unspoken requiem for a river of tears

as an 'artist' with no clear direction whatsoever, the amount of traction my recent graphic design work has received felt totally unreal. it’s been a while since I’ve made something I can proudly call mine, so I’m incredibly grateful for all the kind words and appreciation.

and I think this game is trying to seduce me to be a regular player again cuz I got my guy and his signature weapon in only 30 pulls (50-50).

this was crazy cuz I’d often reach hard pity and lose 50-50 before. anyway, I wasn’t really in the mood to catch up to the main story quests (I stopped at Fontaine) so I went straight to Lohen’s story instead.

there were a number of aspects that changed since I left, and I’m glad there were improvements in the way the narrative was told. more dynamic cuts, more clear, expressive dialogues… Varka even made a unique funny face, which caught me off guard!

lmao it’s so funny to see Diluc’s goofy ass model beside Varka, who definitely has more details in his hair. CAN SOMEONE GIVE HIS NOSE MORE DEFINITION??

I didn’t expect to get hooked, but I’m not gonna lie, Lohen’s story was well done and it only made me like him more!! 🫪🫪🫪 I love me a rather unhinged guy who still manages to be human, and is pretty aware of his limits despite desiring power and control. I know some players want him to be bad, but to me, he occupies a unique spot where he definitely has red flag traits but is still firmly holding onto his sense of identity and sanity.

if he’s a straight out bad guy, it’d be sooo boring to me. this current Lohen is interesting. I like him.

my bestie made a Leon mii on her Tomodachi island after she made me (Aikamii) and my other friends + TXT

her version of Leon is really cute and we immediately gave him the police cap since it was available at the store 🥹🥹 he kinda likes to chase characters around lmao

UPDATE: AIKAMII FELL IN LOVE WITH LEON MII I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS

update (2): Leon Kennedy is making a plea to support Leon Kennedy.

update (3): Aikamii is trying too hard to impress this guy (it worked)

update (4): Aikamii is yearning for the white man's presence (unfortunate). she has now dreamed of them running in the beach sunset. Aikamii....

• starting a new, intimidating but better job in July • watching the The Amazing Digital Circus finale in theaters • meeting Yoshitaka Amano (!!) at a fan event • cosplaying Amamiya Ren with my best friend (who's going as Futaba) • (very likely) Code Veronica Remake announcement at SGF • (very likely) Persona 4 Revival update at the Xbox Showcase • Control: Resonant in September

guess who finally 100% Leon Must Die Forever! ദ്ദി╥ ᴗ ╥)

overall rating: around 6.5/10.

I kinda hate how RNG-heavy this minigame is. sometimes, it doesn’t matter if you’re skilled—if you’ve got the shittiest luck, your run will be in shambles… kinda.

I thought I wouldn’t be able to complete this because ‘Leon’s Inferno’ was very RNG luck dependent. I almost gave up on it. but I learned this cool alternative strategy (Axeorcist Leon, perfect parry stacks) and got Hellblaze on my last crate so everything went well.

Leon Kennedy better crawl out of my TV screen to personally congratulate me (妄想) because Leon Must Die Forever Rank 5 was crazy as hell !! 🫩🫶🏻 I finally cleared it by running on pure spite at 3AM with Requiem, RPG and a dream.

I enjoyed this minigame overall, but it’s also FRUSTRATINGLY MADDENING. I hate that it becomes >PLAYER VS RNG< in the higher stages. I wish it had better incentives similar to RE4R Mercenaries. like, if you challenge me like this, the prize better be an oiled up shirtless Leon cosmetic idk. but yeah, I would not touch this again unless I’m itching to play as the golden boy.

if you’re attempting to finish Rank 5, this is my advice: GO TO THE CARE CENTER AND BRUTE FORCE THAT RPG-7 TO SHOW UP. your run is close to useless if you don’t have it—Phase 1 Victor is bound to exhaust your time & resources.

the past week has been overwhelming. I went through the motions of exams and interviews, did what was asked of me. now that I'm here, I don't know what to feel. I'm happy and relieved and anxious and sad at the same time.