#but its super doable and not that bad at all

[felidaefatigue]

id like to wish a very get good to ppl specifically who dont wear masks cause theyre uncomfortable or hard to breathe in (excluding ppl with phobias or related triggers) i been SLEEPin dbl masked for like 3 days and its f i n e.

[kittykatinabag]

Got talked into a bed frame that can raise and lower each half of the bed (à la those old sleep number commercials back in the day) since it was on super clearance and holy shit I may never go back, it's so cool.

[jiraisupportgroup]

Hii I'm new to jirai kei n recently I joined a group where there's a lot o jirai / landmine ppl! I was asking some questions abt how to go for the fashion part of the subculture and one of my main questions was "is there any thrift store I can go to? Can I customize some clothing to make it look jirai?" And what I got as an answer was "No. Jirai ppl only use branded clothing, you can buy it second hand but you cannot customize in any way".

Tbh I'm not in a good place economically rn and I don't have a job either, so I'm not sure what I should do. Importing clothing costs 6 times more cause of where I live.

Is it really a rule that jirai / landmine can only wear branded clothes? (Liz liza, honey wardrobe, dear my love, etc)

I know I fit in the jirai lifestyle but I wanted to fit in the fashion too T--T

Thank you for your time♡♡ asking anon cause it's for me and a frien ^^"

I would once again like to preface this (as I preface all things) with the fact that I could entirely be talking out of my ass - this is just my opinion - and I am not a spokesperson for Jirai Kei or other mentioned subcultures / fashion styles as a whole.

I wholeheartedly disagree with that but also I will caveat that with the fact that I spent most of my teenage years in menhera / goth / emo / grunge spaces and those are very DIY-heavy subcultures. I'm also super relaxed about how people choose to label themselves (to the point where I barely claim to be in any subculture because I just don't want to bother with labels so I'm probably not the best person to ask haha~)

To me personally, this feels like an argument that someone coming from Lolita would make? I kind of see a link here in the sense that the two main reasons I think people say these things about Lolita are because it is really hard to make Lolita clothing and buying lolita knock-offs is generally bad for a whole slew of reasons. Similar arguments for both subcultures I think.

Girly kei / dark girly clothing can be really hard to make or DIY. I think it is certainly very possible to do, but it might take some trial and error. Mostly because being a bit over the top is kind of the aesthetic; there are a lot of ruffles and bows and lace and ribbons and buttons and cute little accessories and cut-outs and the neckline is typically very specific with decorated collars. At its base, it is just a blouse, but it's got a LOT of aspects that go into it, and if it's "too basic" then you're not really hitting that girly kei style. The skirts too (I personally think the skirts would be a little easier to DIY but I also have experience sewing with lace / grommets & making corset ribbon designs which is mostly what stands out from them to me?) You also run into a lot of the actual hardware being specific with hearts being a really common theme for belt loops or buttons, and decorated suspenders.

I think it would be difficult to DIY girly kei or dark girly pieces but it's certainly doable. One issue is that depending on where you're getting the materials for that DIY, it might be about the same cost (or more) as just buying a blouse (although this depends on shipping cost).

The other aspect of it is the argument against fast fashion which is a little more nuanced in Jirai Kei but I see where they're coming from? I mean, to be frank, ryousangata is literally "massed produced" fashion (& to be fair the aesthetics that are labeled as “ryousangata” have varied a lot over the years - it’s not just frilly blouses & stuff that’s just kind of what it happens to be right now). It's pretty much just fast fashion. MA*RS, Liz Lisa, & DearMyLove from what I can tell are mostly produced in Japan, although they do source materials from China, like most companies do (not automatically or necessarily a bad thing imo - but I will spare you that side rant bc it’s kind of not related). I couldn't find a lot of information about their production practices? So I'm unsure about worker environments for them? Generally, the big-name brands are going to be more ethically sourced & produced than random AliExpress sellers but by how much is kind of questionable (or at least I could not find a lot of information about the production processes so I'm not sure by how much - if anyone has additional information on this I would love love love to hear).

Now am I saying "Go buy a bunch of fast fashion off of AliExpress because it's cheaper and no one cares"? No. (It's also honestly not much cheaper.) But the reality is that it generally is fast fashion, so it's a weird balancing game. I think one of the main reasons people say "only buy Liz Lisa / MA*RS / DearMyLove" is because they want to avoid fast fashion as much as possible while participating in a fashion with a LOT of fast fashion sellers, and since it can be difficult to find production information they go for the big names because they're easier to trust in that aspect. (I also have fallen into this trap & have sworn my life to DearMyLove because they're the only big-name brand that is even slightly 6-foot-tall-bitch friendly T-T)

All of that being said, if you want to attach some bows and lace to a frilly blouse and call it girly kei I am absolutely not going to stop you (or honestly even judge you, but again that's just me). The shipping costs are part of the reason why I say the clothes are secondary to the jirai kei subculture especially as a foreigner because once you consider that the clothing is significantly more expensive and difficult to obtain in foreign circles it becomes directly contradictory to some of the reasons why those same clothes are so popular in the Japanese subculture: I don't think the cultural context of the fashion translates over to foreign markets (economically or socially, but I'll spare you that entire rant lol).

ALSO! Jirai Kei Subcul is awesome and has a much more obtainable aesthetic for foreign markets. It leans more into punk and you can use a lot of different pieces for it that are more easily obtainable, so I highly recommend looking into it. It might be a good medium for being able to feel fully like you belong, but not breaking the bank for an outfit.

[xaeyrnofnbe]

HOW ID REWRITE ANGEL: THE SERIES

(bc i liked the show but i feel like things should have played out VERY differently) (i'm very biased towards certain characters also)

changes start around when cordy ascends to be a higher being and connor throws angel in the ocean

her boredom as a higher being leads to her coming back to earth (on her own accord!!) and giving up her godhood to do so, but retaining outward, physical demonic traits (themed around her brief appearance as a god bc i think the imagery there was very pretty) and this acts as a full circle moment for her character, mirroring doyle in season 1. whereas once she was disgusted by a half-demon, now she is one herself and couldn't be happier. she still has visions and some minor abilities but now she doesn't pass for human and doesn't get to be space-demon-god

connor and cordelia DOESNT HAPPEN. GIRL THAT IS YOUR SON. BOY THAT IS YOUR MOM. PULL YOURSELVES TOGETHER

more lorne. idc what happens with him i just want him to be more of a main character

cordelia and angel have some brief awkward flirtations(?) which are super weird and uncomfortable and they conclude that they love each other dearly, but aren't into each other Like That (they only thought so to begin with bc all their friends kept saying it) (but they're buddies :]]])

