#minimalist which i like <3 personally <3 i like minimalist sets i like that you can do so much with so little <3

[icewindandboringhorror]

Everytime I face a new character limit on a website that didn't have them before/used to have really long ones... AUGHHhhh the modern social media world was not made for people like me (lovers of details, rambling, elaboration, thorough explanation, and nuance)

[reanimatestar]

literally so fucked up that the great comet is making its australian premiere in new south wales instead of where i specifically live.

[freakassfemme]

streamer!gf! abby head cannons ✩°｡⋆⸜ 🎧

this came to me so violently. i couldn't get it out fast enough

✮⋆˙ initially she gets popular with a male audience through first person shooter games and her custom builds of old ass computers from like, random 90s scrap lots she finds on ebay

✮⋆˙ is playing black ops or something for a throwback Thursday and bumps into some random kid on voice chat who tells her to play Roblox (she's never heard of it)

✮⋆˙ lev explains it to her and she finds the concept really weird and kind of funny so she agrees and streams it one day, which SHOVES her through a portal to popularity

✮⋆˙ hot buff nerdy girl w glasses on my computer? yeah her demographics change REAL fast

✮⋆˙ surprisingly she has a lot of fun with it. she thinks the games people recommend her are really hilarious and her chat eats it up

✮⋆˙ never mentions being gay until someone makes a Chappell roan reference in chat one day and just casually she's like "omg my girlfriend loves her"

CROWD GOES WILDDDDDDDDD

✮⋆˙ very quickly they want to meet you. abby refuses at first, but slowly allows you to weasel your way in, whether it's through playing on your switch in the background, blurred out, or you running after bear and alice to try to rush them out of abby's office

✮⋆˙ soon enough you're sitting down live because abby can't place on dress to impress and she's pissed

✮⋆˙ it becomes a joke, but she loves it. she really enjoys making more light-hearted content and connecting with different types of people rather than vaguely-threatening tech bros

✮⋆˙ has a thing where if anything gay happens on screen she salutes the camera or gives the craziest side eye

✮⋆˙ still goes back to her roots and plays the most random old games she's had to pirate off some sketchy websites and download suspicious files to obtain, just laughs nervously when everyone's freaking out about it

"whaaaat? no, the internet is really nice to me. it would never do that -- oh FUCK" (mods are rushing to blurr out her IP address)

✮⋆˙ has the driest, most sarcastic humor that everyone adores.

"I want to rip your bicep off with my teeth... that's really normal of you."

"you think you could do it better? yeah? is that going to be before or after your homework?"

✮⋆˙ very minimalist, black setup with some black ambient lighting that's low-key like hot as fuck

but she's really clumsy and trips a lot, especially because it's dark. her monitor is falling like every other night and she's lucky it hasn't cracked

✮⋆˙ constantly bombarded with edits of her to muse that you'll be running in to show her midstream. she gets the biggest, most shit-eating grin

also didn't really understand what an edit was until you showed and explained it to her lol

✮⋆˙ eventually, as she opens up more and becomes more of a charming personality than a stoic bro-type, she starts making other friends.

yeah she becomes friends with streamer!ellie <3

as the time goes by, she and ellie get really close. there's definitely multiple streams of you, abby, dina and ellie playing mario kart or luigi's mansion on some first generation wii

✮⋆˙ abby teaches you how to jailbreak anything and everything from a 3DS to a switch, even when you're freaking out that she's going to lock it and you'll have to get a new one

✮⋆˙ eventually she sets you up a little corner in her office for when you join her on her streams. it goes from being one camera to you both having separate monitors, and yours is obviously much more colorful than hers

✮⋆˙ on very, VERRRRRY rare occasions she'll say something like "gotta lock in" or "ate", and its usually after like the most gruesome scene in a horror game and like 20 seconds delayed

like imagine her saying "gotta lock in" trying to be funny and finally getting into the bathroom in silent hill and then just sitting over the sink with her jaw on the floor for fifteen seconds

"Jesus Christ, am I going to get banned for showing that?"

✮⋆˙ really gets into analog horror and eventually starts drafting her own concepts, which pushes her into the rabbithole of ARGs

✮⋆˙ loves when people make virtual stickers of her, she thinks its really funny and though she never gets into "merch", she doesn't mind people turning stuff into actual stickers. she thinks its even funnier when she's never seen a screenshot until someone sends her it as a sticker

lets you keep them all and put them on the fridge or your water bottle

✮⋆˙ never does anything risky on stream but is no stranger to leaning back in her chair for a good time if you tiptoe in one night after she's logged off

[slttygeto]

HEART TO HEART : GOJO SATORU

what is heart to heart? a show in which we bring two people who have history together to ask them a couple of interesting, heartbreaking questions.

today's episode: 27 year old Gojo Satoru broke up with his girlfriend 4 years ago, yet he cannot move on. does she feel the same? and does a person really not move on even after four years?

note: i started this…without a second thought. i dont know where its going or if its gonna do well. but i enjoyed it very much

a cold room, a white set, two chairs and a table—satoru gojo knew that the point of this very simple and minimalistic set was to make him feel vulnerable and uncomfortable, but a tiny vase would’ve been appreciated.

“why did you two break up?”

the ivory haired man leans back in his chair with a dry chuckle, fingers drumming along the surface of the wooden table.

“I was insecure,” he admits rather bitterly. “I just had a lot of things to work on, and letting go of her seemed like the right thing to do.”

“do you miss her?”

“oh, absolutely,” there’s a smile on his face when he says that, and sits up straight with his hands clasped together (an indicator that he was most likely anxious to be asked such vulnerable question). he goes on to squeeze his hands a bit and his lips are sealed shut for a bit before opening them again. “I thought to myself that I wouldn’t find love for a while after her—but it’s been four years, and I cannot get myself to move on.”

“has she moved on?”

“maybe? I’m not sure,” he lets out a nervous laugh and looks away from the camera before holding his head in his hands, there was a mental battle going on inside his head—before he finally decides to speak again. “I actually stalked her instagram account last week through a mutual friend and… I didn’t see a man on any of the pictures. she could just be super private.”

“was she private about being with you?”

“she would post pictures here and there, we didn’t like to keep our relationship a secret.”

gojo is handed a blindfold and he neatly wraps it around his eyes and waits, heart thumping loudly in his chest.

when you were asked by a friend if you would do this interview, a part of you was a bit hesitant just because you weren’t sure if you wanted to air out your love life like this and have to deal with the consequences of a potential future lover being upset about it—but when you were told that it was gojo satoru, your ex-boyfriend whom you dated for 3 years and were planning on building a future with—that is until it abruptly ended with no warnings whatsoever. perhaps you ignored the tornado warnings? were there even any to begin with? you will never know because you blocked him everywhere on social media. from instagram to his phone number. you couldn’t deal with the fact that he existed around you, near you yet you couldn’t have him.

four long years of not having seen him took a toll on your heart, as it sure gets excited the moment you spot white strands on top of a head that is laid out on the table. his sense of style is still so casual and laid back, but not in a cocky way. satoru has always been about feeling comfortable in your clothes but you notice his tense shoulders and his foot tapping and can immediately tell that he is anxious.

you silently pull the chair back facing him and he lifts his head off of the table. your hands rest on top of the surface and the producer finally asks gojo to take off the blindfold.

when he does and you two lock eyes, you both start smiling big but you can’t help the little tremble to your lips before you look away from the camera to wipe a few emotional tears.

“sorry,” you whisper but your mic was able to pick it up. almost on instinct, satoru reaches towards you and squeezes your arm reassuringly.

“when was the last time you spoke to one another?”

“four years ago.” you are the one to answer the questions now and you keep avoiding satoru’s big blue eyes.

“was it hard having to walk away from a long term relationship?”

“It’s always hard when you thought there was a connection,” your emphasis on the word “thought” makes gojo look down at his lap almost in shame. he had no time to explain himself or what he did, yet he couldn’t help but feel that this interview was going to be like a second chance to explain himself and perhaps give a proper apology.

“you had no closure?”

“nope.” you both answer at the same time and it feels as though feelings of resentment are starting to resurface as your demeanor grows cold around him and you pull your hands away from the table.

“why do you think you broke up?”

“you said you couldn’t really see us together anymore,” you were now speaking to satoru directly and he gladly took the heat of your words. “you said…that us being together was just a waste of time and that one of us has to walk away,” you were clearly hurt by his words, even four years later. the breakup took a toll on you both physically and emotionally. you were incapable of going on dates for a painfully long period of time that your friends had to drag you outside to meet some potential new partners—but none of them felt like satoru. you resented him for crawling into your heart and finding a safe space there, for settling down and building a warm house inside only to tear it down and leave as quickly as he came.

“I wasn’t… sure what I wanted to do at the time, I was confused about my future,” satoru admits for the first time ever. “I thought it was so unfair to drag you down that hole with me when it was so clear to you that you had a plan in mind—a secure one so I just-“

“left.” you finish the sentence for him and he lets out a pained laugh.

“yeah, I left. and when I realized that you had blocked me, I knew that there was no going back and that I actually did it. yknow, like, it wasn’t this bad dream where I would wake up and you were still beside me—you were actually gone, I made you leave.”

there was a long silence after this and you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him, not after that confession.

“did you miss me?” gojo takes the initiative to ask this question instead of the producer but they don’t complain, watching carefully as you look back at your ex partner.

“I did,” you say again in a whisper, almost scared that you coming to terms with this horrible realization was going to hurt you further.

“do you think that…we could’ve worked out had I been honest at the time?”

“satoru, I would’ve never left you as easily as you did,” you knew that it wasn’t easy for him, but you want him to know that your love for him was bigger than he ever thought.

“would you like to try again?”

you two stare at each other for a bit and you sneak your hand towards his huge palm, resting your index finger there and tracing soft circles.

“yeah… I want to. do you?” you look up at him through your eyelashes and gojo’s heart feels as though it is about to burst.

“I would love to.”

2023: all works belong to @ slttygeto. do not repost my works on any other platofrm.

—💭 if you like this, leave me a tip!

[kisseobie]

Hello🫣🫣, can you do a piwon reaction to you asking them to pick out your nail design? Maybe with inspo pics too?🥺🥺

p1harmony picks your nail set!

pairings: p1harmony x reader

warnings: suggestive (just jiung)

a/n: hii!! i hope u enjoy!! my imessage is being weird so i was originally gonna do fake texts but .. that didn’t work so this is plan b! enjoy!!

° . ❀ keeho

he adores the fact that you are never without a new nail set, and is always secretly hoping that one day you’ll ask him what your next set should be, so when you do, he’s super excited! definitely turns it into a very serious task, pulls up pinterest and makes an entire collaborative board with you so you two can look through different options. he’s really into airbrushed aura nails he saw, and you two settle on those! likes the minimalistic design with the almond shape, and takes you to your appointment (and pays too!!) just because he’s so excited that his input mattered to you. def posts a picture of your hands interlocked on his insta story right after your nails are complete :3

° . ❀ theo

i think theo would be a little lost on what exactly you would like, so he would ask you to show him a few examples of what you’re looking for! but it definitely boosts his ego that you asked him for his opinion, even if he doesn’t know much about nail trends. prefers shorter nails with cute designs, so he really pushes for little strawberry nails! thinks you’ll look so cute with them, asks you to send him pictures as soon as they are done <3 shows off the photos to the rest of the boys, bragging that your design was his choice (they literally could not care less). when he sees them in person, he definitely examines them and kisses each one of your fingers! wants to be the only person choosing your sets from now on!!

° . ❀ jiung

a self-proclaimed nail expert himself, jiung is very excited for the opportunity to choose your new nail design! he’s so cute, he already has a bunch of ideas that he didn’t even need to search up… i think he would love seeing you in baby pink though, so baby pink sparkly french tips with a glitter outline is what he chooses! you are a bit hesitant about the size and square shape, but he sheepishly tells you he likes when you scratch his back and it inflates his ego when the marks stay etched on his skin for the remainder of the week :p since ji loves nail polish, i think he would match with you!! picks out some baby pink nail polish and glitter that matches your nails and is so so excited to surprise you with them :DD in the future, he continues to coordinate his nail colors with your sets

° . ❀ intak

he 100% would get so cheesed if you asked him to help you, makes him feel like you want to carry a piece of him wherever you go. i think he would love cool designs with stars and silver accents, and since his main killin’ it outfit is red, he asks if you could pretty please get red stars with silver french tips. like kyo, he clears his schedule to go with you. i can totally see him sitting in the empty chair next to you and asking a bunch of questions during the process which would no doubt annoy your nail tech lol.. but it’s cute that he’s so invested!! definitely takes selfies in his killin’ it promo outfit with your hands all over his face and neck :p

° . ❀ soul

lovessss cute little characters, so i think he would give you a lot of free reign on the design and shape itself, but would just want little characters on them. when you show him a bunch of ideas with characters from domo to korilakkuma, he gets very indecisive and keeps changing his mind, but he eventually decides on pastel rilakkuma nails!! is so giggly when you show him, spends forever looking them over and commenting on how cute they are :( from now on, you always surprise him with sets that are always adorned with a silly character he adores <3

° . ❀ jongseob

i think seob would really like beachy nails! think yamanba gyaru but more minimal, with bright colors and silly little plumeria flowers. tells you he doesn’t mind anything but would love if you tried longer almond nails, because he always loves when you scratch his head at night hehe .. he’s another member that would take you to the salon himself and pay for you (just like in my fic jasmine!!) and wouldn’t let you argue with him. is just honestly very happy to spend any time with you at all so he’s so excited to take you to get your nails done, and even more excited that he’ll be getting those head scratches he loves so much !!

inspo in order: keeho, theo, jiung, intak, soul, jongseob

tags: @woozixo @hearts4chanhee @kyokopi @astro-doll-the-star @soobiary @kyaaramello @t3ssamoodboard @angelcbf @idontknow-1s-world @vivienne-sim @elissasimp @imjustayapper @ihatewreckingballmains @sosaverse @seobing @www90kitsch @khfviq @barbiekh86t @bbyjjunie @taeyangi @fullsunstrawberry @jihnyah @intheemptymirror @watamotee33 @dreamer1299 @jixnnsie @wonootnoot @yukx-x047

© kisseobie, please do not repost my writing!

