#i have a lot of catching up to do in terms of comparing myself to others but i'm not here for them i'm here for me

[loverboybrightsideghost]

i really do love practicing 🎻

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

complicated feelings about book 7

Hey, hello, hi!!

I’ve been having a lot of thoughts and feelings about the direction the main story is going in ever since 7-100. I wanted to wait until the hype for the book 7 part 9 and anticipating part 10 settled down a bit before I made this post, as I wouldn’t want to impede anyone’s excitement for it—and now that time has come.

While I wouldn’t say I’m being entirely negative or harsh in this post (I’d say I’m being “worried” in my critique at most), I’d caution you to avoid it if you think it would upset you or mess with your enjoyment of the main story, especially knowing that the book 7 part 10 update is coming later in August.

Thank you for your time ^^ and without further ado…

I started to feel iffy about how the story is going around the part Idia wakes up. At the time, I remained optimistic and brushed it off. However, the inkling I had then has since magnified, especially with the recent Scarabia update.

What is that issue with, you may ask?

The dream hopping and waking segments.

They feel so… for lack of a better term, dissatisfying?? Rushed?? I don’t know, but I’m left still feeling like (just as Ariel says) I want more. I was hype when they first happened, but with each new update, I let myself sit with what happened for a few days and, thinking back on it, problems start to arise.

Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT saying that these segments are lame or that they don't make sense. I love being able to delve into the dreams and see a ton of novel yet absurd things, and I love how genius Idia's plan is. It makes sense narratively and I, of course, appreciate being able to see the dreamscapes and the desires of so many beloved characters. BUT... The problems primarily come down to pacing and the overabundance of contrivances.

The set-up itself is elaborate but also keeps piling up more “but also we need to do THIS” details that seem to overcomplicate things or act as red herrings. Silver’s UM itself is already warranting an explanation, then we got Idia’s video presentation, now we have to account for leaving people and hologram projections behind… all for the sake of limiting how many people travel to the dreams because OH YEAH we also need to consider Malleus catching on. It’s contrived for the sake of the narrative giving everyone a chance in the spotlight before the Big Finale. The universe has to dedicate so much time to explaining how this is feasible or why people need to stay behind in order to justify the pacing and to avoid an increasingly growing group from competing for attention. We spent SO long on just exploring Lilia's dream that the shift to waking up all these other characters seems so much quicker by comparison. It's natural that we can only devote so much time to each character (since we have so many students to collect), but it also results in some people feeling very rushed or not fully realized. For example, Epel only gets 5 parts dedicated to his turn-around but Kalim gets 8. This variance naturally occurs as some dreams are less serious than others, but despite this it still leans into some non-OB boys getting more of the spotlight than others. Additionally, we also see very uneven distribution of lines across individual segments. There is so much information crammed into some parts (like 140 and 141) while other parts are pathetically sparse and not much happens.

When it comes to the OB boys, they of course get longer segments than the others, so it doesn't feel as bad. However, I think the OB boys come with other issues... Namely the "resolutions" to their battles against their OB forms. Not only is there a formula to how they are woken up (which makes things less exciting compared to not really knowing what happens in the main story except for OB boy at the end), but there's also a part carved out for them to give a big speech about how they've changed or how they'll move on from the past, etc. This is especially true of Jamil, who probably had the longest speech of the OB boys thus far.

Now yes, I know it's an anime trope to give speeches (particularly for TWST, which primarily tells its story via dialogue). But does it have to be so... blatant??? Like, the OB boys are usually alone or just trapped with their inner darkness in these moments. Who exactly are they announcing their character change to? It does not feel diegetic at all. This is a lot of telling and not as much showing. That contrasts with the character development we saw in book 6; at least there the OB boys were paired up with other people, so there was someone to bounce off of and butt heads with. It feels like they're having a conversation, actually bonding with their peers, and learning from those tough interactions. (In fact, I would argue that book 6 did this growth in a much better paced and more cohesive manner.) In the dreams of book 7, the interactions have to be shared among several other students and they have to be so much shorter as a result of that.

What we’re seeing in book 7 is character growth we already knew about, but told to us in a more overt way. We are not learning anything new. Waking people in book 7 involves a lot of flashbacks to events that already played out, so rather than any real development being made, it's returning people to the state they were in before (since that "change" was in the process of occurring in the real world).

It feels like book 7 is trying hard to follow through with all the promises the earlier books built up to. And, quite honestly, many of these emotional conversations (like Kalim and Jamil shouting at each other about their flaws) NEEDED to happen. I just don't know if this was the appropriate context for it, because it comes off as an ultimatum or an ending to a story that had so much more left to say.

The way these book 7 segments are framed, the students "waking" is meant to mark a pivotal moment in their development. I worry what this means, because the dialogue is very... resolute? Especially for the OB boys. And them announcing how they've changed out loud rather than in a more subtle way (like Kalim saying he is 'frustrated' but not being able to explain why in book 4, Leona saying that Jamil is "not like him" in book 6; implying that there is hope for Jamil but not for himself, etc.)... It gives the impression that this is the "end" of their character arcs, that their growth is now "complete", even if that wasn’t the intention. I don't feel like that's how character development works?????? It's never really "done", it's a continuous and ongoing thing, so the vibes of it feel a little off. I would have liked it more if it were open-ended or at least vaguer. Still hopeful, but vaguer. These are meant to be triumphant moments, yet I don't get that feeling because it's very repetitive at this point. I've pointed out many patterns myself, and that makes future installments VERY predictable and boring aside from the actual dream settings we visit. We have 11 more students to hit up. E L E V E N. That's SO many. Do you realize how far away that is????? I even ran the numbers:

Idia spans 109 - 116 (7 parts)

Epel spans 120 - 124 (5 parts)

Rook spans 125 - 131 (7 parts)

Vil spans 133 - 139 (8 parts)

Kalim spans 140 - 147 (8 parts)

Jamil spans 148 - 157 (10 parts)

That means, on average, it takes 7.5 parts for each character to wake up. With 11 characters left to do, that means we have at LEAST 82.5 parts left (spread across 3 updates, one for Octavinelle, one for Savanaclaw, and one for Heartslabyul). With the current 157 parts out, that means book 7 is going on until at least part like 240... AND WE STILL HAVE A TON LEFT TO WRAP UP, like Yuu going home, Grim OB, Crowley's intentions, the mystery of Raverne’s disappearance, the truth behind Mickey and Yuu’s connection, beating the crap out of OB Malleus, etc. Book 7 is dragging on for a while, and the novelty of each dreamscape can only last for so long before the same old pesky problems creep in again 💀 The pacing is so weird; it simultaneously feels too long and yet also not long enough. Not only that, but because there are so many other characters to collect, it is robbing Diasomnia and Ignihyde of THEIR promised screen time in the second half of the book.

A lesser issue I had was the weird... tonal whiplash? The dream segments are largely silly and they spend a lot of them goofing around with the explanation of having to "investigate" the dreamer's weak point and hitting on that to wake them. (This complaint runs counter to the pacing issues I mentioned earlier; cutting down on the time spent being silly means we'd be rushing the story, but not having silly parts means dragging the story out. It's hard to really balance the two.) Here I am sitting here and thinking 1) there is NO sense of urgency, 2) what a waste of time, and 3) what a wasted opportunity for Yuu.

I'm not a huge game!Yuu fan; I see them as a blank slate for self-inserting, and since I'm not someone who likes to self-insert, Yuu has little to no value to me and just serves primarily as a vehicle to have things exposited to them and as a POV character. But hey, if the story wants to stress Yuu is important and helps these characters change, then why not do it here??????? There's so few times when they actually do something of importance in the main story (with perhaps their most involved points being books 3 and 4, maybe 6 when they took the initiative to go free their friends/rescue Grim).

A lot of it honestly feels like wasted time since most characters outside of the dorm leader do not change in significant way or in less serious manners. It really falls flat because Yuu largely did not do anything to influence those extra characters, let alone the OB boys.

While talking with a friend, they suggested that non-OB boy sequences could have been relegated to vignettes to go with limited story cards (that way TWST could have more banners, assuming one for each character) or as free bonus side-content that unlocks as an optional thing similar to how the collecting wishes worked in Wish Upon a Star; they are not essential. It feels like they were obligatorily thrown in as fanservice before the big closing. The narrative would have still worked and we would get to the point faster if we limited the main story componeny to just the necessary people (Ignihyde + OB boys).

