#also i have a ton of animation that i haven't posted through months

[laurastatice]

headcanon that it was Sunday's inner circle nickname until Robin accidentally made it public

[canon-in-too-deep]

Typesetting Tips 4.5: Graphics/Images

One common question I see popping up for people getting into making books/typesets is 'where do I find graphics/images to decorate my books with?' And of course, that's with the caveat of 'and they're free'.

Thus, this is a continuation of my old post on where to find graphics/images to use for typesetting/book design. Because it's been half a year since then, and while I am very much the same amateur typesetter I was then, I am now a slightly older amateur typesetter---who knows more websites!

(I'm including websites I've listed before so that all the links are in one post)

All these sites have free offerings to varying degrees. Personally, I haven't had to pay anything so far for that I've used. If you see something you like that's locked behind a paywall, try to reverse google search it to see if there's a free version out there! I've seen a lot of these sites upload the same images. Also, be careful of AI!

Graphic/Image Resources:

Archive.org - Internet Archive. Not as easy to download or use images from, but there are a lot of cool resources there if you have the time.

Canva - Easy to use for beginning design work. I recommend taking advantage of their month long free trial (I found it easy to cancel as well when it was over), but do not recommend subscribing.

Creative Fabrica - They send out a lot of free bundle promos in their email subscriptions. I mostly use them for fonts but they do have a lot of free resources for crafting.

Exotic Animal Photo Reference Repository - This is an animal photography database by @why-animals-do-the-thing! They have a lovely growing repository that's both education and free! Just be sure to ask permission and credit and link to them if you to use their work!

Freepik - More free stuff! I haven't used it a lot yet, but I've seen this site recced by others.

Heritage Library - Lot of neat pngs/vectors. Especially great if you're looking for vintage/nature images.

Pixabay - Royalty free and under the Content License

Rawpixel - Probably the site I use the most. I sort to exclude all the AI images and just use the free/public domain stuff.

Noun Project - Lots of icons available. Tend to be more minimalistic and simple. I know a lot of bookbinders use this site, though I haven't explored it much.

Smithsonian - The Smithsonian Open Access is free database from the Smithsonian with millions of images available.

Streamlinehq - Another site with a lot of free icons. Most of their really cool assets cost money, but you can sign up for free with an email address to download 10 free assets if you see something you really like.

Wikiart - Great place to look at public domain artwork.

Wikimedia Commons - (Wikimedia Commons, Wikisource, Wiki Books, etc.) Tons of stuff to sift through.

Last source: FONTS! You can go a long way with dingbat fonts for decorations! Frames, ornaments, etc. can be done with fonts. Check out dafont and other free font sites; fonts can sometimes be a lot easier to use in texts than images.

[thundrstrik3]

A little about me!

Hi! I'm Sophie! I see you've found my blog, lol. I've had this blog for years, but I've never actually gotten around to telling you guys anything about myself, so I figured it's time to finally get around to that!

This is primarily an 18+ blog, so please don't follow me if you're underage!

My asks are open for any horny asks (and horny asks are very much welcome!), and my DMs are open if you want to get to know me better! Come say hi if you're interested, I don't bite... well, not too much, anyways ;)

Now, with all that said, here's a little about me!

I'm 20 years old, I live in America, and I cannot wait to get out of here as soon as I can manage it, lol.

I'm a Computer Science major, specifically I'm working towards being a software engineer, and I'm hoping to make music production software!

I've only just recently came out as trans about 2 months ago as of the time of writing this! It's been a long time coming, and it's been something I've grappled with for a while, but I've finally accepted it and it's awesome!

I haven't gotten to start transitioning yet, there's a lot of financial barriers I have to get over before I can do that, but I'm hoping I can soon! (Will update this whenever I make progress)

My sexuality is kinda a question mark? I've said I'm bisexual for ages, but between realizing I'm trans, and some recent experiences, I'm still figuring things out. We'll just say pansexual for now and leave it at that!

I'm a musician! I play guitar, piano, and I can sing! Music is my passion and has been since I was a kid, and I'd love to perform on stage someday!

I'm very sex-positive! I think people should be able to explore their sexualities in whatever way they want as long as they're safe and there's consent from all parties, and I'm not gonna have any patience for moralizing or bringing politics into kink unless it's something serious. Let's all just have fun and enjoy ourselves, okay?

Now, my one exception to the no-politics rule is a simple one: If you voted for Trump, get off my blog. You're not welcome here, and a lot of LGBTQ+ people are fixing to be hurt because of your choices.

I'm a HUGE nerd, lol. I love movies, anime, manga, TV shows, comic books, video games, basically any form of media.

My favorite band is Dream Theater, but I also love Paramore, Evanescence, Set It Off, Amaranthe, Nirvana, Linkin Park, and Panic! at the Disco! In case you can't tell, I've got a very strong vibe, lol. I'd love to share music with anyone who's interested!

I'm a DM for my local friend group! I have a ton of fun working on D&D stuff, and I may post about it on here from time to time if anything particularly exciting happens. If you've got any cool D&D ideas or stories you want to share, hit me up!

I love video games, but my favorites are Persona 3, Final Fantasy 7, the Trails series, Undertale, basically any Armored Core game, and Bloodborne! I will probably ramble about all of these games at some point on this blog, lol.

I am completely obsessed with the Nasuverse. Fate, Tsukihime, and Kara no Kyoukai are some of my favorite pieces of fiction ever and I am way too invested in the world, lol. I'm working my way through the Tsukihime Remake right now and I'm absolutely loving it, you should read it if you haven't!

That's a little bit about me! This blog has been primarily an NSFW blog up until now, but I'm gonna try to post more normal stuff on here too going forward, I think it'll be fun, and I hope you guys enjoy my posts!

Also, kink list under the cut for those interested!

Like: Hypnosis, intox, CNC, breeding, bondage, monsters, petplay, voice kink, bdsm, vampires, incest, edging, overstim, denial

Hate: scat, piss, vomit, diapers, necrophilia

[polyhexian]

hellloooo!!! i was a big fan of your fics from i think over a year ago (?) now and then my life got busy and i couldnt keep up w your newer fics :( i just wanted to say reading mh and eventually with sooo many consecutive chapters has been an absolute delight, not only is it a brilliant read with such fantastic ideas (you bet ive caught up on as much jasper lore as i can find under the tags) but youre such a consistent writer i was shocked to see the times between the chapters postings!! how do you do it? my writing style changes per MINUTE im very impressed!!!! this is so cool!!!

ps. i was wondering if you ever plan to write more oneshots about hunter in the canon universe (ish, ykwim!!), or if youve moved on now to your own aus?? no complaints either way i LOVEEE all your toh work, but your vee & hunter fics DO hold a special place in my toh-based heart and i was wondering if there'd ever be more?

I think one of my strengths is that I'm good at changing styles, both at writing and art! It's obviously a lot more noticeable in art, so I've gotten lots of comments from people who are used to seeing one style from me really surprised to see me do stuff that looks totally differently. I think I'm pretty good at it in writing, too! I've got lots of fics written totally differently and I hope they're all good. I think my second person work is my best though, teehee.

I've been jasperbrained for awhile but I DO actually have a ton of ideas I've scribbled in my notes for non jasper fanfics in my notes, even if I haven't written them. AND I've actually got a vee and hunter fic I've got outlined that I've been rotating in my head recently that I just need to sit down and DO but I totally do intend to. I think it's gonna be a really good one. It's about like, how and why vee is able and willing to forgive him even though he killed one of the other basilisks, how she could not only forgive him but live and trust him as a beloved brother. Cuz it's something I have a lot of feelings about, like, vee, who she is, how she thinks, her reasoning and her feelings. And I really wanna share them!!!!

