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clocks-are-round · 5 months ago

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completely forgot about this. i don’t think i ever posted it here because i didn’t finish it and proceeded to forget about it. Was written June 23, 2023 at— holy shit. 4:02-6:15AM. Forgot that was when I was at an airport. it’s rough but i think the ideas are still neat. if it turns out i’ve posted this before… whoops *shrugs*

——

pink.

it was so beautiful in all its shades. and donut could name many of them from a young age. he memorized the crayons and the flowers in the garden. fuschia, hot pink, salmon, baby pink, carnations, roses, tulips.

he stopped telling people his favorite color after his dad threw away his costumes and “girly toys” as punishment. his favorite color was red now. at least it wasn’t too far away from his secret favorite.

top secret. secret agents. a secret identity. alter ego. he would be the knight to rescue the princess, but in his mind he would picture being the princess. play the role. act. theatre. pretend. daydream. wish.

donut didn’t want to be a girl he decided one day on the farm while doing his daily chores, though he liked “feminine” things. “sissy” things, his dad would say. he wanted to be the princess not because he wasn’t a prince but because he was tired of only being allowed to do princely things. he wanted to be protected by someone one day not because he couldn’t protect himself but because he didn’t want to always be the strong macho protector he felt people expected him to be. that his dad expected him to be.

—

red.

he sipped from his mug. “the blood of my enemies” was what this one said. the only blood he’d seen on the job was when the intern had a nosebleed in the break room. until now. sarge examined the hefty paper cut. his grandfather sure as hell had worse than this on a good day. he died a hero and his office-working grandson was too chickenshit to follow his glorious warpath. he had a family to support… what if he left and never came back? got caught up in the thrill?

if he put one foot out of his current march he’d have nothing holding him to what he was supposed to do. a stable breadwinner for the fling that turned into a newborn and expectations of a life he never wanted. would she understand? would she pull him closer and constrain him, or encourage him to go? maybe she’d get back that red flush in her dimpled cheeks she had before they settled down into the stagnant life they had. back when she smiled. she’d be the fiery woman he’d gotten stiff for at the school dance so many years ago. and she’d find a life that kept that flame going because the life with him sure as shit wasn’t lighting either of their fires.

were these excuses? should he bother with explanation? he was itching to change his name and start a new life in the stars, fighting in memory of his grandfather. a sergeant, and a hero. he could be too

—

orange.

‘not yellow, orange,’ grif told his sister, who shrugged and said, ‘same thing.’

it really wasn’t. he’d never fault kai, she was colorblind, but they were extremely different.

yellow was the tacky suitcase dad carried in when he got back from one of his ‘business trips.’ and the hot wheels car that looked like it was found in a ditch, all scratched up, because dad spent the family’s money on himself until mom got fed up after one too many loans and kicked him out.

gold was mom’s leotard at the circus. shiny and reflective under her dark beard. it attracted attention, it was her job. she could do better. grif was sure of it. but she was afraid to take a leap out of the comfort of the familiar. she came home at varied hours in varying moods and grif loved her but he was tired. so tired of never knowing what to expect. the most routine he had was school, but the rest of his life was being pulled every which way. so so tired.

orange was the apron in the kitchen. the walls in his and kai’s bedroom, their retreat from the world to rest and hang out. the best sunsets over the ocean that made you forget everything else for a while.

orange was the best parts of life.

yellow.

what even was color? like obviously color was color but like, seemed kind of overrated. kaikaina got by just fine seeing the world in shades of grey, smutty reference absolutely intended. for real though, people were SO OBSESSED with color. thinking of things ‘in black and white’, fucking racism and colorism too, like even rainbows apparently set some people off.

yellow was supposed to be happiness, for some reason. but it was also the ‘icky’ parts of life. yellow made people think of piss, which was gross— unless you’re into that but kai wasn’t although she gave it a try with that one guy from Kentucky— but also so real, y’know? kai liked to look on the positive side of things but also she craved the real. the gritty grossness of being human. passion wasn’t all butterflies and kisses in the moonlight. for her it was going to the edges of her limits, finding new things to love about sex, love, life.

she wasn’t the girl she was in high school. it started as wanting to prove to herself… something. that she was enough or something. but she left that first experience wanting more. wanting to feel every body shape, learn the best ways to have a good time, to connect with people emotionally and physically, one or both, to feel and feel and feel.

yellow was bright. yellow was in your face. yellow was the girl dismissed as frigid and not beautiful enough, but yellow didn’t care because yellow celebrated life.

—

blue.

earth was a blue and green and white marble up there in the sky. blue skies. blue oceans.

blueberries! bluebirds!

blue was out of reach for a long time. special and rare.

blue raspberry slushie for a special field trip!

blue was sadness too. probably to balance out all the happy great things that were blue.

blue was special. caboose loved blue

blue?

it didn’t feel right.

like he was trapped?

yeah of course he fucking felt trapped it was a fucking suit of power armor, no shit.

but taking it off felt… worse? strange.

he didn’t like seeing his face. it felt like he was looking at a completely different person. maybe it was that uhhh imposter syndrome? yeah something like that.

his heart mourned his girlfriend. his rotten bitchy girlfriend that he must love a lot to miss so much. he can’t remember when the last time he saw her blue? brown? eyes and… brown? blond? hair. sometimes it felt like he remembered things in two slightly different ways at once. he wasn’t sure how else to put it.

bluetooth. blue screen.

didn’t feel right. strange. trapped.

blue

it felt right. sure gamma and iota were already… well maybe that was why.

——

I think this was neat so hopefully I’ll get to finishing it sometime. obviously some characters are missing and it could use some polishing up haha

#red vs blue #rvb fic #my fics

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cru5h-cascades · 11 months ago

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EDIT 1-25-24: THIS POST IS OUTDATED. WE GOT A RELEASE DATE REVEAL YESTERDAY AND I MADE THIS POST A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE TRAILER RELEASED.

So, I've been seeing folks have been goin' nuts about Side Order's release date lately (hell, I am too. I preordered this DLC almost a year ago and now I feel dumb for preordering this thing a year in advance lmao), speculating on when the DLC will ultimately come out. I'm sure some of you are aware of a recent datamine revealing a potential release date for the DLC and I'd like to address that in this post.

I think the dataminers might be right on this one! I truely believe there's a decent chance this glorious DLC will finally release on February 29th! So far, dataminers who've looked through the game's files have had a decent track record when it comes to predicting stuff (the skelly fish bois from Side Order, the whole idea of going up the Spire of Order in Side Order, Splattercolor Screen & Triple Splashdown coming to the game, ect), so I wouldn't be suprised if this was true as well. Also, may I remind all of you of all those strands of code for Side Order that were uncovered during the begining of Chill Season 2023? That was A LOT of code. Also, those pieces of Splatoon 2 gear weren't delayed another season again. Hell, more Splatoon 2 gear was ported into the game some time ago!

Also, a February 29th release date would be SUPER fitting for Side Order. The Order Sector Inkopolis Square exists simultaniously with the real Inkopolis Square (assuming that Side Order is in fact taking place in a digital world, which is most likely the case) and February 29th is basically just February 28th and March 1st simultaniously happening at the same time. Perfect oppertunity for the devs to release the DLC. The DLC will not only release the same time the Fresh Season 2024 update drops but the release date would make sense with the story of the DLC or whatever.

