#its very fun to look at everything with love even if its stupid lmao

[moregraceful]

many things i have been keeping under wraps at work, such as pronouns, but also, very critically, age. bc i got that ageless mixed race asian swag where i am very clearly not an undergrad but also??? they just don't know. and it WHIPS and it is so funny to ME because all the managers and shift supervisors are like damn this girl in her mid-twenties is so easy to talk to, it's like talking to a peer. surprise bitch i'm older than you. and maybe this means i'm performing psychological experiments on cis men, but i am ngl if i hand you a two page resume that you don't read, it is simply none of MY business if you think i am in my mid-20s. they are going to be so mad when they find out lmao

[hyunjining]

(so sorry if any of this comes out as sarcastic/mean its not)

So like I've never been into kpop or celebrity stuff or anything (aka my blorbos are only fictional characters) but youve shown up on my dash a couple times recently and you seem like a chill person to ask so like- What's the like *vibe* with fandoms like these? Like whats the interesting part about these people to u thats enough to make a whole blog about them? Ive heard about people shipping them like theyre characters so it is that?? Is it the people themselves? Is it just the pretty factor? I'm assuming its not just the songs cuz ive seen a lot of fanfics n fandom stuff that are about the *people* instead n its made me really curious cuz i dont think I get it?

well, as someone who’s been in fandoms for real people for like 15 years at this point, i feel pretty qualified to answer this lol. the music is of course a big factor, at least for me. i wouldn’t closely follow anyone if i didn’t love their art. but i do love them as people too.

in the case of kpop, the industry puts a big emphasis on fan interaction and fanservice, and as a result there’s a lot of content that revolves solely around getting to know the idols (variety shows, vlogs) and forming a parasocial bond with them (fancalls, direct messaging, public forums that idols can comment on). which of course can be a bad thing, and kpop fans can get uniquely extreme about it, but my personal philosophy is always to treat artists as human beings and not assume that i know everything, because i obviously don’t.

anyway, with stray kids specifically, i really admire that they’re one of the few self-produced kpop groups and they all seem to have a genuine passion for making music and performing. they have a strong familial bond; they’re all very unique, strong personalities, and yet they come together so beautifully to pursue a common goal. the common goal being making really fucking good music that spans multiple genres.

they’re extremely funny and it’s a riot watching them bounce off each other. they’re literally all weird and insane in the best ways possible. they’re not perfect, they’ve messed up, but i think they’ve demonstrated that they have good hearts and they genuinely care about others. they try their best to make everyone feel welcome in their space, and they have a deep love and appreciation for their fans. and yes, they are outstandingly beautiful and just looking at them is gratifying in and of itself lmao.

in terms of shipping and fanfics, well. stray kids is a goldmine. lots of constant homoerotic tension between various pairings, which of course they play up in a fanservice way, but underlying all the messing around are very real bonds of love. and that’s all in addition to some very intentional and repeated queer-flagging from some members. but like generally they just love each other so much and it’s so palpable in everything they do that it’s just fun to explore the possibilities i guess. i can’t really speak for other idol groups, but that’s the deal with skz.

ultimately, i guess i would say the vibe of stanning idols is just… gushing over vlogs and ig posts and photoshoots and messages and getting really hyped about new music. but also worrying that they’ll fuck up because they’re human. and worrying about their wellbeing because the idol industry and fandoms can be absolutely brutal. and seeing a million fanwars a week about which group charts the best and sells out the most stadiums, but also about even stupider, more inconsequential things. but overall, if you curate your experience, it can be a lot of fun. i hope that answers your questions even a little bit lol, that kind of became me just raving about stray kids.

[lelengerine]

HERE FOR YOUR YOUTH LOVE SOME DRABBLE EVENT!!! I thought yushi + supercute would be a boring pairing but I love them both too much to not request it... supercute is just so yushi!!!!

͙͘͡★ ducking around with u !

song prompt. “you make fun of me for carrying around a keychain that looks like me, but i caught you buying the matching one, and now we’re in a silent stand-off about it”

pairing. highschool bff!yushi x reader

tags. mutual pining, fluffy fluff, i wrote this with a fem!reader but there aren’t any details explicitly stating so, ducks, both of them are a bit petty lmao (but its all fun and games), that's mostly it!

wc. 1.2k words

notes. THANK U FOR REQUESTING YUSHI WITH SUPERCUTE CAUSE I WAS WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT TO HAPPEN 😭😭 i hope u enjoy reading this as much as i loved writing this one rinaa <3 likes, reblogs, and feedback are very much welcome!

꒰ m.list | event m.list ꒱

it started, of all things, with a duck.

a soft, round, yellow duck, wearing a pretty, lilac bonnet that looked a little too big for its head. it sat by the bookstore’s counter, flopped over like it had given up on life, and somehow your friends decided it was you. “look at it!” they laughed, tugging at your sleeve, pushing the tiny plush into your hands. “it’s you. it’s literally you.” you rolled your eyes, but the longer you stared, the more you saw it—the same sleepy expression, the stubborn tilt of its head. 

maybe it was you. 

maybe you didn’t mind.

maybe that’s why you bought it on a whim and tucked it against your bag where it swung with every step you took. you thought no one would notice from the amount of keychains that were already dangling from the sole zipper of your bag that was hanging on for dear life, but you should’ve known better.

“you seriously paid money for that?” yushi’s voice drawled behind you the moment you slid into your seat beside him after class, casual like he had been waiting for an excuse to comment all afternoon. you glanced over, only to find him flicking the duck’s plump body so it spun dizzily in the air. his expression was unreadable, save for the slight curve of his mouth—mild amusement mixed with something smug. “looks kinda stupid.” he paused, eyes glinting as they flicked to you. “kinda like you.”

you gasped, grabbing your poor duck like it needed protection. “you’re unbelievable,” you muttered, though there wasn’t any real bite behind it. you were used to yushi’s teasing, the way he always looked a little too bored with everything, even while poking fun at you. 

you didn’t expect him to actually like the duck. you didn’t expect him to understand.

so you let it go, shaking your head as he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head, looking far too satisfied with himself.

you didn’t expect anything else either—until a few days later, when you wandered into the same bookstore after school. the scent of old paper and worn wood wrapped around you, warm and familiar, and you moved lazily between the aisles, half-looking for a new notebook, half just wasting time. yet the moment you turned a corner, there he was.

yushi, standing stiffly by the keychain rack like he had been caught doing something illegal. you ducked behind a display, heart leaping into your throat. through a gap in the shelves, you watched as he stared at the keychains—the same ridiculous ducks. you watched as he reached out, hesitated, then plucked one off the rack.

it wasn’t the same duck you had. not exactly. this one wore a tiny blue cap instead of a bonnet, slightly crooked, but still carried that slightly stupid-looking expression he once criticized. yushi stared at it for a beat longer than necessary, his face impassive, unreadable as always. then, with the smallest sigh—as if he were giving in to something deeply inconvenient—he tossed it into his basket and turned away.

you stood frozen for a good minute after he disappeared behind the shelves, blinking like you had imagined the whole thing. 

but you hadn’t. 

yushi had bought the matching duck.

for the next few days, you said nothing. you waited, pretending not to notice how a flash of yellow sometimes peeked from the side pocket of his backpack, how he adjusted it carelessly when it got caught on the zipper. he didn’t say a word about it, and neither did you, but the knowledge burned under your skin every time you saw him.

it became a quiet standoff: two keychains swinging in silent defiance, two people pretending not to notice what the other was hiding. well… it was a standoff until the afternoon you finally cracked.

the library was bathed in late sunlight, the windows casting soft gold across the floor. yushi was already there when you arrived, sprawled in his chair like he had nothing better to do, flipping lazily through a manga with one hand. you sat down across from him with a dramatic thud, letting your bag fall onto the table so the duck bounced visibly against the wood.

yushi barely glanced up. his cap duck swung in lazy circles from his bag, taunting you.

you pressed the attack, chin propped stubbornly on your palm. "i thought the duck looked stupid. 'kinda like me,' wasn't it?"

across the table, yushi stretched with a lazy sort of grace, arms reaching high above his head until his hoodie tugged slightly at his waist. he looked completely unbothered by your accusation, like he barely even remembered saying it. his mouth pulled into a half-smile as he shrugged.

"it is stupid," he said simply, as if that was the end of it.

you narrowed your eyes, about to fire back something smart, but he moved before you could—reaching out with one hand to flick your forehead with a sharp snap. the touch was light but enough to make you scowl, swatting his hand away as heat prickled embarrassingly at your skin.

before you could gather yourself, he leaned in, elbow perched lazily on the desk, so close you could see the slow, amused tilt of his eyes. the sunlight hit the side of his face, softening the sharper lines of him, making him look almost unreal.

