#and then add like 6 to my queue each day

[oifaaa]

oifaaa.tumblr.com why do you keep reblogging gender envy things

I can't keep looking at girls and say gender evetytime

You cant deny me a simple lesbian my right to reblog pretty girls it's against the law I am sorry

[1hoverman0k]

BLOG RULES

Don't like 2 of my posts in a row (meaning two posts which are chronologically adjacent) unless you have been following for at least 6 months and have attained level 2, rank 2 (Member) status (dm to ask your status and rank)

You are allowed to add 1 tag in each reblogged original post per level of your status multiplied by rank. If you dont follow me you may reblog, but dont add any tags.

Similarly additions to reblogs are limited to 5 words per level multiplied by rank.

To maintain your level and rank you must reblog at least 1 of my original posts daily, or queue 2 posts, without breaking any of the Blog Rules. Failure to do so will result in demotion by 1 level, or 1 rank if the level is already level 1. Blogs who fall below level 1 of rank 1 (Browser) will be softblocked.

Followers are required to like and reblog all original Audio posts made on this blog or said follower will be demoted 1 level for each minute of audio.

Followers who create any posts which mention anything pertaining or vaguely related to my dark past will be hard blocked at first notice and demoted of all levels and ranks and will be reported to the elders.

Followers below rank 3 (Green Suit) are not permitted to send Asks to my blog or any sideblog operated by me. Asks must include 1 apology for every conceivably annoying sentence and must address me as "Sir."

Swearing on any interaction of my Posts is prohibited. This includes Swearing, Cussing, Cursing, Toilet language (p**p, p*ss, etc.), Inappropriate words (depends on context of the Post), and Spiritually hostile language. Violation of this rule will result in one demotion of rank per offending word, level retained unless rank is demoted below 1 (Browser).

Criticism of my blog will be allowed during Open Improvement night which takes place during the first Thursday every month between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM, and is open to any Follower who is at least level 5 rank 4 (Red Suit). Criticism which is received by Followers of lower level and rank, or any Criticism which is received outside of Open Improvement hours will result in demotion of 1 level per 10 words of criticism, divided by initial Rank prior to sending unwarranted Criticism.

Comments on posts are enabled, but annoying comments will be reported for terrorism.

All interactions to posts must contain a maximum of 2 grammatical or spelling mistakes, multiplied by Rank. The exception is that no interaction to any of my Posts may end with a period (.), but this still counts towards the total number of mistakes. Refer to the following proofreading marks for details on what constitutes a mistake:

The last Friday of every other month will be "Themed," meaning all original Posts and interactions upon my Posts must follow a particular typing gimmick, such as "Leetspeak." Interactions which do not contain the current Theme during the EST calendar day of the Themed day will result in loss of level equal to the number of words in the offending Interaction which do not comply with the rule. Spelling and grammatical mistakes still apply but up to 4 (multiplied by rank) are allowed during Theme day.

To raise level and Rank, Followers must like and/or reblog a certain number of Original Posts, limited per week and dependent on Rank. Each Rank contains 10 levels, and Rank is increased upon exceeding the Interaction requirements while level 10. A list of all Ranks is as follows:

Rank 1: Browser

Rank 2: Member

Rank 3: Green Suit

Rank 4: Red Suit

Rank 5: Blue Suit

Rank 6: Green Fellow

Rank 7: Blue Fellow

Rank 8: Red Fellow

Rank 9: Sir

Rank 10: Gold Sir

Rank 11: Stout Sir

Rank 12: Broad Sir

Rank 13: Pleasant Sir

Rank 14: Novice Official Sir

Rank 15: Apprentice Official Sir

Rank 16: Junior Official Sir

Rank 17: Senior Official Sir

Rank 18: Blue Official Sir

Rank 19: Red Official Sir

Rank 20: Gold Sir

[snapscube]

are there any ways to make ffxiv level grinding easier? i'm trying conjurer at the moment and i find the level grinding to be very tedious at times

im going to assume you’re asking cause conjurer/whm isn’t ur main and u don’t have access to the MSQ experience, which would be my first suggestion for anyone looking to level up of course. just play the MSQ. but since, again, im assuming this is an alt job, here are some tips (you should be doing these anyway tbh)

1. buy a shit ton of boiled eggs cheap from any city’s food vendor and always have ur food buff on, that 3% exp bonus adds up

2. get ur hands on accessories that give u an exp buff on top of that. this includes things like the “brand new ring” or if you’ve preordered dawntrail you can use the azeyma’s earrings for an exp buff lasting all the way to 90

3. if you’re in a free company, use company actions to have “the heat of battle” running in the background as you level, which is a company-wide exp bonus. if you’re not in a free company, then by leveling up your grand company squadron (the little AI bot characters u can take into ARR dungeons) u can unlock “squadron missions”. one of these missions will reward you with a set of scrolls that give you the same exp bonus as the heat of battle, no free company needed, but it only lasts a couple hours as opposed to the heat of battle’s 12+. u can stock up as many as u want though, it just takes a bit for the bots to run the mission.

4. DO YOUR ROULETTES. the roulettes that are going to give you the absolute best bang for your buck in terms of leveling are: leveling (duh), main scenario roulette, frontline (this one is very easy to ignore but you really shouldn’t, it’s a TON of exp), and alliance raid. these should get you at least a full level or two every day at higher levels, and sometimes way more if you’re early enough. but half of them don’t unlock until 50.

5. do wondrous tails! if you’ve finished heavensward and you have idyllshire unlocked, you can also unlock wondrous tails! wondrous tails is a book with a weekly checklist of duties to take part in, and each one grants you a sticker. if you get all 9 stickers from doing any duties in the set, you can then turn the book into rewards. this is the important part: a finished wondrous tales book will give you EXACTLY HALF of the exp required for your next level up, no matter what number it is. and this exp bonus will apply to whatever job you TURN THE BOOK IN on. doesn’t matter how or as what job you did the duties themselves as, just equip the job right before you turn your book in and viola. free half a level. you do this every week, it’s very easy!

6. leveling white mage (or any healer) specifically, your main focus if you’ve run out of roulettes and are just wanting to get the absolute best exp bang for your buck in the shortest amount of time possible: do dungeons. just run your most recently available dungeons as much as possible. dungeons give a TON of exp, and healers have easily the shortest queue times of any role in the game. repeat ur most recent dungeon unless the level number ends in a 0. level 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 dungeons give crap exp because they were designed with level caps in mind. they give other good rewards sometimes, but while you’re focused on leveling, avoid those.

i hope this was at all helpful haha. other readers feel free to post more leveling tips in the replies if i missed anything.

[bakubabes-tatakae]

Welcome to that special time of year, Fluffvember 2023. 💞 Your girl is gonna be doing both ends of the spectrum this year. These are going to be closer to drabbles just like last month to make sure I can get them all out. 🥰 If you want to be on the Fluffvember taglist then please let me know. I'd be happy to add anyone to it. 🥺

If you don’t want to see the Fluffvember fun then blacklist the tag: #bakubabes fluffvember

Now take a peek at what’s to come in a couple of weeks. 👇 If the date looks like this then that means that the piece is in the queue and waiting for your viewing pleasure. I’ll link them here as they release as well.

Day 1 - Ichigo Kurosaki || Bleach || "Your hands are warm."

Day 2 - Kai "Overhaul" Chisaki || Boku No Hero Academia || "Pinky promise?"

Day 3 - Kotarou Bokuto || Haikyuu || "You matter. A lot. You matter so much to me. Never think you don't."

