#it was really faithful and the stuff that was added improved it so much

[helpimstuckinafandom]

Finished the Pride and Prejudice book and 2005 movie and I gotta say I liked the movie way better

[sno4wy]

AITA for making my husband try out the new rollercoaster with me?

I (32M) am a builder for a small frontier town out in the Eufaula. Having solved the town's water crisis, we've been very busy recently improving and adding to our town in a vigorous drive to get her back on the map. One of these additions is an amusement park. Everyone really came together chipping in the gols, materials, time, and energy into making into reality what was originally thought to be nothing more than an eccentric quack entrepreneur's pipe dream.

It's been so busy that I've not had much time together with my husband, M (48M). He is of course as gracious as always, even though for weeks now that he only sees me briefly each dawn before he departs for his Church of the Light duties, and the only time that I see him is when I look upon his serenely slumbering face right before I turn the lights off and I crash into bed. There have been precious few exceptions, but M filled each of those with encouragement and assurances.

When everything was completed, M and I had desperately-needed catchup time. To my exasperation, the first day that the new amusement park formally opened to the public, which was only three days after we began our rest, M suggested going to the amusement park. I say exasperated and not surprised because I know my husband and I was getting the feeling that he'd suggest this. Why? Well, you see, earlier, when I said, "everyone really came together chipping in", I mean they did, but I guess I might've kinda contributed a not insubstantial monetary investment, but also having personally constructed and installed several of its fixtures? I mean it's really not a big deal, it's part of my job and why I came to this town. Whenever I was down in my luck, the kind owner at the local saloon always had a discount meal for me, and my ranch owner neighbors always left me fresh yakmel milk in the morning. It turned out that I have a violent intolerance for the stuff, but that's a different story.

In any case, M has always been so indescribably supportive. He is so much my rock and reason for living, and yet I can always pick up a tinge of guilt? Sense of unworthiness? Insecurity? A most heartbreaking self-deprecation, even though I am extremely expressive of how he is everything I have ever wished for and of my utter devotion to him. Full disclosure: M does have… let's just say a "history" with the town. He did some very bad things for what he thought to be the right reasons and was manipulated by some very bad people. He takes his transgressions very seriously and carries the perceived heavy burden of the town's forgiveness at all times. Perhaps these things are being projected onto me. I really hope that's not the case.

I would've preferred to stay at home with M as we'd done the previous days, I really needed the time with him alone, not just intimately, but like, telling each other about what we've been up to, new things we learned, reading books together, listening to his deep, sultry voice reading to me, and sometimes just doing nothing but silently enjoying being together again. It's been paradise, but I couldn't turn down his suggestion. He was so earnest, and that yin-yang balance of hope and fear just tipping barely into the darker side in his gaze makes me wonder if I heard my heart crack as I fall into those soulful, beautiful, deep amethyst eyes. I knew what he was thinking -- he believed that I've been exerting more than he had in our time apart, and he wanted to show his utter appreciation and gratefulness for it.

I don't know what else to do. I think he does this kind of thing to make me happy, but all I want to do is make him happy. Yes, I know what you're wondering, Church of the Light principles are indeed a bit more lax out here because of the whole frontier thing, but yes, it is still very bad form for a faithful Church of the Light devotee to wish to visit an establishment that centers around technology. No, M is most certainly not a false discipline of the Light, you're really not going to find anyone more true to his beliefs than M (and certainly not that travesty of a minister in Portia). It's definitely my fault that he has to add yet another internal conflict about his faith and his suggesting that we go to an amusement park. Maybe that was it. Maybe that was why I asked him if he wanted to go on the rollercoaster, because I was too much of a coward to face the emotions that'd definitely threaten to overtake me if he'd initiated instead. He can't say no to me any better than I can say no to him, so my asking him was basically forcing him.

So, we went on the rollercoaster, and M was very earnest about it being a lovely experience. I really can't imagine that to be anywhere near true. How do I know? Well, for starters, he was tense throughout the entire ride. Not just normal tense, but I'm talking like doing the best statue impression in the entire Free Cities. I swear that he didn't blink the entire time either, WITH HIS EYES OPEN THE WHOLE TIME, and if you've ever been on a rollercoaster you know how insane that is. And his face was just frozen in his firm/disapproving expression, which is probably his most-practiced expression, throughout the ENTIRE thing. My head got whipped around a few times, so maybe he changed something during those moments, but I swear to Peach he looked the same the entire ride.

When the ride stopped, M slid out as though he hadn't just gone through those twists and turns like a human rock, and made small talk with me about the ride. I don't remember much of what he said, I was too busy trying to figure out if he was ok, but the most concerning of all that he said was that he claimed he had his eyes closed throughout most of it! I WAS STARING AT HIM THROUGHOUT MOST OF IT AND HIS EYES WERE FROZEN. THE. LIGHT. OPEN. I'm extremely weirded out and concerned, and am worried that I broke my husband.

AITA for making my husband try out the new rollercoaster with me?

Thx, M4X_S4ndr0ck

[thana-topsy]

Hello! I hope this isn't too much of a loaded question, but do you have any general tips for writing? I'd like to give fanfic writing a shot at some point.

Not at all! I'm always happy to talk shop about writing! As far as general tips go, there are some things that I think everyone could benefit from, so I'll try to condense my opinions and suggestions into A Numbered List. (We'll limit it to 5 suggestions for now).

Read Actively I mean this in the sense of really chewing on whatever it is you're reading. Dig into the meat of That One Paragraph and look for things you enjoy, things that tickle your brain. I'll give an example from something I read recently, which is our lovely @kookaburra1701's newest story "Aristeia" "They crested the final hillock; Mor Khazgur dominated the shallow valley below. When she had been younger, Borgakh had often imagined the longhouse was a lazy cat asleep on a bright green rug, curled up against the rocks of the Druadach Mountains. When the stronghold’s goats were pastured in the glade, they played the role of mice scurrying about under the cat’s nose." I was just ENAMORED by this passage. The whimsy, the rhythm of some the repeating consonants -- stronghold's goats, glade -- and just the imagery it drummed up, reminding me of those fanciful imaginings of my own childhood. So don't just read a lot, but read actively. Read works that inspire you, authors that impress you, and subject matter that's similar to the type of stuff you want to be writing. And think about why you like the things your like, and draw that inspiration into your own writing. Imitate your heroes until you're no longer imitating and it's just how you write.

Accept Constructive Criticism This one is always a challenge in the beginning. The Ego is a powerful little devil, and it'll try to confuse you. It'll tell you that your value is tied to the words on the page. But I'm here to tell you that YOU are NOT the words on the page. Take an objective stance on your prose and your plot. Everyone starts somewhere and (hopefully) nobody ever stops learning or improving. NOTE: Notice I said constructive criticism. This does not mean you should let people tear your work into shreds in bad faith. Listen to people who want to see you improve and also find joy in the craft of writing.

Read Your Writing Out Loud This is kind of self-explanatory. You'll get a really good feel for your own rhythm and flow VERY easily this way. And you'll catch almost any mistakes right away.

Cut All Unnecessary Words This is getting into the technical side of things, but why not? One of the first books I read on the craft of writing (whose title unfortunately escapes my mind at the moment) contained this advice, and it is STILL something I struggle with. Obviously, when you have a character with a specific voice, sometimes they get flowery in their internal speech and observations. I'll use Aiden as an example: "The fort loomed over them, massive and severe. Aiden attempted to judge the architecture and found he wasn’t quite sure what race or nation could have possibly built it. Or when it was built, for that matter. Second era, perhaps? The design seemed more Breton than Nord: austere, angular, and formal. But so close to the Velothi mountains, it could have been Imperial."  I bolded words that don't actually add anything of value to the descriptions here. We lose nothing by cutting them out. But they're how Aiden thinks about the world around him. So I keep them to give shape to his internal processing. I'd say to try to write without these kinds of flavor words first, then start adding them in. Learn the rules before you break them, or break the habit before it becomes the ONLY way you write.

Write Every Day This one is tough in the beginning, but it's so crucial to becoming a better writer. WRITE. EVERY. DAY. Even if it's just 200 words, do it. Make it your little morning ritual or evening wind-down. Pick a time that's just for you and your words. Close all your tabs, put your phone on silent, and just write. Be alone with the world that you are trying to create. And soon enough, you'll find that you can't go a day without writing something. And what a joy that is.

