#idk I just think they’re neat :] and I’m excited to have a bunch of different mugs related to creators I enjoy watching

[ohimsummer]

I think I really like collecting mugs, I feel like I’d use/see them more often than like multiple hoodies and it’s just nice having a collection of cups idk

[bearmustard]

Hi Clare! I've been listening to your podcast and I love that there's a lot of talk about the bears there so I thought I'd ask you, right now there's a lot of accs on Twitter trying to be like them and make people think is all happening again and I know I know is all fake but like idk how to explain why?? Like why can we trust the bears but not all these accs?? My actual question is what was the one thing that made you realize the bears were actually Louis and Harry and not someone random??

Oh nonnie, you really know how to fire me up! Welcome to my favourite topic in all of Larrie fandom. Not the bears, per say, (though I love them with my entire being and they are the thing that kept me a larrie when shit got really hard and confusing) but about thinking critically about how communication is happening, what that looks like, and how we can separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, when it comes to weighing up evidence. 

A quick note - I am wary of the phrase ‘do your research’, especially since it’s become the catch-cry of conspiracy groups like Q etc etc. I believe that you should research, and consider the expert opinions (in this case, a combination of expert evidence, veteran larries’ experience, information from H & L themselves) but human beings are pattern seekers, and there is only so much ‘research’ will tell you, before your brain starts looking for patterns in the smallest things to create a narrative, and that’s not always how real life works. So you have to kind of hold two things in your mind - the first is that we will never know the full story, or even a fraction of it. (Maybe one day we’ll get a tell all, but I’m not holding my breath). The second thing to keep in mind is that real life is messy as fuck, and often stranger than fiction, and things that are TOO neat are things you want to investigate/think critically about/maintain a healthy suspicion about. 

So to your first question - how do you know all of those accts are fake in your gut? Often it’s because they are TOO neat. They line up too well with the story people are telling, which is rarely what the story is. It gets a lot of clout at the time, but long term it doesn’t make sense. I arrived in this fandom at the tail-end of the @goodbyeadulthood phenom, where anybody making any kind of sensible, evidence based theory was called a plant (mostly jokingly) (mostly) so I guess being able to see that this has all happened before gives me a bit of perspective when it comes to excitement about “insider accounts”. Accts like CBO and hscox94 have very clear patterns - they are ridiculously vague, they almost never predict (always following, not leading, events), and they conveniently change/adapt their story to the prevailing winds of fandom opinion. 

How we know the bears were the real deal then? I mean, honest answer is we really can’t ever know, but there is compelling evidence that they were. @tellmethisisnotlove has an excellent masterpost (that I just realised feature some of my own theories, lol) on how the bears link to 1D, and specifically to Harry and Louis. 

What people forget, though, because it’s been accepted fandom lore for so long, but many larries were not convinced that it was Harry and Louis themselves at the time. It’s only with hindsight that the majority agree. We knew they were connected to the band. RBB definitely started from (probably) Josh Devine, probably as a joke, because he created the first twitter acct, but it was very different in tone from what the bears would become. 

RBB really was just considered a cute tour mascot, and that only started to change in the Europe leg of the OTRA tour. Coincidently, this was after the 2 month break where BG was set up, H & L were separated, and L had a bunch of behind the scenes stuff going on with Sony and SYCO. Prior to this, H & L had been less cryptic in their resistance (big gay war of 2014 anyone?) and had paid a heavy, heavy price. 

So in Europe, RBB gets a pal, and all of a sudden, they’re being dressed up, usually in the same costume (this is why he was called Teddy Mercury to start) and was just a fun thing to watch out for. They were linked to the band (any roadie you talk to says there’s no fucking way they wouldn’t be signed off by the band) but not in a tangible way. 

It got really nuts in July (which, in my head, is when Louis takes over the bears fully, with Harry) for the US leg. This is when big money starts being spent, the scenes get way more elaborate, they start using the blue and green (and red) stickers, and they start featuring props about closeted gay artists, or famous people who had to hide a secret, or sony flip phones (you get the gist). My recollection is that it wasn’t until Vancouver, and the KD Lang book, that the fandom started thinking the Bears were telling us anything, and then we went back and with hindsight realised there were small references to events. 

Even then, there was extremely healthy skepticism in the fandom about the bears being directly from Louis and Harry until much later, when in London they had the blue and green spotlights and the ‘Love Larry’ picture. You can hear in the podcast ep the week we finally feel like we can say for sure it’s Louis (and we are hysterical about it) and that’s the week of Belfast, the countdown, the newcastle gay bar, and the reflection of Louis’ shirt in RBB’s sunglasses. That’s in OCTOBER. Nearly FIVE MONTHS of RBB and SBB leaving us cryptic clues and getting more and more elaborate. Five months of people (including die hard RBB fans like myself) constantly doubting themselves as to whether it really meant something. Moreover, the interview where they are asked about it was December, and so for many that was the final piece of the puzzle, so we forget now that there was so much uncertainty about how much we could trust it. 

Even now, there are things that we haven’t figured out about the bears, that suddenly make sense when something from the time is revealed, and that has been happening since hiatus. 

And that’s my answer - TLDR - that hindsight, critical thinking/understanding, and context are what tells us the bears are the real deal, and were orchestrated by Louis and Harry in response to events and pressures behind the scenes. That they found a way to support and encourage their LGBT fans (and allies) in a year where a lot of things were awful. Those bears were the goddamn light in the tunnel, showing us a way to understand. 

[hargrove-mayfields]

Autistic max? I’m all in -🦖

yes!! Max being on the spectrum is one of my favorite headcanons! Here’s a bit of my thoughts and hcs for you anon! <3

okay so first i wanna talk a little about where this hc came from! this idea was born in my head for a multitude of reasons, but the general summary is this:

-she misses a lot of social+emotional cues! she didn’t pick up on just how annoyed Mike was with her in the gym and kept pushing until El intervened, she didn’t detect any of Lucas’ panic or frustration when he was explaining the upside down to her until he touches her, and when el is jealous and just not interested in meeting her, she seems to be completely unfazed by that until she walks away. also every scene she has with Billy, he’s very shut off and she seems to be confused about what she’s expected to say, missing that he’s angry until he’s lashing out, and idk to me it just seems like she doesn’t really have a grasp on understanding others’ emotions!

-similarly, she only seems to react in the face of immediate danger, as if she’s a lot of the time unaware of how bad things truly are around her. like when she’s helping to find dart without even knowing what’s going on, driving a whole muscle car and going down into the tunnels without a hint of fear, seeming barely concerned when the mindflayer was about to drop through the ceiling. it’s almost like she has trouble fully processing the consequences of certain things, which could also explain why she sneaks out even though she probably knows what Neil is like and the fact that it could potentially put her in danger.

-the way she dresses just screams tactile sensitivity! she doesn’t ever wear anything flowy, any scratchy materials, and even at the snowball, where we see Susan fussing over her, she’s still dressed for comfort. what young girl with a mother clearly interested in making her pretty is going to get away with wearing jeans to a school dance if she doesn’t have sensory issues?

-also, whenever she gets upset she seems to shut down. like she almost never talks to Billy after he yells at her unless it’s necessary, when her and Lucas are talking on top of the bus it definitely seems like she’s struggling to voice her feelings or put words to her emotions, when Billy’s in the sauna, after he’s activated she starts turning in on herself, and after his death she’s just sitting in his room. like maybe she doesn’t really understand her own emotions that well either.

I’m not really viewing any of this as like, solid evidence or anything btw, these are just some things I’ve noticed about her as an autistic girl her age and living in a very similar situation that I think are neat and relatable!

onto the stuff I literally made up because I love her!

-Susan gives me autism mommy vibes. Like, making it her identity that she has a child with autism, and at times that can get super frustrating for Max because she hates being her mom’s little trophy daughter, gossiped about at all the potlucks so people feel sorry for her. Her absolute least favorite thing is “She’s such a handful.” and when Susan pulls the I’m so lonely because of taking care of you card to make her feel bad. Especially because she doesn’t feel very taken care of, once she’d hit a certain age her mother decided she’d be alright without all that “kid stuff” and basically tossed her into the world on her on. (hence why she’s Billys responsibility)

-In the 80s (and still now if we’re being entirely honest) it was very normal to just throw a casual r slur into conversation and it kills Max every time her friends say it, especially Mike because she thinks he’s being mean and doesn’t like her. She doesn’t know how to explain to them that that hurts her feelings because she doesn’t even know how to bring it up that she’s autistic. Billy tells her once to try to cheer her up that he could beat them up for her but she cries even harder because that’s what she doesn’t want, is for them to think she’s overreacting. He feels bad and tries to make up for it bringing it up with some of the moms of the group and asking that they tell their kids to stop using that word ever.

-In California she was in special ed classes, but Hawkins Middle deems that not necessary for someone of her “functioning level” (yuck) and she gets landed in coed instead. It might’ve been alright if that was how she started her education, but she was already used to classes of four or five kids like her, and she just cannot learn in that new environment. So she does really, really bad in school her first year in Hawkins. She feels kind of self conscious around her friends because they’re all so smart and her grades make her feel stupid even though it’s not her fault, and that’s why she kinda drifts towards being close with El because she struggles with learning things too.

-Smells are probably her worst overstimulation triggers. Things like cigarette smoke, fresh brewed coffee, her moms perfume, cooking and baking smells, the automatic air freshener thing, candles. Pretty much anything stronger than the smell of water is just overwhelming for her, especially if there’s something else already working her up, because then a whiff of something too strong can put her straight into a meltdown. Billy decides to quit smoking for her (he’ll never admit that, he’s adamant that it was because it was messing with his lung capacity and he’s trying to work out) and he also does things like buy Susan a new, less offensive perfume for her birthday and open windows to get stuffy air out of the house. They never really talk about what that does for her but like, that’s part of how they start getting closer, is when he starts making little accommodations for her like that.

-In addition to smells, there are very specific sounds she can’t stand. It’s not all loud noises, some of them like the rev of Billy’s car or a bass guitar at an outdoor amphitheater are some of her favorites, but the ones she doesn’t like, she really hates. Things like styrofoam, dishes hitting off of each other, something scratching against ice that builds up in the freezer, TV static, the toaster popping up or the oven beeping, and people who can’t chew with their mouths closed (looking at you Billy, keep that gum in your mouth please) all make her feel gross. She’ll try to physically shake off the way those sounds make her feel but sometimes they’re just too much and she shuts down for a while until she gets to hear something else. In that case usually really quiet music or someone talking to her quietly can reel her back in.

-Her interests vary a lot! The longest she’s ever held one special interest was a Miss Piggy phase! Susan liked that she was showing interest in a feminine character because of a lot of her si’s were tomboyish, but Max liked Piggy because she knew karate and punched people who laughed at her or tried to make her feel bad about herself! She has all sorts of Piggy collectibles, like toys, bed sheets, posters, books, mugs and watches! Otherwise her interests and fixations tend to come and go pretty quickly, like one week she could want to know everything there is to know about pro skaters, and the next she’s into the history of circuses! She liked cars for a little while and Billy was really excited to indulge in that and let her get familiar with the camaro, but she shifted to video games pretty soon after and he had to let it drop.