"but..." he added, and this time his voice dropped lower—softer, almost conspiratorial, like a secret tucked between syllables, "sometimes stupid things are cute."

your heart stumbled. you felt it like a skipped beat, a jolt that traveled all the way to your fingertips.

he didn’t move away. if anything, he tilted even closer, the small distance between you folding into nothing but breath and the soft hum of the library around you. his eyes found yours and held them there, like he was waiting for you to understand.

"like you," he added, easy as anything, a lazy grin ghosting his lips.

the words hit you like a pebble to still water, ripples spreading wide across your chest. you could barely think past the roaring in your ears—past the warmth blooming under your skin, threading through your ribs like light.

the tiny ducks on your bags swung gently with the breeze from the open windows, casting little dancing shadows over the table. everything—the gold of the afternoon, the slow sway of the library shelves, the creased paper of forgotten notebooks—seemed to hush around you, pressing this moment into something soft and real.

"idiot," you muttered under your breath, your voice cracking in the middle, more fond than furious.

you tried to hit him, a half-hearted swat at his shoulder, but he caught your hand with ridiculous ease, his fingers wrapping loosely around yours. his skin was warm where it touched yours, his grip relaxed, as if this, too, was no big deal. as if holding your hand was just another natural thing in a day full of natural things.

he didn’t let go right away.

and you didn’t pull back.

for a heartbeat, the world seemed to narrow down to just that—your tangled fingers, the heavy sunlight, the two stupid matching ducks swinging between you.

and just like that, the silent standoff ended.

neither of you won.

or maybe, somehow, you both did.

after all, it wasn’t really about the ducks, was it?

[cinny-cinnamon]

Bad Sans HCs! (sorry for late post 😭)

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･''･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･* *･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･''･

Nightmare

Oh we BOTH now that this man is possessive, jealous, BUT he sugar daddy approved sooo (sprinkle, sprinkle? 🥺)

Buys you anything AND everything. You want to eat at a cafe? He bought the building so he can have private café dates <3 (Horror is the one cooking and stuff there lmao)

He LOOOVEEESSSS you but he can NOT physically say it so here; take his money, hun 💵

He doesn’t sleep BUT he does lay down beside you while reading something

He doesn’t normally cook but he CAN bake your favorite desserts <3

Speaking of dessert, when you usually have a bad day, he’s the first to go to you, listen to you, feed you your favorite dessert and hunt down the person who hurt you 😊

Yeahhh… he’s REALLY protective of you

Speaking of protectiveness, whenever you hangout with a friend, he usually has an arm wrapped around your waist (or shoulder if you’re more comfortable with that)

Moreover, if someone hits on you, he WILL hit them (with his fist <3)

Killer

I say this with the most respect i have… THIS MAN IS THE CLINGIEST MF YOU’VE EVER KNOWN CAUSE DAMN THIS MAN DON’T KNOW HOW TO LEAVE YOU ALONE

He’s like a puppy. a very big oversized childish immature puppy with issues but you love him so you don’t care 🤷‍♀️

Speaking of his personality if a man even LOOKS at you in any weird way he gonna be like stab first ask questions later

Lovessss to kiss you anywhere and everywhere and a BIGGG fan of PDA

Despite his reputation of being a flirt, he’s really loyal to you and holds on to you like a child holding their favorite toy

Speaking of clinginess, he LOVESS to cuddle you and be big spoon (it feeds his ego to be bug spoon)

Along with the topic of his ego, despite his cockiness and arrogance, he’s kinda insecure about himself sooo sometimes you gotta reassure him you’d never cheat on him or leave him

Dust

You chose the traumatized one??? Interesting… (are you ok? 😭)

Like no judging cause I get it but… HE’S PROBABLY THE MOST MESSED UP OF THE GROUP 😭

But I feel like he would make an amazing listener so if you ever need to rant then just go to him (if it’s about someone who hurt you then he do a little ✨ stab-e-stab✨

Reading time with him is sooooo fun. He’ll probably either have you lay on his lap while he reads or him lay on your lap when he wants to nap

Late night convos with him ✨

Likes to make you a nice warm hot drink for reading

If you’re the one having a mental breakdown, he will listen, talk, cuddle and love you all the way through it.

Horror

hubby material

I love myself a man who can cook ngl

He knows how to cook? he tall and big? he sweet and precious in private? WIFE/HUSBAND/MARRY ME UP RN-

He gives like hamster vibes in private but in public… people are looking at ya’ll and be like “Is she being held hostage or smthng?” (you are being held hostage… WILLINGLY 😫)

He loves to cook for you anytime any day. Sudden midnight craving? Midnight cookies. Bad day at work and you’re starving? Your favorite comfort food! :3

This man is so attentive to your needs and wants its gonna make me cry-

Cross

my tsundere radar is TINGLING (TSUNDERE ALERT 🚨 TSUNDERE ALERT 🚨 HAND WITH CAUTION AND STUBBORNESS)

He tries to be the non chalant guy but as soon as he saw you he was like (o*｡_｡)o

Luckily you like him back (no matter how many times he ‘rejects’ you) so you just keep on bothering him <3

Although he probably lets you do things he won’t let others do to him like call him pet names, maybe a lil kiss, and holding hands

Remember: No matter what he says, he loves you so much

Also when people ask if ya’ll are dating he’ll say no and try to shrug it off, but when someone is flirting with you, oh HELL no. Protection Mode on

Error

Two tsunderes in a row?! Damn-

Well pretty much the same with Cross but with more ego and cockiness

He crochets you stuff too btw (maybe something like a cute lil plushie that says “you’re stupid”)

Althoughhhh he loves it when you share hot cocoa with him <3

Also he gets annoyed easily and probably won’t try to touch you because he’s haepephobic (fear of being touched) (idk how to spell that word)

Anyway that’s all, bye! <3

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･''･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･* *･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･''･

[elix8r]

Monkey Bars (sjy) - Teaser

PAIRING: jake sim x fem!reader

GENRES: smut, fluff, crack, college au, frat au, enemies to lovers, exes to lovers, maybe the slightest bit of angst?

TEASER WC: 0.35k once again i have no clue how long this is going to be but from what i feel rn it’s gonna be another long one and it’s also going alot slower than pink whitney rip ૮₍•᷄ ࡇ •᷅₎ა

SUMMARY:  Jake Sim was like the epitome of the perfect fourth-grade boyfriend. He had it all – being a year older automatically put him on the cool list (which in turn also boosted your popularity), genuinely kind, and very cute. But then, the earth-shattering truth that he was a two-timing cheater hit you like a ton of bricks. You caught him red-handed, holding another girl's hand and it devastated you beyond measure. So of course, in your nine-year-old mind, there was only one deserving punishment – a forceful push off the monkey bars during recess, resulting in a broken arm. 

And so, the battle lines were drawn. You and Jake became sworn enemies, a feud that carried on even into college. You saw him as a total fuckboy who always knew how to get under your skin, while he saw you as a snobby bitch who thought she was better than everyone else. But fate, in its twisted sense of humor, had other plans. Out of a class brimming with a hundred other possibilities, it was Jake who ended up being your assigned partner. 

Clearly, the world had favorites and you weren’t on that list.

THE FRAT DIARIES MASTERLIST

As Waka Flocka's "No Hands" reverberated through the pulsating house, your body instinctively moved to the infectious rhythm, the alcohol adding to the blissful sway. Suddenly, a strong arm snaked around your shoulders, and the intoxicating scent of cologne filled your senses. Your body melded snugly with theirs before they leaned in, whispering into your ear.

"What's your name?" His voice jolted you, instantly recognizable and sobering. Slowly, you turned your head to face him.

Jake fucking Sim. 

Out of all the people in the world, of course, it was him. The realization seemed to mirror his own sentiment, evident from the annoyance etched across his face. Disgusted, you pushed him away, eager to distance yourself from his unwanted proximity.

"Oh, fuck no. Fuck off," you shot him a withering look, brushing at your shoulders as if trying to wipe away any remnants of his presence.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" His question only served to reinforce your belief in his sheer stupidity. You rolled your eyes, mustering up the patience to respond.

"Really, Jake? Why do you think you dumbass?" The realization hit you that Epsilon Nu was the frat Jake belonged to, instantly eroding any remaining respect you might have had for the house.

"No way you got a bid from AES," he exclaimed incredulously, disbelief radiating from his eyes. "Only hot and cool girls go AES, and obviously, you're neither."

"You've clearly become even dumber since high school 'cause it seems like you've forgotten that I'm a triple legacy," you emphasized, feeling your blood pressure rise with every passing second of the encounter.

"Whatever, get away from me," he retorted, his face still contorted with disdain, prompting a scoff to escape your lips.