That's my list! I hope you found these tips useful! I also recommend reading books on the craft of writing, too.

Best of luck on your journey! You have infinite possibilities before you.

[bloodydeanwinchester]

hi jenna gif questions for u 💜 what's your favorite part of making gifs? what's the most valuable thing/tip/trick you've learned? what's some of your favorite gif sets you've made?

hi ida!!!! sorry i took a couple days to answer this i wanted to wait until i had some time to think about it before i answer! i loooove these questions tho so thank you so much for sending them 💜💜

my favorite part about making gifs is probably coloring and like...that moment when i get the gif to look exactly how i want it to. i like to play around with coloring and try a lot of different things with it and that can be so fun! i think over the last like 6-8 months my coloring has really improved a lot and i've been having a lot of fun learning new ways to do things! but i actually had a really hard time coming up with an answer for this question because i mostly enjoy the entire process! the only part that i don't really enjoy is picking out the frames for each gif. i always start with way too many and then i have to cut stuff out and i hate that part. also it's reaaally hard sometimes to not end up with like 20 gifs cause there's so much i want to include!!!

okay im gonna cheat on this one and give a few things i've learned since i started that have been sooooo valuable to me. first is the importance of having a good quality download to start with. i think my gifs got significantly better when i finally downloaded all of the episodes in 1080p instead of using the screen recording on netflix like i had been before. second sharpening is so important! i did not do any sharpening on my first gifs i made! sharpening makes the gifs loook sooo sharp and crisp and pretty. third and kind of similar to sharpening was learning/figuring out how to use the camera raw filter. there's sooooo much you can do with camera raw filter (coloring sharpening lightening). and finally one thing i learned that i think made my coloring look significantly better was to try not to lighten the gif too much and/or to figure out ways to lighten darker gifs without it messing up the background too much (sometimes when they're lightened too much it will like pixelate the background and it looks awful)

and finally (in order of when they were made from oldest to newest) here are links to some of my favorite gifsets:

Bloody Dean Throughout the Seasons Set - this one actually came out really good considering the fact that it was made only a month after i first started making gifs! if i remember correctly it's the first set that i ever used sharpening on.

6x20 F+TM King Set - this one is a favorite mostly just because i love the song so much and tmwwbk is one of my favorite episodes. i think some of my favorite sets to make are the ones that i add lyrics to.

2022 Nov 5th Set - i was really happy with how this one came out! it's so hard to get gifs from episodes over different seasons to look the same! and this one had gifs from 12 different seasons! also i think this was the first set i ever made that got over 1000 notes which i remember being really excited about!

Laughing Dean Set - this one is a favorite purely based on the content of the set. it feels like injecting serotonin every time i look at it<3

1x12 Faith Set - another one based on the content of the set. i just love this episode so much.

Season 9 Dean Set - i LOVE the coloring in this set! and season 9 dean is so beloved to me. he is just so beautiful and bloody and sad.

2023 Cas Day Set - another f+tm lyric set! i love the space overlay that i added and the blue-pink of the coloring so much!

4x18 Destiel Every Episode Set - i loooove this scene so much! this gif series has by far been more popular than any of the other gifs that i post and this set is definitely the most popular in the series. no other set has ever even come close to getting 4k notes like this one did. also i really like the purple coloring a lot<3

[freevoidman]

General bullet-point thoughts on the new SH2 Remake stuff we got today (and I'm ignoring how sad I am that we didn't get townfall or f news. rip)

Game looks MUCH better than in the combat reveal trailer. No QTEs in sight, combat looks reactive and fun. I was the least worried about this since combat in video games in general has improved much over the past twenty years since SH2 came out, but it's still good to see that it doesn't look terrible and definitely looks better than Homecoming.

Voice acting is actually really great! SH2's original voice acting was a definite charm point and added to the uncanny nature, but the new VAs are doing a great job. It doesn't feel melodramatic, it doesn't feel too much like it's emulating the original, and I think that's a good thing. So long as the delivery is good, I'm satisfied.

Already noticed some gameplay differences, such as the first Lying Figure going to a house, not an abandoned tunnel. I think this is great! I don't want a one-for-one remake, I want improvements or changes that look fun, and this looks nice!

Angela looks... okay well, everything but her face looks fine. Idk what they did to her face but it looks REALLY off to me. It's doing the thing I hate in video games where eyebrows look like a big colored brick instead of hair and it looks bad, but I think her VA performance and her general body acting is really well done.

In that same vein: why the fuck did Maria get redesigned lmfao. She's in a tube dress now--no leopard print miniskirt or showing midriff. Normally I'm kinda 'meh' on female characters getting less-sexy redesigns but this one really feels like it misses the point, Maria is MEANT to be ridiculously dressed and overly sexy. It's also based on a real outfit Christina Aguilera wore!

Laura looked fine and also sounded fine. She's a kid, she acts like a kid, and she LOOKS like a kid, thank goodness.

James definitely got improved looks from those first trailers, he looks fine now. RIP to the jacket tho that thing looks bland.

Where is Eddie. I live in fear of the Eddie redesign after seeing Angela and Maria. Did they Slimmify him.

All in all, I have more faith in the game now than I did a year ago, but there's some WEIRD changes. The moment I saw that SH2R wasn't going to keep the fixed camera angles, I knew I would have to accept changes (and I did! I'm actually pretty open to remakes changing things up a bit so they feel "fresh" in terms of gameplay), but some of these feel odder than others.

[ina-nis]

Others feel comfortable around me but I rarely feel comfortable around others.

It's a form of people-pleasing, huh?

You need to make yourself small and friendly, you need to have a soft and cheerful demeanour, otherwise people will deem you too intimidating, because confidence and self-assurance make you unapproachable.

To me, right now, I don't want to make any enemies, and I don't want to make people feel bad, or unwanted - you know that thing about putting the energy you want towards yourself out there? - but keeping them at a distance.

I'm not going to spend much energy in pointless things, in fruitless connections that take nowhere. I can spend my time much better doing self-improvement on my own.

It's very tiring meeting people needing to do so much work, and "using" me to improve themselves.

They give me nothing that I don't have already.

It's exhausting meeting people half-way because it always, always means I am the one going down for them, and never otherwise.

And, to be honest, it's good for me to not beat around the bush and say that, yes, I do feel superior in a lot of ways, because I have invested a lot of time, money and energy into improving myself. I can brag about that stuff. I can complain about people (implicitly) wanting me to get down on their levels and not willing to up theirs.

Everything is one-sided. Always.

Because I'm already at the top, and I kept on coming down, got fed up, then left. Rinse and repeat ad nauseam.

They give me nothing and I feel like I ask for the bare minimum, but my "bare minimum" apparently is extremely high standards for "normal" people. That's too bad, but not my problem, really.

"Wow so you're really out actually treating people as disposable things?!"

I don't really care that much. Isn't that how life is supposed to be? Your relationships and connections are like a revolving door, people come and go and there's no issue with it. That's just how things are, isn't it?

The people dear to me will be dear to me for as long as they stay in my life, then they just become strangers. That's alright. Things happen. Life happens.

The most meaningful and closest relationship I have is the one with myself, and I feel like it's the only one worth putting loads of effort and care into, because I know it's truly unconditional.

I don't have any faith or hope in my connections with other people anymore, and that's fine. It doesn't have to be that deep.

[spinningbuster98]

Super Castlevania IV Part 2: Is this really a remake?

I think everyone knows that, despite its title, Super Castlevania IV is not an actual sequel but rather a remake of the original Castlevania on NES.

In fact in Japan this game is simply known as Akumajou Dracula, the same title as that game in Japan. The 4 here was most likely added by Konami of America in order to sell this as a sequel to the NES trilogy in hopes of boosting sales.

But honestly: would you really have guessed that this was a remake without knowing about this info beforehand?

What does this game have in common with the original really? There’s Simon yeah sure. But he’s been given a slight redesign, now with a more greenish looking armor and brown hair. They could have named him like Jack Belmont or something and this would no longer be a remake because really the name Simon is the only thing truly tying this game to the NES original

We have completely new levels, not just these first few located outside the castle, even once you’re inside the levels are just completely different both in theme and structure

The bosses are mostly original

Even the music is about 97% new stuff, Vampire Killer is the only track returning from the original and it only plays during the first half of the final stage!

I find this aspect of the game interesting because nowadays we live in an age where videogame remakes are a dime a dozen and they very often are radically different from the originals, mainly because they serve as excuses from big companies to make a new game without having to make everything from scratch while also cashing in on the original games’ popularity, just look at all the Resident Evil Remakes!

