#i have a bunch more videos that i'll share at some point

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

miles kane, swg3 glasgow 01/02/2024

oh my god oh my GOD i don't even know where to start. last night was hands down not just one of the best gigs of my life, but one of the best nights of my life full stop. it's twenty four hours later and my heart just feels so full and i still can't stop smiling with pure happiness 🥹 i've been to a LOT of gigs over the years, and a lot of those have been really amazing gigs too - but this one. wow. there was truly just something so special about this one that i know i'll carry with me for a long time to come 💗

i feel like i could ramble endlessly about all the things that made it so incredible (i.e. literally everything), so to try and avoid writing an actual essay, here are a few bullet points of my favourite things:

being right in the front row was AMAZING for obvious reasons, but also because of the number of times miles made eye contact with me and smiled at me as he was singing 😭 (naturally any time this happened i smiled back like a total idiot and forgot all the words) me and the lovely human i was there with were the only ones at the barrier who were really getting into it at the start, and i got the sense he loved seeing how much we were loving being there 💗

miles just has the most incredible energy ✨ that's absolutely something you pick up from listening to his music, watching interview etc - but it's quite something else to experience in person. the moment he walks into a room he just gives off such good vibes and such warmth. there's such a sense of groundedness to him as well as all the amazing passion, and also idk. i feel like in person you can really feel the sensitivity and vulnerability that's so present in his music too. he truly lights up a room and just has such a knack for holding everyone captive 💫

getting to witness miles being overwhelmed and unable to stop smiling at how enthusiastic the crowd was truly wonderful 🥹 you could just *feel* how much it all meant to him, and watching him get all the love and appreciation he deserves was just magic 💖

at the end, he came down into the crowd towards me and was making direct eye contact and then he FUCKING SPOKE TO ME??????? 😭 i was too dazed to actually take in what he was saying (i'm pretty sure it was something along the lines of "i like your necklace" but honestly who knows lol), and it was very brief because naturally i wasn't the only person in the crowd he was saying hi to, but fucking HELL. i was totally, totally unprepared 😭 i then had the privilege of a sweaty miles kane leaning over me to high five the people behind me, and i held his hand and - yeah. it was all so truly surreal that i might think i'd imagined it if it wasn't for the fact i can literally see the moment in this video 😭

i was there with @perfectly-clear-from-here and we were both just utterly ECSTATIC after the show, it was amazing getting to share the sheer giddy joy of all that with one of the loveliest humans i know 💜

and then of course (as if all of that wasn't already enough to make it the most wonderful night), we MET MILES after the show 😭😭 i've already rambled about that here so i won't do it again, but - yeah. let's just say he truly is the most wonderful person with the loveliest energy, and he is so easy to be around 🥹

the last six months or so have not been easy ones for me, and this felt like the most wonderful break in the clouds that just - idk. really restored me to myself. it was so special to get to experience live so many of the amazing songs that have got me through and been such a comfort in the difficult times, and i am just so endlessly grateful to miles for his courage in creating and sharing all that he shares 💗

**please do not repost my photos without permission**

#sorry for posting so much about the show but i am just SO STUPIDLY HAPPY 🥹🥹 #i have a bunch more videos that i'll share at some point #including the most beautiful and heartfelt 'don't forget who you are' 💗 #AHHHHHHHHHH #it was quite honestly the most perfect experience i could have dreamed of 💖 #just look at his happy little face 🥹 #i'm so so glad to have been able to help make him feel the impact of his music and how utterly cherished it is by so many people 💗 #(please forgive me and my soppiness - i haven't come down from my post gig high yet 😭) #miles kane #one man band #omb tour #omb era #mk glasgow 2024 #my show #lulu posts

[dapg-otmebytheballs]

All or Nothing and lowave records

Strap in because this is gonna be a long one. This post will try to shed some light on how the whole lowave records thing works, how you can use this music, how it is being distributed, and what all a contract with lowave would include. All this and more below the cut!

Let us start with the basics: What is lowave records?

Quite succinctly summed up on their website as follows:

They make and distribute royalty-free music for content creators - specifically video-format content creators like Youtubers and streamers - they share some streaming revenue (30%, we'll get into that) with the creators who are labelled 'co-artists' and get promotion of their music through the content creators.

So, that brings us to the next big question: What is royalty-free music?

This is music that is free to use. Yes, by anyone, by Dan and Phil, by other creators, by you and me, any of us. This is by no means a new thing of course, anyone who has created content online would have come across other such services. just as an example, bensound.com hosts a large library of royalty-free music which you can use in any video by simply crediting the site in your description. Lowave works in a similar fashion. The music is not copyrighted. However, the rights to the music are held by lowave records and there are limitations on its use, which we will get into ahead.

How is the money working (preliminary edition)?

I will add details to this later when I discuss the contract, but let's see the info we get straight away from the FAQs: You do not have to pay them anything to make music for you

The money is coming in from the streaming platforms, depends completely on amount of streams, and is shared between lowave and the creators

Also from the FAQs: how can this music be used?

Anyone can freely use any of the music from lowave records, which means that yes, you can use any music from All or Nothing for your purposes with credit, it will not be taken down

Is this the only music we will hear on dapg now? Will there be more albums?

Not necessarily! This isn't an exclusive deal, DnP can use any music they want on the channel. As for new albums, seems like it depends on how this one does (and it seems to be doing quite well!) which will unlock future avenues for more collabs with lowave

Okay BASICS DONE if you're still reading you're probably here for the real meat so let us get into it

How is the money working (director's cut)?

Let us start with the terms on the partner agreement:

Content Creators get 30% of the 'remaining income'. This basically means any costs that streaming platforms are deducting, any processing fees, taxes etc will be deducted before the 30% share is calculated. The second point there basically means that the deductions here do not include business expenses of the label itself, ie when the label calculates its own profit production costs and various other expenses are deducted from the income, but these costs will not affect the revenue received by the content creators (You are probably already thinking 'how is this company earning enough to keep going?' and I will touch on that later as well)

Payment installments are simple enough but here we see a third party enter the chat: DistroKid. Who is DistroKid and why are payments going through them, Hazel? I hear you ask. Well I'll tell you dear readers:

It is basically a service that takes a yearly fee for putting your music on streaming platforms efficiently and then pockets 0% of the royalties. The royalties go from the streaming services (eg Spotify) to DistroKid who then send it to the rights-holders (in this case, lowave records). lowave records is using this service for a yearly fee to upload all their music through.

But wait! If DistroKid is working with lowave, and lowave owns all the rights, why is DistroKid making direct payments to the content creators?

Well, over the years they have offered a bunch of services:

I am guessing lowave is making use of the teams feature to send royalties owed to content creators ("collaborators") directly from Diskworld, which makes sense, the less people money goes through the less chances of mishandling.

People have of course been talking about what percentage Spotify even pays for many many years. The short answer: we don't know for sure because it is confidential, Spotify won't tell and artists aren't allowed to. The longer answer: people have estimated from a bunch of publically available data that the share seems to be 70-30 (rights-holders- spotify).

However spotify is not paying per stream anymore so that makes these figures harder to pin down. they are using a 'streamshare' system which is much more convoluted:

That was all about the money, now let's talk Licensing

Creators can use this music in any capacity, and do not have to share any of the revenue from their own content with lowave. They have put a stipulation that it may not be used in a way that is "illegal, immoral, discriminatory or derogatory to [lowave]" but what constitutes 'immoral' and 'discriminatory' is not really defined.

The other limitation applies to the contracted Content Creators only as far as I can tell: they are not allowed to remix, sample, or edit these songs without prior permission. This probably only applies to altering the songs and playing under the same name, so fan remixes should not run into issues here, as long as they are not monetised. (thanks kate @goldenpinof for making me think about this part a bit more, I think it should be safe, but even royalty free music cannot be transformed without permission at least in a commercial capacity)

They will also make more music free of cost if the streaming targets they set are being met by the albums produced. The process:

Other services they provide will be handling the creator's account which they set up (DanAndPhilBeats in this case) on streaming platforms and making changes as required, so the Cheeky Banter -> Project X thing was probably done from their end, possibly an older change that they forgot to update?

Also below are promotional obligations:

The promotion wasn't a one-time thing, it is expected to be ongoing, so we will probably be hearing about this in future videos as well. However, later in the partner agreement it is added that this has to be done as often as possible in a way that is "natural and appealing to their audience" which again, is pretty vague wording

Also the licensing goes both ways, so lowave can also use segments of the content DnP make that has the music in the background to promote their music:

Additional stuff from the contract:

lowave takes the guarantee of creating original works that it has the rights to and which do not infringe on copyrights, and the creators likewise take the guarantee not use the songs in content which infringes copyright. If there are any disputes regarding such infringement in the future the record and the creators have to back each other up (including sharing legal fees)

I mentioned before some parts of the agreement being written in vague language. There is also a clause that says if any provision ends up being illegal/not possible to enforce by a court (eg if a court were to it's impossible to say whether content featuring the songs was 'immoral') then only that provision will be removed, the rest of the contract stands.

