#and they don't really seem like 10 year old videos. like the style of them really holds up

[yousaytomato]

Tumblr really is one of the last defenders of the: "ooopsy wooooopsy~ looks wike we had a wittle accident 👉👈🥺" style of error message

#there's something else i want to talk about re: old(ish) internet #that i kind of didnt realise had happened #I'll soft launch it here but i might make a full post of it yet #at work i like to watch edutainment vids in my breaks #because they tend to be 15~ mins long and also have subtitles #so I've watched all like to/m scott. map men. #and i started watching old vsauce Micheal here videos #and they don't really seem like 10 year old videos. like the style of them really holds up #EXCEPT probably 5 times a video he'll show us a 'really awesome website' or whatever #like. so many websites with really useful tools. or just showing information. or that are just kind of fun and interesting #like. websites built to do specific things and that share information in unique ways #and like. i remember so many websites like that. even some games that played with the concept #of what a website even is. what are the limits. projects that were not only interesting in themselves #but the way they were presented was slick and fascinating and interactive #do y'all. do you remember that? #there was so much of that 10+ years ago #where did they go. do they still exist? are they still made. are the old ones even still up or did costs get too high #and traffic too low #because i also don't remember them having ads. or maybe they did but just banner ads that went unnoticed #woes of emily

[billsjum6ie]

Tom with a daughter who’s literally his twin in the 2000s. Like this is present day and everyone talks abt how she is his reincarnation of him in the 2000s. he prob had her young if he passed on his old style to her but regardless the similarities are uncanny 😜 Thank uu

(Oh my god, that actually sounds so cute. I hope you like it! )

" She really is a younger you ! "

Dad!Tom

He is really proud, if I'm honest

He's always flexing how much of an inspiration he is for his daughter, especially if he had her in a young age

Probably mentions this with every chance he gets, actually

Jokes aside tho, he'd be so pleased and happy with himself

The band had plenty of free time after their last show, so they decided to go over to Tom's house, drink some beers ( a dirty martini for Bill, please ) and watch some football. Before the match started, they were chatting about all kinds of things and , since Halloween was nearby , the talk switched to costumes pretty fast.

" I really liked your last year's costume, Bill. "

Georg said, taking a sip of his beer. Bill laughed, sitting back on the couch, throwing his one arm over the back.

"The Ariel one? I think so too! It was one of my best. "

He answered, taking a sip of his drink as well. He shrugged his shoulders.

" I don't think I've ever had a bad costume, to be honest. "

He added, making Tom roll his eyes.

" Of course you'd say that. "

Bill turned to look at him, a small smirk on his lips.

" it's not bad to speak the truth once in a while, you know. "

He answered, before turning to the TV again.

" my favorite costume is the one my daughter had when she was 10. "

Tom continued and everyone's attention was on him. It was Bill's turn to roll his eyes.

" of course, what else would it be? "

He commented, laughing a bit.

" I mean, why not? It was the time when she started experimenting with her style and all!"

Tom said before standing up. Gustav groaned.

" Here comes the photo album. "

He said, changing the channel.

" Hey! I was watching that! "

Bill said, annoyed, but Gustav chose to ignore him. Not many minutes had passed when Tom was back, a huge photo album in his hands.

" look! "

He said while sitting on the couch and opening it on his legs. The other three wanted to seem annoyed, since they've seen these pictures a million times before, but couldn't resist looking. Their smiles gave them away. They were actually so happy with Tom and his family. When he found the right picture, he pointed at it.

" I think it's obvious who was her inspiration for this look. "

He said, making everyone slightly laugh. It was a picture of his daughter, 3 years ago. She had on an oversized t-shirt and some jeans that were huge on her. They were basically touching the ground, while she was wearing some white sneakers. A beanie could be seen under her hat, that was almost covering her eyes entirely. In her hand she was holding a pumpkin bucket that said " Trick or treat! ". She had a small white guitar strapped on her body and from some videos they've seen ( a million times, again ) , they remembered the way she was walking like a penguin. But Tom couldn't help himself but remind them that.

" I remember that night as if it was yesterday. We were talking about her costume and what she wants to be and she just went " I want to look like you ". I didn't really think this through until she showed me a picture that she found in one of my photo albums of me from the early 00s."

He had a sweet smile on his face as he turned to look at the other three.

" of course we immediately went shopping and I got her exactly what she needed ! I remembered pretty well the whole preparation and on Halloween she was just a little me from the 00s walking around, like a penguin! "

He pointed at them.

" you guys liked that too, just admit it! "

He said, laughing, making everyone nodd.

" we actually did. It was so sweet! "

Bill said before they continued looking at the rest of the pictures.

From that one costume till today, his daughter started experimenting regarding her style

Slowly she became a mini 00s Tom overall, from her baggy clothes, to her taste in music and the obsession and love for playing the guitar, that slowly started to appear when she watched videos of her father on stage

Tom was always so supportive and happy with this change, even though it was something he never expected to happen, since times had changed and he thought his daughter would want to be part of every new fashion trend

But he always reminded her to not act the way he did when he was younger

Sometimes these conversations happened when they were joking around

Other times though, they were taken pretty seriously

" you know I love the way you found yourself in this style right? "

He once said while they were sitting on the couch, watching a movie. His daughter turned to him, nodding.

" of course. I remember how happiness was written all over your face when I first mentioned that I wanted to try this! "

She said,making them both laugh.

" yeah, that's one of my favorite moments of my life. It's really important to me, that you're so inspired by me. But you should be careful. "

His daughter immediately grew serious as she stopped the movie and turned to look at Tom.

" what do you mean, dad? "

She asked, and Tom sighed, leaving the bowl of popcorn on the table in front of them.

" I love the way you dress like me, and decided to learn to play the guitar, but never, ever act the way I did. "

He turned to her, his eyes looking right at hers.

" I wanted to live the life of a Rockstar. Smoking and drinking from a young age, having sex like there's no tomorrow, with different girls every time. I'm sure you've heard all of those stories already. "

The girl nodded, sitting back on the couch.

" Always take care of yourself and others. I know this may sound fun to a young person but it doesn't always have good outcomes. So please, be careful. And if anyone ever tries to give you a hard time, always come to me so we can fix things together. Okay? "

He said, but before she could answer.

" and if you ever try any of the things I mentioned, don't be scared to tell me. I won't be mad. Alright? "

His daughter gave him a smile and a nodd.

" I promise you dad, I'll be careful. "

Tom smiled back, hugging his daughter and giving her a slight kiss on the cheek.

" that's my girl. "

Let's just say he's always there for her (just wanted to add this here)

Other than that, the guys always point out how she is his " reincarnation " from the early 00s, just to see him beam with happiness

They always compliment the way he's teaching her stuff and how she grows up the right way with Tom as her father

And of course Tom always tries to act casual but in the end he fails

The boys were once again over at Tom's house. They were talking about the new album and what has to follow on the tour for its promotion, when their talk is interrupted by Tom's daughter who comes out of her room, ready to go for a walk.

" Dad, I'm leaving! "

Tom turned to look at her. As always, she was wearing an oversized white t-shirt and a grey sweatshirt jacket that went down to her knees. Her blue jeans were sagging and covering her white sneakers, while her head was covered by a beanie and a hat. Just like that Halloween costume.

" be careful ! Text me when you arrive at your friend's house okay? "

She turned to him and smiled, putting one earphone on.

" I will. Hope you have fun with the preparations! "

And with that, she was out the door.

" wow. She really is a younger you! "

Bill said, smiling at the door. Tom smiled too, looking back at the guys. His smile giving away how hard he was trying to hold back his bragging. Bill rolled his eyes.

" don't be so cocky! "

Tom just laughed at this, before giving his answer.

" yeah, she is. She even mentioned that she wants to get her hair done as a birthday present. "

Tom said, scribbling down at the piece of paper in front of him.

" which hairstyle did she choose? "

Georg asked, even though they all knew the answer. And Tom's smile gave it away before his lips did.

" dreadlocks. "

#tokio hotel #kaulitz twins #tokio hotel fanfic #tokio hotel imagine #tokio hotel x reader #tom kaulitz #tom kaulitz imagines #tom kaulitz tokio hotel #tom kaulitz fanfic #tom kaulitz fluff

[bisonaari]

So I've mentionned wanting to do a list of weird music recs a while ago, and the idea hasn't left me so here it is!

