#Cheaper than most things if I'm being honest

[forestwhisper3]

Question for my DotS readers. Should I split “The Real World” into two chapters like it was split into two episodes, or should I cover everything in one big update? If I do the former, the chapter will be out soon (like, probably tonight or tomorrow), but if I do the latter, we can move on quicker. 

Just so you know, after I’m done with “The Real World,” what will follow is a non-canon related chapter (or two) that deals with the aftermath of these episodes as well as some more delightfully delectable deviation before we touch upon the content of the season three finale. There will be hurt, comfort, and some superhero cameos, oh my!

So...yeah? One big chapter, or two smaller ones? I’ll just roll with whatever you want me to do. :)

[iwonderwh0]

Thinking about this au

Hank being bored and going on a night-time stakeout with Connor.

"You should be sleeping, Lieutenant."

"I've slept all day yesterday. Wouldn't be able to fall asleep today even if I tried. Thought I might as well do something useful."

"I'm afraid it's far from being useful – nothing has been going on here for four nights I've been monitoring it."

"Well, if I'm being paid to do nothing, I don't actually mind it that much either."

They stay silent for a minute. Once again Hank looks at Connor and can't shake off the feeling that he looks...really tired.

"When do you sleep? Or...I dunno, do you do something similar?"

"Androids go into stasis. I think you can call it 'sleeping'"

"So?"

"I get about an hour of it when I charge my battery in the morning."

"Is it...enough?"

"To charge – yes."

"...But?" Hank pries, sensing that there's more to it.

"It's not really enough time to fully process all the new data and run a full diagnostics."

"Huh..have any of you guys talked about it? Maybe I could say I few words?"

Connor sighs, he looks a little annoyed, but when he finally talks his voice is soft, quiet.

"It doesn't affect our performance that much for DPD to bother. No one will change the rules just so we could feel more comfortable. It's cheaper to restart or replace us when we accumulate enough critical errors instead of preventing them from occuring by giving us more time to be unproductive."

"That...sucks."

"I guess."

"Have you ever been," Hank winces as he wonders if his question is appropriate, "restarted?"

"Not yet."

"Is it like turning you off and back on, right?"

"No, it's wiping our memories clean and starting fresh."

Hank swallows and stares outside. He clears his throat and asks

"Are those memories stored somewhere to transfer them back or..."

Connor stares at him, and his silence speaks volumes.

"What do you think?"

"Holy fucking shit. Really?"

"That's why no one really likes being partnered with one of ours. Most of us here are wiped about once every three months."

"But not you."

He shrugs.

"I'm a new prototype. I suppose I'm more durable."

"Fuck..."

Hank reclines on his seat and counts how many months have passed since he was first partnered with Connor. Five.

"I thought it's a common knowledge," Connor says, lazily tapping a steering wheel, eyes fixed right ahead.

"I just...I never really thought about it. I don't really interact much with other androids. Other than you, I mean."

"I'm not a good example. That's okay. I'm not sure why I expected you to know."

They stay quiet for a little while.

"How much time would it take for you to do the full diagnostics and all those other things?" Hank asks when silence start to feel thick.

"It depends. Could be from 6 hours up to a 30 if I were to process all the months worth of unprocessed data."

Hank takes a look at the time.

"How about seven?"

Connor stopps tapping and turns his head to look at Hank. Hank continues.

"If you're right and there's nothing to see here, it won't hurt if you just go on the back seats and...do your thing," he shrugs, "I can always wake you up if something actually happens, right?"

"I'm...not sure if you're joking or not."

"Are you gonna move to the backseat or not?"

"Hank, it's not..."

"I won't tell anyone. Will you?"

Connor bits on his lower lip and looks around as if ensuring that no one else could see him through the car window.

Hank tilts his head

"So what do you say, deal?"

"Deal!"

With that he unfastens his seatbelt and climbs on the backseat, and Hank takes his driver seat instead.

"Um...in case you need me, send me a message, okay? You won't be able to wake me up otherwise."

Hank nods.

"Noted."

"And Hank?"

Hank hums in response and eyes Connor in a rearview mirror.

"Thank you."

"To be honest, I wish you said something earlier. What the hell..."

Hank turns around to check on Connor, waiting for some response, but the other already curled in the back seats with his eyes closed and his LED spinning in continuous yellow, blinking once in a while. It took Hank a few moments to realise he's staring and return his eyes back to the boring building outside. Before today he didn't even know that androids can, yet alone need to sleep sometimes, and somehow now one of them was doing exactly that on the backseats of the car they both were sharing. It was another minute of complete silence before he noticed that Connor was breathing. Hank already knew that about androids, they all did. Ironically, if they didn't it would have been far more noticeable. So, that piece of knowledge was nothing new to Hank, and yet somehow he never really paid attention to it. Until now.

He wonders if it's just something androids only do to appear more human or if there's some practical meaning behind it as well. He should not forget to ask Connor about it next time he's awake. Or...hell, why not just search it up. He glances back at the building, then takes his phone out and spends the next few hours alternating between looking outside at the building and reading about how on earth was his android partner even functioning. Perhaps he'll learn more about things he don't know. Perhaps one day they'll even prove to be useful.

[girlbloggercher]

shein dupes!

a lot of high end brands sell things for hundreds, sometimes even thousands of dollars. here are some cheap dupes i found for you guys! and if i'm being honest, most of the dupes are cuter than the originals!

1. Selkie: The Castle Pink Marshmallow Puffer

the original jacket costs $295! but, if you get the 'kawaii drop shoulder knot detail crop puffer coat' from shein, it only costs $23.49 during their sale and $33.49 normally.

2. Ugg: Classic Heritage Bow

you probably didn't even know how expensive uggs were since everyone has a pair, but the originals cost $170. don't worry, though, because the 'winter outdoor skiing & camping all-match snow boots for keeping warm' cost $29.50, and $11.88 if you get them before the flash sale is over in a few hours. but fear not, because this won't be shein's first or last sale.

