#heres the short version of a bunch of important stuff!!

[swisccfinds]

50 ONE LEVEL CAREERS: Storytelling careers megapack by isy's the snake

Here is yet another career mod pack, but this one has no promotions, you just work and your job level stays at 1. As the title say this mod is best for story telling!

creator's notes-

This mod requires XML Injector by Scumbumbo. You can find it here. Pay attention if you don't already have it for another mod! In that case, you do not need to re-install it. Be sure it is updated for the last patch.

XML Injector is a mod required for some mods to work. So, you install it as any other mod in your Mods folder, no more than one subfolder deep.

This mod has been updated for the version 1.99.305 of the game (second update after Horse Ranch).

It doesn't required any DLC to work. Base game compatible

I've adopted this mod from the amazing ItsKatato who, due to her hiring at EA, couldn't continue to mod. I have made some changes: • I have changes all the pics of the careers — now they all show Sims (please check the credits paragraph at the end to see who was the amazing raccoon who helped me); • I have updated the mod for the Horse Ranch patch; • I have cleared ALL the tuning errors; • Fixed the description of some careers who appeared to be missing.

Now, here we go with the explanation of the mod (originally written by ItsKatato, edited by me):

Katato said: "Have you ever had a story planned out for your sims but you can't find the perfect career for them? Most of the time when I find the career it ends up being a complicated career with a bunch of promotion tasks and extra stuff. Well, I've made a pack of a bunch of single-level careers. All your sim has to do is go to work, that's it. This is perfect for the non-important sims in your life, like the forgotten children of your legacy challenge." In short: those are 50 careers you can use for NPCs Sims or random Sims you do not want to care about. As Amethyst said: "Go to work, make money, leave me alone". Your Sims won't need any task to perform to upgrade and get a promotion, as well as they do not really need an ideal mood to go to work since it won't change their performance. They just go and do their job. And now the list of all careers:

1. Anesthetiologist 2. Cartographer 3. Chiropractor 4. Compliance Officer 5. Data Scientist 6. Dental Hygienist 7. Dentist 8. Diagnostic Medical Sonographer 9. Financial Advisor 10. Financial Manager 11. Genereal Surgeon 12. Genetic Counselor 13. Home Health Aide 14. Information Security Analyst 15. IT Manager 16. Interpreter And Translator 17. Lawyer 18. Marriage And Family Therapist 19. Massage Therapist 20. Mathematician 21. Mechanical Engineer 22. Medical And Health Services Manager 23. Nurse Anesthetist 24. Nurse Practitioner 25. Obstetrician And Gynecologist 26. Occupational Therapist 27. Operations Reasearch Analyst 28. Optometrist 29. Oral And Maxillofacial Surgeon 30. Orthodontist 31. Orthotist And Prosthetist 32. Paralegal 33. Pediatrician 34. Personal Care Aide 35. Phlebotomist 36. Physical Therapist 37. Physical Therapist Assistant 38. Physician 39. Physician Assistant 40. Pilot 41. Podiatrist 42. Prosthodontist 43. Psychiatrist 44. Registered Nurse 45. Respiratory Therapist 46. Software Developer 47. Speech-Language Pathologist 48. Statician 49. Substance Abuse And Behavioral Disorder Counselor 50. Veterinarian 51. Web Developer 52. Wind Turbine Technician 

lets give some of our love and support to isy!

download

[sysmedsaresexist]

If it’s alright to ask - an argument I often see made by people in syscourse spaces is that “even the DSM doesn’t say DID is caused by childhood trauma” and that the literature around DID doesn’t say it’s caused by childhood trauma. I always want to refute this because I KNOW DID is exclusively caused by childhood trauma, but I feel like I don’t know how.

I’m also not anti-endo at all, I fully believe non-disordered multiplicity exists, I’m just tired of hearing that argument and knowing it’s wrong but not knowing how to refute it.

I also see arguments like “the DID community owes the non-disordered plurals because so much of the early community was MADE BY US!” which really rubs me the wrong way. I feel like there are a billion reasons why disordered multiplicity would have been mistaken as “not caused by trauma” even by trauma survivors themselves back before we had as much info on it as we do now. It feels like such a strange, disingenuous interpretation of the data. I dunno! I’m hoping you could share some of your thoughts on this if you have the spoons.

I get it

The fact is, the DSM DOES say that DID is caused by trauma. There's several pages to the entry that are often ignored that contain a lot more information about the trauma basis of the disorder.

Hell, look at criteria B

DSM 5, not TR, I don't have the TR in front of me, but it's the same

That "and/or" doesn't mean trauma is optional, it means you may or may not remember it

The entry goes on to discuss things that could trigger onset of noticeable symptoms, including a bunch of stuff about having childhood trauma retriggered in adulthood that pretty much make it impossible to deny

The number of research papers and researchers who call DID a childhood trauma disorder is insane, including Spiegel, who played a huge role in writing the DSM's dissociative disorders section

In 2011, he wrote

And now we have brain scans supporting this, the DSM 5 TR has been updated to mention these scans in the DID section

I would suggest reading this post, which contains supporting links that cover the above and that go into GREAT detail about adjacent topics

Even the ICD incorporated the ToSD and its trauma basis into their DID section

As for community history, CDD spaces existed a lot longer than people think!! Our history goes back longer than anyone thinks.

Here's a short deep dive

It's so important that we continue to talk about this history and how and when things happened.

It matters

CDD systems built our own communities first. While plurality has overlapped with some of it, and things like simply plural came from the plural community, it's not like we just didn't have community. It was smaller and quieter, limited by technology of the day, but it's there, and we even had our own version of PK which was literally killed in cold blood by endogenic systems

It's frustrating, keep talking about our history, it's there

[kirider]

Your art for it is so cute, what's Kamen Rider SD? I want to get into it :D

yesss.... fall into my trap... mwhahaha >:3c (also thank you ^v^)

SD in general means Super Deformed, it's a chibi style that's not unique to Kamen Rider (Gundam also has a bunch of SD stuff, mentioning it here bc i love those models :3)

But since you're asking in relation with my art, here's the ones I made art for:

SD The Great Battle

A series of videogames that's a crossover between Kamen Rider, Gundam and Ultraman characters, all in the SD style. An original character called Fighter Roar joins the team from the second game on. They're very fun and wacky game that don't really have a coherent plot but we love them for that :3 In IV they get a giant robot (Compatible Kaiser my beloved) and in V they're cowboys. I love the cowboy outfits so much. Games one to five have english fan translations, now I need someone to translate Gaia Saver because apparently that one has the Rider Killer lore....

