#HOLY SHIT THESE ARE SO FRIGGIN COOL

[phantasieandmirare]

I got my dad and my sister lightsabers for Christmas cause that’s their big Thing (and therefore their big father-daughter thing) and they just got here and I’m not even that big on Star Wars but FUCK THIS IS COOL

[kiwisandpearls]

ngl this is the first time in a long time that I’ve actually been excited for a new genshin nation update

[tgcg]

an open fly walking

i didnt like this one but i thought id finally air it out since its been sat in my folders for months now

TG: hey karkat

CG: YEAH?

===

TG: you ever noticed you like

TG: walk weird

CG: WOW, OKAY.

CG: HAVE *YOU* EVER NOTICED THAT I DON'T GIVE A SHIT?

TG: pff

===

TG: no listen because i got my ears scoping that shit im like a scouter for dude activity

TG: ok maybe me mentioning it to you is gonna fuck up your ecosystem or something but

TG: you have the heaviest feet of the century man

CG: I DO???

TG: just thrust them straight down into the ground like youre trying to homebrew a san andreas fault

TG: viciously tamping on tectonic plates hoping for top score on the richter scale

TG: waging war against solid particles and the basic flow of gravity

TG: i could ID those footfalls out of a million i mean it

CG: SERIOUSLY?

===

TG: i mean theres nothing wrong with it but

TG: yeah

CG: I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU'RE FUCKING WITH ME RIGHT NOW.

TG: im not fucking with you striders honor

TG: when have i ever lied to anybody about anything

CG: NOT UNPACKING THAT QUESTION WITH YOU TODAY.

CG: BUT SHIT, HOLD ON. LET ME SEE.

TG: yeah take the umbrella go over there and just walk to me

CG: ON IT.

===

===

TG: see you just kinda slam em straight down dude

CG: THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY RIOTOUS FUCKING JOKE OF A LIFE.

TG: dont your feet ache

===

CG: MOOT POINT. THIS MIGHT SOUND INSANE BUT I'VE ACTUALLY HAD MY STRUT PODS FOR A WHILE. ANY KIND OF PAIN THIS WOULD'VE BEEN CAUSING WOULD BE TOTALLY FILTERED OUT OF MY SPONGE BY NOW AS BACKGROUND NOISE.

TG: damn i didnt think that through

TG: my shades

CG: ALRIGHT, GET BACK UNDER THE SHITTING UMBRELLA AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME.

TG: look ive fucked myself over here too i dont have shit to clean these with

TG: ugh

===

TG: guess its karma

CG: HOLY FUCK. HOW DID I NEVER NOTICE THIS BEFORE?

TG: i dunno but im gonna assume having a dad thats a literal crab monster is probably a contributing factor

TG: im guessing thats not a great role model for this kinda thing

TG: just conjecture i mean

CG: YOUR ENVY IS OVERWHELMINGLY OBVIOUS DAVE. AS A DISCLAIMER, HE WOULD'VE ABSOLUTELY KICKED YOUR ASS.

TG: yeah probably

CG: THAT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL THERE IS TO SAY ON THE MATTER.

===

TG: but see bro had me stringent on feather feets

TG: i bet i could slip across a bike horn warehouse with nary a fucking toot

CG: HAHA. ASSUMING YOU DON'T MAKE A TOTAL ASS OF YOURSELF, AS PER USUAL.

CG: IF YOU WEREN'T CONSTANTLY RUNNING YOUR GASH ABOUT EVERYTHING AND BEING AN INIMITABLE CLOWN I SERIOUSLY THINK YOU COULD BE ON PAR WITH YOUR CUSTODIAN.

CG: THAT IS A MONUMENTAL "IF".

TG: well look at it this way

TG: im basically doing you all a favor by being a dumbass

TG: never gonna get caught off guard by the bozo patrol

CG: WOW. GOOD POINT.

===

TG: also screw this can i use your shirt

TG: this stupid hoodie is just smudging my lenses up

TG: i cant see dick

CG: UH

CG: SURE, I GUESS.

TG: cool

===

TG: so yeah i could be prowling around like a goddamn verbal assassin sniping convos left and right

TG: but no ive got the decency to go bunp in the night

CG: YEAH.

CG: IT'S DEFINITELY COMPOUNDED BY THE CONSTANT INANE RAMBLINGS.

CG: BUT

CG: IT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY RELAXING, Y'KNOW? IT HAS ITS OWN RHYTHM.

TG: see yeah i sound it off and

===

TG: wait really?

CG: YEAH

CG: I DON'T KNOW

CG: FUCK. HOW DO I EXPLAIN THIS WITHOUT WANTING TO CRAM MY FROND DOWN MY PROTEIN CHUTE.

===

CG: IT'S LIKE

CG: A SALVE FOR MY AGGRAVATION SPONGE.

CG: YOUR VOICE IS THE HUMAN EQUIVALENT OF ASPIRIN.

TG: uh damn karkat hold your hoofbeasts i was talking about the rhythm thing

CG: ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT. I'M TAKING US BOTH THE FUCK OUT RIGHT NOW. YOU HAVE REACHED THE BAD END OF THIS CONVERSATION.

