#hERE I AM YAPPING AGAIN

[erabu-san]

I love Tighnari and Cyno's relationship sooo much man. They clearly care about each other so much and love each other. I love them just. Being them. I honestly find friendships to be so much more compelling than romantic ones. Not that I don't like romantic relationships- but the platonic ones just...hit different.

Right right ?! There is this authentic friendship when you can trust each other. Also the comfort of knowing there is someone on your back, always here for you,,, of course, you also find this in romance trope.

But it is also a common trope in friendship that we tend to forget. What true friends are ! A choosen home, a found family. With who you can spend hours without noticing time passing, with who you don't talk for months but you know it doesn't shutter your friendship and when you meet again, it becomes an euphoric moment. There is something more deep between Tighnari and Cyno than just "romance"

Tbh I see in them my dynamic with my friends or with my brothers, and I love my friends so much <3 when everything was difficult, and I didn't trust myself enough to save me, I trust my friends. And I was right to trust them ! And that's it, if one them start to doubt themself, they can trust their friend. That's how authentic and meaningful their friendship are !! And.. the found family trope is make it more important too

I already talk about how family is important for Cyno (did I?? I don't remember if I talk about this in public), morever than his family are not related by blood (Cyrus, Lisa... Tighnari is as much as important for Cyno). Maybe it is because I have brothers and lucky of us we are united, but I believe that for man, having a brother is as deepful as a romance story (not saying that romance is bad i'm sorry !! I love romance) (maybe I'm also biased because I am in aromantic spectrum <//3) (and maybe not only for men ??)

Anyway !! I feel like we tend to prioritized romance than friendship, as a pyramidical system. But for me, their intensity in love are similar, it is just a different kind of love. It is like.. two differents pillars than a pyramide !

[neolxzr]

i knew you'd come back (i never had any doubt)

[fearandhatred]

i was thinking about this line from my fic:

But the fall had hurt, too. Because the wind had cut into his useless wings like knives, his skin and grace peeling away under the friction, and he had been looking right up at the multicoloured and unreachable expanse of sky just to see it fade from his eyes into dull greys.

and i came up with this. i hope the vision came through

[persephoneprice]

i’ve been thinking about coal mining in district 12 again and it’s really not surprising how small the population of district 12 is.

between devastating mine accidents and the health affects that come with breathing in coal dust- i think many people die in district 12 from coal related injuries/diseases.

i have to wonder how many people in district 12 were killed from explosions like katniss’s father or how many people were killed by other accidents within the mine. how many people were crushed by falling rocks and either died then or starved when they couldn’t work anymore? how many people died from flooding in the mines? how many families went hungry when their only source of income was killed or badly injured in the mines? how many people suffered due to runoff from the mines tainting their drinking water?

and how many people succumbed to illnesses related to breathing in the coal dust that coats the town? how many people suffered from chronic asthma or coughing that couldn’t be helped because there was no health care? how many people lived long enough to be affected by black lung? how many miners died painful deaths from lung cancer with no real doctors to make it easier?

there’s so much danger that comes with coal mining. the horrors go beyond just having to worry about an explosion. there are so many way that coal mining can cause lifelong health impacts.

of course no one in district 12 ever got to die of old age- the mines killed them before they could fathom the idea of living past middle age.

[kathegoose]

i lov drawing this thang at stupid angles

[butterfly-ribbon]

been thinking of ppl saying that mizuena should've been in a yuri or josei manga that isn't popular which is a sentiment i understand bc yes a hypothetical mizuki akiyama that exists in a yuri or josei manga would probably have her transness made explicit i guess (absolutely not guaranteed tho imo considering the amount of transfem manga i've read that quickly veer into third sexing u_u) but even if i accept this premise at face value i'm not fully onboard with it bc i feel like her character exists best in something like prsk bc she exists as a response to trans girls being into things like love live, revue starlight, bandori, etc. it's in her metanarrative…

