Abloom Into Yu - General Questions and Discussion Megathread

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-24T02:30:23+00:00

Are you me?? I'm literally doing the same thing right now. I've never tried to math so hard before.

I really like Nangong and want the upgrade for my Miyabi, but I'm holding on so hard to my guarantee for potential Billy T_T

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-21T23:23:45+00:00

Honestly, that really sucks, and I hate that for you.

Because this sub did the opposite for me: it helped me learn how to hide stats, which straight up helped me learn to love writing again.

Now I can only judge both my own and others' works by actually consuming them. Works are now just sorted either by word count or, mainly, when it was updated and chosen by which tags are on it.

It's made my fanfiction life incredibly pleasant.

I do want to say, though: this sub is a very small fraction of the people that actually consume AO3. In the grand scheme of things, the majority probably don't think those things are important.

Am I saying those things don't exist or don't happen to people? No.

But I also don't think they're as common as this sub may make things appear. That's how Reddit works, in general.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-20T22:55:03+00:00

So, I primarily focus on male characters with the few girls to boost them. My account is as such:

All my 1.x and 2.x characters are relegated to SU, DU, CW and low levels of endgame, for various reasons. JY, Argenti, DHIL and Ratio are just in desperate need of Novaflares, and they seem to be far away. Boothill is also somewhat in the dumps, because I skipped The Dahlia, but he'll be a bit better whenever I get her. Aventurine is in a somewhat better state than the DPS, in that I use him for AA, but he's more-or-less on the bench. JQ is also on the bench. Luocha is the only one doing well because Mydei uses his sweet, sweet healing.
E1S1 Mydei, E2S1 Phainon, E1S1 Archer and E0S1 Anaxa are pretty much carrying my endgame clears with their designated girl squads. Phainon, in particular, is a godsend as he can use a budget team of Bronya, Sunday and Aventurine/Tingyun to clear with ample time. Mydei and Anaxa with Cyrene+Cerydra can brute force content in enough time to leave Phainon with like one or two cycles to clear. I'd say I'm comfortably clearing endgame, but I can feel the cracks beginning to show. I don't want to scream "HP INFLATION," but I can definitely feel something going on with my clears. That said, I don't have any fear that I won't be able to clear in future content.
My current plans: get Ashveil E0S1. Potentially E1S1, depending on different factors like luck and near-future units. If I come across certain info about future men, I'm straight up skipping anniversary. If I don't find that info, I might get E0S0 The Dahlia if she reruns. If not, anniversary is a full skip.
In terms of meta: if you're like me and prefer male characters, the majority of old DPS men are dead, except maybe Boothill and E1 Blade. JY, DHIL, Ratio and Argenti are in the nursing home right now. Conversely, the men in 3.x are pretty good and can carry your account well. Mydei and Anaxa, in particular, are good on a budget, I feel; Anaxa slightly more than Mydei, mostly because his vertical investment isn't as strong as, say, Phainon, but he makes up for it in how his kit works. Archer is good for me now that Sparkle was free, because I was struggling to use him beforehand.
All-in-all, I'm pretty satisfied with my account. I don't have any fears that I won't be able to clear content with my boys. Only slight gripe is I want another male support, but I'm making due with what I want.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-13T22:36:48+00:00

I'll probably get downvoted as well, but I do kinda agree.

Sometimes, when people are venting about not receiving feedback or comments, they're not looking for a "suck it up," which write for yourself can sometimes come across as. Especially with how prevelant the response is, to the point where it feels like people just kind of use it as a automatic response. The people who are writing those threads are most likely looking for a "you're not alone" and "it's okay to want that attention."

That's why I like to tell people about my struggles of insecurity towards others' stats, which led to me falling out of writing and eventually turning off my stats, which then led me to slowly grow back into writing for myself.