And for as beloved as Super Castlevania IV is...it’s really no different in its approach. You can’t say it’s paying respect to the original when there’s barely any sign of it in the first place!

Really the only reason why I think people don’t make a fuss over this is because:

1) The original had pretty much no in-game story so this version runs no risk of pissing anyone off from that POV

2) It came out during a period where videogame remakes were a much rarer phenomenon so people don’t really view it in the same vein

3) It was a lot of people’s first Castlevania game or at least they grew up with it

In fact you could even argue that it’s not very faithful to the classic formula even from a gameplay perspective: after all this game completely alters the classic controls.

Now sue I know that everyone loves the multiple whip attacks and the controllable jumps...but it baffles me that everyone would consider it an undisputed improvement, implying that the previous controls were inherently broken.

Classicvania controls were designed to be like this in tandem with the level design. You could even argue that having to master these limited controls is a big part of the series’ identity at this point and I’m sure this is what the developers at the time thought too because no other game in the series will replicate IV’s controls: Rondo and Bloodlines at most give you some very limited directional whipping and the ability to stir your jumps only slightly along with the ability to jump on and off stairs, but never the complete package

By giving the player so much more control over the character you essentially take away not only a big chunck of the challenge but also some of the gameplay depth: where once you’d have to carefully maneuver around enemies in order to win now it’s usually just a metter of whipping them from whatever angle you are. Plus there’s also the fact that the crucifix subweapon has been made disgustingly broken: wanna win in Super Castlevania IV? Find the crucifix and then find the double and triple shot power ups. Congratulations now nothing save from instakill obstacles will stop you as these things absolutely melt enemies and even bosses!

Now personally I don’t really mind this too much because there’s still usually a certain degree of precision that you have to put into your whipping even with the multidirectional attacks and the platforming can still get tricky on the occasion, so i do still believe that the overall spirit of the classic is preserved here but in a new form

But it’s important to consider that it is indeed a new form, not simply some sort of natural evolution that is guaranteed to be faithful to the original. It is perfectly valid to be unhappy with how this game changes up the classic formula and it’s the main reason why I personally wouldn’t call this “the definitive version of Castlevania 1″, even though I still really like it, certainly more than the original

[miniimapp]

Random 4*TOWN Headcanons

Gen ;; Fluff + Crack - Headcanons

Warnings ;; nah

Proofread + Edited ;; no

Auth. Note ;; WELCOME TO DAY 8 OF THE 4*TOWN CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN !!

Am tired and this is p low effort and last minute, sorry, better stuff will be coming today is just not my day lmao

Enjoy !! <3

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈«

Tae Young, Jesse and Robaire were classically trained instrumentalists when they were kids. Tae Young was violin, Jesse was flute and Robaire was piano. T plays ukulele don't ask me why he just does and also the kalimba. Z can play the harmonica. Jesse also plays the guitar

Z learnt the harmonica from his grandad - they had a really close relationship before he died.

Jesse cycled through a lot of different instruments trying to find the one for him (clarinet, trumpet, drums, piano, violin, double bass) before landing on flute and then later on guitar as well

There are some really odd demo tracks and some completely unreleased songs that just go ham with any instrument that they felt like throwing in

They're utter chaos

Truly just a wall of noise at some points

Fun noise,, but still noise

I feel like they have a theatre thing,, all of them

Just like random improv games or,,

Suddenly acting out a famous scene in a very melodramatic way or,,

Randomly bursting out in songs from musicals and somehow knowing the full choreography for them..

Jesse is the one who starts their musical outburst 8 times out of 10

Sometimes though he'll start singing and the others will start to join in,, realise they have ko fucking clue what he's singing and then just listen to him solo like the king he is

T will 100% just start garbling rubbish if he doesn't know the words,, improv king over here

Seriously,, this man can go on with a bit for eons if he feels like it

He'll stay completely in character and be going string while the others are creasing and have no idea wtf to say

Mans lives for it

Oh your singing ?? Tae is adding a harmony onto that for you <3

Somehow he manage to find a harmony for everything and he finds it FUCKING IMMEDIATELY

Does make Robaire a lil jealous with his harmony abilities sometimes

Sometimes though Tae will just go from some ethereal harmony into a goblin voice while still singing the harmony

He's a great impressionist tbh

His voice can go deeper than most people expect,, its a lil uncomfy and he just doesn't like how he sounds so it doesn't happen often

When it does though, Tae is using it for evil

I'm talking demonic noises in the corner while the light are out

Z is the one who somehow knows all th dance moves to every musical ever

Mans starts teaching it to the others too as if they're not complete disasters

My guy has too much faith in these numpties

Z is also really fucking sneaky

So Jesse will be wiping the counter and all of a sudden there's something blowing on his neck

Dramatic ass jumps like 3 feet in the air and shrieks so loud

Z loves jump scaring all of the other members when he can

Also because this is a struggle for me and I need someone to relate to.. caffeine of any kind makes Z so incredibly tired

Like,, half a cup with half him out for 6 hours straight, wake up for dinner because Jesse went to get him and then straight back to sleep

Mans gets over 24 hours of sleep that day

Problem is Z is an energy drink fanatic

And zap the energy right of him

SO

The boys somehow manage to find him caffeine free energy drinks and he's never been more thankful istg

Z just wants to pretend he isn't about o pass out when he's supposed to be wired to high heaven

What's the point of having a drink that's really bad for if you don't even get the short-lived fun effects ??

Robaire loves to flaunt his coffee in Z's face all of the fucking time

Z doesn't even like coffee but it's the principle of the thing

Anways

Robaire would be having his main character moment as they're all jamming out

Singing into Jesse's hairbrush in front the mirror type vibes

Z gets so fed up with it so quickly

Ro doesn't care though

He's having his moment

It's his time to shine

And shine he will

Definitely broke something once trying to climb up onto the kitchen table in a feat of dramatics

Probably a vase Jesse made

Jesse was p upset about it tbh

So the others took it,, glued it back together and then decorated one of the broken pieces each

Now it's the statement piece

And it's glorious

Really wish to bask in it's shine tbh

[aggressive-almond-cookie]

Lately I've sort of gotten my second wind in wanting to get better at anarchy. I thought that setting myself an ambitious rank goal might push me into working harder for it, but it actually just made me over-focus on winning which made it hard for me to want to take risks, experiment, and learn, and ultimately stressed me out and made me too nervous to play much. I ended up avoiding it, and then feeling bad for avoiding it, and then feeling worse when I did play because I was so out of practice due to avoiding it. So... lesson learned, I need to not do that. I still need to set goals, but stick to personal learning goals.

To some extent, it's mentally easiest to just trust that rank will naturally put me wherever I belong eventually. I don't need to focus on getting rank to put me in a certain place as much as I need to focus on 1) cultivating enough skill to belong there, and 2) then play enough games for the randomness factors to even out well enough that my placement is accurate. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it sort of lets me relax and not get too stressed out about results of individual games. I trust that I'll get to the next rank when I'm ready, and I don't know what 'ready' means-- that's up to the games to decide. All I can do is keep learning.

The last several times I have played anarchy have been pretty demoralizing. Some of that is because now I have friends that are willing to do open with me, but they are far better than me and it's a difficult environment to learn in. We get matched against teams way above my skill level and everyone is just sooo efficient and aware and precise; it's hard to get practice in when I take two steps into mid and die immediately. Additionally it's hard feeling like the weakest link on the team. I am making the majority of the mistakes that cost us games and when the knowledge of that starts to weigh on me I start inwardly tilting pretty quickly. My friends are patient and kind with me but I'm not sure they know how to help me, and I think the only way I can realistically start helping myself is in solo queue.

So I was dusting off and tuning up my old system of tables and spreadsheets that I was using to track my learning progress last season, getting ready to put them to use again. And once thing I did find very heartening, I realized, as I was going through my list of things I wanted to improve on, that I actually had improved on quite a few of them. I retagged more items to the 'improved' list than I expected to, and it gave me some faith that.... I am still improving, ultimately. even if it doesn't feel like it compared to others. I guess since others are also improving at a similar rate as me, it's a lot harder to notice my own progress. Even though I am improving compared to my past self, I have been perceiving my progress based on how much I am closing the skill gap between myself and others, and that's not really an accurate metric.