connor seriously struggles with holt's death, and has to grapple with the emotional confusion of trying to live with and cooperate with the very man he was raised for the sole purpose of killing. but angel investigations really want him to be ok so they take good care of him throughout, even if he is hesitant to accept

uhhhh eventually wesley does get apologetic about betraying his friends. it takes him a while but he does recognize and regret his wrongdoings

i don't know what the big bad should be in season 4 since i'd fully retcon everything needed to make that plot happen. i like to imagine it would be better though

they DO end up running wolfram & hart. since i think it's funny. and spike's arc remains the same with him returning as a ghost, coming back to life, etc etc. he'd be a smidge different though, a TAD less antagonistic. not because i think he wouldn't but because i'd like to see more of the spike we saw at the end of btvs (it'd be hard to justify with buffy not being present, but i still think it's doable)

harmony gets to be more of a character also!!! she and cordy hang out :)) she also takes her job as angel's assistant VERY seriously, but in that way that only harmony could be, which is to say: not very serious at all actually, but she's very determined about whatever the hell it is she's doing

more hints that angel and spike banged when they were evil because 1. i think it's funny, 2. the implications for their characters and dynamic are EXCELLENT. i would also like a few more friend moments for them. and maybe they kiss idk whaaaat who said that. no but seriously the werewolf girl doesn't happen and instead that plot is taken over by spike. imagine. i mean whattt

more of angel acting silly bc he was adorable in the first season and i'd love more of that

fred doesn't die suddenly and horribly. preferably not at all

gunn gets to care about literally anything other than himself in s5. more emphasis on his resilience? his will to survive? and how that makes him more loyal to the people in his life? pretty please? and he hangs out with wes because they were friends once?

with cordelia not gone maybe they could somehow move dennis to wolfram & hart? or maybe cordy has a new apartment he could stay at? idk i just thought he was fun and SURELY there's a spell for that

basically there's road bumps for sure but at the core of the show is a band of friends. they LIKE each other, because i genuinely believe that's where the show is strongest. i never really cared for the dramatic plotlines, im really only in it for the characters i adore and their (ALMOST ENTIRELY PLATONIC UNLESS ITS FUNNY) relationships to one another. and it's at its weakest when everything's all gloomy and dramatic. so let it be lighthearted and let them be FRIENDS

[kob131]

I really cannot emphasize just how excellent the reveal of Type ORT truly is.

The creature has been hyped as THE strongest being in the entire Nasuverse, matched only by the likes of Arcueid using the absolute peak of her power when her using the bare minimum still made her monstrously powerful. It has never directly shown up in any fight beforehand, only being mentioned in supplementary materials. All that’s known is that it has the ability to warp it’s surrounding to be like its home, which to anyone familiar with the lore of Nasu’s works knows this is already fucking insane.

At this point in time, Chaldea has killed literal fucking gods at this point. They defeated a divine King Arthur wielding a mystical lance. They killed the original mother Tiamat. They defeated the Demon King Goetia. They took down the bringer of Ragnarok himself, Surt. They fucked up about half the Greek Pantheon. They just got done blasting the fuck out of a walking god corpse that threatened to destroy the entire planet with world rending curses. At this point, no one would be surprised if they could take on anything. 

Of course, ORT is mentioned as being vastly more powerful than Chaldea. Even more powerful than the Foreign God aka the strongest of the Evils of Humanity. But given human being’s issues with scale that large, your average player isn’t gonna think it’s THAT bad. Surely everyone is just exaggerating, right? I mean, hell. It’s revealed in the first chapter that the Storm Border is basically a giant fucking Excalibur at this point so surely we can win!

And then some dumbass decided the best idea possible was to blow up a chunk of the planet. 

The soul of the planet, Gaia, screams in pain.

And the Ultimate One of the Oort Cloud rustles.

‘People die’ isn’t enough to convey what happens. The ground is covered with the bodies of the jaguar men you’ve been fighting. Nemo fucking died out of nowhere, during to dust. You see a shot of the planet outside, with about a fourth of the thing blown into bits.

And during all that, this is what you see.

This fucking...thing. You have to fight it.

And right before that happens, the last thing you see before the party selection is this.

The Foreign God, btw.

And the horror doesn’t stop there. ORT’s battlefield is a gigantic crater caused by its awakening. You’re fighting on a barely intact little island. Debris and embers are flying up in slow motion, as if ORT’s sheer power is influencing gravity itself. 

ORT’s HP bar is 1 million with a white break, rigged break bar underneath. The first of its kind. ORT’s class is Foreigner, obvious yes but said class is treated as a Beast class threat by itself due to the sheer power the Foreigners possess. ORT attacks by its body flashing and then green orbs connected to branches appearing and exploding with AOE damage. Any Servant that dies in battle turns into green crystal and is seemingly absorbed by ORT. The battle music is thus droning, oppressive but also strangely, unnervingly calm tract. As if to say that this creature does not see you as a threat.

But most creepy of all- ORT’s movement in the background is almost...calm. Just gently going up and down in place. Almost like...it’s sleeping still.

But hey, melting through 1 million HP isn’t too hard, especially with defensive options like Jeanne and Caster Arturia as well as all the stupidly powerful firepower you have. ORT doesn’t even have any boxed buffs- it won’t be that hard. And so, you blast through that 1 million HP, breaking open that health bar-

-Only to see a lightshow of nine differently colored lights freeze in mid break before becoming nine new Break Bars, with the next one having 10 million HP. (Note: Even including the Super Recollection quests, no enemy in the game has a total of 10 million HP or more. This is ORT’s second health bar out of ten.) Oh and the boss gets an ATK boost, full NP gauge every tick and Debuff Immunity on break. You can break the second Break Bar. Difficult but doable. 

To be met with a health bar of 100 million. 

And to make this all darkly hilarious?

A. ORT never uses any skills in battle. It only gets Break Bar effects. The thing isn’t even using any planinng or advanced tactics- it’s just hitting you.

and B. ORT is Level 1. This is Type ORT at it’s weakest.

ORT has been known as the single strongest being known in the Nasuverse. And everything in it’s appearences proves it.

[radiation]

How is RPGmaker compared to Unity? Would you recommend it?

I think its difficult to compare RPGMaker to a lot of other game engines. Unity is pretty open ended in what you can make but you gotta know programming, whereas RPGMaker is kinda hard coded to make a very specific type of game very easily and without programming knowledge — the game in question being extremely generic retro JRPGs. If you wanna make something that extends beyond that you are gonna have to mess around a lot with plugins which alter and augment the preexisting structure the engine has in place.

