#I'm also thinking of changing to a different screenshot of him for the icon!

[brown-little-robin]

would it be incredibly jarring and make me seem less like me to change my blog color? temporarily? to fit the Tōya icon?

[0nlyhere4phil]

Rating All of The Howlters New Outfits (except the randomized ones)

Some of you actually asked for this, so here's my review of the Howlters new outfits!

Starting with Dils Formal:

I honestly don't know how to feel about this. It's just not Dil. It doesn't go with his nerdy dad vibe at all. It makes him look older, it doesn't fit him right, and the color is really weird. If they had gone with the blue and some different shoes I think I would have liked it more, but since they didn't put much effort into it it's just bad. Objectively it's an okay suit, but for Dil it just doesn't work. So yeah overall just a no 4/10.

Next His Sleepwear:

Why did they like this so much? What is actually wrong with them? If it was just the pants and the slippers it would have been fine, but the pants, the slippers, AND socks...it's just too much. No no no bad. 2/10.

Next His Party Wear:

What are they doing to him?? Who is this? I'm kind of just staring at this not knowing what to say, because I think if, minus that UGLY HAT, this was on a different and younger sim it would look okay. This looks like Dil is going through a midlife crisis. I like that the shoes match the shirt, thats nice, and I like the overall color pallet, BUT NOT ON DIL! So I'm weirdly torn, but since this look is on Dil I don't like it. Again it's not that bad but on Dil it's just horrible 4.5/10. I hate that fucking hat.

Next His Swimwear:

You don't get how relieved I am that they didn't put him in a fucking speedo. I like this a lot. This looks like a father, which is perfect for Dil. It's cute, it's simple, and I like the colors they chose. 9/10

Next His Hot Weather:

Meh. They didn't change much, they just made it worse. I prefered the original because I feel like the green looked better. Also wearing slippers on a hot day sounds absolutely HORRIBLE! 3/10

Next His Cold Weather:

I absolutely LOVE THIS! It's so fun! Dil in the horrible 80s dad aesthetic works perfectly! It's still nerdy as well! I feel like this is perfect. If they had made his whole wardrobe this over the top ugly neon nerdy look I would have loved it! 10/10

That's it for Dil. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I feel like they should have gone for nerdy Dad than whatever the hell they actually did. Next up is Tabitha.

Tabitha's Everyday:

This is just an upgraded version of her original outfit. I like the new hair color, though I wish they looked through different hairstyles cause the one they chose is not giving what it needed to give. I LOVE her new tattoo, I think it's fun that they gave her it. I also do like the shoes matching the hair. This is cute! 8.5/10

Next Her Formal:

I like the dress, but the outfit looks unfinished. They should have changed her makeup into something more dramatic to match the dress, and they also should have put some bracelets and necklaces on her. They did good on picking the main part of the outfit now they need to go back and finish it. 6/10 (I couldn't get a good screenshot with the tattoo sorry)

Next Her Sleepwear:

Slay queen. I love this honestly. I like how lavender has become her color. The sunglasses are iconic. The only thing I hate is SOCKS WITH SLIPPERS! THAT LOOKS LIKE IT FEELS HORRIBLE! Other than the sock and slipper combo this eats. 9.5/10

Next Her Party:

I beg your pardon? What is THIS and WHY was Dan so obsessed with it? This is horrible. I'm glad they remembered that necklaces and nails exist but I'm upset they exist on this monstrosity. Nothing about this goes together. THIS. IS. THEIR. WORST. LOOK. 1/10.

Next Her Swimwear:

It's kind of a mess but I kind of love it. I feel like it suits this new Tabitha. I don't have much to say other than it strangely works. 7/10.

Next Her Hot Weather:

Fuck right off. Daniel you know NOTHING about goths. This is horrible. This poor woman is going to feel so sticky and sweaty, and it wont even be worth it because this outfit is trash. Just no. 1.5/10.

Next Her Cold Weather:

I really like this. I love how throughout the outfit pink pops up, and I like that it makes sense for the category it's in. Good job Dan and Phil 9/10

That's it for Tabitha! For the most part her new outfits aren't bad. I like that they (unintentionally) gave her a pastel goth sort of vibe, I like that she does look like a streamer now, and I think the new tattoo is really cool. I will never forgive them for her party wear though. Moving on to Dalien.

Daliens Everyday:

This is fine. I wish the pants were the skinny jeans because those were more emo, and I wish he had black eyeliner. Overall it's not bad, but I prefer the original. Also they should have stuck with the purple highlights instead of changing them to red. 7.5/10

Next His Sportswear:

Ew ew ew. This is rancid. The hoodie makes him look bald, and I despise the ripped socks they gave him. I actually like the shorts though they remind me of something Phil would have had back in 2010, but even then working out in those shorts sounds like a nightmare. Other than the shorts this whole look is a wreck. 1.5/10

Next His Party Wear:

The outfit itself is okay but this is NOT Dalien. This looks like Dalien stole from a skater boy. They had the opportunity to go absolutely insane with this outfit. They could have given him crazy black makeup, a sheer shirt, some fishnets, and platforms, but instead they did this. It's lazy. It's not emo or goth or whatever they want him to be. 4/10

Next His Swimwear:

Jesus Christ. NO. Just NO. 1.5/10

Next His Hot Weather:

Why didn't they give him FISHNETS? Why did they choose those grandpa socks??? Why is EVERYTHING GREY BUT THE DRESS?? I think the idea of Dalien wearing a dress is cunty, but not like this. I feel like he would be a long skirt kind of guy. Also the cuff like glove things in the summer sounds horrible. 4.5/10.

Next His Cold Weather:

Again this is just a no. Nothing about this is emo or goth or whatever they want him to be. I like the jacket and the boots a lot; if they had put Dalien in some skinny jeans and removed that fucking hat this would have been okay. I mean this in a derogatory way, this is something Dan would wear. 5.5/10

That's it for Dalien. Overall it's just not good. Most of it makes no sense, and they also should have given him black eyeliner.

In conclusion, they really did the Howlters dirty. This is probably the ugliest dressed family I've ever seen. None of these outfits gave what they needed to give. Also this family is a sensory NIGHTMARE!

I hope whoever is reading this enjoyed this or atleast agrees with some of my points. Have a wonderful rest of your day, evening, or morning.

[the-gayest-show]

Operation Birthday Takeover Review/Analysis

I wanted to include this in the review bomb but decided against it because the episode would take too much yap compared to the others to summarize properly, let's go!

(sorry if these screenshots have the player on them I couldn't find a better way bare with me this is better than the easier route i'd have taken)

HAHAHAHAHAHA SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT HERE!

First of all, PERI! YOU'RE BACK BABY HBUIEBRBFEIBFWiuB

Second of all and most important, this was a MAJOR Dev episode. Well, obviously, since it's his birthday, but we got to see more of him being nice while it lasted anyways, and we also got to see more of Dale's neglect and it's affects on Dev.

You can see he's clearly disappointed about his dad paying no attention to Dev at all, preferring to work on "Project H" instead of his own son. Will throw hands on this man fr.

Throughout the episode we see more hints of this disappointment, like when Vicky gets invited to the party (Dev doesn't even like princesses! DUDE!)

Now that I'm really rewatching as I go, Hazel seems to be very aware of it and very empathetic towards Dev, I like that about her. She's looking out for her friend! Good on her!

On the other hand (to move the plot forward and thus this review), I love seeing the fairy family back in action again!

I love their dynamic even more! Also I swear to God half of the iconic lines come from these interactions I swear to God.

"Time to see what's so secret about this room!....... On second thought never mind" SOBBING LAUGHING

Having the three of them slowly find out that project H is actually Project Hazel is so wild. THEY LITERALLY WROTE DOWN IMPORTANT INFO ON THE BOARD LIKE THE FAIRIES THING. COSMO! WANDA! WHYYYYYYYYY

The sad part of the matter is, Dale was fixated on Dev's friend of all people simply because she was... content? With fairy godparents? It's so sad actually for Dev... he REALLY needs someone to care about him

I wanna get into Vicky though now, and the surprising amounts of references to the OG series that were made in less than 2 minutes apart from each other? Crazy!

First of all, she's back! An interesting character to return for sure, considering she mostly acted as Timmy's babysitter in the OG series, but the continuity of this show never ceases to surprise me!

She's somehow similar looking? Like, correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't she be older now? Significant enough to be changed visually for sure. AJ was 10 in the original series and now he's like 30 something. By that logic shouldn't Vicky be closer to her 40s? Does that age a person significantly from 16? That's what I thought anyways... She's still into the "conning little children for money" thing. She's literally 30+ at least, did she not try to up her game somehow? IMHO she totally could have extreme power like that over adults if she got gullible enough ones, could've been worse, but I guess people of Vicky's personality don't truly change unless there's a major life breakthrough that happens. You know what they say about peaking in high school...

Icky Vicky the song (and thus the episode it was in) is canon to the FOP A New Wish universe. I could swear the song sounded slightly different than it did when it was sung in this episode, but I'll blame that on the song coming out 10+ years ago and voice actors being too specific to nail down (I think the guy from one direction played the Icky Vicky singer? No wonder they couldn't invite him back). The song being referred to as "old" got me cringing a bit. I didn't grow up with the show but I get the feeling people who did felt themselves aging in real time with Jasmine's comment...

TIMMY MENTION! TIMMY HAS BEEN MENTIONED BY NAME IN THE A NEW WISH UNIVERSE AGAIN!

Poor fairy trio though, they're all traumatized by Vicky, even Peri (who thought she was some weird ass dream, dawg I wish 😭) and immediately they're cowering with fear at the sound of her name. They got PTSD or something from all those years in original FOP...

What's funnier is them being able to stand up to Vicky by just. transforming into humans, which works bc that's always worked in FOP canon (when parental figures showed up in the OG), but somehow Wanda and Cosmo didn't fucking know that? Truly, Wanda, it would've been nice for y'all to know that some decades ago.

"That's Vicky for ya! Making Kids Miserable Since 2001!"

