#i have to backtrack later for a bunch of stuff

[autismvault]

Hey! I'm the one with the Wayne dating a nerd girl request! I just wanted to let you know that I'd love to see what headcanons you've got for this ^^

Wayne & Ripper with a Nerd Reader

i decided to try and do ripper anyways! it was a fun challenge. i kept the interests very vague just so it’s more generalized :) i hope you like it!

Wayne

⁃ possibly one the most supportive guy you’ll never meet.

⁃ gives you his undivided attention when you talk about the things you enjoy. except for the occasional story about either a previous hockey game or something silly he did with raj which he always seems to be able to tie into about every conversation.

⁃ loves to buy you little knickknacks that remind him of you.

⁃ when you first met wayne, you briefly brought up a game you were obsessed with as a kid. after he told you that he’s never played the game, you thought nothing of the conversation and moved on with your life. a few weeks later, he approaches you to tell you everything he could remember from the game you raved about.

⁃ confused about what even prompted this in the first place, wayne quickly follows up by telling you he played the entirety of the game for you.

⁃ isn’t a ‘typical’ nerd but once anything, and i mean anything reminds him of hockey, he’s talking about it for the next 10 minutes at the very least. over time, he does this with your interests as well. the references don’t always make sense (they do in his head), you have to applaud him for being creative at the very least.

Ripper

⁃ has no idea how to form any kind of positive bond with someone other than his typical boy-friends. while he does avoid a ton of people on purpose, ripper has a hard time having genuine conversations with just about everyone.

⁃ he doesn’t really know how to communicate the fact that you two have something in common and he’d like to talk about it with you. everything just comes out bad. seriously. he sounds disingenuous and you can’t tell if he’s just telling a really bad joke.

⁃ after a ton of awkward encounters, ripper finally blurts it out. “I want to be your friend! I know it seems weird that I’d want to be around you but I really-“ ripper stops himself, realizing how aggressive he’s coming off.

⁃ before he can try and backtrack, you give him a simple ‘yes’ to avoid any more embarrassment for him.

⁃ you two have a lot in common! it’s a bit unexpected at first, but Ripper is a huge nerd! over time he gets more open about his interests, but it takes a while.

⁃ being a little.. socially unaware.. ripper genuinely believes he’s one of the coolest people ever. scared that his interests go against his oh-so-great reputation, he never tells anyone about things he genuinely enjoys. until he met you obviously!!

⁃ can be a bit of an inattentive listener at first. uncomfortable that you might ask what he likes, he’ll steer the conversations into completely different directions that had absolutely nothing to do with the original topic.

⁃ you know he tries nonetheless. when he’s genuinely comfortable with you, ohmygod ripper does not stop talking about the stuff he likes. you both connect over a ton of mutual interests which definitely helps a bunch.

⁃ loves to learn more about what makes you happy! he’s not a sweet talker by any means, but he definitely knows how to make you feel appreciated. similar to wayne, he’ll always buy you little knickknacks correlating to whatever you’re interested in at the time. he’s kind of the ultimate gift giver.

#wayne total drama #wayne x reader #ripper total drama #ripper x reader #total drama #total drama headcanons

[fandom-rants]

What’s your opinion about Tony taking Peter along with him to the airport? Of course he did NOT force him or blackmail him, people are literally making shit up to make Tony look bad (because that’s literally all they have, just words without facts) but just in general what do you think?

The way i see it, this is a good, supposed to be safe mission  preparation first mission for him, but people saying he was bad for doing this to peter.

What do you think?

I mean, storyline-wise, it's pretty forced. The MCU high-ups were like, "Spider-Man makes money; let's get him in there!" So. What can you do.

From within, I liked how we were already well past his origin story, and I loved the dynamic between two Nerdy Boys, I thought the thing about Aunt May being young was weird but fine, since I love getting away from tropes and the 'sweet grandma' trope has been beaten to death. I loved Spider-Man as he was written and acted because he was the quintessential silly nerd weirdo who got crazy excited over stuff and nerded out about weaponry and superheroes and everything.

I liked how Tony was explicitly stated to order Peter to stay back and just web them up. I like how both of them were still playing around a little bit; the "Underoos!" thing made it clear Tony wanted Steve to knock it off but never expected a real fight. Even after having Spider-Man take Steve's shield, he still didn't instigate a battle; he just wanted to use Spider-Man as a tool for de-escalation. I was pleasantly surprised, at the time, by Steve being the one to push for a battle, and for his side to end up going WAY too far over and over again, because it proved his imperfections, which I love to see in my superheroes. (I of course abhorred the backtracking in later movies.)

Overall, I thought Tony noticing Peter made sense, since Tony's been leading the Avengers in all but name since the start, no matter what anyone says about Steve, and it makes sense for Tony to be on the lookout for others like himself and the team. It also makes sense that Tony sat on this after learning who Peter was until he found he needed someone to help him get his friends back before the United States government killed them. I wasn't fond of the sudden trip to Germany, but I understood the need for speed and, with the information given about Tony's original plan, I realize he was backed against a wall and making a tough choice.

I loved how, when everything got bad as hell, Tony stopped everything and ran to Peter to order him to stand down and stay out of the fight; I loved how scared he'd been when he'd gotten to Peter's side, because the kid had been in real danger thanks to Steve's team and could have gotten hurt far worse. It is telling to me that Steve was the one to injure Peter, even after learning how young Peter was (there's no way Peter's voice was the voice of an adult, ffs), yet Steve did not ensure Peter was okay. Tony did. Tony was the one to check if the kid was all right and then ensure he stayed out of the increasingly escalating battle.

If the rest of the MCU movies hadn't come out and I hadn't been forced by a bunch of brats on the Internet to endure some of the dumbest bullshit the MCU fandom writes about how sweet angel Steve Rogers did no wrong and evil devil Tony Stark wrought the world asunder, I would actually say that I loved Civil War, for all its faults. Because Steve wanted to be a hero, Tony kept trying to hold everything together, and neither of them did a perfect job but Tony did well and Steve did horribly, and it was about time we got some character depth on Captain America and got to see Tony's merits as a leader, too.

And then. You know. The rest of the movies, and the fandom, and now I want to burn the world to ashes every time someone even mentions MCU Steve Rogers or Civil War to me.

#mcu rant #avengers rant #civil war rant #anti steve rogers #anti fandom #anti fandom stupidity #tl;dr - Spider-Man was done well and his part in the battle was done well #humans are just stupid #long post

[lorata]

Claudius & Eibhlin for @penfoldx

in which anthropological study subs in for discussing one's private anxieties

(h/t to attractiveness anon & @literallyjustanyurlatthispoint for partial inspiration)

it's @penfoldx's birthday! have some ridiculousness

also found at DW here

-----------------

The notebook lay on the coffee table, half buried under various tomes (that was a new word Claudius learned and liked to throw around, tomes) on rabbit husbandry, one corner peeking out just enough to draw his curiosity.

Eibhlin called them ‘composition notebooks’ and claimed every child in Three used them, which cracked Claudius up — imagine writing enough in school you needed multiple notebooks — but sure, why not. It was the genius district after all. She’d had to make do with recycled paper for a while after the war but now she could finally import the good stuff. Which meant Claudius kept finding them everywhere, experiment logs and local recipes and logical reasons why Brutus should let her keep a Village bear (pending).

This one, worryingly, carried the simple title ‘Observations’.

It could be private, unleashing the wrath of heaven if Claudius cracked open the cover. Or it could be a topic too awkward or embarrassing for Eibhlin to raise on her own, leaving this as the most convenient and least emotionally excruciating way of broaching the issue. The real question, which one?

With Misha, this would be deliberate psychological warfare. With Eibhlin, the lines blurred.

“Eh, fuck it.” Claudius flipped open the book. He could always cave on a fifth rabbit if need be.

Later that evening Eibhlin crept up behind him in the kitchen, impressively silent as always. Claudius resisted the automatic impulse to flip the chef’s knife around into throat-slitting position (years of post-Arena healing undone by ground warfare, now finally uncurling a second time) and laid the blade flat against the cutting board.

“Hold out your hands,” Eibhlin said. Her voice twinkled in a way that those who’d never lived with rabbits might call childlike innocence.

