#like they are so so nice. would recommend

[rainyrambles-overcod]

Wiping away cheek kisses from the 141 as a joke? Overall, not recommended 💀

‘M tired y’all, don’t judge. It’s just a little something different than usual, via my notes app, from my time w/o internet

With Price, come on. You really thought that was a good idea for a joke, sweet? 🤨 That wasn’t very nice. 0/10. Could probably go one of two ways, depending on his mood. Good mood: to teach you a lesson by withholding future kisses from you. How long that lasts is up to you, doll 🤷‍♂️ Bad mood? Oh, he needs you to accept his kisses. Can’t have his heart broken by the one person who brings him peace, after all. So, the prick pulls you right back to smother you with so many kisses that it’d be impossible to wipe them all away. You brought this upon yourself, doll 😌

With Simon…no. Not a good joke. -100/10. Might have a little moment of serious thought once he sees that hand come up to wipe away his kiss��wondering if he’d somehow missed one of your tells that you’d been upset with him about something. He swore he’d taken out the trash like you’d asked, swore he’d mopped the mud from his boots in the foyer—oh. Oh that was a joke? Not a very good one, luvie. Don’t scare him like that, yeah? Had a moment there where he almost thought that you were just losing interest in him, or something, but wouldn’t admit that. Can’t lose his favourite person, not now or ever. Doesn’t think he could stomach such a thought. Reassures himself at your cost, and crowds your space until you accept his fawkin’ kisses.

Kyle would most certainly pout. Ever attentive, he may gently try and ask if there was something wrong, at first. Had he done something to upset you? Was it that annoying coworker again? Was that obnoxious neighbour still bugging you? No? What is it then, luv? Some slight internal panic, but he masks it by trying to figure out what happened. Will use his skills in psychological warfare to ease the truth out of you—for your own good, he swears!—only to figure out that it was just a prank. Nearly had his heart beatin’ outta his chest, luv! 😮‍💨Don’t toy with him like that, yeah? Now give him a right proper kiss to apologise—

Trying this on Johnny will backfire. Be prepared for whiplash. Wipe away his kiss, and he’ll stand there for a moment, confused x100. Tries again—maybe you just had an itch? He’ll shave a lil for you later. But when you wipe that one away too, he knows what he saw. Frowns, and may or may not just pick you right up, and march you over to the couch/bed. What’s all this for, eh? Wipin’ away his kiss like that, bon? Relentless when he discovers it was only a joke. Welp! Looks like your stuck wherever he’s managed to pin you 😚 Just maybe save this prank until after he’s showered, next time, else risk smelling like his workout all day 🤷‍♂️

[seunghyunjigglers]

mama, a stray kid behind YOU ★ @seunghyunjigglers

ot8 skz members as brainrot memes!

author's note: we even included links for some of the less chronically online divas out there (generous much?)! a lot of thought and effort went into this and we hope you love and appreciate our firstborn child. tw: dark humor. betas, do not interact!

chan ★ "i'm the leader, i'm the alpha, i'm the one to trust"

unironically watches bad edits of himself and goes "ayeee" to hype himself up about being edited

comments under them on his secret account

his fyp is now most definitely infiltrated by alpha chan edits

let's be real the whole trend was probably what inspired wolfgang to be released

bites his lip bc he thinks it makes him look sexy and he just looks like he's eating his bottom lip

tries to do that thing where guys put their necklace between their lips and take pics to be sexy but the necklace falls down his throat and he starts choking

would deliberately start doing aegyo followed by serving face to show his 'duality' since apparently the fandom love it (poor guy doesn't understand irony still)