If you enjoy weird music, come with me in the read more ohohoho I've got beautiful things to show ya

First I'd like to mention that my specialty is asian pop, especially japanese pop (I've been hosting a panel about weird jmusic at my local con for more than 10 years). So there's gonna be a lot of that stuff here hahaha

Golden Bomber

They're my absolute favourites they're incredible. First of all… THEY'RE NOT A REAL BAND. ONLY THE SINGER SINGS, THE OTHER MEMBERS DON'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY. Their music videos are always a delight because nothing makes sense

Other songs from them:

dance my generation

Yokubou no uta

Odoru na yo -do not dance-

Norazo

Norazo is this weird korean duo that I've been following for the last 15 years. Their videos are always the result of like if you could film someone's fever dream and it's DELIGHTFUL

Some other songs from them:

Your fortune

Wild Horse

Cider

P'tit Belliveau

I need to show off my country a little bit! P'tit Belliveau is an artist from Canada, singing in chiac. What is chiac? It's actually a variant form of canadian french, spoken in the east of the country. It's honestly pretty cool sounding, and sadly not valued enough. Anyway, his videos are very 80's/90's graphics inspired (with a lot of weird ass CGI lately hahaha) and he just seems really friendly I love him

Some other songs:

J'feel comme un alien

Cool When Yer Old

Téo Lavabo

I love this guy SO MUCH HAHAHA. So Téo Lavabo is from France. He's proudly lgbt and that's a recurring theme in his songs. His style can be described as… yodel/electro/pop??? I SWEAR I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP LOOK FOR YOURSELF

Other songs:

Vernini Vernana

Caresse ma salopette

TATI TATTOO

Little Big

Of course a lot of people here will know them, as they were selected for eurovision 2020 (I have been following them since like 2014 and I was HEARTBROKEN when esc 2020 was cancelled I wanted them to win so bad haha). They've started as a band that made music a lot heavier (still weird though), but they've mellowed down in the latest years. After the war, Ilya and Sonya moved to the USA.

Other songs:

Faradanza

Skibidi

MOUSTACHE (feat. Netta !!)

DJ OZMA

I have to speak about him because he's the person who started me on this weird music journey all the way back in 2009 (my mom HATES him for that HAHAHA I haven't been normal since). DJ Ozma was the pop side project of rock band Kishidan's lead singer, Ayanocozey Show. It lasted only for 3 years but oh boy what incredible 3 years they were. He was mostly doing japanese covers of kpop songs, with some original ones from time to time.

Other songs:

Spiderman

drinkin' boys

I RAVE U

Momoiro Clover Z

Momoiro Clover started as a fairly standard jpop idol group back in 2008 (I've been following them since then, it has been a while lol). In the following years, one of their members decided to leave to pursue an acting career instead. They switched the group name to Momoiro Clover Z and all the videos took such a turn, it was quite the whiplash. And it was for the BEST, they're aliens in the idol world, including the fact that some members are pushing 30 now! Their style is mostly back to normal nowadays, but they've still produced gems

Other songs:

Neo Stargate

PUSH

I think that's enough for today hahaha. If you want more or if you want to share some interesting artists, please don't hesitate!! I'm always in for new weird music hahaha. After ESC 2023 someone suggested Hooja and I absolutely LOVED it, and katinkulta has sent me some KAJ it was a delight. So please send all the weird stuff my way I need it like I need water

#music recs #music recommendation #I hope you'll like some of them! #Youtube

[cinamun]

TAGGED by @simmerstellar ! Thanks friend!

Come get to know me y'all!

1. What’s your favorite sims death? I haven't had a sim die from anything other than old age in a HOT minute but I saw a LP and the murphy bed death seems so unecessarily violent lmfao.

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? BOTH! I consider my style Maxis Mix. We love a nice combo of both.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? Not anymore but at one point I had to. Let me explain: I don't know if it was a glitch but like after every meal with grannie's cookbook, Indya would gain weight instantly. Didn't happen with anyone else (although everyone else are athletes of some sort). She's always and forever thick but something was definitely up with the food mods I was using. Anyway, we're good now since I'm not playing her HH exclusively anymore.

4. Do you use move objects? Absolutely. Its too restrictive! Gotta play test when I do though because routing errors make me irrationally angry.

5. Favorite mod? Wickedwhims. I don't care! If I want my sims to get freak-nasty I have a blog for that and WW never fumbles. If I want them to do cute little intimate things, WW is there. If you don't like the smut, I feel bad for you son.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? I've gotten pretty much ever iteration of this game except for almost all of the kits and the star wars pack.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? ALIVE. I don't understand the other one honestly lol. We're going LIVE as soon as I press play so....

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? Obvs Indya Drake!

9. Have you made a simself? Yes! But she needs help lol I'm not good at that at all so there's a resemblance but she doesn't really look like me. When I do gameplay with her I say she's my "sorta-kinda self sim" lol

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? gloomy, neat, loner, romantic

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? Black but like BLACK Black, not the BLUE Black lol.

12. Favorite EA hair? All of the afro textured ones.

13. Favorite life stage? Young adults.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? Gameplay mostly stories but I love to decorate!

15. Are you a CC creator? I will recolor the shit out of something! That's about it lol

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? All my mutuals and anyone who reads my story! #Squad

17. What’s your favorite game? The Sims 4 is the only game I play. Don't @ me.

18. Do you have any sims merch? Nope.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? Nope, but I have been asked to make a channel and got that far at least. No videos lol.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? If anything, less alpha and more maxis match.

21. What’s your Origin ID? [redacted]

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? All of the ones that do it for FREE and for the love of the game. I donate too because I understand its not easy, but also not worth a month long paywall or conveniently forgetting to publicly release something.

23. How long have you had a simblr? 2015 are my earliest posts I think.

24. How do you edit your pictures? Gshade and Photoshop Elements 2020

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? Cottage Living is the goat IMO even though I don't play it much anymore. I do very much enjoy Island Living and Growing Together will round out a nice top 3.

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I haven't really thought about it. I just figure the sims 4 is nearing the end of its era and we're gonna start hearing about project rene more and more.

oh! tagging @shesthespinstersimmer @bridgeportbritt @iplaysims4 @beebeesiims @thegloomiestwhim @hazelminesims @therichantsim @omgkayplays @softerhaze @crsentfairy

please ignore if you don't do these or already did this!

#ask game

[ceph-the-ghost-writer]

15 Questions: Character Edition

Tagged by @words-after-midnight! Using this for OCs as well as writers is a fun idea.

Going with everyone's favorite repentant bloodborn and fish dad, Renato (who just got some lovely new art):

(Thank you again to @/littlestpersimmon for taking the commission! I love the background and fish details especially. Go check out more of Caleb's beautiful art and his comics if you're not familiar with them already!)

1. Are you named after anyone? My given name came from my Portuguese great grandmother on the Dimas side of the family, my father's side. I chose "Renato" as a teenager because the meaning (reborn) applied to both my transition and future as a bloodborn. Anyway, it shares the first letter and same number of syllables with the old one, so I also just liked how it sounded.

2. When was the last time you cried? I...honestly can't remember. Really. I'm not trying to sound tough or cool or anything. I must've cried when I was still a child of course, before the break. I can recall afterwards, though, watching the harbor get farther and farther away as my family fled the destruction on a ship. My eyes were completely dry. I still felt...still feel despair, anger, sadness. But after the world changed, I did too. Crying just seemed like a waste of water. It wouldn't get me anything, so my body just...didn't bother with tears.

*shifts, visibly nervous* But I think...I think I'd like to cry again someday? Is that a strange thing to say? Nevermind--forget it. Next question.

3. Do you have kids? No, but I have the next best thing. *opens wallet with photos* The goldfish is Tesoro--Tes, for short. They can roll a tiny football into a mini net. Ah, they're so talented! Then there's Beija, the pleco. She's nocturnal like me, but rather shy. And of course I can't forget the Venerable Order of Lady Guppies: Sisters Dolores, Joan, Hildegard, Leonella, Mary Celeste, Teresa, and Abbess Malfada. They're named after nuns since there aren't any male guppies in the tank and, well, you get the idea.

4. Do you use sarcasm? Occasionally, to make a point maybe. I prefer saying something outrageous with a serious face, though. I've gotten quite good at it over the years.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people? It's going to sound terrible...it is terrible, but true. I try to see if they have a weapon, and assess their vulnerable points, gauge which would be best to strike first. You know...to incapacitate. Or kill, if need be. It's ingrained into you as part of becoming an Aquila. But I'm sure you don't want to listen to such a dark subject.

6. What's your eye color? *sighs* They're blue-green, or aquamarine, or sea-green, or whatever you want to call them. I honestly don't find them that special. The way dark brown or black eyes shine is much more appealing, in my opinion.

7. Scary movies or happy endings? Hm. I'm just as likely to be annoying and complain about either one being unrealistic. I think the execution and style is what matters to me, not the category.

