#I need 100 by January -- so I'm really '???'

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

*dusting off this old blog* Well it's been a while, isn't it?

[onceuponastarryeye]

books read in 2023

the ones who walk away from omelas - ursula k. le guin (5/5)

animal farm - george orwell (4/5)

the mystery of the blue train - agatha christie (4.25/5)

the memories of sherlock holmes - arthur conan doyle (3.5/5)

five survive - holly jackson (4.75/5)

liars, inc. - paula stokes (1.5/5)

blindness - josé saramago (4.5/5)

the hound of death (a short story) - agatha christie (3.5/5)

the lies we tell - katie zhao (4/5)

the magician's nephew (the chronicles of narnia #1) - cs lewis (4/5) (rr)

peril at end house - agatha christie (4/5)

rebecca - daphne du maurier (5/5)

these violent delights (tvd #1) - chloe gong (3.75/5)

the lion, the witch and the wardrobe (the chronicles of narnia #2) - cs lewis (5/5) (rr)

the screaming staircase (lockwood & co #1) - jonathan stroud (5/5)

the dagger in the desk (lockwood & co #1.5) - jonathan stroud (4.25/5)

espaços de recordação - aleida assman (academic)

murder at the vicarage - agatha christie (4.5/5)

the whispering skull (lockwood & co #2) - jonathan stroud (4/5)

the hollow boy (lockwood & co #3) - jonathan stroud (4/5)

the creeping shadow (lockwood & co #4) - (4.75/5)

the empty grave (lockwood & co #5) - jonathan stroud (5/5)

a treatise of human nature - david hume (academic)

ensaio sobre os dados imediatos da consciência - henri bergson (3/5) (academic)

lord edgware dies - agatha christie (4/5)

the communist manifesto - karl marx & frederich engels (academic)

the horse and his boy (the chronicles of narnia #3) - cs lewis (4/5) (rr)

matter and memory - henri bergson (3/5) (academic)

the hour of the star - clarice lispector (5/5)

bergsonism - gilles deleuze (3/5) (academic)

three act tragedy - agatha christie (3/5)

the hound of the baskerville - arthur conan doyle (4.5/5)

happy place - emily henry (5/5)

death in the clouds - agatha christie (2.75/5)

prince caspian (the chronicles of narnia #4) - cs lewis (4/5) (rr)

los marcos sociales de la memoria - maurice halbwachs (4/5) (academic)

how to worship Jesus Christ - joseph s. carroll (5/5)

introdução ao estudo do método de marx - josé paulo netto (4.5/5) (academic)

anxious people - fredik backman (5/5)

the collective memory - maurice halbwachs (5/5) (academic) (rr)

murder in mesopotamia - agatha christie (4/5)

cards on the table - agatha christie (4/5)

the voyage of the dawn treader - (the chronicles of narnia #5) - cs lewis (5/5) (rr)

yellowface - r.f. kuang (3.5/5)

the girl on the train - paula hawkins (4.25/5)

dumb witness - agatha christie (3/5)

the silver chair - (the chronicles of narnia #6) - cs lewis (4/5) (rr)

before your memory fades (btcgc #3) - kawaguchi toshikazu (4.75/5)

pride and prejudice - jane austen (5/5) (rr)

perfume - patrick suskind (4/5)

sociologia de la memoria - paolo montesperelli (4.5/5)

capital's unfolding systemic crisis - istvan meszaros (4/5)

the last battle - (the chronicles of narnia #7) - cs lewis (3/5) (rr)

appointment with death - agatha christie (5/5)

the great gatsby - f. scott fitzgerald (4/5)

the collective - alison gaylin (3.75/5)

para além do capital - istvan meszaros (academic)

the ballad of songbirds and snakes (the hunger games #0) - suzanne collins (4/5)

história, memória e educação - lombardi et al (4/5) (academic)

der ursprung der familie, des privateigenthums und des staats - friedrich engels (3/5) (academic)

metamorphosis - franz kafka (4/5)

murder is easy - agatha christie (4/5)

how to survive your murder - danielle valentine (4.5/5)

arsene lupin, the gentleman-thief - maurice leblanc (3.5/5)

sad cypress - agatha christie (5/5)

northanger abbey - jane austen (5/5) (rr)

the return of sherlock holmes - arthur conan doyle (4/5)

phantom of the opera - gaston leroux (5/5)

persuasion - jane austen (5/5) (rr)

one, two, buckle my shoe - agatha christie (5/5)

the suicide house - charlie donlea (5/5)

endless night - agatha christie (5/5)

life and limb - jamie andrew (3.5/5)

final offer (dreamland billionares #3) - lauren asher (3.5/5)

the valley of fear - arthur conan doyle (4/5)

capitalismo pandemico - ricardo antunes (4/5)

one of us is back (one of us #3) - karen mcmanus (4/5)

cecília vargas em incêndio na casa-grande (cecília vargas #1) - kézia garcia (5/5)

cecília vargas em um ladrão ä solta em itapainema (cecília vargas #2) - kézia garcia (5/5)

emma - jane austen (5/5) (rr)

evil under the sun - agatha christie (3.5/5)

uma oração de amor - lyta racielly (4.75/5)

minha verdade - kell carvalho (4.75/5)

il nome della rosa - umberto eco (3/5)

more adventures of sherlock holmes - arthur conan doyle (4/5)

opal (the raven cycle #4.5) - maggie stiefvader (4/5)

sense and sensibility - jane austen (4.5/5) (rr)

do deserto ao jardim (guia-me #1) - aline moretho (4.5/5)

a classe trabalhadora: de marx ao nosso tempo - marcelo badaró mattos (5/5) (academic)

o monstro dançante (baile dos corvos #1) - gabrielli casseta (5/5)

o monstro aventureiro (baile dos corvos #3) - gabrielli casseta (5/5)

um clichê de verão - lyta racielly (4/5)

hercule poirot's christmas - agatha christie (4.75/5)

o monstro rockstar (baile dos corvos #3) - gabrielli casseta (5/5)

the german ideology - friedich engels; karl marx (3.75/5)

a portland row christmas (lockwood & co #4.5) - jonathan stroud (5/5)

litte women (volume #1) - louisa may alcott (4/5)

m or n? - agatha christie (4/5)

estuda comigo? (c(o)stomizei! #1) - sâmella bridges (4/5)

conta comigo (c(o)stomizei! #2) - sâmella bridges (4/5)

[nerdykeppie]

Okay, y'all.

I'm gonna be really up front with everybody in a way that I'm usually not:

This year so far has been really rough, in a way that kinda has me worried. Bear with me, and there will be dog pictures along the way and pictures of new swag at the end, ok?

Running a small business is always rough, and with everything going on - with me being down-and-out struggling to get my hysterectomy approved, with everything going on financially & politically, with Jake moving out here - we knew that this year probably wouldn't be a banner year, but...

... when I pulled reports at the end of May, I was kinda shocked and gutted because at the start of June, we were actually down a considerable amount year over year. I knew the year wouldn't be great, but like, oof.

Pride is usually where we make our money for the year - we call it "gay Christmas," because where other retailers count on their holiday season, we count on Pride to make sure that our employees get paid during January of the following year.

Pause for Ser Davos Seawoof:

This Pride has started ... slowly. Not terribly, but a little more slowly than I'm comfortable with, and slowly enough that I'm nervous. We invested a lot of money in new stock and equipment, and that's got to pay off. Right?

