#styled much more like baking for fun than a class

[blumoontf2]

TF2 Merc Headcanons

Moving onto Defence Class!

Defence class my beloved… Have you guys ever noticed that defence class is just family men? Father figures dare I say? Anyway, read more under the cut :3

Heavy

Hubba hubba baby 😍 Sorry who said that- that’s… that’s strange…

I AM A NIGHT AT THE INVENTORY TRUTHER, I STAND BY THIS

Poker man! Quite good at poker! Except you can only be good at maths or literature and he has a PHD in Russian literature so he’s not the BEST at poker

Takes Medic with him sometimes but he makes his own fun sourcing materials from the black market to use

He’s a family man! I LOVE A FAMILY MAN!

He’s very resourceful. Knows how to hunt for obvious reasons. He WOULD hunt with Sniper but their styles of doing so… clash…

Sniper is ‘you are calm… like the wind… you are still like the wind…’ Heavy is ‘PROBE THE BEAR FIGHT THE BEAR EAT THE BEAR!!!!’

Like Soldier, I can see him fishing. Properly this time. Knew how to fish through ice, has the absolute patience of a saint.

Probably takes Scout fishing to varying levels of success

Closest with (shocker) Medic!! Engie and Spy too I’d say

Part of a book club between engie medic spy and himself.

Said book club is a LOT less peaceful than it sounds!

Heated debates over plot and character relationships/interpretations. Heavy usually wins said debates.

Contrary to popular belief, probably the best most normal one to go to for advice!!

He’s like… fifty? C’mon now he’s been through life

he’s been through the gulags for lords sake!! He knows his way around people, knows his way around life

probably has more connections than he lets on. Kind of like a respectable ex-gangster

He’s a very sensitive man. Very in tune with his feelings. Puts on a stronger front due to Russian Male expectations and also for his family

I really want to say he’s a good baker but basing on where he lives in the comics would he typically have the ingredients to practice baking at home…? In the 1900’s…? I’m not a history nerd i’m sorry 😞

Probably a miracle worker in the kitchen. Give him three ingredients and you’ll have three meals a day for a week.

Probably prefers Coldfront over any other map for nostalgia. Is the one to help prepare most dinners when they work in Coldfront

He’s a gossip. Would love to say your secrets safe but… well, it would depend on the secret.

His family is super close knit so I imagine he wasn’t really in an environment where there was much reason nor way of keeping a secret.

Demoman

HE IS 28 YOUR HONOUR! 26 AT MINIMUM! 28 AT MAXIMUM AND I WILL STAND BY THIS STATEMENT

He’s a family man!! Wants children, wants his own family at some point

The type to meddle in other people business either for entertainment or for genuinely wanting to help in his own, background kind of way

His meddling wouldn’t be super obvious, but it’d be the catalyst for a lot of things.

As much as he loves being in on the drama DO NOT TREAT HIM LIKE YOUR THERAPIST.

He likes drama! NOT THE MENTAL ISSUES THAT RUN WITH IT!!!

Do not cry to him about your dad leaving you, he does not know how to respond nor how to comfort you.

He’s drunk half the time for lords sake, crying to him about something sobers him up instantly and I don’t think he wants that

HE CARES! He does!! Depending on the person he’ll either care more or less…

But dude he just wants to have a good time 😭 He wants to live a stress free life.

Kind of like Pyro in that sense except Pyro would want to try and comfort you if you were venting to them.

I like to think he functions better WITH alcohol in his system! Remember guys, this is in a world where New Zealand FUCKING DIES. Yeah, alcoholics irl are not good!! But this is FICTION let me cook.

Works better with alcohol in his system. Canonically gets double vision that makes up for the lack of an eye (again guys, this is fiction) so alcohol kind of just levels him out in a way.

I’d say he’s never always *drunk*. Always TIPSY yes! Always DRUNK no!

He just needs a slight bit in his system to function.

Kidney failure who?

one chance Demo one chance that’s all i’m asking please Demo pleaaaase

Sorry he’s handsome and I have a crush.

Like I said, he’s one of the youngest from the nine. Pyro at the bottom, Scout and Sniper, Demo, then Soldier

Literally friends with everyone. On great terms with EVERYONE! Floater friend in a sense. Goes to Soldier the most, if not more inclined to hang out with Sniper when he’s not drunk-drunk and just wants to chill.

Handmakes gifts over buying them. Thinks it’s more thoughtful to make than buy. Craft buddies with Sniper because of this

Please Demoman one chance… I am hopelessly in love with this man…

MASTER BAKER MASTER COOK CHANGE MY MIND.

Type of guy to play with the gas taps in the chemistry lab at school… Probably was the nicest popular boy. Just wants to have fun man

Engineer

My favourite God-complex haver

His smile kind of scares me i’m not gonna lie

I like to think he’d be far more irritable than what he lets on.

Everyone says he has the patience of a saint

nah he’s just got a good poker face

Speaking of, plays low stakes poker with Heavy. Texas hold’em!

He only acts like sweet grandpa to Pyro I think

To everyone else it’s slightly-nice but still strict mentor

I may have this view because all the nice Engie headcanons I would give to BluEngie… I like to think they’re separate people.

If you wanna go clone route maybe BluEngie killed RedEngie and took his place in the comics idk dude

Contrary to popular belief, if you come to him with an issue he can’t PRACTICALLY FIX… yeah, you’re getting kicked out of his workshop.

I love father-figure Engie as much as the next person, but I feel like he would be less likely to hear you vent if there isn’t a clear solution to it.

Example: finds out Spy is Scouts dad. Tells Spy he’ll tell Scout if he doesn’t do it on his own (problem for all parties solved - ignoring the fact that this would momentarily make more problems)

Never does because Spy would blackmail him 😞

Grew up a farm boy (this is not a shocker) but in doing so only socialised through connagher engineering events (where I like to think DadConnagher took him to meet the Administrator)

Went to university as we all know. Blossomed socially through it

He’s a man with years under his belt, he definitely wasn’t the baby faced, kind, soft hearted Engineer we know now during his childhood

He would’ve been something of a social recluse at uni

If he went to school in a traditional sense he probably thought he was above all the other kids and therefore didn’t associate with them. Learnt quickly that a ‘holier than thou’ attitude deterred people from talking to him. Didn’t care so much until DadConnagher intervened.

Can’t work with people around him. Recluse boy. He grew up an only son (unless Blu/Red brothers 👀), is used to working without people watching him

The exception is being on the battlefield which is a completely different situation to tinkering in your workshop okay?

He has teleporters and turrets memorised: he can build them in his sleep.

When he’s tinkering something new in his workshop? Everyone out! It has to be perfect on the first try and he can’t have anyone witness his failure!!

Feels the pressure of inheriting the Connagher name

There’s a lot of expectation to come with it. He has to be smarter than the last Connagher, he has to more innovative than the last Connagher

Which is why he doesn’t like Team Red seeing his weaknesses and failures when experimenting

Closest to Pyro, Medic, Scout (as mentor)

Is part of the Book Club but he doesn’t read Fiction as much as he does Non-fiction. He usually brings engineering books to the club and reads that whilst everyone else argues over plots and loopholes and fiction book stuff.

If he does read fiction it would be science fiction to magpie semi-decent and replicable ideas

Clashes heads with Spy a lot and probably has a fair share of squabbles with Soldier

Would he be THE Eldest? In his fifties… probably…

One chance Engi- no, sorry, I’m loyal to Demo. I see the appeal though.

Third eldest mayhaps…? I think I’ll do age order headcanons as a separate post…

[twisted-king]

Hi! Hello! I was wondering if you wrote any platonic hecs in twst? If you do, can you write gn!mc always finding a away to mention/talk about her home world? Maybe add a little bit of homesickness for angst👀.

Platonic hcs with the first years pls:>

Btw I really love you writing style!♡

AAAA oh my gosh thank you so much! I have no idea what im really doing aha...

Absolutely!!! here's a key:

Epel Ace Deuce Sebek Jack You

First year friend group + Reader who talks about home

They love you

they REALLY do

But this is excessive.

"Back at the farm we used to drink hot cider after a long day out in the snow, actually one time we-" "Heh.. like how my mom and I used to..." "Used to what?" "Oh its nothing... Just a tradition. We'd get together every Tuesday and go for bubble tea" "Oh..."

Epel understands feeling far from home, and he wants to try and relate with you but he doesn't know about half the stuff you're saying.

"hahah I got a higher score than you this time. Mayeb you shoulda studied a bit harder like lil ol me~" "Shut up Ace! It's a difference of like... two points!" "Two more points than you!" "oh you-" "My friends and I used to compare scores all the time, she always asked for help studying but.. haha she always got better grades than me."

They feel SO awkward when this happens

Deuce almost feels like he's showing off in some kind of way. He wants to be an honor student AND a good friend to you, so he's trying to creatre new memories with you, he's just having some trouble.

"Hey! I uh- I learned out to make one of Trey's tart! The one from the unbirthday party you liked so much?" "Oh thank you Deuce! It's kind of funny actually-" oh no,,, "My sibling and I used to bake for each other to say sorry."

Ace on the other hand is curious, but he kind of wishes you could be with the group sometimes.

"And then Lucius was like-- On top of Deuce- get this- while he was STILL sleeping" "No way..!" "Seriously?" "Hah- how pathetic, I NEVER fall asleep in Trein's... admittedly dull, lessons." "I used to have a dog, he could sleep anywhere"

And suddenly, it's quiet again...

Jack tries to keep your mind off things

He takes you out on relatively silent runs, he invites you to track meets, you can join or just watch him and Deuce! You've been looking a little down recently so, this makes sens to Jack, Deuce enjoys having you watch him run too, his friends give him extra motivation to beat his last personal best!

But... now you're crying?

Ohnowhatdoido.jpeg

Ace, Epel, and Sebek are on their way too, they wanted to do something nice for you and suprise you and -oh no...

They drop everything.

Your friends rush toward you, maybe you're hurt? you like... NEVER cry around them.

And suprisingly, Sebek can get you through the worst of it

"You're sad. and far from home. and that is hard. Especially for a pu ny huma-" "Sebek!!" "Right, uh... But we are here with you now. And we care for you."

"You're our best friend, I don't think anyone would be 'round here if it weren't for you."

"I don't feel as alone, riding solo just... wasnt it."

"'Sides, class isnt nearly as fun without you in it?"

"We really care about you, Prefect. You're our friend."

They gather around you, peacefully letting you cry after they let you know how muhc you mean to them.

"I just... I miss home so much..!"

