tuxxydo

[veritphoto]

Shoma Uno — Timelapse / Spiegel im Spiegel FS at GPF 2023

thank you for the incredible career 💙

[jhkfan123]

because i liked a boy | tom blyth

pairing: tom blyth x actress!reader

in which: tom rushes to your house after you get threats and insults online due to speculations of a relationship between the two of you

warnings: mentions and readings of death threats, mentions of slut shaming

wc: 1.1k (sorry it's a little short!)

a/n: IT'S MY POOKIE WOOKIE DOOKIE COOKIE SHMOOPIE TOM'S BIRTHDAY! no but seriously happy birthday tom! bros birthday is approximately ONE week from mine. bro's a little aquarius like me. thank you so much for being the best tom! the age gap grows more everyday 🥰...anyway here is a little cute fic for you guys just for his bday!

in less than 24 hours they were everywhere. in your dm's, in tagged posts, on every platform.

it was only yesterday that you and tom decided to go out in public together. for the first time. and now you realized maybe it should be your last, for a while anyway.

the two of you kept a quiet relationship for about a month, up until yesterday, when you decided going out for coffee might be nice. and sure enough, there were cameras.

first fan accounts found it. then smaller celebrity news accounts found it. then e! news found it. soon variety found it. this had all happened while you were asleep. and when you woke up, it wasn't just the posts that you found. you had dm's. lots of them. each one a little worse than the one before it.

you weren't sure what to do. so you picked up your phone and dialed tom.

the phone rung for what felt like ages. then you finally heard the comforting voice you had been longing for.

"hello?" you heard. you felt a little lighter already.

"hi tom. look, i know you're not really on social media but, i just really need you to come over because i need to talk to you." you breathed heavily getting the sentence out as you now began to panic.

"i'll be there in ten minutes. love you." you heard. he hung up the phone. you sat down on the couch in your apartment. you had an urge to go on your phone, but you knew what awaited you. so you resisted.

about ten minutes later, you heard a knock on the door. right on time.

he only knocked out of politeness, he had a key to your unit. "oh, good you're here." you said. he looked at you with a warm smile.

"i came as fast as possible." he came over to the couch and pressed a kiss to your forehead. he sat down next to you and you embraced his warmth. "now, what's wrong." he said. you leaned into his lap.

"so, remember how we went out for coffee yesterday?" you asked. he nodded quickly. "so obviously there were photos which is fine and we expected that but, once people really started noticing, i started getting...threats." you handed him your phone which was now open to your instagram dm's.

"oh, no." he sighed with sadness. "i'm so sorry. do you mind if i look?" he asked. you nodded again. he took your phone from your hand and began to scroll. you saw the screen and began to read along.

user: who tf are you back tf off you slut

_user_: didn't you just break up with your other boyfriend you whore chill share him with us

user123: if you don't back off i'm going to jump you. mwah

tomblythlover: if you hurt him you die

each one got progressively worse. you saw tom's face shift with each one. he pulled you closer to him as he handed your phone back to you. you felt a single tear stream down your face, which tom immediately noticed.

"hey, hey hey." he wiped your tear with his thumb. "you didn't do anything wrong, ok? ignore every single one. you are not a slut, not a whore, not anything they claim you are. and, there is nothing you can do to stop these people. you just have to ignore it." he pulled you closer and tighter to him. "turn your dm's off. or limit them at least." he suggested. "get off social media. take a walk." he kept listing out ideas.

"you're right. i didn't even think of that, turning my dm's off." you said. you went into your settings and turned it off.

"what would you do without me." he joked, sarcastically. you hit him in his leg, the only place you could reach. you smiled up at him.

"i can't believe people would do this." you spoke. it was unbelievable. how could you say something like that to someone you don't even know?

"i can. people are crazy online. they stay stuff that they wouldn't ever say to your face. that's why i stay off of it." he responded.

"should i like, put a statement out?" you questioned. you often looked up to tom for advice about these things. he was only a year older than you, well, almost two, but he seemed much wiser. you loved the way you could look to him for anything.

"only if you want to, love." he assured you. "but if you think it will help you, then do it. do it for yourself, not for others." he continued.

"maybe i should. i will." you opened your story camera and began to type. you thought about what you wanted to say. then your mind drew a blank. "what should i say?" you asked, staring blankly at your screen.

"just say that no one is allowed to insult you just because we're dating, and that you need time to figure out what you are going to do next." he said. he thought of solutions with such ease, taking no time to think. ideas flowed like water out of his mouth. when you finished, you showed it to him, and with his approval, you added it to your story.

even though your dm's were turned off, you still hoped that people would stop attacking you in tagged posts, something that you couldn't stop no matter what.

"thank you, tom, for being here. i'd probably be lying in bed crying right now if it wasn't for you." he smiled down at you.