"You're the one who came over to me, you asshole." With that, the two of you abruptly turned away from each other, stomping off in opposite directions, each eager to put distance between yourselves. The excitement and joy that had previously filled bid day were now replaced by a sour mood.

Leave it to Jake to ruin everything.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: jake is so mean in this story but i love him sm like it’s so fun to write when both your main characters are assholes lmao it adds spice like this is already such a different vibe than pink whitney despite being in the same universe but i love it (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) 

[ofeliaxoxo]

https://www.tumblr.com/whewchilly/751801219837837312/v%C3%ADa-scuderia-ferrari?source=share

this is a very random small charlos moment but i love this video so much. confronted with an old photoshoot photo of themselves and the reactions are soooo different. the way charles mutters "ma che cazzo" at the beginning gets me every time it makes me giggle so much. he's looking away can't even look at the ridiculous blown up photo he's hunched inward from the embarrassment he's physically cringing. meanwhile carlos is amused having so much fun about it open mouthed delighted hehehe look at us as babies and the silly awkward looking pose they made us do. to the person recording he's even like look see don't i look good in this old photo ;D meanwhile charles has already started to leave he's like EYE would like to get out of hereeeeeee ! and carlos of course still dutifully follows :))

(and if you want to rpf it a bit… charles annoyed at being confronted by old memories by reminders of how long they've been doing all this together how much marketing photoshoots sponsor obligations bs they've had to do when it's all over at the end of the season. they'll have to take the photo down in a few months anyway why the fuck does it still have to be up now and most of all why is he being made to look at it standing around in this room. he doesn't want to !)

this moment is a fun one! the inherent cringe of being famous and having to take one million photos and then also see them all the whole time. your own stupid image just Right There.

"he's looking away can't even look at the ridiculous blown up photo he's hunched inward from the embarrassment he's physically cringing. meanwhile carlos is amused having so much fun about it open mouthed delighted hehehe look at us as babies and the silly awkward looking pose they made us do" you saying this reminds me of when they had to sign childhood photos last year in vegas and when they get handed them, carlos instantly just goes CUTIE CUTIE at his own photo lmao...and the Cutie Cutie has been playing in my mind he just says it so satisfyingly....but yes the incredibly visually appealing man cannot be embarrassed with his own photos this makes sense.

idk whats being said in the video are they being told to leave? i heard andiamo in there somewhere i think...either way charles is like Brill lets go and carlos is like make sure you film my terrible pose and stupid jeans please. youre seriously gonna want those on camera. lets linger in the moment you need to look.

"why is he being made to look at it standing around in this room. he doesn't want to" YES charles as The Avoider is my favourite way to rpf him. literally all i can say is Yes! i love a charles who is like if we dont look at the elephant in the room its not there. stop fucking looking at it its not there. youre seriously pissing me off now why do you keep talking about it we dont even have to say its there. meanwhile its sat next to him on the couch 3 inches from his face. and then carlos is like, eyes on the elephant, shaking with the effort of not directly bringing up the elephant, hey charles could we maybe...well how do you feel about...everything thats in the room?

[kate-bot]

OKAY SO I've gotten two asks about my Noisette cosplay AND THANK YOU SM FOR THE KIND WORDS !!!!!!!! It was sm fun to make this cos, so I will gladly explain everything I did in hopes that it might help someone else!! also both anons please share your cosplays with me when theyre done i would love to see them....

I've tried to link everything where I can, where I got stuff etc... I only rarely cosplay (although I am thinking of going as the noise in May Comiccon) and this was my biggest ever project so!! It's very trial-and-error! But without further ado

KATES EXTENSIVE(ish) GUIDE TO COSPLAYING NOISETTE FROM THE HIT GAME PIZZA TOWER!!!!!!! (warning its kinda long)

THE HAT

Okay i’m gonna be real my mum helped me so much she basically did all the sewing for me. Sewing is the fucking bane of my existence I hate doing it so much so we planned it out together and she basically executed it. Props to her for that she’s so real… She also wrote down what she did!! So i’ll just paste and colour that in for you to read!!

“The black material (seen in the above image) was originally a beanie hat that was picked apart to use as a template��

This was game changing basically. We had experimented with making the hat from scratch but it was far too difficult and we were both too stupid so we just unstitched a pre-existing hat and stole the template. The hat we cut up was one we had lying around for years so i cannot tell you where to get one from, but any beanie that is stitched together will work i guess! So I would recommend finding a hat that fits you snugly and doing the same thing!

…and the wool fabric that was utilised gave the finished product was stiff enough to be structurally sound.

I just got this from my local fabric shop, I would recommend wool over something like felt because it’s super sturdy and I was pulling on my mask a LOT.

Once sewn together, I attached a stiff card facemask to the front to help provide some structure, and to locate where the eye holes should be cut.

I think this picture shows it pretty well, my mum was able to curve the shape of the fabric to fit a pre-existing mask- we got ours from Hobbycraft, just one of those stringed white template masks yknow. We cut off the string, made the eyeholes a little bigger and just stuck it straight on!! I should mention this was pretty much all done with a sewing machine as well!

After that, we made two ears from a paper pattern, stuffed them and put some wire inside to allow them to be positioned, before sewing them onto this headband, which was then sewn into the hat. The bottom of each ear was also stitched to the crown to give it some additional stability and to secure the headband correctly in position (having fitted it on the wearer).

Yeah it was actually less of a mask and more of a headband!! That was what gave it most of the support and meant the ears would stay up, I’m not sure how it would work without it!! The ears were the only part that I could actually help with LMAO i just freehanded a little template, stuffed it, and then put in some modelling wire to make them able to be posed :)

Then it was a lot of hand sewing, and glueing the eyeholes to the mask to create a cohesive look.

AND YEAH that’s pretty much all it was! I also attached some little felt eyelashes to add to it as well. Honestly I could never come up with a step-by-step guide for the process because it was such a trial and error thing (i’d made two test-hats before we even came up with the method) but it was so fun!!

I would 100% recommend if you want the ears to stay UP to stuff them AS MUCH AS U CAN and/or put wire in them!! :) I also made some cute little bows to clip into my wig in the same fabric to make it more cohesive!! I also put a bow (and a bunny tail heheh) on the back of the dress too!!

THE DRESS

Super simple! I just found one online (okay for some reason the link has been taken off of the website, but just look up "overall dress" on google shopping and you will 100% find something super cute)- I made sure to buy the dress first, and then take it to the fabric shop to try and colourmatch the mask fabric as best as I could. Then it was just buying some big ol buttons off eBay and sewing them on!! (I could actually do that bit by myself, I'm bad at sewing but im not THAT bad)

EVERYTHING ELSE

Cute patterned knee-high socks cuz shes cute like that. Leg warmers, I think I got them both off of Amazon... Converse I got from Depop and I had wanted to buy a pair anyway so I was super stoked to get them cheap!! I chose converse over a pair of high-heels or Mary Janes just for comfort reasons, I was walking around loads at the con so... Everything else apart from the shirt was from Amazon or just. Somewhere online(I have no idea where to get fancy white gloves LOL) and the shirt was from Depop as well! I liked how frilly it was, re: Noisette is cute like that!!

oh yeah and the wig. I hate wigs it was awful. I have no idea how to style them. underneath the hat was the most awful bowl cut ever I just. It wasn't my best moment. Dont ask me about wigs please .

Also I should mention I got this bag for the cosplay (which I now use all the time cuz its so cute) because i needed space to store shit and I wanted something on-brand with her cafe... this isnt the exact link I used but I just got it off of ebay :P

PROPS

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of WIP pictures of my props but they were pretty simple to make!! The coffee cup was literally just spraypainting over a reusable coffee cup and using POSCA pen to draw on the front! Fun fact the cup says "To Peppino" because originally my boyfriend was gonna go with me as Peppino before the Cruetly Squad brainrot got to him so. YEA

And the tip jar was also pretty simple, I just painted on the lid a plastic jar (can't be glass, not allowed at ComicCon) and cut out a bit of vinyl to work as the sign. The cobweb was just hot-glued 3D printer filament, and the spider was made with foam modelling clay (literally the best thing ever if you're making small models like that) and i stuck him to the lid of the jar with Kandi string so he'd bounce around :]

AND I THINK THATS IT!! i may as well post a pic of the full cosplay since I dont think many people would have made it this far.... But I think it turned out pretty cool!! I got recognised a few times as well which was amazing!! (cropped out my bf cuz idk if he wants his face on tumblr gfhhfg)

SO YEAH!!!! if anyone has any questions please let me know.. but GOOD LUCK IN UR COSPLAY MAKING FRIENDS!!!! :D

[silverview]

