#This isn't really a proper review just like . Thoughts

[faithfulren]

notebook swap

izuku midoriya, known for his meticulous note-taking on heroes and their quirks, accidentally swaps notebooks with reader. this seemingly small mix-up leads to a series of misunderstandings and revelations, ultimately bringing them closer together.

----

it was a typical day in middle school. the bell rang, signaling the end of another lesson on hero history. you hurriedly packed up your things, eager to get to lunch before the cafeteria line grew too long. as you grabbed your notebook, you noticed that izuku midoriya, the quiet boy known for his obsessive note-taking, was doing the same.

in your rush, you didn't realize that your identical-looking notebooks had gotten mixed up. you shoved "your" notebook into your bag and dashed out of the classroom.

--

you sat at your usual spot in the cafeteria, excited to review your notes for the upcoming quiz. opening the notebook, you were confused to find detailed analyses of various heroes, complete with sketches and personal thoughts. "this isn't mine," you muttered to yourself.

curiosity got the better of you, and you began flipping through the pages. it was fascinating to see the world through izuku's eyes. his passion for heroes was palpable, and his notes were incredibly detailed. you found yourself admiring his dedication and the depth of his thoughts.

--

izuku was in a state of panic. he had opened what he thought was his notebook, only to find your class notes and doodles. "oh no, this isn't mine," he whispered, anxiety creeping in. he recognized your handwriting and realized what must have happened.

he spent the rest of the day nervously glancing around, hoping to catch you between classes. when the final bell rang, he finally spotted you at your locker.

--

you saw izuku approaching, holding your notebook with a look of relief on his face. "um, hi. i think we accidentally swapped notebooks earlier," he said, handing yours over.

you smiled, handing his back. "yeah, i figured that out when i saw your hero analysis. it's really impressive, by the way."

izuku blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "thanks. your notes are really well-organized, too."

you both stood there awkwardly for a moment before you decided to break the silence. "how about we grab a snack after school? i'd love to hear more about your hero theories."

izuku's eyes lit up. "really? that sounds great!"

--

from that day on, you and izuku started spending more time together. you'd meet after school to discuss heroes, study for tests, and even just hang out. the more you learned about him, the more you admired his dedication and kindness.

izuku, on the other hand, was thrilled to have someone who genuinely wanted to listen to his thoughts and theories. he found himself looking forward to your time together, feeling more confident and understood.

--

as weeks turned into months, you noticed your feelings for Izuku beginning to change. what started as a simple admiration for his passion grew into a deeper affection. you found yourself looking forward to his shy smiles, the way his eyes lit up when he talked about heroes, and the comforting warmth of his presence.

one afternoon, as you both sat under a tree in the park, you decided to take a chance. "izuku," you began, your heart pounding, "i know we've become really good friends, but i think… i might like you as more than a friend."

izuku's eyes widened in surprise. "you do?"

you nodded, feeling a blush creep up your cheeks. "yeah, i do. i understand if you don't feel the same way…"

he reached out, taking your hand in his. "actually, i think i like you too," he admitted, his voice soft. "i just never thought you'd feel the same way."

--

with your feelings out in the open, izuku asked you out on a proper date. you both decided on a simple outing to the local café. nervous but excited, you spent the day talking and laughing, the awkwardness of your confession melting away.

as the sun set, you walked home together, hand in hand. when you reached your door, izuku hesitated for a moment before leaning in and giving you a gentle, sweet kiss. "i've never been happier," he whispered.

--

as the school year went on, your relationship with izuku blossomed into something beautiful. the initial notebook swap had been a happy accident, leading to a deep connection and a blossoming romance.

you both realized that sometimes, the smallest mix-ups could lead to the most wonderful outcomes. in the midst of school projects, hero analyses, and shared dreams, you and izuku found a bond that would only grow stronger with time.

and so, in the midst of study sessions, hero discussions, and tender moments, you and izuku found love in each other, a love that promised to stand the test of time.

[sleepytoycollection]

In Which Moose Toys Made a Dislestia Child and I Am Amused

This isn't really a review proper, but this Magic Mixies set was brought to my attention by @sparklyaxolotlstudent after they pointed out that the "pegacorn" of this set looked like a MLP Discord fankid lmao.

So needless to say I became interested.

After just getting into MLP this year, and especially being a fan of the draconequus character Discord, I thought the idea of another toy company taking a stab at a the idea of horse/dragon creature was funny.

Granted, MLP didn't invent the horse-dragon. Qilins and longmas long predate our colorful horse friends. So it's not necessarily borrowing from MLP, but come on. When was the last time you saw one in a little girl's toy line?

The set comes with all this stuff to do the magic potion thingy. Call me lacking in whimsy, but I didn't wanna do all this shit. I just wanted the toys.

It also comes with some info about our new friends.

Moose Toys call this creature a pegacorn. Now "pegacorn" is sometimes used to describe a unicorn/pegasus. It's what MLP calls an alicorn, but there's no way this creature isn't also part eastern dragon too. It has scales. And Claws.

Let's back up a bit tho, and look at the dolls fully.

I really like the Pixlings dolls. This is actually my third one now. They're what Enchantimals could've been if they were good. I wish their shirts weren't molded on, but it's not a deal breaker if only because they're so nicely painted.

The only reason I haven't acquired more is that they have a LOT of leftover trash. The potion bottles these come in can't really be used for much else, and they're not worth donating either. So that's a LOT of plastic going to waste. Wish I could just buy the dolls without all that mess tbh.

Still a cutie of a doll.

I also appreciate they gave the pegacorn articulation! It's so rare anymore to see animal friends in doll lines that don't feel like cheap afterthoughts.

Now to address why this set, the pegacorn especially, makes me think MLP. -deep inhale-

Rainbow Star looks like a Celestia/Discord fankid.

Look at this child and her divorced parents. Tell me she doesn't look like the designer at Moose Toys ships these two.

Even the name "Rainbow Star" fits.

Hell, if her dad were Discord is would explain the nonsensical butt wings. Nonsense is kind of a given for a child of chaos. Plus Discord in the show flies with magic, and his wings are useless when he's de-powered. So placement wouldn't matter if she's using magic to fly as well.

Now I don't personally go for this ship, but it's still pretty funny. Either this was on purpose or one hell of a coincidence.

Putting MLP aside tho, I do like these little guys.

Unia could use a little bit of a restyle...

Wait a minute, if you imagine the blue replaced with purple, doesn't Unia look a little like human Princess Cadence?

Okay that's enough for today. Bye.

[maleyanderecafe]

Apple for a Teacher: A Yandere Love Story (Visual Novel)

Created by: ataraxic

Genre: Horror/Romance

The screenshots on this one are a bit different because I played this game on my mac instead of my pc, so it looks a little weird on the preview. I played a previous game by this creator called Yandere Love: Chains of Fate, which features another character. This one features another character in this world, Ciel. If you've read my previous review on this series, you'll know my overall feelings about this game as well, because despite the couple of years that I haven't thought about this game, I still have the same opinions on it.

The story starts with the MC going to university. They're happy that they're finally free from their professor Ciel as they've finally passed their class. We learn that the MC really hates Ciel as he's very blunt and seems to have a vendetta against the MC. The MC was failing Ciel's class, so Ciel helped to tutor them, as the MC doesn't really know anyone else on campus. They're very happy when they find out that they're able to pass the class and don't have to deal with Ciel anymore and even more excited that they got into an elusive internship on campus. Ciel ends up asking the MC to a fancy dinner at an Italian place as a celebration of them passing their classes. The MC accepts as they want to eat at a fancy place and gets (begrudgingly) driven back to her place by his chauffeur. Ciel waits for the MC to change into more proper clothing as well as criticizes a lot of their outfits in the meantime. At some point, Ciel ends up seducing (?) the MC unintentionally and they can either go further or try to deny it.

If the MC goes further, Ciel and them will end up having sex, with Ciel even confessing that he's always loved the MC. Afterwards, however, the MC seems to be in shock about what they've done and attempts to push Ciel away.

If the MC decides to deny it and push Ciel down, Ciel will get angry and end up raping the MC, traumatizing them. The MC tries to get Ciel to leave afterwards.

Ciel, however, isn't having that as he's been looking for a partner to have children and live together with. He ends up forcing the MC to pack up and essentially kidnaps them. As the MC is forced into the car, they think about how no one will know that they're gone, as they have no family nor friends, with the only people who really would notice would be the fact that their internship might be looking for them. They end up falling asleep in the car before waking up chained to the bed. Ciel waits for them to wake up, introducing them to their new life together.

If you've read my previous review on Yandere Love: Chains of Fate, you'll probably know a lot about my criticisms with this game. The artwork and design of everything looks wonderful as always. The backgrounds, sprites and UI are all really professionally made and the music itself is pretty nice too. Unfortunately, I just don't really like the style of how this person writes too much because the relationship between the MC and the ML is usually just not fun to read (for me).

