#since I feel less.. able to do that? when void is in the URL?

[anguis-sapphire]

what if I went three for three on my saved Reborn URLs by making this blog use one too

[famedroleplayarchive]

There won’t be an activity check today and you can count it as a free week because I have some big but hopefully not too big news. Famed is going to undergo a restructuring, and this is going to involve me asking everyone who would like to remain in the group to resubmit an application to keep their muse(s).

To be clear, this is not a complete revamp. Most of the major processes of how the roleplay work will not change and claims and development on muses will be able to be kept unless you put them in a majorly different position (in which case, claims that will no longer work can be refunded!), but the the size of the roleplay will be cut down over half from 135 spots to 65 spots. Many of the groups will be merged and all will be changed to some extent so that we have a total of thirteen groups, all with four to six members instead of the over twenty groups, many of which are rather large, we have now.

I want to disclaim that I know there will be members who connect less with the roleplay after the restructuring. I also want to apologize to anyone who is inconvenienced by the changes made, but please know I am only making these changes because I feel it is absolutely critical to the long-term life of the roleplay. A restructuring of some sort is something I’ve been thinking about for probably over a year or so now and I’ve been trying to avoid it for the sake of disrupting everyone as little as possible, but it’s become apparent to me that it’s necessary to keep the roleplay going, not because of member activity but because of my own ability to handle everything as an admin. I created Famed over four years ago when I was in a much different place in my life and had very little experience with idol roleplays and no experience at all running an idol roleplay, so I haven’t always been totally happy with how everything is set up. While I always did my best to make sure I was confident I could handle things before adding anything else onto my plate, naturally, several major life events have occurred over the past four years, especially the last one, that have altered the amount of time and energy I can commit to roleplaying, often making it draining and difficult to manage the group at its current scale.

Taking on another admin or mods would ultimately mean quite a bit more being required of me for at several months in order to evaluate any options presented to me and to help introduce a new person to all of the intricacies of the roleplay at a speed we’d both we comfortable with. It would also require me to be able to find someone I would be confident placing that responsibility on since I wouldn’t want to do it by half measures, which isn’t a guarantee. With all of that considered, I feel that this restructuring is the best course of action to keep the roleplay alive for the foreseeable future instead of risking my own discontent and stress leading to a fizzling out of the roleplay. The changes being made are all ultimately being made in hopes of making a more enjoyable and sustainable roleplaying experience in the long term for everyone involved, including me on the admin side and hopefully members as well!

Speaking of which, this will also be a chance for members to look at their own experience in the roleplay and muses and make their own changes to their muses as they find appropriate for improving their roleplay experience. I’ll be asking everyone to send in an updated application for the new changes since some details will probably have to change for every muse to some extent. Members are welcome to change what they feel necessary (or might be required by nature of the changes), from the muse’s group, to their position, faceclaim, age, background, etc. This means you’ll be able to pick new past claims made on your application too and a new past claims system is being put in place that will actually allow muses to have a more established career in their backstory! You’ll also be able to potentially refund points claims made that no longer fit changes you have to make to your muse, but that will be handled once the re-application process has been completed.

New main blogs have been created for the purpose of having a fresh start void of any old information that might still be lingering around blogs that will no longer be accurate. The new structure of the groups and companies can be found here on the new main (the URL will be changed to famedroleplay tomorrow!). On August 15 at noon EDT, exactly forty-eight hours after this post, I will be opening up for reserves to keep muses. You may only reserve spots for existing muses at this time, not for new muses, and muns will unfortunately now have to be limited to a maximum of three muses due to the decreased size of the roleplay.

Currently in-use faceclaims will be held for the muses they are used for unless the mun chooses to reserve a different faceclaim for the muse or until the period of accepting applications for keeping muses is up. Since groups, positions, and model groups have been moved around so much, I decided not to assume the assignment of positions to any muse, so it will be up to muns to reserve the spot they feel best suits their muse. Everyone will get a couple of days to look positions over before reserves are accepted to make the reserving of positions as fair as possible. I plan to do three acceptances on August 18, 22, and 25 that will be reserved solely for those applying to keep their muses, and the August 29 acceptances will be the first time we open for new muses again. Activity will start up as normal on August 22!

Members planning on keeping their muse may continue to write during this time if they’d like and work out that they’ll be keeping those plots, but points can’t be collected for anything that wasn’t already in progress since you might end up retconning it anyway.

Thank you all in advance for your understanding and I hope you’re able to find this exciting in some way! I know I’m hopeful for what I see as a fresh phase of Famed. Famed version 1.2, if you will. I’m aware this will likely be the end of the road for some who aren’t as interested in the new structure or can’t find muse within it or just don’t agree with my decisions, and to anyone who finds this to be your parting of ways with Famed, thank you for the time you did dedicate to the group! I do request to please avoid sending rude messages for the sake of being rude if the restructuring isn’t your cup of tea, but I will be sad to see anyone go who does leave. The alternative was me most likely, at best, having to put the roleplay on hiatus by the end of the year to take time to deal with real life, so this choice has been made so that I don’t have to do that and I can keep this home for so many wonderful muses running as long as possible!

A post with more information about the process of re-applying has already been posted to the new main by the time this post goes up. Check out the updated FAQ on that blog as well since it highlights a few of the more major changes already!

[babysdrivers]

thank u @jedivszombie for tagging me 💗

1. why did u choose your url?

i saved it after seeing baby driver (my main url at the time was edgarvvright so it matched) + when i made this blog I thought it was fitting bc u know. babies be driving

2. any sideblogs?

yes, this one! also a side for saving art refs and one for saving writing refs. my main is @andysambcrg

3. how long have u been on tumblr?

since 2010 😳

4. do u have a queue tag?

i don't queue on this blog but on my main everything is queued so a queue tag is kinda pointless? but i used to use the tag 'kids today with their texting and queues' when i mostly posted spn

5. why did u start your blog?

i was always scared of posting f1 on my main so i thought it was best to move to a different blog

6. why did u choose your icon?

i just remember seeing seb with the towel on his head and thinking it was super cute? and now here we are 3 years later

7. why did u choose your header?

happy seb 😋

8. what's your post with the most notes?

honestly i have no idea. on my main i have some really big posts but here i think my most is like a couple thousand, probably a dumb text post

9. how many mutuals do u have?

not a clue, is there even a way to check that lmao? also having a sideblog makes it difficult to track bc i follow from my main

10. how many followers do u have?

1,527 - have been losing followers a lot since last year bc i haven't been able to liveblog as much rip 💔

11. how many people do u follow?

534 but idk how many of them are f1 blogs bc again i follow from main. i don't follow many new people bc my dash is already Too Much

12. have u ever made a sh*tpost?

idk what that means tbf? i have made dumb posts i guess

13. how often do u use tumblr?

i check it a couple times a day but don't usually spend a long time on it

14. did u ever have a fight with another blog?

only with anons who are too scared to fight me face to face :)

15. how do u feel abt "u need to reblog" posts

i don't feel anything abt them i usually just ignore them, i just don't like telling people what to do! also it'd be hypocritical from me bc for a couple of years i reblogged infrequently bc i had this anxiety thing where posts had to match each other? it's hard to explain look at my main circa 2018 to see what i mean sjsj

16. do u like tag games?

yeah! makes me feel less like i'm yelling into the void bc it reminds me people perceive me

17. do u like ask games?

yes but i don't usually get many responses so they kinda make me feel sad

18. which mutual do u think is famous?

uhh lou, zeal, and bryce are all legends and sometimes i wonder why they follow me, a humble street urchin

19. do u have a crush on a mutual?

no

tagging: @mahindras @alexanderalbons @teddy-laurie @callumilott @allthewayabt @foolishhitt

[tinypuppysoul]

I was tagged by @lesbiansappho to do this, yay!!! Thank uuuu 🥺🤲💖

Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you want to know better.

1. Name/Nicknames: I’d rather not say my real name on here, but one of my nicknames is Coco

2. Gender: female

3. Star sign: uuuuuuhhhhh....... libra? what’s a star sign?

4. Height: short (155cm)

5. Time: 13:07

6. Birthday: October 15

7. Favorite Band: Black Sabbath, at least for the moment

8. Favorite Solo Artist: idk uuuh Billie Eilish maybe?????

9. Song Stuck In My Head: G.O.A.T. by Polyphia, LIKE PLS ITS SO GOOD

10. Last Movie: Django Unchained

11. Last Show: One Piece probably

12. When I Created This Blog: I’m pretty sure it was in 2016

13. What I Post: things I enjoy: anime, art, animals, funney content, important knowledge that circulates around here, sometimes stuff about video games...

14. Last Thing I Googled: I don’t know bc whenever I google something on my phone, I always close the tab when I’m done. I think it was Polyphia merch, but I’m not sure

15. Other Blogs: I have @metal-is-art (a blog where I post metal-related content) and another one which I made to vent into the void, so I’m not gonna post its name anywhere c:

16. Do I get asks?: I wish I did, but I might have gotten 2 or 3 since I created this blog

17. Why I Chose My URL: I didn’t, tumblr chose it and I’ve never been able to think of a better one bc it’s really cute

18. Following: 395 people

19. Followers: 138, like the Misfits song, nice

20. Average Hours Of Sleep: this is a tricky question bc sometimes I get 4-5, sometimes 13+, which would make an average of around 8,5, and I don’t get that amount of time of sleep that often so idk. It depends on whether it is a week day (I’ll sleep less) or the weekend (if I can I’ll sleep more)

21. Lucky Number: eh?

22. Instruments: the recorder (we had to learn at school but I was a w f u l at it) and the piano (I got lessons at school for one year and my teacher sucked so I just play the piano from time to time when I feel like it, and it’s nothing impressive lol)

23. What Am I Wearing: sweatpants, an oversized t shirt and an oversized hoodie; I’m comfey™️

24. Dream Job: something where I can help other people and that doesn’t destroy me mentally

25. Dream Trip: I have several ones. The first one is to Japan with one of my best friends first and later when I have money with my bf. The second one is to Donosti (a place in Northern Spain) with my bf bc it’s beautiful. The third one is a cheese-eating-route/road trip around France with another one of my best friends. And then I wanna go somewhere with my friends this summer but idk if we’ll be able to do anything, and I also wanna see some of my friends again bc they live far away and I miss them :(

26. Favorite Food: the first thing that came to my mind was sushi, so yeah. I also a d o r e chocolate

27. Nationality: I’d rather not say it, I’ll just say I’m from somewhere in Europe (but if you’ve followed me for a while and pay attention to what I say, you can probably figure out where I’m from)

28. Favorite Song: this is really hard what the heccie uuuuuhhhh Changes by Black Sabbath? Hallowed Be Thy Name by Iron Maiden? I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys? Wings For Marie (Part 1) by TOOL? I really don’t know :(

29. Last Book I Read: so I’ve only read parts of Capital by Karl Marx, but it was the last book I read technically. However, if we’re talking about starting to read/reading a book, then Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche. But if we’re talking about the last book I’ve finished reading, then it was a book with all the stuff that’s been written by Presocratic philosophers (with notes from several authors talking about them and stuff)

30. Top 3 Fictional Universes I Would Love To Live In: a world without covid (I’m stealing this from u @lesbiansappho, don’t mind me), the One Piece universe and the My Neighbor Totoro universe (bc god I need wholesome things)

I’m tagging (no pressure to do it tho):

@the-shepherd-of-fire

@captain--steve--rogers

@skznprcnk

And whoever sees this and wants to do it :)

[vierafication]

Last night around 4 am, I reblogged a certain post about "villainous rp" and added my own two cents to what had been discussed within it- mostly just venting about behavior I'd seen in the past. I didn't think much of it until I saw the next day it had been reblogged, and reblogged again, and again, by some folks who seemed pretty unhappy about what I'd said. I was told I needed to get a life, that I clearly can't separate IC and OOC, that maybe I shouldn't be writing at all. That hurt. I was irritated, then, feeling like I'd had words shoved in my mouth, like I was being purposefully misinterpreted. I typed up a clarification post explaining my previous points and pressed send, but it was seemingly ignored.

I talked with @damankjol about it later. He's the best, if you didn't know. And he rp's villains! I don't think he's a sociopath! He's very empathic and honest and understanding and cool, and he helped me realize that people weren't just angry at me, they were genuinely hurt by what I'd written. I went back and reread what I posted, as well as the responses, with a more critical eye. And... yeah. What I typed up wasn't clean, organized, or coordinated. I was venting and the tone that came off was irritated and rude. While not my intention, what I wrote sounded pretty fucking disrespectful and downright mean. And, frankly, my intentions don't matter, anyway, since I wasn't able to convey them properly. I just put some angry bullshit up on tumblr way too late at night, and I didn't expect anybody to even look at it, let alone reblog it- but I should have. Tumblr is a public platform and I should have approached my post the same way I'd approach any other one during the normal hours of the day. Thinking critically is always key, but audience is too- a vent post is a vent post, but I should have thought before I vented about a topic other people were sensitive to, and properly indicate specifics instead of vague generalizations. So, yes, I really wanted to apologize to anyone who that post hurt. I’m genuinely sorry. I should not have generalized like that. It wasn't even my intention in the first place. I was disrespectful and now that I think about it, incredibly hypocritical to boot. So yeah. I really am sorry. I respect @damankjol and @miqojak a lot as writers, and it would never be my intention to tear them down. Or anybody else, for that matter- rp only works when you rp with others, after all.

