#also all my product opinions in this are made up i've never even tried the vanilla function of i only have the coconut one they discontinued

[mommyclaws]

Opinions on Leopardstar? I haven't read leopardstar's Honor yet, not sure what happens there, but I've heard it's somewhat disappointing.

I was always somewhat angry that she never really mentioned Tigerstar after the whole Tigerclan thing, and we never really got to see how she felt about the whole thing, just that the people she sent to die really didn't like her.

A Shadow in Riverclan also kinda did the same thing where she gave a little pep talk and suddenly everything was ok for Feathertail, after she had horrible ptsd from Leopardstar

I want to like her but she's such a nothing character imo to actually have an opinion on because I think she was done pretty dirty, as Riverclan and her weren't really the focus of the series for so long

I consider myself a Leopardstar fan. I’ve been wanting to talking about my feelings/view on her for a while so i’ll put all my thoughts here!

The direction they took with her in canon is dissatisfying but she has alot of groundwork that gives her interesting potential. Her father is a medic- formerly warrior- who changed his position because he is against violence. She turns into everything Mudfur wanted to escape from. Too proud, itching for a battle, apathetic to the suffering of the other clans. And even if it was a let down, I can appreciate the authors at least tried to do more with her character than let her off the hook as easily as Blackfoot.

I like her mostly in comparison to my dislike for Blackstar's character. He teamed with Brokenstar and Tigerstar, committed murders and didn’t protest to the abuse of his own clan. He does nothing to atone and doesn't even seem particularly remorseful but he's still rewarded by being made leader. Leopardstar was already in power when she made the decisions that cost cats their lives. Cats trusted her to protect them and her neglect threw them into savagery and death. Standing by to allow kits and her own deputy be slaughtered is GRUESOME. I read her as someone blinded by ambition, just another product of the code. She misjudged then got in over her head with Tigerclan and was willing to toss others aside to save her own tail. Maybe she truly is remorseful, but it doesn't change what she did. Nothing can.

Crookedstar's leadership was very relaxed and she considered him weak. He gave up land to Shadowclan, he could never keep Sunningrocks, he allowed Thunderclan to take refugee on multiple occasions, and all of the half clan cats he accepts are seemingly only because they're his kin. She had thoughts of making Riverclan powerful and feared once he was out of the picture, it's why she completely disregarded his dying wishes- She couldn't bring herself to respect him.

The politics of Riverclan change drastically with her nine lives. Closed borders and no tolerance for Thunderclan, not even Graystripe, who only wanted to be with his kits. Riverclan is strong. But it could be stronger, couldn't it? She and Tigerclaw served as deputies together, even if he was the enemy, she thought well of him. He is a fierce and respected Thunderclan warrior. Or so he was. While she initially thought it a red flag he was now serving Shadowclan, she couldn't disagree with him for leaving Thunderclan when she already had so much resentment for them and ruling Shadowclan, it was true. They had been weaken for many moons, it was Tigerstar who reunited them and made them powerful. So when he promises to make her clan just as powerful, together, she doesnt refuse.

She very consistently and vocally had a dislike for half-clan cats. She exiled Graystripe. She calls Featherpaw and Stormpaw liabilities. She banishes Stormfur and Brook. I think she has very genuine hateful beliefs but at the same time she’s horrified at what happened to Stonefur. That was a cat she was trusting to become the next leader of Riverclan. And he was killed for defending innocent lives. She knows she was wrong, she regrets it, she has nightmares about the bonehill. (<- This was confirmed by an author apparently!) but her attempts to “atone” are surface level and shallow at best. She wants to be forgiven without changing. She makes Mistyfoot deputy to show she’s better now, but what meaning does that position have after Stonefur was slaughtered? She apologizes to Feathertail and Stormfur, but they still feel like complete outcasts. They’re more friendly with their former clanmates in Thunderclan and Leopardstar later exiles Stormfur over a faked sign. I think her attempts were never to better herself or right her victims, but to relieve her own guilt. She’s always prioritized herself above others.

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

hi mousey!! been a while since I sent you an ask

I was putting on my make up earlier today and an idea came to mind, I need to know your opinion on this

how do you think the sdv + sve bachelors would react to a farmer who asks to do their make up? which ones do you think refuse? which ones ask before the farmer does, "can you do it?"? and which ones just accept?

hope you have a great day <3

Hope you have a good day too, dear anon, and thanks for the ask! ☺️❤️

SDV and SVE bachelors react to the Farmer who asks to do their makeup:

Shane:

"Babe, I don't know anything about this."

Still, Shane tries to try to give them a makeup so they don't get upset.

Unfortunately, it didn't work very well.

But he does get a funny little face made of mascara on Farmer's cheek, heh.

Next time, however, he'll refuse, as he'll only make it worse.

Well, at least Shane and Farmer got a funny little memory.

Elliott:

Surprisingly, Elliott agrees right away.

And what's more surprising is that he manages to help Farmer with the make-up very well.

Everything is precise, neat and harmonious, like wow!

Surely our long-haired writer hasn't been a stylist before?

Elliott is happy to do Farmer's make up and tells them not to hesitate to ask him for help in the future.

Harvey:

"Oh, make-up? I'm sorry, my dear, but I don't think I can..."

Harvey does agree to help, though he doesn't count on success.

Totally calm when applying mascara to Farmer, but accidentally paints their cheek with mascara anyway.

On the third or fourth attempt, the doctor manages to give Farmer a simple and quite passable make-up.

Hey, a reason to be proud, he helped his loved one!

Sam:

Hell yeah, Sammy can do quite good make-up! A little different, though.

The young musician has been thinking about make-up for his music band for a long time, so he's had time to practice.

Even though Farmer needs a light, simple ("and boring" as Sam described it) make-up, he can still help them.

And will do very well with mascara and foundation.

"You sure you don't want cool make-up like metal bands? Eh, okay..."

Sebastian:

Sebastian definitely uses black eyeliner (my headcanon, you can't change my mind).

At times our dear emo was too lazy to do his own eyeliner, so will ask Farmer for help first. "Hon, can you help with the eyes please?"

Doesn't know much about the rest of make-up products, but if you need to emphasise your eyes, Sebby will never refuse a request.

And he'll ask for it himself if Farmer's okay with it as well.

Alex:

What make-up? He's not a girl!

To be honest, Alex has only had a couple of make-ups, which are usually done by gridball fans, and, well, that's basically it.

So if Farmer's going to the stadium, then Alex can help with cool sport fan make-up.

If it's just some regular make-up, then no, sorry. He can't do it.

He could try, but he'd end up with paint all over their face. Oh well, at least he tried.

Victor:

"Makeup? Oh, I've never done it, but my mom does her own makeup every day. Maybe she could help you?"

If Farmer insists on getting help from Victor specifically, he will politely decline.

He'd be interested in the idea, though, and a little later he'd watch tutorials on his laptop or ask Olivia.

The next time Victor offered to help Farmer with their makeup, wanting to practice.

"I thought it sounded interesting. Besides, we'll have one more common interest."

Magnus Rasmodius:

"Only with magic can I fulfil your request."

For Magnus, magic is almost the solution to all problems. He thinks magic will help here, too....

With his hands? Sorry, Farmer. A wizard certainly can't do your make up by hands. Only with a spell.

Well, he still has to remember the spell.....

Hold on, he should ask Camilla, she's definitely using that kind of spell.

Lance:

Another clever mage from the magical society where agree to help Farmer with the help of his magic.

He also watches his appearance and sometimes uses spells, but he doesn't do his own makeup and tries to take care of himself without cosmetics.

How then he knows the spells of instant perfect makeup is a mystery.

A snap of his fingers and in a second, he has perfect makeup on Farmer's face.

Though in the future he may learn a couple of basics on how to do Farmer's makeup without magic. Just because the process itself is kinda interesting.

[nights-nonsensical-ramblings]

Damn it im trying to start a ramble but i cant really form anything much. (later note here, i managed it. I am so sorry for anyone thats come across this in the tags (they're there for my organisation), ive kinda made it a mess to put on any blog cuz of all the contradicting stuff) Like i've got "mmm i like Knuckles, he's best boy". But it feels like any headcanons or au ideas i could talk about are out of reach on my own. Again its like a fog, i know they're there but i just cant reach them. Subnautica 2 got a trailer and again its like i cant grab any thoughts on it. Like I love subnautica, never actually finished it, but i adore this game, its vibes its world the creatures

hmmm I just finished binge watching every single episode of Viva la Dirt League's bored series, did that over the last few days, saw its evolution and how stunningly high the production value got, how certain jokes were more/less common than i thought.

You know there's actually a reference to Baelin from their epic npc man series in one of my fics. In chapter 16 of 'No child should have to inherit a war' i have big say “morning, it’s a nice day for fishing, isn’t it?" a pretty close match to Baelin's "Morning! Nice day for fishing ain't it? Hua hah!" Alas no one ever got the reference. Okay, i got some Knuckles thoughts. Like in a generic fantasy rpg style world it would be so easy to put knux in a fighter/warrior/brawler type class. He likes to hit hard and get up in the heat of the fight. But i adore his more quiet moments so much. He likes to help out the animals of his islands, he's a protector who cares so much and is always jumping to help strangers, enemies and friends alike. (even if he still tries to play the stoic role) But what would be absolutely hilarious in my opinion is if he was an incredibly powerful sorcerer/mage/wizard. (in reference to how powerful he is due to the m.e connection) and he's hyped up as this powerful and dangerous magic user,

only for him to punch you in the face when you go to fight him.

