#that’s for the input Sid

[yen-sids-tournament]

So...we put up the three Pirates of the Caribbean polls today (where you get to pick the main character) and somehow Dead Man's Chest and At World's End both ended up as 24 hour polls??

that was not supposed to happen and we are 100% sure we checked before we posted that these were all for a week.

We will get back to you on how we will address this simply because we are very bothered by this mistake.

[prismit]

<- their ass has NOT been shiny hunting mew (23 days remain)

[broidobe]

𝔟𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞 𝔪𝔢𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔩𝔦𝔭𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔩𝔲𝔡𝔢

requested! this is a bit long lol

⁎⁺˳✧༚miscellaneous masterlist

being treated as "one of the guys," but with a fiercely protective undertone

none of them would let anyone disrespect you, even as they playfully tease you themselves.

everyone has their own way of looking out for you: 

corey being the one to check on your emotional state,

joey subtly making sure your equipment was perfect,

and clown stepping in if anyone crosses a line.

quickly developing a no-nonsense attitude to survive in the testosterone-fueled chaos

but the band loves that about you.

rocking your own unique mask that stood out yet matched the slipknot aesthetic—a balance between eerie and badass.

blowing people away during live shows, proving that you could match the raw energy and aggression of the band.

developing a signature move or stage quirk that fans would scream for, like spinning wildly during breakdowns or headbanging with the same ferocity as mick and jim.

occasionally pranking fans who underestimated you by taking off your mask for a moment mid-set and watching their jaws drop when they realized slipknot’s chaotic lineup included a woman.

bringing a unique perspective to the creative process

with everyone valuing your input because it added a new layer to their intense sound.

joey occasionally dragging you into the studio at 3 a.m. because he had an idea and trusted you to refine it with him.

contributing either vocally or instrumentally to the dark, experimental vibe of tracks, maybe even adding softer but haunting tones for contrast.

helping to patch up cuts and bruises after wild sets because your calm energy made you a natural caretaker, even when you were just as exhausted.

becoming a feminist icon for slipknot fans, showing that women could hold their own in extreme metal.

facing skepticism or dismissive comments from outsiders but using it to fuel your performances.

getting emotional seeing young girls in the crowd wearing masks inspired by yours or holding up signs that said you were their inspiration.

dynamics with each member cause..yeah there's a lot

corey: treating you like a sibling and having heartfelt talks when things got tough, always reminding you that you were irreplaceable in the band.

you’re the heart of this band, you know that, right? without you, we’d probably kill each other in a week.

people don’t get it—she’s not ‘good for a girl.’ she’s just good. period.

you ever need a break, just say the word. i’ve got your back, always.

joey: sharing a deep bond over music and creativity, with him always encouraging you to push boundaries.

that riff you came up with? insane. we’re using it. end of story.

don’t let anyone tell you we’re carrying you. you’re carrying us half the time.

c’mon, let’s jam—i’ve got this idea, but i need your touch to make it brutal.

clown: respecting your work ethic and intensity, often involving you in his elaborate stage antics.

you bring something none of us could ever replicate. don’t ever forget that.

i’ve got this insane idea for the stage show, but i need you to trust me. you in?

i know i’m crazy, but you’re just as nuts for sticking around. respect.

mick and jim: playfully competitive with you, especially when it came to who could headbang harder or nail riffs with more precision.

mick:

you shred better than half the guys i know. don’t let it go to your head.

if anyone so much as looks at you wrong, let me know. i’ll handle it.

stop showing me up on stage, damn it. you’re making me look bad.

jim:

you’ve got this knack for making everything sound heavier. what’s your secret?

hey, if mick’s too stubborn to admit it, i will—you’re killing it out there.

you ever think about how crazy it is that we’re doing this? and you’re better at it than any of us?

sid: being your mischievous partner-in-crime, whether it was pranking the others or sneaking off for an impromptu adventure.

let’s mess with the crowd tonight. i’ve got a plan, and it’s gonna be wild.

you’re like my partner in crime, except way cooler and less likely to get us arrested.

you think they’re ready for what we’re about to do? yeah, me neither. let’s do it anyway.

paul: acting like your big brother, always looking out for you and ensuring you felt part of the family.

you’re family, plain and simple. anyone says otherwise, they’re not paying attention.

you bring something real to the music. we’d be lost without you.

hey, you okay? i know this life can be a lot, but we’re all here for you.

craig: quietly offering support when you needed it, often in the form of small but thoughtful gestures.

(quietly hands you a pair of noise-canceling headphones before a loud rehearsal.)

you crushed it out there. (simple but meaningful after a particularly intense show.)

i programmed something in the track for you to play with. let me know if it works.

chris: sharing a similar sense of humor, leading to a lot of inside jokes between the two of you.

you realize you’re way too good for this circus, right? but don’t leave—we need you.

i don’t know how you deal with all of us idiots, but i’m glad you do.

if you can keep up with us, you can survive anything.

the band collectively gets into a heated debate over whether to watch a horror movie or a ridiculous comedy on the tour bus.

after twenty minutes of arguing, they finally settle on a random nature documentary about sloths, because sid begged everyone to let him watch it

halfway through, they all end up falling asleep, except sid, who’s GLUED to the screen

the band once finished an insane show, and someone suggested a "cool down" session by doing yoga.

the result is a hilarious disaster of tangled limbs and everyone trying to maintain balance in ridiculous poses.

by the end, there’s no "calm"—just a group of exhausted, laughing band members sprawled out on the floor.

during an especially intense set, the band LOVES to prank the audience by switching up the set list halfway through.

they randomly start playing covers of pop songs like backstreet boys or spice girls, and the crowd’s confusion turns into enthusiastic laughter as the band goes full on with their heavy versions of the tunes.

corey starts fake fights with the band on stage, pretending like they’re not in sync.

the whole crowd gets uncomfortable, but then the band bursts into laughter, revealing it was all staged.

afterward, the audience cheers louder, having been "in on the joke."