TG: you think thatd be heroic or just

CG: IF I WAS STILL GHOSTING AROUND THE RUINS OF SGRUB'S ARCANE FRIGGIN GAME SYSTEMS, THE COMPLETE LACK OF SHIT AFOOT NOWADAYS WOULD BORE ME TO DEATH.

CG: LIKE. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME OUR THERMAL HULL LEVELLED UP, DAVE?

TG: hah

===

TG: but uh

TG: i mean we had aspirin on earth

CG: NO, NUMBNUBS.

CG: I'M SAYING YOU ARE MY ASPIRIN.

TG: oh

CG: YEAH, TAKE THAT TO THE BANK AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR 20-KARAT ASS.

===

TG: heh

TG: well get this

TG: i will literally talk at you forever for free

TG: you got lifetime priority seating for the davealogues

TG: never gotta go to the drugstore again you can just get doped up on my dulcet tones for the rest of time

TG: take that and some of this

TG: im packin punches

CG: OW, FUCK! NO! MY MIGRAINES!

CG: SWEEPS OF VEINCLOTTING AND NERVEFRAYING DOWN THE FUCKING GAPER. BECAUSE OF YOU.

CG: YOU ASSHOLE, THIS IS THE WORST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME.

CG: AND YOU'RE LAUGHING.

TG: chuckle up it only gets worse from here

===

CG: BE HONEST WITH ME. DID FONDLING MY SHIRT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET EVEN DO ANYTHING?

TG: barely but yknow sometimes you just gotta deal the cards youre given

TG: ill just be astigmatic for a while its cool

CG: PFF… OKAY MAN.

[krisseratops]

I'm so. So normal. About. This. *Chewing on furniture*

Ughhh, today I spent the entire day thinking about spidervenom…!

I unfortunately have too many wips to work on anything with them now (plus, this week was full of Bad Days™ for me…), but I thought I might share a wip that has been gathering dust in my folder for a loooooong time now! The title is “5 times when Peter and Eddie didn’t kiss (and one time they held hands)” and it’s based on this idea that with the reality being rewritten so that Peter technically never married MJ (“One more day” was the name of that storyline in the comics…??) he instead has space to develop feelings toward Venom and this is a bunch of moments, mostly following the canon events, depicting their shifting relationship with each other.

Their first kiss wasn't, technically, a kiss. A tease, maybe. Definitely a joke. But a kiss...? Peter wasn't sure if he counted it (Eddie did, though). Simply speaking, he went too far with his comedy routine this time, got too caught up in his banter and mock-flirting. Laughing at the Symbiote's infatuation with him, not treating it as something serious, using it as the butt of the jokes. "You need to get over me, this is getting seriously embarrassing" and such and so on.

And obviously, the never dying "Alright, let's kiss and make up!", Once he webbed them up, after sending them crashing through a wall. It wasn’t a kiss, really. He had a mask on, after all. Venom's maw was sealed shut with the webbing as well. It wasn't a kiss.

Until it almost was, because when he leaned away, blank white eyes were wide with bewilderment, and the monster in front of him grew still and silent. He laughed awkwardly, breath tripping over his throat. "Aw, look at you getting flustered over a little smooch!", he quipped, eager to get away. Snap of a wrist and he was gone, not a single glance back left. He remembered feeling angry at Venom for making it weird and at himself, for feeling angry at all. It was stupid, almost as stupid, as feeling guilty over it.

There was no reason for telling this to MJ, right? She wouldn't want to hear about his heroic escapades anyway. Especially not if they involved Venom, even if they would be presented as a punchline, a pathetic loser, wincing in ridiculously parodied expression of disgust. Because it could have been disgust. Venom’s face was covered and their eyes weren’t exactly the most easy to read. Common sense prompted they were repulsed by the very idea of their “arch-nemesis” kissing them, even presented as a harmless joke. That’s why, there was no need to mention this to MJ. Telling her would mean agreeing with the insane thought that there was anything important to tell. And there was not. There was no reason to feel guilty.

Because this wasn’t a kiss.

There was another time, though, that could have been a kiss. Should have been, maybe. Anyway, that was what Peter thought now, looking back. It was a kiss he never got, but, at the moment, needed. Only at the moment, he would have regretted it so much afterwards. 

That’s why Eddie was glad of the absence in its place. It would have added so much more wrongness to a memory already filled with a sense of misplacement and dissonance. Because, well, they really were out of place at Peter’s flat. He knew it, and Peter knew it, and the Symbiote knew it, maybe the most painfully of either of them. But there was nowhere else they could go, they needed a shelter and an ally. And Peter wasn’t really the type of person who would close doors in the face of the wounded and vulnerable. Even if the wounded in question tried to eat him a few times in the past and was now ruining his carpet with green drool. Which didn’t mean he was going to take it without complaining a little. Or a lot.

