#and if you combine versions into one listing it treats it at a new listing too

[mildmayfoxe]

❤️‍🔥 BESTSELLERS ❤️‍🔥 top eighteen just for fun!

[danikamariewrites]

Could I possibly request a Modern! Rhys x reader decorating for the holidays with their daughter and doing little holiday traditions like building gingerbread houses, making cookies for Santa, or going to see Christmas lights? Their daughter coming downstairs cause she heard “Santa” and she sees “Santa” kissing her mommy🤭

In my head, whether it’s a modern au or the canon universe, Rhys absolutely LOVES the winter holidays and will gladly go all out for those.

Holiday Preparations

Modern!Rhys x reader

A/n: I also think Rhys loves the winter holidays (especially since Feyre’s bday is solstice) and loves to make them special

Warnings: none

December 1st Rhys is pulling the decorations out of the attic and playing Christmas music

He’s always the one to get the family in the holiday spirit

While you and Rhys handle the bigger decorations you guys let Isla put out the smaller ones

Isla loves hanging the stockings herself, it’s so cute how proud of herself she is. Rhys lifts her so she can reach the hooks on the mantle and when he puts her down she stands back with her little hands on her hips smiling, “wow, good job everyone.”

Tree shopping is the last big thing to do

Rhys always gives Isla a piggyback ride as you look at trees

When you find your perfect tree Isla gets so excited. Rhys makes sure he picks her up so she can inspect every inch of it putting her on his shoulders last to make sure the top is perfect for the star

When it’s to to decorate You put the lights on while Rhys opens up the ornament boxes. Isla has more ornaments than the two of you combined

You and Rhys happily hand them over to your baby girl who loves each and every one of them

When it’s time for the Star Rhys puts Isla on his shoulders and you hand it to her

Sometimes you send Rhys and Isla out for new decor and baking stuff or for small gifts for friends and family throughout the month

Rhys bought a santa hat for him and an elf hat for her for running errands

She always giggles when Rhys puts the hat on her head and says, “let’s go little elf! Mrs. Clause needs stuff to make Christmas happen.”

Making gingerbread houses is the second most important tradition after decorating the tree

Isla loves sticking any and all candy she can on hers while you and Rhys compete to see who can make the better house

Decorating sugar cookies for Santa is another family favorite

“Not too much frosting, Santa doesn’t like them too sweet.” You roll your eyes at him since he’s doing this for his own good

You like baking and keeping the house smelling Christmasy all month. You love making sure there’s a Christmas treat for your family everyday

On the weekends you take Isla to do different holiday activities like looking at the lights, ice skating, and her favorite, the Christmas village and seeing Santa

You and Rhys help her write her letter and list (mainly so you guys know what she wants without having to decipher her handwriting)

You and Rhys wrap gifts while Isla is asleep and enjoy a few glasses of wine

The few glasses of wine lead to you two making out under mistletoe that Rhys holds above your head

Movie night on Christmas Eve is always a must. And you guys have matching Christmas PJs. You each pick one movie and you have to watch it. This year Rhys picked the newer version of the Grinch, you picked Home Alone, and Isla picked Beauty and the Beast the Enchanted Christmas (top tier movie go watch it)

When you two tell Isla it’s time for bed she insists on staying up to catch Santa, “No! I need to see him and ask him what he wants for Christmas!” “That’s very nice of you sweetie, but santa has so many houses to get to. Maybe when you’re older.”

She begrudgingly lets you and Rhys tuck her in

The next morning when she comes down stairs the look on her face is priceless! Rhys hugs you at the sight of your daughters excitement

“Merry Christmas, darling.” He whispers as Isla starts picking out gifts to open. “Merry Christmas my love.”

[fearecia]

Putting this in a pinned post to make it easy to find/share. We all know how Tumblr is about things (and to be fair, I'm terrible and inconsistent as hell with tags).

Link to the "shoulder release" document:

Notes about this guide:

This is a WIP, and still very much in the rough draft phase. Please forgive typos/errors. I literally haven't done a single edit yet.

The document focuses on releasing shoulders as a way to treat neck tension and migraines. Seriously, just trust me. It helps.

Carpal tunnel? Tennis elbow? Golfer's elbow? AC (acromioclavicular) joint injury? Rotator cuff problems? Tight upper back? Sporadic numbness in your arm? Seriously, just try the muscles already listed. You'll likely find at least some relief. Like, if it involves the upper body, release your shoulders.

I've done my best to make this able to be understood by people without massage training. So if it seems like it's covering really "obvious" info, that's intentional. Just skip the section if you already know things.

A lot of massage therapists may balk at me telling you to dig around in your own armpit. We're taught in school to avoid the area. Why? Because there's a crap ton of nerves and blood vessels there. *Which is precisely why releasing this area is so powerful.* There's also a ton of muscle (on yes, basically everybody) here that will protect all those structures. It's honestly really safe so long as you stick to "In pain, refrain!" And read the other rules too.

90% of the time, the culprit is one of the four muscles listed (or any combination of them). If you are someone who exercises a lot/does yoga/is otherwise pretty physically active, you are more likely to fall into the 10% of people who will have their issue somewhere else/it will just be really hard to find. So bear that in mind.

Sadly, this sort of thing will probably never be a "one and done" type of deal. Most of the things we do every day steadily build up to cause problems, and you have to constantly work to undo that entropy. So save these notes for future you.

And just in case you want to know what the hell qualifies me to make this sort of document, here are my "quals."

My first career attempt was nursing. While this did not go well (doctors don't really appreciate autistic students willing to question their authority) I learned a shit ton about the body. I became a student teacher for the anatomy and physiology class because I was so good at it (and that professor used to teach the pre-med students). A&P is now literally one of my special interests.

8 years as a licensed massage therapist focused exclusively on injury therapy. I studied Rolfing techniques, and primarily used trigger point therapy, structural integration, and myofascial release as my tools. Clients liked to joke that going to see me was like seeing the physical therapist (they weren't wrong).

Some of the stuff I share is literally self taught through "following the tension" in clients bodies. Like, I developed some of my protocols. And then practiced and refined them over 100s of bodies. The goal was always the most efficient and least painful way to achieve lasting release.

I eventually destroyed my shoulder doing massage (which was injured long before this career due to an AC joint sprain gotten when I was 20). Bonus, this means I'm *very* practiced at releasing my own shoulders.

I'm now a mechanical engineer, which just means I now have the engineering knowledge to understand to the force transferrence patterns I saw in clients all the time. Kinesiology is the same thing as statics and dynamics.

Hopefully that helps put perspective into things. I'll update this post as new versions of the document come out. I have a ton on my plate right now (who am I joking; I always have a ton on my plate), so please be patient waiting for updates.

[batsplat]

hi batsplat! i would like to say that you are an absolute pillar of the motogp community on here, like you are truly so so appreciated. both for your knowledge and also for the way you write about things (i think you could write 3000 words on a grocery store trip valentino took in 2003 and still make it super interesting reading)

i was reading your post about your favourite rivalries that didnt include one of the aliens, who would you personally include as part of that list? (versus who is really good but not quite alien status) id also really like to know if (and who) youd count as aliens from the pre-motogp era, and if theres been a difference over time about how often we are seeing aliens or if theyre easier/harder to spot as technical developments have sped up

hope you have a great day!

that's so sweet... thank you that's such an incredible compliment dsdkhfkhfd

about the aliens, the way I use the term is entirely as a historical descriptor, not as a qualitative assessment of any riders. it's a useful shorthand for a specific riders in a specific era, but to me it has limited relevance outside of that era. so to be clear we're talking valentino, casey, dani, jorge and marc - and according to common wisdom this usage originated from colin edwards' 2009 comment:

“But as I’ve said before, I’ve got to be pleased to be finishing next best behind those four guys, or should I say aliens. “They are riding out of this world and to be right behind them means I’m doing the best job I can and that’s about as good as I can hope for at the moment.”

