#august ACQUIRING MORE STUFF

[keratonin]

i just finished reading one last stop and 😭 help i'm mOURNFUL about the fact that i'm done reading it and will never read it for the first time ever again

[benchwarming]

i meant to reflect a bit before the end of 2024 about the experience of quitting my job last summer, but then my holidays were disrupted by norovirus AND conjunctivitis 🤪 so i didn't get around to it. until now!

i quit my job in august. i'd been at a startup for 6.5 years and had no plans to leave, buuuut then we were acquired in '23 by a big multinational firm. i won't get into all the ways that our new parent company eroded what had been to that point a pretty good place for me to work, but man, it fuckin sucked.

i was admittedly sensitive to it because "toxic legacy corporation led by sociopaths and staffed by mediocre assholes" was exactly the environment i was escaping when i'd joined the startup. but having to kowtow to a new c-suite of boomer-brained idiots with no sense, strategy, or discipline at a company i never wanted to work for in the first place was excruciating. especially bc i then had to turn around and try to make the best of their idiocy for a team of people* looking to me for reassurance and motivation.

i've never quit a job without having my next one lined up. it took like a month to admit to myself i was serious about the idea. then another month to be convinced by friends and fam that i was allowed to quit. then a few business days to calculate how long my finances would hold up. then another month to figure out what would have to happen for me to actually go through with it.

but of course something did happen, and i did quit. it was very scary!!! and i felt so guilty leaving my team. but i was able to kick off some freelance copywriting work right away, and a freelance consulting project came my way after that, and more things popped up after that. and while i have a lot to learn yet about how to make freelancing a sustainable long-term career, i'm extremely confident that it's worth it to try, at least for a while, bc uhhhh i am. SO much happier?!

i don't think it hit me exactly how much work i was doing, or how hard i was pushing myself to stay on top of it all, until i didn't have to do it anymore. i'm still getting used to that honestly. for the first few weeks i'd jolt awake worrying i'd forgotten something on my to-do list or automatically pull up zoom bc i felt sure i had a meeting to attend.

in comparison to that garbage, freelancing has been easy breezy. but i don't mean easy like mindless, i just mean like - i'm able to dictate the terms and scope of the work, and as a result it doesn't feel like "stuff i have to do" so much as "stuff i'm working on." that may be a distinction without a difference for a lot of people but it's turned out to be a pretty big deal for me: if i gotta work to live (and right now i do), then getting to call the shots and fully own the results makes it easier to conceptualize the work as an opportunity (fun! interesting! good use of time!) rather than an obligation (annoying! inflexible! standing between me and fun stuff!). and after years of managing a team it's such a relief to be responsible only for myself again.

of course the other thing i had at that job was a good salary. and i won't lie, i really miss the money. but i think i can get my income back up in that ballpark by the end of 2025 if i play my cards right. and even if i don't, i know now that enduring corporate agonies for that kind of money is no longer a worthwhile tradeoff for me.

since quitting there have been moments where i've felt dumb for not realizing sooner that freelance would be a better fit at this point in my professional life than a staff job. but i went into 2024 knowing i needed to take some kind of step forward in my career, and i did, and i learned stuff about myself in the process, and now i hate being alive at least 25% less per day than i used to. and that's sort of the whole point of everything, right?**

*by december, 80% of our department would be laid off, and the few left over would be desperate to leave. a really unfortunate end to an incredible marketing organization.

**of course now my therapist is like "so since 2023 was your Living Situation year, and 2024 was your Career year, does that mean 2025 is going to be your Relationship year?" and ughghghfhfhgf. like she's right, but. ugh. but she's right! but UGHHH

[kat-124]

cries i dont know what to ask you about hook and imp oumm......

maybe stuff like when did u make them , any lore not on the thingy thing u wanna share....sobs i dunno they are really cool tho :3

haii! thats fair, thankyu tho :3

i made them about uhhh august last year !

some fun facts errrr, hook dyed her horn pink to match imps!

more stuff under the cut oh boy

hook has prety good arm strength because. um. butcherin practices!

imp has not consumed inphernal meat to her knowledge!

if they had hair uhh theyd both have curly-coily type texture, hook would keep her hair shorter or in protective styles, when curly have it tied back or sm like that. imp would have hair about t to her shoulders or longer depending on style, some cute styles like maybe butterfly locs or passion twists

imp has snow leopard tail :3 she keeps it very nice and brushed! hook likes petting it and imp likes it being pet :]

imps the one that confessed first, and hook was like 'hell yea!! ^_^'

imp doesnt rlly use her gear, (implosion bomb) since its a bomb and she doesnt tend to get into conflicts, but if she was in one she'd throw it, and itd pull people towards it, of giving her time to flee. also shes a good runner.

hooks gear (deluxe hook shot) lets her ehem. acquire people by grappling them in, it has 4 claws with one of them being larger, which if needed, can essentially stab them and lethally injure them before they can even comprehend what happened.

when hook was in the cult she would use her gear to easily and quickly transport the bodies she had to clean up

hook used that large claw to rip her glass eye out, she was having a sorta mental break when she did it so her accuracy sucked, thats why the scar is so large and messy

imps not stupid, she knew about hooks business before they started dating. she started working alongside her for it a month or two after they started dating however.

i think hook and pwny (other oc, basically shes the pony express) have met before, before imp became hooks delivery person. hook had pwny taking a package to deliver to a customer, but halfway through the trip the smell inside the box becomes apparent and.. pwny no longer accepts deliveries from hook because of his own morals

thas all for now ^_^ feel free to ask more ill yap forever

[bluedalahorse]

August for the character breakdown game!