“Great, just great, whenever I think my bad luck finally achieved its peak, it’s ‘Surprise! Think again!’,” he wailed to himself, as he helped them to the couch. “To go from sharing an apartment with the most beautiful woman a guy could ever imagine dating, to hosting a slimy monstrosity - that has to be a new record of misery reached in a week!”

“A girl has left you? That’s what you’re worrying about?” Eddie snarled at him, his anger equally fueled by the necessity of relying on their foe and the needles of jealousy bleeding through the bond. “Carnage is out there, changing this god forsaken city in his own butchershop and you cry after a girl?!”

“First of all, I wouldn't say ‘left’ is exactly the right word to describe it,” he huffed. “We needed a break, that’s all. Happens sometimes in relationships, not that you would know anything about that.”

They rolled their eyes. The very idea that Peter could have anything worth competing with a shadow of their symbiosis was vastly ridiculous.

“We don’t care about your private life, Parker”, Eddie said, as they tried to settle on the couch in a position that would do the least damage to their bruised ribs. “Only whether or not you’ll join us once we recover our strength. Why, afterward, you can return to crying your eyes out, be our guest.”

Seeing Peter from this close felt weird, especially, since he appeared to indeed cry his eyes out barely seconds ago. Something squeezed Eddie’s heart at the notion, his Other, he assumed, must have curled around it, disturbed by proximity. He wanted Peter to just leave them alone, shut up, and let them sleep. This small room will surely be uncomfortable enough even without his presence around.

“And what if I won’t?” Peter’s voice was bitter, though there was no sense of intention in it, that is, one beyond getting on Venom’s nerves. “Maybe MJ is right, maybe I should sit this one out. Have some ‘me time’. Catch up with tv series. Bake cupcakes. Maybe I don’t want to, I don’t know, have my life ruined over and over again, because some freaks decided to go on a rampage!”

Before he could react, they grabbed him by his collar, tugging close, to shoot with a look of utter resentment.

“Listen chucklehead,” a low growl vibrated through their whole torso, settling on Peter’s face like icy dew, “Joke like this once more, and we’ll eat your spleen, got it?”

Words were followed by a curse, as they grabbed on their wound, bothered by the sudden movement.

“Well, if aren’t you mister persuasive, where did you learn such diplomatic demeanor-?” Peter tried barking back, supporting himself over the couch’s back. But the last part of the sentence stumbled over his throat and ended in a whine. From the few inches that separated them, they could see the threat of tears glistening in his eyes. Before they could fall out, he ran a hand over his face, covering the glimpse of emotions with irritation. “What did you even do to yourself? Should you bandage those or something?”

That felt terribly inadequate.

All of this felt unnatural to them, all of them. Not the banter, spite and anger, of course not. But everything accompanying them was off by a mile. No masks to hide faces, no punches and jaws clenching to tear limbs. This… this was too normal, too everyday-ish, too vulnerable for both of them.

“My Other should be able to close it up overnight,” Eddie mumbled. “It looks worse than it feels. Nonetheless, we still request your assistance.”

“I know, I know…” Peter sighed, bending closer, to get a better look at his chest. “What a wonderful profession heroism is, at first it was the papers, then the common people, but now even my villains are giving me lectures…”

The moment was laced with alarm, and surprise, and wrongness, so much wrongness. They weren’t used to being this close to each other, not without a clawed hand safely locked on the neck, or webbing fastening said claws to a wall. Peter looked up and the longer they were caught in the misplacement of it all, the worse it got. Because Eddie could feel his Other flowing close to the skin, almost pushing at it, conflicted between its hatred for Peter and yearning to be closer. Because Peter could feel the warmth of Eddie’s body and he felt so painfully human at the moment, beaten up and a bit upset, with just a splinter of fear dug in the pupils.

Eddie licked his lips.

Peter swallowed down.

And he was so lonely right now, so helpless and freshly torn open, so well aware that once tomorrow he would leave to fight, because of course he would, he would return bruised and bleeding, maybe won’t return at all, and…

Peter leaned in.

Just when Eddie leaned away.

Peter went to the kitchen right after, jumping up from the couch with energetic babble about having to change his bandages and how Eddie is not allowed to touch anything and how if he catches him messing up his books then, well, Peter might not be able to eat his spleen, but he’s creative enough to come up with something else.

The moment passed and it was for the best.

After that, they didn’t really work together for a while. Well, there was that one time in the court. But aside from that, Peter and Venom mostly were on their own ways, only occasionally clashing. And then, Eddie and his Other were both on their own ways too. He didn’t really monitor what was happening to him afterward. Partly because his own life was, as usual, in shambles. Partly because seeing Eddie like that, sick and broken, stripped of the anger to hide behind…

He tried to do better and that was all that mattered, really. 

But then Anti-Venom appared. And surely enough, he was still trying. That was one thing Peter had to give to him. He also brought to mind a vision of a healing injury, with bones fused all wrong, festering. It was as if Eddie finally took a step back from one kind of madness, after which he jumped head first into one just as deep and unhealthy, just neatly tweaked here and there. 

This kiss would have been the most feverish one. As well as the one Peter was the most grateful that it never came to happen.

