#and it was challenging to find meaning in this but i think i got it

[puppyeared]

who is your favorite AA character? 👁️👁️

ziska… I hope capcom brings her back someday

[nezuscribe]

The more we learn about how arranged Gojo changed his old ways with the reader, the more I’m starting to think that his mother knew exactly what she was doing. She knew that with some random high-society girl, Gojo would get bored and wouldn’t have a chance of falling for someone like those girls. She needed to find someone smart and interesting, but also kind and compassionate. Someone different, who would challenge Gojo.

His mother knew that he would eventually be the leader of the family, and she wanted him to be a good leader—one who would be remembered in history not only for his battle skills. For that, she needed someone good by his side. Someone he’d want to come home to, someone he could consult with. But also, someone who would bring out his softer side, someone who would show him the true meaning of life. Someone he’d want to be the best version of himself for.

Some may think that her motives are selfish, but at the end of the day, she just wants to see her son happy—happy and in a loving marriage. So, she made the choice to marry him off before he made too many mistakes or got someone pregnant. And truth be told, she’s been looking out for prospects since Gojo was a teenager. She already has a bride in mind—one she believes is what her son needs, even if she’s not what he wants. So, she ignores his protests before the wedding and doesn’t interfere when she sees how her son rejects his new wife.

Because mother knows best.

omg omg yes so i saw this ask but yes i totally agree with all of this!! arranged!gojo's mom has really been plotting since they were teens, bc it takes a lot for somebody to actually marry him. she wanted somebody that wasn't in it for the title or the funds, but because she saw the girl as truly being able to match gojo. and she knew deep down that the only person who could was reader

[les-gnossiennes-fantomatiques]

An Unorthodox Fic Recommendation

Hey, everyone.

So I’d been wanting to write this post for a while, but I’d had a hard time finding the words to articulate my exact feelings for a good long while now. But in the spirit of the holidays, goodwill towards all, and so on and so forth, I’ve somehow managed to catch my breath.

I dipped pretty suddenly from fandom earlier this year for multiple reasons, most of which fell under the umbrella of a very real and very unfortunate truth: I was sick. Stupid sick. And fandom, while obviously not the only thing contributing to this by a long mile, was not conducive to me getting better.

My drinking, you see, had gotten bad in a way that is honestly humbling to think about now; it was at levels that were both physically and mentally dangerous and unsustainable. Moreover, it was beginning to affect the people I love most in this world. And, unfortunately, pounding back a glass, a bottle, two bottles of wine, hey maybe I can run to the gas station for a few mini bottles of whiskey to end the night went hand-in-hand with writing and my fandom experience in general.

I won’t go into the details of my actual rock bottom, besides that it hit in March of this year and that I’m grateful it was relatively minor compared to many of the stories I’ve heard in my recovery journey. But suffice to say, I checked into rehab and everything had to go on the back burner from that point on. I’m lucky that I had the unwavering love and support of my husband, my family, my work, and my friends (including a bunch of people I’ve met through this fandom specifically--put a pin in that) to start down that path, because all the same, it has often been a very lonely, very dark, and very isolating place to be. But so is addiction.

So here I am, hours and hours of group counseling, enough EMDR therapy to relive every childhood trauma in the book, countless tweakings of my meds, endless bottles of Coke Zero later, and I’m almost ten months sober.

And I find myself asking now what?

One of the biggest challenges in early sobriety, you learn quickly, is redefining fun for yourself in a world without your substance of choice, without the very thing that feeds your ego and silences your self-criticisms, without what feels like the only thing propelling you from one bleak day to the next. And for a long time, I worried that fandom had stopped being fun. That the joy of writing had been permanently ruined by the associations I’d made with drinking and negative related experiences.

But, back to my fandom friends. I worried so much they would lose interest in me as a person--that I’d become too boring or depressing or unfun in this next leg of life to want to stick around. I’ve found the opposite to be true--from the countless yapping sessions up and down 8th Avenue and booze-free hangouts, to the endless DMs of advice and memes, to the long heart-to-hearts over pots of tea, to… watching whatever the fuck is going on in the David Staller version and having a good long laugh. I didn’t expect this coming into 2024--I don’t know what I expected, honestly, besides maybe the hospital and divorce papers and more loneliness--and leaving this year behind me knowing I’ve got that means the world to me.

So all this is to say, one of the other things that helped me pull through this challenging period of life has been, surprisingly enough, fan fiction.

Particularly Battered Dove by BattyDings.

