#10th result released now

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

By Bill Shaw

The latest wastewater surveillance data show that the COVID-19 pandemic has entered its tenth wave in the United States. Last week’s spike in wastewater was the highest percentage increase in transmission in almost three years, though these figures could be revised downwards and the full severity of the wave will only become clear in the coming weeks. One reason for the rapid jump appears to be a later start for the “winter surge” than is typical, and thus the virus could be quickly rising to a level that has now become typical for this time of year.

The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) model estimates that 1.6 percent of Americans are presently infected and capable of transmitting the virus to others. That is 1 in 64 people and represents nearly 750,000 new COVID-19 cases per day. That means that on a flight of 100 people, there is an 80 percent chance that at least one person is infectious; on a flight of 300 people that rises to a 99 percent chance.

This level of transmission exceeds the levels for 73 percent of the duration of the pandemic to date. Given the known incidence of Long COVID, the current levels of transmission are generating an estimated 200,000 new cases of Long COVID per week.

Not a word about this latest COVID-19 wave has been uttered by the Biden administration or any major outlet in the corporate media. The entire political establishment is in agreement on the need to enforce the pro-corporate policy of “forever COVID,” in which the working class and broad layers of society as a whole are condemned to unending waves of mass infection, death and debilitation with Long COVID.

The PMC model projects that the current winter surge could peak between New Year’s Day and January 7. Because COVID-19 transmission followed a completely different pattern in 2024 than any other year of the pandemic, it is more difficult to forecast transmission during the current surge. This year’s summer surge was unusually late and sustained, while also declining abnormally rapidly, and the lull between the summer and winter surges was atypically long.

The latest data on test positivity and emergency department visits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show both these indicators on the increase. Hospitalizations and deaths are typically lagging indicators, and although they have not yet increased, they are likely to rise as well in the coming week or two.

The new XEC variant continues to increase as a percentage of COVID-19 infections, now estimated at 44 percent, compared to 33 percent a week ago. It is now the most common variant, having surpassed the KP3.1.1 variant per the most recent data.

Given the total absence of governmental support for the renovation of infrastructure to ensure that indoor air is purified in public spaces, the only defenses against COVID-19 continue to be vaccines and non-pharmaceutical measures, such as social distancing and masking. Vaccination additionally protects against the most adverse outcomes of COVID-19, including death and hospitalization, while providing moderate protection against Long COVID.

Unfortunately, misinformation coupled with the potential expense of paying for a costly vaccine have resulted in extremely low vaccination rates for COVID-19. Per the latest CDC data, only 21.0 percent of American adults reported that they have received the latest vaccine released at the beginning of the Fall. Coverage of children is even worse at 10.6 percent, or approximately half the rate of adults.

Dr. Alexander Sloboda, medical director of immunizations for the Chicago Department of Public Health, said:

There’s still a lot of misinformation, disinformation, particularly around the COVID vaccine, so just trying to overcome the misinformation, disinformation that’s out there with correct information is what we’re trying to do. Obviously, it’s a kind of an uphill battle.

In another development this week related to the science of COVID-19 treatment, a study from 2020 that purported to show that hydroxychloroquine was an effective treatment was finally retracted. According to the journal’s retraction notice, the paper was pulled because of ethical transgressions and major flaws in methodology.

Even though numerous scientists immediately spotted and exposed the flaws of the study, it took four years of campaigning before the journal editors finally relented and retracted the paper this month. In fact, a lead author on the study, Didier Raoult, at one point threatened legal action against the whistleblowers who challenged the study. One of the journal editors was a co-author of the study, likely a factor in the long time period between the paper being discredited and it being retracted.

The scientific discourse over the study included subsequent identification of additional serious methodological flaws in 2023. Recently, three of the study’s authors wrote a letter to the journal requesting a retraction, acknowledging that no confidence could be placed in the “results” and stating explicitly that they no longer wished to be associated with the paper.

Notably, Raoult has so far had 28 papers retracted, including this one. Raoult leads the French Hospital Institute of Marseille Mediterranean Infection (IHU). Overall, 32 papers authored by IHU members, including Raoult, have been retracted. Investigations are underway on at least 100 more papers by this group, mostly due to concerns that the studies violated ethical standards.

The discredited hydroxychloroquine study spawned massive misinformation promoting the drug as a treatment for COVID-19. The most infamous episodes involved then-President Donald Trump, who in a period of two months in 2020 made 11 tweets about unproven therapies for COVID-19 and mentioned them 65 times in White House briefings. Trump repeatedly referenced this now-retracted study, even after it had been discredited. During that time, purchases of hydroxychloroquine on Amazon surged by 200 percent.

With Trump returning to the presidency and having nominated a slate of anti-science quacks to every public health-related leadership position in the federal government—overseen by the notorious purveyor of anti-vaccine disinformation Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—the working class must heighten its vigilance against medical misinformation and follow the advice of principled scientists. Any one of Trump’s nominees is damaging, but collectively it will be catastrophic when their pseudo-science becomes official policy.

Official policy under Biden already is criminally permitting the pandemic to continue to cause death and disability virtually unchecked. The constant emergence of new variants, including at least three major new variants this year alone, is a product of the dismantling of public health measures to contain the virus. Protecting the public’s health requires more than just vigilance. The working class must organize on its own political program to replace capitalism with socialism, a social system that prioritizes human health over private profit.

[water-lemon-alex]

objects in mirror.

inanimate insanity s2, episode 18.

(sequel to my “through no choice of “their” own” art.)

The end result of Inanimate Insanovember! Thank you for sticking with me on this journey!

I drew EVERY SINGLE CONTESTANT (and i hope i didn’t forget ANY) including our co-hosts and our very own MePhone4!

( VERSION 2 BELOW ; II18 SPOILERS ) + my special message!

I’ve known Inanimate Insanity since around 2021? Around the same year when I discovered BFDI. I got introduced to it because a lot of people in the BFDI community talks about the show, so I watched it for myself. And boy, I enjoyed it!

I was around when Hatching the Plan recently came out, and it looked great, so I watched it from the start. I was around during II’s 10th anniversary celebration; including the start of Season 3! So I watched most of the Invitational episodes when they first released.

But then I took a break from the fandom after Friend or Froze’s release, you know how stuff happened in the fandom during that time…Until one day, I got a lot of posts in my feed about the II movie, and the events of II16. When I heard my favorite character in the show (OJ) literally DIED, I HAD to go rewatch the whole show!

I binge-watched II up until II16, caught up with Invitational— things were wild. Listening to Taco’s Tirade for the first time (where I didn’t know it would become my favorite song), watching the entirety of II16 and finding out the big reveal…

Then I decided to draw some art for the show, and it got really popular! So I drew more, and they gained lots of traction. I took a liking for Season 1’s final four— OJ, Paper, Pickle and Taco! I gave them a cool name— the Menu Squad! Made headcanon designs for them, memes, doodles, everything. Just to show my love for them. Heck, I called myself the “Self-Proclaimed Menu Squad CEO”.

Then a cool AU idea appeared in my head before II17 released: the Welcome to Insanity survival AU! It was inspired by some lines from II16, then my intro post to the AU gained A LOT OF NOTES and it made me so happy when I found out people were INSPIRED by my AU! And so I drew more, and more, and now I’m here.

This community is full of wonderful creators big and small. I’m still really proud on how far we’ve come! I think there’s no other object show that could bring me such a wild experience! So thank you for all your support! And thank you to the II team for making this possible! I enjoyed the finale so much!

- With love, Lemi. 🍉🍋

[cotl-narilamb-zine]

Two Days Left Until Contributor Applications Open!

The Zine schedule has been extended a bit to give contributor sorting and final zine assembly more time. The Carrd has been updated accordingly.

The schedule now looks as follows:

17th October - Contributor Applications Open

27th October - Contributor Applications Close

10th November - Contributor Application Results

10th December - First Check-In

10th January - Second Check-In

10th February - Final Check-In and Submissions

1st March - Zine Release

This will give everyone 10 days to submit their applications and give the mod team 2 weeks to sort through everything. Thank you for understanding!

[anim-ttrpgs]

Some History of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy

Brandon and I have played a lot of TTRPGs, from nearly every edition of Dungeons & Dragons to half-finished playtests of things you’ve never heard of. Our history with TTRPGs is a love story, but one pockmarked with frustration. We found ourselves enjoying D&D 3.5’s vast character creation options, but wishing it focused more on  grounded characters and historically informed combat; being drawn in by Call of Cthulhu’s horror and existential dread, but disappointed in its investigation mechanics for actually getting the investigators to those moments of horrifying revelation; being intrigued by Monster of the Week’s juxtaposition of both normal and supernatural PCs (for horror and/or comedy), but finding its lack of character options and reliance on genre tropes a hindrance; being unable to find anything that would be good for a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. inspired TTRPG campaign. We eventually found the OSR movement and AD&D1e and 2e to be far closer to what we wanted on the medieval fantasy front, but we still had nothing on the modern horror or urban fantasy front, and Shadowrun is… Shadowrun.

So, with around 20 years of TTRPG experience between us, we set out to make the game we wanted a reality.