So here's the pitch:

We need to make at least $60K in sales this month to make sure that we're in good shape for the upcoming year. We are currently at $8100, and we have a two-day event coming up in Seattle at the end of the month, but that still gives us an awful lot of ground to make up.

If we hit our sales goal for this month, NerdyKeppie will donate 1% of our net profit for June to @queerliblib.

Just hitting that goal would both make it possible for us to know we can make it through the year & even if we have the worst profit margins this month, it'd be a minimum $250 donation.

We just added Express delivery as a shipping upgrade on most of our t-shirts (limited color and size options on that, which isn't under our control) so if you need something quick, we've got you, and everything from our Portland HQ collection ships usually within 2 business days.

Everything in our Bottoms & Tops collection is Buy 2, Get a 3rd 69% off with code TOP2BOTTOM until midnight tonight:

And as always, NerdyKeppie is 100% trans-owned and queer-run. We start all of our employees at a minimum of $25/hr, and all eligible employees are IWW members. We have no investors, and we have no shareholders to please. Big box corporations screw over small artists and drop Pride the minute it gets hard or controversial, but this is our life.

We're here for the long run. Help us stay and help us build resources for today & tomorrow, and get some cool-ass swag while you do.

💗🏳️‍🌈

[t4t4t]

Hi

I'm still recovering from bottom surgery I got on July 25th in some ways but I'm healing up well in many ways. I got a MRSA infection that hasn't totally passed, might've been from the hospital, might've been from a roommate. Which was kinda an additional reason we wanted to move from smwr to smwr else that's cheaper anyway in a number of ways, utilities/location/etc.

Collie's bottom surgery is scheduled for November 13th, I hope that actually happens. She's wondering if she should recover at the new place but now it's so soon I'm not sure we can find anything else. She seems really suicidal and stressed about it. I'm worried.

We wanted to leave as soon as we could tbh so they're asking for the 5 days rent of the end of September but I only have to have that by the next time I pay rent. If we stay here. Idk. I kinda like the roommates but she thinks the house isn't soundproofed enough. But it's been less annoying than Brook's house in the past few days in my eyes.

I still haven't been able to pay the PO box and they're giving me until the 10th to pay the 100, and I can't pay month to month or anything cheaper apparently.

The place is also asking for a deposit of 500 but they're kinda only expecting that in a 2 to 3 month range, or like. Kinda on the basis of how my income changes / if I get a job / etc.

119 + 710 + 500 + 100 = 1429

I need 100 by the 10th of October and 829 by the 1st of November and 500 eventually. Idk. I hope I'm able to get a job before my FFS on January 28th. I wonder how long that will me put me out of work.

(I already was able to pay them 710 for October based on what had been donated.)

Anything helps.

Help two disabled trans women not be homeless like they have 80% of the time been waiting for surgery for 4 years and finally get the surgeries they've been waiting to get for 4 years. <3

https://www.paypal.me/NoraEstherRose

https://venmo.com/u/nora-esther-rose

https://www.paypal.me/androgynophore

https://venmo.com/u/Leah-Esther-Rose

[egophiliac]

As someone who hasn’t played the twst game very long I just got into it. I wanted to know about events? Like do some not come back? For example do the Masquerade, Port, Beanfest, Ghost bride, starsending events. Do those come back? I hear people say how they missed their chance to get this great card like as if it won’t ever come back and then someone on Reddit will say something like “Oh beanfest happened twice on the JP server” so which events have gotten reruns so far? I would ask about more recent ones like the Easter one but idk if it’s too recent to know if get rerun or if they clarify that it won’t come back? I was really sad to find out about the Silk outfits I missed out on when they visit the scalding sands. I also was really sad to find out i missed out on the anniversary cards because I didn’t play the game yet. I wish they would add the anniversary cards to the store at least…I want to be apart of the celebration :’)

I was looking in the shop and saw all the different groovy items you need to groovify event cards and this question just came to me so I had the urge to ask someone…

welcome to Twst! 🎉 it is a bit confusing to jump right into, especially because. they're not always consistent. :') it sounds like you're probably playing on Eng, which I'm less familiar with, but I'll try based on what I know! (I also don't always remember everything, so somebody please correct me if I get something wrong!)

first, I do recommend the Twst wiki.gg, which seems to stay pretty up-to-date on events for both the Eng and JP versions! it's a great resource for when you want to see if/when an event ran or rerun. in general, I believe that the Eng version only does reruns that have already happened in JP, so if JP has a rerun that hasn't happened yet in Eng, they should get it too eventually! on the other hand, I don't think either version has ever rerun an event more than once. :( BUT this doesn't mean you're entirely out of luck, because:

anniversary events (March for JP, January for Eng) will usually offer a chance to get both an older event SSR and an older birthday SSR in the shop, via buying a special item with exchange currency (which you get by doing pulls on the anniversary gacha, I think you need to do 100-150 pulls for enough currency to buy the item to exchange for an SSR). only SSRs though, and you're limited to one each (one birthday, one event). so if there's an SSR you REALLY want and it's already had its rerun, it's probably worth planning to save up some keys for!

as for actual reruns, they seem to come in a few different flavors:

straight-up rerun, no changes or extra cards

unchanged event story, with a new SSR of a character who wasn't in the story (e.g. Applepom Jamil)

slightly rewritten event story that includes a new SSR (e.g. Ghost Marriage, they don't seem to do this anymore though)

completely new event story that acts as either a sequel or alternate-universe version of the original (e.g. Beans Day part 2, Fairy Gala IF) (though this is pretty rare and might actually count as a separate event, rather than a rerun?)

Master Chef/Culinary Crucible events have never gotten reruns (though they might start now that we've finally gotten through all the characters in JP, time will tell). birthday and Halloween events will also rerun the previous version in addition to the new one -- for instance, Eng should be getting a Glorious Masquerade rerun this year, followed by the new (Playful Land) Halloween event. and a birthday campaign will, in addition to the new card, have a separate pickup for the previous year's birthday card.

for the specific ones you mentioned -- I think Beanfest, Ghost Bride, Fireworks, and Starsending have already rerun in Eng, so those most likely will not be rerun again (at least not anytime soon). Masquerade should be coming back for you guys this Halloween, and Portfest JUST got its rerun in JP, so that should be coming too sometime in the future! (no new SSR though, alas, I was really hoping for a little marching band sailor boy Leona. 😔) the Easter event is the White Rabbit Fest, right? that one hasn't gotten a rerun in JP yet either, so it's still on the table!

all that said, it's entirely possible they'll change the rules at some point and start doing more reruns/chances to get older event cards, especially since the game's been going on for a few years now and some cards haven't been available for a pretty long time! there's only one card that they said was for-realsies limited-time-only and wouldn't ever be available again -- Platinum Grim, since he was to celebrate the 100th anniversary -- so. there's always a little bit of hope for everything else. :D (fairy gala Ortho PLEASE COME BACK SOB)

[moongothic]

