#so now I'm playing it again

[egophiliac]

he did it! 🐍 and it only took...uhhh...well, there probably could've been less punches, but why hold back!

PUNCHES FOR EVERYONE

[snarkspawn]

I really enjoy playing through tnp again like hi it's been a while

[benevolenterrancy]

just started reading SVSSS and so far I'm very amused by what seems to be the dynamic...

Shen Qingqiu: aggressively overthinking everything in a desperate effort not to literally die Luo Binghe: thinking absolutely nothing except "😍" which is bouncing around like a little screensaver

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

posting this with absolutely no context

[tapeworrmart]

Red Dead Revenge (low honor Arthur)

[lazylittledragon]

isn't it weird how if you get up at 7 or 8, do your work all day, then have free time and go to bed at 11 that's absolutely fine

but if i said i get up at 10, do fun stuff in the morning then work in the evening and go to bed late, i could be called lazy, nevermind that i'm getting just as much or MORE work done as i would in a traditional work day

[songthursh]

A very, VERY basic doctors argument

[chalkrub]

another attack! this one for crabsbeverage.

[thepringlesofblood]

at some point the gods of dnd decided that Lou Wilson specifically is a magnet for doing impromptu surgery without a medical license and somehow it works every time against all odds and I am frankly gobsmacked

[territorial-utopia]

Huzzah! It's birthday time! I'm slowly accumulating more and more things I like (latest additions this vest I made and a travel typewriter! Still need to fix the latter one though)

Sure has been a year.

[diamondsheep]

Venture Sketch ! 💛✨

[deoidesign]

I met the me who made different choices

[payasita]

bro you got a little something on your-- no it's cool bro i got it

[deets under cut because Thanks Tumblr]

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Suddenly remembered something I wanted to say re:Akechi, because I think it's really core to his character (at least the way I interpreted him?) and I feel like it explains a lot of his contradictions. Essentially, he is incapable of seeing himself as just a person - he's either the greatest hero/detective ever, or he's some violent monster, and it's like there's no in-between. It's very in keeping with his obvious superiority-inferiority complex, but it goes deeper than that too; when he's in a role, it seems like his self-perception kind of changes too depending on how he is perceived by others. He really does get a confidence boost from being the Detective Prince. He really does shut down emotionally as the Black Mask.

They're masks that he's made, and it's not that aspects of them aren't based in truth to some extent, but I think it goes to show why he's not actually that fantastic a liar (imo, I found the outright lies pretty obvious), but he is a very good actor. He's either an angel or a demon, and never a person, but there are conditions to that. He is an angel when he is perfect - to society. He is a demon when he is vengeful - again, to society. He is never a person, because he never was seen as one - to society. He was disregarded. To be anything of value or notoriety, whether that's hero or villain, he has to be wildly more or less than who he actually is, and he's been building these masks up for so long that I really think he lost sight of the actual person behind it all. And I don't think he wanted to see that person anyways, because that person "wasn't good enough" and I do think he'd rather be anything other than himself. That trickery, that deflection from the person within, in itself brings him pride and satisfaction. He wants to be loved and needed instead of being cast aside, but I also think that if he can't have that then he'd much rather be hated than never have mattered at all. He weaponizes his own loneliness - if he can't ever be accepted then he'll build his own pedestal apart from everyone else.

It's so fascinating too, because I just wonder how much of this he was consciously aware of pre, during, and post engine room. There's this recurring thing with him where he goes "I can only be myself" etc but I just want to shake him because, well, who is that, Akechi??? Or, who do you think that is? Do you actually have an answer? Is it predicated on your actual feelings or solely on your success at fooling everyone around you? Is there any part of you that you actually like that isn't based on a painstakingly constructed mask? Isn't it all mostly lies to deflect from the truth? Isn't it all founded mostly on truth, nonetheless?

