#(and took me 3 hours and 50+ layers)

[theradicalace]

i want them to be bowling rivals so badly

[godofdumpsterfalling]

Headcanon Dump - Hermes & Apollo ft. Dionysus (Riordanverse)

Because I have a mountain of these and if I don’t organize them they will be completely incoherent. Under a cut for length.

- Apollo basically raised Hermes, for all the value of “raised” when concerning gods.

- Maia did not want to be a mother, and had no idea how to. She tried, and did care about Hermes, but was secretly relieved when Hermes took to following Apollo everywhere. Zeus was really perfecting his parenting style of the day, which was caring about his kids from a distance (he had other priorities, they were not really near the top) and occasionally popping in to give some Fatherly Advice or have bonding moment (omg taking his kids fishing…deadbeat dad core for REAL) before fucking off again like “parental control duties DONE I am SUCH a good dad. See you again in like 50 years, sport!” It was particularly bad when Hermes was born.

- Hermes followed Apollo around for a solid couple hundred years, acting as his shadow pretty much. It drove Athena and Artemis CRAZY. Apollo’s extroverted ass was completely baffled by people being off put by his baby brother basically being attached to his back. He’s not gonna bother you he’s just gonna hang out?? What’s the problem??

- Hermes stayed in a younger form for a looong time because he knew Apollo would never say no to him if he looked cute enough. Until he got hit with the depression beam, he kept whipping that form out whenever he got in trouble. He’s baby, your honor, you can’t be mad at a BABY

- Hermes held Dionysus for 2 seconds before he decided he was willing to die for this little guy. The couple hours after he was born were spent by Hermes holding him up to random family members and going “LOOK AT HIM HES SO SMALL” and the family members going “Hermes please do your job”

- When Dionysus joined Olympus, Hermes eagerly took him under his wing in a similar manner to Apollo taking on Hermes. Not as much weird parental responsibility though. But he was still following Apollo everywhere so Apollo got TWO mischievous shadows. Much to Artmemis’ dismay. Why are there TWO OF THEM

- All they ever had to do was duck behind Apollo and he’d defend them against whoever they’d pissed off now even when they were 100% in the wrong. Especially when they were 100% in the wrong, honestly.

- Zeus and Hermes’ relationship has a lot of layers (a post for another time) but the bare bones basics is that early on Zeus just thought he was a Clown (that’s my funny boy <3) and nowadays he’s Zeus’ under appreciated, overworked personal assistant. Although he’s kind of been Zeus’ lapdog since the beginning. Father Please Notice Me I am not as shiny as Apollo but I can roll over so nice pls pls pls

- Hermes has not had a nap in the past century somebody please help him. Give your local delivery man a nice tip because he has like 20 other domains and would rather be doing Literally Anything Else. And also a hug maybe, the most contact he ever gets is when he brushes hands with whoever he’s giving a package. Somebody get this man a paid vacation he has been holding Olympus together with duct tape

- Hermes has the worst case of Middle Child Syndrome Known To Man

- Hermes and Artemis like each other! Shockingly. For reasons unrelated to Apollo, even. They just like to hang out. Hermes is one of the two Olympians she’s happy to be around <3

- Apollo has tried, with varying success, to get Hermes and Athena to be friends. The results have been… mixed.

- Athena, Apollo and Hermes will occasionally have absolutely legendary verbal smackdowns. So brutal that it would actually evaporate a mortal on the spot. Indescribable, really. Anyone who overhears them will never mentally recover,

[m0rang0z]

50 layers (the background was made in a different canvas, so I'm not counting the layers it took to make it)

2 hour and 37 seven minutes (without the background canvas still)

I'm slowly going back to the creepypasta fandom heheheheh (*´꒳`*) since the votes about me drawing undercircus sans (my au) haven't finished, tho the results are pretty clear, i have decided to do my fav slenderman proxy first :3

This ended up being almost a pose and specially background practice ngl, anyway i love this guy, we both got daddy issues /hj

As always, y'all from tumblr r the first ones to see my art, cuz sometimes my lazy ass take days to post it on Instagram, tiktok and threads lulz

[music4lifebycc]

From Improvisation to Arrangement: The Beginning of My First Piece, 12 May 2025

Today I’m starting the arrangement of my pieces, with piano as the main instrument—since that’s my area of focus. For the first piece, I’m creating a full piano arrangement. I’ll start by improvising around a chord progression or bass line that I choose, and then build the instrumentation for each section based on the themes that develop. I’m following a structure similar to pop music: intro, verse 1, pre-chorus, chorus, then a repeat of the verse and pre-chorus, another chorus, and finally the outro. While the overall form is pop-inspired, I’m incorporating classical techniques like repetition, pedal points, and imitation to give the piece more depth and character.

I started experimenting with my arrangement by improvising different sections first, picking out ideas that stood out to me. I used the Steinway Grand Piano MIDI as the base sound while playing on my 88-key Yamaha digital piano with fully weighted keys. This session lasted around 50 minutes and involved lots of trial and error—stopping, replaying, and revisiting ideas. I took breaks between recordings to listen back to each draft before deciding which parts were worth keeping or building on for the final arrangement.

I spent about 40 minutes recording the rough arrangements I’ve chosen for my first piece, assigning each part to a specific section of the structure. It’s still mostly improvised, but I have a clearer idea now of the thematic material I want to develop as the piece builds. To keep things organised, I used colour-coding to differentiate between the initial improvisation drafts and the versions I’ve selected for the actual arrangement. I’m planning to use the bottom row of colours in my final output when I start layering in other instruments, with the first colour representing the piano. The rough length of the piece is about 5 minutes. Now I’m moving on to editing and refining the arrangement to establish it as the foundation for my first instrumental piece. Before adding any layering or background sound effects, I’ll be adjusting the structure—removing or adding certain parts to help the transitions between sections feel smoother and more cohesive. After listening back multiple times, I noticed that the intro and verse felt too long, while the chorus—usually the most prominent section—was too short. So I’ll be making some adjustments to improve the flow of the arrangement and, ideally, bring the total duration to under 5 minutes. While tidying up and organising the selected drafts, I decided on a tempo of 65 BPM and a 2/4 time signature. With that in place, I recorded a full version of the piano arrangement at tempo to lock everything in more clearly.