Modern AUs are always really hard to pull off, at least to me, in a way that feels satisfying. (This is why I am a coward and don’t write them lol.) More often than not, there’s a tendency for the story to get caught up in retrofitting the more melodramatic, antiquated elements (I say this with love) into a world where they can’t really exist with a straight face, and often at the cost of the characterizations and plot. The best modern AUs, for me, lean into the framework of what is there thematically: the ideas of loneliness, manipulation, dependency (themselves all negative aspects of addiction) balanced against the possibility of redemption, love, and making amends.

And in Battered Dove, BattyDings has rather brilliantly transposed these things into the context of substance abuse and addiction. If Phantom is a story about two lonely broken people getting caught up in a shared passion that brings out the best and worst in each other (particularly Erik lol), then Battered Dove sees our dynamic duo thrown together by a mutual past in drugs and hopefully redeemed by the music they make together.

It’s often a hard and unflinching read, and one that in other hands could easily come off as crass or edgelord-y. But in Batty’s hands, Battered Dove is a thoughtful, sensitive, tender unraveling of the Erik and Christine dynamic that keeps me coming back: that is, the only way they can “get well” is by going through something that is arguably more painful and terrifying than the present reality they live in: giving up what they think they love most.

I’ve read this story multiple times over the years and was always tremendously moved by the simple but powerful interpretation laid out in this fic; in pre-contemplation, when I’d be crawling into bed drunk every night and wondering if this was how I was going to die, bits and pieces of it would come to me. Me in bed, on the verge of blacking out, thinking about Phantom of the Opera fan fiction, wondering if I could do better (nah, no, I couldn’t. Not me.) Rereading Battered Dove for the first time after starting rehab and getting well into this journey was all the more astounding.

Phantom of the Opera, for me, is not the story of a monster who brutalizes women and we’re somehow supposed to feel bad or glean some larger, cynical message about the world from it; for me, it is a story of bittersweet hope--a slow, sad hope that the ones we love and that the ones we’ve hurt will feel peace and sunshine, without the guaranteed promise or reward we will feel it for ourselves. But that, in our selfless kindnesses born out of real love and care for others, we can at least begin to see a better version of ourselves staring back at us--no matter how broken, how lonely, how downright used and ugly we feel.

To me, that is recovery. That is what the last ten months have been. There is no guarantee who I will be in a year--what wrongs I will right, what truths I will uncover, or even if I'll have managed to maintained my sobriety (though I feel hopeful). I am promised nothing but the day in front of me and the little, powerful joy I get in doing right by the universe with each passing hour.

And Battered Dove captures that perfectly. Can’t recommend that enough.

Thank you for being a friend and source of light through this hard time, @battydings. Pls accept this humble doodle and biggest thank you for writing such a wonderful, heartfelt story.

[thezombieprostitute]

A-maze-ing!

A/N: Written for @the-slumberparty's December Daze Challenge.

Prompt: this snowmaze seemed fun until i got lost

Okay, this looks familiar, you think. Then again, so did the last four lefts!

Sure enough, there's the exact same snowflake decor on the wall. You swear it's mocking you. You'd rip it to mark your progress, but it's laminated. You also don't have any markers to just make a mark on it.

You're lost. Which means, if you ever want to get out of her, you have to ask Jack to get you out.

Sighing, you pull out your phone and text him.

I'm lost.

I told you you'd get lost.

Will you please come rescue me?

You know the price.

C'mon, Jack! I'm cold and tired!

You know the price.

You stomp your foot and pout. You know what it'll cost for him to come rescue you and you just can't do it! You'll starve to death in the maze before you yield!

Fine. If he won't help you, you'll find someone who will. You switch to another name in your contacts but as soon as you hit "send" your phone gives you a "no signal" message. You blink. That can't be right. You just texted with Jack and you haven't moved from that spot.

You flip back over to your chat with Jack.

DID YOU BLOCK MY PHONE?!

Can't have you cheating. 😉

It's not cheating to ask for help from someone else. That was NOT specified in the rules.

It also wasn't specified that I COULDN'T block you from getting outside help.

When you don't respond for a few minutes, he messages you a photo of him eating a churro, making your stomach growl. Your face scrunches in frustration. You're cold and hungry and lost. Maybe it's best to just give him what he wants.

You have to PROMISE me he'll never know.

No worries. This is just for me.

You close your eyes and sigh before typing:

You are a better hacker than Jake Jensen.

So glad you've finally come around! Take two lefts and one right.

It can't be that easy, you think. But when you follow his instructions, there he is, holding out a churro and smiling.

"You promise you won't tell Jake or show him the text?"

"I promise," Jack nods. "But I'm gonna ride this ego boost through our next encounter with him."

