#dale hiatus

[moonshine-nightlight]

2023 Writing/Stories Look-Forward

thanks to everyone who's read and liked and commented and tagged and sent in asks for my writing this year!

today i sat down to sketch out a vague--and definitely not set in stone plan for 2023--and I thought i'd share it with you guys, from a very high level and with the caveat that it will likely not be followed to the letter as i always inevitably bite off more than i can chew

but i lik to shoot high! lol so here's what i've got

Main goal: finishing the first draft of Nothing's Wrong with Dale and getting it all posted. this is the goal i'm most confident about and will lik, cannibalize other parts of my plan to achieve. i also have some like bonus offshoots for Dale, but those will likely get posted after the story is over and so are not part of the plan

Short Story goals: I plan to finish both Selfish (f!naga) and Free Piano: Haunted (m!spirit). I want to put out my Sci-Fi oneshot Snapped (m!alien) and the three part Seen (f!deity) - both of which i posted sneak peeks of a little while ago for that 'WIPs u didn't finish this year' ask meme.

Then it gets a little fuzzy - i'll either do two shorter 5 parts fics (both with winged monsters f&m) or one longer fic (probably Goddaughter or Quid Pro Quo - both m!demon fics), depending on what i'm feeling like for lik April-May ish. My summer fic will be about a runalong. In the fall/winter, I'll post the rest of Free Piano: Haunted and Feral (f!hellhound).

Choosing these from all my ideas was super hard, but I think i'm happy with what i picked (and all are technically subject to change).

At least, that's the plan.

As far as the short term, i plan to finish off some shorter things now (Selfish, Snapped, and Seen - idk y they all start with 'S' lol) in January. After that February and March are literally the busiest time of year for me at work and this will not be an easy busy season so I might literally post nothing (which is another reason that part of my plan is so up in the air). I will be working a minimum of 6 days a week, 55 hours a week - likely more than that so my brain will not be up for much writing during that time.

Hiatus: Last year I was able to keep posting Nothing's Wrong with Dale for some of January, but that's not going to be the case this year - putting up half of the next 4 part arc and then not finishing it until April would be unfair imo - both to you for the cliffhanger and to me because i will be able to write them far better if i write all oft he at once/in a row. So no more Dale until April, I'm afraid. The only reason I'll be able to post some of the other things at all in January is because most of them are already partially done where as next Dale is not started.

Feel free to send in any asks about upcoming/current stories! Happy New Year!

(please note that this is me, if anything, overestimating how much I'll be able to write and asking me to change my mind about say, Dale, to be more frequent etc will not work)

[mediumsizedart]

did you guys know australia had news?

[polyboros]

a little disappointing to realize that fall ball still has not truly made me give a shit about blaseball again

[marusea-a-random-dm]

My good friend is not feeling well. If you have an opportunity, go to their profile SirWarlock and show them some love!

Especially ask them about their OC. They love Lavr oh so much!!! Art by: @marlyamz1

[queen-of-the-queers]

NO BUT EVERYBODY'S TOO OLD TO BE PLAYING HIGH SCHOOLERS 😭 THEY ALL LOOK LIKE 20 SOMETHING YEAR OLDS SMH

[simciety-ccfinds]

Elderly CC Finds (Part 1) - Request

Are you tired of basic a** grannies? Do you wish your elderly female sims had more style? Because I do. So I found these for you all. Enjoyyyy

#1 - Bow Tie Neck Dress | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

#2 - Knit Vest Dress & Shirt | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

#3 - Long Dress & Cardigan | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

#4 - Cropped Turtleneck Sweater & Dress | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

#5 - Savannah Jumpsuit | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

#6 - Belted Sleeveless Dress | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

#7 - Shirred Waist Ruffle Dress | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

#8 - Alice Dress | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

#9 - Pajama Set AF | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

Elderly CC Finds (Continued)

Female Tops

Tops

#1 - The Sims Resource - Goldie Shirt

#2 - The Sims Resource - Trillyke - Yestoday Silk Shirt

#3 - The Sims Resource - Dahlia Top

#4 - The Sims Resource - ChloeM-Woolen Coat

#5 - The Sims Resource - Silk Blouse

#6 - The Sims Resource - toksik - Afire Blazer + Pants The Sims Resource - toksik - Pyper Pants

#7 - Long Shirt | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

#8 - Winter Trench Coat AF | Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla on Patreon

Skin Details

#1 - [INTRO] Face Overlay for Elder - All Gender -... - INTRO (tumblr.com)

#2 - strangerville's soldiers [hiatus] — tojirou eyebags realistic eyebags for your tired... (tumblr.com)

#3 - Basic 10 Eye Bags Set for All (tamosim.blogspot.com)

#4 - ditZn — Wrinkles, under eye and crow’s feet. 8 different... (tumblr.com)

#5 - The Sims Resource - Overlay Elder Female Skin N1

#6 - 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐬𝟑𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 | sims3melancholic on Patreon

#7 - The Sims Resource - Female elder skin 01 - Dark version

Mods (Trigger Warning)

Simularity - Dementia Trait

Mod The Sims - Dale Deaf Trait (V2.0 out now!)