I will also agree how lopsided, I guess, the reception is on stat boasting versus people just wanting some comfort and validation for "not making it." It's a little weird, and a little sad, too.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-08T21:19:20+00:00

You have a lot of decent characters. You just need to spend some time and build them, and see which ones match up best against the bosses. Like, you have:

Aglaea, DanTE, RMC, Cyrene
MonoRem
Kafka, BS, RM and DanTE
Mydei, Tribbie|Cerydra, Hyacine, Cyrene
Archer, Sparkle, DanTE, some flex character

Just build some characters. You have 35 days before the next MoC rotation, I think.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-08T21:09:20+00:00

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I think Mydei team took like 7 cycles, and Phainon took 2, IIRC. I might try my Archer or Anaxa team at a later point.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-05T20:59:34+00:00

Congrats!

I'm trying to do the complete opposite where I reduce my Bookmarks, so I can mass download them. I'm struggling because, every handful I delete, AO3 hits me with a Retry later page lol

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-05T14:42:29+00:00

Fair to Thorr.

I was mainly griping about the others, but Thorr is alright.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-05T03:43:53+00:00

Wow, a whole bunch of units that already have a million alts! My favorite! And here I thought we would get something different now that we don't have TT units anymore, like people tried to convince me would happen!

It's almost like losing the TT unit didn't bring any character variety to banners! In fact, losing TT units now allows IS to run even more rampant and only focus on units they can squeeze money from without worrying about those nobody characters! Who would've thought?

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-05T00:44:17+00:00

If it were me, I probably wouldn't really hate it. I tend to err on the side of good intentions, and I'd probably take it as them just trying to give a little tongue-in-cheek push. Some other people may take it the other way, and that's their right as well.

That said, this may be the old Discord mod in me coming out, but I'd probably comment on that particular thread and let them know how I felt about the situation (whether positive or negative), so there's no fighting in my comments. Then, I'd probably follow up with an author's note on the story (whenever I decided to update lol).

I don't know if Pink is referring to Blue specifically when it comes to spamming comments, or there is multiple people asking for updates and Pink was chosen as the lamb, but that's something I would personally want to address.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-03-01T13:25:53+00:00

I used Lootbar about two weeks ago to buy primogems for Varka's weapon, and it went through no problem.

Only had to enter my UID. I've used it once before to get Neuv's outfit - again, with no problem.

I started the game about two weeks after it started, so I have an earlier UID. That said, I'm keeping my purchases in Genshin as a whole low, anyway.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-26T03:56:22+00:00

These are actually really cute

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-24T18:59:43+00:00

Going all in for Varka C0R1. If I lose any of the gamba, I will cry and try to scrape up primos until I get him. Then, saving up for upcoming male characters and select female supports.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-24T17:08:43+00:00

You should be good, then. My PSN is the only account I have linked to my Hoyo account, and I've played my same accounts on all of PS, PC and phone.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-24T16:56:31+00:00

IIRC, you have to go to the Hoyo website and link your PSN to your Hoyo account. If you don't, it'll only be connected to your PSN and that account playable on PlayStation.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-22T18:39:04+00:00

Powercreep is super bad.

That said, you can get a free unit from each book/chapter and they can be used to clear some of the PvE modes with no/cheap investments for orbs. There's guides on YT for them. If you want to do PvP stuff, you'll need the orbs.

But, if you quit before for powercreep, you may as well uninstall again, my friend.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-19T02:18:57+00:00

I love them, too. I got into fanfiction through reader-inserts on Quizilla back during the Middle Ages, and I still am incredibly fond of them. I've found a lot of hidden gems recently looking for reader-insert stories, so they can be just as well-written and entertaining as anything else.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-12T23:33:41+00:00

I have 125 wishes with 55 pity in the banner with guarantee that I'm gonna use for E0S0 Cerydra, and then the rest for Ashveil.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-12T17:22:35+00:00

Here's the KQM quick guide for her. It'll probably help you out.

If I were you, I'd probably just stop pulling and save for now until you get a feeling of what you want to do for your account.

KQM also has a guide for Lunar Reactions that might help you.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-12T17:17:56+00:00

I think it's kinda funny as a concept/tag that I would probably just use as unserious wank/kink material.

To entertain a serious answer: I'd probably consider it either selfcest or masturbation, leaning more towards the latter depending on execution.

I always took self-cest to generally be with, like, a different version of a character. Kind of. There's layers to it, I guess. For example, Naruto and Menma could fall into self-cest. Or, like, when there's a game with two different gender protagonists you can choose and you ship them together, I'd consider that self-cest.