8. Any special talents? Winning people's trust. Being deserving of it... that's another matter. I've been told I pick up languages rather quickly, at least as far as basic conversation goes. Of course I grew up being a strong swimmer and diver.

9. Where were you born? On the Pacific, in a ship's medical bay, while my mother was accompanying my father to the States. That meant I was a default Brazilian citizen, although both my parents had dual citizenship.

10. What are your hobbies? Looking after my fish, making a nuisance of myself, finding what little pleasures I can take. I'm starting to realize just how much of my identity was tied to being an Aquila, honestly. Without that...well, I suppose I'll just have to test things out and see what sticks.

11. Have you any pets? Oh, do you want to watch all my videos of Tes and the others? [A/N: I advise you to decline. There are a lot of fish videos.]

12. What sports do you/have you played? I practice various styles of fighting and marksmanship, but that's survival rather than friendly competition. I never had a real opportunity to play any, given the world descended into chaos when I was ten. I mean, Ollie and I used to play a game where we'd dare each other to touch sharks while scavenging. Does that count?

13. How tall are you? 5'5". Many of the deadliest predators are smaller than their prey.

14. Favorite subject in school? I only attended about five years of Catholic school. My parents found me tutors for various subjects after the Break happened. I did fine with math, reading, science, all of that, but I preferred learning and honing skills. Spear fishing, sailing, foraging, those sorts of things I could use in a practical sense.

15. Dream job? *grins* Indolent concubine of a lofty noble or conquering warlord (gender neutral). Perhaps if things work out with these supposed merfolk they'll have some openings available.

Dysthanasia Taglist: @thecyrulik @thatndginger @space-writes @sunset-a-story @scoundrelwithboba

#writing tag games #dysthanasia #art commission #character art #character info

[sidhewrites]

Chapter 10! We are once again making liberal use of the bracket method to keep writing momentum up. Also, I accidentally gave Kaz adhd whoops

Project Info

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[Change time skip to a month so kaz has more time to get to know lucy and Josie has more time to be weirded out by ren but since she n kaz can’t stop fighting it means that things keep getting weird]

When Josie's schedule finally lines up with mine, another two weeks had gone by. Renfield, though perfectly healthy, was still acting off, so she was uncomfortable leaving him alone any longer than necessary. I don’t love going over there again, but if it means I can get rid of her stuff once and for all, then so be it. 

Josie’s apartment is an extension of her own sense of style. She’s painted the walls a deep violet, with black accents and old furniture she’s sourced from work. Incense and cat fur mix to give her place a distinctly unique scent. I used to hate it, but I also used to think cats are assholes who only want to bite you and murder things until Josie taught me that a cat wagging its tail means the opposite of a dog doing the same.

"Has the vet said anything new?" I ask as Josie lets me in the door. She steps back, giving me enough space to get into the front hallway. I force myself not to remember all the times I pressed her up against one of the walls and kissed her neck over the past year and a half, make myself think of the countless late nights arguing, the weeks of silence. Old habits die hard, and I'll bury them alive if I have to.

[conversation and transition]

Josie trails off, gaze drifting over my shoulder. I turn to see what she's looking at, and snort. Renfield had kicked his bed off the little table in front of the window, and stood on it now, raised up on his two hind legs. He seemed to be surveying the view, judging it, and finding it wanting.

"Aww, he looks like an old man."

"Don't," she pouts.I pull a face. "Get off my lawn right meow!"

[Transition]

Another week passes before I hear from Josie again. I'm in my apartment, doing my best to focus on homework when the siren call of social media is so close at hand. My attention is ruined entirely, however, when I feel the sting of seeing her name pop up in my notifications.

She sent me a text with more exclamation points then I have piercings. Tomorrow!!!! We're gonna be famous!!!!! Aaaaaa! She follows up with a link to an announcement on the Haunted Archivist's social media feed, reminding everyone that the video drops at 9pm EST.

I frown at the screen.

Another text comes in before I can respond: Let's watch it together. I'll get the projector set up and everything.

I feel sick. I'm about to put the phone on silent when a third message comes through.

Uh. Actually.

Thank god I don't have to break it to her. I don't have the patience for her accidental guilt tripping tonight.

Sorry. That's probably awkward to suggest. Maybe not...

But please watch it! You're in it, so you should see that part at least!

Yeah, Jose. Now that you mention it, it is really awkward to invite the person you used to date over to watch a video about the very thing we fight about constantly. I groan at the screen. She's going to start apologizing now, because she can't help it, and I'm going to get mean, and it'll just keep going around in circles.

Sorry, she texts again, because I haven't responded, which obviously means I'm angry at her. Which, I mean, I am, but it's just because she's doing this and I've lost patience for it over the years.

The texts keep coming in, and my phone buzzes and buzzes.

Just forget I said anything. That was really stupid of me. Maybe you should watch it with your new girlfriend?

I mean if you call her girlfriend. Sorry. I don't know if you guys have a label or not. It's not my place to judge, you seem to like her a lot, and I want you to be happy

I've had enough.

Shut up.

[They argue, until Kaz gives in and agrees to watch with Josie. Once they've agreed on plans:]

I throw the phone across the room.

I hate her. I hate myself for hating her. Josie has never been anything but kind to a fault, and it's not something she deserves to be hated for. She's probably crying now, too.

I hate myself for making her cry. I hate her for crying. I hate this whole damn thing.

I get up to retrieve my phone, and go get a pint of ice cream before going back to my homework. There's an exam at the end of the month, and I'm not about to let my grades slip any further than they usually do. Phan would kill me, or at least sigh at me which is just as bad. But my mind keeps drifting, first to Josie, then to Lucy, then to how stupid I'm being about this whole thing with Lucy. It still hurts to talk to her, but we also can't go more than twenty minutes without fighting no matter how hard we try to be civil. For every semester the past two years, we shared at least one class in our schedule, which meant I always had someone I could rely on to help me focus, or at least to loan me their notes when my mind inevitably wandered too far and I spent the whole hour thinking about god-knows-what.

It's good for both of us that we're sitting on opposite sides of the lecture hall now, but I can't help but feel the emptiness besides me, where our elbows used to bump against each other, where we'd tap our toes together in little secret acts of affection.

[Make the transition smoother so that she's basically venting to lucy who listens sympathetically that night and suggests maybe not talking to her again. Lucy is so understanding and sympathetic, and Kaz looks at her like she hung the moon.]

Something is gonna go wrong here, with this. With us. Whatever we are. I know it will, if only because I'm so steeped in self-loathing and doom to consider anything else.

[Transition]

But dawn is breaking. Lucy has to go. I don't even have work today, but I drag my sorry ass to a coffee shop anyway, and drown my sorrows in caffeinated sugar and scones.

Tag List

@adaughterofathena

@ambreeskyewriting

@carnelianflames

@feather-dancer

@halfbloodlycan

@nadunacreates

@serenanymph

@vigilantdesert

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #mystuff #writing #my writing #spilled ink #graveyard lesbians #supernatural romance #wlw #wlw romance #wlw novel #original fiction

[softpsycho]

Watched a walkthrough of New Tales from the Borderlands.

In summary I think Gearbox is trying to single-handedly cure my autism by making my special interest as bad as possible.

Introduces really interesting characters that seem like they're going to be reoccurring because they have like, names and personality traits and rapport with the main cast to then only have less than 10 minutes of screen time, you could probably make an entire main-line Borderlands game just about them and it'd be better than Borderlands 3

Vaultlanders is literally a joke-y waste of time where you mash the A button. It is non-optional.

A lot of pointless QTEs (to quote the streamer I was watching; "I had to press the A button three times to open this chest")

Button mashing QTEs are kind of a thing of the past and it seems ironic to have a physically disabled character in the game and then not have an accessibility options that would turn this feature off like other games do

Anu and Octavius are really annoying, I don't like them. I get Rhys being a fish out of water is a big crux of TFTBL but it gets kind of old navigating a borderlands game as someone who is appalled by murder and violence, and both of these characters share the trait of "sucking at everything and being kind of lame" without like, exaggerating

The game seems really disinterested with the plot it sets up, the tediore invasion and Anu trying to finish her wormhole gun are thrown away and ignored pretty immediately until the writers feel like bringing it back up. It doesn't feel like the characters actually have a narrative and move along the plot, the plot just occurs when the writers want to insert conflict or give them a macguffin to use. And with it being a tight 5-episode game 2 or even 3 of those episodes are wholly unrelated to the main plot, instead being about... starting up a business...? while the tediore invasion is still ongoing?

It feels like a lot of stuff was cut from time that characters then reference later, which I'd forgive if a huge chunk of the game wasn't pointless filler/it feeling like writers would just insert things arbitrarily to begin with

There are very few walking around, point n click style adventure segments in contrast to just doing QTEs and dialogue options, I lost absolutely nothing by just watching a series of videos vs. actually playing the game.

