#social media has been a little TOO effective at killing them

[mcbitchtits]

as twitter and facebook have been slowly emulating features from other successful social media sites (namely tiktok and reddit) and as they both continue to nuke themselves into oblivion by Not Being Usable, and while we all self-pontificate about how tumblr is passé or not, the one thing i still yearn for on tumblr (and generally any other social media site) is more of a community aspect. tumblr is doing okay in that posting and reblogging still gets things moving, keeps things moving. comments are a relatively new feature, and don’t, in my opinion, lead to in-depth conversations. they’re not threaded, you have to put in some effort going back to find older posts, you can’t directly link to comments left on your posts. “tags” aren’t a community, either. tags aren’t moderated, and even if you create a highly specific, unique tag in order to sort something out of the other firehose of stuff, you don’t own it, you can’t curate it. all of this leaves everyone either just following along for the ride of whatever you post, or creating tightly-themed blogs to pursue a specific topic. but while it may promote sharing things around (reblogging), it doesn’t generate more than a surface-level reaction. a reshare. a comment in passing. a “react”.

anyway, i’m old and i still miss LJ comms. and threaded comment discussions

[remxedmoon]

so all you need to do right now is disappear.

HHHHAPPY ISATVERSARY EVERYONE. here’s redraws for every single battle cg in the game. 36 drawings this time around, with 11 of those being custom (though admittedly a good portion of those are edits). combined with the portrait redraws i made back in september, i’ve made 114 redraws for this project! jesus christ! just like those redraws, these are completely free to use!! as long as i’m credited and it’s not for commercial purposes, go wild!! do whatever you want!!!

no i didn’t make these for isat’s 1 year anniversary this is just wildly good timing.

i genuinely can’t fit all of these cgs in one post even with the 30 image limit on browser, but i’ll still try to fit Most of them below the cut (without making this post horrifically long), along with some notes that might be important 👍

okay! once again, i labeled all of the custom art as such in the drive(UPDATE. NNOT TRUE ANYMORE. reformatted file names to be easier to mod in auau. apologies!), but if you want a full list, the customs are hatless siffrin jackpot, bonnie jackpot, bonnie special attack, bigfrin attack, and a bunch of alts which are definitely not related to any projects i’ve been thinking about don’t worry about it. and out of those customs, only like. 3 of them are actually completely from scratch.

while i did my absolute best to keep the aspect ratios completely the same as the originals, there’s 3 exceptions that i just couldn’t get to work.

isabeau’s hair in his special attack cg wouldn’t fit in frame if i kept things completely accurate to the og, so i moved his cg down a bit. it shouldn’t cause any issues with modding or anything, it’ll just appear slightly lower than it does in game. alas…

isabeau’s sleeve and mirabelle’s hair made their jackpot sprites a little larger than the originals? i’m hoping this doesn’t have too much of an effect (since the jackpot sprites have inconsistent sizes) but i can’t test this myself unfortunately. aaa feel free to let me know on discord if any problems arise!!

i managed to fix these, so they aren’t going to cause problems now, but my original drawings for mirabelle and siffrin in the final attack scene were a pain in the ass to fix. mirabelle’s sprite was slightly too talk to fit in frame and siffrin’s hat whacked bonnie in the face while i was editing everyone together. i’m only mentioning this because it took like an hour and a half to fix them and finish the scene.

all that aside, these were a fucking BLAST to work on. apparently this ended up taking 57 hours over exactly 10 days. which is a little worrying if you do the math on that but somehow i have not burnt myself out. i will be doing enemies at some point!!! but probably not for a little bit. i think my friends will actually kill me if i don’t take a break.

once again, happy birthday isat. you’ve ruined my life and i wouldn’t have it any other way (silly).

also, on an actual serious note, this little timeloop game has genuinely changed my life for the better? you guys are probably sick of hearing it at this point (or maybe not, i don’t talk about myself That Much. i hope), but i was practically a ghost for about 2 years before joining this fandom. it’s a little surreal to suddenly have friends (plural!!!) and people who Care about me, or even know i exist, honestly. it’s weird!! in a good way!!!

i don’t think i would’ve ever come back to social media if this community wasn’t so welcoming. i’ve met a lot of really great people through this game!!! so, uh, thank you isat, i guess. here’s to another year.

[annabelle--cane]

hiiii idk if you've been asked this before but do you have any like. favorite vampire biology tropes? or trait tropes or whatever you'd call it? like requiring human blood only vs animal blood being fine, burning in the sun or not, how fangs work, etc. any fun subversions you've seen as well perhaps?

I don't think I have any set favorite tropes, but I like when vampirism has some proper pros and cons. if it's just being sexy forever with a set of cool superpowers then there aren't really any stakes (lol), there should be trade-offs, but those trade-offs can vary by media. how often do vampires need to feed and what are the consequences if they go without blood for too long? what are the psychological / social / legal ramifications of regularly having to kill people? if they can feed off animals as an alternative, how does that affect their quality of life? if drinking blood isn't technically obligatory and they can choose to abstain, what are the side effects of going vamp vegan? if they have rules to obey like requiring invites into houses, not going out in the sun, sleeping in coffins, etc., how to these impact their every day lives?

I really like how the podcast not quite dead does its vampire biology, it's been a little while since I last listened so it's not fresh in my mind but there are real risks involved in being turned. it's a gamble if it'll even take in the first place and the prospective fledgling won't just die of blood loss, then the process of turning itself is very painful and carries its own risk of mortality, then freshly turned vampires' needs for blood are always very high and there's a good chance that they'll just die of starvation within the first year or so. if you can make it over the initial growing pains then it gets much easier to manage, but this means the vampires in nqd are few and far between and the ones that are around are usually very old and have little memory or patience for what it was like to be freshly turned, which means they don't help fledglings as much, which means more of them die, etc etc.

[maislovebot]

I LOVE YOUR VAMP SIGMA X READER ONESHOT This is like the third time I've read it. Do you mind if I request vamp!sigma x human!fem!reader hcs?? 🤍

Vampire

Ofc I can do this, anon❤️ I decided to do sfw and nsfw hcs so everyone can have what they’re looking for!

Contains: afab + fem reader, vampire sigma, human reader, headcanons format, this is under the assumption that his vampirism comes from his special ability, the ability is completely different from Bram’s in terms of rules btw, teasing, oral (reader receiving), biting, turning you into a vampire, gentle sex, switch sigma

Sfw hcs:

• Vampire!Sigma who struggles with human emotions. He’s only been around for three years, and he hasn’t had much emotional connection with anyone. He truly tries his hardest to understand you on a deeper level, but he finds it difficult! Not only that, but he isn’t even human. He hasn’t had much social interaction besides with customers at all, and the interaction he has had has been with people like Bram, as Fyodor introduced the two of them to plot (Fyodor’s exact words). Bram has had much more experience with humans, as he has been around for hundreds of years, so he is able to tell Sigma how to interact with you sufficiently better!

• Off topic, but I am obsessed with the idea of Sigma and Bram being best friends, as they’re both vampires. They bond over it, and their grave difference in age honestly makes their interactions a little entertaining. You find it adorable!

• vampire!Sigma who when the both of you had first gotten together, he wasn’t sure how to tell you that he was a vampire, because how do you break that news to someone? Even if it’s known that there are special abilities by practically everyone, vampirism is still a little out there..

• vampire!Sigma who had to break all the little rules to you that had been created by the media. No, he isn’t allergic to sunlight, he doesn’t mind garlic, and no, if he were to bite you, he would not turn you unless he bit you with the intent of turning you. There are so many outlandish theories that humans have come up with that he was honestly a little surprised. Where had you even gotten any of these ideas from?

• “Is getting a stake to the heart the only way to kill you?”

• “No, I’m sure there are plenty of things that could..”

• If anything, a stake to the heart would probably cause very little damage outside of bleeding because he doesn’t have a heart like you

• vampire!Sigma who may not have a heartbeat, but he loves listening to yours. He’ll lay his head atop your chest and just listen to your heart beating. It brings him so much comfort, he can’t help it! Just being aware of the fact that you’re alive and well brings him so much comfort.

• vampire!Sigma, who is aware of the fact that he’s going to outlive you by many, many years, and while he knows that he could theoretically just turn you into a vampire as well, he’s very hesitant. Bram doesn’t understand why he won’t just turn you, as his ability doesn’t have effects like his. You won’t become mindless after he turns you, unlike Bram’s ability, so why not? Sigma claims it’s because he doesn’t want you to have to deal with the hassle. You’re gonna have to drink blood for the next couple-hundred years, you’ll get withdrawal symptoms if you go too long without it, and so on.. He’s hesitant.