Once again, I'm sorry, and I hope you won't hate me for eternity or anything. Storytime and critical analysis under the cut.

One of my first, and worst, experiences in the ffxiv rp community was a good couple years ago. I was describing my character to a “friend,” and that character happened to be Lionnet Blodoint, my Ishgardian chirurgeon. Lionnet was not a good person by a long shot, to begin with, and from his time serving during the Dragonsong War, he’d developed quite a bit of PTSD relating to any and all things draconic. He hated dragons. He didn’t even like Au Ra. “Wow,” said the so-called friend at the time. “Your character is a nazi.”

“What? No!” I exclaimed. I tried to explain that he was NOT a nazi, he was just a traditionalist Ishgardian who hated dragons because they had been, at one point in time, absolutely hell-bent on destroying his home and everything he knew. I thought it was a pretty reasonable character trait to hate, or at least fear, dragons after serving in the Dragonsong War. The core of how I’d planned to develop him would be overcoming or at least coming to terms with his trauma, and no longer seeing it in every dragon or Au Ra he met. “No,” they said. “Your character is terribly written. They’re awful and nobody would ever want to rp with them. They’re boring because they’re so full of negative traits. They’re racist and thus, a nazi. And you are just as bad, because you’re defending them! You’re a nazi too!”

So yeah, they are NOT my friend anymore. But that whole convo really stuck with me, and I was afraid to bring out Lio afterwards- it took me another year before I actually began to use him in rp. And he turned out wonderful! His story became one of my favorite rp character stories of all time, and he had great relationship development and a happy ending. He’s still around, canonically, but I have a different main toon now.

So it shocks me that what that person told me about Lio is more or less the same as what I wrote in that post. I’m honestly dumbfounded at how I could just casually type that up and post it, when it draws so many parallels to the way I was bullied back then. So yeah. Huge hypocrisy right there. I swore to never act like that. And to an extent, I suppose I have. But that post I made was pretty fucking close- just directed at a vaguely generalized audience instead of a singular person and character. Maybe that’s actually worse. And I am sorry. I guess because it wasn’t directed at anyone but the void (even the op’s url doesn’t exist anymore), I just didn’t think about it. Which sounds like a lame-ass excuse, but... it’s true. I just wasn’t thinking. I was just venting. It’s really fucking with me that I could’ve hurt somebody so much completely unintentionally, to be honest.

So, what did I say- or, to be more clear, what was I attempting to say? What was my intention, and what wasn’t? I’m going to go over that now, more for my benefit than anyone else’s. Please note that I am not trying to make excuses or shove any blame elsewhere. I am just trying to clarify what I meant and address the issues that made my post so negative, for my own sake.

To begin, I’m gonna link this post by @lilac-memorials. It goes into detail about the trouble with “villain” discourse, and addresses a number of issues from a much more unbiased standpoint, far more eloquently than I could. Also, it seems to reference (the worse) parts of my posts at some points, or maybe I’m just paranoid. Regardless, it’s a much better post than the trainwreck that was the original one, and I agree with every bit of it. It also addresses the difference between a “villain” and an “antagonist,” which is something I attempted to go into but failed miserably.

Anyhoo. My post began with this paragraph:

Seriously. I do not trust anyone who refers to themselves as a “villain” rper. A character can take an antagonistic role in another character’s story arc, that’s fine, that works. It goes back to the “everyone is the hero of their own story” sorta thing. But playing a villain, only as a villain… what’s the point in that? It’s just someone roleplaying as an evil asshole that expects to be treated as stronger than other characters, expects to be feared. It reads like some twisted power fantasy. It doesn’t sound fun and it sure isn’t fun for the people rping with you. Like dude, calm down.

To begin with, yes, I am indeed a little distrustful of people who label their characters first and foremost as villains, before anything else. I am more suspicious of engaging in rp with them than I am with other types of characters, because I have seen some pretty crappy villains out and about and I just don’t wanna deal with that. Next, I go on to try to draw the line between a villain and an antagonist, and how I am much less suspicious of “antagonistic” characters than straight-up “villain” characters. “But playing a villain, only as a villain... what’s the point in that?” I ask. Very rudely. Insinuating that their is no point whatsoever in playing a villain. Which I didn’t intend to. But honestly, I don’t know how else that would’ve translated- I don’t know what I was thinking. I go on to describe this “villain” as somebody who is an evil asshole with a power fantasy, and how it ruins fun for anybody. Which can be read very easily as saying “all villains are like this.” No, they are not! I was describing the bad type of villain rper. The rper who “plays a villain, only as a villain,” and not as a character. Do you get what I mean now? The controlling, toxic, power-hungry rper that plays a villain as an outlet to be further controlling, toxic, and power-hungry, moreso than they ever could in reality. We all know that type of person exists. We’ve met them, somewhere. Sometimes they aren’t playing the villain at all, anyway. They’re playing the hero, or somebody else entirely. But here, I am just venting about that type of person. They are what my post is about. The key line should’ve been “playing a villain, only as a villain,” but it was shoved into a passive-aggressive question addressing self-worth instead of a proper sentence describing the difference between a well-written villain and a badly-written villain. And thus the post begins as if it had been rudely addressed to all villain rpers everywhere, labeling them as the evil asshole with a power fantasy, instead.

Next is: Anyway hot take but maybe the reason people kept trying to “redeem” and “change” OP’s character is because their character is boring af!

Yeahhhh, that one’s just mean. And, given the first paragraph, easily able to seen as an attack saying that if you are a villain rper, your character is boring af. They’re not! The op’s post is a little much, to be honest, and I guess I thought I was feeling spicy at 4 am. Now I think I must’ve just been being mean. Aurelia explains what’s wrong with the initial post here, though, instead of trying and failing to poke fun at it in that special pseudo-mean tumblr way like I did.

Lastly, Like, honestly! Play a character as a foil to another, play to fucked up ideas about morality, play an antagonist arc to a protagonist character, play a character who makes bad decisions. But don’t play a “villain.” Don’t play a character whose core personality traits are simply being cruel/evil. Don’t play a character whose sole focus is to kill npcs, be scary, and lord over other players’ characters. Don’t play a character who never develops or changes, and doesn’t facilitate change in other characters. Just don’t be an asshole edgelord. Don’t be flat and one dimensional. Don’t use rp to live out your fucked up power fantasy. Get therapy instead.

Honestly, I think this is the most clear part of my entire post, and also the worst, at the end there. I just am listing off behaviors that this figurative “bad villain rper” exhibits, and what offsets them. Play a villain that’s complex, had depth, nuance! I’m saying don’t play the “villain,” and then listing off what this specific hypothetical villain is. The opposite of deep and nuanced. The “bad villain rper” type the whole post is a vent about.

Then comes the dreaded “ Don’t use rp to live out your fucked up power fantasy. Get therapy instead. “ The villainous power fantasy. No, I do not think everyone who rp’s villains is like this. Yes, I believe there are people like this, who are INCREDIBLY few and far between, and if they solely use rp as an outlet to harass others both ICly and OOCly, that is bad! And maybe they should get help! And even, then, that was only half-serious! But therapy is a serious subject and I should have known better, and done better. Did all of that come off as intended? Hell no! Instead, it was the final nail in the coffin.

So! That’s what I was trying to say. Badly-written villains are a pain. If I had written up a post like I am now, with this long-ass thing, actually trying to be eloquent and clear. Not 4 am word vomit. This 4 am word vomit instead has gotten me to be read and interpreted as:

-being completely unable to separate character and player to the point where i think every villain’s player is a Real Life Bad Person and/or needs mental help

-saying all villains are boring because they’re not heroes, and thus are incapable of being complex and nuanced

-saying people who play dark/antagonistic characters are, in general, living out their fucked up power fantasy through them

-thinking that villainous characters are incredibly boring and just plain terrible

No! None of that is what I think! Absolutely none! I’m not going to go in and refute each of those claims, because, like I said, I’m not trying to make excuses here. But I WILL end this thing with what I do think of villainous characters and their players:

They’re fucking great, okay? A good story is made a gazillion times better by having a good villain in it, be the story a book, a movie, or an rp scenario. Well-written villain rpers are a TREASURE, and need to be appreciated! It is often harder to find rp with antagonistic toons, to begin with, and their players may find themselves getting shit on more often than others, which should absolutely not be the case. Characters that are complex and deep and nuanced are great no matter what their alignment is.

There ARE some pretty shitty villain rpers out there, too. And, in my own personal experience, they tend to be much more obnoxious than shitty hero rpers. A badly written hero will ruin a villain’s rp. A badly written villain may well try to ruin everybody around them’s rp.

Badly written villains suck. They’re the worst. And they make things worse for those that dedicate a lot of time and effort to crafting complex and cleverly written, compelling villains! Badly written villains are something I can and will complain about, just as well-written villains are something that I can and will praise. But I’ll try not to complain or vent on this platform anymore, to start.

And I do NOT blend IC and OOC. That’s the rper’s taboo! I will critique others who do it, though, which ironically is what I was sort of trying to do- complain about those specific villain players who do that. But anyway. If you’ve read this far, good for you! This has been way too long.

And. Please. If I do say or do something that hurts you in the future, regardless of what type of post it is, talk to me! Tell me what’s up! Thank you!

[gamersonthego]

Blaseball: The New National Pastime

Blaseball is my favorite game to come out this year so far, and that’s kind of an odd thing to say considering Blaseball barely feels like a game at all.

Blaseball is a splort in which 20 teams compete under the Internet League Blaseball organization, day and night, rain or shine, and at the behest of us fans who vote to remake the league in our own image.

That’s what the Blaseball FAQ says anyway. Less cryptically, Blaseball is a browser game — a massively multiplayer one at that — in which a league of fictional teams play something vaguely baseball adjacent while we as fans watch from afar through the window of an ever updating list of box scores. We don’t actually play the game — the in-universe game rather — but we are able to participate in a number of ways, like eating peanuts, which...well, I still don’t understand what eating peanuts does, but it’s a thing you can do.

When you first log in to Blaseball, you’re asked to choose a team, with little to go on other than their name and logo. Dallas Steaks, Baltimore Crabs, Hellmouth Sunbeams (wait, where is Hellmouth located?): once you’ve chosen, you’re now a fan of that team and are given a small amount of coins with which to gamble (virtual currency only, this is one of those rare free-to-play games that is actually free.)

And that’s how you’ll be interacting with Blaseball most of the time: betting on the day’s games, Salty Bet style. Every hour, there are 10 games going on, and you can look at the next 10 games starting the next hour and place your bets accordingly. Blaseball developer The Game Band even helpfully puts the odds next to each team’s chances of winning, so you can make an informed decision.

The money you earn from gambling can be spent on a handful of items in the Shop tab, but the most important one is purchasing votes. Votes can then be cast in a weekly election that can affect individual players, teams and the entire league itself. This is where Blaseball truly shines, and it’s what takes it from a relatively straightforward clicker/idle game into something special.

Elections are split up into two categories: Decrees, which are often league-shifting decisions made by majority vote, and Blessings, which are drawn raffle-style to bestow benefits to specific players or teams. An early decree voted upon was “Eat The Rich,” which redistributes the coins of the top 1% of participants to the other 99% at the end of each week/season (Bernie would be so proud.) While a blessing like “Vulture” would let your favored team steal the best hitter in the league and add them to your squad.

Watching the league evolve week to week is engrossing. Elections give fans just that tiny bit of interactivity, tilting the splort in one direction or another, and watching the results with bated breath. It’s a phenomenon I haven’t experienced since 2014’s Twitch Plays Pokemon, and similar to that socially-driven experiment, the community has embraced the game wholeheartedly, creating a deep, crowd-based lore behind every little detail and enhanced by the developers’ sometimes light — and sometimes quite heavy — touch.

After the first season of Blaseball ended, the blessing “Max Out Hitter” gave then-Dallas Steaks’ Jessica Telephone a five-star rating in batting. Fans interacting on the Official Blaseball Discord Channel began to attribute this surge in power to Jessica’s bat, dubbing it The Dial Tone. The Game Band supported this, and by Season 3, where player items were officially added to the game, The Dial Tone now was called out in the box score whenever Jessica came to the plate — and later, on her player profile after fans voted to “lift the Microphone” so they could get to know the players better.

The give and take from developers and fans is a fascinating one. While sometimes the interaction is friendly and collaborative, like in The Dial Tone instance, others have a very SUPERHOT-style antagonistic tone to them (and it doesn’t hurt that they share a similar color scheme as well). An example of this comes from Season 6, where the concept of Idols were integrated into Blaseball. Fans could idolize one player from any team and their accomplishments (hits and home runs for batters, strikeouts and shutouts for pitchers) could net fans extra cash. Jessica Telephone, being one of the best hitters in the league and a fan favorite, easily topped the idol leaderboard. But then, in a targeted form of discipline that’s plagued fans in a variety of ways since Season 1’s opening of the Forbidden Book of Blaseball rules, Jessica Telephone was “Shelled,” literally trapping her inside a giant peanut that skips her in the lineup. How long is she stuck like this? Who knows…

But that’s the great thing about Blaseball: nobody knows. And sometimes, the developers seem surprised at what’s happening as well. A recent blessing stated that the team who won it would steal the 14th most idolized player in the league. Fans began a campaign to make sure pitcher Jaylen Hotdogfingers was number 14. While normally this wouldn’t be a issue, the problem was that Jaylen Hotdogfingers was actually dead at the time, having been the first player to be incinerated by a rogue umpire after a game (another of the disciplines handed down by the Blaseball Gods). This isn’t something that could easily be done. You couldn’t just navigate to Jaylen’s player profile on the Blaseball site. You had to know the specific URL to the profile’s page, which seems to support the idea this wasn’t something intended by the developers.