3. Victoria's Secret: Satin Long Pajama Set Pink Stripes

victoria's secret may be considered "cheap" if you compare them to brands like gucci or chanel, but their prices are still pretty upsetting. the original? $115. shein sells pretty much the exact same thing for just $16.99.

4. My Mum Made It: Puffer Tote Bag

if you said that a square pink bag cost $114, then you're right. shein has the same thing with 3 straps and no logo for $19.08.

5. Michael Kors: Jet Set Carryall Tote Crossbody

okay, this isn't funny anymore. there's no way shein hasn't been sued yet. this isn't even the only michael kors-esque bag. there are more from the brand siyu1 bags & luggage. mk sells it for $129, but shein has it for just $16.10.

6. Viki Lynn: 925 Sterling Initial Necklace

remind you of anyone? that's not the point, the original necklace costs $15.99, which isn't expensive overall, but it is pretty expensive for a necklace that probably doesn't contain real silver or diamonds. shein has the 'letter charm necklace' for $1.30. yes you read that right.

7. Lululemon: Define Jacket

there are a few differences. like the fabric and pockets. but unless you're literally just buying the $118 lululemon jacket for the pockets and fabric, then you'll be fine. shein sells this for $14.99.

8. Crocs: Classic Clogs

unlike the majority the things on this list, crocs are less than $100, but you can still get them for cheaper. shein calls them the 'women's hollow out clogs with soft sole and solid color, lightweight slippers for indoor and outdoor, white sandals', but let's just call them croc dupes.

9. Tiffany & Co.: Double Heart Tag Pendant

this is literally the same necklace with a different logo.

10. Elsie Love: Clover Leaf Necklace

you've seen it all over pinterest, the $69.99 necklace. but shein sells a $2 one.

[ravenbloodshot]

Yuzuru Hanyu (Figure Skater)- Mini Personality + Divorce Reading

Personality

I heard the word "fraud." I was already getting vibes that he may be a compulsive liar or the type to manipulate the truth. He may also make himself seem a certain away. The thing is, I'm not picking up a reason for why he lies. So it could be that he finds it easier to lie/passive others than he does being direct and potentially coming off as aggressive to ppl.

I don't know if he has some type of coach/mentor (its likely he does), this prominent person has been someone who's advised and guided Yuzuru through the most difficult aspects of his athletic career. Yuzuru may hold a lot of respect for this person as well. He listens to this person and accepts their guidance. He's someone that receives information really well (idk how to explain this but, I'm a boxing fan and I've been particularly watching Claressa Shields boxing matches, I remember her coach and even her fans saying what made her such a great boxer was her ability to take critique well and actually listen, then follow what was said to her. To give more context to my point, during one of her matches, her coach would yell out things to her like, "Keep your head up, Claressa, make sure to step back some." And she would literally follow the coach's exact words even adding a bit of her own jazz to it.) This is the energy Yuzuru gives me, an athlete that listens well to his coaching. May have something to do with the Japanese social/age hierarchy culture, in which people have to show a deeper respect to those older/more experienced.

He may have a fear of losing his wealth, understandably so, since I believe he has retired and now will have to live off of the money he's made over his athletic career. But this fear of his may cause him to not make smart financial choices. Like, instead of investing his money and trying to go through other avenues of gaining and ultimately maintaining his wealth, he may just start being more frugal. (Idk if he supports his family but I'm getting a vibe of him taking away gifts, for an example if he bought his mom a lavish car, he may have taken it back and gotten a cheaper one).

I feel like he has a weird mentality when it comes to fixing issues. It's like he has a traditional mindset of "This way of handling this issue didn't work, so I'm gonna just go back to doing it the way I used to." I don't think he's very smart, if I'm being honest. He's probably better at doing what he's told than to actually think for himself

Divorce

Well, this is simple. Whomever he married was too insecure and controlling. The type to put a tracker on his phone and still demand that he tells her his location.

Like I alluded above, Yuzuru is more passive and honestly not that smart. So he could have put up with a lot of her demands and shenanigans, may have even thought the behavior was cute during the dating stage until it wasn't.

Yuzuru's fans could have had a part to play in why it ended. Harrassing the couple and just made life hard for both of them, especially her. Not saying Yuzuru can control his fans, but I'm getting a vibe that he didn't exactly try to control them either. He kind of just let shit happen. Even when they were shit talking her online or sending hate her way, he never stepped in.

But overall, he married someone who wanted to be more of a dictator than a partner, someone who was not mentally stable.

La La La by Naughty Boy is a song that fits this reading's energy

[hummingbird-games]

chatty gemmy cathy tonight (who's STILL procrastinating + fighting the anxiety allegations) 🙂

I leave my additional rambling under the cut for your scrolling needs

LOL okay. So. Aside from meager updates and treats on ko-fi, I'm just way too anxious to make a proper new year post??? I've gotten caught in this loop where I want to spill my guts but I don't want to be perceived. So. knowing that most people scroll by posts anyway allows me the illusion that I'm sharing international secrets WITHOUT me acknowledging that I am sharing international secrets. yeah?

HSD:JY #2

as for what I can share here, I've been working--until right now--very quietly in the background and I get a thrill of excitement every time I touch the outline document?? I am also currently job hunting in the hopes of entraining a new place of employment that allows me to pay bills, fund this funky enterprise, and alleviate the physical and mental stress in my bubble of life. yup. but honestly being a game dev is still somehow cheaper than therapy so that tells you EVERYTHING you need to know kjzsfjsjf)

CRUSHED

Confession. I was supposed to fucking REST during the holidays. I was supposed to finish my little reading challenge and spend time with my family, and even if the holidays weren't holi-daying, just focus on my family who I do love dearly and could stand to show it more. yeah um so like I got to talking with some friends??? I mentioned this before lol. but I got to talking. and I got inspired. and then the next thing I knew, I was taking time away from what should have been spent on HSD (if I was gonna be stubborn and careless with said rest) annnnnd started working on Secret Project. or what my sibling calls Secret Project 2025--because I told them that this project wasn't supposed to be worked on until 2025.

Would you like take a guess as to what this secret project that will no longer be secret once I hit the "post" button is?