I don't know if I'm really gonna post lots of non au toh fics again like I was... I have a tendency to go through cycles. ADHD brain. So like six months, a year, I will do One Thing and absolutely nothing else. Like I will be writing fanfic obsessively or I'll be animating 12 hours a day and nothing else or I will do nothing but original content or nothing but a fandom. And unfortunately I do not control the brain fjejfjfn rip. So I cannot predict if my brain will decide I'm allowed to again or not! But whatever the brain says I can do I hope is good and will be enjoyed by someone, but also I totally understand when it's like "welp. That is definitely not something I'm here for" lol. I am always swinging around between stuff.

[daniclaytcn]

20 Questions for fic Writers!

i was tagged by @lover-of-mine of mine, thank you!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

25!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

131,694

3. What fandoms do you write for?

i currently write only for 911, but i've also written fic for once upon a time!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

the feeling you can know so much (without knowing anything at all) — a 5x09 coda where eddie calls buck out on what he's doing with taylor 'cause you were never mine — a 5x14 coda where the instructor at the equestrian centre assumes that buck is chris' other dad dancing in a snow globe 'round and 'round — my very first 911 fic! it's just pure fluff where buck and eddie get together while buck is babysitting jee (who has a different name in the fic since it was written before 4B, rip) hustling for the good life (never thought i'd meet you here) — different first meeting AU where buck and eddie meet at adriana's wedding, pre-canon how long (till we call this love?) — post s6 finale, where buck and eddie fight over natalia and marisol; have a ton of misunderstandings, but eventually get together

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i haven't always been the greatest at responding, but i've been doing my best on all my latest fics, because people are just so kind and i always feel like they deserve a response :)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hm, i haven't really written fics that end unhappily...but humari adhuri kahani (our incomplete story), where buck and eddie don't end up together

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

hm, maybe hustling for the good life (never thought i meet you here) because buck and eddie get together a lot sooner and they actually communicate in this fic xD

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i vaguely remember once getting a nasty comment on an ouat fic, but that was the only one.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i don't, usually...in my recent fic, but i can see all along, love (it was you all the way down), i wrote a very brief description of a sex scene, but i've never written more than that.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

i've never written one

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

twice! one of them wasn't on ao3, but the other, humari adhuri kahani (our incomplete story) i co-wrote with @bieddiediaz and @queerdiaz!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

probably buddie xD but captain swan (ouat) comes pretty close!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

my buddie flower shop AU that i started a couple of months back, but never had the motivation to write lol

16. What are your writing strengths?

i think i have a strong grasp on characterization, which is something that people have often told me, and which is probably the most important thing to me while writing fic

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i'm...not Great at writing long fics xD most of my fics are less than 5k, and i have only a handful that have gone beyond 10k. i'm still struggling with the commitment and skill it takes to write a long fic

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i haven't tried to write in anything other than english, so i wouldn't know

19. First fandom you wrote for?

i think it was some anime fandom back when i was still going through that phase, but i barely remember it now

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

my most recent fic, but i can see all along, love (it was you all the way down)! this fic is my baby and i poured so much into it, and the response to it has been so heartwarming :)

i don't know who's already done this, but no-pressure tagging: @tawaifeddiediaz @hattalove @henswilsons @messyhairdiaz @eddiebabygirldiaz and anyone else who wants to do this!

[piracytheorist]

Okay I gotta admit it, I logged in today just to check my notifications and messages because I was curious. Seems like cold turkey isn't something I can do, but I feel like I've found things to occupy the time I'm not spending on tumblr anymore, so I feel distancing myself from the site is possible. Not having the app on my phone anymore helps.

Anyway, I took a quick look on twitter today, and while I didn't see any sxf spoilers, I did see a post about a thematic week that I won't be able to take part in, not even as an audience, because it will be centered around stuff I haven't seen yet.

And damn me, I want to read further into the story so bad. It's been almost six full months since the last episode aired, and I'm finding myself wondering what is happening next based on the vague spoilers I've gotten. And there's at least three and a half more months left. I just know, I know it, that I will enjoy the story three times as much seeing it animated - and like, if I'm truly honest, my main drawback from manga reading isn't that it's not animated, or acted, or even coloured. It's that my way of reading it is not how it's intended to be read. Like, if I could have the chapters printed out for me, that would be ideal. Like:

Reading the story like this? Feeling the pages in my hands, seeing the wide and two-page panels in all their glory? Terrific. Perfect. 10/10.

Reading it like this? Having to scroll up and down for long panels, zoom in for small speech bubbles and out for wide panels, pixels getting distorted based on how zoomed in I am? No, thank you, immersion go bye bye. If I had a vertical monitor I probably could have worked it out, but I don't have a vertical monitor nor can I afford one right now.

And you'll tell me, well, a lot of further chapters are available in the next volumes. And I'll say, I'll probably work only for half of July, my contract ends after that, and in August I may need to move out to a different city so I won't even be able to get a steady job that won't work me to the bone. And I'm on a tight budget, so even the forty euros (being generous here, cause volume 10 isn't easily available to me yet so 10 euros for it is a generous offer) I would spend on the next four volumes are money I cannot afford right now. Plus, I know they don't reach to the current chapters so I would still have a ton of spoilers to avoid.

I don't know why I'm explaining all this lmao. I just feel like I don't want people to think I'm an anime snob. Because by god with every week I feel my resolve break. If I actually make it to October without having read one single manga chapter it will be a miracle. It's such a weird challenge I'm putting myself through, I don't even know if y'all can understand it. It's not like it's a challenge I can "win", or a challenge I can award myself for passing. Maybe a bit of venting can help, idk. It's not like I'm asking for recognition or pity or something, I am aware of how weird my choice may seem. I just had some feelings and thought, "well, fuck, what do I have my tumblr blog for".

Idk. I just feel like I love this story so much and in such a way that I also want to properly enjoy it. If I lived in Japan and spoke the language, you know I'd be running to whatever stores sell the magazine where the new chapters are posted in every two weeks and sit outside the very store and read the new chapter before even getting back home (wait, are individual chapters even printed out in Shonen Jump? I'm not sure I've understood the whole thing completely). But since that isn't happening, my choices are a) waiting for a long time and not interacting with fans, but enjoying the story animated, with colour, voice acting, soundtrack and on wide screen (and yeah yeah it's an adaptation not the original but listen it's a good adaptation and this is why it's drawn me in) and b) getting the full story and interacting with fans now but seeing the story in broken-down panels and messed up pixels, while having to fix the zoom-in and -out on every page. And I know me. I know choice a will make me immersed in the story, while choice b will just give me the details of the story. Maybe I am a snob after all, idk. I'm not making any effort to explain or apologize for myself. I'm just venting, lol. It's been weird and lonely and IT'S BEEN TOO LONG AND OCTOBER IS TOO FAR AWAY T_T

Anyway. Been doing good other than that. I will probably revert to logging out every day in order to try and keep my distance from the site, but coming back every other day or so. We'll see. I have a few messages to respond to (and a few more spoiler-free manga panels to react to! yay!) so I'll get to those today.

[umbraticstickerz]

I don't like making callouts but This should be called out

Its not really a secret this fandom has a huge issue with reposts but we really shouldn't just accept that it happens

This person, Reagan(They/Them), has been reposting a lot of spooky month artwork and animations relating to Sweettooth/Candybats. Sometimes they will Credit the artists but other times they literally won't or will repost peoples art even when the artist does not want their shit reposted.(one example is that they reposted one of my buds, _crazydumbass_ on Instagram, artwork for a M.A.P[Multi Animator Project] announcement when CD does not like reposts of his content and explicitly states as such.)

Just some examples of them reposting peoples stuff, there's a lot of artists here like chocowhomp and little-k-1412 along with many others some of which I don't know. I don't know how many have credits or don't and who does and doesn't like reposts here, I haven't checked all the videos this is just me showing they do indeed repost others content.(most of the time they're sharing artwork on their community tab without credits but Tumblr has a image limit so yeah.)

Me dming them about the thing with my friend they blocked me straight after I got them to respond. (Ignore my spelling and grammer errors). Note the M.A.P. post was taken down recently because people were commenting about how they needed to credit CD and about how CD doesn't like reposts, CD even commenting that he does not like reposts of his artwork.