LOVES when stays talk about his gyatt and starts using it bc he thinks its just another normal word for ass and seungmin and felix almost throw up laughing at him

minho ★ "queen never cry"

genuinely thought 'lock in' was something to be taken seriously and does NOT take it lightly when chan tells everyone to lock in

his kinky ass also probably thought it was some kind of jail roleplay (jisung had to explain it to him)

has mewing competitions with himself in the mirror

makes 'minho never CRY 💜' the note on his alarm in the morning

thinks it’s funny when he recommends the ki sisters manga (where the meme comes from) to people as his favorite series and the poor author has to actually go on a talk show cause he blew it up with the internet

checks his notifications EVERY day hoping someone will edit him with that baby

accidentally comments “queen NEVER cry” under a sentimental skz edit on the official account and wakes up with several calls from his managers.. let’s just say it didn’t go over well

changbin ★ "gadagadegadagadao" (omega nugget)

he stumbled across this meme on felix's fyp one evening and thought it would make the best vocal warmup for his raps, didn't realise it was a joke and actually uses it before recording tracks

when he discovers its a meme he thinks its hilarious and makes it his whole personality

stops mid convo with people and makes the face and thinks he's so funny (everyone is tired of it)

orders mcdonald's for everyone and takes the time to draw the face on EVERY chicken nugget and couldn't be prouder of himself

genuinely thinks the song is an actual banger and has it saved as a sample for a potential title track

hyunjin ★ "donatella VERSACE"

only types like THIS 💜 and felix and seungmin are the only ones who get it

chan finds out and secretly changes his name in a groupchat with their managers and staff to "hwang HYUNJIN 💜"

he is tired but donatella is not

his gag christmas present for secret santa is boxers with ms versace herself covering his chocolate starfish and he has a wardrobe malfunction while wearing them at a show and EVERYONE sees

is actually really embarrassed when he has to explain what it means to her and she just nods and tries to smile with all her botox

after this she comments it on all her posts and he accepts that he’s never escaping it

jisung ★ "jiafei 'in my head' remix" (floptropica)

this man is always singing his lungs out in every skz code and somewhere along the way he saw an edit of him with jiafei's vocals in the bg

was actually impressed by her vocal skills and tried to hunt down her ig page, ends up on some fake floptropican fanpage but he doesn't know this because he has minimal survival skills

dms some loser message like "wow your voice is sooooo nice haha...i also like to sing lol...so do you like korean boys haha..."

owner of the jiafei fan account is a stay and thinks this is hilarious and catfishes the hell out of him for WEEKS, sends vocal edits and jisung unironically eats them up, he def sends back vms of him doing vocal covers to impress her

felix hears him singing a jiafei remix one day and almost shits himself laughing, jisung gets angry and defensive until felix reveals that jiafei is literally a meme

realises he's been catfished

blocks the account and gets sulky whenever any floptropican edit pops up on his fyp, but still sings the jiafei remixes quietly to himself (some habits are hard to break)

felix ★ "oi oi oi...baka" (freaky larvae)

recreates it and everyone takes it seriously and he has to make a video telling everyone it was not in fact a thirst trap

breaks up serious arguments like "we need to calm down...you're all being a bunch of...heh...bakas..."

searches it up one day to see if there's any other lore and accidentally discovers a yagami yato audio and gets traumatised

seungmin gets fed up by felix constantly repeating it so he comes up with a master plan and during one of their japan concerts says "oh, felix has been practicing his japanese lately...what's that thing you keep saying?"

i feel like he'd perfect that freaky expression and everyone is sick of him and changbin for randomly using them

picks larva on his turn to choose something for movie night and everyone comically (see what i did there) groans and gets up while he’s just there cracking up

seungmin ★ "saddam hussein hiding spot"

this guy saw a 'saddam hussein hiding spot' comment under jeongin's post and fell down the rabbithole (or rather, the entrance covered in bricks and rubble)

thinks its HILARIOUS because it's a historically accurate meme (nerd!)

definitely whispers it every single time he sees someone or something laying down and everyone is so fed up with it, also gets felix to do the voice since he can imitate it perfectly

uses it as an excuse to randomly start lying down during dance practices and when everyone complains he just says "why am i lowkey serving saddama hussein hiding spot?"

he'd take this shi so seriously like he'd be doing the math to figure out how much time to spend on each app each day so he can make his daily screen time average look like saddam hussein JUST to make the reference

jeongin ★ "that feeling when knee surgery is tomorrow"

someone makes a comment about how they tore their acl and have to get knee surgery and he goes "that feeling when knee surgery is tomorrow" and starts laughing

it wasn't very funny to said someone

probably has to make one of those formal instagram apology posts because of it (he sets the music as the bg for the original post but his manager makes him delete it and post again)

fake falls at practice and when everyone crowds around him all worried he says he feels like he might need knee surgery tomorrow and gets kicked out of the room

pays an insane amount of money to get everyone matching knee surgery knee pads for practice and absolutely loses it every time someone actually needs to use it and has no other choice

posts a fake hospital pic with “do NOT get your knee surgery from shein !!” on his secret account

asks for permission to change his pfp to the grinch and considers outing jyp when he gets told no

[shepherds-of-haven]

do you have any poetry recommendations? or books with nice prose?