not saying gacha game writing is always good … a lot of ppl often say it's frustrating how much it expects you to fill in the gaps (bc that's part of audience engagement) and ena5 was arguably gachapilled abt it but i think it makes sense. gacha thrives on implied queerness bc even when the writers are passionate about what they're writing abt they can't risk alienating executives and wider audiences bc writing queerness in something 'mainstream' is often complicated? so it's not always the writers' choice? i think mizuki is pretty Explicitly transfem though. the only "issue" with her writing to me is that they don't let her say this, which i also only consider a problem /at all/ bc when she's outed it's pretty explicit? gacha often has very character driven writing … the queerness is often also an Audience Draw. i wish they would at minimum call mizuki a girl. textually. i want ena to call her a cute girl … though considering how many ppl go "ano ko", she's getting called a cute girl all the time lol.

with that being said, i think the picnic event is one of my main examples of things that make me go,,, mizuki's character works best in the context of something like prsk as a response to things like bandori bc it's about a tgirl vs cgirl idols. that mixed events inherently highlight mizuki's circumstances as "othered" by society around her and the inherent complications of her own life vs others. ppl compare mafuyu and toya sometimes also but it's so bare bones by comparison bc mafuyu is literally in a dissociative cPTSD fugue at all times. it's about so much more than being forced into a life goal she doesn't want. everything about how her mother has raised her has warped her as a person. made her unable to see healthy or more objective realities. mizuki and mafuyu both have wanted desperately to die and disappear. mizuki even now … struggles so much with that and being around "normal" ppl is hard for her bc of it bc no matter how she tries, she can't be a normal girl. an average girl. so she has to be abnormal or exceptional. no in between. how she exists in contrast to bandori is so genuine in that engagement with gender and i specify bandori bc it's colopales other game.

going back to the picnic event i love the moment when they're eating the food airi prepared and talking about how airi and shizuku are "idols who are capable of bringing others hope", but then mizuki quickly goes from admiration to somberness, wishing she could be the same as them ... and even when the others bring up the music she makes with her circle it doesn't do much to cheer her up? it reads so much to me as a trans girl struggling with an inherent sense of inferiority amidst cis girls who have never had their own girlhood questioned in the way she has and can thus take so much for granted! ena might be really ruthless and mean in a way that is atypical of femininity and airi may have struggled with not being traditionally feminine and was bullied for failing to act out "proper" girlhood, but she still has a very different experience from mizuki and neither can compare to the constant transmisogyny and degendering that mizuki constantly has to go through every day and having her identity denied so vehemently on a systemic level.

it's so pointed to me bc mizuki is an idol fan and has that genre awareness ... the way trans girls often connect with media like mahou shouio and idols but despite their love for it, still feel an inherent sense of alienation due to being an Other ... bc there's a separation between "liking these girls and these things" abstractly versus actually meeting them, and i think it's interesting that there's literally no way in the context of this game that any of these girls could be idols and trans, specifically bc mizuki is a trans girl who can't be one and this game predicates a major portion of its story around mizuki As A Trans Girl! if mizuki tried to be an idol, she'd be outed and harassed! that's a fear she already has to live with when she's making music with niigo even though it's safer due to its anonymity. transness and idols don't have to be disconnected of course, but her being a trans girl who's a fan of this stuff who's disallowed the opportunity to directly take part in them is So fucking important. her engagement with all of this.

this is an event about ena's relationships with other women but also how mizuki exists in the borderlines of girlhood ... how no one else is so prepared as she is for things going wrong and how much she has had to take on undue responsibility in the world at large just to "exist"... she's protected at home but everywhere otherwise, she always has to take responsibility for how others see her, how others project onto her, how others expect her to act, and the event ends with mizuki still declining ena's offer to join the group call with airi and shizuku bc it didn't resolve anything ... bc simply repressing her own insecurities and fears in the moment to rescue ena and airi bc it's more important to act didn't help in the grand scheme of things when this is something mizuki is always expected to do! ena did it out of kindness, but it's terrifying to be invited to a group trip with her childhood friend who is actually a cool and beautiful idol, and then for another beautiful idol to be there. and both of them are so pleasant and sweet and nice. how is mizuki supposed to interact around ppl like that, after all?