Oh he'll use his magic (and m.e powers in canon also apply here) to look after the place he protects, but he's not a fan of using it in combat. Both cuz its not his style, he prefers a direct, get it done style and cuz he feels its not his place that his power is not to be used in an offensive manor.

and throw in some healing powers of course cuz i will forever love Knuckles as a healer who will tell you off for being stupid and will huff and deny he's worried. (Platonic tsunderes hold a place in my heart)

Cuz yeah, caring is a major part of who knuckles is.

And back to bored, cuz Knuckles being the type to care reminds me of Rowan (the character) being such an opposite and a terrible boss. Cuz man Ben and Rowan and SO good at playing hateable characters. Like Bens character in Bored is the culmination of all the most frustrating and OUTRAGEOUS customers. He does such a good job that i get excited when he plays a less punch able character.

Like Charles, sure he's a mugger, but he's literally just following his programming. But he's also one of the npcs whos kinda able to break out of it. (but is very easily reset).

hmmm the string of thought is kinda knotting up a bit. Like i got a little more about subnautica and how i really wanted to do a thing about Knuckles bonding with the sea emperor leviathan over being the last, but idk how to write the sea emperor so it hasn't really gotten anywhere. hmmm now what... I definitely want to keep rambling (its working and i feel better) but idk what to say now.

[komotionlessqueenmm]

I've practically been stalking your old ivan drago content and saw your imagine prompt for being Rocky's younger sister and having a crush on Ivan, can you IMAGINE the idea of you, being Rocky's younger sister, seeking ivan out after his life changing loss because you know what that means for him? Just being soft and understanding because even though your brother won (and there's a good reason as to why that's the appropriate ending cough cough) you feel the need to offer a shoulder and comfort ivan because you see him for what he is, the product of having to please such a demanding regime? Maybe it's just my penchant to see big strong antagonists and want to hold their face in my hands lol (like iceman, my beloved)

Gah dammit now I wanna write about this!!!!

(No seriously tho I love this, I have daydreamed about it so many times, just needed someone to convince me to write about it! But I'm doing this as a headcanon instead of an actual story because I don't think I can properly get across what I want to get across. Which is why I never wrote about this despite fantasizing about it.)

Headcanon/Preference # 28

Pictures NOT mine.

Year posted - 2023

*I'm randomly coming back to this request because I saw it in my drafts, and I'm dabbling with a few pieces with Dolphs characters again, so I wanted to finish this one. That being said, I've actually got a story I'm working on based loosely on that imagine, it's got a fun little twist to it though. So keep an eye out for that, and I apologize this took so long, but that's honestly kinda just how I roll. 😅 ALSO this isn't exactly what you asked for, but I think you'll enjoy it regardless! MY BAD!

☓Before the fight☓

☭ So before the fight you'd only seen Ivan on the TV screen. But even then you could see him for who he really was. And apparently you were the only one who could, so you kept your thoughts to yourself.

☭ You more or less threatened your brother to take you with him to Russia. And he of course tried reasoning with you, but you'd made up your mind, and he wasn't going to change it.

☭ Rocky was of course worried that the cold might get to you, so he made sure you were bundled to the nine every single day. It was sweet, but a little annoying at the same time. And you had to admit the cold was definitely harsher in Russia than Philadelphia, and that was saying something.

☭ But despite the cold, and the harsh glare from the locals, you found yourself enjoying the landscape scenery.

☭ You helped to encourage your brothers training, and despite having lost your old friend Apollo to him, you couldn't help but find yourself enamored in a way with the Soviet boxer. A fact that you kept under lock and key.

☭ You wondered most nights what would happen in the end. What would happen to Rocky if he lost? What would Ivan go through if he lost? There was just so much at stake, and you couldn't decide who you wanted to come out victorious. Well both of them if you had it your way, but you knew that wasn't an opinion.

☭ You often replayed the fight he had with Apollo in your head. You'd seen how Apollo's theatrics effected him, and how unbothered he'd been by Apollo's taunting. How precious he was, and how powerful.

☭ It made you worry for your brother, but you knew he was one tough son of a bitch. You'd been there for every single one of Rocky's fights after all, even back when he was fighting in shitty clubs.

☓During the fight☓

☭ You were sorta like Rocky's coach at this point, well maybe not coach but rather his hype-man, always had been. So you were with him when he went out to the ring, and beside him in the ring.

☭ You had to admit, seeing Ivan up close for the first time... Jesus he was huge... And very intimidating with his cold expression. Queue your curiosity and worry both spiking.

☭ You shook hands with his team, per the typical routine, and when you were about to turn and leave the ring. You found Ivan staring at you, making eye contact, and maintaining it for far longer than you probably should have.

☭ Rocky noticed your hesitance, and gently bumped his shoulder with yours, knocking you out of your stupor. You offered your older brother a small smile, and he gently bumped your chin with his glove, drawing a proper smile from you. Which in turn made him smile.

☭ He didn't even notice Ivan had been staring at you, or that Ivan continued to do so as you left the ring. But the announcers? The fans? They noticed. So around the world people wondered if maybe it had been a bad idea letting you go to this fight.

☭ Before the fight started, you stood beside the ropes in Rocky's corner, and made good on tradition. Resting your foreheads together you said a prayer and wished him luck, smiling when he kissed the crown of your head before breaking away.

☭ All throughout the fight, you found yourself feeling rather queasy, you'd never experienced that before during any of Rocky's fights. You knew subconsciously because it wasn't just because of your worry for Rocky.

☭ You realized pretty quickly into the fight, that far more was riding on Ivan winning than Rocky. For Rocky if he lost, he would have been humiliated, and failed in avenging Apollo... But Ivan. You knew he would suffer far worse if he lost.

☭ You didn't have to speak Russian to know that his entire life would be determined by the outcome of this fight. If he won he'd be a hero, like Rocky was back home. But if he lost, odds are he'd loose everything he's come to know. How perceptive of you.

☭ Often you'd find yourself looking to Ivan when they were separated for a short break. Almost always finding him already staring at you, his expression dark and furious. Which admittedly made you a little nervous, but you didn't feel his frustration was directed at you.

☭ By the time they were both bloody and exhausted, you were on the brink of tears. And both men had noticed. Rocky trying to comfort you as best he could during his breaks, despite the fact that his state of mind was more important. (Something you kept reminding him about, but he didn't care. He's a good brother.)

☭ Ivan did nothing but watch, wondering if you were afraid for your brother, afraid for himself, or if perhaps you were afraid of him at this point? A series of thoughts that only confused him, and distracted him more than he'd care to admit.

☭ When Ivan picked that man up by his throat, you found that the tears had finally escaped, rolling down the apples of your cheeks as he shouted in Russian. His eyes found yours in the commotion, and he was certain he'd gotten his answer to his earlier ponderings.

☭ Little did he know you were crying for him, not because of his actions.

☓After the fight☓

☭ The crowd had boomed with excitement, and many people rushed the ring to celebrate with Rocky. You had watched as Ivan was led out by his team, and you didn't think twice about following them.

☭ When his team realized you'd followed them, they tried to shoo you away, but then Ivan noticed it was you, and barked at them to leave in his native tongue. Perplexed they complied and left you alone in the locker room.

☭ "What are you doing here?" He questioned, his accent think and heavy, like honey to your ears. "I..." You were at a loss for words. "I'm not sure... I-." He scoffed at you before turning away, looking at himself in the mirror, and glancing at you through it.

☭ "I guess I just wanted to see how you were... If you're... If you're okay." You tried to make sense of the way you felt, you knew you were drawn to him, you just didn't know why. He simply kept watching you through the mirror as you fumbled adorably over your explanation.

☭ But what you said next really caught him by surprise. "Your hands... Are your hands okay?" You'd asked, now looking at him through the mirror, he turned to you with confusion evident on his expression. No one ever asked if his hands were okay after a fight before, not even his wife.

☭ "I'm usually the one that mends Rocky's hands after a fight... Are your... Are your hands okay?" You explained yourself, taking a tentative step towards him, freezing in place when he stepped towards you.

☭ "You are afraid of me." He stated. "Not exactly." You quickly defended yourself. "I'm not afraid of you... I'm anxious around you." You added, thinking he'd accept that response. "What is the difference?" Ivan argued, watching you approach him.

☭ "My heart is racing, but it isn't because of fear." You tried to explain, feeling incredibly sheepish, especially considering you knew he was married. "I know fear... And you do not inflect fear in me." You added, sort of hoping he wouldn't understand what you meant.

☭ Thankfully he did. "I feel it as well." He admitted in a soft tone, not wanting to startle you as you gently unwrapped his wrist wraps. He noticed how you flushed at his confession, it made him smile softly.

☭ You tended to his busted up hands with a gentle touch, more gentle than he's used to. And by the time you'd finished, he couldn't help himself and he kissed you.

☭ It was tender the way he tilted your head back with his index finger, slowly leaning in to give you the opportunity to turn away if you wanted, but you didn't turn away.

☭ It's probably the most wholesome moment of his life, and yes I'm taking into account the birth of his son Viktor.

☭ You were just so sweet, peering up at him with big doe eyes. Foreheads resting together you both forgot about the world around you, if only for a moment.

☭ Ivan just wanted to wrap you in his arms and stay that way forever. He wasn't sure why he was so drawn to you, but he had been enamored with you long before you even knew about him.

☭ Granted you had just been a face on the screen of his TV, but that didn't stop his heart from fluttering at the mere sight of you. Perhaps it was fate, perhaps you were made for eachother, separated from eachother across the world.