The whole experience screamed “fever”, honestly. Oozed illness.What made it worse, was that it did make sense for Eddie to act this way. To swing back, so hard, from one direction to another. Who else, if not Eddie, would have come up with an idea that the best course of action to convince Peter that he’s all better now, “on the side of angels” and not crazy at all, would be to kidnap him? What he didn’t expect was the talk about friendship, along with the overfamiliarity. Then again, there was always this tension between them, wasn’t it? Flirting in the background of a deadly battle.

And that was what he was doing then too. Old habits die a slow and painful death, only to be zombified back to life, don't they?

“What would you think of me, if I’d let you take my mask off on a first date?”, he quipped, to Eddie’s dismay, as he struggled to peel the cloth anywhere above his mouth.

“You act like I’m Electro or Sandman. I’m on your side now!”, he huffed.

One of his claws strayed from its place, lingering for a moment over Peter’s lips, leaving his body frozen dead.

Oh no, he wouldn’t, blinked in his head before the monster in front of him hesitantly crouched down. Orange eyes were unreadable, and yet, there was an air of uncertainty, something just a step away from… what exactly? Peter refused to pinpoint.

Before, though, he even began to figure out what in the hell he would tell Carlie, Eddie backed down.

“...I get it.” His voice, although still changed by the slime covering him, got a softer quality now, with a tingle that paired with anybody else could pass for embarrassment. “I need to earn your trust. And I will.”

Later, he thought that perhaps this time it was Eddie who really needed that particular kiss. But he couldn’t have given it to him. He just couldn’t. 

Right?

[gavillain]

AGATHA EPISODE SIX SPOILER DISCUSSION; HOLY SHIT THAT WAS A GOOD EPISODE!!!!

A LOT happened in this episode, and we got a LOT of answers!

I'm really glad we got Billy Kaplan/Billy Maximoff's full backstory here at the midway point, and I really enjoy the way this episode bridged the gap between WandaVision and Agatha All Along. I'm just really excited to see Billy's story getting adapted here in general too. Obviously it's a bit different from the comics, but they kept a lot of the core ideas of it in tact. And I'm super happy to see that they explicitly kept his Jewishness in tact as well given the MCU's unfortunate habit of erasing or neglecting Jewish identities. We find out here that Billy Maximoff's spirit is inhabiting the body of Billy Kaplan, who died in a car accident the day the Hex came down. We also find out that Lilia was the one who put the sigil on Billy after reading his palm and seeing his broken life line (I was surprised but I thought that reveal was very satisfying). We find out that Billy's boyfriend's name is Eddie, so he's not Teddy Altman and thus probably not Hulkling, which I personally never really thought but other people were theorizing.

Oh and RALPH BOEHNER RETURNS!!!! :D Honestly, I didn't think I would care, but my boyfriend and I went WILD when we saw him pop up. A+ callback right there :D And I like him being the one to sort of facilitate Billy going to Westview after Agatha. After how little he did in WandaVision post-reveal that he wasn't Pietro, it was nice to see him get a bit more relevance again in the overarching plot.

Agatha pulls herself out of the mud and survives, and I also really loved how Agatha wasn't mad or vengeful towards Billy. She was legitimately excited to see him and know who he was. Their relationship is one of the most interesting parts of the show, so I'm glad to see that it's not totally being burned to the ground. Obviously, Billy is fully in the right not to trust Agatha, but we're now at a juncture where the two of them are going to be more open and honest with each other, and that has me excited! We just saw Agatha last episode prove why she is still very much a villain, but we also saw that Billy has a bit of a dark side in him too. I think we're gonna see Billy be torn between good and evil as the show goes forward and deciding what type of witch he wants to be, with Agatha being the proverbial devil on his shoulder. I made the comparison a few weeks back about Agatha and Billy being Maleficent and Riku from Kingdom Hearts in another font, and that seems to be the direction we're heading, which excites me.

Theory wise, there's not a whole lot of new theories for me at least, other than the ones continuing from previous episodes, but I do have a few more scattered thoughts: *Eddie uses the black heart emoji for Billy, so does that mean HE was the black heart that Lilia wrote on the list instead of Rio? If so, it's kind of weird that HE would be a "black heart" in any way. But also this still has me thinking that Blackheart may yet be involved. Not as Rio (who we pretty much know is Death due to leaks), but maybe somewhere else? I dunno, I'm not giving up hope that he or Mephisto are involved, even if it's just as an after credits scene.

*BILLY HAVING A BLACK CAULDRON POSTER IN HIS ROOM MADE ME SO FRIGGIN' HAPPY! To see Disney acknowledging that movie always warms my heart, but to know that Billy is a fan in this universe is REALLY cool and gives me a sort of kinship with him. Love to the underloved!

*Rio is still MIA since Alice died. Is she still tending to Alice or is she doing something else?

*Lilia and Jen aren't dead, and we know as much, but they didn't escape the bog with Agatha, so I'm wondering if the next trial will see the get out or maybe see them waiting there for Agatha and Billy.