the mizuena in the picnic event is so fucking vital bc of ena trying to give mizuki comfort but making her more and more discomforted, which is good buildup to my footsteps, your destination. it's about how mizuki still exists on the fringes of girlhood even when someone is actively making effort to make her feel "included" and the invisible yet uncrossable barrier that exists between her as a trans girl who loves things like idols and idols themselves (who are predominantly cis girls). airi and shizuku are very sweet! but it's… kind of agonizing, bc airi was already ena's "friend" and mizuki feels like she has no place in the lives of others and wouldn't deserve to be ena's friend if ena found out about her transness, which is why she clings to the plausible deniability around her gender status. airi is someone who can bond with ena and be close to her much more easily bc of their shared experience with misogyny, but this is something mizuki has to struggle for much more even though the misogyny she struggles with is even more Amplified due to how the [trans]misogyny she experiences is often denied and erased even among other girls...

[themintman]

My opinions on some ships and characters 😼😼😼

Ill explain some stuff in the tags if yall are curious hehe ALSO IN THE REBLOGS. TUMBLR SILENCED ME 😔💔

Template by @stervil !!!

[muzsmocsing]

Peerless Confusion: the ending of svsss book 3

One second we're in a collapsing cave trying to remove Xin Mo's influence in the most painful way one could think of, causing everyone involved severe emotional AND physical damage. Then I turn the page and boom, it's sunshine and rainbows on Cang Qiong Mountain. Everyone is alive and well the world is restored and the suddenly happy couple rides off into the sunset. Genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, what the fuck happened??

[fancygremlin]

Narrative foils: John and Yellow

Humanity is a central theme in Malevolent. While it is easy to recognise Arthur's, the listener is more cautious when it comes to John (and Yellow).

Arthur is human, just like the person that is listening to the podcast. We can understand his kindness and empathy towards people, his tendency to expect people to act on their best intentions. We also can understand his emotional outbursts and his feelings (his anger and his immeasurable guilt, his sorrow and his stubbornness), we can understand how his motivations, personal biases and previous experiences can shape his decisions and actions. It's easier for the listener to forgive Arthur for his missteps and flaws because we empathise with him very deeply on a human level. It's easy for the listener to recognise themselves in this deeply flawed character and how hard he is trying to be better, fix his mistakes and improve.

It's a lot harder for the listener to do the same with John. At the very start of the podcast, he is presented as an eldritch entity of indescribable appearance, unknown motivations and even more mysterious origins. His thoughts and actions are harder to understand, he always seems to have ulterior motives, he is less empathetic and a lot harsher in everything he does. He is not a human characters, he's quite far from it. The listener (and Arthur) is left to grapple with something completely foreign. Instinctually, we perceive things that are inexplicable or unknown as dangerous and evil and not to be trusted (all in the name of self preservation).

At the beginning of the podcast, Arthur appears to be a calm and collected private investigator. He has a very methodical and logical way to solve problems. He values his intellect the most, and he is often calm and collected where John's more emotional and instinctual, temperamental and impatient.

As the show progresses we gradually see how Arthur's trust is broken and his empathy is betrayed on countless occasions. He is continually backed into corners, betrayed and beaten... and the more he is forced into a relentless fight or flight mode, the more he is forced to bare his teeth and act on instinct, rather than reason.

At the time of season three, Arthur has become a shell of the man he used to be at the very start. It has been (quite literally) beaten into him how dangerous and unforgiving both the Dreamlands and the real world (his home) really are. He can't trust anyone, he is alone. He only has John to rely on. So when Kayne offers to bring John back to him after thinking he had lost his one and only friend forever... of course Arthur agrees and strikes the deal.

Even if John won't have his memories... anything is better than the alternative.

Unfortunately, John is different from who was given back. This is because John and Yellow are ultimately the same character at different points in their development.

