#still not quite sure what i thought of that book overall tho

[daughterofhecata]

Cotta hat Freunde! 😄

[eggdrawsthings]

Hi! I wanted to ask a question and I wasn’t sure if it was too personal or not so just ignore this is you’d rather not answer, but I was wondering if you went to art school or got a degree in it? I really want to start learning and maybe one day start a career in animation and wasn’t sure whether I should spend time and resources getting a degree. I know it’s going to be different for everybody and nothings a guarantee for this field but since I love your style and technical skill I was curious whether you had done that and what were your thoughts on it or if you are self-taught.

Hey anon! No worries it's all good!

Ig I should quickly go through my art journey so you can have an overall look of why I went to art school lol.

So I'm from Vietnam. I think back in 2013 I went to a small art school in Singapore (they were the only one that gave me a scholarship). My major was 3D modeling actually, but during my final year, I realized I only wanted to draw characters for animation. I could already draw decently, so I just read The Silver Way book and built a character design portfolio on my own during this time. I was lucky I got a job as a concept artist at a small animation studio there so I learned a lot from the job. I also did a lot of self-learning and took Woulter Tulp's Expressive Character class on Schoolism.

Then after 3-ish years of working, I got sick of the tiny and dying animation industry in Singapore. I wanna do sth more than just preschool shows and I was severely underpaid lmao. So I quit my job and took the MA VisDev program at AAU. It's a little more affordable cuz u can do 1 year online and the second year on-site. The reason I went to this school even tho i could just take a VisDev class online was cuz i need the visa so i can try to break into the industry in the US.

Now back to your question. Is art school a must? No. Should you still take it? Maybe, depends on your situation. If you can afford it then hell yeah by all means. Art school is great cuz you have professors and peers to help guide you along the way so you won't get lost while trying to figure out your shit. And to have a few years just experimenting and focusing on art is a great experience. Plus you can make a lot of meaningful connections in school and it will help you a long way after you grad. But if you have to go into debt to go to art school, then don't. There are places like Schoolism, CGMA, and Warrior Art Camp where you can pick what class and from whom you wanna learn. If you are not from the US and wanna break into the industry here like me however, then yeah getting a degree is a better bet cuz you can use the student visa and OPT to hopefully get a job here (it's still very very hard tho ngl im struggling rn as we speak lmao). Also, you need a BA to work overseas so there's that too. The hard truth is studios prefer to hire locally than some rando from somewhere else and have to wait for them to relocate and shit, (unless you are exceptionally good and they'd do anything to have you, but that is super rare lol).

Even though I did go to art school, I have to say most of my skills are from self-study. It requires a lot of self-discipline but I'm pretty much obsessed with drawing and I draw everyday so it's not a problem for me. But my friend is not good at that, so she found art school/classes helped her better cuz there are deadlines and instructors to help guide her to reach her goal. So it depends on your learning style tbh.

There is this chart that can help you consider your options. Im sorry it's a very long answer, cuz yes everyone's experience is different. Feel free to drop me another ask if you still have anymore questions tho ^^

Edit: I must also add, though there are online classes and ways to self-learn animation,I do think it only truly benefit you if you know exactly what you wanna do in this industry (for example I already knew i wanna become a character designer for 2d/3D animation specifically so any books/classes i took I tailored it to fit my goal). If you are unsure what you wanna do, then maybe even a cheap animation course will do better, and then you can take extra online classes on the side.

[arthuluart]

Hiii - wanted to say first thing first I love your art style, it's so dynamic and fun and those color palettes? Stunning ^^

And second thing second, just some food for thought if you ever want to get angsty about Jerry and Dean, coffee by Chappell Roan sounds like it was written about their break up specifically and I can't stop thinking abt it dndnden

*Cue me losing my mind*

Hiii- they say flattery gets you everywhere and turns out with me, it gets you animatics- jkjk but I do appreciate the kind comments ^^

I’ll put up the animatic separately and take the opportunity to leave the preamble here to keep the video post neat bc until someone tells me to shut up and just post art- I’m gonna ramble… So here’s the commentary you didn’t ask for along with my favourite panels:

First off- You turned me into a big time Chappell Roan listener which is great bc I need music recs to fix my listening habits before Spotify wrapped drops. My roundup last year was shameful… Red Wine Supernova is my new dish washing song.

Even tho it’s not the song’s vibe I kept the content as silly as I could for my own sanity. I don’t love getting too deep into the serious/sad side of M+L for a few reasons but I do find it all very interesting. Point being this song was too good to pass up doing something a bit bigger for.

Ngl tho- this did have me pulling out hair at multiple points. I never colour animatics, rarely even tone them- but you mentioned colour palettes and I was determined to deliver so pardon the messy colouring but (that was the tradeoff) I did not have it in me to stay in the lines. I’m choosing to be kind to myself and opt to call it an artistic choice and not midway burnout. And nothing was gonna get me to open after effects/premiere not even the janky ass golf ball OML this only makes sense if u watch the video.

There are parts of this I’m SO happy with and others I hate. I think it’s really obvious which sections I started losing steam on but overall I lowkey like the end product. Nothing I make will ever be good/perfect- this was one hell of a practice in accepting that lmao- but I can still be ok with the work problems and all yknow? I very nearly shelved this completely bc I got so worked up about the maybe 5 panels I dislike out of 106 total. Counting them was eye opening to ask myself: you’re gonna let that small a ratio stop you from sharing this after putting in days and days of effort? The insecurity goes deep and TBH getting asks has been a nice way of working through it since I post the art I make for answers no matter what only bc I KNOW someone out there wants to see it. It might not sound it but it’s actually quite positive.

Also, although I feel I’ve done my fair share of reading, I’m no expert. So if anything is really off point- sorry my bad (I won’t fix it tho bc I cannot physically stand to look at this another second lol)

I tried to stick to real things found in articles/books/photos/interviews etc bc outside of obviously fictional AUs I’m not super into making stuff up about them (and who needs to I mean the legit stuff is already insane enough) Sure I framed the events in specific ways to suit the song and some aspects are fictionalized (mainly bc the referenced written accounts lacked detail to draw 100% faithfully from anyhow) but otherwise I got my sources cited.

ANYWAYS… sorry for hijacking this answer I need to learn to chill out. Irl I’m a pretty reserved talker so you can tell I’m in a comfy place when I let loose and blather on endlessly lmao brevity is not a skill I possess.

You were probably expecting illustrations or smth but I hope what I came up with is still somewhat alright AND please don’t let my complaining fool you, I genuinely loved making this.

One FINAL Relevant Note: the line “nowhere else is safe every place leads back to your place” is gut wrenching. You’re so right about this song perfectly describing the break up. They always came back to each other and there’s something so devastating about that kind of haunting human connection.