Grandparent Trait – Welcome to KiaraSims4Mods!

Better Elders Mod - Outdated! </3

LittleMsSam's Sims 4 Mods (tumblr.com) < Spend Weekend With Mod

[sunflowhamato]

ROTTMNT Curiosities Part.3

The turtles honored Karai, and would talk to her whenever they needed guidance

Originally Karai would have been in 8 episodes (11 minutes) or 4 (22 minutes), she would help Donnie with his desire for recognition, Raph's anxiety, Mikey's aversion to family conflict, and Leo in his potential as a leader, as well as April letting him know that she is also a Hamato

The Rise movie takes place months after the end of the second season

The photo at the beginning of the movie was taken just before the Krang arrived.

If the series were renewed, they would touch on the theme that humans already know about them, addressing issues of misunderstood heroism to maintain their reputation as full-time heroes, and that some people hate them, as well as how they adapt to this new change

The crossover between the different versions of TMNT was never discussed, but it can happen (Although it is complicated to use two types of animation in the case of 2012)

2012 Leo and Rise Leo would get along badly at first, but would end up being great friends. The Mikeys would get along well from the beginning

There was a story to tell about Big Mom and Stinkbomb

The team never realized that there was no episode with the duo of Raph and Donnie (but they would if the series is renewed)

In the apocalyptic future it may be that Donnie is taller than Leo, and Raph is at least 6 feet, Mikey would have grown, but due to the use of the Ninpo on him he would become smaller

Mikey could be enough for multiverse episodes

In the series the invasion would not have happened like in the movie

Ron would like to see a Spin-off of CJ and Cassandra wandering the world and fighting the remains of Krang (Where Draxum could join)

There are Krang everywhere, there may be some good Krang

The Rat King could be the next villain, Shredder could return, Bishop could be a thorn like J. Jonah Jameson for the turtles, he would be like an ally, but don't trust the turtles (a few ideas if the series is renewed)

Baxter Stockboy would mutate, and become a man, but his voice and mentality would be that of a child

There were no plans for Beebop and Rocksteady

It could be that Mikey from the future communicated with his dead brothers

There are other hidden cities such as Tokyo, where it was thought that they would be

The prison dimension is to get rid of the villains

In terms of power with the Ninpo, Mikey is the strongest, followed by Donnie, Raph the next, and Leo is the one who depends the least on the Ninpo, he uses physical and mental abilities

CJ is around 20 years old or a teenager. Leo from the future would be in his early 40s. Young April is 18 just like Raph

The movie was already planned before they found out about the hiatus, it didn't change much since it was set a little far from the series, so it didn't receive many changes

Don Suave is attractive to any gender or orientation Leo has a little insomnia

Donnie's fear of beach balls started at a young age as seen in “Lair Games”

His favorite video game is “Crazy Copter”

The bounty hunters in the first episode are called “Garm and Freki”

Baba Yaga was planned to be introduced

Donnie is the team doctor

Ant and Andy had the idea that the turtles were of different species

Kids would put cereal before milk (haha, good tip)

In Origami Tsunami the test audience thought Leo was the leader

Kendra is Indonesian

Raph feels bad when he is alone, because his brothers are the strength he needs to survive.

Leo's hair reference in Bad Hair Day is because of the guy in the middle

A rivalry between Baxter and The Purple Dragons was thought of

A little HeadCanon that Donnie has a pumpkin-growing rivalry with a woman named Ethel Crabtree

Hypno is New Zealander

In Al Be Back, Raph was Raphy White in “Barry White”, his hair is similar to James Brown, Leo is a glam rocker in the vein of David Bowie, the New York Dolls or Sweet

“Othello Von Ryan”, is a reference to the strange Liz Taylor commercial in the 80s

Dale is based on Dale Malinowski

The boys' nickname is: Othello Von Ryan, Dr. Delicate Touch, Cool Teen Randall, Neon Leon and the Red Angel of Preventing Harm

Mikey knew that April's apartment upstairs was unoccupied, where he sent Draxum

Raph's hero names, he doesn't realize they spell his name R.A.P.H until later

If the series is renewed, several discarded episodes could return without a problem, and everything would resume from the end of the movie

