#obviously no art is there yet and idk when i'll get to posting

[knifegremliin]

hey so i managed to snag an account over on sheezy.art

[bueris]

okay maybe I should seriously reconsider my path in life and sell my soul to marketing or journalism instead

[kanmom51]

Rebirth - Muse - JM

[**This post was written before the release of today's BTB and the little explanation JM gave us about Rebirth and Slow dance. What can I say other than just how much more my words feel relevant now. ]

As promised.

Thought I'd sneak this one in before Are you sure? lands, cause Idk, I just have this feeling that once it does we are up for 1 of two options:

I'm so overwhelmed by the amount of content we are getting that I'll be so dumbfounded and unable to post at all; Or, I will be so busy ruffling through everything running after my own tail trying to post post post post, that I will have zero time or ability to post this.

Long story short, this was the time. Do or die pretty much.

So Intro: Rebirth.

Before I get into the lyrics themselves I do want to go back to what we learnt from the Minimoni album exchange.

I kind of feel like a broken record here, but then again, I do think that obviously watching that exchange and my post on it can be a good starting point into understanding not only what Muse is all about, but also that out of all the songs on the album, Rebirth, in a sense, is just a little more personal than the others.

JM talks how the lyrics for this one were really hard to write. He mentions this a couple of times.

This was also when JM talked it was hard to write about having a crush.

Before moving on and talking about the song itself I do want to clarify something here.

I was really surprised to see how people are interpreting this.

Do people not know what the meaning of the word crush is? Not only the actual term JM used in Korean (that perhaps got lost in translation), but the actual meaning of the word in English.

짝사랑 - this is the term JM used while talking to RM.

Which basically translates as unrequited or one sided love, which is just that if you understand the actual term of the word.

Go to Oxford dictionary and crush is described as: "a brief but intense infatuation for someone, especially someone unattainable." And if you look up "infatuation" well: "an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something."

Now, when I heard the word crush that is exactly what I understood and it was funny for me to see that there were those that interpret the word as falling in love or being in love or similar to that, when crush means something else all together.

*Side note: JM's love life aside, knowing the concept of JM's album, it's easy to understand why he chose to use the idea of a crush as a metaphor to describe that short lived passion/excitement he was feeling with his work, telling us or showing us, with the development of the songs in the album, that indeed it is short lived and he was yet to find that long lasting feeling of excitement with the things he was doing (work/his art) - still searching for that "who".

Back to the meaning of crush.

As explained, a crush in English means an intense infatuation with another that is mostly unattainable. Two people can crush on each other, but it's a crush only as long as it is yet to be requited. Once it is reciprocated then it's no longer a crush. So, you can crush on someone unknowing that the other person has a crush on you. This crush can fizzle out and end in nothingness. But a crush evolve into a relationship if the two people involved move forward from it. Making that move forward towards each other.

This is what having a crush looks like:

And this is how it looks when you had a crush and are realizing that maybe, just maybe that person is reciprocating.

And this is when you have decided that he really is.

That was back in 2015 btw. August 2015 and December 2015. ALMOST 9 YEARS AGO.

Unattainable.

Short-lived.

Are we surprised JM wouldn't remember the last time he had a crush?

I will repeat this for the rows in the back that might not have heard. When JM says he doesn't remember the last time he had a crush, that doesn't mean he's single. Whoever thinks that is what he's saying needs a crash course in English and/or life.

A crash course in crush... lmao (yes, I am easily entertained).

So, JM had to turn to the youngest member of SGMB (lol) to remind him what it feels like to have a crush. And yet, as I have explained in the Minimoni post, Muse might not be autobiographical, but that doesn't mean that there aren't personal aspects to some of the songs, and the lyrics. Feelings expressed being real feelings drawn from his trove of inner thoughts, feelings and life and love experiences.

I will also add that although crushing is mostly one sided, and when it turns into more, as in the other party reciprocates, of course there are some of the feelings that linger. The rush, the want, the need. But at the same time things change in that the other side is feeling the same. When you look at them, they look back, gazes linger rather than avoiding eye contact, for example. There are the touches when crushing, and there are the touches, just as hesitant, after it becoming MORE. The first are one sided and usually hidden as something else (for example: "I just need to check your arm muscles for a sec"), while the second are two sided, intentional but at times hidden from others.

The differences might be so very slight at times, but if you have a keen eye you can definitley notice them. And they sure were noticeable when it came to Jikook.

Another thing before I start.

One word:

SERENDIPITY

Idk why, but I feel like Rebirth is a prequel to Serendipity. Even though Serendipity was not written by JM (although I do believe he had input into the song just like or even more so with John Billion - remember how JM says he's an American RM...), it most certainly was claimed by him and JK as theirs. You are me I am you being their trademarked catch phrase. A love ode from JM to JK. That song JM said he will gift his loved one and did. Followed by GCFT, JK's love ode to JM. And if I'm going down that road, well, if Rebirth is the prequel to Serendipity I'd say that Letter is the sequel to Serendipity. I kind of think I've mentioned this before in one of my posts about Letter.

Now that I'm done with my precursor, let's move on to the actual song. A song that out of the lot of them in this album seems to be the most personal. The only song that we didn't get to see the process of writing or recording of in content we have gotten so far for Muse (promotions now over).

[Verse] If I'm tryna be special Can I get closer to you? I can feel my heart pounding When your fingertips graze past me If I'm tryna be special So that I can sing while making eye contact with you I'll show you, baby Oh, I didn't realize Oh, I didn't think I'd care Oh my gosh, now I Won't hide You are the light in my darkness Like the sunshine vibe It spreads quietly [Chorus] That I want a real good love, good love, good love I'm tryna find a love, good love, real love I was in pitch black, but I couldn't stop thinking of you all day long I want to take one step and two steps closer without you knowing Stay with you, with you, with you, with you I will be your reason, rеason, reason, reason I hope this feeling rеaches you, to you, you To you [Outro] White clouds The wind passing by Floating petals It feels like it's been waiting just for us When that door opens When I get closer to you I'll tell you this I will be special all for you Special just for you For you (For you) For you (For you) I wanna be with you

I will share with you what went through my mind once listening to Rebirth, all while reading parts of the translated lyrics. The flashing scenes. Parts that screamed JK or Jikook.

"I can feel my heart pounding When your fingertips graze past me"

This:

And this:

And this:

And this:

More:

I can go on with this all day long. Being one of the most obvious sus behaviours with these two. But seeing that I don't want to exceed my image limit in this post I think this is where I will stop. Point made I guess.

