#everything else is pretty limited quantity..

[gachahugs]

Shop is open!

[practically-an-x-man]

i think the only reason i use spotify so much is that 1. i need transportable music for when I'm at classes or whatever and 2. it's so hard to find physical media for the bands i like

Harley Poe CDs are rare as hell and no vinyl

Aim and Ignite by Fun. was like 300 bucks on vinyl before it got re-released (i do have it now)

Counterfeit. has CDs I think but no vinyl

Amazing Devil doesn't have either as far as I know

I have one Ice Nine Kills vinyl but haven't seen much for their earlier albums

Our Last Night has some CDs but only of their original works (which are great but I love their covers too)

[mazeinthemiroh]

heyyy! can i request a stray kids reaction to their s/o asking for their fashion advice :((( i want their style so bad. thanks in advance!

stray kids reactions to their s/o asking for fashion advice

genre: general

word count: 0.7k

warnings: none

pls like and reblog if you enjoy! feel free to request anything <3

bangchan

well chan's fashion is literally "wear anything black and you're all set." his whole wardrobe is pitch black like there's no colour in there. because of this, he thinks his opinion of fashion to be quite limited. but in reality, it isn't all that bad. he does have a bias towards comfier clothes on himself, but he observes what looks better on others. so he will get you to try on a couple of different styles or colours of clothes for him and tell you what he thinks looks better on you.

lee know

like chan, minho prefers comfier clothes on himself. so he will set you up with some really nice casual clothes really easily. as for the nicer, more formal clothing, he can help there too! obviously, because he is an idol, he has to work with a lot of different styles. he will get you to try on styles you might not even have considered before. will make you do a whole catwalk for him and everything. takes helping you seriously but also has to have his fun!

changbin

now he would probably laugh if you asked him for fashion advice. not because he's not fashionable! only he feels that his expertise lies in other areas. nevertheless, if you want his help, who is he to deny his services? changbin ends up just spoiling you and buying you tons of clothes to try on no matter how much you object. "the only fashion advice i have is take all the clothes you possibly can!" man focuses on quality and quantity.

hyunjin

he knows which colours go with what. he just knows when something looks off; it's the artist in him. so, with that being said, he will make you try on every shade of colour until he figures out what matches your skin tone. your favourite colour is purple? he's getting you to try on lilac, indigo, lavender, magenta, everything under the sun. if you ask for his fashion advice, he's not gonna give you halfhearted comments. oh no, he's committed to that role.

han

hannie slays in every outfit. he is blessed with a perfect face, so whether he is wearing a simple fit or a stylish suit, he's looking fly af either way. consequently, he doesn't give fashion too much thought. so when you ask him for fashion advice, he pretty much says to experiment! there's no harm in thinking outside the box and adding things to your outfit to make certain aspects stand out. he encourages all that creativity.

felix

felix is so excited that you want his advice. he loves helping people in any way he can and he appreciates that you care about his opinion. he will list clothes off the top of his head that he thinks look good and flattering on your unique figure. he will offer to go shopping and get you to try on clothes for him so you can both see what suits you. will always compliment you as well as point you in the right direction.

seungmin

seungmin encourages you to be comfortable with everything else. he usually dresses in cute and comfy clothes himself. he's very boyfriend material, isn't he? he doesn't believe that you should be uncomfortable just because an outfit is stylish and trendy. he wants you to be happy and comfortable in the choices you make in your clothes, and he would never pressure you to wear anything you don't want to wear just because it looks fancy.

jeongin

this fashion king? he has all the tips. you know he dresses very well, so going to him for advice doesn't come as a surprise to him. but what he mainly focuses on is helping you find your own unique sense of style. he's not just going to dress you up in his style and call it a day. he appreciates that people have different types of looks that they're going for, and he wants to help you figure out how you can express yourself through your clothing!

[spinningbuster98]

Metroid Zero Mission Ending: The anti climactic second ending

The act of getting everything in the game is at the same time both the best of the post Super games...and also the worst in some ways

On the one hand,because the game allows for so much sequence breaking, it’s very possible to obtain almost every item in the game before you’re outside the final boss room, in fact you can absolutely 100% clear Brinstar and Ridley’s Lair on your first go. This means that you’ll have way fewer items to collect during this time when compared to the liked of Fusion and Dread

...on the OTHER hand however...

See the thing that I like about the final loop in both Fusion and Dread is that it follows a certain sense of flow, with you being encouraged to run through each area in a clockwise or counter clockwise order, only to then naturally end up pretty much right outside the final boss’ room once you’re finished. Essentially, if you were to draw a line of the ideal path you take you’d draw roughly a circle with some jagged edges. Moreover a positive of having quite a few items to collect is that you’re constantly feeling like you’re making progress on your trip and you’re not just backtracking with nothing else to do

In Fusion every Sector is also connected to the Main Deck, which is where you’ll have to go to at the end, so even at its worst you’ll waste no time retracing your steps, though it’s better to finish with the secret lab in Sector 6

Dread is even better, both because it’s an inherently faster game with more movement options and because every area at the end gets interlinked through Teleportals, so you should always be able to go where you want to pretty fast

With Zero Mission though? If you were to draw a line of the path you’re forced to take it would roughly look like one giant U-turn with edges that constantly retrace their own steps

From the moment you get the Power Bombs right at the end of the Pirate Mothership you have to do a GIGANTING amount of backtracking just to get back to Crateria, which is the only area connected to it. From there you must first make a short trip through Tourian’s ruins, then get back to Crateria, go to Brinstar, go to Kraid’s Lair that’s close to there just to get one measily missile tank, preferably use the secret access to Norfair to get the nearby expansions, get back to Kraid’s Lair, back to Brinstar, back to Crateria, clean it of its last few items, get back to Chozodia, get those last few items there and then finally make your way ALLLLLLL the way back to where you started all of this journey.

Does this sound even remotely fluid to you? You’re effectively spending more time just backtracking through old areas (some of which you’ve JUST gone through) than you are collecting items, which is even further exacerbated by the little quantity of them: you really are going back to Kraid’s Lair and Norfair just for 3-4 items and that’s it, it’s backtrack time again

Chozodia/the Pirate Mothership is the worst because it’s very big but also very cramped, being pretty much just one looooong serpentine road that you have to traverse linearily each time.

The act of actually looking for those extra items is mostly better than Fusion though still with some issues. Zero Mission is overall less obtuse when it comes to hiding its items, with more cases of there being at least some visual cues to draw your attention, though there are still some secrets that require you to use Power Bombs to discover (like fake walls), which sucks like in Fusion except it’s worse here because you get Power Bombs at the very end of the game and they are extremely limited in number and very hard to restock

This last one actually goes for both Zero Mission AND Fusion: completing these games 100% is borderline impossible for a complete newbie because....they don’t teach you how to use the Shinespark, or the Wall Jump for that matter!

The latter is optional, but you’re not completing those pesky Shinespark puzzles without knowing the technique, yet neither game informs you about it (not even their manuals), so unless you look it up on the internet or have played Super before you’re stuck. Say what you will about Super’s method of brute forcing the knowledge onto you by locking you in some rooms until you learned the moves, it TAUGHT them to you. And Dread just straight up tells you how to perform it in the item description, less creative but gets straight to the point

Your reward for getting everything, aside from more Samus pinups, is a Mecha Ridley fight that’s actually difficult. NGL it’s not half bad like this....but it’s still so anticlimactic!

The final boss is supposed to be the main villain of the game, or at least the final narrative, BIG challange. Here we already beat the main villain an hour ago, this thing is here pretty much just because we need to fight something. At least Fusion had you fight the SA-X near the end, with the Omega being more like a glorified setpiece and obstacle during the countdown. This just feels off

That’s pretty much my big gripe with Zero Mission: at its best it’s a great amalgamation of what made Super so fun, combined with the improvements made by Fusion and with the choice of being more handholdy or not.

Unfortunately the game kinda peaks at its midway point, after which you’re kinda left with an epilogue that start’s off pretty interesting but quickly becomes meandering and middling. It’s like the game starts with such a strong energy and sense of fun, only for it to peter out towards the end, and it’s so disappointing. its first half is some of the best Metroid gameplay in the series, but its second half, while not bad, just feels like going through the motions to me

I still like the game, but ngl over the years it has gone down my list a little bit, especially in light of Dread offering a far meatier and far more consistent experience

[2af-afterdark]

Oof, it's been a hot minute since I've sent you an ask... Sorry 'bout that and also for not sending you any New Year's wishes, irl stuff kept me pretty busy lately. I hope you had fun celebrating! <3

...Admittedly, part of the reason for my absence was that I've also been feeling unpleasantly drained by the Nightmare Pass missions, on top of everything else. I feel a little bad about pretty much coming here and complaining, but I'd like to hear your opinion since you have the Pass activated and I'm f2p, so I wonder how our experiences differ.