(The "you credit a lot of artists" part was before I looked fully through their community tab and saw how a ton of art there didn't have credit or had reposts of artists work that don't like reposts, some of which they the got artwork signed by people who worked on Spooky Month.)

As you can see in this I also mention them reposting Vodka/Dammit_dude's artwork which they would do a lot on their community tab. Vodka/Dammit_dude being one of the artists I called out because he drew multiple images of Streber being s/a'd by Bob.(if someone mentions his apology im going to scream because "i wasn't thinking" isn't a valid excuse for drawing s/a at all especially when it was fully finished and shaded drawings)

Along with the fact they're 18 years old and simp for Ross who is around 13 or 14.

Their Instagram account also has a lot of traced artwork and even more reposts which I can no longer get screenshots of because they blocked me

Literally is on their community tab(I had to take a picture of my computer because I cant view the community tab on my device since its so old.)

I'm sick and tired of this fandom and reposting peoples artwork. This shouldn't be accepted and should be called out when nessacary. I get anxious about posting artwork and edits because people have even reposted some of mine without credit.

[muzzable]

Got tagged by @graythegreyt for a get to know you game where you answer these questions then tag 9 other people you'd like to know a bit better, and it seemed fun, so here we are.

Last song listened to: I did have a different answer but now have to go back and change it since while typing this up I listened to Billy's Bones - Set On You (Live In Toronto) by Worthikids. Normally I guess I listen to video game music, musical soundtracks, or some country songs (some of my favorites are probably I'm In a Hurry by Alabama, and Live it Up by, uh...Jasper T. Jowls. The Chuck E. Cheese character. It has a similar theme to I'm In a Hurry, lol.)

Currently watching: The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Disney+ adaptation. So currently, in fact, that was planning on watching the finale right after I post this (except I put in too much overthinking and now probably won't have time tonight, whoops).

Currently reading: I've read a few chapters of the first volume of Dungeon Meshi, after seeing a ton of posts cropping up about it (I assume the anime just started recently or something, so it's gaining traction, but I'd never read it before). I also recently read both Seconds and Lost at Sea by Brian Lee O'Malley, and have checked out a copy of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew to read from the library, though I haven't started it yet.

Currently obsessed with: Ah, the carousel of obsession. Round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows. And then where it lands on can last anywhere from a day to a few months. After playing through Undertale Yellow within the past few weeks, I've sort of been re-entering an Undertale phase (though I think I may be on the tail end of it). My current longer-term obsession is Sly Cooper, which has been stretched to close to two months so far because my progress with the games is slow (I'm maybe 3/4ths of the way through the second game right now I think). As for a really short-term obsession, I suddenly felt the urge like yesterday to get back into Spyro again, and have begun watching a playlist of one Spyro 3 prototype because the placeholder dialogue is gold. Creatively, I'm currently obsessed with trying to draw more animal characters I guess, lol (as well as getting ideas to develop OCs I'm trying to PUT ON HOLD to develop other things instead of for the time being).

Mutuals I'm tagging: @101flavoursofweird, @call-me-rucy, @hedgehominoid, @pastaarx, @dragonsruby, @chaosverse-mainblog, @ozzo-the-wozzo, @trope-a-dope, @adrian-laytonerd

Feel free to answer the same questions if you want, and if you don't want to and are mad I tagged you, feel free to come yell at me, haha.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

The Little Things I Love About ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

Just like the one I did for PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, and just like the one I did for STRANGE WORLD, here's a little list of particular little details I loved in a detail-packed... Like, literally jampacked movie... SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE:

So far, I have only seen this movie once all the way through in theaters, caught multiple sections over and over at my movie theater job, and again in full on Blu-ray once. I've watched and rewatched sections since, always finding cool stuff. I may revisit the post and update it, too, like I did w/ the previous ones.

Also, MASSIVE SPOILERS ahead... Just in case you still haven't seen this months-old movie...

Much like the first SPIDER-VERSE... Tons of stuff to catch in the glitching opening logos. Logo/design p0rn aaaaall around.

There's already a lot to love in the opening Medieval Vulture attack set-piece, but my favorite detail? As an Italian-American? "Ciao, ragazza!" Complete with the parchment paper script "Bye, girl!" accompanying it. Any elementary school-age kid watching this now knows a little Italian, that's cool!

Lyla's first scene in the movie. Whichever version, too, whether it's the fist-bump or the selfie... I love how she just glitches and zips in and out, while Miguel keeps asking her in vain to call for back-up. Just an out-of-nowhere display of what kind of quirky relationship these two have...

Many have written about the scenes of Gwen and her father, Captain George Stacy, and how they hit very close to home. In that, they perfectly mirror some folks' experiences with coming out. Myself included, whether it's Miles or Gwen... It's even more effective with Gwen, because there are a lot of not-so-subtle hints that she could be a trans girl. (i.e. the dad having a trans flag on his uniform, Gwen having a "protect trans kid" flag, her room turning into trans flag pastel colors when she reconnects with her father at the end of the movie, etc.) I feel it's twice as hard-hitting in the opening action sequence because Captain Stacy has no idea the white-and-pink Spider-Woman is his daughter, loathes Spider-Woman for not-unfounded reasons (he's rightfully upset that Peter Parker is dead) but is taking it way too far (revenge territory), and he's also a cop. Here's this girl trying to reason with a hardened gun-wielding tough guy, who even fires the gun, prompting Gwen to remove the mask... And all the little complexities in the animated acting on George's face, the shock of his daughter being Spider-Woman, mixed with his grief over Parker's death and his sheer anger... It's maybe a minute or two, but goddamn did these animators go off. That's what anchors these movies amidst all the nerd/reference-stuff, spectacle, and dynamic changing art styles.

And to elaborate on this... This is basically a movie about a queer kid running off, without a home, while another one tries to find their people and be with them... Not prepared for the gatekeeping that's ahead... and some of us queers either experience something like those specific things or have a feeling of not belonging. (I also really dig how Jessica Drew is almost like a surrogate mother for Gwen, a parent of sorts who takes her in after showing her father who she is. Almost, as her protectiveness soon starts to wear off and gives way to sarcastic coldness after Gwen pays Miles a visit.) And the little nuances of both of their struggles trying to make it in this truly "elite" Spider-Society. It works perfectly through either Miles' lens or Gwen's.

Lots of graphic design and logos in that short convenience store scene, too. Lots for someone like me to look for.

The Spot seems to have linework going on inside him, of his anatomy and structure... Not dissimilar to the Xerography process used by Disney for animated productions from 1960 to 1985, and how the process overriding the clean-up animation process meant that you saw lots of rough linework, sketches, and planning inside of the characters. Like the rawness of the drawings preserved in the finished films. That technique is often paid homage to in other animated works, such as Tomm Moore's Irish triptych films that he did for Cartoon Saloon.

Much was written about, especially because one of the trailers showed this gag, Rio Morales snapping her finger upon hearing that Miles got a lower grade in Spanish class. A little after that, while Jeff is speaking, the look on her face. How utterly INSULTED she is- Again, just, ooh, great animated acting all around.

"Maybe get off the kid's a-

The first universe Spot visits, love that it's very 2D-looking and very, *very* comic book, a hint of pulp and Art Deco and '60s modern rolled into one... before giving us Venomverse (oh I'm sorry, SUMC) and LEGO.

Much of the Morales' rooftop party scene is just jam-packed to the moon and back with all these little writing nuances, tying in all this stuff about being a teen who is hiding something, reasoning with one's well-meaning but very controlling parents, all the humor and drama that stems from that. All that awkwardness, the embarrassment, how the guests play off of all of that, etc.

Miles pursuing The Spot whilst trying to talk to him... I mean, the entire Mumbattan sequence alone mops the floor w/ maybe 95% of superhero movies made in the last 5 years, but... This scene in particular, where the two are flying through a bunch of intricately-designed and planned buildings full of people with all these swooping camera angles- GO HARD they did.

