#also this is very much like first (or like third out of my usual 50) draft and not really edited much but im lazy right now

[hanshenrykcd]

Jason had started to notice that Bruce's gaze lingered sometimes—just a second too long. At first, he brushed it off as coincidence, that it held no deeper meaning. It wasn’t abnormal to sometimes stare while your mind was drifting off. But the glances kept happening. It had been quite late at night in the Batcave, and they were the last ones there, running through some data side by side, keeping it surprisingly civil. As they talked, Jason noticed Bruce’s eyes drift—not to the screen, but to him. Bruce’s gaze slid from Jason’s eyes, over the line of his jaw, to the curve of his lips, then back to the monitor. And once Jason noticed, it was impossible to ignore. It wasn’t just the glances; whenever Jason stood a little too close, Bruce would tense. It was barely noticeable, but easy to catch with a perceptive eye. Intrigued, Jason began testing the boundaries, seeing how far he could push before Bruce would finally tell him to stop. It started innocently enough. Just a casual touch here and there, or leaning in a bit closer than necessary. Each time, Bruce would tense, his eyes lingering before something like frustration would cross his normally stoic face. But Bruce would never acknowledge it—he never said a word. Jason was finding it harder to resist pushing even further, wondering just how much Bruce would allow.

・・・・・

Bruce sat by the edge of the couch, arm leaning against the armrest, newspaper in hand. The lamps were off and the only source of light came from the warmth of the fireplace. Its flames casted shadows across the room, occasionally making a comforting cracking sound.

Jason stood at the doorway, watching the way Bruce's eyes would scan over the articles, pretending to read, like he wasn’t drowning in his own thoughts as usual.

Without announcing himself, Jason sauntered into the room, making his way toward the couch. He could feel the warmth from the fireplace brush against his skin as he passed it, his long shadow making Bruce glance up from the paper.

He didn’t say a word as he flopped down onto the sofa, sprawling out lazily. He stretched his legs out, brushing against Bruce’s thigh as he shifted to get comfortable. Jason felt Bruce stiffen, informing him that he had the older man’s attention. He carelessly reached for a book on the coffee table, his arm extending as his shirt pulled up with the motion, exposing a sliver of his midriff.

Jason retracted back into the couch, book in hand, leaning comfortably against the cushions. His shirt was still ridden up, and when his eyes flicked sideways, he noticed how Bruce’s gaze was locked on his exposed skin. Jason didn’t move to adjust it, he simply flipped open the book as if he hadn’t noticed and it was all an accident.

Bruce shifted, just slightly, the paper crinkling in his hands. Jason sprawled out further, one arm resting sluggishly against the back of the couch, his legs extending along the length of the couch. His calf brushed against Bruce’s knee this time. Bruce lifted the newspaper, blocking Jason from view, but it didn’t stop Jason from feeling the way his body stiffened again.

He wasn’t interested in the book at all, his eyes just glossing over the words. With a casual sigh, he let his head roll back against the armrest, his shirt riding up even higher. The fabric of his t-shirt barely covered his stomach now, exposing the sharp lines of his lower abdomen to the warm light of the fire.

The sound of Jason’s exaggerated sigh seemed to catch Bruce’s attention, the newspaper lowering just a fraction. Jason angled his head slightly, peering under the book in his hand, and his eyes locked with Bruce’s. Neither of them said a word. Jason watched as the shadows danced across Bruce’s face and his furrowed brow.

He saw Bruce’s eyes briefly flick down toward his exposed skin again, the muscles in his jaw slightly tightening, barely visible. Jason let his attention drift back to the book, but the sentences were nothing but an uninteresting blur in the background.

He glanced over to Bruce again, catching him staring.

Bruce snapped the newspaper shut with a sharp crackle, then stood abruptly. His movements seemed stiff, off. “I… need to check something in the cave,” he muttered, his excuse half-hearted and weak, like even he wasn’t convinced by it.

He didn’t look at Jason as he turned on his heel, leaving the room with quick steps. Jason let out an amused breath, his lips curving into a full smirk as he watched Bruce leave. He could still feel the tension lingering in the room.

・・・・・

Jason stood in the training room, muscles tense and ready, waiting for Bruce.

Bruce entered, focused as ever. He offered no small talk, not even a greeting. He went straight to business.

“Ready?” he asked.

Jason smirked, giving him a lazy nod. “Always.”

They soon fell into the familiar rhythm of their sparring. They had done this countless times before. But after a while, Jason’s tactic shifted. He began moving closer than he needed, dragging his body just a bit too intimately against Bruce’s with every dodge and strike.

Each time their bodies connected, Jason made sure Bruce felt every inch of skin, every press of muscle. It was subtle at first, like there was a reasonable explanation behind it.

Jason threw a punch, aiming for Bruce’s side. But he quickly caught his arm with fingers tightening around Jason’s wrist. The impact made them step closer, their chests nearly touching. Jason glanced upward, looking at Bruce through his dark lashes, his breath brushing against Bruce’s jaw.

Bruce froze. His gaze dropped, landing on Jason’s lips for just the briefest of moments, and the air between them felt electric. But then suddenly, Bruce let go, stepping back. The movements were a little too sharp, like he was trying to create distance both physically and from his own thoughts. But the tension still lingered, thick like smoke.

Jason wasn’t going to give him that space, though.

Bruce looked almost rattled, clearly still unfocused. So, without warning, Jason surged forward. Bruce blocked his attack, but Jason didn’t stop. He pressed harder, his strikes swift, strong, determined. He ducked under Bruce’s counterattack, slipping past him, and then sweeping his legs out from under him.

Bruce’s back hit the mat with a solid thud, but Jason wasn’t going to give him a chance to recover. In an instant, he straddled Bruce, knees planted firmly on either side of his hips, pinning him down to the ground.

Jason leaned in, his face inches from Bruce’s, their heavy breaths mingling. “Seems like I got you this time,” he murmured with a teasing smirk playing at the edges of his lips.

Bruce said nothing, just stared up at him, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

Jason shifted slightly in his lap, and he could feel Bruce stiffen underneath his weight. There was something darker flickering across his eyes, something Jason wanted to investigate further. He shifted again, pressing down more firmly, his body aligning perfectly against Bruce’s.

He could see Bruce grinding his teeth together. And then his hands moved, gripping Jason’s thighs, fingers digging into him. In one swift motion, he shoved Jason off, rolling them over until he was standing.

“Stop playing around,” he muttered, sounding rougher than usual.

Jason chuckled at that as he sprawled out on the mat, unbothered. “Is that what we’re doing?”

Bruce didn’t reply, but Jason got up to his feet again and they began sparring. Punches were thrown and blocked in quick succession, but Jason wasn’t playing fair. He continued to push closer whenever he had a chance and each time, without fail, Bruce would be thrown off by it. It was almost unnoticeable, but Jason knew him well enough.

As they moved, the fight grew more intense and suddenly Jason found himself being spun around, slammed chest-first into the wall. Bruce’s body pressed against him from behind, one hand firmly between his shoulder blades, and the other wrapped around Jason’s wrist, holding it above his head.

Bruce had him pinned and Jason didn’t resist. He glanced over his shoulder, the smirk back on his lips. Bruce’s grip was firm, his body flush against Jason’s, trapping him completely.

Jason leaned back into the warm, steady body behind him. “Getting a little rough, aren’t we?” he teased.

For a brief second, Bruce’s grip on Jason’s wrist tightened as he seemed to tense. His breath hitched, almost imperceptibly, but Jason had noticed it, felt it. But just as fast, Bruce’s hands released him.

He stepped back, his face was unreadable and his movements seemed a bit stiff.

“We’re done,” he muttered, turning his back and walking toward the exit.

Jason’s smirk lingered as he watched Bruce leave and pretend like everything was still normal.

・・・・・

Jason pulled off his gloves and threw them onto the bench with a heavy sigh. It had been a long night, one that had left everyone involved worn out. His body was still buzzing with the aftermath of the adrenaline. Bruce was a few feet away, unbuckling his utility belt in silence, face as expressionless as ever.

Jason peeled off the top of his suit, letting the armored material fall to the floor. He removed the shirt afterwards, tossing it next to the gloves. His muscles were slightly aching after tiresome fighting, the sweat on his upper body glistening slightly in the harsh light of the cave.

Jason bent down to remove his boots. The subtle scent of sweat and leather filled the air, mixing with the slight metallic tang of blood from earlier wounds, and Bruce’s expensive cologne.

Jason glanced over, catching Bruce’s gaze lingering on him for just a moment too long before he quickly averted his eyes, focusing on removing the rest of his gear. There was a tension in Bruce’s shoulders, and he was doing that thing again where he pretended everything was normal, and Jason’s behavior was nothing out of the ordinary.

“You still owe for that back there, you know,” he said playfully, mostly to fill the silence.

Bruce grunted in response, a noncommittal sound that did nothing to contribute to the conversation. He seemed focused on his own suit, but his movements had slowed down.

Jason saw his opening. He moved closer, his fingers reaching for the clasps of Bruce’s suit before he began working them free.

Bruce froze, his head snapping up to look at Jason, eyes narrowing. “What are you doing?”

Jason didn’t flinch, didn’t stop. His lips twitched into a smirk as he worked the last clasp free. “What does it look like? I’m helping you out.”

He gripped Bruce’s gauntlets and tugged them off, letting them fall to the floor with a low thud. Jason reached for Bruce’s cape next. His arms slid around Bruce’s neck, fingers easily working the fastener that held it in place. Jason leaned in close, his bare chest brushing against Bruce’s hand and lower arm.

The shift in his posture was obvious; his body was taut and he turned his head away from Jason. But he was still rooted to the ground, eyes fixed on the wall as if he was determined not to acknowledge how close Jason was, how their skin was touching.

The cape came off, pooling below Bruce’s feet.

“I’ve got it from here,” he muttered and turned abruptly to leave, like he always did.

Jason had grown quite fond of the game they were playing.

・・・・・

The Batfamily had gathered around the long table in the cave, discussing the night’s mission in detail. Jason had agreed to assist them, now sitting at the far end by the table. Tim and Dick were currently talking over each other, and Jason wasn’t really listening to them.

Bruce was standing next to him, at the head of the table, telling them to quiet down and barking orders as usual.

Jason leaned further back into the chair as his legs stretched out under the table. His elbow rested on the table, with his thumb supporting his chin and the middle and index fingers pressed gently against his lips and nose, seemingly uninterested in the meeting.

His attention lay elsewhere.

Slowly, carefully, he let his leg brush against Bruce. The touch left no room to question whether or not it had been an accident. He let it linger. And Bruce stilled for the slightest second, a flicker of awareness passing over his handsome features before he quickly regained his composure.

But Jason wasn’t done.

Bruce was in the middle of giving instructions to Tim when Jason shifted again, this time allowing his knee to press against Bruce’s leg.

Bruce’s voice faltered for just a moment, the flow of his words slightly halting. But he refused to acknowledge it, kept his eyes ahead. He quickly cleared his throat, trying to continue. “Tim, I need you to—”

Jason shifted his knee again, rubbing it deliberately against Bruce’s upper leg. He felt him tense immediately, stumbling on the words. “To—uh… to monitor the surveillance—footage…”

Jason smirked, partially hidden behind his hand. “You okay there, Bruce?”

He received no answer to that, instead, Bruce pressed on with whatever he was talking about. “…and cross-check it with the logs Oracle has provided.”

The others nodded along, caught up in the debriefing. Bruce sat down on the chair behind him, probably thinking it would help him regain control of the situation. That was a big mistake. Because his reaction only fuelled Jason’s confidence, only spurred him on to push further, and explore where the boundaries lay. To see when Bruce would finally acknowledge him, to stop pretending nothing was going on.