Claudius, on the other hand, shared his living space with several rabbits, and left innocence behind a long time ago. “I am making dinner,” he said without turning around. “Should I still hold out my hands?”

A pause, in which Claudius envisioned the pout growing like fog over the lake in early morning, and yeah, he thought so. “Misha says you are a party pooper.”

“Ironic,” Claudius said dryly, but while he’d acquired several mental illnesses over the years, finding ‘wee little rabbit poops’ endearing was not one he’d picked up along the way, sponsors save him. “I’m sure there will be more cute poops tomorrow. Do I want to know why you’ve been polling people in town about what they find attractive? If we’re hosting an orgy I should go out for snacks.”

Silence of a very different character this time. Claudius spent a long time cataloguing the pauses in their conversations, learning when to send for Beetee, when to backtrack and apologize, when to wait it out. “Ah,” Eibhlin said. “That was careless.”

“I thought maybe it was on purpose,” Claudius said. He slipped the knife back into the block and turned around, risking embarrassing Eibhlin with eye contact just to let her see he wasn’t pissed off. “Like one of those things you hid as a hint or something. I can pretend I didn’t see it if you want.”

Eibhlin’s gaze shuttered. “Don’t be asinine,” she said, her tone acerbic. “You do not need to insult us both. I am conducting — research. Anthropology. Desired physical traits in this district seem to be consistent in a way that extends beyond what I had assumed to be Village sampling bias.”

He’d been pretty good at keeping his expression neutral and non-judgemental, but Claudius felt his eyebrows creep up in spite of himself. “You mean we’re a bunch of lunkheads so you thought we were poisoning your data?”

Her ears turned bright pink. “I meant —“ but oh, looks like Claudius wasn’t the only one to pick up a few tricks over the years. Eibhlin stopped, narrowed her eyes. “You are attempting to distract me by manufacturing outrage. Despite the willfully reductive phrasing, yes. This is a community of athletic outliers. You are not representative. I have made many efforts not to generalize across the population, and so this one has surprised me.”

It felt absurd to have this conversation while Eibhlin stood in front of him with a handful of rabbit dung, and so Claudius ducked down for the compost bin. Stepping out of the way for Eibhlin to wash her hands gave him a second to think about whatever the hell this was. “Is it really so weird? We move rocks around and make guns in factories and kill people. Grr, argh, strong people hot.”

This time the impatience nearly skewered him. “But that is the point, it is not that. Perhaps superficially, for short-term liaisons, but not partnerships. There is a reason why attractiveness in Three is strongly weighted toward intelligence. Physically symmetrical but intellectually bankrupt partners will not create a stable or successful household.”

Claudius blinked. “Ouch?”

“Do not —“

“Okay, okay. “ He held up his hands. Three-stupid was not universal-stupid, they’d had this argument before and reopening it now wouldn’t help anyone. “So you’re trying to figure out what is the … biological imperative … behind what Twos find attractive?”

See, he could do it too.

Now she hesitated. He probably should have moved this conversation to the living room or found her a rabbit to cuddle before starting this conversation, but more fool him, now they had to have it in the middle of the kitchen with nothing to fiddle with but sharp implements. “Leaving aside the question of whether biological or evolutionary imperatives exist other than as excuses for the creation of sexist binaries — yes. In Three we value intelligence because intelligence is how we survive. I could not understand how brawn could hold the same value in your society.”

“Okay.” Claudius leaned back against the counter, hands braced but open, nonthreatening. “And?”

“It isn’t brawn,” Eibhlin said. “It’s — community. Care. You are a district of physical labourers and physical people, so of course you value those who can take care of each other with your bodies.”

“Sounds kind of like cavemen,” Claudius said, amused in spite of himself. “I’m sure Brutus would agree, though.”

“He did,” Eibhlin said, nose in the air with the delicate air of someone choosing not to take offence, as the bigger person in the room thank you very much. “And Artemisia, once she stopped laughing. She went home with many girls, but she wanted to marry Emory when she was young, and now she is with Devon. That speaks to type.”

“Okay,” he said, again. “I still don’t know what — you don’t just do anthropology. You have to have a thesis.”

Eibhlin’s fingers curled in her sleeves, which — Ah, shit.

This was the part Claudius hated. Speedrunning weeks of research and observations to find whatever tangled mess of emotions had prompted Eibhlin to do this in the first place, because while Claudius might mangle onions or spar with his mentor or call up his friends in a total panic when he had a problem, Eibhlin … well, she did science.

“Okay.” A third time, the jigsaw puzzles falling off the table and clicking together into the most terrifying image of a nightmare clown he’d ever seen, but also the clown was right in front of him looking sad and he had to be very careful not to jump. “So it sounds like … we have the best of both worlds? You’re a super genius and I — well, I can sort of fix the roof, if I have help.”

Eibhlin studied him in silence for several moments, eyes intent and searching, but finally she nodded sharply and the knot in his chest unhooked. “Don’t forget the cooking,” she said. “You have become quite adept.”

“Glad to hear it,” Claudius said. “You want to help? I was still chopping when someone tried to put rabbit poop in my hands.”

“Hm,” Eibhlin said, admitting absolutely nothing, and held out her hand for the knife.

#we must be killers: tales from district 2 #my writing #oc: claudius

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Got some asks for ya!!! How about 🍬 🌿 🔪🧩???

HI FRIEND!

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

This may come as a shock to a lot of people, but I don't naturally care for Jack Sparrow very much. I love the Pirates movies, but he doesn't really do it for me as far as blorbos go; he doesn't really stand out to me. (This is not hate against him, and this is not me asking people to tell me why I'm wrong. This is just my gut reactions to his character, ok?)

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

If you're stuck when writing, forget you're writing. Think about the characters as people, not people you're making up, but people you're watching. If you were witnessing a conversation between these characters, what do they say? If they come to a rough place, what do they do? How do they respond to this situation? If you can't answer this question, then you might need to get to know them a little better. For fanfic, jump back into the source material and see how they've responded in similar situations. For ocs (and hey, maybe existing characters as well,) find an ask game, and answer a bunch of questions about them. Don't just look for the normal oc "what's their driving motivation? What's their end goal?" Fill in mundane details. Find out what color their bedsheets are. Do they wear socks? What's their favorite food? Have they ever gotten stage fright while public speaking? Get to know your characters.

Also, in doing this, you may find that your character has gotten themselves into a situation they would never get into in the first place. In fact, maybe there's a lot of sections that just aren't them, and that's part of what's tripping you up about them. When you get to this point, don't be afraid to cut stuff out. I know it feels like chopping off a limb to do this, but trust me, your story will improve. I highly suggest making a separate file just to put those fat trimmings you cut off. Maybe you'll use them later, maybe you won't, but having a place to put what you don't want will make it easier to keep only what you do want.

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

For Captain Swan fanfiction, I've looked up how to do stuff like wash your hands one handed. For The Shuttle fics, I've looked up a LOT of customs and traditions and phrases from the early twentieth century. For a lot of my Beauty and the Puppet fics, I've looked up old books and novels and short stories for the characters to offhandedly mention. And for SEVERAL fics, I've looked a lot at Victorian flower language 😂

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Smut and NSFW innuendo is gonna make me backtrack as fast as I can. Excessive mischaracterization can also be a huge turnaway for me!

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

#kazzy answers asks #kazzy's kazootuals

[dandylovesturtles]

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 WILDCARD LET'S GO

god this ask has been in my inbox so long I'm so sorry alsdjkf;s

(for context the prompt is: Reblog this if you want readers to come into your ask box and ask for the “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines.)

So I've mentioned before that I used to have a completely different plan for chapter 2 of IMBI and then I basically ended up scrapping and completely changing it, which ended up changing a lot of later stuff about the fic. Originally it was... darker, in a way, because they got as far as preparing to unplug Leo from life support!

Basically, my original plan was that at the end of Donnie and Raph's fight (when Raph said Donnie didn't care if Leo died), when Donnie told Raph to get out, Raph would realize he went out of line and try to deescalate. Donnie isn't having it in that moment, for obvious reasons, but it would lead to Raph thinking over what Donnie said and eventually (after several days) deciding to tell Splinter and Mikey about the situation. Splinter, like he does in the current version, would take that decision off Raph/Donnie's shoulders and decide to give Leo time to see if he'll recover. However, Leo does not (obviously) and, after waiting for him for almost four full weeks, Splinter decides they have to let him go, because he isn't improving and it's becoming difficult to keep the life support running and care for him as much as he needs and so they'll have to let him go. It was then Leo begging Mikey not to let them do this and saying he didn't want to die that ended up breaking through so Mikey could see him.