❤︎ ིུ͠*:·

[cirusthecitrus]

People of the Galactic Horde (the OGs)

Since I'm working on a Horde Prime origin story, it was inevitable that one day I would have to come up with designs for his species aka the original spacebats. And well, it was a fun challenge!

(click/tap to have a better look!) My first attempt at drawing other bats was with the High Priests of the Four Temples - the most influential and powerful people on the planet, also known as Anillis'/Prime's teachers :)

See that last guy? That's the emperor of the original Galactic Horde! Though after his unexpected early death his wife had to become the new Prime. Gladly, Horde World was not left without a future heir to the throne^^

Fun thing is, I never planned on making designs for Anillis' parents, since they never appear in the actual story + even the twins don't remember what they looked like. But idc making fanparents is fun! (In my vision Horde Prime inherited the death stare from his mother and the sly misleading smile from his father >:} )

(I talk more about the characters and worldbuliding in my fic "Violent Youth". U can find the link in my pinned post)

I also had to design tons, and I mean tons of episodic characters of all ages, genders and backgrounds. Now after all this training I'm ready to fill the backgrounds with bats :3

Some general notes on the people of the Horde under the cut

Every spacebat is born with a white face. Any deviations were rare and considered a type of skin condition

Facial markings slowly appear once baby bats hit puberty. When spacebats' white faces were seen as blank canvases, the facial markings were their life journey drawn on said canvases. The markings were seen as the real window to the soul. Having no marks as an adult was simply outlandish, people of Krytis even had a belief that such bats "had nothing behind their soul" and thus could not be trustworthy

Facial markings (as well as ears) came in many forms. In ancient times one could tell in which of the four original provinces a person was born by simply looking at their faces. Nowadays it became nearly impossible to guess someone's homeland this way (mostly everyone are people of mixed descent), but to those curious this is how bats used to distinguish one another by their markings:

North - straight lines across/all over the face (e.g. the emperor)

South - wavy lines across/all over the face e.g. (the High Priestess of the Southern temple)

West - straight minimalistic lines (e.g. horde clones)

East - wavy minimalistic lines (e.g. the empress)

Hair never held much cultural significance on Krytis, so the styling was only a question of one's personal preference and fashion trends. Some bats (mainly from the south) saw no point in having hair whatsoever - those would choose to go bald or shave parts of the head to better show off their markings

Everyone had one set of eyes. Only local deities were sometimes depicted having 3 and more eyes. And yes, their eyes and teeth do glow in the dark

I wanted to make colorful bats to futher emphasise their whimsical and peaceful nature :) Well, if u think about it many poisonous creatures are colorful too...

I wouldn't be myself if I didn't say anything about local fashion. I don't have my own concepts at hand sadly, just references, but my main inspiration for the fashion of Krytis are late 90s-early 00s futurism and cyber aesthetic. Here and there u will also see smth similar to mall goth or streetwear style, but it's mostly something what young blood were into

Some bats like the royal family and council members would wear more classy and regal clothes but still more or less modern looking. Such choice of attire was espeically important to the empress, who, unlike her late husband, stayed far away from religion and magic and made it the main goal of her campaign to weaken the influence of the religious community and push for scientific and socio-cultural progress

If you have any questions about the people of the Horde/Krytis, feel free to ask! I'm always happy to talk more about this AU!

[autumngremlin]

Medias I've used the most with my shifting journey (in a /pos way):

Tiktok: Accounts that have script templates is a MASSIVE timesaver if you don't know what reality you want to shift to (plus you can just delete stuff you dont wanna use) or too lazy to make your own. I've seen a variety between popular scripts to lesser known ones and even completely blank ones with just themes! I've also discovered GoodNotes through shifttok (which does have a paid subscription if you want to do more than 3 scripts, but if you like to have a digital bullet journal/scrapbook feel, it wouldn't hurt to try out/pos) along with how other people script which was interesting to me! The biggest puller for me personally is the art people make for/of their DRs as someone that does it themselves (and it gives me an excuse to gush over the person's art as a whole!)

Tumblr: Before I got back into shifting, I used to thread through the various tags for pngs/icons, banners and headers for my grimoire and my digital planner for college (and admire art and aesthetic stuff, along with info for said grimoire but that's unrelated). I even had to start a sideblog so I dont lose track of stuff I wanna use eventually. Tumblr also allows me to stay connected to my DRs by indulging in fics, fanart, headcanons, and other things that could trigger inspiration for a scenario (or an unintended memory/blip)

Amino: Yeahh I know it's not a lotta people's cup of tea. It takes some digging around to find some potentially useful stuff and if the community has a masterlist for it, there's divination shops/teams and free pick-a-pile readings! Some even submit script templates that you can copy+paste. I kinda just lurk around, do the daily check-in and keep track of angel numbers I've seen the day before for my spiritual journey but thats just me being me lmao

Pinterest: My other visual savior for scripting! I almost have a board for every reality I have a script for visualizing and refs for when I want to connect through making art. I know I can just download the images and add them to my actual script, but finding the stuff as is is enough work for me and I don't wanna spend more time scripting than I actually need to (and it makes sense for my adhd brain)

Notion: What I originally used for academics now houses a digital grimoire and a script hub. I don't remember what pulled me in to using it since I first started in 2019. I just became more obsessed the more I found out about how people set theirs up and make the layout as minimalist or maximalist as they wanted. I will say there are some limitations between using Notion on a phone vs. a computer or tablet along with the occasional hiccup, but overall it works effectively for me that makes it organized and pleasing to the eye

Etsy: Yep.. a place to shop. I used to splurge a ton on readings on there early in my journey (I still do every now and then now that I found some personal favorite shops) but you can also connect to your DRs without it being specifically shifting-related, like candles or wax melts— even a pin or keychain that reminds you of it somehow.

[jmdbjk]

MNCR merch...

It has a clean, minimalist aesthetic. Gender neutral. Functional. As one person said: it's merch for grownups.

You can even kind of assign members' aesthetics to the items: candle is Jungkook, that bar necklace is Jimin, lotion and lip balm to Hobi, rings to Yoongi, etc.

The prices listed on the preview are most likely the price tags in the Seoul pop-up. They are very reasonable, like the necklace is about $22 USD. And fyi, it only comes with the rectangular bar pendant and does not include the ring. It's interesting they added the ring just for a promo pic.

Anyway.

The sweatshirt is about $65 USD. The candle is about $26 which is what those 3-wick candles at Bath and Body Works cost at regular price. About $20 for the crate and it seems large enough to be very useful.

If this merch makes it to Weverse Shop, which we expect it will, I'm not expecting the prices to remain low. And then add in shipping... ugh.

Personally, I'm not a huge merch buyer. We'll see what the prices are when it all hits Weverse Shop.

Some are underwhelmed by the designs and the fact all of that decoding/puzzle solving we had to do only culminated in this pile of good.

Some are trying to reconcile the fact the photocard images appear to have been taken back in 2021 and none of the members look like that anymore. That is the case in any set of photocards. All of that collateral material must be produced way ahead of time.

That's ok. Not everything will please everyone. It was still fun while it lasted and seemed to clear out the negativity for a while.

The locations run concurrently for the most part. It's not a traveling show. They all close by the end of June, some open for longer periods than others. Some open longer than a month, one barely ten days. That's a long time just to sell merch. Unless there's something else to push while these shops are open. I guess we'll see.

Jin will be back while these shops are still open.

I just gotta say that there was some planning that went into this. And they started a long time ago. They probably had gotten a lot done (photocards) and then had to pause and regroup when things went somewhat off the rails in 2022.

Who knows, maybe Namjoonie's puzzling delay in enlisting (and perhaps the others) was because they were working on something else that goes along with this Monochrome project...

We wait™️.

[houkagokappa]

More Yuri, More Manga

It's been a year since I embarked on my journey to read more yuri manga and it's time for a second update!

After all the yuri manga I read for my previous post, I set my eyes on josei and came to the conclusion that josei that either focuses on wlw or contains wlw relationships, is the best kind of manga there is. I read a lot of josei, and as for works that were also yuri, I read Love My Life, Indigo Blue and Free Soul by Yamaji Ebine, based on a recommendation from @theurbanfuturesoftherecentpast (thank you!!!). Yamaji Ebine has a neat minimalist style and she writes messy complex characters. All her manga had a realistic feel to them, which I enjoyed.

I explored other queer works and stumbled upon Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi by Renjouji Mei, which is a yuri manga focused on two asexual women and their relationship. Once again, I found the characters highly relatable and realistic. It's nice to see some asexual representation, but at the same time, I wouldn't have minded more development between them, although that might be on me and the expectations I have when I pick up a new yuri title, that unfortunately didn't fit this manga or topic. Both characters were ace, but the protagonist felt romantic attraction whereas her crush didn't. While they got a happy ending, I didn't feel fully satisfied, and would've liked if the manga had explored the partially unresolved feelings more, mostly due to personal reasons, even if the conclusion would've been the same (which it probably would've).

Back to some high school yuri, I finished Omoi no Kakera by Takemiya Jin, which I actually started reading early last year. It's another manga that's relatable to me, as it portrays characters with different sexualities, who befriend each other due to the shared experience of being young, closeted queer people. We got wlw/mlm solidarity, and characters who are more secure with their sexualities looking over those who are still trying to figure theirs out. The interactions and communities reminded me of the queer youth group I used to be part of :') In addition to that, I liked the portrayal of different kinds of attraction, and how the focus was on the life of a queer person, rather than a specific romance they experienced, since there's indeed more to being queer than some singular love story. Out of all the manga on this list, this is one of my top recommendations, and at some point I should check out Takemiya's other works. She's out as a lesbian, and you can tell she writes based on lived queer experiences.

One day when I didn't have anything else to read, I picked up Luminous=Blue by Iwami Kyoko (same author as Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai kara). It had the same beautiful artstyle as Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai kara, was slightly less toxic, but equally messy when it came to the relationships. Luminous=Blue is about a transfer student who loves photography. She starts taking photos of her two new classmates, who unbeknownst to her used to go out with each other, and still harbour some lingering feelings towards each other. I was a fan of the different relationship dynamics and happy with the direction the manga and the relationships took, although the last pages included a twist which felt a little out of place. It's a shame, because if it had been given more time, it could've been a very interesting and welcome development, and I'm curious if Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai kara will go in a similar direction, since it has the prerequisites for it.

I also read Toumei na Usui Mizuiro ni by the same author, which had an interesting premise of a girl with a crush on her female childhood friend, who was dating their other, male childhood friend. Normally I like this kind of setting with love triangles that include both straight and queer relationships, but since this was only 3 chapters long, the characters and their dynamics weren't established enough for the story to feel as cohesive and satisfying as it could've. At least the art was gorgeous once again, and I enjoyed the messy relationships. The volume contained two one shots as well, which I think were kinda fun, but I cannot remember that well anymore.

Next up, I read Moonlight Flowers by Tsukumo Mutsumi, based on a personal recommendation from someone who has since escaped tumblr. It's one of the older yuri works there are, as it was written in 1989. It's only one volume long and contains two stories about women who are pressured to marry men, and end up in miserable marriages, until they decide to leave their husbands to be with the women they love. It has a strong feminist message and I've seen a lot of people praise it online, but I wasn't too fond of it. I couldn't quite connect with the characters, and because of that, I didn't particularly enjoy reading about women lacking rights, or homosexuality not being socially accepted. However, I can see how others might be able to feel inspired or empowered reading about characters who overcome the obstacles in their way. It was also quite dramatic, but I will always be in favour of that (even when it's ridiculous, like it was here).

I continued with Sakura no Sono by Yoshida Akimi, which was another recommendation from the same person. It's another old manga, first published in 1985, about the romances of four girls in a drama club of an all girls high school. I found Yoshida's style charming, but it's not among my personal favourites. Some characters looked quite similar and were hard to distinguish. It was disappointing to realise that only one chapter focused on a girl crushing on another girl, while the other romances and the majority of the manga were about straight characters/relationships. If I would've known that from the start, I could've adjusted my expectations accordingly, which is a shame, because now I'm mostly disappointed by the lack of yuri, and it's harder for me to appreciate the work as a whole. It was decent, but quite forgettable.