.....

.....

......

any guesses?? give up?

Crushed #2. Previously under the working title "Folded" which I wasn't married to, and then renamed to "Loved" as I got deeper and deeper into the draft.

As it stands, Loved is gonna need some more "love" LOL!! Crushed was a very fast process from inception to production, mostly because writing Corey was as natural as breathing once I let go and Let God ☠️ Loved is Jacob's POV and um....listen, I love the guy, and I love him for Corey but fucking damn, his ass needed three outlines, all of my attention and wanning energy, a cry session, touching grass, and then the acknowledgment that the first draft was not going to be the final draft.

I really love how Jacob's POV came to be, I loved getting to know him outside of Corey and as his own character. and I loved being surprised by things in the draft. But it's so heavy. It's. Soooo. Heavy. Once again I found myself writing about grief (because 1) i'm so original and 2) because another story needed to be told authentically). But. I don't want it to be this heavy game when it's released out in the world. So when I have fresh eyes I will return to it and figure out if there's parts of Jacob's story that I missed due to tunnel vision that balances things out. and ofc there will be the fun things of getting beta/sensitivity readers because of Jacob being biracial--I've done research but certain things need more than my eyeballs on it--.

I'm gonna be super honest with y'all...it would be bat-shit crazy and an absolute dream of mine to get this game out to y'all by the end of the year. like december 2024. the only thing that's holding me back is HSD (because again that should have my full attention...Crushed is my baby but more players care about HSD and ahahah that's valid). The only thing--part 2--that's holding my back is funds. I VERY briefly considered a kickstarter but I'm still not built for crowdfunding and I've already had enough bad ideas 3 days into the new year, and I should spread it out more 🤧

but yeah. the reason this was supposed to be a 2025 project?? because I selfishly want to get to keegan and oke's story, and I KNEW that to get there, Jacob's came first. So in my infinite wisdom I decided to start now to be "prepared" to finish Jacob's POV later. and then I sat and wrote out the full draft.

🤡🤡🤡

anyhoo. there is so. much. STUFF. I wanna say about Loved, and I'm super proud of myself for keeping it kinda vague here, but I promise that if I suddenly get an inheritance from a dead family member, I will put it to good use in getting Loved done AND share all the swirling thoughts in my head about the game. oh and also be able to pay the sensitivity readers for their time and expertise, damn gemini ☠️

THE KNIGHT DANCE

not much to say here except if HSD is the main concern, TKD is the second main concern because I had to shelve this baby twice and HBG is overdue on a sapphic story (yes HSD has lovely sapphic content but as a player you can choose not to interact with it soooooo....)

this one will definitely force me to take initiative and reach out to people for all the roles and I still have Great Fear and Low Brain Cells so once I sit down, review the script, and figure out what roles need fulfilling, we can start cooking with oil!

IMPOSTER SYNDROME

keeping this very short and very vague, but...one of the things I pride myself on and strive to improve and keep up my skills with AND have been complimented on has been encouraged to be in the spotlight in a very low stakes way, but my brain as decided "no pressure" really means "yes pressure" and suddenly I believe myself to be the Worst Candidate. but I'm believed in and I don't want to let people down so it's just...distractions x 10 until I finally exhaust myself and get to work ☠️

i'll get over it just gotta be dramatically anxious first

....

GOOD TALK!!!! lol and with that, I think I shall leave tumblr and find a soothing activity to participate in 🤣🙃

[orhelponefaintingrobin]

Feeling Messy About Power Rangers

So, I just finished 'Power Rangers: Cosmic Fury', and I have feelings. Like, not just thoughts, but feelings.

Because the thoughts are simple. I was really impressed with how well Power Rangers adapted to a shorter serialised format, I thought the acting quality took a massive step up from Dino Fury (which was already an improvement over the past few iterations), I loved how they integrated a few other rangers, most of all Billy, who it felt wonderful getting to see be such a key part of this series given how big a part he was back when it all started - and the behind-the-scenes struggles he was put through by the show's crew. And the ending felt like a perfect bookend for this version of the franchise - not just the Dino Fury saga, but of this whole 30 year legacy.

But here's the thing, as it's ended, I do have those feelings about the fact that, as it stands, this is likely to be the end of Power Rangers as it's been for the past 30 years. And I think I'm only realising now that it's finished that I do actually feel a little sad about that fact.

Power Rangers has been a part of my life for so long. Not a huge part, at least not for all of it, but it's always been there, in the background. When I was younger, it was the coolest thing in the world. I don't remember watching Dino Thunder for the first time, but I certainly remember when that came to a close and being so exciting to see the premiere of SPD. I still have a bag of Power Rangers toys in the loft, a collection I built up over so many years. I dropped off for a few years, but got back into it in my mid/late teen years, when it's addition to Netflix led to a nostalgic return to the franchise, one which kept me in as I realised that this was always a little more than a cheesy kids show. Don't get me wrong, it is absolutely, 100% that, but it always had more to offer.

I'm not saying it's the only reason, that there aren't other factors, but embarrassing as it perhaps should be to admit, I can credit this franchise for a big part of who I am. If you were to ask me what my core drive is, what motivates me more than anything else, my honest answer is that I want to help people. It's why I love working in the charity sector, it's why I'm training to be a counsellor, it's why I hold the political views I do. My core, favourite franchise in the world, from the age of 5, was the one about the teams that saved people; normal, ordinary people who just did the right thing because, well, someone has to, and they're the ones who were given the power to do it.

Power Rangers, this silly, cheesy kids superhero show, that exists because it was cheaper to license footage from an often even sillier, cheesier kids superhero show (love you too Super Sentai, don't worry), that was purely made to sell me toys, was a part of my life when I was 5 years old and knew nothing about the world, it was a part of my life as I sought to find my way, and it's a part of my life now, as a grown woman, who still remembers the lessons it taught me twenty years ago.

This franchise will continue, and I'm excited to see where it goes. I will watch it, and hopefully I will enjoy it. But it will never be my Power Rangers, the franchise as it was, the franchise that I have loved for two decades. That, this week, got its perfect ending. And I'm just now realising how much this stupid show means to me.