Another potential route: if you insist on hitting up all the characters before the end, why not give Yuu a chance to DO SOMETHING in book 7 since they're the only person in the wake-up crew to have interacted with all these people we're trying to wake up? The only one who has experienced detailed and prophetic dreams associated with the OB boys???? The one who has been tasked with investigating and resolving various students' issues around campus? Why not let Yuu take the lead in discovering the best method to wake each boy up? Then we'd at least get character development on Yuu's part, get to see how Yuu is positively influencing the boys, and it cuts down on the down time of wandering in circles and making no meaningful progress.

Finally, I think the bad pacing messes with Diasomnia the most. Malleus is being shafted in his own darn book, because we have not checked in with him for several tens and tens of chapters. The least book 7 could do is cut back to him at the end of each OB boy’s dreams??? So we can see how he is doing?? But no, we don’t do that and as a result Malleus feels like he’s been sitting around twiddling his thumbs the entire time. And it’s very odd that the first 100ish parts are so Briar Valley lore heavy but then the second 100+ parts so far completely changed it up. Again, all of this contributes to book 7 feeling like choking on content while also weirdly having nothing meaningful to chew on at all.

*takes a deep breath*

Anyway, those are my thoughts 💦 I would like to reiterate that I do NOT "hate" book 7, I just disagree with the pacing and how they've decided to write in waking up the characters for this current stretch of it. It's no doubt a daunting task and I'm sure the writers are all doing their very best... I don't know if the end product managed to achieve what it wanted to for me though. It’s tiring and repetitive (like bouncing up and down on a roller coaster that cannot decide how it wants to go and leaves you no time to recover/catch your breath), and I’m left still feeling unsatisfied and wanting more.

Theoretically, I like the ideas but not the execution of them… I can only hope that the pacing improves for future updates (especially with the Octa update on the way and attempting to shake up the formula by introducing two story SSRs instead of one), or that book 7 can at least end strongly with that final battle.

[thatfreshi]

Little Stars and Such (Astarion x Reader)

It's here, the piercing fic, in which body-modded Tav gives Astarion hella piercings. I made a previous post with his piercing map in case you guys don't know the terms (I basically didn't until yesterday)

Tw - needles, implied sex

Recommended Song: Gregg's Woods - Alec Holowka

For the past couple of days, Astarion has been asking quite a few questions about your piercings. You had adorned your nose and face in tiny pieces of metal, all done by hand. Your little collection has grown over time, most recently with an eyebrow piercing once you settled down in Baldur's Gate once again.

"Do they hurt?"

"Like, when you pierce them? Yeah. You get used to it though. Surprised you don't have any honestly, elves are known for having the most elaborate piercings."

He stays silent for a moment, and you realize he wouldn't know that.

"Wasn't exactly a thing Cazador just let us do. Body modifications were mostly limited to demonic scars and being cut up for fun."

"Right... sorry."

"Don't be."

The conversation ended pretty abruptly, but picked up the next day while you were swapping out your nose ring.

"Do you ever get scared that your little ring will get caught on something and rip out of your nose?"

A sudden question, but a welcome one.

"I mean, sometimes, but not many people are that close to my nose. Unless you're planning on ripping out my piercing?"

You eye him suspiciously and he smirks.

"Oh, I would never."

This goes on for days, little prodding questions about all your accessories. One morning, while the two of you are lying in bed, you catch him staring at the helix on your ear.

"Astarion do you... do you want a piercing? Because I can do them. I mean I did these to myself."

"I've been thinking about it. I'm just a little nervous is all."

"Why my love?"

"I mean, I've never really had the freedom to do what I want with my body, in a lot of ways. That's one of those things I never got to explore, all the body modifications people are oh so familiar with. I suppose I could've done one with an embroidery needle if I was desperate, but that's just not something I had the liberty to think about."

You move a strand of hair out of his eyes.

"Well, you have the freedom to do whatever you want now."

"Then perhaps I'd like a couple."

"A couple? You don't wanna start with one?"

"Nonsense! One would be sad and pathetic, and we know I am a man of extravagance."

"Alright, if you insist."

You then grab a notebook sitting on the bedside table, and begin to draw out a plan for his piercings. Astarion insists that he only wants them on his ears, because he doesn't want anything to ruin his perfect face. As you're sketching, you continue to talk.

"You know this is gonna suck, right? Since your ears are so sensitive?"

"Sensitive? What makes you say that."

You blankly stare at him until he gives up.

"Okay fine, but I'm sure it can't be that bad!"

"I don't know. I mean I'm going to stab multiple holes through your ears. You barely like them being touched."

"I've been through enough pain. Nothing compares to jagged cuts in your back, I promise."

There are many moments like that, where he says something tragic that you just can't bring yourself to argue with. Without another word, he curls up against you, and the two of you discuss the options he has. Eventually, you settle on five on each side, because he INSISTED they be symmetrical.

"Tav, what kind of idiot would I look like if I had one ear with a bunch of shit on it, and one just, empty?"

"I guess you're not wrong."

He decides on two helixes, two lobe piercings, and a daith. You're a little surprised that he's going all out on this, but you don't mind. Everyone has that thing that lets them feel free, the thing they finally do to show the world 'I'm my own person.' Besides, if he didn't like them he could simply let them heal back up, forget this ever happened.

You go to grab your little makeshift piercing kit, full of fine needles you've collected over time, just in case you ever lose some.

"Now, you'll have to wear some of mine since you don't have your own earrings yet, but I'm sure you won't mind because my collection is amazing."

He sits up in bed, his shirt sleeve softly draping off his shoulder. If he could still be in the sun, you'd imagine a beam of light coming through the window right now, illuminating his face. You sit beside him, gently placing the box of needles by your feet.

"Alright, I'm gonna walk you through this as I do it, and if you want to stop at any time we can."

"Thank you my love."

The thought crosses your mind, that he'd probably not let any other soul on the planet do this kind of thing. Any time he's let someone else have control over his body, it's been riddled with sin and scars. But you? You've always been kind, soft, present. That's one thing he loves most about you, that he feels like he can be present. Not drifting off somewhere else, not closing off his mind to defend himself, not playing a chess match in his head. It's, easy. Life is easy now, and isn't that something wonderful?

"Alright, we're gonna start on the lobe. You feel the needle?"

You hold it lightly against his ear, and he shivers a little.

"Mhm."

"Alright, don't tense, but it's gonna hurt."

You hear the air escape through his teeth as the needle goes through. A pretty clean job if you do say so yourself.

"Well?"

You put in a dangling gold moon, waiting to see how he feels.

"Painful, but not horrible."

"Want to go again?'

"Of course."

He says it a little suggestively, and you give him a playful push.

"Save it for later imp."

You continue with his piercings, taking small breaks in between for conversation. You've continued adorning his ears with astral-themed jewelry, little stars and such. By the time you've finished the last one, you're quite pleased with your work. Astarion almost doesn't let you put the last earring in since he's so excited to see what you've done. He had Gale teach him mirror image a while ago, so he could finally see his reflection whenever he wanted. After casting it and giving his ears a look, he smiles.

Astarion laughs at your comment, giving one of those genuine smiles you used to rarely see. You silently curse the people that took that smile from him, wondering how anyone could see this specimen and torment him. He's like a pixie, a little trickster, someone you could pick up and hold forever. You know you're probably the only one who sees him that way, the only one who would call him cute, but he is. He enjoys it, being viewed as something that isn't devious or sexual, but a bright presence. You told him once how it's ironic that he can't be in the sun, because he was probably sunnier than the sun itself. He'd never let you tell anyone else that though.

"I... I think I quite like them."

"I do too. It's fitting."

You plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Worth the pain?"

"Most things are my love. Like you."

His hand meets your face, taking you into a deep kiss. When you break away, you whisper in his ear.

"I think they make you sexier too."

A chuckle under his breath, lips meeting again, and the morning is soon wasted away in bed. What a joy, to wake up every day with him, with someone living their life anew. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Neither of you know, but it's exciting none-the-less.

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

TOM GLYNN-CARNEY TALKING ABOUT KING AEGON II TARGARYEN FOR MAGAZINE UPROXX.

AEGON IS EQUAL PARTS DANGEROUS AND PATHETIC THIS SEASON. WHICH TRAIT DID YOU LEAN INTO MORE?

"I really wanted to find every color possible to his palette."

