#trying a different style we'll see what sticks

[eldritchscythe]

solaire of astora ☀️

[wickworks]

Lancer Tactics dialogue layout crisis of faith

(from this month's backer update)

Every so often, I'll run into something in development that eats away at me until it pushes me to a crisis of faith and I have a breakdown, burn down a bunch of work, and build something better from the ashes. These are moments of transformation and we're almost always able to come out the other side with something much better than what we started with.

This all sounds very dramatic until you take a step back and see the issue in question is just, like, the layout of a menu. But if medieval priests were able to have schisms over angels on pins I can have strong feelings about graphic design, dammit!

This month's episode revolved around how we're doing character dialogue. For reference the plan was to do a standard 4-slot visual-novel talking heads layout. I call it a 4-slot because there's usually four positions that characters can stand; two on the left, two on the right:

I had it ingame, and it was working. But... something felt off. Do you see the difference between every one of the above examples and this?

It's all about perspective, baby.

Answer: all the character art in those examples are drawn at a slight angle so they can be flipped back and forth to be made like they're looking at each other.

Trying to do this with the perspective we chose early — straight on — makes for a chorus line of weirdos who are looking directly into your soul as they ostensibly chat with each other. Credulity is strained; the illusion of these puppets interacting in the same space is paper-thin.

(I was skeptical of choosing this perspective for this reason, but we ultimately went with it to make the customizable assets in the portrait maker easier to fit together)

We tried a bunch of different layouts, but they all at least one of these problems:

they'd stare into your soul while ostensibly directing comments elsewhere.

they felt like text messages; this would be fine if that's what we were going for, but we wanted something that could represent face-to-face conversations. (Tactical Breach Wizards was able to pull this style off because they had little 3D dioramas to go along with it)

or, most damning of all, they felt like zoom calls.

So, my heart aflutter and spirit in want, I spent a day doing a research dive into various dialogue layouts (bless the Game UI Database!) to see if any other games had managed to pull this character art perspective off. I ended up with this massive non-chronological taxonomic tree:

(fullsize here)

The type of layout that particularly caught my eye was this style where each character had their own little box. These layouts borrow a concept from comic books called "closure" where the space and time between characters are left blank. Freed from the constraints of trying to simulate a single space, these layouts allow the reader to fill in the blanks with something that feels more true-to-life than anything we'd be able to render ourselves.

I was especially impressed with the dynamism of Tales of Symphonia and The World Ends With You; rather than sticking to single slots they would animate the entire panels moving around to indicate motion an relative position of characters.

So we threw out the old code and copied them. Here's what we've come up with:

We'll be able to have portraits interact, like smacking each other (I felt like a kid hitting two action figures together, lol)

We can also apply effects like princess-leia-holograms and full-screen "lighting" effects like warning banners:

Carpenter and I came up with a number of arrangements that the portraits can smoothly transition between:

I've also implemented support for choices during a dialogue, potentially leading to branching paths.

Overall, I feel SO much better about this system than our initial designs. It might feel a little more cartoony, but I think we're making a cartoony game so that's not a problem.

Whew. We bit a lot off to chew with this project. I feel like I just made a second visual novel game engine inside of the first. Fingers crossed that it all ends up worth it.

[greg-gold01]

Signed in Gold

It took some courage and working up to it, but you finally decided to try your best and join a gym to get into shape. You looked online and found a listing for a new gym near you called 'Gold and Gainz Gym'.

"Join us in Gold and be the best you you can be!"

You read their motto aloud and sighed. You'd always wanted to try and better yourself, you could just never stick to it; always doubting, always worrying about other people or failing, never making any progress. Maybe this time will be different? You decided to check them out tomorrow, couldn't hurt to just see the place right?

Walking in the next day, you instinctively squint your eyes. There's gold everywhere, so much that it hurts your eyes. You walk up to the front desk and wait for a receptionist, looking around at all the guys here. They're all dressed in the exact same gold kit, all handsome, all muscular, all laughing and enjoying each other's company. You get so lost in watching them you don't notice one walking up to you.

"How can I help ya bruh?"

You jump back a bit startled, looking up at the gold adonis in front of you. Mouth going a bit dry you finally tell him

"I uh, was wondering if I could maybe, join the gym?"

You meekly ask, eyes a bit downcast. In contrast, the man's eyes lit up.

"Hell yeah bro! We're always lookin for new members. Take an application and follow to the office, we'll get ya sorted."

Taking a seat across from him in the office, he hands you an application and a golden pen.

"Gotta sign everything in gold bro, only way for it to work"

Puzzled as to why the pen would matter that much, you start reading through the application. Some basic info about yourself, couple of checkboxes, nothing crazy, until you get to the questions at the end.

Do you swear to be the best you you can be?

Do you swear to always support your Golden Bros?

Do you swear to always wear the Gold Kit with pride?

Do you swear to be a Golden Bro in mind, body, and soul?

You stare at the questions a bit incredulous before figuring it's probably just some kind of motivational thing, writing 'Yes' in response to the first question. As you finished, you feel a sudden jolt of pleasure shoot through your body. Shaking it off, you go back to the paper, not noticing that your hands seem a bit bigger and tanner now, the bro across from you watching with a knowing smile.

'Yes' to the second question. Another jolt of pleasure strong enough to almost make you drop the pen, traveling to your head and making it feel a bit fuzzy. You never really had friends, but you keep seeing images of you supporting, working out and hanging with other guys all wearing gold jerseys. As you struggle to reconcile the conflicting memories, your body begins to shift. You gain a few inches of height, a golden tan seeps across your skin, hair styling itself into an immaculate shape while stubble begins poking through your once bare skin. Blinking a few times, you still don't notice as your thoughts finally settle. Of course you've got memories of supporting your bros, why wouldn't you? Any good bro would support them, and you're a good bro aren't you?

'Yes' to the third question, and yet another jolt of pleasure. You lean back in your chair, eyes closed and mouth open as the pleasure keeps you oblivious to your changing clothes. An ill fitting t-shirt becomes a perfectly fit golden jersey, made of the most unbelievably perfect material you've ever felt. Jeans become a pair of golden workout shorts, showing off your growing bulge to go alongside them. And what workout kit is complete without some gold Nikes to go with it? Not yours for sure, as your sneakers change into a pair that wraps around your feet so nice it's like they were made just for you.

"Feels good doesn't it bro?"

The bro across from you asked still smiling. You couldn't help but agree, the kit felt so good on you you couldn't imagine taking it off, of a time when you weren't wearing it. You've always worn it right? Course you have, what golden bro wouldn't always wear their kit?