Kamen Rider SD: Strange!? Man Spider (or simply Kamen Rider SD OVA)

If you've been around the fandom you probably already know this one. It's a 30 minutes short where RX and the other Battle Riders (Ichigo and ZX) have to rescue RX's crush from shocker, with the help of the Mechanic Riders (V3, X and Super1). Wild Team (Stronger, Amazon and Nigo) appears for like. 3 minutes total at the end but they're my darlings and I love them. Other very important thing in this short is the Rider Carrier, a giant robot grasshopper that acts as their base and I think every version of the riders shoul have a giant grasshopper base not just the SDs u.u This short is apparently an adaptation from the Mighty Riders manga, but I haven't investigated it yet so I can't confirm that. It's also connected to a couple more SD videogames, Sortie!! Rider Machines and Run! Mighty Riders (the team names come from here as far as I can tell)

Kamen Rider SD: Hurricane Legend / Kamen Rider SD: Legend of the Stormy Age

(listen. I know the direct translation is the first one. But the second one is on the back cover so if they gave it an official english title I'm using that :P)

This is probably the one you're asking for, but I wanted to use the excuse to talk about the other two :P

I'll be honest, going in blind on this one is probably the best experience. Do not look up panels you will get spoiled. The basic plot is V3 and Riderman travel around to recruit the other Riders to defeat Shocker. I want to talk about it more but again, I had so much fun going "WHAT!?!" while reading it that I must resist- Might post more about them but will tag it as spoilers

Other SD stuff that I care less about, for completionist sake:

• there's a third SD manga (Kamen Rider SD: Roaring Laughs School) that I know nothing of (I think it's a 4koma gag manga? I'll be honest I'm not very interested in it so I haven't done much research);

• the most recent SD game is SD Shin Kamen Rider Rumble, a game for the movie, but that one seems to be simply a side scroller so again, no interest from me;

• Lost Heroes 1 and 2 technically use chibi-ish versions of Riders, Gundams and Ultramen, and are part of the Compati Hero series (the same series as The Great Battle), but they don't have SD in the title;

•there's. sooooo many sports games in the Compati Hero series. I like the Battle Dodgeball ones :3 Also speaking of Compati Hero, special mention to Super Hero Operations because that's the next one I wanna play, I get to meet Zubat, Metalder and a bunch of others there :3

[anerdynerd]

went back to my artist roots

and only used the design function in ACNH for very important stuff🙂‍↕️/hj

I used to design a bunch of things in this game, I had almost forgotten about that until I picked it up again for the first time in a while, realized I couldn't put together that cool of an outfit and then remembered I could just design things like this :D

Long story short: I've got a science officer uniform now and my island has gained a Spock photo cardboard thingy lmao

Also here's a version where I was trying to figure out a background and it ended up looking like Spock was unhinged and in flames🥸

[tom-is-online]

2am rambling below, take it as seriously as u want

I'm just gonna say, overall the 2nd world links have been like. Kinda mid?

- The cards aren't rly much special on average, they're not bad but they're not much for analysis or very innovative, the whole sets are mostly the same colour scheme with very similar fits + bgs

- I've only liked a few characters cut ins so far (Toya, An, Honami, Shiho) as most have been kinda odd or boring

- To my limited VBS knowledge the stories have been either boring or kinda ok

- we're having to wait longer for the 6th rotations

Idk I thought the vbs one was interesting when it dropped but the trained cards/ fits are like. Not rly interesting. They're not the vibe for a bunch of street kids rly

The others are also firmly OK, Leoni is winning imo. Wxs is in dead last (IN MY OPINION)

Idk if this is what they're doing cuz it's harder to do mixed events now VBS are in the USA but like. Overall they've been more like fodder but not in a way I'm inclined to care about like color/bloom fes cards as the alt reality versions of the characters aren't probably ever gonna be too important and they're not overly relevant as most issues they're facing in the WL aren't new issues

Like in An's bloomfes it addresses her issues with Nagi and the people in the city's relationship with her and her true feelings, something she's currently dealing with and we can see how its effecting her. Bloomfes specifically also targets the past and present which is unseen to us as it impacts pregame as well. also her issues here are similarly seen in her WL1 story but done different with a different msg but that's another topic

In the WL2 An is barely even given time to do much, her story is so short and doesn't really address much. Unlike color/bloom/WL1 we know this is likely a 1 time thing so I'm not given the ability to gaf as her pining for Kohane forever isn't an issue in the actual story

I liked Toya and Kohanes stories as I feel we know more about them now cuz of it, but Akito and An's specifically didn't do too much besides stoke shipping angst (which isn't bad ig but I wish there was more i could take away)

I've heard some other WL2 stories are worse, I've only read vbs so I cannot speak for the others. If they're good lmk?

Also back to back NIIGO and LEONI WL2 has been so long, which might be my actual issue I just wanna be outa this hell

Idk if anyone has any opinions feel free to lmk but like, it was fun at first but as we're getting more WL2 stuff it just feels like I'm waiting around for the 6th rotations to come back

Feel free to fight back if ur a WL2 god defender ig lmao

[divineerdrick]

Homestuck Beyond Canon Upd8 for October 8, 2024

Here we are! This might be the end of the current story arc, and we'll finally get to see if Vriska successfully makes it out of this. I was also informed a while back that today is the one year anniversary of the HICU taking over the comic.

Before I jump in, I had a theory I wanted to put out there. I was thinking more about how Vriska was always destined to go down these two paths and what that might mean. Now we know she had different fates than the two we saw. In fact, we saw a third indirectly. We saw it when an Aradiabot from a doomed timeline where Gamzee snapped early revealed a surprise final piece of Doc Scratch's code. That reveal was a book Gamzee made in the blood of the other trolls. And Vriska's blood is in there.

But only two Vriskas are ever seen in the bubbles, probably because the Vriskas that survive to their creation are always the same. Do any Vriskas lost along the way matter? We don't really know. They might still be important, but the lion share of Vriska appears to be split into two fates.

Now, thinking back to the epilogues (I know that can be hard) Dirk describes the process of becoming a fully realized or ascended God Tier.

And some of you just saw where I'm going with this.

Dirk became a full God of Heart first because of how connected he was to his splinters. Rose followed as her continued explorations of fortune connected more and more of her deviating paths through Paradox Space. And Dave . . . well he got a very Dave ascension. Honestly with how well he handled the multiple version of himself running around, an Obama pep talk was likely more than what was needed.

But there's only two Vriskas that need to come together.

If Vriska can accept herself, the team on Candy C will have a fully realized and ascended Thief of Light on their side. One that has already exerted narrative control before! That might be enough to help fix a lot. And if Vriska has anything to say about it, and you know she will, things might really start moving.

News Upd8

We get a team post this time! They're mostly just excitedly gushing about the milestone and some of the things that have happened in the past year. But they also reminding us the first big flash is coming. I honestly can't wait!

James mentions that this is not originally what was planned and that they were just going to make a bunch of connected shorts originally. I still like stuff like that, but I'm glad they were able to get this going again.

There's a lot of thank yous from the team. But I still feel like I want to thank them for continuing this in such a wonderful way. This comic and this community has been really important to me for a while now, and I'm eternally grateful there are still "semi-official" things coming from it.

James does give us a bit of an outline on the progress for EOA1. It sounds like things are still early, but they're hoping to hit one of the "funny numbers". The next one will be 11/11 or one of the kid's birthdays. But 413 sounds like a good project deadline to me.

They're continuing with two upd8s this month, so I'll need to try to make sure I catch the next one in a more timely fashion.

Upd8

We've cut away from Vriska. As the news said, no more VN for us. We return to Candy Earth C and our stressed out adults.

Kanaya has left on her own for now. Her fury has not yet been satisfied it seems, with what Rose took as an implied threat from her. Also, I just noticed the subtle space symbol in Jade's shield. Nice touch!

