#yay going through my long backlog

[pan-magi]

Anime and Manga Comparison (Encore): Amon

I'm back at it once more, and this time it's at the beginning. Not the very beginning, but close enough! This time comparing the first dungeon. I talked before on the specific humor compared to action we see with the slimes. Now, I want to focus on the design of the dungeon itself.

I love the intro dungeon in the manga. It's great. I do appreciate the comedic timing and framing of some Ohtaka's panels. The manga also shows Alibaba's problem-solving skills better. He has the moment in the anime showing he knows Tran and is well read and can lie pretty easily. But convincing a rich petty man that has never done anything by himself isn't saying that much.

Alibaba is able to deduce the proper way to go is the path left unmarked. Not something particularly hard in retrospect. It is a common tactic to leave some kind of marker where you've been to avoid confusion He is smart to break out of the in-the-box thinking he and Aladdin were stuck in. They thought the markings were something left by the dungeon itself as clues to progress. A good ol' dungeon puzzle. It wasn't though. It was merely something left by former adventurers to not screw themselves over and get lost. Taking a minute to go "wait a sec" isn't that easy, especially in a high stake location like being stuck in a dungeon.

I love the parts in the manga that didn't make it into the anime. It is great, truly.

But goddamn is it Amon generic as fuck.

Spikes in a death pit? Ancient language that you should know or else? Bland stone corridors and caves with multiple paths you have to travel through? Slimes as the common dungeon creature?

It's so painfully generic. I can't even, lmao.

I get the impression that Ohtaka did not know what she was going for in depth with the dungeons. I don't mean that as lack of experience or planning ahead, but more-so as just wanting to get her series off the ground so she went with common tropes she knew her readers would expect and probably enjoy. A safe bet to work her story out.

The rest of the dungeons once she gets around to them have so much character. The second you're in Zagan you can tell: this belongs to an earth djinn. Baal as the first dungeon in SnB feels more standard but has more stuff going for it. I love the creature designs inside a lot of Sin's conquered dungeons.

Belial is an absolute mindfuck and I love it so much. It's a psychological barrage of confronting your trauma and biases because Belial more than anyone else has to make sure he has a King's Candidate that has their shit together. Then it fails miserably. It has to be my favorite dungeon in the entire series.

Amon has nothing on any of that.

The anime in contrast?

From the outset, in a way in which your ass will be fried if you don't pay attention, the lesson is clear: this belongs to a fire djinn. Be careful or you are dead. 10,000 have gone in and very few had come out. It's great. The dungeon had such a powerful glow up in the anime. 10/10 will recommend for certain death.

A couple other things that don't really fit into the theme of dungeon design. In the manga, Aladdin sits around and waits because the time dilation is different for people entering the dungeon. Something that isn't really brought up in the anime is that people travel to and from dungeons separately and at different rates. Anime Aladdin could have been there for a while. I doubt it though as kid would have drowned and been burned alive of Alibaba didn't grab him and bolt out of there.

The bigger more subtle change is how Amon is summoned.

Manga: Story based on Aladdin and the Lamp. Cannot not have the imagery of Aladdin touching the lamp (or its stand-in in this case).

Anime: It's the moment when Aladdin chooses Alibaba as king. The magi has made his choice, and Amon decides that is a definitive time to come out. That isn't something that is clear on first watch. Odd that the room would suddenly light up when Aladdin helps Alibaba up. It is easy to miss the significance with not being introduced to the magi system until afterward. On rewatch it felt like a sledgehammer to me on how blatant they made it. When the anime hits you with the symbolism, it goes all out.

About wraps it up this time. Next, I'll probably try to tackle the beautiful mess that is Zagan's arc changes because BOY DO I HAVE THOUGHTS.

Mostly how it is surprisingly well done but so many people come out looking dumber in the anime. omg.

[oflights]

allie i've been trying to gather the courage to reread close behind honestly ever since i first read it in march last year but i've been too. emotionally distraught to actually do so but! i've literally thought about it probably twice each week. and now i'm finally actually almost over my ex so i should just bite the bullet but im SCARED bc the last time i cried for 5 hours

like i literally remember 2 am on a weekday in literally -2 C weather and i sat on my balcony, wrapped in a blanket, chain smoking and reading at the same time, tears streaming down my face. all this to say i long for that catharsis but i'm. scared

omg. anon!! first of all it's probably weird how happy this kind of message makes me lol, like yay, i left you emotionally ravaged!!! mission accomplished!!

second of all: just remember the happy ending! read the last chapter first, and keep it in your mind as you read the rest!! think about everything that could come after it, too, like:

harry and draco's first awkward af date in hogsmeade. ron, daphne, their kids, and scorpius all follow them in various disguises courtesy of george and they are very obvious but harry and draco are too into each other to notice.

draco never wears black again. for every date with harry, he wears a different set of brightly-colored, over-the-top robes.

he steals harry's colorful fair isle sweaters all the time, too.

oh and he gets a weasley sweater like, day one of his renewed relationship with harry. molly had actually been knitting him a bunch over the years but held them back because she didn't want to make things weird or upset harry, so there's a backlog to get through. some have a little dragon stitched on them and ron is super jealous.

their first holiday at the burrow? emotional, life-changing, beautiful, cathartic. harry weeps at least five times. ginny punches him for old time's sake.

speaking of, headmaster harry who holds regular office hours for all hogwarts students in case they ever need to talk to him about something. even if they just want to talk about socks.

(headmaster harry who gets all embarrassed whenever anyone calls him "the youngest hogwarts headmaster in a century")

terrifying new DADA professor hermione granger, who is distressingly unpopular amongst the students because they're all too intimidated by her and it takes her a while to learn how to deal with kids.

until she skips out on a hogsmeade weekend to scandalously elope with a much younger former department of mysteries intern and then she's just incredibly cool to them.

and listen. scorpius locks himself in his room when he finds out about harry and draco's past. he asks draco if he'd ever loved astoria and makes draco cry. draco teaches him that the heart is a universe and he doesn't have any regrets and a wonderful future doesn't invalidate a past he was truly happy in.

and then!! there's stepdad harry. my favorite thing. scorpius asks harry how he knew he was gay. harry gives scorpius the invisibility cloak and asks him to help perfect his disillusionment charm in return. scorpius asks harry to rig the house cup for slytherin as his birthday gift. harry refuses, even though draco thinks it's only fair.

harry and draco date, get engaged, get married in their 40s. they go back and forth between hogwarts and the hogsmeade cottage (which includes ron and daphne's fam like 70% of the time too; harry loves summers spent as part of the extended weasley-greengrass-malfoy-potter family). draco eventually retires from curse-breaking and becomes a nepo hire charms professor after scorpius graduates.

they really do live happily ever after, after all that. promise. 😌

[delta-orionis]

Tuesday Again No Problem 7/30/24

My thumb no longer hurts (yay)

Listening

This was not a big listening week for me. Mostly the Rain World soundtrack, because at this point it helps me focus.

Watching

Not a big watching week for me either.... I've been mostly rewatching old favorites, like Strange Aeons' video on Slenderman:

Playing

I finally started the Saint playthrough in Rain World. No idea why it took me so long... it's probably because I kind of don't like the narrative implications of the Saint storyline. Maybe that's an unpopular opinion? Idk, maybe actually playing through it will change my mind.

Making

Drew some more artfight attacks... I'm particularly proud of this one, a symptom of "I started drawing and just couldn't stop":

Artfight ends in a few days, so I want to try and draw attacks for the people I've been meaning to get to, but I don't think I'm going to stress myself out too much about getting stuff done by the deadline. Drawing fanart is allowed all other 11 months out of the year, too, after all.

I posted some answers on my ask blog as well. Mostly text-based ones, though I did draw something for one I just posted.

