verses about pizza pie that sound like they're being sung by a robot! And, honestly, does it really get more Italian than that?

Tomato, mozzarella Pizza bella, pizza bella Salami, margherita Pizza pazza, dolce vita!

And then there's this group of Danish teenage girls called Little Trees, who end up supplying a piece of manufactured, cotton-candied Europop fluff in...wait for it..."Help I'm a Fish," which apparently served as the title track for a 2001 animated box office bomb by the same name (also called A Fish Tale, which is *not* to be confused with the much more successful 3D-animated 2004 film, Shark Tale), and also somehow managed to fall just outside of the top ten on the UK's Singles chart as well. I've pretty clearly never seen this song's corresponding movie before, but this definitely feels like one of those soundtrack tunes that—just like how cheesy rap songs used to do it in the credit rolls for family-oriented blockbusters in the 80s and 90s—explains the plot of the movie through its very own lyrics. So I think this flick's about the wacky adventures of a kid who gets turned into a fish after ingesting a magic potion. But thankfully, the ending isn't spoiled through the song, so you'll just have to watch it for yourself in order to find out if the kid ultimately chooses in the end to go back to being a human, or if they decide to remain a fish. It's all so suspenseful, I know, but guess what else? The English-language version of the movie also happens to star not only a then-completely-unknown Aaron Paul, but also...Alan Rickman?!?

Alright, enough of this lunacy. Next section.

Let's get to the nostalgia portion of this post, which actually won't be very long, because I think there's only three songs across these two discs that actually turned out to be hits in the States: one-hit wonder Wheatus' radio-friendly nerdy Hot Topic anthem, "Teenage Dirtbag" (currently stuck in my head), which features frontman Brendan B. Brown singing every vocal part, including the falsetto of the female character that he himself is smitten with; the Britney Spears ballad, "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know," which was co-written by Shania Twain and didn't actually chart in the States because it was never released as a single here and only aired on the radio; and then brief R&B star Joe's "Stutter," which, much to my surprise, actually managed to top Billboard's Hot 100 chart for four whole weeks back in 2001?! 😯 An okay slate overall, I guess, but usually when it comes to Euro comps like these, somewhere between about a quarter and a third of their selections are songs that were popular in the US. So, on the early 2000s US nostalgia front, this release seems to be a bit of an anomaly.

And now, to finish with something else that also came as a bit of a surprise: some pretty decent dance tunes. Most of the time, these comps might come with one or two good dance tracks, and then the rest will be these disposable hunks of plastic junk that feel inexplicable as to how people ever unironically enjoyed them in the first place. And, to be clear, there's still a bunch of those types of tunes that are on here (see Gigi D'Agostino's monotonously stupid "Super (Riscaldamento)," featuring Albertino, for example). But there's also a good amount of tracks on this release that, I think, feel both pretty fun and well-made too. Stuffy trance snobs may still bristle at the songs that I'm going to list as highlights here anyway, but I really enjoyed the tribal drum-infused "Played A-Live (The Bongo Song)," by Safri Duo, as well as Airheadz' "Stanley (Here I Am)," which strangely goes on these brief trip hop detours that smack of Dido's "Thank You." Plus, there's a *really* good vocal house tune from French group Superfunk too called "Last Dance (And I Come Over)" that feels kinda perfect for a pool party.

So, another long and strange turn-of-the-millennium trip through the nutty German mainstream is in the books here. Didn't really end up getting the nostalgia rush that I thought I was gonna get, but the unexpected dose of good dance tunes made up for that anyway. And that small handful of extremely tacky and beyond-the-pale Eurotrash could also definitely come in handy for the next time I end up reaching a plastered state of delirium as well 🥴😅.

Highlights:

CD1:

Wheatus - "Teenage Dirtbag" CD2:

Safri Duo - "Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)" Airheadz - "Stanley (Here I Am)" Rui da Silva feat. Cassandra - "Touch Me" Superfunk feat. Everis Pellius - "Last Dance (And I Come Over)" RMB - "Deep Down Below" Svenson & Gielen - "The Beauty of Silence"

Lowlights:

CD1:

Mittermeier vs. Guano Babes - "Kumba Yo!" Little Trees - "Help I'm a Fish" Pizza Boys - "Oh Le Le" Glow - "President of Boarderland"

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 - Disc 9

Finally reached the final volume! Really the only things I got out of this was the art and maybe the omake bits. Didn't care about the characters/plot at all lol. I guess this is a parallel universe so it doesn't contribute much to canon...It was cute though, so no regrets.

Ch. 52

-These "final battle" chapters have been a breeze to get through since it's mostly just action. I'm glad they threw a little bit of strategy in there with Taichi's explanation of the dot matrix though. Makes it feel more well thought out.