Still a lot of justly tense and uncomfortable conversation going on. Jade really wants to fix things. She feels like she's the one to blame and she needs to make things right. But Rose doesn't particularly seem receptive. I don't think she wants Jade's help. Also, there's a mention of Rose losing her temper over a conversation about her mom. I think it's mostly meant as a little nod to how much older they all are and that things have happened that we never got to see. But I can't help but wonder how things went down.

Yeah, this is pretty painful. Jade really wants to do the right thing, but Rose has formed her own opinion of the best course of action. And now she's trying to convince Jade it doesn't involve her.

Hamster guy? I'm pretty sure I'd remember hamster guy so this has to be something new.

Honestly, Jade is sounding a bit more mature than Rose here. It's painful, but she's right. Reality has very little to do with a person's "truth." The only sensible path to change a person's perspective is usually the empathetic one where you focus on understanding where they're coming from. Even then, all you can usually accomplish is being someone they might turn to when an external event breaks the reality in their head.

Speaking of personal truth's, Jade has been feeling that so many of her friends haven't really cared about what's going on. That might have been a little true for Dave, but I think she got a completely wrong read on John. John very much cared, he just wasn't good at doing anything about it. That's one of the reasons he suffered from depression, one of the reasons he was always trying to fix something or do something important. But between the glimpses of her in the epilogues and the credits, I get the impression she was constantly trying to reach out to him. From her perspective, John's depression might have seemed to be apathy.

But big surprise the one that grew up so isolated is having the hardest time getting a read on people.

THE ART!!!

Urgh! Oh this is bad! Rose is just suppressing everything she's dealing with. Admittedly, there's a lot going on right now. But it sounds like she's not trying to process any of the stuff that's been occurring on this crazy version of Earth C. She especially can't seem to deal with Roxy, and that's apparently been causing more problems than we've seen.

I'm not sure I agree with Rose here. I don't believe an absolute truth has to be derived from authority. But then, to the best of my knowledge, I don't live in Paradox Space. It's hard to hold to the truth of observable reality when it can be so easily changed and manipulated.

Interesting . . . Rose has turned to her powers as a form of coping mechanism. As things get hard, she begins trying to sort out all the "meandering side-paths." The rote of it, the monotony, is soothing to her the way a "cozy game" is to me. And if she's successful, she gains insight and even something to look forward to.

Oh no! Rose has seen a future where Calliope will sacrifice herself to try and save everything! And worse it doesn't work! Things are apparently more dire than we thought, and that's with Jane running around in Condesce mode!

Huh! If I'm parsing that right, Rose is going to suffer a mortal wound but one that won't trigger the God Tier clock. Instead she'll have to recover like a normal person will. Ouch! This immortality really isn't all it's cracked up to be.

And the other shoe drops! The reason why Rose agreed to something like this, the reason she's been so cold and distant. While she's recovering from the bullet wound, Kanaya will be alone. With what she's done, Kanaya will have the impetus to seek independence. She hasn't seen the end result, but she believes Kanaya will have a more fulfilling life this way. She's been driving her wife away so this Kanaya won't be left in paralyzed mourning the way Meat Kanaya seems to be. That is a horribly dangerous game, and one almost guaranteed to backfire.

But apparently Rose doesn't think any of it matters. Like Dirk, she thinks this universe is irrelevant and doomed. She knows what John needed to do, and here John didn't do it. She's hasn't quite gotten to the optimistic point of nihilism, but the apparent lack of meaning is providing her with some relief.

Do I honestly need to say anything here!

Rose has been able to play the rain for a while now. But as her powers have matured, she's gotten better at it. Though this makes it sound not so much like she's playing it, as dancing to a tune beyond her control. But then, this Rose doesn't feel the need to control anything.

Can you imagine accidentally bumping head first into a figure of myth and legend?

Karkat and Kanaya have a bond that goes well beyond anything they ever developed with their human lovers. Even if Karkat's power wasn't literally over the bond of Blood, they've survived so much together it honestly wouldn't matter. And right now, Karkat's opinion of the humans that sat on the sidelines while their Troll friends needed them isn't exactly high.

COME ON!!!

Jane is still processing her conversation and some of things that came of it. Does Jane think she could have convinced more of her friends to stand with her? Does she think she could have saved Dirk from the fate he chose?

Also in a very real way she doesn't quite look human in that image. Even though I think this might be a human moment for her, she's made her visage, consciously or not, monstrous. The Condesce's crown is a collar around her neck.

Unfortunately she's decided that rather than learn from her mistakes, she might as well just plow on and build something new and better. She is a god after all.

Love how they're teasing out the reveal of what has come of Jake's epiphany.

I'm not posting that image. Even with my heavy use of spoiler tags, I'm not risking it.

Oh come on! You didn't make it a clean shot! Goddammit Jake!

Well that's one way to cut from that. I mean HOLY SHIT!!!

Jake appears to not be out of this yet. This almost feels like a callback to Vriska sitting on the beach after a failure. Can the big man recover from it?

And we end with Rose having just left Tavy and Yiffy with a letter and some snacks.

Wow! That was intense!

It legit seems like nothing, not even a bullet, is changing Jane's mind. And I mean, I know Jane is a god, but come on! Could Jake seriously not get a good clean shot off? Wow!

Y'know, honestly I can see it. Despite his awakening, he had to play it out like one of his movies. That was just enough time for Jane to realize what was going on and quickly dodge out of the way. Then, rather than quickly ending it, he had to quibble out an apology.

Honestly, I just don't think he was truly capable of doing it, so he sabotaged himself. He's just lucky that all the pummeling he's gone through has toughened him up enough that he might get another shot. That is if he doesn't get wiped out in whatever that cake-shaped, doomsday device she has in orbit does.

Fuck that was a ride. And a really tense one at that! Guess now we're waiting for next upd8 this month!

[snivy-with-a-stylus]

The first Pokémon team for my Pale Cousins AU! Here's Little Ghost's team!

Ghost's team is a result of trying to create a team that is a mix of what their adventure in Hollow Knight was like and trying to apply that adventure into the Pokémon World (and yes, I do refer to Ghost with they/them pronouns). I have planned out how Hollow Knight's story would take place in the Pokémon world's context enough to have a pretty concrete idea on how Ghost meets their team!

Soul the Phantump (Ghost/Grass, Male):

Ghost's first Pokémon!

Received as a gift for Ghost's 5th birthday from their mother, Willow White (aka the White Lady)

Hatched from one of the eggs of the White Lady's own Trevenant (which is also Shiny)

Can be shy and bashful around new people, but has a rather curious personality and cares for Ghost like a sibling

Soul often stays out of his pokéball and will hide in Ghost's shadow

Picked for obvious reasons (dead ghost children and Shiny Phantump looks so much like Ghost), but my in-universe reasoning is that Ghost's family, the Whites, are super rich and privileged in this universe because Arthur White (the Pale King) is the CEO and owner of RKS Laboratories (which is an actual company that exists in the Pokémon world, it is one of the companies you can do a Poké Job for)

Honedge (Steal/Ghost, Male)

The first Pokémon Ghost ever caught!

Wanted to catch one because of their big sibling, Hollow!