I've been trying to work through my backlog of asks and start drafting answers, as well as deciding which ones I should add art to. I think text-based answers are fine, but some answers definitely benefit from drawings for additional context. (Someone in my inbox is also trying to make TSAC get stuck in one of those logical paradox infinite loops. They won't fall for it, but I'm trying to at least make the answer entertaining.)

Oh, I overhauled my ask blog's desktop theme as well:

I don't know how many people use tumblr on desktop these days, so this is mostly just an aesthetic treat for myself. But I like the way it turned out.

There's a music player on the theme too. Don't worry, it doesn't autoplay, it's just a totally optional thing to help set the mood.

---

I can't believe it's almost August... I've been so busy, July seemed to go by so fast...

I'll check in again next week!

[semper-legens]

Happy New Year! I am…late with this post, I know. Life just keeps getting in the way! As such, I'm going to take a bit of a hiatus for a while to sort myself out, build up a backlog of posts, get everything back on track again. So, without further ado - the roundup of 2023!

I'm so pleased I managed to get through 200 books last year. While I have managed it before, I feel like 2021's total was cheating a little bit, given that a good quarter of that 200 were Animorphs books that I can read in the blink of an eye. But this time, I did it properly! Yay me!

Of the books I loved this year, Piranesi was an early standout. Absolutely not what I was expecting, but in the best way. Contested Will was also a book I wanted to read for so long - a book about the 'anti-Stratfordians' written by someone who knows how bullshit the whole thing is! For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain was a book written entirely for an audience of me, and I loved it to pieces. Your Wish Is My Command, meanwhile, was the best graphic novel of the year - thought-provoking, funny, and deep, and a thoroughly interesting read.

The worst, meanwhile? It'd be a cliché to nominate the entire House of Night series, but honestly, that's where I'm at. I'm only continuing this series out of pure stubbornness at this point; that, and wanting to see the new depths to which it can sink. The Wrongly Executed Airman also annoyed me - it's just a dick waving exercise by the author about how smart and capable he is, not a narrative of an interesting case. And Punk 57 actively pissed me off with how it's more about a horrible relationship that the narrative is glorifying than anything actually interesting.

And my favourite? Well, I couldn't pick just one - so instead, I'm picking the Thomas Hawkins series by Antonia Hodgson, purely because I can see myself returning to it time and time again. I immediately went out and bought the series after reading it, and I'm definitely going to reread it before too long. It's just that good.

[animereviewsbykyranskye]

Reviews while I watch Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte: Episode 7-8

Ayo!! I'm back. And I am so behind. Damn. Life has been hellishly rough the past few months and I currently have a week that I can do this. Might be able to do more after that but who knows.

I have very little recognition of what I've watched but my backlog is long and I really have to catch up. So let's do this!

She was put in danger last time from what I remember. I really should just watch stuff through as that helps me actually remember what's happening. XD

Opening is still a banger. Oh yeah, we have the creep trying to get ahold of the game aren't we? Or was that a different show?? Nah I do believe it was this one.

Aw. Awww. Awwwwwww.

The captions actually have the correct use of fiance and fiancee. That's cool.

Sincerely, why can you romance a teacher in this game? No. Just no.

He broke her. She broke him. She seriously broke him.

Ah nice. They're getting to commentate for everyone now. And people seem to be enjoying it. Damn. Even pulling more people in.

And now everyone thinks they're dating. Which they will end up doing. It's inevitable.

Damn. He got a power up. And now he will fight the potential husband. XD

She descends further into the dark.

----between episode thoughts----

So I just went back in my posts. Apparently I never wrote on this series. It was just one I was watching without posting. My apologies about that. I don't want to waste an episode so Imma keep going.

K Thanks Bye

----Episode 8----

Manipulation at its best.

Okay 1.5x speed is too fast to try read subtitles. Back to 1.25x.

Backstory time. Did we always know she was Fae? Honestly can't remember.

Oh she trained him. Nice.

Ha. He stole the mask. I like this guy.

Aw. The mom is just trying to help.

Hm. He's really pushing this a lot now. A bit too much.

Damn. THey're just trying to kill her now.

nooooo. Don't give in. Shit.

Yay!

Damn. How is this show going to end? She just killed the witch. We're only on episode 8.

Tsuned really pissed. XXXXXXXXXXXXXD

They have finally confessed. Fuck yeah. Concrete.

Now these two just go to confess.

Oh no. She mad.

----after thoughts----

I was going to go longer but it is too hot to be sitting in this chair any longer. Shit's about to go down and I am so ready for it.

[readingrobin]

Reading-wise, May was absolutely ROUGH. I've been trying to tackle my library book backlog, which is an incredibly formidable opponent, I'll tell you, and unfortunately a lot of them ranged from being simply okay to "why did I even put any time into this one?" As a result, by the end of the month, I was desperate to find anything that would slightly interest me, as I was heading towards a bit of a slump. I'm in the middle of a couple things now that I'm really enjoying and just didn't get around to finishing before May ended, so I'm going to say I'm leaving this month off on a positive note. Now I venture forth into June with summer reading challenges ahead of me and a new job that yeahhhh is really going to impact my reading time, but yay employment!

Total Books Reads: 9

Total Pages Read: 3,846

Books Read:

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke (2.5/5) -

My curiosity towards this book really peaked with that cover design, which really draws in the eye well with the contrast of a dark blue with the firey red of a sunset and wolf silhouette. Gets you in the mood for an intense read, which here is a reinterpretation of Beowulf. It seems to be a fairly loose interpretation to my knowledge, just a group going off to fight against a monster, which sure seems to be Beowulfy enough. There was some imagination put behind some of the worldbuilding, except when it came to the setting, as it seems to be some Scandinavian-adjacent place with a lot of real world words all jumbled around. Norse becomes Vorse, Valhalla becomes Holhalla, Odin is Obin. It's not really my favorite kind of setting, basically something familiar with just maybe a few letters off, as it just seems less creative.

The Mercies themselves seem like a very bleak, but interesting concept, what with their entire purpose being assisted suicide. Immediately we can sympathize with the main character Frey, who has had enough of death and longs to make her mark on the world. Unfortunately, out of all the main leads, she's probably the least engaging. The other girls, Runa, Juniper, and Ovie, have way more compelling backstories and motivations that would make them fine POV characters that, in comparison, just make Frey look quite dull. Her quest for glory seems so hollow compared to what they've been through and want to achieve.

It wasn't a terrible book. The action flowed well, the stakes were high, and there were some effective emotional moments. It just didn't feel as strong as it could have been, like it could have used one more draft to get all the kinks out. I wanted to like it, but, overall, I just left the story feeling fairly neutral.

The Monkey King: The Complete Odyssey by Chaiko (4.5/5) -

An exceptional adaptation of the classic saga Journey to the West. Chaiko's watercolors always excel in heightening the tone of a scene, whether it's a dark, intense battle in the clouds, or a light, emotional parting of ways in a snowy forest. The style gives the comic a rough, traditional look, which pairs well with such a legendary and beloved story.

I am naturally biased because I will automatically love anything with a great portrayal of Sun Wukong. The Monkey King is always a great character to focus on when giving the story a new breath of fresh air, as he has the most compelling character development, going from heavenly menace to loyal disciple.

My only complaint is that, while the marketing and synopsis claim this is the complete story of the Monkey King, it does not follow Wukong, Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha's journey to the west to the very end. It concludes rather abruptly, only mentioning that several adventures lay ahead for them. It was a bit frustrating not to see the story reach its natural end, but at least it provides readers the opportunity to seek out more of it for themselves. Since it keeps the same epic, adventurous vibe of the original while keeping true to the characters, that enough makes it a worthy adaptation.