Jason shifted a little, letting his fingers lightly brush against Bruce’s thigh. He felt Bruce tense immediately at the touch and heard the slight hitch in his breath. But still, he did nothing, didn’t even look at Jason. He kept his concentration on the others, jaw tight, eyes narrowing just a fraction.

His fingers continued to trace a subtle, slow line along Bruce’s thigh. Barbara was talking in the background, agreeing with whatever Dick had been saying, and Bruce nodded along, clearly trying his best to stay focused.

He let his hand slowly slide higher, and that’s when he felt it—the unmistakable hardness under the fabric of Bruce’s pants. Jason sucked in a breath by the surprise. He couldn’t deny the thrill, the way his heart picked up its pace. And Bruce could pretend all he wanted, but the proof was right there. He found this just as thrilling as Jason did.

Jason’s hand inched just a bit closer, fingers brushing over the bulge. Bruce’s entire body stiffened, the tension in his shoulders so taut it could snap at any given moment.

And then suddenly, Bruce’s hand shot under the table, grabbing Jason’s wrist, gripping it tight enough to hurt. Jason glanced up at him, watching the way Bruce tried so hard to keep his composure and focus on Tim’s yapping in the background. Bruce didn’t meet his eyes, his jaw clenched as his fingers tightened around Jason’s wrist, preventing him from moving any further.

Bruce didn’t say anything, instead, he just squeezed his wrist harder as a silent warning. Jason’s eyes gleamed with amusement as he leaned back slightly, letting his hand fall away. Bruce still refused to look at him.

The rest of the group continued to plan the mission, but Jason’s thoughts were far away, wondering how long Bruce could go on without acknowledging whatever this thing was between them. 

・・・・・

The mission hadn’t gone according to plan at all, in fact, it had gone sideways fairly quickly. It left the Batfamily stranded in one of their backup safehouses. The place was cramped with barely functional amenities. They had crashed in whatever space they could find.

Jason had ended up sharing a small bed with Dick, but every time he started to drift off, Dick would roll over, nudging Jason further and further toward the edge of the bed. He was tired and sore, and after a while, his patience wore thin.

With a frustrated sigh, he got up and left the room to find somewhere else to sleep. But every corner he checked was already taken, filled with the sound of quiet breathing or snoring. The wood boards under his feet creaked wearily as he made his way down the dark hallway. He stopped outside of Bruce’s door. Of course he had his own room.

“Screw it,” he muttered under his breath, pushing the door open.

Moonlight slanted through the moth-eaten blinds, casting a faint glow across the room. Bruce was lying on his back with his eyes closed, breathing evenly. Jason padded over to the bed and without overthinking it, he carefully lay down on the other side. The bed shifted slightly under his weight, and Bruce’s breathing changed just enough to show he was awake too.

They lay in silence, staring up at the dark ceiling. Even after a long mission, Bruce still managed to smell good.

Jason was too exhausted to pick up his usual teasing, even if now would have been the perfect moment. And somehow, the air felt different. Maybe it was the rawness of his body after the mission, or the quiet of this isolated safehouse—it felt like they were somewhere completely else, almost like in a dream.

After a long stretch of silence, Jason turned his head, just slightly, to check if Bruce had fallen asleep. But Bruce was already looking at him, the faint glimmer of moonlight catching in his blue eyes. His expression was unreadable, and the atmosphere between them felt thick in a way it never had before.

For the first time since this whole thing began, Jason didn’t dare to push it any further. Bruce didn’t look away, he held Jason’s gaze. The way Bruce looked at him made his heartbeat quicken and suddenly, he didn’t feel as bold anymore. His confidence wavered under Bruce’s steady, dark eyes. There was something so calm about it, yet intense enough to make him feel bare, exposed.

For a few long, quiet moments, neither of them moved, their breaths almost in sync at this point.

But then suddenly, in one slow, careful movement, Bruce leaned in. His body shifted slightly closer, closing the small gap between them. Jason’s breath caught, his pulse drumming in his ears, and he found himself frozen in place. He’d been teasing, pushing—even fantasizing about this—but he’d never truly expected Bruce to actually do something about it. Now, with him leaning closer, his presence invading Jason’s senses—it felt surreal.

The faint warmth of Bruce’s exhale ghosted over his skin, making his skin tingle, his pulse racing. Then Bruce’s lips brushed against his, softly at first—almost like testing the waters. Yet it was enough to send a sudden jolt of electricity through Jason’s nerves. It was only when Bruce leaned in a fraction closer, lips pressing more firmly against his, that Jason felt his mind start to unravel, his nerves catching fire.

But soon Bruce deepened the kiss with a quiet confidence, like this was nothing but another skill he’d mastered. It was like Bruce knew exactly how to kiss him, drawing sensations out of Jason he hadn’t even known he could feel, making his mind go entirely blank. He’d kissed before, sure, but nothing had ever left him this breathless, this affected.

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, kissing lazily as if nothing else existed outside of this room, but eventually, they drew apart. Neither of them said a word. Bruce lay back down, eyes fixed on the ceiling. Jason mirrored the movement, feeling slightly dazed and more relaxed than before, finally able to drift into sleep.

When he woke, though, Bruce was already gone. Jason wasn’t surprised. He got up and stepped into the hallway, hearing soft voices drifting from the kitchen. As he made his way toward them, he saw some of the members awake, talking over coffee. Bruce was standing by the window, already dressed, hands in his pockets, his expression as unreadable as ever.

Bruce looked up when Jason entered, their eyes meeting for a split second. There was no hint of acknowledgement from last night in his gaze. He simply greeted him with nothing more than a curt nod.

Jason felt a flicker of something unwanted—disappointment, frustration—but he buried it deep, slipping into a mask of indifference. He joined the others, leaning against the counter, forcing himself not to glance in Bruce’s direction.

Jason found himself wondering how, in a game he’d thought he controlled, Bruce had so quietly taken over, leaving him feeling unsure and strangely exposed.

・・・・・

i've been occasionally writing this when i wanted to write more FUN and not so serious scenes! fyi i'll probably take a break from writing since dragon age veilguard is released tomorrow! but let me know if you'd like me to continue this, and i might need to pause dragon age lmao. (literally all it takes is for one person to say pls do this 🥺 and i'll drop everything for you cause i love validation and people telling me what to do (jk) (or am i?))

[happypotato48]

Recent GMMTV BL Shows, Passion vs Commercialization 

Yee fucking Haw bitches I'm very bored and in need of something to write and as person who have complicated relationship with GMMTV and still can’t decide what to do with it, I'm gonna start talking mad shit and ramble for a bit of which recent shows feels like they have passion behind them and which recent show feels more like products to keep the BL engine rolling. this post gonna be unhinged, unkind and unbothered so if those are not you jam then.... Suck to be you!5555

Let start with a show that just finished airing, The Heart Killers. well well, Khun Phi Jojo kha i see what you were trying to do (mostly) despite this show lacks of good writing, or coherent plots and abysmally bad editing. i can tell that there are passions behind the screen of this mess of a show. most of the actors ate their roles and the casting are pitch perfecto. this show is in the middle on the Passion vs Commercialization line. there was effort and soul behind the wheels, but sadly the car was in a horrible shape and drive by a person who really seems to be running out of idea and is only here to churn out rushed products to be consume by ravenous hungry BL fans.

Next is Perfect 10 Liners a show by New Siwaj my soon to be senior and my trash fav?? director. as a We Are defender i have this weird and very fuck up relationship with this man cause omg this show is hot garbage 80% of the time. the first 8 EPs ForceBook arc was dumb, cliche and irritating to watch. then there PerthSanta next arc that was also kinda the same for the first half then somehow got kinda good at the end. and now with the current juniorMark with started off with a really interesting plot of the queer guy who is dealing with internalized homophobia finding a space in this BL bubble. this show feels like a souless cash grab BL made to fills the air time but somehow by the the virture of being so goddanm long some good ideas are leaking out of this stinky hole.

And now to the hardest one to talk about for me, Ossan's Love Thailand. I really want to love this show y'all, it's EarthMix in Oassan's Love ffs but so far, all i can think about this show is how much mid it is. the jokes are uneven some landed really well some were just straight up not funny. the biggest sin of this show is how much wasted potentially it is, it fails to capture the spirit of the original but it still inoffensive enough for me to not hate it. the passion and the love for the original are there but because of GMMTV unwillingness to commit, this show fallshort of being a great passion project and is kinda a modicare product of a show.

Ok i'm saving best for last, it's ThamePo Heart That Skips a Beat time! omg this show is so swoony and i can feel the passion for romance from behind the screen 50 kilos aways. this show has a better cinematography than most usually GMMTV shows and because of that the quietness and the atmosphere made room for the characters and the story to breath. the writings are great and the performances are good all around. i still have some doubt of whether or not the show would land in it themes of idol culture but even if it doesn't i still think this show passion for romance should be greatly appreciated. also, Jun is the best bitch boy third wheel and no matter what other people said i liked that we had a semi love triangle (i'm a trash rebel baby.)

[parkminijiminie]

AYS - Jeju trip /my recap/

Now that all of the Jeju episodes have aired, I've come back to quickly share my opinion. Disclaimer: This is just my opinion and speculation, you are more than free to disagree with me.

Overall, I managed to enjoy the episodes despite my initial hesitation. I was 50-50 about the first episode and I liked the other two. It wasn't a full love because while watching, I couldn't relax completely knowing how certain things would be twisted later on, but overall I enjoyed Jeju much more than I anticipated.

Let's start with the obvious difference between Jeju and NY, namely "the guest". TH's presence didn't add anything of value for me, apart from some cute Vmin moments and very few but still cute Vminkook ones. His being there didn't show me any new insight into their relationships, and there was no major change in either Vmin or Taekook. Even though Tae and JK spent a lot of time together in the first half of 2023, I didn't see any change in their dynamics or any new emotional depth to it. As many people have already said, JK and Tae together are two kids bouncing off each other's energies. They really bring out the immaturity in each other, and even if I tried, I could not get any romantic vibes from their interactions. Jk made it abundantly clear that TH being there was something he didn't choose and even seemed mildly annoyed by it the first day.

When it comes to JM and JK, this trip also didn't show anything new for me, but rather things I've always associated them with - their own private jokes, their being in sync with each other at all times, just existing in their own little world. They really do click. I loved their scenes at the pool, both days, I loved that JK is JM's personal chef, I loved that JM always pays attention to what JK is doing, even when driving, I loved their little joint routine at all times of the day. This really was JM and JK's trip through and through, and even a third party being there didn't really change anything. The only time we didn't have the signature JK and JM interactions was when JM was feeling unwell, after that they were back to their usual antics.

Jeju to me showed them being as close as ever. None of the tension and awkwardness from NY was present, which means that whatever issues they previously had, it was all resolved between the two trips.

As for them individually, I would say I am more and more and more amazed with Jimin with every new footage of this man I see. Firstly, he is just so naturally uniquely gorgeous. I kept staring at his bare face and wondering how one person could be so pretty even when sleeping, driving, and feeling sick. It's just like magic to me. More than that, he is just a class act through and through. He is polite, fun, considerate, energetic, just the whole package.

When it comes to JK, I would say he is a special person and probably a lot to handle in real life. He can be really sweet and his love language is definitely acts of service, but he also has an immature side to him. Maybe that comes from being the youngest and I think it was especially amplified because he was with the youngest members who always let him off easily. I think he is very kind-hearted, definitely not mean-spirited like some people make him out to be, but he is also a little bit impulsive at times. Personally, for me, he would probably be a little too much to handle in real life, but I can see that JM for sure knows how to handle him really well. As for JK's feelings towards Jimin, I think this boy lives and breathes for Jimin's attention. When JM is near, he is downright obsessed with having his eyes on him. He truly is like a big energetic, sometimes unruly puppy, wanting to be played with, praised, and loved upon. I can't really blame him, though. I, too, would turn into a clown or a personal chef, if it meant having Park Jimin's love and attention directed at me. In my opinion, nobody could truly deserve Jimin, but it is clear that Jimin truly adores Jungkook.

