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[monsoonceroom]

New Spy x Family chapter! Let's Gooooo!

So Damian & co (but mostly Damian) are studying when the above drops. I did google this & apparently 'Mitera' means 'Mother' in Greek, so this is likely their version of Ancient Greece. Pretty neat imo.

With Ostania's economy probably in shambles after the war, I wonder if this boom was partially because of the country's citizens hoping for a way to get back on their feet financially by selling some sweet ancient relics.

It's nice to know that they had twitter in 1960/1970's Ostania. Weak joke, I know.

Anyways, treasure hunting happens & while the boys are in proper attire, the 3 butlers are in suits in the middle of a freakin' forest. This would be absolutely miserable in real life. However, with this being Spy x Family, I automatically assume they're much too professional to allow even a single speck of dirt to sully their clothes & will be vaporized immediately.

Also, it looks like their hair colors are inversions of the kids? Instead of 1 brunette & 2 blonds, it's 2 brunettes & 1 blond. Also that Egeberg butler does look pretty fine.

Shush you! Damian already knows his family life is shit; let him be happy!

It's cute to see them explore the wonder's nature has to offer. Also did they not bring enough water, so they had to resort to drinking from waterfalls? Props for getting it from fast running water rather than a stagnant pool though.

STRRRIKE! Maybe I'm just exaggerating, but I lowkey wonder if Jeeves can give Martha a run for her money when it comes to physical prowess. While not much in terms of what we've already seen throughout the series (especially compared to Yor) I imagine not many people would have been able to use an acorn like a bullet.

:(

Have some food to cheer up, Damian!

Hold up; wild-caught venison? Did the butlers hunt deer while treasure hunting? They probably brought the food with them but the image of guys in suits stalking a deer is hilarious.

Lol, Ewen & Emile are like 'Did he just call us peasants?'.

Damian is calling upon the spirits to guide him.

Oh crap, it backfired & now he's possessed!

Not to worry! A kind spider has come to help!

Maybe the real treasure was the big ass flower we found along the way.

A quick google search says that 'Geschocran' when translated into English means 'Projectile Crane', so nothing too crazy there considering the pistil on that thing. I checked to see if maybe the name 'Witch's Crib' had any real-world equivalent although nothing came up aside from baby cribs & witch hazel. I wonder what the in-universe lore is on the 'Witch's Crib' name?

Goddamn kids these days & their helicopters. Back in MY day we had to wait hours in the car to get somewhere, uphill, both ways in the snow in 180 degree weather.

More sad Damian & Jeeves trying to talk to him about it. Also no one else is home? Where the frick did everyone go? Let's see; Melinda has her own place so she's probably chillin' there, Demetrius is likely studying at a library, & Donovan is, I don't know, concocting evil schemes in his lair or something.

Yooo! Damian's accusing Jeeves of being a snitch! At least Damian forgot he was sad.

KSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK Looks like Damian tried to impress Anya & then complained to Jeeves about it later. I wouldn't doubt it if Jeeves is feeding Melinda info, but alas, we have no proof.

[gyuwoncheol]

Man On A Mission

Pair: Joshua x f.reader

Genre: Fluff, very slight angst

Summary: Plans are made and the surprise is all set, but what happens when you’re suddenly refusing to be Joshua’s Valentine’s date? Will your boyfriend get your sweet yes in time for the big day or will he have to force it out of you? Good thing this sexy gentleman has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Warning: slight angst if you squint, lots of playful teasing, Shua and oc being menaces to each other, making out, suggestive content.

WC: 2.8k

Author’s Note: Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day! This is my piece for @svthub Cupid For You Collab - Valentine’s Gift Exchange. This is very much dedicated for my Valentine @shuadotcom 🩷 I��m so sorry this is late 😭 I would’ve really wanted to publish this on the 13th but your valentine has been very sickly these past few days. I hope you enjoy this as much I enjoyed writing the antics I wrote for you and your beloved Joshua. I love you so much!!! To the moon and back 😉 The biggest thanks as well to my dearest @wongyuseokie for being so patient with me and helping me out with all my questions AND for organizing this event! Ily 😘

Svthub’s Cupid For You Collab Masterlist

“You can’t be serious right now,” you frown in shock.

“SURPRISE!” Your boyfriend exclaims.

You turn around fully to face him, “babe… I thought we agreed on no surprises? And no extravagant gifts?”

A cheesy grin flashes on Joshua’s face but when he notices how serious you actually are, his once excited expression starts to fall.

You really should’ve known that when you both agreed on a simple staycation for Valentine’s, your CEO boyfriend would do anything but. However, when he mentioned to you about how busy he would be this week trying to close a merger deal, you thought perhaps simple would be possible. So when he asked you to join him for a lunch with business partners in a fancy hotel the day before Valentine’s, you didn’t actually think it was all a trap to just get you both checked in in the presidential suite for an overnight stay.

Joshua observes you a bit more before answering, suddenly feeling embarrassed and scared, “do you not… like it? I mean, I can still cancel the booking and then we can go do—“

“Baby, no,” you interrupt, “it’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just… not what we agreed on.”

“Well you said you wanted a staycation, right?” Isn’t this what that is? A nice place just less than an hour away from the city, perfect view, nice amenities, a good looking boyfriend. But I mean, if you’re not into it, I might still be able to get us those Bali tickets I canceled last week.”

“You what?!”

“Mr. and Mrs. Hong?” The small voice of the hotel receptionist calls you both and Joshua is thanking the heavens you were given no time to further interrogate him.

“It’s Miss y/l/n,” you immediately correct her and Joshua frowns at how quick you were to dissociate from him, sweat starting to bead on his forehead as he ponders how his extravagant surprise might have really upset you.

“Oh, my apologies miss y/l/n. Anyway, I just wanted to inform you that your suite is ready. Here are your room keys and you will be assisted to your room.” You kindly thank the receptionist and make your way through the hotel lobby.

The elevator ride up to the top was silent and awkward. Joshua consistently bounced on the balls of his feet from nerves. However, when the doors to your suite open, your jaw drops and your feet automatically lead you towards the floor-to-ceiling windows that boast a 180 degree view of the city. You didn’t even notice the bell man wishing you both a pleasant stay or hear your boyfriend carefully approach you. You could see the concrete jungle of the business district yet so beautifully backdropped by the sprawling mountains in the distance. You never thought much of your city, it wasn’t exactly a tourist destination in itself, but now that you’re looking at it from hundreds of feet above, you realise it has a charm of its own.

“I take it you want to stay?” Joshua asks as he observes the glimmer in your eyes.

You finally peel your gaze from the view and turn to your boyfriend who’s carrying an apologetic look on his face.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he grabs your hands and sandwiches them between his, “I just thought this would be nice and I know you didn’t want to do anything big but I also know you like surprises and I just really wanted to give you the perfect Valentine’s I could pla–“

“Who said I’d be your Valentine’s?”

At that very moment, all color drains from your boyfriend’s face. His mouth is agape, eyebrows raised and eyes are round as ever. Complete and utter shock wash over him and then you see pain, his eyes show early signs of wetness and he starts to blink hard and that’s when you burst out in laughter.

“I’M KIDDING!” You laugh loudly, hands cupping his face and you just hear him take a deep breath.

“Babyyyy,” he whines and you’re completely melting at the pout etched on his face.

“Aww, babe,” you peck his lips before embracing him tightly. He takes a few more seconds wrapped in your arms, trying to let his heartbeat stabilize from the prank you just pulled. “I was just kidding. I think.”

“You think?” He pulls back and catches the mischievous smile on your face. “What does that mean?”