I feel like the rewards are.. lackluster, in all honesty. The yellow keys are nice, the frame is pretty... And that's about it. Aside from a small bonus of getting some gems after completing the daily missions, there's really not much to look forward to. It feels like there's far too much effort required and not enough rewards.

Not to mention the missions themselves. God, the missions. I hate the way they work with a passion. The fact that you need to log in daily is fine, the fact that you need to grind a bit is also fine... But then there's shit like "claim a likeability reward" which I'd love to do, except I only have one left over from Andrealphus and still half a Pass to get through. I remember you writing that it feels like being punished for unlocking content, and I completely agree. That's exactly how it feels. I am not going to waste all of my red keys in an attempt to get a new L-grade card since I have all S-grade devils maxed out already.

And speaking of wasting red keys! The "special draw" missions also leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. I remember making those single-pulls while sighing deeply because, well, it just doesn't feel like all of the resources I'm consuming are going to be compensated. I spend Solomon's tears, both types of keys, a lot of energy (in-game and irl) and most of the time I get... A few boxes of randomised jellies? That I can get extremely easily through other means? At least make them select-type like the ones in event shops, damn it!

Basically, I'm salty and kind of sad. I love the game dearly, but I think I'm going to give up on the Nightmare Pass. Once I hit a likeability reward mission that I cannot complete, I'm out. The frame is pretty, but getting one from an event shop is going to be way easier and less stress-inducing. I don't want to burn myself out (any more than I already did) by trying to complete it.

So sorry for such a long rant, I ended up getting a bit carried away... I'm really interested in how the effort/reward ratio feels like with a purchased Pass. I'm not really active in the fandom (I pretty much only follow you and the official acc, lol) so I haven't seen people speak about it yet. Hopefully, at least some people have a better time with that hell of an event.

— 💛

So, I used my premium pass from the pre-order rewards on the Nightmare Pass so I could study the way it works from a p2p perspective. I must say, the reward you get in p2p are much better. I received many yellow and red keys, Solomon's Tears, Puddings, Books, Coins, etc. I had unlimited auto-fights in the nightmare dungeon so I can grind coins for the shop easily. Over all, the amount of rewards you get may justify the $60 price tag IF you can afford it and you want the card at the end. Also, this assumes they do this within limited quantities. Like, I would say once every few months at most. Maybe very 2-3 months at most. Still sucks you can only get the card if you're willing to pay out the nose for the rewards. I did look at the f2p rewards and... yeah, not worth it. That is a lot of grinding for very little payoff. I was getting 2-4 reward every day because I was getting the rewards for every tier so it felt more worthwhile.

Also, yeah. I have been playing the game less since the Nightmare Pass started because I was afraid of locking myself out of future requirements for the missions. I had trouble with likability (something I usually max out within 2-3 days of getting a new unit), I was afraid to level up characters and their skills, I wasn't promoting anyone, I wasn't doing anything because I was so afraid I would screw myself by playing the game.

That's why I think Nightmare Pass kind of sucks the most. I felt like I was being punished for having played the game up until this point. Some missions were, as you said, fine. Any missions involving pleasing someone in the Secret Club were fine (not the unholy board because some of those I had maxed out already and it was pain to advance them more). Any missions where I had to fight were good. That I can always do. But missions that have finite end points are terrible (there is a max number of levels characters can have, a max amount of promotions I can do, only so far I can go on an unholy board, likability stops at 100%, characters can only evolve 5 times before they are maxed). Those missions suck because I can screw myself by actually having invested the time into the game before the Nightmare Pass is even out. It actually sucked to basically stop playing this game because I was afraid to play and screw myself out of getting Gabriel.

And the missions are kind of sucky too. Because each stage only unlocks after the previous one is completed, it's hard to know what is coming up and easy to screw yourself. Not everyone has 20ST available multiple times. Not everyone hoards their keys to do the multiple draws over and over again. And having 25 stages that can only be unlocked once daily rather than continuously (since the one mission on each day is to login) it means that if you miss a few days, you are screwed. You can pay to unlock the path with Nightmare Coins, but that assumes you have enough (and each reward gets more expensive as you go).

Overall, Nightmare Pass feels like the kind of event that is aimed toward people who dedicate time to the game to complete the rewards, but those same people can easily get screwed if they put in all that effort too early. The nightmare Pass isn't terrible, but it definitely needs some tweaking. It's the kind of event I would only continue in the future if I really want the card/haven't invested so much I screw myself. Honestly, it feels like the kind of event you finish and only debate purchasing the other rewards after you see how far you've managed to get to see if you can justify the expense.

Also, never feel like you can't rant to me. I rant all the time. Goodness knows I rant all the time... I don't do it because I hate the game. It's me trying to point out issues for others and because I want to see things changed for the better.

[kiriska]

Sakura-Con!!!

Artist Alley has returned to the 4th floor of the original ARCH building at Seattle Convention Center. It’s where Exhibitor’s used to be and where AA was like 9 years ago. The AA has also quadrupled in size since they don’t have to share the space with anyone else now. o_O

Art Show has moved to the 4th floor of the new SUMMIT building, in the Elliott Bay Room, which is a pretty cool glass-walled room. It’s also a little more spacious. :o I have two panels of originals and limited quantities of select prints there as well.

Con center expansion and literally everything moving around makes it a rough transition year, but hopefully everyone can find everything and it doesn’t rain too much??? 8D;

[sugareey-makes-stuff]

78, 83, and 91 for the personal asks!!! 💛💛💛

Hiya, friend! Oh gosh, you picked some fun ones to delve into! Okie dokie, let's get right to it: 78: Can insanity bring on more creativity? I'm going to say yes since I'm pretty sure all of us creative have a little bit of insanity in us. It could be some big idea, something that hasn't been done before, or whatever. Maybe it's that hyperfocus to make something exist that actually motivates us to finish. Maybe something bizarre or weird happened in our lives, and we want to share that with the world. Whatever that driver is, there's always some type of intention to pushes us to do a thing. I know last year, I had almost zero chill about stuff (so I ended up making 52+ works for various challenges and fests). A lot of these things were things I never thought I'd be able to make if there wasn't some hype and excitement around each one idea. Which is cool. But there's also a limit because it's super easy to get burnt out. And we're human, not robots. I definitely learned that the hard way, so I've been taking on things I'm passionate about but I know I have enough time for because quality vs. quantity is a thing. And if I want to take hours to go code a thing it should be because I want to and not because I have to (because technically we don't have to do anything). I'll leave that spiel at that since I could ramble about this topic for hours.

83: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart. OKAY. There are a lot of things that came up, but if I had to choose...it comes down to feeling/being seen. That is the core of a person and if they can feel or be seen, then chances are, they're able to feel comfort and safety but also learn to trust. And everything else comes right after.

91: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power? I'm thinking either invisibility or shapeshifting, tbh. Invisibility would be nice to go and come as one pleases to wherever and whenever. But I can see the benefits of changing into a lot of forms (people and animals) to do a lot of cool things. And heyyy, who doesn't want to become a bird and fly, have darkvision or some crazy firebreathing abilities?

Thanks for the asks! __ Previously asked: 3, 9 and 42 Want to know more about me? Send more q's my way from the Let's Get Personal ask meme!

[mentalisttraceur-software]

C Preprocessor: Forcing More Scans

The basic idea of how the C preprocessor works is that it scans the token list for macros to expand, and after every expansion, it re-scans the result to see if anything else needs to be expanded.

Many of the more advanced C preprocessor tricks rely on this either implicitly, or explicitly force extra scans. Here's a simple brute force example of the latter:

#define SCAN1(...) __VA_ARGS__ #define SCAN4(...) SCAN1(SCAN1(SCAN1(SCAN1(__VA_ARGS__)))) #define SCAN16(...) SCAN4(SCAN4(SCAN4(SCAN4(__VA_ARGS__)))) #define SCAN64(...) SCAN16(SCAN16(SCAN16(SCAN16(__VA_ARGS__)))) #define SCAN256(...) SCAN64(SCAN64(SCAN64(SCAN64(__VA_ARGS__))))

If the preprocessor just sees "FOO", it will look for a macro named "FOO" and if so, it will replace it and then resume scanning from the beginning of the replacement - "re-scanning" the result of expanding FOO.

If it sees "SCAN1(FOO)", it will first try to expand FOO. Let's say FOO is a macro, so it's expanded and rescanned. So far the same. Then it will try to expand "SCAN1" with the result of expanding (and re-scanning) FOO. And then it will rescan everything starting from the result of replacing SCAN1, which includes the already replaced and re-scanned result of FOO. So it adds one more scan over the result of FOO.