-Another interest that’s also pretty constant for her is nature! Not only for the sensory experience of it, listening to leaves rustle and birds chirp and water rush, but also all the knowledge about it. She can identify any type of flower, grass, tree, critter, or fungus! When she’s melting down and needs to be away from the house, she asks Billy to take her to the state park so she can just sit and be quiet and calm down on a fallen tree or a swing set somewhere. They do have some woods behind their house but she’s too afraid to venture out there and prefers to be out with her brother anyways.

-Stims! She’ll fiddle with zippers and buttons and loose threads constantly to the point that they buy her three or four of the same jackets and shirts for when she inevitably breaks them. She also chews on sleeves and hoodie strings a lot. Other tactile stims she favors are string tricks and braiding and tieing knots! Braiding her and Billy’s hair is something she’ll do anytime she needs to feel grounded, and she has a whole bunch of those little wooden boards that kids use to learn how to tie their shoes to tie knots with. She also always has a pocketful of yarn, and her favorite thing to make with them is a spider web or a star!

-Sort of related to her fascination with string is that her shoelaces never ever match, she has like a whole drawer in her room full of different ones to change them out! (and she has Miss Piggy Bow Biters to put on them!)

-She’s also a very verbal stimmer at times! Giggles for days with Max, if she’s excited, happy, nervous, whatever, she’s giggling. Humming and mimicking too, like if she hears a sound she likes she’ll try to make it, whether it be part of a song or something she hears outside. But if she is sad she’ll get as quiet as a mouse.

Idk these are just like my sort of canon compliant hcs I guess? Like what I feel would be true for her in the timeline and storyline of the show!

[chyuans]

          hello , hello  !   first of all ,  i’m super excited to be here even if i’m like 10 hrs LATE  ( gmt timezone things )  i’m noe ,  a gay  they / them at the age of 19 ,  and this privileged lil disappointment of a jock boy is gonna be filling the position of kong_01 . despite the rumours ?  yuanjun’s actually not nearly as bad as some of the people he’ll be meeting here >:)  but you’ll get to know more about that below  !  if you’d like to plot just light up that HEART , or add me on disc*rd which i’ll give out in im’s , where i’m infinitely faster .  if i’m not gaming .  no tw’s under the cut  .

* backstory. > many people know of yuanjun, but few people truly know him. he's the famous kong families’ son, heir to the kong legacy, now forward position for south korea men’s national hockey team - which brought forth a ton of international fame from back home and amongst hockey lovers worldwide. while his talent is undeniable, he is long overshadowed by his families’ accomplishments, forever reminded that he’d never be the perfect son they’d hoped for, and no one ever lets him forget it.

> being the child of business tycoons who’s art business seemed to never be on the decline, tended to lend itself to an unconventional, pretty lonely childhood. 

> although jun no longer wants to dabble in the stupid shit he probably did as a teen, and escape from their home in a childish fit of rage and make the lives of the various nannies that tended to him while his parents were off being great hell, he still wonders sometimes whether this profession is what he would’ve wanted if he’d just not wanted to spite his parents. he loves hockey - that fact is undeniable. he thanks the nanny who took him there once out of necessity to stop his whining, and he fell in love with it almost instantly. but he also questions whether he gravitated to it because it was something he could throw himself into wholeheartedly to fill a void.

> he's very open to different types of people, and after being scouted at 19 and having a massive shift both in culture and identity as he then begun to travel worldwide, he’s a tiny bit more wordly now than he was back then. he's much more concerned about who you are underneath than superficial appearances, which means developing relationships are few and far between, because a lot of people do approach him because of his fame/fortune. he's unjudgemental to the point where his friends worry about his naivety and how easily he trusts people, but he's absolutely not dumb, just very well versed on telling good people from the bad.

> jun may even come across as naïve, but he's very aware of that perception is nearly important as reality. he's not extroverted in a way that demands conversation, but he knows how to talk to anyone from any background even if its just to maintain pleasantries. after competing in various competitions and versing players from canada to japan, he's become much more sharp and ambitious, a guy who very rarely lets distractions take their course. perhaps it’s with this that his family loathe his choices all the more, with his appetite, he was born with the skills required to run a business - pity he never took to anything of the creative sort.  

> working in a fast, stressful, highly coveted job such as pro-sports is a full time job and then some; jun doesn't spend much time not working on it. outside of his schedule, he likes bettering his stamina at the gym and eating healthy. he likes being surrounded by authentic people or nobody at all. he’s not one for trying new things and having new experiences due to time management, tending to stick to a schedule.

> he gets a lot of bad press though, which is beginning to weigh a little heavy on him. doubly now the murder has people talking. from being accused of performance-enhancing pills, various personality scandals, to being linked with ‘dating’ (see: ruining the image of) idols and chaebol’s alike. right now, he’s currently battling a lot of unwanted publicity because of a misunderstood interaction online against a wealthy sweetheart that went sour. 

> while jun might be generally unsympathetic and analytical when it comes to developing relationships with people that’ll last long-term, he's a bleeding heart when it comes to kids who may have experienced the same lonely upbringing as he did, without the financial gains. right now he spends sunday’s teaching a bunch of local foster home kids how to skate, and is trying to fund a couple of sports scholarships for those who show promise under a fake name, just generally being a good ‘ole guy.

> his family do not approve of his job, ofc. in fact neither of his parents have ever attended any of his matches to this day, and are only on semi-decent terms with him because jun begrudgingly is still tied by name to the business and shows his face at events for all of 30 minutes until he physically can no longer maintain pleasantries. his celebrity image perhaps is one thing they can manipulate, and even then, jun could get into scandals galore and still be doing his job. good press, bad press, it has the kong’s family name at the forefront of peoples’ minds, which always brings forth revenue.  

> pros: could be a lot worse considering his upbringing, collected, and level-headed most of the time. wicked good at sports, and keeps a cool head in a tough situation. ambitious, curious, a little reckless. eager to prove himself, rich? and very endeared to people/places he finds fascinating. which are many. knows where the good, authentic chinese cuisine is. hardworking and very interested in the idea of Progress.

> cons: the most private person alive, will not divulge any palatable information about himself or his feelings. devil's advocate always. will put himself and others at an arm’s length the second he feels (disgusted noises) e-emotions (love, namely). gets bored easily. paranoid, leads with the head more than the heart. friends > > > family. a little self-involved, never fucking sleeps - will be that neighbour you can hear padding around above your apartment at 3.05 am like it’s mid-day, aaaaand Loves Winning Above All Else

* personality & relationships.

> like many others, jun has his fair share of surface-level friends. he’s quick to be interested in people, to get to know them better, but it's difficult for him to get closer than that after a childhood of being picked up and dropped by those who looked over him - which kinda has left him with abandonment issues.

> he’s a curator of neat things that aren’t too overtly complex, and that includes friendships. so if you have something unusual about you, whether it's a talent or a way of thinking, he would be inclined to get to know you better. also, he has a lot of leverage with his job. being friends with a sports star slash million dollar trust fund baby who can get you free shit never hurts, just don’t befriend him for the perks, yanno?

> jun is very dedicated to his vision of things, and can sometimes be very obstinate in the way he a) wants them to be done b) doesn't accept other options, think steve jobs. he's very mercurial and can be nice one minute but isn't afraid to switch to hardass boss to get things done and did.  > he is insanely competitive and his strive is drawn out by always wanting to be on top. truly first child material. that's the kind of guy he is, with standards that do not reflect his passive side too well, which sometimes can get him into some “personality” scandals. he is driven, motivated, always looking for ways to be winning.

> i'm sure someone is bound to hate him, he’s probably got a few accounts online dedicated to a steady stream of shit-talking, given his cutthroat status or holding many hockey cups.

> jun doesn’t think too much about his sexuality - he'd probably best be labelled as pan, but leans towards those who identify as women? because of his current placement in a workspace, and with a cultural identity, that both don’t often lend themselves to lgbtq+ rights, i doubt he’d ever make that public.

> he works amongst some of the fittest people in the world, he knows how to appreciate beautiful bodies, but he's not about to discriminate. he's tragically a committaphobe and isn't interested in anything long-term right now, although i think it'd be funny if someone tried. he's very open for flings and one-night stands and even a friends with benefits sort of set up. 

* wc’s.  >  bring me his baby bro and sis. i command u. i have many thoughts  >  somebody who maybe gets in on his foster-kid situation? idk maybe they have a perception of jun being what he is in the articles they read of him, but they see him and are like <3_<3 he actually real Nice huh. i see this being romantic but it could bloom a really nice, wholesome friendship too. >  enemies. not gonna lie, he doesn’t vibe with rich kids w / a stick up their ass, especially since a lot of the people he works with aren’t from exorbitant families. people who loathe him for declining to take over his families’ business? like the boy can’t even name more than 3 artists off of the top of his head?   > fwb except neither of them know what “just friends” mean.  > i would love if jun had a confidante. a best friend, a partner in crime, a total bromance 'cause i can never get enough of those. whatever label you ‘wanna put on it. wiping up each other’s messes. maybe a Betrayal in the works  > again, gonna be a wc, but i would love a “rival” of jun's on a similar level (or bigger)  that’s entirely fabricated based off of trashy articles or a misunderstood interaction online. bonus points if they’re an absolute sweetheart, well loved by most people, and generally the antithesis of jun with his multiple drug/personality rumours, which in contrast, make him seem like the bad guy. 

> party buddy. this guy hasn’t touched alcohol/cigarettes/any other stimulants since he was underage and wanted to rebel. the word “relax” does not exist in his vocabulary. Help

[beakybirdsong]

Sigh okay it's Pokemon News Drop Day so I'm gonna make a quick appearance for initial thoughts. But uhhh they're not great lmao

So if you don't like debbie downers probably don't read this lol

Because I got a bit...edgy

But like...I actually *hate* that we're getting 3 different games and none of them look remotely...good, all for different reasons.

The D/P remakes, from what we've seen so far, just don't excite me in any way. My opinion could change going forward but for right now it looks like it might as well be a remastered port, which is...not really what I've come to expect from Pokemon remakes, even as someone who's generally become a huge pessimist over the years lmao. HGSS added Pokemon following, the Pokathalon, a customizable Safari Zone, team photos, polished bits of existing storyline (like awakening the legendaries or disguising yourself as a rocket), and I think even the Battle Frontier iirc. We got much less in ORAS, but the story was admittedly still polished up good from what it was, including a little post game romp where we could catch Deoxys, the DexNav, which was super fun to play around with, and additionally Mirage Islands, a bunch of minimaps in the region that changed every day, which you essentially could collect from others by playing online or using Streetpass and accessing BuzzNav. It was also the first game to let us really hunt a hoard of legendaries, some of which were hidden in really cool updated areas (lookin at you Sea Mauville).

My point of all this I guess is that if you're going to give us a trailer for DP remakes can you not make it look like...samey and bland lol?? I'm not saying there WONT be any new content, but I am saying that if there isn't then it just...is not gonna be worth the money that a Switch game costs. Especially after Swsh left such a bad taste in my mouth. Like H O N E S T L Y I'd probably be being a lot nicer right now if Swsh was like...a good game lmao but that shit still has bugs and even after two full DLC drops there's nothing to DO (outside of being a crazy person like me and hunting shiny legends in Dynamax Adventures).