I changed this mainly because it felt like... way too much lol, like taking the silly turtle show and having a scene where a father has to seriously consider taking his son off life support just felt TOO MUCH and I was like I can't do this als;d;;fs I gotta do something else.

So my first big thing to figure out when I backtracked on this plot was, well, how and when does Mikey see Leo then? And that was when I got the idea that Mikey would become so desperate to save Leo that he would try to go back in time. But why would he do that if they aren't getting all the way to pulling the plug? Well, maybe Raph doesn't deescalate - maybe Raph keeps trying to fight and then emotions are just running way too high, and everyone is trapped in a pressure cooker.

And that's when I just had the image of Mikey having to physically separate them and then we were cookin'.

I really feel like the story I ended up writing is stronger because of this change, because it ended up leading to a bunch of downstream changes that I liked a lot better. I said in my chapter 2 author's notes that sometimes you have to tell yourself no and that was very true then and is still true now!

Thanks for the ask!

#fic: i may be invisible but i still look good #oh yeah this does mean that originally leo spent a full month as a ghost before anyone could see him #so if you think leo is touch starved and dissociating NOW #imagine how he originally was going to be |'D

[actualbird]

Before the actual ask, i have a suggestion: maybe add some general non-tot asks/req rules? bc i'm writing this rn like "this may be uncomfortable but i don't want to make you uncomfortable but i don't know if it will make you uncomfortable but-" 😭😭😭

now um, my ask:

i'm currently getting struck by gender dysphoria at very random moments and i don't like it. thing is, i don't know what my gender might be since it goes both ways and I was wondering, if you wouldn't mind sharing: how did you figure out you're trans?

hi anon!!! lemme go thru this one by one but first, i wanna preface everything with: dont worry, none of this makes me uncomfortable and you said nothing wrong. theres nothing here that cause for panic on ur end, it's alright, ur alright :D

okay so

on general non-tot asks/req rules:

i do have these rules!! theyre just not as Many as my tot-specific ones, but on my rules page u'll find these in the 2nd section :D

theyre like, reaaaaally general but the overall rule for all other asks is basically "be nice, i cant read tone well, and dont spam" so no worries, ur all good. i dont wanna make these rules any more specific because everything else seems like a case to case basis yknow

and now to the bulk of my answer

on trans stuff:

short answer on how i found out i was trans: it made me happy. god, it made me so happy and it makes me happy to this day.

long answer: come with me, anon, through my gender journey through the years....JKSDHVFKJSDHVKFSD

ok so for the longest time i knew i wasnt completely woman aligned in the gender department. like, from ages 14-20 i had identified as a bunch of different genders. first i identified as bigender, then i backpedaled and went back to just having "she/her" in my bio because i had a Moment Of Panic wondering "no no the Genders are for people who Really Truly Identify (whatever that means) and i shouldnt co-opt these terms because im not even sure what i am!! im not allowed to identify as bigender until i really figure it out!!*", and then for a while i identified as nonbinary, and then the pandemic happened which i think hilariously due to the lockdowns had the cool side effect of many people figuring out Personal Things and at some point in 2021 i was like ".....hey im a guy, actually. it makes me happy to be a guy"

*sidenote 1: this "but am i allowed to?" worry is a common thing i see a lot from other people also going through their journey of questioning their gender, and i wanna talk about it specifically later on in this response, but bACK ON TOPIC FIRST---

sidenote 2: yes, like a pokemon trainer, i have collected the three starter pronouns. she, they, and he. KJHAVFLASVFALSJK

backtracking through the other genders i had identified as, i'd chosen them all at the time for similar reasons: joy. i identified as bigender because i felt recognized for the first time, an identity where i could be both feminine and masculine. i identified as nonbinary because i adored the comfort of that freedom and that fluidity. i identify as a trans guy now because i realized that i can find joy in being a guy and still enjoy expression of "non-guy" things because guys who like pink and frilly fashion and plushies is still a valid and real type of guy, it's the type of guy i am. and these are more on the positive markers of gender expression, the opposite of gender dysphoria: gender euphoria, the happiness when gender stuff feels just right

btw, you are indeed using the term gender dysphoria correctly. that simply pertains to any kind of distress or upsetness due to gender things Not feeling right. within that definition, theres no requirement for you Already Having To Identify to use it, because otherwise thatd mean anybody who found out they were trans only after experiencing gender dysphoria was using it incorrectly, which seems rather silly. and even if the definition Did have that requirement.......who cares? JKHDFVSKDJHFVKSD i mean that in the most genuine and sincere way ever, because so long as it is harming nobody, who cares what word you use? sure, a Bunch of people care actually, and a bunch of people will pitch a fit policing on being allowed to use certain gender words and whatnot. but in general ive taken to trying to remember that like.....gender stuff is a Personal thing. it is the business of the Person Themselves, as it is our identity. it is up to us to define it, to explore it, to make our own choices on it. and well....generally, people who think your expression is any of their business is, at best, nosy, or at worse, a bigot.

i went on a tangent there sorry VSDFLJBFL, but my point is dont worry, youre using the term right. if youre feeling Not Good because something about The Genders doesnt fit, yeah thats dysphoria. and im so so sorry youre experiencing this, because it sucks

i said before that my main marker for realizing gender stuffs was the presence of a positive emotion, instead of the presence of a negative one. but i also experienced gender dysphoria, it just wasnt as big of a thing in my own journey. for me, it was less of a wrongness and more of a vague...discomfort. like wearing shoes that dont fit. it's fine some days but other days i couldnt stand it but my legs still work and i was much more focused on the times i Did find figurative shoes that fit immensely well.

.....oh something i think that wld be important for me to mention is that i kinda....somehow always knew i was of Another Gender. but i kept hesitating and kept backtracking because, kinda like what you say, it went both ways for me

im a guy. but i also really liked things that are traditionally seen as feminine, i still do. ive got a closet full of lolita fashion dresses, mixed in with the ridiculous amounts of plaid shirts ive got. throughout my life, i was never really regarded as masculine by other people, more often i was seen by others as some kind of manic pixie androgynous being. and these things, they made me hesitate. how can i be a guy if so much of who i am is seen by others as Not-Guy stuff?

well, eventually it's cuz i figured that what others think should have nothing to do with who i am and who i choose to be. relating back to what i said about Genders being a personal thing yknow. why was i so worried about what other people thought of a thing that only concerned me?

yknow one of the most gender affirming experiences ive ever had in my life was back was i was in college. i was just going out and about for a group work thing, and the classmates along with me were rowdy manly cisguys and i was feeling low and it showed, i was all meek and sad and shit. and then this lady came up to me, and i didnt get to know if she was a transwoman or a femme presenting gay man, but she sat with me and chatted with me and eventually she asked

(this convo happened in filipino but roughly translated it went)

her: do you want to be a boy?

me: yes (i answered so instinctively. at the time, i was identifying as nonbinary, but she asked a question and i gave my honest answer. yes. yes i did.)

her: well, youre very handsome! youre more handsome than any of them //gestures at the cisguy classmates

and that stucks with me to this day. another queer person asking Me what I Wanted, and affirming that. didnt matter that i looked like how i looked, that i obviously wasnt as objectively or normatively masculine as the cismen around us. what mattered was what i wanted, and i was handsome for it, and that was that.

after that we just talked about pop music, but i felt so good the rest of the day

now...on the unwritten question here of "how do you (as in, anon, or any other reader out there) know you're trans (or any kind of other gender designation)?" or if you already know you are some other gender, how do you figure it out? who do you ask?:

im sorry for how cheesy or seemingly unhelpful what im going to say next is, but i cannot stress how crucial it is: the only person who can ever answer these is You. ask yourself what makes you happy, what would alleviate your discomfort, what would cause comfort, what youre drawn to, etc.

but if i can give any unsolicited advice on that....itd be to make sure that the person youre asking, the person who is giving the answer, is really You. not the thoughts or opinions of other people, not the rules of what is considered 'norm', not the fears or the worries circling around the question, dont ask those things dont find the answer in those things. the person to give the answers is You.

and btw!! You can change sometimes. and sometimes your answer can change too, and thats okay if ever that happens. all my prior answers to this question changed in through life, and it doesnt mean any of my prior answers were wrong (sans the time i backpedaled, because then i wasnt getting the answer from Me, i was getting the answer from Worries). it just meant that those were the answers for Me when i was at that stage of my life.

tldr: i figured out i was trans because it made me so damn happy to be and also because i stopped giving a shit about what other people thought

i hope this response makes sense and that theres something in here that can help you out. im wishing you the best, anon <3

#asks #anon #sorry this response is messy and all over the place my brain aint at its best lately skdf but still i hope something in here can help

[defnotmadie]

hello madie! i was wondering if you'd feel comfortable sharing your ideas bc i'd love to hear them :] if not that's alright but feel free to ramble about whatever's rotting your brain here

yes! i would! most of my ideas are currently half baled fics but i can definitely explain some of them that i dont really have plans to write! i’ll put them under read more thingy

okay so i’m pulling these from my notes app because that’s where i write my ideas to pull from later if i dont have the will to write them!

