#let's see...

[what-have-i-unleashed]

another ship name mini-poll has hit the fandom...

the proposed new ship names masterlist thread here

while you're here, please also consider the ship name tournament submission here

[apparently-artless]

it's actually quite ironic that i only get to fill up my tumblr queue only when i'm at work

[jimintomystery]

Naegiri/anti-Naegiri reaction

The Game Grumps Danganronpa V3 playthrough is heating up this weekend, as they approach the end of Chapter 5. I'm on the edge of my seat, and tempted to look up spoilers. Which is kinda cool, since I hadn't expected to get so invested in the third game.

I think the fifth trial is making me realize why DRV3 is reeling me in like DR1, whereas DR2 didn't so much. TL;DR: The grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one.

[Above: omg the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one]

What made Trigger Happy Havoc click for me in the first place was Kyoko Kirigiri. The Prisoner's Dilemma concept was intriguing, but the aesthetic was so bonkers and the characters were so dumb that I wouldn't have stuck around if not for this one serious girl getting down to business. The game made me care about her, even as it made sure I understood that no one is safe and anybody could die tomorrow. I didn't realize I was falling into a trap until Chapter 5 teased her as the murder victim. The thought of continuing the story without her--with dumb ol' Byakuya replacing her as the deuteragonist--was intolerable, but I had to keep going to see if she was actually dead. This made Makoto's feelings about the case--all the grief, confusion, and self-doubt--more palpable, which sucked me in further. By the time the story hinted at Kyoko's feelings about what she's put Makoto through, I was all in.

Goodbye Despair couldn't recapture that vibe with me, and I've finally decided that's because it just doesn't have an analogue to Kyoko. To be clear, it was sensible not to rehash the characters from the first game. But Kyoko as a character is optimized for Danganronpa as a ludonarrative, and vice-versa--doing a sequel with one but not the other was a tall order. Because DR2 isn't about rescuing a tsundere girl from her own cynicism, it had to be about something else, and I felt it struggled in that area.

Killing Harmony seems to find a balance, revisiting what worked with Kyoko without simply copying it. Maki is not Kyoko, and Kaito isn't Makoto. Setting them both up as deuteragonists for Shuichi, each with their own secrets withheld from the player, helps set them apart. But they have a similar story arc, where Kaito reaches out to Maki for no real reason except his stubborn optimism, and Maki can't easily express how much that means to her. And, just like DR1, Chapter 5 blows that up, making us watch as one of them apparently discovers the other has been murdered. Except in V3, it's the grumpy one who has to find a way to move forward without the sunshine one. I really like that change.

Maki's dialogue (and Erica Mendez's performance) is really firing on all cylinders for me in Chapter 5. There are times when I'm not sure she personally cares if she lives or dies, but then she'll make it clear that she's not going to lay down and give up. (I can't tell if that's just because of Kaito or something deeper in her character.) So the worst part about discovering Kaito's body is knowing she's devastated, even when she can't really express that. When Shuichi holds out hope Kaito isn't the victim, and Maki can't, it's so sad. When the kids finally conclude Kaito must be the victim, it's like losing him all over again, and you see the blue despair stuff over her face and it's just...ugh. The Exisal pretending to be Kaito calls her "Maki Roll" and she loses her cool about it, and I just wish she could get a hug, but she'd only take it from one person, and barring a miracle he's just gone, man. It's heavy.

I suspect if I was watching DRV3 cold, all of this wouldn't hit me so hard. But thinking about Kyoko for four years has me thinking about these scenes in terms of what Maki doesn't say, how she doesn't react, and what's going on in her head that she won't share. She's going through a lot more than she's letting on, except unlike Kyoko in DR1, the other kids can kinda tell, even if they don't understand. (Shout-out to Dorothy Elias-Fahn for the way she read "Th-There's now way she is [the culprit]! 'Cause...why would she kill Kaito!?")