Hiya, I do not read poetry for leisure, so unfortunately I'm not a brilliant person to ask for recs--I like what I've heard of Li-Young Lee and Rumi, and if you're into the romantics, of course Walt Whitman, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Blake, Shelley, Keats, and Yeats are lovely! (Those are among my fiance's favorites--he's much more versed in poetry than I am and can recite multiple poems by heart!) When I was young, I liked Pablo Neruda, but I haven't revisited his poetry recently enough to feel strongly about it.

For fiction books with lovely prose, my old standbys are of course JRR Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion), Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials), and Robin McKinley (The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, etc.). Patricia A. McKillip's prose is insanely lyrical, almost like a Celtic fairytale or Greek epic, though almost to the point where the plots were a bit slow: if you want to 'sink in' to the prose, though, she might be a good pick. Same with Guy Gavriel Kay (Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan). Oh, and Tad Williams, too--I loved his Shadowmarch series, but I hear Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is very poetic too.

If you want more recent recs, I thought The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden and The Curse of Chalion (and its sequel, The Paladin of Souls) by Lois McMaster Bujold had absolutely lush, sensuous, beautiful prose. Sharon Shinn's Mystic and Rider was great, too, though I would say it's just very well-written and velvety rather than outright poetic in its prose. Oh, and the prose in Robert V.S. Redick's two series--The Chathrand Voyage and The Fire Sacraments--is also absolutely insane! You can't go wrong with any of these, and they're all absolute standouts in the fantasy of the last 20 years, in my opinion!

Hope that's helpful!

[hemlockesprings]

Hello! ( ´∀`)

I love your music! Your voice and melodies are truly a combination and sounds I haven't heard before and deeply admire! I was curious on your background with music production, I want to get into it but not sure where to start especially since I have no experience in mixing or making things sound nice and like music. Any tools or resources you recommend? (；・ε・ )

Also please come to Miami!! ヽ(●´ε｀●)ノ💕

Aww thank you so much! 💕

LOL same 🤣 I got no experience and am learning more everyday!

I would start on Youtube and getting basic knowledge of the interface you want to use (Logic, Bandlab, FL Studio, Ableton, etc.)!

Once you know how to work around a little bit, PLAY! Lowkey, that's really all music is, playing around!

I dunno about other interfaces but for Logic, there were files where you can look at other artists' stems of a song! I know there are also recreations of songs too on Youtube that are cool to follow and give basic structure!

I also used to watch channels Musician on a Mission to get more knowledge on music in general!

You best resource though: 👂

Does it sound good to you? That's what really matters! Not even trying to be sentimental, your ears are your best resource.

And maybe this as well: 🫀(now that's some sentimental shit)!

And I shall definitely come to Miami! 🫡

-🔒💓

[coocoolahh]

My Starlight will Guide Me Home🌠💫

Summary: "Marcus Acacius is know as many things, but if you were to ask the man himself I'm sure that he would want nothing but to be known as the father to his beloved daughter who was born out of the love between him and his precious starlight. Historians have often debated over the identity of the mysterious starlight. Edward Gibbon once famously claimed in his magnum opus that Acacius' starlight was a vagabond princess from one of the Eastern kingdoms, but there is no concrete evidence to back his claim."

- Dr. C.C. Philip. 'The Roman Conquest of Numidia'.

A/N: No warning as such (not beta read). I have no idea what I just wrote but it was fun to do so. I hope that you guys will enjoy it as well🥰

r/historyloreNgossip 6 days ago

Eudoxes4lyf

Letters of General Marcus Acacius

I just finished reading R. Dike's "Epistles from the Past", which is basically a collection of translations of personal letters from various individuals across civilizations; I kid you not I sobbed and swooned so ugly when I read the part featuring the letters of Marcus Acacius (a 3rd century CE Roman general) to his daughter which were written when he was out on a military campaign to Numidia.