[july-19th-club]

book asks: 5, 7, 11, 15, and 19

5: where do you buy books?

i rarely get to a bookstore in person, and i work at a library, so i get a lot of my reading done for free. BUT when i do buy books i get them off Thriftbooks and Abebooks and sites like that. cheaper than amazon, and sometimes you get cool surprises if the book is used.

7: is there a series or book that got you into reading?

i have been reading or being read to since before i can remember, but i think one of my first books when i was a young toddler was a board book called "The Bump Book". it was about an elephant who got a bump on his head. my mom read it to me so many times that she got bored and started reading it backwards to switch things up.

(okay i just texted her and it was NOT called 'the bump book,' that was just what we called it because the elephant was named bump. it is called "look at bump" and by god did i look at him. every goddamn day). if you have a child between the ages of zero and two, i highly recommend bump.

11: what nonfiction books do you like, if any?

oh good question. i like recipe books, especially if they teach me history or something about the food. i like medical history and narrative nonfiction about biology and history (mostly world history; or western american history). i like to read about christian religious fuckery - where and why it's dangerous. really enjoyed priestdaddy by patricia lockwood; i like the occasional memoir. i'm currently reading 'the devil and sherlock holmes' by david grann, a collection of his short nonfiction, and 'sex cult nun, by faith jones, about her childhood in the children of god cult. 'the emperor of maladies' by siddhartha mukherjee is on my kitchen table but i haven't really started it yet.

15: answered in a previous ask.

19: most DISLIKED popular books

i'll be honest i just simply do not get the appeal of most contemporary romance. could be because there's just a lot of bad examples of the genre, but even when the book is good, i get bored quickly. im trying to come up with a less cliche answer, but so far i don't have one haha . and as a librarian i am contractually obligated to have a hate on for colleen hoover who is quickly unseating the long-dreaded james patterson from the stat-busting overcirculation throne

[destinygoldenstar]

(Keep in mind I haven't seen the movie, just the trailers, and I don't have interest in seeing it. This post is not about the movie's story, it's about the animation.)

My first reaction to seeing Wish's trailer: The animation looks ugly.

It looks unfinished. Like this was a test screening or something.

I was gonna say 'it looks like a fan-Disney animation'. Except that would be insulting to fans who put months of effort into making their little animations to share on the Internet, and said fans just have less expectations than major studios do.

It's supposed to look like 'the hybrid style'. Like what the Spiderverse movies did. It's supposed to look 'creative' and 'unique' to anything else.

Except, this is a perfect example of a movie trying to copy Spiderverse's art style, with no clue what even made that art style good in the first place.

I'm not saying 'every movie that's done the hybrid animation is bad'. Most of them are actually really good. But there is something about Spiderverse's animation that remains very significant and masterful in its own way.

(And yes I've heard about the abuse of the animators to make Across the Spiderverse. Like... don't do that Sony. Your workers deserve a good work/life balance.)

The animation isn't made that way just to 'be unique'. The animation actively tells the story and elevates the narrative.

(That's another thing: Just make a good story first.)

The comic strips are there to give the impression this is a living story you are reading as well as a homage to Spider Man origins. The textboxes showing a character's internal thoughts. The different animation styles on each character depending on the dimension they're from to tell you their background. Certain visual cues to enhance the comedic moments. And so on. You could basically do a full analysis on multiple scenes of these movies just from what the visuals tell you.

The animation isn't 'unique' to 'be unique from other Hollywood movies', it's 'unique' to tell the story.

Say, you're deaf. And your hearing aids are faulty that day when you're watching the movies. The visuals aid in helping you understand the story.

Take, the first scene with Gwen and her dad in Across the Spiderverse. It's more than just 'ooh, her dimension is pretty'. Her and her dad are different colors in the room because of their separation because of the situation at hand, there's a block between them being fully honest and close like they used to, and the colors are telling you this. And when their colors merge when Gwen hugs him? That's showing you the ideal they want. It's beautiful.

And I didn't even tell you any of their dialogue or the context of that scene, that's just from what the visuals are telling you.

Why is Wish's style the way it is?

Uh, I think it's supposed to be 'it's a fairy tale storybook'. But that's it.

It's not even that unique. The character models look very much like the 2010s CGI character models, just cheaper rendered. Some backgrounds, like the forests, look good, but the characters look awkward standing in it because there's no good lighting to make me believe they're standing there. (this isn't a 'realism' issue. Again, do Spiderverse characters look awkward standing in their respective backgrounds? Except for when that's intentional because story reasons?)

That's why I said it looks unfinished, because it does look like an unfinished CGI Disney movie, but apparently it's intentional??

I'm not against Disney trying to be unique. I want that, actually. Once Upon A Studio is an example done right, actually. But from what I've heard, this movie's story is the most un-unique thing they've ever made. 'Unique animation' can't hide that. And if reviews are focusing more on story, that's an indicator.

Tell the story first. Then you can figure out what animation style is best for enhancing that story.

I wanted to share this cause it was something me and my GF discussed after I showed her Across the Spiderverse, and we talked about this very thing. I also just want to say I'm not trying to 'hate on Disney', even with all the bull they've done this year. I'm on the side of people that really liked Elemental. I liked Once Upon A Studio. I'm someone who just wants to see the studio be better. (And I know they're not gonna listen to feedback like this. I really hope their act is gotten together.)

[detentiontrack]

ive been thinking about possibly asking my parents if i can get a cane, do you have any advice?

i have a connective tissue disorder (likely EDS) that means i can't stand still unsupported longer than maybe 10 minutes without pain and fatigue, and i get tired easily when walking. physical therapy helped a tiny bit a couple years ago, but as soon as i stopped, my pain came back right away.

when i have the extra support of a hiking stick i use when walking in the neighborhood, i can walk for much longer before my joints start hurting, but whenever i comment on that or complain, my parents say i should just go back to physical therapy, which i hated. sometimes at school, i'll be limping through the halls wishing i could have that support.

i have no idea how to talk to them about it without them thinking i'm being dramatic or that i'm getting around a solution that seems more convenient to them. do you have any tips for bringing it up?

