#hate hate hate video formats for learning

[realist-fortheloveofwomen]

I think I know what happened… https://youtu.be/U8QhB8_0t2g?si=bvsWcop1ap3Zp-oI

[willkill4pudding]

Heaven forbid you're trying to do something like learn a new stitch for knitting and have to use both your hands to hold your needles but you missed a step so you need to scroll back in the video to repeat the part but then you have to grab your needles again and pray you didn't lose your place and oh no you did and you need to go back farther and pick up your work again and now you have to repeat the whole thing up until the part you missed and try not to miss it again and why couldn't this have just been a photo guide with written instructions again????

I am slowly losing my mind over the shift towards video as the default media format.

I do not find this to be an efficient way to absorb information. I am bored and distracted by the time the largely unnecessary introduction is over. I can't use ctrl+f to find the specific information I'm looking for. If there are instructions to follow, I don't want to have to constantly pause and back up to the part I need.

At least give me a fucking transcript.

[ouroboobos]

1st day of class and my professor wants a video response, analytical essay, and a quiz turned in in two days

[jungaji]

when they miss you ౨ৎ

nct dream '00 line ㅤ♡

RENJUN (๑•ᴗ•๑)

you'll always know when renjun misses you because that's when he starts pulling out his mandarin. he calls you late at night, voice soft, laced with the longing he doesn’t really bother hiding,

“我真的好想你吖” (i miss you so much)

“几时才能见面呢？” (when will we get to meet?)

and even if you didn't know or understand chinese before, you've come to learn it after picking it up from him through these calls over time. he always tells you that it's enough to know just these pretty words, and that you don't need to know more.

each phrase or sentence he tells you carries a bit of his heart, and its those little 我爱你 (i love you) moments that linger with you, bridging any distance between the two of you.

JENO (.◜◡◝)

missing you is almost like a battle jeno tries not to lose. he'll pretend like its no big deal, acting like he's just casually checking in on you when he texts, “whatchu doing?”

you always tease him for how obvious he gets—especially because the moment you tell him he can come over, he's at your door before you can even blink.

you open it to find his cheeks flushed, his signature eye smile breaking out as he murmurs a quick and bashful “hi,” before he's pulling you close, lips crashing onto yours. from there, he's glued to your side, following you around whereever you go—even to the bathroom. “i just wanna be close to you!”

whether he's helping you out with little things around your house or just leaning against the wall watching you, his presence fills every corner, as if he can finally relax now that he's with you.

HAECHAN ʕ•Ⱉ•ʔ

being apart from you is a nightmare for hyuck. he's naturally clingy, always close whenever he's with you. but when he's away, its like his clinginess amplifies a thousand times.

if he's the one who's busy, he'll video-call you the second he has any free time, even if it's just a simple “hi”, he can't help but want to see your pretty face and hear your sweet voice.

and when you're the one who's busy? your phone will be bombarded with his texts, asking what you're doing, who you're with, and why you're not with him. if you take too long to respond, he starts sending texts like, “so what position are the two of you in rn?” or, “i know you hate me at least say it to my face.”

and just when you're about to nag at him for being ridiculous, he always makes sure to send you a selfie of himself, teary eyed with a cute pout, accompanied with a, “i just miss you :(”

JAEMIN ₍ᐢ ɞ̴̶̷ ̫ ɞ̴̶̷ ᐢ₎

jaemin swears he misses you all the time, but when the two of you are truly apart, he goes the extra mile to make sure you feel it too.

he's always checking in—texts asking if you've eaten, reminders to rest, and occasionally surprising you with food deliveries whenever he knows you haven't had the time to cook. acts of service come naturally to him—its his way of making sure you're taken care of even when he can't be there himself.

and then there are his calls. his voice soft but steady, filling any silence with gentle reminders of how much he misses you. he never lets the distance feel like an obstacle, his words reaching you with such warmth that its as if he's right there beside you.

“i wish i could be there by your side.”

authors notes: just a lil smth before i disappear for the next few weeks, school has been tough on me :,[ also ive never written in this format before but im really happy with how this turned out hehe i hope youll enjoy, happy reading<3

[exeggcute]

the leaked mrbeast production doc kills me because like, for better or worse, this guy clearly has his shit down to a science. he knows exactly what game he's playing and he knows how to play to win. the actual doc is structured well, communicates its ideas clearly, but also was thrown together by a youtube guy who paid no attention to visual formatting or proofreading. and yet as much as I hate to say it, stuff like this is actually great and widely applicable advice:

What you consume on social media, when you watch youtube, tv, the games you play, etc. are what I like to call your information diet. Chris Tyson (our first subscriber and the guy in the videos) is a wonderful example of an information diet being used to perfection. The dude is funny as fuck. I’ve never met anyone in my entire life that can make people laugh like he can and I never understood why he was so good at it until I lived with him for a few years. The dude watches an obscene amount of cartoons and stupid shit. His eyeballs exsist to inhail copious amounts of just goofy, dumb, and brain numbing content. And as a result he can quote almost any line from any episode of spongebob. He’s able to draw from so much stupid shit in his head as inspiration to make jokes and be quirky. As a result he is fucken hilarious. But let’s imagine a different Chris, let’s say instead of cartoons and stupid shit, his information diet was stocks and investing advice. And for 5 years that’s all he consumed. Do you think he’d be just as funny as he currently is? No. He in my opinion wouldn’t even be 20% as funny. If you’re a writer or director you really need to monitor and perfect your information diet. If your diet is not correct, you won’t have a good pulse on culture. I don’t want you to be a chris, in fact, I think that would probably do you harm. Talent needs to inhale cartoons so they can be funny, writers need to inhale inspiration. Let’s say there is a purple fruit in the middle of Australia that when eaten makes you 2 feet taller. If it truly did exist, you wouldn’t have known that until just right now. But now that you know of it, you can draw on it for inspiration for every piece of content you write going forward. That’s beautiful, it can now sit in the back of your mind waiting for that one video where it is needed. It might take 10 videos or even 100 but eventually you’ll be brainstorming a bit and think of the right one to use the fruit for. Apply this to everything on this fucken planet. You. Can’t. Get. Inspired. By. Things. You. Don’t. Know. Exist. So how do you learn more about what's out there in the world? How do you stay up to date on the latest memes? How do you know what’s going on with celebrities? What’s trending on youtube? What other creators are doing? What’s popping on tik tok? Your information diet. Consume things on a daily basis that help you write better content.

[miamooooo]

josh is so obsessed with you that he's gotta have his camera on you all the time. he thinks you're the cutest thing ever, he just can't resist ♡

ty @nerd-space for the idea aahhh this was tew freakin good

(warnings): suggestive/nsfw

josh is the type of boyfriend to obsess over you and have pictures of you in every format. he's got a folder dedicated to pictures and videos of you in his phone, he has a stack of polaroids in a box, he's got sooo many candid photos from his digital camera that he uploads to his laptop. he probably even has you as his wallpaper.

if you're the type of person that hates pictures or is just camera-shy, he'll make sure you learn to love them and get comfortable. at first you would probably be annoyed when you're just minding your business and randomly hear a click of a camera and josh murmuring out a playful 'beautiful.'

you could be studying and he's just... staring. he thinks you're so cute when you're all focused, and honestly staring just isn't enough for him. he'll pull out his phone and silently snap a few pictures of you and then end up showing you with a smile on his face, telling you how cute you are.

"josh, i don't like those pictures. delete them."

"aww, c'mon babe! you're gorgeous."

he's sososo obsessed with you that he doesn't even think you have a bad pic.

he has secret photos of you sleeping that he'll probably never willingly show you unless you find them yourself... and ngl you'd probably kill him for it. josh has videos of him poking your cheek while you're napping and if you're a snorer, omg you're not safe. he has videos of you snoring and you can hear his little laughs in the background. he's a big tease.

while still on the topic of sleeping, he loves taking more sexual photos of you even when you're not trying. you could be laying in bed with nothing but a huge t-shirt on and he's already got his camera out to take pictures of you, climbing on the bed and hovering over you while you shyly pose for him. and gosh he just can't get enough of you!

"so pretty for me.." he's murmuring to himself, bringing the camera back up to his face to snap some more pics of you.

god forbid if he gets a glimpse of what's under the shirt because he'd make you lift it up so he could take some more photos. he's a big pervert.

josh definitely has a load of dirty pictures of you in his phone.

when you guys are having sex, he records you when you're unaware of it at first. you'd be riding him, eyes screwed shut, hands tightly gripping his shoulders as you bounce in his lap and he thinks you're the hottest thing ever. he can't resist grabbing his phone off the nightstand.

"mph..! oh god, feels so— no! put it away!" you moan out, face heating up as you try to grab the phone from his hands but he's moving his arms away.

"nono, keep going babe.. mmh yeah— you look so fucking good."

if you're not around and he's missing you, he'll go through his phone to look at all of your pretty pictures. he'll start to inspect every little detail about his favorite pictures and his mind will start to wander to dirtier places. he definitely ends up jerking off to some of your pictures.

once you get more comfortable around the camera, josh is like the happiest boyfriend on the planet. he's literally your number 1 hypeman and he lives for every second of it. he's just soo fucking happy that you're finally starting to see what he's seeing and gosh once you really start to embrace it, he doesn't even know how much hotter you could possibly get.

"babe! do you like this outfit? i think it's super cute. can you take a picture of me really quick?"

"hell yeah, sweetheart."

you don't have to tell him twice. he's grabbing your phone and taking several pictures of you, hyping you up and telling you to give him your sexiest pose. he'd probably end up getting distracted after a few more pictures before deciding that he's horny and wants to fuck you.

[carriagelamp]

My favourite books from 2024! Another really strong year of books for me -- every year will have some stinkers and a bunch of middling reads, but the highs of this year were really high so I'm pretty content

As always, I give more detailed descriptions and opinions of the books in my month reviews, but here's a quick breakdown for anyone who's interested:

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

A non-fiction book that looks at how childhood has been “rewired”, focusing specifically on the increase of overprotective parenting, increase of tablet/social media usage, and decrease of unstructured, independent play. It was a fascinating read that really looked at how children need to be given lots of opportunities to play, take risks, and make mistakes in order to learn and grow and how a loss of that might be impacting people’s mental health. As someone right on the cusp of the age bracket that’s being focused on, it felt very exposing.

Apothecary Diaries v1-2 by Natsu Hyuuga

Maomao is kidnapped and sold as a servant to the imperial palace, where she serves as a general dogsbody in the rear palace, home of the emperor’s various consorts and concubines. She’s determined to keep her head down until her contract is up… until she helps solve a mystery and catches the eye of the powerful eunech Jinshi who soon learns about her in-depth knowledge of apothecary work and anything to do with poisons. Very funny premise, Maomao hates Jinshi soooo much and he is such a simp for it. She just wants to eat poisons and be left alone and he says “no<3” to both of those

Bury Your Gays (and Straight) by Chuck Tingle

Both of these are very explicitly queer horror novels. Straight is a novella that riffs on the format of a zombie story, but with straight people becoming inexplicably violent towards queer people one day a year. Bury Your Gays is about a Hollywood screenwriter who realises his horror creations are begin to stalk him in the real world. Both are very intentionally built around social commentary on queer issues, and despite have audacious premises they completely own their camp and end up producing really well thought out, insightful stories. I can’t say I liked either as much as Camp Damascus but either is worth a read.

Console Wars by Blake J. Harris (and Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier)

Console Wars is a nonfiction book I’ve meant to read for years on my brother’s recommendation and I quite enjoyed it. It explores the history of the video game console market in North America, with a focus on how Nintendo revitalized it and how Sega then swooped in to upset the monopoly it held. The book is written in a very narrative, personable style and I found myself really rooting for the various people and companies being portrayed ahahaha. A shockingly fun read. I also read Blood, Sweat, and Pixels which wasn’t quite as narratively compelling but a related read that looked at games with complex development cycles.

Defekt by Nino Cipri

Technically the sequel to Finna which I also read this year, but Defekt works as a stand-alone and is, imho, the better of the two. Both deal with a surrealist horror Ikea setting, where the sheer density and liminal-space-ness of it all allows strange wormholes to open up between these stores from different dimensions. Finna deals with actual wormhole hopping, whereas Defekt focuses in on one employee who gets assigned to a very strange overnight inventory shift.

The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish v1-2 by Xue Shan Fei Hu

Fish isekai book. Is this a good book? No. Is it a really really fun book? Yes, in spades. In this book, Li Yu wakes up in a court drama novel… but not as a character but rather as the tyrannical prince’s pet fish. He is given the task to improve the prince and is stuck figuring out how the hell to do this as a fish. This book knows exactly how ridiculous it is and leans into it. Li Yu and Prince Jing are both idiots in very unique and exciting directions. No one knows what the fuck is happening.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

A prequel to Every Heart a Doorway, though it works perfectly well as a standalone. Honestly I liked it more than the first. This book has deliciously gothic horror vibes, and it plays with all the tropes you would expect from gothic horror / fear of the sublime. It’s about sisters who find a strange chest that lets them descend to the sinister land of the Moors. This is where vampires rule, werewolves stalk, and mad scientist’s ply their craft. The girls end up separated on and very different trajectories as they grow and acclimatize to the brutal existence of the Moors.

Escape From Incel Island by Margaret Killjoy

Exactly what it says on the tin. Completely insane book that is very worth the read if you feel like something that is patently insane. I strongly recommend treating this as a read aloud with a friend or loved one because I read it with my brother and couldn’t stop laughing. Top notch mercenary Mankiller Jones is sent to escort a computer scientist to Incel Island to retrieve lost governmental data. There they have to survive the hoards of Nice Guys, Volcels, Betas, and every other violent inhabitant of the island if they ever want to… escape from Incel Island.

Heaven Official’s Blessing v6-8 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

I finished the main series of Heaven Official’s Blessing (without reading the extras yet), and man what an ending! I could not have asked for a more epic or satisfying conclusion! The final battle and its various stages? The character reconciliation? The villain reveal? Perfect, no notes. The series itself follows Xie Lian, a prince who has ascended to godhood twice and been cursed and cast out from Heaven just as many times, giving him the title of the Laughingstock God. The story begins with him, to everyone’s dismay, ascending a third time.

Horrorstör (and Paperbacks from Hell, My Best Friend’s Exorcism) by Grady Hendrix

This book also deals with a Strange Alternate Ikea, but is the superior book. This was one of my top reads for 2024, and it was flawless horror. It is essentially a haunted house story set in an Ikea, that manages to be both chilling, disgusting, and a shockingly insightful critique of capitalism and retail. Very worth the read. 

After reading this I also read Paperbacks from Hell (a nonfiction book that does an analysis of horror fiction from the ‘70s and ‘80s, very good read) and My Best Friend’s Exorcism (which was decent but not my favourite of Hendrix’s since possession and exorcism isn’t my favourite brand of horror. The vaguely queer undertones and ending I found interesting, and it did some cool things throughout.)

Jeeves and Wooster books by P.G. Wodehouse

I ended up listening to so many of the Jeeves and Wooster audiobooks this summer while I was travelling. There were some I really really loved and some that fell very flat for me. I think I listened to too many in a row by the end… These books are like popcorn, not deep but very fun, and follow the airheaded but good natured Bertie Wooster and his man Jeeves who unfailing swoops in to solve all the strange and inane problems the Bertie gets involved in. They tend to be funny, light-hearted, and clever in their resolution of plot problems… though some of the issues do get rather repetitive. My favourites were: The Inimitable Jeeves, Very Good Jeeves, Right Ho Jeeves, and the Code of the Woosters.

Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Some excellent science fiction, especially for my Pacific Rim loving heart. This bordered on the cosy fantasy genre, while mixing in plenty of science, world-building and a good dash of excitement. During the Covid-19 lockdown, Jamie Gray is stuck trying to make ends meet as a food delivery driver… until he runs into an old acquaintance who suggests he might have a very different job offer for him. Jamie ends up joining this very secretive “animal rights group” and finds out just how massive, dangerous, and otherworldly these “animals” are by being risked to an entirely different dimension filled with giant, radioactive monsters.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

One of my favourite books from this year! Tthis book managed to hit on very topical subjects with both tact and humour. Lula Dean has spearheaded a book banning crusade, managing to get a number of “problematic” books removed from the library and has made a show of setting up a Little Free Library in her yard full of “appropriate” books instead. When Beverly Underwood visits her mother and hears about this she’s so exasperated with it all that she quickly hatches a plan swapping out the dust jackets of some of the banned books with the ones in Lula Dean’s Little Free Library. The rest of the story is about various people in the town who borrow a book from Lula Dean’s library and how the book they got instead ends up impacting not just themselves but their town. The first story involves a penis cake. Can’t recommend it enough, starts out humour and quickly becomes something you want to rally around.

My Happy Marriage v1 by Akumi Agitogi

This was pure mindless fluff, it was honestly a delight. This is a low-fantasy, Cinderella-esque story set in the Taishō era. It focuses on Miyo Saimori who lives under the thumb of her cruel step-mother, haughty step-sister, and indifferent father. She’s resigned to being treated like a servant in her own home and ekeing out a strained existence, but her life takes a turn when she finds herself nominally engaged to the allegedly cold and cruel Kiyoka Kudou. It’s just absolutely overwhelmingly cute and I really enjoy the contrasting POVs.

A Series of Unfortunate Events and Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket

I’d never finished The Series of Unfortunate Events when it was originally coming out, so I finally sat down and did that, and honestly it was well worth the wait! It was a very interesting series to read as an adult, especially all in one go, because it really let me appreciate everything that Snicket was trying to say. It was a much more clever and philosophical read than I was anticipating, and The End was fucking superb. He absolutely stuck the landing, it completely blew me away. Poison For Breakfast was also a very interesting standalone novella that felt like surrealist philosophy. I might have even enjoyed it more than the basic TSOUE.

The Poison Squad (and The Poisoner’s Handbooks) by Deborah Blum

Poison Squad is a very compelling and topical nonfiction about the formation of the American Food and Drug act. The state of unregulated food processing in the late 19th century was, in a word, nightmarish. Don’t read this book if you have a weak stomach. But it’s completely fascinating to see how one person, Dr Harvey Wiley, made it a personal mission to scientifically prove what all these mysterious food additives were doing to people and put limits to what could be sold to consumers. I liked it so much I went to read Blum’s other book, The Poisoner’s Handbook which is set during Prohibition and explores the rise of forensic medicine and again exposes how people were being poisoned by simply living their standard lives.

The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill

The real, true history of the New York City Pushcart War!! For real!!! This is a delightful underdog story that is really written in the style of a history textbook recounting the fictional Pushchart War. This war started in New York City as the roads get increasingly congested with traffic, the worst offenders being the increasingly massive and arrogant trucks. The trucking companies hatch a plan though: if they begin to push out the little pushcarts, framing them as the problem for the congestion, then how hard would it be to push out taxis next? Or buses? Or motorcars? How long until they can make the road a perfect habit for trucks and trucks alone? How can something as small and poor as a pushcart owner fight back?

Railsea (and This Census-Taker) by China Miéville

I heard Railsea described on tumblr and it sounded sufficiently insane that I had to read it for myself. This author is truly unrivaled when it comes to bizarre worldbuilding that feels both very, very grounded in reality while also being completely unexplained and impossible. Railsea is essentially a Moby Dick meets Treasure Island retelling but with trains instead of boats and giant, mutated, vicious moles instead of whales. Unhinged. Can’t recommend enough. I followed this up by reading his novella This Census-Taker which was not as much of a frolicking adventure but fucked with my brain just as much or more than Railsea did. Genuinely not sure I even know what happened in that story but I enjoyed the experience of being completely fucking baffled for some 200 pages.

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

Another book to ideally not read if you have a weak stomach. This novella is very big on unrelenting body horror. This is a twisted fairytale retelling in which a cannibalistic Little Mermaid meets a plague doctor Frankenstein. Both of them are walking away from cruel past lives, along a trail that’s soaked in blood and viscera. You feel how painfuly and disgustingly human this book is, while also being so wildly separate from anything that resembles human anatomy or morality. Superb.

Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System v1-4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

The last of MXTX’s three series I needed to read. It was the one I was most hesitant about, but I ended up having a really great time with it. It is simultaneously the most light-hearted and silly of the three series, while also the one that most gleefully dives into torture and sex. So you get a bit of everything with this, and as usual MXTX does a really good job of mixing the humour and series in a way that keeps things constantly interesting. The story is about Shen Yuan who dies our of pure, frothing fury after reading the shitty ending to the shitty, porny webnovel he’s been reading for hundreds of thousands of words. He dies cursing the lousy author and the lousy writing so he’s given a chance: step up and do it better! Which is easier said than done, when he finds himself waking up in the body of the series’ villain who is destined to be gruesomely tortured to death. Better get on that!

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench and Brendan O'Hea

This is the written result of a number of interviews held between Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea and she discusses her time as a Shakespearean actress. It looks into what her time working with theatre companies was like, summarizes the plays she took part in, and delivers into some fascinating character analysis of the roles she played. An absolute treasure of a book for someone who enjoyed their Shakespeare and/or Judi Dench.

Singing Hills Cycle v1-5 by Nghi Vo

Probably my favourite series that I read this year, I can’t wait for the next book! This series follows Chih and her magical bird companion who come from the Singing Hills Monastery, an order that is devoted to keep recording tales and keeping a history of the land. Chih travels all over in these various novellas, collecting stories, memories, and histories that they come across. The first book has them entering the recently unwarded palace of the late Empress to learn about her marriage, imprisonment and rise in power. The second has them trapped by a pack of tigresses with nothing to do but frantically lure them into comparing stories. 

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ten year old Ada was born with a club foot and because of it has never been allowed to leave her apartment. She lives a hard life trying to care for her younger brother and suffer through the abuses of her mother. Things change though as the Second World War truly begins and London begins to evacuate children to the country. Ada is determined — she and her brother will evacuate, they will escape their mother’s house, even if it means her learning how to walk on her club foot. Even if it means facing how different life is for unwanted slum children in the country, and confronting how much she and her brother don’t know about life. This was a very touching book, it did a great job of balancing Ada’s justifiable pain and anger with an optimistic story. Queer elements are all subtext but there — they aren’t the main focus of this story.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

This book absolutely took my breath away, it was a next level literary experience. It’s very, very solidly magical realism, so don’t go into this expecting true fantasy, everything going on here is allegorical and a beautifully done allegory at that. This story is set during the 1950s, in a time surrounding an event known as “The Mass Dragoning” when thousands of women suddenly, spontaneously, transformed into dragons and flew away. The story follows Alex Green who was a child during this event. Her aunt transformed. Her mother didn’t. Both of these things have profound impacts on Alex as she grows up, and a woman’s role in society, a woman’s anger, her joy, her desire are all questioned and explored.