The waiver part basically means that if any of the parties decide to not sue or forgo a complaint about breach of contract, that does not mean that those provisions are now unavailable, they can still sue later on or for some other breach if they wish.

That's the contracts done. Some of the framing there makes it seem to me like it's a pretty small company. The revenue they hope to generate does not seem to be very sustainable, especially since the revenue is being shared with content creators but the cost is not and they are additionally paying for other services like DistroKid.

So I looked more into this record label: they started business in 2022. If you go to their socials though, twitter and instagram they have followers in double digits and post very sparsely. Their tiktok seems to have nothing on it at all (thanks @lesbiandanhowell for the screenshot) and you may have noticed, Dan did not tag the lowave account at all when he announced the album on twitter

The agreement never mentions creators promoting lowave's social channels or tagging them either (and it is quite odd, I have worked with a bunch of organisations in their infancy and this is, now more than ever, a common requirement from collaborators). lowave records does not seem to be actively working towards promoting themselves on social media or building an online presence, even though they have been operational two years producing music throughout.

There are three people involved with the company on public record:

Benjamin Johnson listed as 'Head of Production' is probably the 'Ben' Dan has been talking about who made the songs. Seems like their scale of operations is not very big and possibly not a lot of producers in the records at all (despite the spotify page saying they have 'producers' plural, but that doesn't have to mean a lot many lol). Anyway, that would solve the mystery of 'how are they playing their employees?' if there aren't many employees to begin with (not even an intern to manage their social media it seems).

Look at the last person in the screenshots though: Robin. I looked at what other companies Robin is associated with and several of them - yeah several different operations that he's involved in - have the same correspondence address of '60 Thorpe Road...', so probably operating out of a ghost office (just to have a registered address and receive mail at etc). And one of these businesses that Robin is associated with is RWD, the business that made lowave records' website for them:

The no-cost production of royalty-free music, little attention to social media presence, vaguely written contract, seemingly small scale of operations with technical assistance like website design coming from an affiliated organisation makes me think that lowave records might be a side project. A labour of love, possibly, hoping to sustain itself enough to keep putting out royalty-free music in a time of extreme crackdown on copyrighted music use.

It makes sense to use content creators for promotion, gets you way more streaming than making your own music and putting it out. And the incentive of unique but guaranteed royalty free music at no cost is great for content creators of all sizes. It is far from sustainable on its own though, especially with streaming revenue being basically peanuts, and I do not think there's much interest in gaining a following or putting in that effort either, so it's probably a very small business by a few people. How long it manages to sustain itself as a project I am not sure, but it certainly isn't looking like something particularly geared towards profit and growth in its current state.

We are at an end! If you read this far, leave me like an A+ or a star for my essay so I can have academic validation from this please. Of course I probably have not covered everything possible in connection to this so if anyone has more info feel free to add on! And if this was all very long and there's something particular you wanted to know you can drop an ask into the inbox about it!

Thank you for coming with me on this journey! Back to the important things, which was your favourite song from the album? I think mine is Arcade Admission

#dnp #dan and phil #dnpgames #dan and phil games #meta #? #all or nothing #lowave records #dan howell #phil lester

[oracle-of-dream]

Submissive and huh?

Minors DNI

Summary: Your friend Taerae recently learned a new term and wants your thoughts. Explaining it might help him understand properly, but do you have the strength to tell him.

Warnings: Male Reader, Idol Taerae, Student Reader, Lewd faces/Ahegao, Mention of arousal and breeding

Wordcount: 1.2k

Math classes had been kicking your ass all semester and tutoring from the professor wasn't working out. You'd ended up being assigned a study partner. The program was meant for students struggling with the class to help each other. That's how you met Taerae. 

He didn't originally introduce himself as an idol, especially since it was an online class. No one had seen his face. But when you met up with him for the first time to study together, you instantly recognized him from TV. You hit it off over a shared hate for math and spent more time together outside class.

He'd complain about his idol life issues and you'd give him any notes from class he'd missed.

You'd just gotten home from a late-night study session at the library. As if it knew, your phone lit up with a text as you sat on your bed.

TR: Yo! Y/N, I met some fans while out with the members today!

YN: Cool. Don't you meet fans wherever you go?

TR: Well these stuck out!

YN: How?

TR: Well, I noticed them, a bunch of guys, giggling in the convenience store and pointing at me and Hao while we were shopping. I didn't want to embarrass them so I just played it cool and ignored them. But then they came up to me!

YN: Okay, some brave fans? That's it?

TR: Just wait a sec! 

TR: They came to me and told me they were fans. But more specifically, MY fans! Of course, I was happy to hear, but they were foreigners because they used a term I didn’t know.

YN: What term?

TR: Submissive and Breedable?

TR: I know what submissive means, they mean I'm not an aggressive person. That's not entirely true, but I'm submissive at times.

You looked at your phone, blinking a few times. Some "fans" dared to say that!?

TR: I can't find anything when I look it up, it's probably slang, right?

Maybe telling him that his fans want to breed him wasn't the best thing to tell your friend. He was just too wholesome for that.

YN: Yeah, it is, but it's not something cool. No one says it really, it's not the trend anymore.

TR: Really? I know trends, I'm not old, but I haven’t heard of that.

YN: See? There's no reason to worry, just fans being weird.

TR: Well, the photo they wanted was also...off.

YN: Off how?

TR: They wanted me to stick my tongue out and look up at the camera, which was super high above me. To be honest–it felt a little embarrassing to pose like that.

You shook your head trying not to imagine his cute self making lewd faces for a group of boys, but it was hard. And so were you.

YN: You should be more careful, they could use photos like that weirdly.

TR: What do you mean?

YN: Let's drop it. Subject change, what are you doing now?

TR: I'm getting ready for bed, I just got under the covers.

You looked at the clock, midnight was on its face.

YN: Oh shit, I didn't even realize. You should sleep!

TR: No, no, I'm pretty awake. Plus, it's nice talking to you. Did you want to video call while you get ready for bed?

You’d done it before, talking on video call into the night, but it was always a little like Taerae just wanted to see you.

YN: Sure, I'll call you.

You pressed the video call button on your phone. It showed your reflection as you waited, automatically you straightened your hair a little and kicked some stuff on the floor out of frame.

Taerae answered the phone with a smile, the camera close to his face.

You laughed as you set your phone on your desk, "Well hello to you too, why so close?"

"No reason, I just want to see you closely."

"Well, I can see you so closely I can count your pores," You scoffed as you went into your closet to find pajamas for the night.

"Is it weird I'm holding it so close?"

"A little, but it's no big deal. If you don't wanna show yourself then why'd you wanna video call?"

Taerae didn't answer.

"Are you still thinking about what those guys said?"

He shuffled in bed, "Mmhm."

"I promise it's nothing bad."

"Then why don't you just tell me?"

You sighed, "Okay, fine, I'll spill."

Taerae's eyes peered curiously at the camera as he waited for you to come out of your closet. You settled on wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt and shorts. You returned to find Taerae's eyes filled with impatience.

You swallowed awkwardly, "You already know what the submissive part means, but the other part..."

"Breedable," Taerae reminded you.

"Yeah–It means," You struggled to find a good way to break it to him with that look in his eyes. So full of trust and purity. "It means, they wanna do it with you."

Taerae's expression dropped into surprise, "Oh, that's it? I read about that kind of stuff of fans wanting me to have sex with them. That's not so bad."

"Well, breedable means, specifically where you'd be the one getting fucked. Likely by a man. Who wants to... finish in you."

You couldn't bring yourself to look at the screen to see his expression. He'd fallen silent, thinking of a response. It felt like ten minutes passed until he broke the silence.

Taerae's voice was deep and serious, "Y/n."

"Yeah?"

"Look at the screen." You looked at the screen to see Taerae in bed, holding the camera above him to show off his shirtless torso that was mostly covered by the bed sheet except for his collarbone and neck. "Am I breedable right now?"

You felt warm in your face as you answered, "Yeah, I-I guess."

"Submissive, too?"

"Sure," You said as you looked down at your hands.

"Yes or no! Sure isn't good enough, and look at me!"

You complied, looking at him. He smiled before making a face; his eyes looking up at the camera as he stuck out his tongue and held up a peace sign with his other hand.

"Jesus, Taerae!" You looked away quickly. Your heart was in your ears, pounding as the image of sweet Taerae's lewd face was plastered behind your eyelids.

He laughed loudly. "I am, aren't I? Submissive and breedable. I take it as a compliment, they like me that much! To be honest, you look all shy... You look a little submissive too."

You moved your phone so he couldn't see you anymore.

"I was kidding! Don't hide from me!" Taerae's muffled voice shouted from the speaker of your phone. 

After you calmed down, you turned your phone back over to see him still there. Still shirtless, and holding his phone at the same seductive angle.

"You're so weird!" You yelled at Taerae, who just giggled.

"And you still like me anyway. Even with all my breedable energy."

"I'm going to hang up–"

"What!? We gotta see you do the pose too, what if you're more breedable than me, we should test how–"

You cut him off as you pressed the red dial button. You turned your phone off before he could call you again. You lay in bed, alone in the dark, thinking about Taerae's face.