Dark Ride Vol. 1 by Joshua Williamson (3/5) -

Hard to give a lot of thoughts since we're only at the beginning here, but it seems like a promising, dark beginning. The amusement park gives off a Halloween Horror Nights at Universal from Hell sort of vibe, an infernal Disneyland complete with an iconic statue of the founder along with his creation. I like the look of the comic, unsurprisingly full of deep reds and dark colors. The designs of the devilish mascots are whimsical, yet take on a nefarious edge as the horror element starts to kick in.

It feels too soon to really give my thoughts on the characters. They don't make too much of an impact just yet, and I'm willing to give them a couple more issues to see if they start to stand out.

Interested to see where the story goes from here.

This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee (3.5/5) -

A neat steampunk reimagining of Frankenstein that gets fairly meta at times. It provides a nice alternative history that, while not entirely accurate, perfectly serves the point of the narrative. Lee evokes a similar coldness in her retelling of the old romantic tale, though mostly just in setting as the Victor Frankenstein equivalent actually has some humanity to him rather than a god complex gone rampant. 

Alasdair feels like he comes from the opposite end of the humanity spectrum, still having an interest in the altering of humanity through machinery, but ultimately dabbles in mad scientist out of a love and need for his brother to survive. He is racked with a guilt that is more on a reasonable level for us to empathize with. I like the original Frankenstein, as much of a disaster as he is, but it's interesting to see a more grounded and human reinterpretation. 

Also, Lee provided a much different envisioning of Mary Shelley than I think we in the gothic lit circle are used to. Again, I know I keep using this word, but she's so very human here, capable of faults and taking a story that isn't her own and flinging it to the masses before she could get any control over it. 

I wish there was a bit more of Oliver. I think I was just missing him for a good chunk of the novel, seeing as he shows up for a chapter in the beginning and doesn't really work his way back in until maybe around the Act III portion of the story. Maybe I still prefer following the creature over the creator, but I suppose we get enough of him through Alasdair's memories in those portions.

Big hoorah to Clemence's queerness being an aspect, (that I totally think deserves her getting her own story and girlfriend) and lack of romance between her and Alasdair besides being the main duo of the book. 

For A Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig (2/5) -

Woe to all the readers that are always lured to a book because there's a badass dragon on the cover, only to realize that there aren't any actual dragons in the book. Okay, maybe on a technicality there is, but really there was no amount of technicality dragon that was going to save this book for me.

For a Muse of Fire was probably the most frustrating time I've had with a book in a while, for multiple reasons. The plot moves at a snail's pace, rarely getting anywhere or committing to a sense of conflict that doesn't end with Jetta running away. There were several moments during the first portion I was ready to put it down altogether, but the middle portion seemed promising and actually flowed much better than the beginning, only for the end to sink back into that meandering pace. Things do happen, twists are revealed, but it feels like the book never spends time on them long enough for them to mean anything. There's no build up to them, no sense of shock or thinking about the implications, only a passing reaction and, boom, we're back on our way. 

Jetta as a character is also incredibly hard to become invested in. As I said before, she doesn't really tackle conflicts head on, only runs away until the plot says she can't anymore. She repeatedly makes very dangerous decisions, like straight up showing her magic right in front of the guy that would probably kill her if he knew about her magic just to get passage on a ship. From the author's note, it's also mentioned that she is bipolar, which could explain her more impulsive decisions, but I don't know, she never read as bipolar to me. Perhaps that's more on me not the the symptoms of being bipolar, as it is a condition the author shares. 

The only part of the book that really stood out to me was the slight historical inspiration of a France-adjacent country occupying what can clearly be seen as a parallel to southeast Asia. Here you can really see elements of colonialism, military occupation, and cultural erasure. It's incredibly heavy at times, as Helig doesn't shy away from any brutality. It feels like the most genuine aspect of the book, and so it slightly raises my rating a bit. 

Since getting through this book was such a struggle towards the end, I don't think I will be continuing with the series. 

The Owls Have Come To Take Us Away by Ronald L. Smith (1.5/5) -

I can always appreciate a book for tweens that's not afraid to get a little disturbing. Smith clearly knows how to lay the tension on thick, providing us with a seemingly unreliable narrator as well as giving us a clear, honest picture of their fear through voice and tone. There were moments where I was genuinely unnerved by what seemed like the mental unraveling of Simon, a middle schooler that believed he was abducted by aliens. Even before the encounter, Simon always seems a tad paranoid, afraid of otherworldly threats and experiencing feelings of being watched. The fast paced nature of the book heightens a sense of tension, as it never really gives you a moment's rest.

However, what initially came off as a horror story about a boy fearing capture by unknown forces and constantly going unheard by everyone around him really loses any effects it had by the end. The climax of the final chapter, while rushed, provides such a bleak ending yet feels complimentary to the rest of the book. Unfortunately, all of that is undone within three pages. We go from an epic turning point in the story where our main character's fears are fully realized, the future is unclear, and we don't know what sort of danger awaits him, only to rush forward 100 years to see everything was always going to be hunky dory. It seems drastically disappointing. I understand that this book was written for younger audiences, but I've seen countless books that were able to go to similar places and stick their more unhappy endings. And dang, aren't those the ones that stick with you in your childhood?

And yeah, continuing the stigma of "parents are never going to listen to you so don't tell them anything/therapists are only there to pump drugs into you to make you behave" is not great. It's concerning that these elements are still found in stories for youth today, where mental health is becoming more rampant of an issue. I understand it might have worked against the conflict of the book, but Simon deserved some sort of validation somewhere or got his moment to feel understood.

I won't count reading this book as a total loss, since I was able to finish it in a day and got some sort of emotion out of it. The representation of a biracial lead is drastically needed in more sci-fi/horror stories, so I'm glad that it's here, but sadly representation doesn't exactly make up for a poor story.

Nayra and the Djinn by Iasmin Omar Ata (3/5) -

Has a wonderfully soft, pastel color pallet that gives it a sort of astral look. The mixing of all the purples and pinks give it a welcoming atmosphere and brings out the magic of the story. It was great to learn about more about Ramadan, as it was a holiday I was unfamiliar with and I'm always so excited to learn more about holidays from cultures different from mine.

While the story had a good foundation, I wish we got a bit more development on certain things: Nayra's relationship with her family, the djinn's world, Rami's home life, and some more resolution with the bullies.

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton (3.5/5) -

There is something that is so subtlety charming about this book. It often comes off as a folk horror story, in which a town must sacrifice one of their own to appease the malevolent force that lives in the woods and keeps their town from experiencing famine, disease, and overall hardship. There's a good dose of body horror as well, in which flowers and thorns grow out of skin, which is enough to give you a bit of a tingle down your spine. The beginning is somewhat of a slow start, as we see the town worry about how the ritual has come too soon this year and the concerns of some of the potential sacrifices, but when it finally gets going it keeps that energy for the rest of the story.

What I really appreciate is the strength of the love between the main trio. I always applaud an author that takes relationships that in any other YA novel would have been a contentious love triangle and instead creates a more polyamorous union between them. It gives a good bit of representation, subverts a trope that's been done to death, and honestly feels so refreshing to see characters that all truly like each other.

While I found this book entertaining and worth reading, I don't know if I'm going to remember it a year from now.

The Dreamway by Lisa Papademetriou (3/5) - A perfectly serviceable middle grade book that gives a well meaning allegory for depression and the process in which one loses themselves to their negative thoughts and emotions. For me, it didn't read as anything groundbreaking, but it may make quite a difference to a young reader trying to navigate those feelings. The ending seemed a tad abrupt, and there were a few plot elements that didn't really get much resolution as a result.