[braxlrose]

Heyy i LOVE your writing your my of my favs writers

was wondering if u could do like hc of tom with a reader like childhood bffs to dating only if you can ❤

a/n: i love this trope so much so im so glad someone requested! imo it's one of the best and cutest tropes to ever exist. it's actually the one I'm using for my DR 💀 this is also kind of like a pt 2 for this post except with Tom instead of bill and there's not much mentioned of georg and gustav

childhood friends to lovers w/ tom

tom x fem!reader

• you met tom and bill when your mom moved you to Loitsche when you were 5 years old, right next to tom and bills house. their mother met yours when their mother went over to introduce herself to you guys. that's when she mentioned that she had a daughter the same age as her sons.

• that night, your mom brought you over there for dinner and you played with Tom and Bill. you guys had tons of fun and ended up becoming great friends that night.

• after that, you guys hung out every day and hung out at school. you were their new bestfriend and as I mentioned in this post, you helped them switch back and forth and confuse the teachers.

• the teachers were already used to their antics but with you, it just got worse and more complex. your mom scolded you a ton and ever had a fight with Tom and Bills mom because you kept getting into trouble but there was nothing they could do to stop you guys from hanging out.

• it was really hard to tell them apart when they were younger so you got relieved as they got older and started to have their own style

• you guys went bike riding all the time together and would ride for hours doing random shit

• you, bill, and tom would always go to the pet store to see all the cute little animals

• you would pick flowers for bill and make him a flower crown and even know tom refuses to admit it, he wishes you made him one too.

• both bill and tom were very over protective of you, but tom mostly. if he ever found out that anybody hurt you in anyway, he'd be pissed.

• you went trick or treating with bill and tom every year. (even though it wasn't too popular yet in the 90s in Germany)

• sharing and switching candy with them was a must

• you and tom were a bit closer than you and bill but you were still friends with both of them. it's not like you had a choice anyways.

• you always slept in toms bed whenever slept over (which was pretty much almost every night) and you two were always cuddling.

• bill and tom had bunk beds, so whenever you slept over you guys would put blankets around the edge of the top bunk and then tell scary stories

• you guys would sneak onto the ice cream truck and steal as much as you could. you'd always end up puking after because of how much you ate.

• you and tom would sit next to eachother every time in class and whine whenever you two had to move or got told to move because you guys were talking

• tom has a massive sweet tooth and you guys would steal stuff from the corner store

• you, bill and tom would hang out at the pool tons.

• you and tom would practice playing guitar allllll the time

• you were apart of the original "band" and played for weddings and other gigs with them

• you helped their mom bake a cake for their birthday every year and you always had so much fun with her. she even taught you how to write their names on a cake

• you went cd shopping with Tom for new cds and other old cds he didn't have.

• when tom had his first kiss (WITH A 16 YR OLD GIRL AT 9 YEARS OLD 😨😨😨) you didn't really know what to feel. you weren't even sure what you were feeling but you didn't like that he was kissing another girl

• you never said anything though, what could you even say?

• you and tom started out as just friends, no feelings at all not until you guys were pre-teens.

• as you guys grew older, tom and bill started getting girlfriends. you never dated anybody though; mostly because of your insanely massive crush on Tom.

• you basically just pined for him while he dated other girls. but you did feel nice sometimes. you got to see the side of him other girls didn't. you got to see how sweet and fun and nice he was with you. he was always different with you and if any girl had a problem with that, he'd drop them immediately.

• you got to sleep in his bed and cuddle with him and stay up late and hang out with him 24/7. they didn't get to do that, you did. and that gave you a sense of security.

• when the band started to actually become a band and you guys started getting more gigs, you and tom would always play next to eachother and even created your own style of playing with eachother

• you helped tom pick out his red guitar

• you and tom also have matching stickers on your guitars

• whenever girls flirted with Tom, you'd always get jealous and sometimes even try and steer tom away from them. like if they started flirting, you'd come up to tom and say "we need to get to band practice" or "Bill needs you for something" etc. etc.

• after a while, you'd come to the conclusion you just weren't his type and he'd never have feelings for you like you did for him.

• when tom first told you guys he lost his virginity, your heart dropped. tom, your tom, lost his virginity. you wanted to cry but you couldn't, they wouldn't get it, they wouldn't understand. so you just laughed along with the guys and make jokes.

• when durch den monsun came out, more and more girls were all over tom. but at this point, you'd gotten used to it. when you realized how many girls he was sleeping with, you just shoved all your feelings down and locked them away. feelings would ruin your friendship, right?

• your hotel room was right next to toms so you could hear basically everything they were doing. it was absolute torture. why couldn't tom see your feelings, why didn't he feel the same way?

• tom treated you like a little sister. it was awful. you wanted to cry everytime he called you dude or bro. he would never call you baby, or babe, or sexy. like he does other girls. he'd never see you like that.

• when you guys are at clubs, you try your best not to watch him flirt with other girls. it's easier that way. but along with that, you just end up getting drunk.

• tom would come running into your room at like 11 pm at night asking you for a condom. this became routine, and over time your heart shattered a little bit less only because you'd gotten used to this. used to him liking other girls.

• one night, while you guys were out at a club. you got sloppy. when you were drinking you ended up stumbling over to tom and dragging him to another room. and that's where you confessed to him down you were feeling.

• you ended up bawling your eyes out and saying how stupid it was because you know he'd never feel the same and that he doesn't want a serious relationship but you couldn't "help how you feel".

• tom took you back home that night and cuddled you and rubbed your back until you fell asleep. little did you know he felt the exact same way about you...

edit: I'm super tired and wanna go to bed, but let me know if you want dating headcanons for this bc I will do it, I'm just so tired.

taglist: @hearts4kaulitz @burntb4bydoll @spelaelamela @bored0writer @fishinaband @billsleftnutt @tokiiohot @bluepoptartwithsprinkles @saumspam @5hyslv7 @killed-kiss @memog1rl @80s-tingz @billybabeskaulitz @victryzvv9 @banshailey

[maxdibert]

Reading your analysis, I just realized that the way Sirius is portrayed as a "rebel" is much more about aesthetics. It's like JKR thinks he's so cool for "being rebellious" and "being a contrarian", but where's the meaning in this?

Does he truly care about muggles, or is this just another way to piss off his family? I believe rebellion should be about fighting for a cause, not rebellion for the sake of it, or because it's fun and cool.

And let's not forget, the way he used to "fight back" against the "Slytherin values" that his family had, was to torment and almost kill a classmate who was poor and from a social class "below him". So as much as Sirius tries to distance himself, he's not that different from the rest of his family.

Sirius Black is, without a doubt, the poster child for a superficial rebellion—a carefully curated aesthetic rather than a true, principled fight against injustice. His so‐called “rebel” status isn’t grounded in an authentic understanding of what it means to challenge entrenched privilege; rather, it stems from a visceral, almost knee‐jerk rejection of the oppressive family legacy he despised.

Consider this: Sirius’s rebellion is less about genuinely caring for muggles or fighting for a noble cause and more about antagonizing the very values his family embodied. In his case, the defiance isn’t a fully thought-out philosophical stance—it’s simply a dramatic, emotionally charged reaction to his aristocratic upbringing. When you recall his behavior towards that poor classmate—a nearly murderous act that highlights his inability to truly break away from the elitism ingrained in him—it becomes clear that his rebelliousness is, at its core, more performative than principled.

This isn’t just a quirk of the wizarding world. In real life, we often see privileged young people engaging in what can only be described as a deconstructed, almost pompous form of rebellion. They adopt countercultural personas not because they’ve internalized the cause of fighting systemic inequality, but because it’s a convenient, fashionable way to differentiate themselves from their gilded origins. They’re quick to point out the flaws of their families and society, yet their actions sometimes reveal little more than a desire to stand out—even if that means perpetuating some of the very prejudices they claim to oppose.

And herein lies the most fascinating—and undeniably contradictory—aspect of Sirius’s character. His cognitive dissonance, that internal conflict between the desire to break free from a legacy of privilege and the residue of the very values he’s trying to reject, makes him all the more intriguing. It’s this tension, this half-baked understanding of what true rebellion should be, that renders his character not a paragon of moral clarity, but rather a deeply human and flawed individual.

In short, while we might all applaud the aesthetic of his defiance, the reality is that Sirius’s rebellion is more about style than substance—a trait that, despite its shallow underpinnings, offers a rich ground for exploring the complexities of identity and privilege.

[gamesception]

Nightreign thoughts

Nightreign is a really interesting game with a compelling mix of very high highs in the parts that build on the Souls series character and combat and rather low lows in, well, most of the rest.

It's important to remember going in that this isn't a main-line full studio Fromsoft title. This is a side project with a small development team and a limited budget. A chance to experiment, and an opportunity for a veteran Fromsoft dev to get experience directing a project and leading a team in an environment where mistakes can be absorbed and learned from instead of being fatal. Projects like this are absolutely critical to the long term health of From as a dev studio - Miyazaki will want to retire some day, after all. And it's not like they're charging full price for the game, or stuffing it with microtransactions.

This is a AA title and an experimental toybox for the devs, and when judged as such there's a lot to like here. I'm glad that this game exists and I'm happy to focus mainly on the stuff it does well even if I think the overall package doesn't quite come together.

On the positive side, the main bosses are, when taken as a group, the best co-op boss fights in the Souls franchise by a wide margin. Multiplayer (both co-op and pvp) has been one of the most unique and compelling elements of the Souls series going all the way back to Demon's Souls, but Elden Ring was the first time it felt like some bosses were being deliberately designed with the co-op experience in mind. Nightreign follows up on the sort of half-step Elden Ring made in that direction with a huge leap. There are stumbles where one boss might be a bit obnoxious or another a bit too easy, but overall? Yeah, the Nightreign bosses are spectacular.

Even more than the bosses, though, the real triumph of Nightreign are the Nightfarers themselves. Eight distinct playable characters, each with a unique play style that is recognizably soulsy while being extremely distinct, and maintaining that distinction even as you switch up what weapons and spells you use over the course of a run or from one run to another. Recluse and Ironeye make playing a wizard or archer respectively feel fun and cool in a way that they never really have in From's previous games. Executor captures some of the magic of Sekiro's deflect based katana dueling. Wilder seems very generic 'John Eldenring' guy-with-a-sword-and-a-shield, but his grapple scoot makes playing him the most fun I've ever had in a game with souls style combat and I don't know how I go back to Elden Ring base game without it.

The Nightfarers aren't all equally amazing - blocking with guardian needs to be more effective especially given how bad they made his dodge, Revenant is a bit too dependent on rng drops for offense - but not one of them is bad and on the whole they're fantastic.