(jorge discusses valentino as an alien in 2007, see here. which might be complete coincidence, but has always made me kind of curious whether the word was floating around in the paddock in some capacity before edwards 'coined' the term)

the thing is, right, it made sense to treat those four (and later -casey +marc) as distinct from the field, because they were winning almost everything. one reason for this was that they were very good, very skilled riders. another was that from 2007-15, only four to six bikes were capable of regularly challenging for wins at any one time. it was a massive field disparity that quite frankly was partly enforced through machinery. that's why it makes sense to include marc in that term: it's not just the fact that he was very good, it's the fact that he was riding a repsol honda that was the best or second best bike by a long way for his first three years in the premier class. in 2016, motogp returned to michelins and introduced new technical regulations - and for all intents and purposes, the alien era ended. it ended when eight different riders won in eight races that season. yes, marc, valentino and jorge were still the top three in the championship... but it's the difference of whether you go into a weekend convinced you know the winner will come from a list of four riders, or if you very much do not know that. between 2008 to 2015, apart from the aliens, a grand total of two riders claimed wins - dovi on a repsol honda in 2009 and ben spies on a factory yamaha in 2011. both of those were wet races (which of course are generally more open than dry ones). so just to reiterate: a greater number of riders won in 2016 alone (9) than in 2008-15 combined (7). (in 2007, a further two different riders won races - capirossi on the championship-winning factory ducati and vermeulen on the suzuki.) yes, obviously the aliens were very good riders, nobody is going to argue with you over that... but those numbers? they're only possible in a specific version of motogp - one that only existed for a few years

honestly, I don't even really use the term 'alien' to describe valentino pre-2006 or marc post-2016. it's just not that useful to me... aliens to me is a 'pack hunter' thing, where even if some of them are injured or are having a bad day or whatever, at least one of them will basically always be there to pick up the pieces. marc and valentino might have dominated the sport as a whole - but not all of their championship seasons were completely dominant, and there's only so much any one athlete can dominate in the sport... you're not going into every single weekend thinking 'oh yeah they're definitely going to win' (yes, yes, there were two times per year where you did very much do that with marc). which is different when you compare it to the aliens as a pack, where you could be confident that ONE of them would end the weekend on the top step of the podium

which is why I just don't apply the alien term to anyone pre-valentino - it's not because I think they were less good or less talented or less anything, it's because for me it's a term that's more about an era than it is about individual riders. you have to treat each era on its own, and I'm not really a big fan of inter-era comparisons. it's just kind of impossible to say whether a rider in the 1970s is more talented than one in the 2020s, whether ago's numbers are more or less impressive than marc's and so on... the sport has just changed in so many ways over the years. of course, in sports you do generally have this upward momentum where each generation is 'better' than the last. sports has gotten more professionalised, there's been massive advances in terms of pedagogy and sports medicine and exercise science and all of those things - all of which already affects how athletes train from childhood onwards. the young aren't more 'talented' in the sense that they were born with an innate superior ability to compete at the sport, but they are more 'talented' in that their ultimate ceiling will be higher as a result of all these gradual changes over time. these things can change quite quickly even (and if other sports is anything to go by, I wouldn't be surprised if the nineties/early noughties brought some big changes in that regard) - so already between, for instance, valentino and marc there'd probably been a real shift in how young talent is being nurtured

(the most blunt illustration of this is that young valentino's lifestyle was completely different from that of young riders today, in terms of how much time he spent training in the gym, sleeping habits, nutrition etc etc. athletes now can't get away with that much deviation any more, and indeed valentino had to massively change his approach in the 2010s to remain competitive - but of course it's different if you haven't been doing this stuff since you were a kid. I think we can safely assume valentino's 2003 supermarket trips looked rather different from marc's 2017 ones)

being good in pro sports may in some ways be harder now than it was in, say, the eighties, and the level of competition you're facing might be higher now - but of course, it would also by extension be unfair to judge those athletes by the standards of today. also, different eras are going to lend themselves to different profiles of rider depending on competitive trends, type of machinery and so on - even very basic stuff like how tall you are might have helped you in a certain era and hindered you in another... so what does that mean for talent? if we're discussing 'talent' at all, how can we possibly treat it as anything other than relative to the era we're discussing? to me, it just makes these comparisons between different generations pretty pointless... or well, I like talking about some of this stuff in a more holistic 'isn't this interesting' kind of way, not a 'this is why xyz is better than xyz' approach... this kind of thing is also why I finds goat debate such a uniquely boring way to spend your time, incidentally

this is a very long way of saying, I don't have a metric by which I judge athletes pre-2000 as 'alien' or 'not alien'! I think you have similarly dominant athletes, though again it is so tough to decide how much of that is down to talent and how much of it is down to bike advantage. if you take doohan's title winning seasons for instance:

yeah, look, sure, you can call him an alien as far as I'm concerned - if I'm watching these races live I will be expecting doohan to win in any given weekend. I'm still kind of missing the pack hunter feel in some of these seasons, so I won't know for certain the winner is going to come from a very short list. like take 1998:

not really one group vs the field, is it? and yeah, even if I consider doohan an 'alien' in some of those seasons, I'm still not going to call him that - because the term was essentially coined in 2009 for a specific group of guys that one other guy was later added onto. the competitive landscape and demands of doohan's era were so different that it feels off to try and go back and label him or any other past riders aliens... they were phenomenally talented, yes, they were great champions, yes, they can be called as good as the aliens, sure - but why wrench the term out of its historical context? is it still an analytically useful concept if you do so, except as a way to generically refer to a rider as 'very talented'?

which is also why I personally don't describe anyone since then as an alien. this doesn't mean I don't think fabio or now pedro aren't as good as those guys were, I just don't think they've been given the opportunity to have that kind of hold over the sport. fabio won five out of eighteen races in 2021 - and he did so on a yamaha that basically only he was able to consistently get a high level of performance out of. which is deeply impressive - but unlike say casey in 2007, he didn't have those other riders to dominate all the other races. eight riders won a race that season! it's just a fundamentally different competitive landscape. personally, I'd be perfectly content if we don't get another alien era. of course 2007-15 isn't all bad, but for good reason most fans' most fondly remembered eras are either 2001-06 or 2017-19... yes, at times one rider was too dominant, but it still felt like more riders had a shot at victory - and most importantly the quality of the racing was generally very high. this kind of domination by a few mega talents on the best machinery can get drab pretty quickly (though of course a lot of the blame for decreased race quality needs to be assigned to the 800cc era 2007-11, not to any of the aliens themselves)

I'd be quite happy to retire the term alien going forwards... except as a useful shorthand for a specific group of guys who have mostly retired. it shouldn't be used as a way to bash the young stars, as if they just can't measure up to the legends of the past. which would be dumb! again, plenty of ways in which motogp is harder now than it ever has been, though the most important thing is that it's just... different. not better, not worse, just different. sure, maybe we'll get another equivalent to the alien era, even though I personally think it's quite unlikely. if it happens, yeah, let's discuss cranking the term out again (and, yes, if you look at the current season and ignore sprints... if this current trend continues then we can have the debate at the end of the season. pecco and jorge despite all their apparent inconsistencies are currently building a pretty solid case for themselves) (now I've said that they're both gonna crash out of assen huh)

that being said! I don't exactly neatly follow this principle myself, because sometimes I do use something like the term 'alien-like talent' to refer to fabio or pedro... obviously, you can argue this is basically the same as calling them aliens in everything but semantics. so what's the criteria there? when do I use this term? I think to me it's just... instant, 'in your face' talent. they arrive to the premier class and they shine basically immediately. valentino got a relatively sedate start to the premier class by alien standards - which is fitting, because he's not really about that blistering raw pace. still, he wasn't far from being a rookie champion, got ten podiums, two wins... not too bad. casey was on a satellite team, but he got pole in his second ever race and came painfully close to winning his third. dani got a podium on debut and fought for the championship for almost the entire season. jorge got pole in his first three races and won his third. marc won the second time out and of course secured the title in his rookie season. compare that to fabio - pole in his fourth ever race on satellite machinery, fighting for wins in his first season. pedro got a podium in his second ever race and is handily outperforming everyone else on that bike

so it's about how quickly these guys pick this stuff up, how quickly they make that step from one level to another - though again, it's important to stress you can't just neatly compare these achievements! valentino's first two seasons were on 500cc bikes, which were notorious for being kind of evil. some of these riders started on satellite bikes (we're not counting valentino here), and there's also plenty of talk about how the bikes have become more complicated to ride now, making pedro's rapid adjustment even more impressive. but in every case, there is just this ability to 'be fast immediately', whatever the circumstances... and it's worth pointing out that even though pecco had a mediocre rookie season, he was incredibly quick in 2019 pre-season testing. jorge martin secured his first pole position and podium at his second race in motogp

