#if you get the video from the op the quality's better :/

[ostdrossel]

Ostdrossel, how do you get started with a bird camera? Is there an affordable camera you would recommend for a beginner?

It depends on what you want. There are always options that are better or worse or more pricey or cheaper. I use different systems for different things.

My homemade "feeder cam" with an action camera (the camera has the photoburst with motion detection function but any with photo timelapse works too). I have to harvest the photos from the SD card every day and take the cam in over night. The motion trigger is hyper active, so there will be tons of unusable photos and it takes a while to go through all.

IP cameras - I am still using my old Birdsy cameras in some spots, recording and livestreaming with the help of youtube and OBS.

Wyze cameras - I use them mainly for nestboxes but they are also a cheap option for feeder or baths, maybe. They come with an app. I pay 45 bucks a year for three cam pro licenses so I don't have videos restricted to 12 seconds. The v3 and v4 are pretty good quality, and I have also used them to "stake out" locations for other cams.

An actual "feeder cam" - I use a Birdfy 2, which is quite fantastic but expensive. (I posted a more thorough review on my website and here too last year.) I think similar quality you may get from Bird Buddy and the one that WBU sells (Feather Snap?) but I cannot vouch for any of these.

Trailcams. I have started using trailcams last year and have been enjoying playing around with them a lot. The positive side is that you may get better image and sound quality than with the smart feeder cams and don't need internet or data or even wiring for them to work but you will have to harvest your footage from the SD card. Cellular ones seem to work from afar but I have not tried any because I am too cheap to pay for extra data. I have been usng three models from the Chinese company Ceyomur (the CY65, 745 and 95), and they are all three a lot of fun to work with. The best of the lot is the 75, IMO, it has the fastest reaction time, a solar panel and takes good photos and videos. All three come with a practical app (great for positioning!) and can take photos and videos at the same time (great for the harvesting stage so you don't have to watch every single video, the photos act as preview). they are all well-priced on Amazon. I also use the more expensive Browning Spec Ops elite, which has stellar video quality but does not come with an app, is not great with photos and cannot take video and photo simultaneously. I usually try to say which one I used on my posts.

Last but not least you can use a regular photo camera.

[6okuto]

KENMA RELATIONSHIP HCS

gn!reader, timeskip mentions

isn't a pda guy, but will fall asleep on your shoulder/rest against you as he games, and if you play with his hair, who's he to say no?

if you change your contact name in his phone, he keeps whatever it is, even if it's super silly or cheesy. like okay call "my honeybear darling angel 😚". he says it's because he's lazy but he does find it kinda cute/amusing

you cheer for kenma at practice in like, a sort of exaggerated way, like "gooo kenma!!! yeaahh!! let's go kenma!! kenma! kenma!" and he tries really hard not to look at you—not because he's annoyed, but because he doesn't want you to notice how red his face has gotten. his teammates point it out anyway

lol his team using you as motivation. "don't you want to impress them?" and kenma's like 😒😒 but gets up from the floor

kenma teaching you how to play his favourite (co-op) video games!! he's pretty patient and explains things well, so if you don't have a lot of gaming experience, don't worry too much ^^ buttt if you're competitive, get ready to Compete. he seems like someone who doesn't take it too seriously unless you start (jokingly) shit talking him

he'll try out any games you like too, even if it isn't something he'd pick himself. he doesn't really plan to when you're describing it, but then he thinks about it, or sees a post mentioning it, and the curiosity (And Affection 4 U :3) gets him

easily notices if you've gotten quieter/tired when you're out. if you're with a group, he'll tap your shoulder and offer his own, ask if you're alright, and or make up an excuse so you can both leave. if it's just the two of you, he's quick to find a place to rest for a while

he'll never make you join if you don't want to, but fans eat up any videos or streams with you—they make edits and compilations of you walking in during streams and everything. the amount of begging for a q&a and story time of how you met is crazydsjdhsj

chat is soo annoying about it too /lh "no they're not single," "i know they're out of my league," "yes they were my first subscriber," kenma telling you not to answer them when they ask if he's clingy, etc etc

! i think it'd be cute if you guys had matching phone cases, but his fans didn't know until you showed up with the other one. and they realize Just how much he has on that's matching you—the bracelet and necklace that they catch glimpses of under his hoodie, the hoodie itself from the same line as yours... yeah.

time for "he said no pickles." unless you also don't like asking/don't care,, then you guys can just take the pickles off together <3

^ if it's a serious mistake they made with your food, kenma's a lot more compelled to approach the counter.

would teach you about stocks. if you asked

mutual info dumping and yapping... he's very aware of how much he's telling you the first couple of times, but gets more comfortable when you do it back !

^ kind of guy to do his own research afterward. he makes a semi-obscure reference/joke the day after and you're like ???? Who told you that.

kind of boyfriend who hears you go "i want him" "wait why's this character kinda..." and isn't like, that offended or put off by it. says "understandable" (or questions your taste), but knows they're a character at the end of the day

quality time kind of guy. people know you're special even if they don't know you're dating because you can convince kenma to go to events or try something new when they wouldn't expect it. (obviously it's never something crazy out of his comfort zone, and it's probably because he knows you'd feel better with someone with you, but he's going all the same!!)

kenma isn't the best with receiving words of affirmation or gifts... he appreciates it, but gets awkward and doesn't know how to react ^^; you reassure him that he doesn't have to jump for joy or be super affectionate back—he shows his love in his own ways !

his gifts are very thoughtful. he gets you something practical, and then things that you've really wanted for a while. his cards aren't filled with long letters of adoration, but they're genuine and very much kenma. (+ having money in the timeskip doesn't mean he'd ever buy something expensive or flashy just because it might be 'easier.' it means he gets to buy you way more merchandise for your favourite media, paying the shipping fees that kept you away.)

you get him a super thoughtful (and maybe expensive) gift and he Lights Up. and then he's like ? you remembered / really paid that much ? really ? and he keeps smiling when he looks at it..

kenma coming downstairs with super bad bedhead and pouting when you snicker. but then he relaxes as you comb your fingers through to fix it

tying up his hair... a little ponytail or bun...

matching pajamas... or those fluffy headbands you wear to wash your face... he looks so silly and cute

university student kenma who walks in visibly irritated, and you know you're about to shit talk his group members or professor together.

late night breakfast. sitting in the kitchen eating bowls of cereal past midnight

! late night gaming sessions... and or sometimes you fall asleep waiting for kenma to finish, then wake up to realize he fell asleep at his desk. you have to coax him into bed after saving the game for him

very nervous during the first year you're together any time there's a holiday, especially valentine's day or your anniversary. he wonders if his plans and gifts are enough, not romantic enough, too boring, if you'd rather do something exciting, even if logically he knows you'll like anything he thinks up

sometimes you guys will just lie on the floor, stare at the ceiling together, and talk. maybe there's music, a game menu screen playing in the background, or you're just listening to the birds and neighbours outside. floor time is healing all the same

bleaching kenma's hair + him helping dye yours... timeskip where chat asks if you've done your hair recently because his hands have been stained :')

it's super easy to team up with kuroo to tease him but also ! teaming up to taunt and prank kuroo !! think of kenma laughing bright and loudly, eyes squinting and arms clutching his middle !! kuroo can't be that mad because he's happy someone else can get kenma this happy too

🏷️ | @icekitgeorge3 @dira333 (hey guys) @pelicanpizza @godoffuckedupcats @causenessus @priv-rose @ur-local-simp @respitable @deepenthevoid

[the-real-couchrat]

Post ending / rescue AU / recovering Curly is everything to me, so I’m making a list of other people’s posts that feature him. (The links will connect to a reblog of them in case anything ever happens to the original post)

If anyone ever see’s posts like these ones, PLEASE tag me in a reblog!! All posts are welcome, not just art!

Please note that I don’t decide what to add to this list based on shipping, opinions on the metaphors in the game, the accuracy of burn scars, the morality of Curly, or anything else that causes discourse in the fandom. I just add any posts that I come across that include Curly recovering from his injuries in any way. Prosthetics, wheelchair, wig, crutches, It just needs to have him in better shape than when he first got injured.

No NSFW

(Also this post is edited to add new ones when I find them)

Rehabilitated Curly

Party with no Jimmy

Stand around in medbay party (Idk if this counts, but he has prosthetics so I'm saying it does)

Happy abortion!

Post-ending speculation (text)

20 years later (I AM NOT WORTHY TO LOOK UPON THIS WITH MY MERE MORTAL EYES)

ANYA’S GRADUATION DAY

Post ending

Rescue/Recovery AU

My own post! (text)

Aftermath Curly

Good ending

Best way to approach captain’s disability?