NOT TO MENTION HOLY SHIT, the longer time goes on the less forgivable it gets that these characters are sooooo fucking static!!!! The whole *thud* thing worked fine back in the DS era because it was....yknow, the DS era, but it just looks so stupid over a decade later. You can't add any more movement than that?? Barry's static pose in battle is also just completely devoid of personality. I'd honestly be fine with the chibi style if they did something interesting with it. Which is my point ig. Please please pleeeaaassseeee do something interesting with these remakes. Give me a reason not to just play on an emulator, or hell. Dig out an old copy and play on the 3DS, which still supports DS games lmao.

Okay phew ANYWAY.

Idk if it's because I'm coming down off of that hot mess but Pokemon Legends is actually...kind of interesting in concept. Like it takes place in the past, neat. And it's """"open-world,"""" okay neat. And the starter options are remixed, neat (I have a lot of thoughts on that actually and they aren't bad but this isn't the time or place). And they clearly told the tree-renderers to get their fucking act together, but like...that's a good segue into the problem I'm having with it which is that it still just looks empty. And boring?? And I think what I'm getting hung up on is that part of my brain is like ooh cool but there's a much bigger part of my brain that's like "OK but WHY"

It's just so frustrating as a longtime Pokemon fan to look at these two games which are both set in Sinnoh and only seeing wasted potential. Why aren't we getting one really good Sinnoh game that could happen with a little more time and less spread-thin resources? One looks bad because it's static and underwhelming port of an otherwise big beautiful labyrinthine region and the other looks bad because it looks good in places but is otherwise is an empty looking world in the way that the Wild Area was. We could have all the good stuff in one package but why would they do that when they can double up on profits by shipping out two mediocre games?

Speaking of, the nastiest taste in my mouth by far was the fact that we're getting three new games at all. Other parts of first-party Nintendo are making a point to ask for understanding and delay releases because of the pandemic and it seems like Pokemon just isn't letting up. What kind of conditions and crunch are these developers working under while also dealing with the handicap of doing it all remotely?? Do they get to sleep and eat like Jesus fucking Christ. I know there's a studio name I don't recognize helping with the DP remakes but STILL. It's not worth it! It's not worth it! Make a better game later!!! Stop beating your own franchise and the people who make it half to death!! Getting even one new mainline Pokemon game a year is unrealistic and unsustainable and it needs to stop fucking yesterday!! Hell, I would cry tears of joy if we went a year with no new Pokemon news at all! That's how ugly this feels.

In an attempt not to end on a sour note I guess, Snap looks good enough to get. I'm curious to see how many courses there are, but the characters look endearing enough, and by nature of being an on-rails game the world feels alive because it's not an unrealistic ask to make it feel that way (they did it just fine on the N64, even with the technical limitations of the time). I would much prefer mainline Pokemon games veer away from this "open-world" direction they're going in and just focus on making their little segmented areas tighter and more immersive in terms of aesthetic and exploration and maybe like one or two static encounter mons with a bit of personality. But I'm getting carried back into the Mainline Game Bad Thoughts Zone and I don't wanna be there. So. Idk check out that Venusaur doing a cannonball! Instant serotonin. Hoping there will be some fun pokemon interactions you can apple into happening like Surfing Pikachu or the Jigglypuff concert. Snap looks fun. I like fun. This is fun. This is fine!!!!!!!

[pale-cheezit]

Can you answer every 5th question from your 216-question ask post? Thanks!

Girl you're killin me lol. I'm bored though so thanks for giving me something to do!! I know I'm really late posting this but oh well. Thanks for the ask :)

5) Book/series I reread?

My favorite author is Tana French and I've reread her books a few times. I've reread the book "The Shack" by William P. Young a few times as well. I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting right now.

10) The word that I use all the time to describe something great?

Probably fuck. As in, "that's fucking great" or "this is fucking awesome" or something like that lol

15) Last song I listened to?

Some new Five Finger Death Punch song that was on the radio

20) Favorite video games?

Probably New Super Mario Bros

25) Actor/actress you trust enough to watch whatever they’re in?

Ooof... I can't think of any off the top of my head. I have some actors that I like that make me go "oh theyre in this movie, it might be good" but I don't think I ever really watch anything just because of a certain actor.

30) Eye color?

Blueish/greenish. Changes colors sometimes depending on what I'm wearing.

35) Am I excited about anything?

Not really.

40) What do I think about most?

I swing wildly between thinking about insignificant nonsense and everything I'm worried/anxious about (my very uncertain future and what to do with myself and mental health shit I'm going through) and I think about my loved ones a lot too!

45) Last film I watched?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame lol

50) How do I destress?

I'm pretty good at pushing things out of my mind when I want to or need to (a blessing and a curse) Also smoke weed. Idk, feels like I'm always stressed about something in the back of my mind.

55) Play any sports?

I don't anymore but I played volleyball for almost 10 years of my life. Good times. I miss those days.

60) Pet peeve?

People that put masks on their kids.

65) What fictional universe would I like to be a part of?

Friskies world from the cat food commercial of course

70) Can I sing?

I think I can sing ok. I'm not amazing but also not horrible.

75) Where do I want to live?

Away from people and traffic!!! I hate how close together the houses are in the suburbs. But I don't want to be so far in the middle of nowhere that I have to drive hours to get groceries. Idk, maybe I wouldn't mind that after awhile, I'd probably get used to it. I just want my own land and to be able to walk out the back door and have my own personal shooting range on my property.

80) Can I drive?

Yeah. Can't drive stick though. I should learn.

85) Favorite genre of music?

Rock

90) Favorite sporty activity?

Uhhh like walking or hiking I guess. Baseball definitely.

95) How tall am I?

5'7"

100) Do I have more girl friends or boy friends?

I have NO friends lol

105) Last person I texted?

My mom

110) Do I like selfies?

Eh sort of. If I'm feeling good about myself, I might take a few but that's rare for me these days. I like to take pictures of much more interesting things instead! Selfies are boring!

115) Favorite number?

8 I guess

120) Am I much of a daredevil?

Depends on the situation and the mood I'm in. I can be. We all got a little daredevil in us if we drink enough lol

125) The Beatles or Elvis?

Elvis

130) Favorite piece of advice?

Hmm....Anything Jordan Peterson says is usually great advice lol. But I guess simple things like be yourself, enjoy the small things in life, never miss a good chance to shut up, others can inspire and support you- but only you can save yourself, assume you know nothing, listen to your elders cause they know a thing or two about life (SOMETIMES)

135) Do I like gossip?

Eh not really. It depends. I know I'm guilty of it because that's all women be doin but you can definitely cross a line with that stuff and some people have issues with that and that shit can be annoying. it's definitely something I try not to do too much because I wouldn't want others to gossip about me behind my back

140) Do I believe people are capable of change?

I'd like to think so. I mean, I think its not ALWAYS the case. There's definitely people that wont or cant change but there's also plenty of people that are willing to put in the work and have changed themselves and their lives.

145) In a film about my life, who would I cast as myself, friends and family?

Bitch nobody could play me or my family better than me or my family

150) What is the best decision I have made in life so far?

I honestly don't know. I thought of a few different things and realized none of them were really decisions I 100% made for myself /: I've had a life so far that's been filled with other people making decisions for me. Kind of one of my problems I gotta work on. I guess I would say choosing to finally leave the shitty relationship I was in but he kind of left me in the end so it wasn't completely my decision. There's probably a bunch of small decisions I've made in the past that turned out great for me that I'm just forgetting right now.

155) Who is the most intelligent person I know?

I used to think my brother was because he was a genius child but then I grew up and realized there's a lot of different ways to be intelligent. I was gonna say Jordan Peterson but I dont actually know him lol. It's a hard question for me because I truly believe people are intelligent in so many different ways and Ive met many people that are smart in some ways but dumb in others. I guess my Dad would make the list if I had to pick someone.

160) What color mostly dominates my wardrobe?

BLUE

165) Do I believe in fate?

I think so. I think we can change our fate though too.

170) One of my favorite quotes?

"those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."- Ben Franklin

"unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality"- Emily Dickinson

I have a TON of favorite quotes, I could take up pages lol. Those are just the ones I thought of off the top of my head.

175) Do I dream?

Yes, every single time I sleep. Even when I take a nap. I'm always dreaming.

180) Do I like shopping?

It depends on my mood and what I'm shopping for. Sometimes I'm in the mood to shop and I have fun with it but other times I'm not feeling it at all. I don't like spending money, it makes me feel guilty.

185) If I could master one skill, what would I choose?

Probably being an excellent shot. As skilled as Annie Oakley- if that's even possible haha

190) If I could time travel, where and when would I want to go?

60s or 70s. Maybe the 20s.

195) Would I ever want to encounter aliens?

Fuck no. Definitely wouldnt be like some sci-fi movie. It'd be fucking terrifying.

200) Dragons or wizards?

Neither. Never been into either of those things. I also never got what the big deal about dragons is

205) Do I like my handwriting?

Yeah I suppose. Its very inconsistent. It goes from messy to neat to somewhere in between all in one page. Just like me lol

210) What is on my bucket list?

Travel. See the world. I dont have anything super specific but I definitely wish I could see all this world has to offer.

215) What is the weirdest talent I have?

I have no idea. I have no talent that I can think of. I'm sure there's gotta be something but I have no clue right now.

[theclaravoyant]

For the ask thing, what is something you wish would happen in the show with the 13th doctor but hasn't yet? Fun scenes, sad scenes, character stuff?

Oooh, interesting ask, thank you!

Fortunately this season has been Delivering Hard on all the delicious delicious angst and the darker side of the Doctor that I craved last season so that has been AWESOME and Jodie has been absolutely destroying me which I love

but some things I would like to happen…….. oh there’s so many idk if I’ll ever be ready for her to leave. at the moment the top one few would be, in no particular order;

Literally any iota of a sign that she’s romantically and/or sexually interested in women. I try not to harp on about this, I really do, but I don’t intend on letting it go either. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not expecting her to suddenly become all kissy and cuddly and grand-romantic when that’s clearly not what she’s going for in this regen (although….. it could always be the trauma/mask that she lets down at some point but lets not get too soft about her or ill melt) but given the prominence of romance, sexual references, kissing, flirting, relationships and implied relationships that the Doctor has had with women particularly in New Who, it really genuinely not-in-a-shipper-way hurts me that, now that it would be unescapably gay even to those who pay 0% attention (instead of just sort of, vaguely queer or in a throwaway manner), they’re avoiding even the slightest reference. I’m really not okay with that.