Now what happens if the preprocessor sees SCAN1(SCAN1(FOO))? Well, it will try to expand the argument list of the outer SCAN1, which requires expanding the argument list of the inner SCAN1, so it expands FOO, and again if FOO was a macro then the result is rescanned, then it expands the inner SCAN1, then it resumes scanning from the start of the result of the inner SCAN1, then finally it expands the outer SCAN1, and again it resumes scanning from where the result of the outer SCAN1 starts.

So "SCAN256(X())" will force the preprocessor to scan and try expanding the result of "X()" 256 extra times.

To be clear, that's not enough by itself to recursively expand macros - if X() expands to "... X() ...", there is a separate protection involved that prevents the "X" token from expanding again, because it was the result of expanding a macro with the same name. (Online this is sometimes referred to as "X" being "painted blue", but I've never seen that terminology in the C standards themselves.) But forcing extra scans is part of how we trick the preprocessor into doing "recursive" macros, and the number of scans is what sets the upper limit on how many times our "recursive" macros can expand.

Personally, I dislike forcing more scans than needed, and I don't like being capped to some number of scans. Throwing a hard-coded "large enough" quantity at a problem where the actual need is variable is pretty crude engineering. But this is the simplest technique to get started with, and it's the best we have if we want to keep C-style argument list syntax, because the only way to automatically get just the number of scans needed also forces changing calls from "MY_MACRO(foo, bar, qux)" to "MY_MACRO((foo)(bar)(qux))".

[wfagamerants]

As I mentioned from the start, while this blog won’t be entirely Mario/DK/Yoshi/Wario focused, this particular universe will be the main thing I like talking about, so I figured it would be fun to look back on everything Marioverse that has happened this year and give a opinion on it.

Gonna go step by step and then give a final opinion on the year as a whole. Compared to the Paper Mario essay, this isn’t gonna be analytical in nature, just some quick thoughts on everything wahoo.

Mario Kart Tour

This year actually did offer me a surprising amount of things I like. Petey returning as a driver, the Dr. Mario stuff and Wario’s Shipyard are all stuff I would love to see in a regular Mario Kart. That is also a key word though.

I don’t play Tour and this year hasn’t convinced me to do so either. Compared to what other mobile games like Fire Emblem Heroes, Sonic Forces Speed Battle or Puyo Puyo Quest do, I simply don’t find Tour’s content impressive. Games like these tend to offer a huge amount of content from their franchises’ history to entice you and to me, are a compensation for putting up with mobile game annoyances.

Tour offers more than average for a Mario spin-off, but that’s not enough for me to give into checking out a mobile game and while I do like a lot of alts, it’s flooded so much with alts of the same characters again and again, that I wouldn’t have fun going for that. I like Mario, but one of his dozens of alts could have gone to DK or Wario or Waluigi and I would be a bit more intrigued. Variety is the spice of life and GACHA temptations (I know the GACHA is gone).

Also, quite a number of Daisy alts this year, but no Classic Daisy. I am not pleased.

Wario Cup

Get It Together’s Wario Cup ran for most of the year, concluding around the time of the game’s first anniversary.

The concept of an online competitive leaderboard mode is genuinely brilliant and something I hope comes back in future games. There were plenty of pretty chill Cups that were fun to go for the highest rank for and it had a lot of cool ideas for unique challenges. While it didn’t compensate for a proper online multiplayer, Wario Cup at it’s best was a great addition.

That said, there were also a number of bad Cups and I can’t lie, those were nasty. Putting the most limited characters into the worst kind of situations for them, with little room for error, just doesn’t make for a fun experience and instead turned into an exercise in frustration.

The first 9-Volt, Kat and Ana Cup was so bad it even made me reconsider my opinion on the character gimmick. That did go away when I replayed the regular stages and never had the same issues, but it does bring forth the worst case scenarios of how character balancing is handled in this game.

On the whole I still went out of Wario Cup more positive than not and GiT remains my new favorite WarioWare, but the mode does really show off things that future games need to address.

Wario’s 30th Anniversary

Nintendo didn’t acknowledge it.

Didn’t expect anything else, would have just been cool to be proven wrong.

Mario Kart Booster Course Pass

To put that one simply: I feel like I got precisely what I paid for.

The tracks do feel cheap, but the price and quantity make me perfectly comfortable to consider these tracks a bonus, ala’ the Super Mario Kart tracks in Super Circuit. Getting to experience some of these Tour exclusive tracks and remakes is something I genuinely get a kick out of, even if they could be presented in a nicer way and used the anti-gravity more.

While Wave 2 and 3 have the better selection on the whole and the Custom Item option is a surprisingly big addition to suddenly drop, Wave 1 still has my personal biggest highlight in Ninja Hideaway. This is one Tour track I always wanted to try and I am amazed by how good it is, like you could tell me it was made for a normal Mario Kart from the start and I’d believe it.

In the end though, this is still Mario Kart 8. Still a phenomenal game and I am enjoying the new stuff, but I have also been playing this game since it released on the Wii U, so my revisits aren’t that long-lived. 

Mario Strikers Battle League

I feel comfortable talking about this game now, but if the next update changes my opinions in any way, I’ll do a quick follow-up.

BL is a bit of an unfortunate case, I really can’t say I don’t like the game, because so much about it does land for me.

- The core gameplay is fun, even more so in multiplayer. I do miss some of the insanity of Charged, but at the same time, that never felt entirely intentional to me.

- The animation work is still fantastic and full of character. Sucks that there is only three post-goal animations per character and two of them you will see a ton, but it does make up for that with the huge amount of animation work elsewhere, especially in-field.

- The music’s good. It still has a visual identity. I like the Gear system (not so much grinding for coins). The updates are making the roster slowly come together. The online is….as functional as Nintendo Online can be for now, that all checks out.

That stuff is all good, but it is held back by an aspect I was really worried about, the update practice.

I’m not kidding when I say the game at launch felt incomplete and even now it still doesn’t feel like it’s all there. Strikers was never the most content dense series, in fact, BL still beats out the first game in content quantity, but even then you get this constant sense something is missing.

In particular, I dearly hope a stage hazard toggle will get added next update. Stadium gimmicks really helped Charged’s staying power, by changing how to play in each of them. Be it a muddy field that makes you slide like crazy or Thwomps that threaten to crush the players.

BL just has nothing like that and it also leads to the gimmick of combining two stadium halves feeling undercooked and unfinished. It could lead to a lot of crazy combinations, if each half had its own hazards, but as it is now, it’s only purpose is to show off how you made your half look in the Strikers Club.

BL is still getting at least one more update, possibly more, given the timeline only listed them as updates for 2022 specifically and I hope those add something substantial. The game needs it.

(Hey, the new update was announced an hour after I posted this!....they didn’t do anything big and it’s the last one. Sucks.)

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

This one was oddly the one where I had to collect my thoughts the most, despite my opinion being the most straight forward.

On the whole, I have a hard time telling which of the two games I prefer. Sparks of Hope to me manages to carry on every strength of the original save for one little thing and it makes for a great experience.

Between the cartoony, charming presentation, the music and general personality of the game, everything has been left intact how I liked it in the first game. I was also happy to see what kind of gameplay possibilities the free movement, instead of using tiles, enables. I was skeptical, but was won over as early as the tutorial.

The game in those areas really does nothing  but expand. Far more freedom with what team to build. The overworld gameplay has been greatly expanded upon. More interacting with NPCs. More mechanics. Actual involvement of Mario mooks in battles. All this stuff is wonderful and I was surprised by how much this game genuinely scratched my itch for new Mario RPG content.

The one thing about the game I am bit lukewarm on is, possibly ironically, the Mario content.

There is stuff there for sure, I mentioned Mario mooks now taking art in battles. Yah also got Sparks and a Spoiler character we all saw coming. Bowser being playable now is of course also a delight, then again I have no issue with how anyone in the game is portrayed.

Thing is, at many points, it feels like the Mario stuff takes a backseat, especially compared to the first game.

- The Toad and Toadette escort missions are gone, with both only making minor appearances now.

- All the Spark Hunters are Rabbids and all the important NPCs you meet are Rabbids.

- You don’t get stuff like Rabbid Kong, Bwario or Bwaluigi here. Yoshi and Jr are also MIA.

- None of the stuff from the Season Pass is headlined by a Mario character, unlike the first game, which had a Donkey Kong campaign. The new antagonist for the second part of the Pass is also another Rabbid.

- You have 5 playable Rabbids and only 4 playable Mario characters. I was genuinely a bit shocked that SPOILER wasn’t unlockable in any way shape or form.

Don’t get me wrong, everything that’s here is fantastic and I enjoyed myself all the way through. The Rabbids are still the best they have ever been and I really love them now and the Rayman(!) announcement is one of the most hype things for me in quite some time. All this is great, I just feel this crossover is on the uneven side and that feeling gradually snuck up on me.

