#anyways that's a ton of info about yours truly

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 47

hello and welcome to fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

Damnit, Pidge by spirkylurkey

Pidge has some top-secret-classified-don't-tell-Keith-info that she accidentally lets slip to, you guessed it, Keith. Lance is an embarrassed mess. Keith isn't faring much better, to be honest.

this one made me LAUGH the way that this all pidge's fault and she's literally like. well. you shouldn't be so gay then. and she's right!! they're so dumb i love them

2. Operation: Faking It by @writeonclara

“What the hell, guys?” Pidge squawked, wrestling away from Matt. “Why are you pretending to be a couple?” Or: Matt and Lance pretend to be a couple because Shiro and Keith are clueless as hell.

do you guys remember shatt?? i remember shatt. adashi will always have my heart but shatt will literally always be funny bc ofc thats ur fic name. anyways. this fic is mostly klance but the entire concept is just so ridiculously goofy that u have to laugh. do you like lance and matt? do you like fake relationship to real relationship? do you like inverted tropes? do you like pining? do you like comedic jealousy? then this fic is well and truly for you because it has all that and more

3. all's well that ends well to end up with you by @coruscatingcatastrophe

Keith's jacket gets ruined, so Lance decides to be a good Samaritan and give him his. This is the beginning of the end.

megan's fic literally make me want to eat cement i'm so serious. i've read and been obsessed with TONS of her stuff but this one???? this fucking one???? oh god the slowburn kills me. the blossoming realisation that oh god we've been dating this whole time huh. the CHIVALRY...............a romance novel in the truest of senses and i am going to fry

4. as long as it won't separate you from me (i'll be fine) by @coruscatingcatastrophe

A little intrigued—not that she’d ever admit it—Pidge begins to climb the stairs. But before she even reaches halfway, the door—slams shut. All on its own, or so it seems. Pidge pauses, brows creasing in confusion, as she turns to look down at her dog. “Did you see that?” she asks. Peculiarly, she notes that Bae Bae’s fur is bristled, and he growls at the door before barking twice. That’s weird. Bae Bae never growls. Turning back to the door, Pidge feels unsettled, but she tells herself not to jump to ridiculous conclusions. There’s a logical explanation for everything. Maybe there was a gust of wind from the air conditioner, or the doorframe isn’t level. Whatever it is, she’s going to figure it out. - Or, a Beetlejuice au (kind of). Pidge isn't a fan of her new house, Lance and Keith are the ghosts haunting her attic, and together they hatch a plot to convince Shiro and Adam to skedaddle out of the house. There may be demon summoning involved. But seriously, Adam. Getting your hair set on fire really isn't that bad.

HAPPY (late) HALLOWEEN!!! ive been thinking about this fic all october and finally let myself reread it. ive never loved beetlejuice more than when i read this. it's so fun!! so interesting!! pidge gets a chance to shine!! klance are so!!! the way it had the story of beetlejuice but adapted well!! im!!

5. never thought i'd see the day in my life by @coruscatingcatastrophe

But Keith has somehow gone even paler in the short amount of time he’s been at the table, and he shakes his head. “No, something is . . .” His gaze flickers back to Lance, and he’s startled to find that Keith’s eyes are purple. They’ve got to be contacts. Ridiculous. As if the mullet and gloves and personality weren’t enough. Keith pushes away from the table abruptly, looking incredibly put-off now. “I, uh���gotta go,” he mutters, before angrily gathering up the backpack he’d dropped into the chair next to him and storming out of the cafeteria. “Huh,” Hunk says. “Well, that introduction could have gone a bit better. Don’t take it personally though; sometimes Keith’s just like that.” - Or, a Twilight au starring Lance as Bella, Keith as Edward, and the rest of the Voltron gang as themselves. Lance is insufferable, Keith is awkwardly trying to figure out why Lance is the way he is, and along the way they fall in love, or something. It's probably, definitely the best love story since Twilight itself.

now ive never read twilight and i refuse to on principle. but i didn't find this one creepy and instead it was super fun and dweeby and lance is indeed a ray of sunshine, thank you megan for noticing, and it turns out when the story isn't a hetero mormon wet dream it's actually a good time!!

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

[witchykittyy]

Agreement 💖

@marcyyywukinnie asked: Hi could you make a fanfic Yandare Blitzo x reader x Yandare Stolas where they just fight about reader, before coming to terms that theyll share them??

I am soooooooo sorry about how late this is!!! I really am. Life's been really hectic and I went through a very depressive episode but I promise to be on top of stuff more often! I really hope you like it! ❤ Sorry if its not really enough fighting per say. 😅

TW: Demons, Hell, Blood, Arguing, Cursing (lots of it), Mentions of kidnapping, Stalking, and other yandere themes.

"Damn that was a fuck ton of clients!!!" Millie jumped up into Moxxie's arms pumped and covered in blood. "Yea it was and it was so fucking awesome! But I think imma head in for the night." You're the newest member of I.M.P. A few days ago you saw their help wanted poster and decided you needed the extra money so you decided to join. You got along really well with Moxxie, Millie and surprisingly Loona. The only person who doesn't seem to like you is Blitzo. He was always staring at you. Watching your every move like he's waiting for you to do something wrong. So you always tend to keep your distance.

"Yea I think me and Millie have had enough excitement for today as well. Goodbye sir! Goodbye Y/N!" "Bye Blizto! Bye N/N!" Moxxie and Millie wave goodbye as they leave. "Whatever, bye." Loona continues on reading her magazine. "Bye guys!" You wave goodbye to them sweetly. "Bye lovebirds! Don't get too kinky while I'm away!" You can almost hear Moxxie rolling his eyes at those words and you chuckle. Now its just you, Loona and... Blitzo. Though your back is turned you can feel his eyes burning into info our skin, its very unsettling so with out turning around you decided to say your goodbyes and leave. "Bye Blitzo! Bye Loona!" "Bye dork." Blitzo doesnt say anything and you start to walk off sill feeling his gaze on you. Suddenly he says "See you soon Y/N"

You got home and were extremely exhausted as you flopped down onto your semi comfortable bed. Due to only recently having a job you dont have that much money to buy yourself a nice place so for right now you're stuck in this crummy apartment. Even though you didnt mind your situation someone else did.