The MC of this game is different than the one in Dameon's game but instead of being pretty frankly stupid and making dumb decisions, they instead are very cynical and bitter of their position. It makes sense to a specific extent considering that Ciel loves to berate them but it does encapsulate a lot of the things I don't like about MCs in a lot of the more recent yandere vns I've played. A lot of yandere MCs tend to have this kind of cynical attitude- they dislike the job or position they're in, tend to be very grumbly about everything and don't really have any friends, and if they do have family they tend to not be on good terms with them. That in itself isn't necessarily always bad, however, it does get tiring to read. As my friend Cherry says, it's hard to really root for these types of MCs if we the audience can't even see why the yandere might be into them. I usually don't really mention this in my recommendations because the MC isn't really the main appeal of the game (and most people end up self inserting regardless), but it does get annoying when I have to go through the same type of personality over and over again. In some cases, it makes more sense as there is a bit of backstory into why this MC might act like this which is more understandable. This MC falls into a lot of the tropes of the recent MCs including the part where they find the yandere hot and bang him despite only really knowing him for a bit (and in this case also hating him, which is a whole other thing). I know there is such thing as hatesex, however, there wasn't really any indication of the MC finding Ciel attractive until right before the two of them have sex. It's also strange to me that they don't even try to fight (?) Ciel at all when he gets them to pack up their things and get in the car. It makes more sense in the route where Ciel rapes the MC, but otherwise it still feels sudden like it came out of nowhere. I would have thought there would have been at least some resistance or a proper threat that Ciel would have made. To be honest, I think this is likely also a problem with the pacing of certain choices as the MC's actions make a lot more sense if Ciel does end up raping them instead of simply just having sex with him.

Ciel is... mean, to say the least. In Dameon's case while he was usually just mean if the player chose decisions that he didn't like, Ciel is just straight up cruel. Not only does he outright insult the MC for not being able to pass his class and berates them while tutoring the MC, he also criticizes the MC's wardrobe choice when they're trying to find the right outfit for the dinner, even calling the MC a whore at one point, which I feel is super uncalled for (although kind of funny out of context), which the MC simply just... brushes off. There isn't really any indication that Ciel even likes the MC, which you could say is part of his more tsundere (well, I'd assume it would be tsundere, though we don't really see the deredere part) attitude, which makes the sudden kidnapping pretty jarring. It's hard to say why Ciel might even like the MC other than they're attractive and possibly easy to control, but the demo doesn't go far enough to tell what is going on. We do know that Ciel has a more traditional view of life, wanting to (essentially) have a "wife" and children, living together- similar to Vincent in Dead Wishes though we have yet to see the full progression of it. This type of yandere is pretty interesting as I don't really see it that often nowadays (and it is pretty cool seeing what they do to try to maintain that ideal) so hopefully in future iterations, this is shown more for the story. Still though, Ciel is very unlikable, even in terms of characters you hate to love kind of way, at least in my opinion. Besides that, he is rich and kidnaps the MC in a fairly nice place all things considered, though he's just as rude to them when they wake up. I can see people liking Ciel in a horror type of way because the game itself does do pretty well in setting up a more horror like story of being kidnapped, raped and forced to marry, but I would not at all call this a romantic type game even in the slightest even though the relationship seems to be more of a love hate one. Perhaps it might change in the future, but as of current, I'm not really buying that Ciel is in love with the MC.

So as I said, this game is not for me, however, if you did like the previous Yandere Love: Chains of Fate, then you will probably like this one as well. If any of this did interest you, then please give it a try.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 162 thoughts!

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 19

Aqua Hoshigan Status: uh oh, gamers

damn they dragged his ass right to hell, huh

I was perhaps overly optimistic in expecting an immediate resolution to last chapter's setup. It's becoming increasingly clear that this handful of chapters covering the Aqua-Hikaru confrontation are intended to be read in one go but because I am pedantic I will continue to review them one by one <3 This chapter very much has all the same issues as the previous chapter without quite as many of the things I liked pulling it up, but Mengo's art is back to going absolutely crazy and I got to see 2.5 new panels of Hoshino Ai so who can say whether it was a good or bad chapter.

Like last time, we're starting with Hikaru again and… basically everything I said I didn't like about this handling of him is still the case but with this almost definitely being his final appearance with no more opportunities to explain anything about him, it really sucks that the note we seem to be ending on is just "damn, bitch be crazy". Given that Tsukuyomi mentioned his previously 'noble soul' last chapter, I was really hoping we might get some sort of flashback or Hikaru POV giving some proper context to his actions but all we got this chapter was him being like "ughh i miss ai. GOD i love killing people" which is, uh, underwhelming as a final note for an antagonist like Hikaru to go out on, to say the least

The thing is, I didn't need or expect Hikaru to be totes 100% an innocent bean or anything like that (ch109 looms large), but if he was going to be the final boss like this, I wanted his antagonism to come from somewhere, to have any kind of connecting thread with the story's themes or to at least tell us interesting things about him both in coming to understand where his behavior came from and why he went down this path. But we don't know anything about Hikaru, really - we know facts about his life but as person and a character in a story, our image of him is shockingly unclear. As far as the story seems to be concerned, he came into existence as an 11yo boy being abused by Airi, blipped out of reality when Ai broke up with him and then idk digivolved back into society into a guy from a yandere otome game when Ai died. Like, how in god's name did Hikaru go from the boy we see being broken up with as a teenager to… whatever the fuck this is? How did he start killing? Why? What is it about killing that makes him feel Ai's supposed presence? And most importantly - why does he pursue killing Ruby as his means of achieving this when the narrative is doing everything it can to convince us she's Ai 2.0 and therefore a living person in whom Hikaru should be able to feel Ai's presence the most strongly since her death? Hello? Can anyone hear me????

We don't get textual answers to any of that - hell, we don't even really have any textual confirmation that he is actually serial killer, despite it being something I guess we're supposed to assume at this point?? Like, whatever happened to Aqua seemingly crediting Yura's death to Nino's involvement? What happened to Aqua saying that Hikaru being the mastermind made no sense? Like, I guess he was right, but jesus

Even things I can take the time to try and infer (which, see last review's discussions on Inferring Things) just make me feel like I'm doing the work the story should have done in terms of trying to get his character to cohere. As it stands, Hikaru isn't in opposition to Aqua because he has harmful beliefs or behaviours born from his participation in society that stem from or are in conversation with the story's wider themes, but because he has one very specific unhinged belief totally disconnected from reality focused on one specific person and manifesting in such a way that caused him to just be Ontologically Evil And Broken.

And it's not like this would even be hard to do! Hikaru is literally, explicitly an affluent and powerful person in the entertainment industry despite being someone who was broken by abuse perpetuated by those very systems of power. Why not lean into that? Why not examine the ways in which Hikaru and Ai converged in their experiences of abuse - Ai able to truly sever the chain and begin healing while Hikaru ends up making Airi's mistakes and enacting abuse and control on people with less power than him to try and regain agency and dignity?

Ryosuke (even post retcon) and ch154 Hikaru work so well because their specific beliefs about Ai reflect real world misogyny and parasocialism that are rife in the entertainment industry (and even outside of it) so they're able to contribute to the story's wider themes pretty well. But as of this chapter, Hikaru's stated beliefs about killing and apparent overall worldview are so fucking detached from reality and so lacking any foundation or grounding in textual events or theming that it doesn't even feel like an exaggeration of real world issues to a logical conclusion like Ryosuke does. He just feels like a cartoon character.

Not only is this shallow in general and really a huge wet fart of an ending for a character who has been built up for 4 actual years and 150 chapters of manga, it's also just bizarrely inconsistent. There's no proper connecting thread in the text between the seemingly emotionally disarmed and remorseful Hikaru of 154-5 and fucking joker slenderman ass here. The story spent so long making Hikaru deeply and viscerally sympathetic through exploring his history of abuse and exploitation mirroring Ai's that I'm not sure of what the point of that was in terms of authorial intent if we were always gonna end at this point of "you are Ontologically Evil and must die". Movie Arc backstory Hikaru flows quite naturally into 153-5 Hikaru but these specific beliefs and fixations on killing almost feel like they popped up from nowhere to force this confrontation to happen.

Ultimately, despite being given ample opportunity to do so, it just kind of feels like Akasaka just kind of lost interest in trying to develop Hikaru into a fully fleshed out and coherent character. We get flashes and teases of what could have come together into a fascinating and compelling antagonist but he ultimately fails to evolve past a vague sketch of a character, full of unconnected ideas and loose threads. In the end, Hikaru is only ever a cipher for the story to enact tragedy through with no real interest in his own feelings and interiority in relation to it - not even his own.