Actually it would be 1998 if we count the Oh Yeah Cartoon Pilot and subsequent episodes, but I guess we're only counting actual FOP as canon 😔

-

I wanna really talk about the last scene though, where Dev finds out that Project H was Project Hazel. It REALLY tears him up inside to see just HOW bad his father doesn't give a shit about him.

LOOK. LOOK AT THAT FACE AND TELL ME THAT ISN'T DEVASTATION! Even as he's recounting all the times that his father talked about Project H

The emotional neglect really runs deep with this one.

He lashes out at both Peri and Hazel (her especially since he's under the impression that she faked being his friend or something) and even wishes for Peri to leave him alone. So basically he's closing himself off from the 2 people who cared about him the most, likely as an emotional response. And then he goes and crosses off everything on the board in anger and leaves.

I've noticed Peri's behaviour towards Dev has changed a bit again since the Dimmsonian episode. I think in that episode initially he seemed more tired, and he's probably still tired, but if he is, it's not shown as much here. I think personally Peri seeing more of Dev's life might've changed his attitude towards the child, but he still remains semi optimistic. He cares about this kid. It's shown even in just those few seconds of hesitation before he leaves that Peri was kind of heartbroken/sad at the request to leave Dev's side, but was willing to do so since he asked/wished. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I really do enjoy their dynamic and really wish to see more of it, especially after this.

This is all 100% driven from his dad's actions affecting his emotional state, and I think this is actually a perfect setup for the episode where Dev and Irep take over Fairy World. Especially if Irep finds Dev like not even seconds after this scene, he's more vulnerable now than he's been throughout the whole series thus far, so a manipulator like Irep (if he is a good one, but heck even if he was dogshit at it) could defo make him change his thoughts on things.

Overall this episode was great and there's lots to love about it!

[lotus-tower]

hi hi i hope you are still doing essay commentary because WOAG this latest oboro visual poem meta thing. messed me UP. predictably your mention of third person perspective is my favourite part of the whole post. im wondering why you chose those specific oboro and gintoki Eye Moments for example. but anything else or anything more on the rainbow body segment that you want to talk about would be wonderful! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

(— groupofcrows main)

yesss thank you for the question! i love talking about this stuff.

So the rainbow body is a phenomenon and concept from Dzogchen, a tradition within Tibetan Buddhism. Essentially, when a master attains full knowledge, their body changes. I'm not going to go into the details here because it's not too relevant, but upon death the master's body will dissolve into light instead of leaving a corpse behind, and then their spirit can go wherever in the world to aid others. (Very much like how I think of Shouyou's final death in the final arc where he The World arcana's himself into sublimation.)

I was originally going to go in a different direction with the collage, but it didn't work with the flow as well, and it was difficult to get suitable quotes. You haven't seen the end of the rainbow body quotes though, I have a bunch more I'm saving for another collage. lol.

Anyway, what's meant by "third person perspective" in the actual definition of the rainbow body is just that this is what's observable to the people around the master. Buddhism is largely concerned with the internal, which is probably why it's phrased this way. I took it and ran though! The first screenshot in that section is of Gintoki's iconic PTSD moment when he sees Utsuro's face for the first time, perfectly coincidentally in the arc where Utsuro is depicted with a LGBT pride aura as he moves for no reason (except, I presume, hilarity). What more significant moment of "knowledge" attainment is there for him? For Oboro, though, that moment of horrified realization is when he "realizes" he's been replaced, that Shouyou getting to live means that he will actually, you know, live his life and move on.

I juxtaposed these moments because, in a way, Gintoki and Oboro are already "third person perspectives" of each other. I've already talked about how Oboro is a retroactively created echo of Gintoki. What's fun in the wording of the quote is that it's the third-person perspective of someone else attaining knowledge, right? Oboro and Gintoki are "at the scene" of their respective deepest horror, with Oboro's image being second because it implicitly frames him as potentially looking at Gintoki. Because that's indeed what happened. Oboro is also always looking at Gintoki, but not at all in the same way as Takasugi.

In the execution pic, he's simply watching the execution--Gintoki is just the guillotine, and despite how terrible this moment is for everyone involved, Oboro isn't haunted by this. Some part of him knows that the worst is yet to come--that Gintoki will survive because of this choice, so one day he may come to the truly horrible realization, Utsuro. And so the images also imply that Oboro is looking at Gintoki's realization with horror. Oboro in the present had already come to this realization long ago, and so he's become empty of all (or almost all...) desires, attachments, resentments and lets himself be dressed by the narrative in priestly attire without protest.

What about Gintoki? He's not watching anything in this moment except his own memories flying past, but we, the viewer, are watching him have this realization. Just as we watch Oboro have his realization, and understand the catalyst for the entire underlying tragedy of Gintama. Which was Gintoki, or rather Oboro seeing Gintoki. In this situation we are also literally the third person. Gintoki finding out about Utsuro is just the sound of a pebble hitting water a very, very long time after Oboro first dropped it into a well over 10 years ago.

But also, Gintoki meeting Utsuro is quite literally why Utsuro has that LGBT pride aura going on. Because Utsuro needs a very dramatic entrance scene, because this is a very tense moment the narrative can't not gas up. So that we can enjoy it as viewers.

[yukidragon]

Heeeey YukiDragon!

Big fan; been low-key tearing through your SDJ headcanons and making notes for a fic that I'm somehow 25K deep in after only a few days....

Anyway, wanted to ask: what do YOU think the sun in the corner of the screen when you play SJD indicates? Because *I* have thoughts...but I also wanted to pick your brain 👀

Apologies if you've already been asked this! 😅

I’m really glad you like my headcanons and that I could be helpful for your fic!

I haven’t been asked about this actually, and I happen to have a few thoughts and screenshots I’d like to share!

This took me a couple tries to capture the full title screen before the “start” button appears. I did it to get see more of the children’s drawing of the ‘84 incident where Jack died. The crying of Jack, the children, and the X eyes make it pretty clear that’s what’s being depicted.

You’ll notice in the corner that the sun with the red, yellow, and blue swirls is obscured by a crinkled cloud, and three primary colors are awash in a layer of bloody red. This affects the border around the game as well.

We get to see this cloudy sun more clearly once we start the game... while Jack is talking to his sunshine for the first time.

There’s a cloud obscuring the sun, and all the colors are washed out in an unpleasant shade of gray. The border similarly is washed out. Curiously the text box is normal and vividly colored.

Then, when we jump ahead to MC’s monologue that takes place after they’ve started living with Jack and accepted him as a part of everyday life, the colors are vibrant all around. There’s no cloud blocking the sun. The corner icon remains like this for the rest of the game regardless of choices, including in the mini story with Ian at the end.

I want to show all three versions of this icon up close and side by side so you can see the difference better for yourselves.

I think the symbolism is pretty obvious here. The cloud and unpleasant colors muting the bright and cheerful colors that represent Sunny Day Jack... I imagine this is going to be an indication of when the relationship with Jack is deteriorating... or perhaps his mind.

I honestly hadn’t noticed this detail until someone pointed it out in this post, then I searched for every instance where this might change. I would’ve assumed that we might see it cloudy again in the “no” route, but it was still the sunny version there too.

What I suspect is that the user interface we see during the game is going to be affected by the route we’re on and the choices we make, specifically when it comes to our relationship with Jack and how it affects his state of mind. When everything is positive and MC’s feelings towards Jack are favorable, it’ll be sunny and colorful. When it’s negative... that’s when the cloud comes in and the colors are muted.

I suspect that when things start going this negative route, the interface in the text box is going to change as well. We might see dingier colors, stains, or even tears in the paper. After all, we’re given crinkly paper textures and folded up stickers in the regular interface. The cloud over the sun is especially crinkly. We might get more font changes as well besides just red text.

In this way, the game user interface is doing some storytelling here, likely giving us a hint of Jack’s state of mind. He is solidly in the mindset of Sunny Day Jack, who is all colorful, cheerful, and even child friendly.

Starting to lose his sunshine... that’s going to make Jack start to degrade, I think. His grasp on reality and his sunshine’s love is slipping. He is at risk of being forgotten in that cold, sleepless static hell where God had abandoned him...

I think that as Jack’s sanity starts slipping, that’s when the framing is going to be darker, more unsettling. Jack has the potential to be our foe after all, and he’s certainly a yandere considering what he does to Nick no matter what choices we make in the demo...

If I was to make a guess about what these mean currently... The red version with the cloud is the harshest of them all. It could, in a very real sense, represent Jack while he’s trapped in hell, reliving his gruesome death over and over again. He can’t leave it until MC plays the tape... or we start the game.

Then things change for Jack. He’s not reliving his death, he’s interacting with someone. He’s still wounded, as evidenced by the dimmed colors and the cloud obscuring his sun. MC doesn’t care for him yet because they don’t know him yet. However, by contrast the text interface is colored cheerfully, almost welcoming. The presence of someone interrupting his hell and reaching out to him gives him hope.

Then finally... everything is bright. MC wants Jack around no matter the route. They want him in their life to be their friend, or maybe more. They make him feel love, which of course makes him feel happy. He loves them. He’s free. He’s warm and basking in their happy light. Everything will be wonderfully sunny... as long as no one takes his sunshine away.

What’s interesting too is that by showing that the game’s interface is malleable in this way... it might hint that Jack could be a character who breaks the 4th wall and addresses the player directly at some point. After all, we’re the ones that start the game and let him live again. We’re supporting him and the game being made in the first place. It could even be more confusing to him why we would pick the “no” option when we’re literally playing the game for his company and love.

Personally, I think this is just a meta touch for us as players. It’s much too soon to jump to the conclusion that Jack is a 4th wall breaking entity like Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club, Flowey from Undertale, or other games like that where the characters address the player directly. We haven’t gotten any real hints that he’s interested in us, the player, rather than the MC we’re guiding through the story. MC does have their own personality after all, and a pretty strong one.

Still... it would make sense why Jack can read MC’s thoughts if he was a 4th wall breaker. After all... he could just be reading their narration right alongside us.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur  

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase - The Hacker's Most Humiliating Defeat

I wanted to draw attention to what may well be The Hacker's most humiliating defeat. Yes, I am aware that he has gone through his villain decay during the show's long run. However, my go-to example is from way back in the early days, specifically April 14, 2003. This was when they released "Numberless Poddles", an official webcomic made for the pbskids.org website.