MY BLANKET OF DARKNESS HAS BEEN COMPLETED

✨👁️✨ I AM SO COZY NOW ✨👁️✨

So I started working on this blanket around June of 2022. Got like, maybe half-way through the blanket and then the yarn I needed for the blanket went out of stock at my local yarn shop. Now I didn't know the yarn would be completely unavailable for like 6 months (until the stop closed permanently), so I just kept on waiting, hoping for it to come back in stock-- but it never did, so in January I finally looked online if I could find the yarn elsewhere and I did, I got the yarn I needed, and finished the blanket. So it kinda took me 6 months to make this blanket but also not

What made this blanket a truly exciting and fun project for me is that this has been the first blanket I actually made for myself and designed for myself. Like I've enjoyed every single blanket project I've had so far, but having a blanket that's Just For Me is just. It's nice

I originally planned the granny squares out digitally because I wanted to have a fun pattern of different granny squares, something that wouldn't be too busy looking and was carefully planned, and here's what I came up with

I had two versions of the square pattern, one with moon phases right in the middle of it and another without them. I do like how the moon version looked and part of me kinda regrets not making that one, but I'm not sure the moons would have really gone well with the eyes... So I did go with the first version

(Sidenote, it's not on the pattern above but I added extra rows of just black squares at the top and bottom of the blanket, so there's two rows of black instead of just one)

(Sidenote 2, although I knew I wanted the blanket to be mostly black from the begining, I wasn't entirely sure what accent color I wanted to use, it really was depending on what colors the shop had available. Like I used yellow as kind of a default color since it worked nice with the stars and eyes, but I could've gone with some other color too. In the end, because I didn't like the color options for the yarn at the shop I ended up going with a yellow anyways) (Also I tested out a reverse color version with the pastel purple and white base and no eyes, just for funsies, it looks kinda neat)

But yeah, that's how the planning of the blanket went.

The blanket is made of 231 squares in total, 11x21 rows. 186 of the squares are plain black, the rest are patterned. The star squares were the worst to make because of how many strands of yarn I had to weave in, 0/10, would not reccommend.

I used the Cedro 100% wool yarn (reccomended hook size 5, 50g=100m), and it took me about 38 balls of yarn to finish the blanket (including crocheting all the squares together and doing a single round of double crochet around the blanket to finish it off)

This is literally all the yarn I have left from this blanket; one untouched ball of black and three partially used balls.

I gotta admit.

I'm kind of shocked by the size of the blanket. Like I very carefully measured it to make it the exact size to fit my bed, and it fits perfectly. But I'm still kinda shocked how big it is. (Which is why I didn't make the border of the blanket any bigger, even though I could've with the yarn I have)

Also

It's HEAVY

Like, of course it's heavy, it's 100% wool and thick, but MAN I didn't expect it lmao

But that kind of makes it perfect for cold winters especially, it's super warm and the weight makes it cozy- like who needs a weighted blanket when you can have one of these lmao

Now I just need to figure out how to protect the blanket from being covered in my white cat's hair...

[sanaexus]

short n' sweet- prologue

after winning the U20 vs Bluelock match 28th January 2019, 11:48pm __________________

rin was pissed, beyond pissed, he was frustrated, angry but mainly disappointed. he failed to get sae to recognize him. again. he was shaken out of his thought when you ran up to him hugging him.

"rin!! you won. bro said nah he'd win and actually won!" you arms were wrapped around him what was this sudden feeling in his chest? it felt...comforting? your giggles were ringing through his ears and your perfume was so sweet. why was this hug different? he's hugged so many times, why was this time any different?

"rin? rinrin? with this treasure i summon the" you pulled away looking up at his face, it looked sad and angry but confused? you wondered what was going on behind those gorgeous eyes. wait what? gorgeous eyes? when did you start feeling that way about him?

your voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "yeah, we won" he sounded uninterested and bored.

"oh come on! cheer up a little you just won one of the most important matches of your career so far, you could be a little happy you know.." you tried you best to comfort him but you doubted it would work

"happy for what? that isagi was the one chosen by sae? that isagi is the hope of japanese football? is that was you want me to be happy about?" shit. he didn't mean to snap, he really didn't but it just came out he wanted to apologize but before he could you cut him off.

"okay why the fuck are you taking out your anger on me? i came all the way from madrid just for you and that's how you wanna talk to me? fuck off" fuck he messed up didn't he?

while walking away you bumped into this guy with a weird haircut who you recognized was bachira, rin had mentioned him before, he was the guy who had a monster right?

"oh sorry i didn't mean oh wait you're uhh bachira right? amazing plays man! you were so cool out there!" you complimented the taller male which made him blush, he was cute that was no doubt.

"yeahh thank youu WAIT YOU'RE Y/N RIGHT? LIKE THE STREAMER Y/N? HOLY FUCKING SHIT IM A HUGE FAN!"

"y-yeah, please quite down a little i'm y/n i don't wanna attract any unwanted attention"

"oh oops sorry i got a bit silly, can i have your number?" he was smiling like a small kid it was hard to not melt, but you only met this guy, but he looked harmless what's the worst that could happen?

"yeah sure it's xxx-xxx-xxx"

"cool thank you! you're rin's friend right?"

"yeah, good friends i've known him since i was in diapers so i guess so, wait how'd you know?"

"i saw you talking to him, is everything alright by the way? you look a bit off"

"just a small argument with rin it's nothing"

"he's a silly little fella he'll come around he's just on his periods probably"

that made you giggle, "yeah probably" bachira was really nice a bit odd but he was a really sweet guy, you were questioning why rin called him weird but rin thinks everyone is weird right?

"anyways i'll text you i need to go catch up with my team it was really nice meeting you though!"

"you too bachira, i'll see you around"

walking away you got a notification on your phone you have been added to "lvl 100 rizzlers"

oh what the fuck?

lvl 100 rizzlers

xxx-xxxx-xxx recognize this number mr edgelord

rinrin oh you fucker

xxx-xxxx-xxx who the fuck is that baxhira?

xxx-xxxx-xxx is it a female? FCUKIGN FINALLY

xxx-xxxx-xxx challenge: otoya try to stop being horny (NIT CLOCKBAUT GONE WRONG😱😱)

"oh so are they in love or they not in love?"  -bachira

will rin accept his feelings for you? or will he keep denying it? will you realise that maybe your feelings aren't one sided? only time, situations and his " friends" will tell.

the text from now on will be image wise and not actually typed out (?) if that makes sense

[lukolabrainrot]

I am going to talk about some of my thoughts about why I believe N's behavior changed as the PR tour progressed. I am also going to talk about my thoughts on if L&N ever got "jiggy with it" 😂 I'll try to get to my thoughts on Toronto and Ireland tomorrow.

Before I start though, I want to mention that I am trying to come to my theories/opinions based off of things I have been able to observe, and verified information online. Obviously though, I don't actually know any of these people irl, so I am never going to understand the full story of what is going on between L/N. All of this is just my thoughts and theories on what is going on based on what has been put out to the public. There has been a lot of speculation online about everything, but I am going to try and not give that information too much weight when coming to my conclusions here. I am interested in hearing everyone's thoughts/opinions though, since this story has a lot of moving parts. Just wanted to put this disclaimer out before moving forward with more of my thoughts/theories.

Alright, on to the main course (this is going to be a LONG post btw)...