To scooch back a bit into the chapter, I will say that him being dragged down specifically by Gorou is interesting, especially since he seems to have returned to his scary ass Tokyo Blade rage ghost form. This seems to represent Gorou and his rage being sort of 'exorcised' from Aqua now his revenge is complete (as I theorized might happen last week) - his memories and existence obviously live on in Aqua (F… FOR NOW…..) but as a character in a narrative, this feels like a fine enough place to leave him.

Anyway, speaking of Aqua! How ya doing, champ?

that bad, huh

The back half of this chapter revolves around giving Aqua some emotional resolution of his own and even though I've been kicking and biting to get some Aqua introspection for so long now, this one left me feeling pretty cold. After all this time of floating around the 'why' of his reincarnation, the answer we're finally given is….. just that Aqua was reborn to be Ruby's guard dog lol.

The idea that the twins were specifically reborn to be together has been imo pretty obvious for a good long while and I think it's a perfectly fine idea on paper, but this framing of it just kind of falls flat to me. I don't like that it positions Aqua's rebirth not as a second chance for him to love and be loved in a way he wasn't able to as Gorou, a gift from Tsukuyomi to two people who showed her a selfless, thoughtless kindness but as just yet more of the story using other characters and their stories to try and prop up Ruby or imbue her with more importance in a way that I think feels forced and does the characters who are used in this manner a huge disservice. I'm sure we could conclude that this is just Aqua's feelings on the matter and I really, really hope that Tsukuyomi fishes him out and gives him a slap while yelling YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LIVE FOR YOURSELF AND BE HAPPY IDIOT or something next chapter, but the extremely warm framing this is all given makes me think this is something the narrative both agrees with and approves of and as an Aqua enjoyer I just kind of hate that for him.

I also have to say that like… it doesn't not make sense for the story's finale and this aspect of the reincarnation plot to center Ruby specifically. She is one half of the titular Oshi no Kos and at least hypothetically the co-protagonist of the story. But suddenly making her the answer and central turning axis of basically the biggest ongoing mystery in the story like this feels kind of jarring when Akasaka spent a solid half of this entire manga not really doing her justice. This attempt to tug on our heartstrings via flashbacks to the twins' childhood also doesn't really do anything for me because as cute as it is, it's just disconnected flashbacks to brand new events in their childhood we never saw or heard about before. And it's weird because it's not like we don't have in-story examples of Aqua being over protective of Ruby, so why not flashback to those?

Idk. It's hard for me to articulate why this left me feeling kind of cold, but it feels like a symptom of this being part of an ending that Akasaka set in stone too early on and hasn't compromised for he way the character dynamics and story that made it onto paper have shifted and changed in ways that don't one hundred percent line up with the ending he wanted. If the twins' relationship was going to be this important to the ending and be so central to Aqua's existence as a character, I wish we'd spent more time on it. One of the major critiques of OnK that people had from like chapter 12 onwards that I still agree with is that Aqua and Ruby's relationship doesn't feel like a close knit connection between two people who grew up together for 1X+ years, and that continuing issue makes it kind of hard for me to feel the warm and fuzzy sibling feels right now. Which sucks because I LOVE the Hoshino family trio and I love Aqua and Ruby's family dynamic when we actually get to see it - their chapter of interlude and some of the scenes in their home in early OnK are some of my fave parts of the story for that exact reason. But this just kind of whiffed for me.

It also isn't lost on me that Ai is basically absent from these flashbacks despite them primarily taking part in the part of the twins' childhood they spent with her. I get that the idea was to focus specifically on Aqua and Ruby's dynamic there but it still feels kind of…

I've already written a short essay on this topic as it pertained to the initial reveal of Tsukuyomi's role in AQRB's reincarnation and the TL;DR of that post is that early in the series, Ai is centered as a character of as much significance to the reincarnation plot as Gorou/Aqua and Sarina/Ruby are, with the togetherness of the Hoshino family as a trio and Ai specifically as Aqua and Ruby's mother being emphasized as having a great deal of meaning and importance. But this chapter doubles down on essentially erasing her as a figure of weight and consequence in the twin's reincarnation in a way that is both inconsistent and just kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Like… I'm sorry, but given how much of Ai's character revolves around her being the victim of exploitation, of objectification, sexual and otherwise, of being forced to warp herself to response to the filthy desires thrust on her by the people around her, it's really just gross and a huge misstep for her to be reduced to a convenient walking uterus. It is yet another example of Ai being reduced to just a stepping stone in Ruby's narrative and part of a pattern in this regard I've come to really dislike. Framed like this, Ai's own act of bravery and love in giving not just herself but Sarina and Gorou the family all three of them were denied all their lives is now nothing more than a vessel for Sarina's wish fulfillment. As you can imagine, I kind of hate this too!!

Depending on if volume 16 follows 14 and 15's trend of being 11 chapters long instead of 10, vol16 will end on either 162 or 163 - based on how 162 ends, my guess is that this is our volume ender so I'm curious to see what form 163 will take - straightforward continuation of this scene or focus switch to other characters to maintain suspense? I guess we'll see in THREE FUCKING WEEKS……. Akasaka i swear to god……………………….

sidebar but tsukuyomi just out here floating is kind of wild. what happened to 'it's a normal child's body' ya little twerp?

[adobe-outdesign]

If we're doing shiny reviews now, how about Arceus and the Type: Null line?

(I think I already shared my thoughts on Arceus' shiny once before, but that's before I was really doing proper reviews so I'll touch on it again here.)

Arceus: Apparently this is a controversial hot take, but I think Arceus' shiny is nice; not the best shiny ever or anything, but solid. The thing about Arceus is that literally all of its accent colors change when it uses a plate, so the only thing they could alter for the shiny was the main body color. The nice golden color feels properly god-like and goes well with the gold accents already present, and while it's not the highest contrast shiny in the world, it's still distinct enough to tell the difference easily.

(Apparently people's main issue with this one is that it looks like piss, but if you think that's the case then I think that's a you problem my dudes.)

Type: Null: I appreciate the grey accents going to sort of a bronzy yellow to make it make Arceus; that's a legitimatly good concept and shows good attention to detail. However, I don't think the swap is as effective here; unlike Arceus, most of the body is black, so the color change isn't as noticable. Also, Arceus only changes one color for a reason, but Type: Null stays the same, so why not make the shiny more distinct? Maybe the black areas become white/grey to make it look more like Arceus, or maybe the front legs become red or the back fin becomes yellow or something. You could also alter the helmet and make it silver. It's not terrible as-is, but it's pretty underwhelming.

Silvally: Silvally does the same thing as Type: Null, except it has white by default instead of grey, so the yellow used better matches that of shiny Arceus. Basically everything I said about Type: Null's shiny applies here, though Silvally at least changes the accent color on its face from red to green. Still just kind of okay overall though.

[the-silver-sparrow]

A personal review on Calypso's character

I've seen a lot of people with very mixed takes on Calypso's character, ranging from calling her horrible to calling her "not as bad as you think"

I think there's a way to adopt both of those views.

DISCLAIMER: I will NOT be taking the original Odyssey into account because 1: I haven't read it, 2: This is a review on Calypso from the musical alone, and 3: Jay has said many times before that the musical isn't supposed to be exactly like the books, so, I wanted to keep it separated.

Without further ado I gotta YAP

An argument I see used many times to demonize Calypso's character, is the comparison to her book version, when they say "she sexually assaulted him." However, EPIC's Calypso, as far as the lyrics go, wasn't exactly implied to have "done anything" to Ody (I'll get to that in a minnie), I say this because, if Jay had really wanted to emphasize or even imply that at all, he would've. Take it from one of Antinuous' lines, "why don't you open her room so we can have fun with her?" (Plus another line of his in the Ithaca saga, but that's spoilers, iykyk), here we see that Jay wanted it to be ABUNDANTLY CLEAR that Antinuous is a horrible, horrible man

And yes, I know there's the "Soon into bed we'll climb and spend our time" line, BUT, that feels more like wishful thinking from her delusion than a proper threat like Antinuous' line was. Whether or not it implies she tried anything with Ody is, lyrically, REALLY up in the air.

All we got from Ody's time in Calypso's island is that he was trapped there for a whole 7 years, possibly being babied by her and not getting any moment of peace away from her clingy ass. This is further reinforced by the scene by the end of Love In Paradise, not once does Ody seem to hold any kind of hatred or resentment towards Calypso specifically, he's STILL just reminiscing on the people who died because of him. The way he talks to her, "you don't know what I've gone through, you don't know what I've sacrificed", the way he kinda snaps at her feels more like he's *scolding* her for being so immature and obsessed about him (and she is).

