#allie reviews

[reallymadefromstardust]

Am I live blogging? I think I am.

I am watching Hawkeye.

Hawkeye is like Batman but if he was way more suburban dad who loves his kids than he is billionaire

[t-hirstreview]

[jessread-s]

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

✩🐉✨Review:

A strong start to a romantasy series with endless potential!

“Fear the Flames” follows Elowen Atarah, an exiled princess, as she teams up with Cayden Veles, the feared Commander of Vareveth, to free her dragons and save her people. As forces beyond their control try to keep them apart, the pull between Elowen and Cayden becomes irresistible. 

The concept of this book immediately grasped my attention. It was the reluctant allies-to-lovers romance that drew me in further! Elowen and Cayden’s knife to the throat meet-cute put me in a chokehold and I was living for their banter. Their dynamic is truly incredible and the tension had my heart pounding.

Unfortunately, the pacing and aspects of the writing are what lost me. While Cayden fell first, he also fell very fast. Many readers might like this if they prefer instantaneous chemistry, but I tend to like books where the relationship development moves more slowly, so I did not enjoy how quick it felt. Much of their dialogue, aside from the banter, was also clunky and cringey at times. 

As far as the plot, the heist was the main focus, so I was a bit let down when it missed the mark. There was a lot of build-up surrounding it only for it to be done and over with so quickly. Nearly everything was executed perfectly without a hitch, so it just ended up being anticlimactic. 

Overall, I appreciate this book’s vision and really liked some of its elements despite its setbacks. I’m interested to see what direction Darling takes the next book now that the groundwork has been laid.

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[anim-ttrpgs]

The Review Copy of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy

Guess what is coming soon at the time of writing this? The review copy of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy!

This represents the first official pre-release release of a version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy that doesn’t look like an unformatted mess!

Don’t get me wrong, the version of Eureka you get for just $5 on our patreon is plenty readable, but in its current unformatted state the page count is hugely bloated, there’s a lot of blank space, and the flavor text is all just shoved under the body text with notes denoting it as such. Plus, it’s all just black text on a white background without much in the way of aesthetic besides the occasional snoop to break things up.

Well not anymore! The copy we are going to be sending to reviewers and rpg news outlets is going to be a test-run of our actual intended aesthetic for the finalized rulebook, that of a bunch of conspiracy and investigation notes pinned to a corkboard with red string connecting them!

(The text within the images you’re seeing here is slightly outdated because these are just mock-ups, the text in the actual review copy will be much cleaner thanks to some excellent copy-editing help we have been getting.)

Due to time constraints and being behind on deadlines, plus not having the Kickstarter money to pay for additional art yet, this version will not showcase the full scope of the intended aesthetic, but it will at least give you a pretty good idea of what we’re going for.

The final version is going to have a wider variety in the paper scraps so as to more efficiently use the space available, plus a bunch of different “styles” for the side text, which will help denote whether it is a rules clarification, an example, a bit of flavor text, etc—plus a whole Kickstarter campaign worth of art from theblackwarden, qsy, and chaospyromancy! The Kickstarter campaign is launching April 10th, 2024, and we are going to need about $3,000 to meet our base goal and $33,000 to meet all of our many stretch goals, so if you want a more stylish and artistic rulebook, please give what you can to our Kickstarter campaign in April!

We are gonna be sending this version of the rulebook to tons and tons of TTRPG personalities and news outlets within the next couple of weeks in hopes of an honest review or two that will help get Eureka on people's radar beyond the modest following we have here on Tumblr. If you are one such personality or news outlet, and you want to recieve access to the free review copy to read and write about, please do not hesitate to contact us, even if you only have a very small following! You can find our contact info on out website or just contact us right here on tumblr!

Check out our Kickstarter page for the best accumulation of info on what Eureka: investigative Urban Fantasy even is! The Kickstarter campaign launches April 10th 2024!

Check out our Patreon to get the whole prerelease rulebook + multiple adventure modules and pieces of short fiction for a subscription of only $5!

If you wanna try before you buy, check out our website for more information on Eureka as well as a download link to the free demo version!