Since the arrangement was still a bit messy, I went through and refined each section one by one. Time check: 9PM. I spent a total of 3 hours (from 5PM to 9PM, with a 1-hour break in between) working on cleaning up the structure and starting a smoother version of the arrangement. It now flows much better and is sitting at around 4 minutes and 39 seconds. I’ve marked the refined version in bright pink for clarity. I’m planning to record the full version in one take tomorrow.

This section with the added piano layer turned out to be one of my favourite parts of the arrangement. At first, I wasn’t sure where it would fit, but it ended up working really well in the most intense part of the piece—where the music flows continuously from the repeated verse into the pre-chorus and then into the chorus, without any breaks. I’ve named the region “favourite part” for now, and I’ll figure out exactly how to fit it in tomorrow. (See below.)

####### Side Note ####### Piano Arrangement Approach: I always begin my compositions by creating a full piano arrangement as the foundation. Some of my musician friends prefer to start with lyrics, but for me, it always begins with an original, recurring musical theme that I want to carry throughout the piece. I usually follow that by writing a repeating bass line with only minimal changes, which allows more space for the right hand to move freely. From there, I start improvising until something clicks—something I feel is strong enough to include in the final version.

Interestingly, one of my lecturers once mentioned in class that we should always build a foundational arrangement first before layering in MIDI or audio instruments. That advice really aligned with my process. Starting with a solid piano arrangement gives me a clear structure to build on and opens up more creative freedom to experiment with layering, textures, and background sounds. It also helps me stay connected to the musical ideas that come to me more intuitively or subconsciously. ####### End of Side Note #######

Today, I spent around 5 hours working on my piece from 3 PM to 9 PM, with a 1-hour break in between. While the work is still in progress, I’m feeling good about the direction it’s taking. I plan to upload the finished track in the coming days. I would appreciate it if you could share any feedback or thoughts on my methodology. I’m always looking for ways to improve and grow as a musician!

Thank you all~

[tiny-caffeinated-panda]

Edwin WIP (3-4 hours of work) started on October 15 vs Charles WIP (2-3 hours of work) started on October 2 The finished Charles piece from before probably took around 40-50 hours. Lost and afraid in the world of digital art, I stumbled around in the dark. Thankfully, more experienced people could advise me about resolution, tools, and layers. Fucking layers, man. And hey, at least I learned enough to start Edwin off in a way that doesn't make him look like a Sims character. Progress!

[imagine-dragonlords]

Heya, I just wanted to ask you, one of the greatest edit makers I've ever seen, if you would be willing to share some tips and tricks for other potential edit makers (myself, and your many other admirers).

I've been trying for so long but I get so lost in content and editing and I don't know what I'm doing, haha. Like, what inspires you? :)

<3<3<3

Oh wow thank you so much.

Honestly, one of the biggest pieces of advice is just don't be afraid to make something bad, just use that passion for the content to help you learn and feel comfortable with the tools you are using. The thing is, your best friends are time and practice.

I started editing videos in 2008, on Windows Movie Maker. They are NOT GOOD. My first ever uploaded edit was June 2008; one of my first edits trying out Sony Vegas (a whole new programme) was March 2009 but looking back from now, they are still *not good*, but a year later this video I think still looks pretty good. Even comparing on my current channel videos from a year ago to now, I think my editing style has grown in ambitiousness and I feel more confident doing certain things. (I am not saying it took me 15 years to get good at these skills, I took a 8-year break from editing videos between 2014-2022, and now I use a new editing software called Wondershare Filmora. But obviously, lessons and skills learned from previous years I still remembered). I also make A LOT of content, and edit often, so I practice my skills and style regularly.

I also share works-in-progress with people I trust, and their opinions help make edits even better than if I'd worked alone.

But aside from the mechanics of editing, and more around getting *inspired*, honestly I just pick songs that I enjoy (if it's a song-edit, you will end up listening to that song around 100000000 times, so you better make sure you like it to begin with 🙃😅). Edits can take anything from like 8-hours of editing to 50 hours of editing, depending on how long it is and how complex the layering I've chosen to do (also how frantic/short the clips are, as more clips=more time=more listening to the song).

After you're editing for a while, you get to know the source material very well. I am very comfortable with Merlin, so it takes me less time to make those videos, and I get "lost" less often. I often will listen to a bit of a song, and have a very specific scene in mind that I think *wow that would fit that exactly*.

I like to build up tension in edits up to a big crescendo during the climax of a song, as such, I often edit that bit first, so I am not limited to the EPIC scenes I can choose. Because it's meant to be a climax, I usually put the fan favourite scenes or emotionally intense ones there, and the rest of the edit will have to deal with it. A great example of this, is my edit to Us by Gracie Abrams (ft. Taylor Swift) (1:12 - 1:46), so many of my favourite scenes are cramped into flashes there, but means they can't really be used elsewhere. Which means I see less of my favourite bits, but it contributes more effectively to the emotional impact of the edit, and frantic feeling of the song.

Tips:

Make a playlist of songs that inspire you, for later use.

Make a document of the lyrics and annotate it with possible scenes from the show you are editing that speak to those lyrics, before you start (but don't be afraid to throw it out if while you're making it, something else works better instead). It's good as a starting point, rather than a bible.