Then I completed Watashi no Muchi na Watashi no Michi by Momono Moto (same author as Yuunagi Marbled and Kimi Koi Limit from my previous post). I first started reading it 5 years ago, but didn't finish it due to the scanlation taking its sweet time. Now I read it from start to finish. It's about a woman in her early 20's, who's spent all her life pleasing others, and is on the path to marry a male childhood friend of hers, simply out of duty to him and her mom, before her female coworker steps in and swoops her away. The manga takes a weird turn after that, as it turns out the coworker might've had some ulterior motives getting close to our protagonist, but it's interesting, until a somewhat abrupt ending. It was nice to read about a young adult who never cared for romance until she fell in love with her coworker, and for once I didn't even mind the plot point where she was about to marry a man, since it made sense for them and he wasn't overly vilified for how he reacted to her rejection or the reveal of her relationship with another woman (not that it was great either). The art was nice and I liked all the characters. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was a fun read.

Another recommendation from @theurbanfuturesoftherecentpast was Maka-Maka by Kishi Torajiro, an adult manga about the close relationship between two best friends, Jun and Nene. The manga is two volumes long with short chapters in full colour, which required some adjustment from me as I'm usually only reading manga in black and white. It didn't feel like any other yuri I've read, in a good way! My absolute favourite part was how comfortable Jun and Nene were with each other, with a strong mental connection, and frequent, casual sexual encounters. Their relationship felt real and I loved how they kept smiling throughout the sex scenes, which made for an interesting combination of wholesome and horny. I highly recommend this manga, as I'm still thinking about it months later...

Next up, I read Watashi no Sekai wo Kousei suru Chiri no You na Nani ka. by Amano Shuninta. It's about seven university students and their ever changing relationships. Once again, the protagonist was a whole mood as she complained about all her friends having boyfriends which she hated, having a very relatable crush on one of said friends, before getting to live the fantasy of ending up with her. I looooved the inclusion of a toxic lesbian (and her toxic lesbian clique) who would sleep around and toy with others, letting lesbians be flawed people too, but also having wholesome and genuinely good people in the cast, as a counterbalance and showcase of the whole spectrum of different people with different views on love and sex (especially fitting for the university age/setting). There were happy times, but also angst and heartbreak, and bittersweet love, between women who truly cared for each other, but weren't suitable for each other as they had different needs when it came to their relationship and sex life. At first it was a little challenging to keep track of seven different characters, but by the end of it I really enjoyed the various relationship dynamics and the somewhat unlikely friendships that formed between them.

I also read Sweet Guilty Love Bites by Amano Shuninta, which consisted of three short stories about four cabaret girls. The first story was about one of the cabaret girls taking in a random woman she came across, which I didn't care for that much. The second story was about a single mother who unknown to her, hooked up with her child's kindergarten teacher. First she freaked out, thinking she'd be judged for her profession, but the kindergarten teacher was chill and only looking to date her. It was very sweet to see them take care of the child together. I also loved the third story about two cabaret girls who were best friends and roommates, with one of them being very vocal about her love towards women and other cabaret girls, which is a trait I always appreciate. Seeing her pining for her friend/roommate/coworker was great, and precisely the kind of stuff I love! Amano has a lot more in her library and after enjoying these two manga, I think the rest are worth checking out as well. I especially like how her characters are allowed to be horny, but there’s more to her manga than just sex.

Then I picked up Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru by Keyyan, thanks to the premise which sounded relatable. It’s about two women who are at the end of their university studies and looking for work in Tokyo, facing rejection after rejection. They’ve had enough of it and decide to run away from all the expectations and responsibilities to a small island. First of all, what a mood. Second, I really liked the art, especially the character expressions, and how well their excitement was conveyed. The island setting was also A+, and I loved the portrayal of young adults who were in an established relationship, with no uncertainty or drama about the same-sex relationship itself. They were devoted to each other, and the reason both of them wanted to work hard, so they could provide for one another. Besides that, my feelings towards this manga went back and forth quite a lot. First I enjoyed the escapism, but then I had to take a break because it became too idealised with conveniences you can't count on in real life. Once I picked it back up again, I realised that the story actually does stick to reality, when the characters start to worry about money and finding permanent work on the island. While I was happy with that development, it backfired as I was reading this while I was away from home myself, and anxious about my own future in regards to my education and employment, so reading about their struggles felt a bit too real and stressful. Unfortunately, it seems like the series got axed, because the ending was sudden and can be interpreted in two opposing ways, one depressing, one hopeful, and neither fits the story I can only assume the series wanted to tell. It's still a manga worth reading, but maybe in the right mindset.

Although I try to stay away from ongoing works, Dore ga Koi ka ga Wakaranai by Oku Tamamushi seemed fun, so I couldn't help but check it out. It’s about a girl who is unable to confess to her high school crush of 3 years, and starts university determined to find a girlfriend. And oh boy does she find potential girlfriends! She instantly meets and falls for five different women, who also become enamoured with her. What follows is a bunch of flirting, some deliberate, some accidental. The catch is, she doesn't know which one to pursue seriously. The tone is lighthearted and comedic, and the series is best described by the tagline to one of the chapters as "an endless conveyor belt of yuri encounters". I like all the girls, the girls and their embarrassed or flustered expressions are very cute, and instead of the setting falling apart with five people never confessing or trying to seriously pursue the main girl, some do, while others have believable reasons to hold back. The pace is quick enough for any interruptions or miscommunications to not feel aggravating, with several encounters each chapter. I'm curious to see how the manga will continue and potentially end, with some ships seeming more likely than others, since there has been some actual development! I'll also throw it out there, that this manga is a good example of why dark haired girl/light haired girl is an established pairing, since the main pursuer at the moment has light hair and bangs like the protagonist, and it can be a little difficult to tell them apart from some panels or angles.

Another ongoing work I began reading because it ticked the right boxes for me was Sukeban to Tenkousei by Fujichika. As the name suggests, it’s about the somewhat unlikely relationship between a delinquent girl and a sweet transfer student. The manga is set in the Showa era in the 80s and has very charming art. I thought it would be pretty lighthearted and fun, opposites attract type of story, but then one of the characters saw how romantic love was defined as feelings towards the opposite sex, heartbroken by the fact there wasn't a name for her feelings, and I was in tears thinking of anyone who's ever felt that pain. Otherwise, it's mostly a comedy and a fun, easy read, with not that many chapters out yet.

Finally, reaching the anniversary of my year long yuri journey, I finished reading the manga adaptation of Murasakiiro no Qualia, by Ueo Hisamitsu and Tsunashima Shirou. It's a sci-fi series with psychological and mystery elements, about Yukari, a girl with purple eyes who sees humans as robots, and Gaku, the protagonist who befriends her. There are a lot of twists and turns to the story, and it gets gory and dark, as Yukari uses her abilities to help the police solve murder cases and later gets involved with a secret organisation. It's also very philosophical and a bit difficult/slow to read at times, when characters get surprisingly deep into quantum mechanics. I liked the narration a lot, because there's a lot of repetition and Gaku, who's telling the story, jumps back and forth on the timeline, giving the reader more context and insights each time. I was also a huge fan of the character development she went through, starting to exhibit truly unhinged behavior to a level that's hard to find elsewhere, but also oddly reminiscent of Madoka Magica? The ending was satisfying, and it was cool to see it circle back to the beginning. I didn't know anything about this manga beforehand and after a curious start, it kept getting better and better. I originally found out about it in the tags of a tumblr post complaining about variety in yuri, so this is me giving back to the community and passing on the recommendation.

...That was a lot more yuri to add to the library, and there are still so many different works I look forward to reading! I don't know if I'll continue documenting my journey, as I'm probably going to slow down on the yuri a bit, but who knows if the bug bites me again and I won't read anything else for months on end! Again, thank you for reading through all this, I hope you're inspired to read some yuri yourself, and if you have any recommendations I'm always happy to hear them!

[nayeonline]

my 5 favourite k-pop music videos <3

I love music videos, and in k-pop there are a lot of mildy shitty ones, but there are also some amazing ones that are just as iconic as they are aesthetically pleasing. Obviously budget will come into play here, so big 4 groups will be more prevalent on this list, but I tried to be as fair as possible, within reason. Also, I'm a girl group stan, so don't expect many boy groups. Obviously I will forget some, but maybe I'll make a part two, and you are very welcome to leave your fave mvs in the rbs or comments. This list is in no particular order, lets gaur

1. 'Feel Special' - TWICE (JYP Ent.)

This music video inspired this list, and for good reason. 'Feel Special' is in my opinion, the epitome of Twice, as they stand today. It encapsulates their more mature concept post 'Yes Or Yes', but it doesn't alienate their debut cuter concept, it rather welcomes it with open arms and celebrates it as a part of Twice's history, something their newer releases occasionally struggle with. Visually its a feast, its decadent and lavish, and positively gorgeous. Each member has her own movie-esque set, employing various genres and aesthetics, and then the members unite in the most glittery set ever concieved, the gold contrasting their raspberry and champagne outfits magnificently, while also referencing the group's official colours, as seen on their lightstick. The whole video is cinematic and opulent, and every detail, down to Sana's dip died pink hair, and Nayeon's stunning ginger curls which I wish she would bring back, is flawless. The only gripe I have is Chaeyoung's unblended foundation in her solo scene, but hey, we aren't all be perfect. My favourite scenes in this video are the afor-mentioned glittery golden arches group scene, as well as Jihyo's rainbow vintage television scene, that was surprisingly ahead of its time in terms of its retro aesthetics. It's a must-watch music video for the history books, and it's Twice's best song too - it deserves no less.

2. 'Why Not?' - LOONA (BlockBerry Creative - ew)

Note: If you would like to watch this m/v, please stream it from a non official yt channel, in accordance with the boycott. They will usually be marked with 'Boycott Ver.' in the title or something similar.

Loona has a lot of amazing music videos in their arsenal, but 'Why Not?' goes above and beyond. It's one of the most visually striking music videos I have ever seen, and its grasp on colour, composition, and rhythm is completely unparalleled. It's vibrancy is just gorgeous, full of neon lights and shining metallics. The video exists in a constant state of dichotomy: both cool and warm, metropolitan and pastoral, manmade and fantastical. You would assume this would ruin the video's visual message, but the contrast actually enhances it, as well as furthering the group's lore. it's unafraid to experiment with aspect ratio and camera movement, and along with the subversive editing, the final product is unique as well as timeless. Who cares that the last five scenes were neon and retro-futuristic? It's time for Heejin and Hyunjin's black and white minimalist mildly 1920s suited up dance break with a 4:3 aspect ratio of course! As the song itself says, why not? It's as playful as the song, as well as being visually stunning. My favourite scenes include Choerry's upside down mirror moment with the neon lights, as well as Kim Lip in the field with the funky glowing orbs, and of course the cult circle on the moon scene. Fucking iconic.

3. 'Ditto' (Sides A & B) - NewJeans (Ador)

Note: I have a full review of this song, if you are interested.

Where the other videos on this list are overwhelmingly vibrant or cinematic, 'Ditto' is understated and personal. Arguably one of the most influential k-pop music videos of all time, it breaks every rule of what a music video of this genre looks and feels like, rejecting glamour and high fashion for an unromanticized schoolgirl aesthetic surrounded with melancholy. It's heartfelt and unassumingly tragic, and truly makes the viewer yearn for a time they only half remember. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema I have ever seen, and I am so happy that K-pop stans loved it to death as I did, despite how starkly different it is to most everything in k-pop before it. It does however remind me of f(x)'s '4 Walls' m/v, which isn't a shock as Min Heejin (ew) was their creative director also. It also has vibes of the cult classic (?) Japanese movie 'All About Lily Chou Chou'. It has sparked many trends in the industry, including but not limited to: b-roll interspersions, the typical schoolgirl aesthetic, and the general rejection of the polished, glitzy vibe we expect of k-pop idols. Their impact on trends is notable, but in my opinion, no one has executed this aesthetic to the standard that NewJeans has. The unassuming tragic beauty of 'Ditto' is difficult to put into words, you must go and watch the two music videos for it - they are life changing.

4. 'Kill This Love' - BLACKPINK (YG Ent.)

Say what you will about Blackpink, but they KNOW how to do a music video, and 'Kill This Love' is one of their best; it is beyond extravagant. The sets are huge and striking and insane - Jennie floats on the heads of two enormous swans and all four girls dance in the middle of a huge fucking BEAR TRAP and its ridiculously cool. The fashion and styling is amazing too - my fave looks include Jennie's Lara Croft moment with the braid, Lisa's big ass fur coat from her cereal scene, and Jennie's gorgeous eye makeup from her shopping scene with Lisa. In a word, 'Kill This Love' is extra(vagant). Even the scenes that are conceptually ordinary - Lisa's cereal aisle, Rosé crying in her car - are elevated into the extraordinary. There is no real storyline or through line between the scenes other than their saturated colour palettes and the members themselves, but who cares? The members look like fucking goddesses, the dance looks amazing, and there are MULTIPLE jaw-drop moments throughout the runtime - what more do you want? Where 'Ditto' rejects the typical k-pop visual aesthetics, 'Kill This Love' epitomizes them. If I wanted to explain to western pop stan what k-pop is about, this is the video I would show them first. My favourite scenes include: the group scene with the exploding statues and the bad bitch combat outfits, Rosé caught in the storm with beautiful lighting, and THE BEST SCENE IN A BLACKPINK MUSIC VIDEO EVERRRR... Jisoo's goddess moment with the sun and the reflections. Nobody does music videos quite like Blackpink.

5. 'What Is Love?' - TWICE (JYP Ent.)