The last section of gameplay has a bit literally identical in concept to the last section of gameplay in Detroit: Become Human

The game ends on an NFT joke

A lot of taco-related humor in the year 2023.

There's a pretty important scene where they just forgot Dahl and Vladof existed but this might partially be because they didn't have time to or didn't want to make two new character models

It creates new lore with major ramifications before immediately throwing away said lore without elaboration

You open a vault in episode 2

This entire spin-off game is based on a few lines of joke-y dialogue in borderlands 3 and that's how it feels.

THINGS I ACTUALLY LIKED:

Fran is definitely the best character in the main cast, she has more than two character traits, she has a backstory that actually has affect on how her story goes and the only smidgen of character development is thrown her way. She is capable and her disability is written in a very grounded way that doesn't sideline her but also doesn't handwave things away with scifi tech.

LOU13 is also a good character, a bit 2-dimensional but his concept of being a 100% accurate but needing his target to say their full name first was a fun concept and I wish the player could utilize that more than twice.

The world building on promethea is actually really good and the first episode had me hooked by convincing me it wasn't going to water down the insanity and violence Pandora was known for by too much. I really liked the designs and personalities of the side characters introduced and I was excited to see them more (I did not get to) it does also lightly touch on the aftermath of the Cult of the Vault after Borderlands 3.

This entry passes the insanely low bar of not treating people with dwarfism as sub-human

They kitbashed the chubby bunny statues from wonderlands into creatures that burp weed drug gas and that's pretty hot

A lot of milfs in this one. Like, 3 or 4.

Un-retcons eridium so it's rare again and not something you can find just lying around

The tediore soldiers talk like gay softboy furry roleplayers and that's oddly endearing

Things I'm Neutral??? About??

Athena taking over hyperion offscreen?? apparently??

Rhys was kinda whiny and didn't do much in his appearance

The skins are alright I guess but are kinda unnecessary in a short episodic game, so does the money system, like it's pretty unlikely you'll ever run out of money and the amount of money you can pick up is really insignificant so like, boohoo you can't get every skin in the game in one playthrough I guess?? Not like you'd want to anyway. At least it doesn't nickle-and-dime you for colors like Wonderlands does.

Tediore-made assault rifles and very frequent use of laser projectiles on guns that don't even look like they'd fire lasers

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Since their next album seems to be the hyyh 10 year anniversary, do you foresee them returning to, maybe even finishing off, the bts universe story in a music video for that album? They'll probably have a lot more eyes on them than previous releases, which might make a mv following that storyline alienating to some new viewers, but also a mv ala I need you, particularly the extended version, tells enough of a story to not confuse people. I also think that kind of narrative and choreo-less mv might be a pleasant surprise to people that only know bts from their English trilogy. On the other hand, I expect them to do something powerful enough that they can do a performance like On with it for at least one of their releases. And then there's me thinking that, now that half of them are in their 30s and post-ms, they might do something explicitly sexy. They said (I think it was either namjoon or yoongi) that they're basically coming to devour in 2025, and there are so many ways I can see them doing that. The only thing I'm pretty sure of is that they'll want to put some distance thematically between the English trilogy and the new releases. Since it's also hyyh, maybe something closer to their sound then or earlier? Do you have any thoughts?

I really love your enthusiasm and a million apologies that I took ages to reply to you, but I'm about to confess to the top 5 opinions I have that might get my Army card revoked:

I don't care about the BU at all and am glad BTS don't really go there anymore. I like MVs with stories, but BTS playing characters and writing songs and albums around their own fictional universe, is so weird to me, I don't get it. I do not get kpop lore, sorry.

That said, I thought the HYYH 10th year anniversary thing was just another crash grab. They'll re-release the albums with some special content, maybe, and maybe there will be an exhibition, a fan event, a documentary, as well as merch, another book? Perhaps we'll get an old demo, or some unseen footage. I think only Jin and Hobi will be around for the anniversary (on April 15th apparently). I don't know if Hybe will wait for all members to be discharged to do something bigger. There might a concert? But I'm not really expecting a lot of involvement from BTS. This will be something created for the fans by Hybe imo. But my opinions are often wrong.

I see the HYYH 2025 album as a repackage album of sorts. Their next real album will probably come out in late 2025. I have no idea what it will sound like. They might go for another comforting, yet happier, YTC-style song - a fan song - or pull an ON again. The fan song might be a pre-release followed by a powerful title track. BTS will want to comfort fans and also make a statement. I don't think it will sound that surprising. BTS always surprises a little, but that's just expected. Maybe I'm a pessimist, but BTS are consistent. Unlike you, I'm very sure they're going to go all out on choreo to show fans they still got it. And I'm not so certain they won't release an English single. I think they'll release a Korean album, but we can't rule out the possibility of another English song. Fans are much more opposed to the English trilogy than BTS are.

Thanks for the ask!! Sorry for the wait!!

#ask #bts #text #thanks for the ask!

[opinated-user]

For anyone else on Earth, looking at art drawn by TWO artists who used CSEM as references (including one who hurt her own son), having massive porn accounts full of the most realistic shota and loli on the face of this planet, misgendering every trans and nonbinary person she encounters, calling queer people cishet if she doesn't like them, hating a Jewish nonbinary cartoon creator and likening her to a Nazi, overlooking antisemitism in Harley Quinn, writing a black OC whose mom is a slave trader who goes on to wed a trafficking victim of her mother's and completely control her life/use her as childcare and ship repair, making the Tooncritic situation worse allowing an actual pedophile to walk free, having her Gardevoir OC violate a human child, writing incest and murder and pedophilia and rape, coercing people into sexual art and acts they were uncomfortable with, stealing art, stealing jokes, having her audience dogpile people, accusing her audience and haters alike of wanting to fuck or rape her, flashing children suddenly on stream, and lying chronically about everything from catching covid 3 times to her race to faking entire people would be enough to get her deplatformed.

I've seen people get deplatformed for any single one of these things.

Why the fuck does Lily glide by without any lengthy comprehensive video or massive Lily exposed video essay? Why is it always, at most, a video that goes over one thing she did or one person she hurt? Why does no one ever talk about the people whose existence she faked or the porn accounts or the racefaking or any other number of things she's done?

Maybe if someone did a cold, calm TRO style video about all the shit Lily's done with all the receipts we'd get somewhere. But instead videos are made about, at most, two things she's done, without the piles of evidence for all the other things, and then everyone argues about a word possibly being misused as if that's going to help things.

If I had any money to my name I would buy equipment and make a documentary length video on everything she has done. Instead I have to sit here as a Jewish CSA victim knowing she can endorse Nazis and support an artist who assaulted a two year old and know that at most those things will get 4-10 reblogs on tumblr rather than her getting dragged and deplatformed away from minors she can hurt.

I'm so tired. I'm so fucking tired. The fact that not one person even seems to care enough to try to cover even a fraction of her shit is exhausting. It takes me right back to childhood and being told what my abuser did wasn't serious because she's a girl and girls aren't bad like boys are.

Can someone please hold this woman to account? The evidence is all over the place. The job is halfway done for you. Someone, anyone, please do something significant to deplatform her.

At this rate the only way she'll be deplatformed is if she abuses a child herself, and only if it's in a way the authorities bother to give a shit about. Again: I am so tired. No one gives a damn about people like me, either in the sense of giving a damn about CSA survivors or Jewish people. No one cares. No one has ever cared. I wish I'd died when I was a kid and my abuser used to choke me, I really do.

making the Tooncritic situation worse allowing an actual pedophile to walk free

(i have to clarify that i was wrong about that. on this post segasister is kind enough to explain better the situation. LO actually had nothing to do with the investigation one way or another. she did took advantage of it and made it seem like she was the hero when that wasn't true, but she didn't made it worse either like i assumed so.) anon, please don't think of it that way. i know it's disheartening and dissapointing that all of this doesn't recieve as much attention as we'd all like, but at least is recieving some attention now. it was a lot worse just a few years back. things are changing slowly but they're doing it and for the better. LO might never get the TRO's style documentary that other figures got, but she's slowly fading into irrelevancy and that is what matters because it means less people she can hurt. i'm so sorry for everything that has happened to you. if LO and the discourse around her makes you feel that way, i recommend taking a break, find your support system and try to forget about this for a while. your wellbeing and mental health is more important that LO and anything she could do or say.

#tw: csa #tw: antisemitism #lily orchard

[charliesimss]

Evens for gracely

Odds for alexham

Grace&Bradley

2. Who does most of the cooking? Gracie she likes to cook things and bake things from scratch, Bradley will do clean up.

4. Who says creepy paper and who says crepe paper? I think they'd both say crepe paper, having only ever heard it said like that.