The crazy thing is, RPGMaker (at least MV) is lacking MANY features that it by all means should have. My game doesn’t have a lot of mechanics and was designed around scope in a lot of ways, yet I am legitimately using 70 or so plugins that other people made to make it feel good. Some of those plugins’ functions include -Adding name plates over the characters’ text boxes -Making it so sprites don’t flash in and out when switching -Allowing for ANY kind of complexity in character animations -Giving you any sort of camera control -Hiding combat related UI in the menus. All of this being shit the engine SHOULD support by all means but for whatever reason it just doesn’t

I think if you’re someone who knows a lot about programming, the engine is probably gonna feel kinda bad and itd probably just be easier and less frustrating to build a lot of functionality from the ground up in an engine like Unity, GameMaker, or Godot. If you lack some experience and feel pretty confident that your game can reasonably fit within what the engine is capable of then RPGMaker is probably a good choice. And personally despite the lack of features being frustrating at times, I find myself having a lot of fun with the goofy wraparound method of problem solving you have to use and have found myself making some really cool creative decisions by working within the engine’s limits

It definitely helps a lot to know programming fundamentals either way (I’m not great but I have some experience with Java and C# and I feel like it’s been very helpful with managing project structure) so that’s something I’d recommend looking into either way if you’re not too acquainted

And I’ve mentioned it but again. Since RPGMaker is so limited you definitely DEFINITELY want to plan your project very heavily around scope especially if you don’t have much confidence that you can really delve into JavaScript programming. For example I wouldn’t recommend planning for complex UI - you will fuckin hate yourself for that. And if you’re adding combat you’re gonna wanna be super realistic about it. What I did to plan around scope was play ~10 different RPGMaker games sorta like what I wanted like to be before I started getting too many concrete ideas about what my game would look like so I could get a pretty solid idea of what was doable and mold my plans around that

Also I wanna point out - most tedious, large scope thing about my game is by far the character animations. Once I figured out just how itd work it wasn’t too bad but is still a bit annoying - but know I worked in a very very wraparound way that is way way way more involved than most — or hell, ANY RPGMaker games I’ve seen. It’s doable, can be really worth it if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, and is something I’d be happy to explain if anyone was interested. BUT i feel the need to make it clear that complex animation is very much not at all a baseline functionality of the engine since it might be easy to assume otherwise with how much it’s used in my own game

Apologies if that was long but I love talking about this stuff, and if anyone is interested I am always happy to talk about and answer any questions about my process especially with RPGMaker in mind :D

[st-eve-barnes]

I stayed up way too late binge reading Leverage until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore, and I just finished the last couple chapters this morning. Normally I’m usually a one shot or Drabble kind of girlie because it’s hard for me to commit to entire fics, but this was super doable and I could not stop reading! I felt so bad for sweet baby Michael that I even started to cry, which doesn’t happen very often to me, but then the ending was beautiful! Your interpretation of Michael is so boyfriend I love him so much! 😭❤️

Thank you so much! God, it feels like so long ago since I wrote that little nerd and I feel like once I started that fic it just started living a life of its own and he completely took over my mind for a while :)

It really means a lot to hear that it made you feel all the feels (and that you gave it a chance even though you usually love shorter fics). All the kudos to Ewan for how he played Michael though and making us all fall in love with that little weirdo (affectionately!)

Thanks so much for your message, I don't get many of these and it really made my day❤️❤️

(and sorry for the late reply, I was on holiday and now I'm sick so haven't been very active on here)

[z45capp]

August 6 - 台南； Stationery Store, Sicao Green Tunnel, Anping Tree House, 台南 Confucius Temple, Old Lin Department Store

I have been spending too much time with Brooke. I know us so well that we did go back to the stationery store. B sadly did not get the turtle plush, but she did get a lot of other pens, highlighter, markers, and another calligraphy brush. We are both in agreement that the man who sold us our first ones in 九份 might have scammed us. $400 NTD for one calligraphy brush is a lot, and B said that the varnish on hers is coming off. Mine is okay for right now, but the quality does say that it was something I probably could have bought in a stationery store. We got tricked because he was hand making the brush heads in front of us. But it’s for the memories, I suppose. Anyway, at the stationery store, I did $600 NTD worth of damage, which is not bad at all considering I thought it was about to be a lot more. I did get a fountain pen for $150 NTD plus one washi, some “Thank You” stickers, even more stickers, and some more materials for our top secret project. So glad I got out of there before I bought even more. Sorry, Mom, I didn’t get any photos of the store, there were too many cameras and I was too nervous. I did however get a picture of the outside of the store.

Back in the room, I did some organizing and worked on this blog post before heading out to find the 100 year old tree 葉老師 told us about. I did not find the tree, though, both maps brought me to a gate for the National Cheng Kung University, which I wasn’t sure if the entrance to the garden where the tree was was inside the gates, so I didn't go in. But I did get a good walk out of it and walked passed the Department of Business Administration, which, of course, as a Business major, I had to take a picture of. I made it back to the hotel with just enough time to charge my phone a little bit and grab some snacks before meeting everyone at the bus. 

Our first stop was the Sicao Green Tunnel, a short boat ride through some mangrove trees. When Peter told us that we were taking a boat ride, I was very scared because I get boat sick easily. The humidity and the closeness of the seats on the boat also did not help, I felt nauseous the whole time, but thankfully did not throw up or get sick afterwards. Reflecting now, the boat ride was very cool to see the trees and the animals who use the area. Second, the Anping Tree House. The Tree House used to be a salt warehouse, but since its abandonment has been taken over by nature; banyan tree branches and roots cover every part of the Tree House, from floors, walls, and even to the roof. I had fun exploring the Tree House, but I do wish that it wouldn’t have been so rainy when we went. Plus, Fanny, Faith, and I were late to the bus because the snacks we had ordered at the adjacent cafe took a really long time. Not super fun to be late, but everyone was so nice about it and didn’t mind too much. Third, the 台南 Confucius Temple. This Temple is the oldest Confucius temple in Taiwan, the main worship area of the building is built in the Southern style with angled roofs, while the buildings forming the courtyard are built in the Northern style with flat roofs. The temple was beautiful and I am glad that we got to see a Confucius temple since the one in 高雄 was closed when we went. Finally, the Old Lin Department Store. Built in 1932 by the Japanese, it is one of the only shopping malls to have a shrine on its rooftop. I think the shrine was closed when we went, but I got a few pictures of the Torii gate right next to it. The store is five floors and has everything from clothes, jewelry, bags, to shoes, pens, soaps, tumblers, and more. I thought that walking the five floors would have been hard, but the steps were easily doable. At one of the stores, I bought a massage bar. I definitely didn’t need it, but the ladies were so nice and I had wanted to buy some soap before I left, so this fulfilled that wish. I feel like the relaxing powers of the bar also did kick in a little later while I was walking around. I felt more relaxed and like I could go to bed easily, which the ladies had said the massage bar is good for. 