[pchelik-please]

Headcanons for cardbots' anatomy and culture(kinda)

I wrote most of them to set cardbots apart from cybertronians and write down ideas for their mechanical insides. Tumblr seemingly doesn't like the formating im using.

Warning! Its a long read.

Anatomical hc:

Optic is a one whole led screen, very expressive, easily breakable 

Charge instead of a spark (a ball of electricity with nerves that run through the whole body, you should under no circumstance touch it)

Charge consists of the Charge Core (a ball of high voltage electricity in the chest) and Charge Veins (thin vein-like strings that run through entire body from the Charge Core) 

Charge Core is protected by dense shell made out of machinium. Charge Veins are attached to it

There are five main CV: 2 for arms, 2 for legs, 1 for head, if the mech has any other appendages (Deep Bite has a tail) than there is an extra CV

CV can split to fill smaller connected appendages (fingers, finials) and to connects to the internal organs (fuel tank, transformation hinges, hydraulics, etc) 

If the CC' s shell is breached than it will start fizzling out. If the breach is big and not sealed in time the CC will dissolve and the mech will die

Thinner pieces that have CV ( finials, fingers, wings, FV’s flat thing) are very sensitive because the CV is closer to the surface, but fingers are less sensitive cus they’re used often

No combiners (Flame Nova is an exception*, Blue Cop got it from Deus Machina, I don’t fucking know what’s going on with Blastrain)

Can eat multiple form of fuel (it all converts to energy) 

In the show they have a weird vicious liquid in their bodies for some fucking reason and I hate it. CHANGE all fuel converts to electricity, no viscous greens

No medical ports (thus can’t download data directly to their processor, have to learn it manually) But maybe they have bluetooth??? 

They just bonk their heads and send small not important files to each other (photos, short videos and gifs, tho the last two will have shitty quality). But if they have hats they need to take them off.

No partial patch thing (at least not through a cord, maybe through a em connection)

No subspace, its taken by their metal cards and weapons 

sealed bots have subspace because their metal cards are stored in the metal breath, but its not big

Alt modes aren’t an exact copy of the scanned vehicle (it like 80% same)Change, they cant chose a different altmode, they are stuck with one forever. Change, the can choose their alt mode but not an exact copy 80%

I don’t think some of them even cared to scan a human vehicle and just stayed with their old altmode even on earth (Blastrain, Sky Gallop, Deep Bite (his altmode still would look animalistic as hell tho), Speranza crew)

Their windows are always tinted, even the front

EYE THINGIES ON FRONT WINDOW (all have it, a projections to better emote)

Very expressive even in alt mode

Have no mouths, there’s nothing like a mouth under the battle mask

Optic color can be changed through a simple medical procedure, means nothing really

There’s no specific organ that lets them transform rather its in their whole body (we have so much shit that makes us walk, not one specific organ)

Wings, cranes and other thin shit on the frame is more sensitive, cus the CV are closer to the surface

Can’t open the charge core chamber, if breached and not closed the charge will fizzle out very quickly, but injuries to charge veins are not lethal (they are very deep and small) usually they lead to the temporal paralysis ( mega ambler's things work the same) 

Usually smaller than cybertronians (4-6 meters usually, some are just fucking big (Black hook is a boat but its a tiny ass boat, Heavy Iron was made like that for funsies), some are bigger cus of their frame types (Blasttrain and Sky Gallop))

Metal card can be used even in alt mode

Only one alt form, no triple-cadruple-sixtruple changers (triple changer is like a fantasy, their Spiderman would have it)

Vehicle only alt modes, no monkeys, guns or boomboxes

If an injury is sparking and leaking than its very very fucking bad and you need to go to a doctor NOW

They generally produce much less noise (fans are quiet, electrical inside are not noisy) 

Frame types: car (Blue Cop), flight (Cielo, Shadow X), water related (Black Hook (YES HE IS A FLYING BOAT, BUT BOAT NON THE LESS), Deep Bite), other weird wheels (Rock Crush, Blastrain) 

Yes there many sub frame types, but its mostly just civilian-small, standard, bigger transportation, giant guy. OWW has different sub types (car different wheels (tank), weird land vehicle metal wheels (trams and trains), something else construction vehicle (Rock Crush) )

OWW are rare

Animal traits are very rare, its a mutation

No claws, maximum is pointy fingers (exception Deep Bite)

FUCKING HATS. They are born with them (I mean not everyone, but it’s not rare). They are held down with small magnets 

Are more common in ground frame than in any other (ground, oww, fly, water) 

Something getting stuck on frame like a little magnet is okay, but too much of it and you can get sick

They can absorb gas fuel through their fans but its not very effective 

THEY HAVE PORES IN THEIR MASKS TO ABSORB OTHER FUEL (they can taste)  

Optics are very fragile and can break easily from underwater pressure (water frames are an exception). 

water frames have generally sturdier optics, there is an additional layer of protective glass above the led.

Said additional layer can be installed manually (Phoenix Fire has it cus of his job (he has a lot of mods I think)) 

Are cooler in general (electricity produces less heat) 

If they are damaged severely in their rout mode they cant transform (no hand/leg = impartial car that's missing something most likely vital)

The funny ahh guys who are kinda combiners but not really (Flame Nova, Blue Cop Trinity, Blastrain)

Flame Nova and Blastrain were supposedly born like that (not sure about FN) so when they are combined they should feel everything with their outer layer (touches, damage, em fields)

BC wasn’t born with Loader and Commander so when he’s combined he can’t exactly feel anything beyond severe damage and touches (but only cus he knows someone’s touching him)

Can I just make it very fucking individual? They all have different things regarding the combination ( it can be inborn or acquired through fucking magic or through illegal means (???), but it would be different for all of them)

Different fuels taste very different (methane is delicious kinda sweet, gasoline is basic a bit salty (potato), diesel is similar but fruity (???))

Energon and its variants taste like different acid/energy drinks with a fucked up electric aftertaste, bitter, leaves you sick but wanting more

Cardbots have a very diverse diet. Its advisable to consume 2 different types of fuel a day ( usually electricity and smt else)

The taste of the fuels can vary depending on the manufacturer and brand (‘ Coca Coalla’s diesel is weird, I like Fuelnta more its sweeter’ “Dude, Fuelnta is so poorly filtered, your pores have tiny pieces of minerals after you drink it”)

Energon is like a fucked energy drink for them. If they drink it they are going to run on walls for hours at best (at worst they will run around in circles for an entire day, their mind hazed and crazy, and they’ll get an incredible stomachache after all of that) 

Cardbots have an organ for converting fuel to the vicious green liquid (I hate it. there's no reason for its existence(VICIOUS GREEN NO MORE)). Different fuels have different processing time (electricity is the fastest, straight to the core) 

Energon is very energy dense compared to other fuels, so it's processing is kinda weird (the organ is working at max % with evey other fuel cus efficiency and it would take very long otherwise, but energon slips through it with such speed that the entire fps** can be fucked from it) 

Imagine dropping a glass of liquid high concentration fuel into a wood oven 

No charge pulse, constant buzzing instead (you cant hear it from all the plating around it) cannot be tracked by cybertronian tracking devices

They’re denser. Can be tossed around without getting any serious dents for much longer than cybertronians

Cultural (kinda) hc :

Electricity expelled through body (spark and little charges) is explained next

electricity expelled through body right next to someone is a horny kinda gesture

if you nuzzle someone and let out a spark of electricity, it will deepen the kiss and considerate a romantic gesture

you ate too much, if its continuing for more than a day than its a health problem related to fuel to energy transition or its an equivalent of a fever (mostly likely the fever)

Gender is expressed mostly only through pronounce

Optic color can be changed quiet easily, but due to optic’s construction it will be one solid color. Dark colors are not used at all.