Interested in actually playing this game, and many others, with the developers? Check out A.N.I.M.'s TTRPG Book Club, a club of nearly 100 members at the time of writing this where we regularly nominate, vote on, and then play indie TTRPGs! At the time of writing this, we are playing Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy, and sign-ups are closed for actually playing it, but you can still join in to pick up a PDF club copy of the rulebook to read and follow along with discussion, and sit in on and observe sessions! There is no schedule obligation for joining this club, as we keep things very flexible by assigning multiple GMs with different timeslots each round, to try and accomodate everyone! This round, we had over thirty people sign up, and were able to fit in all but one! Here is the invite link! See you there!

[cheesecakeislazy]

Disventure Camp All Stars, Season 3 Episode 21. The final episode review…

Wow… I.. I cannot believe it’s over. Sure, we’ll be getting our season 4- but? This? Wow..

I’m actually… kinda glad that Riya won. It showed her that being a bitch will make her lose in any other situation. She got the money, but everything else and everyone else? Hates her. Wants nothing to do with her. Wow.

ONC- I might shit on you for being bad writers, because let’s be honest- a lot of Indie shows tend to have some issues. Season 3 was the best animated show, yet still had some writing problems. For example- within this last episode, Tom states that he has (canonically) been waterboarded. How many torture tactics has Tom suffered through? Why doesn’t he have any sort of mental illness from that? It doesn’t make sense to me at least.. but I digress.

1. Tom being Tom carried this episode, he made me laugh the most. Thanks Tom and his VA for being amazing.

2. Ally and Jake actually managed to become friends? Not really.. personally? I think that they both respect each other. I don’t want them to be friends, I enjoy their sibling rivalry dynamic. But it adds a layer of the dynamic to establish the fact that they respect each other.

3. Fiore and Alec found family? Thanks for making me want to cry ONC- you always knew how to pull my found family heart strings. I love their dynamic, Fiore being worried for Alec added years to my lifespan.

4. Wish I got to see more Jakeden moments- but at least I saw some Jakeden Fanart at the end lol (btw I am actually working on the rewrite, I just happen to be busy.)

5. Connor!!! YES!!! HE GOT TO BE HAPPY! I wish he slapped Riya- but oh well, they can’t all be winners. I really hope that we get to find out her name and how they met, please give me Connor’s new wife backstory.

6. TomJake is my 2nd favorite DCAS ship- so I’m actually okay with them getting back together. I won’t forgive them for making all of us suffer though- Odd Nations may suffer for making us go through hell.

7. Still think they should make HunTessAlly a poly couple- so let’s just pretend it happened off camera…

8. I might be wrong but was there nsfw art in the Fanart section of the episode…?

9. Riya is a bitch, I refuse to feel sorry for her. Suffer. You deserve it.

10. I really enjoyed this episode despite that possibly being a hot take..

I’m really glad that they decided to make Jake.. happy. I was so scared that the entire time he would act like “Noooo! I’m a failure!!” And completely disregard his growth. Thankfully, the writers aren’t that bad.

Surprisingly- I don’t have that much to say this time. Can’t wait to see everyone else’s reactions though..

[marlinspirkhall]

Dropout stars are so iconic they're gonna need their own section next year

Well deserved but WHERE are Ally and Lou >:(

[theloverboy27]

Nothing made I Saw the TV Glow feel more real than watching it with a couple of cis people and getting to the credits and one of them saying "I didn't get it"

[electricpants57]

book review: i have no mouth and i must scream

recently, i decided to delve into the silly world of sci-fi and when looking through things i should read i came across "i have no mouth and i must scream" by harlan ellison.

it is a short story about an AI who went rogue and killed the entire human population aside from 5 people to torture relentlessly.

it's a pretty good book. i adore how you could really feel how much AM hated the five, not just through his words but also through his actions. i love how his motives are understandable, and you can sympathize with him, but then again his actions are irredeemable and are the most evil thing any character in fiction has ever done to humans.

i also love how the book goes into detail about ted's relationship with the other five, especially ellen. it is said that he and ellen have a sexual relationship, but it is possible that he genuinely loved ellen outside of her body. that's why it was all the more sadder when he had to kill ellen and make a big sacrifice, which angered AM to torture him worse than he had been tortured when the others were still alive.