*Billy is apparently on the road to find Tommy, which makes a lot of sense. I know people are upset that he's not after Wanda, but I genuinely don't think Wanda's return to the MCU was ever going to be in another TV show. I think, if Wanda returns, it's going to be in Avengers Doomsday, much like her return in the comics during Children's Crusade. But I'm excited to see if Tommy DOES return in this show or if Billy's ambitions are going to remain unresolved at the end of the road. I'm excited to find out!

NEXT EPISODE WITH SPEED PLEASE! I have a MIGHTY need to see Billy in that Maleficent cosplay in what I assume is the next trial… yes, I am, as ever, myself XD

[vickyvicarious]

Cool Music I Just Wanna Share:

In Your Room by Depeche Mode

because if that's not the mood for Jonathan in the Castle...

Now this rec is a song I both know for sure and already have! But I've never listened to it while thinking about Jonathan in Castle Dracula before, so let's have a go...

...hey, anon? Holy shit. This is very sad. Also, yeah, it works really friggin' well, damn. I love this reading of the song.

[cutebatart]

Here is my own contribution to the lyrics comic project! Still FRIGGIN amazed to be a part of cause HOLY SHIT. like. Wowie.

Thank you to @eregyrn-falls-art and @mercury-falls for organizing this project and letting me join! And BIG thanks to @creativepup for helping with the GIF process!! It looks so fucking cool!! (;O; )

I have a few wips underneath but due to the App's image limits, I'll have to reblog with some more -3-

[allwormdiet]

Agitation 3.6

I've known girls in real life who had conversations very close to the one in this chapter. High school was weird.

I like this spiel from Lisa, actually. It explains how she's able to make sense of this world that she's been plunged into, and it does a decent job explaining the status quo of the setting

Ordinarily I'm leery of "a hero is only as good as their villains" but in the context of parahumans it makes a kind of sense. The Protectorate is in good when their heroes are doing important or flashy things, and important stuff isn't happening all the time which means that flashy fills in the gaps.

This is what everyone calls the "unwritten rules," right? Or at least part of it? The phrase hasn't come up in the text yet but that's what I see it as all the time, so I suspect that wording will come up at some point or another. Unless it comes up in a Reddit post in which case fuck me I guess.

It's an interesting concept, but of course it only works as long as everybody plays ball, doesn't it, and there's no guarantee of the good guys or bad guys sticking to it if they think they can get away with it

This actually made me laugh the first time through. Lisa is just like "girl why are we talking about the Endbringers, what is UP"

Also interesting that this chapter is the first time the Endbringers are coming up, and bringing them up at all is... not quite a faux pas, but certainly off-kilter, at least if Tattletale is anything to go off of

I feel bad for Taylor, but it's a little bit her own fault again for the whole "premeditated betrayal" thing

More concerning is the fact that two Undersiders being murderers isn't like. More public knowledge? This feels like another instance of the Protectorate not being as loud about a potential threat as they could be, although maybe it's not too far off from the cops-and-robbers thing like Lisa's speculating and they don't want the team to start escalating in response. I assume we'll find out at some point, but for now another doubt to plague Taylor, not that those seem to stop her

Still funny she refuses to include Rachel as one of her new friends, though

This is really cool of Lisa actually, lifting up someone who is unironically down in the doldrums... and I continue to wonder how much she knows bc if she's giving this pep talk to an aspiring hero who intends to betray her and the rest of her team? Oh my god.

...I swear I'm gonna get to a Lisa POV and immediately keel over from whatever emotional overload it does to me

These kiiiiiiiiiids

This bank robbery is gonna go so smoothly, and absolutely zero repercussions will arise in the wake of this that shape the entire world forever

It's gonna be great

Current Thoughts

Kind of short, or at least it feels short, but I don't know what else could've been added here.

This is the first time we've seen Taylor and Lisa on their own together and it's a fun dynamic, although I imagine it'll be more fun when Taylor feels more comfortable around the friggin psychic next to her

Can't wait to watch these two girls be so normal about each other as the story progresses

Anyway, holy shit, the bank job already. Let's fucking go.

[simulation-machine]

SIMS RELATED PROJECTS/UPDATES

My spring break is coming up in a week and holy crap do I have plans on plans on plans, especially since my summer is gonna be full of school + internship + HOPEFULLY friggin' graduating with a BA in Psychology so that I can start applying to grad schools.

Read more iffin' you'd like! It's long! Here's a picture of my golden retriever napping on her brother's food bowl to entice/entertain you:

god she is so precious i would literally kill for her

GOAL 1: MASTER GSHADE/ReSHADE

I know that some people are sticklers for this but my thing is that I had no gee-dee clue what I was doing with ReShade, whereas Gshade just kinda clicked and worked for me? That said I have a bunch of resources for learning ReShade so I might end up moving back to it at some point.

My main issue is figuring out the order of all the different effects. It obviously matters, I'm sure people smarter than me have tried to use presets only to be like "why tf does this look absolutely nothing like the baller screenshots this one cool Simblr has?" Annnd it turns out it's order + remembering to turn off certain graphic settings. Also photoshop, but that's gonna take a lot longer for me to figure out lol.