OkAY I’m done promise- I thought I’d implode if I didn’t get all that out

[vryfmi]

talk shop tuesday!!!! I love love LOVED your piece for the tea toast & ghosts zine – what was your experience in planning and creating it? was it a challenge to combine both art and writing, and did your art influence your writing or vice versa? I'd love to hear about your thought process in the creation of that really cool piece :D

thank you so much! it's really nice to hear especially since it's my first posted writing!

if im being honest i wanted to write an article from the very beginning, it was the overall idea that was ever changing but eventually i found it. since TTG zine's topic was your favourite thing about l&co, and i had no idea how to incorporate skullyle and it was too much work to come up with technical parts of ghost-lamps (tho i did dive deep into street lights' wiring at one point), i figured i'd stick to my favourite thing of all - worldbuilding and dark stuff!

The Idea™, at first, was to come up with a few cases and illustrate them, but the longer i rotated those the more i didn't like the prospect of making something separate and not rooted into canon. so i skimmed through the books while looking for any mentions of Fittes and Rotwell cases, since back then i already decided to use the Mud Lane Phantom's story. the other two i took are from TSS and THB and they were vague enough to be able to lengthen them to an article entry.

i outlined ideas first, what themes i wanted to convey, what i wanted to put out there for fans and how these cases would've work with each other. from the that point i started drawing the illustrations. quite a backwards process. and it all sounds good on paper but in reality irl struggles really weren't making me any favours and i wasn't meeting deadlines at all, but mods team was patient and understanding with me, they are literally the best!

for Mud Lane i went for slight mockery of pioneers because, well, yeah. there was quite a lot of made up lore that i decided to cast aside (like what if "today" at the crossroad there's a statue of Fittes and Rotwell? a museum? a tourist attraction? a gift shop?). overall im just really proud of illustration that i did, i should draw more of Marissa and Tom at some point.

fun fact and easter egg of sorts: Marissa's pose was supposed to be an homage to first poster of the series and the way Lucy stands in it! i think it got lost along the way as i changed the pose but i think it's still readable enough. i love drawing parallels between the two (:

[id: a side by side of Marissa in illustration, where she's holding her lantern with her right hand and looking beyond the viewer, and Lucy from the first Netflix' poster, where she stands in a simillar manner but points with her rapier at something out of view./end id]

picking one case set 50 years before the others ment that i'd have to contrast them, draw a parallel and make them work against each other to bring up the best and the worst. The Shoreditch one was, admittedly, more of that coming up with something that wasn't there in the first place. first book only mentioned patrols and i latched onto them. (plus i was drafting it at around the same time as l&co bigbang came out and i was massively inspired by my teammates work which incorporated those patrols but in metro tunnels. great case-fic btw). mainly i went for darker aspects of agent's work there, thinking that to fit in sewers the team would've been of smaller children, and that Kipps (yeah, he's there in illustration) would be as close to them as possible, unlike other inspectors we are used to seeing.

Holland Park Hounds was the one that i was the most excited for because wdym we as a fandom don't talk about possible animal-ghosts?? sure, it could've been Changer(s) but is it really? plus how badass of Holly to be part of it AND it was famous enough that Lucy knew of it as well!

Holly Munro pushed a stray hair or two behind her ear. ‘Well, I’ve seen some things. I was there in the Holland Park Cellar case, when our party got blockaded underground by those seven spectral dogs. It was quite a tight spot. And after that—’ ‘I heard about Holland Park, Holly, and I can tell you the thing that makes the bloody footprints is ten times worse. I’m only saying. I don’t want to frighten you. I just wouldn’t want you to get hurt.’ (THB)

innitially i wanted to do something about a horse-phantom that was mentioned somewhere but for the life of me i couldn't find it in books, so i'll leave it for my next reread. but this case has so much more ties to the main gang and especially Holly herself. i really wanted to draw a picture of her and her team after the case but no composition really worked so i kept it to park's plan (my urban planer friend said it looked good even). plus giving a plan and thorough haunting information somehow felt very Rotwell to me.

aaand i think that's it! not much to say for back cover only that my friend really disliked my choice of comic sans for one of the adverts. and that i wanted to make it gritty, as if its a wall right around the corner of the Fittes ball court.

[iwanttofuckereh69]

now reading: 2ha vol 3

i finished it yesterday yay!

1. SHI MEI HAS WATER ELEMENT. I KNEW IT. I love it how it is kinda easy to miss, because Mo Ran doesn't mention it right away. It is said only several chapters later and probably if i werent making these posts and i wouldn't pay attention, it could easily fly over my head. But like... I still don't think that person at the end of vol 2 was Shi Mei. Would he really get reborn just to get that dick xD Given that the person really was reborn. Idk idk.

2. if you thought Shi Mei was my most problematic fave, im here to tell you i also adore Rong Jiu :))) I was interested in the bitch since the beginning but i didnt know he would show up again! And i was really sad when it turned out he died. And then i was even more sad because his story is ehhh AND THEN i checked out him in the manhua and he is so Jut Lung (banana fish) coded. No wonder i love him. But also he is so awful and annoying oh god. I still hope he will show up again to stir up some drama

3. and tbh shi mei annoyed me a bit. Bestie, fishing for Mo Ran's attention while CWN quite literally died and MR is obviously not well? And then he was weird in that scene with the soul catching lanterns, he never really said he is ready to go after CWN like the others and i was convinced he's gonna drop that lantern after all. Now tell me, am i just noticing it now and he was always weird or does it only start to show up in the later chapters?

3. CHU WANNING MADE WONTONS

its pretty surprising given his absolute failure at cooking the cabbage tofu something because the result would make Xie Lian proud. Like i said in the other post tho: "now i want to know if shi mei was deliberately doing all the other things to make mo ran fall for him or was he just there chilling and the guy just fell for him out of nowhere and misinterpreted everything like he does".

ALSO OH SHIT now it makes sense Shi Mei didn't make him wontons after CWN died. When I read that i was like huh, why not wontons, that would surely cheer him up more, but i totally ignored that thinking nothing of it. And literally only writing this post i realized. Makes me wonder how many other details i missed that paint the bigger picture. Ahhh i just love when books do that.

4. speaking of not thinking: i didn't realize before that Mo Ran's mom was courtesan. I don't know why, i really don't.

5. overall there is more questions than there is answers. At least its now clear what happened in Mo Ran's previous lifetime and why CWN couldn't save Shi Mei. But why the events are so different now? AND WILL IT REALLY TAKE CWN 5 YEARS TO COME BACK

[artistic-intrxvert]

TBHK characters reacting to you cutting your hair (ftm!reader implied but you can imagine it how you would like)

I left out Aoi Akane (girl) since I didn't feel like writing for he but when I (eventually) open requests again and you guys want Aoi's reaction, let me know :)

Warnings: Mentions of dysphoria, I think that’s it? (Slight angst perhaps? There's fluff to it as well don't worry)

Definitely NOT proofread. You're welcome✨💅

-

Hanako

I feel like Hanako would have a few different reactions depending how short you cut it

For writing purposes, let's say that you get your first FTM haircut (again, you may imagine it how you would like, I'm doing FTM because there ain't a lot of those out there)

Boy would be

Shocked

To say the least

He'd need you to explain to him what exactly being trans means-

It'd take him a moment but then he'd understand...for the most part

He really likes your new haircut because then he can scruff it up a bit like an old man would do to his grandson

If anyone ever said something transphobic or you ever felt dysphoric, he'd be there ready to either kick the other person's ass or your dysphoria's

Overall very supportive but might mess up every once in a while (he's trying and that's all that matters <3)

Nene

She'd be quite shocked to say the least

She'd be very supportive tho!