the story is told beautifully, and the wording is excellent. you could really imagine and feel the pain the five were feeling, alongside ted's feelings about the other five (and ellen in particular.) it's a very good way of storytelling, and the plot (and character of AM) is nothing like i have ever seen before. it's very unique, which i LOVE, and the ending being bittersweet always gets to me. i adore bittersweet endings.

i also read the comic adaptation, listened to the audiobook, and listened to the radio drama, though i have yet to play the game. i just want to say that ellison's voice acting for AM is immeasurable! i really love the way he captured AM's rage and hatred for humans, and it just felt all the more real, plus, he sounds like he was having lots of fun anyway. the comic adaptation is beautifully illustrated, though i wasn't a big fan of how they made ted SAY the stuff instead of simply thinking it, but it wasn't an issue since the designs and visuals were just immaculate.

TL;DR it's an excellent book, and i definitely reccommend it. 10/10!

NEXT UP: All Tomorrows by C. M. Kösemen

[keelanrosa]

started reading the cass review because i'm apparently just Like That and i want everybody crowing about how this proves sooooo much about how terfs are right and trans people are wrong to like. take a scientific literacy class or something. or even just read the occasional study besides the one you're currently trying to prove a point with. not even necessarily pro-trans studies just learn how to know what studies actually found as opposed to what people trying to spoonfeed you an agenda claim they found.

to use just one infuriating example:

Several studies from that period (Green et al., 1987; Zucker, 1985) suggested that in a minority (approximately 15%) of pre-pubertal children presenting with gender incongruence, this persisted into adulthood. The majority of these children became same-sex attracted, cisgender adults. These early studies were criticised on the basis that not all the children had a formal diagnosis of gender incongruence or gender dysphoria, but a review of the literature (Ristori & Steensma, 2016) noted that later studies (Drummond et al., 2008; Steensma & Cohen-Kettenis, 2015; Wallien et al., 2008) also found persistence rates of 10-33% in cohorts who had met formal diagnostic criteria at initial assessment, and had longer follow-up periods.

if you recognize the names Zucker and Steensma you are probably already going feral but tldr:

There are… many problems with Zucker's studies, "not all children had a formal diagnosis" is so far down the list this is literally the first i've heard of it. The closest i usually hear is the old DSM criteria for gender identity disorder was totally different from the current DSM criteria for gender dysphoria and/or how most people currently define "transgender"; notably it did not require the patient to identify as a different gender and overall better fits what we currently call "gender-non-comforming". Whether the kids had a formal diagnosis of "maybe trans, maybe just has different hobbies than expected, but either way their parents want them back in their neat little societal boxes" is absolutely not the main issue. This would be a problem even if Zucker was pro-trans (spoiler: He Is Not, and people who are immediately suspicious of pro-trans studies because "they're probably funded by big pharma or someone else who profits from transitioning" should apply at least a little of that suspicion to the guy who made a living running a conversion clinic); sometimes "formal" criteria change as we learn more about what's common, what's uncommon, what's uncommon but irrelevant, etc, and when the criteria changes drastically enough it doesn't make sense to pretend the old studies perfectly apply to the new criteria. If you found a study defining "sex" specifically and exclusively as penetration with a dick which says gay men have as much sex as straight men but lesbians don't, it's not necessarily wrong as far as it goes but if THAT'S your prime citation for "gay men have more sex than lesbians", especially if you keep trying to apply it in contexts which obviously use a broader definition, there are gonna be a lot of people disagreeing with you and it won't be because they're stubbornly unscientific.