There is a completely complete episode that Nick never released

If the series were renewed it would be at least another 3 seasons

The pitch process for an episode is organic, a writer has a pretty solid idea, people propose ideas, the key piece is finding the growth story not only of the story, but also of the character

The difficult part of the series was fitting the entire plot into 11 minutes for one episode, there were great things that were eliminated for this reason, the general opinion (from high ranks) was that action shows lasted 22 minutes to sell toys, while comedies got ratings

[callmegaith]

Oh... I saw a post on Reddit about some fans feeling like Rusty Lake is losing its plot with the last few games and it hurt to read cuz it made me realize... Yeah... Kinda. At first I thought "I just didn't care much about the last 2 games cuz they're about the Vanderbooms who I don't really give much of a crap about." But resurrecting characters like Albert out of nowhere and shit is like... Ugh. We didn't need him to come back his story ended fine in Roots. There are other characters who deserved more lore exploration. I'm biased clearly but literally been waiting so long for Mr. rabbit lore that sometimes feels is never gonna come and I'll forever be wondering why he did what he did. How he got there. And what happened to him or where he is now. And the whole two rabbits mystery yada yada yada. Literally one of the most mysterious characters. Seemed to have a plan and his own story happening in the background of Hotel and Birthday..... And then he's just never brought up again except in Dale's memories.

I miss the story being revolved around Dale and his journey to the lake... He's been stuck in that fucking elevator for ages now and I want the story to progress past that. I know they probably are trying to tie loose ends before they progress to that point but sometimes in efforts to do that, they're just muddying an already complicated plot more than it should be.

Like brotha I went on hiatus from the games for a couple of years and came back AND HES STILL IN THE FUCKING ELEVATOR AND LIKE 3 OTHER GAMES CAME OUT AT THAT TIME. The white door was pretty cool I liked the focus on Bob who had little lore before

The past within tho it has a cool concept is when things just started falling apart

I'm stuck hyperfixating on the games up to paradox cuz thats the golden age for the games for me. Everything after Paradox was just... Meh

People might disagree and that's fine. But something is starting to feel different and wrong about the games and I hope I HOPE the next game puts things back on track.

[isfjmel-phleg]

Most of Grant's solo is motivated by his need to learn who his real parents were. But even though he does find out the truth, his relationship with the parents he never got to meet (or rather with the idea of them, with what could have been) never quite gets resolved, and I would love to see this revisited now that he's alive again in recent comics.

After a lot of dead ends and red herrings, Grant finally learns from Vandal Savage, who was responsible for the experimentation done on Grant and for placing him with the Emersons, that his real parents were Al Pratt (the Atom) and his wife Mary James.

Mary was murdered shortly after giving birth, her baby was taken away to be experimented upon, and Al had no idea that any of this had happened. He died in the Zero Hour event, about twelve hours before Grant got dragged in to save the day. They so narrowly missed each other!

Grant, like most of us, isn't well-informed about every obscure Golden Age JSA hero, so this revelation doesn't have any context for him. He knows his parents' names, but feeling actually connected to them...? Not so much.

(Damage #12)

It gets even more complicated with the additional reveal that although the Pratts were his biological parents, he was injected with the DNA of many other superheroes. The primary donor of these was J'onn J'onzz (Martian Manhunter), but Grant is also genetically related to

Barry Allen (Flash)

Johnny Chambers (Johnny Quick)

Arthur Curry (Aquaman)

Joan Dale-Trevor (Miss America)

Jay Garrick (Flash)

Ted Grant (Wildcat)

Carter Hall (Hawkman)

Shiera Hall (Hawkgirl)

Hal Jordan (Green Lantern)

Ted Knight (Starman)

Dinah Drake Lance (Black Canary)

Dinah Laurel Lance (Black Canary)

Libby Lawrence (Liberty Belle)

Charles McNider (Doctor Mid-Nite)

Ray Palmer (Atom)

Alan Scott (Green Lantern)

Rex Tyler (Hourman)

So not only does Grant have parents whom he knows nothing about, but he also has eighteen other "parents," some living, some dead, whose combined DNA has contributed to the powers he's still trying to adjust to. So many good people whose child he could technically be considered, and yet he still ended up raised by the abusive Emersons, who had no real connection to him. It's a lot to process. He is overwhelmed and confused--but he still wants to make contact with his real parents in the only way he can now.

He asks to be taken to their graves.

(Damage #15)

Several of his JSA "fathers" (Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, Ted Grant, and Ted Knight) come to the cemetery to meet him and try to make some sense of the situation. This information is just as new to them as it is to Grant, but they do seem willing to accept him and bring him into the JSA legacy.

This would have been an interesting direction to take the story: having the entire JSA take on Grant as their collective child. He used to have no real family, and now he's part of many families! But this is a dynamic that never gets to happen, for whatever reason. Although Grant does picture something like it in an illusory sequence. It's what he wants: acceptance into a family.

(JLA Titans #2)

But by the end of his solo, he's on his own, although he makes a point of seeking out Albert Rothstein, his father's godson, for information about his father--which we can assume Albert was only too happy to give. He and Al were very close.

We don't get to see here how hearing about how someone else got to have a warm, quasi-parental relationship with the father Grant never got to meet might have affected Grant, but remember this for later.

(Damage #20)

During Grant's hiatus from the Titans, he and Jesse Quick have an encounter with some malevolent beings who impersonate people from their past. Grant sees his parents and hears something from his father that he probably has always wanted to hear.

(Titans 1999 #45)

But he's still enough in possession of his faculties to question it with the painful truth. His father never met him. Never knew about him. Couldn't have cared about him. And what does that leave him with? His foster parents and their "love" that came with abuse.

His real parents died before they could know him. His foster parents failed him. His JSA parents either are dead or haven't done much to actually support him after his time with the Titans and the fight that scarred his face. By the time Grant is a young adult and has joined the JSA (who all seem to have forgotten that they're technically related to him), he's harboring a lot of bitterness toward his father.

(Justice Society of America 2007 #3)

He insists he's not following in his father's footsteps, and he is adamant about not taking up his father's mantle. He is Damage.

There's some inconsistency in this panel (Grant knew nothing whatsoever about Al Pratt before finding out they were related), but it's made clear that the bitterness comes from feeling abandoned and disconnected.

(Justice Society of America 2007 #16)

This resentment comes to a head after Grant has joined the cult of a villain who restored his face. This change in loyalties has caused a lot of trouble for the JSA. Albert tries to do the brotherly thing and talk some sense into Grant by reconnecting him to his father.

(JSA Kingdom Come Special: The Kingdom #1)

Which is something that should have happened a long time ago! Grant should have gotten the opportunity to see his parents' house and artifacts. It would have been a way to connect, especially at a time when he was more open to that, but for whatever reason that didn't happen, and he's in no frame of mind to accept this as a kindness.

Instead he projects his own jealousy onto Albert, destroys his father's belongings, uses a term for his father that is both very rude and inaccurate, and deliberately blows up the entire house.

(JSA Kingdom Come Special: The Kingdom #1)

This level of maliciousness is not normal for him, and of course it's exacerbated by the influence of the villain he's currently following, but still...he's way out of line. This is him at his absolute worst. Accidental destruction has left him with a lot of guilt before. But how does he feel knowing that he let his anger get so out of hand that he obliterated so many physical ties to his father's memory--things that meant something, if not to him, then to his almost-brother?

Well, it's never directly addressed. But he does seem to have some guilt when faced with a memorial to his father.

(Blackest Night #1)

During the Blackest Night event, when Grant encounters the Black Lantern version of his father (basically an evil zombie), "Al" spouts all of Grant's frustrations with him.

And Grant responds with what Albert tried to remind him of. His father didn't know about him. It wasn't his fault. This is some small progress.

(Blackest Night #4)

In fact, if Al had known about Grant, things would have been incredibly different. The Pratts were evidently desperate to have children, since they were still trying for one so late in life (Grant would have been born in the late 1970s, and the Pratts would have been in their fifties by then if they were college-age in the early 1940s, which doesn't make a lot of sense for the established timeline, but whatever the case, the point still stands: older-than-usual first-time parents).

Before Al even married, he was already eager to find out if he and Mary would have kids and his reaction to learning that they'd have "at least one" is excitement.

(The New Golden Age #1)

Was it confidence in this prophecy that kept the Pratts trying for a baby for so long?

If Al's relationship with Albert is any indication of what he would have been like as a father, he would have been a good one. And he would have been outraged if he knew what the Emersons did to his son. If editorial mandate had not ensured that Zero Hour went the way it did, there could have been an eventual father-son reunion that would have taken Grant's solo in a completely different direction.

But that didn't happen, and Al is still dead in the current continuity. Grant, however, was last seen in the company of one of the newly restored lost children. Is he going to adopt a mentor role now? Will that require him to reconsider his own relationships with all the father-figures he had/could have had?

At any rate, a good step for him might be to address his name. After finding out about his complicated parentage, he felt that Damage was the only name he had left. But that's not true.