So I've added to and reformatted a bunch of stuff in my learning systems specifically to help me better track my own personal improvements more objectively. I am hoping having the numbers in front of me will keep my morale from tanking too badly next time I'm on a 5+ loss streak. Plus tables and spreadsheets and data just make my brain happy. I just need to be careful to avoid the trap of spending more time fine-tuning my learning systems than..... actually using them to learn things, lol. I know I'm prone to that, especially when I'm nervous about practicing.

Meanwhile, well, I'm still stuck in B+ where I was when the season began, and with my win/loss ratio I haven't moved the needle very much. So.... maybe this weekend I can put these systems back into action and see where I end up by Fresh Season.

[whirling-fangs]

2, 5, 6, 9, and 12

canon questionare. // accepting!! 2 - How did you get into this franchise/fandom?

[[ Through the first season of the anime ! I always look for new seasonal stuff when it comes out, and KNY sparked my interest right from the start. I love shounen series, the artstyle looked amazing, and my attention was immediately drawn to "that dude wearing the boar head" in the opening xD ]]

5 - What’s the best thing about the fandom?

[[ It's fairly active because KNY is a popular series, and we get new official art/content super often thanks to that popularity. Coming from a dead fandom that got little to nothing in over 15 years, it's a big and welcomed change :') ]]

6 - What’s the worst thing about the fandom?

[[ The tags are filled with n/sfw writing stuff and I simply do not wanna see that lmao. Shipping is overbearing as in most fandoms, but again that's just a matter of personal preference ^^' god forbid people care for platonic found family stuff /j ]]

9 - Have you tweaked the character from canon? If so, what did you tweak?

[[ Not really! My goal is always to be as faithful to canon as I can, so I haven't changed anything big about him. I've mostly added on what canon hinted to, especially with how Inosuke view himself.

He never outright states that he thinks he's a boar, but the way he talks (and mostly how he addresses "humans" without including himself in the lot) would make you think so, and I tend to have him be al ittle more literal about it. ]]

12 - What would you say is the most unique trait about your character?

[[ Probably what I've said right above :') he's got a bit of a Tarzan syndrome and he doesn't quite consider himself human. It's mostly just a twist of his ego (he considers himself to be better than humans), but it's also a fundamental part of his character. He doesn't wear that boar hide for show.

He's a really good take on the "feral child" trope, and I really really love that all his abrasive and brash attitude hides a very sweet and soft kid underneath. His character development throughout the series is very well executed, and the margin he has for improvement is probably what felt most unique to me, when other characters (notably Tanjiro) start off with defining qualities that don't need to evolve as much. ]]

[audio-luddite]

Listening to tunes.

Right now I have that (not inexpensive ) Super Tramp "Breakfast" album. You know the Audiophile version A&M Canada made. It sounds really damn good. I gave it a good clean. Actually I bought a jug of "Groove Washer" which is made by the heirs of the original Disc Washer product. They claim to use the original formula. Not the made in China, not sure what it is, stuff. The bottle is big enough for 4 life times I think. It works good.

I spun up the LP with no real warm up. And it had some rough edges in the high treble. Even after a couple tracks it is getting better. Gotta work that entropy out you know. Get them electrons lined up and dancing.

I have spent maybe too much $$ on LPs recently. And some of the deliveries get dinged at the border by FEDEX. Free Shipping my ass.

The weather is cool and wet today. Perfect for sitting on the couch and using the system. Everything but the phono cartridge and the speakers is 30 or 40 years old. I would put it up against any system I have ever heard, or can hear in this city.

Yes we are still using the Tube Amp. It is lovely sounding. Over the last few days I have been thinking about and discussing why it sounds as it does. Usually Tube versus Transistors discussions fall into fights. One side against the other. Screw that, I like both sides for what they bring to the party.

Back when photography was all film some people swore by different brands and types of film. AGFA, FUJI, Kodak and others I cannot think of right now. (yes I am old). The reason they did was for the subtle differences the formulas gave to the resulting prints. Was one perfect or correct? No perfection then or now. But some films and print paper made really fine images. And that was the point!

Everybody seems to need to stick a war banner in some heap of truth. Tubes versus solid state is only one. Digital versus analog is big. Oh and you get magic speaker cables and interconnects. It all plays to a particular audience.

One thing the Tube Guru said to me in our dialog is that Audio Research had to keep faithful to the "tube sound" their customer base expects. They could but will not make a more perfect amplifier. Still they make things of excellent quality and have for many decades. Think about that against the ideal of continually improving. If you approach perfection the voice goes away.

I can testify that over 50 odd years of listening to stereos my system has got better, but the state of the art has not. It is a soft mushy set of goals with each team making their own rules.

Oh this track is amazing. A piano showing why it's a percussion instrument. Last track, hmmm inner groove distortion what's that? Aint any here.

Still have the AT 7V in the phaser TT. You want depth? That sax just strode up from the back to front.

Ok now for some serious Jazz. Miles Davis. This recording is almost as old as I am. The LP is new of course. Where did this idea of limited dynamic range come from. That Trumpet is powerful. I like that the mix does not try to park everyone in the centre. One Sax is hard left the other centre right. The drum kit is to the right. Piano centre left. I suspect the reverb is added. Oh I just checked the studio was a converted church and had excellent room sound. So apologies to the engineer, its real.

Just grooving.

I am going to stop writing now.

[marshmallow3forest]

duty report

I entered the room. Unlike some time ago, it is now small and light-toned, with an opened window that allows the breeze to come in and graze the curtains. A corner of the room is filled with soft toys, the other a big detailed dollhouse. In the middle, there's a wool rug on the ground. And on the rug, there's a cradle where he stands in it, hands holding onto the railings, looking at me with a smile as gentle as the sunlight from outside.

"Good morning, is your day well?" I asked as I closed the door. Seeing him, no matter in any form still wrenches my heart, thinking about all the stuff that happened before...

"Very. Ever since I entered here, I've been feeling better and better. Your effort really paid off." The sunlight reflected from his short hair made him look like he had a halo - not like he didn't have one already in my eyes. "I suppose you're here to tell me how things are going on recently?"

"Ah, yes, yes," I answered with my mind preparing a speech, trying to fit every late event in, "I made sure that there were no longer any loud thunder noises. I am considering adding occasional regular meteor showers, too. Well aside from the sky, I developed a Ferris wheel and a simple zoo. I also designed a few more variations of soft toys here- oh, and I am thinking about implementing snow globes," I paused, then said, "Since much fundamental work is already done in the first week here, my main job now is no longer to extend but to maintain, I suppose."

"Sounds great. His state must be improving, then?" It is very foreseeable for him to ask about that poor thing. "After all, that's... well, you've heard the same thing many times already."

"It's okay, that's my mantra too," I responded.

"That's great to hear." whenever I think he is smiling much gently already, his facial expression always gets more soothing. "you see, I remember everything. He was in grave despair long before this place existed, and every time he broke down and lost faith, I wanted to tell him to keep believing in the existence of this place- but I was so weak back then that my voice could not be sent to him. Not just weak, I have no arguments to effectively persuade him, since I doubt there's anyone who wouldn't be paranoid after those events he experienced."

The image of the poor thing appeared in my mind again - crying, weeping, trembling, curled up in the corner, afraid of everything. I shook my head to focus back on the present. "As you are aware, he's happier now. I made sure to stay by his side and not leave for a single moment. I made sure he now wakes up every day looking forward to what is going to happen next. I made sure to serve him delicious meals and food. I made sure to play with him, provide mental comfort and reassurance, and appreciate his existence and effort all the time. I also made sure that he knows he is very treasured and has a special place in my heart, that he forgets the whole existence of the concept of evilness and that everyone is happy he is here. I made absolutely sure that he knew this state of happiness would go on forever, so there was no need to worry about anything ending, and he could just live on in his purest form." I announced it like wearing a badge of honour - it's needless to say this is my pride. "By the way, I call him by silly, adorable nicknames."

He looks like he's almost crying, out of joy. "That's very nice to hear... I always knew you would be the one to bring him felicity. Is he sleeping well now?"

"Of course he is. I hug him to sleep every night. He now experiences dreams that I carefully carved when he is asleep. There's no longer a night that he wakes up scared again." Every time I think of how others actually failed to keep on doing this simple task, I feel a sense of confidence.

"Can you come closer?" he wiped the tears in his eyes. I walked towards him, the centre of the room. The sensation of the soft rug embraced my bare feet, as it is slightly warmed by the sunlight.