The basic plot is that The Hacker stole the numbers off the Poddles of Poddleville. He also stole their record book containing all of their numbers. Finally, he made them forget everything. We learn from the comic that, in Poddle society, the number a Poddle is given dicatates what they are supposed to do. Without their numbers, nobody knows what to do, and Poddle society screeches to a halt. That is a much more dystopic description than we ever got in the show.

This comic is weird. They made the backgrounds using screenshots from Season 1 Episode 7, "The Poddleville Case". This was a tweaked version of the original 1999 pilot, which was known for a wonkier art-syle than what became the final show. Then, they sort of stuck their own drawn images over the backgrounds. Their drawings are in a completely different style, which clashes with the backgrounds. Still, I recommend any fans of the show to read all of the official Cyberchase web comics. They were taken off the site years ago, and the Wayback Machine Archives are missing pieces. However, they have been restored in full as part of Blue Maxima's Flashpoint Archive Project. Anyway, before we get to The Hacker's humiliating defeat, here is one example of the disconnect between the original pilot screenshot and the art. There is a scene in the comic where Motherboard gives instructions to the kids. For the background, they used a screenshot of the pilot where Motherboard gave instructions to the kids. That's about the easiest way they could have assembled a comic panel with Motherboard an the kids. However, Digit is also in this comic. Recall that he wasn't in the original pilot. How did they add him in?

It's like they put a sticker on top of some grainy VHS footage. Would you like to see The Hacker's double chin? No. Too bad.

Yeah, they wanted a shot of The Hacker, Buzz, and delete with The Hacker in this pose. But they didn't like his face, so they drew another face. You can see his iconic chin from the pilot sticking out, though they covered up most of it. The face from the background shot would have worked though, so I'm not sure why they changed it. Oh, and don't mind the Poddle eggs. They aren't part of this story. They're only here because the webcomic uses screenshots from the pilot.

But the main point of this post was to talk about The Hacker's humiliating defeat. Skipping ahead, the kids find the stolen book in the Poddleville Vault on Mount Poddle. I don't know if this is supposed to be the Poddle Power Vault from the show or not.

I'm sorry, I have to include two more bizarre comic panels. Remind me, how big is The Hacker?

The answer is very small.

Okay, okay, the kids have found the Poddleville Record Book, and now they have to get past Hacker. Is there anything nearby that they could use?

This was back in the day, when The Hacker was still physically intimidating. He could easily pick up the kids, and they usually just ran away from him. This was back in the day when Delete had stretchy arms and used them to capture the kids. And yet, in this official web comic, the kids defeat The hacker, Buzz, and Delete with giant "Happy Birthday" hats.

And then they lock him in the vault and leave him to die, I guess.

How long do you think it took him to figure out the vault code?

Okay, I have to include one more wacky image from the web comic. Here we are at the end. Motherboard is on a flat-screen TV on the stage congratulating the kids for stopping The Hacker. Matt even gets to insult The Hacker.

Wait, why is the Poddle known as "Triangle 2" panicking? Didn't the kids just save the day? Let's look at the background after the new drawings have been removed.

Wait, is this the scene from the pilot where the mayor is holding a press conference to talk about the stolen Poddle Eggs?

Yeah, they just took this shot from where the tent is about to collapse and erased the mayor.

[indefinitelyjaded]

Whew. (Super Sim Update)

SO. MUCH. PROGRESS.

I am officially DONE with all Base Game Skills, Aspirations*, AND Careers!

(*Not the Family ones that require children to age up into Young Adults/have children... but soon!)

I'm also done with the Outdoor Retreat Aspirations and Skills! (That's far less of an accomplishment, considering there's only one of each, and you (almost) have to max the Herbalism skill to complete the Aspiration.)

So, now it's time to Get to Work. (Ha! I'm hilarious.) Stella already mastered the Baking and Photography skills a loooong time ago, so that's already done. I started her in the Detective career first, since that's the only active career I've never played before. Like I mentioned in my last Super Sim Update post, Stella went back to University to get a couple more relevant degrees, to make these careers go by more quickly. So thanks to her Distinguished Degree in Psychology, she started at Level 8 and just maxed the career. I haven't decided if we'll do the Doctor or Scientist career next; I've played both before, and are the Scientist career animations still bugged? I'm leaning toward Doctor, because I think I've only played through that one once before, whereas I know I've done the Scientist career a couple times.

The biggest changes/most progress has been with the family.

The twins are still living with Cousin India, who had a baby with some rando... once it ages up into an infant, I can go into their household and check the family tree to see what's up with that. ANYWAY, the twins aged up into teens, so I'm considering bringing them back to my household, since they can take care of themselves now.

Tinsley looks a lot like Stella, and Tate looks pretty similar to Cade -- like, to the point that it was difficult to do Tate's CAS and make him look like a different person than Cade.

Speaking of Cade, he's coming along nicely with his Minor-Super Sim goals. Obviously, since he's now a teen also, he completed all the Childhood skills and aspirations, as well as Scouts. (He did as much of the Drama Club activity as he could as a kid, but you can't max that until you're a Teen.) As a Teen, he has maxed the Drama Club, Cheer Team, Chess Team, and Football Team activities; he's currently on the Computer Team, and is Level 2, so almost done. I'm not having him do the Simfluencer or Video Game Streamer "side hustle" careers, since those can also be done by Adults. As far as Aspirations go, Cade has finished the Drama Llama and Goal Oriented ones, and is currently working on Admired Icon and Live Fast -- I think he will probably finish the latter one first, but I'm kind of going back and forth at the same time, to try to get them done more quickly.

I'm also pleased to report that Prom seems to be actually working in this save! Which I'm really excited about, because I literally never got to see it until now. At Cade's first prom, his half-sister, Emma (Dexter's daughter), was crowned Prom Royalty!

(I wish the photobooth pictures saved to the Screenshots or somewhere, because they took a really cute/funny pic together in the booth!)

At Cade's second prom, he exchanged promise rings with his girlfriend, Luna Villareal:

(Should Luna be (at least) a Young Adult by now, given that she was a Teen when I started this save file? Yes. Did I age her down in CAS, because she and Cade met once and hit it off, then she aged up the next day? Also yes. Look, I told you in post one that I was playing a little fast and loose with the rules.)

Cade also made a new bff at this prom: Orange Bailey-Moon, who is (a) still famous and (b) now literally (prom) royalty:

I do want to get Cade crowned prom royalty before he graduates, which is all the more reason to bring his siblings home -- votes that I can control! (Besides, India has her own kid to take care of now.)

My plan is for Cade and Luna to get engaged and married pretty much immediately upon Cade's aging up into a Young Adult. (Even though I aged Luna down in CAS, she's still significantly older than Cade, according to MC Command Center.) The sooner they get married, the sooner they can create the requisite grandchildren for Stella's aspiration.

Speaking of Stella's aspiration, I don't currently have her working on one. Since there are none with Get to Work, the next one will be the ones added to Spa Day in the refresh... except those Aspirations are the whole gameplay of the pack. So it feels wrong to work on those before finishing the Get to Work careers.

And speaking of the Get to Work careers: since there's no tutorial-type aspiration tied to Retail, and it doesn't have levels like a traditional career... I haven't decide how I'm going to handle that. I may not bother with it at all, because I've played with Retail stores before (and they're a PITA). Still deciding for sure, though.

[hepalien]

Ao3 Tips and Tricks

So I thought I would make a post about some cool stuff you can do with Ao3 and userscripts, and some tips I’ve learned from setting them up for myself! I promise it's not hard, though this is a lot of info. I'm happy to help if I can.

What You’ll Need:

First, you will need the Tampermonkey extension for your browser (depending on what browser you use, Greasemonkey is the equivalent). On Android, you can even run Chrome extensions on mobile with Kiwi Browser! It is easiest to configure the scripts on your desktop and then sync to mobile with Tampermonkey’s cloud sync feature or by exporting the configured scripts and importing in your mobile browser (I will explain how to do this later in the post). If you use any of the tweaks I outline below, be sure to backup your scripts in case your settings are lost.

Once you have Tampermonkey installed, you can get scripts from GreasyFork. The inimitable @flamebyrd also has some great scripts and bookmarklets and has been incredibly helpful while I figured all this out.

Find a script that looks interesting, click on it, and then click “install this script.” Pretty straightforward. Once you have it installed, you can go to Tampermonkey to configure it (only necessary for some scripts) by clicking on the Tampermonkey extension icon in your browser (under the three dot menu in Kiwi) and clicking “dashboard”, then clicking the edit icon next to the script you want to configure. When you’re done, click File->Save.

Scripts and instructions under the cut

Some of my favorites:

Flamebyrd’s Incomplete Works script - fades out WIPs on works listings, and displays the work stats (wordcount, chapters, etc) in red on single works to make it more obvious that they’re WIPs as you’re browsing:

Flamebyrd’s Ao3 to Pinboard bookmarklet/script - if you click the bookmarklet while on a work’s page, it opens the Pinboard save screen and prefills the title, tags, description, word count, etc, and adds ?view_full_work=true&view_adult=true to the URL so Pinboard’s archiver will archive the complete work and not the adult content warning screen (note that Pinboard still cannot correctly archive works locked to Ao3 users, so you may want to download them as a backup. I’ve asked him about fixing that.), based on your selections when configuring the bookmarklet on the linked page. If you use the userscript, it adds a button to the works listings page so you don’t even have to open the work to save it:

I tweaked this script so that it only grabs the first pairing tag, since I don’t typically care about secondary pairings and they were clogging up my Pinboard tags. It’s a simple fix (though I know nothing about coding so I had to do some googling and inspect-sourcing; kinda proud of myself tbh):

Just change this part of the script

if ( options.relationship_include ) {

- $(".relationships a.tag", $work).each(function () {

To this

if ( options.relationship_include ) {

- $(".relationships a.tag:first", $work).each(function () {

I also found this cool mobile-optimized Pinboard bookmarklet called Pincushion and combined it with Flamebyrd’s script. Everything works except the auto-tagging, but I’ve reached out on GitHub to see if he can help (according to Flamebyrd, there’s no tag field ID attribute to map to). However, this bookmarklet has tagging autocomplete features that make it easy to tag manually. For example, if you type “steve 21st” it will suggest “steverogersvsthe21stcentury” rather than having to type out “steverogersvs…” in order for it to autocomplete like it does on the regular Pinboard bookmarklet. I actually have two buttons set up (which you can see in the next screenshot) - Flamebyrd's to quickly grab the tags and close without me having to do anything, and then the Pincushion one to quickly edit the tags. If anyone's interested, I can explain how to do that.

