#it's 2011 when it came out in any case. but i'm thinking this could be set after tsc and around when elena finds out about the supernatural

[feyarchived]

‘   i’ll   never   be   the   same   .   ’ (faye)

❛ yeah, isn't that what everyone says? ❜ her tone is as flippant as always, hazel eyes barely glancing up from where she's sprawled on the bed, flipping through the pages of what she's pretty sure is likely a journal of elena's from when she was twelve. unless the writing hasn't gotten any better over time, in which case . . . yikes. she should maybe think about some writing lessons, or at least look into an editor before trying to publish anything professionally. ❛ which part of the whole thing are we talking about, anyway? general teen angst, or the kind that comes from the supernatural actually existing, and you having a crisis over your boyfriend liking to suck down bunnies like a midnight snack? because yeah, that would throw me for a loop too, not sure if i could look at a guy the same way after that. tell me whether i need to put on my witch hat, or get someone like bonnie to listen to your woes otherwise. ❜

[emjee]

hiiiiiiiiii I've had three glasses of wine and here's a WIP preview of the fic I'm calling "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (Library)" (aka Steve Rogers gets a library card circa 2011 and quickly learns about Librarians Vs. The PATRIOT Act)

“I can help who’s next.”

The next man in line at the reference desk of the Brooklyn Public Library was so handsome that Marian’s brain quickly supplied a list of five potential nicknames for him that the staff could use among themselves if he became a regular.

“Hi, I was uh, wondering about getting a library card?”

“Sure, I can help you with that! Are you a Brooklyn resident?”

“For a long time.”

“Have you had a card with us before? If you have I’ll check and see if you’re still in our system.”

“I did, but it was a very long time ago.” Neighborhood kid, she wondered, maybe just moved back to the old stomping grounds?

“Well, we keep the records for a couple of years, and we do like to check so we avoid duplicates. What would the name on file have been?”

“Is there something else you can search by?”

“If it’s under a name you don’t use we can try address and date of birth.”

“My birthday’s July 4th.”

A year would have been helpful, but they could circle back to that. “What’s it like sharing a birthday with a country?” she asked as she started typing.

“Well, the fireworks always made me feel special when I was a kid.”

“I’m sure. Do you remember what address we might have had on file?”

He took a moment to reply, and when he did his voice was calm, but soft enough that she had to learn forward to hear him. “I don’t think it’s there anymore.”

House fire? Gentrification?

This sort of thing happened from time to time—a patron came in who clearly had a story that made getting them what they needed less straightforward that it might otherwise have been. That wasn’t a problem; sorting that sort of thing was literally what the fine people of Brooklyn paid her for, but she was always curious about people’s stories. Sometimes they told you, sometimes they didn’t. She wasn’t going to ask, though. Curiosity or no, it was ultimately none of her business.

“None of that’s a problem,” she assured him. “I can make you a new card right now, if you have an ID and proof of address. Driver’s license would work for both, or a passport, state ID, student ID plus a piece of mail…”

“This is going to sound like a silly question, probably…” He looked at the ceiling, like he was trying to figure out how to phrase it.

“No such thing,” she said lightly. “Besides, we’ve probably heard it before. Probably ten times a day.”

“If I do get a card, does anyone…know? Besides you all, I mean.”

Marian sat straighter in her chair and immediately became all business. “Not a silly question at all. Any record that identifies you by name is confidential under New York state law. We don’t even let law enforcement have it.”

A genuine grin dawned  on his face and she immediately thought of three more possible nicknames. “Seriously?”

“Not unless they’ve got a warrant or a subpoena.”

“Huh. But it would have to be under my legal name?”

“We do need to have it on file, but if you have a name you’d rather use, we can make a note in the record. That’s the name your mail would come addressed to, and what the staff would call you.”

She watched him glance down, smile, and put a hand in his pocket.

“Yeah,” he said, producing his wallet and handing her his ID. “In that case.”

She set the ID on the counter in front of her while she opened a new card registration form and didn’t give it a proper look until she had her hands on the keyboard.

Well. That certainly explained a lot.

After entering ROGERS STEVEN GRANT into the record in a rapid clatter of keyboard strokes, she glanced back up at him and said, “What would you like me to put in the preferred name field.”

He gave it a moment’s thought. “Fred.”

She couldn’t suppress a smirk. “Excellent choice. Same last name?”

“Joke’s not as good if I change it.”

“Fair point.” She grabbed a fresh card from the drawer and scanned the barcode into the system, then saved the record. “Welcome to the Brooklyn Public Library, Mr. Rogers.”

[condensed-ink]

I've been thinking a lot about #FixTF2 and I know that some might have their doubts about the movement, however, I've realized that, even if it does not succeed in getting Valve's attention, it will end up contributing towards an important development in recent years - the shift in the public perception of Valve.

If you are person who was growing up in the early 2010's then you obviously remember how Valve games were essentially the cultural zeitgeist of the time, how you would see pictures of King Gaben on every meme/YouTube thumbnail during a Steam Summer Sale. As I understand it, Valve essentially rode this wave of good will throughout the 2010's. Even when everyone was getting frustrated with the lack of sequels for games such as HL2 and L4D2, some people would just excuse it with "ah y'know Valve, not communicating and not doing anything is just their style, this is just probably part of Gaben's 5D chess - tier master plan". However, the cracks in this image have been slowly showing up for a long time:

Portal fans haven't had anything since Portal 2's release back in 2011. We have had some small VR titles but that's hardly any consolation.

Left for Dead 2 came out all the way back in 2009 with nothing afterwards. As of June of 2024, the game still has more than 10 thousand concurrent players yet it is also unplayable for a significant amount of people due to reported DDos attacks.

The suffering of Half - life fans at this point is a meme in itself. The only thing we got was HL:Alyx back in 2020 and, even though it's a very good game, it was inaccessible to a lot of people at launch due the costs and lack of VR hardware. We were left on a cliff-hanger AGAIN and four years later we have no news of any follow-up.

In my opinion, Valve to some extent could ignore these fandoms since they were smaller compared to their big earners. But it is the recent issues with these bigger titles that have started to test everyone's patience and tolerance for Valve's bullshit:

Team Fortress 2 - I mean what else is there to say: rampant cheating and idle bots, bot hosters doxxing and swatting people. The bots crisis has been destroying the game for the past 5 years. If we remember the original SaveTF2 movement, it had a more positive tone, i. e., people talking about how much they love the game and pleading Valve to fix it. Well, one shitty tweet and two years later the tone has gone from "Please fix the game" to "FIX THE FUCKING GAME YOU ASSHOLES" and rightfully so.

CS2 also has a myriad of issues. CS:GO became CS2 after the game jumped to the Source 2 engine, but the resulting game, by many accounts, is a downgrade. A lot of game modes and maps from the original game were not included and are still not present as of June of 2024. Cheaters are rampant. To what degree I cannot say but it is to an extent where a significant enough portion of the player base is affected. Also, the game hasn't had an operation (major content update) since 2021. The player count is still high, but a lot voices in the community have been chewing out Valve for this level of incompetence.

With DOTA 2 I cannot say for sure. Some people talk about neglect whilst others say the game is in a decent state considering the game still gets frequent updates and patches. At most I can say that there is a portion of players that are dissatisfied with the state of the game but most likely to a much lesser extent than in the previous cases.

HOWEVER

All of that is just one part of the double whammy, the second part is probably is much worse than the first - a lack of continuity for Valve's legacy.

I mean, let's think about it for a second here: most of us who grew with the Valve classics are probably in our mid-to late twenties at this point. Of course, I'm not saying that there aren't any younger fans but the bulk is the old guard. I'm pretty sure a lot of kids and teenagers don't even know a lot about these games and it's not their fault, they weren't old enough to experience them. The blame lies SOLELY with Valve because they have done NOTHING to boost the visibility of their older series due to the fact that they haven't bothered to make a single proper sequel for any of them.

And speaking of visibility, Valve's advertising strategy is non - existent and downright insulting . They really have this holier-than-thou perception of themselves, where they think "I am THE Valve softworks, makers of TF2 and Half-Life! How could you NOT know of us?!?!" and then expect everyone else to spread news of their games through word-of-mouth. Like, I'm sorry, Gabe, but we don't owe you shit. I'm not gonna advertise your shitty card-game and upcoming mediocre 5v5 hero shooter just because I had fun playing TF2 back in high school. Like, it's no surprise that you're not gaining any new fans when this has been your modus operandi for the past 10 years.