She'd ask to mess with it if you felt comfortable with that, maybe and to see if you will let her try different styles for it (depending on how short you cut it)

100% respectful of your pronouns and name of you'd want her to refer to you as such

If anyone says something transphobic to you or your having a tough time...let's not forget her ass whooping from vol. 0... as for your dysphoria, she'd make sure you refer to you with more masculine terms to make you feel yourself that day.

Example: "You look so handsome today, (Name)! Did you style your hair differently? Looks very masculine!"

Overall very, VERY supportive and there to kick anyone's ass if she needs to

Kou

SUPPORTIVE. KOU.

(I love this man sm-)

Kou would probably be super busy around you at first, thinking your haircut looks really good on you

If you go by a different set of name(s) or pronouns, he will easily adapt and will make sure others respect you too

If someone is being an asshole about it, he will most certainly stand up for you and might even threaten to get the student council president involved (Teru here the sage the day-)

If you feel dysphoric, he's there to talk to you and just overall be there to help make you feel better

(i have a feeling he'd make donuts with your pride flags in icing on them ougjfahghgou)

Doesn't mess up once (okay maybe once or twice) and is there for you all the way

Tsukasa

Alright listen-

He deadass thought someone shaved your head in the hallway or smth- 💀

You had to explain you got your hair cut and that you use a different name and set of pronouns and all that jazz

He'd just kinda be like "ok. Nice.😀 . . .give me attention"

He'd still cling to you as normal and he surprisingly doesn't mess up once

He says it's like name-calling and he hates it because he says people used to do that to Hanako, or Amane, as he sometimes calls him

At any rate, he wouldn't let anyone misgender or dead name or even think of making fun of you because he'd immediately threaten that person with just a glance alone

If you ever felt dysphoric he'd just solve it with either cuddles or whispering nicknames for you with masculine meaning

Surprisingly supportive and respectful about it

Sakura

She knew about you being trans before you got a hair cut

For some reason i have a feeling that you told her about it before others since she seems like such a good person to talk to

When she sees your haircut, i think she'd just smile and say how it suits you

If anyone else in the broadcasting room says anything negative about your hair, she will not hesitate to hit them over the head with a book

If someone says something that is transphobic, she will use the broadcasting as a way to get revenge

If you feel dysphoric, she will invite you to a tea party date and dress you with some of the most masculine clothes for it to make you feel yourself

Sakura is honestly one of the main reasons i say i love women-

Very neutral reaction, but that's not a bad thing :)

Natsuhiko

I personally don't like Natsuhiko but i will try-

I think he'd believe that the LGBTQIA+ community was a myth or something (we all know he's dumb)

He won't be transphobic or anything, tho

He'd be supportive of you and say how your hair cut looks nice and that's about it lol

If anyone was ever being transphobic he would tell them to piss off

If you were feeling dysphoric, he'd comfort you with his best ability (mostly just saying how handsome you look in your uniform or something like that-)

Also very chill about it, supportive :)

Akane

Akane would be a little shocked but supportive

Honestly would be ready to shmck anyone that was rude to you about anything invoking your identity or haircut

That being said, if what the person said was transphobic, he'd beat that person up

If you were feeling dysphoric, he'd be there to comfort you offering to get a distraction if it would help you

Pretty supportive and very threatening to those that don't accept you

[thewholecrew]

@headstrongblake said: the guilt eats me up inside / nate & dealers choice

things had gone from 1 to 100 really quick once the cops entered the nightclub, but nate could tell that they were ready to start shit from the moment he laid his eyes on them. most of the time nate did his best to avoid the cops, to steer clear of the law in any way possible but as nick lunged at them after the first few swings, shattering glass and breaking shit, nate couldn't just stand by and watch. as one of the men tried to restrain nick, nate tackled him to the ground and well.. now they were sitting in separate cells next to one another after being booked for assault which though true was bullshit because it was obvious that's what the bastards wanted.

nate ran his hands through his hair before leaning back with a heavy sigh. he'd stayed in far less comfortable places but he also had been getting used to the guest bed at octavias. glancing through the bars over towards nick who seemed unmoving with his head in his hands, nate frowned softly. "hey.. you okay?" he asked quietly. nate himself had gotten a bloody lip and a good kick to the ribs that he was sure would leave a nasty bruise but overall he'd had worse. he hadn't seen if nick had gotten better or worse after nate tackled the first cop to the ground but he knew the man had been through quite a lot over the past couple months and he doubted this helped.

nicks noncommital reply had nate's frown furrow a little more before he leaned back against the wall, "sorry they fucked up your bar, man... that shit was uncalled for..." they did it because they could and to spit on the club and to disrespect the members there at the time. "i'm sure octavia'll get us out in no time, or get someone else, maybe kassy? she's a lawyer isn't she? or well.. maybe not yet," he murmured more to himself now as he scratched at his chin. the silence from nick had nate shift closer to the bars, "hey, nick, really, are.. you okay?" it was clear he wasn't and while nate couldn't blame him his mild concern was growing for the guy.

at first he thought nick was going to snap at him, it wouldn't be unusual or necessarily uncalled for since nate was pestering him but instead; the guilt... eats me up inside, he very quietly heard from nick and nate's jaw clenched as he swallowed. nate was quiet himself a moment as he digested what nick said and tried to figure out just what was all encompassing that statement. he doubted he was talking about the reason he ended up in jail tonight but probably more about leaving that time ago. with the knowledge that kassy hadn't wanted him to go and then the girls and alec getting into a crazy situation while he and rev were gone... nate could understand that guilt.

"yeah... guilt'll do that to you..." he agreed quietly, knowing how much he still felt towards duncans death. "but you can't let it man, we all make mistakes, we all make choices that backfire on us sometimes, and look i'm not gonna even pretend i know all you've gone through or whatever... it's not my business, but what i do know is the people here missed you, and i doubt, no matter how pissed at you they are, they would want this for you." he wasn't quite sure what the hell he was saying, not often was he the type to give very good advice, at least thats what he thought. after another moment of silence nate then added, "you did get one good hook in on that bastard with the mustache tho," he murmured with a small smile, glancing sideways at nick, "think you broke his sunglasses, and his nose."

[theoxenfree]

cort!! hope you've been doing well <3

this is really random but i remember you posted somewhere on your old blog you were reading this thing between us by gus moreno and i just finished it recently and was wondering about your thoughts!

finally answering this, sen! literally just finished the book after slamming it out in like a day.

first and foremost:

overall rating ⭐⭐⭐.5/5

fucked up rating 💀💀💀.8/5

MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS

overall, I think it was an interesting read and a fascinating take on the whole "possession" trope while integrating the inescapability of technology, grief, and struggles with cultural identity. those themes came thru consistently and potently throughout the entire story and I'm glad for that.

interestingly, I'm actually really delighted to have a protagonist like Thiago bc he never really grows from his experiences—only dissolves deeper into his grief and struggles, still blames himself, and I think his story was really the exploration of the opposite side of grief. usually, we read novels where the protagonists overcome their grief or, at the very least, learn to accept their lives as they were by the end—thiago just sort of continually spirals throughout the entire thing and sort of relents to the fact that he's going to die no matter what he does

I don't have a lot to say in regards to the cultural identity stuff bc it isn't something I can relate to on any level—but, moreno made sure this was a pretty significant focal point throughout the story, albeit quite spotty, and other reviewers don't seem pleased with the route he went with it.

I've read some people think moreno just spent a whole lot of time trashing mexican culture than anything else, but I do think that his idea was to write about a character who came from a "hard" background, who grew up knowing nothing besides that, and never really was given the opportunity to fully escape that. sure, vera is there, and he loves her, but I feel like a big point moreno tried to make was not only the significance of having vera come from a "easy" background (both parents, never having to struggle), but to have them culturally similar to sort of... idk really drive home that Thiago holds some sort of internal resentment towards her for that, and that he could never view himself as anything other than less than.

I could be completely wrong, but that's just sort of how I ended up interpreting it. some reviewers definitely didn't approach it critically, but even tho it was done poorly in some places, moreno really tried to give the cultural identity stuff complexity and I can respect the attempt there.

uhhhh

man, I am too tired to try to theorize about what the fuck was happening half of the time in the novel, but I do think: 1) this was more than a demon, but an interdimensional entity trying to make itself "real". 2) why it was trapped in a itza I have no fucking clue 3) probably the scenes of the beach and the table were easily the creepiest scenes in the book

it's fascinating bc Thiago does a pretty good job doing everything "right". he resists. he avoids. he runs. he destroyed the itza. tried to destroy the wall. tried to do the rituals that diane suggested. he's a lot more mentally robust of a character than he was aware of it and it took MULTIPLE deaths and possessions to finally get him to fully surrender; whereas he spent the entire novel believing that he was the weak one compared to vera.

one thing I'm thinking about is that this is technically a psychological horror—there are numerous times throughout the story where reality shifts, you're not sure of your head or your ass, and what the hell is going on. I think that's partially bc moreno may not be too familiar writing those sorts of things, bc I was confused more times than not BUT

in the beginning when thiago first met the cook at that diner, he drank the milkshake and it seemed to me that the diner actually existed. just like the possessions of brimley and jacobson actually existed, but, like, idk it makes me wonder how much was actually hallucinated vs real idk

gore was plentiful, somewhat gratuitous, but not really detailed enough to make me squeamish so it's whatever. tho, not-brimley's zipper mouth of teeth and Jacobson's eel eyes definitely put unique images in my head that are gonna hang around for a while. I really digged how moreno described the cook's real body bc as being fibrous, viscous, like some sort of bug covered in something—i think. it sounds and feels like it'd be gross and unnatural.

moreno's descriptive language was quite good imo. his imagery never really fell flat and he had this way of creating very specific, saturated images in your head that I really respect and is probably one of the biggest things I took away from his writing style. that imagery definitely did most of the heavy lifting for the story bc w/o it, the writing would've kinda just... a pissed off, grieving man whining the entire time.

one thing I did find jarring was how direct he could be with some details e.g. the scene where Jacobson throws Thiago into the grave and, like, hits him with the shovel and basically scalps him—it's so point blank that I'm like ?????

like, cool. I get it, but ???????

as a writer, I understand not everything deserves a paragraph of description to make it effective, but some elements could've been expanded imo

hands on hips

the ending was pretty bleak and it was meant to be bc this is, ultimately, a man who's been chased down to the point of being physically, emotionally, and psychologically exhausted and has completely surrendered by the end with a dim smolder left to fuck with cook just as a final 🖕🏻. fitting.

I felt pretty neutral about it tbh. not particularly impressed. not really able to say it was awful. it was kinda just "eh, that works, I guess. nebulous as hell, but whatever"

and, yeah!!! it was an okay book that was pretty easy to read and shred thru. not really making any of my lists for outstanding literature, but worth the time if you wanna read something sort of gory, highly atmospheric

what are your thoughts?????

[deepestbluesky]

new fanbinding! several months ago (please don't ask me to check that, i refuse to acknowledge the passage of time) i made a book for @orchisailsa of her zzs/jby fic Field Research. it was very cute and small! i also forgot to take pictures before i sent it to her 🤦🏻‍♀️ and then this week i was feeling antsy and also in my zzs/jby feelings, so i decided to bind a copy for myself!

the printing this time around: so easy. incredible wow 10/10 would recommend doing a second copy of things when you already know what the fuck you're doing. same with folding and cutting (tho i probably should have trimmed more closely, some of the cuts were uneven but it's fine).

the coptic bind a second time: terrible. it's been so long i forgot how to do it and had to look it up again and then made the same fucking mistakes i've made the other times i've done it!! which like, are not structual issues, it's just that the stitches don't look nice and i still don't think i'm getting them quite right. also the tension of the stitches is weird, idk how to make that better but i'm sure i could with practice.

i thought i was going to have to use a different paper for the cover but it turns out the covers are so small that i only used one of my pieces of it last time, so i had enough to do it the same way including making sure to get a whole nice flower on the front!

overall i'm really happy with how this turned out and very happy to have a copy of this excellent fic :D

[a-wins-a-win]

okie so ur guy finally got around to watching Bare : The Musical (mouse!! why?? because!! I love comparisons <3) and anyway. thought I’d document my thoughts

tldr; I think I would like Bare: The Musical as a standalone story, but as a Bare: A Pop Opera adaptation/re-interpretation I think it falls short in a lot of ways.

it gets a bit long so under the cut, if you wanna skip the dot points i summarise/reiterate down the bottom of the post

okay no but the photographic memory detail is kinda interesting. kinda sad in a lot of ways too if you think about it

the audio quality is Not It so forgive me if I don’t pass judgement on any of the songs

“Jason you act every day.” “I didn’t fool you <3” they’re cuties // they are SUCH goofballs here! they’re so dumb! teenageboycore if there ever was! I love them <3

it’s so WEIRD to hear a lot of these lines out of order / in a different context

ALSO the lack of singing during auditions is throwing me off

“Do you think your sister’s bi?” “…” “Bipolar?” I laughed—

Matty Patty babey boy!!! he’s so… he’s so something. idk if I like it yet. im very used to introvertedly anxious Matt but this Matt is such a lil cutie

WHOAH OK Portrait Of A Girl is way early

but I think I like a lot of the lyrics - “You don’t have a clue / what she is doing with you / what she is doing to you.”

