#standard format for this blog; just let me know)

[bao3bei4]

why zines? how zines?

i was on a panel at fanworks con 2023 about zines today. it was a lot of fun! i decided to turn my portion of the talk into a post for my friends who couldn’t make it to the panel. 

this post includes my thoughts on: 

why make a zine

how to generate ideas for zines

how to finish your zines

how to build an audience for your zines

so why zines? what are they? [ZEENS, rhymes with beans], pronounced that way because it’s a shortened form of the word magazine, are basically just that: self published magazines. but why make a zine over, say, a blog post? or any other piece of art. 

i have basically three reasons. the first is that making little books is cool. it’s genuinely awesome to make physical zines and have the product of your labor in your hand. it’s a great feeling to finish a project and feel a concrete reward, and a lot of times we don’t get that in our lives.

the second reason is that zines give you absolute editorial control. you can put anything you want on a page. whatever layout, whatever order, whatever fold, whatever content. you name it, you can do it. this is something other venues rarely give you. for artists, it’s phenomenal. and for the rest of us, it gives us the ability to become artists for a little bit, as we lay things out.

the third reason is that zines can be absolute shit. in fact, the more shit they are, the more diy and punk they are. they have an incredible lineage of stolen copy paper and anarchist politics. all that to say, is that there are no standards. the zine ethos is say what you wanna say. it’s tremendously freeing to go fuck polish and respectability, i’m making my project.

because of these three reasons, i want to encourage you to get started making zines by describing common challenges and worries and giving you several practical tips for each on working past them. so, in order, they’re “i don’t know what to make a zine about,�� “i struggle to finish projects,” and “no one will read my zines.” let’s get into it.

first up, “i don’t know what to make a zine about.” i think this one is pretty common, even for experienced zine creators. sometimes you’re in the mood to make things but you have no clue what. a lot of people suggest to just go with random words or whatever pops into your head, but i’m picky! i find that unsatisfying! so here are some tips for people in the same boat. 

ONE: what’s distracting you? work with it. because anything can be a zine, let the things you’ve already done serve as inspiration. photos you’ve taken can be formatted into a zine. is there a game sucking up your attention? make a zine about it. the song stuck in your head can turn into a lyricbook, forgotten works in progress or sketches can be resurrected, cannibalized, or even published as incomplete zines. if you’ve been busy with real life, maybe the recipes you’ve been making—even if, especially if, they’re struggle meals, can turn into zines. interview your most interesting friend. summarize a book you read recently. even if you’ve just been doomscrolling, that’s a zine too! i got a zine last weekend called bay area newsreel which was collecting recent articles about local news from leftist perspectives gathered up into a handy volume. your attention is a gift, so look at what zine fodder it’s accumulated for you naturally. 

SECOND: add a twist. sometimes i have an idea but it isn’t quite right. it just seems too straightforward. so i try to develop along a single axis of content or form. what this means is basically go against your instincts, or rather, your first impulse. that first idea is very hard to walk away from, but doing so often gives you an idea that gets you unstuck. so for content, add a different perspective. for me this is often a theoretical approach. when i was stuck on my scum villain zine, turning it into freud zine let the words start flowing. next, on form: present it differently than your first instinct is to. if my first thought is “essay,” i try to figure out how to chunk out the information into modules or how to add interactivity or what kind of illustrations to add. if my first thought is “this could be a fic or comic,” i try turning it into an essay. saying things a different way often gives you a new perspective on the content as well. 

THIRD: copy! make your take on the same thing as someone else. it’s not stealing—well, ideally it isn’t. make your original take and give credit where credit is due and ask permission if necessary. but engage with the medium!!! making zines without reading zines is the same thing as trying to write a paper without citing sources, or a novel without reading your contemporaries. that is, you can do it, but it’s hard. zines are a genre into themselves so figure out how to situate yourself in their ongoing dialogue. an example of this from my own practice is that i own a zine about queer gods and mythological creatures from chinese history. reading it i was like. why don’t they talk about this. why don’t they talk about that. and that became the basis for my own zine, guaitai the strange and the queer which focused on queer chinese history and literature instead. different zine, same inspiration. 

all of my ideas suppose you have SOMETHING going on. what if you truly have nothing. my advice? adapted from my “how to write an essay” blog post, is to read a book. read an article. read something. and then post about it. and then turn your posts into a zine. don’t start entirely from scratch — give yourself a scaffolding. so first. read something and tell someone about it. i wasn’t lying about calling myself a consummate poster. it’s a big part of my thought process. 

second up, what if “i struggle to finish projects.” i’m no stranger to having a bunch of half finished half started projects lying around. but here are some zine-specific tips i have for addressing that.

FIRST! go smaller; go shittier. reduce the scope of your projects. make one pagers, lists. once when i was feeling stymied, i made a physical zine about movies i’d watched that month, just listing them with a couple bullet points on each film. i eventually turned it into a bigger digital zine where i listed movies i’d watched over the past several months with more thoughts on them, and nicely formatted. but that was something that came out of reducing my scope from “i need to write a manifesto on a movie i’ve watched recently” to “well i can just tell people about it” to “i can say two things about it.” and something actually got finished.

SECOND. your friends are a great tool for accountability. something i like to do is zine jams with my friends. nothing fancy, it’s just we’ll sit down for an hour and go we’re going to make something in this hour. or, for a bigger scope, we might work separately but commit to making a zine that weekend. it’s nice to have community and it’s nice to feel a little bit of a friendly deadline. i recommend this even if you DON’T have problems finishing zines. it’s a good time. 

THIRD. a lot of times if the words aren’t coming easily, it’s because i’m not trying to say the right thing. keep in mind that your zines don’t have to be “content.” this little paper zine i made about movies wasn’t made to share online; in fact, it’s not available online. i didn’t make it according to what other people would see or be interested in. you can and will burn out on making “marketable” content. corollary to this: sometimes what i have to say is something i DON’T want to share online. it might not be that it’s boring, it might be that it’s too personal. and i share a lot online, i write personal essays after all. but some projects i stall on because they’re really just for me, and i’m again, focused on making content. so this piece of advice is about rejecting the tyranny of the imaginary audience. 

and the next challenge is about embracing that audience! what if no one reads your zines, something that’s entirely possible. well there’s plenty you can do about that.

FIRST. cultivate zine community. read other people’s zines! talk to them about their zines! this greatly increases the chance that they will do the same for you. don’t go in expecting reciprocity; do it for its own sake, but it’s a great place to start. try asking people at zine fests if they’d be willing to trade with you, for instance. 

SECOND. write for yourself. it’s cheesy but it’s true. you really have to. if you’re not proud and happy with what you’re making on its own merits, what’s the point. now because this is a cop out tip, i’m not counting it as a tip on its own. 

so SECOND PART TWO. make your zines more accessible. if they’re not free, make them free—yes, you deserve to be compensated for your work, but it’s up to you to decide if you want a bigger audience first. if your zines aren’t short, make them shorter. make them short enough that you can post their entirety on social media or something else easy for your audience to consume. it’s a big ask sometimes to get someone to download your pdf! if they’re physical, hand them out to people you meet. remove all the barriers to entry.

THIRD. related to this, change medium. if you’re not making physical zines, try printing them out. if you’re not making digital zines, try digitizing them. both of these offer access to new audiences and new people who might be more interested in one form than another. 

i hope these thoughts encourage you to make a zine! if you do, please let me see it. i love reading zines. 

[emetophobiahelp]

Hello all!

I wanted to make a post to let you know that it no longer makes sense to me to post all of the ask messages asking if a certain tv show/movie is safe. The frequency of those asks compared to how often any of them ever actually receive an answer from a follower is EXTREMELY unbalanced, and they just clog up the dash/blog with unanswered queries. As much as I would love to innately have the answer for everything, it's simply not possible. There are MANY that have built up over the months because I was trying to search tags to make sure people didn't skip that step before asking and then search other sites to hopefully provide an answer, but I cannot do that for all of the ones that have piled up and continue to come in.

