#if you want the transparent version i will literally give it to you

[cynical-canidae]

S12E10: The Timeless Children (2020).

[ruhua-langblr]

Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"

Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)

[lutiaskokopelli]

I have an issue with constantly getting distracted, so I got distracted from working by making a 100% customizable Pomodoro App to keep my future self from getting distracted. Have a Google Drive download link.

The Pomodoro technique, if you don't know it, is a discipline method for keeping track of when you are working and when you are taking breaks, notably through the use of a timer.

There are tons of apps centered around this, and yet after looking at so many of them, I somehow could not find one that would do the most basic thing I'd like to have for a study companion: change the background of the app so that yes, I do have a timer telling me to work harder, but I also have an image of my choice to cheer me up along with it.

So what did I do? Did I take the rational, reasonable path, to just suck it up and stick to one of the already existing apps even though it would mean saying no to having my adorable Hearthian OC sleep in a corner of my screen?

Or did I go the hyperfocused insane route of utter procrastination and learn a whole new programmation language from scratch just in order to get my frikkin baby to comfort me while I work?

Yeah, who could have guessed.

So! The Google Drive link I shared will let you download everything you need in order to run your own version of this little app, including a tutorial on how to customize it to suit your needs.

The first thing you will see after unzipping the archive is this:

The "ast" folder (standing for "assets") contains every image used by the app -- which means that you can change them as you please! I even gave you transparent versions of the buttons in the "Asset Creation Help" subfolder, in case you like the shapes but want to change the backgrounds.

You think that's cool? Oh, but the image assets are far from being the only thing you can change for this app's behavior! You can change EVERYTHING that this app is doing (which isn't much because it's literally just three different types of timers, and even then there are some trickier details with more coding than others (but I still give tips on how to handle those), but shush. Everything this app can do, you can customize to your heart's content).

How do you do that? Well, this is what you get when you right-click on the "Pomodoro.ps1" file:

The Pomodoro.ps1 file is the "app" itself, written in PowerShell code that I made as legible as I could make it. There is a whole tutorial in there, made easier to read if you right-click on this file's icon and choose the "Edit" option. Have a preview!

Through editing this file, you can then run a Pomodoro app from which you can have the window's appearance customized, from its size, opacity (if you want to still half-see what's sitting behind it), and start position on your screen (the window can be dragged around, but if you have a preferred position you can tell the app to always load it in that preferred spot right from the get go), to stuff like the custom messages you get whenever the timer progresses:

So, yeah. I made a little app meant to help with productivity. One out of many already out there, sure, and it's probably not as cool as many others (but I'll just remind you that three days ago I knew absolutely nothing about PowerShell as a whole, so- I guess that would be still a little impressive that I was able to make a working app like that at all? xD), but as far as I've looked, it's the only one that will let you have your favorite images keep you company while you use it.

I don't know whether anyone other than me will like it enough to use it, but just in case, it's here! Hope it's as easy(-ish) to customize as I made it out to be, or at least close enough.

PS: The version I use for my own personal choices uses some slightly different assets compared to the version I share in the .zip file on my Google Drive. This is because the version I share online solely uses official Outer Wilds art (while the version I made for myself notably uses one piece of OW fanart that I did not make myself, and it didn't sit right with me to share that piece uncredited, even in an edited form. If you are curious, this is the artwork in question).

[ponydoodles]

ahem time for a little question roundup (¬‿¬)

THANK YOU!! yes fanart is always allowed hehe

im gonna say generally no, we'd prefer if you ask the mod who drew the image you wanna edit instead, or better yet, just ask if they have a transparent version you can use! all our contact info is in the carrd, or you can send an ask off anon and the intended mod can answer it privately :] we have a lot of artists here and we all have different opinions on this stuff so i cant really give a yes or no answer !

ill copy paste our messages from our discord lawl mod nebula: mine is steve x discord

mod cottonskittles: see i like uncommon m6 x bg character ships like pinkie x muffins but m6 ships feel so inherently not obscure to me lmao, celestia x raven is a fun one though her lil assistant, i also really like muffins x golden harvest but idk if thats obscure or just old 😭 i swear it used to be semi common but like no one but me ships it anymore

mod ko: Mine is by far Kimono x Wysteria, I don’t even remember WHY I started shipping it as a kid but I did and now I’m in love

mod birdie: i have a ship so obscure that i am LITERALLY the only person who ships it, candy apple x sombra

mod treat: mine is ditzy x sunburst :3

mod sunrise: HMMM probably Twi x Vinyl Scratch if mane 6 ones count, if not umm.. Celestia x Cheerilee? Does that count? I don’t see many fans of it but I may just be in the wrong circles :P

mod fiesta: maybe candance/shining/sunburst/starlight? i just think they should all kiss

mod salem: Applejack and lightning dust/moondancer for me lol

mod murmurs: I rlly like cadence x zecora :]

maybe it was an old invite? idk! heres a new one just in case >:] https://discord.gg/8QRdekZRxV

yes! even if youv'e seen something similar requested before feel free to send it in :3 a different mod might want to draw it or add a fun spin on it or something! and tbh weve drawn so many requests at this point if we limited it to unique reqs i dont think wed have many at all LOL

-mod treat

[crimeronan]

In titan P!Luz AU, in the scenario that Amity, Hunter, and Lilith do manage to escape to the Owl House (pRolOng ThEiR GriEf yyeeeSS >:)), how would Eda even deal with this? She’d understand how serious the situation is, but let’s say Luz does come back RIGHT in the middle of the Owl House, now looks like a humanoid version of King, and Hunter won’t let go of her while she’s like I need to go kill Belos RIGHT NOW.

i just showered and spent the entire time still thinking about this timeline because i love SO MUCH that it's like. a hunter extended grief spiral to match luz's over in the worst timeline. WHEEEE BE MISERABLE ABOUT EACH OTHER !! YAYYY

so.

antics in the owl house.

lilith is transparently coming apart at the seams, given that she's just lost her status AND any chance to heal eda's curse. amity is responding to this by scrabbling even harder for any bit of control she can get, which typically involves yelling at hunter and/or lashing out at hooty with her abomination magic.

and hunter is.... well. hunter.

so. eda is like well. we're all gonna kill each other eventually!! ah well. the world's gone to hell. this might as well happen . I Fucking Guess

at first hunter responds very similarly to the way he does in ftf -- after amity refuses to let him go martyr himself, he THROWS himself into making plans to attack belos. however even with all his castle knowledge and belos knowledge and wild magic knowledge, it's Pretty Fucking Difficult to assassinate the emperor. particularly when you are Public Enemy Number One.

