#one of my edits didn't save for some reason so i added it again

[herefortheships]

Somewhat darkish headcanon that ties the Toonverse with the Movieverse, if we didn't have the context of the first Beetlejuice movie. Below the cut, because, as I said, "darkish". (I mean, I don't think it's dark, but 🤷🏻‍♀️ Just in case). Basically, this is how I think people who only had the context of the cartoon interpreted BJBJ:

My mom's best friend watching Beetlejuice Beetlejuice without having ever watched the first movie is what sparked this thought.

There must be people out there who watched the cartoon growing up, but for whatever reason (mainly being casual viewers) didn't ever get around to watch the first movie. And surely there's got to be a few people out there who didn't even know the cartoon was based off a movie (please, there has to be, especially people who had really strict parents. I had a friend who had never held a ken doll in her hands, for example, because her strict mom didn't want her to see Ken naked lol Extremely controlling parents like that exist, is what I mean), and yet, these people went to the theater to watch the sequel.

For some of them, BJBJ would appear to be either a continuation of the cartoon or an adaptation. Of course, as casual viewers, they may not think too deeply about these things as the fans do, but with this idea in mind, here is how I think they interpreted the movie:

With only the context of cartoon to give them an understanding of the Beetlejuice story, it would look like Lydia and Betelgeuse were best friends while Lydia was a kid, but when she got older, at some point, Betelgeuse started having feelings for her and became obsessed with her. At some point it stopped being fun and games, and maybe Lydia even started feeling a little scared of him. Suddenly having a ghost friend wasn't so much fun anymore, when she started feeling that tension between them (here's where she started thinking of him as a demon vs a ghost, in this headcanon).

//She may have started having feelings for him as well around this time, which added to her fears of what could happen between them. After all, he was dead and an all-powerful ghost; there's a chance she feared what could happen, if they went there, if you know what I mean. But I'm kind of diverting from my point. lol//

Anyway, Lydia started growing a little distant, which frustrated Betelgeuse. Eventually he resorted to terrorizing Lydia's family to try to force her to marry him. That would have marked the end of their friendship in the cartoon, with Lydia banishing him and never summoning him back from the Neitherworld again.

Think about this: in BJBJ, Lydia explains that when she was a teenager, a trickster demon terrorized her family and tried to force her to marry him. She never mentioned that for Betelgeuse to be able to have free access to the world of the living he'd have to get married (Betelgeuse didn't either, when Lydia summoned him in BJBJ, now that I think about it, so the casual audience with zero context of the first film don't know that the reason Betelgeuse needs to get married is to be free, they just know he wants to marry Lydia). Edit: Before I posted this one, last night I posted a separate little post about this, even though I wrote this post first. lol

For a person who only watched the cartoon and had no context whatsoever of the first movie, what does this all sound like? Like everything was peachy keen between Lydia and her ghostly friend until she grew up into a teen and Betelgeuse fell for her, which led to the events which she appears to still be traumatized over in BJBJ. Then in BJBJ they reconnected (Lydia does look exasperated with him a few times instead of scared of him, the way she acted with him like she had known him a long time before; we can see this with the way she talks to him in the couples counseling scene and the quid pro quo scene), and by the end it even seemed like they were on their way to being friends again, when he saved her daughter and lent her his power to knock out Rory.

Even though she banished him again, with him sticking around her at the end of BJBJ, if they never make part three, at least we all can assume that eventually they might become friends again at some point in the future, and maybe even end up together down the line. After all, they used to be best friends once upon a time; they can get over all the water under the bridge between them.

As I said above, this is just a speculative kind of post, looking at the way someone with only the context of the cartoon might have interpreted BJBJ.

Now, how would I marry the Toonverse and the Movieverse with the context of the first film in mind? Completely ignoring the fact that the Toonverse is supposed to be non-canon lol. I'm going to leave that for another speculative little post, to avoid making this one into a long ramble. But I'll conclude with saying that I actually really like this headcanon (I hope you don't think I'm weird for that 😂).

[chaoticbindery]

Here's Looking at You Kid

By Messermoon(@sophsicle )

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world..."

George wanders into a bar. Nothing is ever the same.

Thanks to Soph for accepting a copy of this story. Apologies for the delay and ups being trash 💀

Thanks to @upthehillart for approving my use of their art for this fic.

Special thanks to the @renegadepublishing server for all your support, advice, and encouragement during the making of these books.

To ups, I hope you never feel the gentle touch of a woman, that your child never hugs you again, and that every time you enter a room, you forget the reason you are there.

Below, I will discuss the process, which will include a lot of spoilers. (But also more pics 😈)

When I heard this story was set in the same universe as choices, I lost my shit a little and read it. Slowly, however, this story began to mean a lot more to me than I could put into words. George's grief over the lost of his soul mate, the struggle to find himself, and Blaise's love, passion, kindness, and confidence in himself resonated to me in such a way that I knew I needed to hold it in my greedy little hands.

I started to think about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to bind this story. I struggle a lot from picking the font for the body text to picking the chapter titles. I finally, after fucking around with canva for more time than I'm willing to admit , I was able to come up with these:

(If you would like the files for anything I used, please dm me, and I will send them to you! I will eventually set up a google drive)

In the story, there is this moment where Blaise casts a spell that creates a constellation, of which George got the inspiration to make a mood ring that created a little sky, and depending on your mood the sky changes to reflect how you feel. He gives it to Blaise, and they have a picnic under the sky, indoors, later at Blaise's party they have such a cute moment at night and so I wanted to implant the sky in some way.

I also wanted to use constellations in this bind. I didn't know how or where. I just knew I needed them in my life. So while i mop over my inability to impelent them, I took a break. So one day, I was reading a book with these very cute corners, and then it hit me. (No, I didn't finish the book i was reading. I was busy stalking the internet, trying to find the perfect image)

After that, picking the page breaks was easy. I wanted something simple since I didn't want the typeset to look so busy that it took away from the most important element of the bind, aka the story. I added a few little things for me in Draco and Harry's 2 chapters because I'm weak, and that's for soph to find all on her own 👀

I will put this here, tho.

Lastly, because Tumblr won't let me post more pictures, here are the endpapers I used for 2 of the 3 books.

As some of you may have notice, there are blues, pinks, and whites in this bind. It's a subtle yet very loud depiction of the Trans flag. It was very important to me to show that this story is of a Trans man that, as soph, puts it, saved himself.

I added all the chapter notes, trigger warnings, and more information about this bind on the typeset itself. Ultimately, to me, this is a form of archiving stories I think matter, and if for whatever reason, technology dies on us, this story will still live on.

The info that's only important to the binders 💀:

Materials list:

Bookcloth: Colibri in color Cornflower, this cloth has a silk like finish.

Htv: I used siser's htv easy weed vinyl with a bit of a pinkish undertone to it.

Endpapers: they are from paper tree nook in the uk

Endband: 2 mm 100% leather with blue viscous thread

Textblock: I used standard 20lbs cream color paper. I used toner to print. To sew the textblock, I use blue linen thread and remie bands gifted to me by my friend duranbinding. I painted the edges using golden acrylic paint, and the charm and ribbon are both from Michael's

Typeset:

(I will edit in this bit later since I made so many changes its hard to recall them all)

[angelphonia]

Okay, I've been binge watching the Stop!!Hibari-kun anime and I've got some thoughts I need to let out.

Firstly, watching the anime makes me appreciate the Manga a hundred times more. Sure, the Manga had its problems, mostly the racism and the casual homophobia jokes and transphobia, but you could save stuff from it, like that even though there were homophobic jokes there was a gay woman who wasn't mocked because of her attraction to Hibari, or that despite the transphobia Hibari was never outright shown as being wrong by being herself.

Now, the anime does a lot of things I dislike. Firstly they make Kosaku's reactions be way more negative than in the Manga. While yes, he reacts negatively he is also seen blushing a lot when Hibari flirts with him. I may need to read the Manga for fourth time, but I also don't remember Kosaku constantly mentioning Hibari is a "guy" everytime she did anything.

There is a lot much more racism in the anime. There were problems with this in the Manga but it just feels way more present in the anime.

This one doesn't bother me too much, but I'm pretty sure the chapters do not align with the Manga, but again, this doesn't bother me.