To combine Pincushion with Flamebyrd’s script (so it works from the Ao3 works listings page as mentioned above), simply change this part of Flamebyrd’s script:

t = t.split(" ").join( options.space_replacement );

var pb_url = "https://pinboard.in/add?url=" + encodeURIComponent(q) + "&description=" + encodeURIComponent(d) + "&title=" + encodeURIComponent(p) + "&tags=" + encodeURIComponent(t);

void(open(pb_url, "Pinboard", "toolbar=no,width=700,height=350"));

To this

t = t.split(" ").join( options.space_replacement );

var pb_url = "https://rossshannon.github.io/pincushion/?user=YOURUSERNAME&token=YOURAPITOKEN&url=" + encodeURIComponent(q) + "&description=" + encodeURIComponent(d) + "&title=" + encodeURIComponent(p) + "&tags=" + encodeURIComponent(t);

void(open(pb_url, "Pinboard", "toolbar=yes,width=600,height=700,left=50,top=50"));

You’ll need to get your API Token from your Pinboard account and plug it in where it says YOURUSERNAME and YOURAPITOKEN (number part only) above.

FanFictionNavigator - mark fics as Like/Dislike/Mark/InLibrary, highlight with colors based on which option you select, hide/show based on category, like/dislike author and highlight with color. Only you will see how you've marked things.

You can tweak the colors for the highlighting by configuring the script (I find the default colors make the text hard to read because I use the Reversi skin on Ao3 for white-ish text on a gray background). I also changed it so that when I click “hide likes” it only hides liked fics and not liked authors (i.e. hides fics I’ve read, but not unread fics by authors I like), changed the color of the like/dislike/etc links to match the highlighting color and to show up better, and changed the way it highlights authors (I think the default is bold/strikethrough which doesn't really catch my eye. I changed it to highlight the author name in red/green):

Here are my configured scripts if you’d like to use them instead of tweaking yourself (you need to install both):

FanFictionNavigator

FanFictionNavigator - Colors

Note: Your settings for this script will sync via Tampermonkey but not your data (i.e. fics you’ve liked/marked/etc). If you ever switch between browsers, you’ll need to go to your Ao3 Dashboard and click FFNOptions, export your data, then go through the same process to import it into the new browser.

AO3: Kudosed and seen history - highlight or hide works you kudosed/bookmarked/marked as seen. If you want to use this with FanFictionNavigator, you’ll need to turn off “highlight bookmarks” from the settings under the “Seen Works” dropdown that gets added to your Ao3 navbar or FFN’s colors won’t show. Again, data doesn’t sync between browsers but you can copy it from the dropdown settings. However, it pulls your kudosed and bookmarked fics from Ao3 itself, so that will always show. It's just seen/skipped that doesn't sync:

Ao3 download buttons - adds a download button to the works listings page so you don’t have to open the fic to download it. However, it also doesn’t play nicely with FFN’s colors, so I’m using AO3 Review + Last Chapter Shortcut + Kudos-sortable Bookmarks script which also has a download button that works with FFN (a small down arrow next to the author name). The download button doesn’t work as-is from that link, so here’s my tweaked version based off of this comment. You can configure what format you want it to download by default in the script. There’s also a tweak in the comments to fix kudos-sorting, but it overloads Ao3 and you get a “retry later” error for a few minutes when you try to open Ao3, so I don’t recommend it. I don’t know if any of the other functionalities of the script work because I don’t use them, but it looks like there are tweak suggestions in other comments you can try:

I was using Ao3 Replace Words to replace words in fics that bug me but I realized it wasn’t working on mobile, so I’m using zensurf instead which is not Ao3-specific but works basically the same way. If you want to limit it to just Ao3 (so it doesn’t change words on non-fic sites), just add this

// @include http://archiveofourown.org/*

// @include https://archiveofourown.org/*

Above this line

// ==/UserScript==

(function() {

You can // @include other fic sites like ffnet that way too.

AO3: Links to Last Chapter and Entire Works does what it says on the tin, but the creator was kind enough to give me a code snippet to add that makes the “E” (for Entire Work) appear next to all works and add ?view_full_work=true&view_adult=true to the work URL so that I can easily right-click and share to Instapaper and have it be saved correctly (not just the first chapter but the whole work + not the content warning screen for NR/M/E works). Here is the script with this tweak applied:

I think those are the only ones that I’ve done special tweaks for. Here are some others that I find useful that either don’t require any configuration, or should be pretty straightforward to configure and are explained on the script page.

AO3 author+tags quick-search - doesn’t require configuration

Generates quick links from AO3 fics to more by the same author in the same fandom (or character/pairing/any other tag):

Remove leading spaces in AO3 - doesn’t require config

Removes the leading indents for paragraphs in AO3 works.

Ao3 Only Show Primary Pairing - you have to enter the pairings you want in the script, and you can change how early in the sequence they must appear before the work is hidden. Also works with character tags.

Hides works where specified pairing isn't the first listed. Hidden works show a placeholder that you can click to unhide:

AO3: highlight tags - have to enter the tags you want highlighted, as well as the color you want. It matches case so you may have to enter both “Dog” and “dog”, for example.

Configure tags to be highlighted with different colors. This makes a tag more obvious to your eye when browsing. I use it to highlight things I’m wary of in red so I don’t miss them and start reading a fic I might not want.

AO3: Tag Hider - configure how many tags you want to see before it hides them

Hide tags automatically when there are too many tags. Add hide/show tags button to browsing page and reading page.

AO3 Remove Double-Spacing - no config

Removes awkward double spaces between paragraphs on AO3. Doesn’t smush together paragraphs that have a single line break - it leaves those alone.

ao3 series collapser - no config

Collapse works that are later than part 1 of a series. Leaves a placeholder so you can uncollapse if you want to see it.

AO3 Blocker - no config, but you enter what you want to block from the added navbar dropdown in Ao3

Fork of ao3 savior; blocks works based on certain conditions. I find this simpler to use than Ao3 savior.

FYI there are also style scripts for Pinboard on greasyfork and userstyles.org (this site is slow af for some reason, so be patient while it loads). I use show unread bookmarks more clearly and Modern Pinboard Style (basically a dark mode). Neither require config unless you just want to tweak the settings to your liking. To install to Tampermonkey from userstyles, scroll down to “Install style as userscript”.

I also use these extensions in Kiwi:

Ao3rdr - Adds a star rating system (pictured in some of the screenshots above) to Ao3 works that only you can see. This one will sync your data between devices if you use the cloud sync option, which I recommend so you don’t lose your data if something happens to your device or browser.

Dark Reader - not really necessary for Ao3 if you use Reversi skin, but does make all browser pages dark mode if you want it on sites other than Ao3.

Speaking of Ao3 skins, I have another one set up in conjunction with Reversi that shows all the fandoms on a user’s profile, rather than having to click “expand”:

Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I found this. To set it up yourself, go to your Ao3 -> Dashboard -> Skins -> Create Site Skin, fill in the Title (has to be unique), and paste the code below in the CSS box:

#user-fandoms ol.index {

padding-bottom: 0;

text-align: center;

}

#user-fandoms ol.index li {

display: inline;

margin-right: .5em;

line-height: 2.15em;

}

#user-fandoms ol#fandom_full_list {

padding-top: 0;

padding-bottom: 1.5em;

display: block !important;

}

#user-fandoms p.actions {

display: none;

}

Then hit Submit -> Use. There are ways to hide or highlight various elements (ships, characters, blurbs, work stats, etc) on a works listing page using skins on Ao3. This is getting long so I’m not going to go into that, but I’m happy to help if you want to try it. It’s very easy.

Once you have everything configured on Tampermonkey on your desktop, you can migrate it to your mobile device in one of two ways:

Option 1: Go to Tampermonkey settings and change Config Mode to Advanced

Go down to Script Sync and select your preferred cloud service and save

It will ask you to log in to said cloud service

Install Tampermonkey in Kiwi and do the same thing

Wait for it to sync (this can be slow)

It should sync any changes you make moving forward, but again, it’s slow

Option 2: go to Utilities and check all 3 checkboxes under general (include script storage, include Tampermonkey settings, include external script resources)

Either export to your preferred cloud service or

Export as a zip file, move it to your mobile device, go to this same screen and import

I would recommend exporting as a zip for a backup even if you don’t use it to migrate your scripts

You can unzip and upload individual script files (.js) on this page if you ever need to reinstall a single script with your settings instead of all of them

Let me know if you run into any issues and I can try to help! The script writers are also super nice and helpful if you reach out to them. Yay fandom!

[tattooyeol]

Presenting to you, Exo looks: Live in technicolor

This time I wasn't allowed to include any styles with black hair, so these are my favourite colorful looks for each member.

I'm adding commentary this time bc i feel like just presenting photos without an explanation isnt very fun and doesnt lead to much discussion

(Some of the pictures are better than others but bare with me lol, sometimes i even had to just screenshot straight from mvs)

Without further ado

Imo Junmyeon is the only one to have done the pink hair RIGHT. Look how his skin is glowing! The off-center part looks great, this look is just overall a 10/10

Continuing my "long hair Sehun supremacy" agenda lmao. Sehun has had SO many styles and I just think this would be super interesting and i would love to see it on him. The messy style also gives him a less polished looks than he usually has and it adds some masculinity Also this color makes his skin glow <3

Redhair-yeol and Peach-yeol were a close second, but I would be going against everything I've been preaching on this blog and I would be lying to myself if I didnt stick to Silveryeol. This specific look with the fluffy curls, the jewelry and tattoos is probably my favourite look of his ever!! It makes me so soft!!!!! Theres a reason i go back to this look every time i change my icon <3 Its breathtaking

Im not sure if it was simply the novelty of seeing Ksoo with something other than black hair, but this almost reddish/auburn brown hair w the freckles was such a fresh look on ksoo and it looks super cute! The dreamlike/nostalgic vibe of this photoshoot probably adds to the effect of it all.