"I wanted to make him as intricate and as complex as he deserves, I think."

"And yeah, we see lots of different flavors."

"We see a vulnerability to him this time."

"We see desperation."

"I think people can call him a villain as much as they want."

"I think he thinks he’s a tragedy — just a desperately sad story in a physical form."

THERE ARE SO MANY AEMOND APOLOGISTS, BUT WHO'S REPPING FOR AEGON?

"This has been the story his entire life."

"He’s seen as weak, he’s seen as pathetic."

"Just someone give him a hug for crying out loud!"

AEGON CERTAINTLY HAS A BIGGER ROLE TO PLAY THIS SEASON WHICH REQUIRES MORE FROM YOU THAN IN SEASON ONE. WERE THERE ANY SCENES/MOMENTS YOU WERE UNSURE ABOUT TRANSLATING FROM THE SCRIPT TO THE SCREEN?

"Every scene I did, I didn’t know how it was going to pan out, and that’s kind of the way I like to go about playing Aegon."

"There’s no part of me that wants to have a preconceived idea of how the scene’s going to play."

"It lends itself to the way he is personality wise."

"He’s very impulsive."

"He doesn’t think things through very much, and I always like to catch myself off guard and surprise myself in those scenes."

"For me, that’s how I find authenticity in a moment."

"And that just means it’s different every time, and they can just choose which one they like."

"I don’t deal with the cut."

THERE'S A TRANSFER OF POWER BETWEEN AEGON AND OTTO IN EPISODE TWO. HOW IMPORTANT WAS THAT CONFRONTATION IN TERMS OF THE REST OF THE SEASON?

"Massive."

"We start to see ’em pull back the reins."

"We start to see ’em take a bit of control and use his authority and put people in their place when they need to be put in their place."

"He finds it stimulating."

YOU FINALLY GET TO RIDE A DRAGON THIS SEASON. DID YOU GET ANY TIPS FROM YOUR CASTMATES WHO'VE DONE IT ALREADY?

"It was actually, surprisingly straightforward."

"If you’re doing a full day up there, then yeah, you’re going to be tired."

"We had a lot of sort of strengthening and conditioning work that we’d keep doing, just so we had a pretty healthy baseline in terms of our physical strength and capabilities."

IF YOU COULD PLAY AEGON'S THERAPIST FOR A DAY WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE HIM?

"Be patient with himself."

"Stop comparing."

"Stop being jealous."

"Give yourself a break and go on holiday."

SO MUCH HAPPENED OFF SCREEN BETWEEN SEASONS ONE ANE TWO. IT TOOK YEARS TO FILM. THERE WERE STRIKES. HOW DID THAT EFFECT THE CAST AND THE VIBES ON SET.

"Yeah, you’ve got tunnel vision while you’re making this show and that’s how we like it."

"I think you sort of buckle down and stay in the zone and stay focused."

"Try and get as much sleep as you can."

"It takes its toll, but we all welcome that with open arms."

"It’s one of those kinds of once in a lifetime opportunities to be a part of a show like this and to play characters like these."

"We’re all very aware of that, and we’re all very grateful to be in the position we’re in, getting to bring these characters to life and share this fucking cool story with so many lovely fans."

IS THERE A LESSON YOU'RE LEARNED FROM FILMING THIS SEASON THAT YOU'LL TAKE WITH YOU INTO THE NEX PHASE OF YOUR CAREER?

"That’s a good question."

"I’m kind of still working that out."

"I’ve only been doing this [acting] for, well, eight years, really, so I’ve not had a great deal of experience."

"I feel like the responsibility to play a pivotal part in a project like this takes its toll, stamina wise, and you just need to make sure that you can keep up with the rhythm of everything."

"But I think taking your breaks where you can get them, surrounding yourself with people you love and trust as you’re doing it, you can be quite delicate in the process."

"And yeah, stay away from social media."

[usmsgutterson]

Hi! Can I request a kenji x fem!reader where kenji is always confident and bold but with the reader he’s always nervous cause he likes her and she’s oblivious, plus a fluffy love confession. Thank you so much!!

Coffee- K.K x fem! reader

hi! I am SO SORRY for how late this is releasing--I had a really shitty august in terms of motivation and then the first day of september devolved into the worst day of the past few months very quickly, but I am determined to write all of my requests and give myself a bit of downtime before the fall event releases three fridays from now!

I did end up doing part of this in the headcanon format because it's just easier on me mentally right now, but I did turn the love confession into a fic because doing that in that way made sense to me where describing the lead up didn't, which I hope makes up for the fact that I chose to write it the way I did! I hope you enjoy and again, I am so sorry for the delay with this.

Fic type- this is just. there is so much fluff.

Warnings- hints at a coffee dependency, a mention of the reader constantly feeling the need to be productive even on days off (the reader says that they need to learn that days off can be used to rest, and says that it's not funny anymore) and a mention of Elton Johns book "Me" if that also counts.

okay, so!

Juliette notices it first

She sees how Kenji becomes around you and then she and Warner compare it to how he is with other people

there's a lot of "he's a dick when he's around everyone else," and "He likes her! That's really sweet! Oh, we should get them together."

Juliette Ferrars would be the ultimate wing woman and you cannot convince me otherwise

Meanwhile, every time someone points out something nice about you Kenjis entire attitude is like: "yeah she's pretty. like really pretty. like effortlessly pretty. and I love the sound of her voice. and the way that her eyes look in the sun. and what of it??"

and then he's like "am I falling in love?? is this what love is??" five or six weeks into the crush

Ten or eleven weeks and he's accepted it but has moved into the "she'll never like me back," stage.

Meanwhile, every damn time he smiles at you your heart starts racing and you just kind of freeze up a little, but you're at the same place he is--you don't think he likes you back and that he never could.

there's even a point where, standing next to you and able to sense your emotions, Warner just goes "hm. You and Kenji are looking at each other and feeling the same lovey-dovey feeling."

to be fair to you, you were a few glasses deep into the white wine and every time you looked at Kenji all you could focus on were the depths of his eyes. we're blaming the drunken haze for your obliviousness in this instance

There comes a point, as there always is with falling in love, where Kenji feels like he'll be single and forever alone unless he tells you how he feels, so he decides to do it.

Kenji finds you in the living room of your townhouse early on a Saturday morning, the townhouse having been a spot you'd coveted as it had belonged to a relative before things took off with the Resistance and everyone was still living within the sectors and under the rule of Aarons father. Juliette and Aaron had insisted you take it with the return of democracy and, selfishly, you had.

You were in a sweater that Kenji had forgotten he'd given to you at one point or another, a pair of sweatpants, and had a throw blanket draped loosely over your legs, a book in hand and the lamp on to allow yourself a bit of light to read.

"Hey," Kenji had greeted, the nerves kicking in before he'd had the chance to stop them. "Catching up on some reading, I see. What's the book?"

"A memoir by a guy who used to sing a lot?" You said, glancing at the cover again. "Elton John. His autobiography. It's a decent read so far, so I'll be sticking with it, which is nice. Loads of books were burned by the Reestablishment but I found this one in the physical library."

"The libraries are being reopened? That's incredible," Kenji said. "Also, how on earth can you be tired right now? It's barely seven in the morning and you're typically up with the sun as it is."

"I am allowed to be tired," you said defensively, throwing a throw pillow at Kenji and letting the book sit, somewhat forgotten in your lap.

"Did Juliette and Warner ask you to look after their dog yesterday?" Kenji asked, catching the pillow and throwing it back at you with a laugh.

"Gardening," you said. "I was gardening during the morning, and then Juliette and I took a walk that ended up being three fucking hours long, and then I offered to walk their dog. I need to learn that days off can be used to rest. It's not funny anymore."

Kenji laughed at you lightly, coming to sit next to you on the couch. "I have something to confess," he said.

"Do all of your confessing," you responded. "As long as you promise to make me coffee and give me a--strictly platonic, as Winston would grudgingly point out if he were here, while Brendan looked at me like I was an oblivious fool--forehead kiss."

Kenji laughed, wrapped an arm around you as you pressed your head against his shoulder.

"I'm in love with you," he said. "I am so in love with you, in fact, that every time I see you I become a bashful idiot, to use Warners words."

You grinned, part of yourself giving way to disbelief as you looked at him.