"So that I can sing while making eye contact with you"

This was the first thing that came to mind:

😭😭

Although these did too:

And do we recall JK's sentiments about making eye contact with JM on stage?

They connect on stage. Before, during and at the end of the performance. We have seen it and they have told us so throughout the years.

Was that what JM was thinking of while writing that line?

This is clearly a line that is taken from his own personal experience. Singing while making eye contact is not something that regular people like you or I would come up with to express a feeling of love or want towards someone.

Drawing from his own emotions and experiences, how it is for him and how he might have used to wish it would be.

This line, more than any other is clearly that.

"Oh my gosh, now I Won't hide You are the light in my darkness" and "Like the sunshine vibe"

The latter, as JM explained to RM, was a word game/pun for which he asked permission from Taeyang to use in his song, seeing that his name literally means sun and Vibe was his song, lol.

But, we also know there is someone else, much closer to home, much closer period, that is referred to as the sun. Someone that makes JM happy. Someone that makes JM laugh even when he's sad. Someone that JM chose to go into the army with, together!!! Someone that is the other half of the sun and moon duo, the sun to JM's moon.

And what about this?

I'm tryna find a love, good love, real love

And he found it.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

"When that door opens When I get closer to you I'll tell you this I will be special all for you Special just for you For you (For you) For you (For you)

And he is. JM is special for JK. He has told and showed us this in so many ways in the past.

"I wanna be with you"

I wanna be with you...

Again, JM told us the songs aren't about his life, right? And yet, that doesn't mean they don't have a personal connection, that while writing he didn't take from his own experiences or feelings, that after writing he feels an emotional connection with the song, that even if not intended to it hits closer to home than others. And I feel like this is the case with Rebirth. I do believe that there is a reason it is the connecting song between Face and Muse. That there is a reason the interlude separates it from the rest of the songs.

[burning-academia-if]

Hi again. If you've been around a while you're probably going to be like "Em, again??" But guess who got sick for the 6th time this year and this time it was a full on chest infection!! It has been three weeks, and somehow I am still Not Free!!

Anyway, BA fell to the wayside this month because it was Velox Fabula time and I've yet to miss a Velox jam (also...chest infection). I also needed to get my sudden and newfound Pirates of the Caribbean obsession out of the way so! I made a short pirate visual novel for the jam and I'm normal again. I also released the prologue of my side IF To Taste Sweet Silver (@sweetsilver-if) just to have it out. Feel free to check it out if you want, but it likely won't be updated for a while as I'm shifting gears back to BA for September!

I don't have much to report but:

UI update should be out in the next week or two depending on how I'm feeling. It won't look like much to y'all since it's more for my sake via cleaning up the code LOL but there were things added (friendship indicators, open dyslexic font option, character page updated, stat page updated, glossary page added) I'm not a graphic designer but it's better organized I think. There won't be an Official Post about it because it isn't new content, but I will make a small announcement when it's out. It'll also include the originally deleted Lars/Zoe/Nevio lunch scene in Chapter 2 as well. Sorry this is taking so long, I just really struggle with the coding side of things which has made the process slow.

Writing in August was also slow, and honestly, I think I really needed those few weeks off not thinking about BA. My inbox being very quiet helped as well, so I really did take a real break from BA. When I opened up the writing doc, I felt a whole lot better about working on BA again, and we have hit 100k words finally!

Anyway, I don't want to lament much, but I did have a personal goal of releasing up to Chapter 4 this year which obviously is Not Going to Happen. It honestly sucks I got sick so often this year because it cut into so much time for creative projects, be it BA or anything else.

I'm not really going to be hard on myself for it, though. I think releasing 3 chapters this year considering everything that kept Going Wrong this year is actually pretty good. I just think its annoying when I know I could have done it but the universe said no instead akfjalfa Anyway, I'm not sure when Chapter 3 will release but I do have a good feeling about September and I think I'll be able to at least get a decent chunk done this month!

Finally, September marks the one year anniversary for this blog and October marks the one year anniversary of BA releasing!! I feel like I literally just started writing this, the fact it's September already is wild.

I was going to do art commissions, but due to surprise car issues, I don't really have the money for that now (next year for sure though!!), so I was thinking of maybe doing character Q&As to celebrate? I've also seen some authors do raffles, but I'm not entirely sure what I would raffle off? Maybe personalized short stories with readers MCs if there's interest in that? I'm not sure yet, but I have a month to figure it out lol

But also thank you to everyone who has followed along!! It's been a really fun time both writing BA and on the blog. I know I say this a lot, but I'm really glad this is such a chill place. It's nice for me the author obviously, but it's also nice because I always want the spaces I have to feel like safe places for others as well so! Thanks again!

Lastly, I normally would end on a little snippet or preview but since most of what I wrote was just the two different openings, I feel like I have nothing fun to tease (or maybe I'm too picky about snippets idk). Hopefully Zoe's bday post tomorrow makes up for it, and I'll post some snippets later in the month instead!

Thanks for reading!

[crystalverse-project]

Crystalverse!Dan first reference

dear princess celestia i am so scared and frightened

(note: i don't have all that much confidence in my art but i do try my best. all i know is self taught and out of books)

far away in the dantdm multiverse...there is the crystalverse

character design: (i love the way dan's skin is made cause it can be basically anything you want)

i was thinking of the very early old art that was on the first t shirts and mugs and hoodies and stuff (i was too young to get them when i first started watching him and i wish i could get one of the shirts) and the youtooz figures where has has a hoodie jacket.

he wears a shirt and tie because he's a fancy boi ok. the shirt is short sleeve and the white cuffs are part of the jacket

because of some time distortion thing from being so distant in the multiverse (that's my story and i'm sticking to it) he's 22. if you ask him his birthday he can tell you the day and month without issue but the year just comes out in all this static noise...

he has autism and anxiety, and is ftm and bisexual. and he's dating his universe's trayaurus. there will be no burning of any more gay flags istfg

full name is daniel andrew everton. just to drive home that this isn't the youtuber himself if i haven't made it clear yet (is this something you have to clarify? or is it just a given? i feel like i'll get corrected if i do or don't help this project isn't new but posting about it is for me. i mean i know obviously minecraft's not fkin real but idk where people draw the line.)

