#but yeah there’s no requirements. just have fun

[giggle-guru]

I’m like totally super subtle with my hints right? Anyways, here it is lovelies! A little Alastor munching on a sensitive little Vox’s stomach. This was a quick lil fun thing I wanted to do, and some of you requested it soooo…mwah! Hopefully you all enjoy it. I’m going to give you all more food soon too, hehe. The inspo is hiiiiittttiiiiing!

Script is below the cut! :)

[Visual Note: Vox is within his office, watching over his countless screens as usual when Alastor enters. Alastor and Vox currently have a…confusing relationship, to say the least. Though both of them maintain that mask of hatred between one another, they can often be found together behind closed doors.]

[Audio Note: Electronics humming, Alastor’s footsteps echoing]

Vox: [fake irritation] What the- What are you doing here Alastor? Don’t you have some outdated radio show to host?

Alastor: [cheerful] Vox, my dear technicolor friend! I thought I’d drop by and see how the future’s most “advanced” demon spends his time. [mock gasp] Oh, look at all these buttons! I wonder…what would happen if I press this-

Vox: [panic] Don’t touch that! [sigh] Just stay out of the way. I’m busy right now.

Alastor: [chuckling] Busy? With what? Oh, let me guess… updating your software? Recharging your batteries? How utterly riveting.

[Audio Note: Footsteps as Alastor approaches the chair Vox resides in.]

Vox: [suspicious] What are you up to?

Alastor: [grinning] Oh, nothing, nothing. Though, I must say, I am feeling a little…peckish.

Vox: [raised brow] Yeah? Well, sorry but I don’t keep organs lying around for you whenever you stumble in here. Go find some sinner or something.

Alastor: [grinning wider] It appears you have misunderstood my proposal.

Vox: [confusion] Proposal? What are you on about?

Alastor: Vox, Vox, Vox. You are so wonderfully oblivious. You see, I’m not talking about consuming anything physical. As much as I would love to…

Vox: [defensive] Whatever you’re planning, knock it off. I don’t have time for your riddles- Hey! What are you doing?!

[Visual Note: Alastor pounces, forcing Vox off of the chair and causing a tussle between them until Alastor is successfully on top of him.]

[Audio Note: Tussling, grunting]

Alastor: [grinning more maniacally] There we are. I’m afraid you know exactly what I require of you now, hmm? You see, I don’t desire to feed off the skin and screams of another individual. As much as it pains me to admit, I have a desire for…you.

Vox: [flustered, stuttering] M-Me? What are you on about?

Alastor: [humming, continuing and ignoring Vox’s confusion] Alas, I couldn’t fathom the consequences of properly making you my next meal. So instead I have come up with an alternative method to satisfy such desires…

Vox: [flushing] O-Oh yeah? What would that be?

[Visual Note: Alastor begins to ride Vox’s shirt up, licking his lips.]

Alastor: [simple] This.

[Visual Note: Alastor leans down, and begins slowly and gently biting at his stomach.]

Vox: [stammering] Al-! Watch it, I’m-

Alastor: [murmuring against his skin] Ticklish? I came to that conclusion long ago. I figured that indulging in your hysterical laughter would be fulfilling enough. And what better way to appease the hunger than feast upon your laughter instead?

Vox: [forcing back giggles, not actively fighting against it] Alastor! G-Get off me, this is absurd!

Alastor: [practically purring] But isn’t absurdity the spice of our existence, dear Vox? Now then, stop holding back those satisfying giggles of yours. I like it far more when my prey is vocal.

[Visual Note: Alastor continues nibbling on Vox’s exposed stomach.]

Vox: [giggling now] Y-You piece of shit! I should have known you’d come in here to be a pain in my ass!

Alastor: [chuckling softly] Oh, Vox, your laughter is music to my ears. Do you think it’s possible to broadcast this? I’m sure the masses would adore hearing the mighty Vox reduced to such… delightful helplessness.

Vox: [trying to sound threatening through laughter] I swear, Alastor, if you even think about recording this I’ll-

Alastor: [mocking concern] You’ll what, my electrifying friend? Crash like a poorly coded program? I must say this is absolutely delightful! Now then, I’ve been craving some ribs…

[Visual Note: Alastor moves Vox’s shirt higher, nibbling along his ribs.]

Vox: [shrieking laughter] Damn it, Al! Stop! You’re the worst!

Alastor: [grinning wider] The worst? Oh, Vox, you flatter me! Now then, be a good meal and shriek a little louder for me.

Vox: [still laughing] If you don’t stop this nonsense, I’m— [gasps for air between giggles] —I’m going to shut down every single radio frequency in Hell! Let’s see how much you laugh then, you sadistic bastard!

Alastor: [mock horror] My, my, such threats from someone in such a vulnerable position! And yet, despite all your bravado, here you are, helpless beneath me. Quite the amusing juxtaposition, wouldn’t you agree?

[Visual Note: Alastor trails lower once more, lightly nibbling along Vox’s torso and adding his tongue for good measure.]

Vox: [gasping for air between laughs] A-Alastor… I can’t- [laughs uncontrollably] I c-can’t take it!

Alastor: [grinning widely] Oh, but I must insist. You see, this hunger of mine is not easily sated. Your laughter, so infectious and sweet, it feeds me more than any other indulgence could.

Vox: [desperate, laughing] Y-You sick bastard...!

Alastor: [humming in satisfaction] I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. But my dear friend, you truly are a delicious source of entertainment. Don’t stop now! I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet!

[Visual Note: Alastor continues to move down Vox’s body, now gently biting along his exposed hips, teasing with his sharp teeth as Vox thrashes beneath him.]

Vox: [panting, laughing through the words] I—can’t do this, Al! I—I swear, I’m going to... I’m going to—[laughs harder] lose it!

Alastor: [laughing with him, savoring each of Vox’s reactions] Lose it? Oh, I think you already have, my dear Vox. You’re completely at my mercy now. I wonder if you’ll ever laugh like this again. [playful] What do you think, hmm?

Vox: [weakly, still laughing] I—I swear I’ll make you regret thist—[gasps] when I finally get my hands on you!

Alastor: [mocking shock] Oh, how threatening! I do hope that one day, you’ll get the chance. But for now, your giggles are far too delicious to stop.

Vox: [voice breaking] Hahaha... A-Alastor, I can’t... I can’t do this anymore… Please...

Alastor: [mock complaining] Oh, Vox, you’ve lasted far longer than I thought. But I guess my hunger has been settled…for the time being.

[Visual Note: Alastor reluctantly stands to leave Vox panting on the floor. He brushes his shoulders, acting as if it was the most casual thing in the world.]

Vox: [residual giggling] You are such a prick.

Alastor: [cheerfully] Well, that was simply delightful! I must say, you’re quite the feast for the ears, dear Vox. Shall we schedule our next session? I would assume such needs will come up once more…

Vox: [groaning, still catching his breath] You’re lucky I’m too tired to kill you right now.

Alastor: [mock bowing] I’ll take that as a yes! Until next time!

[Visual Note: Alastor’s footsteps retreat as Vox attempts to recover.]

[Audio Note: Vox muttered curses, footsteps.]

[the-100-days-of-junkan]

Day 100

One hundred fuckin’ days. God. Actually happened. 

I spent 3/4ths of the year drawing more Junkan art than I think anyone else on the internet ever has. Which might be presumptuous of me, maybe i’m just looking in the wrong places y’know? I’m a solid second place bare minimum.

And like, that’s still pretty funny right? This whole event is something I’m gonna cherish forever, the memories, the art itself, the friends I made because of it. But like, c’mon. I drew 100 fucking pieces, learned new skills like digital painting, animation, all that shit, for a ship that I used to hate, and a ship that for the longest time I thought was gonna get me fuckin banished to the deepest depths of the internet just for drawing a poor sketch of them kissing. This ship has become more deeply entwined into who I am as a person that it’s passed up Tokomaru, the ship that literally made me realize I’m a woman.

It’s gotta be at least a little funny, right?

Ah but enough of that, I can talk more on that subject a bit later. For now I reckon I should focus on our art piece for today! Wouldn’t you agree?

Yeah it’s the Wedding. I’d say even before Day 60 I decided the final pic of the Project would be The Wedding, even before I decided to draw a comic of the proposal. Because like, c’mon, it’s basic but how the fuck else was I supposed to end of the project? With something that ISN’T a wedding????

And very shocking to hear after this entire project has gone by, but I did in fact scale back this pic massively. You wanna know what the original idea was?? 22 images, each one depicting different parts of the wedding and afterparty, including the kiss at the end. And the kiss at the end? I was gonna feature every character from the 3 main classes + Ruruka, Seiko, and Yasuke. Fucking why??? Because Excess is all I know people ITS ALL I KNOW.

However I had decided that I wanted this project finished and ready before October, because I wanted to do the Vampire Fic to coincide with Day 30. And again, say it with me here, “Jem was severely burnt out on the project!” 

So it went from 22 images, to “However many I can get done in time + the big group shot” and then that became “Just the big group shot,” and then finally, i cracked and just drew The Kiss. 

Speaking of which before I divulge some more info about the original plan, i’ll get all the fun things about the actual art I did go through with.

As you can tell I shaded this differently from anything in the project. I normally have two different ways of shading art, I don’t think these are the proper words but I call them Soft Shading and Hard Shading. If you need immediate examples, Day 95 was Soft Shaded, and Day 94 was Hard Shaded. Generally speaking I prefer to do Hard Shading, as I think it works better with the rest of my style, and also just looks better in general. Soft Shading is what I do for pics with like, a very specific tone and energy to them that I can’t really put to words. It’s also significantly easier to do compared to Hard Shading. 

