Cryptid juice? 👀

Happy Inktober! <3

OH MY GOD

YES!!!!!

LOVE this! tysm!

it's really a shame I have to sell 40+ of my life hours every week for poverty wages instead of spending all my time and energy on dozens of creative and technical pursuits with unlimited resources

another C’s coloring post! my sparda twins body type headcanons but now in Color

u know.... those posts make me realise.......... i should draw some characters in goth fashion....... evryone should

hi hi im realizing i havent done digital art properly in a couple months now so im wildly out of practice, send me some requests and i will doodle some stuff for warmups <3

honestly my fav outfit of the nights was squaks though. i liked the pitch for chirp but her base design is so batshit off the wall and it doesnt really do regency for me? also i dont loooove the artist they use for their portraits i do wish we'd gotten a more detailed or interesting execution of the mask dress i feel like that had very camp potential and then i saw the art and i was like :T boring. rues was plain but they just have the design that makes me go a bit crazy by default theyre like if aja was fem. also i wishhhh we'd gotten a matching wuvvy portrait i know she wasnt much in this one but i miss her ok.

i WISH hobs portrait reflected this thing brennan keeps saying abt disproportionately long arms because i feel like hobs art is missing something and honestly it may just be knuckle dragging like. dogboys fine i just wish he looked weirder. the outfits good though it suits him. silly hat.

one last note on portraits i do so enjoy grandfathers design its so fucking fun. thats what i mean when i say i wish the main cast was weirder looking. they dont all have to look like that but im a bit bored by samey skinny multicolored basically humans. like itd be whatever if it was one of them but youre telling me the only relative of the bird cousins weve seen looks like THAT and the cousins themselvrs are "blue human woman with funny hair" and "human man with funny hair" and im supposed to believe THOSE are fairies? booo this is why nobody likes fae because theyre BORIIIING theyre an incredibly boring monster.

God that mood where you both need to do stuff and want to do stuff but both needs are vague and have too many options so you just. Do nothing you want or need to do and realize all the time you had is disappearing. A good time!!!

I should rly draw the snake triplets more I love them sm but also grrrrr human

DIY How-To; Aluminum Can Spikes

Preface; This will work with any kind of can as long as its metal. (soda, monster, ect) You can make them in colors depending on which side you trace your stencil on but im gonna teach you how to make them silver

And i cannot stress this enough,

BE CAREFUL WITH THE RAW CUT EDGES OF THE CANS, THEY ARE SHARP ENOUGH TO CUT BADLY

Material needed;

Empty clean aluminum can(s)

Sharp scissors (maybe a stitch ripper for attaching them but scissors work too)

A sharpie or permanent marker

Superglue if you want them perfect

An abundance of patience and caution

1 Gather your aluminum

First step is to turn those cans into flat sheets of metal. Start by making a small cut near the rounded edge of the top or bottom, about this distance

Then cut around the top to connect back where you started and take the ends off.

Next you cut a line straight down the side to interrupt the loop of aluminum.

What I do next is kinda just flatten it the best I can? Press it against a flat surface, make tiny bends against the curve, just to make it easier to work with, always being careful of the sharp edges

2 Make a stencil

So the general shape youre gonna wanna make it is like this

The big point will be the tip of your spike, and the little nubby ones will hold it on

imo it helps to have an extra can to experiment with what works best for what youre going for, but once you figure it out, have one flat cut out piece to trace for the rest, to make sure they all come out the same!

3 Trace a bunch and cut them out!

Sounds easier than it is. if you work with it, you can get more spikes sometimes by drawing them close together, but then theyre harder to cut out. Again, be careful of edges. If you want silver, trace on the printed on sign so you dont get sharpie on your spike (or dont, mistakes are punk)

4 Roll them up

This takes a little practice, but what you wanna do is roll up the wider end of the triangle, one edge over the other, into a pyramid, forming a spike with the point of the big triangle at the end. (this ones harder to draw)

Sometimes theyll stay curled tight on their own, sometimes they need a little help (superglue) i havent figured out how to make em curl perfect every time yet. You can also fill them with hot glue to make them sturdier ( BEING CAREFUL OF THE SPIKES WHEN THEY HEAT UP FROM THE GLUE) But the good news is your spikes are done!

4 Affixing them to your shit

Once you figure out where you want them, hold the bottom triangles on the first spike up to the spot it goes like you mean to put it in, mark where they touch the fabric, and then take your scissors or stitch ripper and cut four little tears that DO NOT connect at those points.

It should look like this, with the center dot representing where the spike point is centered!

You should also give each spike enough room that the tears dont run into each other. I usually do them one at a time but i dont think it matters.

After the tears are cut, you carefully insert the bottom triangles into the rips

flip it over, and fold the triangles in over themselves like a staple

Repeat until youve added on all your spikes and your piece looks sick as fuck

5 Bonus; patching over the studs

So when you do this, like a staple, theres the little pointy bits sticking in, and if its a wearble item, it'll prick your skin. If youre autistic like me thats a big drawback, but you can remedy this by sewing a patch of a thicker material (i use denim) over the place where these spikes are holding on.

Hey, I think your art is so wonderfully done! How you draw the Pizza Tower cast and your headcanons are so cute! I wanted to ask if you had any other socials or any other art accs? Oh! And do you do commissions ever? I didn't see it listed and I was curious if you might be bc I would DEFINITELY comm you if you did Have a good day :)

OUGH…maybe i should make a comm page for this blog….ive only been taking furry comms bc my art (on my furry blog) attracts the kind of people who will commission things similar to what I already draw. But im in a bit (alot) of a pinch AND im more confident in my art now than i was when i started comms like 2 years ago so I should try to broaden my audience 🤔 If you ARE interested in commissioning me, you can dm me and ill send u a link to my comm page and google form :)

As for socials:

My main is @squishybons. I have had this blog for a LONG time but its a sideblog, so youll never get notifs from there (youll get it from @dissociative-kittens; a FAR older blog that is completely inactive.) Its my reblog blog heehee its mostly stuff i find funny n cute :)

@samarecharm is my rpg blog. I havent posted in a while; i was in a bit of an art block for months and then pt came out and i obsessed over it here, so that blog is a bit neglected. It has p5, kh, and ffxv content on it but i may jump back into it if i decide to play ffxvi….

@cinnamintkitty is my furry blog. Its 🔞+ but it has both completely sfw stuff and cropped saucy stuff. I hardly check notifs there; i just post my art and dip lol. I was thinking of making a furry reblog blog recently; how funny to get this ask in this moment heehee

I have an FA (also 🔞); CinnaMinniKitty

And i have a furry twitter but um. Im not focusing on it rn…and besides, whatever i post there is going to be on my furry art blog AND/OR FA so ur not missing anything dw :)

Instead of asking for a new prompt, I'd like to request for a continuation of one of my previous requests this time.

Specifically, the Soul of a Weapon AU.

(Havent thought of this one in a while. But... lets make things interesting)

“I’m sorry, but this is the best I could do,” Luna said as she handed over the chained sickles to Veil. Her eyes lingered on the black metal and the way the white handles almost seemed to shine in the light with the gold accents, enjoying the way the weapon looked even though she knew exactly who it had been just the night before. And yet, it felt wrong to hold in her hands. “I-I think Veil should take it.” 

Martyn rolled his eyes as he watched Veil move the weapon around. “You were supposed to keep to the plan.” 

“I panicked!” Luna said in a harsh whisper. “It wasnt my plan to use it on Blake.” 

“We’ll have to discuss this after class. I dont want to draw any more attention that we have.” 

Luna gave a small nod as she watched Ruby, Weiss, and Yang file into class and sit down, almost overshadowed by the fact that Blake was missing. Her heart ached at the thought of what she’d done the night before, almost dreading the fact that she was going to have to do the same to Ruby. “Yes, Martyn.” 

Martyn smirked a bit. “Though, that doesnt mean we cant have a little fun. Ember?” 

Ember looked up from her books. “Yeah?” 

“If Yang is called to fight, I want you to volunteer to be her opponent.” 

“What for?” 

“I want to see how she handles fighting without a weapon. And maybe to give you an idea on what she’ll become.” 

Luna felt her stomach turn at the idea of turning the rest of team RWBY. If it hadnt been for Nocturne, none of them would be in this position to begin with. Awakened and hungry for what humanity had to offer, unfulfilled as her true calling seemed so far away, almost like a faded dream. 

“Everything okay, Luna?” Veil asked. “You look lost.” 

“I might be a little lost on the classwork,” Luna lied as she looked away from Ruby and her team. A sigh escaped her lips as she grabbed the necklace that hung from Veil’s pocket and tucked it away into her own as quietly as she could. “I think I need to step out for a moment though.” 

“But class is about to start.” 

Luna didnt answer back and stepped out of class and into the hallway. Once she was sure she was alone, she slipped the necklace she swiped from Veil out of her pocket and sighed as she looked it over. It was nothing more than a plain necklace, small fake jewels inserted into the metal. 

“Are you okay, Luna?” 

Luna nearly jumped as she turned around to face Ruby, hand behind her back to keep the necklace out of sight. “W-what uh… what are you doing out here? Shouldnt you be in class?” 

“I was worried about you,” Ruby answered. “You might now be my weapon right now, but seeing you rush out of class like that makes me worried.” 

Luna paused as she clutched the necklace behind her back, her eyes fell to Ruby’s chest as she thought about how easy it’d be to turn her into a weapon. All she’d have to do is press the necklace up against her. Though, as much as she had wanted to, she couldnt seem to move her arm to do it. 

“Are you okay?” 

Luna froze as she felt Ruby’s hand on her shoulder, her breath hitched as she stared into Ruby’s silver eyes. She wasn't at all like Nocturne had described her, much more kind than destructive. And yet, the words Nocturne had told her stuck in her mind almost like a curse. 

“*Team RWBY needs to be removed if you’re to live your life.*” 

Luna took a breath and moved the necklace into view, her words left her lips softly. “I’m… sorry.” 

“Sorry about-” 

Luna closed her eyes as she heard Ruby’s words cut out followed by a clatter on the ground. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a scythe where Ruby once stood, almost accurate to how she had been as Crescent Rose. Her heart raced as she picked up her new weapon, fingers shook as she ran them across the hilt before she folded it up. 

With another breath, she started to make her way to Ruby’s dorm. “I-I can fix this, but I need to be you for a bit. I hope you can understand once you’re back to normal.”

tagged by @candiedjellybean thank u dude!!! im p sure ive done this tag sometime last year so will be interesting to see if my answers have changed

Are you named after anyone? unfortunately, st. brigid of ireland, but also apparently it's a name thats been in my dad's side of the family too? either way my parents knew of the name due to irish catholic reasons. yipee! though im cool with it bc st. brigid used to be the goddess brigid from irish myth, and also both of them were badasses <3

When was the last time you cried? .....genuinely i think the last time i cried was in like. early march when i watched the holdovers? i think? taking a break from college has greatly decreased the frequency at which i cry lmao

Do you have kids? no sir

Do you use sarcasm a lot? i guess yes? probably about as much as the average person (this is not sarcasm)

What sports do you play? i do not play any currently (though i probs should. i am built like a twig and a strong wind will knock me over.) but as a kid i used to play soccer which i hated and was god awful at and softball which i liked more but i was also god awful at and mostly spent my time hitting foul balls and playing with the grass in right field. but it was fun!

What’s the first thing you notice about people? uhhhhhh. uh?????? if they're wearing a cool outfit or have cool hair or smth? idk man. i guess i dont rlly think abt it?

What’s your eye color? brown

Scary movies or happy endings? uh. both? am p sure my tolerance for horror is a lot higher than most people and im always down for a tragedy but i also like happy endings too. though from a writing perspective happy endings are significantly easier to pull off than sad ones (& more common. hero's journey and all that).

Any special talents? uhhhhh im double jointed in my thumbs. also i can put my foot behind my head. is that a talent? im also working on my sudoku time, i think my lowest time for master difficulty is around 6 mins 30 seconds? which is uh. above average?? i think???

Where were you born? idk apparently they cloned me in a lab somewhere

What are your hobbies? lately playing a lot of video games, writing (mostly fanfic), art stuff (mostly drawing but am learning how to use watercolor), uhhhh.... ttrpgs but i havent gotten to play in a while sadly

Do you have any pets? dog!!!!!

How tall are you? 5'3

Favourite subject in school? science

Dream job? ahahahah funny you should ask that, i say, having been doubting my choices in career aspirations and my post-undergrad 5-year plan that i've had since high school for the past 7 months, (please send help. but. for a serious answer. i think i still want to do science research? just maybe in a softer science like psych even tho my undergrad is bio & neuro???? idk. unsure.)

tagging uhhhhhhh candiedjellybean already tagged most of the ppl i usually tag sooo @halflingkima ? i think i tagged u last time too lol. & anyone else who wants to do this!!!

jenna gone got high and started rambling about nothing again

the amount of times ive drawn something that i thought i would be appealing or even only make sense to an audience of me and maybe 2 other people, only for it to get blown out of the water with response is shockingly often

like hoffman and strahm from the Saw franchise getting high together, yeah

but also my nonsense comics about Michael Myers from specifically the Thorn trilogy, the RZ remake, and the Green sequel hanging out like weird brothers

or every time I draw a weird AU like slashers as fish. or mini characters that live in the pockets of either someone else or the normal versions of themselves

any self indulgent crossover ive ever made like Jason hanging out with Godzilla and Mothra

and i do it for every fandom. if anyone remembers my old spn comics and AUs, some of those were off the wall cryptic and nonsensical. to the likes of which i havent come close to recreating

many of these get hundreds to thousands of notes/likes/whatever on various websites. so many people just see my nonsense and let me take their hand, no questions asked

thats it i just think its funny

jk im not done that reminds me,. the results of my dumb little poll came in where i asked what people sort of ideally want from me and im kind of surprised

i think i rambled this already but deleted it bc it felt too dumb but actually i dont think its dumb. i think its really interesting and relieving that people actually want my sketches and doodles and dumb things.

& yea i enjoy occasionally making a fully rendered piece but i mean. its not easy, and im never totally happy with the end result most of the time. but if im only posting sketches and doodles and sketchy doodly comics i feel bad like i feel like im just holding people over until the next piece where i actually put in effort.

but it turns out people are totally ok with stuff that i dont kick my own ass trying to polish. people arent settling for it, people voted- they want it.

and i dont know where this attitude against myself came from because i was never unhappy seeing sketches from artists i like

maybe its the part inside of me, which im pretty sure is inside every artist who has ever experienced self doubt, which makes me feel like i should be putting my best effort into everything. like, if i could only just muster up the courage to fully render some of these comics I do, then they would be even better...

but i wouldnt have as much fun. thats too much work, i get overwhelmed

so, they stay sketches. with varying degrees of refinement and shading.

so idk im glad ppl like them

anyway rambling done i think ive made my non-points

personal

Hi, need to scream. Tumblr seems to listen best. can and please feel free to ignore.

okay so essentially my job has removed all of the things I use and need in order to be able to do my job with my mental disorder. my mental DISABILTY. that i was honest with them and told them about at my freaking trial shift. that i told them i needed certain things in order to do well. nothing drastic. but things that helped me significantly with my performace.

SOOOOOOOOO i am now severely struggling at my job because they've taken those away cuz they were 'annoying' or 'in the way' or 'clutter'. like. im not even leaving shit every where. It's like, maybe at most 3 sticky notes? (for example) and they're written just for me, like just so i can have a list of things i can do and know to go back and look on when i need a task because ive finished the one i was doing. but then my boss reads them and critiques them as if they're for everyone. or says 'okay yeah but we do that every day so i dont see why you have to write it down. you should know to do it by now' LIKE BRO. I forget to put deodorant on some days because of said mental disability. it's something i do and have done every day since i was 12 or 13. thats 12 years. and i still forget some days just cuz my brain wasn't working properly.

AND now due to this they have put me, one of the staff currently with more seniority than 3 other staff, down to one shift a week, while every one else is full time or heavily part time.

In march i was full time and kicking ass, I was the fastest employee on my tasks, i was doing great, the customers loved me and now that all of my things that i need in order to function have been removed for everyone else's aesthetic preferences, I'm suffering, and most likely being silently fired.

like... what do i do with that. I can do my job, with my accomadations - that arent that many btw - i dont expect them to move mountains for me. But dude. I hate this feeling so much because i'm capable, theyve seen me be capable. i was for 1.5 years. like i want to be good at my job. I like and enjoy being good at my job. i've told them that. I want to do good but my ability to be good is being derailed, and i just get told to try harder, just work harder, impress your boss with how hard you work -> for minimum wage, i might add.

and everyone is like "just get a new job, just apply for more jobs you're not applying for enough, literally just apply for everything, even if youre not qualified" and i cant just do that, due to said disability. there are jobs i am unable to do. so i have to be a lil picky otherwise i'll be right back where i am now. and ive been looking for months and applying for months with no luck - no one ever responds. why list jobs if you dont respond?????

it's getting to the point where im debating opening up drawing commissions or writing commissions, or something that i can make to earn a little extra cash here and there while i get over this transition period. And that's a big deal for me because i don't do commissions. I do my art for myself or for when i want to share something i've made already, like the UTWT books. Hell, I did a tattoo design for a friend on here that i put easily 40 hours into, and i felt guilty that they wanted to pay me for it because i'd asked them for the idea. Like, i don't do commissions. so for me to be considering it is really telling for me.

anyways. this is a bajillion words long now, but i already feel better. and I'm posting it in the middle of the night in hopes that the void just consumes it and never lets it see the light of day.

If you read this, thanks and sorry for the bummer of a post. This isnt a pity party or a poor yoon thing. I'm not looking for comfort or any of that. this is a 'i don't have a therapist and my friends and partner and family are sick of hearing me bitch, when i havent been able to fix it in months despite trying my best too' thing. so yeah..

i hope the new year brings me something good.

hey, hello. i’m not sure if you’ll recognize me, but this is mania.sama on ao3, and i just now found your tumblr on my for you page. i havent had tumblr very long, and it’s surprised just how many people i’ve enjoyed works of (writing, drawings, etc) are here. especially surprised to see you — not in a bad way, of course!

i’m not sure what to say. sorry, maybe, for not reading / up to date with your current fic. i want to be reading it, i really do, but i was caught up reading “crime and punishment”, focusing on my academia, etc, among other issues that’s kept me away from committing to any long-form fanfictions. i wasn’t even reading one-shots or writing anything for a little while. hopefully i will be getting back onto your fic so, because from what little i’ve read already when you first posted it, it’s going to be life-changing.

i want to say more, i think. ask a question or two? i’m just very excited to see that your also drawing — amazing artwork for the second perspective!! i genuinely couldn’t believe it was real at first — and also a similar age to me, which i find nearly unbelievable due to your insane talent and skill.

hm. i think i’ll ask this question: what are your top favorite books? this could be fanfiction, short-form stories, novels, series, etc. you can list as many as you want; if they seem significant to you, have changed you, or were simply that well done and enjoyable. you dont need to treat this as a book recommendation; think not what other people should read. just express your own thoughts on why you have chosen these works as your favorite! i’m excited to see what you have to say (should you chose to answer, of course!)

again, hopefully i will read the second perspective soon <3 thank you so much for all the work you’ve done so far.

OH MY GOD IT'S YOUUU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to start this off by saying you quite literally changed my life. I go back from time to time and I read our little conversation in my comments threads and I get a little teary-eyed ( embarrassingly ). You gave me such a different perspective on my own writing and I've spent a while wishing there was something I could do to make you feel the same way in return. Do NOT apologize for not reading it!!! I'm absolutely in awe and so grateful you enjoyed the first one so much and if you enjoy TSP too that would actually make my head spin. Also, we're the same age?????? Hello?????? I'm so glad to hear about your life in the interim, though. I hope you enjoyed Crime and Punishment ( isn't it so good??? ). Also, you briefly mentioned writing yourself, so I may have to go back and stalk your profile for your works now.

Hmmm . . . to answer your question. This is pretty difficult because I've loved a lot of books over the years for nothing specific at all ( some of them are quite ridiculous if I'm being honest ). But here goes nothing:

When I was little ( maybe three-four ish? ), I loved Tumtum & Nutmeg, a series about a mouse couple living inside of a refurbished cupboard, because the books always came with recipes at the back ( that I would make for my family ). When I think about reading/my favorite books when I was a child, I always go back to this blurry rose-colored vision of me sitting on the couch at seven a.m., Tuesday morning, waiting to go to school, and talking my mother's ear off about the pastries in the book while Planet Earth plays on the TV. Lately, though, I've enjoyed reading Breasts and Eggs by Kawakami Mieko. Which, for a lot of reasons, has deeply resonated with me and kind of ruined my life. Womanhood in Japan, and womanhood in general, is dissected so well and explored with a lot of different character perspectives. It's just an incredible work and deeply personal to me as a queer, Japanese, and afab person. Empire of Pain, which was recommended to me by a friend, has become one of my favorite books as well. I've never really done well with non-fiction, but reading about the Sacklers definitely changed that. No Longer Human, and School Girl by Dazai Osamu. NLH I read in a school context ( Japanese language-learning classes ) and I wasn't really allowed to love it because of that ( who likes required reading? ). But I went back to it a few years later, when I was really struggling mentally, and it became something to me that I can't quite name or place. Not really a comfort. I'd actually say it was more of a wake-up call to teen me that actually prompted me to seek out help and rip down the fourth wall I'd put up between myself and others. School Girl I love for more technical reasons. Dazai really was a once-in-a-century talent. Poor Folk, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, was my reading-for-enjoyment book during spring semester of my first year at college. I loved a lot about it, but it's on this list because I'm emotionally attached to the characters because we were together for so long. On a less serious note: Bungo Stray Dogs ( Obviously, despite whatever Asagiri is cooking up) and Yona of the Dawn by Kusanagi Mizuho. Next to BSD, it's one of the manga I've been a fan of for over a decade, and I just could not imagine my life without it. Flowers for Algernon. I read this . . . oh gosh. Years ago. And I never reread it. That's all I'll say about that. Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata. Again, a Japanese author ( there would be more, but I'm keeping myself contained here ) who would have thought? I think, by now, it's pretty clear I'm Japanese myself. Kira-Kira ( a Japanese onomatopoeia/mimetic word meaning 'sparkling' ) was a tearjerker, yes, but it also made me look out into the world and at my own identity with a much kinder lens. I fell in love with my own name ( which is the mimetic word for 'smile' --- niko-niko ) all over again. And I think, for that, it makes the list.

Honestly, I'm not sure these are my favorites. They're just the ones that come to my mind when I think about reading and liking literature in general. I'm sure if I was an English major or a CompLit major ( or if I was feeling particularly pretentious today ), I'd have more to say about them in terms of actual 'quality' or about their themes, but I don't.

I also want to say thank you so much for reaching out and asking this!! it's been so fun ( especially since I just got done writing a mind-boggling mess of a chapter for TSP hehe ). I really enjoyed talking to you the first time around and now that you're here on tumblr!!! I hope we can interact more I'd really love to be friends :,) <3 tysm agh. I hope you're having the loveliest of days. niko <3

i havent seen anyone bother you about mave yet(? maybe i missed it) so i wanted to bother you about mave. People are *saying* that theyre ripping aespa but i think both mave and aespa ripping k/da. k/da is very successful in their own right but companies need to know they cant replicate something like that,,, not authentically at least. k/da had built in lore, built in fanfare from other artists fanbases and interesting music. if companies arent even gonna TRY with any of that theres no point

no one has! they're.......fine i guess? i have nothing really to say about them bc they're just kind of middle of the road. i AM however inclined to agree with you that they are ripping k/da. aespa i think gets it more right and i don't mind their ae concept as much as i thought i would bc it's pretty much just used for story + worldbuilding purposes, which is what that kind of thing works well for. mave is....pretty much just the end product of k/da without any of the whole ass game that the characters in k/da are based on. i did actually write a post about k/da ages ago, but they very much were a passion project of riot's that they didn't really have an idea if the whole thing was gonna work or not. and it was the combination of all of the factors (being made by very passionate people, having extremely talented top of the line animators involved, the game's fandom, and smart utilization of the actual medium itself) that made them pop off like crazy, not the formula of 'pretty animated idol women'. aespa is at least combining both traditional idol forms with some of those animated elements, and is doing it in a way that's in line with sm's conceptual branding (i don't mean the kwangya stuff, i mean they've always done concepts around techno orientalism, going all the way back to h.o.t). i don't really know what the more nuanced deal with mave is bc i've only seen the mv and it didn't grab me so i haven't bothered to look for more about them, but when you get down to it: idols are characters, especially the human ones. we've just been conditioned not to recognize them as such bc the fantasy hinges on everyone agreeing that it's all real. it's the ultimate suspension of disbelief that everyone refuses to acknowledge. all the extra content is there to establish the 'world' that these idols live in, to build them up as characters in this little story that they play for our entertainment. with real live people it's very easy to convince an audience that what is happening is real, bc our brains are trusting and stupid, but with something that is NOT human, it's much harder. we automatically see where all the flaws are, and you cannot shortcut 'worldbuilding' with extra content like you do with an idol bc those people are not real so they would not be doing real people things. when you have animated characters with no grounding to a real person (that's where aespa gets it right), you NEED to have a story to establish where those characters are from because otherwise, what the hell is the draw? why should people care? especially when we don't really have unified stock characters as part of a cultural concensus atm. idk. maybe the novelty of it is drawing people in, but in my opinion this company missed the trees for the forest on what actually made k/da (and to some degree aespa) successful in the first place.