personality: overall kind, understanding, caring to those he bonds with, INSANELY protective. (like if anyone or anything threatens trayaurus or grim that thing is dead. it's happened) since he moved to the lab he's found a talent for science and inventing that he had no idea he had and now he's studying to be a doctor the same as trayaurus. (all the youtuber characters are just normal people, not big celebrities. if he went down the street in plain clothes nobody would notice him. good for him cause he's shy)

what i'm thinking is all the people who would be youtubers in this world or a different dan universe are normal people and normal people are youtubers in their place

anyway he did have friends in the city he lived in before but he's very anxious around people he doesn't know. he's happier in the lab with just a small circle of people he knows.

he can also be very reckless, doing things without thinking or making up unneccessary solutions to problems that end up backfiring. he's especially reckless when he's riding his minecart (that further down) and he has a lot of cuts and bruises on his arms and legs, which he's awkward about because it might look like something else

some objects: main weapon is his enchanted diamond sword, has sharpness V and unbreaking III. he has trayaurus' name written on it because he thinks of defending him when he uses it.

he actually has a diamond minecart that he brings around with him and rides in and not just a trophy in the treasure room, this one is more like it was in mcsm and the tube heroes toy (anyone still have those?) as in an iron minecart decorated with diamonds. he keeps it in a key, he presses the button and it shoots out light and there it is. it was his first real invention/project he worked on himself, more of a minecart converted to a minature car. it goes zoom zoom and it doesn't need rails

for all the ways csv!dan is different to other universes' dan he still loves drinking tea. i'm pretty sure they all do. this is his special blue mug, trayaurus has a co-ordinating green one.

not on the ref sheet seperate cause he's already wearing them: his goggles, they go beyond an accessory or safety equipment, they're also his comfort object and if he isn't wearing them/doesn't know where they are he starts to panic and he can't work. he actually DOES wear them (over his eyes) when he's doing experiments or battling. trayaurus gave him them when they first became friends, and entirely by accident, they were in a box buried under machine parts and packing peanuts

his right elbow pad has a chip inside it that gets him through the doors of the lab, he and trayaurus got tired of the crappy buttons that don't open the doors properly so eventually they just replaced them.

i'll probably do another refsheet to go along with this but that's the gist for now

[xivrefsheets]

Dawntrail Updates!

Figured I may as well toss a post to the void with DT rapidly approaching. Ahem. Hello! First of all...

Wow... thanks a bunch! I'm happy this little project has proven to be so helpful for so many folks out there! I figured once I stopped updating that this blog was gonna fizzle out into obscurity but I'm still getting quite a bit of interaction despite the inactivity (I really do miss Tumblr sometimes...)

Anyway, wanted to put an update out here on things going forward after DT drops and knowing how rambly and Autistic™ I tend to get, I'll just put that in a cut.

So as I've mentioned in passing in the tags of a random ask, I'm sort of considering opening comms for ref sheets again due to really Really Spicy money-related happenings in my personal life. However, there's a few steps along the way before I make this a reality and this isn't even a full guarantee it'll happen as I'll also be opening art commissions in the near future and those will take more time and priority over ref sheets PLUS there's the factors that led me to closing in the first place.

I'm trying to steer away from using Anamnesis going forward for a number of reasons (some borderline petty, I admit) but I've been introduced to some nifty new plugins that are slowly taking the program's place that make posing infinitely easier and also fix the primary issue I had with Ana which was.... not allowing unique NPC faces to show in gpose anymore. (Yes I'm aware that they still worked for carbuncles and the like but that was just enough of a hassle for my posing needs that it made the sheets Not worth making anymore since I was already dealing with other stress on the side at the time as well). I'm still learning how to effectively utilize said plugins and once I've gotten better and mastered them that'll be the end of step 1.

Step 2 is gonna be... well... waiting for DT to drop. As we all know, a massive graphics overhaul is coming, so there's very little point in opening requests for new characters now when the models are about to be more detailed and will very likely be tweaked along the way if player feedback affects NPCs down the line.

Step 3... that I dread... revamping my studio yet again. Mostly just gonna be taking out some of the extra light sources since those tend to get in the way when the model is really tall and also researching more setups. May also see about utilizing chromakey as well. Idk idk. I doubt I'll have the energy to make the sheets super pretty like some folks do, but taking transparent shots will cut out a lot of distracting factors and make the finished sheets look a bit better I think.

Then after that, I'll probably do some practice rounds and re-work sheets for popular characters as well as fixing the old, shitty sheets from when I first started that were Way Too Yellow that I've been meaning to fix for literal years now (so sorry to all my fellow color-picking artists friends out there I'm sorry that's so annoying... TTATT) and from there I'll see if it's something I still want to pursue and open comms for.

I'll shoot for maybeeeee mid-August or so for the next update. Obviously, I still have a job and I'll be enjoying DT with the rest of you guys so it'll be some time before I even think of doing ref sheets again, but I at least wanted to throw out there that this is still something I think about, but a number of factors made me stop to begin with. One factor being...

...pricing! If/when I open again, it'll likely be a proper commission post on ko-fi and I'm thinking of starting at $10 with tipping enabled. In the beginning, I was allowing requests for the barest minimum of a donation and the constant $3 for characters with a ton of details to cover was getting a bit demotivating after a while, so I'm sorry if this puts off past and future clients, but I am doing all of this in my free time, so... ;w;

ANYWAY! If anyone read all this... thank you! I know it's a Lot and I'm sorry. Been a minute since I've had to do some sort of official addressing like this... haha.

Feel free to follow my ko-fi for updates regarding ref sheet commissions, art commissions, and whatever new art I post (if you're into that) and maybe toss a dollar or two my way since, yanno, I'm Quite broke rn and have an unpaid vacation coming up... 👉👈 or if you just wanna support a fellow queer this June.

and if y'all don't hear from me in a few months just assume I lied LOL!

[anonymous-badger-238]

Bored people answer random questions

Alright don't send me numbers I'm just gonna answer them all at once

1: For music it's syudou, but for traditional art then Frida Kahlo

2-3: No thank you

4: 5'1 yes I know I'm short

5: Well you KNOW I wouldn't share my IRL first name, but online it's Lawrence E. Berkelium. What does the E stand for? I don't know yet and I'll figure it out later.

6: Why are we sharing other people's personal information?