“Hmm… well for starters, you just assumed, you didn’t even ask me, and then–“

“Okay so will you be my Valentine?” Your boyfriend rushes out and if you just weren’t feeling playful, it would be a definite yes right then and there.

“I’ll think about it,” you shrug. “This wasn’t exactly how I thought we’d spend the holiday, you know. I thought we’d only meet with Mr. Min today.”

“Well, I had to find a way to get you to come here with me.”

“Yeah, but what happened to no surprises, Josh? Didn’t we agree on a simple Valentine’s, just a staycation? No fancy gifts and just our favorite food?”

“If you think about it, we’re still in the city, so it’s still a staycation. And we can still have our favorite food!”

“And yet… what was that I heard awhile ago? You had plans to take me to Bali? Hmm??”

“Okay, fine…” your boyfriend slumps in defeat, “but that was honestly booked before we even agreed on anything. And then I canceled when you said you didn’t want anything too extravagant. C’mon baby,” Joshua prods, his arms wrapping around your waist, “I’m still somewhat following the agreement. I just… I really want to make this special for us. Please let me?”

“Okay, I’ll let you,” you smile at the sincerity of your most loving boyfriend. You truly appreciate the effort he’s putting into this, but just like the dynamic of your relationship, what’s a romantic holiday without a little fun? “But I’m still not saying yes to being your Valentine… not yet.”

He sees the wink you just gave him as you walk away and he rolls his eyes. “So that’s how you wanna play it, huh?”

You dramatically turn around before letting yourself fall on the large couch by the living room, “oh whatever could you mean, my love?”

Sometimes, Joshua just hates how you may just be as mischievous as he is, if not more. But he also adores your playful side, especially when it makes him think outside of the box. When he sits beside you on the couch, he’s immediately pulling you onto his lap, hands roaming up and down from your waist to your thighs. “I’ll get you to say yes,” he answers confidently.

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhmm… before midnight.”

“A deadline, I like that,” you nod in approval, “let the games begin, babe.”

Joshua scoffs, “they already have.” A searing kiss is delivered to you that you almost fall over if your boyfriend hadn’t had his muscular arms supporting your back. When you’re finally responding back, Joshua is surprisingly the first to groan, but could you blame him? Your lips were full and soft and it didn’t help at all that your hips have decided to grind against his crotch. He’s sucking on your bottom lip and when they part to grant him entrance, the CEO wastes no time in exploring with his tongue. He hears you moan once, twice, and then he’s pulling your pelvis down as he bucks his hips to meet yours.

“Will you be my Valentine?” He asks in a muffled rush while trailing down your neck, hoping you’d be caught off guard. But Joshua should’ve known, you took your games just as seriously as he did.

“Not so fast, baby.” You giggle, pushing him back against the couch. “You’re not gonna get me in one try.”

There’s a genuine laughter shared between the both of you but when you feel Joshua’s hand begin to pull down the strap of your blouse, you gasp in shock, scaring the man beneath you, “what is it?”

“Babe! I don’t have clothes!”

“Even better,” he smirks.

“No!” You swat his hand away when he attempts another kiss. “I mean, we’re staying the night, right? I didn’t pack anything. Oh my god! I don’t even have my skincare!”

“Okay, calm down,” he rubs your arms, “I have it under control. I’ve packed for you, yeah? Clothes, skincare, even some accessories. Just… except maybe underwear.”

“Babe!”

“What? You won’t really need it anyway.”

“Joshua!” You scold louder this time.

“I’M KIDDING!” He laughs like a maniac, “I brought you… a few.”

To be very fair with your boyfriend, he stayed true to his promise of a staycation. While the hotel you were at had a luxury shopping center directly below it, he knew you just wanted to laze around in the comfort of your suite. Room service was ordered for your lunch, you both watched your favorite movie on the large built-in flat screen on the wall and now, you’re sighing happily sprawled out on the bed wrapped in the hotel’s fluffy bathrobe.

“Someone’s happy,” Joshua notes, settling beside you.

“Are you kidding me? That was the best massage I’ve ever had in my life!” If you were being honest, your whole body felt like jelly, in a good way, it’s as if you could still feel the masseuse’s skillful hands kneading away the knots on your lower back. “I think I might just marry her.”

“Wow, okay???” Your boyfriend takes offense.

“If she asked me to be her Valentine, it’s a yes,” you stick your tongue out at him and before you know it, you’re smothered in tickles from your boyfriend.

“What did you just say?!” He challenges and you want to trigger him more but you’re simply reduced to a fit of squirming giggles underneath his muscular body.

“S-s-sttooooppp!”

Your wrists are conveniently pinned down above your head as you try to squirm away, your body encased between his legs, and a pair of scrunched up brows and pursed lips are staring you down, “Not until you say yes to being my Valentine!”

“No!” You deny him, “the more you tickle me, the more I’ll say no.”

This actually catches his attention and he lets go of you. “Wow, I didn’t think that would work.”

“I’m just nice,” he proudly grins, “and that’s why I’d make the perfect Valentine’s date.”

“Mhmm, probably. You are a gentleman, after all.”

Joshua wiggles his finger at you disapprovingly, “I believe the exact term you’re looking for is a sexy gentleman.”

You both share a laugh at the inside joke that began a few years back in his workplace and has simply stuck until now. “Speaking of,” his tone turns a bit more serious, “I know you just wanna be lazy in bed all day but if it’s okay with you, will you let this sexy gentleman take you to dinner tonight? It’s just going to be in the restaurant downstairs and I made sure to ask the staff to place us where it’s more quiet and secluded.” Big doe eyes stared at you and while you did want to tease Joshua a little more, the sincere look on his face proved too difficult to even playfully deny.

“Okay, I’ll go, but I’m still not your Valentine date. There’s still a few more hours to woo me, Joshua Hong.”

He scoffs and then smiles, leaving a kiss on your cheek before hopping out of bed, “I’ll get that yes before midnight.” It’s cool and confident, and somehow, you’re beginning to lose your resolve.

“What is this?!” you gasp as you open the small hand carry luggage that your boyfriend had packed for you. It was the first time you had gone through it, completely trusting him when he said he had brought all your essentials. You also didn’t feel the need to go through the bag earlier as you had no plans but to live in the fluffy robe the hotel provided.

“What?” Joshua snickers.

You squint your eyes at him, knowing his agenda a little too well. “This,” you mutter coldly, raising up the lingerie with your hands. It was skimpy and it was lacey, and most of all, it was your boyfriend’s favorite. He tries to act innocent but a cheesy grin breaks out on his face anyway and you just roll your eyes at his antics. However, rummaging through the rest of the bag for underwear that had more coverage proved to be unsuccessful. “Just three pairs of lingerie? Nothing else. Really?”

“Hey, no! I packed four. Four pairs of lingerie. All of which are my favorite,” a boyish grin on his face.

“You couldn’t even bring me at least one comfy pair of panties for sleeping?” You pout.

“Not when we’ll be sleeping naked, no. But your nightgown is there,” your boyfriend earns another roll of your eyes and now he’s really giggling with mischief. “C’mon babe, don’t pout. Any of those four will fit perfectly with…” he runs to the closet and then quickly comes back with a huge white box in his hands that had a big black ribbon tied around it.

“Babe,” you gasp silently when you manage to open the box and pick up the beautiful dress that was folded neatly inside. It came in your favorite color and in a style that complimented your curves well. “This is too much,” you say just above a whisper, “I thought no more gifts?”