DNFs:

The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice - Honestly, I don't think I could take the book seriously after Anne Rice compared a man turning into a werewolf to getting a boner. I was too busy snickering to even process what I was reading. I think I want to stop mainly because I think that's one of the only things I want to remember about this book. That the main character, Reuben the Wolf Man, is the most basic, has-all-the-charisma-of-a-paper-bag lead and Anne Rice made a metaphor I don't think I'll ever forget.

Average Rating: 2.94/5

[perditus-a]

Blog Updates below 

|| I’m going to be dropping every one of my threads from this point on. Not because I don’t want to write them ( I love them so much tbh I really do ) but because It’s been so long and I’ve been struggling a lot this past month. I’ve gone through a breakup ( mutual but it was still stressful), general terrible customers at my job because yay holidays, my dog has surgery coming up I had to take a loan out for so money money money issues etc etc. I really do want to write though, but not with how much stuff I have waiting for me. And I don’t want people waiting either. 

so I’m going to be limiting my threads going forward to people I’m plotting with. If you absolutely want to keep our thread please let me know because I will! I just have a lot of backlog, so as long as I know which ones people want to keep going and don’t mind the wait then it’ll be a lot easier on me ||

[merelygifted]

‘Yeast. Magic sauce!’ went the PM as he lost a one-man game of Articulate | Zoe Williams | The Guardian

Boris Johnson’s ‘levelling up’ speech contained few policies and even fewer coherent sentences

... As he gave his lackadaisical account of the nation’s stark inequalities, his own boredom bounced off the lectern. It’s an outrage, he said, that someone in Glasgow or Blackpool had 10 years less on this planet than someone in Rutland. “I don’t know what they do in Rutland to live to these prodigious ages … Who knows?”

Well, loads of people know: Michael Marmot knows, so does Danny Dorling, so does everybody who has ever read a book or understood a graph. They live to prodigious ages by having relatively high incomes, secure housing, functioning public services, air quality, etc. Why on earth would a person attempt a speech on health inequality with absolutely no idea what is driving it? Here’s the thing: he made this big pantomime of ignorance because he was halfway to a joke in which Rutland sounds a bit like “rutting” and its people stay alive by having sex. I cannot prove this. Yet I know it.

Any excuse to get off the depressing territory of his own choosing: there are areas of the UK that are less productive than East Germany – “You remember East Germany, with their funny little cars and fake coffee?” He seemed astonished that Germany had succeeded in levelling up where the UK had not. Is it that amazing, though? They seem to have quite a coherent policy agenda, whereas we have a man who had some coffee once in 1990 that didn’t taste very nice, and cannot understand how a country got from there to liveable wages. They’re actually not that liveable, they’re just better than ours; but that’s another story.

The plan, though, ladies and gentlemen, that’s what you really want to hear: first, they’re going to fight crime, and have already driven more than a 1,000 county lines drugs gangs out of business. It’s unclear how this policy creates opportunities, unless the plan is to retrain dealers in some other business.

The tone was set, one of complete randomness; they’re going to do this and that; build yay-many hospitals; “invest in all sorts of things”; deal with the NHS’s backlog of elective surgeries; and invest in schoolchildren to the tune of £3bn. What was missing, apart from the extra £12bn that the education recovery commissioner recommended, was a through-line. How did any of these announcements relate to levelling up? It was just a mash up of policies that have already been announced, plus £50m for football pitches. You know when you meet a kid, and you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, and they say “a footballer”, and then you fondly tousle their hair and tell them to stop being an idiot? That’s about where we are, except it’s the prime minister and he has already fondly tousled his own hair.

He crescendoed on the “yeast, the magic sauce, the ketchup of catch-up”, like a guy playing Articulate and just shouting words, while his teammates look on saying “what even is magic sauce?” Levelling up involves devolution. He plans to devolve power to counties, or shires, or whatever, but he doesn’t know what power, maybe just buses, and he doesn’t know what office any of this power will be devolved to; all he knows is that anyone can join in, unless they’re from the “loony left”.

“My offer to you: all of you who see a role for yourselves in local leadership, come to us with your vision.” That’s genuinely it. That’s what he means by a “skeleton of a plan”. That’s his magic sauce. That’s how he’s going to fix inequality so baked in that you can tell from a person’s wage packet whether or not they had free school meals as a child. Hear ye, levelling-up-mongers of the regions; go to him, and he will provide “support and strategic direction” for your plan, so long as it is visionary. And he calls the left loony. The man has a neck like a jockey’s bollocks.

[alexafaie-asd]

FINALLY got my PIP appeal accepted so now my disability benefits got reinstated!! YAY!

It only took since May 2019. Or 2018 if you count when they sent the paperwork through for me to fill in to allow them to continue my benefits (at which point they decided that I had to have another assessment to see if my life long progressive conditions had magically gone away).

TL;DR: I got my money through and can now stop worrying about being pennies away from being in my overdraft again. And its the most money I’ve ever personally owned at one time (£7000, so not much, but its MY not much so...)

Long harrowing journey under the cut for those interested. It continues from the paragraph before the TL;DR. Contains a few mentions of stuff being triggering to me, but not sure if that would be triggering to others, so heads up for anyone who might find trigger mentions triggering (nothing very explicit mentioned however).

Then the mandatory reconsideration when the face to face assessment decided that my ability to have survived through university 10 years prior meant that I obviously must be able to cope with the required daily living tasks much better than I could when I was assessed 3 years prior. They also mentioned how my diagnosis letter had two terms on it because of the date being in the transition period to the new diagnostic handbook. So I had ASD and “Asperger's, or what was formerly referred to as “high functioning” autism” and so therefore the high functioning bit in the diagnosis meant that I’m not actually disabled, not even by my co-morbid conditions like my bipolar disorder. (Insert upside down emoji here). And there were also major factual errors in the report the person had written. So we’d tried to correct them.

And of course for the mandatory reconsideration just involved going back to ATOS and asking a different person to look through the original report and didn’t include any of the factual corrections we’d provided. (Apparently that would “bias” the people looking at it? Like they got important info wrong, but still used the wrong information as that was “less biased”?).

Which then meant sending an appeal letter which I had to do the first time I applied too, but that time they phoned me up and illegally told me I had to chose right there on the phone to accept the offer as otherwise it wouldn’t be there later. I found out later they weren’t allowed to do that. But I panicked and accepted the lower offer (lower than I should have got) because I was scared I wouldn’t actually get the award otherwise the way they said it. They wouldn’t even let me call them back after speaking with my partner. Yeah it was a whole thing. A bad thing.

So anyway, this time they decided it had to actually go to a tribunal, not just be decided on the papers.

An appeals tribunal where I had to present my “case” and prove to 3 judges that I really am disabled in the ways I am (and that the DWP were wrong to say I could no longer be disabled because I gained an additional diagnosis on top of what I’d already got which only helped to explain more how my daily living is affected adversely).

A tribunal at which the information I was provided with prior to attending warned that no recording equipment was allowed to be used during the appeal. Which I was very ok with because I have a massive fear (which triggers psychosis yay) of being recorded. Only to find when I got there that they would in fact be recording the whole thing. In the interest of “fairness”. Despite it being VERY unfair on someone who has mental health issues regarding that exact thing.

Which resulted in a massive meltdown on my part so they postponed it for later...

We managed to find a charity which provides representatives to help fight the case for you as they have legal backgrounds and can present stuff in just the right way because there are awfully specific terms you need to use or they think you’re totally fine. FFS. The guy was very helpful and it was just a case of waiting for another court date.

At which point Covid and the lockdown turned up. And all tribunals were postponed indefinitely. So it was just a case of waiting for them to work out how to do them again. Some were done via the phone, but that couldn’t work with a representative and I really struggle on the phone anyway (because ASD and social issues) so that was not going to happen.

But eventually since Covid showed no signs of letting up, they started working through the case backlog to find cases they felt really might be able to be decided on paper after all. And mine was included in that.