A few months back for a commission of Kaede and Marceline from Adventure Time hanging out (yes this is relevant) I was trying to capture a very specific aesthetic that I’m obsessed with called Frutiger Aero. This mostly was in the background, however when lighting the pic I needed a very specific aesthetic that I didn’t know how to capture with just one of my shading styles. So . . . I fuckin did both. And in my opinion (which is crazy because this requires I compliment myself) it looked fuckin great. That said it was significantly harder.

I think I’ve done it only one other time after this, but I don’t remember what the pic was if it exists at all. But obviously as you can see, I decided that to really commemorate the occasion I’d go all out and do both shading styles again. It was very worth it, but fun fact! Doing this style on Roses is a fucking pain in the ass and if I ever have to do it again I will fucking SCREAM!

Anyway, the pic was definitely a lot harder to work on because of that stylistic choice, but the end result makes up for it by a massive margin. 

Hope ya’ll like the dresses because they were the hardest part of this! Fun fact, Val (She’s back!) did a chapter for her legendary Year of Love and Despair fic where the gals are in wedding dresses. And the designs she came up with are amazing! I still really wanna draw em when I get a chance! However! I woulda felt bad if I just yoinked em for this, so I had to do everything in my power to come up with completely different designs. And given that I am a perfectionist, that was significantly more difficult than it probably shoulda been. But I did it! I really like how Mikan’s dress turned out specifically, I thought giving her a fit that covered up more skin than a normal wedding dress would be fitting for her. Also I really like drawing Mikan’s hair in a bun, I never had a chance to say that so I’mma say that now. 

Wow fuck I just realized there’s probably a lot of random details or thought processes I have on this ship that I just never got an opportunity to talk about, either because I had a different topic to cover on previous posts, or I just forgot, or I just didn’t have a good segway! Crazy right? 

Also yes! Shading Junko’s hair was heavenly~

Okay i’ve run out of words on the art. Time to tell you about everything I cut! Now I’m sad to say but no, I didn’t actually cut 22 planned images. I never got far enough to actually figure out each individual pic. Only a small handful, which I almost speedily sketched out for this post, but I don’t have it in me, especially on my current schedule. So i’ll just do my best to describe what I had in mind!

First piece would have been Mukuro being on Security for the Wedding, because of course. She would have also enlisted the help of Mondo and his entire gang, because that combination in this context sounds funny. Don’t worry though they were well behaved.

Ruruka was gonna handle the Wedding Cake, with Teruteru on the rest of the food. Either Ruruka or Mukuro would have been giving him a death glare during the process of course.

Behind the scenes Mikan would be getting prepped for the Wedding. And by prepped I mean Seiko, Ibuki, and Sayaka would be trying very hard to keep Mikan from crying as a result of how happy and overwhelmed she is (Ruining her makeup). Seiko trying to blow air into her eyes to keep them dry while Sayaka and Ibuki desperately try to find an outlet to plug in a hairdryer in because that would be significantly more efficient.

On the reverse, Junko would be doing all of the work on prepping herself for the wedding, with Ruruka, Yasuke and Tsumugi standing in the background, questioning why they’re even there. Junko would yell at them that they’re morale support in this instance. 

Warriors of Hope would of course be there being scamps of course, Kotoko would be the Flower Girl because I play favorites. Toko and Komaru would probably be there trying to keep them in line.

I didn’t have anything in mind with the afterparty but I more than likely would have drawn the drunkest Junko I possibly could. Maybe even Mikan too!

For the Bouquet Throwing I was gonna have Syo jumping at it like a feral animal, and thinking about it now I’d probably also have Tenko jumping for it with killing intent in her eyes.  

And I think that’s it for ideas I had prior to cutting them. Which means it’s time for me to get sappy about the fact that the project is finally ending! Fuck! Usually when I write these I try to have a decent idea ahead of time of what I’m gonna fucking say, this time however I’m just gonna talk, and i’m gonna keep talking until I’m either struck down by nature or I run out of things to say. Sorry! 

This is going to get silly, sappy, and maybe even a little venty, jump in at your own risk. 

If you told me at the beginning of 2024 that I was going to draw 100 days worth of Junkan related art, including a gif and a music video, 2 comics, and also get back into writing to make gay fanfic, I’d be so god damn confused. Because what the fuck right? And that’s not even counting everything I drew AFTER I fuckin finished! Like hold on a minute i’m gonna count up how many times i’ve drawn these two, including the individual comic pages from the three i’ve made.

204.

Fucking, I. I didn’t even know we passed 200 by this point. 

And that’s not counting the sketches I’ve drawn on paper in my sketchbook. It’s also not counting unfinished pics. It ain’t counting the art I might draw WHILE writing this! It’s not counting the stuff I probably forgot about while searching my files cause I suck at naming the aforementioned files!

AND I’M STILL NOT BURNED OUT EITHER?

I got burned out on the project sure but the moment I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted I fucking IMMEDIATELY drew a Junkan pic for Halloween. And then I kept going, and then I didn’t fucking stop, and I don’t think I CAN stop! I don’t even WANT to stop but you’d think by now I’d be like “Well I don’t have any ideas right now-” NO I HAVE TOO FUCKING MANY IDEAS! I KEEP FUCKING THINKING OF MORE IDEAS, AND THEN I COME UP WITH AN AU AND THAT COULD HAVE LIKE 10,000 MORE IDEAS. JUNKAN IS A MENTAL HYDRA YOU DRAW ONE PIC 2 MORE POP UP IN ITS PLACE!

I can draw these pieces in like a few hours if not shorter, because I don’t have to fucking sketch them properly anymore. I feel like I shouldn’t be able to do that! This ship has done unspeakable things to both my mind and body! And i’ve said it before but i’m not trying to complain here, as you’ll see when I start talking about this ship like it saved me from falling into the grand canyon. But it’s just, so, absurd???

Danganronpa is only like my third favorite piece of media behind Bo-bobo and Fairy Tail and yet I’ve drawn more art of JUST THIS SHIP than I have of just general art of those series! That’s not even counting all the other ship art I’ve done! Like Tokomaru! Remember Tokomaru? The ship that is responsible for me being a woman and being able to find the happiness of being my true self? I think i’ve drawn that and Syomaru a combined like, 20 times across my entire life as a DR fan. ALL OF THIS JUNKAN ART SAY FOR LIKE, 5 OF THEM WERE IN ONE YEAR. 

And bare minimum for 2025, assuming I don’t make ANYTHING ELSE OF THEM (Which I will. You know I will.) I’m gonna draw 21 pics for Junkan Week, because you know I’m gonna just draw EVERY prompt from all three lists. And then 30 more for the Month of Junkan (Will try to have that prompt list up soon btw!). So that’s 51 I’m going to do. That’s over half of what I realistically was supposed to do bare minimum for this project. That’s so fucking much, and I’m gonna do it, because I love this ship, and also it sounds REALLY funny if I did that. 

I think genuinely the only other ships I could fucking do this for are like, Toko/Syomaru or Flarelu. Maybe Togachako if I did a reread of MHA to get me back in the spirit for that series. And even then i’m not sure I physically have it in me to go that distance even for those ships. I certainly want to draw a lot of them, especially Flarelu because that’s a ship so rare that it makes Soft Junkan (before I fucking flooded the tag on tumblr) look like a bustling city.

Speaking of tags, I still think about sometimes how like, the Junkan Tag maybe got like, a post like, a few times every month. The normal amount for a ship of this general Rarity. And now it’s like, for so many pages, just half of it is me. Because I was asked to bring something to eat to the function for the buffet table and I fucking crashed a Food Truck through the wall. I feel bad about it sometimes, sometimes. I’m imagining the scenario in my head where someone who likes Junkan but didn’t check the tag super often because it wasn’t like, a super commonly updated one, and then pressing it for the first time in a year and being like “What the fuck happened here?” You know what still shocks me? Not once have I gotten hate for any of this. I was so fucking scared for like half of this projects creation that I was going to get bombarded with people angry at me for shipping this, and NOTHING. I’m not complaining I’m just confused. I have to at least have had a few people block me right? It’s just so eerily quiet. And it’d be one thing if it’s just a thing of like “Why would people who hate Junkan check the Junkan tag�� because yeah, that makes sense. But also I’ve been putting at least one Junkan pic in both characters tags every day for 3 fucking months, there had to be at least one Mikan super fan who is eternally fed up with my antics. Like, awesome that I didn’t get harassed over a ship, that actually gives me a little hope that nature is healing, just. Crazy right???

So like. Fuck.

I guess I’ll get to the sappy shit now?? I think I ran out of things to be confused about in terms of what I did this year because of this ship. So I guess I’ll just start talking about how much it means to me, both the ship, and this project. 

(trigger warning, mentions of abuse, nothing super graphic in my opinion but could be mildly uncomfortable. Either skim ahead or stop here)

2024 kinda, fuckin sucked for me to be honest?? I have like 2 good things I can speak for it in terms of major positive points (Obviously I had other good experiences but if I just said “Oh I read a I Love Amy and it was one of the greatest things ever” it lacks the same impact). Not counting getting this project to like, work, obviously.

I finished the 5 chapters of my webcomic that I wanted prepped so I could actually make a website and start posting (ignore how I didn’t make the fuckin website yet). And I started dating my darling Yves and Rivette. Who I cherish deeply. I made other friends this year, a lot of them in part cause of this ship. And I went through a lot of emotional change. 

But to get that change it required I unpack a lot. And by a lot, I mean one bag that was filled to the brim. Gonna try real hard not to like, talk about this in excessive detail or turn this post into some woe is me bullshit, but I feel like I should at least make mention of it.

At the beginning of the year, I asked Yves (who I wasn’t dating yet) about my previous romantic relationship. And she confirmed to me that, based on everything I had told her about it overtime, that yes, it was abusive.