“Well, this isn’t really a gift. It’s more like… hmmmm…” your boyfriend purses his lips, “giving you something to wear for dinner. I can’t have you walking in the restaurant in just your lingerie! That’s only for my eyes to see!”

You should’ve been annoyed really, he was coming up with the most mischievous excuses to break the agreement you both made, but the way Joshua was pouting and huffing towards the end of his sentence had you smiling like a love struck teenager.

“I love you so much,” you smile and wrap your arms around your boyfriend, planting a kiss on his lips.

“I love you too, baby.”

And you both did, you really loved each other so much. Mischief and jokes were common between you and Joshua; he was equally playful as you are, but no matter how much you teased each other, every single ‘I love you’ that came out of your mouths was always said meaningfully.

“Baby?” your boyfriend asks in the middle of your scrumptious dinner, “do you think Valentine’s is overrated?”

You’re slightly taken aback by the question, especially since the topic before this was how Joshua managed to win the chubby bunny contest during your friend group’s Christmas dinner.

“Uhmm.. “

When you realize he looked dead serious about his query, you give it some thought before answering him, “I see why it could be. It is quite a capitalistic holiday and well, Saint Valentine did die a gruesome death on this day, but I do think that if your Valentine is the right person, it doesn’t really matter if it’s overrated or not.”

Josh is listening intently to your words, his thumb slowly rubbing the back of your hand, “So… you don’t think all my surprises today are overrated, right?” There’s a curious look behind his eyes and your heart physically squeezes at the sight of it.

“Oh, love…” you sigh and scoot your chair right by his side, cupping his cheek and giving him a kiss that you hoped would wipe his worries once and for all, “You could’ve surprised me with a trip to the moon and I would still hop on that spaceship with you volunta–”

Joshua gasps loudly, “Now, how did you know that’s where we’re going tomo–”

“Babe!” you laugh and shove him lightly, “Even if you weren’t kidding, I’d go with you. I told you, even the most possibly overrated thing you could think of will not be overrated as long as it’s with you.”

“Ohhh, so I am your Valentine tomorrow, huh?” The proudest, most obnoxious smirk breaks out on your boyfriend’s face, his chin is held up high and one brow raised approvingly. It takes a few seconds for you but when you realize what he’s done— falling perfectly into his trap— your jaw simply hangs low.

Your boyfriend is quick to tuck his hand below your chin, “close your mouth babe, else a bug might fly in.”

You scoff at the remark but honestly, Joshua isn’t able to hear you amidst his cackling, and you absolutely abhor how he’s gotten you to slip so easily.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” the laugh is evil and confident, and you want to punch his stupid annoying grin away, “you loooooove me, quite literally to the moon AND back.”

Damn him, you thought, because he’s right, you love him, to the moon and back.

As if he wasn’t proud enough, your boyfriend seals your defeat by grabbing your neck to kiss you fervently only to then raise his fist in victory, “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind, AND a Valentine’s date for Joshua Hong!”

[bobacupcake]

Oooh, what about Journey? I think the sand probably took a lot to pull off

it did!! i watched a video about it, god, like 6 years ago or something and it was a very very important thing for them to get just right. this is goimg to be a longer one because i know this one pretty extensively

here's the steps they took to reach it!!

and heres it all broken down:

so first off comes the base lighting!! when it comes to lighting things in videogames, a pretty common model is the lambert model. essentially you get how bright things are just by comparing the normal (the direction your pixel is facing in 3d space) with the light direction (so if your pixel is facing the light, it returns 1, full brightness. if the light is 90 degrees perpendicular to the pixel, it returns 0, completely dark. and pointing even further away you start to go negative. facing a full 180 gives you -1. thats dot product baybe!!!)

but they didnt like it. so. they just tried adding and multiplying random things!!! literally. until they got the thing on the right which they were like yeah this is better :)

you will also notice the little waves in the sand. all the sand dunes were built out of a heightmap (where things lower to the ground are closer to black and things higher off the ground are closer to white). so they used a really upscaled version of it to map a tiling normal map on top. they picked the map automatically based on how steep the sand was, and which direction it was facing (east/west got one texture, north/south got the other texture)

then its time for sparkles!!!! they do something very similar to what i do for sparkles, which is essentially, they take a very noisy normal map like this and if you are looking directly at a pixels direction, it sparkles!!

this did create an issue, where the tops of sand dunes look uh, not what they were going for! (also before i transition to the next topic i should also mention the "ocean specular" where they basically just took the lighting equation you usually use for reflecting the sun/moon off of water, and uh, set it up on the sand instead with the above normal map. and it worked!!! ok back to the tops of the sand dunes issue)

so certain parts just didnt look as they intended and this was a result of the anisotropic filtering failing. what is anisotropic filtering you ask ?? well i will do my best to explain it because i didnt actually understand it until 5 minutes ago!!!! this is going to be the longest part of this whole explanation!!!

so any time you are looking at a videogame with textures, those textures are generally coming from squares (or other Normal Shapes like a healthy rectangle). but ! lets say you are viewing something from a steep angle

it gets all messed up!!! so howww do we fix this. well first we have to look at something called mip mapping. this is Another thing that is needded because video game textures are generally squares. because if you look at them from far away, the way each pixel gets sampled, you end up with some artifacting!!

so mip maps essentially just are the original texture, but a bunch of times scaled down Properly. and now when you sample that texture from far away (so see something off in the distance that has that texture), instead of sampling from the original which might not look good from that distance, you sample from the scaled down one, which does look good from that distance

ok. do you understand mip mapping now. ok. great. now imagine you are a GPU and you know exactly. which parts of each different mip map to sample from. to make the texture look the Absolute Best from the angle you are looking at it from. how do you decide which mip map to sample, and how to sample it? i dont know. i dont know. i dont know how it works. but thats anisotropic filtering. without it looking at things from a steep angle will look blurry, but with it, your GPU knows how to make it look Crisp by using all the different mip maps and sampling them multiple times. yay! the more you let it sample, the crisper it can get. without is on the left, with is on the right!!

ok. now. generally this is just a nice little thing to have because its kind of expensive. BUT. when you are using a normal map that is very very grainy like the journey people are, for all the sparkles. having texture fidelity hold up at all angles is very very important. because without it, your textures can get a bit muddied when viewing it from any angle that isnt Straight On, and this will happen

cool? sure. but not what they were going for!! (16 means that the aniso is allowed to sample the mip maps sixteen times!! thats a lot)

but luckily aniso 16 allows for that pixel perfect normal map look they are going for. EXCEPT. when viewed from the steepest of angles. bringing us back here

so how did they fix this ? its really really clever. yo uguys rmemeber mip maps right. so if you have a texture. and have its mip maps look like this

that means that anything closer to you will look darker, because its sampling from the biggest mip map, and the further away you get, the lighter the texture is going to end up. EXCEPT !!!! because of aisononotropic filtering. it will do the whole sample other mip maps too. and the places where the anisotropic filtering fail just so happen to be the places where it starts sampling the furthest texture. making the parts that fail that are close to the camera end up as white!!!

you can see that little ridge that was causing problems is a solid white at the tip, when it should still be grey. so they used this and essentially just told it not to render sparkles on the white parts. problem solved

we arent done yet though because you guys remember the mip maps? well. they are causing their own problems. because when you shrink down the sparkly normal map, it got Less Sparkly, and a bit smooth. soooo . they just made the normal map mip maps sharper (they just multipled them by 2. this just Worked)

the Sharp mip maps are on the left here!!

and uh... thats it!!!! phew. hope at least some of this made sense

[izabeladidelgado]

sponge cake recipe from 1954

including; filling recipe, strawberry version, and strawberry juice.