Like I'd been struggling to figure out why @gunthermunch's gorgeous Lithium preset wasn't looking as sexy as it did before annnnd it's because I forgot to turn Edge Smoothing off when switching to it. Jesus wept at how dippy I am sometimes.

Eventually, what I would like to do is maybe make my own preset at some point? I would be kind enough to show the effect order too if I did so. But this requires so, so much more shader knowledge than I currently have.

FUN FACT: My first ever degree was in art, I even went to a very fancy and private art school (School of the Art Institute of Chicago if you're curious)- I dropped out after one semester because uhhh that shit is expensive. Ended up finishing my degree at a much cheaper location in MN. That said, my art was 100% analog and 2D, and it turns out it did not translate super well into trying my hand at graphic art.

It's funny because I've been gifted really neat stuff for graphic art (like a really nice Wacom tablet and Adobe subscriptions), like people just expected my mixed-media ass would know what to do with it. NOPE! But yeah, Sims is sort of my excuse to try my hand at this stuff again, especially since I have a bit more energy now that my soul is not regularly being drained out of my body by customer service and tech support jobs.

GOAL 2: GET CRACKIN' ON ANOTHER DOOR

This one is hard because I am only on Gen 2 of the Orsons and it's sort of hard to justify starting up another story while that one is less than 1/5 of the way done.

THAT SAID, I don't plan on posting Another Door until I have a decent chunk of it done. Since it's not a casual gameplay story nor a legacy challenge, I plan on editing the bajeez out of the screenshots for it, really honing in on the aesthetic. I want it to look and feel very different from my random legacy challenge.

Fortunately, this story has been fucking up my sleep schedule for *months* now and I have a lot of the writing for it done. The hard part is translating that into the Sims, making sure I get the right poses and stuff, maybe even learning how to make some super easy CC (like, posters and stuff), and stuff related to GOAL 1 above.

What I'm saying is that it's going to take a bit. But I'm super serious about sharing it because it's my obsession and honestly the first time a story of my own design has possessed me in literal years.

Also, I want to make sure I have a significant backlog of the Orsons before I start seriously simming for it, because I don't want to screw over my favorite little pixel babies. This legacy challenge is going to be the one, I have done so much to keep my save files to keep it safe from harm (ask me how many backups I have of the save files. JK don't, the number is frankly silly).

GOAL 3: START YET ANOTHER MASSIVE CC PURGE

Y'all, my CC folder for this game is honestly an embarrassment. I go so hard on CC shopping because this community is stupid-talented and I like giving my pixel babies nice things and cool looks. When I'm bored and not quite in the mood for gameplay, I just like making neat-looking sims that I do absolutely nothing with because I love fucking around in CAS.

I have built my own PCs since I was 17 years old, and when I first built COMPUTERMACHINE (current rig) back in the autumn of 2018, it was with the goal that it would run Sims 4 flawlessly no matter what I did to it. It's got ridiculous amounts of RAM, I religiously update parts for it. And to be fair, even with the current 6,907,907,890 TB of CC I have atm it runs better than Sims 3 ever had with a measly 50 GB of CC.

But for me, it comes down to finding all the stuff I wanna use. Making myself get rid of the stuff I don't wanna use. Straight up yeeting the CC that I thought was going to look incredible that uh, didn't deliver.

I do CAS CC purges about once a year but have literally never done it for Build & Buy stuff, because OMG some of this shit I've had since 2014. Like when Sims 4 first came out. YIKES. My CAS CC obsession is notable but it's honestly nothing compared to my Build & Buy. Even before For Rent made building lots slow af, my PC was starting to take a solid minute to switch to different buy categories.

It would take a long af time so I want to make sure I have a bunch of content in the queue before I do it. It's gonna be a whole ass thing and be so, so boring to do. So I'm putting it off for when I have a ton of time to do it. Like, oh, my entire Spring Break?

GOAL 4: MAKE A FRIGGIN' RESOURCES LIST ALREADY

This would obviously need to wait until after GOAL 3 is completed, but I wanna make sure the awesome creators whose stuff I use get credit, and that people know where they can grab neat stuff. It would include not only CC but mods, Gshade/ReShade presets, and maybe even lots and sims I've downloaded from the gallery?

(Since I am super anti-paywall and very unapologetic and rude about it, I will also share where one could perhaps get some of these CCs without paying some dip a Trenta Starbucks Unicorn Frappucino amount of $$$)

It's ambitious as hell because *gestures vaguely at GOAL 3* but it would make things like doing WCIF asks and lookbooks so much easier.

Somewhat relatedly, I wanna make a navigation post, especially once Another Door starts getting posted. That story is gonna be a bit huge with multiple arcs that take place over the course of like, 14 years. Plus once the Orsons get to the 4th+ generation, it would be easier to track things down.

IN CONCLUSION...

I have been having so much fun sharing my silly little Sim adventures on Tumblr, so much more than I ever thought I would! You all have been so great to me, and all of this stuff is sort of a way for me to repay that. Ever since I stopped being able to be artistically creative ever since a really nasty depressive spell in 2017, Sims has been my #1 artistic outlet. And having people who are even somewhat entertained by my pixels is incredibly motivating.