A little sketch

They care

“I wouldn’t want to frighten her”

Anya doesn’t quite overdose

They’re safe

Guys rate my fanart

WWI face prosthetics

Less fucked up Curly AU

Fix-it type AU

Silly recovering time

Curly got some gifts for his b-day

Imagine Curly survived (twitter)

Curly with a service dog

I’m not a dog and you’re not a mare

Drawing the dentalcare crew (does this count?)

The quality will not be questioned

Fix-it AU

Want to make Curly some cool new mechanical hands so he can strangle Jimmy

One can dream

He’s got a wig now

Happy ending where they all survive (devianart)

It hurt my heart (twitter)

God forbid I get sick (translated?)

This might be controversial but… (text)

Let’s get you out of the house!

Cyberpunk AU

Cartoons with breakfast

Old-school surgeries (text)

Post-ending fic prompt (text)

Post-rescue AU curlyana

Post-rescue curlyana part two

Why is this goddamn white boy so hard to draw?

Captain stop infodumping the baby

Maybe never forgive

Draw Captain Curly having a prosthetic limb

Curly from Mouthwashing (good ending)

This is how I imagine Curly post OP

whats the worse fate, whatd be better for the tulpar crew

Wip

🐈

Mouthwashing AU (Reddit)

Curly if he survives (Reddit)

My own art

I’ll give him smoochies, prosthetics, and skin grafts

Art dump time✨

Hoppin on da trendin train

The crew built curly a mechanical hand

How to give Captain Curly a voice (idk if this technically counts, but it’s a disability aid so I will)

Doodle of the Tulpar crew post-rescue!

New hyperfixation just dropped

Hi Tumblr. Funny seeing you here

Another rehabilitated Curly

Who up washing they mouth rn

Don’t use the dog buttons (text)

Haunted part one and two

Prosthetics

AU were someone saves them

Mouthwashing doodles

A New Ladder-Reader x Curly (I’ll add the original art videos when I can) (also I didnt read it. if someone did read it, please let me know if it’s SFW)

I know he always have his headphones on

More rehabilitated Curly✨

You guys like this right

Anya, what’s it like working as a medic on a spaceship?

This is how we can still get the good ending

“I’m sorry Anya”

More cringe mouthwashing art be upon thee

Curly’s happy (and recovering) ending

Writing an AU of mouthwashing where the crew survives

Most people seem to be giving him prosthetics…

Doing a bit of study

2

Ladonb Kokosa (TikTok account, LOTS of great videos )

Giving the mouthwashing characters what they deserve (TikTok)

Zest for life

How I think the Tulpar crew would make YT videos

Edit: I am no longer seeking out these posts, and new ones will only be added if I’m tagged or such

[sluttycinderella]

Razorgate: an empirical, peer reviewed study*

*there is nothing genuinely scientific about this, it is merely a result of mental illness and unemployment.

So we all saw this right?

But after this bomb was dropped I began to get curious about the other slittenings. Did they use the same razor for all of them and no one had noticed? Do they actually own more than one razor? And if they don't, if this is truly the only phrazor, then I don't think I have to tell you that raises a lot of questions.

Firstly, I went back to where this all began, Phil's Birthday stream, to identify the razor that carved the very first slit and forever cemented itself as a part of herstory:

Now that is very clearly the Manscaped logo, no question about it. Here’s a high quality photo of the logo for comparison:

(You can also clearly see in the Twitter post that it says "Manscaped" across it but I like to double check my work and I also wanted to prove that they were both Manscaped)

And it's a good thing I did double check because OP made a CRITICAL ERROR in their post! They claim that the razor in question is the Lawn Mower 4.0 when in fact it's the Lawn Mower 5.0 Ultra! Unlike the PUNY, PATHETIC, UNMANLY 4.0, the Lawn Mower 5.0 Ultra comes with an interchangeable foil blade, a USB port, and a more advanced spotlight!

How could OP be so careless? Dan and Phil would never own an outdated razor! They require only the finest in ball shaving technology!

Also fun fact: The first appearance of the Lawn Mower 5.0 Ultra on the Manscaped YouTube channel falls right in between the dapg return announcement and their first video back so make of that what you will...I for one shall be sculpting my own hill out of the very earth itself, "Manscaped Sponsorship Hill", I encourage you all to join me.

So after spending far too long researching the intricacies of razors that shave an organ I don't even have, I now needed to check if it was the same razor being used in every slittening:

Here they are side by side for comparison, left is Phil’s birthday, middle is the We're All Doomed post-premiere, right is Dan’s birthday. Now it appears the WAD one is missing the logo but I'm going to go ahead and chalk that up to the poor quality of the clip I found (if anyone has a better version PLEASE hit me up so I can confirm my hypothesis). And considering the photo taken in the aftermath seems to show Phil holding the 5.0 Ultra:

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's the same thing.

“But,” I hear you shouting, “so what if Dan and Phil used the same razor for all the streams? They already said they only owned one razor so who cares?” Well this isn’t so much about proving that they’re the same razor as it is establishing a baseline. It’s hard to trust basically anything Dan and Phil say lately, what with piggate and the “pillow” bar and the fake view from the Phouse, knowing that they aren’t lying about only having one razor (to the best of our knowledge) is crucial in figuring out what exactly is going on. Remember, we’re doing science here.

And with that in mind: In my professional opinion, I can say that for all three slittenings, the Manscaped Lawn Mower 5.0 Ultra was the weapon of choice.

Sidenote: I went down a bit of a rabbit hole of Manscaped reviews during all of this and apparently Manscaped razors are kind of just a scam. This razor is $109 and they try to trick their customers into subscribing to their "Peak Hygiene Plan" which you don't actually need by offering a deceptive discount and hiding the terms where people aren't likely to see them. So yeah, fuck Manscaped and I for one think we should cancel Dan and Phil for not ethically consuming under capitalism.

But that's beside the point, we know that they indeed only have one razor and that that razor...is for balls. What does that tell us?

Conclusions

There are a multitude of conclusions one could jump to in the light of such a revelation, I shall display them in a convenient numbered list for your viewing pleasure:

One of them prefers to use straight (lol) razors to shave their...you know...I don't actually know if this is a thing people do or if it's even possible, people with balls please sound off in the comments, thank you

Only one of them actually shaves in which case I support them as an infamous pussy hair enthusiast (iykyk)

They share a razor (Please, God, no, that's actually disgusting)

Either way, this thing was on someone's balls and then it touched both their faces so I really hope they cleaned it properly!

Alright, so that whole exploration may have been a bit useless, it indeed only confirmed what we had already been told, but I spent literal hours comparing photos of ball hair trimmers and I'm not one to admit defeat. Consider yourselves peer reviewed, Dan and Phil, and maybe check out Beardscape instead! Apparently they have better, more comprehensive razors for the same price.

If anyone even more demon than me has any corroborating evidence (maybe of them using straight razors at any point or anything else razor related that they've said in the past) please let me know so I can take it into consideration! Thank you all for your time.

[fifarts]

“it’s nice to know you work alone” 🪐⚡️

(click for better quality, more info and alt text below cut)

another jupeter piece and some recommended songs from my jupeter playlist!

I have synesthesia which means my brain associates certain audio and music with different colors and shapes, so I worked a lot with the colors on this piece and especially the background to kind of translate some of the visualizations I get when I listen to these songs together! If you read the lyrics of both you’ll see why I heavily associate them with juno and peter!

I have another piece that I’ll hopefully post circa S3 that goes along with There’s No Secrets This Year (the most jupeter song ever) and a comic for Waltz in E-Major, Op. 15 “Moon Waltz” by Cojum Dip that I really want to work on soon! My playlist is still a work in progress and I’m currently in the process of moving my spotify accounts around but as of right now the full playlist link is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6SP3sUjzSTBCPhouCe4xXY?si=277Hd2pqTGmRzPLcSx6dvQ

I organized it partially by season so hopefully it’s easier to understand the character connections of the songs. (The first song of the playlist is an instrumental guitar piece that my dad’s guitarist is doing as a side project which is super cool and you should definitely check out his stuff (and also please send some streams his way) If you love vocal-like sexy guitar riffs and weird time signatures and video game-esque music, Vision Swords is for you lol)

Alt Text:

A lineless digital art painting of Juno Steel and Peter Nureyev from the Penumbra Podcast. Juno's face is visible in a profile view as he holds his blaster in his outstretched hand. Juno is a short Black and South Asian person with dark brown skin, a scar across his nose bridge, and black hair that is lit with purple lighting. Juno has short locs and a high undercut with a star design shaved in. He is wearing a tan trenchcoat, a white button up, and black tie. He is also wearing a cochlear implant, hot pink star earrings, and hot pink acrylic nails. Peter stands behind him with his face partially obscured. He is a tall South Asian man with medium brown skin and dark shoulder length brown hair. He is pointing his blaster and wearing a black suit jacket with gold details. The background of the painting is hot pink, neon purple, and bright blue. The background colors mix in with one another in a perspective blur from the center of the painting. [end alt text]

Thank you so much for the support while I’ve been on hiatus! I’m going to college this fall for Robotics Engineering and I’ve been dealing with some pretty big health problems as well (I literally just got out of surgery today lol) which has left little time for art (fanart or otherwise) 😅 Love ya!