And it's not just their gameplay - though that is the biggest part. Their visual designs are great, their personalities are fun, and they each have minimal but just enough to be compelling story progressions, in the style of fromsoft npc quest lines/interactions. These go a long way towards making them feel more integrated into the world and the game than typical Souls protagonists.

The Nightfarers make me want something that I've never wanted before - a class-based soulsborn from Fromsoft with defined playable characters. Imagine if Elden Ring's starting classes were like the nightfarers, with their distinct skills and ultimates, maybe unlocking the various gem upgrades over the course of the game by following a unique character questline. Imagine how much more replay value there would be from replaying the game with different characters. Imagine how much cooler a particular boss might be for a given run if they tied into your character's personal questline.

Or if not locked to starting class, what if the play-styles created by the Nightfarers' abilities, skills, and ults were baked into the Great Runes, where every Rune bearer you killed and divine tower you climbed to restore a Great Rune unlocked a completely different playstyle? Sort of like different jobs or classes being unlocked as you progress through Final Fantasy 3 or 5 or Tactics.

Heck, some of the Nightfarers are so good that I'd want to see entire games fully devoted to their play style. I want games that are to Recluse or to Ironeye what Sekiro is to Executor.

So the bosses and the playable characters are absolutely fantastic and make me extremely excited to see these ideas incorporated into proper Souls games in the future. But as for Nightreign itself?

Limveld's Castle is no Stormveil.

While Nightreign uses Elden Ring's combat engine, it isn't a souls game. It's a co-op Rogue-lite with a Battle-Royale style collapsing map. This format is almost completely at odds with everything that makes souls games great other than the combat system.

For example, one of the map variant events is the missing Eternal City from Elden Ring - the lost and collapsed old quarter of Leyndel that you only find scattered ruins of in the Depths beneath the capitol, preserved here in the Night in its glory. And just like the Eternal Cities (and really most key locations) in the base game, it's full of little architectural details that hint at the story of the setting, of its people and history. It's not just the kind of place that I would love to spend hours combing over, it's a specific place that the base game left me wishing I could see and explore. But this is Nightreign, so even on my first visit I just blitzed through it without taking anything in, because that's just the nature of the game.

It's not just the big stuff, either. Traps aren't really a thing, dungeons aren't really a thing. You don't explore. You can get turned around in the rush, but you can't really get lost. The game can't let you.

Exploration and discovery are imo even more core to the Souls experience than the combat, and they're nowhere to be seen in Nightreign. Bloodborne's much-maligned Chalice Dungeons from fully a decade ago were a better implementation of the 'bite sized taste of souls game in a randomized, rogue-like package' concept. They had more randomization to them, and more aesthetic variety between the different chalices, than you get from Nightreign's static map with randomized points of interest. And they had traps, and illusionary walls. They had layouts to navigate, blind corners hiding unexpected surprises - especially if you opened them up to pvp invasions. The Chalice Dungeons didn't quite capture but at least brushed up against a dream of infinitely-playable Souls game magic that Nightreign doesn't even reach for.

The first time you see this view it seems full of possibilities. Sadly that feeling doesn't last long.

Even judged by the standards of the game it is, instead of the game I might have wanted it to be, Nightreign still stumbles. Because it's clear that not only did Nightreign's devs not have experience making this sort of game, it seems like they didn't even consult with devs who did. Or even really look at other games of this sort to see what makes them tick.

No cross-play. No voice chat. No duos. Extremely minimal meta progression. If you're trying to advance a character story you can't be paired with anyone else doing the same, which can make the already bad queueing system nigh unusable. Only one map (absurd! unforgiveable!) with not nearly enough available randomized points of interest to keep it interesting over dozens of runs, let alone hundreds, even with the handful of special event variants.

Nightreign is not a long game if you're just trying to see the credits, but you will get tired of Limveld's rocks and fields and skybox long before you finish, which is absolutely fatal in a genre that's supposed to support hundreds of hours of multiplayer sessions. The previously mentioned special map events are too rare and change too little about how a run goes. Worse, they'll often be completely ignored since the rewards for beating them aren't worth the extra time and uncertainty vs. just clearing the usual camps and ruins.

It will not take you long to figure out the optimal pathing strategies, after which runs will all start looking and feeling very much the same, and you'll start to wish you could just skip the run around entirely and go straight to the bosses. But the run around *is* the game, that *is* Nightreign. There is no more damning criticism for a game than saying it would be better if you didn't have to play it.

Nightreign is also ~punishingly~ hard. Like, the Souls series has a reputation for difficulty in general, but with the notable exception of Sekiro you've always been able to level grind, to go exploring for stronger gear, to unlock shortcuts to let you fight a boss over and over again until you either learn their patterns or just get lucky, or summon help to let you gang up on bosses not designed to fight more than one player at a time.

None of that is the case with Nightreign. Boss run backs are at least half an hour every time. You never know going in what gear you'll have when you get to them. You start each run at level 1 and have to level up from scratch in the limited time you have. Ideally you have 2 co-op partners (miyazaki help you if you're going solo), but these bosses are designed with that in mind.

With a competent crew of teammates, especially if you're coordinating over discord or some other voice chat, Nightreign isn't necessarily any harder than, say, the "intended default" experience of Dark Souls 3 or Elden Ring. But it lacks any of the difficulty work arounds and pressure release mechanics that previous Souls games had. Nightreign demands players 'get good' in a way that even previous souls games (again, other than Sekiro) never really did, and some players simply won't be able to do it.

This is particularly a problem for a game following and sharing a name with Elden Ring, the Fromsoft Souls game with the most plentiful and potent difficulty work arounds in the series.

this image was a mistake

It was a bad choice for the marketing to highlight returning Dark Souls bosses. That implied some sort of grand multiverse crossover situation, and long time fans naturally bubbled over with visions of how cool that would be. Getting stalked across the map by the pursuer. Facing off against a version of Pontiff Sullivan optimizing his clone copy concept for a co-op experience. Would Manus or Darklurker or Midir return as Nightlords? Would any of the Nightfarers turn out to be characters we already knew as Dark Souls npcs?

But no. Returning Dark Souls content is limited to exactly 2 bosses from each game as mid-run fights and some alternate character skins that mean nothing in universe. All of the Nightlords and Nightfarers are new - which isn't a bad thing, but it feels bad if you were duped by the marketing into looking forward to a Dark Souls vs. Elden Ring mega mashup full of fan service.

The game doesn't even have Patches in it! What kind of 'love letter to the souls series' leaves out Patches?

Especially when he would be so simple to implement - a camp full of bandit enemies and traps, a mini boss fight against Patches where he surrenders half way through and becomes a merchant with rare items if you don't kill him. Maybe have an additional 'special event' with a nasty bunch of enemies at the bottom of a pit or cliff that he kicks you into/off in a short cut scene when you get close to it, and he shows up at the round table with some higher quality gems to sell if you clear it?

I'm not even really suggesting that Nightreign /should/ have leaned harder into fan service, or that I want the game changed after the fact to add more of it (other than Patches, Patches should absolutely be Patched in). Again the Nightlords and Nightfarers we got are far and away the best things about the game, and I wouldn't trade a single one of them for some backwards-looking nostalgia pick, not even the Jellyfish. But the marketing shouldn't have pushed the crossover element if it wasn't going to be important. The returning Dark Souls bosses should have kept secret in the leadup to the game as surprise easter eggs, they should never have been part of the marketing.

More frustrating than the lack of Dark Souls tie ins is the lack of Elden Ring tie ins. This isn't just a marketing issue, Elden Ring is right there in the name, and couldn't have been otherwise with how Nightreign is built out of Elden Ring's engine and assets. Margit is again present in the marketing and also the tutorial, and he's a common mid-run boss, AND he can randomly invade you during runs (though like all such random events it happens too infrequently and changes too little when it does). But as far as I can tell so far he means nothing to Nightreign's core story. He's just... there. And just as with Shadow of the Erdtree, fans waiting for Godwyn's big moment are once again left empty handed.

Which isn't to say Nightreign's narrative is bad, at least not by From standards. There's interesting stuff going on. In particular, we finally get to see an on-screen version of a 'Dark Lord' personifying the subversion and rejection of the Order of Light, a concept that the Souls series has been gesturing towards since Dark Souls 1 with lore and secret ending cut scenes but hasn't really delivered in game before. Between the Night Lord and Deltarune's [spoiler redacted], it's been a really good month for cool as heck darkness themed video game bosses, and that's very much my jam.

But for those invested in the lore? As an Elden Ring spinoff featuring Dark Souls content? Nightreign isn't going to answer many of the questions that Elden Ring might have left you with, and the Dark Souls stuff is wholly divorced from context with no greater meaning than 'hey, remember this?'.

one safe place

Overall I can't say Nightreign really succeeds at what it's trying to do, so I can't exactly recommend it to other Souls fans. Especially those who like souls games mainly for the feeling of exploration and discovery, and doubly especially those with brain situations that don't handle time pressure well.

But as I mentioned at the start, Nightreign was from the beginning intended to be a 'safe space' for experimentation by it's developers, a comparatively low stakes environment where failure could be a learning tool rather than a defeat. Exactly the sort of AA project I want to see more of from Fromsoft, and from any other big studio for that matter. Especially in an industry where the established talent of previous generations is starting to age out but their successors have few opportunities to build the leadership experience needed to replace them, because the bloated budgets of AAA games have grown beyond the point where studios can take a risk on an unproven director or game concept.

In that context I think Nightreign is a success, one full of ideas that I'm eager to see integrated into future Fromsoft games, and one I'll happily spend a few dozen hours on in the mean time - even if it's not 'my kind' of game, or even a particularly great at being the kind of game it is.

[thetentaclecommander]

Thaks for the tag @damadisangue! Lesse:

When did you start writing?