The story of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy’s creation really starts in late 2021, when Brandon asked me to help playtest a very early rough draft of an investigative horror game he thought up. Living isolated, impoverished, and unable to find work in England at the time, I readily agreed. Noticing that the game didn’t have a combat system and desperate to set my mind to something constructive in between tedious job applications, I offered to write a combat system for it. I soon had to use the last of my money to move back home to Louisiana where I eventually did find work despite a variety of health issues, and continued to work on Eureka as a system for our personal use.

As 2023 drew near, it became clear that my current job wasn’t going to be a permanent career, and I needed a fall back plan. Work towards making Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy a professional release began in earnest, with Brandon and I founding A.N.I.M. a few months later. It was initially set to go to Kickstarter in April of 2023, then May, then June, but each time we realized it just wasn’t ready. No one had ever heard of us, and we wanted to break into an industry and customer base increasingly financially hostile to any TTRPG that wasn’t D&D5e compatible. We needed to build an audience, and build a greater appreciation for independent and small-budget TTRPGs within the community at large.

Thanks to some assistance from one of the team members from Tuesday Knight Games (makers of Motherhship), the first beta copies went public in September of 2023 to a splash of instant (relative) success, and the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club was founded on Discord two months later, a community dedicated to buying, playing, and analyzing less well-known TTRPGs - which includes almost everything except Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.

Ash became friends with us through the book club, and after offering an increasing amount of assistance, joined the team proper in January of 2024, adding much needed copy-editing skills as well as another 15 years cumulative TTRPG experience.

The Kickstarter campaign for Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy launched on April 10th, 2024, was fully funded within 3 hours, and by the end of the campaign had reached a total of $15,455, 486% of the goal. That is where we are at now, working every day to put the finishing touches on the game and complete the stretch goals to the best of our ability before our tentative deadline of January 2025.

This is a far more ambitious project than a super-small team like ours should have attempted for our debut game, but with a mix of talent, luck, skill, and a whole lot of help, we have somehow managed to pull it off. We think the resulting game is a deep, robust, professional-quality TTRPG that provides a one-stop shop and extensive toolbox for any investigative or mystery game you’d like to run. A dark and moody noir, a classical British whodunnit, the lighthearted sleuthing hijinks of Scooby-Doo, Eureka does it all.  (You can also get the latest PDF for FREE for a limited time by joining the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club!)

Elegantly designed and thoroughly playtested, Eureka represents the culmination of three years of near-daily work from our team, as well as a lot of our own money. If you’re just now reading this and learning about Eureka for the first time, you missed the crowdfunding window unfortunately, but our Kickstarter page is still the best place to learn more about what Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy actually is, as that is where we have all the fancy art assets, the animated trailer, links to video reviews by podcasts and youtubers, and where we post regular updates on the status of our progress finishing the game and getting it ready for final release.

Beta Copies through the Patreon

If you want more than just status updates, going forward you can download regularly updated playable beta versions of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy and it’s adventure modules by subscribing to our Patreon at the $5 tier or higher. Subscribing to our patreon also grants you access to our patreon discord server where you can talk to us directly and offer valuable feedback on our progress and projects.

The A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club

If you would like to meet the A.N.I.M. team and even have a chance to play Eureka with us, you can join the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club discord server. It’s also just a great place to talk and discuss TTRPGs, so there is no schedule obligation, but the main purpose of it is to nominate, vote on, then read, discuss, and play different indie TTRPGs. We put playgroups together based on scheduling compatibility, so it’s all extremely flexible. This is a free discord server, separate from our patreon exclusive one. https://discord.gg/7jdP8FBPes

Other Stuff

We also have a ko-fi and merchandise if you just wanna give us more money for any reason.

[spade-riddles]

I think Taylor hinted that she is going to ghost the Nov 10th Chiefs game against the Denver Broncos... and that not only will this lead to the public breakup, but it also has everything to do with the Karma MV and the 58% illumination 🌋 anon...

Let's review the evidence:

As I have said in a previous post, I have suspected that Nov 10th has to do with the breakup for several months now, but I just made several new groundbreaking discoveries that have me 99.9% sure...

For starters: Denver Broncos has a very specific logo of a charging horse. Naturally, my brain immediately went to The Bolter because what do horses do? They bolt. I then found out that this particular horse is named after Thunder, as in Thunder bolt, and it is described as being on fire quite literally about to bolt. This led me down a much more convincing rabbit hole...

🌋 anon said: "the moon will be a waxing gibbous. just barely surpassing the first quarter. 58% illumination. can you pinpoint my tack on the calendar?"

Can we? Possibly! It is quite suspicious that Nov 10th is a Waxing Gibbous just slightly passed the start of the first quarter, and as soon as the clock strikes Midnight on Nov 10th, the moon's illumination will be exactly 58% !!!

And finally... the Karma MV might have hinted at this date over an entire year ago.

One of the most memorable scenes in the MV is when Taylor Swift and Ice Spice are shown pulling the Moon and Saturn close together.

Guess what date marks the conjuction of the Moon and Saturn? Nov 10th !! When Saturn will be extremely close to the Moon. Just as depicted in Karma.

For these reasons and more I feel I may really be onto something....

I think it is important to highlight that Taylor has attended every Chiefs game that she possibly could, and so ghosting 1 with having no conflicting obligations will be cause for peak chaos, and it would be on the 7th anniversary of Reputation release.

My theory is that her not showing may even result in the first time that Chiefs lose their undefeated 8-0 streak for the added performance art which is based off of both articles and TN constantly pushing the "joke" that Taylor being at the games helps the Chiefs play better...

This even goes deeper into the potential breakup date being the morning after on Nov 11th because alongside The Bolter, she played The Great War.

Historically, The Great War ended on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, which would be Nov 11th at 11am. The following day after the Nov 10th potential ghosting . . .

I don't know about you... but for me this all seems way too on point to be a coincidence. I really think we should keep an eye on both of these dates!

(Photos of all evidence below)

[overflowchute]

Q. By what mechanism is one who makes contact with an Old One driven insane?

A. "Driven insane" is a misnomer. We will answer this by means of metaphor.

When a human makes mental contact with another human, the intermixing can sometimes be complex. However, it is usually not extremely difficult to "see which puzzle pieces go where", so to speak. In close proximity, the identity components naturally bond their siblings, and so the average mental crossover does not cause major identification issues.

Indeed, the components of a mind are generally drawn together, and naturally reject other minds. While some visualize mental mixing as drops of water, limited human to human mental contact is like shuffling two jigsaw puzzles together. It may not be trivial to tell the pieces of either apart. But if their patterns are different enough, separating the components is relatively easy - it is simply a matter of time and effort. The pieces clearly indicate their source and have pieces identifying where they go.

Even when humans become irrevocably mentally mixed, the result is like taking two balls of differently colored play dough and mixing them together. Eventually the colors will overwhelm and become one, but you can still separate much of them if you want to until then.

The problem with humans contacting Old Ones is a matter of scale. We have avoided using water as a metaphor because it spreads readily and cannot be purified by hand. But it is a useful example in this specific case.

Imagine you have a dropper full of red food coloring and you release it into a lake. Would retrieving the red food coloring be possible? For all practical intents and purposes, the answer would be no. Why is this? Because the scale of the lake is much greater than the dropper. We mentioned that this water metaphor doesn't work very well with small scale interactions, because mixing even very small amounts of different coloring creates an inextricable mess. But it is a useful visualization in this case.

So, the dropper might have been emptied, but that doesn't mean it cannot hold water. Rather, if we immediately try to place our dropper back in the lake and fill it again, what we will retrieve will probably contain only a minuscule amount of the red food coloring we released. Now, because minds are more adhesive than water, it is likely that in the real scenario much more of a person's mind will be retained after contact. But this essentially shows the problem: after contact, what remains in their body tends to equalize towards the average weight.

If a dropper contains 1 mililiter of water, and you drop it into a container with 9 mililiters of water and mix it around, any random sample of the water will be 1/10ths the dropper's water and 9/10ths the container's water on average. Most of what returns is not human.

As stated, this is a simplistic metaphor - perhaps we could extend it by discussing how coloring can stain the insides of the dropper, and other coloring might stick to this stain. Another aspect is that intermixing continues over time - it doesn't simply "drop" in an instant. But eventually, if a human mind is allowed to remain in contact with an Old One for too long, and their sense of self is weak, then their mind will disperse into components scattered evenly across its expanse and their body will be nothing more than part of the amalgam.

I hope that despite this extremely wordy explanation, the actual concept remains easy to comprehend. Such is the hope behind the use of a human's metaphor.

[cursed-40k-thoughts]

Hiii, I haven’t played the tabletop in a while so I’m kinda out of the loop, why do you have such a burning hatred for 10th? Is it really that bad?

I don't have a "burning hatred" for it, I just think it's shit. A lot of questionable design philosophies, balancing issues and points cost changes that have resulted in a play environment that feels muddled and robbed of impact.

On top of that, 10th edition has served as a transitory point for the intended simplification of game mechanics... except the stuff in it wasn't playtested. Instead, they released "free" rules for the edition, feigned as generosity, and had the playerbase playtest the game for them before releasing official codexes with slightly more cogent rules (that the players now have to pay for, obviously).

