#£75 for the ultimate edition? no thanks

[xxx-ang3l-w1th-a-sh0tgun-xxx]

i will not be playing life is strange double exposure because i hate the chloe erasure

sorry not sorry

[avaetin]

Percy Jackson Keychain Giveaway - AKM Edition

Hi! As per the title, I am going to giveaway PJO keychains - AKM Edition (which is the AU I created). I'm sharing it now because I want it to reach as many interested parties as possible. I will keep this pinned on my account as well. There will be a total of 15 designs (9 solo and 6 pairs), 5 keychains each, for a total of 75 keychains (total 75 winners). Below is a list of all the characters/pairs:

Nico

Aeon/Chronos

Alabaster

Hazel *

Reyna *

Percy

Jason

Erebus *

Ananke *

Nico & Aeon

Nico & Alabaster

Nico & Hazel *

Nico & Reyna *

Nico & Percy

Nico & Jason

* Remaining designs to be posted in the future, closer to the date.

A special and many thanks to @nyankocatnyan for all the awesome designs so far! Please check them out if you want to commission from them!

Why are you doing a giveaway? I always wanted PJO keychains, but there is a MOQ when you want this stuff made. I have no intention of selling/profiting, hence this giveaway. Also, I suppose, it's just sharing some positivity to everyone else.

How do I qualify? 1) Not a bot, 2) PJO fan, and 3) Tumblr account (for contact). You don't even need to be following me or be my mutual.

How do I enter? You need to fill up one of the forms (either solo chibi form or pair chibi form) that will be made available on August 27, 2024, 11pm SGT. Here is the timing for other zones:

The forms will be active from August 27 - September 3. It will be closed on September 3, 3024 at 11pm SGT. You don't need to rush to fill up the forms. This is NOT "First come, first serve." Please read the forms carefully, and make sure you submit the correct details.

You can only fill up one form (chibi form or pair form). Make sure you fill up the correct one as I will only consider your 1st submission (unless the one you really want has low demand, then I will consider).

4. How will I know if I won? I will post the results here on Tumblr on September 8, 2024, at 11pm SGT and tag said winners. From September 8 - 15, I will be sending the winners a link to a new google form for them to fill up for the delivery details of the keychain they won. (Please make sure I can message your inbox/messages.)

5. What if I won but don't respond to your message? You're essentially giving up your keychain to another person. The above period is fixed. One week is enough time to respond.

6. Do I have to pay for anything? Unless you are opting for fast delivery and/or tracked delivery, then no. I'm covering the shipping costs.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm not liable if package is lost if 1) You give wrong address after I confirm it with you. 2) Other reasons outside of my control. If the package gets returned to me, I will attempt to send it a second time. But if it still gets returned a 3rd time, I will give it to someone else.

7. When will it reach me? Kindly refer to the "Ordinary Mail- Air". Please note, however, that this is just an estimate. It will ultimately depend on your country's postal services.

8. I'm iffy about giving out my name and address. How can I trust you? I have to give my name and address for the return address in case the keychain doesn't get delivered. That's my trust to 75 of you. It's up to you if you wish to trust me back. I can only say that I will delete the forms once all the keychains are sent out, since there is no further use for them.

9. Will you have another batch of these keychains in the future? Nope. This is the one and only time. Which is why if you want one, I encourage you to participate.

10. What do you want in return? I want to joke something about firstborn here, but I guess it might not be appropriate LOL! Umm, nothing significant. All I want, and this is optional, is when you do receive, to share with me - or with everyone else via post - that you received the keychain. That's it.

BONUS: I'm pretty sure there was a post about a Luke keychain... 👀

That will be a separate post lol! Maybe around September/October. I'm still working out if I just want Luke and Ethan, or if I want one with Luke, Ethan and Alabaster. Something like that.

-----

Giveaway Timeline:

August 6, 2024: Posting about the giveaway

August 27, 2024: Official post with the google forms for interested individuals to fill up

September 3, 2024: Forms will be closed

September 4-7, 2024: Checking of accounts

September 8, 2024: Eligible participants' account names will be placed on the "Wheel of Names" to get the names of the lucky winners. Results to be posted as well

September 8-15, 2024: Contact winning accounts to confirm delivery details

mid-September - November 2024: Sending out of the keychains*

* Delivery might be split into two parts. It depends on the keychain production and, er, budget.

The forms will have terms & conditions (most already stated here), and hence would answer most questions you will probably have. But, if you have questions you wish to address now, feel free to send an ask. (Please don't spam my messages, thank you.)

P.S. Please be kind to anyone you're interacting with in this post.

[fortemelody]

we’re doin an updated intro becus i don’t really like my old one

HAIII HAI HAI! my name is forte. it’s nice to meet you :)

here’s some general info about me:

- 17 years old

- any pronouns

- aroace spec and gender-fluid

- diagnosed anxiety and depression (we’ll get to why that’s important later)

- i post long rants, memes, shitposts, and occasionally art (such as drawings or edits) about different fandoms… or just whatever i’m thinkin about really (sometimes it’s really fucking stupid 👽)

- i try not to reblog much unless i wanna add something on to it within the description or tags. i just don’t like clutterin my page idk

- i like to use a lot of goofy emojis

- user is the same on most social media platforms if you happen to find me

here’s some of my fandoms/interests/things that i love:

- sonic the hedgehog (biggest interest this is like 75% of my posts sorry lmao)

- cartoons: gravity falls, steven universe, bojack horseman, spongebob, TAWOG, ren and stimpy

- rhythm games: PTR, UJL, DDR, space channel 5, JSR, groove coaster, project diva

- other/random fandoms: scott the woz, kirby, splatoon, vocaloid, hololive, touhou, scott pilgrim, monster high, death note, lucky star, spiderman, deadpool

- hobbies: collecting, idol dancing, cosplaying, ultimate frisbee, reading, playing the cello

-emo music (i’ve seen live PTV/blink 182, free throw, and SWS x2!)

- y2k clothing style

- latin/philosophy

- my ikea alien named gnarp gnarp

- nature

- writing (my aspired job!)

i think that’s pretty much it! last thing i wanna say however is that i love chattin with new mutuals so please feel free to dm! just be aware that while i will always respond eventually, i get very wishy washy due to my anxiety and depression. sometimes i want to talk to everyone and i have a lot to say, and sometimes i don’t wanna talk to anyone and the response you would hypothetically get would be rather rude or dry. so if im feeling like that then i usually wait to respond so i don’t seem unpleasant. i still very much love making connections and i value and treasure them, so just know it’s not ever your fault!

okay goodbye thanks for listenin 🗣️‼️🔥🙏😛

[okamirayne]

On a previous post you said you wanted to rewrite parts of BTB after rewatching Naruto. What parts in particular would you rewrite?

How much of the story do you outline/plan before you start writing it? What's your writing process? I love reading your dialogue, do you have any advice for writing dialogue? How do you get into the head of the character you're writing?

Hey there, Anon!

Thanks for your ASK, luv.

On a previous post you said you wanted to rewrite parts of BTB after rewatching Naruto. What parts in particular would you rewrite?

That's right. Predominantly the first BtB instalment. I've grown a lot as a writer and now have more insight into the characters, having watched all of Shippuden (namely the fillers, which tend to give a bit more background).

Neji's promotion to Jonin and how that came about (at the time of writing BtB, it hadn't yet been revealed in the anime how that happened)

I'd rewrite certain character portrayals (both canon and OCs) in the first instalment, go a little deeper and flesh them out more

There are others, but I'd have to reread and edit as I go.

How much of the story do you outline/plan before you start writing it?

I'd say around 75-80%

What's your writing process?

This question presently stumps me. My process in the past is no longer my process now, as it was not sustainable, highly unhealthy, and contributed to an intense and crippling burnout. So right now, I'm relearning my process. I haven't worked it out yet, so sadly I can't answer that question at this point, luv. What I can say is that it involves a lot of music, daydreaming, and tea.

I love reading your dialogue, do you have any advice for writing dialogue?

Aw, thanks! I'm glad you enjoy how I tackle dialogue. Advice? Ah...uh...listen your characters? Really listen. Feel into their energy. Be clear who is speaking. Gods, I'm quite useless at offering 'writing' advice per se because I feel you should do what works for you, provided you don't completely confuse the reader or totally bastardise the language beyond comprehension.

How do you get into the head of the character you're writing?

I basically do this with the characters...repeatedly. It's obviously quite different when writing OCs and when writing canon characters. The OC process is more intense. With canon characters, you have a skeleton that can then be fleshed out. You can throw questions at existing characters based on trivia/traits, then build upon what's already there. Expand or extrapolate. With OCs, it's way more intense and a very deep and magical process for me. In both cases, music is always a muse. Ultimately though, it depends on whether it's a canon character or OC that you're referring to, luv. Different processes...and I might end up in a straitjacket trying to explain the OC process 😅😅😅.

Thanks for the ASKs, Anon! 💜

[dr-dealswiththedevil]

Hello everyone. Mod Kakera here. 