Sure, I'm probably on LOTS of copium right now, but I really do feel like the DLC will be coming out towards the end of next month. So far, Splatoon dataminers have had a decent track record when it comes to uncovering stuff being added to the game, so I trust them when it comes to this info.

But hey, we'll see what happens. A Nintendo Direct will more likely than not come out next month and we still need a release date reveal for the DLC, so it won't be long until we find out when this DLC will come out. The dataminers could be right. They could be wrong. I guess we won't find out until next month :)

#splatoon #splatoon 3 #side order #splatoon 3 side order

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servants-hall · 1 year ago

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ACGAS S4 Press Release & Article Round Up

PBS: All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 New and Returning Cast

Radio Times: All Creatures Great and Small casts Shetland and Doctor Who star for season 4

TV Line: All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Cast: Who’s Returning? Who’s Not? And Who’s New at Skeldale?

What to Watch: All Creatures drops huge hint major character isn't in new series

Deadline: ‘All Creatures Great And Small’ On Masterpiece Announces Return, New & Returning Cast Members

Yorkshire Post: All Creatures Great and Small Series 4: Star cast returns without Tristan actor Callum Woodhouse - but new vet Richard Carmody joins the team

Primetimer: All Creatures Great and Small Season 4: Everything We Know So Far

PBS’s press release is copied below:

PBS: All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 New and Returning Cast

Boston, MA; June 27, 2023: MASTERPIECE on PBS, Channel 5, and BAFTA and Golden Globe®-winning production company Playground (Howards End, Wolf Hall) today announce the casting of the much-loved drama All Creatures Great and Small as it gears up for its fourth season.

Based on the cherished collection of stories by best-selling author James Herriot, the critically acclaimed adaptation returns to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales for a fourth season of timeless and heart-warming stories, picking up in 1940 as Churchill takes office and Europe is under serious threat. The seven new episodes (including a Christmas Special) will air on MASTERPIECE on PBS in early 2024 and Channel 5 this autumn with All3Media International as the global partner.

MASTERPIECE Executive Producer Susanne Simpson adds, “I can’t wait for our MASTERPIECE audience to see this new season of All Creatures Great and Small. It continues to be full of the warmth and humor that has made it one of our most successful series ever.” MASTERPIECE is presented on PBS by GBH Boston.

Sir Colin Callender CBE, Executive Producer and CEO of Playground said: “We are thrilled to be back in the glorious Yorkshire Dales for a fourth season of family, community and, of course, animal hijinks. Our wonderful cast and crew are all delighted to be returning to adapt more of James Herriot’s joyful and life-affirming stories.”

Season 4 sees Nicholas Ralph reprise his role as young country vet James Herriot, now happily married to Helen Herriot, played by Rachel Shenton (White Gold, For Her Sins). Samuel West (Slow Horses, Small Axe) returns as James’ capricious and erratic mentor Siegfried Farnon while Anna Madeley (Time, Patrick Melrose) continues as Mrs. Hall, matriarch of Skeldale House. Patricia Hodge (Miranda, A Very English Scandal) also reprises her role as the wonderfully eccentric Mrs. Pumphrey, and Derek as her adored and pampered Pekingese Tricki.

With Tristan away serving in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, Siegfried and James bring in some extra hands to help around the practice. Neve McIntosh (Shetland) joins the cast as highly efficient bookkeeper Miss Harbottle, alongside James Anthony-Rose (Slow Horses, Pennyworth) as studious undergraduate vet student Richard Carmody who arrives at Skeldale as part of his placement under the guidance of James.

A colorful ensemble of farmers, animals and townsfolk living in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1940s will also star, including Tony Pitts and Imogen Clawson as Helen’s father and sister, Richard and Jenny Alderson, Paul Copley as Ned Clough, Cleo Sylvestre MBE as Anne Chapman, James Bolam MBE as Mr. Dakin and Will Thorp as Gerald Hammond and Sam Retford as FO Woodham.

Louise Pedersen, CEO of All3Media International, commented: “Over three seasons All Creatures Great and Small has offered heartwarming, escapist viewing that has connected with audiences and become a firm fan favorite all around the world, and as Playground’s wonderful series enters its fourth season I am delighted to continue to build the brand globally.”

Returning for Season 4 is Executive Producer Ben Vanstone (A Gentleman in Moscow, The Last Kingdom) who will write the Christmas special. Writer Jamie Crichton (Three Pines, Grantchester) also returns, this time as lead writer and Executive Producer. Joining them for season four are writers Maxine Alderton (Emmerdale Farm, Doctor Who) and Helen Raynor (A Discovery of Witches, Call the Midwife).

Andy Hay (The Last Kingdom, Jamestown) is Lead Director and will direct episodes 1 and 2. Stewart Svaasand (Tin Star, Death in Paradise) will direct episodes 3, 4 and 6, while BAFTA winner Jordan Hogg (Ralph and Katie, Screw) will direct episode 5 and the Christmas Special.

All Creatures Great and Small is a timeless classic that continues to be much loved by generations. Never out of print, the books have sold 60 million copies internationally becoming a global cultural phenomenon with devoted fans around the world. With a sharp focus on community and its importance in our lives, Herriot’s world and spirit is a very much needed antidote to the challenges of modernity and reminds us all that belonging to a community makes us part of something greater than ourselves.

Season 4 is currently filming on location in Yorkshire.

All Creatures Great and Small is a Playground production for Channel 5 and MASTERPIECE in association with All3Media International. Executive Producers are: Colin Callender, Melissa Gallant, Jamie Crichton and Ben Vanstone for Playground, Susanne Simpson and Rebecca Eaton for MASTERPIECE, and Louise Pedersen and David Swetman for All3Media International.

#all creatures great and small #acgas 2020 #acgas spoilers #acgas s4 #james herriot #helen herriot #siegfried farnon #audrey hall #tristan farnon #note from the mod: Primetimer is a new site to me #but I saw quotes from it being passed around #do note that most of these sites are just paraphrasing what is in the press release / logline

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azerothtravel · 2 years ago

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Secret Origin

I'm just an old time Warcraft nerd who's too dumb to quit. My first WC game was Warcraft II, when I was in high school. I gravitated toward the Horde because they were funnier. I liked the game, but wasn't too good at it. Jump ahead to the release of Warcraft III, it's a whole other thing. I read all the lore in the huge manual. I was completely taken with the concept of orcs as once noble, tragic victims trying to make their way in the world and atone for their crimes. A friend of mine had me read some of the novels. I was suddenly way, way into the setting. Plus, I knew a lot of people who played WC3. I enjoyed the Orgrimmar campaign in Frozen Throne with no idea it was more or less a test run for WoW.

But I didn't like MMOs. I wasn't sure about WoW. Then I got into the beta. I hauled my whole-ass desktop over to the house of the same friend who loaned me those books, and we were up til 4am downloading the client and then getting started. Gormorash the orc warrior was born that night (And so was Skarsnik the troll hunter, but he lost interest after BC). I was immediately sold. Running around Azeroth at ground level, full of detail from the RTS games, was a ton of fun. Gormorash went on many strange adventures in beta, like a hilariously inept "raid" on Westfall where half our group died before we got there and none of us were even level 60.