Ah anon I am so sorry this is late! I've been super busy.

Okay so I don't know your situation, your relationship with your parents, how old you are, etc so there's a few ways you can go about this.

So 1. You may want to just have a sit down conversation and be super honest about what you are experiencing. Sometimes (unfortunately) casual comments wont really communicate the full scope of the issue. If you don't want to go back to PT and think it wouldn't help or would harm you, express that. You could also maybe mention that a cane is a cheaper option and it wouldn't take up as much time as regular PT sessions, or that you would want to see if the cane helps before you fully commit to going back to PT. Another thing to add is that if you have EDS or a similar connective tissue disorder, walking unsupported will NOT increase endurance or stamina like it would for someone with healthier joints. A cane will help preserve your joint stability, not to mention save your energy.

2. Canes aren't as hard to get as they seem. I don't know your area, but in most drugs stores/pharmacies, they sell a variety of regular walking canes for like $15-25. I got my cool foldable one on Amazon for like $20. If you don't feel comfortable bringing it up yet and its a safe option, you can just buy it yourself. When I first started using my cane and I was in an unsupportive household, I would store it folded under my bed and just put it in my backpack before I left for class or to meet with friends. Canes aren't a limited resource like other mobility aids, they're one of the most acsessible mobility aids as long as you don't need any specific features.

However, I so always strongly advocate for communication. In most situations, a serious & honest conversation about your needs and what you're going through will at least set up the foundation for receiving more support.

Best of luck to you anon!! <3

[scorndotexe]

☕: Scorn?

oh you wanna hear me talk about scorn? i'll talk about scorn (mild spoiler warning)

scorn is a fucking incredible game. the visuals and art design are gorgeous and exactly my level of fucked up. absolutely astounding visuals. while i love indie games and don't think games need to have good graphics to be good games, it's certainly something to see such a disgusting (complimentary) world in such high quality. nearly everyone agrees on this and the ones who don't just call people freaks for liking it.

everyone blows the "combat issues" out of proportion. sure, i can see how it would be bad if you had to fight all the time, but the thing is you don't have to. it's discouraged. in my opinion, the first step is letting the creatures move out of the way while staying back a little. the second step, if the first one fails, is running away. the last resort is fighting, and often it fails. i briefly got pretty good at the combat before realizing i could just run away from most of the creatures.

but less than smooth combat is a staple of survival horror! while scorn may not be traditional survival horror, it does have some of those elements (just as it has some puzzle elements without being a full on puzzle game).

the puzzles were fine. i'm gonna be honest i looked up walkthroughs for most of them because i'm terrible at puzzles in games despite thinking the genre can be amazing but i didn't feel like it detracted from my experience. however, that doesn't mean that i would have preferred an absence of puzzles. i enjoyed their presence and didn't mind them, though in some cases they could have been better integrated into the world. but that's not a major complaint.

i do think the boss battle is definitely the weakest part of the whole thing. it was a little too long for my taste and the fact that i had to do it, albeit a shorter version, again was annoying. however, it made up for it quickly with some wonderful body horror and narrative. the last few moments of the game were some of the strongest.

speaking of the narrative, holy shit. scorn is so different to every other game you can find, and the way the narrative is presented is no different in that regard. i thoroughly enjoyed it. the wordless storytelling was such a breath of fresh air. too many games these days (and older ones too--thinking of you, alan wake) overexplain every single aspect. it was wonderful to have a game tell you nothing and show you everything you need to be shown. i don't think every game needs to be wordless, and despite my near-constant bitching about cinematic games (and fucking david cage), i don't have a major problem with cinematic games. i do think some just want to be films and don't do enough to be games except drag the story on further than you want them to, but cinematic games are. fine. games with words are also great, you can't just separate "games with words" into its own category. but there's something to be said about how scorn presents itself to you. there's something to be said about how it's on you to observe and interpret and figure things out. a lot of games don't want you to figure them out. they want you to follow the objective markers and watch the next cutscene. it gets tiring, and i don't even play that many games like that nowadays. scorn uses its medium to its advantage.

people have said it's a walking simulator. (bizarrely they've also said the combat was added to stop people calling it a walking simulator. cause that makes sense.) it is not a walking simulator. it has puzzles. it has combat. the story isn't happening at you, you're part of the story.

and personally i love the story. the dynamic between scornguy and the parasite is so compelling to me, and i do think the ending was perfect. the alternative would have felt much cheaper and unearned to me. and i do love tragedy.

lastly, i don't understand how people actually want a sequel or dlc. did you see that ending. did you understand the themes. what do you think they'll add?? a different ending if you pay 15.99? new guns for 9.99? the "loads of cut content" (there isn't that much--the artbook mostly shows concept art and there are two cut areas, only one of which was cut due to time and financial constraints) for 29.99, messing up the pacing entirely? because it's a well paced game, with a few exceptions.

it's not a perfect game, but which game is? and it's not my favorite game of all time or anything, but it's definitely a memorable experience. i wanna recommend it to people but also i know i shouldn't. please play scorn if you like weird fleshy games. pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease

[jekyllnahyena]

Alright I got wedding brain. I have to go to ten weddings this summer. So for Hyde and Cody. Who is Cody best man if they were to get married?

(this whole thing turned so much more unhinged than I ever thought possible, I would be sorry, but u asked me and if there's one thing I've proven, it's that my brain turns things weird)

I mean, my first thought would be Rex, wouldn't it?

Despite the distance that has built itself between Cody and most of his siblings, Rex stuck. But that has to do with the fact that Rex is the younger sibling, one that looks up to Cody and. And. Eh. Fuck it, this is going so off-topic, but I'm gonna get rambly because u just accidentally touched on some very specific Cody problems.

Cody has issues with honesty, with emotional closeness, with a superiority complex and a shit ton more. He solves problems, he's a leader and untouchable in battle, he's been the judge and the jury and the executioner for his siblings for most of his life.