"And you came here, and you told me this at seven am?" You asked. "I mean, I love you too, Kenji, so much so that thinking of you while I'm meant to be working renders me nearly useless--seven in the morning? When I'm tired and I spent a solid fifteen seconds complaining about how yesterday was, when, aside from the foot pain from all of the walking, it was actually an amazing day?"

"Yep," Kenji said, popping the p with a shrug of his shoulders. "I love you and your complaints."

You grinned a bit more, let your eyes flutter closed as Kenji pressed a kiss to your forehead.

"I'm going to make us coffee," Kenji said, his lips ghosting near your forehead. You decidedly didn't care about the coffee anymore--just wanted to be with him, but you didn't say it. On days like that one, Kenji was typically just as coffee reliant as you were.

You let Kenji go, opening your eyes and going back to your book as you realized that you were still grinning.

You found yourself unsure that you'd ever stop, but when you felt another kiss dropped to the back of your head and an "I love you," whispered near your ear, you found that it was something you didn't mind as long as Kenji was with you.

[charles-leclerc-official]

hello! can I ask if you have any list of accounts you trust when it comes to f1 data? i noticed there are accounts who come to different conclusions with things like race pace data, and i guess it's their methodologies that differ... i don't want to be misled if somehow there's bias.

So I have a few.

First I want to say that no account is perfect and sometimes mistakes are made etc. So always keep that in mind.

I really like @/F1telemetrydata they do good work and just process the numbers and I think their graphs are also presented in a way that's a good representation of the data.

But yes this is an issue I see in Twitter data accounts all the time. Bias can be present in data accounts, even if it looks like it's just numbers. Very often they cherry pick data and present things in bad faith to make one driver look significantly better than another. I think it's usually pretty obvious when they are doing this.

And this is also a broader issue in statistics as well. Choosing the data to sample and how to present it can be a big issue and can easily be used to mislead people who do not know how the math works and how data should be presented.

If you are really wanting to combat bias I highly suggest looking at the raw data. Does it confirm what people are saying? Things like race pace and speed are pretty easy to pick up just by looking at the raw lap times. Processing it into graphs is nice and makes it easier to see the differences but the raw data does tell the truth.

Raw data sources F1 tempo Pitwall

Also be aware of what is helpful to compare. Sometimes we can compare stats but are they good things to compare? Do they tell us anything useful that a team might care about?

I also want to say that sometimes people and even analysts get terms wrong. I see people swap terms like race pace and speed all the time and those are different things. They are connected but they are different.

Speed would be single lap time Race pace is average lap time

You can get one really good flying lap in a race but then be slower than your teammate the rest and have severe drop offs in speed due to poor tyre management.

Also data really is only one part of the story of a race. Context always matters. Saying X was faster than X without mentioning that one driver had damage beyond their control is a bad faith comparison. The raw data would show a driver being faster, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

So a big thing is to pay attention to who tries to put things into context and who does not. When I put things into context myself and do comparisons I try to always pick a driver's best performance during a race etc. It usually helps make my point either way. For example any reporter or data analyst who did a comparison of Charles' pace to Carlos or any other driver from Bahrain and did not mention Charles serious mechanical issue with the brakes I do not trust. That is a case where even doing that comparison isn't really useful because a mechanical issue means the data is flawed. A lot of accounts and reporters just did a raw comparison without taking that into account and anyone who watched the race can tell that is in bad faith.

It is a fallacy to believe that the data tells 100% of the story. It doesn't. If someone looked at just the data from a race they would probably make very different judgements and assumptions than someone who did.

For example in Miami someone just looking at the data would go "Oh Oscar really lost a lot of pace on his second stint. He needs to work on his hard tyre pace." But someone who watched the race would know that Oscar's slower pace in the second half of the race was due to the fact he was battling with Carlos and then took damage. They'd know that his pace after that is not fully reflective of what his pace would be without damage, as well as the overall quality of his driving.

Again remember no one is perfect. I am not perfect and make mistakes/overlook something/fail to catch something altogether. A lot of data accounts are just one fan who loves the sport and wants to do math.

I prefer accounts that just process the raw data without editorializing(ex pointing out one driver against another) just show me the graphs etc, that's a very neutral way to do it.

You have brought up a broader issue in statistics. Like different ways of processing data, what to include vs exclude etc That is a big thing in all stats. And some people know how to massage numbers to fit an agenda. This happens all the time(especially in any kind of political data presentation)

I think the best thing is to be aware of bias, learn how to spot it, and then take it into account alongside the information someone is telling you. That's simple on paper but sometimes it's tricky in practice.

I realize this post has turned into a mini lecture on stats fallacies etc and I probably didn't need to say all of that, but hopefully it's educational to someone.

Numbers don't lie, but they sure do like to do loopty loops with the truth sometimes.

[zoobiefish]

Yo! So I’ve unfortunately fallen behind by nearly a week for Auctober because I’ve been travelling abroad this past week…whoopsie-daisy! So here’s a little catch-up post!

Day 13: Vivid Imaginations

This one is very true for me! For some reason there’s a big stereotype that Autistic people are incredibly unimaginative. But once again: We’re a spectrum! Some of us may not have the most vivid imagination or may not be the “creative type,” and that’s okay! But I do find that quite a lot of us tend to be very imaginative, artsy, creative etc. My imagination is so vivid that I can practically see an object I’ve imagined in grear detail and can visualize it as if it’s in 3D space. Sadly…this doesn’t make me any better at drawing 😝 Regardless of my skill level though, I’ve always had a passion for the arts. I love to draw, paint, write stories, write poetry, and I used to dabble in playing the piano as well! One of my coping mechanisms I’ve had since childhood has been to retreat into the fictional worlds I’d created in my mind. I do this to this day in my late twenties.

Day 14: Hyperfixations

So, I often see the word “hyperfixation” used interchangeably with “special interest.” (The latter is often shortened to “spin,” which I love!) My understanding is that hyperfixations are more common in ADHD and refer to intense, almost obsessive interests that last a shorter amount of time than a spin. A spin, on the other hand, is more common in Autism and is essentially the same as a hyperfixation but generally lasts longer—anywhere from years to one’s whole life. That was my understanding of the terms, but I of course could be very wrong! I do have both Autism and ADHD however, so I do experience both hyperfixations and spins. My spin that I’ve had my ENTIRE life was The Legend of Zelda. It’s my all-time favourite videogame series and it means so, so much to me. I always related to the main protagonist Link, whom I’ve headcanoned as being Autistic for years! A spin I had for years was Japan, and I taught myself a lot of Japanese from childhood until I graduated high school. It’s not so much a special interest anymore, though I’m still making an effort to learn the language, culture, and I would still very much like to visit Japan some day! 🇯🇵 A few years back, I had a hyperfixation on plague doctors of all things! I still think they’re interesting, but it was definitely a little more of a fleeting interest. Of course, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t resurface—hyperfixations often do resurface for me hehe! One of my current most prominent spins right now is Puritan New England. Recently on my trip abroad, I visited Boston and Salem Massachusetts and I was SO hyped!! I need to clarify that my interest in the Puritans is NOT at all due to any support for colonialism—I am staunchly anti-colonialism. I just have a morbid fascination with fanatical religious groups and their history. I usually compare it to people who have an interest in true crime—just because they’re interested in the subject, doesn’t mean they support serial killers or anything like that. Hope that makes sense!

Day 15: Pebbling

Awww, pebbling! One of my favourite things about the Autistic community and the neurodivergent community in general! For those who don’t know, the term “pebbling” comes from something penguins do when selecting a mate: they will find a rock they think is pretty and give it to the mate they’re interested in as a gift! Autistic people often do this too (though not necessarily in a romantic context; I mean, probably in that context too, but often we do this with friends!) Autistic people might see somehing they think is really cool, neat, or interesting, and give it to someone they like to share in the fascination. This is our little bonding ritual and it shows that we really like you, so feel honoured! I don’t do much pebbling myself, or at least maybe not as frequently as some Autists. But on the occasion I do, it’s usually a craft item I’ve made for that person! For example, when I made a new friend last year at uni who was also Autistic and has a spin with skeletons and spooky things. So, I made them a skull magnet out of fuse beads! (They loved it!) I recall back in high school as well, there was a time I was making like a bajillion origami butterflies for an art project I was doing at the time. I made a few extra, so I just gave everyone in my friend group an origami butterfly! 🦋

Day 16: Autistic Pride

I have always found it odd when people treat my Autism diagnosis as if it’s a tragedy. Yes, I won’t deny that it has caused me much hardship and sometimes I do think it’d be easier to be neurotypical. But if I wasn’t Autistic, I wouldn’t be me. I wouldn’t be infinitely curious with an insatiable appetite for knowledge. I wouldn’t be creative in my particular way. I wouldn’t have my unique sense of humour that everyone in my life seems to enjoy. I don’t think I would have the compassion for others and love of the world that my peers know me for. I just wouldn’t be the same person. I love being a divergent thinker and having a perspective on the world that is entirely my own. I may have difficulties and need a lot of help with certain things, but I’ve accepted it and I accept myself. I love being Autistic, and I have no interest in a “cure.”