Jeju definitely showed that Jm and Jk have a very special type of relationship. The vibes between them were as weird as ever and it left me with more questions about the nature of their relationship than answers, but then again, this is also nothing new. 2023 Jikook remains confusing to me, but I am okay with that.

In conclusion, I liked the Jeju trip and I am not afraid to admit I love the solo parts between Jm and Jk the most. After all, this is what I paid for and wanted to see from the beginning and I am glad there were still plenty of JM and JK solo interactions. While these three episodes were better than what I expected them to be, I am the most excited about the upcoming Japan ones. I must admit I dreaded the Jeju episodes a little bit, which is why I actually didn't watch the first two right away, but I am fully, and 100% excited about Japan.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for calling the cops (twice, kind of) on someone in a car who swerved at me on the side of the road?

(Disclaimer: I hate cops. But I felt extremely threatened and wasn't going to let this go without something happening.)

I am a high school student and have not yet gotten my license, and therefore cannot drive alone. To get to school I ride an electric scooter, it looks a bit stupid as a high schooler but it is the only way possible for me to get to school on time. (I have a class before school in the morning, and both parents have work.) I've been doing this for over three years and have had no problems until recently.

Two or three weeks ago, I was on my way home from school. I noticed a car approaching from behind, and moved to the very edge of the road as I would normally. I was literally in the gutter on the side of the road, nowhere near where cars would be. This car, however, then sped up rapidly and swerved within 2-3 feet of hitting me. Probably not trying to actually hit me, but clearly trying to scare me or something of the sort. The person in the passenger seat was screaming the whole time.

The car sped off (I should mention that the speed limit on this road is 25 mph, and the car was going at least 50-60 mph) and after standing in shock for a moment I followed them home since they apparently lived in my neighborhood. I caught two teenage boys leaving the car, and asked if they had been in that car and had swerved at me on the road. They denied everything and went inside the house.

I went home and after a short while, came back with my father to back me up. Asshole move from me, I know, but he insisted on going in case the boys decided to get violent. I made him wait a short distance back, then rang the doorbell. Waited for a while, no answer. They were clearly still inside; the car was still parked on the road nearby and I hadn't been gone for long.

When they didn't answer, I then went home and called the police. I gave them the license plate number and the guy's address, and they said there had been reports of him speeding and being reckless before. The cops went to the house and yelled at them, and I thought it was over then. I most certainly did not want to press the issue any further, the shock and adrenaline was wearing off at this point and I just wanted to be done.

But several days later, I was sent screenshots of the driver of that car spreading hate about me on Snapchat for getting him in trouble. Now this is kind of difficult to explain, but I am unfortunately somewhat well known for riding an electric scooter to school. But up until this point, people just were aware of my existence. After the Snapchat posts and messages about me were spread, all of that turned into pure hate. Every time I was seen with that stupid scooter, people would scream that they wished I would fall and stuff like that. None of this had happened before, and I was (and am) miserable and scared. I don't feel safe anywhere around school because this is still ongoing.

I also tried to contact him via Instagram messages, to which he did not respond. That was three times that I attempted to contact him: first by following him as he was getting out of the car, second by ringing the doorbell, and third by messaging him.

Two days ago, I got my mom to pull me out of school early because I was feeling like crap after some particularly bad harassment in the morning. In the office as I was asking to sign out, I started crying in front of the school police officer, and she asked for the full story. I told her about the online posts and the catcalling and harassment I dealt with every day, and she took it very seriously. I didn't want her to do anything really, but she did anyway (I'm not upset about this honestly, it was probably a good thing). She said that the patrol officers usually didn't do much about stuff like this, but she could and would do a lot more.

She pulled the guy out of his class after I had left to go home, and in her words "put the fear of God in that kid"; telling him he should have lost his license and that since he was 18 he could face real consequences and go to jail for stuff like this. He has been told that he has to stay at least three feet away from me at all times.

Since then, he hasn't said anything to me in person, and hasn't posted anything publicly online. I still don't feel safe at school or anywhere in the area, but I've been taking an alternate route to try to avoid being seen and yelled at as much.

Am I the asshole? I honestly think we both might be, but I do feel somewhat justified by the fact that he at least got some sort of consequence for threatening my life like that and causing that level of problem.

What are these acronyms?

[alpaca-clouds]

Why the Pacing in Castlevania feels slow - but actually isn't

Okay, based on my long, long write up from yesterday, where I went into the theory of pacing narrative media, I want to talk quickly about one thing. Because I love Castlevania, and I think - outside of season 4 - the pacing in this show is pretty spot on. Mind you, the pacing in Nocturne is a bit better than in the original show, however, the reason that a lot of people feel that Nocturne is much faster paced than the original four seasons.

But the reason why people have this feeling is... actually kinda funny.

It is the editing. I say it right now: Castlevania is edited in a way that is untypical of how visual media is edited. And to this day, I am not fully certain who made the call. Was it Warren Ellis or was it one of the directors? I am not sure. I am assuming it was Ellis, given that the directors are the same in Nocturne - and the editing is very different in Nocturne - but that is just me assuming things.

So, what do I mean by this?

It is fairly easy: Usually TV shows have episodes with an A plot and a B plot. At times there is a C-plot too. And those two plots are interspliced. Meaning, you usually get a scene in A, then a scene in B, back to A, back to B, then maybe a bit of C, then back to A, then B, C again, A, B... You get the idea. This is usually something that is still around because it was needed in more episodic storytelling, but even in serial storytelling these days the idea remains. And as such, the creators try to engage the audience a bit more, by switching between the different plotlines. There is more change, hence the pacing subjectively feels faster.

Castlevania does not do this. Castlevania goes about the different plotlines more in the way a book is going to do. Basically, a large chunk of plotline A will play out, and then a large chunk of plotline B. If there is a third bit for the episode, then also a large chunk of this.

So, in each episode of Castlevania, it usually goes like this: We first spend about 8-10 minutes with one or two characters. And then 8-10 minutes with one or two other characters. And eventually at some point maybe 4-6 minuets with someone else.

The one episode that does this differently is season 3 episode 9. Yes, the rape episode. Where the intersplicing of the scenes clearly tries to communicate something - which is a lot more clearer here, of course, because the show normally does not do this.

When we go into actual analysis however, Castlevania covers about as many plot beats as most other streaming series do, per episode. It just feels slower, as it feels as if the scenes last longer - just because we linger with the characters. Mind you, if you ask me, the pacing is actually still too fast, because of streaming. As I said before: Ye olden days, when shows got 25 episodes per season were better. In a nice world, what we got as Castlevania, would have gotten at least like 50-55 episodes, with some good old fillers in there, that would allow us just to get to know the characters a bit more.

There is just two issues here.

For once... I do not know how else to put this, but: Yeah, people are tiktok brained too much these days. Basically a lot of folks feel bored with an episode lingering with one thing for almost 10 minutes.

And also... look, streaming and the "binging model" has really, really messed with how people consume media and how they expect pacing to go. Because in general pacing these days is too fast. And because of this, the audience is given way less chance to linger with the characters. And that is not a good thing.

And yeah, I will admit, this is topic that starts to annoy me. My two favorite movies from last year (outside of Wicked) were Heretic and Conclave, both of which I watched in December. And reading through the reviews of both movies, I saw so many people complaining about how supposedly slow the pacing in either movie was.

And... Okay, I will openly admit: The first half of Heretic is slow. Like, it about 40 minutes of people just talking around a table, before the "horror" aspect of the movie starts. However, I will argue this works very well, because it builds up properly.

And meanwhile Conclave? Frankly, this was one of the fastest paced movies I saw last year. Just there was no action. But the plot? The plot was in constant movement. Like, there was an important plot development literally every few minutes for the entire two hours. It is just, that of course most of this happens through "people talking".

But guess what: In a lot of media "people talking" will move the plot forward. Not everything needs to be action with fast editing.

To come back to Castlevania: The one season I will argue was not ideally paced is season 4. Because it is fairly clear that Ellis at least hoped to have a few more episodes. I talked before about how neither Sypha, nor Hector properly get to finish out their respective character arcs. Sypha's arc is set up in season 3, and then just gets abandoned in season 4. And Hector's arc mainly plays out off screen. We never get to see him going from: "I am miserable and I was used and abused" to "Okay, I need to do something about this". We get the information that his happened at some point in the 6 week time skip between the ending of season 3 and the beginning of season 4. But we never get shown it. Same with Carmilla's descent into madness and how exactly Striga and Morana got to the point they are in episode 4. Other than that, season 4 is not particularly rushed. Basically it is just that the time skip skips about stuff, that would have been nice to have. But then within season 4? The pacing is fairly okay. Not quite as well as especially season 2 and 3 (mostly because it is fairly uneven), but pretty alright.

But overall? Castlevania is fairly well-paced. Just in terms of how many plot and character beats happening per episode. It is just presented in a way, how you would normally present the story in a book or maybe even a comic - rather than in the way that is way more common for visual media. And because of it, it feels slower.

And in the end I will say one thing: As an autistic person, I actually gotta say, I do prefer the way those four seasons present the story - with the long chunks, rather than interspliced. It gives my autistic brain a lot more time to focus and get into each scenario we get per episode, rather than having to switch back and forth between different scenarios.

Ironically it does remind me a lot of early 2000s Japanese horror media (including anime), that often was edited in a similar way. Though I do have no idea if this was somehow intended or not. But in general the pacing does remind me a lot of Ayakashi, Mononoke and their peers.

[plague-karm]

Sonic 3 Spoiler Post Wheyyyyy

I’m gonna talk about literally everything so if you still haven’t seen the movie then scroll away, I will be adding images a week after this post goes up as well so yeah. This is NOT going to be well thought out at all it’s just going to be a ramble fest because why not shejsjjejejs

The fact that they made Live And Learn a song Maria wrote gives it SO much more meaning and a reason for the song to be included in the movie (besides fanservice lmao), a story line centred around the process of grief culminating with a grandiose reprise of a song made by the person one of the characters is grieving? CINEMA

The third act was incredible of course but god I wish they stopped going back and forth with the Robotnik stuff, the switch ups between the immaculate fight choreography and the slapstick bullshit really began to run its course and I was just waiting for peak to start again

Speaking of those fight scenes OH MY GOD THE FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY IS SOME OF THE BEST THIS SERIES HAS EVER HAD IT WAS ON SOME DRAGON BALL TYPE SHIT. When Super Sonic and Super Shadow were beating the everloving fuck out of each other in different countries I was stimming like crazy

Knuckles is the unsung MVP of this movie and I’m so happy they got to show his character development in a really natural way, he’s really become a big brother figure for the other two and the way he tried to talk Sonic down after Tom almost died really got to me he’s come so far 🥹

When the trailer fakeout shot came up I was LOSING IT 😭

Also I want to know what the cinematographer was smoking because some of the shots in this thing are BEAUTIFUL, especially the ones in space (when Sonic and Shadow enter their super forms and go around like blazing comets I was going crazy)

The colour grading is a huge step up from the last two movies as well, you can tell the budget went up because the models here are stunning (especially Shadow’s)

I wish Live And Learn got to play a little longer but I’m just happy they included it either way (when the vocals came in so did I)