For a while I was compiling all the recent asks into one big post, but that didn't seem to solve the problem.

Also, some people send asks multiple times thinking it didn't go through, but they ALL come through and it creates a messier inbox.

I rely on submissions that are clear and well-formatted. PLEASE write them like you're submitting an assignment; it makes my life easier so I don't have to edit and clean them up so they meet my standards. All of these little things help me stay as on top of this blog as I can, so that I can continue helping even a little bit.

Also, please refrain from sending messages of thanks or support. I TRULY appreciate them, but I will only end up deleting them because they take up space. Just know that I am very grateful for all of the love and assistance I have received over the past 13 or so years.

And because I know someone will offer, I will not be accepting new mods. I'm sorry, but I simply have realized I do not trust other people to execute the blog the way I want to.

-Danielle

[dailyadventureprompts]

Lets talk about Prompts

Ey friends, just wanted to pop in and talk about the centeral conceit of this blog.

As many of you know, I haven't been living up to my daily title for a while, as most of my creative energy is being put into my novel/podcast*. I still want to write prompts, I enjoy making up stories and chasing inspiration, but the problem is that Inspiration isn't sparking as much as it used to. When the stars do align and I can get myself to write, I find that I'm often biting off far more than I can chew, my default wordcount having drifted up along with my standards has time goes on.

Then there's my problems with validation. It makes my day when something I've written catches on with you folks, but I'm close to 12,000 followers and I'm lucky if I get 100 notes on one of my prompts. I used to get really hung up on working for hours on what I thought was a good idea only to see it bomb, and the compounding stress over that was one of the reasons I decided to take a step back from my old work schedule.

My instincts tell me that if I want to write, I should be aim to be writing shorter, punchier prompts. My doubt tells me that if I cut back on detail and personal flourish I won't actually be contributing something of substance; anyone can look at a cool piece of fantasy art and get inspired for their d&d games, right? A completely different part of me thinks that maybe I need to change my authorial tone, going from semi-prose to strict scenario-designer talk, be upfront with the twists and challenges and utility of the idea and leave the fancy stuff to DMs at their table.

What do you folks think? I'm looking for general impressions AND genuine critiques of my format/style. I also might try and get experimental over the next little while, see if anything really works for you folks.

*We'reonthefinalchapterofseasononeohmygodguysI'mgoingtoexplodefromexcitementI'veputsomuchworkintothisandit'ssofuckinggood

[jaynovz]

Expanded Info for Black Sails Kink Meme 2024

Hi there!

Since there has been a sufficient amount of interest for this idea, let me explain a little further how I think this will work and general guidelines–

I’m encouraging as informal and low stress/pressure of an atmosphere as possible here. Back in The Day when LiveJournal Kink Memes were common, it was very typical to see a prompt put up and filled within an hour. It doesn’t have to be polished, it doesn’t have to make logistical sense, it just has to fill the prompt as best as you can, sexily! It’s supposed to be fun. A bunch of fun, raunchy kink and smut to roll around in as a fandom. 🥳 🥳

So yeah, first thing to expect, it’s basically ALL PWP (porn without plot). Not to say that someone can’t write a full plot epic if they like, do whatever you like, but in my experience, a 4am fugue state smut fill written in a sweaty haze is kind of, the spirit of the thing. We’re creating ficlets, snapshots, tasty treats of smut with as little pressure to make it in any way polished as possible. Please think of this as, hmmm, a little fun writing exercise you do before you go back to your Big Serious Work, if that helps. We are letting loose, we are having fun, we are being deliciously, joyously, unrepentantly filthy with it! The tagline for the event is: “Get High, Jerk Off Three Times, and Write Me a Warmup :DD”

A prompt might say, for example– “MaxAnne, s2, would love to see the girls get slippery wet with some period sex, bonus if one or both eats the other out while she’s menstruating.” 

Pretty standard stuff, nothing that off the wall from my perspective, however, some folks might feel shy about asking for it for whatever reasons and so the anonymous format frees ppl up to ask for anything from: “Midshipman James McGraw getting caned in pre-canon by his superiors” to, idk, “full tentacle-y type oviposition porn where someone is being forced to come over and over again while being implanted with eggs by some giant plant beast on Skeleton Island (probably Silver).”

Literally ask for whatever smut you want~~ This is your chance, toss it into the pot! It will be tagged accordingly when posted if it’s filled, so live your truth, chase your bliss, know no shame, no one can see you~~

It is helpful when submitting a prompt to give details that are important to you, and the prompt filler will do their best with it. <3 So, I suggest giving a ship specification up front, maybe a vague timeline (season 1, season 2, etc), and then the kinks you want to see with a short description. Sort of like the MaxAnne period sex I gave an example of above.

Logistics and Structure of Submissions–

I have created a sideblog called @blacksailskmeme through which, once submissions are live (it will be open to accept prompts hopefully in March 2024), you may submit ANON ASK PROMPTS. I will publish them with a number and a link to the collection. If you like one of the prompts, simply post it through the collection with its corresponding number and then that AO3 link to your fill will be reblogged underneath the original ask prompt.

Simple as that! 

Follow the Event Blog, or the tag #2024BSKMemeFills in order to keep tabs on when prompts are filled. 

This makes it very easy for me and yall both, as there is no claiming process to trouble ourselves with. As many fills as are written are allowed for each prompt, simply write whatever speaks to you and I’ll be able to track the fills by the notifs on the collection. :DD

As of now, I’m planning to open prompts in March 2024 and keep the collection and blog running for prompts and fills both up through the end of Summer 2024. To respect the spirit of the event, all fills and prompts MUST be anonymous. Edit for clarification: The entire collection is marked Anonymous, which means any work submitted to it will be posted Anon. There is no option you need to worry about checking to guarantee this. I apologize for the initial confusing language, I have been learning as I go.

It still stands that if, after the event is closed, you want to then de-anon your work, that is your prerogative. However, it will mean you must remove the work from the collection, as the collection itself will forever and always remain anonymous.

Rules–

–This is an 18 plus event, please, as all of the content will be Explicit. 

–It is also a Black Sails Only Event, please no crossover prompts or fills. However, AU of all types are encouraged with our favorite pirates.

–All ships, all kinks, are welcome for submission, and the fill will then be tagged appropriately. If you have any questions on how to tag something, or just want another pair of eyes to confirm, you can always DM me <3

–Fills must be 500 words minimum of fic. There is no maximum and the fill is allowed to be WIP if you intend to write more chapters later. I would encourage that the content of the prompt be IN the first chapter at least before submission to the collection.

–We’re Gonna Be Nice and Civil!! No ship bashing, no kink shaming, we’re all mature adults here. If you don’t like something, then don’t fill it, don’t reblog it, don’t read it, pretend you do not see it. If you don’t like it, it’s not for you! 

If I haven’t covered everything here, or if you’re unsure about something, feel free to reach out to me either through the event blog or through @jaynovz <3 Also, if you’d like to help me out with the event, hit me up as well.

Thank you!

[whisperiin]

chrome is my fav but I like seeing my favs suffer a bit so 🤭 can I request an angsty to fluff one-shot (or whichever format you prefer) with chrome and a childhood friend gn!reader? (friends with feeling for each other teehee!!!) smth like reader goes missing during a mission on earth and a year later reader is found as a construct and brought back to Babylonia? emotional reunion with chrome and everything 😭🫶🏻

chrome makes me explode!!!! he has no business being so romantic.