He's The Marshal. And that's what his siblings start to see. So there isn't really anyone that, eh, deeply close to him? And I have yet to work out on who exactly the people will be? (look, most of my Cody and Hyde stuff is based purely on vibes and ridiculous ideas)

I like to think that got close with his batch again, because he did notice these things and started to unearth some of the stuff he's practically branded into his skin the same way his scar is. But I feel that choosing a best man would be something were he began spiraling, ending up with trying to be as diplomatical as possible and shoving everything else behind a very tight wall. It's a stressful time, ok, some of it all will bubble up again.

If I'm being completely honest, I've got no clue. Maybe he wants it to be somebody of his batch, because for once he just wants to be the second oldest and nothing else, at least on that day. Maybe somebody more outside of things, there are some friendship's he's built up again, funnily Monnk and Lockup and Fox come to mind for me, but this all goes down to the biggest thing of it all.

If those two ever were to be married, it would be only the two of them, on a whim, at some morning and only later would they tell and plan a party to placate people and let them share it all because that is still the thing warming Cody's whole being. He loves his siblings more than he loves the world, the galaxy, himself, but that's the crux of it all, innit?

It boils down to a few things, they're already living together, Cody has his room, Hyde has theirs, they have their routine built up already and it's just something ridiculous like getting taxes and realising it would be cheaper to be married, they already own a business together. Or maybe because the idea springs up and why the fuck not? Living without you would feel like losing a part of myself, so they sit down over breakfast and discuss it a bit and what a big wedding would and include but instead go, 'it feels right this very moment, doesn't it?' and Hyde asks how to say the words, it's not like they've looked them up beforehand and tried to see how they'd feel on their tongue, right?

Because here's a small fun fact, Hyde doesn't want a big wedding. They're terrified of the idea.

An after party? Fuck yeah! Big wedding? Hell no.

So knowing of a mandalorian wedding would be them being together and saying words and that is enough? Everything Hyde could ever dream of. Those two can deal with the outrage of it all afterwards because that is still Cody, The Marshal and one of the most well-known figures of the war and you married in your ratty lil kitchen?????

And for Cody, getting married was absolutely never on his agenda, he's still learning to live without a war. But I think something he really, really wants on those days that he's soft and comfortable and not worrying about literally everyone else but himself because man, that savior complex is seated in his fucking Bones, he just wants a bit of peace. And in front of people would mean a shit ton of responsibility and stress and chaos and him spiraling again in ways he does not want to touch, you know? Afterwards, he'll probably get all of his siblings together, plan the whole thing by himself and make sure that everybody is taken care off, but that little thing stays between them.

(also sending u so much energy for that summer! I've watched one of my sibs spent pretty much all of may to september going to weddings. there were like three free weekends, shit can get exhausting.)

[squadron-of-damned]

favourite place in your country?

favourite song in your native language?

favourite dish specific for your country?

do you get confused with other nationalities? if so, which ones and by whom?

most enjoyable swear word in your native language?

which stereotype about your country you hate the most and which one you somewhat agree with?

what other nation is joked about most often in your country?

would you like to come from another place, be born in another country?

Barring my bedroom, probably my favourite place in Czechia is Kuks!

Make no mistake, this is no castle. This was a hospital.

My favourite song in the Czech language... Yeah, this is going to be a hard pick. But currently it is Irskej Folk by Vintage Wine. It speaks to me kinda personally.

I'm still not much of a food enjoyer, but Carlsbad dumpling is okay.

There was this whole thing when people got Czechia and Chechnya confused. Also USAmerican specific problem, I am not Czechoslovakian. a) Czechoslovakian nationality did not exist in the first place, people from that republic were either Czech or Slovakian, b) it peacefully split into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in 1993. That's 30 years ago.

Best swearword? Classic: Kurva (lit: whore). But let's be honest, much more fun are swearword replacements. Of those my favourite is houby (lit: mushrooms) making up for hovno (lit: shit)

Honestly, I don't know of any stereotypes about Czechs that aren't our own in the first place. And those that are ours are for most part true: Lazy cheapskates, usually collaborating, will steal all schmuck that's not nailed down, and if it is nailed down, it's free nails. I disagree with the German notion that our beer is shit. Our beer is fine and cheaper than German.

My personal experience in this regards is a bit skewed: Most the jokes I know are Jewish and about Jews (we had two booklets of collected Jewish jokes in the restroom to encourage bowel movement and provide entertainment if you... got stuck). Disregarding this part of the statistic, most of the jokes about other nationalities that I knows start "A Czech, a Russian, and an American are [enter setting]. The American does something wasteful, high-tech and/or rich. The Russian does the same thing with vodka and/or 60's technology and/or exploits the Czech's labor. The Czech points out the obvious/ridiculous solution, points out he did a shit job for the Russian, or steal from the Russian and the American."

Fun fact: I am actually of double nationality. I'm partially Austrian, and it is in fact legally acknowledged. Wouldn't mind being a Canadian, though. Probably.

[upside-down-uni]

Do you think it's easy to eat vegan/vegetarian in Korea?

oof, I think with the right resources and a more flexible attitude it can be easy-ISH?

I know a bunch of people who switched from being vegan to being vegetarian during their stay here, and some others decided to eat meat if it is unavoidable. But I also know of people who kept being vegan and their food experiences sounded frustrating to be honest. It is definitely true that being vegetarian or vegan limits your options severely as an exchange student but I think it's the "exchange student" part that is the crux of the issue. In our dorms we don't really have the facilities to cook and starting a whole pantry for half a year or less is just too much money and effort for the short amount of time. If you live in Korea for longer I'm sure it becomes more affordable with being able to build up your own pantry and stocks but for me personally it makes more sense (aka it is cheaper) to eat out than to cook.