I KNOW i came for the Hey Mama looks in my last ranking for Minseok and Jongdae but its ok bc the mv actually has my favourite Baekhyun look! The wavy sidepart with the bright red is super fun and just gives him this very charming vibe. I cant explain it - it adds to the cheekiness that Baekhyun is so known for and it elevates his look!

This was a surprise to me - Yixing hasn't had a ton of different haircolors and I really honestly believe that he is just perfect with the black hair, so i was surprised by how much i like this. I like the dark undercut and the curls - its super different on him and its interesting!

I'm pretty sure we all lost our minds when Jongdae had blonde hair for their The War comeback? He hadn't ever had this kind of look before and its GORGEOUS. This is jongdae done exactly right

I was super torn between this and the chocolate-brown curly look he had when he played Ato. In practice, I will say Jongin looks his absolute best with the chocolate-brown. However, I had to choose this look because it lives absolutely rent-free in my mind. yall cant even SPELL disneyprince

OK HEAR ME OUT i know this is like the exact same color i said was his worst look on the last one. This is a good example on how styling is SO important. Because THIS look? pure sex. you look amazing sweetie.

[hiimsociallyawkward]

a servant of two masters

hi friends welcome back to me aimlessly ranting about merlin. up today we have 4.06 and this episode. wow. literally just the title gives me everything i need and i'm absolutley here for the chaos that will ensue. hi bestie @lady-ofmagic-andstars

i love them in their capes

i want a cloak

dude the 'oh it's not gonna happen' and then it happens trope is so dumb but i laugh every time

notice how the knights ripped off their capes

dude people are falling off of horses and out

MERLIN

ok ok but how is he injured. ik this is rated for kids but i really dk how badly merlin is injured. it looks like just his shoulder but he shouldn't be almost dying like his yk?

:,) arthru making jokes

ok but i love arthur taking care of merlin

alskdjflsadk them trying to make jokes to make each other feel better :,)

stop arthur. stop telling the truth merlin's not dying here 😭

bestie vibes only deadass

HAHA

a s s

side note, the site i get my screenshots from- this picture has 61 views while others average maybe like 10-15?? perverts HAHA just kidding

sok i'm actually really curious as to what merlin's injury is

alsdjf;lasdfjsaldfjsaldf merlin making the rocks fall

idk if it's jut the angling but i felt like the enemies were way too close for merlin to create an entire rock barrier. i don't have any screen shot evidence but so you're just going to have to take my word for it

ok but like who even are these men. they were working for morgana trying to capture arthur?

and what's morgana going to do once she has arthur? kill him and take his place on the throne? remember how well that turned out last time she tried that? no one wanted her. idk idk morgana is just confusing as to what she wants

pls die agravaine

haha strangely fond of the boy? there's nothing strange about it

ok i laughed but i also felt bad when morgana splashed merlin awake and flailed around like a fish

dude merlin is so snarky here and i'm HERE for it

ok i like the knights being competent. thank you thank you

and now they're riding back into camelot with their capes on? you're telling me they traced back their steps to find their capes, dusted them off to make sure that they weren't too dirty and didn't have any leaves or branches still sticking to it before riding back to camelot? iconic

poor gaius. ok he's the worst but he does think of merlin as his son and this makes me sad

ok i have a dumb question. do you think merlin understands whenever other magic users are casting spells? ok i feel like this is a dumb question now. but like, is magic a language? are all incantations in a different language, so when other person who knows magic is watching you- they know what you're trying to do and such? i feel like "of course they'd know" but i'm basing that assumption on hp where everyone knows that alohomora is alohomora and where everyone knows that lumos is lumos. but what about here? does merlin know what she's incanting? can he slightly understand it even if he's never seen/done it before? is magic a language like latin, and even if you aren't completely fluent, you and parse together things and make an assumptions?

arthur is just so sad here

i just, i have to have these here

yes bby figure out that we have a traitor

gaius is not slick in the slightest. yes. look at the traitor king

wow morgana being able to bond with the snake? i wonder how

ok question, does the fomorroh have some sort of loyalty to whoever calls them?

✨kill arthur pendragon✨

ok that snake going in his neck is actually scary

pretty castle counter: 5

btw this is actually my zoom background sometimes. it depends from call to call but it changes between this pretty castle and peeta mellark

G E O R G E

ok i've seen all the tumblr posts but it doesn't get less funny. the 'merlin's missing and we can't find him so we're going to replace him with another manservent dressed EXACTLY like merlin so arthur feels better' makes me chuckle every time

i would like to have that for breakfast

i like the loyalty arthur thank you. i love the loyalty pls. i love that they're friends. like, i love the romance but i love just people being friends too

ok this whole scene. arthur wanting to look for merlin because he has to at least try, gwen just wanting arthur to be careful and to come back to her, gwaine being buds. i love all the friendships in this and just yes thank you

ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok i'm not at the hug scene yet but i know it's coming and i'm beyond excited

ok this sound track is so cute.

saldkfj;asldkfjasldkfsd

matching icons for you and your best friends

deadass if someone wants to change their tumblr icons so we can match hmu bc i'm 100% down with that

another pretty castle scene

SASSY MERLIN PLS

ok ik this is dumb to comment on because i feel like it's not tremendously hard to execute but i love the differences that colin made in regular merlin and fomorroh merlin. it's the best

they say it later in the episode but i find it hilarious how bad of an assassin merlin is

dude pls you're pouring poison in front of EVERYONE else?

BOG MAN. ok guys i'm calling you guys bog mans now.

ASLDJFALSDFJS THE JEALOUSY SCENE

i am cringey but laughing at the same time you don't understand why am i this childish

ok but arthur is being so sweet right here. i feel like he's not trying to be showy in front of gwen, i feel like he wants merlin to rest and that's so sweet. he's so patient right here and i love him

i miss the gwen and merlin friendship actually

dude merlin is roasting gaius so hard today

leon geeking out over weapons is so cute. omg he's such a tiny nerd i love him

laskjflasdfj THIS SCENE. this makes up for the stew jokes that i may or may not still be mad about

i love that the knights LITERALLY turn a blind eye it's actually hilarious

LOOK AT MERLIN BEING COMPETENT?? HE'S SO SMART WITH THE ARROW RIGGING THING

it's literally treason leon pls and you're laughing you're the best 😭😭

i wish we had a pervical back story arc

ok i think it's dumb that i laughed when merlin ducked but i stand by that

ok why do i feel bad for arthur a little. he's talking abt some semi-deep stuff. not deep deep but like, he's trying to ask for advice from his friend, his close advisor. he would've never talked to merlin like this is season 1-2 but here he is, talking about trust. and MERLIN is trying to MURDER HIM. yes. i admit it's a little funny when i'm just watching merlin trip over things and such, but when i listen to arthur talking i feel slightly sad

literallly. merlin's passed out on the floor and arthur doesn't even think anything is wrong

gwen's face when she knocked merlin out is so cute

oop. why is arthur standing in agravaine's door way like an absolute robot

cyes arthur. figure him out

i hate agravaine. i just want arthur to be happy. he's only trusting agravaine because agravaine is family.

stfu agravaine 'you're all that's left of my dear sister' SHUT THE FRONT DOOR

ok there's a repeat of the castle from earlier but i'll spare you

pls this bath scene is so awkward. tt not being able to trust anyone anymore and we're laughing at merlin but arthur's talking so sad and deep

pls this bath scene is so awkward. that's all the notes i have

again, i miss gwen and merlin

merlin is MONCHING on those berries. i'm craving berries now

ok but like. yk that pouch that gaius is using to make the forromoh dormant? what if merlin tucked it in his neckerchief as a precaution. i'm just saying.

aslfkjasdaskdjf the tavern

yall why did merlin have to stop his horse to drink the potion

i want the knights to have a cool band name or smth yk what i mean?

i like that merlin is still a little in the camelot red. it's not the same shade but yk what i mean

HAHA LEON AND PERCIVAL BEING PUSHED TOGETHER. I JUST KEPT ON SCREAMING SUBTEXT SUBTEXT

damn morgana wants RESUKTS. i dont blame her

the frist interaction with merlin and morgana in the hut is so awkward. pls.idek how to comment on it

deadass morgana's dress is so pretty.

magic fight! magic fight!

stfu 'rightfully mine' pls

hehe there's a leaf in his hair

ok i feel like i should've commented more on the magic fight but idk bro

so ik that colin was in this whole episode but it really only just now feels like merlin is here and i think that's fun

arthur is the cutest. i'm loving this dynamic you have no idea. i live live live live LIVE off banter. pls

guys i'm sad apparently i can only put 10 pics in a post but pls enjoy this one pic of arthur right here 😭

ok idk abt you but i'd love to hear jokes abt brass

agaragvaine pls die already

YOU'RE SUCH A PERV LITERALLY

GO

AWAY

NOW

dude that last scene was actually really pretty and i'm sad that i can't attach it now

anyways thanks for reading my long ass rambles. but i'll be back next week to the secret sharer i'll catch you on the flip side

[thegreatyin]

I'm not very good at mmos but I love final fantasy, do you have any tips or advice? Your character is cute!

i don't actually know much about a good chunk of the game- i'm only at early heavensward context (the second expansion) so take my advice with a tiny pinch of salt.

having said that, sure, i can try to give advice! also please note that ffxiv is my first final fantasy game, but i'm experienced with mmos, so it's like... the opposite outlook.

if you look up literally anything about ffxiv, it'll be veterans saying that the current base game (a realm reborn) is slow and largely boring. i disagree for a number of reasons, but... it certainly does drag on for awhile. as i said, i don't know how this compares to other games in the franchise, but this one is a slowburn- well worth the payoff, but still slow as hell.

