#i was getting more engagement on twitter so i started posting more there but uh. twitter is twitter.

[rush-valley]

another batch of doodles i forgot to post here

[siriustaylorsversion]

Nevermind (Taylor Swift x reader) She has always owned my heart pt.4

finally got over my writers block so this is a little long <3 thankyou so much @karsonromanoff for the idea!!

part one, two and three

enews

enews does anyone hear wedding bells? singer yourname.official seen wearing an ENGAGEMENT RING in a new interview... what news do her and taylorswift bring??? liked by tomhalland2013, y/n_sink and 4,205,600 others.

y/n.sink WHAT IS GOING ON IS THIS REAL????

tay.y/nforevermore TMZ POSTED AND TOM HOLLAND LIKED THIS IS HAPPENING theerastour.updates IM FREAKING OUT WHAT THE HELL

costataylorsversion IM GONNA CRY IF THIS IS NOT TRUE IM SO HAPPY

conangray my mothers are doing what now??

oliviarodrigo oh my god yourname.official SO HAPPY FOR YOU

siriustaylorsversion NOT #mymothersaremarried TRENDING ON TWITTER WHAT 😭😭😭

snehit.13 NOT LEAVING MY PHONE UNTIL THEY CONFIRM

blakelively oh wow

tay.y/nforevermore WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WOW'?????? y/n.sink MOM WHAT'S HAPPENING

y/n_sink

y/n_sink it's yourname.official's new story AND OH MY GOD MY PARENTS ARE MARRIED IM DEAD liked by woodvaleisreal, y/n_sink and 100,309 others.

y/nandsadie.forevermore FORGET TEARDROPS MY GUITAR IS FLOODED

y/ntourupdates but her story is so real 😭😭😭

folkmore.forevermore THIS IS WHAT WE NEEDED BEST NEWS TO START THE NEW YEAR

yourname.official

yourname.official IM OPENING FOR THE LOVE OF MY LIFE (and the highest grossing tour, I could not be prouder) liked by tomhalland2013, blakelively and 7,208,600 others.

taylorswift could not be more excited, my love 🥹🩷🩷

blakelively my favorite girls, oh my god <3

folkmore.forevermore CONGRATS ON THE ENGAGEMENT

y/nandsadie.forevermore YOU'RE MARRIED????????

woodvaleisreal SO SO HAPPY FOR YOU GUYS AAAAHHH

conangray CONGRATULATIONS, MOTHER (why didn't you tell me??)

yourname.official what's up with the comments?

tomholland2013 i might've accidentally liked a post... yourname.official uh huh.... tomholland2013 it might've accidentally been about your nonexistent wedding, nevermind... yourname.official you're dead, spidey. folkmore WAIT WHAT IS GOING ON??

taylorswift

taylorswift we got married? looking at all the fake wedding drama like 😦 liked by yourname.official, blakelively and 7,208,600 others.

yourname.official it was fun while it lasted 💘

zendaya wait, what drama??

tomholland2013 nothing, nothing at all. i- zendaya you good?? yourname.official got him mid-sentence... rest in peace, holland

forever.more I'M CRYING WHY IS THIS ONE NOT TRUE

y/n_sink i have never been this heartbroken, why.

folkmore.forevermore WHAT NOOO??????

blakelively i thought you didn't tell us </3

taylorswift you'd be the first one to know when it does happen tomholland you'd say yes to her? why?? yourname.official shush, you're dead.

y/ntourupdates THAT'S IT I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE

jimmyfallon

jimmyfallon we're gonna have yourname.official talking about the eras tour, the wedding rumors and should she "pull a monica" for a surprise proposal? don't worry, blondie can't see this post liked by yourname.official, blakelively and 3,200,600 others.

comments on this post have been limited

yourname.official i should go do it...

blakelively best of luck, darling <3

tmz

tmz We are not coming to you with fake news this time, that time was in yourname.official's words... "all Tom Hollands fault". On the Jimmy Fallon show, the singer revealed that all the comments by the fans made her reflect on her relationship and said that "I couldn't be happier being with my girlfriend and I just think maybe we should get married. Taylor was scared at first that the people would believe the news and we'd have to get married when I'm not ready but.. it's like that one f.r.i.e.n.d.s. episode, maybe I should pull a monica and ask her." We could not be happier for the couple, now it's up to Ms. Swift to follow her own lyrics and baby just say yes. liked by zendaya, blakelively and 5,060,700 others.

forever.more I WAS WATCHING AND I LITERALLY SOBBED WHEN SHE SAID THIS, THEY ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER

y/n_sink THEY BETTER GET MARRIED BECAUSE OH MY GOD

folkmore.forevermore IMPATIENTLY WAITING FOR NEW NEWS ON THIS BECAUSE THIS IS THE BEST THING TO BEGIN THE YEAR WITH

gracieabrams they both have such a way with words, I'm actually crying.

yourname.official

yourname.official NEVERMIND, SHE SAID YES liked by taylorswift, blakelively and 11,060,789 others.

taylorswift I LOVE YOU SO MUCH OF COURSE I SAID YES

yourname.official YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME CRY AGAIN

gracieabrams FINALLY 🥹💖💖

tomholland13 to think i made this happen

yourname.official shUSH tomholland2013 congratulations and you're welcome 🙄💕

conangray YOU'RE FINALLY MARRIED AAAAAAHHHHH

oliviarodrigo CONGRATS GUYS!!

forever.more YOU GUYS ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER, THIS IS AMAZING

y/n_sink LITERALLY THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE

taylorswift

taylorswift of course i said yes, there is no other answer when it comes to her 🩷🩷🩷 liked by yourname.official, blakelively and 13,000,000 others.

had a lot of fun writing this, maybe I'll make the wedding a part 5? stay happy and hydrated!

[ducktracy]

the first clip for "the day the earth blew up" was posted on twitter. can you spare us your thoughts?

@aadrawings: So uh how about that new Looney movie clip?

I MOST CERTAINLY CAN SPARE MY THOUGHTS! TWIST MY ARM! first, i'll link it here in case anyone hasn't seen it:

FIRST (and most obvious) THING'S FIRST: I'M SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED UUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHH!!! the film JUST started premiering in Annecy as we speak and my heart is literally pounding MY FINGERS LITERALLY SHAKING. so i apologize if this turns into a discombobulated mess i'm so so so excited and trying to keep an eagle eye out for any and all details. BUT ANYHOO

IT LOOKS GREAT!!! this is a fully rendered clip of the roughs that were uploaded back in September of 2022, so i'm already pretty familiar with this since i gushed over it to hell and back then, too. i had a few teeny tiny neurotic nitpicks that i would not take too seriously--honestly me nitpicking anything modern LT is a good sign because it means i'm ENGAGED and actively thinking and engaging with the material. there are a lot of modern LT adaptations i cannot say the same for. so it's all out of a labor of love and i also realize that most of these nitpicks are very.. you guys know my level of fanaticism. don't take it too seriously. my standards for this series AND THESE TWO KNUCKLEHEADS IN PARTICULAR who are my favorite characters of all time are so high that even the classics don't meet those expectations half the time. we all know i'm insane. BUT ENOUGH BLUFFING

my biggest critique is that it's going to take me quite a bit to get used to Eric Bauza's Porky. i LOVE Bauza, he is such a sweet guy (he sang me happy birthday as Daffy Duck and i almost exploded) and so talented and it's been really great seeing him rise up the ranks. i used to only know him as "the guy who voiced Stimpy in APC" and so i'm VERY glad to see he's gone on to greener pastures LOL.

but, with that said, the first time i saw these roughs i actually thought Porky's lines were scratch audio. there isn't enough stuttering--it's important for me to note that people give Porky's stutter WAY too much prevalence, in terms of how he sounds and just characterization as a whole. a stutter is not a personality. BUT, in the clips above, he doesn't really sound like Porky unless he's stuttering. it moreso sounds like Daffy talking to himself. Mel Blanc had Porky speak (and even sing!) in full sentences all the time, but it's never noticeable unless pointed out because Porky still sounded like Porky and Blanc knew how to make his personality come out in his voice beyond the vocal fluff of a stutter.

part of it is because i'm so used to Bob Bergen. and, even THEN, if i watch too much LTC or Duck Dodgers in one sitting, i need to "recalibrate" with the originals and hear Blanc. Bergen's Porky is much different than Mel's, more formal, the stutter more concrete in its formula (fun fact: Blanc's Porky has a southern twang in his voice if you listen for it depending on who's voice directing and i love it so much. biggest giveaway is how his "i"'s will often sound like an "ah" instead, not thinking of the stutter. I WARNED YOU we are getting into super pedantic territory here), but, much like how Joe Alaskey's Daffy is a much different interpretation than Blanc's Daffy, he was able to really make it his own. i think Bauza's Porky is still in a little bit of a limbo in finding its identity with that regard. but, also, keep in mind we've only heard him in this clip and Space Jam 2 and i have no plans of revisiting SJ2 to make a point here. sorry

THAT'S MY BIGGEST CRITIQUE i'd say! others are small, such as the design of the landlady is fun but reads like something out of the 2020 Animaniacs than anything based in the LT design philosophy, and you could argue that the fluidity is more Richard Williams-esque in its visual fluffiness and perhaps even excessiveness than, again, anything relating to LT. but i take less stock in that last one because the animation is STILL GORGEOOOOOOOOOOOOUS WHAT THE HECK!!!! so many fluid arcs and i really love that scene of Daffy talking to the landlady. the subtle twitching on Porky's cheek as a secondary action made me laugh.

other than that... you guys know that I. LOVE. LTC. i have been tracking it before it released, and there are posts on this blog (i think i saw one even dating back to its initial announcement in 2018, though it may have been a 2019 post of the 2018 upload. dunno.) dating back before i was even into LT at ALL. i've been keeping an eagle eye on every single development. the day they premiered i watched the entire batch 3 times in a row. i streamed it for you guys too! some people reading this may have been in that room.