And in the privacy of your home, you test if you can also feel submissive and breedable, making Taerae's new iconic look. A secret he'll never know about... As if you didn't already have a big secret.

#oracle of dreams #kpop x male reader #kpop x male reader smut #x reader #x male reader #x male y/n #male reader #kpop male idol #kpop male reader #zb1 #zb1 x reader #zb1 taerae #kim taerae #taerae x reader #zerobaseone taerae #taerae smut

[choochooboss]

Submas sketchdump! Vol. 1

April-June 2022

Literally dumping all the presentable works as promised, whether I'm proud of them or not! This is where I started, even before the first thing I posted online (That subway station one). Many of these are not on Twitter yet so there's lots to see!

The top piece above the header is my very first digital Submas artwork!! I never finished it bc I didn't know how to pull my vision of as I wanted & started modeling the train and didn't finish that either, whoops! I really want to remake this later and make it super cool!

^^^ My reaction to breaking 500 likes & 100 followers in a single day with my first tweet (the battle subway one) all the way back in May!! I was completely floored by all the attention, oh how it skyrocketed my excitement and anxiety! Crazy times, I was so super nervous to be there with so many amazing artists and doubted if I could ever survive there ahahah!! Many had joined the community much much earlier than me, so I had arrived with a late train to PLA/neo Submas hype!

Next up is a bunch of stuff I haven't posted before:

One of my fav sketches! Been saving this for so long bc I really really want to finish this one day!

One of the first submas sketches with an actual story behind it! The subway bosses are running late for their flight because they didn't pass the safety check! The irony!! This would never happen as bosses are always on schedule. But Emmet hadn't noticed a wild Joltik hiding under his coat, so he set up the alarm and they got examined and interrogated of smuggling! How embarrassing for them! The bosses resolved the situation by catching the Joltik, but will they be able to catch their flight anymore?? Maybe if Elesa can distract the stuerts performing the safety protocol for a minute!

More sketchbook stuff...

In case you can't make any sense of it, Emmet's dreaming of different combinations of pokémon. Meanwhile Ingo snores louder than the train! HONK SHOO!

Top 7 every submas fan draws at some point!

Submas trademark posing

submas sleeping in a train

sad Emmet

Emmet with Joltik

Ingo with a cool solo pose

Emmet being chaotic & Ingo reacting to it

a bunch of mirrored submas poses

I sure have a full bingo card lmao, most of them you can see here XD

Next up is a sad man...

Stay strong our friends!

My typical sketchbook pages, crammed and messy as usual. x)

Post-PLA exploration:

A few examples of how my pencil sketches evolve.

I've done so much art experimenting with submas. I really like this black & white painting but I don't think I'll finish it anytime soon.

Where did you go?

The way I draw the twins' faces has changed a lot. They started with softer features and somewhat neutral emotions, because I wasn't as familiar with them or comfortable drawing them yet. Now there's hundreds of submas sketches, and they still keep evolving! My style is also kinda hard to pull off well, so their features differ from picture to picture.

This one was inspired by some submas music videos, can't recall their names anymore. The glowing eerie eyes and yellow&orange + black&white color schemes were neat!

I keep telling myself I need to draw more butlers, these twinks look so lean and neat and have more color and are posh with their monocles and have fun tailcoats!

(...why eyeglasses are not called binocles??)

I was there for the vinegar chaos. Good times!

That's all for now, I hope you got something fun out of this! Still got loads more art to share but I'll save them for another time. Next round I'll bring in my first submas comic!

#submas #sbms #submas ingo #submas emmet #pokemon ingo #pokemon emmet #subway boss ingo #subway boss emmet #ingo and emmet #sketch dump #chandelure #archeops #sinistea #submas butlers #butler ingo #butler emmet #too many ideas #butlermas

[theotherseapancakes]

Psssst. You mentioned no one cares about Philemon, but now I'm curious if you have any thoughts about his role in the games after he disappeared. And for sillies sake, does he have anything to do with the Dance games?

I have been waiting my entire life for this. Anon do you realize how verbose I'm going to get. DO YOU REALIZE? I hope you like read mores. Let me preface this with I am aware and have seen some popular theories, so I'm going to sidestep a lot of them and present one I've built since... well, I became a Persona fan as a teenager. MAJOR PERSONA SERIES SPOILERS LIKE THE ENTIRE THING OK? OK. yes even royal.

The P2 PSP additional scenario is so incredibly important and I think everyone missed the point of it. THE PERSONA 2 PSP ADDITIONAL TATSUYA SCENARIO!!!! It's beyond important, because it reveals to us Philemon can have more than one Avatar we know about, just like Nyarly. (Casual reminder he's like half the shopkeeps in P2. Time Count, anyone? Why was the Time Count so hot. Anyway.) Disclaimer: I'm just a casual fan who has played a LOT of Persona and SMT. I haven't gotten around to all of them, but I've played/finished both paths of 1, 2, 3 (and p3p) as well as 4 and 5. Didn't manage to get my hands on Golden but I've seen enough of it. (It's funny you ask about the dance games, they're the only ones I don't have right now! But my roommate does, and will be gone for a few months soon, perhaps I will take the time to start with p4DAN. I'm atrocious at rhythm games though so more than likely I'll find a video. Anyway.) WHAT is Philemon? If we can't define that, we can't talk about The Positivity Guy Ever.

So let's talk about Phil. He's a fascinating character. His Persona is just a form of Himself, But Cooler. And he seems to HAVE no set shape, not unlike Nyarlathotep. People have various theories about Shadows and their origins etc., but Phil is more like that vote of confidence in people. I think, personally, that after the end of Innocent Sin, Phil's been pretty weak. We see in Eternal Punishment he's fading pretty roughly, and has a hard time talking to the party. Presumably ending Nyarly might to some degree fix things when Deja-vu Boy goes home, but... the problem is, we don't know how fixed they truly ended up being, or the full depth of how much he could/did expend!

In fact, the first time we even see Phil without the dumb mask is when Tatsuya decks him. Pay close attention to that fact. To the mask motifs here. I want you to really soak in Phil's everything. He's a leader. A kind soul. He's the good of people. He wants to believe the best.

Anyway, most of these things overlook what I find really interesting as we've gotten more games worth of lore: he and Nyarly aren't the only eldritch entities walking around like that. Yes, Nyx is one too. Yes, it's probable she may even be their 'mom'. It's possible they all came from Nyx initially, but it's also possible (and should be considered) they too may have been outsiders at one point. We need to ask ourselves how far the human collective unsconsciousness can go. Is that sea infinite? Could it affect other worlds? Think about Aion in Devil Summoner Soul Hackers 2. Yes, I am asking you to think about Soul Hackers 2. Deal with it, I don't care. They're sister series. They share many things. SO! Did the shape of the human mind change a bunch of eldritch creatures and make them interact with us even more after Nyx smacked the moon a gazillion years ago? Is there multiple worlds? Weird bullshit? Just the two? Hmm. Well... I, personally, think so. I think he was touched by humanity just like Nyarlathotep, but in the other way. The reason I bring this up is two-fold. The first is Nodens. Now, we don't know much about the actual Nodens, unfortunately, just some speculation. Which is a shame. (If anyone has more info I'd love to have it, ngl. As a pagan this shit fascinates me.) But what we do get on him in Lovecraftian lore can provide us some intriguing possibilities about Phil's everything, which the games love to keep really rather vague. (And this is putting aside that his human Persona is based off the obviously bogus Jungian Spirit Guide, but we love an old guy in a mask anyway. He probably felt that was more 'friendly' for humans, hah.) I believe that Nodens, and Phil by extension, are just as responsible for nurturing and keeping the collective unconsciousness alive and positive. We see the butterfly symbol everywhere. We see it with Lavenza, too. "This is truly an unjust game." So was the bet Phil made with Nyarly, a game he rigged. Phil made the mistake of thinking the Crawling Chaos wouldn't cheat, a mistake he is never making again, I assume, if he can help it. Shit, you could view his boss fight in P2EP as him trying to train the EP crew to beat the snot out of Nyarly, even. But off topic. If Nyarly is basically the father of all Shadows, and they and Personas are the same coin, it makes me wonder a lot of things. The two have always been portrayed as simultaneously diametrically opposed, but also not? They have identical halls in P2. They have similar powers and talents... I think after Persona 3, Phil's remnants sank into the Collective Unconsciousness, to attempt to rehabilitate humanity from what it lost, from what he himself lost. I think Igor took over the room, because he took a backseat to recover. It would go a long, long way towards explaining why only SOME characters have the tier of the Wild Card, which is similar to the 'original' Persona power. (Having multiple.) He was took weak to remain in his Spirit Guide (Philemon) form, and had to abandon it to return to the depths as Nodens... So. Let me go back to Nodens and make some notes about design.