Stolas has been watching you from the day he saw you in the I.M.P headquarters while he was visiting Blitzo. He's been obssessed with you ever since he saw you and has stalked you finding out your likes, habits, dislikes and everything else about you. He truly believes that you deserve so much better than what you have. He loves you and believes you deserve to be treated like a queen. A problem with that is that Blizto is also in love with you. Stolas notices the stares he give you and the longing look in his eyes. He's sure Blitzo has noticed his interest as well and thats probably why Blitzo hasnt spoken to him. But nevermind that.

You change into your PJ', get into bed and start scrolling through Helltok. "Ah shit its getting dark and I have to work tomorrow" you sigh. "I guess I should go to bed as Moxxie would say thats the responsible thing to do." You turn off your phone and go to bed. Stolas stares at you from the window wishing that he were next to you.

After a while he sees someone climbing onto your balcony. He's about to go stop him but then the two lock eyes. "Stolas?! The fuck are you doing here?!" He almost tumbles off the balcony from the surprise. "I should be asking you the same question Blitzo." "Look dipshit im doing the same thing you are but going inside." Blizto starts opening the window. "Wait! We shouldnt do that it invading her privacy." He goes to stop him but then Blitzo slaps his hand away. "Oh and stalking her isnt invading her privacy?! Look just leave ok if you dont wanna do this. Not like I want you stealing my girl anyways." He grumbles the last part but Stolas is able to hear him. "Well I sure as hell am not leaving her alone with you." "Then come in with me." He grabs Stolas's hand and stealthly brings him into the room. Stolas blushes at the sudden contact. 'Wait why'd he blush? What the hell is happening to him?'

You're dead asleep on the bed. "So smart ass what do we do now?" He tries to cover up the fact that grabbing Blitzo's hand made him blush. "We look around bird brain." They start looking around the crummy place, dodging the clothes thrown on the floor. Eventually after looking around for a while Blitzo decides to look your computer as Stolas watches you sleep peacefully. Out of the corner of his eye Stolas sees him breaking into your computer. "Hey!" He yells silently. "What do you think you're doing?" "I'm looking through her computer dipshit." Blitzo rolls his eyes as though its obvious. "Well yes I know that but why?" "To make sure she ain't seeing some other loser."

Blitzo searches and suddenly stops dead in his tracks. "You need to see this birdie." They stare at the computer reading you're messages with some guy named Dennis. "Oh hell no" they growl out in unison. You whine and shift in your sleep as they go dead silent. Once they're sure you're not awake they continue. "We can't let this shit happen." Blitzo growls with malice. "I completely agree. This dirt bag isn't good enough for our Y/N." Stolas nods. "Wait, our?" "Well yes I suppose we'll need to team up to stop this guy and ensure that she stays with us. Is that an ok arrangement?" Stolas questions. "Yea.. Thatd be great." Blitzo looks down blushing madly.

[tewwor]

SHIPPING INFO // ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR MUSES SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW SHIPPING WORKS ON YOUR BLOG.

WHAT IS YOUR OTP FOR YOUR CHARACTER(S)?

🧍 you know how long that'd take me to list out??? anyways, i'll limit the ones that have made me the most feral over the years —

@huntershowl + litho : yall want to talk about slow burn? that moment where we both clapped and they mushed faces together will forever be ingrained in my brain. 4 entire years worth of waiting....

@hnjwn / @cordoliae + chanyeol : insane. they're insane! the sheer depth they somehow fumbled into is just.. outstanding tbh. even though they're both hibernating, i had to mention them

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?

i'm personally only comfortable with romantic age gaps of around 10ish years. and, yes, i'll admit that does bleed into my characters a lot.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY ARE CONSIDERED NSFT?

just before sexual foreplay + more. not that i really delve into that a lot anymore. but hey! if the stars align and the mood's right, then it still might happen.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?

with mutuals? no..... god no........ granted, chemistry is still a very big thing. not every random pair of muses will stick and that's okay! but if you have even an inkling of joy with a romantic ship between our muses, i'm almost always on the same exact boat. so please never, ever be afraid to voice that!

WHO ARE OTHER CHARACTERS YOU SHIP YOUR CHARACTER WITH?

**please know that i probably missed a ton ( rip my work shocked brain ), but these are just the first ships i can think of where we've had in threads or yapped ooc!**

currently established:

@huntershowl / @icarusplunged + seph/litho & seph/jie/ricochet & seph/adal/lior & rusa/ricochet — need i say more? the original marked dating sim hard launch tbh OHGAWOIGH anyways, doesn't matter how long either of us go on hiatus. one of us keeps crawling back

@miidnighters + bella/jie & hartley/cruor/iris — the way both of them just stuck? it's amazing, jaw dropping, heart warming!!! every aspect of a robust, well rounded relationship can be hit in either, i love them both so, so much.

just starting ( and super excited for ):

@xinxiins + jie — don't get me started on how many times my heart's ached already. there's such a cultural connection that guts me Every Time 😭

@chth0nia + cruor — every time i think of them, i think of that crying dog pic you sent. exactly how i feel about them!!!!

@bloodykneestm + whoever you want lbr — i've yet to write those starters for iggy and alastair but just you Wait……

@interxstitial + literally anyone — like, okay yeah there's ravi sure ( i do love them though ), but if there's anyone else that piques your interest... you just let me know and i'll fedex express ship them over. i'll even cover the cost dw

past:

@temporalobjects + botan/clarence/pildo & iwai + chanyeol : i don't think i've ever had a canon latch onto a ship so quickly before? and the fact that it's technically post canon and he's lumped with two sunshiny loveable dorks! then there's... yknow.. the other two that keep dancing around each other. shed many tears from angst and laughter over both ships, drawn at least 1 or 2 things for each ♡

@womanlives + mercy/jie & dez/clarence : my 'missing you' letter. i hope you know that those two ships have brought me such immense joy and tears at the same time. truly have a special place in my heart ♡♡♡

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?

more like showing interest, i feel like? asking can be sooooo anxiety inducing ( i know it can be the same with just mentioning it ), but there's a very good chance i'm already jumping up and down in glee with the exact same thought so! just let me know!!

