#even improved because it has alt text

[macro-microcosm]

Based.

[haikyuupaladin]

TLDR; don’t give tumblr money until they start making visible improvements towards accessibility

I’ve seen a few posts around about something people are calling crab day where you’re supposed to gift the crab button to your mutuals to support Tumblr financially. Please don’t participate in this unless Tumblr starts making noticeable improvements towards accessibility between now and then. It’s been 5 months of me trying to get the bare minimum of accessibility for photosensitive users or even just find out who I can talk to to get anywhere, and Tumblr is refusing to make any changes.

@photomatt has doubled down on the suggestion that you should just pay for ad-free or install an ad-blocker instead of listening to any of the suggestions photosensitive users have repeatedly made. Please do not give money to Tumblr until they show a commitment to accessibility because they will continue to ignore our requests if it doesn’t impact them financially.

Some of the requests we’ve made are:

1. Allow us to disable autoplay on browser as well as the app. This is an accessibility feature, not a data-saving feature, and should be treated as such.

2. Include ads in disabling of autoplay, along with other formats that currently get around the autoplay feature. Currently even if you have autoplay disabled you can still end up with flashing lights in your face every few posts from ads.

3. Improve the reporting process for strobing ads. The quick reporting process doesn’t provide good options to ensure the person reviewing the report realizes that it’s being reported for flashing lights so you have to hope they agree it’s either malicious or offensive and don’t just brush you off as abusing the report function. The more complicated reporting process involves getting a screenshot and the link that the ad brings you to, which requires lingering on the ad, which if you’re trying to report the ad for your safety, is dangerous. You can also still get the same ad 10 times a row after reporting it until it’s been reviewed. Which again, presents a danger to users.

4. Add a community label for flashing lights. Flashing lights are commonly untagged or mistagged, even sometimes maliciously. It would be extremely helpful to the photosensitive community to be able to add a warning to a post that doesn’t have one.

I’ve talked a lot about the photosensitive community in this post because that’s what I have personal experience with and what @photomatt has explicitly come out and just said to buy ad-free about, but there are definitely other accessibility issues that need to be addressed as well (like the alt text function needing improvements to make it accessible to users who need it and don’t use screenreaders, or the fact that a lot of tumblr official stuff still doesn’t seem to use the alt text feature themselves). Please feel free to add on accessibility issues I’ve missed in the reblogs.

[nadvs]

　　💔　⊹　❀　︵　∘　 old wounds ⟢

pairing rafe cameron x female reader

rating explicit 18+

summary you thought you left your ex-boyfriend in the past for good. but one night, when you need a ride home, you drunkenly text him to help you.

content warnings toxic relationship, smut

continuation of this alt ending, inspired by this ask!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

Rafe is sitting in the sand after an evening at the beach with his friends, laughing under the night sky and knocking back a beer. He finally feels almost back to normal after the shitstorm that was your relationship.

His phone buzzes in his pocket and he has no idea who it’d be. It’s nearing midnight and all of his friends are here.

His body goes cold when he sees that it’s a text from you. heyyyyy can hou give me a ride home??

He inhales sharply, staring at the screen. It’s been two long months since you last spoke, bitterly parting ways.

He doesn’t like to think about it, but the way he left you to walk home that night still fucks with his head. He was pissed off and heartbroken, head foggy from all the shit you said to him.

But as your boyfriend, he spent every day wanting to protect you, and even after he lost that title, he realized he still felt a responsibility to keep you safe.

His anger blinded him that night, though, and he regrets making you get home alone. He checked your social media over and over until he saw proof that you were alive.

Eventually, you blocked him on all your accounts. But apparently, you don’t have his number blocked.

It’s a twisted joke that you’re asking him, obviously drunkenly, for a ride now, considering you could have used one from him that day.

Rafe’s thumbs hover over the screen. He was sure he hated you. But the thought of you drunk and alone wherever the hell you are, so desperate that you’re asking for help from the man who called you a bitch the last time he saw you just because he knew how much the word hurts your feelings, makes his chest ache. And he feels like a pussy for it.

You text again: ill give you avery nice thank you lol

Your words ignite a fire in his core. He’s glad he’s barely buzzed from the beer, clearheaded enough to drive. He replies: Where are you?

Minutes later, he gets an address.

You’re standing outside the house, arms crossed as the wind whips around you. You’d be cold if you weren’t so drunk. Your friends are plastered, half of them passed out around different parts of the house, after celebrating a birthday.

You’re the only single one in your group of friends and hearing them gush about how happy they are with their amazing boyfriends got to you. It’s why you decided to text Rafe of all people to give you a lift home.

You miss him. Every time he crosses your mind, you hate that your heart twists with loss. You’re grieving and you feel like you shouldn’t because the only thing that died was a dysfunctional, painful, awful relationship with someone who didn’t love you enough to improve himself for you.

But enough time has passed that you can hook up with him without it messing with you. And if it hasn’t, you’ll deal with the consequences tomorrow. You’re sad and lonely and horny and he’s the only one who can make you feel the way you want to.

The car he pulls up in is new. It’s not the one you sat in together when you broke up.

Rafe had a penchant for losing himself in booze and drugs and impulsive purchases whenever things didn’t go his way, and you wonder if this car was an indirect result of losing you.

He pulls up beside you. You open the passenger door, your orientation off from all the booze you drank tonight.

“New car,” you say, climbing in and settling onto the cushioned seat.

You try to gain your bearings, finding the seatbelt, while Rafe takes the few seconds he gets to see you clearly before the interior light fades off.

He hates how beautiful you are, how goddamn short your dress is, how there are people who get to see you every day, people you love despite their flaws, meanwhile he was someone too broken for you to stay for.

“No shit,” he mutters. Beneath the rush of seeing you again, he feels nothing but pure agony right now.

“Someone’s grumpy,” you say with a giggle. You finally look up at him, meeting heavy-lidded blue eyes. It’s sobering to see the man who left such a painful crater in your heart.

The car light dims into darkness. You can still see the outline of his hard jaw. And you can still smell him. His cologne makes you feel sadly nostalgic, yearning for the early days of your relationship.

He looks ahead and accelerates.

“You still doing this shit with your stupid little friends?” he says. He picked you up from this house a few times before. He knows your best friend lives here.

“You still mad I have friends?” you say amusedly.

Rafe hated how you used to party. He never knew what you were doing and who you were talking to and if you were safe when you were with your friends.

But he didn’t hate that you always ended up drunk calling him, slurring that you love him. That you spent the next day so hungover that you said you’re never partying like that again.

Your eyes travel over the big dashboard and the darkened flat screen above the console, the time in small, white text. 12:16 AM.

You touch the screen, activating a myriad of apps and options to fade in.

“Fancy,” you say.

Rafe’s jaw tightens, watching your shadowed fingers over the screen. Within minutes, you’re here, in his life again, touching his things, acting like this isn’t hard for you at all.

“What are you listening to these days?” you ask, pressing the music app.

“Stop,” he says sternly, shoving his hand over the screen, powering it off.

You lean back and nuzzle against the headrest, staring at his profile as he drives. In your haze, you wonder how such a beautiful man can let his soul get so ugly.

He stops at a red light.

“What, am I gonna find something embarrassing?” you ask with a soft chuckle.

Rafe hates that you have him figured out. Because yes, he would be mortified if you saw what he’s been listening to. It’s none of the stuff he puts on when his friends are around.

It’s sad, corny shit that at least makes him feel sort of understood. Shit he listens to because of you.

“You should be embarrassed,” he replies. “Getting wasted. Wearing that. It’s so fucking trashy.”

Your gut reaction is to defend yourself, to say you’re not trashy and that he’s just an asshole. But it’d just be falling into old habits, fighting with someone who loves to get a rise out of you.

So, you don’t give in. You’re better than that.

“You used to love this dress,” you say evenly. “Now it’s trashy?”

You grip the hemline between your fingers and he takes in the sight of your thighs pressed against his seat. He always had an obsession for your thighs, loving to squeeze and kiss you there.

The light turns green. You gaze at him, his teeth dug into his bottom lip. He’s just as sexually frustrated as you are. You can tell.

“You can go,” you say. “If you’re done staring at my legs.”

Rafe wants to know if you were bluffing about thanking him. Maybe you even forgot about your flirty text.

But he’s not making a move. He’s not risking rejection from you again. If you want him to fuck you, he’s not the one initiating it.

So, he looks ahead again, pushing his foot down on the gas. There are barely any other cars on the street. He’s counted three pairs of headlights since he picked you up.

“Why are you mad?” you say with another laugh.

“You’re so drunk,” he says.

“I’m not that drunk,” you reply with a shrug. “Seriously, why are you so pissed off?”

His grip tightens on the steering wheel. His ring gleams in the passing streetlights. His profile is strong and concentrated, as if he’s never driven through this area before.

You realize you’re actually making him nervous.

“Is it because you miss me?” you ask, goading him. “I know you still think about me.”

“No, I don’t,” he snaps.

You thought you wouldn’t care, but his words hit you. He’s still so mean. This was a bad idea.

You shift your legs towards the window, looking out your side of the car. Rafe notices. You used to do that whenever you were mad at him.

“I hurt your feelings?” he scoffs mockingly, regaining some of his pride.

“Oh, yeah,” you reply sarcastically, your tone careless. “Like I expected you to be nice.”

“It’s pretty damn nice of me to drive you home,” he snaps.

“You just want to get laid,” you reply. By the way he doesn’t immediately snip back at you, you know the power is back in your hands. “You wouldn’t have come if I didn’t send that second text.”

You turn to look at him. You’re slipping into playing the game of wanting to make him feel like the loser. You thought were above this now. Fuck.

He sucks his teeth, shaking his head in irritation. It’s fucked up that you texted him that just to trick him into doing you a favor.

Rafe shoots you a hard look, but because he can’t help himself, he gazes down your body again, imagining using it the way he wants to.

You could see his lustful gaze a mile away. You lean closer, the coil of desire in you only tightening.

You impulsively rest your hand on his leg, your palm on the smooth nylon of his swim shorts and your fingers touching his bare knee. You can feel the soft hairs on his skin, sure he was enjoying a night at the beach with the guys like he always used to do.

You grip him a little tighter. He grits his teeth so hard it hurts. He realizes maybe you’re not playing a game. Maybe you really do want to do hook up.