Thank you! I adore your blog and I hope to see it grow in the future!! <3

hi anon, thanks so much you're so sweet !! i totally get you tho ... i loooove making my favs suffer teehee it's so fun ... i also really like this prompt i love love love angst to fluff !! fun fact, i actually have a wanshi smooching oc with a similar backstory !! great minds think alike (〃´𓎟`〃)

i wrote mooostly from chrome's pov since the reader got yoinked so i hope it's alright that they don't have Too much involvement, but all that aside i hope you enjoy!!

here i am (following your steps).

content warnings: implications of/vague allusions to death (you get better though)

When CHROME takes the mission report into his hands, he feels like the world has been pulled out from under his feet.

Your squadmates' faces were similarly grim — downcast eyes, lips pressed into thin lines — and no matter how hard he wanted to, he couldn't deny the truth of the matter, relayed to him in your captain's trembling apologies and Babylonia's standard typewritten font.

Your name, your rank, reported missing in action.

Chrome keeps his face carefully blank as he reads the rest of it over. Maybe he should have been there with you, he thinks. Maybe if you had one more person with you, then your squad wouldn't have had to split up, and you wouldn't have had to go alone, and —

"Thank you for letting me know," he says, a mask of fake reservation, and then he turns to leave.

There are pictures of you and him that you put up in his sleeping pod that he can't bring himself to take down, unopened gift boxes piled on top of the desk in the Strike Hawk lounge addressed to him. He thinks about how he wanted to straighten your jacket one more time before you swatted his hand away, and he wonders what you would say if he asked if you would still want to spend the rest of your life with him, like you believed you would growing up. You would always stay over for dinner, anyway, and his father already likes you — what's one more night, and one more, and one more?

It's a foolish, childish notion, but still the thought of it, the empty, gaping hole where you had once stood beside him, haunts him so.

Chrome sets the mission report face-down.

Time without you passes slowly. After each mission Chrome spends another hour searching for you, and after each mission he returns to Babylonia without even finding the slighest trace of you. Not a torn piece of your coat, your pistol, your remains — nothing to officially pronounce you dead, and precious little else to remember you by.

Sometimes, he catches himself checking in on the private comms channel he set up for the two of you. Today, too, he finds himself listening to the silence that your voice used to fill, casting his gaze off to the horizon, past devastated streets and ruined buildings —

— And then he catches a flash of something in the distance that almost eerily reminds him of you.

He doesn't waste a single moment before he gives chase, your silhouette that he was so used to seeing growing clearer and clearer with each step. Even though he might just be deluding himself, he needs to see with his own eyes that it's not you to believe it.

The silhouette turns at the sound of his footsteps and at the sight of your face, the world is pulled out from under him again.

"...Chrome?"

(How long has it been since he last heard your voice?)

"It's you," he says softly, falling from his lips like the answer to a prayer that even he can't quite believe. "...You're here."

The words bring a smile to your face — soft and bright and oh-so-familiar — and he reaches out for your hand, sliding down to hold your wrist. His fingers press against where he might feel your pulse but it's still, silent, cold, with only the same subtle thrum of electricity that sits beneath his own synthetic skin.

"I'm here," you echo, and for just a moment he sets aside all the questions running through his head.

Chrome takes another look at you, at your new metal body, at the same face he had seen every day growing up and seen in his dreams every night since you disappeared. He straightens your jacket and lets his hand rest on your shoulder for one moment, then two, waiting for you to swat his hand away.

"Chrome," you say, placing your hand over his. "Can I stay over for dinner?"

The question draws a surprised noise out of his throat, and his expression slowly melts into a smile.

"Always," he replies. "...And for however long you want to stay afterwards."

[bg3-ficrecs]

BG3 Fic Review Guidelines - let us know what you think!

Hi everyone, We've finally settled on some fic review guidelines we'd like to implement here, but we would like to share them with the community and get your feedback. It's important to us that we support our fellow writers in a collaborative space. The best way to do that is to hear your thoughts and incorporate them into our plans and strategies. Once we have finalised our review guidelines, we plan to open up our doors to bring more reviewers on board and really get going properly. We may do this either by creating a Discord server for the team or simply allowing reviewers to submit their work to the blog directly. Regardless, our fanfic community is important to us and we want to do our best to help build a supportive, inspiring and creative environment. But! without further ado, here are the BG3 Fic Review Guidelines as they currently are, listed below the fold. Please feel free to reply on this post, send us an ask, or email me (Aivu) directly should you have any comments or questions. My email address is aivuthedragon[at]gmail[dot]com.

Happy writing!

Aivu 🐉💜 BG3 Fic Reviews, Editor

The BG3FicReviews review guidelines (WIP)

Please note these guidelines are a work in progress, and we may update them as we go depending on questions that arise in the community and among our team members. That said, the goals behind the BG3FicReviews blog will remain largely unchanged, and represent our underlying philosophy as a team. We’ll start there.

What are the goals of the BG3FicReviews blog and its team?

At the moment, we have four main overarching goals: 

Help foster a kind and supportive community for fanfic writers in the BG3 fandom that helps to uplift them/us and their/our work; 

Provide a useful resource for fanfic writers (in the BG3 fandom and more generally);  

Provide a helpful guide for fanfic readers on some of the best, most interesting and most innovative BG3 fanfic currently being published; and

Create a safe space for writers to explore topics of various kinds while also supporting proactive and inclusive tagging.

With these four goals in mind, our objective is not and will never be to unduly criticise an author or write negative reviews. Fanfic authors write for free and because they love to write and share their words with the world. We don’t believe in stifling that passion with negativity. We want to uplift writers and support them to continue doing what they love. 

Review submission guidelines

Here we have some broad questions to help guide a reviewer when reading a given work, as well as what could be included in a review. These are the kinds of questions I (Aivu) ask myself when I write my reviews. 

What are some of the dominant themes of this work?

What is unique about this work? Has a trope been approached in a fresh, innovative way? Or perhaps it’s a very good example of a well-used trope?

Feel free to be creative in your review - just as authors develop their own voice in their writing, you are free to build and develop yours. (Just please keep in mind the four goals of the BG3FicReviews blog when you do.)

Did you have any ‘aha!’ or ‘wow!’ moments when reading this fic? (Note: please be mindful of spoilers, and try to explain such moments in a way that doesn’t spoil the work for potential readers.)

How did you feel while and after reading this work? Did it evoke any particular feelings for you?

Please include a brief list of the most important tags when submitting your review - it will help our readers skip over a review of a fic that might not be to their particular tastes (which is absolutely fine).

Please be aware that we do reserve the right to edit reviews to be in line with our standards and the formatting we use for the blog, but we will provide feedback as much as we can and discuss any revisions with the author of a given review.

What are our future plans for the BG3FicReview blog?

In order to provide more hands-on support to writers, we are currently considering starting a strictly opt-in beta reading programme for fanfic authors. We don’t have a big enough team for this at the moment, but the idea would be that authors submit their work to be beta-read and can ask for help in particular areas of their writing (or their writing generally) to help them feel more confident in their work and with sharing it. Our team is too small at the moment to manage something like this, but as a long-term goal it’s something really important to us.

We are also considering opening a writing and fic review focused Discord, but that really depends on how much interest there is in such a space as there are many excellent BG3-focused writing Discords out there already. We are always open to suggestions from the fanfiction writer (and reader) community about what kind of support and tools could be helpful and useful. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to send us an ask or an email and let us know!

[eco-lite]

Volume 7 babyyy let’s go!

(But CW: sexual assault. I do include some quotes related to the assault here since I was recording my thoughts on it at the time.)

First of all, how gorgeous is this cover art?! They looks so good. This might be my favorite cover so far.

“Even now, twenty years later, I still haven’t found my ‘rightful place’” (6). Okay so we going Richard introspection hours. Love it!

“Prologue”

* Blogger!Seigi omg.