The man is so Girl Dad coded. That one letter where he is worried about her favourite dolly getting misplaced, while he is out there pillaging entire cities and colonizing the eastern frontiers in the name of Rome😭

Edit 2: I thought the person he is referring to as "starlight" was his wife Lucilla. Is there any extra info on the General's starlight?

Edit 2: I found a copy of Professor Philip's book in the college library. Thanks for the recommendation!

ptolemysiswife .5 days ago.

Omg yesss! The letters are so sweet. We had it on our reading list (it was a different book tho!) this semester and I kid you not I giggled like a school girl in love while reading the General's letters. Poor guy was missing his kid so much, you can't help but feel for him haha

SadguyRumi . 5 days ago.

Did you know that his daughter was born from a slave from the Orient and not his lawful wife?

ptolemysiswife .5 days ago.

Ah yes! The famous starlight. The way he describes her in the letters is so endearing. The man is outright simping for his starlight haha. It's so romantic😩🤌🏻

SadguyRumi . 4 days ago.

It's so funny that a hardened war general was down bad for the mother of his child.

BanksofVaranasi .4 days ago.

I think the OP will enjoy C.C. Philip's "The Dawn and Downfall of an Empire: A War General's Musings". It dives deep into the celebrated General's personal life, and even gives us some clues about his beloved starlight (I'm actively refraining from calling her a slave out of respect for the general who seemed to hate it when others referred to her and their daughter as such) which is backed by actual archaeological findings and not hearsay that other contemporary historians of the time would have us believe.

Hamurabishabibi .3 days ago.

This sounds so interesting. I'm a sucker for feel good stories from the ancient world. Can anyone please upload some of his letters or few wholesome excerpts? I tried looking for the books that OP and u/BanksofVaranasi mentioned but they cost a really pretty penny in my country (damn you conversion rate!)���� I really wanna know about this starlight person as well😆😅

citethysources .2 days ago.

You're in luck cause some museum (I forgot which) recently uploaded a bunch of N. Maurice's translations of the General's letters (along with some other excerpts related to his life and times) under the section which they titled "Star Guided Letters to Home" on their website. You can check it out, they've curated all the letters in a nice chronological order

Hamurabishabibi .2 days ago.

omg the title!! I'm feeling violently sick ughhh! thanks a lot, I just found the museum's website and yes the section is curated so nicely. I think I'm in love with the web designer haha

Title: Star Guided Letters to Home: the letters of Marcus Acacius and other related documents from the 3rd century CE.

Translator: Dr. Nestor Maurice, MA, MPhil, PhD

Overview: The celebrated Roman general Marcus Acacius was once considered the darling of the Roman populi. Feared by the enemies of Rome, much of history knows him for his infamous exploits in the eastern frontiers of the Roman Empire, and for his brave defiance against the infamous co-emperors- Geta and Caracalla. The following letters were addressed by the general during his year long expedition to Numidia (in present day Algeria) to his only child and daughter Marcia (known fondly amongst the scholarly circles as "Marcia de la Stella"- Marcia of the Stars), and are a testament to a parent's love for their child, which transcends the temporal and spatial limitations imposed upon us by the natural flow of the Universe. Given the age of Marcia de la Stella at the time that these letters were penned, there is a high probability that they were read out to the child by her adopted mother Lucilla, the daughter of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the legal wife of Marcus Acacius.

______________________________________________________________

Document 1

"The general had a surprisingly soft corner for his "slave" daughter, who was also his only known and acknowledged progeny. He could often be seen holding the wee babe in his arms within the confines of his domus.

It is rumoured that he had her manumitted in the early hours of her birth, and that there was an undertone of fear amongst the General's personal physicians that the otherwise healthy infant would inherit some of her slave mother's more peculiar cognitive functioning.