[ryunumber]

Does Bradford from Xcom have a Ryu number?

John Bradford has a Ryu Number of 3.

(explanation below)

There's a handful of names when inputted as soldier names in Enemy Unknown that change the soldier into an XCOM Hero that is very powerful (and therefore disables achievements). One of them is Sid Meier.

Meier can also be seen in a civilization leader context in Civilization IV; it's easiest to see (and hear) him as part of the base game's tutorial.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Hope Morphin Q&A

About a few months ago, I got a message from a surprising source: @hmrphin/Hope Morphin.

In case you don't know, Hope Morphin is a model and makeup artist who the character of Marc was based on. I also made a post about how their friendship with Astruc had ended thanks to the Rising Sun Flag controversy, which they had actually read one day. We talked a little, and they told me to message them on their Instagram to confirm that this is the real Hope.

They said they'd be down to answer some questions, I came up with a few, and I got their permission to post this on my account. So, without further ado, as Sid the Science Kid once said, let's go get some answers.

Question: When did you and Thomas first get to know each other, and how?

Answer: It was years ago, when the series premiered on TFOU. There were a lot of people complaining on twitter that the characters of the show were in 3D instead of in 2D, and I answered one of Thomas' tweets saying that characters' butts looked better in 3D rather than in 2D (yeah, I had a terrible sense of humor back then, glad I don't do that anymore) and he answered "yeah we could say that lol". Then, it became a running gag between us on the web, and we met for the first time at a french convention called Japan Tours, the 2015 one. So yeah, I think it was when I was... 20/21 years old, something like that.

Question: It's okay. We've all been cringe at some point in their lives. Did you two meet up again after the convention?

Answer: Yup. In fact, after the convention, he sent me a friend request on Facebook. Then, we chatted for a bit and he asked me if I wanted to be a model for him, and I met him for the second time during that model session.

Question: How did Thomas approach you about creating a character in his show based on you?

Answer: So, it was after I modeled for him. It happened after S1 has ended, so when we were chatting, he asked me which one was my favorite character. I answered Nathaniel, because at this time I felt quite close to this one (we love the angsty artist boy lmao). He told me that he didn't understand people liking Nath because he found it was a very empty character aha, but then he told me that they were searching for inspiration to create a boyfriend for him. He told me he wanted the persons to be happy that he got a boyfriend and that they would “stop bothering him with Nathaniel”, and as he wanted to take inspiration on someone looking androgynous he thought I was a good inspiration, so I accepted.

Question: Interesting story. Didn't know Nathaniel was so popular before Season 2. Did you have any input in the creation of Marc in terms of stuff like his design or personality?

Answer: Yeah he rather was, I remember a lot of people wanted to see more of him ehe. Not at all, I even though that he was joking on the moment, then one day he sent me Marc's characters sheet. I had the same haircut back in the day. Also, I was always wearing armor rings and I was wearing those kind of rings when I had this conversation with him, and he told me that Marc was going to have one of those as his miraculous. I was also still writing a lot back in the days, so I guess he still did took some stuff there and there in my personality to create him.

Question: You mean this design?

Answer: Yup! I was wearing only black sooo yeah the red and rainbow wasn't in my wardrobe aha.

Question: Do you know why they made the design rainbow themed?

Answer: Nah, he didn't told me :/ My guess is to make him more LGBT+ themed...

Question: Okay, sorry. Next question: What are your thoughts on Marc as a character? What do you think of his relationship with Nathaniel and his respective villain and hero forms, Reverser and Rooster Bold?

Answer: To be honest, when he first appeared, I really liked him. I thought he had a lot of potential as a character, his villain form was really cool and I really liked the ideas behind him, and I liked the relationship that he got with Nathaniel, from enemies to associates ehe. But after that... meh. There wasn't nothing much on the LGBT+ relationship with Nathaniel (we had to wait until the end of season 5 to see them hold hands... wow), and I didn't really find myself anymore in his character. I liked the design of his hero form and I liked the concept of his power, but like the other heroes that appeared during this episode, we didn't see Rooster Bold that much and I think that doesn't really make him feel appealing. I have the feeling that Marc and many other side characters could be way more develop in very cool subthemes but this is never really done in the series. Instead, now, they are just the characters getting out a whiteboard and giving terrible ideas to Marinette for her to date Adrien =="

Question: Just for fun, do you have any personal headcanons for Marc?

Answer: Well of course ehe, I have ton of those :D

Mmmh... For example, I think he is a dog person, that he's also fond of fashion such as Marinette but that he just don't have the patience to learn how to draw and how to design clothes... Also have the headcanon that him and Nath often meet at one of their places to do some little workshops together to work on their series and on tons of other projects :D

Got also tons of headcanon for future!Marc, such as him being a model for lgbt+ brands and Nath designing his clothes, I would love to see this shy patootie being at the front of the spotlight ehe, full of confidence and all :D There's tons of ideas to have with this character, I remember when I saw lots of artists drawing him with alternate clothes back in the day, such as shishitsunari or hazy (will try to find them back but it's been a while lol). I wish those clothing styles would be canon, with Marc rocking those kind of genderless clothes.