TO CONCLUDE

This is where we are right now: the old guard is either apathetic or straight-up hates Valve for their negligence, the younger generation barely knows about most of Valve's OG game series due to the lack of any meaningful output. At the end of the day, Valve isn't going to bankrupt, they're gonna keep taking their 30% cut from Steam and peddling gambling addictions to kids via cases. However, the era of good will is over, nobody is cutting them any slack anymore and, frankly, they deserve all the shit that's going to get thrown at them.

[stinkytrashman]

I've been seeing a lot of hate for dragons rising and the later seasons of ninjago and I have my thoughts. As usual. Im a very thought filled person. So I'm gonna tell you all my very correct and right opinion on the matter. Also it's very long be warned now 🧙‍♂️ (little recap at the very end in case you dont wanna read the whole thingg)

The later seasons of Lego ninjago and the entirety of Dragons Rising is not bad. It's just different.

The first season of lego ninjago came out in 2011.

The expectations for a kids show in 2011 are different than the expectations in 2024. The humor kids like is going to change naturally over the years. The tropes in media that kids like is going to change over the years.

We were the target audience when the show first came out, because we were kids. It's a show aimed for a younger audience. Unfortunately, the intended audience did not change as we got older. The show is still aimed at a younger audience, but guess what? There's new kids. The age range is filled with new people. And to still have their target audience hit, they are obviously going to have to change a few things so the kids nowadays will want to watch the show.

The original seasons had more focus on the character vs character conflics. Of course it dabbled in characters having internal struggles and side plots related to building/destroying relationships, but those were more episode specific and he newer seasons just delve more into it for multiple episodes. There was a focus on the fighting, on the action, on the cool outfits and mech armor. The new seasons are still fighting bad guys, with all of the cool effects, but also fighting feelings. You can do both at once. Shocker, I know. Why is there more focus on emotions? Because that's the standard in well written shows these days.

The humor is less characters making fun of eachother, and more a dead silence filled with a silly sound effect. This is one of the things that irked me, but it's okay. My humor is not the humor of the intended audience. The space is intended for the audience to have the audible laughter/reaction. Quick reminder who the show is intended for. (I hold up a sign saying "new generation of young people with different humor then people my age".)

The characters are not annoying. The characters are not weak, or pitiful, or embarrassing. A character having emotions other than love or anger or happiness is okay. Arin not feeling worthy enough for his team? Guess what? That's an emotion lots of people feel. This character is allowed to have self doubt. Lloyd having panic attacks from his visions? Hey, his visions scared him! Characters are allowed to be scared, and have a reaction to being scared.

Characters are allowed to be replaced. I know, I loved the original elemental masters, and wish they could come back for a cameo now and then. Would love to see Griffin Turner once and a while. But you have to remember in the canon, it's been years. Time passes. Wanna know what happens when time passes? People die, people move on, people come into others lives. The new elemental master of air is fine. She's allowed to exist. Do you honestly expect Morro to show back up and be like "omg hiii >< I'm here I want my power back !!" Be honest with yourselves.

Final thought: who cares if characters are gay. A background character wears a nonbinary flag on their jacket?!?!?!? It must be armageddon!! Come on now. One or two flags in the background isn't the end of the world. Cole and Geo's relationship has no effect on the main plot. Geo could be replaced by any character, or even removed, and the plot would still go forward. Gay people aren't out to get you, or turn your show woke, or indoctrinate your kids. They're just there. Cole is still Cole, and Geo is cool. Another thing about Geo: I will not take Geo slander from lava shippers. He is very sweet and kind and just because Cole is not with Kai doesn't mean yall should hate on him. Also I don't even think Cole and Geo are 100% confirmed. So why is everyone going bananas over it? Very silly behavior if you ask me.

That's all I have to say thank you for coming to my tedtalk 🧙‍♂️

Recap: the target audience is young people, young people are different now then when we were young, they have different humor, it's fine for characters to be emotional, new characters aren't the end of the world, gay people are fine.

[wingdingery]

Hey, I'm the previous anon! And I really love your meta long essay commentaries, so please do not feel as if I didn't ask for it! I kind of did. If I'm going to be honest, I absolutely love long essays about Bruce and Dick, and you have some of the greatest analysis of them if I have to say! So, thank you very much for the long response!🖤💙 Also, I completely agree, I always felt that if Alfred was truly the closest to Bruce, then, how come it wasn't until Dick came along, did things get better? Like you can be close to someone, of course, and it might not always do much, but they seemed distant. That's why I couldn't really get under the agreement that Alfred was the closest to Bruce especially if you compare him to Dick who is usually the one who when it comes to the worst situation is the one that is needed to come back to get Bruce out of his darkness that he is put in. I remember a specific panel of when Damien died, and Bruce was locked into this machine to replay any plausible scenario where Damien could've been saved, and no one could get him out of it until Alfred brought Dick to confront Bruce over this. Bruce even said to Alfred, "This calling in the calvary routine is getting old, Alfred." And rather than talking sense into Bruce like Alfred thought Dick would do, Dick instead joined Bruce knowing full well that this is the only way to get Bruce out of this is to prove him wrong and allow him to realize that all he is doing is avoiding the reality of his loss. So, cases like that really emphasize that it really is Dick who understands Bruce the most, I feel. Not to mention like you said that the relationship between Bruce and Alfred starts off as a very professional one, and as much as they do know they care about each other, it doesn't change the fact that at its core it still very much is hinged on that professional relationship. Alfred, as others have said before, is very much an enabler. He may at times disagree with Bruce's choices, but he will never truly fight Bruce out on it. He will not fight like an equal to Bruce, but always like a servant unlike with Dick, who does not hesitate to call Bruce out and has made it a point that he wants to be Bruce's equal. Once again, thank you for your long reasoning, I really appreciate it and adore these truly! I am also thankful for the quotes from Scott Snyder, and now I finally know where the line of Dick's relationship with Bruce being both pathological and endearing came from! But seriously, how is it Scott Snyder who always seems to understand the closeness of the relationship that is between Bruce and Dick. All his quotes on them that I have seen so far always hits it right on!

I’m so glad you enjoy them!! I’m always like “surely I could be more concise” but I’m always happy to ramble if people let me!

(Speaking of rambing… I’m going to cut again to talk about the rest of this. 😆)

I totally agree with you. There’s been more interpretations lately (in some instances of canon as well) of Alfred having a paternal relationship to Bruce from the outset, and Dick considering Alfred more of a grandfather because of that. While I do think Bruce can come to see Alfred as a father over time, I personally think it’s Bruce’s evolving relationship with Dick (and what he sees of Alfred’s evolving relationship with Dick) that helps him contextualize his own relationship with Alfred. Flattening and simplifying everything to fit nuclear family roles may make things “easier” for people to understand, but it removes so much nuance and frankly does a disservice to the characters.

Even in that issue you’re talking about, where Bruce is grieving Damian, he acknowledges Alfred’s grief by acknowledging him as another parent to Damian, not a grandparent. Their relationships just aren’t and have never been that simple.

Batman and Robin (2011) #23

Also pulled out those panels you mentioned because yes!!

It’s more butler stuff rearing its head. I think Alfred and Bruce got stuck in a relationship pattern early on where Alfred knows he’s not and doesn’t want to be Bruce’s father, so he can only go so far in trying to tell Bruce what to do. And it’s a little late to change that when Bruce becomes an adult. So all Alfred can really do is voice his disagreement and then either put up with Bruce not listening to him, leave (like he does when he quits during KnightQuest), or try to call in someone who he thinks Bruce will actually listen to (Dick, though obviously Alfred can’t control Dick either. Hell, even Bruce can’t control Dick.).

Alfred may have learned to support what they do over the years (because he certainly didn’t at first), but he intentionally positions himself as a supporter rather than a peer.

Batman #689

That’s why even in a Bruce & Alfred story where Alfred actually is able to save Bruce by himself, his instinct is still “something is wrong with Bruce -> call Dick immediately”.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2023) #18

It’s a self-imposed relationship pattern. Alfred cares for Bruce and will be there for him, but he’s never actually trying to be the person closest to Bruce, and he’s happy to hand that role and related responsibilities off to someone else that he trusts is good for Bruce (like Dick, even when Dick’s no longer living in the Manor). Whereas that was what Dick actively wanted from the start—to be Bruce and Batman’s partner and close confidante in all things. So, in a sense, it’s only natural their relationships have taken these shapes.