Day 4 - Natsu Dragneel || Fairy Tail || "Don't say that. I love every second spent with you."

Day 5 - Asta || Black Clover || "Your heart is beating so fast right now."

Day 6 - Rin Okumura || Blue Exorcist || "Don't doubt yourself, honey."

Day 7 - Gaara || Naruto || "Your hugs are nice."

Day 8 - Luck Voltia || Black Clover || "You feel like home to me."

Day 9 - Shikamaru Nara || Naruto || "You'll be with me, right?"

Day 10 - Toya Todoroki "Dabi" || Boku No Hero Academia || "You're cute when you're jealous."

Day 11 - Yato || Noragami || "This is a good look for you."

Day 12 - Zuko || ATLA || "We'll always have each other."

Day 13 - Kazutora Hanemiya || Tokyo Revengers || "Come taste! Tell me if I need to add anything."

Day 14 - Katsuki Bakugou || Boku No Hero Academia || "I'm just glad you're okay."

Day 15 - Megumi Fushiguro || Jujutsu Kaisen || "I'd accept you any way you are."

Day 16 - Manjiro "Mikey" Sano || Tokyo Revengers || "You have a little ice cream on your nose."

Day 17 - Asuma Sarutobi || Naruto || "Is that my shirt?"

Day 18 - Naofumi Iwatani || Rising Of The Shield Hero || "I came as soon as I heard."

Day 19 - Shoto Todoroki || Boku No Hero Academia || "I'm sad and I demand cuddles."

Day 20 - Levi Ackerman || Attack On Titan || "Thanks for being here with me."

Day 21 - Nozel Silva || Black Clover || "I'll keep you safe."

Day 22 - Renji Abarai || Bleach || "I love you more than I did yesterday."

Day 23 - Satoru Gojo || Jujutsu Kaisen || "You're my family too."

Day 24 - Eren Yeager || Attack On Titan || "I'm not letting something as simple as that separate us."

Day 25 - Magna Swing || Black Clover || "Stay as long as you want."

Day 26 - Sasuke Uchiha || Naruto || "Wow, I really can't speak, huh? Must be because of how pretty you look."

Day 27 - Yuuji Itadori || Jujutsu Kaisen || "You're not obligated to do this you know?"

Day 28 - Zora Ideale || Black Clover || "I'd shout it from the roof if I could."

Day 29 - Tomura Shigaraki || Boku No Hero Academia || "You're welcome to stay if you want."

Day 30 - Ban The Undead || Seven Deadly Sins || "I'm not ever leaving you."

©️2023 bakubabes-tatakae, please do not repost/modify my works without my permission, please do not use my works as ASMR without my permission

[hashimasims]

Apologies for the long post ahead

(that's why I put under a cut lol)

Where do I begin? My name is Minthe Thalzoh and my mother is an Elf and my Father is an Alien!

Wait! Let me start over, sorta, from the beginning.

My father crash landed his ship in my Mother's backyard, one thing led to another and now they're the loves of each other's lives and married. They moved out to Willow Creek to start a family.

ENTER ME!

Wasn't I just the cutest little infant!?!

Anyway . . .

My parents knew even then that I was going to be a genius! Though this could have been because of my mixed species genetics. I hit almost every Milestone ahead of the expected timeline and understood and could do a lot more than a "normal" Infant.

Then I became a Toddler!

Not long after, my sister Kaeleen came around and I didn't get as much of my parent's attention, this upset me understandably but I did know that she was smaller and needed more help. I again met all my milestones and sped through all possible toddler skills before my next Lifestage.

As a child I reached the top of my class within a couple of days and worked through two Aspirations. Mom got pregnant again and gave me another sister, Kira, so I helped Kaeleen as best as I could with all her Milestones and Skills. Soon enough it was time for my next birthday.

Father's distress signal was finally answered (took them long enough!) and his world leaders were sending him - and by extension the rest of us - a rescue shuttle to pick us up and bring us back to Unvahiri. I didn't want to go, I was born on this planet and though traveling to another planet did sound like the adventure of a lifetime I made my case to stay. Father agreed as long as I could pass and graduate high school early and get into college before the shuttle got here. Of course I did it! Did you have any doubts? I got into Foxbury for a Distinguished Degree in Physics and I plan to Minor in Robotics. I even got a full ride! My parents set aside a bit of Simoleons for me once I graduate so I can buy a house and start living the Simlander Dream.

I'm sad to have missed meeting my newest sister, Laryse, in person. She was born on the way to Unvahiri, but I get video transmissions from them from time to time. They hope to make it back for when I graduate but I told them not to worry about it and I would try to set up some sort of recording for them. But that was still a long way away, I still have to pass all my classes first. It's a bit lonely right now but at least I was able to sneak my pet, Voxel, into the Dorm. I think the College Board knows he's here but hasn't said anything - yet.

So without further ado I welcome you to a (my) restart of the Not so Berry Challenge

Beginning|Previous|Next

Watcher's notes: I plan for this to be 99.9% all gameplay based but will try to add in a bit of story here and there for fun but I started this save as a de-compressor for Elucea's story which even though I plan different things and randomly write bits for it (not all will I use obvi) it does get rather tiring some days when I do get into that save file (which probably led to my being more in a building/CAS mood for a bit). I want to actually get through a TRUE challenge for once and I've tried the Not So Berry a couple times and abandoned it but through sharing my Glynnans I have made it to Gen 6 so far and don't plan on stopping so maybe by sharing my NSB gameplay I can complete this challenge for once.

Credits (I will try to remember to leave any pose credits when I use them but I can not guarantee that I will remember since I normally Queue out a scene which a good majority of the time takes 5+ posts and then try to remember to add pose credits when I've finished so I do apologize ahead of time when I inevitable forget same as I have been doing for my story with Elucea):

Minthe and Voxel picture - Cat Travels by @bananasplit-sims

Infant Minthe portrait - Happy Christmas by @simmisstrait

Toddler Minthe portrait - Xmas poses 16 by @simmerianne93

Child Minthe portraits - Family Together by @simmireen

Teen Minthe Portraits - Ordris, Kira, and Shreava (parents with infant) are posed with Portrait Poses 14 by Simmerianne93 Minthe and Kaeleen are posed with Stand By Me (redone) by @talentedtrait

Character Card by @stormistargazer

Minthe's portrait in Character card and banner portrait - F. Model Pt. VI by @sciophobis

[get-back-homeward]

My queue was in the middle of 1968 India trip posts during the anniversary of Brian Epstein’s death and the statue unveiling, so it got me thinking about the connection of these two events.

It’s easy to forget the link between the two because they’re technically 6 months apart. But it feels underappreciated how much Brian’s specter looms large over the entire India trip. And not just because they delay the grief process several months in the name of Paul’s favorite coping mechanism. But because Brian dies the week they first meet the Maharishi:

Tuesday, August 22: The band’s first recording session since June; they record takes 1-8 of Your Mother Should Know

Wednesday, August 23: Recording take 9 of Your Mother Should Know and Brian stops by

Thursday, August 24: The Beatles first meet the Maharishi at a lecture in London. At the end of the day, they hold a press conference, get a 90-min private meeting with the Maharishi, and plan to go to Bangor, Wales for a 10-day training in Transcendental Meditation (TM) the next day.

Friday, August 25: They travel to Wales, the first time in years they’re traveling without Brian or Mal or Neil, and it’s chaotic; after they arrive, they get a message from Brian saying he will join them on Monday.