TLDR; It's possibly the laziest and most cynical edition of the game they've done so far, it's badly balanced, they got the playerbase to playtest it for them, and then charged a premium for the "fixed" rules which are somehow more impenetrable than usual.

[bullet-prooflove]

Kinktober 24 Bingo Card Complete!

All Kinktober fics are now done and scheduled!

As usual these will be posted for early release on Patreon!

See below for Tumblr release dates and blurbs:

1st Oct - Everything You Need - Mike McLusky - Things get rough between you and Mike when the both of you struggle to commit. (Bingo Square: Rough Sex)

2nd - Into The Woods - Jack Dayton - Jack plays into one of your fantasies out in the woods. (Bingo Square: Predator/Prey)

3rd - Marks - Ryan Yellowstone - The marks you leave on Ryan's skin result in a relationship change. (Bingo Square: Marks) - Fluff piece

4th: Punishment - Terry Silver - Terry decides to punish you when you get a little mischevious. (Bingo Square: Impact Play)

5th - Full - Nick Torres - You tell Nick a fantasy of yours that results in you being filled. (Bingo Square: Sex Toys)

6th: Worship At Your Alter - Chibs - Chibs offers to get down on his knees when he realises you've never experianced oral. (Bingo Square: Show Me How You Like It)

7th - Sheet Music - Dwayne Pride - Dwayne and you have your own sweet song. (Bingo Square: Nipple Play)

8th - Pretty As A Picture - Will LaMontagne - You look pretty as a picture laid out across Will's bed. (Bingo Square: Temperature Play)

9th - Mood - Duke Crocker - Duke gets into a dark mood when he sees you with another man. (Bingo Square: Choking)

10th - Always - Dean Winchester - A naughty act leads Dean to get a little needy. (Bingo Square: Anal)

11th - Rhinestones - Mitch Keller - Mitch recounts his first time with Miss Oklahoma 2014. (Bingo Square: Wild Card)

12th - Paradise - Chef Luca - Making love to you has always been a spiritual experiance. (Bingo Square: Public Sex)

[daisyswift3]

The Acceptance Stage of Grief—The Manuscript and Guilty as Sin

So I realized sth crazy recently. I think the 🎃 messages describe the 5 stages of grief; and I think the standard edition and The Manuscript variant of TTPD have the album cover they do bc it’s a play on the common expression “You’ve made your bed now lie in it" which means to accept the unpleasant results of your actions. This aligns w the Apple Music playlists Taylor made that have The Manuscript as part of the acceptance stage of grief. However, I will caveat this by saying that I don't think the Apple Music playlists are completely accurate as they are full of red herrings to throw everyone off (I'll explain this in more detail shortly) but I do think The Manuscript is one of the few songs that is properly placed and is not a red herring since the bed imagery and connections to the 🎃 messages indicate it represents acceptance. I think the messages not only give us Taylor's overarching story spanning the past decade, they also give us the true 5 stages of grief that are separate from the 5 stages of grief given in the playlists which are mainly for marketing and pr purposes. The messages are likely meant to be a navigation tool for us to more easily cut through all the noise, red herrings, and chaos that has come w TTPD's release (x)(x)(x). In the messages I just linked, 🎃 and 🫚 make it clear that there is a very specific reason why they sent this korner messages explaining the whole messy story. I believe this reason may be related to the TTPD epilogue because in it Taylor is essentially saying she’s at the mercy of the general public and her fans as she’s on trial in a court of public opinion; and I think our role is to serve as the “witnesses” to help her win this case and prove that she didn’t completely lie abt everything because otherwise how would this small group of ppl on tumblr have figured it out yrs ago? I think it’s possible that after coming out Taylor may direct ppl to this korner to prove that the truth was there hidden in plain sight the whole time if you were just willing to dig a little deeper past the surface level interpretations.

In this album cover, Taylor is literally lying in a bed that she’s made bc she is accepting whatever the consequences of her actions are. The story isn’t hers anymore, she’s sent it out into the world like a message in a bottle and now it’s just a matter of time. Come what may. This is the end of the 9th 🎃 message and I believe all of the 10th message as well since she chooses to step through the closet door accepting whatever fate lies on the other side. This connects to the most recent volcano anon message as well (x). I think the first part of the 9th message represents the depression stage of grief since it’s explaining that Taylor is a tortured poet because she is forced to hide her truth behind metaphors and red herrings which are likely the old habits that die screaming in The Black Dog, a common symbol of depression. In the fortnight mv, she is literally being tortured in an asylum w electroshock therapy (which is one of the same methods of conversion therapy they use to used on queer ppl) while a black dog lingers nearby.

In the Apple Music playlists, Taylor put The Black Dog in the anger playlist, but as I mentioned earlier I think this may be because the playlists are supposed to be more for swifties and to sell the Toe breakup narrative. Because, if you think abt it, it doesn't really make sense for The Black Dog, which is commonly used to represent depression, to symbolize anger. It also doesn't make sense for the acceptance stage playlist to be called I Can Do It With a Broken Heart when the song ICDIWABH is actually in the denial stage playlist. The math does not math. I think she was purposely trying to make it confusing for the general public and fans to make the puzzle harder to decipher so she gave them low hanging fruit. I think it's possible that the vinyl variants, which each have a bonus track that has a corresponding 🎃 message, are the actual 5 stages of grief. The Albatross = anger, The Bolter = bargaining, The Black Dog = depression, and The Manuscript = acceptance. I think it’s possible that she chose to only have 4 variants to make it harder to connect them to the 5 stages of grief and to make it look like the 5 stages of grief were just a last minute thing she threw together because she was running w swifties’ theories. But since the 5 stages of grief show up in the messages, it’s clear that this was sth she’s had planned for a while and it wasn’t just a last minute decision. I think that the denial stage may just be represented by a message and song.

“Six weeks of breathin' clean air, I still miss the smoke” -> The “smoke” is the smokescreen/Lavender Haze/blowing smoke/smoke and mirrors/bearding/pr stunts/red herrings/metaphors that she uses to cover up her truth like a magician pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes. She’s no longer going to use these tactics of trickery and deception but it’s not an easy habit to break when you’ve been doing it your whole life and it’s essentially your default state. Just like how it’s hard for a smoker to stop smoking cigarettes, which is probably another layer of this line making it a double entendre. I think this is what the lavender haze mv scene w her blowing smoke is meant to represent. As the clock gets closer to midnight she’s going to start this process of unraveling the “braids of lies” she’s woven over the years and it’s going to be a very difficult and painful process. I haven't done a full analysis of The Black Dog yet but I believe it's similar to TSMWEL, Peter, Fortnight, and Chloe et al where it's a conversation between Taylor the brand and Taylor the person. At the end of the song, Taylor the person finally chooses her happiness and her lover over her image/brand, which is the cause of her depression -> "Cause tail between your legs you're leaving and I still can't believe it cause old habits die screaming." She burns all the files and gets rid of her house which is likely the lover house. This is when she drags the "enemy" in the 8th message into the shark infested waters which I'll explain in the next paragraph.

The Bolter vinyl variant, represented by the entire 8th 🎃 message, is likely supposed to symbolize the bargaining stage of grief. I think she achieves part of the acceptance stage when she chooses to jump into the shark infested waters which may be why The Bolter edition also has her lying in a bed and why the 10th message (acceptance) seems to be a direct continuation of the 8th message. In the 8th message, the “enemy,” which is likely just Taylor herself or her public persona/reputation, is trying to make a deal w her—quite literally bargaining w her—and asking her lover to jump into the shark infested waters (destroy her reputation and get eaten alive by the fans and general public). Taylor refuses the deal since Karlie has been through enough already and jumps into the waters choosing to sacrifice her brand and image instead ->

“He [the enemy] was a cad, wanted her bad just like any good trophy hunter ['I've been the archer, I've been the prey'], And she liked the way it tastes, Taming a bear [Taylor’s made it clear she’s the bear], making him care, watching him jump then pulling him under, And at first blush this is fate, When it's all roses, portrait poses, Central Park Lake in tiny rowboats, What a charming Saturday, That's when she sees the littlest leaks down in the floorboards And she just knows she must bolt ['And you know in your soul when it's time to go']” //

8th 🎃 message: “You are not a hero. You never have been, and you never will be. You're a selfish asshole. But there are some people in this world worth breaking character for. And so in one swift motion [pun intended], you replace the solid boards beneath your feet with rushing deep blue water.”

10th 🎃 message: “You limp over uneven ground, smiling at the pain of the shark bite with each excruciating step - replaying the satisfying splash as you finally chose her over the world. As you grabbed the enemy and dove into the infested waters.”

The Apple Music playlists have The Bolter in the denial playlist but again I believe this is a red herring since the themes in the 8th message align more w the bargaining and acceptance stages.

