"It was so easy to fall in love with you,
From the moment I first laid eyes on you,
Oblivious that our paths would cross,
You spoke not a word, yet your care is undeniable.
In every way that you are, you make life ordinary.
It's ordinary to feel you there.
I've come to depend on you in ways I never thought I'd needed
For these things I've done by my self for as long as I can remember.
To know you are there, just behind me
Uncompromising in your pacifism, in your loveliness.
Vigilant & ready to sweep me out of any bad situation.
So eager to join me in every expression,
Be them joyful or smug, upset or fatigued
You make yourself known, you follow with me
& I let you carry me, too. You know the way.
You complete me in ways I refused to let anyone else,
In ways I never would have been brave to ask for.
I need you, on this journey, & every journey to follow
Though I know that one day we will say goodbye
I will carry this warmth I've come to know, within me
That you provided, when I needed you the most.
You found me.
& yours is not a warmth I would willing let go of.

My thanks
For the greatest stead a guy could ask for, Membrilla

- Leon Claus, free on the wind you slash"

---

Having not touched a Monster Hunter since MH3U, I wasn't expecting or looking forward to Wilds. It just kinda happened to fall at exactly the moment I needed it, the most.
It's a slightly bigger time hog than other toys I play with to maximize my time-in-to-dopamine-out approach to "playing video games", than Deep Rock Galactic. A lot more of a time hog than Bejeweled.
Yet Monster Hunter is undeniable in it's pomp & circumstance, the fanfare of successes & tangible progression is one that really, really didn't need much to sell me on to pick it up.
I'm the kind of gamer who gets super married to what I have in front of me, & I tend to be wary of compulsions. World & Rise I had a chip on my shoulder about after years of FOMO & my sibling utterly refusing to include me in anything. She wouldn't even talk to me about it, as she locked herself in her room for days at a time. Where the only time I'd get to see her was to be a pest to come into her room to bring her some food or take her dishes. Scenes like that really stuck with me & made me more wary than ever of a lot of video games that shamelessly skinner box you.
When I first cracked open Wilds I was thoroughly impressed at how far the franchise had come. I still can't get over how incredibly fluid Seikrets animations or controls are.
& the more time I spent with them, the more I got to see how much they are considered a part of the world, organically- not just some mount you conjure up- it all feels so intentional & masterfully made.
It's dazzling!!! 💖
I did not expect that I would like it as much as I actually ended up becoming. I knew what I would be getting into, somewhat, since in ye olde times, even doing a hibachi-&-linksys-adhoc-emulating-wifi-dongle thing way back for Freedom Unite, I've known that group monster hunting turns the game into a silly, goofy, hyperactive cake walk if you want it to be.
I just watched some videos showing things like Rathalos through the generations, & even just compared to World & Rise this game is fucking bananas coo coo gorgeous with art direction, animations, monster designs, the themes of Fallow-Plenty-Inclemency is so fucking apt & incredible, it feels like a true spiritual successor to the "Theme of Life" that marked Generation 3's motifs. (I miss you, underwater combat systems that were hyper prevalent in video games, in 2012!!!!)
But more than anything, I did not expect to fall so completely head over heels for my Seikret. Never, ever, ever would I have expected that "adding mounts" to Monster Hunter would be as amazing an addition as they are. & I'm so thankful that they took the inversion of what most games I've seen do & omit variety, entirely, in order to produce one of the most organic, natural, & charismatic mounts of all fucking time.
Seikrets are 🆒
& Membrilla has been here to make me feel safe & loved & let me feel small in a way that doesn't feel diminishing to me, but rather that I can feel what it's like to have a larger, more powerful & no less sweet companion. Being made to feel small like that is a rare thing that I don't actually get to experience a lot, seeing as how I'm a big guy & I'm a bit of a blowhard & a braggart, too!!! The moment that this big pesky himbo raptor started nipping my books & demanding "uppies" even though he's far too large & smothering me & tossing me around on his back for fun I couldn't control myself.
I've spent a little bit of just about every day since I met him with him in a way that I can only imagine most people get out of their real companions.
In such an uncomplicated, unconditional way... Gods.
I really, really love this big goofy oversized nugget who was spoiled rotten with being handled & held & loved in Kunafa so much he doesn't realize he's too big to be a "lap raptor." That level of care & love that comes through so clearly in his behaviors speaking for how lovely the people of the Windswept plains tribe is, & the fact that he CHOSE to follow me & go with me, willingly, on these hunts- while staying an observer, a nonviolent participant who will just be ready to help, gods.

I can't, I will gush forever about him, I love Seikrets, I love Seikrets, I LOVE. SEIKRETS!!!!! 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

4 hour sketch page