You make it to the fourth and final question, pausing for a moment. Some part of you is still fighting, still questioning what's going on. What will happen if I say yes to this? Almost sensing your hesitation, your bro gets up and moves behind you. He starts rubbing your shoulders, whispering in your ear

"Just let go bro. It feels so good to let go. To let Cap think for you. To let Gold take you over. All you need is Gold and Bros, Gold and Bros, Gold and Bros..."

As he keeps repeating it in your ear, you start to smile and say it along with him, closing your eyes in bliss as your hand automatically moves to write 'Yes' for the last time. A pleasure shoots through you so strong you almost fall out of your chair. Your body goes into overdrive, biceps inflating, ass growing, thighs thickening as every rational thought is blasted from your mind. Every thought, every memory, everything before you walked in the gym is wiped out by the Gold wave overcoming you. Your mind a flurry of the same few words over and over:

GoldCapGymBrosTeamUnityBuffDumbGoldWorkoutBrosCapGoldUnityBuffGoldTeamGoldGoldGoldGoldGoldGoldGoldGold....

Your mind, body and soul succumb completely to the Gold, becoming the perfect new bro for the Gold Team as you finally open your eyes again

"How ya feelin bro?" your new bro asks you

"Bro, feels like I just made the best choice of mah life! I feel like...like Gold!"

He laughs in response as he throws his arm around you, leading you back to the gym.

"I knew you'd love it brah. They always do after they sign in gold. Let's get ya hooked up with Cap and the rest of the bros before you start your workout eh? They're gonna love ya, trust!"

You walk arm in arm with your new bro into your new life as a Gold Team bro. Ready to be the best you you could ever be, ready to give everything for your cap and your bros. Ready to be Golden, and happy, forever.

[c4nd1xz]

ANTI-WASMO ROLE SWAP AU!!

I don't have an official reference sheet for their characters yet but when I do I'll post them!!

Basic rundown:

The role swap au is basically as it sounds, role swap. Anti-Wanda is the ruler of the anti-fairies and intelligent, while Anti-Cosmo is the dumb and silly one

Their relationship is based of the swap mfm(midfightmasses) au! RS (role swap) Anti-Cosmo is way more affectionate and touchy than regular Anti-Cosmo would be. But the same goes with RS Anti-Wanda, she is more outward with her affection, but most of it is to be satisfied.(We'll get to that later) She does love her husband deeply, but she in some way uses/depends on him.

Some basic info about them:

Anti-Wanda:

Anti-fairy/succubus

Big fangs for ripping into flesh

She's a cannibal because praying mantis love>>

Her clothing style is a mix of vampirism and victorian goth, often depicted with lots of ruffles and in dresses(she will occasionally wear a Morticia Addams style dress)

She's always got something up her ruffled sleeves(it's either a dagger or a coupon who knows)

She is constantly dealing with bloodlust, always needing to feed on some form of flesh or blood

Little bit of a sadist 😋

Chubby😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

Anti-Cosmo

Stupid silly dumb dumb

Anti-fairy/Vampire

He still needs to wear his monocle but doesn't because he thinks he looks like a dork

He absolutely HATES having his sleeves rolled down, so he either has them rolled up or is in t-shirts (the only exception is during winter)

VERY high pain tolerance

Masochist

He basically dresses like Cosmo in anw

His fangs are wayyyy to big so they look goofy sticking out of his mouth, but he doesn't really care

Can regenerate his body very fast(and does it often)

Is so in love with Anti-Wanda he doesn't care what she does to him

He doesn't dress fancy, so he has a crown like everyone else

GORE WARNING‼️

So before how I said RS Anti-Wanda depended on Anti-Cosmo, well the reason is because she eats him 🎉🎉

Now, it's not always a sexual thing(sometimes who knows) but because of Anti-Wanda's bloodlust and need for flesh and because of Anti-Cosmo's high pain tolerance and regeneration, he just let's her do it.

She can tend to get carried away at times, eating too much, but Anti-Cosmo never seemed to mind. Unfortunately, this is the prime way she shows affection. Though not the best, she's still trying?

There is a difference when she's dealing with bloodlust and then just displaying affection

Bloodlust: Affection:

Fun silly facts:

You probably saw, but RS Anti-Cosmo often calls Anti-Wanda "Shawty"

Where's Foop? This au takes place during BF(before Foop)

There's are a lot of scars all over both of their bodies

Anti-Wanda has reading glasses

Anti-Cosmo despises tea

They both have very sharp nails

Anti-Wanda's favorite part of the body to eat are thighs or forearms. Though she does agree palms are the tastiest, she feels guilty for eating his hands

Anti-Cosmo is bi, Anti-Wanda is omni!

Anti-Cosmo flies into wall cause he can't see

FANART BY MY FAVORITE MOOTIE WOOTIE @ragdollwuzhere!!

GORE WARNING!!!

[wilhelminyard]

compilation of nice/sweet things the foxes said to neil because even though they're a bunch of assholes who insult anyone in their vicinity they all just love him so damn much - except aaron - (part 3) :

ANDREW :

"I said I would keep you alive this year. you make it infinitely more difficult for me when you actively try to get yourself killed."

"the next time someone comes from you, stand down and let me deal with it. do you understand?"

"you were supposed to be a side effect of the drugs" "I'm not a hallucination" "you are a pipe dream."

"what would you give me?" "don't ask questions you already know the answer to"

"this isn't yes. this is a nervous breakdown. I know the difference even if you don't. I won't be like them. I won't let you let me be."

"I've never understood why he likes knives" "he will lose his taste when he has one in his gut"

"kevin is a fool whose style is numbers and angles. formulas and statistics, trial and error, repetition and insanity. all he cares about is finding the perfect game. a junkie like you can't be that cold."

"last summer you made me a promise. I'm asking you to break it." "no." "you said you'd stick with me if I kept kevin south, but kevin doesn't need me anymore. he chose us over the ravens because as a whole we're finally worth his time. there's nothing else I can give you in exchange for your protection." "I will think of something."

"spring break's coming. we could go someplace" "where and why?" "anywhere. anywhere at least three hours from campus. there's no point in going someplace closer than that. it won't feel like a vacation. the only trick is figuring out how to pry kevin away from the court" "I have knives"

"no one's said a word to them since they said we couldn't see you"

"if you tell me to leave I'll go" "you aren't going anywhere"

"I have to go. I don't trust them to give you back."

"ready?" "waiting on you"

"can I really be neil again?" "I told neil to stay. leave nathaniel buried in baltimore with his father."

