#i was trying to play this myself on an emulator to see if there was more content than in the videos on youtube but

[dulaari]

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Crossroads of Time (1995)

(credit: Diamond Longplays)

[ajdrawshq]

thrilled to announce that twewy still goes hard as fuck

[trainerethan]

Even if I'm too embarrassed to post more headcanons for now i stil need it to be known reguri is keeping me awake at night. I heart yuri.

[planet4546b]

you have no idea how conflicted i am about the ff7 remake bc my hater nature esp of remakes and of generally the ways in which games are padded out and bloated w mechanics and focus on hyperreal graphics is fighting a battle to the aboslute DEATH with like. i DO think that a lot of the aditions make the story compelling. and do some good character work. and i have an insane amount of fun every time i play. so like. I DONT KNOW. ill come back when i finish watching the original + actually finish the remake lol. its just warfare every time i start thinking about it. wait aerith is here stop everything

[pureastrologywisdom]

𝔜𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔫𝔞𝔱𝔞𝔩 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔬𝔫𝔞𝔩 𝔰𝔱𝔶𝔩𝔢

When trying to develop your style your natal chart can be a perfect aid in exploring what things will work for you. With fashion an important factor is matching your style with your essence. You want to wear what feels like you. 

Alongside this being able to project or showcase different sides of yourself and aspects of your personality you want to play up. Embodying different signs in your chart is a really fun thing to do. See how you feel when you emulate the energy of each sign. Its fascinating to see how you interact with the world and how it interacts with you.

There are a few different areas you want to look at here - depending on certain factors which I will discuss later:

Your rising sign 

Your Venus sign

Your Moon sign 

Your Mars sign 

Your MC

Your 5th house

Your dominant planet

Your Rising sign is how you come across to people, working with this helps give a natural element to your fashion sense/ look, it’s things you look effortless in. Leaning in to your rising sign can really help boost your confidence and make you feel more authentic.

Your Venus sign is what attracts people to you. Wearing things that embody your `Venus sign will make you feel more magnetic and attractive. It is what you want to wear when you want to feel beautiful. And it will draw people into you. Perfect for a date night.

Your Moon sign is an interesting one to incorporate into your fashion sense. Personally when I wear things that reflect my moon sign I feel very comfortable in my own skin. I also feel very feminine. Something about it really brings harmony to my wardrobe. That is the best way I can explain it for now.

Your Mars sign is for when you want to feel sexy. Wearing things that emulate your mars sign will give you an aura of confidence, making you feel more bold. People will find it hard not to notice you. This is good for a night out, a more spicy date night, and comes in handy when picking out lingerie especially. Wear things from your mars sign when you want to feel powerful.

Alongside this, if you want to be noticed, try wasting something that correlates to your Midheaven if you want all eyes on you. Its a good way to stand out. This is good for a job interview also.

Your Fifth house is something I don’t see a lot of people mention when it comes to this topic. But I feel it is very Important, your fifth house rules over creativity after all. And after all, fashion is all about being creative. 

Looking at your dominant planet can also help you see what energy you naturally give off, that was you can dress to enhance that energy.

I like to be able to know the typical styles, colours, fabrics, patterns, silhouettes and things associated to each of my signs so `i can play about with it and find a balance in my wardrobe. Being able to mix and match different things to emphasise different elements of myself.

Alongside this I am releasing individual reports based on the ‘essence’ of each sign. That way you can find it easier to see a mood-board and examples of the expression of each of your signs that you wish to enhance and understand more in your chart.

It includes fashion tips, beauty recommendation and things to give you a a specific vibe for each sign. 

If you are interested dm me on here before you email me, as `i wont see it otherwise. 

The price of an Individual one is 15 pounds, there is a bundle deal of 40 pounds for three

I have made these from scratch for you guys and this mixes two of my passions together with this project so I really hope you enjoy. 

If you are looking for any other reading message me on here also, and I will get back to you. I have five spaces available from now until the end of October, so i can give each of my clients a good amount of time

Thank you for reading

Pureastrowisdom xx

[chimerafeathers]

the concept of intentional boredom/tedium in video games is very much a "your mileage may vary" kind of thing and i go back and forth about it in different situations. where does it work? where does it feel earned/worth the mental toll? why am i gonna play a game that is trying to make me miserable?

i can understand this not being the case for everyone (ymmv, after all) but for ISaT i was so fucking fully on board with the repetitive tedium of it all. rubbing my grubby little hands together and going yesssss, yesssssss, make my immersive gameplay experience directly emulate the exact frustrations and anxieties and mind-numbing breakdowns of the player character. remind me, at every turn, the toll this would take on the person living it. make me live their inner monologue before it's ever verbalized on screen.

how strong you feel, compared to the party you're inevitably leaving behind, how weak they seem now. how annoying it is to cut down these same enemies again and again, always pointlessly getting in your way (oh, how convenient that Siffrin feels the same way so intensely that you can get an item that lets him scare them off by sheer force of will before they attack you!). since when was the King's battle--so terrifying, so impossible before--so easy? can't this go faster? you've heard this all before.

let me skip ahead, loop around, treat my character my body Siffrin as disposable, take the fast and easy way to reach the next goal when you're on the verge of an exciting breakthrough, this loop doesn't matter anyway. but ohh, this next loop might be The One, better do this one right and follow the script to perfection. make all the jokes and say all the right things to get the lovely bonding dialogue so you can carry the Best Version of Everyone through to the end. that'll give you the Good Ending, right? can't hurt to try, right? you don't really believe it but this time will fix everything, right?

how generous and wonderful to have so many shortcuts at hand! dissociating zoning out to skip repetitive dialogue, splitting your head open on a rock slipping on a banana peel in the town to loop right to the floor you need, suuuuurely all of this stuff is purely for the Player's Convenience and won't have any psychological impact on our dear protagonist such that it gets slammed back into the player's face as a stomach-dropping reminder that someone's moment-to-moment experience in this time loop still matters, still carries over, still gets riddled with scars even if they can't be seen!

i've played & watched enough games that trivialize/hand-wave game mechanics that it's pretty easy to detach myself from the minutiae of video game decision-making. "this input gets the Good Response" -> "i will continue doing this input." "this option will be more efficient" -> "might as well save some time then." but this game would not let me stop thinking about consequence.

picking Siffrin's favorite food makes them happy! :) it's also the option that makes Bonnie the happiest! yay! -> i keep picking their favorite food -> Siffrin gradually grows sick of something that once brought him joy -> oh. right. that...makes sense, huh.