Having said that, and on a less serious note…. Thasmin - They would be so cute and badass and Inescapably Queer that my heart would explode okay. But I’ve been burned so many times before that I’m struggling to believe the hints, even the major ones like “my person’s a little bit different” (WHAT THE H CHIBS GIVE A GAY SOME WARNING), will turn out to actually be romantic. The amount of effort I’m putting into Not Getting My Hopes Up at this point is frankly ridiculous. I’m hoping that with a little bit more space next season, fewer(?) or different companions and less exposition needed it will be time to shine but in the meantime…

[Image ID: a gif of Rebecca Bunch from “Crazy Ex Girlfriend”, holding a handful of corn kernels up to the camera and singing about ‘love kernels’, end ID]

3. Meeting (or at least mentioning) an old companion or positive influence from the pas - I love all the twisted shit coming up to torture the Doctor but come on, give her a break!!! Or at least… hurt her in a slower, more bittersweet kind of way. I would love a Donna reference for example (how has there not been one in so long??) or River (my hearrrrt) or a more explicit reference to Bill (HOW did she not come up explicitly in that WHOLE cyberman plot i know the doc is repressed as hell but damn…). I hadn’t imagined Jack before he made a cameo earlier this season but now I’m genuinely excited for the two of them to meet! It’s a great way to keep in touch and remember our old faves and also, tie the Doctor’s lives together. (Plus I’m a sucker for the bittersweetness ngl.)

4. Confronting her past and the people that did it to her - I am ALL FOR the healing and restorative, empowering approach the Doctor is taking to what they were put through as the Timeless Child. HOWEVER I’m going to be kinda let down if all that build up was Emotionally Resolved that fast. And allow me to point out, the Doctor’s reaction as we’ve seen it thus far was primarily directed at the Master and his expectation of how she would react. If, for example, she ran into Tecteun or discovered that more children were being put through this, or was put through something similar again with those memories now in her head, I think that would be a different story.and/or on this note I would also love to see her react to something Gallifreyan *other than* Gallifrey itself, something that hasn’t been as irrevocably tainted by the ‘Time Lords are evil and corrupt’ realisation long before the Timeless Child realisation. Perhaps her name or language, or bedtime stories, or Granny Five. How does she feel about those things now?(and/or… I would also love to see Thirteen all ragey and powerful in Time Lord garb. idk how to make that happen, or why, maybe she’s confronting Rassilon and/or Tecteun? *marge simpson meme voice* i just think it would be neat)

-

ask me stuff; anything you’re curious about

[we-rate-tmnt]

Oh sweet! Had a huge crush on 2012 karai too she was awesome :P also the brief time when she hung out with splinter and the turtles and there was a moment when mikey called her their sister during battle i think, that made me so soft 🥺 tbh she and Leo's relationship weirded me out bc they're adopted siblings obvs they didn't know but the writers did, not a big fan of their decision. can u rate the tmnt reincarnations next? like in general, i want to catch up with tmnt but idk where to start :)

I think everyone who watched tmnt 2012 had a gay awakening when Karai appeared 

I love those episodes where she bonds with the turtles and Splinter. One time, when Mikey hummed the theme song, she giggled. It was a parallel to when they traveled back in time and the same exact thing happened. Mikey hummed the song and baby Karai giggled. I like the subtle dynamic between Mikey and Karai, it gives me the warm-fuzzies. 

And yeah, the writers were pretty damn weird about that. 

But now it’s time for the big. bad TMNT overall ratings!

I can talk about every single little thing in each series, including art style correlating to tone, but I’m going to give a run down of what I enjoy the most. The ratings are going to be a bit different, as I’m rating them by ‘version to watch/rewatch first’

With the good original cartoon sliding in, it’s...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)

The very first thing I ever said when I watched this was ‘hehe turgle’ because of how small and squishy they looked! The art style is really cute and gives a very warm vibe. It reminds me of when I used to watch Gilligan’s Island when I was a kid, a bunch of goofy characters in potentially life-threatening situations. For me, it’s a show to watch for shits and giggles, rather than a serious plot. I don’t really think this is the best starting point. I prefer going from a dark series to a lighter one, so I’d watch this one maybe after a different reboot. Also, I adore the 80′s Shredder, he’s fun to watch and to make fun of. 

5/10

Next up is the one I watched on Youtube (but since I didn’t know how VPN’s worked so most of the videos were blocked except for Fast Forward and Back to the Sewer)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) 

This one made me go ‘hehe turgle’ less, but still quite a bit. (They’re so short what). I think out of all the series, this is the one I’d start with. The plot is well organised (with a few bumps but what story doesn’t?), some well thought out character development and many, many interesting side characters! Bishop, Leatherhead, Baxter Stockman, these characters were so neat in this series. This show I feel was the darkest, and I guess 4kids agreed as some episodes were banned from airing when they first came out and I think there’s one that never finished production as it was too graphic and violent’. The voices in this series are so recognizable. Like here, read this is Mikey’s voice: “See what I made ya do there?” Anyone who knows the voices can easily imagine them. The animation is very clean and there’s some epic shots in there as well. The soundtrack is implanted in my memory and when I rewatched it, I had to pause and think for about five minutes when I got swept in a wave of nostalgia at a few familiar notes. And despite what everyone says about Back to the Sewer, the theme for that season was a bop. I think this is the best place to start if you like dark shows and all the episodes are on Youtube (In Canada because it’s blocked everywhere else).

9/10

This one is the show I love dearly, grew up on and still have a tiny plastic Katana from a Leo figure I can’t find:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)

This show in terms of tone slides right in between the 2003 and 1987. There’s so many light-hearted episodes and jokes mixed in with some real scary shit. This one was the first version that made them seem like actual 15 year olds, rather than early 20′s. This is also the show with the most accuracy in terms of ninjistu. I adore the animation and art style and there’s so much going on in this show, there’s no way I’d be able to unpack even half of it. April really developed in this show, she became a Kunoichi and got a badass weapon and she trained. She didn’t become a ninjistu master overnight and that was so important to the character. I love the designs of Shredder’s henchmen in this show, Dogpound/Razar, Fishface and Tiger Claw. Beebop and Rocksteady were a huge highlight in every episode they were. It was nice to see them be shown as actual people before they got mutated, along with their clashing personalities that eventually made them into a great team. Also I can’t stop thinking about ‘I will crush your head like the blueberries,’ I love that line. Cute, fun but with a very serious and real edge, neat characters and designs. A really great show! This would also be a great starter, but the episodes are harder to find for free (unless you have Hulu) 

8/10

Now for the series I am currently obsessed with and am BOUNCING for excitement for the new episodes this month,

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Oh oh oh I love this version SO much!!! This how has so much expectation subversion and is really different from the rest. A lot of people were (and still are for some reason???) complaining about this version. ‘Oh no Raph is leader, they’re all different sizes, why are they all Party dudes, etc etc.’ I think that a lot of this is based on the idea that the makers did this as more of ‘change for surprise’ when really, it’s a well thought-out decision. Raph is bigger because it helps him reign in his strength since he could easily hurt others and he’s older, so he assumes the leader position not just by default, but because he’s the one who’s the most grounded. Donnie is a softshell so he relies more on technology to protect himself, Mikey is the perfect balance of funny and annoying, Leo isn’t leader to explore a different aspect of his character. I’m not going to talk anymore about the characters as that is for another time. The art style and animation is AMAZING LIKE WOW. It’s so dynamic and bright and creative! The opening has me speechless alone! This series is still airing and has a lot of potential, with Shredder and Kraang replaced by Baron Draxum (voiced by JOHN CENA, like not a joke, he’s voiced by the wrestler) as the main antagonist. I think this is also a good starting point as it’s fresh and has around 30 episodes, so it’s faster to watch compared to the 100-200 episodes of the other series. 

8/10

I’m not going over IDW since I haven’t read too much but I strongly advise using it as a starting point, it’s not finished and the order is tricky to navigate. 

Idk so far but don’t start here, maybe after watching 2003/10

I hope this helps in your quest for turtles and thanks for the ask! 

[aahsokaatano]

ITALY????

Y’all I spent one whole week in Italy in 2017 and it was one of the most bizarre fucking weeks of my life

let’s break it down from the beginning

[under a read more for length]

So, fall of 2017 I was studying abroad in London. One of the classes I was taking was specifically for study abroad students, designed to get us engaging in the culture of London or whatever i dont really remember the class itself but my god do i remember the people i met in it

two in particular were these girls, also American. We shall call them Molly and Ally. They had quickly made friends with each other, and after one of the class trips into London, i was friendly with them as well. The “reading week” or fall break was coming up, and they mentioned that they were going to Italy and asked if I wanted to go. I had booked a short tour to Dover, but thought “oh my god Italy???? Fuck yes!” and so I bought my plane tickets then asked them where they had booked hotel rooms so that I could add myself to their itinerary

“Oh,” Molly said, “we haven’t, don’t worry about it”

Me, a seasoned traveler “?????? uh”

I bugged them about this for at LEAST a week and finally, about THREE DAYS from when we were supposed to leave, I just went ahead and booked an assortment of hostels and airbnbs for us in all the cities they wanted to go to and told them to pay me back later

they actually admitted afterwards that that had been a smart move on my part which like????? no SHIT its a smart move to have a plan where you’re gonna sleep every night while in a foreign country. god.

So, lets go through this day by day

Day 1 - London to Milan

we flew from London to Milan in the evening, getting there pretty late at night. and it was only once we were actually IN Italy that I learned that 1) none of us spoke Italian and 2) despite having grown up in two areas with large Hispanic populations, neither Molly or Ally spoke a lick of Spanish, which is close enough to Italian that you can kind of limp through a conversation of one if you know the other.

so, somehow, I ended up being our Italian translator for the week, armed with nothing but a translator website, a handful of Italian music terms, and the ability to roll my r’s fairly well for a white person. Literally, i figured out where the bus stop was outside of the airport because I saw the word “fermata” painted on the pavement and I knew that meant “long pause” in sheet music terms so I hazarded a guess it meant stop or similar in regular Italian

(sidenote I almost got in a fight with some random Italian dude on the bus because Molly was going on about how excited she was to try the pizza and I told her it wasn’t going to be the same because “the pizza you’re used to is an American invention” and he turned around and started going on about the tradition of pizza in Italy and I was like I just mean that American pizza is different from real Italian pizza i did not mean to offend i’m sorry!!!!!! anyways)

the bus dropped us in a square in the middle of Milan and we got out and i’m lookin at my airbnb app trying to figure out where we need to go and i said “okay we need to get a cab” and Molly and Ally are arguing about something and this RANDOM ASS DUDE walks up to us and is like “you need taxi?” and i said yes to he leads us back to his REGULAR ASS CAR, NOT A TAXI and tells us to get in, and for some unknown fucking reason I do and Molly and Ally follow me and shut up real fast because this is sketchy as fuck but the guy did take us to the airbnb without murdering us so thats a win i guess

The airbnb by the way was more like a mini hostel - it was this apartment where pretty much every room except the bathroom had been converted into a bedroom and so probably not entirely legal but whatever. whatever. 

Day 2 - Milan to Venice

i woke up early the next morning and went to take a shower at the bathroom at the end of the hall and found out that the lights didn’t work. Whatever, I’m mostly blind without my glasses anyways so i just showered in the dark, no biggie

we had an early bus to catch from Milan to Venice, so we headed out to the bus station. I’ll be honest, I do not remember how we got there. I think we walked, because I ended up with a coffee at some point so I probably got it from some cafe on the way? But idk. I was so tired.

We get on the bus, I found two empty seats far away from Molly and Ally, and immediately stretched out and fell asleep.