Saturday, August 26: Following a day of training, they renounce drugs in a press conference (well, LSD at least). Brian spur of the moment drives back to London from Kingsley Hill after the guests he invited for the weekend don’t make it.

Sunday, August 27: Brian dies from an overdose of sleeping pills the previous night; he’s found around noon, the Beatles are inducted into TM before the news about Brian reaches them. They had a private meeting with Maharishi about their grief (he talks about reincarnation and the need for positive thoughts about Brian to help this process). Then Paul goes back to London while John and George are forced to make a statement for reporters staked outside.

Monday, August 28: Paul presents the idea for the MMT film and convinces them to keep working rather than go to India now.

That’s one week.

Whether you want to look at it as fate, consequence, or coincidence, TM and Brian’s death are linked forever because of this timing. The simple act of losing Brian factors into the disparate grief reactions and subsequent burnout symptoms seen visibly in each band member after India and across the next year. But this timing would haunt anyone. And not just because those around Brian report him feeling jealous about their diverted attention toward the guru this week. Just dumb what ifs that grief can haunt your brain with: what if they hadn’t heard about the lecture, what if they hadn’t gone on the Bangor trip or had invited Brian to join them on the train, what if they hadn’t appeared on camera announcing they were giving up drugs because of the Maharishi’s influence, etc etc etc.

This link between TM and Brian’s death is especially worth considering for John, who I believe is the only one who ever directly expresses guilt over his death. This isn’t unique as he expressed guilt for all deaths around him in an opaque way believing he’s a curse on people he loves. But it also is understandable because he had some warning. Pete Shotton talks about a worrying tape message John receives from Brian a few days before. Brian’s father died only 6 weeks prior, and Brian’s secretary finds a suicide note dated just before that. There seems to be some uniformity among those closest to him at this time that while he may have been actively considering suicide earlier in the summer, he wouldn’t have after his father passed out of concern for his mother. Still, even with the idea it was all just a terrible accident, those dumb what ifs would creep up in a case like this.

When you add in that Bangor is a spur of the moment trip, that it’s the first one they’ve taken in years without Brian’s planning and guidance, and that telling Brian or inviting him to join them seems like an afterthought? Well, it’s not hard to see how that close link and the guilt that it inspires would have factored into John’s desperation for finding that answer in India. And his anger when it doesn’t deliver. It looks like a desperation to make a consequential choice matter. Searching for the answer to life guided by a holy man makes TM and the Bangor trip meaningful. It makes it important. But to a guilt-filled brain, the idea the man is a fraud means Brian died for nothing. It’s a 60 foot drop into the earth, nothing but a deep dark hole of emptiness.

Now add that John shares with Brian more than just a tendency for depression.

[whoishotteranimepolls]

Major Update

The request will be opening soon because I'm down to like the most obscure requests that I'm actually struggling to find photos for. So in preparation of this I have to get a lot of announcements out of the way so this post might make a lot of people angry. Might make some of you happy But I need to get this out of the way before I open up the request again.

Let's start with the things that I know are going to piss people off as of right now. No. Webcomics no. Webtoons. Yes, I do know several webtoons/webcomics have been turned into anime. Those will be allowed but that's because they're anime now. Also no mechs. However, this is just for now. Remember I've only been doing this blog for maybe 3 months. So let me get more into the groove of things before we add on all of those things. So maybe when I've been doing this for 6 months to a year we can start allowing that Web comics, webtoons and mechs but I'm already struggling with keeping up with requests and keeping enough stuff in the queue as is. So I don't want to complicate things even further and make things as easy as I can on myself. Now there is a reason for this because I may be changing jobs soon and I don't want to have to put the blog on temporary hiatus during that transition.

Now on to the next thing and this is probably going to make a lot of people happy but people please do not make me regret this decision. But, after hearing the many lamentations from mostly the Naruto fandom, much personal debate and seeing how a similar blog handles things. I have decided to lower the minimum age for the polls to 16. Now that means minors can and probably will be matched up against each other and against 18+ characters. Please don't come at me about that choice, these characters are fictional. You can't hurt them, and a blog like this isn't going to normalize preying on minors. YES it's wrong in real life, but anime teenagers are not normal teenagers. I literally just finished an anime about a assassin trying to get back to his wife. He was 16 and had a wife I swore he was at least 20 sometimes anime ages don't make sense. Please don't start anything or I will start blocking. But for those of you who don't want to participate in those polls, I will make a special tag so you can block all polls that have confirmed 16 and 17-year-old characters So you can block the tag so you don't have to see it and participate You will be able to find it when I update the rules post in the next day or two when I have everything finalized. Now this is subject to change if people do not behave. So do not start attacking me because I allow this or I will bump that age back up to 18. Do not make me regret this

Now when it comes to requests you have 10 characters and can request up to Four-way matchups. I don't care how you break that down so you can do two four-way polls and a two-way poll or request five two-way polls don't care. Figure it out. I'm pretty sure everyone can do math but the max is 10 characters However, you want to break it down with two-way, three-way and four-way polls.

I'm also setting a limit on how many times you can request a day. Please only do it twice. That's up to 20 characters. So everyone gets a chance to request polls

Remember Six-Way polls are not something you can request directly. They are something I make as a special thing, when the queue leans too much into one character or fandom. However, you can suggest a theme. I have done fire and ice powers. You all seem to like the goth girl and the anime men in suits. You get the idea. You can always put some theme ideas at the bottom of your request. So I can add them to my list of themes that I have saved when I need to make a six-way poll

I think that is all the major announcements So now with these updates everyone can start thinking of the new matchup request because they will be opening up soon and that request box fills up fast

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

tagged by @dangermousie

1. why did you choose your url?

It's a joke about Alchemy of Souls Season 2

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them.

This is my sideblog. My main is Musings on Jane Austen

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

2 years total, but less for this sideblog. Maybe 1?

4. do you have a queue tag?

No, I find those odd.

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

Because I can't be gushing about Kdramas on my main, I keep my blogs very subject pure.

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

It's from Alchemy of Souls, which I was obsessed with when I made this blog.

7. why did you choose your header?

It's from Moon in the Day, another Kdrama I love.

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

The runner up is a Lovely Runner text post

9. how many mutuals do you have?

Don't know how to check

10. how many followers do you have?

652

11. how many people do you follow?

Sideblogs can't follow, but around 200 total. Probably 5 Kdrama blogs that I really like.

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

Yes

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

Too much. It's my highest use app usually.

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

I don't know if I have on this blog.

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts?

Die.

16. do you like tag games?

No

17. do you like ask games?

No

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

Dangermousie?

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

Lol, no. I would need to be able to see them for that to be possible.

20. what is the last song you listened to?

Something from the soundtrack of Love Between Fairy and Devil

21. what are you currently watching?

An anime called Love is Hard for Otaku, also The Forbidden Marriage at the same time

22. sweet/ savoury/ spicy?

Sweet and savoury

23. what is your current relationship status?

Married with kids.

24. what is your current obsession?

Flower of Evil, The Forbidden Marriage... I was obsessed with No Gain No Love recently but the ending didn't wow.

25. what are nine albums/ songs you've been listening to lately?

I've mostly been listening to Kdrama OSTs: It's Okay Not to be Okay, The Forbidden Marriage, Alchemy of Souls, Castaway Diva, Doom at Your Service, Feel You from Flower of Evil, Happiness, Lovely Runner (especially the Eclipse stuff), Sh**ting Stars, and Moon in the Day

[samssims]

hey, how did you make different sections for your blog? Can't figure it out, I'd like to divide up my posts so my main page isn't messy. Thanks!