Links to fanart of Marc with different outfits: (https://www.deviantart.com/hazydayclouds/art/72918-756895643) and (https://ladyofacat.tumblr.com/post/176231424098/rises-from-the-underworld-marc-is-perfect-i-want)

Question: This one's a little tough, so if you don't want to answer, that's perfectly fine. What exactly went down before Thomas blocked you? Did you have any conversation online or in real life regarding the use of the Rising Sun Flag in "Ephemeral", or did Thomas just block you with no warning?

Answer: Honestly ? Blocked me without any warning. We were talking less and less, and, since I have affective dependancy, I had the feeling that I said / done something wrong. He was often answering only when I was defending him on social medias during these times. But we didn't have any harsh conversation from what I recall. So, I did the tweet about ephemeral, pointing out the use of the rising sun flag, and, well, maybe he had a plugin on twitter that blocked everyone using the term "flag", and maybe it blocked me automatically. The thing is : he has my number, he has my address (well, my old address now, lol). He had many ways to tell me this was a misunderstanding and that he didn't want to block me. He didn't call me, didn't send me any text after that to talk about it, so he clearly didn't want to make anything to sort out the problem. To this day, he still hasn't send me any message to talk about it. He commented on some of my facebook posts I did last year (I posted some makeups I did for my school) just saying it was cool, so... Yeah, not the type of friend I want to keep. I still have him as a friend on FB if I ever get the guts to try to send him a message to tell him everything that was wrong towards me and towards other people, but I clearly have other things to deal with lately.

Question: So he blocked you and didn't say anything else?

Answer: Yup, exactly, blocked me and didn't say anything else :/ After years of supporting him lmao.

Question: I'm really sorry to hear that. And you still haven't heard from him after all this time?

Answer: Well, apart from some comments he made on my facebook posts (I posted my makeup from my makeup school and he commented "very nice!") nothing at all. But honestly I'm not too bothered by that. I heard new stuff that he did prior and I really don't think it's a good idea that I interact with him again. I keep him in my facebook friends because maybe one day I'll send him a message to try to confront him, telling him that he had a very terrible behavior towards me and other people... But not today, I have other stuff to deal with.

Question: Despite everything that's happened between you and Thomas, do you still keep up with Miraculous Ladybug? If so, what do you think of it?

Answer:

Well, I've kept up with it because I still have lots of friends who are watching it (for example Octolady, Kogenta and Candy...), and they help me keep a little hype.

So I watched the episodes... There are some stuff that I like. There's good LGBT+ representation, and I like seeing an international known cartoon doing that (especially a french one since we have lots of far-right rising lately).

But honestly, I don't have the same hype as before. At the beginning, I was hyped because S1 looked awesome and had lots of cool fights, lots of wholesome characters and all, but the animation problems and differences are really making me bothered. Also, I have the feeling there's a lot of characters who could be more elaborated and who aren't, and... That's kinda sad, because there's a lot of topics that could be explored thanks to them and not just brushed off in one episode.

Plus, to be honest, I didn't really like the ending of S5. And I don't like the idea of it going on for seasons and seasons and seasons, milked until there's nothing more for it. The fewer the better in my mind...

I also seen the movie and didn't really liked it. Too much fanservice and didn't really made sense. The animation was nice, though.

Honestly, I love the writing team, they are wholesome people and they are doing their best for this show, but people like Thomas and Zag are the kind of people I don't want to support anymore. So yeah... To sum it up : still watching it from afar to see if nice stuff is happening, been pleased with some little stuff, displeased with a lot more, but I don't think I'll keep watching it both because I'm not that hyped up anymore and because I don't want to support anymore these 2 people. I supported Thomas too much before, was too attached to him and was a terrible person towards fans who didn't deserved it because I was too blind, so yeah, won't happen anymore.

Still, I'm glad there's still some people who are fans of Marc and who felt helped thanks to this character. I really hope he will have a better representation in the future (clear relationship with Nath, maybe even some trans / non-binary representation ?) in order to inspire young people.

----------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to personally thank Hope for being willing to answer my questions, and I highly reccommend giving their Instagram a follow.

[scuderia-piastri]

starting line

✮⋆˙ summary: it’s media day for the first race of the season and eyes are on the rookie for ferrari

✮⋆˙ warnings: none!

rrcsav masterlist

there are maybe seven different t-shirts laying out in front of her. seven, and somehow she still can’t choose? on a normal day, she wouldn’t even have cared so much to pick out 7 options.

but the media day for the first race of her debut season can’t just be any day. the only glimpse the public had of her officially since she joined with ferrari was the livery reveal, where she got to don the signature red racing suit for the first time. and surely she’s overthinking it, but this outfit has to be curated perfectly to set the first impression. not trying too hard, like the dress she just discarded onto the floor, but not just showing up in a team kit and calling it a day.

she looks through her options one more time, willing herself to just choose one, before being snapped back into reality by the knocking at her hotel door. maybe she lost track of time and housecleaning was waiting for her to get out.

“give me a minute, sorry!”

“yeah, no worries, take your time.” the brit behind the door calls back.

freezing for a moment, red looks back at the door and inhales. of all the times for her teammate, a 7 time world champion, to visit her, this has to be one of the most inconvenient.

scrambling to the door and almost stumbling on the suitcase she forgot she put there, she opens the door with probably what seems to be an unnaturally big smile, trying to block lewis’s view of the room which has clothes thrown everywhere and makeup covering the tables. “lewis, hi, didn’t expect you to be here.”

“yeah, just thought i’d check in before we’re in the paddock. the first day tends to be stressful from what i remember.” if he noticed anything amiss, he didn’t give any sign of it, just smiling back with his hands in the pockets of his well-styled media day outfit.

she let herself relax. “thank you, i really appreciate it. just a bit nervous, as one would expect, but i’m excited. probably one of the biggest days of my life.”