okay i asked the King what i needed, mann there won't be any tears after the fight is over so i'll have to do the whole ending scene again and that takes a while and i reeeeally wanna talk to Loop, maybe i'll just lose on purpose this time -> OH. RIGHT. THIS IS MAYBE THE MOST PAINFUL WAY FOR SIFFRIN TO DIE BOTH PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY HUH. -> never gonna do that again actually!!!!! the ending isn't that long!!!!

banana peel time! we've got places to be and mysteries to solve! -> (you're a living comedy sketch.) (you wonder if you'll ever be able to smell bananas again without wanting to vomit.) -> i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry

it's always cute to see Isabeau's reactions! pick the options that make him blush :3 -> (disgusting. manipulative. it's no wonder he thinks he likes you, you made him feel that way.) -> i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry siffrin NO he liked you before any of this happened please don't think of yourself that way--

maybe it won't hit the same for every player (what game can expect to do that?) but holy fuck it hit for me. the way the mechanics let you fall into familiar gamey rhythms but constantly, constantly remind you that this is Siffrin's life you're playing with. the way you end up perfectly in step in the worst ways. muscle memory and habit built up so well that you both stumble when something changes. devastating and delicious

[petday]

your art is so so so so inspiring to me which is strange bc my style isnt very similar to yours at all. but it makes me happy to see your art, especially when you make art from things from childhood id forgotten about💫💫💫💫💫🩷🩷🩷🩷

Thanks. Your message and similar messages from others over the years inspired me to try to put into words why I draw 'nostalgic things'. I ended up writing a lot.

There was a period of time when I became cynical about being seen as an 'artist who reminds people of childhood' or a 'nostalgic artist'. I no longer feel that way but I will explain why. Some artists, who I like and respect, will sometimes mention 'nostalgia holding artist's growth back' and 'nostalgia causes learned helplessness.' But I feel differently.

Maybe I perceive time differently. I have lived long enough to witness cycles of 'what is valued, and what is not valued' repeated. For example, I loved what is now called 'Y2K' style, but during mid 2000s, for whatever reason it was derided as something to be left in the past, something embarrassing. "Aren't we glad we optimized things now, and they are 'sleeker' and less complex? Old things were childish, an embarrassing weakness for humans, we must advance and reach our ideal evolution." That became the common attitude. I felt pressure to have the same thoughts. I just couldn't make myself feel that way no matter what, though. Even with the increasing threats about, 'keep up with others or you won't ever develop positive social relationships!' I couldn't change my mind.

(If what is currently valued becomes devalued and then it becomes valuable after that… that's an odd cycle to me. For example, if we like bananas, even when bananas cannot be harvested, we still like them even though they occupy a smaller space in our minds but we don't deride them. Going even further, though, I sometimes wonder if it is possible for humans to eventually remove the 'devaluation' stage, particularly in art 'trends' as I am an artist. Whatever is considered valuable remains valuable. A counter arguement would be, 'no, the devaluation of the previous thing is exactly what causes the next thing to be valued, and then the cycle flows beautifully: X was valued -> Y is valued, X is devalued -> Y is devalued, X becomes valuable again. If you want X to always remain valuable, just develop better patience. Like we cannot pick fruit we like all year, we cannot simply keep adding onto the pile of things we like, something has to be seen as inferior by the majority of humans.' I disagree. I might explain my thoughts against this argument more in the future.)

Anyway, what people call 'Y2K style' or 'art that emulates how things commonly appeared in early years of 2000s' is popular nowadays. Even someone who did not grow up with it can become attracted to it. That 'desire' itself is a communication between past and present. Something can make someone feel 'lighter' [in sense of, "wow, the crushing weight of my circumstance feels not so crushing when I look at this'] -- a similar 'light' to how someone in the past was perceiving it when it was the present and not the past. So, even though two people were born in different eras and may not become friends or even meet, they're still connected by that 'lighthearted' feeling they both like. I know it will be seen as 'lower value' soon, but I truly cannot care because as I mentioned earlier, I might perceive 'time' weirdly.

When I started playing video games, a family member would point out, 'those games were made before you were born, interesting!' but that statement confused me at the time since my perception was, 'well, if these games are from before I was born, I don't understand why she is bringing attention to it. Why is it interesting? It's just regular. They're alive in the present now, because I'm in the present and so are they.' That was when I was a very young child. I subconsciously kept the same feeling even as I was reaching teenage and adult years. The feeling echoed when people liked to ask the question 'why are you still playing games from long ago?' as I got older but still played the same 'old' games. The answer: they are beautiful and will remain beautiful, and something made in the past is still communicating in the present, so are they really truly 'outdated inferior games'...? Just because the cycle of valued and devalued happened to be in a different position and those old things were seen as an embarrassment? (Now there are popular games inspired by the era of games many people ridiculed me for consistently enjoying, lol. Similarly, I was using 'crappy' old versions of programs even through 2017. Now people from wealthy upbringing and background use 'crappy' programs willingly. lol)

The present talks to the past all the time, nostalgia is not a dead end. In that sense I cannot see nostalgia as a death trap but rather a connection made from past to present. A string between the past and present that feelings can crawl across and communicate. Feelings such as 'I wish my life took a different direction. I can't make things like how they were back then, it won't ever be the same again, so I'll do nothing.' The criticism of 'nostalgia' is towards that last sentence. But there are things you can do with those feelings. 'Doing nothing is boring. And I keep thinking of that fun drawing I saw... I kinda wanna try to make something.' Making something while thinking of the past and present at the same time, so there is a communication between past self and present self. Pure bitterness communicating with slightly light-hearted view, the 'end result' is artwork/creation.

*I used light-hearted feeling as example, but nostalgia can exist for any feeling, and not just for people who were nice when they were younger. If someone was cruel as a child/teenager, after the person has been an adult for a while, they can communicate with their younger self about what was it about the cruelty that was enjoyable, and then extract a small part from the cruelty that they wish to bring back into the present -- example, the attraction to 'high speed activities, playful mischievousness' can be extracted from 'hurting people on purpose so they will acknowledge/react to you'. The dialogue could be something like, "'honestly, you and I both know spamming people with bad things felt pretty fun at the time, so let's just keep the 'high energy mischievousness' feeling and leave behind the crap that hurt people deeply, and let's make an animation while thinking of that high energy feeling.

^ I don't answer questions or reply to messages often because of giving answers that aren't too long or too short is tough for me. lol. Thanks for liking my art. I like a lot of art that doesn't resemble mine as well. It's fun! Like appreciating different flavours in the same meal even if you cannot make the meal yourself.