Ally woke me a little later and said “c’mon, we’re here!”

I was confused as all hell because it had not been nearly long enough for us to get all the way to Venice, but I got off the bus and was greeted by Molly stretching her arms out and proclaiming “Welcome to Venice!” underneath a sign that said we were at the Verona bus station.

They did not believe me when I said Verona and Venice were two different places. “Venice has canals, Verona is where Romeo & Juliet is set. There are no canals in R&J, they’re two different places!” I literally had to pull out my phone, go to google maps, and zoom out until they could see that Venice was still several hours away before they believed me.

The bus driver almost didn’t let us back on but I was able to show him on the tickets that our end destination was, in fact, Venice.

Venice itself was pretty neat. We got to go on a gondola ride and I ate an entire pizza by myself at dinner lmao.

Day 3 - Venice to Florence

we took a train from Venice to Florence the next morning, and that’s when I discovered that Italian train stations have lovely little cafes with AMAZING coffee and really good pastries. The other two didn’t drink coffee but like, their loss. it was fantastic. 

Florence was great, we found a little shop that sold really yummy gelato for only 1 Euro a scoop - Geletaria La Carraia. If you ever end up in Florence, definitely check it out!

We wandered around for a while, took a lot of pictures. There was some famous church that was undergoing some renovations, but as we walked up to it Molly gasped and said “I’ve climbed that in Assassin’s Creed!” which was pretty funny. 

We went to a museum that had made a bunch of models of some of Leonardo DaVinci’s inventions. We went to an art museum and stumbled across Michaelangelo’s David on accident, so that was the big “wtf” moment of the day. Also that night Molly decided to buy a bottle of wine to take home to a friend of her’s back in America, but realized after buying it that her backpack wasn’t big enough to cart it around for the rest of the week so I ended up carrying an entire fucking bottle of wine for the rest of the trip because I was the only one smart enough to bring a proper backpacking backpack and not just my school bag.

Also the hostel we were in had actual skeleton keys for their rooms and actual goddamn keyholes that one could clearly see through so i left the key in the lock all night AND hung my sweatshirt from the door handle so that no one could peek in at us

Day 4 - Florence to Pisa

once again, I woke up early, went into the bathroom attached to our room (the hostel had had a cancellation and so we ended up in a private room instead of a dorm style) and discovered that the lights didn’t work so I had a second shower in the dark

we took another train from Florence to Pisa, and there we ran into our only bit of bad weather

What’s the big draw in Pisa? The Leaning Tower, right?

What was the only day it rained, non-fucking-stop, the entire time we were in Italy? THE DAY WE WERE IN PISA

I got so soaked that I actually bought a new sweatshirt because the one I was wearing was DRIPPING

anyways, after we had taken several dumb touristy pictures and grabbed an early dinner at a nearby restaurant, we decided to head over to the room I had booked. The cheapest place I could find was a tiny cabin at a campground nearby. According to the map on my phone, it was a short walk away.

A solid hour later, we finally trudged up to the main office of the campground, shivering and soaked, and got the keys to our cabin. We set our stuff down, and Ally and Molly decided to go back out to the grocery store we had passed coming in. I waved them off and went to take a shower in the bathroom with fully functioning lights! hooray!

Day 5 - Pisa to Rome

another morning, another train station with excellent coffee. We got into Rome and, at this point, we were all so tired from travelling that I was finally able to take charge. up until this point, Molly had been railroading us, even sort of bullying Ally in the process, but now she was exhausted and I, through a combination of practice in functioning while dead on my feet, lots of travel experience, and Mom Friend Instincts, took the reins. We got to Rome and I said “we’re going to the church with the big hole in the roof (its a thing, look it up) and then we’re going to eat.... at this place around the corner and then we’re going to to go our hostel and check in”

they didn’t argue, and that’s a true testament to how fucking tired the two of them were, especially Molly, because she would argue about anything and everything given half a chance. We also went to the military museum that day, mostly because it was free and also air conditioned

(also while looking through my pictures of this trip i just discovered that i still have the picture i took of the Rome hostel FAQ page that had by the front desk, which i now remember i did because it had the wifi password on it and we weren’t in our room for 30 seconds before one of the other two asked what the wifi password was so, once again, i show that i am a very good traveler/travelling buddy)

Day 6 - Rome

so we had the next full day in Rome, and we got up early to get in line for the Vatican. I wanted to be there by 7am, Molly was like “it doesn’t even open until 9!” and we compromised at 8 and it was STILL an enormous line so i was like “see? this is why i wanted to get here early”

Oh, but before we went to the Vatican, i took a shower. IN. THE. DARK. BECAUSE ALL OF ITALY EXCEPT FOR PISA DECIDED THAT I DIDN’T DESERVE TO HAVE A SHOWER WHERE I DIDN’T HAVE TO FUMBLE AROUND BLINDLY LIKE AN ASSHOLE

ALSO on the way to the Vatican, I asked if the two of them had their passports. Ally said yes. Molly said yes, why?

And I had to then explain to Molly, a 20 year old RELIGIOUS STUDIES MAJOR, who was RAISED CATHOLIC and who had FAMILY IN THE CLERGY, that the Vatican, THE CENTER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, is it’s own country. 

she, again, did not believe me until i pulled it up on google for her

turned out that we didn’t need our passports stamped to enter the Vatican but still! still!!!!!

so it turned out that whatever day we were there on, the Sistine Chapel isn’t open that day, so we just walked through the cathedral and then headed out to the Colosseum and the ruins of the Senate behind it, both of which were very cool

Day 7 - Rome to Milan to London

we got up even EARLIER on our last day, I took another shower in the dark, and we rushed over to the Vatican, speedwalked through most of the museum, and finally got into the Sistine Chapel, which was absolutely breathtaking. Then we hauled ass back to the train station to catch our train back to Milan.

At this point in the trip, I was so fucking done with the two of them, but especially Molly. Ally was sweet and naive, but she was also willing to listen to new information. Molly was just a stubborn ass with a mean streak a mile wide and I was COMPLETELY done associating with her.

Luckily, since I had booked my flights separately, while we had flown into Milan on the same plane, I had a completely different flight back to London - to a different airport, even. They were going back to London City, but I was heading to London Gatwick. Both planes were set to depart around the same time, from two gates that were next to each other though, so i couldn’t really escape them until - uh oh! My flight was delayed. 

Molly and Ally were fretting about it but i was like “it’s fine. it’s fine. I’ve been flying since i was literally 3 months old and I s o m e h o w know more Italian AND Spanish than the two of you combined, even though I would never say that I speak EITHER of those languages. Just go.”

The flight ended up being delayed like 5 hours due to mechanical issues. They finally just got another plane for us, and we finally took off from Milan. When we went over Paris, the captain, obviously feeling bad about the delay, made sure to tilt the plane in both directions so that everyone could see the Eiffel Tower lit up, it was really neat.

We finally got back to London at literally like 230 in the morning. The busses and some of the trains weren’t even running at that point - certainly not all the way out to the fancy little liberal arts college I was going to. I went up to some security guard at the airport and said “just tell me how close I can get to the University of Roehampton on the trains” and he told me to take the train to Black Friars so I got out there and there was a bus, but it was like 40 minutes out. It’s now pass 3am, I am exhausted after a long, weird week in Italy, I texted my dad and he said “just get an Uber i’ll pay for it”

The Uber driver was very nice and as soon as I got in he said “you look really cold! do you want the heat on?” i could have fucking kissed him. he was super nice. actually made sure that I was still texting my dad (i had mentioned it when I got in because I almost dropped my bag while trying to text and maneuver at the same time) every few minutes. offered to let me take and send a picture of him to my dad. otherwise didn’t really speak and just let the music play. I tipped him literally whatever was in my pocket at that time, i don’t remember how much it was, but it was at least 20% and probably more. Really great guy. 

Random London Uber driver from 2017, you remain the best Uber driver and I love you

i finally crawled into my shitty little dorm bed at about 4am, exhausted and utterly bewildered by the past week

honestly??? I’m still bewildered by my week in Italy.

wtf even happened in all that mess.

[crowned-ladybug]

Prepare for lots of holes and “idk have we established this already?”s but anyway. Here’s how @citrispace and I’s pile of boys are doing rn (in general and everyone. Pls ask for details on anything if you wanna!!! Give me that sweet sweet excuse to infodump)

(I’m totally gonna leave out half the important things so Krista add on whatever you want)

Chase ended up being more of the center of the group now. He has the same name still btw, but last names haven’t been decided for anyone yet, including him. Also idk if he still does yt, in which case he’s also gonna need a new screen name. He still has kids, but they haven’t gotten new names yet

Anyway, he met Anraí when said demon chose him to be his next target of torture. Long story short, Anraí turned out to be p bad at his job and ended up kinda just adopting Chase and becoming roommates with him. For a while everything is good, Anraí is helping Chase with his mental health and however his divorce is doing atm while just having fun in the human world.

Except another demon shows up also wanting to prey on Chase bc i guess he didn’t do his damn research. His name is Julius, he’s the way cooler dude who became of Dark, and Anraí almost tears him limb from limb bc How Dare You Try To Hurt My Brother.

Julius then figures out that if he lets Anraí and Chase keep doing their whatever weird shit they usually do and stays on good terms with them, he can just pretend to be torturing Chase and not have to actually work. He commits demon fraud, basically.

Except eventually both him and Anraí are found out and get kicked out of the demon world bc they’d rather that than jail, and end up in their own lil flat together after Chase tells them that hey, I love you guys, but Anraí keeps eating my toothpaste so you should really move out now. I guess they end up with a dog/hellhound at some point bc i still love McNugget but we haven��t talked about that yet

Personality-wise Chase is still a sweet meme dad, Anraí is friendly and excitable and really curious about human shit, and Julius is just tired and dignified and secretly also v fond. He also has a neat scarf now and I love that. You’ll see.

There’s also ofc my Best Boys Marvin and Jackie who i still just Will Not shut up about, and since they’d already been p unique before we fucked off with them, not much has really changed?? Marvin has purple hair now and will get a new stage name, Jackie got a new suit design with the ability to make him blend in with his surroundings, and will also get a new hero alias. But story and personality-wise they’re still the same. Also Varjú is still there bc i’m not letting go of him

Also a while ago we figured out a bunch of stuff about them when they met and were still in high school, remind me to tell you about that sometime.

Jackie (i think it was him???) went to uni with Chase and that’s how they tie in with the group. Chase stayed at uni longer than Jackie did, who only did two semesters, but they kept in touch after (esp after Chase and Marvin discovered each other and became Obnoxious Bros together)

Amongst all that i forgot to mention poor Benjamin. He usually just goes by Ben and he’s what became of Bing and he’s still just a good good sunny boy who loves memes. He’s still an andriod (idk what his original purpose was yet but it’s probably to be like a companion or something) and looks really cool and also he blushes blue and it’s great. He also doesn’t really understand snow

There’s Stephen who used to be Schneep and so far we know fuck all about him except for 1. he’s spanish probably?? 2. he’s still a doctor and 3. he’s tiny and both looks and acts like a dad.