ARE YOU SHIP-OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?

it's toned down a bit ( barely ) ever since i've been overtaken with how dear and important other types of connections are. but yeah, still love ships with all my heart

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?

n/a

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?

just let a clown know. yall know where to find me in my lil' clown corner. if you're more plot heavy, then hell yeah! we can chat up a storm! if you're more 'throw things at the wall and see what sticks' intensive, then hell yeah! i love punting these idiots out and see what happens in the weirdest ( or saddest ) situations. applies to both monogamous and polyamorous ships!

tagged by : i was tagged... in it so that counts right? ( thnkx @huntershowl muah muah )

[bolithesenate]

WIP GAME

@charmwasjess for your 2024 preview wip game i reached deep into my pockets (aka my google docs page)

from a WIP i started a while ago but i havent really touched in several months (though i am still obsessed w the idea)

there isn't enough fics out there forcussing on the AgriCorps or the ServeCorps in general so i took it into my own hands and came up with a TON of worldbuilding and at least one flowchart

this might beba bit confusing cuz of all the Corps-slang i put in, but hey. i think you can read it anyways

------------------------------------------------------

"System on the very edge of Mandalorian Space. Main planet's been experiencing abnormal atmospheric patterns over the last few weeks."

Jeisel looks up, calculation shining in her eyes. "What kind of abnormal?"

"The kind that means work for the Mercs," Ilian grins back, though it's a humorless thing, more akin to a baring of teeth. 

Immediately, Jeisel sits up, attention fully on the looming chagrian. "But it's Mandalorian Space," she warns, because someone here has to be the voice of reason and apparently that job falls to her this very moment.

"The edge of it," Ilian counters with a shrug, "And you know the Mercs. Republic borders don't really matter when you're operating outside of the Senate's graces anyways."

Which is true, of course, but Jeisel isn't concerned about the Republic side of things. They don't care an ass crack's width about the greater Corps in general. No, what she is thinking of are the very dangerous, very armed and very negatively predisposed to any Jedi activity within their borders ancestral enemies of theirs.

She frowns. "I cannot greenlight that, you know that"

Ilian lifts a brow in retaliation - an unfair move, because he knows it makes him look hotter - and crosses his arms. "Even if I tell you it's a baby signal?"

A hiss escapes her.

"Are you sure?"

He leans in over her table, tilting his head slightly and his lower horns scrape over the surface.. "I don't know. I just tell you what the AssCards told me. If they think it's a baby signal, it probably is." He rolls his eyes but Sian can tell that it's a mask. Now the strange tenseness she felt when he first crept up on her office made sense. "It's why I came straight to you, after all." Yep, there it is.

"You say Charting is saying its a baby signal?," she still is skeptical. Juniors shouldn't have been anywhere near Mandalorian space - apart from the Academy on Bandomeer… which might be the explanation she was looking for, actually. "Any word on the names? Who's gone missing in that timeframe?" If there truly were Junior Corpsmembers in trouble in Mandalorian Space then that should already have cast some waves throughout the greater Corps.

Ilian draws back, grimacing. "Well, they discovered it this morning, and so far all we know that the MediCorps is certain it's none of theirs. Wouldn't have made much sense anyways." 

Jeisel agrees there.

"We're waiting on the word from the AgriCorps," Ilian says, showing that his mind had jumped to the same place as hers, "With Bandomeer that close it could be them."

"All right," she reclines back into her chair, tapping away on the armrest, "Get someone on recon and bring me more infos. I’ll need to be able to justify this in front of the Council. Something that's not Charting guesswork and conspiracy theories."

[thescorpionmonarch]

ASTROFORCAST

New moon in gemini today, June 6. Venus cazimi and conjunct the moon all in the 16th degree. Mercury Conjunct jupiter in gemini and both trine Pluto in aquarius. We have quite the stellium here.

"Knowledge is power"

I will say it again. Knowledge is potential power. Wisdom on how to use it is actual power. And as with all things power, it has an addictive side to it.

People will try to suppress or hide knowledge or share it in a certain way to manipulate others. The bestself-defensee is using your intution to gain and use knowledge to understand stand people's tactics. Find hidden info anyway.

This also includes info being exposed when someone tried to hide it and shouldn't have. Pluto is on people's asses about abuse of pknowledgewledge and wisdom).

This energy is exciting as it is stressful. Chaotic. Fun. Brings a ton of anxiety. Roller coaster ride with loose bars. The only reason why you don't fall around the bend is because of the laws of physics. The natural order of things is responding to all forces at work, including random forces.

It's hard to think before you speak under this energy, but you can write it down or talk it out with someone as ideas with exploring (even if dark or negative). It helps to have another voice of reason who is more experienced than you when on chaotic thinking.

Obsession with books much? Remember, the library is free and you can even request transfers from any other libraries in the network they belong in.

....... but I know some of you are looking to own a library and want to hoard books before you get there, so you do you.

Pick up at least 1 foreign language.

Can't sit still much? You may want to start going out places where you can walk a lot or get a more physical job.

If you like to write and haven't done it as if late, now is the time to get back into it.

Sapiosexual is a thing.

Might be some interesting upcoming discussions with your loved ones.

Experimental people, please research first. Don't act on the new thing immediately. Write it down. Collect info.

Those who work with your hands a lot? Take advantage of this time to get more done.

Musicians are also getting a boost. The urge to write songs, play instruments, write music, edit sound, and sing are all present.

You may like to argue just because you like to experiment with people's minds and I am sure you are looking for a reaction, but not all reactions are worth experiencing. I suppose from any perspective it could be worth it, but I ask you this...

Is it truly worth it for you? I don't need that answer, but you do!