Day 17: Repetition

I am known for being very repetitive—probably to an annoying degree. Sometimes it’s embarrassing too 😭 For example, I’ll find a joke far funnier for far longer than most people. By the time everyone is over the funny joke, I’ll still be unable to contain my laughter. I can’t help it, I’m sorry!! I also tend to repeat quotes from my favourite shows, movies, games etc. over and over again. Often with little to no context as well LMAO

Day 18: Self Regulating

Self regulating for me usually means stimming, fidgeting, or, if trying to prevent a meltdown, shutting the blinds/curtains, hiding under a blanket, putting headphones on etc. Sometimes the world is just too much for anyone—but when you’re on the spectrum, it’s like that more often. It’s hard for me to convey just how intense my sensory issues are to non-Autistic people. The best way for me to explain it is…imagine if your eardrums were *outside* of your ears. Or if, like a camera, the exposure (amount of light let in) was turned up to the max in your eyes. Or you know that one itchy sweater you hate? Imagine if almost every kind of fabric you tried on bothered you like that. It’s like all your senses are just…turned up to the absolute maximum. This is why we stim. Why we wear sunglasses sometimes even indoors. Why we wear headphones or earplugs. The world is loud, bright, and constantly coming at you. Let us self regulate. Doing so will make you a great friend to an Autistic person ❤️

That’s all for now, I hope to have a drawing or other form of art for the next prompt! Until then, I’m drained from writing all that and from travelling. I got a plane back to Canada to take soon. Bye bye!

[thunderbottle]

Top 10 (or 5) fandoms you’ve been in?

Ranking is mostly vibes based no one yell at me. Also if you remember my old account for sanders sides no you dont also shhhhh

10. Voltron (being in this fandom shaved decades off my life but at least it got me to draw every day for months on end. worst online fan space i have ever experienced. i didnt even really watch the show because i liked fan-made stuff better. dont do this.)

9. Deep Space 9 (i would list all of star trek here but shes the most important to me so. i love u deep space nine. Very warm little plave in my heart. Never got into online spaces tho so i never really felt like part of the fandom)

8. Penumbra Podcast (society if the penumbra podcast was more popular and i got to pump more fanart and fanfiction directly into my veins. I still need to catch up on a lot of it but god what a fun series. I still recommend it frequently)

7. Sherlock BBC (this would be ranked higher (my first real fandom, my first fanart, my first fanfiction, etc etc etc) if it all hadnt crashed and burned so bad. I still have really fond memories of it all tho. and the series is still fun to watch)

6. The Magnus Archives (great series. i got into it at the perfect time. life changing shit. i just wasnt super active in the online fandom which i always regretted. i wasnt confident enough to jump in and play with everyone else)

5. Dan and Phil (dan and phil :3 i love)

4. Homestuck (homestuck :3 i love)

3. Sanders Sides (this is some real tbottle lore but my first popular fanart on tumblr was sanders sides (on a different account) and i got to talk to other fans a lot and it was very fun. Some of the worst years of my life but this funny little webseries made it better and gave me a true, deep passion for drawing.)

2. MCYT (the passion i got for drawing from sanders sides got focused like a fuckin magnifying glass. i got into philza's hardcore stuff my first year of art school and dsmp the second. and tbh i think i would never have reached the level of skill i have now without them. like cmon. in terms of sheer life improvement not much compares)

1. Supernatural (this show kept me from killing myself in middle school and high school so that compares actually. nothing will ever beat supernatural. ever)

[umgeorge]

george russell is interviewed during the press conference on media day, netherlands [part 2/2] - august 22, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Journalist: "David Croft, Sky Sports F1. George, I think Logan's cap isn't as good as the pink cowboy hat you were wearing at Wembley, to be fair. But I don't want to talk Taylor Swift. I want to talk the last ten races of the season. I know you touched on it a bit, but what can Mercedes do in the position that you're in? How good is your car now compared to McLaren, compared to Red Bull, and have you thought about the Constructor's Championship, as a team, at Brackley?" George: "Well, for sure. Yeah, there are lots of people back at base looking at the championship, because this is what we're fighting towards, but it's no secret whatsoever that we want to fight for championships, and to get there we just need to keep on evolving this car, keep on improving, keep on working hard. And I think with the regulation going into next year, for all of the teams, it's just going to be an evolution of what we see this year, so we want to continue that improvement. I think right now McLaren have probably still got the best car on the grid. They seem consistently up there, every track they go to. The swings in performance from Red Bull are quite surprising to all of us, I think. I don't think anybody would have anticipated that after the first four races, myself included. And I think we're optimistic that we can have some more strong performances. I'm full of excitement and motivation to try and get some more wins under our belt, but for me the priority is making sure we have the best car possible by the end of the season and going into next year to really mount a challenge." Interviewer: "Thank you, George. Right, next one, please. Yes." Journalist: "I'm Tamira and I work as a kids reporter for Sky Germany, and I have a question for George. Who should play you in a movie?" George: "Who should play me in a movie? Oh, my goodness. You really put me on the spot there. Who do you think should play me? I need some inspiration. People say I've looked a bit like Cillian Murphy. I don't quite see the correlation. I don't know if it's the hair, maybe." Journalist: "In what role? Peaky Blinders?"

George: "Peaky Blinders. Yeah, I do love Peaky Blinders. So yeah, I say Cillian Murphy." Tamira: "Okay!" Interviewer: "Alright, thank you for that. Any-" George: "Thanks for the question." Interviewer: [laughs] "Any more questions? Yeah, Felix." Journalist: "Felix Gerner, RTL Television. Question to George: George, what do you think? Who has the best chances this year to beat Max, in terms of the championship?" George: "Yeah, I think at the moment there's only one driver. It's probably Lando who can beat Max in the championship. They obviously had such a incredible start to the season. But who knows? With the number of races we have… Lewis and I were talking this morning about when he first started, I think there were seventeen races in the season, so there would have only been three more to go from this point in, and the season would have basically been over already, so there's still lots of opportunity. But personally I don't see anybody catching up with Max and Red Bull, in normal circumstances. They have an exceptional lead. It's just we've been used to crazy dominance in the last two years." Interviewer: "Thank you, George." Journalist: "Mara Sangiorgio, Sky Sport Italy. A question to George: George, are you ready to welcome near you Kimi in 2025? Do you think it will be a big change for you two, personally?" George: "Kimi Räikkönen? Sorry?" [journalists laugh] Sangiorgio: "Kimi Antonelli, you know." George: "He's the F2 driver, right? [laughs] No, I think whoever's going to be my teammate next year, of course we'll welcome them, and excited for the challenge together. Kimi's an exceptional driver, such an amazing track record in his junior series; always destined to be a Formula 1 driver, and if it were to be him I think it sort of shows the strength, also, of the Mercedes junior program and reminds me a bit of my journey, starting off as a young kid, walking through the doors in Formula 3 and climbing the ladder. And it'll be a great story for the team, but who knows?" Interviewer: "George, how much contact have you had with Kimi Antonelli?"