Agent Stone continues to be one of my favourite human characters in the entire series, I honestly wouldn’t mind them adding him to the games because his dynamic with Eggman is way better than whatever Orbot and Cubot have going on

They definitely listened to the critiques for the second movie as well because the human stuff has been very toned down and I honestly think it’s for the better (and this is coming from someone who actually really likes Rachel idk man she’s just fun)

I’m pretty satisfied with how they handled Gerald outside of the usual Jim Carrey shenanigans, portraying him as a madman so consumed by grief that he’s completely willing to let Earth and himself die out of pure spite was crazy, I saw someone say that this is how he’d act if he didn’t get executed 50 years ago and I can see that pretty clearly. I loved the glimpses of humanity we get of him as well (the way he referred to both Maria AND Shadow as “kids” in the flashback made me feel like he genuinely did care for him at that point and the death of Maria just threw him off the deep end)

The scene of Shadow and Gerald finding Maria’s body was DEVASTATING, the way Shadow didn’t know if she was dead at first and all it took was to see how heartbroken Gerald was to figure it out killed me 😔

Speaking of which they actually did a rewrite for Shadow’s backstory while keeping a lot of the same elements and I’m pretty happy with it for the most part, him coming to earth in a comet is black arms foreshadowing 100% and the flashbacks of him and Maria just hanging out and having fun like normal kids was really nice (the inclusion of the biolizard being the monster in the movie they were watching was really cool too I didn’t even notice that at first until someone pointed it out)

Despite these changes he was handled SO well, Keanu did a great job voicing him and to hear that he actually wanted to play the character made me so happy, it’s almost like getting people who give a shit about the source material is a really important factor of making adaptations succeed idk

The reason why Maria’s around though is kind of weak? She isn’t ill in this version and the only reason she’s in the lab is because Gerald takes her everywhere? That’s it? Why couldn’t they have said that he adopted her or something? (Or maybe her parents had an incurable illness that Gerald tried and failed to help with so he took her in after the fact idk)

Ben Schwartz popped OFF in the third act god I love it watching whimsical characters completely losing their shit after they’ve been pushed too far

The fact that the iconic “announcement” was changed to a tragic yaoi send off is beautiful, I hope Agent Stone comes back in future movies his dynamic with Tails was really cute

Pansexual Eggman is now canon we are so back

Loved the brief snippet of E.G.G.M.A.N, it played for five seconds but I was stimming anyway

The soundtrack is also a huge step up from the first two movies as well (also Throw It All Away is one of the song titles holy shit)

The post credits scene was PEAK I love Metal Sonic and Amy’s designs so much, Im really interested to see if it’ll be a loose adaptation of Sonic CD or it’ll be its own thing (maybe Amy and Metal are originally from the games’ bad timeline and that’s how Silver shows up later? I’m not sure, I just want Silver fans to get SOMETHING they’ve been fucking starving bro I feel bad for them 😭)

[badgalsasuke]

Kishimoto Motion Comic Long Interview from the Road to Ninja Movie DVD (2012) PART 1

Motion Comic is a special limited-edition DVD release (1.5 mill. copies) that was given away to everyone who went to see the 9th film "Road of Ninja". In this video, Masashi Kishimoto answers questions about the 9th film and the manga (the arc about the 4th war, at that time Obito's identity was not yet revealed), and also shows a remastering with high-quality digitalization.

Like the Kobayashi interview, this is a transcription of what's being said in the interview. Please watch the video [LINK] as you read the transcription for a better understanding of the commentary.

From 1:50 to 18:05

Kishimoto: This is Masashi Kishimoto. Thank you for watching the movie Naruto: Road to Ninja. Due to various circumstances, I am unable to show my face, but I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude.

Q: How did you get involved in the project/story?

Kishimoto: First of all, it was the 10th anniversary of the anime, and I was approached with the idea of ​​"Do you want to do the next movie?" At first, I thought it would be difficult, so I thought about it for a while, but the editorial department told me that "everyone else is doing it too", and since it was the 10th anniversary and there were a lot of things I wanted to do, I thought I'd take this chance to try and do a few of the things I want to do, so I did it this time.

Q: What is Kishimoto-sensei's enthusiasm as a "movie lover"?

Kishimoto: I usually love watching movies, and when I watch various films, I often imagine, "If it were me, I would do this or that." This time, since I was involved, I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted. So I thought, "Let's do it exactly how I like!" and I was really excited.

Q: What is the concept of the film?

Kishimoto: Firstly, I wanted to make the main character, Naruto, stand out, so I wanted to depict it as the main character's drama. And then, in order to depict the main character, I had to depict his parents as well, which was something I wanted to do, but I couldn't do that in the manga so I decided to do it in the movie. But then, since they couldn't appear in the manga, there would inevitably be contradictions with the manga, so I thought, "Why not create a world where the parents exist?" And then, various things would be reversed, like things that existed in that world and things that didn't, and I came up with the idea of ​​reversing various things. So, this time, the concept was to reverse various things, both the settings and the characters, and I decided to pick out those points and do it.

Q: What did you focus on in the movie?

Kishimoto: What I focused on with this movie was the structure, and I used the "three act structure" that is often used in movies, something I've always wanted to try.

Q: What is Three Act Structure?

Kishimoto: The structure of the movie is divided into three acts: the first act, the second act, and the third act. In the first act, the trials and tribulations faced by Naruto are introduced. In the second act, the presence of Kushina and Minato, his parents, who help to resolve these issues, is revealed. The second act goes into detail about how they address these problems. In the third act, the world that was built up in the second act faces a crisis and is on the verge of collapse. And so, the film is structured towards the ending.

Q: Did you also pay attention to the time allocation in the movie?

Kishimoto: I was quite particular about the timing in the movie. If there's too much deviation, it can make the film drag, which I've noticed in many films I've watched. So, I made sure to communicate clearly with the director, saying things like, "You absolutely must include this episode here", and "Please keep the second act tightly structured." I insisted on conveying the exact timing for scenes and structure, and I asked them to stick to it very persistently.

Q: Did it turn out just as you wanted?

Kishimoto: The director was a bit like "What is this kid talking about?" but they properly adhered to it, and I think it turned out well.

Q: Characters whose designs were changed in the movie.

Kishimoto: The reason we changed the design among the members of the same generation was because we wanted to flip the characters' personalities. For example, Hinata was shy and tried to cover up as much as possible, but we decided to increase the exposure instead. Ino was quite revealing and confident, but now we made her more reserved, giving her a more subdued concept. As Lee and Neji are just erotic, so I thought it didn't have much to do with their appearance, so we left them as they were.

Q: Regarding the design of Sakura's parents.

Kishimoto: Based on Sakura's personality, I was able to imagine what her parents would be like. Sakura's mother was probably a former delinquent, so I designed her with a ducktail and dressed her in clothes similar to the ones Sakura used to wear. As for her father, since he swaps places with Minato in this movie, I had to make it clear when he is built into a Hokage Rock, so I gave him those distinctive cherry blossom-shaped beard and hairstyle for the design. It was inevitable that I would do it that way, so he ended up with that strange hairstyle. That was the concept I had in mind when I designed him.

Q: What comes first for a character: personality or design?

Kishimoto: Basically, character design comes from the character's inner self. It just ends up that way. Rather than thinking about it from a design-first perspective, it's more about making comprehensive decisions. Once the character's personality is decided, I start by thinking, "This guy will dress like this," so I designed the dad like that, thinking, "If he has that silly hairstyle, he'll be a character like this," and I tried to include movements like, "That's how he should move," with a nonchalant movement like this.

Q: The masked man = Dark Naruto design?

Kishimoto: Dark Naruto, you see, is basically "Dark" Naruto, , so it was easy to design him as Naruto. However, since his personality is more like Dark Naruto or a sly Naruto, I thought about making him sneaky. I designed him with a slightly hunched back and made him wear intimidating clothes, like a coat. Since he's basically a fox, Black Naruto has a fox mask on his face. Well, I think some people might have noticed that the enemy is Naruto. I wanted people to notice if they could, so I went with the fox mask.

Q: The differences in character design between the manga and the movie.

Kishimoto: The difference in character design between creating manga and making movies is that, ideally, animators design characters with movement in mind, making them easy to animate. However, for the "NARUTO" anime, we always have talented people like Nishio-san and Suzuki-san design the characters. This is especially true for original anime or original characters.In such cases, they are indeed designed with the concept of movement in mind, and I think that's amazing. However, I just couldn't grasp that aspect well, so I designed them just like in the manga, without considering the movement, and did it the way I liked. I'm sorry to the animators, but I let myself do it however I liked. I tried to reduce the lines as much as possible, but it feels like I couldn't do it very well.

Q: There were also characters wearing capes and coats, right?

Kishimoto: Capes and coats fluttering around can make animation really difficult, so normally we wouldn't do it, but the director said, "It's fine!" so I thought, "If it's fine, then it's fine." I ended up creating a character with lots of fluttering capes and coats! I want to take this opportunity to apologize to the animators. I'm really sorry. Thank you for your hard work. I'm really sorry for making you draw so many fluttering things.

Q: Was there a scene that you were particularly particular about?

Kishimoto: The scene I was particular about in the movie is the one where Iruka and Naruto are at a ramen shop, trying to eat ramen and having a conversation. What I focused on was that Naruto, unusually for him, sulks in that scene. It's a scene where he throws a tantrum in front of Iruka. Normally, Naruto is quite carefree and doesn't sulk much, but when it comes to his parents, he has deep feelings, so he sulks like a child in front of Iruka. This scene is hard to visualize in the manga, so we had to make sure he sulked well. However, we couldn't force Naruto to sulk artificially, so we put a lot of effort into making it feel natural.

Q: How did you resolve it and what was your commitment?

Kishimoto: I didn't want Naruto to have a sad face too much, thinking that he wouldn't make such a face, at least not at that moment. First, he would sulk before making a sad face. That was a part I really wanted to include. I told the director in detail about the order, that he would sulk first and then make a sad face. I also carefully instructed the animators, saying, "At this moment, he should have this expression". The reason I was particular about that scene is that I needed to make sure the audience could empathize with Naruto and see his parents. In that sense, I knew it was a crucial part that had to be shown, so even though the storyboard was completed once, I just couldn't be satisfied with it and had it completely redone. I thought that scene was truly an important part of this movie, so even though it's a subtle part, I really focused on it.

Q: The scene where Naruto wears the Fourth Hokage's cloak was also impressive, wasn't it?

Kishimoto: The scene where Naruto wears the Fourth Hokage's cloak is definitely one I wanted to do; it's a scene I was particular about. The reason is that previously, I had drawn a cut of Naruto wearing the Fourth Hokage's cloak for an image video, and when I drew that, I felt something very strong inside me. Just drawing that cut brought up such a vivid image that I could envision the entire story for this time, and I really wanted to incorporate those feelings into this work. By having Naruto wear the Fourth Hokage's cloak, I wanted to show that he was living a life similar to that of the Fourth Hokage and Minato, his father. I thought it was an important scene that could convey the fact that he is indeed Minato's child, so I paid quite a bit of attention to that.

Q: About the bathhouse scene.

Kishimoto: Regarding the bathhouse scene, I wanted to show a bit more of the characters having their personalities swapped, so I included that scene. It's also a scene that collaborates with the manga. I drew a one-shot for the manga, and that scene is linked with it. The situation is exactly the same, but since the characters' personalities are different, their physical reactions change accordingly. I wanted to show how different the reactions would be with the same situation but different character personalities. To make the audience enjoy how much the changes vary, I made it a concept to link it with the one-shot, so I put a lot of effort into that part.

Q: What were your thoughts when you first saw the finished film?