[hikkikoaubrey]

Okay, well I finally made a concept design for a Omori au I've been working on for a while.

Introducing: The Headspace Swap au (might be a temporary name, might not be)

Basically in this au the Headspace exclusive characters swap with the Faraway town cast with the main focus being on a introverted shut-in version of Sweetheart who spends most of her time on the internet. In this au the names of many of the characters will also change to fit this.

Sweetheart has a lot of mental health issues especially involving loneliness and her own appearance, often using the internet, video games and her group of loyal followers who blindly adore her as a means of ignoring / coping with this. Sweetheart has also become pretty egotistical because of her fanbase, being unable to take criticism and often starting arguments online.

Sweetheart often wishes for a life a luxury where she is loved and adored by others, having tons of servants who will do her every whim and being as pretty and cute as she truly wants to be.

Additional info and ideas on Sweetheart: Is a streamer with the website she streams on being based on the keeper of the castle, either lives by herself in her own apartment or lives with her 3 grandma's. In this au she is transfem (which also affects her self-esteem issues about her appearance)

Other ideas I have for the au so far are: Space boy will be the leader of a biker gang, The Slime Girls are a part of their own small band, Humphrey is a pet fished owned by the slime girls, Rococo is Sweetheart's adoptive brother who is off to art school and his original family died in a housefire when he was really young. Mari is the equivalent of Sweetheart in this au, being named Sundai and taking inspiration from the scrapped ice cream princess character from Omori.

Anyway I hope you guys like my concepts for this au and please tell me your thoughts about it if you guys want.

[aghostinmyownmachine]

dbh-adjacent writing-program nonsense under the cut, a.k.a. let's talk a bit about WriteMonkey 3

I've used WriteMonkey 2 and 3 on and off for. hm. I guess it's gotta be eight or nine years now? but those instances of use have always been erratic and short lived, and I've usually returned to either Scrivener or, more frequently for many reasons, MS Word. (I also did just a ton of first-draft writing in discord back when I had an account and c/ped my writing from there into Word. near-peerless syncing between devices, appalling security practices. what can ya do 🙃)

anyway, due to ~circumstances~ I've switched to writing on a computer that isn't my writing program–filled work laptop, and so I've been experimenting with WM3 again because it's super lightweight due to plaintext markdown instead of rich text and I have a license key for it, which = fun plugins. it's also way less complicated and labor intensive to set up per project and use than, say, Scrivener. I love Scrivener! but scriv can be overwhelming and distracting when all I want to do is write, especially if I want a unique, quick-to-set-up theme (and I always do, because Aesthetic Is Everything), which is one of the reasons WM3 is so handy

in addition to the gorgeous stripped-down UI that showcases whatever background I choose (mine can be found here!), WM3 has some really neat little plugins? I don't actually use the word-frequency checker myself, but WM3's shows you where each word appears in the document via the little indicator bars to the right of the word, which. rad! (you can tell at a glance which chapters are written in whose POV based off name usage alone and I think that's neat.) also, when you click on a given word in the frequency list, it'll highlight that word throughout the document and also display all uses of it vertically over the scroll bar path. lots of nice little visual indicators of what's going on. I just really like the design, it's simple but extremely useful and intuitive

admittedly, Scrivener cannot be beat when it comes to how easily you're able to make notes in it due to its multitude of note-taking locations, plus it has internal splitscreen capabilities that make referencing a second document a breeze, so there's definitely a mental transition involved when it comes to WM3 and its single-document-at-a-time system, on top of switching to markdown-style comments/reminders. that said! being able to not only see those comments below the headings in the left-hand sidebar but also jump to them when they're clicked? stellar 10/10 would use again

finally, the repository. I <3 the repository. being able to quickly toss whatever text I'm not quite ready to delete or info I know I'll want to reference at some point in the future into the repository is great. it's a seamless process, only a couple seconds' worth of effort required, allowing my focus to stay on what I'm writing instead of distracting myself by tabbing my way through various open files to find my notes. plus the repository is searchable(!!!!!), and using it also keeps the actual text editor clean visually, especially since the right-hand sidebar can be hidden too:

hm! possibly that is a sneak preview of chapter one! who can say!

so yeah! if you're looking for a stripped-down, highly customizable, portable writing program, I absolutely recommend it. there are downsides, of course, the biggest one being no official WM3 mobile options available at present, but since the program is both portable and plaintext, you can toss it into a syncing service and access it via your handheld devices that way. it's also not open source, and you need to pay to access the truly useful plugin features. with all that said, if you don't mind fiddling around with some CSS to make everything look juuuuuuuuust right, you can get yourself a really snazzy setup with relatively little effort. but maybe that's just me—aesthetic is king and all that

[i-heart-hxh]

hello! I'm a baby hunter x hunter fan, and I've just finished watching the greed island arc. I'm not surprised that I fell hard for killugon! the funny thing is that I decided to watch the 2011 anime despite knowing the repeated hiatus the series has gone through. im not a fan of unfinished series, but killugon hooked me in.

but the series is quite old, so I can't really avoid any spoilers while browsing for info about it. apparently, I read that killugon will undergo extreme hardship in the next arcs and that what's worse is they will separate in the end. this makes me cautious and kind put on the brakes in continuing watching, and I'm hesitant to continue the series. but I found your blog and your recent post about being hopeful that killugon calms me down greatly. so I will continue the series. but I'm not looking forward to the journey. my heart breaks for them, and I haven't even watched it yet.

and the whole alluka thing gives me mixed feelings too. like, tbh i know she/he is killua's sister but she/he is also the factor for their separation. so I'm not eager to learn about alluka but I know she is needed for killugon character and plot development.

anyway, just dropping by to thank you for giving me hope for killugon and that we will see them again. since I'm a new fan, idk where to rant my feelings about this series. killugon give me the FEELS so much 😭

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to message me, and welcome to the HxH fandom!

It makes me sad that you got spoiled (though I understand how hard that is to avoid if you look the series up at all), but I'm glad to hear my meta helped you decide to continue in spite of what you've heard!