Or if someone else already named him, how about [one secondary character of your choice] from YR?

August you asked for, and August you shall receive! I was hoping someone would ask me about him, and I’m really glad you did.

How I feel about this character: Good lord. The absolute perfect storm of what this character did to my psyche. I am not going to lie that I spent a lot of first season (and significant parts of second and third) screaming at him. And sometimes he makes me really mad at him even now! At the same time, he’s well-written and well-acted and terribly interesting, and I have wanted him to be able to figure stuff out and fix his life from the moment I learned that his father died by suicide and he’s dealing with traumatic grief. I have wanted to climb through the TV screen and pluck him out of an environment like Hillerska. August is such a fascinating example of the way the system fails even those it’s supposed to protect. I just want to break him out of the system, and write him into new situations. In conclusion, what a tragic blorbo I seem to have acquired. (Totally valid if he isn’t other people’s but I see why he’s mine.)

All the people I ship romantically with this character: First and foremost, Sara. I have a weakness for them as two weirdos who see a similar sort of loneliness and want in one another, who get drawn together even though there are plenty of reasons that that’s a bad idea. There are so many stories that can be written about them still. I think Sara breaking up with August was where their relationship needed to be at the end of season three, but I’m not ruling out futures-with-growth-and-therapy or alternate universes. They have the potential to be just as epic as any other pairing on the show! Outside of Sara… well, in my Nils post I talked about how much I ship August/Nils, and how there’s so much there that is currently untapped by fandom. And then Simon/August and Alexander/August are ideas that intrigue me, even though those are more in the realm of deliberate disaster fics.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I came out of season 3 really enjoying the terrible preppy boy friendship trio so August and Nils and Vincent’s friendship dynamic fascinates me. As someone who went to an odd little college with a lot of traditions, I could relate to it a lot. The people who’ve been in close quarters with you, who you’ve had fun with, but who you’ve also been jealous of and you’re constantly on one another’s nerves… man. I really felt seen by that kind of complexity! I also have to admit I have a soft spot for August and Wille’s relationship, since Malte and Edvin have a lot of chemistry together, and because it seems like August and Wille’s healing is so interdependent. I could talk about that for ages, really.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I cannot even pick one to share because I’m fairly sure most of my opinions about August are unpopular. Liking August itself, in a way a fan does where you want to write fanfic focused on him or ship him with other characters or envision a more healed future for him—even if you repeatedly write multiple paragraph disclaimers about the harm that he did—kind of feels unpopular. And I wish it was a little less unpopular. And maybe my unpopular opinion is that the unpopularity of this opinion (August is indeed worthy of our fannishness) is not wholly by accident. I have no beef with the portion of fandom that just doesn’t particularly like him and doesn’t care to explore him in fanworks. Sometimes you don’t like the dark-haired Byronic asshole and that’s a valid personal preference! And for some people, engaging with August as a character isn’t something they can do with full emotional safety, and I would never want people to have to engage with him if that’s the case for them. He does do legitimate harm. At the same time, there is also a second current in fandom that is actively hostile to fans engaging with August in a fannish way, that uses language in a way that reduces him to his absolute worst deeds and does bad faith readings of any post that dares to explore him beyond the harm he does. I’ve heard stories of sargust edits on TikTok getting endless hate comments, and talked to writers who’ve wanted to write August-centric fic but figured it wouldn’t be worth not getting many hits. I’ve watched an adorable video where Edvin and Malte get interviewed together, only to see that the comments section was full of fans demanding Omar be in the video and not Malte. And I’m just thinking… why are people tearing stuff like this down? Why get angry about there being the bare minimum of nuanced August content out there? It’s not erasing any of the tens of thousands of Wilmon fics and edits. It’s not giving August more screentime in the show or having him take over as main character because the show is already finished. The way that Sara (and by extension Frida) gets caught in the crossfire is doubly upsetting. The lack of August and sargust and nilgust fanworks may be partially due to lack of interest on the part of some fans, but I can’t ignore that active hostility on the part of other fans has also played a role in who sticks around fandom and what they create. And that makes me terribly terribly sad. Because I look at other fandoms and it looks like they have more room for nuanced approaches. Like Interview with the Vampire fandom is having so much fun with Devil’s Minion and I don’t think we have anything like that.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish August and Simon had more of a chance to interact in season 3 without Wille there. I’ve talked before about how Wille and Simon have fundamentally different issues with August, and that they aren’t actually as united against him as Wille seems to think when he gets all hypermasculine and protective. I don’t actually think Simon and August could have resolved all their issues in one season, and they might not be able to period. But they might benefit from some kind of restorative conversations, even if those end in a place of non-closure. And there’s a lot that’s similar in their experiences that they don’t even know about. The worst thing is, it feels like the show is aware of this, and maybe had some moments in mind, but then cut them. Like why have that scene in 2.3 where August tells Vincent to shut up when Vincent’s being awful to Simon? Why have Simon be the one who names August’s eating disorder? I feel like they were meant to have more, and maybe it got cut because it didn’t involve Wilhelm. And honestly that makes me so sad, too.

This got horrendously long-winded and I apologize. But hopefully my answers were worth reading!

[kiminthehall]

🌻 How did you discover your system / plurality? (Feel free to be as vague or specific as you want, or skip this question.)

🌙 How does your system handle dreams? Do you share dreams, or are they specific to one member? Do any members show up in dreams?

🎀 Does your system share everything in the outer world / meatspace? Does anyone have any objects / items that are solely theirs?

Ooh my first ever Tumblr Ask thank you so much!!

🌻 So we had been hearing (pleasant and friendly) voices in our head forever, and inner monologue was always an inner dialogue between two or more Headmates. Someone on Bluesky actually very helpfully walked us through the steps of discovery and we took to Plurality like fish to water.