Nodens, as seen here, sort of resembles an iron maiden. It really brings to mind the idea of maybe Tatsuya or someone's humanoid form sleeping within it, doesn't it? Fitting for an aspect of Philemon! ... You probably can see where I'm going with this, but let me pull up some screens to finish the point:

That's right! It's Azathoth, Baby! I believe that unlike mythology, he's yet another aspect of Philemon. Eldritch positivity, in too much force, could be used for accidental bad, too. (Reasons Maruki is my favorite Law Hero, haha.) Let me explain. I think Philemon always existed in... let's call it parts. Azathoth is said to be a dreaming god in whom's universe we all just happen to be alive inside, right? "Dream of butterfly" (Philemon) "Or is life a dream? Don't wanna wake up. Cuz I'm happy here." That sure is thematic to what Maki goes through in Persona 1, and what Maruki's beloved suffers, isn't it? ISN'T IT. The "true reality" he creates... would help Maruki create in the additional Semester--would be something most humans would never pass the muster to even try to control. But we have seen Phil test a few people and find them worth passing before! However, that seems like ages ago. Why has he been so quiet? I think because he was spending time conserving his energy. He believed in humanity enough to give Makoto a push when it was needed in p3 (or femc, if you play her), but otherwise trusted Igor while he restored what needed it. But in Persona 5 Royal, he hand-picked Maruki, didn't he? At first, when I played Persona 5 Royal, I really thought it was some part of Nyarly, but I no longer believe this to be the case. The coloration and symbolism in the background (the golds, the whole garden of eden themes, the way his Palace was laid out), the whole sea of soul motifs in P3Re later... mmm. I have a lot of thoughts about this, but this post is already way too long for one simple ask. So let's wrap up by going one step further and looking finally at Nodens' dialogue to the party in the Extra Scenario in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSP). The following is a transcript, you can find a video here:

Nodens: This is the memory of the lost child whom you all seek. Nodens: Memory occasionally brings about much distress and suffering, but it is absolutely vital to distinguish oneself from others and manufacture one's own psyche. Nodens: Ever since it began, life's memory has accumulated unbroken, passing through individual experiences and spanning several generations. Nodens: And so it has given shape to Kadath and the Collective Unconsciousness, thereby becoming a foundation for the next generation. Nodens: Even if the roots of the world are directed by fear and anxiety, never forget that the true essence of life is brimming with joy. Nodens: You must not stop seeking the answer for why life was born in a cosmos progressing towards absurdity and chaos. Nodens: Life brims with joy, bringing about balance in a universe predestined to heat death, and that allows the world to live a long time.

So to answer your question, I think he's taken a much subtler role. I think he's influencing people by pretending to be a Persona for Maruki, because he believes it will help them grow. I don't think he was intending a forever-control vice grip, but rather to prove a point. No matter what, the primordial chaos of humanity will rise up for chaotic good, lawful good, whatever "good" is needed. Azathoth is... interesting. Adam Kadmon is also interesting. But mostly I HIGHLY suspect we may see him again in Persona 6, or at least I'm hoping so. It's my personal pet theory by then he'll be less faded and come back to us in a new form of some kind. He's never had a set one, after all. Now for funsies about the dancing game, well, he's a positive guy, he wanted to just make sure everyone had their fitness regimen checked off. Obviously. (This is a joke.) Did the devs intend this? I'm honestly not sure? Like there's a lot of nods to older Personas in 5 and now 3RE especially, but it's definitely worth chewing on. I could go on and on about things I think he's connected to, but ultimately they have the final say lol. I'm just a crackpot conspiracy theorist on tumblr who really likes Philemon. He and the Room are my favorites. :) Ask me about attendants for additional dumb, sometime, I guess lol.

#persona #persona 1 #persona 2 #persona 3 #persona 4 #persona 5 #persona spoilers #p5r #philemon #persona 2 innocent sin #persona 2 eternal punishment #nodens #text #long post; #SORRY NOT SORRY THIS IS ONE OF MY ETERNAL BRAINROT QUESTIONS HERE #I live and breathe overthinking SMTPersona

[ilovecoelacanths]

This is a story about a book that changed my life.

It's also about how amazing libraries and authors and people who care about sharing cool things with curious kids are. Also, fish (especially fish). It's kind of different than what I usually post but it's been bouncing around in my head basically since I started this blog so here you go, I hope you like it. This is the reason I love coelacanths so much, and why I think everyone should know about how amazing they are.

When I was little, I loved going to the library. My little brother and I would pick out way too many books and the librarians always had to come over to override the 30 book limit at the checkout stand (they pretty much knew us on sight and were ready to override it as soon as we started heading over to check out). After we finished getting our library books, our mom also let us look through the free pile that was in the foyer on the way out. It was mostly old library books that the librarians just needed to clean out, but there were a lot of books that people brought when they cleaned out their personal collections too (especially teachers, and there were a bunch of books with old school library stamps inside). The free pile didn't usually have a lot of things that interested me, but one day when I was poking through it I found a book called Fossil Fish Found Alive: Discovering the Coelacanth, by Sally M. Walker.

I loved it. I had never even heard of coelacanths before, but this book fascinated me. It told the story of an incredible animal, long thought to be extinct, that had somehow survived for millions of years! It was nothing like any fish I had ever learned about before. I already had a casual interest in marine biology that I can thank PBS Kids and Wild Kratts for (particularly their episode on sperm whales and giant squid, I loved that episode), but this book took it to a new level. I wanted to be a marine biologist so I could learn more about coelacanths.

Like a lot of things when you're 7, that was a phase. Unlike a lot of phases, this one I came back to. After taking a break from my dreams of being a marine biologist to experience the hell that is middle school, one day I pulled a book off my shelf. I hadn't read it in a while. When I picked it up again, I remembered how incredible this animal was, and how much it had inspired me when I was younger, and those thoughts of becoming a marine biologist started to return. I'm in college now studying marine science, and I brought the book with me to school, where it sits next to two other science books that have inspired me (My Friends the Wild Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall and The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson).

Earlier this year, I was thinking about how much this one book had changed my life and I wondered if I could find Ms. Walker and thank her. I knew she had many other science books for younger audiences, and even another book about coelacanths, so I was sure she had a website of some kind, and I was right. So I found her contact page and wrote her an email explaining the impact her book had had on my life, and thanking her for it. And to my surprise, she responded! She was very kind and we sent a few emails back and forth. She gave me some excellent advice and even told me about some of the people she contacted while researching her book, including Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer herself, the person who rediscovered the coelacanth when it was thought to be extinct! I'll never forget how she took the time to respond to me and how encouraging she was.

But Ms. Walker isn't the only one I have to thank for pointing me toward the path I'm on right now. If I hadn't already loved reading, if I hadn't seen any show or video to make me interested in marine biology, if the library didn't have a pile of books for anyone to take home, if I had lost that book during one of our many moves as a kid, I don't know what I'd be doing right now. There were a lot of things that happened to make it so that I found this book, but I'm glad for every single one of them. They led to me learning about an incredible animal and changed the course of my life. And now, I love coelacanths.

#long post #bee talks #my post #coelacanth #i love coelacanths #omg guys its the long awaited ilovecoelacanths backstory post #it came out kinda sappy lmao but whatever im gonna post it even though its so cheesy #ugh i hate being genuine and showing emotion on the internet it makes me feel so cringe. but whatever. cringe is dead so #also wow look at that i actually CAN use real grammar when i want to #not a single smiley face emoticon in this whole post. why did i do that. i like my little guys #here. here's one. :]

[theemporium]

okay so streamer sluts...

i don't know how streaming works at all but maybe they all have their little shared streaming room with all of their little set ups and like reader just hangs out in the room with them while they all stream. they build a little cozy corner a little cozy corner for her with a plush couch with lots of pillows and blankets, and pretty lights, and a bookshelf 😭😭 maybe they have a reader cam and she reads and is like giving live reactions or maybe she's playing something on her switch like animal crossing and she's showing them her island (or she's playing good pizza, great pizza shout out to my fave cozy game). i think out of all of them charles is most likely to not stream and curl up next to reader while the other two are streaming and she puts their blanket over their legs and tucks it into his side 🥹🥹

or maybe she's streams too and she has their set up alongside them. the way they all gather around to watch her. have you seen that picture of a mom helping her kids beat a video game and all of them crowded around her are crowded around her, the one that reads like a renaissance painting? it's giving that. i think out of all of them max is the most likely to backseat game. like if she's playing some kind of shooting game he's looking over her shoulder and telling her "schatje, there's a guy on your left" and she has to bat him away so he'll stop getting all up in her business. all while lando drapes himself over her and is like "come on maxie, our girl's got this" so she has to bat HIM away and now charles has two pouty boyfriends on his hands

and also the way they goad each other on. the way they all shit talk each other. the absolutely hilarity of one of them saying "say that to my face" and the other getting out of their chair to in fact say it to his face. or like the way they'll turn their heads away from the mic to say the things they don't want chat to hear, "i'll blow you if you let me win" "i am NOT that desperate for a blowjob" "okay, well how about some blow?" "we are high performance athletes" "but likee we're on break" "i can't even with you"

(there's more but i give up at this point idk)

-🌠

streamer sluts, my beloved idiots<3

honestly everyone just assumes she’s not that competitive because she doesn’t really stream with them, and when she does it’s for more casual/chilled out games. but the truth is that she’s the worst of them all😭she gets so aggressive and angry and worked up and it’s genuinely caused her to give them the silent treatment if she loses because she’s a little petty like that

but the way all four of them are undeniably clingy. the way they just wanna curl up on each other when one is gaming and the other isn’t, it’s actually ridiculous the amount of the clips you’ll find of them online😭

I also fully believe she’s the worst out of the bunch to use blowjobs as a bargaining tool. she definitely pulls the card. she’s definitely not above flashing them behind the camera to sabotage them. she’s a dirty player but they love it and if anyone gets to her level, it’s definitely max which is why he’s probably her biggest competition sgshsbzjsbsn

#cece answers #charlandax.thots #🌠.anon

[bogleech]

Dearest Bog,

First off, thank you! You've been my main source of biology and horror articles for years, along with having a super unique art style and aesthetic sense that I really like :)

Gushing-aside, I've noticed a trend these last few years of less emphasis on the whole months-long halloween thing. Not that you don't have enough contributions under your belt already, but i was just curious how you prioritize this stuff, how much you value the planning stages before jumping into new projects, if at all, and the direction you might want to take your site in the future, if you're able to answer that.