🏆 achievement unlocked: ben wheatley feature completist 🎉 i’m not going to rank them but i am going to talk about them a bit!

down terrace (2009) ☕️

v impressive debut. the key pillars of the idiom are already here, and that’s why it’s good. unglamorous low-level organised crime and violence; family dysfunction/parent-child trauma; and – less obviously, but it’s there – folk sensibility. and michael smiley is there. he totally steals the show, as he does every time he pops up in one of these (with one exception obviously). not to get ahead of myself but my main takeaway from this whole exercise is that michael smiley is a genius

kill list (2011) 🔨

like down terrace, but MORE. more violent organised crime, more overt folk horror, more smiley. same amount of family dysfunction. if down terrace is the seed from which you can extrapolate the rest of the filmography, kill list is a perfectly condensed smoothie, all the key themes fully realised but blended together. i love it. i think you can draw a clear line from this to mother's ruin. reece says that after seeing this, he turned to wheatley and asked “why did you make that?” which i think is a fair question. i relayed the anecdote to my bf who spluttered indignantly and said “i don’t know, reece, why do we do anything? why did you black up?”

sightseers (2012) 🚗

all these films are at least a little bit funny, but sightseers is probably the most overt comedy, and it REALLY works for me. alice lowe is fantastic and i wish they’d work together more. her performance suits wheatley’s style. again, gestures to all the key pillars, but none of them actually take centre stage here. it ends up being about… love, i guess. a successful departure. dark, depressing, very funny. the dog lives

a field in england (2013) 🍄

i’ve probably made my thoughts on this one clear enough for the time being. one of the best modern folk horror films, one of reece’s best performances, one of the best british films ever. the interesting thing to note here is that for the first time, wheatley takes one of his key pillars (in this case, folk horror) and runs with it as far as possible, to the exclusion of everything else. he’ll do this again with his other pillars later, and it will be successful every time

high rise (2015) 🏢

i’ve seen high rise twice this year, and the second time i was really hoping it would turn out to be good after all. it’s not, though. it’s a huge mess. the ending is particularly baffling and stupid. some actors are good in it, especially reece, but he’s not even in it enough to make it really worth rewatching. thematically, a huge departure for wheatley, but unlike sightseers, it doesn’t come up with anything else to latch onto. it does have a brief psychedelic sequence which feels very tacked-on and underwhelming. further points deducted for michael smiley not being there

free fire (2016) 🔫

speak of the devil!! who’s that, it’s michael smiley!! and he crushes in this!! as does EVERYBODY in this wonderful cast!! oh man. another exercise in taking one pillar of the idiom and running with it as hard as possible. this time, it’s unglamorous low-level organised crime and violence. and it’s JUST THAT. it’s insane and weird and it rules. it’s also a metaphor for the troubles. i miss armie hammer unfortunately, he was really good at playing total bastards and he looked good in this

happy new year, colin burstead (2018) 🥂

another ‘one pillar to its logical extreme’ exercise, this time revolving entirely around family dysfunction. again, very successful. funny, sad, absolutely wonderful ending. made me think about my sister’s wedding lmao

rebecca (2020) 👗

rebecca is alright, but the fun for me mostly came from looking for little ways wheatley snuck his idiom into it around the edges of the studio. it’s really about gender roles/femininity and womanhood in particular; i’m sure plenty has been written about that wrt the source material and the more famous film

in the earth (2021) 🌳

zach is babie. what else can i say? if he was in this more, and/or if the film was a lot more violent, i would like it more. if it dropped the pandemic angle, i would like it more. it’s not a worthy successor to field, but nothing could be. it’s fine. it’s got some good stuff in it. i like it, and i’d probably like it more if it had no relationship to field whatsoever, or if it leaned hard into being an overt sequel / continuation of that story. can you even imagine? i think my issue is just that it doesn't commit hard enough to being any one particular thing

meg 2: the trench (2023) 🦈

fuck this movie fr. and i’m not saying that because i’m a snob. i actually liked the first one okay! i thought it succeeded on its own terms! meg 2 does not succeed at fucking anything. it has brief flashes of being good, like when that chick’s head implodes, or the shot from inside the shark’s mouth, or when statham kicks a man into a shark’s mouth and says “see you later, chum.” and then for the whole rest of the time it’s complete balls. the dialogue is so clunky. the bits that are just humans interacting with each other about non-shark business should be good or at least NOT SHIT, like… i’ve SEEN happy new year colin burstead i KNOW wheatley can do humans. except he forgot how, apparently. baffling. heartbreaking. i used to work with reality tv ip, and we used to say “just because it’s trash, that doesn’t mean it has to be bad.” meg 2 had to be trash but it didn’t have to be bad. at least, not this bad. rip

[ashestxr]

Get to know your mutuals: tag game

AAAAA thank you @wishchip106 for tagging me :]]

ive never done something like this so this was super fun hehehe

What's the origin of your blog title?

my name is ashe and i wanted a reason to sign my name with a star as the "a" 😀 but then i thought "ashestar" looked stupid so i added an x LMAO (and then only AFTER all that did i name my fursona star 😔)

OTP(s) + Shipname:

riddlebird/nygmobblepot has been my special interest for almost 3 years !! :]

but of course cherik has been very quickly been making its way up to being as special for me

Favourite colour:

green and purple !! (hmm i wonder why... 🤔) and is it too cheesy to say ive grown fond of orange now?? 😭

Favourite game:

i have a lot !! i mostly like story games so they can be difficult to play over and over but heres a few of them: a hat in time, the stanley parable, the portal games, any lego games, undertale and deltarune, and oneshot !!

and then of course theres also minecraft, the sims, and stardew valley that have easier replay value :]]

Song stuck in your head:

shes my collar by gorillaz !! (thank you lev for making me remember how much i love this song LMAO)

Weirdest habit/trait?

i pace all the time. anytime i have something i need to think about i will start pacing to get my thoughts going 😭 i can literally pace for hours at a time doing nothing else. its a huge time waster 😭😭

Hobbies:

reading, playing video games, dnd, uhhhh i mean i guess drawing and writing? oh and renpy as well even if i barely understand it

If you work, what's your profession?

im currently an assistant at a sewing shop !!

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be? Realistically?

god, is youtuber an option? its been something ive fantasized about since i was a kid but i dont have the self drive or passion to be able to do it tbh 😭 honestly, my dream job is something that pays well and doesnt involve talking to people often

Something you're good at:

id like to say writing !! even though i dont do it often ive always felt like it comes naturally to me (apart from being really slow at it) and ive had other people tell me the same. but apparently im really good at walking quietly as well !! im constantly scaring people cause they dont realize im in the same room 😭

Something you're bad at:

talking to people 😀 im getting better at doing it online, but irl? i will literally freeze up and stare at you if i dont know what to say 😭

Something you love:

lev, my wonderful platonic boyfriend 💚🧡 hehehe :]]

but also my cat, my dnd party, all of the fandoms ive been in (and the people ive met through them), uhhh idk theres lots of other things but i kinda just turned this into a people oriented answer LMAO

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff:

literally anything ive ever been passionate about. ever. bring up an old special interest from my childhood? prepare for me to remember things in real time while im telling you about it. ask me about a story i came up with? i will yap your ear off for hours, and then some after that. i have way too many words for someone who has barely any friends LMAO

Something you hate:

blueberries 😠 (but more seriously, people who are rude for no reason or arent understanding of the more disabling aspects of my autism 😭im trying my hardest, okay??)

Something you collect:

jigsaw puzzles !! i have over a hundred :]

also random things relating to my special interests and hyperfixations but those arent as impressive

Something you forget:

everything 😀 i have adhd so my object permanence is GOD AWFUL and i barely remember my childhood 😭

What's your love language?

quality time !!!

Favourite movie/show:

oh boy... theres so many but starting with tv shows:

gotham, doctor who/torchwood, good omens, gravity falls, bojack horseman, and community !! (and probably a few others im forgetting...)

and then im actually not a huge fan of movies so the only ones i can think of off the top of my head are xmen first class/days of future past and scott pilgrim 😭

but since theres no section for more internet based stuff im also a huge fan of hermitcraft/life series, starkid musicals, the magnus archives, and generation loss :]]]

Favourite food:

shrimp !! but a big comfort food of mine is chicken and rice with sweet chili sauce

Favourite animal:

foxes, snakes, penguins, and cats !!!