a single character can play all of the classes! this means, for example, rigel (my oc-turned-player-character) can be a black mage, white mage, warrior, dark knight, ninja... basically, alts (mmo-speak for alternate characters, basically any character you create and play outside of your "main") are effectively useless, but still fun to do if you don't mind a grind.

for the sake of all that is holy, when you unlock a job quest, drop everything and do it. these almost always give new abilities that become an essential part of your toolkit, and when they don't, they're leading up to one. i don't care if you're about to do a main story quest and think you can pass by without it, just do it and save yourself the trouble later.

you get your first mount at level 20, the grand company chocobo. however, due to the stupid amount of exp early quests give you/depending on if you're in a favored server or not, you'll likely be far above that when you finally get your bird. rigel was around 27 when he got bird-riding rights. said rights are tied to the main story quests, as is everything, so make sure to do those too.

red mage is really really fun i highly recommend it

at early levels the 2.5 second gcd (global cooldown, a timer where you can't use any abilities for a period of time) will seem agonizing. it gets better. by level 50 as a black mage i felt like it was too short.

i don't know how to navigate square enix's terrible site but be warned it is certainly something that needs mental preparation before attempting. buying this game is a nightmare.

so don't! the free trial goes up to level 60 and includes the entirety of the first and second expansions (first is actually the base game but that's a whole other can of worms) and lasts indefinitely. you can be a free trial player for years and never stop. just be warned that once you buy the game you can't return to free-trial status so once ur sins are committed, they're committed for good.

love yourself. don't play a healer class. or do, if you're into masochism.

housing is a fucking NIGHTMARE i haven't touched it with a ten foot pole

you can use FATES (open-world multiplayer events, basically) to grind extra classes in a pinch. it's not much, but you can do it.

you know that starting mount i mentioned? the grand company chocobo? you can nickname it. and dress it up. and change its colors. and eventually summon it to fight alongside you as a bird pet/companion/best friend and legitimately why would you use any other mount

seriously rigel's bird is named luhmel and i cherish him SO much i spent all my gil on outfits for him birb my BELOVED

i'd honestly recommend ignoring the gold/normal sidequests after the first few levels- they usually don't offer much, and don't give much back. it's only worth doing the blue "plus" quests (which always unlock something for you/your character) and the main story quests (which. are main story, lol. they're marked with a fire symbol around the edge of the icon)

oh hey whatcha know your job quests are blue plus quests maybe that means something

if you want to take Aesthetic Screenshots™ there's a thing called group pose (aka gpose) that you can use to loop an emote and modify lighting and everything to make some really nice pictures. i haven't used it much because i unironically discovered it two hours ago but i sure will use it in the future

once/if you hit levels 50/60/70, you should start hoarding poetics/tombestones! these can be used to buy fresh new gear that not only looks stylish but also will legitimately last you for half of the next expansion. i'm not joking. these are absolutely worth the investment.

if you play lalafell you WILL be pat on the head. it's normal. let it happen.

y'shtola best girl

new players are called sprouts, and are given a little sprout icon beside their name to represent that! this actually stays for a while- 168 total hours played and completion of stormblood (3rd expansion), iirc. i'm still a sprout. rigel's a little sprout boy.

once you unlock the waking sands, i highly recommend going into the side room and talking to all the npcs there! they have different/new dialogue every time the main story quests tell you to return there, and getting to know them all... well, let's just say that it'll make some parts hit harder, y'know? it pays off.

i haven't personally done them but i've heard the hildibrad sidequests are really funny i recommend those

there's a gambling cactus to gamble your life away and the parkour minigame infuriates me beyond reasonable definition

the community as a whole is super nice, and way better at giving advice on the spot than i am! for an anime game where i can play my depressed edgy angsty angel boy as a walking disaster gay catboy, it's really wholesome. not for everyone, but definitely a good time if it is your kinda thing.

okay but seriously do your class/job quests

[lastsonlost]

Anyone remember this?

Well guess who jumped the gun?

Atlus and Sega revealed new information on Persona 5 Royal in this week’s Famitsu. The information is contained in an interview with the game’s main staff, who was also revealedfor the first time with this interview.

Here are the main tidbits:

The subtitle “Royal” was coined by Atlus to show their desire to deliver a gorgeous experience to players.

The new playable content at the end of the game, between January and April, will be bigger than the new playable content they added in Persona 4 Golden. Besides the changes already revealed, the game was also made easier to play and things like experience gains were rebalanced.

Persona 5 Royal will have currently undisclosed bonuses for players with PS4 Persona 5 save data. It’s not a save import system though.

The new Assist function is an extension of the system in the original game which let you see other players’ actions on a specific day. With the Player Assist, you’ll be able to see what players did, depending on which confidants and which activities are available, and immediately fast-travel to do the same thing.

New Phantom Thieves member Kasumi has her own Confidant events. There are new Confidants characters who will be revealed later besides Kasumi and Maruki. Small new details about them were revealed too. Maruki is supposed to be a really nice adult, while Kasumi’s addition will let us see new facets of the story and characters. After we played the game, we’ll also have a new look at some of the scenes in the first trailer.

Persona 5 Royal has a scene with Joker and the new mysterious ‘hot guy’ character, who is definitely Morgana, sleeping together. The game has around 20 new BGM tracks compared to the original game.

Persona 5 Royal launches on October 31 in Japan, in 2020 in the west, on PS4. All of the above is from the usual Famitsu leaks. This article will be updated in a few hours with more information when Famitsu becomes available.

During the new January to April playable part, players will be able to freely enjoy their days, it’s not made of scripted events. All the different places in the game from Shibuya to Shinjuku and the newly added Kichijoji will be accessible.  The other world will be accessible in some way too.

Persona 5 Royal’s Kichijoji was recreated as closely as possible and has many details you’ll notice if you really went there. There are places from trendy shops where young people gather to old fashioned bars. The darts game there is a proper mini-game like the batting center in the original game.

They added Maruki and made him into a really nice guy to make the game feel less like a “kids vs evil adults” situation. Personally speaking, I think the original wasn’t too bad in that aspect, it felt like some of Yoshiyuki Tomino’s anime, in a good way.

Producer Kazuhisa Wada mentioned that they were very careful with how to add Kasumi in the story. While she appears right from the beginning of the game, they made it sure to not alter the story too much and include her naturally.

When speaking about Kasumi’s design, Soejima said that she needed to look different than all Persona 5 characters for her to become the icon of Persona 5 Royal, but also needed to look similar so she doesn’t stick out. That’s also why her Phantom Thief costume is very similar to Joker’s.

Parts of her design like her ponytail OR THE LEOTARD OF HER PHANTOM THIEF COSTUME ALSO POINTS OUT SHE DOES RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS.

Jeezy I'm beginning to see a pattern.

Soejima and the art team made plenty of new portraits and illustrations cut-ins for Persona 5 Royal.

Some of the new screenshots like the scene with Joker and Morgana sleeping together are below. I didn’t include everything as the official site should be updated soon with direct-feed versions anyway.

Source

[harrythekingofcamp]

#LateLateStyles with (Y/N)

Hey, so I made this one shot ages ago because of #LateLateStyles which I published on Wattpad. Decided to post it here as well. xx enjoy (If anyone's reading it nway)

PS: Please bear with me on my grammar bc english isn’t my first language

1

You and Harry were known to be great friends when he started his music career and you on acting and there was always a rumor that you and him were dating because you were always seen with him.

Whether its late night in the club, a lunch at the finest dining restaurant or even each others date on a award show or premiere night. But you both don't confirm it and dont talk about it making it a bit awkward for both of you especially when paps straight up ask you about it.

You always had this thing for Harry and you were always inconsistent that he has feelings for you too, since you always see him with some model or rumored to be dating with other girls. (Kendall Jenner was out of the rumors since you knew she was with somebody else and they were just great friends since you and her were also friends)

You were aware that Harry was on the Late Late Night with James Corden all week as he told you when you were talking in the phone. (You didn't have time to catch up personally since he's been having shows for his debut album and you were busy on a new movie) and surprisingly, he and James Corden (Who was also a really good friend of yours back from Harry's hometown, Cheshire) invited you over the show as a guest. As usual, both of you and Harry's fans have been dying to see the premiere of the show since they released the teaser.

And now, you were in the studio. 5 minutes before the show starts and you were with your assistant who has been gushing and teasing you about Harry for almost an hour.

The first segment of the show is you and Harry in the monologue that was usually done with James.

"Okay (Y/N), Get ready for your queue with Harry." The organizer calls out on you and you give him a thumbs up and went behind the curtain where you meet the suit claded man who was already smirking at you.

"You look sexy-- ow!"

"Stop Harold. Be professional for once- but thank you," you stuck your tongue at him after slightly slapping him in the shoulder.

"All the way from Cheshire and Wolverhampton England.. Give it up for your hosts, Harry Styles and (Y/N) (Y/L/N)!" A loud applaud was heard and you put on my greatest smile and I saw him smile, a cheeky one.

The curtain opened and you walked with a little bit of dance with Harry making you giggle with him as he continues to dance.

The music stopped and the audience calmed a bit and Harry started his queue.

"Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen and Welcome to the Late Late Show! We have a good one for you tonight, I'm joined with my good ol' friend, the ever so beautiful, (Y/N) (Y/L/N)!" He looked at me with a smile and you poked him in the cheek and laughed a little which made the audience cheered again.

"I know! We look good together but calm down." Harry jokes making the audience laugh a little and calmed a bit after.

"A little more! A little more!" He ushers the audience making you playfully glare at him your hands in your waist.

"What?" He mouths jokingly at me and you shake your head at him, waiting the audience to finish the cheer.

"Calm down people!" You joke and eventually the audience calmed down and you started your queue.

"Today we'll be doing what we usually do, we'll talk about the news!" you air quoted the usually part and laughed a bit.

--

The monologue finished afterwards and you, Harry and James were getting ready for the next one, the talk.

The director made the queue pointing out 3 fingers one by one and James spoke afterwards.