FWIW, I think the arcs after where you are are well, well worth experiencing even with the outcome. The next arc was what truly sold me on HxH, taking it from a great, enjoyable series to my favorite piece of fiction. There are also a ton of amazing Gon and Killua moments in it (some of the most downright shippy moments, too, especially on Killua's side), even with all the eventual pain. Chimera Ant arc is long and can be slow in parts, but please stick with it to the end!

Please give Alluka a chance, too! She's a fascinating character and not as straightforward as you may think from just hearing little bits about her.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings when you finish the anime, and please try to enjoy your journey through it! Your first time watching HxH is a precious treasure. I wish I could go back and experience it all for the first time again!

[tabinavi]

Tabi's 2023 Spotify Wrapped

It's been a while since I been on here. I forgot I had this thing. May need to kick it to get the gears going again... Anyways, I come back with a long form post about my 2023 Spotify Wrapped. I did not expect this to come out at all. I forgot this thing existed despite it being a big deal for music listeners worldwide. Though today, I review my year of listening to tons of new artists and albums.

Top Songs

My top songs! Let's go from ascending order. - Sender has been an addictive and hypnotizing track for me for a while. I love the bass arpeggio that plays throughout the track, and the layers of instrumentation that play with each other on this track. I have wrote a deeper review of Pinback's Summer in Abaddon here. Great track on an album with equally amazing and catchy tunes too. - A deeply personal track for me is I'm Still Your F** (censor bcz idk tumblr rules). Broken Social Scene as a whole feels very personal to me. Their pretty and juvenile indie rock cuts through my heart. I'm Still Your F** cuts deeply. It's a painful track to bare, but it truly makes me understand who I am as a person. Broken Social Scene is for the people! saoooee - King Fish Pies is a phenomenal song. I get so mesmerized by the 2 chord progression, the instruments that come in and out, and Tim Smith's great vocals. It's so cathartic. And it all comes together in this beautiful, loud climax. If I ever needed to fill my head, I used this song. - Pot Kettle Black is such a great rock tune. It's a track I consider "fun". A beautifully written rock tune with hints of country. I used this track when I needed a up-lifting, hype song, though the lyrics may not be so much that. - I became so obsessed with Trainer. I garnered 41 plays on this song since April. Every minuscule detail about this song is beautiful. Beginning, middle, end; especially the end. This track was everything to me. It still feels like the first time every time I listen to it. So good. Thank You Pinback.

Top Artists

Wow, Pinback! Plus some extra infos for y'all. Sort of a surprise and not for me. If I did the math correctly, I was in the top 175 listeners of Pinback; nice. I have talked about my praises about them and the feelings they give me. Let's go for #1! Amazing duo I am grateful to listen to. I have always been a Radiohead and Kikuo enjoyer since 2019-2020. Both very special artists to me that will never leave my conscious of music. Wilco and Midlake are new listens for me. I was obsessed with Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Midlake's Bamnan and Silvercork. Every year's gotta have a phase which I'm not happy shows up, but this time I am happy with how the top 5 came out.

Overview I am happy with how my year came out. No matter who you are, if you care slightly about Wrapped, then you care A LOT about how your top 5's look. I think this year came out perfectly, showing my favorites, habits, and what I found this year. Let's go on for another year!

[josouhenshin]

I've been doing some digging to see if I can find any kind of guide or play report on trans 2 to try and set some expectations. it's... predictably pretty slim pickings. most of the results are just different storefronts that offer the download, or database entries with like the name of a romance option and not much further info

but there were a couple of blog posts I was able to find:

one of them was just a really brief blurb about how the poster visited a game store and snagged a flyer about it. they uploaded some scans of the ad which is kinda fun, but jury's out on whether they ever actually played it. the blog seems to have been consistently pretty active for the last 20 years, but I haven't really tried to read much else there.

the other one I found is a short review/let's play that basically confirms everything I was scared of lmao. the romance routes are heavily dependent on outfit choices (of course) and it sounds like the author (furi) failed a couple of romance routes at the last second due to not wearing the right stuff. hopefully the quiz on the site is enough to go off of there. some of the posts also include some outfits that worked for them, but the files aren't images, so I think they probably go in the outfit viewer bonus feature thing, which I don't have access to yet for some reason.

furi also seems generally irritated about the changes to the formula and art style between games. which like, it is a very big shift. it sounds like the first one was much easier to brute force also, which spells disaster for yours truly.

oh, and they drew some fanart of their favorite character, yuu:

cute! I believe they describe her like: "she's that one ayanami-like character every eroge has, but I liked her the most anyway."

the rest of furi's site is pretty neat, they have a ton of pics of them doing crossplay, and it seems like quite a bit of discussion about media, fashion, and motorsports. sadly the last update was in 2013, and since posts on the social media site they linked seem to have ended around 2015 or so, the trail went cold there. I hope they've been doing well since then.

[charcubed]

You know what, I'm starting to come around on the idea that Marvel's inconsistent writing with Bucky & Steve is on purpose and a fake out.

Because that interview with the Rogers musical writer is so randomly timed and dropped strangely self aware info about Bucky, and it feels like a little wink wink nudge nudge "we are playing into the in-universe revisionist history aspect"

That and Secret Invasion's finale showing Gi'ah has both Bucky AND Steve's DNA... that felt random because not only do Steve & Buck have the exact same powers but Skrulls are already superstrengthed... Unless they consider Bucky's gun shootin' skills to be significant, it feels like it would've just been Steve's powers as a "look a reference" moment, but it went out of its way to mention both of them 👀

I'm fine with being a little delulu, but even if this wasn't planned during phase 3, it's starting to feel like there's some people at Marvel who are aware of how the characters were treated and how absurd it is... I'm fully joining the "it's nonsensical on purpose" train.

It'd actually be really smart if it is, playing with the concept of their identities and history easily being warped and lied about for propaganda purposes, that's been happening since CATFA, I'm a believer. Marvel's people wouldn't be hammering on this aspect of the characters so much so much if they truly wanted it to be the "end" for them.

