#edit: added the version with the title under the cut Tumblr posts

[bemp0]

Disco dance

[pyromaniac-cyndaquil]

It's been a lot of work over a lot of time but I think I can finally share this...

PMD:EoS, but with all of the starters!

...Including Grookey, finally!!!!! 🥳

Introducing PMD: Expanded Sky!

This is a public mod available to download now! It adds in all starters from unova all the way to paldea, as well as zorua, axew and rockruff, and allows evolving eevee into sylveon.

Speaking of which, fairy type has been patched into the game! Disarming voice replaces milk drink and moonblast replaces judgement, which was unused.

Some non-traditional starters are no longer available as hero options in this due to lack of space, but are still available as partners. (Skitty can be chosen as a hero in version 1.0.0 only, so download that version instead of the latest if you wanna use her! Riolu and Shinx are available in version 1.2.1 and below)

If one of your faves was taken off the hero roster (eg vulpix, skitty, riolu, munchlax, etc), I have a tutorial here on how to quickly edit the patched file to put them back in :)

Several regional variants have been added! Alolan Raichu, Alolan Marowak and Hisuian Typhlosion are now available as potential evolutions for their respective base stages.

Partners across both rescue team and all three versions of explorers are available too, including Cubone, Munchlax, Machop, Vulpix, Riolu, etc

Sprites and portraits are courtesy of the brilliant PMD Sprite Repository and the many incredible artists who contribute to it!

Credits for all improvement patches, sprites and portraits are included in the download, as well as an explanation on how to patch the game and the full starter list.

The mod is split in two versions to accommodate all the partners - MIDDAY version and MIDNIGHT version. The download includes both, as well as the tool required to patch your game! You'll need a clean US copy of pmd eos at hand.

A full list of moves learned by newly added Pokémon can be found here, as well as info on how to evolve them and their IQ groups.

If you run into any issues, feel free to drop me an ask or DM and I'll see how I can help/what I need to fix!

You can find the download for this rom hack here!

Edits/updates noted under the cut:

(27/04/23)

The overall mod now has a name - expanded sky! Reflected earlier on in the post.

I've been informed that the included patching tool (XDelta) doesn't work on mac, and after some digging around and discussions in dms we found this tool works for Mac instead.

Added graphics to the post displaying which heroes and partners are part of the hack.

(11/05/23)

Added link to learnset compilation for all new pokémon.

(17/05/23) Version 1.1.0 has been released!

Sobble is now a starter, replacing Skitty (Skitty is still accessible by downloading v1.0.0 on the download page). Sobble is also now a partner in MIDNIGHT.

Zorua/Zoroark's moveset has been tweaked slightly

Base forms of all new starters can now be found in Oran Forest, and can be recruitable in the post-game. The new fire starters can also be found in Giant Volcano.

Extra portraits and sprites were added for Cubone, Psyduck and Machop. Like the rest of the new assets in this mod, these were imported from the PMD Sprite Repository, and credits are on the title screen and in the readme.txt.

Extra credits + more in-depth instructions for patching the game included in the readme.txt.

(18/05/23)

Added a link to a tutorial on swapping out heroes for others already existing in the game.

(22/05/23) - Version 1.1.1 has been released!

Fixed genders for female starter options on the quiz. Updated Fuecoco to use new portraits and sprites. (Credits to Garbage)

(23/05/23) - Version 1.1.2 has been released!

Female starters from gens 5-9 can now evolve correctly (save for starters who don't have evolutions in the game yet - these are listed in the text file in the download)

Rockruff can now evolve, and Midnight Lycanroc's evolution method has been fixed to use the Lunar Ribbon as intended.

(15/06/23) - Version 1.2.1 has been released!

In 1.2.0, a second version of the mod was included in the zip compatible with melon emulator, and potentially others that were having issues with saving.

Fairy gummis were also made available as mission rewards and shop items.

There's a couple more things that can be seen in the changelog including bugfixes, but the main other thing promised was that Froakie and Litten can now evolve directly into Greninja and Incineroar. Due to an evolution flag not being set this ended up untrue, but has been fixed in 1.2.1.

This post claimed dazzling gleam is in the game, but it should've said disarming voice.

🆕 (10/03/24) - Version 1.3.0 has been released!

Dusk Lycanroc, Drizzile, Inteleon, Grookey, Axew and Fraxure have been added, as well as Alolan Raichu, Alolan Marowak an Hisuian Typhlosion.

Axew replaces Shinx in the hero roster, and Grookey replaces Riolu. Additional portraits and sprites added for starter evolutions, including vanilla starters. Sleep animations have been copied over to EventSleep/Laying/Wake animations if missing.

Greninja erroneously had the same moveset as Froakie. This has now been fixed.

Credits are no longer displayed on the title screen.

Sprite, portrait and patch credits can now be viewed by talking to a Cyndaquil NPC on the crossroads.

Evolution help can also be accessed by talking to this same NPC.

🆕 (23/05/24) - Version 1.3.1 has been released!

The uhh. Grovyle problem. Yeah. That should be fixed.

(Grovyle was missing several sprites as a side effect of trying to add new ones, due to his unique setup in the vanilla game as such an important npc. His sprites should now be reverted to a functional state, rather than leaving him to walk fowards on the spot all the time).

An issue present from the start that caused the game to freeze while advancing floors in dungeons occasionally should now be resolved.

[staybabblingbaby]

W.I.P Glossary and Master List

Ok, so, I'm gonna start posting w.i.ps here shortly, but like. As writing process archives? I just think it'll be fun. I'm posting this in advance bc my organization system is a bit weird. SKZ fics will be here at @staybabblingbaby and BTS fics will be at @babyarmybabbles. I may make another side blog for other fandoms I write for, but we'll see. All fics are xReader unless otherwise indicated. Stuff and Things under the cut :D

Bear w me bc I don't usually do text posts and have no practice with formatting yet lol

Glossary:

Attempt - A draft with major changes. Wording changes of a paragraph or more (not including completely new material), changes in POV, setting changes, characterization changes, etc, are included in this. Abbreviated as a(#) [e.g. Title a(1) d(4)] Draft - A manuscript that has been edited. Even minor edits like grammar and spelling corrections are a new draft. These are labeled, but only saved as new files in intervals of 5. Abbreviated as d(#) [e.g. Title a(1) d(4)] Addition - A manuscript that has been added to enough to warrant a new post.

My intent is to upload all new Attempts, Drafts in intervals of 5, and Additions in intervals of 1,000 words or more. My hope is something of a progress log? I think it'll be fun, help me keep track of what I've done, and help motivate me.