1. au where tommy enters one of those radio contests to meet wilbur soot (famous artist) he is self proclaimed wilbur’s biggest fan and in order to win he has to correctly answer ten trivia questions correctly if he gets patched through to the station! he manages to be the tenth caller and win so he meets wilbur they have a great time he gets an autograph and everything he enjoyed his time and is a little sad when he has to go, what he doesn’t know is wilbur really loved hanging out with tommy because despite tommy being a fan he didn’t treat wilbur like glass, so wilbur finds himself thinking about tommy but knows it is futile to try to find him again so he gives up. then one day he is running super late but he really needs coffee he runs into a coffee shop and low and behold there is tommy. he decides to shoot his shot and mid coffee order goes “do you want to be my assistant?” both of them are baffled because wilbur is literally the top artist and tommy is some random fan wilbur tries to backtrack and tommy is like no wait ill do it. tommy helps wilbur a whole bunch and they become besties and tommy even helps wilbur create new songs and melodies and stuff. the ending would probably be tommy performing a song he helped write with wilbur live and then them hugging bc…i want them to hug.

^ that one is super silly super fluffy just a good time (hence why i havent written it lol)

2. i dont have this one written down but it was an au where tubbo is a super villain and his best friend is tommy who happens to be a super hero but neither of them know that aboht each other and one day tubbo takes tommy hostage in hopes of getting money from the heroes in return of him so he unmasks tommy and realizes that “oh shoot this is my bestie” and so after that hes just incredibly nice to tommy despite being a villain like they are hanging out and he continually kidnaps tommy just to like hang out with him and yeah its just goofy :]

so there are some of the ideas that are ideaing there are always more cause i have like a murder mystery wip, a wilbur music college wip, wilbur foster au, and like some other stuff i think! enjoy :]

#madie answers #angrilydancing #ask

[nxh-the-musician]

Sorry in advance (/s) for my bad English (/s), I am not a native speaker (true).

Ash-Veil Lane is a Deltarune ARG series that has themes about being alone and getting lost in the sea. I blame it for having given me this strange dream.

In the dream, I went to the same high school with my cousin (which from now on I will call “Bravery”, or “Br.” , since that’s what his name literally means in our language. He doesn’t have an orange soul though.) After the opening ceremony of the new school year, we went to the beach together. I don’t remember where this school or this beach is. We both dived in, and then some time later-

Br. and I were playing this co-op ocean exploration game together. I remember there weren’t much in said ocean: no coral reefs, little seaweed or kelp, very few fish. There were, however, many twisting tunnels leading to darker, deeper waters, which we spent quite some time getting lost in together.

That’s right, we somehow went from going to the beach IRL to doing it in a video game. The line between these was very blurry during the dream, and I didn’t question it, because nobody ever does when they are in a non-lucid dream.

(The tunnels had sharp, zigzag walls. In fact, they look like a wave section layout you’d see in Geometry Dash videos, for some reason. Completed with the default blue background too, since we’re below sea level and all.)

In the last “event” of the dream, we were diving into new territory, though it looks pretty similar to the other tunnels we had explored. A few minutes into the playthrough, I lamented in the co-op chat that I forgot to bring my camera. (I have a hobby of filming random moments of my life: https://youtu.be/UZgC6kHWLow) Br. reminded me that I can just use my screen recorder instead. (I forgot about this because, again, the video game was also real life, and again, I didn’t question it.) I went to setup my screenrec software, which I probably pirated, just like every single software I have on my real computer.

Here the details are fuzzy. For some reason, I zoned out and looked out the window of my bedroom (which I am sitting in to play the game) for a good minute. When I snapped back to reality, I went to chat to announce that I’ll be backtracking the tunnel for a bit to record some earlier stuff I saw. I froze when I saw a long chat thread between “me” and Br. About a Chess.com puzzle rush I just did, with a bunch of images attached to some of the messages. I didn’t do any of these.

I immediately started typing an ALL CAPS message to Br. how somebody must have hacked my account and sent all this stuff. But as I was typing, the textbox suddenly gets fillled up with a long message with very accurate grammar and spelling about how I am a burden to everybody and I should distance from my cousin before I make someone else hates me, and such. I only skimmed the message before frantically deleting it to continue typing my original message.

I don’t remember what happened here, but I went to check Br.’s in-game profile. In there I see many things, including his POV. And since he was looking at me, I get a photorealistic image of the character I was playing as. One of its eyes were gone, the other glows an eerie violet, the skin of its face is also gone, and it was grinning at me. It almost looks like sans in the Last Corridor, if he was actually horrifying to look at.

I was so shocked and scared that I was jolted awake from the dream entirely. Just rolled out of bed to write this on my laptop. At the time I began writing this, it’s 6:48 AM, Saturday, 2nd March 2024. I not awake enough for this shit.

I am very pissed off. Not only because some sort of ocean parasite(??) has taken over my character and impersonated me, but also since this game doesn’t actually exist, I cannot play it and see what happens next, cuz “seeing something so terrifying that you get booted from the dream and wake up alone in your dark bedroom” means my subconscious definitely plagiarized OMORI. Though, iirc, Toby Fox had the idea for Deltarune during a fever dream. I have also started playing around with game development – especially the music composer side – for about a year now, and around autumn of this year I am also studying abroad in Computer Science. Could this be a sign???

This is the first time in forever that I actually rewrite one of my more vividly remembered dreams.

Some more details:

1/ My cousin and I haven’t been close for years, and we have never playing video games together. Also, neither of us are native English speakers, yet we chatted very naturally in English while playing that game.

2/ I have a good family life.

3/ I spat out saliva mixed with blood earlier, which explains why I tasted metal when I first woke up.

#deltarune #omori #geometry dash #help me spread this plz #weird dreams #196 #reddit

[somelazyassartist]

I'm. Not going to go into a huge ramble right now because I've done it before and I'll probably do it again later but I am running off of zero sleep and a sonic the hedgehog g fuel so if I talk a lot now it WILL end up incomprehensible but. Just a tiny post since I am thinking about it.

[Edit: it became a huge incomprehensible ramble anyways. It's under the cut if you want to see opinions on the TAZ graphic novel (and sorta the fanon) versions of Taako. But please dear Istus do not think I'm talking about the entire fandom it is just one specific brand of fanon-interpretation I'm talking about, NOT the fandom as a whole please I know enough about Tumblr's reading comprehension to know I should probably put a warning here now that I am talking about a specific trend and not an entire group of people who all have different opinions and also that this is ALSO just my own opinion myself. Oh and also this isn't meant to be like an attack on anyone it's just a personal peeve so if I sound frustrated that's just a Me Thing not me being like mad at anyone in particular Thank you very much genuinely for reading this and understanding]

But like,,,, does it bother anyone else or is it just me that the fandom's perception of Taako has become like. WAY more of a stuck-up ass than he ever really was in the podcast ever since the graphic novels came out? Like don't get me wrong he is a dick but he's never been, like, cruel for the most part.