speaking of, those two were already a touch older when they joined the premier class. there does generally seem to be something to the idea that in motorcycle racing, if you are not already very fast at a certain age, you will have a quite definitive ceiling... and from valentino onwards, the age by which you need to already have reached that standard of 'very good' seems to have gone down. when we're talking about talent and throwing around the term alien, this feels like another important change to mention - doohan was not winning his titles as a 22 year old! neither was rainey! or schwantz! or lawson! or... actually spencer was very young, yeah. but I think you get the point. I cannot tell you definitively why this changed, but it clearly has changed. in the 21st century, only two riders have won titles when they were older than 26: valentino (29-30) and jorge (28). valentino and marc were both 27 when their dominance over the sport ended (even if valentino secured titles after that point and marc will very probably do so as well). casey was 27 when he retired. (fun fact: pecco bagnaia is currently 27 years old.) so overall it's pretty rare in grand prix motorcycle racing to operate at the top of the premier class for more than a certain number of years - but the precise age window in which you are likely to be at your best does seem to have shifted pretty radically this century. which should demonstrate how hard these things are to compare... like I said, talent is often assessed by how quickly you are good at something - but if we called mick doohan a late bloomer, it would be wildly ahistorical

and yeah, look, this idea of 'you have to be good young or you will have a certain ceiling' is hardly unique to motogp, lots of sports are like that... another measure of this precocity that's perhaps more useful than just 'age' is looking how long it took them to win a title from when they joined the premier class (if they did so at all, of course). it's generally very fast! marc year one, valentino, casey and joan year two, jorge and fabio year three... and, well, pecco and hayden year four. of course, there's exceptions to this 'be fast immediately' rule - athletes who ended up being very good and title contenders who had slightly different paths getting there. the sete's and dovi's of this world - and to a lesser extent hayden too, who unlike those two was only even really a title contender in a single season... but generally speaking, those riders seem more heavily reliant on circumstances playing out just right to have a shot at a title

or perhaps! perhaps it's going to change! especially if you look at repeat champions, pecco does become a bit of an outlier in how he got there this century, doesn't he? compare the numbers he was posting in his rookie season vs valentino, casey, jorge and marc. and in some ways, you can extend this even further and say he's a massive historical outlier in terms of any premier class champions. there was an article about this in late 2022:

and some more about how historically unusual he is:

isn't that great? you don't become premier class champion with that kind of a rookie season, but pecco did! hey, aleix was a serious title threat in that season, which is a far more remarkable story still! and the thing is, right, if you're studying the current era and are labelling some riders aliens but leaving out pecco... then no offence but what's the point? look, who knows, maybe marc and pedro and david alonso are going to dominate the next twenty titles and pecco will have been a weird blip. but isn't there something fun about believing that a bunch of different riders could eventually develop into title threats? wouldn't it be kind of cool if you don't have to just write someone off age 22 any more? I don't know, I think it's a neat development! I hope it sticks around! there'll be plenty of alien-level talents in the future, but personally I wouldn't mind at all if there were no more aliens

[a-strange-server]

Strange Tales Of Halloween 2023

Hi everyone! In honor of the spookiest, weirdest, and dare we say, strangest month, we have created a prompt list for Doctor Stephen Strange for every day in October! Last year saw a hord of spooky, ghostly works created for the occasion. We are hoping this year will be as much fun!

This list is open to all forms of creativity. Fill as few or as many prompts as you would like in October and tag it with #strangehalloween2023 so we can reblog! You can also submit your work in the Strange Tales Of Halloween 2023 ao3 collection.

Full written list and the FAQ under the cut.

Strange Tales of Halloween 2023 Prompt List

1. “What was that? Is somebody there?” | Scales

2. “Wait, kids can trick o'treat here?” | Trapped

3. “Sometimes the world tries to end.” | Spirit

4. “Dormammu, I've come to bargain—“ | Alone

5. “There aren't many of us left.” | Cauldron

6. “I thought you were dead!” | Witch

7. “So what do you do for Halloween?” | Cursed

8. “Is that supposed to be a costume, or what?” | Cat

9. “Well, that's strange...” | Moon

10. “They’re not the traitor. I am.” | Mythological creature

11. “No, don’t tell me that.” | Dimensional breach

12. “Something’s happened to you.” | Shroud

13. “Stay with me.” | Nightmare

14. “Huh… that’s new.” | Future

15. “You what?!” | Celebration

16. “Crap. Imps!” “Imps? Crap.” | Ancient

17. “I know everything. That’s my curse.” | Fire & Ice

18. “I have seen a horror movie before.” | Tradition

19. “I know you!” | Cave

20. “Is that a bloody butterfly?” | Fever dream

21. “Strange... what have you done?!” | Scars

22. “The Cauldron of Cosmos is not a bowl for Halloween treats!” | Supernatural entities

23. “You’re a bad demon.” | Candy

24. “Oh, a meeting with the devil? Just when I thought I have a free afternoon... Fine.” | Baking

25. “No. Tell them to get Ghostbusters, or something.” | Pumpkin carving

26. “There was no other way.” | Horror movies

27. “You messed up the ritual.” | Trick or treat

28. “Nightmare has him.” | Will-o’-the-wisp

29. “Don’t be so superstitious.” | Bog

30. “Are you really afraid of a little black cat?” | Crown of thorns

31. “Donna... Is that really you?” | Tam Lin

◇◇◇◇◇

FAQ:

What must be included in the content of a filled prompt? Stephen Strange (any version of him: film, TV, or comics) must be either the main or co-main character. Otherwise, anything goes!

What must be included in the tags of Tumblr and Twitter posts? Please use the hashtag #strangehalloween2023 and the # of the prompt you're filling (i.e. #no6 and/or #witch). On Tumblr, please include additional tags for NSFW and common triggers (see AO3 for examples).

When can I post my prompt fill? In the spirit of the theme, these should be posted in October! We'd prefer if you post prompts the day of or after the day has passed. For example, prompt 10 fills can be posted on or after Oct 10, and preferably not before.

What medium can I use? Anything! Written prose, poetry, gifsets, mood boards, artwork, all is acceptable as a prompt fill. It's all about Stephen Strange in any form he comes in.

Can I combine Strange Tales of Halloween prompts into one submission (i.e. #1 "What was that? Is somebody there?" and #6 witch)? Sure! If you post it on social media, you can use both prompt tags to help us identify it as such.

There are two prompts per day. Do I have to do both? You can use the sentence prompts, the words prompt, or do a mix of them!

Can I use this prompt list with other prompt lists/bingo cards? Absolutely! Combine it with any other event you'd like to use it with.

Are there any limits to how many prompts I can use/have to use? Nope! Participate with one piece or 31 pieces! Do as much as you'd like--we'll love to see it!

Any other questions? Send an ask to @a-strange-server and we'll get back to you soon. We can't wait to start seeing what you come up with come October!

[stormyoceans]

Do you have any other wishes for GMMTV part 2 aside from the mandatory slow burn?

[TAKES OUT HER WISHLIST] ANON HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE

all jokes aside, i honestly do have way too many wishes when it comes to what i want to see from GMMTV and most of them are very hyperspecific, so instead of giving you just an endless list of whatever random ideas or pairings i’d like to get (which is maybe more appropriate for a bingo card or something like that), i kinda condensed it all into some more general categories (sort of. a couple fo these are still pretty specific ;;;;;;;;)

anyway, here we go!!!!

1. WOMEN. literally my top wish after anything jimmysea related is MORE. WOMEN. like srsly give me viewjune as the main pairing in a GL!!!!!!!! give me sizzy in any combination!!!!!!!! give me women centring shows where the women actually get treated as the main characters!!!!!!!! give me the GL version of series like only friends and we are where the women get to be silly and nasty!!!!!!!!! give me jamie kissing women as a treat to me specifically!!!!!!!!! GIVE. ME. WOMEN.

2. historical QL. after the success of i feel you linger in the air and with both idolfactory and domundi working on releasing historical QLs in the near future, i think it’s about time GMMTV also gives us a proper one. possibly with no time travel or reincarnation involved, for once

3. plot driven QL. this is kinda tied to my wish for an actual slow burn and partly to the following point as well, but i do desperately wish we could get a QL series where the romance is obviously still there, but it’s not the main focus of the show, or at least not the only one. something like manner of death or triage, where the romance just happens along the way as the story unfolds. i think the closest GMMTV got to it was with not me, but it would be nice to get more, even if i know this is not everyone’s cup of tea

4. some variety please for the love of god. look, i know we’re never gonna get rid of school settings and office romances, so it’s pointless to wish to have none of those, but i do desperately need a bit more diversity. of the fifteen series announced in part 1, seven of them are set in school. SEVEN. that’s basically half of the offer they’re giving. and okay, if we consider only the QL shows then the ratio is better (3 out of 9), but still. give me thriller shows, give me horror shows, give me fantasy shows, give me sci-fi shows, give me jobs that aren’t just office workers or chefs, give me mystery, give me crime, give me cashiers and doctors and detectives and firefighters and taxi drivers and teachers and librarians and waiters and bartenders and mechanics and lawyers and flight attendants and therapists and farmers and hairdressers and reporters, JUST!!!!!!!!! explore something new!!!!!!!! take some risks!!!!!!!! i know GMMTV as a company is not as big as we think it is and that it focuses on teens and new generation audiences, but i don’t think younger people want to see students and office workers exclusively……

5. QL exploring other sexualities and gender identities. just give me ace main characters, trans main characters, non-binary main characters, ALL THE DIFFERENT QUEER MAIN CHARACTERS!!!!!!!