[mercurial-thrills]

I've been taking writing seriously for eight years. Here are eight lessons I've learned.

*Buckle up, this is going to be a long one*

As I squinted at my phone in the darkness, I stared at my Calendar. Blocks of red and pink were blocked into my schedule: do schoolwork, take a quick break, attend an online co-op class, sign up for a school workshop, finally read the first chapter of that thick textbook I bought.

Then, I looked above it all, the day of significance in magenta.

"Anniversary of Secrets." September 9th. The day I chose to take writing seriously. Between unfinished stories on loose-leaf paper, and untitled documents of characters on my desktop, writing had only been a spur-of-the-moment activity.

But then, September 9th came along. From visions of girls riding dragons and comments of classmates writing their own stories, I realized I could be like them. I could take writing as seriously as they did, spending more time on my stories than fixated on my favourite series.

In fact, writing became a fixation of my own. Over these eight years, I have watched countless videos, read a few books, and wrote hopefully around a couple hundred thousand words. As well, I have amassed a fair amount of writing advice. Here are eight of the lessons I learned over the years.

Lesson #1: Outline First, Write Later.

Ideas popped into my head like a game of whack-a-mole. They popped in and out whenever they pleased. I dreamed of cat-eared superheroes, of zodiac themed dystopias, of strange, American-style Isekais before I knew what that word meant.

My attempts to outline the story were inflated by my urge to write it. By the time I started writing my first official project, I decided to write the outline and FINISH the outline before jumping into the story.

Lesson #2: Embrace Diversity

If you've been on the Internet in literature or writing related circles, it's hard to avoid the topic of diversity, and for a good reason. Diverse situations and characters create new perspectives for readers and writers alike.

I learned to embrace diversity through a video made by Jenna Moreci:

After watching this, I thought more about my character's racial and ethnic backgrounds. Along with that, my characters became much more queer, and far more neurodivergent than I could've fathomed back in the day. Their backstories and family situations are more diverse as well: some of them were in foster care. Others came from big families.

The most important thing is to not do this offensively, and honour every culture you come across that's different than yours. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources online, such as Writing With Color(https://www.tumblr.com/writingwithcolor).

Lesson #3: Take Inspiration From Your Favourite Things.

My first story, Secrets, took direct inspiration from the books Harry Potter, Bone, Percy Jackson, Masterminds, and Eragon, respectively. But my second big project became a result of my Voltron obsession (which, assuming you're reading this on Tumblr, I'm sure you're familiar with).

The story formed as a space opera with alien planets I invented myself, and a human species who evolved to conditions on Kepler-22b. I'm not going to deny that I drew inspiration from the "Leakira and the Defenders Of Tomorrow" AU. Though this project is now its own being, I cannot deny where its origins came from.

Lesson #4: Do NaNoWriMo. Seriously.

First of all, I'd suggest staying away from the actual site. There have been numerous controversies, including demonstrating support of AI for creative works, and predatory behaviour on its forums. That doesn't mean we cannot still participate in writing a novel within a month.

Doing an unaffiliated one-month writing challenge will likely not help you get better at writing. Quality over quantity, after all. However, it will help to create a writing habit, and force you to think of unorthodox situations where you could write words… like, on the bus, in a bathroom stall, or in a waiting room.

Lesson #5: This is not going to be a career. Not for a while.

I was a 17-year-old, frothing at the mouth, obsessed with what my hands could produce at the click of keys. I wanted this to be my career. Badly.

However, college loomed around the corner, and I could not fathom spending so much money to learn creative writing in university, when it would have so little pay-off later down the line. Plus, I knew the field was a competitive one, and boy, I was not ready to compete.

If you want writing to become a career one day, go for it. Work hard on your writing. Focus on it like a bird focuses on looking for its worm. Keep in mind, however, whether the pay-off will be worth it for you.

For example, if you are willing to compete and set yourself apart, it would be beneficial to study English, Creative Writing, or Journalism at a university. You could become a copyeditor, a journalist, or a teacher, with some extra learning. However, what if becoming an author feels unstable? You could consider a career in a transferrable field such as office administration, library technician, marketing, psychology, or accounting.

Lesson #6: Fanfiction is good.

When I got into the game Terraria, I spent many hours traversing the right side of my world and building cube-shaped houses, and far too many hours before I thought I was powerful enough to fight the Eye Of Cthulhu. That aside, I started writing fanfiction inspired by the franchise.

Surely, there’s not much canon material regarding the NPCs whose names change when they get killed. So, I made my own. I elaborated on characters that had pre-existing relationships and made up my own where there weren’t any. It was a brilliant practice in writing when none of my other ideas seemed appealing.

I have since finished said fanfiction, but I still write about certain fandoms from time to time. It helps to have an outlet for creative ideas that would not fit your other stories.

Lesson #7: Don’t Fear The Critiquer

Reading my works aloud startled me to the bone. Thankfully, my friend clarified that this writing club gave good critique on his own worldbuilding. So, I showed up, and oh, am I ever so thankful I showed up, because it has, quite literally, changed the way I see writing.

Reading out my writing to others has made me better at sharing, and at accepting critique. I received a lot of praise, and I also realized a lot of mistakes. Most of all, I learned not to fear what people thought of what I wrote: chances are they’d like at least part of it.

Lesson #8: Every little bit counts.

After many years of taking it slow, life started to get busy again. Life became more cluttered, and I fought to balance my classes with any extracurriculars I may have had, with therapy appointments and going to the doctor’s to sort out health shenanigans, with the full time summer job I had, and with nurturing my relationships.

If you had a hard time reading that sentence, that’s what my life has been like for the past year or so. Busy, cluttered, hard to organize, but still manageable in small chunks. This is what writing while busy should look like. Little bits and pieces of writing, whether it be in a chapter or short stories.

The Big Conclusion

Plot twist: These eight lessons I learned were relevant to each of my eight years spent learning the craft. I spent them embracing the craft, learning to make good settings, and understanding how to create interesting plots. At the same time, I have yet to self-publish any fiction other than a short story.

Still, I’m happy with the progress I’ve made in these past 8 years. It’s been a long journey, but with every year, I learn so much more.

If you’re looking for where to start, this is where you should: whether it’s writing down that random idea that’s been sitting in your head, or scribbling down a drabble about the rain outside, just take one first step.

[credince--writes]

Tw: torture, mentally torturing the 141, dddni

Simon Riley x Wife!Reader, Established relationship. Written on my phone.

They were playing mind games.

Somehow they had pulled files. Things no one should know, things they didn't even know were documented-

They could stave off the taunts with a cold shower- as cold as it could go huddled into the grimy and dingy bathroom of the safe house. The hot water didn't get hot enough to scald the thoughts out of their heads-

This Op had been hell. They were all worn down.

The physiological torment they'd acquired on nearly every member of the team-

Johnny's dead sister- car accident photos and all. Autopsy reports and footage. The sound of dead flesh sliced open methodically with a scalpel. The sound of bone cracking.

Kyle's mother's rehab reports. Court documents. Custody approvals to his grandmother. The thick binder detailing the formidable years of a young man manipulating the system as much as possible to keep him and his sisters under the same roof.

John's first daughter. The one that didn't take a first breath as his wife brought her into the world. A very, very detailed medical report detailing the failed formation of a brain stem. He never read it- didn't know an autopsy for something so small could be so long.

But not Simon.

They hadn't as much as left a snippet of paper.

Yet here he was- crawling out of his skin even is he knew good and well that the best three letter agencies in the world had essentially scrubbed his existence off the planet.

Simon Riley didn't exist anymore- at least not in the civilian world.

Until they get close- almost capturing the target. Kicking open the door to find an empty room with a single usb sat on a dinged up wooden table.

A few hours of data processing later and the skin peeled back from his bones. His chest cracked open and spilled out onto the table. That's when he realized they knew. Knew exactly what had happened to him in that desert. In that hole. In that coffin.

Sat in the makeshift kitchen of the safe house as the video pulls up, his fingers tremble in a knowing dread that it's his turn, isn't it.

The footage is sickeningly good quality. The grime on the floor, the tension the rope pulls at the flesh of your wrists- purple, bloody, red, and angry.

"You know Mrs. Cormick, you haven't been very truthful about who you are to us."