I also noticed way more incest jokes, I don't care about them. Also the Seiji chapter where he falls in love with one of Hibari's bullies when she's 15 and Seiji is around 25/30 is very questionable. Again, this is a work of fiction so while I was like "why isn't this seen wrong?" I wasn't really uncomfortable. I do gotta say that in the Manga when the Japanese mob grown manchild son asked for Hibari's hand in marriage, it was inmediatly said he was 28 and Hibari was super taken aback. This doesn't happen in the anime, his age is NEVER mentioned. I can't quite remember, but I am sure Hibari also doesn't go on a date with him.

Oof, but here we go with the thing that has bothered me the most. The REALLY bad erasure of Jun's story. They absolutely took away her lesbianism, making it seem as if she was only interested in Hibari because of her volleyball abilities. They also totally changed the episode and made Jun be deeply ashamed of her family, that while in the Manga she was a bit embarassed it wasn't a main focus. In the Anime it was, even making her leave the volleyball club, which is crazy to me. Oh, and I'm NOT forgetting that they made Hibari enjoy getting gropped in the bus, when in the Manga she was clearly just disgusted by it.

I haven't finished it yet, may edit this post with more complains. Positive things? I'm sure Seiji and Sabu didn't have names in the Manga, so now they have identities. They try and give them more backstory, even adding an eye scar to Sabu, which was appreciated. Hibari's voice is absolutely the cutest. I liked the wrestling episode. Oh, the episode with Hibari's mother and her father was a delight, she didn't express this much emotion in the Manga, so actually seeing how she feels was great, and her end interaction with her father was adorable.

Can't remember anything more rn. As a side note, I've developed a little crush on Sabu and I'm gonna draw him. Hope you enjoyed my rambling!

EDIT:

Remembered the Honda thing. In the Anime he almost reaches his 1000 girls flirted with, but with one it is half a girl. In the Manga this was because he looked at a 5 year old by accident and she fell in love, while in the anime they made it so he flirted with a new half. For those who don't know, new half is an old Japanese term for transgender people, mostly trans women who were post op. In the subtitles this is translated as crossdresser, which I don't like. This isn't the first time this term is mentioned, in the spartan son episode, he calls Hibari a new half, which Kosaku tells him to not do. In another chapter there is a trans woman, and she refers to herself as New half, which again is incorrectly translated to crossdresser for some reason.

Even then there was some sort of minimal knowledge of trans people, not only with this, but in the Manga the addition of Genkijirou being a canonical trans man in hormones. Eguchi was aware and while his first idea was to make Hibari a feminine man, it obviously end up with her being a trans woman.

[the-insomniac-emporium]

A. Caldwell: Resident Lover edition

ayyyye it's ya girl boy creature of questionable origins! originally I was going for a npc version of Ava, like they were a side character in RL, but honestly this design could work as my version of the MC (because, ya know, Ava was originally a self-insert who rapidly mutated into something else heehoo) also ignore my typo on their title. forgot to double check and it's too late now

Avaskian Caldwell: Miranda's (other) impersonal assistant

Mx. Caldwell was originally a student at Miranda's University, studying for their psychology degree, with the goal of being a counselor of sorts for future students. The official report states that their horrific injuries were the result of an accident that occurred off-campus, while Caldwell was running an errand for the student council. As a result, Mx. Caldwell suffered a brain injury, resulting in an unusual (and advanced) case of dysphasia, as well as increased sensitivity to sound. They now communicate almost exclusively through writing, which is less impaired than their speech, and wear special ear plugs meant to limit background noise without blocking out nearby voices. Headmistress Miranda graciously offered the former-student a job at the University, as a groundskeeper of sorts. Or, well, that's the official story...

Although few speak openly of such things, the rumors around campus indicate that Mx. Caldwell knowingly got entangled in a Cult while trying to track down an old friend. Supposedly, they betrayed the group's trust, and were cursed in retaliation. But if that is the case... why would the cult keep them around? As an example, perhaps? The truth is evasive as always, and unendingly complex.

Currently, the idea is that Avaskian's childhood friend attended the University, got involved in Alcina's secret society, goofed up real bad, tried to blackmail her way out of it, and got added to Alcina's sculpture collection. Ava questioned her sudden disappearance, despite not having been in active contact with said friend for some time. Just like in their OG story, they followed the trail, running into one of the cult's more remote ventures in the process. That sets up the bit for Ava's cult design, which I'm still working on.

Eventually, Ava made it to the university, got an invitation, emotionally manipulated their way into the thick of things (also by being intelligent, fast-thinking, and perceptive as hell), and eventually managed to put two and two together about their friend's fate. While they were unable to actually save their friend, they were able to essentially mercy-kill her, freeing her consciousness from the sculpture. Unfortunately, that meant betraying Alcina's trust...

Which is why Miranda definitely did curse them. Ava can no longer talk coherently, and is physically incapable of saying or writing several key words, to prevent them from openly revealing the cult's business. Technically, they can talk out loud, it's just... mostly nonsensical.

"Tongue twisting thoughts into scrambled egg salad. A typewriter monkey bowling for alphabet soup."

So, why did Miranda let them live?... Well, for one, they might not look like it, but they're already, like, 87% dead. Again, per their OG story (which I'm trying to adapt as seamlessly as possible), Ava's health regeneration is incredibly powerful, but uncontrollable. They literally drink poison tea (thanks Donna) to periodically give the regen something to do other than filling them with extra sets of organs. Ava manages to be resourceful, effective, and can mostly blend in without others realizing their inhuman strength.

But I think the biggest reason Miranda didn't outright kill them is that, to a degree, she recognizes a piece of herself in them. Someone who is ruthlessly persistent, utterly set on their goal, purely devoted to the one they want to protect. Ava wasn't able to save their person, but their loyalty is admirable, and Miranda knows just how to redirect it for her own purposes...

[randomfoggytiger]

Alpha In-Depth (Part I): Vibing and Internet Wive-ing

This was an anon request; and the idea intrigued me so much I immediately sat down and started hammering it out. So, here you go!

**Note**: I will ghost edit this later; but I'm working on Part II as I type so I'm in a bit of a hurry.

Surprisingly there is a lot of little details you can weave into an overall narrative in this episode. Alpha follows Arcadia and is followed up by Trevor, all three blending together to create the storm that is Milagro and the revelation that is The Unnatural. And, aside from that, there is still residual Diana-Fowley-under-every-rock suspicion and protection from Scully's side and some self-doubt (in denial) from Mulder's side. Both are half-right and half-wrong.

The Lead Up

I have a different read on S6 than most other meta; namely, that it was a ball compared to their previous seasons. What could have been in S4 (what was hinted in Home) was halted by Scully's cancer; and what couldn't be in S5 was aided by Mulder's "atheism" and Scully's loss and self-doubt (see here.)

But S6 is on the heels of FTF; and, while there was a huge setback in The Beginning with the files being taken from them and Mulder accidentally brushing aside Scully's big hallway confirmation, it's recovered in the name of grim survival: two agents, shoulder to shoulder, mucking through their toilet brush duties together, unbreakable. The shift in Drive is important, establishing Scully's skill at handling all the big mytharc pieces while Mulder is forced into a metal box hurtling down the highway; and Triangle affirms it by having Mulder stumble into another universe while both versions of Scully work overtime to save "Dorothy" and bring him home. By the end of Triangle all is normal: Scully is reaffirmed in her ability to add meaningfully to Mulder, not just his quest; and Mulder acknowledges this more openly, having to rediscover his FTF fears again on the Queen Anne (afraid of never seeing Scully again-- hence the kiss.)

The rest of the season is (mostly) a blast until the drama of Two Fathers/One Son-- which is important (and I wrote about it here) as a one-shot and 1 and 2 as a Typing Personality combo), because it establishes the central flaw of Mulder and Scully's ability to rip him out of it. By the next episode (Agua Mala) Scully is miffed, yes, but more at the storm than at Mulder-- because who would fly down to investigate a sea monster in a hurricane-- but whatever feelings that still lingered about One Son are demolished by the end when Dales forces Mulder to pause and acknowledge Scully's effect on the case. Not that he didn't want to; it's just that Mulder hadn't-- something a future Dales brother points out to him in The Unnatural. By Monday they're teasing and even beaming at each other, etc.

Suffice to say, there is normality restored with the X-Files back. On the heels of Monday there is Arcadia-- and while my posts on Arcadia were a bit dialed up to explore the psychological effects, the result is the same: Mulder and Scully enjoyed their time for different reasons. He enjoyed bullying the neighbors passive-aggressively and she enjoyed the domesticity of it all... but both of them were ready to leave by the end, Mulder having drawn firmer boundaries because of his discomfort with domesticity and Scully having retreated a little due to being teased to death (and almost literally dying.) This leads directly into the episode we're breaking down today:

Alpha

Ah-- Alpha, my Alpha... if only you weren't so badly written or were vastly more interesting.