6. Who’s the sun and who’s the moon? They're both pretty sunny but if one had to be the moon it'd be bradley because he's more quiet

8. What are their cooking habits? Who cooks meals and who “cooks” insta-ramen? She cooks real meals and Bradley *can* cook, he just goes for easier dishes like frozen chicken nuggets and things that don't need a lot of prep, hashtag accessibility.

10. What are their love languages? They seem like the type to just hold hands really hard and say I love you a few times an hour.

12. Who says “party rockers” and who says “party rock is”? Grace says party rock is, and bradley is party rockers

14. How does their personal styles differ? Do they share clothes? gracie has done that "fit in your partners jeans" challenge thing on tik tok and bradley's fit her just fine. But Grace's style is very girly, dresses, no shoes, and bradley is also for comfort but won't be caught with his bare feet out ever.

16. Who takes charge during grocery trips? Who picks out all the silly snacks and munchies? Pregnant gracie really got into the habit of picking out snacky stuff, but Bradley does the grocery shopping and just gets what she circles in flip.

18. What’s a typical date night for them? Do they go out or stay in? They'd stay in and garden and play scrabble or something like the 20 something year old grandparents that they are.

20. Do they want kids? If so, who initiated the question about having them? They always wanted kids and they probably started talking about it after high school. And then struggled to get pregnant.

22. What do they bring out in each other? Bradley brings out her nurturing side and her little girl on the prairie side, and Grace brings out his ambitious side, makes him want to do better.

24. What’s their song? Long Live/Taylor Swift

26. Who asked out who first? Grace asked him first actually (well poppy more likely) 😳

28. How would they describe each other? Grace would say he's devoted, creative, and reserved, and Bradley would say she's loving, inclusive and angelic.

30. What are their nicknames for each other? (If any) Probably just baby and sweetie, and Bradley calls her gracie, but she never ever calls him brad. He's not a brad, don;t get it twisted.

32. How are they intimate with each other in a nonsexual way? Whispers!!!! Those seem very intimate, and like still holding hands while theyre just on the couch watching a show.

34. What couple from another media reminds you of them? Laura and Almanzo, in These Happy Golden Years book.

36. Who wakes up and falls asleep first? Bradley falls asleep first, Grace wakes up first.

38. What do they love most about each other? Probably their devotion and parental skills

40. Do they have any jealous tendencies over each other? Jealousy is a disease they are immune to 😌

42. Do you have a playlist for them? Gimme?????? They don't, they barely have a song 💀

44. How long have you been playing with them (or making edits with, etc.) Since 2021 I think

46. Who takes longer to get ready? Gracie. But now that they have babies they'll both take a long time because they'll each get a baby ready

48. What is something they have given the other that has a lot of meaning? Bradley giving her a promise ring and then an engagement ring with both of their birth stones in it remains to be one of the cutest things any of my couples have given each other.

50. What is their dynamic playing board games and video games? (versus each other and/or on the same team) They play really well on a team together and always want to be on each others team, unless poppy is playing something with them in which case grace has to be on the twin team. but they just play for enjoyment.

#gradley #sims 3 ship #oc grace #oc bradley #make my day #<3 <3 <3 #simmingbeauty

[ex-textura]

Hiya, Sebastian! ♥ I'm just passing by to say I really admire your art and your talent, and one day I hope to have enough money to share with you and support your beautiful work. :( ♥ I'd like to know a little bit about how you first came into contact with drawing and if you have any cheap/free tools and tutorials you'd recommend to someone who wants to start taking drawing more seriously (and knows 0% about it lmao), if you don't mind. Much love always! - tiefling enthusiast anon

Anon!! I’m so sorry it took me so long to get to this! This is such a kind ask omg thank you 🥺🥺

Don’t ever worry about not being able to buy anything from me, your kind words are honestly enough (and I know what it’s like not to be able to afford to support artists. It’s hard but I promise you messages like this mean so, so much more than money. I’m giddy rn lol)

As for getting into art, tbh I started drawing very young. I used to draw Pokémon and digimon on my desk in elementary school, and then going into junior high I started to branch out a little more though I stopped around high school and didn’t pick up drawing again until more than 10 years later lol….but it’s always been something I loved to do, and coming back to it has really filled a hole in my life I didn’t realize was there for a long time.

For a lot of my early drawings, it was just printer paper and ballpoint pens or plain old pencils until I got my first graphics tablet years later. So if you’re just starting out you don’t really need anything but the will to draw and something to scribble on. If you’re looking to start with digital art though there’s a couple of routes you can take. If you have access to an iPad, or can get one cheap (think used, past model… you don’t need much) there are a number of apps you can get such as ibis paint (which I think may be free or have a free version though I don’t use it myself) or procreate (it’s what I use on my iPad, but it has a one-time fee of I believe $13.99CAD). Or, if you have a computer I got started on a simple graphics tablet and you can get them for fairly cheap these days used (mine was like $80CAD) and I used a free version of Paint Tool SAI which works great.

Still though, if you’re okay not starting with digital art I would recommend just getting a small sketch book for under $10, a mechanical pencil and a gum eraser (those brownish ones). That’s all you really need to get started.

As for tutorials, I mostly watch YouTubers for art advice. I’d recommend Sam Does Arts, Drawfee, and Sinix Design

Sam does a lot of “rating art advice” videos, critiquing his followers pieces, and some goofy things but he has a lot of great tips and he explains things in a very easy to understand way. He also calls out his own flaws easily and teaches you to learn from his own mistakes which I find very encouraging.

Drawfee is four artists with different styles that mostly do art challenges among themselves but they also host art classes for their patrons and those videos get posted to their channel for the general public so you can still follow along for free. I like that they have different styles and different methods, and when they post their speed draws they talk through their process which is very informative.

Sinix is an incredible artist and while some of his videos are definitely more advanced he has beginner videos too that teach the very basics and I still spend a lot of time watching those ones to really drill them into my brain. He’s more informative than entertaining like the other two are, but his stuff is so good.

Other than YouTube videos, I also spend a lot of time on Line of Action which is a great site for practicing form and anatomy.

I’d also recommend the morpho drawing books if you can find a free pdf online (there are definitely sources for them I just can’t seem to find any right now…).

Im sorry this got so long winded xD I don’t even know if it makes any sense anymore lol. But basically…. Get yourself some paper and a mechanical pencil, a decent eraser and start with the basics. There are so many free resources online to get you there. After that… just get yourself a blorbo that you’re just so obsessed with and draw them over and over again until you can do it from memory. Then keep drawing them some more. It takes time and persistence and you might even feel frustrated when you start out, but remember that everyone starts somewhere and even the greatest artists are still learning.

And, please if you do start drawing feel free to share your art with me! I’d love to see it, and hopefully we can grow together ❤️❤️

#thank you for this ask anon #I really hope I was able to help even a little bit #drawing can be so frustrating but mostly it’s liberating #and I would love to share that with you #anon ask #advice

[rinoaskyes]

Indie Live Expo - Part 1

Anyone who watches Indie Live Expo from start to finish should receive a Udemy certificate. This year's show was over 5 hours long and hand on heart honesty, I am still getting through it. But just in the first few segments, I've already found some really interesting games I want to highlight so let's get into it!

What is Indie Live Expo?

Indie Live Expo (ILE) is a multilingual multi-broadcast showcase of indie games from around the world. Since it originated in Japan, most of the titles, studios and publishers that participate tend to be Japanese. However in recent years, we've definitely seen a lot of entries from overseas. From the website, it says that ILE has been viewed by over 98 million people with more than 2,600 games introduced.

Here's a link to the YouTube stream if you want to check it out yourself!

There were so many games covered throughout the show with some of them getting prime placement while others barely getting a second a la ADHD flashcards. Below are 10 that caught by eye.

No Case Should Remain Unsolved by Somi

As the name implies, this is a detective game about piecing together fragments of memories to solve a cold case. The case involves a young girl that went missing back in 2012, but is now being reexamined.

I'm really intrigued by what the developers are calling a 'jigsaw puzzle' style reasoning system as it sounds quite different from what I might be used to from games like Ace Attorney or Danganronpa. It seems like it's a really short game too at only 2-3 hours of game play. I really want to pick this title up but I think it would be perfect if it was on the Switch!

SCHIM by Ewoud van der Werf, Nils Slijkerman

This is a 3D platformer about jumping from shadow to shadow! I think that's such a cool concept and I love the calm vibes that the art is exuding. It also has such a unique hand-illustrated look.