Hobie's universe particularly referencing the ransom note letterforms that made up the cover of the iconic Sex Pistols album NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE'S THE SEX PISTOLS. They leaned *hard* on early punk from the '70s, more so than any other era, and that's so damn cool.

The subtle animated acting from Gwen during Miguel's warning to Miles about disrupting canon. All the inner-conflict over believing in it or not. And even before that, too, particularly in the aftermath of the Mumbattan Alchemax building collapsing onto the bridge.

And during that whole scene, as the different Spiders start to surround Miles, I like how Hobie is more turned to the side than facing Miles directly, unlike the other Spiders. That's just seconds before it's made clear that Hobie is on Miles' side.

The super-widescreen, Panavision-esque aspect ratio change when - during the whole Spider Society chase - Miles lands on Widow and is confronted by Web-Slinger. Really channeling the spaghetti Westerns, even if that bit has been done before, its use here - very clever.

"SNITCH!"

Miles' smirk when he begins to use his electric charge power to knock Miguel off of him, right before he's about to tell him - and by extension everyone who ever doubted him or told him he can't do what's right or what he desires - off.

The "Go Home Machine" literally being an elaborate spider, itself, inside a nest. Everything, right down to the machinery, all spider-themed. Simply going ALL OUT. Also that scanner that Miguel angrily rips out of the console... What a hilariously excessive work of art that thing is, and we only really see it for like 5 seconds.

Like I said, will likely add more, and this probably read more like yet another review of this film that I really, really love. I apologize for that, lol.

[gallopinggold]

Some training thoughts post clinic

I definitely have a bit of a new game plan going forward after the clinic and I wanted to organize my thoughts:

Mary- I will never take for granted again how lucky I am to have a horse that is not only pretty. but smart too, because it's apparently rarer than I thought lol. Mary has been on the back burner for bit, since she's at home and no one other than me really has to handle her, she's just been chilling and I haven't done any formal work with her other than just playing around every now and then. I would like to restart her, essentially just working through a check list and see if we can reestablish and solidify our foundation. I think her foundation is pretty good already and it won't be a long process, but I just want to make sure everything is properly done so it doesn't come back and bite us later. I'm also using an actually clicker this time, instead of just a mouth sound, in hopes of again formalizing it a bit and getting better consistency. I use to be embarrassed to use the clicker at boarding barns because its so stigmatized and I didn't want Mary treated differently because of it 🙃 Now that she's at home I don't have to work about it.

The goal is to get through on ground cooperative care behaviors, then move to in hand lateral work and strengthening exercises, and eventually move to under saddle work. I really don't ride Mary anymore because frankly she doesn't like it, so I'd like to get her going really well in hand and then see if we can make under saddle work fun for her again. Her aversion to riding is mostly based in soundness issues, I believe, as she's always struggled on and off with her EPM damage. Her feet have been looking much better since I moved her home, so I'm hoping between that and enough ground work, we can work out her soreness and muscle weakness to get her comfortable enough for light riding.

So yeah, not a ton of changes with my original plan with Mary, just now going to try and make myself to do it consistently. Upside of clicker sessions is that they can be super short but still impactful, and since Mary is literally right there, it's a lot easier for me to squeeze out 10 minutes a day to work with her.

The alpacas- These gals a bit of different ballgame. The ultimate goal with these two are to: 1) get them halter broke 2) make shearing less stressful and 3) establish low stress cooperative care. One of the big challenges I've run into with them is that there's a lot of mandatory handling that has previously been aversive to them so they already have negative associations, but it's not stuff I can stop doing. Alpacas are very susceptible to a certain type of worm carried by deer, to the point where if the average temp is above 80F (which it is in my climate is May to November) they need an ivermectin injection every ~30 days. So the girls have no choice right now but to be "grabbed and stabbed" once a month, which obviously is going to just damage the trust relationship more and more. This is the big thing I want to make cooperative for them, if the injections can eventually be low stress, it would make all our lives easier.

Alpacas suffer from the same thing mini horses often do, where because of their size, they can be manhandled into doing things against their will without a huge danger to the handlers. So there's not really been a push with selective breeding for temperament or to domesticate them more, because it's not as important as coat quality etc. My gals are both older, so they've had years and years of baggage with humans to contend with. This is no shade to the farm they came from, they were treated fairly there and were loved and cared for, but they were treated like standard livestock, which doesn't prioritize the animals emotions and choice in matters.

Another alpaca challenge is that they are soo codependent. I could probably work with Sweets on her own as long as she can see her friends, but I will never (at least at this stage) be able to work Sara on her own. She would be so stressed about not being able to freely get back to her friends that we would never reach a level of relaxation. Learned that hard way when I separated her out to give her wormer, and even with the food dish right next to the fence where Mary and Sweets were literally a foot away, she got so panicked at not being able to freely get to them she broke a gate 🙃 I hope to eventually get her settled enough that it's not a big deal, but alpacas are super herd bound by nature, so that may never change, it just may be her base personality. So I will need to figure out how to work with them simultaneously. Mary I can kick out to the pasture, the alpacas and her are fine being separated, as long as it's not like hours, and just work with the alpacas, which is a win because she likes to hog the attention.

My girls are at pretty different places in their journey too.

Sara- she like, really does not like people right now. She's incredibly fearful and anxious about me. She pops over threshold quickly, and is so sensitive to any movement from me. She will occasionally get close to me when she doesn't think I'm paying attention to her, especially if Mary is close by, but will usually run if it looks like I'm moving towards her at all. The injections have not been great so far, the strategy we've had to employ is basically restricting her to smaller area with two people, and using her running from one person to drive her into the reach of the other. Not ideal, and definitely not helping her comfort level.

I'm going to use Shawna's strategy she recommends for the untouchable horse, because that's where Sara is at. The main idea of this is to give the animal back the control of the situation, so that they can build confidence in their safety. Some key aspects involve choice, so I need to do this in an area where Sara can freely come and go. It will completely fall apart if Sara can't freely leave, the whole point is to get Sara empowered in her decisions and prove to her that nothing bad will happen to her regardless if she stays or goes. Once I can get Sara to eat in a relaxed manner in the general area of me, I'll slowly start moving her food dish closer and closer to me, then get her to to the point where she can start taking food from my hand, and then eventually start seeking me out in a "feed and retreat" strategy. None of this will be using the clicker, and I'm not trying to get a specific behavior, I'm trying to take advantage of classical conditioning and rewire her brain from thinking humans are scary to humans are chill. Once we get her able to be consistently handled, then we can move on to working with the clicker to start target training and haltering and all that fun stuff.

Sweets- does not find people nearly as aversive as Sara. Sweets doesn't like being handled, but she doesn't run from me, nor seems to care too much once caught. I would put her firmly in the neutral category right now, so my goal with her is to push me into positive, and have her actively seek me out. The same goals apply, halter breaking and cooperative care, but I feel like at least I'm starting at like +1 instead of -50 like I am with Sara? I'm planning on sticking with the same sort of game plan, just hoping it won't be nearly as long or difficult with her. Since I have to feed the two alpaca girls together, I'll be working on the same general steps with her as I am with Sara.

[eclipsesincarnation]

As someone who is deeply invested in both (for different reasons) I feel like I do have a say in this, so..

How do I (mcyt fan) feel about HH shows and Vivziepop?