This music video is so unbelievably special to me. It doesn't break any boundaries with camera movement, editing, or aspect ratio like 'Why Not?', and it doesn't entirely reinvent the typical k-pop music video like 'Ditto' either, but I think it is one of the best music videos ever because it is so FUN. 'What Is Love' is a music video that is a series of references to iconic movies, most of which being about love, as the title suggests. It harkens back to 'La La Land', 'La Boum', 'Pulp Fiction', 'The Princess Diaries', and many more, with the girls playing the characters, on their fictional discovery of what love truly is. It's so special to me because it reminds me of doing exactly what the girls are doing with my best friends and my big sister - trying to learn what love is from the movies is something almost everyone has experienced, and thus the whole video feels nostalgic both for its references, and for its overall concept. It's fun and lighthearted and a memory of simpler times. Oh, to be a 12 year old obsessed with 'The Princess Diaries' again, to be a tween watching 'Pulp Fiction' with your big sister when it's probably not age appropriate, to be young teen watching 'La La Land' right when it came out. What a time to be alive. That's what 'What Is Love?' is, it's a celebration of life, of growing up, of being just a little naive and knowing it. Iconic, truly.

[koishiro]

Ermmm quick question… HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE A BEAUTIFUL AF BLOG?? Like pls share and help me out bc my blog is BARE and empty and looks nasty af, I wanna make my pinned posts and moodboards and just pfp and theme look pretayyy ☹️☹️

Awe thank youuu!!! >.< I think bc I’m such a minimalist in rl it’s easier for me to pick and choose. But here’s a tutorial that’ll hopefully help :33

NOTE! I do everything on my iphone (writing, editing, decorating my page etc just in case ur wondering if I do all this on a laptop/computer,,,I don’t :p)

ʚ The way I work is I’ll choose 3 main colours; a light colour, an in-between shade and then a dark colour. Mine for example : light colour: white, in-between shade: grey, dark colour: dark grey. It’s up to you whether you want ur dark or light colour to be ur main colour but I’d keep ur in-between shade as an in-between. (Think of ur in-between shade as a gradient, helping to blend ur light colour with ur dark colour)

AND CHOOSE COLOURS THAT WORK TOGETHER! Even when picking pictures like for example ur navigation or pinned page make sure the pics have the same three colour combo you used through ur whole blog even if its minuscule it’ll make a huge difference I promise u (so like I’d personally look out for white, grey and black accent pics for my blog on Pinterest) :

ʚ Even with moodboards I still work with the same mindset! :

SET YOUR THEME! Once you’ve figured out your colours and where they’ll go, set your blog’s theme from the editing page!!! (hint : I’d use your mid/gradient/in-between shade as your accent but it honestly depends on what ur after) :

ʚ What really helps is when you have a pic theme and what I mean by that is maybe use ur fav character from somewhere (like mines megumi from jjk) or maybe it’s a sanrio character like my melody. (I grab my pics from this Pinterest board if that helps which I also use for my moodboards)

Example :

⤷ I also found it helped my aesthetic when I added links into my bio to help find my carrd and navigation (here’s the link for the tut) it helps fill out ur bio especially if ur not sure what to put there :) — I know earlier I said I do everything on my phone but I’m not entirely sure if this is able to be done on a phone (android or iphone) so I’d use a laptop with this part if you can :))

Miscellaneous things you can add!

ʚ You can also customise ur ask page title (like mine is : send me a love letter ︎♡)

ʚ Keep ur writing post themes consistent — this helps readers actually remember ur work while also tying ur blog together.

For example, I always use this draft for my writing :

ʚ Fonts really help! I personally use the app : keyboard + + for free fonts (u just have to watch a few adds to unlock them)

ʚ I find it important to make sure whatever picture you add to your blog has a transparent background — not everyone has the same colour palette (like mine is permanently on Dark Mode while others will have theirs on Gothic) :

(I use Picsart for this)

ʚ Tags make a difference on your posts too! A separate tag index can also help ur followers know where to find certain posts for easy scrolling or maybe posts they want to avoid (like smut) :

ʚ For my pfp I chose a bright main colour like yellow to stand out against the dark grey of my blog and I usually leave this as the last step in my “blog decoration” just because I find it easier once all the main construction is done and then I can see what colour(s) I need to add back to tie my blog together.

ʚ I also like to hide my pfp/avatar from my bio bc it looks a bit too much and too big for me personally and it can sometimes clash with the colours you already have going on, I like a minuscule pfp but again that’s just preference :

Anywhoooo I think that’s it! Hopefully this helped and if you (or anyone else) have anymore questions or if you want me to personally help you with decorating your blog pls pls pls message me and I’ll be happy to help! ,,,Mwah! <3

[nomsfaultau]

Daily ask №19!

Random thoughts edition!

1. Why does everyone else have normal names but Blade is THE Blade? Nobody calls Tommy The Tommy. Is The his first name and Blade his last?

2. Tubbo's opinion on bumblebees

3. What if Tubbo was made out of other insects ex. Worms, butterflies, mosquitoes (that one would be horrifying) etc

4. Do swears in other languages also get censored? With the word muffin in English or in the language of the swear word? What if there isn't a word for muffin in the language?

5. What would happen in the Fault crew tried to ride a bike? Assuming they each get a bike according to their proportions (Wilbur's changes height, yes). And Tubbo gets their legs back just magically. + What would their bikes look like? (Ex. Filled with stickers, minimalist black sleeky bike, a poorly bedazzled one, one that's barely holding together)

+ a bonus question, you technically didn't answer the first question in the last ask, aka what if the fault crew gets into dsmp in Pogtopia, and I was actually sorta excited for the Slowly going mad Wilbur meeting with the fault one, the whole right after the festival Tubbo meeting, Technoblades strategizing together, Fault Phil potentially getting noticed by C!Mumza, Tommy.. not sure abt him tbh. But you get the point. You don't gotta answer but I'd appreciate it!

Alright lets gooooo not writing this at 11 this time

1. Why does everyone else have normal names but Blade is THE Blade? Nobody calls Tommy The Tommy. Is The his first name and Blade his last?

No first or last name, simply The Blade (thuh not thee, he’s not the definitive blade by which all other blades are measured). That’s what he decided to name himself back when he was developing a sense of identity, which would’ve been around the edgy teenage years. In formal settings he’s Mr. The Blade, and he’ll tease you if you forget the The. And it’s always The Blade, not the blade, unless you’re Tubbo and it’s a subconscious undermining of The Blade’s personhood.

In Doyalist explanation, it’s cause I felt like the name Technoblade stuck out in the settling and broke emersion. Which I figure is not a problem for anyone really deep in the sauce. What I do for Techno’s name really depends on the piece. In MFR it’s intentionally Techno (not Technoblade as Phil calls him) as a casual and alienation from the naming conventions of the rest of sbi. In more modern settings he might be Techno, in fantasy it’s Technoblade.

2. Tubbo's opinion on bumblebees

Stupid and cute. They probably try to avoid other hives to limit territorial disputes, competition for pollen, etc. They are prejudiced against wasps tho. Which does not reflect the author’s views.

3. What if Tubbo was made out of other insects ex. Worms, butterflies, mosquito (that one would be horrifying) etc

The key principle of Tubbo is the eusociality of colony bees and their construction of nests. This is not a trait shared by worms, butterflies, mosquitoes, and other species of bees which are independent organisms. Organisms such as termites, ants, and wasps would be on the table. It would be hard for termites and ants given most of them can’t fly so their movement would be very difficult. They’d be very heavy, potentially made of soil and mounds. Wasps would function very similarly to current Tubs, though I believe their morals would be rather different as to attack another isn’t as much as a personal cost.

Tubbo could also be made of moles, which are the only eusocial mammals. Or I guess we can open it to other forms of cooperative units. Like rats. Or lions.

But as to the real question, I think it would be fun for worm Tubbo to have like more rot alignment, things start decomposing if around them long enough. And if they’re monarch butterfly aligned (since I know that species at least has some seasonal colony behavior) then they’d have different level of power at different time of years in accordance to the super migration. And hibernate in winter everyone say aww in the chat. Mosquito would make addition into the Hive mind extra sinister, since it gets this edge of we need to take the blood and bodies of people in order to maintain our population.

4. Do swears in other languages also get censored? With the word muffin in English or in the language of the swear word? What if there isn't a word for muffin in the language?

Wilbur and Philza test this.The further the language gets from relation to modern English the less likely swears will be censored by Halo. Philza is pleading for the day linguistic drift allows him new modern swears because this will affect him forever and ever because it is a permanent curse upon any who have ever cursed within a set distance from Halo. It is always the word muffin regardless if the speaker knows what muffin means. It also censors written words, and rude gestures. Also it’s not always the most consistent? Like sometimes hell gets censored, other times it isn’t. Tubbo gets to say bastard once. I’m not sure how slur identity politics interact with it. Halo is the final arbiter of who gets the n-word pass. He would solve all twitter disputes and start many new ones.

5. What would happen in the Fault crew tried to ride a bike? Assuming they each get a bike according to their proportions (Wilbur's changes height, yes). And Tubbo gets their legs back just magically. + What would their bikes look like? (Ex. Filled with stickers, minimalist black sleeky bike, a poorly bedazzled one, one that's barely holding together)

Tommy begs and begs for his to look like a motorcycle. He wants flame decals and everything. His handles are extra grippy of help with slipping hands. Phil’s seat is probably strange to deal with his tail. It’s an absolutely ancient prototype bike with the massive front wheel and he works very hard to keep it functional. If Wilbur’s changes with height he’s using it to run over people lmao. It’s a very un proportional bike since his arms don’t change. Also wil adores the transportation/escape option. It’s a very ratty bent up hunk of junk and is covered in scratch and bite marks much like its owner. Not sure what bike can transport nearly three tons of pork but I trust you. The Blade is very bad at riding it since balance is not his forte. The bike is a hectic mess as its design was created by committee (the voices). So it has all designs ever. Stickers for movies and books the voices like, stupid horn on the front, basket to carry cheezits, literally 8 different paint colors. (I’m just going to assume this is Tubbo prior to the leg injury since that would create more immediate pressing things to address re:character rxn, and Tubbo has already rejected an offer of magic instant legs in fic.) It’s covered in painted on flowers and stars much like their prosthetics, and has Dino stickers slapped on. Rhodes is very concerned about the fact they can’t wear a helmet with their antenna. Tubbo is not, because Tubbo is aware they can fly. Jasmine brags about being able to ride without training wheels. 

+ a bonus question, you technically didn't answer the first question in the last ask, aka what if the fault crew gets into dsmp in Pogtopia, and I was actually sorta excited for the Slowly going mad Wilbur meeting with the fault one, the whole right after the festival Tubbo meeting, Technoblades strategizing together, Fault Phil potentially getting noticed by C!Mumza, Tommy.. not sure abt him tbh. But you get the point. You don't gotta answer but I'd appreciate it!

Realizing that allowing time between the festival and the overthrow lets everything fester, I think the anomalies will push for immediate action, especially since they’re in a different weight class. This would also prevent the chaos brigade (? name? Idk fuzzy) from having time to ally with JSchlatt. Techno is ruffled about having less prep time due to advancing the timeline, but him and The Blade get real into the strategy and can try hard it together. I think this could give 1. less time for wither gathering (and TNT) and 2. The Blade is pretty against collateral damage, and might advise against it. I don’t think it would convince Techno, but the limited prep time could mean the schism causes less damage. 

Fhilza is distinctly going to start Cwilbur on therapy. Like immediately after Filbur is like mmm dad this is ending badly (it has big trauma around explosions particularly). I reckon Cwilbur isn’t pleased with it but Fhilza is persistent above all else. And can introduce him to far more direct intentional tactics to ‘stick it to the man’ since Fhilza for all his faults is extremely intentional in the damage he causes. FTubbo is like well great apparently the blade sucks in all universes. I suppose this is right after the Pit, so The Blade is pretty horrified how nonchalant Technoblade is about just going with the voices and killing Tommy. Though he feels a lot safer in the dsmp universe since everyone having extra lives means he has a lot more grace if he messes up. 

And FTommy can relate so heavily so holding onto a relationship that’s starting to become toxic. Not that I imagine his advice to CTommy is good. But he can relate. 

I don’t imagine any of the Fault crew are particularly pro institution after their brush with the fascistic Foundation. Not that they’d go on the attack like Techno, but as often as they arrive to decisions by votes they might slow down the proceeding to something less rushed and hectic. And again, just super duper killing green boi wound decrease the predator pressure urging them to act fast and panic and be extreme in decisions at times. And at the very least, Tubbos’ surveillance would notice if CWil tried to rig everything up, so I imagine L’Mangburg doesn’t get that wither and explosion damage. 

Mumza in Fhilza would be so fascinating bc they're both immortals that pick out little mortals. I think they would both make a point to be very amicable since well if they're going to be bumping into each other the rest of eternity it's better. She can probably taste Fhilza's longing to keep his mortals, but I think he knows better than to ask.

[musicloverxoxo7]

Lessons with Professor Park – featuring Jimin

Biology professor!Jimin   x   fem!reader

Summary: Professor Park is one of the hottest guys you’ve ever seen. For some reason, he seems drawn to you as well. Can you stay away from him or will you fall for temptation?

Themes/warnings: AU, smut with a bit of plot, protected sex, fingering, nipple play, bit of fluff, age gap (about 5 years and both are over 21)

Wordcount: ca. 3.6k

Disclaimer: 18+, DO NOT INTERACT IF YOU ARE UNDER 18

I do not own BTS. They merely inspire me. None of this is related to their persons in real life.