🌙 Dreams in System are interesting. We often rarely show up in them. Often there seems to be an entire extended cast of people who only show up to be dreamt about! We're making some strides to try to contact them during the day but so far nothing's borne fruit. When we do show up in dreams though it's often multiple of us in various combinations. One recurring dream has the 5 of us as crew on a Submarine under the Ocean and we have to try to reach the surface before it's too late. Often we succeed but one time we accidentally fell through the Earth.

🎀 We share most stuff but mostly it's because of lack of time to have acquired independent objects. We've only rediscovered our Systemhood after a good 20 years or so back in Late August of last year. Eventually we're going to have whole separate wardrobes and things like my Goth Attire. But, for the most part we'll probably just share out of practicality. We don't need 5 phones for example and we only eat enough for 1 body

[doubleddenden]

I think I want to do some speculation about the next couple of pokemon games, but it is largely based on internal findings from the Teraleak and breadcrumbs from leakers. So with that being said, I'll drop it under a cut.

To be precise, this concerns ZA and Gen 10. I have no insider info, I'm just bored.

First, ZA.

The main thing I'm gonna speculate here are some small bits compared to Gen 10, but it's still something to consider after information revealed about Legends Arceus- that information pertaining to the whole reason LA was made.

They made it to be a future testing ground to shape the future of the franchise, basically using it to try things they wanna do in the future. Sounds basic enough and reasonable enough on its own considering what it's laid the foundation for.

However, this being said and keeping this info in mind, there's something they wanted to put in LA that even they couldn't do despite the extreme progress made:

Voice acting, at least beyond basic Grunts.

New data shows they actually had a bit more they wanted to implement but cut out- nothing like fully voice acted scenes as far as I'm aware, but there are recorded phrases such as "Hai," "Arigato," "Hello," very basic things like that.

So imo, I think they're gonna try to implement voice acting for real. Maybe nothing beyond a few specific scenes and some generic phrases, one liners, and Grunts, but a step up from LA since we have a firm understanding the Legends series is a sort of testing ground for new ideas.

I think we all know how awkward some of the clips from the Switch Era (and imo even 3ds era) are without voice acting- after reading over leaks, I'm sure even some devs at GF think that, too. If ZA is going to test using one huge city as a setting, they may as well test out voice acting, too.

The hacker has stated that the game is mostly done, all that's missing is side quest stuff and more accurate translation- this is from a beta of the game that he most likely acquired in August 2024. With that said, maybe a reason we haven't gotten a trailer yet is because they want to get voice acting for the scenes in it, and polish up translations.

As for anything else, the leaks will definitely affect something in production- dunno what yet. Script may be rewritten, a Pokemon shelved, that kind of deal.

On that train of thought, there's a strong chance that info could come out BEFORE Pokemon day in response to the leaked info- if for nothing else than as a force of hand, or to reveal something before the hacker changes his mind and reveals something else for them. But I'd say to get comfortable with the idea we won't see anything for a few months, and if we do, it'll most likely be something very small, like starter or character pngs.

I'm also starting to have doubts about Snivy and Piplup being starters, mainly because it's obvious and Serperior is on the gates of that one palace.

That's all for ZA.

Onto gen 10:

We've gotten only a small tidbit related to this from the hacker himself- that being that gen 10 will be based on some sort of archipelago of islands, and that Gaia is the code name for this, much like Ikkaku is ZA, Titan is SV, Beluga is LGPE, etc. It should be noted that code names usually have little to do with the final result, save Titan- as in Titan pokemon.

There's also some info from leaked documents of correspondence between GF and the anime team- that being some concern of how there was island hopping in Horizons and that for a bit, it was heading towards a "Gaia like direction," and how they wanted to steer the anime away from this if possible.

The above seems to correlate, so we'll say there's a high likelihood it will indeed be an island hopping Advent through an archipelago.

Before anyone goes "nooo too much water-" I need you to understand the last time we really had any sort of major ocean route in a Pokemon game was LGPE, and before that it was ORAS. Notice the key difference here is that ORAS was still using random encounters- everything on the Switch has been using OVERWORLD encounters that you can easily avoid. Even then, we can directly compare the idea to how Alola handled it- you know, the other island hopping region that is surprisingly mostly land locked in terms of where we can go, and traversal between islands is mostly locked to story progression by boat, flight, or a surfing minigame.

It can be handled a variety ways imo, and personally I really adore the idea of islands again, so I say go for it.

This information can also help us narrow it down significantly- it kinda sucks that it seems like Australia is off the menu, but maybe in the future? Still, that's a huge chunk of the world off the table. There is also a chance this is a lie, do it's not totally dismissed just yet.

Mainly if we continue the island trail, it leaves SEA, the Caribbean, Arctic Archipelago, or the Mediterranean as most likely candidates. Out of these, SEA or Mediterranean seems most likely, mainly because they're probably more popular in terms of Japanese tourist destinations and lore to work with, although I think a Caribbean region needs to be made at some point too.

So between SEA and Mediterranean, it's probably going to be somewhere Mediterranean, and specifically- Greece.

Lots of islands, tons of history, and even though it would be the third European region in a row and 4th in total, Greece could be the least milquetoast out of them due to the diverse cultures of the Mediterranean. The lore and mythos to draw from is plentiful, so much so that they've already drawn upon it with Sinnoh's Spear Pillar, Hisui's ruins, and Hoenn's Sootopolis. The lore especially is world famous and can be used to inspire a lot of pokemon- I for one would love a hippogriff Pokemon. Now that being said, regional influences barely affect the dexes, but there's plenty of Pokemon that usually are influenced.