“yeah, mate, i can imagine. don’t stress too much, alright? i’m sure you’ll do great. see you out there.”

“thanks, i’ll try not to. see you there.”

“and for the first time in quite a long long time, we have a female racer here to race with ferrari, as well as the first indian one to do so. what’s your input, karun? you seem to be pretty excited about this one.”

“i really am, crofty. it’s nice to see a woman competing at the top level of motorsport, but it’s also amazing to see it’s a woman of color. representation is important in this sport, of course, and she looks promising. ferrari chose a great line up, all things considered with the surprises from last year.”

“surprises indeed! to see the former ferrari golden boy now driving a red bull is quite jarring, to be honest. i suppose 2025 is the year for surprises.”

“and one of our most anticipated rookies this year, here we have red, who will be joining ferrari this year and teaming with 7 time world champion lewis hamilton. red, how are you feeling about the weekend ahead?” the reporter handed a microphone to red, who smiled nervously.

“well, obviously nervous but quite excited as well, as i’m sure the other rookies around will also tell you. if i’m being honest, it still feels like a dream,” she laughed, shaking her head. “it’s an unbelievable amount of support that i’ve gotten, and i appreciate all of it. can’t wait to prove myself this season.”

“and there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, ferrari’s new driver for 2025,” the reporter turned back to the camera and smiled. “many exciting things coming up this season, and i’m sure we’ll all be tuned in for every bit of the action. i can tell this one will be a good one.”

tag list: @sid-is-gr8 @mellowarcadefun @justadesirebel @foreveralbon

[opposums-love-arson]

Scream Queen Book 1: Conventional Final Girl

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Stu Macher x Reader x Billy Loomis

Okay so basically let's just cut to the chase, the main character "(y/n)" is Sidney Prescott's little stepsister, yeah? Well, what happens when she takes Sid's place as the final girl? A whole lot. Disclaimer: All rights reserved to the copy righted owners of the Scream franchise. The only creative input I had in this fan fiction was the part of (y/n), almost everything else can be found in the movie. Follows the movie very closely. I mean the actual movie, not the script. Obviously switching out some parts to fit the narrative. It takes a couple of chapters to really get it kicking but I promise it gets good. *NO SMUT* these are still high school students and I do not want to overtly sexualize KIDS! And if you make the argument of "I'm not a kid" I'm 18 been there, done that, don't try it.

  "Hello, who is it?" I asked into the large telephone. 

"No one in particular..." Sounds like another one of the boys' prank calls.

"Okay Mr. No one in particular, any reason for the call?" 

"No reason in particular, just wanted to talk." 

"Hmm okay then talk," I said as I swiveled around in my chair.

"What's your favorite scary movie?" The raspy but oddly pitched voice asked. 

"Oh I've got plenty but you might want to sit down, it'll take a while." 

"I've got time." 

"Ya know, stuff like Halloween, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw. Then there's creature features like The Thing. B-horror like Slumber Part Massacre or Sleepaway Camp." I finally finish my rambling when I hear my step sister and her boyfriend in the other room. 

"Do you really like scary movies?" 

"Oh yeah definitely but I think it's mainly because of my step sister's friends?" 

"Oh yeah?" 

"Yeah, I mean I always liked horror but they really got me into it. Especially our friends Randy, Billy and Stu, they're crazy about that stuff!" I said as I flopped down onto my bed. 

"What's a pretty girl like you doing with all those guys?" 

"They're not a lot of guys, if anything it equals out our group," I said, completely avoiding the whole 'pretty girl' thing... that was kind of weird. 

Hearing a knock at my door completely startled me. 

"Oh um hey I have to go but feel free to call me back anytime," I whisper into the phone quickly placing it back on the body. 

It was obvious the person on the line was saying something before I hung up but I didn't bother to listen 

  In popped Neil's head from the other side of the door. "Hey kiddo who ya talking to?" He said as he looked around. "Hm? Oh no one, what's up Neil?" I asked, now back in my desk chair. Neil was a good guy, I'm glad he and my mom started dating, they actually just got engaged! I think I was more excited about it than my step sister, Sindey, she's still grieving. "Just got done talking to your sister, I'm going to hit the sack, remember I'm not back until sunday. Cash on the table and call if you need anything," He said waiting for me to say something. "Alright got it Neil, have fun at the expo!" I waved him off before he closed the door. 

  My mom and I didn't move to Woodsoro until she really started dating Neil. It's always just been her and I for as long as I can remember, but it feels good to be part of a complete family again. I missed our old home at first with all my friends and family but Sid quickly took me under her wing. I met all of her friends including Stu, Tatum, Randy and Sid's boyfriend Billy. I'll admit it was weird at first because they just saw me as the little step sister but once Randy and I went on a ranting debate about which was the real pioneer of Slasher; Texas Chainsaw or Black Christmas, it got a lot easier. Even though Stu and Billy were pretty cute I'll never be used to Stu's wild energy, nor Billy's slightly shady behavior.

  The next morning didn't go quite as expected... There were reporters, cameras, and news vans posted up all around school. Sid and I were freaked the moment we got off the bus. She was looking around bewildered by everything going on until we spotted one woman in particular, Gale Weathers. To say the least, Weathers was a total bitch towards Sid's mom's name. 

"Can you believe this shit?!" We heard a voice pop up from behind us. Sid totally jumped. 

"Tatum, what is going on?" Sidney asks, waving her arm out to the school. 