☭ After what felt like hours the moment was ruined, because down the hall you could hear Rocky calling your name, probably worried sick about where you'd disappeared to.

☭ "I have to go." You whispered, despite not wanting to. "I know." Ivan murmured equally saddened. "Until we meet again." He added before giving you one last kiss, breaking away and leaving right before Rocky barged in. His heart shattering in his chest, as he knew you'd probably never see eachother again.

☭ "There you are!" Rocky breathed a sigh of relief, and practically fell into your arms. He never questioned why you were in Ivan's locker room, and he never questioned why you'd run off like that. (He had a feeling he didn't want to know.)

☓Years later☓

◈ You hadn't seen him since his fight against Rocky. And you wondered if he'd even recognize you anymore. Or if you'd even see him that is.

◈ You knew about his son, and his determination to fight Adonis Creed.

◈ What you hadn't honestly expected, was for him to show up your brother's restaurant, atleast not unannounced.

◈ "Rocky we need-" You cut yourself off as you laid eyes on him, he looked even more handsome than you'd remembered. Frozen in place you jumped when Rocky touched your arm.

◈ "You okay?" He asked with a soft expression, wordlessly pulling you into a hug when you nodded your head yes.

◈ "(Y/n)." Ivan had approached you both, and you could tell Rocky didn't trust him. "Hello Ivan." You smiled softly, those old butterflies from before fluttering around in your belly.

◈ You'd secretly been sending letters to Ivan for years, and while you sent them religiously, you only ever received a handful in return. Not that you minded, you understood, better than anyone.

◈ "Still so beautiful." He mused as if Rocky wasn't standing right there, his hand coming up to brush his knuckles across your cheek bone. Rocky was quick to put himself between you and Ivan of course, ever the protective brother.

◈ "Rock." You placed your arm on his bicep, gently tugging at his arm, a reassuring smile on your face when he turned to look at you. "It's okay." You reached up cupping your brothers cheek, smiling as you felt him relax under your touch.

◈ When you looked to Ivan again, you asked him if he would like to take a small walk. Rocky immediately tried arguing against it, but you assured him you would be fine, and he listened to you begrudgingly.

◈ "You look good Ivan." You'd mused as you walked side by side, just the two of you, as he'd made Viktor wait in the car. "I've missed you." He admitted, making you smile. "And I've missed you." You found it funny that he could still make you blush.

◈ "I kept all of your letters." He added in a soft tone, again making you smile. "Yeah?" You stopped walking and he turned to you, taking your hands in his. "Of course." He smiled.

◈ "You were always on my mind." Ivan murmured quietly before wrapping his arms around your waist, burying his head into your neck. You quickly wrapped your arms around his large shoulders, your right hand coming to rest against the back of his head.

◈ "You know... I never married." You mused thoughtfully, hoping he wouldn't think you crazy. "I couldn't bring myself to love anyone else." You added when he pulled back from the hug.

◈ "I would have given anything to have you by my side, helping me raise Viktor." Ivan closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back on his fantasy. "Want about now?" You wondered aloud before you could stop yourself, and Ivan smirked.

◈ "You would want that? Want me?" He asked with a small smile, adoration shining in his eyes. You cupped his face between your hands, pulling him down to your height so you shared the same air. "It's all I've ever wanted Ivan." He visibility melted into your touch.

◈ Needless to say the world was shocked to see you by Ivan's side, and even more so when you announced your engagement. Rocky tried to "reason" with you, claiming it was a rash decision. But you told him about everything, the moment you shared with Ivan in Russia, the letters, and the way he made you feel, the way he'd always made you feel.

◈ Rocky came to realize your love for Ivan, was like his love for Adrian. He knew you never really dated, or let yourself get attached, especially after his fight with Ivan. And despite his past with the Russian, he supported you (warning Ivan about what would happen if he broke your heart like any good brother would.), and he attended your wedding of course.

[acti-veg]

hi, I am vegan but I've never really encouraged my family to go vegan which I feel bad about. I think the problem is - my dad isn't 100% with it after having a stroke, so I don't think I would be able to explain to him why to change his mind. My mum and brother are pescetarian. With my mum, she's already got a lot to cope with, so asking her to change her diet just seems like another pressure to put on her on top of everything else. Plus she's really sensitive and if I talk about animal cruelty

(2 - she will tell me to stop talking about it because it upsets her too much (she’s not faking this as an excuse – it’s not that she doesn’t care about animals, she just hasn’t properly made the connection between animal suffering and eating animal products and doesn't seem to realise fish are sentient/suffer. I also really worry for her mental health – being too graphic with her about what happens I think would traumatise her).

(3- Food is also one of her main pleasures and she has tried vegan alternatives before, some she likes but the plant-based versions of things like butter, milk, cheese, she doesn’t like. She’s 74 and realistically I’m not sure if it’s worth me constantly upsetting her to try to get her to eat plant based – I feel like it’d be better for me to focus my energy on audiences I feel would be more receptive?)

(4 - With my brother again I feel this need to protect him. Because of what happens to animals is so horrible I find it really hard to have the conversation with him. I know that it’s obviously much worse for the animals who suffer than just hearing about it, but I would imagine that he would be genuinely upset, but have some kind of cognitive dissonance and still go on eating animal products – he’s probably partly of the mindset that we “need” to.)

(5 - But nothing really graphic (do you have any suggestions??) Sorry this is really really long but I’m just wondering what your opinion is on all this because I feel really guilty but I’m not sure what the best thing to do is and also I feel like if I’m too “pushy” this could actually put people off; also I don't want to come across "holier than thou" because again I think this turns people off from listening to the message. If you read all this thank you so much)

There will always be reasons stacked up for why someone won’t go vegan, you’re unlikely to meet anyone who is exactly prepared for it and understands the reasons why - otherwise they would have already done it. I think you do have to pick your battles (my mum isn’t vegan either and likely never will be), but that doesn’t mean you have to keep quiet and not speak out about things that you think are wrong.

It may be that graphic footage and descriptions of animal cruelty is not the way to go, but that isn’t the only way to advocate, or even the best way. Cook for your family, show them how joyful veganism can be and how good plant-based food is. Show them positive videos of animals in sanctuaries, even take them to a sanctuary if you can, show them health and environmental documentaries. Model what living a good life as a vegan actually looks like

Even if this only leads to a reduction in animal product consumption, that may be all you can do for them right now. But don’t feel like you can’t call out harmful behaviour just because it hurts their feelings - getting called out on harming others is never pleasant. You don’t have to list facts about animal agriculture everyone you see ham in their fridge, but you don’t have to smile and pretend you’re totally fine with animal consumption either.

The bottom line is that you know your family and what is most likely to work. If you know for a fact that explicit advocacy will only strain your relationship with no positive results for you to be telling them to go vegan, then don’t do it, but don’t hide who you are and what you believe in for other people’s comfort, either. You never know what seeds you may be planting from just gentle nudges and showing them how great a vegan lifestyle can be.

[feverdreamjohnny]

Hi, I’m a newer game dev (at least I’m tryin to be one lol) and I’ve realized that I have a really hard time finishing projects, because I just get burnt out and lose any passion I had for it. Do you have any advice?

Here's how I've (sort of) navigated these issues:

- Make small games. This was originally my "starting out" advice for people, but as time has gone on I genuinely think this is the only practical method for indie development. When I say small, I mean SMALL. I don't mean "oh, make an 8 hour game with hidden levels and side quests," I mean "your game is, at most, a single hour long, preferably 30 minutes." I've seen enough indies overscope their work and get stuck for nearly a decade without a finished product because they wanted to replicate the scope of a game made by several people with millions of dollars. You can definitely attempt larger projects down the line, but for the most part smaller games are what give you consistent growth as a creative, a reliable audience, and if you monetize them on steam or itch.io - an income. It's also a great opportunity to explore experimental design/art without risks, which is always valuable.

- Regardless of the game's scope, you need to take multi-day-long breaks if you're experiencing burnout. Game development is a cerebral discipline and it will tire you out fast. Forcing yourself through burnout might squeeze out more results, but you're just amplifying burnout down the line. Recognize that the breaks are a natural extension of the process and don't wreck yourself trying to be "more" than that. Hell, even painters sometimes need a bit of space from their work before they can continue, why would it be any different here?

[MORE BELOW THE BREAK]

- Don't get hung up on the game not coming out like you thought it would. If you become frustrated because the game doesn't reflect your ambitions, it's easy to lose interest and want to move on from it. Games will almost never resemble the initial vision. Sometimes you have to avoid being a perfectionist and accept your game for what it is.

- Find community (if you can). Surrounding yourself with other developers can be a great motivator for your own work, and being able to tap into a larger pool for second opinions and assistance can help you break barriers that otherwise would've stopped your work.

- Take your time. Game development is slow, and learning the various disciplines inside of it is a lengthy process. It took me 8 years to do the stuff I do today. Granted you might have an easier time if you're older than I was when I started, but in general it will take years to get to a point where you feel confident.

- Try a different engine from time to time. Most modern engines are fairly well suited for independent game development, but the available resources surrounding the engine (such as documentation and community support) can vary wildly. I strongly recommend window shopping across several engines. There's a small chance that you're having a hard time because the engine you're currently using isn't well suited to you and your goals. Some recommendations based on the ones I've personally tried:

* Game Maker Studio 2 - Great general purpose engine for 2D game development. Has a great community and plenty of learning resources. It's also fairly user friendly. It does have a license cost if you want to monetize your games, so keep that in mind. Scripting is done with GML, which is very human-readable.