During 2021-2022 I was in a relationship with a girl I won’t name here, you wouldn’t know her of course, it was a completely different community. It started out as friends, I got a crush, jumped at it because I was still inexperienced with feelings, and it didn’t work out. And that’s the simple way of putting it, and that’s how I viewed it till Yves opened my eyes.

From the getgo it wasn’t healthy. She was manipulative, constantly had outbursts towards me, and yanked me around emotionally constantly. I would later find out that she had a previous history of just, generally being an awful person. Even after we broke up we still stuck around each other, mostly because I felt guilty for breaking up with her, and was also just generally terrified of her. The abuse was all mental of course, it was long distance so she couldn’t hurt me physically at all. 

I of course, didn’t process any of that as me being abused, I even viewed myself as being at fault for a lot of it. The experience was so bad that I identified as Aromantic because just convinced I wasn’t able to feel proper romantic feelings for someone. It wasn’t till much later when I got another crush that I realized that I’m Panromantic, and me being Aro (and very briefly Aegoromantic) was basically just a coping mechanism to write off my trauma. I still feel guilty about that since it feels like I devalued the importance of people who do identify on the Aro spectrum, but that isn’t relevant here.

Point is, a lot of bad shit happened to me because of that woman, and even after a year and a half of us not talking because we both mutually decided it would be better for us to not stay in contact, she still found ways to worm her way back into my life. One conversation we had just by chance, to catch up, that’s all it took and I was thinking of her again. I never talked to her after that, and I have her blocked now, but I didn’t need to for shit to hit the fan.

So I asked Yves that question, she answered, and I now suddenly had to deal with the fact that I was abused, and that I was traumatized as a result. And like, I never really viewed myself as a traumatized person up till that point, I viewed myself as someone who wasn’t very smart but tried her best to do good by people who didn’t have too much baggage beyond some sucky school memories.

When I had to unpack what happened that kind of spiraled into severe Self Confidence Issues and even more Self Hate. I struggled to accept even the slightest compliment if it wasn’t directed at my art. The reason I even quit weed is because I used it almost exclusively to suppress all of the negative emotions I felt. 

I’m in a somewhat better place now, I’m trying to give myself more breaks from artwork, rather than overworking myself constantly just to feel something (and being fully open, I realized near the end of december that I pretty much used Overworking as a form of self harm). I’m gonna really try this year to like, actually let people be nice to me, and in turn try to be nicer to myself. And I have goals to work towards for this year. But I wouldn’t have gotten to this point without two things. One, my girlfriend Yves, who even before we started dating helped me through multiple breakdowns and has helped/allowed me to grow into a (I hope) better, healthier person. And even after I got over most of my feelings related to my Ex, has continued to help me cope with my self hatred. I cherish every moment we share and wouldn’t trade her for anything.

And the other thing, which I know will sound silly right after I talked about my girlfriend, is well. Junkan.

Let me say this, I didn’t get into Junkan to cope with my abuse. I have toyed with the notion in my head before and the idea of it pisses me off to a quite frankly irrational degree. I was into Junkan before I realized my issues. If you want my coping mechanism it’s Alex from Minecraft and no I’m not explaining that right now.

That said, it, like all the yuri ships I like, was a source of comfort for me. Originally I read stuff like Tokomaru fics just to help me reduce stress, back when I dealt with really severe anger issues due to the online spaces I occupied. And to this day reading a nice, fluff fic can calm me down a bit. But now they can serve a much deeper sense of comfort, away from all the bullshit, and obviously, gave me a way to distract/calm myself from the storm of negative emotions and memories that filled the brain.

I see myself in Mikan more than I’d like to personally admit, obviously not to the extreme, but in aspects. So it’s just, nice to see a better timeline for her with Junko, ones where she gets to be happy and maybe even heal as well. It just so happens that I also think there’s a lot of genuinely good potential for the ship from either a canon or non-canon perspective, and Junko’s just a really enjoyable character. 

Working on this project helped too. It gave me a way to dive deeper into my love for this ship, and gave me a sense of purpose and validation that helped me work through the rough. Whether it was the really bad mental health days, or just a shit streak of commission work that tore away at me because my job even if I love drawing can be a real drag at times, and i’m unfortunately a workaholic (Trying to work on it though).

I think i’ve said it before but even something simple as Val showing her excitement over the art pieces I was prepping could genuinely brighten my day even while I was at my lowest.

And then when I really started pursuing this as a project, rather than just a secret stash to satiate myself and one other person minimum, I realized I could do something good here. For the people like me who loved this ship but might have been too nervous about expressing it, the people who were just really craving it, and the people who had already made all of the fics and art that sent me into this spiral of obsessive passion in the first place! A gift to all of them, to make ya’ll happy. 

In hindsight, may not like, the healthiest mindset for setting off this whole project. But hey it all kinda circled around into eventually helping my mental health recover. So like, win?

And i’ve already spoken on how Day 60 allowed me to feel a lot more emotionally free as an artist even if I still have my struggle days. I’ve gotten better just in general as an artist as I improve more at stuff like expressions, posing, linework, etc. And I’ve even managed to make friends with some of the people I used to look up to as idols and can finally just view em as normal people now. (Even if I might still be a bit excessive in my praise, I swear I’m normal about ya’ll besties I just don’t have like, a middleground for showing my appreciation and affection for my friends. It’s maxed out unless I’m tired as shit) 

I find myself comedically terrified of how this ship has affected me over the course of 2024, and how it will likely continue to affect me through 2025 even as I try to move onto other projects not related to Junkan. I wanna show off my love for Fairy Tail on my main blog, and I really think that with a full years time and the first five chapters done I really can get my comic off the ground and focus on that for the foreseeable future.

But hey, 2025 at least we got two whole Junkan Events. And with Junkan Week I’d like to keep that going for as long as I can, unless someone else takes the reins way down the line. So this ol’ blog’ll keep going for a good while I imagine, even if it’s a lot smaller. Maybe I’ll find other ways to keep this place active, I’ve considered just making it a one stop shop for all things Junkan though I don’t think I’m really suited to manage that. Maybe someone’ll read this and try there hand at it down the line, maybe someone’ll do their own 100 Days of Junkan! 

Oh hey did I ever tell ya’ll I was gonna make a comedic video just making a guideline for how one could make their own 100 Days Project. It was gonna be like, pretty obvious points just framed in a very exaggerated and comedic tone. 

Alright anything else I should cover? Fun facts? Deep personal anecdotes? Sappy stuff?

Lemme check my files, maybe i got another dumb joke image- 

. . . 

Oh . . . Well there’s somethin.

Alright, don’t get to excited ya’ll, but just for a bit of fun, how about one last day in the project. I know 101 days doesn’t roll of the tongue as well, but I think this is vaguely interesting enough to make up for that! Tune in tomorrow. Same time, same place. 

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

[cauldron-of-oddities]

If this is Jinx's official (travel) map, I love it.

Most important:

Zaun (and Piltover) - Chez Jinx - house or home of Jinx, surounded by the sun and clouds and, most importantly, hearts 💖 - She still thinks of it as home, so I have good hope she'll go back. (And back to Ekko and the firelights and connect to her sister again)

And the travel lines go to and from Zaun several times, so maybe a drop-in isn't that rare. A cycle of travel, drop in for a kiss (let me dream) from Ekko, and then cause some mayhem for Vi and Cait to deal with and then travel again.

As for the rest? Love and have to laugh at her opinions, and if she's been to these places, it says a lot about her experiences.

Noxus - des mechants - bad guys - just no - there's an image of a square headed vampire (at least he has fangs) and angry scribbles - this was clearly not a good time.

Freljord- mega trop - mega too much - probably froze her butt off (her sense of fashion is no good here), trolls and who knows what else (I'm certain someone with more lol knowledge can add) She might have had fun making a snowman or two.

Demacia - bling bling and snobs - no translation required, what it says on the tin. There's a diamond there too, why do I have the feeling she's wanted for theft? I am guessing she had a blast causing chaos and left when she deemed them all party poopers with their heads stuck up in their pompous asses. (and a google search for prout prout informs me they're farts)

Targon - trop loin??? - too far??? I can't guess here. Has it been deemed too far or has it gone to far?

Shumira - hmmm, ok. - thoughtful, there's a cactus and a spiky critter. An interesting experience? Think she might have found some lore on Janna?

Ixtal - jungle magique - magical jungle - stars and a potion bottle - feels like she enjoyed it for what it was, probably got her curious mind buzzing, if how she was with hextech is anything to go by.

Shadow Isles - Habitants Maudits - Cursed inhabitants - ghosts and gravestones and all that creepy stuff - doesn't feel like she liked it there more like - yuck creepy, interesting but not for me. (and maybe looking 'death' and a curse like that in the eye is a deeply unsettling thing)

Ionia - trop calme - too calm - there's a sleeping head there, sheep, and a game of x&o. My guess is that she was bored, good for a nap, but too much looking for balance. Reading the info about Ionia, though, there should be quite the under current of tension - or is this prehaps hinting that Noxus has not invaded yet?

Bilgewater - Pirates - with a big giant heart. Yeah, I think she had a blast here. It's also where the drawn ship is headed. Free to indulge in more of her chaotic behaviours, picking uo bounties, pestering/ running from bounty hunters, hanging out at the bar. Jup, good time. I have been informed that she'd probably get along with several of the inhabitants and possibly make friends.