"You're lucky you're cute," you grumble. "And that you got me churros."

"Nah, that's not why I'm lucky," he shakes his head. "I'm lucky because I've got you." He winks, making you giggle.

Tagging:

@alicedopey; @delicatebarness; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @irishhappiness; @lokislady82; @ronearoundblindly; @thiquefunlover63

[ilikekidsshows]

Often I see "Any time Adrien feels awful the writers put Marinette through the emotional wringer so he puts his needs aside to help her" used to explain what is happening in the show, but tbh, I wouldn't call that entirely accurate

What happens is that Marinette cries louder and in more destructive ways, that doesn't make what she goes through worse. Marinette by now becomes an emotional wreck any moment she feels discomfort or is challenged in some way.

Just because she always has huge reactions to anything that doesn't go her way doesn't it mean it's actually THAT bad when you put it into perspective with other characters.

That's what I already felt was the case in season 4. The amount of times Marinette lost her mind at any little challenge she faced made her rather seem like a questionable protagonists since her priorities never lead to anything worthwhile. They just have her panic as a cheap way to have her brute force her way through the narrative because that's supposed to excuse all the victims of her actions and behaviour.

But having her 24/7 panic and cry is just not enough to change the fact that most of her "problems" aren't real problems, they just always have her go about everything in the worst possible way and then story blames everyone else for her shit priorities.

Yes, she had no guidance, but 1) Suhan was yet another character girlbossed into submission bc he wasn't allowed to have any point whatsoever cause "how else can Marinette be the true Queen of the Miraculous?". Doesn't mean he wasn't THERE. Adrien in Furious Fu even asked Suhan to fucking HELP them with his experience, that's more willingness to be reasonable about the guardian situation and learn than Marinette EVER was. It was her either entirely HER way or entirely SUHANS way.

And 2) does she need to have her hand held that much that she cant be expected to know that making any kind of effort to FIND Hawkmoth is more important than making her useless team of yes men? but I guess we all know why they had her prioritize the yes men.

If Marinette really is so emotionally instable and confused that she can't possibly be asked to do her job and look for the villain she was chosen to defeat then how is that not clear proof that Marinette is a shit guardian choice. Ironically, if Suhan had actually taken LB's and CN's Miraculous and the Miracle Box and given them to adults, then the new heros might have even CARED to end this fight.

In hindsight, pretty much everything reflects even worse on Marinette when it already didn't look too well for her in season 4. But damn, Marinette is all around a pretty fatal failure. The team was a waste of time, all the privileges Alya got on Adrien's expense proved themselves entirely wasted on her in season 5 too (dgmw, I truly like her, but that's just objectively the case. Everything Alya got that Cat Noir got denied was entirely wasted on her), Marinette never even tried finding Hawkmoth and only did so when Feligami did her entire job and made it possible for her to be present in the finale herself that hurt the entire word's population bc our main character put any little problem in her life before ever caring about the villain she was supposed to defeat.

If Kagami hadn't made Felix tell Marinette, Marinette would have spend the finale crying in her bed bc her boyfriend is gone. I always thought it was too harsh to say that Marinette is a badly chosen protagonist, but the show itself sure made that statement true. She just doesn't care about anything tat ever happens beyond how it affects herself. So we got nowhere.

---

I think this is a case of “how it started” versus “how it's going”, although the underlining theme of “Marinette cries harder over smaller problems than other characters have” has been there since the start. Like, I’m pretty sure I’ve said that almost word-for-word, I started off viewing Marinette’s emotional breakdowns as more justified, until I started to notice how many cases were just her blubbering because she was caught up in her own mistakes. Like, the New York Special and season four finale are understandable, she went through some shit anyone would need a cry over there. The problem was that even then Cat Noir also had justified or even bigger reasons to be upset, but he was forced to be fine for Marinette's sake but the same is never asked from Marinette. In addition, once I actually forced myself to watch the NY special again, I realized that, between “collateral damage in Paris she can't fix” and “Adrien has to leave a school trip early”, the school trip thing is the thing she cries about the hardest. Our heroine cares more about not seeing her crush for a few days than the supposed failure that made her turn her back on her partner.