"andrew could break our deal and let me go or break things off with neil" "he chose neil over you?"

"your close calls are getting old. I thought you knew how to run" "I thought you told me to stop running" "survival tip: no one likes a smart mouth" "except you"

WYMACK :

"I can't believe you trusted david to patch you up" "I was careful with him"

"you're a hundred times better now than you were in may. don't sell yourself short."

"go easy for a few days, would you?"

"are you okay?"

"neil asked us to leave the authorities out of this. I respect him enough to allow that"

"didn't I tell you not to worry about it?"

"I'm making you vice-captain next year"

"didn't you notice? they're uniting around and behind you. that's something special. you're something special."

"look me in the eye and tell me if you think I care who you used to be. hm? I care about who you are right now and who you can be going forward. I'm not asking you to forget your past, but I am telling you to overcome it."

"neil. talk to me. what do you want?"

"giving up on neil now goes against everything we are."

"I'm sorry. I should've told you but I couldn't" "don't worry about that right now."

"we'll wait for you, all right? as long as it takes, neil"

"I should be thanking you. you told us last night you intended to end the year dead or in federal custody. you could have shut everyone and everything out and worried about yourself this year. instead you agreed to help dan fix this team. you're saving the two I thought we couldn't reach, and you're a living example for kevin to follow. he never used to watch you but he's had eyes on you since december trying to figure out how you stand your ground."

"they told me to call them as soon as you returned. have you returned?"

"neil is a critical member of my team. you can ask any person on my line-up and they will all agree : we would not be where we are today if he wasn't here with us."

MATT :

"I want to break his face in six places. if he ever comes within a thousand yards of you again-"

"you okay?" "I'm fine" "for the record, I don't believe you"

"neil? we're here when you want to talk about it"

"neil? you good?"

"we're all legal adults here. we've made our decision. unless he wants to stay with you, you'd better bring neil back to us when you're done with all your questions

"hey, coach made us promise to leave you alone but are you okay?"

"they will get rid of me" "you're not serious"

"things could have gone much worse. I'm glad they didn't. you want anything, you need anything, you let us know. okay?" "okay" "I mean it" "I know. I'm done lying to you, matt. I promise."

"did andrew really choke kevin?" "took three of us to pull him off"

"we can't replace you"

DAN :

"neil? if you want to talk about any of it, or anything, or... you know we're here for you, right? whatever you need."

"kevin knew about this didn't he? he knew what riko was going to do to you and he let you go anyway. the next time I see him-"

"don't do this to us. don't sit here and lie to our faces. we're your friends. we deserve better than that."

"you told the truth. it's not your fault they don't like it."

"are you sure you're okay, neil?"

"go. but come back to us as soon as they're done with you, okay? we'll figure this out as a team."

"you're not playing. you think coach will let you on the court when you look like that? I'll sub in for you, neil. renee can help allison out one more time, right? trust us to hold the line. you focus on healing so we can use you in semifinals."

KEVIN :

"kevin called me yesterday morning when he couldn't get a hold of you. he wanted to make sure you were okay."

NICKY :

"don't you dare tell me you're fine. I can't hear that from you today, okay?"

"you can't have neil. he belongs with us"

"neil isn't a real person. it's just a cover that let nathaniel evade authorities. it's past time to let him go." "neil or nathaniel or whoever. he's ours, and we're not letting him go. you want us to vote on it or something? bet you it'll be unanimous."

"don't worry. andrew will protect you."

"hey, you good?"

ALLISON :

"it would have neen better if you'd come to the store with us. it doesn't matter. I bought out the entire row."

"I'm sorry" "shut up. no you're not. you're not. have you forgotten who has to paint you back together every morning? if you'd let them steamroll you yesterday after all this I would hate you"

"it is not safe for [neil] here anymore and it sure as hell isn't safe for you. it is better for everyone if he disappears." "what part of 'go to hell' do you need us to explain to you?"

RENEE :

"so those knives he brings everywhere are yours?" "were mine. he was right; I don't need them anymore. if you need them, he will give them to you, and I will teach you how to use them"

"if you want to talk more later, you know where to find me"

"will you be all right here?"

"kevin is very analytical whereas you're passionate."

"what do you need from us, neil?"

"I can do it." "I know you can. but perhaps it's easier if someone helps you."

ABBY :

"sometimes I think this job is going to kill me. seeing what people have done, what people continue to do, to my foxes. I wish I could protect you but I'm always too late. all I can do is patch you up afterward and hope for the best. I'm sorry, neil. we should have been there for you"

"let me take a look at you"

"it's over. it's over. you're going to be okay. we've got you."

"I dropped my gear in new york" "andrew found it while he was looking for you"

[desultory-novice]

Marionettes' Pavane Bonus Story

"Style Savvy" (3 Pages)

-

“MariPav” is a strangers to friends to ……… fan comic about Marx and Magolor’s meeting and their zany adventures in the days before Return to Dream Land. It was written before RtDL DX came out, so expect inconsistencies with current game lore!

[Previous]  [Main]

---

AN: It is finally upon us. The promised "costume change."

I debated with myself for a while about whether I even wanted to change their costumes, since these were based so heavily in their canon designs. If I changed them, would they still look like Marx and Magolor? (As much as they do now, at least.)

But I also designed these costumes back when I was ju~st starting out as an artist, and in many ways they're unrefined and clunky. And even though, or perhaps because, I'm better at drawing, I find the old costumes slow me down and trip me up in annoying ways.

Plus, I think MariPav!Magolor and MariPav!Marx have distinguished themselves enough in five chapters that they'll still be recognizable!

(And not only does this addition help narrow the gap between MariPav!Magolor and RtDL DX!Magolor, who is an obvious fiend for fashion with the number of different outfits he sports, it opens the door for further dramatically-timed costume changes! ^_-)

-

Speaking of changes, you might notice that everything looks approx 30% lighter than it did before. Been studying screen tone (even though I didn't use it here ^^; ) and this was a test on my part. Kind of hoping that this is a) makes the dialogue stand out a little more b) lets me fool around with more dramatic shading options and c) keeps the characters from blowing out the background elements due to contrast. Right now, it feels slightly easier on my eyes overall, but we'll see if I stick with it. (I do want to work more contrasty colors back into the comic once I know how to use them better. That's what happens when you dive in on a major project at the same time that you're trying to teach yourself everything about art from zero. ^^)

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With that done, it's onto Chapter 6!

[Previous] [Main] [Next - coming soon]

[angelpuns]

Also some design updates for these guys, we'll see if they stick!

