#for those who did not know i am actually a 3d artist lol

[lumiccu]

If you cant have it make it or whatever

(3D Model of Eileen's pocket watch)

Check under the cut for the closeups of the watch

[kanmom51]

JK live 23 September 2023 (NYC)

20:11 or 8:11 pm EST

cr./to the creators of the media used in this post.

or

24 September 2023 9:11 am KST.

Coincidence? Starting the live at 8:11? I think not.

And not the first time he goes live at that time either.

So yeah, JK came live at 8:11 and ended the live at 13:23 minutes.

13 again? Coincidence again? Given that he said his goodbyes at around the 12 minute mark and then waited (?) for it to reach 13? Maybe. Fact is it did.

OMG, he opens up the live like this:

He's so damn adorable.

And it's a Bratz lip gloss, lol.

How can you not love him?

Anyway, JK starts the live saying long time no see and with talk about 3D coming out on the 29th. He tells us how it was his idea to add the clip at the end of the GCF performance, but someone ruined the surprise by running it during the rehearsals, which they obviously weren't supposed to. Oopsy. Spoiler king was spoilered. Lol.

He is a little fidgety, feels like he's doing the live cause he needs to, rather than really wants to... just a feeling I had.

JK says that as much as he was busy he actually did have time to come to us live, but, and this is where JK has decided to place the boundaries that he himself kind of tore down just a little while ago - he talks about there having to be a push and pull, but I guess he realised, perhaps with some help from others, that tearing down those walls between himself and us has also created an expectation from some fans for more, too much. Also, there needs to be some mystery (he was probably told) and leave the fans with a want for more...

I don't think this is the end of the JK we came to know and love the past few months, but I do think that he is trying to re-assess and set some boundaries between the artist that he is and us as fans.

And truthfully, let's be real here for a sec. Us, the fans, we were kind of a filler in. When the real thing is there, and the time to enlistment is getting shorter and shorter, and there is a choice between the two, who do you think he will choose? A 3 hour live with us or a sleepover with JM? I really don't think the choice is such a difficult one. Do you?

JK asks how the performance was. Hasn't monitored it yet (oh, and believe me when he does he's going to be hard on himself). And yet, even though he heard from fans they liked it, he feels he did better at rehearsal. Says it's a jynx. On the day of the performance his throat got dried up. It's called anxiety or nerves JK. If only there was someone there with him to calm those nerves...

And before you come at me, yes. I do feel he was anxious. He was a little closed up and distant as well. The enormity of it. The having to speak English. The being there ALONE. There were these little moments of disconnect during the performance. Maybe if he would have started his set with the more lively songs it would have helped, but if only there was someone there to support him and calm him, that dryness in the throat he talks about... yeah, non existent. My opinion. Fight me.

Then Jin shows up in the comment.

I mentioned that it felt like he did the live because he had to (after the performance and the 3D teasers dropping). Jin showing up in the comments, his reaction, felt like relief in a sense. He was really happy.

He saw one of the members commented, went in to see who it was and was really happy to see him.

The whole interaction between them was so older and younger brother, lol.

Jin with the "stop touching your hair", the whole call me convo (JK saying the times aren't lining up him being overseas and Jin answering with him texting Jhope 300 messages a day, as in "you ass, you can always send me a message instead", lol).

Watch the interaction here:

What did I take from the interaction with Jin?

First of all, that JK was really happy to see him. Not JM level happy, of course, but really happy. Do I say what I'm thinking? About members showing up in his comments and his reaction to them? Nah. In this instance I will take the fifth.

Second, we get it straight out of the horses mouth: JK is enlisting soon. Not like we didn't know it already. Like seriously. But there are those, solos mainly, that seem to still think that JK won't be enlisting with the others. Well, JK made it abundantly clear in that conversation that he's definitely enlisting and it's happening soon. It's the "I'll be joining that party soon" (as in the Jin and Jhope army party) and it's in the "you'll be out while we're still in so take care of Army until we're done" whole convo as well.

Anyway, you gotta love Jin.

Moving on.

JK tells us that 3D is different from Seven - and to look forward to it.

Wanted to thank army that came to the concert, thank K army for taking the time and supporting him.

29th September is Choseok. JK says the reason the song is released that day is he thinks we will like it more. Ok, yeah. Not the tight schedule and looming enlistment. Well, he does hint about it. Starting up about the reason it's hurried, and why he's been in a hurry, but leaves it up to our imagination. I guess we know, right? If they want to be back by mid 2025 enlistment needs to happen by at the latest start of 2024. And in the little time left he has the single and an album to release. And my guess is there is more too. Some set for before enlistment, some set to land while they are away. JM and him.

He asks "what's after this? what is it?" laughingly answering "your curious, right?"

"What is it? I am really looking forward to it." he says cheekily.

Then he says he's working hard in preparing something for us.

And then he looks down and finds the exact comment he wants to answer:

The Weverse translation is a little different.

The gist is the same.

We have JK recognizing a JM comment and answering it specifically. And I say specifically because there were PLENTY of Tae comments in his live. Layover, Tae, Slow dance, screaming at him to just say a god damn thing about Tae's album or releases. But our man, he stood fast, lol.

And don't get me wrong, I don't think he doesn't support Tae or want him to succeed. He's his bandmate and friend. But you know what he ain't, is his boyfriend. That is the one and only Mr. Park Jimin. So, it's not that JK doesn't care, it's that Tae just ain't on his mind. Wasn't it Tae that used to say, repeatedly, that JK just ignores him? Lol. But even if Tae isn't on his mind, the comments, they can definitley serve as a fucking annoying reminder. Which JK chooses very loudly to ignore. And making a statement of sorts while doing so, by reacting, out of all of those comments, to the one relating to JM.

That's what I call a big ass JK FUCK YOU to the cult.

Anyway, we were talking about JK's reaction. And when you talk about reactions you look not only at the verbal but also the body language.

The way he leans in to read the comment once he recognizes it's about JM.

The way he does that head tilt when talking about JM's dancing.

The neck crack.

The hand gesture.

Let's talk about the hand gesture for a second here.

Man knows the choreography. That hand gesture was him doing part of the choreo. Muscle memory. And his eyes and facial expression.

Also, have a look at this:

Ok, so it is funny how JK knew JM posted to IG and watched it as well... You know, considering the man told us he not only deleted his own IG account but deleted the app from his phone all together...

Thing is man monitors SM. We know that!! You think he wouldn't have seen it on Twitter? Or TikTok? JM's dance is all over the place. So yeah, my initial thought was: hey, how did he see it without an IG account? But then, you know, when common sense took over, I realised he could have seen it ANYWHERE. We know he monitors. We assume he monitors JM and Jikook accounts. He would have seen it either way.

But in any case, as I mentioned, this wouldn't have been the first and only time he has seen this choreo or dance.

JK continues to tell us he's going out for diner with staff. A good reason indeed to end the live (that like I said, he wasn't in the feels for).

And continues telling us to be curious.

Didn't someone tell him curiosity killed the cat?

At the end of the live JK makes us know he's monitoring SM (like I said before, something we already knew). He knows what fans are saying. He talks about the good. And he is thankful for those kind words.

But he also sees the bad. We know it!!

Ooh, btw, do we talk about that ring JK was wearing?

This is the second time around we have him wearing this kind of ring.

Interesting.

So to sum it up:

In those 13 minutes and a bit of his live, he mostly spoke about the performance, 3D coming out, talked to Jin in the comments and answered the comment that happened to be about JM.

I guess that wraps it up.

[fainthedcherry]

When I was a child in 2013, visiting Nickelodeon's site and finding a treasure-trove of Spongebob, Winx and TMNT flash games was like magic to me. BUT MAN. The TMNT flash games are one of the best ever to me I've played in my life. (on an aesthetic stand-point! Turtle Tactics and Dark Horizons are so awesome man, legendary flash games to me.)

Since I am utterly autistic about 4 green alien turtles and their rat dad...Here we are again. With me posting OC cringe 2016 me would've killed myself over :V (cry about it 11 yo/ me, afraid of cringe culture back then, it's DEAD NOW)

Gonna sneak-post my redo of that ancient drawing I did of Alex 2 years ago, for the base-post : D

2 years ago, I used flashpoint to replay it for the first time in years and I remember crying of glee LOL (I still play Dark Horizons and turtle tactis to this day btw). I played Dark Horizons and Turtle Tactics and also TMNT: Throw Back (NO I DID NOT NAME THIS LIKE A MEME THIS IS ITS NAME. I STILL BURST INTO LAUGHTER LIKE A CHILD OVER THE NAME AGING POORLY DUE TO INTERNET LINGO)

Those 2 flash games are just so...Technically advanced?? For its time?? LIKE A FULLY FLEDGED 3D FLASH GAME WITH UNITY ENGINE BASIS? DAMN. And then Dark Horizons? CHEF'S KISS I LOVE THAT GAME SO MUCH. AESTHETICALLY AND THE COMBAT FEELS RLLY NICE TO ME IMO, AND JUST...Everything about THAT flash game, god TIMELESS CLASSIC I COULD YAP ON FOR HOURS ABOUT THIS NO JOKE.

I am enthralled by the designs and art of Dark Horizons, it's why I made this drawing. The game just..Speaks to me on so many levels. IT'S JUST SO PLEASING TO SEE ALL THE ARTWORK I EXTRACTED. As far to my knowledge- it never got released, so I might make a post of just a few favourites I liked from the game. :D

I just wonder if I can post those in the first place, it's after all, not my artwork, from a flash game, and TMNT, so yeah, legal IP and stuff. I unfortunately don't know who the artist if of the flash games, but if I can find that out via googling or digging for credits in the game or the files, I'll see if I can credit them, so that posting will be fairly accredited!!

OH YEAH RIGHT ALSO QUICK BANTER ABT ART SORRY I AM VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THOSE FLASH GAMES AS YOU CAN TELL,,,

I studied the in-game sprites for a good few hours back then, and did my best to replicate it to the best of my abilities!! I think Mushu maybe could've been done better looking back at it, but I think it was the best that I could do back then. :D Plus, I remember being really happy, excited and proud of this piece, as it reflected something, my childhood self always wanted: For Alex to like.."fake" being an official character LOL. I had sooo many dreams where Alex was hanging out with the turtles and Ninjago and throwing in Power Rangers for good measure, just...Everything I liked as a child, I somehow connected in my dreams via either "OH YEAH THE RAINBOW FAIRY!" or "OH YEAH SUDDENLY PORTAL AND MY MARY-SUES JUST BRAVE IT WHILST THE OFFICIAL CHARACTERS DRAMATICALLY TELL THEM NOT TO GO"

^I had vivid and....Creative dreams as a child to say the least, sometimes even Darth Vader and Eggman appeared as the bad guys, despite TMNT and Power Rangers and Ninjago w/ the snakes and lord Garmadon or however you spell him (I never checked + I'm German so ofc his name might be different in english)- I- do I have to go on about the dreams I FULLY remember I had, as a 6-9 yo/, until I told myself at 10 how embarassing my dreams are and stopped doing so? I DIGRESS. I..Need to be more professional in these, instead of such pure fandom trash oml, I feel bad for whoever actually has to read through my blatant autistic interests as a child and thinking "wtf is he on about" dfgklfdg

ANYWAY NEKST POST IS THE BASE. I SWEAR. SORRY I LOVE RAMBLING

[the-enzyme]

My Myou Bettina, wearing the first outfit I complete for him, based on Ken Kaneki, who he is supposed to be. He's a 28cm tall doll, and I am not skilled at sewing. So, I should have known making clothes for him, let alone based on anime characters, was going to be next level nightmare. I chose to recreate this one first, not because I keep forgetting to purchase size #4/#3 zippers white nylon zippers, but because I know the struggle is going to be real once I start making that outfit for him. I already made a few pieces of clothing for this doll, but finding patters that fit well is an ordeal. I also made a cloth/foam manikin, that didn't go too well. And also, an initial pattern for his awakened/battle outfit, but I am not sure it's going to go well either. I know I suck at sewing, and this doll is extremely stylized. His body is willowy and very close to skeletal-like (kind of like me, yay! Lol!). So, making anything from pre-existing fashion doll patterns needs a lot of alterations, and me making my own is an ordeal on its own.