"Let me hold your hand." He held my hands with his, small and delicate, on top of the railing of the cradle. He then put his forehead onto the back of my palm. I can feel drops of his tears falling on it.

"From a long ago, I already knew that good things would happen, especially after a long and tiresome journey. I always knew, not just believed but knew, that it's just like the reward, the compensation for hardships. That is what sustained me through everything. I am glad that this order of the world stayed as true as it has always been when I was first told about it. Thank you, really, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for realizing the order and restoring his original self, the one he always wanted to be."

Drops of tears still remained in his eyes, while the sunlight behind his back shone at him - he looked like he was glowing with heavenly glory. I kneeled to him while holding his hands like a knight getting dubbed.

"It is simply my duty to do so."

[mythgrippa-blog]

Day ??? - unresponsive

Well today... more like yesterday was the actual demo for the app... it took a while but finally deployed the backend on google cloud run. This video was very helpful

The initial plan I had for deployment was to just host an ec2 instance however the url link was over http instead of https, since we were using firebase hosting which has a policy against http content. It didn't work, so I had to re improvise and tried a lot of different ways which include:

Getting HTTPS manually using openssl, this didn't work as most browsers don't allow self signed certificates and firebase was no different

Using Netlify to host our NodeJS however their libraries were and documentation were either outdated or no longer working, and they updated their website so I wasn't sure on how exactly to deploy

Using firebase functions, this didn't work because of the way firebase preprocesses requests, it does some stuff to it like turning the request body into like a buffer so I would have to decrypt it on my end by adding like a middleware or switching from using multer to busboy, because my services need to handle image uploads so I gave up on that idea

Cloud Run, this actually worked well! Thanks to the tutorial I sent before, I wouldn't have understood the video if I didn't know much about docker. You can still follow along however it gets tedious, takes about 5-10 minutes to deploy and its effective and you have full control which is amazing! Running a docker container in the cloud is awesome. I did run into an issue during the video, and it was because my docker client wasn't authorized to push to gcr.io, a simple command to fix it was all I Needed thankfully it was fixed with one command

The rest of the day was spent with my team preparing for the presentation, our 3rd one. We were working and I was happy the backend was deployed, I feel like I'm getting more familiar with GCP. We were implementing features left and right, polishing whatever needed to. And when the demo came... well...

Just before the demo, we met up our client who was happy to see us and we were happy to see her, we wanted to show off all the features which took a while to make but yeah. There was a whoopsie, thanks to my miscommunication, I forgot to tell my stallion that we're using a shared variable that stores the apiUrl link and so he hard coded the localhost:8000, so some of his api wasn't getting used because it was trying to access localhost:8000 instead of the deployed links. We couldn't redeploy in time of the demo so we went in nervous.

The demo starts and everyone looks so scary, however my lecturer who I think may not like our team just left. The demo goes on and on, and one of the guys leaves. They ask me questions, I try my best like one was why do RabbitMQ's AMQP for communication between services instead of Restful HTTPS, the question was around security and I panicked and out right said something kinda not true but also true.

It ends, and they say our app was just too simple and needed more AI (not more features but more AI). The faces they gave, it was almost as if they were looking at poor helpless dumb little pups or people who worked last minute to finished. Our client, for the second time said that she was worried about us on whether we can finish the AI.

I'm a bit sad honestly... yeah the app was simple by my design... I'm just so sad... it doesn't help that I'm also going through a repetitive phase in my life where I start liking someone because we're so close and comfortable with each other only to find out that we were just very close friends and nothing romantic was built up.

I'm like really depressed because I can't really seem to catch a break. I want to improve the website but I'm just really sad now. Well... I honestly am trying to lose faith or what not,,,

[fi3stazo]

Letters to Dedede, part 1???? I guess???????

Status: Sent, received but unread

Context: (Please note that my interp. of Kirby combines anime and game aspects with some things I’ve added in myself.) Dedede and Meta had been living together, just the two of them for a while. Monsters come by sometimes and they beat them up together, and Meta craved more but never really got the chance to satisfy that. Some members of the GSA came to their area to recruit people, and Meta, starstruck, joined on a whim. This upset Dedede, and they got into a fight when Meta was leaving to join them. Yelling and stuff, really messy. Meta is called Maddie here because he is. Idk he’s trans, switched his pronouns but kept his name. He goes by Meta Knight after a while of being in the GSA and being officially knighted. Both are around 18-20’s ish in here. Enjoy the letter.

•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•

To my dearest friend, Dedede,

Hello! I hope this letter finds you well. How are you? Has it rained recently? I do hope so.

I’m sorry for yelling at you before I left. Anger fixes nothing. We’ve lived together for a good few years now, so understandably, you got upset. My decision was very abrupt, and I never really put aside the time to ask how you felt about it. I’m sorry. I’ve left you alone.

However, I’ve made my decision. Since I’ve joined the GSA, I’ve been enjoying my time here greatly. I’ve made friends here, too. All my life I’ve wanted something like this, and now that it’s in my grasp? It feels surreal. I’m happy to be defending others, those who can’t defend themselves.

I miss you. I wish you could at least watch me in battle. I could show you how much I’ve learned, I’ve much improved my swordsmanship! Perhaps if I find enough free time, I could visit you on Popstar?

Do monsters still roam the forest or wander into the markets? They were a handful even with your help, I wish you good luck with facing them on your own. Then again, you’re the strongest person I know. I have faith in you. I hope I can see you again soon.

Warm regards, Maddie.

[violettelueur]

— JUJUTSU KAISEN EPISODE EIGHTEEN || SAGE

↳ featuring : basically everyone at this point from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mention of blood + mention of killing + EXTREME grammar issues

↳ form : story

↳ published : 10 april

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 3.8k

↳ synopsis : within the jujutsu world, there were three famous clans to be aware of, the Kamo clan, Zenin clan and the Gojo clan. However, unknown to many sorcerers there was one last family that was known to be apart of the three, only for them to disappear after the golden era leading some to speculate that they had died in battle after the sealing of ryomen sukuna, but....

↳ previous episode : kyoto sister school exchange event - group battle 3

↳ next episode : black flash

↳ barista’s notes : let me admit, i did cringe a bit writing this episode for some reason ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ but also i have been getting a lot of asks in my inbox asking me if you can add me on genshin impact, and i am not opposed to that! just tell me in advance  ╲ʕ·ᴥ·　╲ʔ also volume one of komi can’t communicate came in today! also...the idea i have is coming in soon...so beware.....BUT thank you so much for being so patient with the series and hope you enjoy this special cup of classic black coffee ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡

BEFORE READING, I NEED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THIS:

1. the whole story belongs to Gege Akutami and the credits go to them and them only.

2. the spell curses used belong to Tite Kubo due to them being the ‘Kidos’ being used on the manga and anime ‘Bleach’ - but none is mentioned in this chapter.

2.5. for the ‘cursed spells’/kidos (bleach) i will link this video here and tell you the time stamp to check out what i am intending to show - remember i add a few twist here and there by adding the katana to link with Y/N’s cursed technique : hopefully this video is slightly better...

Destructive Curse Spell Number Fifty-Four : Haien : 6:08-6:12 (but like it’s more emphasised to look like this : 1:55-2:05)

3. if you are confused on anything, please don’t hesitate to message me since i know this whole thing is so confusing.

“Where the hell is Fushiguro, right now?” you muttered under your breath as you swiftly ran around the extremely large building you were currently in right now after trying to run away from Kyoto student: Kamo Noritoshi, who seemed too adamant to catch you for some odd reason.

At this current moment in time, you were desperately trying to find your partner after instantly splitting up with him when you both had entered the building causing you to become concerned for the shikigami user since his opponent didn’t seem to be holding back. Even though in the back of your mind, this was your one and only opportunity to go and find the curse you needed to exorcise for your school team to win the first day of the Exchange Event, you knew that the second that Kamo could sense your curse energy leave the premises, he would turn away from his battle and chase you down leaving Fushiguro the role of trying to locate you - which was going to be difficult for him.

Digging into your skirt pocket, you quickly pulled out a fist that had a few pink petals that you had kept after you had used some of them to attack Kamo earlier before gradually transferring some of your cursed energy within them. Slowly, you processed to open your palm letting the same blush coloured petals begin to glide into the air allowing them to travel down the hall you were running through right now causing specks of your cursed energy to be located everywhere they moved to lead your opponents to be somewhat confused about where you really were right now.