* Godot - One of the best open source 2D/3D game engines. Doesn't have all the features of its competitors, but it's rapidly evolving and what's already there is more than enough to make most games. It's also compatible with various programming languages! Also, being open source means that it's completely free of licensing costs.

* Unreal Engine - Freakishly powerful 3D game engine at the cutting edge for modern game development. The C++ scripting might be fairly tough to work with as a newcomer (especially since it's built around a special wrapper for the engine that changes some of the rules), but it does have a well supported visual scripting backend that could do you some good. 2D games are certainly possible in Unreal, but it's clear that's not what the engine is intended for. Also Unreal has a neat licensing policy where you don't have to pay them unless you make more than +$1M, so that's cool.

* Unity - This is the one I use. It's great for 2D and 3D, and has a rapidly evolving feature set. It's one of the few engines with a swappable rendering pipeline system, which lets you pick the fidelity to work with relative to your game: With HDRP you can work on high-end games, and URP is great for doing everything else. Like Unreal you can initially monetize your games for free, but you have to pay a monthly subscription once you cross +$100k. Also you have to pay a monthly subscription to get rid of the splash screen which kind of sucks. Other than that, it's a very robust engine with possibly the largest community of the engines listed here.

[monstersinthecosmos]

Do you think the show really will be cancelled? And do you think the awful part of the fandom that sprung up from it will go away anytime soon if it does?

tbh I really don't know enough about the show to have an opinion on that. I'm not really interested in hate-watching or lurking in fandoms that I don't belong to LOL so I'm not really on the inside of any gossip about how it's looking behind the scenes and I don't really want to speculate because I know I don't have all the information. I think this question is for people who are more invested or have more industry knowledge than I do!

As far as the "awful" part, if you mean fandom casual normies who travel from fandom to fandom like locusts to harass people until all the creators give up: Yes, they will move on. I think sometimes in fandoms you get like, casual normies who discover there's a subculture of nerds they can harass, and they do that for a couple years until it either gets boring or their personality grows enough to have more productive passions, and there's also fandom lifers who actually like, care about their thing (probably in a ND fashion tbh) and are usually the ones who stick around and make all the content that everyone else wants to consume.

The casual normies also just tend to have such underdeveloped senses of self that they join tumblr bc it's the thing to do, and pick a fandom because it's a thing to do, and they spend their whole time fandoming in such a deep state of denial that this might be a real hobby and there might be real people participating that they just neg everybody and shit on it the whole time for being cringe without realizing that they're here too lol. Like the amount of times a bully has tried to shame someone for being too passionate, and used "it's not that deep" as a conversation stopper, etc. These folks will move on because they're here because they're bored, not because they actually are POSSESSSED by the THING. (and hey, if you joined a fandom because you're bored THAT'S GREAT that's how we all got here in the first place, but don't shit on the carpet lol please be respectful to the space you just intruded upon!)

So a show going off the air isn't going to deter the people who actually love it. I mean, my other fandom is Sheith and that show was A. Terrible, B. Over in 2018, and the fandom is still going strong because a lot of people genuinely love the characters. I'd even say the same of VC book fandom, especially considering how much of the fandom falls off after the trilogy, and that ended like, 30 years ago LOL.

The thing about fandoms is that they're self-generating, right? And if you're one of the deep fandom nerd lifers you'll learn this if you haven't yet. Even AMC fandom; S1 ended a year ago and fandom is going strong. Part of it is the hope and hobby of watching news drip out - SURE! But it's also the fanart and fics and meta and conversation. The season is what, like, 7 hours long? And I'm SURE that the deep nerd lifers have spent way way way way way more hours than that reading fanfiction by now. And fanfics can really supplement a canon and give people ideas and deepen their love of the source. So I'm positive that there are people out there who have been moved to tears by fic and feel so strongly about THOSE stories, as well, and it just deepens their love of the show when they return to rewatch.

From 2016-2018 I exclusively read Yuri on Ice fic and there was only one season. And that season is even shorter! It's like 4.5 hours of canon! But when I think about YOI I am thinking about like multitude of NOVELS I've read about it, not JUST the 4.5 hours of canon, right?

All fandoms are like this. Fanworks are the lifeblood. And even with book fandom's lack of fic, I still feel that the friends I've made are the experience here, and how we can chatter all day & night about Armand forever and never get tired of it because we're all ND weirdos lol. I mean my Armand friends and I just spent a week in New Orleans together, it was the best! And as a fanfic writer, I will ALWAYS want to dedicate my free time to writing stories and talking about the blorbos, and I share those stories because fandom is self-generating and I want to do my part in keeping it alive. People create stuff and make friends and stick around well past the death of canon because they are POSSESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I hope that one day when the show is finished that the bad actors get bored and move on and the creators and true fans stick around and keep making stuff, because bullying people and being a cunt uses up a LOT of energy that could be better spent on productive and creative hobbies when they're ready to heal themselves and grow up. It's just not sustainable! :)

[transfemmbeatrice]

hello! I loved reading your interpretation of much ado's beatrice... I think it makes a lot of sense. on another note, as someone who enjoys shakespeare, do you have any adjacent media like literature classics to recommend? I need to find a classic work of fiction to analyze I think... no pressure though, answer if you want.

i have been giving this ask some thought and i have a number of answers for you! though i don't know if they're exactly what you're looking for, it's what came to mind.

Les Mis. my favorite book of all time!! there is SO much there to chew on, Victor Hugo is an incredible (if incredibly unsubtle) writer. the unabridged version takes some real work to get through, but it's worth it imo. even a good abridged version is still really excellent! i have some opinions on english translations you're free to inquire about if you're interested. whatever you do, don't read Denny. and the brick also still has a great, active fanbase on tumblr!

2. Twelfth Night (2017) dir. Simon Godwin. idk if you're already a twelfth night fan, but this production puts a little twist on it in a way that i am still thinking about years later. it works best if you're already familiar with the play so you can understand how its being subverted; if you're interested, hmu and i can hook you up with any number of productions to watch (which is true of any shakespeare, really. i collect them.)

3. The Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie. not classic lit, but the best contemporary scifi i've read. leckie is an incredible writer; there is nothing she's done i haven't loved and i would recommend all of her work, but this trilogy is my favorite. (if you want to try a sample of her writing, she released a short story collection this year called Lake of Souls.) the radch trilogy deals with empire and resistance and colonialism and language and gender and bodies and technology and identity and personhood and so much more!! they're one of my favorite books of all time.

4. other well-written scifi that really gets into it and has given me a lot to think about: the unraveling by ben rosenbaum (which does such a good job, imo, of feeling really alien) and a memory called empire by arkady martine (which has a great sequel as well).

5. crush by richard siken. not to be a cliche, but his poetry is fucking amazing. reading crush was the first time i understood poetry. i went my entire school career never clicking with it--i was a prose girlie and it felt like my brain just shut off every time i tried to engage with poetry, but crush fucking rewired my brain and i've read it so many times. if you haven't checked it out, i can't recommend it highly enough; the language and themes are so intricate and well done and it feels like a coherent whole in a really compelling way.

6. the count of monte cristo by alexandre dumas. it's been over a decade since i read it, but i know i loved it and so do many other people so i trust my own past assessment. i remember drawing a character map about how everyone was connected because it was so complicated (i may still have that somewhere, actually) and it certainly has some strong similarities to les mis but is focused on being a revenge story. i watched V for Vendetta recently and it comes up in that movie a bit and it made me really miss it.

7. Be Good and Rewatch It: Pride and Prejudice. Waypoint (rest in peace<3) did some media rewatch podcasts on this feed, and the star of the show is their series on the 95 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. altogether, their podcasting is more than twice the length of the show itself, but it is so incredibly worth listening to all of it. the adaptation adheres pretty closely to the book so a lot of what they get into relates to the original work as well. there is some fantastic insightful analysis like the difference between english and french relationships with nature and how its reflected in their gardening trends and what it says about lady catherine that her estate is done in the french style--and also there's darcy/peter b. parker fanfiction. extremely well done and also very, very funny, i cannot recommend this more highly!

8. In a similar vein, Shelved By Genre is an excellent podcast if you like sinking your teeth into literary analysis! they focus on genre literature, and have done Book of the New Sun, the Earthsea books, works by Junji Ito, a series by Mercedes Lackey, and I think next are doing Neuromancer? I'm very behind, but they do really excellent work. it's a touch more serious than the last one i mentioned, but it's still a LOT of fun. all three come from academia and i always feel like i'm learning so much when i listen to them.

9. Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot. it's a shortish memoir that i really enjoyed, and there was an interview at the end that i can't stop thinking about because of how she talked about her craft and her story's place in a larger context. i recommend at least reading the interview (which i posted here). i'll also throw Alan Davies' memoir "Just Ignore Him" in here, because i loved it so much and also have a lot of thoughts about how it is written and structured which that interview made me think about again. i'm very biased on this one because i'm a huge fan of his, but i think it's still pretty good if you're not familiar with him. it should be noted that both these books deal with some dark stuff, so feel free to reach out to me for content warnings if you like. alan's audiobook is excellent; heart berries' audiobook is horrendous.

10. this list could not be complete unless i recommended Friends at the Table, an actual play podcast focused on critical worldbuilding, smart characterization, and fun interaction between good friends. genuinely the work they do is some of the best stories i have ever encountered, in my entire life, in any medium. there's a shit ton of it and i'm always happy to give recommendations on where to start, whether you're ready to dive in totally or just try a sample. i could never even begin to put into words how good this show is or how much it means to me. it makes me laugh, it makes me cry, it makes me laugh until i cry, it haunts me (positive), it has led me to meeting so many cool people and introduced me to lots of other great and compelling media and philosophy and political ideology. and that's not even getting into my fascination with how game mechanics shape a story, and the sheer joy of things coming together based on chance rather than convenience--it's such an interesting way to tell a story! i'll shut up now but as i will continue to say up to and including when i'm on my deathbed--please listen to friends at the table.

[i-love-an-alcoholic]

Devil's lettuce

I used to smoke weed almost daily. I never saw anything wrong with it: it's not considered a hard drug and it has legitimate medical uses. I used to love weed: after all, it causes mild to moderate euphoria and who doesn't like that? However, excessive weed smoking has negative side effects, to which I was completely oblivious until I got sober and gained some perspective.

Weed is addictive.

Not in the same way as cocaine or opioids, but it's definitely habit-forming. After a while you develop a tolerance and will need bigger doses to get the desired effect. Eventually you don't even get high from it: you just feel normal or slightly hazy.

My old pal Shitty Boyfriend was a bona fide weed addict. When he had some he would smoke constantly, he wasn't above theft if he happened to know where your stash was and he absolutely refused to do anything without it. I once tried to get him to go to a buffet restaurant with me, but he refused because, you guessed it, he had no weed ("It goes to waste without munchies!"). When he was out of it he would complain loudly, scrape his bong and smoke that disgusting shit (I don't know the english term for it). He was obese, had the attention span of a goldfish and had no real interests besides weed, video games and junk food. He was also in deep denial about all the negative things in his life: as long as he had benzodiazepines and means to get high everything was fine.

Weed worsens depression and other mental conditions.

I've been on a smorgasbord of antidepressants in an attempt to treat my mental issues. At one point I stopped taking them and tried to treat myself with weed. It didn't go well at all: it didn't make me any happier and didn't treat the underlying cause which was borderline personality disorder. It made my mood swings worse: I'd get irrationally angry and would throw things, slam doors, snap at people etc. I would wake up in the morning sort of hung over, with seething rage at everything under the sun (I once told a coworker to fuck off when she said good morning to me… wonder why I got in trouble at work). Not exactly a herb of peace.

Weed disrupts your sleep cycle.

After quitting all drugs I had insomnia for weeks. I believe this was caused by weed, because I had used it as a sleeping aid for a very long time (to be fair it doesn't help much with amphetamine downs). I found out the hard way why that was a bad idea: only after getting my medications in order could I sleep again. Other thing I've noticed is that weed affects dreaming: I used to have vivid dreams but weed took them away, and they haven't completely returned.

The effects last longer than you'd think.

The stoner stereotype is very much true, and the stoner isn't even high all the time. As I stated in the previous paragraph, I smoked before bedtime. In the morning, after 8-10 hours of sleep I was still hazy, slow and absent-minded, almost like I hadn't slept too well. At work I was forgetful and would make mistakes all the time, despite not being intoxicated. This became my "normal" state, which wasn't good at all. From time to time I would spend a week or two without smoking and would revert back to my old self, but I was so aversive of being sober that I went back to being a stoner as soon as I got the chance.

I cringe at myself when I think about what I did to my brain.

Weed is very much illegal where I live and I don't expect it to be decriminalized or legalized anytime soon. I do support medicinal use and decriminalisation, but I wouldn't go as far as legalizing it. In my opinion it is a drug and should be treated as such, legal or not, and it certainly isn't the health product some people make it out to be. I don't judge people for smoking. Hell, I probably won't say no if I'm being offered some even though I probably should, but I think it's important to talk about the negative side as well, just to help people make an informed decision.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

I was listening to my Jinmintae playlist (sounds like a mint toothpaste brand but whatever), that I made to complement my Jkaaay playlist (super creative with these names, I know), and I wanted to share my random thoughts on the songs (that I've already heard thousands of times before but whatever):

The Astronaut is still difficult as fuck to listen to. I love the song but it makes me miss Jin too much, I sobbed listening to it. "When I'm with you, there is no one else, and I get heaven to myself". But Jin is all alone now. These past few days have made clear just how hard and isolating it can be for the members and Jin doesn't even have Army now... He must miss us so much!

Sweet Night is so fucking good, I love it. The chorus is so romantic it kills me. I really love the chorus and Adora makes the song.

Christmas Tree is good too. I love V's songs but not his solo songs. It's not that I don't like Singularity, Stigma, and Inner Child, but his tracks (including Blue&Grey) not on BTS's discography are superior and I genuinely love them.

Speaking of Blue&Grey, it's a pretty song but I've never loved it (unpopular opinion, I think). I only enjoy, but not love, the rap, and I don't care for the falsetto-y parts of the song. I think the lower parts of the chorus - that V, Jungkook and Jin share - are the best.

BE as a whole is such a forgettable album to me:

Telepathy is super boring to listen to now. I think it's too sugary sweet and goes nowhere, and the production is grating and loud.

Disease is the same. The beginning is too slow (much like in Run BTS) and the song is pretty mid until the bridge. The bridge is the real highlight but the song is still bland imo, and feels disjointed.

The funny thing about BE is that I remember Hobi being worried about us not liking it because it reflected their individual tastes too much, when, in reality, after listening to Indigo and JITB, I think the problem with the album is that they tried to compromise and show their individuals colors while still sticking to what they believe the BTS sound is or should be, and ended up making something which doesn't even reflect any of them or the group itself. Ie.:

B&G sounds like a V song but it's blander and less touching and heartfelt than a non-BTS V song; Disease sounds like Hope World J-Hope trying to recreate old BTS's sound (like they did with Run BTS), but (just like Run BTS), it doesn't sound at all like old-school BTS and I think BTS either don't know what that sounds like or are incapable of recreating it; Telepathy was Suga's attempt and doing something easy and commercial like Eight but it doesn't sound like BTS and is arguably worse than Eight; LGO is supposed to be the kind of chill (Western-inspired), sentimental track the members like, but I doubt any of them would've chosen it as the tt of their own albums. Stay is actually my favorite BE song now, because I find the lyrics and style of the song the most like "old BTS". It's like a So What/Magic Shop crossover though neither of those songs is a favorite of mine.

Despite attempts to make it a more personal, self-produced album, BE is still a BTS album whose songs were mostly chosen by the company, and, thus, I don't think it truly reflects any of them, least of all BTS, sadly.

Anyway, I used to love Serendipity but now find it so repetitive? I'm not sure it aged well tbh. Also, Serendipity and Filter sound really bad and autotuned to me. To be clear, the songs aren't bad, it's just that good old Hybe production... Also, With You > Serendipity.

I was thinking that Jimin has With You, V has Christmas Tree and Sweet Night, and Jin has Yours and The Astronaut, but Jungkook doesn't have any romantic, sentimental songs. Stay Alive isn't a drama OST, and neither Still With You nor his solos are sentimental and slow and romantic like kdrama OSTs... We've never heard that kind of sound from him...

Okay, that's it! I'd love to hear Army's thoughts!

[hundredacreletters]

When and why did I start selling/writing comfort character letters?

In 2020, I got into the marauders fandom (like many others). I found it on tiktok. I had been a harry potter fan in the past, but with everything jk rowling was saying, it felt icky and tainted it all for me. The marauders fandom was different. We all hated her, and even if there were different opinions, views, and headcanons, it felt better. I did get back into harry potter, too, thanks to the friends I made and the content I saw. One of the things that was all over my fyp was comfort character letters. I had gotten into writing at the time so I gave it a shot and wrote a few for fun. I'm not sure where those are, but I wish that I could go back and read them. They probably weren't my best, but I still have faith in myself. I figured I would attempt to sell them that summer (2021). I already had a shop made from in the past when I tried selling mickey ears on etsy, but never sold any there only locally in my town. I started out with just marauders characters and a few shitty tiktok videos. It slowly but surely built up. I've had to take breaks for school or internships through the years. I've also had to limit sales because I'm a one woman show and I want to make a quality product. Still I am very proud that after these few years I have made 645 sales. I owe that completely to my customers. My repeat customers have a very special place in my heart and I know quite a few of them know that. A lot has changed, but one thing that has not is my love for writing these letters and my inability to make good tiktoks

[speedbooster]

Journey through Archie Sonic - Introduction

I promised this over on webbedphantom, and I'm sticking to my word. I'm going to be reading the entirety of Archie Sonic, from the main book, the original mini-series, and the numerous spin offs (minus Knuckles, I'll be saving him for later), tackling one issue every day I can.

To preface this, I've barely read any of this comic. I checked out a few issues after the reboot, I read the Sonic Adventure adaptation, and I actually bought both issues of Mega Drive when they came out. But it's been so long that I don't remember much. All I do know is what I've learned from lowart's retrospective on the series, which is what got me interested in checking it out again.

I've also barely seen the cartoons it was originally based on. I did see a few episodes of SatAM when it was on Netflix, but I never got very far because of two reasons; I didn't like Sonic's voice and the mohawk was weird. That's it.

I will eventually watch it, especially with the fan-made season 3 around the corner, but for now, I'm just gonna stick to the comic.

With that out of the way, let's get started.

Sonic the Hedgehog Mini-Series #0 - Feb. 1993

To start off, I'm not going to spend too much time summarizing, because that's kinda boring. Mainly, I just wanna give my thoughts as I read through it, make a few jokes here and there, and give my overall opinion at the end.

First, the cover. It's honestly kinda charming. The colors are nice, the idea of them running out of the tv is creative, and I like seeing the designs from the games... even if it's only for this cover.

Now for the plot. Basically, Robotnik chases Sonic for a bit, he gets away and goes back to base, and that's... honestly it for part one.

Because yeah, it's split into four different parts, telling two different stories, with some little gag pages thrown in here and there. I assume this was done to keep the ads from interrupting the action (I can't say for sure, because the scans I have don't have any ads), which if that's the case I can respect that. As a kid, it was always a little annoying to have the story be put on hold for two pages so I could be shown a photoshopped image of Mr. Fantastic holding a glass a milk.

As for the actual comic, well it's definitely interesting.

It's weird that he can talk, but at least Caterkiller is introducing himself politely before he tries to commit murder.

I said up top that I wasn't a fan of the mohawk Sonic was rocking in these days, but... honestly, the art here kinda makes it work for me. Still not my favorite, but it's consistent, it's cutesy but not overly so, and it works well for what they're going for; A comedic book for kids that's combining the premise of SatAm with the humor of... Adventures. Albeit, not as unhinged as that could be-

Here Sonic has gotten back to Knothole, the hidden base of the Freedom Fighters, and we're introduced to the whole gang, including Sally who is... this.

I have no idea why she's like this. I think it's because her design hadn't been finalized by this point, or the team was only given early production material from SatAM, but either way it's weird seeing this bizarre palette swap of her, and without her jacket. Though I'm aware that wasn't apart of her design for a good while, even in the cartoon.

Sonic, I don't think that's how that works-

Oh man, he really ate it there. Though, I gotta admit, it's cute seeing this version of Tails, before he was the kid genius with some confidence issues. He's the little brother of the whole team, who looks up to them all, but especially Sonic, and wants to be like them. It's really endearing.

... I can't decide if "Trickle Down Technology" is stupid or not. I mean, it sounds stupid but... it's decent wordplay? I think?

Now onto part 2, where the team deals with the leak and stuff. Though we start off checking in on Robotnik and-

I shocking love his desk. Like... oh my lord, everything about this desk is gold. It's so cartoonishly evil, and the "Rights Violated While U Wait" sign definitely got a chuckle out of me.

And this is the source of the leak. Weeping Willow Trees... I have no words, I think the concept speaks for itself-

So Robotnik finds them at the edge of the forest and Sonic taunts him to get him to focus on chasing him, which works but... I don't think this art was meant to be seen up close...

I hate this. He's a conehead with no eyes and a moustache that looks like little wings. I hate that I zoomed in on this why did I do this

... you ever just tell a joke and no one laughs, so you just keep repeating it until someone reacts?

Yeah, I feel this.

So Sonic books it to the well to grab a power ring he hid there, which he then uses to do-

... I don't even-

Like... why? How? Huh??

This might just be the stupidest thing I've ever seen. And I kinda love it??

I still hate that the badniks can talk, but like... That buzzbomber is gonna die for that joke. Like there is no way he lets him live after that, right?

... anyway Robotnik gets away, so Sonic and the gang plant new trees to make the willows stop crying. And I will admit-

This makes me smile. I'm a sucker for puns.

But that's the end of the first half. Now it's time for a few gags before we move onto the next one.

Here Sonic shows off how fast he can go, and... first of all, nice pun.

But secondly, is he supposed to be winking?? Because it kinda just looks like he got something in his eye, or they forgot to draw a pupil, or color the other eyelid blue or something, because this just looks... wrong.

Next a page entirely dedicated to this pun. And honestly... it was good until I read Sonic's last line. "OAK-Kay" is pushing it even for me-

Lastly, we have a page showing off the various badniks, but I couldn't help but notice this;

This is cursed. Why does he have normal eyes?? And look at that face, and his flesh colored bolt-ear thing??? I hate it???

Now onto story 2, where they show how Robotnik took over the world... kinda?

Oh he's coming.

Also there's something powerful about this image without context. It haunts me.

Anyway, Sonic is heading over to his uncle's chili dog stand, who just got an order for 200 chili dogs that Sonic is going to deliver.

Meanwhile, this is being hung on the wall outside;

Another Cursed-Botnik, but again I love how cartoonishly evil this sign is. "Have Fun, Go To Jail." If this man even sees you smiling, he's having you arrested. It's so over the top, and I love it.

Speaking of which, that's exactly what happens while Sonic is away. Uncle Chuck gets arrested for smiling, and has... the dumbest revelation.

If you know him, and you know his voice, then you really should've seen this coming. Heck, the address Sonic is delivering the Chili Dogs to is a Robotnik Inc Factory!! You only have yourself to blame, Chuck-

So Sonic delivers the dogs, and the chicken robot tries to kill him as payment, so he decides to rush back to check on his uncle. And-

This editor's note got an audible chuckle out of me. That is so clever!

This... is an expression. I'm tempted to make this a reaction image for the heck of it.

This is the end of this chapter, but again I gotta point out the signs. Man just decided to dump toxic waste here just because he could, and-

LOOK AT HIM GO

I wish I could enjoy something as much as this guy enjoys dancing in the flames over here. He is having the time of his life rn

Anyway, Sonic immediately takes them out, including the chill one which... what the heck man??

And decides to rush back to the factory to confront Robotnik, while making a little reference to another speedster.

Cheap, but it made me smile. Sue me.

Sonic runs into Sally, who introduces herself as a princess and tells him how her father was taken too. And Sonic-

Doesn't give a damn, wow. That is harsh-

"Sorry Girlie, but I don't believe you, nor would I care if I did, because my problems come first."

Honestly... I'm okay with this. It was jarring at first, but this is the closest we get to an origin story as far as I know. He's not really "the hero" yet, so it's interesting to see him be a bit more selfish.

So Sally convinces him to help out, and we get this little exchange;

... I can't decide if this is funny or stupid. And yeah, I did kinda reference this on Sonic's bio, but I didn't know THIS is where that came from. Or more specifically, how they introduced that.

... I mean, it's kinda funny out of context, but in context its... I honestly don't know-

Here we see Robotnik's army of supposedly roboticized townspeople, but I guess the artist didn't get the memo?? Like they're clearly not robots??

... okay, nevermind. Robotnik actually likes being called fat. Props for the body positivity, I guess.

... y'know, I think this is the first time I've ever seen a speedster make a tornado... and run on top of it. Like how does that even work??

Anyways, that's it for Issue #0. Overall, it was more enjoyable than I thought it'd be, and actually got a chuckle or two out of me which I did not expect.

Definitely not going to be going THIS in-depth for the rest of these, this was way more work than I thought. I'll just give my brief thoughts, and maybe rank each issue as I go? Idk I'm kinda making this up as I go along.

If you have any suggestions, leave 'em in the replies I guess-

[theshoegirldiaries]

LOTD: MAC Lustreglass Lipstick in Ready Teddy (Forever Teddy, 2024) with Clarins Colour Quench Lip Balm in 10 Nude Delhi. #Scentoftheday Lucky EDP by Dior.

It's the last of my first impressions reviews (sorry there's been delays, it's taken longer than I expected to compile each post). So, I'll be honest, I don't know what's going on with MAC in the UK at the moment. They're not trying, I'll tell you that. The Lunar New Year collection which is always a highlight for me consisted (here) of 2 products, one being a repackaged mascara from the main line. That does not a "collection" maketh in my opinion. Christmas was at best lacklustre and a shambles as usual (the only piece I wanted was the blue sparkling lip balm and of course it didn't launch with everything else and I pulled my hair out speaking to live chat "you can keep checking the 'new in' section", duh, why didn't I think of that). There's so many other products/collections I see on social media that we never even get here (glad I didn't hold my breath for that zodiac range or I wouldn't be here writing this now)! So when I spied these Teddy Forever pieces on Notino months ago and discovered it was a new collection and instead of the MAC website getting it, they wrote a blog post on 'Teddy' products that you could buy, but not the new ones that were clearly supposed to support the blog piece, I just bought them from Notino when I had the chance because I wasn't sure we'd ever get them here.

The packaging looked so lovely (actually it's very light and cheap feeling in person, but pretty looking nonetheless). I bought both lipsticks, a Lustreglass (above left) and Retro Matte (right) and the Lipglass (middle), but didn't get the liquid lip colour and lipliner. There's also a palette for face and eyes (at an eye-watering £49) which MAC do have and then setting spray, mascara and Prep + Prime Lip in special packaging along with a couple of eyeliners, all of which MAC don't appear to be carrying here. It's the lip products I was most interested in anyway. Okay, essay aside, let's get onto that. These products are inspired of course, by Velvet Teddy lipstick, one of MAC's best sellers. I personally feel these are leaning more into Marrakesh than VT though. I was aware of the more reddish tone to them before I bought them. In the swatches I'd say they look a reddish-brown, but in the bullet and on the lips, certainly Ready Teddy (the only one I've tried so far) is more of a brownish-red.