Master List:

Coordi AU: Current Total Word Count - 5,469

Intro Part a1 d3 - 1,178 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Han Part a1 d4 - 2,190 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Chan Part a1 d4 - 640 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Lee Know Part a1 d4 - 639 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Hyunjin Part a1 d4 - 854 Words, Posted 5/12/24

Felix Tinder AU: Current Total Word Count - 3,123

Felix Tinder AU (First Date Part) a1 d1 - 1,543 Words, Posted 7/22/24 Felix Tinder AU (First Date Part) a2 d3 - 1,580 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Fan Day AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,399

Fan Experience with SKZ a2 d2 - 1,399 Words, Posted 5/12/24

Janitor AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,293

Janitor AU (Ambush Part) a1 d2 - 1,293 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Bangchan/Youtuber AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,258

Chan/Youtuber (idea drabble) a1 d1 - 296 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Chan/Youtuber (Discover Part) a1 d1 - 962 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Childhood Friend SMAU (Best Friend Protocol): Current Total Word Count - N/A

Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Intro Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/15/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Plead Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/16/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU(Bridge Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/18/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Meet Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/22/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Plan Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/26/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Worm Part) -N/A Words, Posted 7/29/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (STAY Part) - N/A Words, Posted 8/9/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (SLEEP Part) -N/A Words, Posted 8/9/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Bet Part) - N/A Words, Posted 8/31/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Angst Part) - N/A Words, Posted 9/8/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Filler Part) - N/A Words, Posted 10/04/24

Soulmate Garden AU: Current Total Word Count - 13,954

Soulmate Garden AU (Idea Drabble)a1 d2 - 209 Words, Posted 8/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU (Prologue) a2 d4 - 1,308 Words, Posted 9/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.1 (Dahlia) a2 d5 - 5,368 Words, Posted 9/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.2(Anemone)a3 d2- 4,218 Words, Posted 9/21/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.3 (Daffodil)a2d2 -3,060 Words, Posted 10/04/24

Extras/Old Versions: SGAU Ch.1 (Dahlia) Editing Sacrifices - 928 Words, Posted 10/18/24 SGAU Ch.2 (Anemone) Editing Sacrifices - 127 Words, Posted 10/18/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.2 (Anemone)a2d1 -4,075 Words, Posted 10/18/24 SGAU Ch.3 (Daffodil) Editing Sacrifices - 254 Words, Posted 10/18/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.4 (Lewisia) a1d1 - 237 Words, Posted 10/20/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.4 (Lewisia) a2d2 - 1,558 Words, Posted 10/20/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.4 (Lewisia) a2d3 - 2,866 Words, Posted 10/25/24

[innuendostudios]

by a wide margin the weirdest video essay I've ever release: List of Songs that Represent "Smart Music" Ranked from Most to Least Appropriate to Put in a Video Essay

this video is sponsored by Nebula, where you can watch ad-free and (sometimes, slightly) better edited versions of my videos for 40% off an annual subscription. just follow this link.

as a quick note: YouTube has already demonetized this video, as two different corporations are claiming copyright on recordings they do not own the copyright to - both are Creative Commons recordings of public domain music, that, in one case, YouTube has misidentified as a different recording, and, in the other, YouTube has the music in its database as under copyright despite it being having been released under CC BY-SA 3.0. I am disputing these false claims and will (hopefully) get whatever money I am owed, but, for now, YouTube is not paying me a dime for this.

so it would be a bigger help than usual if you would either watch the video on Nebula or back me on Patreon.

thanks. transcript below the cut!

List of Songs That Represent “Smart Music” Ranked From Most To Least Appropriate To Put In A Video Essay (And Presented In Drill Bit Order).

1. Clair de Lune, Debussy

This has been top dog ever since the teaser for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and cemented its position against challengers with a showcase in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Said film could have been the shark-jumping moment where the song was irretrievably lost to irony, given directors Kwan and Scheinert (Daniels)’s style mercilessly marries the aesthetics of prestige and shitpost. Yes, despite its silliness, EEAAO is achingly sincere, but could the general public be trusted to recognize that? But then it won Best Picture, so apparently yes! Beautiful, delicate, to score a film or video with Clair de Lune signals a desire to be seen not only as an intellectual, but as an aesthete. The song could lose potency if the Clair de Lune sequence were parodied enough, but how does one parody EEAAO???

9. Gymnopedie No. 1, Satie

I fear we must, as a society, and as a community of video essayists, move on from Gymnopedie No. 1. It held the title longer than, I think, any champion previous, and for that it deserves merit. But its time is over. It is, like the phrase “mad dated,” mad dated. It is saying “lmao” out loud. Did you know the original screenplay for 2005 film The Island specifically stated that, in the weird culty enclave in which the film opens, Gymnopedie No. 1 must be playing over the loudspeaker? I don’t think Michael Bay followed that directive (I’m not rewatching the movie to find out), but that is how long this was the “Smart Music” song - since 5 months after YouTube launched. If you must - absolutely must - put Satie in a video essay, use Gnossienne No. 1, though it too is on its way to passe. At this point I’m prepared to say Vexations or GTFO.

2. Ave Maria, Schubert/Liszt

Nothing was certain after Satie vacated the throne, and for a while it seemed we might have a Starks vs. Baratheons situation between Schubert and Debussy. Following several appearances in pretentious YouTube videos, the Ave Maria made its strongest showing yet by scoring the opening scene of the grimdarkest Batman film so far, an entire twenty days before getting fully Lannister’d by Everything Everywhere All at Once. Unbowed, unbent, and unbroken, still she nips at the heels of the king, and may yet take his place. No one else poses a comparable threat. Hers is a curious strategy, being a religious, Christmas, and even classic Disney standard now repurposed as “Smart Music;” she gets a big boost every December, but can she take the top spot before this cyclical exposure nudges her back into a prior niche?

8. Moonlight Sonata, Beethoven

If you were in a film program in the mid-2000s, you are sick to death of Moonlight Sonata. Also if you were in a music class where you were asked to determine a song’s time signature by ear - how am I supposed to tell the difference between waltz time and 4/4 with all triplets without the sheet music in front of me? To say scoring a video with Moonlight Sonata is a hack move - you’d have to be a hack to not already know! This was the soundtrack to the blind cave salamander level of Earthworm Jim 2, there’s no coming back from that! I mean, the association with Tallarico Studios alone… It’s done. Roll over, Beethoven.

3. Cello Suite No. 1 (Prelude), Bach

This one is firmly-rooted. It is not going anywhere, both in the sense that nothing could soon push it off the list but it’s hard to imagine rising any higher. It is just slightly too beautiful, too expressive, too legato to fall into the stiffness of Habanera or the pomposity of a De Beers ad, but just close enough to them in tone to always read as a hipper alternative. So you’ll never be overexposed, but never go that long without hearing the Yo-Yo Ma version. And so here it stays, third on the podium, solid bronze, the waterbender, the Plup; with you as always is Prelude to Cello Suite No. 1. (Frankly surprised it took us this long to get to Johann, but don’t worry - he’ll be Bach.)

7. Air on the G String, Bach/Wilhelmj

Told ya. It’s not that she isn’t a beautiful piece of music, and it’s not that she already had her time. In truth, she never got her flowers. Inasmuch as she had a run, it was squished between the omnipresences of Beethoven and Satie. You’ll still hear from her now and then; she crops up, like a lucky penny. And you’ll smile, every time, but you know the stars in your eyes are not present joy, but nostalgia. A fondness for what was and what could’ve been - what should have been. Why - why couldn’t this have had the legs of Gymnopedie? I mean, even the Fucking Champs version - could that have made a run? Could TikTok pick up on it? But comes the day you have to accept - if it was gonna happen, it would’ve happened by now. Air on the G String grows weary; let her rest.

4. Duo des Fleurs, Delibes

Bit of a dark horse, this one. Didn’t exactly come out of nowhere - it’s been here the whole time - but you didn’t see it coming! It’s like that time I went snorkeling, and I wondered, “Where are the fish?” I was told there would be tropical fish, but all I saw was blue. Then I caught one flitting by my head and, as soon my eyes registered the shape, I realized they were everywhere! I just hadn’t taken them in. This is the one that makes you ask, where did I hear that before? Was this the one at the end of Margaret? No! How did it go? How do I hum dyads? But then it shows up and, oh yeah, that’s the one! The really pretty one. I knew it’d come around again. Has staying power, could make a run for the top if it sees an opening, but seemingly content, for now, to dance around the periphery, appreciated when heard if only half-remembered the next day.