All that being said... her behavior isn't unprompted at all. OBVIOUSLY she's not gonna understand basic human decency. Not only is she a goddess - which is already as "not human" as you can get, further disconnecting her from Ody's struggles and feelings- She's been trapped in that island, without any kind of contact with other people, for 100 YEARS. She was a CHILD when she was first sent and trapped there, like she said, it's all she's ever known.

Now, obviously, that doesn't excuse her behavior. I'm not saying she's a saint; She kept Ody as her prisoner for 7 years, was probably always trying to earn his love and replace his wife, which must've been EXHAUSTING to Ody. Yes, she's still abusive (even if she probably doesn't fully realize it). Yes, she's weird as fuck. Yes, she's CRAZY.

While I'm not excusing her actions, it kind of feels unfair to expect her to know any better when she had nobody to teach her to begin with. Not even Odysseus. 100 years is 100 years too late to learn to be decent. No, she's not innocent, but she's not the devil incarnate either (AGAIN. IN THE MUSICAL).

The way I interpret "Not Sorry For Loving You" is not that she necessarily loved him... I feel like she was more in love with the IDEA of being in love. She finally had some company and thought it would just play out like a fairytale from here on out. You expect me to believe this abandonment issues-coated deity can at all grasp the concept of genuine love? It's not genuine. She's delusional. But that's no thanks to her isolation.

Her emotions, her sorrow, her anguish are genuine, but her love is not. And Not Sorry For Loving You does an AMAZING job at showcasing all of that.

Speaking of... I really don't agree with people saying NSFLY was "trying to paint her in a nicer light" or "a bad apology" or anything along those lines, NSFLY does not read like an apology at all. That's the whole POINT of the chorus. It's a lament. It's Calypso still living in the delusion that she loves Ody and lamenting that Ody could never reciprocate and/or entertain the fantasy. It's SUPPOSED to be emotional and sad, because she IS sad. She's DEVASTATED, even when she doesn't realize how much she's been hurting Ody up to this point.

Anyway... I just wanted to share my two cents because I can tell she's a very controversial character just in general. But in EPIC, I personally just feel sadness/pity for her. Though, I think her being such a complex character makes her one of my favorites. Her song is so emotionally charged (and god Wangui's voice is ANGELIC. WHAT THE FUCK.) it makes me want to tear up every time I listen to it. Every single time.

I could've said a little more but I'm late to class now </3

TL;DR: Calypso is weird as fuck but you know what I kinda like her for it

[aerithium]

Until Then Game Review

★ Score: 9.5/10 ★ Date Finished: August 10th, 2024 ★ Final Thoughts: What a gorgeous commentary on life and loss that this game brings. It is so hard to even reflect on this game because the themes and meanings within run so deep and are so impactful. The game starts off like a cozy indie slice of life with some strange elements appearing, its confusing at times but enjoyable none the less. The first ending is honestly jarring and really sad, it almost seems like there isn't more to this game. But things begin to get stranger in the second playthrough and very quickly the true story here unravels, having a second ending that made me bawl. The third loop is enough to give the player whiplash, its the climax of all the time reality stuff that hangs around the rest of the game. Complete with an ending that totally shatters your heart. The characters in this game are truly what make it the stellar game that it is, each one is unique, loveable, and relatable. But you also get to see these characters in so many different realities and timelines...and they are so different yet so the same. It is astonishing to be able to present such deep characters in media, and this game utterly nails it. I find such a hard time putting the experience this game gives the player into proper words. It is a heartbeat recommendation for anyone who enjoys video games artistically and can relate deeply with the themes around loss, love, friendship, regret, and teenage angst. The music only carries the games experience further into being just wonderful. I unfortunately ran into quite a few technical difficulties with the game, which I will cut some slack for since its indie developed, but was still frustrating

[lillaurenp96]

I have only listened to Kendrick's album twice and I still can't give it a proper review yet.

All I will say is y'all really pissed Kendrick off, but I know he was especially hurt by Lil Wayne. Cause even with Wayne saying all he said about black people he still respected Wayne as an artist. That was one of his idols next to Pac. He always shouted him out in his interviews and his music. So for Wayne to be in his feelings about not getting the superbowl and apparently a bunch of you other negroes, well I'm glad Kendrick got to see it. Cause now he knows, "oh ya'll are whack and bitter cause here I'm thinking we a community, guess not" I think he honestly realized this with Mr Moral, but I think he thought if you really about hip hop you would still respect each other when you do something great for the genre. But...like he said in his song, "There a few solid niggas, but it's not enough" lol

Anyways, back to the music, The samples in this album were everything. Sampling Luther, SWV(Gloria), Tupac (reincarnated), he even samples "Friends, how many of us have them" (wacced out murals) which was perfect knowing the theme of that song. What's funny is this honestly didn't feel like an album though it felt like a mixtape. So if he drops something else I wouldn't be surprised. But I am enjoying listening to this project and still have to listen. Kendrick really saved hip hop this year, same way how y'all had to be reminded that R&B isn't dead this year. But that's a separate post I will make. I just love and appreciate good art. THANKS KENDRICK, HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY TO ME 🧡

[lastoneout]

New Pinned/Intro Post!

Hi, I'm Loo(or Alex), I'm a disabled queer artist and writer as well as a furry vtuber who streams four days a week on twitch(mostly Minecraft but also Soulsborne games and a variety of other stuff).

You may know me from The Tuna Post, in which several thousand of you came together to "force" me to buy damn near 30 American Dollars worth of imported fancy canned tuna to eat and review live on stream. If you're here for it, said live review can be found on twitch and on my youtube channel. TL;DR: 10/10 would recommend.

I currently can't work, so if you like what I've got going on here and want to help me out, I take donations over on my ko-fi <3 Aside from that, follows on twitch help a lot, even if you never end up watching!

(Also, I sell my twitch emotes as stickers on redbubble!)

I don't have a proper BYF, but as a heads up I'm heavily introverted and have ADHD, and between those and my disabilities eating up my energy I often take a while to respond to messages/tags/reblogs/DMs and sometimes forget entirely. This isn't anything against you, and it's something I'm working on, but just something to keep in mind if you plan on interacting with me a lot.

FAQ:

Do you take commissions?

Not at the moment, but hopefully in the future!

What do you use for art?

Wacom Intuos tablet + Clip Studio Paint on the PC, though these days I mostly use CSP on a Samsung Galaxy Tab s6 since I can use it in bed on my low spoons days.

What do you want to go to school for?

Digital Art and American Sign Language!

You talk about being sick all the time/having health problems, what's wrong with you?

Too many things to list <3 but the most notable ones are chronic migraines, hEDS, and ADHD.

Queer?

I'm ace, bisexual, bigender, and butch. I'm also polyam but currently in a very happy monogamous relationship and don't have plans to change that. My pronouns are she/they, and while I would prefer to not have people use he/him with me you are highly encouraged to use masculine forms of address(sir, guy, dude, king, man, my guy, grandpa, dad, etc.) whenever appropriate. My assigned sex/gender at birth is none of your business.

Who's Yotsuba?

Yotsuba is an adorable little gremlin and the main character of my favorite manga, Yotsuba &!, and you should go read it right now seriously it's amazing go read it go read it GO READ IT-

What's "ask to tag"?

The tumblr equivalent of "author chose not to use archive warnings", I put it on anything that seems like it could use a trigger warning but where no one has specifically asked me to tag for that trigger yet. Things I currently (try to) tag for: flashing lights/eyestrain, insects, suicide, fatphobia/diet culture/disordered eating, my hero academia, gore/body horror, current events, us politics, politics, covid, cats, and anything nsfw goes under nsft.

I can't promise to be 100% consistent with these tho, between the ADHD and the migraines I am very forgetful, so slip ups are bound to happen.

Loo? Like the bathroom??

LOO is short for LastOneOut, I'm american and forgot people call it that, you can write it as Lou or just call me Alex if it makes you feel better.

LookingForLoo?? Like looking for the bathroom??

On websites where LastOneOut is taken I'm LookingForLoo because I'm literally looking for LOO, LastOneOut. I thought it was clever T_T

Sideblogs?

I have a nsfw alt @looafterdark (18+ only I swear to god I keep a loaded gun pointed at the follow list) and a writing inspo blog @last-scrapbook. I also once ran a couple of character ask blogs, though I don't plan on starting them up again, and I was the mod behind @pokeprofshowdown.

Who's Eugene/Ophelia/Sasha?

My ocs from an original story I'm working on. I get brainrot and post about them a lot. You are ALWAYS allowed to ask me about them!

What's your fursona/can I make art of you?

I'm a dog, kinda like a papillion but not really, and yes you may. My ref sheet is here.

Can I repost your funny text posts to twitter/insta/reddit?