Then there’s Lee who’s kinda grumpy and originally from the 20s and also he’s trans and I love him. One day through a glitch in reality that just happened to affect him he ended up being time travelled to present times. Anraí found him bc he was reeking of magic and also v scared and managed to coax him into coming with him to Chase’s place, where him, Chase and Julius would try to figure out what happened to him and also help him.

A couple days later he’s followed by a time travelling demon called Theodore, who also happens to be his best friend in the world who has been frantically searching for him. So on the bottom line Chase has somehow accumulated three demons. Lee and Theodore used to be Shawn and Jameson btw.

Ships are all still the same just with different names now, but we haven’t talked about that a lot yet.

Also, Second Chance AU will be mostly unchanged (aside from Jackie’s alias + suit design). I gotta rewrite a bunch of the Rivals AU now, which i haven’t gotten around to yet, but it’s staying around too, with the relationships/dynamics being the same. But the story’s gotta change bc i’m not having Anraí be the bad guy.

[luciana-silentstar]

Waiting for nightfall before hopping on again because I reeeaally wanted to explore most of it at night. Though idk if I will tonight bc I gotta see the meteor shower *___* So until then I’m gonna ramble on about a bunch of SSO thoughts while waiting to Kie to hurry up so we can eat dinner X_X Gonna tag this w/ spoiler tags just in case anything relating to Mistfall is discussed here so

LOVE the new halflinger?? I need it. Like. bc there are.. so.. many.. sso horses I want lol I’ve been waiting to get one and I really wanted to get a good color. And?? Soon as I saw it I fell in love and I’m sooo happy we can get it. Like. Yooo. That and one of the blonde ones with the snip marking on it’s nose are my favs. Ye. The mustang color is so cool. I’m not the biggest mustang fan, but it’s a neat one. The connemara is cute too honestly; not typically a bay person but I like the markings and all. 

On that note I feel like I’m in a tiny crowd who doesn’t think they’re the best horse breed in SSO? I mean, I’ll get one eventually, but.. kinda waiting to see if they’ll be a color I /really/ like(praying for blue roan bc it’d be.. perfect for what I need). I love the animations for resting movement, and the gait cycles are pretty nice, but I feel like they kinda.. lack a character/charm? Most of the horse breeds have a distinct way of moving that makes them special. I think the only problem I have with them is I feel like they’re just.. an attempt as a super realistic horse I guess? I don’t know if I can put it into words. I wouldn’t honestly guess “connemara” when looking at them; they look more like a basic horse imo. They’re too skinny overall for sure. I’ll obviously do a full on critique like I’m going to do for every breed I have when I get one, but until then these are my basic thoughts. Very happy to see the improvements, just wish I saw certain things with them that I don’t. Very excited to see what the next new horse breed is.

Super stoked about foxes?? They could make.. a ton of fox colors. They have so many different variations. Can’t wait to get one! I have enough coins for a fox or horse(s) but like. I really feel like I should wait in case other colors in near future. Idk. It’d be my first running pet and I adore foxes so. Who knows lol. I think I heard they were expensive but honestly? I’d pay under 500 for a running pet. It’s not something I need, and neither are new horses. And because they go everywhere in bag on or foot? I dunno. I feel like it’s a good deal for a well made go-everywhere-with-you pet.

Wildlife. Everywhere. BIRDS. BIRDS IN JORVIK. SO HAPPY!! Birds and butterflies everywhere. I’m sososo happy about it. Also sunbeams. 

Excited to go and explore later!

[piesforjack]

CANADIAN THINGS PART 2, THE SEQUEL NO ONE ASKED FOR!!!!

hiiii yesss!! so if you’ve seen my last canada post (HA that’s a pun bc our mail service is called “canada post” har har har...anyway) u know that i had some records to set straight, so to speak, so i’m back at it again w canada FACTS aka things you probably don’t know but might be useful and helpful in your attempt to flesh out realistic Canadiana™. this is in honour of me hitting 500 followers, thank y’all so much ily all and thanks for bein awesome!!!

without further ado, buckle up, buds, here we go again!!!!

canada eradicated pennies not too long ago. basically, we don’t have a 1¢ coin anymore, we only have 5¢ coins ergo all payments paid in cash are rounded up/down accordingly. jack and ransom 100% hate this because now they’re so annoyed by the concept of carrying around pennies (”what’s the point!?!? 1¢??! USELESS!!)

along this same vein, canada doesn’t have a $1 bill, we have coins known as a loonie ($1) and a toonie ($2), the smallest bill we have is $5 (jack is still consistently weirded out by paper dollar bills. it feels wrong.)

ALSO while we’re on the topic of money, all our bills are different colours (blue for $5, purple for $10, green for $20, red for $50, brown for $100), they’re also waterproof (not heatproof tho!!!), and the $100 ARE NOT officially created to smell like maple syrup but i can assure you i’ve sniffed some bills that do smell like maple syrup and i cannot explain why (ransom still gets confused w american money “it looks like monopoly money, jack!” “i know, bro, i know”)

IN OTHER MONEY RELATED TRAINS OF THOUGHT, there are two main canadian airlines: air canada and westjet. they both have a total monopoly on canadian travel so it’s real damn expensive to fly anywhere in canada from within canada. it sucks a whole lot. (just remember than whenever you write ransom/jack flying home. it’s a pretty penny even if jack is loaded)

age of consent is 16 across canada

the drinking age in canada is 18/19 (dependent on provinces), however, CANADA WIDE the legal adult age (to vote, essentially) is 18.

driving ages differ province to province (you’d have to google because even i don’t know every province)

SPEAKING OF PROVINCES, canada is split into provinces and territories: 10 provinces and 3 territories. here’s a breakdown of each (it’s long, skip if you wanna!!):

british columbia (BC)

west coast best coast, lots of mountains, very hippy dippy, home province of vancouver aka movie city central, capital city is VICTORIA not vancouver, rains a lot, is known for being the birth city of ryan reynolds (your welcome), is split into two main sections: the mainland and the island (even though BC is composed of many islands, vancouver island is referred to as THE island), bland football team, even blander NHL team.

alberta (AB)

neighbour to BC, cowboys, hyper-conservative, also mountains, capital is EDMONTON not calgary, lots of extreme weather (sunshine and +20 (celsius) and then it’ll snow. alberta is weird like that), oil oil OIL, two mediocre football teams, home of the calgary stampede (again, cowboys), i often refer to alberta as the texas of canada and i’ve never had someone disagree tbh, mediocre hockey teams (including connor mcfuckingjesus don’t get me started)

saskatchewan (SK)

neighbour to AB, pronounced SASS-CAT-CHEW-WAH-N, flat flat FLAT, farmers galore, capital city regina (hahaha laugh it up it’s not that funny once you’re beyond the age of 10), even more mediocre football team (i’m only saying that bc i’m from manitoba, the rival province), tbh i don’t know much about saskatchewan except that we drove all the way across it once for a roadtrip and i swear to god we didn’t see another vehicle or human for the entirety of our trip across

manitoba (MB)

neighbour to SK and also the prime rival, capital city winnipeg (YES IT’S A REAL PLACE, I WAS BORN THERE, I LIVED THERE FOR 18 YEARS, CAN CONFIRM, STOP IT), cold as FUUUUUCK in the winter (-40 (celsius) and schools don’t close until it’s -45, so, deal w THAT), mosquitoes fucking galore (it’s disgusting and awful and makes being outdoors AWFUL), we also have polar bears!! (more north, but, still!!!!), really cool live theatre and music vibes, very dry heat, UBER MEDIOCRE FOOTBALL TEAM (but still better than SK rough riders bc provincial rivalry!!!), SUPER mediocre NHL team (i only say this because my mom’s a jets fan whereas i’m a pens fan...lmao BYE MOM), tbh can’t say many mean things bc i still love wpg with at least half my heart!!!!

ontario (ON)

neighbour to MB, capital city toronto, home of the capital city of CANADA, ottawa, muskoka chairs, so many fuckin lakes (everyones fave place to camp/own a cabin), extreme winters just like MB, niagara falls, again a rly cool arts district here (in TO and surrounding area), 3 football teams bc why the fuck not (fffffuck the TO argonauts), 2 NHL teams (everyone in canada hates the leafs. that’s not a fact but i could find enough evidence of it to convince you it is), basically TO is considered the center of the fucking universe according to everyone who lives in TO and everyone who lives outside of canada bc no one knows anything else about canada. canada might as well JUST be TO for all people fucking care. just. fuck toronto. (i think it’s a canadian thing to be Bitter and Annoyed about toronto’s unending praises from every corner of the map) ((jack is V much “fffffuck toronto” and ransom is V much “fuck you toronto is RAD”)

quebec (QC)

neighbour to ON, pronounced KUH-BECK not KWUH-BECK or KEY-BECK and lord have mercy on your soul if you dare say it like “Q-BECK”, capital city quebec city, french-canadian province that’s threatened to “leave” canada multiple times, HOME OF OUR DING DONG HIMSELF, MSSR. ZIMMERMANN!!!, poutine holy fucking HECK god bless poutine (if you think it’s gross i already don’t like you sorry 100000% NOT SORRY. jack and ransom love some good ass poutine oKEEEEER), a rly good music scene (osheaga music festival is top notch), essentially a canadian paris except people speak quebecois not france-french (but you can get away with it in most respects, there’s differences but the foundations are the same, bc DUH they’re the same language but essentially different dialects, KIND OF similar to mandarin and cantonese (although that particular case has more nuances than this one but you get the idea))

newfoundland and labrador (NL)

neighbour to QB, capital city st. john’s (not to be confused with saint john, NB...yeah there’s another province w almost the EXACT SAME CITY NAME sigh i know it’s dumb and rude) i’ve never really been to the east coast so idk what to tell you but LOBSTER and FISHING and WEIRD FUCKIN ACCENTS, another coastal place so it’s p weird and hippy dippy, but i’ve only ever heard that they’re lovely people, often referred to as newfies.

now, the maritime provinces....starting with new brunswick (NB)

just south of QB, capital city fredericton, v small in comparison to other canadian provinces (as u can tell), again don’t know much about NB but i know they’re big on fish and are basically Maine The Second (they’re pressed right up against maine so, it’s basically maine 

nova scotia (NS)

south-ish of NB, capital city halifax, HOME TO THE REAL LIFE DING DONG OF MY HEART, MISTER 87, SIDNEY CROSBY, a full on island, full of wonderful kind people a la mister crosby himself (honestly, it’s just a bunch of super kind people), really cool coastal scenery with amazing seafood (as you’d expect), home of the city that many a traveller has confused for sydney australia, very old-fashioned (idk how to explain???) but just like...you feel like you’re in a storybook when you’re there, lots of lighthouses, overall a v nice place to be

prince edward island (PEI)

the teeny-tiniest place in all of canada i’m certain, north-east-ish of NB and NS, capital city charlottetown, honestly i’m running out of things to say, it’s exactly like NB and NS had a baby that never grew out of infancy it’s so small.

now onto the TERRITORIES which are all up north...yukon (YT)

pronounced YOU-CON, north of BC, east of alaska, capital city whitehorse, cold as heck (tundra baby!!), extremely expensive living conditions ($9 for a 2L of milk, $18 for some fuckin apples...absolute fuckin robbery), lots of hunting and fishing goes on up here (aka lots of people hunt/prepare their own food), lots of mountains and such, v beautiful.

northwest territories (NT)

above AB and SK, capital city yellowknife, used to be bigger but then it was divided up (creating the new territory nunavut), v similar to yukon but with less mountain and more lakes, again v cold bc TUNDRA, my cousin met her husband while working in yellowknife...she’s from MB and he’s from ENGLAND aka what kinda fucking fateful BS...amazing, p cool w lots of islands and such far up north, it’s neat and suuuper beautiful in the summer (so many flowers lksdfjlskad)

nunavut (NU)

pronounced NEW-NUH-VUH-T, north of MB, capital city iqaluit (pronounced EE-CAL-EW-IT) used to be part of NT but they separated into two territories circa 1999, again v similar to the other territories, beautiful scenery with an OBSCENE amount of islands (colouring in maps was always a fucking DOOZY), again, not much to say. just a rly lovely place.