Kishimoto: My impression when I first watched the movie from start to finish was that it really packed in everything I wanted to do. I was quite selfish, insisting on what I wanted, and I really did trouble the staff a lot. But since I was able to create a movie exactly as I envisioned it, it was truly enjoyable. I was the one who had the most fun and felt the happiest.

Q: Was there a scene you particularly liked?

Kishimoto: When he's wearing the Fourth Hokage's cloak, turning towards him with a smile and delivering the catchphrase, personally, I think it went really well, or rather, "This part turned out great." That's a part I really like.

Q: What are your thoughts on the whole experience?

Kishimoto: Overall, it was great that everything turned out exactly as I wanted, but even more than that, the passion of all the staff made it possible for the film to be even better and more interesting, which made me really happy and I think is a wonderful thing.

Q: What is your favorite film in general?

Kishimoto: I've said this in many places, but when I'm asked this question, I always answer "Back to the Future". There are 1, 2, and 3, but I like the first one the best. The father is surprisingly uncool, and the mother is surprisingly quick to fall in love with another man. Those are the parts you don't really want to see, but the way they portrayed them so carefully was really interesting.

Q: If a live-action version of "NARUTO" were to be made, who would play the role of Naruto?

Kishimoto: The role of Naruto is played by Michael J. Fox. But I mean, that's when he was younger, you know? When he was in "Back to the Future," it was a bit too much.

Q: In this movie, Naruto's dream of being able to interact with his family came true.

Kishimoto: In this movie, Naruto made contact with his parents for the first time, but when I look at the character of Naruto objectively, not from the perspective of the author, I think it was really great that he was able to have that experience of being welcomed by his parents as part of a family.

Q: What does family mean to sensei?

Kisimoto: Well, family occupies a significant place in my life. Of course, I have my own family, but when I'm often asked what is important to me, I tend to answer with family. It's not so much that I try to, it just ends up that way. It ends up being family. It just ends up being family. Next, being a manga artist and manga itself are equally important. So, for me, both family and manga are invaluable and cannot be compared. That's why I feel like I am made up of family and manga.

Q: What did you want to convey with this film?

Kishimoto: There are various things I wanted to convey in the movie, but I think that when people watch it, their thoughts will differ based on their own experiences. So if they felt something, I believe that means the message got through. Therefore, I think it's okay if I don't explicitly state it myself.

Q: What's next for the original manga?

Kishimoto: The manga will develop from now on. I think it's nearing the end, but I think there will be more and more amazing characters coming out. I think it will get even more exciting from now on. Who knows? I'll tell you all, I'm also looking forward to the showdown between Naruto and Sasuke. [Unintelligible] Then, the tailed beasts gather together [Unintelligible] And so it all ends like this. There's a lot of drama in store, [Unintelligible] It will fall down so you won't want to miss it.

Q: Finally, please give a message to all the Naruto fans across the country.

Kishimoto: Both the manga and anime will get more exciting towards the end. Since I'm drawing manga in particular, I'll do my best to make the manga more exciting. It's sure to get exciting at the end, so please get excited with me.Please look forward to it. I won't disappoint you. I'll do my best. I'll do my best, no matter what. There's nothing more to say… I did say I'd do my best! (staff laughs)

PART 2 OF THE INTERVIEW

[ethicaltreatmentofcowplants]

I'll start with the caveat that the newer expansion packs have recently gone up $20 in my neck of the woods (and they've cheekily put the prices of Horse Ranch and For Rent up as well as Lovestruck). So that is causing me to judge the newer expansion packs very harshly in comparison to when they were $50 full price.

That said:

(this is probably going to get long)

Enough

Seasons, even thought it doesn't come with a world. It adds so so much to gameplay and is my first expansion pack to rec to anyone, unless they're mostly or purely focused on builds.

Focusing more on packs that have worlds: Get Together and City Living. I would actually pay what is now the full pack price of $70 for them as well as Seasons. Less so City Living, but only marginally. Both worlds feel full and have vibrant, memorable townies, and like actual places that I could take a loading screen to. Even if my gameplay isn't based in San Myshuno - or in a city at all - my sims usually go to at least one festival or participate in karaoke night. And now that I've learned how to use it properly, the "clubs" function in Get Together is such a great quality-of-life gameplay mechanic.

Henford-on-Bagley is a really good example of a less urban world that still feels inhabited, but more on that below. Mt. Komorebi, while Snowy Escape isn't a favourite pack or an essential, likewise feels just populated enough and like there's enough to do/variety to justify its price. It serves exactly what its premise set out to be. I also appreciate the representation of Japanese culture - and was really hoping For Rent would be much the same.

Growing Together... could have possibly done with a couple more lots and families, especially considering the focus on generational gameplay. Where are the senior citizens who have major Bingo beef with each other? But the gameplay does add a decent amount, and the CAS and Build items are nice enough to give base game a refresh if that's the only expansion pack you have. And I couldn't really group it below, considering the packs that I did.

Needed More

I agree with @changingplumbob in that some of the newer worlds simply don't feel large and/or inhabited enough. Horse Ranch would have actually been a good size to me if only it had a couple more residential lots and a few more townies that came with it, just to make it feel more populated. Though I get that it's vast and not as densely populated as San My and Windenburg, given that they're city worlds and horsies need a lot of space to roam.

(Henford-on-Bagley in my mind is a great example of a rural pack that still feels populated, 'just busy enough' and with a sense of community. Chestnut Ridge is almost there though! It just needed some more fleshed out events and to have more townies who aren't overtly Island Living folks wandering around.)

Tomarang though? What a waste of potential. Only two neighbourhoods inhabited and the world - while gorgeous - feels so empty when my Sims are wandering around it. It's the only SEA world we have and it's a real shame that there's not a third proper neighbourhood and that some of its ideas are actually really interesting (like the tiger sanctuary) but rather flimsily executed.

(This is in comparison to Jungle Adventure - a gameplay pack where you can actually explore the hidden temples...)

In terms of earlier city worlds, while I appreciate that it came with a decent amount of townies (and a lot of gameplay options if you're into its concept), Del Sol Valley could have definitely done with more lots. Since it's based on LA and the pack came out after City Living, an apartment block or two for all the struggling actor types would have been a nice touch. If you're someone who enjoys playing with the pack mechanics though, I will say there's a good amount of gameplay there. I think in that respect it's definitely worth the price more than the three most recent expansion packs - it's just not quite my thing.

Get To Work and Magnolia Promenade I'd probably group with Get Famous and Del Sol Valley. It gives a reasonable quantity of gameplay if you use it, but it really needed more than four lots. If it's the retail world, at least give us a mall or something. That could have been such a fun concept to play with. Also some rival business empires?

(I didn't talk about Lovestruck because I don't have the pack. But from what gameplay I've seen - and what I've heard from people who usually have pretty balanced takes on packs - I'd probably group it with For Rent.)

[alter-bridge-fanatic]

Sharing a Reddit update on Myles' show in Toronto last night:

Hey! Was a really good and fun show!

  F’N cold outside didn’t deter the crowd enthusiasm!  Once inside, I purchased an awesome looking Myles Kennedy overpriced tour T shirt for $50  (I figured the tickets were relatively cheap - so why not give a bit more to Myles in support!?).

Sons of Silver came on first, and performed 4 or 5 fairly straight forward catchy songs.  They were very competent and likeable.

After a short break of them clearing their equipment from the stage; Tim Montana’s band came out.  They were absolutely awesome, and kicked ass right from the start!  They were like a cross between Kid Rock and ZZ-Top - in all the good parts of them! 

Tim thanked us for the warm weather (he said it gets a hell of alot colder than this where he’s from ! 🤣🥶).  They were incredibly high energy and tight.  All four band members sang harmonies on most choruses, and sounded great together!

I became a fan of them for sure last night and will be spending the next few days looking up his music!  He did 6 or so tunes and talked to the crowd alot between songs, which I enjoyed.

After Tim, band and crew cleaned up the stage of their musical paraphernalia, it was a few minutes of wait before Myles came out.  I guess it was around 9pm?

By this time, I was pleased to see that the concert hall looked mostly full - since I never see media advertising and none of my friends have a clue…. 

(Myles mentioned later during the show that it seemed that maybe a hundred or two of people who purchased tickets - didn’t seem to be there - and maybe the brutal cold weather snap had something to do with it?). 

Regardless, the hall looked quite well attended, and the multi-generational crowd was very enthusiastic and vocal all night - especially for Myles!

Myles looked and sounded fantastic!  Healthy and happy looking👍. 

He interacted with the crowd quite a bit more than when I saw him with AlterBridge, and Tim Tournier also got into the act a bit with some talking back and forth with Myles on the mic.  (At one point, Myles was talking of his love of Tim Hortons bagel and cream cheese, and asked Tim if they could arrange a sponsorship deal with them.)

 Then Myles made up an impromptu little ditty with his guitar as an ode to his love of Timmy’s coffee and bagel, but got stumped rhyming a word with bagel:)

  He asked for Tournier’s and the audience’s help with that, and it degenerated from eggo’s to lego’s to ‘kegel’, after which Myles got giggly and the crowd was laughing along.  

He said the words don’t really rhyme, but he’s made a career writing songs with worse rhymes in his lyrics, so it doesn’t matter that much:) (Ahh…good ole’ self-deprecating Myles…). 

Tim was laughing too, and said this was a great segue into their most serious song, Love Can only Heal😂…we all laughed along!  …once Myles composed himself of the giggles, he played the well known guitar parts of the song without band accompaniment until the last third of the song- and it and his singing were absolutely stellar!

Myles voice was transcendent as usual all night!  He hit alot of the sustained highs that many of us know from his songs. The crowd always let out extra cheers when he ‘went there’ with his vocal range.  He truly is a special talent vocally!  And his tone and timbre were in fine form in the softer and lower range sections of songs too!

There’s plenty of YouTube vids of his song set from his recent Euro tour.  I think this night was the same?  

A highlight for me last night (in addition to his playful and happy and talkative demeanor) was when he took out the acoustic guitar and played M4’s Mars Hotel and AlterBridge’s All Ends Well! 

His vocals really shine extra bright when he plays acoustic!

During Mars Hotel, he broke from the song about half way through, after singing a very earnest verse; and broke the fourth wall saying to us with a chuckle , ‘ man I had alot of girl troubles back then’. 🤣. 

Everyone laughed as he collected himself and tried to finish the song - but forgot the lyrics at the end - replacing them with singing something about forgetting the words because it was from 25 years ago (in the tune of the song), and then adding ‘something , something, something’ to finish the song.  It was funny, and endearing:)

Anyways… Myself and the crowd thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and Myles really looked like he was also!  The crowd was very loud and vocal.  Between songs, random people would call out to Myles how much they loved him… and at one point a particularly loud woman and an an equally loud male in the balcony audience were vocally sparring back and forth that they were the one who loved Myles the most!  It was quite funny, and Myles finally commented on the amount of love there was in the room, and that maybe they should consider staying in Canada:)❤️

He did one encore song, which was an excellent rendition of ‘say what you will’, before the house lights came on and the crowd left to go out into the cold night to go home.  Alot of people were humming the tunes as they left the building:).  I’d guess it was about 10:45 ish when done.

All in all, a very entertaining and enjoyable night of great live musical entertainment!  

[organ-market]

What Makes Monster Prom Special? | Love Letter and Review

By Ghost Emoji 👻

Monster Prom, 2018

In 2018, the first installment in the Monster Prom series exploded onto the internet and made some major waves in its wake. Monster Prom, developed by Barcelona-based studio Beautiful Glitch, is a multiplayer visual novel where you (and up to three other friends) run around school, courting different monster characters in hopes of asking your crush out to the big prom. Since its release, the game has spawned two sequels, with the third one coming soon. Its sequels take various different spins on this core structure, but it always remains a humorous, multiplayer romp that friends gather on a couch, or a Discord call, to laugh and have a good time. 

