#inside out 2 was really fun though i actually recommend it a lot

[emocatkeith]

[jester089]

Jax Ass kicker here, it was definitely funny to see your thoughts on the purple menace and thanks for entertaining it! I’d like HC’s of them but only and ONLY if your up for it. I’m happy as is. Thanks! LOL ^_^

A well deserved A%# kicking (Part 2)

Can do! I'll read requests more thoroughly so I don't gloss over a vital thing like that again. Sorry again! Enjoy.

Caine

You being willing to fight back against Jax didn't really affect Caine as Jax never messed with him. Though Caine appreciates you helping out the others. It's strange but since Jax arrived Caine has seen an abnormal rise in abstraction. And Caine just can't put his finger on why? But then you showed up and it dropped back to the usual. *shrugs*

Gangle

Out of everyone Gangle needs it the most. She's made out of ribbon so she's easily hurt AND can't fight back! Have you ever tried to hit someone with a ribbon? It's impossible. AND HER MASKS ARE BREAKABLE! Yeah she needs some help. Your like a much needed Jax repellent that Gangle has been hoping for since she got here. But every time you protect her she feels bad cause she can't really do anything for you. But she'll try and be a bit more talkative/affectionate as you seem to like that. Do be warned each time he's stopped Jax gets more and more aggressive. So the only real way to have Gangle be safe is to either A. Always be with her. Or B. Get rid of Jax somehow. But that isn't going to happen so I recommend setting up a bed in your room for Gangle.

Zooble

Jax doesn't pick on Zooble a lot. He doesn't do her any favors sure, but I feel like their similar ages might make her less of a target? It's either that or because her reactions are never much fun to him. Well whatever the case, Zooble doesn't need much help. She can handle herself in an argument and in a fight. She could pop one arm off and have double the range making her able to hit the person with a full strength punch from afar. Still though everyone gets caught at a bad time eventually. And if you stepped in between her and Jax when something went wrong or Jax was being especially awful she would be grateful. She wouldn't show it until you two were alone but she does appreciate it. And she'll make sure you know that. Later.

Kinger

Kinger has been in the circus a while. He's the oldest in actual age and the one who's been there the longest. So he's definitely met a few Jax type people in his time and has learned how to avoid them. So more likely then not he wont need your help to often. But everyone needs help eventually. I can see Jax coating the outer layer of one of Kinger's pillow fortresses while he's inside with like cement to trap him. So when you save him he, like a true royal blushes then gives you his child's hand in marriage. But he doesn't have a child. So he'll have to do! (Don't expect anything fancier then a ring pop as a ring and a white sheet as a wedding gown.)

Ragatha

Ragatha honestly needs the help. Not because she's weak or anything. But because she's so worried about making sure the others are ok that she just lets herself be a punching bag if it means the others are ok. She's to much of a people pleaser and she suffers because of it. You two are a good mix of brain and brawn. She keeps everyone in the best state of mind she can manage. And you keep everyone as physically ok as you can manage. You make a good combo but you two can be a little overbearing so make sure, to make sure the persons ok with it. She's got a lot on her mind at all times so she wont always notice you helping her out, especially if it didn't happen in front of her or she was in the middle of something. But when she does realize she'll always thank you for it.

Jax

Two Jax's?! And your protecting one from the other?!? Error code 116832//: To many Jax's. Restart in 30 seconds. :\\ (That was a joke but like, it's a digital world. Technically it could glitch and their could be multiple of a character. I mean did you see that flower at the start of the pilot? It's clearly not a super well held together place.) (So, naturally my mind went straight to the thought being sandwiched in between two Ragatha's having the life squeezed out of me x2 in a super tight but incredibly loving hug. And naturally I'm going to write about that. Eventually. I'm pretty swamped rn.)

Pomni

From her first day here she's known that Jax was bad news. But she doesn't really avoid him, I mean she was there when he admitted to having keys to everywhere. So if he wants to find you their isn't just you can do. Until you arrive she hangs around him and is secretly hoping that he'll like having her around and take it easy on her. That of course doesn't work and by the time you arrive/realize how bad Jax is she's hanging on a thread. More likely then not your going to be taller then her. So if you see her clearly uncomfortable, with Jax or someone else if you just pick her up and walk away she'll be both embarrassed and thankful. She isn't the best at putting her foot down and stopping something she isn't comfortable with so your might end up having to be kind of an a%$#hole for her sake. (Ok I think I did your request right. If I didn't, again. Message me. Sorry but I'm not doing this for a third time. Your just gonna have to live with the two I did make. Even if it turned out wrong I hope you enjoyed.)

xoxo, Jester

[sharpbutsoft]

So I know you do digital art, but The Hanged fireMan looks like a watercolor. Do you work with watercolors as well, or is it the program you use?

(please brag about your art process, basically)

Yeah! So I do all my (fan)art in everyone’s favourite innuendo of an art program, Procreate. (Specifically on a 2019 ipad pro with a 1st gen Apple Pencil, both of which I would tentatively recommend if you can get them 2nd hand for less than 200euro like I did)

I did a lot of painting as a teenager, and still paint often to this day. Though I mostly worked in acrylics, I have been known to use watercolours (like, when I was in college I bought a little 3euro paint set and would use the inside of cardboard cereal boxes as diy watercolour paper and paint wild little Irish landscapes… and Winter Soldier fan art, sometimes. 2017 was a different world)

So in summary - I ‘paint’ digitally using some very traditional techniques I picked up over the years, and I kinda prefer digital art now, which I will elaborate on below the cut as I detail how I created The Hanged fireMan…

I’ll start with my favourite digital art ‘cheat’ which is that I use So Many Layers. Like seriously, pretty much every new colour goes on its own layer because I am a control freak and love being able to tweak them all as needed. So for this relatively simplistic piece, I’ve still got something like 20 layers all together.

I’m also usually better at grouping layers but in this one I gave up at some point and it felt dishonest to group them nicely before showing you guys lol

So yeah layers is my biggest hack, but the other is using specific texture brushes

I spent a while playing around with various brushes before finding this Tarraleah one which has just the most delicious watercolour-y texture and a really fun edge to it (and it’s got pressure sensitivity, so I can really control the amount of colour I want to put down on the page)

This background was painted entirely with the 1 brush & colour, and I think it turned out pretty cool. For this particular piece I did have a reference on screen to work off for the most part, but those clouded were just painted with my heart

Next (or maybe before, it’s a while sinceI drew this and sometimes I mix it up) is the lines, which are always done with my best friend, the Procreate Pencil!! I love her, she’s so fuzzy and textured and also if you tilt the tip on the pencil you get a broader line (like with a real pencil) which is just the coolest thing!

When it comes to lines I just sort of go for bigger shapes 1st and details later, and basically always with some kind of reference. I also use a very old & well known trick of putting the most detail into the object of most importance, and leaving the background more loose and vibey

Artists will tell you that this is to draw focus with details. Artists are lying. It’s cause we got lazy after drawing he fun part & phoned the rest of it in lol (I know this because I am an artist)

Also I love this pencil because I don’t have very steady hands and I actually cannot draw straight/smooth lines to save my life! If you’ve ever seen anything resembling a smooth line in something I’ve drawn, it is almost certainly a whole bunch of lines over each other and then erased at the edges to make it look neater

But who needs straight lines when sketchy sketch lines are so fun!

Next is flat colours (the 3layers in the middle with check marks beside them)

I used the same colours as the background, which you can tell from where they completely blend together right down the bottom, and what I genuinely do is use the Tarraleah brush to generally block out he shape, and then go back in with an eraser and smooth out the lines

Why do I do this? …good question

Next is one of my favourite parts, which is adding the lights! Procreate has some really fun -glowy- layer effects - my favourite is probably Add (A) though Colour Burn (CB) is great too for its vibrancy.

Also those 2 layer 11s are there because I duplicated one and then used the ‘Gaussian Blur’ feature to ‘fuzzify’ it (yes, that’s the technical term) It’s a pretty quick and easy way to add a more diffused light effect around something. (I did the same for the yellow reflective strips on the turnouts too!)

Last step now! So full disclosure - I absolutely traced that writing from a photo of a tarot card lol. I actually always trace writing, as, much like drawing straight lines, I’m bad at handwriting on a screen

I also stumbled upon the Exclusion (E) effect by accident - Originally it was going to be a plain cream boarder like a traditional tarot card had, but I wasn’t fully happy with it, so I just flipped through a few layer effects and as soon as I got to this one, I knew it was the right choice

I love the dreamy contrast of the pinks and purples to the dark navy and grey & how it makes everything looks kinda unreal and outer-spacey

And yeah that’s about it! Everything else comes from my 15+ years of Practical Art Knowledge but these are the specifics of how I utilise it digitally!

This was a lot of fun to write out, and I hope that if you’ve made it all the way here, it was fun to read too!

[myloveforhergoeson]

ash's june 2024 reading round up

find all the books and fics i read this month under the cut with a link to the synopsis and my reviews/ratings attached :)

this is just for fun! i'm not a professional, i just like to read <3

booklist:!

Book Lovers by Emily Henry (18+!)

• big emily henry fan here, i've read most of her other books and i just picked up her new one. this one, in comparison to the other ones i've read, was in my opinion, just kind of middle ground. it wasn't as amazing as i was expecting and it wasn't bad, i just don't think this was the book for me. about a literary agent, nora, and her rival - a brooding editor for a major company she works with, charlie - both being displaced from their big city life and finding themselves in the same small town for the summer. they keep bumping into one another in sunshine falls after a less than fortuitous business meeting in NYC a few years ago and one thing leads to another. turns out charlie isn't actually as bad as she had thought! perhaps i'm just unread in the small town romance genre, but again, this one wasn't really for me. i didn't feel like charlie and nora really had all that much chemistry. i was actually more interested in their lives separate from each other than how they meshed together oddly enough. a lot of henry's books center around family - more specifically familial grief after the death of a parent - and this book was no exception. the detailed descriptions of nora's past, dealing with the death of her mother and needing to step up to take care of her younger sister, hit really close to home for me as an older sister. learning about the course of her life come to a grinding halt and the two of them learning to pick up the pieces together was beautifully done and had major implications for the turning point of charlie and nora's story. nora and libby were the highlight of this book for me - i loved every single scene between them and i almost wish it was just about these two. charlie on the other hand, is a local of this small town and has a sordid past with many of the individuals there. i didn't like his character all that much personally, he felt kind of flat in general to me, but i did think his interactions with the other local characters was very interesting and i liked that nora had a bit of a puzzle to put together as she stayed in sunshine falls. though she accidentally went out with his cousin - yikes! overall, two very detailed stories coming together to form one that i almost wish were two separate books. romance plot in this one didn't really do it for me and that's okay! i still had a good time reading it :)

i'd recommend beach read or happy place by the same author in place of this one.

• rating 3/5 times i wondered why anyone would want to live in a small town over the city...

2. My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine (18+)

• yeah i know. guys i know. but what can i say. i'm a simple girl with simple taste and i love vampires. this book wasn't groundbreaking of course but it was soooo fucking funny. loved very moment of it! like what do you mean our fmc cassie just moves in with a random guy who has a wonderful apartment and he's super hot and sexy and he talks and dresses like he's from a different time and he tells you there's a part of your apartment you can never go and he sleeps all day and is out all night and she's just okay with it 😭 girl what if he killed you 😭 anyway. mmc fredrick j. fitzwilliam they can never make me hate you. being alive for almost 400 years is tough, especially when you need someone to teach you the modern ways of life after being asleep for the last century! every time the two of them went everywhere and did something i was like rolling in my seat with laughter. trying to pay for coffee at a hipster coffee shop where the drink names don't actually tell you what's inside? where the sizes are named after planetary phenomenons? where he pulls out a velvet sack of coins and tries to pay with dabloons? god guys it was so funny i can't even begin to put my thoughts of this down on paper. they go to a party so he studies pop culture all night and memorizes taylor swift's entire Wikipedia page???? normally i hate t swift being brought up randomly in modern romance novels (happens way too much IMO) but i'm willing to look past it this time. WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE STOPPED A KIDNAPPING USING TIKTOK LIKE???? say what you will about my sense of humor but never in a million years did i guess how this book was ending. fucking hilarious and so entertaining and cassie and fredrick are very cute together. honestly the romance was like b plot for me i just thought he was too silly and wanted to know all about what weird shit fredrick was doing that day. again, not the most enlightening or literary force of nature i've ever read but i did have a very very good time. boo me if you want but i'm right <3

•rating: 4/5 times i wished cassie and fredrick wrote more notes to each other

fic list:

i read a lot i'll try to get them all im so sorry if i missed any but i've read, rb'd, and loved them all!!!

assorted works of @partiallypearl:

just another wide-eyed girl, who's desperately in love with you

keep going to the sunrise (put the car in cruise control)

'cause i can't turn to you when it all falls apart

when you love someone that's all you can do

cargan blurb

running to your heart

no notes literally every single one of these was perfect and i'm so lucky to have the privilege of reading them :) james and elisa have been on my mind so much lately, but i also really loved your other works with rhuben and logan and macie. when you love someone that's all you can do is a work of art i wish i could frame it and put it in a museum <3

• assorted works of @icegirl2772

Take a Shot in the Dark

Better than Neil (a GIFT?? for me???)

We Do (But Friends Don't)

my friend... i love your writing so much!! the new chapter if take a shot in the dark is just wonderful, can't wait to reread and leave my comment hehe. better than neil (along with being such a surprise!!) had so much love and care put into it, each section bouncing off of one another was just genius and reading it made me feel so giddy. james and kaelyn are like handmade to be perfect for each other and that story did so well of highlighting that. and we do (but friends don't) !! don't even have words. i love kaelyn and james so much and this fic makes it so clear how they care for each other and want to be cautious of that while still having fun together :) so much raw trust and honesty on display, it's just an incredible (and spicy!) read :) <3

• assorted works of @ceruleanmusings:

• .3

.4

.5

Mason - Band Dynamics

Big Time Confession

.6

.7

Big Time Double Date

desolation pt 1

desolation pt 2

endearment

omg i don't even have words for this incredible selection of works from this month. all of the mickames blurbs were so adorable, confession literally brought me to tears, double date was just hilarious, and endearment made me smile!!! i love how those all balanced out with the emotion and power tucked into both parts of desolation; the switch up really shows how hard relationships can be, even if they seem easy!, and how two people try and get past even the toughest of times together. loved the openness of difficult conversation and how james and mickey managed that together. it felt so true to real life and literally had my stomach wrenching at points. i was so worried for them, and i'm so happy they're working it out! <3 and i always love reading more about the mason band! i love them!! :))

• assorted works of @selangkir

• the girl time rush au

• jucy (no, not that one) story

ohhh my god again and again and again i read girl time rush. literally like twice a month but this month especially i wanted to highlight it bc it served as inspiration for my own little story hehe <3 stories from the perspective of james just kill me i love him so much and i feel like all three parts of girl time rush encapsulate that perfectly. from dealing with a job he didn't really want, to working behind the scenes, to a tumultuous situationship(? kind of. i don't really know what that word means but it feels appropriate) with dak zevon. god every time i read it i love it even more. and the jucy story... such a wonderful switch up of the real story and how it would affect the characters if things went differently! it was so cute, i loved it so much. can't wait to add it to my reread list <3333

• @cant-get-enough-btr-forever 's story Big Time Battle of the Bands

ahh!! i loved this story so much; the only bad thing was having to wait for the chapters to upload and not getting to read it all at once! i know i said this over and over but it truly read like a big time rush episode - you did such a wonderful job of taking the wackiness from the real show and molding it into something if your own. the battle of the bands was such a fun idea and i loved all of the girls and how they mirrored btr! jessica my beloved... it had it all: action, romance, comedy, i couldn't ask for more!!!!

• assorted works of @raging-violets:

• Around the World and Back

such a wonderful story (inspired by a wonderful song!) that put forth the trouble with touring, what happens when it comes to an end, and the toughness of a goodbye. kendall and riley have such a wonderful dynamic that was put on full display with this one! their promise to keep talking when they can (because talking is what they do best!!) was so adorable and i love that they managed to get through their tough time together :)

i believe that's everything but if i missed something IM SO SORRY!

<3333

[pinbones]

Free Grump crochet pattern!

Ravelry link

Pattern is also under the cut, but there are fewer photos due to Tumblr limits.

My grumpus base pattern is finally done! It's up on Ravelry as a free download in the link above. This pattern was actually fun to create, so I might make more in future.

Included:

- the base Grump (unchanged, it will create the basic Filbo Fiddlepie body type)

- a few different tooth patterns and advice for your own dental config

- extra details: 2 sizes of horns and a fluffy tail

- lil strabby (can change colour for white strabby, razzby, or black razzby)

With a few edits (such as torso and limb length), this pattern can create many different sizes and shapes of Grumpus.

If anyone makes one using this pattern, I'd love to see it!

PATTERN BELOW:

Note: Your DK yarn can be switched out for larger or smaller yarn, and this will change the size of the resulting Grumpus. Make sure to use a slightly smaller hook than the yarn label recommends for the best amigurumi gauge. I used DK and a 3.5mm hook.

Note: This contains instructions of how to make level-jawed Grumpuses, suitable for level or underbite Grumps. A little tucking can make a small overbite possible, but if your Grumpus has a significant overbite, their face would require a different shape.

Note: This pattern will create a Grump with a basic Filbo Fiddlepie body type. See the 'optional' section at the bottom for edits. If you want a drastically altered Grump, this is possible to make with a few edits, but I recommend practicing by making a basic one first following the instructions before you consider large changes in order to reduce errors.

You will need to know:

- how to make single crochets and slip stitches in the round

- how to increase and decrease

- how to attach parts

- how to add simple embroidery (optional)

Some parts are fiddly. This is not a pattern for absolute beginners, but should be possible for most crocheters.

You will need DK yarn in the following:

- in your chosen fur colour (less than one ball)

- in dark grey or another inner mouth colour (way less than one ball)

- in white (way less than one ball)

- in black (small amount)

- in your chosen nose colour (small amount)

Optional yarn:

- chosen claw colour, probably same as nose (small amount)

- chosen horn colour, probably same as nose (way less than one ball)

- red for the Strabby (small amount)

- green for the Strabby (small amount)

You will also need:

A 3.5mm hook

Stuffing/polyfill (I draw from a pillow that ripped)

Scissors

A darning needle

If you have them, pins help a lot

MOUTH DISC (dark grey, black, or another inner mouth colour)

1. Put 8sc into a magic ring (or chain 2 and put 8sc into the second chain from the hook) [8 stitches]

2. 1inc x8 [16]

3. (1sc, 1inc) x8 [24]

4. (2sc, 1inc) x8 [32]

5. (3sc, 1inc) x8 [40]. Finish off, you don't need a long tail because it will be tucked inside. Fold in half with the last stitch at one edge and put aside for later.

(Note: The wrong side of the piece should face inside the Grump, so it should be the outside of the angle, but it doesn't really matter.)

BODY (your chosen fur colour)

1. Put 6sc into a magic ring (or chain 2 and put 6sc into the second chain from the hook) [6 stitches]

2. 1inc x6 [12]

3. (1sc, 1inc) x6 [18]

4. (2sc, 1inc) x6 [24]

5. (3sc, 1inc) x6 [30]

6. (4sc, 1inc) x6 [36]

7. (5sc, 1inc) x6 [42]

8-14. Sc around (7 rounds) [42]

15. Put your hook through the next stitch of the body and up into the final stitch of the mouth piece. Slip stitch (not too tightly) across for a total of 20 stitches. Now half of the mouth disc should be attached to the body. Leaving half of the mouth disc unworked, sc around the remaining 22 body stitches. [42]

16. Sc across only the remaining 20 mouth stitches. Rejoin on the body and sc across the remaining 22 body stitches. The whole mouth should now be inside the Grumpus, though it will look odd at this point. [42]

17. In the back loop only, sc across the next 20 stitches (across the lip). In both loops, sc across the remaining 22 stitches. [42]

18-32. Sc around (15 rounds). [42]

Stuff as you go. Ensure there is stuffing in the head.

33. (5sc, 1dec) x6 [36]

34. (4sc, 1dec) x6 [30]

35. (3sc, 1dec) x6 [24]

36. (2sc, 1dec) x6 [18]

37. (1sc, 1dec) x6 [12]

38. When stuffed, 6dec to finish.

Cut yarn, sew through the 6 outer loops and cinch the hole shut, and hide the yarn end.

ARMS (make 2 in your chosen fur colour)

1. Put 6sc into a magic ring (or chain 2 and put 6sc into the second chain from the hook) [6 stitches]

2. 1inc x6 [12]

3-4. Sc around (2 rounds) [12]

5. (1sc, 1dec) x4 [8]

6-18. Sc around (13 rounds) [8]

Stuff, then flatten the end and sc across both sides of it. Finish off and leave a tail for sewing. Attach the arms flat at the sides, 2 rounds below the mouth level.

LEGS (make 2 in your chosen fur colour)

1. Put 6sc into a magic ring (or chain 2 and put 6sc into the second chain from the hook) [6 stitches]

2. 1inc x6 [12]

3. Sc around [12]

4. 4dec, 4sc [8]

5-18. Sc around (14 rounds) [8]

Slip stitch into the next stitch and finish off. Stuff, then attach just below the hips.

EYES (make 2 in white)

1. 7sc into a magic ring [7]

2. 7inc [14]

Slip stitch and finish off. Attach to the face high and wide, about 4-5 stitches between them. See images.

PUPILS (make 2 in black OR embroider on pupils)

1. 3sc into a magic ring [3]

Slip stitch into the first sc and finish off. Attach to the eyes so that the Grump is looking slightly inwards.

(Optional: You can make eyelids by adding embroidered lines in fur colour over the very top of the eyes.)

ROUNDED NOSE (your chosen nose colour)

(Alternatively, there is an oval nose pattern below.)

1. 6sc into a magic ring [6]

Slip stitch into the first stitch and finish off. Attach.

OVAL NOSE (your chosen nose colour)

Chain 4.

(2sc, 3sc in the end chain), repeat along the other edge of the chain. [8]

Slip stitch and finish off. Attach between and below the eyes.

TEETH (white)

Ok, here's where things really get personalised. Pretty much every Grumpus has their own unique tooth size configuration, and you likely an idea in mind or a reference to work from. Therefore, I'm going to give you several tooth patterns and you can make your own dental configuration.

Canon Grumpuses have 4 teeth on top and 3 below, unless they have missing teeth like Shelda. The outer pairs of teeth often show the greatest size differences but not always.

For my Grump, I've chosen to leave out the outer top teeth for a cleaner look. However many teeth your Grump has is up to you.

TIP: pin your teeth in place and move them around to find the best spacing and configurations before sewing them on.

SMALL TEETH

These will make good tiny teeth. These are typical top middle teeth and the typical bottom middle tooth.

1. 3sc into a magic ring [3]

2. 2sc, leave the last stitch unworked. [3 total]

Finish off. Use the end of the crochet hook to push the centre outwards into a triangle shape.

PLAIN TEETH

These are for those medium-sized unremarkable teeth. (See Filbo's bottom teeth or Wiggle's top middle teeth.)

1. 5sc into a magic ring [5]

2. 5sc [5]

3. (Optional to make them bigger -- 5sc [5])

Finish off.

LARGE WIDE TEETH

These are Fizzlebean style outer bottom teeth.

1. 8sc into a magic ring [8]

2. sc, 1dec, 2sc, 1dec, sc [6]

3. 6sc [6]

Finish off and squeeze to flatten a little.

FANGS/TUSKS

These are Wambus/Chandlo style sharper chompers. Top or bottom outer teeth.

1. 3sc into a magic ring [3]

2. 3sc [3]

3. 1inc, 2sc [4]

4. (Optional to make them bigger -- 1inc, 3sc [5])

Finish off.

Create as many of whatever kind you please and get creative. After the teeth are sewn into their desired places, you've completed the base Grumpus!

Thank Grump!

FURTHER PERSONALISATION

- Look below for extra piece patterns.

- You can add/remove rounds of the body to give your plush a longer or shorter body.

- You can alter the body to flare out at different points by adding increase or decrease rows at the shoulders, hips, belly, wherever.

- The arms typically reach to just below the hips and the legs are typically a similar length, this can be altered by adding/removing sc rounds.

- Using colour changes, try adding splotches or stripes. Or, try variegated yarn.

- If you use acrylic yarn, you can use a wire brush or a stiff plastic hairbrush to brush the fur of the Grump until fluffy. This takes a bit of elbow grease and can cause yarn breakages, so do with caution, and do this to seperate pieces before any sewing or detail work.

- You can use another colour to embroider evenly spaced claws onto the limbs of your Grump. Small lines will do, but 3-wrap French knots can produce good 3D claws.

SIMPLE TAIL (your chosen fur colour)

You don't need to stuff this. Add the tufts to the end before stuffing if you want to stuff it anyways.

1. 6sc into a magic ring [6]

2. (1sc, 1inc) x3 [9]

3. 9sc [9]

4. (1sc, 1dec) x3 [6]

5-17. Sc around (13 rounds) [6]

Finish off with a tail for sewing on. Attach on the lower back/the butt in the desired spot.

Note: add or remove sc rounds to make a longer/shorter tail.

(Optional) To add tufts of fluff to the end, cut a few small bits of yarn (fur colour or another colour) and use your hook to pull it under and out. Pull the ends through the loop and pull tight. You only need a dozen or fewer scraps to do this. Then trim the fluff until it looks as desired.

SHORT HORNS (make 2 in any colour)

1. 3sc into a magic ring [3]

2. 2sc, 1inc [4]

3. 3sc, 1inc [5]

4. 4sc, 1inc [6]

5. 5sc, 1inc [7]

6. 6sc, 1inc [8]

7. 7sc, 1inc [9]

8. 9sc [9]

Slip stitch and finish off. Stuff a little. Position as desired on head.