Apologies if this has already been explained in detail, been a follower of yours for years, but not exactly the most consistent one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Maybe it's the ADHD, but basically my mind is a non-stop hurricane of things I'd like to do or create, all the time, to the point that there's not enough time in even a whole human lifespan to give all of them the attention I'd want. Sharing the silly things that inspire me is really fun and I have a constant urge to do it, but my usual level of Halloween updating is as much work as a full time job; even a short little article on some goofy things I saw in a store can take me hours and I can't even rightfully justify why. Maybe I write them too carefully, worrying about the perfect flawless cadence and making it as interesting as possible for such a niche and frivolous topic? So to make those things I end up actually sacrificing as much time as a job without even the benefits of a job, and it kind of pains me to think about what else I might have accomplished if, over the years, I'd instead managed to put even 1/3 that time towards other stuff. Mortasheen is pretty big, and I actually am spending more time on it this Halloween season than on my website, though it's still slow going and with it being October 26 right now, I've already failed my goal of a Halloween release :/ ...a Halloween II release, though, is looking incredibly likely, because the amount of work left to do on it is significantly less than the amount of work I did in just the past month and a half. But @revretch got me Godot and a bunch of resources for learning game making, so I'm going to start on that soon. I'm also getting the hang of making videos more comfortably, and streaming, and other things that engage people more directly. When I've gotten more done with the Mortasheen book I'll be able to devote more to my webcomic, too, which I still care about as much as ever. I guess unfortunately my answer to how I prioritize things is just "some sort of way, I think, maybe???"

[studentofetherium]

okay so my thoughts on the Off and Monster Seasons thing

it's interesting that they're announcing these together as one block, even going so far as sharing a title. it makes me curious how it's going to be adapted, because there's definitely enough material in Off Season for a two cour adaptation, and even more in Monster Season. the PV they released is focused entirely on the Off Season cast, so it's probably just going to be multiple seasons, but i wouldn't be surprised if there was something weird going on. still think it would be funny if they went for the Danganronpa 3 chaos option

the announcement video on youtube was going through all of Monogatari's anime, but interestingly, it had Hana in the novel order, but later kept Koyomi in the anime order

re-use of the old soundtrack. not sure if that's because they got Satoru Kosaki back (he would've been around to be working on the new soundtrack for Kizu, so it's possible) or if it was just because it was recognizable. i think Kosaki coming back is more likely than Kei Haneoka, since he's been busy ever since Monogatari ended

now let's talk about the poster

once again, i find it remarkable that the name is "Off and Monster Season". no other season was formatted like this, which really makes me curious why

2024! we don't have to wait long for this. if i had to guess, since i'm not seeing a more specific date, it'll air in the fall

the text on the side of the poster reads "Monogatari series restart". they're making a point of the hiatus the series has had since 2018/2019

the actual poster: in order, we see Nadeko, Tsukihi, Mayoi, Suruga, and Yotsugi

Nadeko makes sense. promising tease for Nademonogatari, but the notebook also ties a bit into Tsukihi Undo. the new short hair design is great and i'm really excited to see more of it

next to her we have Tsukihi, and again, Tsukihi Undo. i really like her new design! i always liked her school uniform, but this new hairstyle really compliments it. looking forward to her becoming a magical girl

Mayoi doesn't actually have an arc of her own in Off Season, but she does appear in, once again, Tsukihi Undo. her appearance is the oddest here, but i'll get to that

Suruga! still in her school uniform, since she's now only a senior, but oddly, she still has her arm in the bandages. her Off Season arc, Suruga Bonehead, takes place solidly after Hana, and the key art she had for the arc in the novel had her with both arms uncovered, so i'm not sure what's up with that. it might just be that since this is going for "Monogatari's big return" they went for her most recognizable design

and then Yotsugi all the way at the top, the secret protagonist of Tsukihi Undo

so the conclusion i reach is that this is mostly focused on Tsukihi Undo, with three of the five characters being on here to represent that. Nadeko also makes an appearance in the arc, so Suruga is the odd one out, but Suruga is here for her own arc. this poster is very Wazamonogatari-heavy, but if that's where they were going for, then leaving Sodachi off feels very intentional. her arc has her disconnected from the rest of the cast, for the most part, so it could be intentional, or it could be because they have a big design shift for her in mind that they want to save for closer to when the anime airs properly. either way, this really only gives us some basic insight. Nadeko and Tsukihi are the two characters with new designs, and the rest are more of a "here's the other characters you also know". it's possible they didn't want to overload audiences with a bunch of redesigns all at once

on the website for Off and Monster Season, we have a credits list:

Shaft are credited as animation work, naturally

Akio Watanabe is returning for character designs, as is quite apparent from the visual

Fuyashi Tou is credited for Series Composition, along with Akiyuki Shinbo. Fuyashi Tou is a pseudonym used at Shaft, and has been credited on a wide variety of their works, including every installment of Monogatari. Shinbo is slightly more of a real person, so this seems to be about the same as the original series was!

the real interesting thing to me: the director. this was something i was very excited to see, and i wasn't disappointed. it's not Oishi, and it's not Itamura. Monogatari is getting its third series director, Midori Yoshizawa. Yoshizawa is a bit of a new name to Shaft, overall, having started working as an animator around the days of Hana, but she quickly rose through the ranks and was credited as an episode director during Owarimonogatari, specifically for the second episode (you know, the Sodachi one, with all the colors and the stabbing and the hate? very promising for where Sodachi Fiasco is going). she steadily did more and more at the studio, to the point of being the assistant director for the second and third seasons of the MagiReco anime. but! this is her first time as series director! so it's a debuting director taking the lead. looking over her credits, i'm definitely confident in her ability to handle this series

oh and Shinbo is also credited as director. lol

there's some weird stuff here, like Suruga being in her old design, or the lack of Sodachi, or the name, but overall, i'm quite excited for where this is all going. more Monogatari is good no matter what, but even better for it to be promising. i look forward to what Yoshizawa can bring to the series, and i look forward to seeing Off and Monster Seasons adapted!!!

#monogatari

[mimikyufriend]

Teaching Resources I Use as a Sub

I think substitute teaching is a good way to make extra money even if you don't plan on becoming a teacher, so I wanted to share some things that help me :)

Classroom Screen - I use this every time I sub (unless a smartboard isn't available for whatever reason), it has lots of little widgets for classroom management and communication

Teachers Pay Teachers - pre-made activities for students to do in case you need something extra, free and paid options

Stedi Bonus Activities - more activities, these are all free and geared toward substitutes (the main site offers paid training courses, I don't recommend them as someone who was able to do a course for free, they were very basic and not all the advice was good)

cK-12: free grade school level textbooks, useful for short, additional readings (I wouldn't trust the AI tutor thing)

Read Think Write Interactives - these are a bunch of charts that students can fill out on their computers, or you could fill one out together on a smart board based on what was learned in class

Boom Learning - more interactives, these are more focused activities rather than templates

CNN10 - daily 10 minute news clips, can be used to fill time

Class Dojo - classroom management system that uses points that can be earned or lost, this is difficult to implement from the perspective of a sub since you can't import class lists, but it may be useful to use numbers and reset points at the end of the day

most of these are unnecessary unless you're working with a very bare bones lesson plan or are subbing long term, but I can't recommend classroom screen enough

next are some useful youtube video genres worth keeping in mind (always remember to vet anything you want to show ahead of time)

multi-hour long relaxing music - good for background noise during quiet work, I don't recommend music with lyrics or recognizable instrumentals such as movie soundtracks and video game music because they may end up amping up students instead

mario run - these are like fun guided exercise videos, short ones are good for brain breaks and longer ones are good for when you have to have recess inside (some classes may not be able to handle the excitement, make volume expectations clear before starting)

animals in action - I've used like snake and spider videos as rewards for good behavior, kids love it

and lastly, some things I keep in my bag

clipboard with compartment - I keep school maps, extra paper, mental health crisis numbers, and even my resume inside and I'll clip attendance sheets and lesson plans on top of it

fidgets for students to borrow

prizes - mini erasers and stickers are popular and relatively cheap

dice, playing cards, flashcards - extra, tangible activities (the dice and playing cards are for randomly picking numbers to add subtract multiply etc.)