after frustrating himself about a dozen times in a row, hunter starts digging through all of eda's books on wild magic and deeply illegal dark magic and other bullshit. eda assumes it's for more emperor-killing business, until hunter comes to her all like

hunter: owl lady.

eda: ....yes??

hunter: you know things about curses, don't you??

eda: well. some. obviously. you want to curse the emperor?

hunter: no, not that. it probably wouldn't take. i want you to curse me.

lilith, who was previously pacing around the kitchen, zipping into the room: hello. What.

hunter: there are Apparently curses that can take away a person's emotions. that'll make it easier to work without distractions. let's be practical about this

eda: ....those curses aren't a painkiller, kid. you wouldn't be able to feel anything positive, either. that's not the kind of life you want to give yourself

hunter: i don't Need positive feelings to get this done. i'll be able to remember my pre-curse priorities without any feelings getting in the way. as far as i'm concerned there's nothing but upsides!

lilith: cursing someone isn't something to undertake lightly-

hunter: wow! there is literally no one else on this island whose opinion i care about less than yours. anyway. eda, are you going to help me or not.

eda: ....not when you just lost someone, i'm not.

hunter, voice breaking: no, wait, please. Please. listen to me. i need to stop thinking about her. i'll do anything. i'm open to other solutions, i just - please.

eda: well, i'm not using a cursed solution to your emotional problems. that's a non-starter. i CAN get you really drunk, though. do you want to get Really, Really Drunk??

lilith: EDALYN-

eda: WHAT. it's not like drinking can make him feel WORSE.

hunter: actually. yeah. yeah that sounds great. probably the most useful thing short of a coma right now, so.

amity, muddy and covered in goop, coming in from where she's been outside wrestling hooty for like the tenth time today: if hunter is getting drunk, i would Also like to be drunk. just so everyone knows.

lilith: .....titan help me. fine. Fine. pour me a glass too. it's not as though anything matters anymore!!!! haHA!!!!

[eggbert9000-blog]

My Thoughts on Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSP)

In my last post I talked about how I got into the Persona series starting with Innocent Sin on PSX, I also talked about how much I thought Innocent Sin was one of the best JRPG's I have played in recent memory, so I only figured that I would talk about what I thought about the next game! For my playthrough I actually chose the PSP fan translation over the PSX version. I did that because I heard that the PSP version of EP is basically completely faithful to the PSX version in terms of difficulty and menus, so I figured it would just be the definitive version to play, and I heard that the translation is fairly close to the original PSX version anyways. I played this literally the day after I completed Innocent Sin because, without going into spoilers, there's no way I could not see what happens next.

So what did I think?

I'm going to be fully transparent and say that Persona 2: Eternal Punishment has become, not only one of my favourite JRPG's, but one of my favourite games of all time. There's so much I want to talk about but just like with the Innocent Sin post, ill start with some things I disliked about the game.

The Grinding

My understanding is that this game has gained a reputation of being one of the harder, or even hardest Persona game in the series, and I sort of agree. Not that I dislike grinding, but there were some times where I had to step away from the plot and grind levels or tarot cards to get new personas for the party, and then grind the persona levels to unlock the skills. But again like in Innocent Sin, you can farm free tarot in the Air Raid Shelter to basically unlock whatever persona you want, and I spent a decent amount of time there levelling personas as well. Although honestly I was having such a good time experimenting with personas that I didn't even notice or even really care about grinding (I do that in most RPG's anyways).

Demon Negotiation (Again)

Credit where it's due, Demon negotiation is a whole lot better than in the previous two Persona games. Each character now has one specific action and most of the rest come from combining them instead of having 4 options for each character. I like this system a lot more, but I did wish it didn't matter what order you selected the characters in to determine the contact (for example, Katsuya + Ulala is different from Ulala + Katsuya). And sometimes it still felt like just guesswork without a guide. The interactions are still as fun as ever though!

Silent Maya

I'm not quite sure what the consensus of this is, if this is like a popular opinion or "hot take" but I really wish Maya wasn't a silent protagonist, or even just like had more reaction to the events around her. She was one of the coolest characters in Innocent Sin and I remember being kinda bummed out realizing she wasn't gonna speak. Although the more days I sit on it, the more I become fine with it. It's easy to believe a lot of Maya's kindness and actions because we saw it first-hand in Innocent Sin. And we still get to see her personality through her responses and contacts, so not all was lost.

(OH YEAH, I should mention that in the PSP translation I used the one that restores the original PSX english voice cast, I know they are made fun of a lot but I find that the voice acting has a lot of charm to it.)

Alright, Time for what I loved about it.

The Story

DON'T WORRY IM NOT GONNA SPOIL ANYTHING, IM JUST GOING TO GIVE MY THOUGHTS ON IT!

This games story is really good, it serves as a fantastic capstone to the original Persona trilogy, It has a huge sense of finality to it, It reminds me a lot of how Dark Souls 3 could be considered a capstone for the Trilogy, bringing in elements from all the past games to wrap it up in a nice bow. There were so many times where I was so invested I would just play for hours until I lost track of time.

Rumors are back baybee and they are as cool of a concept as ever, and they are still used in such a creative way.

And of course just seeing what happened after Innocent Sin and seeing why the world is the way it is and what happened to the characters got me hooked immediately.

I can't exactly talk about this story without going into mega spoilers for not only EP but also IS so just trust me in saying that this story is something that is worth playing two whole games for, ESPECIALLY THE ENDING. Im just going to say that this story and the ending are my favorite in the Persona series and leave it at that. Go and experience it yourself! It's good!

The ATMOSPHERE MAN

This games atmosphere is completely unmatched in my eyes. The world has a constant vibe of "theres something wrong" that I can't explain. Again it takes place in that modern setting with grounded dungeons that I found so great about Innocent Sin, but the whole world just feels different and "darker" in a way that I can't exactly describe. I think its the difference in the story telling, whilst IS was more goofy with serious undertones, It feels like EP really hones in on the dark side of Sumaru City. There's a lot more death and undergound corruption this time around, It really feels like EP is trying to tell a more adult story this time around, and I really dig it.

(If you kinda want to get the vibes, watch the original PSX intro, it's literally one of the greatest intros to a game ive ever seen and it perfectly captures the sort of vibe EP is going for).