As we prepare to continue the fangan, there’s going to be some story elements requiring new sprites. And there’s a lot of sprites that will be needed. So I’m reaching out to see if anyone would be interested in helping with sprite edits and creation of OC sprites. 

If you’re interested, message me over at @fragments-of-despair or drop your commission info here on this post, and I can reach out to work with you. 

Below the cut are descriptions of the OCs we’ll need help with, for those curious as to what we’re currently looking for. Feel free to ask any additional questions if you’re interested. 

Thank you!

DIVISION 1: 

Ringo Kaminagi: Former Ultimate Prosecutor, Class 76

Hair: Black

Eyes: Golden/Red

Age Range: between 18-21

Pronouns: She/Her

Birthday: October 13

Hometown/Birthplace: Hokkaido 

Talent: Prosecutor

Likes: Studying law

Dislikes: Theft

Personality: Stern yet kind, very serious about her job, gets flustered easily by friends. Can be described as a cross between Ishimaru and Kirumi in personality.

Song Associated with them: Little Miss Perfect by Taylor Louderman

Sachie Kozui: Former Ultimate Lucky Student, Class 76

Hair: Lavender

Eyes: Light Gold

Age Range: between 18-21

Pronouns: She/Her

Birthday: August 4

Hometown/Birthplace: Hokkaido

Talent: Lucky Student (ironically)

Likes: Climbing Trees, Ringo

Dislikes: Messing up, being unlucky

Personality: Sweet, playful, a bit of a clutz, gets nervous and panicked easily due to her talent having a Murphy’s Law type affect on those around her. A bit superstitious due to wanting to better her luck. 

Song Associated with them: A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton

DIVISION 2: 

Hildegard “Hilly” Pierrot, I.T. Expert/Technical Assistant

Hair: Red

Eyes: Green

Age Range: Mid 20s

Pronouns: He/She/They/Wumbo

Birthday: June 17

Hometown/Birthplace: Texas

Talent: Not Applicable

Likes: Cows, Ladies, Workouts

Dislikes: Romance, Sunburns

Personality: Applyjack from My Little Pony, but more sassy. A fun older sister type. Born and raised in the south on a farm, became I.T. expert to help with work. Determined and funny. Boisterous. 

Song Associated with them: Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons

DIVISION 4

Alphonso Carlyle, Doctor and Therapist and former professional student

Hair: Dark purple with lavender streaks

Eyes: Dark purple

Age Range: Mid 40s

Pronouns: He/Hum (paperwork typo)

Birthday: December 31st

Hometown/Birthplace: Barcelona, Spain

Talent: Not Applicable

Likes: Studying, messing with Haruka

Dislikes: Bourbon

Personality: Calm, fun uncle energy. Knows he’s good at what he does, and knows how to ride the chaos train. Will cover for you if you sneak out after hours for teen-movie shenanigans. Very family oriented due to mother’s side of the family (large family from Spain), but also very dry humored from dad’s side (smaller family from Great Britain). Loves to nap.

Song Associated with them: Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads

DIVISION 6

Haruka Yoshida, Former Ultimate Police Officer (?), Class 75

Hair: Dark brown/reddish brown

Eyes: Blue-Grey

Age Range: Early/Mid 20s

Pronouns: He/Him

Birthday: January 27th

Hometown/Birthplace: Kyoto

Talent: Police Officer (on record)

Likes: Following Rules, Espionage, Banana Laffy Taffy

Dislikes: Shenanigans, being called by his given name

Personality: Has a lot of repressed emotions. Very proud of himself, his family, and the mission of the Future Foundation. Very loyal to causes he sees as just. Very quick to annoy. Deep down is rather sweet and kind.

Song Associated with them: Snake Eater by Cynthia Harrel

DIVISION 10

D’Andre “Rex” Sukimoto, Tech Prodigy and Resident Nerd of Culture 

Hair: Black (natural), Green (dyed)

Eyes: Brown (left), Hazel Green (Right)

Age Range: 15-18

Pronouns: He/They (experimenting)

Birthday: November 29

Hometown/Birthplace: Canada

Talent: Would have been Ultimate Play-Tester (Tragedy prevented Admission to Hope’s Peak)

Likes: Video Games, Coding, Experimenting

Dislikes: Homework, enforced bedtime

Personality: Classic little brother type. Loves getting into mischief. Very bright and very quick to learn. Sassy and savvy. Can and will prank you if given the chance. Strong sense of what is right and wrong. 

Song Associated with them: Robot Rock by Daft Punk

DIVISION 12

Haruhi Ortiz, Infrastructure Expert and OSHA Fan

Hair: Black with yellow tips (dyed)

Eyes: Black

Age Range: 16-19

Pronouns: He/She/They (genderfluid)

Birthday: June 21

Hometown/Birthplace: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Talent: Not Applicable

Likes: Architecture, Public Transit, Trees

Dislikes: Incorrect Lab Safety precautions, [REDACTED]

Personality Type: Withdrawn but calm and warm. Takes a lot to get them to open up. Not quick to anger. Hard to fluster. Hardworking. Often flies under the radar but can and will hold you hostage if you ask about how to better lay out a city. If truly angry, swears in their first language. 

Song Associated with them: Turnabout Sisters 2016 from Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice

Bonus: DIVISION 7

M.A.L.L.A.R.D. [ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SPOILERS]

Hair: None (chrome body)

Eyes: Light Bulb (changes color)

Birthday: December 21

Likes: Helping in the lab, Grapes, Chap Stick

Dislikes: Duct Tape, Glue, Bread Crumbs

Personality: Think Goddard from Jimmy Neutron, but a duck. 

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 30/03/2024 (Future & Metro Boomin's WE DON'T TRUST YOU, Olivia Rodrigo's GUTS (spilled) and Hozier)

Benson Boone takes a hold of the top of the UK Singles Chart for the second week with “Beautiful Things” and it’s a big, messy week that I’m too tired to deal with so welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we start with our notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75 - which is what I cover - after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40 and given this week was somewhat of a busy one, we do have a fair few to bid adieu, namely: “Going Home” (Theme from Local Hero) by Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes because the charity single never lasts long, “I Will” by Central Cee, “ONE CALL” by Rich Amiri, “Homesick” by Noah Kahan and Sam Fender on the duet version, “One of the Girls” from The Idol by The Weeknd, JENNIE and Lily-Rose Depp, “leavemealone” by Fred again.. and Baby Keem, “DNA (Loving You)” by Billy Gillies featuring Hannah Boleyn, “vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus and of course, “Someone You Love” by Lewis Capaldi. It’s a mixed bag, but I’m mostly glad to see new hits flushing in and taking care of some of these older, longer-running tracks.

Thanks to our 10 new songs landing mostly at the front of the chart, we don’t see any returns and not that many big gains either, but it is worth to comment on the boosts for “Been Like This” by Meghan Trainor and T-Pain at #50, “Happier” by The Blessed Madonna and Clementine Douglas at #40, “Back on 74” by Jungle landing yet another run at #32, “Green & Gold” by Rudimental and Skepsis featuring Charlotte Plank and Riko Dan at #30, “Von dutch” by Charli XCX at #27 thanks to a pretty great A.G. Cook remix and “Birds in the Sky” by NewEra at #23.

This week’s top five on the UK Singles Chart is largely not affected by everything below it, as we have ��End of Beginning” by Djo at #5, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” by Ariana Grande, “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” by Beyoncé, “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims at #2 and of course, Booner Boy at the very top. Yet just at #6, we have a new arrival so that should better display how this week is going to go. Let’s just dive into it.

New Entries

#58 - “stranger” - Olivia Rodrigo

Produced by Dan Nigro

Now a major reason to why this week feels so exhausting is that over half of our new songs are from the same two albums, that are at #3 and #2 in the singles chart right now: Olivia Rodrigo’s deluxe release of GUTS with a few extra songs and the newest collaborative record by Future and Metro Boomin, WE DON’T TRUST YOU, which I actually cared to listen to. I decided it would even be a better idea to split up my writing time into the three categories instead of in chart position order: tackling the three songs from O-Rod, the trio from the duo and… the other four. It’s nearly even. These are also two not particularly interesting albums to have three songs to talk about. I’ll talk more about Future when the time comes, but these are just three bonus tracks from an album I didn’t even like so just imagine my excitement when I have to talk about them. This one’s about… moving on from a past relationship, of course, demonstrating said ex-partner as a complete stranger that she no longer has any real emotional investment towards. I like the writing here, it’s less wordy than usual and feels really natural over the airy acoustic guitar. Dare I say it’s got a bit of a wispy country twang to it that adds some edge. The organic instrumentation in the back of the second chorus onwards is sweet even if I’d prefer it was pushed further to the front of the mix, I love the dynamics of the bridge and ultimately, the mundane yet really powerful and heathily bitter angle O-Rod takes here is pretty resonant. I have no idea why this didn’t close the standard edition of the album, it’s pretty excellent actually.