Sure, all I ask is that you include the entire post and leave my username visible. You can also tag me if you want, I'm lookingforloo on twitter, insta, and reddit <3

Can I repost your art/writing?

Absolutely not.

Can I plug your art or writing into an AI program?

Absolutely not under any fucking circumstances.

Can I use your art in an amv/fandom board/as a cover for my playlist or fic/ect.?

Depends, DM me first.

Can I write fic/make fanart based on your fics/art/HCs/AUs?

Absolutely <3

Can I write fic/make fanart based on your OCs?

Art yes, fics no.

What's your stance on the discourse?

There is no amount of posting online about contentious topics that could ever match the sheer power of simply going out into your community and finding a project that helps other people that you can dedicate your time and energy to. Also wear a mask, vote(if you can), and listen to marginalized people when they speak about their experiences.

How old are you?

29

[munchkinmarauder]

My review of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver

Overall I'll give it a generous 4/5 stars and I'm excited to see where this series takes up but I do have some gripes with it

Also lots of stuff from Orlando's AITP X-Men Monday interview pops up so check it out as we may have some hidden clues on what's next

Spoilers below

Overall a good set up issue with some fun moments. Some of my fears were exaggerated but some of those expected fears did mean I didn't enjoy the issue as much as I hoped. However I'm fault happy overall and keen for the rest of the series

The good-

- a series with the twins as coleads has been long overdue. I'm so happy to see it finally happen. Fun fact this is the first marvel series to be headlines by a sibling duo.- for the most part the twins dynamic and fight felt like a proper sibling fight. You could feel the weight of their long history and the multitude of things left unsaid and resentments.

- it's nice to see Wanda being the one clearly at fault for a fight between them for a change

- while the twins are little orange I appriciate the commitment to showcasing the twins as visible people of colour. It was long needed. I do think they (and Luna and Tommy should be more visibly brown). I also am enjoying the art and the use of the vibrant colours in general.

- I like the mystery being set up with why the twins are being targeted and the twist that while Magneto did write the letter he wasn't the one who sent it. I'm not as curious at the letter contents as I thought I would be. It seems he's being cruel because he's a dick to Pietro but let's see. I also really am excited to know why it's both twins and the combination of them together that has the giver upset. Lore and power upgrade for born twins? I hope so. Wanda being a universal threat is a given so I am way more curious about what they'll do with Pietro

- I think it was a good move to make a joke about is or isn't Magneto the bio dad at the start and shoot it down. I would love for the retcon to be undone I just don't think it has a place in this story about the bond between the twins. Magneto doesn't need to overshadow the series more than he has already for what it's worth I do think the comics are leading up to a Magnet fam reunion with most of its members appearing in major comics this year.

- it being acknowledged that Magneto was cruel to Pietro, killed him and treated the twins unequally. I have gripes with this I'll set out below but given how biased Orlando is towards Magneto this was good to see.

- the Luna, Tommy and Monet cameos made me so happy! I'm glad Orlando seems fond of Luna and I hope she and Monet join Tommy in helping Pietro. Even if the ladies are just cameos it's still a nice touch.- I liked the contrast where the fuming twins lash out with their powers. Wanda destroys her shop and Pietro is ranting but checking up on loved ones while he does so. They are each others ying and Yang.

- we're lucky the Wizard is a drama queen cause his snipers seem pretty competent and if they'd used regular bullets this series would be automatically over lol. I do also think the Wizards team called Pietro to upset him. Futher and not Wanda to ensure the twins wouldn't be able to contact each other.

The bad

- the writing for Wanda was better than Pietro. This feels more like a Wanda series so far but it's early days so let's see. Even though Wanda is the one initially in the wrong she seems to be treated more sympathetic by the narrative and of course she has more page time than her brother.

- Pietro's past appearances in SW made me a bit unsure about how Orlando will write Pietro, his takes in the comic themselves are quite superficially though he talks about Pietro very passionately in Interviews. Nothing really changed that opinion here.

- we didn't get enough of the twins interacting and this is supposed to be a series about their relationship. It would have been nice to have a little more of them getting along so the fight felt more impactful. An infinity comic with the two might have been a good idea.- I hate the Pietro fears Wanda thing Orlando introduced as well as the Pietro manipulated Wanda for HoM. I don't think Steve actually read that comic because Wanda herself in that comic said all her brother was doing was protecting her cause the X-Men and Avengers wanted to kill her and Magneto was willing to let them. Having Wanda say this was off-putting. Had it been purely in angry it would be somewhat forgivable but Orlando has expressed this sentiment in his other SW books

- Orlando's insistence on the adopted family angle and portraying Magneto as a complicated but good man who took the twins in with Wanda as the worshipful daddies girl and the victim blaming as Pietro was cold to him. That man was abusive to both his children. He would let them die for his cause and had abandoned them multiple times. Wanda pre retcon had many an issue and gripe with him. The twins are justified in their issues with him and no one should have to forgive their abusers. Magneto is a fascinating character and I loved the pre retcon dynamic with the twins as it was so tragic and full of irony and it only really works if theyre blood related. This painting of them as a happy chosen family is detrimental to all characters involved.

[acnh-villager-a-day]

Day 9 of reviewing every Animal Crossing New Horizons villager

Todays villager is AMELIA

Nintendo has fucking NAILED this design. I know this woman. I don't need to read her information at all because I know her. The sleepy eye look with the sharp winged eyeliner, the grandeur of the suggested feathers at the bottom of her neck... I know her. At first I thought I didn't like the black sweater but then I realised the subversively formal aura it gives her. Amelia is proper, without immediately coming across as proper. My only slight gripe with Amelia's look is the lower half but that's less an independent problem and just an issue I have with the design of the eagle villagers; their legs look like Victorian era undergarments.

As hilariously suggested by her eyeliner, Amelia is a snooty villager which I think is very clever and thought out; there is a conversation between her personality and vanity that transcends language and can be heard from a mile away. Her personality is filled to the brim with smarts and demure. Take her special skill being the indulgence in poker, matching the red sections on her face. Take her aspiration to become a lawyer, as evidenced in her attire. I hate to base so much of Amelia on the way she looks but it seems to have become this beacon for who she is as a person. I am blown away by her look and how it isn't just a look, rather an extension of her identity.

Ok now I'll get into what I think about her skill and goal. It's just so well-rounded. There is nothing about Amelia that isn't sophisticated. A skill in poker? Wanting to become a lawyer? These two things are married only by sheer sophistication. Amelia also expresses an interest in the arts by permission of her hobby being music, I would take a bullet for this villager. What completes the celebratory case of her persona to me is her favourite song being K.K. Condor. It's such a delicate but frantic track, plucked straight from the score of a ballet's great climax in which the lead takes back her independence from an oppressive force. Which is something I feel like Amelia, as the eldest of 5 siblings could relate to, seeing that she packed up her life and left for your island. Bravo to Nintendo for this character, bravo.

Amelia's history in the Animal Crossing franchise is somewhat of an allegory too. Named after Amelia Earhart, she is the first female eagle of the franchise up until New Leaf when Celia was introduced. Amelia Earhart herself was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic and the first person to fly solo and continuously over the United States. The further commonality between these two is flight. Poetic really.

Amelia is a free spirited, sophisticated and elegant trailblazer of the Animal Crossing franchise who has touched down at last, in full form, in New Horizons. All in all, I must give Amelia a solid 9/10.

[glass-bride]

Diabolik lovers Lost Eden Subaru Sakamaki Short Story Translation

Scans and translation review by: @karleksmumskladdkaka

Please keep in mind I'm not 100% fluent in japanese and english, I did my best, but it may have mistakes, feel free to dm me if you find any. Hope you enjoy it anyways.

The World Tree stick roots in the ground of Eden.

This one, as if in order to inform the end of world to me, continues to lose leafs.

I'm realizing it everytime I visit here.

The fear dominates my mind.

Like, that I can't be like the old man... ...

But, no matter how much I've been thinking, the answer is something that isn't coming.

When I kicked the ground while shaking my head, the feeling of fear desapeared a little.

And then, I thought about a woman's face. That chooses me, no matter what.

That vowed to be by my side... my beloved woman.

"But, she hasn't come yet, huh... ..."

Where is she, and what the heck she's doing? While looking up to the sky, i release an indescribable sigh of anxiety.

The woman expected to be by my side at this time usually, ain't revealing her figure now.

Well, whatever, because it's not like she promissed anything.

That's why I don't know what this woman is doing.

That's right, for example, even if she is involved with my other brothers, or if she is in good terms with the founder guys and the mukami family, who have started to visit me excessively at my place... ...

It's not related to me.

"... ... ... ... Shit!"

I don't want to stay in this place for a long time. Just because of this I'm leaving.

After giving this proper pretex, I turn my back to the world tree.