-In the previous volume I had complained about the lack of a team, but they did explain how Hideto's previous battle was crucial to winning this one, so I guess that's something. (But Zero and Taichi still have to be number one...)

-The mangaka confirmed my suspicions about Neo being an anagram for One. I guess that was pretty obvious...

Ch. 53

-So we finally see the "super ultimate" form of Arkadimon which I guess is stronger than the mega form? IDK...shit's confusing. The design kind of reminds me of the witches from Madoka. Sort of eldritch looking. I don't understand if his appendages are supposed to be like hair or tentacles...

-Sort of want to see an alternate ending where Neo achieves his goal, just so he can then fall into loneliness and despair when he's all alone in his new world (or would he be OP enough to create fake people? IDK...)

-"God Matrix" was pretty epic, but I feel like it didn't seem all that destructive despite looking like a nuke went off. We lost, what, one digimon? (One named digimon anyway)

Ch. 54

-More deus ex machina stuff. Apparently most overwrites shorten digimon's lifespan, but OH! There's a super-special-secret overwrite, the Alforce, that makes digimon power up through sunshine and rainbows! Riiiight.

-I don't like Zero's Alforce form because he looks kinda soulless now, almost like a bad guy. His "outfit" gives super sentai vibes. It's just kinda all over the place. Also, Mari said "he doesn't look like a dog anymore!" This manga keeps tryna gaslight me into thinking Zero looks like a dog when he never did lol.

-I thought the whole "Neo is doing this because of his sister's accident" thing was already established? I know Rei didn't know, but Sigma?

-Lol at Rei INSTANTLY jumping off a cliff. She didn't even hesitate for a second.

Ch. 55

-Okay, I'm going to say something hypocritical. First I was annoyed that Neo was a flat, evil-for-the-sake-of-it, villain, but now I'm annoyed that he gets to be insta-redeemed for "secretly having his heart in the right place." How are they going to pretend he still cares about his sister at this point? I feel like I could go back and find a bunch of evidence of Neo not giving a shit about Rei anymore (in fact 2 seconds ago he was carelessly tossing nukes in her direction), but oh well. I get the vibe that this franchise really likes redemption arcs.

-Lol guess Demon is the final boss after all! What a twist! I like his super ultimate look, very Go Nagai looking. Too bad his name is kinda stupid. Will Neo help fight him? (Somehow...without a partner...)

Ch. 56

-Ugh, they're doing that really tedious shounen power escalation thing. Every other chapter it's like "yes, we've powered up, no one could possibly beat us!" and then "What's this? An even STRONGER digimon!? And they know that legendary, ultra powerful technique!? This is our toughest battle yet!" and then a stronger mon/ability shows up and so on and so forth. I think the digi-formula is to drag the battle on a liiiiiittle past the point of annoying the audience to make things feel more climactic.

-They tried to give Demon some nuance by pulling the whole "liberation from tamers" schtick. I feel like there's not a ton of merit to it since it's the digimon that called the humans into their world in the first place.

-Demon says "humans created us!" I guess in this version of digimon the v-pets exist, so true (but then some just came outta nowhere like Zero?)

Ch. 57

-Okay, I'm glad they used the already established digimental's power instead of introducing more new, innate ancient digimon powers. Super ultimate Zero doesn't look super different from his prior form. It's maybe a slight improvement, but not very noticeable...

-We get a redeemed!Neo moment. I still kinda wish he'd answer for his crimes more, but maybe that comes later. They're kinda busy right now lol

-The digimental looks pretty different from the ones in the anime. Reminds me of an exsphere (from Tales of Symphonia)

Ch. 58

-This was a pretty paint-by-numbers ending. The day is saved, everyone celebrates and then the kids have to go back to their world. One element that set this apart from the anime is that there's still the v-pet element so Taichi is technically still acting as Zero's tamer. How things look from Zero's POV we'll never know.

-The ending reveal of everyone's human world counterparts threw me back to Dot Hack, especially with Rei in her wheelchair. Sigma without a mask was cute, I like how there's some subtle shipping with him and Mari in the background.

Omake - A New Courage

-Lol Taichi and Taichi, now we're getting REALLY meta! They did a good job of visually distinguishing the two Taichi's while still making them nearly identical. The art was definitely the most fun part about this omake.

-Agumon looked soooo cute in this ;w; so tiny next to Zero! And he gets to ride on his shoulders <3

-Why did Zero devolve (de-digivolve?) in this? I thought in the manga universe that wasn't a thing...

-The excuse for the plot this time was pretty lame "oh, the humans are making viruses and stuff so that manifested in our world," yeah whatever. Again, it kind of annoys me how anime!Taichi just instantly agrees to help with a battle that could take ages when he should be more concerned if he'll ever see his friends again.

Overall this was like a C+ experience. Perfectly serviceable, but not super memorable. In MAL terms I give it like a 5 outta 10. What do you call shounen for younger kids anyways? Super shounen? Baby shounen? There's gotta be a term out there...