Hi Nonny! I am not entirely sure what you mean by this so I will give a bunch of general tips below. If this doesn't cover it or you want something expanded on, feel free to let me know!

Tips to keeping your blog neat & tidy!

Let me start off by saying it is your blog. Make it as messy as you want. However there are a few things you can do to make posts easier to see and read for yourself and your followers.

Tagging

Tag your posts. All of them. Have a different tag per save, story, gameplay, have one for asks, have one for reblogs. Have multiple tags! Tags galore!!! All of this will let you filter your posts to just the ones you want to see. If you tag every post with just "ts4" then you will not be able to find anything.

Example: Two of my saves have the individual tags "NSB" (for Not So Berry) and "Princess Legacy" but then I break them down even further by doing "NSB Gen 1" & "NSB Gen 2" so viewers can choose to view the project as a whole or just to search through one Gen.

Banners

This is ABSOLUTELY OPTIONAL but it makes your posts stand out from each other if you give each story/gameplay/save their own banner. It doesn't have to be extravagant. It can just be a color. Or even a pattern.

Example:

NSB

Princess Legacy:

You can absolutely steal the dimensions of these banners (aka save them right from this post) to create your own.

Use Your Queue

One of the easiest ways to organize your blog is to organize your queue! If you have a lot of stories or posts, try to limit when/what days you are posting them so it looks more consistent on your blog.

Example: In a perfect world where I have consistent content this is also referenced in my timezone which is PST: NSB posts go up at 6 AM every WEEKDAY - I manually schedule these Gameplay posts (whatever gameplay I am currently into as this changes) 3 times a day on the hour every weekday 11 AM-1PM - this is my normal queue set up Reblogs of others post - Weekends, 3 times a day as my normal queue is set up for

When I was doing really well with content, I would queue up 15 posts of gameplay (3 posts a day for 5 days) then go into the sims tag and throw 6 reblogged posts into my queue. Then start over again so I could queue up months in advance.

Using this method for myself makes my blog feels more structured to me. It's just for my own peace of mind and keeps me more organized.

Blog Themes

One of the best creative flex this site offers you imo. You can customize your blog theme to make it fit what you want.

There are a TON of blog themes over theme-hunter. This must be done from desktop and is only for desktop. It cannot be changed via mobile. If you check out theme-hunter, go to the top right "MORE" button. If you are looking for a main page theme, search through the "All-In-One" tag. If you are looking for a story page like i have to showcase all your stories together, I usually look through the "Family/Favorites/Characters" tag.

Now this does require a very BASE knowledge of coding, which I cannot get into in this post. It's a bit of work. Start with a simple theme until you get it down.

PRO TIP: Make a private side blog for just yourself where you can test out the themes. That way if you break the code it doesn't break your main blog. Once the code is ready on your private blog, then you can just copy/paste it onto your main!

HERE is a quick guide on how to add a tumblr theme. If you have never done it before, it's a bit of a learning curve, but honestly it's sooo satisfying once it's done.

Example: The codes for the current pages I am using can be found below: Main Theme: [X] Story Page [X]

Customizing Your Blog

Putting this all together!

Your new story pages and blog pages can include links to the specific tags you are using on your posts! It's how others can find you content so it's organized!

So let's look at this tab on my blog:

This is part of my blog theme. I change it out to update whatever my blog is currently showcasing! It's part of the custom page and me going into the code to manually change it.

If you were to click any of the "Start" tabs (for the ones that have them) they would take you to the URL for the tag itself:

samssims.tumblr.com/tagged/nsb+gen+1/chrono [tumblr url] / [the word TAGGED to show you are searching the tag] / [the tag itself with + signs for spaces] / [the word CHRONO just means it will start at the beginning of the tag, useful for stories]

NOTE: These URLs only work on desktop/mobile browser. They do not work on the tumblr app.

Conclusion

And that's just a little bit about organizing your blog. But honestly it's your space. Just like your room IRL, you keep it the way you like it! This system works for me! If it helps you find your flow then I am happy to help!

[two-reflections]

Been ill for the past week. Still not doing great now. (More info below.) But whatever, I'm back, though I'd be surprised if anyone noticed I wasn't around thanks to my queue. 😅

Haven't written anything for MMM because I haven't been awake for long enough each day to do much writing aside from bits for the upcoming exchange. I suppose I'm awake enough now to do a quick story audit, though. Click the Read More to see what I'm working on, and how I'm doing.

Writing Audit:

Aside from the first, these are vaguely in order of completeness/when they're likely to be posted.

TOP PRIORITY - Fic for the summer exchange. I have been doing some reading, and have put together an outline. I'm excited about this one, I really hope my giftee will like it. The problem? If I stick to this outline, the story will be several chapters long, and I'm probably not well enough to write all of it before the deadline. I wonder if it's acceptable to only put up a chapter or two of a gift exchange fic and finish it over the next few months?

Of Steel and Flesh - The next chapter was largely written back in January after the game that inspired this story, but as a consequence, it feels a bit too much like a TTRPG summary... It needs to be fleshed out more. Also, should it be split into two chapters? Unfortunately, while I love this story, it probably takes me the most effort to write, so it has been hard to work on recently. (Update the next day - Put out a chapter of this! Took me weeks to get it together.)

Alpha Legion short - I have a Alpha Legion short I threw together for an MMM post a while ago but I didn't post it because it was more silly than hot. My concern with this one is that I could easily see it becoming something much longer, like Iron Will, Crimson Whispers did. I don't have the space for another long project now, so I've been ignoring this one for a while. But I like it, and it shouldn't take too long to edit it...

Even in Death - The final chapter is basically complete, I just need to decide if I'm moving one section earlier so all the flashbacks will be in chronological order or if I should leave it as it is so there is a happier flashback following a sadder one. Once that's done, I can edit and post it.

Vulkan x Roboute short - Started outlining something for a friend. The pairing is cute and I want to make her something nice involving her OTP. This one will take me some research, though, so it probably won't be ready until after July. (Update - I guess I have to put on my clown makeup now, because I was reading The Art of War for unrelated reasons and ended up YOLOing this one.)

July MMM - One of the discord servers I'm in has been very keen on MMM recently. We're choosing a couple of prompts each month. Problem is, I recently wrote two stories that were a bit similar to July's prompts ("It's raining outside" is a thing in Feel for It, "knives and blood" was a thing in Afterparty). I've got something ready for it, though. Just need to wait til next Monday to post it.

Techmarine Story - This one is still in EARLY days. It doesn't even have a complete outline, just like 7-8k words in disconnected sections. I think I may need to severely narrow the scope of this one and make it either a oneshot or 3-6 short chapters. But I can't think about it anytime soon now I've signed up to a fic exchange.

Salamander Slice-of-Life Romance - My comfort project. It's coming along bit by bit, I probably add about 1k words to it a month. Still, I'm not in any sort of hurry to finish it. This is the one I really don't think anyone but me will ever want, haha. It's literally just an Astartes' first year or two on the job in a reserve company. Lots of mundanity, city life, squad dynamics, smaller deployments, and a romance with his brander-priest. I love it. It'll be ready when it's ready.

How I Am:

Warning, this is kind of a rant.

I miss being well. I was SO prolific just a month ago, before I got Covid again and had to go off my narcolepsy meds for an unrelated reason.

Even mild Covid sucks, but untreated narcolepsy is fucking shite. I've been on meds since I was 19, so I forgot how disabling it is. It felt less crushing before I was diagnosed, but at that point, that was the only way I had ever lived. Now, I've spent eleven years without the constant sleep attacks, and I can't remember how I used to manage this. (Probably badly since I ended up doing a full sleep study, lol.) It feels like I'm out of practice, if that makes sense? This whole thing has really thrown me for a loop.