It's not... ... to search for this woman, I got around the surroundings in order to investigate the eden.

"You... were you still doing that?"

"Su- Subaru-Kun... ... !?"

Unexpectedly, I found the woman easily.

The place was at the Eden flower garden.

We frequently visit here to recover the withered plants of Eden.

By looking at the crouched woman's hand, I understood that she was planting in the ground awkward artificial flowers.

Are you leaving me alone to take care of the garden?

As soon as I thought it, my own confined feelings disgusted me.

"Hey, let's go back to the bedroom quick"

"Could you wait for me just a little longer? Since I'm almost finished."

"... ... ... ..."

I see the woman shaking the head and I get terribly discouraged.

In addition,  you can go back before me, she means.

She doesn't know my feelings.

I sit on the ground and give a deep sigh.

Without a doubt, she thought I would end up leaving.

The woman looks at me in a strange way.

"... ... ... ... Because."

"Eh?"

"... ... Because! You're in trance with that thing like an idiot... ... I'm saying that you should be more aware sometimes! (1)"

I wonder if she undertood my intention.

The woman's cheeks turn red for a moment, and she covers her face.

Simultaneously, I fall in self hate.

I didn't mean to say something like that.

The embarrassment controls my mind, and I fell like I want to scape right now.

At this moment...

"... ... !?"

I breath surprised.

The delicate body that was right in front of my eyes untill just before, was now dived inside my chest.

This way, she passes her arms around my back, and grabs my clothes with her thin fingers.

It was so sudden that I couldn't embrace, or push her aside, just kept dazed.

I felt like a really long time was necessary to comprehend the situation.

Could it be, that she wanted to be hugged... ...?

The moment I realize it, several minutes seem to have passed.

While the woman makes a slightly upset face, she turns her eyes towards me.

"... ... Ch. Don't make this face! (2)"

But even this treatment, stirts up her said greed wish.

Overwhelmed by love, I pull the woman inside of my arms.

This way, I kiss her nape.

The woman was moving as if ticklish, so I dropped my lips there many times to immobilize her.

"We're getting back to the bedroom for sure. Prepare yourself to what comes after this... ... okay?"

As I whisper it close to her ear, she looks so embarrassed, but responds to my expectations with nothing but a nood.

Untill some time ago, I lamented my own lack of power, and then got jealous that she didin't pay attention to me, but now it wasn't remaning on the corner of my mind anymore.

I held her hand with strength, and quickly traced the way towards the bedroom.

Now, I just want to feel her.

The warmth, the touch, the voice, the shape... ... I wanted to put my hands in everything.

.

.

.

Translation notes

1 - Subaru used the verb 構えって here which means "posture", I've found an article explaining this word can be used in martial arts as a command to get ready, so I thought that probably he was upset with Yui because if someone attacked her she would be stabbed without time to try defending herself, since she wasn't aware, she wasn't in "posture" to fight.

2 - He uses here 調子 which means mood, and 乗る which is a verb utilized to talk about taking means of transport, if I translated it word by word would end up in something like "don't ride this mood".

[sno4wy]

Did you seriously drop that much money to try to make your awful ship more valid? Guess what? You didn't, hope you enjoyed wasting a ton of money. It doesn't matter how much money you pay, you and your lame friends will always be the only ones who prefer your fugly builder with Miguel. Just give it up and go jump off a bridge already.

Hey Anon, based on the three messages you sent me today, it seems that my sharing of my commission from Momodeary in the official Pathea Discord server really upset you. Your rage felt really familiar to me, and I thought about this a lot about why. I'm going to hazard a guess that you're lashing out at me more than usual because of the price aspect, especially for something that seems so frivolous. I get it -- I grew up in abject poverty, and I harbored a lot of rage about it both directly and indirectly for many years. It really sucks not having the money to do what you need, or even what you want, and it can feel like having salt rubbed into the wound when someone else shows off some pricey non-necessity that they got. Everyone deserves to get what brings them joy, as long as it isn't something that causes harm to others, and it sucks that capitalism/corporations/societal structure/etc make most people unable to attain that. I sincerely hope that things improve for you.

I'm fortunate now to do well enough for myself that I can afford a pricey commission like the one that I shared. I got the commission because I like Momodeary's art style, it's not a style that I see myself personally doing, and I'm making it up to myself now for all the things that I couldn't do in the past. I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to say it was to support the artist, as she has tons of clients and certainly didn't need my money, I'm really lucky to have been able to get a slot with her. If you have the means to do so and want to, I really suggest contacting her directly -- the worst thing she can say is no, but more likely is that she'll put you on an (admittedly long) waitlist. The point is, if you're upset about not being able to get a commission from her, don't write it off until you try. Worse comes to worst, she can't fit you in, but there are tons of skilled artists out there with similar styles that you can commission instead. It's ok though if you have your heart set on Momodeary, most artists are very accommodating as long as the client is understanding and willing to wait.

If your anger has to do with not being able to afford a commission from Momodeary, I'm really sorry about that. There are some ways that I can help, if not directly to get you a commission, but perhaps means to address the funds shortage issue. I managed to claw my way out of poverty, and in the process picked up more than a few ideas and tricks, however at the end of the day, there is no magical get rich quick scheme, and everything that you hear about how to find a job is sadly mostly true. For instance, a good resumé is an integral part to finding a job, and a big part of what makes a resumé good is proper formatting. Having gone from someone who sent out hundreds of resumés to someone who's had to review hundreds of resumés, I can tell you that so much of the time, it's a lot less about the contents of the resumé and more about its appearance. Countless qualified, heck, overqualified, people get turned down for positions because their resumés don't even get looked at. I'm happy to look over a resumé if you'd like, and of course I'd understand if you need to anonymize most of it before showing me. Please note that it is sadly the case that having a good resumé, or in many cases, all the correct qualifications, don't necessarily guarantee you a job. Connections are at least, if not more, important, so don't be shy about asking for help from friends and family in this aspect.

Finding and securing a job can be a long-term project though, so picking up some side hustles might be a good way to generate some income, especially as you can keep these side hustles after finding a job. A lot of people have even done so well with their side hustles that they were able to make them into their careers. I'm happy to make suggestions, but I'm afraid that my knowledge is chiefly confined to the US and my ideas may not be applicable or workable in other countries. I have found however that a fairly universal way to generate some income via a side hustle is through selling crocheted items. Crochet is very quick and easy to learn and master, and yarn is very cheap, especially if you get store brands like Joann's Big Twist. Red Heart Super Saver is also very cheap yarn that comes in a ton of colors. There are countless free patterns on the internet, and ones that aren't free tend to be pretty cheap, generally within the $5 range. It is totally legal to sell the stuff you make from purchased patterns; some patterns even explicitly state that this is the case. The best part about crochet is that you can do it while doing other stuff, like commuting to your job, watching a show, listening to music, etc. It's totally possible to churn out a ton of crochet animals (amigurumi) in one day. Dipping into fandom stuff by making characters from a certain franchise is a great way to sell crochet products. Another really cool thing is that there doesn't currently exist a way for crocheted items to be mass produced; while there are items that look crocheted, they're actually sewn together pieces and not true crochet. Machines can't currently make crocheted items. Buyers looking for real crochet products want something that only a human can make.

Online marketing tools are also pretty solid. Etsy is the way to go for handmade crafts, although they do take a pretty hefty fee (15%). You can try to cut down on that fee by listing on your own social media, in which case you'd still have to pay a 3-5% handling fee for payment processors, and it can be a pain trying to beat social media algorithms. If you're handy with TikTok, that's a great way to boost awareness of your brand, and you can use those same videos as Reels on Instagram and Facebook to get your accounts noticed faster.

If you're an artist, you could of course always try to go the commissions route, but I've found that this is a much harder uphill battle than trying to break into the scene marketing crochet goods. If you do decide to give crochet a shot, I really recommend investing in a quality hook -- Clover Armour is many crocheters' go-to. They are pricy, around $9 for a hook, but they last forever and they're super comfortable to use. You only need one to start -- I recommend the size G (4.0 mm) one, as that goes with the most common yarn weight for a lot of amigurumi. Big Twist and Red Heart Super Saver are also both Worsted weight yarn, for which you use a G hook. If this is something you really want to do but are really tight on funds, I'm happy to get one of those hooks for you, just tell me how to get it to you.

I have a lot of other ideas for possible side gigs, which all will require a lot of work, but will return income. However, I'd just be spitballing, so hit me up if you want to talk shop. You know where to find me. ;P

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: The Scandal of Rose by Joanna Shupe

4.5/5. Releases 10/2/24.