Leo has a jacket instead of a scarf now ( due to some stuff I added to the doc and realized his design needed an update to reflect the changes) he also has two stripes and a bit of a different head shape. also longer pants. I'm trying a new eye design too, but I've tried it before and get tired of it easily so we'll see how long that lasts!

Mikey is more round. That's p much it cause he was perfect from the get-go LMAO l. Also made him even younger to better reflect mine and my youngest sibling's own age gap ( which is actually 8 years, but I couldn't make it that big or they would be the teenage mutant ninja turtles anymore ).

Donnie finally got a gov. Designated turtle species!!! I ended up going with Southern Painted turtle so he and Leo kinda match!! He also got a snoot!! And became a noodle :)

Raph is almost exactly the same except more square, with shorter mask tails.

I've simplified all their limbs to match their hands too, plus I like this look better overall. I've been thinking about changing Leo's mask tails to look more like styled hair, but I really really like him with the long flowing ones, so we'll just have to see :)

I've added so much to the Google doc that I an risking getting way too excited for it and not finishing other stuff, but thankfully writing it down here means I will have to be held accountable and that I'll have to finish stuff!! Plus I'm sure everyone wants to know what happens at the end of the Kid Leo au ;)

[corishadowfang]

2025 Writing Goals

...Did I do one of these last year?? I...genuinely can't remember. But! I'm doing one this year--mostly to organize my own thoughts, haha, but I guess also to give people some updates, if anyone's interested in that?

But, uh, 2024 was...a year. The long and the short of it is: I am very burnt out. Most of that is due to my job, but other things have factored into it, too. (There were. So many animal emergencies this past year.) Because of that, I'm going to try to tailor my goals to be...a bit gentler. In theory.

As for the individual stories...

The Age of Fairytales (And Other Assorted Myths)

This is...probably officially going on hiatus, unfortunately. I don't particularly want it to, but I think it probably needs to. I've been struggling to write chapters a lot more than expected, and have been stressed about getting things out in a timely fashion, which is. Not particularly how I want to interact with fandom, and I don't want the story to suffer because of it. Some of this I think is due to the writing style (the myths specifically, which are different from my normal style), but most of it is from the aforementioned burnout. I don't think I was actually ready to have a regularly updated fic again, even if I thought I was (How was three months not enough time?? has been running circles around my head.), and probably should've stuck with my original plan of trying to write everything out, and then starting to post it.

That said, there's a reason it's going on hiatus, and isn't cancelled or anything, and it's because I still really like the idea. So for the moment, it might be going on the backburner, but hopefully I'll be able to bring it out and do more with it in the future.

(Also, like. Feel free to ask me about any lore stuff? Because I really, really want to talk about it, I'm just currently finding it difficult to put it into story format.

...I suppose I could also just make a lot of general worldbuilding posts in the meantime, too, which would be. Significantly easier. ...I'll have to see on that one.)

On My Heart

I really want to get back to working on this one; it's probably going to be my main "traditional" story. That said, I don't have a set goal for this; basically, I just want to make "decent progress" on it, haha. I'm going to try and take it easy and hopefully get at least some content that I'm happy with! (The beginning I already have, at least, feels pretty solid; now I just have to build onto that.)

One-Shots

I have four one-shots that have been sitting half-completed in my documents that I'd really like to finish at some point, which are:

coda: A Fallen Stars one-shot, covering the first year after the end of the story.

Children of Ozymandias: An AU where the Union Leaders (plus Player and Elrena) all remain together after the fall of Daybreak Town, examined through the eyes of people who don't have much relation to Keyblade wielders.

Touch of Midas: Hoder character study.

Ghosts of All We've Known: Ven-centric story looking at his connection to Scala, his buried memories of Daybreak Town, and his complicated thoughts about Eraqus and Xehanort and their past in Scala.

Of these, "Ghosts of All We've Known" is the one I most want to complete; I really like both the idea and what I've written so far, so hopefully I'll be able to finish that one this year, at least. "coda" also has a pretty good chance of being completed, just because, like...that's what I tend to work on when I'm feeling stressed, haha. So we'll see which of those two gets finished first!

(I would like to finish the other two sometime, as well, but...we'll stick with easy goals for now, and see how I'm feeling once those are done.)

And, uh...those are basically my plans for this year! I'm going to try very hard to just...kind of take things a bit easier. Keyword: try.

[magicpaint]

💄+lilia?

send me 💄 + a character and i'll tell you how i would style them

for lilia, i think the biggest change to how we've done this previously is that we know a fair bit about how others see lilia and fashion, while we know a lot less about how lilia views his own preferences. a very good example of this is his ghost marriage vignette. he does not get a suitor suit within the event itself, but one is made magically for him by malleus as a token of gratitude.

the most interesting part of this vignette to me is how malleus reacts to lilia's choice in color: green. he seems amused. malleus mentions that green is the color of the thorn fairy's flames, but given how bright the shade of green we see used as flames actually is in-game, we know that isn't the specific shade he's truly thinking of. what he gifts lilia is much deeper, a lot more subdued.

it's much closer to the armor we see in book 7.

malleus himself describes this green as "calm, mature" while lilia describes the overall outfit as "princely."

...an interesting word to use, given the color and what we now know of his backstory. but i digress.

lilia, in the beginning of this vignette, expresses that he has never worn a formal suit of any kind, and we see him later wishing he had gotten to wear one. this lends heavily to my own interpretation of lilia and modern fashion. he was restricted in what he could wear when he was younger, and now that he doesn't have these restrictions, he wants to try new things.

we see some of this in different events, but i think the best example is playful land. given that these outfits are magically applied and not chosen by the wearer, they give us a more honest representation. they pull from outfits we've already seen them wear. my interpretation is that, magically, they fit the wearer both in size and in preference. (a good example of this is to look at the shoes—floyd enjoys stomping around in his thicker-soled boots, and vil has a much higher heel than anyone else.)

all that to say, lilia doesn't currently have a personal style.

he's building one, he's attempting to find one, but it doesn't exist just yet. we can infer details he likes, but we don't have a concrete picture.

first and foremost: lilia likes stripes.

he wears stripes in a number of outfits, so i think it's safe to say stripes are a preferred pattern whether he's noticed this or not. (but malleus certainly has)

given that we see them used in a number of different pieces, we could reasonably use them anywhere, but i think i'm going to place them on a shirt. we'll be layering lilia's outfit, but to start, i want a long-sleeved mesh shirt. in terms of color, he is prone to green, so i think green, but i think i'll go with grey and black stripes. this color choice is pulled straight from his playful land attire.