• He knows he’ll have to turn you eventually if he wants you to live with him forever, but he’s trying to draw is out for just a little longer

Nsfw hcs:

With that last headcanon we’re entering pretty nsfw territory, so better switch it into nsfw hcs now…

• vampire!Sigma, who as stated before, is hesitant to bite you, but sometimes he just gets too desperate. He tries to space it out, instead eating steak and other bloody foods, but nothing can quite compare to you.

• vampire!Sigma who once licked your finger after a papercut, because according to you, “why waste it when you’re right there?” And he's never been the same. He quite literally almost came right then and there from just a few drops. You taste amazing, and every now and then he does bite you, although it’s typically when he’s so hungry he can’t even think because he’s gone too long without high quality blood. He still hasn’t turned you yet though, that’s too far for him

• vampire!Sigma who loves to grind against your thigh when he bites you. He gets so turned on from your taste that he can’t even control his body and he ends up grinding against your thigh desperately while he bites into your neck

• vampire!Sigma who always feels a little guilty after he bites you, seeing the teeth marks, and the small drops of blood running down your skin. He always wipes you clean, apologizing profusely, even though most of the time, you’re the one who brought it up in the first place, as you’d noticed how he had been eyeing your neck all evening.

• vampire!Sigma who after he bites you, cleans you up, and if you’re too tired from the blood loss, takes you right to bed and lets you cuddle as he wraps bandages around wherever he bit you. If you’re not too tired..you better expect to be pampered. He’s gonna be between your thighs, eating you out for as long as you can stand, trying to desperately make up for hurting you, even if it’s obvious you aren’t upset with him. He’ll eat you out for as long as you can handle, and if you’re still up for more, expect to be treated as if he’s been deprived of release for days.

• vampire!Sigma who after he eats you out, has come in his own boxers at least twice. He’s so sensitive, especially after drinking your blood, it isn’t difficult for him to come untouched.

• vampire!Sigma who loves biting your neck, but his favorite place to bite you will always be your thighs. They’re so perfect, and there’s so much free skin there. After he bites you, he’ll lick the skin there to help soothe it, and watching you squirm from the heat of his tongue on the bite marks never fails to drive him crazy. He’ll purposely ignore your drenched cunt and the way you keep bucking your hips into his face, finding your whines adorable.

• vampire!Sigma, who more often than not, doesn’t even bite you during sex at all. He doesn’t love to bite you, as he knows it tends to make you drowsy, and it definitely causes you pain. More often than not he likes to have completely vampirism free sex.

• vampire!Sigma who talks you through it whenever he bites you. He wants to comfort you, so he’s going to try his hardest to give you reassuring words throughout.

• “You’re doing so good–”

• “Does this hurt too much?”

• “Y-you’re doing great for me, pretty girl.”

• vampire!Sigma who goes crazy when you take care of him. Whenever he’s feeling less dominant and you just sit there and take care of him, it makes him feel weak in the knees and all he wants to do is hold you close.

• vampire!Sigma, who realizes that all that you want is for him to turn you, all you want is to live with him for as long as he does. And even if he’s hesitant, he’s willing to do it. He’s had plenty of dreams about turning you (causing him to wake up with a very uncomfortable boner), but he’s been too scared to. He doesn’t want you to live with the annoying consequences, but he knows that this is what you truly want.

• vampire!Sigma who walks up to you, telling you that he’s ready to turn you whenever you are, and is pleasantly surprised when you jump onto him and tell him you want to right now. He wanted to have painkillers and drinks that help make your blood healthier on standby for when he did this, as he does need to drink sufficiently more blood to turn you, but he saw how excited you were, so he decided to rush to the store as soon as possible so he could fulfill your wish.

• Vampire!Sigma, who once he starts the process, guides you through every step of the way. Taking breaks whenever you get lightheaded, giving you sips of water to help you regain your energy, and so on.

Wc - 1.3k

Ugh you’re making me wanna write a fic abt the last headcanon, anon😭

[sarahwatchesthings]

"Dot and Bubble" running commentary:

These people are clearly living in some sort of Black Mirror-esque dystopia but ngl I could really use a little medical guy popping up to tell me when my need to urinate has skyrocketed.

Excellent special effects on that monster. Very cheesy. Worthy of Classic Who.

Oh, the Doctor and Ruby are in the same room; doesn't that mean they have to get married? (That will be a very awkward joke if Ruby turns out to be Susan.)

"Disciplined"???

♪ "Unmuted, babes" ♫

Super subtle social commentary here, not even a little bit heavy-handed. (Has RTD ever actually been on social media?)

Barbie (Lindy) and Ken (Ricky) touched each other? Now they definitely have to get married.

"Good thing is, none of them have been eaten... yet."

Ken's gonna die.

Did not expect him to die like that.

Lindy is ice cold.

Okay, "Mummy" is either the Master or the One Who Waits (operating under what seems like a fairly safe assumption that those aren't the same person).

They will all die out there. Lindy will kill and eat them when they run out of food.

Afterthoughts:

Trying not to compare Fifteen to other Doctors just yet but that was an extremely Ten-like meltdown. Might even have topped him. (Not like that, pervs.)

Feeling Gatwa's history as a genocide survivor tying into how he plays the Doctor and his desperation to save people.

Those kids were way too comfortable touching each other given that they were meant to be accustomed to such an isolated existence that they couldn't even look at each other. They should have been absolutely disgusted by physical contact. The hugging should have been considered assault. Cool concept, poor follow-through.

Another episode where we never really got an explanation of what's going on, so I'm going to assume at this point that the payoff with the old lady will explain it all. Except "73 Yards," I hope that never gets explained.

[akaikali]

TMAGP EP 16 REACTION (SPOILERS)

CELIA HOLDING ALICE HOLY SHIT MAN THE SAMALICELIA POLYCULE IS GOING SOMEWHERE I also think this might be Celia's instinct to comfort from being a mother maybe??? BUT ALICELIA FEELS. My God their ship name could be a palindrome. Insane.

DEAR LORD DID ALICE SEE HER PARENTS DIE???? MY POOR GIRL.

Tape recorder is gone??? And yeah I suspected that the woman had been dead the whole time. Something was using her as a mouth piece, maybe something relates to ep 11 with the deep??

I think Celia and Sam saying they believe Alice is gonna bring them closer. I know people are sus of Celia so it could be a ploy to get closer to the OIAR employees, but I don't know, with her disliking Lady Mowbray, I'm more inclined to trust her.

The fact that Alice says "paid my horror dues" makes me think she knows more about said horrors and is working at the OIAR specifically to avoid it. Were her parents killed by The Horror?

"I think there's plenty of it go around at the moment" Yeah she's talking about Lady Mowbray. Seriously, I have respect for Celia, she really stood her ground last episode.

Man the fact that we were like "omg what if Alice's phone call ends up being a statement!!" In a serious way meanwhile Alice is like "yeah no Freddie will probably spit out in a few days so nothing to be concerned about". What if. Tho. Gwen ends up hearing the phone call. That would be interesting. Speaking of, where is our corporate girlfailure.

Sam you awkward little bean I love you. I'm sure Celia and Alice just gave him the fondest, "You're such a dumbass" look.

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER TIME????

OH NO. OH NO FUCK AM I GOING TO FALL IN LOVE WITH INK5OUL. THEIR VOICE.

I'm sorry I now understand what Alex meant when he said this episode was social-cringe-horror. The misuse of AAVE is actually so accurate please help my I'm on the floor screaming this should not be this funny-

Damn so does Ink5oul tattoo....pain or something? I don't have a tattoo myself (yet. I'm gonna get one. As soon as I stop being squeamish about needles. Oh. Needles.) But I don't think they're meant to hurt THAT much???

...I genuinely SHOULD NOT like Ink5oul this much. Please. You cannot do this to me I cannot have a Michael Part 2.

OH MY GOD ITS A YOUTUBER DRAMA VIDEO IM GOING TO FUCKING DIE I CANNOT BE LAUGHING THIS HARD.

I'm sorry THE SITUATIONSHIP FUCKING SENT ME YOU'RE TELLING ME INK5OUL IS IN A SITUATIONSHIP WITH A GOTH GIRL INFLUENCER PLEASE RUSTY QUILL I NEED TO BE SERIOUS I CANNOT DO THIS.

OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD I CANNOT DO THIS I HAVE PAUSED 7 TIMES NOW JUST BECAUSE I WAS LAUGHING TOO HARD TO KEEP HEARING. INK5OUL IS HOT AND A GOTH CONFIRMED.

Shut up. SHUT UP. NOT FUCKING DIG. ARE YOU SERIOUS. NO WAY.

Also let me add all the video sound effects are taking me out I LITERALLY cannot do this PLEASE-

OH MY GOD. WAIT. IS THIS WHEN INK5OUL WAS LOOKING FOR THE BODY WITH THE TATTOO FROM EP 11. HOLY SHIT.

"Hell no i ain't gonna call it in" girl by making the video you are basically calling it in what the fuck

THE YOUTUBER DRAMA IS TAKING ME OUT PLEASE THIS IS SOME NICOCADO AVODACO VS STEPHANIE SOO TYPE SHIT (Stephanie Soo all the way honeyyyy).

So...Does Ink5oul have the ability to make people feel pain through the tattoos they do? It's seeming like that's the case.

"The views are cutting me" HUH???? THATS. LIKE. THE EDGES ARE CUTTING ME??? WHAT IS HAPPENING??? HELLO?????

IS SHE DYING. THATS HORRIBLE RN WHAT THE FUCK ALICE LITERALLY JUST SAW SOMEONE DIE NOW SHE HAS TO HEAR SOMEONE ELSE DIE????

Okay wait now that Sam has let go of his "be professional" bullshit I'm back on his track SAMALICELIA LETS GOOO

THERE SHE IS THE CORPORATE GIRLFAILURE

Ohhhh Lena. Oh boy. I can understand her tbh, Gwen has no idea what's happening and she's just doing her own thing. Whether she's evil or not, Lena still knows better what's going on and can avoid unnecessary risks. Especially since Lena does seem to care if other employees get hurt.

I SEE HOW IT IS GWEN. SO YOU'LL BE HORRIFIED BY MR. BONZO BUT NOT OF THE CANNIBALISTIC HUNTING WOMAN BECAUSE SHES A LADY OF THE ARISTOCRACY. CLASSISM AT ITS FINEST. I HATE MR. BONZO BUT AT LEAST HES A WORKING CLASS...CLOWN MONSTER THING.

Okay so the Externals are like. A Thing here. Kind of like avatars? I'm not saying in the sense of fears, I mean they're beings that are not human anymore and possibly dangerous.

Wait but I understand Gwen though "You can't take this away just because I did something you never bothered to tell me not to do" this happens to me so much Gwen my babygirl you are So Autistic.

I saw someone say that Gwen needs to be dommed. I cannot say I disagree, especially when Lena tells her to sit down. Anyway we're gonna move away from that thought.

I am not joking. I paused a total of 17 times throughout this episode because I started laughing too hard. I think I have a new favorite episode.

[xxblackgardenxx]

I’ve really been sleeping on JJK, more importantly, Gojo Satoru.

First things first, Gege is an amazing writer, evil but still amazing. From what I have seen from the manga, Gojo being seen as a weapon started to make to drive into more of his character, how people see him and what he has actually gone through.

Spoilers for Season 2 of JJK

I always thought he was a neat character, of course. Through now actually driving into his character, not looking at him as a meme and at the surface level, his life is a fucking tragedy. Watching S2 and now rewatching JJK 0 hits so much harder, and now that I am more into the series. Not only now do I understand the depth of Gojo and Getos relationship but I have actually comes to terms Gojo kills Geto. For some reason I just didn’t want to believe it(plus dumb brain guy made me think he was Geto). Adding to this, to learn Gojo has melt downs because of this, I mean, shit he is already a broken character, from the moment we met him(for anime watchers) he has been broken, even though he comes off so care free, fun, funny fuck you name it. I just thought he was just a bit of a noob who had a huge ego. Fuck I was so wrong, though that was probably intentional of course.

Having to kill your best friend. I couldn’t even imagine doing it let alone doing it. Am I calling him an awful person? Definitely not, this is the messes up world they live in. I’m guessing it was influenced by the higher ups, making me agree with how Gojo treats them. At first again, I thought he was being being arrogant and looking down at them because, well his the strongest, The Gojo Satoru. But fuck, I was so wrong. Gojo was not in the wrong, they deserve this poor behaviour. They are the ones who would do ANYTHING, to prevent dangers to happen, with saying that sounds right, right? But is it worth it killing a 15 year old? Is a child life worth getting rid of for the sake of the world? Some would say yes, I mean it’s just one life to save billions. But Gojo goes against this, he wants the youth to live out their youth as he couldn’t. This brings up Gojos personality. If he is so hurt why doesn’t he show this? Well to stay looking like the strongest. Like bro, this character, I- damn bro might be one of my top favourite characters.

On a more lighter note. I love Gojo with the kids. Dare I say I view him in a some sort of father figure way now? Like the baseball scene? Letting them chill out after that stressful time the day before? Come on, so cute.

His trying so hard to be the strongest, to be composed to be that carefree happy guy for the students, he must be fucking tried.

Now, getting more into theory territory. I always found it odd that what Gojo said to Geto was muted. Like bro, what did he say? Why is it a secret? After watching the movie and going on social media seeing people say he said “I love you” to Geto I was like “Yeah okay, that’s pushing it” umm lets just say, don’t think that way anyone. And if they did have feelings for each other. Gojo killing Geto, I it’s insane. The burden- I should say burdens Gojo has to carry while acting like everything is okay, it’s depressing.

Gojo has to be the strongest, he has to be the one to save everyone, he is just that to some people, his not even a person to them but a weapon. He has to live with that, with being dehumanised and used, he has to live with the pressure of being the strongest, he has to save everyone. While heartbroken about the one person who understood, saw him for him, he had to kill him.

Anyway. Little rant bc I have JJK brain rot 💔

Hope you enjoyed this, I’m just yapping so yeah! See ya!

(Got too happy messing with the photo effects 💀)

[brightbeautifulthings]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

"'To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'"

Year Read: before 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2024

Rating: 5/5

Thoughts: Can you believe in almost eight years of blogging, I've never re-read these books? There are a few significant reasons for that. The first was that I read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and it was so awful, it effectively killed any enthusiasm I had for this universe for years to come. The second was that J.K. Rowling has proven to be such a toxic transphobe that I simply didn't want to invest any more energy in this fandom. Generally, I'm pretty good at separating authors from their work. If we only consumed art by morally upstanding people, there wouldn't be a whole lot left, and cancel culture has had a detrimental effect on the critical thinking skills of social media users. Just because some rando on Twitter says such-and-such celebrity liked a problematic Tweet six years ago doesn't make it true (or even relevant-- character growth is a thing). But it's a little different with Rowling, who has repeated, documented, and on-going bigotry and more influence than the average B-lister.

It really killed my love for this series for a long time, and it took years and effort to come back around to it. I wasn't positive it was even possible at times, and I thought maybe Harry Potter would fade out of my life forever, which is a real shame. I have so many deeply important, happy memories based around this series. I waited every summer for these books to come out and binge-read them for three days straight with my best friend. I read and re-read them out loud to my parents before bed. I was eleven when the first film came out, just as Harry was when he first went off to Hogwarts. I saw the sequels multiple times in theaters and went to midnight showings in costume (Ginny Weasley, obvi) with my friends. I drank frozen Butterbeer and gasped over the Hogwarts castle in Orlando when the theme park opened up. I obsessed over the fact that Remus and Sirius never get together in the books, and Wolfstar was one of my first forays into fanfiction, my first major non-canon ship, and, I'm convinced, a pipeline to Steve/Bucky and Dean/Castiel shipping. Why should Rowling get to take all of that from me?

Rereading these books feels like a final step in reclaiming my love for this series, and I'm really happy that I was able to do it. I was afraid all of the above would color my opinion of them, but they're just as delightful as they've always been. These first books have a more middle grade feel than the later ones, and they're ideal for reading out loud with all the distinct character voices (Hagrid and Fleur gave me so much trouble as a kid, and listening to me try to pronounce Hermione is still a running joke in my family). I know the narration practically by heart in places, and they're well-paced for younger readers without sacrificing plot or humor for older readers. There are so many reasons Harry Potter is universally beloved, most of them well-deserved.