So, what were the conditions that allowed Arthur to see John as a friend, and Yellow as an enemy?

Arthur's state of mind

Arthur at the beginning of the show was still kind and mild. He was still trusting of others and was far more willing to extend compassion to humans and eldritch/monstrous creatures alike (he was willing to save the baby, but he was also willing to trust John and save and release rather than kill the wraith). He was therefore more patient or willing to cooperate with and trust John. There is also the bonus that both him and John were helping each other work out the exceptional situation of sharing a body. Furthermore, being forced to experience the horrors together allowed them to experience the very best and the very worse of each other. Every time they managed to survive, they formed a stronger and stronger bond based on trust.

Yellow met Arthur when he was at the end of his wits. He was impatient, abandoned, lost and alone. He was not exactly in the right state of mind to help and guide Yellow on how sharing a body with him worked. Arthur was also more snappy and less tolerant of Yellow's quirks and resistant to Yellow's suggestions/ideas.

To further worsen the situation, Arthur also decides to use fear as a control tactic with Yellow. The human came to know John extremely well in their adventures, and he knew what his friend feared the most (being sent back to the Dreamlands to the King in Yellow). Arthur decided to use that to continually threaten Yellow into submission. So, not only was Yellow in a new, strange and uncomfortable situation (sharing a body with a stranger and being only able to see through said stranger's eyes), but he also felt unwelcome, threatened and constantly compared to a "better" version of himself. Hence, Yellow was continually pushed back into the role of the "evil eldritch entity" by Arthur himself and never allowed to actually grow out of the bias that "unknown creature of mysterious origin" = evil and dangerous creature. That doesn't exactly help build trust...

Naming conventions

John was allowed to name himself. He decided that the name John Doe felt right for him and asks Arthur to call him so from that moment forwards. Of course, his friend obliges right away. I love that John Doe is a name that is usually used by the police (in America and in the United Kingdom) to give a temporary identity to people whose name is unknown or intentionally being concealed. Fits John quite well, since he is quite literally and metaphorically trying to give himself a blank slate. This is him tentatively steeping out of his previous role as the King in Yellow's wayward fragment and into something different. Choosing a name for himself is a great first step.

Yellow was never given the possibility or time to do the same. Not only was he denied exploring his environment with the innate curiosity both him and John have, but he was also denied choosing a name for himself. Arthur was the one who dubbed him Yellow, a name that is way too similar and easily associated to the King in Yellow. How can Yellow be expected to be anything else, if his own name is a constant reminder of where he came from?

John decided on a name for himself that is synonymous to someone whose identity is unknown (or willingly being concealed) and was allowed to shape himself into someone new. Yellow is given a name that never allows him to be seen as anything more than just a mere fragment of the King in Yellow.

John was given the space (and time) to grow into something that felt true to himself, Yellow was expected to fulfill impossible expectations and fill the mould made for someone else (namely, John).

Exploring the surroundings

Personally, I really, really love how innately curious and inquisitive John is of his surroundings. He always showed genuine interest in anything that was completely new to him (the objects, environments and social situations) that he came in contact while observing the world through Arthur's eyes. Luckily, his curious nature was encouraged, as Arthur often took time to explain to him, correct him and even teach him new things to him. The best and first example that comes to mind is John describing a "chair with wheels", which was amicably corrected as a "wheelchair" by Arthur in Season one, Part 3. Arthur's friendly aid allowed John to familiarise himself with an otherwise confusing new world. Slowly, he is able to expand his knowledge and form personal opinions (likes and dislikes) on anything new he encounters.

Yellow also showed right away the same inquisitive nature that John demonstrated. However, his attempts to show interest in anything unfamiliar was constantly shut down, reprimanded and discouraged by Arthur's angry outbursts and impatience. Missteps and honest mistakes were met the same way as well. Instead of learning and exploring his environment with the support of the human he is (physically) attached to, Yellow learns to keep to himself and never question anything. He quickly learns to limit himself to just flatly relaying visual information to help Arthur on his endeavours. Yellow is immediately minimised to just an aid for the human's needs.