                                              ꕥ

“Your team partner seemed to be the smart type,” Kamo mentioned as he turned his head to look behind him since he slowly began to sense the chaotic flow of cursed energy that was beginning to vastly surround the building right now as he was quickly struggling to locate the original source of the cursed energy that he needed to find, which was you.

“She’s always been the smart type, it’s quite scary in my opinion,” Fushiguro commented before raising his tonfas in a defensive position before taking the time given to him to try to locate where you were before giving up the second he tried once his discovered how immense your cursed energy was flowing in the building right now.

‘What the hell? How does she do that?’

Hastily, Fushiguro lunged himself forward as he attempted to attack Kamo leading his opponent to block his hit before suddenly retaliating, only for Fushiguro to defend himself quickly as well. However, it seemed as if both sorcerers were not going to give up as easily as a continuous row of attacks commenced between the two causing them to travel backwards and forwards along the hallway they were in right now.

Suddenly, there was a violent contact with the backs of their wrists leading Kamo to proceed to swiftly turn his body to the side of the opposition as he forcibly thrust his palm out towards the shikigami user causing Fushiguro to use his remaining tonfa to block his attack causing his weapon to snap in half as well as him being pushed back to the other side of the hallway where he first stood.

Staring down at the now tattered wooden weapon, Fushiguro casually threw it to the side leading Kamo to begin to spew out with what was currently running through his mind.

“Shikigami users who can fight this well in close combat are precious, you’ve improved. I’m happy,” Kamo expressed with an impressed tone, leading Fushiguro to unexpectedly cringe at the amount of time you had beaten him up during the past two months of training you both had together.

“What is this sense of fellowship you keep throwing out?” Fushiguro asked in an irritated tone since he wasn’t in the mood to converse about anything to do with the clans at this moment in time.

“I’m sympathising, someday you’ll be one of those supporting the major clans, well maybe the four major clans if the L/N remained after the Heian Era,” Kamo suggested, causing the erratic-haired sorcerer to look at the opposition with a deadpan expression painted on his face.

“Gojo doesn’t even support the clans even though she is in the Gojo clan,” Fushiguro reminded Kamo leading to the sorcerer in front of him to shift slightly as if the news to him was surprising at all since it seemed as if you and the strongest sorcerer was ‘close’ despite the joking tension between you both.

“I intend to kill Itadori Yuji,” Kamo suddenly announced, as if that was not known to everyone within the Tokyo team right now.

“On Principal Gakuganji’s orders? So why chase after Gojo?” Fushiguro questioned, as he was still perplexed on why the blood manipulation sorcerer would go after you if his main priority was to eliminate his friend and classmate.

“No, it’s my personal decision. As a member of the Kamo clan, one of the three major clans, I believe that’s the right call,” Kamo answered before going silent, as if he had something in mind currently before he began to voice his opinion once again, “you should be able to understand that, too,”.

“Sorry, but I really don’t get it at all”

Suddenly, Kamo unexpectedly left something lightly slice his cheek slightly causing him to turn to view what was behind him to notice that you were standing there with your armed raised up, leading him to turn back forward to discover your katana piercing the wall that was behind Fushiguro (who looked at you with widened eyes) as your teammate managed to move his head to the side in time before your weapon pierced him instead.

“Oh, I missed,” you commented as you noticed a hint of blood escaping from his small wound, before using your other hand to violently pull the invisible chain of your katana back like a boomerang leading Kamo to swiftly dodge the weapon this time, while being surprised on how you had managed to retrieve your sword back without moving an inch towards it.

“What do you mean? You, me and Fushiguro are the same,” Kamo then declared, causing you to give him an extremely offended look from behind before turning to the side as if to convey to the sorcerer that you weren’t going to listen to him anymore.

“No, we’re not,” Fushiguro replied with an annoyed as well as fed-up expression on his face, as he didn’t expect his opponent to say something as weird as he did right now.

‘He’s spouting some scary stuff all of a sudden...and couldn’t Gojo warn me about this little attack of hers?’

“We are,” Kamo responded, only for Fushiguro to retaliate back leading you to turn your head back to the conversation with a slightly vexed look since you didn’t want such a stupid discussion between two descendants of the three major clans to go on forever like this.

“We’re not, please save those discussions for Maki-san. I no longer have any connection with the Zenin clan,” Fushiguro informed his opponent causing Kamo to turn to you as if you would try to have an understanding of what he was trying to carry out.

“Remember, I don’t actually have any connections to the Gojo clan, I’m not related to them by blood and even if Gojo-sensei adopted me out of the blue,” you explained to Kamo while raising your hands up like you were surrendering when really you were trying to avoid any topic to do with the clans overall.

“Besides, I don’t believe I’m ‘right’. No, sorry. That’s not right, I don’t care if I’m right or wrong,” Fushiguro commented as he looked down towards his raised hand with a softened expression to which caused Kamo to turn back to the shikigami user.

“I just...have faith in my own good conscience, I save people according to my own conscience. If you would reject that, then...we’ll just have to curse each other,” Fushiguro suddenly declared, as a wave of cursed energy began to surround him causing you to sudden be on guard since you didn’t know what your classmate had prepared.

Unexpectedly, a shikigami frog appeared from the side causing you to prepare yourself in an attack stance in case Kamo decided to move towards you, to which he did turn to face you only for the same shikigami to dissolve into the shadow it had come from leading Kamo to open his eyes in shock at the common but smart strategy that the younger sorcerer had come up with.

“This one burns through cursed energy, so I can only use it by itself. I only recently tamed it,” Fushiguro explained before positioning his hands in front of him as he prepared the next shikigami that he was going to summon.

“Max elephant,” the shikigami user announced before the shadow below him began to merge into the shape of a pink elephant leading you to look at the animal with widened eyes as you didn’t expect such a large shikigami to appear right in front of you.

‘What the hell?’ you thought, as the elephant’s cheeks began to swell up while Kamo began to position himself into an attack position. However, it seemed the elephant was going to attack first as a suddenly sprouted out a massive wave of water that could fill up the ocean, causing you to yell out in shock before quickly deciding to stab your katana deeply into the ground to have something to hold on to as Kamo quickly swept into the mass of water leading to the wall behind to break.

“Maybe tell me when you are going to attack, you drag!” you yelled out to your classmate in anger as he rushed next to you causing your partner to look at you weirdly since you were kind of being hypocritical at this current moment in time.

“Just jump across to attack him while I use Nue to corner him!” Fushiguro stated to you in a serious tone, leading you to nod at him before launching yourself forward towards the sorcerer with your katana blade facing the opposite direction it was supposed to since you didn’t want to critically damage your opponent.

Behind you, Fushiguro interlocked his thumbs before fanning out the rest of his finger to represent wings as he swiftly summoned Nue into the battle leading the bird-like creature to strike him with lightning, paralysing Kamo for a second before he suddenly reached into his uniform to slowly reveal a bag of blood to which he then proceeded to throw the object in your direction, causing Nue to bump into you as if to move you away from the item as the blood bag quickly exploded causing the shikigami to be trapped within what seemed to be a rope of blood.

However, you could not let the sudden event faze you as you proceeded to place your foot to the side of the building you were pushed against before thrusting yourself downwards with extreme force to attack Kamo while Fushiguro dashed towards the same opponent to do the same thing.

“I can’t afford to lose!” Kamo screamed as he began to lung forward towards Fushiguro.

Suddenly, a large explosion destructively echoed behind you leading you to reach to the ground with one hand before riskily twisting the same hand to make your body spin before you quickly landed of your feet to the ground causing Fushiguro to look at you with a worried expression before all three of you peered up above to see a vast structure of what seemed to be wood, growing ever to rapidly in the air.

“What is this?” Kamo questioned in a panic before Fushiguro noticed someone running along the tiles rooftop from above.

“Inumaki-senpai?!” Fushguro yelled out in an alarmed tone causing you to look to the side to see your senior classmate running in what seemed to be incomplete adrenaline and fear.

“Run-away!” Inumaki spoke, causing his voice to ring out to everyone as they realised that it was his cursed technique that was occurring right now, causing your bodies to instantly run away from the mass destruction that was occurring right now.

                                              ꕥ

“Huh?” Utahime muttered as she stared at the how red flamed paper talisman while everyone in the room with her peered at them with the same surprised expression.