As for the topography itself- I can see it being a One Piece situation with extremes taken to each island- maybe one is engulfed in a snow storm, maybe one is volcanic, one has weird ass plants- you get the idea. Pokemon tries to diversify the topography of each region anyway to include a little of everything of the basics, so it could feasibly work in that regard.

More importantly, what could the overall theming be? Well, that's the tricky part. It could be super heroes for all we know due to the sentai figure in Penny's room, but I certainly hope not because that barely tracks at all.

If we assume gen 10 will release in 2026 during the 30th anniversary, I think it's reasonable to assume we might be getting another nostalgia region like Alola. That many areas could easily represent a little bit of each region in the Pokemon world, and could even serve as something akin to Sonic Generations in terms of a "best of" for each past gen or game. Maybe not a direct thing like an Ecruteak City copy, but that's not exactly off the table either. However, something like this COULD solve the regional variant issues that will arise once we get to Switch 2, particularly with an island having certain "auras" of certain regions to allow for certain evolutions to occur. Maybe even embassies to get unique pokemon.

But that might not happen and it could be it's own thing- I certainly hope so. As much as I adore Alola, it rode Kanto's dick too much.

Of course if we talk about Greece, there's PLENTY of sailing stories to be drawn from from the island hopping perspective.

Now, I'll be honest- I think I'd prefer SEA. Maybe Indonesia especially, because A. It's not another European country, B. It is mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, which we have yet to have a region in. In fact, Indonesia is the most populated southern Hemisphere country. C. I don't know much about it's mythos or lore, but I've researched just a tad out of curiosity- it would probably be the most curious place to visit simply because it isn't as well known as Greece.

But, admittedly, Greece does have a higher chance.

Now, I don't particularly enjoy Khu as a leaker, riddler, or person in general. His riddles suck ass and barely make sense even after the fact, he likes to stir the pot by causing trouble, and he has been known to lie for fun. I've stopped putting as much stock in his riddles for these reasons, also because some if his info can be reasonably inferred without him.

That being said- he has had info in the past and seems to be hinting at information that correlates to a Mediterranean island region. To one user, he said "near you," in which Pasio was their listed location- Pasio is loosely inspired by Italy (further confirmed by a leaked concept map of the region that looks a lot like Italy on its side... sigh, there goes Pokemon Venice I guess). He also tweeted out 🙏, which now has some sense- praying, as in worship. What do you worship? Gods. What's a place known for gods? Greece. What's also near Italy? Greece. He also said "too much water" in regards to the region.

Again, I don't like him. However, if we simply use his info as a guide, it adds some believability to the info above.

But again, all of this could be a big ass lie like his lie with the BW remakes as a "prank" and it all DOES turn out to be Australia.

But we won't know for sure any time soon.

But if I were to pick starters on Greek mythos, the smart man would easily use Greek Myth of gods and monsters as inspiration. Pegasus, minotaur, hydra, Gordon, there's a lot to pick from. You could even try animals that specific gods turned into, such as a bear, spider, bull, what have you.

Anyway, that's all

[foxfinch]

Do you think you could possibly summarise what was said in the Clark Stacey interview if you don't mind? I'm struggling to follow and understand it without subtitles sadly

NO SAME. listening to the ajc segment (especially the latter half) was super difficult with the loud music overlaying it and the instagram video player not having a rewind feature. so.... i sat down and transcribed it! there might be some "uh's" and "um's" i missed near the end, but it should be mostly accurate to everything he said. read it below the cut!

I'm Clark Stacey, I'm the, uh, ceo of Wildworks, and, uh, I'm, uh… Gosh, what would my relationship t- to Animal Jam be? Uh, benevolent overlord? I guess? Maybe? Do people have questions about Classic? Really? [laughs] I saw your thread, and it's seemed like classic players are uh- are very active and have a lot that they want to know. Um, well let me- let me cover a couple of things, I think the last time that you and I talked, we talked about some of the difficulties with adding content to classic and… Just the way It's put together. But, very quickly for those who are- are not familiar, um, uh- Classic was a browser-based flash game, uh, flash is no longer supported by browsers, and is generally frowned upon by the big tech companies out there. So the only way to continue running Classic on your desktop computer, is to put it in this software wrapper called Electron, and Electron basically, uh, contains a mini web browser in it, and it runs… Animal Jam in a contained web browser environment on your computer. Uh, it- it kind of slows some of the performance down, it's not a great solution, but it's uh, it enables um, us to continue playing it. It-it compounds the difficulty of putting new stuff in Classic, because for… For flash games, and the way that we made Classic, was we would take 3D models of animals, and characters, and then we would render out 2D animation frames, um, and the reason that we did that, because flash is a 2D uh, animation program, but uh- The reason we did that is because we can create this kind of cool 3D look to the characters, um, but then have them- have our software spit out uh, 2D frames. So that means that for every item… Thousands upon thousands of items that is in Animal Jam, every hat or scarf or anything else, it has been… Placed and situated on every animal in the game, and frames have been rendered out for the animation of that animal, with that scarf, in that color, uh, for every single item in the game.