The first shot of Mulder is him adding photo evidence to his corkboard, intently focusing on the crime. Scully appears in the hallway, having doubled back at some point from leaving the building, checking back in with him-- "Aren't you going home?", a question she may not have asked since Paper Hearts (correct me if I'm wrong.) It establishes that she and Mulder are on completely comfortable terms; and she's curious about his movements and well-being outside of the office, which is opposite to the prevailing meta that they were tense or on bad terms at this time.

"I AM home," Mulder cheerfully responds, still intensely focused, "just feathering the nest."

A fitting follow-up to Arcadia, which was an emphasis on a "normal", suburban home life. Mulder is still firmly rooted in his basement, not yet ready to step out on a Saturday night with his girl and baseball.

"Watcha got?" Scully slings out, interest piqued.

Mulder spells out the case, with Scully zipping out her own "Mind if I ask the cause of death?" in a scene not dissimilar to their quippy exchange in Fight Club (if more low-key and not as RST-y.) He's delighted she's involving herself this eagerly, hiding little smirks and smiles between his rapid-fire sentences and throwing out a quirky inflection to his "multiple bite wounds" detail, adding some pizazz to his delivery.

Scully's skepticism peaks when Mulder mentions the suspect is a dog; and she walks (read: leans on one leg then the other, seesawing into the room reminiscent of a teasing little girl on a playground) into the room to see the evidence herself and disprove it.

Mulder brandishes the X-Files enticingly ("That alone is not what drew me to this case") just out of her reach while he trots out the juiciest part ("The two men were found inside the container.") Scully plays along, taking the casefile when he dramatically relinquishes it--

until Mulder tells a joke so bad (repeating "doggone" thrice with various inflections, each more emphasized than the last, so that Scully will know he told a joke and smirk at his genius) that it spoils the mood and kicks her into full-on skepticism mode. Her "Yeah, I got it" is hilarious and deadpan; but it's a gentle "yeah, you stink" rather than her full-powered sarcasm-- and she bites off a smile of her own for "getting" him by a quick question about the investigation.

"Did anybody, um, examine the victim, Mulder?"

Scully's little quip amuses herself and Mulder, who gives a little head tilt in a 'well, y'know...' kind of way. Her amusement continues despite her charmed exasperation.

Mulder has witnesses, experts, and an outside source; but Scully doesn't budge. "Mulder, I don't have to tell you how absolutely and completely wrong that seems." He gives her a two confirmational head bobs and a few "yeah"s and "mhm"s, unphased by the nonsensical nature of the case.

Their vibe is very S7: lots of "yeahs", Scully sauntering around confidently and familiarly butting into Mulder's business after hours... it's domestic, really. Arcadia was the new wedding and honeymoon, settling in and sifting their lives together; Alpha is an exploration of "the couple"'s first cross-purposes disagreement (in this case, over the woman Karin); and Trevor will explore the complicated familial dynamics of two messed up people having a child. After those three episodes back-to-back, and no change in Mulder, the desperation of Milagro makes clearer sense.

Mulder KNOWS how ridiculous this case is.

Scully: "You're not going to tell me that a dog did this?"

Mulder: *a pause to consider*: "Bad dog."

Scully: "...Yeah."

At the first crime scene, Mulder leads the charge while Scully scuffles off to do some footwork of her own.

When Mulder questions the man in charge of the crime scene team, we learn a bit of backstory--

Man: "Did you ever own a dog, sir?"

Mulder: "Yeah."--

confirming a lot of meta speculation about Mulder's childhood (well, that and there might be a picture of a dog in Tena's house somewhere... if I recall the lore correctly.)

Mulder does a goofy little "gotcha" and hand clap over the man's not-so-subtle dog poop answer to his questions; and Scully, though not particularly fond of poop jokes, does almost crack a smile of her own... if only because Mulder stepped into that one (heh heh, puns.)

Scully takes over the interrogation while Mulder retraces her steps and stares into the same emptied box. ...Until he hears that there's a cryptozoologist involved in this case and scurries over, eager to get into the more outlandish aspects of mythological animals.

Scully's facial reaction-- "oh no"-- is perfect as he winds up and starts to rattle off his myths and monsters spiel; but he's put on pause when she ruthlessly cutting his speech down in the prime of its life with a smirk on her face.

As the case rattles on-- a dog attack in BELLFLOWER??? really?-- and Mulder scopes out the oddities about the newest crime scene (while avoiding dog feces and making a "Watch your step" joke to Scully. She heeds his warnings because she is, after all, practical),

In their exchange of theories, Mulder congratulates Scully on figuring out where he's going with his newest leap: "You get a biscuit, Scully." Scully stores her comeback for later, content (for now) to simply laugh at his idea of a dog with human intelligence.

A sidenote: Scully always, always holds the umbrella (Irresistible, Small Potatoes, etc., and here. Nice continuity.)

This leads them to Berquist Kennels, where Scully springs out her comeback pun, having lain in wait for the first golden opportunity: when Mulder responds "Actually, it's more of a behavior problem" to a contractor's questions, Scully smirks, realizing this is her moment (even the stars aligned so that she is accidentally holding her hands in front of her, clutched, like a devious little mastermind), and cuts in with the speed of light: "Yeah, he doesn't listen and he chews on the furniture."

Mulder, as shown above, is tickled-- but he's more caught out than overjoyed, huffing out a "heh" noise before digging for his badge.

An Odd Moment That Portents More

An odd moment happens: Mulder is completely at ease in Karin's office until Scully makes a sarcastic remark ("You sure this woman's not an authority on bats?"), his mood shifting a little.

He jovially makes a "tsk" sound, and reaches out in a "c'mon, none of that" gesture that almost fully envelops an unsuspecting Scully in a hug. He gets as far as grasping both shoulders before his partner turtles up, tucking her chin in and going straight and stiff as a board.

Scully's expressions shift swiftly from shock to realization that Mulder never gets this grabby without a motive (having just gone through an entire touchy-feely case where Mulder sort of used her as a cuddly prop to forward his sneaky motives.) Cynicism creeps in, and she begins to suspect that he has something to hide, searching through the room in earnest and starting to nail him down about "this expert."

Mulder, meanwhile, is not reading the room-- ironic, yes-- coasting through life unbothered while keeping crucial information back form Scully to determine her either way (which ends up shooting himself in the foot, because Scully's first impression of Karin is not a positive one.)

When Scully finds out he knew more about Karin than he initially let on, she is even more suspicious and not at all pleased... and Mulder knows he's in the doghouse (heheheh.)

THIS explains his weird arm grab earlier: Mulder knows Scully is viciously jealous, personally and professionally; and had tried to detour Scully from getting snippy about his new friend-- wanting his partner to trust and get along with her, a social outcast and someone he is already protective of. We saw how his last "friendship" shook out with Diana Fowley (not to mention his former collaborations with very helpful women in the field, i.e. Detective White in Syzygy and Bambi Berenbaum in War of the Coprophages); and this seems to be a redemption attempt on his part. A "see? I can make good friends-- I'm a good judge of character" mea culpa.

Mulder had even read Karin's books before even meeting her (an interesting parallel to reading Scully's thesis in the Pilot); but Scully is pleased when Mulder answers her "Better than human??" sniff over Karin's book with "She's not a real people person", giving her hope that this lady will be a very disinterested professional. She saunters away, playfulness restored (for now.)

Mulder is fidgety, holding something back; but the full jig is up when Scully finds Karin's 'I Want To Believe' poster.

"Well, she seems to have made a connection to you."

Karin now enters, not noticing Mulder's handwave at first. Then Mulder does something here he usually never does willingly:

"Karin? I'm Fox."

He's says it gently, establishing this is how they'd forged a connection between them; and Scully, savvy as she is, recognizes this and doesn't draw any attention to it. But still. (Not only did she have to content with Dr. Bambi and Fox, but now she has to contend with canid enthusiast Karin and Fox.)

Mulder is genuinely enthusiastic-- "Nice to finally meet you"-- sticking out his hand again with sparkling eyes (ala meeting his hero in Space.) Scully is... less enthusiastic.