"Yeah, since when was Woodsboro flooded with reporters?" I looked over at Tatum, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"You don't know?" Tatum asked both of us, a hint of amusement on her face.

"No," Sid and I said in unison, still confused. 

"Casey Becker and Steve Orth were killed last night," She said with a harsh but light tone just above a whisper. 

"What?! No way!" Sid softly exclaimed. 

I was too shocked to say a single word so I just listened. 

"And we're not just talking killed, we're talking splatter movie killed. Ripped open, from end to end," Tatum talked about it with entertaining ease, like it was just gossip. 

I think I'm going to be sick. 

"Casey Becker, she sits next to me in English," Sid said looking over at her best friend. 

I think you mean sat, Sid. I thought. 

"Not anymore," Said Tatum with a wobble of her head. 

She went on saying, "It's so sad, her mom and dad found her hanging from a tree. Her insides on the outside." Shoving her hands near her stomach. 

"Oh my god," Sid said as she reached for the back of her neck, probably to feel the goosebumps that appeared. 

"Do they know who did it?" I finally asked, feeling the urge to know. 

The two looked over at me with Tatum saying, "Fucking clueless, I mean they're interogating the entire school? Teacher, students, janitors." 

"They think someone at school did it?" Sid asked

"They don't know, I mean Dewy was saying this is the worst crime he's seen in years. Even worse than-" Tatum paused when I nudged her side, "Well, it's bad." She finished. 

The bell signaling the start of the first period rang.

"C'mon Sid, we gotta get to class..." I said as I lightly grabbed her hand, giving it a slight reassuring squeeze. 

"Yeah, alright..." She responded, removing her hand from mine. She's just going through a lot right now. 

  Sitting through the first period is weird when you have a seat that was right behind a dead person. Not Casey Becker but Steve Orth. He'd ask me for a pencil or notes every day because he forgot his. Claimed it was because of football practice. Soon enough the five minute bell for next class rang. A class that didn't have any dead students.

  Walking to my locker to rotate my books I was blocked by none other than Stu Macher. 

"Hey, (y/n)," He drawled out my name with a big smile, "Whatcha up to?" 

"Getting my books Stu, same thing you should be doing." 

"C'mon, you're not still upset with me, are you?" He asked with a fake pout 

"Yeah actually I am Stu!" I shouted in a whisper 

"I couldn't help myself, I mean look at you?" He said as he squished my face. 

Swatting his hand away I said, "That's no excuse!" 

"You can be such a prude," he said as he leaned his head on my locker. 

"No, it's called being a good friend with a balanced moral compass that can see when her friend's boyfriend is about to cheat with her." I huffed as I slammed my locker door. 

"C'mon, (y/n)! You can't stay pissed forever! You'll come around eventually!" Stu shouted after me. 

"Like hell I will!" I shouted back. No matter how abundantly clear my feelings for him are, I would never do that behind Tatum's back.

[canmom]

'a series of interesting choices', as Sid Meier famously said, is certainly one important aspect of a computer game.

however, perhaps more specific to the medium in my mind is that a game is about defining a space of possible interactions: an object that responds to you in various complex ways. a game is defined through the contours of the constraints it imposes on movement and actions. it teaches you a 'language' of interactions available at different moments, which you come to grasp intuitively as you spend more and more time playing with the game.

in this regard, a computer game is something like a toy, or a musical instrument.

perhaps we could regard these things - 'which way do I move', 'do I jump here', 'what type of attack to use' - as choices. in a sense they are. but I think they're a different type of choice than strategic choices - or at least, broader than strategic choices. you're not necessarily trying to discover the optimum path to a goal, but to act expressively, to experience the feeling of pushing on a system and the system pushing back in its specific ways, of acting and receiving sensory input in response. and perhaps you do have a goal, but that goal is kind of like a grain or texture, an additional layer shaping the feeling of interaction with the game - the satisfaction, for example, of your efforts coming together in an impressive trick.

this is not completely unique to the medium. sports have a very similar quality, in fact: becoming deeply, intimately familiar with the ways that, say, a ball or a skateboard move - and of course your own body, which is common to all of these things, refracting every interaction.

there are certain types of game - action games, movement games, fighting games, rhythm games - where the state of the game transforms quickly in response to your input, and the feedback loop between your actions, the game state, and your senses is very tight. and there are others like strategy and puzzle games where the game waits, and the transformations of its state are more discrete and deliberate.

either way, though, i think computer games fulfil our urge to mess with something and see what it does. we devs create an intricate structure, and the invite you in to fuck around with it, poke around its corners. so to return to the sid meier quote, an interesting game is one that rewards this process - where the more you get familiar with it, and with your own ways of interacting with it, the more you find there is to discover.

[robertfripp]

"On the first day [of rehearsal in 1972 (after Peter Sinfield was fired)], [Mel] Collins duly presented a piece to the seated Fripp. "I wasn't brimming with confidence anyway, but I put it down in front of Robert. It certainly wasn't finished and it was just a couple of ideas but Robert would not play the music I'd put down in front of him. Wouldn't even attempt it. Obviously he didn't think it was good enough and he wasn't going to give it a go and so I fled from those rehearsals in tears."

~ From In the Court of King Crimson by Sid Smith

"It's true: I hoped for writing input from other members. I remember Mel's contribution, and it wasn't Crimson. I'm not suggesting it was 'bad', only that it wasn't Crimson."

~ Robert Fripp

"As Collins fled, [Ian] Wallace and [Boz] Burrell were outraged and at they saw as Fripp's high-handed attitude and accused the guitarist of being hypocritical. A furious Wallace put down his sticks, told Fripp he'd had enough and quit on the spot, followed by Burrell. Fripp packed up his guitar and left without a word."