It means if there are hundreds of thousands of frames of animation, and going and adding things, or changing anything, is just a super labor intensive process. Now that- that's not to say new content can't be added, I think that more explains the- the difficulty or challenge in bringing AJ classic to a new platform, like WEBGL. And… Y'know, recreating i-it as a browser based game. Um, because… Essentially, all of that… Work, would have to be redone, rerendered, uhh, to be optimized for- for that platform. Um, and that's a massive undertaking. Um, now t-the possibility of us undertaking that massive thing, uh, went up considerably when were acquired by Nazara last uh, what's August, September? Um, because one of the benefits of being part of the Nazara network, is y'know, they have a tremendous resources with uh, uhh, with animators and artists, um based in India and abroad, and they can bring to bear um, y'know, an army that we can't. We're um, we're a much smaller company, and uh, maintaining just what we're doing is uh, kinda keeps our dance card pretty full. Um, so… Taking… Creating the Animal Jam experience that uhhh, is drawn heavily from Classic, may not be a direct port of everything in Classic, but does extend uh, the Classic experience, is on the Wildworks roadmap, there is WEBGL research that we're doing that's ongoing there, uh, I have played level demos of Animal… Animal Jam y'know, the… What you would recognize as kinda a- Y'know, Jamaa Township and some core areas in Animal Jam, running in WEBGL, and it's awesome. Um, that, the- still a long, long way away from uh, from a product that we can put out. Uh, but it is um, y'know, it's not something that we've taken our eyes off of, we're certainly… Y'know, our commitment to Classic itself has not changed. Um, and I will say… That uhhh, there is… Something pretty exciting and new coming to Classic very soon, um, I think that it will be a…. Uh, a blast from the past, for uh, for some of our older Classic players, but, uh, but kind of remade for- for this generation. And I'm- I'm excited for people t- to see it and start talking about it. I think they'd be pretty psyched.

20 questions in your Instagram thread about Classic, so that's… That's basically everything I know, you now know everything I know, and it's perfectly safe, it's not going anywhere, uh, there's some technical housekeeping thats probably overdue there, uh, particularly rebuilding the installer, which bugs me every time I look at it. Uh, but it- no, we're not, we're not taking it down, it's not going anywhere.

[Link to original video]

[disneyparksattractionstournament]

Extinct Disney Parks and Attractions tournament round 2: Group C

Reminder, you don't have had to experience any of the attractions/experiences to vote! Just read in the info and/or watch the vid,then vote for which you wish you would have experienced more/which sounds cooler!

Videos and propaganda/info dumping under cut

Lucky the dinosaur: DCA, Animal Kingdom, Hong Kong Disneyland (2003-2005(?))(will occasionally make appearances at special events/backstage stuff)

Disneyland mermaids: Disneyland (1959-1967) (for the life of me, I cannot find where I found that pic of Ariel in the lagoon, nor can i find anything anywhere about it! Please hmu if you know the details of that!)

[transpondster]

A meme bounced around Brooklyn last summer: ‘What if we kissed at the Tom Verlaine book sale?’ Verlaine, who formed and fronted the band Television, died on 28 January 2023. Over the years he had acquired fifty thousand books – twenty tons or more – on any number of subjects: art, acoustics, astrological signs, UFOs. The sale of those books – a two-day affair in August, run out of adjacent garages in Brooklyn – was a serious draw. Arto Lindsay, the avant-pop musician, walked by. Tony Oursler made a short video and posted it on Instagram. Old friends, some of whom looked as if they hadn’t seen daylight in decades, found each other in the long line. Verlaine had split his enormous collection between storage units: one a short walk from his Chelsea one-bedroom, four more across the river in Red Hook, near the foot of the Gowanus Canal. Verlaine didn’t use Uber. To get to the Brooklyn facility he’d take a rickety grocery cart on the F train, ride it out to Smith and Ninth Street, the highest Subway station in the city, and walk the rest of the way. In a crowd, Verlaine stood out. He was tall, thin, fine-featured. (‘Tom Verlaine has the most beautiful neck in rock and roll,’ Patti Smith wrote in 1974. ‘Real swan like.’) He had never quit smoking and wore a car coat, like a character out of film noir. But there he had been, bumping his cart down several sets of stairs and escalators and wheeling it, under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, across seven lanes of traffic, to Red Hook. The books had to go somewhere.

Alex Abramovich | At the Tom Verlaine Book Sale

You can still buy Verlaine’s books from Better Read than Dead and Capitol Hill’s websites. His record collection will go on sale, one of these days, at the Academy Record annexes in Greenpoint and the East Village. They’re a reminder of different days in a different city, where the bookstores and record stores stayed open late, and you could poke around in them even after a night out at CBGB, and the stuff that you’d get there was cheap, and the space that you needed to store them was cheap, and, even if you worked in a bookstore, you could afford an offset press and start your own poetry imprint, or find a loft space in SoHo and start your own band.

[arcplaysgames]

PICTURED: Reverie moments before burning down Futaba's uncle's house.

I love how this game has flipped me from "i'm not cool with killing Kamoshida" to "i'm gonna slash tires of everyone who even looks at Sojiro funny"

AND THAT IS A PRACTICAL LESSON IN WHY PERSONAL JUSTICE IS FLAWED, TIP YOUR WAITERS

Morgana has a dream/nightmare/vision of his Shadow Self, who is also cat-shaped. Which, one, Morgana popping a Shadow right now would make so much sense tbh given his issues.

Two, he is so fucking distressed about this.

THIS IS SO FUCKING SAD. Morgana, I am on your side, bruh, this sucks so much. Morgana is trying to keep cool but is asking probing questions about if Reverie would still accept him if he was some kind of creature and just.

I feel for Morgana so much, idgaf, come at me.

/breathes out slowly

almost done with Moon. almost done. one more level up and we're DONE with Mishima.

OH. BEE TEE DUBS.

Mishima adds a feature to the Phansite where people can nominate victims for the Thieves. And yeah I said victims, because this is absolutely fucked eight ways to sunday, this is so beyond the pale, why are you SUCH an idiot, Mishima?!

if the Thieves end up hitting someone purely bc their won a popularity poll on the fucking site i s2g

MY PATIENCE FOR RYUJI

IS LITERALLY

AT ZERO.