[m1ckeyb3rry]

That’s a good idea….will start check marking….. I’m also realizing I think part of the problem was I actually do press send sometimes but if the connection is spotty and I don’t realize I close out tumblr and then it never ends up fully loading/sending properly….

SHSHS I cant imagine that’d be comfortable with the dizziness…well uh..at least it’s over now!! Haha…..

OUUU wait that’s a good take…..it’s kinda funny I think I remember Isagi and Yuta having the same mbti too?? Not sure how accurate the typing actually is but I thought that was funny LOL but IM CRYING LMAOOOO you really said I need some spice in my life let’s switch it up

Honestly I would not be surprised if that ended up being the case like….after every single time we’ve manifested something into existence I’d be more surprised if it didn’t get manifested into reality LMAO

SHEGSHS every now and then I think about how I’m blowing up your inbox but omg another special tag I’m so honored LOL hope the ideas prove useful for when you’re in a slump!!

AHAHAHA atp trying to guess your final wc should just be a game im sure its at least mildly frustrating for you but I can’t lie every time it happens I chuckle a bit especially when you post it with that one ant meme LMFAOOA

Oh em gee very excited!! Whenever that comes out im gonna reread part 1 to refresh first LOL it’s ok we gotta give our man a break from being protag he’s been going through it LMAOAO between getting insulted by the love of his life in fwtkac the whole freaky Friday conflict and now bfb where he’s been pining since he could walk I

Gotta bless the other sectors of the fandom with your work….give them a taste of your writing then they’ll discover your blog read the Karasu fics and join Karasu nation…that’s the end goal LMAO atp you’re just overseeing all of bllknation covering every base

Hsjshsj glad it went well!! Struggle because of motion sickness I assume? Manifesting very hard that that goes away soon…

GAGAMARU AND YUKI LMAOOO ok that’s a pair I was not expecting ngl it’s ok it’s the power duo one blind one and one with super vision /j actually I feel like that’d be really funny like…since yuki is also a model he has such a refined vibe and as we know is very well mannered while gagamaru spends a lot of the time in the woods in the wilderness fighting bears or something LOL such opposite vibes

Yeah…like I get the shock factor thing but tbh to me that still doesn’t “justify it” to me LOL like it was just so sudden?? And there’s still so many holes like how’d she suddenly just appear good as new minus the one eye…no I fully agree like it was so random, not lead up not even a hint from the past what like 30 chapters?? Like they really just decided to throw her back into the ring at the last second….like we haven’t seen her since Shibuya arc and she somehow just spawned back like make it make sense…..tbh I think the “shock my readers” thing is such a gege thing to do :,) considering all the other comments we’ve heard from him LMAO but yeah the execution was not it……jjk fandom is also scary I see people getting eaten alive for “hot takes”

LMAO safe from kaiserism today…tbh I can’t see myself actually converting BUT the compass >>> the whole animal shelter dog scene was Lowk so cute I love the use of the dog’s own background in paralleling kaiser’s own situation! But that line “she’s my mother but I’m not her son” LITERARY GENIUS but also I’m crying when they talk about marriage and a wedding I’m fr just imagining ness just standing there alone on kaisers side something about the scene just seems so funny to me

- Karasu anon

tumblr is so glitchy sometimes i can’t even blame you 😔 the amount of times i’ve thought i posted something and didn’t or someone will send an ask and i just won’t get a notification for it??? same with dms and then people think i’m ignoring them but that’s not my intention at all 😭💔

yess they do have the same mbti!! and so does hiori apparently 🤔 tbh i tend to like characters who are sassier because they’re more like me so they’re easier to write/connect with (asshole karasu 🤝 asshole mira) but realistically in a relationship you can only rlly have one person like that the other needs to be nice or else it’s just stressful 😭 irl whenever i meet people who match my freak toooo well i get annoyed because like why are we only being mean to each other but when people start to get too moral abt it it’s like “oh it was never that deep” LMAOAAO there needs to be a happy medium of someone who finds it funny and can throw a jab or two out there when necessary but for the most part they’re just chilling 😩 which lowkey IS isagi (and hiori) now that i think abt it but NOOOO if i convert to isagism what will become of me

HFJDJSSJ okay random kiyora headcanons speedrun (kaneshiro if you’re watching these are fire pls include them in the manga): he ran cross country for one year during the soccer off season and he liked it because he could listen to music during races but it wasn’t competitive enough for him so he quit, he’s lowkey fire at either knitting or crochet but no one knows (he’s not shy abt it though it’s just that no one talks to him for long enough to realize), and he got a pet umbrella cockatoo after watching the movie rio in theaters