George: "Yeah, I mean, I see him every time he's racing F2. We always keep a close eye on how he's getting on, watching all of the races. We did a test together in Silverstone a couple of months ago, so that was a great opportunity for him to get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car. He was exceptionally fast, so I'm sure if he were to get a drive in Formula 1, I'm sure he'd do a great job." Interviewer: "Thank you. Yup, next one." Journalist: "Roldan Rodriguez from DAZN, Spain. A question to George: You have done a very good first part of the season, extremely fast, but good drivers always try to improve themselves, I mean, be better. I would like to know you as a driver, where are you trying to improve yourself to be even faster?" George: "Yeah, I think qualifying this year has definitely been a real strength of mine. I feel that I've been driving faster than ever, and I think a lot of that's down to being in a really great place, psychologically. I've worked a lot in making sure, when I arrive into Q3, how to deal with all of that pressure when you're going to do a lap, and I think that's been great. I still think I want to improve a little bit with… Well, I was going to say tire management, but obviously last race was pretty good. But tire management is something, having Lewis as my teammate, I've learned a huge amount on, and I think he was always the very best in race pace and getting the most out of that. So just very small details to make the difference." Interviewer: "Thank you. Yep." Journalist: "Moritz Steidl, Servus TV. A question to George: Toto always mentions that there is a no finger-pointing culture at Mercedes. What happened at Spa is something the driver is not in charge of. How did you deal with that and how did you discuss this internally? Like, how did you react when they told you, 'Okay, you will lose the victory'?" George: "I'd been pushing the team for a long time to keep pushing the boundaries. If you take margin in everything you do, you'd never be disqualified, you'd never make a mistake while driving, you'd never spin off. But you'd never know what the true potential is. And of course it's very frustrating that the one time in three years we've been just under the weight limit was the race we won, but there's zero hard feelings because we're in this together and it will make us stronger for the future. And that race I lost 25 points, but in my mind that is still a win. I've kept my helmet and it's going to be going on my bedside table with my other two victories. And, as I said, those celebrations I had with the team in that moment straight after were some of the best feelings of my career, so I'll only take positives from what happened." Interviewer: "George, you want the team to push the margins, but are you asking for them to give it a little bit more margin this weekend?" George: "I don't think you need to take more margin. I think the processes weren't quite in place to cover all the different scenarios. I knew before the race I was a little bit light, but it was too late to make a substantial change without eating a steak or something, which was [laughs] probably not the best pre-race routine. But there are things that now with the benefit of hindsight, we can do better and we will be doing better moving forward and, as always, you need to make a mistake first until you recognise there's a problem." NOT SHOWN (transcript taken from FIA website):

Journalist: "Carlo Platella, FormulaPassion.it. Question for George about the new floor that you tested on Friday in Spa. What was your feedback and are you going to use it again here?" George: "Yeah, I'll be using it tomorrow morning. Lewis will be on the floor from Spa, but we see no issues with that. I think we were uncompetitive on Friday in Spa for different reasons, and this is the challenge when you bring upgrades to the car. There's thousands of reasons why you may be competitive or you may be uncompetitive. This was one factor, but it wasn't the factor of the lack of performance on Friday. So 99% will be proceeding with the new updates on both cars this weekend." Journalist: "Rodrigo França, Car Magazine Brazil. George, Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari got wins, and everybody expected a Red Bull dominant season. Did this happen because the three teams got a bit improved the performance with upgrades, or maybe Red Bull lost some performance and stayed in the same level?" George: "I think definitely ourselves and McLaren have moved forward, and when you look at the gap to the teams lower down the order that is definitely very clear. So I don't necessarily think Red Bull… I think they've made a small step backwards with the upgrade they brought, but I think the upgrade we have been bringing to the car was a bigger step forward than we've seen on any other team. So let's see what the next upgrades bring, and hopefully it's more of the same." Journalist: "Stijn Keuris, Panorama. Also a question for George: Do you think that Mercedes' past experience of winning has helped the team getting back to the front of the grid, and maybe also taking most of the opportunities that have been given that other teams may have let slip?" George: "Yeah, without doubt. Mercedes have a team filled with winners, and I think James Allison has said it before: you don't just forget how to build a fast racecar. You encounter problems, you may make a mistake in trying to rectify that, but the team at Mercedes have not just forgotten how to win races. And the same as Lewis has won so many races in Formula 1, won races in junior categories… You don't forget how to win when you have that opportunity. That was never, ever in doubt and why I personally have always kept the faith that we will return to the top of the grid." Journalist: "Ben Hunt, Autosport. George, question for you, please: Just based on your observations of Lewis' working relationship with Bono, I just wondered, what's the strength of that relationship, and how difficult is it going to be for Lewis to replicate that relationship they have with someone else new at Ferrari?" George: "Yeah, I think relationships take time to build, and trust takes time, too, and respect takes time to earn, as well. So with any change of job, as such, or professional… Whatever it may be, when you're working with new coworkers it's going to just take time to learn. So I don't really have much more to say than that, really. They're obviously extremely close for everything they've gone through."

[niniiko]

My solar return chart of 2023 and how it went

Moon in gemini 1st house: 2023 was a year were I was very emotional, I had a lot of emotional up and downs, a total rollercoaster, since it was in gemini, I really reflected a lot on my emotions a lot and maybe even detached myself from them, but most of the time I was just very accepting of them and I let them flow. Since gemini is a mutable sign, I tried new makeup styles, new clothes styles, tried new hairstyles and got a failed haircut lmao.

Mars in cancer 2nd house: my self esteem was flunctuating a lot throughout the whole year, I gotta say that at the beginning of the year it was pretty stable, in the middle of the year was pretty bad and I regained back my confidence in October, I also started trying to find jobs but none called me back🥹Finances were also not stable at all.

Lilith in leo 3rd house: i was very active on social media this year which maybe without me knowing attracted some level of jealousy? I got into some arguments with friends online but we resolved it by talking it out. I also wanted attention on social media and followers and likes were kind of important for me, just because of comparison tbh, but we are good now, numbers mean nothing.

Vertex & SN in scorpio 6th house: My daily routine changed a lot in 2023, I began to add things into my daily routine that could help me have a more stable start of the morning, they will definetly will be kept doing in 2024, in terms of jobs, I didn't work throughout the year but I did try to find some.

Pluto in capricorn 8th house: I started to feel comfortable with my emotions and I also started to write a lot more, journaling more, I learned a lot about psychology, followed people who added value into my healing journey and people who talked about the stuff i was learning about.

Neptune & saturn in pisces 10th house: I feel like these placements were the ones at fault for me not getting any job in 2023 despite me trying to work 🥹😭Saturn when I catch you Saturn...Saturn when I catch you Saturn....I also wanted to work at jobs which I could've regretted working at if I actually got them thanks to neptune...lol. The thing I wanted was maybe not good for me and neptune just blurred a lot of my decisions when it came to work terms.

Sun, chiron, jupiter & mercury in Aries 11th house: like I said before, a very active year for me in social media, I posted a lot on my ig but at the same time a year were I compared myself to people online. I also spent more time with my friends and went out more, tried new things that I'd never did in my life, learned new things, my dreams and optimism this year were big. 2023 might have been the year where I went out the most with my friends. I also got to try new foods all very yum! I started to take morning walks with my friend every Monday and Friday at almost the end of the year and I gave her a lot of advice on how to stop procrastinating and actually committing to the stuff you put your mind into. I also have to say that I kind of stopped talking with some friends which I used to talk to and call with almost every day which made me think of cutting them off, I didn't let my impulses take over because I know I would've regretted it, I also cut contact with an ex friend of mine of 2021 due to disagreements of the genocide going in Palestine, funny because the original ruler of the 11th house is aquarius and aquarius is all about humanitarian causes so it all makes sense now.

Uranus, venus & NN in taurus 12th house: a very stable year mentally for me but due to uranus also being there it kinda shook it so thats why there were some ups and downs but I always got better. My dreams were also very weird and very vivid, almost prophetic too, I had a lot of prophetic dreams in 2023, I remember a dream I had back in February were I saw some snow on the mountains and 3 or 4 days later it snowed after like 5 years without snow!!! I also began to write them down too, wether in the notes app or on paper, it really helped a lot.