The Lustreglass finish has a glossy-sheen to it and is a little more sheer than other finishes (though I find not as sheer as the older Lustre formula), but the colour was easily built up to opaque. The point of the lipstick seems longer and sharper than older MAC lippies, so it's super precise. The Lipglass in this collection is hella pigmented as you can see, I might need a liner with that one as it's bleeding in the swatches. The gloss/balm I chose to wear with RT actually made the lipstick underneath disappear from everywhere but the edges of my mouth, so I blotted most of it off and reapplied just the lipstick. This post turned into more of a MAC debate than the specific lipstick, but I've needed to get all that off my chest for a good while now, so thank you for making it this far x

[ilovethisrebootsm]

I also want to add on the point that a major thing that draws people to Dev is how uncertain he is as a character, anything he does has a massive impact in the show and he is....messed up. He is incredibly messed up as a product (literally) or his environment and its so incredibly CLEAR in the show, every interaction with his dad showcases this just like how OP said, rather than just telling what the relationship is its just SHOWN. It also makes it more fun for the fans in my opinion because when its shown there are often open ended threads, like the numerous clone/dead parent/mutation etc AU's with Dev at the center. Hazel is an amazing character 100% I love her so much but something that always made it hard for me to ponder on her character is because, she just...says she has problems and they get fixed....instantly. There aren't any scenes in the show where she's just left with an unfinished problem other than Dev. Dev is the only thing uncertain in her life, and THATS why their dynamic is interesting. Twitter explodes when he calls her by her real name and that's because its a clear case of their friendship. We know they can get along amazingly, they have the same interests, live close by, and they have a lot of fun together- this is all SHOWN. Every ep they interact you're never entirely sure what to expect especially after the founders day ep. Not to mention that Dev is....alone. I've said this a lot on my other accounts but Dev is such a tragic character that just makes you want to figure him out, he's not a bad or troublesome kid just very hurt. And he doesn't want to cause hurt. Hazel's legit the only thing in his life that he looks forward to and that's shown multiple times, after they cemented their friendship the first time he is shown to make a big effort for her, (All off the top of my head so there could deffo be more moments)

-Him opening up during the hunt and them having fun going around the city taking photos

-The symbolism of him taking off his glasses during the water fountain

-Very happily reassures Hazel about lunch and when she doesn't immediately react he takes notice and asks if she wasn't a fan of sushi

-When she points out how Dev called her "Hazel" He backtracks at first but then just accepts it and they end up laughing about it

-Asking to be apart of the scavenger hunt again and admitting how he wants his dad's approval and he apologizes to her with his heart and the team is back on

-During the scavenger hunt where they're breaking into the school, Hazel is clearly upset on how easy the hunt is and as soon as she huffs her disappointment Dev instantly joins in and helps make it fun again

"We'll have to watch out for the lasers!" "What lasers?" "Trust me, there are always lasers!" (I PUT THE SS'S OUT OF ORDER AND I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SPACE FOR THE SHENAIGAN PICS </3) -In lost and founders day he's the only one who knows about her love of hats despite only being in her life for maybe 2 weeks at most whereas all the other characters don't

"Hazel! Of course, her well known love of hats!" -He goes around the huge park LOOKING for her so that his dad doesn't find her and ends up putting up a big chase for her safety -At the end of the ep Dev very, VERY clearly is excited to see Hazel but when she brings up the anomaly part and how hurt she was Dev tries to explain but is cut off by her leaving, AND HE'S SAD MAN. THE FACE HE MAKES IS SO PATHETIC AND HELPLESS.

-Not to mention the lock screen

-Even when they're arguing she's till on his mind and due to the way he was raised he thinks that the only way to win someone back is by being able to offer something worthwhile, hence why he's doing all this he thinks this would help restore their friendship.

-Dev believes that relationships in general are a delicate thing

He really misses her and its so obvious

As soon as he's reassured (For probably the first time in his life by a human) He's all on board to help

"We're heroes!" IM RUNNING OUT OF SPACE TO ADD MORE SS SO I'LL ADD ANOTHER REPLY HANG ON

I've been seeing a lot of people talk about how Hazel is a boring protagonist(or I guess more like... people complaining about how other people are saying that? Idk I'm not on Twitter), and at first I kind of agreed with those takes because all I had seen were random clips. BUT, now that I've watched the show, I disagree. I don't think Hazel is a boring character, at least not conceptually. I think the issue is that the majority of her RELATIONSHIPS are really boring.

Hazel on her own has a lot of potential. She's caring, she's funny, she has a tendancy to overthink, her design is really good, she has realistic problems most people can relate to... she's just all around a really well built character. The problem is that almost none of the characters she interacts with consistently have any depth, and that causes her relationships with them to fall flat, which causes HER to fall flat because at the end of the day, a character is only as strong as their relationships with other characters. We're TOLD what her relationships with others are like, we're TOLD what the other characters' personality traits are, but we're never SHOWN those things. I think the episode where they deal with Jasmine's fears is probably the biggest offender. Jasmine herself acts as more of a plot device then anything else, with her fears being used as a stepping stone to teach HAZEL a lesson, rather then allowing the episode to focus on Jasmine overcoming those fears. The scene where Jasmine actually FACES those fears ends up being just thrown in at the end as a way to solve the conflict, which tbh wasn't that engaging in the first place because Hazel had no personal attatchment to any of Jasmine's fears... that's just kind of a bad episode overall tbh it's where all of the shows flaws are the most prominent but I DIGRESS-

Another really good example of the poor relationship building is her relationship with her brother, Antony, who we literally don't even get to SEE until well into the second half of the season. I haven't actually gotten to that episode yet, so I can't really judge Antony as a character, but I CAN judge how they've been setting him up so far! Which hasn't been very good! Instead of SHOWING US Hazel's relationship with him through flashbacks or something, the writers just have Hazel TELL US how she feels about her brother and things they used to do together. It just doesn't have the same impact as actually seeing their relationship play out would, y'know? They've been telling us about Hazel's relationships with other characters instead of showing us those relationships, and it's been hurting Hazel as a character.

The only relationships she has that we actually get to watch her BUILD are her relationship with Cosmo & Wanda and her relationship with Dev, which, while the ladder is genuinely really well done and interesting(aside from a couple pacing issues but honestly the show is chock full of those so whatever), the former ALSO falls really flat because Cosmo & Wanda aren't really... characters. They're iconic, sure, and they're really funny, but they're also mostly just plot devices. They're here to grant Hazel's wishes(aka cause the plot of the episode) and be funny. That's it. Which is fine, those kinds of characters obviously have their place, but when they're the only ones your main character consistently interacts with? That causes some problems. It's like if, in the movie Aladdin, instead of focusing mostly on the relationship between Aladdin and Jasmine, they focused entirely on his relationship with the Genie. The Genie is mostly just here to move the plot along and say funny things, so having him be the character Aladdin interacts with the MOST kind of breaks the movie. Having a story where almost all the interactions are between the main character and the comic relief just doesn't work.

Honestly I think the issues with Hazel's relationships are probably why people are more drawn to Dev as a character then they are to Hazel, because while Hazel almost exclusively interacts with characters who could be replaced by cardboard cutouts and nobody would tell the difference, Dev doesn't. Dev's relationships are a lot more engaging because all of the characters he interacts with are SIGNIFICANTLY more fleshed out then the ones Hazel interacts with. His relationship with Hazel is engaging because it's an emotional rollercoaster for both of them. His relationship with Peri is interesting because Peri is much newer to being a fairy godparent then Cosmo & Wanda are, meaning he's more likely to make mistakes. His relationship with his dad is interesting because it's literally the main motivation for his character, and we actually get to SEE WHY THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS THE WAY IT IS. His relationship with Irep is more interesting because Irep is a weird little shit who's mostly just using Dev to take over fairyworld, and he also has an interesting dynamic with Peri! Dev's relationships are all WAY better executed then Hazel's, and honestly I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Dev is an antagonist who mostly interacts with other antagonists. He's at the center of almost every single ongoing conflict in the show, which is often times what makes a character and their relationships interesting: conflict. I also think he benefits from getting expanded on LATER in the show, since by that point all of the writers would've had a much better feel for all of the characters, making it easier for them to actually show what his relationships are like instead of outright telling us skgnvkdmfkekfndn

Now, was the point of all this to say that I think Dev would be a better protagonist then Hazel? No. Absolutely not no- he has a more interesting, better executed story then Hazel does so far, sure, but he just. Wouldn't be able to carry an episodic show like FOP on his own I'm sorry- we've seen the kind of wishes he makes, they're not particularly interesting. Because he's a rich kid who can do basically whatever he wants. Plus, his conflict with Peri just isn't really built to be stretched out over an entire season, which it would HAVE to be if Dev was the protagonist of a Fairly Oddparents, because the entire premise of the show is "this kid gets a Fairy Godparent, what kind of wacky hijinks will they get up to now?" Plus there's the fact that the narrative has been treating his parental neglect with a lot more gravity then Timmy's ever was, meaning if the show was from his perspective they'd have to tone down the things that make him interesting to keep the show from getting outright miserable- Dev is not a good character to make carry that kind of show. Dev should not be the main character. HOWEVER! Do I think the show would be more interesting if we got more episodes featuring him and Hazel hanging out together? Yes absolutely. They bounce off of eachother incredibly well, and once Peri is introduced we also get to see Peri's relationship with his parents and how THEY interact, and it's just. So much more interesting then seeing just Hazel and CosWan. Or Hazel's cardboard cutout friends. Honestly I'd go as far as to say he should've been Hazel's dueteragonist instead of just a recurring character, kinda like a(hopefully) better executed Chloe. It'd give Hazel a more interesting character to bounce off of then Cosmo & Wanda. Either that or I think Peri should've been Hazel's fairy godparent instead of Cosmo & Wanda, because he has more room to grow and develope as a character then they do, making his potential dynamic with Hazel a lot more interesting. Idk just in general I think having Hazel interact almost exclusively with Cosmo & Wanda was a mistake-

Also should be noted; I am saying this as someone who has never seen the original Fairly Oddparents. I don't know if the original show had these issues aswell or not, everything I know about the original comes from random YouTube videos I watched out of curiousity/boredom. Either way if the original DID have issues with Timmy's relationships being really boring then uh. That's not an excuse for A New Wish to do the same, I guess. Idk where I'm going with this... also sorry if this essay is incoherent! I have a lot of thoughts about how Hazel's relationships are really poorly executed and I just needed to get them out skfnvdkdjfndn- if you want me to elaborate on anything feel free to leave a comment or send me an ask :)

[aowynsstuff]

Jan 1 - 5

January 1 : Happy New Year! 🎉🥳

Started the day by feeling all tired and worked up. But I wanted to be productive so I pushed myself to do something today even though it's holiday.