actually no this is a crazy interesting take on Matt & Ivy and I’m OBSESSED with the way we get to see Ivy’s actual introspection on it in this context

ohhh okay. so it’s That kind of basketball team situation for Jason (+ Peter !! goddamn they really hate that kid)

the art class is a fun character device ! (also I’m screaming over the Math Book exchange)

i am intrigued by the Romeo & Juliet casting in this version ngl

I knew that they merged the Nadia & Lucas characters (lowkey I hate it! I think it does a huge disservice to Nadia + inevitably the McConnell dynamic) but it’s still weird to see it . That said “Out Of Your Mind” [as best as I can approximate what the song’s called??] is kind of a vibe

he was named after Peter Pan r u kidding ?? i am so so intrigued to meet Claire Simmonds in this version now

ohhh nooo I am having FEELINGS over Best Kept Secret (as I always do) but DAMN

“If the word were different and if wishing made it so […] I’m trying just as hard as you!” jason mcconnell you will be the death of me

im SICK why is everyone so MEAN in this version

EMO PUPPY DOG MATTHEW LLOYD I LOVE YOU

^ also goddamn that whole scene was An Exchange. interesting take

“You Don’t Know” is beautiful tho*

“I hear ya.” “Do you?” any glimpse of snarky/sarcastic Peter is a relief (not sure that I’m quite here for this Peter characterisation) . Also the Peter-Diane friendship is somewhat iconic

JASON is the birthday bitch!! that’s. something.

oh okay! this Portrait Of A Girl/Boy reprise is so intriguing to me. this version of Ivy in general is so intriguing to me

snarky Peter Simmonds you are everything to me <3

i miss ‘Are You There?’ hopefully it comes back to me later, I am desperate to see this Peter & Matt have a meaningful conversation

i could honestly not discern most of those lyrics but whatever they replaced 911! Emergency! with seems unnecessarily extravagant? for very little payoff

“Peter did you learn the entire script?” “Maybe.” no I love that for him though. i’m struggling because I like a lot of this Peter’s little character MOMENTS, but OVERALL I don’t like him

again the lack of singing is throwing me off

“I’m NOT your boyfriend!” OWCH

“Your world might not stop!” ohhhh okayyy i am. going a bit insane. over this mcsimmonds.

EVER AFTER !!! EVER FUCKING AFTER !!! (or whatever this version is officially titled)

what is the general consensus on Jason having Role Of A Lifetime?? bc aside from the title not making thematic sense for his character... idk it could just be the delivery but i don’t hate it

i am Not Here for the Nadia-likes-Matt subplot, tbh. i think it’s silly.

there is something so so desperate & violently destructive about this Jason - and it isn’t even like. hidden behind this facade of effortlessness that Pop Opera Jason puts up, if that makes sense?? (yes I am upset that he kissed Ivy first even if it makes sense for this version of Jason)

what an act 1, ngl. I am so anxious for act 2.

oh ok that’s a bit cute

“What if I told the world your story? / What if I told them what you’ve done? / What if I went and shared your secret? / What if I let them know I’m someone?” OH OKAY!!! this Peter is A Character!! and he’s fascinating!!

“I am gonna win… yep, I promise.” oh ow okay that hurts

“What If I Told?” [again guessing at song titles] is doing irreparable damage to my psyche /pos and I can feel it happening in real time

oh shit! i forget that they’re not even roommates in this version!

i feel like this version of the story (or at the very least ‘Touch My Soul’ or whatever it’s called here) is really capitalising on the Ivy-Peter similarities in the way the characters are being played

ARE YOU THERE? <33 WHY ARE YOU SO LATE IN THE STORY???

“Are you there? What did I do wrong? / Tell me and I’ll fix it, get us back where we belong.” screaming crying throwing up what the FUCK

disappointed in the lack of patt meter tho ://

NO BC THIS CONTEXT!!! of Sister Joan putting Peter in!!! i actually quite like it!! i kind of hate the stagings where they have Peter like. butt in, for lack of a better phrase to use. bc that’s so uncharacteristic for him, I always read that scene as he’s stage whispering the lines/doing the motions for Diane to follow along with and he just sort of ends up in the Actual Scene accidentally

ough. the mcconnell siblingsism… it’s missing and it makes me sad

“I don’t wanna be here anymore.” OH NO OH NO I DON’T NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT THE TRAGEDY OF PETER’S SUICIDALITY NEXT TO JASON’S SELF-DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES AND THE WAY THIS STORY PLAYS OUT !!! IM GONNA BE SICK !!

“God Don’t Make No Trash” isn’t my favourite song in the show or anything but I do miss it a bit, even if the replacement song works for Sister Joan + this Peter

ok no now I’m upset do we just not get to know anything about Peter’s mother at all in this version?? look with this version of Peter I don’t feel like she’s a necessary piece of his character/story but still. would’ve been nice

“I have plans, I’m not that girl.” // “If I can’t, then why should he?” Ivy !! i am back and forth on this Ivy! i like a lot of it but I also don’t like a lot of it, those lines tho are so everything to me

“So talk to him.” “We don’t. Talk.” rip to the mcconnell siblingism. like I suppose it makes sense? given the vague family dynamic this musical gives us, but still. I miss them <\3

there is something so physically painful to me to watch Jason have such obvious emotional stress fractures

the lack!! of singing!! is so wild!!

oohhh this Matt is so fucking vindictive - “Is this just another thing you’ll try for the day?” SCREAMING

OH FUCK OKAY

oh I’m gonna be sick watching this meltdown

again!! the absolute sick dog violent desperation radiates off Jason generally but FUCK ME it’s so bad here - like I really truly believe that in that second right after Cross that this Jason made the decision to kill himself**

love the R&J costumes in this version tho ngl, they’re a bit cute

oh shit he’s really just. Dead. like obviously he’s dead in the Pop Opera as well but without Queen Mab it really does just feel like. you blink and he’s gone without any sort of buildup/unravelling

i feel like they definitely tried to recycle a bit of the early versions of the Father Flynn storylines for Father Mike here - like they don’t explicitly go for the queer angle but it feels a little bit alluded to, imo

the fucking bookending!!! i’m such a sucker for that shit

oh. okay. it was certainly A Watch - definitely interesting! full of odd character choices I didn’t love, most notably the basketball team and the way that side plot played out, also the merging of Nadia & Lucas’ characters. I think it does a huge disservice to Nadia’s character, the McConnell twins relationship, Nadia & Peter’s relationship, & I like Lucas as a character (& a plot device) so it really feels like a lose-lose situation. And I would’ve liked to have Peter’s mother at least alluded to, especially given how much more Sister Joan seems to fill a motherly role (and it would’ve made sense thematically! Given his hypothetical conversion with Jason’s mother in You & I, coupled with Diane’s whole spiel about her mom being her best friend - it’s a missed opportunity imo) (even tho as established for this characterisation of Peter it’s not quite so necessary)

that said! credit where credit is due - I am supremely intrigued by the characterisation of… okay most of the cast now I’m thinking about it. Would definitely like to do a comparative character breakdown (let me know if anyone else would care for that at all).