Also, according to the developers, a schim is the soul and spirit of an object, thing, or living being. Everything in the world has one. A schim should never be separated from their thing! This does happen to your schim, this schim who is attached to a human being is separated from them early on in the game.

The Star Named EOS by Silver Lining Studio

Just looking at the key art makes me feel so at peace. The Star Named EOS is a story-rich puzzle adventure with a strong theme of photography. You explore the past through photos taken and uncover the truth behind a family mystery. All of the art is hand-drawn and there are puzzles too

It's giving Opus Prism Peak Sigono which I am totally onboard for. I love games that explore meaningful personal stories.

Nightmare Operator by DDDistortion

I don't normally recommend or talk about horror games but the design of the game is too cool to resist! This is a a survival horror shooter about hunting yokai in the haunted ruins of Tokyo. The game has an over-the-shoulder perspective and utilises a low-poly aesthetic that's reminiscent of classic PlayStation games. The locations are inspired by real-world places in Tokyo, tense that's going to freak me out next time I venture outside! DDDistortion is apparently a 5-man team in Tokyo so incredible.

The Many Pieces of Mr Coo by Gammera Nest

This is a surrealist point and click adventure about a character named Mr Coo who is looking for all of his pieces. I really love this genre as it reminds me of old Humongous Entertainment games I played as a kid. The wacky yet lovable vibe of the game also reminds me of comics, Saturday morning cartoons with some fine art touches in the backgrounds.

Ultra Mushroom by TRY GAMES, room6, xemono

"There was once a man who made a billion yen in just three days by running a curry stall here. Our protagonist, inspired by this news, comes to the festival with the ambition of making it big with a mushroom stall (with zero cost mushrooms!)."

How is this not the best intro to a video game ever?! You play as a mushroom hunter/mushroom stall seller trying to make a killing at a festival in the foot of a mountain. There's not a lot of footage on Steam yet but it seems like it'll be a mix of foraging, running the stall and getting to know festival attendees.

There's definitely some psychedelic overtones here if you look at the colour palette of the game and some subtleties (not so subtle) around the special mushrooms you can gather.

Matsuro Palette by SleepingMuseum

A simulation game about surviving seven days with a girl who lives inside a cursed painting. You'll need to successfully paint her portrait by going off cues from past victims. If you make her angry, she'll kill you. There's a lot of painting and art-themed games these days but I haven't seen one that combines some suspense and horror elements.

Just a note that this game came out in 2020, but a remake of it is planned for Spring 2024.

Isles of Sea and Sky by Cicada Games

Set across ancient islands, you start the game as a castaway who must solve puzzles and uncover hidden secrets all without a set path or even any dialogue. The art is very reminiscent of old pixel art games, the music is meditative and atmospheric and the story is said to be deep.

I met the developer, Jason Newman at BitSummit in 2023 back when this game went by a different name. We had a really nice chat about anthropology as this game finds its roots across many different world cultures even if the themes feel universal. The released this month and I've yet to give it a go but I hope to play it soon.

Swappy World by Awakening Games srls

We've seen all kinds of card games but this is the first time I've seen card gameplay be combined with open-world crafting. Each card will help you craft weapons, build your base and explore. The goal is to plan out your resources and interaction points to help you survive for as long as possible. I love how intertwined the cards are with the environment. For example, when the game goes into the nighttime, you'll only be able to see the central card in front of you.

Yunyun Syndrome!? Rhythm Psychosis by WSS playground and WHO YOU

Play as a hikikomori girl who is on a permanent high from listening to denpa music in this rhythm-adventure game. Fall into her brain rot as she loses all self-control posting anonymously with the goal of total world annihilation. Yes these are all real words that I riffed off of from the actual game description on Steam.

Where Needy Streamer Overload tries to tell a life lesson about the what it means to seek approval from internet people, YunYun Syndrome seems to go completely all-in insane with this plot and music. Also I think I have a type when it comes to games and it's mental illness and lots of shades of purple.

I'll come back to write a Part 2 after I've made it through the rest of Indie Live Expo!

#video games #gaming #indiedev #indie games #japan

[the-sunroom-system]

🎮🔦🪫💬

yay yay! thanks for the ask hehe <33 we love answering questions

🎮 - what do your alters/headmates do in their free time?

hmmm. very confused rn if skylar is separate from faun or an alternate name i like to go by... but for now i'll just say we're the same alter. SO, i (faun/skylar) like to socialize and write and roleplay. italy likes to socialize, sometimes write self-indulgent stuff, and genuinely he just likes taking care of people, including us. olivia does more of her own thing. she likes poetry and listening to music :3 i think she'd be more into socializing if she wasn't worried her formal typing style would make people uneasy.

still figuring out who exactly is into what. but we've figured out this for us so far <3

🔦 - how did you discover your system?

geez. ok so. back in january 2020 (i think...), we saw videos from multiplicityand me, and really related, but thought DID seemed too magical and severe for us to have, so we brushed it aside. but we had a fictive who's now dormant or fused (not sure), and he uhh... has a very unique gender, and would always feel super dysphoric around the mention of lesbians and wlw. (he is a lesbian / sapphic-aligned but not a girl so that's why the binarism distressed him.) the host back then wasn't attracted to women and would always be confused as FUCK why they particularly felt dysphoric through the eyes of a fictional character towards a gender she wasn't even attracted to. so we asked if there was a term for headmate that isnt exclusive to systems bc ofc we weren't a system, and our friend at the time who had osdd was like "are you sure you aren't a system?" and that is when we started Considering It

🪫 - what do you all do to recharge?

usually absolutely nothing. we just wait it out and hope to stop feeling miserable. but lately Italy has been helping a lot. Sun has also been helping deal with the angrier parts! so it's like, the parts who are in need of a gentler approach get Italy to deal with them. he will talk to them gently and say nice things and be affectionate. the parts who are particularly angry, Italy doesn't really know how to deal with them because they don't take well to his loving approach, so Sun will come out and talk to them more sternly and help them relax. i'm not sure how to describe sun since i kinda have Amnesia for when he comes to front but uh... *thinking* he'll just point out why someone is upset and talk to them gently but firmly. stuff like "you are upset because of this but you cannot run away forever."

maybe sun is also a caretaker at this point 🤔 he's been fronting in the shower along w/ an unnamed angry alter lately and they spend the entire time arguing / bonding. he does have a bad habit of getting onto this alter for swearing & being angry but they're learning to get along.

that isn't exactly what the question is but dkfjhf we don't really know how to recharge honestly we just hope for the best and try to calm down triggered parts to the best of our ability.

💬 - free space!! tell me about something!

umm hmm. i think it was yesterday? a new little came to front and our littles hardly ever come to front. she's around 8 years old but has memories of when we were 10 (i think it's 10). she's an anger holder and trauma holder, too. holds onto internalized feelings of being a bad, bratty child and acts accordingly to that. also she Hates maternal figures. uhh anyway she was pretty upset, then calmed down, then was irritable and cranky once she came into herself, but italy helped her calm down and baked her some sweets to show he cared about her <3 oh and they listened to some music together it was pretty nice.

#i love answering these <33 #ask #toby-du-coeur

[parttimeperfectionist]

Do you have thoughts on make up? Either for or against. Any favourite styles or looks?

I have lots of thoughts actually. Several years ago I considered compiling them into a video format, but I never actually got around to that. Here's some of what I planned out though:

My makeup story is a long one, and one that starts in my early teems, even though I was a twenty-something before I even started liking makeup.

As a preteen and young teenager, I always felt like makeup was something that was forced on me, like I didn't have a choice. To make matters worse, I kind of sucked at it. If you weren't a teenager around the mid-2000s, then you might not understand why this was such a problem. The thing is, YouTube and Instagram didn't exist as platforms at all back then, nevermind as platforms for sharing tutorials about how to contour and blend. Instead, we had teen magazines with quizzes like "what season are you?" that were supposed to help us choose the right colours for our complexion. They were of no help to me of course, because I could never figure out what season I was actually supposed to be.

So instead of doing the logical thing and getting help from friends or figuring out how seasons worked in the beauty world, I did the opposite and set myself pretty firmly against anything that had anything to do with makeup. It seemed like a pretty smart plan at the time: if I didn't care, then it didn't matter that I sucked.

Fast forward to high-school.

My first forays into the makeup world were... interesting. I knew what a few products were and the general area they were supposed to be applied, but like most 13 and 14 year olds at the time, I didn't really know how to apply them in a way that worked for my face. As a result, eyeline went under my lower lash line, blush was sloppily applied with my fingers or a cotton pad, and sometimes I'd throw on some lipstick but never foundation or mascara. I don't think contour was even a thing at the time.