LONG HORNS (make 2 in any colour)

1. 3sc into a magic ring [3]

2. 2sc, 1inc [4]

3. 3sc, 1inc [5]

4. 4sc, 1inc [6]

5. 5sc, 1inc [7]

6. 7sc [7]

7. 6sc, 1inc [8]

8. 8sc [8]

9. 8sc [8]

10. 7sc, 1inc [9]

11. 9sc [9]

12. 9sc [9]

Slip stitch and finish off. Stuff and position as desired on head.

LIL STRABBY (begin in red, or pink for a Razzby)

1. 4sc into a magic ring [4]

2. (1sc, 1inc) x2 [6]

3. (2sc, 1inc) x2 [8]

4. 8sc [8]

Change colour to green

5. (1dec, picot) x4

Slip stitch and cut the yarn. Embroider two tiny eyes with black and white yarn. Tuck all ends inside.

This can be sewn to the Grump's paws, in its mouth, kept loose, or whatever you please.

Woohoo! Grump done!

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group F Round 4: A Place Further than the Universe vs Megalo Box

#F1: A Place Further than the Universe (Sora yori mo Tooi Basho)

High school girls go to Antarctica

#F4: Megalo Box

Young boxer in futuristic Japan fights in tournament

Details and poll under the cut!

#F1: A Place Further than the Universe (Sora yori mo Tooi Basho)

Summary:

Filled with an overwhelming sense of wonder for the world around her, Mari Tamaki has always dreamt of what lies beyond the reaches of the universe. However, despite harboring such large aspirations on the inside, her fear of the unknown and anxiety over her own possible limitations have always held her back from chasing them. But now, in her second year of high school, Mari is more determined than ever to not let any more of her youth go to waste. Still, her fear continues to prevent her from taking that ambitious step forward—that is, until she has a chance encounter with a girl who has grand dreams of her own.

Spurred by her mother's disappearance, Shirase Kobuchizawa has been working hard to fund her trip to Antarctica. Despite facing doubt and ridicule from virtually everyone, Shirase is determined to embark on this expedition to search for her mother in a place further than the universe itself. Inspired by Shirase's resolve, Mari jumps at the chance to join her. Soon, their efforts attract the attention of the bubbly Hinata Miyake, who is eager to stand out, and Yuzuki Shiraishi, a polite girl from a high class background. Together, they set sail toward the frozen south.

Sora yori mo Tooi Basho follows the captivating journey of four spirited girls, all in search of something great.

Propaganda 1:

This show literally changed my life I’m not even kidding. It’s messages about living your life to the fullest and finding, creating, and maintaining important friendships in your life literally got me to pick myself up and actually start living my life. All of its main characters are all incredibly memorable, and they all bounce off of each other very well. It’s fun and cute as hell, but also a really powerful story about dealing with grief and moving on. The final three episodes of the show are an emotional gut-punch, but they leave you with a sense of bittersweet fulfillment and a drive to get out in the world and have your own adventure.

Propaganda 2:

Let’s start with the fact that this is Madhouse doing a (relatively) grounded coming of age story about high school girls - the show looks gorgeous, of course. The music’s solid as well. (I still regularly listen to the ending.) But what really shines is the writing and characterization.

The pacing on this is perfect. For a show that spends half its runtime getting to Antarctica, you never feel like the time should be allotted differently or that you’re missing out on hijinks. Episode 12 is a particular standout, with tension building up until it explodes, and then goes still for the true emotional climax of the show. The four main girls all feel like believable teens, and seeing their relationship develop over the course of the series and watching them come into their own is well-done. The way it handles Shirase and her emotions, and how this complicates her relationships with them all is a particular standout. This may not be eligible in that it’s one of those anime people who watch A LOT of anime will recommend highly—it was on Crunchyroll and IGN’s best anime of the 2010s lists and on several “best of” lists for 2018. But it never quite took off the way it truly deserves, so I’m submitting it. It’s getting an English dub soon, though, and I really hope that gives it a resurgence of popularity. The girls are alright.

(Admin: Propaganda has been edited slightly to remove spoilers)

Trigger Warnings: Death via freezing

#F4: Megalo Box

Summary:

Follows the story of a young man that only goes by his ring name “Junk Dog”, set in the late 21st century. People live in a large metropolis, those without citizenship forced in slums called the Restricted Area. Junk Dog fights in fixed matches in the Restricted Area in a sport called Megalo Box, which is boxing augmented by metal exoskeletons.

One day, Junk Dog almost crashes into the CEO of the Shirato Company on his motorcycle, and he tries to pick a fight with her guard, Yuri. Yuri ends up fighting Junk Dog in a match, beating him and challenging him to fight him in a tournament called Megalonia. Forging an ID and taking the name Joe with help from his coach, the young fighter only has 3 months to win enough matches to rank high enough to get into the tournament and face Yuri. Not just for his pride, but also because of threats from the mafia, who wants money from Joe and his coach that they don’t have.

Propaganda:

Megalo Box is a series that got some recognition during the Crunchyroll Awards. It even aired on Adult swim’s late night anime block, even gaining a second season. But it seems like after the initial season, all interest of the show evaporated. It’s rarely talked about in fandom spaces or in anime video essays.

Which is a shame! It's a solid watch. The music is stellar. The characters are enjoyable, even if the plot of the main character Joe being a massive underdog that claws his way through a boxing tournament is a little predictable. But to be fair, this show was created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the boxing manga Ashita no Joe.

Still, the anime keeps things fresh. It has added political commentary about class and race dynamics. Joe is brown-skinned, looks mixed, and is an undocumented citizen in the city he lives in. He has to fight in illegal fixed Megalo Box matches in the slums in order to make ends meet. Even that provides little protection, as he and his coach Ganbu get threatened by the mob for more money that they can’t produce. It also touches upon how children are abandoned and abused by the system with Sachio.

Joe is the ultimate underdog story. He ends up going by “Gearless Joe” because he fights his matches without wearing any Gear—aka the metal exoskeletons use in Megalo Box. He’s essentially boxing old-school style against others an unfair advantage with tools that augment their punches and movements. Joe did this in the first place because he was too poor to buy a new Gear, his old one falling apart, so he felt he was better off training and using his natural body in matches.

The second season also explores Joe's struggles with depression and drug addiction as he trains another Megalo Boxer, which is interesting and adds another layer to him.

Plus, the show also has racial diversity in the side characters. The English dub cast voice actors of the same ethnicities for Pepe, Chief, and Maria. Also, Kaiji Tang voices Joe, the lead.

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore.

The anime is about boxing, so characters get beaten up quite a bit (even in fantastical ways). However, there’s also some other violence threats (like Joe’s coach Nanbu getting his eye cut and threatened to earn money by the mafia). Also, a kid named Sachio joins the group to help Joe and gets beaten by thugs and threatened a few times through the series.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form with your revisions, and I’ll consider adapting those changes.

New: Starting round 5, screenshots will be included in the poll post. You can submit screenshots through the form linked above, or through here, via ask or dm.

Guidelines in submitting screenshots:

No NSFW or spoilery images.

Pick some good images please. Don’t send any blurry or pixelated ones.

You may send up to 9 screenshots, but not all may be used.

[toyota-supra]

Hi Rosie! Tell us about a videogame you wish was more well-known

Hi WinWin ^^ I've talked about it here before but I think a lot about Robot Alchemic Drive (RAD) for the PlayStation 2... I didn't play a lot of it because it was pretty difficult but basically it's this game where you play as a teenager heir of a giant robot defense company and you need to control the robot from outside to defeat aliens

so instead of a regular mecha game, you have to position yourself somewhere both safe for you and somewhere where you can see your robot well enough to command it, and then you have to use the robot by moving the arms and legs and weapons independently, much like you would with an actual remote controller instead of being inside a cockpit.

it's really fun in concept and I adore its idea so much that I really hope I'll play it more. but I never see anyone talk about it! even in the realm of mecha games, the PS2 already has plenty of stuff like the Armored Core 3 trilogy, Front Mission 4 and 5, and even Steambot Chronicles that gets more attention (though this is probably deserved)

Robot Alchemic Drive is just one of those games that I recommend for everyone that is able to play it, just on the basis of "even if you wouldn't like this, you deserve to find out how it feels in your hands at least once" which is a sentiment I don't see expressed a lot in video game discussion (I also say this a lot about Ridge Racer Type 4 to be fair)

[hello-there-world]

thought about Vanessa/Vanny in These Gilded Haunted Halls. specifically her family and thus her connection to the plot.

so. to start out: her father...and her father's twin sibling.

Wallace "Wally" Warren was the first nightguard at the '87 Freddy's Location when it opened during the summer. they were the (somewhat) adoptive kid of Shawn Ralph Scottson, and had gotten the job as the nightguard after he recommended it to them.

of course...there's a few other things about them:

they lied about their age when getting the nightguard position, stating they were 18, when they were 15. Ralph didn't even know they had done that.

the entire reason they were Ralph's (somewhat) adopted child was because they were kicked out by their bio parents for, what i can best describe as, Being Queer In The 80s reasons.

the Night 1 Fnaf 2 phone call was recorded earlier than the others, and was actually the phone call recorded for Wally.

Wally is the soul inside of Mangle, and one of the victims of The '87 Massacre.

so...If I Had A Nickel For Every Time William Intended To Kill Four Children, But Ended Up Killing A Fifth Kid, Who Was A Teenager, Because The Opportunity Presented Itself, I'd Have Two Nickels. Which Isn't A Lot, But It's Weird That It Happened Twice.

the long story short was that William wildly miscalculated the time. he forgot that Wally would be coming in for their shift that night. and they walked into a bloodbath.

and William wasn't going to leave a witness.

Ralph was devastated, understandably, when he came in the next morning. he effectively lost a child.

and, of course, so was Bill, their twin brother.

Bill is Vanny's dad. he never really got over Wally's death. held a grudge against Fazbear Entertainment 'til the day he died. he always felt they never did enough.

so...there's all that! Vanny is the niece of one of William's victims.

and a fun fact! had Wally lived, Bill probably would've sent Vanessa to live with them when she was little (she has a few half-siblings, but they lived with their moms. Bill had been given Vanny soon after she was born, and he never really wanted to deal with her. he also was NOT a good father).

Whoo! Poor everyone. Fuck Bill, though. Assuming he's anything like his game counterpart, fuck the manipulative bastard.

But that's interesting for sure...

[ladyloveandjustice]

Winter 2023 Anime Overview: Two More Anime!

I already did a massive review of The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, check it out here! Highly rec'd show.

So here are the reviews of the other two shows I watched last season! (I also watched BOFURI season 2 but it's experiencing delays because of COVID and isn't finished yet. Also, I'm not caught up. Basically it's a fun relaxing show, though). Now onto the reviews!

Ippon Again!

Ippon Again! follows Michi, who plans to quit judo after middle school, but then the very girl she lost against in her last tournament gets her back in the game! From there, a scrappy high school girls judo team goes for the gold!

 It always feels like a miracle when we actually get a sports anime focused on girls that takes them seriously as athletes and doesn’t sexualize them to hell and back, and Ippon Again is one of those miracles. It’s an all around really solid sports anime with lovable characters. It does an especially good job fleshing out the rival team members just as much as our protagonists and making you really root for both of them- and the amount of attention paid to the opponents can make the matches feel genuinely unpredictable.

The show doesn’t really explain a lot of the judo terms, but they’re easy enough to pick up from context. It’s clear the show doesn’t have all the resources in the world from its reliance on freeze frames, but it has smart directing that knows how to cut corners to keep it looking good, and they do whip out some nice looking fluid animation for big moments like the fight in episode four and the fights in the final episodes. I did find the characters a bit hard to distinguish in the early going due to the show’s muted palette and character designs, but I recognized them all eventually.

Like most sports anime, it’s really gay but all the gayness is relegated to subtext (Michi likes to constantly mention she wants to get a boyfriend to the point where it feels almost like a parody, but it’s pointed out she’s never going to look for one because she cares about judo more). I do like the handsome lady that acts as team coach. Another thing I really appreciate is that there are heavier characters on the opposing teams at times, but no disparaging comments are made about their weight- in fact, it’s noted as an advantage.

Overall, it’s a good series that I’d recommend to any sports anime fan, especially ones hungry for sports anime that respects its female characters and pays attention to all the competitors!

Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte

Kobayashi is a huge fan of the villainess character in an otome game, Liesalotte. The villainess is in love with the prince, but she’s such a tsundere that her feelings never get across to him! (When it comes to love, she lies a lot. Do you get it.). Tragically, Lieselotte’s inability to communicate her feelings leads her to die in almost every ending of the game. Kobayashi decides to sit down with her friend, Endo, and they do some live commentary on the game as they play it. Then they discover that the prince inside the game can actually hear their commentary! These game fans are determined to use this new found power to give their fave villainess the happy ending she deserves, and so they slowly start to change the plot of the game…

This is a clever twist on the villainess isekai genre and it’s pretty fun at times! (The prince's confusion over "tsun de rais" is great).

However, the production is noticeably struggling. I read a chunk of the manga alongside this out of curiosity, and the contrast between the two made this especially apparent. The animation is barely hanging in there and is much less expressive than the manga’s art, and the story suffers from skipping over a lot of moments that flesh out the characters in the manga in order to fit into the twelve episode runtime. Unlike with Magirevo, almost everything the anime omits is pretty necessary to help the characters feel fully rounded- for instance, one character realistically get angry that a parent lied to her in the manga, but the anime has to cut that for time, so she just seems to roll with it and feels less like a person with reasonable emotions as a result. The manga's story is just much better paced than the anime, and it looks really good and gets both the comedy and badass moments across a lot better.

There’s also a few sexist, heteronormative or just plain offputting moments/lines and moments in the anime aren’t in the manga (and it’s not just a matter of translation, because the art reflects it in one case).

All that said, the anime does complete the story while the manga is still ongoing. So if you want to know the end (and don't read light novels, since if you can't tell from the title, it is a light novel adaptation!), the anime's still a decent option.

As for the story itself, it’s pretty tropey but cute. I wish the commentary angle was implemented more, and I feel the show could have benefited from being willing to delve into the experience of fandom and the contrast between the two worlds a little more too. It’s worth noting that in-story games’ original love interests for the teenaged "heroine character" include a teacher and a pre-teen kid, though in the storyline of the actual show they both get with age-appropriate love interests.

 I was also pretty annoyed that a very combat-capable female character who is  initially put off by her love interests constant declarations he’ll protect her suddenly (and conveniently!) reveals that she hated physical fighting all along and wants him to be stronger and bleh. She’s given an in-story reason for this, but it feels very contrived to place her in an  “appropriate” feminine role. But then she still physically fights in the finale anyway?? (and so does Liesalotte) (and there’s a minor girl character that explicitly wants to be a knight who physically protects her fragile mage boyfriend even if the anime skips over most of that plotline) so…I guess that mollifies things a bit?? But why did it need to be there?

(It’s even weirder in the manga btw, because there’s a moment the anime skips over where she actually tells him to stop saying he’ll protect her and that they should protect each other and he agrees, which was a very sweet and good resolution! But then they go and undo it!)

All my caveats aside, the ending of the anime was just so completely ridiculous  and full of fannish wish fulfillment I couldn’t help but be endeared. You have an absolutely bizarre reinterpretation of Adam and Eve, a flip on the premise that brings everyone together in a fun way, a scenery chewing villain who’s dealt with in an unintentionally funny way, and it’s just a feast of pure cheese.

If you want to watch something goofy and earnest and fun and don’t mind a clunky production and slightly rushed story , you could do a lot worse than this show. And hey, if the anime’s too threadbare for you, the manga’s getting published in English and it has great art! So you can always give that a look.

[ihearasong]

Ok so i am planning on trying out the free trial of final Fantasy 14 in 2 months and i was wondering. Since you're really good at it may i have some tips? Some do's and don'ts?...also how 2 romance Urianger (And nooo! This is definetly NOT an excuse to hear you talk about Final Fantasy what are you talking about!)

Aaa, I'm glad you're thinking about trying out the free trial! The game is lots of fun, and the free trial includes the Stormblood expansion now! In two years...it will include Shadowbringers, one of the best expansions... e v e

Anyway, here's some advice:

Make sure to choose the right server. While world visit and data center travel are now a thing so you can play with friends who are on different servers and datacenters (though this is limited to logical datacenter [NA vs EU vs JP vs OC]), it's more fun and less stressful to be on the same server as your friends, and you can also be in the same free company (guild) together as long as you're on the same server, too! My advice if you don't know anyone playing the game that you want to play with is to choose a low population server (you can check server population on sites like this). You can see that some worlds are listed as "congested." Avoid those, because if a friend ever decides to join you, they're going to have a hell of a time getting onto the same server as you due to character creation and transfer services being disabled for congested worlds.

---

While FFXIV is an MMO, you can play completely solo if you wish thanks to the Trust system implemented in Shadowbringers. That being said, I still recommend choosing to run dungeons with other players, because they can help explain mechanics, give helpful tips on how to play your job, and you can even make friends! People in FF are generally friendly and forgiving if you make mistakes. That said, if you choose to play with people, you need to keep in mind DUNGEON ETIQUETTE.