“Admit it,” you taunt. “You think about me.”

“Not much to think about,” he scoffs, still trying to have the upper hand, to hurt you any way he can.

“Fine,” you say with a breathy laugh, pulling away.

Strong fingers grip your wrist, roughly guiding your hand back to his lap.

“Okay,” Rafe mumbles. “Yeah. I do.”

“I knew it,” you say with a soft chuckle, stroking your thumb over his thigh. “What do you think about? Other than how good the sex was?”

He huffs another frustrated breath as you drag your hand higher.

“Just tell me,” you whisper.

He can’t. He won’t. He’s not going to open up that wound, not to the girl who gave it to him, not when he knows it’s not safe to do with her.

Impatiently, he grips your hand again to put it on his cock. He lets out a nearly silent exhale of relief once you make contact.

The feeling of how hard he is floods your body with the warmth of anticipation, a need so hard that you feel it in your bones. You bite your lip as you massage him, already desperate to feel him with no barriers.

Rafe comes to a stop sign. He meets your gaze in the dark car, his muscles tense. He doesn’t drive ahead.

“Use your mouth,” he orders, his voice heavy.

You part your lips to say something, to keep playing up the flirty and careless attitude all the booze you drank gave you, but you’re speechless.

You’ve done this before when you were dating, sucked him off while he drove, making him feel better since he usually found something to be pissed off about whenever you partied.

He’s so damn satisfied with how eagerly you pull down the band of his shorts. He shifts, his cock springing out once his shorts are low enough.

Seeing him so hard for you gives you a sense of conceit. You love that you can still do this to him even after months of silence that were brought on by vicious fights.

Every part of him is so irresistible. You haven’t tasted him in so long.

You kneel across the console and the second your hand wraps around the base of his cock, he groans. You flick your tongue against the tip and you feel him roughly pull up your dress, ripping a few stitches, his big hand landing on your ass and squeezing hard.

You dribble spit over his pre-cum and swirl your tongue over him. You feel the car move forward as you sink lower, taking more of him in his mouth, his cock twitching in your mouth.

“Like that,” he groans. His grip on your ass is rough and painful. “Take it all.”

You reach the base of his cock, feeling him deep in your mouth, trying not to gag. The way he groans again makes you want to keep deep-throating him and you hate that you care about his pleasure. About him loving it so much that he’ll realize how much he’s missing out on with you.

You won’t let him finish like this. He owes you pleasure, too. After everything he put you through, you deserve it.

This is unreal. Rafe can hardly focus on navigating down the street with your hot mouth tight around him. He jerks off to the memories of you giving him head while he drove. He never thought it’d happen again.

His fingers dig into your asscheek, stinging you with pain. You wince, inhaling sharply as you raise your head off of him.

“You’re hurting me,” you complain.

“Tough,” he mutters.

“No,” you say. “No. Fuck this.”

You start to sit up, but he stops you, his hand shifting up to rest on the back of your neck.

“Wait, wait,” he says desperately, his voice nearly whispered into a whine. “I’ll stop.”

Rafe pushes your head down, silently begging that you’ll continue. He moans in gratitude when your lips lock around him again. He grips the roots of your hair, his other hand on the steering wheel.

You bob up and down as he drives, your cheeks hollowing. All you can hear is the quiet purr of the engine and the sounds of your wet mouth on his cock.

It’s like he doesn’t know what to do with himself, like he needs to touch you everywhere because this is a goddamn dream he might wake up from.

He lifts his hand off of your head and feels your chest, kneading your breast over your dress.

He can’t drive you home. Not yet. He’s not done with you. He’s not losing this opportunity to see your tits, to feel your pussy squeezing around his cock. He’d hate himself even more than he already does for wasting this chance.

Rafe turns into the first empty parking lot he sees, heading towards the back, facing a fence. He slows the car to a stop once he reaches the back of the lot, all the while trying not to come.

His hips start to buck up and you know he’s close, but before you get a chance to sit up, he pulls you back by your hair.

He gazes down at you, your lips glistening in the dark.

“Get in the back,” he murmurs. “Take everything off.”

He puts the car in park as you scramble to the backseat, pulling your dress off over your head and slipping off your bra and panties.

Rafe watches, his mouth going dry when he sees you naked. He pulls his t-shirt and shorts off and has to duck low to maneuver his way to the back.

The second he’s close enough, his mouth is on yours, kissing you hard as he pushes you to lie on your back. His tongue moves slowly as he takes your head in his hands and it makes you ache for him even more.

This is the type of lover he was, so rough and passionate and making you feel like he’d lose his mind if he didn’t fuck you. The sex was always good, no matter how much you fought.

You wish he wasn’t kissing you. This gesture is too sweet, and you don’t need the reminder than he has it in him to be sweet sometimes.

His cock is pressed against your stomach, wet from your spit. He pulls back, his thumbs on your cheeks as he stares down at you, barely steady on his knees.

It’s a look he’s never given you before. You’re sure you’re giving him the same one. Disgusted in yourselves that you both want this, but so in awe of each other at the same time.

Both of you are panting. You shouldn’t be here. But it’s the only place you want to exist right now.

Rafe’s eyes flit to your chest. You can see him swallow hard. He lowers to squeeze your tits, burying his head into your cleavage, kissing you wherever his lips land.

His fingers dig into your breasts, his mouth is hot on your skin, and when his grip tightens and his teeth start to graze against you, you know he’s getting close to hurting you like he did in the front seat. But your impulse is to try to withstand the pain, to just let him hurt you.

Because at least he wants you, and the way he’s breathing and touching you right now is the definition of a man unstable with desire, and you wish you didn’t care if he wanted you, but you do and he does.

His mouth closes around your nipple and you tip your head back, shuddering at how good he is with his tongue.

Rafe is in a haze. He was sitting on the beach minutes ago, thinking what a good thing it was that he spent most of the evening without you popping up in his mind, but now he’s naked with you in his backseat.

Your smell, your taste, your sounds, they’re all even better than he remembers and he hates that he can’t hate you, not all the way.

You look up at the ceiling of his car through half-closed eyes, desperate for an answer from him. You’re drunk enough to give into the gnawing curiosity of his thoughts of you. You’ve been thinking about it every day for two straight months.

“You didn’t answer me. What do you think about?” you urge again through a strained breath. “Tell me or I won’t let you fuck me.”

“Goddamn it,” Rafe mutters. He straightens his arms, hovering over you. You take in his features. His face is creased in anger, his chest bare and broad and heaving. “Why?”

“Tell me.”

“You’re ruining this,” he says.

“Tell me.”

He lowers a hand between your legs, making you shudder when he drags up your slit. You arch your back as he spreads your lips apart with his fingers, dragging over your wetness.

“It doesn’t fucking matter,” he says, tone low.

He brings his hand up to your mouth, tapping his fingertips against your lips so you’ll open wider.

“Taste how wet you are for me,” he says. You oblige, eyes locked on his as he dips two fingers into your mouth, watching you with so much desire that it looks like it’s hurting him. “You’ll let me fuck you either way. I know you will.”

You gaze at him longingly as he pulls his fingers out of your mouth just to put his hand between your legs again, rubbing your slick folds.

It’s intoxicating how unapologetically depraved he can be, how hard he fights to be the boss of you, but you persist.

“Tell me or I’m leaving,” you say. “I have no problem walking home. You left me to do it before, remember?”

His jaw tightens with frustration. He loathes that you gave him the reminder. He lowers over you, his cock pushing against your thigh as he plunges a finger into you.

Rafe’s body rushes with heat at how you clench around his finger. The feeling of that tightness around his cock will be unbelievable like it was every time he fucked you. He needs this. He hates that you’re winning, but he needs to be inside you.

He leans over, his nose nudging against yours, sliding in and out of you, curling his finger every time.

“I think about how batshit crazy you always were,” he says.

You gasp when he adds a second finger, going knuckle-deep, your body rolling with pleasure.

“I think about how I much I fucking hate…” He groans, hip jutting against your leg, his cock aching. “I hate that you can do this to me, alright? I hate that I was having fun tonight and I still dropped everything to drive you home.”

You bite your lip, frowning with downturned brows as the mix of lust and sadness fill your body. You cup his lower back with both hands, urging him to finally sink into you.

“Fuck me,” you whisper. He pulls his fingers out of you.

“Beg,” Rafe says. He’s so pissed that you pulled those words out of him, so he’ll take whatever power he can have.

“Please,” you say. “Please, Rafe. I need it.”

You feel his fingers wrap around your neck, squeezing at the sides as he pulls back to look at you.

“You need me,” he mutters. “Say you need me.”

“I need you.”

He buries into you with one rough, swift moment, making you quiver with the impact.

“Fuck,” you whisper. You only have the space to wrap one leg around his hips, squeezing tight as he thrusts with fast strokes.

His breath is hot on your cheek. His chest is warm against yours. The pressure of him stretching you, hitting deep inside you, is incredible.

“You think about this all the time, don’t you?” he murmurs into your ear.

You moan in agreement, draping an arm over his firm shoulders, but it’s not enough for him.

“Don’t you?” he repeats.

“Yes,” you say.

“You touch yourself thinking about me?” he whispers.

You sigh, your hand running over the back of his neck, tugging hard at his roots just to punish him in some way, any way you can.

“Yes,” you admit.

You feel him smirk against your cheek, the car gently shaking.

“Bet you can’t even come without thinking about me,” he mutters. He only says it because that’s how he is with you.

It’s such a burden. No matter what he watches, no matter who he hooks up with, he imagines you every time he’s on the cusp of his orgasm, wishing it was you he was coming in.

You can’t admit it, so you turn your head to kiss him just to shut him up. The kiss is so slow and gentle, the complete opposite of how hard he’s driving into you.

Maybe it’s because of all the alcohol you drank, but you’re fighting the urge to cry as your lips join. You two were a catastrophe together. You can never be happy and fulfilled with the man on top of you, kissing you, yet it feels good, self-destructive but good, to spend this moment pretending like you can.

Rafe is going nowhere in life. He’s known that for a long time. But when he’s with you, even when you’re screaming at each other, at least he’s somewhere that matters.

But you took that away. You took away the only thing that meant something in his life. And he pulls back. He won’t kiss you anymore. You broke his heart.