To add insult to injury, Arthur also never hesitated to constantly compare Yellow to John. The latter was presented as the golden standard: someone Yellow should aspire to become, while also being expected to inherently be able emulate. This constant comparison represented a major pushback to Yellow's development. It was demoralising and stunting: no matter how good Yellow could have been, he was never going to be given the chance to grow and improve the way John had been. It wasn't fair of Arthur to expect Yellow to become someone else. He should have given Yellow a chance to become his own person instead.

Development of interests

John being allowed to explore his surroundings helped him push further and develop interests. In particular, he has shown a lot of enjoyment from literature and poetry, which Arthur often seems to very patiently share and recite to him. This is something the two enjoy and it's a point of contact between their two wildly different personalities.

It's so fascinating that John shows interest specifically in these two art forms. Art is such an effective medium that allows humans to express their feelings and experiences and hopefully connect with a wider audience to feel less alone and more understood. It's funny that in this case, even a non-human creature was able to relate and connect to very human emotions.

In season four we learn that John has developed a deep interest and fascination for moving pictures. Just based on Arthur's reaction, I think it is very safe to assume that John has been (a pain in the ass) insistently and actively pestering his friend for a very long time to go and watch one.

It's really endearing.

What makes John's interest in movies so much more important is that this is something that diverges from Arthur's interests. Moving pictures are for his eyes only... quite literally (pun intended). He is ultimately the only one of the two consciousnesses sharing Arthur's body that will be able to enjoy them at all. It's a thing that would be for himself alone. John is successfully starting to have personality and interests of his own outside of both the King in Yellow and Arthur. After all, moving pictures are not something that is inherently useful for Arthur's survival or ability to navigate his surroundings... they are purely for John's enjoyment.

John is finally becoming his own person, not just a fragment or part of someone else (and I am so here for it!).

In regards to Yellow... the last time I saw him was at the end of season three, where it is revealed he is now bound to Larson. I would not be surprised to find out that Yellow feels a lot of resentment towards both Arthur AND John (the person that he was being compared to so unfairly). Yellow hanging out with Larson, another character who holds a lot of loathing and hatred towards Arthur, surely will incite Yellow's negative emotions. I can only imagine what Larson is exposing Yellow to and how he must be taking any opportunity to shape Yellow into something he can manipulate and use for his personal gains (just like he did with his daughter). I can't even begin to imagine which behaviours Larson might be encouraging and I am honestly concerned of what will come out of this.

[australianklaviergavin]

I... I feel like I'm one of the only people freaking out about the whole "Van Zieks is suddenly being mentioned in the captions for Investigations teasers for absolutely no reason" thing. Hello?? What's happening???

[residentialsinyomakai]

Hey. Mckraken dump + misc doodles part 50. Throws these at you

Starting w these two! The human design belongs to @analog-smiles and I love it sm btw. Might draw it again in the future i say menacingly. The one on the left is me trying to get the hang of coloring him on digital +drawing full body!!!

I drew this guy more upset than usual yesterday because it wouldn't be your favorite character without inflicting pain on them 💕😋

And then these ones!! Expect more hino art soon because MAN. I love that awful ceo <33

Thats all for now!! Ty for looking at my stuff btw (-u•)~☆

[raptureshots]

Atlas n Frank...

theyre best buddies (TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!)

funky lil alt under the cut :-)

i hate these guys so much they're literally all i fucking think abt on a daily basis its horrible /silly

(i could go. on and on abt them in this. au honestly . the whole au IS technically abt them anyways sooo)

[heyacris]

Can't sleep right now, I'm daydreaming about hypothetical routes and the good and bad endings to a Blush Blush visual novel

[labselkie]

why wouldn’t she just have them edit out her tripping is she stupid

[hauntingblue]

chopper has become catholic

[catfacedcat]

i wanted to draw this out cuz it gave me an idea