Another thing that I think contributes to the atmosphere is that incredible soundtrack. Just like with Innocent Sin, I was excited to go to the next dungeon every single time to see what kind of music would play, and some of those Eternal Punishment versions of the Innocent Sin songs are really good as well. Some of the standout tracks are Aoba Park, Smile Hirasaka, The Round Sun, and ESPECIALLY Monado Mondala, one of the best tracks in the series. The battle theme and boss theme too are incredible.

The Characters

This party has got to be one of my favourite parties i've ever seen in a JRPG. I know everyone already talks about how this game has an all adult cast as opposed to the other Persona games, but I don't think that's the only reason why they are great.

They all have such good chemistry with each other and as a person who was turning into an adult playing this game, I feel like I related to a lot of the characters internal struggles. Their stories felt real and I ended up seeing myself in a lot of these characters, especially Katsuya, as I am an older brother myself, I relate to him trying to build a good relation with his brother. I Related to Ulala's inferiority complex more than id like to admit, Baofu's story and motivations are really interesting as well and his dynamic with Katsuya, an officer of the law working with a wiretapper for the greater good, and his cynicism feels realistic given his experiences.

However the character I related to and like the most was Tatsuya himself. Tatsuya's struggle to find out how to be a responsible adult and how to make amends for things he has done wrong is something I feel is done realistically, Tatsuya tries to do things that he thinks an adult would do, and it's this kind of coming of age story that I think is relatable to me specifically. And unfortunately I can't say all the reasons why I like Tatsuya without going into spoilers, but all I will conclude on is that Tatsuya is my favourite Persona character of all time and he, and the rest of the cast gave me hope that going into adult life wouldn't be as scary as I initially thought it would be.

I Love this cast so much, I don't even think I said everything I wanted to but I think the main takeaway should be that this is my favorite party in all of Persona and their stories still stick in my head to this day.

(You might notice I left out two characters, because spoilers sorta, but to let it be known, I picked the man).

The Gameplay

Okay, I have been rambling on for a while now so Ill try not to make this a full university length essay. The gameplay is about the same as Innocent Sin, which I praised for being fast and fluid in battles and having really great customization options that I really appreciated such as being able to switch personas on the fly. its just my love for it has intensified because I was more used to the mechanics this time around and I was excited to go into this game thinking how I was going to build each character. It was a fun time, if you want a more in-depth explination of what I thought of the gameplay you can check the post I made about Innocent Sin on my blog (no pressure though).

One thing a really appreciated in the PSP remake is how they ditched the Innocent Sin PSP menu and recreated the PSX menus for Eternal Punishment PSP. So that fluid and nice menu from IS PSX is back and makes its so that I think EP PSP is the definitive version of the game.

Conclusions

Even though I feel like I've written so much about why I like Eternal Punishment, I feel like I haven't given a definitive reason why it's my favourite Persona game. And I think if I had to sum it up quickly, its that the world of the original Persona Trilogy is so well developed and well written that I couldn't help but get sucked into it. And Eternal Punishment was the one that that gave me an experience that I wish I could have over and over again, the world, the music, the characters, the story, even the charming sprite graphics, it all worked together to give me an unforgettable experience. I haven't even mentioned everything I love, I purposely left out things I already said in my Innocent Sin post like how much I love fusion spells or the whole customization thing. And I didn't even talk about Tatsuya's Scenario either. which is also incredibly good.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is great. It's a shame that the earlier Persona games aren't widely available on modern platforms because I believe that Eternal Punishment is something really special.

My final thoughts are for whoever is reading this and somehow hasn't played through the duology yet to at least give it a shot. I kept my thoughts on the game as spoiler free as possible so please give it some love. And like I said in my Innocent Sin thoughts, you might find a new JRPG that you will love and will stick with you for a long time, just like I have.

[einsatzzz]

more merch to be added to my hibari shrine yippeee! i love this set in particular bc he's smiling there while hibird is leaning on his cheek, its so cute! awawawawawawa 🥺🥺🥺💜💜💜 its not that noticeable in the pic, but theres some transparency(?) with the light purple cloth that's on his waist too. makes me wonder if i can get the printing service i know to do a similar effect for custom acrylic stands i want to have printed out in the future

and that big acrylic thingie is so nice, the glitters float around when you shake it. its not in the picture, but i also bought an A3 poster of him in the ouji set. still trying to flatten it out bc its been rolled up for a while lol. there's these two big-ass blankets of him too, but idk how to display it in a way to give it justice mdbsndgdjdh maybe later

(literally on the floor/carpet while taking pictures of these)

the lns + the art books im missing is also here! i have all the og manga volumes alr, but i wanna get the new versions too with the new covers someday (when i save up again lol).

i skimmed thru the the art books and found ACTUAL CANON HIBARI BABY PHOTOS?????!!!!!! LIKE HOLY SHIT, IM GOING TO KMS??!!! (/POSITIVE) I NEED TO HAVE THIS TL'ED ASAP 😭😭😭 THEN THERE'S HIM EATING HIS FAVE HAMBURG STEAK TOO, THEN TETSU EVEN PUT A FLAG ON IT FKDBSKSGJSSHJS WHERE WERE ALL THESE HIBARI LORE ALL THIS TIME, WHY IS THIS THE FIRST TIME IM SEEING THIS??!!! ---bye guys, i have a mission, im an expert oc-ologist but im also a dedicated hibari-ologist 🫡🫡🫡

(also its such a bonus for me that hibari is in all the covers of these books--- hahahaha)

also some character song(?) cds were included in the set i bought! will need to buy an external cd drive tho, bc my laptop doesn't have one.

anyway, there are some other stuff im still waiting on. i think i should be getting it soon?? it just got delayed bc of a typhoon orz aaaaaa srill so happy, idk how i'll disolay these in the shrine/my room. i say its my room/office, but ig its hibari's room now with hm his face is plastered all over it lmao

[youraveragecatastrophe]

Rating VILE operatives' codenames in french

(Season 1 edition)

Black sheep = Mouton Noir. Literal translation. It works. Longer and more of a mouthful than Black sheep though. 9/10

Crackle = Crackle, or should I say Craqueul. God does the french accent shine through in those English words, it's embarrassing. Anyway they didn't try very hard but Crackle is nice. Short, sweet, straight to the point. Though it's not a french word, it's close enough to french words and onomatopoeia like crac and craquement to bring to mind electricity with a threatening edge. Deducting a point because it's still not that transparent for french speakers. 9/10

Le Chèvre = La Chèvre. YES YES THEY CORRECTED MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE!!! "Chèvre" is a feminine noun in french, you say "la chèvre" and never "le chèvre", it just doesn't make sense. I am so happy. 100000/10

El Topo = El Topo. You know what they say: if it ain't broke... Also very glad they didn't translate as there are few names in spanish. 10/10

Tigress = Tigresse. Literal translation, which works well bc the two words are very close. The french pronounciation keeps giving me a double take so I'll deduct a point. 9/10

Mime Bomb = le Mime Marteau ("marteau" literally means hammer but it's also a colloquial way of saying "crazy"). Okay I used to think it was fucking stupid but I was just an uncultured swine. It references Marcel Marceau, aka "le Mime Marceau", a french mime and actor. I do prefer Mime Bomb bc it's both funny and gives a subtle air of menace, while to me "marteau" only conveys weirdness, but Mime Marteau is pretty good too. 10/10 for the effort.