* I guess “Iggy” is pretty close in pronunciation to “Seigi” but it seems wild to call him that lol. Also, who is reading this blog???

* Lotus is Seigi’s favorite flower. Got it.

* I wish the blog posts had a different format or typeface than the main text. That would be really fun and easier to distinguish.

* For fuck’s sake, just call him!

* For real though, it is really easy to sympathize with Seigi’s doubts right now. Being in such a foreign place, just waiting around for things to happen. That would make anyone anxious and doubtful of their choice. “When you had too much time on your hands, your anxieties loomed bigger, like shadow puppets hit by the light” (23). Fr fr.

* Jeffrey is ultra-dramatic and mysterious as usual. This is going to be quite an experience.

“Day 1”

* It’s so wild to me that Seigi thinks Richard would tell him to quit his internship if he’s not settling in well. That’s not how I see Richard at all. Shouldn’t Seigi know that Richard would tell him a long story with a message about perseverance, likely with illusions to Richard’s own life that would fly right over Seigi’s head? Because that’s pretty clearly the standard. As always, Seigi is way too in his head.

* Ah, so the mentorship wasn’t supposed to be like this after all. It’s really cute to see Richard getting so indignant and protective of Seigi like this.

* The rapid shift in Richard’s tone once he thinks Seigi is distracted/being disingenuous gave me fucking whiplash.

* NOT Seigi blocking Richard from view of the staff guy who’s giving interested glances at him. 🫢

* Bro this is crazy. Who is this mysterious other British man? What’s his past with Richard? It’s so bad that Richard is drinking alcohol?? Living for the drama.

“Day 2”

* Richard wearing sunglasses inside? Uh oh, he got fucked up last night.

* Seigi once again defending Richard from the male cruise staff. At least Richard seemed to appreciate it.

* “Richard chuckled when he saw the fraught look on my face. I always thought he sounded a bit like a pigeon when he laughed like that” (77). Wtf why is that adorable?

* Ooh a rare Richard swear!

* Okay so whatever Richard doesn’t want Seigi to see at the jewelry showcase has to do with the darker sides of the world of gemstones. What have you gotten yourself into, Richard?

* I actually feel physically ill. Now it’s very clear why Richard didn’t want Seigi to be here. I didn’t think the “dark” aspects were going to hit quite so close to home. Seigi is focusing only on Karlsbrook because he’s filled with rage, but I really need to get a check in Richard rn please. OKAY SHIT, Richard keeps brushing Karlsbrook’s arm off his waist but he is not getting the hint. What a CREEP.

* This is genuinely so hard to read. I am right there with Seigi, struggling to restrain myself from doing something rash to (metaphorically) destroy this man. And there are so many bystanders doing nothing. God, this is painful.

* “‘I love beautiful things. I want beautiful things. I don’t want anything but beautiful things. And in that respect, nothing could be more desirable to a collector like myself than you’” (98). I’m going to fucking throw up. This is explaining so much about Richard’s trauma around compliments of his beauty. This blatant objectification is vile.

* What the fuck is this Karlsbrook guy’s deal? He clearly would have harassed Richard even if Seigi wasn’t there, but he seemed to do it more gleefully because it was in front of Seigi. What does he know about Seigi and Richard’s relationship? He marveled at the fact that Seigi actually showed up earlier. How did he know that there was a possibility he would? And how does he even know who Seigi is in the first place? This is so fucked up!

* And they’re distantly related?! Bro…

* Okay so if Jeffrey didn’t send Seigi those emails, it was definitely Karlsbrook. Why does he want Seigi there so badly?

* Anddd now he’s being framed for stealing a priceless ring. Okie dokie then.

* “Kindly uncle” is not the vibe I’m getting, my guy. “Stupid, elderly baby doll” is a much more apt description.

* Vince is a great character. He just seems like a nice, chill dude you’d want to hang out with. And I love when a character’s appearance doesn’t match their personality. It gets me every time.

* After Vince goes on a lecture about anime and manga figure 3D modeling: “I cautiously asked Vince if he liked anime and manga, and he politely ignored me. Got it” (151). This guy. What a kuudere.

* This story was just tough. Looking forward to the conclusion tomorrow.

“Day 3”

* Ooh, detective Seigi!

* I’m loving Seigi’s absolute audacity in this one.

* Seigi is so adhd-coded.

* “‘…What happened with that creep?’ ‘Just shut up for a bit.’ ‘Okay’” (190). I love their rapport. 😂

* Richard showing up looking gorgeous to kick ass at poker while subtly roasting the VP is so !! He’s truly serving here.

* “The man presenting his merciless flush of hearts had such a beautiful yet indifferent look in his eyes as he stared intently at the man across from him. ‘Shall we continue?’ (193). So cunty!

* “Richard always had fire in his eyes when he got angry. The melanin in his irises gave their blue a sort of undulating wave pattern, and when I looked at him, I got goosebumps. It made me feel like I’d laid eyes on something no mortal should ever see” (193-194). Seigi is in so deep, bro.

* “‘Thank you, Ricky. Not even Raphael’s Madonna is a match for the beauty of your fingers manipulating those cards. I wish you would use those fingers to toy with me.’ ‘My apologies, I’ve been suffering from some temporary hearing loss and did not catch what you just said.’ After replying with the most refined ‘Like hell I will,’ in history, Richard stepped back and left the two men at the table” (199). 🤮🤮🤮 Karlsbrook is literally a mustache-twirling villain, this is crazy. Great clapback though, Richard. Also, is anybody else so uncomfortable when people call Richard “Ricky?” It feels infantalizing and like such a violation of the image Richard wants to present himself as.

* I just looked up what happened to the Colonel Sanders statue in Dotonbori. Wow… Seigi is not fucking around.

* Why are Vince and Richard having slightly hostile banter right now?? This is hilarious but I feel like I missed something behind the scenes.

* VINCE WAS HIS ASSISTANT????? This is blowing my mind omg.

* AND IT WAS VINCE IN THE BAR THAT FIRST NIGHT??? Wild. Can’t believe Seigi suspected that from hearing his purposefully bad english. Seigi actually is a good detective, and he’s more observant than I give him credit for. How rude to hold out on the readers like that though!

* “‘That was the first time I’d ever felt that strongly that I wasn’t needed somewhere… I’ve never felt such heartache like the moment I realized that I could offer nothing of value to this person who was such a huge presence in my life’” (231). Ouchies. Boy, do I know that feeling. Poor Vince. It’s unfortunate that Vince felt his relationship with Richard was so one-sided. I hope he won’t always be bitter about their relationship. Even if he had said something to Richard back then, I think Richard would have gotten very closed off and defensive, since they didn’t have a super close personal relationship. They’ve both improved in their communication skills since then. And it seems like things are going quite well for Vince now. I wish that funky little guy the best, and I hope he and Seigi end up staying in touch.

* “The beautiful man threw off his jacket about 30 percent more aggressively than normal, rolled up his sleeves, and stood in front of the punching bag. He gave it a fierce one-two punch. Sometimes, humans just get the urge to suddenly practice boxing, and this seemed to be one such time for Richard” (245). I love that we’re getting to see Richard like this. Seigi clearly has seen Richard be more casual around him since he knows how Richard normally takes off his jacket, but I doubt Richard has let Seigi see this side of him before. And I also really relate to getting the urge to “suddenly practice boxing.”

* And then he just leaves looking disheveled?! Bruh. At least stick around to cool off first. 😏

* Thank god the rest of the cruise was peaceful. I’m glad Seigi and Richard got to just hang out after all that drama.

* Ewww Seigi had to endure a hug from Karlsbrook. But I’m so glad that creep got exposed. Hopefully Gargantua actually does good after the investigation into their culture of sexual misconduct.