I remeber as a lil tentacle in human 3rd grade writing this meandering, long, just where was this boat going like 25+ page story for English class and just had a ball in making up the story. I didn't care that the story was a hot mess, I unknowingly realized I liked lore building. But, I realized that after I wrote it one, I went way over what the class wanted cause of my overachieving tentacle tendency and two, that I hated editing, grammar and all the boring English stuff. I didn't try to write a story again till many years later and realized the story itch had come back to me.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I actually, genuinely like slice-of-life and very inspirational/good vibes type of stories. But I simply like writing drama and assholes too much to write that sort of stuff often.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

My writing style recently got compared to the book House of Leaves. I need to read this but considering the few pages I've seen, I'm honored and can see the comparison at points.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

My big black desk with a standing desk attachment to force my tendriled self to get up, covered in paper that sometimes gets neatened only to get it ruined again due to time or my cat familar. Headset, dual monitors, pc w normal tentacle ergonomic peripherals, crystals, eldritch symbols covered in dark purple black ichor. Normal desk set up.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Do a ritual seance with burnt wormwood and channel into Nemesis' headspace. Find myself mentally projecting on the 56th astral plane with spoitify playing something dank and bizarre to mortal ears and chant ioioioioioio-

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

sheding of human fear sheding of human loss yet knowing such removal only brings more weakness to the fore the loneliness of being the only one the question of faith both internal and external to want is to long to love is to harm until you become one's true self free from greed, from selfish power games and inflicted misery and living in truth not lies strength in finding self not fighting for a control that isn't yours to demand no gods but us  no masters but us utter the lies the waking profane io io io

What is your reason for writing?

breathe and become as we only can bring you hope-

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

- oh and we're back. Sorry, I had a walk about and forgot to finish this. But I hope to be known as a trolly, yet fun author that challenges your sense of taste, and makes you question what is. Though, being known as that fucking persistant Nemesis and Jill shipper is good enough, lol.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Um, I can make up shit on the fly and not need drugs to do so, ig?

How do you feel about your own writing?

Eh, my pre 2010 stuff I think are lame but meaningful as my baby steps as one has to start from somewhere in this dimension?. I think I hit my stride in 2020 when I entered my erie sacrilegious era but so far, I'm pleased that my writing is passable and singularly me.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

Pfft I've never given a damn about what is popular in the greater fandom or fleeting reading trends. Readers will get from me stories under my terms as I've had to fight tooth and nail to get to where I'm at and so, this tentacle writes for themself first and foremost and secondarily to entertain. I am a showtentacle at heart after all. I do enjoy when readers read, mind, but love it most when they take this betentacled offering from me and savor it, like really eat into it and see the wormy layers of plot and intricacy I've baked into there. Just envisioning them consuming, ingesting my work, feeling the trailing of my worms down their throat, into their belly to really get what I'm putting down is wonderful. Hoy, my minions! Feel free to join in! @naerwenia @vopecata @coiled-dragon @s-dei @lmshady

@depraveddove​ @the-bar-sinister​ @unchartedperils​ @sweet7simple​ @meltic-daze​

@misch3fbunni3​ @autistichalsin​ @villaindevotee​ @coffinliqueur​ @scroggles​

@goth-automaton​ @azulas-daddy-kink​ @katophoenix​

and whoever else wants to I'm not your parental aid (edit: what is with tumblr not tagging ppl ahhh)

[fatestln]

grace van dien.  29,  cis woman,  she / her   𐫱 ›   hey, isn’t that eliana finch ? rumor has it that they can be rather self-sacrificing and distrustful but hey, that’s just in their nature as a werewolf. they totally make up for it by being resilient and compassionate. if you’re looking for them, you can probably find them at their work as a cashier/barista at hallowed grounds.

🐺 BACKSTORY 🌻 MUSINGS 📌 PINTEREST 🌿 EST CONNECTS

I. THE ESSENTIALS.

NAME: eliana finch NICKNAMES: ellie GENDER: cisgender female. PRONOUNS: she/her. PLACE OF BIRTH: manchester, england SEXUAL ORIENTATION: undetermined – eliana has had male lovers, but with everything else taking her focus, she’s never given her sexuality much thought. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: undetermined – potentially panromantic. SPOKEN LANGUAGES: english AGE: twenty-nine BIRTHDAY: october 25th, 1995. ZODIAC: scorpio EMPLOYMENT: cashier and barista in training SUPERNATURAL SPECIES: bitten werewolf FINANCIAL STATUS: lower middle class

II. APPEARANCE.

HAIR COLOUR: light brown hair HAIR STYLE: long, past her shoulders, can often be found in some sort of braid ( type 1C )  EYE COLOUR: dark blue IMPORTANT PHYSICAL FEATURES: scar on the back of her neck from where her father bit her as a toddler HEIGHT: 5'3 ( 160 cm ) BUILD: slim and slender PIERCINGS: both ears TATTOOS: none

III. FUN FACTS.

ONE. eliana has a HUGE sweet tooth. she can’t bake to save her life, but loves cakes, cookies and everything in between. TWO. while she is capable in her wolf form, her sense of smell has always been weaker than her siblings. THREE. eliana has an interest in gardening. she kept a tiny herb garden in the window sill of their new york apartment, and she’s always been interested in trying her hand at a larger flower garden.

IV. LIKES & DISLIKES.

LIKES: gardening, reading, making friends, learning new things, warm drinks, animals DISLIKES: loud voices, violence, isolation, conflict amongst her loved ones

V. ADDITIONAL.

HOBBIES: gardening, helping others DRINKING / SMOKING / DRUG USAGE: yes/no/no SOFT SPOT: her siblings FEARS: sudden loud noises, overly aggressive personalities COMFORTS: puppy piles, warm blankets, reading books by a fire or a bay window

VI. WANTED CONNECTIONS

the mentor - someone to take eliana under her wing as she transitions to her new life in portum and discovers what she wants to do with her newfound freedom. the teacher - eliana truly loves learning about the world around her and getting to better understand others. she has had little exposure to other supernatural creatures so now living in portum, she would want to learn as much as she could about the other supernatural species. the optimist - she’s a very positive person herself, and this would be a local that has a very similar outlook on life that she does. who chooses to see the bright side of life instead of focusing on the dark. a fast friend that makes eliana feel at home. (ronan) the rogue - someone that’s a little rough around the edges, but still has a heart of gold. they enjoy pushing eliana’s buttons, and she enjoys that they challenge her into expanding her horizons.  the past - after maren broke out of their new york apartment, eliana immediately took off in search of her. it took her almost 3 months before the town of portum revealed itself to her. this could be someone that she met during that time, or could be the person that brought her into town. this connection is open to multiple. the spark - they’re drawn to each other for reasons neither can explain. what it all means, eliana couldn’t even begin to say, but she finds herself in their orbit more times than she can count (kanda)

( next page )

[reliquiaen]

Alrighty! A bit late, but here's my gaming roundup of 2024. All the games I played (or, well, most of them, the important ones) and my general thoughts on each. You can see last year's here!

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GAMES I LOVED!

Shadow Gambit The Cursed Crew:

This game was utterly magnificent. I didn’t have time to play it when it released in 2023 but it was so so worth it. The characters were so charming (I did not expect them to all be fully voiced but the whole game was! Outstanding!) and all their abilities were so much fun. I was consistently in a position where I was doing a mission and thinking ‘damn wish I had X character with me, that one ability of theirs would be helpful’ and it didn’t matter who I took with me, this was a constant thing. The levels were gorgeous and well laid-out, I do so enjoy this kind of stealth puzzle game, really I have no notes. Gameplay, art style, the fun quick save mechanic to rewind time, the characters, the story, the whole thing, top to bottom was a 10/10 from me. Might be my first real foray into this genre and it’s absolutely one of my faves, I’m keeping my eyes out for other games like it going forward. (2024 gave me Sumerian Six which I haven’t had a chance to play yet but it’s first cab off the rank 2025, you better believe.)

Planet of Lana:

Nice short little game – I enjoy those in between longer ones – with a delightful art style, Mui is there (love that guy). I’m not usually big on platformers, I find many of them require such precise inputs that they stop being fun and start being work, but Planet of Lana was more of a puzzle/platformer than a hardcore struggle. The visuals and world were so pretty, as well, I would love to know more about the world. Fully recommend this one if you’ve got a bit of time on your hands. (The achievements are 99% fine and cool to get but the not dying at all one is ROUGH buddy, avoid.)

Dragon’s Dogma II:

Game of the year for me. I know a lot of the criticisms about this one were for the microtransactions (which are absolutely pointless, you can earn it all in-game), the lack of monster variety (it’s about the same as the original base game, I do hope they add more in a DLC like they did with the first game), and the story being half-baked (a fair point, it was no better done than the first one, though they did seem to try at the start to have more plot). Oh, and the constant back-tracking, tedium of traversal and limited fast travel, which is like… half the point of the game anyway. Idk, I loved it because it was more of what I loved most about the first game. I enjoyed the hell out of its impenetrable mess of a story and the philosophical nonsense and it had a much chunkier end game with the Unmoored World (though I do wish you could hang out there longer and weren’t at the mercy of the time limit). Great character customisation, great classes, great combat, the pawn system was much improved. I had a blast with this one; DD2 and Shadow Gambit were the only two games this year I kept playing after 100%ing.

Kamaeru A Frog Refuge:

Cozy city builder wetlands repairer with adorable colourful frogs? Literally what the fuck that’s amazing! The story wasn’t anything amazing but lbr you’re not playing this for a deep and meaningful tale, you’re here for the fabulous art style and that really was the star of the show. The frog breeding was surprisingly not as tedious and horrible as I was expecting and decorating the areas was like… so satisfying? Without being super annoying and frustrating and grindy? Absolute gem of a game.

Star Wars Jedi Survivor:

Waited ages for this one to be in a playable state and I still wasn’t entirely sure my computer would run it or that it would be optimised enough not to crash all the time. But I risked it when it was on sale and it ran fine. Was definitely worth avoiding spoilers for, this was an improvement on the first game in every sense. The traversal challenge tears were annoying as all hell, and the sheer number of collectibles was… trying, but when movement is that satisfying it’s not the most annoying thing in the world. Exploring was a good time, the side quests were charming, combat was way more flexible with the different stances (I thought for sure that’d annoy the shit out of me but no, it was just really cool to be able to have these focused ways to build Cal out.) I’m not sure how it’ll run on most systems, but my laptop is getting long in the tooth so I’d say if you can grab it cheap, you might as well, the story was rock solid.

Dredge The Iron Rig DLC:

This was more of the exact awesomeness from the last two instalments. I’m really enjoying how they’re expanding the world out and I will keep devouring each new section as long as they’re willing to provide more. More creepy fish, more relaxing minigames, more variety in biomes, more eldritch monstrosities. This game is honestly such a masterpiece that was made special just for me, I love it.

Still Wakes The Deep:

Banger of a game. Walking simulator, yes. But the atmosphere, the horrors, the creeping around to avoid the tentacle beasts, the weird pulsating flesh plant. The not knowing how much is real and how much is the Dread sinking in already. Is Caz an unreliable narrator because he’s hallucinating from the horrors? Are we experiencing things accurately? Is the ending literal or is there room for interpretation? Who knows! Really fucking enjoyed this. Normal ass person versus incomprehensible horrors the sneaking simulator is a genre I’m really starting to believe we need to embrace as a culture. (I’m hoping to try Nobody Wants To Die at some point in 2025 solely because Still Wakes The Deep was so good and convinced me to try it.)