So they sent a letter with my award proposal which my representative said I should accept and a few weeks ago I got a phone call (which my partner took for me) to check my payment method was still correct.

And finally, TODAY! I got my disability money through! Which is backdated so far that this is the most money I have EVER had in my account. I feel rich! (But its also “only” £7000, so like I’m not rich). Its nice to not just be sat close to zero with my partner sending money just to stop it going into my overdraft again (so I wouldn’t have to stop the few subscriptions I have going which keep me moderately sane).

Its not even meant to be an income thing. This disability benefit is meant to be something that anyone disabled can get regardless of their income or work status, to help cover the excess costs which come with living with a disability which requires adaptations. Because my partner works, I’m not entitled to any income related benefits (so yay, have to be forced to be financially dependent on someone against my wishes & which only triggered my trauma from having an emotionally and psychologically abusive father who liked to be controlling with money so being dependent on someone else fills me with fear so I can’t ask for anything when I need it). But don’t want those disabled people being moochers right? /sarcasm/

Anyway.... this is actually meant to be a celebratory post because its finally over. For now. Except they send the letter out a year before the end of the entitlement and since it got backdated to 2019, and its meant to last 3 years before they check again... Which takes me to 2022. And its 2021 now, which makes that one year before the entitlement ends! YAY! So I get a few months off before starting this whole process all over again. /even more sarcasm, I am not happy about this bit/

[ryqoshay]

So I just finished reading all of How to Handle a Nico and I absolutely fucking loved it, do you have any NicoMaki fanfic recommendations of your own?

I must offer my apologies for the delay in response. I did not forget you, Anon, despite answering two questions that came in after this one. However, I wanted to wait until I knew I had a good amount of time I could dedicate to making a proper list of recommendations worthy of my time in the LL/NicoMaki fandom, which is typically sometime during my weekend.

Also, please bear in mind that this list is not all-inclusive. NicoMaki has one of, if not the most extensive list of fanworks out of the various LL ships. If someone reading this list is a fan of, or the author of a given work not included, please do not take it personally, this is merely a sampling of my favorites. There are genres and tags that I tend to avoid for various reasons, and there are many perfectly good works with the NicoMaki ship tag that I haven’t read simply because they are not the primary focus. And due to current events, as well as those of last year, there is a sizable backlog of NicoMaki focused fics that I hope to get around to reading sometime soon.

And as I expect this to get long, I will put the list itself under a cut.

First and foremost, I must shamelessly shill an author whose first forays into NicoMaki fanfic are based on HtHaN. It’s been almost a year since the first one went up and I remain in awe that I was able to pay forward the inspiration given to me by other authors. For this list I will only be including said works based on HtHaN, though VNVdarkangel has written some other NicoMakis I haven’t read yet.  - Always there - Nico wakes up in the middle of the night. Some post-canon fluffy angst.  - On tracks to the heart - Takes place during the scene transition in Homecoming.  - Meet ‘n’ greet - Nico has a meet ‘n’ greet event and Maki shows up  - Part-time idol composer - Nico hires Riko to compose some idol music for Egao. Minor YohaRiko to keep up the casual connections between HtHaN and HL.  - Next steps... - A long, multi-chapter work that takes place after the numbered chapters of HtHaN. This work tells the story of NicoMaki as they take advantage of the research mentioned way back in Telling Mama. Yay science babies!  - Out of focus - Maki can’t focus on anything but Nico  - The door to dreams - Riko finds the piano from How to Celebrate a Maki and Maki finds Riko. More minor YohaRiko from HL.  - Idol trainer - A non-NicoMaki, RinPana honorable mention tied to HtHaN

Next, I must link a few things from jstonedd, whose works I can point to as being among those that helped cement NicoMaki as a my favorite ship.  - Buy Your Love - By the gods, I’ve honestly lost track of how many times I’ve reread this fic. It is also responsible for my headcanon that Tsubasa teaches Honoka how to skate, which I thusly include in Nico on Ice.  - Soldier Wars - If memory serves, this work earns its M rating less for lewd stuff and more for action movie depictions of violence, like an R rated Charlie’s Angels or something.  - After School Troublemakers - Earns its tag of Fluff and Crack.  - Babies Maybe - More Fluff and Crack I only skimmed the first few chapters of Otonokizaka Private Academy and it didn’t seem very NicoMaki focused or really much my cup of tea. But I’ve heard others like it, and it was finally completed a few years back, so there’s that.

One author with whom I’ve interacted moreso than any other - maybe not VNVdarkangel as of late, but... - is the creator of one of my favorite Fantasy AUs, which is often a genre I don’t read much as it so often leans on Harry Potter, of which I’m quite unfamiliar. Of course I say I often avoid Fantasy AUs despite now writing two... Anyway, we have a few differing headcanons and I must say it’s fun to have a civil discussion about them - as opposed to others that become heated and dissolve into ad hominum attacks like the one marked by Comment Deleted tombstones in the comments of HtHaN. Anyway, that train of thought derailed, so here are some of lonelypond’s works. Worth mentioning that most works take place in the U.S. instead of Japan, something that confused me for a few chapters when I first started reading, but have come to enjoy it, especially when places are mentioned that I know.  - Casual Lunacy - The aforementioned Fantasy AU as well as my introduction to this wonderful writer. Pulls in a quirky character from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, an adorable anime I’ve been meaning to finish. Maki is a werewolf. And I really need to reread this one at some point.  - PhotoJazz - Maki is a photographer and Nico is an actress.  - AU Yeah August - A collection of short 1 Shots. I haven’t read all of them, e.g. the Harry Potter one, but those I have were adorable, e.g. Summer Camp, Fake Dating and FWB.  - Christmas Confections - A collection of amazing Christmas themed works that rank among my favorite gifts each year since I first started reading them. I’d link them each individually, but they’re all amazing so just read them all; you won’t be disappointed. Maki and Christmas just go together and lonelypond writes them well.  - Can’t Get Started - To quote the summary “Nishikino Maki is trying to make it in the piranha fishbowl of movies, music and Hollywood. Yazawa Nico already has. And they keep crashing into each other.” Literally. It’s quite amusing. I’ve heard good things from other readers about the 1Kiss series but have only skimmed a few; they are high on my To Read list. The Idol House series came out during my troubled 2019, so it also remains on my To Read list. The Moonlight series seems to focus on NozoEli, which is fine, but for better or worse lowers it position on my To Read list. It’s lonelypond, so I do intend to read it eventually, but there are more NicoMaki focused fics that I’d like to get to first.

Next up is Lucia Hunter, a case where I must separate author from work. To this day I remain uncertain as to the details of the issues between this author and the denizens of Sukutomo, but the animosity exists nonetheless. Still, the listed works below were part of my gateway drugs into the wonderful world of NicoMaki fanfics.  - The Diamond Princess’s Melancholy - How NicoMaki came together.  - Love marginal - My favorite portrayal of KotoHonoUmi. NicoMaki is a side pairing here, and remain so through the rest of the works, but they’re still worth reading, imho.  - Shiranai Love*Oshiete Love - RinPana focus but NicoMaki still plays their role.  - Garden of Glass - de de deee de de deee Obviously NozoEli focused.

My first encounter with Rinforzando was a T rated cute and fluffy fic but they’ve done some pretty good NSFW works as well.  - Ten Years - Always enjoy a good adult NicoMaki fic. - Limbo - NSFW FWB NicoMaki - Caprice - NSFW 2nd Person post-canon NicoMaki. I’m not typically a fan of 2nd Person perspective, but this one was worth it.  - Cheers for Loving You - NicoMaki Secret Santa.