(If you want to read more abt the connections to midsummer/midsommar see this excellent thread on the June 21/midsummer eve easter eggs)

I think this might also be what the bed imagery in Guilty As Sin and the Wildest Dreams eras tour visuals represents. She has accepted that when she reveals the truth many ppl, especially the conservative evangelical Christians, are probably gonna tell her she’s going to hell because she’s in a relationship w a woman, and figuratively burn her at the stake like the ppl accused of witchcraft and heresy in the middle ages were and this really ties in w all the religious imagery in this album -> “my bedsheets are ablaze” // “you’ll see me in hindsight tangled up with you all night burning it down" // BDILH eras tour visuals. We’ve discussed how in the TTPD epilogue she’s on trial in the court of public opinion and the jury is her fans and the general public. I think Guilty as Sin is her essentially saying “yes it’s true, I committed the crime of loving another woman; condemn me to hell if you want.” I find it interesting that it’s posed as a question “Guilty as Sin?” as if she’s asking the jury if they deem her worthy of punishment. It’s ultimately up to them to determine her fate and decide whether she’s guilty or not guilty. Some other kaylors pointed out that in the wildest dreams visuals Taylor looks completely at peace, sleeping soundly while everything burns around her. This likely symbolizes how she’s made peace w the fact that many fans may leave her and she may lose her career when she comes out—it indicates complete acceptance of any ensuing consequences.

(x)

But wait there’s more! I think there’s another layer to this song that relates to something very important she said in the rep prologue that many swifties conveniently ignore: “There will be slideshows of photos backing up each incorrect theory, because it's 2017 and if you didn't see a picture of it, it couldn't have happened right?” The obvious answer to this posed question, which is more rhetorical than anything, is NO. Why? Because “We think we know someone, but the truth is that we only know the version of them that they have chosen to show us” i.e. Taylor is only showing the public one side of herself w pap walks, staged photos, and social media posts and she can keep the other sides of herself hidden if she wants by just not doing these things. If she wants the public to know sth they will know abt it and if she doesn’t want them to know sth they won’t know abt it. Taylor knows that her fans have willfully ignored this message that she’s repeatedly tried to send to them over the years; so now she’s flipping the question on it’s head and using their inattentiveness to her advantage. She’s now saying “Well you guys never actually caught me and Karlie in the act, there’s no photographic or video evidence, so how can I be guilty as sin? I mean you said it yourself by ignoring this prologue. There is no picture; therefore it did not happen. So by your own logic I cannot be guilty!”

I also find it interesting that the bedsheets on the album cover and eras tour visuals are plain white 🤍. White is commonly a symbol of purity and innocence. This may be the purpose of the black and white aesthetic of TTPD—black for guilty 🖤, white for not guilty or innocent 🤍. The black and white may also relate to her duality and how she has 2 versions of herself that are in opposition to each other, Taylor Swift the person vs Taylor Swift the brand.

Just in case you got lost during my ramblings and tangents, I'll give you the tldr as well:

Beginning of 8th 🎃 message -> Bargaining stage: The Bolter; the enemy [Taylor Swift the brand/her reputation] wants to make a deal w her

Beginning of 9th 🎃 message -> Depression stage: The Black Dog; "old habits [red herrings/bearding/lavender haze/smoke and mirrors] die screaming"; Taylor is a tortured poet because she is forced to dilute her truth w metaphors, symbolism, and red herrings and this feeds into her depression

End of 8th and 9th 🎃 message and all of 10th 🎃 message -> Acceptance stage: The Manuscript and Guilty as Sin; she has made her bed and now is lying in it; represents the peaceful acceptance of any ensuing consequences; she has sent her story out into the world like a message in a bottle and made her case; now it is now up to her fans and the general public [the court of public opinion] to determine if she is guilty or not guilty; real Taylor has killed her old habits and the black dog by dragging her public persona into shark infested waters and burning down the lover house which represents her closet and music empire

Since this post is already lengthier than I wanted it to be I won't go into detail abt the denial and anger stages but I believe it's possible these are represented by the 1st and 2nd 🎃 messages respectively assuming the 5 stages of grief are in the usual order in the messages. The Albatross is obviously an angry song abt getting revenge on someone--most likely Scooter--so it makes sense for it to represent the anger stage; plus the same parachute metaphor that's in The Albatross shows up in the 2nd message which is related to the failed coming out and mastersheist which Scooter was involved in so it checks out. Then working backwards, this leaves the 1st message, which perfectly parallels The Prophecy, for the denial stage. I believe the 1st message is abt her first big pivot, her first failed coming out, during rep era (going full throttle on her getaway bike then slamming on the breaks which damages her heel) which was originally supposed to be lover/daylight. This would explain why she clips the wings of her TS6 jet and spray paints "reputation" on the side while wearing a palm tree outfit which relates to the palm tree/paradise easter eggs during lover era. I think this pivot may have been the thing that started this downward spiral through the 5 stages of grief hence why it represents the denial stage. Of course this is all just my interpretation of everything and I could be wrong. Feel free to share your thoughts, I'd love to hear other ppl's interpretations!

[the-vampire-queer]

The Vampires Digital Media Poll: Round 1, Bracket 6

Please reblog for a bigger sample size.

Results get posted on December 10th. at 5PM CST.

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If you wish to learn more about your options, either as a refresher or an introduction, press the "Keep reading" button.

What is What We Do in the Shadows (2019) about?

Summary: "Based on the feature film of the same name from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, "What We Do in the Shadows" is a documentary-style look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of four vampires who've "lived" together for hundreds of years in Staten Island.The self-appointed leader of the group is Nandor the Relentless, a great warrior and conqueror from the Ottoman Empire. Then there's the British vampire Laszlo -- a bit of a rogue and a dandy and a fop, he might say. He's a lover of mischief and a great soirée, but not as much as he loves seeing Nandor fail miserably in every attempt. And then there's Nadja: the seductress, the temptress, the vampiric Bonnie to Laszlo's Clyde. Also cohabiting in the vampire household is Guillermo, Nandor's familiar; and Colin Robinson, an energy vampire and day-walker of sorts -- he feasts on humans, but not on their blood." Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Source: What We Do in the Shadows (2019)

Cast:

Kayvan Novak - Nandor the Relentless

Matt Berry - Laszlo Cravensworth

Natasia Demetriou - Nadja ...

Harvey Gullién - Guillermo de la Cruz

Mark Proksch - Colin Robinson

Additional information: This tv series is based off of the 2014 Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement film of the same name.

What is Renfield (2023) about?

Summary: "In this modern monster tale of Dracula's loyal servant, Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men franchise) stars as Renfield, the tortured aide to history's most narcissistic boss, Dracula (Oscar® winner Nicolas Cage). Renfield is forced to procure his master's prey and do his every bidding, no matter how debased. But now, after centuries of servitude, Renfield is ready to see if there's a life outside the shadow of The Prince of Darkness. If only he can figure out how to end his codependency." Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Source: Renfield (2023)

Cast:

Nicholas Hoult - R.M. Renfield

Nicolas Cage - Dracula

Awkwafina - Rebecca

Ben Schwartz - Teddy Lobo

Shohreh Aghdashloo - Bellafrancessca Lobo

Additional information: There was a video game that released on Steam for this movie, titled Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood.

[hamhamparadise]

Jewelpet Attack Travel!

This post was released three days ago in Patreon, as a reward for those that are supporting Paradise Hamsubs.

Today's is a very special release!

We are finally releasing Jewelpet Attack Travel. This is a movie/OVA that has quite a story behind it. Originally it was announced to be released as a co-release with the movie "Kukurireiju: Sanseitai Denki" on theaters. However, COVID happened and both movies were shelved, with only Attack Travel eventually being released as an extra in Jewelpet Sunshine's 10th anniversary special BD release on 2022. We bought that BD and had the movie sitting on our "pending releases" for the last few years, and we finally got a chance to work on it. The "movie" (we call it that way as it was supposed to release on theaters) is only 22 minutes, so basically an episode long. It is very clearly based on Jewelpet Sunshine, but there's not much that can be considered a spoiler, just a few cameos.

There is some effects here and there that we had a lot of fun working on, and some others that were quite a chore, but the result is incredible and we are quite happy of the results.

This release makes for the last Jewelpet media that required to be translated. As of now, every single anime piece of Jewelpet has been translated into english, so it is a good time to start watching!

We hope you enjoy it!

You can watch online or download the episode here: Watch Jewelpet Attack Travel.

Please consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

[mercurytrinemoon]

Aries risings and eclipses: comebacks and rebrands

There's a few celebrities that caught my attention in the past couple of weeks and I felt the urge to look at their charts and talk about them a bit. What I've quickly realized is that… they're all Aries risings and we just went through a total eclipse in Aries and are still battling through a Mercury retrograde (also in Aries). So, this is an Aries rising-only astro news compilation.

Shakira

During the recent Easter break I found myself having a Shakira moment, reminiscing on her old hits and belting out Underneath Your Clothes. I thought that's probably thanks to Mercury just stationing retrograde, which often makes people go back to old stuff. And then I thought… What if everyone's having a Shakira moment now?