[seeminglydark]

what's the timeline for caros gender exploration and settling in to their identity? in some of the comics earlier I thought they mentioned wanted to be a boy pre transition, so I'm curious as to how they settled on the enby identity (did they ever play around w he/him pronouns for ex.?) and what that looked like. i absolutely LOVE their design and learning more abt them!!

hello! So first off, Caro mirrors my own gender journey growing up in the mid nineties pretty closely, just translated onto paper and at a younger point in their life and set in mid 2000's, which is why i write them the way I do, and also why i explore different stages of their journey openly. They were created to help me understand and cope with myself <3

Timeline wise, they've always known they didn't feel like a girl, living in a small town with the only queer person they know being a 15 year old gay teenage boy, they didn't have access to resources to know there was more out there, and that gender didn't exist in a binary. Of course sully explains trans to them, but he doesn't know much or totally get it either at that point. They DO experiment with he/him pronouns, because they don't know there's more options out there for them, switching over shortly after leaving home and starting work at the GasCo, so 18-to about 20, and Sully uses 'he' for them in private before that, at 16. Their he/him years are spent emulating the boys they knew and looked up too, sully and his crew mostly, so a lot of oversized clothes, black, punk things, even though that wasnt really them either. It still felt like a costume. They still didn't see themself in the mirror or hear it in peoples voices. They feel out of body, like a ghost.

They start learning more about trans things when they meet Goldie, their 'handler' and manager for their show, once they start gaining traction. I haven't fully written this part so it might change later, but I never actually use Caro's pronouns in the podcast, because I have this image in my head that when Goldie meets them for the first time, she is unsure, and defaults to 'they.' and Caro has their AHA moment. This is closely related to my AHA moment when someone who met me was unsure and defaulted to 'they.' I can't explain the euphoria of finding your moment, but if you have with ANY set of pronouns or descriptor words (for example, both Caro and I prefer masc descriptors ie: handsome), you know what I mean. Personally I burst into tears and probably terrified that poor person. I'm sure Caro did the same ahaha. Sometimes we can't know things until we try them on, sometimes that can take a few tries. Sometimes we find ourselves by complete accident somewhere along the way. And thats ok.

Slightly related: I usually default to 'they' if im talking ABOUT them, though I will use their current pronoun if I'm telling a story. I don't have an issue with people using they/them or he/him with adult Caro or she/they/he for young Caro. Their hairstyle is usually a tell for those following along, long for she, mullet for he, undercut/crop for they <3 but we don't stress about it around here.

heres a post I made actually that breaks down Caro's Gender Journey in a Sears Catalog kind of way <3 https://seeminglydark.tumblr.com/post/760091118673313793

[dargorian]

This was a fun challenge for myself trying to emulate her moonshadow form. I spent a couple of hours watching and rewatching her going into and out of it until I was confident with how to draw it. And the effects (which you can't really see with the rim light) took me a bit to figure out as well. Her pose is more or less the icon of her stealth attack in the Xadia game (Rayla is fun to play as but I keep forgetting she dodges forward while Callum dodges backwards. I haven't thrown myself off a few ledges as her. Nope, not at all 😅). I also love how she sometimes yells out "Surprise!" as she attacks lmao.

[icedroppedinparasolcider]

Momoi Airi is a Trans Woman

This is headcanon at the end of the day and there's nothing wrong with disagreeing, but the way she's written regarding her sense of identity as an idol, the choice of phrasing they use when she talks about herself in reference to others (namely Shizuku), and the connections her visual motifs provide to concepts and other characters tied to or commonly seen as trans just makes it incredibly hard for me to view her otherwise.

A lot of what I have to say is very personal to me; I'm a trans woman myself, and Airi's writing and experiences connect with me and my own transition journey in a way I haven't really seen anywhere else in media (I'm not a very prolific media consumer). So it's entirely possible a lot of this is just me projecting onto a character I care a lot about. But while I've adored Airi before this revelation, I didn't reach the level of attachment I have for her until the realisation of just how well she's written through the lens of a trans girl. Specifically one who's, for the most part, entirely socially transitioned but keeping the fact she is trans secret.

When Airi was little, she was, as she herself describes, very boyish. She'd get into physical fights with boys around the neighbourhood or at school, she'd come home most days covered in dirt and mud from playing with her majority boy friend group of the time. She was intensely defensive of her little sister, most of her fights being with possibly bigger-than-her boys because they were mean to her sister. It formed a reputation for Airi, a reputation that followed her as she began to deviate from these patterns and pivot her interests and activities hard and fast thanks to starting to watch idols on TV. She was enamoured with them, would rewatch recordings of their performances and interviews over and over so she could emulate it and be more like them. She'd stop getting into fights, stop playing with her rougher friends; everything started changing dramatically thanks to her being introduced to a new "type" of woman: an idol. Something Airi wanted to become, and was willing to change everything about her to be.

These changes weren't socially easy for her, though, with backlash coming from these old friends and classmates because of how girly she was trying to become. The idea of being a tomboy was something Airi started to consider a bad thing, a gross thing. During her Colourful Festival side-story, To You Who Yearns To Be an Idol, amidst a conversation with her younger self Airi calls the little girl a tomboy, something that makes the younger Airi immediately deflate and shy away from the conversation. It upset her to be called that, especially by an idol, something she wants to become. Which leads to the younger Airi talking about how she's been treated by her peers for changing the way she dresses and not playing the same way she used to, for changing the way she talks, with her being talked to like she's doing something horrible and wrong for simply chasing a dream of who she wants to be. And in this conversation, Airi says a particular line that changed everything for me:

This is said in response to Little Airi's repeating of what the boys in her class call her as she wears cuter, girly clothes. That she's some big, mean monster who shouldn't wear things like that, who could never become an idol. Effectively telling her that she could never be a girl because of the way she used to behave. She started as someone rough, someone harsh and dirty, that's not something she should��not something she could—change. Something we see in present day that she's largely internalised through her struggles with what it means to be an idol, her struggles with calling herself an idol.

For Airi, being an Idol and being a Girl have become synonymous with each other. Her ability to be an idol, to draw that attention, have a smile that sparkles on stage and in front of the camera, spread hope and joy to other people; this part of her identity has grown beyond her job, it's who she is as an individual. Being Momoi Airi, the second year Miyajo student, is inseparable from Momoi Airi, the ex-QT member and now member of MORE MORE JUMP! And if she can't be the image of an idol that exists in her head, that she's always viewed idols to be, that Haruka and Shizuku manage to embody, that Minori is becoming, then can Airi even really call herself as much of a person, of a woman, as them?