Izabela's note; sponge cakes can be made in many different ways, so for the entry i included about 6 different variations. All have a relatively similar result, but it's fun with variations <33

Measurements

1 dl - 0,47 cups, 100 milliliters, 3.38 ounces

[aka. 1.5] 1 1/2 - 0,625 cups, 150 milliliters, 5,07 ounces

[aka. 1.25] 1 1/4 - 0,52 cups, 125 milliliters, 4,22 ounces

2 dl - 0,84 cups, 200 milliliters, 6,76 ounces

Sponge cake

three egg cake

3 egg

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 dl sugar

1 1/2 - 2 dl all purpose flour

one tea spoon baking soda

four egg cake

4 eggs

2 dl sugar

1 dl all purpose flour

1 dl potato flour

four egg cake [version 2]

4 eggs

2 dl sugar

1 dl all purpose flour

1 dl potato flour

1 - 1/2 tea spoons baking soda

this may seem like an unnecessary entry [and it might as well be] but it's to put pressure on the fact that the amount of baking soda does determine a good part of the result. So try out recipes till you find one you like the most<3

five egg cake

5 eggs

1 3/4 dl sugar

3 dl all purpose flour

1 tea spoon baking soda

five egg cake [version 2]

5 eggs

3 dl sugar

1/2 dl water

4 dl all purpose flour

5 tea spoons baking soda

six egg cake

6 eggs

2 dl sugar

2 dl all purpose flour

1 1/2 dl potato flour

two teaspoons baking soda

Izabela's note 2; this translation from norwegian was done by hand, and not through google translate. So please don't hesitate to correct me, or ask if any confusion occurs.

Sponge cake is preferably cooked in a round form with a loose bottom part. Always butter the form well.

Whisk the eggs together first, then add sugar. Whisk it with force and quickly enough for a texture to be formed. With a good [electronic/automatic] whisp, this will take no more than 5 - 10 minutes.

Pour them in the flour [both types of multiple types are used] through a sieve, then the baking soda. Use a stirrer, and gently fold the flour through the mix. The mix must be as airy as possible.

Once finishes, and no clumps are seen, pour the mixture into the pre-buttered form. Put it in the oven at 180-200 degrees celsius, at the lowest rack. Then let it sit in there for about 40 minutes before checking it. If it's not finished or cooked to your preferences, put it back in, but id recommend no more than 60 minutes in total.

Remember - don't open the over for the first 20 minutes. As cold air may cause the cake to deflate.

if anyone might need instructions on how to cook the cake in a cold oven, let me know <3

Filling and slicing [be careful when working with knives]

Put the, now cooled down, sponge cake on a baking paper, use a thin and sharp knife and stick it into the top third part of the cake. Then carefully slice it open so the cake is decided into two parts. One being 2/3 of the cake, the top part being 1/3.

Then turn the cake and repeat the process on the bottom part, to the end up with 3, 1/3 parts.

Put the bottom and middle part and lightly coat them with a layer of either wine or strawberry juice in this case [recipe for this at the bottom].

Fill then the cake with whatever filling you'd like. The recipe for this will come at the bottom of the post.

The way the cake will then be constructed will look something as such;

Uncoated sponge-cake

Filling

Sponge cake

June Strawberry sponge cake [finishing touches]

After the sponge cake and filling itself has been constructed, as said, with strawberry juice, there are still some remaining things we can add to the cake for more strawberry additions.

An example of this can be to add some strawberries to the filling. Not necessarily a lot, but to me personally, it's a very nice and sweet touch to the cake.

Another option to consider might be to cut up strawberries, and use as decorative additives. Which is my personal favorite.

Yet another that has been used commonly in my family is to put thin strawberry slices between layers on the cake. Such a beautiful personal touch that i adore <3

Filling/Cover

3 dl whipped cream

1 table spoon sugar

1 table spoon vanilla extract

If the mixture is too thin/thick, there are other options.

Too thick; add some water, a few spoons at a time. A little water can go great lengths.

Too thin; Add powdered sugar, or even some potato flour if you're feeling bold. But keep in mind that this may affect the taste.

Strawberry juice

if you know how to make strawberry jam, you're already set. Though if you don't, then fear not, for i do.

for 1 portion [3 portions are recommended for the sponge cake]

Put a batch of strawberries, aboit 1.5 handfuls in a pot on medium heat. Use either a fork or potato musher to crush them to mush.

Pour in 1 dl of sugar to mixture once the strawberries are crushed.

As said, this is homemade strawberry jam. But this is filling we're making

Therefore, add 0,5 dl water to the pot.

Obviously, this is a free for trial and error space, so if you're not satisfied with the results, use cornstarch to thicken it [very little is needed] and water to make it thinner.

Izabela's note 3; The only words taken from the book is the measurements and recipes. Everything else is handwritten by myself.

Obviously credit is not needed at all, as i am not behind the recipe for the sponge cake.

tag: @angelblvd444 thank you for your request!! <33

[hiddenintheveil]

oh yeah i forgot to post these

all the clay creations related to Third Life so far! I still need to make Bigb's base, so I'll be doing that soon, but i have the rest of the factions! closeups and details under the cut:

the crastle! fun to make, i had to mix up a special blend for the roofs but otherwise quite straightforward.

dead bush hill! once again, i had to mix up a specific color for the granite edges, which was a little difficult. Also had to watch Joel's third life series to make this. which i am not going to complain about, he's fun.

the flower valley! strangely enough, the most irritating to try and format into a diorama, as the houses pictured here are on opposite sides of a valley. fully 180 degrees difference.

the swamp castle! i hate it. it was made of wool. white wool. it lasted for like five minutes before being burnt. never work with white clay. NEVER, you hear me? it's malevolent. a good reference was hard to find, but i figured it out eventually :)

renchanting! yes it has another name but that's related to a franchise i do not approve of. finding a good reference for this diorama-thing meant i had to listen to so many references to that franchise which automatically makes this really annoying. also it looks shrinkwrapped because i was a FOOL and thought coating it in liquid clay could do something cool.

the sand castle! the first one i made! fun, but i think not finding my own reference for this diorama-thing makes it a little less impactful than the rest. :/

lastly, a banner of the Red Army! self-explanatory, i think.

[yukongkisser]

a rant about the arcane fandom lately

the arcane fandom really icks me this season. i mean yeah the show isnt perfect and it has a lot of flaws thus criticizing it is fine. but it gets to a point that i feel some of yall werent even paying attention to the show at all.

one thing that i have noticed in this season is that it definitely contains more visual storytelling compared to season 1 or characters' arcs and development rely on small details and dialogues which can be easily overlooked. some parts of the fandom needs to be spelled out every single characters' arcs into dialogues or they would misinterpret everything dramatically.

about caitlyn, you can dislike her all you want but if i hear another "it is bad writing that she turned 180 degrees because vi said cupcake" or "she didnt receive ANY consequences of her actions", i would riot. not only did she question ambessa's plan for being violent in ep 4 but also have said that her actions would haunt her for the rest of her life. the fandom loves to make her into an angel who did no wrong or a full on evil villain which both "interpretations" are plain wrong. (yall can tell i love caitlyn😭😭)

additionally, some part of the fandom's treatment to vi is just mind boggling. from calling her "the real jinx" because she was dead in the utopian universe to saying she is selfish. these two takes has to be one of the dumbest things i have ever heard, and i was shocked to see people actually think that way. it was said multiple times that hextech wasn't invented in this universe, and hextech in the og universe has made the class difference between piltover and zaun more drastic. plus, vi didn't die as vi here but she died as a zaunite kid. it made pilties realize their actions was directly harming the future generations thus the two live peacefully. for the "vi is selfish" thing, i would say it boils down to the fandom's inability to see the perspective of each individual characters but instead it chooses to only see from the viewer's point of view. ngl if you hates vi, i will automatically assume you to have watched the show with your eyes closed.