Sea of Solitude:

This was a lovely little 3d platformer about depression and moving on and forgiveness. It was cute and sweet and felt very personal since you were unravelling all the traumas and issues the main character has with her family. There’s this huge idea that loneliness/isolation turns you into a monster and that plays out visually in some wonderful ways. Definitely have a look at it if you’ve got a few spare hours and enjoy that style of game.

Duck Detective The Secret Salami:

Gruff duck solves silly crime in an office building? Charming characters, you get to decide the outcome. I am literally so chuffed to find out there’s a sequel coming 2025. I will be all over that when it releases.

Alien Isolation:

Can you believe I preordered this and then spent an entire decade procrastinating actually playing it? Because that’s the truth. I have the Scout xenomorph items in TF2 to prove it. I was such a fucking scaredy cat about playing this game but I finally got my shit together and played it this year and omg. 1) I was right to be piss scared, and 2) I am SO GLAD I finally played it, what a masterpiece. The alien is my best friend and the working joes can fucking die. Nina Taylor deserved better. I need to know if Verlaine survived (I would also like to own her shirt, something I would unironically wear). Literally this game is a masterpiece I have no notes. As a fan of everything Alien, this was the exact game I have always wanted. Now I just need a game that lets me properly live out the fantasy of being the xenomorph and murder hoboing my way through a settlement or something and worshipping my queen mother. I think it’s my favourite kind of horror game when the combat is pretty minimal and you’re encouraged to avoid the big bad rather than confront it. I know there’s a Jurassic Park game in this style coming and an Isolation 2 which I will hopefully not put off for a decade this time.

Tiny Glade:

Haven’t played very much of this game yet but it’s absolutely charming and delightful. The building mechanics are so smooth and the 1.0 build does a lot that I felt was missing in the beta (I did play a lot of the beta). This is gonna be a very important relaxation game this year after work I can feel it.

Dragon Age Inquisition:

This is a replay; when this released originally back in 2014 I played it and vigorously disliked it. I didn’t really like Inquisition in comparison to Origins or II, I liked the characters less, the story felt fairly uninteresting, and the combat was more action-focused which I bounced off of at the time. Replaying it in 2024 and 100% all the achievements and DLC (which I didn’t have the first time round and didn’t go back to when they dropped), I’m having a more positive experience but I do still think of this as the weakest Dragon Age game.

I still don’t feel as invested in any of the characters like I was in Origins or II – returning characters are bringing baggage with them, the version of Leliana and Morrigan I left in Origins are not quite the same as the ones I’m meeting here and although I love them both, it’s a weird feeling to be interacting with them again like this. Cullen has annoyed me for 10 years and the more heroic version of him presented here compounds that, I will never forgive him. Varric and Cassandra are fine. I enjoy Vivienne and Dorian and Sera and Blackwall a moderate amount. I enjoy having them on my squad to hear them banter, but I otherwise have very little interest in them. I think Blackwall had a really interesting personal story but I don’t think enough has been done with it and that’s a shame. I find Sera a bit one-note in that she’s defined by her humour and “incomprehensibility” which bugs me because I find it hard to imagine how friendships work with her outside a very limited sort of personality match (and how come she’s the only character we’ve ever met who talks like that?). My point is I don’t feel like these characters were afforded quite the same depth as previous sets of companions and that’s where I derive the majority of my enjoyment in these sorts of games. If I’m not invested in the characters around me and I can’t picture my protagonist being friends with them (regardless of, or in spite of, personality differences) then you’ve lost me. I have romanced Sera, Blackwall, and Josephine in various playthroughs and at no point did I feel like this was… important to my character, let’s say.

The gameplay has grown on me. I miss spirit healer for mages, but the variety of new stuff for archers and melee characters is very satisfying, and as I’ve played a wider variety of games with a breadth of different combat styles, I find myself appreciating Inquisition’s combat more. That’s really all I have to say. It’s more engaging in a moment-to-moment way, it’s a bit more hands-on when you try out companion skillsets, and being able to respec skill points to try out new things is always my preference. I played a rogue (leaning heavily into bow and arrow) and a mage (knight enchanter) and had a lot of fun with both.

The story still isn’t much to write about. Corypheus reminds me a lot of the hoop-headed guy from Andromeda whose name I always forget: I’ve played Inquisition twice now and I’m still not sure why they made him the villain when there were plenty of other things to focus on. The fallout of Anders’ actions not the least of them. I enjoyed the world-ending threat of the Blight in Origins, and I enjoyed the more grounded people-driven conflict of II, Inquisition felt like it was trying to have the best of both and failed because of its indecision. At least to me. I know Corypheus was set up in II and that his lore was clarified and all that and it’s interesting in its own way (Sera’s reaction to elf gods and the Maker both being real is the highlight, I think) but for the most part Corypheus felt – TO ME – like a sort of unnecessary stepping stone on the way to something else.

Replaying it, I enjoyed it more, but a lot of my original gripes haven’t changed. I still think the story was a disservice to the set up from DA2, I still think Corypheus was a villain with very little to compel him, I didn’t fall in love with any of the new characters. The regions were large and empty and the crafting was tedious because of how much farming you had to do. In the ten years since it released, I have come around on a few points, there are some subtle narrative beats that have merit, I like the Inquisitor themselves as a protagonist more than I did initially, and so forth.

Dragon Age Veilguard:

Is DAI still the weakest now that Veilguard is out? Idk to be quite honest. I enjoyed the characters, traversal, and combat in this game way more than DAI’s offering. But the story and writing was much weaker overall. The art style is not the problem I have with the game, I think it’s fine, actually; but the intense therapy-speak and lack of any real depth and nuance is a real slap in the face. None of the characters are actually allowed to be stupid or mean or make mistakes on screen. Sometimes they refer to mistakes they’ve made or bad things they’ve done, but it’s all filed back and polished to a marketable shine that really peeves me. I don’t need Dragon Age to look gritty and dark, but I would love to see it return some of that complex grey morality that so defined it in the first two games. I miss being able to encourage my teammates (or myself) to make horrible choices, to be horrible people. I miss the ‘no right choices’ of DA2 in that nothing you do really matters it all sucks in the end; and I miss the ‘no right choices’ of DAO in which there’s no black and white to be seen only shades of grey and the justifications you tell yourself to help you sleep at night. I enjoyed Veilguard, but it’s not the Dragon Age game I wanted and I’m starting to think we’ll never get another one.

I feel like I have more to say about DATV, but not the energy or interest to really bother. Most things have been said already and more eloquently by other people. I wasn't as disappointed with the game as I was afraid I would be, but it also didn't exactly blow me away. It was a solid 6/10 RPG game, but a pretty lousy 1/10 as far as Dragon Age goes.

Jurassic World Evolution 2:

I now have all the many, many DLCs for this so I started it before Christmas but haven’t finished it yet. So far it’s a lot of improvements on the first game, a lot more dinosaurs and a few of my faves added. I’m absolutely loving the aquatic environments and the greater flexibility the aviaries/lagoons have in this one. The lagoon decorations still suck though and there are a lot of little design things I wish were added. But overall it’s just more dinosaurs and that’s all I’m here for.

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GAMES I’M MIXED ON!

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth:

I think this might’ve been my most played game of the year? Weirdly? Ended up with 200+ hrs in it and I STILL didn’t even finish both halves of the story. I finished Cyber Sleuth but not Hacker’s Memory and at this point I don’t know if I have the strength to go back and do it. I love Digimon and I love this game. I love doing all the work to evolve-devolve-evolve my Digimon into the perfect fighting machine. I love having my faves follow me around everywhere. But MAN the grinding to get anywhere is rough buddy and idk if I have it in me to do that again for Hacker’s Memory. We’ll see. Cyber Sleuth was a blast though and if nothing else I’m glad to have finished it finally.

Horizon Forbidden West:

I wrote about all my many mixed feelings on HFW here earlier so if you wanna read more specifically, have a look. Otherwise, the gameplay improvements, QOL additions (bottomless storage my beloved), and new machines were fantastic. I enjoyed Aloy’s story arc this time around and liked (to various degrees) the new characters that were introduced. The overarching story was a massive whump for me though, just didn’t hit right. Read my other post for the nitty gritty. I’m not as excited about the inevitable sequel as I might’ve been before playing but I’ll still watch out for it with cautious… No, that’s it. I’ll watch cautiously. Maybe they can make part 3 something more narratively enjoyable but I won’t hold my breath.

The Shore:

Another walking sim but not as good by far as SWTD. It was obviously made with a much smaller team and budget, but it still tells an interesting story through a Lovecraftian lens and has a good ocean horror vibe. Some parts were frustrating due to the clunky mechanics and lack of any kind of explanation as to what needs to be done, but it was fine, not a waste of two hours or anything.

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GAMES I DIDN’T ENJOY!

Pyre:

It was nice. Really pretty art style and I love the animation, Supergiant always makes such good looking games. I simply did not vibe with the weird soccer gameplay. As my brother so wisely put it: “Supergiant just ain’t the dev for [me].”

Grime:

Look. Listen. Buddy. This is a metroidvania and I’ve LEARNED that they are not the genre for me. I know that. But the VIBES!! I had to give it a go and I enjoyed what I played! The art style is excellent, the combat was chunky and satisfying, the biomes were delightfully weird and grotesque. It was great. Just not for me.

Sunless Sea:

You see, I didn’t realise this was going to be sorta rogue-like in nature, I thought it was story driven, a slow adventure with detailed management mechanics. But no. It’s a live, die, repeat from the beginning deal and I am just not interested in that gameplay loop.

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Onward to 2025! I've already got about 8 games ready to go and I want to finish JWE2 in January so wish me luck!

[basedkikuenjoyer]

I wanted to take a brief pause after VII, just to talk about hallmarks of Dragon Quest as a series. Because we are leaving the era where these games are a driving force in developing the JRPG genre. Like...I know when I do the final ranking I'm going to put II much higher than most. Because I earnestly feel II is one of those very special games that developed so many things that became ubiquitous you take it for granted. This does not mean VIII, IX, and XI are bad by any stretch. I'd compare it to The Simpsons; your purpose has changed in a world full of imitators. What was revolutionary is not comforting and timeless.