Oh my God, Anon... Holy shit lmao. I hit up Google because of your ask, wondering what interview you were talking about, and I just found it. Thank you so much for the heads up! Going bonkers over it, naturally.

I'm not sure I'd personally say I feel like it's strangely timed or a wink/nudge to anything... Most likely MCU Direct just saw the absolute carnage in their notifications every time they brought up the musical and decided to get that man on the phone. Which I fucking love tbh! Wish I had that power, personally!

Putting the quotes below:

"There was a much longer version of this show, and there is a much longer version of this show. Hopefully, you know, if anybody would ever let us do it, the longer version of this show had Bucky as a much bigger player in this. That's the other really big person in Cap's life from the get-go. I could absolutely see a Bucky and Cap song in there somewhere. But we just literally didn't have the time." "We know there are tons of fans who are upset because Peggy said a line that Bucky said. Obviously, we all knew that. It wasn't a mistake. We all knew; we all knew. We all made the choice that for this 35-minute show we wanted to get the line in, and the way to get it in was to land on the Peggy storyline." "Absolutely there could be a great Broadway version of this show in which Bucky has a really big part and will say the lines he needs to say. So it's interesting to think how that could work." "We didn't get very far with that because we sort of timed things out and how many songs we had. We knew we wanted the love song, the 'I want' song, the Nick Fury song, and we had the other two songs. And, we're like 'Jeez, we're almost out of time. We're already at 32 minutes.'" "We knew it was basically a Cap and Peggy love story from start to finish. Once we came up with that, we're like 'we can do that show and make it great in 30 minutes'."

"We all knew" is INNNNSANE lmao. Wild shit.

Something very poetic about the musical about the man out of time not having enough "time" to include the main relationship in his life... Much to think about... Anyway. Really fascinating stuff here lmao. Intentional or not (who is to say!), life and art sure do continue to imitate each other here, huh?

As for Secret Invasion, what little I know about that show is that it was lowkey kind of a clusterfuck by the end and considering how bad the finale sounded I'm disinclined to read too far into all the powers listed that they dumped on Gi'ah. But! The fact that the heroes' DNA was collected is interesting insofar that it means Steve (in particular) can be or could have been impersonated by Skrulls at any point 👀 My money (and hopes, kind of?) remain on HYDRA though, if they go for it. Still makes the most sense I think.

But yeah, the last thing you said is exactly why I think it'd be such a smart move! Clearly Marvel is now playing in the realm of trying to retcon old shit (like Rhodey 🙄) if they think they can or should to further future storylines, so in my humble opinion it would be very easy for them to play in the spaces they've deliberately left open in regards to how fucked up Steve's "ending" was. Steve's final scenes were and still are theeee biggest topic and even ~debate~ in pop culture in regards to Endgame, and if they didn't do something with that I think they'd be idiots at this point. IT'S ALL RIGHT THERE.

[literaticat]

Hey Jenn! Just curious: What are some of the best conferences you’ve been to? What made them so good?

When I was a "young and hungry" agent (literally), I went to EVERY conference, because I was actively building my list and I needed the money and food! I am now old and tired, and I don't need the buffet, so I have stricter rules about what I will agree to.

-- I will only go to Children's Book specific conferences -- the ones that are "general interest" and happen to have some kids book people are the worst. It's just not a priority for the organizers and they are invariably attracting people who likewise don't prioritize kids books. And since I don't give a fig about grownup books... well, it's not a match.

-- I max out at 4 a year, and will only go to conferences where they pay an honorarium, travel food and lodging etc -- they are A LOT of work, and the idea that I would schlep to the back of beyond on my own dime is LAUGHABLE

-- I will only go to conferences in places I *want* to go, either because they are beautiful or cool, or because I have clients/friends/family there. I can't do virtual conferences, I'm zoomed out.

So all that being said, probably this answer is going to sound like cheating or something, but really, for children's book writing, the BEST conference I have ever been to is the one my agency puts on twice a year, the Big Sur Children's Writer's Conference. It started in, yep, Big Sur, and has now grown so big that the winter one is in a larger venue in Monterey CA, and there is an East Coast version in Cape Cod. (In fact, I'm leaving for Big Sur Cape Cod tomorrow, excited!)

It's obviously too late to get in for THIS one, but the next California one is February 2024 and the registration opens in August, keep your eyes peeled for it, here's more info.

Anyway, what makes it good is that instead of being a bunch of people giving speeches all weekend, it is small workshops throughout the weekend where attendees get hands-on feedback from their mentors (who might be an agent, editor, or successful author), like mini-critique groups, and lots of time for revising, in beautiful locations -- I have to tell you, it sounds cheesy but I have seen MIRACLES happen from Friday to Sunday, it's really wild how much this dedicated time to dig into the book helps writers revise. It's a kind of alchemy. There are always great conversations and I invariably end the weekend feeling like my OWN creative well is filled up - and I'm not even one of the writers! Really, truly a great experience, and I do NOT get paid to say that, I promise you.

Other than that -- I have discovered that for MYSELF, I am not great with Virtual conferences -- and I will only go to Children's Book specific conferences -- the ones that are "general interest" and happen to have some kids book people are the worst. It's just not a priority for the organizers and they are invariably attracting people who likewise don't prioritize kids books. And since I don't give a fig about grownup books... well, it's not a match.

Other kids book specific ones I have liked -- I had a great time at the Highlights Foundation doing a program (again, small, intimate, beautiful location) -- and I had been invited to the Book Barn in Austin for a similar type program which I also think would have been awesome but then the pandemic happened so it had to switch to virtual. :( But they do have great programming - I just have not been there in person so IDK what that would have been like (probably great!)

I like the big SCBWI conferences, NY and LA, mostly because of friends and clients being there. I used to always attend NE-SCBWI because a ton of my friends and clients go and it's fun to see everyone, but I haven't been invited since the Pando. (And I'm sure there are other great regional SCBWI conferences - I just can't remember them all! Because again, it's been years since there were big in-person ones I went to!)