Also Zucker is pro conversion therapy. Yes, pro converting trans people to cis people, but also pro converting gay people to straight people. That doesn't necessarily affect his results, i just find it funny how many people enthusiastically support his findings as evidence transitioning is… basically anti-gay conversion therapy? (even though plenty of trans people transition to gay? including T4T people so even the "that's actually just how straight people try to get with gay people" rationale for gay trans people is incredibly weak? and also HRT has a relatively low but non-zero chance of changing sexual orientation so it wouldn't even be reliable as a means of "becoming straight"? but a guy who couldn't reliably tell the difference between a tomboy and a trans boy figured out the former is more common than the latter + in one whole country where being trans is legal but being gay is not, sometimes cis gay people transition, so OBVIOUSLY that means sexism and homophobia are the driving factors even in countries with significant transphobia. or something.) anyway i hope zucker knows and hates how many gay people and allies are using his own study to trash-talk any attempts to be Less Gay. ideally nobody would take his nonsense seriously at all but it doesn't seem we'll be spared from that any time soon so i will take my schadenfreude where i can.

Steensma's studies have the exact same problem re: irrelevant criteria so "well someone ELSE had the same results!" is not exactly convincing. This is not "oh trans people are refusing to pay attention to these studies because they disagree with them regardless of scientific rigor", it's "one biased guy using outdated criteria found exactly the numbers everyone would expect based on that criteria, i can't imagine why trans people are treating those numbers as relevant to the past criteria but not present definitions, let's find a SECOND guy using outdated criteria. Why do people keep saying the outdated criteria is not relevant to the current state of trans healthcare. Don't we all know it's quantity over quality with scientific studies. (Please don't ask what the quantity of studies disagreeing with me is.)"

Steensma also counted patients as 'not persisting as transgender' if they ghosted him on follow-up which counted for a third of his study's "detransitioners" and a fifth of the total subjects and. look. i'm not saying none of them detransitioned, or assuming they all didn't would be notably more accurate, but i think we can safely treat twenty percent of subjects as a bit high for making a default assumption, especially when some of them might have simply not been interested in a study on whether or not they still know who they are. Fuck knows i've seen pro-trans studies which didn't make assumptions about the people who didn't respond still get prodded by anti-trans people insisting "the number of people claiming they don't regret transitioning can't possibly be so high, some of the people who responded must have been lying. (Scientific rigor means thinking studies which disagree with me are wrong even if the only explanation is the subjects lying and studies which agree with me are right even if we need to make assumptions about a lot of subjects to get there.)"

and this is not new information. not the issues with zucker, not the issues with steensma, not any of the issues because this is not a new study, it's a review of older studies, which in itself doesn't mean "bad" or "useless" -- sometimes that allows connecting some previously-unconnected dots -- but the idea this is going to absolutely blow apart the Woke Media, vindicate Rowling and Lineham, and "save" ""gay"" children from """being forcibly transed""" is bullshit. At most it'll get dragged around and eagerly cited by all the people looking for anything vaguely scientific-sounding to justify their beliefs, and maybe even people who only read headlines and sound bites will buy it, but the people who really believe it will be people who already agreed with all its "findings" and have already been dragging around the existing studies and are just excited to have a shiny new citation for it.

the response from people who've been really reading research on transgender people all along is going to be more along the lines of "……yeah. yeah, i already knew about that. do you need a three-page essay on why i don't think it means what you think it means? because i don't have time for that homework right now but maybe i can pencil it in for next semester if you haven't learned how to check your own sources by then."

[stone-stars]

[ID: an alignment chart of Naddpod songs. Lawful good is the campaign themes, neutral good is Kingshammer, and chaotic good is Oh, Melora!. Lawful neutral is A Memory, true neutral is A Wizard’s Tournament, and chaotic neutral is Hexblood Centurious. Lawful evil is The Purge, neutral evil is Unknown Tome, and chaotic evil is Demigod.]

a naddpod song alignment chart

[lesbiancolumbo]

sometimes letterboxd is THE stupidest fucking community in the world i swear to god. tell me why i have to see a whole garden variety of 0.5-1 star reviews of a movie with an openly queer protagonist who, over the course of her coming of age narrative explores and reaffirms her queerness and remains openly and happily queer, that are all calling it an "anti-gay narrative/propaganda". be so fucking serious right now. does anyone in this thread do mushrooms

[jessread-s]

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

✩🌊🖤Review:

A dazzling adult debut from Saft!

“A Dark and Drowning Tide” follows Lorelai Kaskel, a sharp-tongued folklorist, and Sylvia von Wolff, her academic rival, as they pair up to solve their mentor’s murder whilst on an expedition to find a magical spring for their king.