the ruffles around his shoulders come in two colors—the innermost stripes are grey and black. given that i want them to be mesh, the colors will be more subdued, making the stripes a bit more subtle, but i think they'll be a nice base.

while i don't feel comfortable saying this is a true preference of his, we do see some layering here and there, so i think putting something on top of his shirt could work.

this is where i'm going to deviate a bit and push him a tad outside his comfort zone when it comes to fashion.

something i've noticed about lilia's outfits is that we see him in silhouettes that mimick a skirt without actually placing him in one. his playful land attire has shorts, but the tulle and draping around his waist hide them fairly well. his dorm uniform also features shorts while being covered in ruffles with a pooling coat behind him. he's completely engulfed by his lab coat.

i think i'm going to place him in a skirt. we've been given the illusion, but we haven't been given the real thing. let's finally do that.

i'm sticking with a simpler silhouette and giving him an overall dress. i think colored denim works well here—preferably in a deeper shade of pink. i know magenta is closer to his hair, but i'm thinking something a little more cranberry would suit him well. using a shade between his hair and his eyes brings them together.

the reason i'm going with denim is because i want to put pins or buttons on him. accessories for lilia are a bit scarce despite how he seems to enjoy them, so i'm hoping this will create a nice compromise. we could just make them mimick his birthday jacket or club patches, but i think that's a bit too easy. he seems the type to pick them up as he finds them, not necessarily curating them with intent.

he does enjoy a good bat motif, so at least one of them should feature bats. i'm imagining a button for a band, perhaps. and i think at least one of a flower. could be any from his bloom birthday bouquet or the suitor suit malleus creates for him.

beyond this, i think he would like having leggings underneath. i don't want too much sheer fabric given that his shirt is mesh, so i think leggings would look better.

we're going to get a bit fun with these—one leg black, one leg green. his birthday jacket outfit features mismatched shoes, and his playful land attire employs this same style to his tights / leggings. i think the bright, diasomnia green makes the most sense here. he does seem to come back to this shade fairly often. (and, now knowing his backstory, that feels intentional)

we could also go with a softer, pastel shade, but i do think lilia would choose the brighter option.

thus far, this outfit is fairly casual. to dress it up a bit, we can use his shoes and other accessories. while lilia doesn't go out of his way to dress up the way vil does, we do know that he likes being dressed up and tends to overdress where possible. his uniforms are a good example of this.

i've considered several shoe options, and i think i'm going to put him in a metallic boot.

using metallic fabric is an easy way to dress something up a bit without skewing too formal. his shoes tend to stay a bit shorter, so i'll leave the height around the ankle, but he does enjoy a casual heel. i'm not going to put him in anything notably tall, but 2-3 inches should suffice. i think, to add to this, a colored sole would be fun. i'm thinking silver for the rest of the boot, with the sole being a deep, vibrant purple. if we do laces, then i'd prefer them black, but i could see this working with a side zipper or just pulling on, as well.

now, some final touches.

i'm putting a choker on him. nothing too fancy, just a simple black one (perhaps a tattoo choker?) to give a bit of extra effort without it being too dressy. i think rings would be fun too, given that he has some in his clubwear, but i don't think i'd give him anything too large. simple, silver bands with smaller motifs are what i'm picturing. maybe one with a black, jeweled bat?

honestly, i think he'd be the type to enjoy spoon rings. taking something older, even antique, and giving it new life feels meaningful as an accessory choice for him.

and, finally, we're painting his nails. personally, i think we should interchange the bright green of his leggings with the purple of his boot soles.

i didn't go into detail on makeup, though i imagine he would have fun with that, but i think the outfit has come together well. this sat in the ask box a lot longer than intended.

[cookies-sports]

It will be interesting to see if there are a few more tweaks to Arsenal and their game plans now Renée Slegers has signed a contract to be the permanent manager.

I imagine it must be a weird balance being an interim manager. You're expected to steady the team and try to get them out of whatever rut led to the previous manager leaving/being fired unexpectedly, so you've got to make some changes. Even if all you're going for is the "new manager bounce".

However, if you think you might only be interim until the next international window, for example, you're not going to want to change too much. If you did, players would work towards adapting to your style and plans, then potentially have to adapt to something very different when the next manager came in in a few weeks, which would be an additional disruption to their season.

For Slegers specifically, first there was the added matter of it not being until the next international window and it just kept rolling over. Then there were the rumours of interest from the higher-ups in signing Cushing.

I can't imagine we'll ever know what it was like behind the scenes, but for a manager it must be such a weird situation to manage and plan ahead for. Obviously time will tell and all teams will have peaks and dips, but I think Slegers has achieved more than just a "new manager bounce". She'll get things wrong in the future, all managers do, but there seems to be a strong respect for her from the players and she seems to have rekindled their love for playing.

I think there are still issues in the management of Arsenal women, though, and Eidervall leaving and Slegers replacing him won't solve all of that. However, Arsenal are not unique in the WSL in that regard.

It'll be interesting, as well, to see what Aston Villa do. If they don't have a manager in post by the end of January, I wonder if they'll just stick out the season with Shaun Goater?

[roseverdict]

Writing Commissions Open!

Hey howdy hey, guess who's broke and whose brain has latched on to the idea of getting a bike or a trike to get places other than the one (1) coffee shop in walking distance!

YEP. I need to open commissions.

However, I do have at least one thing going for me- I'm told I'm fairly good at writing things! Fanfic things, at least. While I'm not dumb enough to outright go "hey, pay me to write fanfiction," I figure I can at least point out some fanfics I've written that seem to have gone over well as examples of my work, since that's most of what I've got for proof of my skills.

x x

x

x x x

x x

x x

I'd show more, but Tumblr won't let me add more images, and even these fought me Tooth And Nail when I was trying to format them properly. Truly a functioning website.

Hopefully these kind of give an idea of the vibes I'm strongest with, too. Pricing and rules will be under the cut. I do have a target I'm trying to reach here, but depending on how well this goes, I might end up keeping commissions open indefinitely. We'll see. :D

DM me if you're interested!

Things I'm Comfortable Writing:

Original Storylines (Brief primer on the world/characters I'll be writing with will be required)

Things like the pieces shown on my AO3 account

OCs

Y/N-style pieces (both with and without the actual usage of "Y/N")

Mild Romance

Gore/Severe Injury

Body Horror

Whump

Look, if it's in the Danny Phantom phandom and basically nowhere else, I'm probably just fine writing it, despite its intensity xD

Things I Will Not Write:

Smut. There's no shame in enjoying it, I just. Don't.

Incest. Absolutely NONE. Even leaving aside the whole debate about whether or not people should ship incest ships, I would not be able to enjoy writing it, which would make the resulting work of low quality, which would be a huge waste of time for everyone involved.

Pedophilia- specifically, ships with a minor and an adult multiple years their senior. See above. 17yo x 18yo is pushing it, but depending on the circumstances, I might allow it. They aren't exactly in completely different phases of life there. However, I'm in my 20s and don't particularly want to think about or write about kids the age of my youngest brother dating people my age or older, you feel me?

Bigotry presented to the reader as a positive thing. I'm not gonna write your favorite heroic character declaring OOC that minorities are terrible people. If you want something from the POV of a character meant to be terrible, such as someone like Fire Lord Ozai in AtLA, however, I may be willing to write it.

I reserve the right to refuse any commission and not have to explain why. Person-to-person, though, this will likely only come up if someone tries to commission something that crosses these lines and refuses to acknowledge such.

Payment: 5¢ USD per word. This works out to…

$12.50 for 250 words

$25 for 500 words

$50 for 1K words

and so on.

I'll need half the payment up front as a deposit, then the rest upon completion. If, for whatever reason, I fail to write the commission, you will be refunded in full.

If you pay me for a given number of words, I will do my best to stick to it. I will make sure you at least get your money's worth, but if I just can't quite fit the writing into the given limit, I won't charge you for the extra words. Call it 100 words or so of wiggle room.

A commission for a fic 1K or larger that runs 100 words or less over the intended length will not cost extra

A commission for a fic between 500 and 999 words that runs 50 words or less over will not cost extra

A commission for a fic 499 words or below that runs 25 words or less over will not cost extra

A commission for a fic that has enough going on to run over that limit will result in me contacting you to ask for either a scaled-down plot or payment for the extra writing.

I will not consider calling a commission complete until I can hit the target wordcount at minimum.

If it should happen that I just can't make a scene stretch to the full wordcount, but you still want to keep what is written, the words that were not written will be refunded.

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

The Amanda Fic Lore

So you know how the games slowly reveal more about the character’s real lives as the tapes go on. Well unfortunately, I have no idea what the third, fourth or any other number of games in this series are going to do. So for my Amanda fic series, I’m going to make up my own lore. (mostly based on my interpretations of the characters so a lot of these are going to be similar to that post). I guess you could think of this as an AU cuz I’ll probably never get everything right. Just so you know I may edit this when I come up with more ideas.

Spoilers for the fics ig

Amanda: (We know plenty about her already so she’s not going to be that much different from the game.)

Rebecca Colton. 

Had morbid interests as a child long before Hameln.

Has a dark sense of humor

As Rebecca, she was genuinely a ray of sunshine to be around. (Even with morbid interests). 

Secretly has a dark sense of humor

Very adventurous 

Does not like her plans being changed

Loves to draw (we see it multiple times).

Has had past trauma before Hameln even entered the picture (Sam's despite what she's been through in reference to her adoption). 

Has some varying level of interest in goth/emo/punk style.

She doesn’t resent Sam. 

Wants to keep her memories of Sam and Kate close.

I saw a theory that maybe Rebecca was trying to get Sam and Kate together like maybe there were some sparks flying there. I really like that so it might be canon in this universe. 

She’s starting to lose hope that she’s going to escape. 

Starting to slowly trust Wooly again and be his friend again. 

Trying to learn to control her anger issues. 

The Amanda wiki says she is 7-8 years old. So that’s the age we’re gonna stick with for when she got stuck in the tapes. I’m going to go with 8.

Wooly: (I think it would be interesting if his human life was the opposite of Amandas.) 

Slowly developing anger issues (lol) 

Based on reader suggestions, human name for this fic series will be William Scott.

Was ten years old when trapped. A child actor like Amanda, has been working with Hameln longer than her. 

Was a child of a single mother who never wanted children. She tried to be loving at first but eventually gave up. Spends most of her time working or away. He ended up being a parentified older sibling and that’s why he acts so “mature” and seems so worried about safety. She ended up signing off his soul to Hameln in order to make money and basically get rid of him. So he has a bit of abandonment issues. 

He had a little sister, never saw her again after being sold off to Hameln. Doesn’t know if she met the same fate. They were very close. Amanda reminds him of her sometimes, even though they were very different. EDIT: You know what? Maybe it's cuz I really like angst, but what if Wooly's sister passed away instead? Like prior to Wooly being sent to Hameln. Like maybe in some sort of accident while they were playing when their mom wasn't home?)

Slowly remembering his past life (way slower than Amanda because he doesn’t want to remember). 

Doesn’t think they can escape.

Not exactly loyal to Hameln, but terrified of what will happen if they disobey. Slowly starting to not care anymore. 

Bottles up every negative emotion but is getting to a point where he can’t hold it in anymore. 

Starting to become more rebellious

Slowly repairing his relationship with Amanda

Hates being alone. 

Will avoid talking about uncomfortable subjects at all costs. Tends to be a bit controlling. 

His intentions are good. But let us remember what they say. The road to hell was paved with good intentions. 

He seems to be that one goody-two shoes friend in a friend group that's like: "We shouldn't do this." Even if it's objectively not that bad. 

Prone to panic or anxiety attacks.

And how do we feel about adding in the autistic head canon?

The Narrator is Sam

The "Owl" uses prerecorded voice lines of Kate, but cannot say anything else and isn't actually Kate. Why is she an owl? We'll have to wait and see...

Over time the more Amanda learns about Wooly the less afraid of her the demon will become.

Also, I think Wooly's demon will become less violent the less he keeps bottling things up. But it'll get worse before it gets better.

Once I get a couple tapes written I’m going to put them in an order that makes sense like some post that will be linked in the pinned post or whatever. But for now I’m gonna write them as the ideas come to me. If you have any Amanda fic lore to suggest, let me know. If I find it interesting I’ll add it in. 

Also these fics are completely separate from the School Shopping fic. 

As I said before, this isn’t necessarily what I think will happen in the games, it’s just some placeholder lore for me to use to build them around.