Regardless, I am supper happy with him and how he looks with his smaller eyes! I am also liking very much how he looks as my Ken Kaneki! I knew I loved the doll, but now I love him so much more, that I know he can pull off the look, even if not anime/manga accurate (I feel maybe the manga version is more stylized, and has a larger head, but my personal preference is the anime with the smaller head, and not stubby proportions).

Unfortunately, and as I had feared. The mods I did on him are not permanent! I was fearing so, when I learned that people usually clean up mistakes when using the Vajello Plastic putty, using alcohol. I feared taht meant the product is not meant to have any kind of solvents applied to it. My fears were true. Alcohol will melt the putty right off! I was cleaning my 3D artist Leon head, and the mods came right off with the paint apps! DX Looks like I'll have to get some Aves Apoxie Sculpt Afterall! Oh, well! Live and learn, is what I keep on saying! I was actually excited about the plastic putty working for permanent mods, because I tend to not love my repaint work and rework/redo those repaints like there's no tomorrow! Now, I know! There's no substitute for Aves' Apoxie Sculpt! I kind of want to cry a little, even if it was kind of cool to find what I can and can't do, with the Vallejo filler stuff. T____T;;;

The super washed out looking photos were taken with my super old cell phone. I think I like the way that one works a bit more, but I don't like the hazy/blurriness of it all.

[joyswonderland1108]

Weird.

First of all and before anything else, good morning to me (It's currently 3:28pm for me lol) i set my alarm right at 9:00pm KST so waking up to my baby bunny is just

Today JK really said "It's OT7 for y'all bitches" love to see that, he also talked about GOLDEN and how it was a term used to describe him, like golden closet

Uhm he also said that he wrote a poem called "Golden" and spoke about the present which to him was a golden time. I can't believe he didn't mention golden maknae T-T Unless i missed that part.. But anygays, ah! Muy precioso 💜

Now the point of this post is something that i might've mentioned before but i've seen it today again and i was scratching my head. I'm not gonna mention names, i'm not gonna say what they do as to not narrow the possible search for who this is, but one thing i can say is that they're a Jikooker.

Now don't get me wrong if you want to follow solo accounts that are unproblematic, just post about X member, hype them up, without being disrespectful to other members, then you do you again i'm not going with a herd mentality the whole "I don't like this person so unfollow them, report them and block them" to me as long as there's nothing problematic then you do you.

The thing is that this person for a while now but even today has been liking and reposting very solo-ish posts, the type of posts being mad about comments asking JK to play this or that member's songs, saying that this live should've been about him yada yada, and this is just MY take, my non-solo take, feel free to agree or disagree.

The thing is, JK himself suggested to play songs, if members songs weren't suggested then other artist's songs would've been suggested, this is not the first time he puts on music on his lives and if anything to me JK looked really happy listening to the different members songs, he even said that he misses the members and this is not even the first time he reminds us that he is looking forward to 2025 when they will all reunite again, yet some people are having their panties on a twist that people talk about 2025.

You say that the live was supposed to be about him and his upcoming album and my question to you is, what in a 1h+ live can he say about an album that is yet to be released without spoiling anything? Am i missing a chapter here or did any other member talk for 1h about an album that is yet to come out? The only thing we know so far about the album is that the design, what comes in it, there are 3 different version + the WV one, there are 11 tracks including 3D, Seven Explicit and Clean version. So exactly what do you want him to tell you and i like to say that again WITHOUT SPOILING his album?

I want to also remind you that he was on Stationhead for 3 days where he took the opportunity to talk about 3D so again making him repeat the same things he said during those 3 days will just be repetitive for him. Why can't we just respect the fact that JK actually loves his members and genuinely wants to be reunited with them later and that he actually appreciates listening to their songs and the different colors they each have?

There's just too much projection here, just because YOU want him to talk about himself it doesn't mean that HE is uncomfortable talking about other things. A little reminder that JK had no problem calling out problematic comments before and even said that he is ignoring some comments, so instead of treating him like a child who can't make a decision for himself, know that if JK wanted this live to be about his album only, that is coming on November 3rd in case you forgot, he would've done that, he would've actually said that today's live he wants to focus on talking about it.

I want to take this opportunity to bring back something that had me rolling my eyes so far back i could almost see my brain. When there was talk about a world tour and people gave a logical explanation as to why it MIGHT not be possible based on JK's words, not anyone else's. Yet some people took a very solo-ish position to the matter bringing up the subject about MS and how he is still young and doesn't have to enlist right now that we can't make the decision for him when HE himself talked about the subject and made it clear that he too will be enlisting so they can all come back in 2025. (And by the way that one person liked and reposted those type of posts too..)

I don't know if people realize that by projecting sometimes you're basically discrediting a member's own words and wishes, we are here to listen to them and listen to what they want us to understand, yes i don't get to make decisions for them but YOU also don't get to do that.

Why don't you take the opportunity of using the remaining time for the album release to prepare questions you want to ask him about the album cause by then he would be able to talk a lot more about it, you can even prepare some questions for the possibility of him coming live after his KBS show later? Like instead of dramatizing every situation, think wisely, don't think with your own selfish feelings and remember that as much as you are a human and have feelings and needs, JK does too, he doesn't have to accommodate to what YOU want.

And again and again and again, JK is a grown up, i don't know how many times he needs to tell you, to show you, for you to understand that he isn't on a leash, he will do whatever he wants and if he doesn't like something he will simply not do it there's no gun pointing at his head to do something.

I don't know how do people even find time to whine when they're watching his live and seeing him happy, smiling, i find myself dumbly smiling back no time for drama, i'm just happy to see him on a lengthy live after a long time, i'm just happy to be sitting here watching him sipping on his concoctions, enjoying the music, singing, showing us his lil Tiktok corner, etc..

Please learn from him and grow tf up.

Salutation.

(I might do another post later and i say i MIGHT because this is a cultural one and people never seem to be ready to accept culture diversity --")

Side note: STREAM 3D AND PREPARE PLAYLISTS FOR GOLDEN!!!!

[zerotoheroart]

Hello! My name is JT and I suck at drawing. Lol. But I’m not beating myself up about it. I’ve done that for years already and I’m over that. So, just to bring you up to speed. I am in my late 20s and I’ve been drawing since I was about 19, so nearly ten years now of drawing almost every day. There’s just one problem, I leveled up in skill at around 22, or 23 and stopped. I haven’t gotten any better in any noticeable way since I was in my early 20s and I’ve finally become mature enough to admit why I still suck. I. Did. Not. Practice. Correctly. They say that practice makes perfect, but the reality is that perfect practice makes perfect. If you practice to do something the wrong way, you won’t learn how to do that thing correctly. It’s just as plain as that. 

For the longest time, I felt like drawing was a magical thing, a gift bestowed upon the gods chosen few to be able to put pencil to paper and create worlds, objectify nature, tell stories, and just generally wow the socks off people. This is not the way it works, but for years I thought that to be the case. So although I’ve always wanted to be an artist and tell super cool stories, I never practiced drawing because when I was a kid I drew a picture as part of a school project and everyone laughed at it because it was so bad. (It was a picture of Pikachu from Pokemon and it was so awful the good artist in the class drew a picture of pikachu right next to mine just to show how much better she was than me). Anywho, mild childhood trauma aside, I didn’t try to draw seriously again until I was 19 and in college. I was getting a graphic design degree, and for those who don’t know, you don’t need drawing skills to do graphic design. Making logos and whatnot requires a good eye for design, color theory, etc., but not drawing skills. That said, some of the students in my class were extremely good at drawing and it reminded me how much I wanted to be good at something like that, so I bought a sketchbook and started drawing. 

The problem was that I felt behind. I was 19 and most of the good artists in the class had been drawing since they were little kids, so I felt like I needed to find shortcuts to get gud quick! Basically I skipped right over the fundamentals and tried to use every shortcut imaginable to get to where I “wanted to be and should have been already”. I didn’t draw shapes, or work on perspective, or anatomy, or any of that crap. I didn’t have time! I needed to get good ASAP! So I brute forced that shit and skipped all the introductory stuff and went straight into characters, and architecture, and animals and animation….and I absolutely sucked. It wasn’t all bad, like I said before I got “better”, but never good, never to a level that would be considered professional by any means of the word. So I woke up with a rapidly approaching birthday realizing that I only had a short time before I was no longer a 20 something and became a 30 something. An existential crisis ensued. 

My best friend in the whole world is an amazing artist. They are a 3D animator, and they can draw the most badass shit you can imagine as well. Meanwhile, I drew like a ten year old after a couple art classes. Not that I am comparing myself to anyone else, but my friend is proof that studying art the right way is the best way. So I swallowed my pride, looked myself in the mirror, and said “JT, you aren’t getting better at art. You have to change the way you do things or one day you’ll be 50, 60, 70 not drawing any better than you are now!” So I decided to empty my cup, admit I was a rank amateur, and needed proper study. I am back to square one. I accept that. I am taking on the mindset that today is the first day that I am learning how to draw. It will be years before I get to a professional level, but practicing in a professional manner will actually get me there, as long as I persevere. So here today I am at the wax on wax off stage of art. I’m drawing basic shapes. Hundreds, and hundreds of basic shapes, every single day for at least the next 14 days. I aim to at least do ten pages of shapes a day. Once I can do this with confidence, I will move on to volume and practice drawing 3D shapes like spheres and cubes. 

I am writing this as a journal to not only motivate myself, but to hopefully motivate others to see someone go from zero to hero! I’m gonna be training like the main character from a shonen anime from now on until I get as strong at art as I can! My goal in life is to tell the one story I’ve always wanted to tell, and by jove I’m gonna do it. If you want to follow my journal and journey please stop by each week for new progress updates. I will be journaling this entire thing so that I can prove that with the right practice and effort ANYONE can become a good artist. Wish me luck!  