Heat Index: 7.5/10

Vibes:

—mistress/rich man

—age gap (hes 38, she's 19)

—illicit affairs

The Basics:

When actress Rose is approached by tycoon Alfred "Moore" Emerson III, she knows she can be nothing more than his nistress. She certainly doesn't intend to fall in love with him. But when Moore gets pressured to marry the "right" kind of woman, he and Rose need to confront what they actually mean to each other.

The Review:

Novellas are trickier than people think. You have less pagetime, and you're trying to convey a story that's just as impactful as what your readers find in a full-length book. Joanna Shupe is one of the few authors I've read who consistently knocks her novellas out of the park, and The Scandal of Rose is no exception.

The premise here is simple, but it's somehow not something we see enough of in historical romance. How many mistress heroines have you read about? Not many. And a lot of the time, the books that do center a mistress feature that life as part of her tragic backstory. She's not going to end up with the man she's with, right?

Here, Moore and Rose begin a relationship that is truly based on this immediate chemistry, major physical attraction, only for it to blossom into something more serious. I really love that, while Moore is like "YIKES @ ME" about their age gap, it ultimately isn't what the story is about. It's about two people building a gun, genuine connection and Rose demanding respect.

I'd definitely call this a heroine-forward book. While Moore is super sexy and charming, the story belongs to Rose. She's smart, assertive, and vicacious—always taking the lead. However, that doesn't stop her from being vulnerable and sweetly human. I so enjoyed her.

And you know what? She's the kind of girl who deserves a proper grovel. Thank God she gets one! The grovel here is DELIGHTFUL.

The Sex:

This is quite a hot book, as you'd expect from Joanna Shupe. I mean. We open on this man going down on her right after coming inside her. Come on now.

You get a You Oughta Know moment (iykyk), some desk shenanigans, YACHT shenanigans... Joanna, take your time, but we needed you back in the historical game BADLY.

Joanna is back in the Gilded Age with a fun, sexy book. It's the perfect solution for a reading slump; it's not overly complicated, and it IS super fun and tightly written.

Thanks to Joanna Shupe for providing me with. acopy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 150 thoughts!

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 7…. ttttttechnically? they don't actually mention that the kiss happened, so i'm counting it…

ladies, gentlemen and those who know better, our long national nightmare is finally over

after… literally I've lost count of how long it's been since we had some proper Aqua introspection, our landmark chapter 150 is almost entirely dedicated to putting us back in Aqua's head (quite literally!) and sort of catching up with him. Some things about Aqua that have been mostly only communicated through showing over telling are explicitly told in text and i'm ngl, there's one or two things where seeing textual confirmation of them got me barking like a fucking dog. Overall, while the pacing of the start of this arc has been bit clunky and this chapter itself isn't free of that either, it actually feels like things are moving and meaningful characterization is happening which after the Movie Arc is a bit of a luxury lol.

As usual, I want to gush about Mengo's art before I touch on anything else. Setting the majority of this chapter in a dream sequence allowed her to do some incredibly fun things with the staging and imagery here. Aqua in that eerie void with his feet drenched in blood… Aqua and Gorou still stuck in that hallway where Ai died, while Ruby has managed to take steps to leave… It's so fucking good.

There were some absolutely top tier Kanas this chapter, too… her little baby tantrum in flashback and that gorgeous final page of her… But I'm getting ahead of myself.

While I described this chapter up top as being communicating things about Aqua, it very much feels to me like it's also serving as closure for Gorou, both in the sense of him as a person and resolving the posthumous arc that he's been going on as part of Aqua. This chapter at last draws a clear and explicit distinction between the two, that Aqua is no longer Gorou, even if he might have been built on the foundation of his identity. Gorou is even described as a 'role' that Aqua has been compelled to play that Gorou himself is now urging him to step down from - he is offering to relinquish Aqua's future back to him… if that's what Aqua wants.

This was how I'd initially read the relationship back in my 143 review - that 'Aqua Hoshino' created from Gorou, his core values and driving ideals, but 18+ years of living a whole new life in a whole new social role, meeting people and having experiences Gorou would never have and literally having a different body and brain in the process have made him different and the sum total of those differences is the person we call Aqua Hoshino. This chapter seems to lean into this interpretation, casting them as a pair of briefly intersecting lines that once crossed but have now diverged onto their own paths.

I also just really liked the dynamic that they were shown to have this chapter. Whenever we've seen this conflict externalized in the past, Gorou has always been this frightening, overwhelming presence whose existence actively prevents Aqua from having any kind of happiness or peace. Here, though, they have a much less adversarial energy, which is a really nice reflection of Aqua being able to gradually start pulling himself out of the shit he's been stuck in. Gorou almost feels fatherly or big brotherly here, not just in how he behaves in regards to Sarina-as-Ruby, but for Aqua, too.

But……….. okay, I'll stop dodging around the elephant in the room now lol

After over 25 chapters of very deliberately avoiding putting us in his headspace, 150 finally puts the ball in Aqua's court vis-a-vis the AquRuby tension and he answers in a way I think would be pretty hard to walk back: That Ruby is his precious sister and that's it. That her feelings for him are the result of her projecting Gorou onto him, chasing a ghost that is fading from this world and that she does not actually love him. Whoof.

This was another thing where seeing it in text felt pretty great. I'd caught pretty early on that there was a weird divide in the way the story was handling the AquRuby dynamic - namely, that there wasn't an AquRuby dynamic and all the supposed ship development of it was largely happening in retrospect, beefing up the intensity of the GRSR relationship and having Ruby express her feelings to Gorou-through-Aqua. When the idea of Aqua and Ruby romance was floated, by contrast, it was always treated like a gag. With the Movie arc being as much of a mess as it was, it was hard to work out what the intentionality of that was (if there was any to begin with) but this seems to make it about as clear as it can be: neither Gorou or Aqua have any had any feelings of that sort of Sarina-through-Ruby and neither of them want to pursue romance with them.

Once again tapping into my powers of Claire-voyance, I already know a lot of people are trying to insist that this is Aqua lying to himself or 'settling' and that he does secretly want a relationship with Ruby for reals! but that really isn't how it comes across to me in the art. He's calm, speaks straightforwardly and without hesitation and makes his point pretty clear. We know how it looks when OnK character lie to themselves and this isn't really it. It would also just be strange for that to be the case when this is a scene about Aqua starting to consider the idea of moving past the things that hurt him and live out his future with someone.

And who that someone is… seems to be coming into focus, but I don't think we'll be getting there quite yet.

I will say that for as much as I liked this as a chapter and as a goodbye for Gorou… it kind of doesn't really make a lot of sense as a resolution for his guilt lol. This chapter frames things in such a way that centers his guilt on Sarina and that seeing her live her life as Ruby has given him some catharsis over it. This is a sweet idea but… that's, uh, not how this was framed anytime prior! When we've seen Gorou intrude on Aqua's happiness before, his self hate and his guilt all center on Ai's death and his inability to save her. The last time we saw him in this capacity in 95, that's what he was saying with his whole chest: that he deserves to suffer as punishment for Ai's suffering, Ai's death. I'm sure that knowing Sarina is living on as Ruby was very cathartic but… it has nothing to do with Ai! Why is this being framed as narratively resolved in this way?

Like… if I chew on it a bit, I can make it make sense: since chapter 1, Gorou has been pretty open about projecting Sarina onto Ai, processing his grief that way and imagining her living vicariously through Ai's success. The idea of Ruby doing the same by continuing Ai's legacy and keeping her radiance alive being the thing that gives him release over Ai's death is interesting and I can understand it emotionally, it just feels like a weird unexplained leap for the narrative to make. I was talking to a friend about it, trying to work it out by externalizing it, and they theorized that this was always the intended endpoint of Gorou's posthumous arc but that the story had drifted in the middle section and Akasaka hadn't quite realigned them. This makes a lot of sense to me and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the case.

I will say that it really bugs me. I've already talked about the ways Ai's importance to the twins as their mother has been gradually downplayed and diluted as the Movie Arc has gone on. In my original post, I attributed this to Akasaka trying to amp up the intensity of the GRSR -> AQRB relationship in a soap opera-y sort of way, but given that this chapter seems to shut down AquRuby, I don't really know if that's the case. In general, Ai has been treated as sort of narratively 'resolved' as of 137, as if that chapter was the capstone to her posthumous character arc and while that might be the case for Ruby… I really don't think it is for Aqua!