You knew the young professor was trouble the moment you walked into his classroom on your first day of your second year in the Master’s program. A long strand of dark hair was falling into his forehead and his shirt was open one button too many.

But you tried your utmost to focus on the seminar he was teaching. Of course, it couldn’t be a huge lecture hall with a hundred students. No, it had to be only ten people.

Nine, now that one has dropped out.

At the end of today’s seminar, Professor Park leans against his desk and looks at everyone in turn.

“Any questions for today? No?”

It’s like he misses your raised hand on purpose.

“Alright then. Have a nice weekend.”

Everyone, including you, starts packing up. You know Professor Park waits around for a few minutes after the end of each seminar for the more hesitant people. So, you wait until everyone has cleared out and approach him.

 “Professor, I have a question about the paper for next month.”

He’s sitting atop the desk now, looking at you with slightly raised eyebrows.

“Please, do ask them.”

You come closer with the piece of paper which you’ve written your questions on.

“Also”, he continues, “feel free to call me Jimin. It always feels a bit weird when people just a few years younger call me Professor.”

Which is something he said during the first day of the seminar as well. Except, it still feels wrong calling him Jimin. You like to reserve first name basis for people you actually know.

It seems he only now spots the list in your hand.

“Exactly how long is the list?”

“Seven questions. Oh, am I keeping you? I can ask them next week just as well.”

He holds out his hand in a calm down gesture.

“How about you ask the questions while we walk to my office?”

“Of course, sure.”

He walks around the desk and bends down to pick up his briefcase. His tight suit pants show off his ass and thighs exceptionally well. Quickly, you look at your list, but you might be smirking a little.

“Okay, let’s go.”

The walk to Professor Park’s office isn’t particularly long. You’ve only gotten through 3 of the questions. He unlocks the door, turns on the light and walks in.

“Come on in. I have another five minutes to answer the rest of your questions.”

Hesitantly, you walk into the office. It’s clean, minimalistic and there are tons of books.

While you move on to question number 4, Professor Park puts his briefcase down on his chair and rifles through a neat stack on his desk. It doesn’t distract him from answering your question.

Finally, he finds the piece of paper he seems to have been looking for and slides it into his briefcase. While answering the next question, he puts on his suit jacket and looks around for something else.

He’s finished answering question number 6 by the time he comes up with a tie whose knot is a mess. Professor Park sighs.

He undoes the knot and tries to get it right, while answering your last question. He does not succeed.

“Uhm, professor, do you need help?”

“You can tie a tie?” He sounds so relieved you nearly burst out laughing.

“I can, yes.”

You put down your paper and pen and approach him. The tie’s ends hang loosely around his neck. You’d never noticed before how strong of a neck he has. Strong and muscular like his thighs and ass.

Somehow, you still manage to keep a straight, neutral face as you set to work tying a simple knot. Being so close to him feels exhilarating and forbidden at the same time. You love the feeling.

“May I ask how come you can’t tie a tie? I’ve seen you wear them quite often.”

“I don’t know. Ties and I have always been enemies. Feels wrong to now make them my friends.” His eyes narrow into a cute smile. “My mom still ties them for me whenever she visits. She says I should at least find myself a partner who can tie them.”

“Have you heeded her?”

“Nope.” The smile is still there. It’s a little less cute now, though. “She tries to set me up with lawyers, doctors, even an engineer, but I like it when I share a few interests with whoever I’m seeing.”

His voice is husky and low. You know you’re walking into dangerous territory. It’s just too alluring not to go for it.

“Interests like biology?”

“Among other things. Or dancing.” So that’s where he has these impressive muscles from. “Music. Sewing. Perhaps reading.”

He sounds like a dream character come to life.

“Any of those things you enjoy, Ms. y/l/n?”

“All of them. Well, except I can’t sew. I prefer knitting.”

The knot is tied and still you’re standing ridiculously close to him. You become even more aware of that fact when he shifts a little and his thigh touches yours.

“Thanks for answering my questions. I wouldn’t want to keep you any longer.”

“You’re welcome. And thanks for the tie.”

“If you have any tie emergencies in the future, I’m here to help.”

With a polite smile you take your notes and leave.

Of course, this wasn’t the only time. Two weeks later, Professor Park asks you after the seminar to come help with his tie. Which you do. Afterwards you sit together for over an hour and chat about biology, music and life while drinking tea or coffee. It becomes a habit. One you indulge in every single week.

He hasn’t made any advances towards you yet. It gets to the point where you think he’s just looking for a friend. To be honest, you want him to be your friend. He interesting, hilarious and attentive. Except that you can’t keep yourself from imagining how those thighs might feel under your palms.

This week, the Professor has scheduled your little meeting for two hours after the end of your seminar, because of some important meeting in between.

You’ve spent the free time in the library and have gotten a ton of work done. You knock on the door.

“Come on in.”

You push the door open and freeze.

Professor Park is standing in front of you with his shirt unbuttoned. You can see his well-muscled chest, abs that look like marble and a happy trail disappearing into his pants.

If he notices you looking, he doesn’t comment on it.

“Please tell me you’re the most practical person in the world and have a sewing kit with you.” His tone is slightly panicked.

Only now do you look at his face. He looks panicked too. Not like his usual, calm self at all. Your brain goes into helping mode.

“What’s the issue?”

“Two buttons came off. It’s the only shirt I have here. No spares, no jackets. I have a meeting in twenty minutes and no time to run home and get a new one.”

You close the door, take down your backpack and dig around in the front pouch. Finally, you come up with an emergency set. Not just for clothing, but for medical ones as well. All in one.

“Y/n, you are my savior. Thank you!”

You hand him the set. He takes off his shirt, sits down on his sofa and gets to work.

“I’m sorry that our meeting is so short today. I would have warned you ahead of time, but the big boss only scheduled it an hour ago.”

You lean against the inside of the door and watch him.

“That’s alright. I’ll just go back to the library and get some more work done.”

“Nobody waiting for you at home?”

“Other than my laundry? No.”

“Same”, he chuckles.

“You really are good with a needle”, you comment. And he truly is. But your eyes keep straying to his naked torso. He only hums in agreement.

“You must have done a lot of dancing to get those muscles.”

“I’ve been doing contemporary since I was about 10.” He looks up and smiles devilishly. “Thanks for noticing. And I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable. I don’t usually sit in front of students half-naked.”

“I’m sure most wouldn’t mind. For example, for anatomy class. How to better show certain muscles than with a dancer using them?”

He’s looking at you with those unreadable eyes of his. They’re always like a wall is built right behind them.

“I’d only do that for… special students.”

He lays aside the shirt and puts needle and thread back into your little emergency kit.

“Mh, what a shame that I got a hundred out of a hundred in anatomy class, then.”

Professor Park gets up and brings you the emergency kit. He stands so close that you can smell his cologne. It’s intoxicating. You look at his neck.

“Something wrong with my neck?”

“No, all good.”

“Why are you looking at it like that?”

“Just wondered what kind of cologne you’re wearing. It’s nice.”

You shrug your shoulders and try to act all nonchalant.

“I didn’t spray any on my neck.”

“No?”

You actually are perplexed. Professor Park’s eyes narrow in a way that makes you want to throw yourself at him.

“You can find out where though, if you want.”

He opens his arms and looks at you with a slight smile. The moment of truth. Your time to show you’re interested as well.

You take a step forward. And another. Now, if you jut out your chest, it will touch his. Your nose comes to his neck. He’s right. No cologne there. Only his own smell. Which makes you want to dig your nose into his neck and keep sniffing.

But you move on. To his jaw. His eyes are closed as you move your nose along it, his lips slightly parted. One of his hands comes to rest lightly on the small of your back.

“Mh, not here.”

 You take his free arm and pass your nose over it. He shivers at the light touch. Nothing at his wrists either.

“Professor, you’ve hidden it well.”

“It’s in plain sight, Ms. y/l/n.”

You turn back to him and place a hand on his chest. His eyes are still closed.

“Very warm”, he murmurs.

You bend your knees a little until you can run your nose over his chest. This is where the smell is coming from. His warm skin practically radiates the citrusy, light scent. You let your lips follow your nose. His head drops back, and he lets out a sigh.

You inhale a few more times before moving upwards, along his collar bone, over his neck to his jaw.

“Your time is up, professor. You have to go meet the big boss”, you whisper next to his ear. He groans.

“I’d much rather play with you some more.”

“That’ll have to wait.”

You pull back a little until you can look him in the eyes. He looks sleepy and very horny. As if the bulge in his pants hadn’t already given him away.

“Would you like to come to my apartment tonight? I’ll cook us something.”

“Gladly.”

You exchange phone numbers; he sends you his address and you agree on you coming over at 7.

Instead of more time at the library, you head home to prep for the night. You haven’t been on a date in months, and you look forward to it. You choose a black dress that shows off a decent amount of cleavage and has a swirly skirt.

A few hours later you stand in front one of the chicest apartment high rises in the city. You have to check in with a security woman at the desk.

“I’m Ms. y/n y/l/n. Professor Park should be expecting me.”

“He is”, she says after consulting with a screen. “Go on up. He’s on floor 17.”

Which turns out to be one of four penthouses. You know the professor salary at your university is decent, but nowhere near this good. You ring the bell outside his door and wait, nervously tapping your foot.

The door opens.

Jimin stands in front of you in a white apron, black slacks and a dark red shirt that looks like sin.

“Come on in. I have something on the stove.”

You walk in and take off your shoes. Almost instantly, you get enveloped by one of the most delicious scents you’ve ever smelled. Moments later, you join him in the kitchen. He looks right at home here, juggling pots and pans, adding a pinch of salt here and some pepper there.

“You can cook.”

“I can. My former roommate and I drew straws concerning who had to cook and who had to clean. I didn’t get the cooking one, but he nearly poisoned us twice. So we swapped and I learned how to cook a good meal.”

“That’s a good story. Can I help with anything?”

“No, thanks, darling. Everything’s done.”

He turns off the stove and turns to you.

“Now I can give you a proper greeting, if you’re okay with that.”

You’re perplexed for a moment but recover quickly.

“Sure.”

He steps forward and cups your cheeks. His face is less than 10 centimeters from yours.

“Thanks for coming today.”

“Well, you did say something about anatomy lessons for special students. And home-cooked food.”

His eyes nearly disappear as he smiles.

“Good to know you have your priorities straight.”

He moves in for a very gentle kiss, barely more than your lips touching for a few seconds. You look at his lips as you draw apart. They are so soft and plump.

You look at his eyes. He’s observing you with a fond smile.

You decide to risk it and move towards him again. Clearly, he’s more than willing to kiss you again. You gently bite into his lower lip, at which he moans. It gives you an opportunity to meet your tongue with his.

It takes a few more minutes and several passionate kisses before your brain starts working properly again.

“Food”, you ask.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, food. Let’s eat.”

It’s a very pleasant meal. He’s an excellent cook and the conversation only halts when both of you are putting food in your mouths at the same time.

You find out that Jimin, as you’ve started calling him in your head, had a startup with his former roommate. One they sold before he finished his PHD. Clearly, he earned a pretty penny from it, but he doesn’t talk about that, nor does he brag.

“And what is your former roommate doing now?”

“He’s a stay-at-home dad for his twin daughters. They’re one and a half years old and the cutest little tyrants in the world.”

“Does he have a PHD too?”

“Yes. But not in the STEM field. He was always the face, the creative person, the charmer, the salesperson and marketer of our company. Though he was pretty good with some of the tech stuff too.”

“So, CEO Taehyung and COO Park?”

“You guessed correctly.” He looks at you with narrowed eyes. “Are you imagining me as the boss of a big company now? Bossing people around and stuff?”

You smile at him.

“Maybe I am. Though I think you’d only let out the bossy side when you really have to.”

“Want to see for yourself if that holds true?”

The sexy eyes and slight smile tell you exactly what he means. You pat your lips with the napkin. Under the table, you squeeze your thighs together.

“Well, I’m finished with dinner. Thank you, by the way. It was delicious.”

“Come here, love.”

He pushes back his chair, patting his lap. You do so and take your time letting your skirt ride up until you sit on him. His eyes and hands run over your arms, thighs, sides. He feels like a starved man.

“Any place you don’t want to be touched?”

“No, you can touch me where you want.”

You catch his hands and put them on your boobs. He groans and buries his face against your cleavage.

“I’ve been trying all night to be a gentleman and not look at your boobs too much. This is heaven.”

As if to confirm his words, his dick twitches under you. Satisfied with the reaction, you grind your hips down on him. He moans into your chest.

“I wore the dress so you would look.”

“If I’d known I would have looked a lot more.”

“Plenty of time to do so now”, you say, keeping up the grinding. He’s grown fully hard by now.

But instead of looking, he uses touch, dragging his full lips along the line of your dress. That turns into kisses. You enjoy every second of it. He clearly knows how to savor.

“May I?”

His hand has moved to your zipper.

“Please, do.”

He unzips the dress and you slide out of the top part. It falls down around your hips and your chest is suddenly on full display. You ditched the bra on purpose. Before you can do anything else, Jimin’s lips are on your nipples.

Your head rolls back as you keep grinding against his hard length.

The man has mad skills with his mouth and tongue. He has you orgasming in under three minutes, clinging to his shoulders and your thighs squeezing his slim hips.

Once he’s done with one nipple, he moves to the other and repeats the process. You’re nearly crying by the time you come again a few minutes later.