Airi's been in this constant uphill battle where she believes she doesn't sparkle as much as the other idols around her, so she puts more effort into learning how to make herself sparkle, but manages to convince herself that because she struggles with this, she's less of an idol than those very peers. It's in large part what Ice Drop is about, Airi's difficulty finding satisfaction with her work as an idol because it doesn't shape up to her own expectations and beliefs of what an idol "should be", because it doesn't match what she sees other idols she looks up to, like Shizuku, doing. Something also portrayed during Airi's conversation with Shizuku in Chasing the Radiance Beyond the Blue Sky, where she outright tells Shizuku that because she doesn't have the same physical appeal she has to fight harder and use different strategies to get any attention as an idol. And if Shizuku is the "perfect idol", and Airi will never be able to achieve that, can she even call herself an idol?

If she can't call herself an idol, does she even deserve to call herself a girl? Or are the harsh words of her grade school classmates right about whether she should be wearing the cutesy clothes?

A large part of Airi's struggle with this, why it's even a spiral in the first place, ties into her nature as a Solid Heart student as well as why I see so much of myself and my transfemme journey in Airi's story. It doesn't matter how many people tell you that you're enough and that you've done what you set out to do, not if every thought in your head is telling you they're wrong. According to everyone I know, I pass really well as a girl. My voice is naturally feminine, even without masking it very hard, I've basically never been misgendered since growing my hair out by strangers looking at me, I've even been told by close friends that they'll forget I'm trans because I'm just "one of the girls" to so many of them. And I appreciate all of it, so much; I'm very lucky to have had such a smooth social transition. But none of that changes who I see in the mirror, who I hear when I talk, what I feel when I wake up in the morning forced to acknowledge my body. I'll never be a "real girl", not until I fix these things, and it's entirely possible that it's impossible to truly get rid of this feeling.

That's what Airi feels regarding her identity as an idol. Everyone in the world could tell her how good an idol she is, how much hope she spread as Happy Everyday, how beautiful and bright her smile is. But that will never replace or fully mask the doubt in the back of her head about whether she's really an idol, because nothing that she used to do aligns with what she's always seen idols to be, so much of what she does today is so different from the reality of her dreams. She's not that idol, so is she even an idol at all? I'm not that girl, so am I even a girl at all? Obviously I am, and obviously she is, but it's a feeling of doubt that never goes away.

Airi needs to constantly be an idol, or she's not an idol at all. And, at least to me, this has come to mean to Airi that if she's not an idol, she's not a girl. Because all of the work she put into being cute and girly was to be an idol. If she can't accomplish that, does she even deserve to be a girl at all? Or is she just a fraud wearing a mask trying to make people laugh on TV?

[mediumgayitalian]

“Sit down, Solace, you pain in the ass, I’ll get it.”

Will huffs moodily, trying in vain to continue hobbling towards the cupboards against the infirmary wall. Nico has to physically wrestle him back to his cot, which in theory should be way harder, but luckily he’s weak enough from the pain meds that once Nico manages to shove him against the cushions, he can’t get back up.

Ha. Karma.

“You can’t get it,” says the most dramatic drama queen alive, dramatically, “on account of you not know what ‘it’ is.”

Nico smiles patiently. It resembles, to the outside eye and perhaps the inner one also, the bared teeth of a grinning shark. “Tell me, then.”

“No.”

“Then tough shit for you.”

“I’m just gonna wait until you’re turned away again,” Will calls against his retreating back. Nico flips him the bird. “So this was futile, really.”

He’s stubborn, but he’s not an idiot, Nico reassures himself. Surely, the many years — formative years — he’s spent as head medic have made him smart. Surely, Mr. Nagging Nag shall heed his own advice, lest the entire camp descend upon him in swathes of shrieking, not quite righteous fury, intolerant or hypocrisy. Surely.

He hears the creak of a rickety bed, a thunk of something hitting the wooden floorboards, and a soft oof.

He closes his eyes and exhales deeply.

For fuck’s sake.

When he turns around, he sees William Andrew Solace, Best Healer in Generations, Paraded Progeny of Apollo, Also Notably Naomi Solace’s Son, That’s Kinda Sick, Isn’t It, sprawled on the floor, ridiculously long limbs outstretched, attempting to wiggle across the floor to the cupboards.

“Solace, I am going to kill you.”

“Some healer you are,” Will mutters, as if Nico is not playing healer right now purely because he is the only one in the entire camp with a half a chance of wrangling the dumbass head medic himself. He continues to wiggle.

Wrapping a hand around his uninjured ankle, Nico drags him bodily back to his cot, ignoring the shrieking.

“One day on bedrest, you dipshit. One. Day. That is all anyone is asking if you.”

“My binder!” he insists, because he is difficult. “I don’t need to sit down and do nothing, I need to run my infirmary!”

“You need to sit the fuck down and heal your body before it schedules healing for you,” Nico snaps. “For fuck’s sake, Will, does it matter to you at all that other people would like to see you safe and healthy, even if you couldn’t give a shit?”

For a glorifying moment, Will stares at him, eyes wide, face frozen. Nico meets his gaze, glaring, his own chest heaving where Will appears to have held his breath.

Then, Will bursts out laughing.

“That!” he says, wheezing. “That is what I have been trying to nail through your thick skull! Karma, you little turd!”

Mouth opening, and closing again, it’s Nico’s turn to freeze.

“Oh, gods.”

The horror in his voice is tangible. Will laughs harder.

“Oh, gods, I’m becoming you.”

He stumbles to the closest cot, sitting down quickly before he gets any dizzier than he already is. Nausea builds up his throat.

Gods, that was a direct quote.

“Not so fuckin’ easy to wrangle you clumsy shitheads, is it!”

Nico cradles his head in agony. No. No! It can’t be! He refuses to lend any credibility to Will’s mother-henning! He is obnoxious, and overbearing, and hell-bent on restricting Nico’s freedom; there is no way Nico is emulating him right now, because that would mean he has a point when he’s bossing Nico around, and — no. Cannot be.

“I told you,” Will says, smug as a godsdamn rooster in a hen house. (Oh, gods, now his stupid cowboy idioms are ringing in his head? He needs to spend less time with Will. Better yet, he should take another dip in the Lethe — willingly, this time. Anything is better than this.) “You clumsy fucks are the sole reason I am going to die from stress-induced heart failure at twenty-two, and then I am going to resurrect myself as a ghost through sheer stubborn will alone to haunt each and every one of you for eternity.”

Nico chooses to focus on the part of the sentence that he can conveniently argue with. “You don’t get to call anyone a clumsy fuck, on account of you shattering three bones in your ankle because you stomped your foot too hard when you were trying to make a point.”