Time will tell what the Season Pass holds in full. It does promise more characters in plural, so I strongly assume SPOILER is being saved for that.

Mario Movie

After a long time of not knowing what to expect, we finally got a look at the movie and yeah, it’s gooooood.

It’s visually stunning, the characters are great, the DK love is insane and it is so purely, proudly, Mario.

I have more to say on this one, but I am saving it for another write-up I got planned.

On the whole, a solid year even with ‘’only’’ two new games released. The Mario movie and Sparks of Hope do a lot of heavy lifting here, but there was a lot for me to enjoy.

The one main thing I feel was missing was highlight on the multiplayer spin-off front, so to speak. The Mario Kart stuff is nice to have, but not mind blowing and Strikers is a highlight in many areas, that just doesn’t come fully together, because of its content problems.

I am disappointed by the lack of Mario Party DLC. I like Superstars, but it has things about it (eh minigame selection, lack of minigame modes, tiny roster, etc) that DLC would do a lot to fix. Ideally the game was testing ground and they are working on a new game already, that builds on Superstars’ reception. With how the game relies on old content and 52 of the minigames were already in Top 100, it does feel like it was made for that kind of purpose.

That aside, I do feel this was a fine year for Mario, now I’m just curious what’s next. The well of established and recurring series is running dry. Maybe Baseball is next? Maybe something new? How about that rumored Donkey Kong game? Wario Land anyone?

Time will tell.

[yupuffin]

Friendly opinion, if you don't mind! If you do, feel free to delete :) Your list seems a bit biased. Star Rail is objectively easier to grind for than Genshin, there's no local specialties to look for, every material you need is farmable through assignments except for Stagnant Shadows drops, and everything is all around faster to acquire because the fuel refills faster than Genshin's resin.

And this is with no mention of the fuel limit being what you get in 24h in Star Rail and the game saves up your reserve fuel beyond that, whereas Genshin forces you to spend resin at least twice a day if you don't want to max out. Also no mention of Star Rail's auto-battle feature that allows you to let the game grind for you while you do something else if you don't actually enjoy the grind. The Gacha system is the same for characters but night and day for weapons/Light Cones, with Genshin giving a 33% chance to get the 5* weapon you want and needing to lose twice before you're guaranteed, while Star Rail gives a 75% chance to get the 5* Light Cone you want and you're immediately guaranteed if you lose once. Also, no mention of the free standard 5* character of your choice after 300 standard warps in Star Rail?

I love both games, not trying to dunk on Genshin, just saying your Genshin bias is showing haha. Star Rail is objectively easier to enjoy casually than Genshin. If you don't see it after playing for a few weeks, you may burn out on it very fast :(

Genshin never made me grind for a week straight to beat any of the bosses. 😭

Also fair point about the banners, I have never once pulled on a weapon banner in either game, nor do I regularly wish on the standard banner aside from when I happen to obtain spare wishes, so in all honesty I don't pay as much attention to those. Pretty sure that even with how long I've been playing Genshin I haven't even hit 300 standard pulls in that game.🤷‍♂️ So there are definitely people out there who are more experts on how the banners work than I am. 😆

As for the part about resin/fuel regeneration, I think that's pretty subjective depending on someone's play style. Playing for just a few minutes in the morning and the evening on Genshin works pretty well for me. Star Rail takes significantly more time and attention for me precisely because of the faster regeneration, plus the cap being higher and the excess being saved; and then on top of that, with there being domains that cost less fuel to begin with (there is nothing you can do in Genshin that costs only 10 resin), at least by my experience, by sheer quantity, the number of domains and challenges I have to do is significantly higher. Again, this is just based on my personal routine and what works well for me. Mileage may vary.

I haven't used the auto-battle function, if only because I've had issues with wildly varying difficulty depending on the challenge. Some domains I can do with my eyes closed (figuratively); others I have to be very calculating and specific with the timing of my skills and bursts so my characters don't die, and I don't trust the decisions to be made automatically.

I really think there are so many aspects of these games that have no inherent good/bad value and whether it's easier or more difficult or less or more appealing or whatever is based entirely on personal preferences -- which is, again, why I formatted the post as a bulleted list instead of saying "Genshin is better because this, Star Rail is better because that." And I say this as someone who's had conversations with friends where I've said things like "I liked x video game for y and z reasons" and said friend would respond "Funny, those are the exact same reasons I disliked it." 😆I can think of an equal number of people who believe Star Rail is the better game and others who think Genshin is the better game, for a wide range of reasons that can be ostensibly mutually exclusive.

If someone wanted to put together like. a community-sourced project with a comprehensive list of all of the in-depth similarities and differences between the games, rather than a for-fun project developed by one person out of curiosity, they probably could come up with something pretty exhaustive and objective. I'm gathering based on this ask that there'd probably be some disagreements along the way depending on who prefers which game. 🤣

[trouticecream]

really ridiculously detailed character stats.

FULL NAME: Gregory NICKNAME(S): Greg, nicknames given to him by someone that he's become emotionally close with so long as it's nothing too ridiculous. AGE: 10 years old MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE: INTJ BIRTH DATE: January 7th ETHNICITY: N/A since he's an alien cat lol PLACE OF BIRTH: deep within the Psion home-planet and at its core where the Psion production machine and corresponding facility is located. GENDER IDENTITY: N/A PREFERRED PRONOUN(S): he / him / his SEXUAL ORIENTATION: N/A RELIGION: he wouldn't identify with a particular religion, but his beliefs about the universe and its workings at large are heavily oriented towards proven science and educated theories, with a gap left open for that inherent (from his pov) quantity of unknown. That is, he recognizes that there are inherent limitations to life-forms (and thus the ways that they collect and analyze data, himself included) and that as a result, no one can know the complete truth of things in whole. There's just too many variables that can influence or skew one's perception of things--even if a truth that is genuinely objective is staring them straight in the face--thus making any data produced by imperfect beings, flawed.

And so, while he subscribes to established science as a basis on which he operates (because he needs to have something to guide his actions, even if it's imperfect), he's not completely attached to it and rather, opts to simultaneously maintain the flexibility required to accept new data and update his views accordingly, especially if there is sufficient evidence to suggest that he is completely and utterly wrong about something. OCCUPATION: explorer / slightly chaotic scientist / engineer FACE CLAIM: Whatever I end up drawing lol. More seriously? it's worth noting that he can alter his appearance to best suit whatever setting he finds himself in and so, if I did use icons (which, as of the time of this post, I have no plans on doing since I'd have to draw everything myself) they would reflect a given disguise that he's using out of practicality, to blend in.

RELATIONSHIPS.

PARENTS: Maria & George (adoptive human parents) SIGNIFICANT OTHER(S): N/A CHILDREN: LEVEL OF SEXUAL EXPERIENCE: STORY OF FIRST KISS: A SOCIAL PERSON? technically, he does interact with other people frequently enough that he might look like he's a conventionally social person (despite his flat and unemotional demeanor) and he isn't opposed to attending social functions, but that isn't hinged on a genuine interest in interaction for its own sake. Rather, it's more so about the knowledge that he has to gain from it personally and satiating his own curiousity.

It's not about building a meaningful connection with someone (usually that happens by accident aka not by any intentional effort on his part) but rather it's more so about observing them and documenting their movements. He generally thinks of social interactions as unstructured, uncontained, and naturally-occurring 'social experiments' and so, while he can appear to be superifically social, he's not truly a social person. Because if he didn't have a motivation distinct from socializing for its own sake (or really anything else more personal) then he wouldn't bother with it. HOW DO THEY THINK OTHERS PERCEIVE THEM? he doesn't actively think about it. For the most part, he comes across as oblivious because though he doesn't mean to be malicious or harmful, the feelings of others factor in at the very bottom of his reasoning process for taking actions, if it's not skipped entirely altogether. His brain is very much directed towards thinking of things in terms of pros-cons and optimizing the approach taken to his selected action accordingly.

[Segue but, from this point I want to clarify that he does care about people (not personally, but in a detached, general good kinda way) but his understanding of people's emotions can be pretty limited thus making him shortsighted about them. He thinks that by cutting through emotion and getting straight to the most logical and efficient way of doing something, it should 'logically' satisfy anyone else involved. Because it's efficient and achieves the goal! So !!! there's no reason to be unhappy! He definitely wouldn't be unhappy so the other person shouldn't be unhappy either!]

AND SO, he rarely ever considers how others perceive him. His brain is so laser-focused on his goals and interests and achieving them that he barely even notices negative or positive receptions to him (and in some cases, he's only clued in because of his PSI). But, if he were to stop and actually think about it, the truth becomes abundantly clear. Like an intuitive flash of realization.

It depends on the person that he interacts with, but overall, he thinks that even though he doesn't see himself this way, he probably comes across as weird, antisocial (even though he isn't), kinda rude (since his adherence to certain social norms is fairly inconsistent and he might end up not doing some things that are expected), cold, and overly direct. And I mean, he somewhat understands why people might think this and while he doesn't take it personally, he can acknowledge that it poses some limitations on his ability to gather data. And that, to him, is the real issue here lol. HOW DO OTHERS ACTUALLY PERCEIVE THEM? he's actually correct! even if he can seem oblivious at times to certain things, it's not for a lack of perception, but rather a lack of interest in paying it any mind or actively thinking about it, beyond filing it away (if noticed) with the other information gathered. Whenever he actually thinks about/focuses on certain things, his power of perception and deduction is actually pretty good, even without PSI. Even the smallest details can give away a lot about someone and so, to him, no interaction is actually insignificant.

PHYSICAL TRAITS.

EYE COLOR(S): Dark blue HAIR COLOR(S): Blonde (human form), clear (true form, microscopic hairs though), off-white blue (offshoot form and it's actually fur) SKIN TONE: porcelain almost like a doll (human form), off-white blue (true form, offshoot form) HEIGHT: 5'2" (human form), 2'3" (true form, offshoot form) WEIGHT: 75 lbs BODY BUILD: across all three forms cited on the main information page, his build generally tends to be slender and small. He's not thin as a twig, but he wouldn't have much muscle definition (or any drastic body shape --it's more akin to the 'rectangle' body shape than anything) either. The idea is that he looks like someone that lives an extremely sedentary lifestyle, but otherwise maintains healthy habits. GLASSES? CONTACTS? he doesn't need either one. The only times he'll wear either thing is if it were actually disguised technology that he plans on using or if it serves some other benefit for him. STYLE OF DRESS/TYPICAL OUTFITS: you already know this Psy, but for anyone that doesn't --to preface the answer to this, he doesn't see what the big deal is about not wearing clothes, but since he just happens to like certain clothing, he's decided to not go naked as his default lol. And so, his style is primarily centered around comfortable and oversized sweaters while everything else is picked out on the basis of how well it serves its intended function.

SO !!! nothing impractical or overly embellished (from his pov anyways lol)--just the bare minimum--but not without standards either, in that it has to be neat, in pristine condition, single colour, well-fitted, and functional above all else. If it doesn't do what it's supposed to or struggles with it, then he sees no use in wearing it. Fashion trends or looking trendy means nothing to him. In effect, this overall translates to him broadly wearing the aforementioned sweaters, usually a turtleneck long-sleeved shirt underneath, and maybe jeans + shoes. It depends on the form that he's assuming, even if he'd rather not bother with shoes in particular lol. JEWELRY? TATTOOS? PIERCINGS? he has what looks like three diamond-shaped and crystalline black earrings on his left ear, but actually it's one of those technology-disguised-as-ordinary-objects things whereby these in particular are regulators associated with various aspects of his psionic abilities, including a failsafe to block future would-be Giygas transformations.

Beyond that, he wears a necklace underneath his hoodie (but over his shirt) with a small shell with the 'XX' marking on it on a silver chain. It doesn't have any immediate practical use (thereby making it one of the few things that he wears for its own sake or more accurately, as a memento of Maria), but it's not a totally ordinary object either. There's still something to it that makes it seem vaguely... magical, for the lack of a better word. ATHLETIC? nope! He doesn't really like intensive physical activity much and rather relies more on his PSI and whatever thing he manages to invent to compensate for his lack of physical ability. HOW DO THEY WALK: he walks in a very upright and proper way. His posture borders on being almost too perfect at times (especially for a 10 year old) and every step taken is very intentional and calculated to be efficient, no matter how small. HOW DO THEY SMELL LIKE: mostly like nothing. The most one gets is the vague scent of stringent sterilization chemicals and maybe machines if he's been tinkering around with discarded robots or engineering new things. WHAT’S THEIR POSTURE LIKE? his posture is great and like I said earlier, almost too perfect at times. The only time he ever eases up on that is if his interest is captured enough by something that it becomes secondary to indulging in it.

PHOBIAS AND DISEASES.

PHOBIA(S): he's positively terrified of being corrupted above all else. Like I mention other things specifically on his information page, but it all fundamentally boils down to being absolutely gutted by the fear of becoming corrupted because of what it means. To be corrupted means to lose his mind and sanity. To be corrupted means to lose control of his own actions and lose himself as a person. To be corrupted means to hurt others and that's just fundamentally distasteful to him, even if harming others in general (outside this context) is sometimes necessary and for their own good from his pov. MENTAL ILLNESS(ES): N/A PHYSICAL ILLNESS(ES): None. He physically can't get sick or sustain any permanent physical impairment. WHEN WAS THIS DIAGNOSED? N/A

INTELLECT.

LEVEL OF EDUCATION: educated by Psion curriculum which is pretty rigorous and extensive, kinda like graduate programs, but supercharged to 100x and primarily focused in on what he needs to know to fulfill military functions. So in general, Psions do study several subject areas in great detail to have a more rounded-out basis of knowledge, but then get more intensive education and training that specifically relates to their predetermined role in society. LEVEL OF SELF-ESTEEM: he has a high degree of confidence in his own abilities (both PSI-based and any other skills that he's honed), but he's very unsure about himself as a person. He's done very heinous things in the past and while he's distanced from a lot of the memories due to the nature of reassembling the fragmented pieces of his mind, whenever he thinks long and hard enough about it? he gets this crushing sense that maybe, just maybe, it's because deep down? he's an evil person, no matter what he does now. That he was fundamentally born as a monster and nothing will ever change that. GIFTS/TALENTS: Gregory doesn't personally regard himself as such, but he's an actual genius. Very high IQ and extremely high processing power such that he can take in very high amounts of information at once and comprehend it on a fundamental level really quickly. One of the biggest ways in which this manifests is his engineering capabilities. He can literally build practically anything... --he needs only a concept and he can run with it to make something that accomplishes the given purpose.

Beyond that, he's also very good at basically things that hinge on detective work and research pretty much. He's great at pulling up information, making accurate deductions or predictions based off it, and locating really obscure and old items. And in addition to that--sorta along a similar line of logic--he's generally great at long-term scheming and manuveuring pieces into place to make things happen. The guy literally changed the course of fate itself and so in that sense, he's a big problem-solver. Nothing stumps or stops him. 'Impossible' just means 'a problem that I have not yet found a solution to' and that's that lol. He can struggle with something for a bit, but he'll keep at it until he resolves it.

And lastly, apart from being very gifted at PSI, he also has good skill in: activities that hinge on solving puzzles, strategy, and just testing one's mental abilities in general; playing video games; organizing things and creating efficient systems for them; and singing (but that one's a secret so shhhhh). SHORTCOMINGS: can be insensitive and inconsiderate (not in a cruel or malicious way though); prone to tunnel vision on goals that he feels strongly enough about; and susceptible to self-isolating, especially when under emotional duress. STYLE OF SPEECH: he speaks at a relatively even pace (can jump up to being a bit too quick if shows enough interest in a Big Interest (TM) of his and he ends up infodumping on them), with a flat (almost bored, which isn't helped by the fact that he speaks softly by default) tone, and in a way that's overall, best described as being overly proper. That is, he uses an overly descriptive manner of speech full of terms that are more technical or perceived as being closest to the 'truest' form of a term and more elaborate sentence structure to get to a point that could have more easily been stated in a super simple way.

It's an odd contradiction to his overall desire and adherence to efficiency, but the core idea behind it is that it more accurately captures the point or concept that he has in mind vs using a more simple manner of speech. He also (notably) doesn't use abbreviations or contractions (and just says the full thing instead), but that's because he just doesn't like such things. It just sounds jarring to him and it drives him nuts. “LEFT BRAIN” OR “RIGHT BRAIN” THINKER: Left brain ARTISTIC? a little bit! he used to like drawing as a 4 year old, but has since significantly decreased the amount that he does. At this point in time, he does draw (in a very simple and well, childish way) but only when making more detailed observations in his observation journal. MATHEMATICAL? he's great at math and actually loves it! Working with numbers and equations (especially when they relate to the universe at large) is one of his favourite things to do. MAKES DECISIONS BASED MOSTLY ON EMOTIONS, OR ON LOGIC? he makes a vast majority of his decisions based on logic, sometimes to a fault where more emotional nuance is required. MOST SENSITIVE ABOUT/VULNERABLE TO: anyone that speaks poorly of Maria or disrespects something that was deeply personal to him from her, namely the lullaby; dealing with all those 'ugly' emotions like sadness; ideas surrounding the concept of being 'defective' and being treated as such accordingly; the whole Giygas experience; the idea that fundamentally, everything terrible that happened to Maria was his fault. OPTIMIST OR PESSIMIST? he might seem pessimistic or harsh, but his overall approach to things is more slanted towards optimism. He has to be optimistic for continuing on as he is even though he has the doubts and fears that he does. EXTROVERT OR INTROVERT? Introverted.