And he fucks you harder and faster, listening to your gasps and your moans, wishing he could just finally get enough of you to not want you anymore.

The friction of his skin against your clit and the power of his thrusts makes you go numb before the orgasm hits you, pushing you into full-body trembles, moaning so loud that you almost can’t believe it’s your own voice coming out of you.

Nobody else gets you to make sounds like that.

You crumble, weakening as he continues to push into you. He nuzzles his head into your neck when he feels his peak coming, smelling you and squeezing his eyes shut as his hips stutter against yours.

You feel him fill you with a rush of heat, holding his breath as he comes. He heaves against you, his thrusts sloppy as he gives you everything he can offer.

All of Rafe’s weight is on you now. He can feel that your breaths are strained but he’s so fucking weak. He has no actual power around you. Not really.

He knows this is doomed. You won’t be together after this. This was just a fuck. And he hates that he’ll drive this car tomorrow knowing what happened in his backseat, allowing you to taint yet another thing in his life with a memory he wishes he didn’t have.

He feels your soft hands tap his shoulders, urging him to get off of you. His thighs ache as he shifts to sit in the driver’s seat.

He doesn’t bother putting his shirt on. He slides on his shorts and then starts the car. He waits for a moment, looking back but refusing to turn enough to look at you.

“Just go,” you say quietly, exhausted.

You get dressed in the back as he drives. Neither of you say anything else.

When he pulls up in front of your house, you grab your purse from the passenger seat and get out of his car, your legs wobbly as you walk up to your door.

Rafe watches you disappear into your home. He needs to watch you disappear from his life, too. Because while you hate each other, tonight, you fucked like people who don’t.

And now he has a fresh wound. Something else to think about. To regret. Nothing good ever came from knowing you. The high you give him is never worth the crash.

You don’t cry while you get ready for bed. Not when you look in the mirror while you brush your teeth. Not when you clean the night off of you in the shower.

But once you’re under your covers, alone in the dark, a hot tear runs out of the corner of your eye and onto your pillow.

You were so sure sex with Rafe would just be sex. And you feel ridiculous for the misguided self-confidence. He still has you in a vice.

You wish you were drunk enough to forget what you just did. But you’re not. You’ll remember and regret every part of it.

(continuation)

[robboyblunder]

I started drawing proper reference sheets for my OC 4 months ago and only just finished them last week, so PLEASE check out my new set I made for Jayce my beloved motorcyclist robot assassin! He has multiple identities and I adore him :>

If you're curious about his story check out his tag on my blog, I've drawn him lots! I'm also putting extra details about his ref sheets under the read more.

ID in ALT text!

DETAILS:

-Jayce's body is a combination of solid metal and soft vinyl that's padded to feel like flesh over his internals. He can change this on a whim exchanging parts (in many ways 😉), but personally likes being able to be "cuddle-able" for reasons he won't explain. If he's "injured" he bleeds a blue glowing fluid, but he cannot "bleed out". He has a sort of false healing factor that repairs on the spot.

-while he can change up his clothes, he's very particular to his style and attached to wearing his usual. He's picky and doesn't like being told what to do, so getting him to change is... difficult. He has a preference for leather over others.

-Jayce's main identity is technically a wanted criminal assassin, so he has a hard time casually being out and about wherever he's recognized. thus he's always on the move. As for his "Daytime" persona he uses for LEGAL racing, "bluejayy" is completely opposite to Jayce in a lot of ways- openly friendly, follows the rules, and is a good sport.

-Bluejayy, his persona, is used to participate and enjoy celebrity status and stardom but with limits- he always makes sure to avoid winning first more than once in a while, opting to purposefully place within the top 5 instead. He also rarely ever makes off-track appearances, making himself an 'enigma' people can never find outside races usually. He avoids sponsors who aren't non-profit, and doesn't like being under contract under anyone if he can help it.

-wings in his world are common, however flight capable wings are rare and expensive- outside of how difficult they are to maintain, you need to be registered to have them for safety and legal purposes (even if avoiding the law it paints a target on you big time). Thusly, he NEVER uses them in his other persona (bluejayy). Flight capability while uncommon is useful for his assassination purposes; not for hiding.

-Jayce's main bike is a custom that while it looks heavy and slow was made for endurance and maneuvering. He often is working to constantly improve its capability and comfort. It looks like him because he's rather vain. It can seat two people, though nobody yet has been allowed to ride it with him outside dire circumstances.

-Bluejayy's bike is a typical speed based cycle for racing- light as possible with as much power as possible. He customizes this bike frequently too, finding it amusing to make it look like his persona.

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Slagzogg

This is, interestingly, our third consecutive Beaſt that's actually a common everyday animal pretty much all over Europe, including the area where this manuscript was produced. This is interesting to me because the three are handled very differently. First we had the salamander, which I'm pretty sure got mentally separated from the actual animal somewhere, probably because people use different terms for the real-life amphibian in different regions and languages, and not everybody is going to recognize that it's just the Greek word for the same animal. Second we had the deer, which it seemed like the manuscript producers did recognize, because the illustration is clearly a deer... but elements of the entry are just nuts (As @sweetlyfez said, "How do you make up this many wild myths about a guy you live with"). And now we have the [redacted until end of post], which is just given a completely mundane, if engaging, description with the only weird part being the symbolism attached to it.

I think it might also be our first domestic animal -- the entry even talks about the difference between wild and domestic varieties -- which seems like it's worth noting.

Anyway, as usual people who don't know what I'm talking about should check https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting. The entry this week's artists are working from can be found here:

This is another one where I almost didn't put it in because it seemed super obvious what it was, but the artists have done a superb job not drawing that. Excellent work on everyone's part, and it can be found below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) shows us both a domestic and a wild Slagzogg; the design of the domestic one makes me think of fancy pigeons, which I think is a pretty good direction to take here. The vulture-like faces really improve the design also. Very good birds, and you should go check out the linked post to hear about the design decisions and real-life inspirations behind this one; I think it's pretty interesting.

@pomrania (link to post here) observed that, though the entry mentions beaks and flight, it doesn't actually say "bird", so they can draw a pet dragon and have it fit the description. Fair call, and I think it turned out well. I like the contrast between the fairly dignified-looking creature on the left -- this is a Slagzogg who is on its way to win Best in Show -- and the sketch on the right of someone forcibly preventing it from getting into a fight. If you check out the linked post, you can see Pomrania's progress thread for this design.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has made the eminently-understandable decision that if they're going to draw a bird with no specific anatomical details given, it's going to be a potoo. On the left we have three domestic Slagzoggs socializing, and on the right we have a wild one perching alone. I like how this incorporates the symbolism of the entry: we're told that the wild type is meant to signify people who choose a religious life ("those who keep apart from this world wear the modest garb of penitence"), and this wild Slagzogg does look a bit more serious and... monastic? Like, that bird is a nun. (Also, thank you for including alt text.)

@cheapsweets (link to post here) also went with the direction of "well, it doesn't say 'bird'," and so we have this really charming image of a medieval person feeding their domestic... pterosaurs. Love it. Honestly, these alternate visions of the Middle Ages where people have entirely different domestic animals than our timeline are really appealing to me. Too much Dinotopia as a child, perhaps. Anyway, check out the linked post for substantially more detail, it's worth it. In fact, everyone reading this should just go ahead and follow all of the bestiaryposting participants. (Also, thank you for the alt text.)

@strixcattus (link to post here) is clearly thinking of the modern day's feral pigeons, formerly the result of selective breeding by pigeon fanciers. We can see the "fancy" domestic version on the left contrasted with the wild version on the right. (I think it's interesting that everyone who's drawn both has put the domestic Slagzogg on the left and the wild Slagzogg on the right.) Anyway, as is usually the case with Strixcattus, the writing included in the post is absolutely worth your time and you should read it. And again, follow them, as well as everyone who has ever contributed to bestiaryposting. Go do it; you won't regret it.

Now, to the Aberdeen Bestiary.

Beak shape aside, these are clearly geese.

I think the degree to which people guessed that varies somewhat; Strixcattus made a post suggesting they were leaning "pigeon", but Pomrania probably clocked it, because they described two Slagzoggs fighting as a "hissing match" despite hissing not being mentioned in the entry. I have no idea where everyone else landed.

Honestly, what I find interesting about this entry is that it's pulling symbolism while remaining pretty much entirely grounded in reality. Check this out:

The goose marks the watches of the night by its constant cry.

Okay, I don't know to what degree it's useful in marking time, but I don't doubt that geese make noise at night.

No other creature picks up the scent of man as it does.

That one I'm not sure about.

This next bit I cut because if anyone knows Roman history they'd nail it right out of the gate:

It was because of its noise, that the Gauls were detected when they ascended the Capitol. Rabanus says in this context: 'The goose can signify men who are prudent and look out for their own safety.'

Okay, that might be less history and more legend, but still, people know it, I think.

There are two kinds of geese, domestic and wild. Wild geese fly high, in a an orderly fashion, signifying those who, far away from earthly things, preserve a rule of virtuous conduct.

I can absolutely see medieval people looking up at geese flying in that V formation and going, "look how orderly these birds are; clearly they are virtuous creatures."

Domestic geese live together in villages, they cackle together all the time and rend each other with their beaks...

Yeah, that sounds like what geese would do in a village.

All wild geese are grey in colour; I have not seen any that were of mixed colour or white. But among domestic geese, there are not only grey but variegated and white ones. Wild geese are the colour of ashes, that is to say, those who keep apart from this world wear the modest garb of penitence.

This bit falls into the category of "I believe it, but it does not accord with my personal experience." Because if you told me that in Europe they had a variety of different aesthetically-pleasing domestic goose breeds, I'd have no problem believing that. And I'm sure some wild geese are gray. But I live in North America, so to me wild geese look like this:

And domestic geese look like this:

But again, I have no difficulty believing that the experience of the medieval Europeans was different from mine.

What really sticks out to me here is the fact that the characteristic behavior of domestic geese is to make noise and get in fights -- I think the Untitled Goose Game would have made perfect sense to a medieval audience.