there is more but i am too tired to write

[hooked-on-elvis]

Elvis, Scotty and Bill: Monotony-killer silly games

To combat boredom on the road, they developed a game in which a tap on the forehead was used as a signal. "It was just this silly thing we did," says Scotty. "Whoever was talking or doing something, someone else would reach over and tap him on the forehead. Then you automatically did an 180-degrees on whatever you were saying or doing." Sometimes they would to that on stage. Bill would walk over and tap Elvis on the forehead and he would stop whatever he was doing and start doing something else. Kid stuff, sure, but it helped with the monotony — and it helped channel Elvis's nervous energy. "He was always keyed up," says Scotty. "There was many a night when we would stop fifty miles down the road from leaving a town and either Bill or I would get out and start walking Elvis around, trying to get him calmed down so we would be able to sleep to get to where we were going." (...) "We would want to go to sleep. Elvis was so full of energy he wanted to stay up and talk all night."

Excerpt: "That's Alright, Elvis: The Untold Story of Elvis' First Guitarist and Manager, Scotty Moore" by Scotty as told to James Dickerson (1997)

Elvis, Scotty and Bill at The Cotton Club in Lubbock, Texas. April 29, 1955.

[the-starry-seas]

Since seeing a post about the new mythosaur design, I've been rotating some ideas about how I would design them instead. Full permission to use these ideas, in part or whole, however you like.

Mythosaurs have a long, heavyset frame with six short legs. Their front shoulders are the widest and tallest point of their body. Their back slopes down slightly, just as their frame narrows slightly. Its back shoulders are about two-thirds of the width of the front ones.

At the end of the body is a tapered tail that doubles the animal's length. It is very heavy and agile. When swung, even the narrow end will crush an armoured man's chest on impact. It has very little up-and-down movement, but a lateral range of about 180 degrees.

Beginning at the shoulders is a dramatic twin crest that runs parallel to the spine, above the shoulders. This bony crest is several feet tall at its beginning, and tapers to only a tenth of that at the end of the tail. The top of this crest is serrated.

Along the lower half of the tail, these two crests slowly merge into one, and the height of the serration gradually fades to a smooth top. The very end of the crest forms a long, sharp spike of bone that sticks out past the muscle and flesh of the tail itself. This spike is used to impale whatever draws the mythosaur's ire. It is not used in hunting, only self-defence.

The scaly hide is nearly impenetrable, and dark brown or grey. Melanistic, leucistic, and vitiligo animals exist, but usually only the melanistic ones survive to adulthood. They're patterned with stripes and splotches of a secondary and much brighter colour, which can be any shade of purple or blue, bright yellow or red, or light or pastel green. In the deep waters where they almost always hunt, these colours blend into their coat, and are no warning to prey.

One of the most striking features of mythosaurs is not their size and strength, but their bioluminescence. These coloured patterns are host to special cells that allow mythosaurs to control whether or not they glow. Mythosaurs have been observed to flash specific patterns to lure prey, communicate with others of their species, warn away predators, and attract mates. They have also been observed slipping up on prey in the dark and then abruptly flashing their lights as they leap forward, in order to disorient their prey.

Running between the crests, under the neck, is a thin flap of skin. If a mythosaur is scared or angry, it can flare out this bottom layer as a threat display. As this layer is brightly coloured and bioluminescent, like the rest of its patterned skin, this can be quite a shock. When not flared, the flap is tucked smoothly against the skin and indiescernible from the rest of their scales.

Its front teeth are long, narrow, and sharp. The teeth farther along its jaw are more triangular, with curved tops that help it easily tear flesh. Both sets pale in comparison to the long, curving tusks that protrude from the sides of the head, just below its ears. These tusks not only prevent any predators from being able to bite its face, but help trap prey animals near its jaws. Though these tusks are strong enough to be used in a clubbing fashion, similar to its tail, they are reluctant to fling their heads around and will only do so as a last resort.

Mythosaur eyesight is fine-tuned to a life in the depths of the water. Their pupils are vertically beaded, with its width automatically adjusting to available light levels. Their low-light vision is impeccable, and they're able to focus on small objects at long distances and see a wide range of colour. Each eye has a nictating membrane, and blood-red eyeshine. The iris can be any colour and typically matches the skin patterns. Heterochromia happens but isn't common.

Their most sensitive sense is their hearing. Mythosaurs communicate almost exclusively at extremely low frequencies. While most other species are not equipped to hear these frequencies, the rumble of a mythosaur voice is felt as a vibration in the ground and nearby objects. Noises at higher frequencies are almost exclusively threat displays, pitched so that the offending creature is sure to hear them. The louder a call, the more forceful the vibration, with an angry roar strong enough to knock over a full-grown man.

Their feet have thick, fatty pads on the bottom. These help them pick up on the vibrations from others of their species, which plays a part in communication. Combined with their naturally cautious steps, mythosaurs are almost noiseless on land. Footsteps are rarely heard unless they're running at top speed, moving too quickly to be careful of where they place their feet. They have webbing between their toes that they can 'fold' closed for easier maneuvering on dry ground.

They have four toes on each foot. Each is tipped with long, hooked talons. They grow throughout the mythosaur's life and must be worn down through hunting, running, and climbing. Though few trees can bear the weight of anything larger than a hatchling, they're adept at climbing any surface short of vertical - cliff faces, walls, tree trunks, even up the sides or legs large vehicles such as AT-ATs.

Mythosaurs are ambush predators. Their lung capacity allows them to lurk among rocks at the bottom of deep bodies of water for hours before striking. Small prey is swallowed whole. Larger prey is ripped at with the teeth and front legs, torn into large pieces which are then swallowed. When hunting on land, they leap out and grab their prey with their front and middle legs, while kicking to disembowel with their back legs. They are omnivorous, and will scavenge from carcasses (especially when young), but much prefer to hunt their own fish and game.

[giantimpex]

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[homebrew-rifts]

Coalition IAR-2 Abolisher Robot

Originally released on p. 35 of Rifts Sourcebook 1

The Abolisher, Infantry Assault Robot (IAR-2), is another giant vehicle that is part of the Coalition States' military forces. Unlike the UAR-1 Enforcer, which is designed specifically to combat ground troops in an urban/city environment, the Abolisher is a frontline infantry unit with long-range capabilities and heavy firepower for obliterating enemy troops. The focus of its armaments is anti-robot and anti-tank, hence the six heavy cannons bristling around what appears to be the head. The rim of cannons has given the 30 foot (9 m) robot the nickname 'Thorn Head."

The heavily armored bot is a massive, humanoid shaped, all terrain assault vehicle designed to withstand heavy bombardment. However, in keeping with the frightening Death's Head motif, the Abolisher is designed to look like a massive skull with arms and legs. The two eyes are infra-red and conventional light searchlights for night assaults. The upper skull body can rotate 360 degrees and is operated by a five-man crew. Two soldiers are gunners operating three cannons each, the pilot and the copilot/communications engineer (either the pilot or copilot can fire the small, forward facing, dual laser turret) and the top hatch gunner, usually a SAMAS.