Start simple, and learn from there. Some of my most popular videos are really simple in terms of editing. Like, literally just basic colouring, no effects, just one clip in front of another.

Pay attention to movements within the footage. Editors can often use effects and overlays to match clips to the beat and rhythm of songs. But, one of my favourite things to do, is use movements within clips themselves. For example, in my Guilty as Sin video, around the 3:19 mark, if you watch Merlin's eye movement, it matches the rhythm of Taylor's voice. And in the clips that follow it, you can just see that little shifts in movement or turns match up with the beat or words of the song - that is very much on purpose. It takes a while, but is so satisfying to the subconscious viewer - and it's something you can do without many fancy effects or overlays etc.

Isolating vocals. I like to edit a video with all the voiceovers, then mute the song, save as mp3, so all the voiceovers are together. Then use a programme online (there are many different ones available) to remove background music from the voiceover. I save that as another MP3, put it in the editing file in the right place, mute all the previous voiceover clips, put the song back on. And voila - now your voiceovers sound really crisp and the music from the show won't muddy the music you've chosen for the edit.

Work smarter, not harder. I often reuse editing files, so that I don't have to worry too much about re-doing the colouring, effects etc. It also means I have already got a bank of clips that I probably want to use. It means that my edits have a consistent style a lot of the time, and less work for me :-)

Don't worry about editing to a song that someone else has already done. We're all different and as long as you're not copying the edit, it will probably end up very different. And hey, if it's a perfect song for that fandom? Other people will probably agree and want to watch multiples of that edit to that song anyway.

That is all I can think for now, but I am happy to do a kind of "edit-with-me" workshop in the future if people would want that :-)

thanks @windforkthewriter for the ask, sorry if I went on for too long!!!

[consplaysuperior]

Hi I am such a huge fan of your Soundwave cosplay, absolutely legendary and I dream of the day it’s for sale.

Till then I have a most ambitious dream that you might save me a lot of time on. I am a welder and have amassed a stockpile material to make a metal cosplay suit. Do you have templates or drawings or anything really of the Soundwave cosplay?

The biggest trouble I’ve been having is with figuring out his plating and if you had any sort of sketches or planning I could use I’d be eternally grateful. I totally understand if it’s classified/non-disclosable/etc.

You folks are legends among Transformers cosplayers and rightfully so. Most amazing work!!

Thank you! I'm glad you like our work! I don't see us selling our suits any time soon, but we're always glad to help anyone making their own! We have no secrets here

Soundwave's plating is really complicated. One of the pieces that wraps around his side took us almost 3 hours to pattern! There's one thing like that in every cosplay, it seems... I'm not sure where our actual templates are right now, and they would take time to photograph since they're quite large, but we do have a process album that shows a lot of his pieces close up, and how the layers go together. We also used the Art of Prime book, which is sadly out of print and really expensive now. However! One of the artists who worked on it has pages on deviantart, so here is Soundwave's.

A metal cosplay of Soundwave is going to be very heavy, but you probably know that. Ours is mostly foam with a bit of metal for strength and moving joints, and it weighs probably 40 or 50 pounds.

If I do manage to dig out any of our sketches or templates, I'll reblog with pictures, but in the meantime, feel free to ask any questions that come up. I can't wait to see what you make!

~Mod Starscream

[multifan2022]

Golden lies 8

PART 1 PART 7

MyMasterlist

Maybe.. Just count on these hurting for a while

After spilling your guts out, you got up refusing to look at Hardin's now cooling body. You needed to move, not only because you're screaming gave away your position. But you needed Hardin's body out of the arena, it was going to kill you if you saw it again. You were thankful that the two of you had set your bags just behind you. You wouldn't be able to loot his body. 

You practically ran back into the woods, tears nonstop streaming down your face as the sun finished setting. You ran until your legs gave out, hitting your knees you just stared blankly at the ground. Huffing air in and out as you screamed for your mind to shut off. You looked around, finding another one of those tree root holes. 

You forced yourself into it, pushing yourself into your sleeping bag. Your bag was down in the extra space at the bottom, so someone would literally have to kill you to get your supplies. The machete Hardin had was firmly in your hand, ready to strike out if you needed. As you laid there, trying desperately to just sleep, the sky lit up. 

Green, purple and blue swirls filled the sky as the Panem anthem played. It was softer than normal as Hardin's face replaced the Capitol seal. It was only up for a moment, before the music faded and the colors swirled around each other softly. Almost like a tribute to the lost tribute. 