You can see the smirk even through heavy lids and a film of tears.

“No, not another time. It’s my turn now.”

You meet his lips for a kiss and practically rip open the buttons of his shirt. His skin is smooth and warm, the muscles underneath like marble.

You take one of his dark nipples between your thumb and index finger and twist. His hands on your hips tighten. You do it a few more times until he breaks the kiss.

“If you keep doing that, I’ll cum, love. I’d much rather do that in you than in my pants.”

He pulls a foil packet out of his pants. You hold out your hand. He hands it to you, then opens his pants. No underwear. You wonder if he normally wears underwear. With a smirk you open the condom and roll it onto his length. He’s girthy, but after two orgasms you’re definitely ready.

You raise your hips, push aside dress and underwear and slowly slide down on his length. Jimin’s head drops back as you do. He fills you nicely. You rock your hips back and forth a little until you’ve fully adjusted, before raising them up and dropping down again.

One of Jimin’s hands dives under your dress until he finds your clit and starts playing with it. With the right tilt of your hips, Jimin rubs against your G-spot repeatedly. You’re both panting within minutes.

“Can I – ah – take over from here?”

“Of course.”

Jimin picks you up and sits you down on a free space of the table. You lay down. He pulls both of your legs up until they rest against his chest.

Slowly, he pushes back into you. The rhythm he strikes up is smooth and deep at first, perhaps to give both of you a chance to regain your breath. You start playing with your clit.

Until he starts thrusting into you faster and faster. You go cross-eyed at the way that feels.

“Ahh, Jimin. Harder.”

So he goes harder.

You start spasming around him. The third orgasm hits much harder than the first two. You whine, clawing at the table.

Jimin follows moments later with a few more sloppy thrusts. He keeps holding onto your thighs, panting heavily.

Since you know that things can quickly get awkward during moments like that, you smile up at Jimin.

“Can I have a kiss?”

“Anything, love.”

You part your legs and sling them around his hips. Jimin bows down and you exchange some gentle kisses.

“That was… nice doesn’t seem like a good enough word.”

“Splendid?”

“Too posh.”

“Exquisite?”

“Hell yeah, it definitely was exquisite.”

Jimin smiles sleepily. You push a strand of hair out of his eyes.

“Do you want to watch a movie and cuddle on the sofa for a bit? In case you want another round tonight, I can tell you it’ll take at least half an hour for me to recover enough.”

“Sounds nice.”

That’s how you end up watching a comedy and snuggling together under a blanket. Jimin has changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt. You’re wearing one of his overlarge hoodies.

“Since you said I could have anything earlier, how about you cook me another meal soon?”

“On Friday?”

“Good.”

“I think you only like me for my cooking skills. And maybe my mouth and dick.”

He pouts. You laugh and then plant a kiss on those delectable lips.

“Actually, I liked you for your brain first. And maybe your ass.”

“If I hadn’t noticed you looking at it more than once, I would never have made the first move.”

“You saw that?!”

He only winks at you before pulling you into a drawn-out kiss. Looks like the half hour is over.

© musicloverxoxo7, 2022

Please do not copy, translate, or repost my work. Doing so will make you legally liable for stealing intellectual property.

[saturniandragon]

Adra's Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown In-Depth Review (contains spoilers)

(Caution: Extremely long read, please ask for snacks from Long Caster)

Let's start with a little background of me as a player. Before 7, my Ace Combat games were:

Ace Combat 2

Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (EU and JP versions)

Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception

Ace Combat: Joint Assault

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

With the exception of Assault Horizon and the EU version of AC3, I played all of them on emulators. Because I was too poor to afford anything. I haven't played AC6 because I haven't seen the reason to buy an X360 just to play 1 game, so I'm waiting for a fully developed X360 emulator that can run 6 flawlessly.

Yes I used to play AH. Quite a lot. Yes it was a decent enough game. Yes it's strayed ungodly far from the true Ace Combat that we know of. But the soundtracks absolutely make up for it. And frankly, without AH, there won't be Ace Combat Infinity, because it used the same game engine as AH. Also AC7 reuses several sounds from AH.

I'm not saying we should accept AH as a true Ace Combat game, because it's not. But over time, it became a necessary stepping stone towards Ace Combat Infinity and Ace Combat 7 we know today.

Just a note that I have never played Infinity. I was still in mid school when Infinity was up and running. I never even owned a PS3. Any mention of AC Infinity in my following review is based on watching YT videos because the game is dead now (thanks Namco, I guess).

I spent 5 years aggressively avoiding spoilers for Ace Combat 7 because it's more fun that way. As such I had no idea what the story is like, what Strangereal country the protag is affiliated with, or which country we're fighting. About the only thing I know is that the protag goes by the nickname Trigger.

Anyway, Ace Combat 7 now. So my first impression was. Wow. I absolutely loved the menu UI. Minimalistic, yes, but very straightforward. And the splash screen before the main menu. The overall dark blue theme of course is a nod towards the blue skies that every pilot knows, whether real or virtual. And apparently also a reference for the theme of the game plot, "Dark Blue."

(Tumblr voice: do you love the color of the sky-- *forcibly removed from stage*)

The controls again are also familiar, although I have to change the scheme in settings first, because I'm used to using the Select button instead of Square to change SP weapons. Again it's configurable, so a nice feature.

The mission briefing scene was... to put it simply, a little convoluted. Maybe that's just me, seeing Ace Combat 5 and Zero also had similar briefing screens with a buttload of flavor text that mostly doesn't matter to the actual gameplay. I let it slide because it's "the Ace Combat DNA", if you will. And I also love the animations, so good job devs.

First mission, you're a peacekeeping pilot. So I guess like the precursor of Ace Combat 3's UPEO. You get F-16C with 4AAMs. And thank God for that because I'm kinda fed up with starter planes being something ancient like F-4s or F-5s. And I quite like Vipers. Not as much as I like Flank-- sorry, moving on.

Oh shit, we're fighting Erusea now. I think we fought Erusea as well in 04, right? So I was interested if maybe there would be a mention of Yellow 13 (spoiler: there isn't).

The graphics were stunning. I played the game on max graphics. Lighting, shadows, glow/bloom effects, clouds, skies, a couple of shadow staircasing every now and then, but it's not super noticeable. And the game was very well optimized as well because I was getting 120+ fps at all times.

Although to be fair Ace Combat 7 is my first proper "next gen" game. After years and years of playing games on 720p Low, playing something on 1080p Ultra with smooth 60fps+ is mind blowing.

I think the only times I switch to first person/HUD view is during dogfights in thick clouds, just so I can see where my aircraft is pointing and avoid a premature nose-first landing.

Then the soundtracks. My god, this game delivers and goes beyond. Several times I get the chills when the music ramps up during the right moment. And the way the BGM gets muffled when you're in the clouds and becomes clear again when you're out? Such a genius idea. Replayability value increased.

The flight model/physics is... well, quite different from what I'm used to, which is AC5 and AC0's flight model. Your left thumbstick input isn't instantaneous, there's a bit of inertia and momentum in plane's roll, pitch and yaw, but I quickly got used to it. In contrast to PS2 titles, AC7 planes are so easy to accelerate and very hard to decelerate, and I learned that the hard way from overshooting enemy planes and crashing to the ground a couple of times trying to do dive bomb attacks.

And then the flight model for landing on runways or carriers is another level of different. Somehow your air speed doesn't decrease when you fully press the decel button and the air brakes are extended. Even increasing sometimes, during approach. Your plane only actually starts losing speed when you're directly above the runway. And I hear you, Ace Combat isn't known for realistic flight physics. Never was, and never will be. I have fully accepted that since Ace Combat 2. But you can actually decrease your speed during landing, as you should be able to, in all the previous titles, so why not in 7? That means most of the time I was landing my plane in AC7 with nose gear first. Doesn't damage my plane in the game or anything, but still, I loved doing realistic landings in previous games.

During takeoffs your plane also pitches up automatically after surpassing V1 and V2 speeds, like in Assault Horizon. I prefer previous titles where you have to manually pull the stick back to takeoff from the runway/carrier.

I'm slightly disappointed that there isn't any vapor cloud forming on your plane when you breach Mach 1. AC5 and Zero had that small touch of realism (I think 04 also did but I don't remember), so seeing it absent in 7 is a bit sad. But not game breaking.

Harling rescue mission. He's no longer president of Osea but he's still alive, and apparently built the space elevator near Selatapura. Flew my Super Tomcat with 8AAM through the radar network. Reminding me of the Mother Goose One escort mission from 5. Even the rescue chopper is Sea Goblin, the same one from 5. I love it.

My hype was shattered at the end of the mission where apparently one of my missiles hit Harling and killed him??? Oh well, solitary now I guess.

Oh great, first mission apparently with other pilot convicts. Take off and make Erusean bombers think they're attacking a real AFB. While Count and other Spare squadron members keep calling me Harling's murderer.

My true complain so far in my first time playing is that the characters talk SO much during actual gameplay. Way too much. Half the time I don't hear or get the chance to read subtitles because I'm too focused on dogfighting or blowing stuff up with HVAAs and GPBs. So I'm missing quite a lot of what the characters say during flight.

About the only thing I catch in the entire game is just Long Caster talking about food (affectionate). He probably has an entire buffet line for himself in his E-767. Hey I don't blame him, you're not yourself when you're hungry.

Although, Long Caster, did you really just say you were gonna order food from "Italian" bistro near LRSSG base? That's a bit of an oversight from PA.

My only source of the game's storyline is through cutscenes, which, may I add, are rendered extremely nicely. Like, I couldn't tell if the cutscenes were pre-rendered MP4 clips or real-time 3D render. We've gone from AC04's manga slideshow, AC5's 3D anime, AC0's green screen mocaps, to realistic and high fidelity CGI cutscenes in 7. With the exception of the static JPEG dog that appears beside the Princess of Erusea and Mihaly's granddaughters.

Speaking of which. Mihaly. What the hell is with that full name, old man? Even the noble Altmer families in Elder Scrolls Online are jealous of your monarchy name. I don't want to be your commanding officer who will probably have to write your full name everytime I make an official report.

The cutscenes show an interesting story from Avril's point of view. How she went from apparently spending years building an F-104 from scraps to fulfill her dream as a sky drag racer, shot down by an Osean fighter for breaching airspace regulation, held as a prisoner for god knows how long, and finally becoming the Scrap Queen for the OADF/OMDF and making tweaks for Trigger's aircrafts.

(You! Solitary, now!)

Let's move to weapons. SP weapons especially, and my god there's a lot of them now. LAAM, HVAA, HPAA, HCAA, 8AAM, GRKT, SASM, IEWS, PLSL, so many to choose from. I still remember when 4AGMs and 4AAMs were just called XAGMs and XMAAs. And now there's even a goddamn 8AGM for when you really hate tank columns. If the next Ace Combat game were to feature the new F-15EX, they should make 10AAM or 12AAM SP weapon for it.

For area of effect (AOE) weapons like UGBs, GPBs and SFFSs, they now use predicted impact point and blast radius as your aiming guide, previously also seen in AH and Infinity. It's a very good way to aim AOE weapons and decide where you should aim for maximum effect. In AC3 and PS2 titles, they just displayed a hovering on-screen reticle that tells you roughly where your bombs will go, no information about how large the lethal radius is.

You have access to countermeasures now like in ACAH! Gone are the days you have to perform pugachev kulbit 60G shit yourself maneuver to avoid incoming QAAMs. You can still do that, of course, but now at least they give you a second option, for when you're in a pinch, which is nice.

Let's talk about the aircraft tree. And my thoughts? I really like it. Intuitive and easy to understand. All SP weapons for each aircraft are also available to view before you buy. A little weird how the F-16C tree branches out to F-2A, but also the F-14D Super Tomcat. I mean I was expecting the F-16C to branch out to Falcon derivatives like F-16XL and F-16 Block 60, and the F-14D would be unlocked by purchasing F-14A first, like in Ace Combat 5. I mean I get to play with F-14D's 8AAM early in the game. Still, a little weird.

(After writing this I just remembered that F-16XL is a DLC, so disregard that)

I also love the way it incorporates aircraft parts previously seen in Ace Combat X, Infinity and AH (yes that game actually had aircraft parts, although a little different, and only seen in Free Mission and multiplayer). And once you unlock one aircraft upgrade part, you can apply it to any aircraft! 10/10.

From my earlier point of "planes too easy to accel and too hard to decel", maybe there are parts that can make decel easier, but I haven't unlocked it by the time I'm writing this review. I will, however, attempt to unlock everything in the aircraft tree because this game is fun.

My aircraft tree path in my first playthrough was F-16C, F-14D, A-10C, MiG-29, Su-33, Su-30M2, Su-34, Su-30SM, and finally for the last mission I saved up enough MRPs for Su-57 with PLSL. Which is quite effective for boss fights I must say. I haven't used pulse laser since AC3's pulse laser (that was usable on R-103 Delphinus 3 and R-311 Remora). Different in how it works because in AC3 the pulse laser occupies your machine gun slot, and in AC7 it's an SPW, but considering AC3 takes place in 2040 Strangereal, it's fine.

Did you know I clapped Mihaly's X-02S with an Su-34, first try, with standard missiles alone? I played on Normal diff, but I was dogfighting him with 90% damage, so I'm quite proud of that.

In the wise words of Lt. Bradley Bradshaw, "It's not the plane, it's the pilot."