Wingspeak is known by all flight frames from birth ( flight frame with autism will not know it sry)

Brighter optics = good mood, dim optics = bad mood or a health issue

SLEEP PILE SLEEP PILE SLEEP PILE, warmer bots sink, you know a guy for 1 one day and you now can sleep in a pile (not considerate horny at all). Usually sleep like that in rout mode, alt mode is less comfortable for a sleep pile

Names consist of two words or two roots or a word and a letter (Blue Cop, Blasttrain, Shadow X). The last one is rare and new (like giving your kid a fancy new name)

Something something magnetism and em stuff is very weird and they are very sensitive to it. (Em storm will give them strong migraines or make them horny idk yet)

No spark bonds or anything close to them

They sulk in their altmode (a car sitting in a dark garage is a sad giant robot)

Its harder to notice their fans are working (aka blushing)

They have shallow soup plates with for exmp gasoline and they dip their face mask in it and it slowly gets absorbed

If its gas fuel maybe its like a bong???

Cords and wires are mostly associated with internal organs and thus are kinda gross

Seeing cybertronian's medical ports and cables is very weird and gross

There’s deffinetly something like old English (Sky Gallop speaks with fucking thee thy and thou s)

Red Blitz’ name from Sky Gallop sounded like Crimson Flash (???)

That means that their language was changing rather rapidly (kinda like English) if the old version is still around, but the major changes occurred long ago enough that most people who speak it are either old Knights (Sky Gallop) or some high old caste (also Sky Gallop)

Maybe im making baseless assumptions based off of one character

DEUS MACHINA IS A GINORMOUS BALL OF ELECTRICITY THAT USES A COMPUTER AS A SHELL

CC is a parallel to Deus in a way ( the essence of a person is in a ball of electricity that is in protective shell / the essence of a God/Creator/Planet is a ginormous ball of electricity in a protective shell/computer)

The computer itself is just a shell, without it Deus will be absolutely incomprehensible for cardbots (they will receive every em signal that Deus consists of and just BOOM). I think that if you stood infront of itself with no shell you would understand everything She wants to say but also absolutely nothing because of the way Deus is constructed

I have a scene of Blue Cop floating in front of Deus in Her core. She doesn’t say anything but hundreds and thousands of meanings of Her words are in his processor. She cares about her creations but she knows they will never comprehend Her real form so she just sticks to the giant computer in the core of Machina.

Since Her shell is a computer it needs service. Every service bot of Hers is also a religious figure

I think her presence would stretch for miles, washing everything in Her em signals and Her electricity. Deus is omnipresent without Her shell. When Machina was blown up everyone had sensed Her. Her dying spirit. Her presence. Her emotions.

She has desmos music vibes

ELECTRICITY SYMBOLISM in visual art

A spark or a bolt between 2 bots is romantic, meaning close intimacy

A ball with sparks around it is a religious thing. Has a caring, kind, all-knowing undertone to it

Half a ball with sparks is also religious. Has an omnipresent, all-knowing, always watching undertone, used rarely. Mostly used in religious texts and paintings/posters

A lot of thin bolts of electricity around someone = pain, sickness, punishment for greed (if the sparks are closer to beak)

2-3 sparks around beak = good taste, awesome fuel, hearty meal

CN structure = insides, strong but thin and curvy, weasy

Im gonna reread it later and think 'bruh what was i on'

Cardbots generally deal with loneliness worse. And they all at least for some time were alone when they landed on earth (their save capsules/podes are for 1 person) so they do appreciate the company more. S1 group is especially clingy in their sleep pile cus no one wants to lose anyone again (its a bit denser than a normal one) even Heavy Iron couldn't sleep alone for very long. And they are generally more sociable than cybertronians I think.

Number 1 psychological issue is abandonment issues/anxiety

Smaller bots sleep curled up, the bigger the bot the more they spread out ( HI is 🧍‍♂️ while BC is 🧶)

The single-colored optic (exm Heavy Iron) is an intimidation tactic. Though can be turned on instinctively if the bot isn’t thinking straight (BC high on energon, Flash&Bit bros with the metal from s2)

[lilac-nites]

List of Lolita Resources

Someone in my comm encouraged me to make this list of resources for new lolitas. We were talking about how hard it can be to find information from Google search and there's just so much misinformation out there. I have a list of links that I've bookmarked and read over the past decade for when I finally become a lolita. I organized the list by sections in a specific order. It goes from information about the fashion and then to where to buy it.

To any new lolitas, there is so much information out there about lolita fashion that is still available. Part of the fun for me was researching the fashion, looking at coords, and learning what makes lolita lolita. There's so much information out there for you to immerse yourself in and even more stuff that's not listed in this resource list.

What is Lolita Fashion

Fyeah Lolita - This is my favorite blog and I still go back and read it. The last post was made in 2016 and the fashion has changed a lot since then, but it's pretty comprehensive and provides a good base knowledge. Imo, I think these articles (1 2 3 4) are required reading for anyone entering the fashion Lolita Fashion 101 - Bay Area Kei did several videos on lolita fashion during lockdowns. I recommend them for anyone that prefers video format. Raine Dragon's Lolita 101 series - Raine is a lolita that still updates her blog and has a lot of information on the history of lolita fashion. And she has a really great article on Chinese indie brands that should also be required reading for anyone new to using Taobao.

Costs of Lolita Manufacturing - One of the first things you'll notice is that lolita can be expensive. This resource breaks down the costs associated with manufacturing and why brands charge what they charge.

Substyles of Lolita Fashion

The below links are for the three basic styles of lolita fashion. If you research more, you'll find that there are different directions that you can take your wardrobe, but I recommend starting with one of the three above to make it easier for to build your wardrobe. Classic Lolita Sweet Lolita Gothic Lolita

Where to get Lolita Fashion

Before even buying anything, you will need a tape measure to take your measurements. You'll need to measure your bust, waist, hips, and shoulder width in centimeters. That's how you will find out which clothes will fit you. Sizing can be different from brand to brand and country to country. I know many are used to buying using letter sizes, but it's best to go by actual measurements. Aim to buy clothes that are 4 - 6cm larger than your actual measurements to allow room for breathing/eating/etc. If you're brand new to the fashion, I highly recommend sticking to the sources listed in the videos below. It's very easy to get scammed if you don't know what to look for and I'd hate for anyone to lose their money on barely wearable clothes from Amazon/Ebay/Aliexpress. Where to Buy Lolita FashionHow to shop for Lolita Fashion online - secondhand is life for lolita fashion and there are so many options. PinkFakeFlowers goes in depth into the many ways to get it. I personally recommend 42lolita for anyone looking to buy from Chinese brands on Taobao.

Plus Size Lolita

Unfortunately, many of the Japanese brands and even some Chinese indie brands are not size inclusive. If you can't fit into the mainstream brands, don't worry there are still options. I always recommend Meta since they have a Plus Size and occasionally a Plus Plus size of their dresses and blouses that goes up to 160cm or even 200cm in some releases. Plus Size Lolita Crash Course Where to Start as a Plus Sized Lolita - This is a wonderful resource listing brands that are size inclusive.

Online Spaces for Lolita Fashion

Lolita fashion is pretty spread out now compared to the EGL (still recommend reading livejournal because its a cool time capsule of the lolita comm) days, but there are still groups on Facebook. BSoLF - Great for beginners to ask questions and be helped by others. It's hard to search here but I recommend looking through the group for info. Your Local Comm (if applicable) - most are still on Facebook even if they still have a Discord. You can search for your local one on this list.

More Resources for New Lolitas

Lolita Tips for New Lolitas Three helpful tips for coordinating an outfit Lolita Tips Tumblr - I don't recommend Fanplusfriend anymore, but 42lolita is a good replacement. This tumblr is a great resource for inspo and there are many answered asks to reference. Unfortunately, polyvore is no longer a thing and many pictures are missing as a result.