“Epilogue”

* “But as you might expect if a food for celebrations, it opened with ‘twenty-five eggs,’ so I think I’ll try scaling it down” (251). I just love cute little comments Seigi makes like this. Also very relatable to anybody who follows Pinterest recipes. Who needs to make that much food??

* Richard reads about “unfamiliar grammatical constructions” for fun. This man…

* “There were words that I wanted to say in Japanese and others that felt easier to express in English, but they were both becoming mine. For example, this was something that I wanted to say in Engish. I wish you were here. I wish you were here to eat the food I made. I don’t know if you’ll like it, but I’d be happy if you have it a try. And if I say something ridiculous again, I wouldn’t mind if you got frustrated and scolded me” (263). 😌😌😌 But for real, can we talk about the romance of wanting to tell someone you miss them in their native language?

* Richard being so giddy that he pulled off this prank of showing up unannounced is adorable.

* Seigi’s idea of heaven is sitting in a beautiful garden drinking royal milk tea and eating delicious snacks while talking to Richard. 😌😌😌

* Okayyy and right back into the drama. I guess we’re going to have a teenage girl nemesis now. Not at all what I was expecting. But as always, I’m excited to learn more about Richard’s past!

Although this volume had many tough moments, we actually got a lot of smiley Richard. He seems a lot more comfortable around Seigi than even at the end of the last volume. I’m really looking forward to seeing how their relationship progresses from here. Especially if they’re staying in Sri Lanka together like was suggested at the end of Vol 6!

[poorlydrawndirk]

We're on air.

More precisely, I was on air when I recorded this, but the details are largely irrelevant. Because I don't really feel like covering fuckin' introductory quantum mechanics and telling you exactly how the influence of the Skaian universe, when applied at the quark level and taken alongside the probabilistic effect of quantum behavior, superposes via particle states and results in the formation of what you might refer to as "overlapping timelines". And that's already getting real abecedarian about this shit.

Yeah, sue me. Try boning up on basic physics while you're at it.

So. I'm sure you'd love to hear about how I managed to rig this sick as hell channel-cum-blog up and get it to straddle the space-time continuum like an antediluvian Olympic gymnast doing mad splits over baby's first toy pony, but that ain't the point of this little exercise. Posting what's effectively a vlog is enough of an onanistic venture without adding Skaian Principles For Dummies: Electric Boogaloo to the schedule.

Where was I?

(Rhetorical question. Don't answer, if it needed to be said.)

The name's Dirk.

Strider. Yeah, that Strider.

I'd be more worried about internet safety, but seeing as there are only up to two people alive around here no matter how far you pull my timeline back, and I'm one of 'em, it doesn't exactly compute. Face it, brosephine: you aren't getting to year 24xx post-hilarocaust, and you sure aren't getting past that. Wasn't shat out of a lab yet when you were committing identity theft and scamming doddering old ladies out of their sadsack pensions.

(If you manage to get pizza delivered out here, I'll tip extra.)

Besides, you already knew my name, didn't you?

Maybe your next question's going to be:

"Why are you calling this a vlog when it's obviously just a blog?"

Or maybe,

"Why is your URL poorlydrawndirk when it's totally malapropos?"

Buckle in, kids. Strap yourself into that convertible toddler-safe harness and keep your ass glued tight to all the prime polyester-lined foam, because this ride's about to pull into the station and vehicular standards are some passé 21st century horseshit.

The first thing you have to understand is that even peering upon the brink of these echelons of irony is a skill that you'll never grasp in your life. But that's fine. I'm around. And if it puts your mind at ease,

I'll be the one pulling the strings here.

(There's the tired callback. It's not wrong, but it's tired. Worn out enough for it to be begging you to take it out back behind the shed and put it out of its misery.)

(I'll leave it at that for now, because self-referencing is one thing, but if I get any more meta, I'll have to start narrating in twelve-point Times New Roman.)

Anyway, I'll be breaking it down, just this once. Magnanimous as hell, I know. I could wax poetic and in doing so obfuscate the actual meaning once more from obtuse minds, thereby adding another strata to irony so layered that it's settled past sedimentary and is ready to unearth some fossil formations, but let's be real. That shit would fly over your head so far it'd be trying to dial ground control at Houston.

Here we go.

Vlogs aren't cool; making one ironically is.

Putting in this much effort into making a multiversal vlog makes it cooler, ironically.

Putting in this much effort to make a multiversal vlog when the doomed timelines are all inherently fuckin' doomed, as the name implies, and therefore functionally useless to communicate with, makes it more ironic.

I have Heart powers and am able to achieve my ultimate self through my alpha timeline. Therefore, not only is this pimped-out vlog functionally useless, but I actually don't need it at all.

Which means this wasn't too hard to set up to begin with. Ironic, considering the complex presupposed conditions necessary for bridging that 'verse gap.

And despite framing this as a vlog, this is obviously a blog.

Even though it's just a blog, all these drawings I've made had you convinced that I really thought I was posting a vlog.

And in a way, I'm still making one. It ain't the traditional format, but the almost videographic mannerisms I've been laying on you more than compensate for the fact that the video part of "vlog" doesn't exist.

Except it does, for me.

And because it does, none of these pictures are drawn to begin with. They're all film stills. Screenshots, if you prefer.

Which makes the qualifier of "poorly drawn" untrue.

But it's also almost true, because you can call them poorly drawn by virtue of them not even being drawn. Ride that definition of "poorly" down the one-way rail and you're here, selfie central, population two, me and you.

Of course, that means we have to cover the quandary of truth itself. What constitutes the truth? Titillate that thought for a second.

If I consider the attached files to be selfies, but you consider them to be illustrations, which is it actually?

An analysis of the "truth" means that we have to start delineating how much of this is subjective, tying us in bed with the concept of knowledge. The Socratic take calls for dialectical conversation and inquiry via questioning; therefore, if I just bequeath my knowledge to you on a pretty little metaphorical platter, it won't mean fuckall. So we have to keep digging. Get your pickaxe ready, 'cause we ain't hitting any diamonds of wisdom any time soon.

In fact, maybe that ain't the right direction. Flip it turnways. We gotta climb a li'l higher for what we need.

Maybe we gotta head to the roof.

now. brought cal.

where making this HAPEN.

Haha.

Just fuckin' with you.

Welcome to my blog, dude.

Want water? Imagine I got you a nice, chilled glass.

Let's get this parasocial relationship pumping.

Questions? Concerns? Misguided pseudo-parental queries about whether or not it's safe for your pipsqueak to be exposed to a full dose of radically Stridered bullshit?

Cool.

Make it all three and drop it in the asks, yeah?

[bones-mcjones-incorporated]

can u pls ramble to me about music i lvoe hearing people ramble !! pls ramble !!