Your chest heaves, he can see the tears spilling down your cheeks. The duct tape on your mouth stops the screams- but he knows. The look of unbridled terror in the eyes of someone who knows they're better off dead.

The chair is leaned backwards and the man grabs hold of your face.

"Or should I say Mrs. Riley?"

The room looks exactly like the meat locker in Mexico.

[cheapsugar]

ONE SHOT 01. vil x idia title: konami romance contains: fluff, playing video games summary: idia's playing his favorite mmorpg. vil decides he wants to try too. note: very clearly came up with a little... parody? of ffxiv here. but, please know i know nothing about that game so i took creative liberties! i hope you like it! this will be uploaded to ao3 as well.

Despite his ever busy schedule, Vil always made sure to dedicate at least one day nearly entirely to Idia every week. A sort of arrangement that Vil was quite surprised to hear Idia have some reservations about. The "loner otaku" didn't want to be so alone after all. Having someone else to care for, for what must've felt like the first time in so long, Idia had found himself really wanting to just... be around Vil.

It was incredibly sweet, Vil had to admit. And he did feel bad about having to squeeze time between the school week to see him, resulting in maybe two? Three hours a few days a week? It's something they're still both working on.

So, it's quite a surprise when Vil finds himself just... sitting on Idia's bed. Alone. He's flipping idly through a magazine filled with anime and manga news, all in a language he can't understand, keeping himself mildly busy as Idia begged to just play a little bit of Last Fantasies XIV. He had gone on about some sort of event going on... "raids" was a word used a few times, "limited edition armor"...?

He wasn't really sure. But what he was sure of was that he was unequivocally bored. Vil contemplated demanding Idia turn the game off, but... he knew he couldn't do it. Looking at his flame haired boyfriend, there was just so much sadness in his life... in the way he moved... Vil found it increasingly difficult to snuff out his happiness.

Fine. He's gone soft, but only for Idia. Something he does his best to hide when he's around others. But, in the privacy of Idia's room, Vil doesn't feel the need to put up a front.

At the end of the day, he just wanted to keep that genuine smile going for as long as he could. That's what he gets, he supposed, for playing the hero.

Eh, this wasn't a bad "consequence". If it even was one.

Closing the magazine, he turns until he's resting on his knees in the other's direction. "Idia." Vil called out, but his dear boyfriend had his headphones on. With a sigh, he calls out again. "Idia!"

"H-Huh?!" Idia pulls one side of his headphone away from his ear, eyes wide as he looks over at Vil.

"You know, it's incredibly rude to have your boyfriend over and then proceed to ignore him!" Vil starts. And this seems to make Idia cower just a bit in his seat, an apologetic look on his face.

"Ah, S-Sorry..." He pulls his headphones down to hang around his neck. "It's just this event is loaded with quality loot! I mean, my character is already pretty OP but it never hurts to add more stats, hehehe."

Idia sits up straighter, excitement leaking through his voice. "Usually, I hate playing with newbies, but this time I'm joining every open party I find! And if they're too slow to find the chests in time, that's on them! I'm teaching them a valuable lesson about the MMORPG world!"

All of that flew right over Vil's head, but he finds himself smiling somewhat anyways. He could tell that Idia wasn't being the nicest player around, but he wasn't going to chastise him for that. It was just a game, after all. And, anyways, shouldn't one do everything they can to better themselves?

Vil looks at the holographic screen, seeing Idia's character obediently standing there. He can also see people whizzing by to and fro, chat bubbles on the edge of the screen and the clearing they all seemed to be in.

"I'd like to try." Vil says, looking back at Idia. But he was surprised with what he was met with. "What's with that face?!"

"That face" was Idia staring at Vil, controller gripped tightly as Idia's eyes widen. His mouth was agape... Vil wasn't sure if he was breathing...?

"You..." Idia sounded almost breathless. "...You want to try out the game with me?"

"Yes...?"

There's more silence between them as Idia clearly takes time to process this. "...Seriously?"

Vil doesn't even have the ability to feel annoyed, Idia's reaction was quite humorous. A bit of a laugh leaves him as he moves to stand up, making his way to Idia. "Yes, Idia! Seriously!"

And that seemed to do the trick! Idia starts shuffling in his seat, finally fixing his god awful hunched posture as he reached a hand to his headphones to turn off the Bluetooth function. And just like that, Vil can hear the audio of the game fill up the room. He continues to watch as Idia finally seems to settle. Surprisingly, blue tips turn a soft pink as Idia clearly seems to be mulling something over.

Timidly, and after a swallow, a hand motions to the spot between his legs. "You um... you can sit here. The chair's pretty roomy so..." The sentence trails off.

Vil smiles, bending over to give Idia a quick kiss on the cheek. This makes the pink tips that much more brighter. Good, that's what he wanted.

Carefully, Vil takes the spot Idia offered and settles back into his boyfriend. He wasn't the type to admit it, but, he likes being held. And Idia seemed to like doing the holding. Vil takes a moment to admire the way the blues and pinks of Idia's hair seem to engulf him as well. It was gorgeous, Vil never shied away from reminding Idia of that. Fingers reach for a strand, twirling it momentarily, before he felt Idia's nose brush up against the side of his face.

"Mm, I can get used to this." Vil speaks. He feels Idia nod. Idia brings the controller over and in front of Vil, motioning for Vil to take a hold of it. When he does, Idia places his hands over his.

"So, this is Last Fantasies XIV. TLDR: you wake up in Lindow, one of the three villages that take up the continent of Erostey. The last thing you remember is fighting a hooded figure. Currently, we still don't know who these hooded figures are. The developers update the game about every few months and with each update we get more and more of the story." Idia starts, before using his thumb to make Vil move the character over to a large sign post.

"For the time being, you need money and XP. So you join the Explorers Guild and start to do things like Quests, Raids and Tasks. Quests pertain to things that effect the story of the game, Raids are basically for grinding and Tasks help you gain coin. This sign post is basically how you trigger them."

Vil nods, eyebrows furrowing a bit. "Okay..." He says. "So... I'm assuming these hooded figures are the bad guys?"

"Yeah. At least, that's what the forums think." Idia uses his fingers to move Vil around again, taking him towards the village square. "They attack you and your party randomly during Raids. Noobs go down pretty quickly because of them. But I can handle a whole group of them all by myself." Idia's unique, conceited laugh bubbles out again.

Prior to getting with Idia, If you had told Vil that one day he would find someone bragging about their little virtual character in a game attractive, he wouldn't have believed you. But things are different now. He adored when Idia oozed confidence. And it helped that his snarky comments weren't directed at him half as much as they used to be.

"Oh! Uh, sorry, you... do you want to create your own character? We'll have to make you a new account—"

"Wait." Vil started, looking over his shoulder at Idia the best he could. "You made this character?"

"Um, yes...? You usually do for MMORPGs." A small breath of a laugh. "How could I expect a normie like you to know that..."

Vil lets that one slide. For now, at least. Idia knew for every "normie" he threw at Vil, Vil adds another "face mask night" in the proverbial jar.

"Can I see them more up close?"

He suddenly feels Idia tense up behind him. "Uh..." Another nervous noise. Which... actually isn't something that's too out of the ordinary for Idia. But, the context of the situation did raise a bit of questions in Vil. "Don't you want to just get in to playing? My character is pretty strong, so it should be easy for you."

"Okay? But, I want to get a look first." Vil turns his head back towards the screen, stepping the character more into the open. "I haven't played many video games, but creating a character has always been my favorite part. I want to see what you did."

Now, if he remembered correctly, he believed... yes the right analog stick moves the camera around! And now to zoom in all he needed to do was tip it forward and... oh!

What stood in front of him was a beautiful elven-like man. Blonde shoulder length hair framed a sharp face, features carefully placed and entirely modelesque. Piercing violet eyes looked back at him, the color much more vibrant against the soft purple eye shadow and sharp liner. Lips were delicately painted with a dark lipstick, his neutral face alone could strike down anyone.

Vil blinked as he realized he was looking at... himself?!

His lips were already starting to quirk up. "Idia... is this supposed to be..."

He didn't even have to finish his sentence as pink suddenly engulfed him. Idia's hands retract to cover his face, a groan escaping him. "Y-You weren't supposed to see that...!"

The smile finally graces Vil's face before a light laugh escapes. "Are you embarrassed? There's hardly any reason to be." He turns, sitting sideways on his lap to get a look at him. "This is very flattering. And... Seven, really really endearing."

Slender fingers separate as topaz colored eyes are seen between them. "Y-You're just saying that! It's... it's totally creepy!"

"Oh, come now! What did I say about putting words in my mouth?" He leans over, kissing the back of Idia's hand. He's met with Idia's surprised gaze. "I meant what I said. I am sincerely flattered."