I cannot fucking deal with how much I want to kick him out of the group, I am screaming inside. If there was a summary of "bad reasons to be a vigilante" he's using it as a fucking checklist.

it is only the process of Reverie being adopted by the Sakuras that is getting me through the darkness right now. Sojiro, I formally apologize for making fun of you at the start of this liveblog, you and Yusuke are the only people I can rely on right now. Please yes I would like some sushi, can I have a tekka don.

THAT IS MY LITTLE SISTER FOLKS

playing this fucking game is like being beaten with a whiffle ball bat and then being handed one (1) treat, over and over

Futaba did such a good job at the beach that she.... does what all people with weird brain stuff do, and we take one victory and immediately overexert ourselves and fuck up the next thing. Like, FOR REAL, relatable, I have BEEN THERE, i was there in the past TWO WEEKS baby.

So Futaba needs back-up in her journey to relearn how to exist int he world, and Reverie is raring to go.

I love her.

lmao the cut to Sae like "HM REPORTS CLAIM THAT YOU ACQUIRED A OLDER BROTHER-LY DEMEANOR BEGINNING IN THE MONTH OF AUGUST. CARE TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF???? BITCH?"

yeah obvsly

back in My Favorite Confidant Link, Kawakami actually calls Reverie in to tell him the exciting news, that she stood up for herself and told the Takases' she wasn't going to pay them anymore and was going to quite her side job to return to her passion for teaching.

Which: thrilling. So happy for her.

AND THEN THE TAKASES SHOW UP.

yanno. it's interesting that the game flat out says "sex worker" I was not anticipating that level of clarity about Kawakami. and given even modern standards and attitudes towards SWers, I'm relieved to see that the Villains of this story are the ones trying to use her status as a sex worker to ruin her life. Because, yeah, that's villainous behavior, Persona! I'm glad we agree on this.

Yeah fuck subtlety tbh, let's wreck these fools. They'll be lucky if Reverie only steals their hearts.

ALSO:

I THINK SHE KNOWS

i also think sojiro knows but that's neither here nor there. Sojiro has proven he can be extremely subtle.

oh the Big Bads are gonna kill the principal aren't they

they're gonna do the mental shutdown on him for being a failure, that's why he's so scared huh

bye bye i guess??????

[jennyboom21]

The entire staff of Sports Illustrated was notified on Friday that their jobs were being eliminated.

Authentic, the licensing group that purchased Sports Illustrated for $110 million from Meredith five years ago, has terminated the agreement it holds with The Arena Group to publish SI in print and digital, according to an email obtained by Front Office Sports. That move comes three weeks after Arena missed a $2.8 million payment that breached the company’s SI licensing deal, which began in 2019.

The fallout: On Friday Arena told all SI employees in an email “… We were notified by Authentic Brands Group (ABG) that the license under which the Arena Group operates the Sports Illustrated (SI) brand and SI related properties has been officially revoked by ABG. As a result of this license revocation, we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand.”

“Some employees will be terminated immediately, and paid in lieu of the applicable notice period under the [the union contract]. Employees with a last working day of today will be contacted by the People team soon. Other employees will be expected to work through the end of the notice period, and will receive additional information shortly.” (An Arena spokesperson did not immediately respond to FOS when contacted about the layoff plans.)

Friday afternoon, the Sports Illustrated Guild wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “We have fought together as a union to maintain the standard of this storied publication that we love, and to make sure our workers are treated fairly for the value they bring to this company. It is a fight we will continue.”

Authentic’s move to terminate Arena’s license and Arena’s eliminating SI’s staff signals a shift in the company that operates SI, weeks after Manoj Bhargava, the founder of 5-Hour Energy, introduced himself to employees of Arena, including SI, as their new leader. Since then, Authentic has had exploratory conversations with and reached out to multiple parties about the possibility of taking over Arena’s role with SI, industry sources with knowledge of the situation tell FOS.

It’s unclear whether Authentic will indeed pursue the path of establishing a new operator or will now allow Arena to renegotiate its current deal. Sources tell FOS, though, that Authentic’s goal is to move the process along as quickly as possible. One way or another, says one insider, “Authentic will see Sports Illustrated through a necessary evolution.”

SI, meanwhile, has struggled to find its financial foothold in the digital age, culminating in a November report that suggested its website had published AI-generated reviews without disclosure. That fiasco was followed by a head-scratching town hall in December led by Bhargava with SI and other Arena employees that spanned more than 90 minutes and during which Bhargava said, “No one is important. I am not important. … The amount of useless stuff you guys do is staggering.” Bhargava’s Simplify Inventions agreed to purchase roughly 65% of Arena in August, a $50 million deal.

Authentic acquired SI from Meredith in May 2019. The Arena Group—operating as Maven, before changing its name in 2021—then paid Authentic $45 million up front as part of a 10-year licensing agreement. Until a month ago, Ross Levinsohn led SI and Arena as Arena began to purchase other struggling media outlets, such as Men’s Journal.

Authentic, sources close to the situation tell FOS, has been irked by Arena in recent years as SI has instituted multiple rounds of layoffs, run off top talent such as Grant Wahl, and undergone constant leadership changes. Authentic’s contact with potential replacement operators predates Arena’s recent missed payment, sources with knowledge of the situation tell FOS.