Open below for post because it is LONG, blue for opinion and black for context/notes stuffs ig, I am so bad at describing

When it comes to Vivziepop? Most of her controversies are blown WAY out of proportion (she pays her employees well guys, I don't think you guys understand the levels animation goes through or research enough into this), and others are fake (like the semi recent transphobia thing that is like a month old I think? There is like a full doc that debunks most of it, and shows that this was years ago, and she has since changed and apologized, as well as showing the OP was openly being transphobic too which is the biggest laugh, I'm sorry, yes I can send the doc to you, just ask me). Other ones are valid though (Alastor being culturally appropriated is valid I say, as well as her designs being very samey, I've also seen the Sir Pentious being a hate character but I need to go looking for more evidence for that. Misogyny and swear words being most jokes? Super valid). Like, no she isn't an angel like some are making her out to be, but she also isn't a devil like others are claiming she is. I think people need to learn to let go off the past if someone has already apologised for it, but valid if they haven't (don't get me started with bantaro)

When it comes to the shows? Eh, they ok ig. Like the writing is pretty lazy, a ton of telling not showing, the worldbuilding is all over the place, there is very little build up to anything, the designs are good, to jeez, as if the whole ring wasn't red enough now you make the characters more red WOW. Songs are mostly good though. I keep following it because I have the sunken cost fallacy thought, I'm already invested so I need to see how it ends. I know the writing is bad and that makes me so sad because the concepts has so much potential and nuance and it is all thrown away (Stolas cheating on Stella? Oh, but he is such a sad boy, he's been abused, he's trying his best, ugh, just make him morally grey show, or make a build up to his change of heart, he just suddenly has a change in EP7 and then it was like this is whole time?? Like heh?) I've stopped watching theory videos on the show a long time ago because I know watching them just gets my hopes up for a more interesting story that is never gonna happen. But I will not be afraid to admit I have created a document for an AU of the two - Helluva Boss and MCYT - in which I do cast swaps (think like gemcyt) and rewrite the story to make it, at least in my eyes, better (which tbh was a steep task I gave myself, most things like the misogyny? Not that hard to get rid off, you can write that out. The sexual coecercion deal that needs to stay in? I, I'm not a good enough writer to know how to do that, so I just added more to the relationship so it wouldn't be as bad, which honestly sounds bad). I wanted to post about it, but I didn't know whether I would come under fire given the shows... everything. Well this poll has given me it's answer. No. I shouldn't post about it, or I should wait until I am a bit more popular to do it.

So like, what is my overall opinion of them? I voted negative. I think the shows should be celebrated for what they allowed and show could happen, that indie projects can succeed, and probably for not much else, maybe for some of the designs. Not the writing, no way. Vivziepop gets into way too much drama and sometimes twitter needs to chill and not bring up old shit to dogpile on someone, or make up some shit because they are jealous or bored. I am sure some are valid, but there are too many fake ones or small ones blown into a way bigger thing, I am tired.

Oh yeah and check out Lovesart23, you should watch them if you like Helluva or Hazbin and are sad with some of their design choices for characters, because her designs are amazing. Also stay in tune for their rewrite for both series, not released yet but the hints have made me do a *look* a lot, and I am probably gonna steal a lot of it. Joking, obviously gonna credit them and ask permission if I can, I'm not evil.

[bahamutgames]

Fire Emblem : Three Afterthoughts

Game: Fire Emblem : Three Houses (July 26, 2019)

Console: Nintendo Switch

Hello again! Been a hot second since I've talked about anything I played recently. But I have been playing a good bit! I've actually been a little stressed and burnt out and kind of ONLY had the energy to play games. Which isn't great lol. But I'm here once again to talk about some random games to you all!

Originally I was just gonna put this game in the December roundup. But the more I thought about it, the more I had to say about it. And today I watched my sister beat the Golden Deer run. So now I've seen the 3 base game runs (I played Black Eagles and watched her do Blue Lions a few months ago). So I figured I'd give some of my silly little thoughts about it.

Gotta say it every time: This is NOT a review!! This is just me throwing up my thoughts after having beaten the game! Don't take my words as gospel and always check out anything I talk about if it interests you!

SPOILERS FOR ALL 3 HOUSES AHEAD, BUT MAINLY FOR BLACK EAGLES!!

Opening

So yeah! I haven't played a TON of Fire Emblem games, but prior to this I had played Awakening and it's easily one of my all time favorite video games! So when my sister asked me to play it, I figured I might as well give it a shot!

I was honestly not really expecting to like this game. I knew it wouldn't be as good as Awakening and the teacher sections seemed SO daunting and unfun. However I was pleasantly surprised to see that...

Stuff I liked

I loved this game! I had a real blast playing through this one! The main thing that really drew me into the game is how good Strategy RPG gameplay is. I genuinely forgot how seriously good this genre is. Now, I will confess that I played it on casual mode because I suck at these games. (But also I actually prefer no perma death because using teammates as bait and sacrificing allies to boost them forward is more fun than playing carefully around keeping everyone alive)

But still I had a ton of fun beefing up my teammates, and finding the best way to get guys to the commanders as quick as possible, or the thrill of just seeing my dudes mow down enemy units ON THEIR TURN! It's super fun and again I genuinely forgot how much fun the genre can be! I really need to play more Strategy games soon!

And outside of that, a BIG strength Fire Emblem has always had to me was its characters. They are GREAT in this game! I joined Black Eagles cause I was thirsty for Dorothea, and didn't like ANY of the boys in my class. But by the end I loved ALL OF THEM! Between them just being super useful in combat, their supports, and them just being fun to see them talk, every classmate was GREAT! It's genuinely impressive this game can make you care about people you are convinced you will not give a shit about. By the end of it I actually wanted to marry Bernadetta SO bad she's SO cute post time skip. But sadly she's not into girls (genuinely unbelievable) and male byleth looks STUPID so I refuse to play as him.

The story is also interesting, I was actually VERY impressed with it. It's SUPER political with a lot of talks about serious government stuff which was very interesting. Obviously Awakening had a lot of war and political talk too but it was a lot more anime and about the power of friendship. Which I prefer of course, but it was interesting to see a Nintendo game tackle a first party (I think) title with a lot more dark themes about religion and horrific war crimes. It was neat even if it wasn't my cup of tea. And I thought the stories of the different classmates were nice, I actually liked Byleth a lot and really enjoyed seeing them grow a bit as the story progressed (I want this weird kid to be happy), and I was surprised that I even liked Sothis who I also thought would be annoying lol. I was genuinely a little sad to see her go.

And I did genuinely enjoy the school sections. They weren't my favorite part of the game but considering I was convinced I wouldn't like it AT ALL I was really pleased with it! I liked cooking and eating with teammates, talking to everyone, walking about the monestary, and I liked how teaching your classmates allowed you to REALLY customize everyone. It was neat! I was worried the teacher angle would introduce a kind of weird power dynamic but honestly, I was really pleased that it didn't. They don't harp on it very much (in Black Eagles they full on say they consider everyone in class as equals) and they don't even let you marry your classmates until the END of the game so it's not a huge deal.

And there's some other stuff to say, I like the music a lot. It has some great battle themes and the main theme is very good! I really liked that you could change character's outfits by upgrading them to different classes and I honestly wish there were more costume options in general (I had my Byleth in the dancer outfit all game!) I think the game has some nice character and monster design. I was seriously heartbroken by having to kill Edelgard and Hubert. There's a lot to praise!

Stuff I didn't like

BUT, of course. There's a lot to not praise too. I do have some issues with this game. The first, and maybe it's a nitpick, but it bothered me a LOT during the game. Is that the graphics can be kinda ugly! It's not really something you notice when you're zoomed out on the map. But when you really get up in the character's faces in support conversations it's VERY noticeable. Some gross textures, and the bizarre box texture they put the characters in for supports. Stuff like that usually doesn't bother me but for some reason it was REALLY noticeable in this game? I think I would've rathered they cut some more corners in other places to allow them to make the character models at least very good looking. Similarly the game has some odd design choices for characters like their rosy noses? Not a big deal but it did add more stuff to the models that made them feel off.

Then I do have some issues with the story. So, it's a good story for sure. And after having seen all the runs I certainly liked all 3. But I really can't help but feel like the story would've felt more impactful if it wasn't split into 3 runs. I know it may have been odd because separating the classes allows for some more personal moments with them and some tough moments when you encounter other classes in combat. BUT at the same time, when they make you feel all sad for a student you NEVER interacted with. It doesn't hit that hard? And yeah, you're SUPPOSED to do all 3 runs. But I feel like they aren't different ENOUGH to warrant doing it back to back? Although I also thought the story was a little TOO smart for me. So I couldn't properly understand all of the political stuff and I feel like some things went over my head, so maybe combining it together can't help my dumbass.