[thedissonantverses]

Re: Your positivity of DAV

oh my god yes. I DO have quite a few criticisms of Veilguard but there are so many bad faith and absolutely straight up WRONG criticisms of DAV by people who either didn’t play the game or played it with their eyes closed, that I just… don’t feel like adding to the negativity. I have so many gripes about certain things like but I don’t have it in me to pile on the negative and would rather focus on the things I genuinely enjoyed because it’s more fun than adding into a stream of toxic negativity. If me liking the game flaws and all is toxic positivity, so be it. At least I’M having fun and enjoying something vs stewing in bitterness and rage. I’m ready to start my 2nd playthrough and see it with the full picture because shit at least DAV isn’t a slog to play like DAI and doesn’t require me reading 300 pages of codexes to know wtf is going on (I say this lovingly. I love the codex but DAI was TOO MUCH holy shit).

Hahahaha yeah the toxic positivity complaints send me lmfao. As does the DAI revisionism and the reason why that’s happening floors me as much as anything cause I also love DAI.

I’ll be much more willing to engage with the wider fandom on critique when they can figure out when they’re parroting bigotry or like can acknowledge things like there is in fact large societal change and the game is making very deliberate political statements and commentary. Or if I can get through a day without seeing something racist or misogynistic lmfao. (So far so good today??)

Or just like a single reason the Veil should be torn down that isn’t “the antagonist said we should.”

Appreciate you reaching out and yeah gonna try and lean hard into promoting fanworks this week.

[drakorn]

Rewriting Veilguard Part 6 - The Mourn Watchers

Rewriting Veilguard Part 5 - The Antivan Crows

Disclaimer: I don't hate the game, I actually think it's quite great given the development hell Bioware went through in those 10 years. This is more of a hypothetical universe where there was less of that behind the scenes drama. Just a fun writing exercise.

Writing an Origin Story Mission for the Mourn Watchers

Riiiiight, the Mourn Watch. The Mourn Watch, the Mourn Watch…the Mourn Watch…yeeaahhhppp.

So, you see, when I started these rewrites, the two factions I dreaded the most were the Mourn Watch and the Lords of Fortune. And I’m gonna tell you why: Unlike the other four factions, these two don’t actually have any faction-specific stories. Sure, the Mourn Watch has the ghost bosses, and the Lords of Fortune has that one arena, but other than that? What exactly do these factions actually contribute to the story? They introduce Emmrich and Taash, respectively, sure. But that’s all they’re really here for.

While Veilguard definitely provided me with a lot of foundations to start working on the other factions’ origin stories, the Mourn Watch will require me to refer to Rook’s entry blurb alone and come up with something from there. There is no faction-specific villain to set up, no major contribution the Mourn Watch has to the overall story, nothing at all, really. On one hand, I dreaded it. On the other hand, I find myself strangely excited. Here, I can actually make something up from the ground while still trying to stay true to the spirit of the game.

Yeah, I could just take the Johanna Hezenkoss plot and make that the faction story as that’s the closest thing the game has, but nah. I’d like for that to still remain Emmrich’s companion story. I think, I might have something else in store for the Mourn Watch as a whole.

So, without further ado, here’s a potential origin story mission for the Mourn Watchers.

Creating Rook

So, for the fifth time, we press the start button, watch Varric’s introductory narration, and then click on the Mourn Watch background. At this point, anyone watching this hypothetical walkthrough on Twitch or YouTube is probably screaming at the streamer to finally proceed with the actual story. But we gotta see all the potential backgrounds.

Right, so, we are met with the Mourn Watch faction background, and the little blurb says:

“You are a Mourn Watcher. This elite necromantic order explores the mysteries of life and death, and tends to the undead in Nevarra’s sprawling Grand Necropolis. As someone who has lived among the dead your entire life, the gloomy depths are nothing unusual for you. But when the dead begin acting out of place, even the most safest corner of your home becomes treacherous and perilous. Will you uncover the truth behind the hauntings? Or does your path lead to an early grave?”

The last name, Ingellvar, applying to all four races, isn’t that big of a stretch in this one. Everything we need is already graciously provided by the game itself.

At some point in our infant life, we were found in a coffin somewhere in the Necropolis and adopted by necromancers. Well, in this rewrite, we’ll say that the necromancer who found us was a single man named Alberich Ingellvar. And the Necropolis has a bit of its own thing going about races, so that’s more of a secondary thing. The more important backstory factor here is our class:

If Ingellvar is a mage, they’re a direct member of the Mourn Watch, since those are all mages.

If Ingellvar is a warrior or a rogue, they’re a guardian of the dead, in service but not directly part of the Mourn Watch.

For the sake of this playthrough, let us go with a human mage Ingellvar.

NOTE: For the duration of this origin story mission, Rook will be referred to as Ingellvar in dialogue for the exact same reasons as stated in the previous entries. “Rook” simply does not exist yet.

Once we finalise our Ingellvar, we press on the start button again, and Varric continues his narration.

In the opening narration of the Mourn Watch background, we get to hear the overall inciting situation: The Grand Necropolis, located just outside of Nevarra City, bordering the Silent Plains, is currently in a bit of a messy situation. Multiple undead strangely go rogue and attack their supervising necromancers, disturbing the overall flow of the facility. Their attacks have grown increasingly bold over the last few months. The necromancers are the last force preventing the undead from reaching the surface. And that’s exactly where Varric hopes to find someone he needs for his own endeavour.

So yeah, you see, the War of the Banners is something mentioned in Rook’s Mourn Watch backstory text in the actual game, but we don’t ever get any proper elaboration on it. I think that’s a perfect set-up for an engaging origin story mission. So let’s see how we do!

The Grand Necropolis

I have to give praise where it’s due: The Grand Necropolis looks amazing in-game. It has that perfect blend between sophistication, eeriness, and Tim Burton-esque weirdness going about it. Hey, I never said I hate DAV! There are quite a few things to be praised about the game we got, and the overall presentation of the Grand Necropolis certainly is one of them.

What I would like to establish, however, is its proper location. Some say, it’s in the heart of Nevarra City, others position it somewhere on the outskirts. A few recent concept artworks from Matt Rhodes show it somewhere in the Silent Plains. So let us implement something and stick with it. In this rewrite, the Grand Necropolis lies just outside Nevarra City, right on the border to the Silent Plains. And that’s not an insignificant position lore-wise, for the Silent Plains are, of course, where Dumat was slain at the end of the First Blight. There are some…interesting implications to be had here, and I will delve into them when the time is right.

Meeting Myrna

We begin our game with Ingellvar entering the Necropolis Halls, where we are expected by Myrna. And right off the bat I’m going to make a small change to Myrna. Well, not really a change, more of an expansion. You see, we never actually get Myrna’s last name in any canon material, so for this rewrite, I’m going to call her Myrna Ingellvar. She is our adoptive sister. It was both a combination of our own efforts and her prestigious position that got us into the ranks of the Mourn Watch, which is, I might remind, the most elite necromancer group around. Obviously, in a non-mage origin, we’re an assistant to the Mourn Watchers, but since we’re playing a mage here, we’re a full-on member.

Myrna greets us and gives her congratulations on us finally making it down here, where all the action against the rising undead takes place. We quickly learn that she’s here to pick us up as we’re both invited to attend a lecture on the restless undead, delivered by none other than Professor Emmrich Volkarin. Not only that, since we’re playing a mage here, we get the added bonus of having been chosen as the professor’s new apprentice. Yeah, the Mourn Watcher background really gives us a lot of good things to start off with. We have…a lot to lose!

Myrna calls upon Audric Felhausen, the undead guardsman we met in Tevinter Nights, to accompany us to the Memorial Gardens, where Emmrich is set to deliver his lecture. We are just needed there a bit earlier since we’re kinda important for it.

Exploring the Necropolis Halls

Before we head to the Memorial Gardens, we have the opportunity to do a quick exploration segment in the Necropolis Halls. Not much is yet revealed here, but we can still have a few nice interactions:

We can talk to Myrna and reminisce about our family. It is revealed that our father is actually dead now. For his long-standing services, he has been granted the rare honour of Lichdom and is now residing somewhere in the deepest parts of the Necropolis. Perhaps we may visit him sometime. Yes, we are part of the Mourn Watch, so…we would know what a Lich is.

We can exchange a few words with Audric where we’re reminded of the fact that he’s actually a spirit possessing Audric’s body. Also a bit of set-up for the future of this mission given that Audric’s story revolved around stopping an undead nobleman possessed by a pride demon. While he’s working at the library nowadays, he’s sometimes still used as a guardsman, especially now.

We find a series of letters between King Markus Pentaghast and Myrna, revolving around dispatching a few Mourn Watchers to the royal palace. A little piece of set-up for later, since King Markus is not what he seems.

We can find another series of letters from a few enraged Pentaghasts demanding to know why King Caspar’s tomb is not accessible until further notice. The Necropolis is simply too dangerous right now.

We can read a final letter from Sidony, a mortalitasi mage previously featured in DAI and Tevinter Nights, now a member of the Mourn Watch herself, informing Myrna of the arrival of someone they had previously discussed.

The Professor

Once we’re done, we signal Myrna that it’s time for us to go. We then get a short but sweet cutscene showing the Ingellvars and Audric travelling through the silent halls and passages of the Necropolis, always on guard. But so far, nothing is attacking us. Hopefully it stays that way until we get to a larger gathering.

Thankfully, fortune is on our side this time around and we successfully arrive at the Memorial Gardens, where Emmrich Volkarin and his trusty assistant, Manfred the skeleton, already await us.

Emmrich bids us a very warm and polite welcome and greets us as his new personal apprentice in the arts of necromancy. As a first little task together, we are to light the candles of the Memorial Gardens, both to honour the spirits and to respect the dead.

As we go about this business, we can also find two letters addressed to Emmrich lying on a small nearby desk:

One is from Bellara, as the two are in the process of exchanging knowledge from far away. We get a hint of the magic in Arlathan Forest growing wilder and more unpredictable.

The other is from Dorian, who used to be Emmrich’s student in younger years. It is both a pleasant and informative letter as we get a small hint at rising tensions within the Magisterium.