Idia slowly lowers his hands, the pout still on his face as his cheeks and hair remained a soft pink. Like this, Vil takes the opportunity to lean over to give him a proper kiss. Quick but sweet.

"How did you do it?" Vil asks.

This somehow seems to fluster Idia all over again, who reaches over to pull his hood over his head. Thankfully, not enough to hide his face completely.

"...U-Using the... the selfies you sent me." He says, voice shaky and small. "It took me about an hour. I um, have a folder of your selfies on the cloud, so I was basically looking through them all..."

Vil's eyes light up. "You have a folder of my selfies?" That's... ugh, can Idia get any more... cute?! He made him feel like a silly little middle school boy, warm fluttery insides and happy heart skips.

He's already reaching over for Idia's secondary holographic screen, having gotten comfortable with understanding how to maneuver it. Of course, only at a basic level. The right level to know how to look through files.

"V-Vil!? Hey! W-What are you doing?" Idia's already attempting to take control of the screen himself.

"I'm looking for this folder, of course! Now, do you have it saved under my name? Or have you decided to use a pet name for it instead?" Vil asks, letting out a small laugh when Idia finally manages to swat the screen away from Vil.

"T-That isn't—Didn't you want to try my game?!" Idia's tone is nearly desperate, but Vil can see a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. "Let's focus on that!"

Well... Vil supposed he had to accept defeat, didn't he? For now, at least. "Okay, fine, fine." He shuffles until they're back to their previous position. This time, Vil takes one of Idia's hands and attempts to guide it over so Idia could be holding him. Thankfully, Idia got the message loud and clear, as he wraps both arms around Vil's middle.

He drops his forehead onto Vil's shoulder, letting out a slow breath. Vil could see his hair steadily going back to normal.

"You're going to be the death of me one day...!" Idia says.

"But what a lovely way to go, isn't it?"

He could hear the smile in Idia's tone as he says, "if the Seven decide to be in my favor for once."

Vil hums before holding the control better in his hand, thumb on the right analog stick as he attempts to put the camera where it was before. "Okay. What do I do now?"

[ouroborosorder]

Arknights VFX question: Any highlights or personal favourites as far as the "Stick a whole background/huge jpeg in there behind the character" category of skills goes?

Oh I like this question. This made me consider things I've never looked at before, so thank you for that. I had to do research.

So, there's not a lot of ops like this, and shockingly, I don't have many positive things to say about them. BUT I did find a few interesting highlights I think are worth discussing.

First off, I will leave Eine Variation out of this, as I have made my thoughts on that Thing very clear.

But, my favorite skin in the game actually does indeed have the Background.Jpeg - Specter's As One!

Aaaand it's easily the worst part of my favorite skin. Don't get me wrong, i think it's probably one of the better executions of the idea, since it's like, a skybox, it matches the pallette, matches the artstyle of the skin, it's almost perfect. I wish it was a LITTLE less static, maybe have some distortion ripples across it like waves to keep the stars moving, or maybe have them twinkle a bit or something. But it's fine. But a good effect isn't everything.

Effects relies heavily on the principles of animation, too. Appeal, weight, color, and most importantly of all - timing. Having a proper lead in can make a bad effect good, and having a bad lead-in can make a good effect fucking terrible. And having no lead-in at all will absolutely fuck your effect and make it super clear that you took a jpeg from the skin art and superimposed it behind your operator.

Here. Look at the picture above. Now, I am going to tab back literally just one single frame in the animation and...

oh ...there's no fade in at all. It just literally appears in a single frame. It draws way more attention to itself than it needs to just by virtue of literally popping in. It's SUPER obvious that it's just Skybox.jpeg. If it faded in with some sort of noise mask (which takes literally less than 2 minutes to make,) it would be so so so much better. Again, this is my favorite skin in the game, and I already think S3 is quite beautiful, so this is nitpicking, but this skybox always bugged me a lot.

Now to say a sentence no one has ever said - going up a step in quality from Specter to Hoederer!

I can't fully get this one in a still image and I'm too tired to record a video / gif so just go with this, alright?

This one is ALMOST GOOD. ALMOST. IT'S SO FUCKING CLOSE. The texture is being distorted by a wavelike noise that is giving it the rippling effect of fire, which is the standard thing to do for making a stylized fire. The problem is that... The texture itself doesn't fucking move? It's just being UV distorted, just a bit of offset to the material and I just AUGH.

It's so so so obvious that it's just a static jpeg of fire that's being waved around like a flag to get it to contort into being fire. This wouldn't bother me if the actual fire texture didn't have implications of movement in the little waves and fades and stuff. I hate it it's so irritating it's so CLOSE. But also, animating an entire fire flipbook would have taken a lot more time, and I can 100% guarantee you the VFX artist is also unhappy with this one. Their A team was probably on Arturia or something. Speak of the devil -

I've had a few people ask how I feel about Arturia's S3 after I expressed my hatred for Eine Variation, and I am here to say - this unambiguously fucking rules, for a few reasons.

First and least importantly, THE MONSTER MOVES. The monster itself has slight movement, you can notice its arms wiggle a little and mouth open and close. This is a small thing that goes a LONG way to make it feel way more dynamic and alive. It's also being distorted by a noise like Hoederer is, which is quite nice as a touch, really helps to make that limited movement feel way more significant than it is.

Second, is that the texture is monochromatic, but in a different way than Arturia is. The grays are colder, harsh blue-grays to contrast Arturia herself, who is a very warm gray. This makes it so that it adds a really nice background that looks like part of her, while also standing out and allowing her to stand out against it. It's a really smart use of monochrome to create visual interest using just different subtle shades of gray.

But that bluish hue also serves to compliment the only color in the effect - the blue light from the cello. Your eyes are naturally drawn to brighter glowing things, which is also the only colored spot on the effect - the cello from which her Arts emerge. As a result, the Beastie.jpg fades out of your attention, becoming monochromatic noise, which, due to being just kinda chaotic and aesthetically dissonant, you interpret more as abstract Shape than anything else. That abstract shape then makes a cone which leads you down into Arturia's center, which is her cello, which is where her Arts are coming from.

This is basically to say - These are very emblematic of what I think makes good effects textures in general. They work best when they're not alone. When these backgrounds are part of a larger whole that's all coming together to make an effect, rather than being the centerpiece of the whole thing. When I notice the background, it's a problem, in my eyes. Maybe people disagree. They keep putting them in skins, and a lot of people thought the Eine Variation goat was cool as hell, so clearly I'm in the wrong here, but hey. Who gives a shit.

I'm sure there's way more examples of this, (actually I know there are,) but I'm extremely tired and need to go the fuck to sleep. If there's any particular backgrounds ya'll want me to take a look at, lemme know and I'll get back to you when I've woken from my dread slumber.

[invisiblefoxfire]

Listen up, fellow queers and token straights, we're not gonna whine about the lack of new media during the strike and we're not gonna waiver in our support of the strikers.

In the meantime, we are going to recommend to each other more already-existing media than any of us could ever watch given several lifetimes to do it in.

I'll go first. Here are just a few of the creators I care about and want you to support.

FREE TO WATCH:

Filmjoy: This YouTube channel (Movies with Mikey, Deep Dive, etc.) makes incredibly well-produced video essays on film and occasionally TV and games. The channel's focus is on positivity and finding things to love about everything. And YouTube doesn't promote that sort of thing anymore, so the channel's creators (one of whom has multiple sclerosis) are running out of money and close to losing their house. Binge these genuinely incredible video essays with adblock turned off or, better yet, sign up to their Patreon and binge them with adblock on. Seriously, I love this channel so much, and if they don't get a boost in income soon, they're going to have to stop making videos. And I want more videos. Seriously, even watch the videos about things you haven't seen. They've persuaded me to watch loads of stuff I never would have watched otherwise and they're very good about not spoiling things (and giving spoiler warnings when needed).

AyeForScotland on Twitch: This is Tumblr's very own very handsome pro-Scottish-independence @ayeforscotland who has an incredible accent and plays loads of interesting games. He's going for Partner on Twitch now, which he has already earned but been denied due to an absurd technicality regarding whether viewers being linked to the channel directly from Tumblr integration. Go follow him now if he's not live, and when he goes live, go to Twitch and manually click on his name to watch the stream, since that's apparently the best way to get him the boost he needs. He sometimes has @thebibliosphere on as a guest (DOUBLE SCOTTISH ACCENTS HELL YES) and you can watch archives of many of his streams on his YouTube Channel.

Africa Everyday: This YouTube channel is run by Babatunde, a Nigerian man who shares his life and culture, makes cooking videos, and generally is a pleasure to watch and listen to. Seriously he's one of the kindest human beings I've ever spoken with. The money he earns from the channel goes towards helping his family and his community.