Saft’s atmospheric writing contributes to her immersive world-building. Her story is set in the fictional kingdom of Brunnestaad, a country heavily inspired by Germany, that is populated by both Brunnestaaders and the Yevani, akin to the Jewish community. Saft tackles problems of nationalism and antisemitism through the perspective of her main character Lorelai, a young Jewish woman whose determination to make a name for herself in being a part of the Ruhigburg expedition stems from her experiences in being “othered”. I really appreciate the Jewish representation and how Lorelai’s rich knowledge of Jewish and German folklore contributes to the reader’s understanding of the country’s history, culture, and politics.

I could not get enough of the murder mystery Lorelai tasks herself with solving as well as the sapphic, academic rivals-to-allies-to-lovers subplot! Sylvia is the only suspect that Lorelai can rule out following their mentor’s murder. These circumstances push them to strike a begrudging alliance as they work together to prevent the murderer from striking again. I love the slow pacing of their relationship development as they are forced to confront their feelings while in each other’s proximity. I thoroughly enjoyed occupying Lorelai’s mind during this time. Lorelai is fascinating to follow as she draws on her knowledge of folklore, quick wit, and keen observation skills to find the Ursprung and the killer. At the same time, she is actively fighting against her love for Sylvia by burying her emotions and masking them with self-loathing. I adored watching Syliva break through Lorelai’s stubborn and guarded personality with her unrelenting optimism! They are truly opposites in every sense of the word and complete each other. Nothing was more satisfying than watching them capture the culprit and each other’s hearts!

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[enjoythescientificmind]

[canonically47]

review pls

EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP YUL HAD HIS ASS HANDED TO HIM AND WE GOT JAJAMES IN THE FINALE. ONC DO NOT FUCK THIS UP FOR ME.

DCAS ep 19 - review

spoilers !!!! (but you knew that.)

tom saying jake sees the best in people was so fucking funny i'm sorry like we both know He Does Not. even the line was like 'despite his anxieties he..' baby ur literally saying 'despite not seeing the best in people he really does see the best in people' you are so fucking stupid

side note tom is actually an idiot, unironically. not haha himbo idiot just an actual fucking idiot. how is he 30. how is he a fan favorite. HOW IS TOMJAKE A FAN FAVORITE SHIP nonono im not talking about this rn im NOT (claws at my enclosure)

ugh i forgot tomjake is like. a thing. and not a very bad made-up fanon ship. and they're giving them a spin-off. for a sec i allowed myself to exist in a world where ONC made good writing decisions. what a world it was

james being jake's biggest hater was amazing. almost unleashed my inner jake hater. there is still time though, trust

kinda sad to see huntess not hang out with anyone but each other. i was waiting on tess interacting with gabellie or something

on the bright side, GRETT HAVING A MOMENT WITH GABELLIE??? HELLOOOOOOOOO?????? CAN YALL HEAR ME???????????????

gabgrellie save me.... save me gabgrellie............

speaking of ellie she looked so off the entire episode. why did her eyes move like that. am i crazy. she looked so ugly

oh my fucking god they fucking burnt yul's face. that's crazy. grett the woman that you are <333 i might actually draw the prick because he looks cool now

i am also sooooooo glad they're not giving him a half-assed redemption arc. they know he sucks ass. at least we have that

krystal saying "that's the good shit" was the most embarrassing thing ever in fact her entire part before dinner was embarrassing. why did she keep. doing that and saying that. girl why are you interrupting the moment you want to get on camera are you an idiot

also she fell victim to the inconsistency bc tell me why she was bitching and moaning the entire season about 'those that really matter' and being all lpvey dovey about her friends but then derek is like 'trevor :)' and she goes 'why arent u professional' girl.

and derek. man. we all know youre lying genuinely fuck you. 'he matters to me' GIRLLL WHEEENNNNNNNNNNN HAVE YOU SHOWN THAT 😭😭😭