Not surprisingly, I adore the characters too. Harry pretty much sets the standard for main characters in younger fantasy novels. He's not the cleverest, the richest, or the most popular, but he's brave, humble, and kind, and he always tries to do the right thing. Ron is the loyal best friend, and Hermione is the know-it-all bookworm that every book-loving little girl wanted to be growing up. There's a reason they're called the Golden Trio, and their friendship sets the foundation for the entire series. The plot is fairly simple here, with the clues well-timed to keep us turning pages, but it's also nicely tied into past (the deaths of Harry's parents) and future (where will Voldemort surface next) plots. Book three will always be my favorite, but this first one has a special place in my heart.

[cocoabubbelle]

Watching “The New Scooby-Doo Movies” (1972-1973) + Thoughts

This series comes after Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?

I think the basic premise is that the Scooby Gang gets into a mixture of mysteries and shenanigans with various famous characters (both real and fictional)

Will I finally hear the long sought after “And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for your meddling kids!” line?

Only one way to find out.

Spoilers under the cut!

PS. Thank you to all who have messaged me with different sources in order to watch this series!! 🥰

Also:

Seeing these messages right after I read a webtoon about a serial killer using social media to hunt his victims down (The Killing Vote. Highly recommend!) may or may not have accidentally scared the living daylights out of me before seeing you guys were just sending me potential Scooby Doo show links. 🤣

Episode 1: Ghastly Ghost Town; Guest Starring: The Three Stooges!

Fun Fact: when I was younger, I watched a collection of videos staring The Three Stooges, some of them starring Shemp instead of the more famous Curly! I thought they were both funny, but I feel bad Shemp had little to no recognition nowadays…

Is it possible to both forget the existence of and be nostalgic for an opening credits sequence? Somehow that is my current feeling.

King Kong, is that you?

Don’t recall Shaggy being the one announcing the guests with the title cards.

Man I missed looking at the background scenery. Flashing Lightning effects are great! Moving clouds are smooth! Analogous purple colors are gorgeo-! Oh wait, I’m supposed to pay attention to the Ghost Town sign, aren’t I?

Man this is hard to understand without captions. (Yes, even in my own language. Leave me alone.)

“Boy, are we ever lost!” “I think we took the wrong turn…er, about 10 miles back.” Well, that would have been helpful to know about 10 miles ago. Also, Frelma just because 😆

Is it me or is the art style slightly different? Shaggy’s face looks less like a cylindrical oval bean and more like a rounded inverted triangle.

“Hey look! I just saw a mirage!!” “At night???” Is Freddy’s voice actor different? He has a higher pitch than before.

Where did all of these animals come from?

Sign says: “Monster Ahead: 1000 yds.” Me: *turns around and walks the opposite direction.*

Random Giant Mechanical bat flies out of no where so that I am force-fed damsel-in-distress Daphne and Fraphne food.

Animation goof: Fred has the WEIRDEST expression drawn on his face while Daphne continues to hold onto him. (The latter part not a goof.)

T-Rex that is most likely an automatron is giving me war flashbacks to that time-travel dinosaur ride in Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. Though I will say I was the only kid around my age that didn’t duck into the safety of the seats when it roared into our faces 😁

Animators/Writers, I get it. You want us to ship Fraphne and have Daphne hide behind a strong manly man. But since you also put Shaggy there, I will elect to interpret this as Shaphne hiding behing the manly man that is Fred, so…😝 🩷

Scooby is part ground/prairie dog/mole confirmed??

Before the mysterious silhouette reveals our trio of comedians, I have to ask: are they the Hanna Barbera versions where they are all androids/cyborgs or something?

The Scooby Gang just watch and laugh at the Stooges flail around and try to stop the orangutan from escaping. Real helpful, I know. Also, Shag and Daph standing next to each other, so Shaphne (Am I weird for scrounging for my ship’s crumbs as opposed to the supposedly canon ship’s full course meal? Yes, yes I am.)

“HEY! AREN’T YOU LARRY, MOE, AND CURLY JOE?” Freddy, I know they’re short but you don’t have to yell out your question when they’re right next to you.

“Look, we need help!” Moe: “A psychiatrist could tell you that.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Animation Goof: Moe’s chin moving past his jawline. Also, Shaggy looking bigger than both him and Fred, but that could be because the animators are trying to play with perspective.

Ooh, an amusement park!

So the giant bat thing does not belong to the stooges. Early Batman cameo?

Animation Goof: Curly’s mouth doesn’t move as he speaks.

Tyronne the Tyrannosaurus Rex

Suspicious person peaking at them all through the saloon window is sus.

Frelma moment of the two of them grinning at each other and deciding for the rest of the gang there is a mystery to solve. A couple that plots together, stays together. 🩷

Rhino the giant mean looking employee of the stooges. Friend or Foe? To be determined later.

I cannot believe the Scooby Gang is cheerfully and loudly suggesting to the stooges that they FIRE Rhino WHILE HE’S RIGHT THERE.

Rhino communicated in grunts and snarls. Because of course he does.

The giant T-Rex animatronic —aka Tyronne—looks significantly different from its first appearance in this episode.

Shaphne hiding behind Fred again.

Sheriff(?) comes to arrest or escort the Gang away from the premises, but the teens conveniently ignore him to follow Scooby into the T-Rex.

Tyronne’s insides are much bigger than his outsides. Is this an animatronic or a spaceship???

The sheriff is not actually a sheriff, but the Stooges’ manager who goes by Amos Crutch. I should not suspect him to be the bad guy, but his name isn’t helping me assume otherwise.

Dingbat the little bat is adorable.

Curly says Dingbat goes into a frantic frenzy whenever Crutch is nearby. If that isn’t a head’s up for Crutch’s true nature, I don’t know what is.

Velma the first character to suddenly disappear from the gang instead of Daphne?

ANIMATION GOOF: Fred instructs everyone to go find Velma AS SHE IS WALKING BETWEEN HIM AND DAPHNE. Animators, what are you doing?????

Velma’s and my instincts about Crutch are proven right. Hello Trapdoor, my old friend~

Instead of splitting up in a way that includes the Stooge’s antics with the gang’s shenanigans, the animators and writers split them apart the conventional way : Stooges, Fred + Daphne, and Scoob + Shaggy.

Shaggy and Scoob attempt a coin toss to decide whether or not they try searching a creepy saloon: tails they go in, heads they stay out. It’s also a two-headed quarter.

Quarter decides for them via the combined laws of plot development and shenanigary and bounces/rolls into the saloon anyway.

Liking the effects for the cob/spiderwebs.

Coin falls into piano jukebox to play a song right when Shaggy and Scooby catch up to it.

Animators clearly having a ball with the keyboard. Also compliments to sound effects/music department.

Moe dragging Larry dragging Curly to the Cowboy museum.

Native American figurine placed outside of the entrance might actually be Crutch in disguise, or someone else we haven’t met yet, which brings up several questions.

Of course it’s a wax museum.

Animation Goof: Animators/Artists forgot to complete the cowboy hat for the Jessie James wax figure.

‘Wyatt Earp’ makes a move to attack Stooges.

When and where did Freddy get that flask of water?

Walking cactus from Disney’s Los Tres Cabelleros?

Passing-a-container-of-food-or-beverage-to-your-companion-only-for-it-to-be-secretly-intercepted-by-a-super-obvious-random-character-who-consumes-it-all-without-anyone-noticing-and-creating-a-misunderstanding-between-you-and-your-companion gag

Scooby sneezed so hard, he found a conveniently placed secret door to help move the story along.

I assume the orangutan escaped from his cage again.

Falling-into-a-large-container-or-pile-of-flour-and-get-mistaken-for-a-ghost gag

“What’s the matter? Haven’t you seen a FLOUR child before?”

Animation and Art style are not very consistent nor strong compared to the first series, but I will try not to be picky no promises if it gets too wonky for my taste.

Orangutan woke up and chose to be a troll today.

Shaggy tells Scooby not to be afraid of the massive and weird parade float-sized jack-in-the-box. I need a list of what Shaggy deems scary vs not scary.

“Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!” Fun fact: Orangutans are technically great apes.

“This desert reminds me of a woman.” “Why’s that?” “It goes on and on and on…” 😑 (Fraphne if you like beligerent teasing/flirting(?))

Counting-on-footprints-to-get-back-where-you-started-only-OOPS-someone-erased-them gag.