!!

ok so. Recently I’ve been kind of obsessed with the culture of covering songs through the 40s-50s-60s, and tracing how songs evolved over time with each successive iteration through different genres and artists. one of my favorite music writers (reviewers? It’s hard to categorize exactly what he does), George Starostin, has a series on his substack blog called “The Life Of A Song”, where he focuses on just that - tracing songs and their development through different covers and reinterpretations over time. He has a really good article on the evolution of “Train Kept A’ Rollin’”, tracing it back all the way through the song’s jump blues roots during the late-40s-early-50s as recorded by Tiny Bradshaw, into the rockabilly era with the version by the Johnny Burnette Trio, into the british invasion era when recorded by the Yardbirds, and then into the 70s hard rock era when Aerosmith covered it. And its so fucking cool just to listen through all of the versions and notice how the song developed over time. 

so because I’m a huge NERD about all of the mid-60s British invasion bands, I’ve recently been doing much of the same “tracing back” on a lot of the music that all those British bands covered. Because most of the early British invasion was based on covers of American pop, R&B, and blues music, it's really easy to trace the influence of certain artists and songs throughout this period. Secondhandsongs.com is like my favorite website right now for just flipping through multiple versions of the same song and tracing them back since it formats it all nice and neatly. And let me tell you - if you ever feel lost or you don’t know where to start when trying to get into pre-Beatles era American pop music, going to any miscellaneous 1963-1965 british invasion album and just tracing back the song credits is legit the most effective and interesting way I’ve found to get into all of this 50s-early-60s music that's mostly been overlooked by our generation when we look back on “old” music. For example, taking the 1963 debut album by Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, “Listen”, (at least, this was their debut UK album - much like the Beatles, The Dakotas’ albums were all cut up and rearranged into entirely different beasts in the US - and as a quick little side note that nobody else but me is going to find at all interesting, this album was actually the band’s only UK album to be released during the band’s entire run. Across the pond, they had three US albums - a situation not unlike most british invasion bands of the era, where more frequent album releases were typically favored in US markets rather than UK markets. But I digress) - where was I? ah, yes - anyway - as I was saying, let’s take Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas’ Listen as an example. It’s a pretty standard-fare Merseybeat album of the era, with the overwhelming majority of the songs being covers, so there’s a lot to work with here. I focus on tracing back the songs to the original artists (or in the case of there being multiple “original” sources of the song, tracing back to the version where the band most likely got their version from), and kind of formatting it into the track listing to keep it nice on the eyes, like so - 

“Dance With Me” (The Drifters)

“Pride” (Brent Edwards)

“I Know” (written for the band by George Martin)

“Yes” (Ben E. King) 

“The Twelfth Of Never” (Johnny Mathis)

“Sugar Babe” (Buster Brown)

“Da Doo Ron Ron” (The Crystals)

“It's Up To You” (Ricky Nelson)

“Great Balls Of Fire” (Jerry Lee Lewis)

“Tell Me Girl” (I honestly don’t know if this is a cover or if it was written for the band. The only credits I can find attribute the song to Norman Smith)

“Anything That's Part Of You” (Elvis Presley)

“Beautiful Dreamer” (Tony Orlando)

“Still Waters Run Deep” (Brook Benton)

“I Call Your Name” (written for the band by Lennon/McCartney)

I embedded the links so that you can click on the name of the song to listen to Billy & the gang’s cover of the song, and then linked the original versions of the songs for ease of access for comparison. Anyway, a lot of information can be gathered about Mr. Kramer (anyone else getting visions of Seinfeld?) just by looking at the information like this and noting the kind of artists that he was covering. Even before listening to the album, you can tell just from the track listing and the kind of people that he’s covering that the material is largely slanted in favor of ballads and the softer sides of early 60s pop. Billy’s own niche was something of the Elvis-style romantic crooner of the British invasion (even if he hardly had the vocal talent to even come close to upstaging his idols. But that’s a tangent for another time), and this is evident just from the people that he’s covering on this album - Johnny Mathis, Elvis Presley, Ben E. King - he only really gets into rocking-mode on a small handful of songs like Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls Of Fire” and Buster Brown’s “Sugar Babe” (where he arguably turns the most searing performance of his entire career - nowhere else in the band’s short discography can you hear the Dakotas kicking up as much dirt or Billy shredding his vocal chords quite like this one song, even if it sounds comparatively tame to his contemporaries on the Merseybeat scene, forget even the R&B scene in London). When framing the album this way and taking into account not only the interpretation of the material, but the origins of the material itself, it helps to give a more wholesome picture of the band’s artistic identity and influences by the kind of people that they were covering.

And it also becomes a good exercise in broadening my own musical tastes - had I not decided to take a look back at where these songs came from, I would’ve never discovered Brook Benton or had the chance to learn about the long colorful history of “Beautiful Dreamer”, a song that dates back to the mid-19th century. It’s insights like these that make me cherish all of these relatively obscure records british invasion records of the era - not only because I’m a slut for hot english guys with matching suits and floppy haircuts singing cheeky love songs (guilty as charged), but because it leads me down these other related endless rabbit holes that bring me to other music that I may never have heard of or been able to appreciate in light of the covers. 

Someday when I have the time I want to try and go through more early British invasion albums and notate them up like above, and hopefully provide even more comprehensive descriptions of where the songs came from, who-covered-who, etc etc… so that I can form almost something of a database for understanding the great musical and cultural exchange of American music of the late 50s-early-60s and how it mutated when picked up by British bands and exported back to the American record-buying public. Which I would spend all my time on right here right now but unfortunately school is a Thing That Exists and I have a degree to earn right now so I don’t have time for HyperIntensive Autistic Research (HIAR) right now :( :(

anyway. I appreciate asks like this so much because it gives me an excuse to infodump and be as pretentiously encyclopedic as I want (har har har) so I hope this was at least interesting to somebody else other than me!

[namedhope]

NAMEDHOPE. independent, private, and selective hope from epic games' fortnite. no knowledge or interest in the game required for interaction. think of her like an original character! extremely crossover friendly. written by kylie/sushi. 30+ years old, female. dash only.

featuring daigo as a side muse for fortnite canon characters only ( or at least amber and mizzy's fn muses ). no about for him presently due to his restrictions, but might make one when season four is out.

exclusive with @lcstwarricr ( kendo ) and @cursedguardian ( jade ) but otherwise does not practice exclusivity. connected to @lcstwarricr & @storybounded & @allnostalgic & @cursedguardian & @honorforged & more tba

ABOUT & VERSES.

a tl;dr of her about and this blog/interacting.

rules below cut.

my speed is highly sporadic. i can be on top of things or i'm running off the queue and barely seen. i work a full time job and participate in multiple sports, my schedule and activity levels fluctuate heavily. i also ( somewhat ) balance three other blogs alongside this one.

let me know if my formatting is too much. i just like to do it and it's habit now, but i won't die on this hill at all.

i do not fill out interest checkers. if i follow you, i am willing to extend the desire to learn about your muses and interact with anyone we deem to be exciting to meet. i'm not here to be picky, i'm here to explore all manner of muses and possibilities.

i do not write smut. if i do, it's generally off tumblr. i like focusing on emotions more so than the actions, thus i most likely will defer to fade to blacks. it's just a personal preference thing, nothing serious. no mind to fellow muns who partake, though if it spams your blog frequently, i'll be less inclined to follow.

other more sensitive topics i am usually open to. while i won't write things like r.ape or p.edophilia, i can handle it being referenced/mentioned for backstories or the like, and i don't have issue with blood, gore, trauma, etc. will do my best to tag all things that are appropriate.

standard rp etiquette.  So no straight up godmodding/power play.  there are some cases where it can be tolerated, such as our characters getting from point a to point b, but do not ever control thoughts or major actions.

multifandom, oc friendly, don't reblog asks... yatta yatta.

being that i'm over thirty, i generally prefer my partners be twenty one plus. but eighteen plus can be allowed. i cuss a fair amount in text on occasion and refer to drinking, adulthood, etc. so it's just more of a comfort thing.

other blogs: @streetslost @starsweepers @bloodcrave

[b0nefather]

𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐋  𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃  !!  an independent , selective , and private writing blog for EMMRICH VOLKARIN of bioware's dragon age : the veilguard , lovingly  portrayed  by  bean & est. march 2025.  multiverse  &  multiship. mature  themes  present  ;  MINORS  DNI.  blog  is  low-to-moderate  activity  operating  on  pacific  standard  time .

iconless & dash only. rules can be found under the cut !!

walking  the  graves  with  :  @bhaal1st , @divinafatum , @dirthenasalin , @elfbled , @malaeficar , @ohleiohlai , @omniterror , @rookedcrow , @selunaris , @tenderthreats , @veilblade

blog roll : @powerfought // @boysofprogress // @zaun1ted

an exploration in : death , dying , and one's own mortality / honor in life and death / whimsical adventure / academic fervor and rivalry / unfettered passion / education , mentorship , and guidance / found family / facing one's fears head-on / love and romance in the golden years /

dash icon & psd . banners & psd . promo .

guidelines

01.     this is an independent, selective, and private writing blog. my portrayal will primarily mirror canon, but i will also implement headcanon as i see fit. i am not an expert in dragon age and its lore. what alterations i make are made are largely up to my own discretion, interpretation, and comfort with certain themes present in certain characters’ stories. if these changes at all bother you, i understand. do what you need to do to ensure your safety and well-being!