FIORE AND ALEC!!! ALEC SCOWLING THEN LOOKING AT FIORE AND INSTANTLY SMILING!!! HIM PROTECTING HER FROM YUL!!! HIM COVERING HER EYES WHEN YUL GOT BURNED!!! TH!!! THE!!!!!!! THE FATHER-DAUGHTER DUO EVERRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭

now allow me to be even more not normal

JAJAMES CRUMBS 🗣🗣🗣‼️‼️‼️🔥🔥🔥 JAMES IS HELPING JAKE IN THE FINALE EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP HERE IS HOW JAJAKEDEN NATION CAN STILL WIN- [gets shot] [gets shot] [gets shot] [gets s

please god PLEASE LET THEM BECOME FRIENDS because if they do i will actually write DSVC fic about jajakeden getting together. i made a promise to myself to never write DSVC fic but if they become friends. i will be so. fucking. annoying.

JAJAMES PLEASE BECOME FRIENDS PLEASEEEEEEE PLEASE 😭😭😭

sooooo glad fiore not only did not pick riya but also GAVE HER THE DISADVANTAGE. JAKE FANS HERE IS HOW WE CAN STILL WIN

why did they bring emily back just to make her a bitch.

JAJAMES PLEEEEEAAAAAASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 😭😭😭😭😭

there are many things wrong with this ep (like derek existing, and also his lines, and also yul existing,,, and the stuff ive pointed out) but its ONC. i'll throw them a bone ig. i'm okay with what we got, it obviously wasn't a masterpiece and it felt fanservice-y in parts (yk that one post or ask or whatever that says season 1 & 2 DSVC was a show a fandom was built off, but season 3 is a show built off the fandom? yea some scenes reminded me of that. coigh cough krystal mildly breaking the fourth wall.) but i'm glad connor only got like 2 seconds of screentime, fiore and alec got along, and the jajames crumbs oh my.. <3

overall, an 8/10 and if my memory isn't failing me this is probably the best rating since ep 13?? but yea it was a good episode i'm fine with it. im surprised they didnt ruin.everything. bc yk its ONC. so yea!!! yay yippee yay!

i am so glad there are only 2 episodes left . istg if i watch the spin offs or new seasons i need yall to shoot me. and remember how i was talking some time ago about rewatching the entire show after DCAS came out fully? yea no. not doing that. when episode 21 comes out i will be cheering because i will finally put DSVC behind me. i fucking hate this show WE ARE ALMOST FREE!!!!!!!!! CHEERING

[uncanny-tranny]

It's always tempting to debate bigots about their bigotry, but honestly the best thing you can do is often to directly help those affected by said bigotry.

Bigotry doesn't exist to be debated. People who are bigots do not care about debate - they care about humiliating their opponents. You cannot outsmart somebody who doesn't give a flying fuck about their position being incorrect. You will be playing a completely different game by trying to debate somebody out of their bigotry.

The best thing you can do is to show up for the marginalized. Check in on them, talk to them, and engage with them as people. Ask them if they would like help and then respect their answer to the best of your capabilities. Oftentimes, that will be sufficient enough and will go a long way.

[monochromeruby]

DCAS FINALE SPOILERS: my thoughts

WHAT THE FUUUUUVK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKK

PLEASE OH GOD PLEASE WHY IS GOD SO CRUEL WHY OH GOD WHY WHYYY WHYYYY JESUS FUCKING CHRIST WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME

JAKE I HATE YOU I HATE YOU JAKE I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOUUUUUUUU I ACTUALLY HATE YOU GO TO HELL

HES DONE NOTHING NOT A SINGLE GAME MOVE AT ALL NOT A SINGLE ONE I CAN CONCEIVE

IT HURTS IT ACTUALLY HURTS MY BODY HURTSSSS PLEASE OH GOODDD OH MY GOD OH GOD

IF HE WINS I’LL DO SOMETHING DRASTIC I CANT GO ON I CANT OH GOD IT HURTS MY BODY HURTS

SOMEBODY SEDATE MEEEE SOMEBODY SEDATE ME PLEASE I CANT KEEP GOING THROUGH THIS I CANT OH GOD OH MY GOD PLEASE SEDATE MEEEE

I am not okay.

My current mental state: