#i haven't even recovered from season 8.

[strawberry-pretzels]

SO VOLTRON REALLY IS GETTING A LIVE ACTION MOVIE????

[theambitiouswoman]

I have been celibate for 3+ years & I wanted to share how this has helped shaped who I am.

Disclaimer: This is not me telling you what to do with your life and your bodies. It comes with zero judgement. I am of the belief that there is a season for everything, and we evolve into many different people in our life. I would be remiss if I didn't say that I definitely think it's a good idea to practice it. I do believe that psychologically, spiritually & emotionally having casual sex has a lot of negative implications for both men and women. However your beliefs around intimacy are purely up to you. Sex isn't bad, that's not what I am saying, but when you are having sex with someone you are absorbing their energy, and the energy of their past lovers too, so having sex with the wrong person can really ruin you.

Honestly the idea of anyone touching me if they do not meet my needs emotionally, mentally, physically etc absolutely disgusts me. I have never been of the type of let anyone "have me" but even more so now. Remember that when you start treating yourself differently, your perspectives and the things you are attracted to also start to change.

Maybe some girls don't understand this so I am going to say it. You do not have to sleep with a man for him to like you, love you, treat you well, or buy you things. If you haven't experienced this, you may not agree. But this is my reality and the reality of so many others, so yes it is actually totally possible.

I will say that the first year can be difficult but after that it gets much easier cause your mindset changes. I recommend taking that first year to really dive in and analyze your relationships, work on your wounds etc. Feeling lonely is something I see come up a lot, and while human beings are not designed to be alone, you should not feel lonely and that is probably a good starting point to work on with yourself if that is the case.

Anyway, these are some of the changes I have experienced:

1. Greater mental clarity and can focus more on personal goals, career & self development.

2. Reduced emotional turbulence. Creating better emotional balance and inner peace.

3. Realizing self love and self worth come from you, rather than seeking external validation. It reduces stress, increases self awareness & provides identity outside of others.

4. Higher standards, better boundaries. Intimacy is a choice, not a necessity. Being unable to control your lust is a weakness. Understand that falling in love purely through sex is lust, wounds and attachment / abandonment issues, need for validation, insecurity etc.

5. Insane increase to intuition.

6. Gives you control over your body and life. It allows you to be more selective about who you let into their personal space.

7. Increased creativity & passion to channel into art, projects, or other personal endeavors.

8. For those recovering from past trauma or heartbreak, celibacy can be a time for healing and self reflection. It offers the space to process emotions, heal old wounds and rediscover yourself.

9. No energetic enmeshments with toxic souls, which btw you are absorbing all of it. Grosses me out any time I think about it.

10. Even prettier than before (but i'm sure not entertaining toxic men and drama contributes to that as well)

11. People are even more drawn to be because of my strong sexual energy & pure aura.

[mandos-mind-trick]

Hi.

It's currently 8:00 on a Sunday night so I don't think anyone is gonna see this but if I don't do this now I'm going to talk myself out of it.

First off, I wanted to say thank you again for everyone's kind replies and messages regarding my last post. I do appreciate every single one of you and your kindness. It's nice to know others do/have felt the same way. Y'all really are too kind. I'm honestly not sure if recovery is possible for me but it's nice to hear about others who have recovered.

I now come to you to share a bit more of what's going on and why things are just so fucking bleak for me. I'm honestly a little ashamed to even be sharing this and everything in me is begging me to not say anything which is why I need to post this now before I talk myself out of it.

So, late last year I found out that I was likely going to be laid off from my job sometime in January. I kind of knew it was coming and expected it but in December (literally the week of Christmas) I learned that it was going to happen for sure. I still don't have a date, and still have a schedule but those of you that have been laid off know it could literally come at any time.

Of course I was saving money through the busy season (or at least trying to, I'll get to that in a moment) because I thought I was going to get laid off last week, or even the first week of January. A lot happened in the last couple months that really kind of threw things into the toilet. I had to start paying on a student loan (a private one so I have no choice) and I had some back pay on some stuff that I had to take care of to avoid you know, getting sued.

Things would have been fine, it all would have been okay, except that I wasn't expecting my job to cut my hours so drastically before they laid me off. I went from 40 hour weeks to 24 hour weeks. So yeah. I'm kind of fucked right now.

I haven't even been able to pay rent this month and it's not looking like I'm going to be able to. I'm not at risk of being homeless yet. My landlord can be willing to work with people but they've been lenient with me in the past when I've struggled and I'm not sure how willing they will be to do that again.

And before anyone asks, no, I don't have family or friends that could help. I'm quite literally on my own in this world so that's not an option for me.

So, on top of everything else, I also have this to deal with.

I appreciate everyone's kind words and offers of help but there's no help for me. There's no hope for me anymore. This is why death feels more welcome than whatever the hell I'm doing now. I wouldn't call it living.

[willfrominternet]

Been a while since I posted here but I got a ping about this post where I talked about what I expected from Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor and their adventures with Ruby Sunday. After watching the season, I think I was right in saying the Doctor should be fun and their adventures should be fun.

This was, by all measures, a season which hearkened back to the first years of the Modern Era. It felt like watching Chris Eccleston and Billie Piper all over again. Both Chris and Ncuti played Doctors coming from great trauma and wanting to escape it, even if they did it in different ways (with Nine having to learn to rediscover love and Fifteen openly embracing it.) Both of them also had to face trauma at the end of their first season (in Chris's case, his only season): Nine dealt with the return of the Daleks, nearly losing Rose, and having to sacrifice himself just as he was starting to recover, while Fifteen had to cope with how death followed them everywhere, regardless of their longing for peace, positivity, and fun.

Ruby was very much just a normal girl like Rose, and I think her unexplained magic abilities don't take away from that. Rose also underwent a transformation in her second (and final) season, where she got locked in an alternate timeline and (sort of) became the Bad Wolf. I believe we'll therefore learn more about Ruby's abilities and see her character transform in her second season, as well as learn about Mrs. Flood and how she plays into the Doctor's timeline. (Early thoughts: River, another child of Amy and Rory, the Rani, another pre-Hartnell Doctor, a future Doctor, etc. etc. etc.)

Anyway: This season was definitely fun, but brought back the philosophical and historical bits which originally made Doctor Who at least somewhat educational and thought-provoking. I think this was what was missing from Moffatt's and Chibnall's runs on the show: It became more centered around the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey lore and less around tying the history/sci-fi to current issues. (The Capaldi era actually did this somewhat well, but I'm biased because I love Capaldi.) Here's the ranking of episodes from best to okay:

Rogue

Dot and Bubble

73 Yards

Boom

The Devil's Chord

Space Babies

The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death

This first season did, in my opinion, feel too much like a taste of Doctor Who, or a "Season 1A." Series 7 was like this too, where we had so much left unresolved and underdeveloped after those first five episodes. (Not that the rest of Series 7 was much better, IMHO.) At least this first season for Ncuti felt a little more full, but now I'm even more excited to see what happens to the Doctor, Ruby, and whoever Varada Sethu will play in the next season. Perhaps that was the twist all along. Damn you, Russell! Damn you, Disney Plus!

Was this the finest season of the new incarnation of the show? No, but I would certainly give it a solid B. The writing was quite good, the acting was phenomenal, and the general vibe of the show definitely gave the impression that Doctor Who was back, baby. But the development did feel a bit rushed, and there were certain parts of the Doctor's character left over from previous incarnations which I thought they would have processed differently. Plus, I view other seasons of the show (Series 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10) more favorably. Call it bias, call it favoritism, call it nostalgia.

Whatever. Point is that Ncuti and Millie had a lot to prove in this semi-reboot of the show, and RTD had to show he still had his stuff, and by golly, they did it. I - as well as plenty of other long-time fans - haven't been this excited about the show in a while, despite how the season ended. And you're telling us we've gotta wait now for Christmas and then some time in the middle of 2025 for more? It's like I'm a high school fanatic raving mad in the middle of my bedroom again. What a wild feeling.

[basicallyblank]

AWFC, what's going wrong; 23/24 season analysis.

The 23/24 season for Arsenal Women hasn't been impressive, with an opening day defeat to Liverpool, and then losing to West Ham and Tottenham for the first time ever in the league, you have to start asking how we've fallen so far from what we once were.

After going trophyless for 4 years, we finally won the League Cup last season, and managed to defeat Chelsea again in order to win it this season, but when you peel back the years, you realise that for a club like Arsenal, this does not cut it. We haven't won the league since 2019, and we haven't won the FA Cup, the trophy Arsenal have won more than any other club, since 2016.

With an injury crisis last season that left us paper thin, we were obviously going to need some quick signings to cover us just whilst our regular squad members recovered. Ilistedt, Codina, Lacasse, KCC and Alessia Russo where all summer signings.

Alessia Russo is our top scorer this season with 10 goals, and her off the ball work is superb, and I think that she'll only get better. I'm willing to give Codina some time, she's only young and she's having to adapt to another club and country's playing style, I think she has a winning mentality that could push us forward, and I think she's ben okay for us this season. I really don't think I've seen enough of KCC this seasonn, we payed 300K for her and we've barely played her. Jonas likes to play her as a defensive midfielder, where I do think she is more of an 8 (I did think she was Jordans replacement at the start of the season) So I would definitely like to see more, but I think she has a good passing ability, but I don't think she should start in big games just yet, I think she needs more time. I do not think Amanda and Cloe were good signings, yes they have done good and come through for us this season, are they Arsenal standard ? No.

We have to admit it now, we have players that are not good enough, because if we don't, we will stay the way we are. We also have to admit that even our players that are good enough, have been lacking this season when we needed them the most. I didn't rate LWM at all last season, whereas this season she's in contention for PLOTS, I think Beth has made a big impact G/A wise, she's our second top scorer, Caitlin is good for Australia, she lacks for Arsenal. Stina needs to learn the offside rule, she scores goals for us, even with limited game time this season, but I'm gonna need Arsenal to put in the money for a world class striker. Viv is complicated, I'm not speaking in terms of injury, it's difficult to really gage where she's at because she's been struggled coming back, but if she does stay, we can't keep playing her as a 10/midfielder whatever, if she wants to play there, fine, but she can do it somewhere else. We need her as the 9, we've seen what she can do when she's up front, and that's what we need from her.

We have the most big chances missed in the league (40) Our players have gone from free scoring, to not being able to even hit a barn door, we're always taking that extra touch too much, that extra second, when we never used to do that before. In the WSL this season, we've taken a total of 304 shots, we've scored 46 goals this season. Questions need to be asked of what Kelly Smith is telling the players in training, we are hesitent to shoot, our frontline still wouldn't be able to score if the opposition had no keeper in the net.

We also need to look at our corner convertion rate, we've generated 178, 1 7 8, corner kicks this season, we've scored ONE. We've scored once from a corner all season out of 178, when Amanda scored against chelsea. Goals make games, and we are struggling to get them from anywhere.

When we were knocked out of the Champions League on penalties in the qualifying stage, the fans were looking forward to all our focus being on winning the league. At the start of last season, we looked strong, we were on the longest WSL winstreak ever, this season started out unconvincing, obviously we still had injured players coming back, scheduling players didn't get a proper break, but an opening day defeat against Liverpool, winning at the last minute against Manchester United, Aston Villa and Bristol, both of who were battling for last spot for the first half of the season, isn't good enough.

Our biggest struggles come from teams who play a lowblock, Jonas does not know how to get around this, his solution is to play from the wings and ping crosses into the box, which didn't work against Liverpool, West Ham or Spurs, and these are the games that lost us contention for the league. When Joe Montemurro was the coach, we didn't win big games, we didn't win against chelsea once, now we do win the big games, but the league is decided by fine margins, if we don't win our smaller games, those big wins won't help us.

It's a struggle to look at our backline as a cohesive unit, as it's been so inconsistent, our CB pairings aren't the same 2 games in a row, like Leah and Rafa (come back please) were last season. Lotte has been fantastic, she's really stepped up, Katie had a good first half of the season, she's dropped off a bit now but is still solid, Steph has been good, Emily Fox has been great, one of our best signings this season. For the games she's had, Leah has been outstanding, the game against Man City comes to mind, Leah's passing is out of this world, getting a assist on her comeback just demonstrated how much we lose when we don't have her. I think next season when she plays more, we'll see more cohesiveness, but Lotte and Leah should NOT be our CB pair, their playing styles are almost identical, individually they're great but together they're not.

I think it's time to realise the fact that we need a rebuild. The club has no vision, no project, we haven't won anything of value for 5 years. We need to start scouting better players, when Jonas looks away from Scandanavian countries, he, 7/10, makes a decent signing. We have a solid core of players that we can build around, Leah, Veen, Katie, Wally, Kim, although I do think we may start seeing her playtime decrease soon, Pelova, Viv (if she stays) Alessia, as a 9 or 10, I don't mind where she plays. Add a few good signings, world class players, and we can catch Chelsea in their transitional period.

If Viv leaves, we're gonna need a new striker, I love Stina but she can't be our number 1. We have the chance to catch up to Chelsea, and I think Man City are only going to grow, especially if they win the WSL this season.

I don't think this season has been very successful, but I don't think we've been successful for a while, and we know that.

[renardsarcastique]

The Concept of Forgiveness in the Bad

Let me start off that I don't usually make posts on Tumblr (more of a lurker), but this is an idea that I had in my head and that I thought was kind of interesting. This is quite a long post, so forgive me!

I finished watching Hazbin Hotel (a solid series; not 10/10, but I'd say a solid 8/10). The ending definitely felt way too rushed, but that's another post for another time. Let's talk about Charlie.

As we all know, Charlie is the Princess of Hell and heir to the throne. She is *literally* the kindest person in Hell. She wants to see the good in everyone and believes that everyone deserves a second chance. She is big on mercy.

*This might be a little spoilery if you haven't watched the last two episodes of HH, so read at your leisure*

When Vaggie and Lute fight, Vaggie eventually wins, but spares Lute, albeit talking to her more harshly than when Charlie tells Lucifer in their fight with Adam that he's had enough. Lucifer cockily says "How's mercy, bitch?"

In her own way, I think Charlie was still holding on to hope that Adam and Lute would come around in the future now that they had (hopefully) learned their lesson. Adam died (and a lot theorize he could go to Hell, but I'm 50/50 on that; it depends on that story arc), and Lute went back to Heaven.

So, to recap, Charlie, despite fighting with her friends by her side, was still apologetic during that fight and spared mercy to the one angel who had killed Sir Pentious and, at the time to Charlie, Alastor as well. But she showed Adam mercy.

From my own understanding and the few shows I watch, there are not a lot of characters where someone harbors this amount of kindness in them. And to me it's interesting because it really does beg the question: how far does this forgiveness and mercy go? But watching the last two episodes and reminiscing about the season as a whole, it made me think of an anime I used to watch in the early 2000s, specifically 2005. And that anime was Ginga Densetsu Weed (fully on YouTube, by the way).

Now, forgive me while I go on a bit of a tangent but make a connection here.

In the show, the main character is named Weed (given to him by a friend so he wouldn't feel alone), and his father is the protector of the lands and keeps the idea of Paradise, or that all dogs get along. That is until two certain (I think) Great Danes, who are brothers, start to terrorize and destroy any hope of Paradise for the dogs. One of the Great Danes, Hougen, kills a myriad of comrades and kidnaps Weed's father for the majority of the story. Throughout the season Weed encounters others working for Hougen who try to kill him. In one particular case this pair of Doberman brothers. Weed lets them go once after a quick scuffle, but one of Weed's confidants (Jerome) goes against Weed and kills them, saying they would have come back anyway. Filled with horror, Weed sends Jerome away. Others in the pack say Weed is too soft and that this is life and you need to fight to survive. Despite this, Jerome harbored no ill feelings towards Weed and instead worked from afar to keep Weed safe. Over time others from Hougen's pack try to attack Weed's group, but are shown mercy and actually do change.

In the final episode, it's the huge showdown between Weed and Hougen. Weed's father was found and recovered and watches. Weed almost kills Hougen, but he survives. Weed's father tells him to kill Hougen, but Weed can't when he sees Hougen struggling to even stand up. Weed's father says that he'll do it instead as justice for all that were killed. Weed however tells his dad no and shoves him aside. His group reminds Weed of all the evil Hougen has done, but Weed says that killing Hougen would make them just as bad as Hougen is. Eventually, the dude gets killed by a strike of lightning, but Weed says that kindness will definitely get to them (those with a hardened heart).

Okay, so why do I bring this up?

Both Charlie and Weed have this extreme kindness in them and want to spread that kindness to others.

Just like Charlie, who feels so bad for having simple troubled thoughts, says she's "just as bad as the worst overlord", Weed tells the group that killing Hougen, a dog who killed millions of other dogs and kidnapped his own father, would make them just as bad as him.

I feel that when Alastor inevitably betrays the group for his own agenda, things will go awry and there will of course be a huge fight in a case where Alastor is defeated, but Charlie will show him mercy and kindness and ask him to come back to the hotel because that's the kind of person she is. And truthfully, throughout the first season, Alastor did help Charlie along the way, whether genuine or not, so she does see that as a reason to show mercy (when that time comes).

Now I personally LOVE Alastor as a character. I love complex characters whose morals are grey and there's just so much to learn about them. So I hope when he does become the main villain he isn't killed, but that's just a personal gripe I would have.

That's my ramble for now. Maybe I'll make another post about my thoughts on Hazbin.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk!

[trulybetty]

Sunday Week in Review XI

This week's header is dedicated to @legendary-pink-dot for the idea of Dieter being his own 80s sitcom 😝💕

Is everyone okay this morning? Have we all recovered from last night? Do we need to hydrate, grab a snack (not that kind of snack) and recoup? Any welfare checks we need to send out? Phew 🫠

It's been a slog to get through this week, and I didn't get to as much reading as I wanted, which you'll see below. These daily prompts have been taking up more time than I expected and work has picked up (rude). But I'm also realising as I read through people's weekly round-ups, that I've missed a lot this week that I haven't seen come across my dash.

So if you've posted something this week (fanfic, thots or anything else) and you'd like to share it - feel free to drop it in my DM's or as an Asks!

T R U L Y  U P D A T E S . . .

oct' x 15 - first wine (sequins!joel x reader)

oct' x 16 - flying kites (frankie x reader)

oct' x 17 - whispers (chiffon!dieter x bryony)

oct' x 18 - picking apples (sequins!joel x reader)

oct' x 19 - ghosts (dieter x f!reader)

oct' x 20 - sweater weather (chiffon!dieter x bryony)

oct' x 21 - acorns (tim rockford x f!reader)

birthdays, besties & bravos (celebrating the lovely @wildemaven)

W H A T  I  R E A D . . .

A Safe Haven | Chapter 9 (Joel) (Check TW’s) by @joelsgreys This was the update I've been so patiently waiting for and it did not disappoint! This is a fantastic series that I never thought I'd get so emotionally invested in - but that's how good Vee is! This is always one of my top recommendations when suggesting Joel fanfics to read!

Working Title | Chapter 14 (Dieter) by @rhoorl Another great update for Dieter and Belle - I'm rooting for these two from the sidelines and I'm exciting to see how things play out for them!

Delta Landscaping | Chapter 8 (Triple Frontier + Pedro Characters) by @rhoorl Okay, there's not one, but two Pedro Character appearances this week and I'm trying to figure out how I can move to Mule Falls Court like yesterday - because it's all going down over there and I highly recommend this be added to your reading if you haven't read it yet. A Month of Sundays (Various) by @gnpwdrnwhiskey I'm living for all of these prompts and I can't choose one or two because they've all been soooo good!

M E M O R A B L E  P O S T S . . .

I'm on edge as @for-a-longlongtime shares more of their WIP that is Peña x Rockford x Reader, with that line up you know it's going to be good!

Self Care with Dieter & Jett (@morallyinept) - this week it's emotions and highlights some important stuff!

More Dieter and his hippo table shenanigans delivered by @i-love-movies to @gnpwdrnwhiskey, this made my week 🤣

B R O U G H T  T H E  J O Y . . .

Bit of a personal one, but we got to do a little Halloween festive trip out yesterday with the little Truly's. Something you're not always able to do when you have a child with extra needs, as events such as these can be a bit overwhelming for a multitude of reasons. So when we're able to attend ones that are specially catered for families like ours, it's always a special occasion - even if it does make you realise how unfit you are wrangling two kids 🤣 Also, keeping on brand, Baby Truly adored all the Halloween decor and was waving and saying hello to her minions the props.

Watched the new Goosebumps on Disney+ not expecting much, and I actually enjoyed it. Little Betty would have been all over this as a kid.

Also, watched my annual viewing of Practical Magic, which thanks to the wonders of the digital age I own to stream to my heart's content regardless of the season.

T H I S  W E E K ' S  J A M . . .

Back in my Matchbox Twenty feels this week 💛 - this one has been in heavy rotation while writing!

Hope everyone has had a great week! Here's to a new week ahead! Hopefully, if Pedro makes another appearance we'll all be ready for it, or at least recovered by then! 😝🫠

Happy Sunday all! ☀️💛

[aluvian]

WHY DOES GANGSTA END LIKE THAT PLEASE TELL ME THERES MORE AHHHH

THERE IS NOT, AND I HAVE BEEN WEEPING INTERNALLY ABOUT THAT FOR THE LAST 8 YEARS 😭

Studio Manglobe, who did the animation, filed for bankruptcy, and Gangsta was the last anime they produced. And Kohske, the mangaka, has had ongoing health issues that have prevented them from releasing new chapter updates regularly. So the chances of getting anything new for Gangsta are nearly nonexistent, unless another studio picks it up. And even then, there wouldn't be enough manga content to adapt into a second season unless they give it the 2003 FMA treatment. Which I wouldn't complain about, tbh. I haven't checked in some time, but I believe the manga is up to chapter 50 now.

I haven't given up hope with the manga, and even a part of me is still hopeful for a second season. I have never recovered from that season 1 cliffhanger.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading all the released chapters for the manga. That will help alleviate some of the pain. There is also the spinoff manga of Marco, which is an excellent read.

[finitevariety]

6, 11 and 19!!

hiiii and thank you!!

6. Episode of TV or webisode that defined the year for you?

I love this question because I could pick a TV episode that most closely defined my year, or a TV episode that was so good it felt like it was theee episode of the year. My year personally has been characterised by an absurd level of overwork caused by economic terror and the 2023 deaths of two family members. One of them lived and worked when the social contract was still largely intact, and had a retirement, and the other, in the next generation, worked his ass off for decades and died before he got a chance to sit down. It's made me think that since life is short and I don't want to work forever, I should work way too much right now and basically 'bet' the next couple of years on it to see if it allows me to chill out more in the future. POOR decision. More widely, my year's been characterised by an increasing doomerism about, well, all of it. Climate change, genocide, and the rise of global fascism: any one of those would be enough to have me staring at the walls for a few hours here and there--but of course they all go hand in hand, really, don't they? In that context, the TV episode(s! sorry!) that defined it all for me would be Season 5 Eps 8-9 of the Expanse. If you haven't seen it, it's basically a sci-fi show about imperialism in space. Earth and Mars are rivals who exploit the 'Belters' - those who live and work on the asteroids and whose bodies have been so warped by the low-grav that they cannot even exist on the worlds their ancestors were from. Anyway, one of the main ensemble, Naomi, is trapped, powerless, on an abandoned ship that is rigged up as a bomb and blasting a distress signal on her behalf. It's acting as a lure for her friends and will kill them unless she is able to do something--anything--to prevent it. Dominique Tipper's acting in that arc is fucking incredible, and she works in the face of utter hopelessness to save her friends at the expense of herself. Which is to say: if you're gonna drive yourself crazy with effort, at least spend it in defence of things and people you care about. I'm trying to remember that going into 2025 because I think I've been leaning a little too hard into distractions which appear productive but aren't. In terms of, like, really good TV I watched for the first time? I binge-watched ER, and, man, it was so fucking good. Love's Labor Lost was every bit as insane as I'd been led to believe. I'm so excited for Noah Wyle's similar-but-legally-distinct The Pitt next year. Close enough, welcome back, John Carter!

11. Something you want to do again next year?

I had a shitty childhood and I am very used to chameleoning myself into whatever someone might want from me in order to be liked. It's craven and pathetic, and I spent the first decade of my adulthood working to recover from it in a family context. Lately, I've been working on it in places that are a lot more present and difficult to reckon with, like work (where you get actively rewarded for being the placid overachieving chameleon!) and in friendships. I'm doing pretty well, but I've found it difficult in 'legacy' friendships of many years for various reasons. It's one of the things I've liked least about myself for years. This year, through a bizarre game of telephone, I was told some damning and irrefutable information about an old schoolfriend's cheating then-fiancé, and had to tell her about it if I wanted to sleep at night. I was terrified but I did it, and everything worked out. I also had to end another old friendship for reasons that were long-overdue. Both were scary and hard things to do, but I'm better for them. I want to keep working hard to be the friend I'd want, rather than the friend who does everything to preserve someone's short-term happiness at the expense of all else.

19. What are you excited about for next year?

Oh god, so much. I have a little journal which I've decorated with the strapline 'Nooo don't kill yourself your so sexy aha', lmao. I've then written down a bunch of cool things I want to do next year, including a little travel. Mostly though it's mundane things--art and craft experiments, photography, a new writing project. Three small things I'm excited for: - growing carrots again!! - continuing friday movie night with my friends who live nearby - befriending the crows in the park in exchange for better photos of them

[dragynkeep]

Tbh I saw one of your recent post about BB and I know that some Bee shippers think that when we say we want Yang to be around Ruby more that automatically means that we want Yang to "carry the Burden" like no. We just want to see Sisters being there for one another.

I'm just hoping that Yang could talk to Ruby the same way she talked to Blake in Volume 2 when Blake was going crazy on what Torchwicks next move would be. She literally helped Blake take a break and I was hoping that she would help Ruby realise she isn't alone and doesn't have to keep feeling like everything falls on her.

When Yang says Blakes name before Ruby with the fog filling I was a little sad but Ruby's first thought is your sister needs you. I just wish we got more Sister moments this season. So far we haven't had much. Now it seems like Weiss is the one really trying to comfort Ruby. And to be honest that is one out of the two reason I can't fully get behind shipping BB just because I feel like every since they started shipping BB it feels like Yang and Blake don't interact with the other girls on the team as much as they used too.

The other reason I can't get behind BB yet is because I they haven't addressed Suns feelings for Blake. Blake is in no way allowed to reciprocate the feelings Sun has for her but their seems to be multiple moments when she has so I hope in Volume 10 they address it.

i will always maintain that if you need to cut off every other relationship a character has had with others so the romantic relationship can take centre stage, clearly it's not strong enough to stand on it's own & that's a problem.

bees suffers so much from having to kneecap every other important relationship around blake & yang just so they can squander the spotlight for five minutes & pretend like this is a well developed relationship.

yang can care for both her sibling & her new girlfriend, the two are not mutually exclusive & yet with every new episode the show seems to be determined to say that yes they are. yang shows one moment of being genuinely distressed that her sister is gone & then immediately blake swoops in to assure her that it will all be fine, not even pausing to validate that yang is okay to feel upset. nothing negative is allowed to thrive in this relationship because it all has to be peachy keen with no trauma, no distress, no actual human emotions. just pure, cottage core, romanticized sapphism that erases these girls' humanity in their emotions & their experiences.

we saw it with adam where they killed him then were never afforded the time to discuss or recover from that. we saw it with their own issues with each other where yang felt abandoned & blake felt guilty & it was all miraculously resolved because blake came back to her by accident. we saw it again with all of the issues in v7 & 8 where they had conflicting thoughts one time & immediately acted like this was going to be the end of their entire relationship before it had even began.

this relationship is constantly treading on eggshells, afraid to be real & have those real, in depth conversations required in a relationship with two girls with this amount of trauma. they can't just bury it all under the rug or pretend it's handled with a soft amount of silly platitudes & perpetual one liners about how they're protecting each other while actually just sacrificing their own emotional wellbeing.

[thevoiceofthebard]

Chapter 8 - Farengar I: Bleak Falls Barrow

Morndas, 18th of Last Seed 4E201 Evening

Farengar

I am Farengar, of the Secret-Fire. No, my name is not the result of idle gossip over a flame I harbour for this or that maid in town - or man, as some for some reason think. But it is true I have a secret obsession.

Dragons.

Ever since my youth, the Nord tales of dragon-killing legends held me like no other. Who care for the sordid exploits of Ragnar the Dead when massive scaled beasts who razed towns with their fiery breath still existed in legend? Why listen to the affairs of Daedra when one could envision taking to the skies astride a dragon? Yes, that was what inspired me; the magic of eld.

How disappointing, then, to discover nearly all Tamriel's information regarding them was oral and apocryphal. The College of Winterhold held scant few books on the topic. And of course, the College of Whispers and the Synods are too busy jockeying for power to share what little they recovered over the years. I even petitioned the Greybeards atop the Throat of the World for their help, but my query was ignored by the recluses. I suppose with their supposed extinction, nobody saw fit to keep records about dragons. Nothing on physiology, or migratory patterns, or even behaviour. (Unless you believe the stories that paint them all as mindless harbingers of death. Which I don't.) All I could find when I began was the fact that dragons had their own language, spoken and written, and that these words gave dragons the powers told of in stories. I even stumbled upon an alphabet, but no dictionary of words. That was it.

A dozen seasons I spent, following the most minuscule of leads, expanding what little knowledge I had of the fell beasts. Comparing stories to find common links. Looking for vague references in unrelated texts from three eras ago.

Along the way, I suppose I became a mage of some renown, and wound up court wizard to the Jarl of Whiterun. Would I were not tied down, but man cannot live by will alone. And I suppose the extra influence from my position is useful when requesting some obscure text from a private collection. But even then, my obsession was largely ridiculed for its seeming uselessness. Not that I cared what others might have thought; knowledge for my own personal desires was more than enough for me.

Well, at least until yesterday. I suppose some legends aren't to remain solely legends. And suddenly, my amusing hobby has made me the most valuable citizen under the Jarl's employ.

Thus, I find myself poring over my notes, all the information I've gathered in an effort to prepare for... Well, whatever may come. Destruction, most likely. Weaknesses to exploit, strengths to defend against. But there is still so little we know. If only the Jarl would let me complete this recent request, but no, I'm locked up here and...