DETAILS/QUIRKS.

NIGHT OWL OR EARLY BIRD?: neither, this guy doesn't sleep at all to begin with. He thinks that it's a waste of time that could be spent being productive lol. LIGHT OR HEAVY SLEEPER?: N/A, see the above. FAVORITE FOOD: trail mix LEAST FAVORITE FOOD: anything that's super greasy and low in actual nutritional value. He doesn't find such things very enjoyable to eat and usually spits them (alongside any other food he happens to dislike) out immediately after registering the actual taste and texture. Similar rules apply for drinks. COFFEE OR TEA?: black coffee --no sweeteners or any other additives in it. CRUNCHY OR SMOOTH PEANUT BUTTER?: crunchy! He likes the texture of it more this way since it reminds him of the raw, dry nuts that he enjoys munching on. LEFTY OR RIGHTY?: ambidextrous FAVORITE COLOR?: pink CUSSER?: nope! he doesn't really use emotional language in general (even when talking about actual emotions --it sounds depersonalized from himself and stilted because to do so any differently = more vulnerability which he is not a fan of) and since he classifies cussing as such (not to mention that he thinks of it as 'crude' and 'messy' manner of speaking anyways), that's more than enough reason for him not to cuss. Unless he does it ironically or is paraphrasing someone else. SMOKER? DRINKER? DRUG USER?: N/A, not that it'd work on him anyways lol. PETS?: None unless growing various plants in a spaceship counts?

TAGGED BY: @beinfriends

TAGGING: anyone that has an interest in completing this! You can just say that I tagged you (I'd highly recommend it so that it's easier for me to find your post and read about your muse(s) --I just about adore super detailed stuff like this!)

[blendcolours866]

LIFE CAN'T DO WITHOUT NATURE AND PLASTICS - FMCG GOODS

FMCG goods, more commonly known as Fast Moving Consumer Goods include products that are of low cost and sell quickly. They are also called consumer packaged goods – these products usually have a short shelf life and are used by everyone daily. Milk, dairy, meat, baked food, vegetables, and beverages are priced low and sold in large quantities. These products have a high sales volume with a low-profit margin. One of the biggest challenges of these products is the packaging while maintaining its freshness for an extended period.

Since the invention of plastic/polymer in 1907, it has seen applications in multiple industries over the decades. The unique property of plastic makes it particularly conducive for packaging food items and keeping them fresh for longer periods. Whether it’s a cereal box, milk packet, vegetable, fruits, or meat; chances are you will find them neatly packed in plastic-based packaging every time. In the modern era, much of our technology and everything else we do in our daily lives involves plastic products in some form or the other. Food packaging in particular is fully dependent on the technology that manufactures plastic for this specific purpose.

One particular challenge this has raised for most of us is the management of plastic waste. Plastic waste has become a global threat to the environment and inefficient waste management systems have amplified it. This is particularly worse in developing and underdeveloped countries. Plastic can take anything between decades to a few hundred years to fully decompose which is way too long – and the rate at which plastic waste is piled, it does not paint a very pretty picture. On the other hand, the modern world will pretty much come to a standstill without the usage of plastic and other allied products. This also includes FMCG products which require plastic to keep the food safe and fresh until it's consumed – a bit of a Catch-22 situation here!

Countries across the globe have recognised this challenge and have taken conscious steps to minimise the use of plastic wherever possible while finding more effective means to get rid of plastic waste. The solutions range from methods to decompose plastic waste, find alternative substances to plastic, devise new products that limit plastic usage, and also collaborate among countries to tackle plastic waste. One of the most effective and long-lasting solutions to counter this problem came with the invention of biodegradable additive masterbatch in the 60s. A masterbatch is a granular-shaped additive that contains various chemical components or colour pigments to impart specific properties to the plastic during the manufacturing process. These properties can range from improving its physical structure to providing specific texture or colour, and other chemical properties that determine its overall applicability based on the manufacturer's requirement. These masterbatches can also be formulated to degrade gradually once it is discarded or left in the open within a few years. What makes it truly unique is that the biodegradable additive masterbatch will not affect the plastics' performance and productivity while it is being used. Countries across the globe have undertaken the initiative to make this mandatory and various quality regulations have also been enacted to keep this effective. The solution to the challenge of plastic waste is not merely by stopping the use of plastic – it lies in how well we can manage waste and find alternatives to plastic wherever possible. Last but not the least, a robust system that encourages companies to engage in the production and distribution of biodegradable additive masterbatches to help them deliver quality products with a solid incentive for their efforts. 

[messier-47]

How the Space-Time Jutsu could have worked

In this essay I will-

SHARE how YOUR FAVORITE Naruto character could possible be able to go FORWARD or BACKWARD in time using BASTARDIZED SCIENCE! :D

Look, look, i have a casual make-up-break-up relationship with physics so while I may know the bitch I can't give you the deets, ya feel me? So either take everything I say with a grain of salt or say "fuck it" and run with it at full speed.

Okay, the Time Space jutsu I'm pretty sure canonically is a backwards summoning jutsu which means that the summonee can summon themselves and doesn't need to be summoned by a secondary party. pretty nifty.

Not cool enough for me. I need the Space Time jutsu to break the laws of physics.

Sadly, this theory DOES NOT BREAK THE LAWS OF PHYSICS but uses the Laws to support it's claim. (this theory would realistically vaporize the human body but we're talking about Naruto here and we all know that Death is just a concept to polite step around)

Okay so: Time Travel

Time is a linear force that can either speed up or slow down but it can never go backwards. However to prove something exists is to slow down time to catch the subject moving from point A to point B what the fuck does that mean? It means that if you cannot see that something is moving from Point A to Point B, then does it really exist? Yes, you just have to speed up time or slow it down. That means that TIME is the quantity that proves that everything existed within a space.

However the human eye can only see things at X amount of speed. For now I'll say 60fps cause that's what most video games are going for. The human eye can see things easily at 60fps and HD is probably 300 fps. But we are still limited by time. Things going FASTER that 300fps CANNOT be seen moving from point A to point B

The Sharingan is a dojutsu that let's the human eye see at 600fps

Which means to the Uchiha time slows down cause they're intaking much more information than the average human being.

Now we talked a bit about how Space and Time hold each other's hands in order for an object to be proven to exist

how the fuck does it turn into time travel?

Time travel would mean that you as an object/subject move faster than the human eye, moving faster than the sharingan to get from Point A to Point B

that's it. that's all it is. in it's most simplest terms, it doesn't mean that you go at light speed or break dimensions you're just simply moving faster than the human eye could register that you moved at all

Here's how you break time

Now in physics there's this big fancy rule called "Conservation of Mass" which states: nothing is made new. you break H2O down to it's atoms you now have gas but it's not brand new atoms; it's 2 atoms of Hydrogen and 1 atom of Oxygen. everything within the solar system is used, reused, and recycled over and over again because it's atomic componets never cease to exist.

which means that In The Beginning, all matter existed, it just hasn't transmuted into something more

but how do you transmute?

Energy

the Big fucking Bang set the universe of fire and we're the grimy little worms that frolic in the ashes

Okay, but that would mean that there are two definable objects in the world: atoms and energy. and Energy, as the Law of Conservation of Mass says, CANNOT BE MADE. it comes from somewhere else. "An object at rest stays at rest unless an outside force acts upon it" energy is TRANSFERABLE it is FELT and can be CALCULATED but energy isn't an atom. it's not on our periodic table. So what the fuck is it?

Energy is a wave

You know Radiowaves? Microwaves? the spectrum of light? the waves of radiation currently giving people skin cancer? that's all just energy being felt, being seen, being measured and IT's ALL RIGHT THERE! However the Law of Conservation still exists: nothing new can be created

then that means that all the energy of the universe existed well before the Big Bang

How does this translate into timetravel?

Space-Time jutsu is just "How to get from point A to Point B so fast that the human eye can't prove that I traveled?" but Time travel is slightly different and it's how everyone in Naruto is able to go back in time in all those fanfictions

It's simple: In a fantasy world where souls can be reincarnated and bodies can withstand tremendous amounts of power (looking at you jinchuuriki) it's possible for a human body to become energy

Cool right? Now here's what's cooler: Energy existed always. The same energy it took for a butterfly to flap it's wings could be the same bit of energy that whips up a tornado. The same energy for 23 men to stab Julius Caesar could be the same energy that makes a tree grow.