Ghost has actually been trained in sword-fighting, and will use Honedge as a stand-in sword if needed

Obvious reference to the Nail, Ghost's weapon, but I planned out a moveset to reference the Nail Arts and Upgrades: Gyro Ball = Cyclone Slash (Spinning attacks), Sacred Sword = Great Slash (Huge, powerful slashes), Shadow Sneak = Dash Slash (A quick/long-range attack), Swords Dance = Nail Upgrades (Increasing the power of attacks)

Butterfree (Bug/Flying, Male)

Gifted from the Grubfather, who is an incredibly talented Bug Pokemon Breeder, as thanks for Ghost's help

A reference to the Grub rescuing, and I picked Butterfree because Caterpie looks the closest to the Grubs

Butterfree will act like the Mothwing Cloak and Monarch Wings by attaching himself to Ghost's back and giving them a boost or carrying them around

Noivern (Flying/Dragon, Male)

Gifted from Grimm as a Noibat

Has a strange affinity for fire, even knowing how to use Flamethrower when it was born

Can be rather naughty and mischievous but is arguably one of Ghost's stronger, if not strongest, team member on account of being a gift from Grimm, who... I'll talk about later :)

If knowing a Fire-type move and being gifted from Grimm wasn't obvious, Noivern is a reference to Grimmchild!

Floette (Fairy, Female)

Was given to by Ze'mer with a letter attached to be deliver to Ze'mer's lover, The Traitors' Child (who I will be naming Orchid because I think I remember seeing somewhere that the Mantis Lords were named after flowers, and I really like the idea)

After delivering the letter and a whole bunch of other stuff, Floette becomes a part of Ghost's team and serves a bit more of a support role on the team

Floette is a reference to the Delicate Flower quest, with my AU's version of it being rather different and pretty important to its plot and having no dead gays! In fact, its going to have slightly more gays because...

Scyther (Bug/Flying, Female)

Caught by Ghost as part of a trial given to them by the Mantis Tribe, where Ghost needed to find a Scyther willing to be part of

Also has a crush on and is gay for Floette! That's right, lesbian mantis and flower girl!

I'll explain more in later posts that focus on how the Mantis Tribe works in this AU, but the short version is that Scyther fell in love with Floette when the Fairy-type was under Ze'mer's ownership, who brought her along when visiting Orchid.

Scyther joined Ghost partly because she respected them as a warrior and also because she wants to be with her flower girlfriend

Including Scyther onto Ghost's team feels just a tiny bit more random compared to the others, since her inclusion is to reference the Mark of Pride charm, but I always liked how the Mantis Tribe in-game no longer attack once you get the Mark of Pride. It becomes a safe space because the tribe now sees you as part of their tribe or at least a warrior worthy enough to be a part of the tribe. In a way, it kind of gives the Mantis Tribe a bit of a homey aspect.

But yep! Here is Ghost's team for my Pale Cousins AU!

Please let me know what you all think!

[someinstant]

So I turned my ankle taking out my trash this evening and it's swelling up beautifully-- I did a number on that ankle back in college and it regularly betrays me because of the Dumb Things I did without seeking medical attention when I was twenty-- so I've decided to prop it up on the couch and ice the hell out of it and watch the special features on my ANDOR Blu-Ray.

Here's a short list of Cool Things I've learned:

Diego says that it was important to show Cassian being nice to B2EMO in the first bit of episode one, because you needed to see Cassian show care and kindness for someone-- because he's not a particularly awesome guy at the beginning.

The set designer for the Andor house on Ferix made macrame door curtains out of metal scrap and bolts because they wanted a 1970s feel with an industrial twist. Also, the set designer pronounces "macrame" with the accent on the second syllable, and I've never heard it that way before? British folks, is that standard on your fair isle? Because hereabouts it's MAC-rah-may, or maybe mac-rah-MAY if you're fancy. But it sure as hell isn't mah-CRAHM-eh.

Just so many gorgeous shots of Ferix, man. And all the costumes and details-- it looks SO GOOD, even when it's clearly just a set and not the finished version. The actors all clearly adored working in the physical space.

During the Aldhani arc, the Aldhani rebel cell actors worked extensively together with the director to train, rehearse, and develop chemistry-- and they deliberately didn't bring Diego Luna in until they were ready to shoot for real. So the Aldhani squad had this rapport and inside jokes and relationships, and THEN they dropped Luna in so he would feel properly like an outsider.

And they did the SAME THING on the Narkina 5 arc. All the prisoners rehearsed together well before they brought in Luna, so he wouldn't have the same understanding of the space or tools or way the actors related to each other. Love it. Really smart decision, and it paid off.

The visual reference for what the Eye would look like when you were flying through it was a close-up of a human iris, and actually-- yeah. They did that really, really well.

They made the prison on Narkina 5 the same shape as the planetary shield generator on Scarif, and I have no idea how I didn't notice that before.

Stellan Skarsgard was clearly DELIGHTED by Luthen's big speech in "Nobody's Listening." He talks about how when he read it, he was like, "Absolutely, this is the dilemma, isn't it? How far can you go in the name of change?," followed immediately by, "Now, how in the world do I SAY that?!"

The musicians in "Rix Road" are really playing on set-- they did ADR over top for sound quality but in order to give the actors the right feel, the musicians are really playing and the instruments all are fully functional. The musicians are a mix of studio musicians who are on the final recording and some talented amateurs who also work as background actors, so you get the imperfect, community-band style tuning, which is what they wanted.

And there's a bunch of other cool stuff, but my ankle is throbbing, so I'm going to go take a painkiller and go to bed I think.

[sunderingstars]

For someone who has never played honkai impact 3rd can you tell me what was that conversation between welt and archeron?! I could feel it out with the context and vibes but I wanna actually know the lore please

ʚ 💌 ɞ hi !! thank you for the ask :3 i may miss a few things due to the complexity of the lore, but this is my current understanding of it:

⟡ 2.1 spoilers ahead ⟡

(hsr = honkai star rail, hi3 = honkai impact 3rd)

°˖➴ i’ll only be talking about their first conversation here since i haven’t finished the rest of the quest yet

short answer — acheron is this dimension’s version of someone welt knows from his home dimension (hi3) and as such there’s a bunch of conflicting feelings from him in this scene. he recognizes her face but ultimately understands he does not know the motives of this version of her, so stays on his guard to protect the express.

long answer below the cut:

⟢ hsr welt is the same one from hi3 — he exists in both games, starting in hi3, then traveling across dimensions to hsr which is where he is now

⟢ acheron closely resembles raiden mei, someone welt knows from his home dimension (hi3). basically, acheron is another version of mei in this universe (there’s some debate about the specifics, but this is the simplest way to put it!). she’s in a similar vein as bronya, himeko, seele, etc. if you’ve seen the discussion about those characters linking to hi3 as well.

⟢ so, it creates this situation where welt recognizes acheron as being a version of someone he knows and cares about, while she doesn’t recognize him at all. that’s why he looks so surprised when he sees her, because he’s seeing a familiar face.

⟢ however, he’s on guard during the rest of the conversation because he understands that while she may look like the raiden mei from his dimension, this is still a different version of her. he can’t be sure what her motives are yet, or if she wants to help or harm the crew. in my mind, i see him as wanting to trust her because of his connection with the mei from his dimension, but ultimately knowing he can’t let his guard down.

⟢ another interesting tidbit is that acheron is able to point out the true nature of welt’s cane as a weapon of godlike power. while we don’t have many answers as to why or how she knows in-game, it immediately reveals to welt that she does know, which calls into question what else she knows and the possibility of that knowledge posing a danger to the express.