I think Snyder understands Bruce and Dick really well! I was disappointed he doesn’t seem to have figured out how Dick fits into his Absolute Batman universe yet, but he’s already given us a very different spin on Bruce and Alfred, so I’m really interested in seeing how he’s going to approach Dick. Hopefully we won’t have to wait long for it! 🤞

[liskantope]

I think part of the reason I tend to get so argumentative nowadays about "what your side proposes kills people" -type political talking points is that it seems that this is being used more and more frequently as a rhetorical bludgeon, mainly (though not entirely) from the Left. There's a lot of shutting down of arguments based on "but HUMAN LIVES", and it's begun to feel to me like a disturbing trend. For instance, a good bit of the rhetoric in favor of shutting down schools in 2020-2021 seemed to center on "here, look at my computation that the expected value of children's lives lost if we don't shut down schools is greater than zero; anyone who disagrees with us doesn't VALUE HUMAN LIVES", with the effect that a lot of us (including to some extent me) were blinded for a long time to the absolutely devastating effect such extensive school shutdowns (in some geographic areas) had on children and their whole families, an effect that is still scarring them today. I'm not saying anything about whether or how far those school shutdown policies went wrong, just that they had very substantial harmful effects that don't vanish relative to the VALUE OF HUMAN LIVES.

Then there's the now-everyday claim that the anti-trans culture warriors "ARE KILLING US [TRANS PEOPLE]", which is true under a particular interpretation of "killing" and tragically true to an extent pretty well beyond some vanishingly rare extreme cases but is also transparently being used to drown out most other aspects of the debates around trans issues. Much more disturbing still is the accusation I now semi-regularly see casually flung that conservatives "actively want us [trans or LGBT+ people in general] dead" (I think I've occasionally seen left-wing variations on this that aren't even about LGBT+ people). A couple of months ago I called it "stomach-turning" ("it" being both the content of the accusation itself and the fact that so many people in our cultural discourse have seen fit to use it; this of course was semi-willfully misinterpreted by someone as my saying that trans people turn my stomach), and I reiterate now that it's still completely turning my stomach. This example is different from others in some fundamental ways, some of which make me more sympathetic with why people feel driven to use it (and it's not being used to drown out completely unrelated issues, for instance, like the guns thing is), and the general rhetorical weapon of "the other side wants to kill us" deserves its own effortpost which I intend to write later this summer.

So anyway, yeah, I'm also getting a kind of short fuse around insinuations of "what they show kids in school won't kill them, but guns could, so that's the only issue involving schoolchildren that anyone should care about" that I now see daily.

Of course, invocations of "my cause is the one whose stakes directly involve life or death so it outranks everything else" isn't exclusive to the Left at all. The Right has been doing it for decades with abortion to shut down both the abortion debate and whatever unrelated debate they didn't want to have ("millions of babies are being MURDERED each year, while liberals obsess over [women's bodies] [or] [just about any totally unrelated issue which appears frivolous next to MURDER]"). I also vaguely remember something that sounded like this in the post-9/11 years ("we're the ones looking out for Americans who might be KILLED in the next terrorist attack, that has to be the only priority right now"). And there was that bizarre "death panels" accusation around 2010-2011 when Obamacare was being debated which I guess might also count.

Only loosely related, but I'm reminded of a moment in the very first vice presidential debate, between Bob Dole and Walter Mondale in 1976, where Dole invoked a computation of the number of deaths in wars the US engaged in under Democratic versus Republican presidents, and apparently he got a lot of blowback from how underhanded this rhetorical move came across.

[twixitativi]

do you have any tips on writing an au? normal fics i can usually handle but i’m working on a kunichuu grease au and i’m finding it quite difficult.

hiya! thanks for asking :3 also good luck with that, that seems like so much fun omg; feel free to send when you start releasing, i'd love to check it out!

ill be using splinters as my example here purely because thats closer to what you're trying to do (movie/musical as reference)

this is going to be long as fuck because i tend to ramble and go into detail, so im adding a read-more. i sincerely hope this helps because i know its a LOT (potential spoilers for splinters included)

1. The Foundation

when i first started working on splinters, it started with a lot of idea bouncing. who would suit what role? why would that role work for them? originally, i had looked at dazai as jd and chuuya as veronica, or dazai as veronica with fyodor as his jd.

then, i also started thinking about story 'beats'. to be clear about what that means, i like to think of different parts/scenes that i need/want to hit, and kind of the order if possible. this usually intertwines with the original story-- in your case, grease.

all this starts falling into the next step:

2. Research

it may not be entirely apparent, but i did (and still do) a FUCK TON of research for splinters. by choosing to have multiple source materials to base your work off (both bsd AND grease), depending on how close/accurate you want to be, you're going to want to get in touch with the material.

you've mentioned grease-- i'm assuming you're doing this based off the movie (love the movie. need to rewatch). what i personally do with heathers the movie is that i watched it the entire way through first to refresh myself with the material. it might help you to take notes about different characters, ideas, plot lines. i found a copy of both scripts online in case i wanted to see about throwing an iconic line in during an important scene without diving through the whole movie to find it.

i dont know HOW historically accurate you want to go with your fic--you may be choosing to explore the concept of grease rather than the actual setting itself-- but grease takes place in the late 50s, TECHNICALLY early 60s (movie itself came out in the late 70s) (my mom LOVED it when it came out). so, you may want to do some basic research: fashions/trends of the time (this has gotten harder to search online, you may want to even run to the library and find some books if possible)? societal norms? what did normal teens do during that time? did they have arcades, did they go to restaurants, what was the average place they hung out at?

a lot of times, i have to double-check if some of the stuff in splinters is period accurate. each decade has different lingo, slang, and general information that was normal during it. hell, looking back at the 2010s versus 2020s, if you were to write a story during, saying, 2011, and have your characters saying "slay" and "yas queen" and "road work ahead, uh yeah i sure hope it does", i regret to inform you that that will NOT be accurate, as those phrases are more late 2010s + that vine came out in 2016. now, could you quote/potentially reference these things? absolutely! but you have to be more strategic about it.

ALSO. look up fun trivia about your source material! you know where i got my title from? its the english translation of the italian name for heathers. im not even kidding. also, mix and match material! hell, even throw references in to other material! i had my mean girls reference in there! because its bsd, i like to throw in authors i like from time to time where they fit!

another silly one: what music came out around that time, playing on the radio? HOW did they listen to music? i specifically listen to a 1989 top hits playlist when im trying to figure out what songs might be playing on the radio while my characters are driving-- and even THEN i still will look up specifically when that song came out, because i made the choice to be horribly specific with my timeline.

on that note:

3. If you can, DON'T SET A SPECIFIC MONTH/DAY/ETC.

i made my choices. do i regret them? YES. is it still fun to work with? absolutely, but also the heathers timeline is lowkey a mess and you could simultaneously claim it takes place in 2 months or several.

honestly, avoid specifics. having to keep track of a timeline is an absolute bitch, and it's going to make your life a lot harder, because then, you HAVE to make sure it all matches up. if i say that kunikida went and got his glasses in march, i cant say that his glasses are brand new in may (this is a hypothetical example).

timelines suck. unless you think you can dedicate the time and energy to keeping with one, don't do it.

4. OUTLINES.

i've been writing fanfics for years, which is wild to me. i was writing fanfics in single digits (didn't even know what fanfics were). one thing that i have especially found useful with splinters is to make outlines for where you want the story to go.

let me break it down for you:

you're gonna have MULTIPLE outlines, and they are NOT set in stone. they are guidelines for you to use so that you're not sitting there going "shit i don't know what to do next". they may be scenes you want to have in the fic. they may be important plot points. they may be absolutely stupid shit that youre like "if i dont get this in here i will cry" (diarrheazai is a threat that i intend to keep)

FIRSTLY. try making a general outline for your whole fic. you don't need super specifics, but think of what events occur during grease. in it, danny and sandy meet in the summer before their senior year. sandy meets and joins the pink ladies. there's a dance competition. danny and sandy fly off in a car into the sunset. etc. TO BE CLEAR, you don't have to keep all the details! it is your story, and what you want to do with it! having that structure can be helpful when you start though.