6. pepper/papang/guy/podd in any combination as a main pairing in a QL. love and light to all the rookies but if GMMTV doesn’t give these men some main roles im gonna start committing grand scale larceny to cope

[cel-aerion]

First Nights at Freddy's - Episode and Movie Soundtrack/Score in Order

So I have made a second version of the playlist I made before, because my goober self realized where the 'missing' songs were all* from. So, this one has everything, treated as the way the individual episodes aired, i.e. including all the music for the "previously on" and credits segments.

*Aside from "I Go By Many Names" where are you from do you actually appear anywhere or are you just a remix why must you torment me like this

Full listing under the cut.

0 - Dark Remains Trailer Theme

1 - How It All Began - 0:04-0:38 2 - It's Him - 0:42-2:48 3 - Welcome to Fredbear's - 2:49-4:31 4 - Quirkiness Runs in the Family - 4:36-5:10 5 - Hey-O! - 5:12-5:19 6 - A Poor Investment - 5:20-6:25 7 - Ground Zero - 6:45-11:32 8 - So It Begins… - 11:37-12:29 9 - Calling for an Update - 12:32-13:30 10 - Between Jobs - 13:30-14:40 11 - Down the Rabbit Hole - 14:41-16:20 12 - Hiccups - 16:23-18:45 13 - Web of Lies - 18:46-22:38 14 - It's Been Seven Years ("Dark Remains: Previously on…") - 23:00-23:34 15 - The New Server Manager - 23:34-25:21 16 - Sickly Sweet and Terrified - 25:23-26:43 17 - Open Bracket - 26:44-27:25 18 - Be Careful What You Wish For - 27:25-28:20 19 - You're the Boss - 28:21-29:31 20 - ?? - 29:34-29:41 21 - Boxbound - 29:44-30:16 22 - Sketchy Business - 30:19-31:34 23 - Baby's Story - 31:38-32:51 24 - Dark Remains - 32:56-36:59 25 - Think Inside the Box - 37:03-37:34 26 - Spring Locks Tend to Fail - 37:34-39:19 27 - A Giant Freaking Rabbit - 39:20-41:41 28 - Superheroes - 41:43-42:25 29 - I Was Born Freddy - 42:30-43:56 30 - Robotic Fox - 43:56-44:56 31 - Act Natural - 44:57-46:06 32 - Pizza to Go ("Dark Remains" credits) - 46:07-46:30

33a - Emerging from the Shadows ("Shadows of Agony: Previously on…") 33 - Setting Us Up the Bomb - 46:33-46:56 34 - Boneless Pizza - 46:57-47:37 35 - Off With His Hands - 47:39-48:20 36 - The Great Pizzescape - 48:21-49:23 37 - Two Miserable Monsters - 49:25-51:55 38 - Pan Stambush - 51:56-54:01 39 - Baby I Love Youk - 54:04-54:15 40 - Taxi Driver for a Bunch of Puppets - 54:16-55:56 41 - A Rabbit Out of Your Hat - 55:59-58:16 42 - Fear Is Like a Hammer - 58:17-1:00:30 43 - Shadows of Agony - 1:00:30-1:03:00 44 - Olly Olly Oxen-Free - 1:03:00-1:04:36 45 - Currently Running ("Shadows of Agony" credits) - 1:04:35-1:05:02 46a - Shadows of the Past ("Taking Back Fazbear's: Previously on…") 46 - You've Helped Enough - 1:05:03-1:06:06 47 - Returned to Sender - 1:06:08-1:07:09 48 - Freddy Fazburglar - 1:07:09-1:08:09 49 - Taking Back Fazbear's - 1:08:10-1:10:19 50 - Reunited - 1:10:22-1:10:52 51 - This Is My Restaurant - 1:10:54-1:12:19 52 - Saving Springtrap - 1:12:20-1:14:35 52b - Who Pulled the Strings? ("Taking Back Fazbear's" credits) 53a - For the Last Time ("Virus: Previously on…") 53 - Another Three Points - 1:14:37-1:15:08 54 - Who Here Wants a Harecut - 1:15:09-1:18:06 55 - Virus - 1:18:07-1:20:35 56 - The Battle for Fazbear's - 1:20:47-1:24:55 56b - The Final Seconds ("Virus" credits) 57 - We Thrive on Violence - 1:25:03-1:27:08 58 - Don't Wake the Baby - 1:27:12-1:29:28 59 - Ready to Retire - 1:29:33-1:31:29 60 - Extra Raisins - 1:31:43-1:33:06 61 - Afraid of the Dark - 1:33:07-1:34:18 62 - Baby I Loved You - 1:34:17-1:37:06 63 - Secret Scene - 1:37:06-1:37-44

64 - Future Nights at Freddy's (compilation of all "Next time on…" segments from individual episodes)

...and then "Boneless Pizza Alternate - Unused" and "I Go By Many Names" because it would have felt silly to have everything except two.

[leonbastralle]

GAMES I PLAYED IN 2023 - SECOND HALF-ISH

here's part 2 of my little review of my 2023 games! somehow this is even more indie than the first half and honestly a lot of games w nonexistent fandoms on tumblr so be the change u want to see in the world i guess!

old man's journey: this is a rly short indie game with an interesting, though very repetitive puzzle mechanic that follows an old man as he goes on an important journey - literally but also figuratively by coming to terms with his past, and at some point the two end up being the same thing. the art style is truly lovely and unique, it gives me big children's book vibes, and the soundtrack is beautiful and touching and so is the story and the ending itself. as i said, the mechanic and actual gameplay could be expanded on, but i knew this going in and played it mostly for the vibes and in that it did not disappoint.

the last campfire: when i talked my wife into playing this i told her it's basically the pacifist puzzle version of dark souls and it truly is. you play as a little ember on their final journey to the last campfire, where all embers go when their light begins to fade. the path is challenging and a lot of embers give up. they become forlorn. it's your desire to help them, if they let you. this game is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, such a gentle and touching story with a cast of diverse, likeable characters. the puzzles are all in all pretty doable, though they can get pretty intense at times, but there is a story only mode to remedy that! this one definitely is going on my all time favorites list.

lemon cake: who were you before you wandered into this bakery? doesn't matter, because the ghostified previous owner is now holding you hostage as her successor. this is a little sim/time management game w a super cute style where you upgrade your bakery, cafe and garden to keep making new delicious looking treats and serving your customers in the best way possible until you are worthy of your predecessor's famous lemon cake recipe. this game, as games of this variety tend to do, gets a bit stressful if you want to serve all of your customers before they get angry and leave while also needing to keep an eye on your ingredients and ovens and displays. i really liked all the upgrade options that make your life easier, and i loved combining all the cute pastries into new menus every other day or so to keep customers happy. a bit expensive for the amount of gameplay you get out of it but definitely worth it on a sale!

the gardens between: this game follows a pair of childhood friends through their memories together as they prepare for the move that one of them is about to go through and the inevitable goodbye that will precede it. super touching game with a really cool and unique puzzle mechanic in which you manipulate time and objects at different times throughout the puzzles to get to the solution. can make you kind of dizzy because the levels are built like spirals so the camera does a lot of spinning, but i'm sensitive to this and was fine when i went slow and took breaks.

book of travels: hoooo boy this is a big one. this game is marketed as a tmorpg (because the servers are TINY) and it definitely makes it work. most of this game is just exploring around, doing little tasks and finding your way since the game doesn't tell you at all what to do, it's all up to how you play it. do you want to do some combat? figure out what the fuck happened in kasa, the closed capital? become a fisherman? just trade and collect cool looking things? the braided shore is your oyster and it is a beautiful one with the painterly art style and great music and ambiance. still in early access and therefore quite buggy sometimes, but definitely one of my faves w a lot of potential.