What were you like as a child?

simultaneously very obnoxious and extremely shy (so basically the most typical undiagnosed autistic childhood ever LMAO)

Favourite subject at school?

english (big surprise there) but math was always super fun for me when i actually understood what was happening LMAO

Least favourite subject:

hmm.... history? but that might have to do with the fact that i was homeschooled so it was a super christianized version of it ://

What's your best character trait?

idk id like to say im pretty laid back. like if someone needs something from me ill go help or if someone im hanging out with wants to do something different i wont complain !! i just like being with the people i love :]

What's your worst character trait?

mmm everything i want to say are things that are caused by my audhd and it feels weird to say that for this question.. :// honestly, it might be a case of my best character trait also being my worst cause i have a hard time letting people know when im not alright with something because im a people pleaser

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

i have been wanting to get my drivers license for over 2 years now and have made no progress 😀 honestly its one of the only things keeping me living with my parents but i still cant find the motivation to work seriously towards it

that and the fact that im so far apart from the love of my life :[[ but theres not much that can be done about that right now im afraid

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

would it be dumb to say my younger self? cause i think it would be super healing for me if i was able to tell him that things get better :[

i dont have very many mutuals and i also dont know whos done this already so im just gonna tag these people and hope that its okay 😭 @monaetheworldsdestroyer @eriknocherikyes @osi-inn @ghostboy512 @alien--cookie @nyang-cheng @disasterhals

@autistic-billcipher (i know you were tagged in the post i was tagged in i just thought you would want to see this hehehe)

[biirdtator]

i woke up in a cold sweat with this cursed AU for MCSM. this is my contribution as a paleontology nerd, i’m so sorry in advance

stupid AU where everything is the same, but everyone is a raptor of some kind. i am such a nerd that i legitimately put thought into what type of dinosaur each character would be and why, and i’ll give explanations for each one. this was stupid and really rushed, but it was so much fun to do, and i hope you all enjoy???

—————————————-

let’s start with Jesse, who was the second easiest choice behind Axel; they are a speculative smaller subspecies of Deinonychus antirrhopus.

Deinonychus was one of the most important discoveries in paleontology, and would give rise to what is known as “the Dinosaur Renaissance”, which sparked how we see dinosaurs today. this was because of it’s clear appearance as an agile, active predator (which is not how dinosaurs were seen at the time of its discovery), and later, it’s striking resemblance to the feathered, gliding dinosaur Archaeopteryx. Deinonychus even modeled how the “Velociraptors” looked in Jurassic Park! however, the issue lies in the fact that Deinonychus was a medium-sized raptor, and Jesse… well, they’re not very tall. i really wanted to use Deinonychus, but the size wasn’t right, so i settled for a speculative, smaller subspecies. Deinonychus is also speculated to be a pack hunter, which would definitely work in Jesse’s favor. also i think it’s funny; Deinonychus antirrhopus means “counterbalanced terrible claw”, and i find that to be the most ironic thing for Jesse, given how clumsy they are. i love it.

———————————————

next, Axel! he was the EASIEST choice by far; he is a Utahraptor ostrommaysorum.

you probably already know Utahraptor; it’s the largest and most heavily built of all raptors, often growing just over 6 ft tall at the hips. Axel is also very tall and heavily built, so that immediately clicks. but adding on to this, in contrast with other raptors, Utahraptor was likely more of an ambushing raptor rather than a pursuit raptor, and that clicks with Axel hating running and relying on more aggressive and explosive tactics, so to speak. and finally, the most funny detail; if you’ll notice, the Utahraptor’s lower jaw juts out slightly and curves away from the upper jaw. this was probably to gain a better grip on prey, but it does give them a very strange look even when their mouth is closed. it makes that comment that Lukas made about Axel being a mouth breather even funnier, at least to me.

————————————-

Olivia! i had a little bit of trouble with her, but i think i settled on a good one; she is a Dromaeosaurus albertensis.

Dromaeosaurus was a shier, smaller raptor that lived up north in what is now Canada, enduring freezing polar winters and months of total darkness. it’d take a lot of brains to be able to pull strings to survive that, which Olivia certainly provides. Dromaeosaurus also relied more on the chase and brain power, rather than brute force, though they would’ve if needed be. recent studies also show that raptors probably had very similar capabilities to modern birds, so if they had a brain kind of like corvids, they could’ve even used primitive tools at times. comes in handy with redstone, eh? Dromaeosaurus was also a good tracker, thanks to its sensitive nose and sharp eyes. also, they’re very important but often overlooked. Dromaeosaurus was the leading dinosaur for the names of all under the “raptor” umbrella; the dromaeosaurids.

————————————

Petra! she’s my favorite character, i’ll just admit that lmao. but i gave her the same treatment as everyone else here, so; she is an Austroraptor cabazai.

Austroraptor was a tall, lean, and quick raptor which inhabited the warm swamps of South America. obviously, Petra is the second tallest in The New Order, and Austroraptor was the second tallest raptor on record, so that checks out. but i think the build of Austroraptor checks out too; it’s moderately built, both for speed and strength, with the classic claw. it was very slender and judging from their leg bones, could be a very good pursuit raptor that could also maintain speeds for extended periods of time, which matches Petra’s love to race and run. what sets Austroraptor apart, however, is it’s diet; it was speculated to be at least partially piscivorous, meaning it ate a lot of fish. it’s teeth were slightly conical and acted almost like hooks, which would be quite painful to an opponent. Austroraptor was pretty good at it’s niche, but it wasn’t afraid to go elsewhere if needed. And Petra loves to go elsewhere.

—————————-

Lukas! he was a little tricky for me to figure out, i’m not gonna lie. i was stuck between these two: Velociraptor mongoliensis and Saurornitholestes langstoni. but i had to choose only one, and i ultimately had to go with a speculative larger subspecies of Velociraptor, since i already broke the size rule with Jesse.

Velociraptor is the most widely known, famous, and beloved raptor of all time, and obviously a fan favorite, so that already checks a box. but adding to this, Velociraptor is a very well-documented dinosaur with some incredible specimens. Velociraptors were also likely to be stealthy and tenacious hunters who used their brains, speed, and ability to take a tumble (which Lukas does a LOT) to their advantage. Lukas is also confirmed in game to be attractive (which is still so funny to me), so i added all kinds of cool looking display feathers in a blue color, because 1) his text and eyes are a blueish color and 2) blue is a kinda rare color in nature, and a lot of birds today seem to like the it. also, in episode 7, remember how his nose wasn’t right in the portrait? i kind of like to imagine that Cassie heard that he was a Velociraptor and assumed he was the Jurassic Park version? so Lukas just comes in, sees the portrait, and is like “where tf are my feathers”

——————-

last but not least; Rueben! i had some trouble picking out a genus and species, but i knew immediately that he had to be a small ceratopsian. i chose for him, Microceratus gobiensis.

Microceratus is an adorable looking ceratopsian that was only about the size of a very small dog. but don’t let it’s appearance fool you. ceratopsians have some of the biggest characters and presences in paleontology, with the audacity to match. Rueben definitely has character, personality, and audaciousness. don’t get me wrong, they would probably rather not fight (at least some of them. can’t say the same for Triceratops), but they sure would’ve if they had to. Microceratus doesn’t have a ton of defenses, but it did have a sharp, crushing beak, and could dodge and run very quickly if it had to. it’s front legs were a bit shorter than it’s hind legs, which allowed it to run bipedally. i also just generally think of ceratopsians like the wild boars and rhinos of the dinosaur world, so i guess that just fits, considers Rueben’s main attack is headbutting (which makes me think i could’ve made him a pachycephalosaur too). i just love the idea of this tiny prey creature sticking with a bunch of predators who constantly protect him.

that’s all for now!! thank you for reading and allowing me to infodump about my special interest combined with a hyperfixation lol. i might do more stupid sketches based on this idea in the future if people like it

[el-moscorrofio-y-el-mercachifle]

I used to somewhat Betty la Fea growing, as my Colombian side of my family would watch the show a lot.

I grew to appreciate the show now that I'm older as it was very clever when it came to writing, although a bit over the top sometimes, but it's a novela.

I'm watching the sequel series, and I'm a bit lost; maybe I'm an idiot and I'm missing something, idk.

First, Daniel Valencia. I don't doubt that he would be involved in something like money laundering, but I'm not sure why he would do it. Daniel isn't stupid; he's very manipulative and calculating, and while he's not above money laundering, he'd need a decent reason to do it considering the risk. Idk, maybe I'm wrong, but I'd really like to know why he'd did it and how he went about it.

Another thing I'm curious about is Marcela and her connection with the new character, Ignacio. Why does Marcela want him to be president of Ecomoda? What is he to her?

Why is Marcela close to Mila? I mean, obviously, she likes how her being close to Mila bothers Betty, but there are moments in the show where it looks like Marcela somewhat genuinely cares about Mila. I know Marcela isn't completely heartless, and I don't think she's doing it out of love for Armando because she also wants him to pay for what happened to Daniel.

Also, I really hope Mila gets decent development because I want to like her as a character, but right now, she's hard to tolerate.

Your thoughts?