And this is when I realized suddenly she's everywhere: giving a surprise show at Times Square, being a guest on Hot Ones, giving a ton of new interviews that flood my YouTube recommend page. She just released a new album but seems like this is a huge reset for her and her name is, once again, on everyone's lips. Shakira is an Aries rising and an Aries Venus with nodes in her 1st and 7th axis - she's not quite an eclipse baby (although almost a Full Moon baby!) but nodes close to her axis may make her sensitive to eclipse seasons. Her ascendant ruler, Mars, is exalted in the 10th house in Capricorn, giving her a slow and steady rise to success and a grounded, solidified place in the public eye.

Interestingly, she received an MTV Vanguard award just last autumn at a time of her exact reverse nodal return, which already foreshadowed things for her.

Her new album was released on March 22nd this year, just a couple of days after Sun ingressed into Aries and a few days before the eclipse. What's important to note that she's also going through her Jupiter return in Taurus. Mercury retrograding in her 1st house makes people and the media reminisce on her career and what she achieved up to this point. Of course a planet retrograding in someone's 1st house can cause a hiccup of some sorts and that happened in her case as well - there was a small outrage surrounding her comments on the last year's Barbie movie and how she and her sons hated it.

Jojo Siwa

Switching lanes let's get to someone that is now talked about in the media excessively but for the wrong reasons and that is… Jojo Siwa. Now, I had to read up on her after I saw people poking fun at the way she's presenting herself but apparently, she was all rainbows and sunshines until she changed her color palette to black and is now calling herself edgy and groundbreaking. She was on Toddlers and Tiaras I believe… so you get the vibe.

Siwa is a Taurus stellium (makes sense with the bows and glitter) with Aries rising, of course. Her ascendant ruler is right next to Neptune in the 11th house, which can bring potential problems when it comes to how she's being received by the public. The badazzledness of the sweet sweet Taurus is amped up by the flashy Jupiter in Leo (opposed by that Mars and squared by Mercury, certainly adding to the loudness of her personality and the, let's say, overall audacity).

The nodes are pretty significant for her as well, as her Sun is accompanied by the north node (really intensifying the Sun's radiant quality) and… she's actually an eclipse baby, being born in the middle of the eclipse season, only three days after a total lunar eclipse in Scorpio. So we have double the strength of having eclipses in her 1st-7th house axis, as well as being an eclipse child in general.

So the "rebranding" seems, well, on brand for her at this time. But again, Mercury retrograding in her 1st house seems to not serve her well, especially given she has it retrograde natally as well. Uranus being co-present in her sign, a bubbly Taurus, paired with Jupiter, which is still a pretty badazzled planet, didn't result in a true 180° switch that she aimed for. In turn we got a somewhat inflated (Jupiter) sense of self and a warped view of things.

But the plus side is that the current Jupiter transit also helped her gain popularity as her video for the new song passed 23 million views on YouTube. Talk about expansion!

Rihanna

Rihanna didn't make a comeback in the same sense Shakira did but she surely made people talk. The singer is allegedly an Aries rising but she also has quite an Aries planetary party with Moon, Venus and Jupiter there as well. And in a true Aries fashion, even if she's not necessarily doing much with her career at the moment, she made sure to remind everyone of herself, especially that she's also in her 1st house profection year so it's all about "ME!" - something an Aries loves.

Rihanna made the headlines by doing a fashion spread for the Interview Magazine. And, to be more precise, by posing in a nun-inspired outfit. The cover photo made some people outraged, while others were sighing in awe. The news broke pretty much on the eclipse (the morning after I believe).

Rihanna dabbles in these high-fashion, obscure themes probably because of the mixture of her Pisces Sun (religious themes? She surely went all-in for the Catholic-themed MET Gala a few year back) and her Aries stellium in the 1st. The ram likes to shock and be bold and sexual but considering she also has Moon and Venus - two feminine planets - in the sign, makes her bold and daring in her fashion choices as well.

Billie Eilish

The last person I want to talk about is… Billie Eilish. I know, I KNOW, you may think "but she's a Pisces rising!". Well Billie somewhat went through a different kind of rebrand and it's that her birth certificate has just been obtained and according to the new info, she is, in fact an Aries rising.

The confusion might be there although if, like me, you see a massive Pisces influence in her, her "new" ascendant ruler is Mars… in Pisces! A corrected birth time is a big deal already, especially given the eclipse and Mercury retrograde - both helped "refresh" her astrological persona and "status" as an Aries ascendant. But that is not all, as on the day of the eclipse Billie announced a brand new album that she will debut on May 17th.

EDIT: Billie is also an eclipse baby! Born just 4 days after a Solar Eclipse. So this is even more fitting.

What's great about this date is that Mars will already be in Aries, probably making her a lot more active. Also, that is only one day before Jupiter cazimi and Venus conjunct Uranus - a great time to release new things into the world. Interestingly, Venus and Uranus will conjoin just a couple of degrees away from Billie's lot of fortune in Taurus. I truly love when astrology is doing its thing.

[pony-central]

Character Analysis - SMG3

Hello again, fellow SMG4 fans. Today, we're gonna be taking a look at the guy who conquered The Internet Graveyard - SMG3.

Now, looking at the picture here, you can see that SMG3 is a good character. Which is true. He's improved a lot since The YouTube Arc. Take it as Character Development of some kind.

SMG3 is a Meme Guardian who came to the Mushroom Kingdom in a USB Flashdrive that was originally meant to go to the Internet Graveyard, as shown in SMG4's Origins. It was back then that SMG3 and SMG4 had a rivalry, which dissolved after they became friends.

SMG3 appears as the same height as SMG4, but takes on a different look. Just like the Meme Man, SMG3 had two redesigns to no longer look like a Mario recolour. SMG3 has red eyes, facial hair and black hair. He is shown wearing an indigo hat with a cut on the brim, long sleeved shirt and dark purple overalls, which were originally black overalls. He also wears black studded boots and white gloves with black cuffs. The gloves have the Roman numeral of the number 3.

One of his concepts had him with spikes as the base for his gloves, and another one had him with black gloves.

SMG3's story started as early as 2011, where he was shown to have a disliking of SMG4, and began ripping off the latter's videos to get back at him for being a better Meme Guardian. Nine years later, SMG3 was punished for his actions by being sent to the Internet Graveyard as a proper punishment. He was easily able to rule over IG.

Throughout most of the current seasons, he was sometimes the voice of reason, as seen in Mar10 Day, where he tried to reason with SMG4 for causing a ruckus at the party. That shows us that he was just trying to calm Four down, only for this to not work.

Throughout all of It's Gotta Be Perfect, as the keyboard was corrupting SMG4 like crazy, SMG3 was shown to have some moments where he did genuinely care for SMG4's safety. That's the sign of a true friend. Once SMG4 does release himself from the keyboards grasp, Three is the first to smile at him, with happy tears in his eyes, knowing that his friend had saved himself.

In the past we've seen how SMG3 acts whenever SMG4 calls him a Tsundere, or if he states that SMG3 is sometimes insecure. There have been times where Three refers to him as "Baka", which could indicate that Three thinks of SMG4 and himself as being "more than just friends". Heh heh. This results in SMG3 having a small blush whenever calling SMG4 "Baka".

War of the Fat Italians 2023 had some classic funny moments, including Mission 10. This is where we need to talk about Snowtrapped. Ha ha.

In case you know already, Snowtrapped is a blooper of SMG4 that came out in 2016. It was famous for the moment that happened at 6:50, which was the question in WOTFI 2023's 10th mission. And let's just say that fans did not see both igloo references coming at all. I was jut laughing throughout the mission, which was a success.

Now let's talk about SMG3's Sussy Notebook, which was never seen again after WOTFI 2023.

SMG3 notebook is a purple notebook with yellow bands on the edges, warning people to "Keep Out", as it has secrets about SMG4 and SMG3. It was first shown in The Watermelon Man, as SMG3 was shown writing in it. It has since became a recurring item up until the latest WOTFI. Nobody knows what secrets it has until it became official Merch.

His relationship with SMG4

SMG4 and SMG3, AKA SMG34/SMG43 (depends on what you guys use), is a popular ship on the Internet that's either used in a platonic way or a romantic way. Sometimes the fans go too far with it an create angst, sometimes it becomes evident over the course of the show. We will talk about more SMG34/SMG43 moments in another analysis soon.

The analysis of the SMG34/SMG43 ship is next on out Character Analysis. Also, suggest ideas in the notes for anyone you want an analysis of from different shows after the SMG34/SMG43 analysis is done.

[mabelstone]

PLEASE DO REMER TAKING THE READERS V-CARD TY!!!

Super Best Friends

doug remer x reader

CW: mentions of masturbation, loss of virginity, unprotected sex, digital penetration, cunnilingus

note: sorry for going MIA again. only just got the motivation to write something. my first time was nothing special lol so i hope this sufficed! and i didn’t proof read but i think u all know that by now

You and Remer had been best friends since 7th grade. You’d watched him transform from an awkward looking, gangly teen to a frustratingly handsome, tall young adult. Frustrating because you know you shouldn’t think about him like that.

But how could you help it? He made you laugh until your ribs hurt and tears were streaming down your face. He was so kind and he understood you better than anyone. He knew your family like they were his own, and god, was he a treat to the eye.

Since you were little, you’d had innocent sleepovers, often times resulting in you shoving a pillow over his face because he just wouldn’t shut up and let you sleep. Secretly, you didn’t mind it at all.