WOO congrats if you read all that lmao now lets get into some other stuff!!

our thanksgiving is in october, the second monday in october to be exact. it’s only been a thing since like??? the 60s??? like it’s a brand new concept, essentially, and i’m not even 100% sure why we have thanksgiving but we do (it’s mostly a charade, thanksgiving means nothing in canada, it’s a completely arbitrary reason to be grateful and eat some fuckin turkey) (jack and ransom both support arbitrary turkey holidays)

canada’s national sport is actually, like, officially lacrosse?????? i know what the fuck (i bet ransom follows lacrosse)

marriage equality has been a thing since 2005 (doesn’t mean jack wasn’t excited about the USA, just, not quite as overcome as bitty was)

winnie the pooh? based on a real bear from winnipeg, MB. yeah, be fuckin jealous y’all

if you didn’t know canada has universal health care. it’s pretty fucking rad.

idk if this is Too Obvious but canada has two official languages, english and french, so all of our packaging/instructions has to be in both languages. everything. from toothpaste to trampolines. everything. signage is a bit more dicey, most trans-canada highway signs are in both languages but more rural/urban ones probably aren’t (jack gets thrown off still when he instinctively looks for the french translations on packaging for nothing to be found. it happens more than you think)

oh also?? we used british spelling, meaning we add a bunch of ‘u’s where they don’t really need to be. this is 100% a point of contention between bitty and jack. 

CANADA IS METRIC. IT’S RLY SIMPLE PALS. everything is in groups of 10s. 10 millimetres = 1 centimetre. 100 centimetres = 1 metre. 1000 metres = 1 kilometre (aka how we measure speed, km/hour) you get it? (the prefixes, ie. milli, centi, kilo, are huge helpful hints)

the exception to this is baking measurements??? unlike the UK we couldn’t escape the wrath of cups and teaspoons and all those other arbitrary measurement devices. we still use those (for the most part)

we use fucking celsius okay (except on ovens, mostly because they’re american distributed machines ergo run in fahrenheit) anyway it’s p straightforward:

celsius is in relation to water temperature, ergo, 0 degrees celsius is waters freezing point, anything below that is freezing (relatively, of course), anything above it is not. this is especially useful for discussing weather, as, y’know, most people typically use temperature for (outside of the kitchen and hospitals, that is)

+20? nice summer day. -40? typical MB winter, +30? typical fuckin central canada summer, +7? dependent on where you live it could either mean SHORTS!! (central canada) or a light jacket (west coast), again it’s all relative to your acclimatization

okay i think this is long enough!! here’s some random nostalgic things that ransom and holster def remember/love dearly

i pray with all my heart that jack has this funny little soft spot for ‘corner gas’ in the same way i do (it’s a canadian prairie sitcom CLASSIC and i love it SO MUCH)

jack and ransom both have a strange crush on rick mercer

MO FUCKIN FRAGGLE ROCK BIIIIITCH

ransom definitely had some misconceptions about what being 16 would be like because of this fuckin show (he also 100% did the air guitar to the theme song)

this show meant a whole heck of a lot to lil bb jack (who 100% watched cartoons in english AND french okay????)

ALSO (i think i mentioned this in the last post but!!) ransom grew up watching caillou in english, jack in french, and they argue all the time about the differences between the two.

ransom remembers being a little bab watching this nonsense right before bed with a cup of warm milk and exactly two oreos (just me??? pshhh i don’t believe it)

jack had very strategically thought out how he would destroy his competitors at this game show

jack loved babar. don’t even touch me. just. imagine tiny jacques w a lil stuffed elephant my hearT!!!!!

ALSO MCFUCKING T’CHOUPI ET DOUDOU!!!!!! i watched this one in english but i can only imagine jack loved it

okay. okay. again, thank u for reading, i hope this was helpful!! lemme know if there’s anything i missed!! who knows, i might make a third installment one day!?!??!

[irlpinkiepie]

quick review of dragon age ii, now that i’ve finished act i and have a pretty good idea of what i’ve gotten myself into

Character Reviews:

Anders - i already knew him from awakening so there’s not much surprise here, but wow is anders pretty darn great (though ‘a wizard did it’ is probably the cringiest line in the world, good job bioware) Aveline - a very good friend, i love how despite me being an openly criminal apostate mage who’s best friends with two other openly criminal apostate mages, one of whom is a blood mage, she hasn’t arrested me yet - that’s always good Bethany - there is no way i’m not playing this game as a mage; sorry bethany but i’m just never gonna meet you and that’s life Carver - he is a very good brother and i don’t know why he hated me and seeing him faded in the background every time i change my party around is gonna be emotionally tumultuous let me tell you right now Fenris - i know nothing about fenris ‘cause he’s never in my party. the lyrium thing is cool? sorry i got nothin’ really Isabela - GOSH i haven’t decided who i’m gonna romance yet but wow is isabela amazing my super suave pirate pal Merrill - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (why are there so many cute girls in this game gosh) Sebastian, Tallis - i’m poor Varric - isabela has sort of replaced varric as the rogue in my main party (which is currently aveline, isabela, and one of anders or merrill depending on how much i need two healers) but varric is still a Cool Pal

Gameplay Review:

  - i’m gonna be 100% honest when i first started playing this game i was really put off by how much it didn’t look like a dragon age game, but honestly now that i’m into it it feels very much like a refined and polished origins   - i still hate the reliance on the tab key to make side quests possible, but i’m loving the new r-button feature that automatically loots whatever’s closest to you   - companion armor is actually a really neat touch and it saves a lot of worrying about whether or not i should prioritize giving the one set of tier 7 armor to me or my companions   - also i like that the game is a lot more transparent about the numerical values behind most (looks angrily at the friendship/rivalry slider) of the gameplay features   - speaking of that slider, i honestly love the concept behind it, ‘cause it’s basically rewarding you for having a consistent personality and not penalizing you for having negative relationships with some of your companions; the way it actually plays out, though, is that you only seem to get rivalry points for deliberately going against the fundamental beliefs of your companions, and i’d prefer where rivalry was like ‘oh you have a different way of going about things i respect your style’ and being mean to your companions would decrease both friendship and rivalry and certain actions would increase the meter no matter which way it was pointing   - skill trees are excellent; not much to say there other than this is how it should have worked from the beginning   - i like that the first act wasn’t just its own compartmentalized story, and it seems like the events of the second act are gonna draw heavily upon those from the first, and with all the origins-dependent sidequests in act 1 i really am feeling this sense of a continuing epic adventure which was something i was very much looking forward to from the series and never really got from origins or awakening   - so, i know that this game was done on somewhat of a rush, and there’s a lot to be said for it being a little repetitive, and definitely i’m feeling that, but also there are some aspects where the reuse is actually neat - like, environmentally speaking, there are a bunch of buildings and caves that all look similar ‘cause they’re using the same setting, but the way certain aspects have been cut off or extended in some places makes it feel as though there’s a unified setting to this whole place, and the strategically placed doors and so on are a really neat design touch that lets them get away with a lot on a pretty short resource budget   - the combat, however, could use a lot more diversity, especially since it’s the primary mode of interaction the players have with the world; as it stands, almost every fight has sort of the same basic components: a large number of fairly weak enemies, some ranged users and one particularly strong target; the fight begins with only a few enemies visible and as the fight progresses more appear; the basic strategy revolves around drawing all of the enemies to one place, using a single aoe ability to kill off the weaker ones, kill the stronger ones, and then repeat when the next wave arrives. i miss origins combat where all of the enemies were in front of you and you could do things like force field opponents to stop them from using sustained abilities, or sneak up behind darkspawn patrols and use their ballistas against them, or open the gates to mabari kennels and flood the field with allies, to say nothing of the final battle; origins had a lot of really memorable combat beyond just the boss fights that ii just hasn’t so far   - also like? minor bugs that don’t affect gameplay at all but just break the immersion: occasionally when you go to a quest area it’ll take a few seconds and then all of the quest npcs and environment spawn in at once, or every so often an enemy will spawn in and then just wait a couple seconds before attacking - it’s very distracting   - also immersion breaking - don’t set so much of your combat in the middle of a large city in broad daylight if you aren’t going to have the average citizens react to that; seeing someone walk through a lightning storm and preaching the chant at me is not very realistic   - ok, final complaint about the lack of development time: fetch quests. why are there so many and why do they all have the same generic dialogue and why are they all as simple as ‘find this object somewhere around town and bring it to someone else in town, quest complete’ - i didn’t mind herbalist’s task ‘cause that felt like an adventure but this? not so much   - bring back arcane warriors you cowards

Story Review:

  - as i mentioned, i love the act structure, and i love the expanse of this game, and i’m really excited to see how it plays out   - it does seem a lot more linear a game than origins, at the very least because there seems to be a definite ending in sight (hence cassandra’s involvement) - which makes sense, ‘cause hawke is a much more defined character (i actually just used the default hawke in my playthrough ‘cause making my own marian hawke seemed like a betrayal of the story)   - i wish they made more of a deal about the champion of kirkwall and the warden-commander of ferelden being related; like, i’d hope you at least get something (maybe if you become king/queen? idk)   - mage rights forever, qunari rights forever   - WHY IS CULLEN IN THIS GAME. who on the story team looked at cullen and said ‘ah yes, that creepy templar who’s only role in the story in origins was to be uncomfortably romantically interested in you and to beg you to kill mages. let’s bring him back for the entire rest of the series and also make him romanceable in dai why not’ like?????   - when is my brother coming back. blease

Overall Review:

this seems to be a much longer game that origins was (i’m already at 80 hours in dragon age 2, according to my origin account) and i’m excited; hopefully that isn’t just padding - i still think origins is a better game but i’m getting to the point where i honestly prefer ii as an actual gameplay experience, even if the game itself is a little less well put together

[deerskewl]

A l l the tf2 numbers , m curious

Oh damn ok!!! I will cover the numbers I haven't answered yet then :3 (Also I forgot to post this yesterday so I had to change the answers sjndjskwk)

1. Who is my main?

Well, looking at my hours, Medic is my main with Pyro as a close second. But I really want to learn Spy and Sniper too!! I'm really saying I main Support + Pyro huh.