I started to declutter my things, I throw away all of the piles of stuff that not of use anymore. So I have more space, I also wanted to sell my books. I used to adore these stuff but as I grow older, they don't matter any longer. I see them as bunch of unessessary things that I should get rid of.

after a while , I washed my clothes. My family said it's Jan 1 and I'm very zealous already. I washed my clothes and decided to go for a walk in the evening. I wanted to reach my goal of my 7k steps. but I was able to exceed my goal. I made it to 10k today.

yey! ❤️❤️

January 3: Unexpected Roundtrip

Due to technical issues with my laptop, I had to travel to Manila to get it fixed. Roundtrip—quite a hassle, isn't it? But I don't get to choose in situations like this. I needed to have it fixed ASAP because I have tons to do.

I'm writing this because I made it! I survived this tiring day of traveling and jumping from different cafes just to be visible at my part-time job.

On the bright side, this trip was not planned; however, I was able to meet my UXD colleagues and had small talks with them. They were my UXD buddies in YONDU, and about a year ago, we were inseparable. Life happens, priorities change, but I believe this given time, though a hassle, was a blessing for us to catch up with our BUSY lives.

January 4 : My Home

I'm grateful that I met someone as amazing as Don. He was very kind and calm in any situation we had to face. I'm blessed with a loving, caring man, and I couldn't ask for more.

I love you, mahal. Thank you for being there for me through the good and the bad. Thanks for everything you do for us.

I feel so loved by everything you do for me.

January 5: I can't believe 5 days have already passed in 2024. Days are passing so quickly, and it wasn't a good start for me. I'm trying to be okay these past few days and still hope for the best to come.

I wanted to kick off a healthy lifestyle, but a lot of things are getting in the way, and my mind couldn't handle this. I feel so tired already with all the drama and unnecessary things going on.

However, I can say it's just a bad week, not a bad life. Remember that each day is a fresh start. I'm giving myself a breather so I can face another week with endurance.

There are so many things on my plate that need to be done, so I'm trying to break it down into pieces to focus on one thing at a time and allow my mind to think clearly.

But there is one person whom I'm so thankful for: my boyfriend. Of all the people around me, he took a great deal to take care of me. Though we are miles away from each other, it never became a hindrance for him to show how much he cared. He valued all of my opinions and feelings. He and his family were very supportive of me moving near him. They tried to find a place for me to stay near their house. I've never felt so welcomed and accepted before.

We can never have a perfect life, but we can have wonderful days amidst chaotic ones, and that's something I hold dearly in my star pocket.

[starlit-mansion]

okokok. i am not entirely sure i have ever seen you talk about this and how dividing the books all are is fascinating to me so... what's the opinion on the novel trilogy, or even frights/tales if you're willing to touch that w/ a ten foot pole --scrappedbaby

I feel like this is a pretty controversial take but I think the Silver Eyes itself is… fine. Okay, I tried to actually read it once and I couldn't get more than a couple pages in, because it read like when someone posts their homework assignment that was secretly fanfiction on fanfiction dot net. I have a little bit of a soft spot for the graphic novel, actually, due to it being bad in an interesting way rather than blandly decent like the other 2, which I've only flipped through. (Also the shitty saturated coloring fucked over the inks. Setting aside any opinions of the artist as a person, i think her style has character and added something to the series that is still present in other parts I like much better, like the glamrock concepts. And the muted test pages that someone scrounged up from a trade show copy or whatever would have probably done wonders for the atmosphere.)

As for the story of TSE itself… Idk, I think it's kind of funny that it's Stephen King's IT for fourth graders. Also, because it's aimed at that demographic, they had to conjure a young protagonist from somewhere, and I think the concept is pretty solid, and Charlie's a good character, and I'm also fond of what a little freak Dave-era William is. That's really my favorite concept of the villain motivation in the series, actually: creating this twisted little dollhouse to go sit in and pretend to be a robot. The immortality/mad science/lich/trancendance from the flesh thing is… it's fine. I made my peace with it. But it's a little too Herbert West for my tastes. (Also like… this is why I like Glitchtrap. He's kind of doing the same thing, making is little diorama and reliving his glory days.) All in all, for what it is, a solid 7/10, imo.

As for the rest of the trilogy……. ah, it's not for me. Like I said, I've flipped through the graphic novels a bit, and own them secondhand as curiosity pieces/weird little relics, but it seems like it gets up its own ass to cater to people who like lore (a separate but related demographic as people who like the horror part of the games, in my 100% honest opinion). I hear about the illusion disks and I am austin walker's iconic "do you ever see a take so bad you immediately have to go to sleep?' tweet.

As for Fazbear Frights: I'm not gonna lie, i think it's pretty good. I feel so fondly about the ghostwritten chapterbooks of my youth (I was a Babysitter's Club and Animorphs girlie, and weirdly… not an inaccurate cross-section for Fazbear's Frights), and I think it's perfectly fine to play around in the universe and create a bunch of AUs and related concepts. Is there criticism to be had of the stories themselves? SURE. They're very weak on diversity, QUITE fatphobic at times, and some of them are unnecessarily ghoulish, though there's only so much disgust I can muster for undeserved child death in the child death series… NONE of them deserve it, even the ones that are mean to their siblings or too vain or whatever, and the fact that it's equally likely for any given story to end in brutal death or "wow I really learned my lesson!" is actually pretty fun. Reminds me of Goosebumps a bit (though I was never a huge fan. Too easily creeped. That was my brother's preferred ghostwritten series though, so I sampled here and there. I also somehow had my hands on a novelization of one of the Tales from the Crypt movies too, and that made a big impression).

I don't love that FF takes every fan theory and milks it, and I'm sure the process for actual production has some ethical problems based on everything I know about the industry. But I do firmly believe that a little body horror is good for the youths, and just making it a multiverse rather than sticking to any one canonical thread lets you have your animatronic rabbit and wear it too, as it were. I also kind of like the lower middle class vibe that the series has… There's very frequently a sense of economic desperation and cheap escapism that resonates so well with the games, and reminds me of how going to Chuck E Cheese truly was the marquee birthday activity of my youth (though I liked the arcade more than the animatronics as a wee millenial).

Part of my fondness for FF is just that I had 2 months during late quarantine where I would buy a copy of the next one I hadn't read while I was doing my weekly grocery/target run and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE OUTSIDE OF MY HOME, and I would read these very unchallenging short stories and be like "I liked that one! …I did NOT care for that one" and it was a little pumpkin full of meat to chew on in my cage. I stopped it pretty abruptly when the proof of Scott's Republican political donations came out (I mostly do not buy any new fnaf items now, though I have ended up doing it here and there, and I mostly class it on the scale of like, buying Overwatch microtransactions even though activision blizzard is a shitty abusive company or smth. Not a moral good, but not on a "funding a person actively involved in politically crushing trans people" level of problematic).

As for the stories themselves, I liked Into The Pit (it really reads like a reused movie script, but in a good way), Count The Ways (a friend of mine, iirc, did NOT like the two non-title stories in vol 1, but I have a soft spot for Funtime Freddy's villain era in that one, and Millie's safe and self-inflicted teenage self pity reads as an affectionate self-callout to me), Out of Stock (this one's just so CLASSIC kiddie horror and also a really good use of an otherwise forgettable part of canon), Room for One More (another good use of forgettable parts of canon, i think the series really shines when it clicks into stuff like that), Coming Home (the jewel of the series, and gets me in the Sixth Sense nostalgia too), Bunny Call (mostly forgettable obvious moral lesson story with a surprising twist of poignency in the middle and an iconic antagonist), The Man in Room 1280 (I wish this was better utilized in the game series, it feels like Security Breach juked around this concept for a much worse and dumber version, and also Andrew is my special little bastard child), and The Real Jake (a sweet, if maybe a bit maudlin, exporation of the deeper concepts in the lore that is solidly a cut above the average FF story, and i like the stitchwraith parts of the books too).

There's none that I have a huge hate-on for, though I thought 1:35 am in particular was VERY bad (I skimmed the last half). While it's notorious, to me, In The Flesh is just dorky, particularly fatphobic and I don't know how everyone is getting MatPat from it. Mat's persona is kind of smug, but not cruel and hateful towards women or a shitty friend (if anything, his peers speak SO warmly of him that makes me give him more credit than he deserves as a cc), and you'd think a real hit piece on him would involve... a theory. A G A M E theory. Okay, I did it the legally required time.

I stopped at Book #6 and i'm not sure if i'll ever go back. I just got a library card so maybe I'll get around to it the next time i'm sucked into the franchise, but for the most part, I'm dormant except for things I really adore about the series (Springtrap, the Funtimes, Afton Family Drama in general, nostalgia for the first few games, etc), so I can't muster up too many more opinions on middle reader books as a 34-year-old. Tales has no appeal to me even as a future "maybe if the fixation hits hard" option, because a bunch of satellite stories around a setting that couldn't muster a third act in the tentpole game is just. Sad.