[3style3]

rant about the whole "ai is the future" that techbros keep spewing and why i think its stupid and incorrect and that we will absolutely be fine. read below the cut if u wanna hear my techy rant.

ai does not have the five senses, it cannot taste, hear, smell, touch or if you wanna get technical, THINK. all it knows is anything spoonfed to it and anything it “generates” is an amalgamation of everything its been spoonfed. it cannot make a perfect recipe (cant taste, smell, see), generate good sounding music (cant hear), all art it generates is well.. a literal mashup / collage of preexisting works (cant be creative without being given prompts and prexisting artwork), its a parody of existing works more than it is actual art. (see: definition of parody) it cannot create new sewing patterns (cant see, cant test it in a 3d space) nor can it write good literature (cant think, memory limits, only knows what its told). ai literature is becoming increasingly easier to sniff out by anyone who has written or studied literature in any capacity given it only writer colleen hoover esque work or something akin to a 14 year old on wattpad. (if someone presents me actual writing vs ai writing, with some looking into it i could easily sniff it out given how repetitive & unsure of itself it can be, source: ive tried writing storylines with it and it began "calling back" details that never happened within the story)

chatgpt will 100% be paywalled once it gets all the info it needs from self proclaimed alphamales who think lifting weights or waking up just an hour before school (those “wake up at 5 am videos “ ring a bell?? newsflash i was waking up at 4 am during highschool & even after; you are not cool) makes them cool (lol) and techbros on twitter who Mind you are never professionals in the field. theyre always whining about the downfall of nfts (something my dad (PROFESSIONAL) and i (hobbyist) forsaw, by the way) with no company that they own or even work for listed.

nobody smart in the industry who has been in it for more than 2 years genuinely believes ai is taking over. it quite literally cannot replace people who create clothing, ORIGINAL artwork that has never been seen before, musicians, engineers, service workers (only so much a robot can do to solve a customers problem!) human connections (current chatbots are going through their downfalls as we speak). not to mention the privacy risk that people are increasingly becoming concerned about (ie. how people are reacting to “windows 12 ai”)

is ai advancing? absolutely. no doubt about it. will it become anything more than just an assistant to humans? absolutely not. remember when people were convinced that synthesizers would end musicians as we know it and it simply became a tool to assist us? remember when people thought that digital art was going to end all artists as we know it.. and it simply became another medium? remember all the times we thought computers were gonna replace humans and it never did? remember when people were CONVINCED nfts were the absolute end all be all, and it DIED as nothing more than a fad? thats the exact path ai is taking. ai has always been around but now its advancing and that intimidates people, but it shouldnt, because without humans adding variables and inputs, it is literally useless. it is a robot that quite literally cannot work alone. we are fine. techbros are fucking idiots.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

for a second I thought maybe the collabs are because (aside from him probably wanting them) he didn't nearly have enough time to do his own things but that doesn't make sense because

pretty sure a lot of those songs were already made, he just needed to sing them and create/learn the choreography &

yes they're all English and created by other people (not a criticism just an observation) but those could've still been solo songs? Like them being English singles doesn't mean they needed to be collabs

I'm not sure why I had that original thought lol.

I think maybe it's the label's influence (the American label). something to do with the marketing and introducing him to different audiences in America. Plus It's not like JK would be opposed to working with different artists he finds cool.

I am hesitant about his album though. The tracks might not all be collabs but at this point I don't think any of the songs are gonna feel like him at least the him prior to chapter 2. And I think they'll all be English (which isn't necessarily a bad thing because English songs can be meaningful, but I don't think they'll go for that. Hope I'm wrong)

I would've said differently before I discovered 3D and Seven were part of the album, but now I think this is the case.

They want his name out there and known across America as much as possible before military and before he'll literally be absent for almost 2 years.

But then that makes the whole thing so confusing!!

Well, collabs have the obvious advantage of getting fans of the other artists to listen to Jungkook's songs as well, and possibly becoming fans. I think it also helps Western audiences accept Jungkook, since he's already been "accepted" and "vouched for" by American artists. It gives him more credibility? If it was just Jungkook, maybe his solos would be regarded as side projects, and maybe his streams and records would be seen as the BTS fever effect. But with popular artists credited to his songs, I think that confers Jungkook a certain degree of legitimacy, and maybe shows he's interested in reaching a broader audience and in really building a name and career for himself. I can see the pros of the collabs. At the same time, those can quickly become cons if Jungkook just becomes the dude who only does collabs and can't succeed on his own. So far, all of his solos that charted well and had radio play have been collabs - L&R, Seven and 3D. Now that people know who he is he definitely needs to establish himself solo.

Regardless, he did a poor job choosing the collabs. It's obvious that the alternate version of 3D's better than the main one, and the reason why 3D isn't doing nearly as well as Seven is that, apart from Seven being his anticipated solo debut and having a trendier, and I'd say more tasteful, sound, even Armys didn't like Jack Harlow. The fandom itself isn't responding very well to the song. The MV was lackluster compared to Seven, which had made every Army's Y/N fantasy come true, and if the first song about sex shocks people, the second one is just more of the same. Worst of all though is probably Jack's feature. The lyrics are terrible and sexist, he's not a particularly liked rapper, many fans (like me) are only streaming the solo version and the solo and alternate versions doesn't even combine on Spotify. The way Big Hit lets BTS collab with problematic or not very well respected artists is insane. It's like they'll take anyone and don't even bother understanding what fans want. There are tons of respected, liked and very popular artists that would love to work with BTS and they chose Jack Harlow? They could've fucking asked Cardi B (who is problematic too but generally well liked), and she probably would've said yes. They could've brought back Megan.

The thing is that I don't think Jungkook even knows or understands that Jack Harlow ain't shit. He likes him, but not that many people seem to, which actually surprised me because I thought he was a big name. It's Big Hit's job to at least inform Jungkook of that or suggest other artists. With Latto the problem (aside from the racists tweets that I either misinterpreted or everyone chose to ignore) was more that no one knew who she was and he helped her career more than she helped his. However, since she's an up and coming rapper, it's a much more interesting feature, introducing him to a more specific type of audience and also showing that he's serious about music because he noticed her talent and chose to work with her even if she's less known.

The point is, people loved Seven, including Army, and mostly liked Latto, but the response to 3D has been very lackluster, and Jack is a big reason why. I wonder if Bad Decisions wouldn't have done better with different people, even if the song is Benny Blanco's.

I also think the 3D MV was a huge mistake. I saw someone on Reddit say Jack Harlow's parts give Blurred Lines and it tracks. I watched the MV yesterday and even Jungkook's parts aren't great though. The choreography is poorly shot and Jungkook's dancing doesn't look that good, the dance practice video is miles better. After Seven, which was a huge production, with a beautiful, famous actress and Jungkook being the goofy lover boy, the 3D MV is so low effort. It killed the hype for the song. And Jack dominates the track too much, it's ridiculous. I like the alternate version quite a bit, but Big Hit and Jungkook need to be smarter. I think Jungkook lacks self-confidence and is too humble to realize he's better on his own. He still has this mentality of "the more the merrier, I'll take anything", when he should've listened to the alternate version and realized the feature needed to, at least, be shorter.

As for collabs in other artists' tracks, those are an easy way of having more songs and getting his name out there, since he doesn't need to look for the songs or perform them. He just does a bit of work in the recording booth and that's it. Hybe doesn't even need to promote the songs much either, since that falls more on the main artist. However, again, it's not just about having more songs and exposure. His image matters, the kind of discography he cultivates matters. He needs to be choosier. He can't just take anyone, which at this point feels like what he's doing. It gives less "I'm a pop star" and more "I'm just a nobody from Korea who will take anyone who will help me and isn't big enough to attract more high profile names". I don't know how to express that in a non cruel way. This is really the vibe I'm starting to get, despite Jungkook carrying all of those songs and being so big already.

I don't know what to expect of his album, but 3D didn't help build up anticipation for it. I don't even know if 3D will debut on the top 10 of the Hot 100 and Army is way less excited about Golden now. At least Seven is still going strong. I remember when Seven dropped. 3D only had a week's notice which didn't help, but when Seven dropped the timeline was insane. The horniness was off the charts. The explicit version, as cheesy as it was, had everyone grabbing their hair. When 3D dropped, the reaction was much smaller, and a lot more negative. Visuals matter a lot, and 3D didn't have them. Jungkook also showed everything with Seven, so flashing his abs and talking about sex isn't going to shock people anymore.

Anyway, it's a shame, because I like the solo version of 3D a lot, the choreo is much better than Seven, the performance is better too, and I love Jungkook's vocals so much in the alternate version. I pray he does that high note live. I don't even mind the lyrics. 3D needed a much better MV and no Jack Harlow. I won't even complain about Latto anymore, since, in comparison, she fit Seven better, had less screen time and lines, and helped the song be better, and not worse, received. Maybe I'm biased because I only know what's happening in kpop spaces, but...

Thanks for the ask! Sorry for the rant...

[corpsentry]

january: an art retrospective

i did some stuff last month (but it’s a lot of stuff and there’s a photodump + some Serious Fucking Reflection, so it’s all below the cut)

so ok, let’s start with this. here are some heads. each head has a red arrow. that red arrow is what i call the red line of the devil. it’s the slope of the face from the side of the eye to the cheekbone and then down towards the chin. up until like 2 weeks ago, i couldn’t draw it. i couldn’t fucking draw it. i would edit over that part of the face over and over again until i was frustrated and tired and i had a raging homosexual headache and it still never looked right. notice that each head is different. notice that each head looks wrong.

at the start of 2021 i finally admitted to myself, as per the image above, that i was deeply, deeply unhappy with my art. what was the problem? i dunno. but i decided i was going to fix it and i was going to do so via another one scribble a day event wherein for every day of january i would find a photo of a human head, and i would draw it.

january 1st, 2021. i was embarrassed to tweet this even on my private account where like 5 friends and a rock would see it. in retrospect, you can also see all of my bad habits emerging like dicks from a hole in the ground. it’s disproportionate. the brows look flat. the eyes are slanting upwards. the entire drawing looks flat, like this isn’t a 3d person but a caricature of one.

january 2nd, 3rd, 4th:

on the 2nd i decided to start a separate thread for doodles and applied learning. here’s the first set of tests

the rest of the week is kind of uneventful so we’re going to skip those. fast forward to january 11th

this one is especially bad. i am acutely aware, suddenly, that i am not changing anything at all. i’m stressed and miserable about it because i’m still trying to see people as people and trying to draw people that look attractive and proportionate and hot. my friend, leny, reminds me that i need to think about faces in terms of planes. i have a moment. my other friend masha sends me some links to anatomy tutorials. i have another moment.

january 11th. applied sketch

january 13th is when i start the troubleshooting process. the link above drives me mad because i’m pretty happy with the face but then i realize that there’s something very fucking wrong with the shape of the head LOL and then i realize that i’ve never had any idea what the proportion of the face to the rest of the skull is so i grit my teeth and i open a new canvas and i

bald studies. it seemed like the right thing to do. can’t draw heads? ok draw some heads. look at some photographs. i traced each photo but tried to stick to straight lines so that i could replicate the shapes more easily. i broke each face down into shapes. i thought about airplanes

i got really excited. i started doing studies, then applied studies, then stylized studies.

sketches. i’m not sure what’s going on (as always) and it’s very rough, but they look different from the sketches i did on january 2nd. that’s a start

january 16th’s daily study. looks more like a person now. juuuuuust a bit

more applied studies

on the 18th i take a break and go stare at some lips because i don’t understand how the fuck they work. again, i focus on shapes, on volume, on the fact that these things exist in 3d. holy fuck lips exist in 3d. holy fuck we are real

january 19th. i’m working on it.

january 22nd. some sketches + a daily study. it has finally occurred to me that heads can tilt up and down and that things look different accordingly. yes i was not aware of this before. yes i have been drawing for over a decade.

january 23rd. by this point after doing my daily sketch i almost always go back and do an applied study which is basically to say i drew a lot of fucking links. this one looks kind of okay. i’m kind of proud

january 25th. links. trying to make sense of everything i’ve learned

26th, 27th, 28th. daily studies

january 1st. january 31st

The End Of The Photo Dump (dab)

ok NOW i get to talk about what i discovered while studying the shit out of human beings

FIRST OF ALL, there is something precious and magical about drawing shit without the explicit knowledge that you’re going to tweet that shit out to 45 people later. it takes the burden of perception off your shoulders and that does something to you, or at least that’s my theory. i told myself i wouldn’t post any of this stuff until the end of the month (if i wanted to post it at all) and kept everything off my public social media accounts and that meant i could draw ugly as hell without worrying about who would point and laugh, which i absolutely fucking did. a lot of these are fucking trainwrecks. most of these are fucking trainwrecks. why do they look like that?? why??? this doesn’t look like the work of someone who’s allegedly been drawing since they were in kindergarten, does it?????