Dash Haber = Dash Haber. 0 effort and it's not even a pun in french, for fuck's sake. 2/10

Paperstar = Origamine. There's been an effort, I'll give them that. This is a portemanteau word of "origami" (don't think I need to explain this one) and "gamine" (feminine form of "gamin", french informal word meaning kid). Buuuut... why would Paperstar call herself a kid. Yes, she has a soft singsong voice and does that humming thing, but she doesn't really... make it part of her identity?? She looks young but she doesn't strike me as wanting to be called a kid. 5/10 because i'm still very lukewarm about it.

Cookie Booker = Cathy Compta. Cathy like the name and Compta as the shortened version of "comptabilité", as in "accounting". This is the worst name ever. I love it. It HAS to be the name of a character from an old game or show because they would never have just invented it for the 2019 show. It's cheesy and sounds absolutely terrible and it cracked me up, this is so classic Carmen Sandiego. 9/10

[aihoshiino]

I'm actually so glad you talked about the timeline issue in this chapter because now I've been wondering ever since reading the chapter, what did truly happen between kamiai???

At this point since they are still together even during the murder suicide...doesn't that mean Ai already has her twins? And that Hikaru had already gone to the hospital prior with Ryosuke? Did Hikaru accept the kids then? How did he even meet a deranged the fan Ryosuke, and why? When and how did Ai reveal her pregnancy, what was his reaction...my head hurts 😭😭

Also, the cut 162 with Ai's rejection already happened...so when are we ever seeing the "I can't love you" scene anymore...

Other than that, im glad we're finally getting a father-daughter talk (that we will never know the details of, like the dvd lol)

Kinda funny when we think that...Aqua got his mother's point of view (the dvd) and Ruby is getting her father...the parallels intensifies

EVERY TIME I THINK I'M FINALLY FIGURING IT OUT, SOME HORSEPISS LIKE THIS HAPPENS... AKASAKA YOU'RE GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF MEEEEEEEEEEEEE

My only hope at this point is that we're going to see some of these scenes in proper flashback from Kamiki or maybe even Ai herself via us FINALLY FINDING OUT WHAT'S ON THOSE DVDS AKASAKA I'LL KILL YOU and they didn't want to spend time building up versions of events that were going to hold on a second. Literally was midsentence about to justify that by saying 'they didn't want to portray these events then go jk it was fake' only to remember they literally already did that with the KamiAi romance scenes turning out to be shit Yoriko made up. So I quite licherally do not even know anymore. i am Giving Up !!

on a more positive note tho..... god I am SO fascinated by the arc's continued paralleling of the twins to the 'opposite' parent, so to speak and I'm tentatively hopeful that the RBHK meeting means that this is something intentional. At the very least, I think it's undeniable that in the ways AQRB are paralleling the HKAI relationship, Aqua is the one in Ai's role, as the savior that Hikaru/Ruby is relying on. 143 makes this pretty explicit with Ruby describing Gorou as her 'oshi' and thus placing Aqua on the pedestal that Ai had been forced to occupy.

It's honestly kind of... refreshing! Because of Kamiki's so transparently telegraphed similarities to Aqua and Ruby's narrative role in the story as the one following Ai's footsteps, it's a really clever subversion of expectations to have them kind of swap around like that. It's also a cool parallel to Tokyo Blade, where Akane and Kana were each unintentionally paralleling the others' role as opposed to their own.

[raccoonfallsharder]

˖°.‎‧₊˚✧ juno

✩ let me love your OCs masterlist

i. love. juno.

i've talked about @lazarel-3000's oc before at length but if you haven't read The All of You, you should do so immediately and leave lots of love & kudos. i am so grateful for them creating juno, sharing her with me & the world at large, and all the absolutely fuckin drool-worthy art they offer up of juno x rocket that has altered my brain chemistry and which i think about almost daily (serious they are one of my favorite creators of all time so check out their blog and give them a follow). anyway me drawing juno sometimes feels like the height of hubris (how dare i) but i am a mere mortal and weak to such temptations

i have many favorite lines and moments in The All of You but one of my favorites is (spoiler) when juno flashes a bunch of drones to...distract them? prove her identity?...while she and rocket escape. girl's not wearing very much in the first place - just some jewelry (probably significantly less than i have her in tbh). i also forgot that her tits were covered by an ore chain at first (my b) so i added one on top off all the jewelry i had already painted (made me a little sad to cover it up so i saved a detail layer lol). i mean granted "ore chain" and "heavy gold bejewelled bib necklace/chestplate" aren't really the same thing but honestly i just wanted an excuse to draw juno covered in sparklies.

i could've done better with my anatomy (again i forgot about the chain so the original drawing was literally just her about to pull the neckline of her “dress” open and when i added the chain i thought �� well I should fix her hands so it looks more like she’s holding it? but then i just… didn’t) and i had another version with linework on the jewelry but honesty i decided i like it better like this. did i have too much fun lazily painting misshapen beads? yes. did i overdo it on the glitter? also yes. will it actually hurt your eyes? still yes.

do i have any regrets? not a goddamn one

anyway thank you again to @lazarel-3000 for creating this babe and letting me have fun drawing her

slightly nsfw behind the cut? some close-ups that are a touch risky and a jewelry-free version. better safe than sorry.

previous juno doodle

a look at the jewelry under the literal only thing hiding her boobs

one of my fave lines (i have so many) is about how her jewelry is covering more of her than the fabric. i think the fabric’s supposed to be smaller but i just settled for making it as transparent as humanly possible so uh yeah.

anyway yes that's it this was such a glitterific fun little portrait to waste time on this week while work is closed for winter break. go read The All of You and thank you again, @lazarel-3000, for ALL your creations. ♡♡♡♡

[muffin-snakes-art]

Hey I love ur art I wanna know which program u use for ur art cuz I wanna draw a lot better then on paper ?