It wasn't until university actually that I finally started learning about different styles of makeup and how to put them on my face. I started watching beauty youtubers like zoella and Tanya Burr. I got (slightly) better products. I learned what an eyeliner wing was and how it could lift my eyes at the corners.

My relationship with makeup got better. I stopped seeing it as something frivolous or not worth my time and started seeing it as something that could be fun and exciting and confidence-boosting. And I'm still rocking the winged liner 10 years later.

Lately my makeup isn't anything too crazy. A foundation base with some concealer. Winged liner. Mascara and brow pencil. Maybe some blush or lipstick if I'm feeling fancy (I got out of the habit of wearing these things when covid happened because what's the point when you're wearing a mask?). Eye shadow is still reserved for special occasions only. Ain't nobody got the time for that every day.

#makeup #this turned out longer than expected #p

[nightcall99]

Dream from 27.9.23

I was at work but also I'm at school. I needed to source some practice exam papers because my exams are coming up and I'm feeling unprepared and getting a bit panicky about it. I'd only done a few practice ones at this point, and I figured I really need to start hunkering down and getting serious since they're so soon. I was also nervous because it's an oral exam.

IT was here. I missed him, it was really good to see him. I hadn't seen him in a long time. I asked him if he could help me and he was happy to. He showed me an old blog of his that he had written back when he was a trainee like I am now. This was like 10 years ago when we used to work together, back when he was still living in Australia He had put all the relevant practice exam papers on this blog, as well as myriad of other helpful resources. I was quite surprised with the existence of this blog and with the way it was set up, it occurred to me that I had never appreciated how creative he is. He also had videos up of of nature, 'slow TV' style, where there is extended footage of the foliage of bushes or trees, just swirling around in the wind. Then the memory comes back to me, of how he used to set his phone down at random moments and just randomly let it record for ages (I never saw this IRL).

It appears I'm in some kind of room, a computer lab. SM is here. I'm trying to make him jealous by being extra chummy with IT. I was getting really close, my body pressed up against him. I hope SM saw it. It's really pathetic but I want his attention on me. Then SM takes command of the room and starts giving everyone instructions to send a special kind of mass email. I’m not paying attention to what he's saying on purpose and I interject quite rudely, excuse me, but what is this for? He's teaching us some computer command on the overhead screen which will allow for us to send each other our phone numbers without the need for multiple-handling. We all seem to know each other but at the same time, not really. Then I say, well I'm not doing that so guess you guys won't have my phone number. Is it because I don't have one?

I sit next to AL and ask her if she can send me her exam preparation resources via email. I ask her really politely since it's tense between us now. So it seems I do have an email at least, maybe I just didn't care to have everyone's phone numbers. She’s cold to me in reply, says, sure I’ll send it, and takes out her phone to forward some things to me.

Later on, it's time to go home. I'm walking out of the school grounds and I know that SM is trailing behind me, that he can see me. I'm still trying to make him jealous. I run up ahead to IT and am very playful with him. We run up on hill and start playing like school children. I can see that SM walks past and his girlfriend appears out of the corner of my eye, presumably to meet him at the school gates. I can see both of their backs as they are walking away. I zone in on her back specifically and I can feel nothing coming from her, she has no energy. Well, neither of them do.

While I'm at the top of the hill with IT, some lady appears who is a customer that I'd served recently. I feel like I have to go and help my co-workers. I'm not at work but also I am.

I’m at work. The lady, the same one who I saw at school, comes for her regular Humira pen and also 3 boxes of free pen needles. She’s a bit odd and has showed up in my dreams before but writing this now I have no recollection of her face or anything at all. She's taking a while at the counter and is as usual, a bit of a handful to deal with. She's a nice lady and means well though. When I'm handing out her medication to her (which is 4 boxes in total), I start to panic that I had accidentally given her an extra box of medicine in place of a pack of needles since they both come in very similar looking red boxes. The medicine is really expensive, so it'd be really bad for our inventory if I made a mistake. I try to intercept her as she is walking to the front counter to pay. I check her bag, I don't think anything is amiss.

Then I'm kind of chilling out in my own mind and come to the sudden realisation that I've already completed my exams. I had lost my registration a long time ago over something really stupid. Apparently the scenario is that I had written an article or strongly worded email that came across like I would endanger a child's life and somehow the board got wind of it and they ousted me. But I re-did my exams and got my license again about 5 years ago, so why would I have to do it all again? Then it really hits home now.... I really don't have to do it! I just remembered the truth. Wow. I don't need to panic about these exams. I don't have to do it. I'm relieved. Thank god, I didn't really want to go through that. I could have, it'd have been fine but it would have meant a lot of needless hardship.

[thornappleworld]

Forbidden Spirits

This post was a bit of a struggle for two reasons.

A werewolf gave me Covid... again.

I think this might be a novel one day. I went in thinking “short story” but it kept falling into a longer format that I'm not ready to write just now.

I've been calling the rebel group “Browncloaks” so far, as that's what everyone was wearing in the dream I had that sparked all this off.

In the dream we were rag-tag but had been at it for a while. Time has stolen details, but I remember blowing up military-style trucks with a small cell of other rebels. Very Guerrilla warfare-ish. Even smallest victories were met with celebration. I'd like to fill out the dream & write it up as a story in this setting eventually, but I must build the setting first. So I need to make Browncloaks happen.

Other influences:

I've been listening to the street poets podcast a lot lately.

I've been binging and taking notes on youtube videos about real-world historical rebellions.

Also, I'm using this as a loose prompt for faction building based on MTG colors.

Pro: Loyalty, a group made of outcasts. Found family. Rebels, benevolent anarchy.

Con: Power & control at any cost. Cult-y & playing with forces that others know better than to.

I see Galloway sending prisoners to nexus sites in places where they don't speak the language. These prisoners are for experimenting with magical stuff as they're trying to figure out the rules I previously posted. I see escapees with aid of a third group. The third group only offers them safe harbor.

I think this is the story of the Brown Cloak leader forming the group & inspiring all the rest. I used a random number generator to determine gender (45% female, 45% male,10% other). It's a girl.

I want her story to be relatable to “guests” of for-profit private prisons, but this is outside of my experience. Forgive me if I mess this up, I'll listen to any notes you may have.

I'm casting Rutina Wesley.

Book 1

Amaya Turner was arrested in her 20's. For story reasons, she legit did the crime. For reality reasons, she got a much harsher sentence than what was just. She was born in an American inner city. She didn't have a lot of options growing up & at a young age, joined a gang. The 10th Street Diamonds (or 10D) provided community and protection.

She liked to learn & she kept up with local politics; both the governmental and the street kind. If you wanted to find someone or something, she was who you needed to talk to. If she didn't know/have it, she could usually get it in a few days. She had a real talent for it & it's how she made a living. Guns, drugs, or whatever else, she's your woman if you've got the green or something to offer in trade.

She did that for years. She had a strategic mind and an absolute talent for staying out of sight. She was in the habit (low-key obsession really) of checking for cameras whenever she entered a space & avoiding them as much as possible.

Her luck, however, did run out. She was caught receiving stolen goods by way of a hidden camera. It was an open and shut case. The story should end there. Google tells me she'd be facing some time in a state prison (up to 10 years) or house of correction/county jail sentencing (up to 2.5 years) Up to $10,000 fine.

...Except that Amaya had the fateful misfortune to sit before a judge that was in ROC's pocket.

She knew something was very wrong when they loaded her and some other inmates on a bus, then a plane to travel to Europe for a “work detail”. She and inmates from other ROC prisons were clearing debris in Romania. It seemed that there was some sort of explosion that leveled a building. Before she even arrived on the scene, whoever was in charge had built a new structure where the old building used to be. Hard work, but not impossible. Finding bodies in the rubble made it harder. She'd heard that she was picking up the remains of a shoe factory, but the new building was a windowless concrete tower.

She found ways to smuggle small-time contraband into the prison & gets an underground economy going. We meet Camila Saldana Romo. She worked for a chop shop stealing cars. A member of her crew turned her in when they got busted. She comes from the same city and they'd sen each other in passing, but didn't know each other personally before. Camila convinces Amaya that they should “team up” for survival in this strange situation.

Every day, one by one, they'd take a few prisoners into the tower. They were brought to a small room like an interrogation room with a 2-way mirror on one side. Strange symbols were carved into the walls. In some spots one could see that the symbols were plastered over and new ones were in their place. They'd open a vent in the ceiling that emitted a purple-ish light. It had a feel to it like static electricity but...not.

Prisoners were told to do strange things, like see objects or events in other rooms, other buildings or even other times. Sometimes they were told to increase the heart rate of another inmate using their minds. Sometimes it was even stranger.