But like, putting on HtbG (podcast) and then putting him next to the gn version of him is like.... Almost not the same character to me? It's like most people forget podcast Taako started out as the "dumb but sweet joke character" who was constantly slow to pick up on social cues and who the other characters repeatedly would take pity on and make fun of for being "the idiot of the group". And again he is a dick but he's not, like, Seriously a Mean Person!!

Also a decent chunk of the "antagonistic" stuff later on is still a continuation of him not getting social cues like in the beginning (for example, his bit where he threatens Angus for potentially becoming a better wizard than he is, realizing afterwards that his tone didn't come across the way he intended and that Angus interpreted that as being serious, and backtracked to try to clear up that he didn't mean to come off as serious and only meant it as a joke. And also says very explicitly in the same episode that he intends for most of his "mean" behavior throughout the series to come off as joking between equals and he doesn't mean for other people to take it seriously. He just says that.).

And he has, like, unspoken morality about what "harmful" things he does too, especially when it comes to like stealing stuff. If you listen to the podcast he (with very VERY VERY few exceptions) only ever steals from people who are dead- who will no longer be using those items and would be letting them go to waste unmoved- and people who have directly wronged him or his loved ones from his point of view. He actively tries to stop the other two from stealing from innocent people!! There's a whole scene where he establishes he isn't comfortable taking from people who don't deserve it and who need that money!! And then you go into the exact same scene in the graphic novel and.... He's exclaiming that he's going to steal a bunch of shit. Not just any shit, the exact shit he was trying to STOP the others from stealing in the podcast.

Which just doesn't feel like Taako at all!! In fact when he stole and sold Angus' grandfather's silverware and realized Angus really didn't deserve that, he felt guilty about it and tried giving some of it back for him and making up for the rest with quality time and magic lessons! but now when I look at fandom stuff (at least what I've come across) it seems a lot more people lean towards the more kleptomania-fueled dickhead Taako than the much tamer original version, and I have to say I prefer the original more!! He has so much more dimension to me in the podcast- not even because there's more time to flesh him out there than in the gn- but because while he is rude and foul-mouthed at times he has pretty explicit limits and will get upset if people try to force him to cross it! (Also seen with his elevator-related PTSD and him having a very reasonable breakdown when his emotional limits were repeatedly crossed with fair warning from him he'd freak out if forced into going in there..... which got cut from the graphic novels as well because of course it did).

And going forward, with gn Taako being so much more selfish and inhospitable than the original version, I feel like they might cut out his "I'm not a piece of meat" scene in TSG, because if they DO keep it in there's no way to me personally that it'll feel earned in any regard- tell me when in the graphic novels has he pretty much ever shown the genuine humility that the original version carries under his standoffish persona. I don't see it, and I don't think whatever happens between Crystal Kingdom's gn and The Suffering Game's gn will be enough to make that scene feel genuine to me. I really, honestly believe that.

Of course there's some things I do like about the graphic novels and I'm more than willing to give the next ones a fair shot (Crystal Kingdom was a lot better than I expected it to be!) but I really, really, REALLY don't like how the graphic novels (and to a small extent, the fandom) really over-emphasize how mean he is to people when if you listen back to the original in a lot of cases he's much more mellow and kind or is just not picking up on other people's tones/social cues and is being misinterpreted (both by other characters in-fiction and/or certain listeners) because it's established in the text he's bad at picking up that sort of thing

#anyways. you can pry Autistic Taako out of my cold dead fucking hands #not picking up/expressing tone and social cues well?? showing affection in 'weird' ways???? #having trouble with things he 'should know at his age' like math but being very smart in more niche subjects like aphorisms and cooking???? #anyways. not entirely related to my rant but I'm sleep deprived and would ramble more about how fucking autistic Taako is #if i didn't already write a whole essay right now about other things about him and also wasn't sleep deprived as shit lmao #but maybe I'll write more about him being autistic later <3 #taako taaco #Taako #taako adventurezone #taz taako #taako taz #graphic novel taako die 100000000 deaths #<- was my first (and only) suggested tag regarding that version of him and i still stand by it

[miloscat]

[Review] Wario Land 2 (GBC)

Oh yeah, Wario time.

After the boom of Wario spinoffs, things slowed down for him and Nintendo R&D1 in term of raw releases. When Wario Land 2 arrived a few years later, it represented a new direction for Wario Land. Six months to a year after that—depending on region—the series stepped into full colour for the first time with a rerelease for the GBC. This would be the definitive version if not for the lovely Super Game Boy borders that the monochrome release came with.

This is a sequel full of callbacks, to Super Mario Land 2 with Wario living in his ill-gotten castle, and to Wario Land 1 with the return of Captain Syrup and her pirate gang out to steal Wario's treasure. But in gameplay terms it's a clever reinvention of Wario's platforming mechanics. The levels are even more about exploration and nabbing filthy lucre, while Wario has become an undefeatable powerhouse: no more powerups, lives, or timers... and it's about time too.

Virtual Boy Wario Land dabbled in exploratory stages and destructible terrain, but WL2 takes that further to the point where you can consider it a puzzle platformer. A big new mechanic is Wario being affected by enemy attacks and taking on temporary forms or conditions, like being on fire, becoming a zombie, being flattened. These are a double edged sword: they can be carefully succumbed to as fun methods of interaction and traversal for reaching new areas and treasures, or they can set you back or force you to reset a room.

Since Wario can't die, the only penalties the game can enforce on you are a small loss of coins (important for playing the repetitive between-stages minigame and treasure minigame) or a wasting of the player's time. Backtracking through the branching levels is bad enough, but this game makes an art form of tedious setbacks. Now lacking the patience of a child, I was thankful that emulator features let me minimise interruptions of this nature.

This is the dark side to the new gameplay paradigm, but the bright side is the novelty of this fresh take on the brash comedic anti-hero, the level of environmental interactions and puzzle-solving that called to mind Yoshi's Island, and the integration of the story. Wario's quest to regain his pilfered loot takes him to various locations—a dank forest, cities and factories, a haunted house, undersea ruins—all contextualised with cutscenes far better than VBWL's slapdash whimsical mishmash, and letting new concepts breathe over a number of levels.

The branching narrative, with alternate exits to new sets of levels, seemed intimidating at first but an initial playthrough takes you on a straightforward path, and after the first credits (you'll see them at least five times if you go for 100%) you get access to a user-friendly level select that shows you where new branches can be found, so there's minimal need to replay stuff you've done already. This menu screen also shows you which treasures you've found—one per stage—although I wish there was a pause screen within a level that did the same, as I sometimes forgot if I'd nabbed it already. The sidestories are fun alternate takes on the adventure that also change the final credits sequence appropriately, which was a nice touch.

Wario Land 2 is the closest thing to what I was already familiar with: its direct sequel, Wario Land 3, so of course I loved it. But there's more to it... it's where the series really comes into its own; focusing on interactability, streamlining Wario's moveset with a permanent shoulder barge and butt-stomp while adding a bunch of gimmick transformations that can both help and harm, depending on the situation. It really works. The GBC refresh also makes the environments really pop, although it shows its nature as a "retrofit" with the palette limitations imposed on sprites, as Wario's forms and enemies only have a couple of shades each. Some minor growing pains and bland minigames drag it down a bit, but this is easily the best Wario game yet, and I already know the next one along takes it to another level!

#wario #wario land #wario land 2 #nintendo r&d1 #review #gbc

[psi-scribe]

I am thinking of making my own ig regiment, do you have any advice?

Hey it's always good to more guard regiments! 👀

Creating stuff from the ground up takes time and a lot of background development. In my opinion, some important questions to ask yourself are:

What is the planet like? This will help you figure out what the regiment might specialize in or what enemy they are particularly dedicated to fighting. Catachan is a jungle death-world so the Fighters are especially tough and excel in wild/rougher terrain. The Cadian Shock Troopers and Armageddon Steel Legion are regiments have developed around a certain kind of threat (Chaos and Orks).

How does your regiment recruit? Do people willing enlist like some modern military? Or is there any method? The Vostroyan Firstborn are quite literally made of only the first born children of families on their planet for example. Is it like a specialized penal legion just for the planet? Like the Savlar Chem Dogs.