6. Prelude in E Minor Op. 28 No. 4, Chopin

The bottom end of acceptability. Anything lower, you must avoid. But you can use Prelude in E. It is a risk, and it takes skill. But you can use Prelude in E. It is not for the faint of heart. This is the ending of Fez we’re talking about here. This is that one TED Talk about how everyone loves classical music they just don’t know it yet. This was all over Anatomy of a Fall. Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer something lighter? Nocturne in E-flat [Op. 9 No. 2] is very nice. Prelude has just enough penetration that some people are going to recognize it, and enough clout that those who do are going to expect things of the person who puts it in a video essay. You can’t just throw this under a rant about The Snyder Cut. But you can - with care, with effort, and with grace - use Prelude in E.

5. Spiegel im Spiegel, Part

We are not ready for Spiegel im Spiegel. The rare “Smart Music” that is, rather than classical, contemporary minimalist. This is - I have been led to believe - all over the film festival circuit. It is the go-to for aspiring arthouse directors. So I assume it is only a matter of time until it reaches general cultural awareness. But we - the YouTube video essay community - are not, at this point in time, pretentious enough to pull off Spiegel im Spiegel. This is not a statement on the song: it is a lovely, sparse, and unpretentious piece of music, which is why pretentious people are drawn to it. And we are not there yet. But I believe in us.

POSTSCRIPTUM

The List of Songs that Represent “Smart Music” is not ranked by quality; they are all, as a baseline, masterpieces. They are ordered, instead, by their possession of antipodal qualities. Beethoven’s Fifth may be a beautiful piece but it’s too well-known - to the casual listener, it reads only as “classical music.” Vltava is a beautiful piece, but it’s not recognizable enough - to most, it will read only as “music.” Pachelbel’s Canon works in too many contexts. Mozart’s Lacrimosa no longer works in any context but “Shit’s About To Go Off.” The Song that Represents “Smart Music” must balance these humors: suggestive, but not too specific; recognizable, but not overfamiliar. The kind of thing one imagines cultured people listen to, and fancies oneself cultured for having noticed it. Just popular enough to signify obscurity to a large number of people.

This impossibility of being both popular and obscure is what keeps the list in motion. Many songs drift back into obscurity before reaching the top, but, once in the primary position, a song begins its slow procession to overexposure. And when, at last, it is too popular to be niche, it does not slip to number 2; it plummets to the bottom, as did Icarus.

Due to this slow but constant movement, new songs will, at intervals, join the ranks, taking the place of those that became gauche. And if, dear listener, you were aiming to trendset, to score your next whatever-it-is-you-do with the newest Song to Represent “Smart Music,” and were I a gambling man… Bach’s Prelude in C. And I’ll tell you why: it appears in the Netflix series Bodies alongside Chopin (#6), mirroring Satie’s dual appearance in The Queen’s Gambit (#9); its arpeggiated structure makes it usable in scenarios similar to the Cello Suite (#3) (Johann did love him some broken chords); and it forms the basis of the Gounod version of Ave Maria, if you would like a Cool Person’s Alternative to Schubert (#2). You may feel I’m playing too safe, but I tell you truly: this song is due. But if I can impart one piece of wisdom let it be this: whatever you do, whoever you are, you cannot use Fur Elise. You cannot. You can’t do it. It can’t be allowed. Don’t fu-

[tagidearte-spam-sb]

(Transcription: "JOB SECURITY - Where is everyone? Leo was the only one who had a copy of the maze control key, but I haven't seen him for months. Maybe that creepy bot knows where the key is. Leo was supposed to train it to work the maze, instead he tricked the bot into doing busy work under the daycare theater. I'll check after the all staff meeting tonight.")

So. Was anyone gonna tell me Moon (maybe Sun?) was supposed to work the maze in Mazercise, or was I supposed to accidentally find out nearly 4 years after playing the game?

And then he busies himself with the mess under the theater?

And then his area, the Endo area (let's be real there's a lot of cut Moon scenes in there, possibly a """boss fight"""), is also a child themed maze of sorts?

And in Ruin he turned the daycare into a play structure maze too?

Am I the only one that was unaware this note even existed? I do believe this is about Moon and not Sun (Sun could be classified as creepy by staff, but I think his... charming personality with adults would gather him another title. Creepy Bot seems to fit better with Moon. But it could be both to be honest.) I am... flabbergasted.

.

EDIT: Go to this version of the post, with added reblogs. It has a more correct analysis, with the input of the user @/springtrappd

[digichu]

Anon here!! How did you make the heart graphic for the power rentry?

hi!! i’ll put it under the cut since there’s quite a few steps. lmk if you need a more specific tutorial or images for any of the steps!!

1) finding the base

find the shaping mask you wanna use. you can look up “shaping mask png” or “mask png” on pinterest to find some. this is the one i used:

2) removing the background

to remove the background, use the selection layer in ibis paint x. to find this layer, go to the layers panel and it should be the one all the way at the top. it is titled “selection layer.” to remove the white background, select the bucket tool and select the white background. it should turn blue. then switch from the selection layer to the layer you’re removing the background from. look at the top middle of the screen. there should be a square composed of dotted lines that looks like this:

click on it and select “cut.” this will remove the white background. click on it again and select “remove selection area.” now you’re ready to continue!

3) creating a cleaner base layer

you might want to do this if you plan to add a stroke, as once the background is removed from the mask, it tends to leave some remnants behind. this makes the stroke look choppy and pixelated. to do this, take the paint bucket tool on a new, blank layer, and fill in the black part of the base with black. then, delete the base layer underneath the new layer. the hearts will become transparent (to see this better, change the canvas from white to transparent in the layer menu) and the base will hold its shape. you can also remove the hearts in the previous step, but this tackles two birds with one stone and (in my opinion) looks cleaner.

4) filtering manga panels

to make the manga panels pink, i looked up “pink manga polarr code.” pretty much any one will do, but this is the one i used:

for the rest of this step, you’ll need the app polarr. once you get the app, go to the edit section of the menu on the bottom. click “open photos” and insert the manga panels you wish to change the colors of. then, click “filters” and “import filter.” from there, click “import qr code” and click on the filter in your gallery. the filter will go into polarr, and you can just click instant export or you can save it and then export it. it’s up to you.

5) masking the panels

import the images you just filtered into your canvas. now we’ll use a clipping layer to have them take the shape of the base. click on the image layer you want to do this with, and then hit the clipping option in the layer menu. this will have it take the shape of the base.

6) coloring the hearts

now we’ll add a new blank layer atop the clipping layers. i color picked the pink color from the image, and then used the bucket tool to fill in each of the hearts.

7) adding the extra pngs

for this step i used the sticker option in picsart and a transparent canvas to collect the pngs. i believe i looked up “pink png” in the search bar, but i’m not sure. then i imported them into the ibis paint x project and positioned them where i wanted them to go. download transparent pngs of the project (one of each image you added). toggle the eyes on and off so that you can save the different versions (not individual layers. i just mean if you added two manga panels, make sure you get one with one manga panel and one with the other).

8) creating the gif

search up ezgif animated gif maker. it should be the first option that comes up. for this, i typically switch to “manually ordered upload” opposed to “alphabetically ordered opload” (the default) so i have more control over the order of the images in the gif. once you upload them into the site and you get to the editing menu, set the delay time to 100 and click the box that says crossfade frames.

andddd you’re done!!! i hope this was somewhat comprehensible and i didn’t miss any steps xD

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Lou Reed - Parc Des Expositions De Colmar, Theatre De Plein Air, Colmar, France, August 12, 2004

Lou-natics take note — on this week's edition of the Transmissions podcast, I show up for a pre-game chat with host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss various Lou Reed-inesses. And then, Jason has a wide-ranging conversation with Lou Reed Archive dudes Jason Stern and Don Fleming, covering everything from tai-chi to photography to sword collecting. And music, too, of course! Tune in, Lou believers! (And tune in every week, for heaven's sake — Jason is doing great work on this podcast ... did you listen to his talk with Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy last week?!!)

