#i do not remember where i originally downloaded this. at all. but at least it is done. like here it is. the non-edited version

[cosmic-dust-poltergeist]

Another Clone Danny x batfam au, Danny was also full dead before he's shoved into a clone body, but it's not really relevant in this part.

[Pt2: here]

Danny isn't a hundred percent sure how he got here. Last thing he remembered was running away from the GIW and his parents. They got a lucky shot on him, and he was losing ectoplasum fast. He's pretty sure he was about to fully End. He remembers being mildly amused over his parents' inventions killing him twice, before it all goes dark.

He woke up as a baby. A clone baby by the looks of his environment, an underground lab(?). His creator(?) is staring at him as if he's a miracle, and given the fancy sci-fi screen thingy (a tablet? Or ipad? He's not sure how he knows these terms) in front of the cloning tank say "attempt 99", he probably is this guy's miracle.

Danny doesn't see anyone else around, and this guy, a teenager about Jazz's age (?), seems happy on a personal level to see Danny wiggling in the tank. So it's not likely he was forced to do this. Whatever this is..

"I did it...? Holy shit! I did it!" The teen cheers before freezing, "I'm a parent now.. I did not think this through... welp, I'm a parent now."

The guy checks his vitals before draining the tank. Danny is handled as if he's the most precious, yet breakable thing in the world to this kid.

"Hello, I'm Tim, your dad, I guess." The kid, Tim, introduces himself, and Danny giggles at him because if Danny was a normal baby, he'd have no idea what he was saying. "You're the clone of my dead best friend. He was half kryptonian. I promise to do my best to help you learn your powers and culture. I'll break into Clark's ice fortress if I have to to do it."

Danny has no idea what any of that means, but Tim seems determined, so Danny isn't too worried. He's more worried about the power thing. Are they going to be completely different from his old ones? Does he still have access to his ghost powers?

His little baby body can't handle his big emotions, and he starts crying. Tim panics, checking for mess, before realizing he doesn't have baby supplies. He clearly didn't think his cloning attempt would work with how unprepared he is. And that's valid if Danny really is his 99th attempt.

Tim bundles Danny up and rushes them to the nearest store that has baby supplies. Danny is clothed and fed promptly and given a wolf plushy. Danny isn't sure about the wolf thing, but the stuffie does sooth his baby instincts, so he rolls with it.

"Alright, baby. I... I didn't think of a name for you. I originally was trying to make a clone closer to Kon's age and figured they could name themselves, like Kon did." Tim sighs, slightly rocking Danny in his arms. "Man, I must seem insane talking to a baby. A baby I made because I couldn't deal with one more person in my life being dead or gone."

Danny notes the interesting wording.

"Okay. Can you understand me at all? I forgot to adjust the knowledge download to a year old's level, but that doesn't mean your baby brain absorbed any of the info."

Ooooh, that explains why he knows things that didn't exist where he's from.

Danny blows spit bubbles and attempts to nod. It's a bit hard, his baby muscles not developed enough for the action. Tim understands, though.

"Okay, okay." Tim looking both scared and relieved. "How about you pat me once for yes and twice for no? At least for now. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Danny lightly smacks a hand to Tim's face. They both giggle over it.

"Alright, so I'm going to list off names, and you can tell me yes or no, okay?" One pat. "Okay, let's see."

Danny wonders if he can get a new name that can still let him have Danny as a nickname.

"Jasper" No

"Darin" No

"Dugu" No??

"Presh?" No! Tim? Where are you getting these names??

"Ratan" No

"Cicil" No

"Matthew" No

"Theo?" No

"Alihan" No

"Atiya" Nope

"Tesher" No

"Senai" No

"Uuum... Habwat?" No

"Geoffrey" No

"Amari?" Nope

"Jordan" ... huh, technically could get Danny from that, but still. No.

"Riley?" No

"Drew?" Nope

"Nova" Oooo so tempting, but no

"Esteban" Nope

"Izar" No

"Aedan?" You know what, good enough. That's Danny's new name.

Tim looks misty eyed when Danny finally agrees to a name.

"Alright, welcome to the world, Aedan Drake." Danny blows bubbles at him. "We'll visit adding Kent and getting you a proper kryptonian name when you can actually speak and understand what those names mean. Kon's human name was Conner Kent, and his kryptonian name was Kon-El. It translates to abomination of the house of El. He was a clone of Kal-El and wasn't treated well for it. I won't let the Els treat you as they treated him."

Tim looks pissed on his friend's behalf and cradles Danny protectively.

"The Els don't matter anyways. You will always be a Drake. And Drakes protect what they claim with viciousness." He kisses Danny's forehead. He then moves to the fanciest computer Danny has ever seen, and with the hand not supporting Danny's body, starts designing what appears to be a bulletproof and stabproof baby carrier. "I should have waited til after I finish hunting for clues to get Bruce, he's my adoptive father, out of the timestream. My siblings think I'm crazy, which creating a clone isn't helping my case over, but I know he's alive. I found evidence, just not enough to prove it to them."

Danny starts nodding off. Tim's ramblings are soothing and his hold gentle, Danny's tiny baby body doesn't stand a chance at staying awake. He's sad he's missing out on all the dad lore because of it.

Once the carrier is ready, Tim starts going out and taking Danny with him. Danny is actually pretty safe on these outings. The carrier is bulletproof, stabproof, has tinted bulletproof glass so Danny can get sun without people seeing him, it's temperature controlled, well ventilated, and has plenty of cushion. Seriously, Danny is sure the whole thing is like 60 pounds with him in it, but Tim gives zero fucks. He's determined to keep Danny safe.

It's super touching. And Danny swears to one day return the favour. The day is closer than he thinks when a creepy old fucker crawls out of the woodworks. Danny hates him instantly. Tim explaining the creep's relation to Tim's family doesn't change Danny's mind. In fact, it probably makes his opinion on this Ra's Al Gul even worse. And once he sees how that pedo looks at his sweet new dad, he plans to be an absolute menace.

[sweetwolfcupcake]

Wildflower: 02

The Secret Garden

Category: Short Series

John Wick x Reader

Warning: Nothing Yet

Notes: John is relatively younger in this fic-- late thirties to early forties.

The gif is not mine. Credits to the original creator (Sorry, I don't remember where I downloaded it from)

Unedited

Wildflower 01

“I thought you weren't one for socialising.” Winston commented, observing John’s eyes before they met his gaze again.

“I am not.” John stated simply. 

Winston hummed dismissively and sipped his drink, keeping his gaze locked with John’s.

“You seem intrigued.”

John looked away and frowned. “It’s not every day that I get to meet someone who has not even heard of the Boogeyman.”

“Fascinated?”

John looked up “Amused.That’s it.”

 With that, he chugged away the bourbon on the glass and bid Winston a goodnight before leaving.

—---

As the bus moved past streets and signs, the world around her remained blurred. She sat on the window seat, gazing at her mother’s ring. The tears she fought finally won– a thick drop lined her cheek, followed by another, but she bit her trembling lips and held tight, wiping away her tears quickly. 

Calm down, calm down, calmdown calmdown calmdowncalmdown…

She would not break down like that. She would not allow anyone to witness her break. She was in the  midst of keeping herself together when a handkerchief came into view. She looked up, only to see a man she has never seen offering her the piece of cloth. 

“Please,” He offered politely.

She blinked but mindlessly accepted it “Thank you.” 

That was all she could come up with while wiping her tears. He sat on the seat in the front turned to face her with a smile “You’re welcome. Rough day?”

She mustered up a faint smile and nod, reflecting on the events a few hours ago.

“I haven’t seen you around here before? Are you new here?”

His question made her look up to him in surprise.

He noticed it and added– “I take this bus regularly, the next stop is mine– I know the regulars. So, just curious.”

“Yes, I just…moved to New York.”

“Tough day at work?”

"Would have been better to have a tough day at work. personal stuff."

He offered an understanding silence for a few moments until the bus came to a halt. “Well, here’s my stop. Guess we will run into each other often. I’m Alex by the way.” He rose and offered his hand.

“It was nice to meet you Alex, I’m (Y/N).” She shook his hand with a faint smile before he waved and got off the bus.

What an unexpected, kind surprise.

—-----

Moving into New York was a completely new experience– but she was settling in. A month after her visit to the mysterious Continental, she had not been contacted by Winston— not directly, at least. A parcel was sent to the apartment she had rented. A parcel containing a card under his name and a note saying ‘In case you need it.'