Aside from writing, I haven't been painting much because I fall asleep when I sit still for more than a few minutes. Coffee helps, but I can only have one a day, so I'll drink my one coffee and then get a decent hour or two of painting at most before I'm back to being a bit useless. That may sound like a lot, but I'm a very slow painter. So, that's no fun.

I really don't want to just complain. My life is great, I'm very lucky to have a lovely spouse and not to be in a position where my narcolepsy could endanger my job or leave me homeless. I'm also lucky to be in the UK, where my diagnosis was free and I could actually afford eleven years of treatment without difficulty. But, fuck me, I want to be able to do normal human things again without falling asleep. This isn't forever, I'm off them for a good reason, but it may be a long time before I can go back on.

Ending on a happy note:

Hopefully, two friends and I will get to play Blood Bowl soon. She has played the digital version, he used to play but hasn't played for decades, and I've never played at all, so it should be a lot of fun. Plus, if there's three of us, whoever isn't playing can sub in for me if I fall asleep, haha.

[andromedaexists]

WUPDATE: CALL ME ICARUS

𝚆𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝟷𝟿𝚝𝚑 || 𝙲𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝙽𝚊𝙽𝚘

y'all i am so busy rn that i forgot to keep yous updated on my progress. moving forward i am going to try and be more present here, i am going to work my way through my backlog of tag games this weekend and queue up all the writing yous tagged me in.

this month is camp nano and it has kept my mighty busy. here is a list of things that has happened this month:

finished the prologue and chapters 1-10. i got them up for betas to read (if you'd like to beta for CMI, the form is still open to apply here)

got in contact with an artist and started the process of commissioning them for a cover (they just sent me the concept sketch and im!!!!!)

set an official publication date (announcement coming soon 👀👀👀)

submitted a query! (and realized that i don't want to trad pub so i'm self pubbing instead!)

started talking to formatting editors. i'm not sure if i'll be able to afford a good formatting review before publication, but i am in talks with someone who will let me use their Vellum!

started research on how to self pub/what company i want to go through (and actually set up a channel where i can dump my research once i compile it!)

cried a lot over this whole process. a lot.

so yeah! a lot has happened! a lot of good stuff, but a lot of stressful stuff as well! that's okay though, i'm just over the moon that i have an official pub date 🥰

i'm going to push through to the end of camp nano, but i am going to try and get back into weekly wupdates and just talking about writing a lot more. i was a little hesitant about joining camp nano given how bad regular nano went for me last year, but a new server i joined has really helped me find my love of writing again (thank you doom and clanky and so many others that i met through the bird app, i love you all)

anyways, enough rambling. let's get to what you guys are really here for: snippets! i am going to add a couple here (read, a snippet for each chapter i've missed updating here) to make up for my relative silence as of late:

Chapter 5:

There are two more encounters listed below it, but before Icarus can read them over he is distracted by a flash of gold entering the shop. His eyes shoot up, latching to the new patron standing in line with their back to him. It’s normal for bright colors and movement to grab his attention, but this time something feels different. He can’t put his thumb on it, but his brain is telling him that he should recognize them. It’s screaming that he should know who they are. But for the life of him, he cannot make out who it is. Whomst? The fuck? From this distance, he can’t see anything that might tell him who they are. Their plain black clothes could be the tell of an Elysian, but that isn’t a guarantee. The only truly identifiable trait is the halo of blond curls cascading over their shoulders. Why do I feel like I know them?

Chapter 6:

Ariadne whistles, a long and appreciative sound as she sees her husband’s work. The tattoo had been a beast to heal, but the hours of torturous pain and restless nights of endless itching had been well worth it. He spent days ogling the tattoo after it had first healed, the feathers look so real that you can almost feel them when running your hands over the inked skin. It is everything he wanted and then some. A feather-light touch runs down the etched skin. There is only one person who had ever touched him with that kind of reverence, his artist must have gotten up to inspect the tattoo. He is admiring his art—as he should—when he says, “Looks like you should have used more lotion.” He lets go of one edge of the hoodie to flip him the bird. It’s impossible to hide anything from his artist, of course, and he knew that his lackluster care would be noted. There are likely small splotches where the ink had fallen out due to his poor moisturizing regiment, but it’s not like he has much of a choice in that. Icarus drops the back of his hoodie with a sigh as he turns to face the artist again. YOU KNOW? HARD REACH AREA ALONE. His eyebrows raise as he speaks, his signs becoming large and boisterous. He then mimes trying to reach the middle of his back. That gets a chortle out of his artist and Ariadne. He hadn’t thought to consider how he would need to reach every part of his back before getting the tattoo, and the fact that he doesn’t have anyone in his life to help him makes it that much worse.

Chapter 7:

“Look,” Andromeda levels at him, voice growing in intensity as they say, “I understand that you don’t quite trust me yet. I mean, we just met yesterday. Hell, I don’t even know your name yet! But-” “Icarus.” He grabs the hoodie on the left and pulls it over his head. He takes a moment to pull his hair up and fasten it in a ponytail before turning and leaning back against the closet door. “My name is Icarus.” “Okay. Icarus. Y’know, that fits.” Their voice is calmer, quieter, as if that piece of information is enough to placate them. Icarus huffs. The name really does fit him, doesn’t it? Always jumping into things without thinking of the consequences, taking risks, and keeping shit close to his chest until he gets a bit too close to hubris and starts to fall apart. Falling in love with the sun personified. Burning, falling, crashing, drowning. Yeah, the name fits him. The only difference between him and the Icarus of myth is that he died at the end of his story. Icarus has no plans of dying. No, he plans of making it out the other end of his story and living to tell the tale.

Chapter 8:

“I thought the whole ‘Oh, Hestia has a pizza shop?’ ordeal would tell you that I have no idea where to go.” Huh, yeah, that should have clicked with him. It’s not like they could search up directions, they likely don’t have a phone just the same as him. Can’t risk having a way for someone to use GPS to locate him. It’s not like he has anyone to keep in contact with, anyways. “It’s just down the street. Go out the front of the building and head down West Saint Clair, it’s just past fourth street. I’d say can’t miss it but you very much could, there’s no sign out front. It’s the only building that looks like there’s someone living in it on that block, though.” “Got it. West Saint Clair, Fourth Street, not-abandoned building.” Andromeda repeats the directions to themself as they head towards the front door. “Anything else while I’m out?”

Chapter 9:

How could he forget? “Καιρὸς δε, Thanatos,” he mumbles as he stretches his arms out in front of him and rests his forehead on the blissfully cool counter. “And here I was thinking you weren’t gonna remember me.” Long gone is the shrill and timid voice of a sickly kid, replaced by one of the most soothing and deep tones Icarus had ever heard. “…Fair ‘nuff.” The vibrations of a glass hitting the counter top make Icarus look up. A glass of water, just water. He groans, that is not what he wants right now. He’s craving the sweet buzz of an energy drink, but that will require him to get up and walk around the island to grab one. Andromeda chuckles, not moving an inch as they watch Icarus suffer over the glass. “Quit pouting and drink.” He drops his head, turning his face away from the glass. “Oh come on, you big baby. Deja de hacer un berrinche y bebe.” They poke his cheek as he pouts. “Mira, food’s ready. Sit up and eat.”