#54 - “Belong Together” - Mark Ambor

Produced by Mark Ambor and Noel Zancanella

We actually continue with feathery teeny-bopper Americana as this is the breakout hit for singer-songwriter Mark Ambor, going for a folkish stomp-rock tune that is a pretty good Noah Kahan riff if not anything else. I’m not into the more jovial, head-empty frolick of the upbeat side of this genre, especially not when it’s sung by people who sound like Disney teen stars but hey, this has got a much stickier chorus than many of those Disney Channel original movies could ever dream of. His voice does reach some nice rasps amidst the crowd vocals and it really is just being carried by the admirable hook because other than that constant, this is barely a notable song, at less than two and a half minutes with non-descript lyrics and a professional but not grippingly detailed production. It really just is a bonfire sing-a-long and fits that function perfectly. I’ll be real: this was embarrassingly close to getting Best of the Week on that hook alone. It is undeniable.

#42 - “Slow it Down” - Benson Boone

Produced by Jason Evigan, Connor McDonough and Riley McDonough

There were two real possibilities with this one: I hate it and regret everything nice I said about “Beautiful Things”, or I like it and I just end up being a Benson Boone fan now. A Booner Boy. A Benson Booner. A Boonemobile. I didn’t really know which option was more embarrassing, but with the McDonough fellows on production, I really thought the first was more likely. When I heard the faster-paced pianos, the condescending tone of the lyrics, that really awkward Jesus line and some of the Lewis Capaldi-esque inflections, I was worried… but Goddamn it, he’s done it again. Sure, it’s not as wholesome as “Beautiful Things”, but the pairing of the lyrics wanting to slow everything down and take life at its own pace against his almost manic, shifting vocal delivery that gets really rough at times, and the incessant nature of much of the instrumentation, is all a pretty inspired songwriting choice, and it gets the uneven tone off really well. It sounds nothing like it but thematically, it reminds me of “Wait” by Maroon 5 in how its uncertainty can barely be contained the restraints of its format but they really are trying to keep it in the box, until that excellent, just pummelling final chorus that makes me really want to hear Boonetunes do some hard rock or glam metal one day. He’s got a voice for it. I’m embarrassed to say it, and it’s not as good as his current #1, but it’s a good song. I’m sorry.

#24 - “so american” - Olivia Rodrigo

Produced by Dan Nigro

That is not an exciting title and what do you know, this is more of the flowery pop rock that doesn’t seem to know where the line of its edge lands exactly, like I’d expected. This is a post-punk-esque track with a blank-feeling rhythm section and really flat bass that just runs through the motions until it reaches a chorus climax point that still just chugs along despite all the non-descript swell that’s behind it. It’s about a very specific celebrity crush that uses lovestruck nonsense-singing to finish off its refrain, and I’m just not in the market for this. I could not care less about this uber-specific compliment that she decides to make the conceit of the song… despite the fact that it barely shows up outside of the chorus. I love bubblegum pop rock sometimes, one of my favourite albums of all time is by Helen Love. This just doesn’t have the right guitar hook or lyrical detail - that isn’t odd and honestly somewhat off-putting - to keep me from really getting into this. It’s not bad and really, there could be a great song made out of some of these elements, they just might not have been in the right hands. Sorry.

#20 - “Cinderella” - Future and Metro Boomin featuring Travis Scott

Produced by Metro Boomin, Dre Moon and Allen Ritter

WE DON’T TRUST YOU is fine. In fact, it’s actually damn good at times and mostly a pretty serviceable, atmospheric trap record. The added cinematics from Metro dampen the bangers but largely add a twinkle to the gleaming pop songs found around the middle, that were actually mostly my favourites. Future is, to me at least, at his best being just impressively catchy. He has a singular voice  that sounds surprisingly rich reciting these cuter, cloud rap melodies and Metro’s pop sensibilities mean that he knows exactly when, how and what to switch up throughout. At its best, the album is careening and hypnotic, but there’s a lot of attempts at menace here, as is to be expected, and that blend of opulence and violence from Future has never hit that well for me without pop hooks behind it, especially given that it’s not just Future under-performing on these tracks, it’s Metro. I’ll discuss more of that in the next entry because it is incredibly obvious in that one, but the appeal of “Cinderella”, which lands pretty much smack-dab in the middle of the album and fully in that leaned-out pop section that I loved. I don’t think there’s a single quotable from either artist, and the beat is not even that interesting: its appeal is really simple. The melodic leads are cute, the trap beat is immense enough to absorb most of the energy but not act as an obstacle between Future and the melodies behind him, and his flow is possessive of the brain, I swear to God, it’s been in my head all week. Oh, yeah, and Travis Scott is here, I guess. I like his vocal layering on here, I suppose, and he really meshes with the closing, misty detail that the track ends with. It’s not my favourite - that would probably be a toss up between “Slimed In” and “Runnin’ Outta Time”, but it’s pretty great.

#18 - “Type Shit” - Future and Metro Boomin featuring Travis Scott and Playboi Carti

Produced by Metro Boomin, D. Rich and MIKE DEAN

In the context of the album, this song is dreadful. It’s not a momentum killer - rather, it’s a continuation of a long-dead momentum in the most excruciating way. It comes after “Ice Attack”, which starts with a droning beat even Future is already bored of, so bored in fact that he changes the beat to an even more rote and basic one that is a very similar tempo and groove as the track that it seamless transitions into, which is of course, “Type Shit”, where pretty much all of Future’s performance and most of Playboi Carti’s, in his hit-or-miss deep voice, is based on the same flow, cadence and lyric. It really had me worried for the rest of the album. Outside of the context, it’s still awful: here’s where Metro misunderstands how to make a beat interesting: adding loops onto other loops, all of which are incredibly one-note and cheap, just makes it sound like a lot of noise over muddily-mixed drums that sound genuinely awful. Whilst not applying greatly to this particular track, Metro tends to make some elements of these beats way busier than the others, leading to an ugly dissonance where it feels like he’s more pre-occupied with sound effects. Our only respite from this drone is Travis Scott delivering a reference vocal over MIKE DEAN synths and whilst I’ll take that over Carti most days, it’s not particularly attention-capturing or all that well implemented into the rest of the track, just an extended malformed interlude that has no business being here other than making sure the entire song isn’t insufferable. Also, “posted up with my dogs, Scooby-Doo type shit”? I appreciate that Carti is actually trying to form sentences now but his smug, deeper tone he prefers as of late just makes his failure at doing so even more embarrassing.

#13 - “i like the way you kiss me” - Artemas

Produced by Artemas, Kevin White and Daintree

I guess all Artemas really needed was that one small breakout single to really grow big with his next release, as this debuted way bigger than I expected. I thought “if u think i’m pretty” was at least okay, so I had some hopes for this and no, I don’t like this at all. I like darker synthpop bullet trains like this sometimes - Gesaffelstein released an album literally today that had some elements of this - but Artemas’ pained, pre-teen delivery cannot sell this if it had normal lyrics and more extensive, detailed production, let alone with muddy, cheap nothingness and a chorus that is about how Artemas “hits it from the back so you don’t get attached”. Ew. I get this is going for a toxic lover persona, but it is just embarrassing for him trying to go for it, especially when he attempts a malformed guitar solo later like God, actually stop trying for whatever this is. I don’t like saying a song is cringeworthy because other demographics will resonate with it but… come on. What is this? Who is this for?

#10 - “obsessed” - Olivia Rodrigo

Produced by Dan Nigro

Now this is the big attempt at a single from this deluxe release, enlisting St. Vincent on writing and going for a vibe similar to “bad idea, right?”, right down to the stop-start songwriting that made that one so frustrating. There’s a sicker guitar riff to this one at least, it feels a bit grimier and almost eerie with O-Rod’s obsessive lyrics surrounding how jealous she is of her partner’s ex-boyfriend… yet it never feels like it goes anywhere meaningful. It has the additional edge of sounding slightly mentally ill and sapphic simultaneously - I can relate to that - but the chorus just isn’t there - or more accurately, there’s not an attempt to make a coherent one. The entire track very much builds up to that chorus as a focal point but it blows out too much to resonate and loses some of the impact of its implosion. It’s much better than “bad idea, right?” because it’s not as incessant and is less tasteful in its subject matter, but it suffers from the same struggle of calculating how much to restrain in what should be an anthem for self-destruction. It’s decent, but I really wish I liked it more.

#8 - “Too Sweet” - Hozier

Produced by Bēkon, Hozier, Chakra, Sergiu Gherman and Peter Gonzales

Hozier, similarly to O-Rod, dropped some outtakes and bonus tracks from last year’s album - the difference here is that the songs smashed out of nowhere and this single in particular is looking to be his biggest hit since “Take Me to Church”, which is now a decade old. That’s scary. It may benefit from its conceptual similarities to “Eat Your Young”, which was a minor hit, as they both examine excessive greed, however in this song, the space is shared between two clashing perspectives, one of which is focused on discipline and the other on simple pleasures, with the two perspectives seemingly in a metaphorical relationship. I do think we see more of the unhealthy side of the narrative, particularly because of how those two perspectives influence the narrator, potentially Hozier, to take his life more seriously. Musically, this has a brilliant, infectious organic bass guitar over a fleeting almost trip hop funk. Hozier’s less rhythmic and arguably airy performance here surprised me initially, but he soaks into the feathery choir vocals that end up backing him and make this song really sound like the narrator has little control, being commanded by two contrasting forces until that decisive chorus that truly succeeds at being an anthem. Some of the lyrics in the second verse are a tad on-the-nose and take me out of the song’s overall theme, which arguably stagnates for its second half due to the lack of a true thematic - or really sonic - conclusion, but given I’m listening to it outside of the album’s full context, I feel like this is going to inevitably be a reaction I have, so it feels a tad presumptuous to say it’s a flaw in the track, which is otherwise pretty much flawless. I think this is sticking around and God, wouldn’t that be wonderful? Fantastic song.