“What was the point I was trying to make, again?”

Nico keeps his mouth shut.

“Something something reanimating entire dragons to scare the shit out of Cecil is going to drain you to dangerous levels of energy and make me have to drag you from the brink of death yet again something something.” He pauses. “Even if it was really funny and he nearly actually pissed himself.”

“Well, whatever,” Nico says, elegantly changing the subject. “You’re an idiot, and if you don’t let yourself heal than you’re worse than the rest of us and can never lecture us ever again. So. And I’ll rat you out, too, they’ll believe me.”

Will glares at him. Nico glares back.

“Get some rest,” Nico orders, still glaring. Will pulls a face and repeats his words back to him, mockingly.

“There’s a difference between me and the rest of you idiots,” he grumbles, petulantly ripping loose the blankets and shoving himself under them. Nico smacks his hands away, tucking them around him for him, checking his pillow, and then his forehead for good measure, just in case his stupid ass somehow gave himself a fever. Will squirms, just to make things difficult, so Nico, as acting healer in the room, has to smack him. “I can feel my limits.”

“And yet you pirouette right on over them. I think that makes you worse, actually.”

Will, son of the god of truth, has nothing to say to that.

“Stupid,” Nico says, fondly, squeezing a gentle hand in his cheek. “Sleep, okay? You can go back to being dictator of the infirmary when you’re healed.”

“Tomorrow,” he insists.

Nico rolls his eyes, smiling, and pulls his hand away. Will darts out and snatches his wrist before he goes far, eyes pleading, and Nico caves immediately. Will’s skin is warm, and smooth.

“If you’re healed by then.”

He traces his thumb across Will’s freckled cheekbone, shivering slightly as his long eyelashes tickle the tip of his fingerprint.

“Mhm.”

He’s already puffing out small, quiet snores, head lolling against Nico’s hand, body exhausted from working overtime to try and heal.

Shaking his head, Nico ducks down, pressing a kiss to the space between his eyes before pulling away. He watches him for a moment, peaceful, face smooth and un-creased, delicate cupid’s bow pink and poised, skin spattered with paintbrush freckles. Heart skipping, he can’t resist another quick peck, lingering, at the top of his nose, the middle of his cheek; again at the dip of his brow. It furrows, briefly, under his touch, before relaxing again.

“Goodnight, Will.” He brushes a knuckle over his cheek. “Thank you, you dork ass.”

[aihoshiino]

So I actually only just found out that OnK ended and I think I only read up to where S1 of the anime finished, so imagine my horror when I learned that not only did AquaRu happen (technically? I know there was a kiss, at least), but that Aqua dies after coming up with what's probably the stupidest plan I've ever heard of. I'm going off of this from the wiki, btw, so feel free to correct me if I'm missing anything, but I thought this story was going to be a critique on the entertainment industry mixed in with a "catch the killer" plot when I first started, yet it just looks like nobody learned anything by the end of it and the villain's defeat was underwhelming.

Good news! AquRuby did not really happen.

Bad news! AquRuby did not really happen.

Honestly, to this day, I have no idea wtf Akasaka was cooking when it came to the AquRuby stuff... my best guess is that because Oshi no Ko was influenced pretty strongly by Mengo's past works & Aka was trying to emulate some elements of it (to good effect, sometimes!) the AquRuby stuff was inserted to appeal to her and it actually playing out on page was them being like "lalala, playing with our toys" and wasn't ever something the two of them took really seriously.

By coincidence I ended up rambling about this off tumblr the other day, so I'll just grab what I said and slap it here so I'm not just repeating myself;

I'm gonna be so real, I don't think an AquRuby ending was ever something anybody on the series including Mengo ever took all that seriously as a direction the series was going to take. Despite what a lot of people will try and tell you, Ruby and her relationship with Aqua were just never really written remotely in the sort of way you would build up your endgame heroine. Prior to 123 it wasn't really something the series tabled in any meaningful way and even past 123, Ruby's apparent attraction to Aqua is largely just played as shallow brocon gag fodder. It's only when the manga talks about her love for Gorou that it takes her remotely seriously and even then that's dropped like a rock past 150 and never addressed again. The biggest red flag for me though is that the series never actually addresses the concept of incest in the context of Aqua and Ruby's relationship. It is the one big major roadblock to a hypothetical romance between them but the roadblock that is actually, textually floated by the narrative is Gorou and Sarina's past life age gap which is, as Ruby repeatedly asserts, no longer an issue. It's honestly bizarre to see a series have a whole ass subplot about a character falling in love with their blood related twin and pursuing it to the point of forcing a kiss on them and just... never ever address the concept of incest??? It ends up feeling kind of deliberate - like, Akasaka knew that the second the obstacle that is the social taboo of incest came up on-panel it would be the death knell for being able to shiptease AquRuby (and thus, get clicks and attention from hyping it up for better or worse). So we get the... whatever the hell he was cooking that happened on page.

[In response to a comment asserting that Ruby was "absolutely written as the main heroine" as refutation to the above;]

When I say that Ruby was not built up as the main/endgame heroine, I mean moreso in the sense that for over half of the manga, she and Aqua just... don't really have a relationship that is given weight and consequence in the story in comparison to their individual relationships to the other characters. Even before the story was seriously teasing the idea of a romance between them this was always a point of critique in the fandom - hell, if you go back and read comments on it from around 2022 onwards, Ruby's sidelining and the lack of meat to her and Aqua's relationship is always something people have (imo, rightfully) had issue with. And like, sure, maybe Akasaka just wanted her status as the final/true heroine to be a surprise but even if that's what he was going for, there were tons of opportunities in the first 120+ chapters of the manga to properly sow those seeds. I know this is The low hanging fruit to point at and I know we're all aware that Aka deliberately orchestrated this moment to make sure Aqua and Ruby wouldn't discover each other's past identities before he decided it wanted to happen, but it's still characterization that Aka chose to put on the page and informs Aqua's character - Akane and Ruby found a literal dead body and instead of checking in on his sister, Aqua chose to spend time with (and kiss!) Akane. It would've been extremely easy to include Ruby more prominently in moments like chapter 68 when Aqua thinks about living a normal life free of revenge, or when Gorou confronts him in 65 about his 'happy life filled with love'. Even in the anime which makes a point of emphasizing Ruby more in Aqua's 'happy memory' montage from chapter 50's material fails to do this. Or hell, maybe even have it be a point of conflict during the AquAka 'real dating' period, that he ends up prioritizing Ruby more than Akane to a degree that it causes conflict in the relationship and clearly betrays where his real feelings lie. But none of that really happens. Hell, even after 123, Aqua and Ruby still barely interact and all the newfound intensity in that relationship comes primarily from Ruby doing brocon gag bits every time they make eye contact. Even the kiss is difficult to really take seriously because it has absolutely zero impact on Aqua and Ruby both individually and as a duo. It does not affect any change in the series whatsoever to the point where I legit don't even know whether it's been retconned out of continuity or not. That just doesn't feel to me like a 'main heroine' whose feelings and relationship to the main character are being taken seriously by the author. That's why the whole "btw i was reincarnated to be ruby's attack dog them kms" resolution at the end of the series feels so jarring and would have done with or without any AquRuby ship teasing. It was the story trying to cash cheques vis-a-vis the twins' relationship it hadn't bothered to write.