[witchkillr]

okay hi i want to talk about agatha's costuming for a sec bc holy fuck do these people know what they're doing. all that follows is my own opinion/analysis.

i could write a whole post about cop!agnes and the butch coding with her but that's not agatha and doesn't count, so we pick up with the robe.

snakes! we love snakes. i think a lot about lilith parallels for agatha. if you look at westview as wanda's constructed eden, and agatha the corruptive force that rips it apart...

more than that, though, this is agatha at the most vulnerable we've ever seen her. she's still on the back foot, sorting through the situation she's in - her neck is bare, her hair is down. rio knows this and is here to capitalise on it. her lack of armour makes the fact that it's possible to touch her, to wound her, all the more apparent

she may hate the style, but this is absolutely not the last we'll see of purple in her 'comfort clothes', so keep that in mind

then we come to the 'witchvengers assemble' outfit. several things here.

first of all, these are agnes' clothes - except the shoes (though from "whose shoes are these?" we gather that they don't belong to her, either. not one single element of this costume does). agatha is, again, putting on the mask of an eccentric suburban sweetheart to get her read on lilia.

she can't bear to do it exactly like agnes again, though, so she adds the throw as a shawl, the pearls from teen's car, the stick in the hair. she wears the blouse loose, where agnes' fashion has historically favoured a tighter silhouette. and from all those things come this new character.

this outfit is very busy - the vertical stripes in the blouse, the geometry in the shawl. agatha is trying to convey mess. she's reaching for humanity. it's so much more approachable than the perfectly put together aesthetic sensibilities adhered to in wanda's westview, where looking like a postcard was the main visual benchmark for whether or not you could be trusted. ever the social chameleon, she recognises the differing demands of this new situation and works with what she's got to meet them.

the power outfit! i love this look so much. i don't think i need to explain to you that this is agatha's attempt at confidence in a situation that leaves her very unmoored - some little fun things of note instead.

that dramatic victorian silhouette with the frock coat. maybe historically-inspired fashion has always been agatha's happy place, or maybe this is another direct reaction to what she's been forced to wear for the past three years. maybe it's both!

agatha likes high collars. she likes to protect her neck, and she likes to be able to move. (see: the supervillainess fit in wv 8 + 9, the 2000s turtleneck, the 80s blouse)

she's keeping her purple close without being gaudy; that lining is gorgeous, and deeply tasteful. following through on that theme of "bringing her into the real world" (daniel selon, lead costumer)

her hair is up - like it often is when she's putting on a front of one kind or another. the hair came down for the reveal in wv too.

her mother's broach is front and centre here. so fascinating to me that she still honours evanora like this even after everything.

well, we spent a couple of hours free from contrived, colour-blocked suburbia...

though she's back in a suburban mom outfit, it's someone else's idea of a suburban mom: jen's. she gets to keep her high collar, but the structured blazer evokes a lack of movement - a sense of being trapped.

the hair and makeup bring in ideals of social media-style perfection, iterating on those expectations in wanda's tv-world. she's able to use the hair to hide behind in a literal sense.

this outfit does a great job of representing why agatha panics so quickly here. it feels like moving backward to her.

all that being the case, this look should be very comfortable by contrast, right? and it is, but there are problems here too.

selon talks about wanting rio and agatha on an "even playing field" here, and that's why they've both got these deep necklines - playing on the coding the robe set up in e1.

agatha has a lot of freedom of movement here, and she (rightly) thinks she looks hot. but this isn't an outfit she would choose for herself. baring her heart is not something she ever does willingly, anymore.

[dadjokesbutgay]

Ok but none of the sticks would be immune to epic

(Kinda a long post, so rambles under the cut)

green starts the group obsession, he's been in his room for a few days and when someone goes to check on him he's just. full on sobbing, screaming out, "THIS LIFE IS AMAZING WHEN YOU GREET IT WITH OPEN ARMS"

within the next week, everyone on Alanspc gains a new hyperfixation

Green and Yellow notice most of the repeating motifs and melodies and love dissecting the musical to infodump on everyone else. Sec likes the animatics and all the different art styles, and will occasionally spot more details that even into Yellow and Green's theories (they're more focused on the animation part than the symbolic details, but still think all the layers and things are cool) Red's favorite songs are Ruthlessness, Remember Them, and Warrior of the Mind. The others know this because he has not stopped listening to them for weeks. Blue doesn't do the analyzing themmself, but is happy to discuss theories and observations Green and Yellow make. If either of them get hung up on what a certain repeating melody might mean, they'll often times go to Blue because of his uncanny ability to see what they've missed and give them new ideas.

they put the livestream on the big tv for a movie night and there was a full-fledged P A N I C when it went down; Yellow was trying to recommend ways to fix it through the chat, Red and Green kept screaming, "CAPTAIN!!" at the yt window as it that would make it work, Sec was just trying to help/calm everyone down, and blue was helping Sec until they smelled the burning popcorn (but afterwards, everyone was laughing about "last I checked, goddesses can't die-" being the last thing before everything stopped)

eventually, the CG get Purple and MT to try it during another movie night with everyone and they were NOT prepared, like, those two got their hearts RIPPED out

bonus - when I think everyone would cry:

MT started first during Just A Man when Odysseus mentions his son (he didn't really cry, just made a Sad Face™ and got a hug from Purple)

no one really follows suit until the Underworld Saga, when Blue hears Polities and kinda cuddles into Yellow, sniffling and saying smth like, "he just wanted Ody to be happy tho, he didn't deserve it!"

Purple tried to thug it out, but failed as soon as Odysseus's mom appeared (again, they didn't cry cry, just a few tears, but that's a lot from Purp)

Sec was sad through various points of the musical, but for some reason, the line,"every friend, I saw them die," really upset them. They can't entirely explain why, though.

Yellow got emotional during We'll be Fine at how close Athena sounded to tears

The first time he listened to it, Green sobbed almost the whole way through Thunderbringer

Red doesn't count. He cried when Polyphemus's sheep died.

[igglemouse]

YEP!

So that SOTD was a little different. I was going to write more but wanted to sleep on it, so you know I'm up to my now usual mischief and chaos.

My Bday is tomorrow! This is big news because usually since my bday is early in the year I re-evaluate my new years resolutions and I guess that includes ones for my simblr.

The thing is. I started this legacy around October and despite going at the fastest pace I possibly can (I don't have as much free time as I used to) it's still so far away like...Gen 2 would be starting years from now literally at my pace. And thats if everything goes perfectly fine, i take no breaks or RL doesn't slow me down which is impossible nowadays. It would have been impossible to finish a generation this year unless I could freeze time and unfortunately I can't do this!

So to keep this post short-ish. I'm reinventing myself. I want to take the wise advice of a dear friend whose simblr I adore who suggested I focus on one heir.

I went from 5 to 3....I'm not sure how I even did 5 and I was progressing through them better, guess I just had more time then.