#6 - “Like That” - Future and Metro Boomin featuring Kendrick Lamar

Produced by Metro Boomin

Yeah, I don’t like this one either. Now this song is hypothetically, very good. I liked having the surprise of Kendrick when the features weren’t initially credited, and this beat is not dead on arrival, majorly because it’s someone else’s beat. This samples the classic 80s rap track “Everlasting Bass” by Rodney O and Joe Cooley - and General Jeff - but the problem is it decides to only effectively sample part of its really insane beat. For mid-late 1980s California, you can really tell where Memphis rap can grab from this, especially with those blaring klaxon synths, the basic but commanding beat, the nearly constant, playful vocal sampling and of course, that looming bass that is actually from Barry White but sounds terrifying here. “Like That” turns the mains melody of “Everlasting Bass” into an ugly siren resting on more modern and metallic trap percussion that just does not mesh properly. There’s an incessant buzz to everything that is not helped by the twirling Michel’le sample from Eazy-E’s “Eazy-Duz-It” which not only feels overdone but is just unnecessary here. Future is… barely here, mostly because we need to just set out a red carpet for this Kendrick Lamar verse, which I will admit, as always with Kendrick, has some incredible wordplay, and in the context of dissing Drake, I’m all for this cold verse, even if it just doesn’t fit that well over this beat. I mean, it fits more than Future because he has some of the character that the original did, which makes sense given Rodney O and Joe Cooley were from southern California as well. I like the line using members of The Click, that one’s really clever, and the André 3000 line is funny too, but after his verse, the song just malfunctions and refuses to piece itself back together. Metro fades the song out whilst Future is still clearly rapping, and at a higher energy than ever before so I have no idea why he did that. There are longer songs on the album, this one didn’t need to be cut short. Given that this is one of very few tracks on here that Metro is solely responsible for and it’s honestly kind of a trainwreck production-wise, I do have my concerns going forward.

Conclusion

Artemas gets the Worst of the Week for “i like the way you kiss me”, genuinely, what the fuck was that? Future, Metro, Travis and Carti bag the Dishonourable Mention for “Type Shit”, obviously, whilst Best of the Week is honestly kind of difficult. I think I’ll give it to Hozier for “Too Sweet” but with O-Rod close behind as an Honourable Mention with “stranger”. Beyoncé’s coming up next, folks, so be prepared for that, but for now, thanks for reading, long live Cola Boyy, and we’ll see you next week!

[ajitpp]

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[cryptid-kay]

How I Write

Alright, it’s writing post time! Just a little summary of how I write, because I do get questions about it. Usually how I can write so fast, or in a short period of time. So aside from citing NaNoWriMo, this is a more in depth process on how I get from start to finish in about 3-6 months on a draft, all in part thanks to a bow tie wearing man at my college who taught advanced comp (ask me about that story sometimes). This will be quick, not super detailed, but if you have questions, feel free to ask! 1. Planning/Plotting So, I don’t plot. Except I do. This is a process I tend to use for "stuck" ideas or more fleshed out ones, but I also use this during rewriting and would like to use it more during my real writing and I find it eases some of the pitfalls of the more pantser method I had been using. In this method I begin with my stakes, my characters, and their motivations. This is best done after fleshing out my characters, but can be applied to characters I haven't fully explored as it grants a starting point. Once I've nailed down the stakes, I figure out first how my MC is going to react, then how this is going to get them into trouble. Basically creating for myself a method of raising the stakes through the story. This is where I start writing. 2. Drafting Alright, this is where the process gets funnn. I will take a day or two to plan out a chapter in my head. Then I put it on paper. Sometimes it comes out different, but usually as long as I adhere to the major beats of the story, everything is fine. This helps me break up my stories into chapters that flow into one another. I treat them like mini short stories of about 2-3K with something important happening in each. I write linearly, so start to finish, and I can usually complete a chapter in a writing session. (I plan to write about an hour on my writing days). I admit I do not write daily. I find it burns me out, but I do swap between planning days and writing, and if I get an idea, I'll write notes. This process is both the simplest, and takes the longest, usually around 30-60 days for about 50-100K. This is in part due to the speed of my writing (around 50-75 wpm), and the fact I plan so I have a clear vision of my chapters before I write them, making the writing process faster for me. 3. Revising - Round One I found after rewriting Half Crown last year a new method of revision, which requires some tedium, but ultimately I enjoyed it and am working it into my process. It begins with going through the whole book and making a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet is a chapter by chapter breakdown of scenes including: the summary of the scene, characters present, motives, and the major stakes. I also sometimes add notes for things I want to change. This scene breakdown for me was useful because I could see a cohesive breakdown, and as I was summarizing I found areas to improve. It also helped me keep the book consistent. Once I finish, my first round of revisions is quite simply going through and adding/deleting/altering scenes with the notes I or my readers have put in the scene breakdown. 4. Beta Reading This is the part that takes foreverrrr and it's not anyone's fault, I just can't work on the story very much while it's being read. This is in part so I'm not updating beta readers with new versions, but also so I can take a more objective look when it comes back from them. 5. We've had first revisions, but what about second revisions? Honestly, this is just like first revisions, I consult feedback and notes, and then I revise. After that, I would send to an editor. I will be having my first big editing experience this year, so I won’t detail that part yet, but I might add to this in another post! That’s it, the whole process. And as I stated before, this is just me. I think it works well for my brain, for my time constraints, and for my lifestyle, but your process might be different! 

[linuxgamenews]

Discover Sid Meier's Ultimate Collection: The One More Turn Bundle

Sid Meier's Ultimate Collection One More Turn bundle of games is a big deal for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the brilliant minds of the Humble Bundle team. Available now for an incredible price. When it comes to the realm of strategy and simulation, few names are as iconic as Sid Meier. If you're curious about what all the attention is about or you've just stumbled upon this world, check out Sid Meier's Ultimate Collection One More Turn. First off, let's talk about the "Sid Meier’s Civilization" series. After being handed the reins of an entire civilization, starting from its humble beginnings in ancient times and due to guide it through the highs and lows of history. All while carving out a path to the modern era. That's what the "Civilization" series offers. Sid Meier's Ultimate Collection One More Turn is not just about building cities and armies. These games are about making choices that will also shape the future of your people.

The Content:

Sid Meier's Ultimate Collection One More Turn offers two decades of game content. Since you get to take various versions of this adventure. Right up to the latest entry, "Civilization VI" on Linux. And the best part? There's a ton of additional content, due to expansions and add-ons, that introduces fresh civilizations and unique scenarios. So, every time you dive in, there's always a new story waiting for you. Now, for those with a love for adventures on the high seas, "Sid Meier’s Pirates!" might just be your cup of tea. Instead of continents and kingdoms, here you're thrown into the world of pirates. All while you get to navigate the uncertain waters, hunt for treasures, and of course, engage in thrilling ship battles. Think of it as a ticket to take on the golden age of piracy.

What games are in the Sid Meier's Ultimate Collection One More Turn Bundle

Sid Meier's Civilization VI

Gathering Storm DLC

Rise and Fall DLC

Vikings Scenario Pack DLC

Poland Civilization & Scenario Pack DLC

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Khmer & Indonesia Double Civilization & Scenario Pack DLC

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Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol (with Proton)

Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic)

Sid Meier's Covert Action (Classic)

The entire collection, which showcases the range and depth of Sid Meier's work. While aptly titled Sid Meier's Ultimate Collection One More Turn. Trust me, once you start, it's tough to stop. You'll find yourself playing, while the hours fly by.

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This collection is part of Humble Bundle. So of course you get to decide how much you want to pay. While the usual cost of all this content can be as much as $471 USD, you can access Sid Meier's Ultimate Collection One More Turn for as little as $15 USD. What's even better, a part of your purchase goes to the charity "Trees, Water & People". Since you're not just indulging in a world of strategy; you're also making a difference in the real world. To make things smooth for you, all these titles can be redeemed on Steam. Since its a platform you're already be familiar with. Most of them are available for Linux, some via Proton with Windows, and even Mac too. Sid Meier's Ultimate Collection One More Turn is a fantastic option for both newcomers and veterans of the strategy genre. And remember, by getting this bundle, you're not just expanding your virtual horizons but also contributing to a noble cause. Along with quite a bit of native support for Linux. While releasing for an incredible price.