Daphne has the sense to suspect that the random swimming pool that appeared out of nowhere is a mirage or hologram. Fred? Not so much.

Fraphne handholding. Also, Daphne’s common sense doesn’t extend to distrusting random man-sizes cactuses that appeared out of thin air.

Cactus man attempts manhandling but is caught.

“COME BACK AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN YOU VEGETABLE!” Fun fact: Cacti are apparently both a vegetable and a fruit (according to this site: https://wraxly.com/is-cactus-a-vegetable/#:~:text=However%2C%20a%20question%20often%20pops,plant%20in%20the%20world%2C%20Cactaceae. )

Finally we see Velma. She fell into the mines.

Three stooges nearby, as apparently are Fred + Daphne and Scoob + Shaggy. Since when did the latter four reunite?

Suspicious Indian Chief Figure drawn differently than earlier.

Stooges flee into the mine, and I am confused if the random black scenes are intentional or if the source I’m using to watch the episodes had a faulty upload.

Shaphne standing together as the Gang sans Velma try to figure out the source of the noise.

Crutch and Rhino supposedly in saloon bc ShaFrephne and Scooby see their silhouettes through the window. Color me suspicious.

What was the point of reuniting the four of them only to have Fred + Daphne fall through a trapdoor mere moments later?

Are the antagonists just the townspeople who want the Stooges and their contraptions gone???

“Scoob, have you flipped your fur wig?!”

Fred and Daphne reunited with/found Velma by landing on top of her back. Velma is the strongest confirmed again?

Shaggy’s response to finding out that the Gunslinger from Wax Museum is actually a robot? “The fastest short circuit in the West.”

Animation Goof: Moe’s voice commands one of the other stooges to put the brakes on the mining cart they are stuck in, Larry’s voice agrees, and Curly’s voice comes out of MOE as HE puts the brakes on.

Three Stooges reunite with Fred+Daph+Velma

Glowy special effects are glowy.

The power of Velma’s sneeze makes a rockslide in the mines.

“We’ll be [stuck in] here forever!” Moe: There’s no such thing as forever.” “There isn’t?” “No, just eternity. 🤪”

Frelma moment of Velma hugging Freddy from behind! (At least that’s what it looks like from her hand placement on his waist.)

The paint stokes on the background look really messy in some places.

Shaggy forgot to tone down his strength and accidentally launches the trapped Scooby from a well all the way to the mechanical T-Rex.

Okay why are Fraphlma being so weird and bobbing up and down while the Stooges do all of the hard work of digging a way out of the mine tunnel?

“Oh Shag!…Can you hear me?…” “🤨? I must be dreaming. That sounds like Fred.” “Shag?…Scooby Doo?…Can you hear me?…” “😳!THAT’S DAPHNE’S VOICE!! COME ON!!!” Look, how am I not supposed to take this moment as Shaphne when Shaggy hears Fred’s voice calling out to him from who knows where and assumes he’s only imagining it, only to come RUNNING when he recognizes Daphne’s voice calling?!

Animation or Editing Goof: The area around Fred’s mouth sure is glitchy.

I guess it’s possible for three grown short guys + three taller teenagers to stack three mining carts on top of each other and not fall as they stand in the top one. I still call shenanigans.

“Don’t move!” As he and Scooby try to find a way to help them out of the cave in. Moe: “ ‘Don’t move?’ Where does he think we’re going???”

Animation Goof: Shaggy accidentally reminds me he can do ventriloquism because he’s talking without opening his mouth for no reason.

Shaggy does the smart thing and attempts to go to the seemingly valid authority adult figures in town for help. Unfortunately, my suspicions are confirmed that the Crutch and Rhino figures we saw earlier in the Saloon are dummies (and I mean that in a non-insulting way; the figures are literally dummies.)

Animation Goof: Scoob’s finger flick powerful enough to knock one of the dummies over despite not touching it.

Unnecessary filler slapstick despite the stakes.

Animation Goof: Sudden shift in background implies Scoob and Shaggy are now outside despite no movement, no transition, and holding the same conversation without a break.

More unnecessary shenanigans. “Cut that out! You’re supposed to be thinking of a way to rescue Velma!” Weird editing that accidentally eliminated the rest of the party in need, or Shelma moment?

After filler moments of Shaggy pressuring Scooby to come up with a rescue plan, Scooby’s suggestion via charades to use Tyrone the T-Rex to dig the others out is the one Shaggy claims. #friendshipgoals everybody.

At least he gives Scooby the credit.

MOAR filler shenanigans, everybody. Tbf, neither of them know how to properly man a mechanical T-Rex. At least we see a figure-skating T-Rex.

Because the Stooges are the Stooges, only they get the honor of being plucked out of the dug whole by the T-Rex like a mother cat or dog picking up her litter.

We see non mannequin/robot versions of the Native American Chief and the Gunslinger. They look like they’re crooks. Was any hint of thieving foreshadowed earlier? I don’t think so.

Also, “Those darn kids…” instead of “You meddling kids!” 😑

Daphne holding onto Fred’s arm again in case we forgot we’re supposed to ship Fraphne or that she’s the damsel in distress.

Giant bat. Because oh yeah. That was a thing earlier from the beginning of this episode.

Artists and/or Writers of this episode. We already know you want us to see Fraphne and that the conventionally pretty girl is supposed to be clinging to the conventionally handsome guy of the group in fright/apprehension whenever ANYTHING happens.

Unfortunately for everyone, I watched these episodes from the very beginning, and seeing how Daphne was initially more plucky + her maybe accidental chemistry with Shaggy and Velma’s accidental chemistry with Fred made me biased 🤡

Broken T-Rex.

Grammar Error: Why does my keyboard think I’m typing T-Rez whenever I try typing T-Rex?

Animation Goof: T-Rex suddenly a lot smaller next to the stooges.

Indian Chief figure that was drawn differently at one point is explained via projector conveniently found by Stooges.

T-Rex is working again.

Is the guy dressed up like the Chief seriously named Geronimo?

Shaggy and Scooby drop an avalanche of rocks onto the Batmobile the antagonists’s getaway Bat car, so the bad guys are stopped via almost manslaughter. Yay?

Also, they drop them from who knows how many stories high. This makes them crash through the ceiling of the jail. Wowzers.

“It’s Crutch and Rhino!” He says as he watches the above unfold from a distance.

Also, the Gunslinger’s angular face is now changed to Crutch’s doughy one (and yes, the real gunslinger looked like the robot one up until the “unmasking”), and Native American’s skin is now as pale as Rhino’s.

The bad guys’ motivation was that somehow there was now uranium in this town. If Uranium was a mentioned plot point in this episode, it completely flew over my head.

Dingbat is now a girl all of a sudden?

Also she apparently detected the Uranium dust on Crutch and that’s why she acted weird, including when Curly was suddenly glowing.

I still prefer my original theory that the antagonists were the townspeople who didn’t like the Stooges contraptions and attempts to make an amusement park/zoo as opposed to the actual antagonists and their motivations, but the Stooges’ completed park/zoo does look fun and cute!

Look, the real sheriff!

Shaggy and Scooby are rewarded with Uranium and a superhero sandwich, which they actually share this time (the sandwich, not the uranium!)

Day 26 of no “And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you medding kids!”