When Hotdogfingers ended the season as lucky number 14, he…she….it (the Blaseball community is mixed on this, and The Game Band is staunchly in the camp of allowing every fan’s canon to be valid, only making things like The Dial Tone official when they appear to reach a critical and consistent mass in the community) returned from the void and seems mostly ok…other than the fact that random opponents are sometimes hit by Jaylen’s pitches and become Unstable, temporarily affecting their stats for a number of games. Probably nothing to worry about.

It’s a beautiful mess of a game. A never-ending ant farm where every ant has a backstory and occasionally a random ant gets an exploratory surgery that increases their pitching stat by one star (sorry, kind of lost the metaphor there…) 

There’s a 2018 interview with game developer Jade Raymond where she envisions what games might be like 10 years in the future:

Well, I’m thinking in the past maybe what we were trying to create was the Pixies concert or whatever. And now I think that we want to create this neighborhood bar. You could go and hang out and sit alone and read your book at the neighborhood bar. You could go and participate in karaoke night with your friends. You could go become a regular and everyone in the bar knows you, like in Cheers; you walk in and it’s like, “Norm!” You could be like the VIP. What you’re looking for out of that place can be very different, but it’s an appointment and a place you can go over and over again, and do pub trivia night with your friends if that’s what you’re into.

She goes on to talk about utilizing data to change the way a game works over time:

There’s some simple ideas, like, for example, if you take Game of Thrones, you know let’s say at one point in the story you’re going to have the Red Wedding. You know that at one point some family is all going to be obliterated. You can put these kind of big story beats there in your overall story. Then you could say, we’re going to do it based on data.

Let’s say you have a traditional faction system and let’s say players are really gravitating towards this one family, and they’re the most beloved. If you really want to shock the community the most, those are the ones you plug in to kill off — based on who players are really interacting with.

These are things Blaseball is doing right now, not 10 years as Raymond foretold, but in just two. Fans participate in Blaseball in a number of ways. Some make streaming audio broadcasts of the games, some share theories on Discord, some create incredible fanart and others just check in on the site every few hours or so. And as for the Red Wedding? Well, I told you about players getting incinerated and shelled, right?

So go play Blaseball right now, tell the commissioner he’s doing a great job and become a Hades Tigers fan to help my team win some blessings. It’s truly the cultural event of the season.

[deathvalleyqueen]

some about me tag thing...

Tagged by: @jewelswrites-ish

Instructions: Tag 10 followers you want to know better

Name: Jane... but at this point I will respond to “hey you there” as well as “Ma, mom.. mum.... wife...” I am jaded ageing mother... my name doesn’t matter any more.

Gender: Cis female

Star Sign: Gemini - and yes I am fully aware this makes “that bitch” instantly to so many people...so I lean into it...

Height: 5′5″ ish...

Sexuality: Sexuality is a very fluid thing. For years I was fairly convinced I was bisexual but now I am leaning towards more towards Pansexual as I have learned more it means. Really at the end of the day I care far less about what in someone’s pants as long as they are being a decent human... Oh... I am polyamorous though this is one part of my sexuality I have know since high school... the rest... well I am in my 30s and still sorting that.

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff 

Favourite Animal: Cats...I am very boring in this respect

Average Time Of Sleep: 4-6 at the moment.... Minion has very late meds that he has to have a certain time so I am up till 1-2 am most days and then his TPN has to come down at 8am... with the husband being home I have been able to nap on occasion! 

Current Time: 6:45 pm

Dogs Or Cats: Cats... see above... but I really like them both.

Blankets You Sleep With: At home at least one feather comforter... (don’t @ me vegans) usually at least one, if not two other fleece blankets. Usually 3... 4 blankets...

I also have no thyroid which makes me feel constantly cold and this is the worst at night for some reason soo yes I sleep with an obscene amount of blankets. I know this... I am self aware enough to acknowledge that yes... I am horde all the blankets like smog hordes gold.

When I made My Blog: I want to say I made this one in 2015...2016 

Why I made My Tumblr: Well I made the first one I ever made because LJ died and there was no place really for FanFic writers to go to so they could scream into the void about their fic. At the time I was decently active in the Boondock Saint’s fandom who were one of the first to make the shift over because... Norman Reedus was once fairly active on Tumblr... 

Reasons For My URL: THIS SONG by Flogging Molly is called Death Valley Queen, it’s my favorite song... it speaks to me and well it fits me and it has become my social media handle for a lot of things these days

People I would Like To Tag:  @cornfedcryptid, @thelittlestfische​.... idk I am horrid at tagging people who would want to do stuff like this so IDK if you want to have a go... have a go...

[crownedtm]

my url ?? uwu

LET ME LOVE Y’ALL !!  +  accepting

     &&.  @flitfate

GALE, WE GOT K.H3 COMING OUT IN LESS THAN 5 DAYS NOW. WHO NEEDS TO TALK ABOUT MUSHY - GUSHY FEELINGS WHEN I CAN BE SCREAMING INTO THE VOID ABOUT TERRA BECAUSE THE FANDOM DO NOT LOVE HIM ENOUGH, NOR DO THEY UNDERSTAND THE HORRIBLE SITUATION HE WAS PUT IN & GOT UTTERLY + UNFAIRLY CRAPPED ON FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE. also i couldn't decide on which icon 2 use, so here. u get to suffer with me too over Best Waifu

but all that aside. DARLING, WE GOTTA TALK MORE. I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT JUST YUKIO ALONE & HOW MUCH I WANNA TOSS THE BOY INTO SOME HARDCORE SOFT THERAPY BECAUSE HE REALLY NEEDS SOME HELP????? and. like. go d. don't even get me started on Lea Axel. i've loved him. i still love him. and at this rate @ how beautiful the games are turning, i will ALWAYS love him & never be able to get over my middle school crush over him, istg.  but i digress.  and darling, gale, pls, there's like Nothing(tm) u need to understand about Stella because my portrayal of her is like technically Really Hecking Canon Divergent to the "canon" Black Rock Shooter, i promise. i'm fully ignoring both the OVA and the anime as well as the game because THAT GAME MADE ME REALLY EMO for like 5 long & painful hours and apparently i'm still not done glossing over the material because it has multiple endings??? also if you think MY LOVE is apparently for Stella, then you clearly haven't been looking in the mirror because I CAN FEEL UR EMO ANGSTY EDGE FEELINSG FOR THE BABIES I AT LEAST (kinda) UNDERSTAND LIKE YUKIO, AXEL, MIKA, G L A D I O  (especially since he's like Terra 2.0 in terms of how the fandom treat him like shit & don't care about him in comparison to the rest of his friends), PETER, AND that's really all i know. i'm sorr y. and for how much we both want Stella to punch Yukio in the face for all his dumb & self - inflicting choices... well... all i'll give away is that... i'm working on something, so u better be prepared 2 face the consequences  but oh g od, really putting your muses aside finally, like, fam, we may not have talked A Super Lot Yet but i'm still HELLA DAMN GAY FOR YOU and please don't ever worry about making a reply ic and/or ooc wise in time because i'd rather you be in a good state than a rushed state, i promise !!   also, please don't be scared @ me when KH3 comes out because i will be Vague As Fuck about spoilers so i got u, fam

also, pls don't abandon or leave me when k.h3 releases because i'm going to need every gay loser who can understand what i'm screaming(tm) about because i will just be keyboard slamming & crying my tears online because we've been waiting much too long for this ga m e & Nomura needs to answer a lot of goddamn questions and all i'm going to get is pain, i'm calling it now

[fishfingersandqueerbitch]

I’m not active on here much and I don’t really consider the users following me to be my “followers” because of that, but if you see my occasional posts or if you’ve followed me for years, you’ll know that I have literally never changed my url. Since I made this account in 2015(? 2014? I can’t remember), it’s always been fishfingersandquidditch because a) I think I’m punny, and b) those are two references to fandoms that I’ve consistently enjoyed for a long time. However, as a trans man (hey hi, did you know? Lmao) I can’t help but have HP totally ruined for me with every ugly new detail that is coming to light about JKR. While I understand some fellow queer folk might be able to look past the author and enjoy the work that was personally formative, for me as well growing up, I see the disgusting little seeds of transphobia that lurk beneath the writing and I cannot fathom how to continue to enjoy HP publicly without it somehow helping The grand high bitch make money and continue to be a piece of trash. I was more than obsessed growing up; it was my safest escape, and in hindsight I projected heavily onto Harry and was still waiting for my letter in the mail until a few years ago tbh... but I am taking it out of my username. It is so sickening to me to think about how the world that she built for US, that centered around the power of “love” and doing the “right thing” and defying unjust authority and hate, could be turned against us in such a revolting and violent way. It’s like a bad breakup combined with suddenly learning that you were raised by a really abusing parent but didn’t know until you got a taste of what life should really be like. I feel so betrayed and angry, I don’t know what to do to process this yet. But for now, I am taking the quidditch out of my username. Which, like I said, is a Really Big Deal for me.

Anywho, if you see this and feel like acknowledging that it’s not just being flung into the void by liking it, I would appreciate it a lot <3 I am mainly too busy with work and other things and am SIGNIFICANTLY less depressed than I was when this tumblr was most active in my hs years, but I know there are some familiar usernames that interact with my memes and shenanigans. I love you guys!!!

[smoldinopup]

Jonghyun - The Letter - 2017.06.14 - Fan account

Epic Fan Account of Doom…or Fluffiness (but that sounds less cool)

People who follow my blog attentively might know that I flew to Seoul on Monday to see Jonghyun in concert on June 14, because I only mentioned it like 14142112313 times on here. This trip went as smoothly as room tempered butter on a piece of toast. Pics and a video of my trip and some fun facts can soon be found on my travel blog, but no one cares about that now, right?

Let’s get to the actual content of this post *whips out her non-existent kazoo to play a song*

@krge @gone-with-the-bling, because you two wanted to read it! ^^

I went to SM Town at noon to buy some merchandise. I had typed down everything I wanted on my phone to make things easier for me as well as the staff working at the merchandise stand. When I arrived shortly before 12 around 30 people were already waiting in line (or more like sitting on the floor). Luckily they played Jonghyun and SHINee videos throughout the waiting time on some huge screen, so the time until 1pm passed really quickly. 

It was my turn after only 10 minutes, but by then the kazoo was already sold out, which still shocks me. Not every person in front of me bought one so I’m still wondering how many SM actually sold? 15? I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that they only sold a handful of kazoos. I already read several fan accounts that they were quite short on some of the merchandise in general, but I thought it would get better in week four. Apparently not…I’m still meeh about it, because the kazoo was the one thing I looked forward to the most. Anyway, I got my merchandise (I went a little wild *coughs*. Random side note, the T-shirt is such good quality! I’m in awe and will never take it off again! Especially compared to those flimsy T-Shirts with that ridiculous sizing they had for the FIVE tour in Japan, Jonghyun’s T-shirt can only win.) 

Left side: Jonghyun’s T-shirt (free size) Right side: SHINee’s FIVE T-shirt (size S). The thing with the FIVE T-shirts, before you wash them the print looks beautiful because it’s holographic. After washing it this effect is gone. The material is also much thinner than the one they used for the Jonghyun T-shirt, and the sizing was ridiculous. Those T-shirts were super short as you can see in the photo, but super wide (it’s like a crop trop in a way) I don’t even know how Minho wore that T-shirt with his long upper body. Jonghyun’s T-shirt on the other hand... I mean you want to wrap yourself up in it and pull it down to your knees (which I can’t, because I’m too tall, but smaller people can wear it as a dress, which is adorable). They were produced in different countries, which might be a reason for the difference in quality. I don’t know, but SM please produce your Japanese tour shirts somewhere else in future!

After taking photos with the shining babes at the photo booths (SM ships 2min and Jongkey…just saying) I went back to the SM merchandise shop to buy some more SHINee merchandise and then did some sightseeing around Seoul before coming back at 7pm for the actual concert that started at 8pm.

I sat in the left block in the third row, which was amazing, and I wish I had been able to stenograph during this whole concert to capture all the details as soon as they happened like

[Jonghyun perked his eyebrow | Dead | He just growled | Deader | He smiled | Deadest]

But yeah, that didn’t happen. So please bear with me, I try to write it down as accurately as I can remember it, but like I already mentioned in my ‘fan accounts’ for the SHINee concerts I’m only human (an old one on top of that) and I can’t possibly remember everything (even if it breaks my heart). So please be aware that the following passages will be filled with a lot of cringe worthy love that I feel for this adorable human being. 

You have been warned! 

So, grab a snack, make yourself comfortable and enjoy the ride. I should just write this like a fan fiction…lmao (maybe not)

The opening VCR was him riding in a car and then walking along the beach. The presentation of the video was so nicely done, because they switched screens from left, to middle, to right as Jonghyun walked along the beach, so the audience basically followed him in his steps. He also looked astonishingly beautiful in that VCR, but let’s be real…when doesn’t he look astonishingly beautiful. The VCR was shot together with the video to ‘Lonely’, because the beach and the outfit he wore were the same as in the music video.