Hidekins is another author that has written a lot of NicoMaki I’ve enjoyed, but on a quick scan through the AO3 entries, few are jogging my memory with title and description alone. Perhaps I’ve read more here on tumblr? Perhaps I’ll come back and add more if I remember them better later.  - NicoMakisses - A set of five cute short NicoMaki stories about kisses.

Saberin writes a lot of 3rd year stuff, and that’s fine, but the NicoMaki collection is worth checking out.  - Prickly Love - As of writing this list, there are 10 chapters of cuteness

whoneedsapublisher writes a lot and I enjoy the style. Thus, when I see NicoMaki pop up on the account, I try to read.  - Couples Therapy - One of my favorite Maki headcanons is included here. Not explicit but earns its M rating and thus is NSFW.  - Subtle - Not particularly crazy about the Nico-taller-than-Maki, but that’s a minor complaint compared to the rest of this wonderful work.  - At Least Six Confessions - Presequel to the above work. Poor Nico had her work cut out for her with a romantically dense Maki.  - Keep Your Promises - Ten years later...  - Happy New Year - Sometimes stalemates must be broken by someone.  - Hidden Depth - Nico’s voice changes. And Maki likes it  - Pretending to Pretend - Not explicit, but earns its M rating so NSFW. One of my favorite examples of the Fake Dating trope.  - Merry Christmas Maki - I can’t think of a better present.  - No Lies Allowed - Truth of Dare, NicoMaki style.  - All Dressed Up - Based on a wonderful pic by noelclover  - Santa’s Stand-in - Guess who still believes...  - Switcheroo - Always love the idea of the girls trying to behave like the others. Makes me want to rewatch that episode.  - Tick, Tock - Some introspective Maki  - Insensitive - NicoMaki dating issues  - Tomatoes - Maki’s favorite food I’ve heard good things about Dazzling Warrior Nightshade, so it’s on my To Read List, but I must admit I can be picky about my Magical Girls stuff. Madoka set an... interesting bar for the genre for me and in most cases I’d prefer to watch it as an anime or read it as a manga/doujin. Still, the idea of Nico being a magic girl amuses me greatly, thus why the fic remains on my radar.

And here are some other random works I’ve enjoyed over the years.  - Smile, Nico Nico! - In which Nico drags Maki to the dentist  - Billiards - NSFW 2nd Person. Yes, I know I just said I’m not typically a fan, but this one was also good.  - Piano For Beginners - NSFW AU where Maki is assigned to teach Nico how to play the piano so as to be convincing for a film.  - critical rules for not-dating - NSFW FWB AU that I need to finish reading someday but was happy enough with what I’ve read that I’d still recommend it.  - 24 visits - Visits as in Nico the idol visiting Maki the doctor in the hospital.  - 24 dates - A NSFW followup to 24 visits

So yeah, that’s a fairly decent list to get one started in their AO3 NicoMaki delving. As mentioned above, this is not all-inclusive and there are a ton of NicoMaki works out there. I haven’t visited FFN in years, so there may still be some authors that post there exclusively and have written some amazing stuff, but I cannot recommend what I haven’t read, or at least skimmed. I also have some tumblr works bookmarked... somewhere, so if I find them I might compare them to this list and maybe add those missed.

Here’s hoping something here piques your interest and makes you fall a little more for the wonderful NicoMaki.

[jeslieness]

“In Which a Child is Lost at the Museum”

I’m slowly inching my way through my review backlog and recently checked off this piece by @olwendylluan...and as usual, Wiggleversey Thoughts resulted. Originally they were just supposed to be about Datura, but you know how it is with the Wiggleverse. You give brain space to one snaby, and three others come along for the ride.

So as a refresher: Crowley and Aziraphale take snake Angelica on her first solo outing to the museum. She decides her interests in art are different, so she hops out of Aziraphale’s pocket and goes off on her own without leaving a forwarding address.

Since Junior and Angelica are kind of the de facto leaders of the kiddos, my feeling has always been that they tend to have a monkey-see-monkey-do sort of dynamic. Once Angelica is brought home and gleefully tells her sniblings about what she did, Junior is eager to try it too. (Rosa makes note of it as a potential tool she doesn’t anticipate having to use; Datura probably decides not to try it, but thinks the whole thing over and comes up with a zillion questions.)

At the other end of the spectrum, there’s Clem.

While the story notes that Junior and Rosa were disappointed by Angelica getting a solo outing, Clem and Datura were indifferent. I imagine that Clem is the only one of the snabies who hears “children, we’re staying home today” and goes “YAY!” The idea of being lost is unquestionably terrifying to this anxious little guy, who lives in fear of being replaced. The idea of being DELIBERATELY lost probably results in the snake equivalent of the blue screen of death. Like Junior, he is full of questions. But where Junior’s questions are along the lines of “soooo, how did you do it?”, Clem’s are, in order: “You got lost?...On purpose?....And they didn’t notice??????” His dads are suddenly bombarded with questions about being lost. Clem is probably the first snake in history to take up orienteering. (We will pause here to appreciate the image of baby Clem carrying around a compass. Go on, it’s adorable.) If his dads attempt to leave the shop with him, Clem drags over a roll of tape and tries to secure himself to his father, just to reduce the chances of becoming Horribly Lost.

I imagine when he’s big enough to be more noticeable, his anxiety eases somewhat. But for a couple of weeks or months when he’s still pretty tiny? “I’m still here, Father.” “Yes, Clem, I know. I can feel you around my wrist.” “Okay, just wanted to make sure. ....I’m still here, Father.” “Yes, Clem. You taped yourself to my sleeve eight times.”

As for Datura, I wondered what sort of pre-car non-park field trip would interest them, and my brain immediately supplied the image of an excited baby Datura “swimming” in a big container of metal washers. I nominate for headcanoning that Crowley took a stroll down to the hardware store one day with a couple of snabies, so he could buy supplies for pranks and the kids could see some of the world, and it ended up being a multi-hour trip once the kiddos spotted all these shelves upon shelves of shiny things, some of them very small and lightweight and just perfect��for little snakelets to play with, and some of them very big and mysterious and just provoking tons of questions. The staff at the hardware store couldn’t figure out why this guy hung out and talked to the various drawers of nuts and bolts for a couple of hours, but hey, as long as he was buying things....

(I suspect that after the hardware store, Crowley also realized that outings didn’t always need to be elaborate opportunities for Education and Culture. Aziraphale was less than pleased when he realized Crowley was taking some of the babies to the laundromat and the post office.)

[esselley]

Hey Essie, I was just wondering what your writing schedule is like (or if you have one?) I just finished reading your fic December Boys and I am /in love/ with that crossover ❤️ You're so talented and I'm always inspired by the sheer amount of fics you've written, let alone their quality! I'm getting a little burnt out on my own series so I was wondering if you had any tips :3 ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ I love your writing and always look forward to updates! ❤️

Yay thank you so much!! I was so nervous that nobody would wanna read december boys and I’ve gotten so much positive feedback on it, it makes me so overjoyed!!! Thank youuuu (and everyone so far who has been so kind) ToT

To answer your question, I don’t have much of a schedule! Often when I’m inspired I just write whenever I have time! This used to be literally constantly (like from 7 am to 11 pm on weekends, while i was at work, etc) but that was unsustainable over 4+ years so I’m not quite as manic anymore XD That is how I was able to write so much when I first started posting back in 2016 though! 