Like, killing Edelgard is something everyone does. And it was a really sad moment for me when she begged me to kill her. But in Golden Deer, it seems like you don't interact with her much. So how can be that impactful? Dimitri's run ends after killing her so you don't even get EITHER of the cool final bosses? Also after seeing Golden Deer I do feel like them not being super fond of Rhea just feels better? Whereas in Black Eagles they all just immediately warm back up to the church after the first half of the game was EVERYONE being like "why did Rhea execute those people? Will she do that to us if we misbehave?"

I understand some other problems would arise from it. But I think maybe having all the classes join forces, having to fight edelgard, then having Nemesis vs Rhea vs Your Rebel Army for the final boss? Maybe that way there could've been some more attention to Those Who Slither In The Dark too? Idk. Of course this is just me throwing up my thoughts so they don't have to make any sense.

But my biggest issue with this game... Is some of the non classmate characters. 3 of them in specific. Number one is Rhea! Hey. Are we going to talk about Rhea being a weirdo and sometimes being a religious dictator who seems to use her power to kill whoever she wants? I don't care she was sad about her mom WHY IS SHE EXPERIMENTING ON CHILDREN? Hello? But whatever. She has a big butt so I guess it's okay? Then there's Cyril. Ugh this dude is SO boring. And all his supports are HOURS long. And then. Catherine. Oh my GOD... I hate this lady.

Like I'm not kidding, new paragraph just to talk about this character. I'm actually INSULTED they had the audacity to punish me with this character joining my team like I agree with her in any way shape or form. And I'm honestly shocked this character is even in this game. Like. Holy shit. So. Catherine is a religious nutcase who worships the goddess to an unhealthy degree. She is convinced that the only way to show her devotion to the goddess is to strike down and kill ANYONE who doesn't believe in her. She is a total cop. She kills a royal's son, causing him to go insane. She threatens to kill Shamir, her best friend, because she isn't religious. And the most shocking of all, she tells Caspar she kills children and that it's necessary for the job. Her defense is "what if they're coming at you with weapons" THEY'RE CHILDREN YOU FUCKING PSYCOPATH?? YOU ARE A TRAINED SOLDIER?? And at no point in the Black Eagles run is she called out for being the most unlikable character ever made. I'm actually blown away by her and having her in my team genuinely made me uncomfortable. Maybe I'm overreacting but I just genuinely hate this character!

Final Thoughts

ANYWAY! Aside from some nitpicks and finding one of my new least favorite teammate in an RPG ever! I REALLY REALLY enjoyed Three Houses! Maybe it's just cause I was expecting not to enjoy this one. And while it's no Awakening (what could be?) I had a blast with this! Three Houses gets my seal of approval I think!

===

Thank you for reading! It always feels weird when I have a big negative section about a game I ultimately really enjoyed. But I suppose it's better for your game to give me complaints rather than me just feel nothing and think the game was boring as hell. And Three Houses certainly wasn't boring!

I don't know if I'll do the DLC mission but I might consider it. Like I said I'm tempted to play more Strategy RPGs soon. Cause even outside of this I really enjoyed the Strategy stuff in Enchanted Arms and Ikenfell! It's clearly a genre I enjoy.

I've been extremely stressed and burnt out recently. Like, for a few months. So I'd like to take a break for a little as I get ready for some really stressful irl business. So I hope I can just enjoy some more video games soon while I try to unwind for a little.

That's all I got though! Go out and play a game you thought you wouldn't enjoy!

[ladala99]

Some rambling below: about the stuff going on Reddit, my current video game habits (including some things about Pokemon), The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion (including major spoilers so watch out), and Trails fandom opinion the Gagharv trilogy. All over the place!

Whelp. None of you probably know this but Reddit was my main fandom space for Pokemon/Spyro/other video games that aren't petsites, and well, there's this thing going on over there.

I've been trying to get off of it for a while anyway. Too easy to waste a ton of otherwise-productive time, I keep running into spoilers for games I'm still playing, and also I tend to doomscroll the political subs.

So maybe this will finally get me off of it. Certainly the fact that the admins are giving an ultimatum to the mods of various subs (including r/pokemon, my most frequented one) leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth and makes me not want to engage with the site. The whole attitude the site owner(?) has about it is just disgusting, and if it's true he idolizes Musk, that's all the more reason to have nothing to do with it further.

So what to do with this extra time that I don't want to be productive and just want to type essays at strangers about my interests? I guess here's as good a place as any! It's my blog and I can put whatever I feel like on it. Some of you are probably following for that type of content anyway.

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So, to start, I guess I'll explain my current video gaming schedule. Starting the month before Pokemon Scarlet and Violet released, I decided to change up my video gaming habits. I had previously had a schedule where I played different games according to the day of the week. This resulted in me not making a ton of progress on some games and kinda feeling discouraged with how long it was taking.

The month before Scarlet/Violet came out, I went into my customary no-main-series-Pokemon-for-a-month period, and decided that I would instead play Animal Crossing: Wild World and only Animal Crossing: Wild World during that time-frame. And you know what? It was great! It was both relaxing and fairly motivating since I knew I had only a certain amount of time with it before I put it away again.

Scarlet/Violet released, and I extended that idea. I even wrote some blog posts here while I was... avoiding spoilers on Reddit... I had a schedule to get through the game (Gyms only on Wednesdays and Saturdays, one plot event max per day) and once I hit the postgame, I had one month to do whatever I wanted before putting the game down for the moment. That postgame month, again, was amazing. Just some guilt-free gameplay of doing whatever I felt like at the moment. Motivation to get the Pokedex done (I did so) and then try some other things. I didn't get everything I tried to do done, but I did a good variety of things and had a good time.

After that, I went on an alternating two-week, one-month schedule for different games. Two weeks on something chill, like Animal Crossing, followed by one month of an actual game, like Breath of the Wild. Alternating between a set of Pokemon games and non-Pokemon games.

And that's a great schedule for games I'm good with playing a bit, taking a break from, and getting back to. But what about heavily story-based games or ones I haven't beaten before? I'm not playing multiple hours a day, so even a month isn't always enough to finish!

Well, enter my new schedule: play for two weeks, check to see if I'm still having fun or if I accomplished what I intended to accomplish, if I'm not done and I'm still having fun continue, otherwise move on.

When Pokemon HOME became compatible with Scarlet/Violet, I felt strongly about transferring everything I could in, so I took a two-week timeframe to do so. My initial goal was to get everything breedable into Scarlet, I accomplished that, and then I moved on to trying to get extra Legendaries. I speedran Shield to get what I could out of a new playthrough and then ran out of time. That's okay - I'll finish later. Because I accomplished my initial mission and I have other games to play. This excursion was interrupting a different game I was (and am) trying to get through. One that I'll start a new section for below.

Also just to put it somewhere: I'm tracking my games on HowLongToBeat now. Here's my profile. (I don't have the time on Zelda because I'm going to use the Switch menu's time at the end)

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My current game is The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion. Yes, you read that right. I'm not being silly with the name of the Zelda game (I already posted about that earlier anyway). I'm playing Tears of the Kingdom as well, but it's not my main game at the moment.

And I just have so many feelings about TLOH: AToV. (If you don't want spoilers for it, stop now because I am not holding back.)

I first played it as a young teen. I got to the end but never actually beat the final boss. But it stuck with me. I don't remember much of the plot other than two very powerful, very spoilery scenes.

It's so weird going through it how much and how little I remember. Like the entire plot is about not-Catholics vs. not-Satanists (and the not-Catholics aren't always good) and I didn't remember that at all. But I did remember bits and pieces, particularly out-of-context bits about certain characters. (spoilers start now) Like there's this black-haired girl I saw and immediately went "missing sister! :O" But she's not actually Avin's missing sister, but another character's. A character I hadn't met at that moment. There's another guy I just met and immediately went "oh, I like him! :)" and I still don't remember why he sticks out so much since he doesn't seem that much more important than other characters I forgot about completely.