02.     this blog will only interact with muns over the age of 20. as i am 25+ years of age, i prefer not to interact with anyone younger than this. minors who follow this blog will be blocked on sight. if i find out you have lied about your age to gain access to this blog, i will also block you. NO EXCEPTIONS. not only is it potentially illegal, but it’s immoral and inappropriate.

           on the topic of mature themes, i heavily prefer FADE TO BLACK in the case of smut. i enjoy banter, but excessive sexual content sometimes makes me uncofortable. i may author smut in detail if it is critical to the development of a plot or dynamic, but otherwise you can expect me to skip to the aftermath.

03.     triggers of all kinds will be present on this blog. while i will always do my best to tag them, i may miss them from time to time. i deeply apologize if this occurs, but please just give me a gentle nudge and i will be sure to rectify it immediately! trigger tags will be formatted as following:

                                          tw: trigger name

           the only trigger that i ask mutuals tag if possible is spiders.

04.     this is the generic mun =/= muse rule. i am not the muses i write, nor do i always condone their actions, attitudes, or beliefs. the world these characters live in can oftentimes be just as cutthroat and cruel as our own. particular versions of these muses may be manipulative, crude, and at times straight up unlikable. if any aspect makes you uncomfortable, please feel free to block and move on. again, your comfort and well-being is paramount, and there will be no hurt feelings here for that.

           that being said, there are several themes i will NEVER write in graphic detail, though there may be instances where they become part of my muse's backstory. these include but are not limited to: any type of sexual assault or aggression; any form of abuse; excessive gore/torture; discrimination of any type.

05.     i am easy to interact with. crossovers, ocs, and duplicates are welcome! asks are my preferred way to start interactions. it is encouraged to make ask replies threads on this blog; please just do your best to move it to a fresh post! i do lightly format my posts, with slight bold / italicizing and colored text for emphasis. please let me know if this disrupts your ability to read our threads and i will happily adjust this! i am also always more than happy to plot. my discord is available to mutuals upon request, either for plotting, writing, or just sharing our love for common interests!

06.     full disclosure: i know very little about dragon age and its lore. veilguard has become something of a fixed special interest over the past several weeks or so as well, so i’m still learning and figuring it all out! you are welcome to link me to information you think i might find pertinent or infodump about the wider universe. but please, do not tell me how i should or should not write my muses. i’m here for a good time and will write the way that makes me happiest, and give everyone in my space the same respect. attempting to tell me how to write my muses is grounds for a block.

07.     i love ships. ships of all kinds. let all the ships sail. besties, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, slowburn, soul mates, hateships, mortal enemies … give them all. that said, this is not a space for ship wars or unnecessary, unfounded hate for ships (i.e. hating a canon ship because it gets in the way of your headcanon ship). please save that for your like-minded friends.

[dashisims]

Hi!!! I just stumbled across your blog and saw the sunblind installer for Mac!!! TYSM for this!! I Downloaded it immediately. I just want to make sure I'm doing it correctly. Do you have a quick demo video of you installing it on a Mac??

I don't have a demo, I'm sorry. I haven't even got around to making the download post for it on Tumblr yet. But it's very easy, just a few commands on the Terminal that you copy paste. Possibly the only thing people might struggle with is formatting the paths if they differ from mine (but I think I have a pretty standard installation so it shouldn't be an issue) - I am of course happy to help with this! And any specific feedback will help me make it better too!

Once you run the script, you will get messages in Terminal that files are either being replaced or being skipped where you don't have the relevant packs. E.g. if you don't have EP04 it will tell you "Skipping: $MOD_PATH or $GAME_PATH does not exist." - this is just to let you know that the script didn't try to inject modded files where there is no game folder to put them in. You can ignore this, everything will install correctly.

However, if it's skipping everything then it couldn't find the folders and you need to check your paths for errors - it will either be a wrong path or wrong formatting. In this case, I would need to know more about your setup to help!

[esther-lu-writes]

Notes from the Author

New Fic in the Works!

I'm hammering out some ideas for a new fic. I really want to try writing in the first person and experiment in shorter forms. If you've been reading my work (thank you!) then you'll know I'm a bit long-winded. 🌬️

There's more to it than that. I also want to break out from world-building and the weight of bigger narratives. I'll definitely still keep up with my fic! I just want to play around and let loose. The kicker is this will be in formatted like a journal and feature a fictitious version of myself. My working title is "Mile Past Glade Hollow." I guess, stay tuned for that! 📻

Forms & Shadows

This will continue... I have a lot of ideas for the characters (and a few more to introduce!) I think I will build out a reference sheet for this world. If nothing else, it will help me remember what's going on. 😸

The main thing I wanted to say is things will be heating up between some of my characters. It's definitely going to feel a little more like kink sometimes. I'll probably venture into the companion areas of t-word activities- like bondage and, um, spanking. 🙈

But it will still be written pretty PG-13 style. It certainly won't look like erotica. I've never really enjoyed blatant porno-style writing (absolutely no shame if you do!). So yeah, not really explicit but more steamy than my standard fare... I'll definitely use a special tag for it. And it won't be all the time too! Just spreading my little kinkster wings. 🦇

Random Ish

I'll probably start peppering in some more stray thoughts and current brainrot too on this here blog. 🧠

For instance, I've been rewatching the Monk TV series. It's silly but I love it. Anyways, there was a quick throw away scene where Natalie tweaks Mr. Monk's sides. He tells her not to do that and she stops (yay, boundaries!). It was really less of a tickle than it was a goose, but well... maybe you relate to how certain things stay with you. 👀

I very much love the character Captain Stottlemeyer. He's such a perfect cop (great casting) and is ruggedly handsome (can't get over that mustache!). And I adore how he is simultaneously so protective yet endlessly frustrated with Mr. Monk. I'm not convinced it would be in the spirit of the show, but I can't help putting those two together and imagine how the stern captain could administer some gentle tickles to help ground the nervous detective. 🥰

Oh, and in this world, the Captain would be the more ticklish one... like, doubling over, on the floor laughing, grumpy you're getting the best of him, refusing to admit he's adorable. 💕 And can you imagine how thorough Mr. Monk would be as a Ler?? Making each side even?! Using a scrub brush! Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. 🫣

[samsblades]

hii mari i love your writing. i wanna get into writing and start writing more, do you have any tips? 🥺 ty in advance

hi darling!! thank you so much for loving my writing!! here's an old post from my prev blog with some tips about emotions in writing that someone asked about before in case that interests you, here's some more general tips for writing/getting into writing!! i blab a lot heh

the biggest one for me is to not force myself to write if it's stressing me out/or no fun at all. there will always be moments that are maybe a little hard/stressful/annoying and not as much fun, and usually they can be something that you can push through to make it to the other side and start or finish a fic or whatever it is that you're writing! but i've learned from experience that i should just stop writing if it's genuinely stressful or unpleasant overall, because that can happen sometimes! for me personally, that's a sign to step back and come back later (maybe way later! i've gone months and months without writing a fic in the past).

and in the same vein, the whole point of writing for me is having fun and engaging in something creative! it does require hard work and thinking, but i think that can be part of the fun and makes satisfying when you come up with a final product.