“The game’s over? And they all burned red?” Utahime questioned as the flames quickly extinguished themselves leading to a large volume of smoke remaining.

“That’s odd, my crows didn’t see anything,” MeiMei commented.

“I’d love to say Great Teacher Gojo’s students exorcised them all, but…” Gojo mentioned as he placed his hands together as if to tell everyone in the room that he was thinking of another solution that might have caused this issue as all the screens in front of them now became static.

“The charms will burn red for unregistered cursed energy,” Principal Yaga informed everyone.

“You think it’s an outsider? Some invader?” Utahime queried, as she turned to her colleague with a concerned expression on her face.

“Does this mean Tengen-sama’s barrier isn’t functioning?” MeiMei then asked, but it wasn’t answered as Principal Gakuganji made a comment. 

“Whether it’s an outsider or not, something unexpected is happening all the same,” he mentioned before wondering how this intruder was able to exorcise the semi-first-grade he had planted in order to assassinate Itadori Yuji.

“I’m going to Tengen-sama, Satoru and Principal Gakuganji, please protect the students. Mei, you stay here and identify the locations of the students, stay in constant contact with the other two,” Principal Yaga instructed everyone.

“Fully understood, I look forward to the bonus,” MeiMei mentioned, as she turned her head towards the sorcerer trying to convey that she was willing to follow his instruction with a price to pay.

“Come on, Gramps! Time for a walk! You just finished your lunch, didn’t you? I don’t want my daughter injured with you being slow!” Gojo stated in a light but playful tone as he clapped his hands twice to get the elder’s attention, leading the mentioned sorcerer to become silent and annoyed at the Six-Eye shaman.

“Let’s hurry!” Utahime mentioned as she was becoming worried about the time they were spending on talking in the room they were in rather than going out right now to help the students that were in trouble.

                                               ꕥ

Running forward, you couldn’t help but notice how the branch that was behind you was still extending leading you to quicken your pace as everyone turned to the right, only for the same branch to twist itself in the same directions causing you to come to the conclusion that it was either a skilled curse user or special-grade curse that was the cause of it.

‘Did the mole tell whoever is doing this the location of the event?’

Although, before you could come to another conclusion on who was the mole within the group of Kyoto students, you suddenly heard Fushiguro gasp leading you to snap out of your thinking daze to see a large number of branches breaking through the wooden door that was in front of you leading to a vast volume of debris to rushingly come towards you to which caused you to over your face, allowing the veil that was processing to drip down above you to engulf every student at this current moment in time.

Once the huge mass of debris cleared itself, you noticed the change in colour around you before you turned your head towards the mass of branches in front of you with what seemed to be a curse standing on top of its masterpiece as if to showcase its sudden appearance.

“Why is there a cursed spirit at Jujutsu Tech? Who does this veil belong to?” Kamo asked rapidly, as his head was tilted up to view the intruder in front of him.

“Probably the curse user working with the cursed spirit,” Fushiguro answered, as he too was looking at the curse in front of him leading Kamo to question his knowledge about the situation in hand, while Inumaki let out a cough, causing you to worry about his condition right now since you didn’t have a single clue on how much he had used his voice in the current situation.

“There are a few unregistered special-grade cursed spirits roaming around Japan right now, probably this one was the one that attacked Gojo-sensei before,” you informed the sorcerers in front of you as you slowly began to remember the silly little drawing your adoptive father had given you when you first met with the Kyoto side’s principal.

“Tuna with mayo,” Inumaki commented as he waved a hand to signal a phone leading Fushiguro to agree with his upperclassmen as he proceeded to pull out his phone to contact Gojo, while Kamo commented on how Fushiguro could understand his classmate at all since he was still perplexed on how the Toyko students could even convey with him as well.

‘Why does it only look at me…?’

Yet, it seems as if you weren’t concentrating on their little conversation as you kept an eye on the curse since it seemed to be staring at you for some odd reason, leading you to tightly grip the hilt of your katana, as you now shifted your eyes down to make sure your fellow sorcerers (who were in front of you right now) were safe for the time being.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” Fushiguro mentioned, as he placed his phone to his ear. “Maintain our distance and retreat to Gojo-sensei- '' Fushiguro then explained, but before he could finish his sentence, the curse swiftly moved behind Kamo before proceeding to break Fushiguro’s device from his hand.

“Don’t move!” Inumaki yelled out, leading to the curse freezing in its position before attacking Kamo, leading everyone to keep a distance away from the special-grade curse.

Suddenly, Kamo grabbed another bag of blood that he kept hidden within his uniform before letting it explode once again as he began to maintain control of the red substance. “Blood Manipulation: Slicing Exorcism!” Kamo yelled out before swinging the blood shaped shuriken towards your opponent, only for the curse to be left unscathed leaving the sorcerer to be surprised at the outcome.

Before the curse could even react, Nue suddenly appeared above you before flying downwards towards the special-grade curse with the same purple lightning you have gotten used to before Fushiguro suddenly swept in close to slash the curse with a sword he was hiding within his shadow like you had taught him to within the first week of training. However, it seemed that the katana’s dent that was made only healed as quickly as it appeared causing Fushiguro to tut in complete annoyance.

“.nerdlihc hsiloof, ti potS,”

“Stop it, foolish children,” the curse suddenly said, causing you to grab your head in surprise as you didn’t expect the curse that was in front of you right now to communicate to you at all since you didn’t have a clue on what it was saying but you somehow could understand it.

“I merely wish to protect this planet, that’s all,” the curse then explained, causing you to prepare your cursed energy to flow from your hand to your katana since you now knew that you needed to use your cursed technique to keep the others safe - yet you didn’t know how you could conceal the risk of being discovered.

“It’s a curse spouting nonsense! Don’t listen!” Kamo exclaimed intensely.

“This is on a whole different level than lower-grade cursed spirits,” Fushiguro then commented to Kamo as if it was obvious enough to everyone that was around that opponent at this current moment in time.

“The forests, the oceans, and the sky, all weep so vehemently that I can no longer stand it. It’s impossible to coexist with humans any longer. They know there are some humans who are kind to the planet, but how much does their affection even help?” the curse declared as it raised its head up to the sky as if it was speaking to a whole nation.

‘It somehow established its own language system...and somehow manages to communicate with us…’

“All they desire is time. This planet can shine blue once more, given a bit of time,” the curse spoke again before a sudden twist of branches appeared right behind the curse leading everyone that was in front of it to be on guard as the sudden impact that caused the ground to shake was evident enough on how dangerous this opponent was.

“Gojo Y/N...You can’t run, the veil is designed to keep you trapped within here...We need you for what is going to commence,” the curse suddenly declared causing you to look at it with wide eyes while all the boys turned to you with panicked expression painted on their faces since they were now concerned with your safety more right now than theirs.

‘I don’t know how long this curse spell will last, but I need to make sure it is enough to let everyone run before it can reach them’

“Is that so? Ah..what a drag,” you then asked, as you raised your katana up in the air with one hand as you gradually began to transfer a large amount of cursed energy within the blade. “You see, I began to notice that you seem to be a plant type of curse, I assume...something like wood right?” you rhetorically asked, before using your other hand to cover your mouth with the back of it to conceal the next few words that were going to come out of your mouth.

“Destructive Curse Spell number fifty-four: Haien,” you whispered before a sudden flame began to engulf the metal blade leading the boy to look at your weapon in astonishment at how wild the flames seemed to be due to the amount of cursed energy you had placed within the same blade. “So...why don’t you just burn to death them, would you?” you threatened in a low tone causing the boys to dash behind you before you swung your katana downwards to allow the flames to wildly and uncontrollably burst out in front of the special-grade curse leading to the building behind it to begin slowly extinguishing with the massive flames.

Turning around, you grabbed the fabric of Fushiguro’s and Inuamki’s uniforms (while yelling at Kamo to run) before using your strength as well as a hint of your cursed energy to violently push them forward away from the flames before running towards the same direction with them since this was the perfect opportunity to make a dash for it without any of the boys getting injured or harm in the process.

‘Whoever is responsible for the veil...is going to die..’

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[mimicofmodes]

“The Ladies Waldegrave” by Joshua Reynolds, 1780 (NGS NG2171)

I’ve complained before about two very big pet peeves of mine - corset stuff and Regency women being dressed in 1770s-1780s clothes - but one that may dwarf them because of how frequently it comes up in historical and fantasy fiction is the oppression of embroidery.