Bonus

These are just a mishmash of links to resources/lists/blog that I like.

Rosier Sauvage's Small Guide for Baby Frils Lolita Collective

Lolita youtubers ask

Lolita tumblrs ask 20dollarlolita and her post on replicas

More plus size lolita brands ask Japanese Wikipedia entry for Lolita fashion and list of brands

Azuki Mikan

Buttcape

Old School Lolita

[whatcha-reading-today]

Fluids | May Leitz

I both loved and hated this. I loved how this story was written and found the desperation and depravity deeply uncomfortable. And that depravity was so nauseatingly written that I also hated it. To be clear--I EXPECT to be disgusted in gross splatter punk books and want to paint this as a positive. A disgusting, horrifying positive. I actually read this on a long train ride in Japan and full disclosure was nauseously looking out the windows at the scenery so I wouldn't feel so disgusted. That's great!

My only negatives are some typos but none affect the flow and artistry of the writing style.

Full disclosure, I learned about this book because I've been a fan of May's YouTube channel since she had the talking skeleton. If you are a fan of NyxFears I would recommend reading this book. It is exactly in the realm of brutal that May would recommend on her channel.

Also, I have to mention that the GoodReads description includes that the writing is stream of consciousness, which is true but is so similar to how May talks in her videos, that you can read it in her voice. For me this was a huge benefit because I find her both so engaging (grossly engaging, affectionate?) and so fucking funny.

Favorites 2024

Read in: October 2024

Format: E-book. This was available at my library on Hoopla.

[almodovarispunk]

my stream of consciousness thoughts on tlou season 2

i watched tlou season 1 with my now fiancée as it came out. my fiancée is a huge fan of the game and wanted to watch the show with me, which i agreed too. this made me the pedro fan i am today, but also got me into gaming as a whole. i never grew up with any modern video game consoles in my house. i got a used PS2 from a flea market when i was 12 so i could play guitar hero, but that was it. so when i visited my fiancée earlier this year (we're long distance, i live in canada, he lives in scotland) i finally got a chance to play tlou for the first time.

tlou1 was amazing but tlou2 floored me. i knew joel was gonna die and that was it. i didn't know about abby, lev, yara, manny, dina, jesse, all of these characters that would fucking make me sob my eyes out. the game drained me, but in the best fucking way.

abby and joel are my favourite tlou characters, and i cannot express how much the season one finale fucks over the plot of season two. directing the finale to make joel look so sad and guilty while doing it, when in the game there is so hesitating at all (i.e. the "i don't have time for this" line) and you are forced to shoot your way through this hospital. the bodies, the violence is THE POINT, but in a season of television with almost NO VIOLENCE before the hospital, it's whiplash in hindsight.

while i love that season 1 was my introduction to the tlou franchise, i now HATE the fact that we're now watching an extremely sanitized, watered-down version of the last of us part II, one of the most violent pieces of media to ever exist. ellie is not pathetic enough in the show. ellie is not focused, not irrational, and therefore, her actually going on this trip THREE MONTHS AFTER JOEL DIED doesnt make any fucking sense. AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED WITH DINA. dina/ellie makes no sense and it feels like a lesbian relationship being written by a man, while the game feels like a natural, realistic relationship. ellie not saying that dina is a burden was the point when i realized that this is just... not the same story at all. it would be okay to change small things to adapt it to tell the same story in a television show format, but the changes are so severe (also the significantly less time we have in the tv show compared with the game) that the story we are watching is just... not the same. it's weak, and it makes you question why they are making these changes.

the seraphites do not seem like an actual threat in the show. they look cheap and it's hard to believe that they could scare the WLF, even with the small sacrifice scene we saw. the fact that they introduced the WLF dogs and didn't have ellie shoot the dog feels like craig and neil are not interested in actually getting to the same thesis that tlou2 gets to about violence - they're interested in being in the universe of tlou. they learned the wrong lesson from long, long time and they're spending way too much time on details and exposition that ultimately get in the way of its own narrative.

the game is so magical with its storytelling, and i'm just witnessing a butchering that has gone too far. every moment with ellie and her character is not depraved enough, not dark enough, it's juvenile and baseline. there is not enough guilt. every happy moment in tlou2 with ellie and dina is outlined with ellie's PTSD, and so far we have not even really seen her PTSD, there have been no cracks in her mentality, there has been no ugliness.

the thing i love about tlou2 is that none of the women are perfect. tlou season 2 is trying to make these women's morals perfectly defined and not messy at all, and it's just... not interesting.

i'm excited to see joel back, but i swear to god, i feel nothing but dread watching this. they're gonna fuck up everything with abby and lev (my faves) and i WILL need moral support lmao please

[lune-moon-nuit]

"Noah reacted emotionally to the October 7 attacks, likely influenced by a limited understanding of Zionism"

Could you please clarify this? Why would someone's limited understanding of Zionism be the likely reason for reacting emotionally to the brutal rapes, mutilation, and murders of more than a thousand civilians? I do not even subscribe to Zionism or have friends in Israel like Noah has, and I had an emotional reaction to Hamas' brutality on October 7th. I didn't need to stop and deliberate about the nuances of Zionism to care that a terribly vile siege of atrocities had taken place.

From the very beginning, in his first post reacting to October 7th, Noah explicitly said he did not want the actions of Hamas to be conflated with the Palestinian people. He made a clear distinction. He said, in multiple formats — his original instagram post, his apology video, and private conversations with fans on Snapchat — that he does not want people to die. That’s a human stance, not a political one.

The idea that an 18-year-old boy had to first go study the complexities and contradictions of Zionism before having a basic emotional reaction to rape, murder, and mutilation is absurd. I’m not even Jewish, nor Israeli, and I had an emotional reaction too. Because that’s what humans do when they witness horror.

And let's not forget: Zionism is a concept that doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. Historically, Zionism arose as the idea of creating a safe homeland for Jews after the Holocaust — a trauma that deeply marked Jewish consciousness for generations. Like many ideologies, it has been twisted by extremists over time. It has developed into something far more violent and far more complex in certain political and militaristic expressions. But growing up Jewish — like Noah did — often includes being exposed to mild, sometimes unquestioned forms of cultural Zionism that are not inherently about hating Muslims or Palestinians. Many Jewish people, like Noah, may have internalized aspects of this without ever condoning violence, apartheid, or genocide.

Before October 7th, many people — myself included — had little real understanding of what happened in Palestine since 1948. It’s not taught in schools, it’s not widely known, especially if you're not directly affected. So when October 7th happened, it was a terror attack, and people — especially Jewish people who may have family or friends in Israel — were shocked and scared. That doesn’t make them evil. That makes them human.

But what did the internet do? Instead of giving people time to learn and grow, it punished them immediately for their emotions. The moment people expressed empathy for the victims of October 7th, they were labeled Zionists, racists, Islamophobes, and monsters — even when they had no political intention behind their posts. Artists, actors, influencers — all targeted for being visibly sad after a terror attack. Is it really that surprising that many of them, like Noah, became silent afterwards? Wouldn’t you be terrified to speak up after being harassed, mocked, and misrepresented at a massive scale for saying you don’t want people to die?

Noah Schnapp has never endorsed what Israel is doing to Palestinians. In fact, he has quietly liked posts calling for ceasefires and made verified donations to humanitarian causes — confirmed by Palestinian organizers. If your question is “Why doesn’t he say that publicly?” my counter-question is: Would you speak up if the last time you did, you were mobbed, doxxed, bullied, and made into a target of hatred across Twitter and TikTok? If no one believes what you say, no matter how sincere — why even try?