"It had been quite a day; a new incarnation of King Crimson had come together and folded before even completing its first rehearsal."

~ From In the Court of King Crimson by Sid Smith

[weilaverdui]

Riddles in the Dark, Prologue, page 1

Wreving is a place, where science and wonder walk on the same streets. Meet Lorraine, Cedric, Thomas and Percy. It will take them a while to get to the point on this image.

Guess who panicked.

Am I biting way more than I can chew? Yep. Do i have ANY prep work done? Nope. At least I know the whole story, roughly. Art by me. Story by @masterofrecords with input from wonderful Veles, Qunder, Sid and, for a while, Tan.

[midnigtartist]

Your tav is so cute!!!! What do they appreciate the most about Astarion? And fun oc question: If they got to eat an irl treat, which would be their favorite? (Candy, cakes, snacks, etc) 💜💕

Thank you sm!!

She likes that he pushes back against her, it makes her feel like a person instead of an object of devotion. She like that he challenges her decisions she likes that they disagree sometimes

She’s always really valued his input (even if she doesnt always agree with him) and trusts him more then any of the other companions basically since they first met (insane)

The whole playthrough i never left Astarion at camp once so theyve basically spent every waking moment together since they met lol

If shes the defacto leader then he’s the second in command (terrifying)

And for treats? Sid’s a dark chocolate girl

[taperwolf]

I should really dig out my couple of old Parallax Propeller boards and build an Eurorack module around one. To back up, the Propeller 1 is an older (well, circa 2006) microcontroller with the twist that it was designed from the ground up as a multicore machine, with 8 "cogs" running in parallel — and there was, at least at the time, a pretty active community building things that would run on a single cog, including a number of emulators of old sound chips. I'd basically need to figure out what CV inputs could be made to interact with a device running a couple of emulated SIDs, AY-3-8910s, and SN76489s each, simultaneously. That'd leave a couple of cores free for some kind of abstraction layer. Hmmm.

[diamondangelkitten]

Meet my FFXIV OC's:

Alinea Skylark

My main girlie!

Age: early 30's after Endwalker. She doesn't actually know when her birthday is, but after comparing to others, that's what she guestimates.

Unsundered life: She was happily married to Hades and Hythlodaeus, and her little brother, Themis, was the absolute apple of her eye. Her name was Emmeline, though once she became Azem, only the aforementioned people ever called her by her true name. She loved her work and got along well with everyone on the Convocation.

Alinea has full recollection of her unsundered life, but after the events at Ultima Thule, she's able to find peace and move on with her life as Alinea Skylark. Her and Estinien start dating shortly after, much to Alphinaud's delight and Alisae's horror. Currently, she's just trying to relax as much as possible before the next adventure sweeps her away.

Aurora Calypso

Age: 21 after Endwalker.

Unsundered life: She remembers bits and pieces of her life as Azem, and cares deeply for Hades, Hythlodaeus, and Themis, but doesn't remember any personal connection or attachment. The one thing she does remember is that her name was Echo.

The events in Shadowbringers and Endwalker took a heavy toll on Aurora's body. She's slowly recovering and is currently taking a tour with Erenville of all their favorite places across Etheirys. She loves her carbuncle, Monty, and he is absolutely spoiled.

Annabeth Rose

Age: 36 or so at the end of Endwalker

Unsundered Life: She was both Azem and sister to Hades. She knew that Hades was planning to propose to Hythlodaeus, but then the final days happened. Her name name then had been Eleonora.

Annabeth has a twin brother, Felix, who she adores, as well as many younger siblings that she also cares for and keeps in contact with. She has an extremely large extended family, most of whom consist of characters who I've saved from their in-game fates :P

Alira Thorne

Age: 32 at the end of Endwalker

Unsundered Life: Her name was Eris and she loved being Azem. She loved going from town to town, meeting and learning from the people, and helping wherever she could. Her best friends where Hades and Hythlodaeus and she had the great honor of officiating their wedding.

She had a very traumatic upbringing that caused her to push people away for the longest time. Only during Stormblood, does this come to a head and she starts working on the path to find inner peace. This comes in the form of becoming a Dark Knight. Thanks to Rielle, Fray, and the moogles, her and Sid work through their pasts together and eventually start dating. Her and Sid have a little girl after the events of Shadowbringers who Rielle names Sibbie.

AU

In an alternate timeline, all the girls work together, going from ARR to EW. Most of the above information holds, with the only change being that Aurora worked in the Capital as a record taker of the convocation of fourteen meetings. She was adored by all, and knew the goings on and kept quiet on them all. All the 14 would talk to her as an impartial party when they were musing on issues, and she was good at providing input and questions in a way to help them think.

They are all fiercely protective of each other and love each other dearly. They often go on trips together with their significant others and families too.

[rustyshake]

RustyShake's Keys to the Game Tonight

(Because I need to input my two cents)

The Predators are dead last in the league right now. Sitting at 9-17-6, they have amassed 24 points, the same as the Blackhawks. Except the Blackhawks have 2 more regulation wins than them and the other 2 are regulation losses.

This comes after a really decent off-season for the Predators which saw them picking up some massive names, such as Steven Stamkos (former Lightning captain, 2x Stanley Cup winner (2020,2021), 2x Rocket Richard winner) Jonathan Marchessault (who won a Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 and also took home the Conn Smythe that year) and Brady Skjei, a solid defenseman who was previously with the Rangers and Hurricanes. So this record and how they've been playing doesn't really add up.