That’s probably putting it a bit too strongly. It’s more like ... the annoyance of embroidery. Every character worth reading about knows instinctively that sewing is a) boring, b) difficult, c) mindless, and d) pointless. The author doesn’t have to say anything more than “Belinda threw down her needlework and looked out the window, sighing,” to signal that this is an independent woman whose values align with the modern reader, who’s probably not really understood by her mother or mother figure, and who probably will find an extraordinary man to “match” her rather than settling for someone ordinary. To look at an example from fantasy, GRRM uses embroidery in the very beginning of A Game of Thrones to show that the Stark sister who dislikes it is sympathetic and interesting, while the Stark sister who is competent at it is boring and conventional and obviously not deserving of a PoV (until later books, when her attention gets turned to higher matters); further into the book, of course, the pro-needlework sister proves to be weak-willed and naïve.

Rozsika Parker, in the groundbreaking 1996 work The Subversive Stitch, noted that “embroidery has become indelibly associated with stereotypes of femininity,” which is the core of the issue. "Instead embroidery and a stereotype of femininity have become collapsed into one another, characterised as mindless, decorative and delicate; like the icing on the cake, good to look at, adding taste and status, but devoid of significant content.” 

Parker also points out that the stereotype isn’t just one that was invented in the present day by feminists who hated the idea of being forced to do a certain craft. “The association between women and embroidery, craft and femininity, has meant that writers concerned with the status of women have often turned their attention towards this tangled, puzzling relationship. Feminists who have scorned embroidery tend to blame it for whatever constraint on women's lives they are committed to combat. Thus, for example, eighteenth-century critical commentators held embroidery responsible for the ill health which was claimed as evidence of women's natural weakness and inferiority.”

There are two basic problems I have with the trope, beyond the issue of it being incredibly cliché:

First: needlework was not just busywork

A big part of what drives the stereotype is the impression that what women were embroidering was either a sampler:

sampler embroidered by Jane Wilson, 14, in 1791 (MMA 2010.47)

or a picture:

unfinished embroidery of David and Abigail, British, 1640s-50s (MMA 64.101.1325)

That is, something meant to hang on the wall for no real purpose.

These are forms of schoolwork, basically. Samplers were made by young girls up to their early teens, and needlework pictures were usually something done while at school or under a governess as a showpiece of what was being learned - not just the stitching itself, but also often watercolors (which could be worked into the design), artistic sensibility, and the literature, history, or art that might be alluded to. And many needlework pictures made in schools were also done as mourning pieces, sometimes blank, for future use, and sometimes to commemorate a recent death in the family. A lot of them are awkward, clearly just done to pass the class, but others are really artwork.

Many schools for middle- and upper-class girls taught the making of these objects (and other “ornamental” subjects) alongside a more rigorous curriculum - geography, Latin, chemistry, etc. At some, sewing was also always accompanied by serious reading and discussion. (And it would often be done while someone read aloud or made conversation later in life, too.)

Once done with their education, women generally didn’t bother with purely decorative work. Some things that fabric could be embroidered for included:

Jackets 

Bed coverings and bedcurtains

Collars and undersleeves 

Pelerines 

Neck handkerchiefs and sleeve ruffles 

Screens

Upholstery

Handkerchiefs

Purses, wallets, and reticules

Boxes

Book covers

Plus other articles of clothing like waistcoats, caps, slippers, gown hems, chemises, etc. Women’s magazines of the nineteenth century often gave patterns and alphabets for personal use.

(Not to mention late nineteenth century female artists who worked in embroidery, but that’s something else.)

You could purchase all of these pre-embroidered, but many, many women chose to do it themselves. There are a number of reasons why: maybe they wanted something to do, maybe they felt like they should be doing needlework for moral/gender reasons, maybe they couldn’t afford to buy anything - and maybe they enjoyed it or wanted to give something they made to a person they loved. That firescreen above was embroidered by Marie Antoinette, someone who had any number of other activities to choose from. It’s no different than people today who like to knit their own hats and gloves or bake their own bread, except that it was way more mainstream.

embroidery patterns from Ackermann’s Repository in 1827 - they could be used on dresses, collars, handkerchiefs, etc.

Second: needlework wasn’t the only “useless” thing women were expected to do

Ignoring the bulk of point one for now and the value of embroidery - I mentioned “ornamental subjects” above. As many people know, young women of the upper and middle classes were expected to be “accomplished” in order to be seen as marriageable. This could include skills like embroidery, drawing, painting, singing, playing the piano (as well as other instruments, like the harp or the mandolin), speaking French (if not also Italian and/or German), as well as broader knowledge and abilities like being well-versed in music, literature, and poetry, dancing and walking gracefully, writing good letters in an elegant hand, and being able to read out loud expressively and smoothly.

This wasn’t a checklist. As the famous discussion in Pride and Prejudice shows, individuals could have different views on what actually made a woman accomplished:

“How I long to see her again! I never met with anybody who delighted me so much. Such a countenance, such manners! And so extremely accomplished for her age! Her performance on the pianoforte is exquisite.”

“It is amazing to me,” said Bingley, “how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished as they all are.”

“All young ladies accomplished! My dear Charles, what do you mean?”

“Yes, all of them, I think. They all paint tables, cover screens, and net purses. I scarcely know anyone who cannot do all this, and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished.”

“Your list of the common extent of accomplishments,” said Darcy, “has too much truth. The word is applied to many a woman who deserves it no otherwise than by netting a purse or covering a screen. But I am very far from agreeing with you in your estimation of ladies in general. I cannot boast of knowing more than half-a-dozen, in the whole range of my acquaintance, that are really accomplished.”

“Nor I, I am sure,” said Miss Bingley.

“Then,” observed Elizabeth, “you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished woman.”

“Yes, I do comprehend a great deal in it.”

“Oh! certainly,” cried his faithful assistant, “no one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half-deserved.”

“All this she must possess,” added Darcy, “and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.”

Mr. Bingley feels that a woman is accomplished if she has the ability to do a number of different arts and crafts. Miss Bingley feels (or says she feels) that it goes beyond specific skills and into branches of artistic attainment, plus broader personal qualities that could be imparted by well-bred governesses or mothers. And Mr. Darcy, of course, agrees with that but adds an academic angle as well.

But what ties all of these accomplishments together is their lack of value on the labor market. A woman could earn a living with any one accomplishment, if she worked hard enough at it to become a professional, but young ladies weren’t supposed to be professional-level good because they by definition weren’t going to earn a living. All together, they trained a woman for the social and domestic role of a married woman of the upper middle or upper class, or, if she couldn’t get married, a governess or teacher who would share her accomplishments with the next generation.

(To be fair, almost none of the trappings of an upper-middle/upper class male education had anything to do with the kind of career training that college frequently is today, either. Men were educated to know the cultural touchpoints of their class and fit in with their peers.)

There are reasons that an individual person/character might specifically object to embroidery, but it was far from the only “useless” thing that an unconventional heroine would be required to do against her inclination by her conventional mother/grandmother/aunt/chaperone. Embroidery stands out to modern audiences because most of the other accomplishments are now valued as gender-neutral arts and skills.

“The Embroidery Frame”, by Mathilde Weil, ca. 1900 (LOC 98501309)

So, some thoughts for writers of historical fiction (or fantasy that’s supposed to be just like the 19th/18th/17th/etc century):

- If your heroine doesn’t like embroidery, she probably doesn’t like a number of other things she’s expected to do. Don’t pull out embroidery as either more expected or more onerous than them. Does she hate to sit still? I’d imagine she also dislikes drawing and practicing the piano. Would she prefer to do academic subjects? She probably also resents learning French instead of Latin, and music and dancing. Does she hate enforced femininity? Then she’d most likely have a problem with all of the accomplishments.

- If your heroine just and specifically doesn’t like embroidery, try to show in the narrative that that’s not because it’s objectively bad, and only able to be liked by the boring. Have another sympathetic character do it while talking to the heroine. Note that the hero carries a flame-stitched wallet that’s his sister’s work. Emphasize the heroine’s emotional connection to her deceased or absent mother through her affection for clothing or upholstery that her mother embroidered - or through a mourning picture commemorating her. There are all kinds of things you can do to show that it’s a personal preference rather than a stupid craft that doesn’t take talent and skill!

mourning picture for Daniel Goodman, probably embroidered by a Miss Goodman, 1803 (MMA 56.66)