When Karin realizes Mulder had come to consult her she asks, "Is there any other reason you came here?" It's sad when you consider her advanced illness and desperate wish for a loving-- or any-- human connection before her death; but this is Mulder pre-The Unnatural: everything is buried in work with no time for socializing.

Scully catches all of this, of course, without any of the context. She knows there is more going on, firmly pressing Mulder on the "friend" claim when Berquist leaves the room.

He admits that he and Karin met online; and Scully pauses, making sure her subtext meaning is clear: "Online."

Mulder catches it and closes his eyes, frustrated he'd fallen right into this pitfall. He firmly insists, "Two professionals exchanging information." Scully knows he's being honest... so that only leaves Karin's motive unexplored. And from what she's already seen of her (antisocial, not a people person) it's very unlikely that this woman's motives would extend only to professional interest.

Another murder, another crime scene.

Another Karin Berquist sighting, another opportunity for jealousy and suspicion.

Scully sees her coming and excuses herself-- "I don't think wolf woman is here to see me, so I'll..."-- not above giving the two "friends" some alone time (which reminds me of Mulder's "Don't say I didn't do nothing fer yeh", though it's a bit of a stretch.) She still tags along with Mulder back to the dog ranch where the three do some research, keeping her grouchy feelings in check until she sees proof positive that Karin is, indeed, amorous for her partner.

Scully then begins to grill Karin on her shift in opinions on the case (Mulder watching their pin-pong match with interest in both ideas), rolling her eyes at Berquist's assertion she's "just going by the facts."

When Karin explains the Chinese myth pertinent to the case, ending with the statement "...capable of opening doors, stealing wives, and disappearing into thin air. Maybe there is some basis in reality for this trickster myth", Scully snidely follows up with a pointed "Oh, I'm... fairly certain there is" while looking from Karin to Mulder, which earns her a measured look from Mulder. Scully turns from her waspish mood and this discussion, mocking the idea internally and recovering some of her former mood as she steps to the car.

Mulder follows her out, not irritated so much as confused; and his question-- "Everything okay, Scully?"-- sets her off.

"How well do you know this woman, Mulder?"

"How well do you know anybody you meet on the internet? She likes to talk."

Scully is appeased by his rationality, stepping back a little from her emphatic (read: aggravated) interrogation: "Well, I question her motives."

Mulder divines her interpretation, flattered but dismissive when he asks: "Are you suggesting that this case was the way to get me out here to meet me?" Off of Scully's confirming-but-not-admitting expression, he responds, "I'm flattered but, uh--" and does a little, flattered head shake.

He insists that Karin didn't kill a bunch of people to draw him to her; but Scully insists that "She's enamored of you, Mulder. Don't underestimate a woman. They can be tricksters, too."

Mulder's not buying it.

Two interesting things:

#1. A rather dark line of thinking for Scully, who would tie even extreme acts of violence to the lengths a woman would go to win Mulder's love or even his attention. This will ring more and more true in Milagro as it exposes Scully's desperation to be the center of his attention, too.

#2. Scully is alluding to this moment, yes; but more broadly, Diana Fowley lies right behind them with her treachery and cunning. Scully knows that her partner is easily manipulated, but it wasn't until the Fowley arc that she realized how much Mulder will believe on hopeful faith and blind loyalty. Since then, she's become his aggressive guardian. This will be immensely important in Part II.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[iavulture]

I just want to say... (spoilers for CoV Chaos route)

This is late because I'm already doing a CoC run now, but I finally beat my first run on Canon of Vengeance! I thought it was good, though it was kinda weak near the end; then again, that might be because almost all of my team were at level 99, save for one or two others (I think it was Belial and Yoko, who joined late and I didn't use Grimoires on them).

What are my thoughts on the endgame fights? Uh... not too bad, but I think the Tiamat fight was more difficult than the Mastema fight (the latter which, again, was made easier bc I Grimoire'd almost everyone to 99 at that point). In fact, I couldn't help but laugh during the Mastema fight, especially because for some reason, he kept targeting Metatron even though he had Repel Light and ended up getting rid of all his press turns. Eventually, he wised up when his health got low and actually knocked him out along w/ two other demons in my active party (I think it was Khonsu Ra and my souped-up Angel, who, if you've noticed in my other SMTVV-related posts, I nicknamed "Bobiel" or "Bob" for short). I didn't really run into much trouble with his Crime and Punishment gimmick because I knew his weakness and only needed to worry about landing crits, which didn't happen too often that I gave him free press turns.

I digress, but did you know that besides wanting to give my Angel a nickname that has a sort of "average guy from accounting" air, I also gave him that nickname to reference the main character of a game released in 2000 called Messiah? Which is where the old Roblox death sound came from?

(Spoilers for the ending of that game!)

(And no, that's not edited, that's really where that sound came from.)

To sum up the boss fights in CoV Chaos (badly): Tiamat = actually kinda challenging, took me a little while to deal with her health-distributing gimmick and defeat her; Mastema = an easy, almost "friendly" match between him vs the MC and a bunch of other angels (and some other guys) because pretty much everyone resisted his attacks, until Mastema got pissy and actually Great Lament-ed my team a few times (but was defeated in the end anyway)

The Lucifer fight was even easier than the previously mentioned boss fights, save for a few mistakes I made for being too confident.

On the other hand... I might've been a little bit hypocritical when I chose to go Chaos on the first run, as I ended up bringing a whole bunch of Law-aligned demons (two metal angels, three of the four archangels, two of the lowest-ranked Divines, and Abdiel (although in her fallen form)) and used and invested in them a lot more than the others. See, I've always liked having Heralds (especially Metatron) on my endgame team, which made the whole thing a bit weird since I'm practically going against what the angels would've supported. But then again, it's not like any demons (including angels) who have made a contract with a summoner can disobey them, so technically what they personally think doesn't matter, right?

So yeah... I might've taken a few pages from Yakumo's book.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Vengeance, I really did! It's just that I kinda treated my first CoV run as a "test run" so to speak, because I wanted to see how different it is from vanilla V, and I ended up getting something that was better than I expected! And given that CoV only has two routes, I'm planning to do CoV Law last after going through all of vanilla V's endings for the sake of completing everything and getting (based on what I've heard) a satisfying conclusion.

Actually, IMO, I'm glad there's no neutral ending in CoV for the following reasons:

1) I think there are already so many routes (CoC Law, CoC Chaos, Neutral, "true" Neutral, CoV Law, and CoV Chaos) that adding a hypothetical CoV Neutral just bloats the ending count

2) Yakumo bowing out and cutting off the possibility of a Neutral route in CoV; this is kind of an inverse situation with IV: Apocalypse, which is very much a Neutral game because Law and Chaos are "bad endings" that lead to the game ending earlier

3) Sorry for those who like Chaos or Neutral, but this game is clearly meant to be a Law game. I just feel that it is with its themes and what's possibly its "favored" alignment in the mainline games (since SMTI = Neutral -> SMTII = Law -> SMTIII Nocturne = Chaos -> SMTIV/Apocalypse = Neutral -> SMTV/Vengeance = Law (didn't include Strange Journey/Redux bc it's in a weird position between mainline and spin-off)).

That's all for this post! I'll be off doing a CoC run, though I'm not 100% sure what I'll be doing for the 2nd run for now.

[bdoubleowo]

...sitting still in minecraft to get mmd background is so smart i was over here teaching myself to export chunks through mininator to blender to pmd fighting for my life getting textures to look right. god.

so, it really depends what you want from your background. if you don't care about like. the small animations like candles and torches then you can literally just take a screenshot. or you can sit and record for the background. but that severely limits your camera options. you cannot move the camera, and you need to make sure that the mmd camera matches the minecraft one's angle or it'll look weird.

i used this strategy for one of my first minecraft mmds (and actually probably my first public mmd akjshdsda) but actually instead of importing it directly into mmd as a background .avi i chromakeyed out the background, as i did with my most recent one. the first time was because of hijinks where i didn't save the motion edits after exporting, but then decided to change the background. and i didn't want to redo them.

this time was because i couldn't figure out how to use a background image with raymmd.

however, using an image does have the benefits of "i don't actually have access to this world right now but i do have a screenshot from a youtube video!" which i did here.