Nevertheless, it was evident to much of the Roman public that the child had the General wrapped around her tiny little finger; and anyone who dared to call her a bastard or a child of a slave would have to face the wrath of the otherwise austere and good-natured General"

- Cassius Dio, contemporary Roman historian

Letter 1: A Father's Prayer

"Marcus Acacius to his Moonbeam greetings. My dear moonbeam, a few moments ago I received a correspondence from fair lady Lucilla. She seemed worried that you haven't been keeping well. Oh how I wish I could be there for you my little duckling. But alas, your failure of a father must fulfil his duty to Rome first.

May our household gods inflict all your pain and suffering onto me! Give my salutations to lady Lucilla, and to my starlight. As always, my days are filled with your worry, and my nights are spent praying for you. Farewell, my moonbeam, may the stars and starlight guide this letter home to you."

Document 2

"Lucilla to her Attia greetings. Dearest friend, I received your invitation. I would be more than delighted to attend the wedding of your daughter Julia. I still cannot fathom the fact that little Julia is now ready to manage her own household. It saddens me to think that soon enough my little Marcia too shall come of age and become someone's bride. The child is the light in my otherwise dreary existence. Blessed be her sweet mother who brought her into this world!

I fear that my lord Marcus Acacius will be the most agitated when such a time shall come. But above all, I fear for the sake of the man who will come and ask for Marcia's hand in marriage. Give my greetings to your Julia. You shall see me and little Marcia soon. Farewell, my dearest and most longed for friend."

- Lucilla, wife of Marcus Acacius in a letter to her friend Attia dated 215 CE

Letter 2: Birthday

"Marcus Acacius to his Moonbeam greetings. My sweetheart, may you be showered with all the blessings that the world has to offer. Every year, on the day of your birth, I've taken the liberty to spoil you to my heart's content. Dearest, my good wishes are always upon you, but what has a father to offer to his dearest child from a battlefield?

Moonbeam, since the day that you were born to me and my starlight as our daughter, I've considered myself the luckiest man in all of Rome; but now, here in Numidia, I've started to appreciate the fact that I'm a daughter's father even more. May you never have to step foot in a battlefield, and may your dreams be decorated with happiness. Farewell, my dearest star child, may the stars and starlight guide this letter home to you."

Document 3

"Once at a party hosted by Senator Thraex, Lord [name erased due to erosion] made the mistake of mocking Marcus Acacius' paramour whom he decried as a whorish slave from the east.

Acacius in all his fury beat the unfortunate fool in unmitigated rage, and warned the onlookers that he wouldn't hesitate to do the same to anyone who dared to humiliate the mother of his child.

It was reported that the two co-Emperors, who were present at the gathering, had a good laugh over the misery of the man who had been the target of the general's wrath, and even offered the general to execute the "bumbling fool" as a gift to the general"

-Anonymous writer, 5th century AD

Letter 3: Dolly

"Marcus Acacius to his Moonbeam greetings. My precious star child, who is dear to the sight, but dearer still when the sight is denied, I was informed of your melancholy by dearest Lady Lucilla! I know just how precious the dolly was to you. My starlight had made it for you when you were smaller than a fig in her womb. I too, cannot help but lament the loss of your dolly. I wish I could be there to assuage your grief and mine.

Moonbeam, I promise to help you look for your dolly once I'm back there with you. The very thought of seeing you again fills my heart with joy in these difficult times. You are always in my prayers my dearest. Farewell, my sweet, may the stars and starlight guide this letter home to you"

Document 4

"Lucilla to her husband Marcus Acacius greetings. Dearest confidant and husband , you've always been considerate of me and my feelings since the day the late Emperor Septimius Severus had us betrothed. You've been respectful of my feelings for him, and I've always admired you greatly for that. As such, I was elated when you found your love in the form of [name erased due to erosion]. She brought such joy and light to you; and even bore you the most precious of daughters! Little Marcia has helped me get over my grief for my own dear Lucius, and watching her grow swells my heart with happiness and a sense of pride.

But dearest of friends, I must confide in you that the sweet child has been asking some very curious questions about her own identity, some of which I find myself unable to answer. If you could, please help her quench her curiosity. I pray for the safe passage of your campaign. Farewell, my husband and dearest of confidants.