Winston was a strange man. Even though she wanted to ask him how he got her address, she had no other way but to either visit the Continental again, or ring up the number provided in the card. She could not bring herself to do that.

Every other evening, she would take the same bus home from her workplace and run into Alex. Alex Norton was a Pharmacologist who happened to be exceptionally bad at driving cars or balancing motorcycles. So, public transport was all he was left with. Not that he minded, as he told her– he liked to observe, and liked the steady cycle of public transportation– 

“It's one of the few stable things I have in life.”

He told her once, standing over her seat after he had kindly given up his for an elderly man. She did not poke further in favour of keeping the conversation on a lighter tone (he had an amazing sense of humour), but she was almost certain that he meant something deeper.

Almost.

In the last month, she had realised that there was nothing too ‘obvious’, or ‘too certain’-- there were always gaps and cracks, what ifs and buts. It was not that she did not think of her mother. She did, every night before falling asleep, questions would plague her mind and every morning, she would be filled with a sense of hopelessness and dread thinking of all the possibilities– one worse than the other, and all the ‘what ifs’-- what if her mother never left? What if her mother told her where to find her? What if she got the letter on time, what if—what if.

She was in one of those ‘what if’ phases in her mind, walking with her  eyes downcast, but unfocused as she navigated her office street with muscle memory when her vision shook—

No, she shook, after she had stumbled– perhaps walked right into a man and bumped into him hard enough to leave her nose with a dull ache.

She hissed, rubbing her nose. “I am sorry.” She stepped back, apologising.

“No, it was my fault.” 

She looked up. It was the same man who was there with Winston the other night. His eyes remained on her, as if waiting.

“Oh, hello again Mr…”

“Wick—John Wick. Are you alright?” There was a faint frown that settled between his eyebrows.

“Yes, yes, I am. Just a little distracted.” She smiled awkwardly, the man only nodded.

“You’ll settle in.”

“I hope so.” There was no conviction in her tone. If he noticed, he did not comment, just stood there, looking at her. “Okay so, I need to get to work. Good to see you.”

He simply nodded again.

With a tight-lipped smile, she walked past him, turning into another head among the thousands on the street.

John smoothened his shirt, feeling the bulletproof vest underneath– eyes still on her moving form before he finally looked ahead and walked on. He was working after all.

—---

John Wick was not the one to linger around past business. His work was done, he should be heading home. But he found himself staying. Staring at an unassuming office building, he turned around to buy a pack of doughnuts– just in time (Y/N) walked out of it. He turned slightly, watching from the other side of the road as she navigated the streets. His stoic gaze remained on her.

John was conflicted.

He had nothing to do with that woman. She belonged to the other side– the clean, untainted side he could never even dare taste, for he knew that a cursed demon like him would taint it, wither the garden, bring dark, stormy clouds over the perfectly sunny world. The world which she came from was his childhood fairytale and now a distant, wistful fantasy— perhaps some other dimension, universe? He did not know, he was doomed after all. The world he came from…was a nightmare to her– to people like her. 

So, what was he doing there?

John had no reasonable answer to that. He had seen her walking on the street with her eyes downcast, and stopped, allowing her to bump into him. Even through the bulletproof vest he could sense her warmth– a tenderness that made chills run down his spine. Something he had never experienced before. It felt forbidden, but so… so good. It took him some effort to not reach out to the warmth, instead, his fingers folded into a tight fist in his pocket.

She was the forbidden fruit that walked into the place where angels feared to tread— but so oblivious, so sweet so…

John shook his head and stopped. With one last glance at her form at a distance, he turned around and walked away, dropping the pack of doughnuts on the lap of an old, homeless man on the footpath.

-----

“Isn’t this my favourite commuter?” 

She turned around to face Alex with a smile. It was crowded and neither of them had a seat. But standing with Alex was much better than being cramped up with strangers.

“Hi.” She smiled “You look tired?” She commented,assessing him. His usual pristine coat seemed crinkled and dirtied and despite the cool weather, he had beads of sweat. “You okay?”

“Yes, yes I am, just a project going haywire, don’t worry. How was your day?”

“As usual. You were right, once you get a hang of it, I guess things do become bearable.”

Alex smiled “So, tomorrow’s weekend. Wanna grab a beer?”

Now, that was a tempting offer. She glanced at her watch– she had plenty of time.

“Okay, let's go. Your stop or mine?”

“Neither, the next to next stop is a street filled with good pubs. You’ll love it.”

—-

Alex was not wrong. The pub he took her to had just begun to fill in– so they managed to get their desired spot to sit, the ambience, and the environment was lively.

“It's a lovely place, thank you for bringing me here.”

Alex raised his glass and smiled “You're welcome.”

Getting along with Alex was easy. It was smooth-sailing to have a conversation with him, to jump from one topic to another.

“I do not think that it's necessary that the street should be under constant surveillance. You see, it's the people we need to mend.”

“Until then, constant surveillance might help. My colleagues, I mean most of them are so nonchalant about the reports of crime and all.” (Y/N) added. 

They had somehow landed on the topic of crime and surveillance in the city and she was surprised by the degree of nonchalance in the locals.

“You’re new here.” Alex commented, sipping his beer as his eyes casually moved around the place.

She shrugged, focusing on her drink “There are a few things I might never get used to.”

“True.” His eyes found hers again and he smiled.

It was then she noticed– truly noticed how attractive he was. Tall, dark, well-built with a gentle smile. Alex Norton was a treat for sore eyes. But what truly made him attractive was his approach to people, the way he spoke, the way he listened more. 

She took a swig of her beer, an attempt to divert her eyes. 

****

So, what do you guys think? I have decided to turn it into a short series.

[transparencyboo]

For the last two weeks or so I've been playing the Mega Drive dungeon crawler Shining in the Darkness. I've recently been going through all the various action-RPGs the system had to offer and kinda found myself lusting for more, so I expanded the scope.

Shining in the Darkness had one of those cover arts I vividly remember seeing in game stores during the 90s, I understood already back then that whatever this was would be too complicated for my feeble preschool brain, but it had a shiny glossy allure that still beckoned to me with promises of daring adventures and grand battles. Questions lingered in my head: Who is that evil bastard zapping sparks at Cavin from the Gummi Bears? Why has the king entrusted the safety of his kingdom to a meagre boy and his two misfit friends?

Well, it turns out that big bad guy is called Dark Sol, the bane of all game difficulty discourse, and the reason the king has enlisted three poor kids is because there is no one else to rely on after your daddy went missing. Everyone else just sorta gives up along the way.

My initial conclusion of this game was to commend my young self for the striking assessment, my five year old self would never get anywhere in this game between the English text, abstracted navigation and number crunching battle mechanics. Shining in the Darkness is a bona fide classic dungeon gauntlet endurance simulator, where you traverse vanishing point block tunnels and encounter enemies. I've played one or two games like this before, like the original Phantasy Star, but this time a new desire struck me. I wanted to draw maps. Maybe I'm just getting older and more patient, leading me to wilfully ignore easily available resources online.

By my recollection, this is the first time I've dedicated myself to playing a game like this. Usually I just resort to my sense of direction, which I've gathered seems to at least be above average, since anytime I go anywhere with anyone I always end up playing shepherd so they don't get lost. Worst case scenario I'll just fall back to mapping efforts by online heroes from years past. For Shining in the Darkness I persisted blindly about halfway through until I admitted to myself charting a map of the labyrinthine caves would be a lot easier. Luckily, the game allows you to spend 1 MP to see a chunk of where you've walked, meaning I could get neatly organized segments to copy by hand.

Perhaps my biggest takeaway from this endeavour was how much of the game experience was expressed through this map project. I spent just as much time slaying beasts as I did counting tiles and filling them out with my pencil. It became a natural counterbalance that provided vital pacing to the game mechanics. Walking, fighting, charting. In turn, through the principle of learning by doing, I gained a more intimate familiarity with the environments by just replicating them out on a sheet of paper. I found that while the map helped, I actually didn't need it much for backtracking because my drawings had helped me remember the layouts of the corridors anyway.