And then zone out to this very nice show from an under-appreciated era of Lou's onstage career — nothing to prove, a lot to give. An interesting configuration, with cellist Jane Scarpantoni adding elements both soothing and scraping to the proceedings — check out her wild, extended showcase on "Venus In Furs." And speaking of extended, the "Ecstasy" here is, well, ecstatic, with Lou taking a few long, dark solos while the band grooves menacingly behind him. There's also a gorgeous, almost "What Goes On"-ish instrumental break on "Romeo Had Juliet." Go, Lou!

The setlist is very deep-cut heavy — yeah, Lou trots out "Sweet Jane" and "Perfect Day" eventually in the encore, but he kicks things off with "Turn To Me" from New Sensations, revisits a few Magic and Loss tunes and even busts out The Blue Mask's title track. And I love the weary/woozy version of "Jesus," with Fernando Saunders chiming in on appropriately gospel-tinged backing vocals. So yeah, it's far from a greatest hits re-tread, but the crowd — and Lou — seem to really be enjoying themselves on this summer evening.

[douglas-rain]

Top Five Douglas Rain Recommendations From Yours Truly

You want to see more of Douglas Rain, but you're not sure where to start? Well, do I have the thing for you! As the internet's most preeminent Douglas Rain expert (except for Gerry Flahive I guess, but he's kind of slow at answering emails and more focused on other stuff these days. If he wants to reclaim the title, he can meet me in the parking lot <3), I've made you a handy little list of some of my personal favourite performances by DR that I think you should see and/or hear!

And by 'little' I mean 'I got way too into this, so it's pretty long now'. I put it under a cut; you're welcome.

In the interest of fairness, I've chosen one performance from each of his fields of work (namely: ON STAGE, RADIO WORK, DOCUMENTARY NARRATION, TELEVISION and FILM). Please know, however, that I can give reviews of basically everything in the masterpost, so if you're interested in hearing about any of them, feel free to shoot me an ask!

Without further ado, let's get into it...

-

ON STAGE: Henry V (1966)

Okay, this one's teeeechnically a TV movie, but it's adapted from Stratford's staged production, so I'm counting it. It's also a rare treat in that we get to see DR in colour! (Everybody say THANK YOU to David Rain, his son, for bullying the Festival into restoring this production and adding it to their online catalogue. I owe him my life.)

This is one of Shakespeare's histories, part of the Henriad (aka the collection of plays about the accomplishments of various English kings). Henry V, the main guy in this one, is actually the crowned version of Prince Hal from both parts of Henry IV, a role that DR had played previously at Stratford, so this is a fun bit of character continuity for him! The play centres around the king's invasion of France, with a lot of ruminating on hope and despair and duty and bravery. Harry - as he is affectionately referred to on occasion - is really going through it, and DR portrays him with such emotional intensity. He's proud, he's fierce, he's clever, he's a BITCH and I like him SO MUCH.

The book has been edited down slightly to fit into a two hour runtime for television, but beyond a few... very funny jumpcuts, it's not really noticeable at all. And while the sets are kept mostly simple, the costumes are gorgeous. I went in not expecting much (a mistake I keep making when approaching Shakespeare plays, for some reason lol), and was thoroughly entertained the whole way through!

It also contains the transcendentally funny line, "Tennis balls, my liege!" because Shakespeare was the most hysterical motherfucker on planet Earth. It makes sense in context, I promise.

Can be found on Stratfest@Home, the online streaming service of the Stratford Festival (there's a 7-day free trial period if you sign up). You may also check my masterpost of performances for a possible alternative, but shhh.

-

RADIO WORK: Fifth Business (1980)

I love this one; it's literally so fucking funny. This radio play is a dramatisation of the 1970 novel of the same name by Robertson Davies. Fifth Business recounts the life story of Dunstable "Dunstan" Ramsay, from his boyhood in an idyllic (on the surface only) Canadian village to his experiences in the First World War, his career as a teacher and all the loves and complications he runs into, and the formative experiences peppering his life where he's never quite the main character. He is instead 'fifth business' - neither hero nor villain, but still integral to resolving the play's plot. Ramsay is clever, sarcastic and a goddamn weirdo who's obsessed with saints for non-religious reasons. He dodged a snowball as a kid and the consequences of that haunt him throughout the entire book.

The radio drama features a whole cast of actors, including of course DR as the protagonist (who also narrates everything btw), doing an absolutely delightful job. Fellow Stratford actress Martha Henry, who also happened to be his wife at the time, is in it too!

The entire drama is delightful, honestly. I liveblogged my experience listening to it for the first time, and man there is some wild shit happening in this novel. The entire things is about three and a half hours, but it really doesn't feel that long.

Can be found (in eight parts) on YouTube or on Archive.org. (Or in a junkbox on a sidewalk in Toronto. I'm still baffled by that.)

-

DOCUMENTARY NARRATION: Universe (1960)

A classic. Documentaries make up a sizeable chunk of the masterpost (thanks to the NFB website and archive channels on YouTube), so there were more options in this category than in any of the others. But I decided to go with this particular gem of a documentary.

It's about - who would have guessed - the universe, featuring the most advanced scientific knowledge of planets and stars at the time. The special effects are also quite impressive - if you move around Space Odyssey circles, you may have heard that the visuals of this documentary were a major inspiration for 2001. Also, DR's narration in Universe is what brought him to Stanley Kubrick's attention. You can probably guess how that ended. (Gerry Flahive has some articles about the whole thing if you don't.)

Anyway, Universe is a beautiful and meditative look at our galaxy and the many things it contains, and DR's narration is absolutely lovely. It clocks in at just under half an hour, so not that big of a time commitment either.

Can be found on YouTube or on the NFB website.

-

TELEVISION: William Lyon Mackenzie: A Friend To His Country (1961)

It's so hard to find old Canadian TV shows anywhere online and I'm forever bitter about it. Our options here are incredibly limited as a result, so you're just going to have to accept that I'm recommending you a historical short film from 1961, alright? This is as difficult for me as it is for you.

Unsurprisingly, this movie is about William Lyon Mackenzie, who was... *checks Wikipedia* "a Scottish Canadian-American journalist and politician." Yes, DR is doing a Scottish accent in this role. Yes, I adore it. I know very little about Canadian history, so I can't exactly speak to the film's accuracy, but I found it charming and DR is doing a very good job. Most of the half hour runtime is spent on Mackenzie's various political struggles (some sort of failed revolution, I gather, followed by exile in the United States and some jailtime) and him trying to protect his family. His wife is played by Canadian actress Kate Reid in this movie, which I personally find very funny for... reasons. IYKYK.

Can be found on YouTube or on the NFB website.

-

FILM: OEDIPUS REX (1957)

I'm sort of cheating again, but the only other options in this category that I have access to are the two Space Odyssey movies, and they seemed like too basic of a choice. So have some more drama instead! This is also a filmed version of one of Stratford's plays, but released in theatres this time.

Oedipus Rex is a breezy 87 minutes and adapts the English translation by Yeats of the classic Greek tragedy by Sophocles, with a little added prologue to set the scene. It was directed by Tyrone Guthrie, who you might remember as the Big Man from The Stratford Adventure. Or from the fact that he was a pretty famous theatre guy. If you need a refresher on your Greek myths: Oedipus was the guy who was prophesised to kill his father and marry his mother. He got done dirty by Freud somewhere down the line.

DR plays the role of the Messenger, a minor part who recounts some of the most famous plot points of the tragedy of Oedipus, which they couldn't show onscreen/onstage. Granted, he's only in this one for like five minutes, but he really rocks up to crash the party wearing the coolest outfit in the entire show. And yes, everyone in this production is wearing Greek theatre masks, so you can't see his face. You get to hear his voice though - and watch his captivating body language!