- Lucilla, in a letter to Marcus Acacius dated 216 CE

Letter 4: Starlight

"Marcus Acacius to his Moonbeam greetings. My little Marcia, your poor father is troubled! I don't know how to begin this letter. I can start by describing the auspicious moment when I met my starlight or maybe I should start by describing her. Your mother, my starlight, hailed from a land somewhere in the far East of Rome. Her people called her [name erased due to erosion] but she was known in Rome as Macrina, for she worked in the household of Macrinus. You may know him as the man with the colouring of dawn who once came over, accompanied by his two adopted daughters, to offer you sweets. But you are too young to remember all that.

My starlight would sometimes play the lute at parties organised by Macrinus. She was so good at playing her instrument that you could swear that she had been blessed by the very gods of music. My starlight had a penchant for singing in her native tongue, but she would only so in private, and oh! how blessed was I to have been privy to her mellifluous voice. She would then try to translate them for me using her adorably weak command over the language that you and I are now conversing in. I'll tell you more about my starlight when I get back home to you. For now, I'm writing down a line from a song which my starlight once sung for me.

There’s a desire, there’s a prayer

Both of them have touched the soul of love

Read it from the left or from the right

From the earth till the sky, only love is written

My little cup of honey, you remind me of my starlight so much! Farewell, my Moonbeam, may the stars and starlight guide this letter home to you"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Footnote: Hoii! I had so much fun writing this aiyaaaa! (totally not due on finishing my assignments and finishing my own reading list hahahah). I think the fic is pretty open ended (is it though?). I also chose the Orient cause it truly is a microcosm of the entire world (you get all shapes, colours and almost all race combinations)!! So the reader can customise the appearance of our dear starlight as per their likes and preferences. The orient part could also be my bias speaking cause I'm an aspiring historian whose field of interest lies in countries of the "Orient" (I'm also using the term Orient very veryyy loosely here). I took a lot of inspiration from various historical sources and epistles, so if you come across some of them then do tell!

Anyways, I hope that you guys will enjoy the fic as much as I did writing it huh (It's my first time writing one so I'm sorry if it comes across as cringe)!! Do tell if I should continue this and make it into a series hehe and sorry for any mistakes that I make in advance😽

Do like, repost and comment!! I love those hehe

That one line is from this song at the 2:35 minute mark

[artbymesa]

I was just gonna put this in the tags, but maybe this will help someone else to share my story if anyone else feels less alone. And it got long. I was a valedictorian in highschool. I would not recommend it.

Take it from me-- Do well in school, absolutely. Please try to do well in school. Please. But Do Not let it destroy your mental health the way I let it. I had a very unhealthy relationship with it and tied it to my self worth.

(Story time under read more if it helps anyone)

Oversharing time-- it was my priority in highschool. It was a goal I set for myself to prove I could do it, and if I didn't, I think I saw myself as a failure. This was mostly self imposed, and theres probably a psychological explanation for this I wont get into for the sake of length. But I thought if I could at least do this, I had something on paper that I could point to for myself in a sort of external self validation or worth. "I dont know what metric to gauge myself on, but at least I accomplished this". Call it a method of self soothing, I suppose.

It led to almost daily panic attacks that I could not publically control. The whole nine yards, too. It was exhausting and physically draining. If I were honest with me-- I isolated myself. More human contact, more going out with friends, more of me being the one to make the point of reaching out to other people would have made a world of a healthier difference. My focus might not have been so singular and borderline obsessive because it was the only thing i held onto. It put me in a horrible place mentally, and it has severely affected my adult life. I am still trying to unlearn the "if I mess up learning how to do this on the first try, i am a failure" when its like....just learning how to pipe icing on cupcakes or something. I tied my worth to my ability to learn, and that can become extremely unhealthy in a hurry. Especially when I already had mental health issues that were at odds with learning quickly-- like panic attacks that come on fast and wipe my memory and ability to think clearly. Its like I chose the hardest thing for my brain to do, and that was the metric I weighed my self worth on.

What I told myself at the time was some variation of "if I do this, i'll have the best chance at financial support or a full ride for college." That doing this means I will become self sufficient.

That's not how it works, and thats not how it worked.

I got a $1k grant, which was nice, but nowhere near the full ride or anything close to the "heavens of opportunity rain down upon me" sort of thing I had hoped for in my head.