Emo puppy dog Matt Lloyd you are so special (it’s such a silly way to play him!! the show all but eliminates the academic part of his and Jason’s rivalry and THAT makes me sad bc I think it would be so so interesting to play into the rivalry more with this Matt and this Jason - but the way Matt & Ivy’s relationship exists in this version of the show, the absolute lack of any academic focus At All [which?? like they are At School, that SHOULD count for something] and even the play part feels somewhat lacklustre in so regards to the Matt vs Jason element, which again I think is a mark against B;TM)

as I said above - I think I would like Bare: The Musical as a standalone story, but as a Pop Opera adaptation/re-interpretation I think it falls short in a lot of ways. Which is another point - it’s so so crazy to me that The Musical is the adaptation of the Pop Opera, not the other way around. Which kind of sucks! because I think making it into a book musical, not a sung-through show, does give a little more breathing room for character & relationship work and development, but it just seems ill utilised, to the point where it doesn’t even seem to match the Pop Opera, let alone improve/expand on it. Because all the extra dialogue time had to be spent on reordering the story beats so we ended up losing time with the characters in a way.

or at least that’s how it read to me - obviously I am not a professional reviewer/critic so don’t take my word for it, I just wanted to talk it out. or shout it out into the void, as my tumblr may be. if you read this whole thing?? shoutout to you, I love you <3

[kyogre-blue]

Wuthering Waves day 2.

I saw someone comment that Scar showing up was the highlight for them, but for me it was the opposite. His entire section with the village and the fake picture book was just so........ cliche and unimaginative. You can just tell they thought they were on to something there, but he's the worst character in the game so far.

Aside from that, they unfortunately didn't really link up the little side quests they send you on. You find out about a plague from twenty years ago and then just kinda drop that plot thread. You go toward the war front, see a vision of the general fighting there, and then... drop that plot thread, turn around and leave without even seeing the front line. You run into Scar, explore a random cult village, and then... he peaces out, we drop this plot thread, and that's it.

Since we're being purposefully sent on these little side quests, I figured they'd like... have something to do with each other?? But apparently not.

Anyway, it was at this point that I hit the level gate, but I also got dailies, so there's that.

Other points:

I finished the beginner banner. I didn't get lucky at all and had to do the full 50 pulls to get the guaranteed 5 star. I got the little girl healer. She's cute, but I'm not sure if I want to sub Baizhi out for her. I don't even know her.

I also got two dude who both use guns. I... should probably sub out Chixia for one of them. But Chixia is a fun gal, I don't want to leave her...

In terms of exploration, I don't mind the way the world looks overall, but it's kind of hard to tell which parts are interactable sometimes. It's not bad, but for some reason I don't feel quite the same mindless enjoyment as Genshin. Maybe I'll get more used to it tho. I still always forget to wall-run.

Combat requires way too much engagement for me. I don't want to parry and perfect dodge things, man. Surely there is a character who has great AOE and doesn't require brainpower to use.

I can't tell whether it's a glitch or what, but the dialogue got really weird near the front line. You can tell Yangyang that you saw the general before you actually get the vision of him, and then afterwards you have the option to tell her about him... and a woman in red, but I didn't see any woman in red...? Truly puzzling.

I am really wondering whether the government was giving some kind of subsidy for putting in a liondance character, between this guy and Gaming. I started his quest, and man. You could make a drinking game out of every time "lion dance" is mentioned.

[sinelanguage]

more art museum posting, this time from tokyo. as always this is just my personal diary/blog of art thoughts lol. im no art expert in any way ever

this time: the museum of contemporary art tokyo

splitting this into two bits, the rotating exhibit and the main exhibit. overall really enjoyed the exhibit, tho i don’t think it beats tower of babel it still had enough slightly unsettling stuff for me to enjoy it.

Yasuko Toyoshima

overall: enjoyed this exhibit, i think the pieces i liked most were the ones that were slightly off in an uncanny valley way. a lot of her pieces were clean in presentation, sometimes almost cute about it, but with just enough going wrong with it to ring some alarm bell in my brain

for an example here, she had a full set of pencil cases where the pencils were sharpened from the inside out— so at first blush it was like looking two pencils in the case, but actually looking at it longer you realized that’s not quite it. a lot of the pieces were like that— simple and ordinary until you noticed what was wrong

i think my favorite was a collection of carved wood pieces, carving out one strand of wood at a time until several boards were covered in these tiny, curled shavings. there’s both like, precision to actually getting the shavings to curl but not fall off, and just. the type of emotion you’d put into doing a meaningless, repeated action over and over and over again. destroying something by carving into it again and again. “emotions clawing at something” vibes.

Main Exhibit

The Kanto Earthquake exhibit had a really strong presentation— the rough sketches of devastation, the very detailed extremely large sketches of post war life, ending on a quaint sketch of a cat under an umbrella. i don’t think I’ve seen an art exhibit with such an emphasis on sketches like this, and i really enjoyed the like. absolute focus of representation of real, human life here— i get burnt out by seeing a lot of detailed paintings that don’t really focus on the humanity of a city/location, but the sketch collection really used every line toward that.

Fukuda Naoyo’s embroidered books were incredible to see. maybe im just an embroidery fan, but the contrast of these beige/tan books being cut into with straight clean lines, contrasted with the natural mossy greens of the embroidery. liked it a lot

Mitsushima Takayuki had a piece called tactile adventure that said you could touch it but it felt like a thought experiment that tormented me. i made eye contact with the security guard and just walked away. forbidden fruit

The Tadanori Yokoo exhibit made me feel like i was getting punked. The exhibit signage in English just went over how he used water imagery in his pieces, while the pieces themselves were an almost anxiety-inducing collage of colors, dark humor, and like tits. it was incredibly funny to me, as sad as i was not having an information packet. “yes this man uses water imagery” it’s a collage of post war anxieties in the brightest colors possible. there’s a wave in there. Sure.

A Dark Night’s Flashing: From The Red Darkness was my favorite piece though. it was a singular, seemingly normal scene (BY COMPARISON) almost a lot of surreal collages, but the contrast and split in the colors was really good at drilling in this. unsettling atmosphere.

the museum placed this immediately next to Miyajima Tatsuo’s red digital counter piece which was a fun way to like. keep that energy going lol. anyway really good to see in person and mesmerizing.

and that’s it! overall really solid museum

[the---hermit]

A while back @just-a-cup-of-anxietea left and open tag, and since she mentioned me in there I thought I might do it as well!

Do you play an instrument?

I don't know how to play any instruments. I am learning how to play the handpan, mostly because my brother got one and I randomly found out you need zero musical skills and it's still fun. It's actually weirdly relaxing I am fidning out. But I wouldn't say I know how to play that I just have random fun with it.

Favourite book characters?

The Creature (Frankenstein), Biblo Baggins (The Hobbit), and I am surely forgetting about someone, as usual.

What's you start sign?

Cancer.

Favourite color schemes?

I tend to like darker shades of colours, so dark greens, but also dark reds. I have always been drawn to dark purples, blacks and greys. Overall I'd say that in the last few years I have been more and more drawn to earth colours so greens and browns, and I think that's because they feel like very relaxing colours to me (don't ask me why, I wuld have idea how to explain that).

What languages do you speak?

Italian, English, I understand French pretty well but I am not the best with speaking (I should definitely get back into practicing again), I had a very base of German but I have forgot quite a bit and again should get back into it a bit before I forget everything completly. And I am self studying Irish as a past time, but I am still at a very basic level, I wouldn't be able to hold a conversation yet.

Dream/aspiration?

Being genuinely happy and at peace. I don't have a dream job or life yet, being at peace with life would be enough.

Are you for short or long hair?