Hiya tysm!! I currently use a number of programs depending on what method I wanna work with or what I wanna make. I'll list and explain the ones I use or used for my illustration work.

Clip Studio Paint EX - Main choice for illustration and hand-drawn animation. I enjoy painting and sketching in Clip Studio more than Photoshop personally. The animation feature is pretty neat and I like using it mainly for the clean up process.

Adobe Photoshop - Illustration and hand-drawn animation. There are a few features Photoshop has that Clip Studio doesn't have that I personally need to make exporting multiple images faster and ready for animating. It can also make importing stuff from it faster and easier into After Effects.

Adobe Illustrator - Vector Illustration and 2D rig asset creation. If I wanna make quick clean art or I know I'll need multiple sizes of the same art, I use Illustrator. Creating vector art is a bit of a learning curve for beginner digital artists, so I wouldn't jump into it until you have an understanding on non-vector art programs.

Procreate - I don't turn on my iPad as much anymore, but it's an amazing and affordable art app. If you can afford an iPad and an Apple Pencil, definitely give it a try.

Gimp - I used to use Gimp back in high school since I had no way of purchasing any art program at the time, but I wanted something similar to Photoshop after learning how to use it in school. It's a decent free and open-source art program that served it's purpose for me.

MS Paint - Literally started out digital art and animation with Windows 7 MS Paint and a wireless mouse back when I was around 10yo. But the upcoming latest MS Paint update includes layer and transparency support for the Windows 11 version. Honestly I'd give that a try if you use a PC and have 11 on it!

Hope this helps! Also here's a graphic made by XdanielArt on Twitter listing a bunch of program alternatives to the Adobe ones. There's a good number of neat art programs to research and try out!

[garden-ghoul]

Happy Gushiwensday Sunday! We had to take an extra day to think about this very tricky poem by Ouyang Xiu, to the tune of "Butterflies Love Flowers."

Returning from the painted pavilion. Ah, late spring: swallows flirting around their mates, graceful willows and trysting peachblossoms (denuded by a solid sky of drizzle and a courtyard full of wind). I frown austerely, though no-one's around to see. Alone, I lean on the crooked railing, muddled in mind. The perfumed grasses are dressed to impress in fine green silk. They recall that night, the river in Nan'an--- moonlit nights are heartless, and people change in the dark. Stumble memory to memory like a dream of desolation.

Lots of notes and original text under the cut.

蝶恋花·画阁归来春又晚

画阁归来春又晚。燕子双飞，柳软桃花浅。细雨满天风满院，愁眉敛尽无人见。 独倚阑干心绪乱。芳草芊绵，尚忆江南岸。风月无情人暗换，旧游如梦空肠断。

Ouyang Xiu is WAY too clever for me. In this poem he uses a ton of rebracketing tricks, where dividing a phrase at one point makes it mean one thing and dividing it at another point makes it mean a different thing. And on top of that he's using a LOT of idioms so you also have the connotative and denotative layers lying on top of each other like transparencies. I really picked a hard-mode poem this time! Let's get to it!

flirting around their mates --- literally "flying in pairs," with a connotation of marital bliss.

graceful willows --- willows are often compared to women in romantic poetry, and vice versa.

trysting peachblossoms --- it just says peachblossoms, but they also function as a symbol of love affairs. 浅 can mean shallow or light-colored, but also thin; Baike's annotations interpreted this as petals continuously shaken from the trees so they start to look bare. "Denuded," of course, also evokes taking off your clothes.

crooked railing --- 独倚阑 means "I lean against the railing" but 阑干 means crisscrossed or disordered, emphasizing the disorder we've already got at the end of this line! I originally translated this line as "With only myself to rely on, I have a confused, disordered mind."

The perfumed... green silk --- literally "fragrant grass is green and luxuriant." But as we've seen before, "fragrant grass" is an idiom for marriageable young people, so I tried to evoke a sort of cotillion.

Nan'an --- a district in Chongqing, but very possibly just a generic term for the south bank. Kept this because it sounds good.

Moonlit nights --- literally "wind and moon." This evokes variously romance, beautiful scenery, or petty topics.

heartless --- another fantastic rebracketing. If you break between the fourth and fifth character, as is customary for seven-character lines, you get 无情, no feelings. However, if you include the next character too you get 无情人 no sweetheart!

people change in the dark --- a continuation of the rebracketing thing in the middle of this line. If you read "I have no sweetheart," the end of this line could be something like "to exchange [gifts] with in secret/at night." If you read "heartless," you get "people exchange/transform in the dark/in secret." Given how much use Ouyang Xiu is getting out of alternate readings here, I think we're intended to see multiple versions at once. This could be "people change when you're not looking," it could be "people cross over" or even "people pass away."

Stumble memory to memory --- 旧游 literally "old tour," idiomatically to take a tour of places where you have memories. I put "stumble" here to echo the disordered mind and the broken heart.

dream of devastation --- more rebracketing, kind of? Breaking at the fourth character gives us "visiting old haunts as if in a dream, empty and heartbroken." But you can also read "empty dream of heartbreak." The reason I've used devastation here is... heartbreak didn't sound good as a final word. The word I actually wanted to use was חורבן / churban, but this is an English translation, so.

Anyway here's an additional literal translation, to show what it would be like if we only included denotative meanings:

Returning from the painted pavilion in late spring. I see swallows flying in pairs, supple willows and thinning peachblossoms. The whole sky is fine rain, and the whole courtyard is wind. I frown, completely self-controlled; I can see no-one. Alone, I lean on the crooked railing, my mind in disarray. The fragrant grass is luxuriantly green. I remember the Yangtze South Bank. The moon and wind are heartless, people exchange in the dark. I visit old haunts as if dreaming, empty and heartbroken.