ALL THIS TO SAY, i LOVE LTC SO MUCH and it's been the most excited i've been for anything in a very long time. i also have my fair share of nitpicks, but, as i've expressed above, they all come out of a place of love. some of the Porky and Daffy shorts in the LTCs i would have handled differently if i had my hands on them. Porky and Daffy are two characters who are deeply special to me, everyone knows me as The Porky And Daffy person including my coworkers and bosses, my friends who worked on the show and film have told me many times they're eager for my thoughts. the pig and duck are literally a part of my identity. so my critiques come more out of a place of fanaticism and love for the characters and wanting to do them justice and wanting people to see what i see in them, rather than an actual dig at the product

THAT ALL BEING SAID. there are some pitfalls and little traps the P+D (and a lot of LTC in general) shorts run into that i'm expecting to be in the movie as well. there's a little bit here with the screaming and some lines of dialogue that i probably would have shaved off (like "our roof?"). months ago i started typing up mini reviews of each LTC short that i may compile here someday--my Max subscription was about to run out and i wanted to watch all the LTCs one last time while i could. and then i renewed because i couldn't watch quickly enough and now need to return LOL--and it allowed me to lay out some of the nitpicks i have with the series more clearly, which i am fully expecting to also be in the movie. and that's okay!

ALLLL OF THIS RAMBLING IS TO SAY: I AM SO EXCITED. i've been tracking every single detail of this movie and this SERIES like a hawk since it was announced. i was even asked to work on the film back in 2021, but turned it down because i wasn't secure enough in my abilities and didn't know what job security would look like after i finished on the film. i'm glad i stuck with the decision as i did, because i figured i can draw those two any time i want, and the fact that i got asked meant that there are eyes on my work and i may get asked with other LT related offers (which turned out to be true!). needless to say, turning down the offer was genuinely one of the most excruciating things i've ever done and it seriously sent me into a pretty big funk for the next few days and weeks.

so, with all that said, it is ESPECIALLY important for me to see how this movie is and celebrate it and keep my fanatical obsessive eagle eye out. i'm so glad i get to live in a world where this is a movie that is happening and coming out. i've already got plans to see it with a best friend who i've shoved the agenda of the pig and duck down her throat many times. i am so excited to cheer on all my friends and colleagues who worked on this film. it's the most excited i think i have ever been for anything actively coming out in my life.

[eliotlime]

End of October Update

There's got to be a less clunky way for me to title these things but maybe I'll figure it out after a few posts.

Anyway at the top of the order I want to say that uh... the Abacelsus zine is not happening by halloween unforch.. I just started school part-time and it being part-time is still kicking my ass! So tentative release date will be on 11th November unless something else happens....

On the plus side I'm done with the cover so all that's left is the back page and cramming all 24 pages full of drawings 👍

-> As I've said at the end of my previous post I want to make more blog style posts so here's me trying to do that, more under the cut

🔐Abacelsus Zine

I'm still deciding on whether i want to print it A5 or B5 but I'm leaning towards A5, though for the digital release it doesn't really matter lol

As mentioned, I'm done with the main cover so I just need to fill this entire thing with stuff, I said 24 pages but really the total page count is 30. I'm just not counting the cover and the blurb stuff.

I'm half taking a break with this at the risk of burning myself out and half paralysed with starting it. Plus I've kind of been more into Axl & I-no hilariously but I'll always love A.B.A. I think the lack of any real info really lends her well to interpretation which is always fun.

I've never really been one to engage in fandom so I'm probably going to be doing my own thing. That being said if anyone has any suggestions feel free to drop them in my strawpage or ask box :)

🥤 Strawpage & General Socials

The bugs make my pages so decorative, I gotta draw more bugstyle guys.

Speaking of strawpage, I made one of those! It was really fun, I have a short OC info tab with descriptions of some of my main guys. I'd love for you to check it out.

This kind of acts as my ask box for twitter since there's not one there and apparently it's basically my main social media site these days so I'm just mirroring my experience here over there too.

Hilarious timing considering that it's basically collapsing on itself once again, I'll probably still be on that damn site until it implodes but I also have a Bluesky account for those that care about it.

The sky follower bridge extension is really useful for bulk following people from twitter to bsky

I'd love to post there more but there's not a queue function and that's very important to me as someone who is not American and lazy to remember optimal timings.

Did you see? I also have a new pinned for this blog! Wanted to make a new one for a while now, always thought the old one was so freaking long. All the old info is still on my about and faq page though I don't know who actually looks at those.. a relic from years past..

☹ School

Sigh, like I mentioned earlier I'm doing school again! At my big age, but I'm having fun so far! It's part-time but it's still kicking my fucking ass! It's the main reason why I'm a little disoriented this month honestly.

Do you like it? I spent an entire Sunday making my class miro board look niceys and then proceeded to get nauseous from cybersickness afterwards LOL

I'm doing a UI/UX course and I have to say the funnest part about it is making personas, it's like making OCs. Don't particularly like writing though.. but also that's a lie considering the numerous amount of paragraphs in this blog post alone haha

🎁 Merch

I've also gotten confirmation that I'll be boothing again next year in Febuary! So I gotta start locking into making more stickers and general merch. I say this a lot but I do need to look into opening an online store because I just have tonnes of stickers and stuff lying around waiting till the next time I do a convention which is kind of a shame.

Oh, but I will say that if you are from Singapore and would like anything from my previous convention catalogue feel free to shoot me a DM on instagram and I can mail it to you locally, shipping's $2 SGD.

➰Closing Thoughts

All in all, been kind of busy this month with school and various loose threads from September but overall I think I'm doing better! I've also been cooking lately and truthfully that's my biggest achievement this month haha, been also getting really into canned fish. Yummy!

Oh and a last thing is that I've been itching to animate again so I'll end this post with a WIP of a gif I did last night/morning. I almost always never finish my animations but here's hoping this one actually makes it to the colouring stage haha

No prizes to anyone who can guess who these two because of course.

Thank you for reading! I know I can't expect everything to be done in a single month but I just wish I could do everything without getting tired or cybersick! If you'd like to support me, here's my ko-fi page and my itchi.io & gumroad as well.

If you have any questions or just generally want to talk to me, my DMs and askbox is always open! Any professional enquires can be sent towards my email as well: eliotlime@gmail.com

XOXO, Stay weird!

-Eliot :)

[mthaytr]

Coming back to tumblr is so hard, because nobody has bothered to improve the system so that i can like posts as this account!! So i can’t passively engage with fandom, and let people kno my first account was a reptiblr account. but also it wasn’t a huge deal to me cause i kept getting followers from my fic. now my brain is dead, can no longer fic, am into danmei mostly, and am doing art????  None of my followers, much as i love you, came here for that. most of you have probably deactivated. augh how to start again on an old social media site. Anyway hello? uh here’s a bit of an old art. Wei Wuxian as the Abhorsen. a year ago or more i suppose, but suibian_gongzi on twitter was talking about it and i couldn’t help but oblige. I guess an inaugural art.

[dilfyjilfy]

I'm sorry, but i'm just gonna need the jc stans who say shit like "Omg, just ignore the canon jc tag and the antis won't bother you" to stop talking, and for multiple reasons.

1) Uh, the whole issue is that jc antis don't actually stick to the canon jc tag. Jc antis will use the canon jc tag as well as every other general mdzs tag (including the regular jc tag), so that their posts still show up even when you're actively trying to ignore them. The only tag I visit on tumblr is the regular jc tag, and you know what I would see every time I visited it from jc antis? 'This post contains filtered tags'. There is no reason I should have to block multiple people from multiple mdzs tags every single time I visit tumblr, but the fact that I had to just shows that jc antis weren't following basic fandom etiquette, and haven't been for a very long time.