THEN. once you have that general outline? start trying to plan out chapters. you dont have to make outlines for them all at once. more often than not, i'll sit there before i start a new chapter just trying to outline what'll happen in it. this helps a LOT on multiple levels. i'll provide an example of what that can look like below (SPOILERS IF YOU'RE NOT UP-TO-DATE WITH SPLINTERS):

(the blacked out bit is spoilers, everything else should be clear to see)

a quick explanation: i dedicate a small document to outlines for each chapter. as you can see, with chapter beats, i have diff things i want to try to hit. the stuff highlighted in green is stuff that i come back post-chapter to confirm i hit. sometimes, if it's not EXACTLY in there, i'll leave a note in bold (ex: WAS MENTIONED).

but you can kind of see what im talking about here. i have some things that im trying to knock out per chapter.

other things in my doc to outline:

yes i talk to myself in my notes.

i highlight different scenes according to their relevance to certain characters sometimes; i add scenes in where i need to, and then ofc as you see ill go into detail about specific scenes. and AGAIN these are not set in stone. for example:

as you can see, shit changes over time. that boiler room make-out scene during the homecoming pep rally appeared in ch 11. i did not make this sequence fyodor's pov.

sometimes? i just dont have the time or energy to write shit/dont think its relevant to the plot. good bye, corn maze. you'll be remembered in my thoughts and my outline

also try to have fun while outlining. it doesnt need to be something serious. literally my outlines are a mix of dialogue, scenes, my own thoughts, etc. get silly with it. this is supposed to be fun and enjoyable!

ANOTHER THING:

5. LOOP SOMEONE INTO OBSESSING OVER THIS WITH YOU.

i was inspired by ardeidae to write splinters, and i have successfully trapped them in splinters world for almost an entire year now. by both of us loving it, we can keep ourselves focused on it.

what also helps is bouncing ideas off other people. me and lu have had conversation after conversation after conversation about different plot lines, scenes, etc. sometimes, i don't know what to do and i will ask lu (or other people) for advice about the progression.

you may have also heard of the engineering rubber duck method. if you're unfamiliar, engineers will sit there with a rubber ducky by them and talk to it about what they're working on until they figure out what they need to do. sometimes, just ranting about the fic is enough to help you spawn ideas about what to do next.

OH also

6. If you do end up making a timeline? Have a calendar on hand.

this is no longer 100% accurate to the progression of splinters and the chapters, but it helped a LOT. laying it out like this can make one hell of a difference. im a visual person, so doing this helped. also, can help you keep track of holidays and shit. if you want to give your characters a day off from classes, check a school calendar for holidays. be like "uhhhherrrr yeah they're taking, uhhhh veteran's day off" yk

7. Write, but don't force it.

splinters doesn't have an actual updating schedule because i work on it at my own pace, and update once i finish a chapter. now, i usually finish chapters after a month, but i don't say it updates on x day. don't box yourself in unless you truly think you can handle it. some people are very good about schedules. i am horrible at them, bc ykw? LIFE HAPPENS.

when im in the mood, i write. i will sit for HOURS and just write. grab some snacks, maybe pop on some music, get a buddy to sit with you, but just go for it. sometimes, i'll pull a 25-10 method-- 25 minutes of writing with ten minutes of relaxing and bullshitting--and that helps me not burn out as quickly. but honestly, you cant always brute force it.

have i had to brute force it sometimes? yes. you will get stuck. it naturally happens. sometimes, a scene fucking sucks and you're like "i hate this scene but it HAS to be in there" (if it doesnt fuck that shit. throw it out. blegh) sometimes, you need to mix things up to make it more appealing to you, because i am of the belief that the readers can tell when you're not invested in a scene. if im writing a scene and its going slowly and i just want to get it done? the quality's going to go down, and i KNOW it. so, i evaluate. what do i need to do for this scene to work? can i add something to help? do i need to just rewrite the bastard and call it a day?

and sometimes? you can just go ahead and put a little "<'scene'>" in and move on. depending on how much your fic relies on that scene, that won't always work, but sometimes, you just gotta leave it and come back to it. you can also do that with certain dialogue/details. if you're trying to get your characters from point A to point B, don't shove them there if they run out of gas. make a detour, and see what happens.

eerrrrrrr yeah, i THINK that's the majority of the advice i can give? sorry that that's a lot, but uhhh hope it helps! :')

[lovesongbracket]

Reminder: Vote based on the song, not the artist or specific recording! The tracks referenced are the original artist, aside from a few rare cases where a cover is the most widely known.

Lyrics, videos, info, and notable covers under the cut. (Spotify playlist available in pinned post)

A Thousand Years

Written By: Christina Perri & David Hodges

Artist: Christina Perri

Released: 2011

Alternate version included: A Thousand Years Pt. II feat. Steve Kazee, 2012

“A Thousand Years” is about an eternal love. It was written by Christina Perri, specifically for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 soundtrack. Christina Perri explained her inspiration for writing the song in a 2012 interview. She said “The producers came to me in 2011 and said, ‘can you write a song for Breaking Dawn – Part 1?’ So I went and saw the film six months before it came out, and wrote ‘A Thousand Years’ for Edward and Bella. I’m not a vampire, even though I wish I was, but I tried to step into their love story.”

[Verse 1] Heart beats fast Colors and promises How to be brave? How can I love when I'm Afraid to fall? But watching you stand alone All of my doubt Suddenly goes away somehow [Pre-Chorus] One step closer [Chorus] I have died every day waiting for you Darling, don't be afraid, I have loved you For a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more [Verse 2] Time stands still Beauty in all she is I will be brave I will not let anything Take away What's standing in front of me Every breath Every hour has come to this [Pre-Chorus] One step closer [Chorus] I have died every day waiting for you Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more And all along I believed I would find you Time has brought your heart to me I have loved you for a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more [Bridge] One step closer One step closer [Chorus] I have died every day waiting for you Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more And all along I believed I would find you Time has brought your heart to me I have loved you for a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more

Tainted Love

Written By: Ed Cobb

Artist: Soft Cell

Released: 1981

Originally recorded by: Gloria Jones, 1965

Soft Cell’s 1981 synth-pop hit “Tainted Love” is a remake of a 1964 Gloria Jones song. Jones’ song was a B-side to “My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home,” a Motown single that flopped. Jones’ “Tainted Love” blew up in the UK’s Northern soul scene in the ’70s after British club DJ Richard Searling bought a used copy on a trip to the US. After “Tainted Love” got a boost from the Northern soul scene, Gloria Jones recorded a new version in 1974, but it failed to chart. When Soft Cell decided to give the song a go in 1981, they changed the key and slowed the tempo. They worked with producer Mike Thorne to create the electronic arrangement for the song. Thorne told Sound on Sound: “You could smell the coke on that second, Northern soul version, it was really so over-ramped and so frantic. It was good for the dance floor, but I didn’t like the record…when Soft Cell performed the song I heard a very novel sound and a very nice voice, so off we went.”

[Intro] [Verse 1] Sometimes I feel I've got to Run away I've got to Get away From the pain you drive into the heart of me The love we share Seems to go nowhere And I've lost my light For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night [Chorus] Once I ran to you (I ran) Now, I'll run from you This tainted love you've given I give you all a boy could give you Take my tears and that's not nearly all Oh, tainted love Tainted love [Verse 2] Now, I know I've got to Run away, I've got to Get away You don't really want any more from me To make things right You need someone to hold you tight And you think love is to pray But I'm sorry, I don't pray that way [Chorus] Once I ran to you (I ran) Now, I'll run from you This tainted love you've given I give you all a boy could give you Take my tears and that's not nearly all Oh, tainted love Tainted love [Bridge] Don't touch me please I cannot stand the way you tease I love you, though you hurt me so Now, I'm gonna pack my things and go [Chorus] Tainted love, oh, tainted love, oh Tainted love, oh, tainted love, oh [Outro] Touch me, baby, tainted love Touch me, baby, tainted love Tainted love, oh Tainted love, oh Tainted love

[tavina-writes]

8 shows to know you

I saw @jaimebluesq make a post about this, and I was like "oh... that sounds so interesting I want to make one" so here I am. This goes in chronological order of when I watched these and they ended up in my brainspace. (I also wanted to make an entirely cdrama list because !!!! cdrama lives in my brain rent free and has since I was a kid.)

Legend of the Condor Heroes - 1983

This is the classic version of LOCH! Made by TVB in the 80s! Turned a whole generation of people into HYS apologists bc this show was written by HYS apologists. Beloved (kind of evil) Wuxia Dilf and Petty Conwoman Daughter remains beloved and cute in my heart. My love for them is >10000.

2. The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan - 2001-2009

The inherent comedy of these three! This series remains one of my childhood favorites and honestly kudos to the actors there's like 145 episodes of this Qing Dynasty political corruption show. (Also there was drama once because my dad lent out the dvds of the third series of this show that he'd bought in Beijing and carried back to the US in a suitcase to a so called "friend" and they straight up never gave it back.)