Here’s what I find truly telling: While people continue to create viral tweets mocking Noah (some with hundreds of thousands of likes), where are those voices now, when real action is needed? For example, just yesterday, European MP Rima Hassan, Greta Thunberg, and other activists risked their lives on a boat trying to deliver aid to Gaza — an act with immense symbolic and political weight. Drones flew above them. And yet the same accounts that gleefully pile on Noah every week were completely silent.

This isn't activism. This is performative cruelty. These people are addicted to bullying someone who is Jewish, gay, and traumatized — and pretending it's "for Palestine" when they can’t be bothered to amplify actual Palestinian aid missions. Some even go as far as to use antisemitic and homophobic language under the guise of justice.

Even worse, the dehumanization of Noah has spread to his co-stars. Finn Wolfhard was targeted and called antisemitic slurs simply for shaving his head. That’s what happens when internet hatred is normalized. It spreads. It metastasizes. It stops being about accountability and becomes a witch hunt — and that’s exactly what we’re seeing.

So no — nothing justifies the violence, the humiliation, and the obsessive harassment Noah Schnapp is facing. Not even his past mistakes. He was a teenager, navigating an impossible, traumatic situation. And unlike many others, he has shown signs of growth, quiet action, and real compassion.

I say this as a pro-Palestinian, as someone who despises Zionism in its extremist form, and as a French citizen deeply marked by our own history of occupation and collaboration. I say this because I can make the distinction between a scared 18-year-old boy and a 50-year-old general who orders airstrikes on children.

Torturing Noah Schnapp will not save a single Palestinian life. It will only add one more tragedy to the pile — one more soul crushed under the weight of a world that prefers hate to understanding.

So, I ask you: do you want justice, or do you want blood?

[litnerdwrites]

"You shouldn't criticise/analyse SJM's characters/worldbuilding because it just isn't that deep." Is a take I see a lot when someone analyses or criticises SJM, and while I get where you're coming from, I do have a couple of issues with this take.

First of all, it's important to be able to criticise all media, even your your favourites, no matter how good or bad they are. Media of all formats is a product of it's time and goes a long way into helping us learn about the sociopolitical climate of the time it was written, from the past, present or future. As a result, no piece of media can be considered 'perfect' or without points to criticise, and analysing it can give us perspective on issues we may not even realise exist. This is true for most, if not all media, from books to news channels to music or tv shows.

If you don't want to analyse or criticise it though, that's fine. Just ignore posts and videos of people who do, since there's no use in telling them that they're wasting their time. Some people enjoy criticising/analysing the media they consume, but if you don't, then just let them be.

Now, here's the bigger issue I have with this take. It might really not be that deep to you, but it might really be that deep for other people. Especially since SJM books have a pretty young fanbase. The books are YA, and are advertised as being for ages 12 and up.

Many kids, young girls mostly, that read, even just the first book, are shown Feyre forgiving Rhys at the end of the book after SA-ing her for three months or Feyre getting back with Tamlin after he watched her get tortured for three months, and romanticise it. Then there's the second book, where she ends up with Rhysand despite what he did, and even lets him do it again at the CON.

Nesta is pressured by Elain and Feyre to let her use their home for something incredibly dangerous despite her very reasonable concerns, only to then be insulted by Feyre's friends for a situation he wasn't even there for, only for some romance to between them to be hinted at. In Acowar she's further pressured by her sister, and strangers who hate her, to put her healing and coping from her trauma aside to push her clear boundaries to help her sister even more despite her and her friends not having a great track record of holding up their ends of deals from Nesta's experience.

And don't even get me started on the train wreck that was ACOFAS- ACOSF. If these actions and behaviours were acknowledged as being toxic or wrong, that would be fine, somewhat. However, the narrative paints these characters and behaviour in a positive light, despite the fact they aren't. For young readers to look at this, and to idolise these characters and their behaviours, thinking that it's what they want in a partner, is disturbing.

It's fine to not want to critique or thoroughly analyse a book, but discrediting people who do, especially if they're pointing out harmful behaviour being perpetuated in said books, is not. Ignoring the harmful behaviour these books perpetuate is making you a part of the problem, and I truly hope that your view on this behaviour would change if it was coming from a living person instead of a fictional one. Be it towards you or somebody you know.

[avid-corvid]

Recently watcher released a pod watcher episode in which they talk about the entire year they’ve had, and more importantly, the controversy they got into. They ended up going into detail of their point of view of the whole thing and explained a whole lot.

I really want EVERYONE to watch this, and I mean watch the WHOLE video. They explain practically everything, in an incredibly mature way. After watching, I fully believe that they deserve an apology from everyone who sent them undeserved hate. Not from the people who sent constructive criticism or the ones who were actually hurt, but the people who targeted Steven, and sent the boys threats (also, there is a special place in hell for whoever told Ryan to euthanize his dog, Vinny).

Me personally, I’ve watched Ryan, Shane, and Steven long enough to know that they probably weren’t making the decision out of pure greed. I’ve seen their “making watcher” videos where they mention financial struggles. As much as I understood why people felt hurt from their words, I was still pretty happy that they were pulling away from YouTube and their shitty policies and underpaying format. So watching this felt nice to have some confirmation on what was going on behind the scenes. It also felt good to know that they have MOST DEFINITELY learned their lesson.

I believe that this video is also the starting point of this conversation, and it’s already explained so much. I’m honestly glad that they are talking about this, it’s something that they’ve held at arms length and given themselves time to reflect on it all. And now they are ready to talk about it and try and make changes based off of what the viewers want, this time.

If anyone has any doubts in the future of watcher, please PLEASE watch that video. It will make so much sense.

ALSO PUPPET HISTORY IS COMING BACK RAHHHH

[toooliix]

hey! alright so i may have done a thing

so for the past,,, idk 3 weeks? ive been going on a deep dive into spelling bee mostly to sedate my own curiosity of needing to know everything about what i'm interested in. as it turns out, there is a LOT of content with this musical, so i'm here to talk about my findings! note: i will be keeping this EXCLUSIVE to the original 2005 off broadway cast. as much as i'm a brown university girlie through and through, the original cast is where the content is. OKAY FIRST: youtube findings

a lot of small videos were made usually with logainne and leaf. you'll be quick to learn that they made the most off stage content. i have a public playlist with these videos, along with interviews, the original boot, and a few other things. the cast album isn't in it because that's audio only and i want visuals damnit. (plus its on spotify and easy to look up so.) the exception is 25apcsbmt12doc because its pretty underground and the purpose is to get word out about niche things.

second: myspace pages a lot of the spellers have myspace pages! this is like. a common thing!! only two were archived (leaf and logainne) and are able to be accessed! i'll talk about the others in a bit. they contain new information and i personally find them very interesting!

leaf logainne

HOWEVER: three are currently able to be accessed through modern myspace without needing an account. the format is off, but it's accessable.

barfee 25apcsb account panch third: other

there's two different things here so i'll separate them :]

3.1: r/v club

r/v club is a short film by rebecca feldman (one of the people that worked on spelling bee) that includes logainne! it can be found on her site with other short films. i believe this is the only one with her in it HOWEVER i have not checked therefore i could be wrong. it's set post-spelling bee, i believe. also jesse is in it but not as leaf.

r/v club

3.2: official site

spelling bee had a site!! and official merch!! its just a cool thing i think. it'll be mentioned again in the last section

spelling bee site

fourth and final: lost media (to my knowledge)

okay, spelling bee has.... QUITE a bit of lost media. again, this will be separated into parts.

4.1: C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E

before spelling bee was a thing, crepuscule (albiet mispronounced) was an improv play made by the farm. (same group who made r/v club) a lot of the characters were similar or the same, and it has a similar premise. however, it wasn't a musical. from what i've heard, there USED to be a boot of it, however i haven't found one of my own. i would love to be corrected.