[rex000000]

• BABYCAKES/OYMYO GRAPHICS! • • Transparent clothing/accessories pngs • • Icons • • Boarders/Dividers • • Background tiles • • Miscellaneous •

"What is Babycakes/OYMYO??" Some of you may ask. Well I do to- Babycakes was a clothing label that started around 2008 by Paul Griffiths. It was highly popular with scene fashion, hosted music shows, and even released music albums/compilations. The whole reason I started getting invested in them is cuz around somewhere in 2008, they released a compilation called 'Babycakes 8-Bit Compilation'. I really wanted to find it, so I started searching for it. And then I discovered this site: oymyo.com. And it's... interesting to say the least. The whole site mostly consists of text-walls of gibberish, a book you can buy called: "THY GUIDETH THROUGH TH' APOCALYPSE", and a radio that- to be honest I don't really know what's playing on it except Paul himself talking and random noise music(?). Yeah the site is really weird, and what I'm bringing up here is just scratching the surface. But through certain Google searches I managed to find this part of the site: https://www.oymyo.com/spaceship.shtml. I think there is/was(?) a way to access it normally through the main site. But this side of it at least has bunch of random stuff, one of them being a literal graphics resource list. Then I started to think a few days ago why not upload a bunch of these graphics onto Tumblr to show them of! So I stared collecting them and went back through the Wayback Machine to find more through older versions of the site. And while I was doing that, I found a liveJournal post that had a link to (what used to be) their main site: http://www.bbycks.com (IT REDIRECTS TO A DIFFERENT LINK, SO DON'T SEARCH IT UP CUZ IT COULD BE A VIRUS IDK) But I did search it with the Wayback Machine and found some other stuff and on their old Myspace (plus a a few other accounts)

Idk how to end this but I just wanted to give context on how I ended up stumbling upon all of this stuff, I'm not really a research person so I'll leave this up to anyone else to figure this stuff out, cuz I know for a fact there are people who will spend weeks and/or months trying to decipher stuff like this. I'm just someone who wanted to upload graphics relating to this okay?????????? [ALL SITES I USED AS RESOURCES]

oymyo.com (Wayback Machine)

https://www.oymyo.com/spaceship.shtml

http://www.bbycks.com (Wayback Machine)

https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Scene#Gallery

[fareehaandspaniards]

1, 7 and 15 for Rom?

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Hmmm... I like that her role is being the shield that hides the red moon and Yahar'gul from player. Also the spider theme. Pretty much everything she has as a canon character xd We don't know if there was ever a certain Rom student of Byrgenwerth in the first place? (I remember you mentioned it some time ago :0 ) Who is that? But the eagerness to protect, connection to Willem, Kos and Ebraitas do give us certain vibe. Oh, I also like Micolash's great line about her. It can be interpreted in different ways - that he pities her, hates her, etc., but I think he's jealous xd Rom, small, weak and stupid in his vision, has achieved ascension, what he only dreamed of ( :P ).

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I love the fandom for the sheer number of different Roms, each one carrying something different…. She has a strict image, or she's cute and fluffy, she's crying and tender, she can be whatever we want her to be. When the fandom sees her as a separate person and not just a component for the pairing - everything becomes better :'^)

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

Yurie x Rom! One more doomed pairing :^) Together they are a beautiful couple, and while during the Byrgenwerth years Rom needed Yurie's protection, as an adult Rom takes the lead ;^) The adult Rom in my vision is a gorgeous woman, because I love gorgeous women… Wide hips, big breasts, and red, lush hair flejflwenmflsdjfk… And a masculine Yurie who is crazy about her, literally worships her like an idol (I can join).

My fantasies are great of course, but in canon the pairing comes to a sad end, which is to be expected. However, I like to think that Rom is still sane and has a mind when we fight her. Just realizes the world differently. That means she knows who the player is, knows that Yurie is dead by the time of the battle, knows that along with the player, Damian has come for her death(or not death? can she even die like a human?). But she's above it all.

(this blue dress I imagine on her for the time when she was with Ebrietas and started to slowly ascend and change. Blue motives for the sea and sky, and also it looks more like nightdress, it's almost transparent. I don't know why I just like it. She becomes something more of a symbol then member of a Choir when spending all her time with Ebrietas, so she needs to look like a goddess or a prophet. Long transparent dress with lots of stars on it. Like Nyx, my beloved goddess of night)

Laurence x Rom is gold. I'm too confused about Laurence's love relationship, but they are perfect for each other, I've already spelled out how much xd Here :P

Caryll x Rom is lovely, but in my version they are only friends and nothing else, although they are gorgeous man and woman xd (not only my Caryll is ace, but also they are more brother and sister than lovers)

(Damian x Rom also good stuff)

[artfromsaturn]

 Previous Dresses: Scarecrow | Riddler, Ra’s, Two-face, & Penguin

I think this will be the last of my Batman Villain Lolita Post for now, with a few of the more challenging villains.  Again, feel free to make your own designs or use these in some way, the more the merrier. :D  

A few thoughts underneath the read more + alt colors for Zsazs & Killer Moth

Black version for Zsazs to keep with his pants & classic Killer Moth:

Pyg: I think he’s one of the most Devianart Edgelord of the Batman villains, but his portrayal in Arkham Knight was done well enough that I warmed up to him.  His plastic surgery nightmare face design is fun and the reactions of the victims & other people worked well, and showed Lazlo as terribly messed up instead of cool edgelordsona.  Like, you know, a person who’d exist.  Good job Batwriters. 

Anyway I leaned towards the guro lolita + simple butcher look his comic and his game designs went for.  There are extra additions of frills for both a more “doll”ish look and a touch of ita, since tacky feels part of his character.  I didn’t want to just make a mask so I framed the hair as “pigtails” (what else?).  I think some make up would add to the look to make the doll idea and the pig idea go farther.  The pattern on the bottom of the skirt and boots is supposed to be those chain link people you can cut from a piece of paper that all hold hands, all perfect, like Pyg declares his dollitrons.  I’m not sure how successful the transparent apron is but at the end oft the day I like it and that’s what counts.

Freeze: This design might lean too much towards literal costume and less into a more practical interpretation of the design, but I can’t help it, I like the Tron and glowy stuff aesthetic.  Doing a retro futuristic lolita look was too fun of an idea to pass up.  Not much has changed outside of converting it to a dress and turning the gauntlets into Miku bell sleeves.  Snowflake earrings & delicate hair for Fries’ one true love & because they’re pretty.

Black Mask: I didn’t want to do all skulls since there’s enough dresses out there that do that, so I ended up with the mask part of his name.  Made sure to give the rich colors of a mobster along with the swag of the suit as well.  I think this one could be designed to be better and less busy (to fit in with the sleekness of Black Mask’s look more) but I wanted to go a bit over the top because why not, Lolita’s very theatrical.  