Valedictorians make for good metrics for the school. Attendance records make for good records for the school. Not in any way saying kids SHOULDN'T try to do well in school (please for the love of god, we need every scrap of education we can get in this country), but please find a healthy medium too.

Doing well enough in school and not letting it destroy your mental health do not have to be mutually exclusive. A 3.5 is probably good enough. That was the cut off for one of my bigger transfer scholarships later down the road, transfering from one college to another. Nowhere did I have to continue maintaining a 4.0.

Besides. I didnt get a 4.0 by retaining functional information. I got it by gaming the system of how testing worked.

The example I use is a very dry history class in college I had. Our final exam was the culmination of all of our final tests. Same questions, same answers. I did not remember the content. I did not learn anything. What I did? I remembered the first three words of the question and the first three words of the answer, and remembered them by association. And then I forgot it all within the hour.

In the meantime, foster your friendships. Good friendships. This can create business connections in the future. Kindness and community will get the majority of people further in life than being any kind of top of your class, I promise you.

But most of all, be kind to yourself and treat yourself gently.

are you or have you ever been a straight-A student?

[feli026]

Assigning every Graveborn a song or two (Part 1):

1) Igor

Necromancin Dancin is just full of undead chaos and evil whimsical energy, just like our tombstone jumping mosquito man :3c, while Vibrant Eyes can be seen as Igor struggling to repress the Graveborn energy during his early Graveborn life (failed to calm Cedartown residents' fear, accidentally scared his child friend by killing her bullies)

Typical Me by kroh can be a good replacement for Vibrant Eyes but I think Vibrant Eyes fits more (even though I don't listen to CG5 as much anymore aha... Anyways)

2) Viperian

Viperian gives off heavy Alastor vibes for me, he mass murder people with a permanent, sadistic smile, and also would act all nice to manipulate his victims (citation: the girl from Rat Infestation side quest). He is also the type of person who is so obsessed with human anatomy to the point he CRAVES to take a bite of it, therefore Butcher Vanity.

If it's not obvious enough I headcanon him as a cannibal. I don't know IT JUST MAKES SENSE IN MY HEAD

(Bonus song: I'm Sane by Axie. Literally this song is basically Viperian creating the Kraken /j)

3) Cecia

Cecia. A beautiful opera singer. An absolute queen that is egotistical, yet has a soft side of her that she doesn't show quite often. She often expresses her being above everyone else's, a noble to be respected (and maybe worship????) so yeah Pomegranate Lips comes to mind. Her design also reminds me of Alice Angel from Bendy, and since both of them are talented singers and are harsh and egotistical, I kinda see any Alice Angel songs as Ceciacore

4) Niru

Now Niru only has one song simply because THIS SONG PERFECTLY ENCAPSULATES HIS INSANE MIND and him slowly lost it when he touched the art of necromancy. "Now I must finish what I started" can be referred to him being executed when he got accused of failing his duty as a doctor. IT'S SO SO SO GOOD Y'ALL SHOULD LISTEN TO IT SHAYFER IS SO UNDERRATED

5) Thoran

Shoutout to an oomf of mine who recommended these two songs for me when I was dumping Thoran lore to them, Thoran building his Graveborn Empire and dealing with the devil Quaedam can be expressed by both these songs respectively

Andddd the list ends here for now! I'm sleepy and I have English as my last test tomorrow so I'm gonna eep++ find more songs to fit Ludovic and the others hehehehhe

[just-a-queer-fanboy]

Help me oph and I went to a bad bad hats concert last year and now this whole fucking album is stuck in my brain like a popcorn kernel

I will NOT play this song on my walkman baby

[milkteateeth]

for my feline friends: this purr generator is my favorite thing on the internet, you can adjust the timbre as you wish and it's so warm and calming

for my canid friends: these generators for wolf pack howling and sled dogs running are by the same sound engineer on a different website, also adjustable, the sound quality is great and they never exactly repeat

overall i really recommend the site mynoise.net!! it's got so so many different noise generators and you only have to donate like $5 once to access them all there's no subscription or anything. some of my favorites are northern woodland, sailing ship, japanese garden, mr. rhodes, distant thunder, and dreaming nautilus <3

[soft-cryptids]

[atlantis-area]

TAEMIN - Heart Attack (FanCam, Inkigayo, 210228)

[iamthedukeofurl]

Okay, here me out Disco Elysium presents the ideal mechanical framework for a Star Trek game. Now, I want to be clear. The resulting game would NOT feel like Disco Elysium, this is a game about controlling a crew of highly competent professionals, not a single amnesiac with poor impulse control. The skill system is straightforwards, representing the various specialties of your crewmembers. The "Skills Talk to you" mechanic is just literal conversations you are having with the relevant specialists about the situation you have encountered.