N on the PR Tour

I want to start off with the following that we know to be fact about N:

She is INCREDIBLY private about her personal life, especially her dating/romantic life (the same isn't/hasn't really been true about L). In fact, I don't believe N has ever publicly come out as being in a relationship with anyone since she entered the entertainment industry/been in the public eye (although I can't 100% confirm this, so please let me know if there are any articles/or something on her SM where she has publicly confirmed she was in a relationship at some point)

She is VERY online, and very careful about controlling her public narrative

She is a naturally touchy and affectionate person with people, but she seems to hold her true feelings a lot closer to her heart, and it seems to me, that she is kind of "on" in public (which is actually an important skillset to have as someone in the entertainment industry because you really need to know how to stay in control of your public narrative--your fans are your livelihood)

She LOVES photography/taking photos (it is one of her love languages I believe)

Now as I mentioned, L was always a lot more of an open book on the PR tour about his feelings for N (refer to my post here). N seemed to be a lot more reserved/gaurded during the tour when it first started in January, but everything shifted in like April when the world tour started. Below are my thoughts:

N started to become a LOT more obvious through her nonverbal cues about her genuine feelings for L as the tour unfolded. I will say that I believe PART of it probably had to do with getting a little "lost in the sauce" with the energy of the tour. However, I think the larger factor was that L & N were pushed together for many months (in close quarters), and were therefore forced to have conversations about their feelings for each other that I think they had been tiptoeing around for quite a while. From what we then saw from like the middle of Italy (I'm an Italy truther), there was more of a confidence, security, and contentment in how they interacted with each other that signaled to me feelings were shared and reciprocated.

Like I mentioned, she is a PR queen and very, very private about this part of her life. Therefore, why would she decide to be so obvious about her feelings on such a public stage when she knows people analyze everything? Well... I believe this is her way of publicly acknowledging their romantic feelings for each other without ACTUALLY publicly acknowledging anything more than "work besties" is going on with them. Which totally makes sense when you think about it because 1) The fandom would LOSE IT rn 2) That would put a LOT of public pressure on them, and I think these feelings they have shared with each other are very new (but had been brewing for a long time), and I don't think they are confident enough to go public. There is also, of course, the A of the whole situation, which L needs to figure out how he wants to move forward with that. TLDR, the situation is very messy, and I think there is a lot that L/N need to process in private regarding each other out of the public eye. I am pretty confident though that this tour put them in a situation to confront, clarify, and establish what their romantic feelings are for each other outside of the show (and they were reciprocated), and they are taking the space right now to explore that privately.    

Lastly, because I really like analyzing photos and N loves taking pictures, let's talk about those "boyfriend pics" of L she posted since the world tour started. Yes, she was promoting the show, but a lot of those pictures (especially recently) have a very specific vibe. She wants the world to see him the way she sees him. She loves that man, clear and simple. He shines around her, and she knows that. I think it’s also especially telling that she posted the most recent boyfriend pic of her last day of filming (which was the most obvious one in my opinion) now that A is publicly connected to L. It was a statement in my opinion, that regardless of all the drama unfolding, her and L have a really deep and meaningful connection that is special to her. I think it also served as a message that we don’t know the full story, which I think is a positive thing for us Lukola fans. Now I can’t predict the future with these two, but I am fairly certain we wouldn’t have been seeing the type of behavior we saw from them on the PR tour, and the types of photos she has been posting of him lately, if they weren’t confident in moving forward with their romantic relationship in the near future (especially since A has been in the picture for quite some time). I think these pics serve as another crumb that they are a little more than just work besties.

One last note, I think the reason our PR queen started slipping up and changing her answers to certain questions on the tour is because SHE WAS REALLY HAPPY WITH HIM. This can be a whole separate post at some point if people are interested, but I am almost certain from everything I have observed regarding N, that she is quite jaded when it comes to finding a romantic partner, and has been hurt in romantic relationships in the past.  I feel like L is the more sweet, hopeless romantic between the two. I think he allowed her to heal some of her relationship wounds. I think there is something about L and the experiences they’ve shared together that has reignited something within N to make her feel more hopeful about having a deep romantic connection while she can still be very independent and successful in her field. And I think it specifically has something to do with who L is when he is with her and how he treats her. I get the impression he has really altered the way she sees certain things related to romantic relationships. My whole point is that I think they both know what they have, and they know that if they can get on the same page, this relationship would get serious pretty quickly. Therefore, even though N is really private with this part of her life, for L, I think she would publicly acknowledge their relationship, but only when/if they are able to get to a point where they feel confident enough that their relationship would be able to withstand the pressures from the public. They just aren't there currently because of all the other confounding factors, but I don't think that necessarily signals where they will be in like 6 to 8 months imo...

Have L/N ever gotten freaky deaky irl?

From before the PR tour, I just don't have enough information to confidently say yes or no. A lot of people have different opinions on this, and some people think they casually dated near the end of filming season 3/sometime last year (but we don't have any proof of that). This is what I will say:

N still follows J (and vice versa I believe, please lmk if I'm wrong?), so I don't think there is any bad blood there. This makes me pretty certain that L/N never acted on any physical feelings for each other until after that relationship was completely over. I do think though that L/N have had a spark for a while (and tbh, I think L has kind of had a thing for N since they met, and his feelings for her have always been stronger). Therefore, this likely played a part in him emotionally distancing from his relationship with J when season 3 started filming, but at the end of the day, we will never know the specicifics of why they decided to part ways. My guess is that there were a lot of reasons that relationship did not end up working out considering how serious that relationship was.

Considering how WILD L/N's sexual chemistry is, it wouldn't surprise me if they hooked up at some point before the PR tour. But considering L was on Raya by February/March 2023 (from my understanding?), and the fact that N was SUPER busy last year and traveling a bunch, I just don't think there was any time for them to have anything more than something super casual/no commitment (if anything). Even if they did maybe hook up some, I don't think they really directly addressed the depth of their feelings for each other, which is why we saw all that behavior between them on the tour, because I don't think any clear boundaries had been put up and their feelings came flooding back.

Now I feel a lot more confident that somethingggg intimate happened at least once between them on the PR tour. Here are my theories:

I don't think things were great between them at the beginning of the tour (like January) because feelings I think started popping up again for these two during the reshoots in December 2023, and then the NYE kiss comes out, and N and L are feeling disconnected and aren't really on the same page about the tour.

I think they had some conversations in private, because by the VDay event, they seemed a lot more on the same page (and L was giving N those total heart eyes). The extra layer is that (I believe?) A accompanied L to the city the event was in (I think NYC?), but even though A was staying with him, L was STILL looking at N like THAT during the event (which I think speaks VOLUMES).

I think though there were a lot of things they still weren't talking about, and everything came to a head when they got to Italy, which is why the vibes were off at first and it seemed like there was tension between them. This also occurred soon after the Instyle stunt, so I feel like N probably had some feelingssss about that.

I have recently been converted to an Italy truther, so I believe that Italy was where L/N finally addressed/readressed some of their feelings for each other, and N was trying to get some clarity on WTH was going on with A, and making sure it wasn't going to mess anything up with the tour. But I think they "kissed and made up" 😉 and got back on the same page. Which is why there was the shift in Italy, and why we saw what we saw for the rest of the tour.

Not sure exactly what happened of course, but I get the feeling something physical happened after they started having some BIG conversations about each other that they had needed to have for a long time (and I think they continued to have these conversations with each other as the tour progressed). Let's also remember that these are two very non-confrontational people, so I feel like there must have been a LOT of pent up feelings/emotions for them to publicly show that they weren't super happy with each other/beefing during the beginning of Italy.

