mayvnwrites

[mayvnwrites]

Although i have failed thus far at getting the kitasan black card, I decided to stop pulling and save for swimsuit Golshi, because if the real Gold Ship truly did reincarnate as a woman (or umamusume), he 100% would embrace it and be as sexy as possible before drop-kicking you into the ground with glee.

And then the thought hit me. Gold Ship ... is kind of Tianlang-jun coded.

[mayvnwrites]

I have finally unlocked Golshi's outfit. It took almost every resource that could be poured into the goddess statues, but it suits her unhinged ass so much more than the basic racing outfit.

Next is either haru urara or sakura bakushin... I just want all their original outfits.

[mayvnwrites]

Shen Jiu in a t-shirt feels like sacrilege, yeah?

Like his limit is business casual at worst, and ... hm. My brain is 404 erroring trying to think of him in short sleeves at all.

[mayvnwrites]

*falling into the umamusume pit*

Okay, yes, the pity is the standard jp "you might as well pray for good luck rather than try to get 200 pulls within the time limit" gacha system, but I love trying to min-max stats, and the game makes that part the fun part.

(Building chars is basically a roguelike montage of a 3yr racing career based on legacy horses you choose for your umamusume (essentially its sires it inherits base stats from) and the training partners you choose for it (the support cards are horses it can learn from by interacting with them during its career). It IS difficult starting from scratch without good legacy horses and support cards, so expect to fail a few times and take the d and c ranks to give other girls a better headstart next time.)

The fandom is also a riot. Half the reddit is just Japanese race horse facts, and the other is memes, like funny pics about overfeeding Haru Urara, since the real retired race horse has suddenly had a massive influx of fans finding its website and buying a ton of feed for it (probably because the umamusume Haru Urara has a practically scripted loss for her final career goal, and her crying over it after all that work is heartbreaking).

And also Gold Ship. Both the anime girl and the real life horse. I just love dumb and troll-y characters. That training fail where she doesn't hit another girl with the water polo ball despite trying very hard before sulking is the best training fail scene.

(And yes, the horse is also a bit of a troll.)

I'm also just really impressed that they made the game truly centered around horse racing, and not just borrowing horse names for funsies. Like, you actually understand why people can get into horse races in rl at the end of it.

[mayvnwrites]

So ah... what do we do about this?

I thought it was so funny that Boothill, er, Bootbird was just cussing up a storm in tweets. Also you know it's gonna be a good time when Qingque calls these two bozos for backup.

[mayvnwrites]

So what if sy transmigrates as some rando before svsss and realizes sj had been reincarnated as his baby sister in his world (which is why she was hissy and bitchy and had trust issues, but sy loved her all the same).

... I haven't done much thinking about this, but big brother sy is still something i like pushing, especially because he can be big brother material, just clumsy and tunnel visioned enough to make younger siblings wonder who's really the older one. Yknow, the helpful but silly big brother next door vibes.

[mayvnwrites]

SaB 8-7 Strategy(?) not-guide

For anyone stuck on Silver and Blood: Requiem 8-7 without healers, I used:

Theophane (dunno how useful but used ult at least once in hopes he buffed everyone else's survival),

Bella (kept her alive by running around and leaving her summons behind to distract mobs and spamming ult as soon as the big summon dies. MVP by far),

Augustine (hooked Clive JR at beginning and finished him off eventually - not sure was helpful but probably not not helpful),

SR Aiona (kept theophane and some random other char, probably also theo, alive for 5 more sec, not sure how helpful she was but I passed) ,

and Spectral Gilraine (targeted the tentacle shooter stun guys in the back just to keep them busy, altho they still get their stuns off eventually. Definitely helped to throw Bella's tanky summon next to him to keep the guys in the back and the werewolf extra busy. He and Bella survived the longest, with gil dying right before the end)

I did have everyone at level 84 or higher (apparently the level sync can surpass the units' personal level cap btw) and green equipment or higher at at least level 1. Also my Augustine has his ult lv2 and both skills lv4, Bella's small summon skill (not ult) was lv4, and Theophane's healy shieldy skill (not ult) was also lv4.

I think the strategy (if you don't have good healers) is divide and... not conquer exactly. Basically keep the aggro spread out and not on Bella for as long as possible and keep her ult distracting the big werewolf.

Aaand now I have to go figure out whose equipment I've moved around and swapped to get my main team back and running ...

[mayvnwrites]

One last thing about Silver and Blood: Requiem and then I'll shut up about it.

I rated it highly last time, and I won't change my opinion about SaB having interesting characters and an engaging story, but I will now express some concerns about the future of the game.