Sadly this does mean we'll lose a few elements that didn't translate into the next generation. Eventually the designers behind the series started following norms competitors innovated. So before we go on to VIII and it's massive legacy, a few favorite hallmarks I didn't get to cover:

One of the most iconic features here since the first that's just as fun in XI. Metal Slimes. So many have tried this and none work as well as the original. Rare version of a weak enemy that nets massive experience. The catch? They're quick to flee and while they have only 3-4 HP their defense is maxed out. Enough you might do 1 damage on a hit. Then later games introduce different, stronger varieties. If you need to grind, the metal slime family always feels like a fun little mini-game to shorten it. And the developers are smart about where their hotspots are usually. If you see one in a new area, it's worth it to try and bag a few first pass.

Dungeon Philosophy. I hate this has fallen by the wayside in favor of following Final Fantasy's style. Early on, you had to approach dungeons like an old school D&D module. You're not doing it first try. It's all part of the fun baked into what happens on a loss. You just go back to the last King/Priest you saved at and lose half your money. The dungeons are designed around this, if it's a tower you can just hop off and go back to town. But you'll have to make a few runs at the labyrinth to figure everything out and learn the optimal path. Especially with...

Random encounters having some teeth to them. This has diminished over time but game design in general has gotten easier so I don't fault DQ for it. But in those early ones, yeah random encounters can be brutal. You need to consider spells like sleep or fog that'll spare you some hits cheaply. If you flee and fail you lose a turn like a lot of RPGs but not every monster will go so it's more viable sometimes. All together, simple but tight design. A dungeon in early Dragon Quest feels like a real challenge of balancing resources like MP. This is why I love III so much, the class system plus peak design philosophy makes everything work so well as a total package. Your party comp will determine which parts are hard or easy.

Decisions on equipment. This is subtle but very cool in practice. Unlike a lot of JRPGs, in these early Dragon Quest games you're going to have to grind a lot to get every new piece of equipment you can buy immediately. Which will feel even worse if something is rendered obsolete with a dungeon treasure. You're not expected to. When you first get to town you decide what felt like it needed to be bolstered the most, then go on and start taking on the dungeon expecting to need a few trips. When you're ready to leave, decide if you want to polish it off here or try your luck with a headstart on the next town. Later games have replaced this with a crafting element I like, so it's more of a lateral move.

[studestael]

Hello! ❄️

I'm Toni and I've been your Santa! This is my main blog (since you can't send asks from side blogs), but I participate in SRS with my personal/multifandom blog @thespiritualmultinerd !

I've been enjoying being your santa, and I'm glad to hear it was mutual!

To answer your last reply:

Yes, writing stupid things are great! :'D

I would love to see your drawings if you want to show them 😊

And oh my, that's you in the photos?? Talk about stylish!! I love the vibes ✨ My own style can vary quite a lot depending on my mood and the season, but it tends to be along those lines too! If I'm dressing up in the winter it tends to be a nice pair of trousers, buttoned up shirt and dress shoes, possibly with suspenders and my trustworthy pocket watch. For casual I might wear a band T-shirt and trousers, and I have a dramatically long brown cardigan that is awesome for the winter season. And then I have two nice wool coats for outerwear, a brown felt hat and one brown leather cap (wonderful when it's cold!), dark brown leather gloves and leather boots. I wear almost exclusively warm colours, lots of brown and green but I also love rust, red and petrol! In the summer I tend to dress a bit more hippy-ish, and for Christmas eve I rock a red rockabilly dress and high heel sparkling ruby slippers! I love the quote by Algernon from Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest: "If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated" 😄

Your job sounds like a lot of fun! At least you're in the right line of work, it sounds like, and that is good. (I currently study half time and work the rest as a substitute teacher, and though I feel like I'm being useful and do learn a lot, I also so very much feel that I don't belong there most days and very much miss being around artsy people). I've also been rather lost (haven't had a professional acting gig in years for example, and miss it so much), but one thing I've found regarding life and work is that, you know... you don't have to pick one thing to do. You can do so many different things, and you can always change path. In my experience, focussing on things that you enjoy doing and being patient tends to lead you along the right path ^^ If you miss performing, perhaps it's a good idea to focus on finding a way to perform again, whether it's on a professional level or not? Roads that other people have paved are not always right for us, and sometimes it takes some letting go of those made up rules to find our own paths. That's my advice - that you didn't really ask for, so take it or leave it, hehe! But I hope you will find your place eventually (I think you will).

Well! I'm finishing writing this at nearly three at night - there never seems to be enough time during the christmas days! I baked a cake today (with ginger, cinnamon and banana) and my best friend came over and we exchanged gifts. I hope that you are having a great and relaxing time, whatever you've been doing today and are doing tomorrow! ❄️🎄

hello toni :^) so happy to finally meet you!! sorry for answering this late, i was traveling with my parents for the holidays. i went to spain and then to my grandparents in the south-west of france!

i'll send you a message right after answering this ask to show you the drawings!

thank you very much <3 haha i totally get your style, sounds pretty class! i also dress differently in the summer btw, i tend to wear hawaiian shirts, a bucket hat, a cowrie necklace and stuff like that. i like to say i'm a cowboy in winter and a surfer in summer, which makes me an hawaiian cowboy :^)

thank you for the advice, that's very nice and comforting! i am more and more reconsidering this career cause i know i need more time to do things; working monday-friday for 35h/week isn't for me. i'd rather work less in a shitty job (that would pay more than the one i have anyway) AND have time to perform or at least practice, than working and getting too tired to do anything once at home

anyway as i said, i'm going to send you a private message so see you in a second!

[inconsideratekidney]

10/22/24

good evening y'all,

question (/hot take?): do you prefer toaster ovens or air fryers?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i'm curious why people put stickers on poles and other public structures. why do they waste good stickers on public spaces? sure i don't want a furry sticker or an anime one, but someone does, so why do people throw them up everywhere? i'd say keep them if you bought them! i know some are advertisements, but i see the same furry wolf sticker every week and do not need to see it. if you like it, keep it or advertise it on your own belongings, not on a public space.

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can you get along with someone who is very similar to you? do you just get someone that is very similar to you or do you clash and butt heads often? for me it depends on the person and the differences (wow, no shit!) but like seriously, yeah.. if our differences are that we both share the same trait, but in different ways, then yeah we're bound to actually be more different, but when we both have the same personality and humor is works out nicely. it's either water and oil or bread and butter. now i want some bread and butter, ooooh, no i want garlic bread.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

how does one achieve that tomboy aesthetic, while also maintaining femininity? i've had this problem since elementary school, believe it or not. i can't tell if people think i have it all together fashion-wise cuz i don't. i often see people wear similar things every day and have a general style--even if that style is extraordinary and extravagant or if they're gender fluid--i still see somewhat of a pattern, but what do they think in their heads? i'm constantly annoyed when a fit doesn't eat and also isn't comfy. it irks me that a fit is just mid and plain and stupid. when i put effort into it and it just looks like i did nothing or like i cant match a style to my body type. i still don't know what my body type is and what style would look best.

i did actually find myself recently thinking of friends and others i see on a regular basis and what clothing i would put them in or what i think would look best on them and it's honestly so much fun, until i can't focus on it for very long. i cannot daydream or fantasize on purpose which is rough when i actually have cool ideas. i wish my brain let me focus on one thing, then i'd have more to write about in this section. womp womp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

one second i crave chocolate, and the next i crave cheese. what is up with that?? i really want one of those cheddar baked-on bagels ever since i saw someone eat it yesterday. i know i won't like it, but i want to have it. i also really love brie now. has anyone else been getting those cooking videos where all they do basically is bake garlic and smear it on bread with brie or make pesto and smear that on, drizzle a shit ton of olive oil at like every step and tons of salt and pepper at the end. crazy how at one point i saw so many of those videos and they just stick with me. love them, but they do bamboozle me. one account can just label themself as a cooking channel, but mostly post the same garlic recipe five thousand times. i will like every single one they post, but will still be annoyed they know how to get people like me. i am still shaking my fist at the stupid good algorithm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i wrote something yesterday while walking to class and added a bit more to it:

something about the warmth of the wind and the liveliness of the swaying flora around summoned her attention to the auburn leaves and singing fronds about. suddenly the depths of the internet mattered no more than benign particles floating just out of sight. her gaze traveled to the earth around calling out for one glimpse of recognition. one existence waiting peacefully to be noticed and appreciated by the bumbling folks who don't often pay any mind to the beauty around them. only then when her breath come back into her body did she realize she had forgotten everything prior to this moment. she took it all in, breathed in and out, and continued about her day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

it is a struggle for me to not pick up leaves off of the ground lately. i'm kinda addicted to leaves rn. got a whole bunch of them sitting on my window sill..i'm not kidding, there's probably at least 20 or 30. and i love them all. all so beautiful in their own ways even with their "imperfections" which are totally perfect to me. i love every leaf i see on the ground, but especially the vivid orange and red ones. i do love a good brown and green leaf as well tho, gotta represent my favorite colors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

anyshways, i felt like this was a good blog. it felt genuine and not over the top ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

tldr?: it didn't feel that long, but there's always someone who thinks it is

toaster oven or air fryer?

stickers in public

opposite persons

tomboy/feminine style

food...

something i wrote

leaves!!!

idk if these tldr's are useful or not, but i like summarizing and it keeps me on track knowing i gotta write one so i don't go on and on. maybe i should put these at the beginning, but i don't wanna. >:(

guten tag,

kD >:p

[erin-gilberts]

Getting to know you asks 🤗....

1. What's your go-to treat/snack (coffee/tea, cake/ muffins/cookies, etc)?

2. Would you rather hang out with friends indoors (shopping, arcade, hanging out at home, etc) or outdoors (goof off at the park, take a hike and chat, go to flea markets, etc)?

3. What are 5 of your favorite movies?

4. What are some artists you can listen to on repeat?

5. What's a fun/interesting fact about you?

Sincerely that drive-in mutual 😌👻🚫🎟

Hello @wanderingnelipot! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to answer your lovely ask. It's been a particularly rough couple of months, but I would still love to chat and get to know you better if you're interested!

1. My go-to treat is an iced latte! I used to have a pretty regular routine that on Fridays, I would always go to a local cafe after spin class and have an iced latte and an avocado toast. Cookies are always a good cozy snack for me, and I'm also partial to niche baked goods...whatever a cafe or restaurant considers their specialty and is really proud to be known for. I'm back in my hometown now and my favorite lil place currently has some phenomenal seven-layer bars.

2. I'm down for all kinds but I definitely love adventures. This week, I had a friend over and we made friendship bracelets while marathoning the Ghostbusters movies, which was lovely but a little more stationary than I usually am on my own. Wandering the woods and chatting, exploring a flea market, or goofing off at the park all provide a great opportunity to leave the house and have new experiences in new settings.