Helloooo!

Jajaja I totally relate. I used to dismiss novelas but ysblf with its great characters and fun writing definitely opened my mind to them!

You're for sure not the only one lost regarding the sequel. I am also a bit lost. I must admit I'm not liking most choices, and a part of me is kinde hate-watching and another is very curious about future writing choices.

About Daniel, I'm a bit on the fence. On one hand we know Daniel isn't much for illegal and dirty stuff-- remember how he was disgusted at Olarte's sabotage of Betty's computer. On the other hand, we also know he wasn't as great on businesses as he claimed to be. He lost everything to a growing project, never diversified his income, and worked at the government for a pretty mediocre salary, apparently. He was willing to empty his capital to bet on a barely-growing project, too. So I kind of see how he could end up involved in something shady, perhaps out of need or out of ignorance. We don't yet know very well.

Honestly, about Marcela and Ignacio, my theory is that they're related. Perhaps Daniel's son or something? Idk, I definitely don't think they are romantically or sexually involved.

Marcela's relationship with Mila is one of the biggest misteries to me. I genuinely have no idea. Like... why? How? Mila is very very close to Marce, but I don't understand how. Since when? When did Marcela return to Ecomoda to meet Mila? Was Betty ever okey with them being close? Was Armando okay with that? Why did Marcela even want to be close to Mila, the daughter of her ex and the woman he cheated on her with ??? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

I really can't stand Mila rn. The whole talking in acronyms, especially ones that no one ever uses (it would be tolerable if it were at least something like "O.M.G" or "L.O.L" but with random ass phrases that no one knows???), talking to the camera like it's a diary, and being obsessed with trends just... no. Ik they tried to make her an entitled nepo baby with family issues but it's so badly done it feels fake and like a parody of what a boomer thinks a GenZ is.

Armando, Marcela, Beata and Daniel were all entitled nepo babies with family issues and they feel like actual people, not a Rosa de Guadalupe version of what a 60 yo thinks a 20 yo is. And don't even come to say that Armando, Marce, Daniel, etc were all in their 30s and that's why they don't act like that. I'm in ny early 20s and I have never in my life met anyone who behaves like that. It's so bad and cringy.

Anyways lmao Ik I can't judge much yet and have to wait to see the final product.

Thanks for the questions!

[chasedeys]

Ik you’re new to this team and I’m so sorry this is what you have walked into😭. Now you can seee why before he was drafted , the entire sports media told Joe to force his way out to not play for this organization and they were absolutely right . I was mad when it was happening , but Gid were they and Carson Palmer right

hi yeah it's okay 😭 sort of....looking at joe and carson palmer comparisons makes me want to die :(( so i politely look away for my peace of mind 🤗 oh but question did joe like insist on playing for cincy? it's super sweet how he said that he's happy he's playing for the city and for the team especially through all his injuries and everything :((

no joke though still super happy i got into the bengals even if they make me want to just. die. ahaha! very toxic abusive relationship esque where i keep giving them chance because they keep love bombing me (offense being so good) despite constantly beating me down (defense being so bad) and it's soooo stupid to say how much i still love all these players even if germaine fucking pratt makes me want to kick his ass down a flight of stairs because what do you mean what missed tackles. i need them to start being more self-aware please god and stop picking twitter fights on shit you clearly are getting your ass kicked on 😭

but the point is i still am sooooo happy i started rooting for them!! because they are so fun to watch i am dead serious never in my life did i think i would like watching football of all fucking things. and its genuinely genuinely so impressive how they can find new ways to lose so spectacularly. setting a new total points (82) record for a bengals-steelers game. the team that didn't score a touchdown at all and still somehow won against a team we lost to twice even with 9 total touchdowns btw. made a whole career game for the opposing qb after years of not touching 400 yards. coming back from a 24-6 deficit in the fourth quarter. receiver with qb numbers on 2 separate games against the same team. career high 5 passing touchdowns games. 300+ yards 3+ touchdowns numerous times and still losing said games. broke a record about that all in one season girl how the fuck. this all just points to how shit the defense is which is sooo confusing because HOW can you suck that bad...an nfl defense…..(there's this hilarious bit calling the way they're losing 'high art' which is basically all this lmao)

i mean hard knocks will be an extremely painful watch but at least you can’t shit on the way they’re playing offense so it won't be a complete beat down so.

but basically i don't regret coming in when they're shit because they aren't really that shit (????) lollll it's fine the rpf keeps me sane tbh

[toyota-supra]

My Top 10 Favorite Games I Played In 2023

In chronological order. It's a long one.

Titanfall 2

I've been told to play this for years now, though for most of those I did not really know why, as it never seemed like my kind of game. But, ever since I started really getting into mecha sometime in 2022, I decided to finally give it a try. I'm very glad I did. Titanfall 2 is a criminally short First Person Shooter with a very fun mech/pilot dynamic, really good mechanics of movement and combat for both, and some of my favorite level design of any game I've played in a long while. The platforming is crazy good! The mechanics are tight as hell! The mech is awesome! I recommend Titanfall 2 for literally anyone reading this.

Mega Man Zero

The Zero series is the one that most called to me in the Mega Man franchise every time I looked these games over, and I was right in that judgement. While I couldn't say if I was going to appreciate most of the GBA era action platformer difficulty or not, it was clear from Zero's more agile movement and bite-sized missions with very memorization-heavy bosses that I would enjoy it. And I did enjoy it a lot! Most of the bosses kicked my ass but it was an absolute blast to finally learn their patterns enough to defeat them. The problem is, I went out of my way to not get any of the game's health upgrades or energy tanks, making the final boss so hard for me that after days and days of attempts I gave up. Not beating Mega Man Zero is probably my biggest regret of the year lmao

Fate/Stay Night

Honestly, what do I even say? You can see my Saber icon, right? Fate is a franchise I never bothered to get close to, knowing of its name only through vague images and names of more popular characters (not even from FGO, just in general), and from later on getting to know that Fate/Grand Order was the game it is I felt like it wasn't for me at all and who cares. So when I learned what the original VN was actually about I felt stupid. How could something so fitting to my tastes have gone under my radar for so long...? Despite not being much of a reader in general, F/SN is a very long game that feels like it's just as short as you need it to be. The prose flows so well, every single character is lovable in many ways, and there's so much passion written into them and the situations they're in that it's one of the most smooth-flowing VNs I've read (which granted are not many) even though it's around the high 6 digit wordcounts. I love this game dearly.

Stranger of Paradise - Final Fantasy Origin

I wanted to play this game since the first few trailers! How cruel was it that, not only did I not have a powerful enough machine at the time, but the game wasn't even on Steam until the year after release? Final Fantasy Origin is the game it presents itself to be. There's something about it that's so special to a certain kind of person (which I happen to be one of) and that falls flat for everyone else. The combat and its many Weapons, Jobs and Skills to use are just fantastic in how nice they feel, and I really do like the type of story Stranger tells. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm close to it. I like to describe Stranger of Paradise as everything good about PS2 and PS3 games in a modern title.

Pseudoregalia

An old feeling from a new friend. Pseudoregalia is everything I like in 3D Platforming, and a little bit of what I don't. If you've ever looked at a single gif or video of Super Mario 64 and thought, "this looks pretty fun to play," you should be playing Pseudoregalia. If you like goat ladies with big butts, I can't say I understand if that would sell you on a game or not, but it is a feature everyone mentions. I wrote on this game already, so please do check that out and get it. It's one of the three titles of this list that came out this year, and I have not heard enough people talk about it.

Armored Core VI - Fires of Rubicon

My favorite in this list, which is funny because I don't know what to say about it at all. Armored Core is a series I've been studying up on from the outside for a while, and the announcement for this title was my reason to finally dive in. Unfortunately, I did not get past playing the first mission of AC1 a few times and booting up AC3 once. But I will get to it eventually! Fires of Rubicon is one hell of an action game, that I adored for every single one of my (currently) 67 hours of play. Going through the campaign with builds a little too busted for the AI most of the time was my dishonorable focus of the experience, but there's a lot else to do for every kind of person. The amount of freedom you have for messing with your builds for either single or multiplayer is not to be underestimated. Though it could be better. Here's hoping there will be a game that is.

Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition Remix

I played this game as a kid so much that the main menu and its theme are scarred into my mind, yet this whole time I had no idea what the game was actually like due to the fact that most of my playtime was doing a few races and just cruising around. Once you dive into trying to finish the story, MC3 is a much different experience. One that frustrated me so much, I got actually ill from the stress. Please take breaks, gamers! Your health is more important than finishing an 18 year old game! Still, I did eventually do it. Midnight Club 3's handling model and gameplay structure are really impressive in comparison to the much more popular Need for Speed series, and I have to admit I did enjoy the game a lot. It's just a lot harder than it ever needed to be. I'll probably never forget this game, and that's not really a good or bad thing. Just, advice from me, if it gets too hard, maybe switch to sports bikes. Buy that Ducati.