3. Scarlet Heart/Bu Bu Jing Xin/Startling By Each Step - 2011

One of the most UE UE UE of dramas AND one of the most banging soundtrack OSTs. Tell me that listening to Ivy Yan's "Three Inches of Heaven" 三寸天堂 does NOT make one UE UE UE into the nearest Kleenex.

4. The Story of Yanxi Palace - 2018

In my opinion, theee palace harem drama. As this poster explains there are only like two men in this drama. It's like the opposite of a danmei this drama is so sapphic vibes and I have so many ships and it's NOT FAIR NOT FAIR NOT FAIR. Anyway the reason I could get through this one when I have to persuade myself to think long and hard about Qing dynasty dramas in general is because there's really only 2.5 men here and they wear hats sometimes so I can ignore that they're bald. IN ANY CASE: WATCH YANXI.

5. The Story of Minglan - 2019

I watched this show as it came out and I think it's forever altered my brain chemistry when it comes to writing about historical women and also thinking about history and writing in general. There are no words to describe how much I love this show. The force of 100000 suns. THIS SHOW. I rewatch it almost every year and have since it came out, and honestly like, there are new things to discover every time I watch it. This is an amazingly well put together production and it deserves every episode it has and more.

6. Love and Destiny - 2019

It will be a very long time before they make a xianxia show like Love and Destiny again, with all the lush gorgeous visuals and the lavish costumes plus the classic xianxia reincarnation identity reveal plotline. This was a big budget production and it shows in how absolutely beautiful it looks. I love the main ship in this so much, but I also really really really love the mortal arc of this show (and honestly mortal arcs are kind of ehhh for me overall so anyway this show banging.)

7. The Untamed/CQL - 2019

While this came out in 2019, I was deep in my Minglan-L&D era at that point and did not listen to @autumnslantern who tried to get me to watch this until around like, March of 2022. Which probably is a mistake because now I'm a NHS apologist which could've happened sooner but like, here we are. Beloved flop man....

8. Love Between Fairy and Devil - 2022

This was my favorite show of the past year. This is a xianxia, which looks like it's a fun tropey romcom between star crossed lovers until it sneaks up on you and starts shanking you with a knife. And then you thank it for shanking you. and giving you feels. Anyway I'm so glad I watched this and WHILE the mortal arc is full of clowns....this is just a SHOW.

tagging @shadaras , @fortune-maiden, and @autumnslantern!

[sege-h]

Thoughts on the State of Play reveal

Under a readmore just in case

1- I know I said I'd keep the Son*dow tag blocked for a bit after Prime ended but I think I'll keep it blocked till the end of the year now lmao

2- I know the rumor has been going around since yesterday but I took it with a grain of salt since it's. Yknow. A rumor. But even when I let myself think 'what if its real tho' this is SO FAR FROM WHAT I EXPECTED. A!!! I thought at most we'd get is a remaster that'd also make Shadow playable! As soon as I saw the new level I was like WAIT WHAT. WAIT WHAT!!?!? and it just kept going from there!!!

I'm so happy we'll be getting a HD biolizard fight! He'll no longer be contained to the 3DS! Also from what little we saw Shadow will get to have some dynamic posing in the boss fights, like Super Sonic did in Frontiers. Good! I loved those!

3- Ian Flynn has #KnowingSmile'd the announcement and I'm hoping this means he got to write for whatever new content there is.

And speaking of Frontiers! I'm hoping that this ends up being Shadow's 'Frontiers' moment. In that his writing and character get what Amy's, Tails', and Knuckles' did in Frontiers.

4-I had the stream off to the side in another tab since I wasn't interested in most of what was shown. And then I heard the first few notes of the Generations music and i immediately switched tabs and I just!!! Feel like I did in 2011 except my computer/internet is way better, and you tube is shittier!

5- I'm excited for this for such Me reasons. For those new here- I live in a country that had no Sonic stuff for...well, never, really. Not until about 2022. The second movie did what I'd hoped the first movie would do (but then the pandemic happened) and brought over Sonic stuff here. For the first time in my life I went to a toy store here and it had Sonic stuff. I got to buy physical Sonic comics for the first time. For the first time in my life I can go to a video game store and actually see Sonic games there. It's been wild

That being said, 2011 had Nothing. Sonic Generations came out. And I didn't want to pirate it because a friend of mine had worked on it. I was determined to find it. And I only saw it irl one time- for the Playstation. A console I've never had. It was pretty upsetting! I remember posting about it here even....I've been on tumblr too long SHDGSHDHS

Later I'd find that there was a 3DS version. I have that! So I looked for that version of it alongside the PC one

So, for almost a decade, I looked, to no avail. And for this whole time I refused to look at any playthroughs! Any knowledge I had on whats in the game came from the trailers we saw

And then in 2019 my best friend helped me buy the 3DS version. I had 9 dollars on my 3DS and whenever the game went on sale it'd be on for 10 dollars. So he gave me a dollar and helped me get it SHDGSHDH

So I finally experienced Generations! It was surprise after surprise in that one, because I knew it was different but I didn't know how. I didn't expect a Rush level in it, or for the Biolizard to be in there!

And then in late 2020 when I got my new computer and could finally get steam, another close friend got me Generations for the PC! I'd somehow managed to dodge spoilers on it all those years so all I knew about it was: Theres Green Hill, Chemical Plant, City Escape, and a Silver boss fight.

I got to play modern City Escape for myself- which is the level that inspired the current iteration of my main OC, Storm. It was a joy

All this rambling to say...it's wild to think that once this remaster comes out, I'll be able to get it day 1, at least I hope I will. Still-it won't take me almost a decade to get to it

And if there's a physical release? I'll be able to go to a store here- HERE, not in one of our neighboring countries, not from somewhere else, but in a store here. Right across the street. And I'll finally have a physical copy of Generations. That was my final goal with the game-- I love it, I have two versions of it! And the plan was always that even though I'd gotten to play them now, if I ever ran into a physical copy of the game, I'd buy it. And now I'll really get to do it

6- Bonus thought of me being silly: Wowow my OC was shown at the State of Play--

[peterlorres21stcentury]

in case it wasn't obvious I am a huge Bethesda nerd

I know I shouldn't get excited. I know that the studio cannot possibly deliver on all of its wild promises in one slick marketing video. But... dammit... I can't stop thinking about S T A R F I E L D 😭

I have been playing Bethesda games since Skyrim came out in 2011, and it was an experience that has never been replicated. I LIVED in that world for ages (still do, on occasion)! Then I added some mods and played even more. And when I finally, finally exhausted everything after multiple playthroughs, I went back into the catalogue and immersed myself in Fallout 3, Fallout 4, New Vegas (ok Vegas was another studio, but it's the same engine) Morrowind, Oblivion... eh, maybe not Oblivion, I didn't like it as much.

In any case I played the hell out of these games. I created a lovable cast of recurring characters and archetypes across every game so that I could experience all sides of these fictional worlds. I made little Peter Lorre clones as best I could:

death has come for YOU, evildoer! *ehehe*

And now Bethesda has a new open-world game which promises to be everything that the Elder Scrolls and Fallout were, but IN SPAAAAACE! And meanwhile I am left sitting here vibrating with anticipation until September and hating myself for it. I shouldn't be fooled by wild promises! I know the game is going to be so jank on release it's going to be unplayable for weeks. It's a sacred Bethesda tradition.

But... but I must build my own spaceship! I want to gather resources and build the most fabulous mining colonies on other worlds and get stinking rich doing it. I want to be a space pirate and hijack other spacecraft and steal everything not nailed down while charming the pants off everyone. I want to roleplay as one of Peter Lorre's far-flung fictional descendants, like some manner of endlessly rebirthed ghola, for fun and profit. I want to capture alien creatures and showcase them on a poorly-secured Jurassic Park- style planet and charge money for admission (okay I don't actually know if that last one can be done, but I still want my dangerous alien creature zoo). I want to test out all the different character builds and traits for roleplay and skill checks--I want to know if the character creation models allow me to finally create a fat character, not merely thick or muscular but really, properly big bellied and FAT so that Torg can actually look like he feasts on the world??!

It's... really easy for me to get lost in fictional worlds. I'm already planning the kinds of stories and characters I want to play, and the damn game isn't even out yet. Halp meh

[clairethecutepup]

Social Media Won't Fix Your Loneliness and Other Problems...