here’s why: because that person took a huge motherfucking swing at everything they’d ever known about art and spent a month building something new in its place. the abstract explanation is that i grew up on shoujo and weird old anime and my understanding of anatomy was unironically kamichama karin and while i love kamichama karin, when kamichama karin is your rule even if you try to break it, you’re going to end up going nowhere. “you have to know the rules to break them”, yeah? well i didn’t know shit. the abstract explanation is i’ve been miserable about my art for a few years now because i saw other people doing things effortlessly which i couldn’t and instead of going back to the basics, i tried to do what they did (not plagiarism, mind you, i mean i literally tried to copy the red line of the devil i mentioned above because i couldn’t even make that happen) and then i fucking failed.

the simple explanation is this. i had to unlearn everything, and relearn it again (like some kind of new renaissance clown, what the fuck is this?)

take this for example. all my life i’ve drawn faces in the order: eyes, nose, mouth, face shape, head. this works for some people, im aware, but it was something central to how i had always drawn, so i decentralized it. i said fuck you to the old me and changed the order up. now i start with the nose, then the eyes, mouth, the chin line, and the sides of the face. now i force myself to think about the human head as a series of parts interacting with each other instead of a bunch of disparate features which i want to look pretty.

or let’s use this zelda from last year. something about this looked wrong last october, the way something about all of my drawings looked wrong, but i couldn’t pinpoint it for hell the way i couldn’t articulate Any of my feelings about the visual arts. now, looking back, here’s what i see. that nose is sticking out far too much given how she’s not really facing very far away from the camera. that ear at the back shouldn’t be there. her forehead is too big. she doesn’t have a forehead. what the fuck is up with the shape of her head?

so apparently reject modernity embrace tradition has its roots in alt-right terminology and i’m not very horny for the alt-right (you understand), but the spirit survives here. you know sometimes you have to admit that you have no idea what the fuck you’re doing and draw people for 31 days. i’ve spent my whole life drawing stylized people and while again there are artists who have no issue with this, i veered off the track of the Good and the Holy and couldn’t get back on. i had no point of reference because i’d never thought about what an actual human being looks like, so i had no way to fix what i knew in my gut looked wrong but wouldn’t come out better.

this was hard. this was like oikawa tooru swallowing his worthless pride and admitting that ushijima wakatoshi had gotten the best of him for the last time in his high school career, but in haikyuu!! by furudate haruichi oikawa tooru fucks off to argentina and then joins the argentinean national team, and you know what, i think i’ve made it to argentina (not the team just the country). as per the golden rule of dont fucking move until you’re at least two thirds of the way through the month, i only started trying to draw Shit shit on like the 22nd or something, but i was happy with that i created. i am happy with what i’ve done. i’ve posted like 2 things this month that involve people with what i now call ~applied Knowledge~~ and they’re, like, not perfect obviously (perfection is an unattainable ideal), but i’m fucking proud of them. i didn’t spend 5 hours hunched over my laptop adjusting the red line of the devil because it’s not a devil’s line anymore. because i finally sorta get how people work. because i sat down and i said ‘we are not going to fuck with this misery shit anymore’ and then i did that. it’s just a line now.

here are 2 collages tracking my painstakingly carved out progress from january 2nd to february 2nd because i’m a slut for collages

and here’s what i’ve done to my art! the same person drew these but also Not Really! you know! for the first time in a year i don’t immediately hate what i’ve drawn. you know what guys? art is fucking fun. zelda’s forehead doesn’t scare me anymore because i know how foreheads fucking work now, and i don’t know everything, and i’m going to keep troubleshooting stuff as i go (i want to draw a skeleton. like a. i want to draw a goddamn skeleton guys) but i’m honestly and genuinely proud of what i’ve done in the span of a month, and i’m also in disbelief. i started this month-long challenge out as a last ditch effort to make peace with my art because i’ve been tired for a long time and i was ready to kick the bucket on drawing people altogether. i didn’t think anything would happen. nothing’s happened for years. i’ve been miserable for years.

this was the caption for january 1st, 2021. i was super, super fucking embarrassed and it looks like super fucking shit, but you know what, i think i did in fact triumph over the bullshit. surprisingly enough, when you put in consistent effort into something, You Will See Results. didn’t see that coming, did you? i know i didn’t.

this isn’t a success story. it’s a happiness story. i never gave a shit damn about the institute of art or whatever, i was just mad at myself because what i saw in my head didn’t match up with what was on the canvas. and now it’s getting better. now i’m calibrating the compass. now drawing not just backgrounds but also people is exciting to me, and i can stick my links in your face and tell you ‘they hot’. i’m going to keep doing that. i’m going to keep going until i drop off the side of the earth and then spiral towards mars like some kind of fairy, and then i’m going to create something beautiful.

thanks for reading. here’s a pr department link for sticking around until the end

[zet-sway]

More Andromeda thoughts - a lot more positive this time. Wall of text.

There may be spoilers so I'm doing a readmore.

I like the Tempest. I'm a lil cheesed that Ryder's cabin is SO MUCH BIGGER than Shepard's, but it's not a military ship so, ok. But damn that's a fucking nice cabin dude.

Mining resources is fun, I like it. Also means I'm gonna be playing this game for a long time because I'm always checking every corner of everything lol

Vetra 😳

I had a preconception that Peebee would be annoying. I've known her for like five whole minutes, but so far, I like her.

I CAN MAKE N7 ARMOR??? I feel like I shouldn't be allowed to but FUCK IT - I'm going to make it. I suppose this armor was originally intended for Alec, otherwise I'm not sure why I would have it.

I hope I get to learn more about Ryder's background

When do I get my brother??? Pls thank u I am interested in meeting him.

The environments in this game are GORGEOUS.

And now I'm going off on a tangent.

Ok - beautiful games. Let's talk about that.

I have very limited knowledge about how video games are made. But on a basic level I understand that artists make textures, and someone makes 3D geometries, and those two things are married together to make what you see on screen.

When you play Mass Effect 1, you can see how limited their budget was by looking at the environment detail. Art and models take a lot of time. Someone has to make those things. This is why assets are often reused because making fresh assets is time consuming. Low environment detail isn't inherently bad, that's why I say "low budget" instead of "low quality." They aren't the same thing. Assets simply cost money.

ALL of the Andromeda environments I have seen so far are RICHLY detailed. The ships, the planets, the people, and so on. A lot of people worked really hard to make this game and you can see it plain as day the moment you load into the cryo area and there is so much attention focused on the Hyperion.

And you can see how much the fucking artists really cared about what they did. It's gorgeous. I'm so glad they had the budget to flesh the game out like this. And the soundtrack as well is amazing so far. It has a totally different feel to the trilogy but that's okay, it's still an awesome soundtrack.

Now I know that just because a game is beautiful doesn't mean it's GOOD - and I'm not calling Andromeda bad. But as someone who went to school for design, I can't NOT acknowledge the hard work of the design team on the environments. And the environments are one thing that generate player immersion.

Am I immersed? Yes and no.

I'm a bit overwhelmed by the amount of menus and features available to me thus far. But that doesn't make the game bad. It just means I'm proceeding slowly while I get used to it. When I played Majora's Mask - one of my all time favorite games - I also found that game overwhelming at first (took me many playthroughs to get the hang of Clock Town, as well). So I'm immersed until I run into a giant menu of features I need to look at lol.

But Majora's Mask is an interesting parallel to Andromeda as well because it's a sequel telling a new story in a new environment.

Majora's Mask has the same menu setup, the same keybinds, the same basic functionalities of Ocarina of Time. It has a host of new shit too but it still feels like a sibling of the first game.

That's kind of where I start to understand the criticism of Andromeda. This game does not feel like a sibling of the trilogy. It feels like a cousin or something. But again, that doesn't make it a bad game.

HOWEVER - at this time, that's really the only criticism I have of this game. Unfamiliar menus, odd design choices.

A lot of this may stem from Bioware actually having the budget and technology to make the game the way they wanted. I'd be very interested to know how Bioware would have made the trilogy if they had the resources they had when they made Andromeda. Because there is SO MUCH to look at, so many interesting weapon and armor choices. In my opinion, me being overwhelmed is not the games fault, I'm just easily overwhelmed. But when I take some time off the game to kind of digest the experience I'm having, I find myself wanting to come back to it. So I'd call it a pretty damn good game so far.

I will say I find myself missing the characters from the trilogy. But I like to think that the people on the Ark also miss the trilogy characters too. They did leave that galaxy behind forever - and almost everyone they knew from the Milky Way is probably dead now. That's heartbreaking for them. So I think it's normal for me to be missing my favorite characters.

Anyway I'm enjoying this game so far. I hope more people will give it a chance.

[thedevildomdaily]

Demonic Possessions Ch 2: Getting A Little Cozy

NOTE: Sorry about the delay. Had an unexpected guest I had to babysit. I also couldn’t stop writing this. I had no idea where to stop this chapter lol.

Warnings: None, just a little language. I

“Pftssss…” Lena had to cover her mouth with both hands quickly. The badass demons everyone on Earth feared were a bunch of bratty children! The nephilim wanted desperately to film the scene and share with her brothers. They wouldn’t believe her if she told them about this.

Lilly rolled her eyes and sighed as she begrudgingly went on into the room to join the chaos. She then patted the empty seat beside her for Lena. Of course the guys didn’t even pause in their antics at the arrival of their new guest.

The remaining seat available for Leviathan was on the other side of Lena. It seemed he would be stuck beside the 3D nephilim for eternity at this rate. He sat down, focusing on his phone, trying to rapidly tap on it while reaching towards his food.

“You’re going to pay me back for my property AND you’re going to retrieve it.” Satan responded. Lena thought he looked like he was going to snap at any moment given the giant vein on his forehead. She didn’t envy Mammon being the target of his rage.

Lucifer started to eat, but hesitated to say, “Mammooooon…” Which instantly caused the loud demon to melt into his seat to sulk. The eldest resumed his meal, ignoring the death stares still being shot at him by Belphegor.

“This looks delicious.” Lena finally spoke. The commotion, all of the food, the smells; All of it had been overwhelming and she didn’t realize she hadn’t tried anything yet. It was definitely colorful, and somewhat intimidating. She absolutely would not question the ingredients, let alone the nutrition facts. Wait, do they even have Nutrition Facts in the Devildom? 

Asmodeus had sat down, giving up on Beelzebub’s inability to control himself. When Lena spoke up, he gave her a sweet smile, “Oh it is. And it is super healthy. I wanted you to get to taste something wonderful for your first meal in the Devildom.”

“That’s sweet of you, thanks.” Lena chimed with a huge grin before digging in. “Damn this is sooooo good!” Her piercing blue eyes widened with excitement. No wonder the bigg’un over there was wolfing the stuff down. Her reaction caught a few of them off guard and nobody confessed that Asmo merely ordered the food. He solely focused on the presentation. 

It did get a few under-the-breath chuckles from a few of them as Asmodeus beamed at her response, “Oh thank you hun. I knew you’d like it. You seem to have good taste...you’re brothers too.” He was referring to the fashion they were wearing. He also noticed the fine quality of her luggage before. It looked quite expensive.

Lena chuckled, “Haha...Azri trained me well. We share a love of fashion...and shopping. I really need to do some shopping as soon as possible…” It was more of a note to herself out loud, but the beauty guru of a demon lit up with excitement, “Oh let me take you! Lilly we have to show her Majolish!”

Lilly joined in with equal amounts of excitement, “Yes we gotta. And it sounds like Azri should tag along too.” 

“NO!” Lena responded louder than she meant to. Lucifer actually stared at her for a moment. “I mean uh, not this time...he and I may have a few disagreements...when it comes to expenses.” There were a few demons at the table who could understand that. Pretty much Lucifer and Satan were the only responsible shoppers in the room. And of course Lucifer tried to keep a tight leash on his little brothers’ shopping expenses.