(After the Smithfield Decretals)

[geezmarty]

Definitely the second! when you're using a screen reader or Braille interface, overly verbose or repeated descriptions can make it really hard to navigate and understand what the most important information is, because every word has to be read out one at a time. An important phrase I see a lot is "Syllables are time"—even an experienced screenreader user, who will often have the machine set to read text out many many times faster than most sighted people would be comfortable with, will still have to spend twice the amount of time listening to the post while gaining no new information https://www.tumblr.com/nightpool/644880364459982848/text-alternatives-are-about-the-purpose-of-the is a post I found helpful in thinking about how to write image descriptions for Tumblr and https://afb.org/consulting/afb-accessibility-resources/improving-your-web-site is a more general and in-depth guide that's really helpful. https://www.perkins.org/resource/how-write-alt-text-and-image-descriptions-visually-impaired/ also seems pretty good

Thank you for the links! Publishing this in case it's useful for anyone else :^)

[punching-fade-rifts]

While there wasn’t anything at the 2023 Game Awards about Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, there was a small protest group outside the building that was about unionizing in game development and the large amount of layoffs this year in the industry. BioWare isn’t mentioned by name but Keyword Studio’s union is mentioned ! Here’s my scans of their brochure they were handing out if anyone is interested!

Updated to add alt text for those with screen readers

[begin alt text]

The Game Awards 2023: The Best Year for Games

The Worst Year for Game Workers

Protesting a year of layoffs

[next page]

The 2023 game industry: $188 billion in revenue

9000+ Layoffs (source: LA Times, videogamelayoffs.com)

…and that’s surely an undercount. It’s hard to overstate just how disastrous this has been for the workers who actually make games and for the health of the industry as a whole.

More layoffs means more competition for fewer open positions. More competition means lower wages and burnout. Burnout and lack of positions force workers out of the industry.

All that talent, gone. And those that remain still suffer! The work piles up in fewer desks, you don’t know if your next. These are poor conditions for working, let alone for the creativity and care needed to create games.

[next page]

Welcome to The Game Awards 2023: She’ll of an Industry Edition

This year has been full of amazing games from Hi-Fi Rush to Armored Core VI.

Unfortunately, the workers creating these games have seen the worst layoffs in decades.

We’ve lost our livelihoods, our colleagues, and our passion. We’re forced to accept lower pay or leave the industry, joining an exodus of talent that grows by the day.

This year has been nothing less than a crisis for the industry.

But we can fight this. Over the last two years, workers have been organizing into unions to defend themselves, and building worker cooperatives to create the spaces we deserve.

We need to keep up the pressure to prevent the collapse of the real industry: the workers that make it.

[next page]

Anti-Union Retaliation

Unions are finally here! They took the industry by storm in 2022 and beyond, but the fight is not over.

Keywords Edmonton United and the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA) have been harassed and threatened, and even subjected to illegal targeted firings for daring to stand up to the bosses.

Generative AI

Generative AI is built on the stolen art, writing, voices, and even bodies of artists and actors, and companies aim to use it to replace them.

Even programmers that work on AI aren’t safe. Code-generating AI is here, and threatens to make junior positions even scarcer.

And while these systems have been pushed to replace labor, workers have still needed to fix the generated material, because it’s not that good.

Games are an artform— we should not be automating away human creativity

[next page]

Fight Back

Unions

Tip the balance of power in your workplace! As a union, you can fight the whims of shareholders and save you and your fellow workers’ jobs and dignity!

No more security escorts as you clean out your desk. No more getting locked out of the office without notice. No more finding out you’re unemployed from a press release.

Talk yo your coworkers, party up, level up, and prevail!

Worker Cooperatives

Worker cooperatives are owned and operated by workers. This is a great alternative for workers who are tired of the traditional corporate model and want to take control of their creativity and labor.

Game co-ops are gaining around! Check out KO_OP, Soft Not Weak, Black Flag, Future Club, and more!

[next page]

What You Can Do

1. Wear our pins into the theater! Don’t let security take them, but record them if they do!

2. Post about the layoffs with #TheGameAwards, so it can’t be ignored!

3. Talk to your coworkers privately about unionization- the more people are unionized, the easier it gets and the lore leverage we have.

Learn more at cohost.org/gwsc

[end alt text]

[accessibleaesthetics]

Remember when I talked about how how I wished there was some image-to-text AI instead just the text-to-image AI? Turns out there is!

This is a screenshot of an image-to-text AI called "clip_prefix_caption," specifically using the model "Coco." And while it's not 100% accurate, it still did a reasonably impressive job with this image. Of course, it kind of makes sense since this photograph is a free-to-use image I pulled off the web, which is almost certainly the kind of stuff this AI was trained on. If we get a type of image very different from what this AI was probably trained on, the results are not nearly as accurate.

But that's okay, Coco isn't designed for Optical Character Recognition (OCR). If you put this same image into An OCR-focused AI program like Image to Text Converter, you'd get:

Night Vale podcast (zioNightValeRadio A mafia guy who has really misunderstood "make it look like an accident" shouting WHOOPSIE every time he fires the gun. 1:06 PM • 2023-02-10 • 72.4K Views 3,487 Likes 776 Retweets 27 Quotes

Still not perfect, but defintely better than "a man is playing a game on the Nintendo Wii."

But what about art? How do these types of things fair with describing art? Since I'm not 100% clear on what (if any) information about the input images are put into a data set for AI to learn from, I did not want to put just any art in here. And if you play with any of these programs, I strongly encourage you not to put anything in there you don't have explicit permission to use for this.

I got specific permission from @animunerdery to use their drawing of Vinsmoke Sanji for some AI tests:

I decide to try a few different models too.

clip_prefix_caption (using coco model): A man wearing a tie and a shirt.

Blip: Caption: a black and white drawing of a man wearing a tie

CLIP Interrogator (using ViT-L model): a man in a shirt and tie smoking a cigarette, sanji, fanart ”, short silver hair, boring, lanky, zero - hour, coal, alp

I should note that the last one, while much more detailed, took a lot longer to generate than the other two.

This is by no means exhaustive. If you take a look at the post this image came from, you will find some even more detailed image-to-text AI outputs.

And this isn't even counting image-to-text AI in less open-source projects. Microsoft Word, for example, generates alt text for almost every image you put in a Word document, assuming you're using the current version. The Accessibility Checker will prompt you to check these though, because their accuracy is iffy at best, especially with images that are very far from what was probably in the data sets Microsoft trained its AI on. You can also contribute to that training data set if you want, because Microsoft gives you the option to "donate" any manually-created alt text you add to an image in your document to their database to improve accuracy. It's a case-by-case opt in though, don't worry.

Some screen readers have built-in image-to-text AI as well. For example, sometimes after reading the alt text on an image (be it properly written alt text or the default word "photo" on every image on a Tumblr post without user-added alt text), the VoiceOver (iOS) screen reader will read an additional description it makes using its text-to-image AI. I can't always get it to do this consistently, but after playing around a bit with a version of the Vinsmoke Sanji image that did not have anything but the default "photo" alt text, I got it to give me this:

Adult. Clothing. Illustrations. One.

Not the most helpful. But this technology is still pretty young, and I think it has a lot of potential if used correctly.

[dots-and-loops]

hello so apparently you can pin posts so I will use this power the best way i can, best hyperpop albums !!

warning: leftist wall of text about music, enjoy reading c:

fishmonger is a must no matter what you listen to, best hyperpop album out there. so much different genre mixings, so many creative ideas, so much oomfh in a single god damn album while still sounding really good. there is no bad song in this album yet there is so many elements from different genres. listen to it! its good really good it has alt/indie rock elements to it :D

jane remover is an artist who boggles my mind because the fella wasnt even 18 when she created the album that has shaped the hyperpop realm since the day it was posted, having effects to the genre to this day. album influenced the genre and i am sure of it! while some of the songs were removed from the album it is insanely fun and unique 4 songs to listen to.

apparently white tiger is digicore but it’s basically the same genre. smooth album, taking inspiration from others while still keeping it fresh and original with various cool and unique ideas. executed well and the songs transition very well, never felt like the song was forced into the album. definitely listen, this more experimental one. while the last 2 were more mainstream in the genre (that means if you listen to hyperpop you know these albums) this one not so much, but the internet sweaty nerds who listen to sematary and dg love 2hollis for some reason

sidenote: 2hollis’ new album “2” goes also extremely hard so listen to that too, even tho its more electropop

sidesidenote: i am pulling these genres from rym i dont differentiate the genres that much.

while frost children’s album “spiral” i didnt enjoy that much this one i enjoyed a lot. definite improvement can be seen. up there with fishmonger as one of the best imo, the beats of this song are impeccable. the lyrics are a point where they can improve but MAN, i can let that slide with the beats. they go hard. transitions between songs are also insanely well executed and make me tingle every time c:

very fun album, consistently high energy from start all the way till the end. all 3 six impala’s songs are very very good. hell, earwax imo is even better than wflytd. but this i would recommend listening to more, because this has everything and it has the everything in extreme quantities. have fun fucks

bit of a wild pick, since twikipedia previously made pretty generic hyperpop, but this album for some weird reason stuck to me. yeah the lyrics can be a bit lacking at some points and not all the features were,,, good. but something about this album is just, good. the beats are solid and unique even when inspired and i dont care about the lyrics when your singing voice is as good as theirs. the singing just somehow fits the music so well. it’s not what i have is so god damn underrated its borderline criminal, the song goes HARD. the buildup, delivery and the ending are just amazing. might be a bit different from previous albums but it’s a good listen. mark my words, in a few years time twiki will make an album up there with the best. but rn imo twiki needs more experience, few more albums and they are golden

honorable mention: food house - food house, SUMMER03 - midwxst, cypress grove - glaive.

sidesidesidenote: you have listened to (or at least have heard of) 100 gecs, i dont feel the need to add them here since the its pretty self explanatory. i will say that 1000 gecs was ass and 10000 gecs was miles better. sue me.

thats it, if i missed a good album then reblog or add a # or smth idfk i came here from reddit. soryy for broken english at some parts, i can use fancy dancy words all i want but english is not my first language and sentences can be confusing and broken sometimes :p. if you reached this far, first of all why and thanks for bearing my infodump, i like the silly beats music. i dont even care if you actually listen to them or not i just like talking about the albums :)

september 2023 update: frailty jane remover was an album i completely missed lmao ! listen to that too :D

after making this list i got informed about the artist duo black dresses, they are slaying hard their music bangs.

some more good albums/ep’s: recovery girl, despite everything it’s still user, I know theres something left for you

october 2023 update: listen to wallsocket listen to wallsocket listen to wallsocket listen to wallsocket listen to wallsocket

[autisticgirliesbracket]

What makes Parker from Leverage the autistic girlie ever of all time? Here's what the people have to say:

Parker-related asks/reblogs: x This post will be updated after each round!