If you're the tank (blue class icon), it's your job to turn on your tank stance, go first, grab enemies, keep them off your teammates, turn bosses away from your teammates, and interrupt certain enemy abilities that cause their castbar to flash red.

If you're the healer (green class icon), it's your job to stay behind the tank, DO NOT GRAB ENEMIES BEFORE THE TANK, keep the tank healed when they're fighting enemies since they should be taking most of the damage, heal yourself and the rest of your party when damage is taken, and try to dps in between healing.

If you're a DPS, your job is to stay behind the tank, DO NOT GRAB ENEMIES BEFORE THE TANK, attack the same enemy that the tank is attacking (when there are 2 enemies), use your AoE (area of effect/multitarget) abilities on 3+ enemies, and focus your attacks on enemies that need to be taken down first (helpful parties will mark a giant 1 over the head of enemies that need to die quickly).

Things that all three roles need to do are keep mindful of fight mechanics, try to take as little damage as possible, and in general just be polite.

---

When you're start the game, you'll be told to go to the same guild as whatever class you chose (Lancer, Archer, Pugilist, etc). Though the story doesn't require you to do anything aside from talk to the guild receptionist briefly, I STRONGLY recommend speaking to them a second time to actually join the guild, because many of your best abilities are locked behind guild quests.

Your guild will also assign you a Hunting Log, which marks enemies in the wild as hunting targets. When you kill however many it requests, you get a chunk of EXP, so Hunting Logs are very useful for gaining levels in the beginning of the game.

---

When you reach level 15 and unlock your first dungeon, there's a building to the right of the dungeon that an NPC recommends you check out. Inside that building you'll meet The Smith, who offers lessons on how proper fight and party etiquette in a dungeon. Even if you come from another MMO, know all there is to know about dungeon etiquette, or anything like that, I STRONGLY recommend you do these lessons regardless of any reasons. The reason for this is because completing these lessons not only gives you gear that's very good for its level, but at the end it also gives you a 30% exp boost ring.

---

Make sure to click on and attune to every single aetheryte/miniature aetheryte you see in a zone or a town. Attuning to large aetherytes give you the ability to teleport to them from anywhere, which not only comes in handy, but if you leave a zone without attuning and then the story wants you to go all the way back, you gotta walk, m'dude. Miniature aetherytes within towns allow you to click on them and teleport throughout the town's aethernet to other mini aetherytes (or the large one at the town center.) Attuning to every single mini aetheryte in a town unlocks the ability to teleport straight to the gates of the town and into whatever neighboring zone you need.

---

That's all I can think of at the moment (I have a migraine again, sorry), but I strongly recommend playing with a friend who already knows the game so that you can have real time help when you need it.

[brionysea]

Hi :) Who are your top 5 st characters?

i've never been so excited about the opportunity to create a numbered list in my life

i feel the need to clarify some things before i answer, the first of which is that i'm really bad at having favourite anythings. if you put a dog in front of me, i'll go "oh my god, dogs are my favourite!" if you put a cat in front of me, i'll go "oh my god, cats are my favourite!" if you put a bunny in front of me, i'll go "oh my god, bunnies-!"

you get the picture. animals, shows, films, music... favourites generally just aren't a thing for me. i have to lie whenever anyone asks me what my favourite colour is because i just don't have one

HOWEVER. there is ONE character in stranger things that i would actually class as my "favourite" the way other people mean it. so after #1, this is really gonna be more of a "characters i like" list than a "favourite characters" list (because i really wanna make a list right now), and there's not really anything i can do about that. i'm gonna try to pick the characters i like the most, though, which is about as close as we can get. and the order is gonna be more of the order they pop into my head than a scale of preference

am i being overly pedantic about this? probably

now, onto the list!

#1 mike wheeler

shocking, i know

funny story about this: when i first started acting insane about this character on the internet it wasn't because i liked him more than the others or anything, it was because i realised he was just like... one of the most cognitively and tactically competent characters on the show, which i found really intriguing. and then i realised he had a lot of potential and wanted to see where they were going with it. this is still a lot of what i think about when it comes to mike, because i just find the possibilities so interesting, but i've definitely developed an emotional attachment to him too

like, i get angry on his behalf when other characters start personally attacking him for things that aren't even his fault or refuse to grant him the same sympathy that everyone else gets. that doesn't happen to me a lot. getting angry when people wrong me is how i personally define self love, so like. yeah. i like mike. a lot. i want him to stop being depressed so bad and his arc is so complex and so fascinating and this blog is basically dedicated to figuring out what the hell is going on inside his head at this point

#2 joyce byers

this woman has never been wrong about anything in her life. she's so smart, so charming, so funny. she'd go to hell and back for her family. her flat arc of initially trusting her instincts, briefly doubting her own judgement for like one episode (fuck you, will's dad), and then reverting right back to the state that she's pretty much stayed in ever since, is so satisfying to watch

#3 robin buckley

we have to open on another storytime here: i cannot stand season 3. like, yeah, the overtly annoying heteronormativity (and amatonormativity but nobody talks about that part) and sexism is the point, but my god i cannot sit through it on a rewatch. and i know that because last time i tried watching the show all the way through, i ended up skipping most of this one for the sake of my sanity

EXCEPT for the scenes robin was in

that's truly a glowing recommendation from me. the fact that she single-handedly kept me from just turning off my most loathed season says it all

she's a lot of fun in season 4 too, although her characterisation kind of changes out of nowhere? idk if there's an actual reason for that, but i like to headcanon that it's because she finally has someone she can be herself around (steve), which gave her some level of security to loosen up and stop being so guarded and snippy all the time

she's entertaining, she's smart (which is apparently a big thing for me), she's likable and incredibly easy to root for, she inexplicably survived the "relatable new character who's killed off in the same season they're introduced" curse, and she hasn't been around long enough to get stale, even with the sudden personality shift that a lot of characters have been subject to at one point or another cough season 3 hopper cough

#4 max mayfield

i don't really know what to say for this one. i just like max. she's consistently good in every season she appears, when she's frustrating it's in an intentional, understandable way that makes sense for her character without making her unlikable, her individual relationships with the party are all so fun and engaging to watch, and she's the centrepiece of possibly the best scene in the show (which made me cry)

#5 steve harrington

honestly, this one's self explanatory. we all love steve. you don't need me to tell you why we love steve

i have a lot of issues with the way he's written in canon, like how obstinate they're being that he's worthless without a love interest instead of just leaning into the much more interesting direction of his friendships with robin and the kids, but the fact that i'm willing to fight them over custody of his storylines just goes to show how well they got me to care in the first place

anyway. this is the enjoying things post, so i'm gonna stop complaining now

he completely won over an audience that mostly hated him after season 1 like it was the easiest thing in the world, which is honestly just really impressive. he's so much fun to watch, he's got a cool spiked bat, his best friends are a 15 year old and a lesbian he used to have a crush on, he's working cringefail job after cringefail job because he has no idea what to do with his life (relatable). what more could you ask for?

thanks so much for the ask, anon! hopefully you don't mind that i answered it in essay format, apparently i just had a lot to say :)

[evilisk]

Animated Things I Watched In 2022, Part 2

I (try to) describe the animated shows I watched in a sentence, but this time for stuff I watched in late 2022

= = =

Inside Job Season 2 (2022)

This season did not go in the direction I thought it was heading, I expected Reagan’s relationship to go in a completely different direction due to the obvious contrast between Reagan’s own parents. What we got was much more bittersweet...

Favorite Episode: “Brettwork”

Hilda Season 1 and 2 (2018 - 2020)

Dunno what else to say than “it’s good” and “watch if you haven’t already”

Favorite Episode: “The Deerfox”

Extra Note: I may have teared up (just a little) because of the above episode

Harley Quinn Season 3 (2022)

Same comment for this show, except I also have to say “thank god this series has survived the purge over at Warner-Discovery”

Favorite Episode: “There’s No Ivy In Team”

The Owl House Season 2 (2022)

Same comment for this show AGAIN, except I have to say “of course Disney execs are coming into ruin a good thing yet again”

Favorite Episode: “King’s Tide”

X-Men (1992-1997)

The artstyle has aged like milk and I wouldn’t call the show “good for its time” when Gargoyles and Batman: The Animated Series are from the same period... but I admit, the show has some high highs, even if it also has some very low lows, and generally isn’t consistent as the those other two shows

Favorite Episode: “Beauty & the Beast”

Extra Note: If voice actor for Fabian Cortez wasn’t so awful, I probably would have put the “Sanctuary” 2-parter as my favorite one in the series.

Niko and the Sword of Light Season 1 (2017)

This show is perfectly fine, it has a good voice cast and a classic setup, I just wasn’t the target audience for this show

Favorite Episode: “From the Sea of Suffering to the Faraway Shore”

Ultimate Spider-Man Season 1 (2012)

Maybe it gets better in the later seasons, but the first season is pretty rough.

The skits, which I didn’t mind, get annoying when they start undermining the serious episodes. You can also tell the writers didn’t want to give Spider-Man a team at all, because they barely explore Spider-Man’s teammates and it feels like they're always sidelined when the main plot is actually happening.

Favorite Episode: “Freaky” Least Favorite Episode: “Awesome”

Extra Note: Awesome is such a bad episode. Mr. “Great Responsibility” flunks on his science fair project and decides to steal technology from SHIELD to pass off as his project, EVEN THOUGH his principle is literally works for SHIELD and would probably notice stolen SHIELD tech if he saw it

Dead End: Paranormal Park Season 1 and 2 (2022)

It’s hard to call this show a “must watch” when I think all the legitimately good episodes are in the back-half of Season 2 and it’s not clear if there’ll even be a Season 3. I recommend checking out the first few episodes for yourself and seeing if the story and characters vibe with you

Favorite Episode: “My Super Sweet 1600″

Dogs in Space Season 1 and 2 (2021 - 2022)

It’s hard to describe what I don’t like about this show... it’s like this. The cast is very fun and funny in low stakes episodes. But when there are actual stakes, the cast (especially the main character, who is literally named “Garbage”) becomes very frustrating to watch. And the problem is that the writers keep trying to do story heavy episodes instead of sticking to their lane (sorry if this sounds mean but I really preferred the self-contained stuff over the main plot).

I don’t want to completely disregard this show: it’s mostly unknown and it’s not actively terrible. I actually had a lot of fun with Season 1 but I wouldn’t bother with Season 2 since it writes off the best character (Kira) and has a very unsatisfying conclusion.

Favorite Episode: “Paws & Rewind”

I really wish the writing for this show was as good as its animation

[wanou-dorm]

RSA OC - Marcus Akihoshi 

Note- I apologized for the use of AI Art , but I thought the Pictures looked cool  and Accurate to how I imagine him 

And are Placeholder for when I actually Draw it but I really need to take time to Do stuff with the. Ones I have and Finish up stuff

@/fumikomiyasaki- Characters mentioned

@nyxs-sins- Template

School: Royal Sword Academy 

Genmu( Touhou based Dorm)

Full Name: Marcus Akihoshi

Twisted from - Marisa Kirisame from Touhou

Grade/Class:2-A

Birthday: July 7 

Age:18

Height: 180 cm/ 5’10

Dominant Hand: Right

Homeland: The Shaftland/Onigashima 

Club: unknown 

Best Subject: Magic Objects and History 

Hobbies: Science, Potion making, Magic  , Anime , Stealing form Night Ravens Library , Broom Riding

Pet Peeves:  people taking his hat or Mini Hakkero , People Making fun of him , Bringing up how Smart he Actually is

Favorite Food: … Mushrooms , Spicy Food

Least Favorite Food:  Cold Food

Talent:potion making , Science Experiment , Intelligence , borrowing (Stealing) Books from NRC’s library , 

Unique Magic -  Magic Absorber -

 Marcus can absorb the Magic of Anyone if Hit by a Spell basically. Nullifying it , it’s usally Absorbed inside The Mini Hakkero  he Carries around to avoid Accumulating  blot inside himself. Which can he can   use  For His Ultimate Move the Master Spark 

———

Character Summary (Backstory)

Vice Dorm leader of Genmu and Shus childhood Friend , Marcus is the only boy with an Actaul Family though they Moved to Onigashima Due to money trouble and Started a Magic Items Shop .

Marcus is actually a pretty average Magician , His Recommendation to RSA due his Immense knowledge on magic Items and Potion .

Unlike Reiji , Marcus is more Rowdy , Gutsy and Rambunctious   When Leads a lot of NRC and Even HSA students To Look down  on his Actual Intelligence which Catches Many off guard when Marcus Says Stuff that actually Right , it’s quite obvious that Marcus Humbles himself.  

 According to Hiei  the most Hard working person in ,town  despite his Tendencies to borrow (Steal) stuff from NRC’s Library and Tell Blatant Lies (Though  he doesn’t put any Effort deceiving people with them )  he’s been seen  helping the Residents  of Sage Island and   Students of HSA and NRC .

He Generally Friendly and chill dude with Danger Streak 

Trivia 

He Specializes In Star and Heat  based Magic

His Cosmic Magic looks Like Stars

He has a bad Hoarding Habit , due his like for Collecting thing

Hoshi Described him to Flynn as “ Greg if  he was actually smart. “ 

Marcus is said like to flirt , though he. Dosent really think it’s Flirting when you Just Give Girl a Flower  you found off the Ground. People  Really make him out to be a Man getting guys and Girl  like Wildfire - This in Reference to how much People Ship Marisa. In the Touhou Fandom 

Hiei Remarks that Marcus can fault in your Fighting Style  and Use it against you .. This also how he Got the Reputation as A flirt and tease 

Marcus dose not like Barry , What do ya mean ya don’t like Reiji. 

 Marcus is very Resistant to Poison due to Secret train

Despite looking like a Beanpole he is Stronger that he appears , He Was seen Carry two Whole Compture the Montior and The Computer it’s self. These were rather old computers by the  way .

He’s Seen with Jade and Kurama Foraging for Mushrooms  for Potion(Which are very Dangerous )

Such a good Broom Rider it Make  Vargas Cry

Hes been Trying to Figures  the Identity of these Phantom thieves. He keeps hearing about 

Shu says Marcus ‘s Magic is Very Flashy and Space inspired 

Don’t touch the Hat

Voice Claim

Scaramouche Scaramouche will you do Fandango !

Theme Song 

Magus Night

Love Colored Master Spark

[multi-lefaiye]

hi hi multi! I was wondering if I could get a ramble about some of your favourite dating sims? the stream the other day was v fun ^-^

oh hi hi hello logan!!! :D yeah sure!!! i love talking about dating sims ASDFJKL; i just think they're neat <3

so i think i'll talk about like. a few dating sims i love, some things i like about them, and then my favorite route(s).

fair warning, some of these games have some triggering content! i'll try not to go into detail, and i probably won't go into specifics, but still! fair warning.

1 - star days

okay so the one i was playing on stream was called star days, made by the artist pacthesis! she doesn't make games anymore and unfortunately has taken her games off the internet, but i have this one and my other favorite of hers saved <3

star days is about a group of people from different universes coming together to journey to a mythical place called The Constellations, with the intent of resurrecting people they've loved and lost.

it's less about the romance and more about the grief counseling. like the dating is fun but everyone's MOVING ON!!!

all the characters (except cil) are endearing to me in their own ways, but my favorite endings:

platonic ending - the main characters all find reasons to live and move on and remain best friends, going on adventures together and exploring other universes and beyond.

quoto - quoto is just the perfect man- idk i just think he's super sweet?? like the themes around his storyline are a lot about the importance (or lack thereof) in appearances and i think that's just neat.

vanni - MOVING ON AFTER A TRAGEDY AND FINDING REASONS TO LIVE AFTER LOSING IT ALL... MWAH MWAH.

--

2 - number days

so this is another pacthesis game! actually the last one she completed in full before leaving the internet for a while.

ANYWAY the premise around this one is that a group of people who visit a new amusement park that opens one day and end up mysteriously trapped inside, with no one else around. they each receive mysterious text messages from an unknown number saying this: "your time here will run out when your number reaches zero." and from that moment on, their phones display a number between 0 and 100.

it's SUCH an interesting game to me with really cool storylines imo!!! like it's definitely aged a little poorly, but i think it's a fascinating narrative. even romance aside, i love the characters and i genuinely can't pick a favorite.

this is also the other pacthesis game i have archived so we can play this on stream as well :3c

in terms of favorite routes.... i think my favorite one is arlo's route. it makes me so so sad and it's so so sweet and it really hammers homes these themes of like... loneliness and self love and acceptance. it's good shit. also arlo's just a cutie, even if he's kind of a weirdo <3

the platonic ending here is also a delight!!! though i don't remember all the details about it except that it made me cry the first time i got it <3

--

3 - mystic messenger

ohhh i could say so much about this game. it definitely has a lot of issues, especially in its writing (and especially in its portrayal of mental health and specifically more stigmatized disorders), but god i was fixated on this game for YEARS. i've played it so many times.

mystic messenger is a dating sim that follows real-time, each run taking place over the course of 11 days. the basic premise is that the player ends up joining a secret charity organization called the RFA, and as they work with this group they slowly start to uncover more and more of its secrets.