⟢ side note: as for the connection between welt & the mei from his home universe, my main takeaway from it is that he’s a sort of mentor figure to her. not as close of a mentor as he is to other characters, but enough to know and care about her wellbeing. i would also say that they’re friends and have mutual respect for one another. (at least that’s my interpretation of their interactions in hi3.)

⟢ overall, i feel it was a very jarring conversation for him since he was suddenly seeing someone so familiar yet so different. from acheron’s perspective, it must’ve also been weird to see his reaction since she doesn’t know him at all. she knows how powerful he is, but has no personal connection to him beyond that — meanwhile he’s just having his “!?!?” moment while she stares on in confusion.

anyways, i hope that made sense! the hi3 lore can get pretty complicated, especially when it crosses over into hsr, but i tried to put it the simplest i could — i also may have missed a few things because of how complex it can get, but i tried my best to include everything important.

i’m happy to answer any additional questions, and once again thanks for the ask — i love doing nerdy lore analysis stuff! .𖥔 ݁ 🪐˖

[widget-of-aschimos]

So for a first post, I thought i'd use the "MS Paint" thing on this computer to show off some other cool stuff I own. Pretty much all of it was found in "The Artifice", a place full of ancient stuff in the middle of the desert. When i got here -- Aschimos, i mean, I crashed down from the sky and landed next to here. I got lost inside and found a buncha cool stuff. Later on, which is now, I came back to the artifice to find more cool stuff. The whole team's come here for a multitude of reasons, really, and for that i'd still be here for them, but theres a ton of trinkets and doodads inside to discover. I haven't really talked much about myself here yet, but the short version is that I like a bunch of the old junk the ancients left behind. Most folks who research this stuff are looking for things that tell us things like what all happened to this place, what made the terrible mystery dungeons, and stuff like that. The big, important things in life. I like that stuff, too, don't get me wrong, but like, I REALLY like the little things. Stuff that gets ignored and overlooked by most. The "What did they do for fun? What did they do instead of sealing mystery dungeons? How did they travel vast distances, or collect all the stuff to make what they left behind? How did they make it all?" that sort of stuff. I'm gonna try to stop rambling now.

[ostrichmonkey-games]

FitD Settings and Unnamed Furry Crime Game and You

Alrighty, as promised, time to talk about Setting Stuff.

This is a post both about what the setting for (the still!) Unnamed Furry Crime Game is going to generally be like, and also a bit about settings in Forged in the Dark games in general. 

Okay so, let’s define Forged in the Dark games as ttrpgs that cover Blades in the Dark and any game that uses the same general engine and setup. Blades is the progenitor, and a lot of FitD stick relatively close to its formula (but not all, there’s plenty of room to poke around and rearrange things), and one of the more important elements, I think, is the “powder keg sandbox” setup.

In Blades, the players are underdog criminals doing underdog criminal things like causing problems on purpose. Those problems cascade, intersecting with the different factions/characters present in the setting, and usually then creating more and more problems for the players to deal with. That’s the powder keg sandbox — a relatively open setting, filled with kindling (factions/characters with conflicting and interesting goals and motivations), and then the players are dropped in the middle of it, and positioned in a way that no matter they do, they are going to be conflicting with at least some of those characters/factions, thereby igniting the kindling and making the whole thing explode in a blaze of fun. It’s great.  

So, in short, the purpose of a setting in a FitD game is to create that powder keg sandbox. It has to be filled with interesting characters/factions that are both compelling (to encourage players to interact with them) and conflicting with each other and players (so that when players interact with them, explosions happen!), while still providing enough purposeful space so that there’s room to be flexible as players start interacting with everything and changing the world around them. A good sandbox has plenty of room to play and dig around in, and then to make it a powder keg, just bury some sticks of dynamite in there and hand the players a bunch of lit matches. Boom.  

Now let’s talk about Unnamed Furry Crime Game (UFCG because I’m done typing all that out and I don’t want to think about coming up with an actual title right now). I don’t mind wearing my influences on my sleeves, and the biggest one here is Lackadaisy. I mean, the whole concept of the game was sparked when the animated pilot first released and I did a reread of the webcomic (pretty sure I first found it around 2009, which is wild to think about), and what’s more fun than a bunch of anthropomorphic animals doing crime things in a period setting? So, the initial spark for the game was Prohibition era Crime Time, but with furries (not just limited to cats, as a way to distance the game more from the initial inspiration and also because it’s fun). However, this was never going to be a purely historical game, it was (and still is!) going to be set in a fictional city in a fictional world — so more historically inspired than truly set. 

This was done to free myself from doing too much research (there’s still necessary research though), and also to give myself more creative freedom. From there, the premise started to turn into “What if the Prohibition hadn’t ended? What would that look like?”. And that’s still part of the core premise. So I guess, it’s a speculative alternate fictional history thing?

Freed from any truly historical restraints, I started tossing in other extras that could be fun. Like, what if airships/dirigibles were still in major use? Yeah, let's go for it. What if the city the game takes place in draws from classic Hollywood and noir? Yeah, let’s go for it (also at this time I had watched Babylon, which, not going to say was good, but the vibes are fun). What if I also pulled aesthetically from Gotham, specifically the Batman: The Animated Series version? Yes! Now we’ve got a setting of glitz and glamor and shady hard-boiled grit. Which is a great setup for Crime Time. 

Being less historically strict, also gives me more room for exaggeration and over-the-top-ness. I want UFCG to be characterful. I want there to be an emphasis on larger-than-life elements, both player characters and all the factions and NPCs. Especially in the case of the factions/NPCs, they need to be chunky and discrete blocks that are easy to instantly grab onto and pick up and play with. This loops back to filling your sandbox with cool things, and if the sandbox itself is cool, then that’s going to rub off on the stuff buried in the sand. More exaggerated components make for more flammable kindling. 

This is another reason having just a singular city-setting tends to work well for a FitD sandbox powder keg — a city is just naturally densely packed with stuff (now, the hard work will be writing all that stuff, but I’ll get to that bridge eventually). In a densely packed space, it’s also very easy to make everything connected to each other. Which means it’s going to be very difficult for players to make a move without impacting someone or something else! Again, boom. 

So then, why furries? Well like I already said, it’s fun. That in and of itself is enough reason, but also, I think it creates a useful level of abstraction that makes creating exaggerated characterful characters more easily. It’s easier to be a little more goofy without breaking things when you have a bunch of animal people running around. 

That’s the general gist and thought process behind the setting I’m assembling. There’s still most of it to actually write, but you do need a fun concept to make a fun setting, so it’ll get done as it needs to get done. 

I am still a little unsure of what I want to do for something weirder within the setting. Should magic be real? There’s plenty going on that it doesn’t feel super necessary. Or, what if magic is not real, but that doesn’t stop the existence of various occult-y factions/organizations from springing up, and maybe they think magic is real (or even leave it ambiguous). On the opposite end of the spectrum, what if I tossed in some dashes of retro-future-y superscience? Atomic Robo style maybe. Basically, I’m still exploring what the line is for pushing things too far. 