The last thing you remembered before falling asleep was your promise to Hardin. In the morning, you would eat the last of your rations. Fill your two canteens and start hunting other tributes. You just hoped someone got to the kids from four before you did. Because you didn't know if you would be able to kill them after this. 

~~~~~~~

Walking.. That was all you had done as the sun moved through the sky. The temperature rose, layers came off, your sports bra, pants and boots all you kept on. A sickle in one hand and the machete in the other. At this point you didn't even know where you were going, you were just walking. 

After hours you noticed something up ahead, butterflies. Huge butterflies, almost 10 inches in size, swarming around something on the ground. The closer you got, the further away you wished you were. 

Down under what had to be 50 or 60 butterflies was a half eaten body. The insects feasting on dead flesh and muscle as you recognized the dark hair of the district 2 female. Goosebumps filled your skin as you watched them walk and flutter around her. Upon further inspection you noticed berries in her hand, ones that you assumed were poisonous. 

You didn't know if it was symbolic or not, the butterflies, but chose to ignore it. Turning away to walk some more, looking and listening for a live tribute. An undetermined amount of time, you heard some whimpers of pain. When brown curly hair peaked up a little from the grass on the ground, you wished you had stayed with the butterflies. 

Beck, the tribute from 4, was laying on the ground, his shirt covered in blood. Slices covering his chest as his hand stayed firmly around what looked like a trident. Your knees got weak as you approached him. You didn't know if he would try to kill you as you walked closer, but figured he probably wouldn't do much damage. 

“Hey..” You said softly watching his body flinch, he tried to raise the heavy metal weapon but his hand just fell back to the ground. He relaxed slightly when he noticed it was you, but he was in so much pain. Tears were streaming down his face as your knees met the grass next  to him. 

“Its ok.. Shh.” You tried to comfort him, carding a hand through his hair watching as his eyes closed. When they opened a minute later, they were significantly darker. “They have… River..” he gasped a breath painfully trying to finish. “I failed.. They took us… Then 8,6 and 7 took me…” Blood was now seeping out of his mouth as he pushed through, enjoying the small amount of calmness your hand brought. 

“1 and 3 have River... You have to save her if you can… Please..” Beck used every drop of the strength he had left to raise his hand, dropping the trident into your lap. Then he pointed to his bag, “Sponsor gift.. For later.. Please..” You grabbed his bag digging through to look for what he was talking about. When the small gray canister was found you held it out, and he sighed while nodding. 

“Finn said it's for when the lightning starts.. Rub it on your skin..”

His eyes closed, sighing again because he felt like he had done what he could. He couldn't fight 7 people twice his size. He couldn't heal the slashes across his chest. But he could give you what he had in hopes you got to River in time. “The boy from 8.. He thought it would be fun if I died slowly.. He said pain brings people joy..” 

Your lip pulled back in a sneer, disgusted that someone would do this to a kid. You knew that unfortunately for someone to win everyone else had to die, but to purposely put someone through pain like this.. You blamed yourself, you shouldn't have given them the bags. You shouldn't have told River to run, then maybe they would have died quickly at the bloodbath. “Im so sorry.. This is all my fault.” Your voice was shaky, you were so tired of this. You felt like if you got out, you would just be an empty shell. 

Beck shook his head, “Just stay with me.. Then find River.. Then win.. Please.” Beck gasped, starting to choke slightly on his own blood as his vision got darker. “Can you sing.. My mom always sings me to sleep.” You nodded, crossing your legs and laying his head in your lap. As your fingers brushed his curly hair back from his forehead. 

I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go

When all those shadows almost killed your light

I remember you said don't leave me here alone

But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight

Your heart was breaking into more pieces than it already had been as you watched Beck's chest move up and down in ragged painful breaths. You were thanking whoever was out there that Hardin hadn't died like this. You wished you had the strength to mercy kill Beck, but you just didn't think you could do it. 

Just close your eyes

The sun is going down

You'll be alright

No one can hurt you now

Come morning light

You and I'll be safe and sound

You used the hand that wasn't carding through his hair, to brush the dirt off his face. His cheeks and forehead were becoming more relaxed. The creases between his eyebrows and the frown lines disappeared as his heart slowed, then stopped. The cannon firing as you finished the last line of that verse. “I'm sorry..” Was all you whispered as you leaned down and kissed his sweaty forehead. 

You didn't know why you connected so deeply with these two kids. Maybe it was because you had always been against the games and they were so young. Maybe it was because you saw Hardin in River, and yourself in Beck. Two friends who would do what they needed to protect each other. But Beck's objective was to save River, just as yours had been to save Hardin. 

Both of you had failed. Then you had failed Beck, and now you felt you would also fail River. Laying his head down, you knelt elbow resting on your knee holding your head up. Looking down at his small torn up body, something broke deeply. That part of you that had been separate, was now all you. 

The part that had been protecting you from feeling the pain of killing others now all you felt. A scary numb came over your entire body as you stood and spoke down to Beck. “I will find them.. I will find them if I have to burn down this entire arena.. It's the careers turn. They will kill me or I will light their pyre. I promise.” 

The trident lay at your feet unused and while you wanted to pick it up, you had no experience with one. You knew that going into this fight with something like that could mean your death. So you picked it up, and wrapped Beck's fingers around it, ensuring that it would be taken out with him. 

You turned a blank dead look on your face as you walked just far enough away. Waiting until the Capitol ship appeared and lowered the crane to lift his body. You watched as it lifted the small boy up, before the doors closed and it disappeared again. “Let the Gods have mercy on him.. Gods have mercy on me.. Because I will kill them.. They will all burn..” 

The tribute center had never been so quiet for so long. 

Nobody wanted to say anything, afraid that it would set others off. Haymitch had been dedicatedly watching from your screen. Chaff, Seeder and a few others gathered with him from time to time. 