If the Penguins want to extend their win streak before heading into NJ on Saturday to meet the red hot Devils, they need to be solid on defense and continue that depth scoring we have seen the last few games.

In the Kings game, the Grzelcyk goal in the 3rd period, which pushed the Penguins into OT, was the difference maker obviously. But looking back on last year, it seemed a lot of the scoring pressure fell on the first line. That Raks-Sid-Guentz line was the one carrying the team. However looking now, there has been so much depth scoring the last 10 games. The fourth line has 7 goals, second has 8 and the first has 14. To think this time last year we were begging for more depth scoring and for Sully to put BJC in the press box (sorry BJC).

Some stats before I head off until puck drop

The Penguins in their last 10 are 7-2-1. Their powerplay is 22.3% and they are sitting at 13th in the league for that, another aspect that the team lacked last year was a competent power play. It is slowly but surely coming around. However, the one stat to really write home about is the penalty kill, which is 8th in the league with a 82.3% success rate.

HOWEVER.... the Nashville Predators penalty kill has been the shining beacon in the dark for them. They are currently the highest ranked PK in the league with an 87.8% success rate!! Their power play is 24th with a 17.6%.

Should be an interesting battle tonight.

[zombielenin]

Marxism in The Silt Verses Universe

One thing I noticed when listening through The Silt Verses again is how easily certain Marxist ideas map onto the TSV universe and how well the podcast lends itself to Marxist analysis. Below are just a few of my observations on Marxism in the TSV universe. Also, I’ll be using some Marxist terminology in this post, which I’ll explain as I go.

Base and Superstructure in the World of TSV

What is the Base and Superstructure?

A good concept to start with would be the base and superstructure in both the Consolidated Linger Straits (CLS) and the Peninsula. In Marxist thought, society is thought to be composed of a base and a superstructure. The base can basically be described as how things are made, what is used to make them (human labor, factories, tools, and etc, AKA the means of production), and the socioeconomic relations between people in this society. In the CLS and the Peninsula, we see some of the typical elements of a modern capitalist society, whose most salient feature is private (i.e. by individuals or corporations) ownership of the means of production. There are businesses, such as factories, cafes, and marketing agencies, and they use inputs such as machinery, oil, agricultural crops, human labor, and sometimes the humans themselves as materials to produce whatever it is that they produce. One key difference though is that deities, through sacrifices and rituals, are also used as a means of producing something. We also see the typical socioeconomic relationships of a capitalist society, such as employers and business owners versus employees. The superstructure is pretty much all the other features of a society, such as culture, religion, political structures, and etc. In Marxist thought, the base and superstructure interact in a way such that the base primarily shapes the superstructure and that the superstructure justifies and maintains the base. Think for example how a capitalist society has private businesses that produce news, such as newspapers, cable news, and etc, and the news businesses create media that generally justifies and maintains the status quo. 

Base and Superstructure in the Peninsula and CLS

In the context of TSV, I think the really interesting base-superstructure relationship is the relationship between the capitalist economies of the CLS and the Peninsula and the religious system in TSV. In the TSV universe, gods such as the Petropater, the Slag King, and the Saint Electric, are part of the means of production, and hence also shape society. For example, employment contracts can require you to be sacrificed, which happened in the case of Vaughn. Also, since a god must feed, the state supplies sacrifices, which seem to be sourced from prisons in some cases. Another example is the Cloak, which is a deity specifically created for the police, an institution that in the real world exists to enforce hierarchies and the status quo and maintain capital. There are a lot of other features of the TSV universe that we can look at such as Sid Wright and the Grinding Lord, the corporate creation of the Sweet Jolly Crunchtooth as a deity for farmers, or the fact that there are militarized faiths that can be called upon in times of war, but I’ll skip them to keep this already long post from being even longer.

The Trawler Man and the Many Below - Theories on Change

Another element that I think would be interesting to explore through a Marxist lens are Paige’s god (the Many Below) and the Trawler Man who are essentially gods of social change. However, the Many Below brings progressive change and revolution, while the Trawler Man is a deity of reactionary change.  

The Many Below and Revolutionary Change

Let’s start with the Many Below. A good topic to begin with would be the reform versus revolution debate. This debate, which has been going on in leftist circles for ages, is about the strategy of achieving socialism. Here, socialism means an economic system where the means of production are owned by the people and decisions on how to use them are made collectively. Socialism is often confused for social democracy, which is a system characterized by strong social safety nets, such as universal healthcare, free education, welfare, etc. but still operating within capitalism. The reform versus revolution debate centers on whether we can reform our way into socialism by, for example, passing legislation to slowly bring it about, or if a complete overthrow of capitalism through revolution is necessary to obtain socialism. The Many Below is a revolutionary deity whose purpose is essentially to starve the other gods by stealing their sacrifices. If Paige’s plan succeeds, the current system would be completely upended, rather than being slowly chipped away at or reigned in. It seems that Paige is firmly on the side of revolution here.  Additionally, there’s a moment where Paige’s father Dennis goes on a small tirade about how Paige’s plan is misguided. It’s actually so on the nose, that it made me think that it was Jon Ware and Muna Hussen’s intent to sneak some leftist themes into TSV. Here’s the quote from Dennis in Season 2 Chapter 11 that I want to examine.

DENNIS:

And now…and now you want to hide your pamphlets in library books, like love-notes?

Listen to me, Paige. Just…listen, OK? I’m going to give you a life lesson here.

(Condescending)

If you try and seed this supposed god amongst comfortable people, amongst well-off people, you’re gonna get a deeply unhappy lesson in just how many good citizens will skim over your pamphlet once and then turn it over to the police.