2) I guess the jc stans who say shit like 'I love jc, but he is fictional so I don't feel the need to defend him' are ignoring the fact that 99% of the jc antis (on here and twitter) are mentally ill cyberbullies who 100000% have attacked REAL PEOPLE over liking a fictional character. If you have never seen a jc anti account send insults and threats to a jc stans page, hop on their posts to insult their intelligence and more, take screenshots of jc stans work (while showing their account name) just to post it somewhere else to make fun of them, bully stans out of fandom spaces, create alternate accounts once they get blocked by too many stans just to continue wrecking havoc, blaze their anti jc stan and anti jc posts so that everyone can see it, etc...then you must have been interacting with this fandom with both of your eyes closed. When I first joined this fandom a few years ago (and even then, the only tag I ever went in was the regular jc tag), the behavior of jc antis was soo bad that creating an account was necessary, just so I could block them and protect myself. Nobody should have to take such measures against people who think that it's appropriate to torment people over liking a fictional character that they don't. These are not people who deserve to be shown grace.

3) JC antis are like roaches, in that you could spend an hour blocking them, and as soon as that hour is up, here comes another one, not respecting fandom etiquette, or the other people involved in the fandom who are not apart of their clique. So I'm not gonna disparage any stan who is fed up and thinks it's time to stop taking the high road, and I'm gonna use whatever tag I want, cause that's what the roaches do.

4) And before you say anything like "I saw jc stans doing the same thing jc antis have done", then I just think that's interesting, because in all the years I've been apart of the fandom, I've never seen a stan start an argument. Engage in one once prompted by an anti (after they've made a jc stan hate/insult post and posted it in the regular jc tag), make a rant post in response to something an anti has said or done? Yeah, but never the level of bullying that jc antis regularly engage in, so please keep your delusions and comments to yourself.

TLDR: some of y'all are in denial about how bad jc antis have been, and you need to stop with the delusions.

[determunition]

Hi so I’ve curious, (Been nervous about starting my own AU) When you first started posting OFH (on twitter/ao3) how did you get the courage to post it? Were you ever afraid of getting called ‘cringe’ or ‘weird’ or anything else negative? If so how were you able to get over it? (Btw I do love this AU with all my heart!) Sorry if any of these questions are too sensitive!

hi!! thanks for the questions, i'm flattered to be considered a source of wisdom about this x3

OFH/retyrement, like most fandom things i do, started as kind of a silly shitpost thing; i love human AUs, and when my buddy squid_hug made that original text post about the retirement home it tickled me too much to ignore. objectively the scrybes being human old people bickering in a retirement home is a goofy, silly idea, and that's how it started as an AU, down to the written fic. i think that in itself made it a bit easier to post about

however! even with that, when i started posting the first pieces of art it was definitely a "do it scared" situation lmao; i don't remember where i heard this, but in some cases it takes even more courage to do something new when you're already known for something than it does to start something new with no presence at all, and that was definitely true with the retyrement AU. it was my first contribution to the fandom too! i was definitely worried it wouldn't go over well with anyone bc it was so damn niche lolol

my main piece of advice for getting over this fear (besides just doing it scared until you're not scared anymore) is to get yourself a hype squad lmao; though maybe the more accurate term would be a mutual AU ecosystem. i had squid to develop a lot of the AU with me at the start and we bounced a lot of silly ideas off of each other, and now i have a lot more folks around to crack jokes and hype each other up about our art and fics! also at the beginning i had a point where i was feeling a little self-conscious about continuing to post (the AU had a painfully small amount of engagement at the beginning lol), but as soon as i got one (1) ask saying "i wanna see more of this" i took that as my green light to get as silly with it as possible lmao

so ig my TL;DR advice is: don't take shit too seriously, remember it's all in good fun, and surround yourself with folks who enjoy funny lil AUs as much as you do! the second thing can be hard, as it involves uh, putting yourself out there in the first place, but embracing that discomfort is a necessary evil for having a good-ass time! if you can successfully kill the part of yourself that cringes then you'll never be cringe again

godspeed on your own AU endeavors, the digital world is always better for having another crazy creative alternate universe in it <3

[landwriter]

oh menacing writer of the land, I bow to thee. forgive me for my intrusion, for I come to you with great reverence. might I be granted with the holy scripture of the musician!dream x professor hob au? I bring an offering of information on touring, musician life + music industry insight, should you so graciously answer my prayers 🙏

a handsome gift! the least I can offer is more twitter beef au!! most of this was written right in my tumblr drafts when I was still labouring under the delusion that was I was doing could be called "describe the fic you would write" - hob learns about The Diss Track. in his introduction to english lit class:

On Thursday morning, Hob is walking to his lecture, wearing his one sweatervest, because he can, thank you very much. Morpheus hadn't posted in over a day, and he supposes that's just the speed of the internet, and their little battle of wits is over. When he gets into the hall and sets his bag down, every single one of his students looks up at once. And several young people who - who are not even his students, he thinks.

"Right, hello class. Good to see you all here and keen on our last lecture before winter break. And welcome to the new faces as well. I can only assume you're here because of your interest in Marlowe."

"Oh my god," someone says at the back, loud enough for Hob to hear. "He's wearing the vest." He firmly reminds himself this is exactly what he wanted.

Amanda, who sits at the front and always does the readings, raises her hand. Hob calls on her in relief.

"Uh. Professor. We love Marlowe. But haven't you seen it yet?"

Hob had forgotten to silence his phone and it's started buzzing. He ignores it.

"Seen what," he says, very levelly. Smiling firmly. Not at all panicking. Ignoring his students' exchanged glances.

"The song."

"It's a diss track," says another student.

"Sorry, yeah, the diss track."

The entire lecture hall is faintly vibrating with anticipation.

"Is there swearing?" he asks, "I mean, more than I do in class. Anything particularly offensive?"

"No, professor," she says, understanding immediately.

"Well, I suspect I'll find it pretty quickly if I check my phone just now, and that only half of you are here for Marlowe anyways, so let's just put it on, shall we?"

Some kids actually cheer. "Enough of that," he says, "We're going to have a rigorous academic discussion about it afterwards." Then, because he cannot and will not help himself, he adds, "Presuming, of course, there is sufficient subject matter to engage with."

He pulls out his phone and fails utterly to hide his grin at the chorus of ooohs. Someone in the back actually shouts, "Get him, professor!"

Sure enough, the same video has been sent to him half a dozen times. He pulls it up, gets it displayed on the lecture hall's screen, and presses play.

“Alright,” he says. “Let’s see what all this fuss is all about.”

He has enough professional goodwill from years of teaching to do this kind of stupid thing, and it's nice to cash it in, sometimes. He likes to be the cool professor when he can. Even in a sweatervest.

He leans back against the lectern to watch. It's not Morpheus on screen, but a woman that Hob distantly recognizes. She's gorgeous, and apparently, given the rapturous whispers behind him, also at least a little famous. She's surrounded by takeaway containers, fiddling with her phone until music starts playing. "Good job, baby brother." She takes a sip of her beer and then wipes her mouth, and grins brightly right at the camera. "This one's for you, prof," she says, laughing.

Afterwards, the entire lecture hall is silent. Hob is silent.

"Holy shit," says a student, and Hob turns around, face burning. "She murdered you."

Hob gathers himself. He feels a little dizzy. It might low blood sugar. Or love.

"Indeed. Right. Well. Certainly a lot to unpack there." His hands are a little sweaty. It's definitely love. "This isn’t a classics class, but I know some of you are classics students and would be happy to educate us, so let’s start with that parallel made right at the start between the Lotophagi - that’s the lotus-eaters from The Odyssey - and the concept of academia as an ivory tower. Who wants to talk about that?"

Five different hands shoot up. "Wow. Okay, okay," he laughs. "Tristan, start us off."

In the next 80 minutes, he hardly gets a word in edgewise. He is, absolutely gloriously, playing discussion moderator instead of lecturer. Hob knows, feels it in his gut even now, that he will look back on this as one of the best classes he’s ever held. Students are twisting around in their chairs to engage with each other.

It is, he thinks, absolutely worth a bit of murdering.

[heavilykaffeinated]

Okay I’ve had a good day to contemplate this shit- let’s do this. I’m going to start with the fact that I found tsats aggressively disappointing- if you have an issue with that, leave now.

Addressing the highly debated concept of Will and Nico being incredibly OOC- I 100% agree. That doesn’t mean that teenagers don’t change, but they took away so much of both Will and Nicos personalities. Will genuinely lost so much- he used to be a very fun and honest enjoyable character even under stress, but we didn’t get any of that. While I like the concept of Will being rather uninformed and having a really hard time in the underworld, it was overdone and Shoved Down Our Throats from the beginning. That whole scene when Will was talking to Persephone??? (That’s an ENTIRE other post lmk if you want that) He just kept being like ‘ew this place that’s clearly special to you? Yucky.’ He insisted on going on a quest with Nico (which other people were clearly more well suited for,) then proceeded to insult Nico’s second home quite often. It’s like Riordan and Oshiro squished his character and made him two dimensional.