Back at the hotel, I wrote most of my Independent Excursion before going out to a bar with the group. However, the bar we wanted to go to had a standup show and was completely full. So, we found another bar, but would have had to pay $300 each, and no one wanted to do that. Then half of us decided to head back to the hotel while the other half decided to keep exploring. I am so glad that I went back to the hotel as I was able to finish my Independent Excursion, where I yapped A LOT, and packed before leaving the hotel and leaving Taiwan. 

Academic Reflection

I found the blog post (Not the Spiritual Travels blog) about the Sicao Green Tunnel to be pessimistic. The author wrote about how the tour guides on the boat had the wrong facts and how the tunnel was completely man made and not natural like advertised. I honestly would not have known this if I hadn’t read the blog, but why point out all the inaccuracies? I suppose that I should be happy that someone did provide the correct facts, though. The sentence at the end saying how the author would still go even if everything was falsely advertised seemed rushed and inauthentic. The Spiritual Travels blog also touched upon the man madness of the Tunnel, but I feel like it had a more positive outlook than the other blog. It also seemed more authentic than the other blog’s, like the author really did mean that the ropes holding up the branches were there for a reason and not to fool tourists. In the Tunnel, I did not notice the ropes at all, and quite frankly do not care too much whether it is man made or not, as long as the experience shows the beauty of rural Taiwan. 

I thought that the Old Lin Department Store had been the first one of its kind in Taiwan. The reading says that it is the second one, the first being Kikumoto Department Store in 台北. It is understandable that one of the biggest cities would have had the first department store, though. I can definitely see the care the government had put into restoring the building. While the shops inside are modern, the architecture remains the same as do the decorations on the walls and floors. I also definitely saw the bullet holes in the walls remaining from WWII. 

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #2975: Tyranitar (Neo Discovery)

Tyranitar was a Pokemon that seemed to be made to mess around with how decks had been built after the release of the previous set, Neo Genesis. Trample took a lot of Special Energy just to work, but it also turned every Benched Baby Pokemon into a coin flip for a Prize. This also included those for the Tyranitar user, so everything about this card was risky no matter the format. The user did have some advantage in the deck building process, at least, so the risk could be mitigated enough, at least potentially, to make this a very interesting card.

100 HP was around the standard for a Stage 2 at the time, and was generally enough to take a big hit outside of a really good one from Feraligatr or Blaine's Arcanine. It was also not rare to survive a couple of turns, such as against a Kingdra or, with some luck, Steelix or Crobat. The Psychic Resistance made life easier against Espeon and forced Dark Gengar decks to use Misdreavus to even do anything, making it rather nice. The Retreat Cost, at 3, was high enough that including Warp Point in a Tyranitar deck was a good idea. You did not want to be on the wrong end of a Double Gust before having the right amount of Energy to attack.

Slam was the first attack here, and one that could be used without threatening your own Bench. There were still coin flips, as 3 Colorless Energy got you 3 of them, and 30 damage was dealt for each heads. This was a lot of luck, as the difference between 60 damage (2 heads) and 30 damage (1 head) in this era was quite large indeed, with the maximum HP being 120 and most Pokemon being between 70 and that 120. This made Tyranitar rather unreliable when using this attack, but also a threat to get a surprise KO on something if going for a 1 in 8 chance of winning by hitting for 90.

Trample actually did a set amount to the Defending Pokemon. 50 damage wasn't the best for 4 Energy, but with the cost being 2 Darkness and 2 Colorless you could probably use Darkness Energy to power this up to KO anything in 2 hits barring Metal Energy reductions. The real twist came with the effect. Every Pokemon on the Bench on both sides of play had a coin flip. If heads, the attack did 30 damage to that Pokemon. This softened up any Pokemon it hit, but also got a KO on any Baby Pokemon around. This included Cleffa, which was important even for Tyranitar decks to help set up early on. Scoop Up/Super Scoop Up was absolutely required to clear Cleffa off the Bench to avoid giving up extra Prizes, and fitting that, plus Warp Point, plus everything else was a bit annoying though doable in the relatively slow formats of the era. The positive here was that most decks weren't planning for Tyranitar most of the time, so they needed Baby Pokemon as well, and flips could get extra Prizes somewhat often here.

Tyranitar needed a lot of luck to get going, both when getting cards to set up all that Special Energy and in coin flips to deal extra damage while not giving up Prizes for free. This made it just a marginal choice in the game that was all about luck in a format that already had a ton of it. It even stood out in that respect, which was really hard to do. It may have had its best chance in Base-Neo since you had Electrode to power it up quickly and you could get around Energy Removal with Brock's Ninetales and Brock's Protection. Was it even consistent there? Not really. It was, at least, a marginally viable card that was capable of some pretty big highs with its lows being quite bad.

[micamone]

the thing about liking an almost 30 year old show is I'm not sure as much about what went on behind the scenes. and a significant part of that is how awesome it was that the fans were just more separate from creators then, like there was no social media and junk for us to to badger them on about things. but the from their side there wasnt a place they could just dump shit on us for fun. things were told through dvd commentaries and magazines published back then or panels and stuff at conventions or even TV specials and those are all very... ephemeral. like I'm sure its all recorded somewhere but it takes a little more digging and hoping fan websites have the info. and thats doable I'm not asking anyone to help me with that btw i just havent done it yet cause i wanna get thru the show first or I'll have one billion spoilers from not being able to stop reading.