We can also have a short interaction with Manfred in which we first learn from Emmrich that he’s a spirit of Curiosity.

There is still some time before the lecture begins, so Emmrich invites us to a game of chess. It is quite a favourite pastime of his, and he likes to test our strategic thinking and patience.

The chessboard looks fittingly gothic and we begin our game without further ado. It is both a nice conversation with Emmrich as well as a perfect opportunity for us to roleplay Ingellvar’s personality traits. In the end, we succeed at the game by beating Emmrich’s Queen with, you guessed it, our Rook, check-mating the King in the process.

Emmrich congratulates us on a well-played game and definitely wants to play again, but later, for it is now time for the lecture.

Lecture on the Undead

As the Memorial Gardens fill with other Mourn Watchers, students, and a few outside visitors, we stand next to Emmrich in front of a huge brazier of green fire. Without further ado, Emmrich welcomes the gathered lot and begins.

Why exactly are we showing this, you may ask? Well, Emmrich is an esteemed professor and scholar, so I think it’s only fitting to show him actually being a professor. And Ingellvar as his apprentice gives us ample opportunity to roleplay our character as someone who is either still learning or very knowledgeable already.

In this playthrough, we have a desire to impress our teacher, so we take all chances we get to contribute to the lecture, something that greatly pleases Emmrich. We deliver a lecture on the nature of the undead, possessed corpses, spirits, the Veil, and how to best respect all. But we also inform the people of the current dangers in the Necropolis, that something is disturbing the spirits here, causing them to occasionally lash out and rebel.

As if on cue, the Memorial Gardens are suddenly swarmed with skeletal warriors, intent on slaying everyone they see. Well, Emmrich didn’t expect such a lively demonstration of what we just discussed.

Together with Emmrich and Myrna we fight against the undead, while Manfred and Audric are ordered to stay out of it given their own spiritual status. The fight isn’t particularly long or hard, but we are tested. In a particularly dicey moment, we are suddenly aided by the rapid firing of a crossbow, look to the side, and see none other than Varric Tethras!

An Old Friend

Once the last of the undead are dealt with, Varric introduces himself to us. Emmrich and Myrna are already aware of him, and so are we if we choose to be, given that Varric is very well-known in the world. He says that Sidony tipped him off on troubles in the Necropolis. Myrna knows this already as some correspondence was held a few days ago.

Varric compliments both our fighting and scholarly skills and offers his assistance in the matter at hand, which we all accept.

As we investigate the slain undead, we notice something quite odd: all the warriors bear the Pentaghast banner. Strange, indeed. Emmrich concludes that we must make our way deeper into the Necropolis posthaste to check up on the Royal Chambers. There seems to be something going on here that we aren’t yet quite aware of.

Given their spiritual existence, Manfred and Audric are told to stay here, as there can be no way of predicting the risks they would find themselves in otherwise.

Deeper into the Necropolis

With Myrna, Emmrich, and Varric, we descend into the deeper parts of the Necropolis, towards the Royal Chambers. This is where the Nevarran kings and queens of the past are all entombed, along with their family members, which, given that we’re talking about the Pentaghasts and Van Markhams, is quite the number.

When we reach the Royal Chambers, we are immediately swarmed by another undead horde, one that we are able to fight off with great difficulty. However, the oddities only increase, for these skeletons bear the Van Markham banner. What is going on here? Why are undead Pentaghasts and Van Markhams trying to attack the living? We knew something was going on, that some corpses began to rise against the living, but this is new.

We must delve further.

The Royal Chambers

When we reach the Royal Chambers, we find the doors unsealed, wide open. Before we enter, a dark figure seemingly materialises out of thin air and approaches us. This is Vorgoth, the oldest of the Mourn Watchers who isn’t a Lich. Nobody really knows who and what they are, but they are benevolent and helpful, so everyone just assumes they are some manner of manifested spirit, and leave it at that.

Vorgoth tells us that a great conflict has escalated between the undead, bidding us to follow him. When we do, we oversee a large clash between undead Pentaghast and Van Markham soldiers. Ultimately, it ends in a stalemate and the forces retreat to their respective wings. This is now absolutely baffling. Well, we all know that the Pentaghasts and Van Markhams are constantly vying for control of the Nevarran throne. But usually this only happens when they’re alive. Why would spirits possessing the dead suddenly wish to re-enact this fight in such a visceral manner?

Since we’re playing a mage, we get a bit of a unique scene now. We’ve been noticing it barely on the edge of our subconsciousness, but now it’s getting clearer: something about the Veil is…different here. We’ve been down here before, but now there is something else in the air…something colder.

We can’t really explain it and neither can the other mages in the party. Emmrich finds this whole situation both alarming and utterly fascinating, and we agree with him. Despite this being incredibly dangerous, we can’t help but feel intrigued. Something is going on down here.

Now we get to make a big choice that will impact the rest of this origin story. The decision is made to split the party. While Ingellvar, Emmrich, and Varric investigate one family mausoleum, Myrna and Vorgoth head for the other. We can choose to:

Investigate the Pentaghast mausoleum. We shall head for the much larger Pentaghast crypts and see if we can find whatever is stirring the undead.

Investigate the Van Markham mausoleum. While not as vast as the Pentaghasts’, we shall still have our fair bit of work to do.

Well, since this particular player here wants to learn more about the Pentaghasts, that’s the choice we’re going with for this playthrough. Myrna and Vorgoth will investigate the Van Markham section. The plan is to meet back here once we’re done. We bid a temporary goodbye to Myrna and Vorgoth and the party splits.

The Pentaghast Mausoleum

Together with Emmrich and Varric, we head off into the Pentaghast Mausoleum and are immediately greeted by another batch of undead warriors we have to fight our way through. But in between the fights, we get to experience some neat dives into Pentaghast lore, as well as some callbacks to DAI:

We see a massive tapestry depicting the entire Pentaghast family tree, all the way from King Caspar to Cassandra, showing just how abnormally gigantic this family is.

We take a look at the rather recent tomb of Vestalus Pentaghast, who was the overseer of the Grand Necropolis until his death two years ago.

We pass by the tombs of Matthias, Tigana, and Anthony, Cassandra’s parents and brother respectively. Matthias and Tigana may have been executed for treason, but they still have a place in the family crypts. When passing by Anthony’s tomb, we can find a series of letters left by Cassandra on her visits here, in which she talks about how she is now running the reformed Seekers of Truth while still maintaining contact with the remnants of the Inquisition. She had feelings about revealing how to reverse Tranquillity but doesn’t regret doing so anymore.

NOTE: In this World State, Cassandra restored the Seekers of Truth and made the ritual to reverse the Rite of Tranquillity public knowledge.

I think it’s important to have quiet and atmospheric moments during exploration missions where you can just let the atmosphere take you on a journey into another world. This has the potential to be one such moment.

While passing through the Pentaghast Mausoleum and all the crypts and tombs in it, we feel this strange coldness that has been plaguing us for a while now. The deeper we get, the stronger it becomes. And we still have no idea what’s actually going on. Why are the Pentaghasts and Van Markham’s fighting each other?

When we venture a little deeper, we find dead Mourn Watchers who have been viciously slain. We suddenly get swarmed by the biggest horde of undead so far, way too numerous for us to fight off. Ingellvar and Emmrich try to use their magic to soothe the spirits possessing them, to no avail. One of the undead croaks that the King shall see us now.

An Audience with the King

We are taken to the deepest and most lavish part of the Pentaghast Mausoleum, the crypt of King Caspar the Magnificent. Now, Caspar is, of course, not only the first king of Nevarra but also the founder of the Pentaghast dynasty. The lore states that young Pentaghasts are traditionally brought into his crypt so that the spirit possessing his mummified body may speak to them.

His crypt was built in the style of a great and ancient throne room. The king himself sits upon the throne and “grants” us a very forceful audience. And Caspar looks just gaunt, like a creature straight from a Tim Burton movie. His throne room is drenched in green veilfire. He demands to know why the Mourn Watch keeps interfering in the War of the Banners, to which we reply that the dead should not be waging war at all. The dead must either rest or fulfil their duties to the Necropolis. But rising up against the living is neither of the two.

Caspar stands from his throne and approaches us. Throughout this whole scene, we can be either very respectful or feisty. But we’re playing Ingellvar as a very dedicated and honourable Mourn Watcher so we try to be respectful. As Caspar circles us, we see an opportunity to try and exorcise the spirit out of his body. It would be risky, but perhaps the undead would disperse then. Caspar’s spirit has surely been corrupted into a demon by now. So, do we:

Try and banish the spirit out of Caspar’s body?

Keep our head low?

In this instance, we try to do the right thing, so we perform a Mourn Watch ritual to banish the spirit possessing Caspar’s body. This leads to a horrifying discovery: Caspar is not possessed by a spirit. He’s not even possessed by a demon! He’s not controlled by another’s magic, either. Caspar is...something else. He’s no Lich, that much is clear, but he’s no longer the spirit that usually resides within the corpse either. So what is it?

Enraged, Caspar attempts to have us executed, only to be interrupted by something. As a mage, we are able to pick up on the cold air suddenly turning utterly freezing, and a voice calls through the emptiness, a dark voice, hollow and deep, as though coming from an abyss. It orders Caspar to bring us prisoners down to the Altar Chamber. Here’s where we get some lore: The Altar Chamber is the last room that separates the rest of the Necropolis from the domain of the Lich Lords. It is the place where newly chosen Liches are given their immortality.

The undead, led by King Caspar, take us away.

The Altar Chamber

We are taken down the deepest, most ancient stairs of the Necropolis, before meeting at the doors to the Altar Chamber. But we are not alone. Myrna and Vorgoth are also here, flanked by Van Markham soldiers, led by King Tylus Van Markham, the first of the Van Markhams to ever assume the throne of Nevarra. Tylus and Caspar at first are furious upon seeing each other, but the cold voice has commanded them both to bring the prisoners to the Altar Chamber.