7: Red

8: What

9: A nice person

10: A nice person

11: Barbecue chicken pizza with thin crust (California style)

12: Chemistry

13: You can call me Laura for short

14-16: No thank you

17: That's a hard one

18: Rather not say

19: I don't know

20: Black

21: No

22: Fine

23: That's a really interesting one. What state of matter could they possibly be?

24: Writing short stories. It used to be Candy Crush but then I deleted it.

25: Brown

26: Bakushou by syudou

27: The Irishman

28-30: Nope

31: A friend of mine

32: I suck at taking selfies so I just don't

33: I don't know yet

34: I assume they mean "inspired by"? For what? This could probably get a blog post of its own.

35: I don't really know. Math? Maybe?

36: Ooh I'd really love to be a chemist... soon you guys, soon

37: I used to do swimming but I don't anymore. I do bike for fun sometimes tho.

38: Agnostic

39: Really, how many coastal SoCal beach towns are there? And don't say Monterey All Day because that's CentralCal. And don't say Medford because that's Oregon and not even coastal. Because I am not from Oregon. And don't say Medford, Massachusetts because I am not from Massachusetts. You know, this could go on forever.

40: You've been trolled you've been trolled yes you've probably been trolled

41: Urashimasakatasen

42: Not sure if they're just referring to fiction or what, I'm typically a nonfiction reader and my favorite book is obviously American Prometheus

43: Idk it's hard to describe

44: One

45: Writing stories, watching movies, drawing, obscure research into science history, etc.

46: You spelled "habit" wrong

47: What the heck does this even mean?

48: Friends who are honest, kind, and loyal but not afraid to call me out on my BS, but not the type who's going to freak out when I do the same, oh and also relatively nonjudgemental

49: 555-WHY-UASK (I wish there was a corresponding number for question marks)

50: That's hard, I'll have to think on it for a while

I think I'm supposed to tag someone but it's so hard to pick just one

@un-ionizetheradlab hi

[welcometogrouchland]

ive thinking about luz getting its-a-wonderful-life'd for ages and somehow!! never connected it to a christmas special! galaxy brained takes yet again!! (but seriously... luz getting to see her positive influence via showing how literally everyone would be Six Feet Under if it werent for her is so ridicously in brand for toh i need it)

Aw thank you lol. If I ever find the og post I was thinking of when I made the "it's a wonderful life" comparison I'll rb this with a link but til then this one breaks down all the individual things that would be absolutely wack on the boiling isles w/o Luz in good detail though it's a bit old, for anyone who's curious.

But yeah it's like. especially appealing to me as a Christmas special because like you said, it's so on brand for toh. It's in keeping with the spirit of the boiling isles and the shows whole ethos, bc they never play these things straight!

The crew loves to show us the most unglamorous fairytale possible and while I've yet to properly watch it's a wonderful life in it's entirety (I honestly watched very few movies for Christmas this year lol) that feels true to the spirit of that movie. A happy ending but not without immense suffering first (which is also the direction I think this show is going in, based on what Dana's said about her feelings on happily ever afters).

It's also fun to me because I love the way Luz and Belos act as character foils (with Belos being a warped, absolute worst version of Luz in a sense) and @/jess-the-vampire did art of Philip as scrooge in a Christmas Carol (w/ the collector as the ghost of Christmas past, Caleb as Christmas present, etc) and it made me realize (by way of Luz and Belos parallels syllogism) that those stories are sort of. Idk not inversions of each other but pair nicely together as contrasts.

One guy goes through a series of events that mold him into the cruel person he is today, as a reflection of his flawed society, and he is forced to see the consequences of his actions or else he'll die alone and unmourned. A different guy goes through immense suffering, a reflection of his flawed society, but is saved by being shown all the ways he's changed things for the better and is given a renewed sense of purpose and life.

Idk it's neat to me! If toh ever did a Christmas special (if the mouse would let them) it'd have to go in one of those directions, and since I think canon is obviously not gonna pull a scrooge-esque redemption for Philip, it's a wonderful life-ing Luz just feels right <3

[e-v-n-z-a]

Firstly, when you get this, you have to answer with 5 things you like about yourself, publicly. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)

oh dear lord

ughhhhh, well:

1. i like my taste in music ig? lol, an obvious answer, but seriously. i'm especially proud of how in the recent couple of years i've been trying to listen to more new (for me) music, instead of listening to the same couple of artists over and over again 'till i'm sick of them lmao. i still have lots and lots to discover, what i listen to is not as diverse as i would like etc. etc. but i'm getting there! no point in rushing this, it's not a competition x) (i recently stumbled upon a post from 4 years ago, where i was asked to list my 9 favorite albums, and... let's say there's been a lot of improvement, that list is vile lmaoo)

2. feels kinda douchey to admit this, but i like my art. it's not perfect obviously, and i have a lot yet to learn, but i enjoy what i'm able to create. there is a lot of frustration from time to time, of course, but i wouldn't do it if i didn't enjoy it, would i?

3. i think i'm a pretty approachable, peaceful person, sometimes too kind for my own good. i'm patient with people and don't seek confrontation. it has it's own downsides sometimes, because i'm also a huge people pleaser, but i'm working on finding a good balance between kindness and knowing when to tell someone to fuck off lol

4. running out of thoughts, hm... maybe my perfectionism? i usually hate it and it brings me a lot of frustration and anxiety, but i guess it can be a good thing sometimes, too. if someone asks me to help them out with something, i'll try to do my best? maybe that, idk

5. and as the last thing here's something a lil bit more vain: i like my body :} i might be not so happy about my face from time to time (though i like it more often nowadays than not. we're stuck together forever so it's not like there's any choice but to learn to appreciate it for what it is lol), but at least i'm happy with my physique!