I guess the lesson learned is that while old design sensibilities may appear to be arcane and cumbersome when easier solutions exists, the obfuscation is part of the fun. The game hands me an intentionally hard to navigate world, shows me that it's fully capable of displaying maps of it, but still asks me to provide that dimension myself. Through doing this, I discover that drawing maps is both surprisingly enjoyable and cognitively stimulating. I realize that had I downloaded some pre-packaged maps online and used as my bible, Shining in the Darkness would've been a vastly different experience, one of monotonous meandering through endless fights while confidently striding along the known path.

Perhaps that's why the game was called Shining and the Darkness in Japan, it doesn't flow as well as the western title, but at the same time it poetically reflects this act of discovery. I am Shining, the game provides the Darkness, we work together, we must unify to become whole.

As for Dark Sol, he turned into a big monster boy and was vanquished by a spunky cartographer child and her two cohorts. The unknown has been made known and the kingdom is once more saved.

/Kiki

[sharonccrter]

How'd you manage to get your gifs so high quality?

Hey! So I actually struggled with this for a while, so let me show you what I've started to do. Not that I think my gifs are particularly amazing but.

Video quality

The most important is quality, try and make sure your downloading 1080p minimum. If your a pirate like me I recommend this and use this to download them. For Better Man (which is a movie) there was the 2160p, so I went for that option even if it was 26gb, it takes time to download but it's worth it.

A tip, which helps me with TV shows in particular, try and look for AMZN in the title, because their usually good quality. For a 40 minute episode your looking for a file size of at least 2gb or above.

Screenshots

Now your going to want to screenshot the scene that you want to gif, I use Elmedia Player. You'll need the pro version, which costs $19.99, it's a one time fee. In my opinion it's worth it, however you can also use VLC, but it's more complicated to set up.

If your using Elmedia Player, you want to go to settings > capture and have it set up like this:

It's important, "frame by frame" is checked because if not you wont be able to make a coherent gif. You'll also want to pick a folder in the "save screenshots to" section, to make it easier.

For example for Better Man, because it's a movie, I divided it into scenes like this:

Simply because it's easier to access everything. Otherwise if your gif'ing multiple scenes you'll end up with so many screenshots you'll get overwhelmed.

Than go to playback > record a series of screenshots. It'll take a minute so I suggest doing it section by section.

If your using Elmedia, the files will be in the .tiff format, if your using VLC it'll be .png, both are fine.

In photoshop

Cool, so now open photoshop, I'm using cc 2024, however this should work on older versions as well.

Your going to go File > Script > Load Files into Stack

Your going to get a pop up:

Click browse and select all the screenshots you want to use for this gif, I usually limit it to about 80 frames because of size. Be mindful you can only upload a gif of 10mb or less on tumblr.

Once you have them uploaded, it's going to look like this:

Hit the "sort by name" to make life easier, and than okay. Once you do that your screen should look something like this, depending on your workspace.

If you don't see the timeline at the bottom, your going to want to go to window > timeline. Once you've done that, your going to want to click, "create video timeline." You can see it at the bottom of the screenshot above.

The bottom section, is going to look like this:

You want to click at the bottom, where there are the three squares (left hand side), so that it's converted to a frame. It'll now look like this.

What you want to do next is have the frame in the timeline highlighted, and also highlight all your layers in the layer panel.

Your than going to go to this section (below) and right click.

You should get a panel (below). Your than going to click "Make Frames From Layer".

Once you've done that, your going to highlight all frames in your timeline, as well as the layers in your layers panel and click "Flatten Frames Into Layer."

Once you've done that, highlight all your frames, on both the timeline and layers panel, and hit "Reverse Frames." It's in the same section as the panel above.

What I suggest is put the new frames in your layers panel into a folder, and delete the original .tiff or .png files.

It should look like this:

Now your going to want to go to image > image size and change it to what works best for you.

Than go to image > canvas and adjust that as well.

I use this this guide created by @nonchan1023, remember it's the width which is important. The height is secondary, however for mine I tend to do 540x350/400 and 268x268.

Once that's done, your going to play around with the formatting until your image is in the right position, honestly can't really help you there it's trial and error.

Your then going to go back down to your timeline:

Click on the numbers, they usual are 0.00 before you change them, you'll see a panel (below).

Your going to click on "other" and change it to 0.06 or whatever you think works for your gif. For me I usually go for 0.06, but up to you.

At this point, your going to want to add your colouring, I can do a separate tutorial on that if people want. You'll also want to add text if you like.

I use the font Helvetica Rounded LT Std (Bold Oblique), size 18.

I then add effects to the text, by right clicking the text layer > blending options.

Stroke:

Drop shadow:

Cool, you can leave it like this if you want and head to File > Export > Save for Web (legacy) and save it as what you want. These are my usual settings:

It should look something like this:

However, if you'd like to sharpen your gif, stay with me.

Extra, sharpening gif

Highlight all the frames in the timeline, as well as all the frames in your layers panel, like this:

Click on this panel again:

And then click "Convert to Timeline." At this point your screen should look like this:

Then and this is important, right click your selected layers in the layer panel, as seen above to bring up this panel and click "Convert to Smart Object."

Your screen should now look like this:

Now with the layer in your layer panel selected, go to filter > sharpen > sharpen.

And that's it, you can now go File > Export > Save for Web (legacy) and save and it should look like this:

I suck at explaining things so I really hope this helped someone!

[orphiclovers]

How many times have you read the novel 😳 (you post so many screenshots of quotes. Consistently too)

Haha, it's not an impressive number. Maybe it will surprise you?

I first read the webtoon in 2021 until whichever was the latest chapter at that point. Then I couldn't wait for the next update, I NEEDED to know what happened next so I found the epub on reddit and read it (lol) from the place I left off.

I don't actually remember how far I got. I must have reached at least chapter 363, since that is when the names changed with the new translator and I remembered it REALLY bothered me (there must have not been a version with the OG names back then, or I just hadn't found it).

The arc I was on must have bored me, because I think I did something VERY uncharacteristic of myself - skipped ahead in the chapters. I NEVER do this, I'm a very chronological reader - I never even skim text, I always read every sentence from beginning to end, only for some reason not this one time (I blame the name change making it difficult for me.)

I had seen the cover art of YJH chained up by white coat wearing Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja and I had heard that yoohankim was a major ship and that Han Sooyoung was the third main character, only in the arc I was on I saw none of that. So I made a huge mistake and looked up spoilers online, to see when Han Sooyoung became an important character, and accidentally spoiled myself on Secretive Plotter's identity (since I read a summary of the 1863 arc)

Then I have a distinct memory of reading the beach episode chapter 454, and being instantly turned off and thinking 'ugh, and I thought I had finally found a novel that didn't put boring fluff but was tense and action all the time". Very Kim Dokja of me. (yes, I know now giving characters a respite was the point of that arc. If i had read one chapter further, I would have seen they went back to action almost immediately. But I didn't read further.)

On top of that, I saw a spoiler online that said that 'orv has the it was all just a dream ending' and that was the last straw and I dropped it (ugh)

Then in the next couple of years I managed to forget every single character and plot point of ORV.

Went back to read the webtoon, arrived at the latest chapter, couldn't wait until the next update, downloaded the epub from reddit, started reading it from where the webtoon left off, you see the pattern. This time I finished it in 4 days I think. That was April 1st, when I posted my first orvpost on tumblr. I had basically forgotten absolutely everything, even how far I got originally, but had a sense of deja vu up until the very last chapter.

Now, I've been on a very very slow, technically 2nd but I consider it my first reread. Except I've never actually read the first 100 chapters and am constantly shocked and amazed at how good they are.

So, technically, I haven't actually read all of orv yet😅. But also am on my 3rd read?

[norman891]

I downloaded this drawing back in October, and ended up cropping it to better focus on Hook’s face. I can't remember where I found it originally or who the artist is ( they're wonderful, BTW).

This picture affects me so deeply on so many levels. I can feel Hook’s misery, his loneliness, his self-loathing, his grief, pain, despair and his utter shame. There is so much pain on so many different levels all captured in one drawing. Does it affect anyone else similarly?

I can only assume he has tried to drink all his feelings away only to end up in pure state of such sadness that all he can do is weep softly to himself.

It makes me want to go to him and put my arms around his shoulders, or at least lay a hand on his back, knowing full well I would be rebuffed and have to move quickly to escape harm. But that doesn't change my feelings, my very visceral need to try and provide some measure of comfort, compassion, empathy, and love to a man who's very soul has been ripped asunder by a careless little monster.