I do post quite a bit less frequently now, and the past year or so have struggled with burnout myself (and now pandemic anxiety isn’t really helping much either). But I will say that one thing that helps me is a) trying to take breaks when needed - I play a lot of video games and binge a lot of anime - and b) working on other stories for short periods of time that I feel fired up about in the moment, even if I don’t get far or finish anything. For me, splitting my focus actually works pretty well, because I have a short attention span and always get excited by new shiny ideas when I’ve been working on others for a long time. Then I can eventually come back to the old one when I’ve got a backlog of excitement built up for things to explore in that concept. Go back, reread your favorite parts of the old stuff, and remember what you were excited to get to in the future \o/

Overall, I think my biggest tip is to recognize signs of burnout and try to give yourself breathing room, get ahead of it by not forcing yourself through it! I did not pay attention to my own for a long time, and bouncing back is not the easiest. So be kind to yourself <3 

Hope this helps! Also, just a reminder that I do have my writing advice tag, with sections for motivation and writer’s block/burnout, if that may be of any help! ^^ 

[animebw]

Rinne no Lagrange

Greetings, all! I’m The Anime Binge-Watcher, a blog dedicated to me binge-watching anime in episodic chunks and analyzing it in long-form text posts for your enjoyment! Today, I continue to wrap up the last few shows of my second annual Summer of Suggestions, in which I solely watch your recommendations until I get through them all. And the next one on the list is one I know nothing about: Rinne no Lagrange, or Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne!

From what I’ve seen on the artwork, I’m guessing this is a mecha show with a primarily female cast, most likely with some fanservice (blegh) and possibly with yuri (yay). Other than that, I’m going in blind. Please don’t spoil me on anything, I prefer going in blind as possible. Expect my first update later today, and thanks for joining me on this new adventure!

Schedule: I watch two shows concurrently, one long-running and one shorter, alternating each day. Currently, my long-running “show” is the Fate/Stay Night VN. Feel free to visit my blog and explore my extensive backlog of previous binge-watches, a list of what shows are on my agenda for the future, a link to my Discord where you can hang out and chat about the shows I’m watching with me and a bunch of fellow anime fans, and more!

[yournewapartment]

Hiatus Announcement / Game Show Podcast

LISTEN NOW

On Episode 41, Mac hosts a game show! Mac quizzes guests Maddie, Nova, and Naomi on an episode originally released as a bonus Patreon episode. There is light cursing throughout the episode that may not be suitable for all listeners. Your New Apartment the Podcast is going on Hiatus until October 2019.

Episode Links:

Your New Apartment on Patreon

Your New Apartment on Ko-Fi

Your New Apartment on Society6

Your New Apartment on Instagram

Maddie's blog Adult Talk

Nova's blog Positively-LGBTQ

Naomi's blog Matte Glitter

Naomi's Instagram

Contact us: askyournewapartment@gmail.com Intro, outro, and transitional musical loops by Natalie Ice. Find her album "Hungover/Spiritual" on all your favorite streaming services. Natalia's Website. Natalia's Insta.

Hey podcast listeners, Mac here, with a little announcement. First off- last week I released episode forty of my podcast. Which, is crazy. Because a few months ago I didn’t even have a podcast, and now I have forty episodes of a podcast.

I am so grateful to everyone who has listened to the podcast, left reviews on iTunes, and supported me on Patreon and Kofi. I am so incredibly moved to see that people out there are actually listening to my little podcast, real people, not just my mom! I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for your incredible support, it means the world to me.

As some of you may know, I’m getting married in a few weeks (yay). Because of my wedding, Your New Apartment the podcast is going on hiatus until October. The podcast is something I write, edit, and produce all by myself. It takes an incredible amount of time and energy to finish even an hour long episode, and I’m concerned that between the wedding planning and other life stuff, I won’t be able to give the podcast the attention it needs.

However- I have some exciting episodes coming your way after the break, including episodes on house buying, insurance, the Bitches Get Riches episode, and Confessions of A Former Goth Part 2. I’m also always looking for new topics to cover and guests to speak to, so if you have any suggestions, please contact me at askyournewapartment@gmail.com

I wanted to take a minute to do a special shoutout to all my Patreon supporters. They have helped me pay all of my podcast hosting fees, as well as my Adobe Audition fee, which is the application I use to edit each podcast. They also helped me purchase in full- headphones, a Blue Yeti Microphone, and a pop filter for said microphone. Thanks to my mom, my Bubbie, Lissa, Ruth, Elise, Dianna, Svenja, Naomi and the lovely ladies at Bitches Get Riches. Thank you to past Patreon donors as well, I know committing to a monthly payment can be tough, and I appreciate everything you were able to give me.

I also recently had some incredibly generous Kofi donors, which helped me purchase Kofi Gold for a year. Starting in October, I will be accepting Kofi Commissions for Adulting-related posts and questions. A huge thanks to Mars and two other anonymous donors for helping me purchase Kofi Gold.

With all this incredible help, I feel so selfish asking for more, but it’s the nature of podcasting. As it is, I am making $0 in profit from this podcast. Which is fine, my patrons are covering all of my monthly expenses, and I’m so incredibly grateful for that. In my travels in podcast editing, I’ve discovered several more tools that I’d like to purchase that would greatly increase my ability to record in a higher definition. Recording in higher definition means that editing each podcast would be a hundred times easier, as well as cutting down my editing time by a significant amount.

I use Zencastr to record remotely with people, and it's a great software. I am currently using their free plan, which has limited recording quality and storage space options. Zencastr Pro would be an addition $20 a month! If I get 20 new $1/month patroons or two very generous $10/month patrons, I will be able to purchase Zencastr Pro. 90% of my interviews are done remotely, so upgrading would make  a HUGE difference for me! $1/month gets you early access to podcasts as well a vote on podcast/blog content. $10/month gets you both those things, and two additional very special YNA podcasts each month. Go to Patreon.com/yournewapartment for more info.

If you’re unable to give monthly, but would like to make a one-time donation, you can buy me a coffee on Kofi. All proceeds from Kofi are going towards paying off my Kofi Gold one-year subscription! After that, I will use the proceeds to pay for soundproofing for my home for better recording quality. Go to ko-fi.com/yournewapartment

My future goals for the podcast are purchasing an incredibly expensive piece of equipment that will allow me to record phone calls in high definition audio, as well as being able to pay to transcribe every single episode of the podcast for hard of hearing listeners. This is a request I get a lot, but it costs SO MUCH money, I really cannot afford to do it that often. Which sucks. Because I want to be more accessible. If you want to make a donation towards transcribing a specific episode through Ko-fi, let me know, and I will put your money towards transcription (usually costs about $6/episode).

If you can’t afford to support me in a financial way, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE rate and review YNA on iTunes! The more reviews I get, the higher my SEO ranking! And hopefully one day, I can even get some sponsors.

I know I’ve mentioned her a lot lately, because I am completely obsessed with her music, but once again, big shoutout to Natalia Ice. Natalia graciously allowed me to use music from her album “Hungover/Spiritual” as my transition music. You can find her music on all of your favorite streaming platforms. You can buy her music on Bandcamp and buy some awesome merch at her website nataliaice.com. Check out her episode of YNA the podcast if you haven’t already! She is one of the coolest people I’ve ever spoken to.

Finally, I wanted to give a big shoutout to all of my lovely guests who offered me their time for free, many of whom appeared on the podcast multiple times. It was so much fun getting to know all of you, and thank you for supporting the podcast.

Listeners- if there was a particular guest you enjoyed hearing, please let me know! Many guests come on this podcast thinking that everyone is going to hate them and that nobody is going to care about their episode, despite how many times I tell them that they’re amazing. I love sharing specific feedback from listeners, and it may even help me encourage some guests to make a second appearance on the show! So again, if you loved a particular episode, let me know.

And lastly, before I go, I wanted to a share a very special podcast episode with you, as a thank you for all of your support. This episode is a Patreon-exclusive episode that I released back in May. This episode really has nothing to do with adulting, but it was so much fun to record, and I did hands down the most amount of research on this episode that I’ve ever done for the podcast.  It was HOURS upon HOURS of research! So you better stick around and listen to the whole thing! There is cursing throughout this episode, so if that’s not your thing, please skip the episode. A huge thank you to Maddie, Nova, and Naomi for recording this episode with me, I hope to do a rematch sometime soon. I will link their respective blogs for everyone to check out and support, and they’ve all appeared on YNA the podcast before, so listen to those episodes as well.