but i think the biggest thing for me rn on stargate is, again i watched atlantis first. and that started in and branched off of like season 8 of sg1. so i know a lot about The Ancients, since they were a big player in SGA, and every time something tangenally related to them comes up in SG1 i get super excited and wave my arms and jump up and down for Daniels attention cause i want him to discover Atlantis so bad. im so excited for him and oh god he has his earpods in he cant hear me-

anyways. connecting these two points..... i have to wonder watching things progress how much they planned ahead. how much did they set up like "... yeah we'll decide to make something of that later" and how much of it was "oh dude the fans are gonna FLIP when we make this reveal in two seasons" you know????? i can listen to stuff about gravity falls when hirch and co talk about how they had no idea where they were going. they were like "well he has a twin somewhere. for some reason. and hes..... well hes there." and they literally came up with the everything on the fly. and then even in Gargoyles, which is old like stargate too, i read apparently the writers called each other once like "WAIT HEY THIS CHARACTER FROM THE VERY BEGINNING FIRST EPISODE? HOLY SHIT WHAT IF HE WAS THIS GUY-" sort of twist like.... way into the show lol

was that what was going on with The Ancients? and their whole..... ascended business? Orlin in this episode was very interesting cause i definitely recognized Oma D from a while back as an ancient, so i was glad Sam compared Orlin to her, but this was the first time theyre REALLY like "yup, that monk and myths of the jaffa werent just talk. this ascension biz is for real and a bigger deal than you thought" BUT! they still havent really connected it to the ancients. at all. i dont think daniel even said the writing on the machine Orlin helped build was ancient, and it didn't look like it, but then like.... Orlin also just said he was Human.

and was that true? WAS he human? humans can ascended, sure. but he also made a freakin stargate. in sam's basement. (Obadiah Stane voice) WITH A BUNCH OF SCRAPS!

... he already was the cause of death for people he cared about once for giving away too much information, i wouldnt be surprised if he lied about being human. but also wouldnt be surprised if the writers were like..... unsure and didnt care cause it doesnt matter lmao they were just vibing. you know. idk im sure Orlin and even Oma will get brought up AGAIN later, im only in the beginnings of season 5 after all and know some spoilers that the ascension thing ans ancients become a big deal later but. yeah its just interesting. i like picking apart creators minds for their stories and its just not possible in the same way on such an old show. even if i could ask them, they'd be having to recall through decades of memories that change as they have over the years. and that provides an interesting color on things as well but... its not the same as knowing what they were thinking back then.

[ros3ybabe]

Mini Update August 24, 2023 🎀

It's been 9 days of me being sick and while I'm still not 100% better, I am feeling so much better than I did this weekend. I finally can talk without pain again, I can drink coffee again, and I can eat food that's not chicken soup again. I still have a bit of a cough, but I really do feel so much better. I'm thankful for my univeristy health center for providing me healthcare and medication because it has helped immensely.

I want to say that I should be back to my regular updates either Sunday or Monday, as I think I will be fully better by then. I miss working out, I miss my morning routine. The sleep has been wonderful in my recovery from this mystery illness (not the vid and not strep, thankfully), but I am a morning person and I love my routines.

I have kept up with my skincare, but honestly, I've been so focused on both keeping up with my schoolwork and trying to rest and heal that I haven't had time for much else.

Some updates on my life:

got rejected from a job I applied for on campus but am still waiting to hear back on the other campus job. I just know I'm gonna get it, it's a matter of when, not if <3

My current job has reduced my hours to 3 days of work a week because of me falling ill, which I understand, although I don't know how that's gonna affect me financially just yet.

I love my classes so far, my professors are pretty cool for the most part and the work is doable as long as I do it in a timely manner.

I love digital note-taking, I don't know why I didn't try it sooner, but I think I am gonna stick with it as I adore aesthetic notes, and my Ipad is so convenient for it as I always have it on me.

Water for the win! I was not used to staying properly hydrated, but since getting sick, I drink over 1 liter of water a day, and it's made all the difference.

I tried a new Korean foaming face wash, and it dried my skin so bad that my face burned and feels super textured now. But I do like the oil cleansing balm I tried. You win some, you lose some.

Thats all for now! Will be back to my normal updates soon, and I'm thinking about posting either my current skincare routine and tips or some school and studying tips? Which would you guys prefer?

Also, I'm about to reach 200 followers and I wanted to say thank you guys! This blog was created as a way to keep me accountable and the way its grown has blown my mind. I feel like I have a community that can help keep me accountable to reach my goals and also keep me encouraged. You guys are amazing!! 🩷

Til next time, lovelies!! 🩷

[terramcgarden]

Been playing cult of the lamb lately. I have 2 husband's (sun and moon of course) and the lore has been... interesting.

Trigger warning: Cult of lamb quests are FUCKED UP.

Everything was going great for a while... ish. Moon seemed to have anxiety thinking he's not a devout enough follower. Sun has just always been as he ever was. He just... vibes.

At one point the two became a couple which was actually kinda cute. So it's was a strange poly relationship. A really cute relationship.

But then... one day the faith in the flock was extremely low. I was scrambling to please the flock before I had to make another stock. I was hoping for a doable quest. I could gain faith, or lose even more. The later not being an option.

A follower approaches and asks to marry me. I didn’t want to, but I really couldn't afford it. So I did the best I could do, I hypnotized the flock and married the damn follower. But I guess that wasn't enough.

Because the very next quest Moon asked me to sacrifice him! I felt SO BAD I know its all at random but DAYUM! But it gets worse. After that Sun came floating up to me with the sin. But once I extracted it he was possessed and vanished.

Not wanting to give up on my boys I resurrect Moon, turn him into a demon for the mission, and we went set off. One dungeon and death of a frog goddess later, and I got Sun back.

But the damage has been done. Was it moon's sacrifice? Was it the possession? Was it the bull crap quest I accepted?? Maybe it was all three but there was one think I knew... they nolonger loved each other, NO... THEY HATED EACH OTHER!

It was such a bizarre lore. Moon seems to be depressed and keeps asking me to sacrifice him. When alive he's one of the first to go get drunk.

Sun just seems to keep his issues to himself. Because when he does ask me for something, its just to make the place nicer.

Last night I was playing, and Moon approaches me for a task. He asks me to get flowers for Sun to mend their relationship... I was super happy and just wanted them to be cute again... once that was finished he asks me to cook them a meal. I guess it didn't go well cause I saw them fighting.

You have no idea how devistated I was when Moon comes and asks me to just murder him in the night.

Yall I think I'm just gonna let him stay dead. My lore is so damn angst and idk why it's that tragic. I really wish I just took the MEGA L and rejected that one follower. I felt blackmailed. I think I'm gonna say they black mailed me thinking they can get up the ladder of authority. Because as soon as the wedding ended I sacrificed them.

Rest now my tragic Moon

[crystalelemental]

The new limited CS event has me thinking...if it’s all weak to one type, then realistically, players will be expected to have five damage dealers within a type.  And as stated before, not every type has that.  But also, some that do...aren’t strictly reasonable either.  And this has me thinking...what type weakness are they likely to start with, and how might that play into the chosen extra unit?