Basically, if you read all of this, DAMN would you have been a rad livejournal follower of mine circa 2007. On the seriousness, however, thank you all so much for being rad and encouraging and sweet. I promise to do you all, if not proud, then at the very least not disappointed.

Time to hit the bong and take some pictures of Lou and Tatertot before taking my IRL doggos on a walk~

[knightly-bastard]

Pls I'm on my metaphorical knees. Tell me more about this "Dark Heart of Knighton" AU. I beg. I plead. It looks so friggin cool. I WANT IN.

firstly, I promise you im going to release the entire lore (or at least the first part of it) very soon. The first chapter is almost finished, when it's done, I'll release the lore

Secondly, oh my god it's you, I hecken love everything about your art, how you draw the nexo knights and the Monkie kid character holy shit you really made my day you have no idea. Sorry it took me so long to respond.

[sarriathmg]

HEY SARRI! Listen i gotta tell ya. You are hella cool. Like your art, ofc. And the STORIES, like, they're so friggin diverse! Like when you do fluff the cuteness can get me melting. Even right after and attached to the filthiest smut I've consumed in my life. And the ANGST, holy shit Sarri i feel those feels in my BONES. You're literally such a well rounded creator and i love all your shit. Like, dayum, you're good!

Anyhoo thank you for your time and be well👌

aww thank you so much 🥺You really made my day! And I'm glad you enjoy the things I make

[lurkingteapot]

Step by Step ค่อย ๆ รัก Ep 3

Ep 3, let’s go.

- Oh, this is the kind of “morning after” regrets that really … urgh.

- (standard disclaimer of “I’m not fluent but”) text convo has some linguistic nuance lost in subs, not just because the subs cut off: Pat addresses Ae as เจ๊ /tɕéʔ/ (honorific for older women, particularly of Chinese descent) and talks about Jeng as ‘Khun Jeng’; Ae, in her response, calls Pat อีพัท /ʔiː pʰát/ -- his name with impolite/intimate prefix อี /ʔiː/, commonly transcribed as ii or ee, the feminine-speaker equivalent of dudes calling their friends ไอ้ /ʔâj/ [name] -- and มึง /mɯŋ/ while using กู /kuː/ for herself.

พัท มึงบ่นเรื่องนี้กับกูมาจะอาทิตย์นึ่งแล้วค่ะ อยากรู้ก็บอกเลยสิคะอีเสือ ไม่ก็ทำอะไรสักอย่างเถอะ ถือว่ากูขอ!!

“Pat (derogatory), you’ve been bugging me about this for a week now.” “If you want to know, just say so, tiger (derogatory)” “Or if not that, just do something, I’m begging you here!!”

She’s throwing ค่ะ/คะ “kha”s in there (Pat was not using polite particles with her) which gives it an overall sarcastic/exasperated tone, and I’m pretty sure given the overall tone the อีเสือ /ʔiː sɯ̌ːa/ is also meant as a “you coward” kind of thing considering tigers are generally considered strong, brave, and bold – sort of like English “go get them, tiger”.

As always: more advanced speakers please chime in with additions/corrections, I appreciate opportunities to learn.

Okay, on with the episode …

- Jaab is Jeng’s BROTHER???? Oh this explains SO MUCH, whoa, not least the friggin names (one’s เจ๊ง -- (very) skilled, great, awesome, one is จ๊าบ -- cool, spiffy, sharp-looking …)

- oh no, he’s read it and he’s worriiiiied/taking it to heart :(

- oh no oh no Jaab baby “Do you (big brother) have a method how to stop liking someone?” these disaster brothers, I swear.

- oh goodness, Jeng, is that the approach you’re currently trying to take with Pat?

- Jaab I get that you’ve got a crush but ffs stop hitting on the dude with a boyfriend, that way lies pain for all involved.

- oh god this is excruciating

- ahaha plot twist (of COURSE)

- he can COOK, too!! my GOODNESS

- remembering all the reasons I’ll never be a party person, yike

-15k?? what in the hiso, who’s dropping that kind of money?

- okay this is just toxic now, in both the literal and metaphorical sense of the word.

- love this “I only know this person by the name they go by in daily life because nobody ever uses their legal name” thing

- careful with the camera ffs those things are EXPENSIVE

- Jaab, you’re self harming here and I’d like you to stop

- okay but Jen you’re also NOT HELPING

- these two are like a car crash

- OISHI ZERO my old friend

- oh kids don’t DO this to yourselves

- … what was this cut, am I missing something? (youtube)

- the AWKWARDNESS here, holy shit

- omg, did he crash at A Place Of Jeng’s? we knw that they Jeng said he didn’t go back to the apartment he shares with his brother, so …????

- okay apparently these men just have too many houses (or I’m misunderstanding things, which is just as likely)

- ohhh Pat come ON this is NOT HELPING

- AWKWARD

- I’m laughing my ass off at Jeng, he’s incredible.