What if he dropped "Emerson," the name of the people who abused him, a symbol of all that painful baggage he's been carrying around? What if he instead chose to proudly use his birth name: Grant Albert Pratt?

[game-boy-pocket]

Happy New Year.

It was a pretty good year for my gaming hobby and being a Nintendo fan. As usual, I did spend a majority of the year just replaying games I loved, but there were a few new, and new-to-me games that I played this year.

Around this time last the year I was on a Rare kick, playing through all the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, DK64, Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo Kazooie, and Conker. and Mark Kurko's Snowglow Village remake, and this spilled into January.

The Rare stuff also lead to a N64 kick in general, as I found a few decent Mario 64 hacks that worked on real hardware, and I also finished a run of Kirby 64 I started a few years ago and abandoned close to the end.

I managed to make it through a short and easy but very charming Fievel Goes West platformer on SNES. I've got a lot of nostalgia for Fievel so, no regrets there.

I started going back and fourth between The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, and Banjo Kazooie - the Jiggies of Time, and it was interesting to visit areas of the game as Link only to come back to them as Banjo, this also marked the first time I ever replayed a full length romhack from start to finish.

I picked up several Super Mario World romhacks. Some of them worked out, others didn't, either because of romhack difficulty or hardware incompatibility, but it really was kind of a Mario year for me.

Smash Remix got some amazing updates adding Marina, King Dedede, and Goemon, among other things. I can't wait to see where else that game goes. But speaking of Smash Bros, I also discovered the Akenia build for Super Smash Bros Melee, and I was thrilled to play that game with some characters that came later in the series like Lucas, Diddy Kong, Charizard, Sonic, and Wolf.

And I cleared two Gameboy games for the first time, Donkey Kong Land, and Final Fantasy Adventure, hopefully I can get to their sequels in 2024.

From there I marathonned a ton of Mario games... the SNES version of Super Mario RPG ( little did I know a Switch remake would get announced later this year ), New Super Mario Bros U, Mario Kart 8, which I managed to get 3 stars on every cup and every difficulty rating, Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros DS, and Super Mario Odyssey, all in preperation to hype myself up for the Super Mario Movie which, against all odds, was fun as hell and filled my little Mario fanboy heart with joy.

Also found mods for Wario Land and Donkey Kong Country returns that made both games far more enjoyable to me. Wario's default walking speed was increased, and Donkey Kong Country's motion controls were mapped to buttons.

Revisited Sonic Riders again, and sadly kind of realized it was not as good as I remembered, having only two grand prix that are largely copy pastes of each other with different lighting. Still prefer the concept of those games than sticking Sonic in a car though.

I discovered a pretty amazing Ocarina of Time hack called the Sealed Palace, which is a it obtuse, but still very good, and I really need to get back to it, I had nearly finished it but went on a hiatus when other things caught my attention. Will finish it in 2024 hopefully.

And one of the big highlights, I finally became the proud owner of an NES. My family had one as a child but it was more for my parents than for me. I mostly played NES games via Nintendo's re-releases or emulation.

Among the games I played for NES, the whole Mario trilogy, Zelda, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Final Fantasy 1, Dragon Quest 1, Metroid MOTHER, Kid Icarus, Super Mario Bros 3+, Mega Man 2, Kid Icarus, Duck Hunt, and I started up Final Fantasy 2, but have yet to finish it.

And in April I went to Super Nintendo Land. The experience was slightly soured for me but I had fun and got some cool merchandise. The actual ride was a little underwhelming though, and I didn't even get to go to the Toad Cafe.

In anticipation for the Legend of Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom, I replayed Link's Awakening, and Breath of the Wild, had a great time with both of them.

And then Tears of the Kingdom came along and completely absorbed my life for two months. I still miss playing it. Maybe i'll replay it sometime in 2024? It'll be interesting to see if my opinion changes at all, but so far, this one is in my top 3 Zelda games. It's not perfect, but honestly, mention any Zelda game to me and I can give you a laundry list of flaws for each of them, so a Zelda game not being perfect is old news. But it doesn't make them any less great. I think this one is just contentious because 1. it took 6 years, 2. purists of the old Ocarina Cone style of Zelda games are worried that they'll never enjoy Zelda again. They have my sympathies but honestly I don't ever want to go back to the old style of Zelda unless it's for a 2D game.

I actually tried to give Skyward Sword another try, I bought the Switch version, but like with every attempt to replay that game since it's launch, I just find myself really irritated by all the exposition that I just quit playing early on.

Against my better judgement I bought Sonic Origins Plus on Steam, and it has some performance issues. I really didn't need it, I love that Amy is playable but I kind of prefer her Sonic Advance move set, which fans had already modded into the genesis games. I think i'd rather just get an actual Sega Genesis to play these games on someday.