Image ID in alt text and under the readmore.

[Image ID. White slide with Parker, portrayed by Beth Riesgraf, from Leverage at the centre. She is wearing all black and is strapped into a parachute harness. She is surrounded by text boxes which read,

"DVD commentary from the series has a creator saying she’s autistic! but also she has a bunch of autistic traits anyway - she misses most social cues, canonically practises nonverbal communication like doing air quotes, doesn’t get sarcasm and some jokes, has to have a particular line said on every job as part of her routine, etc. her special interest is security systems and how to get around them. she’s a world renowned thief who works with her found family team to steal from corrupt rich people and get justice for those they’ve hurt. she loves the feeling of rappelling down/jumping off buildings to the point that she even rigs a rope pulley thing inside the team headquarters when they’re away, which i think of as a stim or sensory seeking sort of thing."

"Theft and security systems are her special interest. She struggles with social cues and forming relationships. Airvents make her feel safe. (Look, if I'm the only one submitting Parker, I'm eating my hat) She is awesome."

"Besides word of god confirmation, she has a lot of trouble with social interactions (though she slowly improves over the course of the series) one notable example being not understanding that not everyone enjoys leaping off of high places like she does, and her special interest is theft - she'll go to a high-end art museum and only pay attention to the security systems and devise ways to crack it. She's extremely empathetic and learns to use that to her advantage."

"Parker is actually cannonly autistic. She does not interact well with others, unless you think stabbing the bad guys with forks is acceptable. She likes money and tasers and shinnies. The close relationships she has though show how her small group are tight and they understand each other on their own appropriate level. (this is not to discount the wonderful character growth she has over the course of the original series, the break, and the sequel series) Plus the pretzels."

"She stims by jumping off of buildings and needs flash cards for social rules and her special interest is stealing things. Like elaborate museum heists."

"Doesn't understand social interactions/cues and struggles to communicate with people. From the wikia "According to several DVD commentaries, Parker has Asperger's syndrome, which has since been reclassified as a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder." "

"Just, like, look at her."

"She is canonically autistic! I don’t think they say outright that’s what she is (unfortunately in s1 they say some kind of ableist stuff abt it like calling her crazy and weird), but it undeniably Is what she is. She has special interests (safes, art, alarm systems (she is a theif), and struggles with social cues. The rest of the crew at first struggle to understand her (except really her eventual love interest who is incredibly empathetic toward her and her struggles and I also think is autistic but he is not relevant here bc autism boy). The first show (they have a revival going on right now) does this so well, she's some of my favorite autistic representation because after the first season the crew really adjust and are just like "It's Parker (it's not weird, it’s expected of her /neutral)", and they never want her to change. They understand she struggles with social cues and sometimes needs guidance about things they think are normal, and they accept that and work with her on it to accomodate her and make what their job requires from her, easier for her. Also, her canonical relationship is one of thee most healthy relationships I've ever seen, especially with a character who has complicated feelings about romance and intimacy due to how she grew up in the foster system while also being autistic. The first show uses her character sooooo well, but I wouldn't recommend the revival because they have different writers and handle her, in my opinion, much worse and much more childishly and I HATE it. But yeah, first show??? really good love her favorite nbd rep."

"So, I believe that the lead writer actually confirmed that her being read as autistic was intentional. I don't have a source for it offhand, though. Either way, Parker is the 'thief' in the Leverage team. (They are all essentially one big con team). She is portrayed to have a keen interest in her craft, to a level that it seems to trump almost everything else. She's blunt, to the point, and often doesn't get subtext or why other people are doing/saying something - like a lot of social interaction is in-jokes that she's not a part of. They also portray her as being one of the most compassionate on the team - though often to her own chagrin, it's something that really sold her portrayal to me because while she does often come across as cold, even a bit ruthless - that's very far from all she is, and her character is so much more nuanced than I can accurately get across here 😭"

"doesn't understand social situations v well and has to follow a set of rules/instructions when speaking to marks, incredible technically proficient in her field of interest (thievery/heists), gets overwhelmed by her own emotions, etc!!"

"-special interests: thieving generally, Christmas, Glenn-Rieder safes, climbing tall things -cereal samefood -openly admits to not understanding social norms or other people's emotions -learns to read people by tracking hyper-specific things like eye movements (to her allistic teammates' utter bafflement) -in the sequel she has a flowchart to help her do social interaction"

"It's canon! (Not talked about in the show text but the writers have confirmed it and it was written into her character from the very first episode) She has a lot of trouble with social skills, she has special interests, she has safe foods, and she has a hard time with empathy"

"SHE WAS WRITTEN THAT WAY ON PURPOSE! The show runners confirm she was written as having aspergers, & there's SO much in canon to support that. She's the best canon autistic representation I've ever seen. I know one of my friends is submitting her too and I'm not the best with words about Parker but I just love her so much! And I love how the show doesn't treat her like she needs to be fixed. There's characters who don't know how to respond to her at times but the team values her for who she is, as she is. I just think if an autistic girl's special interests are money stealing crime and jumping off buildings she should be allowed to do that and Leverage said rights!" End ID.]

[lopsidedtreetrunks]

Here is my submission for @dribbonart 's amedot fusion competition! I like her a lot, although there are a couple of things I probably could have done a bit better lol

Steven is there for height comparison. All of the text on the page is in the alt text :)

I have A LOT of notes under the cut, which can get a bit stream-of-consciousness-y (because I can never just be chill about something bsdjaksjdlskd),, so I apologise in advance for how long it is 😭

Early research notes:

Mixing amethyst and peridot's skin colours together gets you a kind of sage green colour, so I researched to light green gems

Aventurine stuck out to me as it was the only one i found where it was actually described as sage green, so i thought 'that's perfect' lol

A lot of the healing properties of green aventurine I think resonate with both amethyst and peridot's personalities, from its promotion of friendship to its emission of positive energy

I liked that one of the sites i used to research aventurine mentioned ancient civilisations' usage of green aventurine and i wanted to incorporate that into the fusion's design/personality

It's important to me for her to have aspects of both amethyst and peridot shown in the design somewhere. Most of the time when i design fan fusions I do this in their hair, which is not different this time. I made her hair long, with a bushy tail on her braid representing amethyst, and her three skull braids representing peridot's triangle hair. Her hair is also in a braid bc when i hear the word adventure for some reason the first thing i think of is Lara Croft so,,, thats why i gave her a braid 😅

I wanted her body design to kind of resemble athleisure-wear since she loves relaxing but can get up and go at any point, ready for adventure! She also doesn't need to be complicated. I don't think she needs extra limbs etc since she has her vision power.

Obviously the crystal gems are very important to both amethyst and peridot, so I wanted to give her at least one star on her body. Her torso seemed like the most obvious place, but I'm not sure if she should have more elsewhere, too. The star on her torso can be like a tattoo.

I think she would be very intense in her love for her friends, which might make people uncomfortable. She will back off if she senses this, but she means well I promise!!

She can be spontaneous when it comes to her adventuring, sometimes dragging Steven and the other gems from their beds to go on a Cool Adventure (pearl is NOT a fan of this lmao)

When I say 'adventuring' I really mean just travelling and/or exploring new places, which could be anything from a new city to a deep jungle. Normally these adventures don't last longer than a couple of days... unless they get lost..........

A few amedot related rambles notes:

One of my favourite things about amedot is that they're sooo opposite. I'm such a big opposites-attract truther almost everything I ship there's one puppy dog and one wet cat there's nothing i love more than polar opposite pairings <3

With that said they also share a few things (cough being short asses cough) such as their love of their friends (even if they show it in different ways) and they can both be pretty headstrong. They both had their own journeys - amethyst with her self confidence and feeling inferior, and peridot with unlearning the system of homeworld and the traditions she was so used to. They both had to learn how to love themselves enough to be able to stand up for what they believe in and to let themselves be true to themselves (i hope that makes sense lol)

I think their opposing traits can be quite complementary. Peridot is quite intense; she gets excited about her favourite things and she gets embarrassed easily. Amethyst is more laid-back and tends to roll her own way. They complement each other well.

More refined notes:

Amethyst's personality: Mellow Lazy/messy (affectionate) Improved self-esteem Fiercely loyal

Peridot's personality: Self-confident Smart (robotics) Analytical Intense interests/personality Learned to enjoy life/appreciate Earth

Aventurine properties:

Quartz

Name comes from Italian for adventure

Known as a heart-healer for it's relation to the heart chakra

Said to bring prosperity in all facets of life

Emits a positive energy, slows overactive minds, guides lost spirits, promotes friendships

Ancients Tibetans used it in statues, believing it's glimmer gave them higher vision

Amazon tribes used it in jewellery, believing it gave their royalty and warriors guidance in battles

Aventurine personality:

Self-confident

Enjoys seeking adventure but really values her downtime

Adores her friends - loyal

Can take charge if needed

Can be spontaneous with adventuring

Emotional decision-maker

Although she is very smart, she tends to think with her heart rather than her head

She has a special power - higher vision grants her the ability to see for miles and can focus in any person/thing in the present

Similar to Sapphire's future vision but stays in the present

She gets her street smarts and go-with-the-flow attitude from Amethyst

She gets her intense love and confidence from Peridot

Hyper but content in life

[smallerplaces]

House inventory

With Arvin Lebec's modern condo proceeding apace, I decided to record all my other dollhouse to-do projects. These may push building the Mulberry Lane into 2025, but that's okay.

Because these are complex little things that are a bit of a mess, the alt-text descriptions will focus on what I want you to notice.

The Playmobil Victorian Mansion is my sole 1:18 house at the moment. It's inhabited by a pack of Lil Bratz, and I resisted buying more at the thrift store. Some need new hair rubbers when I braid Kid Kore Dancing Brook's hair.

I'm going to move the best of my Jaydon furniture in here with the DIY Modern Minis and sell or donate the remainder of the Jaydon.

The house itself primarily needs curtains that match the current decor, and a good spray paint job on the dollar-store beds. Alas, spray painting season ended yesterday, so this one is a project for next summer.