What is the culture like? Planet-side and within the regiment? People carry their cultures with them off-world! Catachans are bold and defiant, preferring to show off knives than wear badges/metals. Cadians are highly disciplined and Krieg has developed around the faith they have gone against the Emperor in the past and must redeem themselves. There's also the Royal Volpones who all nobles and view any lowborn with disdain.

Combining questions 2 and 3, does the recruitment method reflect in the regiment? This one is more straight forward, is it generally considered an honor to serve? Repentance? Serving time for a crime committed? Naturally there will be differing opinions but what's the general consensus in the regiment!

Have they served with another regiment, sister of battle order or space marine chapter? This is where you can further detail their history and give them some reputation; good or bad and allows for some story ideas to happen. And allow for you to build up individuals within the regiment and show how they interacted with others.

Here comes the real fine details; regiment ranks, equipment/vehicles and general tactics. Don't worry about deep combat strategies, just ask yourself, are they trench fighters? Urban warfare masters? Sneaky? Let their weapons and vehicles reflect that.

After that it's all about designing the uniforms and perhaps any banners they might have. There's a bit of a balancing act here as all the regiments are part of the same branch and have to kind of 'fit' to some degree. But! There are regimental symbols and there can also be company symbols/names to think of. The 'Blue Bloods' are just the name for the Royal Volpone's 50th company for example. You don't have to make a bunch of companies, just one or even two particular examples. Symbols can be related to the planet's culture/history or even just something you particularly like!

You can also read up on other canon regiments or listen as well! Baldermort's Guide to Warhammer is an excellent in-universe lore vids and covers the lore. for deeper stuff Oculus Imperia also does amazing work. Check them out if you don't already know about them!

Also for books, Gaunt's Ghosts is all about the Tanith First and Only, a very unique regiment and highly recommended! There's also the Last Chancers, a personal fave of mine that delves into what a penal legion is like. As far commissars (The bosses of the regiments) you can never go wrong with the boi Ciaphus Cain, a very different commissar than Yarrick (Of the Helsreach fame) but also a good look into the regiments.

I hope this helps any at all! Homebrews of any kind are passion projects and some details are figured out quicker than others. Sometimes you figure out a detail only to backtrack later and have to figure out again, it's all part of the process.

I look forward to seeing what kind of ideas you develop!

#asks and answers #warhammer 40k #Imperial guard

[edelgarfield]

i need to vent about a d&d game

so i'm playing a sorcerer & from i took "prestidigitation" at character creation, primarily for the purpose of the "pissing other people's pants" joke. it's silly & stupid but i thought it was harmless fun.

last session over a year into the campaign, i tried to do it to my character's brother and the DM cuts me off and says "No. I hate that gag. It's stupid." and essentially says I can't do it.

and like, I don't really care about not being able to do it. what upsets me is the DM's reaction. I felt like I was being scolded and I just felt ashamed an embarrassed.

and I have a bunch of minor gripes like that. i feel like any time my character tries to do something cute or cool or meaningful or outside the box, someone (usually the DM) turns it into a joke where me/my character is the punchline.

and like im the least experienced player at the table and the only woman, so i just feel like I'm constantly being lowkey mocked or belittled or or talked down to.

ex:

the prestidigitation thing

i tried to probe an NPC for info & two people said my character was being a total bitch

i tried to pull one of the party members aside for a private conversation & one of the other players derailed it. when i said "i was trying to be private" the PLAYER responded "give me a stealth check"

i tried to have a sweet moment with my character's brother by casting darkness and giving him a hug and it got turned into a joke

later tried to have another sweet moment with my character's brother by twincasting mage armor on both of us only to be told he already had mage armor and being forced to backtrack in front of the rest of the party and looking like an idiot.

while the DM was describing a bunch of stuff I typed "mage armor" in the chat to signify I was casting it during the sequence of events and got told "nice try"

i told the DM i wanted to rp my character having memory problems. he said "sure, just clear it with the other players" i did and everyone was fine with it. when i tried to rp it, the DM said "no, you remember that." when i tried to argue the DM replied "sure, let's grind the plot to a halt" even though that was never my intention.

and these are all just examples from the previous two sessions. if i go back farther there's more.

I know I'm partially being paranoid and oversensitive. but i just feel like no one takes me seriously and everything i do is fodder to be mocked and belittled.

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #ttrpg #d&d #dungeons & dragons

[fahrni]

Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️

I’m getting more and more excited about writing code full time at work. I’m sure that won’t last but I’m going to enjoy every minute of it while I can. 😃

I ran into issues getting my git SSH keys to work earlier in the week and while I find that frustrating it was also a nice challenge to fix. I’m up and running and ready to break some stuff! 👍🏼

I hope you enjoy your coffee and the links.

Sarah Burns • The Irish Times

Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor has died at the age of 56, her family has announced.

The 80’s was my era of music and I most certainly remember Nothing compares 2 U, it was a big hit.

The thing that really struck me is, she was 56 years old. As I age my mortality has occupied more of my thoughts than I care to admit, but there you go.

God speed. ❤️

Jacob Zinkula • Business Insider

ChatGPT creator says AI advocates are fooling themselves if they think the technology is only going to be good for workers : ‘Jobs are definitely going to go away’

Emphasis is mine. I’ve not used ChatGPT but we’re pushing into AI hard at WillowTree. It’s such a hot button item at the moment all agencies will have to take it very seriously.

For my daily work I see it as a really smart auto complete. The next evolution in code assistant. It felt like cheating early on but as a developer you still have to validate the output. Did you get valid and good code? It may not work all the time. Yes, it’s fallible but it’s also early days. I am certain I’ll use it at some point to help generate some code.

Give it another 10 years to mature. I’ll be really close to retirement by then and the next next generation can use it to their advantage. 😃

Owen Bellwood • Jalopnik

According to General Motors boss Mary Barra, Chevrolet has backtracked on its plans to completely kill off the Bolt, which has so far seen its sales more than double in 2023. Now, the company is working on a next-generation Bolt, which will join Chevy’s other electric models: the Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV.

I found this really encouraging! We need more little EVs in the market and I always thought the Bolt was a nice little car.

Hopefully the next generation gets its fire issues under control.

Oh, the only downside I can think of is Chevy’s insistence on building their entire infotainment system.

Manton Reece

Dave Winer posted a 12-minute audio recording on his blog, addressed to me but applicable to everyone who is creating tools for the social web. Listening to it, I have a bunch of thoughts. In this post, I just want to start with server-to-server ActivityPub, and leave some of the other technologies Dave brings up for later.

Dave Winer has created a bunch of the technologies we rely on everyday in the blogging world; blogs, RSS, and Podcasting delivery. Now he’s trying to unify the mechanism to span posting to multiple social networks and blogging.

Manton Reece is the creator of Micro.blog — the service I use to publish this site — and is into open standards like MetaWeblog and ActivityPub, so much so Micro.Blog is a Fediverse server by federating with Mastodon.

To see these two chatting about putting something together to bride these systems is nice to see. I see what Dave is proposing as the next version of MetaWeblog, perhaps extended to accommodate new blogging and social network norms.

Perhaps Micropub could serve to do this? I’ve not looked into it but it seems like it could be the way to go?

I have my own opinions on the matter and I’m sure I’ll voice them at some point. In the meantime it’s nice to see this happening and I’m going to keep an eye on it. 👀

Robert Reich

Someone who has tried to overthrow the U.S. government cannot be president.

Mr. Reich is point out what may sound obvious at first but what he’s really saying is it shouldn’t take a conviction to eliminate TFG. We all know he tried to overturn a fair and valid election in 2019. We all know he rallied his supporters to storm the Capitol and try to stop the formality of recording the election results.

He doesn’t need to be convicted. He’s a danger to democracy and the rule of law. That’s disqualifying. ⚖️

leboncoin Engineering Blog

I recall how, when I was a junior developer, I often felt happy and reassured when I was writing software. It felt like a safe place compared to the overwhelming complexities of the world. The simple, deterministic functions, mechanical in their way of working, offered comfort. If you inject an input, it always gives the same output. It’s controllable, manageable, uncomplicated!

If you’re good at what you do eventually someone will notice and give you more to do with greater responsibility. Eventually you’ll be mentoring people and more junior developers will naturally look to you for your experience.

It’s not a bad thing. It’s just what happens and isn’t isolated to software engineering. This happens in all fields.