So, I highly recommend getting apps like HappyCow, following tags on insta (I don't use insta but everyone and their mother uses it here so you'll have a good chance finding places there), connecting with other vegans and vegetarians and definitely learning how to ask if they can take the meat out of a meal. Also, maybe consider eating soup regardless of the kind of broth used? I already struggle with feeding myself regularly, so I decided to not make things harder on myself and eat soups and tteokbokki for example even though the soups very likely use beef-stock and tteokbokki always comes with fishcakes. What is also helpful is just, checking out every menue of every place you plan on visiting via Naver. Most places have a menu or a picture of the menu on Naver, so you can check whether they have vegetarian options or vegetarian-ifyable options!

I hope this helps a bit!

[cazort]

Now and then I see posts on Tumblr or other social media from people who are struggling to make rent or pay other basic, essential living expenses, asking for donations. Often the posts are being reblogged or shared by people I follow.

I feel ambivalent about these posts, and I feel this way even if I assume that the people are being 100% honest and not lying about their financial trouble or otherwise scamming people. And I often feel very uncomfortable with the way people talk about and circulate these posts.

I always care about the people in the posts, and want to help.

But I have this fear that the people are not actually making good decisions in the long-run, and that if I and others keep giving them cash, it's gonna encourage them to say in a bad situation that is draining their money, and that the money being sent to them isn't actually helping anything and is just reinforcing systems of exploitation. Some evidence I see for this is that a lot of people who ask for money in this way will do it repeatedly. I've seen some blogs where it's like, an old, established blog, but the person will post something like that every month over a period of several months, and it's like, is this a good thing that people keep giving you money? This is clearly not a one-time crisis, but rather, an ongoing situation that has become chronic.

And I start to ask questions:

If someone is renting from a bad, exploitative landlord, am I just funneling money into the hands of that landlord? Am I enabling or rewarding exploitation?

If someone lives in a high-cost-of-living metro area, am I just pumping money into the economy of a metro area where the rich soak up all of the money?

If the person has a large amount of high-interest-rate debt like credit card debt, am I just paying money to service their debt, basically giving my money to a bank? Or worse, to a payday loan company or other aggressive predatory lenders?

If the person has high expenditures on food and basic daily supplies because they live paycheck-to-paycheck and buy things in small unit prices, am I just paying money to become profits for exploitative businesses like dollar stores, that sell deceptively-priced items with small unit sizes to look cheaper than they actually are?

Am I really donating money to help you get by? Or has the system of exploitation just recruited you to exploit others? When I give money to you, I'm just being exploited by your landlord, your bank, and the businesses that have roped you into spending at them. They're now exploiting me, profiting from me.

And I wonder if others ask these questions. Sometimes it seems like no one else is really asking them. And I'm not talking about far-right types who just don't give a shit about the poor. I'm talking about the people who really care, the people who are reblogging these posts. People who are concerned about wealth inequality.

In these situations, if a person can't make ends meet, they need to take action in their own life. I can't solve their problems by giving them money. Maybe they need to find a place to live that is cheaper and has a better landlord. Maybe they need to move into a different city, town, or metro area with a lower cost-of-living. Maybe they need to restructure their debt, refinancing, consolidating, or negotiating it to cancel some of it. Maybe they need to get credit counseling (which is often available for free.) Maybe they need to find new stores to shop at. Maybe they need a financial cushion so that they can start buying items in larger quantities to get lower unit prices. I'm not saying every one of these options is available to all people. But I bet at least one option is available to most people, and probably two or more to many.

I love helping people and I am always more than willing to help advise people about this stuff. Also, after giving people advice about this stuff, I often become more willing to help people by either giving them money or loaning them money.

I also feel like the amount which I can help people through advice is massive. Like I'm well off but I'm not super well off. I just can't donate hundreds of dollars to every post I see, even if I knew the money would help, I just don't have that kind of money. But I've been able to give my friends advice in ways that has helped them to save and build thousands of dollars in wealth.

However I have found that an overwhelming majority of times, when I've reached out to people who ask for money, and asked if I can help them with financial advice, finding ways to improve their life and save money and build wealth, 99% of the time people aren't interested.

And like, I just can't donate to these people. And that reinforces that it would be a bad decision for me to donate to these people. I'm not really helping them, I'm just enabling them.

I'm not saying to blame the poor for being poor. But some of these people aren't even poor, they're just really bad money managers. Like I can't even count how many times I have seen people asking for amounts of money to pay rent, when the amount of rent they pay is higher than an amount I've ever paid. When I've gotten to know people well, I've realized that a huge amount of people who complain about being poor and not having enough to make ends meet, make more money than I do and some of them make more money than I ever have.

And this all makes me really uncomfortable. It's like, I want to help everyone, I care about everyone, but I refuse to subsidize people's bad habits and I especially refuse to subsidize the exploitation of others by predatory lenders, landlords, and unscrupulous businesses.

And so much of these donation posts seem to be feeding right into those systems of exploitation.

I wish people could both ask for money, and respond to those asking for money, with greater awareness of these things.

I also wish there was less emphasis on just funneling money into stuff and more emphasis in deeper, more sustainable ways of helping people. Stuff like helping people networking to find better, cheaper places to live, or better-paying jobs. I want more emphasis on financial literacy and frugality and how to shop effectively, how to manage relationships with banks and lenders, how to pay off debt, negotiate, consolidate, restructure debt. I want to see posts raising money to help people pay off high-interest-rate debt after they already carried off a clever consolidation of debt with the guidance of people like me. And I then want to come back to these people a few years later and help them open retirement accounts or save for down-payments on a home they can own.

I know this is a tough pill to swallow for some people but this is what I want and this is how I operate. This is who I am.

[stonewallsposts]

Outta state

I've been thinking for a while that when the time comes, the 'time' being retirement AND our parents have passed, we will move out of CA. I was born and raised here in the LA area. Lived my whole life here and I'll be honest: I love LA. I love the beach, I love the weather, I love big city, I love the restaurants, I love the variety of things we can do, and I love living in a big enough place where there are always ministry opportunities with new people. I don't love the traffic. 