I also definitely think they physically acted on their feelings in Brazil (like they just had the "glow" imo 😂). And the eff me eyes, c'mon. Like Brazil continually reminded me of that New Girl quote "The stench of filth and lust is all over this room." It just seemed pretty obvious to me 😂 Especially considering the events that transpired right after that with A, and between L/N for the rest of the tour.

Lastly, I know a lot of people believe that L/N didn't physically act on their feelings because the tension would go away. However, I actually think it's a good sign that tension is still there, because I think it shows that there is a pretty deep connection between these two, and they are still feeling that pull/sexual energy after having sex. They kind of remind me of like two friends in a friend group who just admitted their true feelings for each other but aren't ready to go public, but are also having crazy good sex, so they are super obvious and can't really hide it when they are together LOL Regardless if they had ever physically acted on their feelings before the tour, I think these experiences (IF they did indeed occur), helped L/N get clarity if their strong feelings and attraction for each other went past the show and their characters. And I personally think they got that clarity 😉

Wowww okay that turned into an essay LOL, but I think the TLDR is that the situation seems very complicated right now, and I think there is a lot that L/N are needing to figure out in private. But I don't think that negates or invalidates what we saw between them on the PR tour, or that they were "faking" their feelings. Human beings are messy and imperfect, and that is okay. I think the part that still really confuses me is the whole A of the situation, because I just can't wrap my head around it. I would love to hear other people's opinions though on how she factors into all this, so if you have theories/questions you would like to add to that discussion, drop them in my asks. Because I have thoughtssss 😂

[maxwellatoms]

I bought a Gartenmeister Fuchsia plant for my birthday back in January. It was a centerpiece all winter long, but recently it started looking a bit sickly. I'm not a "green" gerdener anymore (haha), but I am also by no means a master. I think it was infected with powdery mildew, but I also convinced myself it was spider mites. I try to keep things all -natural out there, so I dried it out and sprayed it with some neem oil after pruning it back a bit. I really should've pruned off all of the infected bits, but I didn't want to lose the flowers.

I did that a few more times, unable to commit to a hard prune because I kept telling myself "I don't know what I'm doing, so maybe it's not sick. Maybe it'll fix itself. Sure would be nice to have those flowers back." I finally gave up and cut it to the bone yesterday, but yesterday was too late. I had to remove every single leaf because I dithered for too long. It's probably not going to make it.

I feel the same way about our culture. US culture. Western culture (though its really a global problem). The Entertainment Industry. The Media. It's sick. We probably need some rather serious surgery to fix the problem, but we just will not see a doctor. To see a doctor would be to admit there's a problem, and for some that is the greatest sin of the 21st Century. Maybe some of us are just hoping the system will recover on its own so we can have our pretty flowers back.

For me, it was around 2010 or so when I first started to smell something "off". The symptoms had certainly been around a while. This was just when I noticed. This was when I got my first, "Hey, let's not make fun of corporations" note. It's when The History Channel stopped airing stuff about history in favor of aliens because that's where the money was. And rather than rebranding, they just left it as "History", encouraging future generations to believe whatever they felt like. This was also about when traditional news outlets started skewing to clickbait in order to compete with sites that were clearly 100% not legitimate news sites. Again, as long as the money is right it's "just entertainment" and you' can're welcome to believe it if it means you'll watch more.

I'm all-in on Dead Internet Theory now. The disparity between what major news media outlets will report and what you see from actual people on Tumblr or Threads or Reddit is pretty shocking. And those sites are already compromised by bots and bad actors. The tools exist now to actively bamboozle millions of people, and I have no doubt we're already seeing some of this now. In six months or a year you'll find out it (whatever it was) never happened or was generated by an LLM. The time to stop listening to anyone online was a year ago.

Trust no one.

Not even me!

It's cultural rot. It's spreading faster and faster, and I'm not sure what happens when we get to the end of this ride. Actually, I AM sure what happens. If we don't prune back hard now, then the rot takes over. Best-case, you clip the infected branches off too late and it takes years to recover. Worst case? Nature soldiers on but the plant succumbs to infection and dies completely, replaced (eventually) by something that can actually hack it in that spot.

When humans produce art and information, and then comment on that art and information by producing more art and information, we call it "culture". We're moving toward a time when the vast majority of art and ideas we get out eyes on won't be created by humans. Or at the very least won't be created with the purpose of commenting on or enriching the organic human experience. When that happens, what will we call it? What will remain of our culture?

[gdbatbitch]

TL;DR Please, please. I’m at the absolute end of my rope and can use all the help I can get. Also, just putting out there for those that prefer alternates: my PayPal is dextra.hoffman@gmail.com, Venmo is @Dextra-Hoffman, and CashApp is $DextraDawn. Thanks y’all.

I wish I had the spoons to talk about how horrible I have been feeling the last few weeks in real time. Especially the last 3 weeks. You don’t realize how much one little gland will mess up your entire existence until it’s defective or gone. I’ve been without my thyroid for 10 months now. And I’m still suffering the repercussions of it. 

My biggest issue is my TSH levels. I’ve had to have dosage adjustments twice since January, and each time it results in weeks of adjustment time, and a good portion of that, I’ve been completely laid out because of being unable to function. The symptoms can vary, but generally involve massive fatigue, nausea, hot flashes and cold spells/sweats that I’m not able to control and barely able to combat, dehydration, weakness, and just having that feeling you get with a high fever and a flu where you feel half in and half out of reality and not sure if you’re actually alive or you’re a ghost. 

Also because these hormones think they’re that special, they also affect my mental health by spiking my adrenaline levels and triggering my anxiety. My anxiety alone can shut me down for days. It’s been well documented. So the physical symptoms would trigger my anxiety. I have a really high pain tolerance, but sickness not so much. And I have never felt sicker in my life than I have in the last month. So not only was I feeling like I was dying, I was terrified the entire time.

I’ve not gone into great detail about it openly because it was so scary, and I know when I’m in panic mode I can’t really trust my own mind to determine the seriousness of a situation. So I kept it quiet, at least quiet for me. 

Of course, all of this has completely destroyed my plans of getting back to work and out of this poverty rut I’ve been in for months. I had a job lined up, but the start date was right in the middle of my being incapacitated. I tried to work with the company to push back my start date, but that didn’t happen. I’m in the midst of interviewing for a job that would be absolutely perfect, but I’m still waiting for next steps on their part. Aside from those, as anyone currently seeking a job will tell you, it’s abysmal out there. I’ve applied for over a hundred jobs in the last 4 months and I’ve barely gotten any responses. 

I’ve been asked if I’m going to be doing art commissions, and if I were more capable, sure. I’d be silly not to try. But I’ve not been anything close to capable for weeks. I’ve only been back to 100% for a few days now, and even that has been sketchy. So I’m putting a pin in that for now, at least until I can knock out a sketch or two to knock the rust off. 

I was hoping to be done with fundraising, it’s so nerve-racking. But right now, my survival is in peril. I just submitted a request for what will be my last unemployment payout. It wasn’t much, but it was barely keeping me afloat. After that, I’m kinda screwed unless I can figure something out. 

I still haven’t made rent for August, my car payment is late, I’ve got bills up to my ears and I’m just worried that I’m not going to have those things very very soon if I can’t keep up. If I can at least hit the goal on the fundraiser, that can keep me going until I can get back to work (fingers crossed). 