And the two things I did come in remembering (really, really spoilers now) involve Mile dying halfway through and turning up again at the end of the game as a dark mage, so everything he does is just. . . I'm paying so much more attention to him and he's like, the perfect healer. He's functionally the healer in that he's the party member who's always with you that has healing spells, but he's also such a healer in the story, too. He cheers up Avin when they were kids, being a friend to a traumatized boy who just got separated from his beloved sister. He gives up his wish to help Avin out. He goes with Avin on the dangerous journey when he has no personal stake other than to see his friend succeed. He acts as a foil for Avin, who has a quick temper, calming down every tense situation, and even lying when it helps diffuse a situation. And then he dies.

I'm not there yet. I just remember the pool of blood and the shock I felt. I think I'm getting there soon, though. Because Avin just reunited with his sister and I don't remember that lasting long. (I didn't even recognize her portrait, unlike the Baron that I feel positively about for unknown reasons.)

It's just so good! And yet...

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Before I started the game back up, I was looking at the modern The Legend of Heroes games for Switch. I wondered if it was worth getting one of the more recent games. So I decided to check out the fandom and see if there were any tips for fans of the Gagharv Trilogy (which A Tear of Vermilion is in) getting into the newer games.

Uh. . . no. There aren't. Fans of the current series mostly have not played the Gagharv Trilogy and actually think they're kinda bad. Particularly the PSP versions (which is the only version that got translated to English and the version I have).

And it's funny, since when I see people say why you should play the Trails series (what the new games are considered), they say a lot of the same things that are accurate to the Gagharv games. One of the main gushes I've seen about the series is that random NPCs have lives that develop as the story develops - you'll meet the same characters again and again as you happen to travel the same places they do. And that happens in A Tear of Vermilion. There's this writer guy that you meet and tell your adventures to, and his agent will keep giving you books. There's a greedy merchant you keep running into and Avin keeps getting mad at him. And there's so much variety in character conversation - gain a new party member and talk to everyone in the village and they'll talk to/comment on the new party member. Every time a major event happens, you can go back around town to hear everyone's opinion on it. There's some secret books that characters will give you if you talk to them after certain plot events.

I'm guessing this is a Pokemon Sword/Shield situation where while the Gagharv Trilogy is good, the Trails series is so much better that the Gagharv Trilogy is bad in comparison. That's the only way I can make sense of it.

------

Anyway, that was a lot and did not stick to one topic. But I just have a lot of thoughts right now. Here's Mile's official character portrait for making it through the whole thing:

[wildflowerteas]

Hello! Hope you have a good day! I wasn't sure if I should send this but your previous posts seemed like a sign-- I absolutely adore When I Awake. It's an all time favourite fic of mine. Second favourite skk, certainly top 10 from all my fandoms. When I see an update, my brain just goes !!!! Literally the only reason I used to look forward to Sunday night/Monday morning. Now, I won't have a reason to wake up. Kidding of course. But I will devour any content you create. For my mental stability. And dopamine. Also an important, not important note, is that I haven't really seen or read bsd and only know things through osmosis so the fact that one of my favourite fics isn't even of my fandoms (in a traditional sense) is alarming--

oh my gosh thank you so so much !!!!!! all-time favorite fic . . . that's such an honor. and if it helps, there are three more chapters left :D so i hope i can ease your sundays and mondays for a little longer. and the fact that you haven't really seen or read bsd!!! i cannot recommend it enough, honestly. my fic sheds a very very different light on dazai and chuuya ( and their relationship ) than what is shown in the anime and manga, because their circumstances are so different. I guess that's a given when you swap out a mafia environment for an apartment with a silly ghost and familial trauma. but ahhh!!! to have WIA be one of your favs and its not even from one of your fandoms . . . I'm honestly amazed at the reach it's gotten. i never imagined that it would get to the point that it has and i am so incredibly grateful. thank you so so much for reading and enjoying it :,) <3 feel free to ask how you should approach all the different light novels and spinoffs as well, if you find yourself wanting to wade into the depths of bungo stray dogs! i can definitely give you some guidance on navigating all of the content that it has ( there's a ton ). really, thank you so much. I've been so so nervous about this story ending and where I'm gonna go after it ( it's been five months almost! that's a pretty big chunk of time), and it really helps that people like my content and that feedback alone has encouraged me to do so much more.

thank you so much <3

[thispabulum-blog]

Oh, Hello!

What's the Tea? Tuesday

Alright, it's been a while since we've talked.

Basically, my living situation was a little lot hectic and I needed some time to get things settled.

Things are...more or less settled! The intervening time was not that interesting on the dating front, because I was more focused on all the chaos, but we'll run through where we're at.

Cuddlebug and I are doing great! As he was getting ready to move out of his house in August, he asked how I'd feel about moving into an apartment with him, and I was surprised to find I was happy and excited about the idea. So we're doing that now! Expect some posts about the cohabiting process.

Space Kitten has moved away, to be closer to their primary partner and her husband. We still talk, though I miss them dearly.

Aquaman has gotten back together with his ex. I'm not happy about it, he's not happy about it, I'm not even sure his ex is happy about it. But a condition of that happening is that he's not allowed to talk to other girls anymore, so...

Item 9 is wonderful! We've had a few 3-person dates with Cuddlebug that have been chill and fun and cuddly, and he was nice enough to offer to help us move (he did not end up doing that, but we don't hold it against him). Recently he came over on Friday after work, and we just cuddled and watched Star Trek and ate pizza. An excellent way to spend an evening, in any case.

Cuddlebug and I had our first date with someone new, Chex Mix, a month or two ago, and I'll talk about that next week because it's its own story. It wasn't bad, per se, but it was...weird.

Dr. Strangelove and I are continuing the friend thing. He took me out to dinner for my birthday and got me a present, and we've gotten together a couple times to pass the dog back and forth.

I still talk to Deep Dish sporadically, we just haven't worked out a time to get together. He's cute, but busy being a single dad with two very young kids, so that's fine.

I started talking to someone very recently...gimme just a sec to come up with a nickname for him...Obi Wan.

But we'll get to that in a bit.

So anyway.

What's happened with Cuddlebug since August?

He's still the cutest, sweetest, dumbest boy in all the land.

Uhhh...We finished Better Call Saul (excellent!), have watched two animes (Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor and Castlevania), have gotten through the two extant seasons of The Witcher, and got halfway into the second season of What We Do in the Shadows before he got bored with it. We've watched more movies than I can count. He's seen several seasons of Frasier that I was watching on the tv while he played video games at our old place.

We've eaten a million burgers, thousands of crackers, half a ton of popcorn, many sandwiches, a bunch of pizza, and not nearly enough pasta.

He's started playing Magic the Gathering in a semi-serious way, and is hoping to do more with it this year. I have vowed to be Cute Cheerleader Girlfriend for him in whatever capacity I can.

We had both of our birthdays and also Christmas, which were very sweet despite being not as big as we'd hoped because of money and stuff.

We went to visit Mama Bug for Thanksgiving. It was a nice time, and I like her more all the time. She and I conspired to buy Cuddlebug new clothes, I got to cook for her, and I made a truly excellent tres leches cake that was raved over by all.

And something interesting happened.

I've often been surprised and impressed by how Cuddlebug handles my anxiety. For someone who doesn't seem to have ever been afflicted with it, he does such an incredibly great job. He's calm, reassuring, and always asks what's needed of him. He tells me not to worry about things, because "worrying isn't a Pretty Girl job" (easier said than done, but I appreciate the sentiment). He doesn't take it personally when I'm irritable, he doesn't match my energy or escalate, he doesn't mind giving me space, and he doesn't let me apologize for getting overwhelmed, because "I can't help the way my brain is".

But then we were at Mama Bug's, and as it turns out she's got the Anxiety BrainTM, for sure. She's asking him question after question about our living situation and jobs and everything, and he's trying to reassure her that he's handling it. It was like Ohhhhh, now I get it; he's been doing this for a long time.