But how do you prove energy? Do you have to slow down or speed up time? especially if it's a "Wave" like I said?

here's the thing: Energy exists OUTSIDE OF FUCKING TIME SO IF YOU'RE A BODY OF PURE ENERGY YOU COULD SKIP THROUGH TIME cause if all energy existed always and all energy exists outside the dimensions of time that means TIME IS YOUR BITCH

Space-Time Jutsu? it's the simplest for of how to get from Point A to Point B

but the potential at your very fingertips is being able to jump around time because you exist as a conscious wave length of energy

Okay done ranting I'm going to bed just wanted to share cause its too freakin cool not to hold it all in hope y'all understood

[flecks-of-stardust]

i’ve been looking at so much information about eyes today wow wow

i’ll keep it short because it’s 2:20 am here and i’m tired, but i need to put it somewhere before i forget, and also to share the idea.

i’m sure the idea that wyrms are snake analogous isn’t exactly a new concept. seems pretty fitting anyhow. snakes are, as far as my research has told me, typically dichromatic. they cannot see red. they are able to sense infrared radiation through nonvisual means, but they cannot see red.

neither can spiders. some spider species can see red in limited quantities, but i doubt any of the species that can are ones i want to use in my worldbuilding. so spiders can’t see red, snakes can’t see red, hornet can’t see red. and neither can the vessels. most of the bugs can’t actually, because typically insects can’t see red either. and a good many crustaceans can’t as well, so quirrel also can’t see red.

so in this world devoid of all things red, but often with glimpses into the ultraviolet, color conventions are probably pretty different. but the thing i want to focus on is that when you only see blue and green, blue looks much, much prettier than everything else in the color spectrum. it’s much brighter and sharper and bolder, and it really catches your attention.

so hornet should have a blue cloak. i rest my case.

[rheawritessometimes]

Lines Get Blurred

{ Childe x GN!Reader }

{ Summary } Sometimes we don't understand our feelings, and that's okay. Series Masterlist

{ Warnings } Swearing, Undefined Relationship, Physical Intimacy, Mild Anxiety.

{ Notes } Written for @sailormakoto. Usually, I'd wait longer to start another part to make sure people were interested, but they said they'd like it, so... Now you have to like it even though it's a dumpster fire rolling downhill fast. Reader isn't good with their emotions and it very obviously shows. It's really just messy and bad but I don't know what else to do or how to make a cohesive, logical plot. Masterlist

{ Word Count } 1,783

Childe’s guard nearly jumped out of his skin, letting out a yelp of fright as you swept out of the apartment in a hurry. But in your rush, you hardly noticed him at all, the entirety of your focus was currently on your goal of escaping the embarrassment that was on the verge of consuming you whole. With your body moving on autopilot through the busy streets of Liyue, you retreated into your mind to wrangle your thoughts and gain some sense of control.

Why was it exactly that you felt such an overwhelming urge to run away? It wasn't that you didn’t like or want the kiss, it had been rather enjoyable for you. It had happened so easily between you, and that was the part that you found weird. You couldn’t understand why it felt so easy with him, things weren’t normally like this. It was certainly safe to say you had never wanted to kiss your other friends, and that’s what you and Childe were. Friends.

It’s not like you were in love with him, you were pretty sure you felt the same about him as you always had. Sure, it had been a few months and you’d gotten to know him better and found spending time with him more enjoyable, but ultimately he was still the same person he was when you first met. You got along with him, you laughed together and now sometimes you casually made out with each other. That was fine, friends could do that, right?

Perhaps you were blowing things out of proportion. A few kisses didn't change anything, really. It's not like Childe had confessed to having feelings for you or anything drastic. You two were just friends and everything was fine, things would eventually sort themselves out.

You hadn't even realized you had been mildly hyperventilating by the time you regulated your breathing back to normal and managed to get out of your head. With your focus now on your surroundings, you found yourself in Liyue's bustling market among the fresh produce. You decided it would be best to pick up some groceries while you were here, as you said you would. Picking out what looked best and haggling with the merchants over prices seemed like a good way to pretend your problems didn’t exist clear your head.

As it turns out, grocery shopping became infinitely more difficult when you didn’t know what was needed. It was clear Childe liked to cook but you didn’t know what it was he liked to prepare. Going back to get a list from him now would be incredibly awkward, so you decided to play it safe and buy a large quantity wide variety of ingredients. You decided you had enough when the bags in your arms felt like they were getting too heavy to carry. Fitting this much food into Childe’s kitchen was going to be quite the struggle. Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of your actions.

Dragging all your purchases back to the apartment was going to be quite the workout. You wondered if next time it would be possible to get one of the low-ranking Fatui to help you carry things. A few pedestrians gave you some odd looks as they saw your mountain of purchases, but no one offered you any help. Things only got worse once you remembered you had said you were going to buy some things from Bubu Pharmacy, too. You were going to be strong as fuck after going up all those goddamn steps.

The man at the counter wore a worried expression as he noticed the amount of bags you were dragging along with you. You brushed off his concern with something about how you were an adventurer and stronger than the average person, trying not to let it show that you were indeed struggling to carry everything. Even with superhuman strength, you had your limits. Unfortunately, the man accepted your words and busied himself with finding the ice packs you requested, along with an herbal tea you asked for because it had a divine aroma you noticed upon walking in. It's not like he was likely able to help you with the groceries, so you supposed it didn't matter.

By the time you returned to Childe’s apartment, your arms were ready to fall off and the scowl on your face must have been quite intimidating because the guard stationed at the door immediately did as he was told when you ordered him to open the door for you. He didn't say a word, not even giving you a nasty look for the first time. Despite the non-hostile treatment by the guard, you promptly kicked the door closed on him after entering the apartment, heading straight to the kitchen and letting out a sigh of relief after dropping all of the bags in the middle of the floor.

You hadn’t seen Childe on your way in and you couldn’t hear him moving around the apartment but you assumed he was home, the guard probably wouldn’t have been quite so willing to let you in otherwise. Even if you wore a scary expression. Not to mention, surely the Harbinger wouldn’t appoint a guard foolish enough to allow you in unsupervised, there were likely sensitive documents somewhere inside. You assumed it had been Fatui reports he was reading earlier.

Finding room for all the groceries you had purchased took your mind away from wondering about the location of your temporary host. Putting everything away proved to be a time-consuming task, but by the end of it Childe had yet to make an appearance, or even any noise indicating he was in the apartment. This was worrying, if he had left and gotten himself hurt you’d have to go out in search of him. After purchasing, carrying, and putting away all the food you had bought you weren’t sure you were up for tracking him down.

Taking one of the newly purchased ice packs to use as an excuse, you wrapped it in a towel before making your way to his bedroom. It seemed like the most likely place to find him if he was indeed still in the apartment. It was hard to imagine he'd have spent so much time silent in the bathroom. You felt strangely on edge as you stopped in front of the door, knocking softly three times.

No reply came but you weren't convinced he was truly not home, so you slowly pushed the door open, holding your breath. It didn’t make sense for you to feel so nervous about this, it wasn’t the end of the world if he wasn’t home. Maybe you were more worried about seeing him than not.

The sight of Childe sprawled out in the middle of his bed peacefully napping greeted you as you quietly entered. His blanket appeared to have been thrown off him in his sleep and his shirt rode up just a little bit. His room was tidy, but you were too busy appreciating the revealed section of his abdomen to take a proper look around. You were only granted a few moments to stare before he opened one eye, peering at you for just long enough to register that it was you in his room.

It was unsurprising that the Harbinger was a light sleeper enough sleeper to be woken by you entering his room, considering his line of work. Vastly more surprising was when, after determining it was you who had woken him, he closed his eye again and went back to dozing. You couldn’t help but smile fondly at this, a pleasant warmth filling you at the show of trust. Or maybe he was too tired to care.

Of course he trusted you, you were friends after all. The thought had your smile fading, but you weren’t sure why that displeased you. Pushing the thought from your head, you silently made your way to the bedside and placed the icepack at his side.

The sudden cold had ocean eyes fluttering open before focusing on you. You smiled playfully at his slightly disgruntled expression. That was much easier on your emotions than his prior vulnerability.

“Sorry, but it needs to be done.”

“Mm, whatever. Hey, did I make you uncomfortable earlier?” the Harbinger asked, causing your heart to pause. He certainly was good at getting straight to the point. You had to take a deep breath before answering him.

“No, not at all. I’m sorry, I don’t even know why I ran away like that,” you told him, the words rushing out of your mouth. Your heart was racing faster than you thought it should have been in this situation. It’s not like any of this was that big of a deal, certainly not the end of the world.

“Well if you’re not uncomfortable then how ‘bout you nap with me?” the Snezhnayan offered, and you were pretty sure it was almost entirely because he wanted to get back to sleep himself, “You look exhausted, you probably need it.”