capybara spa: made by the same person as lemon cake, you can really see the similarities in terms of the cutesy style, but i think it's a lovely thing to look at. this is just a little clicker where you run a spa for capybaras and their little critter friends and keep levelling up to add more and more spa options and extras to give them the special treatment they deserve! i assume this game could get a bit overwhelming since there's a lot to keep an eye on at all times, but there are no time constraints and no punishment so you can take your time and get sucked in for hours, which this game is very good at doing.

tiny echo: in this point and click game you play as a funky little guy w an eye for a head who delivers letters to their spirit inhabitants with a minimal amount of puzzling involved. i mainly played it because i wanted to check out more games by the book of travels devs, and it was a nice experience, though it also doesn't really stand out for me. very short game, maybe a bit short for the price, but i played it from a shared library so skdjfhksdjf

cosmic wheel sisterhood: i got nothing bad to say about this one. you play as an exiled fortune telling witch who breaks after years of solitude and forms a forbidden pact. the cast of witches (and other creatures) is diverse, i liked both the characterizations and the interactions between characters (also a lot of them are very hot so that helps). the big mechanic of this game is that you use elemental energy to craft your own tarot cards from a selection of card backgrounds and elements and then you use these to tell people's fortunes, which in turn gives you more energy. depending on your selections, the cards will have unique names and different meanings, and i enjoyed seeing all the cards i or others could come up with. the story is intense and emotional, but to me, definitely in a good way. though there are several outcomes and so far i've only tried one. definitely replay value there. just be wary because despite including trigger warnings, they forgot one for cancer so be informed and do not be like me ADJHKAJSDHA

planet zoo: i tried this after i saw my wife play it because growing up i was crazy about zoo empire and zoo tycoon. i don't have much to say about this one because though you have a whooooole bunch of freedom in designing your zoo, the enclosures and even every single building, that freedom was a bit overwhelming for me so i never ended up rly getting into it. also not a huge fan of big capitalism expansion packs system, but hey. it definitely is a pretty, very neat game.

cats & dogs organized neatly: it's like static tetris. but with animals. you click on them and they bark and meow and you can SPIN THEM MANY TIMES as jazzy music plays in the bg. as you go you unlock more funky little boys n girls and they all have funny little bios and names. i broke my brain on some levels but didn't mind looking up some solutions in favor of the vibe! i enjoyed both of these and will definitely play the birds sequel that's set to come out this year! another german dev shoutout these were great games. they're very small and quite cheap but you can also get these on sale for like 2 euros KSJFHAKSFA

toem: truly the year of photography games for me, but i think vibe wise this one was my favorite. just a funky lil guy in a black and white world going on their first photography pilgrimage to toem, the famed natural phenomenon of their world. i loved all the little quests, the different worlds and the endless filter options and the soundtrack was great too. honestly greatly recommend, i don't own this game but i plan to buy it to replay!

pupperazzi: yet another photography game! this one's all about dogs, and it's delightful and wonky and just a good casual time with less story elements than the other mentioned photography games. not groundbreaking but great fun.

luna the shadow dust: this game follows a young apprentice mage back up the tower that he's grown up and studied in to face the consequences of his past mistakes. lovely art style, music, and puzzle mechanics, especially the use of light and shadow. i've wanted to play this one for a while and i'm really glad i did, i liked the story a lot even though it got quite sad.

alba: WAIT this one too is a photography game that i honestly might like even more because its story is so touching. you play as alba who is visiting her grandparents for the summer. the natural reserve on their island is about to be sold to be turned into a hotel, so her and her friend decide to start a petition to save it and help clean up the island and rescue animals in need as well as documenting the wildlife to change people's minds! truly one of the most heartwarming games i played in my life, 10/10 i cried at the sad part sdjkhksd

röki: this one's...a lot. the main character of this game, tove, lives in a little cabin with her dad and her very whimsical little brother who she's basically taking care of on her own because her dad has been incredibly depressed since his wife passed away. when a mythical creature attacks their house and abducts her little brother, tove has to enter a magical mirror world. there she has to help all the other mythical creatures in hopes of reawakening the forest spirits, who have been plagued by nightmare parasites, and finding a way to get her brother back. lovely puzzles and wintery vibes, but a truly heartbreaking story that gets more and more messed up every time she faces a nightmare parasite and with it, more of her past and the events that lead to her mother's death. despite the heavy undertones this is still a good game if you're ok with some tragedy and slight horror elements askjfhakjsfas

stardew valley: i forgot to add this one in the previous post bc i actually played it in early 2023. not my first time and will not be my last time either. still a queen among farming sim peasants and i'm looking forward to restarting our little farm w my wife after the next big update!

[clarktooncrossing]

DUDELZ of the Damned | La Doncella de El Río

HEY THERE PEOPLE OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW! IT'S ME, CLARK!

A chill is in the air. You can feel it can't you? Perhaps you even recognize it. That same chill arrives every year right on the dot. With it comes a frightful howl in the moonlight, the only other sound to be heard. Otherwise there is a strange calmness settling around you, like the point of ease before the storm. By now the howling has stopped. It has been replaced by a different sound. Footsteps. Big, heavy, dragging, as if the figure didn't quite know how to use their legs. Perhaps it's a random passerby. Perhaps it's a rotting, frightful feature freshly risen from the grave. Perhaps it's some other, unspeakable horror waiting to pounce! Whatever it is, you're not waiting around to find out! Yet no matter how far you run, it can't be escaped. The chill in the air, the howling of the wind, the heavy footsteps, it all leads back to one thing: October is here! And with it comes the return of the DUDELZ of the Damned!

Yes weirdos, like last year, my approximation of Sketchtober has returned. I call it an proxy because there was no list of prompts. Nah, that'd be too limiting. This is yet another case where I compiled my own list of ideas, sketched them out, then used one color per picture. With all that said, let's see what spoopy scribblings await us today!

Recall the tale of Crocenstein, a reptilian monstrosity made in the laboratory of Doctor Clarkenstein. His story continues deep within the jungles of South America circa 1500 BC. It's also the beginning of Princess Alberta’s story, second heir to the queen of the Amazons. Much to the dismay of her majesty. As far as the malicious monarch, the eldest of the two always had to make up for the youngest. Princess Nara wasn’t as cold-hearted as her mother. Her biggest concern was her sister’s safety. Not that Alberta ever noticed. Being wrapped up in her mom’s mind games meant she was always used as a pawn. Such was the case when the Queen ordered her daughter to find the Necroscroll, a lost piece of parchment fabled for raising the dead. Years passed and it seemed her majesty’s plight to quietly exile her daughter had worked. Until she walked up the temple with the scroll in hand. Never had Alberta felt prouder. It was the last thing she felt before a blade was buried into her heart. A horrified Nara watched as her mother slaughtered her sister for the sake of using her blood to activate the Necroscoll. Only problem? Even with her daughter’s blood inking the paper, she couldn’t understand a word of it. Less so when Nara chopped off her head. Mother’s mind games had taken her sister. When all was over, all the princess could do was bury the scroll, mummify her sister, and pray that the next life would treat her more kindly. Undoubtedly what happened next wasn’t exactly what she had in mind…

What comes next can wait for tomorrow. For now, let me explain how this came to be. Like many pieces this year, this one acts as a sequel:

My original plan for Crocenstein was inevitably to draw his bride. Sadly every attempt I made to draw Alberta in the role came out looking lackluster. Not terrible, mind you. Just not what I had envisioned in my head. Eventually I was forced to scrap the idea altogether. Turns out this was a blessing in disguise. During the last year I had canned my 3K characters, meaning the Clarktooniverse was in need of a new mummy. Luckier still, South America was known for mummies older than those in Egypt. With this in mind I combined The Bride and the Mummy to craft this version of Alberta you see before you. She even comes complete with a white streak as my own little tribute. Here's hoping you all enjoyed this pic as much as I enjoyed making it. And remember; every country has mummies, so you're not safe anywhere!

BONUS QUESTION: Are mummies your favorite monster?

MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

[spring-into-arda]

B2MEM 2023 might be over, but the Spring into Arda team is not quite done yet!

We're introducing F3, an event to celebrate the friendships and families of the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings and the Second Age!

This includes all the movies (yes, all of them), the Rings of Power, LOTRO and other Video games, Board/Card/Tabletop and Book Games and so on and so forth.

Your creations must be set in the Second or Third Age and they must be rated for General Audiences.

I will explain the main phases of the event below, but this link contains the detailed version.

Follow this link for the creator sign-ups (ending May 4)!

How will F3 work?

There are three phases to this event!

First phase starting immediately is prompt creation!

If you know this mod team, you know we like putting a bit of a twist on things, so all prompts must come in form of friendship chains or bracelets, instructions for which are provided in the detailed F3 documentation linked above!