The Disco Elysium RPG mechanics apply themselves quite nicely to a largely dialogue based game where you want to apply a broad set of skills to a variety of situations. So a dialogue might look like this KLINGON EXILE: Starfleet Scum! You face not an ordinary Bird of Prey. Ever since I was cast out by those honorless dogs on Qu'onos for daring to walk the path of a Klingon Warrior, I have scoured the galaxy for the weapons that will lead the Empire to it's glorious destiny! The destruction of a Federation starship will prove to all Klingons the fruits of my efforts and the Superiority of my designs! Prepare yourselvs for death! You [Empathy, Hard Failure]: This Klingon seems determined to prove his worth in battle. You don't see a good way to convince him this isn't a good idea. Lt Gearhead [Xenotech. Moderate Success]: Captain, scans show that bird of prey is outfitted with highly advanced weapons derived from multiple different technologies. His shields appear unaltered however.

You [Galactic Awareness. Hard Success]: You recall reports of attacks on experimental facilities, quarantine zones, and storage sites across the quadrant. If this klingon was the culprit, he has attacked everyone from the Romulans to the Orion syndicates in order to build his "Perfect Warship". Cmdr Fightsman: [Stellar Combat, Moderate Success]: "Those weapons will blow right through our shields I can't recommend a straight fight". Lt. Gearhead: [Starfleet Systems, hard failure] I could try to reinforce our shields, but I don't know if we could get them back up before the first attack. OPTIONS: 1: Convince the Klingon to seek more worthy prey [Diplomacy: Hard] 2: Attack head on [Stellar Combat, Legendary] 3: Boost Shields to weather the first volley [Starfleet Systems, difficulty unknown] 4: Attempt a fighting retreat until you can reach federation space [Stellar Combat, Hard] 5: Attempt to strike first and catch him off guard [Going Boldy, Hard] 6: Attempt a fighting retreat to lure him into Romulan space [Stellar Combat, Moderate] Now I presented a combat scenario here, but the key to Disco Elysium is that everything is resolved through dialogue. The same mechanics could apply to an ethical dilemma, a science mystery, or a holodeck game. A Star Trek game, especially one that positions you as a captain, should be mainly about talking to people and making decisions, not mechanical execution.

An inherent problem with the Star Trek concept is that any time people want to make movies or videogames about it, they always move away from what Star Trek is about.

Because Star Trek isn't very action focused or cinematic or tactile. They don't even really have guns, they basically fight by aiming laser pointers and just standing there. You're not gonna get sick action shooter gameplay from Star Trek. The best Star Trek episodes are the ones where no combat happens at all.

Because Star Trek wasn't made to be an action movie, or a videogame. Star Trek is a TV show, and everything about it was made for a long-form TV format, and a long-form TV budget. It's about character drama, and politics, and diplomacy, and encountering weird alien shit. It was built for characters making tough decisions, and going on Shakespearean soliloquies.

The only kind of game that would REALLY stay true to the spirit of Star Trek.... Would unfortunately be a Telltale style choose your own adventure game.

[skrunksthatwunk]

landing

[devotion-disorder]

of late ive come to the realization that im not so much of a touch-oriented person as i thought, but damn getting bitten in the neck was really really nice and its the one thing i keep thinking about

[yo-yo-yoshiko]

Oni ni Kanabo! (my first time experimenting with physical screentone!!)

I thought the rough media look suited her(the manga master) for this one so intentionally left parts of the original sketch... but here's some cleaner scans anyway!

...and also a photo of her on my work table!!

[bogkeep]

"how could i leave you here all alone?"

[osric to accompany this piece, from blade of the fane by @theoplum]