Finnick didn't think Mags had stopped crying since she watched you kill your friend. It only got worse when they watched the alliance split, one of their tributes going with the careers and one with the outliers. Their tiny screams for each other would haunt Finnick forever. He had even shred a few tears watching you lull Beck into a painfilled death. 

He was thankful that you had done what you could by sitting and singing to him. He felt like a failure every time that one of his tributes died, but this year they had been so young. It hurt worse than he thought it would. He had only been a mentor a few years himself, he didn't know how he would keep doing this like Mags had. 

“God have mercy on him.. God have mercy on me.. Because I will kill them.. They will all burn..” 

Before your words could even sink in there was a knock at the door. A peacekeeper walked in looking towards the group of people hovering at the district 9 monitor. “Abernathy.. There's a man here to see you.. Mr. Crane.. He would like to discuss the finale” Nobody had ever seen the drunk move so quickly as he ran out the door. 

Unknowing of what he was bringing into the young girls life. 

@avis15 @liballer @avoxrising @notplutos @asapkyndall @wolfstarfate

[snoopdoggs]

Would you ever consider explaining your process on how you make gifs so quickly? Not a full blown tutorial but mainly sharing the programs you use?

sure!! i'll try to break it down but tbh im not good at explaining the method used to make gifs so i recommend checking out some tutorials for something more in-depth.

i use two programs to make gifs: adobe premiere rush & adobe photoshop cc

putting this under the cut because i included some pictures to help explain

step one: clipping (premiere rush)

so here i usually import my video into premiere rush and clip out the scenes i would like to gif. to keep it somewhat consistent, i like to make my clip sizes 2-3 seconds if possible, and this usually takes me anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes depending on how big the video im trimming is and how much screentime the person im giffing has

step two: importing (photoshop cc)

so i use videos to layers to make my gifs, which i would recommend if you have storage space to spare on your computer because it can eat up a lot of your space during the process. but essentially, i import my trimmed video into photoshop and add the sharpening i'll use, then split each gif that'll be made into it's own layer. i repeat this with the rest of the video and save each file as it's own part. the longer your trimmed video is, the longer it'll take to do this step, but this specific example took me 15 minutes to do.

step three: coloring (photoshop cc)

this is probably the fastest part of it, but it's basically going back to each part you made and coloring the gifs. you'll use the marker to trim it down for each gif and save it for web. if the video you're trying to gif is easy to color, it will go pretty fast, and it took me about 10 minutes to make 50 gifs.

note: the entire process of making these specific gifs took me a little over half an hour (10 minutes to clip, 15 minutes to import, 10 minutes to gif = 50 gifs), but obviously the time varies depending on each project and it's difficulty. i will say my method probably goes faster because it's a lot of repeated actions all at once so once you get the hang of it you can go pretty quickly. i also tend to clip stuff in advance to gif later just because it's my least favorite part and probably will require the most focus.

[thehydromancer]

Lordship at Last; A Scrub's Tale

After 268 hours (I know) and 173 levels (I KNOW), I finally cleared my first Elden Ring run. I... love it. It took me a long time to realize exactly why, but when it hit me it made perfect sense. The whole game is the Water Temple. I don't think I need to explain that to anyone. A simple statement, but the more you think about it, the implications are layered and sublime. I vaguely recall an ancient game mag interview with some dev or another who, when asked what his dream project would be, described a grittier Zelda with more subtle storytelling and more interesting uses in combat for traditional equipment such as the hookshot. I remember loving the concept, and later Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom. Elden Ring though feels like the logical conclusion to exploring the freedom and flexibility of modern fantasy adventure games, the masterpiece bookend to the world of possibilities that the OG NES Zelda began to reveal to us.

And what a journey its been. My first Souls-like game, starting out as a bandit named Torrent (IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN THE GAME {I THOUGHT} ADDRESSED MY CHARACTER BY NAME IN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES!!!), not understanding how shields worked, and grossly under leveling vigor (hell finished with only 40 before hearing after the fact that 60 is typically the goal). Dying to the lake side ruins bats again. And again. And again. Standing in the Church of Elleh thinking I was safe, studying the Limgrave Tree Sentinel with my shiny new telescope, only for it to drop the walls on me. Not understanding how elemental damages work till the last 3rd of the game. Breezing through some bosses only to be kneecapped physically and spiritually again and again by a pair of mangy mutts, cocaine bear, biblically accurate angel bubbles, or simply a zombie holding a torch causally away from their body. Spending the first half of the game dying in numbers that would make Rosus himself say 'hey slow down there partner, thanks for putting my kids through Raya Lucaria with all those runes you lost, but I really need a break.' Forgetting I'd picked up the crystal tear for cleansing during the Mohg fight, instead trying everything up to and including Law of Regression to clear the triple ring status effect during the fight.

Ever so slowly, painfully, learning the ins and outs of the game. Slowly morphing from a dex curved sword user with throwing knives and a bow to a mage knight desperately cheesing his way through the last 60 hours of the game. SO. MUCH. BACKTRACKING. I must have revisited Stormveil over the course of 100 hours, finding something new every time. Exploring every nook and cranny in the world, scrapping runes together as hard as I could in the early game, only to be shocked at how easy leveling became in the second half of the game. Hosting tryouts for every Spirit Ashes like I was assembling the outer-gods-damned Avengers to fight Thanos wielding the Elden Gauntlet. ACCIDENTALLY STUMBLING UPON DRAGON ELDEN LORD, WHOOPS SORRY SIR(S?) DIDN'T MEAN TO DISTURB YOUR ETERNAL TIMELESS SLUMBER! In the end, somehow, managing to defeat all demigods and I'd guess 95% of the bosses in the game. I know I missed a few, and there was 3 or 4 I purposefully decided to ignore for my own sanity (if Blaidd had been half red wolf he'd of been the next Elden Lord I swear).