You did notice a bit of a change as you both got older, maybe around 10th grade. The way your heart would race when you realised just how close you were. Your skin only separated by thin layers of clothing. Your mind would go wild just imagining his skin on yours, how you wish run his fingers up your thighs, how the goosebumps would form as conformation that it was really happening. You wanted so badly to see him between your thighs, wishing you’d wake up one morning with him ‘accidentally’ pressed up against you.

Then the sinking feeling would soon follow, knowing you were only friends. Not that he ever talked much to you about it, you knew he was screwing other girls all the time. Probably why he didn’t get urges around you.

Well, call it wishful thinking, but there were a few mornings you’d wake up to something pressing into your lower back. You’d pretend to be asleep still as you felt his weight lift from the mattress, where he’d be in the bathroom doing god knows what for 15 minutes. You had a rough idea what. The first time it happened, curiosity got the best of you. You assumed he was just using the toilet, but the small whimper you heard from the other side of the door told you otherwise. You climbed back into bed, half mortified, half really turned on. He came back shortly after, cheeks lightly flushed and a dazed smile on his face.

“Oh, you’re up! Wanna play GTA?”

He was staying over tonight - nothing out of the ordinary. You turned 18 about 6 months after him, and for some reason, your virginity was bothering you more than ever. Partially because you felt like the odd one out in your friend group, but also because you had greatest orgasm of your life last night thinking about Remer.

He was seeing some of his other friends beforehand, so it was quite late when he got to yours.

“Hey,” he stormed into your room, clearly frustrated about something. He plopped himself down on your bed and pulled you into a tight hug. Strange…

“Uh, hey… you good?” You asked, patting his back awkwardly.

“Yeah, fine,” he huffed, finally releasing you. “I’m gonna shower.” He turned away from you, walking into your ensuite, locking the door straight away.

You sat on your bed, more confused than ever. Clearly he wasn’t fine, but he probably wouldn’t tell you until he was over it. He was… different like that.

He came back to bed after, curls sopping wet, droplets of water falling onto his face and shoulders, only a towel around his waist. You quickly averted your attention back to the tv, swallowing hard as you silently begged your libido to settle down.

“Sorry I came in so pissed,” he laughed, seemingly cool now. “The guys just… well, you know how those assholes are.”

“Oh, uh, what’d they do?” You still kept your eyes trained away, just faintly able to see him in the reflection of the tv.

He sighed, “honestly, it’s no big deal. Just don’t like it when they talk about my girl.”

You cocked your head to him at this; he only referred to you as his girl. It’d been a thing forever. You were a bit nervous for what was to follow, not even looking at the delicious v line poking through the towel.

He sighed again, knowing he wasn’t getting out of telling you. He ran a hand over his face before starting, “Just gross shit that I respect you too much to repeat. But how because you’re a virgin, you probably get wet so easily, and how you probably feel like… heaven. See? Just disgusting.”

He sounded embarrassed even repeating that to you, saying the word heaven in a hushed tone. Your cheeks flushing bright red and you paused for a moment. “So…?” You finally got out, waiting for his response.

“So what?”

“What’d you say?” You furrowed your brows, sitting up onto your knees now. His eyes briefly skimmed the night dress you had on, quickly averting his gaze elsewhere.

“Doesn’t matter. It just really pissed me off,” he deflected, reaching into his bag for some clothes.

Feeling bold, you spoke up quietly. “Did you agree?”

He froze in place, standing up with his back to you.

“Do… you ever think of me like that?” You continued, feeling slick starting to collect at your heat. Something about how risky this was really excited you.

He turned to face you now, looking equally as confused. “Am I supposed to? Do you think of me like that?” He retorted, waiting for you to laugh in his face and tell him you were joking.

“Uh,” you stammered, blushing a deeper shade of red now, unable to look him in the eyes.

“Oh, you do…” He chuckled deeply, “what do you think about?” He sat in front of you on the bed, loving the riskiness as much as you.

“Remer,” you tried to deflect, breath hitching in your throat when his fingers grazed the skin of your thigh, disappearing under the hemming of your dress.

“I’ve thought about you quite a few times,” he shrugged nonchalantly; perhaps an attempt for you to open up.

“I-I’m too embarrassed, Doug,” you whispered, still unable to look in his eyes.

His thumb started tracing circles into your thigh, his eyes locked on your pretty face. “Do you think about me touching you?”

You took a moment before nodding, now focusing on the ceiling.

“Where do I touch you?”

“Everywhere,” you mumbled, almost ashamed.

His hand trailed further up your thigh, fully hidden under your dress.

“Would you like me to touch you?” His eyes sparkled in excitement, praying to God you’d say yes.

You meekly nodded, biting your lip slightly as you looked to him. He grinned wide, tapping your hip for you to readjust and sit further up the bed. He planted himself in front of you, bending your legs and spreading them ever so slightly.

He slid his hands up the insides of your thighs, digging his fingers into the plush skin. The goosebumps formed just as you’d imagined many times.

“Do you finger yourself when you think of me?” His voice was calm but deep, and you couldn’t believe how cavalier he was being.

Again, you nodded, a nervous laugh slipping past your lips. He didn’t falter though, bringing his fingers to the front of your underwear.

“Wanna take ‘em off for me? Wanna touch you.”

You obliged, lifting yourself up on your heels to slide them down, Remer pulling them from your ankles. You got back in the same positioned, meekly opening your legs.

“So wet,” he groaned, running two fingers over your slick, then tracing gentle circles into your clit. You gasped softly, shocked that this was actually happening.

His middle prodded at your entrance slightly, looking up at you for permission. You nodded eagerly, eyes hooding at the unbelievable sight before you. His hair still wet, big shoulders, strong arms that he propped himself up on.

He slowly slipped his finger in, pupils blowing at how wet you were, how despite how tight you were, his finger slipped right in.

You let out a whimper of pleasure, hands gripping the sheets beneath you. He took this as his cue to move a bit quicker, sliding his finger in and out of your heat. He flipped his wrist up, keeping a finger inside of you while using his thumb to rub your clit. You let out a hum of approval, this feeling better than anything you’d done to yourself.

“Do you ever think about me using my tongue on you?” He asked sultrily, practically salivating at the thought of tasting you.

“Mhm,” you breathed, hoping that was his way of asking if he could.

He removed his fingers and inched closer to your heat, blowing lightly on your clit. The cold sensation caused you to squirm, hands suddenly clinging to his hair. You gently tugged in need, pulling him closer to it.

He placed a single kiss to your inner thigh before licking a long stripe up your clit.

“Doug,” you gasped, quickly cupping your hand over your mouth.

He used one hand to pull your palm from your face, placing a kiss to your clit before smiling, “no, I wanna hear you.”

He continued to lap at your sensitive clit, your legs closing over his head autonomously. You couldn’t believe how you were feeling, and then he inserted two fingers this time. You swore you were seeing stars; never have you ever felt such ecstasy in your lifetime.

You felt your peak coming embarrassingly fast, unable to formulate words as your eyes rolled back and you came undone in his mouth, walls spasming around his fingers. You rode out your high, your beautiful sounds of pleasure filling the room, Remer dry humping the mattress beneath him.

He pulled away, allowing you to catch your breath before smirking, “you tasted just as good as I imagined.”

“Have sex with me please,” you practically begged, pushing him down by his chest and straddling his waist. You had no idea where this sudden burst of desperation and confidence came from, but you knew you needed to feel him inside of you.

He opened his mouth to speak, but you cut him off by smashing your lips together, grinding on his covered cock. He continued to kiss you, picking you up from under your ass to pull the towel off his body. That excitement grew once again when you felt his warm length bobbing against you, just as warm as his lips that enveloped your senses.

He pulled away, eyes hooded and dark, lips flushed and wet. “Are you sure you want this?”

“I want this so bad,” you breathed, pulling your dress off over your head, “please, I need to feel you.”

He pulled you in for a kiss again, lifting your hips lightly to collect the mixture of his saliva and your slick, rubbing it over his length.

He lined himself up with your hole, looking up at you with gentle eyes. “I don’t wanna hurt you, tell me to stop if I do, okay?”

You nodded, hands firmly on his shoulders, one of his on your waist, the other holding his length.

He slowly pushed the tip in, allowing you to slowly sink down onto him. The sting of the stretch took your breath away, your face slightly contorting in pain as you adjusted to the new sensation. Not only was this your first time, but he was thick and quite well endowed.

“Holy fuck, you’re tight,” he groaned, throwing his head back into the pillow. “You okay?” He looked back up with concerned eyes.

“Yeah,” you breathed, lip between your teeth as you slowly started to rock onto him. “I-I don’t know what to do,” you confessed sheepishly.

He nodded knowingly, gripping your hips gently as he began guiding you up and down his cock, softly thrusting his hips in time. Suddenly, all of the pain was replaced with pleasure and you swore you could feel your blood rushing through every vein and artery.

You started to bounce on him, feeling him hit that spot inside of you that you’d only manage to find on your own a few times. He quickened the pace, taking your soft moans and whimpers as your sign of approval.