With all of that said, what is the text of the game going to provide in terms of setting? What I’m picturing is probably pretty similar to Blades, but maybe with less overall exposition and pulling the most useful setting-building stuff from various N/OSR stuff I like. You can convey a lot of setting information in relatively compact ways that also double as tools to use at the table (i.e. random tables, my best friends). The city will have various breakdowns on districts, notable locations, individuals, etc etc. Factions will have clear goals, conflicting with each other so as to create a web of Problems. Plenty of little miscellaneous details on “life in the city” to function as small nuggets of information and flavor. 

The hardest part will be striking the correct balance of information. You’ll need enough to feel comfortable playing in the setting, but not too much that it starts to feel like homework to run it. Figuring out what’s the correct amount of sand and all that. 

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Splatoon 3 Version 8.0 patch notes breakdown

A bit late with this one, as I didn't have the time to write it last night, but nevertheless, here's a quick rundown of the patch notes for version 8.0, which should release in a couple of hours as of time of writing.

First of all, the Sizzle Season 2024 content is being added, but will not be available for another 24-ish hours. That includes:

A new Catalog

The new stage Lemuria Hub

Two new main weapons, two variants of those main weapons, and six alternate sets for preexisting main weapons.

14 Tableturf cards

Two new songs by SashiMori

The renovated Hammerhead Bridge and Barnacle & Dime, which will be taken out of stage rotations when the update becomes available.

Wandercrust Journey 6.

Additionally, this patch also adds data for the new Triumvirate King Salmonid fight and a new Grizzco Weapon, as well as the new Splatfest features, both of which will not become available until a later date.

With Sizzle Season 2024 stuff out of the way, let's move onto the changes that will be available right away, starting with Stage Changes, which there are a lot of.

In addition the Hammerhead Bridge and Barnacle & Dime changes, Museum d'Alfonsino, Um'ami Ruins, Brinewater Springs, and Scorch Gorge are all getting layout changes, with Museum getting some extra changes in Splat Zones and Rainmaker specifically. Eeltail Alley, Hagglefish Market, Flounder Heights, Marlin Airport and Manta Maria are all getting "slight" changes, while Crableg Capital and Bluefin Depot are getting slight changes in Turf War and Splat Zones, and Clam Blitz, respectively.

I'll be entirely honest, until we see these changes for ourselves it's impossible to gauge just what these changes will be like, but I am willing to be optimistic given just how much improvement we've seen in the Stage design over the last year or so. I think they'll be slight improvements at worst.

With that said, let's move onto Main Weapon changes, starting with a bunch of weapons getting the exact same change.

Sploosh, Jr, Aerospray, Luna, Clash, Carbon, Splat Roller, Inkbrush, Octobrush, and Dapples will all now deal 10% more damage to Splash Walls. I'm not sure why this was listed on each weapon individually and not just all collected as a Splash Wall change, but I digress. The intent here seems to be to make short-range weapons specifically, better at dealing with Splash Wall, the users of which they'll generally be outranged by to begin with. It's a small and specific change, but it's not one I think any of these weapons will complain about.

N-ZAP will now be able to fire for longer before its hits max bullet spread. In case you didn't know, all shooters that have bullet spread have a property where that spread gradually increases the longer you hold ZR, which slowly goes back to normal if you stop firing, and now that'll take longer on N-ZAP specifically.

N-Zap didn't really need this buff, but it's also not something that moves the needle much to begin with. It's pretty rare outside of low-level turf wars that someone fires for long enough to the spread to be a major factor, so it's fine. It's just a very strange change.

Moving onto more deserved buffs, L-3 has its damage increased by 2, taking a full three-hit burst from 87 to 93 damage. This is not a significant change, but 30 is a pretty important damage threshold to hit, as it combos with a lot of things, and it does mean that getting even lightly chipped by almost anything at all puts you in one-shot range, so watch out!

Rapid Blaster now starts recovering ink after firing about 3 frames faster. It's another nice little buff, though like N-ZAP it is kind of strange this weapon is being buffed at all when it's in a pretty good spot right now.

Now here's something interesting, Tri-Stringer will now paint the ground better, and will now paint lines more consistently. Turfing has always been one of Tri-Stringer's biggest weaknesses, so this is a very nice buff!

Last but not least is my favourite change in the entire patch. REEF-LUX now charges at full speed while in the air, similar to how Squiffer works. This is just a fantastically cool buff if you ask me, it's one of those things that seem insignificant on paper but can really change up how a weapon plays in a major way. It wasn't until after Squiffer got this change in Splatoon 2 that the weapon really came into its own, after all.

With Main Weapon changes down, let's move onto Points for Special changes, of which there are four (technically three):

Big Swig Express and Painbrush are ten points cheaper, and both variants of E-Liter are ten points more expensive. Not a lot to discuss here, so let's move onto Special Weapons:

The rails that indicate the Reefslider's path will now ink the floor as they extend forward, potentially allowing you paint over an enemy's feet before running them over. The rail will now also follow moving terrain, which is a change I'll admit I am not sure what it does? We'll just have to see when the patch goes live.

Big Bubbler now paints the ground inside of the shield. A nice quality of life change that could potentially be used to do some silly things in Splat Zones, if you're so inclined.

Ink Vac will now paint the ground behind you while it's active. Nintendo specifies later on in the patch notes that this is because they want you to be more reliably able to use it while retreating, and yeah, that's what this change will do.

For our final Special change, Splattercolor Screen now deals more damage to Beakons, Sprinkler, Splash Wall, sponges, and the Rainmaker's shield. Like with the Ink Vac changes, Nintendo specifies what the purpose of this buff is in the patch notes, and in this case it's to reward people more for using the Screen well.

And that's all the balance changes for this patch, but there is actually one more Main Weapon change that is not listed with the rest, because it's a bit different:

These changes are very wordy, but the TL;DR is that Squeezer now has a hard cap on how fast it can fire, which is the same as its regular fire speed. That might sound like a completely pointless change, and I thought so initially as well, but it seems the intent here is to not have the weapon be improved by turbo controllers, as they can let you mash ZR at much, much faster paces than intended.

With all that said, let's round things out with some miscellaneous changes:

If you roll or dash into the Rainmaker shield you'll now slide off it, as opposed to the game continuously attempting to place you where the shield is at and dealing a bunch of contact damage to you, splatting you almost instantly.

You'll now start the next season in S+0 if you were top 1000 in the previous season's X rank.

Squid Beakons are now accounted for when awarding the Super Jump Spot medal, which I am frankly surprised wasn't the case already?

I lied, there is one more Main Weapon change. Grizzco Dualies now deal 5 more damage with their actual bullets. That means they three-shot Chum now!

Reflected Drizzler torpedoes will now collide with terrain less, reducing the situations where you shoot one back only to have it immediately crash into a ledge it just barely touches.

Finally, purchasing the Expansion Pass will now net you 10 free Sheldon Licenses. If you've already bought the Expansion Pass then you'll be given the Licenses after downloading the update. Just in time for ten new weapons to be added as part of the Sizzle Season!

[soleil-in-the-sky]

Are you trying to give your OCs something to wear but feel that all you do has no style? Have you scoured the internet for clothing design tutorials and still cant come up with anything you like? Many years ago, I had this problem. I now know that while I knew the basics of clothing design, I did not know how to IMPLEMENT them because I had zero fashion vocabulary! I finally solved this by creating........

My clothing design inspiration board! It has a bunch of different types of clothes, accessories, patterns, and the like!

As a bonus, below the read more are some clothing/costume design advice primarily for character design purposes!