“I do need a few immediate room amenities ASAP.” Lena continued, “After Levi wrestled down all of those sheets, dust and cobwebs went all over the place. It’s a hot mess...and not in the good time.” that got a laugh out of Asmo and Lilly, “And I have no sheets, pillows, or a comforter...and I some furniture for my clothes...they’re all packed away still…”

“Awe! That’s no good! You can’t let your clothes get dusty!’ Asmo covered his mouth. He couldn’t imagine living in a room so dusty. It made him want to skip dinner and head directly to his luxurious bathtub. “Lena, you can sleep with me tonight?” Of course he was all smiles and eager to offer that.

“Asmo. Yer just being a perv.” Mammon commented, pausing his sulk-eating. 

Lilly shook her head, “I’m lending her a set of my sheets and a pillow for tonight. And did you show her the Akuzon app Levi? She can quickly order some cool furniture to be sent here in no time.”

The otaku demon looked up from his phone, “Yeah, I showed her Akuzon. We ordered some manga and wall scrolls and…” Leviathan proceeded to list 30 unnecessary anime or gaming-related items.

“What the hell! Did you just order that for yourself?!” Mammon exclaimed. He thought his brother went on a wild spree with Akuzon again. A rather bold assumption coming from the Avatar of Greed himself.

“No no no no!” Lena laughed, “He gave me a few recommendations, and then I saw a few things I liked. I'm a huge fan of gaming and manga myself.” Mammon, Asmo, and Lilly blinked with surprise. Great, there was another one amidst them.  “Hey, don’t judge me! They are great art forms and there is such a plethora of dynamic stories you couldn’t experience in any other media. I would also like to add that I am a freelance artist on the side and I focus on anime and gaming characters…”

Leviathan stared at Lena for a moment in awe of her ‘speech’. Where everyone else understood that she was just conversing about the subject, the indigo-haired demon saw her standing at a podium, giving an academy award-winning performance and he fought the urge to clap.

“Ah, gotcha.” Mammon responded. The other two nodded.

“Hey! Why did you guys just nod when she spoke passionately about those things, but when I say anything, you give me such crap you normies!” he scrunched his nose at his brothers in particular.

“Because she didn’t try to ramble incoherently about it for an eternity or bog us down with unimportant details Levi…” Asmodeus shrugged.

“Awe...I’m sorry…” Lena patted his shoulder, feeling bad for Leviathan, “I’ll listen to your rambles anytime.” Leviathan sighed and shrunk down for a moment, then realized that the female nephilim was patting him. A girl. Touching him. Repeatedly!

“WAAAAAGH! NooOoooOO!” Leviathan rose like a vampire from a coffin, out of his chair, and ran from the room. Everyone laughed at the scene. Even Lucifer ‘covered his mouth to cough’ at the same moment.

Lena merely chuckled sheepishly, “I didn’t mean to make him so uncomfortable...I guess I’m a little too chummy…”

“No. Leviathan is just…” Lilly tried to find the right words for it, “well he refers to himself as a shut-in. He always freaks out about body contact. Pretty much with just about anyone…” Though she knew Lena’s case was a little different and couldn’t help but chuckle.

~

When dinner was over, the house members scattered. Lena went with Mammon and Asmodeus to Lilly’s room to hang out and further discuss shopping plans. Levi didn’t respond when Mammon banged on his door to join them. It was nice to be getting along well enough with a few of the brothers already. The nephilim didn’t feel as welcomed earlier that day as she was now.

“This looks cool!’ she said as she approached the tree, “I can’t say I’ve seen a huge tree just growing in someone’s bedroom before. Are Poison Ivy or something?” Lena chuckled and sat on the side of the bed.

“Well, she and I do have a few things in common, not gonna lie…”Lilly responded as she joined her new friend. 

“So, are we gonna go shopp’n after class tomorrow?” Mammon scratched his head, looking a bit uncomfortable as he sat on the couch, “I may have to ditch last period if I’m gonna go too.”

This made a huge smirk spread across Asmo’s glossy lips, “Ah, trying to avoid paying our Dear Satan your check tomorrow by spending it all with us?” The question caused his older brother to blush and furrow his brows, embarrassed and angry that he got caught. 

“I don’t know what you’re talkin about. I just feel like getting a head start…”

Lilly exchanged looks with Asmo, then Lena. “You know that’s bullshit, right?”

“100%. I just arrived here today and I can read you like a book dude.” Lena gave Mammon a devilish grin.

Great, now the new girl was joining in on the ‘let’s pick on Mammon brigade. It’s bad enough when his little brothers and best friend did it, but her? Crossing his arms, the greedy demon refused to respond to her remark.

“While I do love poking fun at my scummy big brother,” Asmo chimed, “I do want to resume our discussion from earlier. What are we ever going to do about you in that filthy attic room?” Lilly joined in at the concern. “Why don’t you store your clothing in my closet until your furniture arrives from Akuzon? Lilly did the same thing.”

“That would be great, actually, I was kind of concerned about wrinkles and creases...and my brother vaporizing me over it.” Azri was the chillest guy out there, but fuck with his clothes and he was a 6’4”, fire-breathing maniac with claws. 

“And as for sleeping arrangements, I do really think you should consider sleeping in my room with me.” Asmo added. Immediately Mammon and Lilly glared at him.

Lena wasn’t an idiot; she knew he was clearly the Avatar of Lust. The right amount of narcissism, the insistence of closeness, and the weariness of everyone around him. She was also a big girl that could take care of herself. Even if he was a demon of seduction. “You know what? I’m game. If you have a clean, comfy bed I will crash it.”

The other two just looked dumbfounded at her, while Asmodeus closed his eyes and grinned. “Oh this will be lovely. We can do nightly facials and I’ll braid that beautiful silvery hair of yours. Maybe we can take a bath together?”

“Hmm...I might forgo that bath...for now.” Lena responded, “but the rest of that sounds delightful after this incredible fucking journey. My day wasn’t going well before I arrived, and then I’ve been a little overwhelmed by...well, EVERYTHING I’ve seen since we got here.”

“Are you sure about this? My brother’s a little perv…” Mammon’s arms were crossed again and he looked genuinely concerned. He didn’t want to be strung upside down somewhere by Lucifer again for not at least warning the girl. They were also supposed to be cautious with the nephilim until they learned more about them at least. Lucifer’s orders.

Lena yawned, unphased by the older demon’s concerns, “Maybe I am too?” She gave a sly expression at Mammon, making him blush and look away, pretending not to be. “I think you guys have some misconceptions about nephilim. Just because we are half angels, doesn’t mean we are highly virtuous and prudish.” She grinned, reflecting on the trouble she and her brothers have caused over the centuries. “I mean, we have more morals than demons, that’s for sure, but our feelings are so intensely human and we’re considered flawed for it. We’re whimsical, passionate, reckless, and live life to the fullest. And we suffer for it too.” 

The others in the room were quiet, reflecting on what she said. Mammon admittedly thought she and her brothers may be a bit innocent-like. Even older angels like Simeon tended to be. He and his brothers were once before. Asmo shared that sentiment as well, but was delighted knowing for sure that Lena wasn’t.

Standing up, Lena yawned again and stretched before she walked over to Asmodeus with an extended hand to help him up, “I’m really tired after eating so much tonight. Don’t we have to get up early tomorrow? I wanna rest ‘cause I am a horrible monster to wake up in the morning.”

Asmodeus took her hand; it was as soft as his. He blushed with delight and excitement. “Yes, we’d better get our beauty sleep! You too; the both of you!” Lilly was something of a muse for Asmo when designing and consulting Majolish with petite creatures in mind and his big brother did a lot of modeling.

~

The demon’s bedroom was so pretty and feminine. And it smelled wonderfully. The bed looked as soft and comfortable as she’d imagined it to bed. “Asmo, are you sure you’ve fallen? ‘Cause this room looks heavenly after doing all that dusting!” she stepped out of her shoes quickly and sprung for the bed, eager to touch the cozy comforter. “You weren’t kidding about this.”

There was a chuckle from Asmo, not taking offense to the comment at all. She was genuinely excited. Mimicking a feline, he walked slowly towards the nephilim. ‘I never kid about luxury and beauty darling.” He reached for Lena’s hair, pulling it all behind her. It was as silky as he imagined. She didn’t withdraw from him, good. He ran his fingers slowly through her locks before suggesting they went over to his vanity.

They both gazed in the mirror together. She looked drowsy, he was only a little. “I am so curious about you nephilim. I never met one personally until today.” He picked up a brush and began running it through her hair before putting it into a braid. Everything he did was in a rather intimate way, yet Lena never gave a reaction beyond her tiredness. 

“There’s honestly not a lot to be curious about.” Lena responded. She loved when others played with her hair and it was quite common for Azri to braid hers so no tangles got in it. He was more concerned by it than she was. That Mother Hen. “You really can ask me anything. You all can. We are transparent; we literally can’t lie. That’s the stupid angelic trait we all share. At best we can simply not answer you. That being said, and simply because we three are scorpios, we fucking hate lies. Don’t. *clap* Do. *clap* It. We sense that shit miles away.” She made Asmo laugh uncontrollably as she gave instances where exes got their cars destroyed or a garden gnome’s decapitated head through their bedroom window on the 5th story of an apartment. They were definitely far from angelic. Definitely emotional creatures to say the least.

“Lena. I think you and your brothers will really like it here in the Devildom. Your..passionate natures can run wilder here than it possibly could in the human world.” When he finished her hair, Asmo lifted the end and smelled it in a sensual way. “You can put your jewelry here. I promise it’s safe from my scumbag brother, Mammon. There’s a curse on this box specifically targeting him. Solomon created it.

“Oh did he now?” That got her attention. Her brow was raised as she looked at it. It did have the elaborate designs he fancied. “So you’re one of his..contracted?” 

Asmo nodded as he retrieved the night masks they agreed to apply once their make-up was removed. “Yes. We have a contract. He’s such an interesting human; I couldn’t resist him.”

Lena chuckled, “Trust me, I know. Been there…” This time Asmo was brought to attention.

“Are you one of his…?” he asked carefully. “Hell no! I wasn’t one of his 300 wives or 700 concubines...or is it vice versa? Any no. We did have a wild time together during the renaissance period in Italy. I’m not easily tamed and we were just ‘having fun’.”

Asmo beamed, wanting to know all of the juicy details. “Oh I’ve got some stories for you, darling. But then again he has plenty on me so you’d better not say anything to anyone else, got it!” Lena gave him a serious expression with the mask on, making him chuckle, but agreed not to tell. “I can promise pinky. Lilly explained how important a tradition it is. Heavier than a blood oath!’  

The nephilim started at him blankly. This was one of those times where she just had to avoid the truth. No comment. No problem. She shared the pinky promised the demon and they continued getting ready, spilling little stories along the way. Then came time to change clothes.

The demon leant her an oversized t-shirt that smelled like citrus, because Lena wasn’t going all of the way back to the dusty attic after getting nice and clean. She began removing her shirt, not thinking anything of Asmo being in the room.

“Oh my!” he said with wide eyes, “how bold you are, tempting me like this.” He turned away blushing, but held quite the smile. He thought of how much fun they might have in time.

Lena chuckled, “Sorry, I’m used to changing in front of others. Dorm life; fashion life; party life.” Her bra was tossed aside only after she put the shirt on and slid her ripped jeans off. Asmo changed in his giant bathroom. 

He emerged where cute, cyan pajamas that made Lena giggle, “You look so cozy.”

“And you look cute, yet seductive.” he chimed back as he headed to pull back the comforter. He insisted that Lena got in first, and to get comfortable. She followed the suggestion, then decided it was best to place a pillow between them, just to set things straight. She didn’t mind flirting around with him, but she had a little apprehension and self-control. 

He wanted to pout at the dividing pillow. Lilly did the same thing, which was no fun. He wanted to at least snuggle with her, feel her curves that filled-out his shirt. They laid beneath the top sheet and comforter, facing one another with smiles. “Good night Asmo. Thank you for the delicious first dinner, volunteering to go shopping with me tomorrow, and letting me crash here.”