As for Nico, he’s missing a lot. I understand coming to terms with some trauma and your personality changing, (which is literally what the entire book is about) but it’s so extreme. They took the Nico out of Nico. This boy would never come out to an entire camp in some huge display to ask a boy out. Come on.

Uhm PERCY AND ANNABETH??? Bruh what was that scene??? Though the whole page 69 thing was amusing- they were just like Oopsie Poopsie We Fucked Up but you get to deal with it have fun 🤩. (Again, that whole scene was really OOC and an entire other post)

Uh oh the big one- the really weird queer rep. Before y’all come at me, I’m gay as hell, this shit isn’t new. Anyway, it felt really forced. The queer rep in ToA was amazing because it was casual and normal- this was not that. Why were demons coming out to them. Tf. The acceptance subplot is amazing in theory, but again, it was Shoved Down Our Throats. It’s like they slapped a rainbow sticker on the book and suddenly it’s supposed to be amazing. It felt shallow and artificial.

What on earth was Will doing down there??? Think about it- we have Hazel, Reyna, and a few other characters who were either not mentioned or barely mentioned who would have been better suited to the underworld.

Will and Nicos relationship felt really toxic and superficial- I get that it’s their first relationship and it’s not going to be perfect, but they were arguing the whole time, they had no chemistry, and they seemed like they hated each other.

On a similar note, this book lost the whole Acceptance thing from the other people Nico loves. HAZEL??? REYNA??? APOLLO??? They were all left out, and any mention of them felt like a rushed afterthought.

Another big one- the trauma motif. (Again speaking as a biatch with ptsd) Nico was scarily self aware- this whole book is supposed to be about Nico growing and being a kid, yet it was always Trauma Trauma Trauma Childhood Trauma, and he was aggressively self aware- there was no growth there. Things like that take time- and that wasn’t represented. It was like somebody snapped their fingers and Nico became a really angsty self aware therapist.

The conflict of the book felt half baked. Literally why did Nyx care. I don’t know. Does she? There wasn’t much action. (except for the dream sequences, those were good.) Tartarus didn’t feel dangerous or scary. I liked the idea of the Cocoa Puffs, but that also felt half baked. Instead of being like ‘these are literally you’ Nyx was like ‘these are your children lmao 🫃👶👶👶’ that storyline had so much potential but it didn’t really work out.

The whole damn thing read like fanfiction. It felt like Twitter fan service

Also Will was ignored??? This book was supposed to be about Nico and Will, but it ended up being just Nico. I wanted to see anxiety Will :(

Rick Riordan has done really well creating engaging middle reader books in the past, but this felt very Fourth Grade Learn About Gay People And Trauma.

Overall, there were good parts to the book, but I didn’t like it. The entire thing felt half baked and two dimensional. I’m going to reread some of Riordans work, and read some of Oshiros books to try to find the disconnect.

[okkefac]

FE Engage: Alfred Support Analysis [Spoilers]

On twitter I asked if I should really make an analysis and tier list of every Alfred support in Fire Emblem Engage, because the briainrot is real. Well, I was encouraged for some reason, so thought I may as well post it to tumblr as well.

I’ll be analysing them from the bottom up, but I do genuinely like every Alfred support!

WARNING: SPOILERS. For playable cast, as well as end cards.

Alfred/Amber

I’d say this is probably Alfred’s weakest support, which is to say it’s still good, but has nothing really going for it in particular. It’s what you’d expect - two fairly dumb characters going on a fairly dumb adventure together. It’s very straight forward, to the point, and sweet. It’s full of typical Alfred optimism - it’s a great support to help solidify his character, but doesn’t really do much more than that other than comic relief.

Alfred/Boucheron

Another support that is mostly surface level without much more going on. Surprisingly my two favourite characters, but still ranked this low. It’s very predictable, and the C and B supports are basically identical to Boucheron/Etie’s C and B supports. The A support ends sweetly but in a predictable manner. I’d again say this is a good support to learn of both Alfred’s and Boucheron’s characters, but is mostly just surface level and comic relief.

Alfred/Bunet

This support is basically the same as the other two in that it’s surface level and mostly there for comic relief - the only reason it rates higher is because Bunet is such a force for chaos that the comic relief is incredibly hilarious. The support literally starts with this banger of a line:

Bunet: Prince Alfred. Might I ask you for a quick lick?

And then contains these beauties:

Alfred: Speaking of which, Bunet, you’re looking pretty beefy.

Bunet: Beefy, you say. Do you mean you would like to have a quick lick yourself?

Alfred: Uh, no, I’m good. I was just paying you a compliment.

The A support ends weird, which is to be expected of Bunet, and is surprisingly gay for a non Alear support. Again very surface level, but its humour puts it above the other two for me personally.

Alfred/Veyle

An Alfred support where he “breaks character” so to say is always going to rate highly for me, as I’m a sucker for typically happy characters showing their true colours and thoughts. This support starts very generic, and the C support is hilarious, but has some really good points throughout it. Generally Alfred’s A supports are his strongest point, and this one holds up to that. You go into the C and B thinking it will be another surface level Alfred support where he’s going on about exercise, and Veyle is going on about spicy food and feeling insecure, but then the A support has a few little gems in it. In particular this line really struck me when reading it for the first time.

Veyle: Oh, Alfred. I don’t think my problems can be solved by push-ups...or crunches.

Alfred: Of course. You know that, and I know that.

His soft voice and change of tone when he says that - that’s his happy self taking a step back to let Veyle know that her problems are valid, he is taking her concerns seriously, this is just how he does so. 

Alfred: If you don’t set your troubles down every now and then, they’ll crush you.

This line also sticks out once you think about Alfred’s backstory a little bit more, and read a certain support that I’ll get to.

Alfred: I’d be happy to push you so hard, you can’t think of anything else. It’s what I do best!

This line summing up his beautiful character is honestly so touching. This support really pleasantly surprised me once I got to the A rank. Really lovely.

Alfred/Diamant

So I want to love this support, I really do. Once I saw these two could support, and then that all the main royals supported each other, I was so excited because Diamant is one of my favourite characters, and his personality is very different from Alfred’s. 

And for the most part, this support is as great as I’d hoped it would be. The C support fascinates me, I remember thinking how strange Alfred was acting during it - we usually see him as the cheery muscle guy, so seeing him actually act princely was a real surprise, and I’m really a sucker for characters acting parts and changing their personality to do so.

I’m even more of a fan when this breaks down, like Alfred so beautifully does so here.

Alfred: I was trying so hard to keep up the act, but I guess I blew it with that question.

Seeing him play the formal part and then break down and B support and upwards act like his normal self was such a refreshing change of pace from his other supports. It made me super excited to read this. The B support continues much on in the same manner, and these two are simply just cute together. It’s great seeing them bond, and Alfred being adorable and saying how close they are. It’s all so wonderful.

Shoutout as well to the beginning of the C support basically being that meme where the early risers and night owls meet up because they’re both awake. Love that for them.

But then we get to the A support, and I have to be honest this A support kind of frustrates me. At the same time of grinding this support out, I was also grinding and achieving the Diamant/Ivy support line, and got their A support shortly before Diamant and Alfred’s - and the Alfred/Diamant A support really confused me because it goes against not only Diamant/Ivy but several other Diamant supports. Diamant is always adamant that he will change Brodia’s ways, that he wishes for no wars, and he will deal with the political outfall to do so (Citrinne/Diamant support goes into this as well) - and yet suddenly in his A support with Alfred he can’t commit to not invading Firene? It reeks of forced drama because these two were too wholesome together. It’s wild that Diamant will go fight nobles to not invade Elusia, but will tell Alfred to his face that his people might make him invade Firene. Of course Alfred is wonderful about this, but this detail just struck me as so weird on Diamant’s part - and brings the whole support down for me, which otherwise was one of my favourite Alfred support lines.

Alfred/Etie

This was actually the final support chain I got for Alfred, and it started similarly predictable and disappointing as Boucheron’s. There’s nothing really to say about the C and B supports for me, it’s Alfred and Etie being muscle heads. It’s good generic character build up.

Then you get the A support, and it takes a wild left turn that genuinely I’ve been thinking about for around a day now, because I am incredibly pathetic. In Engage most supports are almost passionately platonic, characters do not even mention romance. Some supports are flirty, but again, genuine joining of relationships is rarely mentioned - and as I said this was my final Alfred support, so I can confirm outside of his S rank, Alfred is nowhere near the realm of even mentioning romance.