The toughest part is that I never expected Maki and Kaito to have a happy ending in the first place. I knew, very early in the story, that it would be too easy to have them bond and then both of them live all the way to the end, because we got that with Makoto and Kyoko. I thought I was fine with that--I already got Naegiri, so doing a more doomed version, an anti-Naegiri, was cool. I figured one of them would kill the other, or one would make a noble sacrifice for the other, and it wouldn't bug me. But now that it's happening, I find myself wondering if Maki will live (because that's what Kaito would want) or die (because how can she go on without him?) and I'm really worried I won't like the answer to that. I just want somebody in this story to make sure she's okay, and I don't know if it'll happen. Just like the first game, they've lured me right into the trap...

[wanderingmind867]

(Justice League Adventures #6): I've already read this issue; and I didn't consider it too good. My favourite part is this right here. A two page spread of some of the dcu's supervillians. I feel like there's gotta be at least 50 different characters here, and I find that so fun. Props to the artists here.

[emioliravioli]

Do I have a flavor or am I still to new to get a read yet?

i can certainly try!!

[tebarambles]

I finally went to the hairdresser again yesterday - it's been 9 weeks 😵

She cut off a lot and I was very happy with the result - but somehow today it feels like it's not short enough?!

Or maybe I'm just feeling weird about my hair because of the outgrown roots 😅

[revenantpoet]

Just in time for the twins' birthday and Lost July...

Mini creechur Vashes! In three different colors!!!

I meant to launch mini thoma along with them, but things have been a bit crazy, and what with vet bills, car accident costs, and probably more vet bills piling up... I decided to launch these guys solo. And I've made it so that you can select all the color variants for the big creechurs too! Check them all out over on my shop :D

Love and peace!!!

[wirtsauce4020]

The final background drawing of the year is completed, thus concluding my quest to learn more about drawing environments

I'm honestly surprised at myself for completing so many of these. I've still got a lot to learn, but I am proud of what I accomplished

[dathomirdumpsterfire]

WIP Tag Game

@nicolabarth tagged me, now i'm tagging @krazykupidspoems and @sl-walker 😎

Rules: In a new post, post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it!

fortune teller, blood letter

dilfs in the desert season 2

snacks of dathomir

king of the dragon fish

here for a good time, not for a long time

hollow and heartless

[glacialswordsman]

is today finally the day i work on my drafts & inbox again...???

[wanderingmind867]

I wanted to make more posts earlier, but I woke up at 8 am today. And I know some people like sleeping in, but my brain is not one of those types of brains. If I sleep in, I immediately feel i've wasted valuable time in a day. I haven't done much today, and so now I feel self imposed guilt and shame. It's awful, but I am used to dealing with my own constant sense of internal guilt. So it's not something i'm enjoying, but it's something i just...have become resigned to, I guess.

On another related note, I kept sharing all my massive idea notes before. Like for my Justice League Canada and stuff. I stopped because it was just such a slog for even me to copy and paste and reformat it all. But since I was halfway through doing it, maybe i'll try again today. But before I get to that, I have to figure out where I left off with the notes, and where to pick back up on it. Because I wrote a lot, and the hard part is still gonna be copying and pasting it here.

[quaranmine]

pros and cons of going home from work

pro: GOING HOME. REST. RELAXATION

com: i've been at work for 50 minutes now this morning and i am still struggling to remember what i was in the middle of yesterday that needs to be picked up today. curse my brain

[moonbutters]

Ignoring edgelord 2018 me, I have new background.

you can tell a lot about someone based on their phone background. it shows what’s most important to them

[goldensunset]

hate when people think the only archetype possible for a male sidekick to a female protagonist is a soft boi and/or himbo. like the implication there is that the only reason a man would ever defer to a woman’s authority is if he was a bumbling idiot. love male supporting characters who are smart and strong and confident and can step up when necessary but still kind and humble enough to let someone else take the lead most of the time

[captainjonnitkessler]

>Join a union

>Hear people constantly complaining that the current union leadership is super corrupt, it's all just the same ten guys making all the decisions in secret and nobody else in the union ever gets to know what's going on

>Go to the monthly union meetings that are completely open to all 1200 union members

>The only attendees are the same ten guys every month, giving detailed reports about everything that's going on