Test Drive Unlimited

Another car game, but this one I have the least to say about of any on this list. I had played TDU on PS2 multiple times before and thought it was awesome. The atmosphere and immersion of this game are unrivaled by any racing game to this day. But playing the PC version with a steering wheel and pedals made everything so much more incredible. I played the Platinum mod, which adds hundreds more cars and fixes a lot of issues with the original game (but not all of them; the game was still really rough and I hate how much the resolution is a pain to change). Overall, one of my favorite experiences with a steering wheel controller so far. Otherwise, a pretty good game if you like driving.

Super Mario Sunshine

An old friend, and a new feeling. I don't play 3D platformers as much as I wish I did, because they're really not part of my main priorities looking for games lately, but every time I play a Mario game, it's like I found love again. It was not the first time I played Super Mario Sunshine, as I had collected a dozen or so Sprites years before, but playing the whole game in I think two weeks during the latter half of the year was such an incredible experience. Unless for some reason you play it on the Switch, Sunshine is a game that loves you as much as you love it. And you do love it, right? I know I do. I'd love to play this game many other times in the future. Granted, that applies to every game here, I just wanted to say it out loud for this one.

Lethal Company

A fairly recent release! Having played it with many groups of people by now, both modded and vanilla, I think Lethal Company is probably one of my favorite multiplayer experiences ever. It is scary and hilarious, but also just really really good, to a level that surprised me for my quality standards of co-op (horror) games. Lethal Company turns friends into improvised horror movie actors and it's incredible. I'm almost at 30 hours played and will likely get to 40 at minimum. It's also pretty cheap and likely runs well on all sorts of machines, so consider checking this one out too.

Honorable Mentions

Witch on the Holy Night and Story of Seasons - Friends of Mineral Town are games I am adoring and could definitely go on this list, hadn't I started them both quite late into December. Maybe next year I'll give them a shoutout!

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: #20

20. LUXEMBOURG Tali - "Fighter" 13th place

Decade Ranking: 73/153 [Above Electric Fields, below Emma Muscat]

For a grand, greatly anticipated return, "Fighter" has always been just there for me. It's summery, upbeat, lightweight and frivolous. Not a shabby, nor a moneymaker. This entry is an FFF (Fun Finale Filler) and it knows it.

How do I know that it knows itself? Well,

BADLY ANIMATED CGI LEOPARDS 😍 😍. You know how I feel about staging tricks like that. They're tacky and ugly and stupid and transparently try to cover up a middling composition.😍 idk, I love Leopards and I love the colour purple, so maybe it was just tacky ENOUGH to be funny, but I stan the decision-making because Tali > Ochman.

It was quite amusing 2 me that Luxembourg made their grand return after 31 years, only to try to throw vast swaths of cash at unnessecary embellishments because they KNEW it wasn't a high flier and needed to throw in SOMETHING, ANYTHING to make it work. Shirtless sexy dancers, badly animated VR, all the pyrotechnics in the world. It feels... very emblematic to them as a country even though this was their first ever modern era contest? "Money fixes everything", no wonder the EBU wanted their opulent arses back.

And it is funny they staged "Fighter" like that because "Fighter" always kind of worked, anyway? It was a plucky power-up song, and a clear qualifier in semi 1 no matter from which position it performed.

It didn't NEED the leopards

it didn't NEED the gratuituous sexual tension lmao

The way to go with a song such as "Fighter" is by finding a balance between tough and cute. The balance swung a bit too heavily in favour of "tough", because "Fighter" just isn't that kind of song, despite the reworks Lux tried to force. It's whimsically French foremost and while "France was historically a militaristic powerhouse,"toughness" suits France historically, nearly everyone associates it with cultural sophostication and romance. (hence why France is always culture focused in Civ, and never the feudal, chivalry-themed warmongering menace it actually was for most of its history ♥)

As ridiculous Fighter's staging got (and how lowkey BAD Tali'Golergant vas Eshkoli's styling was), it still vibed as a fun time. It might just be my latent alcoholic ass imprinting on the tequila sunrise colous scheme, but still. Tali took command of her dancers, showed her inner strength by fistpumping the air and thickened her braids so they no longer resembled antennae.

And she kinda ate those lives, yo.

In semi 1 Lux made for an excellent palate cleanser, a burst of energy after the period of inaneness Rim Tim Tagi Dim left in its wake. I love Raiven dearly and I really like Iolanda, but excitement was not their game. Tali came to the rescue when needed.

In the finale it was less necessary, though it did make Israel stand out as even more miserable to me, so there is that.

Sigh, I have to address the Israeli thing, don't I?

Look, I don't fucking CARE that Tali is proud of her Israeli-Jewish heritage. Nor that she visits the fake country twice a year. Nor that her song was produced by that other israeli Tali. I think her views on the matters are misguided and warped, but I get it. She's going to stick up for her OG country and her people, and we'd be foolish to expect her to do a 180° turn just because we believe she should. She has her stance, I disagree with it, but I can respect it. Civilians aren't responsible for whatever bloodthirsty maniac rules the roost or their actions, regardless of whether they elected them directly or not.

(though I will say that her transparent and overtly cheerful agreement with Joost's DQ all "YAY! HE BROKE THE RULES AFTER ALL ^_^ :claps:" made me ALOL. That DQ is still a grim affair, but lmfao what a scrump cheerleading bitch ♥).

But in a sense I wish Tali had been Israel's entrant himself. The only thing that erases Israel's controversy is their withdrawal, true, and Tali would have beenthe perfect horcrux, but if we WERE to have that country at Eurovision, I'd rather have them with Plucky Apolitical Filler (ft. Three Giant Leopards) rather than Teary Propaganda Ballad (Eurovision Reskin), y'know?

Also note, dear Israeli's, that -by my knowledge- Tali was NOT shunned by the other acts or the fan community, nor by the media and the professional juries, despite being half-Israeli and Jewish and zionistic. The few strays that she did end up catching were by the usual dumbfuck bigots on social media and amounted to nothing. So much for antisemitism, huh?

It's difficult to end the write-up after that rant that had little to do with the performance, so I will just say this: Tali's placement, while a tad high, proved that there's always a place for positivity and acceptance at Eurovision, no matter your background or your political colour.

With retrospection on our side, it makes sense juries would vote for "Fighter" as everyone agreed Nemo should win anyway, allowing them to siphon away twelves like a vacuum on amphetamine. With Croatia, Italy and France picking up the scraps, anyone with a modicum of inoffensiveness would be favoured to do well, (since this finale was HIGHLY jury unfriendly) which also favoured Lux because of the novelty coming with their return.

Ultimately it's our choices in life that define us, and Tali's were to give us a fun time unburdened by shackles of war, and that, in THIS FUCKING YEAR, was worth a lot to me.

THE RANKING:

[midnight1nk]

so if you wanna know...... I do want to specify I'm not done with the trilogy yet!!! it was Justice for All Last case. As in the Matt Engarde case. And... my god. I. This case was EVERYTHING (especially compared to the circus one, where I..... the age gap is so. bad. OUGH)!! Like it was hook after hook I was so hooked in oh my god. I know I said I already stayed up really long (I rather... not state my current time) but. if I went to sleep now my sleep schedule would get REAL weird again so maybe I'll. play more today. to keep me up until I feel it's right. BUT also like you've gotta get me, everything about that case locked me in so much!!! Especially with all turns which acted as hooks, first with what Maya, THEN Franziska and the whole last trial with Phoenix and Miles???? Honestly, even the ending. If not for um. god I know it's such a nitpick and I know that Pearl is a child but something about how she's very foward about thinking of Phoenix and Maya it's- it's not creepy, obviously. it's just REALLY awkward. Otherwise she was very very endearing, from the start.

Another really stupid note which, kind of connects to what I just said but. like. Phoenix and Miles is like the biggest ship for the fandom and like, it's crazy how people most bring up unnecessary feelings and I feel like with how much I've seen it by itself I almost forgot about the context. Because that paired with the whole. Especially for me was the part with the feast where Phoenix gives Miles the whip, because his internal monologue was like "I can't thank him enough with just words" and there's something so strong and emotional about it. The whole last part of the case and that scene is so much more to me than unnecessary feelings because that scene was simply a seed, which yes, is what lead to the scenes where they outright state they've grown to trust each other, now even on Phoenix's side. Mutual trust, especially such a strong one between the 2 is like such a romantic thing in every sense of the word. Which is why it's so hilarious to me that right after that scene Pearl speaks up I don't remember what she exactly said but it was once again connected to her belief of Maya and Phoenix being in love with I found so. so funny. Oh yes, after such a scene between these 2 very straight lawyers where my first instict was basically "You can't thank him with words??? HUG HIM HUG HIM HUG HIM!!!" Phoenix is once again brought into a "forced" heterosexual "affair" JSLÉKÉSSÉL

anyways any words for before I go for the last game of the trilogy?