GRASS Fairly reasonable.  Among F2P/General Pool, they have Gardenia, Erika, Brendan, Mallow, Selene, and SS Erika, with Sycamore and Gloria from Lodge.  This would be a really easy one to justify.  That said...there has never been a Grass-type E4 member.  Because the type is bad.  So this would leave Champions with eclectic teams.  Blue is out because Exeggutor was Lodge, so options could be Wallace and Ludicolo, Cynthia and Roserade, and Diantha with Gourgeist.  Any of those three would admittedly be great to me.

FIRE Fire has Ethan, Flannery, Flint, Hilda, Serena, Blaine, and Silver as commonly available options, with Blarcanine as a free event that isn’t rerun regularly.  This is...a lot more restrictive than Grass, if I’m being honest.  Ethan isn’t great, Flannery’s sync is mildly okay, Flint’s bad, Hilda has trouble with DPS and not dying, and Blaine isn’t exactly setting records, to say nothing of Silver and Serena’s reliance on him as a partner.  While Fire has a metric ton of limited options that are all game shattering, its more accessible options are...notably limited.  This would be a good time to bring in Malva, though.  That said...there’s basically no Champion that can fill this, and I cannot imagine them making a Flint alt on purpose.

WATER Siebold, Barry, Wake, Kris, SS Grimsley, May, Nessa, Wallace, SS Misty, Lodge Rosa, Lodge May, and Lodge Silver.  We are literally drowning in Water-type offense.  This doesn’t even cover Cyrus.  This would be outrageously reasonable, and would instantly connect to Champion Wallace with literally anything.  Though Cynthia also has Milotic, which is worth noting.  Also Siebold exists, but doubtful.

ELECTRIC Surge, Hau, Sophocles, Elesa, Volkner, Clemont, and BP Sophocles.  To get straight to the point, Electric-types kinda suck.  Elesa’s expansion is good, and BP Sophocles can do okay, but the rest are hilariously poor damage dealers.  Even expanding to premium, it’s like...okay, N is solid but super reliant on support without 5/5, Marnie’s good, and SST Red and Ash obliterate stages.  But...yeah.  It’s not the cleanest.  And correct me if I’m wrong.  But is there not a single Electric type in any champion battle?  Or E4 that I can immediately think of.  There’s no electric-type master in the E4.  I am...actually not sure of anything now.  This is so weird...

ICE Okay, no.  I can’t even pretend.  Ghetsis and Candice are good but have their own issues, and Hala at EX can clear a CS stage.  But no.  Absolutely not.  Pryce and Lorelei are jokes, Brycen cannot do damage, and BP Candice is hilariously bad.  Even expanding you’ve got like, what, Summer Steven who’s inconsistent, Winter Nessa whose sync is worse than Candice, Winter Leon who’s good, and SS N who has the two-turn move and is fairly risky.  I dunno, man.  I can’t see it.  But on the flip side.  Lorelei and Glacia potentially getting alts would be great.

BUG Lusamine, Viola, Bugsy, Noland, Burgh, Guzma.  To be blunt.  Not great.  Guzma’s bad, Bugsy needs a lot of support, Noland is slow as hell, Viola needs a lot of support, Lusamine’s too frail, and Burgh is kinda awkward too.  Even with premium, it’s like...hope you pulled SC Train Bros!  I could see them doing a rerun with Bug just to drum up sales.  That said, Aaron or Alder alts.  I...don’t think DeNA has confidence in them.

POISON You cannot possibly think the type with only ten sync pairs is doable.  You cannot possibly.  Unless this mode is surprisingly easy, to the point the F2P units like base Janine and Lucy can serve as damage dealers, there aren’t even enough options.  Though if an E4 member gets it, Koga alt.

ROCK Technically, there are enough Rock types.  Brock, SS Brock, Olivia, Roark, Grant, Kukui, Gordie.  But man, no.  Brock, SS Brock, and Grant are terrible.  Kukui’s not much of a damage dealer.  Gordie’s good but takes a bit.  Olivia’s only good at EX.  Roark fucks, though.  I just don’t see it.  Though it could be Diantha and Aurorus, or an Olivia alt.  I’m okay skipping this.

GROUND Worse than Poison.  Hapu, Clay, Courtney, Bertha, and Naomi.  Naomi’s limited time.  Clay and Hapu are atrocious.  Even with preomium you only add SS Giovanni, Cynthia, and Maxie.  This does not feel viable.  But man, I’d kill for a Bertha alt.

STEEL Solgaleo, Molayne, Wikstrom, Thorton, Jasmine if you’re being cheeky, and Alolan Grimsley.  At least premium works, with Raihan and Gloria being pretty solid EX options, and Steven’s grid expansion happening.  P!Marnie is also really good on her own.  But the F2P angle will struggle like crazy.  Under ordinary circumstances, I’d say Steven and Mega Aggron.  But he’s getting two alts.  And as funny as making it three and hitting seven before anyone else hits six would be.  I doubt it.  Could be Wikstrom but I’m not counting on it, especially after Shauna stole Booboo Keys.

FLYING Blue, Winona, Kahili, Nate, Darach, Lodge Serena.  Not a ton of options.  Premium adds Lysandre, Anni Steven, NY!Lance, Anni Skyla, and SS Ethan.  So there are options.  This would also be the best way to tie in a Lance alt, if they’re going to, since he’s actually a flying-type master.  But I’d personally want Kahili.  Though admittedly, I’m torn.  I want her with Oricorio, who would go the Dawn route of being a different type, and that wouldn’t mesh here.  Wait.  Wait wait wait, Baile Oricorio could fit under Fire, hold up.

FIGHTING Wally, Bruno, Korrina, Brawly, Marshal, Bea.  That’s not too bad.  Premium opsn SC Guzma, SC Diantha, and C!Hop.  I’d say it’s a solid maybe?  Bruno or Marshal alts could definitely happen.  I wouldn’t mind either, really.  If Marshal, Mienshao maybe.  If Bruno, Hitmonchan would be nice.