[ailtrahq]

Mi Primer Bitcoin has a goal of reaching more than 300,000 Salvadorans with its education program this year and to give out at least 7,700 presentational diplomas. El Salvador’s Ministry of Education has partnered with the nonprofit, nongovernmental organization (NGO) Bitcoin/">Mi Primer Bitcoin (MPB which translates to “My First Bitcoin”) to introduce Bitcoin education in public schools by 2024. The MPB diploma program was launched in 2022 with its first cohort beginning their journey in Bitcoin education in May. It was founded by American activist and writer John Dennehy with the support of Bitcoin proponent President Nayib Bukele’s government. 🌟✨ What an inspiring vision! The future of El Salvador shines bright with plans to introduce Bitcoin education in every public School by 2024. Together, we're making strides towards financial empowerment and knowledge for all. 🚀💡 🇸🇻#BitcoinEducation #EmpoweringElSalvador — Mi Primer Bitcoin (@MyfirstBitcoin_) September 4, 2023 Speaking with News/el-salvador-to-introduce-Bitcoin-education-in-schools-by-2024" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Cointelegraph, Dennehy revealed that the Ministry of Education’s program to add Bitcoin to the public School curriculum will be carried out with assistance from MPB and Bitcoin Beach. He added that the Mi Primer Bitcoin program would serve as the primary source of course material. “As the first nation to adopt Bitcoin, El Salvador will be an example for the world. Quality education is our best chance to ensure that that example is a positive one.” The program is scheduled to begin on September 7 and will begin with the training of 150 public School teachers from 75 schools. After gaining basic knowledge about Bitcoin, the teachers will return to their schools ready to teach from the new curriculum. Depending on the success of the program, it could up being implemented in every School in the Central American country. “If successful,” Dennehy said, “the program will be rolled out to every School in the country next year […] When My First Bitcoin began two years ago, one of the dreams was to educate a nation. This is a significant step toward that.” Taking Bitcoin Education to the World Mi Primer Bitcoin has a Bitcoin-school-starts-english-diploma-program/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">goal of reaching more than 300,000 Salvadorans with its education program this year and to give out at least 7,700 presentational diplomas. MPB Chair Dalia Platt believes that as “the first Bitcoin nation”, El Salvador is uniquely suited to spearhead Bitcoin education worldwide. Bitcoin Beach community leader Roman Martínez revealed that more than 25,000 students in the Latin American nation have already been taught about Bitcoin in the classroom. MPB founder Dennehy says the organization’s focus goes beyond El Salvador. The ultimate goal is to bring Bitcoin education to the world. “El Salvador is leading the way with public Bitcoin education, and we expect other nations to follow. The world is watching,” said he. The founder also revealed that MPB is currently in talks with two other countries in the region that are seeking to adopt a similar approach as El Salvador towards educating local students about Cryptocurrency. On September 4, Bitcoin Cuba announced that it was taking Applications for its first edition of Mi Primer Bitcoin. Thank you! You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

[mirandamckenni1]

Liked on YouTube: Best Way to Lose Fat | The Science of the Fat Burning Zone || https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPNBBJHjRk8 || Go to https://ift.tt/0FrXA4u to get started on your first purchase and receive a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3+K2 and 5 travel packs. Thanks to Athletic Greens for sponsoring today's video! AG1 by Athletic Greens is a comprehensive, nutrition drink engineered to fill the nutritional gaps in your diet and support your body’s nutritional needs across four pillars of health: Gut health, Immune support, Energy and Recovery! It’s packed with 75 vitamins minerals, whole-food sourced ingredients and combines the perfect amount of micronutrients, absorption and taste to jumpstart your daily routine. AG1 is available in the US, Canada, UK and Europe. ____ Best Way to Lose Fat | The Science of the Fat Burning Zone ____ In this video, Jonathan from the Institute of Human Anatomy discusses how the body utilizes fats vs carbohydrates during different types of exercise intensities. He also discusses the “fat burning zone” and the most effective ways of burning fat. ____ Cool Stuff Merchandise https://ift.tt/vwilxqe Codex Anatomicus https://ift.tt/KakjJPz Coupon Code for 20% OFF: IOHA20 ____ References: Dunford, Marie; Doyle, J. Andrew. Nutrition for Sport and Exercise (p. 84-91, 203-210). Cengage Learning. Kindle Edition. ____ Video Timeline 00:00 - 00:51 Intro 00:52 - 01:44 The Main Places Where You Find Fat 01:45 - 03:05 Burning Fats vs Burning Carbs 03:06 - 04:42 Recovering From Those Workouts! AG1! 04:43 - 08:31 Is There Actually a Fat Burning Zone? 08:32 - 10:21 Is the Fat Burning Zone the Best Way to Burn Fat? 10:22 - 11:53 What is the Most Effective Way to Burn Fat? 11:54 - 12:29 Some Pros/Cons of Higher Intensity Workouts 12:30 - 15:14 Additional Benefits of Zone 2/Fat Burning Zone 15:15 - 16:20 How Your Body Uses Fats After Exercise 16:21 - 18:11 Why This Ultimately Depends On You & Your Goals 18:12 - 19:30 Can You Control Where You Pull Fat From? ____ Audio Credit: https://ift.tt/LVpboij ____ #exercise #fatloss #anatomy

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 75 and 76 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episodes 73 and 74 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

75: A Field Trip Tag Duel!

For their field trip, the students of the Academia head to Domino Town, the holy dueling land known for producing the likes of Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba.  Judai and his friends visit Yugi’s childhood house, where they meet Mr. Sugoroku.  While exploring the town, Sugoroku is kidnapped--and while Shou and Kenzan argue as they look for him, they are challenged to a Tag Duel by an assassin duo from the Society of Light: Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru.  Kenzan’s dinosaur  Monsters find themselves powered down by Mobius Castle as he's dealt the first blow...

76: The Ultimate Combo! Rex Union

Shou and Kenzan’s Tag Duel versus Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru continues.  Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru are powerful despite their being on bad terms with each other, whittling Shou and Kenzan’s LP down to 1000 early on.  Kenzan’s dinosaur Monsters don’t match well with Kourimaru’s Ice deck, while Shou’s vehicle Monsters are stalled by Ikazuchimaru’s System Down and Rampage Condenser Magic Cards.  But for all of Shou and Kenzan's arguing, they start working together once they realize that their losing would cause trouble for Judai.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Episodes 75 and 76 are now finalized!

These two episodes start off our Domino mini-arc, as the Academia goes on a field trip to the land of dueling legend--which picks up on plot elements that were going to be included in the canned Yu-Gi-Oh! VS GX movie Takahashi had pitched at one point but were reworked into GX Season 2′s story.  75 introduces us to Mizuchi right off the bat (credited as “Shrine Maiden” for only this episode’s credits) and, after we take a trip down memory lane with Sugoroku while Ed and Saiou’s friendship starts to show some cracks, it’s revealed to Shou and Kenzan that she’s related to Saiou.  

Through both episodes, we also get some closure on the Shou/Kenzan feuding over Big Bro Judai, after Kenzan reveals he would’ve won if he didn’t feel bad for beating Shou while he was down, and after a rocky start to their Tag Duel vs Ikazuchi/Kourimaru, they come back and put their egos aside to keep Judai from having to deal with them.  Ultimately, it’s a futile effort thanks to the Mirror of Duality that Kourimaru activates, but a good one nonetheless.  Also do like the Marus’ designs, and it was cool at the time back in 2006 to see the original Monarchs make their anime debut.  76 also has some nice art to it, being a Tea Sun In animation-team episode (and Gil-bo No chipping in with some good key animation), so it’s a fun watch.

In terms of animation and other fixes, 75 and 76 both had a handful of card fixes, while 76 had more in the way of animation error fixes and other quality-of-watching things.  As I mentioned before, I also translated the guidebooks Sugoroku wrote held by Shou and Kenzan early in ep. 75 for the eight scenes they appear in.  Details under the cut, as always, along with a Translation Note for 75 involving one of Mizuchi’s scenes.

Enjoy, folks; for the next release, I want to get 77-79 out together for a triple treat to avoid just releasing 77 for a cliffhanger, lol.  That’ll get us through the Iwamaru duel (poor Honoumaru being shafted) and Judai/Ed vs Mizuchi to close out this mini-arc.  Stay tuned!

Fixes/Edits! (75)

As I mentioned above and highlighted in this post, I translated the front cover of the town guidebooks held by Shou and Kenzan in the eight scenes it’s visible in.  I first blanked it and applied the translations in the second-to-last shot it’s in--the closeup as the two show them to Sugoroku, which I also used for 75′s preview in 74--then isolated it to manipulate into the other scenes, mainly using AfterEffects’s CC Power Pin effect and then masking the right side of the original cover (with the landmark photos, but above the bottom “Legendary Duelists’ Stomping Grounds” text) on top to make it blend in.