When I was a "young and hungry" agent (literally), I went to EVERY conference, because I was actively building my list and I needed the money and food! I am now old and tired, and I don't need the buffet, so I have stricter rules about what I will agree to.

-- I will only go to Children's Book specific conferences -- the ones that are "general interest" and happen to have some kids book people are the worst. It's just not a priority for the organizers and they are invariably attracting people who likewise don't prioritize kids books. And since I don't give a fig about grownup books... well, it's not a match.

-- I max out at 4 a year, and will only go to conferences where they pay an honorarium, travel food and lodging etc -- they are A LOT of work, and the idea that I would schlep to the back of beyond on my own dime is LAUGHABLE

-- I will only go to conferences in places I *want* to go, either because they are beautiful or cool, or because I have clients/friends/family there. I can't do virtual conferences, I'm zoomed out.

[troglobite]

lsdkfj

i just realized something

i'm constantly like "jfc these other people are so disappointing and frustrating and how am i supposed to work w this if they won't meet me halfway?"

and then in response to myself i'm like "jfc i'm such a fucking asshole. i'm not perfect! i don't do everything right all the time! can't i have some fucking compassion for them not getting it right?"

and that dichotomy of thought has been eating me up inside but i just realized

it happens bc the PROBLEM is that i don't receive FEEDBACK

i cannot judge my own efforts or quality or even just how i AM in the world without feedback

and when ppl don't give me feedback

i have no idea what i'm doing and can only do my best and hope i'm making sense, and i just keep trying the same thing or tons of different things, to the same result/effect

which is MADDENING

so truly whatever other criticisms or complaints i have abt certain interactions or whatever

ultimately

it comes down to the fact that i'm not receiving feedback

AND ALSO

that i feel like i can't TRUST the scant feedback i do get

oh that's nice you think i'm the best dm you've ever had

is that just bc we're friends and i really indulge your playstyle and gave you some fun things to do in a couple sessions?

or is that bc you actually enjoy all the elements? will you tell me if there's something you DON'T enjoy? will you tell me if there's something you WANT that you aren't getting? will you tell me if a session is too long, too short? will you interrupt me for a bathroom break or snack break?

bc currently, nobody does

and it's like

I Cannot Function Like That

I NEED FEEDBACK.

and so without it, i get stuck thinking abt myself and them in these ridiculous circles, trying everything i can, and it's just fruitless! and hopeless!!!!

anyway watching adventuring academy is maybe the best thing i've ever done bc it's so gratifying to hear these kind of niche world famous GMs talk about the same fucking things happening at their tables and how they deal with it and how they've found to communicate abt various things

anyway also just generally in life i need feedback

did i say something kind of stupid and it hurt you? is there something i can do to help w that? is there something i should do or not do in the future?

i would love to know

will i maybe spiral about it for a little while? possibly! but that's my business. that's for me to deal with and learn how to cope with. i'll fucking live.

and if the feedback and info you gave me is true and correct, then the anxiety spirals will stop bc we'll see that it paid off! and we'll all be happier and better off for it!

anyway.

my experience as a dm so far is truly just like

"OH MY FUCKING GOD NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I JUST WANTED PEOPLE TO BE ENTIRELY STRAIGHTFORWARD WITH ME 100% OF THE TIME MORE THAN NOW."

and i'm autistic, so i ALWAYS want that. but dming is like that turned up to a million.

anyway if given the opportunity i'm going to bash this into my fucking players' heads bc i'm tired of all of us fucking suffering

or rather, me DEFINITELY suffering, and the rest of them POSSIBLY suffering, but part of the reason i'm suffering is bc I DON'T FUCKING KNOW IF THEY'RE SUFFERING!!!!!

side note i'm watching this episode of adventuring academy with captions off bc my fingers got fucked up from typing today and i already submitted 22 caption corrections on ONE VIDEO to dropout so i cannot tempt myself by witnessing even more egregious errors that i will desperately want to fix

[greensparty]

Movie Review: Here

Director Robert Zemeckis tends to get a bad wrap in recent years, but people forget how original and exciting his early films were like I Wanna Hold Your Hand (I was honored to have my short The Beatles Boston screen with it at Mendon Twin Drive-In in 2017), Used Cars, and his magnum opus, Back to the Future, a perfect movie from beginning to end. Zemeckis is truly regarded as a technical innovator for his visual effects in the BTTF movies, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and Forrest Gump, which he won an Oscar for. But in the last few years with his emphasis on animated (Beuwulf), remakes (Pinocchio) and noble letdowns (Welcome to Marwen), he hasn't had that same magic of his earlier films. But again, credit where credit is due, Zemeckis is a tremendous influence on me with the BTTF movies and therefore I might not like everything he does, but I'm always curious what he's doing next. Thirty years since Forest Gump, Zemeckis has reunited with screenwriter Eric Roth and cast members Tom Hanks (a Zemeckis regular in Cast Away, Polar Express, and Pinocchio), and Robin Wright (Beuwulf and A Christmas Carol) for Here, which opened this weekend.

movie poster

The entire movie shows one area from one angle over the course of centuries. There is intercutting between dinosaurs, Native Americans, an early aviation enthusiast, the inventor of the La-Z-Boy recliner, and more, but the primary inhabitants are a post-World War II couple Al (Paul Bettany) and Rose (Kelly Reilly) about to start a family. Among there kids is Richard, who is eventually played by Hanks. He brings his high school sweetheart Margaret (Wright) to meet his family and eventually they have their own family in the house. It intercuts between the family and the inhabitants of the space before and after.