NO I LOVE GETTING THE NOTIFICATION YOU SENT AN ASK it’s so fun to read them 🥹 and PLSS honestly it’s less frustrating and more just like 😨 whenever the word count gets crazy long because for the most part i’m just happy to be providing 😩 the only thing that worries me is when i take too long writing smth rlly long and people think i’m on hiatus 😭 like no i’m still here it’s just that this one shot is now novel length so…

okay wait genuinely multiple people have been converted to karasu nation because of me LMAOAOA especially bfb and fwtkac…honestly it’s a role i’m proud to play 🤩🙏🏻 but yes atm i need to expand my outreach/not make karasu suffer any longer he’s been through it in the miraverse as of late 😟 i’m excited for cherry tree pt2 i think it’s probably going to be shorter but very cute 🥹 which yk cute and rin don’t necessarily go together very naturally given how he is but trust i will make it work 🤩

HEAR ME OUT GAGAMARU AND YUKI / TARZAN AND JANE AU LMAOOOOO no it’s so perfect hold on i’m going to edit a screen cap of it once i’ve responded to this why does it fit uncannily well…i’ve convinced myself gagamaru and yuki besties number one bllk duo forget bachisagi or kunigiri or nagireo or tabieita or whatever 🥱 gagayuki the ONLY pair i care about (and karasu + shidou they’re cool too)

i completely agree although i’ve already seen people on all corners of the internet calling people who are dissatisfied with it brain dead or without reading comprehension/media literacy…that’s just how it’s going to be ig 😓 jjk to me has this problem where it’s simultaneously overhated AND overrated 🤔 because people do not realize there is a middle ground!! like no it’s not the worst manga ever and there are several high points + on the whole it is better written than several other animangas especially shounen ones however it is NOT peak fiction and it is definitely not the best thing to come out in recent times!! like people don’t realize you can criticize it and still not bash it/gege completely 😒 also i have to say it…a manga being popular ≠ good idk WHY that’s such a popular argument but things can be popular without being well written!! look at any number of ya dystopian novels from the 2010s for proof 😭 nobody’s denying that jjk is popular it’s just that that doesn’t automatically make it the best thing ever…i saw someone on tik tok say that a lot of jjk fans confuse hype moments/panels with good writing and i do think that that’s the case at times 🫣 but what do i know lol

tbh smth abt kaiser’s fuck ass haircut turns me off rlly bad like maybe if he still had the shaggy blond going on or if he put it in a bun more often i’d see the appeal but the rat tails are not it 😰 and LMAOAOAO PLSSS kaiser’s side at the wedding is just ness and noel noa (he was paid to be there) and both of them are just like 😐😐 the whole time HAHAHA they are not into it at all…maybe kaiser was onto smth when he said that they should just get married without any guests because imagine how awk it would be otherwise 😭

[arollingriver]

My 2023 Summary of Art!

Or as the typo I just made would suggest, my summart. Also - me when I'm a "over-representing fem Keith" contest and my opponent is arollingriver

I started out the year with a bang, but I was completely artblocked between February and April. I really tried, and this is why I tried to switch things up by using a regular pen brush. I'm satisfied I managed to draw cute Ben and Keith-s for my cover of ggrks, because I was struggling to get anything right before then!

It started to get better in May because I went back to my roots and drew shirtless men. Happy with myself for making a comeback, I decided to put effort into a full piece and drew this cool jumping Takehiro!

In July, I participated in Art Fight for the first time. I'm proud of myself for trying and for drawing a bunch! I'm mostly happy with what I drew for it. The character shown here belongs to PesiaSosia.

It's a miracle I had a drawing to include for September, because I wasn't home for most of the month. I had a family emergency, and I tried to participate in the ASTERIAN design contest with a traditional ref sheet, but I couldn't get it done in time. I'm okay with it because I tried my best, but I never ended up drawing the design I had in mind in full... Anyway, I did apparently draw one other Virvox boy.

I participated in OC-tober too! I'm doing much better with challenges than I used to! I wasn't very happy with all my pieces but I like some of them or some aspect of them, such as this shown drawing of Ben as a mermaid that was probably my first time doing decently with a palette challenge. Also, tummy out

I decided to challenge myself with drawing Kunino-sagiri in November, and even though it didn't seem to resonate with a lot of people, I'm very happy with the results! I want to draw more little freaks like this in the future. In December, I organised an Akudama Drive collab and drew Brawler, Hoodlum, and the sketch for Courier. I'm actually the happiest with Brawler and my Courier sketch.

Compared to last year, I struggled a little bit with my art in 2023. Still, I think what can be highlighted is my resilience. I still wound up having a piece to show for every month, and nowadays, I'm confident that I'm an okay artist and that I'll find a way to create visual art somehow. re: my goal to draw more backgrounds, I don't think I'm quite there yet, but it's at the back of my mind and I'm practicing on a small scale.