So when he casually mentions his queen, and his mother thinking he’d marry Etie, I was actually gobsmacked. That’s a surprisingly serious topic for Alfred to talk about, especially in a support that I was expecting to be generic from the C and B ranks. It gives some much needed personality to Éve that I wish we had more of, some backstory for Alfred and Etie’s relationship. I was worried, because my biased shipping heart can’t take it, that it would go a romantic route between Alfred and Etie, but I loved that both of them very sincerely seemed to find the idea completely ridiculous.

I am a sucker for a gay romance including inheritance drama if one of them is a noble, and knowing that Alfred’s queen has been a talking point gives me some damn good ammo for some family drama. Basically this support gave a different side to Alfred’s relationships, even if someone isn’t an Alfred/Alear (especially Alfred/M!Alear) shipper, or especially if they are an Alfred/Etie shipper (and you interpret this differently to me), this support gives a totally different side to his relationships that I find really fun to think about.

Alfred/Timerra

Funny enough, despite this being higher ranked than the others, I have less to say on it to be honest. This support is fairly simple and nice, but just felt more fulfilling than the supports I listed initially. I always find Alfred in new situations interesting, and I liked how he wanted to pick Timerra’s brain over dinner. The B support is basically nothing, and the A support is sweet enough. Sharing culture and learning more about each other is a very Alfred way to do things, and makes sense considering he has said before how he knows very little of Solm due to distance, so it’s nice seeing that referenced in this chain. 

Shoutout to Alfred being the only royal who doesn’t sing in their Timerra support chain though, very sad. I guess Timerra knew he’d be too supportive. What a good boy.

Alfred/Vander

This was one of the last Alfred supports I got, and my opinion on Vander wasn’t stellar beforehand, but this support very pleasantly surprised me. Much like Timerra’s, this support doesn’t have loads going for it, but is just of a consistent quality and very nice for both characters. Alfred is rarely self conscious, and again this is a sort of bias that I have in that I love the happy go lucky characters going through mild angst, so starting with Alfred’s guilt did immediately draw me in. I did love getting a support that talks a bit more about Lumera, and Firene’s close relationship with her. Knowing Lumera gave Alfred flowers for his birthday is honestly such a damn cute mental image, especially since Alfred presumably would have been quite sickly at the time, so probably saw great treasure in it.

This support is overall just adorable, and these two play off of each other very well. A very subdued Alfred support, but a really good point.

Alfred/Ivy

So when I got this support, it was mostly because I had suddenly decided to use Ivy and needed everyone in my army to support Alfred as soon as possible. This support very pleasantly surprised me, and made me love Ivy especially. Again like the two before, it’s just an overall great support with nothing much surprising going on Alfred is of course very trusting and kind, as he always is, and I love Ivy’s teasing. These two play off of each other very well. The B support is a change of pace from most Alfred supports, where Alfred sort of has the upper hand, which is rarely the case for him, and he gets to tease Ivy in turn. 

The A support is predictable, but has a great line from Ivy.

Ivy: This is unacceptable. I demand that you be troubled immediately!

This support chain highlights both of their characters in really great ways, and I adore the dynamic these two have together, which is not something I expected!

Alfred/Yunaka

I think this was my first Alfred support that I got to A rank, so revisiting it for this write up was so much fun, and reminded me how much I loved it at the time. This support shows Alfred at his best, a genuinely lovely and friendly person, who is willing to trust and support whoever needs it. The C support starts in a way that makes you think the whole chain will be obvious, Yunaka is sneaky, Alfred trusts, he slowly over time pries info out of her, they get closer, bla bla - but then the B support completely subverts that. Where most characters, honestly understandably so, would question Yunaka’s motives and not like that she is openly willing to lie, Alfred takes her completely at face value and doesn’t even try to pry - when he accidentally asks too deep a question he backs up and lets Yunaka take the reigns of their friendship. Rereading this I was reminded why I love Alfred so much. 

Their A support continues and again I was expecting to gain some info on Yunaka, but Alfred respects her boundaries, something more people should do in general, and it just ends with Yunaka genuinely in awe of this - and you can tell she appreciates it. 

Alfred: From one weird bird to another, I hope we stay friends for a long time.

What a fitting end to such a lovely conversation. This was such a different support than I expected these two to have, and I loved every moment of it.

Alfred/Alear

Okay and here is where my obvious biases come in. The main reason this support is so highly rated is because of the S rank, not just because I ship these two like mad, but because I appreciate learning of a character’s romantic side. The topic of romance is also why I loved Etie’s A support so much. 

This chain is again for the most part fairly formulaic - but does have that added twist that I said before where Alfred is surprisingly out of character, he’s incredibly self conscious in a way that is only seen in a handful of other conversations of his, and this stays throughout the whole support conversation. The C support reads very much of “and they were roommates”, and the B support is probably their weakest one where it just reads as wacky things Alfred does to show his support. Since at this time I was also getting the Clanne and Framme Alear supports, it wasn’t super exciting to read at the time.

The A support is for the most part a logical conclusion to the B and C supports, but does have an extra bit of information that I think about a lot. Alfred mentioned how he visited Alear a lot as a child during his slumber, and saw Alear as a friend during that time, and how that explains his clingy behaviour. This again can read as just Alfred being Alfred, but once you learn more of his backstory and think more on his person and history, actually becomes incredibly touching if not quite sad. Alfred grew up very sickly, we can probably conclude from this that he didn’t have many friends as he was likely in recovery a lot, I can only imagine what kind of friendship he might have imagined with his deity - someone he probably prayed to to fix his condition, and to now be able to have a real genuine friendship with, is so interesting. 

Now, their S support is absolutely everything I wanted it to be. If I’m going to romance someone, I want romance dammit! And boy does this deliver. If anyone wants a non-platonic Alear S rank, please look no further than Alfred. This again is a natural conclusion, and makes reference to their old supports, whilst being very explicitly romantic. The exchange of gifts is touching, and Alfred dares to use the word love. His confidence gained from this and his S rank wake up convos are such a delight, he’s honestly quite flirty and I gotta say I adore it. These two are just so cute together, that I might scream just thinking about it.

Alfred/Céline

Oh boy. Okay, let’s get into it.

My initial tier list calls this required reading, and to be honest it really is. This support underpins basically Alfred’s entire character, and in retrospect makes every other support of his so much better. If you don’t romance Alfred yourself, his ending is basically so incredibly left field unless you do the Céline support - and if you do the Céline support, it’s just mind shatteringly depressing. I would be as bold as to say this is one of the most important support chains in the whole entire game - especially considering how major a character Alfred is to the plot at large.

Alfred/Céline’s support chain starts innocently, as many of Alfred’s otherwise do. His C and B supports are him digging and Céline essentially calling him a himbo. It’s really funny, and it’s nice to see Céline teasing him, as it was difficult to gauge what their relationship was like just from the main story alone, since Céline doesn’t appear in it for long. 

Then you get to their A support. I didn’t count but this support seems to be much longer than any other Alfred support that there is, and for a very good reason. 

There is often a saying of if something is too good to be true, it probably is, right? Alfred is such a lovely person, he’s always so happy, so carefree, he was sickly as a child but worked through it, he’s doing amazing now! This A support takes all that and tears it to the frigging ground. Alfred’s illness has returned. Now, if you had only done Alfred’s supports, you probably know that he was ill as a child, but it’s not really brought up, been there done that y’know? But it’s a common theme in Céline’s supports, and she mentions it so much, and it’s obvious she has a lot of trauma and anxiety from genuinely fearing for her brother’s life for so long. For Céline to find him like this is literally one of her biggest fears come true. 

And you have to wonder, if this was such an important part of Céline’s life, and if Alfred was truly *that* sick, wouldn’t we have heard about it? Well, I think this line that he says to try and stop Céline getting him medical help explains it well.

"As far as they’re concerned, I want to be the spirited prince who loves working out."

And this is where my heart sank. God am I a sucker for tropes like this, but it genuinely hurt because Alfred doesn’t deserve this. It’s an act, of course it is. Of course he can’t be this airheaded wonderful man who’s just undeniably sweet - of course he’s actually aware of what’s going on. Of course he’s putting on a brave front so others don’t worry about him. Of course! Because he’s a goddamn amazing character, and I love him. 

This broke me, this truly broke me, because when I think of how he must be feeling, how Céline must be feeling, how his whole dumb muscle shtick started just to save his damn life, I get depressed knowing that it’s returned and that his arguably-more-canon ending has him frigging dying from it. It’s not enough. All the work he did is not enough. I don’t think I have the heart to not S rank him, because that ending just hurts so much man.

These lines later on in the A rank, because this A rank is long, also made me sad in that it shows a mindset that to my knowledge is quite common amongst those with chronic conditions.