I’ve been struggling with asking for help for a while now because I feel like I’ve been holding my hat out for far too long, but I don’t really have a choice anymore. I’ve also been struggling with a lot of internalized ableism as well because I know I’m disabled and shouldn’t push myself as hard as I do. But that’s a rant for another time.

Please, please. I’m at the absolute end of my rope and can use all the help I can get. Also, just putting out there for those that prefer alternates: my PayPal is dextra.hoffman@gmail.com, Venmo is @Dextra-Hoffman, and CashApp is $DextraDawn. Thanks y’all.

[railleriee]

Bungou Stray Dogs Men with a S/o that has an Animal Ability: 

This was just something I whipped up! I also edited my layout! lmk what u think! Still some add-ons and fixes I need to do but I'm really liking it so far! Without further ado, enjoy :) -spence

(I may make a second part to this if it does well.)

Characters: Dazai, Chuuya, Kunikida, Ranpo, Akutagawa, Atsushi

Warnings: Slight nsfw halfway through Kunikida's part, but for the most part it's fluff!

Reader is non-gender specific!

Dazai: 

S/o with a dog ability! 

We all know he hates dogs

So after finding out about your ability, long after the relationship had begun, he was quite thrown off.

I’d like to think he doesn’t show any fear towards your ability, although he’s secretly terrified. 

Rants to kunikida, even asks for advice on the situation. 

( Has never seen said ability in person, just knows from stories you’ve told him. ) 

You try convincing him that your ability isn’t that scary, that all that happens is you turn into an adorable puppy! ( Your ability isn’t well created for combat. ) 

Couldn’t help but stare in awe as a little fluffy animal appears in front of him. 

Screams like a little girl when you try to approach him. 

Has his arms held out in front of him, eyes squeezed shut as you nudge up and down his bandaged arms. 

He eventually gets warmed up to the little fur-ball constantly around him now! 

Shows off to the ADA his “major” improvement towards your ability as he picks up the newly turned dog. 

Everyone stared at him with a “seriously?” look across their faces. 

Still startled when coming home to find a little puppy laying on his bed! 

He secretly got over his “fear” of dogs a little while ago, although claims he’s still frightened to tease you. 

He’s like a puppy, he’s always all over you, littering you with kisses. 

Chuuya: 

S/o with a Red Panda Ability! 

He ADORES your ability. 

Walking into the PM to see a Red Panda wandering around one Saturday afternoon was not what he expected, although he wasn’t too bothered with it. 

Thought it was some pet Mori bought to please Elise. 

Soon finds out it’s not some pet, but the new recruit. 

The two of you instantly became close after Dazai left the PM, soon developing into something more. 

You tend to have the mannerism of a Red Panda, he’s always sure to cater to any needs! 

Makes sure to find the best, high quality, expensive bamboo he can to satisfy said mannerisms and tendencies. 

He’s a big whiny baby who refuses to fall asleep (some nights) with you unless you are in panda form. 

Enjoys the warmth, and softness of your fur! 

Finds you to be the cutest thing he’s ever witnessed, I think he’d honestly prefer you to stay as the red fluff ball forever. 

Kunikida: 

S/o with a Fennec Fox Ability! 

He’s honestly not bothered by it much, see’s it as any other ability. 

Can often be easily annoyed by how playful you are. 

You’re very talkative and active, often tiring him out while he’s trying to focus on work. 

He also is very tentative to your needs.

Understands your ability to easily be scared, always is able to calm any anxious jitters! 

Just like fennec foxes, you hate being held, touched, any of the sorts, he knows better to push those buttons, no matter how badly he wants to cuddle after a long day at the agency! 

( You do often allow him to hold you upon seeing how exhausted he is! ) 

Nsfw (ish) Below !

January-February is mating season for Fennec Foxes, Kunikida has the dates marked in his calendar! 

Your sex drive goes up incredibly. 

Ensure to take a little bit of time off to help with your needs. 

100% willing to partake in anything to help you feel relieved! 

Will go round-after-round for you &lt;3

Secretly enjoys Fennec Fox mating season, stress relief for both of you!

Ranpo: 

S/o with a lamb ability! 

ADORES how fluffy and cute you are. 

I imagine the ability to cause disorientation and confusion on basic topics. 

He’s very understanding and talks through everything with you! 

Many lamb mannerisms and tendencies, often ask questions on why he doesn’t eat greens like you! 

Tries to feed you sweets 24/7. 

Gets scolded by Kunikida because your digestive system can’t handle such foods. 

Tries to encourage your interactions with others as the result of knowing how shy you tend to be. 

Immediately sticks up for you against Dazai’s teasing. 

JEALOUS! 

Someone tries to pat your head? Expect him to plan their death. 

Someone tries to make flirty remarks? He’s throwing himself at you. 

So protective of your innocence :( 

He’s genuinely a really sweet s/o, always thinking of his partner and making sure they are okay. &lt;3

Akutagawa: 

S/o with a Sea Otter Ability! 

Shocked with how much energy you have, Sea Otters have a ton of energy, didn’t expect for it to rub off on your actual personality! 

VERY social! 

It’s a, you talk, he listens, relationship. 

People often question your relationship as the two of you are total opposites. 

I feel like he hates water, idk why he just does. 

So when he found out about your love for water he internally scolds himself. 

You two take baths together! 

(Enjoys when you wash his hair.) 

He struggles to express his emotions 99.9% of the time, unlike you. 

He gets easily flustered at your ability to compliment him with such ease! 

You’re very touchy, another shock for him. 

He’s not used to physical affection, so when you randomly grab his hand while out in public, he tenses up. 

In private he’s super sweet and tends to any of your needs! 

A relationship with him is a learning process, but he’s trying his best. &lt;3

Atsushi: 

S/o with a sloth ability. 

He genuinely has a bunch of energy, so having a s/o with the ability of an animal so sleepy he doesn’t know how to handle himself at first. 

Should he ask you to hangout? Should he invite you to movies with Kenji? 

He soon finds out you’d love to do anything with him, just to be patient with you. 

Often has to catch you when you fall asleep standing up. 

Work for you takes quite a long time, he often insists he helps you! 

Startles every time he comes back to his dorm to see you asleep on a support beam. 

( Often has to help you down from the high places you get stuck in. )

Like sloths, some of your actions and thinking are rather slow! 

He waits patiently while waiting for an answer, or anything for that matter. 

He knows not to rush you, knowing you get upset thinking you aren’t trying hard enough! 

Enjoys napping with you SO much. 

Poor baby goes through so much, sometimes he just wants to curl up and sleep with you in his arms. 

[hockybish]

Is It Mine?

West Winds au I dad!Trevor x Reader I masterlist

Early March 2020

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Trevor practically barged into her dorm room once she opened the door.

No, hi, how are you?" She rolled her eyes, returning to the spot on the couch she had been occupying only moments earlier.

"Nope." He popped the p in the word, plopping down beside one of his best friends. "Now answer me. Why are you avoiding me?"

"I haven't. Don't be silly, Z." Looking at her hands, she contemplates how to go about her next moves.

Does she tell him the truth, or do you hold off a little longer? How does she tell her person that the drunken night they had together a couple of months ago was going to change their lives forever?