We stood up for the opening songs, which is always nice of course, but also made me very uncomfortable, because I was a head taller than anyone else in my block, and I constantly worried that people behind me might not be able to see the stage that well. Sorry people who sat behind me, I can’t do anything about my height T_T. Like I mentioned above I was sitting in row three, but I forgot my glasses at the hostel and therefore Jonghyun was still a little fuzzy around the edges, and I naturally tilted my head to look at the screen from time to time (force of habit…which I acquired during the Japanese concerts). 

Jonghyun wore a white T-shirt instead of the red one for the opening stage. Something like one, two, three Seoul Youth was written on it. But I’m not completely sure if that’s completely accurate, so don’t nail me down on it. 

Just like the red T-Shirt he sleeves of the white one had been generously cut off. However, I sat on the wrong side and only caught a glimpse of the tattoo on his ribs. Pity! But better than the T-shirt were those jeans! His jeans were torn in all the right places and whenever his legs moved one could see the muscles nicely contract in his thighs (is that too detailed, I wonder?) Anyway, I can attest that the boy got some booty and thighs now (@every-person-who-has-an-url-talking-about-jjongs-non-existent-butt-might-consider-an-url-change). I have to admit that I spent the majority of the first three songs with looking at his thighs and butt. I’m sorry, Jonghyun. Please forgive me my rudeness! I’m just not used to seeing you having an actual booty.

There were dancers accompanying Jonghyun for a lot of the songs again. Though, while I thought they are a nice touch during the X-Inspiration concert, they often felt like too much for this concert series, and to me it didn’t feel like they added much to the performances. But that’s just my opinion, and I’m sure others loved the dancers. As I mentioned in my “I’m screaming into the void, but I have to scream anyway post” right after the concert, Jonghyun came to the left side of the stage in the beginning of ‘White T-Shirt’ and pointed into my direction while saying ‘You’re so rock n roll’. He could have also pointed at all of us, but let me have this one little moment of fangirl love and let’s all assume he did point at me, because I stood out the most in a lot of ways, and yes, I’m more rock n roll than even Mr. Kim will probably ever be, so it would have been very fitting. (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ lmao

So, that being said I was totally overwhelmed by all the fan chants. I mean sometimes I love doing them, but at other times it feels suffocating and too much, like I’m part of some Army? I have the Japanese SHINee fan chants down perfectly. You can wake me up in the middle of the night, play me a random Japanese SHINee song and I will do every fan chant perfectly (including synchronized fan light movements). I’m also quite confident in doing the Korean ones, but most of the Jonghyun ones just exhausted me. I can’t even remember if we did all of them in December? December is still such a blur. It’s a pity that I didn’t write everything down back then, because my brain is weak and so was my heart. Anyway, it took me a few songs to get into the right fan chant groove.

When the VCR to Rewind played I was shocked to hear Jonghyun speak German. I was like O.O ??? What is this foreign but familiar sounding language doing here? Is he Lady Gaga? There was Spanish, and Japanese as well…I wonder how he came up with using German and Spanish from all existing languages. Did he open Google and ask ‘How to count in different languages’ and he thought those are the fancy sounding ones? Or did Jonghyun think ‘Roo’s ancestors were German, so let’s go with some Rammstein vibes’. Either way I’m still not over it. Kim Autobahn you can speak random German words to me all day. The video was just like the song title… very repetitive. Jonghyun did the same things again and again. But I believe by now most have seen the snippet of the VCR that was posted a while ago.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in ‘Suit Up’. It is one of my favorite songs on the album. The band was way too loud and overpowered the softness of Jonghyun’s voice while singing the beginning of this song. The audio technicians should have changed the volume of the microphone or something since it’s never a good thing if the band is louder than the singer. As of the performance of the song, Jonghyun was rolled inside on some arm chair by some pretty female dancers who tried to ‘seduce him?’ I’m not sure, but they also stripped him off his purple jacket and his tie later into the performance, so I guess we can call it the art of seducing Kim Jonghyun. But like I’ve mentioned earlier while I loved the dancers during the concert in December, I felt like they didn’t fit the mood for the letter series, but do you do Jonghyun or SM, whoever decided that it’s a good idea to include dancers. He wore a purple suit during this segment by the way. There was a fan account that stated that he looked slimmer, because the pants fitted looser around his thighs than they had done before. I agree with that account since the pants indeed were a little looser, but I’m not sure this had anything to do with weight loss. Is it possible to lose so much weight around one’s thighs in a mere week? I don’t know. I don’t know. It also doesn’t matter…he looks beautiful no matter the shape or size! So, let’s move on.

‘Staring into Space’ was absolutely adorable, but I didn’t expect anything else, just watching him put on the robe and the little bed cap made everyone in the audience squeal in delight and him smile shyly in return. He knows he looks adorable in that outfit, but he still always acts surprised when the audience is more excited about him dressing up in cutesy outfits than seeing him undress himself. Anyway, the props for this performance stood on the left side of the stage. Some boxes, some lights, something he could sit/lie on. I’m not sure what it was exactly, something like a bench covered in pillows and a blanket? At first he only sat on it while singing, and I was already like…boooohh everyone said how adorable you get during this performance, don’t disappoint me now! As if he had heard my thoughts he lay down with that little dog plushie (that wore some polka dotted hoodie) and pulled down the sleeping mask, and then playfully tugged the mask down on one side so only one eye peeked out. You can imagine the squeals coming from all sides. He continued with pulling the other side down as well so his nose and his mouth were basically covered by the sleeping mask. It looked adorable. He’s such an adorable human being and he’s very aware of that. After the performance ended he got up to take the robe off and he was quite amused by the disappointed reaction of the audience, because everyone wanted to see him continuing the concert in that outfit. It’s definitely a look! Next SHINee comeback should include sleeping masks and robes.

For ‘Blinking Game’ some fancy looking lights were lowered onto the stage behind Jonghyun, and the scenery gave off the atmosphere of some fancy jazz club, and one only waited for a contrabass to start playing.

We used the hand bells for ‘Gloomy Clock’, and Jonghyun had a lot of fun altering the rhythm randomly to confuse the audience. Sometimes he really does act like a little kid, having the most fun by bringing mischief to the stage. But it shows how much he enjoys performing, and seeing him have so much fun, makes one’s heart feel really warm and fuzzy.

I’m quite sad that the talk segments were basically me sitting around and having no idea what Jonghyun was talking about. That’s what I personally like about the Japanese concerts, because there I understand most of the things they say, which is quite nice. But yeah, it’s not their fault that I don’t speak Korean. Anyway, before the cockroach song he looked for a couple again (apparently there was none…or no one wanted to out themselves) so he picked out some girl who had been single for a very long time. I only understood a few words, and tried to figure out the content of their conversation by clutching onto every straw that was thrown, and after that one fan account I was surprised to realize that I wasn’t that off with my speculations. It was really fun listening to their conversation, because that girl was very fierce (I loved her since she was not shy to voice her opinion) and ranted so much that she apologized several times when Jonghyun got all ㅎㅅㅎ--- O_O--- :’D and wondered why she sounded like she was mad at him. It was adorable. She mentioned Minho at some point, but I’m not sure what she said. Did she refer to him as her ideal type? I don’t know. 

The cockroach song was awesome live, and the animation of the cockroaches were so adorable! Especially when one cockroach was sitting on Jonghyun’s head. He got all embarrassed when he saw himself on the screen with that cockroach head on his, and started laughing. Speaking of little, embarrassed Jonghyun. He also got very shy when all the fans excitedly waved their fan lights around when he sung the now infamous lyrics of ‘Where are you?” You know the drill. It was amusing. But what else did he expect the reaction of fans to be when he wrote those lyrics? Probably no one is going to look at him in disgust when he sings ‘Where is the person who is going to kiss me?’ Are there any fan accounts about what Minho did during this part when he attended the concert yesterday? I expect Choi to jump up from his seat and point at himself!

The second girl he talked to was one of the people who sent in letters. I have absolutely no idea what the conversation was about, but she was very shy and said annyeonghaseyo very, very awkwardly and shyly and also sounded slightly bored on top of it (an interesting mix), which Jonghyun apparently found quite amusing and mimicked the greeting in the same awkward manner and tone. We can conclude Jonghyun likes to play and tease the audience. In general I got the feeling that he really enjoys talking to the fans, listen to their stories, and give them advice. It felt like group therapy session with Doctor Kim. For the talk segments he walked around the stage and when reading the letters he sat in an arm chair in the middle of it. At some point he was wearing a huge white shirt with a wide collar and some pretty necklace. It was such a nice and dreamy outfit. Did I mention how beautiful his eye make-up was done? His eyes looked so pretty and shiny, and… *inserts all the hearts*.

The stages I feared the most were the ones starting off with ‘Let me out’. I really thought I would start crying him a river right then and there, but luckily that didn’t happen. The prop for this stage consisted of some cocoon looking 2m tall foldable wall that surrounded him, and he wore all black with a black corsage like binder around his waist. Let me tell you that corsage did things to his figure. I mean we all know he has a tiny waist, but that binder only emphasized that, which made his shoulders and arms look massive while it made his waist look even tinier. Especially when seen from the side with the light falling onto him he looked like some statute in a museum. I think this was my favorite outfit of the night, because he just looked very dark and mysterious, but also very soft and beautiful at the same time. This guy is just a contradiction, but what else is new.

Like some fan accounts already stated the performance to ‘Let me out’ is quite intense and Jonghyun puts his everything into it, but just like with ‘Suit up’ the band overpowered him during the quieter parts, which is a pity. I don’t know if this was a general problem and just no one mentioned it until now, because fans tend to throw all form of critic out of the window as soon as they are graced by his presence or if the concert I attended was an exception. Maybe they should have arranged those songs differently, because performing them live requires some special attention in my opinion so the haunting feeling of the music and lyrics get across to the audience.  After ‘Let me out’ Jonghyun pushed the cocoon open and continued with ‘Elevator’, one of my all-time favorite Jonghyun songs. It was very powerful and I sat in the audience with goosebumps.

The duets between Jonghyun and Shawols were beautiful. He should consider recording a song with a bunch of Shawols as duet partners in future. I especially liked the Shawol duet to ‘Love belt’, because it makes it easier to yell ‘I NEED YOU. I LOVE YOU…HOLD ME’ at Jonghyun without seeming like a crazy person. (/・・)ノ

The VCR before the encore seems to change every so often and while it was a rice brand Jonghyun advertised last week, he did some advertising for a drink this week. He tried to act as if he was seducing that bottle in his hand, and ran it along his face and so on. It looked hilarious. I laughed so hard. I live for funny VCRs. After the video ended everyone’s head suddenly turned to the entrance of the theater, and I was like ‘What is going on? Why is everyone turning their head around?’ I figured out why around ten seconds later when Jonghyun came down the aisle on the left side for ‘Deja Boo’ and everyone started screaming. Holy guacamole I wasn’t ready for seeing Jonghyun that close. I thanked all existing Gods on this planet that I sat in the left block so he passed me only a few feet away and came to a halt right in front of my block. HE’S SO TINY!!!! *USES ALL CAPSLOCK IN THE EXISTENCE OF CAPSLOCK* AND SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! Wow, I was so dumbfounded that I just stared at him like the weak fangirl I am. How do people survive fan signs? I mean yes, he’s just a normal human being, no need to put him on any pedestals (that’s 100% correct) but holy daisy…if he isn’t one of the most beautiful human beings I was able to lay my eyes on. His skin was glowing! If it had been me standing right in front of him in that first row I probably would have gaped at him without feeling any shame. He has just a very engaging aura. I mean it is one thing to see him up close on stage, but when he’s literally on eyelevel with you…oh my oh my…how do people manage to act all normal around him? Are they dying on the inside from all the tiny firework explosions and fan feels? Tell me your secrets survivors of the US fan meets!

Random anecdote: 10 years ago I met my back then favorite guitar player during a meet and greet and expected to die right then and there. However, I didn’t die and I carried a table with him instead and told him how tiny he is, which resulted in the singer laughing and saying ‘Well, what a nice compliment!’ Me being as smooth as a spiky cactus. So thinking about this fan girl episode of mine I probably would say something stupid instead of dying inside. But I matured, I wouldn’t call Jonghyun tiny to his face. I learned from this embarrassing episode that still haunts me at night sometimes.

The concert ended with ‘Fortune Cookie’ and ‘Beautiful tonight’. As always Jonghyun directed the audience during ‘Beautiful tonight’ and I looked at every kazoo around me in envy. I wanted to become a kazoo kid. I will forever be bitter about this. But I might just buy one from ebay and start my kazoo career anyway. No need for Jonghyun’s concert logo on this genius music instrument. I loved how he cherished every single person in the band accompanying him, and jammed along to every instrument. He played air bass guitar, it was so adorable and cute and I just wanted to pinch his cheeks and pat his head.