Monster Prom’s creator, Julián Quijano, was inspired by a different game with a very similar gameplay structure called The Yawhg, where rather than kiss hot monsters with your friends, you try to save a town from an impending evil. Monster Prom takes the multiplayer narrative adventure of The Yawhg and runs with it to blend internet humor and pop culture references with the hilarity of a multiplayer dating sim, all the while backed by the beautiful art of Arthur Tien.

To me, the game itself feels less like an actual game I want to play and more like a fun activity or experience to share amongst a group of friends. The game’s stated objective is to successfully ask out one of the game’s several romanceable monsters to the prom, but in truth I’ve never felt too bad about being rejected in the game. Winning doesn’t really matter as much as having fun with some close friends, and honestly, I don’t find myself playing the game alone anyway. For my group, it’s practically mandatory that we voice each of the in game characters. Getting into the characters, the weird scenarios, and making funny voices are what make playing Monster Prom so special to me.

Beyond the excellent writing, characters, and art, I think that is what makes Monster Prom resonate with so many people. It is beloved because it can be shared and experienced communally, which is what differentiates it from other visual novels that usually are much more solitary undertakings. The multiplayer aspect to Monster Prom is essential to its success. So even if your fictional monster crush tossed you into the gutter, you and your friends are still laughing along and are ready to play another round.

Spooky Academy, the setting of Monster Prom

That being said, the game is not without its faults. I really do wish the game had a save feature, at least as a contingency. It’s a real shame when the power cuts out, your computer crashes, or somebody has to leave early and you aren’t able to just pick up where you left off, especially if you’re already halfway through the game. This issue is exacerbated by the length of the games, which in of itself isn’t a real flaw. The games always offer a short and long mode, but even so, the game can easily take up 40-50 minutes even on the short mode, especially if you and your friends want to voice the characters (which I really recommend). The Monster Prom franchise as a whole isn’t really for everyone either. Humor is inherently subjective, so if you aren’t laughing at the jokes, you won’t be having a good time since comedy takes the front and center of this game.

Those general flaws are prominent throughout each of the games, so if you like one, you’re sure to like the other ones. The third game in the franchise, Monster Road Trip, is the only one that strays from the dating format. While romance takes a back seat, you instead try to balance your different stats, ensuring none of them reach 0. It’s also the only game where you can lose before its conclusion, and the only one where you lose collectively as a team. I’ve played about two or three rounds of Road Trip and that’s not enough for me to make a solid opinion on it, so for now I really recommend the first two games, Monster Prom and Monster Camp. There’s a tremendous amount of content throughout all the games and enough scenarios to ensure you won’t get bored anytime soon.

My advice for those interested in the game is to just grab the game with the cast you prefer, or even try out the free demos available on Steam. The games themselves are relatively cheap, all priced around $12 USD, but the first game goes on sale frequently for dirt cheap. It’s an interesting and exciting game, and I really hope more games like it follow. Multiplayer narrative video games feel like an untapped gold mine of possibility. You frequently see the genre explored naturally in the world of tabletop gaming, so I’m eager to see what the virtual world has in store for bold new storytelling.

-Ghost Emoji 👻

[theserpentsadvocate]

Aaaaah, I love stuff like this, thank you!

Tagged by: @copperarsenite

Tagging: @feeisamarshmallow @allonsymiddleearth @iceberg-hootenanny (and basically anyone who wants to, honestly)

rules: post the first lines of up to 10 of your last fics/chapters posted on ao3 or your wips and try to draw some conclusions.

I'm going with fics in general, not chapters (because otherwise it would be entirely Satisfaction), and probably sticking to VM fic because all the Tolkien stuff I've posted recently has been crossposting. So last five posted and last five WIPs worked on. :)

(Also, warning that the second-last sentence has a racial slur (used by a character.))

Satisfaction

Veronica’s dad was the sheriff, so she was usually pretty scrupulous about not breaking the law. 

Flipping the Script

All Jade wanted was to get her mother’s car and drop it off with enough time to get to the library before it closed, and since the library was open late on Thursdays and she’d stopped to pick it up at 4 PM, it hadn’t seemed that difficult.

Unexpected Dividends

It was probably weird to run a to-do list for your boss in your head, but Eli had been doing it since his second month on the job, because Fred was competent, and reasonably organized, and obviously he was a hell of a mechanic, but his ability to prioritize was a little bit whacked out.

The Most Important Part

“Hot date?”

The Art of Starting Over

It turned out that calling your sort-of boyfriend after a whole week and a half of radio silence was daunting.

Choices (upcoming post S4 oneshot)

Jade grew up in San Diego.

Hunger Games AU for 'X universes Veronica didn't grow up in'

I didn’t sleep well, the night before the Reaping.

untitled WIP (zombie non-AU, post-S4)

Veronica made it home for the end of the world.

Carmen for 'Would've, Could've, Should've' (pending oneshot series)

Yesterday, Carter Phelps shoved Carmen into the stair railing and called her a wetback, like her parents swam all the way here from Venezuela.

Circle of Magic AU for 'X universes Veronica didn't grow up in'

The first time the Guard caught Weevil breaking into a rich man’s house, they tattooed an X on the web of skin between his thumb and first finger and threw him into a cell for the night.

*

So for the obvious – I favour third person (which I knew), and I’m a bit heavier on female POVs than I anticipated (which I’m pleased with, actually). Also Jade's very prominent, and since I’m already 50% of the Jade/Eli tag on AO3, that doesn’t exactly shock me.

(It’s not immediately obvious for all of them, but every single one of these is Weevil-heavy, which is the most unshocking thing possible. I think I have exactly one VM fic in progress where he’s not central to the entire premise, and even there he’s still majorly present.)

Other than that, the closest thing to a trend that I can pick up is that apparently I like opening sentences that feel either dynamic or relatable? Satisfaction and the post-canon zombie fic both have the more classic hook of raising questions about what’s going on, and most of the JEC fics as well as Carmen’s WCS entry are an attempt to jump you right into the characters’ heads or at least their social reality. Whereas the fusion AUs seem to establish their crossover-fandom immediately (THG with an immediate reference to a well known part of that universe, and COM by heavily echoing Briar’s introductory sentence). I don’t know if I did it on purpose, but I like it, so I’ll have to see how much/if that holds true for the other ones in the series. (The BTVS and Animorphs ones are harder, because they involve discovering something, but the summary of the latter will definitely start with My name is Veronica…, and the 1-800-WHERE-R-U one starts with a direct shout-out.)

Anyway! I’d be interested to know if there’s anything that strikes you. :)

[recentadultburnout]

Info for writer in Thai series fandom: Mismatch bits and pieces.

All things too short to have their own ch.

A way to call a class

I noticed that when I read about a class of students in English, it was called by the year that class graduated, which is different from how it is in Thai. In Thailand, we count a class based on the school they are in. For example, Pat and Pran from Bad Buddy are in Class 36th. That means there are students who have already graduated from this school in total 35th generation, and they are the 36th.

Education system

อนุบาล-anuban-Nursery

3 years 

about 3-5 years old

The class number is typically written as อ.year/room number or simply year/room number, with the assumption that anyone who will need to use the number is aware that they are for nusery. 

อ. is the abbreviation of อนุบาล-anuban-Nursery (ป. for prathom and ม. for matyom. Read aloud as Or, Por, and Mor, respectively.)

If you're in the third year, the first room, it can be written as อ.3/1

ประถม-prathom-Elementary school

6 years

can be divided into 2 parts, 3 years each, prathom ton(ต้น-first) and prathom plai(ปลาย-last)

about 6-11 years old

มัธยม-matyom-Secondary school

6 years

can be divided into 2 parts, 3 years each, matyom ton and matyom plai

After matyom ton, one can choose to continue studies in matyom plai or switch to vocational classes. At present, the choice of vocational education is not very popular among families with wealth, and there is some negative bias.

about 12-17 years old

มหาลัยวิทยาลัย-mahawitthayalai-University

Usually 4, but this can vary depending on what you study.

*Most schools in Thailand have 2 semesters.

From nursery to secondary school, it usually like this:

Semester 1 starts around mid-May and ends in late September or early October.

Semester 2 starts around the beginning of November and ends in late February or early March.

At the university, it is usually like this:

Semester 1 starts around September and ends in December.

Semester 2 starts around February and ends in May.

But it may change if there is an announcement from the Ministry of Education.

*There are 9 years of compulsory education. From prathom to matyom ton.

Money

Thai Baht bank notes are divided into five denominations: 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 baht, which are sometimes referred to by their colors: 20-green, 50-blue, 100-red, 500-purple, and 1,000-gray(1,000 baht banknotes are actually more brown than gray, but maybe because brown 10 baht notes were used before, or the 1,000 baht notes might have used to be grayish, they are called this way.) As for coins, we have 1, 2, 5, 10 baht and 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 satang. One hundred satang is one baht. Satang is not used much, and if we do use it, we will mostly use only the 25 and 50 satang coins.

System of measurement

The metric system is the most popular. Other systems will be used if the topic requires it, such as using tea spoon and cup when baking or using Thai measurement for gold weight and land.

Meal

In Thai we have the word กับข้าว-kapkhao, which is things to eat with rice. When we eat it, it's commonly with many people, and we share it together, not somebody's in particular. At each meal, the kapkhao and the rice will be placed on the table for everyone to scoop up and put on their own plate. If you eat with someone you are not super close to, then you should have an extra utensil for scooping up kapkao and rice as to not make the other party uncomfortable. As for when you eat with friends, I would recommend using it also, but it is up to your group of friends' hygiene standards.

Grounded

Disclaimer:this is my perspective as a daughter of a family in Bangkok.

Getting grounded by one's own parents as a punishment is not a real concept here. I'm quite sure about that. Like, it's kind of redundant? Most of us already have to tell our parents all about where we go, when we will be back and with whom before we go out, and if they don't want us to go, then we don't. Plus, our public transportation wasn't that covered, so if a kid who still can't drive and lives far from it wants to go out, then having parents drop off and pick up after is kind of the only option. It's not like normally we are free to go out whenever.

Gap year

Taking a gap year wasn't the norm. It is often seen as a waste of time, and the people who did it might get gossip that they had to do it because they couldn't pass the exam.

Colors of the day

We have a color for each day, which came from a tale about Songkran, and it is common knowledge. Thus, when we want to color code something day-related, we use it and assume people will understand. A bakery company, Farmhouse, had been color-coding a bag sealer as a sign to tell what day their bread was put on shelves since 1987.

Sunday – Red

Monday –Yellow

Tuesday – Pink

Wednesday – Green

Thursday – Orange

Friday – Blue

Saturday – Purple

Year

We use both the Buddhist era (BE) and the Christian era. Sometimes we choose one to write down and sometimes we write them both side by side, Thai numerals for BE on one line and Arabic numerals for CE on another. But if it's an official document, it's more likely to be only BE. 

This year(2022) is 2565 BE.

Tip

Tiping is not part of our culture. Nowadays, some people have begun to start tipping due to the influence of other cultures, and there are both positive and negative opinions about that. Some say extra money is definitely a good thing, but some say if we started tipping people, the employer might see it as an opportunity to reduce their employee payment.

Chinatown

There are no words that translate directly into "Chinatown" in Thailand. Each neighborhood is usually called by its street name or landmark near it, and those Chinatown are that way too. The most popular one in Bangkok was called Yaowarat.

Move out

Not moving out of one's own parent's house is normal. Moving out is normal too, but from what I know, nobody will expect their kids to move out for no reason. Some families even dislike that very idea. Like, if you want to move out for no other reason than you just want to, there must be something wrong.