[narwhalandchill]

(soo ignition teaser thoughts ig)

hmmmm im ngl the trailer itself as a like prelude to what is coming in 5.0 intrigue and plot wise is like. compared to the region teasers that came before w lazzo and overture. its just. its kinda bad im sorry KWKJKWDJKWDJK like okay cool seeing the new cast and production value is high as always (+ music) but its such a middling teaser for the story itself?? it feels like a powerpoint presentation of the cast more than anything narratively coherent with an inherent draw and mystery

like theres mavuika speaking to the flame thingy (xbalanque that u? "one entombed in the primal fire" perhaps????) with some intrigue i suppose as well as her brief thing w capitano. ororon also appearing to be working together or aligned with capitano given theyre standing together there which could make for an interesting plot thread but beyond that its very.... eh. its not giving us a lot to grip onto ya know???? and thats rly a shame especially since i also felt that way abt the teaser in the 4.8 livestream. i wish we got more

and sure theres a tournament wahoo but like. its really Not helping to hype up that thing when half the introduced cast isnt being like "OMG the tournament!!!!1!1 this is HUGE!!!1" (or even. "oh no this is BAD!!!1" to set up basic conflict. like why would they dread it?) but instead just. "oh right... the tournament 🙄🙄" like who thought that was a good idea 😭😭 if the PEOPLE of natlan dgaf abt the big plot event happening then how am i as the viewer supposed to feel majorly invested in it . wow theyre tossing a ball around . wow nobody wants it guess ur tournament is having a bit of a PR issue in the making mavuika lmao

anyway i wouldnt even call myself a true capitano glazer despite being a fatuiHQ enjoyer on the side but like. that hmph still carried welcome capHIMpeaktano truly o7 JWDJWDJKDWJK also did yall see the. anemo-ish turquoise flare when mavuika is confronting (?) him? wonder if thats a thing with her flames or is it implying cap as anemo or sth.... i think itd fit him decent enough but ya. looking forward to HIM for sure

(+ congrats to him for losing the goofy timbs from arles animated short lmao like his design looks so fucking sick now)

character design wise uhhhh. well theres the obvious huge fucking issue here and while id say that hoyo p much already showed their true colors on the matter with sumeru that doesnt rly. make it any less disappointing and egregious wrt all the cultures and peoples theyre So willing to gather inspiration from in all possible aspects Other than the diversity of the people themselves. like its just... bad and such a shame but also not very surprising unfortunately.

(and really it just. looks especially bad given they clearly Can put melanin on people its just... enemy mobs only.)

beyond that i kind of dont have anyone that super catches my eye rn??? mainly because . well leaks moment eek but its basically official info now so basically. xilonens existence as a geo and a 5* (which like . u dont need leaks to guess she will be im sorry jdwjdw) was leaked a bit ago as well as the patch she should appear meaning. im actually in chiori rerun savings mode since its very high chance that she will be back w xilonen if anyone. so thats my plan for now kjdwjkdwjkdwjk

in terms of the actual cast i do like kinich and ororons designs v much, the design motifs of the latter especially are interesting bc those eye-like patterns are almost giving quantum symbol (= black hole imagery) to me???? and thats V interesting especially if hes actually working w capitano and the fatui. now him being a cat boy or whatever animals ears those turn out to be isnt like sth thats huge for Me personally but i do think hes valid and also W for anyone whos into that, congrats guys im happy for u ! but like fr itd be such an insane twist if hoyos Finally introducing the void quantum abyss whatever element w him (and maybe cap too.) bc that symbol Rly is looking Curious. or then hes just electro lol. for kinich its like. yeah fair he might be xiao-tighnari-gaming from minecraft ill admit that but. i do like the color scheme and his outfit a lot JKWJKDJKDWJKD so like i forgive it

w the girlies i overall find them all like. quite nice but so far without any personality + lore known its hard to settle my complete thoughts on them just yet. tho citlali being pink is super refreshing for genshin since we do have a shocking absence of it so like shes definitely one im drawn to, chasca looks interesting and like she could play a bigger part plot wise (maybe?) so that might be neat. both her and citlali being cryo is kinda surprising?? but cool. maybe ill get to unbench my shenhe and play some cryo teams again lmao freeze has been dead in abyss for so long now....

xilonen again w the kemomimi isnt sth im particularly into or not into but she looks cool, depending on personality and how her kit synergies turn out (+ assuming the chiori rerun, the fate of those pulls too), i might try for her as well? theres an Energy to her i like it. if she has proper Attitude and flair thats gonna be a massive bonus for me

mualani i think is rather bland to me, sth about her outfit and design just doesnt click for me even if the shark thing from the teaser before is neat and everything. the chibis are never sth im actively drawn to but like both do look okay, im kinda hoping kachina could be a lynette moment for 5.x and end up a free 4* since her exploration roomba looks p fun

anyway then theres. mavuika and i. well at least the design wasnt. That concept art one (ThoseWhoKnow...) . so instant massive W improvement solely on that basis holy fucking shit but ehhhhh im sorry i still dont know how to feel abt the very modern like. biker bodysuit thingy. im not a huge fan of the bodysuit type designs anyway so its not that surprising but still. her eyes + hair is absolutely stunning tho like not a question at all.

tbh in a way i kinda feel like having too many Thoughts on her design is kinda just unnecessary bc like. shes the archon. of Course the kit is going to be insane so i will get her anyway (UNLESS a pyro onfielder JKWJKJKWJKWJKWFKJ like god please no). and in terms of like is her design and energy from what this vid is giving us good enough that i wont like. Actively resent having to get her for meta and strong teams??? Absolutely. so in that sense ig its all cool lmao

but yeah. idk i just think as a teaser for the upcoming story its rly a shame how weak this felt for me???? like sure overture ended up being a bit of a misleading teaser since it gave the impression of arle as this mastermind of the fontaine AQ which didnt rly happen but it still served as a source of hype and intrigue. and yes lazzo is sth that can Never rly be beat in terms of how out of nowhere it was and how fucking insane the whole harbinger reveal went (+ elogia cinerosa existing) for lore and long term hype but its just. unfortunately those 2 are the regional teasers this natlan one is supposedly meant to parallel and it just didnt deliver anything comparable to those for me

like still looking forward to natlan and seeing the rest of its cast (like im fairly convinced the flame thingy might be xbalanque and hes gonna be a big deal ultimately or sth) and where it goes and all its environments but this trailer didnt rly. grip me the way i wouldve expected it to. which is unfortunate kdjkdwjkwjkdwj but yea thats all

[softness-and-shattering]

I have a hot take to throw out there. Apropos of nothing much in particular just a thought thats been stewing.

Cultural christianity, the idea that christianity is part of 'our' broadly 'Western' culture regardless of ones personal beliefs. Regardless of if one is a devout practising christian or a devout atheist or agnostic, many aspects of christianity are woven into your worldview and many aspects of your life. Modesty/purity culture, what you consider to be the blueprint of how religions work, how you view holidays and how often they should be and how theyre celebrated etc. etc.

My hot take is that those of us are who are actively not christian, such as myself, a Jew, we still have absorbed a lot of christianity in our cultural language. We are not immune to cultural christianity.

I can tell you a lot offhand about Xmas and how its celebrated, I will always know what date it is. I know about the christian holy books. And some about easter and I know some foundational biblr stories and christian ethics that arent from Tanach.

We translate words to christian terms. A rabbi and a cohen are very different but both are 'priests'. We call womens yeshivas 'seminary' most of the time - midrasha is catching on, sure, but why did we ever go with seminary?

Somewhere along the line we picked up purity culture. Not tahara, I mean sex tabboo. Tznius is maybe barely deoraita, the minutia is certainly not deoraita but we are *obsessed* with inches of cloth this way and that way, inches of hair, we dont do sex ed for teens even though Rashi, intended for five year olds, talks about periods and theres plenty of sex in Tanach, why is that tabboo? When did we pick that up? Why dont we give even a quartrr thay attention to tzedakah which is deoraita, for one example. (This ones a particular pet peeve of mine, if you couldnt tell).

We too are living in a christian hegemony, and we arent unaffected. We are less affected than people without a different culture to compare and contrast with, to be another perspective on the universe and our place in it. But we arent unaffected.

Again this isnt apropos of anything, its not a side of an argument happening elsewhere, not that I know of anyway. Just a thought.

Id like responses actually, just be mindful of staying in your lane and your personal experience please. Some of this is intra-community, but Im also curious how other people with non-christian culture relate to the like, one foot in the door willingly or not. Kiiind of like how english internet culture is USAmerican dominated regardless of where people are from bc yall are the majority.

And please be nice and respectful. This is the internet and I am asking this of you in my corber of it here.

[showtoonzfan]

For some levity, the Lackadaisy pilot is finally out! If you’ve seen it already, what are your thoughts about it? I thought it was a treat!

Yup! I’ll post my review here then!

So, overall I definitely liked it. As everyone is saying, the animation and composition is absolutely GORGEOUS, I loved the 3d props and backgrounds, I have been following this project since it was announced for an animated short so I watched a lot of sneak peeks from behind the scenes, (even becoming a patron member for Tracy for a long while) and the long wait and hard work definitely paid off. While the sketch lines being visible is very distracting at times, I will give credit that the animation and look and feel of the short is nice, since they were trying to go for an old-timey Don Bluth/Disney vibe, basically those old cartoons from the 50’s-80’s.