I use mineways to export portions of minecraft worlds to blender, but i've only used it like twice. it was. a bit of an ordeal because the materials weren't linked to the textures properly so i just. ported the mmd model and motion to blender. and rendered it there. you can see the results of that here, but it's not grreat. because i didn't know blender as well as i knew mmd. which honestly wasn't even that much at the time.

the second time i tried to use mineways i bit the bullet and figured out what the issue was. i had to go through each block and fix the texture paths. one by one. it had the issue of the textures being blurry but i think it was very much worth it. fancy camera movements really added to the fun, and by this point i'd learnt raymmd well enough to get some decent looking shading

now the reason i chose to go with the stationary camera method this time was partially i don't wanna fix all the textures again,,,,, but also the fact that it was a fully enclosed space. i wasn't certain how well mmd would respond to that, and it seemed like it was more effort than it was worth to try and fight the lighting. and i wanted to emulate lizzie's lighting as closely as possible, so i figured that'd be easiest in minecraft itself. even if the amethysts are considered?? emissive in my game but not hers?? so they're WAY brighter in my shader. i don't know. how to fix it without turning out all emissive light. which she CLEARLY has on with the lava and lanterns. so. rip me ig.

sorry this is kind of rambly haha. i just have many thoughts on the matter

[into-the-clintoris]

Hi can you tell me about your DVD collection?

@moreclaypigeons

IF YOU ARE READING THIS I HAVE FINALLY MADE A DRAFT I DISNT ACCIDENTALLY NUKE BY ADDING A POLL BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE BULLET POINTS AND NOT BEING ABLE TO DELETE IT

Anyways here it is, my pride and joy.

First up all my regular dvds. By the way, I am using the words DVD and Blu Ray interchangeably. I say dvds, I mean discs with movies on them, including Blu Rays.

These are all the movies I just wanted to have a physical copy of for one reason for another. 90% of these are thrifted, some I've seen, some I want to see because ive heard of them and know theyre good (see: The Normal Heart, O Brother Where Art Thou), and some I want to see because it looked interesting on thr shelf at the store (see: Much Ado, starring Keanu Reeves and Denzel Washington???? How have I never heard of this????).

Many of these I collect because they're important to me in one way or another (see: The Iron Giant, HTTYD).

Now here's all my pretty DVDs. Again, 90% thrifted.

Here's the highlights:

Scrubs season 1 has a plastic sheet that looks like an x ray and is removable. The inside is made to look like a doctor's clipboard and has a rubber chicken.

Walk the Line was thrifted and still had all of the inserts, including in character photos of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

That Reservoir Dogs dvd is one of a set - each character had their own release. Still has the pamphlet, and inside is a quote from QT about the character.

Yes, 2 copies of The Matrix. The original DVD and the ugliest steel book I've ever seen, next to all the Marvel movies, but it was a gift.

Angels in America is just a damn high quality case. It has a magnetic closure.

Planet Earth box set has a gorgeous inside. Each DVD is about a different place, and so pays tribute to that subject.

That Band of Brothers set is METAL. Like a steel book.

Saving Private Ryan is the 60th anniversary of D Day special edition, its pretty cool.

The Silence of the Lambs criterion collection, not thrifted per se, got it from Amoeba Records. The booklet inside had BTS stuff and high quality stills. It's gorgeous. The whole thing is very Hannibal (TV) - esque.

Narnia is my favorite DVD. Hands down. The inside looks like the wardrobe, and when you remove the plastic dvd case from the cardboard sleeve, it reveals a picture of the lamppost and Lucy. It encompasses so concisely why I collect these things. Someone loved this movie a lot, and designed the case with their entire soul. You don't see that much any more. See: Disney """"""platinum editions"""""" that are just the same damn dvds but the sleeve is shiny.

This brings me to another section I'm super proud of:

I thrifted all of these. They all came from different stores. Fellowship is a little banged up, but I dont mind. Yall the insides of these are INSANE. I'm talking art, maps, the whole nine. And they do have a leathery texture. This set is in my top 3, probably tying SOTL for 2nd place after Narnia.

I love these things with my whole heart. They're so creative and beautiful and unique, and hunting for them at the thrift makes me feel like I've uncovered treasure.

I didn't try to get inside of these because it would be so complicated to try and get pictures of all of them and everything in them, but if there's something specific you want to crack into, let me know! Send an ask! I'd love to show these bitches off, they're literally the coolest things I own and I have barely anyone to talk to about them ✌

[raspberryconverse]

Tonight's edition of "Is this what marriage is?" Perhaps Wisconsin's Tattletale Notice isn't such a bad thing.

As I've mentioned a few times on here, our range's oven does not work. Does it heat and cook food? Technically, yes. Accurately or for longer than 15 minutes? No.

The internet said that the best time to buy new appliances is the beginning of the year. I saw one that I liked the first week of the year and we noticed the tag said the price was good though 1/4, so we decided we'd see what the next sale would bring it to. Well, that was a dumb move because it went up in price $100 and has yet to come back down to that price.

We finally started seeing prices drop on some models and found a similar one that's reasonable and a few others we hadn't seen because we had only been looking at Home Depot (my dad gave us a $300 gift card for Christmas/my birthday). Basically the only feature I really want is a lower storage drawer because our kitchen is tiny and we just don't have space for baking pans if we lose that drawer. My spouse doesn't want anything with a white cooktop because it shows all the dirt. We had it narrowed down to 2 models, but both Best Buy and Home Depot have new ads starting tomorrow (well, technically today). The Best Buy one is about $100 cheaper, but obviously we have $300 to spend at Home Depot (not that we wouldn't be able to use it for other things) and that makes us want to lean that way.

Since we knew the ad was changing, we decided to talk about it and make a decision. I currently owe my spouse about $800 for Lola's toe, so I suggested we pick one and I pay for it all with my PayPal credit account. If we pay it off in 6 months, we don't pay any financing. We were about to pull the trigger when apparently my spouse didn't gather that I already had that account.

NGL, I fell hook, line and sinker for the promotional offer of saving $50 when my watch broke and I wanted to buy a new one on eBay (I had a Fossil Q Venture Gen3 smartwatch and the newer models don't use the same size bands and I honestly didn't want to get one that wasn't going to fit the bands I already had, so I bought a Gen4). And I've been using it for awhile on frivolous things like new tile sets for my Letterfolk Tile Mats and that time I got sucked into the sex toy sponsorship Jordan and McKay did recently. I've actually done surprisingly well for me with a new credit account by not using up the whole thing like I'm always tempted to do.

But apparently my spouse is really pissed that I opened the account without telling them. And that completely shut down the new range conversation and I'm back to whatever can fit in the air fryer and the tech support "did you try turning off and turning it back on again" method for anything that requires more than 15 minutes to cook in the oven. The cooktop works fine (at least 2 of the burners work, which is enough for anything I cook), so that's good. Spouse also bought a toaster oven (the box says "countertop convection oven" and IDK if that's different from a toaster oven or not) for $15 at a thrift store a few weeks ago, but we have yet to test it out. But I'm kinda starting to feel like we're never going to buy a new range at this rate because I can no longer be trusted and don't deserve a new one.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying my spouse has no right to be mad about the account. If anything, I'm more mad that they gave me this whole "IDC what you buy. You don't have to have my permission to buy things and you don't have to sneak things in" spiel ages ago, but never gave me the caveat of "it has to be purchased with cash." I guess I'm less concerned about our credit now that we got the house, but I'm also realizing we've had to finance a ton of shit and we haven't even been here a year yet. And Lola is old and Meeah is ancient and Mable got bit by ticks before we adopted her, so they're all really fucking expensive. We just have very different philosophies when it comes to finances and it's really starting to come out now with owning an old house.

So maybe it would have been better if we were still in Wisconsin and they would have gotten a notice saying I opened the account. IDK. Is this what marriage is?