It drives me insane. And I think this is a big reason why he breaks so hard in the engine room, because so much of his mask requires his "audience" to perform in a particular way. And here he is, and the Thieves have beaten him, so there goes the first mask, because he's no longer "perfect". He swings wildly into the ugliest sides of him, but this mask is broken too, amidst him vehemently and desperately denying that he has any other emotions than hatred and rage, or any other needs or desires than vengeance. And after that, it's just him. And they should reject him, right? That's what happens. He's not useful, he's not needed or perfect, his hands are stained with blood. But the Thieves, again, don't play the role he expects them to. They, despite everything, relate to him - because he is in fact very similar in a lot of ways and they acknowledge him as a person - not a hero, or idol, or villain, or tool, or unwanted child - but as a damaged teen like the rest of them. And he does not know what to do with that. His identity is intrinsically dependent on getting the right reactions from other people as a form of ingratiating himself - if he does not get that reciprocal reaction he's looking for, his act falters, and, I really do believe that so does his self-perception. That's why you see different aspects of him seep out when he's spending time with Joker, because Joker does not react the way he expects, and Akechi both does and does not like this, because it leaves him feeling both intrigued and vulnerable.

I do think this particular aspect of his character is something a lot of the Thieves don't fully grasp - certainly, I think Joker "I need the mask" Persona 5 understands to a degree, but the sheer degree of reliance and the level of pride attached to it is something that confuses him a little, I think, especially in Mementos Mission. I think the thief that comes closest is actually Morgana, who has a similar superiority-inferiority complex and a desperate need to be seen as competent and useful lest he be discarded. (This is a big part of why the rather lackluster writing with Morgana's arc frustrates me so much because I really do feel it was meant to be contrasted with Akechi's, but I digress.) Morgana is the one to make that emotional appeal to Akechi, which makes a degree of sense - Morgana struggled all along with finding a place in the world. His form leads others to underestimate him; he visually doesn't fit in. He's acting out the role of a chivalrous and cool phantom thief but is more pragmatic with how he views relationships, at least at first. He wants a place to belong where he is appreciated more than anything but his pride won't let him spit it out. Accepting that he belongs and that he is loved even if he really did have nothing of value to provide is a big part of the resolution of his arc. He tries to offer that learned lesson to Akechi in turn ("Follow your true feelings. Even if you think people hate you, or don't want you around-"), but Akechi just wasn't in the right space to listen. There's also an important distinction between the two - Morgana envies humans and looks up to them. Akechi envies humans and looks down on them. Morgana is perfectly happy once he is assured a place amongst the group, but Akechi see-saws wildly between wanting to belong and wanting to be a step above the rest and separating himself further. So while Morgana actually really did cut to the core of the issue, his appeal would never have worked at this point because a) Akechi's pride is dependent on him maintaining his solo act, and b) he just got outed as not actually hating Joker in front of seven other people including Joker himself lmao.

So, uh, sorry, Morgana. Points for trying.

[pearl-kite]

Finished it! A couple of months ago I started this pattern by @antisocialxconstruct / @craftsbyrom and I just finished up the last squares today. After the last cross stitch, this was pleasantly straightforward and very relaxing busy-work for my hands. The pattern is available digitally in it's Kofi shop for a minimum of a dollar (I've also bought that glitchy dog skull that I'll get around to eventually 👀).

Some technicalities etc below:

One tweak I made was at the very end I decided to try a tiny bit of backstitch to make the letters stand out, and for the most part I like the addition, but I'm still debating. The way it turned out on the Y has me tilting my head back and forth.

Here's the completed one before the backstitching:

I went with 3 strands instead of 4 like it did for the sample, but I think the coverage was still pretty good. Definitely needed at least the 3 for the dark areas to stay completely dark.

With 3 strands, most colors were okay with just 1 skein of DMC thread, but I did need to run to the shop to grab a few: - DMC 3814 - Aquamarine (I had less than a square inch left when I needed to get more ;3;) - DMC 02 - Tin - DMC 797 - Royal Blue

If I had done 4 stands I would have also needed a second DMC 939 for the very dark blue, because I have just about a foot left on my spool.

I'm debating what to do with it. The last one became a pillow, but this one is juuust a bit small to be a useful pillow. I might just do it anyway, sampler throw pillows aren't that weird after all, but I might also try to kind of rig a sort of frame and stretch it like a canvas? It could be nice up on the wall that way.

[buglaur]

this is kit, please commission some art from them on social bunny 🙏