One of my friends who has a big family and really wants to try to live alone for once, but can't say so because her mother will surely be upset, is now planning to apply for something that requires her to stay somewhere else, so she can use that as the reason she has to move out.

Insect as a snacks

While it is a thing we do have, it's not that popular. Many have never eaten it before. Many eat it once just to try it and never again. There's a good chance that there's no one at all in a room full of people who eats fried insects on a regular basis. It's not exactly rare, but also not something that sells everywhere.

Don’t touch the head

Is something I heard many foreigners talk about Thai people, and I guess, while it might be something they were told by a Thai, it got exaggerated. Sure! You shouldn't go around touching strangers' heads. But that's just common sense, right? Why would anyone think they could touch any part of a stranger at all? For a close person, it's a completely different thing, and don't forget, everybody has a different and will have different boundaries!

Touching monks

It's not that women can't touch monks, it's that monks can't touch women, and we cooperate with them to make it easier for them to stay in the precepts.

Religion

The religion in Thailand consists of about 94% Buddhists, about 4% Muslims, about 1% Christians, and the rest are others. It can be seen that there are more Muslims than Christians, but Christians are mentioned slightly more in the entertainment media in my opinion.

Month

The name of the month in Thai can tell which month has how many days. Months with 30 days end with "Yon(ยน)", months with 31 days end with "Kom(คม)", and February ends with "Phan(พันธ์)".

Christmast

Although Christians are not the majority in Thailand, we do have some Christmas celebrations. The mall will play some Christmas songs and sell decorations or other Christmas-themed items, for example. It might not be that big, but it's there.

My mother says that we Thais will take every chance to have a festival and a celebration. Lol

Dishwasher

Dishwashers aren't a popular household item. I don't know the reason.

Age

Age of majority

In Thailand, one will reach their majority at 20 years old, but you can become majority before 20 after your lawful marriage, which can occur with legal guardian permission at 17 or older, or, in a special case, when you are younger than 17 but older than 15, and there is a reasonable cause for marriage and the court grants the permission.

Age of consent

Doing something indecent to someone who is under the age of 15 is illegal, regarding that person's consent. As for someone who is more than 15 but still under 18, it will need both that person and their legal guardian's consent to be legal. If one of them gave consent, it is still illegal. If both parties are under age, then they are both in the wrong and can both be sued by each other's parents.

Driving license

The applicant for a temporary personal motorcycle license must be at least 18 years of age, but if it is for a motorcycle with a total cylinder of not more than 110 cubic centimeters, it must be at least 15 years of age.

A temporary car driver's licensee must be at least 18 years of age.

Public-car and public-tricycle licensees must be at least 22 years of age.

A public motorcycle licensee must be over the age of 20.

A road roller, a tractor, and other driving licensee under section 43 must be at least 18 years of age.

Floods

Floods are the most common natural disasters in Thailand.

Transportation

In Bangkok, there are a few choices for in-town transportation. such as Bts, Mrt, buses, mini buses, taxis, tuk tuks and motorcycles. As for travel between provinces, there are trains, tour buses, vans, and airplanes. Once arriving in other provinces, public transport options vary from area to area but are often more limited than in Bangkok.

Insect screens

Typically, windows are equipped with insect screens. They can be hinged, sliding rails, or something else, but they are usually there.

Apparently, in some places, they are not typically installed. I'm a bit culture shocked. Do you usually have it or not? If not, could you tell me what it is like?

Social media

Facebook currently has some reputation for being an old people's platform but is still popular.

Twitter is also quite popular.

Line is the most popular one for chat apps. It is something you will need to have if you need to communicate with a lot of Thais. Many people complain about how it's not a good way to send files for work or that it makes it hard to separate between private time and work time, but it still maintains its status as being the main means of communication in offices and universities.

Tiktok is gaining many new users during the quarantine.

COVID 19

I searched in English for a bit and think you could find information such as daily cases or any regulations easily enough. As for the Thai people's opinion in general, we can sum it up by saying that many of us have no confidence in our government.

and here are some details:

We have worn a mask for PM 2.5 since before COVID-19 broke out and many will likely still wear it until we are sure there is no COVID left.

Vacine distribution is not very consistent and thorough. So, at the same time, there is someone who gets their third vaccination and someone who hasn't gotten their first yet. 

After COVID-19, no-contact deliveries have become extremely popular.

Y

The first queer media that gained popularity in Thailand were Japanese manga and anime. So we adopt the Japanese term "yaoi" for BL and "yuri" for GL, and that is the reason why we usually call queer series "series Y" in Thai.

Index

[oqmemphis]

For the benefit (?) of my non-UK followers, I want to give some updates about our election next week, just to serve as a nice reminder that other countries also have completely fucking stupid politics.

The first thing to know is that there is absolutely no tension or jeopardy whatsoever. Every poll for at least the last eighteen months has predicted the same result, which is that the governing Conservative Party - which has been in power for 14 years and has spent that time doing nothing but cutting public services while becoming embroiled in increasingly corrupt and absurd scandals - will be utterly obliterated. They have 344 seats out of Parliament's 650, and they will be very lucky to keep hold of a third of those. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's outdoor speech in which he called the election for July 4th (while being drowned by the rain and drowned out by a man with a loudspeaker blasting 90's rock) may as well have been a resignation statement. This is a man most famous for losing his initial premiership bid to a lettuce. He will be remembered either not at all or exclusively as a failure, and his party is trapped in a years-long death spiral. I will be deferring discussion of the Conservative election campaign for later, for reasons that will become clear.

Just for reference, this is what the opinion polls have looked like since the last general election.

The heir presumptive to 10 Downing Street is Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, who defies description within the bounds of language by means of having nothing whatsoever to describe. He is an abject non-entity with no distinguishing qualities; a vague and noncommittal centrist; someone whose self-described campaign strategy is likened to carrying a Ming vase across a room. Be safe and slow. Make no sudden movements. His party is expected to win at least 400 seats.

Down at the bottom of the chart are the smaller parties. One of Britain's bizarre idiosyncrasies is that we have at least seven political parties, and a first-past-the-post political system that cannot support more than two. These smaller parties usually win anywhere up to a few dozen seats in regions with particularly strong support, but they have no hope whatsoever of ending up as the governing party. Labour has promised to fix this rather unhelpful state of affairs by implementing a proportional representation system, which I'm sure they will definitely be eager to do after winning control of two-thirds of Parliament with just 41% of the vote.

Let us begin with the Liberal Democrats. A decade ago, the Lib Dems were a fairly large centrist party that gave the Conservatives control of a Parliament with no overall majority. Since Labour's lurch middleward under Starmer, they have repositioned themselves as the UK's leading progressive party. They are led by a man named Ed Davey, who has not spent the last month campaigning so much as taking a nation-spanning holiday occasionally interrupted by the arrival of a single bemused camera operator. In the last four weeks, Mr. Davey has taken a painting class in Yorkshire, fallen off a paddleboard in the Lake District, toppled a giant Jenga tower in Hampshire, and photobombed a riverside Conservative campaign stop by by slowly rowing a boat adorned with orange signs across the back of shot. The Lib Dems are expected to go from 15 seats to well over 50, and there's a small chance they even win more seats than the Conservatives. I hope Ed's having fun.

There is also the Green Party, which exists in a permanent state of self-contradiction. They have one member of Parliament and two party leaders; these are three different people. They want to expand renewable energy while banning nuclear power. They are considered one of the UK's major parties, despite the fact that winning a total of three seats next week would be considered an unfathomably excellent result for them. I do not know what their campaign so far has involved, and I do not care enough to check.

The turquoise line on the chart, currently rising with worrying speed, is the Reform Party. While Labour is siphoning votes from the more moderate side of the Conservative Party, Reform is attempting to scavenge from its far-right/fascist wing. They are led by Nigel Farage. If you do not know who Nigel Farage is, I envy you. His rhetoric is more than a little Trumpian, but I can't immediately think of any politicians anywhere else who share his exact vibe of "the grumpiest racist at the local pub is standing for election".

Plain-spoken and British through and through, Big Nige initially said he was going to ignore the UK election to focus on the American one instead, before U-turning two weeks later to announce he would be standing for Parliament. Nigel has had seven unsuccessful candidacies before; he is depressingly likely to be eighth time lucky. This is because he is standing in one of the most firmly right-wing and anti-immigrant districts in the country, and yet another unique selling point of the British system is that you do not have to live even remotely close to the constituency you represent. I'm sure his choice to stand here of all places represents his extreme confidence in his own popularity. Big Nige will not be the prime minister, but if he were, I assume his first policy after getting rid of all the foreigners would be to deport the concept of irony.

Nigel's electoral strategy is the same as virtually everyone else's, which is to steal votes from the Conservatives. This is extremely easy, because the Conservatives have run one of the most catastrophic and floundering campaigns in political history. Rishi Sunak puts Joe Biden's "walking gaffe machine" moniker to shame. To illustrate the point: one of the Discord servers I'm in has a thread entitled "Just the Tories being Clowns". Recent highlights include:

Thousands of campaign leaflets for the party chairman were sent to the wrong constituency

The deputy chairman went campaigning with a convicted heroin dealer

All of their candidates were invited to a video call with senior party members; the time listed on the invitation was one hour later than the actual scheduled start time, so nobody turned up

Their very first advert featured the UK's flag proudly flying upside-down

Five of their candidates are being investigated by the Gambling Commission for betting on the date of the election the day before it was announced; one of them is married to the party's campaign director

They sent campaign emails to small businesses which look a lot like official communications from government departments; the legality of this is unclear

Another campaign email ended with the words "Sent from my iPhone"

A candidate posted a photo of himself holding the keys to a local house to prove he lived in the constituency where he was standing; the house was in fact an AirBnB

The official photo for one candidate's campaign launch showed less than twenty people, one of whom was a cardboard cutout of Margaret Thatcher

Sunak posted on Facebook an image of a fake quote attributed to an AI image of Margaret Thatcher (there is somehow still a cult of personality around this fucking woman)

Sunak delivered an entire speech with his back to the press cameras

Sunak left the D-Day anniversary commemmorations early to go film an interview that wouldn't air for another week, enabling Keir Starmer to get a photo op with all the world leaders he left behind in Normandy

Sunak announced a policy to reintroduce national service for 18-year-olds, which is the same thing as military conscription, except the military part is not mandatory and you can just do a month of unpaid work instead, and it's not clear that that's mandatory either, except that not doing it might deny you access to your bank account; approximately nobody likes this policy, and even fewer understand it

My current working theory is that this is Rishi's revenge tour against the party that refused to elect him until the lettuce went rotten, before he resigns from Parliament, gets the fuck out of the country he destroyed and takes a comfy consulting job in Los Angeles.

Welcome to democracy in the land of post-Brexit. It's a wild new world out here, where people scream all day about a reality that doesn't and won't ever exist, and a man with a bin on his head is trying to unseat the prime minister. Don't ask about Scotland and Wales, and for the love of god don't ask about Northern Ireland - they might all be independent in a decade anyway, depending on how things go. All hail First Lord Sir Keir, that his bland neutrality might translate into a policy that involves doing anything whatsoever.

[secretcatpolicy]

An old-school Hot Wheels quartet for today, three kind-of-fantasy cars and one licenced. Today I have to credit Home Bargains for three of these and Poundland for the last. I'm normally not a roadster enthusiast when coupes are an option, but three of these are open to the elements.