Can be found on YouTube. Or you can probably buy it on DVD if you really want to; idk, I'm not the boss of you. (I've also clipped his scene if you really, really don't want to watch the whole play. I get it's a big ask. Really beautiful production though, seriously!)

[cboffshore]

Well, less than twelve hours after wondering if I should make it: it's here, the official playlist for On Sea, Sunlight, and Sky! Cover art and everything, too.

Since Spotify doesn't allow track-by-track notes to be added, I've included commentary on each included song under the cut (as well as their names and artists so anyone who's not on Spotify can go look them up). If you're short on time, the most important thing to know is that order is not important here, as this is a rough collection of songs that either inspired or act as parallels to the series. You know, for when you want the energy of the fics without actually reading them.

Before the notes: here's the full cover art. I sourced all the illustrations from free art websites and Google listings, then edited them together and did some minor color correction in Sketchbook (on mobile, too!). I tried to go for a scrapbook style look, so I hand-cut each piece out with a rough eraser for a papery feel, then added text that I formatted in Canva, pulled the background out of, and textured.

Now: the tracklist and commentary!

"Escape Route" by Paramore: Given Nya's MO of GTFO throughout the series, I thought this would be a nice capstone track. I especially love the lines "Not quite a victory to run from your problems/But it's the only plan that I got, the only plan that I got" and "Where I'm going is everyone's story" in a meta kind of way. Where she's going - or trying to - is indeed this entire story.

"The Ballad of Mona Lisa" by Panic! At The Disco: Three out of four entries in OSSAS take their name from "Kaleidoscope Eyes," a bonus track from the same album as this one that's not on streaming services (although you can find it on YouTube). In the absence of the title track, I picked "Mona Lisa" for its ethereal opener and ominous guitar work. I also adore the line "A lonely speaker in a conversation/Her words are swimming through his ears again" for the prologue of IICT(OSC).

"Small Cuts" by The Brobecks: This is where "It Doesn't Take Much (To Cover Up Small Cuts)" takes its name from. I think the themes of covering up pain while wanting someone to acknowledge it works very well for that particular fic, but also for the series as a whole. My favorite OSSAS-ish line in this one is "She will leave you deaf and bewildered/Oh, how she floats like a butterfly, stings like a killer."

"Visitation Of The Ghost" by The Brobecks: From the same album as "Small Cuts," this is a delightfully spooky track (and if you want extra drama, go look up the "fancy studio version"). The second verse is especially relevant for reasons I'll try to articulate in the finale of this year's installment, if all goes well, so pay attention to that one ;)

"GLOOMTOWN BRATS" by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME: This track brings us three for three on Dallon Weekes songs, and there's more where that came from! A brand-new release, this song is a panicky, funky track that acts as a nod towards Nya's canon distrust towards overblown luxury and Nadakhan's veneer of gentlemanly behavior.

"Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things To Do Today" by Fall Out Boy: It's loud, it's fast, it's snarky, it's bitter - this is a song to run away to. Take a look at that chorus, the chunk with the bridges and the piss, and tell me otherwise. This might be a personal thing, but the swell of the volume between the verses and the choruses makes me think of swooping ocean waves.

"Playing God" by Paramore: At its core, OSSAS is a power struggle. This song exemplifies that with its own hefty dose of Nya-aligned snark and poignant venting. I especially like the pairing of the lines "Next time you point a finger, I might have to bend it back or break it off/Next time you point a finger, I'll point you to the mirror" as a character analysis of both Nya and Nadakhan (as a bonus, this line will become very relevant in the IICT(OSC) finale - and not for the reasons you think).

"Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met...) by Panic! At The Disco: Another one from the album that kicked all this off, this is yet another spooky, dreamlike track, with an undercurrent of lost love and regret that serves Nadakhan especially well. (For him, I think it's fun to take the shouted "And I regret never letting you go!" out of the song's context for the IICT(OSC) opening sequence.)

"mirrorball" by Taylor Swift: Something a little softer and solidly out of the 2000s alt rock scene, this song works nicely for the introspective sections of the series, especially when it comes to how Nya processes her situation. For that, I really like the line "I'll show you every version of yourself tonight/I'll get you out on the floor" and the general quietness of the track.

"Look Who's Inside Again" by Bo Burnham: This one is pretty specific to IICT(OSC) and actually almost gave the fic its title! It ultimately didn't, but I think it's still a good fit. If I listed every line that fit the story, I'd be writing out the whole song, so do us both a favor and go play it once or twice.

"Hold Me Like A Grudge" by Fall Out Boy: Yet another snarky one that I particularly like for both Nya and as a tongue-in-cheek reference to Nadakhan's constant physical contact despite the fact that he's growing to resent her and his own failings (literally holding her like a grudge). Nya is nothing if not a "full-time problem". (Also: the bass line on this is incredible.)

"Carry On" by Coeur de Pirate: This song actually inspired the post-Seabound Nya fics I wrote a while back, so it's a Nya song to me now. In the context of the newest series installment, I love the line "The light of the sundowns/On my fate" as a little bit of foreshadowing.

"YES MOM" by Tessa Violet: This one is unadulterated independence, power posing, and self-confidence - that is, Nya every time she kicks off some new menace behavior. "Push me down and I bounce right back/Trampoline and it's in my past/Rising like a phoenix, making fire from the ash" is a FANTASTIC sequence for her, in both the context of her little successes in this series and her origin as Samurai X.

"The Carpal Tunnel Of Love" by Fall Out Boy: Surrealist Wentz lyricism at its best, I chose this one for the underlying themes of relationships that are apparently destined to never work (like the one Nya's trying to avoid) and the sheer energy. I especially like the Wentz screaming section in the middle, and the lyrics for that part are pretty relevant - although unintelligible, so you might want to just look them up and read them on your own.

"Say Amen (Saturday Night)" by Panic! At The Disco: The music video for this one inspired the combat sequence in IICT(OSC). Aside from that influence, I think the lyrics that swing from wild confidence to existential despair are a great fit for the tone of this series.

"bury a friend" by Billie Eilish: I love that this one opens with a series of questions that range from simply wondering what's wrong with someone to wondering about what happens after death. If that's not a fun fit for Nya's arc in this series (we'll get to the death thing eventually, don't worry), I don't know what is. Again, there's a nice sense of bitterness in here, as well as those ominous male backing vocals muttering "Careful" and echoing the lyrics here and there.

"Choke - Acoustic" by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME: Both versions of this track are awesome, but I like the gentle, almost taunting creepiness of the acoustic style in this one. The entire song is about hating a place, which I think is appropriate given the fact that Nya's trapped with someone she hates for the first three fics on the timeline and with memories she hates for "Small Cuts." In IICT(OSC), she loosely considers burning the Temple down as a means of escape, but finds that she can't, which lines up beautifully with "If I could burn this town, I wouldn't hesitate/To smile while you suffocate and die." And, in true Weekes style, there's another little commentary against undeserved wealth that works nicely with Nya's disdain for her situation.

"Absinthe" by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME: As of IICT(OSC), beverages are a major plot device, which plays nicely with 'Whatever they give you, stop drinking it down!" and the title of the track. If "Choke" is Nya's TLDR opinion of the situation, "Absinthe" is Nadakhan's - but we'll get to that in the finale.

"Modern Day Cain" by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME: Last IDKHOW track for a while, I promise! And I hate that I keep saying the finale is going to make a lot of these make sense, but if it's true for one song, it's true for this one, which did inspire some of what I'm working on for the final confrontation.

"The Calendar" by Panic! At The Disco: This one is only here for the lines "There is simply nothing worse than knowing how it ends" and "Anticipation's on the other line, and obsession called while you were out" as very thematically-appropriate lines. Also, a straight bop.