Hanks and Wright in Here

There are some genuine moments here and I can say I liked, well, pieces of this. But the entire movie hinges on the foundation of the gimmick. Some movies based on a gimmick can work (i.e. found footage movies...the good ones anyways), but in this case the gimmick of showing one space (mostly the living room) over a period of time from one angle is just Zemeckis trying to do a ton of "Hey Look at Me! Look what I can do!" directing. Trying to show the space and highlight one area and intercut that with another time period in the same space (i.e. two different pandemics or Ben Franklin and then intercut to a costume party in the 70s where someone is dressed like him). At this point in Zemeckis's career he doesn't need to do "Hey Look at me and what I can do!" directing. He has proven it already! I felt like there could've been a more interesting film about this family without the gimmick and the technical wizardry. I get that it was trying to show all of these life moments through this space - birth, death and everything in between. But there was also (semi-spoiler) too many deaths (I think there were fewer deaths in some horror films). There was a better movie in this that was actually held back by the gimmick. Hanks is always reliable and the emotional heart of the film was Bettany. But in the end, Here wasn't here nor there unfortunately.

For info on Here

2.5 out of 5 stars

[light-lanterne]

K SO on the topic of Ebenezer Byers and radiation poisoning, because I can never think about his story without thinking of them: The radium girls. Google them if you haven't heard of them ;_; Really sad story. But imagine Will in the position of a radium girl with how he's a painter and everything :( And some wiki info "The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting radium dials ��� watch dials and hands with self-luminous paint."

The story lends itself immaculately to a Vecna plot.

Also;

"After being told that the paint was harmless, the women in each facility ingested deadly amounts of radium after being instructed to "point" their brushes on their lips in order to give them a fine tip; some also painted their fingernails, faces, and teeth with the glowing substance. The women were instructed to point their brushes in this way because using rags or a water rinse caused them to use more time and material, as the paint was made from powdered radium, zinc sulfide (a phosphor), gum arabic, and water."

It's really just horrifying. The scientists and owners all knew what they were doing and just didn't care at all for these poor women :( But yeah their story is really an interesting read or there's tons of videos on yt, I listened to someone talk about it while painting a doll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DBgsloeg4E

Your take on Ebenezer's story being an upside down thing is really interesting!! Poor Will, always gotta be put through the wringer lol

hello ! please forgive me for taking well over a week to reply, i've unfortunately been terribly busy u.u

i'd heard about the radium girls !! my mom told me about them ages ago. it wasn't quite the same, but one of her aunties died from lead poisoning because she used to work at a toy factory and, to paint the little lead soldier figurines they made, the workers were told to lick their brushes in a similar way to what you shared (thus, poisoning themselves little by little). unfortunately, the soldiers would continue being produced for several years, all the way until the moment when plastic toys became cheaper to make.

anyway, both circumstances (and ebenezer's) are truly awful and it really sucks how greedy businesses will put people in harm's way just so they can get some profit. alas, such are the ways of capitalism,,, :\

oh well, moving on to fiction to clear the mind, i'm glad you liked my take on will suffering the withdrawal from the upside down !! the poor lad is really always going through it. as for the idea of will being a painter and being poisoned, i could also see it as a brenner thing :O something to do with him using children to do his dirty work, or perhaps him running bizarre experiments to see the effects of such substances on an unaware will.

lots of ideas for sure, so thank you for sharing this ! once again, i apologise for the delay in my reply, and i hope you have a wonderful day / night !!

post this is in relation to || annexed video

[talictries]

friendship vent (agane LMAO)

i didnt say this before because i was too embarrassed LMAO but a little over 2 weeks ago i ruined my best friend of 5 year's 21st birthday by getting way too drunk, breaking up the whole event, and having a ambulance called on me LMAO. i am ok (obvi) but I've always been the one who's leeched off her for emotional support shit (because i have no friends except her lol) and we've had these similar arguments in the past but because it was supposed to be her big day, and it was in front of all her friends from uni and shit, and her family (which had to deal with me and house me for that night) none have ever been this bad.

because my mental health is so shit, she often worries if I've like kms-ed even tho i wouldn't do that. but i gave her space for 2 weeks and finally messaged her today being like yo hope you're well all that shit. she messaged back (a good sign) and we talked for a tiny but but she was like I'm still mad at u abt the party thing but I'm also worried about your mental health.'

and like, sure, i could have just said 'dw I'm all good' and moved on, but in the past 3 years where I've lost all my other friends and family (no one died dw, just stopped talking to friends and family moved far away) I've always kinda leaned on her the most. and over the past few months when my mental health was at its lowest, i could tell she was starting to get anxious just by my mere existence (thinking i was dead or smth) and its been weighing on my mind that she doesn't really need that shit in her life, because her life comparatively is a fuck ton more stressful atm.

so basically i info dumped (not a slay) and was like look i was giving u space, but I've been thinking about our friendship which i am the one who always messes up, and ik we've had a few conversations abt it before but i just wanted to state my piece. already from my side this has been a slightly unhealthy relationship because i know i am far too dependant on you, and i don't want this turning into a more unhealthy friendship because before that was a v internal me thing whereas now its actually impacting your life. so i love our friendships and its happy moments but i want you to really evaluate your life and make the final decision as to if you want me in it or not. maybe not for a few weeks, or moths, or ever, but i feel guilty that YOU feel guilty about it.

and ik it isn't my place to dictate her feelings or whatever but now i fear if i just kept my mouth shut we'd be on the path to getting back to normal. but at the same time, if i didn't say this then i feel like I'm mental-health-trapping her because she thinks if she leaves me ill kms??? like baby trapping but not really. anyway idk. she said 'this is a lot, i need time' which is totally fair and i will give it to her, but honestly now i feel I've been TOO real and she'll be like 'yeah i actually don't need talic in my life' and that may send me spiralling because i have zero support systems (apart from ao3 LMAO) without her.

oh well. if it works out it will, if it doesn't then its better for both of us in the long-run ig. just sad I've ruined another 5 year long friendship because of my alcoholic clingy stupid mental-health-issue-ridden ass.

lol

im ok dw. i truly want what's best for her and if its a life without me then i accept it. i will not be selfish and take more from her like i have. besides having zero friends will legit make me go out and make more because i die without social interaction (i say not showing up to uni for the third day week in a row because I'm lowkey agoraphobic and high-key depressed)

slay. perhaps i will write the most gut-churning sad angst to cope