The big guns are devastating weapons that can blast an enemy from all sides simultaneously. The robot's arms and hands are powerful and lethal in hand to hand confrontations (can rotate 180 degrees at the shoulders). On top of the behemoth is a Gunner's Hatch which allows a SAMAS or soldier to perch himself on the head and fire at the enemy from the top of the robot. An inner hatch locks automatically, preventing the enemy from easy access should the top gunner be killed; the inner hatch can only be opened by one of the pilots.

The only real disadvantage to the 30 foot (9 m) giant is that its incredible weight and large size reduce its speed and maneuvering capabilities. Although great in the field as an outer perimeter defense or as an infantry assault unit (tank with arms and legs), its speed and size make it an easy target (hence the heavy armor). Unless one wishes to destroy a city, the bot is not well suited for city conflicts. Its weapons are too powerful for use in the city, able to demolish an S.D.C. skyscraper in mere moments, and its size and bulk makes maneuvering through narrow streets difficult. Still, it is excellent for city defense, being able to be placed wherever needed, and ideal for infantry combat.

IAR-2 Abolisher: Size 9 (Huge), Crew 5+2, Strength d12+10, Toughness 60 (36), Pace 14+d10 (70 MPH)

Notes: MDC Armor, Shoulder STS-Cluster -4 to hit and 24 Hardness.

Weapons:

6 x C-144 Auto-Cannons (Spaced 360 degrees around the crown of the bot; Range 100/200/400, 5d12+5 Mega Damage, AP 12, RoF 1)

Anti-Personnel Lasers (belly gun)

Black Market Cost: 80 Million credits, Rarity -4

[itsravenbitch]

Hey rae!

I have a question! So like i am engaging in hobbies, doing some work and being busy and it's resulting in me feeling pretty content with the 3d overall. But then this is not really the life that i want because my dream life is a total 180° degree from my current life lol.

But i get some doubts here and there that my dream life will not manifest if i am feeling content with my 3d. Will this happen? Like should i not feel content with my 3d?

And i should mention since i have been feeling content, i have never ONCE felt desperation for my desires, although in the past i would have spiraled like 37363 times in just 4 days. Like i truly (almost atleast) feel like i actually am living my dream life and my inner conversations are almost always in alignment and the mental scenarios that i automatically get are always the pictures of me being my dream self.

that’s completely okay! the only reason a desire wouldn’t materialize is cause you didn’t fulfill self.

[catsconflictscopicsandchamomile]

I'm seeing a lot of online creators I follow falling into increasingly toxic styles of Online Brainrot "Discourse" and its making me really sad. They're getting that flat-behind-the-eyes, closed-mouth-wide-smile look where you can SEE the empathy, kindness and connection to reality dying.

I want to comment and tell them I'm worried abt them but ik it comes off as condescending. at least one of them is a lot younger than me (19yo) and as someone who went through a version of this at that age, it breaks my heart. I know I may just have to unfollow and let them hit rock bottom on this themselves, but.... Christ! Fuck!!!!

and the worst part is that they all seem totally convinced that they've ESCAPED The Brainrot, that they're COMBATTING it, that they've found the "truth" behind the Brainrot and are the ones (sometimes ~The Only Ones~) who are brave enough to tell the world. its not conspiracy crap, just really REALLY bad takes like

"fandom is inherently anti-intellectual, discourages analysis and understanding of texts and needs to be slowed/stopped/actively fought against BECAUSE FANDOM IS DANGEROUS!!!1!!!1!!!1"

or

"being the CEO of a children's clothing brand automatically puts you at suspicion of being a P3d0 because why else would you look at little children's bodies so much" (this one baffles me fr, like??? where do you think all children's clothes come from if not from people designing and making them?)

like just bad, stupid takes that border on paranoia but also you can kinda see how they escalated from other less drastic Terminally Online mindsets

but these ppl used to be saying stuff that was smart, or at least funny and interesting, and in a lot of cases these opinions/styles of content are 180-degree shifts over a week or even a day

like honey. i mean this with all the care and genuine respect I can give. you're not serving hot takes, you're wrong- but more importantly your behavior is really concerning. you're starting fights in your comments and then putting them on blast in main posts/reels. "the haters" have become a stock character for you. you're doing 180 turns on things that used to be core beliefs. please get offline, like FULLY offline, and re-discover the world for a while- and maybe really do seek help. not in the funny online-insult "seek help". I Am Really Worried About You.

god. fuck. so many of these content creators are like 19 years old, and honestly I wish I could magically be in a role/place/physical location to help them because I'M WORRIED. worried like checking-their-feed-now-scares-me-because-im-worried-they-will-have-harmed-themselves. not because they've made any threats but bc their regular content has shifted so drastically and quickly to be angry, cynical and that kind of smiling-with-nothing-behind-the-eyes self-centered Righteous Hate that is indicative of

well

of something going deeply wrong inside

fuck im sry this is just rly upsetting me rn

(ALSO TO BE CLEAR. THIS IS NOT A VAGUEPOST TO ANYONE ON TUMBLR. THIS IS HAPPENING PRIMARILY OR ENTIRELY ON OTHER PLATFORMS. TUMBLR IS THANKFULLY, FOR THE MOST PART, FAR PAST THIS. TUMBLR IS FOR ALL ITS FAULTS A WELL REGULATED ECOSYSTEM THAT KEEPS THIS KIND OF BS LIMITED TO CERTAIN SMALL ECHO CHAMBERS. ITS WHY IM ON HERE AS MY PRIMARY SOCIAL MEDIA.)

[rarepairnation]

Your ™ (aside from faramir obv) is how unhinged you are about denethor AND having the most correct takes abt him🧡. Oh and also oranges maybe

AAAA...THANK YOU ??? THIS KNOCKED ME FLAT like for real i cannot express how much ive been thinking about this ask all day. like i was in the grocery store thinking about it. i cant decide if it's funnier if you've been here since i was 19 and a hater and watched me have my dramatic change of heart in real time or if youre new here and don't know my tragic backstory. TO ME it's hilarious to be assigned denethor girl bc like teenage me is having a heart attack but i bear the badge with pride nevertheless <3333 and thats what we call character growth!

pj had totally got me with the mad-and-vindictive-with-despair denethor gambit for years and years but literally i started working on the faramir goes to rivendell au and thought for about two seconds about how complex both faramir and boromir's relationships with their father are and how the film changes genuinely weaken all of their characters so much and did a total 180 degree turn on a dime. by doing denethor dirty i would automatically be doing faramir dirty and then i started thinking and went hang on a second he is so complex and interesting actually. like i can't emphasize how much that was the exact logic that allowed me to achieve this development.

i mean okay LISTEN TO ME oh my GOD denethor IS a good leader there's a reason why gondor stood so long alone against the enemy and he NEARLY fucking beat SAURON in 30 years worth of head-to-head knock-down-drag-out psychic stalemate warfare and he only falls into despair when he loses both of his sons. you don't need to like him to respect the achievement!

i almost put a read more here but fuck it denethorposting on main. hit j on your keyboard or do a big scroll if youre sick of me LOL

i am very well known for going totally feral over duty vs love dynamics and that is literally what is going on between denethor and his sons. he cannot be their father and their commander at the same time and they are at war!!! being their commander has to win out above all else!!! whether any of them like it or not!!! do you know what ruthlessness means do you understand that duty wins this one.

do u guys understand that denethor and faramir are a father and son who love each other above else and yet do not like each other at all. there was a schism somewhere there along the line and love without bitterness and political sniping and ideological misalignment is a DISTANT MEMORY. No Of Course He Shouldn't Have Said He Wished Faramir And Boromir's Places Exchanged Jesus Christ No Son Should Have To Hear That From Their Father But Girl Sometimes When You're Grieving You Say Stupid Shit That You Shouldn't Have. doesn't mean you should've said it but [pippin voice] we can understand poor denethor a bit better, huh?