PSYCHIC Okay, you all know what’s coming, but please hold your criticisms to the end.  I actually don’t think Psychic would be a nice one to do for F2P.  Oak isn’t great, Caitlin has no grid expansion and is pretty bad, Calem’s bad, Tate’s pretty bad, Will’s not great, Bianca’s fairly poor as a sync nuke.  Giovanni and Lucian, however, are fantastic.  So that’s two actually good options surrounded by mediocrity.  Much like Fire, only worse, Psychic type is mostly premium options.  SS Lusamine, SS May, SS Steven, Lear.  All the really good ones are premium.  Which, I think, could be what they aim for.  You want it to be possible for F2P to keep your general reputation of accessibility, but make it challenging so people get the message: you want as many of each given type as possible.  Psychic would be a good one to go to, because I can vouch for Caitlin, and plenty of showcases have vouched for Will and Bianca.  It’s doable.  It’s just rough.  And if they add a new sync pair as incentive, the options are few and far between.  Steven’s accounted for, so it can’t be him and Claydol.  Diantha already has her Gardevoir.  Wallace and Cynthia don’t have Psychic-types.  Which means it would have to be a specialist.  Will, Lucian, and Caitlin.  And ask yourselves: which of those three is most likely to be used to generate profit for a new mode?  This is my only hope...

GHOST A few months ago, I feel like Ghost would’ve been impossible.  But man, Shauntal grid?  Agatha grid?  Fantina expansion?  Even Naomi’s pretty good.  Morty and Allister aren’t too bad.  Ghost would be entirely possible.  You even have premium like Anni Lillie, Renegade Cynthia, NY!Dawn, H!Morty, and SS Korrina.  Plus, if it is a Cynthia alt?  Spiritomb feels like a popular demand, and we just got C!Marnie who dominates Dark type.  It would track.  But I also really want a Shauntal alt, and I’d love it if she got Cofagrigus.

DARK Given C!Marnie, I can’t imagine they try to drum up hype with a Dark type, but let’s play pretend.  Karen, Nanu, Grimsley, Sidney, Masked Royal, BP Karen.  Premium adds H!Hilbert, SS Cyrus, Summer N, and C!Marnie.  The F2P isn’t even bad.  Cynthia and Spiritomb noted again, but Sidney, Karen, and Grimsley alts would all be on the table.  Well...maybe not Sidney.  Karen stands some chance.  Grimsley’s most likely but I’ll be mad if he hits 4 before Caitlin hits 3.

DRAGON “What if it’s Lance?”  Yeah, I guess.  Anyway.  Iris, Clair, BP Zinnia, Lisia, Cyrus, Zinniquaza.  This is actually not a great spread for F2P.  C!Iris, Lance, SS Serena, Anni Raihan, SS Cynthia, and Lucas are pretty great though.  It’s possible, and we get plenty of dragon options.  Lance is the obvious one, though there’s Drake, and this would be a nice time to add Drasna to the general pool.  Or Diantha and Goodra, I suppose.  Oh.  Or Leon, actually, now that I think about it.  Dragapult.  That one’s pretty obvious, and it’s been a long time since Leon.  But they also just did a huge wave of Galar, so I’m not expecting it.

FAIRY Valerie, Mina, Sycamore, Lodge Lillie.  We don’t even have five options.  Premium also is a mixed back.  P!Serena, Diantha, SS Wally, Bede, and NY!Lisia are good, but P!Dawn is...fairly lacking, and Summer Lyra’s just bad.  This one could be rough.  I also...can’t think of anyone who functions with Fairy?  Cynthia and Togekiss?  Give it Dynamax like the anime, I guess?  I dunno.

Final Thoughts I think the most sense goes to something that’s completely possible for F2P, but poses enough of a challenge that premium options would be preferred, to generate hype around a new scoutable sync pair.  Water and Grass actually feel over-prepared, it might be too easy to win the first round with one of those types.  Fairy, Poison, Ice, and technically Ground don’t even have enough options, while things like Steel, Dark, Fighting, Rock, and Bug feel like they’re reliant too much on 5* options to get to just five options.  Fire, Electric, Flying, Psychic, Ghost, and Dragon are all possibilities that have enough options to work with on an F2P budget without over-emphasis on 5*s.  Though despite having few units, I’d argue Ghost is like stupid good now.  Of them, obviously I’m hoping for Psychic.  Because Caitlin alt.  But those seem likely.  So...

If Fire, hoping for Baile Oricorio Kahili.

If Electric, I literally cannot think of a reasonable possibility, surprise me.

If Flying, I’d hope for Kahili with something, but am willing to say give it to Lance if you want.

If Psychic, Caitlin and Gothitelle please for the love of god.

If Ghost, it’s likely Cynthia and Spiritomb, but Shauntal and Cofagrigus would be great.

If Dragon, fuck it give Leon Dragapult, he’s earned it.

[fallynleaf]

Hello! Love reading stuff you write.

What are your thoughts on axiz reunion? I'm assuming you're caught up.

Also wondering if you're into the idea of them doing a program against Golden Lovers. I believe there could be such delicious dynamics there.

aww, thank you!!

and yes, i have MANY thoughts on the Axiz reunion!!!!! a lot of my thoughts on the team don't seem to be super popular in the main eng fanbase for NOAH, so i've sort of been keeping them to myself... 😅

i did publish a very short fic, though, after their first match back together as a tag team. and i've been thinking about the bodyswap fic again 🥲

most of my wrestling thoughts so far this year are in my wrestling journal, which i guess has sort of replaced giffing for me because it's way less time-intensive, though i'd still like to publish some of this content as gifsets, especially the TJPW story stuff, which as far as i can tell is not getting written about (in English) anywhere else. the wrestling journal itself is unpublishable in its current state because i also use it to bookmark some of my favorite fan photos, and i wouldn't want to republish those. but i do love it when people read it and comment on some of the stuff in there! i'm constantly falling behind on it and getting caught up super last minute, but it has been a rewarding project overall.

as far as Axiz specifically goes, i also created a separate Axiz journal just for tracking stuff related to their 2023 run. so if that team is the main thing you're into and you don't care about 90% of the other wrestling stuff i'm on about, that has all of my current thoughts and observations on them! it also contains various supplemental material, like tweets and stuff from shupro, plus my very rough translations of the material. there's also a long ramble about the third Axiz photobook, Green, and about how it becomes a different book entirely depending on when you read it (pre-betrayal, post-betrayal, post-reunion).

the main reason why i made that document was because: 1) i've gotten spoiled by my own TJPW blog lol and i get frustrated by how hard it is to browse old post-match comments in other companies due to how poorly organized basically all wrestling companies are and how ephemeral this stuff is, and 2) i have some amount of actual Japanese proficiency now that i did not have when i first got into Axiz in 2020. so i've started to prefer experiencing the stories through the original Japanese, and i sometimes get frustrated by the official translations and want to keep track of the Japanese 😅.