Social media, something we essentially can't separate from our offline lives these days-- whether we want them so or not. However, for all its benefits it may offer, very rarely can it ever be used as a problem solver... Case in point, it won't solve your personal issues of invalidity or loneliness-- despite the "social" aspect that allows engagement with others, including in "validating" manners. If anything, it can worsen those very problems or simply be enough to ruin your day. I know, it's nonsensical to lecture, "Don't do this!" or "Don't do that!" and leave it at that. So, I won't and actually tell you how to lessen it's hold on you, even if not completely. After all, I figured out my own way for my personal vices: loneliness from "stir-craziness," and a desire for peoples' attention and praise.

In fact, I'm starting to think that's exactly why I had some odd, emotional issues stemming from something like Corn Kidz 64: it hits a nostalgic nerve, taking me back to earlier days. When I was younger, I'd generally have school be my only time of having others to engage with-- if I didn't bother them-- or instead play with the younger children my mom took care of and had to focus on. When middle school came and I was old enough to be left home alone, it'd essentially just be me most of the time. Think of yourself repeating the pandemic's "stay at home" order every Summer, since you can't really leave the house and all that. Naturally, and being of age, social media would become a habit.

Likewise, it was around the time my creative desires were at an all-time high, and now I finally had the chance to share things I made. Unfortunately, being a beginner and eager kid, it wasn't the warmest reception. It wouldn't be until my first ever Deviantart account, around half a year later, that people would be a tad more supportive and friendlier (this was the early 2010's). Of course, not everyone was suddenly nice to me, I still got "called out" for making content of terrible quality. 

Naturally as a result, it led to developing my first social media vice: the need for validation, even all these years later. After all, you "gotta prove them wrong" and "prove I'm talented," prove that you can make your dreams of creating beloved content that's spread far and wide come true. Even though, you'll forever be resentful of your past self for not starting out as well and costing yourself a "head start" in achieving that goal, regardless of if achieved or not. Given how nostalgic CK64 is and how it generally feels like a game I would've also enjoyed in school, and even make content of back then, it’s no wonder it hits such a strong nerve. Honestly, thank goodness Bogosoft never went through with Final Freekend's 2011 release (the "prototype"), I would've probably subjected the goats and Ally to inclusion in less quality-filled content.

So yeah, again CK64 fandom (if any of you are reading this), I'm sorry for the past decree of disinterest in working on further content related to the game. If you're wondering what my discouragement problem was, it was probably that: being mentally transported back to days where I had to prove I could make good stuff, too, and feared possible annoyance at me for simply sharing what may not be "good enough" or I’m doing something to make me unappealing. I mean, I found out it was the truth with some people, but who honestly should care? It doesn't undo the past nor is it still the past, and it won't fix my vices to suddenly have everyone declare me their favorite person and that I make their favorite content.

No, only I can fix that-- just like you can, too, with whatever vice causes you to seek out social media. I can fix the loneliness, by spending less time within the room I rely on for digital work; I can fix the need for validation and all, by focusing less on completing things and more on making the process of completion fun or relaxing. I try to curb the habit of staying home as often as possible, learning to make myself go out there and actually feel ready to stay home for the day; I try to stay away from my phone and wane myself away from checking notifications.

True, there is no "cure" for such vices and we'll all still feel their emotional effects upon us, but we can weaken its hold. You also might not be able to have the solutions I do, like it being safe enough nor simply possible to just sit outside of your living space. But, you always have a solution that doesn't have to be a permanent escape from whatever mental, psychological or other type of torment your social media vices cause. If you can't go outside, you can instead use the internet to educate yourself, hone your skills-- things more enriching than "how many people 'appreciate' me and care?" They also have special spaces online dedicated to just chatting, if you find yourself strongly needing social interaction and the web is your only option. I believe Silverline has an online service as much as a phone one...? Or, you could always look up: "chatting spaces to avoid loneliness." There's also "offline" solutions, like traditional artwork or a good book. 

It may be hard at first, avoiding your "doom-scrolling" or need to see if ol' Claire here had "redeemed" herself, but it's not impossible. You only need to find the solution that works for YOU, and it can be whatever YOU want-- no matter how "pathetic" or otherwise it could seem to others, don't be afraid to do what makes you feel most comfortable and less likely to feel pushed into behaving drastically. 

Remember, don't make social media your world nor solution, only keep it as a means of enjoying what others share and especially enjoy sharing what you want to. Unfortunately, I'll be limiting my own "enjoying" of others' things, at least for the time being; but one day, when I get my issues fully sorted out, I'll be back to enjoying others' CK64 and other independent forms of fan-content and otherwise.

Good luck to you guys, too.

[blindrapture]

WEDNESDAY JULY 13TH, 2011 ("Operation: RIse Against Fear")

12:32 AM We’ve hit the Kentucky border. Great. Like I care.

12:40 AM Donnie’s trying to grab my hand. I’m trying to drive! >_> Gah. One-track mind.

12:44 AM ..sorry. .____.;; I didn’t mean to get like that. I.. I don’t know. I just don’t know.

12:56 AM I hate.. I hate something. Myself, probably. It’s who I always hate, after all. I am the sickness, and I’m down. ..ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah? God, that was cheesy. …heh. Like, wow. That was insanely cheesy. Even for me. Hahahahahahaha. Ha. What was I even mad about earlier? Ah, who cares.

1:49 AM Hitchhikers!

1:50 AM They kicked us out of the car and drove off.

2:29 AM I did not miss the slowness of walking. "It definitely sucks." We can’t even listen to music. And I've got an Alice in Chains craving! "We didn't have any Alice in Chains." Yeah, it was kind of burning in the back of my mind even still. It's "The Man in the Box," I want that song. It was in Rock Band 2. "That's a good song. That was in Rock Band?" I'm telling you, the best setlists in either the games or music industry were in those games. "I liked Guitar Hero 3." Yeah, see, you're missing out. There's a whole thing, I can prove algebraically that Rock Band was leagues above Guitar Hero. I mean, RB3 was seen as a weirder setlist, but I think it just needed more time to grow on people. The fact of the matter is, the RB trilogy is unrivaled. You'd be hard-pressed to find a single mediocre song. Case in point: “Pull Me Under” is Dream Theater’s only hit single in their, what, 26-year career, yet when Harmonix decided to give them a song in Rock Band 2, they instead chose “Panic Attack.” Neversoft played it safe in Guitar Hero 4 and chose the hit single, while Harmonix made sure to choose a song that would be downright impossible to play on all instruments. Harmonix knows what they’re doing. They don’t just choose the popular songs; they choose the songs that will be fun to play. Because every member of Harmonix is a musician in some way. Who better to craft a music game? And, y'know, Harmonix were the creators of Guitar Hero. They made the first two, then went off and made Rock Band as just.. a Bigger and Better kind of thing. Meanwhile, Guitar Hero gets Neversoft assigned to them, and look, I love Neversoft! I grew up with the Tony Hawk games! THUG and THAW were my childhood! But Neversoft are good at making skateboarding games. They're not musicians; they can't compete with Harmonix, and they'd never beat them at their own game. ...literally! ...I mean. Am I going on? "I like it." :) Ah, Harmonix! You and Valve were my all-time favourite video game developers.

2:38 AM I remember reading an article, an interview with a couple Valve employees. They talked about the way Valve works. And it was like first fuckin’ contact with an alien species! They said that there are essentially no higher-ups in that company, no set agendas, no status quo, no conventional business structure at all. The way they decide what game they’re gonna make next? Someone experiments and makes a little demo— entirely by themselves or with whoever else wants to help— and tries to get more and more people to help him make it. That is it. Can you believe it? o_o "o_o" So the only reason Half-Life 2: Episode Three never came out was because nobody actually got around to finishing it. ..I’m sure there were more complicated reasons than that; I respect Valve more than that.

5:35 AM Decided to stop at the nearest hotel. We’ve been walking for so goddamn long, though we’ve been trying to make it easier by talking about just about anything we could think of. Video games, movies, even resorted to talking about porn at one point. (There were opinions to be had...) Map says we’re about halfway through Kentucky now. We’re making great progress! But then again, we just lost our car, so.. this next leg might be a lot slower than before. And plus we’ve still got to pass through Missouri before we reach Nebraska, let alone even California... ugh. Anyway, Donnie and I are talking about our plans for this journey. We know, maybe even more than trying to get to any physical destination, we’re gonna have to figure out how to find the Cipher. Me, I’m kinda hoping we’ll run into EAT again. She has her suspicions about that thing. “It’s a Fear. It’s no different from the Harlequin. It’s planning something. When we get past a Fear unscathed, we're not safe, our backs are turned. And that one knows a lot about us.” I.. don’t know what to say to that! She could very easily be right. But in the end, I told her the fact that EAT knows so much about us is also what makes it our best bet at the moment. It’s a being of knowledge; we’re X factors. It’s not gonna attack us unless we prove ourselves to be a threat. Besides. The Ciphers seem to be the answer. We scared Archie and the Musicians last time, didn’t we? ..right?