I have loved Hook since I was 5; I consider I was an enlightened child who could see the evil in Pan and the lonely, traumatized man Hook is. Yes, he's a pirate and therefore does things I expect a pirate to do. But he's also a man who's lost his very essence somewhere along the way, maybe even before before Peter cut off his hand, threw it to the crocodile, and left Hook in constant stress and PTSD.

I daresay the man has not had one good night's sleep in so long because sleeping leads to dreaming, or rather nightmares of being consumed by the crocodile and Hook wakes up screaming, soaked in sweat & shaking uncontrollably. And I'm sure he tells no one, not even Smee, so he suffers alone. And that bothers me badly.

I've been there, when you're too ashamed to tell anyone that which is tormenting you every hour of the day and night, for fear of ridicule or embarrassment. Hook is embarrassed enough that he's continually bested by the flying child-demon who so brutally maimed him. To show another his true suffering would be more than he could bear.

To whoever drew this amazing, thoughtful piece of art, give yourself a gold star. Very few pictures/drawings have affected me so deeply that have found myself weeping along with Hook. I like to think that just maybe, if he understood my angst is born of love and not pity, just maybe the knowledge that another soul weeps with and for him might provide him some small measure of comfort.

My beloved Captain, at 59 I still love you, even more than I did when I was only 5. You are definitely not unloved... ever. Not so long as I live and breathe.

I feel a story brewing in my mind....

[hikennosabo]

#tristampparty day 2, episode 2: the running man

day 2 of @tristampparty!! i have less to say about this episode than the first one so hopefully this will be a shorter post than yesterday LOL

iirc this is 98 knives's seiyuu on the radio, right?!!! i am only about halfway through my jp 98 watch and can't recognize him by ear (yet) but i think it's very neat that the original seiyuus have cameos :')

also vash keeping the photo with him What If I Ate Rocks

he is such a kicked puppy of a man

why does roberto say revenge. what does he mean. what does he know. what has he figured out from knowing vash for maybe like a few hours. or is he just throwing that out there without realizing how close he is to the truth. partially, anyway. he didn't guess the savior complex part.

i'm not entirely sure what meryl means by honor...? but money is a pretty normal reason to want a plant, as we've seen and as we'll continue to see.

i like how meryl has a fear of bugs... i can relate lol. i think this character trait comes from the manga when she was kidnapped by zazie and was grossed out? i think here it also serves to reinforce her being sheltered, still unfamiliar with the world at large since worms are everywhere--WAIT HOLD ON.

PAUSE. ZOOM. ENHANCE.

RAI-DEI SPOTTED?!?!??!?! this rewatch is becoming an I Spy game with the wanted posters, jfc.

man i'm so glad i finally downloaded tristamp so i can appreciate the visuals without the crunchiness of streaming video... i can't do the animation justice with just screenshots but i love watching vash scamper around like a... i don't know. he scampers like a cockroach in 98, but this is giving a different vibe. like a... something. like a creature.

i also want to take a second to appreciate how gorgeous the backgrounds are, like,

i loooove the backgrounds, it looks like... maybe a mix of markers and colored pencil... i love the detail and the colors are so pleasing. this is such a gorgeous anime to look at, i don't know how anyone could possibly say it looks bad without them just blindly hating it because it's 3dcg. god i'm getting so distracted looking at the backgrounds that i'm missing the action AND the subtitles LOL

wasn't there a post somewhere that actually calculated how much a bullet is worth based on this information. i don't remember what conclusion it came to. but i'm thinking either food is expensive (tbh, likely) or bullets are inexpensive and vash is just poor (also likely). also it's funny that the dub changed this to donuts. ...where are the donuts at in tristamp anyway...

roberto lmao 😭😭😭😭😭 i guess that's one way to guarantee it doesn't spill

roberto up until this point has acted like meryl is dragging him along unwillingly, but here he's the one telling meryl to get in the car so they can get a move on, lol. yeah yeah we all already know he's actually a softie and that he really cares underneath his aloof demeanor.

which brings us to this scene... i don't want to say that he has vash "all figured out" because obviously he doesn't, but he's got SOME of vash figured out at least. definitely more than meryl atp. he knows vash is running from knives... i wonder how this conversation would have gone if they weren't interrupted.

yeah i don't really have that much to say about this ep, relatively speaking... i don't have any deep thoughts about the nebraskas, they're just comic relief villains anyway, i don't care about them that much, even though tristamp kind of tries to make us care a little bit by the end of this episode...

next episode is gonna be a doozy though. ohohohohohoho.

[galacticwildfire]

I've admittedly been a social media addict for a long time, especially when it comes to tiktok, but I never thought the day would come where every major social media would endorse right wing politics, from meta to twitter and now tiktok, and that may just be the final straw for me.

I've studied historical propaganda in excruciating depth during my degree, and watching those same techniques being applied to modern media is genuinely sickening. Tumblr feels like the ONLY decently popular social media that's exempt from that propaganda due to how the timeline and feeds work, or mine at least. I have Bluesky downloaded as well and I truly do hope it takes off because it is very terrifying watching these trends emerging of conservative private ownership and media censorship.

Everyone has their political views, and no not all views are equal when those views are based on conspiracies and a complete misunderstanding of politics, not to mention the fact that a vast majority of the population believes that people different to them shouldn't exist. Which is why social media companies should not be endorsing politicians based on what their owners and shareholders believe, not when they are the single most influential media that exists.

I live in Australia, but the tide's turning here as well in the same way that it has in America due to censored and biased social media companies informing the general population's already poor political views due to what our government and society values which is certainly not an awareness of politics and history. Our last government in particular strategically sought to lower that awareness and gatekeep the humanities to the upper classes through doubling the cost of every single degree that requires critical thinking and comprehension of complex political and social ideas. I'm in debt but I'll never regret doing the degree that I have.

Please, please, please, look at who is sharing the information you digest and who they work for, and especially who owns the company that they work for, and who even has shares in that company. Trust in indie and independent journalists and publishers over conglomerates and globally owed companies run by billionaires. If you listen to podcasts and youtube videos, ask yourself and even them what their source of information is and locate that source to read/watch it for yourself and form your own interpretation instead of what some random guy's managed to cherry pick from it. Be aware that every single political party and political group uses propaganda and that no one is exempt from being influenced by it.

The biggest thing I took from my degree is that when researching any issue it's imperative to locate the original source of the information, the primary source, rather than trusting someone who is regurgitating it and to examine that source of information in depth to determine its bias (every single source will always have a bias unless it's strict scientific data) and whether it is reliable in the first place. Look at the context surrounding it and its history, and remember that every issue is intersectional and that nothing is black and white.

[farcillesbian]

Hey Peach I won't ask anything super incriminating or anything but do you need a VPN to torrent stuff? Or really good antivirus?

I know I should look into how to do that stuff but before I attempt anything of the sort, I wanna know if I should beef up my security before I start sniffing around.

Im really out of my element here 😭

hi hi, so there are a couple of things I do to keep my computer/data safe when torrenting - first of all, yes, a VPN is a great idea!! the one time I forgot to turn on my VPN before torrenting something at my parents house my dad got a letter from our internet provider about it 😵‍💫 (it basically was something about "your IP address was used to download copyright infringing material, don't do it again").

it's generally best practice to have some type of VPN set up before torrenting! try to stay away from free VPNs, from what I understand they're not the most reputable and oftentimes they're profiting off selling your data (the ol' "if they're not making money off the product then *you're* the product"). I hear good things about Mullvad and ProtonVPN - I believe at least Proton does have a free tier that just has a limit to how fast you can download things with it!

as far as antivirus goes, it's got its pros and cons. I actually don't always have it turned on, and I'm not a big fan of the built in Windows Defender (it tends to have a lot of false flags) - I like MalwareBytes and I'll do an occasional scan of my computer after downloading stuff & before actually running things. I personally find that antivirus programs tend to quarantine video game installation files when I try to run an installer for a game I torrented, which causes the installation to fail and then I have to go manually check the antivirus to un-quarantine the files 🙄 which is why I end up not having mine running all the time. but if it makes you more comfortable def keep it on, and just remember to check for quarantined files if you're having weird errors trying to install anything!