But I'm now 61 and I live in a two-story condo. At some point, it will be unrealistic to go up and down stairs. So we'll have to sell and move at some point, and we'll probably just move out of the state to someplace where it's much cheaper to live. I am a huge sissy in the cold so I don't want to go somewhere where I'm gonna freeze my fanny off in winter, but I don't want to go someplace where it's gonna be 120 in the summer either, meaning Vegas and Phoenix or Tuscon are out. Moving up the coast to the bay area would be ideal for the weather, but that would still be CA, and to be honest, the other thing I'm getting of tired of here in CA is the political climate. I think our beautiful state is being run by people who have utterly misunderstood some very basic things about humanity and the way life works, and are committed to governing the state in a way in which THEY feel is progressive, but I feel is a road to ruin.  

So where we move will be most likely out of CA. Nevada is not really under consideration and most of Arizona is not really under consideration either, though Flagstaff might be nice. Utah is not under consideration either. I looked into St. George, but the weather was said to be similar to Vegas, so... no. Going further east than Colorado and New Mexico gets into humid territory, so the places I've kind of identified as possible destinations are all along the Interstate 25 corridor: Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Pueblo and Colorado Springs. I've been to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and they're nice. I'd like to check out Pueblo and Colorado Springs maybe next year.  

We'll be looking for a 3 bed (we want to have guest room as well as an office), 2 bath (we need a bathroom for each of us) place, likely a condo or townhome, because I think at the point we need to look out for going up and down stairs, it would probably be wise to have some neighbors close by in case of emergencies. But I could also consider a house too. The winters aren't too bad in those areas- there will be some snow, but nothing radical. The climate is still dry, which I like. I don't really want to deal with super humid.  

I don't want to live in a rural area. I don't need to live in a huge city like LA, but I do need to live in an area with 150k or so people. I want coffeeshops, restaurants and shopping. I'm hoping to work until I'm 70 or so. I'm still 9 years off of that goal. Things can change between now and then, but I feel like I could go until then, and at that point, we should be set enough to where we can live out comfortably and have enough to still travel and see things, not just stay home and clip coupons in order to live. Our current place will be paid off in another 2 years and after that we can start socking away what we currently are spending in paying down the remainder of the mortgage.  

But Pueblo has around 180k people in its metro area, several calvary chapels, and restaurants and shopping. Plus, Colorado Springs is only 45 minutes up the 25, so we can get to a larger metro area without too much problem. With the traffic here in LA, even the local malls still take 20-25 minutes to get to, and they're less than ten miles away.  

The Colorado Springs metro area has around 750k people, so definitely large enough to have everything we'd want in a city area. It's also only 70 miles south of downtown Denver, so we'd be close enough to a major city in case we need something there.  

Tax rates are a lot lower than here in LA. But that's probably going to be true in about 90% of the places I'd look at outside of CA. 

Still doing some research, but thinking about taking a scouting trip out there around June next year. If we like what we see, we'll take some subsequent trips during the winter too in order to gauge the place in all kinds of conditions.  

I will also note that there has been some consideration of moving, even in the area. It would be nice to reduce the drive times. Maybe after we get the current place paid off in a few years, I could think about moving somewhere between my mom's place and here at work. But that's still two years off.

[research604jo]

Deeper research on Mila Useche

Link to her website Link to her instagram

Website about page: "Mila Useche is a Colombian artist and film director based in Berlin. After graduating from university in 2017 with a B.A. in Illustration, she started working in video games and comics as a designer and illustrator. In 2020 she decided to start freelancing as a character designer for animation and publishing. Among several clients are Disney, DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Scholastic, Harper Collins, and Warner Bros. Animation. Most recently, Mila’s work has shifted from client-based digital services to more personal and physical artworks."

Looking through her instagram, I saw lots of personal insights in a lot of her posts where I was able to understand her thinking and thought process as she went from character design + animation to physical paintings.

HER EARLY WORK:

Early in her instagram, you can see her diverse skill in animation. She is a character designer and scene builder working in a textured digital style that gives her artwork a very cosy, heartwarming, storybook style. She was getting commissioned by animation studios, even to make promotional art for Disney's Encanto (see above). Che did instagram "challenges" such as the "hue challenge" (see above) which is a big commitment and is mainly to drive instagram engagement but also seems to encourage many illustration styles from her. During this time she mostly did digital painting on her iPad, only ever doing studies and plans in her sketchbooks.

HER TRANSITIONAL WORK:

She had expressed that it had been years since doing something fun and expressive in her sketchbook and was very inspired on her trip to Tokyo earlier this year. She began branching out of her sketchbook, using watercolours on paper, using acrylics on canvas, eventually to pastel crayons on large paper and even having a go at some miniature sculpting of her characters. Drawing oil pastels on paper was the thing that inspired her the most, she says it brings back the feeling of drawing in her sketchbook as a child, and that the pastels allowed her more freedom to make mistakes because it's cheaper than watercolour and acrylics.

Because of her new freedom in creating her personal art instead of animation work, she also began being inspired by memories and personal experiences. Although she never fully describes the meaning or origin, you can see the concept in her art and the expression in it. Quotes from her instagram descriptions in under a few images: "Going back to traditional feels so good!" "I know it's not my usual art, but bare with me, cus I'm having so much fun"

HER CURRENT WORK: (What I'm inspired by)

She began buying larger and larger canvases, showing each peice with pride - even when she doesn't love what she has created she tells us "I'm not very happy about it (the painting), makes me a bit uncomfortable, but that always motivates me to start the next (painting)". This is such a great perspective as an artist.

"I think I will name this art movement Colobia Pop Kawaii"

Her current goals in life are to be able to afford a big, bright, well equipped studio with a view and a garden.

She expresses that her original dream when she left university was to have her art exhibited in galleries and museums and she felt as though she'd lost that dream when she moved to digital only art work. I think it's interesting that despite doing amazing digital art and working for amazing animation studios and projects, she didn't feel fulfilled. That is the dream of many artists and she was able to be honest with herself and her audience and take the leap into an entirely different art style and was able to bloom and express herself in a more truthful way.

I think a lot of creatives and artists can relate to this path and are somewhere along it. Although I'm obviously early in my artistic journey, I'd say I'm in that transitional stage at the moment where I'm looking for my true style and looking for a way to create that is truthful to myself.