“You’re welcome Darling. And thank you for sharing some candid Solomon stories. I’ll cherish them forever!” They both laughed and the demon watched as Lena drifted off into her dream world. It was really quite something. She had all of the trust in the world in him not to try something with her. He was always used to apprehension and it took forever for Lilly to fully trust in him.

He found himself wanting to run his fingers against the edge of her soft, porcelain face and hair as she slumbered. Asmodeus refrained, but continued to watch over her until he too fell into a deep sleep.

~

The sound of some odd alarm clock started buzzing, causing Lena to groan and bury her face under a pillow. It was strange. It smelled like lavender and honey. She didn’t recall trying any new perfumes lately. And she didn’t have one of her witchy ladies crash.

“Good morning Darling.” she heard a songbird voice chime. It was so close to her; TOO CLOSE! The nephilim quickly rose, clutching the pillow beside her in a panic. It was obvious that she forgot all that had transpired the night before. Lena was totally lost, having no recollection of entering this “Better Homes Than Yours”-looking bedroom.

Her eyes darted straight over to the owner of that voice: a “pretty boy” type. He had a seductive smirk as he stared up at her. He was clothed, though his pajama shirt was completely unbuttoned. It made her instinctively look to see what she was or wasn’t wearing.

The nephilim’s antics caused Asmodeus to chuckle lightly. He knew exactly what was going on in her head. He’d seen it happen so many times: The panic of waking up in a stranger’s bed. The Avatar of Lust never got bored watching this scenario play out. He was highly curious about what Lena thought had happened. “What’s wrong Darling? You look a little lost…” He decided he would have a little fun with her.

“I uhm…” was all Lena could manage to respond with. Her hair was braided, yet the top was completely frizzed. Her eyes widened when the stranger reached towards her. “Did we…?” It wouldn’t be her first time, by a long shot, but she felt completely refreshed instead of her normal hung over status after an ONS. 

“Did we what Lena, Darling?” Asmo asked, playing coy. He was loving this. What naughty thoughts was she having about him? She froze, looking at his open shirt. He looked so hot laying like that. She’d be very proud of herself if she didn’t in fact jump his bones the night before.

“You know…” she said, slightly embarrassed, “bump uglies…”

“There is most certainly nothing ‘ugly’ about me Darling.” he responded, giving her a wink. He let her process that for a moment, watching her sigh and throw herself back on the bed, covering her face with her hands. He knew he was on the edge of taking things too far, and decided to stop with the charade.

Leaning really close to her, Asmodeus whispered in Lena’s ears, “As much as it would’ve been, we only did facials and went to sleep.” He chuckled softly as he saw her ear turn pink.

“Eeeergh!” Lena gritted her teeth and popped the side of his hip, as he was casually lounging on his side, embarrassing the hell out of her. “You are fucking aweful!” She kicked around, pouting.

Asmo chuckled more, loving being able to see her like this. She was absolutely adorable in this state. He totally saw why Solomon would try to fool around this dangerous beauty. He didn’t react, but that swat actually hurt a little. “As much as I want to keep snuggling-up in bed and tease you, we really need to start getting ready for class. You do NOT want Lucifer on your case, especially so early in the morning.”

Remembering she had to go to school made Lena groan even more. “Damn it! I don’t wanna Asmo...it’s too early!” 

~

It took awhile for the two of them to get dressed, followed by hair and make-up. Asmodeus couldn’t resist getting to make-over someone after getting himself dolled-up. It was clear that Lena was used to it, holding perfectly still and moving about just right. She explained that she modeled for her brother, Azriel, quite often.

When they were ready, both Lena and Asmo exited his room, giggling about some joke she’d told about Solomon. It just so happened that Levi and Satan were walking down the corridor to witness this.

Of course, neither of them knew about the sleeping arrangement, and thought exactly the wrong thing. “Oh, good morning guys. What do you think? Am I RAD material?” the nephilim asked, showing off her school uniform. She felt rather silly wearing a uniform. Her school didn’t require one, focusing on individuality and expression more. 

Satan merely stared at her, blinking. He wasn’t sure what this situation was, nor how to respond. “Uhm, it suits you well..” he cleared his throat a bit. Asmo was such a clever little demon, knowing what his older brothers thought and continued to play games. He reached out and took Lena’s hand. “It does, doesn’t it!?”

Leviathan’s face was red, but he looked otherwise rather deadpan. He gave no response, but instead walked right past his younger brothers and the nephilim. It was a curious reaction to both Lena and Satan. She assumed he just wasn’t a morning person.The three followed after Leviathan downstairs to the dining room table.

 It was Mammon’s day for cooking. He’d gone the waffle route, making it quick and easy. The was beast bacon, hellfire bumble bee syrup, and fresh fruits of The Devildom. “You guys are gonna spoil me with all this delicious food.” She chimed and gave her compliments to “Chef Big Money Mammon” which caused him to blush and go tsundere on her.

“You don’t eat like this at your place?” Beelzebub asked, before swallowing what she was sure to be an entire waffle whole. 

Blinking for a second in disbelief, she quickly shook her head, “Nah, we had a cafeteria at Belmont. We’re too much in a hurry to enjoy a setdown meal in the mornings. Too many things to do on our agendas. That and Azriel forbids sugary foods, especially during the most important meal of the day.”

“There’s only one important meal?” Beel asked, swallowing even more food.

Lilly laughed, “I told you we believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It sets your energy and mood.” Lena nodded as she began to take her seat.

‘Oh Lena, Darling,” Asmo chimed, “I might have to agree with your brother about eating too much sugar at breakfast. Your skin is so soft and smooth…..(paused for effect), I don’t want you to get any acne flare-ups. Especially after I spoil you with the latest line from Majolish.”

Okay, the sneaky 5th brother was really having some fun with his implications. Though everyone really did jump to conclusions quickly. And what made things even more suspicious was the way Lena didn’t react to him or get embarrassed.

“Today, Asmo DARLING, I will make an exception to the dietary rules thwarted upon me.” she replied, “Mammon took time to fix me a plate and I intend on enjoying it. Besides, it’s a part of my learning experience. Cuisine speaks volumes for culture anywhere you go.”

The second eldest brother couldn’t help but smile to himself at the appreciation for the food he made. It was unexpected coming from a stranger. “Yeah, don’t waste that food. I got up early to get it ready!”

There were jokes flying around the room about ‘chef Mammon’ with a lot of laughter. Even Belphegor, who was still in sulk mode, took the time to thank him for ‘slaving over the waffle iron’ for everyone. The only one that didn’t seem to joke around was Leviathan. He was quietly focusing on his phone as usual.

“Enough, everyone. It’s time to leave.” Lucifer announced. There were a few sighs that followed. Beelzebub quickly crammed as much as he could in his mouth as his twin began to push him towards the exit. “Beel, you should be good til lunch…” he murmured sleepily.

Lena was actually excited to share her first night experiences with her brothers and learn about how they fared. She didn’t text them anything besides ‘good night lub you!’. She’d rather see the expressions on their faces.

~

On the way to the Academy, Lena walked up beside the 3rd eldest; her ‘keeper’ she decided to call him. “Hey, are you playing the same Otome today?”

Leviathan froze for a moment, then continued to play. “No, I’m playing an action RPG…” He didn’t seem enthusiastic, nor did he seem focused on the game either. It puzzled Lena, so she kept on with the conversation, “I like those. The Marvel Alliance is my favorite.” 

She could see a struggle in him. It was like he wanted to ask about it, but held back. What was his deal? Since he wanted to know, obviously, she went ahead and continued, “So it's all of the characters in the whole Marvel universe. It’s random what good guy characters or bad guys you get, but you draw random ones, build your team that are good against certain types of enemies, and level em up. It’s got decent story lines, and it’s cool you can play as bad guys too...it’s just. I really hate the ‘pay to play’ games that get you into gambling away your money for the characters you want.”

He glanced at Lena out of the corner of his eyes as she spoke. She really was the only person he knew that could ramble on about games like he could. Well not as much as him. He was the king otaku here after all. 

“Are you by chance upset with me?” Lena asked, “I figured you’d at least share your opinion of the whole pay-to-play thing…” she had a tuition for these things and hated feeling awkward around people, especially ones she’d be around a lot. 

At first Leviathan was going to dodge her question, then Asmodeus called to the nephilim to ‘hurry up’ to walk with him. It made him grit his teeth. “NO! Why would a shut-in otaku care about a 3D girl getting a little cozy with Asmo!?” He shouted at Lena and stormed on ahead of  everyone.

Lena felt the eyes upon her. Not only did the fellow House of Lamentation members look at her for answers, but other RAD students gathering about the school grounds who witnessed the scene as well.

The nephilim facepalmed as Lilly joined her at one side, with Asmodeus at the other. “What was that all about?” 

[sage-nebula]

Neo: The World Ends With You - Thoughts So Far

I’m on Day 6 of Week 1 and I want to compile my thoughts so far — not in a formal post, but at least all in one place, especially since I feel that jotting down what I think / feel as I go through will help me write my review when I’m done. Spoilers under the cut, obviously — and while it should go without saying, do NOT comment on this post with spoilers from later in the game, so help me. Even if I pose a question that gets answered later on — hell, especially if I do — don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I will find out in my own time.

With that said . . .

So obviously, I’m really enjoying it so far. You can tell that the writers / devs haven’t lost their touch despite it being thirteen years since the first game was made. You can also tell that a lot of love went into this; this isn’t something they churned out just to make money (if they thought this was a moneymaker we wouldn’t have had to wait 13 freaking years for the sequel), but rather something they really, really wanted to make. Not a total passion project, because those aren’t allowed in the world of capitalism, but there is still a lot of love there. 

That said, more specific thoughts:

THE MUSIC. It doesn’t really come as a surprise given that TWEWY’s soundtrack was phenomenal, but god, they brought it right back for this game. The remixes (“Someday”, “Three Minutes Clapping”, “Transformation”, “The One Star” etc) are all excellent, but the new tracks are phenomenal too. Tbh I’m not sure how any of the Players get any fighting done when the music makes you want to just bust a move right there in the scramble. It’s so good.

Most of the characters are great too. Of the Wicked Twisters, I think Fret is my favorite; he is pure of heart, dumb of ass, and I love that for him. I do like Rindo too, of course, and his habit of overthinking everything (since Fret has zero brain cells, Rindo has to make up for it), but him being standoffish / socially anxious and snarky makes him feel a bit like a toned down Neku, so he doesn’t catch my interest quite as much. And while I do like Nagi, the way she speaks in like . . . medieval-esque language is a bit off-putting. In particular it’s weird that Rindo didn’t tell her to knock it off with the “Lord Rindo” stuff since using such an honorific would be considered awkward / embarrassing in Japanese. I guess he’s just too socially anxious / awkward to tell her to stop, but it’s still a bit distracting.  Other than that, I’m really not a fan of Kubo (one of the Reapers) or . . . Susukichi, I think his name is? The leader of the Ruinbringers. I find them both to be pretty annoying, haha. But I love Shoka, as well as Kanon, and Motoi is a good bean, too. As for the Deep River Society . . . those nerds have issues lmao. Especially their leader. Although I can’t fault him for breaking down sobbing when he realizes that he now stands a very good chance of getting erased, which reminds me . . .