CHEAP AND WORTH PAYING FOR:

Dropout.tv: You simply will not find better comedy entertainment for the money. A monthly or yearly subscription is just a few dollars a month and gives you access to countless hours of top-quality entertainment from a company that started their own streaming service rather than cater to YouTube's algorithm. This is the place that started as College Humor, but if you haven't seen them in a while, you really need to check it back out. They're incredibly inclusive in their casting and theming and the production values are insane. I recommend starting with Game Changer, a show which has made me laugh so hard I choked and almost threw up. They also have Dimension 20 (or D20), the highest-quality DnD series out there, with custom-made sets and minis, usually with a focus on sheer comedy rather than drama (most of the cast members are comedy writers or comedians) - but it WILL and I mean WILL make you cry now and then. The currently in-progress season of D20 is called Dungeons and Drag Queens and the players are four literal actual fucking drag queens including Bob the Drag Queen and friends? You need to be watching this. If you have any doubts about whether Dropout is worth it or don't have any money, you can watch many full episodes for free on the CollegeHumor YouTube channel, although they have to censor the swears on there.

Nebula: Remember Lindsay Ellis? She left YouTube because of [too many reasons to list] but it turns out she's still active, she's just on Nebula now. Nebula is the co-op of streaming sites. Users sign up for a low monthly fee and the income is distributed among the creators, weighted according to how many views they get. The videos are uncensored and ad-free and contain lots of stuff that later needs to be edited out of YouTube videos to avoid copyright strikes. They've got FilmJoy on there (remember them from the start of this list?), Philosophy Tube (@theabigailthorn), Jacob Geller, Extra Credits, and loads and loads of other stuff on all different sorts of topics. Many of these channels also have YouTube channels that contain most of their content if you can't afford a Nebula subscription, but Nebula supports them more and gives them more creative freedom.

I'm gonna stop here for now but I'll add more in reblogs as the strike continues.

I hereby invite all of you to ruin my notifications until the strike is over. Reblog this, add your recommendations (especially ones that most people might not know about), and pass it on. There will not be a single complaint about lack of things to watch while the strike is ongoing.

(Why yes I am looking for more things to watch too. I've already seen all of the above. Bring it on.)

(And if you have a few dollars to spare, support the strikers directly at the Entertainment Community Fund.)

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

Ranking the fics I’ve released this year (including chapter updates of multichapter fics that I started before 2024)

Did I fall asleep before midnight?

6/10. One of my classic ”plot from two different perspectives” fics where one chapter is the SL characters and one chapter is the Violetta characters, and what they did during New Years Eve. Pretty solid first fic but not my best work at all.

Coldest aunt in the world

7/10. After all my Angie babysitting fics I was like ”hey wouldn’t it be fun if I did this with the other aunt that exists… I Wonder how Sharon was to baby Sol”, and then I also decided to add in a time skip when she has just adopted toddler Ámbar, to show the difference in how she treats similar situations with the different girls.

My little sun

6/10. I’ve often said I would have liked Sharon and Luna to have a talk before the last episode and just have a little conclusion that wasn’t Luna forgiving her after watching a video. While it’s sweet I think I could have done it better.

I’ve told my secret… what’s yours?

3/10. I had recently watched S2 of Siempre fui yo and got into my Lupe/Angie feels, and did a little rewrite of some episodes. But I don’t think it turned out that good tbh.

The Slippery (water) Slope

8/10. I made this after getting inspired by the news of a waterpark in Gothenburg burning down… which feels like an extremely odd inspiration to have. This fic is at least not tragic, just fun times with the DCLA characters at the water park. And a little creative ”plot from two different perspectives” story, as it’s for once not a holiday they’re celebrating.

Stop texting me, PLEASE

6/10. The reason I even got inspired to start posting fics all those years ago was because of a mean girls chatfic. So it only felt right to create a mean girls chatfic myself! I love writing chatfics so much… Only negative is that I’ve since then pretty much abandoned it. I do tend to abandon chatfics a lot, I think only one I really suceeded with.

I’m married and have children with WHO?!

10/10. My first multiverse travel fic and it’s awesome. I’ve always loved multiverse plots and this one started out on top.

The Blissful Babysitters

8/10. The Quagmire triplets babysit Baby Bea and it’s wholesome :)

Help! I don’t exist in this universe!

10/10. Another multiverse trip gone splendidly.

I know you

9/10. My gift for @ven10 at a gift exchange game we had. I think I did a pretty good job but I remember having some writer’s block that made it be a little shorter than I intended to at first. Nonetheless, I still think it’s pretty neat :)

Stuck in the kiddie pool

9/10. I wrote this pretty much on a spontaneous whim, and it turned out so well. Also to have (almost) all the SL next gens, which I usually don’t give as much attention to because my bigger fics tend to be more about the violetta next gens.

Happy 29th birthday, Violetta! (In two universes!)

5/10. It was pretty rushed and I promise I will write a fic when Violetta turns 30 in 2025 that’s more planned out.

Made a rainbow one two three, such a pretty sight to see!

7/10. My Pride month collection! Due me writing every day, drabbles/oneshots vary in quality, so this is the final score.

Genom eld och vatten

7/10. I wrote this in english but only to have an excuse for Young Royals characters randomly speak swedish and/or reference swedish things. It was fun!

Arsonists burn roller skates

5/10. My Soy Luna asoue AU I started last year. This year I only updated it three times, and I’ve had some serious writer’s block with it. But, I do think about it a lot and if I just write two or three more chapters I’ll get to my favorite storyline that I’m really excited to tackle with SL characters!

Roller skates and pianos are murder weapons too

8/10. It’s fun to write angst sometimes. Less fun when you have to kill your favorite characters for the plot :,) … I updated it three times this year, but all chapters were top tier.

Sunshine and Moonshine

9/10. Aaah, my magnum opus fic of the SL fics! I updated it 6 times this year and was really happy with how some chapters turned out. Especially the chapter where everyone was sick!

The gifts that keep on giving

7/10. Pretty solid gift giving fic, I randomized who would get which character, and wrote their thought process when giving them gifts, which was very fun. We got some interactions between characters that rarely speak, which was fun too!

If we’re chaotic, our parents were even more chaotic

10/10. I’ve been wanting to write this for several years and am so proud I finally did!! I think it’s the best multichapter fic I’ve started this year.

Violetta - The rewrite of season 2

6/10 - I said I would finish this fic this year, and by the state of it, I really won’t… I only updated it 5 times this year, and I hoped that I would have updated it at least twice the amount. But I am so close to the Madrid arc now, and once we get to that, it’s gonna be a BLAST… hopefully by the end of 2025 I’ve began on my season 3 rewrite.

Ámbar’s diary

6/10. I originally wrote this fic because I wanted to explore Ámbar’s childhood again (you guys know I’m obsessed with exploring Ámbar’s childhood), and then I got into the main series and thought ”Hey how fun to just let her write down thoughts during the events of the show”. Now I’ve reached the end of S3 and if I just can get some energy I could finish it up quickly! Because it really takes half an hour to write a chapter due to how short they are. I just… haven’t.

Violetta’s day (Choose your own adventure)

9/10. Someone needs to give me a big pat on the back for having the energy to do this!! I’ve been wanting to write a choose your own adventure for YEARS. I’m SO proud of it!

Surprises and Disguises

7/10. I said I would complete this this year too, but… well. I at least plan on wrapping everything up in only 2 chapters, so we’re very close! This feels fun, because Surprises and Disguises is dear to me.

Rise of the starfighters!

8/10. This one was one where I just got a feeling and speed wrote like 5 chapters, and then I just started updating it slowly. I DO however know exactly how it’s gonna end - But the middle part I’m gonna improvise x) I’ve always liked magical girl plots so i’m excited to continue it

Tales from the multiverse travels

7/10. I had a lot of small multiverse travel ideas and I think this is fine. Not as good as my first two tho due to it being shorter ones, and some are better than others.

Sleepover stories

5/10. I only updated this collection with two ones and one was better than the other.

In the midst of the courage that grants our dreams, a light always shines forth

9/10. Made this after @turtleboi11037 commissioned me to and I really liked how it turned out, even though I sped wrote it in an afternoon x)

As long as their dad is not named Tomas, it’s fine

7/10. It was fun to let the Franletta kids have their own thing for once. Could have done more with it tho.

From all of them to all of us: Christmas 2024

7/10. Some of these I’m proud of, others I rushed a little bit more

That one relative that makes Christmas more tense

9/10. I was SO excited when writing this and while of course I could have done more, I really liked how it turned out.

Well, this was unexpected

7/10. Can’t believe the first 10k oneshot I wrote was about Yam/Ámbar.