Basically, due to the level sync and the auto-level for certain stages, the low emphasis on gear farming/building, and the ease it is to get "duplicate pieces", I think I can see that this game is going to emphasis pulling completely new units a lot and often.

And by that I mean there will likely be stages in the future that require specific characters to perform specific tactics in order to pass stages, and it's possible that the power creep will be very direct and frequent.

Is this premonition a definite "don't play?"

I don't think so, at least not yet, and I'm saying that while being unit-locked by not having a single decent healer at 8-7. (For this specific stage, sr aiona is not a good healer)

At the very least, they aren't hiding the main mode of progression. As of now, the pulls are plenty and dupes can be bought from the shop with not-money. The game makes it very easy to swap gear between characters, and the level sync makes it easy to bring up a new char to being temporarily useful for whatever you need.

But that's NOW.

If they keep being generous, and you're wise with your pulls, it will be fine to f2p SaB and just treat it like collecting units for your arsenal. For now, f2p is still fairly comfortable, if slightly challenging. But if they reduce the amount of pulls and premium currencies you can earn ...

In conclusion, I will say just be wary about having to compromise your bottom line in order to pass stages, and if you are someone who easily gives in to the temptation of recharging, this may get costly.

So SaB. I still say, have fun and give it a try if you love the gothic anime vampire aesthetic, but now I will leave a warning to keep an eye on the POSSIBLE emphasis for pulling to pass stages, and please play responsibly.

[mayvnwrites]

So I complained about Etheria Restart, and now I'm gonna replace that with a game I think is underrated.

I don't really like anime gothic vampire aesthetic, but Silver and Blood: Requiem uses it in a way that draws you into the world they're building. The story telling is pretty phenomenal as well, and even if you can tell what's happening, you're still kinda invested because you want to see how the characters react to the reveal.

It helps that there's a lot of gray in the characters, and honestly neither of the opposing sides feel like they're on the protag's side, technically.

As for our protag, he is a guy who wakes up with amnesia, but considering shortly before he was just *spoiler spoiler spoiler*, it kind of feels like memory loss is at least a little expected? And his mysterious past seems at least a little bit involved with spacetime shenanigans, so some of it is actually future and not past... it's complicated.

I also enjoy the "yeah, defy fate yada yada, but we don't even know what fate is so maybe we should figure it the fk out first" vibes.

As for gameplay... um, well, it's not going to be easy for people who don't have some sort of sense for who to prioritize and how to party build, but it's also not stupidly prohibitive for people just messing around and trying things.

The level sync is always nice to see, which lightens the load a bit, and level resets cost barely anything if you really need it, but resources are slow to accumulate.

That said, they're at least not locked behind a paywall, and there's an idle resource collection system, so if you're stuck just set the phone down and coome back to it later when you get more resources.

The pulls add up quick, too, and after 150 in standard you can choose an ssr of your choice.

For tips on who to build in early game, Jestel is good enough for an early tank, and Bella is a great cheese to help delay mobs and spread out enemy's damage to avoid overwhelming your tank. Both these units are free, although Bella is a 7days mission clear reward. Then you probably need a ranged character and an aoe, most preferably a ranged aoe.

Only level 5 chars, because you will open up a level sync eventually, allowing you to progress without spending level up resources on more than 5 chars (which is probably why the level materials are scarcer than expected, in retrospect).

Other than that, have fun and check it out if gothic vampires and story emphasis interests you.

[mayvnwrites]

I cannot start another au until I finish snakeyuan. I cannot start another au until I finish snakeyuan... but DAMN do I want to write for THIS flavor of sy *cries*

Foxyuan is basic colors, straight black hair in human form and red fox colors, although a more dark red fur because of extensive poison use. He uses his tobacco (actually various poisons) pipe as a weapon.

[mayvnwrites]

Just a little doodle of poison fox sy lounging in the tree bc i felt like it.

Lol, I initially doodled sy in a pose that was supposed to be lazily seductive in that mysterious stranger way, and then i was like ... nah. This is a demon sy who dgaf anymore. He's just gonna be lazy, so he's full on lying down.

Been doodling a lot with highlighters and pen these days - well i haven't been doodling a lot but when i do it's with highlighters and pen.

[mayvnwrites]

I forgot to post this here, but it's on my bsky so I should probably put it here too. It's the equivalent of writing doodles about my poison fox sy au

And I was too lazy to reformat from writers+ so it's in pic format.

...missing text...

[mayvnwrites]

So Wise doesn't have much in "assets," he's pretty much a beanpole in the grand scheme of zzz.