The Modern Abode is the house I've had longest -- Dad built it when I was three -- and I was thrilled to re-find, in the back of one of Mom's boxes, the Japan Center furniture I'd used in it years ago.

The goal is a very Zen-looking house, which requires a different style of origami paper than what I bought in San Francisco last year. Progress is delayed until the next time we go to the city or to Daiso, but it's a two-evening project, max.

The real challenge is to clear up the mess in front of it.

The Florida Barn got its rehab last winter. All I need to do is work out the land-sea arrangement around it, and I have the scrapbook paper for that. So this needs max two hours of attention some afternoon when I'm bored.

The Maine Cottage is the Project House that's the biggest problem right now. I bought a Melissa & Doug portable 1:24 house at Saver's for $4 shortly after my visit to Maine in summer 2020 (New England had vanishingly low covid levels and I wore a mask indoors). I got it mostly painted, then completely froze on the trim color, ran out of touch-up paints, and stopped. I did find the right paint set before moving, and I have all the furniture and a ton of plausible wallpaper, so this should be first winter dollhouse project.

The Sunflower Cottage was a spontaneous project last December and took maybe two nights. I'm going to dust it and bring it out for Christmas.

This tree was a $5 impulse purchase at Target last year. If I could once decide what it is, I could improve it in an evening.

The Hipster Restaurant was another Target impulse purchase. Its concept is in place, but it needs a couple hours' work on accessories.

This is another of Dad's creations, in 1:48. I love this house but Mom got rid of its proper furniture years ago, and I haven't decided how to furnish it. I'm okay with this being a low priority for a bit.

The Birdhouse Project was something I started last fall, to have a hands-on project in evenings. It stalled on indecisiveness over how to furnish the little houses. I like it and need some thought on un-stalling it.

This is an Art Minds kind that I got at Michaels, last year, believing it would be 1:24 because I put no mental effort into checking. I love the house and it's going to be part of the Birdhouse Project, so it has the same un-stalling issues.

This birdhouse has no project assigned to it, having been an impulse purchase at Dollar Tree. I'm okay with that level of "useful to have but idk" because after Mom's hoard, it's so minor.

[ultr4tr1ps]

nah you know what fuck it i'll make a public post about this because good fucking god i hate the skullgirls review bombers

[image alt text: A screenshot of a text post. It reads as follows:

"As one commenter states, the Skullgirls situation is like if you bought ice cream and, while you were eating it, the person who sold you the ice cream grabs the actual ice cream part with their bare hands and throws it away, leaving you with just the cone and then saying 'It wasn't healthy for you anyways' with a cheerful smile on their face." End image description.]

if the "actual ice cream part" (ie the thing you were here for) consists entirely of distasteful panty shots, imagery intended to evoke nazism and one unnecessarily brutal depiction of a hate crime then you deserve to have whatever imaginary issues you make up about it happen to you lol

it's genuinely hilarious how readily people will admit they were only ever here for the predatory or bigoted shit that Mike Z pushed for and not "the cone" aka. you know. any part of the actual fucking game

nothing was substantially changed. no element of the story or gameplay was altered. the aforementioned hate crime still happens, it's just that it's implied now instead of depicting the victim getting fucking stomped to near-death. the Egrets are still a hypermilitary arm of the Canopian monarchy based on actual WWII militaries, it's just that they don't have the armbands that were clearly denoted nazi symbology. the renders that remove the panty shots are fucking improved because it actually appears as though the affected characters are being restrained, which is what was supposed to be depicted in them.

this is a fantastic fighting game with a rocky history because of the original developers that worked on it. these are, each and every single one, changes that any rational person would agree are good, because they unanimously remove imagery that is deeply, deeply disgusting at best and flagrantly bigoted at worst. as an actual player of the game with nearly 600 hours across multiple platforms, i fully understand if these are things you aren't able to reconcile.

the only reason i'm not advocating for more changes like this is that this is a fully hand-animated game, and many of its aspects would require you to redraw dozens, hundreds or thousands of frames to fix. the fact that Future Club, the new devs, are planning to do that ANYWAYS is something to be celebrated if you have your head screwed on even a little bit right.

there is no justification for advocating against these changes that doesn't immediately throw you into the worst possible light. you can cry censorship all you want but at the end of the day this game you have 30 minutes in has all the right in the world to change its content however it pleases, ESPECIALLY if it is unanimously to remove imagery that is inarguably awful.

all love to future club. play Skullgirls. if you come onto this post trying to start shit or debate me then please consider looking inwards at yourself or maybe jumping off a building. thanks

[alharringtonfan]

🔞 Brainstormed Cesark AUs/Ideas #3

Pretty long.

An alternate and two humans 

Cesar hates cheaters. He despises whoever would be willing to do such a thing to their loved one. He is 100% committed to his partner and would never do things like that behind Mark's back.

However, Mark is a troubled person. He had a very tough upbringing and Cesar is practically the only person he has in his life. And as he is so, so jealous of the attention Cesar gets from strangers, he is almost certain that the other has a side-chick or something. Mark can't simply comprehend him being monogamous when he's so handsome and stuff. He's so affected by this delusion that he breaks up with him in a fit of mania and then tries everything in his power to ruin Cesar's life. Which unfortunately backfires, and ruins his own instead. Nowadays, Mark is broke, friendless, completely lonely and isolated from the outer world. Cesar cut all contact he had with him as he was a sociopathic freak and kept stalking and sending him hundreds of text messages every single hour.

Desperate for even the tiniest modicum of attention, Mark decides in a moment's notice that he'll kill himself in the midst of a crowded public space just to traumatize the most people possible, to never be forgotten by the world and Cesar alike.

The day before he realizes his disturbing plan, Mark sees the stanley thing popping up on the TV. And, without thinking too much about it, he imagines his ex and wishes he'd be with him right at that moment.

Alt Cesar is formed. He appears, coming out of a dark corridor and slowly revealing himself to the terrified boy. He’s naked and expressionless, and has a huge shadow on one side of his face, but Mark is in instant love with him either way. Goes running to hug him, and the alternate doesn't try to stop it. Just accepts the hug passively and even pats on his back while they're at it. 

Alt ces is very tall and muscular. Stronger than the real Ces. Very innocuous face and attitude. Seems nice and calm, but doesn't talk. Mark instantly locks him up inside the house to be with him forever. Alt ces loves him too but unbeknownst to Mark he’s a deranged sociopathic murderer who kills behind Mark’s back. 

Surprisingly, he actually takes very good care of Mark, improving his mental state very much. He reminds him to take his meds. To walk outside, have water, exercise. Is a very good bf and Mark is genuinely happy and doesn't feel unstable/ afraid of himself anymore. Feels capable and loved and wants to contribute something to society. Feels jealous of Alt Ces too but he doesn't fight with him about it like former Ces did and instead KILLS the person Mark is jealous of. Mark doesn’t know he does this but feels better since Ces usually ignores the advances and pampers over him so much more. 

Then, just weeks later, the original Ces comes back to try to win him over, since he missed Mark so much and couldn't bear to live without him. He doesn't know about Alt Ces, but is met with him when he knocks on Mark's door. After this encounter, hijinks ensue. Lies, murders, cover ups… and the possibility of a threesome, with the gleeful Mark as the mail goal for both of them.

Headcanons

• Mark is soooo spoiled by Cesar it's crazy. It's a wonder he's still so humble and kind since the alternate babies him around everywhere and gives him whatever he wants at a whim.

• All of their friends tell Mark to stand up for himself and man up for once since he doesn't do anything at all with Cesar by his side but Mark never listens. Is comfy and happy with this predicament. The gang is at the same time envious and worried for Mark because he's essentially fully dependent on Cesar. He gets his money, his house, his food, his safety, his clothes, EVERYTHING from him so it worries them quite a bit that Cesar may have malicious intentions in doing all of this.

• Thankfully, he hasn't. He just loves to spoil him because he's his mate and instinctively he's driven to care for him. Cesar is just an extreme case of this since he's that high up the hierarchy; but basically he has to protect and "fatten up" his mate so they can eventually have tons of happy and healthy babies in the future. Cesar doesn't do it with this intention in mind but since it's an instinctual act he just does it without realizing. Either way it works for them.

Religion stuff

• Mark stays religious throughout all of his life. He, at first, is against dating Cesar even if he does love him because his faith doesn't allow him to even think about those sorts of things. But after having a long back and forth with O'Brien -- whom he trusts very much and knew since he was a child -- about the issue, Mark decides to follow his heart and do what he considers to be the correct thing. Essentially, Mark wants to live life to its fullest and accepts that this is a characteristic intrinsic to his. Decides that, as long as it doesn't interfere with his relationship with the Lord, he's free to love Cesar as much as he wishes. (AND CESAR WAITED SO LONG FOR HIM TO COME TO HIS OWN CONCLUSION BECAUSE HE LOVES HIM VERY MUCH AND EVEN IF GOD DOESN'T EXIST IN-UNIVERSE AND HE KNOWS HE DOESN'T CESAR STILL RESPECTS MARKS FAITH AND HE WANTS HIM TO REALIZE THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH LIVING A HAPPY AND NORMAL LIFE WITH WHO HE LOVES AND HE'S SO PATIENT AND UNDERSTANDING EVEN THO HES EXTREMELY HORNY FOR MARK AND WANTS TO BREED HIM RELENTLESSLY HE STILL CONTAINS HIS URGES just to make the love of his life happy :^) )

• On the back and forth, Mark was always on the opposition. Questioning and retorting to everything O'Brien told him because he didn't want to believe that what he wanted was actually plausible. They spent about three hours doing this and the priest never once relented in his arguments. Maybe he doesn't actually believe in what he was saying. Maybe he too is aware of the fact that God didn't even exist. But even then, Mark is finally convinced, albeit coming out of the church with a massive headache and a heavy weight on his heart. Feels so guilty for believing that same-sex love is possible when in his entire life he was totally against that.

• Prays a lot when getting home. Begs God for answers, for guidance or something, and then goes to sleep. Has the craziest dream ever where for a passing moment he saw the uncorrupted Archangel Gabriel and when he suddenly wakes up in a cold sweat, in the middle of the night, he feels so euphoric and free like he could take over the world. It's the happiest he'd ever been and these emotions are so harsh he starts crying from joy. It disappears quickly but the weight is finally gone. He takes this as a message from God himself.