[impala124]

Love in the big city Part 2: Call me "Blueberry"

What if Part 2 was about Yeong trying to adhere to societal expectations and becoming more miserable in the process?

In the philosophy class, which he takes because of something Mi Ae mentioned, he introduces himself as "Blueberry" and says that he's there to strengthen himself. On a completely unrelated note, Mi Ae used to stock up on blueberries for him when they lived together. I might be reaching here, but I think that Yeong is trying to take on the path that Mi Ae followed because rejecting conformity has only led him to loneliness in Part 1.

Mi Ae conformed to societal norms and made up with her parents, got a respectable job and married a suitable partner in Part 1 leaving Yeong behind.

Yeong tries his best to be a good son to his mother. I'll probably talk about Yeong's complicated relationship with his mother on a later date.

Young Soo enters into Yeong's life at a tumultuous time. He is still reeling from the loss of Mi Ae and the shock of Nam Gyu's death and is currently helping take care of his sick mother.

When I was with him, I became someone who spoke and ate little. I was completely intent on observing him.

During their pork backbone stew meal, Yeong mentions that he doesn't play sports. But we know that their next meeting was the futsal game. Yeong is willing to accommodate Young Soo's interests and has a bruise on his face to prove it.

I wanted to listen to him all night, for many nights on end. I wanted to fit together his fragmented pieces and complete the puzzle of him in my mind. The life that was unknown to me, the habits I wasn’t aware of, even his breath—I wanted to reconfigure them all and make them my own.

Now, what do we have here? Yeong wearing lens-less glasses to cover up his bruise. I wonder where he got that idea from.

On Halloween night, Yeong wants them to do something he enjoys, but Young Soo is clearly uncomfortable in the club and snaps at him (giving him a taste of what it might be like to date a closeted guy), resulting in Yeong walking away. Young Soo follows him, and they end up at the Hwe place.

Young Soo brings out the big guns with ' I can see right through you' and ' I like the universe that is you'.

Young Soo removes Yeong's glasses—a part of him that Yoeng is trying to emulate; maybe it has something to do with his internalised homophobia and self-hatred—and kisses him.

Later, when Young Soo says that he knew that Yeong was gay since the moment he laid eyes on him, he looks pleased. I wonder if Yeong is happy that Young Soo 'saw' him from the beginning because his mother tries her best to not acknowledge his queer identity.

I couldn’t stop myself from falling headlong in love with him. To understand him, and beyond that, to understand my own thoughts and feelings as I crashed into him, and to interpret that whole mess of contradictions, I listened to every word he said, observed every little thing he did, and recorded it all. Desperately and plaintively, just like a grad student spending years writing their dissertation.

Yeong tries to hold onto Young Soo even after the reveal and later agrees to meet him at the pasta place wearing their COUPLES' shirt. Young Soo notably wears a plain black one.

Even trying to conform to societal expectations has led him to loneliness, so he just can't see a way forward, hence the suicide attempt.

That's why it hits so hard to see T-aras at the hospital when he wakes up. Here are the people who don't expect him to be anyone other than himself and that's enough for them to love him.

It is interesting to note that Young introduces himself by his name while addressing the philosophy class in the novel. So, this change was only made for the on-screen adaptation. I wonder if he made that change because of the chronological order of storytelling done in the series.

[its-a-ducky-mess]

Art/Fun/Holiday: 12th Anniversary

It has been twelve years since Sarah & Duck first aired.

[Source: Google search for "when did Sarah & Duck first air"]

Happy Birthday, Sarah & Duck!

While it may not be as flashy as an anniversary art piece (though I may make a late one depending on how crunched I feel), I will just ramble and talk about things I like about the show to celebrate this milestone. I'll talk about what got me into the show, aspects I like, and some more personal thoughts on the show and maintaining this blog.

Intro

I was introduced to Sarah & Duck by one of my online friends back in the middle of 2022. We watched the first season together (though I only joined in halfway through), and then I found my own way to watch the rest of the show since I felt hooked. Since then, it's become my main special interest and is perhaps as strong as it had been back then. Last year, I rewatched and introduced the series to my closer group of friends, who I'd consider my "best" friends. They loved it. One of them even considered Sarah his "blorbo in law" (a character he cares about because someone else does) before having her graduate to a full blorbo (a character he likes). I'm very glad to be able to speak to fans of the show and talk about it.

Art and Vibes

[Source: S1E15 Fairground]

There's something about the show's simplistic and scribbly artstyle that resonates with me. It's somewhat ethereal, and coupled with the mostly low energy happenings and accompanying soft, gentle music, the show builds up a very welcoming atmosphere perfect for the intended demographic of young kids. The style is kind of inspiring to me, and I often try to think of how exactly to emulate or adapt the watercolor-esque nature of backgrounds and scenery. Some of the scenes (like the one above) are pure spectacular and honestly surprised me with how nice looking they were on my first watch.

It's a very nice show for me to zen out to. The first watch-through, I was surprised with some episodes in the first series that they were already over. Those 6.5 minutes go by fast sometimes! In contrast, most of the shows I've watched prior were 20-45 minutes. It's a testament to the show staff that they can hold the attention of me, an adult, for that long. The show as a whole feels somewhat like a dream. An imaginary romp through a kid's life in the U.K. There have been some episodes where I could see myself doing the same pretend games and things that Sarah does if I were a kid. Watching the show felt like peering back into my childhood with nostalgic, rose-tinted glasses.

Characters

[Source: S2E4 Sound Jumble]

Sarah & Duck has quite the colorful cast, both metaphorically and literally. I honestly like how some characters just drop in or drop out of the episode's story sometimes, like Plate Girl showing up in Pond Princess. It gives the world a bit more genuineness; Sometimes as a kid, I'd only give a little bit of time for another friend before moving on with my own thing while playing.