The ending of a concert always makes me feel very empty and this time was no different. As soon as Jonghyun left the stage I felt a wave of ‘So this was it. The final goodbye’. It’s always the worst part of a concert, because you just don’t want it to be over yet. The concert was a little over 2 hours, I believe, and everyone stormed out of the concert hall to wave Jonghyun goodbye at SM Town’s side entrance. When I arrived at SM Town that day I tried to figure out where all those ‘Arrival’ and ‘Departure’ photos had been taken, but I didn’t have to look long for it, because the entrance is right next to the actual entrance of SM Town. So, I followed the crowd and waited behind a barrier. I think at least half of the audience waited for him there, and most of them had their phones and cameras ready, already filming the door. Some of the girls even had little stools they could stand on so they could see the entrance better. He exited the building shortly after, waved into the crowd like usual and then disappeared into the waiting car. Nothing too dramatic…

It was a beautiful concert; very cozy and somehow very intimate. I for one belong to the group of people who prefer small venues, and I never understand why some fans have it as a goal to attend a Tokyo Dome concert at least once in their lives. I mean you do you, but it sounds more fun than it actually is. I already disliked the size of Saitama Super Arena with a little over 30.000 seats and I don’t want to imagine how a hall filled with over 50.000 must feel like. Yes, the ocean might look beautiful with 50.000, but it already looks beautiful with 500, so I don’t know what the big deal is…especially if you happen to only get a ticket on the fourth/fifth floor. But to each their own I guess. One needs to have a goal in life after all, and if it’s attending a SHINee concert, then that’s a really good one! So, you go Shawols! ^^

I should end this here, but I want to add a last note on the global packages. Last year I got a global package for the first X-Inspiration concert, because a) I didn’t know better b) his first concert was on my birthday and therefore I wanted to go there whatever the cost. As most of you know the global packages are very pricy to begin with, but in the case of the X-Inspiration concerts they also offered a lot in return, and you could choose the price category of the hotel. So after calculating everything, I thought, well the price is not too bad, and I still don’t regret buying that package, because it was a wonderful experience that I treasure a lot. However, this time the prices for the global packages were even higher, you couldn’t choose the price category, and they offered nothing at all except for the goodies. All I thought was ‘SM, what are you doing???’ This being said, if you have the money, just go for it, but if you are on a budget you might want to look around a little. There are trustworthy Korean sites which people use to resell their tickets and if you are lucky enough you might find a ticket to a reasonable price. The one I found was only 40$ more than the original price and was a seat in the third row, so I’m not complaining.

So, in conclusion: Did I have fun at the concert? Yes, I did! Was it enjoyable? Yes, definitely. Would I do it again? Oh yeah, anytime. There is just something about Jonghyun or SHINee as a whole group that makes me incredibly happy, and I’m very thankful that they never fail to put a smile onto my face.  ♡

Thank you! (♡＾▽＾♡)

[journeysintowebcomics]

Homestuck Liveblog #164

UPDATE 164: A Vision Made of Clay

Last time Vriska had been set up for revival. I don’t want to talk much about it, however there’s something I was pointed and that I had failed to consider: of course one’d need a Vriska that’d want to fight Lord English. It isn’t guaranteed the Vriska with character development would want to, of course an earlier Vriska, with her combative wishes intact, would work better here. It doesn’t make me feel any better about this all, but I have to admit I see the logic there. Okay, let’s continue.

John does exactly what was expected to him, he’s going to carry the whole planet with him through the retcon powers. Everything and everyone on the planet are going to go into the fixed session. Hm. Better be careful with that planet, John! If you screw up and accidentally makes the planet appear right in front of the meteor or some other inconvenient placement like that one, then things are going to get awry fast!

And then comes a big flash file. The URL tells me all I need to know about it: shes8ack. Fine. I had my time to throw tantrums, all that’s left for me to do is suck it up and just...accept there’s nothing to be done about this. It’ll be bitter but here we go.

The flash is about Jade finally remembering the circumstances of her so-called death – which by now I’m sure everyone suspects is actually being knocked out. Vriska has a lot of practice knocking Jade out, after all! So, there goes Jade, flying towards the meteor, and narrating that she saw someone she hadn’t expected to see. Hi there, Vriska. And indeed, things would have gone much easier for everyone in the original timeline if they could have made anyone fall asleep just like that. Having Vriska around is a necessary evil, I guess. And that’s the end of the Intermission 4, what comes now is another hopefully-not-painful moment with Caliborn.

It starts with trashcan banging, goat noises and farts. Fine, this musical accompaniment fits Caliborn quite well, the discordant piano, everything is good for that. What do you want now, kid?

...uh? What’s...is this...? Could it be...?

TO SEE MY TINY ACTORS OF LIVING PUTTY, *DANCE*.

GET READY. TO GET DAZZLED. AS I FUCKING DESTROY THE TRANSCENDENTAL BOUNDARIES OF "UNCONVENTIONAL MEDIA".

(THAT JUJU CHEST SHOULDN'T BE MOVING. SORRY. I BUMPED IT.)

...I’m charmed by these recent developments. I’m not kidding, this is...this is pretty cool, actually! I’m very fond of Claymation, of amateur projects, and—this is nothing I expected. This is a nice surprise! I think this is the first time I’m looking forward to see what happens. This could be, dare I say it, good!

This is cute! For a moment I forget what I’m seeing is narrated by Caliborn, I have seen just three pages and I’m already enjoying this part of Homestuck a lot, more than I have enjoyed the last one or two dozen updates. Okay, so that is Caliborn, Gamzee, Lil’ Cal, and the rabbit over there must be Lil’ Sebastian.

THE TALE MY MASTERPIECE DESCRIBES, IS BASICALLY A SPOILER TO THE ENDING OF THINGS. IT TAKES PLACE IN A FUTURE MOMENT. LONG BEYOND WHEN WE, YOU, OR I HAVE ANY BUSINESS SEEING WHAT HAPPENS.

So what I’m seeing right now is more or less at the end of Homestuck? That’s what it’s sounding like. It doesn’t mean it’s the end, but it may be pretty close to it. Should be good to build up expectation.

This all is happening after Caliborn stuck billiard balls in his eye sockets...for some reason. Why did he do that, again? Why did he cram thirty billiard balls into his head? Maybe I missed how that helped Lord English. There may be an explanation as to how that gives him powers, I suppose.

I'M NOT SURE HOW I COME ABOUT THIS LATER. MUCH LIKE THE CLOCKWORK LASERS, AND PRIMO FASHION JACKET. IT'S A RING, THAT FOUND ITS WAY TO ME SOMEHOW. A GOLDEN RING OF VOID.

Oh. Let’s see...last I remember seeing it, Roxy had obtained it and escaped prison, and then it was lost during the Trickster debacle. I don’t know how Caliborn obtained it, but it sounds like it’s a big part of how Caliborn manages to get into places to cause havoc and destruction. Taking it back may help defeating Lord English...or no. I don’t remember seeing him using a ring, ever. It’s possible I missed it, or that it was alchemized into some other item. Maybe he stuck the ring into his head too, for all I know.

The clay puppets jump and roll around until sudden development happens.

Eight people appear via retcon powers. It’s interesting that they arrived that way, so John had a concrete reason of coming here. Stopping Lord English, most likely, especially while he’s just a kid. The fact that Caliborn is narrating all this doesn’t bode well, though. He’ll be able to change the situation so whatever happens now won’t happen – unless it’s good for him, that is. The eight people here are John and the other seven kids, the trolls didn’t come. That may be worth remembering, hm...

This is so freaking ridiculous, I love it.

A fight is going to happen but Caliborn isn’t too worried, because he says he has a weapon. The house juju?

Praise Hussie, I like how the juju floats in the air – through that wire. But yeah, the juju is going to be used. Since it gave John retcon powers I’m not sure how exactly Caliborn plans to use it for his advantage, unless maybe he plans to send everyone away?

The house juju starts sucking inside the heads of some of the Wonderkids here – the Beta ones, judging from the description here. They’re gone, just like that! That was...not how I thought this’d go. Such a tough blow after just arriving...what may have happened to those four? If this is happening in the past, does that mean that when John stuck his hand inside the juju the four original Wonderkids were in there already? These jujus need some explanation, I’m not sure how they’re supposed to work.

Being used like this is what made the juju intangible in the first place. Could it be that the way to defeat Lord English is do the same thing to him? It’s four slots, if the Wonderkids can somehow be pulled out, there’d be more than enough space for Lord English to be stuck inside.

Once the juju was used, Caliborn sent it away into the nothing, to where it’d later be found by John and Vriska. Not so hidden after all, I guess. Now only the New Wonderkids are here and ready to fight. Hope it’ll go okay.

All the puppets flop around, and Caliborn ends victorious, but that’s not what gets my attention. I notice that Gamzee has been cut in half again. With some luck that’ll be a universal constant. Dirk, you did this, didn’t you? You and your unbreakable katana.

Dirk and Caliborn fight after the other three are left knocked out, seems like a stalemate – nevermind, I went to the next page and there’s Caliborn stomping on Dirk. Jake got back up to his feet and comes back.

He managed to control his hope powers! Creatively represented here with cotton, nicely done, Hussie. The hope field grows until it envelops the battlefield, battering up Caliborn and giving him what he’s calling his first defeat. He hadn’t expected hope to be so powerful! Like an afterschool lesson, really.

IT WAS MY PERFECTLY JUSTIFIED HUBRIS WHICH BIT ME IN THE ASS, IN THE END. EVEN THOUGH I'M SURE I MUST HAVE KNOWN THIS OUTCOME WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.

...only if you let things happen right like you’re describing them. In which case this may be a trap and things may not be as good as they may be looking right now – and it isn’t like they look too good right now, given that the Wonderkids are trapped away. At this point it may not be prudent to consider anything a victory.

THE CLUE HERE IS THAT I STEAL HIS NAME.

Hah, so that’s what happened! Caliborn stole Jake’s name, and Jade stole the names from Lord English. It’s this endless cycle, one more for Homestuck. Not the first this story has, and maybe not the last.

Dirk manages to recover for enough time to start using his soul power on Caliborn, trying to extract his soul, but then horses appear. Eh? Robot horses. Eh? Well that’s distracting enough, Caliborn is distracted, and ARquius arrives. He holds Caliborn down, chance Dirk uses to use his soul powers again.

Watch where you’re aiming, Dirk, that’s dangerous. Caliborn tells that his soul is being extracted, but also ARquius is undergoing the same attack. In fact, judging from this image...

...Gamzee’s half body is being trapped here too! Everything is being crammed into Lil’ Cal. Okay, now I’m more convinced this all can end with Lord English ending trapped in the house juju, if this is going where I think it’s going. Are you saying that Lord English is more like a mix of Caliborn, Lil’ Hal, Equius and Gamzee? Because if so, then that’s four people for four slots. That’s a bit too convenient for a throwaway fact! Also wow, that’s one awful combination...but it does explain how Lord English got all strong. Thanks a lot, Equius.

Once everything has settled down, Roxy sends the puppet away, supposedly to never be found ever again. Given that the last object that was sent away with void powers was found, I don’t have much faith this is going to work. Would have been better to burn the accursed puppet or something, wouldn’t it? Destroy it. Not just bury it and hope it’s over. There was an effort to solve it all, I suppose, but given that Lord English exists as this big hulking figure that’s bound to be a combination of those four people...yeah, he’s not going to stay trapped in that puppet. I myself saw how it sprung out of Doc Scratch’s lifeless felt body – another puppet, may I point. If the purpose of this trip to the past was to stop him from existing, then I’m afraid the only thing achieved was fulfilling his existence via time loop. Like it tends to happen in Homestuck! That’s why solving anything in this story is so difficult, almost everything that’s done tends to be the cause of the problems in the first place.

...the puppet is what brings Lord English’s influence into the universes, because he’s inside it. If it appears then everything is doomed. You really should have destroyed that thing, guys. Maybe Dirk argued against destroying the puppet he had for most of his life.

The Claymation charming time is over, and what follows is a Flash file showing all the details, hints and Lil’ Cal’s timeline, all presented in a concise and linear way, easy to understand. Did you really plan ahead, Hussie? All that? Because I see hints as early as like Act 5 Act 2! That’s great! I like it. It’s also worth noting that since Doc Scratch was created with Lil’ Cal as one of its ectobiological parents, and it was given the First Guardian powers through the genetic code, that explains very well why Lord English has those powers and why he emerged from Doc Scratch. Very good! Excellent job, Hussie!

Also the Illuminati triangle appeared a few times. I don’t...really get it? Well it doesn’t really matter, I think.

The next part of Homestuck starts with another flash file. Nice art!

...

...

...

...it was nice while it lasted. All these fuzzy feelings I had, my happiness, it was all nice while it lasted. All the good will I had accumulated during this update, my intention to increase the plot meter at the end of this update, it’s all gone.

Are you trying to tell me, Hussie, that Vriska being around solved pretty much all the problems on the meteor? Even though I don’t see how it’d make much sense? You telling me that Vriska is the one responsible for Rose not having a drinking problem – or so it seems – and that thanks to her Dave and Karkat are closer than they were in the other timeline? Really? Why’d you—why’d she care enough to do any of that? Honestly, I can’t see Vriska caring enough to do something like get Rose not to get drunk. I concede there’s a possibility it was done out of concern for Kanaya, but still...that’s levels of empathy I can’t say I see Vriska having.

Okay, okay, maybe I’m reacting out of nothing. Maybe I’m misinterpreting the situation. Maybe Vriska developed in ways I don’t expect, in ways that make her be closer to the other Vriska than I thought she’d be! Yeah, that may be possible. That’s the one way I see this working, so I guess I’ll wait to see her actions in the present, or how she talks and what she says. That’s the one hope I see for all this to work. Because, honestly...