its just so interesting to me to think about faramir and denethor's relationship from a standpoint of like. ok listen good stewards that are not good fathers and dutiful sons who will not compromise their moral compasses for love. i don't like you and i agree with approximately 1% of everything you've said ever and your expectations of me have always been unreasonably high even when i was a child but you also are the only person who could ever understand the terrifying psychic powers that just live inside my brain and you are probably the incarnation of lordly dignity and power that i have had and i have wanted to emulate all my life and i still have the instinct to ask for your approval even if i'm going to hate what you're going to say. and when i'm dying i will call out for you. and i don't like you and your moral compass is going to get you and me and everyone in our city killed and you haven't listened to a single thing i've said since you were fourteen and i fucking hate that you're listening to and trusting the fucking wizard over me but you are my best captain and you are everything that i wished i could've been without the war and you'll never understand that that's why i pushed you so hard i just wanted you to live. and if you couldn't live at least we could die together. LISTEN i am a faramir girl until the death you all KNOW THIS BUT THESE TWO THINGS ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE- [i am forcibly yanked offstage]

[suniastrology]

LUNAR NODES in ASTROLOGY

Lunar Nodes are very important points in our chart. They are the path of Destiny (as a convective and individuals); Our Purpose in Life. They are very karmic and highly spiritual .The North Node (association with Sun) is the future; a path which we are heading to whereas the South Node (association with Moon) is the past, things which we need to leave behind. The Nodes are the way to fulfil our goals (Sun) and needs (Moon) in this life journey /incarnation.

In Vedic astrology, the North Node is known as the Head of the Dragon (Rahu) which is always hungry, desirous and demanding, and ready in any coast to get what it wants in aim to fulfil his hanger and desire. South Node, on the other hand, is the Dragon’s Tail (Ketu) which eliminates, purges and abandon whatever is useless and outdated.

In other words, North Node is an energetic place, where we develop, grow and evolve. It is an unknown territory, adventurous and rather mystical place to be. This is a place where we make conscious choices, taking actions and risks, gaining new knowledge and skills, and even we may receive benefits without much effort. We don’t know the end result, but we want to explore and experience things. It is also a path towards a higher spiritual potential in alignment with our karmic purpose in this life time.

South Node, however, is our memories from the past, our yearly childhood development, could be past traumas and unresolved issues (or even past life experiences, if you believe in a such); our unconscious or automatic response, our learnt habits and behaviours. It is also a place where our talents and resources are. South Node is our familiar/comfort zone; things which we’ve already learnt and know. Our past experiences and knowledge; our storage room. Very often we may feel comfortable, stable and attaches to the our South North and we may find difficulties to move on/to detached ourselves, respectively to stop or to slow down our growth and evolution, in a personal and collective level.

But in aim for us to evolve, develop and to fulfil our destiny and purpose in life we have to be able to understand and integrate the potentials of our Nodes, as an axis, which needs to find middle ground between the past and future. If we rush towards the North Node, we may face setbacks due to the luck of experience and we may need to go back to the South Node to recognise our gifts and to gain the necessary experience and knowledge. Then we should be going towards North Node by using our talents, resources (any type of – material, emotional, intellectual, etc.) of the South Node but by leaving behind things which are no longer relevant and fruitful in a certain stage of our evolutionary path.

Usually, we become more aware of our purpose in life at about age 42 because this is the time where the North Node matures, and in the age 48 we could be much clearer what we have to really let go and to leave behind due to the maturation of the South Node.

If you want to understand, what is your Life Purpose and Destiny in this life time, find out where is your North Node and South Node (which sign and house) axis is in your Natal Chart. They are always in opposite signs (180 degrees). There are many free Natal Chart calculators online which could generate this information. Astro.com is easiest to find out.

Every 18 months Lunar Nodes, progress; making transition to the next signs (anticlockwise). This year they are shifting from Taurus -Scorpio axis into Aries -Libra axis. This will show us where our focus will be in terms of evolutionary development on a personal and collective level during this Nodal transit.

In a next post, I will be exploring this an important astrological event which will occur on July 17, 2023.

Best wishes

suni astrology

[solitaryandwandering]

Top Nine Favorite TV Series

I was tagged by the incomparable @wen-kexing-apologist to list nine of my favorite shows, thank youu!! <3 This is a... daunting task. I'll do my best.

They've already listed/mentioned a number of shows in their own post I would include in mine (Avatar: The Last Airbender; I Told Sunset About You; 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us) so I will not be including those, to my absolute despair!! I'm only including stuff I've 100% completed, so that automatically excludes stuff like Orphan Black, Penny Dreadful, Derry Girls, Barry, or Russian Doll.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

[ID: TV poster. Background is busy with sketches of an urban sprawl, with buildings and flying ships clashing with natural elements. Three teenage girls flail with maniacal glee in the foreground. On the right is the tallest of them all, glasses perched on her head and wearing an astronaut's suit with a jet pack. On the left, a girl in an orange jumpsuit is riding a flying carpet. In the center is a short girl with a round head, clutching animation paper in her hand. She is being jettisoned by a propeller around her waist.]

It took me forever to discern what was happening in that poster, my god.

Anyway, this show!!! Exactly what I needed at the time I watched it. So full of joy and creativity with no cynicism or guile to be seen. Pure, unfettered fun but still delivered moving characters and story. It's literally about three weird teenage girls who decide to start an animation club at their high school. Doesn't sound like much but is absolutely PASSIONATE in every sense of the word, in every way you could possibly apply it practically in its creation. It's so obvious everyone had fun making this little show. This is the kind of art that makes you hug yourself with tears of happiness. Or is that just something I do?

Give me more stories about weird girls being fucking bizarre!!! I need it!!!

Tldr; Hilarious, full of heart, reminded me why I love art, why I love stories, and what I love about life. An absolute 10/10 for me.

Batman: The Animated Series

[ID: TV poster. Batman is silhouetted against a black background, drawing his cape up around his body and staring at the viewer through narrow white slits in his bat-like mask. Batman's head is backlit by a bright red sun.]

Oh, you think I'm just adding this for pure nostalgia? WRONG. B:TAS absolutely stands up to scrutiny even without nostalgia glasses. I rewatched this relatively recently and was completely blown away by the complexity in its storytelling and characterization. Yes, I was obsessed with this show (and the rest of the DCAU) as a kid, but as an adult I can find very few flaws. B:TAS may represent one of my first forays into noir, which is potentially my favorite genre across all art-forms. It certainly represents one of the first times I fell in love with a superhero story.

Tldr; Kevin Conroy IS the best Batman. 10/10

Breaking Bad

[ID: Photo of four major characters from Breaking Bad. From left to right: Gus Fring, a Chilean man wearing round spectacles and a collared shirt with tie; Jesse Pinkman, a white man in his mid-twenties wearing a black T-shirt; Walter White, a bald white man with a full mustache and extended goatee, wearing large glasses; Mike Ehrmantraut, a bald white man with a bulbous nose. All four look into the camera with expressions of tired determination.]

Ah yes, the show that seems to make it to every "favorite shows" list made by everyone else in the universe. I really do love it though; it has incredible, complex, morally-gray characters, a gripping plot and story, phenomenal thematic development, GORGEOUS cinematography and production design, and bonkers acting. It really deserves all its accolades and praise. Add to that a disabled character played by a disabled actor and you've got me singing your praises all the way to the grave!