"Welcome back to the Late Late Show, we're joined again with Mr. Harry Styles and the iconic Ms. (Y/N) (Y/L/N)!" you smile at the audience and waved a little.

James started to ask questions about Harry which you made a few comments now and then. After a while, it was your part of the questions.

"So (Y/N), I heard you accepted a new project, a movie to be exact." James tells you holding his cards.

"Yeah, It was last week when I heard of the project and the plot is amazing, I know everybody was going to love it. I can't say anything about it yet but yeah, we started shooting a couple days ago at New York." you gleefuly answered, it was nice being back at the big screen again as you can say so yourself

"Well you heard her folks, she's shooting at New York go and barge her there" James jokes making the audience laugh at him, "And I also heard you invited Mr. Styles over here to the set of the movie aswell,"

The screen showed some pics of me and Harry. Me on getting ready to act one of my first scene and him at the back of the set watching me holding my phone.

"And Mr. Styles here also posted on instagram a picture of you goofing around the set.." The screen shows a screenshot of Harry's post in Instagram of me candidly took when you were goofing around the directors camera.

"Hey! I told you to delete that picture" I cringe at him and he just raises his arms in defense laughing afterwards.

"Well as we're on the subject about you and Styles here." James pauses for a minute because the audience cheered especially the fangirls, "After 3 long years, you were always both seen with each other and even I myself is confused of what is your status together--" the audience cheered again

James was about to speak when one of the fangirls screamed "They're my parents, mate!!" Which you guys bursts into laughter.

Your cheeks blushed a little while Harold smirks after answering, "What's our status you say? I guess the whole world just gonna have to find out for themselves" He jokes and winks after.

"Yeah, we're never gonna tell you and you- yes you watching there, I'm not telling you one bit." you point at the camera which made the audience laugh. You and Harry did a high five after.

James changes the topic and goes on to Harry's Album

"So (Y/N), Styles mentioned on a Radio Show that you were one of the first people to hear Harry's Album with her mother Anne, stepfather Robin, and her sister Gemma-- Which one is your favorite?" He asks you teasingly knowing that he knew and obviously the whole world knows that Harry wrote a song about you and it was Only Angel.

"Oh cut the farts--" you start to defend yourself but Harry stiffles a giggle

"Farts? Really (Y/N)?" He teases you which you roll my eyes at him and he pretended to wince holding his heart dramatically.

"Well what's your favorite then?" James asks me again.

"Fine! Only Angel!" you give up and the audience laughed and cheered.

"So since that song is your favorite you say, I have these queue cards that has the lyrics on it-"

"Oh God." you say as you and Harry both blush and face palm.

"Broke a finger knocking on your bedroom door." He reads the lyrics out loud.

"I honestly don't know-" You reasoned but he cuts you off.

"You cant fool me (Y/N)," The audience laughs, "Harry, do the honors"

"Well, I think it's because we shared a house before my music and her acting career."

He nods, "Sure it's not something else?" He adds teasingly.

You just looked at each other and laughed.

"Couldn't take you home to Mother in a skirt that short but I think that's what I like about it." He reads again making you slap Harold in the arm playfully.

"Well.." Harry explains with a little smirk in the end making you glare at him, "I took her to Cheshire one time and it was summer so.. she kept insisting on wearing a skirt because it was  summer and all and it was hot and yeah I joked at her that I couldn't take her home to my mum with that skirt because trust me, its really short." He tells and widened his eyes and shooked his head several times. Making James and the audience laugh at his reaction and making you blush slightly.

"I'm never gonna wear a skirt again without thinking of those lyrics" You say with a groan making the audience laugh.

"And lastly.. My favorite lyrics of Only Angel" He laughs after, knowing you and Harry knows whats the next lyrics.

"When it turns out she's a devil in between the sheets" He sings this part making you slap Harry again and again.

He just laughs at you and pleads for you to stop, "Why do you have to put that in your song?" you whine hiding the fact that you're blushing intensively.

"Well-- It is true!" He says which made James burst into laughter and also the audience at the innuendo.

"Explain then Harold" He says to him playfully throwing the cards away.

"Okay okay-- so when me and (Y/N) go to clubs, we were always very drunk to drive and go home so it was a routine that we go to one of the nearest hotels and sleep- WE HAVE DIFFERENT ROOMS EVERYONE-" He cuts himself and tells them that to stop the audience from assuming, which made the people laugh and you nod your head agreeing with a giggle, "And at the time (Y/N) was dating someone" he air quotes someone knowing it was the fling you had with Dave Franco (Yes, a little bit old for me) "And I was sobering myself up before going to sleep when I heard squeals and bangs on the other side of the wall and so I assume-"

"HE THOUGHT WRONG OKAY?" You defend yourself making you sip on some coffee that was on the table.

"Yeah and I made a joke about it the day after." He says making you glare at him.

"WE WERE NOT DOING WHAT YOU GUYS THINK WERE DOING. WE'RE JUST FOOLING AROUND-WE'RE DRUNK!" you say again defensively.

"Don't be defensive (Y/N)- youre making yourself obvious" Harry tells you loudly. But again, you roll your eyes at him.

"And obviously for the title, Only Angel it was quite obvious." James lastly tells both of you.

"(Y/F/N), my only one Victoria's Secret Angel" He blurts out with a cheeky smile. Referencing the time that you joined the Victoria's Secret fashion show last year.

You blush again and laugh trying to hide that red of a face of yours.

"Okay and that was Ms. (Y/N) (Y/L/N) and Mr. Styles ladies and gentleman-" James continues on his outro for the episode while you and Harry smile at the audience.

[phoelogeny]

I'm doing a thing I think.... My Connor 3D model part 1

So why I´m so little active? Well life in general but also cause smart me decided “hey let´s do this super realistic character for my assignment when I don´t even know the program” 

And thus my spare time has gone completely into god damn getting this model to look like the reference and let me tell u

It´s been a ride

Zbrush is a damn difficult program to work with and I salut whoever can master it cause that is real life goals right there.

(kinda long post ahead but basically more of my process screenshots and a bit thoughts on how difficult 3D modelling actually is)

Here you can see how I completely messed up on human faces in the beginning and then what 8-10 hours did, though had to, like I usual have to when it comes to 3D models - fucking completely change the face several times and make new body parts (I was late on actually doing the basic forms oof)

I did get the volumes to work at first but there was still something horribly wrong with the face, far too little depth. I´ve learned that human faces have a lot of that. Which is super (not) fun while shaping one. And how one small change can make it seem like a completely different person.

Then we come to the phases we don´t speak of where me being a noob failed at making a body and clothes twice, though after another 15 hours I got there. For now. 

Then more changes in the facial region (aka what I´ve used 80% of my time to do I need help) Followed up by this weird polygon thingy with polygroups...thingy that I´m surprised I even understand. I have to animate this thing too. Oof.

And now we´re getting closer to the current look on this abomination, that´s starting to sorta look like a man at least, even though the god damn balance is still off. And the texture is just horrible. Which is why I changed it soon after, to check how it actually looked. At this stage, I also realized humans have necks and this drastically changed the whole thing. Funny how one little change can do that much - which is the theme for the current version:

-cue dramatic drum roll or something-

After getting feedback from my class, while trying not to cringe at the lack of my skills, I fixed a few important features and key factors: Shoulders and legs. Or well - actually giving him shoes cause I hadn´t gotten there yet. I also gave him proper ears that kinda resembles them I hope, and again - gave him eyelids after about 5 tries where I accidentally forgot I had duplicated the head which is like 2 million points and suddenly had 10 million in the file. Whoops.

He still lacks eyebrows, which is extremely important to how you look, and his iconic hair and blue light, but that´s what I have to do in another 40 ish hours. Ye. I´ve lost track but I think I´ve used 50 hours by now. And I thought a 10hr rendering was time-consuming...

To sum this up before this post, that probably none will fully read but hey I wanted to share my process with yall, here are some things I have to work with tomorrow:

-Getting the volumes in the face correct

-Connecting the sleeves and jacket (long story short I kinda fucked up and my teacher has to show it to me. Again)

-EYEBROWS ON FLEEK BRO - have to use this advanced fibermesh thingy to try and give him hair strands - and eyelashes too

- Those EYES, are quickly painted on and looks too derpy so I´ll hopefully get that added sooner or later

- Folds in his clothes. Oof. One thing is drawing folds but another is modelling it. Have to connect the jacket and pants first though. And fix the collars on his shirt.

- Finishing the nice shoes I made in like an hour that of course symmetry didn´t work on and that can be an issue (a lot of terms difficult to explain sorry)

- Giving him his adorable tie and just - fix his iconic jacket in general. When I´m less of a noob hopefully.

- And of course: colours

I probs won´t do ALL that tomorrow but hopefully the most important ones so he wounds up looking like Connor.

I´ll pop back in here later when I´ve got more to show! uwu

[walkingshcdow-a]

OI. Your FCs are really effin good gorl, I'm trying to make an RP blog for Lambchops from Fame but I'm having a lot of trouble finding the punk FC that would work for her. Got any tips?

((You’re sweet! TBH, not all of them were my choice - Diaval, Maleficent, Victor, Lorelei, and Cora are all their canon FCs. Those that were my choice took a LOT of hunting for!

Unfortunately, I am the wrong person to give you advice on this particular muse - I think I saw “Fame” when I was in high school… and as point of reference… I now teach high school.#SoOld. 

But I can give you tips on how I choose FCs, if that’ll help!

If your muse’s original FC is white or no race is specified by your canon (ex. it’s a book/play/audio drama), feel free to “race bend” your character as long as you aren’t bending based on negative stereotypes (i.e. Do not decide, “He is thuggish so I made this previously white character black!” Ew, that’s disgusting, get away from me. Or, as we say in my profession: that’s a lot to unpack. Would you like me to send you to speak with an administrator?). This actually allows for more inclusivity and diversity in the RPC. Just… be willing to research your character’s background and if you aren’t that race, don’t make it a story about being that race. Also, if your character is a POC, do not make them white. I feel like that goes without saying, but you’d be surprised how awful some people are.