Chapter 10:

“Why are we running?” they ask, gasping for air after the impromptu sprint. Icarus points to the bird as it hops along the ridge of the tent. He turns to watch their reaction, this is a big deal. Their eyes widen and their jaw drops open, they are just as shocked as he is. His smile has not left, though it dulls as their face drops to sadness and grim acceptance. What? “A crow.” Before he can say anything the look is gone. They beam a bright smile at him. “I can’t believe you found a bird! That’s definitely good luck for us.” But it’s not, their reaction sits wrong with him. He squints his eyes, watches them to see if that glimpse of despair will surface again. When it doesn’t, Icarus forces a smile on his face. If they don’t want to talk about it then he isn’t going to talk about it.

Okay, i think that's enough of a writing dump for now. here's the CMI Taglist:

@flowerprose @isherwoodj @cream-and-tea @touchingmadness @lockejhaven @marinesocks @wildswrites @the-finch-address @writingpotato07-deactivated2023 @leighvalentin @inkspellangel @cljordan-imperium @outpost51 @alleahgrinnon @smol-feralgremlin

Please fill out this form to be added or ask to be removed!

[schwender-exe]

Yet somehow further devlog #6

Ahoy all, it's around that time of the month again where I show off what I've been working on! While, this time I don't quite have a game ready to be shown, I do want to show some tools and scripts I've been working on in the meanwhile in preparation for a game genre I want to try and tackle.

#1 Dialogue scripts!

Since my on/off break at the start of the month, I've been reworking an old dialogue tool I've made starting way back when I was still working in Love2D. Originally, it was hastily put together, not quite understanding the full scope of how it all worked, but hey, it ran. Since then, I've ported it over to Godot and been making major improvements, taking some notes from my event system script (a script which lets you queue "events" to run in a specified order, waiting for each event to be completely finished running before continuing to the next one.) to make it its own thing!

Since the original Love2D version of the script, I've always wanted to reproduce something I saw from a tweet (which I can't find anymore, of course), which showed the in-house 'dialogue script' reader which was easy to write/read and even color coded on top of that which made it even easier to read! I remember being so inspired by that original tweet that, well, after all this time I can say I finally made something practically on par with it! here's a little snippet as an example:

This doesn't show the full scope of what I created, with ~17 keywords total, some of which having different effects depending on sub-keywords, eg. "money add 100" or "money remove 100", etc.

While it's not modular enough for me to 'pack it and ship it' out for the masses (trust me, I'd have to make a lot of changes for it to properly work more modularly and fit into others' projects), but I'm proud of what I created nonetheless.

#2 Point and click buttons

I've messed around with a point and click style game for a while, but never really got far into it because I always like things working a very specific way, and one thing I could never get working how I want them to is buttons. Specifically, the ones Godot has by default. They do their job, but at the end of the day it doesn't fit exactly what I want out of them, especially for a project like this. So I set out to code my own buttons, heavily based off and using what Godot have already set up.

Behold! ...Yeah, I know it's not much to look at, but it was hard! I swear! I mean, check this out:

I fit in a few different mouse detection types (think of it like the button's hitbox), and different ways the button will react on hovering over it! I know, I know. probably not very exciting, but it was fun to program together and get working! There's a lot more on the back-end, specifically with that mysterious "Hover Name ID", which I can set to be 'undiscovered' (like in the screenshot) if it's a location on a map, or maybe you want to have an area locked off and hidden until you progress through the story a certain amount? Perhaps the name of a character changes until a sudden twist?! all easily done with a line or two of code rather than having to wrestle the code down and change it to work a specific way.

#3 Put it together and you have yourself a Visual Novel

Yeah, that's right. I'm working on a visual novel! Hah! Well, that is as soon as I'm able to get what I deem a fun and exciting story and manage to get it out of production and available for everyone to play. Now, some might say "why not use an engine/framework that's already out there and built for visual novels so you don't have to do all this work? Like Ren'py?" and to that I say... fair point. However, I've always loved writing some of the backend scripts, even if they aren't the most pretty. They get things done the way I want them to, which means I can work more efficiently and have fun making scripts and whatnot along the way.

I know this isn't exactly the most exciting for anyone who's used to seeing me post cute pixels and miles of progress, but something's clearly up with me lately and until I get to the bottom of it I'll have to inch forward with my progress and show what I've achieved, even if it's not the most exciting.

tl;dr I made some nice backend tools which allow me to more quickly work on some fun project(s) in future, hopefully.

As always, for anyone who would like further knowledge, feel free to ask! And to all those who read this far, thank you!

[pine-niidles]

Looking Back on 2023

Heyyy folks! Long time no news from me huh. 

I'm struggling to think of what to even say about my silence. I've not been doing so bad I'd call myself depressed, but I'm doing a tad worse than just a slump. It's been a rough 6 months, not because of one big thing. Instead, a bunch of medium-sized reasons all piled up on top of each other to leave me extremely drained. I've mostly been working on the two commissions I still had in my queue (thank you to my commissioners for being so patient with me, I'm so sorry to make you wait so long <3). I've done a little personal art other than that but didn't have the leftover focus to keep up with sharing it on social media or writing up any updates about my situation. I've pretty much only been active sharing things in my art discord. I'd like to say I've been doing better in the last month or so, but I hesitate to make any promises at this point! We'll just have to see how things go :)

Artfight

So you were promised a more in depth artfight review but I think I missed the right timeframe for that... instead have this look at 3 years of unfinished artfight thumbnails from my new year's wip clean-out!

Year of Art Summary

All things considered I made a lot of art this year, and I'm really happy with how most of it turned out ☺ I did a bunch of experimenting with more playful techniques and color schemes and I think they suit my style a lot. I want to try and much those limits even more next year to see what kind of fun art I can create! Something with colors specifically really clicked in my brain after that witch drawing I did in April, before then I would spend a long time figuring out the perfect color scheme and doing a bunch of adjustments but ever since that drawing things have really been coming together super quick? I'm not sure what changed but no complaints from me. 

Life Drawing Summary 

I rarely post my life drawing but I've been keeping at it! Actually, I put together a few pdfs showcasing all my life drawing going back to 2022, you can download them for free in my itch or ko-fi shops! :>

I also put together a yearly art improvement comparison going back to 2015 that I was planning to put here. However, seeing how long this is already getting... I'll make a separate post for it.

Commissions

I've been gearing up to open commissions again after that unintended hiatus. I don't want to open slots until I'm sure I'm back to being able to finish them in a reasonable timeframe, so I've been using that leftover energy I do have to think about revamping some things and new styles to offer. Back in November I ran a survey on what people want to see from me (it's still open if you'd like to fill it out and help me get more stats!) 

here's a preview of what's to come based on that & my whims:

- stamp commissions were super well received so they'll be added to my main repertoire

- A combo of me reading too much dun meshi and wanting to offer some kind of comicky commissions led to this idea of comic pages of characters eating together, I have a couple examples in progress, when they're done I'll add this style to my main offerings!

- I'm still not 100% set on sketchpages but I like the idea of them so if this test goes well I'll add them as an option

Onward to 2024! 

I already completed my new year's resolution on day 1 of 2024, it was to pet a cat. I've made a second one which is to get a library card whenever my visa is approved and I move back home. It's been something I've been wanting to do for a while but never got around to, hoping this will be the excuse I need to do it.

Art-wise it's not a new goal, but I've been trying to focus on improving my rendering! Though I've also been playing around a lot with screentone... the two don't have to be at odds 🤔 

I'm dedicating this year's personal art time to making new references for as many ocs as possible with nude bases so I can easily design new outfits for them whenever I want to without fully making a new ref from scratch.