however I do also make sure that I'm visiting sites I generally trust so that lowers my chances of downloading anything sketchy (though not 0 - be mindful of what you download and open on your computer, especially executables (.exe files)!!) I find all sites I use either via direct recommendations from trusted friends who are very knowledgeable about information security and stuff, or from the r/piracy subreddit's megathread (they have a lot of recommendations for all different kind of media, and also a lot of helpful info about cautious pirating in general)

also, make sure that the torrent client you use is good! I've always used qBittorrent - it's pretty easy to use and set up, it's straightforward, open source, ad-free, and also has a lot of handy features (one of them being a feature in the advanced settings where you can have it only do things with your torrents while your computer is connected to your VPN, which is good for keeping your real IP address secure. if you want help figuring out that setting just reach out again and I'm happy to help!) whatever you do, please don't use μTorrent lol, that one sucks. also, you don't have to update it every time it comes out with an update, but it's generally a good idea to check the qBittorrent subreddit when an update does come out just to see if it deals with anything important security-wise - just recently, a pretty major backdoor vulnerability was identified and fixed, so it was actually pretty critical that everyone update to the latest version (to anyone reading this, make sure you're on 5.0.1 and nothing older than that!)

and also, a good Adblock like ublock origin will help keep you from accidentally clicking on nefarious links when trying to download things on the internet, so make sure you have that set up too!

also also, some regular websites (especially streaming services) HATE VPNs so if you have one running and you're trying to watch something on like, Netflix or your cable provider's streaming site and it's not working, pause the VPN till you're done! and that's where having your torrent client set up to automatically pause all torrents while your VPN is off comes in handy.

also also also, a note on torrenting etiquette - when you are torrenting something from other people (aka peer to peer/P2P file sharing) you are considered a "peer" and the people who have the full files and are sharing them with you via torrent are called "seeds". peers need to be connected to seeds to be able to receive the file. you will also have a ratio for each torrent - this is the amount of data you have sent vs how much you have received. a ratio of over 1.0 means you've sent more than you've received and is considered to be "good form". I usually stop seeding a torrent once it reaches above 1.0, and I do also often go stop seeding a lot of stuff below the 1.0 ratio if it looks like it has a lot of seeds, but I like to keep seeding when it seems like I'm the only one or just one of a few people seeding, especially for media that I already had a hard time finding, to make it a bit easier for someone else trying to torrent it. there are some things that I've waited months to finish torrenting just because nobody was seeding at all for a while 😭 so I do what I can to keep torrents alive myself.

sorry this ended up longer than I thought it would be, and probably longer than you expected, but I hope this is helpful! happy sailing the digital seas, anon :D

[inevitably-johnlocked]

i have a confession

recently i had some trouble and had to delete an email

problem is, i used the google docs there to write my fics. and i thought i downloaded them all, but only one of my major ones did, and i lost everything else

literally all of it

i am anonymous because i lost my tumblr acc but on ao3 i am veetheree, and i had this longer dilemma regarding my potterlock fic (pretty disillusioned with rowling and all.that, unsure whether to continue) but even so i saw that a lot of people subscribed to it and i wanted to at least see where the story leads, i had over 300k words apart from the 40k i published

and i domt hve it anymore :') i didnt check the process because it seemed okay and i had other uni and work stuff to take care of, and now i check it and :') it's gone :')) im not doing well, and i am going to delete the fic i think

i dont have the energy to maintain it and i dont want it to be left in the dust either - i have lost all hope for it, and this is just a punch in the gut. and i was proud of the plot and how i intertwined the 2 worlds too

this is mostly just a rant because i dont really have anybody else who can relate to the pain of fic writing and the challenges that come with it

also, as to why i had to delete the email - it's complicated, hacking situation and such, but it happened over 2 months ago so im not able to retrieve it and neither do i really feel like looking into it, im done with that fic for good 😭

that's all, thank you for being a safe space for me to go to, and i apologise to anyone who was waiting for that fic to be updated :(

Hey Lovely *HUGS*

OH GOODNESS, I'm SO sorry you had a garbage time with your email, and even more so, accidentally deleted fics from your Google Drive without saving all of them. I'm TERRIFIED of losing my own fics from my G-Drive all the time (I do actually write and have about 15 "snippets" of fics on there) and back them up religiously.

That said, I can understand how life can overtake literally everything and just make being online Too Much™ – happens to me all the time 💜🖤. And I know how disheartening it can be to just... not have the motivation anymore to continue on with something, heaven knows I've done that plenty in my 40 years, LOL. And Lovely, we have to remember to do what's best for us in the long run.

When I was a teen, I wrote a fairly popular Sonic fanfic series that I never completed, literally left it on a cliffhanger. This was back before even FFNet, and fics were distributed in the Sonic fandom on our Geocities pages via Webring, LOL. After life took over, it still remains unfinished over 20 years later. I recently found the original word docs of all 9 of the stories (with the 10th one half-finished) and while I cringe at my bad writing from back then, I still love immersing myself in that world. One of these days, maybe I'll finish it, because I do think it was a great concept and intriguing storyline that dealt a lot with humanity and sentience, just obviously written by a teenager, hahaha.

The point of that anecdote? We can still love the things we wrote, and still want to engulf ourselves in that world from time to time and not feel bad about it. And if you decide to come back to it a decade from now, that's okay too. You're only human.

And never EVER hesitate to come here for a friendly eyeball to vent to. I try my best to make y'all feel not so alone. Glad to see you are okay, Vee, truly. That's what's most important.

*SNUGGLE BUGGLE HUGGLE* I hope you have a beautiful, prosperous day. And I'm sure your fic-fans understand <3

[sweetwolfcupcake]

Wildflower: 03

The Secret Garden

Category: Short Series

John Wick x Reader

Warning: Public violence, public shootout, stampede-like situation

Note: John is relatively younger in this fic( late thirties to early forties)

The gif is not mine. Credits to the original creator (Sorry, I don't remember where I downloaded it from)

Unedited

Wildflower 02

She enjoyed Alex’s company and so, it was a pub one evening, a bakery one weekend, and a cafe the other weekday. Having a reliable company in the vast city was a blessing indeed. They explored the city on days he could get time off his hectic job, went on random cycling trips to the central park and always had something to talk about.

It was on one such outing when they were engaged in a heated discussion regarding the accuracy of ‘historical facts’ when someone interrupted them. 

“Norton.”

It was a familiar voice that made her turn round. Over the bench where they sat, loomed a tall figure, dressed in all black.

 “Wick?”

The silence that followed was not long, but felt dense.

John Wick’s eyes found hers and he blinked. There was something more than a stoic gaze this time.

“You working, Wick?” Alex asked.

Did they know each other?

“Yeah.”

That was all he gave. He was, indeed, a man of few words.

“Hello, John.” She greeted him, earning his gaze again.

“Hello, (Y/N).” It was his usual voice– low, deep, calm.

But there was something about the way her name rolled off his tongue. It felt different. (Y/N) gulped and mentally shook her head. No, she was overthinking again. She smiled at him, in return, she received a softened eyes.

“You on vacation Norton?”

His gaze turned to her friend– there was almost something unreal about the flicker– maybe it was the way the light fell into her eyes, but they seemed to turn almost mechanical when they turned to Alex– no trace of softness, just…well something.

“Showing around my friend.” Alex replied, but there was a heaviness in his voice. No trace of the light, amused, cool tone she knew.

John nodded curtly “I see…”

“We will get going then.” Alex smiled politely, her bag already in his hold, a silent indication that they needed to leave.

For some reason, despite the doubts and the confusion, she did not question him.

—---

John’s hands remained inside his coat pockets— tightly fisted, knuckles paling as he watched them walk away. It should not matter. He told himself. 

Why did it disturb him?

John Wick considered himself a simple man. At least in terms of his needs, his priorities– his business.

So why was this one simple civilian, so intriguing to him? Who had nothing to do with him, or his business. 

John looked away. Admitting that Winston was right. He was fascinated— fascinated by how oblivious she was, fascinated by her perception of the world around her, fascinated by her simple, (comparatively) unproblematic– normal life. Normalcy– something John could not even wish for– but he craved it. He craved it so bad that it ached. Although now, it was a dull, suppressed throb– his childhood was marred with this…ache, this yearning to be another person on the street– mundane, normal, ordinary.

She was so ordinary, simple yet so complex– with layers of emotions and thoughts that her eyes would always give away. It had, for the first time, John’s heart thumping– like he was in the middle of emotions, not above it– and yet, he did not hate the feeling. 

That was perhaps the reason why he had followed her from two days ago– Alex Norton was good, but not good enough to detect John until he did not want to be detected. He was John Wick after all.