I feel a tug at the ward I placed upon my door, signaling that someone has entered my rooms. And more importantly, disrupting my concentration. It's annoying, if necessary. I once ignored Avenicci for five minutes once, I was so engrossed in my own thoughts. Doesn't help that the man is more dull than Heimskr's incessant babbling.

Where was I again? Right, visitors.

I step out into the receiving area, and find Balgruuf himself waiting for me. Along with... Some other man? Gods, I hope I haven't met him before; I hate forgetting names and faces. Note to self, look into perhaps making a journal to record people's names and characteristics, so I'm not clueless about every person who walks in.

"My Jarl."

"Farengar, I think I've found someone who can help you with your dragon project. Go ahead and fill Talao in on the details." Odd. The Jarl usually wastes time on pleasantries when he visits. Well, I suppose the current situation has everyone a bit off-kilter, even Balgruuf.

The man in question seems a bit... Shrimpy. Nothing in particular stands out to me; he seems rather bland. "So, the Jarl thinks you can be of use to me?" Certainly no warrior, no armor, no weapons. "He must be referring to my research into the dragons. Yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me."

"That's it?" he asks.

I hesitate for a second. But the Jarl seems convinced, if his look is anything to go by. I suppose it's on him if the unlucky bastard dies. "Well, when I say fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that may or may not actually be there."

He blinks. Stunned and confused, if I read his expression correctly. "And this has, uh, what to do with dragons, exactly?"

Damn. Definitely spooked him. Maybe I shouldn't have been so blunt with him. My doubts grow, but again, Balgruuf must have chosen him for a reason. Perhaps if I try stroking his ego; I find that works wonders. "Ah, no mere brute mercenary, but a thinker - perhaps even a scholar?"

"Of a sort, I suppose. I'm a bard by profession."

We're doomed.

No, stop that. Find the common ground... Stories! "You see, when the stories of dragons began to circulate, many dismissed them as mere fantasies, rumors. Impossibilities. One sure mark of a fool is to dismiss anything that falls outside his experience as being impossible. But I began to search for information about dragons a while back - where had they gone all those years ago? And where could they be coming from now?"

He nods, his earlier hesitation gone. "To be sure, our own history is often the key to understanding the present." Smart man. I truly hope he comes back alive. "What do you hope to find in this ruin?"

"Of course. I, ah, learned of a certain stone tablet said to be housed within Bleak Falls Barrow - a "Dragonstone," - said to contain a map of dragon burial sites."

"Burial sites? Are you planning to exhume a corpse? Or..." His eyes widen, "Perhaps they're, what, being resurrected."

"Possible. I highly doubt it flew here from Akavir, since all sources seem to agree they all left en masse. Necromancy is an option, though it begs the question why only now has such a thing happened. We don't know, which is where you come in. Go to Bleak Falls Barrow, find this tablet - no doubt interred within the main chamber - and bring it to me. Simplicity itself."

"This is a priority now," Balgruuf interjects. Obviously. "Anything we can use to fight this dragon, or dragons. We need it, quickly. Before it's too late."

"Of course, Jarl Balgruuf." Of course, it only took the imminent destruction of Whiterun to inspire interest in my work. Silver linings. "You seem to have found me an able assistant. I'm sure he will prove most useful." And I suppose I do mean it. A little.

"Succeed at this, and you will be rewarded. Whiterun will be truly in your debt. Speak to Proventus if you should need any supplies for your trip, as I'm sure you're running low after your ordeal at Helgen." With that declaration, which I'm sure he thought very grand, Balgruuf exits, leaving Talao and myself alone. I can't help but sigh heavily. Working with others can be so tedious. But sadly necessary. Back to my research then. Based on the shape of the skull of the dragon above the Jarl's throne, (how ghastly) it seems clear that...

"Ahem."

The sound startles me, and it take a moment to realize it's Talao. Standing in the same place. "You're still here?"

"Yes," he replies with a grimace. "See, while I'm indeed grateful for the trust your Jarl has placed in me, I'm... Well, not a terribly seasoned fighter. In fact, you could say I'm utter rubbish in a fight."

"Your point?"

"I'm about to dive into a Nordic ruin, which from past experience can often house Draugr, bandits, and other things that would gladly tear the flesh from my bones. I need some manner of protection beyond whatever supplies I can gather in town."

Reasonable enough. Smart not to go barreling to his death, at least. "Well, I do have a small collection of spell tomes for sale here, but I doubt you would be able to learn anything of value overnight. You could always find some easily swayed mercenary at the local tavern that's daring or dull enough to join you. Though I would prefer you keep my research between as few people as possible. It wouldn't do to worry the locals about something so trivial as our utter lack of understanding of dragons."

"No, certainly not," he laughs. "Thank you for the information."

As he turns to leave, I'm struck by a bout of inspiration. "Wait a moment." I dash into a side-room I use to store things on which I'm not currently working, to grab... Damn where is it? Aha! There. An old staff, carved into the likeness of a golden dragon. Though it's faded so thoroughly it seems mere yellow now. I return and present it to him. "This is an old staff of mine, back from when my research was... Less sedate. It's enchanted with a basic Fireball spell. Perfect for combating undead and bandits alike. I keep it charged, but old as it is I don't know how many casts it will last for. Better than anything you'll find at Belethor's, though, I guarantee."

He takes it reverently. Or maybe fearfully, as if he's afraid it might explode. Hmm, that's a frightful thought, can staves explode under certain conditions? Add it to the research list. "Thank you, Farengar. I shall treat it well."

"See that you do. I would like it back in one piece, if possible, but better if it should help you complete my task." Strange that I'd part with it after so long, but I suppose it's been gathering dust anyway. Besides, my history is locked safely within my own mind. I wave farewell to... By Julianos, I've already forgotten his name. I'll just check with Balgruuf at some point. Now... All dragon stories feature fire-breathing, so we'll need to stockpile reservoirs of water. Perhaps we can ward against it? Or is their magic so different that they'll be ineffective? What about...

Chapter 7 - Balgruuf I: Before The Storm x Chapter 9 - Uthgerd I: Bleak Falls Barrow

[newgenog]

REVENGE

Notes: This is NOT part one of chapter seven. As a reminder, we've switched to weekly teasers for each chapter.

If you're just stumbling across this, and haven't already done so, please stop and start by reading chapter one. 

This #Batwoman AU is based on the ABC tv series #Revenge. Ryan Wilder had just about everything taken from her when we met her, and she was doing her best to get it back. In this version of the story, that means taking some people down along the way. And, she's definitely no hero.

Hopefully you're recovered from chapter 6, and ready for our season finale. I'll try to hold you over with out of sequence and context teasers while I wrap this up. See you next Friday for teaser 2 for chapter 7.

CHAPTER SEVEN SNEAK PEEK

TUESDAY, JULY 10TH, 8:00 PM, THE HOLD UP

Ryan made it through her second day back to work after the holiday that became a regressive spiral into feelings she thought she’d buried, after Angelique put a Crow in a coma, after Luke was attacked by another Crow and hospitalized, and of course after Sophie found out who she was and Ryan crushed her when she admitted she never intended to tell her the truth. In reality, going to work was probably Ryan’s best option, because being left to her own devices at a time like this could result in literal bombs being placed and set everywhere her enemies frequented. But that kind of quick ending wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying as ensuring the plan she’d spent years devising came to fruition, nor would it be fitting enough justice for them. They didn’t deserve quick endings. They needed to experience complete loss and total destruction. They needed to see her thriving in spite of everything they took from her. The only way that would happen was if she got her house in order. 

Fortunately, Sophie did still help, as she'd promised, and at least a couple of Ryan’s obstacles were now less threatening. She hadn’t spoken to Angelique in almost two days, and figured she too was barely keeping it together, wondering when the next Crow would jump out and try to take her down. So, Ryan goes to The Hold Up to give Angelique the news that Sophie had shared with her earlier that morning. She can’t deny that knowing with confidence Sophie won’t be there, because she’s currently on her shift with Luke, has influenced her timing. 