Amaya would pretend to do as she was told and make faces like she was focusing on whatever task she was given. (She convinces Camila to do the same). Most other prisoners legit tried to do what they were told, usually with no results. Some had nosebleeds or splitting headaches after. One went blind when they were told to read a message sealed in an envelope. Sometimes there was screaming an gunshots heard from the tower. On those days, inmates were taken out in body bags, buckets, or not at all.

To offset the reducing number of inmates, ROC brought in some fresh blood. We're introduced to Georgia Robinson. High energy, lots of personality, center-of-attention type. When she walked into a room, everyone knew it. As a kid, her parents saw that she needed something to do with all that excess energy, so they enrolled her in martial arts. She was good too, damn good. Won some awards but eventually got injured in one of the street fights she participated in for extra cash. Surgery meant painkillers. Addiction soon followed. She came to ROC because she had been caught dealing in opioids. As the withdrawal got worse, Amaya and Camila stepped up. With dwindling doses, they helped Georgia ween off. Georgia, in turn, provided protection. She took on the role of the visible queen of contraband while Amaya was happy to remain the silent partner. Camila usually served as lookout or a distraction when one was needed.

One day Amaya's cellmate, an arsonist named Leanne, told Amaya that she actually got the candle to light. When she did, they asked her a lot of questions about exactly what she was thinking and how she felt, had a doctor give her a very very thorough physical and took some blood. She got to eat first & best at dinner that night.

“Good days” happened a few more times in the three months it took to clear the debris field and turn the field into a four acre fenced-in parking lot with the tower in the center.

It dawned on the trio that ROC will never let them go. This is confirmed when some inmates' sentences are up and they aren't being released. So, the trio enlisted the aid of a few other inmates and stole a wand from a locked case in the warden's office. Leanne was convinced she could start fires with her mind. Liz, Georga's cellmate, often worked custodial duties and knew the layout of the building better than anyone, and Hannah, Camila's cellmate, because Camila refused to leave a friend behind.

The escape plan was complex, but went off really well...until it didn't. A guard on a cigarette break spotted them hopping the outer fence and sounded the alarm. Georgia stood her ground and leveled her wand at the rushing guards. Leanne and Liz were already on the other side, with Amaya still halfway to the top and climbing. The two on the outside ran for it when the floodlights came on.

The guard staring down the wand only smiles smugly and another guard shot Liz through the fence. They also shot at Leanne, but missed. She escaped. While Georgia hesitated, surprised that the wand didn't get more of a response, the guard she was targeting simply shot Amaya off the fence. With that, the escape attempt ended.

Amaya spent a few days in the infirmary. They had to dig the bullet out of her shoulder and she lost a lot of blood. ROC had already lost two subjects, they weren't willing to lose a third. It was here she met a mysterious stranger who offered her a deal (this scene takes place where hallways intersect). The stranger informs her that the wand was just a very pretty stick, set up as bait for this exact reason. He further informed her that her family was told she died in a prison riot. He offered her the knowledge that ROC was trying to gain, and with it, an opportunity to escape. She signed the contract on the spot and her lifespan was shortened.

The contract took hold immediately. She knew she has only another ten years to live, but she also now had the benefit of the experience in everything she would have learned in decades working the magical underground. As he left, the stranger told her that when her opportunity comes, go east. The van will be waiting. A gift from a friend.

A month later ROC took a handful of inmates into the tower at once, including Camila. There was screaming... some of it was even human. Semi-automatic gunshots and Topaz guards running from the tower as massive cracks appeared climbing its height.

They tried to herd the workers into prison transport buses, but it all happened so fast. A creature burst through one of the walls, tearing guards apart and ignoring its own gun shot wounds. A thirty foot tall being. Not a giant, but it looked like someone took the test group and a few guards, stripped them down, than roughly stretched and crushed them into a single humanoid shape, like an uncaring child playing with clay. With a dozen mouths it screamed pain and fury, dishing out what punishment it could on its former captors, adding them to its increasingly malformed mass. When it had killed all the brave and foolish it could catch with its hobbling gate, it went after the nearby prison. The thing smashed itself even bloodier in the process, but it knocked the several outer walls down, clearly intentionally ending its own suffering in the collapse. As she escapes, Amaya sees to her horror that its “head” is made of Camila. As she watches her friends escape, she smiles...then dies.

The tower collapsed due to the damage done by the rampaging beast. As it fell, it broke around a light that stayed fixed in position in the air, it must have been on the top floor. It was clearly the source of the purple light. It was like a tear in reality.

Amaya and a handful of others ran in the confusion. There was forest to the east after a quarter mile of open terrain. They were shot at, a few of the escapees didn't make it. Topaz guards chased them in jeeps, but it was a lot of scattering inmates.

Through the treeline another mile or so, Amaya and the others kept running until she came across a dirt service road. There was a van parked there, with forestry service logos on the sides. Our mysterious stranger is waiting in the driver's seat.

We get briefly introduced to (the next faction) the House of the Seven Winds... a black market that deals in deals... the magical kind. Amaya & Georgia opted to stay with them. Amaya worked out a deal help them move contraband in exchange for earning her years back a few at a time.

They both knew that with ROC & Topaz after them that their families were safer without her & they wanted to know who arranged for their freedom.

Book 2

Less on this one. I wrote the outline after realizing that this is a multi-story series.

It's a few years later, and Georgia is thriving in the House of the Seven Winds with Amaya remaining her silent partner and brains of the operation. They have a crew, including some former ROC inmates. They are both making deals on the crossroads for the H7W, & Amaya has used her magically advanced skill set and earned a substantial number of years back.

They still haven't learned who arranged their escape when there's an action scene wherein Topaz guards almost get them. Georgia is shot. Its treatable but rough because she refuses painkillers. A large branch of House of the Seven Winds is compromised in the shooting & has to shut down. As a result, many of their resources are cut off.

Georgia wants to use magic to evade Topaz, this call is divisive. Amaya knows this can turn real bad real fast. in the end, she concedes. Georgia brings her crew to a point off the coast of France where a nexus point exists just below the ocean surface

Besides the boat's captain who is merely present, five people are involved in the ritual. Three former ROC inmates, Georgia, and Amaya. Georgia wants invulnerability. Amaya wants to be able to turn invisible, but something comes through the nexus. It smell acrid, burning everyone's eyes & nose. There is a sound like thousands of steel pipes banging together rising through the water around the boat as it boils than freezes solid in minuets.Something bores up from the bottom of the boat, which doesn't sink due to being trapped in the ice. A a mass of slithering lights bright enough to hurt to look at roughly the size of a big dog stalks the everyone aboard one by one in a clearly intentional order with no recognizable pattern. When it gets close enough, its target's bodily fluids start to boil as everything else freezes. There is shattering after a few agonizing moments.

When it's after Amaya, Georgia attacks it, trying to buy her time to escape. For her troubles, Georgia is pulled screaming into the nexus itself. The screams stop short after a far-too-long time. The boat erupts into flame and Amaya escapes on a chunk of ice. She is the lone survivor and eventually washes up on shore.

She regains consciousness in a hospital as a Jane dough (The French version is Madame Dupont... I think). Her invisibility isn't the ideal kind. Instead of “invisible” she can only be seen by one's own eyes. Cameras & reflections show nothing at all. She casts no shadow. All attempts just show cloths floating in the air, or an entirely blurred out image. Even new memories are fuzzy like the person remembering just wasn't paying attention. It doesn't turn off. It's a gift and a curse. Also, she has the logical burns, hypothermia, & a concussion.

Her sort-of invisibility is noticed fairly quickly in the hospital. Calls are made and the Galloway group takes notice. They come for her, but using her new-found ability, she escapes... at one point wrapping in a stolen brown blanket and pretending to be homeless, blending perfectly into the background.

A year later

She's leading a Guerrilla-style offensive against Galloway, freeing prisoners & generally being a nuisance. They use brown cloaks as a sort-of uniform. (think Jedi, this bit came from the dream)

She knows well that magic is hard to use and that it's dangerous, so she keeps the secret, but also serves as a guide and uses it as a weapon.

She is the forbidden spirit.

Book 3 will likely be a re-telling of the original dream, but updated to reflect the lore I'm building in this blog. A love story with two members of different cells withing the Forbidden Spirits. Also, I'd like to explore more of Amaya's story.

Also, I think the Yellowheads funded her escape. Who are they? Stay tuned.

I'm legit not sure when a woman's prison became my sort-of Hogwarts, but I may just expand on that idea.

As always, I'd love peer review. Shitty works are written in a vacuum & I want to be better.

#Thornapple #Fantasy #Urban Fantasy #contemporary fantasy #Prison #Contract #WIP #Eldritch #Cosmic Horror #Horror