Alfred: Well, what about you, then? What brings you true happiness?

Céline: Nothing.

Alfred: Really? You’ve got good friends, you got your health─none of that does it?

“You got your health” - Céline has all that Alfred could want, all that he needs. Most people don’t value health as a baseline form of happiness, most people take it for granted. But it’s been this big part of Alfred’s life looming over him. Something that, unless you S rank him, he never gets to truly understand. 

And because this support keeps on giving, Alfred then goes back to his cheery self, saying how happy talking to Céline makes him, and points out a four-leaf clover. They talk about how they always used to look for happy little things as children, and Céline used to be better, but at one point Alfred got better. Céline’s mental health struggles are honestly another talking point I could go into massively, but the idea that the person who has suffered, the kind older brother, is so selflessly looking out for joys to make his worrying sister feel better, and has done so since childhood, is just so beautiful.

One more line that sticks out, knowing how Alfred’s solo ending goes.

Alfred: Hey... I’m not gonna die, OK? I’ll be fine if I stick with my training.

This pair of siblings honestly has such a tragic story and end. This support chain is so stunningly beautiful, again pretty much entirely in the A support. It ends with Alfred later saying he can’t guarantee anything, but that they must work together for Firene. It’s bittersweet, and how bitter or sweet it really is depends on if you S rank Alfred, but even with his health improving, his history has had such a profound effect on both of them, and is truly explored in this support.

This support reveals information that underpins both characters core personalities, and makes both of their other supports so incredibly better. It’s honestly one of my favourite supports not only in the game, but in the Fire Emblem series as a whole.

Absolutely beautiful.

[lobautumny]

So there's a Twitter post making the rounds making the claim that nobody has ever shown anyone an old TikTok video and that the website is an entire platform of "disposable content."

It is not lost on this toy that the account holder is probably engagement-baiting, and does not earnestly believe this argument or, at the very least, is embellishing their beliefs to make them more inflammatory so they can farm bigger numbies and get that paycheck from Elon. However, it doesn't really matter if said post is genuine or not because a lot of people agree with the point wholeheartedly.

Now, this toy could sit here and point out a ton of TikTok videos/accounts that are really very good/have had a pretty good amount of cultural staying power/have become large memes, such as the square hole, "that doesn't taste like a gusher," the Da Vinki twins, three gallons three seconds, the tour of Ohio video, the Grimace shake, etc. It could go on. But that wouldn't matter, because anyone making this claim will simply tell you that "oh, well, those are fun videos and all, but nobody will remember them in <amount of time>. You're only proving my point."

Many will go on to tell you that TikTok is nothing like the good ol' days of Vine, that nothing from TikTok will ever compare to the heights of humor and cultural relevance of classic Vines like, uh... The yeet video, for starters. Y'know, that did lead to the creation of a word that persists in common slang years later. Aside from that, though, there's, like... Fre sha voca do? Road work ahead? Welcome to Chili's? Any of those ring a bell? They might, but they also may very easily not. There was the Damn, Daniel vine. Remember Damn, Daniel? Seriously, aside from "yeet," how many vines do you actually hear referenced or otherwise mentioned in the modern day?

Now, one might try to use this as evidence supporting the claim that TikTok is a garbage platform that only produces worthless slop. After all, if the platform commonly cited as being superior didn't actually have that much cultural staying power, then surely that means it's actually secretly worthless and TikTok is doomed to also be worthless, right?

Well, no, not remotely. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of culture is pretty short-lived, especially online culture. I mean, how could it not be? Think about how much stuff gets posted every hour, how quickly it can blow up, how quickly trends start and then proceed to become insufferable. Think about how there's not really much of a unified cultural zeitgeist anymore because of how the internet lets communities for niche interests flourish.

Yeah, the vast majority of Vines have lost all relevance, seven years out from the platform shutting down. Sure, nearly every single TikTok will share the same fate. But that's how all of this goes. You could say the same thing about anything posted on Twitter, or Tumblr, or Youtube, or bsky. An iconic Vines compilation feels the exact same, to this toy, as a classic TikToks or classic flipnotes compilation. Going a bit further, you could say the same for most things put onto platforms like DeviantArt, or Newgrounds, or Steam, or itch.io, or AO3.

Like, yeah, sure, memes get quickly cast aside once they have stopped being novel and culturally relevant, but does the same not happen to art all the time? To that end, are memes, in themselves, not capable of being art? What does it say about us, about how we engage with media, that so much of what any given person consumes is given no thought, that there is genuinely no difference in the average person's mind between works of art that had a ton of effort put into them and what they would describe as "slop?" Sure, they'll tell you that there's a difference, that one is much better and preferable and more noble than the other, but it's all just background noise to them. They'll drop a like and scroll past it in either case, never thinking about it ever again. If the random meme that gives you a chuckle during your busy day is fake culture for stupid idiots because you won't be thinking about it in a year's time, what does that make the beautifully-rendered painting of a landscape that you looked at for about a second and a half before dropping a like on and abandoning all thought of forever? Surely, if the former is slop because you have treated it as slop, then the latter must also be, yes? But you'll never admit that because then you'll feel bad.

The issue with online culture is not that the culture is bad (at least, not inherently), nor it that the people posting it are (inherently) bad. Rather, the problem is that everyone is being psychologically manipulated into endless, mindless scrolling forever while we also happen to be living in a culture that constantly devalues art and only sees culture as being worthwhile if it's making some suit somewhere a morbillion dollars per week.

But instead of having this conversation, we have a bunch of shockingly young people within this toy's exact age range talking about "new thing bad because new. New kid upbringing bad. Me miss old thing from me upbringing" like they're stereotypes of 80-year-olds. And that gives this toy one very simple question:

What the fuck is happening?

No, seriously, why do we have people who were literally in high school a single-digit number of years ago whinging about how kids these days are too cringe and pining for the good ol' days? Where is this coming from? This toy knows that on some level, the internet can be said to rapidly age people, but this is ridiculous. Furthermore, why is specifically TikTok causing this divide? This toy could understand to an extent if the website started in 2020, but it started in 2016. It could also understand to an extent if TikTok were actually primarily used by children, but it's kind of always been used primarily by the exact age demographic that this toy sees complain about the website the most.

Is this toy simply too young? Have there always been 20-somethings acting like crotchety geezers when new things enter common culture, and this is simply the first time it's become aware of this phenomenon? If not, what actually makes TikTok any different from any other platform that's ever existed?

This toy doesn't really have any conclusive statement to give here. It's just frustrated watching so many people its age give way to reactionary boomer-isms and getting heavily invested in generation politics (by which this toy really means petty shit-flinging) real early, all the while brushing against the task of interrogating how they engage with the world around them while doing and saying whatever they can to avoid that uncomfortable little conversation.

Truly, we will never be free.

[jonfucius]

Great Star Trek Rewatch - TNG Season 1

Originally posted on Twitter 17 March 2021 - 6 April 2021

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 is up next in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. As with ENT, DSC, STX, TOS, TAS, and TOS FF, mini-reviews will document my progress.

Encounter at Farpoint: TNG's pilot is the weakest of the various series premieres. Saving graces are John DeLancie's fully-formed Q, the McCoy cameo, the visual effects, Patrick Stewart's commanding performance, and the greatest tag line: Let's see what's out there, indeed. 5/10

The Naked Now: This episode would have worked better once we knew our heroes a little better (perhaps after "The Arsenal of Freedom"). Since we're still getting to know them, this rehash of a superior TOS episode is flat on arrival. Fully functional, it ain't. 4/10

Code of Honor: It's a racist piece of dogshit. Next. 0/10

The Last Outpost: Man, these Ferengi that allegedly eat their enemies must be as bad the Klingons or the Romulans! Uh, no. They're bad, but not in the way we've been expecting. The T'Kon Empire is worthy of follow-up. 5/10

Where No One Has Gone Before: TNG’s first great episode. Reality powered by thought is a classic Trek idea. Kosinski and the Traveler are excellent guest characters. I’m not the biggest Wesley fan but I cheer every time he calls out Riker. 8/10

Lonely Among Us: There’s just not enough story here to sustain an entire episode. Also, justice for Engineer Singh, reduced to a wig on a chair in one scene. The Antican and Selay makeup, however, are very well done. 5/10

Justice: 90% of this episode is hot garbage. The remaining 10% goes to Picard’s speech about absolute justice (something governments still struggle with), and Crusher’s grief over losing her son. If the Edo really were this primitive, would Picard have stopped there at all? 3/10

The Battle: Wesley’s smugness (and the weak writing for Crusher and Troi) drags the score down a bit, but this is a fairly good first season effort. Learning more about the otherwise enigmatic Picard through a Ferengi’s quest for revenge works. 8/10

Hide and Q: Q’s return so soon after the pilot tries to do something interesting, but it’s not an engaging story. 6/10