[captainaikus]

Oh thank goodness. I was so scared I’d made you uncomfortable. Glad to know that’s not the case. Also currently getting ready to watch the latest episode of Blue Lock cause watching gay soccer players is the perfect way to distract myself from crying because of gay delinquents aka Tokyo Revengers 😌✨. I swear the number of edits I’ve saved to my phone these last two weeks is insane. You should totally pick it up again whenever you have the time (and ofc only if you want to) 👀. Izana brainrot has escalated to reading the fanfics under the character x reader tag. That’s when I know I’m down bad 💀💀💀. Anywho. You should absolutely catch up on Lore Olympus I just caught up yesterday and uhhhhh a lot has happened 👀. And everyone needs themselves a man like Hades like SIR IM- . Oh man I love yoo takes me back. I stopped reading it awhile ago cause I think it was being dragged out and I kinda lost the plot somewhere. I don’t like when the story keeps continuing when it’s just for the sake of it and it doesn’t work with the plot. There are very few exceptions to this. Tokyo Revengers obv being one of them cause I would seriously be so happy if it went on forever and I got to see what the daily lives of all my beloved characters were like. I have a love hate relationship with Ken Wakui 😤🤧😭. OH ALSO as sad as I am abt the ending I’m so excited for the second season in January (Black Dragons arc is my favorite). Have you seen the trailer? ALSO there was an announcement right after the release of the final chapter saying that Wakui was gonna be doing a special arc abt the Toman founders and I really hope it’s in the reset timeline with Takemitchy cause I need to see how him and Mikey did it all and just their relationship with everyone (adding childhood-friends trope to the number of reasons why this ship has everything). And it also included the announcement of Wakui saying he’s working on multiple spin-offs and I was like AFJBGFDJKHHHGGHGGG YES GIMME *ahem* also I haven’t read the Bajifuyu Letter from Baji Keisuke spin off yet but I was gonna wait until after the manga ended as a source of comfort yknow so I gotta do that eventually. EGGNOID MY DEAR COLD-BLOODED KING SIRENS LAMENTS LETS PLAY. I LOVE ALL OF THESE SO MUCH. Haven’t read them in a while tho 😅 (besides Lore Olympus atm). I recommend Brimstone and Roses, Unlovable Replacement, Midnight Poppy Land, SubZero, Down to Earth, and The Kiss Bet. They’re all on webtoons. OH and i heard that Nagi makes an appearance in the latest ep so I’m excited not cause I’m falling for him or anything ofc. How’s life? Good I hope? And I’m happy that my description was somewhat on point and that it didn’t make you uncomfortable. Oh and also love your sketches so much they look so good 🤩!!! Uh question. Just to double check. The constant asks aren’t a bother are they? I know you said you like interacting but I just wanna make sure it’s not annoying having to respond to constant asks from the same person all the time. If that makes sense? Anyways I hope you sleep well/wake up refreshed!! It’s night time here atm. As always take care of yourself! *sends virtual hugs*

- ✨ anon

Starry!!

I finished reading the latest chapters of the manga (and I'm amazed at the fact that I've managed to keep up with it so far; are we ever gonna get shirtless aiku and i wanna see him with the italian team)

my only motive in life atp (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)

I love yoo does make me feel nostalgic; but yeah as much as I love the whole story, the plot did get dragged out. So like here's the thing, I've watched a lot of k dramas and some of them are really lengthy. Like whats wrong with secretary kim had a good plot and everything, so did suspicious partners but this new one I watched (the penthouse) it got dragged out for so long that I didn't even want to watch season 3; even if it was interesting i'm being pushed to watch hospital playlist even with let's play when Sam and Charles were being dragged with Marshall in the bg i... dropped it. No ill will intended against the author and their artwork; cause they are amazing, but i lose interest with complicated plots. me watching he is a psychometric

The coincidence! I was literally asking abt the black dragons today (wanted to know if Shinichiro is there or not and turns out he is!) I wanna see the whole thing with Mitsuya, Hakkai and Taiju - me having a tr brainrot and thinking if i should work on it or will people get annoyed with me ⁽⁽ଘ( ˊᵕˋ )ଓ⁾⁾ I like manga omakes- they can even be turned into mini eps cause of it - esp with the trio and their pet shop business! (Me thinking of the moment when Baji's handwriting is so bad that Chifuyu had to show him how to write and teach him- he really thought wearing glasses would make him smart smh) and if i do read tr I'm gonna start uploading manga panels on my blog as well- so be prepared to be annoyed ig ⁽⁽ଘ( ˊᵕˋ )ଓ⁾⁾

I'll definitely check out the webtoons you sent me (kiss the bet seems interesting and midnight poppy land has popped into my recs a couple of times). I have to watch the next ep of blue lock - curious to know if Nagi's voice is how I pictured it.

I'm doing alright! Working on wips and clearing them, studying, watching shows *sips coke* and listening to music; we hit another mini milestone - 1.2k (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و so I'm working on two fics; angst comfort

istg the way you guys might come at me for this ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ

I just wanted to do something fun on the blog hehe- responding to comments with art. It's not very well done, yea but i'm not used to drawing digitally nor anime that often since I sketch paintings and statues... but its just to good around with my followers and to let people know that i do read their comments (๑•͈ᴗ•͈)

Honestly? I don't get interaction on my blog apart from you, 💙 anon and a few more - and - I like talking to you; esp when you mentioned abt having consistency while having to talk to someone? cause that's how it should be- and i don't regret saying this but the number of times i have unfollowed moots cause of this (big author or not; I'm not gonna engage in conversations if i'm going one sided abt this). So now I just prefer to chat with my followers and anyone who wants to drop in my inbox. And no, I don't find you annoying bb; you're very fun to talk to and I look forward to your visits- no matter how many times! This is probably the most interaction I've received in my entire writing experience and actually being treated like a person on the other side of the screen rather than being asked to write a part two (after its already been discussed many times) or asking to be tagged without my work being interacted with- and by interaction i mean telling me and describing to me what you liked about the fic and all that yk. And there used to be some days when I had my askbox closed so this is a pleasant change from that

૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡

so yeah feel free to send as many asks as you want - i'd be happy to see them ( ˊᵕˋ )♡

*sending back warm hugs*

[fafnirvt]

i loved this one! i wasn't a big fan of part 2 either, but part 3 was a massive improvement and kept me interested and laughing most of the way through. even when you got a little off-topic, it still felt related most of the time so i had a lot of fun watching it!

twitter users are totally wrong about your videos "ruining video essay culture". you're one of my inspos, and it's really dumb that just because they personally don't like your video they think it's bad in the grand scheme of things or whatever. :/

i think your plot recaps are perfect in their length and you spend plenty of time discussing your thoughts on each episode and how they relate to the nsu. not everyone has watched sam and cat, and you do a great job catering to that fact. honestly, it's something i wish i was better at.

however, if you want some constructive criticism i do agree with twitter a little bit on some things. at least based on your post, i haven't seen twitter's responses with my own eyes. (if you don't want the critique/you're not in a good headspace for it, feel free to just ignore the read more on this post and focus on what i said above! because again, despite my problems with it i do REALLY love this video! it's still a fun watch overall to me!)

while the icarly project always had long videos, they made sense in the past because each video covered like half of a multi-season show. part 1 of sam and cat made sense for the same reason, but i feel like the reason why parts 2 & 3 feel so unnecessary in their length to people is because you're just not covering that many episodes.

it's easy for a 6.5 hour video to feel like it's filled with excess padding when the main focus of it was implied to be sam & cat, you covered around 5 episodes, and you still didn't finish discussing the show. and you admitting to that at the end (from what i remember, i honestly haven't seen it in a minute) personally left a bad taste in my mouth. like you knew it was a problem but felt more interested in stretching it out into a third video instead of editing what you had to make sense for a singular second video. i think that's the main reason why people are saying your videos are too long. i don't think that was your intention when you said that, but to me it's easy to see how people interpreted it that way.

honestly, i feel like that video would have been received way better if it wasn't titled "the decay of sam & cat" and was just named after what you spent the majority of the time on: the things you forgot to mention in previous videos.

i feel like some segments could have been shorter in this most recent video, but i at least felt like the stuff that could have been cut was left there out of a genuine passion for what you're talking about instead of a wish to make the video as long as possible.

i also think it was very smart and kind of you to save the segment on jennette's autobiography for the end. it kept the video tonally consistent and also showed her a lot of respect.

i do hope you reach 1 mil, i'd love to see you do a video on drake and josh! adding this one to my 8156454 rewatch rotation playlist!

Hey tumblr

Well, as per usual, "X's" response to my latest video has been a bunch of viral tweets about how I'm ruining "video essay culture" (whatever the fuck that is) by making content that's too long or something. The people of X seem to think that I only do plot recaps, and also that too much of my videos are intermission analysis segments.

How are you guys liking the new video? I know Sam & Cat part 2 was controversial even here. I'm hoping part 3 has gone over a little better. I spent about a year on it, and I've been eagerly anticipating the ability to move on.

[nitrosodiumfmp]

TOWERTEST002

(There was a TOWERTEST001, but I didn't save the results, and it only had one participant, so the point of study is TOWERTEST002.)