Then Gormorash was rebooted on Argent Dawn US when the game launched, a member of <Flaming Skull Clan> with several other friends of mine.

By middle 2005, almost literally everyone I knew played WoW. My oldest friends, friends from college, friends from the internet, relatives. Basically 2 friends and my parents were the only people not playing. Friends of mine who didn't know each other met and bonded through WoW. It was a glorious time.

By the end of 2006, I'd been through 2 guild collapses and one server move, as they opened up free transfers to Eitrigg and my friends all took it. I wasn't sure I'd keep playing. The novelty had worn off for most of my friends. I wasn't that into raiding, and doing Arathi Basin over and over was only so interesting (Gormorash just lived in Hammerfall for like a year). I was maybe gonna quit. And then, in early 2007, my brother found 2 Collector's Editions of BC just sitting on a shelf in a store, and asked if I wanted one. I had the vanilla CE, but I'd missed BC when they were released, and didn't buy BC at all. He bought them and shipped me one, and we leveled 60-70 together. It was a lot of fun.

Along the way, I started a new guild with some online friends, and Gormorash is still in it. He's never missed an expansion. Most people have fallen off the wagon. Our guild typically only has 3 active members at any given time these days, but that's fine with me. Sometimes a couple people come back for major content. It was lore that got me into all this, and that remains my primary motivator for playing. My endgame is more PvP and leveling alts than raiding, but the game has literally never supported those 2 things better than right now (2023), so that's pretty good. I still have a good time. And that's why I have hundreds of screenshots to choose from stretching from the 2004 open beta to just a few days ago to post on this blog. With the sad exception of most of 2006, lost in a hard drive failure, I have a comprehensive collection of every screenshot I ever took, and that's what this blog is all about.

I've made a few other Gormorashes on other servers, but rarely leveled them very far. Someone out there made a Gormorash that isn't me, a fact that shocked me when I found out. Who stole my name? Was it you? I have characters of every race on both factions, but still tend to prefer Horde. If you see me, say hello!

Gormorash is an orc warrior who came of age in the camps. With his brother, Rugurrash, he's led a guild of adventures for many years, with trusty allies Snarfner, Vallkillmore and Canon rounding out the core group. His hair's started to gray after saving the world 8 or 9 times, traveling through space and time and the realms of death, but he's still out there, still exploring, still getting into trouble and mostly getting back out of it. He's an alchemist and herbalist in his spare time, and has a completely unmanageable collection of pets. He is really, really tired of being forced to fight his own Warchief, and really hopes the gods don't lean on that already very tired trope again in the future.

#wow #world of warcraft #gormorash

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mod2amaryllis · 2 years ago

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Lots of people are coming out with their best shows/movies/anime etc. of the year, and since you have such impeccable taste I'd love to hear yours! Only if it's okay ofc! Have a wonderful rest of 2022 and great 2023!

ok this is the only end of year reflection i have the capacity to do tonight, lemme thiiink ummm it was a big year for things tbh!!! I'll just ramble i guess, first up...

TV SHOWS

SEVERANCE: possibly the best first season of a show I've ever seen, and absolutely the best s1 finale of a show I've ever seen, huge ups to @tricktster for recommending it. you've probably heard it a million times but if you haven't, GO WATCH SEVERANCE, it lives up to the hype.

THE REHEARSAL: the magic trick that this show pulls is so bizarre and unprecedented it's like. impossible for me to even talk about. the entire time watching it i was gaping at my tv in open disbelief. it does and says so much in the wildest ways possible I'm still obsessed.

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS S4: three words, Baby Colin Robinson

ANDOR: I'm not a star wars guy at allll. not even a little bit. my expectations have never been high. but when i saw @variastrix loving it up on my dash i was like okaaay and holy shit. SO good. the prison arc especially was just like OUUUGHH THEMES AND DIALOGUE OFF THE CHARTS!!!

ANIME

SPY X FAMILY: what's especially fun is that we were in Japan while the second part of the season was dropping and Anya was fucking eeeeverywhere!!! everyone agrees with me cannot get ENOUGH of that funny little girl!!! best execution of fake dating trope everr the more convoluted the better.

MOB PSYCHO 100 III: ......like. c'mon what is there to even say. what's there to saaaaay! it's in my top 3 anime ever! the subversion of shonen anime has basically ruined all other stereotypical anime for me forever because it's just. so much better. so much funnier and more poignant to watch the most powerful boy ever strive to be a better person. i love that little guy and his silly conman role model

MOVIES

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE: i feel the same way about this movie as anyone else. saw the trailer, hooked instantly, then when i actually watched it i walked out going "this is the greatest movie I've ever seen??????" insanely shot, cast incredible, the whole premise simultaneously huge as a multiverse and small as an immigrant couple in a laundromat. this movie defined my cosmic outlook on life. that nothing matters, so we should make the most out of what and who we love. in any other year this would've been my far and away fave. but then came:

NOPE: you guys follow me. you've heard it already. this movie ..... this..... FUCKING MOVIE.... haunted me from the moment i saw that chimp covered in blood. it scared me so bad i wasn't even sure if i liked it but then i thought and kept thinking AND I THOUGHT AND KEPT THINKING AND I HAVEN'T STOPPED THINKING this movie this god damn movie. it's a social commentary, it's a blockbuster popcorn hit, it's about animals, it's about people, it's a creature feature, it's funny, it's glorious to look at it's glorious and i love it so so much. Jean jacket really is a beautiful name for a baby girl.

GAMES:

VAMPIRE SURVIVORS: this game is like if you broke gaming down to it's purest chemical form and injected it directly into your bloodstream. it's a game that might be perfect in its simplicity. it's also really funny that i can be a stinky old garlic man, i like that a lot. it's free on mobile what are you waiting for.

HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST: i feel so fucking bad for this series not once, but TWICE releasing at the same time as two of the greatest games literally ever made (i still have to beat elden ring oops) because i love these games SO MUCH! they scratch a very particular itch for me which is plenty of upgradable weapons/armor for me to chase, incredibly in depth lore, and post apocalyptic robot dinosaurs. literally no notes. i love games like this that're like "we know what you want. you want to kill a spinosaurus with a bow and arrow and afterwards treat yourself to some incredible American vistas, here, take it, enjoy." it's an incredibly Me game. probably my goty if measured by how much fun i had playing it.

ALBUMS:

BRONCO BY ORVILLE PECK: the biggie. life changer. this beat out pony for me. makes me wanna be a lonesome cowboy in the Rockies so fucking bad i can taste it. like....im already thiiiis close to being a lonesome cowboy in the Rockies and when i listen to curse of the blackened eye on my morning walk, looking at the snow capped mountains, I'm there. I'm a cowboy baby. also saw him live and sobbed he's insane, the talent, he's just showing off he's nuts.

LAST NIGHT IN THE BITTERSWEET BY PAOLO NUTINI: through the echoes specifically. came up randomly in a mixed playlist and swiveled my head so fucking fast. one of my favorite artist finds of the year.

NOPE OST BY MICHAEL ABELS: that's right bitch nope gets featured TWICE, idc!!!