They were friends, he could tell and yet, her speaking so freely, laughing with another man had set an unexpected burn in his chest. Even at thus age, this was a question he felt tumultuous about?

He was just observing. 

Just observing.

Then why did it matter if her smile– that seemed like the sun rising on a field of wildflowers— was directed at someone else? Why did it matter that her laughter, that sped up his heart slightly, was directed at some other man?

John could have the answers if he tried, delved deep enough. 

He simply did not want to have the answers.

Turning away, sat himself down on the bench they had been sitting on. Her spot was still warm, and John, though reluctant, admitted to himself that it felt good– closer to something he could never have.

—----

It was supposed to be a simple deed. Shoot and walk away without anyone noticing. But the drug dealer had a good hand with guns and fists. John could feel a bruise blooming on the side of his face as he chased the man. A head that had the prize of two million dollars on it. 

It was not an exclusive contract and he had already fought off one assassin in the pursuit of putting one prized bullet into that dealer’s head. From the corner of his eye, he could see another figure moving past the unsuspecting, ignorant crowd. At least they appeared ‘unsuspecting’. John knew that more or less, people had just grown used to, grown indifferent. 

He moved past people, shoving some out of his way as he—

BANG! BANG!

John cursed, glancing at the man running parallel to him. And like a typical newcomer, he had to have no silencer. That was when the chaos burst out, people scrambled to get away, screaming, crying, running around. John growled in frustration as he chased his target faster.

Enough of this game.

With one bullet from John, the dealer was down. His eyes found the new assassin— cold and steely—  at least the boy had some sense to get scurry away. 

Mingling with the crowd, he walked the panickem— ready to exit. When he saw her.

Her eyes were wide and confused, looking around in panic as people shoved and bumped past her. She almost fell when someone screamed that there was a shooting going on. John did not know when he stopped, just to watch her. He simply observed, and each little expression transfixed him somehow.

John gulped, watching her eyes widen in fear before she ran off too, not even noticing that the bag she carried had dropped on the floor.

Before he knew it, John was moving towards the bag. Picking it up, he dusted it before zipping it open. His eyes wandered through the contents. Maybe he could find a way to return—

His eyes narrowed at the sight of the familiar black card. Blinking, John fished it out of the bag, bringing it to the light.

“Winston…” He whispered to himself.

****

[cogumellow]

Do you use film cameras or film apps? What are your recommendations for both.

Both!

These are taken over the course of 2 decades in which I have used probably over 20 different cameras, both film and digital. Even old digital cameras may produce images that resemble film more than newer cameras.

I wouldn't be able to remember all the cameras I've used, especially the old point-and-shoot film/digital ones. I do know I used to use disposable Kodak ones, and those were always fun. I had at least 2 Canon SureShots and PowerShots, and some Nikon Coolpix digital cameras, as well as various Olympus waterproof ones from the 2000s. But I'm pretty sure every film camera I've ever used has been a Canon. Currently, I shoot with a Canon Rebel G from the 90s (with new lenses), and a Canon AE-1 I inherited when my uncle died. (When I was learning film properly it was on borrowed a Pentax K1000 and Nikon F90 at art school, but that wasn't for very long. Only a few weeks.) If I had the money and need, I would buy a Pentax K1000 or KM, if not a Nikon F(N)90. (I'm never going to afford a Leica or anything like that so I don't even think about it. I'd rather spend it on glass.)

For film, I tend to go with Fuji film C200 only because it's much easier to find where I live (and I like it for landscapes better than some others), although I think I prefer the tones of Kodak Gold (or Portra 400/800) better (for people and urban environments). I'd say Ektar overall but again, where I am, it can be harder to source. And I've used Kodak Ultra Max 400 for like, friends and parties and stuff.

Just depends what I can get my hands on and what I will be shooting.

So, the film matters as much as the camera sometimes. As do lenses. As can your choice of flash (for low light). As can the scanner. Unless you have an incredibly excellent scanner, the photos are always gonna have a more rustic sort of blurry look. (Like mine. I had a decent scanner and still it was not true to life. The built-in scanner I have on my printer now is absolute shit for photos.)

I don't really have a recommendation as they're all sort of different cameras. It really depends how much you want to think and work to compose a shot. (The Rebel G is more beginner-friendly and can be used as a point-and-shoot. And since it's all plastic, it's super light. My workhorse lens is actually heavier than the camera lol.)

For my digital photos, which are a pretty significant number of photos I have posted so far (I don't have a good scanner anymore so I have a backlog of film...), they are all sorts of resolutions and lenses and cameras, some of which don't require any film "apps" to look more vintage.

I'm sorry I don't actually know what you mean by film apps. Like filters? It's not something I'm particularly familiar with. I work in Lightroom. But I wouldn't consider it a film app. (I don't use any phone apps. My only processing is done in Lightroom, usually on my laptop.)

If you mean presets, then yes, I do use those when posting photos here. (Mostly because I know what photo theft is like online, and I'd prefer not to post originals in full quality, which I do make some income from. And for the aesthetic, sometimes.)

The presets I use are my own. There's nowhere I can point you to to download the same ones I use. I have a whole library of my own presets for all sorts of photos I've designed over the years. I'll say the ones I use here usually involve a hell of a lot of grain added, lol. Decreased clarity and texture. Contrast can either be turned up or down, it depends on the original photo. I mean... since I used so many cameras and the photos are in such varying quality and resos, I don't have a set rubric for all. I adjust as I need to get a slightly consistent look. The older the photos, the more grain seems to ruin them.

I love Nikon for digital. It's my go to. I started with Olympus (E-500) but their 4/3rds system was just irritating when it came to upgrading and lenses. I won't say I didn't like Oly, I truly did. But in terms of growth, it was too limiting and the glass was just too expensive for me. I switched to Nikon and never looked back. Mostly because I prefered how Nikon bodies felt in my hands vs. the Canon ones.

I fully recommend any of the Nikon D7000 series for novices, but especially the D7200 as an intermediate camera is still a solid choice even now, and performs really well dynamically. Unless you want to get into full frame and high end print photography, you don't need to go the FX route.

I sometimes still take my old D7200 travelling since it is smaller and I kept most of my DX lenses. It's affordable and the quality is pretty good, and if you're putting your photos through presets anyway, the lack of sharpness or whatever issues you may have will be negligible. I currently use a D850, but I have shot D750, D3, and D5 for professional gigs. I'd love a D5 myself but I'm not making enough money to justify it.

I also have a Fuji X-T100 (mirrorless) but I'm gonna be honest, I don't love it. I find it finnicky, annoying interface, exposure is weird, don't like the colour tones, and lacks some je ne sais quoi that my Nikons have. I bought it to make travel photography easier and find I spend more time deleting all the shitty photos I took rather than being happy with the results. Allegedly, according to like everybody else, it's a great camera. So, tbh, I think it's me. I think I'm the problem. I think I'm also just biased and too stubborn to learn a new system. Nikon is like second-nature to me, any Nikon camera and I can just use it. But Fuji? Idk.

I prefer always to shoot full manual, but I get annoyed with my XT100 since it's all different and I am always forgetting the different menus and button combos to do what I want.

It also has no Lightroom integration for their raw files. (Or at least at the last update I did, they didn't.)

If you want the more vintage look, grabbing a cheap digital camera from the 2000s will accomplish a lot of that. There's a whole subculture now around 00s digital camera photography. And it will often mimic film slightly better because new digital cameras are really "smart", especially phone cameras which basically remove all control from you and automatically apply HDR or what have you. It's very difficult to genuinely mimic film with modern phone and digital cameras due to great sensors (CMOS) and (in camera) processing.

Note: CCD sensors do NOT give you "film-like" photos, no matter what. It's still digital. Really the old P&S digicams are great to remove all the "intelligent" features of new cameras. And when you use on-camera flash, it's like being thrown into the indie sleaze pool immediately lol. I will say, and without doing extensive research, but the moajority of photos you see posted online that say "film" or "i shoot film" are not actually film. They're digital with filters or LR presets applied to give a film look. There are probably 100s of designers of "film presets" to mimic all sorts of film. I tried a few but found they never really worked for me.

I know a lot of people have issues with Adobe Lightroom cos of their new TOS and subscription model, but at this point, I still haven't found a program that works as well for fast, stream-lined processing. (I used to use programs like Corel PSP, but Adobe is so much more powerful. I still have PSP, but rarely use it anymore.)