She walks up to the bar and a very worried Jordan greets her. 

Jordan: “Hey, Robyn…how are you holding up?” 

Ryan: “I’ve definitely been a lot better than this, but I’ve also been worse. So…”

Jordan: “I hear that. Well, have you eaten anything?”

Ryan: “A little…earlier…haven’t been super hungry.” 

Jordan: “Not surprising, considering. Why don’t I at least put some of your favorite fries in front of you, and we can see what happens?” 

Ryan: “Look at you, taking care of me…”

Jordan: “I might be concerned about Luke, but you were there…I can’t even imagine what that was like. And, I’m going to guess you’re not leaning on my sister right now… So, yeah, anything I can do.” 

Ryan: “That obvious, huh?” 

Jordan: “Oh yeah…but I’m not worried about you two.”

Jordan winks at Ryan, and she smiles back gingerly, appreciating the hope.

Ryan: “Are you here alone?” 

Jordan: “My mom’s in the kitchen, even though she should probably be heading home soon. But, it’s our TikTok queen’s night off, and with Soph so occupied right now…I mean, it’s hella dead in here, anyway. So it's not like she’s working hard.” 

Ryan: “Wait, who’s your TikTok queen?”

Jordan: “Oh, you didn’t see…?”

Ryan: “I’m not really on socials like that…” 

Jordan grabs her phone, taps it a few times, and then slides it over.

Jordan: “I’m going to go put your order in. Enjoy the show!”

As Jordan walks away, Ryan watches Angelique and another woman feed each other shots, what looks like for the third time based on the empty glasses nearby them. Then she tongues the girl down. As she pulls away, she snatches a panda hat off of her lipstick lover's head, placing it atop her own, and dances away to loud hip-hop music playing throughout the bar. The clip, taken on a customer's phone, has over fifty thousand likes, which is a lot for Gotham. The Hold Up is tagged as the location.

Ryan puts the phone down on the bar, completely furious. What about that was laying low or sticking to her routine? 

Ryan: “Hey, Jordan! Can I get those fries to go? Think I’m just going to head to bed early.” 

Ryan's night is actually about to get a lot longer.

~~~~~

To be continued…

We finish season one and chapter seven in August. Let's do this!

Follow #SaveBatwoman on all socials please! Support the Writer and Actor strikes.

#wgastrike #sagaftrastrike #StopCancellingDiverseShows

[brionysea]

current bnb status? like how many chapters r done / close to being done and what are some scenes ur working on now ? :3

hi hello!!! i was about halfway through drafting part 3 (i don't want to say chapter - they're Lengthy parts, there would be about 5 chapter breaks within each part if i was doing chapters) before i got distracted by the realisation that I Can't Write Whump. how do people write whump? i came here for the emotions and the trauma processing and now i have to write a character getting physically pretzled? rude

anyway, as of right now the plan is... 7, 8 parts? somewhere around there. part 1 is about 95% done (i'll probably get on that last 5% next time i pick up writing bnb again - dustin is being The Brain Cell Friend and he will not wait long); part 2 is like, 50% done, but that's mostly because writing a character realising their own mortality within the context of a pre-determined scene from the show is difficult and feels repetitive and stale in contrast to being able to just Make Stuff Up; everything beyond that is pretty mentally laid out by now but it's a bit haphazardly existent, writing-wise, and it's certainly not edited. max gets a speech at the end that makes me cry though. i have to break from the perspective character (mike) (he's a bit busy Antagonising The Antagonist at the time) (he does that a lot, it's concerning. where are the survival instincts? is he not paying attention to the moral of the story? it's that running is okay, mike! that's how you survive in stranger things!!!) to pull that off but i don't even care, it's so worth it

as far as scenes that are currently In Focus in my brain:

there's the dustin thing i mentioned. mike gets to catch him up on the Mike (And El) Are Being Weird part of season 3 that he missed out on in real time via distraction by russian conspiracy theories, which is always fun because dustin tends to listen when mike talks and he's been pretty distinctly kept separate from any and all Mike Is Being Weird parts of the show for a long while. because he is too smart and would figure out that that's Important, actually. writing what (if anything) he would do about that is going to be fun, because i wasn't really thinking about him before but now that he's here he will not be ignored. dustin also takes the time to battle mike's anxiety with flawless logic and wins, because dustin is amazing. i really love dustin and the lack of dustin&mike interactions is criminal

the other part that's currently in rotation, which i haven't actually gotten around to writing yet because of the pretzling (i won't provide details or context, it helps with the immersion :)), is max and mike being friends. aka the point of this whole endeavour if i'm being honest. they can allow themselves to be suicidal, that's fine, but if their friend tries it? right in front of them? tries to die right in front of them where they can see??? what an idiot. what a stupid idiot who needs to be saved from their own idiocy right away. get hugged, idiot. don't die. (<- if i'm being even more honest, THAT'S the point. teen suicide allegories vs the power of friendship. get friendshipped, idiot) (is this mostly me being bitter over the optics of Suicidal Teen Max Mayfield dying seconds after she realised she wanted to Live, Actually? maybe so. i hate that trope, even if in this case it's temporary death that does actually work for the allegory. let traumatised characters recover)

one thing i've noticed is that i have this inclination to try and make the wheeler family better? ted is a bad father, that's easy to roll with, he sucks, but i think about nancy and my brain is like Make Her A Good Sister (especially when she's good at solving puzzles and mike is very much a puzzle right now, but that's the case in the show too and she still Doesn't Really Care), or i try to write karen and my brain is like Make Her A Good Mother, which... she's trying, at least, but it's. it's quite hard to find that balance of well-meaning and still-doing-damage. because i know they're not a good family to mike but apparently my subconscious disagrees with that on principle and thinks he deserves one, established characterisation and relationship dynamics be damned, and that's just !! it's annoying!!!! i'm trying to do an accurate character study here, which includes the Not Fantastic family dynamics!!!!!! wanting to give mike wheeler good things and accurately writing about mike wheeler's life are not easily compatible goals and it's very irritating

anyway. this last part will probably mean nothing (yet), but i keep being tempted to finish and publish the first part even knowing that that would kill my motivation to actually finish writing the rest of the story (don't ask, the demand-supply part of my brain is broken), just so that people can see the bedroom window scene. i am So Proud of the bedroom window scene it's unbelievable

[fandomsandfairytales]

For the unwritten fics game - the terrifying sons of Fëanor and the baseball AU!

(Also you have to divide tags up into five per paragraph now, two of them didn't go through.)

Thank you for letting me know about the dividing tags!! I just updated the post, so hopefully they've all gone through now.

These descriptions got kinda long so I put them under a cut XD

Terrifying sons of Fëanor

This was largely (to my memory) inspired by reading in The Silmarillion about how Maedhros was scary and intimidating to the point that orcs fled from him in fear, and just reading about how people were fearful of the Fëanorians in battle in general.

This was one of the quotes I was thinking of from The Silm:

“Maedhros did deeds of surpassing valour, and the Orcs fled before his face; for since his torment upon Thangorodrim his spirit burned like a white fire within, and he was as one that returns from the dead.”

And also this:

"[Maedhros'] body recovered from his torment and became hale, but the shadow of his pain was in his heart; and he lived to wield his sword with left hand more deadly than his right had been."

I also recalled Maglor killing Uldor for betraying them in the Nirnaeth, and the epithet "Celegorm the Cruel." In my running list of ideas, I wrote the following down when I came up with the overall idea:

A story (or stories?) where we get to see how epically *terrifying* the Noldor are in battle. Please. I need to read about Maedhros being terrifying to any orcs crossing his path and scaring anyone around him. I need to hear Maglor softly whispering “Nelyo?” and see the battle-light fade from his brother’s eyes. I need to hear Maglor shrieking and his voice horrible and awful, ringing off the walls, sharp and overpowering with Song. I need to see Celegorm on the hunt, fierce and feral. I need to read about Caranthir, face and countenance as black as his hair, any hint of redness gone from his pale face (or, conversely, his face dark with color). I need to read about Curufin with crazy weapons, designed to be deadly, and he is terrifyingly, freakily calm as he strides across the battlefield, knowing even a tiny slice of his knife will cause an enemy to bleed out. I need to read about Ambarussa, cunning and sly and how nobody should ever, ever underestimate them as they work in a pair to drive their enemies back, orcs and elves alike. I need it. (It could be 7 chapters. Maybe 8, if I wanted to do each of the Ambarussa)

I think it would be intense and it could easily end up quite dark if I wanted to go that direction (I don't really want to, however), and I have the feeling I'd need to do some research. But I haven't read anything quite like it before and I would enjoy writing it and reading it later, I think. Each chapter could be a compilation of moments in battle, from the viewpoints of other characters—perhaps one or two from a brother and then others from enemies. If I write it, it might be pretty short, but I like the idea of expanding further on each individual sub-idea I wrote down.

Baseball AU

This was partly inspired by seeing something on Twitter about season 1 Rings of Power* and how Elrond's cloak/outfit had runes with Eärendil's name on it, and someone made a joke about how it's the equivalent of a sports jersey. (I really thought I took a screenshot of it, and I searched in like 5 different possible folders for it for about 10 minutes but couldn't find it, so if I ever stumble across it again I'll add it to this post.) Also, from a quick Google searching, apparently TheOneRing.net has an article analyzing the cloak, if anyone's interested.

(Update: I FOUND IT!!! It was this tweet. I don't think I screenshotted it, but I happened upon a response I had made in a Discord server to someone posting the tweet.)

Anyway, I was so amused by the idea that I drew a little picture of a baseball jersey with "Eärendilion" on the back, along with the number 8. (I liked the idea of incorporating both Elrond's biological and adopted family into the design.)

And then—this is where my memory gets a little hazy—I think later on in the summer, my family had baseball on the TV in the background, and one of the teams playing was the Seattle Mariners. I had either just been rereading The Silm (bc I did that last summer) or had been recently on Tumblr scrolling through Silm stuff or somehow remembered my Eärendilion sports jersey design. In any case, I had The Silm on my mind and noticed the baseball team and went to myself "hey. HEY. Mariners. Like Eärendil, get it?" and thought it was hilarious. I decided that if they ever had baseball teams in Valinor or Middle-Earth or wherever, they'd definitely have a Mariners team.

It didn't really go anywhere from there until earlier this year, when I came up with "Finwë Park," a play on Fenway Park (the Red Sox baseball team's stadium), and that amused me as well. I kept thinking that it would be cool to do more with this idea, especially with plays on names both in The Silm and in real life, but didn't have any more ideas until tonight, when we were once again watching baseball. I remembered a few fics I've read that are essentially sports commentaries, and that made me think "hey. I could probably write that. I think." And then went "well, hmmm, I feel like with a baseball game it would be less interesting because you have to *imagine* these things happening, seeing or hearing it is a lot more interesting than reading, and if you don't know baseball well it might get kinda boring....WAIT. WHAT IF...what if I made a podfic. Of sports commentary for a Silm characters baseball game. I could totally get sound clips of crowd noise and baseballs being caught and hit from online, and I could change the pitch on my voice so it's lower or higher to differentiate between commentators....oh heck yeah. This now sounds really fun."

I feel like this would take a while to get together (both the writing and the podfic), but I would want to release the text and audio at the same time. Summer is the prime time for baseball, so I'm going to try to pay more attention to baseball games over the next couple months and see what I can come up with!

Thank you so so much for the ask :D (especially for one of the unwritten fics that I came up with most of the ideas for literally tonight, lol)

Link to my not-yet-written/unwritten fics here.

*I am neither a ROP supporter or hater, I'm a...neutral and kinda "meh" party, interested enough to hear about where it goes but not interested enough to really get into it and develop strong opinions. I've heard plenty on both sides. I didn't really want to get into it in this post since that was not the point here XD

[almostjollyprince]

100ish Days of Productivity: The Second Week

Day 5/100 - Jan 6 2024 I ran my D&D campaign. First session in months (we took a break for the holidays around October). Went pretty well. I had planned for that part that they were getting into to take 2 sessions, but I've got a pretty clever group so we managed to wrap it up in 1 session. Spookiness awaits. After the session I started finalizing the details for the Wednesday campaign because that's also starting up again in a few days. Rewrote some ideas as a means of hopefully jump-starting character development for some PCs. We'll see how it turns out.