After Kenzan tells Kourimaru that his weakened Dark Driceratops can still defeat his Mobius, Kourimaru activates his Mobius Castle, but in the shot that rapidly zooms out from him while it activates, we see him holding the card with its back facing the camera--which is inconsistent with the close-up just before as he held it up with the front facing the camera.  Fixed by first grabbing Mobius Castle’s card art from this close-up shot and touching it up in Photoshop to then make a proxy for it, then applied it in AfterEffects with a Power Pin before I then redid the zoom-out in Sony Vegas.

After the Marus’ Reflector Bit combo ends up making Dark Tyranno’s attack hit Shou for damage, and Kenzan notes that it went in circles, Kourimaru notes that their Reflector Bits are, along with Side Attack, also cards used exclusively in Tag Duels--but the Mobius on his Disk in this shot is in Attack Mode when Kenzan’s Earthquake Magic Card just put it in Defense Mode.  Fixed by making a Mobius proxy that I then applied in one frame in AfterEffects, after which I redid the panning shot in Sony Vegas for it.

After Kourimaru tells Ikazuchimaru that he should thank him for letting him hit Shou for damage, Ikazuchimaru draws for his turn and prepares to sacrifice his Thunder Knight for Zaborg, but his Disk shows Thunder Knight in Monster Zone #2, which is where Reflector Bit should be; he summoned Thunder Knight to Zone #4 on his first turn, and Reflector Bit was summoned by Bit Shoot to Zone 2 per its placement on his field here.  Fixed this by first using the shot of Kourimaru holding up Reflector Bit earlier to nab its card art and touch it up in Photoshop to make a proxy for it, then did the same for Thunder Knight as Ikazuchimaru held it up on his first turn--once that was done, in AfterEffects, I first applied the Reflector Bit proxy to his second Zone in Attack Mode, masking the orb on his Disk over it, then added a Defense-Mode Thunder Knight to his fourth Zone when it swung into view near the end of the shot for a quick two frames.

TRANSLATION NOTES!

As detailed in this post, after Sugoroku goes missing and Judai & co. split to find him, Mizuchi’s  "急々如律令 、 奉導誓願可、不成就也!" line that leads to the Monarchs’ barrier around Domino Town is an apparent diviner/Taoist favorite that, when rephrased, essentially means "��至急、不成就に導くよう願いたてまつる," or something like "In offering my wishes, may we be led to unfulfillment ASAP"--so, Mizuchi’s line here is beckoning for misfortune to befall Judai et al at once.  Part of the delay in getting these done, aside from the fixes listed here for both episodes, was the slight rabbit hole I fell into trying to first transcribe Mizuchi’s line by ear (and failing), then finding it transcribed by a Mizuchi-script Twitter bot, then using some search-fu to get the phrase broken down.

Fixes/Edits! (76)

As the Marus fall out and challenge each other to see who beats Shou or Kenzan first, as Kenzan breaks the fourth wall to call out their cockiness and Shou joins him, there’s a quick couple of frames where the right-side border of the split screen appears on Kenzan’s dino earrings.  Fixed it by just copying the previous frame to keep the border still, though while I was there, I also closed Kenzan’s mouth as it was oddly left open after his line.

As Kourimaru jokes that Shou and Kenzan make a great duo as he draws for his turn, as he lifts his Disk to place one card face-down, we see the Defense-Mode Mobius on his Disk reversed (should be facing with the name box to our left); fixed it by applying the proxy correctly in AfterEffects for the two frames of his Disk’s movement, then redid the slow zoom-out on each for a few frames in Vegas.

Just after #2, after Kourimaru switches Mobius to Attack Mode, as he’s declaring its attack, a few things happen as he swings his Disk: first, we see Mobius both in Monster Zone #4 (where it should be) and in Zone #2 (where his Reflector Bit should be), and then we see the card in Zone #2 in Defense Mode when Reflector Bit was left in Attack Mode.  Fixed by first applying the Reflector Bit proxy in AfterEffects to Zone #2, then by applying it to Zone #2 in Attack Mode in the second frame and masking the main Disk bit over the card.

As highlighted in this post, as Shou worries that the Element Saurus Kenzan summoned won’t be enough, Kenzan turns back to retort, but for the first few frames of his turning, the orb in the middle of his Disk is red (for “on”) but unlit; fixed by just applying a bright red paint layer over the orb which I Gaussian-Blurred a bit and screen-blended so it just lit up the area.

After Shou summons Shuttleroid and Ikazuchimaru’s Rampage Condenser hits him, as he notes the 500 damage he takes, a few things happen.  First, as Shou slides in with the LP counter dropping as he’s hit, there’s a quick frame where there’s an outline for his neck but it’s colored like his hair, all before it’s fixed in the very next frame of movement--which I fixed by just recoloring his neck accordingly in Photoshop.  Then, after Ikazuchimaru says that Zaborg’s counterattack on Shuttleroid will finish Shou off, Shou starts to raise his head to say he never said anything about having it attack him, but his neck is missing for most of this, as the area is fully colored as part of his hair for these two frames, and then suddenly it’s all neck and no hair--fixed again by recoloring the area to define his neck and hair based on the previous no-issue frames.  After that, Ikazuchimaru gasps in surprise, but his hair suddenly invades the top-right of Shou’s split-screen and stays there for the rest of the shot--fixed by just masking in the same part from a previous no-issue frame in Sony Vegas, along with holding the previous correction to Shou’s no-hair neck.  Next, Shou lifts his head again to say that he’s attacking Element Saurus, but it’s still all neck and no hair for the two movement frames involved, until he’s done lifting his head, where he’s correctly drawn without any issues, with his well-defined hair and neck--fixed here by again recoloring the neck/hair area for those two movement frames, holding the fix to the top-right corner of Shou’s split.  Finally, as the split-screen splits to show Element Saurus, first we see that Shou’s side moves but Ikazuchimaru’s stays still without a change in background behind the split-screen, all while a second split-screen is seemingly moving behind Shou’s up top; then, we see Shou’s side of the split-screen take a few frames longer to leave the shot than Ikazuchimaru’s--fixed all this by redoing the split-screen’s split over an Element Saurus still and having them leave the shot simultaneously while keeping Shou’s side consistent. (You can see all this in these gifs; the original, and my fix [may just need to give them a minute to load])

After Kenzan activates Ultimate Evolution Pill, as he swings his arm around with his Dyna Base card, there’s a quick few frames where only the card outline is visible; they seemingly forgot to add the card itself there.  Fixed by making (in Photoshop) and applying (in AfterEffects) a Dyna Base proxy, darkened a bit as it was under Kenzan’s hand.

As Shou swings his arm around to activate Vehicroid Connection Zone, there’s a quick frame where he swings his hand a frame over before the card joins it, resulting in awkward black space (a similar error happened in ep. 65).  Fixed it by masking in the correctly placed card from the next frame over the frame in question.

After Shou explains that Super Vehicroid -- Rex Union inherits Super Conductor Tyranno’s effect (which actually doesn’t end up being used) and can attack twice, Kourimaru and Ikazuchimaru come in on a split-screen to react in shock, but Ikazuchimaru’s side actually comes in first for a few frames before Kourimaru’s joins it.  Fixed by holding Shou and Kenzan still as I redid the split-screen over them to make sure the two  sides came in simultaneously.

As Kourimaru faces down his half of Rex Union’s attack, the light on his Disk’s orb isn’t on; fixed by just applying the red light to it in a frame after it unblurs on him in Photoshop, then redid the Gaussian un-Blurring as the camera focused on him in Vegas.

[roublardise]

2, 6, 9 and 14 for the Sapphicnatural ask! <3

thank you ally!!! 💖

2. favourite rarepair?

oh god... ok i think i have to say Amara/Mary 🥺 it's just. like it was actually a surprise to me to come to see them as such a compelling ship? i started writing my Mary fic and i knew i wanted to explore this thing with Amara bringing her back and both of their pov, and it ended up.... just making so much sense to have them together. i let the story took me and it took me there!

some destiel parallels appeared, and this complex dynamic of i hate you/i owe you/i want to hate you/i love you... like from both sides it's sooo interesting. also love that Mary was, in a way and for so long, the og mother, and Amara is the og woman. and they're both actually not that and way more than that.... VS Rowena who is introduced as neither a mother (she has a son but she's not a Mother you know), nor a woman like others. these three live in my head. someday i will write smth specific for them

6. tell me the BEST spn femslash fanfic you've ever read

is this when i out myself as "i don't read many fics besides destiel i'm so sorry sapphics"...? 😭😭 i have a few one-shots marked for later but i still haven't got into it.

i MEANT to read one last night to have an answer to this question but i'm brain dead. specifically there's a Jody/Mary one who seems super interesting, been wanting to get into it for weeks, it's called neatly-labelled leftovers.

so i'm taking this opportunity to promote your Ambriel/Anna fics 💕 they're very cute, we stan rarepairs, and Ambriel truly deserves to come back & get a gf thank you for your service 🙏