[bright-and-burning]

pls discuss tillies au

OMGGGGGGGG beloved au. for the general public who has not seen our dms skdjskdhskjd basically katrina gorry is a matilda (australian women’s national team player). she also has the most ADORABLEEEEE daughter in the WORLD like please look up harper gorry. she announced their roster once and i nearly passed away from adorability. she mimics her mom so she signs little autographs…… literally baby of all time. cont under the cut

the timeline for HER is like. 2021: have IVF baby bc covid means soccer/football is completely on hold so no missing playing time. be single mom. 2022: transfer from an australian team to a SWEDISH team. she meets her new teammate clara markstedt, they get close bc clara is helping her find housing and get settled (there’s a really cute video of katrina talking abt how she would text clara pictures of parking signs like literally daily asking her if she was ok to park there). they get together they’re adorable they’re now engaged. clara announced her retirement in like october and then in november announced that they’re having a baby together!!!! also clara is also an artist apparently which i just found out lol

oh also everyone check out harper.trio on tiktok it’s literally katrina and harper and then two other tillies (kyra cooney-cross and charlotte grant) having a blast in hotel rooms and such

ok so that’s the long winded background… there are several separate versions of this au floating in my head (all landoscar bc i have brainrot) like theres a bunch of cases here. f1 + still men + dad lando vs f1 + still men + dad oscar vs f1 + lesbians etc and then ALSO i have been Thinking abt a woso au so then in THAT case we have soccer + lesbians + mom lando. etc

in all the parent lando cases george and alex are the equivalent of kyra and charlotte (albeit without the ~10 year gap btwn them and katrina LOL). they r making silly tiktoks . that kid is spoiled rotten for piggy back rides with the highest view. etc etc. i destroyed myself w the image of lando n this toddler w matching homemade bracelets n then further destroyed myself w the image of special toddler made bracelet for oscar… normally bracelet-less oscar wearing it bc how could u say no… ANYWAYS

in the parent lando case leetle baby predates oscar, like lando is just bringin this kid along all of 2023 idk. mclaren def is killing the social media game lol. george and alex are frequently tapped for piggy back rides bc lando is not tall enough for baby’s standards. baby draws pictures for ppl on the grid … in general very cute heart warming etc but lando is for Sure kind of an unbalanced mess n oscar is for a sure a stabilizing effect despite being like . no i don’t know how to handle this small child who wandered over to me while i was waiting for a meeting. bc he’s like . how different can handling this kid really be from handling lando

in the parent oscar cases it also just like . Makes Sense. oh new team n ur teammate is reaching out to help you settle in. oh no you’re getting closer and oh no your toddler adores them and triple oh no YOU adore them… but i am slightly more intrigued by parent lando even tho it makes less “sense” on paper . maybe bc it makes less sense on paper? idk.

i have no like New New thoughts bc i am finally getting slightly sleepy and rn there are too many potential permutations that i just get too many ideas and none of them are intelligible .

[psycho-coded]

Devlog Week 2

Our work this week has been focusing on the Poaching Talent section of our game. Let's look at what each of us has been doing :3

Miles:

This week of development was focused around bringing together pieces of the SewnIn interface. There were two major components of this: the UI layout of the "website" itself, and Developer Profile Pictures that will be in it.

I spent a lot of time on LinkedIn to design the layout of SewnIn. I actually found a very helpful branding document from LinkedIn corporate that I think will help with selling the authenticity of our website as a professional social media. I made a mockup of the layout and started making some icons, popups, panels, etc. that will be included in the game screen.

The Dev Profiles were a little more planning-focused than actual creation. I had an idea of how the system would work, but I had to sit and figure out the flow of things and how each asset would have to be made to fit with the others, like puzzle pieces. Each Dev is randomly generated, so it makes sense that their appearance is, too. The developer PFP will be randomly generated from several pools of assets (hair, face, skin tone, body type) and certain info will carry over into the body-chopping scene (body type and skin tone are the most important for this). We also worked out whether or not the bodies will be nakey when you're chopping them. We have settled on a random pool of undies that will maintain your victims' decency.

Ellie:

I spent this week pushing a boulder up a hill! I reworked some old CSV code to read random names from a loooooooong list of possible first and last names. It also pulled a random developer role from another list. After this code was done, Seth thought that it could be optimized and rewrote a ton of it.

Other important things this week include trimming down our possible name pool because we really don't need 18,000 names, adding some decoration onto this very tumblr page, laying out the stat effects of the different personality traits (including what those traits are), determining arbitrary values for developer role stat floors, and figuring out a good way to randomly generate a wide array of developer posts that will reflect their personality.

Seth:

I've been working on making developers. Developers are the core pieces of our game, so there's a lot of core systems surrounding them that need to be designed and implemented before we can get any of the other parts of the game working. New developers will be created in the Poaching Talent section of our game, where you can view their roles, read their posts, and, if you like, kill them. Developers have two major pieces that determine their skills: a Role, which is what they do in the industry, provides their base array of stats, and a set of Personality Traits, which modify them. They then get a random sprinkling of skill points, and that final value is split up into each of the developer's limbs, along with their personality traits.

I finished generating the developer's role and skills, but personality traits are a little more complicated to handle as you might guess with the above screenshot of the spreadsheet we're trying to organize. With all of that done, the end result of mine and Trevor's efforts is... this

it may currently be a text element that doesn't display in the scene, but I assure you that when we combine it with Miles' work on the SewnIn interface it'll be fantastic.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s8e8 hunteri heroici (w. andrew dabb)

(huh, has he written without daniel loflin before? looks like no, but does exclusively after this)

literal cartoonish death, always a great sign. to go along with the very serious business in the recap

that's one creepy ass smile there, misha lol wtf are you doing. i wanna be a hunter *performing human smile flawlessly*

CASTIEL Can I, uh, at least ride in the front seat? DEAN and SAM simultaneously [SAM while shouldering CASTIEL out of the way] No.

so this is how it's gonna go

DEAN Listen, you see anything weird, anything out of the box, you give us a call. DETECTIVE Whatever you say, Scully.

where the hell did that come from? (picking scully instead of mulder)

*blurry flashback on sam starts to fade in* me, out loud: OH JESUS CHRIST. i know amelia was in the recap but i forgot, okay. i'm so tired of this plot mechanic

this man (brian markinson) has been in so many of my things

the x-files s5e9 folie a deux as gary lambert

the killing s2e12 donnie or marie as gil sloane

mad men s6e2 the doorway, part 2 as dr arnold rosen

the magicians s4e7 the side effect as everett

god mad men was a beautiful show. look at the sets and costumes and lighting. gahhh. and second, he played the character in the magicians that basically caused quentin to kill sacrifice himself and i just got real hurt over it all over again good job, brain-o

i swear i keep getting natalie portman's character in garden state vibes from how she's playing this part

SAM Uh, no. Maintenance, mostly. STAN Ah. Well, that makes sense. 'Cause I got to say, Sam, you look like a real fixer-upper to me.

i laughed out loud because ????? and also sam🧍‍♂️

DEAN Cas, you gonna book a room or what? CASTIEL No, I'll stay here. DEAN Oh, okay. Yeah. We'll have a slumber party, braid Sam's hair. Where are you gonna sleep? CASTIEL I don't sleep. DEAN Okay, well, I need my four hours, so... CASTIEL I'll watch over you. DEAN That's not gonna happen.

what a weird little interaction. i guess cas is back to being clueless about social stuff for comic relief. he had some really good snarky moments there for a bit, why are we backsliding

all right so. weird feelings about this dean cas convo. dean being very.. forthright demanding a serious conversation with cas. but this...

CASTIEL Dean, I... When I was... bad... and I had all those things – the... the leviathans... writhing inside me... I caused a lot of suffering on earth, but I devastated Heaven. I vaporized thousands of my own kind, and I – I – I can't go back. DEAN 'Cause if you do, the angels will kill you. CASTIEL Because if I see what Heaven's become – what I – [sighs] what I made of it... I'm afraid I might kill myself.

i don't like how this is framed to gain sympathy (and i have a general great distaste for how suicide is thrown around in media anyway)

ORDERLY It's creepy, right? A lot of these people – they just tune out and live in their own heads. It's like maybe the real world is too much for them, and they just run and hide, you know?

the way i laughed at that prompt for a flashback

STAN I think the two of you are holding on to each other, yeah. 'Cause I know she's scared. After what happened to Don, I don't blame her for taking off. Needing to run away and hide – I know why she did it. The question is – what are you running from, Sam?

yeah current!sam, what are you running from huh?? good thing the kevin tran thing drags out for a long time so you can figure out you wanna keep hunting or whatever by the time it wraps up

oh gosh, it's bj from mash

m*a*s*h s10e18 heroes - mike farrell as bj hunnicutt

*mumbling threats at the screen, if you flashback again because dean said something about living in a dream world........ 🔪*

SAM Look, it can be nice living in a dream world. It can be great. I know that. And you can hide, and you can pretend all the crap out there doesn't exist, but you can't do it forever because... eventually, whatever it is you're running from – it'll find you. It'll come along, and it'll punch you in the gut. And then... then you got to wake up, because if you don't, then trying to keep that dream alive will destroy you! It'll destroy everything!

it's a 3 way pep talk. everyone here needs it. personally iffy on the whole cartoon schtick but i do like this test pattern room effect

bro please i'm having extreme flashback fatigue 😭

LOL i took a screenshot of dean opening the bottle this way at the beginning of the episode because i was like this is so strange that they're focusing on it, is he using his pocketknife?? also like, opening a beer while getting in the car still at the gas station? well. now i see, more silly setup for a silly payoff later