While I enjoy working with Junior folks there’s also this big part of me that’s ready to sit in the corner and just work on features and bugs, and that’s all. A simplified dev life. 😃

Dean Obeidallah

Barbie not only broke box office records, she destroyed the GOP’s Barbie Boycott

Barbie isn’t a film I plan on seeing but it sounds like the GOP is once again up in arms over cultural issues dealt with in the film.

I hope it breaks all the records. 🎬

Tony • arcadeblogger.com

I was visiting my family in the Chicago suburbs recently, when my niece mentioned she saw “some TRON thing” sitting on a curb while she was riding her bike through the neighbourhood.

As a teen I remember well the arcade in Exeter. It was called the Quarter Slot. Ahhh, good times. Anywho, I will never forget the Tron game — not the one mentioned in the article — because there were two guys who spent a crazy amount of time playing it and taking copious notes on how to beat every level.

Yes, those were the days.

James Surowiecki • Fast Company

Threads has one big advantage over Twitter: Zuckerberg understands advertising

If Threads can pull people away from Twitter — I mean, ahem, X — does that help to extinctify the ailing bird?

Who knows. Musk is crazy rich so I’d imagine he can keep it afloat for a very long time.

All I want to know is when will he be selling Twitter.com and for how much? It would make for a great Mastodon instance. 🐘

Ryan Erik King • Jalopnik

The Alpine F1 Team is currently competing at each race weekend with the odds slightly stacked against them. The Renault power unit used by the French factory team is believed to be 30 horsepower behind their rivals. Under normal circumstances, Alpine would be told simply to improve on their own, but there’s currently a freeze on engine development. The FIA, the sport’s governing body, wants to allow Alpine to catch up.

Alpine is kind of what remains of the Renault team and it seems like they’re going backwards.

I’d love to see them move closer to the front of the pack but they continue to be one of the “back of the pack” teams with flashes of brilliance on rare occasion.

Formula One is an extremely tough sport to compete in. Teams with extremely deep pockets can buy great engineering and dedicate huge resources to land their teams in victory lane. It also makes the races really boring. 😃

Here’s hoping Renault is given a chance to fix their horsepower issue ahead of next season. At this point I suppose it doesn’t matter much.

I’m a Haas supporter myself. It’s the only American team on the grid so why not support them? They also have Guenther Steiner who is the most entertaining of all the Principals in F1. 😃

Oh, by the way! Since you’re an American team why not use American built power? I mean, you run Ford motors Stuart Haas Racing, why not work with them on an amazing F1 power unit? I’d love to see that! Don’t let Red Bull be the only team doing it!

Who else is looking forward to the next season of Drive to Survive?

Tim Hardwick • MacRumors

Apple has become the target of a £785 million ($1 billion) class action lawsuit on behalf of over 1,500 developers in the UK over its App Store fees, reports TechCrunch.

Unfortunately this is pocket change for Apple. I don’t make much as a developer of apps for Apple devices but to those who do giving up 15 to 30% of revenue is a big deal.

Even if Apple allow for third party stores or payment processors they’re still going to charge their fee. Might as well keep the App Store as it is and be done with it.

Daring Fireball

Translation From Hostage Code to English of X Corp CEO Linda Yaccarino’s Company-Wide Memo

I mean, if Yaccarino isn’t actually asking for help to get out now I suppose she will be in six months to a year because Space Karen won’t agree with her about something and drive her insane or sack her.

Just let Twitter fade away, sell off the domain, and let’s move forward with the open web.

Janis Mara • berkeleyside.org

Peet’s is widely credited with transforming the industry — after all, the three founders of Starbucks learned much of their craft from founder Alfred Peet — but there’s much more to it than that.

I’d always known Peet’s was a big influence in the coffee world but I had no idea how much of an influence it really was.

This story is a fun read about one employees view from the inside. ☕️

[cutekittenlady]

Pokemon Sapphire run 3.5

((this is gonna be a super long one))

Dang it I'm still struggling to find the HM for rock smash! I think one place I havent looked is that house on route 110. The trick house?

yeah I bet its in there.

So i find the guy hiding under a table an dgo in behind the scroll... only to find a bunch of trees I have to cut.

I'm not wiling to catch another pokemon just to have it use cut. Not since I realized I needed a grass type in cyrstal and took out Flash-Cut. I think since this is supposed to be a genuine replay of all the old pokemon games... I'm just gonna have to play em how I used to and give the Hms to my team. Its not the BEST way to deal with it, and its not even the only way. But it was how I ALWAYS played as a kid. So guess I gotta decide who learns Cut...

Both Phoenix and Edge can learn cut. But its kind of a disappointment because I was REALLY hoping Audelle, my loudred, could learn it so she could at least get STAB from it.

UGH

I ultimately decide to teach Cut to Edge mostly because Phoenix will at least be able to get STAB from rock smash and I'd prefer to not put two HMs on a single pokemon this early on.

I delete Mud-slap in favor of cut because it does the least amount of damage out of Edge's moves and Iron Defense will likely come in handy if I need Edge to hold out against an opponent. Besides, later in the game I can always find the move deleter (who I think is in lilycove in this game?) to get rid of the HMs in favor of a better tm move.

I get through the trick room, beating all the trainers, and....

No HM

I am not pleased with you right now Pokemon Sapphire.

Seriously where the HELL is this HM?!?!

........

.... Sonnova....

Whatever. WHATEVER.

moving on.

I teach Rock Smash to Phoenix and head north.

I defeat all the trainers on the next route but find that the cable car up to Mt Chimney is down. Forcing me to cut through the fiery path to move forward. I find some berries outside the entrance, get secret power from some strange kid, and fight a few more trainers. However, my teams starting to get worn down now. Thankfully I find a house with a helpful old lady who lets me and my team stay at her place and heal up.

After that rest, I finally reach route 113 where the whole place is coated in ash from Mt. Chimeny. The route is a bit of struggle to get through, but my team manages to hang in there as I obtain the soot sack, allowing me to collect ash to have flutes made.

Lol, when it comes around to playing ORAS perhaps I'll challenge myself a little by making it so I cant use store bought healing items making stuff like the flutes essential. I don't normally do pokemon challenges, but I really do more often than not find gen 6 to be the easiest of the pokemon generations.

No hate meant, but while I dont play pokemon games for a challenge I dont quite want it to be the breeze I managed to play through when I played pokemon X and alpha sapphire.

Moving on.

I managed to make it to Falarbor town! I heal up my mons and decide to double back to the previous route to find some items. In fact once I get through to a certain point I should back track and use cut and rock smash to get some extra items.

Which I did. Sadly I didn't get a whole lot out of the ashy route, so I went on ahead to route 114 where I caught a new team member! A swablu I decided to name Aeria!

Aeria Species: Swablu lv. 16 Nature: Docile Ability: Natural Cure Moves: Peck, Growl, Astonish, Sing Item: none

Lol I can't recall if I've ever actually used a swablu so this should be an interesting addition!

So I get to Meteor Falls and ran into Maxie, saved the researcher guy from a bunch of team aqua grunts, etc. Then I just carried on my way. I did run into a Lunatone in the cave but I failed to catch it.

I cut through back to Rustboro and did some much needed backtracking. I fought the trainers in the tree maze on route 116. Since I put this off they were severely underleveled, but it scored Aeria a level up so it was some much needed training.

The most notable item I managed to get ahold of by backtracking and using cut/rock smash was the Miracle Seed in Petalburg Woods. I went ahead and gave it to Hawthorn to powerup its Absorb attack (although that wont do any good against the fire gym).

I finally went to rustturf tunnel to destroy the rock and make the shortcut while getting HM04 Strength at the same time. I returned to Mt. Chimney and rode to the top and started fighting Team Aqua.

After getting past the grunts I took on Archie.

I still had Aeria at the front of the party so she ended up being sent out against Mightyena (yikes!)

I immediately swap in to Phoenix in to Phoenix in the hopes that Aeria might get some additional experience. Mightyena used bite, and Phoenix hit back with a double kick taking Mightyena out! Hooray for super effective fighting type moves!