...that Vriska staying alive solved all the problems in the meteor – problems I don’t really see her getting involved with – is something I’m having a hard time believing. There’s a difference between one person’s presence changing stuff around for the better and between cramming that person in situations that don’t really fit her. Guess which one it seems this fits more into. Then again, it’s possible I’m overreacting and letting frustration color my perception of all this. Vriska hasn’t even said a word, that may change it all and justify what I just saw. Hopefully.

Also, heh...

You sure look tiny, WV! Was that Vriska’s fault too? Did she accidentally stuff you into the washing machine and that caused you to shrink? Because I’m pretty sure I remember WV was as tall as Dave, if not taller, and now look at how he can carry WV around with no problems at all. Quite curious!

This is where I end the update. It was excellent most of the time, soured by this reaction of mine by the end. I really liked Caliborn’s masterpiece, that may be one of the high points in this part of Homestuck. Well done with that, Hussie! Creative and new, well done.

Next update: three updates

[bitchfromtheseventhhell]

tagged in some memes

Tagging anyone who wants to do any of these memes!

I - tagged by @gendryxaryatrash​

-> What made you sign up to Tumblr? I used to get into gif wars with my college roommates so I needed to be able to gather.

-> What did your blog start off as being? My old blog used to be a hodgepodge of stuff I liked.  When I rebuilt I put all ASOIAF content on this sideblog and my main is still a hodgepodge of stuff I like minus ASOIAF.

-> Have you ever received any creepy asks, and if so, what did they say? Not really.

-> Have you ever had a bad experience on tumblr? Yes, several, but I try not to dwell on it because at this point it was years ago and letting it still take up a lot of my thoughts is not worth it.

-> If you had to pick a favourite English monarch, who would you pick? ...I’m not sure I care enough.  I guess Elizabeth I because she is one I kinda know things about?

-> Do you prefer hot or cold? Cold

-> Do you have a special skill or talent? Writing.  I’m a decent singer. I can whistle through my teeth in a nonstandard whistly way.

-> Do you have a phobia of anything? Heights.

-> If you had to pick a favourite real life villain from history, who would you pick? Honestly most of the evils I see in the world are usually perpetrated by more than one person/not a person at all, so I’m not sure I know how to answer this.  Like individuals who do bad is less fascinating than societal ills and how they are enabled if that makes sense.

-> Do you have any dark traits? Probably.  Don’t we all?

-> If you could do anything, literally anything, like fly on a unicorn or something, what would it be? Apparating.

-> What is the scale of the worst argument you’ve ever had? IDK.  I like debating, so I wouldn’t call arguments a bad thing.  Fights can be brutal but fights and arguments aren’t the same in my brain.

-> What is your favourite slush flavour? I don’t think I’ve eaten enough of this to know.

-> If you could bring back any food or drink from your childhood that has been discontinued, what would it be? IDK what they’re called, but there was a strawberry candy I ate a lot that came in a tin and I can’t find it anywhere now D:

-> What is your favourite and most vivid childhood memory? When my dad was driving me and my brother in the rain and we rolled the windows down and stuck our heads out the window and my dad would drive into puddles to splash us. 

-> If you could bring anyone back from the dead who would it be? Max or Rachel.  

-> If you could go back to any time period and live there for a week, which period would it be and why? Nah.  I have no desire to live in the past.  I’d rather think about a future in which things are better than they’ve been in the past.

-> If you could visit any abandoned place to take pictures, where would it be? Not really sure.  I hope it’s mountainous though.

-> Do you have any particular, peculiar interests? Bulgarian folk music counts probably

-> Do you have a creepy/scary experience that has happened to you, and what was it? Not really

-> Do you like/read creepypasta stories? If so, what’s your favourite story? Not really sure what defines creepypasta tbh.  

-> If you were in the Wars of the Roses, would you be a Lancastrian, or a Yorkist? I....am not enough of an Anglophile when it comes to history to care.  It’s all fun to watch on TV but I can’t think about it without my historian cap on my head and I just don’t really have enough knowledge to pick a side here.

-> What is your recurring nightmare? I don’t have recurring dreams.

-> Have you ever had a lucid dream? I think so?  I’ve at least had a dream where I keep trying to wake up and then wake up but it’s still a dream and then I realize it’s a dream and try to wake up.  It was really jarring.

-> If you could go to another planet, which would it be? Mars would be cool.  I feel like Venus would be too warm for me.

->What is your religion, if any? I’m Jewish.

-> Have you ever got so drunk, that you did something really embarrassing, and if so, what did you do? I once vomited in one of the main auditoriums at my college during a drunken halloween concert.  I became that which I scorned my freshman year.  

-> Mike, Dustin, Lucas, or Will? Who??

-> Do you like Marina and the Diamonds? I’ve not aware of who/what this is.

-> Charli XCX? Ditto

-> Tag a blog that you’ve seen, and you love their posts, but have never told them, and would like to talk to them. Oof I’m not sure.  I’m slow to follow people, so usually when I do it’s because I feel comfortable talking to them already--or would feel comfortable just being like “Hi I wanna talk to you.”

-> Pick one thing you like/love from the 80s. Hopscotch

-> What year were you born, and name something cool from that year. 1991 - The Fall of the Soviet Union

-> What was your blog name originally? (If you had another blog name) I went by ​@crossingwinter​ for a long time because that’s my ao3 handle (I now use it as a fic archive and reblog all my fics over there) on my old main blog.  This sideblog used to be @thegoldofwinterfell​ after I did my rebuild.  

-> Do you follow any blogs that you know the user in real life? Yes.  Quite a few, actually.  Thank fuck I moved most of my fandom participation over here because they don’t see it haha.

-> If you are in the ST fandom, which is your favourite song off the ST soundtrack? No.

-> Finally, give your opinion on the person who tagged you! ✨ @gendryxaryatrash​ is always so supportive and honestly sometimes I feel like I am spitting things into a void so I’m really grateful to have you as someone who’s always enjoying the things I make since that’s why I make it :D

II - tagged by @savannsahstark​

Nickname: Some folks have called me Ceels, but it’s not that frequent.

Zodiac sign: Cancer

Height: 5'5″

Gender: female

Time right now: 11:35 a.m.

Last thing I googled: Double checking that the Soviet Union did in fact dissolve in 1991 (I get it confused with 1989 and the Berlin wall sometimes) (I’m an embarrasment to all historians who’ve studied communism :shame:)

Favourite music artist(s): the Bulgarian State Women’s Vocal Ensemble, Kitka, Jamila Woods, Chance the Rapper, undoubtedly more i can’t think of right now.

Song stuck in my head: This god help me

Last movie I watched: Sense and Sensibility

What are you wearing right now: an old Red Sox t-shirt that definitely is my brother’s and not mine but was in my drawer of clothes in NY so

Last TV show I watched: ....I can’t remember.  The Good Place maybe?

What do you post: ASOIAF over here.  GOT but more...curatedly.

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff/Gryffindor

Pokémon team: Valor

Why did you choose your URL: "Not me," the Lady of Barrowton confessed, "but the rest, yes. Old Whoresbane is only here because the Freys hold the Greatjon captive. And do you imagine the Hornwood men have forgotten the Bastard's last marriage, and how his lady wife was left to starve, chewing her own fingers? What do you think passes through their heads when they hear the new bride weeping? Valiant Ned's precious little girl."

When you created this blog: 2015

Do you get asks regularly: I find that it’s either floodgates or nothing.  probably because a lot of anons pile on about my responses to other anons.  I think also not necessarily taking anon fic prompts slows stuff down too.

Do you have any other blogs: this question is a fucking callout is what it is.

Religious or Spiritual: Oh boy I won’t bore you all with my Thoughts about my relationship with music and Judiasm and constantly interrogating what both mean to my life.

Favourite colour: Purple

Average hours of sleep: I aim for 8.  My fitbit shows that it’s more flexible than that.

Lucky number: Not sure.

Favourite character(s): Donna Moss, Leia Organa, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark (lol Sav I’m just keeping yours because Accurate)

Following: 419.  Most of those are inactive.

How many blankets do you sleep with: My comforter

Dream job: Writer.  I’m feeling pretty fulfilled doing some inclusion stuff at my current job though so that’s nice.

III - tagged by @baratheons​

Relationship Status: Single and hunting

Lipstick or Chapstick: Chapstick

Last Song I Listened to:  “Go” by the Civil Wars

Last Movie I Watched: Sense & Sensibility

Top Three Characters: Arya, Sansa, Bran.  It varies from day to day what the order is.

Top Three Ships: Arya x Gendry, SanSan, and lately Jon x Dany, but I’d say that third slot revolves a lot based on my mood.  The first two have been pretty solidly there for years and are unlikely to change any time soon.

[wrangletangle]

Since you were recommending Dreamwidth, I decided to check it out. Is their anyway to look purely at art/fanfic without searching through someone's blog? What makes Tumblr so easy to use is that you can search through peoples tags quickly to find what you want, and I can't really find that on DW. Also, can you follow tags/interests on DW just like you do on Tumblr? It's a feature that allows me to keep up with my fandoms even when I'm not actively combing the tags and it's very helpful.

Hi anon, thanks for asking! Sorry for the delay.

Dreamwidth is constructed very differently from Tumblr, as you noticed. It was originally created as a fork of the Livejournal code, but has since developed in its own direction, as requests from the userbase came in.

To give you some parallels:

You can still follow individual users. In fact, you have a lot more control over how you follow users - you can adjust your following preferences to group users together into named dashes, for example. I have a dash for individual blogs and a separate one for communities (details below).

Most users do have a personal tagging system, and this generates an automatic list of their personal tags, available at the /tag URL for that user. So if I want to see all of the art that pentapus has ever posted (and I do, regularly), I just go to pentapus’s blog, glance at the taglist and pick the “art” tag. Voila, I have it all. No skipping stuff like Tumblr likes to do.

Now for what’s different:

DW doesn’t block your post for being “adult” or hide posts based on tags. Instead, you flag your individual posts or entire blog as adult, and if someone isn’t logged in, they get a warning before they see the material.

When I make a post on DW, I can literally control who can see it. I can either lock it to only my followers, to only a subset of my followers (groups I’ve put together privately, which my followers can’t see), or I can let everyone see it. I can choose my own tags for my own blog. I don’t have to worry about fighting over tags with another fandom I’ve never heard of, or strangers hopping into my blog and fighting with me over something they have no context for.

Where Dreamwidth is really different is in how it organizes what Tumblr does via general tags. DW does that via opt-in communities, which have mods and everything. When it comes to fannish content, I often won’t post that to my personal journal at all but to a community for that topic instead, or I’ll post it to my personal journal but I’ll post a notice about it at a relevant community. That way, I know that people who are interested in that topic can see the post. I also don’t spam my followers with 50 million Baze/Chirrut reblogs haha ha (still not apologizing).

I join and follow communities for topics I’m interested in. Those communities can show up on my dash/feed, mixed in with the individuals I follow, or I can separate them into their own dash/feed. I have the power!

I can lock my posts in communities to community members only, if I don’t want to tell the entire universe about my Baze/Chirrut feels but only want to talk to like-minded shippers. (Though really, I want to tell the entire universe.)

No need for sideblogs. Just post to communities related to that topic.

Functional cut tags.

Multiple icons on free accounts.

THREADED CONVERSATIONS IN CONTEXT, ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE’S COMMENTS ON THE SAME POST. ALSO, CONVERSATIONS WITHOUT REBLOGGING.

No ads.

No porn blog followers.

Community-run support, so you can literally see the support queue and usually get a helpful response within like 2-3 days at most, often faster for easy questions.

Help files? That tell you how to use the site? Linked from a button that says “Help”?

You can edit your posts, and there won’t be 500 copies of the version with the typo in it.

Screened comments that can be unscreened at will.

Long-form non-chat PM system.

Comment-tracking, even for posts you didn’t make.

Multiple icons, which allow you to mood theme your posts.

Polls, if you have a paying account.

Actual mood themes, if you have a paying account.

What does that mean?

No antis. Anti content is not posted to the communities, or if it is, mods remove it. Antis are allowed to form their own communities, and people who love the thing they hate just avoid those. (Most people don’t bother making anti comms and just occasionally mutter on their personal blogs. Overall anti noise level is much lower, comparatively speaking.)

No fighting over tags.

Better RP. Let’s be real, RPing on Tumblr is horrifying.

More control over what feeds I see and when.

More control over what other people see. I can post personal rl posts for my followers only, and they will never be seen by anyone who doesn’t follow me.

More personal connections among mutuals, as you’re able to talk either privately or in small groups about your personal life or interests without random people barging in, taking your sandwich, and kicking your shins.

Better privacy controls. Honestly, does Tumblr even have privacy?

But also, in the reverse, the ability to connect with most of the people who have a particular interest by posting in a community. Since communities are moderated, people don’t hide from them the way a lot of us hide from the tags on Tumblr. You also don’t have to call into the void for people to follow - you can literally just look at the community membership list and browse for cool people.

CONVERSATION.

Connection. Belonging to a community on DW is not like being on Tumblr. It’s much more personal and interconnected, with individual support. On the flip side, communities don’t have the kinds of requirements that Tumblr networks do. You don’t have to follow X or do Y and send in an application and give them your icon and description or any of that jazz. You click a button. There, you’ve joined. No submissions required. No mod has to trawl the tags for things to reblog - members just post their stuff directly to the community, or post to their personal blogs and post a link to the community.