DANCE FEVER BY FLORENCE + THE MACHINE: this is the album to finally get me into Florence + the machine, before i was just into the hits but this album.... King? FREE???? DAFFODIL???????? good god welch

THINGS IN GENERAL

mfucking!!!!!!!!!

FISH!!!!!!!!!! 🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟💙💙💙💙✌️✌️✌️🥰🥰🥰🥰🐠🐠🐠🐟🐠🐟🐠🐟🐠🐟🐠🐡🐡🐡🐡🐡🦈🦈🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

#this took me too long enjoy #goodbye 2022 you were huge #m2a #m2answers

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danielfeketewrites · 11 months ago

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DOCTOR WHO TOP 10 - 8th Doctor

I've been sharing some 8th Doctor posts, so this was inevitable....

This was probably the most difficult of these top tens so far. I knew which stories I need to include, but their order... I dunno. I will definitely have to revise at least this one in the future.

10. Human Resources

The first finale in the Lucy era is also one of the strongest Cybermen stories ever. It's just really bloody good.

9. Children of the Revolution

The Evil of the Daleks has a sequel and it's absolutely excellent. A required reading for sure. Voted the best Dalek comic strip a while ago, iirc. It surprised me when I heard that people voted for this over the excellent Fire and Brimstone from the same era. but when I finally read Children, I understood completely.

8. Solitaire

Still the best Toymaker story.

7. The Glorious Dead

This is the biggest, most epic Doctor Who story I've ever came across. And then it also finds the time to be experimental and emotional. New Who finales wish to be this comic strip.

6. Beautiful Freak

The Scherzo of the DWM comic strip. Except it doesn't really have a plot. Because it doesn't need one. Just the feels. It's just, well, beautiful.

5. Scherzo

Oh, there was a time when Scherzo would be on the top of this list. I think it's the most intimate Doctor Who story of all time and it's truly great. It's unique and I love it. With that said, there are four stories that I fell in love with a wee bit more in the years since I've first listened to Scherzo...

4. Alien Bodies

I've finished reading Alien Bodies somewhat recently for the first time (two months ago, 13. 12. 2023 to be precise) and I absolutely loved it. It's deeply creative and makes established Doctor Who mythology feel like the tip of an iceberg, with so much more to it. There's an edge to, but it just works. And it's so well written. Just an all around excellent book and an excellent Doctor Who story.

3. Oblivion

Oblivion is my favourite Doctor Who comic of all time. It also features this panel. Yeah. I don't think I can say anything about it, really. Go read the whole arc, starting with Ophidius. Trust me, it's really worth it.

2. The Chimes of Midnight

When I first heard The Chimes of Midnight, I thought: "That was it? That was what the hype was all about?" I didn't get it. But when I came back to it, listened again, I found myself falling in love with it. This might be the Big Finish story I've listened to the most and every time I do, I fall in love with it a little bit more. Edward Grove really is alive...

1. The Tomorrow Windows

Nobody understands the bond between a boy and the first EDA he ever read. (Heh, did you notice? A MEME!) This is still my favourite Doctor Who book ever. Jonathan Morris didn't just write an excellent tribute to Douglas Adams. He wrote something truly extraordinary. Every other page introduces a new idea. This book is filled with ideas. Also, memes. Is this book actually better than something like Alien Bodies? Probably not. This might just be a nostalgia for, like, five years ago when I read this book. We'll see how this list eventually changes. But I can't lie to you - I love this book. I love it so goddamn much.

#doctor who #8th doctor #eighth doctor #paul mcgann #doctor who eu #60th anniversary #top 10 #dfpost

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a-moth-to-the-light · 11 months ago

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Most-Listened of January 2024

[last month]

Yeah, winter officially hit this month. Half of December was too Finals to be winter, and the other half was me reflecting on the year in music (so lots of 2023's most hard-hitting songs, which weren't exactly cozy winter music!). But in January, the snowy-gray-won't-leave-the-house mood actually hit--and I think it shows in this list (prepare yourself for LOTS of gloomy folk)! There were so many exciting releases this month, though, even though I couldn't muster up all that much energy about them--I'm really excited to see how the Sleater-Kinney, G-IDLE & Andrea Santiago albums will age!

1 . Boy's a liar Pt.2 -- PinkPantheress, Ice Spice

Yeah I sooooo get it now!! Like I don't fully get the lyrics, but it's so charming that I don't care! It's peak girl-next-door sweetness :)

2. BDH - Acústica Versión -- Bely Basarte

The first time I heard this, I wrote down: "Now THIS is how you do layered harmonies, cowards." I stand by my assessment—this is proof that acoustic tracks aren't boring, at least not when you give them a soundscape as beautiful as this one!

3. Tanta adrenalina -- Bely Basarte

This reminds me of the summer I was obsessed with Chung Ha's "California Dream"—even in January, I need some light, fluffy house in my life! (And yes, you can see that my Bely Basarte phase has kept going strong from last month!!)

4. Big Black Car -- Gregory Alan Isakov

I am a sad boy <3 (HOPE WAS A LETTER I NEVER COULD SEND !!!!)

5. Lost On You -- LP

I've been watching Loudermilk this month, and when I heard this song in the end credits of an episode, I instantly went to find it online. It's so wonderfully desolate, especially with those vocals... and the soft jingling of the guitar... *happy arm wave*

6. Southern Star -- Gregory Alan Isakov

Can’t stop singing this one—the melody is pure magic!

7. When the Party's Over -- Faux Paz

I like the original version better, but I'll never get tired of Faux Paz, either!

8. Ungrateful -- Megan Thee Stallion, Key Glock

Saw @shyreol post about this, and I'm so glad I decided to check it out (thank you for sharing)!! I'm absolutely obsessed with the hook—instant comfort song!

9. The Healing Game -- Van Morrison

Loudermilk part 2. This one hasn't even been played in the show yet, as far as I know, it just gets quoted by one of the characters—and deservingly, because these lyrics hit HARD. (And now I can cross 'liking a new Van Morrison song' off my music bucket list for the year—thanks, Loudermilk!)

10. Lalalala -- Stray Kids

This one has lost most of its appeal after a few weeks of listening, but it was very good noise to keep me sensory-happy during some rough weeks (and that ‘lalalalala’ hook is still great)! We'll see how it ages, I guess!

11. The Fall -- Gregory Alan Isakov

Speaking of Stray Kids, Isakov's lower register in this song is GLORIOUS.

12. Soldier, Poet, King -- The Oh Hellos

Believe it or not, I hadn’t heard of this one before December! It’s so good tho :)

13. What's Love -- Empress Of, MUNA

This sounds like the best parts of nighttime—it’s a little more muted than most synthpop these days, but it manages to stand out with just how ethereal it is! The production really just gets more beautiful with every listen—okay, maybe I just have a thing for vocoders…

14. La isla de Lesbos -- Javiera Mena

I don't really remember listening to this one in the past month? But I'm not mad about it being here—it's a classic in my book, because I can never say no to sparkly house music!

15. Smiley -- Yena, Bibi

An instant shot of energy, every time!! So glad I finally added Yena to my stan list, her music soooo deserves it!