6. Rocket Jumping or Sticky Jumping?

Neither! idk how to do it and I don't play Soldier or Demo enough to try :') but being Medic and Quick-Fixing onto someone who DOES rocket/sticky jump? That's enough excitement for me jdjdjsj

9. Do you have a favourite NPC?

Bidwell. That's my boy! And Reddy and Miss Pauling are close seconds. I just. gently hold them. They're best friends thanks.

12. Are you free to play or pay to play?

Pay to play, but only since last year! I think the majority of the time I've spent playing TF2 has been as a f2p, and honestly there's not much difference except I can play comp and mvm.

13. When did you start playing TF2?

Wait, this is the same question as 8??? It was specifically May 2017 I guess then!

16. Favourite merc pet?

Harry, Archimedes and Aristotle!!

17. Last class you played as?

Uhhhh Pyro I think?

18. Last time you played?

Yesterday!!

20. Regular Demoman or Demoknight?

Demoknight TF2, demoknight TF2, demo knight TF2. Not that I can play either of them, I just think they're neat.

21. Have you participated in any events?

Uhhh I played Halloween last year if that's what "events" means! Other than that, no.

22. Ever cosplayed from TF2?

YES, ACTUALLY!! I did a discount Second Opinion Medic cosplay, I have a link to a bunch of photos and videos (read: tik toks) that I posted to Twitter if anyone wants to see!!

24. Something you hate about playing TF2?

Outside of the obvious bot crisis, the fact that people genuinely rage about the game? Like, you'll get people who lose a match and go off raging in chat and everyone's just stood there like bro chill the fuck out it's only a game. And then there's people who think using slurs in chat are funny (it's really not). It just gets tiring.

28. Favourite comic in the series?

The Naked and the Dead!! Epic Medic hours? Dadspy moments? Heavy avenges Medic's death? The fucking Australium Overclock thing??? Dude I have looked at that comic so many times I even have it bookmarked on Google Chrome sjdndjjsjwk

29. Something you love about each merc?

I'm gonna do this for just in-game things, because if I delve into character things this is gonna get LONG.

Scout? Being the fastest class does help a lot, plus the double jumping is wonderful. Soldier? God it feels so good to hold a whole ass rocket launcher, and when you can do it rocket jumping is FANTASTIC. Pyro? Sometimes you just wanna burn shit down, and it's so good to get uber and sprint head-first into a group of the enemy team and just burn em all to a crisp. Demoman? Haha funnie demoknight go NNNYOOOOMMM. Heavy? Bit sad being the slowest class but damn do they tank well and output a bunch of damage. Engineer? Stressful job but someone's gotta do it, very fun in theory. Medic? I control the die, and Ubering is SO FUN if you get it right. Sniper? Aren't you tired of rushing headfirst into conflict, don't you just want to sit halfway across the map landing headshots. Spy? Bastard hours unlimited, it's so fun sneaking around and avoiding people, it's actually a major adrenaline rush oop.

30. How long do you think you'll play TF2?

Honestly, I think I'll play it as long as I can. It's a good fun game to play with friends!!

31. Favourite map?

I'm a bit of a sucker for maps I know well, like Upward and Dustbowl, but I'm also a fan of Badwater Basin and Swiftwater! I just think they're neat.

32. Last map you played?

Uuuuhhhhhhhhhhh I think it was 2Fort actually!!

33. Favourite game mode?

Gotta say, Payload. But Medieval Mode is really fun too!!

34. Last game mode you played?

If it was 2Fort, it was Capture The Flag! Which I think is fun, but I've never played a CTF map other than 2Fort, so idk.

[aquarianlights]

you get anything cool for xmas? I guess my family are over giving presents, since we're adults. at most my sis gave me iron on cat patch 😅

I saw that!!! It looked so cute omfg 😍😍😍

I got some of my car fixed for christmas so I could actually be able to drive home in time for the next semester to start LOL

No but really that was a huge gift coz I couldn't have afforded that by myself. Also I mentioned like a year or two ago that I wanted an alexa or something of that nature and as you know, she had me pick out the one I wanted on amazon when things were financially okay months ago and that was my "official" christmas present even though it was given like 2 or 3 months in advance. I chose the echo spot and I have been lost without it while on this vacation honestly lol. I didn't realize how much I had integrated that thing into my life until I drove down here to help my parents out with the move over my winter break only to discover all these things I normally ask it to do or answer for me... suddenly, I can't ask it to do or have to physically type in on my phone 🤨 Which is SO "first world problem weh" but I'm just kinda shocked coz that was just normal way of life up until a few months ago and I honestly didn't think it had made that big of a difference in my life until I came down here. Man oh man. Lol. I do love my echo spot, though. 🥰

Did I even rant about this on fb? My car died literally the second I got here and I didn't even know it.

My check engine light had been on for a month or so and I didn't have the money to take care of it coz it was thousands of dollars of work that needed to be fixed so I figured as long as it was driving and not like... doing anything different than normal, it was fine. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ Idk anything about cars so I just hope for the best most of the time honestly. 😩😭😭😭 The mechanic told me that the only reason I even made the 12 hr drive here is because my car never had time to cool off whenever I stopped since I was just stopping to take Echo out to pee and walk him and stretch and whatever. But when I got here and let my car cool off overnight, the park that was almost broken completely snapped in half and it was this tube thing connected to this box thing that holds all this fluid stuff..... basically like the aorta on top of the heart. And it looked like the aorta had just been snapped with scissors somewhere along the ascending aorta and all the blood just leaked out all into the body and then you had internal bleeding and well....that's bad. Really bad. Translate that into car language and you have what happened. At least...that's the gist of what I understood, I think. 😅😅😅 Along with some other stuff underneath the car being snapped and broken that wasn't like...essential to my cars survival but helped a *ton* (like the thing that makes it drive steady... I think it's called uh... suspension???? Idk) that they tried to patch up as it has uh... been a real problem (anyone who has ridden in my car since I've driven on NOLA roads, you'd know lol). But the stuff under the hood really uh... coulda stranded me. So I'm really glad I made it. Coz Idk what I would have done if I had made it...say...8 hrs out and my car gave out on the freeway with stuff packed for me AND Echo for a 2 week stay and Echo and all his food/water/essentials in the frontseat with me. Like..... idk man. Lmao. 😵😵😵 I've been in that situation with just myself, but with Echo with me? No thanks lol.

Heck. But the worst part is..... we got everything fixed. Paid LITERAL thousands. It was good. He threw in free overhead lights coz I haven't had lights in my car in *years*. Like. Since I got it forever ago. But after I picked it up from him, it was GREAT. EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING. SMOOTHEST DRIVE EVER. It was like I was driving it right off the dealership all over again!!!

I drove to Starbucks to grab a frappe with a giftcard I had leftover from thanksgiving and decided I would go inside instead of drive through. So I parked my car......and I took a while inside and decided to sit down and relax a bit away from my parents and enjoy the cool night air.

BUT THEN........

I get in my car and turn it on.........and an orange light comes on on my dash. I stare at it..and I'm like...."Oh god. Oh no. What does that mean. Oh no." I google it....and I felt so stupid. Because it was the FUCKING CHECK ENGINE LIGHT THAT I HAD BEEN STARING AT AND TRYING TO IGNORE FOR OVER A MONTH LMAO 😩😩😩 So I was like "fuck...SERIOUSLY". Mind you, it wasn't on when I drove out of the garage.

So I didn't even call the guy coz they were on the verge of closing. I drove right back and ran up to the guy and he was like "Woah what what what" and I'm like "BRUH. THE LIGHT. IT'S BACKKKKKKKK!" And he laughs and is like "It's probably just a (code? Switch? He said some word thing idk...mechanic talk idk 😭😭😭)"

So he told me to bring it back Tuesday and he would throw in some free, new wipers while he checked out my car again. Like, he was super duper sweet. And my mom had taken her car to him and just recently paid thousands on her car as well as hers had just died when she got here, too. So he knew we were really stretched thin here.

BUT IT DOESN'T EVEN END THERE.

I got up today and we actually went and did something fun today instead of moving bullshit. My great aunt, my mom, my cousin and I did an escape room and it was SUPER fun coz it Houdini themed and you know how magicians always have assistants so they asked for a volunteer that will be separated from the group at the beginning in a separate room that the group has to free from the clues the person trapped is yelling through the walls so I volunteered and it was just fucking amazing lmao. Only the 2nd one I've ever done in my life, but god I love those things soooooo much like 20/10 would do again!

But er...regarding my car...I was going to drop my car off and hop in my great aunts car at the dealership and we would drive to meet up with our other family. So I'm driving....and I happen to look down at a stoplight......and the FUCKING CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS OFF AGAIN.

At this point I'm like "You know what.... I'm done....lol..." Like. I just.... 😩😩😩🤦‍♂️ I know as much about cars as I know about cooking....aka, NOTHING. Fuck, dude. Every time I try to have someone teach me either thing, I fuck everything up and it's just bad. :( Idk why it's so hard for me. I feel like getting into auto work would be similar to dissections and autopsies wouldn't it? I have come to quite enjoy dissections. I get actually get excited everytime there's a wet lab day and we get to slice something up and dig around in it and poke through the anatomy and actually physically see how everything lays and works and ....idk, I feel like that's very similar to how working on a car would be??? Am I just fucking crazy??? 😩😩😩 jeeze lol.

What're you gonna put your cat patch on btw? Your sister gives cool gifts. Do you have a patch jacket or anything?

Did I post the gifts I gave to my mom? 🤔🤔🤔 One of them was really neat, and she's obsessed so Imma have to do that at some point lol. Echo has barely even touched his two new toys 😒😒😒 He keeps going to his old toys....lol. brat. Haha it's what I expected though. He'll get to his new ones next year probably....and the ones I get him next christmas will probably be used around the Christmas after that 😂😂😂 It's a cycle.... My bby has to have his squeakies to num on, you know lol.

I hope I didn't fuck anything up writing this coz my ambien kicked in halfway through this and I'm about to head to bed. Got a looooooong ass day of helping boomers figure out technology. Setting up a bunch of new technology around the house, helping them figure it out, taking mother to buy a laptop that suits her needs, taking her to verizon to help her change our plan and figure things out for her if they're open for that, helping her set up auto pay on stuff and teaching her how to pay bills online and writing out instructions step by step and labeling ALL THE THINGS for her.....lists and neat handwriting are my specialty after all. A week later and my great aunt and uncle are still convinced I somehow wrote my note on their christmas card with a typewriter?????? 🤨🤨🤨 Idk man lololol. And lots more millennials-teaching-boomers moments tomorrow! I'm already exhausted 😩 lmao jk but no rly 😒🤪🤪🤪 Aight Imma go to sleeps now. Sir says grrr. As per usual. Pls show me what you do with the cute cat patch. I wanna see. 😻😺👀💕🥰

Night, K. 🥰🥰🥰

And since I'm posting this at 1am, Florida time.....and knowing some of you are an hour behind (my home time zone for example).... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!! WE DID IT. WE MADE IT TO A WHOLE NEW FUCKING DECADE. HELL YEAH.

I honestly never thought I would see 2020. I mean that both metaphorically and as a pun. 😘

Goodnight everyone! 🥰