I finished raising every single digimon on my Digimon Version 20th v-pet, which is essentially like completing the "pokedex" but for digimon. Sadly not every virtual pet tracks that information, so I won't get to attempt that again.

There was a double dose of Ninja Turtles with TMNT II the Arcade game for NES and Shredder's Revenge on the Switch, I think a certain movie came out around this time of year that put me into a Turtle frenzy because I also started watching the cartoon around that time of year.

I am not mentioning every little NES game or hack I play but I want to higlight two excellent Zelda hacks called the Legend of Banjo and the Legend of Super Mario, which are exaclty what they sound like, Zelda 1 but with a Banjo Kazooie and Super Mario makeover respectively, both are very well designed and arguably a lot more friendly to players that aren't experts at Zelda 1, and do a great job at selling the illusion that they're intended to be Mario and Banjo games.

One of my big regrets for the year was Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3, Slime Speedway, which I bought because 1. I was done with the Mario Kart DLC and wanted more racing game, and 2, I was on a nickelodeon kick and was hyped up from the pre-release of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2.

Slime Speedway is just not very well made. I am generally accepting of low FPS but two genres of games that shouldn't have them are racing games and fighting games. And it's very sad because I feel like NKR3 could be one of the better Mario Kart clones if it was better optimized and had less annoying sound clips... Nickelodeon All Star Brawl 2 was a good game but my hype deflated when I learned it would be cutting ELEVEN characters. Also the Switch version performs like ass but I really wanted to be able to take it to a friends house, so I didn't do the smart thing and buy it on Steam.

October is usually when I do my month long Halloween celebration of only consuming spooky media. But Nintendo and Sega had the nerve to plan big Mario and Sonic releases that month, interrupting my plans. But I did manage to slip in some spooky gaming, with Luigi's Mansion, an Evil Dead hack of Wanpakku Grafitti: Splatterhouse, and a Super Mario World Halloween hack, as well as a Kirby Halloween romhack. There was also the promising Super Mario 64 hack - Super Mario and the Monstrous Manor, but it seemed to lose it's spooky flavoring half way through, so I put it on pause for now and will come back to it in 2024.

I don't need to say much about Super Mario Wonder. It was wonderful. Easily the best 2D Mario in decades. It can definitely stand toe-to-toe with the original NES trilogy and Super Mario World. But Sonic Super Stars on the other hand? It's fine, but the bosses suck ass, especially the final boss, who isn't even interesting since it's just the Sonic 3 and Knuckles final boss again but without the Doomsday Zone sequence.

Super Mario RPG came out in November and it was a delight. My second time playing the game that year, I never would have seen it coming in a million years, but i'm so happy that it did. I already want to replay it.

I was put into the mood for Square RPGs, something I always felt like I missed out on growing up. So I started up Final Fantasy IV, which I played before, but never finished. I need to get back to it but I am officially at the point where I stopped playing last time, about to storm some tower in the underworld while the red wings are being distracted by tanks.

In December I started feeling Donkey Kong again and played the first two DKC games, and a few levels of Tropical Freeze, I thought i'd finally try out that new Funky Mode. I then realized that I was playing the exact same games around this time of year last year. Pure coincidence, but I do kind of want to play the rest of the Rare platformers...

I bought my first ever Mario sports game in Mario Tennis Aces, and I had a blast with it, though the adventure mode was surprisingly difficult, I have also bought Kirby and the Forgotten Land but have not really dug into it much. I guess my appetite for Kirby isn't what it used to be, that and my mood lately has been mostly on Mario. Maybe I should finish Yoshi's Crafted World, I got that in 2022 and have not played it at all this year...

Mark Kurko did his annual Christmas Romhack for Banjo Kazooie. I played it on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day, I replayed all his past romhacks. I think I might make that a new tradition, to replay all the christmas BK hacks, and whatever else I have. I found a decent Mario 64 Christmas hack as well, though it's only a single level.

And to cap off the new year, I started up a run of Animal Crossing for the Gamecube. I've been at it for a week and a half now. I am curious to see how long I can keep it up. But I have already found two NES games, and I kind of want to see if I can get the whole set and build an NES arcade in my basement, just like old times.

There's not much for me to look forward to in 2024 as far as I know, just the Mario vs Donkey Kong and Paper Mario TTYD remakes really, as I'm not too interested in the Peach game. But I hope we get some exciting announcements. I just am not ready for that announcement to be a Switch 2, I'm so tired of buying new machines.

[groovycatanime]

You know the recent Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers movie? Do you think a film like that could work but with anime characters? Think of it like a massive actor AU.