These are (sorta) recreations of notes—made for the general ideas section—which are currently impossible to find (though the advice below has more thoughts.) never mind guys i found them so now this post is gonna be a bit disjointed cause im just gonna slap in any unique advice from there. on top of the fact this has been sitting in my drafts for 3 thousand years. so, if this is hard to understand tell me and i will make a new version with a more unified and serious writing style.

first two-and-a-half advice were written yesterday who knows how long ago on pinterest, thats why they sound so informal. actually the whole post is so informal wow

Varied wardrobe:

[Title: Varied wardrobe]. If you have the time, give your characters different outfits! That can tell us so much more! (Not part of OG notes, but giving OCs different outfits for different situations can reveal stuff about different sides or layers of their personalities/headspaces! You can also just give them a wardrobe of different clothes. Either way, you can have different outfits have similar silhouettes and/or shapes, or have them be completely different, which could be used for a purpose like what I talked about above.)

Layers:

[Title: Layers]. Layers........... layeersssss....... yes.......... uhhh, yea I love layers (this is def not what i sounded like in the OG note) So layers! They make your outfits more interesting! They're really cool and, in my opinion, they make outfits feel more real. Also they give you an excuse to go crazy go stupid with clothing designs hahahahahaha brb im gonna go put 5 shirts on my OC plus 50 scarves and 2 hats (DEF not what I said in the OG notes its been a while and i have a lot more thoughts about this now)

ok and some thoughts from the original notes: Layering can tell us a lot about your character. You can even merge different clothing items! Think about it: short sleeves on long sleeves can make for a unique touch on an otherwise boring shirt. Go ham on the combinations!

Research (this one's important):

[Title: Research (this one's important)]. Research is cool! Look at all those buttons [, click: here: for link], no wonder there was a button shortage. Also obviously you have to research stuff before writing about another culture otherwise its gonna be some inaccurate crap. a well researched portrayal will be way more interesting and research (at least for me) can be rewarding in general. But you can also do research on time periods, jobs, and more! Research can be intimidating, but sometimes, you just gotta do it. And as I said about well-researched portrayals being more interesting, researching can give you ideas you would've never thought about [, click: here: for link to source]. Told ya research makes stuff more interesting. (really realizing these are more than just recaps, wow. im even citing crap.) So yeah, research is important for many aspects of storytelling, including costuming, and even if it's scary, your future self will thank you.

Imagery:

[Title: Imagery]. This is where you unleash your inner English teacher. You slap some object's shape, pattern, image, etc. somewhere to represent something. It could represent some deep-seated secret of the character, but it doesn't even have to be deep. It may just be a simple reference to a personality trait. Where you put the symbolism can also mean different things, like for example, hearts on a character are usually positive symbolism, but a heart on the sole of a shoe can, if you so desire, mean the character crushes others dreams.

Clothing variations:

[Title: Clothing variations]. Just look at this [, click: here: for link to an image of variations of vests]. Details. You can change them. All the details. Play around with them. Go even further, change the details no one notices. Have you ever seen a denim shirt? No? Make it happen. Make all those weird things happen. Yeah, that's it really.

Details:

[Title: Details]. (literally just copy-pasting the original note apart from maybe one awkward word replaced) Simple details like buttons, hemlines, lace or pleats can make your outfit feel all the more real. The possibilities are endless for such small add-ons.

Don't limit yourself to one type of anything, it's why I made this board! (Other than my own lack of ideas.) For example, learning to draw pockets is cool and all, but are you sure that's all you can do? I have a whole section for them!

So yeah that's it. I am tired and this post is very disjointed.

[baconmoop]

My argument as to why the mysterious letter is definitely Gaster.

Okay, now I’ve had time to drink it all in/actually do things for valentines day, I’m ready to make my argument as to why the mysterious letter is definitely our boy Gaster. I’ve been of the mindset that he’s a goofy old man for a long time, and I’ve always wanted to make a video essay to explain my point of view but I've never had the time. This newsletter gave me the push to write this ‘quick’ summary  though. Feel free to fight with me in the notes.

First of all, I am aware that the Japanese version uses Hiragana instead of his normal Katakana. I barely understand English, so I can’t even begin to understand the importance of it. It is my biggest foil, but I don’t think it affects things too much.

My first, easiest bit of evidence, is the fact that Toby has already removed the letter, leaving only this.

He does this constantly with Gaster stuff. He did it with the tarot cards, he did it with abc123a.ogg. The moment someone posts something online, he removes evidence of its existence. Suspicious, is it not?

Okay, let’s break the letter down shall we?

This is in line with a lot of things we already know about WDG. Most likely in Wingdings, we have hints in Sans’ lab and the true lab that his handwriting is impossible to read. We don’t know any of these are 100% him, but it makes sense that it would be difficult to read unless you were determined enough to do so (I assume that is what ‘squint your heart refers to?). 

There are multiple people who know what the ‘delta rune is’, but here to me he is clearly discussing the game, not the prophecy. The only person to ever have interest in our opinions of the experience is the ‘other him’, when he introduced us to the survey program. He also talks in short sentences, Like he does in the initial goner sequence, and pretty much everything else. 

Okay, so this is something that has plagued my mind for a while, but this has brought it to the forefront. I assume here that he’s referring to Dess being stuck in the code, or whoever it is (See here https://forum.melonland.net/index.php?topic=68.0). I’ve always been of the mind that Gaster genuinely wants to help, partially because of the eggs and partially because he seems to want you to win. He wants you to stop the roaring. I have a bunch of theories about this that probably deserve their own video, but here’s a quick summary:

If you name yourself Suzie in the goner maker scene, he says:

As far as I know, he doesn’t say this for anyone else, including ralsei, so he clearly has some kind of positive opinion of Suzie. Why would he say this if he was an antagonist to the fun gang?

When you die in the game and press no on the continue screen, the song ‘darkness falls’ plays (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSn4p1Xx7NU&ab_channel=Palpe). While definitely having Gaster’s leitmotif for starters, Just listen to how melancholy it sounds. It gives me the same bittersweet vibes that it’s raining somewhere else gives me. If this is a reflection of how Gaster feels when you give up, then he’s definitely a bit bummed that you failed.

Someone is clearly helping the secret bosses. While most people assume that he is doing it for some kind of nefarious purposes, I think he was genuinely trying to help, and it backfired. 

Anyway, back to the letter.

There’s a lot of connections between forgetting and Gaster. Fanon dictates that he’s been completely erased from everyone’s memories, but I don’t want to rely on fanon here. The first thing that comes to mind is obviously ‘Don’t forget’ plastered all over deltarune, which is what I assume he means when he calls it ironic, but that isn’t specifically tied to him. What I do think of however, is goner kid. I’ve already put enough images in this bad boy, but he says "Have you ever thought about a world where everything is exactly the same...Except you don't exist? Everything functions perfectly without you...Ha ha... The thought terrifies me." We know so much about how the goners are connected to him, I’m not gonna re-go over it here. Someone also mentioned the Spamton sweepstakes “AREN'T YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING?” on the ice page, which could also be relevant here. Is there any other character linked to forgetting as much as he is?