I will admit that while this is around 25 minutes, it feels very short, I was hoping we got to know the characters more better, mainly characters like Wick or Pepper. Like….I will say I thought there’d be a little bit more than what we got, so that was a little underwhelming for me, BUT what we got wasn’t at all bad, especially since this is a pilot. This entire time I thought it would just be an animated short, since I could have sworn the creator said that’s all it’s ganna be for now, but now it’s labeled as a “pilot”, so I can give it a pass for that. Even if you haven’t read the comic like I have, you can kinda get down most of the characters and dynamics.

Rocky is this loose canon yet sweet and can get the job done in wacky ways, Freckle is the soft cutsey wutsey one who deep down has a temper and is crazy, (and Rocky can see the potential in him) Pepper comes off as someone who wants to be an independent woman and can pull her weight around the way how rough the world is, (with Rocky respecting her and her and Freckle having somewhat of a cute relationship) Nicodeme and Serafine (two that I really enjoyed watching) are also loose canons who enjoy the battle, being paired up with my favorite character that is Mordecai, a straightforward, professional and stern person who has an infamous past and isn’t aquatinted well with the people around him. The Mitzi stuff along with the other characters at the bar I’d thought we’d dive into more, but again, this is a pilot, and they do hint at future things, how they’re trying to get Wick to help them, Mitzi being a mysterious character, and the leader of their rivalry business learning about the mishap that happens in the end credits scene.

Since this is a pilot, there are PLENTY of things to be explored, it opens a door for the characters to get more depth, and for the story to expand, something that I really want, especially since the comic (for now) seems to be on halt. I think this pilot serves as a perfect “short and sweet” scenario, it did want it wanted to do, it introduces the characters and some of the story well, and I really hope this gets a BIG following enough for the cast and crew to keep working towards this goal, I would even say I hope a studio sees this and wants to pick it up. Lackadaisy certainly isn’t for everyone, I myself have said that I had a hard time following the comic at times due to the 1920’s language, and some of the humor didn’t catch me, some of the dialogue in this pilot as well could have been better in terms of showcasing the characteristics of each character or the world, but other than everything I mentioned, I don’t have any other criticisms or nitpicks, since it’s too early.

Now that the pilot is finally out, I definitely want to reread the comic and compare the two in the near future, Lackadaisy is something I have passion for and I’m so proud of the team for what they accomplished. Here’s to hoping there’s more! 🍻

[rttnpnkpmpkn]

💗🌷🌼 ✨This is the you are amazing award. Send it to ten bloggers you think are wonderful or just take a moment to bask in your own awesomeness! ✨ 🌼🌷💗

Aww thank you! Sorry that this ask took so long, mostly because I had to really sit down and meditate on how I want to answer this, especially when it comes to naming the wonderful people who helped made my online experience worth staying for ^^ I can't really pinpoint just a few people because it's pretty unfair to the others who come and go my way and had a part in my character development lolol.

I want to thank my online friends who we've made it through thick and thin whenever something catches on fire. (Y'all know who you are 💖). I had serious anxiety and trust issues, and I still continue working on it but my friends helped provide the breakthrough I needed to get to where I am today. They're my pillar whether they realized it or not and I hope I don't do them much disservice in the future *sweat*. Thank you for all the laughs and everything you do! I know my interactions come off as lukewarm (I'm very introverted, so my battery is busted as hell) compared to how you chat with others, but it's been an enjoyable experience from my POV regardless. Y'all get a huge boop from me!

I'm also sorry that it didn't work out with those in which we left on unamicable terms, they do also have a part in building more to my worldview and life lessons learned after all this. Life is short to hold grudges and stress, so I will wish that they too meet their peace along the way, even in separate rooms. I also have my moments where my handling and problem-solving skills need work, and I can only move forward and improve on the next with my communication skills. I really can't blame others for having a negative view on me because I know I could've handled things better. The answer just had to come later after that point 😓. Take care and may time be kinder to y'all.

I very much want to thank you and every random peep who took their time to comment and like my works! I cannot reply tp all of them because sometimes my energy be too drained to catch up with them all but it really makes me smile reading them! I'm taking notes from y'all~ xD

There are a whole lot of reasons but I'm making stuff to have something to look forward to. So many disappointments in life and circumstances beyond control, I was thinking," it doesn't matter if it's gonna be lost to time, if nobody is making this SHIZZ happen NOW, I'll do it myself!! (though that's too overconfident of myself since I lack the skills to do it justice lol) ." So even if it's been a waste of time in hindsight, it won't feel that way *during* it lol. I didn't realize then it would have resonate and be enjoyed by fellows on the same boat. Even if the campfire is small, the quality of company is better than the quantity. Though the only benefits to offer are inside jokes if you've been there heheh...

TLDR: It's been quite a journey to get to where I am. I have many people to thank for helping me learn, and thanks for being what I want to see in a community. Be well and have a nice one! 🥰🙏

[parasocialitevn]

What inspired you to make a VN game just curious.

Well, I've wanted to make games for some time, but when I was younger I had a problem with keeping the scale of my projects more manageable, so I'd often end up with my eyes bigger than my stomach and putting those on hold. When the yandere subgenre started gaining traction, as someone who's been a big fan of the trope for a LONG time, I felt like I had a lot of passion and knowledge about the subject matter to be able to make something enjoyable that I'd be proud of, but I didn't have the courage for a while. When I saw how supportive the community can be, though, that gave me the push I needed.

Eden is a mix of a lot of things for me, parts of her represent issues I struggled with in my own past (though much more severe in her case), she's also my love letter to the yandere trope in many ways; and as more details come out, people with the level of investment I do might notice little details meant to homage to some of the greats and classics. (And even if they don't, I'm content to just sew in these little details and references into the fabric of my work, purely as a labor of love.)

Also, I noticed that there weren't any female yanderes in the sphere of YanVNs, and as someone who has a big bias towards women in terms of attraction, and this being a largely NSFW/Dating Sim type sphere, I thought there was a niche to be filled there. I know the trope started as a mainly female-driven one, but character writing for female characters has... come a long way, lets say. So I wanted to bring a complex, flawed, and intriguing female character into the space that hopefully people will like!

In art school they taught us that each creator has their own unique flavor to contribute to art as a whole. "It doesn't matter if it's been done before, it hasn't been done by YOU." And I like to keep that in mind to keep me motivated when I feel pessimistic about my work or I'm catching myself comparing mine to the works of others.

I hope this rambly response is a somewhat coherent answer to your question, lol;;;;

[damadisangue]

I was tagged from the lovely @judasiskariot ❤️

When did you start writing?

Early: around eleven or twelve years old (even though, obviously, I didn't have all the tools to adequately tell what I wanted and, above all, I hadn't read enough yet to be able to grasp all the nuances of a narrative).

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Uhm, I like reading thrillers, but I don't consider myself good enough to write them.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

Uhm, no. I admire Clive Barker and Thomas Harris, but I don't consider myself on their level. Lovecraft, Poe and Kafka are like my sun.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

My desk and my PC, with too many windows open to check what I write. And coffe. A lot of coffe.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Honestly, I don't know. Sometimes it just takes an photo, a song, or even a conversation with someone to open an image for me.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Yes, I imagine so. The drama, the angst, the loss. Relationships whose depth becomes the whole and in which possessiveness is the cipher with which the totality of the feeling is shown. Violence as an expression, incest between brother and sister. The dark side of feelings, free from respectability and political correctness. The blood necessary to nourish certain feelings and its consequences.

What is your reason for writing?

It is a need. A deep need.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

As someone who writes well and writes coherent plots.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I have not the foggiest idea.

How do you feel about your own writing?

It depends; sometimes I'm proud of what I've written, sometimes I'm not.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

Yes. I write because it is a personal need, a necessity, but when a reader stops to leave a few words or catches a hidden reference in my story to another story or to the canon itself I am deeply flattered, and happy. The readers' response is important, not so much in terms of compliments, but when they relate to you about the story, commenting on it and stripping it down and discussing the characters with you as if we were at the bar drinking a coffee in confidence.

Anyone feel free to answer these questions: I tag @thetentaclecommander @tacky-tramp @vesperene @joanna-lannister @omgbarbiegurl @doctor-hannibal-wesker