1:11 PM Awake now. Nice sleep. Dreamed of sweet foods. ..wow, Donnie looks great today. .w.; Well. Time to resume our long walk. ^^;;

1:13 PM Wait a minute. We just entered a rabbit hole, didn’t we? I mean, we’re kinda now in Rachael Land.

1:20 PM Oh, now all the Rachaels are crowding around me. I’m making sure Donnie stays close. ..oh, now they.. left. o_o

1:24 PM Donnie says they’re all glaring at her. ..I don’t see them doing that.

1:30 PM I asked a Rachael where I might find the exit to this rabbit hole. She asked which exit I wanted. I said I wanted to go to Nebraska, specifically, but anywhere close is good. Then she looked at Donnie and said she’s not helping us. So now we’re on our own. Now, I admit, I can see them glaring. Tiger Stripes is at the ready.

1:37 PM Some Rachaels are coming our way. Some are cracking their knuckles. I am so ready fo oh Donnie says she’s got this.

1:38 PM holy shit. o_o She really does got this.

1:40 PM She fucking wiped the floor. Owo;; Oh shit, look out, second wave! She threw her frying pan on the ground and pulled out the empty rifle. She's swinging it like a baseball bat.

1:44 PM That one’s got a gun. Donnie’s got her hands full. I’m not just gonna stand here.

1:45 PM HELLO MEET X-PLORER Got her hand, dropped the gun. Good. Now the Rachaels are coming for me too. Tiger Stripes, we’re gonna have to strike harder than we really want to.

1:48 PM RACHAELS WITH SHOTGUNS FUCKING REALLY? "Hold onto your hat, let's go!" yes, ma'am!!!

1:49 PM DOWN THIS ALLEYWAY

1:50 PM MOVE IT BLUES BROTHERS …WAIT

1:85 PM A voice speaks to me: "Do you want to see?" Repression, obsession, lay your character bare. You make a good pair.

4:44 PM Ugh. Where the hell are we now. It’s a house. …OH hello dead person on the floor. I’ve gotten pretty used to this by now. Where’s Donnie there she is hi. Okay. Next step is to figure out where we are.

4:48 PM This seems to be a town. Not sure how big it is yet. SCREAM what What’s happening.

4:49 PM ..a lady ran out of the house and called us monsters. o_o Now she’s chasing us!

4:58 PM Crowd of people, hoping they’re people and not zombies!

4:59 PM Yep, people. The crowd’s shutting up, the lady stopped chasing us. A man’s coming up to find out what the hubbub is.

5:00 PM The lady called us monsters, and we said we weren’t. The crowd’s pretty sure we’re not monsters. The lady said we killed the mayor. We said we didn’t; we just arrived via rabbit hole. The crowd believes us. Now the dude’s gonna speak to us in private.

5:40 PM He told us what was going on. Apparently, we found a sanctuary under armed protection. Apparently, we’re in East Saint Louis, Illinois. Just a little further west is the state of Missouri, actually. Apparently, the organization protecting this town calls themselves “Operation: Rise Against Fear.” It's a reference to the international organization, but word is flaky on if they're actually related. And apparently, the organization’s logo is a faceless suited man flipping off the slender man. Are you starting to get the picture, journal? Okay, last clue: A good portion of the people in this town keep a Guy Fawkes mask with them. These guys are Anonymous. ..well, I mean, to be exact, they were formed by various members of Anonymous. That was kind of a big project, after all. But this was one of their branches. They must be at least competent at defending people?

5:45 PM The guy I’ve been speaking to tells me a black dog’s been spotted. Well, he said the black dog. Because apparently the Black Dog is a Fear. It’s said to be a deathly omen.

7:21 PM Donnie and I have decided we’re not gonna leave these guys on their own. We’re spending the night with these guys. We support their cause. Besides, it’s about time we stood up to the Fears.

8:19 PM Dinner time, hell yes.

8:22 PM Good god. The whole town has gathered into this hall just to receive some food. These guys look skinnier than I expected.

8:30 PM I was just asked why I’ve got so much meat on my bones. …I don’t. o_o I'm kinda unhealthily thin?

8:41 PM This man wants Donnie to go with him. I asked if I can go along. Donnie assured me she’ll be fine. ..well, okay. ._.;;

9:05 PM Donnie’s back. She says the man told her we look like Fears; people don’t trust us. Apparently, it’s because we look too young, too normal. Everyone around here’s pretty much either starving or dying of some disease, and here we are, two relatively not-bad-looking kids with absurd clothing and strange weapons just waltzing on in via rabbit hole! So he gave her two Guy Fawkes masks to disguise ourselves. And then he tried to make some advances on her. She says she took good care of that problem, though; Donnie can really take care of herself. ..she winced a little after saying it. ._.

9:39 PM The people around here are offering us a place to stay. Well. I mean. I guess sleeping would be nice!

11:00 PM Knock knock. I’ll get it.

11:01 PM Oh, it’s an Anon. See, Guy Fawkes mask. It’s the mark of the culture. :3 ..o____o SHUTTHEDOOR WHATTHEFUCK WHATTHEFUCK WHATTHEFUCK THATWASN’TANANON OHMYGOD OHMYGOD WHATTHEFUCK That guy’s mask wasn’t a mask, it was his face. o__e Its mouth moved, its eyes blunk, it breathed. whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck

11:05 PM Donnie took a peek outside. There’s no one out there now. Ohhhhh, I have a bad feeling about this.

11:08 PM Guy Fawkes masks? In the trash.

11:11 PM I WISH SHIT WOULD GO WELL FOR US. I wish shit would go so well for us. ohgod

11:13 PM At the heavy advisement of my cohort, I’m.. I’m going to try to get some sleep.

11:20 PM We’re talking about methods of relaxation and stopping panic. Donnie knows a lot about it. ..hugging her.

11:35 PM ..are you sure you’re okay, ma’am? After all the excitement and after that guy.. “I’m fine.” You’re shaking. “I don't want to talk about it.” Well… you don't have to. But I want to say something. Donnie, you've been an angel to me, placing your trust in me and working to keep me up and going. Ever since we met, you've been an unexpected friend, flawless and selfless. And I need to do the same for you. I need to back you up. I need to listen to you. And I need to make sure you know that we're in this together. I've got your back. …"Thanks." We're not in a safe place here, I don't think. We're getting back on the road tomorrow. "Yeah. That's a good idea." ...I'm going to hug you now, if that's alright. "Please do."

(Attached: “As an aside: The narrative of the world, as it were, doesn’t quite match the flow of Jordan’s journals. When he and Donnie were trapped in Blackpool, a team of scientists in South America had the idea to sail to Antarctica and hold a global convention with lead scientists from the rest of the world. Contrary to what one might expect, that actually worked. In fact, the plan may have been communicated a little bit too well. When the day of the convention came– I believe the date was June 30th, not that it’s important– the hall was well beyond capacity. One headcount later, and they realized they were trapped on a frozen continent with Camper. Jump forward to this date, that of July 13th, and the narrative of the world had hit a sort of rock bottom. China had completely abandoned its west half, electing to migrate east for reasons I’m actually not all that sure about. I think it was a nasty case of Eldritch Bear. Either that or the abundant fertile soil in the east. Yeah, maybe it was that one. South Africa, however, may have been the only country not totally lost of hope. Their local sect of Rise Against Fear-ites were quite successful in recruiting members, and as much as the Fears like to boast about their ‘eldritch’ this and 'incomprehensible’ that, they don’t really fare well when against literal armies of gunfire and all-terrain vehicles. But yeah, generally people were fucked. See, for another example, Sweden. What’s that? You can’t see it? Not anymore.”)

[PREV LOG] [TABLE OF CONTENTS] [NEXT LOG]

[despair-to-future-arcs]

Worst girl is showing some depth.

'Alright so since we got a general relationship with the 4 other girls...'

'How about we talk about Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, if that's okay?'

'...I mean, I don't mind but I'm not sure if my testimony would be very useful and I remember being really sad when it happen, you sure you want to hear it?'

'Ibuki, even if you find your testimony isn't very useful; there could be something that we have overlooked so don't think your account is any less value then anyone else's...'

'I'm sure whatever comes up, we might realize something so go ahead.'