“It feels so good,” you cried, resting your forehead on his now as you struggled to hold yourself up from pleasure.

“You’re taking me so well,” he praised, dipping his chin up to kiss you again.

“I think- I think I’m-“

“Cum for me, then,” he coaxed, making very articulate thrusts to hit that spot best he could. You came undone again, your walls tightening around his cock, his own orgasm not far. “That’s it, good girl.”

“Doug,” you moaned breathily in his ear, head now resting on his shoulder as his hands found their way to your ass. “Cum in me? Please?”

It sounded so innocent, he couldn’t help but finish right then and there, shooting hot ribbons inside of you, letting out his own (quite feminine) series of whimpers, your name being at the forefront of them.

You both laid there panting, neither of you bothering to move.

“Can we do that more?” You spoke up, head still resting on his shoulder.

“I’m wondering why we hadn’t done that already,” he laughed, just as fucked out as you.

“I think we just upgraded to super best friends.”

[hakoniwa-h]

10th Years "Tomodachi Life" (& My blogs)

On April 18, 2023, one year ago, I wrote a very long article on my blog about Mii and Japanese politics in relation to 'Tomocore', which was released earlier in Japan. I would like to share the English translation of that article, which I used Chat GPT and DeepL to translate.

To be clear, this article contains content that is very distressing for the feminist community, the LGBTQ+ community, and those who struggle with and contemplate human rights issues...

【The original article】10周年目のトモダチコレクション新生活 （Tomodachi Collection:New life, 10th birthday) 2023.04.18 https://hakoniwa-h.tumblr.com/post/714856306541002752/

「This is a gift from everyone」

On April 18, 2013, "Tomodachi Collection: New Life" was released, and now, it has reached its 10th anniversary. Congratulations. To share the excitement of 11 PM on April 17, 2013, I updated this blog at 11 PM on April 17, 2023. Unfortunately, we can no longer recommend the always-with-you download version…

Before moving this blog, I was posting various things about Tomodachi Collection: New Life on Seesaa Blog. If you've been with us since then, you've been following this blog for over 10 years.

Thank you. Congratulations on the 10th anniversary!

↑ Kanta, the 100th resident born on Likunoko Island, has also turned 9.

Tomodachi Collection: New Life was released on June 6, 2014, under the name "Tomodachi Life" in America, the EU, Australia, and Korea …etc. Before its release, Nintendo corrected an element related to "same-sex marriage" as a bug. I remember that when some people requested not to correct it, Nintendo responded firmly, saying, "We cannot incorporate social claims," which led to protests from users and human rights groups, resulting in an apology. At that time, I felt I had to summarize this controversy in my own way, but with limited knowledge of gender and the LGBTQ community, I remember feeling uncertain about whether it was appropriate to write "same-sex marriage" or "homosexuality" (I had some hesitation about whether it was "love" when it came to Mii relationships). Therefore, I used the terms "same-sex marriage" and "same-sex relationship." I've quietly revised that clumsy blog post since moving from Seesaa, correcting parts that seemed "discriminatory" or "a bit mistaken," but the overall tone and sentiment from that time remain unchanged, and it still exists today.

Back then, I was still immature, grappling with "fighting the society I thought was normal" in the face of my favorite work and the changing times.

[Past blog post]Same-sex marriage fiasco before Tomokore's overseas launch https://hakoniwa-h.tumblr.com/post/151286653996/

[References] ・HUFFPOST - 伊藤大地 「任天堂は同性婚にNO」？ ゲームの設定めぐり海外で波紋 https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/2014/05/08/nintendo-tomodachi_n_5292748.html ・CNET Japan – Nick Statt 任天堂が謝罪–「トモダチコレクション 新生活」欧米版で同性愛に対応せずhttps://japan.cnet.com/article/35047703/・CNET – Michelle Starr How to have same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Lifehttps://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/how-to-have-same-sex-relationships-in-tomodachi-life/

Today, I'd like to share some serious thoughts about politics inspired by Tomodachi Collection: New Life over these past ten years.

"Let's sometimes check how seriously we are living!"

■ Mii's Achievements Almost ten years have passed since the criticism. Following this criticism, "Miitopia" was released, where Mii characters could love anyone regardless of gender (or rather, Mii's gender itself became quite ambiguous), and it was reborn as a fascinating software for the 3DS and later remade for the Switch with enhanced features.

Moreover, Mii showed a remarkable presence in "Miitomo," which was Nintendo's first mobile app launched on March 17, 2016. Unfortunately, "Miitomo" has since been discontinued, but they are now planting flowers in the city with Pikmin in "Pikmin Bloom." I believe Mii are still doing their best.

■ Games and Politics Nintendo has stated, "We strive to create an environment where each employee can demonstrate their abilities," and reportedly introduced a partnership system in March 2021, advocating respect for human rights. This initiative for a diverse workplace includes a section on "promoting women's participation," but although 30% of Nintendo (Japan)'s employees are women, which might be relatively high for a general company, the fact that there are still fewer opportunities for women hasn't changed. Consequently, the fewer female employees, the fewer chances women have to benefit from the partnership system. Although it might be unrealistic to expect a sudden 50% representation tomorrow, I hope for a gradual increase. Additionally, Japanese electronics companies, including Nintendo, have been accused of being involved in forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in 2020, and they are being asked to report on their stance regarding "modern slavery." [References]

・国際人権NGOヒューマン・ライツ・ナウ 【報告書】新疆ウイグル自治区に関連する強制労働と日本企業の関与について https://hrn.or.jp/activity_statement/18457/ ・任天堂株式会社　現代奴隷に関するステートメント(PDF) https://www.nintendo.co.jp/csr/pdf/ModernSlaveryTransparencyStatement_jp.pdf

There was also a bit of news that caught my attention. ・CNN 「任天堂米国法人が女性社員を解雇、理由を巡り物議に」https://www.cnn.co.jp/business/35080561.html・Gigazine 「ニンテンドー・オブ・アメリカで受けたひどいセクハラや女性差別について元従業員が告白」https://gigazine.net/news/20220819-nintendo-of-america-sexual-harassment/

■ Reality Pulling Us Back Now, regarding the much-desired proper sequel to "Tomodachi Collection: New Life" that I and probably the readers of this blog are hoping for, I must point out that the harsh response of Japanese society to the LGBTQ+ community is affecting the existence of the Mii characters. I can't help but think that the political issues surrounding whether to keep Mii's relationships and marriages strictly between male and female or make them more free are hindering development and release. It's likely impossible to create a "Mii who only likes one gender" now. Creating a "Mii who only likes one gender" would break the promise made during the controversy nine years ago when Tomodachi Life was released. The global fan community (honestly, excluding certain communities attacking minorities while jokingly invoking "Nintendo's legal department" and those sharing sensitive information affecting international relations and wars) is not foolish. Moreover, these issues will affect not just Tomodachi Collection but various other games. If it's judged that "human rights are being ignored for business," even the above-mentioned human rights statements will come under stricter scrutiny. Unless these issues are resolved, the development of a sequel to "Tomodachi Collection: New Life" won't be directed (or rather, can't be directed). I now think that the deterioration of Japanese politics over the past decade and the lack of "human rights education" are holding back development.

What I can say to those who wish for the release of "Tomodachi Collection: New Life" is to seriously consider Japanese politics.

If possible, think about human rights and the LGBTQ+ community because while Mii are fictional avatars, they occupy a unique position that can integrate real-life people into the game world, making them inseparable from reality and capable of influencing it.

Being aware of this, reexamining your own assumptions, and stopping discrimination are the quickest paths to development and release.

Is it natural that marriage is only possible between a man and a woman?

Wouldn't it have been acceptable for storks to deliver children to same-sex couples? Wouldn't having a slider setting for 'having children or not' solve this issue? Why is acquiring a home limited to married couples? There are many things we can reconsider.

I feel so seriously that "this country is in a bit of a crisis" that I have to say such serious things 10 years after the release of Tomodachi Collection: New Life. Please understand this small request.

I want the Switch to be imported to a new island in "Tomodachi Collection: New Life," and for Mii to play Zelda, Ring Fit Adventure, and more. I love Mii playing 3DS and WiiU on the 3DS, but I want to say, "Please export the Switch!"

If the economy were a bit better, I think many downloadable content and repairs for 3DS and Wii could have continued. What will happen if the Wii or 3DS of the Mii living on the island breaks down? It's sad to think about, but at the same time, I also feel like Mii could somehow fix it.

■ Tightening Last year, on February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine. In 2013, Russia enacted a law prohibiting the "propaganda" of "non-traditional sexual relations (homosexuality)" to minors. In 2017, a legal amendment decriminalized domestic violence.

The fact that "Miitopia" was released with an R18 rating also caused a big stir, as it was caught by this “propaganda” clause. "Tomodachi Life" might also be included.