That made me realize that it really was all about Marinette's own screwed up priorities. It's all about her love quest with only the minimum consideration given to her duties as a superhero and the Guardian of the Miraculous. Like, every time she makes some kind of effort in superheroics, it's way too late into the game and almost always some kind of nonsense that brings her no closer to actually stopping Hawk Moth. Like, she tracks where Akumas show up as late as season 5, when we already know Hawk Moth’s pattern by heart by then. Also the fucking Miraculous trick box she tinkered with and showed off that then ended up being pointless because she made it so convoluted she decided to put the Miraculouses up in cloud to make calling backup heroes easier. Making Alya her confidant led to more time being spent on making sure that Alya doesn't do anything Marinette doesn't approve than doing anything useful in the long term 

Félix and Kagami told her who Hawk Moth was and she did nothing with that info. She wasn't worried about what this would mean for Adrien, she was only worried that Gabriel was against their romantic relationship. Maybe, if Marinette had spared a single thought to her heroic duty outside of what's right in front of her nose, she wouldn't have had to quickly decide what to do and might not have ended up covering for Gabriel and feeling so bad about it. Like, I already know our protagonist can't be arsed to think about others, but she could have made things easier for herself, at least.

The only contest Marinette is winning is the Who Can Cry the Hardest contest. She's a fucking champ at blowing things out of proportion.

[shatcey]

unrelated but people who make you feel safe talking about your interests are the BEST people.

Oh, that's sweet… thank you. It's nice to meet someone who is on the same wavelength with you and can understand you surprisingly well, it's a pretty pleasant experience. But I would say the intention to understand a different point of view can be interesting as well. Looking at the world through other people's eyes is a challenge, but it no less rewarding. It expanded your knowledge and gave you ideas that you wouldn't have been able to get otherwise. More opinions - wider mind. My point is... I'm incredibly selfish.

Is this a good time to mention that Alfons's Kate and you talk so much alike for me that I'll be reading his route and be like… Where is Shay's paycheck cause she must have worked on this for Kate to sound so much like her.

OMG, thank you🥹… that's… probably the best thing I've ever heard in my life… I've felt a connection with this Kate ever since I read Ally's route on JP. I really see myself in this story… almost from the very beginning. And I completely agree with all her actions and decisions… But I didn't expect anyone else to notice this… this… extremely sweet. Thank you. I won't cry, I won't!!! I don't need Roger's card!!!!!! Ally won't let him in anyway.

Indeed, Rumpel filled the room with gold… and each time king ordered more and more spacious rooms to be filled. This king is a pretty greedy guy. Now that I think about it… there are a lot of very nasty people in this story, but the guy they called the villain didn't do anything wrong. He just wants a child. What kind of crime is that??? Maybe he'll be a great parent… probably much better than this greedy king and manipulative woman.

The problem with a good theory is that the more you think about it, the more arguments you can find in favor of "this should be the one." But it can also be wrong, so I try not to stuck on one idea and find something else. So I will probably write a new post about the ideas you inspired me to. This one turned out to be quite long even for the most enthusiastic readers.

But… about the hair… I found this beautiful picture of how to draw a character. I'll use the first one (it's not because it's easier to count that way).

The picture from the Youtube.

On the sprite, Vivi's hair covers his… butt. It's a normal word. So, absolutely randomly, we got the number 4 out of 7, which is surprisingly perfect for the length of his hair.

Vivi's height is 183.5 cm. If we divide it by 7 and multiply by 4, we get the length of his hair. It's somewhere around… 104.8 cm. Actually even before the calculation, I thought it should be a meter…

I took another look at the Wiki (why not?)

And I've also heard that men's hair grows faster. I'm starting to envy them. Their eyelashes are longer, there are fewer wrinkles, and their hair grows faster. If the first two could be explained by the fact that they don't use so much cosmetics, then the latter… It's just not fair! Continue. So… let's take the average number, as they say… 1 cm per month. It will be 12 cm per year. And… if we divide our 104.8 cm by these 12… it will be 8.7 years.

So he grew that hair in 8.7 years. IF!!!!! He didn't cut it. Which is unlikely, hair tends to get worse at the tips and starts to fall out if you don't trim it. You literally have to cut your hair to make it longer - another paradox of this world.

And since I feel a certain connection with this guy (a girl can dream), I would say that he started growing it (hair) when he created the Crown… as a symbol. It's pretty random… but I got my first tattoo because I wanted to have something that would stay with me forever. I only had two of them, I more into meaning than numbers. Perhaps he had similar thoughts. He wanted something to keep growing… in his life. And it pretty much matched his cursed ability… Which I'll talk about later.

I need time to collect my thoughts… I have too many of them.

I wish we could see Victor's face when we tell him we stopped looking into human villains like no, you're definitely either have been confused with a poisonous apple or a tower to lock up a girl in. I bet we'd get that adorable taken aback puppy face! Your honor is this the face of a killer? No, no it's not.