-  “WORK DISCUSSION” you’re making it WORSE please Jeng

- vibes say this is yet another dad for the bad dads of BL collection, huh. Jury’s out on the mother.

- Pat, WHY are you still in Jeng’s clothes

- … Jeng, is this you worrying about him? because “you’re so slow” is NOT the way to get people to feel supported.

- this is hitting my second hand embarrassment squick HARD rn, yikes

- oh you’ve got it BAD, Jeng, huh.

- Jeng really can’t catcha break, poor dude

- I want to go to Pearl & Oliver, that place looks so nice, gd

- ah, the classic “booze-fuelled honest conversations that half of the participants won’t be able to recall the next day” trope

- oh nooooo like Jeng needed confirmation that there’s ~potential there

- It’s so unusual to see actual more-or-less professional behaviour out of BL ship part, this is incredible (maybe sad that I think it’s incredible, idk)

- Nan is my favourite for REASONS, okay. PROFESSIONAL.

- … okay I take that back, the boy is thinking too much already, he doesn’t need MORE fodder for that, yikes

- Jeng is so sincere, it hurts me, goodness. He’s trying so hard!!

- oh no oh no this is BAD, you don’t get the aggressor and the victim into the same room for this kind of thing, ffffffffffff that’s gonna make things harder for Pat.

---

I love the pacing of this, and the fact that by starting late I don’t have to wait a week for ep 4. Good going me.

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

I only started following recently, so I didn't see your reaction to it. I know you weren't a fan of the WRGP, but what did you think of the duel with Team Taiyo? I friggin loved it, because I lived in Yamanashi prefecture of a good while and one of them spoke with the Yamanashi dialect, and that really help sell me on the premise of these lovable country folk who wanna duel and prove themselves in the big city, with everyone watching back home. I fuckin cried when they summoned Zushin and the crowd flipped and started cheering for them. It's honestly one of my favorite duels in the entire yugioh franchise.

I'm probably gonna get my 5Ds fan card revoked for this but I didn't watch it.

Okay so long story short my first exposure to 5Ds was the first 64 episodes in sub and I found a lot of it really boring for the most part. I could tell when a plot was good but I wasn't getting invested despite wanting to like it so badly. Later on I ended up watching a few episodes of Dark Signers in dub out of curiosity and absolutely fell in love. I was finally invested in the story/more of the characters and realised "holy crap this is actually great." And rewatched the Dark Signers arc in dub. Then when I got to Pre-WRGP, I decided to just continue watching it in dub because I liked the dub, a huge shock to the system as I previously hated the YGO dubs (now I'm mostly okay with them besides GX's).

However, the 5Ds dub had one big problem: it wasn't complete. There's a slew of episodes in the middle of WRGP that were never dubbed and I was so fed up with the plot of WRGP's story and the sub of 5Ds that I initially skipped those episodes so I could just finish the dub and say I had technically finished 5Ds. The only things I saw in that stretch of episodes were the episode where Sherry falls in a wormhole (cuz I had a sneaking suspicion that was important) and Lazar/Yaeger's backstory. Team Taiyo, from the episode description I saw, looked like filler so I completely glossed over it and had no idea it was a fan favourite.

To be honest, I was not actually planning to watch those undubbed episodes. How that happened was this: I recently finished Sevens and wasn't ready for Go Rush yet so I decided to watch that wormhole episode I mentioned and found it surprisingly interesting. Then I skipped to the first episode of Ark Cradle (Yusei defeating Aporia) and had a moment of "oh shit, this is actually pretty cool" and got genuinely into watching it. It still had the problems that Japanese 5Ds had (Yusei is so boring and the other characters don't fare too much better as they're all far too stoic most of the time) but the story was good enough to carry it through to the end for me, which is quite frankly a miracle considering just how badly WRGP pissed me off. You weren't there for it so just take my word: it destroyed every bit of good will I'd grown for 5Ds in one fell swoop.

Back to the episode you mentioned, it does sound quite sweet so maybe I'll give it a watch? Everything else in that stretch though? Nope, can't bring myself to do it.

[shanti-ashant-hai]

impression thingy: idk why but i first thought you were younger than me. And cooler ofc

Now: Badass woman so friggin cool holy shit please dont stab me but maybe do

lmao nah you're as cool as i am :)) and i dont stab cool ppl

i completely agree with you thinking i was younger than you, i doubt i've ever acted my age anywhere

[hyah-lian]

Wind joyfully infodumping about deep-sea horrors and the funky fish and shit from his world

Just blissfully describing a different breed of octoroks that flash colors and are wildly territorial (like a Humboldt squid basically) specifically and getting a collective what the fuck from the group and he just

"OH That isn't even the coolest part- *goes into an indepth history and description of how Tetra and the pirates did research on them bc Tetra is also super interested in them*"

Anyway.

[missrandomdreamer]

Farren @coffee-and-bourbon/@valkyrie-of-the-light OC and Hazel @vodkafolie OC and my OC Hope: The Heisenwives <3

Hope would definitely be in awe of Hazel and Farren because they are just so bad-ass and so cool. She would so look up to them too.