Five-Star Songs This Month:

Ungrateful -- Megan Thee Stallion, Key Glock

Hell -- Sleater-Kinney (i mentioned how excited i was about this album right?? i love the texture of this song i love how it go grrrrr i love the line “hell is just a place that / we can’t seem to live without” !! i have a very good feeling about this one helping me get through the year SCREEEEEE)

BDH - Acústica Versión — Bely Basarte

Certainty -- Big Thief (this is what love is to me btw like i realized this month that i don’t think any other song has captured it better so here we are) (YOU LAY BESIDE ME / SLEEPING ON A PLANE / IN THE FUUUUUTUREEEEEEEE)

Was I Just Another One -- Gregory Alan Isakov (i listened to this allll the time in 2020, but i ended up developing a new appreciation for its atmosphere this month like good god i’m in awe GLOOMY FOLK GLOOMY FOLK IT IS A WASTELAND IT IS IMMACULATE EEEEEE !!)

#me when 2024 #the order on spotistats is different from on receiptify but it's basically the same thing so it's fineeeee

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jandjsalmon · 2 years ago

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Fic Reading Challenge Stats Dec & 2022 Round-up

Hello Everyone! I’ve completed the stats for my year of fic reading. Once again, they ended up being pretty interesting - at least to me.

In 2022, I read (or reread) over 17.5 million words. This was down a bit from 2021 - but in an exciting turn of events - I read 604 unique authors (almost 100 more than 2021) and while 2021 had 60 different fandoms with 99 unique ships - THIS year, I read 96 unique fandoms and 144 unique ships! I fell in love with SO many new ships.

Once again, I participated in the @fanfic-reading-challenge and completed the Regular, Hard, and Extreme levels of the challenge. That is 277 tasks! It was tough but a lot of fun. The 2023 challenge should be ready for participants by the 15th (I believe) and I hope some of you will sign up.

Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions for stories and pairings and fandoms and who shared their favourite stories with me. I could not have gotten through this year without you and I’m SO grateful for you. 🥰

My December Stats:

Of course, I wanted to slide in first with December numbers (and a soulmates fic rec as well) before I hit the pie charts for the year.

In December, I read just over a million words, 392 chapters, and 103 stories. The pairing I read most was Wednesday Addams/Xavier Thorpe (from Wednesday on Netflix). There are a lot of very short chapters in the fandom (I think because many authors are pretty young) - so when you find a long story it's like finding a cookie in a salad. ANYWAY - I love Soulmates - and Skin-deep as the Soul by @ozmathegreatand is WONDERFUL. You should read it. Come ship Wenvier with me! 🥰🖤

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OKAY - now for the yearly stats!!

Note (35) means that I reread 35 stories more than once during the year. Scars by IndianSummer13 -- Together, Tomorrow by @sunshinebunnie -- Viper Radio by @lucivar -- and Eight Nights (the epic Nancy/Ace Hannukah series by @happilyshanghaied) are some of my favourite rereads.

This year, I read 1093 stories - rereads only accounted for about 19.76% so 80% of the time I was reading new stories. That's fun.

Unsurprisingly, Bughead is the pairing I read most this year (I seriously did a huge @thepointoftheneedle reread and it was glorious), but they went from 47% of my stories in 2021 to 27% this year. I attribute this to all the pairing tasks in the fic challenge. I really branched out with pairings and fandoms this year. Considering Wednesday only came out in November, it's pretty clear what I've been reading for the last month and a half to get them this high on my list. Same with House of the Dragon, Rings of Power, and Hellcheer - as we've only known and loved Eddie/Chrissy, Galadriel/Halbrand, and Daemon/Rhaenyra for half the year. I've read so many amazing new stories and have fallen in love with them falling in love a million times over again. It's been great.

Some special favourites this year:

tortured artist and torturer (series) by @nevinimus (Wednesday/Xavier - NR - Post Canon) - by far one of my favourites in this fandom. It's clever and sweet but there are also decapitated roses, so it's on brand. Love it.

Sweet Nightmares are Made of This (series) by the_retro_witch (Wednesday/Xavier - E - Post Canon) - I am DEVOTED to this story. It's huge and awesome and hot and fun and yeah. SO good.

The Trials of Mairon by @jackpotgirl (Galadriel/Halbrand - E - Post Canon) - AMAZING. Honestly one of the best fics I've ever read. Set AFTER Lord of the Rings but references stuff from Rings of Power. Galadriel gets to be Sauron's judge and jury.

new romantics (series) by @amandaashplease (Eddie/Chrissy - E - Musician AU) - I love a good Musician AU and this one was CUUTE (and hot!). I read this one and then ended up reading a bunch of other stories by the same author because she's amazing. Read her!

Reborn in Fire by rachiemcd (Daemon/Rhaenyra - E - Time Travel AU) - There are a ton of fics in this fandom where one or the other goes back in time and tries to fix the timeline. THIS is one of the best. And it's HUGE. Love it. A perfect happy ending (for almost everyone)!

Anyway - this is probably enough recs for now but if you every are looking for something interesting to read, hmu. 😘

Thanks for being here, friends.

Have a wonderful 2023!

#jandy's fanfic reading challenge adventure 2022 #reading fics with jandy #fanfic reading challenge 2022 #2022 fic reading challenge #2022frc

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tygerbug · 1 year ago

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DOCTOR WHO: The Giggle (2023) : It's hard to shake the feeling that I've seen this before, and not in a bad way. It feels instead like the series is playing the old hits. The triumphant return to Doctor Who of its original 2005 showrunner (Russell T Davies) and lead actor (David Tennant) sticks the landing, in all three of these specials, by doing the same sort of stuff it would have done in the late 2000s. It's bigger, bolder, gayer, and feels like there's more money onscreen (after a partnership with Disney+ that hopefully won't doom the show later on). The CGI effects and production design are genuinely impressive throughout. The show has worked hard to shake its reputation as a cheap-looking and cheesy science fiction adventure, by throwing money at the problem, and it pays off here.

The Toymaker was introduced in 1966 as a way to replace the lead actor of the show, before the producers came up with a different idea. Doctor Who is a show that has always benefited from a change in actor and producers, in order to embrace change and find a new twist on what can otherwise be a repetitive format. But so far, the new Russell T Davies specials have been a glorious return to the same old rubbish. It has been said that every Doctor Who writer has one story in them, that they will write over and over again until forced to leave the show. We see elements of previous stories in The Giggle, repeated with the full confidence that we'll enjoy seeing this sort of thing again. The cast, also, seem fully convinced that they're doing the sort of thing Doctor Who fans like. We haven't seen that in awhile. Viewing figures have dropped off a cliff in the age of streaming (a problem for all television across the board), and the Capaldi and Whittaker eras of Doctor Who didn't get the same promotion and merchandise that David Tennant and Matt Smith got. The show took two years off (2016, 2019), and stopped making new toys, games, and spinoffs. Bringing back Russell T Davies and David Tennant comes with the hope that the show can be a cultural juggernaut again.

This is, presumably, the last we're going to see of David Tennant as the current Doctor Who, and inevitably it leaves the viewer wanting more. Tennant was probably the most popular Doctor Who of the 2005 revival, and he slips back into the role easily, because he's still very good at doing this. It makes me feel old to hear the incoming Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa, talk about how he "grew up watching" David Tennant, and how Tennant's 2009 Hamlet inspired him to become an actor. Gatwa is 31 years old.