Let's ask him on X/Twitter during the promotion campaign before release of his route. I hope he answers that.

Victor please come quick the girls are waiting for your route :')

Vivi probably agrees with Willy and just give us time to unravel all his mysteries… because it's so... much... fun)

Victor theories. His curse.

Just because I'm already mentally ready to Victor's route, and it's still sooooo long before it'll be released… to brighten up the wait, I decided to think about this gorgeous man. At least while Ally isn't watching. First of all… I like Vivi right from the prologue. He wasn't my the most favorite (and still he's just the second), but I always was interested in him. Not as a leader of Crown, father (or rather say mother) figure of the boys or Queen's aid, but just a person. Then I think about Vivi, about the fairy tale he could be from… the feeling that "I should know this", "it's somewhere very close", "I can catch this thought at any moment", doesn't leave me. But for some reason I cannot figure out. But one line from Dark IF event somehow ignited me, and I finally found something to cling to. I'm not sure if my ideas will be confirmed in his route, but it doesn't matter. I'm doing it JUST FOR FUN…

In his story from the "Dark IF. part 2" event which @.reccyls beautifully translated, was a line that he was from a very old fairy tale.

I looked into the Wiki and find this part.

A little bit about the fairy tales from this list:

Jack and the Beanstalk. We've probably all heard at least a little bit about this story. The guy grew a huge beanstalk and climbed up to the clouds where the giants live. He stole from them and eventually killed the giant. Do you really need to explain who I see as the villain here? But… I don't see Vivi in this story at all.

 Beauty and the Beast. Another story we've all heard about. The prince was proud and rude, and some fairy or witch (I don't remember, it doesn't matter) turned him into a beast. And the only way to become a human again is if beautiful (why beautiful?) woman fall in love with him, despite his appearance. The villain is obvious but… I kind of understand her and don't even blame. There are several versions of this tale. There is even one in which the witch who turned the prince into a monster was his aunt, who wanted to marry him. Damn it, these fairy tales are no different from the Greek myths. Cybird used this concept to create a full-size game. I doubt they will use it again.

Deal with the Devil. In my opinion, this is a less common story. Simply put, this is the legend of Faust, who sold his soul to the devil for endless knowledge. But different versions have different main characters and the reasons why they sold their souls. But the result is always the same: the dark creature literally came for what belongs to him, and was deceived. Again… I'm not sure who the villain is here, and… this story could actually work.

Rumpelstiltskin. Some very strange man boasted that his daughter could make gold out of straw, and… to help the poor girl do as her daddy claimed, a little man came and helped in exchange for her firstborn. I've never understood why do they even need children? Do they have problems with childbirth? Or… No, there's nothing to eat… Why are they needed them? Note that I'm not even considering the possibility of making the protagonist suffer. There must be something for the villains. I see only inconveniences. So in order to keep the child, they need to guess his name. The villain was deceived again. In the milder version, he runs away, in the bloody version, he kills himself. I really feel sorry for the guy. Another good option.

 Swan maiden. It's harder to explain. This is not a fairy tale, but a concept involving a character who can transform from a swan into a human and back again. We already know about "Swan Lake", which is actually based on this concept. There is a story about guy who marry a swan lady and hid her skin so that she cannot transform. And there was also a male version, which for some reason I remember very well. Some witch who turned (I think) 7 brothers into swans and their younger sister needed to sew them nettle shirts. Assemble it, make threads from it and sew clothes. Probably, the concept of creating clothes impressed me so much when I was a child that I still remember it. But… We already have swan boys, so I doubt Victor is from the same story.

So… I've stopped on two options.

Deal with the Devil

At the "Death or Love" event (yes, I couldn't wait a month, I read it again), his thought led me to think that it might be related.

Maybe it's just a figure of speech, but for me it sounds like he sold his soul. But in the fairy tale, the one who sold his soul was the main character, not the villain. Even though he tricked the dark creature in the end, he's still kind of a good guy… Oh, those double standards. As much as I would like to consider this option, I'm more inclined to the other one.

Rumpelstiltskin

Let's take a look at Victor himself

The first thing I noticed right away (obviously after his hairs) was how many layers he had. I see three coats, and the value of the top one is the most questionable. It is shorter than the other two, with very wide sleeves and some metal fragments on one side and nothing to connect them with on the other. A really strange coat. Probably just for show. Where else would he hide his pigeons?

So… layered clothes. Not only the coat, but his entire image consists of many layers. A shirt, a vest, one of the coats looks like another vest, and three coats. Even his shoes seem to consist of several layers. The obvious one is the horizontal detail on the back of the leg and the triangle on the front side. But the shoe design looks more complicated than necessary.