While I do like the main trio of characters (Sarah, Duck, Narrator) the most, it's a tossup between Scarf Lady and Plate Girl for favorite side character. Scarf Lady is so chaotic and Bag balancing her out in exasperation is great, but I love how much of a gremlin Plate Girl can be, like in Garden Gaming.

While it does sort of bug the "character interaction" part of my brain, it's interesting that nothing about the characters or world is outright explained. Why does Plate Girl like plates? Why does Scooter Boy like scooters? Why is Scarf Lady so scatterbrained? Why are kids and bird paired up so often? Why are the Ribbon Sisters so adverse to talking? It provides more to the previously mentioned genuineness to the world. Unless directly asked, people don't really delve into why they are like they are. I think that adds a lot to the notion of personal interpretations.

I love AUs and reinterpretations of characters in shows I like just because I like to see how characters react in situations outside of their universes. Plus little headcanons here and there. As a small examples, I hc that Plate Girl is a collector of plates. I like little things like that, giving a little personal touch to certain aspects of the show. I've written a few fanfics as well just because I would A. Like to see how characters would react to other scenarios, and B. Because I like seeing the characters get up to more wacky shenanigans. You might even see my boy and his bird OC pair make an appearance on this blog, in addition to the humanizations and some other fan-episodes.

I am not okay about this series if you couldn't tell.

Emotions

[Source: S2E40 Duck Flies]

Obviously, it's a kids show, and I don't intend to be all "this show is peak cinema" about it. It is good, I just don't want to seem delusional. Well, more delusional than usual...

But, honestly the show can be really heartfelt and touching at times. I felt bits of sadness and sympathy for Sarah in Duck Flies, as a person that gets very attached to characters/objects very easily, and Ribbon Alvida, made me cry real, actual tears. The message of "Sometimes you don't get to say goodbye to someone" is incredibly sobering and honestly a really good lesson to teach kids. I felt Sarah's pain very vividly, again, as someone that forms attachments easily.

The more upbeat emotional episodes are great as well. I felt a sense of coziness and warmth during Petal Light Picking, Christmas atmosphere is very calming to me.

Of course, I do realize the folly of only watching kids shows. Again, I don't want to seem like the person who exclusively watches kids shows and touts them as better than "real" shows. Doctor Who balances it out a bit. Fantastic series, loved Nine, Ten, and Eleven. Also tune in for a future post about Doctor Who, wink wink!

Personal Stuff and Why I Made its-a-ducky-mess

[Source: S2E27 Pond Prose]

As stated before, Sarah & Duck was and is my special interest. And with my special interests, I obsessively indulge in them in any way that I can, looking over every stone and in every nook and cranny for unique things. That's part of the reason why I catalogued the animation errors and odd tidbits, because I think it's cool to see those things. I also like looking into the inner workings of things, like behind the scenes videos. I find those VERY fascinating to me, and oftentimes I use design philosophies and such to inspire myself.

My "mission statement" with my fixations I suppose is to spread the word and get people to know about them. I hope my passion for what I like is infectious and gets people to see the shows in a similar way that I do. I started the blog just to tell people about the show, and give facts or little tidbits to fans of the show who may not know the things I do. Oftentimes, I feel like I can't properly express or talk about my interests to my friends because they don't have the same level of "care" that I do. I know people will never like the same things you do at the level you do, but it's still something, and I'm trying to work on that.

My blog is also partly fueled by not letting the series "die" or "fade away". A little dramatic, yeah, but look at Sarah & Duck. It's a twelve year old cartoon for kids, and it's kind of obscure in the grand scheme of things. But I have such love for it that I wish it could continue on. And in a way, that's all we can do really. I would love more official Sarah & Duck content, but I am happy with what we got. If the show kept going, there's the chance that seasonal rot could've happened, and that idea sort of scares me. Anyway, the show's "time" is over, and we, the fans, are left to our own devices. That's not to say Sarah & Duck is forgotten, mind you. The social media posts and such, and even the recent event that put the show in theaters shows that the series still has life in it. And I'm okay with that.

Seeing new fanart, stories, other fans posting about the show, and otherwise engaging with it fills me with joy, honestly. To see the show have a fanbase twelve years later is heartwarming. All of your likes, reblogs, comments, questions, those are powerful inspirations to keep making content for the blog. Just recently with the Valentines post, seeing a number of accounts with Sarah in their profile pictures made me smile ear to ear. That's a lot of what I want. To provide for the fans, to make connections with them, to give a sense of togetherness within this little community, dare I say, fandom.

I genuinely don't intend to come across as a "savior" providing content in a drought, or acting high and mighty to seem more important than I am. I just like this little niche show and wish to provide quality content for its fanbase. The show means a lot to me and I wish to display that to anyone that wants.

Alright, I think I've held you for long enough. Thanks for reading and see you next time!

[I originally wanted to make little header art pieces like this for the sections, but in the interest of getting this post out before it gets too late in the evening, I opted for screenshots. Enjoy this one, though!]

[not-poignant]

Do you have any advice for writers looking to work on their sentence structure? I find myself repeating the same kind of sentence over and over, finding it challenging to diversify and keep flow. No worries if you don't feel like answering.

Hi anon!

So I would say the main thing is to find examples of how you want to be doing your sentences. Like, writers who use varying sentence lengths in their writing.

Then, look at one of your own paragraphs where everything is the same length, and practice shortening or lengthening some of those sentences. If you're already writing, you have examples of your own you can practice rewriting.

You can start experiencing firsthand that longer sentences can feel like a run-on thought, or someone spiralling out of control, or feel like infodumping etc. Short sentences can feel like a hard stop, making a point, increasing pacing.

Not all paragraphs call for highly variable sentences. But it does help to have variety!

Recognising that you are writing the same kind of sentence is honestly a huge part of the battle, and the fact that you're noticing means you're already probably trying to think of ways to solve it. From there, it's finding the examples that you most want to emulate.

Practice reading those sentences aloud. How does it feel to read different sentence structures / lengths? And don't forget to look at music, which is a good example of changing things up.

The thing to keep in mind as well is that if your writing disrupts flow, sometimes that's deliberate! A one word sentence to make a reader pay attention at that sudden 'O.O' moment, or a really long sentence to make a reader feel overwhelmed and like they're spiralling down with a character, etc. means you can vary your flow. Things shouldn't feel 'constant and the same.'

Sometimes it can help to think about what you're wanting your readers to be feeling in the moment. If it's intense and choppy, you probably want faster sentences and less attention to specific detail, like a character who can't take everything in, you might focus more on physical sensations, like a heart thundering, etc. If it's languid and relaxed, you might have longer sentences, and more descriptive prose.