SAM My, uh – my brother used to do that. STAN Yeah? SAM Yeah. STAN He a good guy? SAM Yeah. Yeah, uh, he – he was... the best. Uh, I, uh... I lost him, and, uh, I ran.

i don't hate the story they're telling through the flashbacks, i just hate how it's executed. i can see why they're doing it this way, so we're not actively suffering through the separation, it already happened. and the people want sam and dean together. but avoiding separating them has also made this really clunky and drag out by chopping it up and sprinkling it over so many episodes

anyway, resurrecting amelia's not-actually-dead husband certainly gives us all a guilt-free out of this whole fucking situation

[mdhwrites]

Molly McGee is great... But

I absolutely see why it’s not a hit on social media. There’s two elements of it versus TOH and Amphibia that really highlight why I think Molly McGee is a great kid’s show, why I would personally want kids watching it over TOH but why Cartoon fandoms aren’t interested in it the same way without judging its quality. And I can do that with a funeral metaphor of all things. The first element is each show’s interest in morality and how well it delivers both the basic messages and the deeper messages that kid’s shows are meant to be doing. After all, they’re kids. If the parents aren’t spending time teaching them how behave, the show better be doing it itself. It’s why so many cartoons are effectively centered a single moral per segment/episode. The Owl House’s morals are the ones being mourned because most of them are six feet under in the grave that was just dug. It technically has them but has no interest in them and will actively undercut its own messages because parts of its main cast aren’t exactly good people and the show struggles with even using them once they do gain a mostly black and white morality. And frankly it’s just best if you don’t think about the morals of the show in the end. Meanwhile, Amphibia made the tombstone and Anne is working on finishing the little details on it that make it all the better. The picture on the front is enough to commemorate the dead though. Effectively: It not only manages straight forward morality but also is very sly in the elements that work to elevate some of the messages to an even better one than most kid’s shows manage, such as toxic relationships that start being hinted at as early as episode one. But you don’t NEED to be paying attention in order to get it. And then Molly is using the shovel she dug the grave with to smash someone in the face with her morality. It’s effective... But blunt. About as blunt as most kid’s shows commonly are which is part of the quality of the episodes can vary a bit because the less interesting the moral, or the less that needs to be said about it, the more the show struggles. But it ALWAYS gets its point across. And blunt morality is simply one of those things that kid’s shows are blasted for. People don’t like being talked down to and it’s seen as lesser art if a story is talking down but sometimes it’s better to be blunt than it is to risk missing the point. At least in my opinion. But the point stands that from an ‘adult’ perspective, it’s not a good thing so why share about how good the morality in Molly McGee is when it is genuinely good but people checking analytical boxes will dismiss it for being blunt? But... Let’s invert this with the second element: The progressive/subversive element. The ability to say that this show is unlike other cartoons. Eda has crashed the wake to tell you exactly, EXACTLY, how she’s the best and has fucked the L, G, B, T, Q, I, A and is working on the plus AS SHE SPEAKS. If Molly McGee is blunt with its morals, TOH is blunt in how special it is, regardless of the quality of those claims. Meanwhile, the lesbian mechanic couple from Amphibia are working on serving drinks and cooking the food that people are enjoying. They’re willing to be in the background but they are definitely and putting in the work. And Molly has dived into the ghost realm with Scratch to apologize profusely and fight the ghost council to make up for killing the dude with a shovel earlier. It has no interest in being anything other than what it is. And again, these aren’t value judgements. My blog has been dedicated to ripping apart ALL of TOH’s claims of being special because they allow me to talk about various of writing for MONTHS NOW. I’m personally surprised about it. Meanwhile, it’s not like being irreverent is perfect either. There are episodes that lose me some by being too childish or that I do think muddy its blunt message by trying WAY too hard in its over the top elements. But if we’re simply talking about what will make a story popular on Twitter... TOH’s approach is very effective. The show GIVES you the talking points in how to say it’s special where as Molly McGee has no interest in being special. It manages it sometimes, I think it is being an overlooked gem, but it’s not by design, it’s simply by being itself so the elements are easier to miss. And yes, in S2, I know Molly has a straight crush. The show hasn’t really shown an interest in championing LGBTQIA+ causes even though it’s not being negative towards them either. They just haven’t been mentioned, even as other minorities, and a CANON NUERODIVERGENT PERSON (autism specifically!) enters the cast. Buuuut shipping is a powerful force in fandom and while you absolutely can ship with the Molly McGee characters, it’s not really leaning into it like TOH specifically does to its detriment. I personally push that people check it out. I think it’s a show that deserves more eyes than it’s getting, especially as its ratings continue to crater so I’ll surprised if it gets a third season, if maybe pulled faster than that and see a real cancellation, but I also can’t tell you specifically why. It has a lot of great traits but nothing wholly unique to it. Though, I do want to shout out the animation. The concept is the GHOST and Molly McGee and they are not afraid to squash, stretch, etc. that Ghost in every way possible to sell what Scratch and every other ghost in the show is. It REALLY works with its concept and is not afraid of just getting bonkers with its animation to do it. And the human characters aren’t bad either. I ADORE Molly’s expressions especially. So yeah: Go watch The Ghost and Molly McGee. It’s not perfect but if you’re just looking for a good time, you’re not really going to be disappointed. Just make sure to let it be the kid’s show it is.

=======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[mariacallous]

Since Twitter launched in 2006, the company has acted as a kind of heartbeat for social media conversation. That’s partly because it’s where media people go to talk about the media, but also because it’s been willing to open up its backend to researchers. Academics have used free access to Twitter’s API, or application programming interface, in order to access data on the kinds of conversations occurring on the platform, which helps them understand what the online world is talking about.

Twitter’s API is used by vast numbers of researchers. Since 2020, there have been more than 17,500 academic papers based on the platform’s data, giving strength to the argument that Twitter owner Elon Musk has long claimed, that the platform is the “de facto town square.”

But new charges, included in documentation seen by WIRED, suggest that most organizations that have relied on API access to conduct research will now be priced out of using Twitter.

It’s the end of a long, convoluted process. On February 2, Musk announced API access would go behind a paywall in a week. (Those producing “good” content would be exempted.) A week later, he delayed the decision to February 13. Unsurprisingly, that deadline also slipped by, as Twitter suffered a catastrophic outage. 

The company is now offering three levels of Enterprise Packages to its developer platform, according to a document sent by a Twitter rep to would-be academic customers in early March and passed on to WIRED. The cheapest, Small Package, gives access to 50 million tweets for $42,000 a month. Higher tiers give researchers or businesses access to larger volumes of tweets—100 million and 200 million tweets respectively—and cost $125,000 and $210,000 a month. WIRED confirmed the figures with other existing free API users, who have received emails saying that the new pricing plans will take effect within months.  

“I don’t know if there’s an academic on the planet who could afford $42,000 a month for Twitter,” says Jeremy Blackburn, assistant professor at Binghamton University in New York and a member of the iDRAMA Lab, which analyzes hate speech on social media—including on Twitter. 

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

For subscribers to the cheapest package, the number of rules through which they can filter data from the app’s Real Time PowerTrack API will be capped at 25,000, and the number of queries of the Full Archive Search API will be capped at 50,000. The number of Twitter handles they can analyze through the Account Activity API will also be limited to 5,000, and there will be a max of 20 requests per minute for the Engagement API Totals Endpoint, which allows researchers to see how well tweets are doing in terms of engagement.

While this sounds like a substantial dataset, it only accounts for around 0.3 percent of Twitter’s monthly output, meaning it is far from being a comprehensive snapshot of activity on the platform. Twitter’s free API access gave researchers access to 1 percent of all tweets.

Elissa M. Redmiles, a faculty member at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems in Germany, says the new prices are eye-watering. “It’s probably outside of any academic budget I’ve ever heard of,” she says, adding that the price would put off any long-term analysis of user sentiment. “One month of Twitter data isn’t really going to work for the purposes people have,” she says.

Kenneth Joseph, assistant professor at the University of Buffalo and one of the authors of a recent paper analyzing a day in the life of Twitter, says the new pricing effectively kills his career. “$42,000 is not something I can pay for a single month in any reasonable way,” says. “It totally destroys any opportunity to engage in research in this space, which I’ve in many respects built a career on.” 

The pricing documents were provided to WIRED by a researcher who asked for anonymity, since they are still accessing Twitter data through an existing API agreement and worry it could be terminated if they were identified. They say the new costs were “not viable for the academic community.”