I don't think I need to explain what thoughts came to my mind because of this. He is an extremely complex person. And finding the real one behind so many layers is probably extremely difficult.

When he takes off his jacket, only a plain black shirt remains. And he looks even more dashing in it. My personal biased opinion.

Another detail that attracted attention is the spikelet motif. A decorative detail of the second coat, the lapel of the coat. The pattern on the lapel of the same second coat somewhat resembles an ear of wheat, and on the third, presumably, a metal pattern. Not to mention his shoulder straps, which really look like wheat ones. Perhaps this impression is created because of the color though.

So his outfit screams of gold (color) and spikelets (motif). And the fact that we don't actually know his real name suggests that he might actually be a Rumpelstiltskin.

Besides, I remembered… the adaptation… this fairy tale, or rather, many fairy tales. Once apon the time (2011-2018). There was the character Mr. Gold. I can't say he's handsome, but he's incredibly charming and funny. I've been watching this series for probably only 2 or 3 seasons, so I don't know if he was later or not. So. He was Rumplestiltskin. I can describe him as a very lonely man whom everyone hates, who has very talented hands (craft) and who is literally fixated on one person. Belle. Damn, why can't they come up with another name? And it pretty much matches Victor's description.

I had another sudden thought… at some event, someone called Vivi the "god of death". And that immediately made me think of Greek mythology. Thanatos.

This article contain too many symbols we already seen. The butterfly and the poppies are from Elbert's Route. And in this legend Thanatos has a twin brother Hypnos (God of Dreams). And who else can be called a hypnotist, if not Alfons? They're not related, right? This can't be!!!

And to complicate things even more, a phrase from the same Dark if event, that makes me doubt everything I found (translated by @.reccyls):

So… It could be a Deal with the devil, with a female protagonist... But the words "over and over again" indicated the reiteration of the same mistake. But if she has already sold her soul how could she repeat that? Groundhog Day? Reincarnation? But I… don't remember anything related to this concept… And "the path that leads to destruction?". In which fairy tale does the main character eventually die for good? I don't know… And again… this feeling… I'm so close, but I still can't reach it.

And at last… The developers could use something completely unrelated to fairy tales. For example, an old lullaby or a creepy story that is told to children to make them docile…

These are just my thoughts, and they most likely have nothing to do with Vivi's real curse. But I extremely enjoy to build a chain of assumptions, you never know what it might lead to...

The design of the spikelet on the dividers is from Designed by Freepik

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🔝 𝕊𝕋𝔸ℝ𝕋 ℙ𝔸𝔾𝔼 🔝

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[an-ruraiocht]

the post i reblogged about fast fashion just reminded me that

a) i have had my raincoat since 2016

b) my raincoat is significantly past its best in ways that cannot be solved with additional waterproofing spray, and also doesn't fit me very well anymore

c) my winter coat, while reasonably warm, is not waterproof, and also doesn't fit very well in a completely different way, and is black which is not good when you are a cycle commuter cos they can't see you

d) all of these combine to mean i keep looking covetously at waterproof insulated coats in tesco even though they are definitely unsustainably produced and also not that good bc that's where my substandard winter coat is from

concluded i should thoughtfully invest in a new, warmer raincoat before i get tempted into buying another shit coat or spend the whole winter cold and wet

went to passenger bc i bought a fleece and trousers from them a few months back and have basically not worn anything else all summer (and thy seem to have reasonably good sustainability credentials, as far as is possible with mostly-synthetic outdoor clothing). found an insulated raincoat in their outlet section discounted 60% to make it almost affordable. and it's partially ORANGE

remembered my rucksack also sucks because it's too small, black, and not waterproof (and doesn't have side pockets for my cane or my water bottle), and my old one that was not too small or black but also not waterproof has well and truly fallen apart after serving me faithfully since i was about 16. well, since i'm here... oh look they have a rucksack in the outlet section as well. AND IT'S ORANGE

god i love it when i can get things that are orange

anyway that's my clothing/accessory purchases for the rest of the year. i hope they're good.