Next the flight controls. God it feels so satisfying and immersive. The way your controller vibrates, the FOV shakes when an explosion happens near you, or when going through a turbulence or wind shear in the clouds, I love it. Although not gonna lie I've crashed my MiG-29 once into a cliffside from extreme wind shear in one of that canyon mission, and I nearly pissed myself when my Fullback was struck by lightning and my HUD was gone.

I do miss the oil splatter effect on your screen when you fly through an explosion, that was last seen in AH and Infinity.

The clouds aren't just decors of the sky now, they can alter the gameplay! From masking radar pings, forming ice layers on your plane which hampers its performance, to disrupting missile tracking ability. And in cockpit view, your glass canopy actually gets wet from the water vapors, and icy when your plane's icing up, so that's an awesome level of detail. A great way to make gameplay less boring and make players rethink their strats. Which I'm guessing will be even more important in multiplayer PvP matches.

(Actually now I want to try if SAAM's guidance is affected by clouds at all. I haven't used SAAM in my first playthrough)

The story is good. I mean I didn't get 30% of it because the characters talk so damn much during missions, but I love Trigger's progression from an IUN-PKF pilot (with a suspiciously furry emblem, but hey, I'm part of furry fandom myself), a convict with three white stripes on his tail, and finally the three stripes turn into three claws like the claws of a predator that hunts down every bird in the sky.

Does that kinda resemble the story of Razgriz? Probably. Probably not. I'm overthinking.

They make a several references from previous games. At some points there were mentions of ISAF (AC04), Razgriz squadron (AC5) although indirectly, and Belka's seven nukes (AC0). I think I saw the name Albert Genette once in one of the cutscenes, the reporter/photographer guy from 5! He's still alive by the time 7 takes place! And a mention of the original Kestrel as well as Captain Andersen. Maybe there was a reference from 6 that I didn't catch because I haven't played it. But still, good stuff.

I'm still bummed that Harling dies in this game. In AC5's ending screen it was mentioned that in 2020 Harling would declassify military records about the Osea-Yuktobania war (was it called Circum Pacific war? The war in AC5) to the public. But AC7 takes place in 2019, so I guess the truth of Razgriz squadron's identity, 8492nd and the Grey Men will likely remain in secrecy in Strangereal universe.

There was one mission that took place near Basset Space Center, the place where the mass driver (the railway space ramp launcher thing) is located, that was used to send stuff up to the Arkbird. And my god that mission gave me bad memories of that one mission in AC5 that also took place there. At least this time I don't have to defend the place from falling tanks or a swarm of cruise missiles.

One of my favorite missions was using targeting pods (TGTP) to guide ordnance from bombers above you in order to destroy missile silos. It's almost like a ground target version of SAAM, and reminds me of the bombing run mission in Top Gun: Maverick. Nice gameplay mechanic. Although the final part of the mission where you have to shoot down IRBMs launched from secret locations has to be inspired by the ICBM chase in Assault Horizon. But thankfully in 7 it's not as annoying as it is in AH. My god you do not want to know how annoying it is in AH.

I do appreciate that mission checkpoints are a thing now. In previous titles, if you die at any point before the mission ends, that's it. You start from the beginning again regardless of progress. Checkpoint system was first implemented in AH (because AH is just Call of Duty with planes). Checkpoints in 7 are not common, but that's a good thing. Don't want to resemble AH too much, while also giving casual (and new) players some cushion for failure.

Now let's talk bosses. Arsenal Bird. Or Birds, because apparently there were 2 of them. Fighting them is fucking annoying because of the massive swarm of MQ-101 drones all around it. One standard missile hit does kill the drones, but there's a lot of them. And hundreds of them flying criss cross applesauce all over my screen just gives me sensory overload. Maybe that's the intent.

The design of the Arsenal Bird is... intriguing. Not because it's a flying wing design, we've seen that with the X-49 Night Raven and XR-900 Geopelia (AC3), Arkbird (AC5) and XB-0 Hresvelgr (AC0), but the fact that's it's propeller driven (turboprop, presumably), with counter-rotating blades, and it's in pusher configuration??

By the way, pusher config just means that for a prop driven aircraft, the propeller(s) is behind the engine. Some examples include Airco DH2, a British WW1 biplane fighter, and Kyushu J7W Shinden, a Japanese WW2-era prototype interceptor (don't ask me where or how I know about those two obscure planes). Literally the propellers push the plane forward, like the massive fan on a hovercraft, instead of the more common pulling action in other prop planes like Mitsubishi A6M Zero and Messerschmitt BF 109.

I don't remember the reason why, but they're rare and ultimately didn't catch on in our real world, probably due to complexity issues and no real performance benefit. So seeing an Ace Combat boss plane/mothership that flies on pusher prop engines, in the game's modern timeline where jet/turbofan propulsion is everywhere and tactical laser weapons are a thing, is... something else. There's probably an in-universe explanation for it. Maybe Project Aces just ran out of ideas.

Although, whoever designed the Arsenal Bird (both in the dev team and canonically in the game's universe) must've taken some reference from the Arkbird, judging by the location of laser pod in the middle section, drone pods underneath, and AAM pods on top. Maybe they even salvaged Arkbird parts from the sea after Razgriz shot it down?

You guys remember that the Arkbird had drones, right? The Vogels, that Belka attached to the Arkbird in AC5? Whatever. Someone else reading this remembers.

Let's talk Mihaly. My god, old man, I want to complain about your obnoxiously long full name again, but I'm not going to. At least it's only mentioned exactly one time in the cutscene. But fighting him is actually fun and challenging, both against his Su-30SM and X-02S Strike Wyvern. Especially in Farbanti when the fight brings you near the sunken parts of the city, dodging ruined buildings left and right.

Although I can't help but notice that the layout of his Erusean black and orange livery is reminiscent of Cipher's F-15C livery just in different colors.

(Mihaly: There are pilots like you in every generation, and I felled every last one of them. | Trigger: Ok boomer.)

At the time of writing this review I don't fully remember why he was the enemy boss in 7. Something along the lines of seeing his former country crumble? But then he exhibits certain traits. His body is failing, he loves the skies like it's his one and only home, and his flight data is used to train drones.

Who else shares those traits? Rena Hirose from AC3.

(At one cutscene he was heard talking about borders being an imaginary line that separates countries, which made me think of Pixy and AWWNB, but I felt that's too minor to point out the similarity, so I will gloss over it)

In this paragraph you don't have to listen to me, because I'm not an Ace Combat lore expert. But the similarity of Mihaly and Rena Hirose makes me suspect that Ace Combat 7 is the start of a bridge, one that heads towards Ace Combat 3 timeline. A bridge where we see the next Ace Combat game showing the turnover of the world of Strangereal into the one seen in AC3. We will probably see, in Ace Combat 8, the events that transpire before the continent of Usea (and possibly the entire Strangereal Earth) is ruled by megacorporations instead of countries.

(I just love that some missions in AC7 take place in locations like Waiapolo mountains and Chopinburg, the same locations in some AC3 missons. It's a nice nostalgia)

We've also already seen what looks like an early attempt of thought-controlled combat aircraft, with the ADF fighter series. And in Ace Combat 3, reportedly all playable aircrafts are controlled by thoughts, through the use of COFFIN technology.

Actually now that I talk about it, I'm still damn surprised that old designs like Typhoon, Fulcrum, Raptor, Falcon, Eagle and Hornet all exist by the time AC3 takes place, retrofitted with COFFINs to make them look futuristic. EF-2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F-22C Raptor II, F-16XF Gyrfalcon, F-15SMT Eagle+, F/A-18I Hornet ADV, I mean I get that the game was developed in the 90s and there was no way Namco could've predicted what the real world would use in the future.

(Yes I did just recite the full names of those AC3 planes from memory because I'm that much of a nerd)

Regardless, I personally can't wait to see what actually happens before 2040 Strangereal in the next Ace Combat game.

Another mission I really liked. The night mission after the comm satellites in space are gone and every target appears as unknowns. You have to fly close to ID them (with your plane's IRST cam probably) so you don't mistakenly shoot a friendly.

Finally let's talk the ending of the game. Assault on Erusean rogue forces near the space elevator. A coalition of OADF/OMDF, LRSSG and conservative Eruseans. Even the remaining Sol squadron is also here. Really reminds me of the ACES mission in 5 where Osea and Yuktobania gather their senses and fight together against their true enemy.

Mission was fairly straightforward until the second Arsenal Bird appears, its MQ-101 swarm and protective shielding rendering most attacks useless. Kinda felt this mission is a bit scripted because you have to wait until the Erusean princess destroys the Arsenal Bird modules in the ISEV control room. And even after that, this fight is like AC5 Arkbird fight on steroids. Added with the TLS pod and PLSL pods underneath. Still, I downed it.

And oh my god, the music that massively ramps up when the shield is down. Fuck, man. It's just a plane game. It has no right being absolutely majestic.

Last mission. You and your mates versus 2 ADF-11F drones. Saved up enough for Su-57 with PLSL, but I wasn't expecting to takeoff from a carrier. So the sight of a Felon being raised on the platform, taxiing to the deck and taking off to the skies (without even using the catapult or the launch pad, just sheer power of determination and Belkan witchcraft) is a fun one.

ISEV again, Hugin and Munin. The two birds of Odin that fly around the world and act as his eyes. One by one Sol squadron gets shot down. My Su-57 with PLSL makes relatively quick work of Hugin and Munin. Until the last one where its head broke off into a smaller drone and absolutely peppers my Felon with its MG. And of course it's hyper agile with no human pilot inside and apparently learning from Trigger's style. But challenges are meant to be overcome.

Nope. There's another one, it zooms towards the undersea tunnel, heading towards the ISEV. Of course Trigger is up to the task. Or not, because I underestimated the size of the tunnel and clipped my wing on entry, and I couldn't help but laugh at myself. Thankfully the game respawns me already facing the entrance.

Alright, focus this time, no messing about. But anxiety immediately creeps up my spine because of how narrow the passage is. I've flown the tunnels to the ICBM in AC2, the Geofront tunnels in AC3, the Megalith missile silo tunnel in 04, the SOLG control station in 5, and the V2 launch facility in Zero. This ISEV tunnel is narrower than all of them. But Count believes in me (no I don't have feelings for him shut up).

(What are the odds that the next AC game will have you fly through someone's fireplace chimney)

My hands grip my Xbox controller tight, eyes locked to my monitor and my fingers ready to make throttle and yaw adjustments at any moment's notice. Then the shutters start closing pretty quickly in front of me. Fuck, I can't just idle throttle my way through this. I have to push. And so I push my Felon just slightly above Mach 1.

Finally right underneath the ISEV, with no way to go but turn in circles chasing the ADF drone. I don't remember what Count or AWACS was saying but on my HUD there are target markers on the support beams of the ISEV, which I presume are the computer control units that control the ADF drone. PLSL away again, control units destroyed, the ADF drone slows down and I splashed it. This is reminiscent of the AC3 Geofront mission where you have to destroy the support pillars to trap the X-49 Night Raven inside.

But now what, there's no way out. Count said something about exiting out of the space elevator's pillar. I hesitated for a moment, he shouted me to just fucking go, so I went for it. The narrowest of slits in the base of the ISEV, I went through and pitched my nose up, and start sending it.

Are you fucking kidding me, there are actual cargos being moved through the ISEV on the cables. I mean, no shit Sherlock, it's in the name. Space elevator. I've never felt so tense in an Ace Combat game since I fought Pixy in Zero, because I've come this far and I don't want to start again. I kept going for it until I saw an opening. Cutscene plays. My black Su-57 with PLSL pods and three strikes on the tail, soars through the skies and finally out of the ISEV. I heard something about Count making a belly landing in the base of the ISEV. No damn idea how he does it but I guess I'm glad he's alive.

And then, at the end of the cutscene, a name I haven't heard in a long time.

Kei Nagase. She's become an astronaut, callsign Pilgrim One, up in the skies watching over us all.

I wonder what happened to the rest of Razgriz. Blaze, Archer and Swordsman.

"Hey Trigger, you dumbass, tell me something. What color's the sky up there?"

I've won the game. X-02S Strike Wyvern is available for purchase in the aircraft tree. Credits are rolling, tears are flowing. What a beautiful game. I settled my controller down and took a breather after an adventure full of intense action and engaging storyline. Although, PA, could you uhmm, slow down the credits? They scroll too fast lmao.

(Why do I have a feeling that Avril has a crush on Trigger?)

I wanna go learn how to do PSMs now because I heard it's something you can pull off in 7.

At the aircraft data viewer I ended up using Su-33, Su-30M2 and Su-30SM the most (3 times each). What can I say, man? I love Flonkers. I mean Flankers.

Though one thing is still a bit of mystery for me. What is Trigger's canon aircraft? Mobius 1 (AC04) and Warwolf 1 (ACAH) flew F-22A, Razgriz squadron (AC5) flew F-14As, and Cipher (AC0) flew an F-15C. I haven't played AC6 but I think the main character's canon plane is an F-15E? So what is Trigger's canon aircraft? I'm hoping it is some Russian plane because previous protags all fly American planes. A nice change would be welcome.

Although, remembering that fleet destruction mission where all of Trigger's wingmen fly F-15s, it's probable that Trigger's canon aircraft is also an F-15. And the game cover for Ace Combat 7 depicts an F-22. I guess Trigger's canon aircraft is also an American jet, which will be boring if that's true.