I don't know if any of this helps! I hope it answered some questions you may have had.

[fountainpenguin]

- Minor progress on "Kisses Full of Broken Glass"

- Spontaneous (and delightful) progress on the next Dog's Life buffer chapter ["Scatter By Sunset"], including changing a few plot points, so I'm intrigued by how it's going. Turns out when I was overwhelmed in October and needed that extra month for Chapter 42, that's because I actually needed 4-5 more chapters in between that and the plot point I was trying to hit :'D Dog's Life is not really what I expected when I started it, but it's my favorite and I like it.

- Sick all day (Visited relatives for two weeks, came home earlier today). Cold, tired, and hurting. Luckily I had nowhere to be except headed home (and when I got home, I was able to watch some YouTube videos and read a 'fic update I'd put off while at relatives'). I had a tasty grilled cheese.

-> I enjoyed Tango and Skizz joking about Skizz cheating on Tango (in his Hungry Hermit minigames team-ups) and in response to Tango getting in his face and yelling "Well, you cheated on me!" Skizz just casually replies things like "I know. It was so good" and Tango falls over laughing, choking out, "It wasn't even like 'No, no- Listen!' It was like, 'Oh baby, it was so worth it; I'd do it again'" and Skizz just falls to pieces, sldkfj... the juxtaposition. Silly. ["Back at Hungry Hermits with Skizz!"]

-> I hope TangoCam became dad to a new pet dog

-> He did not, but I see day-counter lamps

- Super rough outlines for some Neighborhood Watch AU 'fics I want to write (Yesterday, but still liking them today)

- Organized 44 downloaded 'fics today (All the ones from my FFN favorites). Making a collection of URLs next to download links because I prefer reading from webpages, but some of my favorite works have been deleted and I'm glad I can easily access their downloads from my same organizer sheet.

-> Not sure what it says about me that one of my most common filters is "Grief." Oh no.

-> Remembered how much I like some of these short story-driven favorites from my past (This is about SelenP's Fawful-centric pieces, like the one where Kamek and Fawful quest to revive Cackletta and shenanigans ensue, and multiple works of impeccable Kamek characterization... Kamek shouldering through the Koopalings' playroom door and yelling "Hey kids, I've got explosives!" lives rent-free in my head... I adore the Kamek-Kammy rivalry too.

-> Might make another sheet for my own 'fics (with download links) and post it for people to access in case FFN and AO3 go down unexpectedly someday, but not high priority right now (Thankfully)

- I'd like to do more self-indulgent one-shots this year, not binding myself so much to the 130 Prompts or my main AUs. I have a ton of things I didn't submit to Guess the Author that I'd like to finish, plus other one-offs. Mostly secret soulmates & Zombiewood, but. you know who I am.

- Listening to many songs for upcoming chapters, especially something that works for "Scatter By Sunset." Slow progress, nothing's hitting. Might be two too conflicting vibes for one song for this chapter, but at least it's low energy. I really do not want to split this chapter again.

- Mayhaps... song planned for something else could work better for "Scatter"?

-> It does not

- Funny to revisit some songs I'd used for Origin of the Pixies, considering them in a new light for Dog's Life. Don't think they work, but makes me go "Hm."

- So many animatics I itch to do, but it would be such a "small drop" of creation longevity (I presume) compared to what that time can give me for buffer-building chapters, and these 'fics are more important to me right now than drawing niche plot points. Might do some short clips for sillies (24-hour challenge or such)

-> There's a Total Drama scene I've wanted to animate Poof and Foop to for 8 YEARS, but I didn't have a good character to play the third part until Dev

-> "Other Side" is such a good song for the H.P. & Anti-Cosmo drama in Origin and Knots. I've have visions for ages...

-> Sorry for being who I am (Using break-up songs as inspo. for chapters about unrepentant kidnappers)

- Spent too long on this post and songs; tired. Feeling better than last night and hopefully better in the morning.

[inkedmoth]

STORY TIME!

So a few years back I found a song that I absolutely loved, it really resonated with me and a story I was writing for my own world. It was called "Hell or High Water" by the Rescuers. It fit the storyline perfectly, and I was quick to slap it into a playlist for that story, liked it on youtube, all those usual things you do with a new song you like!

But I didn't buy it.

I never buy music, I listen to spotify and youtube and that's all I need. But it was a mistake not to buy this song, because out of the blue a few months ago, that band deleted and removed ALL their songs from the internet.

Gone. Scrubbed overnight and without a word to their social media.

Needless to say that was a little upsetting but after So. Much. Digging. I found an acoustic version of the song from when they'd performed at a small venue. It wasn't the same, didn't have the same resonance or weight, but it was the same tune and lyrics so it would do. I accepted that the song was gone and that I probably wouldn't listen to it in full again.

Until last night.

Last night I decided to google Hell or High Water. It had been on my mind a lot recently, and maybe it was a last ditch attempt to see if there was any news or updates from the band. It had been a few months, maybe there was a development, an explanation as to the lost music, or maybe there was nothing. I wasn't really holding out hope for any changes, but I thought I'd check their socials at least.

I didn't get that far, because the first result was a reddit page.

A group of users were ALSO asking the same question, wondering the same things, discussing the removal in preparation of a musical coming out. The Lost Boys Musical.

BUT a user had found a copy of my missing song, tucked away in the middle of a pirate themed playlist on youtube. It existed! It was real! I'd not dreamt the whole thing up! There was a copy and while it had rigging creaking and water sloshing overlaid, it was THERE!

Now remember it's midnight I'm in bed, with my phone's speaker pressed to my ear grinning like a lunatic. While I'd love to leave a comment there and then, I decided to leave it till morning.

I needn't have bothered.

Because all tucked up in bed, I decided to scroll down to read the comments and to see if any of the reddit users had commented, I found they had! In fact, one had specifically asked the maker of the playlist if they had heard of this songs removal, if they knew anything about the band. Or if they had a copy.

Not only did the playlist maker have a copy, they immediately slapped it into a google drive and posted a PUBLIC LINK!

I've never hit a download link so quickly or so recklessly in. my. life.

But I have it back! I have a copy on my phone and my laptop and now this atmospheric-slightly-too-much-sound-effect playlist, but you know what that is great! Its fantastic! This song was utterly lost and gone but now I have a copy and I'm SO SO HAPPY. I've been listening to it on repeat all morning because I've missed it so much.

BUT WAIT there's more!

The reason this song has been plaguing me so much recently, is because it's a perfect fit to one of my fic plans. The fic, which I intend to call "Hell or High Water", is named for the song. The lyrics fit perfectly to various scenes, the vibe of desperation and determination is a perfect fit. The fic is made for the song and the song is made for the fic, to the point where I couldn't write this without the song, and I'm legitimately considering sneaking the lyrics in here and there to the story. The acoustic version was okay, but it wasn't right, but now I have the original and everything is perfect.

So I'm taking this as a sign, and I'm going to start plotting this fic. And since I'm in such a great mood, I'm also going to share a big chunk of a scene I've already written for it.

I'm so happy.

I'm so looking forwards to writing this, and I can't wait to share it with you guys.

[fantasiacafecat]

I just got done playing everyone's route last night on Seduce Me 2: The Demon War. It was on switch and I realize that they may have changed some parts up on the switch than the original. Because I was doing the naughty scene for Sam and I remember him saying "Maybe I really am a brute" and they basically scrapped. So I decided to ne cutsey and remember I bought the complete story, demon war 2, and the first game before I knew switches existed. I downloaded all three on my chrome book.

Number 1: If I do rewrite all routes for Seduce Me 2 there are gonna be some major changes.

The wives (if I decide to even add them) won't be in the Demon world mostly because they don't bring anything to the story. I'll most likely give them their own moments before Mika is kidnapped. Like Carrie in Jame's route. And they'll be mentioned (example: say Mika gets a couple dogs in Sam's route. When she realizes that they have no one feeding them, Sam would reassure her that one of the wives would be taking care of them.

More serious roles for all of the brothers. And maybe one on one scenes with them (I might make a version where Mika doesn't romance anyone or its the harem version as well because I want to). It seems like only Sam gets to have more conversation with his brothers in his story. And it does kind of hurt my soul that in every route only one brother gets to help kill the Demon lord, their shitty father. I know Sam would probably do anything to kick his ass.