ok that's all bye

#seasonal speak

[toomuchracket]

imagining that you would coordinate a cake to be brought out at the post-fins hangout to congratulate the boys and matty would get so emotional and pull you into him once he saw what you’d done and a little while later, someone from the party would text you a photo of him giving you a sweet kiss while you’re holding the cake which makes the two of you more emo. and then afterwards, you two go back to his house in London and enjoy a sweet night of domesticity together (shower, cuppa, staying up late talking and watching YouTube, sharing a joint, and falling asleep haphazardly on each other bc the weed knocked you out) because lbr he’s not been home much lately and you both relish in the sweetness of it all

going to alter this slightly but omg!! birthday party coded. matty is so sweetie pie and soft after the gig, and his mum (because of course you're in cahoots with denise on this) is like "right, everyone, my beautiful almost-daughter-in-law (and then she looks pointedly at matty and taps her watch, making everyone laugh and him roll his eyes) has a little gift for the band. here she is!", which is your cue to appear from one of the tents with a "congratulations!" cake you made after matty went to sleep last night. it's visibly not a professional cake - the icing is wonky and the layers are a bit haphazard, but everyone is so touched by the fact you took the time to make it. like, the boys give you little hugs and head kisses to say thank you, and matty - tearing up for the millionth time that day - grabs your face and gives you a sweet but lengthy kiss, before he makes you put the cake down (george gets stuck into it right away lmao) so he can lift you up into a big hug that leads into him literally just carrying you around while he mingles because he wants to be close to you :')) denise takes a bunch of lovely photos of this little matty affection progression moment, and comes over to show the two of you and ask if she can post a couple on insta; both of you, on the verge of crying happy tears about how adorable and in love you look, are like "yeah sure whatever lol". around midnight, you get a taxi back to the house. matty is so sleepy, but he's like "baby will you wash my hair for me i really need a shower", and you agree - you're practically having to hold him up as you head towards the bathroom, and he literally sits on the shower floor and holds your legs while you shampoo and condition his curls, but he stays awake. and he perks up a bit once he's in his pyjamas with a cup of tea you made while he sat on the kitchen counter and told you you're beautiful, so much so that you both curl up on the couch and watch a couple of video essays with mayhem lying over your feet. and matty turns to you at one point and goes "d'you fancy sharing a zoot with me, darlin'?" - you turn to him incredulously like "are you actually ASKING me to smoke? my god. it really is a big day", and he rolls his eyes and swats your arm like "WELL i was just enjoying our little domestic moment together and i thought hmm what would make this even better? ah yes, sharing some weed with my perfect fiancee. but on second thought, i'll maybe just keep it for myself...", giggling when you're immediately like "ok i'm sorry. yes i would like to share a zoot with you. thank you baby". and matty pulls one seemingly out of thin air and lights it, letting you take the first drag and arching an eyebrow when you don't cough, like "that was... impressively smooth. are you a secret stoner?", which makes you both giggle. the laughter only continues as you get progressively higher, chatting about the funniest signs and moments you witnessed in the crowd earlier, before you tell matty you're ridiculously proud of him, exchange i love you's, then promptly fall asleep all tangled up in each other on the sofa, exhausted but elated after the wonderfully busy day you both had <3

#mads muses #mads answers asks #matty asks #fluff asks #into the birthday partyverse

[stoopid-turtle]

I've seen people theorize as part of the devil's timeline (which I don't really subscribe to, but am curious about) that ggdd were pretending not to know each other beforehand when they started filming CQL and that that would explain why they got more familiar over time but also so quickly in the BTS. To me this would explain a couple things (like sharing phones so soon) but creates so many more questions that I have a hard time buying it. Mainly: I 100% understand why they wouldn't want to tell fans/the world at large any more details about their personal lives/relationship, since it's not our business, but I can't figure out why they'd like... act in front of the whole rest of the cast as strangers. I don't *think* it would make it seem like one gave the other any advantage in the casting process, but what do I know? And I can't think of a lot of other reasons for acting that elaborate/long-term. I was wondering if you had any takes on this?

Also! I wanted to say thanks again for your posts so far and I respect that it's not something you plan to keep doing, but I was (hoping) wondering if you were thinking about sticking around in the fandom as more of a spectator? I'm also a new turtle as of like 5 months ago so it's nice not to be the only one still going 🤯 over some of the BTS in 2023 when it's ancient news to everyone else. Thanks again for your hard work on your posts and timeline!

Hi!

Do they share phones really early? The earliest I saw was 7.7, though I'm not especially eagle-eyed. Beyond that instance and dd using gg's phone while the cast ate lunch on 8.2, I didn't notice either of them sharing phones in the videos I saw.

I guess I'm the odd one out bc I don't think they became familiar unusually fast. It seems like a reasonable timeline for the age they're at, from my experience. So I don't see the need to have an explanation for that since I don't see anything out of the norm in how their relationship progresses.

That's probably why I take the Devil's Timeline as interesting speculation but not much more.

But your main point is definitely a sticking point for me too.

Spitballing it, maybe they wanted to hide the nature of their relationship at first until they realized it was a gay-friendly set. But even then, why act like they don't know each other at all? They have a reasonable explanation for how they'd be acquainted: they met on DDU a year before. I'm not sure why they'd play coy.

Of course, behind the scenes industry stuff is always a wild card. We don't know what we don't know, and maybe gg and dd had a good reason to pretend they didn't know each other at all. I'm not well-versed enough in c-ent to even have a guess as to what that might be, but I assume it's possible.

At the same time, they later seem open about their relationship on set, even having couple fights and flirting while surrounded by cast and crew. So why hide things at the beginning?

I've been watching through some more of the daily bts on another playlist, and gg and dd act how I'd expect 2 reserved people to act on the first few days of working together. Of course, that's real subjective to assess, so somebody else could come away with a completely different impression of how they're acting. But, personally, I don't see anything that needs any explanation.

re: your second para: I'll probably go back to lurking. I have a primary tumblr acct that I use to lurk on a bunch of fandoms. I already followed the bjyx tags and a lot of the turtles on that acct before setting this up. I definitely plan to keep up with the boys, but I don't foresee posting that much in the future.

(I reserve the right to give in to my impulses and hunker down for the long-haul, though.)

I always get to a fandom late! I missed all the excitement when the bts first came out, but I still feel hype when I come across new-to-me stuff. I'm happy to enthuse with others!

#bjyx #yizhan #asks

[gascon-en-exil]

(Further) Beyond Dream Daddy: A Year of More Gay Dating Sims

Last year for Pride I made a video sharing my thoughts on a selection of gay dating sims, among them Dream Daddy - by far the most well-known title in that genre. My opinion of that game was rather unfavorable, to say the least, but nonetheless I had a lot of fun discussing the topic. Dating sims rarely get any significant analysis or consideration, so it was a novel experience on that basis alone.

Recently, a patron of mine expressed a desire to see me talk about dating sims again. To save myself some work on a project when I've already got so many others going on at the moment, I've opted to do so here on my blog rather than on my channel this time. This also has the added benefit of giving me more latitude to discuss the NSFW qualities of these games without needing to censor myself. When the majority of the titles in this space are explicitly erotic, that's kind of a big deal.

Anyway! Here's a selection of games that I've played in the past year that I thought were worth looking at in some more detail.

Dear Monster

As the title suggests, this one is for the monsterfuckers out there.

This is, sort of, the second time I'm discussing a project by Y Press Games. I've touched on an earlier game of theirs, To Trust an Incubus...but I found it so unimpressive that I never bothered to review it in-depth. In several ways you can tell that Dear Monster comes from the same creative team: there's a similarly large focus on plot with a bunch of variable endings including some very dark ones, all the characters are vers despite many of them playing into familiar top or bottom archetypes, and most obviously the main theme is monsterfucking.

In this case the selection is much broader, as instead of a single species of pheromone-emitting aliens you get your pick from a variety of fantasy creatures. I say "creatures" because Dear Monster isn't afraid to shy away from furry/scalie erotic content for certain scenes, although most of the time the love interests stick to their humanoid forms. There's

a Western dragon as the violent bad boy love interest;

an Egyptian-flavored god of the dead, whose alternate form resembles Anubis and who plays the standoffish tsundere role;

a kitsune for the mischievous and overtly sexual option;

a unicorn who comes off as the caring submissive choice...mostly;

and an orc, who's had a route announced as free DLC later this year but who currently exists only as a recurring NPC

As I said, like To Trust an Incubus there's a noticeable focus on plot here, with the protagonist being a young man newly introduced to the world of the supernatural and trying to locate his mysteriously vanished grandfather inside an obviously magical mansion. Also like their earlier game, there are some unexpected plot twists that I won't spoil here, and overall I'd say this game pulls them off more effectively even if the ending feels a bit unfinished currently. Maybe they're waiting for the orc character's route to properly tie off the story? In any case, Dear Monster is better written than its predecessor and comes with an appreciable variety of kinky scenarios, and despite the lack of voice acting (a very hit-or-miss topic when it comes to dating sims, as I've discussed) the production values are overall quite good. The animated character portraits have been advertised as a highlight but frankly don't contribute to much, and they have a tendency to slow down my computer. Luckily though, they're easily turned off.