Guessing they have to appear appealing to the American audience.

My final verdict, a solid 9/10 game. I loved every single second of it. And Ace Combat series in general. Its thrill, its charm, its embrace of fantasy science fiction with no care of what's realistic and what's not. Because who fucking cares? It's a video game, and it's fun. That's all that matters. We know we will never be real pilots in the sky, but we can know the thrill of it like it's our childhood dreams as an action hero pilot. And elitists who whine about the unrealism of Ace Combat can suck on a Stonehenge barrel.

That concludes my review of the base game. But rest assured I will not stop here until I find all the secrets and unlockables and all unique named pilots because this game is awesome and has become my new obsession. After 5 years of aggressively avoiding spoilers, I can finally enjoy Ace Combat 7 like it's meant to be.

Now I want to tell my experience with DLC missions! Also DLC planes because I bought quite a lot of them, from CFA-44 to XFA-27 to F-15S/MTD. Not all of them, I didn't purchase the MiG-35D or the Top Gun Maverick set.

I played DLC missions after completing the main story. Which is good because before starting the DLC missions (labeled SP Campaign in the game) the game tells you that it's best to play them after completing the story. Also I did not use DLC planes at all in my first time through the main campaign, for that pure Ace Combat 7 first experience (I literally turned off all the AC7 DLCs in my Steam library until after I finished the main campaign).

But I've finished the main story, so great! I could jump in no problem!

Unexpected Visitor. Simple in the briefing, absolutely and unexpectedly challenging in its gameplay. It feels like your wingmen are absolutely useless and everyone is aiming at Trigger. Seriously it's like the later missions in the game's main story where all the AIs are better and harder to defeat, and make it 50% harder. And I'm playing the DLC missions on Normal diff. I don't remember what plane or SPW I used in my first attempt, but I got my ass absolutely handed to me. I began wondering if the DLC missions are supposed to be played co-op at some point during development. Anyway I switched to CFA-44 with ADMM.

And then those twin Berkuts appear. Scream and Rage. The crazed pilot siblings with no desire but to have Trigger's blood, for some reason. I could not get a single missile hit them. In fact I was shot down by an enemy SAM while I was trying to get them in my sights. Although that's kind of my fault because I forgot I could pop flares. Come on man, back in my day we didn't have flares!

Retried the mission with the same plane and SPW, this time deleting all the ground targets first with my flurry of ADMMs before Scream and Rage showed up. It worked. Landed a few hits on them, Scream and Rage fled the AO, mission completed. Kind of. We failed capturing the Alicorn, and Matias Torres has brought it somewhere underwater.

Next, Anchorhead Raid. Briefing showed a shit load of ground targets in a cluster. Hm, maybe ADMMs wouldn't be the right tool for this. But I have downloaded a Morgan, and it comes with a bunch of MPBMs.

First flight out. Once again did not work as well as I hoped for. Enemy CIWS kept destroying my MPBMs before they could get close, no matter which angle I launched them from. Even trying to drop them directly from above caused almost no damage.

Right, back to the hangar. What else do I have? Ah, a FALKEN and FAEBs. Let's try that. Nope. Still no considerable effect against target clusters that have CIWS in them. Back to the hangar again. Maybe FALKEN-TLS combo will work this time? Eh, sort of, but not really, its firing duration is too short to destroy a lot of targets, even when I'm flying real low and level with the ground targets.

Back to the hangar again. Starting to think I need a goddamn Erusean IRBM to efficiently complete this mission. And then I remember what I flew in AC7's final campaign mission.

Su-57 with PLSL, you're up. I dive low until I'm just a few meters above sea, leveling out with my gunsights pointed directly towards the ground targets. Getting closer and when the PLSL reticle turns red, I begin firing. To my surprise, it works remarkably well. From my experience shooting down Hugin and Munin, I start to learn that PLSL has some splash damage/AOE, and you don't have to be pinpoint accurate with it.

Scream and Rage show up again with more thirst for blood, but I also have equally strong thirst for their blood after harrassing me so much in the previous mission. I still have a few hundred "rounds" of PLSL. With no missile lock warning to make them scurry away, Scream is downed easily. Rage naturally, well, rages (ayy). His moves become faster and tighter. A Berkut and a Felon in a deadly dance in the skies above Anchorhead. After a long tail to tail and a tired left thumb, Rage is downed.

Alicorn apparently resupplied in Anchorhead under our noses, using the chaos in the skies as cover. Now intel suggest it's heading to the seas near Oured.

Ten Million Relief Plan. The final DLC mission. I anticipated that I will fight the Alicorn in this one, but did not know the kind of attacks it would have. I know it has massive railguns but no idea about its true capability. But Su-57 with PLSL has served me well, so I fly out in it again.

First phase of the mission. Wait for the allied planes to drop sonobuoys. This is just like the first time I fight the Scinfaxi in Ace Combat 5, but that mission had Arkbird in the skies above me. No orbital laser to help with this one. A few Rafales appear on the horizon, apparently launched from the Alicorn, but I downed them no problem.

The sonobuoys detected something and displayed a circle on radar that prompts me to go there. With the MAD device (magnetic something something device that I don't remember the name of) I begin searching for the Alicorn. The signal homing indicator on my HUD really just reminds me of White Noise mission in AC5 where you had to find Nagase in the snow.

Signal locked. Alicorn spotted. Nope. It's released jammers to disguise its presence. Sonobuoy planes are also harrassed by drones at the same time. Quickly I destroyed the jammers and the drones.

Trying to detect Alicorn again using sonobuoys. Having to keep speed below 800 kph so the tracker can work, all while trying to avoid missiles from more drones. Alicorn was found again, this time allied ships launch anti sub missiles.

Alicorn surfaced. No visible damage. Allied ships taking damage from Alicorn. Order to attack the Alicorn is a go. Unfortunately this time my PLSLs don't seem to make a dent. By the time the Alicorn gets within PLSL's range, my Felon gets peppered from its guns. 50% damage, 75% damage, 90% damage, I pulled out and quit the mission to choose another plane.

The last time I fought Scinfaxi and Hrimfaxi in 5, I used GPBs and LASMs. But those subs were much smaller and weaker than Alicorn, and I don't have any aircraft with high enough performance and durability that can also carry GPBs/LASMs.

I decided to give the Morgan and MPBM another go.

Alicorn surfaces again. This time I already have my MPBM ready, locked to its ballasts on the side. 2 to 3 MPBM hits later, the Alicorn loses the ability to dive, they're...

Surrendering?

No, this is way too convenient. Even the other Striders think this is too easy. AWACS insists to stand down. So we did, but I kept my MPBM ready to launch just in case, flying my Morgan in circles around the Alicorn like a vulture.

And of course it was a bluff. Torres was just simply buying enough time to prepare Alicorn's massive rail guns, aiming for the Osean capital of Oured. Madman thinks he can stop the war and save 10 million lives by sacrificing 1 million in the process. And he plans to start it by killing Trigger first. Order to attack the Alicorn is a go again.

I don't remember who said "they stopped being soldiers the moment they faked their surrender." Probably Count. But I agree with that sentiment.

Now suddenly we're under time constrain of just 1 or 2 minutes to destroy the Alicorn's nuclear core at the base of its massive railgun. But on the radar I can see the Alicorn's railgun predicted trajectory chasing my aircraft. I fly in a tight circle around it and wait for it to fire and miss. This is like the Excalibur onslaught (AC0) but 6 times harder. And when I try to get close to the railgun, the Alicorn yet has another trick up its sleeve. Defensive bubble fields around it, similar that the Arsenal Bird used but on smaller scale.

Time is ticking down. Just less than one minute now. I put max throttle and slip through the defense bubbles, my MPBM is already locked to the base of the Alicorn's railgun. One successful hit but it's not dead yet. I quickly turned around again, pulling dozens of Gs that would probably kill the pilot in real life. I flew in again, less than 30 seconds on the clock, I landed another MPBM in it.

And then the radar clears.

It's done. The Alicorn is destroyed. A massive explosion went off in the middle section, Torres laughing like a maniac on the radio as he dies and the Alicorn splits in half and sinks to the bottom of the sea. Another explosion went off underwater, the force enough to spew a mountain of sea water dozens of meters to the sky, and finally coming down like a pseudo rain that refreshes the atmosphere.

We never captured the Alicorn, but at least this way we prevented another superweapon from being misused.

I completed Ace Combat 7. Again. Such a cool set of DLC missions. Especially with the fact that they have their own storyline adjacent to the main campaign story. It's difficult, yes, but it's challenging enough that makes you want to try and try again until you succeed. Not Dark Souls-level of difficult that makes you want to murder a child with a controller. So, my thoughts on DLC missions? I loved them. Another solid 9/10.

And you know what? I wanna play them again.

And now I can watch Max0r's Incorrect Summary of Ace Combat 7 that I have postponed for so long!

[inky-thoughts]

Get to Know Your Character Challenge

I wanted to do a small challenge with prompts you can draw (or write about) to get to know your character a little better. They purposefully don't have a lot of the *actual* character showing because I wanted to focus on their personal belongings, preferences and daily habits instead. That being said, feel free to do with those prompts as you choose! Day 1: Draw an item that they use on a daily/regular basis. It doesn't need to have a profound meaning or something, it's just something that is around them and handled by them a lot. This can be a tool, a notebook, their favourite coffee mug. If it's something they burn through/fill up/break and replace, draw the last 3 items of that kind during their peak usage. Day 2: How does their first meal of the day look like? How is it usually set up, what type of dishes, cutlery, etc. do they use? What do they eat most of the days? Draw the setup just before they are about to dig in. Day 3: Draw them in their designated sleeping space. How does their bed look like, and their sheets? What is their favourite sleeping position? What do they wear to sleep? Day 4: What do they wear in downtime? Armour is cool and all but no-one can wear that 24/7. What do they wear in their leasure time, what do they feel most comfortable and most themselves in while lounging about and do busy nothing? Day 5: What furniture item or decoration do you personally think looks atrocious but you know exactly that they would absolutely love it? Draw that item with as much love and appreciation that they would feel over it. Day 6: How would their shoe rack with their most often worn shoes look like? Do they take good care of their shoes or are they caked in mudd, stained, creased? Would they even use a shoe rack or do the shoes all pile up in a mountain next to it? Which shoes do they wear in different seasons, would the rack look much different then? Day 7: Draw their favourite flower (or plant if they aren't the flower type). How would they present them? As bouquet in a vase? A single flower in an old jam jar? A simple flower pot? In a garden bed? Day 8: When they go to bed, what happens with their worn clothes? Do they fold them neatly or do they have The Chair? Does it just pile up on the floor or in a hamper? Do they have a rack where they hang them? Day 9: What do they look like first thing in the morning? Bags under their eyes? Messed up hair? Pajamas untidy? Drool drying in the corner of their mouth? Pillow creases? Day 10: They have to cook themselves - what do they attempt? What ingredients do they use? How does the workspace look afterwards? Is the food any good? Day 11: They caught a mean cold and are too weak to leave the bed. What do they do all day long, where do they have their camp? What are their "need to get better" essentials? Day 12: Who is the person they trust the most? Would they manage a trust fall? Is that trust mutual? Day 13: What is their favourite animal? Would they snuggle up if given the chance or do they rather appreciate from afar? Would they cuddle with a plushie instead? Day 14: How would their ideal room look like? Floorplan, furniture, architectural style? Is it heavily decorated or rather minimalist? How tidy is it? Any knick-knacks of personal value? Have fun creating!

[strawberryfaced]

what is ur favorite colour?

anon i love love love this question so much. because like whenever someone asks me this i already have a set and obvious answer in mine which is pink. always was pink always will be pink. it’s funny because i remember being 6 years old and at shops i’d always get the pink thing and since i have a twin sister we’d get matching stuff but we had a set rule: i’d always get the pink one and she’d get literally any other colour available like purple green blue as long as it wasn’t pink!!! so yeah pink means the world to me and i love her so much. but also as much as i love her i also genuinely love all the other colours so much too. i really like deep reds because it reminds me of chinese new year which means a lot to me too.

i love orange. i used to dislike it like everyone else but now i understand it. i can thank my dad for that :’)

i love love yellow as well. sunshine and sunflowers and happiness very stereotypical but still very beautiful.

and green, oh green i love it soooo much. it’s my sister’s favourite colour though so i always like seeing green and pink together :3

and blue!!! i said blue was my favourite colour actually for a period of time because i was embarrassed of liking pink because i thought it was too girly which is very very stupid now. but it’s true i love blue (rhyme intended!) blue is like. my comfort colour along with some shades of green i’d say. it’s just very refreshing in the way of sky blue but also very homely and childhood book in the way of navy blue. and purple.

purple i was never really that much of a fan of but it was one of my favourite person’s colour for a bit so it’s grown on me.

and the other colours/shades: white, beige, black etc i also love them to death. ive seen a lot of hate for like the minimalist culture and colour palettes like neutral colours and yes while i love bright colours and pastels and maximalist style and all I actually do love minimalist and neutral stuff!!!

sorry anon if you didn’t want an essay on why i love the rainbow. but i do love colour so much it’s got to be one of the most fascinating things on the earth. i’ve always seen the power in colour!!! always!!! and i think the question what is your favourite colour is so amazing because it’s like what is your favourite thing you see in your everyday life. it’s one of the little things you can always appreciate you know!! there’s loveable colours everywhere and i think that in itself is a piece of poetry