None of this requires an xkit-style extension. All of these features are natively supported by the site itself.

The experience is very different, but it is very awesome. Much more interconnected, much less wank (not totally non-wanky, because fandom wanks, but the system is designed to make it harder to be a jerk and easier to be a friend).

[adventuresaroundasia]

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info. 

After five years of living in China, and two years of This Beijing Life, things have changed. I left my job as a college counselor in China, and now I’m living a life on my terms. I’m my own boss, I travel when I want, and live where I want. I’m FINALLY living my dream of location independence.

I hope you’ll all follow me along on my new journey: The Freedom Life.

Pin Me!

What I Was Up to This Fall

As you can see, I was a bit slack on the Monthly Recap front last September but it was for two very good reasons. Firstly, I was traveling with my parents all around Vietnam during that time, and secondly, I launched my first online course!!!!

This monthly recap is going to be a big one, so get ready!

Lang Co Beach near Hai Phong pass!

Where I Went in September + October

Hoi An

Ho Chi Minh City

Hanoi

Ha Long Bay/ Lan Ha Bay

Hue

Danang

Hoi An Old Town lookin’ nice

Highlights

For the most part, these last two months were really great! From traveling all around Vietnam with my family to FINALLY launching my course, to days of straight sunshine (until recently), I don’t have much to complain about.

I Launched My Course!!!!!

YAY!! I’ve been hinting at this course for a solid year now and working on it practically full-time for the last 7 months, and it’s FINALLY DONE.

In case you didn’t see on social media or via email, I launched a premium course and community called the Teach Abroad Squad! The whole goal of the course is to make teaching abroad in China easy. Find an incredible high-paying job, learn how to actually teach to Chinese students, and survive in China once you get there.

Basically, I can’t go back in time and give myself a better first year in China, but I CAN be there for other new teachers. I made this course to help people have an incredible first year, avoid all the scams and not-so-great deals, and arrive in China feeling prepared to teach to Chinese students. Basically, everything I WISH was in my TEFL and then some.

I’m honestly so proud of this course, and I couldn’t be happier that it’s FINALLY out in the world. I just had my VIP launch in the last week of October, and I’ve already received a ton of great feedback. While the VIP launch is over, the plan is to open back up again at the beginning of 2019!

If Teach Abroad Squad sounds like something you need in your life, I highly suggest signing up for my FREE Teach Abroad Mini Course where you can learn some awesome basics (for free), and then you’ll be the first to be notified when we open back up again!

[button url=”https://www.adventuresaroundasia.com/mini-course/&#8221; label=”Enroll Now!” size=”large” target=”_blank”]

Enjoying a food tour in Hanoi!

My Parents Visited Vietnam

In early October my parents flew down to Vietnam for a 2 week trip to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hue, and Hoi An! I had a great time showing them around, and it was fun to visit many of the places in Vietnam I didn’t have enough time in the first time around. Seriously, when I lived in China I’d been to Vietnam TWICE but only for a week each time!

It was especially fun to show my parents around Hoi An. We had some fun clothes tailored, went to all my favorite restaurants, relaxed on the beach, and rested after a busy trip!

Chris relaxing on the top deck

Fancy Ha Long Bay Cruise

One of my favorite moments of the trip with my parents was the fancy Ha Long Bay 2-day cruise we took with Mon Cheri cruises! The ship went through Ha Long and Lan Ha bay, where we had the opportunity to kayak through caves, swim in the bay, and have some fancy egg and coconut coffee while admiring the view!

This was my THIRD time in the area, and I definitely recommend Mon Cheri if you want to do a fancy overnight cruise without dropping a ton of money (we got a good deal on Booking.com). Previously I’d done a cheap day trip cruise from Hanoi (don’t recommend it), and a multi-day trip to Cat Ba island where I went rock climbing and kayaking (my go-to budget recommendation, it was amazing!).

Next time, I definitely want to spend more time in the area. I’ll do the 3-day 2-night cruise with Mon Cheri, and then spend some time on Cat Ba island to do some more adventure kayaking!

Elliot loving the trip!

Motorbike Ride Around Sun Peninsula

Last week my fiance Chris and his brother’s family and I took a motorbike trip around the Sun Peninsula just near Danang. We rode our bikes to Danang, which is only about 30-45 minutes away, grabbed a cheap central hotel called San Marino with an ice cold, but very beautiful rooftop pool (only $40!), and then embarked on a motrobike adventure that next morning!

The group of us took our bikes around the peninsula, seeing the famous pagoda and Lady Buddha statue, all the way down to the Heritage Banyan tree. The views of the coastline were INCREDIBLE, and we had such a good day.

Sure, my motorbike’s back tire exploded while going up a steep hill, but that’s part of the adventure right? Thankfully there was a handyman literally 5-minutes push away (suspicious…) so we were able to get our bike fixed after waiting our turn since we apparently weren’t the only ones having flat tires in the area. Is someone putting tacks in the road or something??

Now I can take tons of these shots!

YUM

Challenges

While these last two months were really fun, there were a few major mishaps too!

No Phone For Almost a Month!!

So.. my phone battery randomly exploded a few weeks ago. I grabbed my phone out of my bag and the entire thing was swollen to the point that the screen had started coming off.

Long story short, I was told to go to Danang to fix it. Couldn’t find the Apple authorized store anywhere because we were given the wrong address by Apple (thanks). After 2 hours and multiple taxis we finally found it, waited for another hour, and then were told that my battery wasn’t an Apple battery and they couldn’t replace it.

Cue a huge argument with Apple, who had told me to get a new battery a few months back when all the iPhones were having battery problems. The guy at Apple told me to go to a Staples because they were out of batteries at all of the Apple stores up until I had to leave the US. What he didn’t tell me was that it would void my warranty. Cool. Good service strikes again.

So after approximately 5 phone conversations with Apple, I was out of luck. I needed to buy a new smartphone, but they’re all at least $200 more expensive in Vietnam compared to the US. Since my parents were coming in 2 weeks, I decided to hold out and wait for them to bring me one.

With the new iPhone announcement in the US, I was able to get the iPhone 8 for over $300 less than I would’ve paid in Vietnam. I just had to go without a phone for about…. 3 weeks. It was awful.

For those of you wondering, YES I did look into other brands. Samsung is even more expensive and doesn’t have an international warranty (aka if it breaks I have to mail it to the US), and I didn’t love the other cheaper Asian brands like Huawei, especially not for all the social media, photography, and work stuff I do on my phone.

So, long story short, I love my new phone but I kind of hate Apple.

My parents relaxing in Ha Long Bay

Trying to Launch My Course RIGHT After My Parents Left

Once upon a time, I made a deal with myself that I would launch my course in October 2018. This made sense, because I wanted to avoid the holidays, and get everything done with my course before heading to Australia.

However, with my parents visiting in early October, this meant that I needed to get almost everything done before they arrived, so that I could launch my course 2 weeks after they left. Talk about stressful!

I was working all day every day trying to put the finishing touches on a 12-module course with 25 videos, plus 4 bonuses. My course is also hosted on its own website (too much of a control freak for Teachable or Udemy), so I had a lot of tech stuff to do as well.

Once my parents left, it was a mad dash to launch day! AHhhhhhhHHhh

Thankfully these guys took me on a motorbike trip to distract me

My 5-Day Launch: Stress City!

For those of you who don’t already know, I took a program called Create Awesome Online Courses to learn how to create the most epic course ever. One of the things they teach you in this course is how to create a 5-day VIP launch to get the ball rolling.

In this process, you have a free 3-part video series (some of you may have seen this), and after a week you open up your cart for ONLY 5 days. This means you spend that time doing a lot of promoting, and then you wait with bated breath to see how many people join.

In my head, I thought I needed to get everything done before the cart opened, including pre-scheduling all of my emails. So during the 5-day launch, I had nothing to do but obsessively refresh my email every 5 minutes.

Of course, as is typical, everyone signed up at the absolute last minute. Which meant for the first few days I had ZERO signups. I was totally depressed. Every few hours I’d check my email and see nothing. After a solid 7 months of working on this course pretty much full-time, I was basically having an existential crisis.

While I really love my blog and will always keep writing and sharing, I wanted this course to be my full-time job. I really do enjoy teaching, and love helping people achieve their goals and dreams. I also love being creative and designing something completely my own, so creating an online course has been one of my major goals for a few YEARS.

Thankfully, sales started rolling in on the last two days. Thank god, because I was really two-seconds away from heart failure. We now have a cozy tight-knit group over in our private Facebook group, and I can’t wait to add more teachers to our community in a few months!

Here’s a nice photo of cao lau

Food Poisoning On a Plane

On the day I was set to fly from Hanoi to Hue, I woke up feeling REALLY sick with some form of food poisoning. I knew it couldn’t have been the food from our food tour the night before since we all had the same things, so I’m assuming I touched some bacteria and then ate something with my hands? No idea. But whatever it was, it was BAD.

I tried making myself throw up, but couldn’t get anything up. I tried taking Imodium, drinking tea (I couldn’t get it down), but no matter what I did, I couldn’t get out of bed at all. My parents and Chris were all pacing around my bed trying to figure out what to do. Should I just miss my flight, forfeit my hotel in Hue and then pay for another night in Hanoi??

Eventually, I made it out of the house and into a taxi to the airport, but seriously… I was not okay. I felt like absolute death at the airport and almost threw up in front of security. I also almost keeled over on the packed bus to board the airplane, and literally almost died as people shoved me out of the way to board the plane.

When we got onto our budget flight, it wasn’t much better. Chris gave me the window seat so I could relax, but the flight was so crammed, I honestly couldn’t handle it. Thank god it was a short flight because that was the most miserable transit experience I’ve ever had (and this is coming from a girl who literally pooped her pants while waiting for a bus in the Philippines).

When we finally got to Hue I slept for the rest of the day while my parents took in the sights. The lovely owners at Hue Riverside Villa even made me plain porridge to eat that night! Thankfully I was well enough the next morning to go on our countryside motorbike tour. I only had to miss out on the famous salt coffee and most of our lunch.

Cheap views from Marble Mountain

Hello Danang!

Stressing About Money

This last month was the first time in my entire life that I couldn’t pay off my credit card in full. I know most of you are rolling your eyes right now, but I’m pretty conservative with my money, and I love having my credit card fully paid off every month.

While I do have a few thousand dollars, it’s all in China, so I can only access it via ATM here in Vietnam. I usually have all of my blogging income paid into my US account or Paypal, which is what I use to pay off my credit card. But with a bunch of travel, international flights, and investments in getting my course set up, my bill has been a bit too large these last two months to pay off fully.

While the interest isn’t too bad, this is definitely NOT a habit I want to get into.

For those who are interested, the Curly Girl Method WORKS.

Monthly Finances

September Income Breakdown

Advertising – $0

Blogging Partnerships – $681

Freelancing – $0

Affiliate Sales – $381.50

Teaching Referrals – $0

Total Revenue – $1062.50

Total Profit (Minus Blog Expenses) – $352.50

In September I bought a few major things for my course that really added up!

October Income Breakdown

Advertising – $0

Blogging Partnerships – $0

Freelancing – $500

Affiliate Sales – $422

Teaching Referrals – $0

Total Revenue – $922

Total Profit (Minus Blog Expenses) – $688

Most of what I spent in October went towards Facebook ads for my course, as well as my new Virtual Assistant!

On the way from Hue to Hoi An!

What I Wrote in September and October

With all the traveling and the launch of my course, I didn’t have much time to write, and the posts I DID create mostly centered around teaching abroad to drum up some excitement and interest for my new course!

What if Your Chinese School Doesn’t Pay On Time? 

Am I Legal to Teach in China?

The Freedom Life: August 2018 

Best Instagram Shots

This first shot is from the rooftop of the apartment we rented in Ho Chi Minh! We decided to have a nice glass of wine and enjoy the sunset!

  View this post on Instagram

  Good evening Saigon!

A post shared by Richelle (@adventuresaroundasia) on Sep 28, 2018 at 5:44am PDT

This second photo was actually from a photoshoot I stumbled on in Hoi An’s old town. The girls looked so beautiful in their ao dais, how could I not take my own photo too?

  View this post on Instagram

  I’m a little obsessed with the traditional Vietnamese ao dai dress. Not only is it super flattering, it’s also comfy with flowing pants underneath! Fun Fact: in Vietnam most high schools require girls to wear the ao dai to school on either Mondays or Fridays (or both). One girl I met in Hue said that a major reason she became a teacher was so that she could wear an ao dai to work a few times a week!

A post shared by Richelle (@adventuresaroundasia) on Oct 12, 2018 at 12:02am PDT

Travel Product I Can’t Live Without

Not necessarily a product, but a travel SERVICE I can’t live without is my travel insurance with World Nomads! I realized when I was sick in Hanoi that my insurance had actually expired and I’d forgotten to renew it, otherwise I could’ve actually stayed in my bed and skipped out on that horrible, horrible day of flying where I almost threw up all over everyone a hundred times.

Seriously there are a million reasons you need travel insurance when you go abroad. Remember when Chris broke his arm and we almost missed 4 flights, or when I stepped on a sea urchin in Cambodia and got blood poisoning? Yeah.

I personally use World Nomads which covers both getting sick abroad, and other important things like stolen phones (they reimbursed me for mine!), missed flights, lost luggage, and more!