Subject A - Owen

Subject B - hadyn

Subject C - Tobias Harvey/TruthReviews117

-

Subject A went through the tutorial in the linear path it was built around, though at the dock, he missed the note giving the game's premise, and then fell into the water, forcing him to restart. He lamented that he did not know the game's premise as a result of this.

In Subject B's playthrough, I moved the dock note to a crate right beside the gangplank, so it would be hard to miss. Subject B went through the tutorial in the usual way, reading all notes, and heading into the next level once he was done. While slightly misinterpreting the game's story via the notes, I was glad to see that the basics of it were being conveyed.

Subject C, as usual, spent a long time taking in the scenery, reading notes and even backtracking, though there was naught to miss. Once again, he found both notes, and progressed to the next level. Interestingly, he seemed to believe that he was playing a heavily edited Dock map, instead of an entirely new level.

-

The results of the Google Form are below.

Results are highly conclusive. After making the main lore note more visible, people have picked up on the basic story; that you are in the underworld, Nharro's domain, and you have to explore. The tutorial is also showing people the basics - I chose not to include enemies, as it is more of a surprise to the player when they do show up. Of people's suggestions: one person did request an enemy demonstration, but I have kept it out for the above reasons; one person suggested removing the lock from the door once you have the key, but I don't plan on doing this as it is a symbol on the door itself, and also a good landmark when the maps get more complex; and someone also suggested seeing more of the game, so I will pull back the curtain a little in Level 2.

I also got the chance to see the types of tutorials people like to see in games; primarily, learning things in the natural course of the game, having a list of controls, and an in-game tutorial. Obviously, a big control list is simple but conveys information well, and an in-game tutorial (what I have gone with for the most part) works well in a more immersive game. Naturally learning things is also something I want to implement, as people obviously like it.

Somewhat unintentionally, I have been following the narrative structure of Thief: The Dark Project. In that game, you first have a tutorial which teaches you the basics from a canon perspective, and then your first real level is Lord Bafford's Manor, a small map that lets you use what you've learned from the tutorial. In the context of Sinister, this would be the Dock level. From thereon in Thief, the player goes to Cragscleft Prison, which is a much larger map that tests the player in new ways. Cragscleft adds cameras and alarms, moss arrows and loud metal grating, the undead and holy water, ghosts, Hammerite mages; not completely changing the formula, but instead adding to it.

I want to do this with my next map for Sinister. By this point, the player can move around, solve puzzles, and evade enemies. I already spoke about my idea for stealthy Assassin enemies and traps, connecting to an overarching storyline concerning why Nharro is in a coma, and while I'm not sure how much of that I will add, I plan to implement some of it. The obvious choice, again, will be to make a Google form to see people's favorite parts of the game and exacerbate them, while leaving out what people enjoy less.

[gamesofcrimson]

Last devlog for the Isekai Jam

I'm a little late getting this out

The game is out. I would not call it finished in the slightest, but I've heard that it's still good to submit what you did even if it's not the best.

Below I'll quickly go over what I did since last update and how everything went with the impending deadline.

I was in such a hurry to get my game done that I didn't have the chance to post a devlog last week. In the past two weeks making the map took a lot longer than I thought, mainly because of one detail that was slowing down the process and I didn't think to fix what was slowing it down until there wasn't much time left

The day before the submission deadline I noticed the movement acting up a bit and making it harder to move, which unfortunately took about 2 hours to fix, which was time I was supposed to be spending on making the scenes.

Making the scenes took a lot longer than I thought because, unlike renpy, I couldn't really easily skip to a part in the scene. And then the function I made for easily moving a character in a scene wasn't working right and just completely broke when moving the player sprite for some reason, so then I spent a lot of time trying to fix it before having to decide that I just wouldn't use this function I spent a lot of time on because figuring out how to fix it would take too long.

Then I did some damage control and tried to figure out what scenes I could cut out. Even then I didn’t have enough time. I was rushing to try to get some last minute things done, but there was a lot more last minute stuff than I expected. Like making it so you could only use the sword when you pick it up (but I ended up putting the sword in the obstacle list instead of the pick-up list so you can't pick it up) and making it so you could use a potion (which I didn't have time to test and it ended up not working), and trying to make it so you could save but this feature was acting up so I just ended up taking it out again. And it was so late I couldn't test most of these things I added in.

And I was up so late at this point I knew I would end up sleeping past the deadline, so I had to get it done before sleeping.

It was either 4:30 or 5 am that I decided it was "good enough" for my panicked and sleep deprived self and make the executable file for it and packaged the game and uploaded it to itch.io.

And now the game jam is finished.

After waking up and testing out the game more, it's very broken and a number of things don't work like they were supposed to. Which is disappointing, but it is what it is. And I was using this to push myself to learn how to use pygame faster. It was the first time I made a game with it. Since I couldn't edit the game after submitting it because of the voting, I just typed up a guide on the game page on how to avoid the major bugs that would prevent you from playing.

After the voting is over I'll upload an update that'll make it more playable and fix the things that I wasn't able to get to.

Thanks for reading

[rrxnjun]

stress is deff a bitch but i feel like me and stress are the same now so🤡🤡

it's the 20th of august🤭 nooo that's a bit sad that u couldn't add urs but ur still a king for adding three birthdays in there🫡

WELL I HOPE THAT WONT HAPPEN AGAIN!!🤣 whaaattt that's such a long time oh my but the fact that u still had it is jaw dropping tbh

i don't understand why middle aged women have to be so rude sometimes☹️ wait i completely forgot that accents exist oh my god now thats even worse🥲 YEYY U SHOULD ARANGE ONE IN OCTOBER AS WELL COME TO THE 5SOS SHOW WITH ME/j (i'm heartbroken i have no one to go with so i probably can't attend) (i hope this doesn't break ur heart more cuz i saw ur posts about them sorry if it does☹️☹️hope i didn't cross a line with this joke☹️)

NOT TELLING ANYONE🫢 i look up to u for that cuz i'm still pretty much unable to do i suck💔 SO TRUE THE BEST DESCRIPTION I HEARD OF THEM JUST SOME GUYS!! i was so sad when yedam and mashiho left and i understand the soft spot he is such a lovely guy🥹 being a treasure stan is fun and a heartbreak but glad u admit now that ur a teume 🥲😌 ofc ofc we are sharing😵‍💫 HE IS SUCH A MENACE AND ITS SO FUNNY tbh he was the reason why i came back to tumblr cuz i wanted to see more content and things about him then i ran into the same problem as u that there are not that many writers in the fandom here tbh (or i just can't find them)💔 (sooo if u end up writing something for jihoon i will be waiting🫣)

IT SHOULDNT BREAK UR HEART IM SORRY IT WAS A CRY IN A POSITIVE WAY!!! i think it just means u portray emotions well (?) cuz every time there is a good sad scene in movies or books i just have to fight the tears back even when i was in a good mood before💔 AND THANK U FOR BEING AN AMAZING WRITER AND JUST BEING LOVELY AND READING MY LONG ASS REPLIES LMAO U ARE JUST TOO NICE OF A PERSON💖💕💝 (liebestraum anon💕)

omg 20th august is such a good bday to have im noting it down!!! 😌😌

IT IS the fic was originally supposed to be a part of collab but the writer deactivated and cancelled it but when i asked if i can keep the idea they were ok with it!! so yeah hopefully one day 💓

LOOK lets go to the concert together 😭😭 im like,, half serious and half joking 😭😭😭 i keep telling my mum about it and like the bus tickets to budapest are only 7€ and then i can find a cheap hotel and shit and i have money saved for the tickets 😭😭😭 like. budapest is objectively the closest stop to me ((even tho im still salty there is no vienna then i would go for sure) and i wanted to visit anyway 😌 but my mum doesnt wanna go w me and my dad doesnt either and i have no friends that would wanna go w me either and i am not allowed to go alone so. theres that 😭😭 i dont think ill get to go tbh im still kinda heartbroken but oh well its not the first time :// if i didnt live in such a shitty ass place this would all be easier 😭

girl i think its a miracle tbh but i got the names down. thanking my hyperfixation tendencies 💓💓💓 when i saw it i was so shocked tbh and now i keep getting sad mashidam edits on my tiktok fp and living through the pain LMAO. GIRL my crush on jihoon is getting out of control like genuinely what the fuck is happening to me- WHY IS TEUMEBLR SO DRY THO WHERE ARE THE FICS ??? i found like 3 fics and the rest are like 2 years old headcanon posts its such a struggle 😭😭 do i really have to do everything myself on this site.... (dont feed my delusions but give it a few months and if i dont fall out of them i can see myself creating a seperate treasure blog.....got a jihoon drabble idea the other day but. i will contain myself. so far he's the new main side character of the mark fic im writing 🥴)

awh you are too sweet 😭😭😭😭 thank u so so much !!!! this means the whole world to me 💓 once again was happy to hear from u, hope youre doing well ily xx

[rjalker]

I haven't actually been able to taste a ripe small flower pawpaw yet since the animals snatch them as soon as they get close to being ripe so unfortunately can't tell you yet. maybe next year.