4.2 myspace pages

remember how i was going to say this was going to come up again? hi thats now. outside of leaf and logainne, other myspace accounts were made! mitch (comfortcounselor), olive (mydictionary) + (oliveostrovsky), chip (chiptolentino), marigold (marigoldconeybear) an olive and barfee joint account (ilovemydictionary), and a leaf and logainne joint account (schwartzylogan). there's also another leaf account with the very confusing name of panchspell the issue with these is that theyre not archived, so you'll need a myspace account with a verified email to view these. in the year of our lord 2024 that's not exactly an easy find, especially since verification emails no longer send. plus, one of olive's accounts is dictionary.com now so,,,, who knows what it looks like there. most also need a connection, which makes things even MORE difficult. i hate how close but out of reach these accounts are.

4.3. spelling bee game

yeah they had a game. it's on the site, and it's eternally stuck at loading characters from my experience. here's the link anyway! game

4.4 the dirty bee

oh jesus its the dirty bee. so for context, in 2006 when the show was running, a few nights were booked for spelling bee that were meant for mature audiences and were 18 plus. it's catered towards people who have already seen the bee and want something new. it was inspired by jay (panch) and putting in words or sentences researsals that were clearly for funnies because he was bored. alas it became a derivative of the musical. all we know is what an article provides (theres more than one but the one linked gives the most info) and that chip quote unquote "finished off" at my unfortunate erection according to jose. there's rumor that chip is canonically bi in it but theres no sources so,,,, can't confirm that one.

article

(the quote is said in the reunion "stars in the house" and is found in the playlist)

conclusion:

there's genuinely so much shit in this musical i find it fascinating. this post WILL be updated with any other finds or information. PLEASE dm me or let me know if i got something wrong or if you have something to add (though do add a source, please and thank you)

ALSO: reblogs are greatly appreciated!! shoutout to the wiki, @/honkmaster69 and the people i spam in dms for helping and tolerating me <33

[m0chi-1n-4-frog-disguise]

heyyyyy i saw you just followed me (i can be tachigin anon hehe)

would you be willing to do hcs or drabbles of atsushi, dazai, kunikida, tachihara and nikolai with a fem desi/indian reader? like how would they interact with their s/o’s culuture, if/how they would celebrate festivals, and mayyybe even how they would react to seeing her in traditional clothing for the first time?

you can take out or add whoever you want!! hope ur doing well :3

-🍁🌸

★ Desi/indian fem!s/o

Characters: Atsushi Nakajima, Dazai Osamu, Tachihara Michizou, Kunikida Doppo, Nikolai Gogol

Format: headcanons, I'm trying to be as close to canon as possible

• « "I just saw you followed me" if you're the person I think you are my soul might ascend-

It's my first ask ever too ! So I'll try to do something good, had to do some research and I hope it matches your expectations, please correct me if I made any mistakes, Shall you be the first anon of my anon list? 🌷»

—🐸

Atsushi Nakajima:

NOW- listen my boy is a sweetheart, he doesn't know how he managed to have you absolute queen in his life so best believe he's gonna try to be worthy of you

He is very much worthy already but he won't believe it soooo

He'll try to do some research to impress you, learning about festivals and such

I feel like he'd try to learn the recipe of your favorite dish —listen at some point you probably cooked some chazuke for him and it's his way to repay you—

I feel like his favorite festival is Diwali [festival of lights] ???

Dazai —being a little shit— will probably give Atsushi some false misinformation about your culture for funsies tho, if he notices the weretiger's will to understand your traditions.

Tho please don't judge him too hard if he ever sputters nonsense, it is easy to stumble on misinformation on Google about cultures [Google almost ended me when I was studying japanese mythology. It sent me to a video game website. I'm still not forgiving.] Just grab his hands and sit him down and explain to him why he's wrong and correct him

As for you trying on any traditional outfit, whether it would be a Sari, an Anarkali, a Lehenga Choli or even a Salwar Kameez the reaction would be the same, he'd go bright red, losing his mind over so much beauty ! If you guys have been in a relationship for a while he'd shyly ask if he can match with you, now it depends on your reaction to that answer, and then he'll overthink it for days,

His thoughts: "it didn't sound disrespectful did it ?? Ugh why did I ask that?? Maybe she doesn't want to ?? I mean, I'm japanese- but it would be nice to dress the same and- UGHH SHUT UP NAKAJIMA- WHY DID EVER SPEAK?????"

Dazai Osamu:

I hate this man so much idk if I wanna punch or kiss him

So ummm, how did you manage to land a stable relationship without involving bribery that itself involves suicide? I'm curious

I'm sorry, I'm sorry-

He probably actually knows a thing or two about your culture, if he didn't he'd educate himself

And yet he would purposely make some stupid ignorant comments just to get a rise out of you

I hope you aren't sensitive, if you're with Dazai

This man is a menace to society, he makes you watch does horribly cliché movies with a smile, please punch him 🙏

It's all fun and games until you pull up with the traditional look, Dazai would suddenly go very quiet

He has that 👁️👁️ look

He isn't judging rn, however he doesn't really have any smart comment or joke for now, the only thing occupying his brain is how pretty you are

Kunikida Doppo:

You fucked up his ideals. That's all- that's the hc

Listen I BET in his ideals it went "In 4 years, will meet a beautiful japanese woman" poor naïf man, not even four months and here's this gorgeous indian royalty.

It will be hard to get this man to comprehend that he's falling for you, you have all my respect for actually managing to end up in a relationship with the most stubborn man in all of Yokohama ! ✌️

But once it's settled, he is a decent partner. . . PINKY PROMISE 🌷

The amount of research he does is insane, heck even Dazai would feel bad for sometimes messing it up. . .no actually he wouldn't

If you check out his ideal you may find dates of many festivals marked down on his calendar and planning, even those you may not actually celebrate [festivals vary by religion and location. . .he just marked them all to not miss any]

And if you check your closet you may find a new Assam in your favorite color

Wear it and you'll make him consider adding a "taking a break to admire my partner trying out new clothes" to his planning-

Tachihara Michizou:

I love him so much, it's not even funny anymore, he's a dork oh my stars-

If we are talking pm!Tachihara, he'll try to educate himself- really-

Mostly to impress you

But he does through media 😭

Which is a huge mistake when you look at some representation-

That mistake causes him to sputter absolute BS sometimes, he's lucky you love him

Hunting dogs! Tachihara is so tired, give my- oops I mean our- yeah give our man a break

Being a double agent may mean double salary but is it worth it ?

Please PLEASE let him rest his head on your thighs and you can rant to him about your culture, about festivals, traditions, anything !!

He likes the sound of your voice and he might surprise you with a gift for a festival

His reaction to you wearing traditional clothes? Dare I remind everyone of that one wan scene

"DAMN Gin you look really sharp in a suit-"

He isn't that different with you 😭🙏

Nikolai Gogol:

Ugh- I don't think he'd really care that much

His goal is freedom from any attachment, he doesn't care because to him nationality and cultures aren't that big of a deal

Like okay, your indian, good for you, he's Ukrainian/Russian

Tho if it's really important to you, y'all drop random funfacts about y'alls culture in the form of a game

Just imagine cuddling with your favorite jester but this time you're the one who purrs "Quizz time~"

He'll be more excited than you about wearing traditional clothes, for someone who doesn't care about cultures here he is trying to look for the best outfits for both of you-

I'M CURRENTLY SLEEP DEPRIVED [I'VE BEEN UP FOR 3 DAYS STRAIGHT AND I'M SLOWLY LOSING MY GRIP ON REALITY]

Some parts suck, some are meh, but I don't think I can even think anymore, so I hope it wasn't too shitty 😭🙏

Feel free to throw another ask, my ask box is emptier than my brother's brain-

—🐸