[deus-ex-mona]

ngl i thought that zakenna was going to be an mv set some time in idol sengen s1 before the mv dropped. like, her frustrations could’ve been a reference to her post-first concert flop era, her rival mentions could’ve been referring to lxl and/or asuna, and all the underdog mentions could also have been a reference or two to how she was a complete nobody at the start of her career…

and there was also doromizu line no. 1 from the tv arc which sealed the misconcepton deal s o b s

[tankgotstuckinthecircusgate]

i know that when carlo suddenly decided that he needs to marry guy made a whole list in his head n like had a deadlines n shit. like it was some kind of a task he needed to do

[pulchrasilva]

I am clearly much more insane about ursula le guin than either I or anyone else bargained for

[skydigiblogs]

oughhh i was plagued by ghost game related thoughts today. this is messy and disorganized and a lot so don't mind me gbdsfhgbdjfg

it's been like half a year or so since i finished watching it so this is mostly unprompted and like

i do kind of wonder what would have happened with ghost game if instead of a bigger focus on purely pick up and go scooby doo shit, they were willing to tell an overarching story with the elements they had

i think i enjoyed it so much if only because it gave us something we hadn't seen much of to that point (that i'm now realizing is one of those things appmon heavily inspired in GG), that being digimon affecting technology in complex ways

(that's to say, not just bricking computers like giant magnets or making binary flash on the screen to ominous messages like makuramon does in tamers)

but like also digimon having more interactions with humans in general? just kind of hanging out and living in the human world? yeah the field exists and digimon can bworp in and out of being visible to humans without VBs, but they also live in a setting where they can mostly get away with just going "no yeah i'm just a very advanced hologram, dw about it :)"

i also refuse to get over the fact that gammamon is like, canonically plural, and i really wish we had more time with gulus after the finale ep reveals about him and the GRB shit.

also, i do wonder if maybe the series shot itself in the foot by not knowing what it wanted to do, plot wise? it gave us expectations in the first episode as an audience--- suggesting big and strange things to be delivered, and didn't seem to know how to really deliver on them while also trying to be that variety of scooby doo shit that doesn't have to have a throughline plot (aka, setting up a mystery inc style story when it's got a stated goal to be more like the original series)

i was still using reddit at the time GG started, and i remember a lot of people really wanting to hype it up as "the next tamers," especially after they saw the tone and structure of the first episode. in general, i wonder if high expectations put more scrutiny on GG than it might have otherwise gotten.

(this of course isn't to say that there's criticism to be had for GG. i mean i just said i personally have beef with its lack of narrative commitment. i'm just wondering if maybe some people got a little too excited to see a series that met the lofty nostalgia of something like tamers.)

anyways, idk, there's not really anywhere i'm going with this one, i just had some idle thoughts at work today about this series.

go read the gray matter ghost game fancomic or something (no i really have no clue why ghost game is on my mind, really)

[forcebookish]

one of the things that has me nonstop thinking about topmew is that they're actually a very unique type of couple in fiction but not in real life. in most fiction, people are always falling in love by accident. they meet, circumstances put them together, they're caught by surprise when they fall in love. but though both top and mew had never been in love before and didn't totally know what to expect, it wasn't a complete shock. they met through a mutual friend, they found each other attractive and interesting, so they decided to date. they fell in love because they went on dates and did romantic things together on purpose. i think neither of them expected to fall so hard, but still, the point of dating is to see if you're compatible and fall in love and maybe build a life together. and that's what they did.

i don't think that makes them boring, i think that makes them relatable! i think that makes them stand out from other fictional couples! you know, people claimed they wanted more realistic BLs, but for some reason when topmew came along, a ship based on a real life gay couple, they didn't like them?

[13eyond13]

.

[01tsubomi]

hi!! if you dont mind me asking, how did you manage to end up teaching in japan?? ive been researching but info online is so extense and overwhelming and i never have good answers....

hello!! first of all i wanna say i understand the stress - i applied to j/et first and was going to work on backups like int/erac and private hiring if that didn't work out and i'm always thankful that i didn't have to. honestly now that i'm here it feels funny that i stressed out so much during the application process bc i always find myself thinking "damn they'll let anyone in" (often about myself lmao). it can be really odd and unexplainable who j/et does and doesn't take but japan needs a lot of ALTs to keep the system going so if you've got the enthusiasm for it there's definitely a place for you!!