Tdlr; Virulent toxic masculinity LOSES and we all cheer! It leaves lasting trauma and devastation in its wake and we all scream in agonized recognition! 10/10 fried chickens

Over the Garden Wall

[ID: TV poster. Two young boys are wandering in a wooded area, approaching a darkened alcove of trees and vines. The taller of the two is wearing a red conical hat and blue cape with golden buttons. He looks into the dark woods with worry. A shorter boy scampers excitedly ahead, balancing an upside-down silver teakettle atop his head and hoisting a large green frog under his arm. A bluebird flies at their side.]

My best friend and I watch this show together every year. I am such a sucker for good sibling stories and this one takes the cake. The way Wirt and Greg love each other is heartbreakingly realistic, and to set the growth of their relationship against a confusing and bizarre backdrop is so satisfying. And what a backdrop! I loved fairytales as a kid and this show scratches that itch. Besides the great little vignettes what brings me back to this story again and again is the attention to nuanced relationship development between ALL characters. Wirt's character growth hinges on learning how not to inflict loneliness on himself, to instead accept love and care from others, even those he considers too good for him. Me likey! Great music and one of the best-designed monsters/villains I've seen in any children's animated show, and you've won me over.

Tldr; Goofy kids, goofy problems. Potatoes and molasses. 10/10, would be spooked again

Bad Buddy

[ID: TV poster. Two young college-aged men are standing close together in a yellow-lit room in front of a window. The man on the left stands with his arms wrapped around the waist of the other man, looking fondly into his eyes. The man on the right looks worried, one finger over his lips as he presses his hand against the other man's mouth.]

I was hesitant to start watching BL. Nothing about the genre appealed to me beyond the romance and happy endings. But then KinnPorsche lured me in with promises of attempts not to shy away from queerness. As I was in the midst of watching that I decided to check out this show as it had been trending on Tumblr with one person I follow rabidly enthused about it. Looked super fun (and was a Shakespeare adaptation!) and free on YouTube, so I took a peek... and the rest is history. I credit this show for keeping me around. I was SHOCKED at how queer-positive and forward-thinking it was and excited to learn of P'Aof's existence. BL was being created by IRL gay people?! And they're conscious of what they're making?! Consider me seated! This show became the first BL I ever completed and I am so glad it did. This fandom is the first where I've felt relatively safe to express myself and has opened me up to so many other like-minded people, willing to watch fun stuff but also critique it in the same breath. I'm so glad a show as good (if imperfect) as this one brought me here.

Tldr; Excellent Shakespeare adaptations are my catnip. Product placements didn't scare me away so you KNOW it's charming. An ending so perfect it made me tear up. Fandom so lovely it made me stay. 9/10 warm and fuzzies

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

[ID: TV poster. Two characters from the show face off against each other. On the left is a cat-like humanoid, Catra, with thick brown hair and different colored eyes: blue and yellow. Her right arm is raised in a defensive stance against the girl on the right, Adora, blonde with a large golden headdress. Her golden gauntlet clashes with Catra's arm, creating a bright burst of light.]

I just recently watched Nimona (WONDERFUL) so felt like I should shout out this show. In making this list I've further realized just how much I attach to animated shows I needed to see as a kid. She-Ra kinda takes the cake in that aspect. Multi-dimensionally queer with badass characters defying gender and relational conventions?! Fun, cheesy action with real stakes?! Anti-colonialist messaging?! Hell yeah. But most of all, this show has one of my favorite fictional characters of all time in Catra. ND Stevenson seems to have a knack for writing characters my inner child relates way too much to. Abused, neglected, shunned, bulled, traumatized kid who is visibly and invisibly different to those around her. Lights up as soon as anyone seems to respect her talents and see her potential, only to be manipulated. To crash and burn and grapple with self-hatred as a consequence. THEN she finds love in people who see her for who she is, know what she's done, and give her a chance to do better! Her character arc is so important to me. Not only that, but the ending kiss/confession between her and Adora is INCREDIBLE both as a narrative culmination and as a production win. Talk about a hard-fought queer kiss.

Tldr; Important and powerful. Good queer fun. TERRIBLE theme song. 9/10

Black Sails

[ID: TV poster. Tagline above the title reads "WAR AGAINST THE WORLD". A bald white man with soot and blood streaked across his face stands in the foreground. He is wearing an outfit typical of a pirate, holding a cutlass in his right hand. He is ankle-deep in water. He looks over his shoulder; a fleet of ships burn in the background. A large, tattered Union Jack waves behind the man's head. He is Captain Flint.]

Whenever someone asks me what my favorite show is, this is the one that pops into mind. It has EVERYTHING. Complicated, at-times intensely unlikable protagonists, queerness out the ears, great costuming, pathos, meta-upon-meta commentary on itself, the source material Treasure Island, the modern and historical world it's set in and the concept of fiction itself, EVERYTHING. You want strong themes? This show has THEMES. It's hard to find a show about rebellion or anarchy that ACTUALLY feels revolutionary. I think this show is it. This came out around the same time Game of Thrones was big so caved to some pressure in the first season to make itself appeal to a similar audience (thanks Michael Bay) but wow did they make that season pay off in a big way in retrospect. It only gets better, more assured in itself as it goes on.

Tldr; A story about stories. Straight-baited in season one, off-the-rails queer in seasons two to four. Madi deserved better. Anne Bonny: childhood hero to queer crank on TV! Me: in love. 9/10

Gravity Falls

[ID: TV poster. Three people set forth on an expedition through the dark woods. Leading the pack is Dipper, a young boy wearing a white and blue cap with a blue pine tree on the front. He is reading an old hardback tome with a gold hand on the front with the number "3" on the palm. Behind him is his twin sister, Mabel. She is grinning at the viewer, showing off her braces and harpoon gun. Her sweatshirt bright pink with a multi-colored shooting star on its front. Bringing up the rear is their Grunkle Stan, a grumpy old man wearing a red fez with a golden fish eating a smaller fish. He holds aloft a gas lantern. Behind them all is the Mystery Shack, with a triangular window lit by a yellow glow and a weather vane in the shape of a question mark. In the lower left-hand corner is a bearded gnome looking at the viewer, holding a finger in front of his open mouth.]

Oh, you think I'm just including for nostalgia reasons? CORRECT. But I do think this show is great, regardless. I think it's easy to tell at this point that I really enjoy speculative fiction. This show fires on all cylinders in that respect, hitting up the supernatural, science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternate history, and adding a splash of the gothic just for me. Add in there great familial and sibling dynamics, fun animation and a GREAT villain... that's my jam! This is the show that my best friend and I watched together and bonded over as freshmen in college. They got Mabel's sweater and I got Dipper's cap; this piece of personal history makes the show more special to me.

Tldr; Send kids to the woods and let them figure it out. Makes for some great television. Great friendships, too. 9/10 lumberjacks

Fleabag

[ID: TV poster. A white woman with short, curly brown hair and a large nose poses in a pastiche of a Christian saint. The poster itself is stylized like a Renaissance-era painting or religious effigy. A halo encircles her head as she stares off in the distance. In her hand, the woman holds a guinea pig emanating a soft glow.]

A masterclass in creating a miniseries which feels expansive and fully-contained. Might be the culmination of many things I've touched on in this list. Weird, off-putting protagonists/women, darker storylines with plenty of comedic heft, themes of grief, self-hatred, loneliness and hope, complicated sibling/familial relationships, and mental illness. Who knew? (Me.) Above all else, I love stories about love. This show manages to complicate the conversation about love - self-love, love as obligation, love as devotion, love as obsession, love as healing - in eternally satisfying ways.

Tldr; It'll pass. 9/10