-

All in all, I published 31 fics

Where 24 of them were new published fics, the rest being fics I started before 2024 and just updated.

11 of the fics published were oneshots, UNLESS we count the collections, then there’s way more.

I wrote fics for 6 fandoms this year.

[animehouse-moe]

Shangri-La Frontier Episode 1: What Do You Play Games For?

What happens when a gamer who only plays shitty games decides to pick up a so called god-tier game? Shangri-La Frontier is the answer to that and provides an insane opening episode for the concept. I'm just so excited to get 2 whole cours of this, and I really want to explain why.

Also, SiM's vocalist (MAH) on the OP with FZMZ? And Chico on the ending song? This series was made for me man.

First of all, C2C is an incredibly underrated studio considering the quality of the projects that they enjoy. This is one such project. Right from the start the quality is insane. 2D camera movement, detailed animation and character acting, the whole nine yards. Just look at this walking cycle! There's no 3D and their shoulders move!

It's just crazy to see the detail they put into these pieces early on. Walking cycles are super neglected due to how "plain" they are, but there's just something incredible about seeing that effort put into it with stuff like these examples.

And then there's this (sort of misleading) litmus test. Does your anime have really good art for a random cut? Odds are the production's doing really well. And, well, there's this really good looking beetle shown early on in the episode.

Anyways, to Shangri-La Frontier the game. The direction understands the assignment right away. This is a video game, we need to know it's a video game. So they show us it's a video game. First person perspective is our very first cut shown in the welcome screen and once we enter the world, setting the tone perfectly for what's to come.

But of course, a video game has more to it then just first person perspective, and of course C2C grasp that as well. Slow motion (which you'll see later), and more importantly camera movement are important in establishing that feel. The slow draw towards an endless expanse of world, the bird's eye view of a landmark or feature as the camera slowly rotates. It gets it, and it's able to create a living, breathing trailer for Shangri-La during the episode because of that.

And then, there's the fact that it's a video game. There's talks of skills and abilities and levels and whatnot, but I think most understand that that's a "staple" and that C2C/Shangri-La handle it quite well.

Let's talk about the good stuff, let's talk about action. C2C nails it. They put incredible effort into video game-styled choreography, and it pays off in spades. The slow motion, the harsh camera angles to accentuate the fight, the camera rotation, the way that attacks linger in the air. It's incredible stuff that's augmented by insane animation and visual effects. Seriously, pay attention to the fight and you'll see that they did an impact frame for a crit. Not in the traditional sense, but that the impact frame was the crit. This sort of stuff just makes me so excited because of how well it's handled.

And then there's the worldbuilding. The OP comes into play as well of course, but the details are super great. The enemies Sunraku faces in the starting forest are (mostly) beginner enemies. A goblin with a stone axe and some sort of large pig seem to be the "typical", but there's more to it than that. The Vorpal bunny is a "rare" enemy which makes sense, but the pig enemy only appears as Sunraku ventures closer to the second town rather than the first.

There's considerable detail and effort placed in the creation and appearances of these creatures in the world. The Vorpal Bunny featuring a better crafted weapon than the others that most likely came from somewhere else. Don't forget - we saw a rabbit in the opening.

It's just insanely cool stuff. The world is already shown to be more broad and deep than "it's a big video game world!". There's all sorts of little pieces like this peppered about, and it's just so damn good. Even the concept of Sunraku's "Wanderer" dropping him in a forest rather than the starter town. The detail to really sell this game as god-tier is so damn good.

But it's important to not forget, the god-tier part of the game is only one part of the puzzle. Sunraku here is famous for playing garbage games.

And it's a great way to offset the story and provide a fun angle, I'm serious. It allows them to add fun commentary and responses in regards to frustration from playing bad games, and at the same time provide a novel and excitable approach to a genuinely good game. The best of both worlds that sets the perfect stage for how they want to explore this story.

So, understandably so, I'm very excited about two cours of this and everybody else should be too. C2C is showing us they've got the potential to make the absolute most of Shangri-La Frontier and it's fun and surprisingly unique concept. Can't wait to see what they bring with the next episode!

[torto-isemusings]

Ah, Common Sense Media: One Million Moms on a budget.

Home of one of the worst, most ignorant reviews of our beloved Incredibox I've ever seen (below)

One star from an Adult. A tough crowd these ones.

Join me, dear Reader, as I Torto breakdown the points of this review one. By. One.

For your entertainment, of course ;)

1) "Nobody will like this lackluster 'game'"

*hysterical, borderline-demonic hyena laugh*

But seriously, given the amount of fanart, mods, YouTube videos, and blogs dedicated to this game it seems like the word "nobody" implies whole swaths of people in the definition. *Sparticus voice* I AM NOBODY!

2) "The same man is copy-pasted at least 6 times"

Most people who complain about this haven't done the bare minimum of research to discover that, yes, they are all one man. That is, of course, Paul "Incredible Polo" Malburet, who voiced them all. It's meant to showcase what *just one man* can do with his (aptly named) incredible voice. Love you, Polo❤️

3) "There's really nothing to do but click on the men to produce lackluster sounds"

Say that to his adorable face, I dare you!

Risk being the target of Gallic Rage!

4) "Sure, there are different costumes but they do nothing to enhance the game"

OP must be really fun at Halloween parties /s. Repeat after me: "Costumes enhance *everything*!" Also, now that you've taken a shot at Paul, you can't resist taking a shot at Romain as well, how thoughtful. Love you too, Bily❤️

5) "There are no puzzles [or] prize wheels"

Okay, I'll give them this one. Even though the bonuses are kind of like puzzles, no puzzle just gives you the answer by hovering over the icon. However, I think this is one of the things that makes Incredibox so special: It's not about puzzles. It isn't one of those instant gratification, constant rush of dopamine games(which, imo, are on par with the "brainrot" section of YouTube). Just like writing your own music, you have to stew on it for a while, see what works, and most of all enjoy it! Experimentation can be fun!

6) "There's no way to customize the look-alike men -they're all in boring black and white"

First, see my rebuttal to point #2. Second, this just tells me you didn't play past Little Miss(which is all but confirmed later). LM is only the second version. Each version gets better than the last as the guys hone their craft. Even your oh-so-despised costumes get better! In Jeevan alone you have practically all the colors of the goddamn rainbow! At the end of the day, even though Incredibox is more about the music than anything else, the costumes are a neat bonus that keep things visually interesting. Long story short, if you want customization The Sims is right there.

7) "The game is so boring I quit after 1 minute"

While I'm pretty sure 1 minute is an exaggeration, this does pretty much confirm OP didn't play past Little Miss. Geez, even a goldfish would know you need to pay attention for more a minute to accurately assess the quality of a game.

8)"It takes about 25 minutes to load the game"

This one's just a flat out lie.

9) "The developer isn't even updating the game anymore...terribly outdated...stuck in 2019"

Patience, Grasshopper. The latest bonus for Wekiddy was released only 9-10 months ago. That isn't forever. I'm sure all three guys are working their culs off to get the third one out in a timely manner. Especially Allan, who I haven't mentioned yet. Love you as well, Al❤️

Also define "stuck in 2019"? What does a game have to do in order to be worthy of the 2020s, include a Covid-themed version?

10) "Forget about Incredibox and just get My Singing Monsters instead"

...you're lucky TV Tropes lists us as Friendly Fandoms, or I would get mad at that. I however won't because I'm mad enough.

And there you have it, Reader, my full thoughts on this godawful review. Tell me your thoughts in the tags, and if there was anything I missed💜

[only-by-the-stars]

more little NL vs NH thoughts because I can't stop playing NL again and apparently can't shut up about it (it is so important to me okay?)

-villager dialogue is just so much better in NL. I've heard people complain about the villagers not being mean anymore in that game like in older ones, and I have little opinion on that, but whew can I ever see the downgrade between NL and NH. the regular dialogue is so bland, and there's fewer options for when they have something to ask you for. in NH, it's:

wanna come over/can I visit your house RIGHT NOW? I had a fight with [other villager], can you deliver this gift? I'm trying to sell stuff, will you buy this from me?/here's a random item (this always happens when I'm digging up clams and need empty pockets...) can you catch this bug/fish for me? (very rarely) want to play a treasure hunt game?

whereas with NL it's:

wanna come over/can I visit your house RIGHT NOW? wanna come over/can I visit your house later? can you take this gift to [other villager]? I'm trying to sell stuff, will you buy this/can I trade you for item in your pockets? can you catch this bug/fish for me? wanna play hide and seek? can you bury/dig up this time capsule for me? can you bring me a piece of fruit? I need to speak to [other villager] but can't leave my house, can you bring them here?