Ventriloquist: Ok, this is a silly one.  This is nice and casual lolita that doesn’t look too close to Wesker, but that’s because Wesker’s design is supposed to be intentionally plain and meek.  Without the (badly drawn, sorry) Tommy gun purse & Scarface, I don’t think he’s recognizable.  That’s not a bad thing - him and Scarface complement each other perfectly and make a memorable design.  So I did my best to make a cute casual coord and add the few touches to make it look more like Wesker, & drew a teeny Scarface to show such.  I wish I could have done more to reference Peyton Riley/the second Ventriloquist but all I could capture was the color since her design is also very simple. 

Scarface himself only got colors that were closer to the outfit.  I didn’t fancy him up too much since I think it would mess with the gangster look he has, which is already close to aristocrat fashion in the lolita world.  He was lucky not to get extra frills at the ends of his sleeves!

Zsazs: another mainly Arkham Design.  Most of mine are based partially on Arkham since that’s where I get most of my Batman fix, apologies!  Anyway, I just liked the idea of a skin-flesh dress with the locks and buckles of the Arkham prisoner jacket/uniform.  The bell sleeves already being on him made this a lot easier.  I left a spot open where I was going to draw the bat symbol, but I decided against it.

Killer Moth: Top are his Arkham Asylum Artwork colors since I think they’re very nice.  Went for a cute little 1960s inspired fur coat & bob, as his design is already psychedelic. Gave a fun flower crown to round out the colors & hold up some cute moth antenna.

Firefly: His The Batman design was the most unique to pull from and a good starting point to make an outfit.  I took some inspiration of the warning stripes, junk around the belt, & burnt skin tights from the Arkham version too.  *ellis voice* I ever tell you about the time Keith and I made fireworks? Otherwise, his design would have been much harder to work with considering it’s mostly a solid suit with not many features in his apperances.  It would have had to be more abstract if I went for one of those.  

But yeah his The Batman design and designs spinning off from it kick ass, so I did a sporty-ish look.  I hope the bonnet doesn’t look too silly, I just wanted headware that differed the outfit from Killer Moth better.

Strange: Another design that had to go with the Arkham look.  Strange is a classic villain with his face being one of his big, defining features.  This is a great thing in character design, it just means it’s harder to make an outfit around it! 

I love the classic mad scientist look so I didn’t stray too far from it, it looks fun medical Lolita already. All I really did was add the medical book brain pattern (thank you British Library) + little bats, because of course he’d have bats on his brain.  It’s also a nod to his habit of Batman Cosplay & impersonation.

A few people I thought of but didn’t make dresses for:

Joker - He’s fabulous, I just didn’t feel jokery & wanted to focus on others more.

Catwoman, Harley, & Ivy - All three ladies have so many designs it’s hard to choose.  They have so much more freedom with their designs than most of the male crooks.  I’d have to make like... 4+ outfits for each just like I did with Scarecrow if I was to ever be satisifed. ;w;

Mad Hatter, White Rabbit - All the Alice themed supervillains have been done as Lolita Coords by Lolita fashion already since, well, Alice was a big inspiration for the fashion in general. I’d be down for them but I just felt bad because I couldn’t think of how to separate them from others as well as I could, like how I made Black Mask’s design more elaborate as to make sure the themes and connections to the villain was clear rather than just a skull design.

Killer Croc & Man-bat: Also hard to differ between a general animal-themed coord and them.  

Thanks, hope you guys are enjoying your new year so far. :D

[emblazons]

hi marie, its me again <3 the anon with byler doubt haha ... you made such great points! and tysm for such a thorough response.

I am SO CURIOUS how do you think they'll get Mike and Will together? I think that's the aspect that has me doubting the most because it feels so so MESSY and they can very easily mess it all up if they aren't careful.

Explaining Mike's internalized homophobia etc might be something too difficult to unpack in just one season, on top of everything else going on as well with the world literally ending. I also don't know what the point was of having Mike say he loved Eleven if it wasn't true, what do you think they were trying to achieve with that?

Do we truly think she'd be okay with breaking up with Mike? And if the answer is yes, how will that affect Mike and El's dynamic going forward, you think? Will they really not only break up milkvan, but leave elmike underdeveloped in favor of Byler?

I look at the Steve/Nancy/Jonathan love triangle and that has been a mess for seasons now and still no resolution, so I don't know how they'll do it for Mike and Will. I fear they'll go for the "easy route" (aka milkvan endgame) to focus on the supernatural and other characters more. Because if Byler is endgame I feel like they'd need to devote a great chunk of the season to them in order to explain wth is going on with Mike specifically + giving him closure with El.

I suppose something else that gives me doubt is how Mike and Will have been sidelined in these last few seasons to give more screentime/protagonism to other characters and dynamics, so I don't know if I can fully believe the Duffers care THAT much about romantic!Byler if that makes sense.

Hopefully this all doesn't sound overly pessimistic or something, I am genuinely curious about your thoughts in some of these more like looking for reassurance tbh! Especially after reading your response to my first ask <3 TYSM once again!!

hello again!

To be honest, you've got a lot of questions that require separate (and equally detailed) responses, but...let me see if I can briefly explain each, and maybe link to other analyses I've done that might help make sense of why I say.

note: some of these are just my frankest opinions unfiltered, but I do have analytical reasons for all of them. Your questions are also asking things it's taken several rewatches and a year to sort through so...apologies if you just get the simplest version of the idea delineated here haha. also, a cut, because this got really long.

1: How do you think they'll get Mike and Will together? Transparently? I'm not really all that into specifics, because expecting specific things means I'm going to fall into the trap of thinking I'm the one writing it when I'm not and then say The Duffers "lied" or "messed up" because I expected something they never put in there. That said—in terms of plain setup, they will need to address the painting because that was a critical plot point from damn near minute one of S4, and now it's become fully integrated with not only Will's feelings for Mike, but Mike's own sense of El's feelings for him.

Beyond that...I think El will need to be the one to initiate the "complete" breakup, because she's the one who wanted space in the first place, the one who is repeatedly having her romantic partner paralleled to parental and tragic figures, the one refuses to be vulnerable & who built lies into their relationship...and the one whose general arc centers around reclaiming autonomy and choice from the men in her life. I also think Mike will be the one to initiate the romantic aspect, if its not a bit mutual.

2: Mike's internalized homophobia etc might be something too difficult to unpack in just one season - I disagree. We managed to sort through introducing Will's romantic feelings and sense of his queerness in a single season just fine...and Mike has had queer-coding show up throughout every season if you know what you're looking for.