HOW ARE WE ON DAY SIX AND THE WICKED TWISTERS STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT BEING ERASED IS?? We have kind of an inverse situation where where Neku knew right away that he would get erased if he failed the missions / didn’t win the Game, but didn’t find out until later that he was dead. Here, the Wicked Twisters learn that they’re dead fairly quickly (and Fret has some realistic denial going on about it at first, though he gets over it pretty quickly), but they’re still completely in the dark about the fact that their souls will get wiped from existence if they lose despite erasure being mentioned at least a handful of times. Like I guess it was never spelled out for them, but especially as someone who played the first game about a million times, it’s a bit maddening to see them be like, “Why is he crying like his life is on the line? lol whatevs no big deal la di da!” Since the Wicked Twisters aren’t aware of the stakes, a new player wouldn’t be either, and so it rather tones down the urgency that was felt in the original game where everyone was very much aware that they were fighting for their right to exist.

Since I brought up Motoi, I want to say that I just played past the part where he reveals that he was An0ther, who is apparently Rindo’s favorite blogger / poet. I feel like this is meant to be similar to how Hanekoma was CAT, Neku’s favorite artist, but it doesn’t carry the same impact because a.) as far as we know An0ther didn’t have anything to do with how Rindo died; b.) we haven’t seen Rindo bring An0ther or his poetry up that much, much less have anything An0ther said be his entire life’s mantra; c.) we haven’t gotten to know Motoi that well either. Like we met him once before this revelation. That said I’m not sure it was supposed to have the same impact as the Hanekoma = CAT reveal, but if it was then it did fall short. (Also I saw it coming the second Motoi quoted An0ther lmao.)

Speaking of Hanekoma, WHERE IS MY MANS??? I know he has to show up at some point because if I’m not mistaken we saw him in the trailers. And if I am mistaken then he still has to show up at some point because he played a central role in the “A New Day” epilogue chapter of Final Remix, what with Coco being unable to control him and him knowing what was going on, plus he was testing Neku for something in “Another Day” and that has to be whatever is going on in this game. I’m sure he’ll come in for some big reveal later, but like, we have a new street artist in this game (MKN) with no mention of CAT as of yet, and I’m just like . . . where is he. Where is my mans. What is he doing. Bring him to me.

That said, we already got to see my #2 mans (Kariya♥) so I am happy about that at least. 

Back to my mans for a hot second: I actually erased my demo save data and started fresh to remind myself of everything when I got the game, and idk if it was in the demo or not, but regardless—at the end of the demo portion there’s this shot of the sky and then this nameless voice is like, “It’s finally starting. I hope you wake up soon. I don’t want you to miss all the action.” My current guess is that the speaker was Hanekoma, speaking to Joshua. Joshua being “asleep” would explain why the Game is as screwed up as it is right now, what with it having been going on for a year and people able to choose to play again and again and again while the rest of the Players—who tbh should also be counted as winners if they survive the week!—are trapped in limbo.

Because that’s the thing: I know that it was partially a lie to cover for the fact that Joshua’s game with Megumi was set to last three weeks, but at the end of the third week Megumi told Neku that a new rule was being put in place that wouldn’t allow repeats of the Game anymore. But even setting that aside, in the original Shibuya UG rules, anyone who survived the Game could get a wish at the end, whether that was to be brought back to life or made into a Reaper. This is why at the end of Week 1, the three winners were Neku, Shiki, and Beat. However, here the Ruinbringers are able to keep everyone trapped and they have been trapped for at least a year, given what Motoi said. It’s completely different rules and I’m sure that this has something to do with the fact that the majority of the Reapers we’ve seen so far are from Shinjuku (at least going by the spoilery trailer, and iirc it was confirmed in “A New Day” that Coco was from Shinjuku actually, but it’s been a while so I could be wrong about that).

Speaking of, has anyone noticed that the possibly-Shinjuku Reapers don’t have wings? No?

ALSO speaking of Coco, at least tangentially: Coco was the one who revived Minamimoto at the end of “A New Day”. However, he’s definitely not how I would have expected. Like despite Coco using the Taboo Noise sigil to bring him back, he’s clearly not in his Taboo form. He’s using psychs as a Player would, rather than a Reaper. And while it’s clear he’s up to some form of nonsense, it’s unclear exactly what form of nonsense he’s up to. I know that he’s here for fanservice and that him looking like Nagi’s bias from Elegant Strategy is a tongue-in-cheek nod to that, but I have too much faith in this series to think that’s all this is. I’m wondering if being revived for a second time fixed whatever screws were loose in his head before? Or if he was revived as a human Player by like, Joshua or something? (Although why Joshua would do that I have no idea. Maybe Hanekoma instead?) Hmmm . . .

Small aside, but we all know that Nagi has put herself into hundreds of thousands of yen in debt for Tomonami merch lolol RIP Nagi. (I’m also interpreting that she’s not actually older than Rindo or Fret, but she just skipped a bunch of grades. Like I feel like this might have been lost in translation a bit, and that she’s a senpai to them because she’s in uni but she’s not actually older than them. I could be wrong but that’s how I’m interpreting it right now. She just doesn’t look or act older than them.)

Oh another minor annoyance, but whether it’s due to the partial 3D environment or something else, I’m SO ANNOYED that some of the streets aren’t connecting as they should now. Like, how going in the direction of Molco spits you out at Spain Hill or 104 or whatever? I don’t remember exactly what area it was, but it wasn’t Molco!! I’m sure if I hadn’t played the original a million times like a loser this wouldn’t be such a big deal to me, but I have and it is lmao. Also, they’ve had the Shibuya Underpass / Cat Street blocked off this whole time and I’m like :( let me go to Cat Street :( let me see my mans

I’m relieved that Ken Doi is still making delicious food and I look forward to his ramen curry fusion. I was really upset about RamenDon being gone at first but as long as Ken Doi is still around I am happy.

My dinner just arrived so this is all I have to say for now, but I will update more as I play more. I love this game and I’m so happy to be back in Shibuya, even if the characters pronounce it wrong sometimes (saying “ShiBOOya” like pls . . . you are supposed to be Japanese . . . get it right . . .)

[lyrexios]

*cough cough*

okay...so... my Tumblr here is very dusty... like is that 2019 posts I see?  Oh god... I’ve tried and I failed...again. ...Again..  Anyhow. You are probably wondering why I am here now... right?  

“Guardian you finally grew up and took your faith as a Tumblr poster?” yes and no... yes, I grew up...am 20 now...that is gross. being an adult suck!  but no. I shall not dive into the glorious wonderful toxic world of Tumblr!!! BUT also, yes i will try again if I do not forget! ...  

“But why now guardian?” Well, you see.... I became somewhat active on twitter.... and twitter is worse than Tumblr! we all know that those are facts! cancel culture is on the loose there.  

So, my point... I told people I would not go Tumblr no more due to the toxic people I have seen in the past. HECK!!! even art idols turned toxic and weird not throwing shade here. (Like that one person shaping the majority of the 2015 FNAF comics that got dubbed) 

Anyhow... I have become semi active on twitter and if twitter is worse than Tumblr than I got to put my old statement as side and become semi active on Tumblr.   

So here I am... did you miss me?  ofc not but still..you all who do not follow my Instagram or heck even amino's have missed some stuff... so lemme start with the big elephant in the room first... NAME CHANGED AFTER 9 YEARS!!!!! 

I am now Lyrexios instead of Lichtningbolt / lightning bolt. This due aging and me wanting something original in life. The Creator guardian part is still there!  

I am part of comic group and leader!  

I own 140 + Oc with most being from my 13 og universe none fanbase related.  

Wattpad is still dead, and all stories are in rewriting!  

Comic Neurotoxic got put on hold due to ADUN comic.  

I moved out! No longer do I share a room with my elder sister.  

I am a trans guy following actual medical stuff to get myself a pp...lol  

I got almost a 4 year relationship POG!!! 

Nina's dog died in 2020....sadly... 

I made a furry species!  

Hek I is a furry! 

LCG has over 400 + versions I shall never draw all out myself! 

17 pages in brief story POG! 

And last but not least... 

I started mc streaming after trying for over 6 years...  

Oh and might graduate this year as 2D and 3D game artist and animator but that's a side thing.   

[thetrashywritingwitch]

Hey, I‘m wanted to do animation for a long time but am worried about the cost of schooling/the chances of being accepted into a program. Do you have any advice?

hey! so this is a hefty question but i’ll try and keep it simple and short-ish

so 1. you don’t have to go to school for art or animation to get a job in art or animation

no one really cares where you go or if you go to college at all. We dont look at degrees or where you graduated from - only your skill and if you can do the job. We have people in our office who are self-taught in Maya or 3D Studio Max or Photoshop or Storyboard Pro. We just look at what you’re capable of doing, where your skillset is now, and if you’d be suitable for the specific project you’d be hired for

BUT!! you must have massive amounts of self-discipline if you decide to go this route. You basically have to act like your own teacher. Set deadlines for yourself, keep on a schedule, practice all the time, practice different things! Take a live drawing/anatomy class. Learn the basics (really learn them i can’t stress this enough. you can only stylize and deviate well if you know your basic rules of anatomy and animation, first)

2. even if you do decide to go to school, you don’t have to go to an expensive private college or university. Just go somewhere with digital design classes because that’s where everything is. You can take online classes, too!

3. chances are, they’ll accept you because they want your money. And I’m not saying this to say they’ll accept just about anyone... but they’ll accept just about anyone. some private art universities and colleges have been known to accept literally anyone because they want the tutiion money REGARDLESS of if their art is actually up to where it should be when they begin classes. By the time i graduated (yes, i did go to art school and i’ll get into why in my next point) a lot of my peers had dropped out or left school for various reasons. it was fucking difficult to an almost abusive level of stress and work so that’s....something else to keep in mind

4. i did go to art school which might seem like it contradicts everything i just said lol but let me elaborate. I grew up in a shitty small town with no job opportunities and just a few local universities with pretty barebones art programs that would realistically get me nowhere. I also didn’t have a lot of money growing up so i had no tablet and had never used photoshop before. traditional illustration and painting aren’t hireable skillsets for studio work, unfortunately. I knew that if i stayed there, then i’d be wasting my time and money and wouldn’t get a job in the field i wanted. so, i moved and went to an art university ONLY because i applied for every grant and scholarship i could. APPLY FOR THOSE SCHOLARSHIPS! EVERY SINGLE ONE! I came out with far far less debt than a lot of my peers because of my scholarships.

5. Ultimately, you’re gonna be competing with your art peers for the fininte animation jobs around. and its a shitty and competitive mindset that advocates working against each other rather than working with each other. tbh I hate twitter, but twitter is where all the artists and animators are and the amount of networking you can get out of it is almost mindboggling if you follow the right people

if you happen to have a portfolio and want to send it to me for a mini review so i can give you some personal help and direction, i’m happy to do so. I didn’t have anyone to lean on when i was figuring this stuff out and i really wish i did...so i try and be that person now. i’m not gonna hoard knowledge from anyone

hopefully some of this helps! thanks for asking and good luck!

[kinetic-elaboration]

June 29: 1x04 The Naked Time

Heeey who’s ready for me to talk about The Naked Time??

First of all this is one of the best episodes ever so jot that down. Absolutely wild from beginning to end.

For example, here to observe the disintegration of a planet is a cool mission.

“Oh no, someone has strangled this mannequin.”

It says something good about the Enterprise crew that they were weird and silly and horny and artistic but the most violent thing they did was slap each other a little and play with swords and butter knives.

This science guy is SUCH a dumbass. Why does he think he’s even wearing gloves??

I love how Kirk always turns on the charm, just a little bit, when he’s being reassuring.

Joe’s story line here is LITERALLY ST: Beyond but better.

Chapel’s first appearance!

“Instruments only measure what they were designed to measure. Space still contains infinite unknowns.” I actually think about this a lot.

Are all games 3D in the future?

3d fencing

RILEY

Everyone looking fine in this ep. Sulu. Spock in his t-shirt.

Sulu trying to get his friends into his hobby of the week.