Favorite route: A hard call. They all have their highlights, and I'll probably enjoy Slagathor (the orc) when his route comes out. Hikmat (the god of the dead) probably comes out a bit ahead of the others both for his story and for some unexpectedly adventurous sex scenes, like one that incorporates a variant of tentacle porn - points for creativity there. Faeryn (the unicorn) is the one I find least appealing sexually, but on the flip side his route has some of the most unexpected twists and is probably the most helpful for understanding the game's premise as a whole. There's not really a bad option here.

UPDATE: Now that the final route has been released, I can talk about it. It's fine enough, following similar tracks for its good, neutral, and bad endings. Slagathor is vers, just like every other guy in the game. As for the main plot, it does have a resolution once you've gotten satisfactory endings with all five characters, but because it has to be integrated into all of those route endings and doesn't actually impact any of them it feels rather inconsequential as a result. A bit of a shame, really, but I do respect the boldness of some of this game's narrative chioces.

Camp Buddy

Oh, dear. There are some things I need to make clear with this one from the start...stuff I definitely couldn't talk about on YouTube.

To state the obvious first: yes, the characters are all 18+. It's in their in-game profiles, on promotional material online, and on the disclaimer you have to click on whenever you boot up the game. The main character and all his love interests are specifically stated to be 18-20 years old. However...that doesn't always bear out in the writing. The premise is that they're all campers at a scout-themed summer camp, i.e. not something you'd expect of legal adults, and more than half the time these characters are written with the emotional maturity of boys in their mid-teens. That doesn't extend to the sex scenes, beyond most of them being virginal and clueless but somehow still capable of having mind-blowing sex with no lube and simultaneous orgasms and so forth - all of which is pretty standard for these sorts of games. It doesn't consistently affect their storylines either, as they range from adolescent issues like anxiety over losing a close friend to more young adult material like deciding on career paths and moving on from a bad breakup. Having spent a good bit of my own adolescence in an all-male environment, I found most of the character behavior relatable for that demographic. Outside the sex scenes, Camp Buddy is a sweet and sometimes heartwarming story about friendship and making good memories...but the sex stuff is still there, and I can understand why this game isn't listed on Steam based on the premise alone. It is not, as some online have hyperbolically dubbed it, a "child porn" game, but it can be awkward all the same, and if you, like me, are not into twinks/twunks those scenes aren't going to do much for you.

Leaving that aside, it still took me a while to get into Camp Buddy. I was mostly interested in its sequel, which I'll talk about later in this post, but I wanted to play CB in case I missed out on any context with the second game. This one does feel like a first project; the artwork isn't as clean or varied, the voice acting has some standouts but is overall just average, and the script occasionally reads like it was written by someone whose first language isn't English - where the writing isn't incorrect, exactly, but rather worded in ways that don't sound natural. Not all of the scenes are fully voiced, but I really have to wonder how some of those that are got through all those people without anyone realizing how inorganic the dialogue sounded. The humor at least is pretty consistently good, with a highlight being the one major female character who is an affectionate parody of yaoi fangirls leading to a lot of fourth-wall-breaking jokes. As I said some of the storylines work well, even if the main plot is a clichéd and sometimes treacly "save the camp" routine for most of its run. If you can accept the handwave on the characters' ages for the sexual content, it's not a bad time. Given my familiarity with Fire Emblem and its love of underaged-looking dragon girls, and knowing that there are surely far more dating/porn games that use a similar handwave for female characters, I can give CB a pass. I've never cared for how media directed at straight men never warrants more than a moment's worth of moral outrage while everything else gets endlessly scrutinized.

Favorite route: Yoichi is the twunk-iest of the love interests, and his route is easily the darkest as well. Surprisingly he's not the sole total top option...but the guy who is barely grasps of the concept of masturbation and needs to "research" sex after he fools around for the first time. I suppose someone must be into that. Taiga has the most distinctive route as it was added last and has the largest amount of story variance as well as both topping and bottoming variations, but I find the emotional beats of his story (both in and out of his route) to be paced a bit too oddly for me to give him first prize.

Camp Buddy: Scoutmaster Season

This is why I played Camp Buddy, because I saw its follow-up advertised on Steam and was impressed enough by the production values to check it out. I still bought it from developer BLits's website though because certain scenes are removed in the Steam version (for reasons similar to why Camp Buddy isn't there at all). Anyway, Scoutmaster Season is in just about every way a vast improvement over its predecessor:

Most obviously, the characters here look and act unambiguously like adults. Their storylines are also more mature, as is that of the main plot which concerns the camp expanding after it received a new wealthy investor at the end of CB. This maturity extends to the sex as well. These characters aren't experimenting adolescents but rather men who've been casually involved with one another for some time already (heavily implied in the first game) and whose romantic development thus concerns their relationships becoming grounded in emotional support instead of only hot NSA sex.

Camp Buddy is a decently kinky game in its own right, but the sequel takes advantage of its older characters and really runs with the concept. There's bondage, leather, voyeurism, softcore daddy kink, public sex, several varieties of costume role play including two that verge on pony play, threesomes, and a few types of size kink thanks in *ahem* large part to one of the love interests having such a comically oversized cock that in some encounters it can be seen distending the main character's stomach during penetration. I'm...pretty sure that's not physically possible, but I know it's a fantasy that exists. SS is just as unrealistic when it comes to things like (lack of) lube and refractory periods, but that's to be expected at this point.

I didn't talk about CB's minigames because they're frankly not that impressive, but SS's are both a bit more challenging and, in the case of the foreplay minigame, hotter and more interactive.

The writing is much improved, and flows more naturally. The voicework is overall of a higher quality as well, even with many in the cast reprising their roles. Particularly, the same voice actor plays the main characters of both games, but he sounds much more natural as the deeper-voiced lead here, in contrast to CB where he has to work to sound like a teen. The comic relief is about on par, so it's as entertaining as usual. There's even a yaoi fanboy in this one...who funnily enough never actually gets laid during the story, although the artists threw him a bone or six with a bukkake party crack scene in the extras.

SS's antagonist is both more compelling and more entertaining even though she never becomes a romance option - as should be evident from the pronoun alone. I predicted where the story was going to take her arc the first time I played, and while I was proven right the game didn't follow that thread to its logical conclusion. A bit disappointing, but I imagine that that would have obliterated the tone for the rest of the game and prevented it from ending with fluffy romance or celebratory sex.

There are enough small callbacks to CB that I'm glad I played the first game, but not so many that a newcomer would feel completely lost. As this is the only gay dating sim sequel that I can even think of, I appreciate the attention to continuity.

BLits is currently working on a third game called Jock Studio, unrelated to Camp Buddy but already looking to be an evolution of what they've learned from their first two games. The athletic university premise appears to be a self-indulgent excuse for porn - but I'm more than okay with that seeing how much the quality of their work has improved.

Favorite route: There's only two here, so naming one would be suggesting I dislike the other. In fact, both routes are really solid. I would say that Aiden's story hangs together a little better and feels stronger in its emotional moments (helped greatly by the best vocal performance in either of these games), whereas Goro's route appeals to me more based on raw sex appeal. He's a kinky daddy, what's not to love? Either way, SS is a ton of fun, and of the games in this post it's the one I recommend the most strongly.

Errant Kingdom

I'm of two minds about including this game. I really wanted to have one that would be drastically different from the others I've selected, but at time of writing I haven't done everything there is to do in Errant Kingdom. That's not for lack of time, as it's been released in chapter increments ever since last autumn or thereabouts and finally finished up in February. I've currently completed two of its stories so I feel like I have a solid grasp of what's on offer, but I realize that I haven't seen everything yet.

However, I had to keep pushing myself to play this one. It just doesn't have a very strong hook, in my opinion, but let's talk about the positives. If your main complaint about Dream Daddy is not the lack of hardcore gay sex but rather the inauthenticity of its representation then Errant Kingdom will be more your speed. Your character can be male, female, or nonbinary, and there are two love interests of each designation available. (That both nonbinary options are supernatural non-humans might arguably be a bit of a copout...but I'm not really in a position to judge.) There are also two options for poly relationships, as well as asexual dialogue options although the way the story is set up does still lend itself toward monogamous romance with occasional, vaguely-described (and never visualized) sex scenes. I'd also note that unlike every other visual novel with romantic elements I've ever played, dialogue options are explicitly marked as being romantic, asexual, or poly when applicable. This does make it much easier to get a specific outcome if you're looking for one, but in my view takes away some of the fun of these sorts of games.