It's why I was delighted to see Frozen Empire for the first time in a place far from home - it felt like an adventure!

3. Ghostbusters Answer the Call

Jurassic Park

Bridesmaids

Titanic

Both of the live-action Scooby Doo movies - I think they're such a spiritual ancestor of Answer the Call 😂 I love them unironically; they are so goofy and were so panned but so much fun.

4. I'd most accurately describe my style of music as "crooning lesbians" lol. MUNA has been a staple in my playlist for years. I also associate a fair lot of Taylor Swift's songs with Erin Gilbert / ATC so she gets replayed often, too!

Best introduction to MUNA: "What I Want," "Home by Now," "Everything"

Most Erin songs by Taylor Swift: "Antihero," "All Too Well," "Cassandra"

5. I'm a pretty bold person who has a storied history of doing super wild things to really meaningful ends.

As a young hate crime survivor, I decided to unlearn my fear of the woods and the violence that happens to women within it by making an emotional trek 15 miles into the mountains to the site where another lesbian hate crime victim was killed.

The next year, I drove 12 hours to Toronto to see a 15 minute short film at its premiere. The short film was about the above woman's ^ story, following her partner who survived the attack, and I gambled that the director would be present. He was - his crew actually found the cairn of stones I left at the site. He was moved as hell that I came so far to see the film, and called me out on stage.

In 2022, Paul Feig was launching his cocktail book in the barely post-pandemic landscape, and on about three weeks notice, I impulsively booked a trip to NYC to attend his talk. Again, it was a gamble I'd get to meet him - they weren't announcing he'd be signing books; I just assumed and took the chance. He was! And I got to emphasize to him exactly how much GB: ATC meant to women and queer people, and he was so absolutely moved and chuffed that I brought a copy of Erin and Abby's book for him to sign.

He's since followed my friends and I as we went on a big trip tracing the footsteps of where all they filmed ATC and now recognizes our wee group by name.

So I'm 100% impulsive as hell, but I think it's always to some pretty incredible ends. 🥰

I'm going to leave you some questions in return xx

[sagiow]

15 questions

tagged by @tough-n-dumb, thanks friend!

Were you named after anyone?

Not “after”, per se, but my dad “discovered” my name after making a new friend in the glorious Montreal Red Light Disco District... who turned out to be an Italian exotic male dancer (he never told my mom that’s where he got the inspiration from until 30-some years later)

My middle name is my mom’s because my frazzled, mid-20s, overwhelmed first-time parents hadn’t thought of one before he went to register my birth so he kinda blanked and went with hers and she was pissed off because she doesn’t  like her name.

0/2, Papa.

When was the last time you cried?

Some time in the last month.

Do you have kids?

Two, elementary school age, although the eldest is solidly in his tweens and giving me a fantastic preview of the fun years ahead.

Do you use sarcasm?

Just did, didn’t I?

Actually, much less than I used to when I was younger. Mostly for joking around  or ranting about our incompetent colleagues with my work wife.

What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Not to sound like a hippie on Main, but I’d say their energy? Their vibe? Some people come off as very warm, and others colder (and some, downright antipathic). Some have this bubbling, crackling energy to them, others are super chill and calm. Some have this spark of intelligence or quick wit about them, and others make you wonder if there’s anybody home. So a bit of all of that.

A smile, greeting and eye contact (can all be super quick, just acknowledge you see the other person) go a long way in giving off good vibes, so we’ll definitely start on the wrong foot if the other person doesn’t do any of those. Be polite.

What’s your eye color?

Brown

Scary movies or happy endings?

I don’t like scary / horror movies with gore and torture. I do enjoy a good ghost story (the Gothicker, the better) and some psychological horror.

Love happy endings although unhappy ones definitely inspire a lot more fanfic.

Any special talents?

I never look at the picture when doing jigsaw puzzles and WILL complete it before you do.

Where were you born?

Province of Québec, Canada

What are your hobbies?

Phew... there’s a few, and they tend to be seasonal. Summer is reading, hiking, baseball, gardening, camping. Other seasons have baking, crochet, watching TV, playing old-school computer games, and getting ready for whatever holiday or birthday is upcoming. Puzzles and writing year-round (if inspiration striked and fellow fans are around!)

Have any pets?

2 cats (and often at least another because we are a foster family to our local rescue), 2 rabbits and 4 3 chicken (found one dead yesterday after that major storm / tornado passed. Her ancient 3 year old heart couldn’t handle it. RIP Matante.)

What sports do/have you played?

Phew... there’s a few there too. I’m always down to play pretty much anything with a ball (beach volleyball! street ball hockey!), but on the other hand, will probably get my Canadian citizenship revoked at some point because I do no winter sport except for snowshoeing and some shitty skating.

I played provincial-level softball and badminton in school. I did recreational synchronized swimming, various styles of dance, varsity basketball. Now, I play softball, tennis (although my dad is aggressively trying to draft me into pickleball), try to get in a game of golf or two per summer (every addition to this sentence makes me feel 10 years older). In non-summer, I practice aikido, and love hiking, especially in the fall.

How tall are you?

5′7″, or 170cm

Favorite subject at school?

History and Drama in High School, Anthropology and some of my Forensics classes in University (”no applied science”, you ask? meh, not really. Science was me playing Life on Safe Mode).

Dream Job?

I would’ve loved to study Anthropology further and become an archeologist (although I did take one Biological / Genetic Anthro class that was absolutely fascinating and made me reconsider Things) but I’d had enough Academia back then. I wanted to get a job, stop being beyond broke, and travel.

Nowadays I get this massive urge to dump everything corporate and move someplace with shorter, kinder winters, ideally not too far from the sea, and get a bunch of goats and chicken, fruit trees and grapevines, grow a shitload of tomatoes and eggplant, bake bread daily, and write in the evenings. Just need to win the lottery first but then I’m makin’ it happen.

tagging (apologies for the double tags if you got them, I lost track) @jomiddlemarch, @tortoisesshells, @fericita-s, @combat-librarian, @divinecomedienne, @luarenah

[aetherograph]

Whoa, I didn't know these helped my executives!!

Btw, if you have EVER dissociated, if you tend to 'zone out', do NOT meditate. I was told by my psych that because I dissociate, meditation is REALLY bad for my brain, because a dissociative brain does too much of what meditation teaches already, and needs to do the opposite. What dissociative brains need is grounding, not meditation (which is the opposite).

--

RPGs have a LOT of decision-making, and social interaction that doesn't carry a high price if you 'fuck up' either. The trade-off is you might feel emotions for people that aren't real, which can suck real bad once the game is over. However, that's why fanfic exists, and writing is an art form(! yes, writing is art) that involves LOTS of decisions too.

I highly recommend writing stream of consciousness, it's really good for beginners to writing as a practise, and is how my teachers started us off getting used to writing our thoughts down as words, and getting used to just doing the action. Don't worry about composing or anything just get used to writing words down.

Once you've got that going, you can start trying to make it make sense as a narrative. But do practise stream of consciousness first, and even as warm-up. Helps like nothing else.

--

As for cooking, something you might try, @reasonsforhope is looking for old textbooks on cooking from home ec classes, or tap your elders for their experiences, because we only lost cooking classes in like, 2001. I just found an old sewing textbook that builds skills using projects, and also talks about fostering a sense that sewing is fun and building confidence. I'm sure there's a similar book for cooking! I do know there's tips in the big gingham binder-style cookbook put out by Better Homes And Gardens, and I know there's books like 'How to Cook Everything', but they assume you know the basic moves and recipe language, so they're not a great place to start, because that's not what they're for. Alton Brown has a couple good books that explain cooking and baking, which may help? But time management is the difficultest part to really teach and learn.

I know when I was first learning, my mom started me on recipes that had few ingredients and few steps, that helped me learn the skills while building my confidence. My first baking recipe was pop-overs, I think, and my first cooking one was scrambling eggs. But a lot of cooking is having someone show you the 'moves' (like, I can't imagine learning how to 'fold' something from anything but another human being standing beside me), so it's sort of hard to learn from books or games. But you might start with some of the things I started with:

Pop-overs (teaches the basics of baking: mixing, pouring into muffin cups, oven use, timer use; note that a good popover recipe has like FIVE ingredients or less, and one of those ingredients should be eggs)

Melts (teaches the basics of watching something, judging doneness by sight, layering, broiler use)

Oven Nachos (below; teaches broiler use, doneness by sight, going from pan to oven, layering)

Eggs a la Wolfe (teaches patience, stamina stirring, judging doneness by sight, understanding 'it keeps cooking after you take it off the heat', whisking on heat, beating, whisking)

Roast Corn (teaches oven use, timer use, produce processing)

Roast potatoes (teaches dicing, oven use, timer use)

I'm not sure what exactly you want to practise, with cooking, but as for me, I find baking (stirring food then heating food) a lot easier than cooking (heating food) solely because baking has a lot of 'do this, then set a timer. when timer goes off, do this. set another timer.' whereas cooking has a lot more 'do this and this and this and this and watch it and this and WATCH IT and also this and WATCH IT....'

I don't know why people say cooking is easier. It's actually harder if you have difficulty with putting steps in order and time blindness. I live with some ADHD folks that swear by meal boxes but I tried that and while it does take the measuring ingredients out of the equation, it doesn't really have recipes that are written clearly or have enough instruction on timing, imho. And I've tried both HungryRoot (IBS-friendly because can be customised) and BlueApron. I'd say you have to already know how to cook in a basic way before using those, or you aren't going to know when things are done, when the timing needs adjusting to adapt to your appliances and tools, etc.

Anyway, here's some of the recipes I mentioned:

--

Easy Oven Nachos

A big bag of your favoured kind of tortilla chips, I like as little salt as possible on mine, and a sturdy chip that won't break

1lb Mexican blend shredded cheese

1lb Ground beef or whatever meat you prefer

Taco seasoning

A large skillet pan

A broiler pan (high-sided baking pan, like for turkey)

Foil

A wire strainer if the skillet has no lid

A spatula or mixing spoon

First, follow the taco seasoning packet's instructions on how to prepare the meat. What I do is I cook the beef, drain it by holding the lid and making a tiny opening by shifting the lid slightly, pouring the grease into a disposable heat-proof container (you can make some foil into a cup shape by pressing it over an upside-down cup), letting it cool, then throwing it in the trash. (The TRASH, not the sink!! Never throw anything that solidifies at room temperature down the drain!) Then add the seasoning and mix it into the meat with the spatula or spoon.

Turn the broiler on low.