The fear they have over this butter knife is... interesting lol. Were they not allowed to show a real knife on NBC?

Kirk’s Captain’s Log: “Little did we know...” When is he writing this? Is he making it as dramatic as possible on purpose?

Does Kirk have to do EVERYTHING himself? His crew just keep wandering off or passing out all over the place.

Loooollll Sulu being so sneaky as he leaves the bridge.

“I want the impossible checked out too.” I love him your honor.

Is there another crewman named Rand here?

I love Riley. This is how I’m going to open automatic doors now: blowing at them, dramatic hand gestures.

Spock knows so much about everyone. You know he’s a major gossip. That’s why his brows are so thick. They’re full of secrets.

Outta the chair. Now back in the chair.

SULU.

Honestly living for the way Uhura says “Sorry, neither” to “Fair maiden.”

Spock knows his Muskateers.

First Vulcan nerve pinch. Kirk wants to learn.

I am CACKLING over Riley. This never stops being the most hilarious thing. It also seems like it’s way too easy to take over the entirety of the ship lol. Maybe Riley’s just very smart--how he came to be a captain so young and all.

I love Kirk’s expression every time Riley calls himself captain. He does NOT like tom foolery.

I’VE WATCHED THEM FADE AWAY AND DIE.

Spock imposes social distancing, but the virus continues to spread.

Does the Enterprise actually have a bowling alley or is Riley making shit up? Someone needs to write the fic of the fancy dress dance in the bowling alley.

ONE MORE TIME.

What does Kirk need to sign right now? What paperwork is so important that he has to fill it in before they all die a terrible death in 20 minutes?

Love mankind!!

Spock rolling his eyes at Christine’s pre-reform Vulcan kink. Why is everyone so into that lol? She’s only been on the show for 20 minutes and she’s declaring her love, like this went 0 to 100 real fast. And she has a fiance too!

She sure is touching his hands a lot. I have to assume she doesn’t know about the Vulcan hand sensitivity thing because I doubt that’s even part of canon yet but this is also airdate order so who knows. (I have a different take on that than most people anyway.)

I feel like the sickness hit Spock really fast. Is it because he has so many emotions?

Kirk just throwing Riley around.

Oh those pesky laws of physics.

I’m sure I’ve said this before but I find it really interesting that Spock doesn’t tell himself anything about being a Vulcan when he’s holding back emotions. He does math, and he reminds himself that he’s an officer.

My duty is to my mom!

Kirk is so fucking smart. I just honestly don’t even know what to do with people who don’t like Kirk. He knows all about physics, he can run his whole ship, he’s keeping his cool in this insane situation (mostly--and apologizes when he doesn’t btw) but anyway the point is his knowledge of highly theoretical physics is a huge turn on.

“Everyone’s drunk on water” is such a weird explanation. Also none of them seem drunk to me.

This Kirk and Spock scene is one of the best in the whole show. Kirk just keeps slapping him even though Spock’s so much stronger. Spock’s feelings about being Vulcan and human and Kirk’s feelings about command. That real Vulcan hand sensitivity there.

Eta how could I forget JIM WHEN I FEEL FRIENDSHIP FOR YOU I FEEL ASHAMED. Best use of Jim so far.

How Kirk starts talking about women and Spock is IMMEDIATELY ready to do math lol. Did he ever even get the cure? Or did he just get over it?

A BEACH TO WALK ON. Such a romantic little nerd.

SINNER REPENT.

The ease with which McCoy rips his shirt is so hilarious to me.

Still obsessed with that beach I see... Every attempt to make Kirk/Rand a thing is always so flippin weird so I’m just ignoring that and focusing on romantic!Kirk.

This ep is so next level. Like don’t mind us we’re just going to INVENT TIME TRAVEL in the last 4 minutes of the ep nbd.

If REAL Star Trek nerds had written the movies they would have used this. Like Spock literally invents a new time travel method and then forgets about it? Unrealistic. Listen to him here, he wants to try it again.

I know Shatner can be dramatic as all hell but he CAN be subtle, too; look at that sequence when Spock tells them they’re living the last 3 days again.

It occurs to me that we all write Sulu as if he were obsessed with botany and swords but what if he’s really that guy who just has a NEW random obsession every week? I feel like that’s what Riley’s line implies.

I understand why Kirk had a freak out about his command specifically, since he’s spent the whole episode facing death down pretty directly, while having to do literally everything himself, because everyone on his crew is loopy and useless except Uhura, Scotty, and McCoy.

Because of the air date order, and because I’ve been deep in a Mitchell/Kirk wormhole recently, when he started talking about everything the Enterprise had taken from him, I actually thought of Mitchell first.

Anyway that was gold your fave could never goodnight.

[ursae-minoris-world]

So I’ve watched the Dragon Prince ! :D

Let me share a few impressions. I’m a bit out of it for Reasons so don’t expect this to be very articulated but...

- I knew as soon as I heard about this cartoon (when it was still in production) that it was the sort of universe I’d like, and I’m not disappointed ! I love the atmosphere and world building and I’m curious to learn more about this universe. It’s rather classic so far, but it has all the elements I enjoy ! And I’m sure they did get into interesting details and lore. You can feel from the start that there’s more to it.

A lot more under the cut (warning : spoilers !)

- I really enjoyed the characters ? All of them ? They’re all quite interesting and have distinct personalities and I find all of them likeable. I like how all of them interact, how their personalities are multifaceted ; you can see why they make the choices they make, whatever side they’re on. Viren is a bit of the exception as he seems a more classical Bad Guy but there are also plenty of hints that it’s more complicated than it seems, and I'm curious about his past and what made him take the road that he is (or seems to be) taking now.  I don’t really have a fav right now, although I do love Amaya very much. I hope we’ll see her again soon.

The main trio works well and I’ll enjoy following their adventures. I’m quite attached to Callum (even if he’s a bit typical for a main protagonist for that kind of stories ; he works for me ), I do enjoy Rayla’s personality a lot and am interested in her past as well as her internal conflicts. Ezran, I just read as... cute little brother. I’m waiting to see more of his development, so far he’s the one I’m the least interested in, as sweet as he is.

Claudia and Soren are interesting to me as well, they are already in a situation of moral conflict that I’m eager to watch the evolution of, and I like how they... sort of try to cheer each other up and to stick together through it. If conflict happens between them (and it’s not that unlikely) I’m going to be upset lol.

I’m very intrigued by Harrow and Viren and about that past they seem to share.

I’m both very worried for Runaan and very interested to know more about him. I liked him pretty much, he seemed actually protective of Rayla and that’s sweet. I want to know more about the moon elves in general.

I like Gren and I wonder what will happen to him.

I’m also curious of those who are not there : Callum and Ezran’s mom, Callum’s dad, Rayla’s parents...

...now at the same time, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t have the immediate connection with any character that I had to characters in Voltron, specially with Hunk, Shiro, and Keith (well passed my first impression for Keith, but still as soon as the first episode). The characters in Voltron feel a bit more...  real to me, while the tdp characters still read to me as characters - good, interesting, engaging characters, but still. Which is totally fine. Voltron is definitely more an exception than a rule for me, and I can count on one hand shows that had that effect on me. It’s probably not fair to compare both shows on that aspect, as they are very different and as my attachment to Voltron is definitely an outlier. It’s actually quite soothing to not be as emotionally invested this time lol.

- The story is pretty good and I’m definitely interested to see how it will play out, and I do want to also know more about the past and what led to the current situation, as it seems to be more complicated than we’re first told (obviously). I liked how they’re not afraid of complexity (there is more to the war than good guys fighting bad guys) and to get dark or scary. The pacing was effective too, it kept me engaged while not getting me overwhelmed (I do like to be occasionally overwhelmed lol, but hey, we’re pretty early in the story for that). There is some foreshadowing going on, and it works, but it’s almost too easy at times. It was pretty obvious that Ezran could talk to animals, for example. I guess here the foreshadowing is more meant for the general audience, including the kids, to catch, while in Voltron they are more like hints for the fans and not necessarily intended to be seen by everybody.

Occasionally I felt some situations were solved too easily. I found Rayla’s issue with her binding was solved a bit quickly and even if it does make sense... I’d have preferred she found a solution herself, rather than this. Same with her issues of being an assassin without a victim, it seems something too deep to be solved in just one conversation. But at the same time, I do expect it to bite her again when she’ll be confronted to the judgement of her peers, and when she’ll have to learn to understand better her parents’ situation...

Then again... this is the first season. In the first season of Steven Universe, I thought it was just a fun and goofy show where the characters would just be fighting monsters without much more being explained (and I was ok with it), while Steven would learn to master his powers. In the first season of Gravity Falls, I thought it’s just be fun supernatural summer adventures for the kids and I didn’t expect the story to go that deep nor to turn... how it turned. When I watched the first season of Voltron, I thought it would be a monster of the week kind of show with maybe some nice character development along the way. Here, the first season is already quite dark and complex, let’s not complain about things getting solved easily. It has room to become... well even more dark and complex, and there are definitely going to be issues that will take much more work to solve.

As for the style and animation, I do like the general style and charadesign. I’ll probably be tempted to draw fanart. The cast is quite diverse, although I would have liked maybe a little more diversity in body shapes as well. The 3d cell-shaded to look like 2d is...ok. I’ll get used to it. My reference for that is Renaissance and I find it worked better even if it’s much older (2006!). But then, they were going for a very different aesthetic. I’ve seen plenty people complain about the frame rate, which I’ve also read was an artistic choice to remind of hand drawn animation. It didn’t bother me that much, and I got used to it pretty quick. I think the style and animation are  likely to improve / change while the show keeps developing, too.

Other than that, I don’t have any ships at the moment. Which is pretty normal and my default to be honest. I just... don’t usually ship. The closest I could get was... Harrow and Viren, lol. Yeah, not the nicest dynamic right ? But they do seem to have been very close and have a quite passionate relationship (by witch I do mean both in good and bad ways). So I’m a bit curious about that. But I don’t really see them in a romantic light (or want to interpret / imagine them as such).

Other than that, maybe I will get more attached to a pair as the story develops... or maybe not.

TL; DR : I enjoyed the Dragon Prince and I’ll be sure to watch the next seasons. I think it’s already clear that it’s going to be a good, compelling story.

I feel we’re in a bit of a golden age for cartoons lately, with really good shows like Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Adventure Time (I personally couldn’t get into it, but from what I’ve heard there is a lot more to it than you see first), Trollhunters (I haven’t watched it yet, but I’ve heard a lot of good about it and definitely plan to), Voltron... I think it’s pretty clear already that the the Dragon Prince will be up there as well and will be remembered as part of that golden age.

I expect to enjoy it a lot, just like I loved Gravity Falls and still love Steven Universe. But I also know it’s not going to replace Voltron in my heart (and that’s a personal statement more than a judgement of quality).

There is a very special connection that I had immediately to Voltron, it’s universe and characters that isn’t here. And it’s quite normal, as Voltron is... very special to me somehow, despite of all it’s flaws.

So I’m likely to share Dragon Prince art, theories and so on, but I don’t think I’ll delve into it like I do with Voltron. I don’t feel the need to read all interviews, to invest time in listening podcasts and watch each convention panel and so on. Nor do I feel the need to read and even less write fanfictions, and I’m not tempted to write long metas or character analysis either. It might change as time passes and we get more seasons, and maybe fandom will tempt me but...right now it’s not the case.

On a more fandom related note, I was wondering a bit of what this blog would become after the end of Voltron, and if I’d have to look for Dragon Prince blogs, but it seems it’s all happening organically, as a lot of the blogs I follow are following tdp as well, which is nice ! :D

Aaaand last but not least : my tags for the dragon prince will be pretty much the ones I use for Voltron, but with tdp first (ex : tdp spoilers, tdp thoughts, tdp meta, etc).