In addition to Friday’s SI layoffs, Arena fired more than 100 employees on Thursday throughout its organization. But Bhargava, who was tapped as Arena’s interim CEO on Dec. 11, didn’t make those cost-cutting moves. That’s because Bhargava stepped down from that position on Jan. 5 “to avoid any conflicts of interest,” according to an SEC filing. That conflict: Bridge Media Networks, a company completely owned by Bhargava, is in negotiations to make “a substantial investment” in Arena, according to the Arena news release that announced the layoffs on Thursday. The layoffs were carried out instead by Arena execs, its board of directors, and Jason Frankl, of FTI Consulting, who was appointed as Arena’s chief business transformation officer the same day Bhargava resigned, according to SEC filings.

“My immediate focus is to collaboratively design a growth-oriented media company, ensuring the financial stability necessary to cultivate and grow the brands we cherish,” Frankl said in a statement. “While this week’s layoffs were regrettably necessary, I look forward to sharing detailed plans soon.”

[laseval]

My journey to individuation

My isolation phase started at the end of age 22. I was lost and tired - having all these questions around my existence but feeling a blockage. Burnout, stuck and doing anything to distract myself. It was fear that was subconsciously hindering me from allowing myself to see the answers. I slowly started to realize all the damage I was causing myself out of comfort.

Being with people that I've outgrown, being passive with my hobbies and consuming rather than creating, being fearful from expressing myself authentically. Forcing myself to fit the expectations of others rather than those of myself.

Things reached its height when I was plagued with emotional paradox and unbalance - feeling numbness on one day and unexplainable pain on the other. A specific event that still comes to mind always is one day in May were I was with my old friends. We were roaming around the city. The moment we sat in the ramen shop, all of a sudden all my anger, all my discontent bubbled up and I randomly started crying, not understanding why. The initial response was shame. I felt ashamed for feeling so uncomfortable, for making the others feel so as well. Now I know that it was just my body not wanting to hold on to the negative, suppressed emotions.

This turmoil caused by suppression of ones emotions and desires had to end. August 2023, I traveled alone for the first time and was wandering alone in the streets of Paris. For the first time in a long time or ever! I was listening to my own needs, my own desires. No one to please but myself, trying different cuisines, emerging myself in all the Jardins and museums and getting back to myself. There I realized all the stuff I've put myself through, wondering how I could betray myself this way. Knowing that there had to be origins for my behavior, continuing this journey of solitude was the only answer. Understanding how I became the way I was - unhappy, people pleasing, selfless - things had to change.

A book that was profound at this time was Nietzsches "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". It helped me gain courage to embark on this solitary journey.

"But the worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself; you lie in wait for yourself in caverns and forests. Lonely one, you are going the way to yourself! And your way goes past yourself, and past your seven devils! You will be a heretic to yourself and witch and soothsayer and fool and doubter and unholy one and villain. You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame: how could you become new, if you had not first become ashes?"

Saying goodbye to all the people that were just around in order for me to able to say that I'm not alone (though feeling lonely all the time in their presence) , acquiring new habits and most importantly, digesting all the experiences I've ever had - really aiming to get to the core of my being and understand myself, I began to psychoanalyze.

2024 was the year of solitude, of getting to the core, removing everything that's outdated, that's of illusory and false nature. Integrating my shadow. I'll elaborate further in different posts how this journey went.

Now I am at a point, where I realized that once you've felt through all your traumas, you understand that further analysis is just a form of self-sabotage. It's time for the next adventure, for the next phase. The snake once again sheds its skin. The time has come to jump over the abyss and overcome your isolation loving self and transform. Letting your authentic self be seen by the collective, by your community. Allowing yourself to be judged - a concept that is nonexistent during isolation - yet remaining unphased. The deeper your roots that ground you in your being, in your authenticity, the more you’ll become unshakable you’ll be and grow into new heights. That's what I am working on right now - being myself, becoming unshakable by the winds of the others.

It's not the judgement that is hard, more so the unwanted solitude because you're not commercial and reachable to all.

And so my journey continues..

[linuxgamenews]

Discover the Puzzle Nature Building Game Preserve now

Preserve relaxing puzzle nature building game releases in early access with success on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the creative minds at Bitmap Galaxy. Available on both Steam Early Access and Humble Store with 97% Very Positive reviews. Great news for all you nature lovers and puzzle fans out there — Preserve, the relaxing puzzle nature building title from Bitmap Galaxy, is now live on Steam Early Access. To sweeten the deal, there’s an exclusive launch discount available for a limited time, so you can jump in on Linux right away, without breaking the bank. Also, if you’re really feeling the Preserve vibes of Preserve, you might want to check out the ‘Wonder Edition.’ It comes with the base title, plus a digital artbook and soundtrack. It’s perfect for those who want to dive deeper into the title’s beautiful world. Gameplay is all about creating the perfect habitats across three stunning biomes: Continental, Savanna, and Marine. You’ve got over 25 puzzles to crack, each one more challenging than the last. And if puzzles aren’t your thing, no worries. There’s an unlimited creative mode where you can let your imagination run wild. You can also show off your creations with the in-game photo mode, perfect for capturing those “wow” moments.

Expand Your World Vertically!

One of the best features of Preserve is the vertical map expansion. Not only can you expand your map horizontally, but you can also stack layers of nature to create a vertical network of habitats. Imagine building a multi-layered ecosystem that’s as deep as it is wide—how awesome is that?

Preserve relaxing puzzle release Trailer

Diverse Biomes to Explore

Each biome has its own unique flavor. Whether you’re exploring alpine forests, roaming the savannas, or diving into Caribbean reefs, you’ll find a diverse set of plants, animals, and environmental challenges. Every biome offers something new to discover and overcome.

Play Your Way

Preserve gives you plenty of options with multiple relaxing game modes. Since you have the regular harmony and puzzle modes if you’re up for a challenge. But if you just want to build without any limitations, the creative mode is where it’s at. And don’t forget about the photo mode—it’s perfect for sharing your creations with your friends after each session.