Rest Day - Jan 7 2024 I took it easy and played games all day. I was hoping to be a little more productive yesterday, but I'm already feeling a bit of the burnout from this 100 Days of Productivity thing. On a side note, I'm almost done with Year 1 of Coral Island, so that's kind of cool I guess. I still haven't decided who I want to romance but it could also be that 1) none of the bachelors/bachelorettes really stand out to me as husband/wife material or 2) I don't care about the romance aspect of the slice-of-life farm game genre. It was like that with Stardew Valley, it was like that with Rune Factory, and it was like that with Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons.

Day 6 - Jan 8 2024 Weather was pretty bad, so I worked from home and provided support for the other developers. I'm trying to study for the certification exam, but the body doesn't want to do what the mind wants it to do. Like there's some sort of disconnect between wants and needs. I hate this feeling. Part of me wonders if I ever fully recovered from the severe burnout I had from one of my previous jobs that ruined my physical and mental health. I finished wrapping up the stuff I needed for the Wednesday campaign, so that was the evening/night.

Day 7 - Jan 9 2024 Roads were clear so I went into the office. Work work work. My buddy for the day and I built a modal that appears for one of the buttons, but after looking at how the original handles that part, it turns out that it should be a page of its own instead of a modal. That's fine, the heavy lifting is done and it shouldn't take more than a day to rewire it as a page instead of a modal. After work, I double-checked my notes for the Wednesday campaign and then just played games. Oh, and swap out the filters for the HVAC. It's supposed to get really cold over the weekend and it's around the time to swap them out anyway, so might as well do it while I don't have anything major going on.

Day 8 - Jan 10 2024 I'm in charge of deciding pairs every week, but it's really hard to follow the whole 'paired programming' thing when we're working with such a small team for the rotation, I can't pair certain roles together (orders from higher up), and the mid/senior devs keep getting pulled away to handle responsibilities that aren't even theirs to begin with. Someone confided in me that they were considering looking elsewhere because the whole reason they joined was for this pairing system and it wasn't happening. I get it, I really do. We should be getting some new blood in the office in less than 2 weeks so hopefully that can help shake up this feeling of drudgery. Rewiring the modal to the page didn't take longer than a half a day. We haven't coded any functionality into it yet because it sounded like we might be getting some new guidance for the project that might make everything we've done not matter. After doing some research, it looked like we could still connect what we have with the original framework after overhauling the older version of .NET we have for it to a newer version. Cool. That information will probably be presented at the meeting on Friday with the customer, so that'll be resolved. After some last minute prepping (once I got home from work), I ran the Wednesday session for my players. Like the Saturday group, they haven't played since October. Session went pretty well, but I did get some complaints about some stuff that went on during the session so I'll have to address them (again). It's the first session in months so I get that some of the rules we established were broken. Just gotta... remind them of said rules.

Day 9 - Jan 11 2024 Got some mediocre news in the morning. The paperwork I submitted over a year ago still hadn't been processed, and I'm still the only person on the team lacking those permissions the paperwork is supposed to give me. I can't really do my job as a team lead on my own without those permissions, but there's nothing either of us can do about it. The ball's not in our court. Did a team building event with the team in the form of a group lunch. The distraction was nice. The project manager asked me to submit an overview of the work I did for one of the projects I lead so that he could send that to the customer of a particular project, even though all that information is on that project's Trello. It's late enough in the workday that I'll just make a note of it for tomorrow, but I get how the other leads feel about all this work that isn't our responsibility being passed on to us. I had to start putting some events in motion for the Wednesday campaign, so I started sharing some information of what's to come with select individuals. I also do this with the Saturday campaign for their stuff. Speaking of the Saturday campaign... since they're about to wrap up an arc I need to finish finalizing the next arc. They're free to go to any of the other regions, but the only one that makes any logical sense is the Republic. So for that I'll need...

Day 10 - Jan 12 2024 I made sure to let the project lead know that there's some merge requests for the Develop branch. We'll need to lock down the code so that we're not introducing potentially new issues in the stuff that's being demo'd today. The project lead was having some issues getting one of the branches to work on his machine, so after verifying that it worked on mine he just recloned the project and got it to work for him after doing that. I also took care of the overview I put off yesterday while he was getting set up for the demo. After demo, the team played some Jackbox. The team's small enough that everyone gets to play. I didn't win, but I'm just here to have a good time. After work I reached out to an acquaintance about a design for the Saturday campaign. I'm lucky and thankful that I know a bunch of different artists. This particular artist designed some eldritch horror concepts for a different campaign that I'm in, and since I'll be needing one soon they were the perfect pick. We brainstormed some ideas and they got to work, but it was only after they had gone to bed that I came up with an even better idea, and for that, they'll need my notes... I'll make sure to compensate them for their efforts. Treat your artists well, and they'll treat you well in return. Kind of applies to all relationships in life, really. I don't know why some people struggle with that philosophy, but it is what is it.

Day 11 - Jan 13 2024 Oh hey the weekend. Unfortunately there's one hellova cold snap hitting the region and other places so whatever plans I had of going out is... just not gonna happen. I'm just gonna buckle down and stay warm. The wife finally got Monster Hunter World working again on her computer, so we hunted some monsters. My file of Monster Hunter World that we have on the Playstation 4 is much further than where I'm at on PC, but we can't skip cutscenes so it was a bit of a slog getting through more of story. On the Playstation I think I left off around the Alatreon encounter (big dragon fight right before the final big dragon fight), but on the PC version I still hadn't made it to the Elder's Recess (one of the later zones of baseline story). The wife and I are both seasoned veteran hunters so the fights were pretty easy. It was just... the unskippable cutscenes. And before I get any flak for skipping cutscenes, I just wanna say that I've already seen all the cutscenes on the Playstation version. Also, when the fights take less time than the cutscene itself (and you gotta watch the cutscene before other hunters can join you on the fight), there's an issue. Maybe that's just me. I enjoyed Tri, 3U, 4U, and Generations from the old gen, and Rise from the new gen. Maybe it's just the story pacing from World that's making it unenjoyable to sit through a second time. Hopefully Monster Hunter Wilds has a good story (not that Monster Hunter is winning in the story category anytime soon), or at least an option to skip certain cutscenes. Aside from Mon Hun, I sent over my notes to the artist and wrapped up Year 1 of Coral Island. The artist liked what they were seeing in the notes so I've got high hopes they'll design something exceptional. I was also asked by a different artist to conceptualize my character's late wife in a different campaign, and they did an amazing job drawing her.

Rest Day - Jan 14 2024 It took a bit of effort to motivate myself to write this new update for the 100ish Days of Productivity. It definitely ties back to that disconnect I briefly wrote about earlier in the week. I need to get better about it. Otherwise it defeats the entire purpose of this journey of self-improvement. It's still really cold out (yesterday it was in the negatives, today wasn't much better). Bundled up and played some Final Fantasy 14. There's a new patch for the game coming up, so I wanted to spend some time and deal with some of the Challenge Log items, which are basically weekly goals that earn you some extra coin for completing a certain number of them. It was also a good time to decorate the inside of the medium house I won back in December. While I wasn't able to decorate the entirety of it, I did make some good progress on the upper and main levels. I've got vendors set up inside the house that have housing items I can buy, and what I can't buy from them I go out and gather myself. I think I've got some great lighting on the upper floor, but I'll need to add more light sources to the main floor. It's too dark on the eastern side pretty much any time it isn't between the in-game hours of 6am - 12pm. Same thing with the western side but anytime that isn't between 12pm - 6pm. I wonder if the ceiling light is just no good for how I have the marble walls set up? I have tomorrow off, so I'm hoping I can overcome the disconnect and get some studying done.

[dragonnan]

list 8 tv shows for your followers to get to know you ★ i was tagged by @disappearinginq

Psych - My first true obsession since the X-Files went off the air in 2001. My biggest obsessions of the past were all WELL before streaming was a thing which meant you HAD to be in front of the TV when it aired or you simply missed out. For example, I missed the final episode of the OG MacGyver. I didn't get to see it until I bought the complete DVD box set decades later. (special mention of Monk which led me to Psych back in the great days of USA Network)

Sherlock - I was late to the party and didn't start watching until after the last season ended. This is, since 2017, my biggest current obsession. I have a strong attachment to detective shows and can't believe how long it took to finally watch. I love, in particular, the portrayal of the characters by Benedict, Martin, Amanda, Mark, Louise, Rupert, and Una (rip).

Fullmetal Alchemist (OG and Brotherhood) - Same, @disappearinginq! My love for this world never ends! Like you there are things I love about both versions. The way Brotherhood developed characters and the wider world (plus the ending) are so so good!! Meanwhile the first series handled certain emotional episodes SO much better!!! I'm sure you know WHICH one in particular. This was also one of the only times I took part in a writing group to help develop the multi-arc vision of a writer who goes by Heathenesque. I didn't write much as most has been created by her but it was so much fun! It still exists on LJ, as well as Mediaminer and The Pit (FFN).

Cowboy Bebop - The first anime anything I ever saw. My brother-in-law had it on VHS back in the day and was watching it at our house. I took an interest and was immediately hooked. I have lost track how many times I've rewatched episodes and there's a reason its considered one of the best anime series created.

Good Omens - WE NEED SEASON 3!!! Entirely quirky and initially feels like just comedy. But my GOSH there is so much depth under the humor and it poses very solid questions about faith and religion as well as friendship, love, what being human means, etc. And that was just the first season. I'm still not emotionally recovered from season 2.

Star Trek - Again, like @disappearinginq I love this show - TOS, TNG, DS9, and Voyager. I even had them on VHS back when cassettes were sexy lol. Star Trek was one of my earliest fandoms and I had such a crush on Spock.

Doctor Who - Thank goodness for streaming cause I watch this on repeat aaaaaall the tiiiime!! I consider it a comfort show and I don't get tired of it no matter how often I rewatch. It may be packed with, often, silly effects (particularly early on) and deeply questionable science. But I also haven't cried harder from the most wrenching scenes and emotion it triggers.

My Foundation - I'm dedicating this last one to the shows that built the tastes I'd have as an adult: MacGyver, Simon & Simon, Hart to Hart, Remington Steele, Scarecrow & Mrs. King, The A-Team, Magnum PI, Airwolf, Blue Thunder, Beauty & the Beast, The Fall Guy, Knight Rider, Moonlighting, as well as Saturday morning cartoons, The Electric Company, and Sesame Street.

Tagging: @sgam76 @theleftpill @mrs-n-uzumaki @mamahanu @villaniouslyawesome @ceruleanmindpalace @copperplatebeech @ariaadagio @aelaer