Errant Kingdom's story is quite linear regardless of which if any romantic relationship(s) you choose to pursue, with the largest variance coming not from your choice of love interest but from your choice of one of three origins when you're creating your character: an ambassador, a knight, or a nomad. Having played through two of these, this decision greatly impacts the game's opening chapters but ultimately leads into the player characters being three different points of view on the same story, with all the same major set pieces. Errant Kingdom is occasionally clever about this, with the other two PCs popping up in each other's paths every now and then...unseen of course, because this is a game where the main character's physical presence is left entirely up to the imagination. On the other hand though, the different perspectives converging toward a single climax has the clunky side effect of dropping certain NPCs into the story lategame and acting as if you know who they are even if you've never met them in that playthrough.

The story itself isn't terribly fascinating, being a medieval fantasy conspiracy plot involving gods and magical weapons and an 11th hour Chosen One reveal (that isn't the player character, shockingly). If we're talking pseudo-medieval/early modern romantic visual novels, I find I prefer the Chess of Blades approach where each love interest gets his own storyline and so there's more overall variety and less tangled continuity. I've read in places that the later chapters suffered from deadline and creator burnout issues during development, which wouldn't surprise me with how much the pacing speeds up after a certain point.

Favorite route: For origins the ambassador angle suited me better and would probably be my pick overall. The choice of love interest is, as mentioned, actually not all that important, but disgraced former knight Erik hits most of my buttons. It's a shame his poly option is with a woman, because while Maja is my preference of the two female options I wouldn't be invested in her like that. This is the trouble for me with stepping outside the bounds of strictly M/M games.

#Dating Sims #Dear Monster #Camp Buddy #Scoutmaster Season #Errant Kingdom

[auroracalisto]

video games

platonic!top gun crew x gn!reader, 659 words tw: shouting? cussing, the crew playing video games a/n: i have fallen in the rabbit's hole that is top gun. i cannot find my way out.

"It's not going to work!"

You were yelling, anger lacing your every word. It wasn't often you were angry—at least, audibly anyway. Simple glares and quick comments did the job just as easily as having a full-on meltdown. But today, it was different.

Your yelling was the only thing Bob, Rooster, and Phoenix heard as they walked into the rec room.

"Well if you just hold still, I'll make it work!"

Hangman.

What the hell were you two doing alone? The trio knew as well as the next bunch of pilots that the two of you didn't often hang out alone. Especially after training lets out.

"You think someone as great as you would be able to figure something like this out," you scoffed. They could practically hear you rolling your eyes—it was obvious that whatever this was had annoyed you sky-high.

Phoenix shared a glance with Bob. Should they be concerned?

"Did I ask? When did I fucking ask?"

Rooster was the first to turn the corner, seeing the two of you on the couch, respective controllers clutched in your hands.

You must have been playing some two-player game—one character did one thing, while the other did something else. And neither of you seemed to be able to work together to do so.

They stayed quiet, knowing you two would have another outburst. The only question was who first, and when. Rooster glanced back at Phoenix, raising an eyebrow. She shrugged, holding her hands up haphazardly as she did so. She silently walked towards the stark white couch.

"I swear to god, Y/n, if you don't push me to the door, I'll—"

Phoenix popped up beside you, nearly making you throw your controller. You looked up at her with wide eyes, your heart having jumped to your throat in retaliation.

"What the fuck?!"

"Do you guys know how loud you're being?" Phoenix asked, a cocky smile on her lips.

You rolled your eyes as Hangman spoke up.

"It's their fault. I just wanted to relax. Enjoy myself. Maybe go to the beach or go down to the bar. Play volleyball with Payback or some shit. But no. Hell no. What do I get myself into? This stupid game that I can't even—"

"—it's not stupid," you said defensively, pausing it as you spoke. You crossed your arms over your chest.

"I am not about to argue, again," Hangman groaned, tossing his remote on the cushion beside of you. "I'm out. Done. Don't ask me to play this with you again."

Phoenix eyed the remote for a moment, her smile only growing.

"May I?" She pointed to the remote, giddy to think she'd be able to play a game with you.

If Hangman was so riled up because of it, she knew it would be good.

You smiled up at her. "Go ahead. Maybe then I'll actually get somewhere."

"Oh, fuck you!" Hangman groaned, leaning against the back of the couch.

Rooster snickered and glanced at Bob.

"You staying?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

After a few more levels of getting even more frustrated than the last, you passed your remote off to Bob. Maybe he could be better at this than you. You'd been on this level with Phoenix for the past ten minutes.

You glanced back at Hangman, who seemed far calmer than just half an hour ago.

You get up from your spot on the couch and walk over to him, giving him a smile. You nudged his boot with your own.

"Thanks for playing with me," you said.

"Yeah. Don't ask me to ever do that shit again."

"What, are you saying you didn't have fun?"

As a curse came from Bob, you couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I dunno if I'll ever play it again, either," you said. "You'd think since you fly a jet, video games would be a breeze."

"Not the same," Hangman said.

"Oh, not at all."

#top gun #top gun maverick #top gun bob #top gun hangman #top gun phoenix #top gun rooster #x reader #gn!reader #gender neutral reader #reader insert #platonic top gun #top gun x reader #bob x reader #hangman x reader #phoenix x reader #rooster x reader #top gun crew x reader #top gun maverick x reader

[looosey]

Lucy's Side Quest #8: How much is too much?

Motivations: I've been pretty open to y'all throughout this year that I'm interested in being in love, and finding a partner. So... I made it a goal this summer, once I got back to Boston, to go on 10 dates on Hinge (have y'all seen the 50 first dates girl on tiktok? [1]).

Method: Two weeks ago, I updated my Hinge profile to reflect more of who I am now: using photos from dance and ring ceremony, and changed the prompt answers to be much less verbose (I used to be so open to these strangers!). I took 1 week to let the algorithm soak, and then 1 week to go on actual dates. This meant, sending out a bunch of likes per day without really looking too closely at any one profile or agonizing over what to slide up with, a method I came to now that I understand more of how the world runs in Hinge [2]. The matches trickled in slowly, and I challenged myself to one standard only, which was don't be weird about this. Then, naturally some matches matriculated to texting and then to meeting up in person!

Preliminary Outcomes: I set up three dates early on this week and just went out without too much thought. The first guy was fun to talk to and cute, and the second guy matched me on a more fundamental creative level. They were both new to Boston this summer. Both dates were on Commonwealth avenue, and consisted of eating then walking around Boston in the nighttime afterwards.

Both dates ended well, and left me feeling happy! Objectively, they were definitely better Hinge dates than the ones I had in February this year. Yet, I was not so eager to the point that I couldn't wait to see them again.

The third date! Though! Was yesterday. It was so strange in a good way. Even while texting this guy last week, I had a good gut feeling about him, like I knew could be myself. Maybe because he went to school in Texas? And having set up three dates, and knowing he was the last one, I felt the most excited about him. Thus, subconsciously, I saved the best date course(?) for this one, which was, instead of just getting coffee or lunch, go to a bunch of Sunday markets in Boston Southend and a supposed Little Italy festival in North end.

And I was right! Almost immediately, when I saw him, I felt a sense of comfort and a happy buzz? The date went so well, and Boston was being so lovely for us, including North end and the esplanade. And I'll skip the details, but I think I like him quite a bit, and it's strange to be on the other end again of this dynamic.

I remember two of the guys I considered seeing this year, and how often they wanted to meet up, so quick so soon. They were very clearly into me, and I didn't know it yet, but I know retrospectively, I wasn't as into them. And so now, I'm on the other end, and I don't want to scare him off, because duh, I'm interested in him, and thus I'm much more careful.

Thus, how much is too much? How do you show enough interest while respecting boundaries, and sharing a pace that works for both people? Texting, meeting up, doing acts of service for guys, inviting him to other things?

Or do I have to learn to play The Game? And resist the urge to show my feelings completely?

References:

[1] the 50 first dates https://www.tiktok.com/@hannahzaslawski/video/7263401638700780801

[2] Analyzing hinge and best use cases.

#hinge #modern love #romance #dating advice #lucys side quest

[hyuuukais]

ermmmmmm ...... sharing some vp ?

iffff u don't know what vp is, it's basically just photography in a virtual setting, usually video games! (vp stands for virtual photography)

i have a whole account for it on instagram but it uses my real name and stuff sjdjsks sooo yeah

some of my favourite games to take photos in are horizon forbidden west & the last of us part 2 ! the following are all taken + edited by me

i take all my photos on ps4 and today is my 3 year anniversary of doing it! i had smthn else to add here but i forgor 🧍‍♂️

edit: i remember what i was going to say- some game have a thing called photo mode, which is just what it sounds like, an in game camera. usually there's a bunch of settings you can go through with the camera, lighting sometimes, dof, colouring, etc. but you don't need photo mode to do vp. some games i've taken photos in without one are little nightmares 1 + 2 and stray! some that do are hfw and tlou. not all photo modes are the same either, i really don't like the original one for tlou (1) or uncharted 4. i LOVE the one for spiderman

hfw :

tlou 2 :

assorted (in order) - stray, little nightmares 2, ghost of tsushima, cyberpunk 2077 :

maybe i'll share some more at some point :) <3

#lakes thoughts