High flags of color appeared on your cheeks at his words, you must not be looking your best for him to offer such a thing. It couldn't be that he was actually worried for you, but you couldn't reason out why he would offer such a thing. However, the prospect of rest was tempting, but you couldn’t help but think it would be easier on your heart if you just went to your room for it. Then again, if you rejected him it might seem like you had been lying about being comfortable with him.

“Stop thinking so loudly and just come here,” Childe said finally, opening his arms to you. You clenched your jaw, feeling even more embarrassed, but began climbing into bed with him.

“Fine,” you mumbled, letting him pull you close before covering the both of you with a blanket. He gently tucked your head against his chest before pressing a kiss to the crown of your head, luckily for you, it wasn’t possible for you to get any redder at this point. Not that he would see considering he had closed his eyes and was already nodding off again, but maybe he was able to feel the heat radiating off your cheeks.

“You worry too much. Relax and go to sleep.”

Despite your internal anxieties, you found yourself complying with his suggestion thanks to the fatigue already weighing you down and how comfortable it felt to be in his arms. All of it felt a little too intimate for being just friends, but you didn’t get much time to worry about it as you drifted off into unconsciousness.

[nim-lock]

Art Career Tips, 2021 Edition

Here’s an edited version of my 2019 answered ask, because... this feels relevant. 

It is a problem of capitalism that folks equate their income as a judgement of their value as people; and let me preface. You are worth so much. You have inherent value in this world. Your income is not a judgement on who you are (plenty of billionaires are actively making the world worse). LARPing self-confidence will go a long way to helping you get paid more for your work, because clients will believe that you know what you are doing, and are a professional. 

& real quick—my own background is that I’ve been living off my art since 2018. I went to art school (Pratt Institute). I work in a publishing/educational materials sphere, and a quarter of my income is my shop. Not all of this information may apply to you, so it is up to you to look through everything with a critical eye, and spot pick what is relevant. 

So there are multiple ways of getting income as an artist; 

Working freelance or full-time on projects

Selling your stuff on a shop

Licensing (charging other companies to use your designs)

This post primarily covers the freelance part; if you’re interested in the other bits there is absolutely info out there on the internet. 

IF you are just starting (skip to next section if not applicable) dream big, draw often (practice helps you get better/more efficient), do your best to take "a bad piece” lightly. You’re gonna RNG this shit. At some point your rate of “good” works will get higher. Watch tutorial videos & read books. A base understanding of “the rules”; anatomy, perspective, composition, color helps you know what the rules are to break them. This adds sophistication to your work. One way you can learn this stuff is by doing “studies”—you’re picking apart things from life, or things other people have done, to see what works, and how it works. 

Trying to turn your interests into a viable career means that you are now a SMALL BUSINESS; it really helps to learn some basic marketing, graphic design, figure out how to write polite customer service emails; etc. You can learn some of this by looking it up, or taking skillshare (not sponsored) classes by qualified folks. Eventually some people may get agents to take care of this for them—however, I do recommend y’all get a basic understanding of what it takes to do it on your own, just so you can know if your agent is doing a good job. 

Making sure your portfolio fits the work you want to get

Here is a beginner portfolio post. 

Research the field you’d like to get into. The amount people work, the time commitment, the process of making the thing, the companies & people who work for them. 

Create work that could fit in to the industry you’re breaking into. For example, if you want to do book cover illustration, you draw a bunch of mockup book covers, that can either be stuff you make up, or redesigns of existing books. If you’re not 100% sure what sort of work is needed for the industry, loop back into the portfolios of artists in a similar line of work as whatever you’re interested in, and analyze the things they have in common. If something looks to be a common project (like a sequence of action images for storyboard artists), then it’s probably something useful for the job. 

CLIENTS HIRE BASED ON HOW WELL THEY THINK YOUR WORK FITS WHAT THEY WANT. If they’re hiring for picture books, they’re gonna want to see picture book art in your portfolio, otherwise they may not want to risk hiring you. Doesn’t have to be 100% the project, but stuff similar enough. If you aren’t hired, it doesn’t mean your work is bad, it just wasn’t the right fit for that specific client. 

If you have many interests, make a different section of your portfolio for each!

Making sure you’re relevant 

Have a social media that’s a little more public-facing, and follow people in the career field you’re interested in. Fellow artists, art directors, editors, social media managers; whoever. Post on your own schedule. 

Interact with their posts every so often, in a non-creepy way. 

If you’ve made any contacts, great! Email these artists, art directors, editors, former professors, etc occasional updates on your work to stay in touch AND make sure that they think about you every so often.

Show up to general art events every once in a while! If you keep showing up to ones in your area (when... not dying from a sneeze is a thing), folks will eventually start to remember you. 

Industry events & conferences can be pricey, so attend/save up for what makes sense for you. Industry meetups are important for networking in person! In addition to meeting people with hiring power, you also connect with your peers in the community. Always bring a portfolio & hand out business cards like candy. 

Active job hunting

Apply to job postings online.

If interested in working with specific people at specific companies, you could send an email “I’d love to work with you, here’s my portfolio/relevant experience”, even if they aren’t actively looking for new hires. Be concise, and include a link to your work AND attached images so the person reading the email can get a quick preview before clicking for more. 

Twitter job postings can be pretty underpaid! Get a copy of the Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines to know your rate. I once had a twitter post job listing email me back saying that other illustrators were charging less, and I quote, “primarily because they’re less experienced and looking for their first commission”. This was not okay! For reference, this was a 64-illustration book. The industry rate of a children’s book (~36 pages) is $10k+, and this company’s budget was apparently $1k. For all of it. 

Congrats you got a job! Now what?

Ask for like, 10% more than they initially offer and see if they say yes. If they do, great! If not, and the price is still OK, great! Often company budgets are slightly higher than they first tell you, and if you get this extra secret money, all the better for you. 

Make sure you sign a contract and the terms aren’t terrible (re: GO GET THE  Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines) 

Be pleasant and easy to work with (Think ‘do no harm but take no shit’)

Communicate with them as much as needed! If something’s going to be late, tell them as soon as you know so they aren’t left wondering or worse, reaching out to ask what’s up. 

And if all goes well, they’ll contact you about more jobs down the line, or refer you to other folks who may need an artist, etc. 

Quick note about online shops/licensing and why they’re so good

It’s work that you do once, that you continuously make money off of. Different products do well in different situations (conventions vs. online, and then further, based on how you market/the specific groups you are marketing to), so products that may not do well initially may get a surge later on. 

Start with things that have low minimum order quantity and are relatively cheap to produce, like prints and stickers. 

If you are not breaking even, go back to some of the earlier portions of this and think about how you could tweak things as a small business. Ease of access is also very important with this; for example, if you only take orders through direct messages, that immediately shuts off all customers who don’t like talking to strangers. 

Quick resource that you could look through; it’s the spreadsheet of project organizing that I made a while back 

Licensing is when people pay you for the right to use your work on stuff they need to make, like textbooks or greeting cards. This is generally work you’ve already made that they are paying the right to use for a specified time or limited run of products. This is great because you’ve already done the work. I am not the expert on this. Go find someone else’s info.

“I am not physically capable of working much”/ “I need to pay the bills”

Guess who got a hand injury Sept 2020 that messed me up that entire month! I had a couple jobs going at the time that I was terrified of losing, but they were quite understanding when I told them I needed to heal. So:  Express your needs as early as you know you need them. Also do lots of stretches and rest your hands whenever you feel anything off; this will save your health later. Like, the potential of a couple months of no income was preferable over losing use of my hands for the rest of my life.

This continues to apply if you have any other life situation. Ask for extra time. Ask for clarification. If you tell people ahead of time, folks are often quite understanding. Know how much you are capable of working and do your best not to overdo it. (I am.. bad at this)

Do what MAKES SENSE for your situation. If doing art currently earns you less money than organizing spreadsheets, then do that for now, and whenever you have the energy, break down some of the tips above into actionable tiny chunks, and slowly work at em. 

The original ask I got in 2019 mentioned ‘knowing you’re not good enough yet’. Most artists experience imposter syndrome & self-doubt—the important thing is to do your best, and if anything, attempt to channel the confidence of a mediocre white man. If he can apply to this job/charge hella money for Not Much, then so can you! 

Check out this Art Director tumblr for more advice!

Danichuatico’s Literary Agent guide

Kikidoodle’s Shop Shipping Tutorial

Best of luck!

–

Once again disclaimer this post is just the ramblings of a man procrastinating on other things that need to be done. I’ve Long Posted my own post so that it turns into mush in my brain if I try to read it, but I wrote this so I should know this content. If you got down here, congrats. Here’s a shrimp drawing.

Yee Ha. 

My reference post tag My tip jar