• FINALLY Mark goes and talks to Cesar about everything he learned on the past few weeks. (Yes. It took so long to convince him being gay is ok.) Confesses he really likes him, and feels so relieved when admitting it. Ces is proud of him as always but lets him continue and get everything out of his chest. Mark says he wants to be Cesar's boyfriend, but that there need to be some clear boundaries before they get into it.

• They can't have sex before marriage. BIGGEST RULE OF ALL. Cannot be broken.

• Cesar has to accept he believes in God and always will. Doesn't care about alternate fuckery. Doesn't give a damn about anything else. Church on Sundays, Bible studies occasionally, BBQ with the neighbors on holidays or GTFO!

• They HAVE to have children at some point. No children? Get the boot immediately. Don't ask how. Alternate stuff. (This is not even bc of Christian rules Mark just reaaaaally wants kids)

• No cheating. No pride stuff. No gay bars. No being overtly sexual. No rainbows or flags in the house. ABSOLUTELY NO orgies. (Mark still has that lil homophobe in him even years after this conversation. Considers himself a 'normal gay'.)

• Sets traditional dynamics between them. You work. Me house and kids. (Neither mind this at all. It's as natural as breathing for them.)

• After this mountain of rules spelt out to him Cesar readily accepts and jumps on him to give Mark a ton of kisses and words of praise. Literally didn't listen at all to Mark saying all that stuff. Zones out whenever he goes on and on about his faith. Only knows Mark is (officially) his wittle teddy bear and that they'll have to destroy all life on Earth before anyone can try to tear him from his arms.

• Final note: They marry two years after they began dating, and four years after the infamous encounter. Beautiful Church setting, with many guests, great classical music and a delicious banquet. Just how little Mark envisioned it'd be in his dreams. Except that the pretty girl he imagined he'd been marrying is actually HIMSELF in the future!! He wears white, has a veil over his face and the one who officializes their wedding is O'Brien. Cue to the perfect honeymoon in South America... (BONUS POINTS IF MARK WEARS A DRESS AND HE'S ALL PRETTY AND STUFF AND VESAR CRIES WHEN SEEING HIM AND THEY KISS AND EVERYONE CHEERS AND CESAR CARRIES HIM BRIDAL STYLE TO THEIR CAR and they have the most brutal, savage, mind blowing sex ever imaginable with mark still wearing the whole outfit together with his gigantic poofy dress (Mark gets pregnant from it 😳))

NSFW headcanons

• Cesar has a huge dick. Alternates don't usually have private parts but their bodies aren't real anyway so he purposefully makes it so he has the biggest peter out of all of the gang

• In turn, Mark has a small one. Not micro by any means, but still a tiny dong. Cesar looooves it. Thinks it's so cute and treats it almost like a person separate from Mark. When they have sex he always makes sure to get a taste out of it.

• Mark hates his own dick. Feels ashamed for having such a small pepe and is very envious of Cesar's one. Ofc he loves getting fucked by it but when they're showering and stuff he avoids even looking at it. Unfortunately Cesar, being an alternate, sometimes misses cleaning some spots in his body as he was ignorant to hygiene and is still learning how to take care of himself, so Mark is forced to clean between his thighs, his back, abdomen, etc. It usually leads to sex since Mark always puts on a stiffy when seeing his muscles glisten with soap. Thankfully, bit by bit he's learning to restrain himself.

• Mark is reaaally tight. On both his mouth and his ass. Has to take small bites of food when eating, so he prefers mostly drinking to satisfy his hunger. He's a coffee addict because of that and puts tons on sugar in his drinks. Sex was a TORTURE at first. The first week of their honeymoon was absolute hell for both of them. Mark never got satisfied and they always stopped mid-way into the act when the brunet couldn't possibly take it anymore. It hurt his whole body and he felt his ass was on fire during and after the deed. Still, insisted on Cesar keeping his same dick size and was the one who convinced him to keep going and keep trying. As time passes his body gets accustomed to his length and now they can have their special time with minimal pain. Loooots of lube, drawn-out preparations, and tons of foreplay are necessary before penetration but it's absolutely worth it.

• Ces hates hurting Mark. Hates sex because it pains him to see him suffer so much. Even years after the event he's still left slightly disturbed by the act. Does it only because Mark loves it, but would prefer not to.

• It'd be funny if they tried to switch roles when they realized Cesar's dingo was too much for Mark. It'd be very awkward and comical, with Cesar's huge body bent down while Mark is just hanging onto his back, trying to make this work. It looked something like this:

• It got worse and worse as time passed, Mark couldn't find his asshole and tried not to vomit when thinking about putting his dingo in there. And Cesar HATED being humiliated like that. Felt disgusting, shameful, but persevered if it would make his partner happy.

• After about 15 minutes of this they finally gave up and watched some TV instead. They never did it again, Mark feels icky whenever he thinks about topping (Mostly because he feels like he would be sinning 10x more if he did this and because he finds assholes gross and thinks they're full of shit (except his ofc)) and Cesar would rather die than let anyone dominate him. Chose Mark as his mate for a reason. (Alternate stuff. Must NOT submit to a human. It's a huge taboo in his culture and his species are genetically built to breed, not to be the one bred. They are like parasites.)

In resume: Mark bottoms forever. I dare you to change my mind about that.

Human Cesar

• Human Cesar is alive! And he's in love with Mark. Alt Cesar feels contempt for him and messes with the human constantly.

• He's very wealthy and as kids he used to brag about it to Mark. The brunet used to be in poverty and that contributed to their relationship failing. But nowadays Mark is swimming in rivers of money thanks to his successful boyfriend. Human Ces is haunted by his past but thankfully Mark has already forgiven him for it.

• He's fat and short. Shorter than Mark even and he hates it. He hates everything frankly. The only thing he doesn't hate is being at peace, and that is very rare for him.

•  Human Cesar has a very short temper and he ABHORS his alternate self. Alt Ces is hot, talented, tall, smart, and has the boy of his dreams with him and so he vows to destroy his alternate self even if it kills him. They both speak Spanish so in most of their arguments Human Ces is just shouting things in the language to alt Ces while the latter simply uses his sarcasm and snarky attitude to drive him up the wall. Mark has no idea what they're talking about and doesn't know of their secret rivalry. Despite everything, Alt Ces actually likes his human self and finds him amusing, but he makes sure that he doesn't approach Mark with second intentions. Passively threatens Ces if he finds the two are too "lovey-dovey" for his taste. (Which means, they can't hug if he's not around. They can't leave for a stroll if he can't accompany them. They can't even hold hands if Alt Ces isn't holding Mark's other. He's very very strict in managing their relationship and this makes Human Ces hate him even more.)

• Human Ces used to treat Mark horribly and his alter self is aware of that. He regretted everything ofc but when going to apologize to Mark he has first to prove himself to the alternate even before he considers if they can or cannot meet up.

• Alt Ces does his best to make Human Ces jealous when they're with Mark. Hickies plainly visible, random make-out sessions in front of the human, bossing Mark around just to show him he's in complete control of the brunet, etc, etc.

• Human Ces HATES that the other stole his name. Never once calls the alternate "Cesar". It's always a variant of "clone", "impostor", "discount me", "pendejo", "cabrón", "demonio", "made in Paraguay", "faker", "monster", "alien", etc.

• Alt Ces doesn't mind it. Calls the other "human me" and that's about it.

• To differentiate between the two, Mark calls them by different names.

When with Alt Cesar/Human Cesar only: Cesar

With both of them: "Ces" (or some pet-name) for the alternate, "Cesar" for the human.

With Alt Ces referring to the Human one: "Torres"

With Human Ces referring to the Alt one: "Ces", "my boyfriend".

• This drives Human Ces insane and he DEMANDS the alternate change his name to something else. He never obliges, and just makes fun of him some more. Human Ces has popped a vein in his eyes more than once from the stress this fucker gives him.

• Years later, Alt Mark appears in his life and they fall in love 💕 But it doesn't really work long-term because of Human Ces' extreme anger issues.

• Alt has that aggression in him deriving from his human self, and although it's quadrupled due to his feral nature, he restrains it pretty well. Unlike Human Cesar, who never is calm and is constantly complaining or raving about something.

• Alt Ces most commonly pisses him off by smoking cigs around him, and being calm and relaxed. He's very calm. Too calm that it makes Human Cesar hungry for his blood due to the sheer calmness of his mortal enemy. And he's so so mad at him that he passed out a number of times when they were arguing, just from the exertion this anger put on his body. Mark has to beg Alt Ces to stop enraging the other so frequently so he doesn't have a heart attack or kills himself from so much hatred accumulated in his body.

Alt Cesar headcanons:

• Loses control of his human form (that he prefers putting on due to Mark) sometimes and he becomes distorted (like broken bones and exposing organs). Can't contain it indefinitely since it's not the real him.

• His fully alternate self is beyond human comprehension, when someone's eyes make contact with his true figure, even if passively, they bleed out to death. In milder cases, the person turns blind.

• For this reason he can only turn 100% alt like once a year. In the meantime he has to endure the pain of staying in a constant form. Never ever ever turns to this form near Mark. Only when he's blindfolded and in another room/house. Can't even begin to comprehend what would happen if he did that with his lover.

• Even while he's feeling pain/starving for most days, Cesar is always smiling and is a generally nice fella. Very charismatic. Has people lusting over him from all over the world but he only has eyes for one person :)

• Transforms into some freaky monsters from time to time just to relieve the aching a little. Like he's doing a stretch. Mark finds it fascinating and is not scared at all. (Even got fucked by some of them.)

• Cesar feeds on human suffering but frequently eats food just for the sake of eating it. Doesn't gain nutrients from it.

• He and other powerful alternates like Preacher and N can explode people's heads with their mind's eye. It's a power given to them by Gabriel but they can only use it sparingly, when either M.A.D hasn't been afflicted upon the victim, or when said person has the grace of the Lord (priests, nuns...) and therefore is immune to mental disturbances and unnafected by thoughts of suicide. They had to take matters into their own hands sometimes, and it always got really bloody.