Okay, now for my most dubious point (sue me I’m not an actual theorist). But… Doesn’t this give you old man papyrus vibes? It’s goofy, It’s in all caps, it puts a smile on my face. To quote my friend outside the fandom, “It’s giving old man texting his grandchildren for the first time”. I know this is one of the biggest contradictions for people, claiming that it’s out of character for gaster to speak like this, but I give exhibit A, from the legends of localisation book: 

(Ripped directly from https://www.tumblr.com/gasterofficial/715722490333298688?source=share)

I’ve always loved this. It’s probably not canon, but it’s goofy as hell. It was one of the first things that made me want to do a video on my “gaster is a good dude” ideas. It’s the exact same vibes as the letter. 

So what do you think? I could definitely go into more detail about all of this, if people are interested. I just saw something that helped fuel my theories and had to put my opinions out there. Please don’t murder me in the notes for going against the antagonist gaster grain I am very sensitive okay good by!

[realitys-ex]

A Nerds Guide to the Cosmere Reading Order

I've seen a bunch of questions in the last 2 days about it, so I am going to give my ULTIMATE GUIDE.

First, for simplicity sake, a list of the series/books in the Cosmere, and the short forms I will use to refer to them. (square brackets refer to Novellas)

Elantris (a stand alone) Warbreaker (a stand alone):WB Mistborn Era 1 (Mistborn:The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero Of Ages):Mist1 Mistborn Era 2 (The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, Bands of Morning, The Lost Metal):Mist2 The Stormlight Archive (The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance,[Edgedancer], Oathbringer, [Dawnshard], Rythym of War, Wind and Truth (Upcoming)): SA Tress of the Emerald Sea (a stand alone): Tress Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (a stand alone): Yumi The Sunlit Man (a stand alone ish): Sunlit White Sand (a anthology of the 3 white sand Graphic Novels) Arcanum Unbounded (A Short story collection with stories taking place anywhere around the previous books).

I will be kinda ignoring White Sand for the rest of this because Brandon and the fandom does as well. A new version will be coming out in a bit, wait for that.

I will also be ignoring Arcanum Unbounded, because each story starts with "Read this after you have read__" which kinda gives you a hint.

Now, you can start practically anywhere, but there are three places you shouldn't: Yumi, Mist2, and Sunlit. Yumi contains jokes aimed at long time fans which can be off putting. Mist2 completely spoils Mist1. Sunlit's Main character is a semi important side character from one of the other series, which kinda spoils the arc.

That said,

My preffered Order: (Semi) Chronological/release order.

I like this because no references will go over your head, Sanderson's writing ability improves as you go, and it's kinda how it was intended to be read!

The actual release order is here , but it is more or less: Elantris, Mist1, WB, (pick up arcanum unbounded), the First 2 SA Novels, Mist2, the Second 2 SA Novels, Tress, Yumi, Sunlit.

Next Order: "Whats the big deal with this Guy, should I even bother"? This is meant to intro you to Sanderson Feet First (ish), you get a full taste of the Cosmere, followed by a step into the lighter stuff, and then reading the rest.

Tress, WB, SA1,Mist11,SA2,Mist12,Mist13, SA3, Elantris, SA4, Yumi, Sunlit

Third: "I'll have what they're having!" (what many people seem to enjoy):

SA, Mist1, WB, Elantris, Mist2, Tress, Yumi, Sunlit.

Fourth: "I wanna be confused/ have no clue what is going on!"

Yumi, Sunlit, Tress, Mist2, SA, Mist1, WB, Elantris

[dw-flagler]

okay, so:

back in the 70s, Spider-Man's Clone Saga was a thing. A lot happened, but the long and short of it was this: Gwen Stacy was killed by the green goblin in Amazing Spider-Man 121. A while later, she seemingly comes back to life. This is revealed to be a plot of the supervillain The Jackal, who created clones of peter and gwen because he could just do that. Peter fights the clone, one of them dies, and they assume that the surviving peter is the original. There's another clone saga, which was widely panned, but the important thing for my post here is Ultimate Spider-Man (2000-2009).

We have to establish a couple things first, though. So in USM issue 31, Gwen Stacy's dad, John Stacy, is killed by a spider-man impersonator (for honestly some really stupid reasons but whatever), and Gwen is formally adopted by May, moving in with her and Peter in issue 32.

Now, shortly after this, the venom saga happens. It differs from most versions in that the symbiotes, in the ultimate universe, are not aliens, but instead human-made living organisms. They were made by Edward Brock Sr. and Richard Parker, and peter's parents are killed because Richard refuses to make the suits weapons. Eddie Brock Jr. (Peter's childhood friend, current college student, and pedophile) recreates one of the symbiotes, and eventually it bonds with Eddie to become Venom in issue 37.

Anyway, some other stuff happens, and then in Issue 57, Gwen finds out that Peter is Spider-Man. She confronts him in Issue 59, and eventually decides she's cool with him being spider-man. She calls him her "super hero little brother" in a conversation with Mary Jane.

Later, in issue 60, Curt Conners, the guy whose lab Eddie was working in, takes a sample of Peter's blood, and, working with a guy named Ben Reilly, creates another symbiote, Carnage.

Carnage, a symbiote cloned from peter, breaks out of the lab, killing a bunch of people, including Gwen, in issue 62. Peter, furious at this, tracks down the Carnage symbiote (which never actually has a host in this universe) and throws it in a fire, killing it. Later, in Issue 64, that other guy, Ben Reilly, steals a sample of the Carnage symbiote from Connors' lab, for unknown purposes.

Cut to issue 97, the start of Ultimate's Clone Saga. So Peter encounters this supervillain called the scorpion, who turns out to be a clone of him. He also encounters Jessica Drew(!), who is also a clone of him. Then, after jessica whooped his ass, he sees Gwen, who has miraculously come back to life!

So, the particular details of the ultimate clone saga aren't important for this post, but I'll describe them in brief anyway. The clones, including Scorpion, Jessica, and the others who i'm not mentioning, were made by Otto Octavius and Ben Reilly together, working to recreate Spider-Man for the CIA. Ben, as he already had a failed attempt to clone spider-man just sitting in his pocket or something, decided to do some fucky stuff to the carnage sample he had on him. He tries to recreate the full Carnage, but it doesn't work quite right, and it ends up kind of becoming Gwen Stacy. It's still carnage, but it's also her.

Anyway, Peter and Jessica beat the hell out of Doc Ock, who was responsible for this, all the clones other than Jessica and Gwen die, Peter gets back together with Mary Jane and breaks up with Kitty Pryde (who he was dating at the time), everything goes back to normal. More or less. Eventually, carnage Gwen gets attacked by Eddie "Pedophile" Brock and he steals her symbiote (despite the fact that she is a symbiote) and becomes Venom again, and she is completely normal now.

Anyway, by Vol. 2 Issue 1 (about 30 issues later), we're in a new status-quo. The important part is this: Peter has broken up with Mary Jane (again) off screen, and is now dating Gwen Stacy for some reason.

So, as I have exhaustively laid out, peter is, in fact, dating his own clone.

What's even weirder about this is that a few issues later, in Vol. 2 Issue 9, Johnny Storm (who was there during the whole clone saga but I guess he wasn't paying attention) goes and kisses Jessica Drew, who is also a clone of peter, and peter finds this extremely gross.

I don't really have a moral or anything to this. I just sort of recognized that gwen is technically a clone of peter and felt like i had to explain this to someone.