Otherwise I'm just trying to take it slow, work on things one at a time and see what happens from there.

[animeomegas]

you're so right about shika reacting like that, I totally agree!!!

I love the fact that the supernatural are known in your novella, that's so uncommon for books like that and I love it! the vampiric animals is a really cool and original idea omg I can't imagine vampire cats, they're so chaotic already, add vampirism to it??? they would rule the world and I wouldn't complain. the implied conversion of the MC though?!?!?!? I love it, it would definitely be me, who would say no to being a vampire????? I would love to read it 😭😭

you got me with the mystery part of your other story, I'm obsessed with that. I also love it when authors use classic tropes but switch the characters around, it makes it so fun! we almost never get playboy MCs either, so that's also super cool!! and the fact that they help each other heal from their issues and grow? &? $? $? I bet I would cry reading that novel but I would love it 100%

AMY????? FIRST????? THAT IS SO COOL I'M SO PROUD OF YOUUU. CONGRATULATIONS OMGGGGGG!!!!!!!! TELL ME YOU CELEBRATED OR SOMETHING! '! &!! & &

how bad is it to get sick during a trip? that's so sad!! also YES I recommend them, I didn't watch them all but I watched a recap and they look cool, it's a classic whodunit and the murders are brutal at times. there's 6 movies in total!! the 6th was released this year and jenna ortega is a mc, I love her. she also played as Wednesday last year and she's such a good actress. I'll definitely check out happy death day after I finish scream 6!!! <3333 also thank you for your congratulations you're very sweet

Yes! I really wanted to include some of the societal impacts of the supernatural in my book, like my MC being a lecturer in Supernatural Studies. One of her classes is in the book, so you'll get to learn a little about how the Black Death affected vampire clans in London :D

And vampiric animals, yes I wanted to include one, so there is one haha. The process is much trickier than with turning a human into a vampire and it takes much longer, so there aren't many around. Most big clans have one though.

MC doesn't get turned in the book, but it is directly expected and referenced that they will be at some point soon.

As for the novel, yes, I switched it because I thought it'd be very cool to get the playboy's inner monologue. The first parts of the novel include, along with the mystery, a lot of the MC slowly focusing more and more on the male lead and forgetting about flirting with others. Let's just say that MC's friends are sick of hearing them give a play-by-play of what the male lead ate at dinner, and then denying that they're interested in him as anything more than a bit of fun lol.

As for the mystery plot... It's my first time writing a proper one, but I'm having a lot of fun and I think it's a decent one, but we'll see haha.

Haha, I didn't celebrate no, because results were so delayed from the strikes, I only just found out the marks and idk, I'm probably going to get something tasty as a celebration at some point :D Thank you though!!!!! You're so sweet!!!! <333333

I was pretty sick in Tokyo, but it was a combination of the flight, which I predicted would happen because it always does, and then also a really heavy workload while there. I lost 9 lbs in ten days because of how much walking I had to do and I the fact that I was too ill to eat more than two apples over three days. It was a shame, but that's what happens when you're in a big group: you can't tailor the trip to your individual needs like needing to rest after a 14 hour flight and two hour queue at customs XD I still had fun though!

And oh, I didn't know Scream films were who dunnits, that's awesome, I'll put them on my list of things to check out! Thanks for the recommendation!!

And you more than deserve my congratulations for surviving exams hehe

🎉🎉🎉

[ladyimaginarium]

check-in tag!

1. why did you choose your url? — idr tbh. all i& remember is that. imaginarium& is our& innerworld's name.

2. any sideblogs? if you have them, name them and tell why you have them. — @imaginariumrpc my& rpc sideblog for stuff i want to reblog but not on my main, currently a mess & in the state of archiving & transferring posts onto this blog considering this blog is the one i& mainly use & its multipurpose. — @dominusornatum my& rp blog that hasnt been used but may revamp. — @brumoustoska Erica's& sideblog. May or may not add a nsft blog but idk yet.

3. how long have you been on tumblr? — uhhhh since 2016 i& think.

4. do you have a queue tag? — no but im& debating lmao

5. why did you start your blog in the first place? — this used to be a rp blog actually but i& repurposed it into a multipurpose blog bc. i& left the tumblr rpc for several reasons especially bc i& was dealing w/ my& system that i'd& recently discovered at the time & just. mental health issues.

6. why did you choose your icon? — bc khadija& is one of my& ocs & she's& cute.

7. why did you choose your header? — i love stars. like, i'm& obsessed.

8. what’s your post with the most notes? — one of my& old twdg edits iirc.

9. how many mutuals do you have? — many lmao but s/o to a, simy, emma, hal & leli.

10. how many followers do you have? — over 100.

11. how many people do you follow? — over 400.

12. have you ever made a shitpost? — aren't all my posts shitposts /j so many times.

13. how often do you use tumblr each day? — a lot, i& don't keep track tho bc thats lame.

14. have you had a fight/argument with another blog? who won? — i&. don't like arguments or conflict or any kinda disk horse especially when it comes to fandom & shipping disk horse bc tbh i& have more important things in my& life to focus on & a lot of this is like chronically online shit, so i& avoid them the best i& can within reason. so. no.

15. how do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts? — usually i'm& happy to wave them goodbye as i& scroll past them bc of ocd hell, but when it comes to indigeneity or queer issues or anything of the sort its my& duty so.

16. do you like tag games? — yes !! please continue tag me& or any of us&!! ♡

17. do you like ask games? — yessss!!

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? — tbh they all should be but uh. i& think audit especially in the plural & queer & disabled communities. hal bc they're so iconic in the plural community as a whole & they do so much for systems its great tbh. also emma bc she's a forever icon in the twdg fandom & abri ( idk what ur actual name is so lmao ) in the gangsta fandom bc uh. they're iconic asf. & although we're not moots persay bc marzi has a rp blog, but marzi's portrayal of mitch & just everything twdg related on @phantasmagcrical / @gciltyascharged has me& go like AGLJAGGALJGALGAJGAJLAGLJAGJL hennywayz ily marziiiii ♡

19. do you have a crush on a mutual? — no? /lh but i& appreciate all of my moots. ♡

20. tags? — @briala @dethqveen @aabblleeddnntt @abri-chan @tearfulangel @emmiewlw @dreamlandsystem & anyone else if you wanna do it !!

[balapann-blog]

Day 122 - 6 January - Taipei

Woke up late and went to the gym to do stretching and for Nin to do a workout. We then took the metro to the center and went to a famous breakfast place. I had a turnip cake, spring onion omelette and warm soy milk with delish chilli sauce. A great way to start the food day!

We then went on a walking tour around the old town, which is all pretty modern. The guide made everyone introduce themselves, say where they were from, what brought them to Taiwan and what they were looking forward to. There were a couple of families, one English family who were over for their son’s wedding. There were also a couple of families with an American dad and a Chinese mother, one New York family, and one Bay Area family.

Our guide gave us a potted history of the island outside the Japanese built museum of Taiwan. A rule of thumb is any European style building was built by the Japanese. She told us about the Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, Ming, Qing and Japanese colonisation and the passing of the island to Republic of China control. She also told us about how the ROC and Taiwanese had tensions following the handover, particularly due to cultural differences following Japanese control, leading to the 228 incident.

She then spoke about the period Martial law (the longest of any place in history apparently) and the subsequent roll back following the death of Chiang Kai-shek. She said that different ages of Taiwanese people will give different opinion of what Taiwan is. The older people say it is China waiting to be unified as the ROC, middle people will speak about keeping the status quo and youngest will want independence.