"Patches of Sky" and "Path of the Eclipse" by Coeur de Pirate from Child of Light: A little instrumental break, these are two of the pieces I keep on my default writing playlist. Ominous and optimistic in equal measure, I think these two fit OSSAS well.

"Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes" by Fall Out Boy: This one is an absolute goldmine of lines that could work for either of the series leads. For Nya, I really like the repeated "Boycott love! Detox just to retox!/And I'd promise you anything for another shot at life/Imperfect boys with their perfect ploys/Nobody wants to hear you sing about tragedy!" For Nadakhan, I like (well, not LIKE like, but I definitely think it works) the slightly stalkerish and somewhat paranoid "Little girl, you got me staring odd/Or was that just a telescopic camera nod?"

"Time To Dance" by Panic! At The Disco: This one is perfect in ways I can't articulate succinctly, although I do want to say I love the detached and kind of panicky sarcasm of the opener as a summary of the overall series mood: "Well, she's not bleeding on the ballroom floor just for the attention/'Cause that's just ridiculously odd/Well, she sure is gonna get it!" There's also some desperation in there that works very well for every failed escape attempt or revenge plot.

"Leave Me Alone - Piano Version" by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME: Surprise, more IDKHOW! The lyrics on this one are pretty straightforward - read it as an insulting monologue being hurled at Nadakhan if you'd like. I chose this one for the lonely, vaguely-frightened vocals over the stripped-down piano backing.

"Boy Division" by My Chemical Romance: I like this one for its high energy and fight scene vibes, but most importantly, look at those lyrics - don't they read as someone lamenting a situation they put themselves into? I think that works well for what I've done and plan to do to Nadakhan in this year's installment and any future ones.

"To The End" and "It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Fucking Deathwish" by My Chemical Romance: Songs from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge automatically get Skybound brownie points for all the gore and the wedding theme. "To The End" reads as a mockery of Nadakhan's marriage plot; "Deathwish" is a fun examination of resilience and, well, revenge - I adore the line "I'm taking back the life you stole/This hole you put me in wasn't deep enough, and I'm climbing out right now/You're running out of places to hide from me!" as a general summary of what Nya's doing the whole time.

"F.T.W.W.W." by My Chemical Romance: Again, excellent action sequence energy here; this is what flipping the bird would sound like if it made noise. In the context of Skybound and this series, I really appreciate the line "The heart you got, it ain't the one you need."

"Karma" by Taylor Swift: Listen, this entire series is an excuse to flip the script on Nadakhan and let Nya take a crack at the whole "read your enemies and then use their flaws to beat them to an emotional pulp" tactic, because frankly that's a cool narrative device. Here's where "Karma" works best: remember the line in "Wishmasters" where Nya, with little other comment, tells Nadakhan that he'll be sorry? That's this song. There's a sort of "I know you're about to get your ass beat" energy, a sort of wink wink from the singer that subtly pokes the subject with the knowledge that only one person here is in the right.

[cornbread-but-minecraft]

version 1.2.0 of Thickly Be-Beveled Buttons on bedrock edition as well as the new java edition port are now available on planet minecraft and modrinth! featuring new subpacks and new compatibility, as well as a few miscellaneous additions and tweaks.

links coming in a reblog, changelog under cut:

on bedrock, pack version 1.2.0:

Updated Enchanting Table Screen when using CrisXolt's VDX Legacy Desktop UI. It no longer runs into visual issues with Screen Animations enabled, and its Empty Lapis Slot now uses its updated texture to match the Smithing Table Screen. (Edited texture)

The rest of the GUI is now compatible with CrisXolt's VDX Legacy Desktop UI since Thickly Be-Beveled Buttons got a Java Edition port. (Added textures)

The Title Screen Buttons are now compatible with CrisXolt's VDX Old Days UI . (Added textures)

Added Subpacks to choose the color buttons turn when hovering over them! The options are Modern Green and Classic Blue (does not affect Container Screens or CrisXolt's packs. (Edited JSON, added textures)

Tweaked the color pallet for hovering over dark buttons (in green mode) to look less broken. (Edited texture)

Textured the "Verbose Button" on the Sidebar, because I missed it before. (Added texture)

Fixed the "Verbose Button" on the Sidebar, because it's completely broken in vanilla. (Added JSON, added textures)

on java, nothing. since this is the first version, there is no changelog :P

[snek-panini]

At long last, I've finally finished a new book! And it's actually not a fanfic this time! This is a bind of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. This was supposed to be my fourth book for Binderary, but I didn't finish it in time. Procrastination's a bitch. Fun fact: the first thing I ever bound was a public domain short story called The Machine Stops, but since it was the first it is...not a good skill showcase. This one is so much better. More pics and process talk under the cut!

Close-up of the cover, and a pic of the spine. The blue bits are cardstock, and brown ones are faux leather left over from when I bound Pray for Us, Icarus. The images and author's name are in black embossing ink. Something weird happened with the texture on these--the author's name came out nice and smooth and solid like always, but the stamped images have a bumpy texture to them and some leather visible through the powder. They were done with rubber stamps on an ink pad and the text was done with an embossing pen, so I think it's a difference in the ink. It's a nice texture though, so I don't mind. I had originally thought to put the title on the front, but I really liked both stamps and I like how it came out.

Top view and endpaper. I'm really pleased with how the case fits; that's been something I struggle with on a lot of projects and I think I'm finally getting it down. The endpapers are a floretine print that I bought from Hollander's and cut to size. They got a little wrinkled when I cased in, especially in the back. It's my first time working with this kind of paper and I used too much glue. I also tried stitching them to the text block this time, but I don't think I'll bother with that again. I didn't like how flimsy the single-sheet signature felt next to the thicker ones in the text block. Fun fact for those who've seen an adaptation of this story but not actually read it: there is actually no hot air balloon in the book, even though it's in all the adaptations. There was a movie made in the 1950s which added the balloon and it's been in every version since then.

Title page and chapter header. I've been saying for a while that I wanted to up my title page game, and I really love how this looks. The image here is a free vector pulled from Seekpng.com. It's the same image on both pages, the one on the chapter header is just smaller and in gray instead of black. I've also chosen a name for my bindery, largely because other people had names for theirs and I thought it was cool and wanted my own. It's Paper Snake Press, you can see it at the bottom of the text. I want a logo too but haven't gotten around to making one yet. 2d art is, uh. Still not a strength for me.

The text I used was pulled from Project Gutenberg. Typesetting it was and interesting experience, surprisingly different from typesetting fic. When I do fic I keep the editing very light, just really obvious things like misspelled characters' names and quotation marks that are flipped the wrong way, but it always needs something. This one didn't need any of that, which was nice. It also has way longer sentences and paragraphs than fic, and I thought that might be a product of its age, that writers just wrote longer sentences and were more verbose in 1873 than they are now. But then this week I started working on another fic that has the same features, from someone I've suspected for a while is a published author, so I wonder if it's actually a professional author thing instead of a shift in reading tastes over time. I'm not really going anywhere with this speculation, I just thought it was interesting.

I have two more works-in-progress printed and waiting. One is an author copy and just needs casing in, the other's in a halfway stage and has a lot to be done, so it might be a bit before I have more books to post. But there's a whole stack of things I've typeset that I'm waiting to print, so there are good things coming.