one thing i love about mysmes is that, like.... to get the full picture, you do have to do every character's route. every character's storyline reveals a little more of the story, to the point that i actually have a recommended order i give people for doing the routes if they play this X3 it also has a ton of different endings to explore!

the only downside is that uh. it's a time commitment. if you don't keep up with the game you can get a *real* nasty ending. and this game also gets dark as FUCK at times, like the player can die and so can most of the love interests-

anyway i love all the characters in this game for the most part, so it's hard to pick a favorite! 707 is a huge comfort character for me, though, and his route means so much to me. it really hits home with me personally in so many ways.

even though i always tell people to do his route last ASDFJKL;

--

4 - mechat

ok i just wanna give an honorary mention to mechat b/c that's the one i'm playing right now- fair warning, though, this game is SIGNIFICANTLY more nsfw than the other two here!!!! like. holy fuck. do not check this out if you're a minor or otherwise not interested in spicy content. (though i think the adult content can be turned off in settings.)

mechat is fun because it's like... fictional tinder. you can match with as many characters as you'd like and explore their storylines. not all of them are fun, but they're all interesting imo.

my favorite so far is shion b/c he's a beautiful man with long red hair who has several warrants out for his arrest and takes you on a date to do arson together. what a guy <3

i also love the sheer confidence this game has in never explaining the supernatural elements. like yeah some of these characters are regular ass people. some of them are demons. some are aliens. some are cryptids. deal with it.

another thing that's interesting to me about mechat is that some characters have counterparts with alternate designs and names--the storylines don't change, but you can swap 'em out if you don't like their faces i guess.

--

5 - monster prom series

so i have yet to play these games by myself but i've played all of them with friends and my partner and just??? so fun??? i love it. they're so fun and interesting and delightful. these games have a special place in my heart, both for the sheer silliness and wacky hijinks and the memorable characters! also the queerness all throughout them.

i also do love that in the first game there's a storyline centering around one of the potential love interests being aroace and talking about like. boundaries and consent and becoming really good friends with them rather than dating them or seducing them. i've heard some complaints about how this storyline is handled, but tbh i think it's fun <3

i have a hard time picking favorites in this series, but i love calculester so so much <333 and milo <3333333 and moss mann <3333

--

anyway yeah these are some of my favorite dating sims!! there are some i may be forgetting but ye i love these <3

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group F Round 2: #F1 vs #F2

#F1: High school girls go to Antarctica

#F2: 90s maid girls with guns

Details and poll under the cut!

#F1: A Place Further than the Universe (Sora yori mo Tooi Basho)

Summary:

Filled with an overwhelming sense of wonder for the world around her, Mari Tamaki has always dreamt of what lies beyond the reaches of the universe. However, despite harboring such large aspirations on the inside, her fear of the unknown and anxiety over her own possible limitations have always held her back from chasing them. But now, in her second year of high school, Mari is more determined than ever to not let any more of her youth go to waste. Still, her fear continues to prevent her from taking that ambitious step forward—that is, until she has a chance encounter with a girl who has grand dreams of her own. Spurred by her mother's disappearance, Shirase Kobuchizawa has been working hard to fund her trip to Antarctica. Despite facing doubt and ridicule from virtually everyone, Shirase is determined to embark on this expedition to search for her mother in a place further than the universe itself. Inspired by Shirase's resolve, Mari jumps at the chance to join her. Soon, their efforts attract the attention of the bubbly Hinata Miyake, who is eager to stand out, and Yuzuki Shiraishi, a polite girl from a high class background. Together, they set sail toward the frozen south. Sora yori mo Tooi Basho follows the captivating journey of four spirited girls, all in search of something great.

Propaganda 1:

This show literally changed my life I’m not even kidding. It’s messages about living your life to the fullest and finding, creating, and maintaining important friendships in your life literally got me to pick myself up and actually start living my life. All of its main characters are all incredibly memorable, and they all bounce off of each other very well. It’s fun and cute as hell, but also a really powerful story about dealing with grief and moving on. The final three episodes of the show are an emotional gut-punch, but they leave you with a sense of bittersweet fulfillment and a drive to get out in the world and have your own adventure.

Propaganda 2:

Let’s start with the fact that this is Madhouse doing a (relatively) grounded coming of age story about high school girls - the show looks gorgeous, of course. The music’s solid as well. (I still regularly listen to the ending.) But what really shines is the writing and characterization.

The pacing on this is perfect. For a show that spends half its runtime getting to Antarctica, you never feel like the time should be allotted differently or that you’re missing out on hijinks. Episode 12 is a particular standout, with tension building up until it explodes, and then goes still for the true emotional climax of the show. The four main girls all feel like believable teens, and seeing their relationship develop over the course of the series and watching them come into their own is well-done. The way it handles Shirase and her emotions, and how this complicates her relationships with them all is a particular standout. This may not be eligible in that it’s one of those anime people who watch A LOT of anime will recommend highly—it was on Crunchyroll and IGN’s best anime of the 2010s lists and on several “best of” lists for 2018. But it never quite took off the way it truly deserves, so I’m submitting it. It’s getting an English dub soon, though, and I really hope that gives it a resurgence of popularity. The girls are alright.

(Admin: Propaganda has been edited slightly to remove spoilers)

Trigger Warnings: Death via freezing

#F2: Akiba Maid War (Akiba Meido Sensou)

Summary:

The innocent Nagomi Wahira has always admired the cute girls serving at maid cafes. Hoping to fulfill her dream of becoming one, she moves to Akihabara to work at the maid cafe Ton Tokoton.

Nagomi’s first day seems completely normal—until she has to run an “errand” at a rival maid cafe along with her fellow recruit, the mature Ranko Mannen. There, things quickly go south, and Nagomi soon gets her first taste of Akihabara’s violent maid wars. As she watches Ranko calmly battle her way through a horde of gun- and knife-wielding maids, Nagomi realizes that maid cafes are drastically unlike what she had envisioned.

While struggling to reconcile her expectations with the harsh reality she finds herself in, Nagomi searches for the enjoyment she once saw in the lives of maids.

Propaganda:

It was animated by P.A. Works! As far as I know, they also worked on Buddy Daddies, Angel Beats, Ya Boy Kongming, etc. Cygames also contributed to this anime!! The story is creative as well. Who would’ve thought of a cute maid mafia anime? Keep in mind, this is a P. A. Works ORIGINAL. They went SO crazy on this anime. There’s also 12 episodes, which means that you can binge it all on one day and still be satisfied :D The OP and ED are also catchy, creative and unskippable. Despite its dark themes, it can sometimes get a little more “lighthearted” and silly, even in the most violent scenes ;P

Trigger Warnings: Flashing Lights, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore.

Just like what I explained, it’s violent. A lot of guns. And a lot of blood. Yes, they kill fellow maids in like every episode ever lol. Also, since Akiba is known to have flashy street signs, like every city ever…. And the guns, of course…that’s why I put the Flashing Lights warning.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how they’re presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[angrybatgaming]

Adding Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water to my games to play list because THIS SERIES IS SO ADDICTING!!!!

I highly recommend the Fatal Frame series to any horror fans out there (though you may have a hard time finding the first 2 or 3 games as they were only on PS2/Xbox). Horror from any foreign country just comes off scarier/creepier to me than American stuff. (Unless Native American, which I've yet to hear more about other than the two overly popular ones that I will not mention on this blog.)

You can find a lot of stuff in these games that is very likely based on actual folklore and legends, and the ghost designs from the first game are from what people who could supposedly see ghosts described them as. Plus it's really fun for Halloween parties, and/or sleepovers (from back in middle to high school). Maiden of Black Water has the 8 Foot Tall Woman in it, which I've yet to encounter. And the third game includes the old woman pushing around the baby carriage that you should NEVER look inside of. Plus I think it was my first horror series to play ever, so it holds a special place in my heart. Eagerly waiting for the fourth game's official release. (You originally had to download it, possibly with a European or some other country Wii system, along with a patch to make it playable at all. And I think I heard it was STILL broken.)

Also I SWEAR the older games heard you if you said "I'mma go save my game real quick" because then you'd instantly run into your least favorite ghost who will, SOMETIMES, overpower/corner you and kill you. At least from my experience, and my dad's experience. One time, I made the mistake of saying to myself, out loud, that I was gonna save while playing the second game. So I yelled "OKAY, GAME. I SAID IT. DO YOUR WORST." Fortunately for me, the worst ghosts only popped up in specific areas or situations, so it sent the three angry villager ghosts after me the second I said that.

Why does this guy give me Masato/Ryo Aoki vibes?

Sorry for a poorer quality shot, or the lack of ghost shots. I'm playing on my sibling's switch, so I can't really upload any unless I get their permission. And, even then, I don't need Facebook accusing me of hacking my own account again...