Bosses that gave me the greatest trouble at the time;

Margit (pretty sure we killed each other at the same time, so I never got his runes)

Godrick (I'd like to think it'd be a different story now that I've developed some skill and muscle memory but boy was this a grind)

Dragon Tree Sentinel guarding Lyndell (probably over 50 deaths, just the worst, only read about the additional summons later!)

The Elden Beast (how do pure melee builds beat this guy!? I had trouble keeping up with it using various ranged spells, the opportunities to stab it felt few and far inbetween)

Bosses that I was shocked at how easy they were based on memes/carbot/the community;

Radahn (only demigod I beat my first time, still an awesome battle)

Placidusax (one of the most enjoyable fights in hindsight, really felt like I was hitting my stride with the ebb and flow of battle finally)

Malenia, Blade of Miquella (in fairness was probably grossly over leveled by this point, downed in 3 or 4 attempts)

Radagon (the cheese was real but I was also serving it)

Special shout out to the meteorite staff and rock sling spell, the true MVPs of my run and the breakers of bosses, especially dragons. The carian knight sword and grandeur skill had an incredible run until I was able to nab the Sword of Night and Flame, and eventually the Dark Moon Greatsword itself, fulfilling my transformation into Fierce Deity Tarnished. Loretta's War Sickle was surprisingly fun as well for non boss fights.

As I look ahead to the DLC and meander/experiment through a NG+ or 3 while I wait, I can't help but wonder, probably a true dark horse theory... are we, the Tarnished, in some way, shape, or form... Miquella? Why would Malenia, instead of seeking him out to rescue her beloved brother, wait for him in the one place she knows he isn't... convinced he'd return... when it was I, Tarnished, all along who returned? Silly I know. But Torrent (I hate that I have to specify this, the horse) also reacted to Torrent (the Tarnished) in a way that felt more meaningful the second time around after having experienced most of the story. Why would Melina choose us (assuming we were her only attempt) over all others? Did she even truly know?

Alright that was a lot. I wish I'd kept a running journal of my play through, there was just so much wonder and discovery. I look forward to picking up Bloodborne and Lies of P to continue feeding my new addiction!

[sunshine-tattoo]

i think a pretty big pet peeve of mine is people who don't dress for the weather/ climate and then complain when they are uncomfortable.

like the obvious one is early 20s white girls going clubbing and then freezing their asses off going home because there ain't a jacket among them.

but there are quite a few that are honestly worse.

example: a few summers ago I worked at a kids outdoor camp. for many days it was over 30C (90F) with over 80% humidity.

in other words HOT.

we also had very limited shade and were usually in the full sun for most of the day.

so i made it very clear to all the parents and caregivers that every child was required 4 things:

1. Sunscreen

2. Sunglasses

3. Water

4. Weather appropriate clothing like shorts and t-shirts

for the most part I didn't have any trouble.

kids came with what they needed and I made sure they took plenty of water breaks and applied sunscreen every hour.

but there were two instances where things got bad.

Instance One

a mom refused to have her child wear sunscreen. I don't know if it was a fear of chemicals thing or her just believing that because their family was slightly olive complexed but whatever.

either way this kid went three days in intense UV with no sunscreen.

can you guess what happened?

he got so badly burned that he had to miss the rest of camp.

I was furious.

this kid had to stay home and be miserable all because his mama didn't listen to me about sun safety.

darker skin tones might protect you a little compared to paler ones but at the height of summer it don't matter what shade you are.

You. Will. Get. Burned.

my family is mixed and my auntie always said:

"Black don't crack but it does fry."

so me (white as fuck) and my cousins (50 shades of brown) wore the same amount of sunscreen every summer.

Instance Two

the camp being in Toronto we had a lot of first generation kiddos from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.

which was awesome. we all learned so much from one another.

except for one family.

they were from Saudi Arabia and had only been in Canada for a few months.

they sent their little girl to camp in full traditional clothing.

- long dress

- legs and arms covered

- head scarf

which in air conditioned spaces or ontario's frozen winters is fine.

but NOT in the middle of summer with no place to cool down.

I tried to talk to the parents about it, telling them that their girl was gonna be hella overheated all day and that was a health risk.

the dad just scoffed and said "our country is much hotter than this and everyone dresses this way she will be fine."

yes its hotter but its also a DRY heat.

I may live in Canada now, but I grew up in the swamps of the south eastern USA.

if there's one thing I know, it's that you can't treat humid heat and dry heat like they are the same thing.

in dry heat, flowy layers like traditional Saudi clothes are perfect. they keep the sun off and encourage breeziness.

humidity don't work that way.

layers will only suck up moisture like a sponge and lead to burns and rashes.

the key is limited clothes (like shorts and t-shirts) and then coating yourself in sunscreen and chugging water to keep up with the sweating.

I tried to explain this to the parents, but they didn't listen.

And you know what happened?

this poor girl passed out from heat exhaustion and we had to call a fucking ambulance.

then. because the EMTs told the parents directly that this girl needed different clothes. the parents took her out of camp entirely!

they would have rather wasted a few grand and not let their kid go to camp all because they refused to dress for the weather.

like I understand dress and tradition and faith are important but not to the point of risking personal safety.

bottom line of these stories: I need people to be less dumb when it comes to how they dress and what they do in extreme weather.

either dress for the day. or have a plan to keep yourself safe like going inside regularly to cool off/ warm up.

temperature-caused aliments are no fucking joke and they can easily be avoided if you actually use your brain.

[softsky-daily]

11/28/2023

The sky was so light today, and faded into this soft pink near sunset time.

Positive thing: I got some homework done with my friend and I managed to get caught up with my Japanese flashcards I had been putting off.

That was over 500 cards by the way, so not a quick feat. And Anki makes you do it over if you get it wrong, so I think all of them took me an hour and a half of just straight flashcards.