Archie sends in Golbat. In the interst of keeping Phoenix from getting taken out too soon, I swap him for Edge. Hoping his steel type would resist the Golbats poison typing. Golbat used bite causing Edge to flinch and then hit em with a wing attack. Edge responded with metal claw. Golbat used bite, tho this time Edge managed to avoid flinching. Edge used another metal claw, and golbat used supersonic, but it failed. Edge uses headbutt getting them down to low health. I set up to use Cut to take them down next turn but Archie uses a super potion to heal Golbat making the cut attack useless. Next turn Golbat managed to hit Edge with a critical bite that managed to hit. Edge used iron defense to try to gain up some defense. Golbat used bite again and Edge flinched. Edge proceeded to flinch for the next three turns as Golbat spammed bite and sadly fainted.

I send in Audelle against Golbat. The reason why occurs on the first turn when Golbat tries to pull off a supersonic only for Audells soundproof ability to kick in and keep it from having any effect. Audelle immediately goes into an uproar while Golbat uses bite and wing attack. Audelles uproar ends and I try to have her use a pound to take Golbat out but Archie, that ass, uses ANOTHER super potion. Pound still hits but Golbat hits back with a wing attack. Audelle used uproar again. Golbat manages to get in a bite but it wasnt enough to take Audelle out and it fainted.

Next up Archie set out Sharpedo which manages to outspeed Audelle and use Crunch taking the already weakened Audelle out.

I throw in Hawthorn hoping his grass typing would create an advantage. Sharpedo used focus energy and Hawthorn used absorb. From there the two get into a back and forth with sharpedo using bite and Hawthorn sucking out health with absorb. Hawthorn wins the war of attrition and Sharpedo fainted.

With all THAT done, my team is heavily weakened and needs a heal at a pokemon center. Not wanting to deal with the trainers on Jagged Pass I avoided them using the acrobike. I successfully avoid them and get to lavaridge. I receive an egg from an old lady there but immediate box it.

(Sorry wynaut. you and Wabboffet are cool pokemon but i dont have the patience for you this playthrough)

I head immediately to the gym just to see how I fare. While fighting trainers Aeria managed to learn Safeguard.

I'd write a team update but tbh this post has run really really long, so I'm gonna type it up on the next one.

Whew, this was a long one.

#pokemon #pokemon sapphire #tiger plays pokemon #pokemon sapphire playthrough

[rimurutempest]

okay, should be on my way to the snowfields next!!!

#i have to backtrack later for a bunch of stuff #esp typhlosion #but im in a HURRY dammit #gotta go find my chandelure bby!!!!!! #pkmn #snap spoilers

[wonderwomanfantasy]

oh shit! kisses!

oh zbops my beloved you spoil me. I fucking love himbo Sero

Sero x Reader

Warnings: nothing really

Word count: 1,000 (about)

Summary: Sero is just a good guy, he's a nice coworker and great to be around. he's also as stupid as he is hot but you wouldn't have him any other way.

“Hanta,” you whined, almost throwing yourself on his desk. Sero smiled and patted your back, he’d been having kind of a rough morning, he’d woken up late and rushed through his morning, got chewed out by his manager, and stuck with a bunch of mind-numbing paperwork, count on you to make things better.

“What’s wrong cupcake?” he asked.

“I need coffee,” you said. Hanta grinned and quirked an eyebrow up at you

“Well sweetheart you just missed the breakroom, it’s back that way,”

“The break room coffee sucks,” you huffed. It was true, the breakroom coffee was watery as hell.

“Go down the street with me to get coffee?” you asked.

“Why do you need me to go with your cupcake? You’re a grown-up aren’t you?” he teased,

“But you’re my coffee buddy, I can’t go without you!” you protested. It was a one-hit K.O. you were just too fucking cute for him to put up with. He pushed the sleeves of his button-down shirt up to his elbows and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Alright let's go, can’t leave my baby hanging,” he teased, offering his arm to you which you took. Before walking out of the office on an early lunch.

Some people might think your relationship was romantic in nature. The nicknames, the teasing, and touching. But it really wasn’t like that, you were just close work friends and you were a little touchy. Did it sometimes make Hanta blush when you ran your hands over his chest or nuzzled his neck? I mean sure. He was a red-blooded man and you were his hot, hot coworker. He’d be nuts not to be attracted to you. But Sero wasn’t a dick, so he was more than capable of brushing off your touchiness.

You ordered your coffee and Sero ordered his then you sat down together at a small iron grate table. You took one of his hands and pressed your palms together.

“Look how big your hands are Hanta! How do you even function with such long fingers?” you giggled. Sero curled his knuckles, the tops of his fingers bending over yours. His hand slipped and suddenly his fingers were laced together with yours. His first impulse was to pull away but you held him tight and he quickly relaxed. Your hand was soft, small in his, he smiled to himself.

“If you’d like I can show you how I use these big hands of mine,” he teased making you laugh. He wouldn’t mind showing you a good time, not that you were really interested in him but a guy could dream.

“Buy me dinner first,��� you teased back.

“I’ve bought you coffee isn’t that close enough?” you laughed again before launching into a rant about your day and all the shit you still had to do. Sero listened then went on his own tirade.

“Sounds like we both have a lot to do huh?” you asked blowing out a huff of air.

“Yep. we should probably get back to work and get some of it done,” he sighed.

“Or we could get another cup of coffee,” you offered.

“Or we could get more coffee,” he agreed, squeezing your hand once before letting you go to get you both refills. It didn’t bother him to pay for you, he was your coffee buddy after all.

Hanta ended up pulling a late night. He was so distracted that he didn’t even notice that you never came to say goodbye to him. You always said goodbye to him before you left and almost always you gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. You were just affectionate like that.

Sero submitted his last form and rolled his chair back cracking his knuckles and groaning in satisfaction.

“Hanta what are you still doing here?” you asked peeking up at him from your own desk.

“Finishing up some stuff, what are you doing here?” he asked crossing over at you and peeking at your glowing computer screen, the only light in the room beside his own desk. You smiled tiredly at him.

“New project, I’ve been working later than normal the past couple of days,” you sighed. Sero set his jaw as he looked at what you were working on. It looked like a shit ton of math to him, you’d need a full week to teach him this shit.

“You’re the only one working on this?”

“No, but-”

“No buts, knowing you, you’ve already done more than you’re fair share, it’s late baby time to go home,” his tone left no room for argument. You sighed and saved your progress, and got ready to leave.

“Let me walk you,” he said. Grabbing his bag quickly as the two of you started for the exit.

“You don’t have to Hanta, I’ve got pepper spray,” you said pulling a little blue can from your bag and waving it at him. He hmmed.

“Still walking you,” he said putting his arm around your waist, his hand resting on your hip holding you close. You sighed and snuggled closer to him bracing yourself for the cold night air. It wasn’t so bad being this close to him.

“Just to the station though,” you amended.

“What are you trying to get yourself robbed?” he scoffed. It wasn’t like he didn’t know where you lived, you were just trying to be polite so he didn’t have to walk all the way to your apartment building then backtrack to his. Jokes on you though he wasn’t going to let anything happen to you tonight.

You stayed close to Sero on the nearly empty train and he walked you to your front door. It was the middle of the night, he was clearly tired you wanted to offer your home to him for the nice but you knew he wouldn’t accept.

“Thank you Hanta,”

“Don’t mention it, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said turning to leave. You grabbed his arm stopping him and leaning up to kiss his cheek. Or at least, you were going to kiss his cheek. Sero whipped his head around to see what you needed from him and it was already too late, you ended up kissing his lips.

Sero felt awful for taking advantage of you like that. Sure maybe the kiss was an accident but when he kissed you back, cupping your face and pressing you against your door was definitely not.

He didn’t mean to, but he just couldn’t help himself. “Mhp,” you whimpered against his lips. Sero got a grip and pulled back.

“Fuck- I’m sorry cupcake, I didn’t mean to,” he said, you smiled.

“It’s okay Hanta, it was nice,” you muttered.

“Nice?” he asked.

“Yeah, Why wouldn’t I enjoy kissing you? I thought I made it pretty clear that I like you,” you said. Hanta felt lightheaded.

“Then would you mind if I kissed you again?”

#sero hanta x reader #bhna sero #mha sero #sero imagine #sero x reader #sero fluff #my hero x reader #my hero acidamia imagine #my hero academia head cannon #my hero academia imagine