And it made me think about how with the Anxiety BrainTM, it's like whenever there's a problem or a decision, it branches out like a big dead tree in all sorts of directions at once, trying to think about and play out all the different possibilities and consequences - which is stressful and exhausting. But his brain is more like...a rat in a maze. He goes in one direction until he hits a wall, and then he turns around and finds a different way. It's a very different way of existing, but it seems to work for him.

Couldn't be me.

The whole way driving home from Thanksgiving (4+ hours), we talked. Good car-talking, the kind I love. Mostly about the future and things we want to do, long-term goals and stuff.

I told him about some of my plans and how it was always weird with Dr. Strangelove because whenever I'd fantasize about my future, I could never figure out what to do with him in it. It was this confusing situation where he had taken me out of the fun poly-dating space I was in, and I thought Okay, I guess I can settle down and do the domestic thing, but then he also didn't want to get married and have kids, so it left us/me in this uncomfortable limbo. Like, I'm giving up this lifestyle that I enjoy, but what am I getting in return?

And looking forward, there wasn't really a place for him. There were plenty of things in my imagined future that involved being with other men, or just doing things/going places that he'd never have gone along with.

But with Cuddlebug, he's down for pretty much anything. He's genuinely happy seeing me happy, and I can't imagine him ever standing in the way of something I wanted without a really good reason. In talking about the things I want to do with my life, he was so sweet and supportive and excited for me, and impressed with how much thought and research I've put into everything. He offered his help in different ways, and reassured me that he was totally comfortable with me taking risks to do the things I'm passionate about.

What a cute boy.

After Thanksgiving, we lived in a hotel for a few weeks, which was quite the adventure. Then we moved into an apartment! Slowly, gradually, things are coming together.

It's been a month since we moved in here, and I really enjoy it. I'll talk some more about that on Thursday.

Please don't make me move again anytime soon. I'm so tired of carrying shit.

Back to our new friend Obi Wan! I met him on Hinge, surprisingly enough.

He's a cute guy, (enby, he/him/they/them) younger than me, poly & married. We had a good conversation about how he and his spouse tried poly a few years ago and had some trouble with it, so they worked on themselves and their relationship and went back to it when they were ready.

I felt some really good chemistry with him right off the bat - lots of long messages, easy conversation, no unwanted sexual advances. We made a date to hit up the arcade on Sunday.

He texted me a few times about worrying what he was going to wear, which is pretty cute. Cuddlebug was nice enough to drive me and get me all hyped up.

It was a pretty short date, by my standards - about 3 hours. We played some games together and a few near each other.

I beat a small child at a fighting game so hard that he rage quit, which is possibly one of the highlights of my adult life.

We were able to have some good conversation, even with the music and all the noise. He called me cute, called me stunning, told me he liked my hair and my dress and my nails. Mistook me for being 4 years younger than him (when in fact I'm 5 years older). Beat me at Primal Rage and Skee Ball and Star Wars pinball, and pretty much everything we played except Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara.

He's competitive, loves to argue about religion and politics, is passionate about LGBT issues, drives a cool car, makes dad jokes, speaks three languages, and looks super cute in fishnet stockings. Cuddlebug is very intrigued.

After a while we went and sat outside on the patio to drink some water (and he could vape), and we were able to have good talks then, too. Found out we both own Chewbacca onesies, which is always great.

He had to wake up early for work Monday, so I let him drive me home, and he said hi to Cuddlebug at the door. We've talked about hanging out this week, just him coming over to play board games and maybe cuddle and watch something. That is potentially happening on Thursday. I'll let you know how it goes.

That's all for now! Tomorrow we can look at some of the more entertaining garbage I've seen on dating apps since August.

[gillianthecat]

thanks for the tag @lelephantsnail. I feel honored; this is my first one of these!

NAME: it's not Gillian, but you can call me that if you want :-)

I will say that my real name reached it's peak of popularity as a baby name in the 1960s, which was several decades before I was born.

SIGN: one of the signs that's an animal. I feel that's vague enough to be non-identifying :-) I don't really follow astrology, but from what I do know I don't particularly fit the characteristics of my sign

HEIGHT: a little under 5'5. (I feel like a little kid "i am 6 and three quarters years old", but for some reason that extra 3/4 of an inch is important to me)

TIME: started this at 11:30 pm, don't know when I'll finish.

BIRTHDAY: i tend to treat it like a special day and am generally Aware that it's my birthday while it's happening. i don't particularly like a big celebration, but for many years I've had a tradition of taking a dance class on the day, no matter where I was (did this on a trip to London once!)

FAVOURITE ARTIST/BAND: oh god, this question always feels scary to me for some reason. I think I return to my adolescent self and worry about having the right, cool answer. I'm also terrible at picking favorites in general. I love a wide variety of music and admire musicians, but I don't tend to closely follow bands or artists.

LAST MOVIE: I've been watching tons of tv shows/drama series and very few movies. According to Netflix, the last movie I watched on there was Hail, Caesar! many months ago, which I watched with my dad. It was entertaining and silly, and felt more like a collection of vignettes rather than a movie with a plot.

Oh! I recently watched Lan Yu (藍宇), a 2001 openly queer Chinese movie, set in mainland China but made in Hong Kong. I found out about it through Tumblr user @/rongzhi who hosted a viewing party on discord. I recommend it, it's beautiful and sad, in the style of Wong Kar-wai. It's unfortunately really hard to find, the only online version I could dig up is one on youtube titled "new slime video again! totally not lan yu (藍宇) made in 2001." Hopefully it stays there, it's low resolution but good enough to be worth watching.

LAST SHOW: Last show I completed was The Devil Judge. I'm watching War of Y and The Eclipse as they come out (unusual for me, I'm almost always a binger). I've started a bunch, and currently have tabs with Vincenzo and Lovely Writer open but I keep getting distracted so I'm not really watching either.

WHEN I CREATED THIS BLOG: Around the beginning of the pandemic, maybe summer 2020? I joined tumblr to follow a hockey romance writer (Taylor Fitzpatrick) and then started following various others, mostly fanfic writers, as a lurker. I didn't start posting until a month ago (July 21, 2022), inspired by KinnPorsche and then other BL shows I got into.

WHAT I POST: So far it's been mostly reactions to and analysis of BL and BL-adjacent shows. And occasionally videos of dancers (ballet & tango so far). But I have ADHD, so who knows what the future holds.

OTHER BLOGS: I started a sideblog @iamthinkingaboutvariousthings to use as a storage container for reblogging posts I want to keep track of but not overwhelm my timeline with. At the moment its all The Devil Judge meta.

DO I GET ASKS: I've only had a few so far, but I got so excited! I would love asks.

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: so erratic (see ADHD), but I probably need about 9?

WHAT I'M WEARING: dark blue sweatpants, a light blue t-shirt, and glasses

DREAM JOB: This is an emotionally fraught question right now, so I'm gonna skip it :-)

DREAM TRIP: ooh boy. I've been fortunate to travel a lot with my family (my grandmother loved to travel and would take us all over the world). I'd love to travel more on my own, I haven't done that much. I can't pick a place though, the world is too big and amazing!

I went to England with my mom and did most of the planning myself, so that was a past dream trip. We got to see Stonehenge up close, which was amazing! (Unsolicited advice: it's worth paying for a special after hours tour that gives you the history and lets you actually enter the circle. From the public path it looks kinda blah, but from afar and from inside its quite magical.)

FAVOURITE SONGS (and quotes from them, just for some spice): it's stressing me out to think about it (see previous music question) and this is for fun, so I'm going to skip it too.

I don't know if y'all like ask games, but I'll tag @heretherebedork @absolutebl @markswifesblog @moonchildridden @negrowhat @little-arcadia @technitango @thedeviljudges @bitletsanddrabbles and @veemark. No pressure to respond! And if anyone else wants to play, consider yourself tagged!