• Cesar doesn't need to sleep at all. He usually takes walks out at night and helps stop some robberies here and there. The city's alternates do that too so Mandela County is surprisingly safer in the night than it is in the day. When he's not feeling like it he cleans the whole house. Down to the tiny details as grease stains and dust compacted in tiny openings of the furniture. Can transform to his real self but he usually doesn't do it because of Mark and their kids (when they have them in the future :) ). When the brunet wakes up the ENTIRE house is spotless so he doesn't have to do a thing throughout the day. Maybe reheat the food Ces already made and closely look after the children but he's essentially a housewife that doesn't do anything for the house and only cares about the babies. (Well, he at least fixes stuff up when they're broken. Cesar is the breadwinner and housekeeper but Mark is their handyman, writer and mom. Likes to learn about the mechanics of stuff mostly due to boredom and thanks to his father's teachings.)

• Cesar hates Adam with his life. They're mortal enemies and swore to kill each other multiple times. As Adam is partially an alternate he's weaker and Cesar knows this. The only thing that keeps them from not murdering the other is their commitment to keep the world safe from more alternate attacks and their respective friendships with Evelin and Mark

[regallibellbright]

So, I mentioned previously that Fashion Dreamer represents a significant improvement in the men's fashion over syn Sophia's past games, even if it still seems to be a lower priority compared to the women's. (It is sounding like there are fewer items for them on the whole, and I would not be at all shocked to hear there are fewer items for specific fashion niches than those equivalent niches in the women's fashion, but it is still meaningfully more diverse than what it was before.)

I promised examples.

Unfortunately, I only have one really good screenshot from my own 3DS, because I tend to take pictures of dialogue rather than inviting random characters to pose with me, and of the ones where you can clearly see what a guy is wearing, it's usually a character who's intentionally dressed as a sort of dorky scientist at best, and at worst...

Well, the best picture I have ALSO includes Johann, so you get to see him!

For those not reading the alt text, I feel it's important you know that that jacket of Johann's has TAILS. Also big gold buttons, I didn't note those because they're not really visible at all, and pants with a very gaudy floral pattern. So yeah, he's an Eccentric and Tortured Musician, so he dresses Like That. It's clearly intentional and not representative of the average character in the game (though he also has a student who dresses basically like him, with basically the same Eccentric and Tortured bit, who we see in a side quest.)

Oliver, on the other hand, is pretty much representative of how men in this series dress. He's a model, and as you can see, his default outfit (I checked the Style Boutique wiki to confirm, this is it) is... uh, kind of bland. He's not alone.

(Shout outs to the Style Boutique Wiki, where I got these screenshots.) This is Ricky, shown in his default outfit. (While there technically IS a menswear section in Fashion Forward, it's an extra you can only access from the title screen to dress up NPCs, and very limited. In the summer he'll take that jacket off, but that's it.)

I believe at least one of these outfits of Florian's is user-designed - they're both from Trendsetters, which is the game I've played the least of the four. Either way, not suits! But still not particularly interesting. But okay, maybe it's just that this STYLE is on the bland side? Let's try some others!

(In order: Vincent, Melvin, Ethan Quinn, Jim.)

I swear I didn't go looking for characters who are exclusively wearing T-shirts except Ethan, I am a bit limited in what the wiki has here. But also... yeah. I think Jim might be supposed to be a fan of bold fashion, given the belt and the hair? But you wouldn't know it from looking at the plain black t-shirt. Vincent and Melvin are a bit better - Vincent helps run the live music venue that opens midway through the game, while Melvin is in fact a nerd who doesn't take that much interest in fashion and only shows up to support one of the three central idols of the game, who also happens to be his best friend. Is it unfair to include him, then? No. Because at least his outfit is actually indicative of his character!

(Daisuke, Chad - though I believe he's renamed Brad in the North American release, and MC Mode, two photos. Tarquin, at the bottom, is one of my own screenshots.)

The same hat situation here is a bit amusing, but they were designed for different games and it makes sense to reuse fashion items like that between games - it let them add onto the wardrobe as the series went on, so there were a lot more items with different silhouettes and such by Styling Star. For the women. I think at least a few of these characters got to gain and lose jackets depending on the in-game season, and MC Mode here is a fashionable guy who gets to wear TWO outfits.

And the chic look isn't too bad - both Mode and Ethan wear it, so as you can see, there's definitely some range. I think Vincent might get to wear a leather jacket during the in-game winter, but I couldn't commit to it; I can't remember off-hand if Daisuke loses his jacket in the summer, though I hope not.

But yeah. You'll notice looking at all of these that even the rocker's outfit is a t-shirt and jeans. There ARE slightly more interesting options - those jeans might be distressed, there ARE leather jackets, and there are some pants with excess belts among the men's, I think - but not nearly as much as the women's fashion in the punk rock style. Tarquin's "lab coat" is clearly a suit jacket, and while it makes some sense not to make an entire unique item for one character, this game didn't even have men's fashion. I'm pretty sure they just used an existing suit jacket from Trendsetters. On the other hand, at least THAT ONE is reflective of his character. Daisuke's outfit is the closest the games come to athletic wear until Fashion Dreamer.

The characters in the later two games in particular were REALLY fun. There's a reason why I didn't have many screenshots just showing a male character facing forward, and none without dialogue - I actually really enjoy the writing here. Ethan wants to conquer the world with music, and multiple characters comment that this makes him sound like a supervillain. Tarquin is an endearing nerd who has a bunch of cute comments about all the items you bring in to make fashion items from. Florian likes bad puns.

But their outfits don't really tell you much about their personalities, where the female characters all do.

[alantea87]

Two weeks in with a Nokia flip phone and no social media...

And I'm feeling better. Honestly, though. I do not miss social media. Especially the control it had over my emotions, lol. However, I do deeply miss memes. Memes were my oxygen. And I do miss the casual interactions with old and new friends on Insta. Facebook has been permanently deleted and my Instagram has been deactivated - not sure what next. But I am indeed enjoying my low-tech life using a Nokia flip.

New toy (pictured: Sennheiser HD599, affordable audiophile open-back wired headphones)...

How am I filling my time? MUSIC. Like the good old days. Like, listening to music in lossless with a wired head set kind of old days. These HD599s are a cult fave in the audiophile community for their accurate audio presentation, wide soundstage and resolution. Got them for £157, RRP £199. Basically it's like listening to your fave artists in the studio with them, as long as you feed them a decent source (I'm using Apple Music, lossless + hi ress lossless). Technically I'm not using a proper DAC, just Apple's lighting to 3.5mm adapter (a secret DAC by Apple) for my iPad Pro to drive these HD599s. The sound is out of this world. I'm hearing things in tracks I've not heard before. My current fave artist for about two years now is Zach Bryan (alt-country, americana - https://www.zachbryan.com/music). He's the only artist who can currently make me cry and that says alot.

Note-taking with pen and paper...

I have now resorted to my mini Muji notebook and pen jot down to dos, shopping lists and ideas. My Nokia doesn't have a note taking app, but it does have a simple calendar that I really like. My handwriting is awful, though. Over ten years of smartphone use would do that to a person.

My current EDC (every day carry) is as follows...

a) Nokia 2660 Flip, b) iPad, AirPods Pro 2, c) Muji notepad + gel pen, d) Kindle, e) on gym days... Apple Watch SE (for music)

SMS...

You'd think texting is horrendous on a feature phone, but suprisingly I would say it's very doable. Especially if predictive text is available, which it is on the Nokie 2660 Flip. Fine, you can't type quickly but the tactility of the keypad is lovely. It really feels like you're putting in more effort in your messages than a touch screen.

Less 'digital blur'...

I know such a term is used in the photo-editing world, but now I use it to describe my experience when I am presented with too much choice on streaming services or other digital media. Everything is blurring into one digital blob. With the exception of music streaming (I love the choice and I go through phases of liking certain genres/artists), I really do miss CDs and Blu-rays. I've now reconnected my 10 year old Blu-ray player to my 1080p projector to tap back into my Blu-ray collection. Thankfully, it's a good time to get back into them, as you can buy preowned Blu-rays for a couple quid on eBay including postage. You can't beat the picture quality and bitrate. Not to mention actually owning a physical copy no streaming service can take away from you, lol.

Less noise...

As I've deleted WhatsApp (the Nokia 2660 isn't compatible with WhatsApp, only the US version of it aka 2680 Flip), I've not been in any group chats for over two weeks and it's been bliss. Yes, that also includes my family ones. I do not miss them. The total lack of noifications on my Nokia (apart from calls, SMS and calendar events) has contributed to lower levels of general anxiety and distractions. I am now able to fully concentrate during a TV show or even when listening to an album. I am fully present and immersed. Even my conversations with real people have improved greatly; I am more patient and empathetic. Mainly because I am not half-scrolling on my phone anymore. Gosh, smartphones have really killed off real human connection.

Do I miss my iPhone...?

I think if you can have a healthy relationship with a smarthphone (not using social media, no doom scrolling etc), I think they pose as a vital tool in the modern world. But as I do not have that level of self control, my Nokia was the intervention I needed. Two weeks in I don't actually miss it. I miss how it was a tool to allow me to self-soothe (not in a healthy way). So breaking up with my smartphone was probably for the best. It's made me get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Awkward silences, quiet stares into space, being one with your thoughts. Just like the good old days.

Where is my iPhone?

It's tucked away in my drawer, fully charged with £5 loaded onto a seperate sim inserted in it to be used PAYG. It is only to be used in emergencies or when I am travelling to new distant lands e.g. South London, lol. Literally it just has Google Maps, Uber and email. Not even music. I don't want to see my iPhone as an entertainment device (I am not against digital entertainment, but I am against small smartphone devices that hijack your attention all day/night).

Am I bored?

Yes and no. Yes, because I loved the short-form media that exists on Instagram (spending sometimes hours per evening consuming it). And keeping up with my favourite meme accounts, musicians and rugby teams on there, too. But no, because I've just gone back to classic ways on keeping oneself entertained... music and movies.

Who am I texting?

Literally, just three close friends I've known for over 15 years. No body else.

Will I keep using my Nokia 2660 Flip?

Yes, for the time being. I think I found a compromise with using smart tech. Just not using a smartphone has been crucial to this compromise, as it has literally improved my mental health in only two weeks. All this extra time and energy has allowed me to focus on therapy (I have an amazing therapist I speak to weekly) and addressing key life challanges I have been avoiding for so long.

-

More posts to come,

Love, Alan. x