And then Yi Xuan's like, "Hey, so I got you guys customized uniforms, see if you like them~" and Wise is just

Like, he does not actually have much of a butt and he's definitely not snatched, but the pants really ... and he's the only guy who doesn't get a tunic or overcoat to cover his rear.

Was Yi Xuan just like "Finally! A guy without a tail! You bet I'm ogling!"?

[mayvnwrites]

I've been cutting off phone usage before bed and started bringing a notebook and pen to bed instead. Works amazingly well in breaking through my adhd focus-fails.

This is proof I'm (actually!) working on the stalled fics I have lying around

Not my prob if you can't read it; it'll be rewritten, typed, and edited properly in the future anyway. (It's the start of the next ch of ATAPAS)

Let's hope this habit continues working miracles.

(and yes i forget proper names of chars and places all the time)

[mayvnwrites]

Just a PSA:

Etheria Restart is extremely pay-to-progress. I don't recommend. There are also allegations of ai art, and the devs don't feel very transparent with the char/boss adjustments.

My main red flag, which led me to do some digging that uncovered all the other allegations, was that the game has only been out for a week, and the latest event is only a week long but bans half of the characters due to element restrictions.

Keep in mind that the main materials for both level and skill ascension materials are primarily locked behind paywalls or first time rewards, so unless you are whaling hardcore you definitely don't have the materials to max a full team to clear the event, let alone when half the elements are banned.

Oh crap, you only have half a team now? Then you're gonna have to pay to level up or pull the other half, because the event's over in a week, and you definitely don't earn enough being f2p.

As a veteran gacha game hopper since Unison League and Alchemist Code (I don't remember which was first), I can recognize trouble when I see it, so although I liked the grinding progression, I'm bailing before it wastes any more of my time and attention.

I've been considering finding pottery lessons, after all. That seems more productive.

(And i play 5 other gacha games at more leisurely paces than that speeding locomotive that's etheria restart. No need to stick with something giving me the heebie jeebies.)

[mayvnwrites]

I started doing meditation for my anxiety and adhd, with claims that it would help with both, and quickly realized:

Meditation is basically a way to practice disengaging from distracting thoughts without letting them conflict with what you're doing by using various grounding methods. How will that NOT help with anxiety/adhd?

I feel like people hype up the results of meditation without really thinking about how beneficial the process is.

That "emptiness" after meditation seems like glorious transcendence or whatever, but if you think about it, it's just that you've managed to deflect and release all the busy thoughts that kept bouncing around your head. Afterwards you can start addressing your next task with a clean bill of thought, helping you focus when needed, or even winding you down for sleep.

This is great and all, and i definitely do a quick one when i find myself unable to start a task or when i feel anxiety spiralling out of control, but the process of meditation is more interesting to me.

First off, meditation sets a goal of doing nothing productive. It's not being nothing, it's just not pursuing anything useful, even thoughts. As for why, well, it's easier to notice when your thoughts are wandering when you're not supposed to be processing thoughts.

That's why your grounding triggers need to be meaningless, aka not trigger associations that cause you to start processing other thoughts. For example, chanting "wah" in your head might work for some people, but for new parents it might make them think of their child, or for a gamer they might move from "wah" to "waluigi."

(This is why i can't do chanting meditation, because my word association reflex is involuntarily constant.)

In meaningful meditation, grounding triggers might be the sensation of breathing, or sensations felt or heard from the environment. In humming meditation, the grounding trigger is humming on exhale. In chanting meditation it's a meaningless syllable(s) chanted mentally.

What these grounding triggers do is, if you notice your thoughts wandering or if you find yourself processing something, you switch your focus to those triggers instead. That's it. That's all meditation is.

The goal is to simply realize your thoughts are wandering and learn how to dismiss them "gently" instead of realizing your thoughts are wandering and then trying to figure out why, shifting your thoughts to another topic, or getting angry/upset about it, and the grounding triggers are a crutch for people who can't "just do it."

It's this process of meditation which is actually teaching you how to recognize distracting thoughts and how to dismiss them so you can maintain focus on whatever you need to focus on.

Once i started thinking about meditation like this instead of using it to achieve a higher state of mentality or whatever some opportunists try to mystify (and capitalize) on, I began to really feel and understand how it benefits me.

And I mostly wrote this because I kept thinking about why I meditate during meditation, which is NOT what l should do, so I offloaded it here in hopes that I'll stop doing that.

[mayvnwrites]

You've mentioned your original writing a couple times - any chance it's somewhere I could read it? I really love the world building in your fic, I'd love to see what you do with original work too!

The site is currently under construction, but I'm relaunching on May 15 at mayvnwrites.wordpress.com, with old stuff on klinhstories.wordpress.com

It's really old stuff, so watch out for typos lol