I am in my short hair era, but I love long hair, mostly because I love creating complicated braided haristyles. I need to get friends with long hair who will let me give them fantasy inspired hairstyles, okay? Personally I've had my hair very very long for most of my life and I am only now starting to experiment a bit with shorter haircuts, and I am having lots of fun with it. Getting my hair cut shorter is also helping me with experimenting and having fun with how I present, it somehow makes me feel more free especially when it comes to more feminine things. It's a complicated topic tho, this is not the place to get into it.

Tea or coffee?

Tea. Don't get me wrong I love coffee, but it gives me way too many anxiety problems, so I try to avoid it. On the other hand teas and herbal teas are the absolute love of my life, I mean I have a whole side of my garden dedicated to herbs I use for making teas.

Bring your favourite book character to real life, or will you go into a fictional world?

Get me to Middle Earth now, thanks bye. I just want to live like a hobbit, it would be a dream come true.

I am also leaving the tag open for this, but if you end up doing it tag me cause I'm nosy lmao.

[newar]

netflix 3 body problem: episode 3 thoughts (book spoilers)

• jin cheng talking about saving the little girl in the game… i think cixin liu is quite misogynist in his portrayal of cheng xin but i’m glad they kept that detail of her caring about children still

• i’m really loving how they adapted the VR game, and the way the characters are interacting with it. cheng trying to save the little girl over and over and da shi saying that THAT is the only part that feels like a real game, not the equations and the observations etc… the only part that matters is the human element

• cheng’s dimension talk over dinner hwshsjbssb i love her omg and also the foreshadowingggg

• raj’s dad talking about throwing a grenade at pakistani soldiers???? um what are they trying to say here exactly…

• speaking of raj i’m not sure who his book counterpart is. i saw someone say he might be zhang beihai which makes sense considering raj is a naval officer

• also will downing is kind of annoying like his beef w raj just comes across as him being jealous and a bit racist…

• isaac newton x alan turing homosexuality references… well yes!

• and i liked the way the giant human computer looked! i wish they’d spent more time explaining the principles of it because i think people would find it interesting! i feel like they’ve skirted around the science a lot in this series

• seeing the trisolarans take off was chilling, i think the reveal could have been built up slower tho. i feel like this, along with wenjie sending the message, should have been one of the last things we see before we move on to the events of the 2nd book

• i can’t believe they killed off jack like realistically he’s the least relevant member but still. i was barely invested in him in the first place to really care so. there wasn’t really any point

• OVERALL: not bad, the episode was engaging but i think having read the books, the horror element that i was expecting isn’t really there. the tone of the series seems too light-hearted. the feeling of dread isn’t really there except for the really intense scenes like auggie seeing the countdown and the fleet flying to earth. the whole tone of the series needs to feel more doom-like i think

[arinemone]

hi yes hello I'm having thoughts about Aresiba/Rhemi's body image and sexuality and I. wanna word dump for a minute

Siba's always been kinda paradoxical, a little bit of an oxymoron at face value, and nothing quite encaptures that, like how she perceives her body. Despite EVERYTHING-- the trainings, always being active, and making efforts to eat well-- she's still a bit of a chubby/fat girlie. Still has the upper arm flab, still has a tummy (even if it doesn't protrude out like crazy, it's still Wide and Very Much there), still has thicker thighs and not from the legwork she does (has v shapley legs tho), still has a more rounded face/overall soft body yk. And this has bothered her for YEARS-- way before she became the WOL or her parents passing. Like with all the work she does, shouldn't she be more fit?? more toned??? why does she have to go through herculean lengths to obtain a body that shows all the work she does????? it's frustrating. And it doesn't help when people start associating you with that, and they start assuming your skills etc based off of that.

Aresiba is a warrior, but never gives off thw appearance of one, and it drives her insane.

This eased up when she started becomes more BRD focused and less melee-only focused, but NOW every outfit is meticulously curated to look at good as possible on her. Yes, you'll see her fatter arms, or her thicker thighs, or even her stomach sometimes-- but never in an unflattering light. She has herself pinned up to the nines as the Wol bc she has an image to uphold. And idea that people pray to, they look up to, they seek guidance from, they find solace in. And if She's going to be that symbol for them, the least she can do is present herself in the beat light/way possible. Giving this like, very much storybook/fairytale air to her role, as if she's like a heroine from a book/a song.

So while she's found new ways to accept her body, she's had to barge her way thru dismantling them, but then also slowly building herself back up after, to learn that it's Okay to exist and not be 100% perfect. That it's okay if others don't like you or don't approve of how you look. Especially now, when the world has been saved from the brink and you don't have to be That Warrior anymore. You can be yourself-- an adventurer, free as the wind that carries you.

Its... a hard habit to break, but she's doing so. slowly. stutteringly, at times, but surely.

THAT ALL BEING SAID, It plays into Aresiba's sexuality aswell, bc she's Demi/bi. Gender/gender presentation isn't a big thing to her, but yalls connection is. There's no WAY she's going to do anything with you if there's no connection there, if she doesn't/trust/ you. And it does come in a spectrum, a little bit. Like, she's had flings and has DEFINETLY fucked before (remember, she can pull Bitches, but she cant seem to keep Bitches), but has never done so fully naked-- or in some situations, preferred to do it with dim or no lighting. The moment she perceives herself, her body, in this kind of situation, she freezes up and has a hard time continuing being horny etc etc. For many, sex is just a physical thing, and that's totally okay!! she Personally WISHES it could be just a physical/sensations thing for her, but it /cant/. Her relationship with her body and even self perception make that a little impossible. Sex is very much an emotional trust exercise to start, it's her trusting you with something only she and very very few others have seen. It's trusting you with her at her most vulnerable-- when the glitz and glamour come off, when the charade dies down and all you're left with is Her, whoever that might be, bare and nervous and spinning in her head that you're not liking what your seeing, that the image of her in your head/the image she projects on the usual is leauges better than what you got in the end. It's also, too, an exercise for her to learn that she IS desirable, all of her. Inside and out, soft tummy and flabby arms and all.

and this is why she is a Bottom, bc she needs somebody to cut through her mental haze and demonstrate that She's A Goddamn Bombshell and that she IS desirable. She's worth being listed over just as she is, without the visual trickery or glitzy embellishments.

that, and ofc she prefers getting railed over doing the railing, but she will rail you if asked. she's nice and accomadating like that.

And it's like, at least in my mind, imperative to make it KNOWN how much you're into her, into her body, while fucking. Being either vocal or physically expressive with one's desire really helps her shut the voices down and focus on enjoying herself, on enjoying you.

anyways

[impprtante]

Eira's Children (the squad :0)

Okay, new day new me, I'm actually in my right mind and not impulsively writing things down after being awake for more than 24 hours lmao. So here's what's up.