(Deeply sarcastic)

And then all your hard stapling work? That’ll be for absolutely nothing.

Stop thinking like a fucking mark.

You’re smarter than this.

This isn’t a god for people like you. It’s not there to offer comfort.

It’s a god for the desperate, the hopeless - all the poor bastards across the Straits who’ve had to confront the material reality that they could be seized by five armed policemen, dragged down a corridor and hallowed any second from now.

Set your god loose in the prisons. Not the libraries, not the care homes - the prisons.

That’s where it can circulate - if there’s anything to it.

Dennis here is critiquing Paige’s strategy of trying to agitate the populace by placing propaganda for their deity in places where they may be noticed and read by others. This is not to say that using propaganda to create consciousness of one’s situation and its cause isn’t a worthwhile tactic. However, Dennis does astutely point out that circulating this propaganda amongst the comfortable is a poor strategy. Instead, he recommends that they target poor and oppressed people, especially incarcerated individuals, since they have the most revolutionary potential. Indeed, we see this tactic work with Esther. This is a classic example of the Marxist idea that class conflict, i.e. the conflict of the dispossessed against the class of business owners, investors, and landlords, is the force that causes society to move forward. 

The Trawler Man and Reactionary Change

On the other hand, we have the Trawler Man. The Trawler Man is also a god of change. However, the world that the Parish of Tides and Flesh wants to create is a world remade in the Trawler Man’s image, one remade in silt. In this way, the Parish is similar to any other group that wishes to advance their deity. They’re simply vying for supremacy while leaving the system of deities in place. sJuxtaposed with the Many Below, we see that the Trawler Man is a god of destructive change, whose followers seek to gain control of the world to return it to a primordial state (similar to how fascists wish to bring back a fictitious golden age), whereas the Many Below is a god of progressive change and wants to rid the world of deities and hence sacrifices. It’s interesting to note that once the Parish becomes useful to the Peninsula in the oncoming war with the CLS, they become fully legalized. This is an interesting parallel to how centrists and the center left are often all too willing to work with fascists when expedient. 

Other Observations

The Police

There are also a few other interesting things to note in TSV. While these aren’t explicitly Marxists ideas, they’re still popular amongst leftists. One is anti-police sentiment in TSV. In general, the police are framed in a negative light. We can see this in the characters of Daggler and the CLS police that kill Dennis. Daggler is willing to lock up innocents, and both are willing to engage in extrajudicial killing. Even early Hayward was portrayed somewhat antagonistically. The most interesting thing about law enforcement in TSV is the Stink. When a detective is failing to close cases, they begin to develop a stench, which worsens over time until they are killed by their coworkers and sacrificed to the Stink. We can see that the Stink is a metaphor for the real life institutional pressures to arrest and convict people, regardless of their guilt. This is an example of how characterizing police misconduct as a few bad apples ignores the fact that the institution of policing is rotten to its core. 

Grind and Hustle Culture

Another idea that appears a couple of times is the criticism of grind culture. One example from S1 and Sid Wright, where Sid becomes a sacrifice to the Grinding Lord and has to stay awake and be on the air until he dies. Another is Hayward’s coworker in Season 2 Episode 3, Gren, who chides Hayward for having a bad attitude and advocates for working hard and trying to impress the rich so that they may themselves become wealthy. In exchange for all this extra labor, he is rewarded with a mere disemboweling. Here we can see that for all the promises of grind and hustle culture, the only people that benefit from one’s extra labor are the capitalist class. 

Conclusion

These are just some themes I’ve noticed, but I’d love to hear what others have noticed in TSV and other podcasts. Part of me wonders if some of these themes were intentionally included, but I think the more interesting scenario would be if there was no intent and the applicability of Marxist thought in TSV is more attributable to its validity. 

[carbonateddelusion]

I have a couple of asian characters too- mainly Jack (mixed white and Vietnamese), Sal (mixed white, Vietnamese and Japanese), Jade (south asian), Orange (Chinese), Indigo (mixed asian and african american), Mads (Vietnamese), Gumiho (Korean), Minato (Japanese), annnd I think that's it?

as for latine people I have Betty (Mexican), Coda (mixed latino and african american), Chartreuse (haven't decided yet), Luis (Chilean), Abaddon (even though he's older than the concept of race), annnd I can't recall anybody else

then there's Pen, who I don't know the race of, but I'm pretty sure she's not exclusively white. I've debated making her latina because she was originally my persona and, even though I wasn't raised in the community, I still consider my being latine to be a small part of myself, even if I don't consider myself educated and experienced enough to speak for latine people. but I also don't want to feed into "ooh hot-tempered spicy latina" stereotypes because she IS very angry, at least her younger self before she mellows out and matures is. if any of my latine friends have input here I would appreciate it

Jacob's family is orthodox Jewish (iirc) but as far as I can recall I don't have any Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, or Muslim folks. which is something I want to fix in the future because I realize my worldview is very centered in growing up around Christianity and, later, white atheism

I have some trans girlies- Juliet and Mariposa obviously, but also Leah, Blackberry, Roan (who also identifies as nonbinary), Velvet, Sid, Allister (who also identifies as nonbinary), Eleanor, annnd... I think that's it?

with trans guys I have Yellow, Eddie Jr, older Mads (who also identifies as nonbinary), Mint, Green, Coda (who also identifies as nonbinary), Dill (one of my sonas), Blueberry, and Red

for NBs we've got Roan, Minato, Allister, older Mads, Rath, Dude and Cupid (two of my sonas), Coda, and Andromeda