especially in fanfiction, try your hardest not to be concerned with any sort of perfection!! your job isn't to write something perfect or even "good", it's to write something that you want to!! it doesn't matter if it's bad at first. my first few years of fanfiction were frankly horrendous according to my current standards LOL. the act of writing, no matter the product, is the most important thing you can do! and it's the only way you'll get somewhere that you like or are satisfied. i've been writing for seven years heh, it will take time! and that's okay :)

be kind and patient with yourself!!!!

if there's some sort of story forming in your head or something inspiring you, just go for it!! start writing it, maybe in the middle of a scene, or start with an outline!

outlines help me a lot when i'm stuck because i can at least know that i'm trying to get from point a to point b. and they help me stop overthinking things. sometimes i get stuck in trying to get the vision in my head straight into fic format (prose) that sounds nice and makes sense! so making a very casual bullet point outline is what works best for me if i don't have enough direction to just go for it! some blurbs i often just go for it, but anything longer, i like a little guide so i know the direction i generally wanna take it! and outlines can be changed or discarded! it's just a starting point or a guideline to help you along. outlines may or may not help you, but they definitely help!

other things you can do when you're stuck is build a playlist or pinterest board (could be super tiny) for the vibes you're thinking about! usually these only happen for me for long fics. or you could sort of just word vomit random things into a doc or a physical page. these sort of things can help spark inspiration. the biggest thing is to start somewhere i think!

and you can always ask others for help or advice on anything!! let me know if you have any more sort of specific questions or something you want tips about!! i weirdly really like giving writing tips even though i have no idea how helpful it is to other people LOLLL and that's another thing that comes with time! figuring out what methods and all that works best for you!

[poirott]

your gifs look so good! but they're a little slow. have you tried speeding them up to 0.05? when you save them from the video timeline window they actually save at 0.07. they'll be even faster sped up a little! anyways, love your blog, definitely a legendary one. xx

Hi! Thank you for the compliments! The frame animation sequences are slower in my gifs on purpose for three reasons: personal preference, for effect and because I've never liked fast-running gifs. :) When giffing a moment from a tv show/movie/celeb appearance I really enjoy (Poirot and other crime shows, the Branagh Poirot trilogy, a Benedict appearance at an event, cast at movie premieres, etc), I prefer 0.08 or 0.07 than 0.06 or 0.05 speed across the board.

I know a lot of gif makers use 0.06 as some sort of "standard" on this site but it honestly comes down to personal choice and style. 0.06 may not suit every scene in every show, and 0.05 can look distracting given its speed, again, depending on the scene. You know how sometimes a fast, busy gif has to loop several times before you can tell what's going on in it?

It's easier for me to take in more details in a gif, like the costumes, sets, cinematograpy, facial expressions, characters' emotions, etc, when said gif is slowed down a bit. Otherwise it can be too quick and "jerky" (like a shaky camera effect) for me to enjoy, similar to those short 5 or 10 or 20-frame sequences in tv/movie trailers that just breeze by because they have too few frames. Once they're slowed down in gif form, you can appreciate them to the full extent.

These B-roll footage gifs of A Haunting in Venice are at 0.07 and 0.08 to fully enjoy the on-location filming moments and behind the scenes footage of Branagh's Poirot. They are slowed down for effect to show off the stunts. Especially when a gif has two action-packed sequences in it, if it runs slower, it's not as headache-y and busy to look at when it's switching from sequence A to sequence B. Some are also pretty dark due to spooky lighting on the sets and your eyes need more time to adjust to take everything in. Trust me, I spend a lot of time deciding what the best speed is for each gif. But most of my gifs are still faster than these.

The following Poirot gif from this gif set is one of my slowest at 0.08 speed, for effect because the point was to focus on Poirot's pleased expression, he looks very sweet tipping his hat at the lady, not expecting a kiss from her for solving the case:

With the gif sped up to 0.05, I don't think you can catch all the minute details:

It's just how I personally like my gifs. Most of the time they're 0.07, and 0.08 on occasion. The slower speed lets them "marinate" more. Especially with tumblr's large format HD gifs nowadays, it's fun having such a big canvas to play with and the chance to observe every detail in a frame, when I didn't even notice it at the cinema or when watching the show originally.

Cheers!

[illleavemymessageinmysong]

“Demons Dance’? Lord knows what that’s about!…”

I get a feeling that Paul keeps tracks with some of his most personal lyrics away from centre stage: released as bonus tracks on separate editions of albums, as additional tracks on various formats. This goes back to ‘Same Love’, a track written in 1987 but only released as a b-side of the 1997 single ‘Beautiful Night’. A track so glorious that, by any rational standards, it should have been front and centre of an album release.

The usual proviso applies that the lyrics might just be words to go with a tune but, really? The song deals with thoughts of rekindling a past love, with all the complications and uncertainties that would go with that. “Though it may not be as good as new, well, still, it must be better than the pain that I went through”. Listen to how he sings the word “pain”. If he’s not being real there, he’s a much better actor than he’s given credit for.

But what about a few of his by the way tracks from more recent times? Let’s look at ‘Demons Dance’ and ‘Struggle’.

‘Demons Dance’ was recorded during the sessions for ‘New’ but was only released in October 2014 as part of the Collector’s Edition of New. The Paul McCartney Project blog tells us that during his Twitter Q&A on October 30 2014, Paul was asked what was the meaning of ‘Demons Dance’ and what inspired it. He swiftly batted that away with “Demons Dance’? Lord knows what that’s about!” Well, quite. None of the regular tactic of saying that the lyrics have no particular meaning.

The song’s narrator has a desire for a connection with someone, and the feelings that go with this are so strong he likens them to his personal demons. This goes deep. Only by connecting with this person, can he get peace of mind.

“I can't wait much longer 'til you tell me baby, there’s some chance we'll get together maybe, sooner or later I'll be in with half a chance”

This has been a long term feeling and he’s desperate for some message of reciprocation. Only that can ‘exorcise’ his demons. The guy’s got it bad. “Girl I want you to do it, I’ve been waiting so long”. Yep, this goes way back.

Do you write lyrics as intense as this if you don’t really feel them? I’m going with nope.

What about ‘Struggle’, first released on the Japanese version of ‘New’? This one doesn’t hang about getting to the point: “ Want to get you in my heart again, want to love you once more”, it begins. It sounds like the same narrator we heard in ‘Demons Dance’. Again, and even more explicitly, this is addressed to someone the narrator used to be with.

“If you wanna love, if you wanna fight, it doesn’t really matter, I want you tonight”. So maybe this past relationship had its ups and downs, was a bit volatile. “I can think of something when I get you home tonight”, he adds. See previous post for the possible importance of “home tonight”, a phrase that turns up in five Macca songs.

“It’s the same old story, it’s happening again”, he declares. This longing is something that has been a feature through the years for the narrator. It has peak periods of intensity.

“Anytime you want me, I’m not hard to find”. This person is out of his current orbit but could contact him easily enough.

“We can work it out together, we'll get through this somehow”. Yeah, we can work it out…..

It ends with “It's the same old story, it's happening again. Life’s eternal struggle”. It may ebb and flow but this feeling isn’t going away.

Jumping ahead to tracks from the Egypt Station sessions, we’ve previously had a look at ‘Get Enough’. One of his most emotionally raw lyrics. Snuck out on streaming platforms as the clock struck 12 at New Year 2019.

Then there’s ‘Sixty Second Street’, released on subsequent editions of ‘Egypt Station’. Set to a pretty tune, this is a lighter take than the other tracks we’ve looked at but, again, describes a desire to connect with someone. Our narrator wants to meet up with this person, just a minute of their time is all he needs. Mind you, he then suggests they “grab a bite”, so maybe a bit longer. A lighter take, yes, but meeting up with this person would make his life complete, so it’s a big deal.

A recurring theme going on here, I reckon.