i've also been having fun exploring the Japanese side of the fandom and sort of ignoring what's going on on the western side of things. i've been using it as an excuse to do some low-stakes Japanese reading practice without having the pressure to translate for hundreds of other people like i do with TJPW. so far, all of the Axiz comments have been super short (way shorter than i'm used to with TJPW), so it has been a doable side project for me. the translation quality is way lower than my TJPW translations, though, so just a warning about that. i didn't want to bother my translation tag team partner and ask them to check even more of my work, haha, so there might be mistakes in there, though it's certainly not the worst NOAH translations that you will find... 😅

as far as Axiz potentially doing a program against the Golden Lovers goes, anon, i want that so bad 😭. the only thing i want more would be them doing a program with the Magical Sugar Rabbits 🥲. Axiz vs Golden Lovers feels actually legit plausible, though, considering that Kota has expressed interest in working with NOAH, and considering the AEW/NOAH partnership.

also, i do have one bonus meme that is not in the Axiz journal lol. you might need to read the journal for context, though, depending on how closely you've been following this stuff (i'm tuned out of the fandom at large and don't know what has and hasn't been getting talked about).

here it is:

Kenta Kobashi: "Go, take back the time you missed when you were gone!!"

Katsu:

[dykesbat]

I just finished Batgirl (2000) for the first time bc of your blog title and it was lifechanging, do you have any other recommendations??

AAAA IM SO HAPPY YOU LIKED IT <33333333 ITS SUCH A GOOD SERIES <33333

I’m assuming you mean general reccs here? (if you’re not lmk!!)

- no man’s land arc -> it’s super super long so if you’re not motivated might not be the best move bdnsbs. but it’s one of my all time favorites and the way it writes helena and babs in particular is sooo OUGH. and! I really like how it deals with gotham. and the relationships between particular characters <3 there’s also cass’s comic introduction towards the very end. it’s not the very best if you’re unfamiliar w the characters and such but it’s doable yk! this is the only book here that’s more about a cast of characters instead of one character (lmk if you want more!)

- bruce wayne: murderer/fugitive arc -> also kinda long but I really like it’s interpretation of bruce. it also runs in to some early issues of bg (2000) so you probably read some of it already djdbdjdj. the themes of identity and how it explore’s bruce as a hero is soooooo!!:!:!/!! imo this one’s friendly to beginners!

- supergirl: woman of tomorrow -> really pretty art and GODDD THIS BOOKS KARA….. I think this one’s super beginner friendly and it’s only a few issues long (I think 12?)

- martian manhunter (1988) -> it’s only 4 issues long and deals heavily w themes of grief and family and I love it sm!! the art is also amazing reading it left me the same feeling when I finished bg (2000) (some sense of completeness + adoration for the protag) and I think it’s such a good j’onn origin story <33 I highly recc this one though!!

- batman: one bad day — two-face -> its a one-shot so a super easy read but if you’re interesting in bruce and harvey’s relationship this one is suchhh a good pick! slight blood warning for one part! it also has a really good steph and cass (though cass isn’t a big part of the comic)

[worms-go-here]

you too can make this logo if you have a minute and basically any program. Illustrator, Word, Slides, Canva, Paint, all super doable if you're familiar enough with the software to be able to make a square, change the color and have the font Futura Bold on your computer (if not you can download it in another minute easily from google search) and can kern it in on top of the square. Here's a gif of me making it in 53 seconds from start to finish:

Why did they do this?

Because they're launching a debit card. They wanted a new look for their brand because they're "ushering a new customer experience" (according to the verge). Which is fine, a company's rebrands should have a reason; they shouldn't update just to update. Paypal felt this was a significant enough change for them to want to change their identity with it. And maybe it will be; they're moving into the physical wallets alongside our digital wallets.

Is this a good logo?

I don't think that being my being able to recreate it in 1 minute makes it a bad logo. I don't think that it being simple or flat makes it a bad logo. But. I do think it's a bad logo.

It is not interesting to look at, being just a fairly common font on a blue background (apparently it is a font based off of futura, according to the designers, but it looks pretty damn the same to me, like just horizontal scale it to 90 and kern it in to -50 and there you go).

It also strips the double P logo from the identity, which Paypal has built up as a well known icon since that logo's launch in 2014, ten years ago. The double P logo was clever, as it was two P's for the name as well as being symbolically representational of Paypal's function: two people (the two P's) sending money (the overlap of the letters) to each other. The wordmark also had motion to it with the letters sheered to the left, showing the idea of Sending the money.

This new logo was designed by Pentagram, a hugely popular and successful design firm responsible for countless logos and logo redesigns for huge companies (citi bank, DC comics, to name a few). Their work is usually good, but this smacks of laziness and justification to me.

Like, lets be honest, that is futura, that is not a “new bespoke brand typeface, PayPal Pro.” And if it is, they should have focused more on making the letters used in the logo be more easily differentiated from its parent font. And I've got no issues with wordmarks as standalones - not all of them need symbols with them! But the wordmark should still be interesting to look at! Hell, look at venmo:

Venmo is a great example of a competitor having everything the paypal rebrand was going for but successfully. It's a simple flat wordmark, but that is a custom type treatment, not a boxed font, and it has motion and interest.

This brings up a good point about application. Venmo uses the V from their wordmark as their app symbol; what will the new Paypal logo use for theirs? Their new logo has no symbol and is a horizontal layout, which is not suited to being crammed into a square. What do you want to bet they'll keep using the old overlapped P's? This is another reason why the rebrand is crap: If you're going to do it, do it right. Clear everything out, and make sure your new logo fits into as many uses as possible, ESPECIALLY the one that most people use, i.e., THEIR APP.

So I do think that some designer at Pentagram crapped this out in a few minutes, probably tired after coming up with 12 other logos that were more interesting, retconned some reasoning behind it, and pitched it and it got in (for every logo you see there are tens of better and more interesting logos that the client put into the trash).

This happens because the people who run companies aren't designers and have been swept away in the current of companies updating their logos to flat and simple logos (I can go into that somewhere else, thats a whole other rant but I'll TLDR it and say that its not always bad and its done for a reason) and the unfortunate need to be constantly on the cutting edge of trends, and not necessarily because designers are bad at their jobs. However I won't discount that, as I think the Pentagram team should have stopped this logo from going far enough in the design process to even get pitched. Never pitch something you don't like to the client! Because they'll always pick that one. Like I pity the fool who had to try to develop this into a full identity after it got picked (here's the full project, it's motion design focused, which is cool, but it's nothing we haven't all seen before).

TLDR

I'm a graphic designer and I agree that this logo is bad because it lacks visual interest, strips the brand of any real identity, and feels poorly developed. (though I don't think the "stripping down" of logos going on for the past 10 years is necessarily bad)