So, right now the first gen children have moved out of Eira's house into their own households. They've kinda solidified baseline personalities and interactions (and family dynamics from parenthood) so i let them loose in the world. (To live as if they're Stanley Humphry.) Eira isn't the richest mom tho, so I staggered it out so I could give them like, 5k-10k to start off. So they all started by living in tiny barely furnished shacks. I normally get money in the sims by grinding, and in the actual legacy challenge they're super rich, but I wanted to try building up their wealth through odd jobs and work. Get them different incomes and all that. I also want to build them unique housing / decorate their areas according to them so that's also on the books. (because i didn't bother with them before :p)

And to give me a more thought out clothing design. To get into the mindset of teens i had all the kiddos wearing school uniforms (from snowy escape lol) and since I haven't really been them too much, i haven't gotten around to doing all their fashion since. BUT THE POINT IS technically i haven't played as most of these. Just a little bit, I've mostly committed to Lamia (by accident;;)

Okayyyyyy, so this is how it's going:

GUYS I LITERALLY CANNOT CHANGE HIS HAIRSTYLE. I was like, this is a very distinct sims hairstyle. BUT I CYCLED THROUGH EVERYTHING AND I CAN'T, IT FRAMES HIS FACE BETTER AND SEEING HIS HAIRLINE NOW SCARES ME.

What started has his emo, dye-ing my hair now mom, has gone too fair ;; __ ;;

But yeah, Phoenix is the same physically. I've just dressed him up as a more of a starving artist since he's out here painting in a tiny shack. I'm pretty sure that's going to change soon tho, since painting does actually give good money (probably unrealistic but :p). He's gotten the gloomy, dog lover, and family oriented. In the last save he had his house "open to dogs", so thats a nod to that. family oriented is kinda more because of his older sibling status, and he has a good relationship with his whole most of his family (and he loves them all very much, even the brats). Im still figuring out where he lands on the love things, because i've had him be a player in some saves but also he's more a reserved person so i can't image him being that out there in this version. I'm figuring it out <3

He's living in a tiny home (because i say so) and has a nice backyard pool area. He's under the recycle challenge, mostly as a nod to his upbringing out in the middle of nowhere, conservation is important.

Lamia is the most overall different from them all. I didn't really have anything going on with her character at all, besides what i later realized was a comedy aspiration, not a party one (oops). Her character is really shaped by the manners her mom instilled into her now, so she's in more conservative dressings because of that. I kept her hat as a nod to her previous version.

The vision is that she goes through her era of struggling artist (playing gigs and teaching lessons) and works as a normal salary worker (manners: she's trying to live up to the "has a normal job and will do fine for herself mom i promise i can pay bills"). Her piano-ing is more of a side gig but she really loves it so she doesn't want to stop doing it. Most of her parties at this point is so that she can break up the monotony of life. She ends up catches eyes of someone famous and is catapulted into doing more high end jobs. It makes her parties have a more exclusive guest list (not super famous but still really well known) and her high pay grade allows her to quit her job. She's pretty famous now (by the general public as a socialite, by more music-centric crowd as a pianist) and lives pretty comfortably.

Basilisk is the point where i start saying i got nothing. He's got the slob and kinda jock personality, but truly im looking for something else to flesh him out with. But he's the buff one of the bunch. Traits of slob, bro, and foodie, i haven't gotten around to updating his wardrobe. He's closest with Lamia, though the eldest three make a bit of a trio since they grew up the closest in age. He was team captain of the sims football team tho since the sports in the sims is so limited im debating changing the sports (but football would be fitting because he's a tank). He has piss-poor manners, but he's really in touch with emotions, having strong empathy for people. He's also the reason most of his siblings are fitness freaks; he convinced his mom to makeshift a basketball hoop that they used a lot in childhood. The biggest offenders were Sphinx, Phoenix, and Lamia. He challenged Phoenix in football and Lamia in basketball, but Sphinx just liked sneaking into his fitness gear the scrawny bastard.

Griffin and Sphinx still out here twinning hard. Eira must've had a blonde gene from her parents because three blond children can't be a coincidence wow. Freckles were also unexpected. I don't have anything to say about clothing preferences here either. Griffin was on the chess team? and Sphinx as a lazy person was not in any afterschool things, preferring to tinker. Both of them work on the handiness side of things, but i like to think Griffin is into woodworking and Sphinx is into metalworking (his type of jewelry he makes for his family is lacking in the gem department). I have Griffin working as a civil planner ingame, and Sphinx is unemployed selling jewelry at home (its.... its going. I only played like 3 days though to start off).

Griffin is more applied in general (was valedictorian), being clumsy, overachiever, and a bro. Sphinx is lazy, perfectionist, dance machine. Sphinx was one more for sneaking out (mostly out into the forest), once and a while teaming up with Lamia to go to some party (school mate get together) after curfew. They're both little shits, still living up to the mischievousness, but Griffin hated Lamia with a burning passion, and Sphinx really got annoyed with Phoenix's dramatics (neither dared anger basilisk too hard). And, yes, they teased their little sisters as well but they didn't despise them as much as their elder siblings got on their nerves for daring trying to have superiority over them. Eira had a time with them. Got stuck doing many chores as punishment. Griffin is pretty insensitive, but he's gotten really good at *dealing* with his own emotions. He's chill like that. Sphinx meanwhile gets into way more trouble being irresponsible, but he's great at resolving his conflicts.

Nephele has changed as much as phoenix. Aka, she's just had a skin changed, mostly because i didn't want to mess with her too much considering her genes are he one's carried onto the next gen. Gen 03's heir does happen to take over her father more though, but she has her mom's blond hair, so we kept that. She looks like she has such a baby face, but you can see she has Eira's eyes (WHICH IS A TREND, THEY ALL HAVE HER EYES).

I've been trying to make her seem more polished, mostly because I had her be a secret agent in the past (i don't even know how to integrate that into anything ;; __ ;;), and i haven't changed her wardrobe yet either. She also is well mannered so that's a part of it. Personality wise, she's neat, foodie, and socially awkward. She's used to picking up after her family as mostly trying to help out her mom with the hecticness of an 8 person household, and when she was old enough she did the cooking as well. But, her mom being an excellent cook, made her standards for food really high (it's why basilisk is a foodie too). Retreating into working like this was also kinda coping for being terrible conversationalist. (With the neat trait she autonomously cleans things too which is really funny. It's like she can't help but clean even things that other people think are already clean.) She tag-teamed with Griffin on fixing anything throughout the house though. She has a strong personality however, being the type of person who has people she likes, people she doesn't, and they don't change. She doesn't like to apologize (it's like pulling teeth) and likes to be seen as correct.

Arachne I've played a little more of too. Mostly because she was left alone in the household with Eira once all her siblings moved out. But she became an accomplished writer at a young age (so, a really well receiving book that will forever be remembered and a lot of other pretty big hits). I had her go through a redemption, mellowing in her original version, but I really liked the punk thing she had going on before that i decided to keep the kind of rebellious aesthetic.

She was supposed to be a spoiled brat but in a big household its too much to be doing that kind of thing me thinks. She gets more irrationally angry, but she's a perfectionist in her craft, and grows up to be a wee self absorbed. She grows up to fame because of her books (it was pretty out of nowhere fame) so i gave her slightly more daring clothes than her siblings. She's super argumentative though, she feels all her emotions super strongly. She has the healthy outlet of writing however so she is able to regulate, even if it takes a bit.

oke im falling asleep again so i will randomly blog whenever i feel like it again peace