9. post or link me your favourite spn femslash creation made by you

ok so i'm starting to run out of sapphic content i made 😂 thanks god for sapphicnatural week!! i have cool things planned 🤭

i still have a few left, so for you i've picked this little amv i made, the concept was to have like, a "phone video dump" from Claire's phone, and it's only some very domestic-daily life shots of Kaia

i did one from Kaia's phone as well, but this one is way more underrated. i liked to think of Claire picking the habit of filming from Kaia, except Claire would like... do it with less skills, more randomly, and so would end up with these awkward framings. like it would start as a way to make fun of Kaia's habit (affectionate) but she would enjoy it. so the editing is Like That on purpose. i had sooo much fun working on these two videos, trying to show some personality behind the shots ; to make it less "professional" ; working on a new size ; and it was one of my first attempts at coloring that much. picked the colors directly from the lesbian flag ✨

14. favourite female character you wish we'd seen more of?

you know what it's time to talk about her: AMARA. she's one of my ultimate fav character on the show, even tho canonically she's like, 75% lost potential and she's good mostly in my head i think 😭 but EXACTLY i wish she was there more, so we could get to know her better and know her outside of chuck's arcs!! she deserved to be her own character, and god truly s15 Amara was a gift but at what cost (the cost was not knowing wtf even happened to her exactly).

if i get into specific, i even wish we've seen more of teenager Amara!!!! it was sooo interesting to see her growth, the way her behavior is truly like a child, and she's discovering the world... it's such a cool idea to have this character who's older than everything but who is a bby in this world, learning how it works, its rules, its beauty.... the way at first she only sees suffering, but then learn to love it. but they ruined it by sexualizing her they literally put a (ugly) black dress on her character and let that hide everything she was offering & telling. and that's how a lot of viewers see her as well!!!! i hate it. bc yeh, she's way more developped in my head, but already in canon there is A LOT but people never read into her bc they think she's here to be a love interest and try to make Dean evil but NO!!! that's literally the narrative chuck's portraying!! anyway this wasn't supposed to be a rant over the misundertanding of Amara....

sapphicnatural ask

[cancerbiophd]

How I landed an industry job straight out of my life sciences PhD, without doing a post-doc 

In less than 7 weeks I’ll be defending my dissertation as a final step in my PhD in Cancer Biology, and yesterday I accepted a Scientist position at a local biotechnology company. And best part: I didn’t have to do the dreaded post-doc first! Which is pretty rare for our field (but I hope it’ll be more and more common for PhD’s going into industry).

I promised I would talk about the process here, and I hope that anyone who’s aiming for the same path can walk away with some tips or at least with a familiarity of the process. 

The main points I want to get across: 

Network network network. You can probably just stop reading here, because this job came about all through networking. I was basically head-hunted--someone in my network (a program alumnus) contacted me on LinkedIn to ask if I wanted to apply for a position on the team she directs. So set up your LinkedIn account, keep it up to date, and use it to actively network. At the very least you should connect with the alumni in your program as you all have something in common already, and since they’re out and about in the field they would be great resources for informational interviews and job referrals. 

My expertise and career goals matched the position. No brainer, of course. Even if I wasn’t contacted by the company, I would only be applying to companies I qualified for (so companies dealing with cancer since I’m my PhD is in Cancer Bio). My lab mate, for example, was finishing up his PhD in Nutritional Sciences but was applying to cancer companies with no result, because it just wasn’t the candidate those companies were looking for. My expertise was also probably what got that director’s attention in the first place and the reason she reached out. She was basically willing to wait 7 months for me (from job posting to my final start-date) because I was her ideal candidate, and not just based off my expertise alone, but our personalities matched too. She told me “we communicate well” aka our work personalities match. I know you can’t change who you are obviously, but getting along with your manager goes a long way. 

That being said, employers/PIs are flexible with start dates for PhD candidates. I applied to this position 6 months before I had my defense date set and when I only knew a ballpark of “sometime in the summer”. And then during my interview process I had to keep pushing that potential start-date back and back and back. But the company understood this. So as a PhD candidate you could start applying 6 months before your expected end-date (even if it’s still a moving target), or even months earlier for post-docs (which are much more flexible than industry positions). In general, you should start looking 1 year before your finish date to see what’s out there. 

It was also good luck/timing. If I had graduated earlier than the job posting, then I never would’ve had this opportunity. I also only added her to my LinkedIn network because I went to a lunch seminar where she gave a talk about working in industry. So small things that ultimately made a huge difference. Some you can’t control, but some (like going to that lunch) are definitely  opportunities to seize. 

I was low “flight risk”. Companies are always afraid their employees will leave the company/city for greener pastures, and that’s more common in “less popular” places to live, like the southwest desert where I’m located. But I’m from here, my grad school is here, my family’s here--so the company is making the assumption I’m not going to just up and go any time soon. You obviously can’t control where your family chooses to settle down, but you may be able to strategically choose your grad school based off of its proximity to potential companies. 

And lastly, in my experience, PhD’s with no post-doc in biotech industry should expect an annual salary somewhere between $75-95k (depending on the company and cost of living), with benefits.

Ok, my full story under cut if you’d like to know more about the process I went through:

It all started when a program alumnus (or alumna, if you’re picky about your latin) named RF talked at a lunch seminar to students in my program in Feb 2019. I was really interested in her company and knew she would be a great network to have, so I emailed her later to thank her, and then added her on LinkedIn. 

Fast forward to January of this year (2020) when RF messaged me on LinkedIn out of the blue asking me how close I was to graduating and if I would be interested in a position at her company. I think she wanted someone asap (so not me, I thought), but we talked more about my project, and she said she’d keep in touch. In February, she messaged me again saying a position opened up on her team and she wanted to see if I would like to apply. I said heck yes (or the more formal version), and sent in my application, with the expectation that I would be defending sometime in the summer. I also put her as my job referral and messaged her afterwards to let her know my application went through (with the hopes that maybe she could fast-track it through HR, which I think she did). 

In the meantime, I messaged (also on LinkedIn) another program alumnus I knew (our time overlapped a few years) who currently works with RF and we chatted on the phone about what he does at work, how he likes it there, etc. Basically an informational interview (and also to catch up as colleagues). I was also hoping he’d put in a good word for me with RF and can attest I’m a decent human being and all that. 

2 weeks later, I had a phone interview with RF, and I was super nervous going into it. I even practiced pages and pages of answers of common interview questions for a week straight. But to my surprise she opened the call with “I already know a lot about you from your CV, LinkedIn profile, and also your PhD training because we’re from the same program, so this is your chance to ask me questions!” And I was like, uhhhh awesome! The only thing she wanted to know about me was when I could start, and at that moment in time I was gunning for a July/Aug defense date. 

(I also emailed her and HR afterwards to ask them whether they could match my salary expectation, which I had researched well beforehand for what was common in the field for my position and experience, and they said they could.)

We then set up the next round of interviews for April with a colleague of RF’s who used to be in the same team but now directs her own, and RF’s boss (these would have normally been on-site, but I did them over the phone bc Covid). I again messaged my friend at the company asking if he had any tips. 

And then disaster struck! The company’s HR called me a week before those scheduled interviews to tell me the company had ordered a hiring freeze due to Covid and the effect it was having on the economy. Absolute bummer :( :( :(

So I then applied for a few more positions here and there, including some post-docs (which I really didn’t want to do). I got 2 rounds of interviews for a Scientist position at another local company, and as of today I still haven’t heard anything from them. oh well. 

Then in June I finally heard back from RF’s company saying the hiring freeze has been lifted and whether I’m still interested? Uh, heck yes! So we continued with those 2 phone interviews I had originally scheduled back in April. They both went really well. But I still continued to apply to other positions in the meantime because I wanted to have as many options as I could. 

Then 2 weeks ago (July 7) I got THE call: they wanted to offer me the position! :D

Only problem was, we needed to settle on a start-date. They of course wanted me to start like, yesterday, but my PI wanted to push back my original defense date of Aug 28 one more week to Sept 4, and also wanted me to focus on any dissertation edits for 2 weeks after that. So my earliest start-date would be Sept 21. If you remember, my defense date shifted from “sometime in the summer” to “July/August” to now September, so I was really worried the company wouldn’t accept this. I nervously waited 2 weeks for someone to call me back, and in my head I kept thinking, “I blew it I blew it”. I even sent in a job application to another company in that time. 

But RF finally called me and said hey, no problem, we can do that! She told me she was willing to wait because I really was her perfect candidate (I had all the experience she wanted, and she said we communicated well aka our work-personalities matched). She had also just recently hired another graduate from our program, who is also a friend of mine, so she knew we would all mesh together very nicely. 

And that’s the story folks! I’ll be starting the position remotely until it’s safe to return to the building again. They’re also working with my husband to see if he’s a good candidate for some of their other open positions (we’re both in the biotech field). We’re both super excited about this new chapter in our lives. 

All this because I attended the lunch seminar RF talked at all last year and then added her on LinkedIn. When people talk about opportunities lurking behind every corner, they really did mean that. 

[misscorn]

Day 3 Hands/Relaxing

Day 3 of @takaritsuweek baby woohoo!

***

Knock knock

Ritsu ignored his front door, already having a good idea as to who was at it, and he was not going to allow a certain someone to ruin his day off.