Each chain/bracelet must contain at least 4 and at most 12 prompts.

Prompts are limited to one, two, or three words, and can include characters, scenarios, random words and places, but no relationship prompts.

Keep in mind that creations are limited to G ratings, and your prompts should reflect that.

Each prompter is allowed to submit two prompt clusters.

A photo of your finished chain/bracelet plus a list of your prompts should be emailed to b2mem.mods@gmail.com by April 29 at the latest.

Phase 2: New Creations (May 6 - June 15, 2023)

If you have signed up as a creator you are now allowed to claim a prompt chain!

Multiple people are permitted to claim the same chain in the first round, and if not all chains get claimed during initial claims, you may also claim more.

You can now use your prompts to create any of the following:

a written work (at least 100 words)

a visual work (art, moodboard, craft)

an audio work (podfic, music, playlist)

You should create a chain of works (that's 3 or more items) based on the prompts you have claimed. These can be of the same type or a combination of two or more categories.

All creations for phase 2 are due by June 15.

And then it's time for Phase 3: Derivations (June 1 - June 30, 2023)!

You are now allowed to offer derivative works for either your own works or other works created for this event!

This can include a podfic of an existing story, a story inspired by a piece of art you created for round 2, or a craft based on a playlist for example.

You can also create additional treats for chain prompts!

[tigermike]

SERIOUS Custom:

1951 Studebaker Woodie - Never Slow Down - StreetRodder

Body

Gray Baskerville accurately described Dennis Varni as "a hot rodder's hot rodder." Since buying a '31 Model A as a teenager in the late '50s, Dennis doesn't seem to have slowed down ever. He has amassed a phenomenal stable of collector cars, trucks, vintage race cars, and motorcycles of practically every type, including the '29 Model A roadster built by Boyd Coddington that was named America's Most Beautiful Roadster in 1992. He has participated in motorsports all over the world, including numerous trips to Mexico to race in the famous La Carrera Panamericana, to South Africa for the South African Rally Championship, and to the Bonneville Salt Flats, right here in the U.S., where he drove his Falconer L6-powered "Speed Nymph" streamliner just shy of 350 mph.

Dennis has more checks on his hot rodding bucket list than just about anybody we know. So did you really expect his latest street rod to be something ordinary?

Body Bottom

Any 1951 Studebaker woodie custom could be considered out of the ordinary (how many can you think of?), but Dennis, builder Curt Hill, and the people who had previously helped create this custom woodie, have taken the '51 to an extraordinary level.

This car was under construction when Dennis made the winning bid for it at the auction of the late Joe MacPherson's prized collection. The unfinished project had been started by Doug Carr of Woodn' Carr. It had already been transformed from a sedan to a fastback (based on Thom Taylor's design sketches) and was already a woodie. The top was chopped 2-1/2 inches, and the rear fenders were stretched 18 inches and treated to custom taillight lenses and bezels. The '37 Ford headlights were installed by Steve Davis, who had done some of the early fabrication on the car.

Such an unusual car deserved an equally unique engine. For a while, Dennis considered dropping in a Cadillac engine to create his own version of the Studillac, the Cadillac-powered Stude coupes custom-built in the mid '50s. Then he remembered the one-of-a-kind induction system he'd found at a swap meet decades ago. The mechanical fuel injection system, with wild-looking air bodies, was a prototype created by Propulsion Development Laboratories in the '50s. Everybody had seen it on the cover of Hot Rod magazine in 1959 and nobody had seen it since. The setup is finally in service, feeding a Ford 427 FE engine. Dan Brewer in Torrance, California, did the assembly on the engine and converted the PDL mechanical injection to work with a Hilborn electronic system hidden under the manifold. Edelbrock cylinder heads are topped with Edsel valve covers to replicate the look engine on Hot Rod's cover. The new combination produced 410 hp on the dyno. An adapter fits the Ford to a GM 700-R4 transmission. This is one of the rarest, most unusual engines you'll find in a hot rod, but Dennis is almost nonchalant about it. "Nobody puts Edsels in Studebakers," is what he said.

The interior was entrusted to Sid Chavers in Santa Clara, California. Chavers built custom bucket seats and covered them in tan leather with gray-toned fur inserts. No need to replace the '51 Studebaker dash, so Redline Gauge Works restored the appearance of the factory gauges and updated the internals. A reproduction '54 Stude steering wheel came from Shrock Brothers, which specializes in repro Studebaker parts. Lucky 7 Customs gave the wheel and column their wood grain paint. The perfect accessory to the interior is the set of vintage alligator-grain luggage in the rear deck area, which Dennis found in an antique store in Washington.

The end result is a genuinely unique custom that would probably hover around the top of most people's lists of great Studebakers, great woodies, and great customs.

[digi-log-conversation]

do you have any thoughts on wallsocket deluxe (as an addition to wallsocket, as a full album, as a standalone set of 4 tracks etc)

warning for possibly incoherent rambling:

firstly, i do personally like to treat it as a standalone set of 4 tracks, but one that exists as supplemental material to wallsocket, like the ARG did previously.

i was already familiar with My guy and Northwest zombie girl from the ARG (if you look up the away games utrecht show i'm sure you can hear me screaming along to nwzg) and to me they really did always feel like earlier versions of concepts that are explored better in the actual album. i think old money bitch's arc is executed flawlessly in the album, as much as i love nwzg.

i'm very happy i got to scan the wallsocket pizza qr code to get my guy legitimately, the pizza was pretty good too. my guy's energy is immaculate and it paints an interesting picture of the town which is fun, supplementally, but not critical to the story. cops and robbers sets everything up plenty well. i mean it!! also the fortnite sound effect was kinda better. shame it had to be swapped out.

Stupid (can't run from the urge) is in my opinion the perfect credits song for the wallsocket arc, tour celebration anthem, and just generally a fucking banger. very curious to see where the story goes from there on.

CCTV... Like everyone else, I was not remotely expecting this song. Themes from Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (my fav track on Wsk), You don't even know who I am, and Uncanny long arms all combined into one NEW haunting 8 minute track that's frankly undoubtedly canon and enjoyment of which is heightened by knowing about Secretariat through the ARG prior... It really triples down on the fact that Wallsocket as a whole is a horror story. The opening verses instantly brought back visions of the hometown tour skits, the rest of it is so vivid in my mind too. God, I wish I could scream like that. And for someone who isn't and has never been religious at all, the plea with God in this track as well as Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hits me really hard every time. Just last night I listened to CCTV 4 times over while sobbing hysterically and singing along the whole time. If I ever get to see this song live I might pass out from lack of oxygen quite honestly. CCTV is on my pipe dream cover list for sure. Northwest zombie girl, well... Since you've read this far, I guess I'll let you in on a little secret. I finished a full "cover" of the song early this year, long before the track was actually released on Wsk DC. You can catch it in my Funny Rave set, whenever that happens ^^

[unhingedstepmom]

Episode 1: Perfect Combination

I met this man at a mutual friend's house to watch the game. We instatly hit it off talking about anime like others weren't watching a basketball game right next to us. It was a connection at first conversation, and I felt comfortable (not easy for a 24 year old with 1 solid friend). He didn't ask for my number, but something about him made me feel like I needed more. I don't use a lot of social media, but I downloaded all the bullshit and searched him up in many different ways. I finally found him through a different mutual friend (we'll get into this bitch later) and I was finally able to contact him. I immediately noticed that he had a son. My world was crushed. My thoughts went as follows: 1. Oh, this is why he didn't ask for my number. He is taken. 2. That's some of the most disappointing shit I've heard in a while, and im waiting for my ex of 6 years to move out of my house currently. 3. Fuck that bitch. I want him and she won't treat him the way I can. Once i made it to thought #3, i was ready to push forward.

📺TV TIME OUT📺

I bet you're wondering, why not ask the first mutual friend for his number... welp! We will get into that lady later as well. (See why I don't have friends? 🤣)

Anyways, I hit him up via FB and I say something along the lines of...

"Hey! You should watch Spy Family! It's a new anime. Pretty good!" (See how I avoided the real reason I was there)

Little did I know I was conversing with the male version of myself, so he responds in a way that forces me to have to actually be vulnerable because he wasn't about to be. 🙄🔫 Therefore, the convo ended like this:

Him: "Well, let me know if you need me or my number."

(🙄 Are you fr? You know why tf I am here. I want that damn number!!! Later down the road, he claims he did not know... Lies! 🤥)

*I ponder my next decision*

Me: "Well, what if I don't need it, but I want it?" (😉 ok, ok good job... that's a technical hypothetical.)