“No one can afford to pay that,” they say. “Even rich institutions can’t afford to pay half a million a year for a thimbleful of data.”

It’s not clear whom the new pricing model is targeted at. Nir Grinberg, an assistant professor in the ​Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, used to work at a startup that used Twitter’s data.

“It seems like a really steep increase for a tiny amount of data. One percent of Twitter a few months ago was free. Now Twitter is offering 0.3 percent for half a million dollars [a year],” he says. “It’s just crazy. I honestly don’t know who could budget for this.”

Researchers say the damage won’t just be to academic discourse. Twitter is a vital dataset for understanding how the internet works and what conversations are being had in the notional global public square.

Joseph recognizes that there are other platforms he could research, but notes that Twitter’s potent combination of journalists, high-ranking politicians, and business decisionmakers makes it a vital area for research. “Twitter is a particularly special space for understanding elite discourse,” he says. “To rip that away from all of us trying to use the system to understand it is a tough pill to swallow.”

Blackburn, however, says researchers will continue to find a way to scrutinize what’s happening on Twitter. “We’ve been mostly cut off from Facebook for years and we’ve continued to make progress,” he says. “It’s not like science is going to be held hostage by a guy that played himself into burning $44 billion on a website that makes no money, just so he could force all its users to read his shitposts.”

[goldennika]

compared to how much i wanna kiss the big brains who handle txt’s overall creative/artistic direction for being so brilliant, it frustrates me that their marketing and social media efforts aren’t as impactful

it’s almost as if the people behind their socials don’t really understand how each platform works and who the target market is per platform :(

they repeat their content between instagram and tiktok, their youtube videos don’t have very useful titles (cough what’s going on with txt series cough), the international subs aren’t up at once, if at all, their instagram has become a hodge podge of reels over the past year, and their approach for promoting DILT got old real fast -- bombarding followers with tiktok trends that have come and gone 😩

there are times too when their socials are completely silent for weeks or even months and that could really hurt their engagement on those platforms (with the exception of tiktok since it looks like the boys can directly create videos themselves). i have a feeling that their youtube account is handled by a separate unit from their ig/tiktok and while that’s understandable (long-form vs short-form media, among other things), it’s a missed opportunity to have all these accounts inactive for long stretches of time, especially in the context of the kpop industry, where new acts and music are being dropped and heavily promoted literally every day

on the other hand, when their promotions are in full swing, MOAs are bombarded with new content -- from both their own accounts and the accounts of the different shows/magazines/vlogs that they've guested on -- which also hurts their engagement since there are too many releases happening in a short amount of time!!

i’m not saying that the boys should be filming unique content for each platform bc their scheds are already jampacked as it is, but the way they present the main content can be tweaked when promoting on different platforms. for instance, during comeback season, we can get some quick behind the scenes/making of type of content on tiktok, the more fleshed out/documentary type behind content for youtube, and have the concept photos and some behind photos on instagram, which would all (ideally) link to platforms in which people could stream or buy their music!!

in between comebacks, it would be really nice if we had some solo or unit activities (song/dance covers, variety show guestings, interviews, magazine shoots, etc) to keep the buzz going about them and to give each member a chance to showcase their personality beyond their own brand of variety content (which imo, caters more towards existing MOAs than casual listeners who'd like to get into TXT more. entertaining as they are, if you are just getting to know them as a musical act, their variety content might be a bit overwhelming to get into). imo, some of the activities they had going on for them during the height of the pandemic were really good moves from a marketing standpoint (especially for yeonjun, with the prive alliance collab and being invited to nyfw albeit virtually) -- i hope they'd be able to get that type of variety back in the way they get to promote each member and in effect, the group as they get to introduce themselves to a larger audience who may not be into kpop at all!!

(on the topic of business/marketing decisions, partnering with dior says a lot about their popularity and influence but imo, dior’s designs are a little too stiff and subdued for txt’s image. i honestly think it would have worked better if it were a deal for individual members like say beomgyu, versus being a group ambassadorship. but that said, it must have been a really sweet deal for all of txt for a fashion house to get the entire group as ambassadors so go get that bag, boys!!)

with all that said, i'm so happy for and proud of the boys on their VMAs debut!! they killed it and i know many new MOAs were born that day 🥹 let's hope they get managed and promoted better bc they deserve the world!!

[marshvlovestv]

I finished recording my replay of Going Under for the Let’s Play channel! I loved it even more the second time, and more than ever I am bemoaning the fact that the fandom is so nonexistent. Because for the first time ever I am coming up with concepts for like. Fangames, bonus dungeons, stuff like that. AND I HAVE NO ONE TO TALK ABOUT IT WITH.

So I will just dump all my thoughts into a post here and y’all will just have to deal with it.

First of all, ideas for other dungeons. These aren’t very fleshed out, but so far I’ve thought of:

A social media startup, a wannabe TikTok or Twitter that promises its users fame and clout in exchange for generating outrage. It offers stardom, so the dungeon has an outer space aesthetic and the enemies are aliens and celestial bodies.

A phony self-help/mental health service, or even worse one of those skeevy “therapy” apps like Better Help, something that preys on vulnerable people who need help a startup can’t provide, while also burning out employees who went into the field wanting to help people but are now cynical. I’m not sure about the aesthetic, but I’m leaning towards maybe a schoolhouse with living toys for enemies? Something to reflect how they see their customers as stupid children.

But now this. This is the really juicy idea. I have so much to say about this that I’m going to have to put it under a read more. But I’ll try to hook you first:

FIZZLE AS A FULL-FLEDGED DUNGEON

This could be part of an AU/sequel where Jackie fails, Fizzle falls completely under the curse, and years later another intern for another company has to go through the same thing. To be honest, I mostly came up with those other two dungeon ideas to be the other two in this AU in addition to Fizzle, and this is the one I’m most excited about.

It’s underwater themed, obviously, and the most prevalent environmental hazards are explosive, Fizzle-mutated corals that emit various status effects when you get too close to them. Most of the enemies are generic fishmen who look a little like Swomp, although Swomp himself is actually the shopkeeper - appropriate, not only because he was the barista, but because as a human, he was open-minded and friendly with the monsters, and now the tables have turned. Like Jelly, Lilli, and Zans, he is a monster of elevated intelligence and awareness who is open-minded and friendly towards humans.

Other enemy types are inspired by Fern, Tappi, Kara, and Eclaire. The Fern-like pufferfish slowly expand and explode into Fizzle if you don’t kill them fast enough - which status effect they give you depends on their color. Tappi-like octopuses can grapple you and break the weapons in your pockets. The Kara-like anglerfish are mimics: they pretend to be apps, but when you try to pick them up, they attack. Their attacks are unavoidable if you fall for the bait, so you have to learn to not pick up apps until combat is over (the bait ones automatically brick at the end of combat). And finally, Eclaire-like eels can latch onto you and not only drain your health but slow you down as well. (A lot of these feel really unfair but I’m not a game designer by trade, go easy on me lol)

I haven’t put too much thought into how the Ray boss fight would look, because I think the boss needs to encapsulate the themes of the dungeon and that’s been the trickiest thing to figure out. The aspects of startup culture central to each canon dungeon are pretty clear: Joblin is about overworking and the grind, Winkydink is about workplace harassment, and Styxcoin is about the blind faith and hype surrounding crypto. But in the game, Fizzle as a company is more generic and representative of the tech space as a whole in all its aspects, so it’s  hard to narrow it down to a single theme. My best idea right now, given that Fizzle makes a food product, is for the dungeon to be centered around irresponsible use of science and progress for the sake of progress without considering whether that progress is actually healthy or safe. It’s made very clear throughout the game that Fizzle is not actually safe to consume, and I think there could be a fun implication that “Not only were we cursed, but when we went under they dumped all our leftover product in the water and it mutated us even further.” I do think this is a fun idea, but the unfortunate thing is that in this case, Fern would actually be more thematically relevant as a final boss than Ray. Maybe what Ray is guilty of here is lack of oversight? Just blindly trusting his scientists to know what’s best and not pushing for any kind of regulation? It’s kind of a departure from how Fizzle went under canonically, but it’s the best I’ve got right now.

I’m very much rambling at this point but I had to get these ideas down dammit. If there’s a way to turn this into a fanfic you know I’ll definitely try and write it but this feels more like a visual art project that is way beyond the scope of my abilities.