A lot of the time the sentences and structures we use play into how we want a reader to feel, and how the experience of reading achieves that.

You can get on the ground experience with that by going back over your favourite things that you've read by other authors - whether that's fanfiction, or webtoons, or novels etc. Think about how the scene is being delivered to you. Sit down with the source text and think 'well this made me feel really excited, what sentences / what was happening here to cause that?' or 'this section felt really slow, why did this feel really slow?' Sometimes you might not know at first, other times you'll know straight away!

Sometimes you'll also see places like 'I'm pretty sure the author wanted me to feel this way during this scene, but instead I felt like *this* - I wonder why it was different and what created that in the writing.'

Also, consider exploring the wonderful world of good poetry. Poets are the masters of sentence structures and fragments, and using very few to create very big feelings and images. It doesn't hurt to start exploring some poetry basics to see the masters at work, and I really do feel like studying and writing poetry myself really helped my prose a ton.

[messyzoranablog]

Zorana's Guide To The Poke Classic Network!

Do you want to connect your DS Pokemon games to the internet long after Nintendo shut down their servers? Do you wish to trade and battle with your internet friends who play the gen 4 and 5 Pokemon games? Do you have a desire to watch and upload battle videos like you used to years ago?

If you said yes to any of these questions then I have the thing for you!

The Poke Classic Network!

This is a fan server for Pokemon DPPT, HGSS, BW, and BW2 that's running with the help of the Kaeru WFC! Not only does it let you connect your games to the internet again, the site will let you see what Pokemon are up on the GTS for both the gen 4 and gen 5 servers!

Below is my guide on how to get this working for you so you can bring a new life to these wonderful Pokemon games. Also I thought this would be shorter but it's rather long, so under the cut it goes! Please let me know if I missed anything in here! I'll try my best to fix it if I can.

Getting Started:

Before you get connected, make sure you are using the device you plan on doing all of your online connections with! For some reason you are locked to one device for this stuff and using another one will wipe your PalPad, and assign you a new friend code. Since what's available in the GTS search function is based on SEEN Pokemon the most reliable way to get particular pokemon (without marking everything as seen via cheating) would be trading them from people you've registered in the PalPad.

If you only plan on using the GTS then you don't need to worry as much about this.

The Poke Classic Network works on ALL DS/3Ds systems!

I will note that the Gen 5 games are easier to set up if you're using a 3Ds since they can see and read the Wifi settings of the 3Ds and can just have the DNS swapped without additional set up.

Connecting DPPT/HGSS on all systems and BW/BW2 on the DS/DSi:

I will go over connecting via Emulator in another section, this section and the next one is for if you're PHYSICAL HARDWARE.

What you'll need:

The console of choice

The game of choice, preferably played to the point where you can access the GTS for testing purposes. --- In DPPT you can find the GTS building in Jubilife City. --- In HGSS you can find the WFC building in Goldenrod City. --- In BW/BW2 you can access the GTS in the top part of every Pokecenter. --- I don't remember when exactly the GTS is unlocked for the games unfortunately.

Some way to create a Wifi network point with a compatible WEP (password type) or just no password. --- The easiest way I've found is just using a hotspot without a password. --- I know some modern routers will let you create an extra network like this if you know how. I do not and it'd likely be different for each router anyways. --- There are also some programs that can make one using your computer. I've used one for a bit before it locked what I needed behind a paywall.

What to do:

The first step is setting up the connection!

Start up the Wifi network point so it'll show up on your system.

I recommend using a hotspot that doesn't have a password on it. Make sure you change the bandwidth to 2.4 GHz, since 5 5 GHz doesn't seem to work. DO NOT PUBLICLY OPEN YOUR HOTSPOT IN A PUBLIC PLACE! You do not want someone deciding to eat up your data while you're trading pokemon, so only do this in a place you know is safe to do so, like at home or at a friend's place.

Once you've done that you'll want to open your game and go to the Nintendo WFC Settings. The button will look like one of these depending on the game you're playing:

This will take you to the DS wifi settings that are saved to the cart!

Next you'll want to tap on the big blue button which will take you to this screen.

You may or may not have connections here already if you've played before Nintendo's servers shut down. Erase them now if you do as they will no longer work. Then you'll want to tap the None button for Connection 1.

I'll be demonstrating using Connection 2 myself, but stick to the first connection.

Tap on the Search for access point button. This will bring up a list of nearby connections that your system can see. You'll want to tap on the one you started earlier. It will test the connection and the boot you back to the screen with the big blue button. Tap the big blue button and then the Ready button that's now showing up for the first connection.

Now scroll down to the very bottom and turn off Auto-obtain DNS and change the primary DNS to 178.62.43.212. You can also change the secondary DNS to the same one as well or keep it all 0s.

Once you're done it should look something like this:

Save the settings, close out of the Wifi connections menu, start your save, and try connecting to the GTS!

If you connect to the GTS then congrats, you are now able to use the Poke Classic Network! If it doesn't work the first try don't worry and try again. You can also swap the secondary DNS to the other one you weren't using and try again that way.

Connecting BW/BW2 on the 3Ds/2Ds:

This one is super simple and doesn't require any additional set up! Sorry I don't have any pictures for this one atm. I may edit this to add a couple later.

What you'll need:

Game of choice

Console of choice

What to do:

Open the internet settings on your 3Ds and tap on Connection settings.

Tap on a connection you know is working, tap Change Settings, then go to the next page.

Tap on DNS and tap No, then tap Detailed Setup. Change the primary DNS to 178.62.43.212 and either keep the secondary one as all 0s or use the same DNS address you put in the primary DNS slot.

Save your settings and go start your game, then try connecting to the GTS.

If you connect to the GTS then congrats, you are now able to use the Poke Classic Network! If it doesn't work the first try don't worry and try again. You can also swap the secondary DNS to the other one you weren't using and try again that way.

Connecting any DS Pokemon game using MelonDS (emulator):

This method will let you connect to the Poke Classic Network if you don't have the physical hardware or can't connect your system to the internet for any reason and know how to back up your save to your computer.

What you'll need:

The MelonDS emulator [Link] --- Desume doesn't have Wifi functionality so you'll need to move your saves over if that is your primary DS emulator. --- If the latest version doesn't work for some reason try again with the second newest one.

Game of choice

What to do:

The steps are nearly identical to the first section once you have the emulator running! Instead of using your own connection though you'll be using the one MelonDS makes for you, so there's no need to worry about finding a way to make one yourself.

The access point will look like this when searching for an access point: