#did some bare bare research for this

[stuckinapril]

embracing my morning gym girlie routine i think. gonna study for like 3 more hours then hit the gym in the cutest workout fit. and then im rewarding myself w my favorite veggie wrap after <3

#studying first thing at dawn just sets the day right for me and i love doing it #but i usually delegate the gym to evening hours. and yesterday i was sour as fuck after bc i just did it on empty #plus i try to get around 7-8 hours of studying in and working out earlier in the day would help me feel sm better #i need the endorphins. #and i could get some flash cards out of the way while i’m there #AND have extra time to hit my orgo lab in the evening and get in a couple hours of research #my social life has been on a major back burner but i can barely get a second to myself these days #so i’m trying not to feel guilty ab my 82727 unanswered msgs. we ball

[lotus-pear]

how i thought cynonari was going to be vs how it actually is

#no bc i read the webtoon so i was fully expecting cyno to be this cold stern aloof researcher.. kind of like albedo #and then i was expecting tighnari to be one of his peers thats also at the akademiya #so i was thinking hey maybe it's like jeanluc or jean x kaeya where they went to the same academy and slowly became lovers #more than anything the initial vibe i was getting was xiaoaether simply bc tighnari seemed gentle and nurturing.. #tighnari was the one that was constantly checking up seeing if cyno's okay and overall carrying the relationship #meanwhile cyno was a closed door and barely displayed any affection bur on the rare occasions that he did it was a moment of weakness #but it's obvious that they both care about each other very much even if cyno doesn't admit it #BUT THEN I SAW SOME DIALOGUE FROM SUMERU ARCHON QUEST AND I WAS LIKE???? IS THIS THE SAME PERSON???? IS THIS RLY CYNO????? #HES MAKING JOKES???? HES A GENERAL NOW???? HES EXTREMELY CLOSE WITH TIGHNARI LIKE THEYRE CANONICALLY BESTIES #THAT WAS BETTER THAN I COULDVE EVER DREAMED OF #and yes i know this community tends to dumb characters down to a single trait and it's annoying af but still.. cyno and his jokes bro #anyway that's all i love them #genshin impact #genshin impact art #genshin impact fanart #tighnari #tighnari genshin impact #tighnari genshin #cyno #cyno genshin impact #general mahamatra #cynonari #lotus draws

[trentcrimminallybeautiful]

i think the diamond dogs should play improv games just bc it would amuse me, an ex theater kid, specifically

#ted and beard ofc are reading each others minds #trent is shockingly good at it but only when he forgets to be self conscious #also see: he does both best and worst with ted (best when he's not being self conscious #worst when somehow the prompt gets too touchy or 'romantic' bc Crush Crush Crush Brain Panic) #(please the image of ted in character hugging him or something and trent just. red. brain crashed. no longer improving just frozen. barely #manages to recover and even then it was not subtle. unclear if ted is a) genuinely oblivious b) teasing him and thinks trent knows that #c) something else(??) ) #roy is too stiff most of the time but if he gets really into it he gets REALLY into it. #best way to get this result is to involve phoebe or another child #higgins did community theater at some point and is the one teaching them all the games. beard also seems to have done intense research #but higgins is the one with EXPERIENCE #not that i think beard and ted couldn't have done an improv duo in college or something but in this scenario they did not #nate surprisingly is pretty good at it once he gets into it like it takes him a second but #then he's like. really getting into it and he's very quick on his feet #new way to go mad with power (affectionate): the rush you get when you make the perfect snap back comedic line/acting choice #also while trent is so good paired with so many of them i think he and nate would be a hilarious duo. they're SO funny. #they complement each other well and are both quick & clever #esp if it's about a mutual interest (although one of them taking the lead on something else like nate and music while the other plays off t #em is also good) but like #please i just had the iamge of them basically doing a bit where they're like. those mean old gay muppets in the theater? #like trent and nate improv duoing as some bitchy reviewers just going back and forth and it's so FAST and SO funny #beard records it and posts it somewhere and it goes viral. #god don't even get me started on the idea of some sort of official richmond social media/the gang posting random clips on social media #bc the ideas i have are so funny. #also largely trent centric but what do you want from me okay i'm just a little slut.

[chiropteracupola]

just a couple of creepy 18th-century innkeepers talking shop!

[featuring @borisyvain's lazarus mcclure and my own james webster]

#em draws stuff #oc time again hehe #haunted by your hand #the gambler: james webster #really I should start having an 'other people's characters' tag again as well... #so yes I have thought about these two being Brothers In Homosexual Haunted Murderhotel for long enough that a drawing happened #I do not know Where they are in this image (esp. as I have aged james up by some 30ish years so as to be able to Interact with mr mcclure) #(which is why she's looking a bit mellower than usual and also wearing teal... Character Development which as of regular hbyh has not #yet come to pass.....) #eh who knows maybe james went to ireland. she can have a little a go to ireland hang out with other horrible people as a treat #she deserves a little treat for making it to the 1780s-1790s (no one thought she was making it of the 1760s alive I am sure) #surprisingly this was a delightful refresher as I have been in a state of artblock/only interested in drawing things I can't work on in #public spaces lately! but this came together in barely two hours (admittedly after four days of staring at pictures of mr mcclure) #anyway if you read this far you should all go look at jory's blog his characters are SO cool and well-researched #james will someday be more well-researched than she currently is but that will be after I get around to reading 'the english pub 1500-1830' #which I found in the library and was so brave and strong and Did Not check out so as to actually maybe get schoolwork done

[angele-midnight]

People on Tumblr/Twitter are being way too weird about working artists on tv shows. Knock it off.

I've been quietly in this industry for almost 6 years now, and I have to say y'all are WAY too entitled to what working artists do online and the art that they create, especially if it's the art they do in their free time.

If you're on the internet demanding an artist be fired because of the art they draw on their personal accounts??? That's insane and highly invasive behavior. What an artist draws in their free time and for fun is none of your business, nor is it the supervising artist/director's business. Any professional director will be staying out of the artist's non-professional work, and any professional artist keeps their work and leisure art separate, no matter the content.

If the storyboard/rough anim/cleanup artist is following directions, doing their assigned shots (not scenes every single scene is worked on by multiple artists stop going after one person for one scene), and working well with their team members, then you can assume their personal art is not "bleeding in" to their professional work and they are, in fact, able to keep the two separate.

"The personal art is proship/SA glorification/gives me the ick" I DON'T CARE. Don't interact with it, that's not your business, if it's triggering you don't engage with it. Get out of that artist's DMs and mind your own business, what they draw for fun is their choice and has nothing to do with their careers. The art depicted isn't real and isn't harming anyone in real life, you need to calm down.

Remember when SU crit was happening?? Remember when the internet decided to bully Lauren Zuke for the harmless art they drew for fun with characters they worked on?? Remember how they ended up leaving the show and art altogether because of that?? We are NOT going to repeat that. It's just a tv show, calm down.

#Yes this is about the Poison scene and Vivcritical once again #That artist didn't even do any boards!! They did SOME cleanup art and rough anim but that's it #Also??? Who cares what art they drew in their spare time that's none of your business #If they inserted their proship art into the SA scene they worked on with others?? That's a different issue #But they didn't if anyone did the bare amount of research you'd see that #They did the choreography for the dance and did a bit of work #Viv isn't responsible for what artists do outside of work nor should she be expected to #I can actually think of a million other shows where this exact same thing has happened #And often results in the dogpiled artist quitting the industry #KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF #animation #fan culture #hazbin hotel #steven universe #vivziepop #rebecca sugar #lauren zuke

[bywandandsword]

Listen to me, listen to me If someone comes up to you, bouncing with excitement about an idea, but as they're explaining it to you, you realize the idea isn't feasible to achieve, DO NOT just pop this person's excitement bubble and walk away

You gently, tactfully, kindly point out the holes in their idea. Then offer solutions and/or get them to start brainstorming on how to make the idea feasible. At the very least, be encouraging

It sucks ass to be on the receiving end of someone popping your excitement bubble and leaving you totally deflated. And nothing will stop me from coming to you with things I'm excited about faster than it

#Sword speaks #this post brought to you by my dad who's very new to gardening but excited about it #this man is under so much stress and doesn't get excited over much these days #but earlier he saw a video where a guy made it look like he could grow an apple and grape tree hybrid #now it might be obvious to some that it doesn't work like that but like I said my dad doesn't know much about gardening #and he got really excited about the idea and started showing the video around to our family #and saying he wants to try it #one member of my family just said 'that's fake stop falling for stupid videos' #and you could just see dad deflate and start to close off #BUT NOT ON MY WATCH BITCHES #I did a bunch of research and sent him what I found and explained why the video isn't realistic #then I sent him information on grafting multi-fruit trees and showed him some examples #I did the same with hybridization #I even sent him info on bonsai fruit trees cause they're cute and dad's a softie #and watched him get excited again! Then I told off the person who made the initial statement #cause c'mon don't be a douchebag #this man barely gets to have any fun let him have some fun!

[dragonji]

I've been just absolutely soaking my brain in wuxia for the past 4 days in preparation for my audiodrama project and honestly its making me want to be an academic about danmei again but I know in my heart that is the devil speaking

#j.txt #I have so much work to do for this drama and like barely 2 weeks to do it. But I want so horridly to write more #essays on masculinity and gender and militant/scholarly values in these genres like Damn ‼️ Can I please just focus on what im actually- #being graded for please !!!!! #Ive been spending so much time reading/watching stuff in the name of 'research' and I knowww I need to get a move on #but qjj and now lotus casebook beckon my name........ #literally think the only actually useful things I did today were make a list of some idioms to use and a chart for the zodiac time system #i havent even started writing my script yet🤡 perfectionist slacker behavior smths wrong w me for real</3

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

#guess whos back in therapy bby 😎 #the lady i saw was nice. 1st appointments r always a lotta blah blah blah so much to cover #and im always like bleh whatever im not that bad but when u put it all down on paper it is sorta a lot lol #i got the comment. hm u seem to kno a lot abt the dsm. and like listen. i have been meticulously categorizing my problems for the last 4 #years. and i like to learn so ya kno. also said yea it sounds like u r having hypomanic episodes. #and asked if bipolar was a possibility and like if i was bipolar that would absolutely blow my god damn mind. im pretty sure its just pmdd #but whatever. im open to the possibility. mostly i wanna hear someone else perspective on this #i feel like im collaborating on a project. like gimmie ur notes i wanna see if were on the same track. bc im insane like that #i always feel bad when they apologize for asking invasive questions. like neh its fine. i got nothin to hide and i dont give a fuck #also i told a class of my peers that my distraction from research is drawing narut0 fan art. again bc i do not #give a single fuck. Professors response: hopefully we get to see it some day. bro. if u ask me i will show u. i do not care #i mean. probably nothing too weird but i feel like most of my stuff is safe to share. i just come off looking like a weeb i guess #but yea back in therapy bc my mum reminded me bc the ppl around me irl r also worried for my well-being based on my behavior lol #i mean its just bc i complain that im in like psychological pain a lot. so lots and lots of bitching abt my brain ^^ #the lady i saw did fall a lil bit into my trap. like what woulf ur life look like if u had everything under control? bc it seems like ur #here and ur starting a phd what more do u want? and im like mwahaha but u see i can do school #i can do school so good. i am the best at school and thats it. i am otherwise barely functional #so i can be successful on paper and dysfunctional when it comes to having a life :-] #but whatever. well see what she wants to follow up on next week bc i threw a lot at her #also went to my office for the 1st time. it is really nice to sit in a working lab and watch ppl interact. but also i do feel like im #dying if i try to sit in that room with 2 other ppl lol. so well see how it goes. i may find somewhere else to hide #unrelated

[vanilladrpepper]

SHARE COLLEGE AU

HBDJVBDJFH ok. ok.

the basic premise is that like. any character that could be hced as indigenous. is hced as indigenous . and then u take everyone and plop them in 1999 in a college setting with some added bg for each of the characters and motivations and stuff yk

i will admit it is ww centric as its written from his vague pov (third person limited omniscient) but i digress. hes in november trying to get a degree asap so he can fulfill an ultimatum proposed by chapel so he can get livio out of the system and fuck off back to the reservation he grew up on (for context ww is crow+seminole and livio is crow) but he shows up to the college and his roommate is this . scene guy. enter legato our favorite french canadian (besides hornfreak love u hornfreak) who becomes begrudging besties. sort of . with ww

he recommends him a coffee shop and ww goes there before going shopping for shit he needs and thus we get one of our big hubs of the au: threes a crowd! a number of characters work there including brad, luida, zazie (navajo) and of course. vash (mixed white + kanien'keha:ka) he meets him and doesnt really like . register him much beyond it bc hes got bigger fish to fry :sob:

and obv ive planned a lot more (36 chapters for part one. augh) including but not limited to: ww struggling through his coursework (majoring in social work) and being aided by one of his teachers (roberto. love u king u may be tristamp only but u have bewitched me) (hes also ojibwe. love him), ww joining up with a mentor club and accidentally befriending two journalism majors (meryl and milly!!!! inuk and seneca respectively) (also specifically meryl is a photojournalism major!), ww continually running into this one pipsqueak around town who gives him attitude (zazie <3), and also dealing with whatever situationship legato is in (i could not resist making him and nai messy as fuck)

theres also obv other characters that r in there that im still trying to sew in in a way that makes sense: elendira (journalism professor, russian + sami), rollo (mexican + southern paiute, havent entirely decided on his major though so sorry king), hornfreak (a part of the school band. fascinating man. at one point he holds a halloween party) and a bunch of others i havent gotten to yet :sob:

theres a lotttt going on in this au ill be honest but also objectively it is very slice of life . but heres a list of stuff i have planned

vash and nai as lacrosse players. vash invites ww out to games and is really silly abt it

for a not insignificant amount of time ww learns about legatos situationship and bc legato never mentions names he thinks vash has a secret insane ass thing going on with legato . it isnt until chapter 11 (allegedly) that he finds out vash has a twin brother and goes back to legato like . hey. is it vash and legatos like ew what?

milly and meryl are enraptured by roberto working at the school bc he did a lot of journalism work that inspired them to join the field. silly shenanigans ensue

on the topic of milly and meryl they are so fascinating to me. they originally met in the mentor club and hit it off immediately based on their similar (but different) familial issues and the horrors

vash and ww plan out a bunch of movie nights including: scream, 10 things i hate abt you and smoke signals

chapel drama followed immediately by ill-timed vash and ww argument

while ignoring vash ww gets a nokia <3 love loses

at the halloween party milly accidentally walks in on them in a compromising position (nothing was happening) and awkward bs ensues where vash comes around and it like its ok theyre chill and Not Gay but it wouldnt change anything if they Were Gay but They Arent so its Fine

livio and ww apartmentsitting for vash and nai while theyre off visiting family during the holidays :D

nye party where vash and ww almost kiss and thus ends part 1 . LOVE LOSES

also i should list what everyones majoring in that i didnt mention but this is already long enough good lord

all this to say. i am insane god bless

some small cuts from the draft so far beneath the cut bc i couldnt resist

none of those are in order but its ok <3

#like i said. extremely self indulgent but its ok <3 #love and light #ive written around 12k for it so far but ive barely scratched the surface dear lord #asks #my writing #theres also so many small things that im wanting to incorporate into it like #for example #im wanting to showcase livio finding independence and figuring stuff out for himself while also stressing chosen family and the importance #of support #bc at the start bc of how livio is treated by hopeland at large + chapel (not miss melanie shes normal) #hes dealing w a lot of like. learned helplessness and frustration abt it all bc hes being treated with kid gloves 24/7 bc he has did right #and on top of that everyone avoids him and all hes really got is miss melanie. ww. some of the attendants at the church he gets sent off #to spend his time at #so hes like. painfully isolated even at 18 bc chapel treats him like a charity case and keeps him there 'out of the goodness of his heart' #so over the course of the au i want to explore livio finding his voice and figuring shit out and maybe. maybe even having a full blown #argument w ww where he lashes out bc hes frustrated that everyone is making decisions for him right #i just oaughughagknsgbgsf #THERES SO MUCH I WANT TO EXPLORE IN THE AUUUUU #SO MUCH #rubs my gay little hands together #ALSO FAIR WARNING #im researching a lotttt for this au bc obv . u have to research shit #even like 'dorm room prep' like what the fuck is that long ass laundry list #insane

[starriva]

Some pictures of ideas of what it would be like to grow up in the Kirkland house

#hetalia #hws canada #hws america #hws england #hws scotland #hws ireland #hws austria #hws new zealand #hws #just some quick doodles it’s fun to take pictures and draw on top of them uhhh #bear in mind I did bare minimum research for the clothes and crap #I don’t got time to research that #doodle

[mageiia]

maggie's altars* :

hermes espresso grounds cat treats feathers gold candles coins from around the world and different ages yellow and orange post-it notes the fool, the magician, the hanged man, and all ace tarot cards a joint alexandrite, citrine, sodalite, ruby, and leopard skin jasper crystals and stones

ariadne rubik's cube puzzle boxes with yarn in the center red & gold candles wine corks snake sheddings (naturally found, as whole as possible) chalice for bourbon/wine pearl necklace the empress, the star, temperance, and all queen tarot cards lodestone, rose quartz, citrine, and flower agate crystals and stones

hypnos opium pipe pressed poppies lavender black & white candles hematite ring a couple mini notebooks that functioned as dream journals a clear quartz pendulum with its own stand the wheel of fortune, strength, ten of cups, and page of cups tarot cards smoky quartz, peach moonstone, lapis lazuli, tiger's eye, and obsidian crystals and stones

dionysus leopard skull black & purple candles wine corks chalice for wine pinecones & evergreen clippings vine fruits, primarily grapes & strawberries black scrying mirror a bloodstone figurine of a leopard garnet and carnelian beaded bracelets and anklets the hierophant, death, and the devil tarot cards grape agate, sugilite, and amethyst crystals and stones

pan assorted wildflower honey mushrooms brown & green candles wood and bone pan flute goat horns small mason jar of sea water from ionian sea the hermit, justice, the moon, and judgment tarot cards fuchsite, emerald, calcite, and flourite crystals and stones

*she has a different but close by space where she does her active work, with more practical tools and a more neutral space, but these line the room with appropriate distances between them lol

#*̳ i. out ᵒᶠ ᶜʰᵃʳᵃᶜᵗᵉʳ ) — star 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠 🔮 #*̳ iv. character ˢᵗᵘᵈʸ ) — r̳a̳w̳ ᵇᵉᵗʷᵉᵉⁿ the 𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑠 🔮 #this is in her main verse and once she becomes a goddess and a mother she adds to this list. #bare minimum each of her children get an altar of their own. #some of them get gardens for them specifically in her own realm; like pan hermes and ari all get their own garden beds #also this isn't from my personal experience this is just how she operates with these deities! #i did my own research but pls don't take this as a 'how to worship so and so' bc.....um. yeah. #ANWYAY cheers!

[goldensunset]

i need the full geeta lore actually

#‘i have been to the zero lab myself a few times before but [blah blah blah’ GIRL?? #don’t just drop that so casually #i mean it checks out that she’s been to area zero of course #but like the zero lab… #wasn’t that built specifically by turo? #was she allowed to visit it all those years ago back in the glory days of his research #that would’ve been like ten years ago. so was she the champion then? how old was she? #was he insane yet back then? he barely ever communicated with anyone during that time it seemed #or is she talking about having been since The Incident #in which case she could only mean having reached the outside bc the door was locked and only the ai could let her in #hold on but then the ai would have detected her presence and probably reached out to get her to do the thing we ended up doing #maybe it did. maybe it tried and she chickened out thinking she wasn’t strong enough #maybe she was just waiting for someone as strong as us to come along. maybe she knew the truth about everything the whole time. #or has she simply visited since the end of the main story. post-ai turo #but again. why did she have the indigo disk where did she get that #the zero lab was built by the professor right? the disc is specifically compatible with that new lab tech not like ancient stuff #she must’ve had known him personally in some way #please i wanna know. what part did she play in the entire mess that went down with turo as he slipped into madness down there #the sv dlc experience #sv dlc spoilers

[merriclo]

bro just beat totk. goddamn.

#spoilers incoming #!!!! #anyone who doesn’t want to be spoiled gone?? yall are gone? yeah?? ok good. don’t continue. spoilers. #ok so. the final battles were kind of super fucking easy 😭😭😭 #and ngl i’m a little disappointed that it didn’t include like. anything from the zonai. we could barely use the sages. #the arm was useless aside from bettering weapons #aside from that tho beautiful fight the animations and visuals were gorgeous #the story was sick as hell #while it definitely could’ve been more effective in some ways it was still great overall #tulin dropping in and being like ‘you don’t have to fight alone’ I LOVE YOU LITTLE GUY #don’t mind that the final battle was literally just Link and then Link using Zelda to get leverage on dragon ganon 🏃‍♂️💨 #still a wonderful game tho. wish the sky was involved more and that the depths were advertised more #bc. so much of the game is in the depths lmaoo #and the zonai research team felt underutilized 😭 for how often you ran into them they did very little #aside from the one quest with Paya and Tauro #idk. wish they had more. like they could’ve been the one investigating caves and such and that how you came across murals like the ones— #—under the castle which could’ve been the memories instead of the glyphs which were difficult to get in order #‘uh they told you how to get them in order—‘ not everyone immediately went to the forgotten temple 💀 #sonia dying was the second glyph i saw bc i went out and explored thinking ‘oh it’s a non linear game!! surly the memories will match that.’ #plus the grave glyph was very obvious #the memories and the sky are rlly my biggest gripes w the game i think. they’re good but idk they could’ve been a lot better #loved the depths tho i was all up in the depths #i couldn’t get enough. still can’t tbh #love that shit #it’s so cool #the shrines were super fun as well #loved the mario kart one #and the clothes were all super fun to find!! #why are lynels still harder to beat than ganon for me 💀 #uhhhh good game. rlly good. link is so fucking pretty and so is riju and i love tulin what a cutie pie

[sighing-and-all]

i thjnk im going to explode

#not to kind of bare my entire soul in the tags but ive been constantly questioning what the fuck is going on with me. #im pretty sure I’m schizospec so that’s one thing; along w the psychosis #delusions #and liiike a number of negative symptoms and shit #i don’t know if those fall into either schizotypal or schizoid or full on schizophrenia. #i do also know that a number of my symptoms do fall in line with a number of cluster b and c shit #that much I know of #BUT #here’s the thing. #ive still questioned if i was a system for a number of years #and i DO know that i don’t have did. #and im sure i don’t think my experiences are aligned w dpdr & disassociative disorder (but I’ll probably try to do some more research!) #but idk if my experiences concerning plurality align w pdid or osdd1b #the more I look at other people’s experiences - that people tend to mix up emotional amnesia and NO AMNESIA IN THE DSM-5. #it’s a bit confusing… #osdd1b usually means that there is a distinction of parts though. NO amnesia though! #and for pdid - it means that there’s usually 1 person at front #with of course minimal switching from other parts I suppose. #(explodes) #ive been trying to think about many many things lol #and constantly doubting my own experiences… which made things worse lolll #i feel like I need someone to talk to this about it!!! But!!! im worried I won’t be really taken immensely seriously bahahahah

[wildflowercryptid]

one of my random headcanon is that after rose is released early from jail for good behavior, he flees galar without saying a word and ends up living in the seafolk village in alola. also, i think it'd be funny if he became friends with mohn and helps out on the poké pelago from time to time.

#idk how others interpreted oleana's crown tundra dialogue but i always thought she was implying that rose was missing #i feel like he'd flee galar out of shame and not being able to bare the consequences of his actions/failure (rather than a refusal to do so) #he's kind of a shut in and picks up doing research of (more ethical) energy sources again but he does pick up fishing as a hobby #if ya'll want some insight into how cursed my brain is i did go ''lol it'd be funny if you shipped rose and mohn'' for a second #like i don't know that i always end up taking joke ships way too seriously 😒 #... if i did end up shipping them i'd call them hawaiianshirtshipping #okay enough hypothetical old man yaoi talk #hc : ( pkmn ) mjverse #mj.txt

[solradguy]

I got a GG lore question, ok so Ky had to seal Dizzy away for a long time because gears were literally vanishing and this was a desperate attempt to save her life, but how come Testament, Sol and Sin weren't in any danger? Weren't they gears too? (And if it's something relating to Justice, it would still effect Sin) I'm just so confused over this part of the lore because it's never gone into detail what exactly was even happening or WHY

Sol's always a weird exception to Gear stuff because he's a prototype and, as far as we know, the only Gear based on (?) the Flame of Corruption. I'd say it's probably safe to assume anything that works on a Scales of Juno Gear won't work on him, like how Justice couldn't command him in Missing Link, or at least it won't work as effectively.

So, Valentine is trying to make a "key" to open the Cube, a magical device that would let her mold and change reality itself through manipulation of the data of the Backyard outside of the Backyard. The Cube's key needs to be created through the collection of other "keys" collected from Gear cells related to Justice, which is why Dizzy was in danger first. If Valentine got Dizzy, she'd have enough cells/keys to open the Cube sooner. But Ky sealed Dizzy in a time prison thing so Valentine resorted to absorbing weaker Gears. Sin was definitely in danger of being absorbed too:

Sol: Those guys got ahold of the key. Sin: What now? What are you talking about? Sol: We know the truth behind the disappearance of the Gears and the attack on Illyria. Valentine and company were harvesting keys from Gear cells to enter the depths of the Backyard. And the real key was your mother, but you were targeted as well since you inherited her genes. Sin: Heh. As usual, I don't get a word you're saying. So you're telling me that's why they attacked me? Sol: That's right. I'll explain in detail later.

The Gears in Paradigm's colony were also disappearing, or at least in danger of it. Here's dialog where Paradigm mentions it while talking to Sol and Izuna:

Paradigm: There are no humanoids [in the Gear colony] after all. But, true, it's not as much of a paradise as it looks. Sol: What do you mean? Paradigm: Valentine's army. They appear out of nowhere and terminate any Gears they come across. You're talking about the recent disappearance of Gears, right? We are also being targeted…But it looks like you didn't know about that. [...]

There's a whole script of the Overture story dialog over on the Wiki, if you'd like to flip through it for more context/details: [link to the script]

Testament was probably in danger of being absorbed too but it's very, very, likely that ArcSys did not have the rights to Testament when they made Overture so they were never brought up (like how Dizzy is only referred to as the "Maiden of the Grove," because they didn't have the rights to her). Testament seems pretty proficient in magic so maybe they were able to fight off any Vizuel that Valentine sent to harvest Testament's key, or at least counter any magic Valentine tried. Who knows haha

#asks #I think I got this all right but anything involved with the Backyard goes weird fast so if anyone knows this in more detail pls reply #While researching this I found an interview with Daisuke from 2008 where he mentions a possible sequel to Overture #As rough as Overture's game play was man did we get some insane worldbuilding lore out of it #Apparently if you preordered Overture through Gamestop you got a special skin for Sol too but I couldn't find pics of it #One person said it was just a code to have him in the outfit he has in the latter half of the game for the whole game #The one where he takes his jacket off so he has just the vest thing on with his bare arms out