"That's bullshit, Bean." The hockey player exclaimed, not believing what he was hearing for one second.

Bean was one of his best friends. Trevor knew her so well he could see she was obviously lying to him and that something more was going on. His stubbornness was getting the best of him, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. He missed her.

"You've been canceling plans; you don't sit by me in class anymore; you've left me on read more times than I can count; and I had to learn from Em-j that you left the country last weekend. What is going on, Bean?"

"I've just been really tired from school and work. It's just a lot. You know how busy it can get."

"You can tell me anything. I won't judge. You know that. Please." He pleaded with her. He wasn't going to let it go until Y/N told him.

"I'm pregnant."

"What?"

"I'm pregnant. I found out a few weeks ago, and last week I went to Vancouver, and I think I'm gonna keep it." She broke down in his arms. "And I'm scared, Trevor. I'm scared."

"Hey. It's going to be okay, Bean." Trevor reassured her the best he could. Which was as comforting as he thought he was being, considering there was still part of the situation he didn't know about.

"Who's the father? Because if he isn't going to be there for you, I'll kill him. I swear, Bean, I will." After what felt like an eternity, Trevor asked the most important question.

"It's not worth it, Z. It was only one time, and the father doesn't really know it's him. Plus, I don't really expect anything from him. He's got things going for him, and I don't want to get in the way of that." Y/N wiped the few tears that still fell from her eyes.

Trevor listened to Y/N's words carefully. He did some quick math, remembering that night in early January. He was almost 100 percent sure they were careful and took proper precautions to prevent this outcome from happening. But then again.

"Is it mine?" His heartbeat quickened when he came to the realization that y/n never mentioned sleeping with anyone else. Not that she would, because that's not stuff they talk about on a regular basis.

Um, I think I should leave." He hurried out the door. Her hesitance was enough of an answer for him, and there were a few things he needed to think about.

Please feel free to send in thoughts, comments, questions, and ideas!

[t4t4t]

Hi !

I got bottom surgery on July 25th ! :3

I'm recovering really well ! I've been told I can walk around more but still can't bike/swim and strenuous things of that nature. I'm unsure when I can work again, or even what to do with my experience and wanting to be covid safe.... receptionist ? Idk. I'd work in a nursery but I doubt they'd hire me. I'd like to find something before my FFS on January 28th that would be sympathetic to my taking off some time for that, but I'm not sure how possible that is.

Collie and I will need rent help for October/food/gas/utilities/lube/pads/etc. We're broke rn after paying September rent/food/gas, after food stamps ran out... I got my stamps again by now but yeah, had to reapply for hers and she hasn't gotten it again yet... but yeah no money for transportation costs for appointments this week rn...

Collie withheld 300 that ended up as "hers" somehow in her mind for a week this past week because she kept on threatening to prefer being homeless and taking it, and like, the roommates were concerned we weren't going to pay rent because I wasn't saying anything because I didn't know what to say. She caved when it was expressed the roommates didn't have money to pay what was left.

I have no idea if we'll find a new place before her bottom surgery in November (she's been given the date of 11/13) but she's threatening still preferring homelessness to being here. She's saying she can't recover here because she doesn't feel safe because of an antagonistic roommate and I'm not sure how to respond to that.

We shouldn't be homeless... I'm not sure why she would prefer it. I'm not even sure she wants to be with me... we have to get rid of the broken van that gives her athsma attacks more than we need to leave because of a roommate that makes us both uncomfortable... I hope her mom helps with that soon but we haven't been given much explicit information how or when about that. We should try to sell the van but she threatens to pack up and leave almost every day...

We got rent in the nick of time last time (we had 622 before Sep 1 but yeah she did hold onto part of it for a week...), I think it's probably not impossible we get 6-900 again this month but I'm not sure I can expect donations enough for us to move like because of a deposit or smth...

It would be ideal if we could get help enough to feel comfortable enough to leave and that we find somewhere who's sympathetic to us not having a "proof of income" like where we are now is, and maybe they wouldn't have a deposit, but we'll see... OHP "Flex Fund" may respond for either of us but may not.

I also need 100 to pay for 6 months of the PO box we've had for the past 4 years of struggling to find housing and mostly being homeless.

Anything helps !

Thank you everyone so much, y'all have saved our lives. <3

0/922

https://www.paypal.me/NoraEstherRose

https://venmo.com/u/nora-esther-rose

https://www.paypal.me/androgynophore

https://venmo.com/u/Leah-Esther-Rose

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 20

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

hello hello! As promised the tattoo reveal.

I survived getting half my sleeve lined but boy am I sore. Tattoos on your hand are the absolute pits. Like no joke, hand tattoos are rough my guys. 10/10 do not recommend, but I'm doing it because it looks cute LOL.

This tattoo will be a tea themed sleeve. Featured on this half: hibiscus, chamomile, green tea leaves, raspberries + raspberry leaf, and lemons. I have another appointment in December and January to get the shading done but for now just lines!

I did not have tea with this chapter but that is okay- let's get into the notes!

I was so hung up on Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu's relationship that I totally forgot an entire war is brewing. Well. Here we go LOL

unrelated but important question- what is their ship name???

Okay we are starting the chapter strong with SQQ's gay panic LOL Re: SQQ lying to himself, the reader, and the gods about him actually meaning that he missed the light of his life LBH p241

These two!!!!! "Then why didn't you come look for this master inside the dream realm" p242

"Whenever Shizun is at Cang Qiong Mountain" Luo Binghe said quietly, "When Shizun is with other people, he always smiles so happily. So I thought you wouldn't miss me". p243 This guy is the absolute master manipulator or he just requires unlimited amounts of reassurance. Either way My HEART!

The cat and mouse game at this point is wild. Really Shen Qingqiu needs to figure his shit out because the "accidental" flirting is horse shit. p245

💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 "Why does it sound like i've become your father" p246. NO THANKS. But also no wonder it feels weird as fuck- SQQ does not want to be LBH's daddy (in that way).

OOP! FINALLY. Luo Binghe is totally sus about SQQ's knowledge about the future and other things he really shouldn't know. I really hope it's revealed that he is from another world and Luo Binghe is chill with it. p248

Liu Qingge walks into any room in which SQQ was seemingly alone: p250

This is a side note but I really like Qi Qingqi, this woman is fierce as fuck. Like no nonsense I would 100% trust her with my life, death, and rebirth. I do suspect that she doesnt play a large role in the story but I wish she was present more. I do totally want to eventually read some fics with her in them because she is such a badass. p254

Dang! So the realm merging begins! I am sad though that they don't want SQQ to go, but I get it; he keeps running away or getting grievously injured. Also it's so weird that no one is really questioning how he has this much knowledge of future events, they just kind of accept it and run with it LOL (except Luo Binghe who has done the most questioning). pp256-257

Xuan Su is so fucking cool!!!!! p257

Well I am sure that LBH reputation points will increase now that he's saved Zhao Hua Monastery! p260 Thank fuck too, because I really wasn't seeing a positive end game for him and SQQ if he wasn't able to turn his reputation around.