This special is over an hour long - it's an hour and one minute - as Russell T Davies said excitedly in a social media video. And isn't it nice to be excited about Doctor Who again, something that Davies has always tried to bring to the table, even if his enthusiasm can be grating. But an hour is really not enough. There are a ton of ideas in this special that are explored only briefly, and could have used another 30 minutes to an hour of screentime. We notice the cheats, and the shorthand. We notice how the episode is about arguing politics on social media, until it's not. (The villain of the week even tosses off that Gender Critical catchphrase, "handmaidens.") The special is about the Doctor and the Toymaker facing off to play a game again, following up on a now-mostly-lost story from 1966. But we notice that the Doctor always chooses "the most simple game of all," removing any need to spend screentime explaining game mechanics. I could have happily watched these "games" for another episode, in some form or another.

The result, as with so many of Russell T Davies' stories, is that a big worldwide threat is established, which will inevitably be deflated in a way that's smaller than its setup. "Classic" Doctor Who would sit in these threats for a few episodes, but post-2005 Doctor Who tends to lack that sort of padding. More running time would likely have been filled with something else entirely. In true RTD fashion, the evil plan that's affecting the world is a completely nonsensical story beat. Calling the idea half-baked is an overstatement. It's not baked at all, but RTD assumes the actors can make it work in the performance. And yes, they can, but they would do equally well with better material. As with the Toymaker himself, the writing is a showy stage set with nothing in the back. RTD deduced correctly, long ago, that the vibes of Doctor Who are of more importance than whether these events are explained enough to make sense. RTD's Doctor Who is dramatic, flashy, silly, anything but boring. That's its greatest strength, and occasionally its weakness.

The special is stolen almost entirely by Neil Patrick Harris, as the Toymaker in question. The role as written calls for a big, showy, over the top performance, and Harris nails it with equal parts comedic camp and genuine menace. Harris does a lot with a bad German accent, solidifying the Toymaker as someone who is always joking and playing around, but who can also unravel your life in an instant if he so desires. The gay coding is text rather than subtext, as both a wink and a threat. This viewer suspects that one reason the show never brought this villain back until now, is that he is overpowered and does not fit in with the show's universe as we understand it. His flaws are as overpowered and unexplained as his powers. He is a fairy tale character, who can only be defeated in trivial ways, and it makes an already silly show even sillier. This is not a complaint. At times the performances are wonderful. At other times the tertiary supporting cast seem unsure how to react to whatever is occurring.

It's hard not to notice that this is basically a retread of how the Master was presented (played by John Simm) in 2007's "The Sound of Drums." Many of the story beats are identical, to the point where the script even points this out in an attempt to say it's different this time, in some unexplained way. But this version landed better with me, since The Toymaker has less history with the Doctor and was due for a reinvention. (It's harder not to compare the new series Master with the old series Master, and by comparison he/she is fan-ficcy and lacks a certain mavitas.) It helps that The Toymaker, like the Master, is witty, indulging in little performances and disguises for no one's amusement but his own. A good actor can make a meal out of this sort of thing.

The Toymaker, or Celestial Toymaker, was played memorably by the late Michael Gough in a 1966 story. It's not one of the show's best, and only the final episode of four is known to exist today, apart from audio. (A CGI animated version has been announced.) Writer Brian Hayles (credited here) pitched "The Eyes of Nemesis" in 1975, but was rejected. He would have returned in 1986 for "The Nightmare Fair" (with Colin Baker), but the show was facing cancellation at the time and scripts for "season 23" were cancelled in favor of what became "The Trial of a Time Lord" (which introduced Bonnie Langford, who recurs here). Michael Gough declined to return for the silly 1993 special "Dimensions In Time." The late David Bailie played the role on audio in The Nightmare Fair and Solitaire (with Paul McGann's Doctor but without Paul McGann). These stories are no longer canon on television.

"Celestial" has an unfortunate dual meaning here. It can refer to something from the sky, of the stars, and of outer space. It's also a 19th-century slur for Chinese people, and the character wore Chinese-inspired dress throughout, as if appearing in a children's pantomime. (A different character also says the N-word during a nursery rhyme in the story, something edited out of later audio releases.) To his credit, Michael Gough doesn't play the role in any detectably racist way, and "The Giggle" only references "Celestial" to mean "of the stars." It also shows the Toymaker trying on German, French, American and British personas as a running pattern. Yes, it's canonical now, in 2023, that the Toymaker is just a bit racist.

I say all of this only to note that we're getting into the deepest and dankest weeds here, in terms of referencing Doctor Who episodes that new fans of the show could not reasonably be expected to have seen. Mavic Chen is also referenced, from The Daleks' Master Plan, and as with the Toymaker, if you weren't already watching Doctor Who in 1965 and 1966, you haven't seen that (quite wonderful) story in full, because nine out of twelve episodes no longer exist today, except as audio.

Some time here is also spent explaining what Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) got up to after she left the show in 1987. (Tony Selby's character of Sabalom Glitz is referenced. The actor passed away in 2021.) The Youtube documentary specifically name-checks "Time and the Rani," possibly the silliest and campest Doctor Who story ever made. These are not moments intended for casual viewers. I doubt they'll actually be confused by the name-dropping, but you are a long way down the Doctor Who iceberg of camp if you're getting these reference. Would the average Doctor Who fan even get these references? Yes, of course, because they're sickos.

A few Photoshopped flashes of Michael Gough and William Hartnell are even thrown in as a flashback, as if Doctor Who has now, himself, visited the Doctor Who website and subscribed to the official Doctor Who Youtube channel.

Back in 1983 we got "The Five Doctors," with a cast of as many Doctor Who actors as could be bothered to show up for it. (Tom Baker said no.) For the Fiftieth Anniversary, "The Day of the Doctor" brought back David Tennant, Billie Piper, Tom Baker, and (checks notes) Peter Capaldi, who wasn't even Doctor Who yet. And John Hurt, who never was. (Chris Eccleston said no.)

The David Tennant specials are a different star beast entirely, without a lot of cameos, unless we're counting Trinity Wells, Mel Bush and Wilf Mott. (Bernard Cribbins passed away during filming, and Wilf is seen only briefly, played by a stand=in. He is otherwise referenced as being just offscreen.) Instead, the vibe is, "what if we brought back David Tennant and Catherine Tate to do roughly the same sort of thing we used to do back around 2008?" So this is how Russell T Davies has spent the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, and I think he had the right instincts about it. There are a lot of nods to the past, but it mostly amounts to namedropping. The Meep and The Toymaker are pulled from such distant, old canon that they might as well be new. Fans might say, it's good to finally see The Meep and The Toymaker onscreen, but they're very deep cuts. The point of this exercise, really, is having Tennant and Tate back, as if they're the current Doctor Who team, for awhile. Appearances by other actors would have distracted from what we're seeing here. (This does, however, explain the need for little minisode projects featuring old series cast, like Tales of the TARDIS and the trailers for The Collection Blu-Rays.)

Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor is also subtly different. His previous Doctor would have burnt up a sun to say goodbye, but could not say the words "I love you." This Doctor says "I love you" casually, and it surprises the hell out of him. If this is part of some grander character arc, we don't see it spelled out here. What we get instead is an ending unlike anything we've seen before, which is also very, very much like the endings RTD has written before. It's something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.

Viewers have theorized that previous special "Wild Blue Yonder" was partly based around fears of AI replacing human input on the internet, ruining all our information and never quite getting the hands right. The political messaging is less subtle here. The Giggle feeds into humanity's worst impulses, which play out like someone who is wrong on social media, but convinced that they're right. There are overt references to anti-vaxxers and the Cult of Gender Critical. One returning character seems to have become Alex Jones. This doesn't last long though, as the story has other things to do. It's a background detail rather than an overall political statement. "Doctor Who gets political?" Well, maybe a little bit, when it remembers to. The references to feminism and transgender identity in The Star Beast were more of a running theme.

Both episodes featured Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne Bingham, a UNIT scientific advisor who uses a wheelchair due to spina bifida. This actually comes up more in this episode, with overt references to the discrimination she faces, and an effort to make the TARDIS wheelchair-accessible (and add a jukebox). What we haven't seen in awhile is a male UNIT soldier whose name we'd remember. Personally, I wouldn't want Jack Harkness or Mickey Smith (they know what they did) but would settle for Clyde Langer, or similar. Or if this is still a girl's club, Rani Chandra. (Also this is somehow the second UNIT episode in a row where they've forgotten about Liz Shaw. First scientific advisor AND first redhead?)

There are some typically Russell T Davies touches here, like a warning that the bigger overall villain(s) are still coming for the Doctor, so stay tuned folks. And an unexplained Nick Briggs-voiced creature called the Vlinx. Are they going to start making action figures of this sort of thing again?

In the Youtube documentaries, incoming Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa (pronounced "Shuti") is seen doing a one-handed cartwheel, something impressive but not seen in the actual episode. There is a scene of some athletic play where the actors show what they can do. The answer is not "catch a ball" or "give Jemma Redgrave and Bonnie Langford anything coherent to react to." I look forward to more of Ncuti's physicality in the role. You can feel the show testing how gay it's allowed to be, in specific ways we haven't seen since RTD was last writing it. Ncuti's Doctor never puts on trousers in all of his/their screentime. They are also seen in a skirt or kilt, raving, in the trailer for the Christmas special. RTD seems a bit interested in Ncuti's legs, as Moffat was interested in Amy Pond's. (Pond is also referenced here, because it's the 60th.) Now, I'm not going to say "they wouldn't have done that in the sixties," because they did. Gatwa is youthful and fashionable, all teeth and pectoral muscles, and seems comfortable enough in the role. How that actually translates to the screen, we find out on Christmas day. It involves singing CGI goblins.

So far this has been a triumphant return of the same old rubbish. My hope is that Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor Who can also be more of the same.

#doctor who #the giggle #david tennant #catherine tate #neil patrick harris

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dansnaturepictures · 1 year ago

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10/10/2023-Lakeside and home

Photos taken in this set are of: 1. View out the back with some nice yellow leaves coming. 2 and 3. A gorgeous Red Admiral I was thrilled to see on the exuberant and shining buddleia still in flower nicely out the front. A powerful moment watching this supreme butterfly, seeing a few at Lakeside too this star of the year is out in numbers again. 4. Some lovely ox tongue enjoyed again today a key flower this week so far. 5. A view at Lakeside, making the most of a bit of meadow still long taking me back to serene summer days, with mowing going on. 6. Bright red rose hips. 7. Beautiful creeping thistle by the lake still looking great. 8. An august Carrion Crow, one of two I got top close views of basking in the glorious autumnal sunlight, it picked at the ground and had a beak full of bird seed at one point. 9. Beautiful oxeye daisy beside the steam railway track. 10. A Collared Dove, frequent in the garden today.

Some avian excitement came late on in my lunch time walk with a close view of a Cormorant overhead walking along the northern path, and a rousing distant view of a circling Buzzard which was nice after hearing one there yesterday. Great views of Jackdaw including a fluffy slightly white one, Magpie, Robin again, young Herring Gull, Mallard, Moorhen and Great Crested Grebes stood out too with Long-tailed Tit heard, with Starlings and Blue Tit heard enjoyed at home. Speckled Wood, I believe a Brimstone seen quickly, fine views of Migrant Hawker and joined post-mating Common Darter and a hoverfly on the ox tongue were nice insect moments at Lakeside. Other key plants seen were hedge bindweed, sweet little hedgerow crane's-bill a nice one for this time of year, broad-leaved clover, yarrow, dock, hawthorn berries and apples. Alongside ox tongue carrot seed heads looked nice in the precious meadow scene. Long-bodied Cellar spider was good to see at home today too. Another rich autumnal day.

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emcscared-whumps · 1 year ago

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WiJ 2023 - 04: Share Whumperflies Media

WiJ 2023 Navigation Post

A Show/Movie/Book/Series that Gives Me Whumperflies

Honestly? I'm far too picky about whumpees and I don't consume all that much media (especially not these days since i have my own purpose-built character who is capable of hitting just about EVERYTHING I like) to have many items to rave about ^-^'

HOWEVER.

That does not mean that there is nothing :)

I'll go right back to the start, in fact (in rough order)... just keep in mind that I don't watch for whump, and these aren't whump recommendations except for one lmao, they're just what have managed to give me whumperflies in the past.

Cybergirl (2001-02)

An Australian sci-fi superhero T.V. series that was airing in the morning when I was a young kid, maybe 6 or 7, back before I understood how T.V. scheduling worked lol. I don't often get whumperflies from media, but I think this time, I did, and it's actually my earliest memory of whumperflies.

Cy ended up trapped in a Big Fancy House by the Big Bad, Rhyss. It's been many years since I last re-watched the show so I don't remember a whole lot except there was a lot of urgency and a zappy barrier that Cy couldn't pass through, and I definitely got some kind of feeling about that :)

The writing was very average, not very substantial for an older viewer, but it was excellent for a kids' show. There was so much lore that just never got expanded on, and it didn't go particularly hard with the whump :')

H2O Just Add Water (2006-10)

To no one's surprise, I ADORED this series as a kid. My obsession with mer had just started, and honestly, this shit FED ME. This was another Australian show that I watched when I was fairly young (again, 6-7 and onward), but I don't recall watching it when it aired. I instead had a collection of DVDs.

The girls and co got into some pretty interesting hijinks while trying to guard their fishy little secrets, but shit got REAL in season 6 when a marine biologist coworker of the friend of the girls' Lewis managed to leave a sample of their skin/scale in the lab... OOPS.

You can guess where that lead-- the scientist trying to track down the owner of the magic scale that could turn back into skin (somehow lmao, ~magic~), and she eventually trapped the girls in their little grotto with a gate that she had installed at the underwater entrance of their grotto spot on Mako Island.

Here's where I mention that I did not actually get whumperflies from this lmao, but it was a close one (the scientist didn't go far enough lmao). That's okay though :) One self indulgent decision just under 10 years later sure fixed that :))

Vampire Knight Anime (2008, English Dub aired in Aus in 2011)

The whole show. Every episode. I'm not even kidding. (Well, just about every episode lol, there was maybe only one where I didn't). As many problems as I have with the series, (mainly that every time I see Yuuki or hear her voice I want to strangle her), Zero was just so. fucking. scrunchy-- almost the perfect whumpee ^-^ And the English voice actor does such a glorious job of voicing Zero's pain, the whole series is ABSOLUTELY worth enduring Yuuki's stupidity.