Natural Relaxing Wonders and More in Preserve

Want to make your map even more stunning? You can add natural wonders like snowy Alps, lavender fields, or towering redwood forests. These wonders aren’t just pretty to look at — they’re acquired through a unique card upcycle system. Due to add an extra layer of strategy to the title.

Join the Community

Matej Hudak, the Head of Publishing at Grindstone, shared his excitement about the launch. "We’re thrilled to bring Preserve the relaxing puzzle nature building to Early Access and can’t wait to see what players create. We’re also teaming up with Townscaper, Polylithic, Terra Nil, and Terra Scape for some awesome launch day bundles," he said. The title will also be part of the Wholesome Games celebration from August 15-21, so there’s plenty of fun stuff coming up. As you start your relaxing journey on Linux, be sure to join the Preserve Discord community. It’s a great place to share your feedback, catch up on the latest updates, and connect with other players. Bitmap Galaxy plans to keep updating the game, with hopes of a full release within a year, so your input will be key in shaping Preserve’s future.

Get in on the Preserve relaxing action

Preserve relaxing puzzle nature building is now available on Steam Early Access and Humble Store. Priced at $9.99 USD / £11.19 / 9,99€ with the 20% discount. Or, if you’re looking for something extra, grab the ‘Wonder Edition’ for $19.99 USD / £16.75 / 19,50€, which includes the digital artbook and soundtrack. All available on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. So, what are you waiting for? Dive into the title and start creating your own slice of paradise!

[flojocabron]

08/06/24: New toy acquired! Been eyeballing this clearance Dinobot toy from Walmart for a while now. And one Walmart near me sold out! Boo. So I drove to another store. There's some clearance videogames there, too. Looked around, hoping there was something good. But it's the same stuff I saw when I went a few weeks ago. There's some new clearance for August. I was almost going to buy Detective pikachu on switch for $30. But I wasn't really feeling it. I'm much more of a Transformers fan than Pokemon. So I got the toy instead. When I got home, I realized he's another chunky boy! I started playing with him as I was making lunch. So there he is next to some tuna helper I made. The transformation is a bit tough trying to get the parts snugly in. But that just means I need more practice. And finally, for a bit more fun, I posed Sludge next to my other recent Dinobot purchase, Yellow Grimlock. Yay for toys!

[creations-by-chaosfay]

I've decided if I do well this summer with sales, I'll take August off to give my hands and wrists time to make a better recovery from tendonitis.

This will depend largely on income. If my husband acquires and secures a job, this will be much easier. Selling my wares will also make a huge difference. The latter will require your assistance seeing as I need someone to purchase my work.

It would be nice to take a couple months off, but that likely won't happen unless someone significant happens. Winner a lottery of some sort, or a supporter deciding they wanna go the route of how wealthy folks took care of artists in the past. "Here's money to pay rent/mortgage, bills, and food. Now make stuff. I'll be back at some point to see what you did." Gods, that would be the dream, to have a monthly supporter like that.

My left hand is doing better, and tomorrow will be the last day of this little break.

When I close commissions November 1st, I'm taking four weeks off regardless. Burnout is very real, and not something I can afford. Thankfully, Dragon Age is coming out this Fall. A new console will be necessary, more specifically an XBox Series X. I have one on my wishlist, but it's for my husband. I have a feeling there's gonna be a limited edition XBox Series X/S made for Dragon Age. It'll be out of my budget though. A girl can dream, right? Regardless, I will need a new console for myself in order to play DA, and at some point Baldur's Gate 3.

Now, time for lunch, and keeping myself occupied. I cleaned my sewing room, organized patterns as best I could (I lack folders, binders, and a three hole punch), have things set up for the next quilt top (shouldn't take more than a day), and will now watch a nature documentary. I've watched all the volcano documentaries I could find, and I'm sad there aren't more. I really love volcanoes.

[enbyboiwonder]

Wellp. My dad got laid off. After working there for 29 years—longer than I’ve been alive, before it was even acquired by Verizon. No idea yet what kind of severance pay he’s getting, but it’s apparently supposed to be 2 weeks’ pay for every year he’s worked. We’ll see. My mother said the two of them will both be job-hunting starting in August (he’s working one more month, and then they’ve got a vacation in July that’s already planned and paid for)—which (assuming she lands one, ofc) will be, I think, the first time my mother has ever had a job since her gig at a florist’s when she first moved to the U.S., despite often complaining that she wanted more spending money. (She wouldn’t even consider setting up an online shop for prints of photographs she takes.) So that surprised me.

And on top of that, I’m worried about what will be expected of me. I got incredibly lucky that the doughnut shop practically down the street hired me (and still hasn’t fired me). 1) I can only get there because it’s within walking distance. Anywhere else (except the Dollar General, which won’t hire me anyway because I don’t have a car despite it being less than a 10-min. walk from my house), someone would have to drive me, and you know they won’t even if they’re free. 2) I can barely handle working there part-time as it is, never mind another job on top of that. My body could literally fall to pieces in front of her and my mother would still yell at me for being lazy. It’s not laziness! I’m fucking disabled! And I don’t have any marketable skills, I can’t do stuff online. Even were I a good enough artist to get commissions, I’m not reliable enough to finish any of them. I don’t know enough Japanese yet—and likely won’t for years—to get a translation gig. Computer stuff hopelessly confuses me despite being of the generation that should know and be able to get this stuff, so I can’t go into coding! (Hell, I can barely even do html and markdown, and those are easy.)

At least the house is paid off, so there’s that, at least.