"i'll always put you first. i don't care what i'm doing. never be afraid to call me, even if i'm busy ok? i promise i'll help, any way i can. and please don't take anything they said to heart. you aren't any of those things, the only thing they got right is that you are my girlfriend." that made you laugh. "now, let's go do something to lift your mood." he pulled himself off the couch and soon helped you up as well. "where do you want to go?" he asked. you thought for a moment. you wanted to be somewhere quiet. with tom.

"i think just a walk around the neighborhood would be nice. no photos, no phones, just us?" you suggested.

"that's the best idea i've ever heard." he hugged you close. then he pressed his lips to yours in a soft kiss. he grabbed his keys from the entryway table, grabbed your hand, and walked out the door.

[herefortheships]

Just rewatched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice again, and I have thoughts!

But this was my first time watching it while being a Betelgeuse x Lydia shipper, so there might be some unhinged shipper takes here. I'll leave my completely speculative, potentially emotionally-charged impressions under the "read more" cut, under the list.

A lot of what I'll mention here I already noticed after my first watch, but I hadn't written a post like this about my impressions after watching the movie, so I decided to put it all here.

Here it goes!

This movie NEEDED more Betelgeuse. I'm sorry, Michael, but you are kinda wrong. It's not like we need the movie to be all about Betelgeuse, but we needed at least five or ten more minutes with the ghost with the most.

The movie sprang to life whenever Delia was onscreen. The same can be said about Betelgeuse.

The chemistry between Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder was through the roof. All scenes between them were immaculate and precisely why we needed MORE Betelgeuse!

I didn't notice how slow the first half of the movie felt, until Betelgeuse shows up. The movie picks up the pace after the couples therapy scene.

Betelgeuse is crazy about Lydia, no doubt. Was he gonna try to kiss her when he said "come here" right before she yelled "home, home, home!"? I think he definitely was going to throw himself at her. Anyway, he had several chances to do that later and he didn't try anything, but he might have been more restrained not to scare her away again.

Betelgeuse always seems to be more careful around Lydia (about checking her out, touching her, etc). Is he shy about Lydia specifically? lol

We needed more interactions between these two, especially so Lydia could see Betelgeuse wasn't the scary demon she thought him to be. He's more of a self-serving, lovable a-hole with a perverted side, than an all out evil entity. (She still got to see he's not that bad through his actions in the movie, after he saves Astrid and goes above and beyond by also exposing Rory and sending Jeremy to hell lol, but we needed a little more conversation between the two. This would help Lydia process her trauma around Betelgeuse. (*I have a point about this particular thing below, under the cut). Also would have helped the audience see why Betelgeuse's motivation to marry Lydia had nothing to do with Delores and everything to do with how he feels about Lydia herself (he was already chasing Lydia before Delores came into the picture, and had been doing so for over 30 years, as he keeps her photo on his desk and hasn't moved it from there, as shown by the cobweb behind it. Betelgeuse is looking into that portrait literally every single day).

Delores could have been entirely removed from this movie and nothing would have changed. When she shows up and says "Betelgeuse is mine" she literally does nothing to Lydia, whose photo she had literally smashed minutes earlier. When faced with the real woman who she believes to be stealing her man, she doesn't attempt anything against her? That was weak writing.

Everything around Delores was weak writing, except for her backstory.

Lydia did not leave Winter River at the end of the movie. I think the bed she wakes up in after the nightmare is still in Winter River.

As a matter of fact, the nightmare/dream sequence starts when she's quitting her show. The music that denotes that this is a dream starts there. Lydia did not quit the show. She might later on (if there's a 3rd movie we'll know if she did quit), but by the end of this movie she did not quit. That was part of the dream.

Betelgeuse starts blowing up like a balloon before Lydia says his name three times. She's said it once and he started ballooning. So I confirm: he did this himself on purpose. This man is a drama king and this was his grand exit back into the afterlife. 😂

I had this strange vibe that Astrid was bullshitting when she said that by violating code 699 the marriage contract was null and void. The contract also burned when she mentioned it. If it was null and void by Betelgeuse's violation of the code, why is it that it only burned when Astrid mentioned it?

Betelgeuse was indeed in bed with Lydia at the end. Not only is she sleeping to one side of the bed, the pillow he was in was wrinkled like he'd been lying there, and we can also hear the echo of his laugh. This makes me believe that he's the one who put the dream in her mind. Maybe to get back at her for banishing him. (This is a headcanon though, but the fact stands: Betelgeuse was truly there).