I think the 逃げ恥 haze is finally coming loose from me, but I definitely still got really distracted throughout the day whenever it'd come to mind. Especially at work. I had trouble with my last task since it was more involved than usual and all my brain wanted to do was replay 逃げ恥 scenes over and over. I ended up not finishing it, so I'll have to do it tomorrow.

Besides that, it was very cold today. I've only really lived in warm climates and I'm sensitive to the cold so anything below 60 degrees gets me shivering. Today was in the low 50s - 40s and I was all bundled up in 3 layers of clothing plus my scarf. I always love the opportunity to wear it though - it's from my mom and very warm and thick makes a good blanket in a pinch.

Tomorrow is the Secret Santa gift exchange some of my classmates and I are doing. I hope my recipient likes the gift I got for them. We wrote out our likes/dislikes in a group chat so we could all get a sense of what to get for whoever our person was. Mine mentioned liking plushies and handwritten cards which made looking for a gift pretty straightforward. I wonder what my Secret Santa got me. Last year when we did this my Secret Santa was extremely kind and got me Pokémon Violet and also some paopu fruit earrings. Well, the Pokemon Violet was because she heard I wished I could afford it and she bought it for me, so not quite part of the event but still a very pleasant surprise of course. I don't think that level of gift-giving will happen again, but I'm sure whatever it is I'll like.

[leejenowrld]

ooh that ask you answered has me thinking, what’s y/n’s gym routine? diet? wellness?

i went into so much depth here !!! this was fun. i took a lot of inspiration from my routines lol. also this might not seem realistic but idc !!! she’s a hot girl.

workout routine

weekly structure (6x/week, early mornings — pre-sunrise, non-negotiable):

monday: lower body strength + reformer pilates heavy squats, romanian deadlifts, glute bridges, weighted step-ups. finishes with a 50-minute private reformer pilates session to stretch, sculpt, and reset. the contrast between raw strength and controlled precision is the sweet spot she craves.

tuesday: hiit + boxing 30-minute high-intensity intervals on the treadmill (sprint/rest rotation). then an hour of boxing drills with a private trainer — aggression therapy. her fists are quiet confessions.

wednesday: yoga + core slow, advanced vinyasa flow in a heated room. focused on balance, breath, and control. core work is layered throughout — planks, toe taps, weighted crunches. she never skips abs. ever.

thursday: upper body sculpt + stairmaster pull-ups (ungodly good at them), overhead presses, rows, lateral raises, bench dips. then a brutal stairmaster climb. she zones out with music blasting, jaw clenched, ponytail slick with sweat. this is lowkey the reason why she can go for rounds with jeno.

friday: full-body functional + weighted circuits compound lifts, kettle bell circuits, sled pushes. she moves like she’s training for something private and high-stakes. because in her mind, she always is.

saturday: hot pilates + treadmill incline walk 50-minute endurance pilates in a sauna-like room. then a 40-minute incline walk while reviewing notes or playlists. multitasking is a comfort.

sunday: rest (active recovery only) walk through the city, face mask, massage appointment, or low-impact swimming. the day she lets herself soften a little but even then, she moves.

can i just say the sex she has with jeno is equal to all of these workouts lol

diet

strict but not joyless — high protein, high fiber, whole foods, no chaos. she rarely drinks, doesn’t binge, and eats with intent.

morning: oat milk iced americano egg white scramble with kale and avocado chia seed pudding with almond butter, berries, flax, she loves yogurt bowls too

lunch (usually solo, usually in silence): grilled salmon, lemon quinoa, cucumber + dill salad matcha with collagen no phone while eating — the millie bobby brown thing “my phone doesn’t eat” is back to you y/n

snacks: a green juice (celery, spinach, ginger, green apple) handful of almonds or cottage cheese with black pepper chocolate, she doesn’t limit herself with that.

dinner: depends on where she is. if she’s home, she cooks. miso cod, roasted veg, wild rice. if she’s out, she doesn’t really care. food is fuel, a hot girl’s gotta eat 🤷‍♀️

wellness

supplements: magnesium, omega-3, ashwagandha, d3, collagen powder, probiotics

skincare: militant. prescription retinol. facial steaming. gua sha every night with cold oil.

sleep: 6.5-7 hours, but she makes it look like 9. white noise machine. silk sheets. blackout curtains. she needs her own space to wind down.

therapy: yes, weekly. virtual when she travels. she’s learned to stop flinching when talking about herself. she takes notes after every session.

journaling: sharp, no fluff. lists, mantras, red-ink truths.

self-care rule: no scrolling in bed. no dating apps. perfume always, even at home. her rituals are her safety.

she’s the kind of girl who trains like a soldier and unwinds like a goddess. every part of her body carries the discipline of someone who’s been hurt before and decided to never lose control again.

[bike42]

Saturday April 12, 2025

From a plaque in our rental:

The South … the place where:

Tea is sweet and accents are sweeter

Summer starts in April

Macaroni and Cheese is a vegetable

Front porches are wide and words are long

Pecan pie is a staple

Y’all is the only proper noun

Chicken is fried and biscuits come with gravy

Everything is Darlin’

Someone’s heart is always being blessed

Family roots run deep

A great night’s sleep at our rental and we were all up by 7 with last minute packing and lashing things to our BoBs. Due to probable lack of water where we will be camping tonight, I filled our 3L dromedary with water which really adds to the load!

We had breakfast then I drove our car to the airport parking lot (just over a mile away) and JT rode our tandem to pick me up. So far, the plan to leave the cars in Tupelo has worked well, with nothing major left out of the car, and nothing critical left behind!

We attached the BoB’s to the bikes and were on the road about 9am. It was a gorgeous morning, but temps were still in the 50’s so we added extra layers on top. We had to ride about 1.5 miles to get to an on-ramp for the Trace, but soon we were cruising. It really is a wonder to ride with no crossroads, no stop signs or traffic lights, and no way to get lost! However, traffic was heavier than we expected it to be, with lots of trucks with trailers and souped up ATV’s.

We were relieved to find a pull-out with a historical marker nearly every mile and we gladly took a quick stand up break at each one! While the riding was easy today, when you haven’t put the time in on a bike, it’s tough on your neck, hands and butt.

We intentionally planned on a short day for our first day, and having left early, that means we arrived at our destination about noon with lots of time to kill. No one even suggested we ride further … it’d be another 40 miles to the next camp spot!