We also walked on this path with upturned stones to give you a foot massage based on acupuncture. I managed to go all the way down and back but it was actually quite sore.

We had more of a discussion on the politics of the island and the different parties the Green and Blue, the blue coming out of the old ROC order. Confusingly the old ROC Blue Party are seen as more pro China and therefore have not been in power for 12 years. I tried to ask the question that they might be more pro China now that it is more capitalist but still authoritarian which actually makes it quite like the old ROC one party state. The tour ended and we all dissipated into the Taipei afternoon never to see each other again except maybe to walk past in a night market.

We then walked a bit and saw a place with a big but moving queue selling noodles in a hot and spice sauce so we went for a quick snack. It was really tasty especially with the vinegar and chilli you could add but it did hit the back of my throat a couple of times leading to mini coughing fits. We then walked on a couple of streets and bought a scallion cake which was very crispy and a lot thinker than othe cakes like that I have had, it was also cooked in egg which added to the richness.

We then went to Ningxia Night Market where there is a very famous oyster omelette which was unfortunately closed that day. We then walked up and down and got a truly excellent lamb bun and then some crispy pork and a beer. The food in Taiwan is definitely the best we have had anywhere on this trip.

We went to Yansan night market but we were very full and didn’t see anything that jumped out at us. We got a take away strawberry soufflé and went back to the hotel on the metro.

Day 123 - 7 January - Taipei

We got up bright and early and climbed Elephant Hill in the west of the city that gave great views of the city. We then walked down and the did the short walk to Taipei 101 formerly the tallest building in the world. We paid and went up the view was great and the lift went up so quickly. Taipei 101 has the worlds only mass damper that is open to the public which is this massive heavy ball suspended from massive metal rope and sat on hydraulics that when a typhoon or an earthquake hits, it moves and dissipates the shock and stopping the building from shaking. It was really cool and it had videos of it shaking after earthquakes and it is really moving a lot!

We then walked to this famous beef noodle soup place quite near. We had the dark beef noodle soup and beef hoisin roll it was so good, both things were really out of this world the most delicious food on this trip so far! The roll was crispy and there was a great sweetness from the hoisin. The broth was so deep and rich and you could get the star anise come through this deep beefiness and the beef itself was melt in the mouth. It was a real highlight of the trip!

We then walked to a cultural center thing in an old tabacco factory that was okay but didn’t really have much there, we then took an Uber to the Palace Museum.

The Palace Musuem has lots of thing that were taken by the ROC government when it became clear they were going to lose the civil war and has a massive amount of the Chinese treasures that in a different timeline would have been shown in Beijing.

There were 3 floors that we went to; the ground had Buddhist statues, maps and books from both Taiwan and China (mainly Qing), the second had paintings and pottery/porcelain and the third jade and bronze.

The first floor also had jewellery from the imperial court that was very fine and impressive, I caught a woman saying to her friend ‘they really got all the good stuff, I’ve seen things like this in Beijing but none of it is as nice as this’ as she looked at a gold and turquoise broach.

For me the real highlights were the paintings and the pottery. There were some amazing massive paintings that were long and often on silk. Often these showed mountains and snow at different heights and then often had village or house scenes at the bottom. There were also some amazing paintings that were on long rolls and which showed a journey along a long mountain road. Sometimes these were maps of a frontier and used for managing patrols. There were also some really fun animal paintings including a great one of a cat.

We then went to the pottery rooms which had nearly thousand year old pottery that was so stylishly glazed in these simple glazes. They are the kind of thing you would find in a shop on Stoke Newington Church Street, but just completely flawless. We then came to the Ming Vases! I knew that Ming Vases were amazing (otherwise the Labour Party wouldn’t base their whole policy position on them) but I really wasn’t prepared for just how amazing they were. I never thought I would feel something when looking at a vase (other than thinking that’s a nice vase) but they were so beautifully made and their decoration was so delicate and expressive that I was completely blown away.

We then went to the top floor where Bin was very exited to see the famous jade renderings of a lettuce and of pork. But alas they were not there! And they were in the south version of the museum. The rest of the jade was very beautiful though and the bronze was also very interesting even if it elicited a less intense reaction. There was a whole room on ink stones that was labelled ‘for aficionados’ but had some great stuff in it. In the gift shop I saw the famous picture of Ghengis Khan and was afraid I had missed it but when I asked the lady said it was not on display which made me disappointed but also released I hadn’t missed it as I had left at this point.

We then got an Uber to Shilin Night Market

Where we had a famous bao bun, one cabbage and a pork one. They were very good but quite similar to what we had in Manila and made us think about how things become so famous and when there is so many amazing things out there, how does one rise to the top. The answer is probably because it is in the Michelin guide and we had been guided by a Michelin article on Taipei’s night markets. Which in our experience was hit and miss partly because lots of them didn’t seem to be open on Monday and Tuesday.

Following our nose and eyes we had bbq oyster mushroom with mustard and spicy seasoning which was firery and caused a couple of mini coughs. We also had a sausage in a rice sausage bun (hard to describe but like a small hot dog bun made of rice) and honey which was interesting and really nice but I would say life changing. We then walked round for a bit longer and hopped on the MRT to Raohe Night Market.

The first thing we had was the pepper pie which was very like the somsa we had in Tashkent with the crispy pastry and the meat center. I loved it but I think Nin found it grand but not like I did. We looked for some stinky tofu and some Mochi that we had seen on a blog for there but didn’t find either. It turns out the Mochi guy wasn’t there on Tuesdays which was disappointing.

We went back to Ningxia in the hope of bagging one of those oyster omelettes but the queue was very big. I queued and Nin procured some stinky tofu for the queue. After waiting for a while we were told that for take away we could order at a place where there was no queue. ‘Amazing’ we thought ‘I can’t believe these suckers are waiting for this thing when they can get it and take away with no queue’! When we got there they lady said ‘wait time one hour’ alas but we had come this far and paid our money and went off with the knowledge our omelette was secure for 9.20. We then went and got some Mochi which had peanut on top and was served on ice. I must say it was a highlight of the trip as the ice took in the milk the Mochi had been cooked in making it creamy and delicious. We then went for a bubble tea and Nin got a sweet soup. Not the right preparation for a rich savoury dish.

By the time it came around we psyched ourselves up and collected it and it was very good! But the rigmarole of getting it had left it not at the best time to be enjoyed, it feels like there is a lesson there about not trying to do everything or not to focus on the thing everyone else goes for (particularly as we had seen a different place do the same omelette in another market the evening before).

We staggered some spent and a little rotund.

Day 124 - 8 January - Taipei > Tokyo

Rather than try and pack any more into our intense 50 or so hours in Taipei we woke up and went to the gym. I had a nice swim till I discovered I had snapped my goggles (and had got tired). We packed, went for breakfast and got a taxi to the airport. We then sailed through departures and got the plane.

On trains you feel like you are eavesdropping on people’s lives. Their commutes, their meeting friends. People living complete lives which you intersect with so briefly and never see again, it’s not like our random taxi driver in Tashkent exists solely for our one fare like a video game.

We got to our tiny studio apartment dropped our stuff and went to a famous 24 hour ramen place where we waited in line with some very drunk Australian men who were having an argument about whether sleeping in boxers when you share a bed made you gay. We got to the restaurant and ordered on a screen and were taken to individual booths beside each other and we gave the slips of paper for our order and were given our food and beer. The food was very tasty with a really delicious broth and a very nicely boiled soft boiled egg which I normally don’t like! After this very late night snack we came home and went to sleep.