Now that things can’t possibly get any stranger, we enter through the door.

The Lich Lord

In the great Altar Chamber, we encounter a tall, looming figure, with green flaming eyes, clad all in black. As Mourn Watchers, we recognise the figure immediately: a Lich Lord. Now things are even more confusing. The Lich Lords are supposed to protect the Necropolis from such undead uprisings. And yet here we are.

The Lich welcomes us, Myrna and us specifically. He then performs a glamour spell and assumes the form we find most familiar: before us stands our father, Alberich Ingellvar.

At the beginning of this entry, I said that our father, who found and adopted us, was such a dedicated member of the Mourn Watch that he was granted the honour of lichdom. Well, this is him now.

Alberich states that he sees clearer than the other Lich Lords and wishes to finally open the First Gate. Here’s where Emmrich perks up and we get some more lore: The First Gate lies at the heart of the Lich Lords’ domain. It existed before the rest of the Necropolis, and nobody aside from the Lich Lords knows what’s behind it. All we know is that protecting that gate is their main duty above all else. And Alberich seeks to open it.

He brought us here to grant us lichdom as he wants his children at his side. Here’s where we get a first hint of Emmrich’s own desire to be among the Lich Lords should he ever prove himself worthy. But this is wrong, one must earn their place in immortality through a life of dedicated and selfless servitude.

We can ask Alberich about the War of the Banners. He states it as a rather beneficial side effect of his rituals at the First Gate but doesn’t elaborate any further, we still need to keep some mystery alive for later.

As we study the undead around us, especially the two kings, we notice that they are reluctant to be here. So they aren’t possessed or controlled but somehow they both feel obliged to obey Alberich? Why?

Myrna betrays a hint of distress upon seeing her father abuse his powers like that. Vorgoth condemns his actions, calling him unworthy of lichdom. This seems to be the first case the honour was granted to one undeserving.

Paying them no heed, Alberich compels the Ingellvar siblings to step forward and receive lichdom. We can either:

Obey and step forward, expressing genuine interest in lichdom.

Resist because this is all kinds of wrong and goes against our teachings.

We choose the second option and refuse. Myrna agrees with us wholeheartedly. Alberich orders Tylus and Caspar to bring Myrna and us to him. The grip of the mummified corpses is as steel.

But just as we are about to be presented to Alberich, who reverts back to his Lich Lord form, Vorgoth unleashes their whole power. They send forth a burst of magic so strong that it just banishes the spirits out of all the possessed undead soldiers, sending them to the ground. Caspar and Tylus, since they’re not possessed, are knocked back against the wall, hissing and cursing. Alberich resists with some difficulty but ends up knocking Vorgoth out of the Altar Chamber.

He regards us with disappointment and declares that if we won’t join him in immortality willingly, he will bring us over himself. As Emmrich and Varric attempt to join us, they are attacked by Caspar and Tylus and engage in a fight with them.

Myrna and us are thrown into a boss battle against Alberich, in which he unleashes terrifying Lich powers upon us. This is, again, one of those fights we are probably meant to lose and come back to stronger at a later stage in the story.

As Alberich attempts to stab Myrna with the ritual dagger that would initiate the lichdom process, we jump right between the two and engage Alberich one-on-one. Alberich stabs us squarely in the chest and throws us to the ground. As he attempts to go through with the ritual, the dagger is shot out of his hand by Varric, followed by a crossbow bolt to the head, distracting him momentarily.

Varric and Emmrich, having gotten past Caspar and Tylus, rush to our side and, together with Myrna, drag us out. Alberich and the two kings attempt to pursue us, but Vorgoth returns and casts another blast against them. Then, all goes black.

Healing and Leaving

We awaken in a bed, our chest bandaged up. Myrna sits next to us and is overjoyed to see us finally showing signs of life again, a rare display of emotion for her. She tells us what happened: We escaped just at the last possible second, by the skin of our teeth. After a while, Caspar and Tylus broke off the chase and returned to their respective crypts, while Alberich remained in the Lich Lords’ domain. Nobody is ever the wiser about what is actually going on.

We feel a strange cold in our hearts and Myrna explains that it’s the after-effects of the ritual dagger. It will only improve if we leave the Necropolis for a while and get as far away from Alberich as possible. Confused, we ask where we should go. The Necropolis is our home. Myrna tells us that we should speak to Varric about that. He might just have an idea.

We leave our room and find Varric not far away. When asked about what this strange idea of a trip might be, Varric explains that he came to the Necropolis in search of someone who would accompany him on a most daring and perilous adventure. We don’t know if we should frown or laugh given that we just escaped a most daring and perilous adventure and were instructed to leave in order to heal from it. But what is it and where are we going? Varric can’t tell us just yet. We’ll just need to wait and see. Great.

Before we depart, we, of course, have the chance to talk to our Mourn Watcher friends one last time:

Vorgoth commends us on our refusal to heed the call of lichdom, which speaks of our worth. They recommend us to keep our soul clear of corruption while we are away.

Emmrich (now accompanied by Manfred once more) bemoans that we won’t be able to study together after all. We would have made such an absolutely fine apprentice. But our journey outside is not indefinite. We shall return and Emmrich will have the spot reserved. We have proven ourselves most deserving. Manfred gives a happy hiss.

Myrna bids us a very heartfelt goodbye for now and thanks us for saving her back there. We, of course, tell her to look after herself and not heed our father’s call. She agrees and expresses her intention to occupy the library for the foreseeable future, learning everything she can about what could have possibly led to everything that happened down there. Audric shows up and prepares to escort her to the library.

When we return to Varric, he recommends us that we change our name. If Lich Lord Ingellvar gets any ideas to come to the surface, we may not wish to be associated with him, given the clearly malicious intentions. We can’t really think of anything at first, but one last look at Emmrich reminds us of our chess game earlier, so we hesitantly say: “Rook.” Varric compliments us. “The strongest piece on the chessboard. I like it.”

Following Varric, we pass through the corridors of the Grand Necropolis, approaching the surface. Now called Rook, we look back one last time, before following our new acquaintance into the unknown.

And there we have it! A potential origin story mission for the Mourn Watchers. I am fully aware that it’s not at all perfect, and I am not entirely happy with it. Nevertheless, I hope you still found a modicum of enjoyment while reading this.

Next time, we shall travel to Rivain and tackle the last of our six factions’ origin stories with the Lords of Fortune, and boy do I have a bone to pick with those people. Stay tuned!

[aishangotome]

[Gilbert] Love's Cleaning Time - Part 1

In the mighty military nation of Obsidian, its ruler, despite their noble status, keeps no servants by their side.

Therefore, they must attend to all their personal needs, except for meals ––

Emma: Gil, what should we do with that shelf?

Gilbert: Ah, please take care of it. I don't believe it holds any classified information.

Emma: Leave it to me.

Inside Gilbert's study, a place strictly off-limits to outsiders, I take items from the shelves, dust them off, and put them back in their places.

It's a simple task, but the study is vast, and before I knew it, the sun has set.

(But it's visibly getting cleaner.)

(It's tiring, but rewarding and fun.)

It seems that in the past, Roderich used to help with this, but since I arrived, I've been given that role.

Gilbert: It's just that...

Gilbert: I'm bored.

Emma: We're almost done, so let's keep going.

Gilbert: That 'almost done' is the troublesome part.

Gilbert: Little rabbit, how can you keep going without getting bored?

Emma: Of course I'm going to do my best if Gil needs me!

Emma: There aren't many ways I can be useful, so I want to give it my all when I have the chance.

(...? What's in this box?)

While talking, I take a document box engraved with a rose carving from the shelf.

It's unexpectedly heavy, putting the arm strength I've developed from my bookstore job to the test.

Gilbert: What are you saying? You're always helping me.

Gilbert: Thank you.

Emma: !?

It seems Prince Gilbert had approached me from behind without me noticing. Surprised by the kindness in his "thank you" whispered into my ear, I accidentally drop the document box I was holding.

Emma: I-I'm so sorry!

Gilbert: Ahaha, you're so easy to startle.

The impact of hitting the floor scatters the contents of the box, documents flying everywhere.

Prince Gilbert is laughing, but I feel like I'm about to faint.

I hurriedly gather the documents, trying to put them back in the box.

––In doing so, the words inevitably catch my eye.

Emma: "Rhodolite's Periodic Report"?

Gilbert: Ah.

Emma: ...This is...

––This week's visitors: 17. Of which, 8 female, 9 male. No suspicious behavior. The subject's health is also good. Matters of concern: Movements are slower compared to normal times. Possibility of injury. Requires follow-up observation. A detailed report will be sent after investigation at a later date.

(This must be something I'm not supposed to see...)

Gilbert: Oh dear, you saw it.

Prince Gilbert gently places his hand on my frozen shoulder.

Gilbert: What should we do?

Emma: ...You said there wasn't any classified information...

Gilbert: Yeah, I forgot about that.

Emma: ......

Gilbert: I have to silence the little rabbit who saw something she shouldn't have.

Prince Gilbert kneels before me, brings his face close with an amused look, and lightly pecks my lips.

Emma: ...So it wasn't anything that bad, huh?

Gilbert: Ahaha, you're starting to understand me better, aren't you?

(If it really was something I shouldn't have seen, Prince Gilbert wouldn't be so forgiving.)

(Besides, he's not the type to carelessly reveal secrets.)

I calm my racing heart and lower my gaze to the documents in my hands.

The more I look at it, the stranger this report seems.

Prince Gilbert, as Obsidian's Field Marshal, is intently eyeing Rhodolite's territory.