The fact that this boy already has a one way sign into his closet, has repeatedly yelled about "boys only" every season AND shows clear signs of male attraction already has most people (even the supposed 'GA') suspicious of his sexuality, and combined with his devotion to will + the wider context, there are plenty of ways to introduce the idea of him liking boys explicitly that don't require any intense delineation...unless you expect them to say "he's gay" out loud, which they didn't do when Robin came out, and still haven't done for Will either...despite everyone knowing damn well they're gay.

3: I also don't know what the point was of having Mike say he loved Eleven if it wasn't true - I think that most of the breakdowns I've done of parentified!mike make clear that the love he has for her is somewhat genuine...though its being written as misplaced familial love, because he spent so much time believing he needed "a girl" to assuage his insecurities.

While I absolutely lean toward a gay!Mike reading myself, it's still clear even without a label that Mike's love mirrors Hopper's more than it resembles any of the love given by potential romantic partners to other women across the show—and Mike, given that he was being told by Will that El needed him to say he loved her for her to win, did what he thought was necessary to help her.

I do not think his love for her is a lie—I simply think it isn't romantic, and has now been so conflated with something negative in El's mind that it wouldn't matter if he mean't it romantically anyway. That said: narratively, Mike had to say he loved El because unless the fullness of what was expected (an I love you) was accomplished, it would hang over the story and any relationship Byler might have. El needed to hear it...so she could reject it, which she did.

4: Do we truly think she'd be okay with breaking up with Mike? yes. I think El will be absolutely 300000% just fine being broken up with Mike lmao. She has Hopper back now (who she was mourning the loss of, and therefore looking to fill with Mike emotionally), on top of having Max's "there's more to life than stupid boys" at the fore of her mind saving her.

Mike is also paralleled to parental and abusive figures in El's mind, on top of the fact that she has been keeping him at an emotional distance for the entirety of S4. Given that she and Lucas will probably also get closer in the search for Max...I'm quite sure she's not going to take it as hard as people imagine, especially given the fact that we already know she was happiest in S3 when they were broken up.

I also don't have any expectation of ElMike being super close friends (beyond party bonds + civility) either, which...I mean if you are I apologize but. I don't see that happening in canon, so them being developed deeply as friends before the show ends is not important to me as a plot point, and doesn't really have any canonical backing considering their ongoing lack of platonic connection outside of the necessary + lack of common interest. That's even a note thematically in the show...which means its makes sense for them not to be that close by the end of the narrative.

5: Steve/Nancy/Jonathan love triangle and that has been a mess for seasons now and still no resolution, so I don't know how they'll do it for Mike and Will. Truth be told, that love triangle has a resolution—Nancy has chosen Jonathan, and continues to, even though she flirted with Steve when she felt lonely. Nancy's arc has always centered around choosing something different than her parents and has from S1—her brief flirtation with Steve aside, her loyalty to Jonathan hasn't changed, though they are absolutely not a perfect couple.

If anything, the end of S4 set up Jonathan and Steve learning to be friends less so than anything implying Nancy might choose Steve instead—Jonathan is finally in a narrative position to choose something for himself now which frees him up to be honest with Nancy, and even outside of that, Nancy is far more likely to end up with single than she is with Steve—which is the exact opposite of how they've set up Mike to be with Will rather than El over the course of the season.

6: I fear they'll go for the "easy route" (aka milkvan endgame) to focus on the supernatural and other characters more. I don't agree. The supernatual plot has always been well-integrated with the romantic elements in every couple across the board, from Mike's "first love lost" energy happening when El disappeared in S1, Lumax bonding in S2 in a fight with demodogs, Jancy's bonding across S2-3 happening in the lab seeing the gate, while Will was un-possessed, and while they fought the thing monster in the hospital....and Jopper in Russia fighting a demogorgon in S4.

The Duffers have never slacked in setting up their romances in conjunction with the supernatual plots, and there's no reason to think they're gonna start with Byler, especially given Will's mirroring of Vecna/Henry, the way the day his disappeared is the day the UD is frozen, and how he's the one who can sense him...while now having Mike glued to his side.

7: if Byler is endgame I feel like they'd need to devote a great chunk of the season to them in order to explain wth is going on with Mike specifically + giving him closure with El. The 5th season is going to bring all of the characters together again, and they've already said Will is central to that. I've written before about the reason why they had to sideline Will in their plot to make a narrative point, but regardless...like I said before, if you know how to read subtext, Mike being queer won't come as all that much of a surprise.

Note: I've done several (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) analyses on Mike and his arc, which might help.

Beyond that...again, I honestly don't think The Duffers care much to make ElMike besties like fanon seems to think they should be (they haven't done it with any of the other romantic couples they've broken up) so...closure can include civility and acceptance for them the way it did S2 Steve with Jancy, imo. What Mike needs most is to gain the courage to accept himself and realize he doesn't need a girl to assuage his insecurities—and him being casual friends with El the same way he is casually supportive canonically with Max makes more sense than trying to skirt over all the mess of their relationship for the sake of an attached fandom ☠️

—that was a lot to cover, but hopefully that cleared up my position on a lot of your questions? I would also encourage you to take a look at my ST commentary tag & analyses highlights list (soon to be updated again) and even my asks for more context, on top of maybe giving the show a rewatch in its entirety if you can.

Sidebar: I also encourage you to dig into my Duffer Brothers tag and commentary (see bottom of the page), because knowing who made the show is just as helpful as understanding the show itself.

Its really easy to get caught in other people's wants and headcanons for the show if you don't keep going back to it yourself, so—as lovingly as possible, I really do encourage you to just sit and watch it with the "byler knowledge" you have from users like me, your other fave analysts, and maybe some of the "old guard" like @kaypeace21, who was integral in my own development of opinions before I dug in for myself. If you're ever doubting, that's always your best bet.

That said: It's literally impossible to summarize a framework crossing nearly 37 hours of TV in a single ask (or even 20)...which is why I've got almost a year worth of posts about it (and have evolved my depth of understanding dramatically over time).

The same way you can't spark notes your way through a degree without missing a lot of context, even me saying this with evidence won't help a lot if you haven't dug into it yourself—and doubt will repeatedly creep in if you're trusting me over the show itself, even though the show is where I've pulled all this from lmao.

—this got really long, but....I hope it helped. And again, sorry if I seemed short anywhere lmao. This was a lot to cover. Still, as always, thanks for the ask!