[scourgefrontiers]

before i head to bed i have one last ramble post to make here we go

so for years ive had this on and off idea of becoming a teacher, specifically an art teacher. ive always loved art Obviously but ive also really always enjoyed sharing my knowledge of art with other people. i think being a teacher fits me to some degree yeah?

the thing is im not sure if its..a good? idea? to step into a new career path at this point of my life. i mean like not bc of age, im only 26 lol, but because ive worked So Hard to be some sort of animation industry professional, for Years, that it feels like almost a waste of time if i just change career paths like that? and i know thats not a very healthy way to think about it but thats where im at

in addition you apparently have to have a bachelor's degree and let me tell you. i do Not want to go to college, especially when im not 100% sold on the idea of being a teacher. if theres some way for me to get a teaching certificate license without having to go through a wholeass four year college course then great i'll consider it but right now this is more of a fleeting dream than anything else u_u

the reason im thinking about all this is b/c like..idk. being a small, small artist online is hard. i enjoy it 90% of the time! i love drawing cartoons for people and making them happy while making money at the same time. its fun. but i make Not A Lot of money, and every single month i get stressed right around this time b/c i usually dont have enough for rent yet. it usually works out, ive only had to have help a couple times (this month will..probably be included in that unfortunately), but overall i enjoy what i do. that being said, i long for a job/career that i can rely on to get me by more smoothly than this, yknow?

i want to buy my wife a bigger space. id love a house one day. id love a car. id love to buy little luxuries from time to time. like i used to buy my favorite db figs every now and then but i havent done that for two years. i rarely buy little treats like that for myself anymore bc 1) we dont have the space and 2) i feel like rent and food are more important and i have to spend my money on important things now. we barely even have enough to go to conventions or take vacations to a beach for two days out of the year. it's rough out here [note: i do not regret moving out when i did btw. i needed to for growth and boy have i grown like its insane, i love the person i am now. im just saying i do struggle a lot still with other things]

anyway yeah. i dont like to think about Giving Up my current aspirations of becoming some popular artist and making a living doing what i do right now (just more comfortably). but im starting to feel like if i want to improve our quality of life im gonna have to do that u_u idk

[cru5h-cascades]

Okay, music update time.

So I should be getting my guitar by tomorrow (should be arriving by 10 PM but with some of my packages tending to come in super early like my inkling plush and obviously Hot Fuss it could be earlier who knows). I was planning on releasing one last track before going on hiatus but idk. It's nearly finished but I don't think it's my best work (this track is supposed to be another Sirenide track btw).

Anyways, I'm already looking at tutorials online to figure out how I'm gonna learn. I found some that can supposedly teach me how to play in 10 to 21 days. As to how effective these vids are going to be is unknown, but hey if I figured out how to use photoshop and sort of figured out animation (ain't no way I can animate shit on my home chromebook so I haven't attempted anything on it yet), maybe I can figure this out. Also, I need to figure out how to tune guitars. Thankfully, guitar tuning websites and apps exist so they can do the heavy work for me 'cause it's been FOREVER since I've been in a music class and I've never tuned a guitar before (My music teacher before going to high school was A CHAD. Bro is what got me to start making music to begin with! He let us dabble in playing guitars for a little bit but just towards the end of a unit we were doing. After that we started our electronic music unit and the rest is history...).

I dunno how long I'll be on a break from music for (depends on how long it takes me to become confident enough to make some stuff using my newly aquirred guitar skills). When I do come back to music, I'm probably gonna post something showing off my guitar skills. I may not have a mic to record this stuff on, but I got a plan. Finally, soundtrap actually has an upside! Basically, I can plug in my guitar into my computer (obviously my school one) and use that as an amp to record my stuff on. Of course, I'm going to have to test this out first to see how effective this all is (might post some test audio for that), but at least I sort of have a plan for all this guitar buisness. Will I start out with covers or try making my own stuff? I dunno. But at least expect some stuff featuring actual instruments. Might go back to my OG soundtrap junk now and then why not. One of my friends and I are working on something behind the scenes and if all goes well I'll properly reveal this huge project of whatever (I guess this is your first clue to what that project might be).

And what about my other stuff? Calamity Circus, my art, and the planned Murder Trilogy essay (yep that's right I'm still gonna do that! I might start writing it after finishing Calamity Circus or towards the end of summer. I think it depends on weither or not S3's judgement day aka final fest is happening this summer or not 'cause I have a story planned for that event.)? Well, don't worry I still plan on working on all of that, especially Calamity Cicus since I've been working on that ever since I finalized Your Side of Order's basic story beats and I really wanna get this story out there. Art's still coming out, maybe at it's usual rate.

So yeah that's what to expect for the next I don't know how long. I'm still working on getting a job since I still haven't gotten word back about my application that I sent out a while back, so things should be pretty normal until I do ultimately get a job (hopefully I'll be able to get enough cash to get a functional computer with a touchscreen). In the meanwhile I'm just gonna take it easy, recover from the hell known as the previous school year, make my art, and try to beat the summer heat. This has been your local paranormal pest, cru5h. Stay fresh, y'all :D

[star-on-a-beach]

Oh fuck it

Joining in on the ships rating thing, and I'm including almost almost EVERY SHIP IVE THOUGHT OF/HEARD OF. EVEN JUST FOR A SECOND. Please don't kill me for any of these

This will be a lot. BUT HERE WE GO

(Only romantic pairing ideas btw, if we wanna go through platonic pairings that's a whole 'nother post)

Ships I think about often (note that not all of these are canon)

Lancia: 100000/10. Obsessed. I think about them daily. They are my Roman empire. I could genuinely talk about them for hours but I'll save yall the walls of text. But I constantly think about them in a king/queen sense and I'm obsessed.

Goldenrain: 100/10. They are so fucking cute and the whole family of these two and Usa and Deedee is amazing

Spirals: 10/10. Always gonna be the OG and I will be clinging onto any spirals fanart for years because IN ANOTHER UNIVERSE, IT HAPPENS

Starro x Conny/ Boxsprings: 10/10. Already obsessed and I have so many ideas. I fucking LOVE being a multishipper.

Starro x Kade/ Starcade: 8/10. In theory it was cute, and I still think it is. But they'd be better as besties

Sammy x Alexander: 10/10. TWINK X HIMBO FOREVER

Firestone: 9.9/10. I like their dynamic of a no touch relationship, and even tho I'm a physical affection girlie FOREVER, it's nice to have rep of a relationship that's not like that

Lata x Latte: 9/10. Simple, yet tragic and lovely

Slyn x Hexe: 3/10. Abusive, and they're both horrible individuals

Gunshot: 8/10. I love seeing Mix happy, so I'm happy

Mix x Icia: 7/10. Obviously not canon, nor will it EVER be, but it was an interesting dynamic when I first thought of it

Sammy x Dunite: 9/10. They've always been super close so I've thought it's interesting

Icia x Aoki: 7/10. One of my favorite noncanons, but I love them having a sibling-like relationship in canon

Icia x Arthur: 6/10. Arthur intimidates me and lowkey intimidates Icia too so this ship is adorable but would also have me feel like I'm walking on eggshells

Starro x Dunite: 7/10. Cute, that's all I have to say

Sammy x Odette: 6/10. I could see it.