But the contents of this report, to an untrained eye, seem to have no value whatsoever.

It's just a record of the actions of a certain bookstore employee. There's a possibility it's some kind of code, but I can't imagine it's worth the attention of a royal from a major power.

(No, wait...)

(A bookstore in Rhodolite's territory?)

(...)

Emma: .............Gil.

(There's only one bookstore Prince Gilbert would have his eye on.)

Emma: Could this report...be about me?

Gilbert: Ahaha, you got me.

(Just how long has this been going on...?)

Judging by the dates on the report, it seems to go back quite a while, even before I was chosen as Belle –– several years, in fact.

(Perhaps since I started managing the store for the owner?)

I knew Prince Gilbert had spies in the city, but I had no idea such detailed reports existed, leaving me speechless.

(This explains why he was so strangely well-informed about my past.)

It seems like he's gotten more information from spies than from the owner.

Emma: I had no idea.

Gilbert: The spy I assigned to you is one of Obsidian's best.

Gilbert: His name is Michael. Does that ring a bell?

Emma: Eh...? No way, Michael was a spy!?

(I know him well. He's a regular customer who started coming in after I began looking after the store alone.)

I've had casual conversations with Michael from time to time, so there's no way I could forget him.

Gilbert: I'm sorry. I didn't intend to have you followed at first.

Gilbert: You were just an ordinary citizen of Rhodolite, not someone a royal from a military power would be concerned with.

Gilbert: But I was forced to assign a spy to you.

*flashback*

Gilbert: --Akatsuki. Are you serious?

.

.

.

Part 2

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[animeomegas]

happy 5k👏👏👏

it was just my birthday the other day so, how do you think kakashi, shikamaru and naruto would be with an alpha who hates their birthdays but celebrates if their omega wants to throw a party or something

Thank you!!! This is very late, but I hope you had a good birthday regardless 🥳

You've picked three people who will definitely understand that you don't like your birthday!

Kakashi spent too many birthdays alone and I'm sure he hated those years.

Naruto was probably at a greater risk from violence if he went outside his flat on his birthday when he was growing up, and also had no one to celebrate it with him at first.

And Shikamaru can rarely be bothered with his own birthday. He was probably required to have big birthday parties at the clan heir, even though he hated them.

So yeah, they all get it to an extent, no matter what your reason is. That being said, they'd probably go about dealing with it in different ways.

Naruto would want you to eventually love your birthday, the way he ended up loving his. He would probably throw you a party with all your friends, order some food in, get some alcohol if you drink. Just a chill house party with everyone you love. How could you not love that?! If you genuinely tell him not to, then he won't, but he'll insist that you do something to celebrate, even if it's just with him.

Kakashi is the kind of person who would never forget his mate's birthday in a million years, and so he'd always want to mark it in some way. If you don't like celebrating, he just quietly gets you a gift and makes you breakfast. No words are needed in a relationship with Kakashi because you get to know each other inside and out. He won't throw you a party unless you ask him to, but he won't allow your birthday to go unmarked.

Shikamaru is also going to mark your birthday no matter what, but he's honestly so relieved that you don't want a big party. He probably keeps the day as normal as possible at first, other than a happy birthday before he leaves for work. But when he comes back, he's got takeaway bags from your favourite Akimichi restaurant. He makes the chill evening fun and special, in a lowkey way. He's also a big proponent of birthday sex, so if that's your thing, you only need to hint.

[caius-hhhhhh]

it is time for the story about my favourite dinosaur.

I’m dyscalculic, so when I was choosing my science requirement for undergrad, I wanted a class that didn’t involve math and didn’t have a lab. And one of my options, I discovered, was a first-year earth sciences class called “the rise and fall of the dinosaurs”. and I thought “HELL YEAH.”

I knew going into it that there were two options for how the class would be conducted: either the professor would be completely fucking stone-faced, and would think that dinosaurs were the most serious subject in the entire world and that there was nothing fun and everything wholly scientific about them, which would be hilarious. The other option is that they would be a child who really fucking loved dinosaurs and grew up to never ever stop loving them, and thought they were super ultra cool and very badass, which would be equally hilarious. She was the latter! She put a goddamn selfie of herself with the guy who discovered spinosaurus in the lecture slides.

(let me also shout her out because, again, i’m dyscalculic, and after failing chemistry [apple bottom jeansss boots with the fuUuUr] in high school I was fully convinced that I’m science dumb, it’s just not my language, and I didn’t have any hope of succeeding in that world because of my inability to do math. I got one of the highest grades in the class that term — because of the way she taught the material, how she made me passionate about learning it, and how she emphasised what and how we should be learning. because of her I know that there are ways that I can be good at science, I’m not a lost cause, and I’m not stupid! love her to death.)

Now: we largely don’t know what colour dinosaurs were. When a specimen is fossilised, its body lithifies into the colour of the stone that’s pressing against it (usually sandstone), which makes nearly all fossils appear brown, grey, black, or rarely red. So when the people who manufacture dinosaur content for children (who more often than not have more say in how non-experts view dinosaurs than the actual scientists that study them) need to decide what colour the dinosaurs were, they default to picking saturated, usually quote-unquote “masculine” colours (thank GOD my professor was a woman, by the way.) that will appeal to children rather than something more realistic or probable. Look up literally any dinosaur: chances are, most drawings you see are going to depict dinosaurs as fire-engine red, grass green, sunflower yellow, ocean blue, or black. A lot of them are red with black stripes. Honestly artists can make some pretty wild decisions about what the hell colour a dinosaur can be — because we have no idea! It’s entirely invented.

Until we discovered a teeny tiny dinosaur called Sinosauropteryx. He’s a relative of the tyrranosaurids, belonging to the same clade as them (as well as all modern birds). His name is Latin for “feathered lizard from China”, because he was discovered in the Yixian Formation in the Liaoning Province, an incredibly rich fossil ground because of its volcanic geology — silicastic rock preserves fossils EXQUISITELY because lava covers an entire specimen very quickly. You’ll find a lot of fossils from this formation — and dinosaurs discovered here often have names that have both Mandarin and Greek roots mashed together, which is never not jarring.

So, because our friend sinosauropteryx was covered in lava rock, his integument was preserved: the integument is the tissue that surrounds an organism’s body, including skin, scales, shells, fur, and feathers. Its feathers were mashed perfectly against the rock, and we can see these impressions quite well:

(his spine is bent backwards from rigor mortis. Most dinosaurs were ballerinas)

What’s particularly spectacular about sinosauropteryx’s preserved integument is that its fucking melanosomes are preserved. Melanosomes are pigment-containing cells — and scientists were able to compare sinosauropteryx’s melanosomes with those of modern birds, and for the first time ever, determine what colour he was!!!

A fawny brown with a ringed tail and countershading!

Look up ANY picture of sinosauropteryx, and he’s always a gentle brown with a ringed tail and a pale tummy. Because we know! For the first time, we know!!

The slightly more famous dinosaur with intact melanosomes is archaeopteryx (old wing): she has iridescent black feathers not unlike crows or blackbirds.

She’s perhaps the cooler colour, but sinosauropteryx was the first, and that makes him my favourite.

[2025] Velociraptor [15045]

No! I know you can do this so much better, schleich. This thing is awkwardly feathered, stupidly bright. The colour is too uniform and the arms/wings are weird. I am so not a fan of this one.

[yoshifruit]

“People vastly do not understand what a character playlist is supposed to be.” “There needs to be distinction between [character] playlist and [character]’s playlist.” Actually a character playlist is whatever you want it to be, since most people are doing it for themselves, not for other people. The reason people say “[character] wouldn’t listen to that” when it comes to public character playlists isn’t because they “don’t understand what a character playlist is supposed to be” but because they’re like… judging your music taste. When someone says “Hobie wouldn’t listen to Mother Mother” or “Shadow wouldn’t listen to MCR” they’re trying to tell you to listen to other music. And if you wanna keep your character playlists to pop music that you know only, that’s your right to, but just know that people judging you for it aren’t doing it out of “misunderstanding” of a what a character playlist is “supposed to be” because there’s no set definition for that anyways.

[buttercupshands]

So.

Act 5, huh?

Oh, and that.

"You can start breakdown now."

Finished the game couple of days ago and had some thoughts I needed to process a little. Like. Yes.

So anyway I actually didn't plan this and just wanted to redraw some sprites to just make sure I understand how to draw Siffrin correctly (still working on that!)

What did I learn from this? How fun it it to draw on a canvas that literally doesn't let you draw with colors without some layer cheating when necessary. Never tried it.

The beans. Sleeping beans.

Basically what happens when you want to sleep AND draw. Draw characters sleeping on your behalf.

Doesn't help, but at least it's cute.

I have no idea what was going on in my mind as I drew this. Feels like a fever dream of 'I want to sleep' at 4 am and 'Hm...' of thinking random things

Also that phone craft sign. Still too funny to imagine. I had to.

[vitrificvitriol]

Quints allowed for an alternative payment

[molinaesque]

Has anyone been playing Marvel Rivals because I have been OBSESSED.

[asleepinawell]

EVEN THE GREAT LOUISOIX!!!!