I thought this legacy would be THE chosen one. I was very excited to continue it but at the same time like...yeah...it's partly why I took a break the start of this month. I burned myself out trying to up the pace and it didn't help I was sick for a little too.

So what I want to do is something new and change the style, change my own person expectations. If it's better I'll continue with it and we'll see how things are paced and we'll go from there.

As for Maria, Talla, Araceli...they are on pause right now. I have some ideas on how to continue things with them but I want to see how things play out with this new idea.

For those that continue to go along these crazy rides with me and stick with me each time, seriously thank you! I know when it comes to legacies on here its rare any get finished so I shouldn't feel bad to potentially end another one but I still do every time especially because it's been years since I've actually finished a single generation so I do apologize for hyping you all up again for not much of anything.

But hey, maybe I'll actually finish a generation this year!? That's still the goal even if it isn't the one I started the year with again 😭

I've posted thousands of posts over the years and these are always the hardest to post...

[everyepisodeofallymcbeal]

S1 E3 - The Kiss

At least in this episode, Ally sticks to ruining her own life rather than ruining the lives of others. Ah, wait no she tries to ruin Cheanie's (sp?) life too.

My thoughts on this episode, with timestamps.

0:07

Starting early in the episode. Sitcoms love to make Jane Krakowski help her friends buy jeans.

1:07

OH! Georgia works AT Cage & Fish, I thought she worked at a different firm.

OH! The sexual tension between Georgia and Ally is palpable... knife through butter, etc...

1:12

Representing an anchor woman while dressed like an anchor woman... it's giving Theme Dressing.

2:34

They're friends now! It's official!

2:47

Billy got his wispy bangs fixed. RIP.

4:09

"Your first wife" is an incredible line. I will now be using that with any friend/acquaintance/enemy in their first marriage. Ally is so mean and a role model.

4:57

The Rules! I listened to a podcast about this book. It's psychotic, regressive 90s guide to dating that was randomly super popular. Most of the rules are around how the MANN must pursue the WOMAN who should play COY and not LOOK LIKE SHE WANTS IT TOO MUCH. Interesting to see Gen X be interested in this style of courtship, while Millennials try to reject it but can't fully escape these norms, and Gen Z is too TikTok brained/anxious/incel to even date.

5:41

"I can see where you get your snappishness." Elaine absolutely calling Ally OUT for being an uptight virgin...

6:40

The girls are scheming and overthinking this date. Let me rewrite this scene, gender-flipped.

Alex McBeal: I'm going on a date tonight. Ricky Raddick: Hell yeah. Think you're gonna get lucky*? Alex: Heh, we'll see. -end-

*I tried using period-appropriate slang, acceptable for network TV.

8:10

Ok, I needed to do some research, who the hell is this woman singing throughout the series! Turns out, she is singer Vonda Shepard, who is "playing herself." Apparently her music from the show was very successful. Good for her! The 90s, a crazy time where you could make a living as a musician!

9:12

You can tell the Renee has fucked the twins; both separately, and then together. She has the eyes of a huntress and the spirit of an artist.

9:40

Ally is a bad liar! Girl, take an improv class! It sounds like you're having a stroke.

10:59

Not to quote an ex-Meta COO and génocidaire, but Ally if you want something, you need to Lean In! Advocate for yourself!

11:36

Renee is the voice of reason!

13:17

An era when people thought highly of TV news! Of TV! Of news! Of media! What a quaint era.

14:04

I do think it's interesting that the defense's legal argument is not "We did NOT fire her because of her age/looks" but is instead arguing "Yes we did fire her because of her age/looks, and THAT's ok!" This is why everyone needs a union.

15:09

The way Ally is eating chow mein one noodle at a time... she needs medical attention.

15:24

Popping over to her apartment unannounced... how did he get into the building... red flag...

16:32

More people need to take a note from Renee and BULLY Ally.

20:20

Cheanie showing up to Ally's office unannounced is problematic.

20:51

Wow, what if this was a genuine moment of reflection and change from Ally, where she learns the power of honesty and vulnerability? Hmm, I have a feeling it won't be, and she'll continue to ruin peoples' lives with the strength of her toxic personality.

21:02

Incredible delivery from Jane Krakowski.

22:23

Oh you just know he did something EVIL to that toilet and left the bathroom without washing his hands.

22:26

Bad personality, mostly.

22:51

So she was trying to Lean In.

23:50

"We're a stupid country." And this was BEFORE our brains were cooked from Covid and social media and Russian propaganda.

25:30

"a BLACK (look to judge) anchor...."

26:50

Still can't tell if this show takes sexual harassment seriously or not!

27:20

Cheanie's office is a living room? Styled like a living room?

27:57

Automatic door closer... It's giving Jigsaw. I would love to see Ally McBeal try to survive a Saw-like scenario. Not trying to sound like I'm pro-violence against women! But I think a little bit of violence against this woman is warranted.

31:20

Georgia is trying to seduce Ally. You don't look at another person like that unless you are trying to seduce someone. Ally, take the bait! Start playing footsie under the desk. Tell Elaine to go home. Press the close button on your automatic door closing remote that everyone seems to have...

33:13

I love those quirky button details on Ally's blazer.

35:33

Are they... straight up showing horse shit on TV? I'm sure there was some meeting with network execs where they were like "Ok, you can show the shit hitting the ground, but NOT the hole, nor the shit coming OUT of the hole."

35:56

Mr. Mustache has bad friends.

37:16

For reference, $400,000 in June (I had to guess a month) 1997 is the equivalent of $787,536 in December 2024 (latest month the Bureau of Labor Statistics has data on, as of this writing).

However, according to data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a home in Boston purchased in Q3 1997 for $400,000 would be worth approximately $1,806,549 as of Q3 2024. That doesn't have much to do with this episode, I just think that's neat.

39:09

Sorry, what the fuck is this episode trying to say about independence? I think they went too far with "we're trying to explore an issue, not say what's right or wrong" and ended up saying nothing at all. Or maybe they said something and it's didn't make sense! Idk I've been doing so much writing about this episode.

40:30

Replace. Smart. Phones. With. Beepers. And. A. GPS!

That's all I need! And get rid of QR code menus at restaurants!

41:20

$930,000! That's so much more money! That's... that's... ugh, I don't know, it's late. If you want to find the current amount that equates to vis a vis inflation, or the equivalent home price, you can find that out for yourself. It's late.

42:37

"Who says I'll end up alone?"

I hope so! That's like, the whole point of this TV show is that you're a hapless single woman in the city! Sure, the city is Boston, but I can put that aside.