Don’t forget to check out my backlog of 40 episodes! There may be one you missed, and they’re all worth listening to. Follow YNA on Tumblr and Instagram, and check out the episode page for any and all links mentioned in this preview. Enjoy.

[aparticularbandit]

also also - i plan to try and keep having content to post for mondays, but i don't think i'll necessarily keep to a strict schedule on what will be updated. after ACAL, i kind of want a schedule break. ><

i do have enough backlog to cover the three non-roisa fic week mondays in august (well, almost, I started the third chapter of the university fic and if i want i have other stuff i've started i can do instead, so i'm not really worried at this point) so that gives me freedom to do writing on a multitude of things for pretty much the next month, which is basically the month-long break i'd intended to be last month so. even if there's only monday updates, y'all should be covered.

as far as project updates, here's what we're looking at in terms of bigger projects:

continuing chapter updates on iylhybhn - because it's...i've got it brainstormed a while further

potential continuing chapter updates on j:trs - it's my cathartic fic response to s5 so - might not be as potentially regular as iylhybhn but. short little chapters here and there? maybe probably

start posting the university au - emilia antonia - because that's what i have backlogged right now and i reread what i had last month and i want more of it which means maybe i should write more of it

episodic chapter updates of heart in motion - it's episodic so it depends on when i have good episode ideas

potential chapter updates to aftershocks - I have flashback ideas to address how it's technically still post-s5 but rose isn't dead

potential more updates to shenanigans: ACAL edition because alternate ending and blooper reel and follow-up on allison's character arc and more santa!emilio because why not - but this might be a bit because as much as ideas for this i have other projects i want to focus on first

new project: tentatively titled sin rostro - 1920's mafia/mob boss au. petra plays a major part in this and i'm. excited

new project: tentatively titled falling - yes, that's a different title from even yesterday i'm playing around with how those feel - and this is post-s5 luisa dealing with the emotional and mental ramifications of accidentally killing rose with her no-longer-a-practicing-therapist alana bloom and basically living on the verger-bloom farm because yo horse therapy is a thing

new project: tentatively titled luisa and the child - simply put, this is a sequel to luisa and the fox. it might jump the gun a little bit. oh well

as far as other projects being brainstormed or in the process of being written but which i'm holding back on:

everything's coming up roses - the 90's rom-com au - there's a lot of similarities in luisa's characterization between this and ACAL, so i want to hold off a bit

when the lightning strikes the sea - roisa hp au featuring miss lint - i want to get back into writing book one, but i still plan to hold off on posting until the whole book is done with a rough draft, a second write, and hopefully a couple of betas - one for roisa content and one for hp content. then it's just a quick run-through and post. so! still in-progress! but might be a bit

dreamers often lie - roisa soulmate au - i should start writing this because it feels like it's at that point of brainstorming block until some writing is done

jtv s3b+ rewrite - tentatively titled fire in my blood - backburner brainstorming

another soulmate au one-shot that works well with the s5 ending that keeps knocking around and desperately wants to be written and hopefully remains a one-shot and doesn't expand

potential continuation one-shot of the roisa soulmate timer au one-shot - this one would be focused on jane

epic jtv/superhero/timeless crossover - I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON THIS BUT WANT TO BETTER CLARIFY AND ADDRESS THE SG STUFF - but dottie/lint and roisa and emma/whitney and a heaping helping of mama!rhea with lena and dottie - because using ben's rhea because love her - like. i have some of the plotlines etc. hammered out but want to figure out how kara is involved and which sg season i'm using etc. so. massive crossover yay

i also have a concluding one-shot to the day her line went flat series of one-shots that should probably be fine after a read-through rewrite edit or something like that.

...and i also have another hallmark holiday special started that is more of a subversion and luisa's the one going to the small town and also clara's dad? might? be? involved? there's no mia but there is a dog, if i remember correctly. but that one might be a while i'm really tired when it comes to hallmark and Christmas fluff. >.>

...and then the dottie is sin rostro fic. except dottie and rose both exist because it plays with the idea that the faceless refers more to a group of people than one individual - that it is split between rose, elena, and derek. except i may change that. dottie is definitely dottie is the point here.

...and then the timeless/noir fusion fic which is way back on the burner because reasons.

[pinclock]

Big Birthday Update

It’s my birthday tomorrow! Yay! I’ve been meaning to give you guys an update on how things have been going on my end, and since my age is about to go up another number, now’s as good a time as any. At the start of the year I made I think 6 or so New Year’s Resolutions, so I wanna cover those. from most important to least important. -Finish Brawl Minus 4.3 I’m putting this one out of my personal projects first because I feel like people are counting on me for this and anticipating this the most. I’ve been out an SD card reader for a while and am getting myself a new one for my birthday, so I’ll be able to get back to Wii testing, which will help us with Subspace fixes now that we have a lead on it. Also trying to figure out more costumes to include, but besides those there are plenty of other major hurdles that keep us from release. It’s still 2019, but I’m going to focus on this one more actively rather than re-animates and Smash videos like I’ve been doing. I can’t just keep this waiting forever. -Johou Battle Getting it finished this year is pretty unlikely. It’s in the same rut it’s been in since October, that being the replay system being coded. So long as there’s no replay system I can’t really get good bugfixes going, which is keeping the game in limbo for longer. Commissioning a replay system is more often than not out of my price range, so I’m stuck still. I have other stuff to focus on in the meantime, but in my free time I will be seeking solutions. Maybe if I find even better work I can afford the commission. Here’s hoping. -Smash Ultimate meme videos This one isn’t a resolution, but I’ve been thinking about this one so I’m gonna talk about them anyways. I’m probably gonna stop making these, or at least the full length videos. It was fun and it lasted longer than my silly Smash 4 attempt thanks to Ultimate’s in-game ability to record replays as .mp4s. I still have a lot of clips from a planned Joker video, and I will be posting those on my twitter. I’m pretty proud of the End of 2.0 one so I think it’s a good note to end those on. Maybe I’ll pick it up again in the future, but for now I’m gonna take a break from these. -ReAnimated Collabs I picked up a good amount of these purely out of spite of the Kirby one. I made 4 parts so far, and will continue to work on these as animation exercises monthly (outside the Summer months as I will be focusing on Clock Day then). I’ll let you guys know which ones I’m in as they come out, and I can’t wait to show you all them! Now for the personal stuff -Find a job with better income I can actually mark this one as done: I started Substitute Teaching back in January, and now make more a day than I ever have. Problem is it’s only $100, and that’s not really enough. It’s still a step forward and lets me be more aggressive on my loans though. I went to my school for advice but they still as of yet haven’t given me feedback on my resume. -Keep Losing Weight! Started the year at 187, am currently 172. 15 pound loss, just gotta keep going! -Reach 202 Twitter Followers Currently at 130. If you don’t follow me on twitter now, you can find me here! -Vidya Backlog hitting 0 again Yakuza 0 and Smash kept it from going down for quite a while, but I beat Yakuza so I can at least progress again on other games (at least until I get to Yakuza Kiwami, but I digress). I’m currently playing through DMC3, and it’s a blast so far! Honestly I wish there was more of me, there’s so much stuff I want to do but only one of me to cover it! I’m also interested in things like re-animating Agents of K. Corporation and other projects, but I gotta focus on what’s on my own plate first while also aiming to make enough money to survive. Wish me luck as I continue my quest to be so awesome, make cartoons, and much more! Cheers, ~Pin Clock