[alto-tenure]

dude the misogyny in pl is so bad. like just off the top of my head there's like twice the amount of plot-relavent women/girls who are dead (sophia, claire (x2), melina, rachel, aurora, des's wife, des's daughter) to the plot-relavent men who are dead (augustus, duke herzen, evan barde) like. they really took the girls behind the shed and put them down to further the men's characters 😭😭😭

it really fucking sucks like. fandom is Not Immune to Misogyny either but at least the people I've encountered over here believe the female characters deserved better (at least Flora if no one else)

(spoilers for: plvpw, lmj, lbmr, azran legacy, and miracle mask under the cut)

and there are a lot of different types of misogyny in the games too -- it isn't just the amount of female characters that are fridged (though I will say: Newton Belduke gets added to the count of male characters, and while both Mrs. Belduke and Mrs. Cantabella are dead, neither of them really fit the bill for fridging, since they're barely relevant beyond "this is how Eve and Espella exist", which is a Different misogynist trope but not fridging...) it's also:

the mishandling of Flora in DB and UF, who was shafted out of a character arc

characters like Espella and Aurora, which while prominent don't have much going for them in terms of characterization since they're more "mystery" than "character" -- you can read my essay about that here

and the fact that characters like them exist shows that PL knows they had issues with female characters and rather than actually Fixing The Problem they were like "oh! we'll just give female characters more screen time! this will fix everything!"

there's these two NPCs in Diabolical Box you interact with on the Molentary Express. they're named Steve and Mitzi. they're husband and wife. Steve has about double the amount of lines as Mitzi, despite the fact that you interact with both simultaneously. this was the example that made me want to graph the amount of lines female characters have versus the amount male characters had

why was Katrielle's game almost marketed as "Lady Layton" I know it's to give her a fancy title like Professor but like. Changing it to Layton's Mystery Journey was the right move imo, Lady Layton sounds like it's "puzzles: girl edition"

Diane Makepeace should have been the final villain of Mystery Room actually. She should have gotten to take in how completely wrong she was about Alfendi and watched her conceptions of the case crumble. It doesn't even necessarily have to be a redemption arc. She doesn't have to express remorse about killing those at least five other people. (And yes I acknowledge the racist tones of the whole "Mariana Etista" thing, these are not mutually exclusive)

this is localization specific but according to a couple friends of mine who are collaborating on a comparison between the EU-US-JP versions of Last Specter/Spectre's Call Emmy's character is very different in the US version, she speaks a lot more passively in the US version compared to the EU version which uh. Yikes

Katia's family history being mansplained by Layton since it's the "mystery" of DB

just like. they never acknowledge Hoogland's deal? like the women that were ""sacrificed to the dragonlord"" were running away from loveless marriages, sure, but why did those marriages exist to begin with? and now we (the protagonists) have taken away that escape route for women trapped in (probably) abusive relationships because the dragonlord was a lie and azran tech was causing the wind. sure we might have fixed the natural disasters but we sure didn't fix the other problems!

(I think the crossover does slightly better here by not portraying becoming a Shade as an escape for women but as kind of an empty existence, but witch burnings are always gonna be a little :/)

the general lack of female antagonists. Darklaw and Diane go a good ways towards filling that but Diane dying is :/ and while I'm fine with Darklaw being not the "final boss" because she’s also an Ace Attorney Prosecutor they just don't like girlbosses. women can be evil too

Marina Triton deserved better than what she got she is actually kind of a BAMF (going undercover in a cult that kidnapped her for years, hello??) but the ONLY reason she couldn't rescue Luke and Layton earlier was because Katrielle needed to be there in a Doyalist sense, which makes Marina knowing how to get them out of the cryochambers even weirder because if she KNEW why couldn't she have freed them EARLIER

Angela and Flora (in DB) being replaced by a male villain for a lot of their screentime (Angela was replaced by Descole after the first present-day conversation, so in all subsequent present-day scenes she’s Not There. Despite Flora being replaced by Don Paolo fairly early on in DB she actually speaks the third-most lines out of the female characters in that game...and I took out all the DP lines for that count)

but yeah the fridging is a problem, even one that persists into LMJ -- a major part of Ernest/Miles's motivations are that his mother died 🙃

[newt-with-a-keyboard]

Writing Long Things Example Post:

Summary:

Writing long things is hard. This is part for me, part for anyone else who finds it useful.

Some trial + error. And distant memories of high school essays. Have helped me find a way to make drafts for bigger writing,

It is made so that my words don't have to be finished all at once. And doesn't actually have to be written in order, for when my brain jumps between ideas.

Main points:

When is useful?

Setting up the page

Writing the thing

Wow that's a lot!

Sorting and polishing

Putting it together

Brain dump

When is it useful?

For when a long writing needs to be clear to me or other people

When writing something that takes time or planning to finish

When my brain or body needs extra rest and can't do all at once

When my brain needs some support for organizing itself

For big subjects with lots of parts

Setting up the page:

My brain will not hold a structure long term. But a word page can!

It needs to be possible for me to copy and paste things into it.

Here is a way to set it up:

Give it a Clear Title.

Make a "Summary". Write down basic version of what you need to say.

Make a "Main Points" section. And write them in rough order you need to say them. This will help organize ideas later.

Copy your main points. Use them as heading for your sections. This section is called "setting up the page".

At bottom of page, make a "Brain Dump" section. To fill later.

Writing the thing:

Write down ideas. If you can, put them under the "main point" section they belong to .

If you are not sure, put them in brain dump section for later.

Write down everything.

It might look like chaos. This is fine. Add more paragraph breaks.

Take a break . Do something different. This will help with the next step.

Wow that's a lot!

If you want to add more, do the step above again!

If you've added everything for now, it is time to clean up some things.

Anything that doesn't belong where you put it? Cut and paste in the brain dump section.

Any words, phrases you dislike? Rewrite or remove.

Maybe make a few versions of the sentence, and choose favorite.

Cut and paste your ideas under the Main Point heading they fit into. You may enjoy dot points!

Need an extra Main Point? Make a new heading, you can add as many as needed.

Putting together:

You have done great! Do you need a rest?

Time to make sure all your sentences are in the right order. Rearrange until they fit.

Add an introduction at the start of the section if you need.

You might want to add something to "wrap it up" at the end.

Now you can remove spare paragraph breaks so words look like this! People probably don't check for evidence your paragraph used to be dot points. And you can edit it if you like, so it flows better.

Maybe it looks funny or you need to miss (or add) some steps, but that's okay. Do what helps you best. Everyone has ideas worth hearing.

Brain dump:

So. Normally this bit would not get shown. But it needs examples. Have some unsorted ideas:

For big project, could make one of these per chapter.

Needs computer writing to copy and paste.

This took so long to write. On and off for weeks. Ow.

Hello future Newt who will use this for reference! And also sorry to anyone else who read all the way through... Hope it was helpful at least.

[jules-has-notes]

Love On Top — VoicePlay music video

When Emoni agreed to join the guys for the 2014 Sing-Off tour, they knew they didn't want to just slot her into a guest-lady position, only singing songs they'd previously arranged for someone else. They wanted to feature her unique talents, as well. For this number, they took a song she'd performed amazingly on The Sing-Off, and blended their own style around hers.

Details:

title: Love On Top (feat. Emoni)

original performer: Beyoncé

written by: Beyoncé Knowles, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, & Shea Taylor

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci & Layne Stein

release date: 13 May 2014

My favorite bits:

starting simple with just snapping for percussion under Geoff's bass line and Tony's melody, then adding everyone else when Emoni takes over the lead

the syncopation and harmonies on ♫ "It's gonna take a little work. Ooh!" ♫

Earl's shmexy growl for ♫ "Come on, baby." ♫

the Motown-style backing vocals and choreography from whichever trio is at the righthand microphones at any given moment, while Layne and Geoff step-touch in time

cutting out the rhythm section for a few bars to get the crowd clapping along, and bring everyone to the front

four incredible key changes in as many seconds

Emoni's huge riff, the boys' big harmonized slides, and Layne's fantastic drum line for a finish that shouldn't be able to come out of just six human beings

using footage from all 34 cities on the tour to echo the multiple costume changes in the original video

Trivia:

Emoni sang this song with Ten during the Sing-Off finale episode. The boys used that arrangement as inspiration for their own version for the tour.