Him: ***-***-****

Me: Mentally freaking out cause I fucking did that shit.

We continued texting that day. All day. Straight up until our eyes couldn't stay open. I learned about him, his son, his aspirations, and much more. The more I learned about him, the more I learned about myself. The true me that I never shared with anyone. I realized that if we were not the perfect combination, then I'd never find one. You would think a connection so bright would dance gracefully onward. Well, we danced, but when you got a bunch of delusional bitches shuffling in and out, you can't seem to make things as cohesive as you want... to be continued

Find out in Episode 2: Jealous Much? about our first "date" and how mutual friend number 2 got onto bitch list territory.

[zydrateacademy]

Review: Baldur's Gate 3

I had an early access review and as you may expect, some information was outdated.

I played 52 hours on EA and have but 127 after, and I haven't beaten Act 2 yet on my main.

So what kind of game do we have here? Any veterans of Larian may be familiar with Divinity: Original Sin 2 and this game plays a lot like that one, except your action orbs are replaced by the Dungeons and Dragons system. So you only get one action (an attack or spell) and a bonus action (usually a utility like pushing or dashing), and there's things you can do to manipulate both. This takes some getting used to as you play combat encounters and attack once, thinking "huh? That's it? That's all I can do?" But consider you're controlling four total characters at once.

There's a lot to get used to just on a mechanical basis, as the game does in fact do a poor job of tutorializing. The crashing ship in the beginning is basically your only tutorial and that amounts to two fights with some imps. So you get two relatively easy combat encounters (with a couple of twists if you hang around long enough) but not enough time to figure out which buttons do what. After that, once you leave the beach all bets are off and you're left to figure everything else out on your own. I've had to google how to 'use' the torch I had.

This is easily a 9.5/10 game but the game does have some niggling issues like that. It performs mostly well but longer game sessions can lead to some instabilities, areas won't load, so on. After 3-4 hours of playing it I usually need to save and close to give it a 15 minute break for my computer to 'cool down'. But even on a fresh session in the morning, there can be some hiccups but otherwise it's been a fairly smooth experience. If you're running a potato, then beware.

The reason I have 127 hours is that there is an insane amount of character and class combinations that result in slightly different interactions throughout the entire game. If you play a Drow, there's a certain area where some human knights will put up arms because they just suffered some Drow and goblin raiders burning down their township. Play a Dragonborn and some of the Gith will respect your heritage (being dragonriders themselves). Now double all that for the various class-specific dialog you can get. This list goes on, it's insane.

There's a lot of breadcrumbs to pick up, several interactions in Act 1 will come back by Act 2 and 3. How you save or destroy the druid grove will change some major interactions in the next, and is one of the only games in recent years where your choices do in fact, matter. This is not an A or B ending kind of game. If you fail some persuasion rolls, you can enter combat and wipe out an entire inn of friendlies and you either reload or move on and deal with the fact that you just burned down four potential quests. That's just something you can do here. (And there's an entire Dark Urge custom origin character you can play to lean into that very thing).

A complaint I had in EA is that your choice of companions seemed to be fairly limited. That complaint has morphed into a different version. Before, if you played the harder difficulties you pretty much had to keep both Lae'zel and Shadowheart in your party as the damage dealer and healer. So you had to deal with their opposing approval. On release however, there's an respec NPC that allows you to change any party member's class. The story treats them the same, but you can actually hang around with team members that best reflect your character's morals. Now my new complaint is that only having four teammates is a different kind of restrictive; one that omits at least one role from the party. I don't often play with a cleric (or Shadowheart) except on tactician. I try to go for two melee, one rogue(ish), and one caster as a backline. But depending on my main character that can be more difficult to arrange than you might think, and I always end up losing out on a caster or cleric. Just one extra teammate would fix this issue, but the game isn't balanced for having a party of 5 or 6, so I imagine many fights would become much easier.

I cannot fully articulate the fun I've been having. Some reviews like to get anecdotal which I won't bother with here, the internet and reddit are already filled with tons of stories. I find myself doing the same thing I did on DoS2. I play a character for several hours only to find some really nice magical item... for a class I don't play. So I'd go roll a new character as that class so I can soon take advantage of that really nice item.

Well, I'll do one anecdote: I was having trouble getting past a door for a major treasure haul because of some patrolling neutrals. So my bard set up, started playing her violin and drew characters to her. So the -barbarian- of my party, of all people, could actually sneak into the door and Take All the treasure before the crowd got bored. Peak bard gameplay and I was super proud of that moment. I did the same thing to draw out an enemy so my team was better positioned to deal with him.

Anyway the game is excellent and highly recommended. If you're the kind of player that doesn't fully enjoy the hassle of the combat or mechanics, there is an easy mode here where you can blow through it and just experience the various story and choice combinations. There's a lot of game here, and it welcomes you.

[maryelizagreg]

My epiphany is that i realized i was punishing myself preemptively doing things wrong, when i hadn’t done anything wrong

Aka, i was treating myself the way my parents had been treating me. Why? I don’t know, but it’s some sort of phenomenon,

That is more akin to Stockholm syndrome, cptsd, narcissistic abuse, there is no word for it yet,

It generates by products, like depression, and anxiety- and you’re given head meds, and labeled as crazy,

As you try to stabilize- in a new world, with a different mind, and a different body, than you had before-

That is unpredictable

You cling to the last safety you know, any safety at all- desperate for safety you cling to the one thing that’s harming you the most

And this is the part of the power, and control, wheel- that they don’t, talk about enough-

Where the person getting abused- *knowing* damn well, they could be treated better-

They come, back, to the person abusing their brain, making them sick.

And then to untangle your mind from that, effortlessly, with no kinks or bumps in the road- so smooth… all up from here.

Not possible. Healing is going to look, like, a total, fucking mess.

Healing is surgery.

And so the fact you expect someone to be the best version of themself, functioning and, fully recovered from

This, thing that’s happened to them, you know- in combination with the understanding the neuropsychological effects, and how long lasting they can be- sometimes life long.

The chemical effects. That, even with neuroplasticity on your side- you don’t *know* what you’re looking at and throwing *everything you’ve got* at it *still* won’t navigate every individual person to recovered. Not, even close to half.

Even science based evidence supports that CBT and DBT therapy, around the clock, for 8 months, with trauma informed, psychotherapists, attentively navigating these, expensive programs for, ‘healing’… all they can hope to provide, is at least, some shred, of stabilization… and, they admit, transparently, while being the best care there is around- for miles, they still have a 70% recividism rate- meaning, people who return to the facility for treatment, and people who relapse symptomatically to the state they found them in.

They said that this rate is likely to increase *without* good support systems outside of the treatment facility (no shit).

And, the other thing to understand, is the lasting neuropsychological or chemical effects of just pharmaceuticals alone- in the body, not to mention, the complex effects in the mind and body, of trauma, narcissistic abuse, toxic/dysfunctional family dynamics, etc- ptsd, grief and loss, eating disorders, the list- goes on, and on- obsessive compulsive, major depressive, bipolar, schizophrenic, and then-

Top it off, with *medically diagnosable* health conditions, and, otherwise specified mental disorders- unclassified…. And personality disorders, sometimes, multiple at a time.

And unhealthy attachment styles, addictions- whether behavioral or chemical, all the same. Attachment theory- which goes more into things you experienced in early development that may of caused issues- and thats, a very vague, description of, an entire field of study… an entire field of study in itself.

And then, you have in utero development and genetic predisposition- and,

Last but not least- functional medicine, aka the overall functioning of the body, at the molecular level, the entire body- the entire brain, the nervous system, in the scope of these disasterous disorders and and the havoc they reak on the body- eh- in combination, almost lethal, especially when you start stacking, head meds, on top of it- to fuck the liver. Cataclysmic domino effects…

The dynamic becomes *almost* fubar, between, pharmaceutical care and, functional medicine care- psychotherapy, all of it- eh, together, is making the patient worse.

It’s making, the patients, worse.

I didn’t even mention endocrine and gut health but I’m just going to lump that in with the functional med, but, and god forbid on top of it you have allergies, celiac disease or, thyroid problems, ms, or auto immune disorders, other phantom disorders- or, mental, deficits, cognitive eh, trauma- of any kind- emotional, psychological and mental, eh, physical- head trauma- multiple head traumas-

These are all extremely serious. Just being, a little anemic- or having high blood pressure can wind someone up in the ER…

Just a little high functioning depression, can lead someone to, make poor decisions for their life, that ultimately ends them slowly, over time.