It's possible that this is intentional. Aqua still has a shitton of work to do on unfucking his relationship with Ai and the ways his view of her, as implied by the Movie Arc, is warped by his grief. I could see this final stretch of the story being primarily about that - after all, this chapter is about confronting Aqua with the binary choice of revenge or love. In a lot of ways, this has always been what he's struggling with but putting the ball this firmly in his court establishes Ai's death entirely as his own trauma that he has to work through on his own. After all, Aqua might have confronted Gorou in this chapter, but there's a certain someone we also saw in chapter 95 that Aqua hasn't dealt with yet…

I'm talking about Kana, obviously! (ducks thrown tomatoes)

I don't have a ton to say about the AQKN romance setup in this chapter other than… yeah, I kinda saw this coming! It's interesting to see Gorou, the representation of Aqua's guilt and self destruction, be the one to so directly confront him and push him towards trying to find some happiness with her. Aqua quietly noting that he knows the things he likes about Kana and he knows that moving on with her makes a lot of sense - but what makes this especially interesting is the way it mirrors Kana's own reflection on her relationship with Aqua at the end of the chapter.

I like that a lot of the AQKN moments the two reflect on are just… mundane, everyday instances of the two of them stumbling through life together. I've seen a lot of people say AQKN is 'boring' or 'flat' because it lacks the drama of AQAK or AQRB but honestly, I feel like this is what makes it work (when it does work) - their relationship, whatever form it takes, is a safe and quiet space where they can just exist outside the drama and transactional utility of so many of their other relationships.

That said, while those montages mirror each other, what makes them interesting is their divergence point. Kana decides to commit to choosing 'love', with that absolutely gorgeous full page panel, but Gorou hands the knife - the symbol of the violence that blighted Aqua's life - back to him and makes it clear that love or revenge, the choice is now entirely in Aqua's hands. We don't see what he chooses, but… if Oshi no Ko really is a story with a happy ending, I think it's a foregone conclusion. And that makes me really happy.

Not that it's happening anytime soon, lol. I'll be very shocked if Kana's confession doesn't result in a rejection from Aqua, at least at this point in time - there's too much else going on in the story for this to be the right place for Aqua to commit to Kana. She's still an idol, after all and Kamiki is still around. The bets I'm placing right now are that AQKN are going to get their resolution, whatever form it takes, at the Dome concert during or after Kana's graduation.

As for their date… Call me cynical, but I also don't see it going particularly well. After all…

Aren't we forgetting somebody?

[diamondcitydarlin]

Just finished DATV last night, thought I'd type up a little 'review' of my thoughts and what I thought were pros/cons etc, for anyone thinking of purchasing and trying it out but might be on the fence or whatever. Or just for fun idk lol. There are probably going to be some very minor spoilers below the cut, though I'm really going to try to avoid mentioning the big ones (at the very least I will avoid mentioning specifics lol, but probably not a spoiler-free review).

PROS

Really loved the combat system in this one a lot, despite the fact that the rogue class (at least so far as I can tell, I was a veil-jumper/archer focused and put my talent points into the related tree so that might have influenced things I have no idea) doesn't have stealth in this one. You don't necessarily need it, but I feel a stealth option would have come in handy during fights when the player needs to do mechanics with blight boils and crystals etc, especially as the monsters seem to hone-in solely on the main player no matter what. SORRY this is still a pro! Despite the lack of stealth, I still really liked the combat system and mechanics a lot, it's very fluid with the dodges and sprints. It was also pretty reminiscent to playing World of Warcraft which I often do, so I felt like it fit my current skill set lol. HOWEVER, as others have said, this combat system isn't really RPG and isn't like how they've done combat in games past, so be aware of that.

Opinions are going to vary on this, but I feel like the companions are all pretty solid and likeable, which for me is a bit of a departure bc in every game there's usually one or two that I avoid/dislike or find boring for whatever reason (not gonna name names lol). This also makes the choices you'll face with them A LOT harder, but for me that's a pro. Rip my heart into shreds please.

Obviously the graphics and aesthetics are gorgeous, top-tier, the design team really put their whole pussy into this lol. Not much else needs to be said on this point other than I also appreciated the lack of glitches and issues (I think between my husband and I playing alongside each other, we encountered maybe only one or two issues in the whole playthrough, kudos to the QA team!). Ig that last one is kind of a lowbar, but in a world where games often get shipped too early and riddled with issues, it's nice to play something newly released that has obviously been play-tested over and over and over and is pretty seamless as a result.

This is more of a personal one and kind of a SPOILER but: I really loved how involved the Inquisitor was in the story. I really expected us to see them maybe once or twice, but my girl reappears REGULARLY across the entire story, which is so fun. It makes sense, of course, as the Inquisitor would've been close with Solas whether they romanced him or not (or even hated him, as my Inquisitor did). Also fun to see her and Dorian sorta hanging out together again bc they were besties in my game. IDK if everyone's going to care about that since most people didn't seem to like Inquisition very much -it's my fave don't kill me-, but she's a really important OC for me so that was cool lol. (None of the other former MCs appear or even get mentioned as far as I'm aware, including Hawke, which...considering what happens was a bit of a mistake imo)

This might be a 'con' for some people, but this game is (imo) more puzzle-heavy than the others, in terms of having a lot of main and side quests where you have to figure out which crystals need to be destroyed or empowered etc, and that's something I actually enjoy even (and especially) in combat, so if you like those kind of mechanics I think you'll really enjoy this game.

CONS

As mentioned above and as others have said, this isn't really a proper RPG as DA games have been in the past. You still have a team of companions (three, including yourself) and you can still control their attacks, but you don't control them directly and as far as I could tell there was no proper tactical map (but it's also possible I missed it...I didn't figure out how runes on my dagger worked until the final boss SO LOL)

While the companions are all really likeable, strong characters (imo) and you do get a good amount of side quests with them and personal stories and the like, I still sort of feel like it was lacking in comparison to the others on this front. IDK, in the other games it felt like there was more time, more dialogue, more cutscenes spent on fleshing out those friendship/team/romance bonds, and especially with the success of BG3, I had been sort of hoping BioWare would take notes and have more random personal cutscenes here and there to discover, more moments of the team just fucking around together etc. It's still there, I just felt like there could have been...more? Like, in DA:I how you can just go chat with companions out of cutscene here and there when you go back to Haven or Skyhold, and those convos are completely optional but reveal a lot about the companion you're talking to. Not a thing in this game, you only talk to the companions when they have scheduled cutscenes and I feel like something was missing without that option to just go kinda casually shoot the shit with them. Those kinda dialogues also gave opportunity to find out what's going on with companions of past games, but as that's not a thing in this one we don't really...know about a lot of them.

The Rook character. Okay, I want to preface that I actually loved my Rook a lot in this first playthrough, but that's because I don't really mind playing a character that is morally good and a team player. If you were hoping for more options in defining your Rook character, maybe doing an evil playthrough though, I have unfortunate news. There really aren't a lot of options for defining the Rook character in different ways and you're sort of locked into a lawfully or chaotic good path with them. I feel that was a missed opportunity to bring more options into the game for replays, like an outcome where you could do an evil Rook and side with the Elven gods or something. I'm honestly not even sure if you can piss off your companions so much they leave or hate you, but maybe? Seems like that would be the REAL challenge as Rook is just kind of locked into being a nice person no matter what.

The crafting system. I honestly don't remember a lot about the crafting systems in Origins and DA2, but I do replay DA:I a lot and can confidently say that I fucking LOVE the armor/weapon crafting system in DA:I. I love that you can recolor armor sets based on the materials you've gathered. I love that the player themselves are like, working at a forge to make them, so it feels like they're doing it personally for their friends lol. I love that you can find schematics in-world for making new armors and weapons. DATV pretty much takes all of that away. Materials you gather in DATV are just for upgrading preexisting armors, which the Crossroads Caretaker does themselves. The only way to get new armors and appearances is to buy them from vendors or loot them from chests etc. I feel like this was a really big misstep on their part because the crafting system of yore was a BIG chunk of the fun for me and half the reason I loved grinding so long. This is probably the worst sin of the game imo, but this is totally personal preference.

Another big one for me- as many of you probably already know, this game doesn't factor in the world states as the others did, it just asks which character the Inquisitor romanced in DA:I. That's it. It doesn't care who ended up being Divine (despite the Divine being mentioned frequently) it doesn't care what choices you made in other games regarding the lore, it doesn't care what other kind of relationships you might have had with companions. Actually, I think losing the world states is probably the biggest sin of this game, way more than the crafting system. It obviously wasn't a deal-breaker for me, but I really feel that A LOT was lost without factoring in the world states and making follow-ups in this story as they've done in the past. I KNOW that would be a lot of work to develop and account for, but as it's been a staple of this series and incorporated into past games it's pretty disappointing to not have it at all this time.

(I technically have more 'cons' but they're too spoilery and just regard lore decisions I didn't totally agree with so I'll leave those out)

On the whole, I really thought it was a super fun game and I will most likely do more playthroughs at some point. However, if you are a DA fan and have played all the games, it will be impossible not to compare and contrast, and I think most DA fans will probably find this game to be the weakest of the four. But, still, it's a gorgeous, fun, and pretty solid action/adventure game, so I think if you like that sort of thing it's worth a try to play!