Mix x Silo: 7/10. THIS ONE FUCKING HURTS

Icia x Achilles: Get Therapy/10. The trauma is fucking UNREAL with this one, yall are NOT READY

____ x _________: 8/10. I know someone's gonna guess this one, probably Elsie- and I do have plans for it, it'll just be a while. And I gotta make it cute but also surprising without making it seemed forced lmao

Heartstrings: 9/10. Holy shit, so much fluff, and Jessy is just. HHHHHHHHH

Smith x Hans: 8/10. I DESPERATELY NEED MORE OF THEM *SHAKES FEI*

Pyx x Thanatos: 8/10. The sex jokes are funny to me, and the art is adorable.

Bob x Sign: 7/10. I feel bad for all the trauma they've gone through, and while I do think the sex is funny, sometimes I gotta just set my phone down and have a moment bc it gets far sometimes. I do really think it's cute when Bob gives Sign neck kisses tho, their fluffy moments are spectacular

Odette x Flare: 7.5/10. I still think it'd be cute

Mix x Drunkie: 4/10. Ran its course, and I'm glad it's over. But it wasn't the worst either

Ships I don't think about often BUT do cross my mind from time to time/ Crackships

Hammer x Chaos: 9/10. Pretty solid, funny sex jokes (maybe too many for my taste but still (like seriously those two make out so much I wouldn't be surprised if their lips literally ached, not in a good way either))

Icia x Raina: 6/10. Would be a cute queerplatonic relationship but it's just funny with Raina being the Lancia 3rd wheel (and being the one to first actually technically SUGGEST Lancia)

Starro x Sign: 4/10. Idk man, don't ask me bc I don't know

Bobelle: 3/10. I have no words.

Bob x Felicia: 1/10. Definitely concerning and uncomfortable every time I remember it

Chip x Alpen: 7/10. Don't think of them often, but they're cute

Helpful x Lucy: 5/10. Feels a bit forced and Lucy was a bit too relentless for me to enjoy it at first, she just feels like she was only made for being something for him and that's it

Helpline: 6/10. I don't remember much abt this ship but I thought it was cute that Dial cared for Helpful like that (despite me wanting to strangle Helpful like 60% of the time)

Sigilbeam: 9/10. Don't think of them often but they are just ADORABLE, I think Sun is really underrated

Icia x Dunite: 6/10. Some could see it, I could not lol

Sammy x Smith: 8/10. I don't wanna hear a damn peep about this one, it'd be funny as fuck (a bit more than just a crackship to me)

Sal x Amelia: 8/10. I've thought about them and I'm not afraid to say that I think it'd be cute (but I feel like there's a reason I forgot abt as to why it's not canon)

Sal x Dunite: 5/10. They're cute as friends and that's all

Starro x Pyx: 5/10. It's crossed my mind, but I see them more like brothers

Cit x Flare x Odette: 7/10. I'm not really a poly girl but HEAR ME OUT

Nova x Switch: 7/10. I could see it, but it's not for me

Mocha x Vaga: 2/10. Definitely not. More like a father-son thing imo. Or at least brothers

Odette x Achilles: 5/10. Chaos trio member brought this up, and I'm pretty neutral about it

Stitch x Chance: 👏👏👏/10. I still dunno how the fuck that dude did it, but kudos man.

Stitch x Icia: 3/10. He's too short for her lmao.

Icia x Sammy: 8/10. I could see it. I could definitely see it.

Icia x Slyn: 0/10. Hahahaha NO.

Belle x Helpful: ???/10. Is this even a ship? I have no idea

Toxic Helpline: Good ship name/10

Raina x Odette: 6-7?/10. Idk how i thought of this but I did and it's not my LEAST favorite ship ever? But. Eh.

Starro x Raina: 3/10. Dunno where this came from

Fred x Deedee: Cats/10. Idk it's funny man

Drunkie x Kopi: 3/10. No.

Mix x Kopi: 2/10. NO.

Kumo x Kopi: 5/10. No opinion.

Northeast: 7/10. Cute but too bland for me

Ciana x Apollo: 7.1/10. Same as Northeast

Ok.... I think that's it.... man I coulda been using all that time to write angst, damn

[retros-art]

https://retr0scomms.carrd.co/

I have rlly bad chest pain and apparently got a stomach bug, plus my dot at the end of a sentence started and in general i feel rlly crappy jsdfnj

Anyway, I tried shading and stuff. I've been on insta a lot and recently stuff's just been really upsetting to me and my art and i just wana feel good abt it but kdjnjgdnjg.

Idk if this is as much of a problem on here, but im gonna copy paste the rant i put on insta because SDJHFBEJHFBJ barkbarkarbkarb

TW long post

I spent an hour on this little doodle trying to test out shading and overlays and it doesn't look like i did anything I've been getting less and less confident about my art recently, to the point I think I have to shade and do what everyone else is doing. I have to use guidelines, I have to shade, I have to learn how to render, I have to listen to all the artists that are better than me's advice otherwise I'll never be successful.

I've been drawing seriously for 7 years (using guidelines, figuring out what works for me and what doesnt, etc), and yet seeing all of these people being like "beginner artists when they.." and like. I do that thing? And it's really hurtful and makes me really unmotivated.

Any time I try to shade, use guidelines, etc, my art doesn't change the way people say it should. Not even by a little. It makes me feel inferior to everyone, yk?

I take a lot of time and put a lot of effort into my art, and these people on the internet with their trends makes it so BARKABRKABRKAB. Same Face Syndrome, the shading with purpose thing, "beginner artists" only really having one perspective, etc. It's all really hurtful and Ik that's not the intention but I've cried over it quite a lot.

I know my art isn't beautiful, it doesn't spark anything, but I'm trying my best. And I'm sure a lot of other people are, too.

TLDR don't just assume ppl are beginner artists and don't try giving them "help" if they don't ask for it. Ik artists are just trying to be helpful but it can hurt a lot of people and snfjsnfdjngjdngj. Idk Nothing against artists that do this, obviously, but when it's the only thing I see it makes me sad

And to people like me: ur so valid ilysm and your art is delicious I promise don't let them get to u <33

anyway yeah im sick and sad so take this wah

Also look at my commission sheet bc i need moniez in these troubling times 😔😔😔😔 /hj

[nights-at-crystarium]

Hi hellooooo and thank you <3 Putting my responses under the cut~

I remember seeing a post!! About Vivi's weapon! And for the life of me I cannot find it anywhere but you linked the post underneath the comic where he first met Ardbert!