Iirc, my favourite episode was Crimson Chains-- full of spoilers, a lot of plot bits come together at that point, so I can't say much other than that Zero's lost his shit and has a whole big scene where he writhes and pants on the floor with the agony of his hunger. I am convinced the author ALSO liked that XD

I would sit at night and watch that episode over and over and over because man, those whumperflies were something else, super intense, 11/10 lmao

Doctor Who (1963-present)

Nine had that one episode where he got caught by some collector dude and tortured to figure out what made him tick, or rather that he had TWO hearts that made him tick... Fun times, that DEFINITELY gave me whumperflies and had me furtively returning to the episode to keep watching that scene.

A lot of Ten's run had me by the throat, most memorably his regeneration at the start of his run, and his regeneration at the end directly after an hour (approximately) of whump was. AMAZING. I kept coming back to the start and end 😅

There were a couple more times I got whumperflies throughout his run. The main episodes that come to mind are Midnight, set on the planet of sapphires and lethal radiation, and 42, involving a spaceship hurtling toward a sun.

There was only one more whumpy instance, and that was that one movie they made. I forget who, when... EVERYTHING except the dude that played looked like Gene Wilder and it took place on NYE of the new millenium. It was another shitfight with The Master. ANYWAY. The whumperflies were at the START of the movie when The Doctor wasn't doing so well, I think he got shot?? And then rushed to the hospital, all while trying to avoid that and trying to communicate that they'll kill him

Supernatural (2005-20)

Ok. This one is weird in two ways. I forget which episode it was, but it was season 2 where Sam and Dean were trying to kick a group of vampires out of a town, but they were actually cool/chill vampires...?

Or at least some of them were...

ANYWAY.

This other hunter had this vampire chic tied to a chair baaaasically torturing her...? Memory's a bit foggy on what exactly what they were doing (the brainworms wouldn't stop wriggling about AUs), but I got these itty bitty whumperflies from that vampire lady getting hurt. That was weird because 1) I've only had whumperflies off the ladies once before watching Cybergirl which was SO long ago, and 2) I never have had them from watching a side-character, I usually have to be emotionally invested.

Weird right?? Absolutely wild though!

Anyway, that's pretty much everything, even though I've seen and read a fair few things lol, hope you enjoyed my rambling!

#wij23day4 #whumpmasinjuly2023 #wij #wij 2023 #whumpmas in july #whumpmas in july 2023 #whumperflies #whumpblr #whump community

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rei-makes-big-robo · 2 years ago

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Project HD Devlog #1: Late to start writing

Project HD was the second of my late 2022-2023 VR game prototypes, it progressed far within the first month of development until I lost track of what I wanted it to be and started to develop Project CWD. Project HD was sort of a half accident half intentional mix of goofy action oriented gameplay mechanics for a VR action platformer, mostly revolving around having hammers for hands and needing blood to heal (Very original I know).

The blood part was sorta vaguely because I wanted that sort of blissful ignorance for how much health you have in games like Ultrakill, need health? just kill an enemy and bathe in their blood! I still have not implemented any method of this as in it's current form it lacks any organic entities, just the Squeakers which are named from their early prototype form (and the rubber domed tutorial version) producing a squeak from a dollar store Halloween rat decoration.

Originally they were just a red block with a knife that would either stab or do a spin attack, they have since grown to be weird stabby trashcans that slide around and if you're unfortunate enough to be sitting when it attacks you might get stabbed in the eye. The big conflict with the Squeakers is that their current version uses a character controller instead of a Navmesh agent and it can be very derpy (video below), which has been causing me to consider reverting them to the Navmesh version.

So now that I've infodumped about stuff nobody will care about or find interesting here's the real shit! Project HD relies on the ability to adjust how much mass your hand hammers have with the analog triggers which allows you to jump very significant heights and distances. The problem with this is that my headset uses inside out tracking which I thought caused a lot of inaccuracy and inconsistency in these jumps, however that was not the case. My partner (romantic) has a Valve Index which uses lighthouse tracking which is pretty much the best kind of tracking if you have space for it. So after 3-4 months of leaving Project HD dormant I opened it up in Unity and prepped the testing scene for a build.

After I sent my partner it I immediately had to rebuild it with proper controller configurations for the Valve Index controllers which was as simple as clicking a button or two. After trying it for a bit her takeaway from it was that it's movement and mechanics were "counter intuitive and inconsistent". Both things I didn't expect but now I was filled with glorious purpose, a reason to pick up the hammer and smack some C# with my crappy oem keyboard. In hindsight I should have seen both these problems coming, most weird movement mechanics in VR are sorta the inverse off a mass jump leading to the counter intuitiveness of it. The inaccuracy however was just me being a moron, an absolute hamster pressing the buttons and waiting to see a red error telling me to try that again. However in this case everything worked, not well but I didn't know any better at the time I wrote a lot of it. The entire hand controller script was updating with the framerate, sounds pretty normal for most things. Until you consider the fact that half of it was controlling physics objects.

So back to the purpose stuff, today (technically yesterday but hey that's what happens when you don't sleep till 6am like some kinda vampire gremlin) I started to change some stuff around to try to fix some of these issues. I started by adding interpolation to the rigid bodies of the hammers, which makes them feel a little sluggish but they almost come out feeling better like this. I then changed the entire hand script to run off FixedUpdate, meaning it updates with the physics tics which are consistent rather than the frame rate. Clearly having a wave of inspiration from the time spent on Project CWD I started to work on implementing post processing effects to get it closer to the visual style I wanted. I also set it up to change the effects based on health which ended up working really well with the existing effects of your energy hammers fading away more and flickering.

After two gameplay tests by myself the inconsistency of the mass jumps had been resolved feeling smooth and vastly more precise to respond to my intentions. The bloom and other post processing effects helped to really make things feel a lot more alive and even made me reconsider my stance on scrapping a certain parry indicator (story for another time). Thus I have begone developing Project HD again by accident and this time I wanted to share it somewhere other than Discord creative channels. I'm still very uncertain of what I want to do, I really like to make stuff like this and I really think it's a very fun game concept but my financial situation forces me to consider it as business and I'm not sure I'm good enough to ship a product worth paying for. My skills are varied across so many fields and none of them have a diploma to my name or are relevant to my existing job experience. That's part of why I post to accounts like this to serve as a sort of portfolio to prove to myself that I am capable of making things. That the years I've invested into this haven't been a waste. I've been considering trying to apply for a digital art position at some game development companies, but I'm also very much afraid of losing my time to projects I have no passion for and not having time or energy on the side to do what I really want to be doing. To anyone that read this far thank you and sorry. Writing this has given me some confidence that this is what I should be doing, that I should keep crawling like the worm I am.

#devlog #devblog #indiedev #gamedev #indiegamedev #VR #Unity #indiegame #gamedevelopment #virtual reality #Project HD #Hammerden #development log #VR games

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