[for the other people who are so confused, this is not the usual SMG4 stuff I talk about. But I do wanna make an exception bc (1) it's ace attorney and (2) I gotta do it for my moot :) if you wanna play the games, just look away from spoilers!!]

Oh, farewell my turnabout ofc ofc (seriously i'm stupid like that. i usually refer to it as AA2-4). yeah, we don't talk much about the circus case, except for the parts that do matter.

This case, augh it's so good! All its twists and turns, I'm giggling and kicking my feet rn. It gets you so invested and the inner turmoil Phoenix has is so complex, considering what happened in the first game and what comes next. Then there's Franziska, my queen. We all love her

So, fun fact within the AA fandom: whenever there's an assistant to the lawyer we follow, we call them "weird girl assistants" bc most of them are quirky girls that likely become found family for said lawyer, and we adore them for it. Such as Maya being a weird girl assistant for Phoenix, who canonically see each other as siblings. (It's not that Phoenix adopted Maya, it's that the Fey family adopted him LMAO.) This label counts for guys too, you'll see.

Yeah, we understand your nitpick about Pearls, which we collectively were like "she hasn't met gay people yet 😔" lol. But no seriously, considering what happened at the beginning of the game, it makes sense why Pearls thinks that way. And even more so in the next!!

And the heart of it all, Phoenix and Miles. Yeah, it's a big thing to bring up the "unnecessary feelings" scene, mostly as silly. Ofc YT playthroughs would be like "oh they're gay". But really, it is a lot more complex in what it actually means for their relationship and this case is truly the start of it all. Yeah, that's right. Their relationship gets better from here! You have NO idea.

This is why I love narumitsu (their ship name btw), it's the whole emphasis of trust the two have for each other. Perhaps they don't see eye to eye or share the exact same ideals, but as Phoenix said, with every punch he throws, Miles would counter it and he knows he will. That everything would be alright as long as the other is there, no matter what. "If anyone can do it, it's him" and that's what they hold onto. And yes, when Phoenix said "I wonder if there's anything I can give him to express how I feel", everyone has indeed shouted at the screen, "GIVE HIM A HUG! MAYBE A KISS PERHAPS?"

It's all about the yearning, and these two have so much that other characters (well, except for Pearl lol) are like "woah the tension between these two is SO high" <- no seriously that's a line in the actual series. I'm not joking. like seriously, who tf orders custom chess boards of you and your "rival"? that's right, plural.

Speaking of, it is funny to imagine Phoenix just staring longingly as Miles walks away, and Pearls immediately was like "uh. anyway." oh, Pearls, wait until you find out Maya is sapphic smh /aff.

Oh boy, the third game, what do I say? a lot of people have considered this to be the BEST out of the trilogy. I can see why, interesting antagonists and backstory. I'd like to say if you liked this case AA2-4, then you would love the last case of this third game. It got me very close to crying ngl (investigations 2 nailed it). Ah, found family at its finest. (plus, you'll see why I nicknamed my Meggy AA au "the Mia game we could've had".) I'll leave the fun to you :)

enjoy the third game, nicc!

[thousand-winters]

I hope YOU'RE doing well pal! 💖💖💖 I'd love to hear your Laios and Hooty thoughts

Actually now I'm thinking about them interacting and how cursed it'd be haha

I am today!!! It has been a good day for once haha. I hope you're having a good day today, and that your cats are doing good!!!

Oh, my gods, I can't decide if they would get along like a house on fire or if somebody would end up dead ahahaha. Or if Laios would consider Hooty looks stupid considering his reaction to Marcille's sky fish lmao 😭 I'm sorry, Hooty, you technically ARE a worm.

Okay, getting into it now, starting with Laios:

How I feel about this character

I love him!!! He ended up not being my favorite because I adore Marcille with my whole heart but he's such a good main character, honestly. I wasn't thinking too much about it when I started watching, I was just having fun and I think it showed already that he wasn't just a silly character or anything, but man... the moments he got the most serious, he had me in shambles haha.

I enjoy him very much, it's really cool to see the ripples in his relationship with both monsters and humans. There's so much to him that I'm yet to see too and I'm looking forward to it, he's definitely not the kind of main character you're kinda sick of and want to leave already haha.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I have been swayed to the Labru side, finally, haha. I think they have a fascinating dynamic and while I certainly haven't seen everything they have to offer, the push and pull there makes it very compelling. Plus I'm not immune to cool fanart and funny posts, not gonna lie, but the main reason is that they seem to have a very compelling dynamic, not exactly direct or straightforward in its development and that really has me dying to see more.

I have been seeing Lashuro recently too and ngl, I've been going 👀 at that too. I remember I had talked with my friend Isis about how it was sort of funny that the Toudens do have very similar traits when it comes to how they view the world sometimes and yet Toshiro finds one annoying and the other charming. Probably in part a mix of attitude and gender, I'm not sure. Although in all fairness they seemed to be pretty at peace at the end so... I think it can be fun.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Marcille!!! Oh, they have so many good scenes with one another, they have such a fun dynamic, I love how much Laios trusts Marcille despite also knowing she can do shit like pour boiling water on an Undyne lmao.

In general they're very fun, the mix of them bickering but very obviously valuing each other's opinions and caring about one another is really good. Also I think it was you who said once they had siblings in lae energy and I can't unsee it ever since, they really do haha.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I haven't seen this much around tumblr or such, and I know the Dunmeshi Spanish fandom has the worst takes known to mankind but man, he's not dumb, come on now.

I doubt this is really unpopular and I especially need to actually read the full manga to understand his character more, probably, so I don't have too many complex opinions about him but... I feel like it's somewhat common to see him depicted as stupid but he's such a smart character, actually? He doesn't have to be the tropey nerd character to be smart, he has been shown to be very perceptive, even if he might be lacking on that department when it comes to social matters.

I just think writing him off as just being clueless and dumb is doing a big disservice to his character. He does have his struggles when it comes to general awareness and specific types of it but he's far from dumb.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I truly cannot speak on this one since I'm not done with the manga, haha. I have been spoiled a bit by some really cool fanart and animatics, I'm not gonna lie, so I have the gist of some big things that are coming but since I have the idea and not the actual development of it, I don't feel like I can speak on any of it, nor do I have any concrete ideas there anyway.

So far I'm pretty content with everything I have seen, both anime and manga wise.

And now onto Hooty:

How I feel about this character

I love him. I get why he annoys a lot of people in and out of universe, he's one of those silly cartoon characters that's not supposed to be super deep (although what's up with Papa Titan having a Hooty in his eye? I still need answers about that), but I like that he's always sweet and loves his people even if they're mean to him. I'm so happy Lilith came along and started appreciating him, it's what he deserves!

I think he's fun in general. I definitely would love to think more about the deeper implications about his existence, how did he even meet Eda and all about that, but I have to admit I don't think enough about him most of the time to even have ideas in that department. He's just silly and I appreciate that.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

None, this is how you get the cursed image of Hootlets. Does anybody wants Hootlets? This is how we get them.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

LILITH!!! Their friendship makes me SO happy, they're adorable. I definitely didn't see that one coming but I like how they ended lowkey balancing each other with Hooty reminding Lilith to care for herself and that she should depend on others and Lilith remarking upon Hooty's own worth to the point he's not seeking attention desperately anymore after they become friends because he's far more content with his friendship. It might have been more about how the writing around him changed too, but I liked to think the fact they became friends also helped the rest of the Owl Fam to soften around him and appreciate him more.

I love that in the end Hooty is living his best life just going around with Lilith.

My unpopular opinion about this character

He's not THAT annoying except in the Spanish dub. And I'm saying this as a chronic "obnoxious cartoon mascot hater" haha. Hooty is obviously supposed to be a little much but I don't think it ever goes to the point in which you actually want to strangle him or wish he wasn't even in the show in the first place.

At least that's what the experience was for me, I'm aware opinions differ but I think Hooty is pretty fine as he is, honestly.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Going back to that thing with Papa Titan and the Hooty eye... hey, what was that? Can we go back to that real quick? I really wish we had found out what was the connection between titans and... whatever Hooty is. I know Dana said at some point a specific youtuber had made the right theory but I could never figure out who was it and what did they say haha.

Anyway, yeah, I wish they had gotten into that. It would be Hooty AND titan lore all in one.

Thank you for the ask!!! From this ask game