This track was included in the deluxe edition of VoicePlay's "Collide" album of collaborations with other competitors from The Sing-Off season 4.

[atalana]

hey! I have been meaning to get xkit for a while now and you seem to be well versed, any advice, pointers, or places where to look? the new layout is hell for my brain to navigate

hey! and yeah, i've been using xkit since at least 2014

it's been through a lot of updates and changing hands as people have stopped working on it and new people have started, but they've kept it called xkit for conveniences sake

the most recent version, the one that's still updating, is xkit rewritten, this is a fairly bare bones version in that it's solely about fixing things staff have done to the website + adding accessibility options - this extension will show up in your browser extension toolbar and can be modified from there. this doesn't have a fix yet to fix the twitter layout (i'll get to that), but its most recent update was fixing the fact that you can't click on urls to go to specific posts anymore - if you look under tweaks, and "restore links to posts in the post header" (or worded along those lines, on mobile atm), that'll fix that. and feel free to have a playaround with the other stuff it can do!

new xkit is the version that existed before that - this shows up as an additional icon in the tumblr header (or now the sidebar for the twitter layout). a lot of people will say don't get this, i honestly don't see a problem with it, but this was the xkit that existed for a long time and used to have extensions that modified the website just for fun, rather than solely to fix it. this version is no longer updating and it lost about half its extensions in the process, but the ones that remain still work fine, and if you care for something more whimsical, there's a couple fun extensions left, plus i just find the customisability of extensions easier with this

(new xkit and xkit rewritten can be used at the same time, and i have been using both since i got xkit rewritten - but if you only want one, xkit rewritten is definitely the way to go)

now, if you want to actually fix the twitter layout, xkit isn't what you need, there's two options for that

i use stylus, and this extension, which has so far been working fine for me (minus one slight issue in menu sizing that i fixed with a single line of code, i'll throw details to that in under the cut if it happens to you)

i'm also aware of dashboard-unfucker, which uses a different browser extension, i haven't used this personally, but i know some people have had better luck with it than stylus, so feel free to have a playaround and use what works for you!

(and the author does have a note added in that this version of dashboard unfucker only works with xkit rewritten, it has problems with new xkit, so if you wanna go this path keep that in mind)

but yeah, you should be able to find some combination of extensions that works for you, feel free to get back in touch if you're struggling to install anything, and good luck in your journey of modifying tumblr!

okay so the issue i was having is i think this extension was designed on a very specific screen size, and i'm assuming one smaller than my desktop screen? so it ended up making the menus up the top super wide when opened

i'm not a css expert (honestly if anyone who is knows how to make the other new icons that i don't care about disappear, and realign what's left back over to the right, would love to know how to do that), but i researched enough to add this line in

if you open stylus once this is installed, click manage, and then select tumblr.com, you should be taken to the source code and be able to edit it

around line 281 (after you install it, the preview version has more stuff added in) there's a section titled "Moves the menu so it appears over the top and not in the header", and several lines of code underneath that

somewhere in that list (doesn't matter where as long as it's in the brackets, i've put it under max height for organisation) add "max-width: calc(20vw);" in on a new line (minus the quotation marks, but make sure you keep the semicolon)

basically that just checks the width of your screen and tells the menu it can't be wider than 20% of the screen, which works for me, feel free to change that number according to what works for you, i find stylus very easy to modify, you just hit the save button (i don't think you even have to reload the page, but try doing that if it doesn't work) and it'll make the changes

[vickyvicarious]

I noticed when the zoomed-in version of this paper appeared that it looked like most articles were fully written out, so then I got very curious about what they said! I can read the titles on the bottom half here, but we never get to see the articles more fully: "Public Health Report", "Lost Cat", and "Retrospective". The top does get more detail, however.

Top left (full article)

Ruffians Aim to Intimidate a Man of Justice London's top prosecutor Barok van Zieks's life came under threat again as a group of heavily-armed assailants, brandishing large knives and pistols, ambushed him last night. The sight of the Reaper of the Bailey and his companion valiantly keeping the mob of blackguards at bay was captured by this reporter, who then rushed straight away to the police to report this most heinous of crimes. As host of the Great Exhibition, the city of London can ill afford to have such brutal acts of violence occurring in its streets, and the Lord Chief Justice's Office is sure to have a response to this latest incident. As to Lord van Zieks and his condition? All will be revealed in tomorrow's morning edition!

Bottom left (cut off)

Skeleton Captures Bumbling Burglar A most frightful turn of events visited upon two Pennsylvanian burglars recently as they attempted to rob a town physician's office when the very figure of Death himself appeared to ensnare one of them in its cold and chilling jaws. [...]-ive man in question just so hap- [...] coil spring mechanism [...] causing it to

Middle left (cut off)

Fiery Ball Gown Sets Dance Hall Ablaze An evening of cordial dancing turned into a blazing ball last week when one of the lady attendees' dresses accidentally caught on fire. In her panic at the sudden appearance of flames at her feet, the lady dashed madly about the whole of the [...] igniting no fewer than three [...] -nkfully, the fires [...]

Middle center (cut off)

French Court Hears Glass Eye Case The judge de paix of Neuilly was presented today with a most curious case of a lady who refused to pay her dues for the purchase of one glass eyes. The whole affair began when Madame Pluyette, the defendant, ordered the eye as a replacement for the natural one she has lost. Upon its arrival, she found that she could see no more with it than she could before, and became incensed at the thought of paying for a deficient product. The judge de paix attempted to reason with the madame, [...] the endeavour proved to be en- [...]

Right center (ad)

ALTAMONT GAS COMPANY Clean, dependable, safe Choose Altamont Gas for brighter [...] a brighter tomorrow

Top right (full article)

King Christian VIII Reverses Ruling, Awards Prize to Mitchells In a rather unexpected fashion, King Christian VIII of Denmark issued a proclamation today announcing the results of his careful reconsideration as to who the rightful winner of the prize his father, Frederick VI, offered for the first man to discover any new comet with the aid of a telescope should be. It appears that the winner will not even be a man at all, but rather a young American lady by the name Maria Mitchell of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Though there were multiple competing claims of the new comet's discovery from all nations, including one by British astronomer Mr. William Rutter Dawes, King Christian was swayed by the fervent petition of Harvard president Edward Everett, who urged the Charge d'Affaires of the United States at Copenhagen, "as the fact of Miss Mitchell's prior discovery is undoubted, and recognized throughout Europe, it would be a pity that she should lose the medal on a mere technical punctilio".

Bottom right (not cut off much, but too dark for me to read)

Women Form New Suffragist Group A new suffragist group, the [...] tional Union of Women's [...] Societies, officially [...] formation today. Though there have been groups [...] others claim that [...] -tion of seventeen [...] suffrage [...] Central C- [...] -al Society for [...] they will be [...] and campaigning [...] to be in [...] of all social [...]

--

Maria Mitchell did in fact see the comet and receive the award in October 1847, and was awarded by the King of Denmark in October 1848. I believe this case is set in September, and I know liberties were pretty freely taken with other dates, such as the length of Natsume's stay in London, which was originally from 1900 to early 1903. I doubt the game has committed to any particular year, but it's surely set closer to then rather than the 1840s.

The suffragist group seems like the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, founded in 1897. Of course, that timeline also doesn't match up, but I still love the historical easter eggs. As well as just the amusing stories under some of the other headlines.

(@dance-of-deduction you might enjoy this if you didn't already notice it!)