[References] ・毎日新聞 – 菅野 蘭 「女の子」だから、抗議する　プーチン政権下のロシアの女性たちhttps://mainichi.jp/articles/20230413/k00/00m/030/139000c ・AUTOMATON – Daiki Imazato ロシア下院議員が「LGBTを宣伝するゲーム」をリストアップ。『Fallout』や『Apex Legends』など有名ゲーム多数を危険視 https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20221115-226706/・AUTOMATON – Ayuo Kawase Nintendo Switch『ミートピア』はロシアでは“18禁”だとして話題にのぼる。同性愛描写が影響かhttps://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20210219-152683/ ・FRANCE 24 - Russia’s book police: Anti-gay law opens new chapter as censors target literature https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240430-russia-s-book-police-anti-gay-law-opens-ugly-new-chapter

Additionally, last November, it became a problem that the Shinto Political League distributed a discriminatory booklet at a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party's parliamentary group that described homosexuality as a "mental disorder" and an "addiction." Frankly speaking, I feel that Japan's stance on LGBTQ+ issues is very close to the situation described above in Russia. If a "homosexual propaganda ban law" were to be enacted in Japan, it would not only restrict the release of games related to Mii but also other imported games and works. I dread the thought that it could even lead to the halting of distribution of second-hand copies of 'Tomodachi Life' and 'Miitopia.'

[References] ・Yahoo個人 – 松岡宗嗣 「同性愛は依存症」「LGBTの自殺は本人のせい」自民党議連で配布 https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/matsuokasoshi/20220629-00303189 ↑（I've listed the sites and articles I referred to without changing their titles, but this article by writer Soshi Matsuoka, posting information about LGBTQ+ issues in Japan, became a scoop, particularly highlighting the LGBTQ persecution by traditional religions in Japan.） ・朝日新聞デジタル – 伊藤舞虹 議員ら会合でLGBTQ差別冊子、「加担怖い」　当事者の神職ら抗議(有料記事) https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQCG74K2QBPOIPE00S.html ・The Asahi Shimbun - MAIKO ITO /Staff Writer Shrine workers protest Shinto body’s anti-LGBT pamphlet https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14768713 ・東京新聞 日本除いた「G6」からLGBTQの人権守る法整備を促す書簡　首相宛てに駐日大使連名　サミット議長国へ厳しい目 https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/238238

The direction of Japan's game industry is also influenced by the atmosphere among users. Until now, perhaps you could adopt the attitude that as long as you could play your favorite games, you didn't care about anything else. This was because Japan was perceived to (comparatively still) have "money," and it was a country with many people who could afford to be insensitive and not care about others. Moreover, I think there was a sort of tacit racial leniency as "an island nation with strange customs in East Asia."

However, such excuses will no longer be acceptable. We are entering an era where we must feel ashamed of the business practices that have relied on such excuses. Therefore, I sincerely hope that those who love Mii and read this blog will seriously think about the future, including politics.

And, based on that, I want you to boldly wish for the development of a sequel to 'Tomodachi Life: New Life.'

"From tomorrow, I will try my best."

The next election is the second half of the unified local elections on April 23rd. Why not seriously consider how you want Mii to be portrayed in the future as one of the starting points?

--- --- --- ■Supplementary information The day I wrote this article, April 18th, was a time when local elections were looming in Japan.

On May 19, 2024, it became clear that a Japanese lesbian couple sought asylum in Canada, being recognized as refugees due to compound discrimination against women and LGBTQ+ in Japan. We live in an environment so severe that we need to seek asylum. Nintendo, the creator of 'Tomodachi Life,' is unfortunately based in Japan and sometimes absorbs the discriminatory expressions of Japanese society. This issue extends beyond games to other media like manga and anime. Feminist groups that point out these problems often face SLAPP lawsuits and other forms of harassment, making it a serious social issue that rarely comes to light.

・日本人の同性カップル、カナダで難民認定　「迫害に根拠��る恐怖」 https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASS5L2F7MS5LUTFL002M.html ・Colabo’s Fights against Sexual Exploitation and Misogyny in Japan Today | Webzine-KYEOL As you may know, in May 2014, before the release of "Tomodachi Life," it became big news that same-sex marriage was not possible in the game. At the time, I must confess, I had little understanding of LGBTQ+ issues and didn't fully grasp why this caused such anger. I believe most Japanese people felt the same.

The answer is that Japan is a society that adheres to the standard that "marriage is between a man and a woman."

Japan is a country that is (for better or worse) susceptible to external pressure. When former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori made sexist remarks during the TOKYO Olympics, it was thanks to women around the world standing up that we finally managed to bring him down. The sad fact is that women's suffrage in Japan is shorter than his age. The reality is that few people can access the Japanese feminist communities and LGBTQ+ communities, and they are quite exhausted.

I live in a rural area (HOKKAIDO) and have never directly participated in these communities, which is an issue. Feminism in Japan feels like it belongs to those in urban areas, who can attend university, who have money, and who can participate in communities.

At the same time, this means that anti-feminists can easily infiltrate feminist communities if they have the funds.

I think Japan's situation regarding LGBTQ+ is close to Russia. Women's wages are 75% of men's. I live as a woman in this Japanese society. I encountered feminism in 2017 when Yumi Ishikawa started the hashtag activism #Kutoo, a play on #MeToo. Online visibility of feminists allowed us to see what books and media they were consuming. I was fortunate that when I encountered feminism, K-feminism, including Cho Nam-joo's "Kim Ji-young, Born 1982（KO:「82년생 김지영」 JP:「82年生まれ、キム・ジヨン」)" was spreading in Japan, and I rode that wave.

(Postscript 2024/05/26 Upon rereading, I realized there might be some confusion here. In 2017, the global hashtag movement #MeToo occurred, and I was shocked by Shiori Ito's case and the reports on it. Gradually, women's accusations started to accumulate, and although I felt I wanted to share something as well, I couldn't put my thoughts into words. This led me to read many books and articles about feminism. Among these, Yumi Ishikawa's #Kutoo (2019) movement emerged, the Flower Demo, public discrimination by a certain university professor, and the related lawsuits.)

I learned that Japan is a family-centric society, that we are bound by it, and that what I thought was "normal" since childhood was not "normal." Our rights are incomplete, and human rights education, including sex education, has not been conducted.

You may know famous feminists like CHIZUKO UENO and YOKO TAJIMA, but their books did not reach us. Japanese bookstores rarely carry feminist books. As mentioned earlier, women's wages are 75% of men's; it's not that we don't buy books but can't afford to. Moreover, many Japanese women are burdened with household chores and have no time to read.

The same applies to other cultures. There's no time to play games, no time for hobbies, but we're told to stay beautiful. The word "Jyoshi-ryoku" (women's power) became a buzzword in 2009. "Jyoshi-ryoku" is a term similar to "Tradwife," meaning always being cute, good at cooking, and perfectly entertaining men. It became a buzzword, and we were swayed by it.

Do you know what happened in 2009?

↑It's the year when the DS version of ”Tomodachi Collection” was released. Now, AI like Chat GPT has advanced greatly, allowing us to communicate like this (although it's still somewhat unstable).

The 10th-anniversary article touched on these social issues in Japan and addressed Mii fans, but it didn't get much response in Japan.

Japan still neglects the word "human rights." It is a country full of elderly people who do not get angry even if taxes are pocketed by suited old men. And I am one of the women sighing in that society. In Japan, making statements about feminism attracts trolls from all sides, creating a situation where even a small corner blog like this has to remain vigilant.

...Thank you for reading this long piece. Let me say a bit more. The point I want to make is that a society where many people suffer from various difficulties happening around the world is not only challenging for us but also for Mii. I hope for a society where it's easier to live, not only for the cute residents living on this small island but for everyone.

And I believe that applies to you, the one reading this text. I hope the English is coming across well. Thank you to ChatGPT and DeepL (and to all those developers and individuals striving for ethics), truly.

[missis-maple394]

MIKU'S OVER THE #WONDERREPORT RAINBOW

DO NOT REPOST / EDIT / TRACE / MONETIZE MY ART FROM OTHER SITES.

Author’s comment:

Hello! I did a fan graphic design artwork for this music video of Keisei's song "#wonderreport"! Ahaha, you thought I did it?! Psyche! I love this song a lot though, give a listen! This is my 16th Birthday to her first V2 package released, collaborated with YAMAHA Corp. and Crypton Future Media Inc.! She was originally released in August 31, 2007 and now it's out of print. Treasure and preserve it! It's crazy that I became fan when I was a young teen discovering anime/manga, and then this is where I discovered the magic of music listening to my pleasant ears. To listen her cheerful iconic voice, a varied producers I've supported them a lot, and now I'm inspired to be Illustrator! I couldn't been so thankful to stayed this so long, and life goes on the more I will draw Miku again! :) !! I made this piece that I'm really happy with this results, picked up so many drafts/revisions! I took a theme with rainbows and casual design, associating her 10th anniversary illustration of her butterfly ribbon! It's not much but I love doing it so!

Author’s note:

Do not start a roleplay/venting/fanfiction using replying / reblogging / DMs with my artworks.

Do not add your playful or direct rudeness to my posts such as replies, reblogged with comments, hidden tags and private messages.

Do not tag and marked as a kin/me/morally questionable content etc.

DO NOT claim my artworks belong to you, and removing / cropping my watermarks away.

Please DM me for inquiries such as commissioned work or reporting my artwork has been reposted or edited.