Haven: Lwaxana Troi is a love her or hate her character, and I adore her. Wyatt’s chemistry with Troi makes him a believable rival with Riker for Troi’s affections. The Tarellian ship is a striking design. 7/10

The Big Goodbye: While this episode is responsible (for better or worse) for holodeck malfunction stories, this one has a reasonable amount of tension. The reaction to Whalen’s shooting is an excellent in-universe touch. Redblock is effortlessly malevolent. 8/10

Datalore: I would imagine this was the first time people really took notice of just how damn good Brent Spiner is. Evil twin plots aren’t new to Trek, but this is a good one. Glad to see both villains again at later dates. 7/10

Angel One: It’s a sexist piece of shit. Next. 0/10

11001001: The visuals are striking, as are the Bynars. The holodeck scenes with Picard, Riker, and Minuet are worth the price of admission. A solid mid-season installment. 7/10

Too Short a Season: Fountain of Youth episodes are corny at best. A combination of makeup and casting dooms this one from the start. The Iran-Contra parallels come through loud and clear. 4/10

When the Bough Breaks: The Aldeans' plight is sympathetic. I just get the feeling that there's not enough plot to sustain an entire episode each time I watch this one. It's not objectionable but it's not oustanding, either. It just is. 5/10

Home Soil: Some very subtle commentary on the ravages of colonization gets lost in the "ugly bags of mostly water" scene at the very end. Malencon's death is somewhat gruesome for Trek (at least until the airing of the season finale). 6/10

Coming of Age: An excellent first season effort, with Wesley's exam and Remmick's investigation serving as the impetus for the title. Will we see Quinn and Remmick again? Time will tell. 8/10

Heart of Glory: A strong Klingon episode that sows the seeds for RDM’s sublime “Sins of the Father”. All killer no filler. 8/10

The Arsenal of Freedom: Confining this episode to a soundstage limits the scope and stakes of this one, but I do enjoy Crusher and Picard’s scenes. I especially love the Lower Deckers on the bridge. Some good commentary on the military-industrial complex here. 7/10

Symbiosis: Did Nancy Reagan write this stinker? A bummer that this was one of Merritt Butrick’s final roles before his too-early death from AIDS. It could’ve been a great one, but it’s just mediocre. 5/10

Skin of Evil: The first time a series regular dies…for good. The behind-the-scenes tales are legendary, but aside from the goofy oil slick monster, Yar’s senseless death (randomly, in the line of duty) and touching funeral elevates this episode. 7/10

We’ll Always Have Paris: I don’t know why, but this one works for me. I like the sense of isolation as our heroes track down Manheim; and the time distortions are fun, even if the science doesn’t make sense. 7/10

Conspiracy: This episode's shocking climax still hits hard over thirty years later. The unnerving feel of the episode kicks in from the jump and is sustained through to the chilling tag. A shame that this wasn't followed up in live-action. 8/10

The Neutral Zone: The return of the Romulans is dramatic, but the best scenes for me are in the 5th act and the tag. Picard's speech to the refugees is an inspiring summation of Star Trek, and even after an uneven season, it's hard not to be energized for what's to come. 8/10

And with that, TNG Season 1 comes to an end in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. Final score: 5.84/10. Highest score(s): “WNOHGB,” “The Battle,” “The Big Goodbye,” “Coming of Age,” “Heart of Glory,” “Conspiracy,” “The Neutral Zone.” Lowest score(s): “Code of Honor,” “Angel One.”

[bawbio]

My Media Thread

Ok so before i get started i just want to say that i'm gonna be doing recommendations vs giving things an x/10 score like on my twitter media thread since the scores i gave were honestly arbitrary and a recommendation would give a much more clear view on how i feel about a game. Down below are the categories this thread will be using Don't recommend/Don't play it (Whichever one my brain remembers in this category at the time of writing) - I personally think no one should be subjected to playing this game and i would highly recommend not engaging with it at all costs like not even as a joke

Play at your own risk - I personally wouldn't seriously recommend this game to someone but if you want to give it a try go for it it could be really funny who knows

Maybe - This one will mainly be used for if i recommend the game but i think it's definitely not for everyone whether it be for difficulty or for potentially triggers in the game or even just some really weird shit

Recommend - I recommend this game wholeheartedly and would gladly suggest it to pretty much anyone

MUST PLAY - PLAY THIS GAME IMMEDAITELY RIGHT NOW

Oh and one final thing i'll be using the tag #beeb's media thread for this whole thread idk if you can mute tags or anything but if you can you can use it to mute this whole thread

So i guess without further ado i'll be starting my media thread here with danganronpa trigger happy havoc, So the first danganronpa game sure is an experience that's for sure and my opinion on the series has changed a LOT since i first played through the series and wrote my original media thread posts so i guess i'll just say this now. I don't like danganronpa as much as i did back then since my recency bias for the series went away ages ago and i've had plenty of time to look over the series retrospectively but the first game still has some pretty fun stuff. The whole mystery of why they're all in hope's peak i'd still say is pretty cool and hope's peak itself is a fantastic killing game setting and gives off a perfect atmosphere for the whole thing. The characters in one are kind of a mixed bag, on one hand you have characters who i think are genuinely pretty solid like sakura (She's probably my favorite character from 1 it's either her chihiro or mondo and maybe hina) and on the other you have whatever the fuck toko (in this game at least UDG helps her out a fair amount) and hifumi are where they honestly really suck just kind of being really annoying/weird most of the time. The chapters in this game are also mostly ok aside from like chapter 3 which is probably the game's lowest point trialwise and chapter 2 for how it handles chihiro (I refuse to get into any chihiro related drama so i won't go really in depth on that here) and just that really chapter 2 is mostly ok otherwise. Chapter 4 was especially nice and is my personal pick for my favorite chapter in the game and chapter 1 while it starts out slow imo has one of the absolute best executions in the trilogy. Thankfully this game also sticks the landing fairly well with its ending and it didn't completely fall flat on its face and seriously fuck up the rest of the game by ending on a sour note (Don't worry danganronpa 2 you're next) Personally i'd give danganronpa trigger happy havoc a...

Maybe - While danganronpa's concept of the killing game is something i unironically think is one of my favorite mechanisms for telling a story with how much cool character shit it can cause the execution the games do with the concept can be uh, less than stellar at times. Also aside from the obvious (violence, blood, and a whole lot of murder) stuff that would lead to me seriously consider giving a game a maybe. The game (and the series in general tbh) has some really weird shit in them like both toko and hifumi are really big offenders in this game and i don't even want to get into the chihiro discourse not to mention the gross shower peeping bonus scene in chapter 3 although that one is completely missable (thankfully) if you didn't get a certain item from the monokuma machine but still regardless all of that is enough for me to give this game a maybe, if you think you can handle the blood, gore, everything else and more in danganronpa i'd honestly say it would be worth picking up and trying the series out.

[piease-iove-me]

all. of. them

hiiii thank you 🥺🥺

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

mmmm absolutely that one jibaro inspired thing i write this September? i love that baby so much :')

💘Is there any posted fic you want to rework/re-edit/re-write?

yes!!! it's something i started years ago and then dropped. but always think about:') it's got mercenaries and familiars and a whole gang of idiots stuck in one place :')

💫what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

omg absolutely those who mention lines from the chapters OR even better when people go on and on about plot points and characters 🥺 just make me smile so incredibly wide

🌈is there a fic that you worked *really fucking hard on* that no one would ever know? maybe a scene/theme you struggled with?

omg idk?? i honestly always scream about it to someone/everything when I'm in trouble 🥹🥹🥹

🦋what are you most insecure about when you post a fic?

mmmm everything???? mostly I'm just afraid it's not good enough but isn't that just how it is to post and put something of yours out there

🌻what makes you want to give up on writing? what makes you keep going?

oh uh... answer to both would be me, in all honesty:') my brain mostly

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

oh god that's a tough one. wishfully i can say it's nice enough to pass general approval????

🎈describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?

wordy. it's wordy. but ever-evolving

🎉how often do you celebrate completing & posting a work? how often do you give yourself the credit/validation that you seek from others when you post? (if you don't, you should!)

i don't really know how to???

💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

idk depends? lately I'd say the writing itself and characters rather than the plot

💝what is a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

mmm as i said, my first dd which got lots of support 🥹

🤍what's one fic of yours you think people didn't "get"?

mmm omg mind blank. maybe all in some kinds? but not necessarily in a bad way

🕯️was there a fic that was really hard on you to write, or took you to a place you didn't think it would take you?

yes😓 there's this heavily dd fic I'm writing with a friend's help that's such a challenging thing to write. i actually had to take a break from it because it often took me in a bad place mentally and i really can't do that rn

💥find your least kudos'd fic - say something wonderful about it.

omg... i can't find anything good to say about them. they're so old all i wanna do is orphan it😭

🍭why did you start writing?

for funsies? just to see if i could pull it off, still trying to understand if i can, actually but it's fun

💎why is writing important to you?

oh ig because it became a way to escape everything? and to throw in all that's going onb

📡why is writing and sharing your writing important for fandom?

oh god idk? don't think it is djhdhd

🪄what is your post-writing/sharing aftercare? How do you take care of yourself or celebrate yourself when you've finished a fic?

a whole snoozing week 🥹

🎙️which one of your fics would you like someone to make a pod-fic of?

oh uh idk? doubt any is good enough for that but if i had to pick one maybe that one jibaro inspired fic? I'm particularly fond of that one

🤲what do YOU get out of writing?

oh i guess i feel lighter? as in it's my own way to get rid of everything going on in my mind so good therapy

💋when you leave comments on a fic, do you want to hear back from the writer?

yes!! but i do understand when it doesn't happen. no big deal

☯️how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

oh god... i know it's important to create a following and it's great to have amazing support from the fandom but sometimes it adds up and turns into pressure for expectations so awful for anxiety. i think there's the need to find balance but I'm personally still struggling with that. so what i can do is take occasional breaks from everything as self-care

🧿what steps do you take to not take things personally if a fic doesn't do well, or if your writing/posting/sharing experience isn't going how you'd like it to?

oh uh actually nothing? i just shrug it away. it's okay

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

_ “As long as she does her job, I don’t need us to like each other.” And his eyes drift to Scott, staring back at him already.

Theo holds his gaze—taking in the disappointment turned discomfort—and then lets himself stand.

“You’re gonna be a team, Mr. Raeken,” he hears, but is already turning around from the table. “You will want them to like you out there.” _

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

💫what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

🕯️how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

Ohh bless thank you for this ask

I put so much work into Blowing Cover and it is super unpopular compared to all my other works. I really liked the character too and kind of thought they might be fun to bring back for another one shot (I mean, given the ending, they have a ton of one-shot potential).

But. The kinks/tags involved are certainly a bit edgier so I can see it getting less hits. I'm already writing for a very niche group, then this hits an even smaller category within that group. Ohh well. I enjoyed making it, at least.

As for feedback! Uh, your kind, lol. I love that you put so much time into selecting the lines that really stand out to you. That blows me away. It's like the best kind of annotations ❤️ and it helps me tailor what I do, I'm still learning what gets folk's hearts fluttering!

That said, literally just a like on a Tumblr post or a message or a keyboard smash also has the capacity to melt my heart. I've received PMs that I gush over for days and reread 1000x over. Back in the old old days of my elder fics, I got fan art and I still have them saved on a special folder on my phone. I drink out of mugs someone created of my OC's Fay and Tsiri. Just knowing people read and enjoyed it is great.

(And I'm one of those weird folks who also welcome criticism too, actually. I want to be better. I want to write good good fics that get people coming to the table and screaming for more. I want to know what you like and hate. What I could improve about my style for clarity. What was so cringey it made your skin crawl. I aim to please.)

Compliment?

I am almost done writing a fic longer than Return of the King that's literally all I'm going to be talking about for weeks. I hope it's good, lol.

In regards to engagement, in my experience I've created numerous connections with people all across the world from different experiences and backgrounds just through fandom culture. That's healthy for cultivating a good, open-minded worldview. Those connections give me so much joy and energy and help inspire me to create! When I get home, I can't wait to work on my projects, and I really want to finish something so that I can giddily hide behind my computer screen and hope you all see and enjoy it.

But beyond that, human connection is very important to me. I like seeing your personal ramblings about how y'alls days are going, your jobs, your day-to-day stuff. The people behind the blogs. And I like that on the internet, there isn't a huge expectation of availability like there is in person. I myself have a great deal of social anxiety, but online, I can choose when I have enough energy to reach out or start a conversation or message back, or when that reserve just isn't in me.

If you're really anxious, know that I still see you and am happy even if you just follow and lurk, even if I just get a kudos or a like and then you disappear. I know what I share is quite salacious and not everyone wants to have that on their blog, believe me lol. Being seen is also gratifying. If you ever have the energy for a word of an ecouragement, that means the world to me! But if not, be not afraid. I do not hate you for liking my posts.

Aaaaand for WIP stuff-

Nice try, you can't fish out more deets about the end of Ride or Die/Fly or Fall than I have already shared lol. I CANNOT spoil anything at this point. But I will say this: I feel more strongly about the theme and the arc for Volume 2 than I did for Volume 1. I have a more concrete plan overall than I did the first go round. And the message is kind of something I'm already working towards at the very end of this work, so they should flow together quite cohesively.

[estrelladeishtar-archive]

Catch me resurfacing after 5000 years only to (maybe) slip back away & into the void of space like some kinda cryptid

Also I updated the desktop blog themes for here & my personal bc it’s about time I got off my ass & did that

Anyway

I guess we’ve been long overdue for an updates post yeah? Last one I made was legit Nov 2021... I think I should at least leave another update post before seeing if I’m still around or end up vanishing yet again, lmfao But regardless, getting to the point...

Tossing shit under a read more just so that in case of a lengthy ass post it doesn’t clog people’s dashboards (dashboards? timelines? ...I’ve been mostly on twitter lmao so). TL;DR, life’s come swinging hard at me so it’s kept all of my focus mostly on personal matters, less on art, even with still creating things in the distance despite taking a lengthy hiatus (that’s arguably still ongoing? a semi hiatus now perhaps) so.

So I mean, for starters its kinda. Obvious that I’ve been more active on other social media sites rather than here, & tbh whether I really stick around here for long or end up disappearing back into the depths once more for whatever unforeseen reason is yet to be seen, especially since I only really use this place on occasion (for my mental health’s sake, mostly, whether that’ll change over time or will always remain in this “appears only occasionally” cycle is something we’ve yet to see, but for now... just don’t count on me really being consistently active here)

But even with being more active on other places I’ve still taken a semi-hiatus/hiatus, with a major part of that being attributed to uh. Health issues coming back with a vengeance & tryna crush me lol. I mean that’s, kinda par for the course with chronic illness I guess? But it’s put a heavy emphasis on me having to look after myself even moreso than before, & this amidst still processing some really heavy shit I mentioned in my last update that I won’t get into (bc it’s both deeply personal & very trigger heavy), on top of other things life keeps throwing at me (because of course it would), well I’ve just taken priority on taking care of that & making sure I’m fine &... thus not really being too present on here or anywhere really. Sometimes showing up on occasions because I engage with astrology related communities (since I’m learning more on that & other personal practices I won’t bore y’all with), sometimes showing up to support other artists, but yeah.

I do admit tho I’ve still been creating stuff in the background. Be it practicing with stuff art wise or working on other personal OC stuff or projects, I’ve had that still, & its one of the things that helps keep me afloat whilst also navigating, well, life itself. It’s admittedly been difficult navigating shit also tho because due to my health situation, I can’t really do comms (& I’ve been on break from them due to burnout), so income’s been... troublesome to say the least considering medical bills & all that. So trying to find ways to get that & sometimes getting help from others has been another thing that’s kept me away, but yeah.

Ultimately tl;dr of it is that I’ve just had life itself as a priority above all other things. & it’s bound to stay that way for a while, so yeah. But I still do want to see if, on occasions I’m on here posting art, I can maybe share some stuff around the OCs I’ve worked on/created/etc, as well as maybe lore for personal worldbuilding stuff?

I mean I need to share it on my toyhouse eventually anyway LOL, & AT LEAST on here I can make posts about OCs without being constrained to a fucking 280 char limit per post if I opt to do so 💀 Or see what else I choose to share as well as the art I make from time to time? Especially since I’ve been majorly revamping my own OCs & even with my sona I’ll soon be showcasing their proper ref in full with all forms of them/versions of em, both in & out of fandom but. yeah. Things to come.

Also- do expect more of this acct to start turning more OC focused or, IF I share fancharacters, its more centered around them... It doesn’t mean I’ll stop doing fanart no, since I do enjoy doing that on my spare time too, BUT I want my focus shifted primarily on OC content more since that’s my own personal passion anyway (be it OCs, fancharacters, self ship stuff too, or other’s OCs also) & cause I usually have more to ramble on about when it comes to OCs? So yeah. I plan to also implement other changes later into this acct but I’m presently just figuring that mess out while still being on semi-hiatus so yeah.

I hope all of y’all have been doing well & I do appreciate those who’ve stuck around still despite my routine appearing & disappearing bs lmao, & I wish y’all well also

...This update turned a lot longer than I anticipated but hey, least it’s not me updating at some weird ass fucking hour bc of being wide awake at strange times (my sleep schedule’s still broken as hell) (no its not ever going to improve probably) (Its been this way since 2010) (so don’t count on it improving)