Here you go! I posted it a bit earlier on tumblr, that's probably why.

Also here are Alisaie's weapons that don't have a name yet. Essentia is a name just for Vivi's spear, yes, but several people began referring to the whole concept by that name whoops. That's my mistake as a writer, I'll take it as a lesson in the original lore delivery.

Their duel looks awesome. It looks so Fluid. Idk how you did it bc it's a comic and not animated, I never know how comics do it actually, but it's always so impressive.

I'm glad that you think so!! It's probably because of the smears (blurry actions) and stretching/squashing. Like for example their hair looks longer than normal in this panel, we're used to seeing this trick in art and animation, our brain suggests quick movement.

This scene was totally unnecessary and self-indulgent, yet I wish I'd make it even longer hahah. Just two elves frolicking around and chatting nonsense. This form of communication's much easier for Alisaie than holding hands and talking feels.

"you still can't duel for shit" interesting! So does Vivi have a weakness in battles where he has to fight one other person, or is it only in sparring? Does he have anyone else that he naturally works with? Does he have an easier time when he's fighting multiple people at once? :O I just realised I've never really seen what his fighting style looks like in a fight where his life is at stake.

Vivi can't see the telegraphs if there's no actual threat to his life, a bit of silly ingame mechanic interpretation for the Echo. Alisaie has no intention to harm him and would stop before her sword reaches him, so he's kinda blind, only relying on his actual (average) combat skill :'>

Once he realized that Hydaelyn's gifts carry him when shit hits the fan, he started dismissing the real training/skill. Vivi doesn't see the merit/appeal in being a cool fighter, the world-saving happens anyway while he's present, so why bother. But I fear I'm getting too far ahead of the comic plot.

"You STILL can't duel" implies that they've gone through this before. Even if it's been 1 year for Alisaie, for Vivi just about a week since their separation, hell knows when did they spar last time, he obviously didn't undergo some massive training in a week, Alisaie mustn't expect much from this lil dance, it's simply better than standing and twiddling her thumbs.

Gotta acknowledge how much value I get from our convos, aside from the happy brain juice. You're bringing up many points that make me realize how and where I could improve my work. We indeed haven't seen Vivi in a "real" fight, I thought it wasn't worth the screentime because the comic's focused on daily life and feels, YET! As time goes on, it becomes more of a sore thumb, a missing beat, a solid chunk of Vivi's life unjustly shoved aside. This's important, and I'm already looking into fixing it. There's plenty of opportunities to show a page or two of combat without changing my script.

"This Crystal Mystel tends to get broody when left alone for too long" HI??? HELLO?? I'm in SHAMBLES

Wehhhhh ;w; <3 I received so much love for this line aaaaaa. Thank you so much. Their casual greeting and body language indeed hint at a shared past, I'll be sprinkling in more of their interactions and flashbacks throughout the years.

Anyway I apologise for taking so long, I've been trying to commit the entire comic the memory before I say anything so I can Really talk abt it >:'3 I give you, the author and artist, a flower as well for all your hard work 🌺

Please never apologize or feel obliged to comment on every episode!! I'm taking great joy in reading and replying to these posts, I can babble on about Fragments for hours, but I don't want this to feel like a job for you ;3;

Also time to give back some flowers, catch~ 🌸🌷🌼🌹🌺🌸🌼🌻🌸🌺🌹🌼🌺🌸

✧✦✧ “Fragments” - episode 27 ✧✦✧

A little girl bested Vivi with her left hand. Exarch's still impressed for some reason. (reason: oblivious fanboy)

New reader? Start here: @ffxiv-fragments

[zelda-photography]

Trailer Analysis

Yup, that's right, it's my turn to try and analyze the new trailer. I'll be keeping it under a read more so people who are trying to stay as blind as possible don't see anything. Also, I'll warn you right now that I'm not sure I have anything new to say, and also while I haven't read any in depth analyses yet, I haven't totally missed them so if I say something someone has already said I'm sorry and also no I didn't you're imagining things.

Alright, enough stalling, let's see what kind of brilliant clarity I can bring to this new pressing issue.

Alright, opening shot that I'm pretty sure nobody knows what to think of it. I've seen some people say it could be Hylia, but honestly I think this is going to be an entirely new deity. I've seen people point out the triangles under the eyes are kind of similar to the sheikah eye, and we defo don't know enough about to sheikah, so maybe this was an ancient deity that they worshiped before they were part of Hyrule and fell in with the royal family? That's my crazy guess. My second crazy guess with even less baring on anything is, what if this is the real fierce deity? Food for thought.

This was the shot that for me solidified that this was Zelda (I mean I knew it was but also confirmation never hurts you know). It's interesting that all the bokoblins have the big horn that we saw in one of the earlier trailers.

There's also very clearly two different humans portrayed here. Either it's just showing both men and women fighting, or I would guess hylians and sheikah? Sheikah usually have that bun on the back of their head, but the uniform the people with the buns are wearing doesn't look like anything the sheikah wear.

Again we see whatever the new deity-figure is (am I the only one who thinks it looks like a bunny?) clearly on a floating island amidst the clouds, with what sort of looks like one of the gates over to the left. They're also surrounded by seven spirals - can you say Zonai? - but also that usually connects to the seven sages usually seen in zelda games. I'm very interested to see if there are going to be sages, or just like seven things to gather.

I also didn't point this out before, but a possible connection between This Thing and Dehydrated Ganondorf is they both have an eye on their forehead, so idk keep that in mind.

Putting these right next to each other. I've seen people say they think this could be Ganondorf, and I get where they're coming from, but I agree with @the-east-art (they have a post with a couple of explanations) that this is more likely to be Zelda. Now time to say something crazy: I think this is a Zelda who was born to the Gerudo. It's why she has a gem on her forehead. It would also possibly provide an answer (eventually) to the seven statues in the desert (Them being like, previous seven sages to a Gerudo Zelda).

Also, bad news, looks like Zelda may be officially damseled considering she's shown falling into the malice, and that's not something one easily comes back from :( I mean obviously I hope there's some kind of Zelda subplot but I'm losing hope.

In the bottom picture, however, there are two of the spiral mcguffins above two people holding hands. Which leads to theory 3 (4?) of who these are: they just depict A Sage, not anyone specific, and the spiral depicts the power that person has. I don't think it is, but it's possible.