Spread the chips out in the broiler pan, then distribute the cooked meat evenly over the top, then the cheese. You can do a few layers of this if you want to, but don't go over the rim of the broiler pan and try and keep it even.

Put the broiler pan in the broiler or on the top rack if the broiler function is in the oven (ovens are all different, some of them have a special drawer under the oven for the broiler, and some use that drawer as storage. Get to know your oven!).

Check it after ONE MINUTE. I am not joking. It does not take long, broilers are HOT and all you're doing is melting the cheese.

--

Eggs a la Wolfe

Nero Wolfe is very particular about food, and this recipe is one of his very particular and very delicious ways of doing something basic.

Eggs (however many you want, I usually go with two)

A small skillet pan

Butter

salt, if you like.

parsley leaves snipped into small pieces. You can use dried (but don't tell Mr Wolfe! XD)

A whisk or chopsticks

A glass pitcher

Set the pan on the small burner on the lowest possible heat. Put abt half a tablespoon of butter per egg into the pan to melt. Crack the eggs into the pitcher, use the whisk or chopsticks to whisk them really good, like don't just break the yolks and stop but really get in there, get some froth going. Add the parsley and whisk it up. Once the butter is melted, pour the eggs into the pan slowly, whisking them in the pan the whole time.

Okay, now the hardest part: keep stirring the eggs. Keep stirring them in the pan. Keep going. Do not do not do NOT turn up the heat. This is gonna go REAL slow, but keep stirring and watching the eggs. It's helpful to have someone in the kitchen to talk to, but don't get too distracted, you gotta keep looking at the eggs the whole time, until they start to curdle (seriously), and once they're sort of creamy and a little lumpy, and all the moisture is almost all the way evaporated, turn the heat off and spread them on some toast, or just eat them like that. Add a little salt, pepper, tabasco, whatever you want. The eggs are gonna be spreadable, if you do it right.

(This is also called French scrambled eggs, in a lot of cookbooks)

--

Roast Corn

This is another recipe I got from Nero Wolfe. @moniquill taught me how to husk corn the proper way: cut the bottom off, then take hold of the husk, twist, and pull toward the tip. This removes the husk and ALL the silk.

some fresh ears of corn, unshucked. It's best if you roast nearly-mature corn not more than three hours after it's picked, but most of us don't have access to corn that specifically fresh.

butter

salt

A baking sheet, or baguette pans if you have any. We happen to bc we inherited them from the lady who used to live in this house.

Preheat the oven to the hottest it will go. Place the UNshucked corn on a baking sheet, spaced about an inch or more apart. Roast for 40 minutes. Yes, 40 minutes. It will smell a little like burning, but that is the silk scorching, everything is fine I promise. Open a window.

Shuck at the table, butter, salt. It is ambrosia. You will NEVER want to boil it in water again.

By the way, you can improve your executive function. You can literally build it like a muscle.

Yes, even if you're neurodivergent. I don't have ADHD, but it is allegedly a thing with ADHD as well. And I am autistic, and after a bunch of nerve damage (severe enough that I was basically housebound for 6 months), I had to completely rebuild my ability to get my brain to Do Things from what felt like nearly scratch.

This is specifically from ADDitude magazine, so written specifically for ADHD (and while focused in large part on kids, also definitely includes adults and adult activities):

Here's a link on this for autism (though as an editor wow did that title need an editor lol):

Resources on this aren't great because they're mainly aimed at neurotypical therapists or parents of neurdivergent children. There's worksheets you can do that help a lot too or thought work you can do to sort of build the neuro-infrastructure for tasks.

But a lot of the stuff is just like. fun. Pulling from both the first article and my own experience:

Play games or video games where you have to make a lot of decisions. Literally go make a ton of picrews or do online dress-up dolls if you like. It helped me.

Art, especially forms of art that require patience, planning ahead, or in contrast improvisation

Meditation

Martial arts

Sports in general

Board games like chess or Catan (I actually found a big list of what board games are good for building what executive functioning skills here)

Woodworking

Cooking

If you're bad at time management play games or video games with a bunch of timers

Things can be easier. You do not have to be stuck forever.

[sangeetasha9820]

Gifts of Love Unique Ideas for Mother’s Day 2025

Gifts of Love: Unique Ideas for Mother’s Day 2025

Mother’s Day 2025 is the perfect moment to celebrate the incredible woman who has given you so much—love, strength, guidance, and endless support. This year, go beyond the usual flowers and chocolates with thoughtful, creative, and unique gift ideas that truly say, “I love you, Mom.”

Here are some heartwarming and one-of-a-kind Mother’s Day gift ideas for 2025:

1. Personalized Jewelry

Customized jewelry never goes out of style. Choose a necklace with her children’s names or birthstones, a bracelet engraved with a special date, or a ring with a meaningful message. It’s beautiful, wearable, and deeply sentimental.

2. Custom Family Portrait

Commission an artist to create a hand-drawn or digital illustration of your family. It can be based on a photo or drawn in a whimsical cartoon style. Frame it for her to display proudly.

3. Memory Jar or Box

Fill a decorated jar or keepsake box with handwritten notes, each sharing a memory, a reason you love her, or a lesson she taught you. It’s a timeless gift she can return to again and again.

4. DIY Spa Day Basket

Create a self-care basket with bath bombs, essential oils, candles, soft slippers, and herbal teas. Include a handwritten note inviting her to take a well-deserved day to unwind.

5. Cooking or Baking Class (Online or Offline)

If your mom loves culinary adventures, sign her up for a cooking class—virtual or in-person. Choose something fun and different, like French pastries, Thai cuisine, or artisanal bread-making.

6. Subscription Box Tailored to Her Interests

There are monthly subscription boxes for nearly everything—gardening, reading, tea, beauty, wellness, or crafts. Pick one that matches her hobbies for a gift that keeps giving.

7. Custom Recipe Book

Gather her favorite family recipes, add photos and personal notes, and design a personalized cookbook. It’s both nostalgic and practical—perfect for moms who love to cook.

8. Digital Frame Loaded With Memories

Pre-load a digital photo frame with family pictures, travel memories, and special moments. It’s a modern way to celebrate a lifetime of love.

9. Experience-Based Gifts

Give her the gift of an experience—like a wine-tasting tour, a pottery workshop, concert tickets, or a scenic weekend getaway. Memories often mean more than material things.

10. Handmade Gifts from the Heart

Nothing beats the charm of a gift made by you. Whether it's a painting, a knitted scarf, or a poem, handmade items carry love in every detail.

Conclusion: The most meaningful Mother’s Day gifts aren’t always the most expensive—they’re the most thoughtful. Whether it’s something personalized, experiential, or handmade, the best gifts of 2025 are those that reflect your appreciation for everything she is and everything she’s done. Celebrate her with love, creativity, and a little surprise this Mother’s Day

If you find more excited Gift & ideas for Mother's day then you can Check our Full Blog

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Jacket Potato Cart Hire

Jacket Baked Potato Cart Hire.   Juicy Jackets, When You Need The Food To Be Remembered.   Reputed to have been introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh, if you don't like 'taters' you could always try his other offering, tabacco. but we don't think 'baccy' goes with chilli too well. Everyone remembers what the food was like, poor food can totally ruin your event. Don't offer your guests or colleagues the usual boring platter of sandwiches and a slice of cake. You need something a bit more filling, a baked potato cart is just the ticket. Everything is taken care of for you, preparing and serving the food, and the clean up after the event. Your choice of hot and cold fillings with side salad. to make a perfect late night offering for your guests at a wedding. Although it’s just as good through the day at parties or company fun days. Fancy a Tater, just ask, we don't bite!  Yes PleaseThe menu lists a small selection of what you can choose for your event. If you have something specific in mind let us know and we can put a customised menu together for you. We can also offer veggie and vegan options, so everybody can be happy.You can have the baked potato services on a quirky range of carts, remember nowadays the service needs to look as good as the food tastes. Victorian style pickwick potato ovens are used to cook your juicy jackets to perfection fluffy on the inside, crunchy on the exterior. •Victorian •Alpine •Contemporary •Tikki Hut •Horse Box •Gazebo You have the option of a custom design and build service for promotional events and exhibitions. Check out our carts... Branding For sales promotions and exhibitions your baked potato carts can be branded to suit your theme. This can be as simple as adding a logo to the front, right through to a complete custom design and build, you also have the option of; Custom Branded Napkins. Custom Branded Plates. Custom Signage.The same old buffets are beginning to look a bit stale. Adding a baked potato cart serving a range of healthy options is a sure fire way to keep your guests happy. Add a touch of class your event with our delicious hot fresh spuds and range of both hot and cold toppings. Perfect for private parties, and wedding receptions. In addition to our jackets, we also offer other great savoury options, why dont you check out;  Hot Dogs, Chipstix and Nachos. History Of The Potato The humble potato has become the world’s 4th largest food crop. Quite a feat for a vegetable which was first cultivated in Peru around 8000 to 5000 BC. When Peru was invaded by the Spanish Conquistadors in 1536, they discovered the taste of the potato and carried them to Europe. Sir Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes into Ireland around 1589, planting them on 40,000 acres of land near Cork. It took around 4 decades for the potato to spread to the rest of Europe Did You Know At one point during the Alaskan Klondike gold rush, the potato was worth its weight in gold. They were valued for their vitamin C, and gold at that time was more readily available than nutritious foods! The potato was the first vegetable to be grown in space. NASA and the University of Wisconsin created the technology with the aim of feeding astronauts on long space voyages, and eventually providing a staple crop for future space colonies.DO YOU OFFER VEGGY OPTIONS; Yes, we can provide a range of veggy toppings, or a mixture of both. CAN YOU PROVIDE HALAL OR KOSHER TOPPINGS; Yes we can work up a menu to suit your precise requirements. HOW MUCH IS A JACKET POTATO CART; The price varies depending on where you require the service and how many guests you need us to serve, but expect to pay around £500 for upto 100 servings. WHERE CAN I HIRE A JACKET POTATO CART NEAR ME. We offer a service covering the full U.K. and can provide a cart for you. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A JACKET POTATO AND A BAKED POTATO; In reality they are the same thing, basically the English call it a jacket, the Americans baked. U.K’s Premier Traditional jacket potato carts are available to hire throughout the FULL U.K. and Europe. Including the North East, The Midlands, London, Scotland, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and they are perfect for military balls, corporate events, college balls, weddings, parties, university balls, company fundays, barmitzvahs, bat mitzvahs and any other type of public or private event catered for. Hire Jacket Potatoes Near Me. Baked potato food trucks and carts for any event. Waffles make a perfect complement. Read the full article