There's some people on YouTube who live in Florida who have managed to find ripe ones.

We do have some in pots That We rescued when they got mowed down and they are old enough to flower but they didn't set fruit this year so maybe next year and hopefully we'll get to try some ripe ones then.

Also as a general update for the post, all but the most recent observations of Papa's have annotations added so if you go to the page for the genus you can look at the map. I'm going to assume there's going to be like at least 200 new ones that still need annotations cuz I haven't actually gone through it in a week or two.

Also there are a lot more observations of Asimina x piedmontana now because me and like two other people have started being able to identify them from the not only the flowers but sometimes the leaves

I also have a free guide I made for identifying small flower and common paw paws and telling them apart from other species they're commonly mixed up for like hickories and persimmons and I will edit this version of the post to add the link in like 5 minutes when I turn my laptop on since you all like Pawpaws

KK here you go:

Here's a free guide I made for identifying common and small-flower pawpaws, and telling them apart from other species they're commonly mixed up with, with a small section at the end for the naturally occurring hybrid between the two::

Web archive link where you can read it without downloading, download it, and it comes with an automatic audiobook version! (I haven't made an actual audiobook yet but I'm going to)

on Itch.io

Media fire links:

Print version

With image descriptions for digital use

And here'z the free guide for identifying American persimmons!

Web Archive

Itch.io

Media Fire

Feel free to share the links wherever you want!

Feel free to save and share these links! I have this message saved to my desktop for easy copy and pasting, and you are encouraged to post them to other sites, share the files, ect!

They're free for a reason!

alright I'm done editing lol

Edit again: speech to text made a horrible typo that has been fixed. Thank you anon for letting me know.

16,537 to go

and yes the number has jumped up by 3K because now it's sorted to show all pawpaws, not just common pawpaws. Because I may as well do them all at once.....

so yeah.

There are 13,000+ common pawpaws on iNaturalist.org so far (as of July 18th 2022 12:49AM) that still need annotations added.

There are 3,500 ish pawpaws that are species other than common pawpaw that still need annotations added.

Most of the observations of pawpaws are common pawpaws.

actually wait I can just give you the exact numbers:

Common pawpaw: 18,046

Netted pawpaw: 1,500 (Wow an exact number. that's cool)

Small-flower pawpaw: 1,483

Slimleaf pawpaw: 747

Flag pawpaw: 438

Wooly pawpaw: 405

Gopher-berry: 313

Four-petal pawpaw: 13

Manasota pawpaw: 12

Asimina colorata: 7

Asimina × bethanyensis: 5

Asimina x piedmontana: 4

Asimina × nashii: 2

Well, I say exact, this is just how the site sorts them, some of them aren't Research Grade yet (meaning they've been identified as the species they're categorized as by at least two people, or more than two depending on if there are other identifications offered)

oh wow I'm the 2nd top Observer of pawpaws on the whole site out of 11,990 people............................because I've observed 153. Except it's not actually 153 it's more like 50 a few times each since I keep track of individual plants over the course of the seasons lol......the #1 top observer has observed 458.

Those 153 observations are also all of small-flower pawpaws, which makes me the top observer for that species. I'm also the top identifier for that species, since I've helped to identify 1,293 of them.

anyways join iNaturalist if you want to learn about plants or animals or mushrooms or become really good at telling the differences between obscure species since no one else knows how to so you figure 'well I might as well do this' 'oh and there's only 15,000 observations I may as well go through and add data on whether or not the plant's flowering or fruiting or not'

[marciliedonato]

i used to adore panic from my early to late teens and still listen to the first four pretty often but i just can't for the life of me get into pftw & the three singles. idk if it's cause i don't like urine as a person or if his songwriting is genuinely just awful imo but i can't stop hating on it <3 also i keep seeing people say the new one has pretty odd vibes?? like po was actually good & imaginative idk what they're on about. or maybe i'm just a bitter old person now lmao

tbf i only got into panic right when 'they' were starting the too weird era and even when i was most into them i wasn't *that* familiar with the band's history/drama but no i think ur right lol i don't think he's ever rly been a great songwriter what he's had, however, is a lot of luck and talented ppl in his corner he could hide behind (bc the frontman is always gonna be the center of attention regardless of their involvement in the process)

ryan was always the one responsible for the theatrical/creative aspects and the lyrics in the beggining and you could tell bc there was a shift when he left but it was still pretty good bc of jon's (i think? correct me if i'm wrong) and pete’s involvement in vices. then around that time i think dallon joined, and we know he's a pretty good songwriter and artist in general, and someone else said it best in the tag that too weird was basically repuposed brobecks he didn't release and he carried most of that album on his back ...beebo piss basically just showed up and sang. i quite liked that one but i can't listen to it now bc remembering how shit beebo piss is and my hatred for him vs how much i love certain songs makes trying to listen feel like i'm a demon trying to enter a church lmao 💀

then doab you can tell he was more involved bc it was MIIIIIILES from what the 'band' used to be and a lot more focused on like, lyrics-wise living large and the pursuit of fame, money and drugs with a bunch of high notes so you'd think it was amazing (and my 15/16 y.o ass thought like half that album was THE SHIT for how it sounded) less creative both in lyrics and imagery and more in line with what was popping off at the time instead of going against the current

but like literally with pftw (which even when i was listening to him still i thought was just the cringiest and most try-hard name) is when it really starts to show he's literally just bad lyrics and high notes in a trenchcoat bc dallon wasn't there anymore and there was no one to hide behind so he had to do all that shit himself. i s2g the only time i listened to that album in full, a bunch of songs fused together in my subconscious bc they all sounded SO SIMILAR i knew they were different but they were just....eh i don't remember being super blown away by any of it and it was by far my least favorite bc it was just. SO pop. i simply couldn’t even bring myself to listen to that silver lining song bc the lyrics and the singing were ATROCIOUS like.....oh my god. yeah...

i haven't listened to any of the singles from this album except for a clip of the newer one to see how bad it was and....it wasn't just bad...it was *REALLY* bad. there's this massive post that compares his newer stuff to rejected imagine dragons and i think that's kinda generous bc imagine dragons might not be 'amazing' but at least they're consistent and the vocals/production is alright. even before for mr piss if the lyrics weren't great he could hide behind good vocals, decent production or talented band members but now even his voice, the star of the show, now sounds so strained from all the drinking and smoking that he can't pull those same notes he used to as his 'one trick' so it's straight up unsalvagable because there's nothing going for it like 'oh the song isn't great but the lyrics are good' none of that. it's just ALL bad now.

i've seen ppl say 'oh but he wrote some songs in po and those were good it's bc he has a lot of cowriters' but it's like. if he was actually good on his own he wouldn't need them and working with them wouldn't make the music worse. i think he's gotten way too comfortable over the years with other ppl doing the work for him and letting fame get to his head and he's no longer capable of making anything good bc he's not that person he used to be (and even then idk if he was v good as a person...)*edit: he's also surrounded by yes men and enablers (Idk if that creepazoid Zack is still around...)*he's been beating a dead horse for years after everyone that made it what it was (good, unique,etc.) left and thinking he was too big to fail. now no one's interested in his music anymore bc not only is he shit, his music is shit too. u kinda almost have to wonder how he managed to push everyone away. he should have taken the L and let the band name go years ago but he knows he's nothing without it and anything he can do on his own will never reach that level so he's living in a shadow thriving of the nostalgia of times long gone but it's just starting to not cut it anymore and people are starting to really see it, i think.

also i absolutely from the bits i have unfortunately seen, don't think it resembles po in any sort of way: it's not folksy, it's not imaginative it's just more sterilized top 40 friendly pop that sounds like 50 other artists and you could tell me anyone else made and i'd be none the wiser. there's no heart it in but it's sure to do well.....delusion is one hell of a drug ig

sorry this was so long i get mad talking abt his stupid ass i could dunk on him for dayyyyys