'Well... alright then, I'll see what I can remember...'

'Well... actually I remember thinking the music room was cursed...'

'Cursed? Oh right, you were constantly going on about it, did you remember anything?'

'Well... I think why I thought that was that whenever came across the music, I heard the piano playing and then when I went in there, no one was in there...'

'It's actually why I started to practice with Hiyoko, so I wouldn't be freak out...'

...

...

...

Date: June 10th, 2011

*walks down the hall* Man, I can't wait for more practice, eh Shoji?

How about we go to an amusement park, eh?

Oh right yeah, I suppose we should do that...

Honestly I wouldn't mind that so let's go.

Awesome, I can't wait and-!

[X]

Whoa, wait... did you hear that?

...I think so, I...I think it might be piano music?

Yeah but I don't think we have an Ultimate Pianist, right? Hmm, I think I should go check...

*Ibuki goes to the music room* Heeeeyo, I just want to say you did a great-!

...?

*Ibuki sees that the room is empty, there was no one here...*

Whoa... there isn't anyone here, that's pretty freaky...

*walks in and looks around* Seems there isn't, huh? I wonder what happen...

I'm not sure but maybe...

Wait, do you think there's a ghost?! Is the school totally curse!

Gh-Ghost?!

Ye-Yeah, I think there might be... say, you think we should avoid the music room, ghost freak me out.

Ye-Yeah, we should go do that...

*the 2 walk out together...*

'I think we agree to avoid the music room for a while for that reason...'

[refundtheticket-archive]

If I can ask, how did you come about with identity discovering stuff? I’ve been following you for a while and have noticed name/pronoun changes. It’s something I keep going back and forth on not sure how I feel so I’m just curious. No prob if you don’t wanna talk about it

oh wow hi. this got a little long and a LITTLE personal so i will put it under a read more... warning for like some vague references to suicide ideation or something? idk?? (i'm ok 👍) hopefully this is all on topic and provides some insight.

tbh i am going to be honest, i have been sort of stumbling around in the dark for like. at least thirteen years?? with regards to gender stuff. like i first started questioning my identity when i was like. in high school, around 2009 ~ 2011. and then ended up becoming friends with other trans people and watching them come out and pursue gender identity stuff for a LONG WHILE and only really made the decision i wanted to focus on being trans instead of desperately pretending i was a cis lesbian liiiike three? years ago? so i am terrible to ask for advice on this LOL but frankly what made me go ahead now was just this understanding that like. there is clearly something Missing, and i was about to turn thirty and was gripped with this fear that i would go on feeling this way, just Empty, and not doing anything and then next thing i knew i'd be forty (or dead). which motivated me to look into talking to a therapist to start with which was a great way to move forward with things and i would recommend if that's something you can pursue or feel comfortable doing.

in terms of name, i actually really had no clue when it came to name stuff, i didn't really want to change my nickname from steph just because thats what everyone already called me, but i knew with a lot of people it'd be hard to walk them through "i masculine but my name stephanie" so i just took the "ie" off and "tried out" going by stephan, which ended up feeling really right in a way i had, like. never experienced before. just this like. "wow thats my NAME" sort of thing instead of "these are the sounds people make to refer to me". in terms of pronouns, this is really lame but i wanted to try out using "he" just because i had already known i was going to just come out as a trans dude to my family rather than mess with any nonbinary stuff that i knew cis people would have a harder time understanding (i just didn't want things to feel like a huge struggle) and wanted to see how "he" felt just in case that worked for me (because i was really worried i'd go from pretending to be a girl to pretending to be a guy with no respite). luckily he doesn't feel bad! to be honest i'm still sort of feeling it out (i still have a sort of HUH? reaction when people use it for me but it's not a bad feeling, i just still don't hear it often compared to how much i hear 'she') but through its usage i've also sort of lost connection with just "they" so i don't think i could go back to just they/them anyway. i will say, "trying things out" is a really great way to explore gender stuff without it being this high pressure "changing these terms forever" sort of thing. just tryin' out they! just tryin' out she! tryin' out being called another name sometimes! etc.

i'll be honest, i feel like taking so long to explore gender stuff did actual damage to my brain LMAO like i feel like some element of my brain structure that processes gender feelings and happiness and the world around me has atrophied from lack of use and it makes it really hard to go forward with things because i feel like i'm feeling around in the dark. but i do know that going forward with trans stuff (like coming out to certain family members and finding a doctor to pursue hrt and top surgery) has made me feel really Right even if its extremely scary, and i am excited to see where further exploration takes me (assuming my doctor can ever actually get me on hormones instead of whatever it is he's doing but yknow thats neither here nor there).

i hope this all made sense and was in any way instructive LOL. tbh i feel like a really bad person to ask about these things bc idk what i'm doing. it feels more like fleeing from a burning building right now than making any real constructive first steps toward the rest of my life, but it also feels like something i need to do to like... at some point find any joy in living. and it also feels like the first major thing i've really done in my life that i've done For Me and not just. something that feels like i either Should be doing or something that feels like its just Happening, which feels good for my brain to experience for once. and i hope it leads to a happier me :3 it's so easy to live life in dull, flat misery, way easier than some people think and i do feel like i'm slowly getting a better grip on myself and coming to understand myself as a person. and hopefully some day i can stop feeling like i'm watching the world through a computer screen instead of actually living in it!!!

[thedreamyperidot]

Very much new to tumblr, so I'm not entirely sure how all this works yet. I don't exactly know how to respond to reblogs yet so bear with me. First off, your ramblings are totally fine, don't have a problem with it at all. The reason I'm responding to you is to explain my perspective on the game and how it was handled. This mostly concerns you calling the devs lazy. (Note: I don't fault you for thinking this, nor am I upset about it. Sorry if this ends up being a super long reply lol)

I'm not going to go deep into the details of my life and who I am, but I think it's important to know that I've been taking game development classes for about 2 years now. I'm not an employee of GameFreak, or the Pokemon company, so I can't give any definitive answers on why the game came out the way it did, but I am almost certain that it isn't because the people involved were being lazy.

I'm not exactly sure how to best explain this, but from my experience with the game, it seemed like the team behind it genuinely cared about the project. The art direction completely shifted, pokemon are much more detailed now, there is an overabundance of things to see and do, and the core game is actually really fun. Character designs are great, the writing is well done, and there are so many creative ideas at play here.

Now if that is the case, why is it such a mess from a technical perspective? There is the chance that their game engine needs an update, and there is also the fact that this is their first fully open world game, but I don't think either of those are the main culprit. The two potential reasons why I think the game ended up the way it did is either a lack of time, or a lack of money.

First off, let me explain my reasoning for time. Breath of the Wild was the first Zelda game to attempt an open world. It's development started not to long after the release of Skyward Sword in 2011 with a planned release date in 2015, but got delayed to 2017. This left that team with a development time of 6 years. The dev time for Scarlet and Violet was presumably 3 years, with SwSh dlc, and Legends Arceus being developed at the same time. When you are making an open world game that has a strict deadline, some corners are definitely going to have to be cut. This deadline is set by the Pokemon Company to keep sales up while pumping out more merchandise.

My second thought is that there is not enough money going around. Before anyone says that Pokemon is the largest franchise in the world, yes I am aware, however, Gamefreak doesn't get to decide how much these games are funded; the Pokemon Company does, and they also have to balance out things like the mobile games, merchandise, the card game, the anime etc. Gamefreak only gets a small small portion of that cut. Because of this, they can't just quadruple their team size just to pump out higher quality games quicker, because The Pokemon Company wants to turn a profit.

As unfortunate as it is, this stuff isn't completely in the hands of GameFreak, and as such they don't really have much control over it. This is mostly speculation on my part, but it is a fairly educated guess. Sorry for the long winded post, but I think that the devs get treated quite unfairly by fans who think that they are the sole reason that the games won't improve in quality.

I hope my own rambling at least gave you some insight on game development, and it's many challenges and I hope this helped you understand my point of view on the subject a little bit better!

oh my god! yeah maybe saying lazy wasnt the best way to go tbh, it was 2am when I made those tags so my word choice wasnt the best (Also why I mentioned how if you disliked the tags you could let me know sjdhjfj)

I think that the points you make are completely true! Game Freak mightve cared a lot for the game but due to factors out of their control the product ended...like that. It's honestly such a shame as someone who was a huge pokemon fan since they were 8, seeing the series suffer due to capitalism has been incredibly disheartening.

Thank you for this ask! I appreciate your thoughts in this and I understand my wording might not have been the best.