Looking damn stylish, the first of these is the oldest if we go by the car itself. Based on a Cadillac Fleetwood V-16 Rumbleseat Roadster from 1934, this Fraser Campbell sculpt is not based to my knowledge on a real car. However, it's one of the most evocative aggressively 1930s designs I've ever seen and it puts me in mind of the most stylised renditions of that era, stuff like the Animated Batman TV series or the opening credits of Poirot on ITV. The oldest car I think I've ever seen that seems to be going fast when it's standing still. Very stylish, although I'll need to revisit the silver detailing I added on the wheel fairings.

Moving on, a very famous and oft-produced casting from the Hot Wheels roster, the Purple Passion. 2024 saw the debut of a model of the Hirohata Merc, a replica of a notorious and very influential 'Kustom' based on a '51 Mercury Club 8 coupe and built by Barris Customs for Bob Hirohata in 1954; I'll tell the real car's whole fascinating story another time. The Purple Passion is also based on the 1951 Mercury and was created by the prolific and groundbreaking Larry Wood. Give that I was amazed by not only how good the Hirohata casting was but also by how much I liked it even though this sort of car is not usually my taste at all, this went straight on my list.

This is part of a 2025 seies called 'designed by' which seems to celebrate famous Hot Wheels designers, which is why he's specifically referenced on the side. As we can see below, the Purple Passion bears notable resemblance to the Hirohata car (2024 original colour scheme at the back, 2025 purple version on the left), but is also distinctly its own thing, not a copy but an interpretation; a cover version, not a rip off. I prefer the Hirohata Merc, but this is certainly an important design. It appeared in 1990 and from my count this 2025 release is the 138th version!

Third is a favourite of mine among fantasy cars, the Glory Chaser. Using styling cues from Italian and British sports racers of the late '50s and early '60s, this car channels Ferrari, Maserati, Aston Martin and Jaguar almost equally. I have been a lover of cars from this era ever since I first saw pictures of them in my childhood, and this seems to fit right in. I already have the 2022 first release in what Suzanne Vega would call Institution Green and the Gulf blue and orange from 2023 (perfect use of the livery) and I wasn't into the too-modern grey with original teal chrome wheels so I originally skipped this, intending to hold out for the orange one, but that never showed up around here. Poundland seems to have got some older stock in and I found I regretted the skip later despite my misgivings, and since my 1.8mm hex-shank drill bits arrived today, the first order of business when I got in was a wheel swap. Silver aerodiscs suit the grey much better, and I'm much happier with it; I can buy grey and turquoise as team colours now. The wheels went to the metallic teal Fiat 500e, which I've struggled to find good wheels for ever since I got it - I won't entertain those heinous TRAP5 things on anything other than futuristic hypercars.

The only licenced car among today's purchases is the 2022 Morgan Super 3, one of the most interesting interpretations of a 'track toy' I've yet seen. Mostly this type of car is a multi-million pound swoopy wedge with holes and wings and stuff and a kilohorse or two to throw it around. The Super 3 is radically different, aiming to provide a vintage racing experience that emphasises actual driving skill rather than speed and power. It's got a 1.5-litre Ford engine driving its single rear wheel and makes only 118 horsepower - but it weighs only a bit over 600kg, meaning it will likely be extremely nimble and with how low and exposed the driver is, the feel of the speed will likely feel considerably more viscerally real, raw and immediate than the average hypercar. A Morgan 4/4 is the #1 most wanted on my shortlist of cars I would actually like to own, and while I'd certainly like to try the Super 3 out it's not really my cup of tea. However as a Morgan lover I couldn't pass this up. I really hope we see more HW Morgans.

[marimayscarlett]

Can someone please translate into English? 🙏

Hello dear anon, here's a translation of the interview. I used deepl as usual and made some changes to fit the messages Richard wanted to convey better. The interview was published on the 2nd of December, 2018.

Here's the german link again as the interview source and comparison for the german-speaking folks:

Richard Z. Kruspe presents his third album as part of the band project - Till Lindemann contributes vocal part

On November 30, Rammstein guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe released his third solo album "A Million Degrees" (Universal) as part of the band project Emigrate. Among others, Till Lindemann, Ben Kowalewicz (Billy Talent) and Cardinal Copia (Ghost) are represented with vocal contributions on it. Christiane Wohlhaupter spoke with the 51-year-old about the collaboration with the singers, his daughter and the interaction with Rammstein. They say all good things come in threes. Do you have this thought in mind for your third album as well?

I used to say that I would make three albums with Emigrate. But in the meantime I can also imagine a fourth one. Maybe in a different constellation, maybe in a completely different musical environment. I've been thinking about how it would be if I were to write a purely electronic album. Or an album with a completely different singer. As long as the world of Rammstein exists, there will probably also be the world of Emigrate. Emigrate puts me in a good balance to let off steam musically. From the age of 50, you also generally think about: Where does life still want to take me? Is there something else that could inspire me? Or just music? I think to myself, maybe there is also a completely different challenge. Creation can also be found elsewhere - perhaps in film. I'm a cineaste who watches two or three films a day. What was the last film that really excited you? So about a year ago, "Fences" with Denzel Washington. I went to the movies last week and saw "Bohemian Rhapsody" and was a little disappointed because I thought it was a Queen movie.

But then it was more like a Freddy Mercury movie ... Yes, the others came a bit too short. If I had known that from the beginning, I might have gone in with a different expectation. What's the story behind "A Million Degrees"? The basic idea comes from 2015, from the time when I was completely burned out for the first time in my life. Hence this text "A Million Degrees." This state then changed when I rewrote the album. I thought about how "A Million Degrees" could be represented visually and came up with the idea that you can also understand it geometrically with the degrees. This versatility, these "Million Degrees" - exaggerated - is what Emigrate is all about.

One of your guest vocalists on the album is Cardinal Copia from Ghost. How did this collaboration come about in the first place? The meeting came about for a completely different reason. We were looking for a producer at Rammstein. I actually wanted to ask Cardinal Copia about a producer. He then said, "I'll be in Berlin next week, let's meet." I asked him if he was interested in a collaboration, and he said he didn't do that on principle. I asked him anyway if he wanted to hear the song I was thinking for his voice. And then when he heard it, he was like, "I'm in, I'm in." He was completely influenced by the music. That's what makes it fun for me, to work with so many artists. I don't have that in my Rammstein world.

Someone who was also influenced by the music was Serj Tankian. He said about "War", the song you thought of for him, that your voice would fit much better. Will you write another song that fits his voice better?

No, I don't work that way. I write first, and then the song tells me where it wants to go. The song takes on a life of its own. It's like cooking. You have to taste it. And with the song, you have to listen very carefully. So you didn't think of Till Lindemann when you wrote "Let's Go"?

That's another story. This song was already created at the time when Till and I wanted to do something together - ages ago. The original idea of Emigrate was, Till and Richard want to do this together. The other bandmates didn't like that, so we put it on hold. But there was the idea of this song - with a different lyrical statement. I then rewrote it again, because this very, very intense time after the fall of the Wall came in mind, when we commuted between Berlin and Schwerin. That was such a wild time.

You dedicated the song "You Are So Beautiful" to your daughter Maxime. What does she think about it? She doesn't take it so seriously at seven years old - maybe that will come later. We shot a video for the song together in Los Angeles. That was a risk, of course, and there was some thought about shooting it with another child. But she did a great job. With Emigrate, I also live out the personal-emotional part. Something I don't do at all with Rammstein. How well can you reconcile rock star life and father duties?

I think the majority of artists generally struggle with themselves. And the majority of artists realize at some point that they can write better under the influence of pain. Of course, there are moments when you enter that zone as an artist. I don't think you can cut that out completely, and a child always feels that, too. My daughter is with me one week and then with her mother the next week. So I live that out in the week that she's not with me. I'm a very moody person, my mood changes sometimes by the hour. But she has such a fun character - it just melts you. I became a father for the first time at 23, and I'm a father now at 50. That's when I gained a certain maturity and experience. Taking the family on tour - we don't do that with Rammstein as a matter of principle. That would be another experience. To what extent does your musical work with Emigrate affect Rammstein? In the past, it was completely separate. Now things are merging - and I think "War" would have fit Rammstein as well. A lot of ideas that come out on Rammstein now were Emigrate ideas - although I actually make sure that Emigrate sounds different. But, of course, you can't split yourself completely. But because there are also five other strong individuals in Rammstein, it's not that noticeable.

[phoenixcatch7]

Spent the morning on bloodborne and the evening on stardew valley... Very different states of play. In bloodborne I've got 19 in blood tinge and 23 in endurance. In stardew valley I've got a 6 in fishing and 4 in foraging.

I've started the beach farm, which is a fairly challenging one and not one I'd recommend to new players - sprinklers don't work in the sand that's 70% of the whole farm. I figured going in I'd have to change my usual methods (huge fields) in favour of, well, everything else.

Usually my main focus is on the crops, with only a small orchard and few tapped trees, one shed, one coop and barn each. Most space goes to crops and, of course, animal grass. I've never had enough grass to sustain itself no matter what fencing techniques I use, so this time I'm going to section off a full third of the farm just to let them run free and hopefully get something I don't have to keep replacing, especially once I swap to blue grass late game.

I've also dedicated the little grassy meadow area to just decoration, which isn't my usual style but I was a little overwhelmed with the size. It'll be nice. I've planned for a hut and a well, just to feel nice.

When drawing up the blueprints on the sdv planner thing I like to leave it fairly undecorated, because a) that takes ages and b) it's nice to be able to come up with the designs organically with the actual resources I have when it becomes time and not try to get it pixel perfect according to a map I drew up weeks/months ago and c) inevitably it will fall apart and I'll have to do it differently anyway. So. No idea on the details or even if everything will work out as I hope but fingers crossed!!

I don't have any hardwood on the farm, I like to use the quarry for that, so that saves space. And I've remembered to block out a space for the stable! Didn't do that last time XD. I hope I'll be able to even fence off a little pseudo field. I really need to check if trees work the way I remember, I'm hoping for a proper orchard!

Ooh and I moved the greenhouse! I normally keep it close to where it started, but man I appreciate the ability to move it around. Took it off the little island and moved it just below my house. In its place I've built a circle of obelisks! (... Eventually. Even on my main farm I haven't got the final one (dragon teeth my beloathed.) Quite proud of that.

All these buildings, but the main path runs along the very back! I hate having stuff or paths behind buildings, doesn't feel right at all. And I'm still not fully sold on where I'm putting the silos (because I'll need SO MANY to keep like 50 animals through the winter. Will need to do the maths later) but there should be space to move around.

One of my new problems was that usually I can put everything against the walls of the farm, but I can't do that now - it's all water! It'd be weird!

My favourite part is hands down the little sandy area sticking out with the return totem mouse, because I've put my fish ponds there and I'm going to put stepping stones scattered around so it's like rock pools :D.

The most important part of any sdv farm is the ability to match play progress. A patch dedicated to mystic syrup isn't much help in the first fifty hours, but you'll need space to put them on hour 60. I've got a patch ready for banana and mango trees, but for the majority of the time it's going to be more tree tappers, and maybe some seasonal forage seeds. The slime hutch is conveniently placed to leave empty, but if any of my other areas don't work the over flow can go there. I can fit it in the meadow.

But seriously, this is such a hard farm to design! I looked up inspiration and everything was either min maxed to death and stupidly high maintenance (think random tapped trees in every spare inch and 1 block wide paths) or way too aesthetic (random beehives and twisting impractical paths with long grass and stray fence posts EVERYWHERE and a plaza dedicated to the golden clock). A couple even had sprinklers in the sand, like way to show that you made it purely in the editor and haven't so much as looked at it in game.

But overall I'm really excited!! I've played a few other farms, but this is the project following in the footsteps of my year 5 wilderness farm. I feel like I've got a lot more experience and understanding of the game to bring to the table, especially late game stuff now I can't be spoiled, and I'm ready to tackle this challenge.