Things I’d like to see if this film were to be:

Dragon Ball characters complaining that their franchise had gone on for way too long and they want to retire.

Death Note and Cowboy Bebop characters ranting about their terrible live-action adaptations on Netflix, and that One Piece is next.

Rimuru Tempest and Goblin Slayer butting heads over whether goblins are solely evil or capable of being good.

Buxom anime girls ranting about how their features are exaggerated in the anime compared to the manga and the excessive fanservice shots.

Ichigo Kurosaki talking about how it took nearly 10 years for his anime to get continued and Gon Freecss talking about how his manga is finally getting off hiatus and it’s been 8 years since his show’s last season.

MHA characters complaining about their overly toxic fanbase.

Characters like Minoru Mineta who NEED bodyguards because otherwise they’ll be violently attacked in public because they’re so disliked.

Some heroes are a lot meaner than they are “on-camara”.

Wow...this is a lot of negative...I should think of more positive ideas:

Fighting tournaments are a thing, where people can cheer on their favorites. (OP characters such as Saitama cannot participate because the wins will be too easy)

VILLAIN BAR: Basically, where all the villain characters meet up to talk about their respective series, complain about their haters, or brag about their fan following.

Alita or Gally being pretty satisfied with her film adaptation, since it pretty much covered the gist of the first two arcs of Gunnm. (But wishes for a full-on anime adaptation of the manga)

Manga series with the same creator all hanging out together. Hunter X Hunter and Yu Yu Hakusho, and Rave Master, Fairy Tail and Eden Zero.

Some of the villains are a lot nicer than they are “on-camara”.

That’s all I got for idea on little things the film could have. Anyone else have ideas?

[moonshine-nightlight]

Story Length Poll

Now that 'Nothing's Wrong with Dale' is wrapped up and my work busy season is coming, I'll be taking a writing hiatus for the first few months of 2024. still, i'm trying to plan out what my next projects are going to be.

so i wanted to try to get a feel for what people prefer when it comes to story length as such, please see below!

Short Story: between 4 to 10 chapters (from ~15k to 35k words)

*Update: See this post for a similar poll on short stories!

Long Story: more than 10 chapters (more than 50k words)

*Update: See this post for a poll on long stories!

i normally do a mix of short and long stories, but i've been pretty busy lately so i keep defaulting to just the long story

obviously with a mix of short and long, both stories i'm posting will take longer, but there wouldn't be such a long wait for the long story to pay off, but there wouldn't be as many short stories as quickly.

just trying to get a sense of what people are interested in!

i'll probably put up some polls for different candidates for short and long stories, based on ideas I already have, after this poll finishes for next year

thanks!

[thediktatortot]

Gonna take a bit of a hiatus. My elder cat Dale is declining in health and it put me in a really bad headspace right now and I need to take some time away.

Love you guys.

[dalesramblingsblog]

Anyway, as a follow-up to my half-joking celebration of six years of writing too much about these dang books - an anniVARsary, call it by its name - I do want to voice a more sincere thank you for all the support, I always remain pleasantly surprised whenever I come back from a hiatus of a few weeks and see how many views my newest post has accrued and I think that's a positive sign for just how far the blog has come.

It'd be a cliche to say it's exceeded my wildest expectations, but it really has. So this is not-quite-21-year-old Dale telling you that you would have blown not-quite-fifteen-year-old Dale's mind completely.

Stay tuned for the review of the fifth and final Decalog as a dual celebration of the sixth anniVARsary and my 21st birthday. Predictably, it'll probably be out a few days later than either one, but I've just hit 10,000 words and I've still got four stories to cover.

So buckle in.

[byronlc]

multi-muse indie rp blog with canon muses. slow activity. 21+. penned by am. millennial. CET. likes rare fandoms.

rp blogs only: personals please do not interact with my posts!

rules memes open starters muse list under the cut

muse list

all canon muses can be treated as OCs and are adaptable to (almost) any fandom/setting

🚩 marks villainous/dangerous muse

Canon Muses

🚩 Trevor Anderson, 21-27, Hellraiser (2022), fc Drew Starkey

your casual criminal crush

🚩James “Junior” Rennie, 21-28, Under The Dome, fc Alexander Koch (intro)

your sociopathic obsessive boy next door

Dale “Barbie” Barbara, 30-36, Under The Dome, fc Mike Vogel

your brooding anti-hero

Zachary "Zach" Shan-Yung Dempsey, 21-28, 13 Reasons Why, fc Ross Butler

your former jock turned musician that will literally come pick you up

Zach MacLaren, 20-24, The Other Zoey, fc Drew Starkey (intro)

your typical jock that is literally a puppy dog (aka the other Zach)