Knock knock knock

Ritsu sighed, simply turning a page in his book and continuing to read Sumi-sensei's latest novel. It wasn't often he got to just sit around and relax like this, so he was going to take full advantage of it.

Knockknockknockknockknockknock-

Ritsu shut his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tried not to let his irritation get the best of him. After all, getting a rise out of Ritsu was probably Masamune's goal. Masamune would give up eventually, right? If Ritsu just continued to ignore him and pretend like he wasn't home-

KNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCK

"Onodera! I know you're in there!" The voice was muffled through the door, but managed to reach the brunette, making Ritsu bookmark and shut his novel before setting it aside.

"Can I help you, Takano-san?" Ritsu asked, frowning as he opened the front door. He didn't try to hide his displeasure. No one wanted to be harrassed by their boss on their day off, after all.

"Let's go out." Masamune said, it sounding less like a suggestion and more like an order.

"No." Ritsu frowned. "If that's all you wanted then-" He started, beginning to close the door, but Masamune was quick to put a hand out.

"I know you're not busy. Come on. Let me take you on a dinner date."

Ritsu blushed furiously at the word 'date' and shook his head. "D-d-don't be ridiculous, you're my boss!"

"And when has that ever stopped me?" Masamune asked, a bored expression on his face. He really wanted to skip this part and fast forward to where the two of them were on a date. Maybe it wouldn't be the picture-perfect lovey dovey kind of thing Masamune wanted, but so long as he was in Ritsu's company it would be enough. When they were alone he could even reach out and hold Ritsu's hand. Sure, it would make the brunette shriek like a banshee at first, but Masamune could put up with some scolding if the end result was holding hands. Maybe he could even steal a kiss or two-

"Well, that's because you have no shame!" Ritsu huffed, shattering Masamune's daydream before it could really get anywhere good. "Besides, I really just want to spend my off day relaxing. At home. Alone."

"Let me cook for you then." Masamune said.

"What part of alone did you not understand?"

"I'd just be in the kitchen. Besides, with your track record I can't be sure that you're feeding yourself properly on your days off." He said, that only being maybe 25% of why he wanted access to Ritsu's apartment, the other 75% of course being that he wanted to spend time with the brunette. But he couldn't say that, not if he didn't want Ritsu to explode.

Ritsu frowned. "I don't have anything in my pantry for you to cook anyway, so if you'd excuse me-"

"Do you not see how that's even worse? You're seriously hopeless." Masamune huffed, reaching out to grab Ritsu by the wrist and drag him over to his apartment.

"T-Takano-san! Let go of me!" Ritsu protested, trying to wiggle out of his grip. Despite his effort, he ended up in Masamune's living room.

"Sit. Relax. That's an order from your boss. I'll start cooking." Masamune said.

Relaxing in Takano Masamume's home was much easier said than done for the frazzled brunette, but it seemed he wasn't being given much of a choice.

"Can I at least go get the book I was reading and lock my front door or am I being completely held hostage?" Ritsu asked huffily, crossing his arms.

"Only if you promise to come back." Masamune said. "And if you don't you better believe your workload will be doubled come Monday morning."

Ritsu had to refrain from reaching out and strangling his annoying ex-boyfriend, instead he stomped out of his apartment and back over to his own. He went into the living room, snatching the book back up and pausing to consider his options: stay put in his home, but probably be harrassed all night and ultimately punished at work or do some damage control by reading at Masamune's place instead. Ritsu sighed, suddenly feeling gloomy. It just wasn't fair! Why couldn't he ever catch a break?

Ultimately he decided to go back to Masamune's apartment, slipping inside and shuffling to the living room. He could hear Masamune making himself busy in the kitchen, so he decided not to bring too much attention to himself and just sit. He cracked his book back open, picking up where he left off and letting himself get absorbed in the pages.

Maybe this wasn't so bad...

The domestic sounds of the kitchen that were familiar enough to be comforting, but not loud enough to be distracting, the comfortable couch that he was able to sink into, a story that he didn't have to worry about editing and could instead just enjoy, and eventually a delightful smell wafting through the apartment all added together to make the usual tension Ritsu felt when in Masamune's apartment melt away.

"Hey, foods done."

Ritsu couldn't help but to jump when his little bubble had burst. Well, that had been fast. Or at least, it had seemed like it. Just how long had Ritsu been reading?

"A-Ah, okay." Ritsu marked his page and set down his book before standing to follow Masamune into the kitchen shyly.

Dinner had been done for maybe ten minutes now, but Masamune hadn't been able to tell Ritsu right away, not when he saw him on the couch. He had looked so at ease, like he belonged there, like it was only natural for him to be in Masamune's living room and Masamune could only stare and hope to God that one day that would be true. It had pained him to interrupt such a beautiful image.

"Itadakimasu." Masamune said as they sat across from one another.

"I-Itadakimasu." Ritsu echoed before he started to eat. He was mad that it was good. There was no way he could compliment Masamune's cooking without him getting a big head about it so he kept quiet.

"So, what's that book you've been reading this whole time?" Masamune asked curiously. Just like that, Ritsu lit up with stars in those emerald eyes of his, always eager to talk about books. That was perfectly fine though, Masamune was always eager to listen.

"It's Sumi-sensei's latest novel! I'm really enjoying it so far, but it's interesting, the tone is a little lighter than his usual novels-" Ritsu started to ramble between his bites of food, Masamune doing his best to pay attention and not just get caught up in admiring him.

"I love you." Masamune said when Ritsu's words came to a natural pause.

Ritsu turned a bright shade of pink and he quickly stuffed some food into his mouth to avoid responding.

Masamune just smiled, not expecting a response of any kind other than something akin to scolding, but that was okay. He reached out across the table, taking Ritsu's free hand in his. "Thanks for coming over for dinner."

"You dragged me over..." Ritsu reminded him, huffing.

Masamune chuckled, knowing that Ritsu wouldn't be here if he truly didn't want to be. "Still, thanks anyways." He said. "Can I borrow that book when you're finished with it?"

Ritsu was more than happy to steer the conversation back toward the book, not even realizing that he was still holding Masamune's hand.

[writingdotcoffee]

#123: 2019 on the blog

There are only a few more days of 2019 left. It’s odd to think that this will be my last post of the decade on this blog. No pressure, eh? I did consider writing a sweeping review piece but then thought better of it. Reflection is best done in private. Besides, 2019 didn’t go by like a regular year. It came along and punched us in the face. Let’s leave it at that.

Instead, I will leave you with a list of all the posts I published this year. Ultimately, that’s what I was thinking about in 2019.

I wrote one every week, so there are 52 of them – over 41,000 words in total. Not gonna lie, some weeks, the struggle was real to keep up the discipline. Some posts tanked while others resonated surprisingly well. It didn’t kill me, and it shows that a small habit can go a long way if you stick to it for long enough.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for following my blog. Thank you for reading, liking and reblogging. I appreciate your generous support.

2020 will be busy. I will be launching a writing-related business in the next couple of months and sharing it on the blog so stay tuned for that.

Stay safe on New Year’s Eve, and I’ll see you in the new year!

2019 in 52 Posts

January

#72: Getting Started

#73: The Third Draft

#74: Audiobooks

#75: Winter

February

#76: The Negative Review Paradox

#77: In Praise of Bad Fiction

#78: Becoming Polynovelous

#79: Not Feeling Like It

March

#80: A Day In The Life Of A Writer

#81: What Inspires Me

#82: On Regularity

#83: The Bookshop Anxiety

April

#84: It’s an Excavation!

#85: Airplane Mode as a Way of Life

#86: The Person Behind the Story

#87: A Walk From the Library

#88: Brain Surgery for Writers

May

#89: Libraries

#90: Favourites

#91: Writing and Life

#92: Decisive Moments

June

#93: Time Tracking for Writers

#94: Writers and Jobs

#95: Project Fatigue

#96: Experiments

July

#97: The 15-minute Challenge

#98: Daily Writing Routine Tips

#99: Having Written

#100: Thank You for Reading

#101: Writing for Fun or Profit?

August

#102: Don’t Break the Chain

#103: Do You Just Write?

#104: The Sting of Rejection

#105: Side Gigs for Writers

September

#106: Ship Your Art

#107: What’s in it for the reader?

#108: Keeping At It

#109: New Things Coming

#110: Writing Against the Odds

October

#111: Practicing Writing Without Actually Writing

#112: NaNoWriMo for the Rest of Us

#113: Is It Worth It?

#114: Writing and Stress

November

#117: What’s Good Enough?

#118: A Friendly Reminder

#115: Secret Project Update

#116: The Prolific Life

December

#119: Where Do You Start?

#120: On Looking Back

#121: Why Don’t We Read the Books We Buy?

#122: Axioms of the Creative Life

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Past Editions

#122: Axioms of the Creative Life, December 2019

#121: Why Don’t We Read the Books We Buy?, December 2019

#120: On Looking Back, December 2019

#119: Where Do You Start?, December 2019

#118: A Friendly Reminder, November 2019