Go with your gut, not necessarily what canon says is “right”. Similarly to rule 1, though not as importantly as rule 1*, feel free to change your muse’s appearance unless their appearance is critical to the story. Is your muse a blonde in canon, but you kinda wished she was a ginger? Go for it! Does your muse have straight hair, but the face you love is attached to a mass of curls? My dude, go for it. Is your muse skinny/abled/conventionally attractive and you think it’d be cool or important to make them something else? DUDE DO IT. (*This is the exception to where it’s “less important” than racebending. Making a character represent a different body type can be very important and empowering). If you want to retain their canon features, but found a FC that matches everything except ONE THING, make a note about it somewhere on your bio/rules page. Now… If that ONE THING is that you’re making your disabled or fat FC able-bodied or skinny, go pick a different FC and reexamine your life choices. But, back on topic - you know your character and you know the version you want to portray better than anyone. Chances are, you have a mental picture of her right now. Don’t let canon tell you she “has” to be blonde and blue eyed, when you know in your heart-of-hearts, she’s a dark haired, dark eyed beauty. And don’t let a FC’s green eyes stop you, even though their perfect in every other way. JUST DO IT. 

Locate resources, be willing to make them yourself, be willing to pay for a commission, or be willing to go without graphics. Look, I get it. Not all of us are handy with Photoshop. I made my Victor Frankenstein icons and those took me three months to do and they’re still terrible. This is why for my other muses, I either commissioned someone else to make graphics, found icons to use from Hollow Art or icon resource blogs (not other RPers!!), or simply went without icons. I’ll explain the last one at the end. But to this point, I’ll say this - if graphics are important to you, decide how much time you can dedicate to making them, how much money you’re willing to spend on them, and use what available free resources there are! Decide whether or not you want to make resources yourself or if you are willing to pay (and if so, how much) first. Then, before you do either thing, check out what resources are available and snag all the freebies you can get. If you’re using free resources (i.e. icon maker blogs, Hollow Art) or making your own using a screenshot resource/fansite, download Falkun Batch Downloader. It’ll save you time. Like. Lots of time.

Think about how personality and appearance correlate (and how they don’t!). In your instance, Grace is a rocker. It’ll probably be better for you to use a FC who is in a lot of contemporary pieces, rather than someone known for their period pieces. You’ll probably want a FC who looks “edgy” or “bad ass”, since your character dresses that way. DO NOT LET CLOTHING BE YOUR ONLY DETERMINING FACTOR. Actors are a versatile bunch. Hell, for a while Ksenia Solo was the IT GIRL for RPing smart-ass, edgy rocker chicks because of “Lost Girl”. Look at her in “Turn”. BIG CHANGE, right? What you’re looking for is facial expression, demeanor, and body language. Remember: Grace doesn’t need to be played as specific type of edgy or bad ass. She can be tall, short, big, small… Doesn’t matter. When I said do what your gut tells you, this is what I’m talking about. You subconsciously associate FCs with roles they’ve played and your subconscious remembers if they’re good at mean mugging at the camera. Attitude is much more important than surface features (like hair color, eye color, etc.). I feel like a lot of RPers waste time, trying to be canonically accurate to things like bone structure than to things that your partners are actually getting out of an icon like facial expression. 

Be willing to go without graphics. Look. Your character is your character. If you have a muse for them, you shouldn’t let a lack of resources stop you from writing them. I know a lot of people have a preference for using icons, but they are unnecessary. If you haven’t found your FC yet, that’s perfectly all right! Write in a way so even if you never do, your muse pops off the screen. I can’t use a FC for one of my characters - Erik - because no Leroux-accurate film has been made and until I become a billionaire, no one is making a Kay film. So I have to rely instead on vivid description. It seems to work; people like my writing. Anyone who specifically dislikes my Erik because I don’t use icons can piss off. I’m having fun playing him. As long as you enjoy playing Grace, a FC isn’t necessary. 

I’m not sure if this was what you were asking - i feel like you probably wanted more concrete suggestions than I can offer. Best of luck!))

[biofunmy]

A Google News App Is Pushing Climate Denier Blogs. Google Won’t Say Why.

In July, Tommaso Boggia, a climate activist turned programmer, swiped to the Google Discover tab on his phone to scan the headlines the company had algorithmically selected for him. He was shocked to find a climate change denial website prominently featured in his feed. The next day, it happened again.

Boggia didn’t click on the link — which led to a blog post titled “Bipartisan Panel of Scientists Confirms Humans are NOT Responsible for Past 20,000 Years of Global Warming” — but he did screenshot it, peeved that Google’s algorithms were promoting content that disputes our current climate crisis. Discover promises to “surface relevant content to you,” so why was it showing him articles disputing the overwhelming scientific consensus on human-caused global warming?

“Google is aiding and abetting the promulgation of climate science misinformation.”

Boggia was not alone. BuzzFeed News spoke to eight people who said they received climate change denial articles on Discover, a feed of content tailored to individual users that appears as a dedicated tab on Google phones, on the Google search app, and on the Google mobile homepage. All these individuals — who were either interested in climate change or held environmental jobs — questioned why Google was uncovering and promoting content from such sources, which ranged from an anti–climate change lobbyist’s website to a personal blog espousing the “global warming hypocrisy.”

In recent months, Google has faced mounting criticism from the public and lawmakers for its role in spreading misinformation, including flat Earth conspiracies and anti-vaccination videos, and for the lack of transparency around the algorithms that prioritize that content. And while the company has taken steps to combat conspiracies and bogus science on its properties, including YouTube, its active pushing of climate change denialism on Discover concerns climate researchers, who believe the search and advertising giant has a duty to prevent the spread of false information.

Courtesy of Eric McDaniel

“Google is aiding and abetting the promulgation of climate science misinformation,” said Robert Brulle, a sociology professor focusing on environmental science at Drexel University and Brown University. “They are unwittingly spreading misinformation and they have to take responsibility for that.”

A Google spokesperson declined to answer specific questions about how Discover, which is used by more than 800 million people a month, selects information sources, noting only that it was curated “via algorithm.” Provided with an example of a climate denier site that was being promoted on Discover, a page titled “The Deplorable Climate Science Blog,” the spokesperson said the company would “take action against the site” for violating policies around “transparency” and directed BuzzFeed News to a set of rules for publishers on Google News — an entirely different product. The spokesperson did not clarify if Google considered or categorized the climate change denier site as news.

These blogs are spewing “denial 101,” said Kert Davies, a climate activist and director of Climate Investigations Center. “They want people to lose faith in the science or have uncertainty around science,” he said.

Eric McDaniel, a journalist who maintains a daily climate headline newsletter, noticed the Deplorable Climate Science Blog at the top of his Discover feed last month. A few days later — just above a CNN story about the Amazon fires — the Google service served him a post titled “The Iconic Image of the Global Warming Movement Is a Fraud” from a publication called the Mike Smith Enterprises Blog.

While Discover users can tailor the topics they’d like to see on their feeds, the service also curates based on a person’s search and web browsing history. McDaniel told BuzzFeed News he had never visited or even heard of Deplorable Climate Science Blog or Mike Smith Enterprises Blog. But when he reviewed his Discover settings, he found Google had served him that content because it had determined he was interested in “global warming.”

“It’s spectacularly good at surfacing content that it thinks is relevant to me right now,” McDaniel said, adding that Discover has fed him college basketball scores and recommendations for Amsterdam when it knew he was visiting the city. Climate crisis denialism was one of the few aberrations McDaniel has seen, something he believed was surfaced to him because Google’s algorithms have categorized it as relevant information about global warming.

Why does @Google keep recommending me climate change denial articles? Insidious. Clicking the “not interested in” option isn’t useful since I am interested in climate change news. At least label it denialism so I can reject it outright.

04:35 PM – 10 Aug 2019

BuzzFeed News found at least eight different climate denial sites promoted on Discover. Among them were leading climate change denial blog Watts Up With That? and the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a UK-based lobbying group that contests the scientific consensus on global warming.

“At first, I was confused by them,” H. Curtis Spalding, an environmental professor at Brown University and former Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator, told BuzzFeed News of the climate crisis denial blogs that appeared in Discover early this summer. Spalding said he clicked on one, thinking it was a legitimate news site, causing Google’s algorithm to serve him even more in the following weeks.

In recent years, climate change deniers have exploited Google’s products to challenge scientific consensus on the climate crisis, buying paid search results and inundating YouTube with conspiracies and bogus theories. What’s happening on Discover is arguably worse, said critics, because Google is determining what people see without any kind of active search, while the company’s curation of such content can be viewed as a seal of approval.

“They’re basically telling people when they put stuff into their feed, ‘This is from us, and we thought you’d be interested in it.’”

“They’re basically telling people when they put stuff into their feed, ‘This is from us, and we thought you’d be interested in it,’” said Brulle. “It’s not fact-checked or validated, but we’re placing it into your feed anyways.”

BuzzFeed News spoke with the owners of three climate change denial sites that had been seen in Discover; all three were unaware their posts were being recommended. All three said they had done nothing different to optimize their sites for Google search, nor had they changed or increased any ad spending. Two of the three said they had noticed a steady increase in traffic, though were unclear why.

Robert Felix, who runs Ice Age Now, called it “good news” that his site was now appearing in Discover. Previously, he said, his page wouldn’t even come up if you did a search for the term “ice age.”

.@Google Discover figured out I’m interested in #climate change. Now the algorithm pushes climate denial content (which I almost never read) in my feed almost daily.

@Googledevs, please stop this. On top of this content being factually inaccurate, it’s incredibly harmful.

09:29 PM – 27 Apr 2019

That’s “creepy,” said J.C. Kibbey, a Chicago-based climate activist, who first noticed the denial content in his Discover feed back in April. Since then, he’s been monitoring his feed and the provenance of each of the articles. Last month, Kibbey said he was seeing as many as three bogus climate science stories a day in his feed.

“It’s already a struggle to get the right accurate information into folks’ hands,” he said, calling Google’s algorithm “a black box.”

“Maybe the benign answer is that their algorithm doesn’t distinguish between truth or fiction,” he added.

Sahred From Source link Science

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