This cheeky guy LOL "Shizun I have missed you, it's been so long" like the fool wasn't sitting in his lap the night before LOL pp261-262

SO AWKWARD LOL. LBH telling everyone who is important that he only cares for SQQ and will only do what SQQ wants him to do and will do absolutely anything for him. Meanwhile SQQ: . I DIED: "Peak Lord Shen has truly raised a good disciple. He's become our cultivation world's tremendous fortune." Though he said "raised a good disciple" the tone was no different from the way he might say "married a good husband." pp262-263

Well. I thought it was embarrassing before, but then we get hit with the "Luo Binghe nodded solemnly. "Yes." His face spread into a smile. "And Shizun is mine.". p265

I really love every conversation between SQH and SQQ. The understanding they have and the banter is so good pp266-267

LOL LBH : I am sooooo tired, let me fly with you? p268

LBH really is shameless! The public hand holding!!! Now it makes me want to read fics from LBH POV- we get SQQ this entire time, but I want to see what LBH has going on in there LOL. p269

He really was yeeted

RIP SQH. May you not die in that hole. pp270-271

[buglaur]

tutorial contents:

1 ‣ gshade & photoshop actions 2 ‣ template or cropping & colouring 3 ‣ notifs & pop-ups

okay hi! i have a really old editing tutorial from back in january that i've been linking people to, but it's pretty outdated by now. i also keep getting anons asking about the same things, which is fine, but i always have to go searching for the post explaining it, so having it all in one place will be a lot more convenient lol

i use a ☠ copy of photoshop cc 2017 to edit my screenshots, however the majority of everything i'm doing also works on photopea

photopea is an online version of photoshop that's 100% free and works very well! i can't recommend it enough, it's fantastic

first things first, you're going to need some screenshots to edit. for the sake of this tutorial i'll be working with this one of raffy:

in all honesty, gshade will do most of the work for you. of course it's not needed, but i definitely don't think i could live without it! in this screenshot i used sunset n' vinyl by nesurii

when opening the screenshot, the first thing i do is run it through 2 photoshop actions:

butter action by early-grape

smooth sharp (no topaz) by poolbrop

to add actions in photoshop go:

windows > actions > the 4 lines at the upper right corner of the newly opened window > load actions > your downloads folder > open up the .atn files!

if you're using photopea, as far as i'm aware you can't use photoshop actions, but i've found that 'filter > stylize > oil paint' and 'filter > sharpen > smart sharpen' have a very similar effect when using the right settings. try these:

i like these two actions because they smooth everything out nicely, but keep it sharp at the same time! i always run butter before i run smooth sharp, however butter may leave you with 2 layers. make sure to merge these layers before running smooth sharp to achieve the full effect.

here's a before and after (of the photoshop action):

from here you can move on to step 2

before anything else i want to share the template that i use to make editing a lot faster. you don't need to use it but it's definitely made things a lot easier for me! it's a .psd file and will work perfectly in photopea

download (simfileshare)

if you're using the template you can skip right on to the next section, as it's already cropped to the right size and has the colouring folder included. just drag your screenshot into it and resize to fit the height.

if you're not using it, crop your edited screenshot to:

1707 width x 1280 height

then adjust the colours to your liking. it always varies slightly depending on the picture but my regular process for each screenshot would be:

up the saturation by 8%

up the lightness by 3%

up the contrast by 12%

all of this can be done by looking in the 'images > adjustments' tab

you should end up with something similar to this!

if you want to add a moodlet or social interaction or anything similar, it's all the same process. what you'll need is a screenshot of it straight from the game. i just press the 'c' key to capture them! i'll be working with these two:

for the blue notification i'm going to select it using the box select tool. try to get it as exact as possible. one you have it selected

for photoshop users:

click on the 'select and mask...' option located at the top

adjust the global refinements at the side as follows:

smooth: 70 feather: 0.0px contrast: 50% shift edge: 0%

for photopea users:

go to select > modify > smooth

set it to 15

select 'ok' and press 'ctrl + c' to copy it, then 'ctrl + v' to paste it into your screenshot. adjust the size and position and you should end up with something like this:

next you want to add the transparent border around the notification. if you're using my editing template, right click on the reference notif in the layers tab and select 'copy layer style' (photopea > 'layer style > copy'). from there you can paste that layer style onto your own notif through the layers tab.

if you're not using the template, here's how to set it up on photoshop:

right click your notification layer and select 'blending options'

under styles, tick the checkboxes for stroke and drop shadow

input these settings:

on photopea, it should be more or less the same. repeat the exact same process with the social menu option, but instead of selecting it with the box select tool, use the magic select tool. in the end you should end out with this!

from here you're finished! thanks for reading! go to file and export as png

if you've got questions never hesitate to ask, just make sure to read the faq in my pinned. i might edit this post soon to include the gen intro traits and aspirations bit, but this is all for now. hope it helps, my editing process post has been in need of a revamp for a very long time. i haven't proof-read this so apologies for any mistakes!

[elrielsgarden]

Elain & ACOTAR 5

The next book in Sarah J. Maas's bestselling series Court of Thorns and Roses, though highly debated among the fandom, is 100% going to be Elain's. It has to be.

SJM states in a Q&A/interview transcript in the A Court of Frost and Starlight special edition: "But I do know that the Cassian and Nesta book is next. And I know what I want to write for the second spinoff, but I'm keeping the door open after that."

She also states in that same transcript: "When spring came, I was heavily pregnant-so I was really nesting-and we realized that the garden beds were pretty overgrown with ivy. There was literally ivy everywhere: in the garden beds, wrapped around the trees, crawling up the sides of the house. So I went into this obsessive, I-need-to-rip-out-every-last-strand-of-ivy-before-I-have-this-baby mode. And I remember the entire time I was ripping out the ivy, and trying to get some semblance of order into the garden beds, I just slipped into Elain's head. Elain is a gardener, and everything I did during those weeks became research for her book."

From these two remarks from SJM-within the same interview-we learn that she knows who the next book after A Court of Silver Flames will be, and she also knows she will be writing Elain's book. Therefore, the next Court of Thorns and Roses book will be Elain's.

This next ACOTAR book will be Elain's, and hers alone, in the sense that the title will revolve solely around her, just as A Court of Silver Flames does with Nesta. Of course, ACOTAR 5 will feature another POV, that of Elain's love interest.

Many people refer to ACOTAR 5 as "Azriel's book," but SJM has stated many a time what she says in a January 2024 TODAY interview: "I've always been drawn to writing women that can't be placed in any definable category." The focal point of every book SJM has written is the women, and so Elain will be the center of her book-not her love interest. This person will be Azriel.

The people who refer to "Azriel's book" are right about one thing, however. Azriel is set up in the ACOTAR series and in the most recent installment of the Crescent City series, House of Flame and Shadow. Both Azriel and Elain have been primed for their romance and future plot by SJM.

It is also crucial to point out that each of the spinoff novels are about side characters from the first three, automatically removing the possibility of "Azriel's book" having anything to do with Gwyneth Berdara, who arrived in the story in ACOSF.

Further, the title of Elain's book will revolve solely around her character, just as A Court of Silver Flames does with Nesta. Nothing about that title suggests Casein's involvement in the book, though of course he is the love interest and other POV. Elain's book, then, will follow this pattern, A Court of ________ _____, describing her character. Yes, Azriel will be the second POV, but just as with ACOSF he, the love interest and second POV, will likely not be indicated in the title.

In conclusion, the next book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series will belong to Elain Archeron, and be titled after her, and will feature Azriel as her love interest in the second spinoff novel. 🌸🦇