I skipped the picture I had of the door - there's osme big spirals and two dragons on it, It's way more boring than I expected. Here, we get a good view of a gate, which we've seen in previous trailers, and uh I still dont' know what it is, or where link is, but hey he's in his champion's tunic so that seems relevant.

Here, we can get a bit of a better view of what the islands look like, including a weird temple int he middle that looks like it's upside down - in fact, when Link dives down, I think you can see the 'top' of it, all pointy n stuff. I'm kind of hoping that there's going to be, like, people living on these island, or at least some kind of sentient species to interact with. A lot of the islands in this shot are taken up by the yellow trees.

Also, you can't really see them well here but I was getting tired of trying to get a good shot of them, but Link does have those like eight vials on his belt, half of them filled with strange green liquid. It's hard to say anything about them at this point, but I've seen people say it's a vessel to collect tears, and that sounds about right. I also think it could be the device used to get up and down from the sky, I believe when we saw it do that last trailer it was that same color.

Everything is black and white, and I just figured that'd mean that time is stopped or something, but oddly enough that weird bat thing in the background is still flapping as Link uh,,,, rides this rock back to the heavens? I'm just happy to see what looks like a new enemy out there.

Link with a new ace looking weapon, so that's fun. It's good to see they did go to the effort to make new weapons. Also he's in that outfit that make people think there's time travel in this. Honestly, I can't say one way or the other. It's probably just An Outfit, but uh what if he has to wear it during certain trials or something? Like, the clouds below look like the mist in the Lost Woods.

Here, we can see that the floating islands are kind of scattered around some, but more than anything, we can see the Eldin Volcano has the same malice-stuff coming off of it as Hyrule castle, and Hyrule castle is really not floating as much as I expected it to. It's probably fair to think that the other four corners of Hyrule are in a similar state.

It makes me wonder how they're going to deal with the divine beasts in this sequel, like do they just do nothing now? Are they taken over again? Deactivated?

And of course, now we have our paraglider evolved into a hawk glider thingy. Personally, I think he looks nice. Also, it's nice that we can see where we are and can recognize the layout. Also there's a weird glowing rune, but if you turn it upside down you can see that it's a similar depiction as the people from earlier in the trailer, but this one doesn't have a gem on the forehead. Maybe a sage? Maybe a recharge place for your vials/hawk glider?

AAAAND TITLE! Tears of the Kingdom, makes a lot of people think of the tears you collect in silent realms, and I have to agree. You can see the zonai-style dragons in the circle around the title, very interesting. However, I'm more interested in what's behind it - namely, we just barely don't get the full picture we saw a snippet of earlier: the 'Zelda' standing under two spiral mcguffins. Now, we can see the other person was Mystery Deity all along.

I'm not sure what else to say, I'll probably just pop out some theory or other like at random in the next eight months. Right now, I'm just gonna say, uhhhh, I think Link will end up aiding the Mystery Deity and and does manage to fight off the Malice with it, but in doing so strengthens the Mystery Deity, and they become the new big bad. Bonus point for if at that point in the story, Link gets damseled and now you play as Zelda.

Anyway, let me know if you agree, disagree, have theories of your own, anything! i wanna talk Zelda!

[shishikusas]

ok so idk if you already know this but puppy lover on yt recently left their masa channel. truly the end of an era. but in their last video they asked for honest opinions on masa so I’m throwing my two cents to like the only other active masa blog on here hope you don’t mind👉👈 (if you don’t wanna read it just skip) what’s your opinion on mass’s songs lately??

So I really really love the onibi, sister and secret series. And ya I agree with a lot of the comments there— masa’s songs are lacking nowadays. He’s still a great guy, but all his songs sound the exact same (I believe it’s edm??) His old content was more original and actually had better pv’s.

But more than that for me they had better storyline. The onibi series had really deep lore, the sister series had a lot, the secret series had a bit too, and maha was full of it. That being said nowadays all of his songs share the same three themes of dr1nks, dr*gs and s3x. There’s no originality which made onibi such a hit. They’re all parodying off each other.

Also is it just me or is the anatomy on the newer videos a bit…off?? It seems like he’s emphasizing certain parts more than others and it makes the whole thing look a bit disproportionate. Idk if it’s just me, I’m not an expert by any means.

That being said, it’s not like his new content is bad by any means, it’s cool to listen to. And it’s nice. For a couple of times. It’s kinda insipid after that.

tldr masa’s old stuff was better than his new for me, and I miss it a lot. He’s still a good guy and the new music is cool but the onibi, sister and secret series will always have a place in my heart.

i just posted a comment on the video on puppy's channel, so i will copy it here:

i'll be completely honest in my opinion here. masa's stuff has not gotten worse, it has just changed and i still love it and listen to it, and it really disheartens me when people leave bc i feel like im just wandering around in a desert. like where did all the people go :( the community was so bustling in 2016-2019 and it just feels abandoned now.

there are some things i can agree on though. there was a time in 2019-2020 ish where i thought he wasn't living up to his full potential, or he was trying to create new stuff and hadn't gotten it completely down yet. and yes, it's easy to look through the lenses of nostalgia and miss all the lore stuff he used to do - i mean i fucking love the onibi series and all its lore but we probably aren't going to get another blog update for a loooong time.

but the reality is that masa is a different person now than he was in the early 2010s. he started creating music when he was 20 years old, and he's 32 now - that's a huge difference, he's a fully fledged adult now and probably has a lot more things to do and work on than what he used to. that's not even talking about the money aspect! obviously we know next to nothing about his personal life but he either has another job outside of making music or he relies on making these songs to support himself, and neither are conducive to making elaborate PVs or complicated lore (both which i know people revere him for and miss the most). instead he focuses on making the music he wants and PVs that fit his time, which by the way include MUCH higher quality art than in the past. idc what anyone says his anatomy was WAY wonkier back then than it is now.

im rambling, but ig my point is masa's changed, and it's an okay thing. his new EP, INSOMNIA, is really an amazing piece of work and feels kind of like the 'old' masa and i've listened to it many times on repeat, but it's not the same as the masa people became fans of him for. it's okay if you don't like it but i do, and i probably always will. unless he starts making country music or smth ;)

TLDR: i love masa's music even now and understand that his style has become much different than before, and there's many reasons for that.. he holds such a big place in my heart and i will support him thru his endeavors!