I'm probably forgetting something, but you can see the disparity anyway. regular dialogue was generally more interesting too. I also like that you had to bring a sick animal medicine for *three* days instead of just one, it felt like nursing a sick friend back to health instead of one and done and was more rewarding.

-speaking of more rewarding... SHOP UPGRADES, MY BELOVED <333 my file has T&T Emporium, and it is SO NICE, OMG. ;w; I loved the process of working towards the shop upgrades and seeing it become gradually bigger and with a better item selection. ALSO I MISS YOU, GRACIE. </3 the fact that NH has the nerve to try and sell me ridiculously expensive furniture without the GracieGrace brand attached, smh.

-it was the Bug Off today! if I'd realized, I would've prepared last night, but oh well. I still got to get a couple cute furniture pieces and I think I'll place first, so that was fun.

-doing item customization yourself is more convenient (because you can see what things will look like without using a guide) and faster, but... I actually still like using Cyrus? I know he's at the co-op on Harv's island if you shell out enough cash, but that's so expensive and his prices have gone up. customization kits aren't cheap either! in NL you paid less, and had to wait a half hour for an individual item to be ready, but I like that. I like going a bit slower. NL in general is slower and so much more relaxed and relaxing, I like walking at a normal pace and getting to soak in the atmosphere and music.

-as much as I appreciate getting to hear Blathers blather about the donated stuff, I also like the convenience of getting to look at the info in the museum itself without having to bring him another one. it's part of what makes going to the museum soothing, despite that there's no wow factor in the design of the exhibits.

-Main Street in general is just so nice to have, and it makes the actual town feel bigger. I do like being able to decorate outside, but... at the same time I like the simpler feel here and the PWPs that we had. and remodeling town hall and the train station was so neat!!! why can't we do that in NH???

-GOD I MISS THE LEGEND OF ZELDA ITEMS AND VILLAGERS SO MUCH.

-the music. again, the music. NL remains one of my favorite video game soundtracks ever. when it hit 7 PM last night and The Song started playing... oh man... ;w; will we ever have that level of music quality again?

-cannot stress enough how much I miss Tortimer Island. the minigames! the easy access to summer bugs and fishing! AAAAAHHHH

-I... forgot what the Aquarius Urn looked like in this game and now I'm annoyed all over again at the blandification of the Zodiac series in NH. IT WAS BLUE AND FILLED WITH WATER. I COULD'VE. IT WOULD'VE LOOKED SO GOOD AS PART OF MY ZORA-THEMED AREAS. AAARGH!!!

-odd little discrepancy, but why is it when you talk to Gulliver to try and wake him up in NH you have to put away any tool you're carrying, but not so in NL? weird.

-I like the hyacinths and windflowers, but I also miss the violets and carnations. the purple roses were also a LOT prettier in NL.

-also, for all that NH offers more freedom in some aspects, it really took a big step backwards in house customization??? you can't even GET a different exterior until you have ALL the rooms, and you have NO CONTROL over the room size??? and the exterior options are all SO BLAND. you could be way more creative and aesthetic in NL by choosing which rooms to have, how big they were, and you had way more and more interesting exterior options.

-sure were more events and generally things to do in NL. :< the only part of winter I liked was playing snowman bingo and trying to make the different snow people for various rewards! and they took THAT away too! there was more charm, too, I loved the coziness of the "small forested village" that I got in NL, and I prefer taking the train to flying everywhere, and the post office was so cool, and I liked the reliability of taking Dr. Shrunk fruit to learn new reactions. I really hope the next game is a return to form and not more of the same problems that still plague NH...

[the-good-bad-truth]

The industry is small, and rappers often bring up your baby mama as a point of attack in their diss tracks. If he ever returns to rap—though at this point, I really doubt it (2025/2026 = never again)—he better tread carefully and not upset anyone. Everyone will have a field day with Megan. She'll make their job easier and their pens flow effortlessly. Especially if they get married, because in this world, the woman you have children with or marry reflects the quality of the man you are. If we have access to blind items, imagine the kind of tea they could easily get their hands on.

Megan also seems like the type of person who would do something petty just to embarrass her baby daddy—like linking up with the ops or hooking up with someone else in the scene, just because. She’s already proven how capable she is of humiliating him, like when she followed Eminem. That was a line she should’ve never crossed. He should have left her over that alone. The fact that he stayed shows he's completely done with rapping. His street cred is in the drain, next to where that cum load should have gone instead.

I want to be hopeful and say he will return to rap but not anytime soon like maybe 5 years from now. Even then I would not it to be like any of his old stuff or as like "rap aggressive" as his old stuff. Like don't expect no Wild boy or Binge ep vibes. He is to ashamed of that past per M's request to go back to that. I think in terms of music and career we are going to seem unfortunately become really desperate to get Grammy. Like he will be trying many genres, and this is not to say artist aren't allowed to dabble and go into diff types of music. But as of right now, he is going country and acoustic vibes. Because he has a baby on the way and country music is all about family, love, an enjoying the simple things in life you know.

As for Megan being a tool or way to for others to throw shots at him, I can see that. I feel like they will just sexualize her or reduce her to being the object that she is and I can see her getting mad at him for it even though it's her and those around her that made her be seen as an object. I also just can't see her being a rap girlfriend like I've seen videos where he is either performing his rap songs or it's playing in the background and she like doesn't know how to vibe or know the words.

[tls123]

Sorry if I bother you, but I really love your gif sets! Do you know some tutorials or, app, or anything, to learn how to make good gif? I am learning and I feel very stupid because all my gifs are shit. (if my ask is inappropriate or anything, please ignore me)

you're not bothering and none of this is inappropriate, you're more than welcome in my inbox! as for your questions, let's see what i can do.

1) tutorials — i've been doing this for long enough that i don't really have much to recommend here, the only tutorials i use nowadays are all about specific things and not how to make gifs as a whole. that being said i've linked this one before, i personally do some things differently but it's a very good tutorial, well-received by gifmakers who are just starting and well written, from what i've skimmed through.

another good post to look through is this one, not a gifmaking tutorial per se but it goes into sizes, sharpening, and how to get neat & clear gifs. two of the main points are A) while you can get away with making gifs out of a 720p quality video, 1080p is what is usually recommended. you could use 4k as well, but a 1080p video is usually easier to find, will take less space in your storage, and will give you really good results already. no need for overkill <3 as for B) size matters here on tumblr dot com, mostly width. the op of the post linked in this paragraph has included a nice graphic for the size limits for gifs, you can refer to it as you make your gifs so that whatever you make won't turn out pixelated once you upload it to tumblr.

if you're curious, i've been asked about my sharpening settings here and i spoke before on tumblr sizing here

2) software — you mentioned app, if by app you mean mobile stuff then i'm sorry, i can't help you! i've never made gifs through mobile and i wouldn't even know which direction to point towards for you to find more information. as for computers, if you mean programs then these are what i use to make my gifs: potplayer (for taking screencaps) and photoshop cc 2020 (for making the actual gifs, this is the post i used but here's one with more links)

now i'd like to mention something my grandma always used to say: no one is born learned. you're not stupid just because it's taking you a while to do something, learning is a process and everyone has their own pace. i've been making gifs for a decade now and i know there are things i could do better! i'm also still learning, i make plenty of "shit" gifs before stumbling my way to something i am okay with posting, and sometimes i'm really proud of what i've made and other times i think it's just "good enough". i understand feeling disheartened but please do not feel stupid about any of this!

no use in putting yourself down, now hold my hand and let's add the finishing touches on this long ass reply <3

3) tips — we've mentioned video quality, sharpening, and sizing. what else, what else. personally i would start simple (and i did, way back when, and still do!! most of my gifs are quite simple). so: cropping/resizing + coloring + sharpening. it'll help get the basics down and then you'll have a good foundation for everything else you might want to learn. i mentioned in another ask, almost two years ago now lmao, that i used to download other people's free psds (that is, pre-made settings and layers to color your gifs) and instead of using them i would open them up and pick them apart to see how people were coloring things, which layers they used, in which order, stuff like that.

remember: there is no right or wrong to do this! you could ask ten different people how they make their gifs, and their preferences for any specific part of the process, and you'd get ten different answers. if you find a tutorial and don't vibe with it, throw that aside and look for another. pick and choose, find what works for you and what doesn't! and that means do not be afraid to experiment and try things out.

also, don't like photoshop? no problem! i started with gimp, now personally i wouldn't recommend it over ps but it's a good program, it taught me a lot, and there's really nothing to hate about it. it might have less functions than ps though, and already a decade ago there weren't that many tutorials/resources for it.

don't like photoshop AND don't want to download a program? try photopea, i haven't used it but it works directly from your browser and it should do everything photoshop does!

let me know if there's anything else i can help with <3