Luke Riordan, 21-26, Gen V, fc Patrick Schwarzenegger

your golden boy with a dark future

🚩Chase Collins, 30-36, The Covenant, fc Sebastian Stan (also younger version and non-magical version)

your power-hungry warlock with a wicked sense of humor

🚩Carlisle Cullen, 400 and forever 35, Twilight, fc Alexander Skarsgård (headcanon-based portrayal) (intro)

not your teen romance novel's friendly vampire daddy

(🚩)Liam/Angelus/Angel, 270 and forever 23, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, fc Jacob Elordi (headcanon-based portrayal) (sideblog for aesthetics, rp here)

your ever-brooding, moody vampire cursed with a soul

Grayson Ernest Theodor Spencer, 24-28, Silber Trilogy, fc Josh Hutcherson (heavily headcanon-based portrayal)

your permanently tired loser boy, who will do anything for a cup of coffee

Natalie Scatorccio, 18-23, Yellowjackets, fc Sophie Thatcher (very selective)

your i-don't-give-a-shit-but-also-care-too-much queen of misfits

Dylan Massett, 21-29, Bates Motel, fc Max Thieriot

your white knight in a leather jacket

(🚩) Peter Rumancek, 25-29, Hemlock Grove, fc Aaron Taylor-Johnson (post-series, headcanon-based portrayal)

your sexy man-beast who tore his own heart out

🚩Barry, 25-28, Outer Banks, fc Nick Cirillo

your local drug dealer with a good heart

Canon Muses on Hiatus

🚩Rafe Cameron, 19-26, Outer Banks, fc Drew Starkey

your @unhlnged rich boy

JJ Maybank, 18-23, Outer Banks, fc Rudy Pankow

your chaotic, quick-tempered @salt-lifer

[tkwrtnewsfeed]

Newsfeed #133 May 2, 2023 (2 Lótessë)

You are about to read the Legolas origin story shortly. But first, a few notes. (You didn't think you'd have to do homework first, did you?)

So, anyway, that story is found in two places 1) @trenarnolegolaslasgalen (regular version), and 2) @tkwrtrilogylasttale (extended version). The extended version combines plot points from the extended version of his father's story.

(Yeah, this guy. The subject of Book II: The Saga of Thranduil @tkwrtrilogy and @tkwrtrilogy2, and the extended version @extendedtkwrtrilogyend). Oh, now you remember. Moving on.

Now, back to Legolas. The story begins today. Yay! I will not go into the details of how hard it was to get what is going up first done, but it was more harrowing than the first season of Rings of Power (or so I've been told). For those who read the books on WordPress, we're fixing that due to the minor hiatus Book I is going through.

Oh, in case you didn't know about Book I: The Epic of Eryn Galen (@tkwrtrilogy3), it takes place during this part except in actual Middle-Earth (Arda/Endor). We're almost nearing the end of the First Age, so we're WAY ahead of the television show. To be fair, I started this book in 2015, so I had a head start. Now, back to Legolas.

Yes, this book will take him on the Fellowship--just as soon as he grows up. Just so you know, he's going to do a lot of growing up like his father did in his story. I mean, it IS an origin story. Also, some things from his dad's story will overlap. It's supposed to do that. It's a generational family epic set in Middle-Earth. Uh, yeah. 🤪

Now for those that often read this on WordPress--it's coming. We have to set it up for the pause between the middle of Book I and the beginning of Book III: The Last Tale of Legolas Lasgalen*.

For those that don't know: There are actually TWO Legolas' in Tolkien (the first one makes his appearance in Book I: The Epic of Eryn Galen). He is an elf from Gondolin and his name is Legolas Greenleaf. Oropher (whose story got preempted by my family pulling a Jamie Spears on me--later about that) knew the first Legolas. Can't imagine how it got transferred to this Legolas (yet 🤫).

Wait! There's more (that you'll have to wait until after I post the first excerpt of Book III: The Last Tale of Legolas Lasgalen). I'm sure you'll like it.

Yeah, so enjoy what is about to be a really long book. 😁

And don't forget, after this one, there are 3 other books:

The Song of Seven Rivers (the story of Legolas' mother) @tkwrtsongofsevenrivers

Of Lords & Kings: The Legacy of Dale (about the Bardings) @oflordsandkingstkwrtbook

And coming soon (or eventually) is Loremasters: The Keepers of the Tales. (TBA)

Yeah, I think we're done here--for now.

*Lasgalen is Greenleaf in Sindarin (and Sindarin is Quendi for Grey Elven Language).