[button url=”http://www.adventuresaroundasia.com/worldnomads&#8221; label=”Get a Quote!” size=”large” target=”_blank”]

Chris and I in Hanoi’s Note Cafe

Best Reads of October

Here are my favorite blog posts of the month!

Top 40 Things to Do in Hong Kong – PS I’m On My Way

As someone who has been to Hong Kong approximately 8 times, I can attest that this list is actually really good. I thought I’d done everything in Hong Kong but I guess I have to go back!

Tsurutokame: The Only All Female Kaiseki Restaurant in Tokyo – Be My Travel Muse

While on our Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage, Chris and I had the opportunity to try an AMAZING kaiseki meal. These multi-course Japanese delicacies should not be missed, and I love that this one is run by women!

My 6 Worst Dates Ever on the Road – Teacake Travels

As someone who has had their fair share of dating mishaps while living abroad, I really, really appreciated this.

Saying goodbye to this little girl is NOT going to be fun

What’s Next for November?

In just a few short days I’ll be flying to Australia for the holidays! Then three days later I’ll turn right back around for a partnership in Japan. Leaving Hoi An is really bittersweet (especially giving my cat back to her owner!!), but we plan to come back in April once the rain dies down!

The Freedom Life: September + October 2018 This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.  After five years of living in China, and two years of 

[templeofgeek]

Geek Fashion Icon, Catherine Elhoffer, of Elhoffer Designs talked to us about how she became one of the most popular fashion designers in the geek community. She has dressed celebrities, cosplayers and all manner of fan girls! She creates high-end Geek Bounding Apparel and is based out of Los Angeles, CA. Geek bounding is a subtle way to celebrate your fandom. Her designs are inspired by geek and pop culture. Her designs are high-end, align with modern styles and are made to last. Filling a much-needed void in the geek fashion world! Her design collections have been featured on Temple Of Geek Chic multiple times because we simply can not get enough of her style!

How long have you been interested in fashion/design and how did you get started?

I actually have hated fashion for most of my life, I got into design via costuming! I started in my local RenFaire when I was 15 and started making fae costumes for myself and friends. Then in college I took a fashion design course that I hated because it moved very slowly and the other students were not to my liking, but I loved because the professors loved me because I completely projects early if not on time (which was apparently something kids in the program didn’t do which was so odd to me). One of the professors pulled me aside and told me I needed to hit up the Theatrical Costume Shop because I was too smart for the Fashion program. So I went to the costume shop, got a job, started enrolling in the costume design courses (and it was a small program, pretty much me and at most two other students in other years the entire time I was in school), and then really honed my costume design and construction skills. It’s been almost a decade since I graduated, and I’ve been sewing and designing ever since!

Star Wars Inspired Designs

What inspired you to create Elhoffer Design?

Well the company is named after my surname, Elhoffer, which a lot of people don’t seem to get. They think my first name is El, which is funny to me. But I’ve been using the name ‘Elhoffer Design’ since I moved to LA to pursue costume design. It just made sense to get the URL and to put all my portfolio work onto that site to start getting work. Then I moved into working in geek fashion, due to working on a lot of geek parody film/web shoots and making some clothes to blend in (like a khaleesi inspired tunic that I’d wear on sets when I just needed to feel like a badass). I started working with some big companies that have a lot of licenses, and then when the last one fired me and kinda blacklisted me from other geek fashion companies, I decided to just form my own damn company and go at it solo, because I really loved designing geek apparel and had started to make a name for myself as a designer that created for women, not juniors, and who cared about shape and quality. I started hand-making pieces first, and then as that picked up I filed the LLC paperwork to make it a legit business.

Captain Marvel Inspired Cardigan

What do you feel sets Elhoffer Design apart from the rest of the crowd?

I was told early on in the life of my business that my designs are pretty distinctive, which I didn’t understand for a while. I was just like ‘well, yeah, that’s just my aesthetic, so of course it’s unique’. But it’s a combination of using fabrics that drape really well with colors and lines that tend to flatter the body. I don’t put colors together that clash, I often won’t use more than 3 colors in a single design (though that’s a rule I’ll certainly break if necessary, but I feel anything more than three colors gets to be too garish. Again, in most cases. I have plenty of sweaters that use four colors!). I also put pockets in every flared skirt I make, whether it’s a skirt or dress. Often wand pockets, too. And I also design for curvy women; my fit models are all well endowed, because those with less cleavage can always get things taken in, but rarely can modern apparel be let out or recut to accommodate boobs. That’s apparently unique, because not many apparel companies are designing for curves.

What has the reaction to your designs been like?

Well I’ve been able to expand from hand-making each piece myself to having a small staff of employees, a handful of factories that work with me, and a rather large stock of product on my site! So reaction has been pretty amazing! It actually shocks me how much people seem to love my pieces and work, because I am just so focused on the next piece or doing better and fixing my mistakes that I wasn’t really watching the growth happen in real-time. I was focused on prepping for the next convention or getting a production finished and shipped out that I wasn’t looking as much at the hashtags or the sales numbers! I’m thrilled, of course! And incredibly lucky that so many have been so kind and supportive!

Harry Potter/Raven Claw Inspired Wrap Dress

We understand that it is important for you, that as a business, you are minimizing your carbon footprint. Can you let our readers know a little bit about why that means so much to you and what you do to be environmentally responsible.

The fashion industry, and any industry that is mass-making things (so, every industry, really) is incredibly destructive on the environment. Between product being made cheaply overseas and then shipped over, put onto semis to be driven to a warehouse just to go back on a semi to be shipped to a brick and mortar store, and the lack of environmental regulations overseas (and now here in the US apparently), it’s just important to me to try to make a smaller footprint if possible. I’m not perfect; lots of my fabric used in my cut and sew dresses is still imported from overseas because the US just doesn’t mill textiles like we used to. But I do all my custom knitting in Los Angeles as well as the cutting and sewing of all my apparel. It lets me control more aspects of my designs, but it also means I know that there pieces aren’t moving around too much to make the final product. Besides electricity, I’m not doing too much damage on the environment. I’ve even been collecting scrap cuts from my factories to turn into gloves or other random things to try to reduce physical waste, too. We only have one planet, and I’m just trying to do what I can even as a business who’s mass producing and shipping things worldwide. By the very nature of my business I’m going to leave a footprint on the world: I ship out hundreds of packages a month and they go all over. I use plastic shipping supplies. Like, there are certain things that are just incredibly difficult to get around being an e-commerce site. But I do what I can.

What has been the most satisfying and the most difficult about your journey in fashion design?

By far the most satisfying thing is all the women who message me with pics or tag me on social media saying how they’ve never felt pretty or how they’ve never felt this confident in a piece of clothing. That’s why I do this. The most difficult thing has been dealing with social media and the trolls, nasty comments, the like. Sometimes people feel the need to say I’m a rip off or I’m too expensive, and I feel the need to educate them to help explain why I don’t have Walmart level prices; sometimes by educating they actually start to see the value in my prices, and sometimes they’re just there to troll and complain. So to that, I can’t help them. But I naturally want to help people, so I can get lured into replying to people who don’t deserve my time or energy because I always hope they’re there with the best intentions…

Star Wars Inspired Designs

Do you have a favorite designs, or one that is special to you?

It’s so hard to pick a favorite, because I really do love everything I design. I can’t make something I don’t love. And I also tend to love most the latest thing I’ve done as it’s fresh on my mind. I think my Scavenger dress, being one of my first pieces when I was hand making as well as when I started producing, is probably the most special. It kinda started everything for me.

Hogwarts Houses Inspired cardigan

Do you have any highlights from your adventures in Fashion?

I kinda want to brag for a second about pockets. I was at a company that sold to Think Geek and other major geek-clothing retailers, and I was designing a Jedi dress that TG was ordering. This dress was the first dress I was working on there, and I worked with the pattern room to put pockets in it. My boss hated that it made the dress more expensive, but I told her that we just had to do it. We’d be launching the dress at San Diego Comic Con through the company’s booth and I felt it was crucial to have pockets. Well, it became an instant best seller on the company’s site and at SDCC, because pockets. And at Think Geek all the comments were on how amazing it was that the dress had pockets (on top of the stretch of the fabric). So, within a year we have other companies that also sold to Think Geek putting pockets in their pieces. I like to think it’s because I pushed it so hard. Without those comments would other retailers care about pockets?? Probably not.

What can we look forward to from you in the future?

More (hopefully) great designs! I’m working on holiday season ideas right now and waiting on new samples that I’m excited about. I’m always trying to mix it up and try new styles and new things, so I’m very excited for some upcoming dresses and sweaters, as always.

Just for fun: What is your all time favorite Fandom and why?

Oh god. This is difficult. I guess Harry Potter, but only because I have a particular ship that is just full of really great people who I’ve bonded with over the years. And the fanfic is just so well done. Potter has provided me a lot of comfort over the years and helped me grow in so many ways. Yeah, Potter.

Hogwarts Inspired Sweaters

Lost Princess Wrap Dress

To shop Elhoffer visit https://elhofferdesign.com

  You can also check out our Temple Of Geek Features for Elhoffer Designs here:

Friendly Spirits Collection

Galactic Apparel Collection

Queens of Winter Collection

  How Catherine Elhoffer became the Queen of Geek Fashion Design! Geek Fashion Icon, Catherine Elhoffer, of Elhoffer Designs talked to us about how she became one of the most popular fashion designers in the geek community.

[imtheperfectvoid]

Answer all of the unusual asks!

wOAH ALRIGHT, CAN DO, ANON

1. Do you consider yourself average? 

In some ways, yeah (looks, math skills, etc.), in other ways, no (art skills, writing skills, etc.)

2. Are aliens real?

Probably. The expanse of all universes is just too large for there to not have aliens exist elsewhere. Do I think we’ll be able to make contact with some and communicate with them? The odds are slim. Do I think they look/act in a way that we can imagine and comprehend at this moment? Probably not. But they’re out there, I’m sure.

3. What do you associate with the color green? Do you think of certain emotions or smells?

I think of nature. I think of emotional steadiness and ease. I think of green apple candies and sour-tasting foods. I think of eyes.

4. Have you ever lost somebody you love?

Not really, honestly. Everyone I’ve ever cared about either hasn’t died yet or we grew apart mutually and they were simply lost to time/distance.

5. Who do you hate the most? Why?

I don’t hate people very easily, but those I do hate are exactly who you’d expect: neo-nazis, pedophiles, rapists, etc.. All the generally agreed-upon bad people of the world. There are people I know personally whom I dislike to varying degrees, but none of them are strong enough to call hate yet.

6. Does anybody hate you?

Probably, I’m sure. For what reason, I couldn’t tell you, but there’s probably someone out there who does.

7. How many followers do you have?

As of writing this, 525!

8. When was the last time you actually felt confident about yourself?

Honestly? Since starting college, I’ve been steadily becoming more and more self-confident. I’ve made such incredible friends here that keep me boosted, and with all the love and support I keep receiving from those around me, I’m at an all-time high at this very moment! It’s refreshing.

9. Describe yourself in one sentence.

I’m a soft, homoromantic asexual trans guy who finds art in everything and values his friends above all else.

10. When was the last time somebody told you they love you?

My roommate, Josee, tells me she loves me all the time, so it would’ve been right before I left campus for the weekend on Friday.

11. When was the last time you told somebody you love them?

When I replied to Josee in the above situation.

12. Do you have any pets?

I only have one dog, Simon. I’d love to have another one someday. I love dogs, and I love pets in general!

13. Have you changed personality wise since you were a kid? How so?

Oh, for sure! I’m a bit less extroverted, and I’m not quite as bold as I used to be when I was younger. I’m also somehow even artsy-er than I’ve ever been (probably because I’m better than I used to be, lmao)

14. Where do you feel safest?

With my two best friends, Brandon and Josee.

15. What’s your biggest fear?

Probably being abandoned or losing all my friends.

16. Do you consider yourself to be healthy?

N o p e

17. Have you ever had to see somebody for issues regarding your mental health?

No, but I probably should.

18. Do you love yourself? Why or why not?

... Y’know, I think I actually do. I think I love myself now because I’m incredibly proud and happy with how far I’ve come in life and how far it seems like I’m gonna go in the future.

19. Do you like school? What elements of school do you like which ones do you not?

I love college. I love my colorful cast of professors, my supportive and interesting classmates, my never-ending art work, the great opportunities my school provides me (all the trans resources and a trip to study graphic design in South Korea for a month)  and fantastic food (seriously, holy shit, we have some pretty good-quality food for a college campus). If I have to complain about anything, it’s that the work load gets kind of overwhelming sometimes (but I’m also taking 19 credit hours this semester, so y’know...)

20. How did you get your URL?

I really don’t remember why I picked it, to be honest. I think it had something to do with my fascination with space and the concept of “the void”.

21. Do you have any strange seemingly useless talents?

Being good at Mario Kart no matter what CC, car stats, or version I’m playing.

22. Do you understand yourself?

I don’t think I can every truly understand myself or why I do the things I do. I feel like I, like all other people, am too inherently complex to be able to fully understand.

23. How much did you sleep last night?

Not a lot. Maybe 4 hours total? Was very on-and-off because of stomach issues, but nothing too bad.

24. Are you taking care of yourself?

I think so, but probably not to the degree I should be.

25. What do you regret?

Not saying no to some things.