The whole story probably won't be a week long. And there would probably be more Battle scenes. Depending on who you choose as your trainer you might get to be part of some missions, like assassinations with Shadow. Or scouting with Fae. I also don't know how dark and sinister I'm gonna make this story (if I do it). Part of me wants to genuinely traumatize the MC (when do I not).

Number 2: As for the Human Heart routes. I'm almost completely sure it's gonna have a similar plot like with each of the Demon brothers. Unless I was writing very tiny snippets of the relationship between Mika and their human lover, I don't think it'd be interesting enough to make a full fanfic (that's based off a game with magic) that doesn't have magic in it. It would be hard to find out a general enemy or problem for each story. Every single one of the brothers has their own baggage to overcome, James with angels, Erik and Oribel, Sam with Dragon's and returned devil lover, Matthew with his Mother, Damien (but mostly Mika) dealing with his humanity.

So let's say "The Human Heart" generally could start in at least 3 ways.

1. Mika never finds out that she has magic, but she still has some magic in her which causes her to be kidnapped and Mika doesn't know jack shit of what's going on, what demons are, and what to do. A decent 4/10 idea.

2. Mika finds her grandfather journal again, and learns magic at a softer and slower pace. Though when reading she knows that it wouldn't be a good idea to tell her spouse that magic exists (because the book says so). So if she does get kidnapped, her spouse cannot help her. Decent 5 or 6/10

3. Mika finds the journal again, and decides it'd be beneficial to tell her human spouse what magic is (because keeping secrets isn't healthy in a relationship). She gets kidnapped because she has Demon magic, but assuming their human spouse learns what Mika learns. They could come to the Demon World. I like this one the best because it just the least amount of plot holes.

As for whether or not the Demon brothers are in the story. It could also go one of 4 general ways.

1. Just because the boys leave Mika in the first game, doesn't mean Diana was able to convince any of them to return, nor does it mean the boys wouldn't think about seeing Mika in the future. Say they come back to Chicago, only to hear the only Anderson child's been missing for the decent part of the week. 8/10

2. The brothers are part of the rebellion because when Diana convices the brothers to come back. They come back to Diana's kingdom in flames. 5/10

3. The boys never actually leave Mika in the first game, Mika just falls for Naomi/Suzu/Andrew. Mika goes missing before their wedding and the boys do the same thing like in any of the Canon routes. 7/10

4. The boys are not part of "The Human Heart storyline". 0/10

I might post more about the idea for The Human Heart.

[feuqueerfire]

4 Minutes Ep 5 - 6 Live Blogging

Ep 5 (Aug 23)

Coincidentally this started airing on iQiyi the same week I'm on my VIP trial. Downloading it to watch on my phone during lunch (while outside lol not in the office) but I can only get the regular version, not sultrier.

im watching this on my lunch break outside where it is very sunny + on my phone so im ngl that entire first part was just pretty much a dark screen for me.

i still cannot quite comprehend the Great and Tyme relationship.

i also don’t get how Tyme’s parents ended up killed but ok

ah, so Nan was not the female doctor. She was in this and decided to team up with Tyme

Watching Sultrier version: okay Nan's friend Mon did die at the gambling place! I was wondering if we weren't gonna see something happening to Mon that was gonna turn Nan against the gambling place even more.

20 minutes in, gonna watch rest while on the subway home bc the lighting will be fine at least.

Spoilers from twitter: Great is dying, Tyme is possibly dying (smth about them dying after e/o? idk), a screenshot where the user was saying Tonkla killed Title, everything was fake from great’s mind?

Sultrier version: the parents trying to figure out what to do about Great helping Nan get away

ah, he took the money because the company owner greats father was there as was Tyme's grandma

rewatched pre-credit scene and ohh it’s how tonkla got Title in a vulnerable position to probably kill him

Nan went ahead on live and is trying to expose the illegal gambling business

as expected, it seems like the woman who tried to kill herself’s son likely was involved in that gambling pool

lol Fah knew about Korn seeing Tonkla and now wants to put an end to it so that they can get married

what’s even going on with the woman giving away her entire life savings to that guy and premonitions of death

wait, misstress son… so Great is related to the dad but out of wedlock and while he had a different wife?

Also, the treatment of Korn and Great is so different. Korn got slapped by the dad like 2 sentences in, right after he spoke harshly to Great's mom about Great. Great on the other hand is allowed to be rude and confrontational.

oh, the woman sent the killer after Great's mom/the company leaders

why did the 4 minutes thing just happen immediately? Like shouldn’t the guy have shot the gun 4 minutes later?

ah, she died anyway

We're at 11:03 this episode, the time is back after not really appearing in ep 4. On the other hand, barely any Tonkla, just that cold open. More and more curious when and how Tonkla and Great's stories will converge (in bigger ways than just Title and Dome)

The watching experience of this episode left a lot to be desired since I was fr just watching on my screen, barely able to make anything out in the darker scenes because of the sun. Maybe I should rewatch but don't really feel like it.

3 more weeks before it all (hopefully) makes sense, oh man.

Ep 6 (Aug 28)

Using data during my walk outside on lunch break but I barely have any data left so probably won’t be able to watch much hmmm

So what’s the timeline, Win found out about Tonkla being a suspect, slept with him again (after finding out he was cheating), then came to catch him? Or is this in a different timeline? Or is the order of events incorrect? But also lowkey why does it feel like Win kinda gave Tonkla a heads up or something to get him outta there.

Oh, we’re starting from the very beginning but presumably seeing the original timeline events

Ah, Tyme’s elusive ex girlfriend

The shots of Great at the end of the table is so beautiful

god Great is such a dick

no like in DFF Great would have been part of the shitty friend group that bullied Non and got him killed, except it’s even worse because Great killed some woman with his car and helped Title hide a body (and he watched as Title first killed the guy)

ah, Great and Tyme’s original meeting

bro I really can’t see shit in the dark scenes

okay back at home

oh I remember some people saying they probably had a one night stand the first timeline and stuff instead of pursuing a relationship

Tyme bugging Great's room?

oh we are Seeing the lube, that's crazy

oh that's crazy, the camera captured them fucking?

girl what, Tyme is gonna post revenge porn of Great?

he really did post it woah. TymeGreat are truly horrible4horrible

Great's dad is saying that Tyme's parents were the ones who originally started this gambling business (+ that he didn't kill them hmm)

Great's conversation at the dinner with Tyme after the clip... he's crazy fr

The way Great said "Wanna hook up?" is so funny, I actually lol-ed aloud. and what a character he is, asking this after knowing the Tyme initially had sex with him to post that clip bc he's beefing with his dad

Oh, in this timeline, is Korn crueller?

In the original timeline, Great pulls down Tyme's mask after he attacks Korn, rather than Tyme pulling it down himself

Aw man, Nan just died in this timeline and Tyme's has to come to terms with that. I get that Tyme's gonna be grieving and such and he does have a point about Great being able to do something because they wouldn't have shot him but... Tyme knew this was a possibility from the start, right?

Great's mother must die in this version too, right? Or wait actually I guess not because the lady who sent the assassin was actually killed by Great. saved his own mother's life in a round about, killer sort of way actually

Ohh, Tonkla shot Great in the original timeline, the reason he's in the hospital.

Okayyyy interesting episode to get the original ep 1 - 5 events! I wonder what this means for the last two episodes. I think if we were going for a "and nothing was changed, Great dies, Tyme dies" after the changed timeline storyline, then we wouldn't have gotten this episode today. Feels like the next 2 episodes are gonna try to tie original and redo timeline together somehow?

I'm curious and excited, this might've been one of my favourite episodes.

The Great and Tyme dynamic feels so much more grounded and realistic this time around, the way Great wants to hook up while Tyme's like wtf... ?? The rosy original timeline was clearly not quite right. But it again brings into question what even is going on with their romance in the redo timeline because they're not in love here + Tyme kinda hates Great right now, so what's up with such a cutesy romance in their redo thing? I can see it from Great's end but Tyme?

Also Great truly is suchhh a piece of shit. Not even in a bad way. well like bad way obviously because he's a bad person but as a viewer, it's extremely entertaining and compelling.

I think I should rewatch this show on my laptop because there are definitely moments esp last week where I was watching on my phone while outside and it was just too dark to truly see stuff. And maybe I'll notice stuff on a rewatch. Dunno if I should do it this weekend or wait until the week of ep 8 and rewatch in preparation for the finale.