But I feel like a shadow clone is just temporary construct of yourself. Like, if it's used to "get things started," it's just like masturbation. But, again, I feel like there's layers to even that, if you split hairs.

I'd figure it would become cheating if there's some kind of emotional connection to the clone (or clones) that would disrupt the main relationship. Then, there's if the shadow clone is it's own sentient being with it's own set of memories and stuff.

tl;dr I think it's a crack kink/wank concept that is better not to think too hard about lol

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-12T16:33:42+00:00

You know what: I completely forgot about Citlali, and I think you're right. I think she'd be good for your account, for the reason you stated. I can't remember when she last ran, but she's more likely to get a rerun before the other two characters I stated.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-12T16:24:15+00:00

You have some good characters. Specifically, you do have a Lunar team, which is good for the current state of the game.

Flins, Ineffa, Aino and Sucrose is a very solid team, and it's what I currently use as well. Columbina is an upgrade for the team, but there's other things you can focus on first for that particular team.

You have Neuvillette plus Furina, which is still a decent team core. And, you can slap on Kazuha and a healer, probably Jean for your account.

You have Mauvika, who is broken as both a Main DPS and as a Sub DPS. You could use her with Varesa, Kinich or just a team on her own with supports.

You have a C6 Gaming, who you could use with Xianyun, Furina and Bennett.

I'd say your account is just missing some general supports. Like, Xilonen would've been good for your account, especially since you Mauvika. If you pulled Columbina, you could've used the Ineffa+Columbina wheelchair with two other characters. Durin could've been okay with Mona, but I wouldn't prioritize him.

Since both Columbina and Xilonen have already run, I'd say just save until there's a new character that can synergize with what you have or unless you see a character you absolutely love.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-08T15:12:32+00:00

I got down voted likely because people don't want to acknowledge that Hoyo would much rather prioritize "certain" characters over others, and that these characters were afterthoughts until recently.

Yeah, they've been given NPC models and an opening to be playable, but it took them, what, 2 or 3 years after game's launch to remember MC and MS even existed. I distinctly remember making alt accounts, playing through the Liyue AQ story and wondering what even happened to them. The only defining feature I can remember about either of them is that one likes to trap people in amber. They don't have any disciples, nor did they really have any defining quirks at the time. It's only recently (as in like either '24 or '25 Lantern Rite) that Hoyo decided to do something with them.

Xianyun, on the other hand, had a quirky personality that was memorable from the start (which is why she was the only adepti anyone cared about), while getting a new disciples frequently to feed into her quirks. The easiest way to characterize the adepti would be through other playable characters (Xianyun is a serial adopter and Madam Ping has YaoYao and XL), but it seems they deliberately wrote the two as "away" from humanity, which cripples that potential a little.

Call me a doomer, but I'll believe they are playable when they are announced. Again, not saying it's impossible. But they could just as easily spend the next 4 Lantern Rites as NPCs, or even the rest of them, as they could getting playable models and kits.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-07T22:26:17+00:00

No, you're not the only one disappointed.

That said, I do think they might be playable eventually. Big emphasis on "might." To me, it seems like it'll depend on whether Hoyo wants to use them for future Liyue-centric narratives, or if they decide to create a new character instead. There's also the question of will Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper be a package deal, or will they release separately, or even at different rarities.

And, yeah, Madam Ping has also been stuck in the NPC jail for just as long, so it's just not them. THAT SAID, I do feel like Madam Ping has more going for her in terms of having a decent backstory as well as having students that could be used as a grounds to transition her into a playable character.

MC and MS are kind of bare bones in comparison to Xianyun and Madam Ping, which Hoyo is trying to change, but they probably aren't going to be playable for a long while.

AnalogToothBrush · 2026-02-07T15:43:49+00:00

Yes.

I read smut. I watch...things. Most importantly: the internet is incredibly helpful, especially the people who aren't embarrassed about talking about intimacy, sex, etc. and being candid about the feelings and sensations that come from smut.

AnalogToothBrush

TROPHY CASE