Aurum Vale has emerged as the winner of everyone's least favorite ffxiv dungeon (see all the poll results here) and now it will face off against the infamous Praetorium

so here it is: would you rather wipe in the first room and watch your teammates stubbornly stand in morbol breath attacks or sit through gaius' ten hour long speech yet again?

my personal opinion is that the ludicrous xp bonus for msq roulette should NOT be considered when choosing, but I can't stop you

[jokeroutsubs]

Bojan on the cover of Astro Suzy, special summer edition of Suzy Magazine, focusing on astrology and spirituality. Scans and ENG Translation by: @kurooscoffee Cover Title:

Bojan Cvjetičanin: "We have a duty to change things for the better"

Article title:

We are driven by our love of life

WITH JOKER OUT, WE HAVE WITNESSED A MENTAL LEAP AND A SOCIAL PHENOMENON THAT WE HAVE LONGED FOR. THE BOYS GIVE HOPE THAT YOUNG PEOPLE ARE CONNECTING INTO A STRONG COMMUNITY THAT CARES ABOUT THE FUTURE, EVEN THOUGH PREVIOUS GENERATIONS HAVE LEFT THEM IN RUINS. IN A FLOOD OF STARLETS AND ARTIFICIALLY CREATED ONLINE INFLUENCERS, WE GOT ROLE MODELS WHO DON'T OFFER DISCOUNT CODES, BUT IMPORTANT MUSICAL MESSAGES ABOUT VALUES. IN THE MIDDLE OF A SLOVENIAN AND EUROPEAN TOUR, THE LEAD SINGER AND VISUAL OF THE BAND SHARED WITH US WHAT HE'S THINKING ABOUT, WHAT CAUSES HE'S STANDING BEHIND, AND WHY IT'S BENEFICIAL TO DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. What are you thinking about as representatives of the new wave, the new generation? What is your attitude towards the dynamics in society, climate change, pervasive social networks, in short, everything that weighs on modern man? On the one hand, we ourselves are involved in all the processes that actively and continuously prolong the problems you are talking about. On the other hand, we are deeply aware of them and we are afraid of what is coming. It seems to me that in our generation the desire for change is very strong. There is a universal language of youth that has come together on the basis of feeling obliged and able to change things for the better. The song New Wave is about just that. We are ready to celebrate this common strength because we are encouraged by the idea that we are not alone. At the same time, we know that we are compelled to do something because someone before us has seriously 'fucked up'.

In your hit song 'Novi Val' (New Wave), already the very first verse has you wonder where to go from here. Do you know the answer?

If we want to do anything other than burn the horizon, the only way is towards community, away from egocentrism, with an onlook towards common good.

Let's stick to the anthem of the generation of love, as you named your peers and loyal supporters. The phrase 'We were born yesterday and everything is already our fault' is powerful and worrying. You have been given a pitiful lagecy by your ancestors. How do you defend yourself from taking a role of a victim and instead get actively involved in creating a brighter future?

Great question! It would be hard to change anything for the better if we put on the victim's cloak. The fact that in recent years it has become clear that there is a rebellion by people who have had enough is already a cause for optimism. When you put yourself in the role of the one who carries a scepter as a synonym of the leader of change, you move away from being a victim. And each one of us in this community carries it. In reality, we are taking the position that society is currently a victim and it is our task to defend it.

How?

We all contribute in our own way. The role of musicians is to connect people with positive messages. So by constantly reminding people about friendship, love and other social components that can be tapped into through music. In Slovenia, we have a lot of organisations that are trying to change the situation for the better in many different ways. It does not require much to at least educate oneself about what these organisations are doing. I have the feeling that many people would like to get involved and help. At the end of grammar school and at college, we were encouraged to find out about collective organisations. It was clear to them that many people would want to join of their own initiative once they knew what they stood for. I know many former classmates who are very active members and supporters of various movements. Even if we minimise our own negative energy on social networks, it is a big step towards a good state of society, and of mind.

(picture 1: Family Cvjetićanin knows how to stick together)

You seem to care about a world that is increasingly drowning in chaos. You have become idols, not only of young people, but also of their parents. Is this a burden of responsibility or does it encourage you do even more activism?

It's a great feeling when the little ones take you for an idol. As a teenager, it was also inspiring to be surrounded by the music of Big Foot Mama and Siddharta. It gave me a message in a language that I could not compare with anything else. But our creativity does not depend on what people think of us or how they perceive us. But it is a great honour to know that you are one of those who encourage someone. Many people are listening, but not hearing. Joker Out is made up of five individuals who, in real life, when the cameras and the spotlights are off, are just normal guys. We went through all the processes of growing up on the streets, socialising and playing. We went through the process of going to school, and we were not problematic adolescents. Even today, our most extreme departure from an ideal is what 99% of young people do. To party sometimes. We are not outlaws by nature.

Your work is a beacon of light, a source of hope and strength. Many have done it before you, especially the Beatles. A lot has changed since their era, much of it unfortunately for the worse. How do you keep optimistic? Why is it worth the effort?

Every musician in history who has sung about ending war and living for love has failed miserably. I believe that at least those people who follow the messenger are convinced of peace and love. If every musician encourages someone to to do so, it's a hefty amount of opponents of hate. We are driven forward by love for life.

Writing texts is a responsible job, and you are baring your soul at the same time. Where is the line, to what lengths are you willing to go to protect the most vulnerable part of yourself?

I have never consciously inhibited the process of looking inside myself. But I feel that with age and experience I understand more and more what can lead me to a deeper state of mind. In the beginning I didn't dare to dig into myself. Today I have no problem in fully exposing my feelings, because they are, after all, states that happen of their own accord - and it is impossible to force them

(picture 2: The boys of Joker Out became even closer)

No Slovenian artist has enjoyed such a fierce international success as Joker Out. Concerts in iconic European clubs are literally sold out in hours, even minutes. How do you accept fame? Is it a blessing or is there also a bit of fear?

There are certainly Slovenian musicians with international experience. Maybe not at our age, but that doesn't take away from their importance. We have achieved a very nice success here in terms of listeners, we have honed our skills and we have grown with the band as a collective. We have grasped who and what we are as a whole. We are a group of people who make music purely because we really enjoy it. Whatever feelings our music-making evokes, it all comes from us in the most sincere way, Fortunately, our music is liked by a larger crowd and we have managed to transmit our unforced joy, happiness, joy across national borders. There is no better catalyst for such a breakthrough than Eurovision, we chose the moment to participate wisely. It paid off as a successful project, because for a good band it doesn't matter which part of the world it comes from. It's important to be heard - and we were heard by a lot of people. The only thing that has changed so far is that the bonds between us have strengthened. Suddenly we have been forced to talk about emotions and experiences that we did not have before. There has been a lot of filtering of unfamiliar feelings. The desire to create increased a thousandfold for all five of us.

Are you aware of the role that the public attributes to you, to act as a beacon of light in a crowd of frustrated, bitter people?

No. I would hardly say that I can understand that. Every time I hear something like that, it strikes me that it is saying too much. I really cannot think of myself in such a strong context.

You are giving yourself away. You are constantly on the road, interviews, concerts, promotional tours. It's exhausting. How do you recover? What calms you down, fills you with grace?

It's true that we give a lot of ourselves. But we get so much more in return. Nothing calms me more than coming home and being close to my family. And of course the company of Kris, Jan, Jure and Nace. The people we were with friends before this euphoria, have stayed with us, this team surround us with a lot of love.

(picture 3: He's noticing, that young people are connecting into a strong community that cares about the future)

As a front-man and lyricist, you are even more exposed. You've crossed the magical 200 thousand followers on Instagram, which is a mega number, but also a mega stressful situation. Most young people who find themselves in such a situation turn to intoxicating substances. Can you consciously stop and say that you need time for yourself?

The only thing that made me a bit anxious was the sudden exposure to such a large audience'on social media. This brings with it unimaginable dimensions of human imagination, including malice. Imaginary stories emerge in which people literally compete to see who can come up with something more bizarre. This stress got to me at the beginning, because I felt that I had to defend myself in front of the public. In the end, I realised that I didn't need to convince anyone and that it was enough to know the truth. With the help of colleagues who have similar experiences, I have calmed down. As for the substances, I have a natural protection against those, because I am an incorrigible hypochonder. I dare not take an aspirin unless it is really urgent. Above all, I know when to stop.

You come from a close-knit, loving family. That is certainly a solid foundation on which to build your personality. What is their view of everything that happens to you?

They are very proud! Of all my achievements and of me for being able to pull off a music career combined with the academic milestone of graduating. My parents and my grandmother are definitely my biggest supporters. They accompany me on my journey with warnings, but they are more about eating regularly, to not get a stomach ache, to consume enough water and to get enough sleep. I have been chronically lacking the latter in the last few weeks.

What is your relationship to astrology, esotericism, in short, something that is intangible but can be felt?

Superstition is the one I use the most. For Eurovision I had a special pair of underpants and I was haunted by the feeling that if I didn't wear them, everything would go to hell. Jan's mum gave me a lace clover, which I didn't dare leave in Ljubljana. I asked the stylist to sew it on my outfit as a precaution. I got a clay horseshoe from a little girl, and it went with me to Liverpool. It will seem strange to some, but I believe in energies and ghosts.

How do you strengthen your spiritual side?

Not very well. I wish I had managed to acquire more spiritual knowledge in the last year. For example, basic meditation techniques and the laws of yoga, because I am definitely not physically active enough. The feeling of being 90 years old eats up most of my spirit. My back hurts all the time. The best thing I do for inner growth is to read books. Not enough, but I'm going to get better. A little less phone scrolling and more self-reflection, that'll do the job! Author: Tomaž Mihelič, PHOTO: VITA OREHEK

Scans and translation by: @kurooscoffee (jokeroutsubs) DO NOT REPOST!

[the-acid-pear]

Something that I adore is when something is only Half a metaphor. Like the classic "yes the monster is a representation of grief but it's also real and it's coming for you". I think DSaF does that a lot with its body horror. Like lately I've been thinking of that line Harry says in fiery (flamey? I never get it right) ending about how every circuit of his board was SCREAMING at him to keep Bear alive but thing is, like... Yes, it'd do that, because he knows that if this bear goes down he will likely just be scrapped. You know what I'm saying? The "monster" (the reprogramming) is real but so is the metaphor (he's anxious about an untimely end)

[bonesandpoemsandflowers]