i would definitely recommend trying for j/et and int/erac first before worrying about the other options!! since j/et has the biggest reputation ofc there's the double-edged sword of it feeling the most prestigious and hard to get into but again they do hire a ton of candidates every year, plus it has the highest guaranteed pay and takes care of so much for you pre-departure. idk where you're at in life/when you'd plan on applying but if you wanna start the job as soon as possible, int/erac has pretty much a rolling application and their main recruiting cycle is for spring departures (while j/et won't start recruiting again til october, for departure in summer 2025). int/erac gives you a little less pay and a little less initial help, but it's still very reputable. int/erac ALTs also have a few more freedoms once you're in japan bc i believe int/erac has your school hire you directly intead of employing you to your city's board of education. so for example my BoO doesn't let ALTs commute by car, but int/erac ALTs and private hires don't have that restriction. knock on wood, if neither of those work out, there are lots of sites like gaijinpot posting private hire opportunities. i don't know about the competitiveness of those and they do often require you to sort out visa application or housing on your own, but opportunity is always out there! seriously though i wouldn't worry about that at first. that's the backup plan ace up your sleeve

in terms of what you can do to raise your chances of getting hired, again, i think the enthusiasm is the key!! people say the j/et interview is a glorified vibe check bc they've been known to reject people who sometimes seem overqualified for the position (maybe for good reason - the amount of responsibility you get and teaching you get to do is suuuuper variable and dependent on your school, and probably about ~1/3 of my work days every year i have no classes and little relevant work to do, if any). i don't have a background or certification in teaching but i did a lot of tutoring in college and minored in japanese so i had a lot to say about my passion for language education. i know j/et really loves the angle of "what will you get out of the position, and what will you give back" - i can tell you're excited about the idea of teaching in japan so i'm sure you already have your answers!! if you have hobbies related to japan it's good to explain how being in japan would help you continue them. or you can always research what you could do with your non-japan related hobbies in japan! i love cooking and i started taking classes at a chain studio that does a mix of japanese and worldwide cooking. again i know the hit-or-miss element of it is scary but really they just want friendly open-minded people who can share their culture, have enthusiasm about education and exchange, don't mind the hours/job restrictions, and are down to pack their bags and live in japan. if you have any other questions please ask!! i know this is random but i've helped a couple of friends with their applications so if you do want some extra eyes on a statement of purpose my inbox is always open!! cheering for you!! 🎉🎉

[raine-world]

I went through the Inscryption tag when I beat the game, saw this, thought it was a joke, carried onto Kaycee's Mod. Holy shit. This was not a joke. I thought "Grizzlies appear during boss fights" meant like. One grizzly. What the fuck was that.

I'm still pretty new to chess, can anyone tell me what I'm supposed to do if my opponent plays the Eight Fucking Bears opening? I'm really having trouble.

[novella-november]

Novella November 2024 Announcement Post

Hate AI, but love writing challenges?

Want to take part in a global, fun project to write a Novella in one month?

Grab some friends, and take part in Novella November, by writing 1,000 words a day for the month of November, ending with a 30,000 word Novella to test and stretch your novel-writing skills!

Your goal is not perfection, but merely getting into the habit of writing a litte bit every single day :D

No website, no sign-ups -- Just a community initiative to write using only your own word!

What are the rules? Just Three so far!

#1 - No AI

#2 - No Plagiarizing

#3 - Wordcount for the month should only come from what you write during the month.

What does that mean?

Only words written during November should go towards your Wordcount for the month... but! Feel free to use your 30k words as a continuation of previous writing, or just make it the first 30k words in a longer novel!

Don't think you can write a whole entire 30k word story? Write a series of short stories that total up to 30k!

Not ready to write original works yet? Write a 30k word fanfiction that you can post after the month is over!

Share your writing experience, tips, encouragement, and questions in the #Novella November tag!

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EDIT, from the tags: Want a progress tracker? Track your progress with TrackBear!

https://trackbear.app/

Don't have a word processor? Use LibreOffice , the free and open-source alternative to Microsoft Word!

Want to organize/storyboard your Novel and don't want to pay a subscription? Try 7writer by Simon Haynes!

Want to be able to listen to your story aloud for proofreading using TTS (text to speech)? Try Balabolka!

Or, create some custom progress / Goal Cards in advance you can fill out as you reach word goals! For ideas and templates, search this blog for "goal cards" :D

Want to do a writing challenge in more than just November? Check out my ideas here for year round challenges to keep you writing consistently! Got feedback? Send it in, I'd love to see everyone's ideas!

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EDIT 2: I almost forgot to mention, if you are unable to write/type your story, you can also narrate/dictate your story to your preferred recording device!

If you're doing a Recording only and it doesn't automatically generate a transcript, it would obviously be hard to judge the word count -- but you're also working with a lot of obstacles, so I'd say if you're able to complete your story via voice recording from start to finish, you've definitely achieved the goal!

Edit #3: added the title "Novella November 2024 announcement post" to the top to make it more standard with my Ominous October and Drabble December posts (will be updating Outline October shortly) , added "Official Announcement Post 2024" to the tags so people can easily find the monthly events for 2024, and added a bit of bold to the third bullet point in the original post from September 2nd 2024 for emphasis.