The first 20 miles today was predominantly flat, with a fewer ups and downs just before we ended. One was a 7% climb and we dropped down to our lowest gear! I’d forgotten what a drag it was to pull BoB uphill … gravity sure has a hold on him!

We set up tents, snacked, napped and studied maps. It was good to be off the bikes. We’re at Witch Camp picnic area - it has about a dozen picnic tables, toilets and a drinking fountain that appears to be working (Ranger yesterday told us there would be no potable water here)! This is also the start of a horse trail, so it was fun to see the horses and riders ride up as we were lounging around during the afternoon.

Stats for today:

28.7 miles (Ave speed 13.6 mph)

3 hours riding

839 ft of climb

After awhile, we decided to hike to Bynum Mounds, which we thought was just across the Trace, but was actually a mile down the road. Even though no one other than JT has good walking shoes, we walked there anyway! Yesterday at the Ranger Station we saw a video that depicted mound building. I’d never given it thought that those were built one basket of dirt at a time!

Back at camp, Jeff got out his old Coleman stove to start boiling water for dinner. Even though he tested it last week, it was having an issue. He thought he didn’t bring a critical part to the other stove, so I said I’d go try to start a fire in the picnic grill. I gathered leaves, pine needles and twigs and lit them on fire. Meanwhile Jeff found the piece to the stove but had to dump some white gas from the canister. I said I could use some for my fire. I watched in shock as he poured the gas onto the fire and it ran up and into the canister. Jeff flung the canister causing a line of fire across the forest floor. Then I noticed his hand was on fire! He was able to blot it out before it ran up to his nylon shirtsleeve or down to his bare legs. Matt came with cold water and he and Sandra dug sand from under the picnic table and doused the fire. It all happened so fast. Jeff has some blisters, but is downplaying the whole thing. We’re lucky we have a bathroom with cold water in the sink - he’s been soaking it in the cold water. My mind can’t stop going to how bad that could have been.

We made our dinner pouches and played some cribbage and backgammon. By 7p it was cooling off - too early to go to bed, but the picnic table isn’t all that comfy either!

[calensart]

Everyday Objects Final Blistex

materials: newspaper, publix paper bags, water, flour, paintbrush, paint, chicken wire, wire cutters

This was the most fun i’ve had making art for this class. It’s such an impractical idea, to make something so small excessively big. I enjoyed the process of forming the chicken wire into the cylindrical shape i needed. It left with about 5 holes in my skin from the wire puncturing it, but that’s just part of the process. After i got the form to the best of my ability, i started paper mache-ing. I’ve never paper mached in any way, especially not the flour-water method. It took about 10 minutes of trail and error for me to find the consistency i needed (thick & sludgy, probably 50:50 water flour ratio). After two layers of newspaper, and hours of drying, i finally put on the paper bags. At first it was easiest to crumble and rip the paper, but sometimes I kept bigger pieces to cover larger areas. It was easiest to pre soak the paper after crumbling it, so much so that it only needed one layer. Afterwards i took it into the art building. Getting it in and out of my car caused wear-and-tear, but i liked the rustic look it gave it. I then coated it in blue about 3 times (about 1.5 bottles of paint), then wrote in pen the letters on top. Lastly i did the words in 2 coats, and that’s the final product

[nothing0fnothing]

I remember picking up my younger brother in my scrawny little arms and protecting his head as I ripped him away from the dinner table. Shards of glass had just fallen around us and I couldn't be sure there was none in his plate. He was sobbing for his Dino nuggies back and I'd barely gotten us to the living room when my mom demanded I go to her. I placed his tiny feet onto the floor and told him to go to our room, put a film on and I'll be right up. He was unsure, but he gingerly made his way back. My mother was spitting fire by the time I found her. She picked up a schoolbag to hit me with, and out of it clattered 5 coloured pencils. "Pick it up" she screamed at me. She had just took the bag to my face and sent my glasses flying. I had barely a second to catch my breath before she struck me again. She was hitting me so hard and fast I barely had a moment to blink the black spots out of my vision before they returned. I was feeling around blindly for coloured pencils I couldn't see. Every so often I could catch a glimpse of my hand or a drop of blood on the textured tile. Eventually I had collected all the fallen pencils and she stormed off to find her husband. Probably to finish the argument they had that escalated to all this. I remember trying to steady my shaking breaths. Immediately to my left was the bathroom. I went inside and dared myself to look into the mirror. I was a mess. My skin had gone so pale I looked like I had been tinted blue. My eyes were somehow both sunken and puffy. I was bleeding. There was specs of splattered blood across my forehead and nose, but it had rolled down my face too. From the point of contact between my brows, down my nose and into my eyes, where it became diluted with my tears and rolled down my cheeks. I barely looked at myself for a second before I got to washing my face clean in horror. Gingerly wetting my fingers and swiping the red away, so afraid to spell a drop of water onto my mom's bathroom floor and be in for it all over again. After a minute or two of washing and breathing and calming, I looked far better. My skin had turned from ghostly blue to a sallow yellowish colour, and the red in my eyes subsided for a glassy, pinprick pupil look. Without the blood in the way, I could see the wound didn't look so bad. I could see the skin, peeled away in paper thin layers at the contact of the canvas bag. Red raw right in the centre and barely tinted pink the rest of the way, no bigger than a 50 pence piece. I had just come to terms with the sight of myself when my swollen eyes darkened as my mother called my name. Not giving me even a second to reply before she was banging on the bathroom door. I can't remember what she wanted. I just remember lying to her when she asked if I was bleeding as if answering the affirmative that she knew to be true was going to further offend her. I wasn't taking risks. I can't even remember if my brother made it upstairs safely, or if he was intercepted by our mother's husband and equally punished. I remember being brought out to the garden, walking past a still warm plate of dinosaur nuggets on the kitchen island and noticing a shard of glass the size of a thumbnail in it and I remember sitting on my bed 3 years after this happened crying into a towel for over an hour because I remembered it so vividly while I was in the shower.