Even taking supplements and other health regiments and such, and other, environmental factors like, literallly in your environment or in products / food you’re consuming, play a roll- from in utero forward to now.

Can be *bad* for your body, and ultimately, your brain.

And we wonder why is everyone sick??? The health ‘care’ system is ARBRITRARY

And i didn’t even get into, policy and all of that stuff, which makes everything so much more impossible and difficult but- hahahah i was just focusing on the patient

But, the system- like, systematically is flawed of course too so, so so so- so badly

So… it’s *almost* impossible. It’s *almost* fubar. It would take someone like Elon musk, to create maybe one good hospital, that survives in our economic straights, and even then, only maybe a top 3% wealth bracket would realistically have access to it-

The health and wellness needs to be integrated from day zero in every school, every neighborhood, every home. There is no other way.

There will not be enough doctors, its already statistically proven- AI or not- to, assist, just how sick, *america alone* will become, and its demands…

Pharmaceutical companies, are already, hitting their rock bottoms, while prices are sky rocketing.

If you do the math on all the moving parts, you realize, we are literally fucked, i promise you. AI will not save this. Lazer surgery robots will not save this. Ok, that, is *laughable* ok

The scale and the, what we have coming, in the future is over one hundred times to the consecutive power of a billion, what we could possibly ever even imagine preparing for being up against. It simply, won’t, work.

Globally speaking, most places are already below, a state of triage, if that makes sense. Eh- and they remain there, for decades, hundreds of years, eh, with not enough help to ever come around, not enough resources, not enough doctors,

In the states, there are already very blatant signs that, are similar to the warning signs economically speaking comparitively to a Great Recession or the Great Depression, but just in terms of health care sectors

I don’t know what the *fuck* the president is doing, or why no one is talking about health care and mental health policy, but this shit is about to rock our nation, in the next 30-50 years. It’s happening now, not like, later. My generation will be affected.

My generation will not get to retire, because most of us will be sick, or dead- eh, and the ones remaining will be left to help who, fend for themselves?

It’s, dog eat dog, it’s, kill or be killed- and… that’s if all goes *well* we’re still ending up in a pretty worst case scenario, but

Other scenarios have been run based on other scientific predictions the public doesn’t know enough about- but, basically

We are inside of something that is like, a health care tidal wave and, corona, was just, a test run- in comparison, to whats coming, and just how bad it will be.

There is no hope, for most of you, you will have to fight to survive on your own, you will have to fight for medicine, and tough it through, without enough doctors and resources, etc.

And those that survive, will be extremely tough, and genetically, very lucky. Or, very smart, smart enough to outwit, the… coming, … devastation.

This is our next holocaust. Do you understand. But it will be on American soil.

[tameblog]

Love being a kid again? How about the best of both worlds? Then try this Bourbon Milkshake with Hot Fudge…it’s grownup and it’s divine! When I first published this recipe several years ago I remember asking myself if this Bourbon Milkshake with Hot Fudge belonged in Friday Cocktails and I could not come up with definitive criteria that negated it; after all it does include bourbon right? That must make it qualify as a ‘cocktail’ so the answer was easy…why yes, yes it does! Want to save this recipe? Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week! Every year I regale against my peers who are ready for Fall in the middle of summer. It is a summer month and I want to see summer food and drink…how about you? I’m not over ice cream, bbq chicken, watermelon, and more ice cream; especially a grownup milkshake like this. I know they’re trying to prepare better for the onslaught of traffic in winter months but I just can’t go there. This blog has always been more about my personal journey with food and cocktails we love than making sure I had something timed just right for holiday blog traffic 6 months down the road. Nope I’ve never made a turkey in the summer either. 🙂 I remember as kids that we used to have three whole months off for summer vacation but now schools are starting before the middle of August and that just seems wrong. I won’t let that influence my summer doggone it, and we’re having ice cream and hot fudge and bourbon! We’ve had a nice mild summer in Colorado and it’s been a welcome relief. My grass that was burned up a bit in May is happier than it’s been all summer and my flowers and herbs are going nuts. Plus we had some rain last week; not exactly monsoon season but a couple of days when a storm would roll across the sky in late afternoon. Sometimes they’ve been quick and are a nice refresher; others have overstayed their welcome and kept at it for a few hours. I can hear the thunder rumbling outside right now even as I type this post. Where my friends in other parts of the country might be saying, ‘please no more,’ my lament is the total opposite, ‘please yes bring it!’ Colorado is arid and we never get enough moisture but still, I couldn’t help it. I’m not at ENOUGH ALREADY… and tomorrow is supposed to be sunny again, so typical of Colorado, thank goodness! I want those warm summer days when this cocktail will hit all major senses. Sure I’ll take the rain…it can often be too hard to come by in Colorado, but I will have a side of this Bourbon Milkshake with Hot Fudge Sauce…you should too! I love bourbon and this was a fun way to imbibe one of my favorites. It’s like a kid treat but only for adults and it made for a magical moment in my book. The ingredient list for this treat is short, nothing fancy. It includes: Vanilla Ice Cream Milk Bourbon Vanilla Flavoring Hot Fudge Whipped Cream Maraschino Cherries It really is as simple as drizzling hot fudge along the inside of a glass, combining vanilla ice cream, milk, bourbon, and vanilla in a blender and then topping it all with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and a maraschino cherry. Ah…decadent and delicious! Need a kid version or a mocktail for a friend? Easy, just skip the bourbon; still delicious! The weather might have been a bit wetter and cooler than I would have liked when I served it, but my testers uttered nary a word of dismay…they gulped them down with a fervor that could only reiterate my own thoughts, more akin to ‘Yes, Yes, YES.’ I made my favorite recipe for the Hot Fudge Sauce but if that’s not your thing, don’t let that stop you; use a store bought product you love. It’s that combination of ice cream, vanilla, fudge and BOURBON that makes this so special. I am picky about my whipped cream, always preferring to whip it myself from heavy cream and add a little bit of vanilla and powdered sugar. But in a pinch, and I’ve had them, I’ll buy a can of the products that are real cream with real sugar that have been pressurized. The only caveat I have with them is serve the can alongside the milkshake, that product will not keep its shape and will become cream in a heartbeat so I like to add a little bit more after I get through my first couple of bites. Please don’t use Cool Whip. Please? While I love a brand of maraschino cherries that are not died, something about a bourbon and hot fudge ice cream treat calls for the bright red orbs, don’t you agree? They are the perfect topping for this summer (but I will eat it anytime) treat! More of Our Favorite Ice Cream Treats Boozy Favorites Beer Float and Milkshakes Favorite Ice Creams (plus a luscious Hot Fudge Sauce) Sauces/Toppings PIN IT! ‘Bourbon Milkshake with Hot Fudge’ Bourbon Milkshake with Hot Fudge Barbara Baker This is the perfect marriage of a favorite childhood treat with an adult touch…adding some bourbon is SO good! Prep Time 10 minutes minsCook Time 15 minutes minsTotal Time 25 minutes mins Course Dessert, Ice CreamCuisine American Servings 2 ServingsCalories 857 kcal For the Whipped Cream½ cup heavy cream2 tablespoons powdered sugar1 teaspoon bourbon1 teaspoon pure vanilla extractFor the Milkshake2 cups vanilla ice cream¾ cup milk whole is best but I’ve used 2% too and no one ever said no2 ounces bourbon½ teaspoon vanillaTo Finish the Milkshake6 – 8 tablespoons Hot Fudge SauceMaraschino cherriesCocoa Nibs or Sprinkles To Make the Whipped Cream (See Notes)Whip together heavy cream, powdered sugar, bourbon and vanilla until soft peaks form. Keep in refrigerator until ready to assemble.For the Milkshake MixtureBlend together the ice cream, milk, vanilla, and bourbon in a blender.To AssemblePour a couple of Tbsp of the hot fudge sauce around the inside edge of glass; fill glass with the milkshake mixture and finish with a dollop of whipped cream.Sprinkle with cocoa nibs or colored jimmies; add a cherry on the top and serve with a straw. Do you have to make whipped cream from scratch? No…but I do love it so much more! The result is so much thicker and richer than the canned variety but yes, it can still be substituted. I don’t use Cool Whip; if I’m to use anything purchased, it’s the cans of whipped cream that you buy at the store that are made with real cream and sugar but it is so loaded with air that it deflates quickly and loses all structure, becoming just cream, albeit not whipped! If you use it, keep the can handy so your family or friends can re-apply more as necessary! Nutrition FactsBourbon Milkshake with Hot FudgeAmount per Serving% Daily Value** Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Keyword bourbon, dessert, hot fudge, ice cream, milkshake Source link