Oh before I forget, Lydia did look sad/conflicted at the end after Betelgeuse blew up and vanished. We can't know exactly how she felt after her time with Betelgeuse in this movie because it ended before we had a moment with Lydia alone after everything was said and done. Her story doesn't wrap up, because after she says her goodbye to Delia, what we have with Lydia is the dream sequence. Then she wakes up next to Betelgeuse, and again, alone, but still we can hear Betelgeuse's laugh echoing in the room as Lydia looks half scared, half confused (her face is like "wtf??") as the final scene of the movie.

And now for the potentially unhinged fangirl takes and headcanons (mostly revolving around Betelgeuse and Lydia):

Lydia has always had unresolved feelings for/around Betelgeuse. These unresolved feelings, whatever they are, has not allowed Lydia's romantic relationships to progress. The movie presents these feelings as trauma, and I find that very interesting. Let's explore this one a bit:

Early in the movie when Lydia is talking to Astrid about death and Richard is mentioned, Lydia mentions that her relationship with Richard had ended long before he left and had his accident in the Amazon. Astrid also mentions later that his dad left after his relationship with her mom had ended (If I recall correctly, Astrid says it like "after they separated, my dad left").

Then, when Lydia is talking to Delia after she's seen the Betelgeuse ad that Astrid found in the attic, she starts talking to Delia about how she met Rory at a grief retreat dealing with the loss of Richard and some unresolved feelings. Notice how she said her relationship was over long before his death. Naturally she was grieving him, but what are these unresolved feelings about? Is there guilt involved due to... :

Later, when Lydia tells Rory about Betelgeuse, she goes about it this way: She reminds Rory about their couples therapist, and how he told her that until she faced this "thing" that she was holding back, her relationship with Rory was not going to evolve. This thing of course turns out to be Betelgeuse.

So this kinda confirms that Lydia has some unresolved feelings around Betelgeuse that are holding her romantic relationships back.

As I mentioned above, this is presented as trauma. Is it because of her experiences in the first movie? I don't think so for various reasons: She not only grew up surrounded by the love and care of the Maitlands, she also hasn't seen or heard Betelgeuse in years though she's felt his presence. She also appeared to be living happily at the end of the first movie. You can't present me a traumatized character in the sequel when you showed me this character to be completely fine at the end of the previous film. Lydia also mentions to Delia that her anxiety comes from seeing ghosts every day.

So her traumatic feelings about Betelgeuse stem from something inside her that she needs to face or she won't be able to move on. Keep in mind these are my interpretations and shouldn't be taken as fact! But I believe that Lydia's trauma stems from guilt about having feelings and attraction toward Betelgeuse (possibly since she was a teenager), someone who, in her own words, she is convinced is a "trickster demon".

She may have always been attracted to him, but she pushed it down ("held it back", using her own words). She probably worries that having these feelings makes her "wrong" in some form. That she is "dirty" or even "evil" herself. How can she feel an attraction to someone like Betelgeuse, who is not only scary-looking, but also did scary things to her family and once tried to force her to marry him? These are her conflicted thoughts.

Confronting these emotions is Lydia's true path to healing wholly, because she will be faced with her own darkness. And this is what she is vehemently avoiding by wanting Betelgeuse out of her life (whilst simultaneously wanting him in her life).

This is yet ANOTHER reason why we need a third film: Lydia needs to face her own feelings about Betelgeuse or else she will always be stuck in life. Her relationships will always fail because her heart belongs to someone else; to the one person (ghost) she refuses to give it to, not because of what she feels about him, but because of what having these feelings makes her feel about herself. Only facing this will Lydia be whole again.

That's interesting material for a third and final film, but again, just my headcanons and interpretations. These movies are mostly comedy, and so it's unlikely they will go into the deep stuff. But then again, this movie at times went surprisingly deep, despite being mostly bonkers comedy, so there is a chance they will explore deeper, darker themes in the final installment. Usually the final film in a series goes harder than the rest into the deeper and more nuanced themes.

[boy-comics]

Hello~ I saw your requests are open for a bit, so I wanted to ask for something fluffy and comforting with Ode? I'm not having the best of weeks, so anything cute and comforting would be fine by me, free range for you~ thanks in advance 💜

── .✦ a/n; hello @xhfics! i'm so sorry your week has been tough :( hopefully this can provide a little comfort; sending the best of wishes to you <3

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Okay, baby. I trust you."

You hum, cheek pressed against Seungmin's chest as you watch him thumb through the selection of morning selfies in his camera roll. His other hand rubs your shoulder idly, arm sandwiched between your pillow and your back, and as he selects the photo you had favored to post it, you let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," you assure, "you're just really comfortable. And I like you a lot."

Seungmin laughs. "Good. I like you a lot, too, baby," he replies, turning to brush his nose against your head. After he types out a sweet message to go along with the picture, he shows it to you for approval. "Think they'll like that?"

"You're such a boyfriend to your fans," you snort, patting his chest. "They'll love it. I know I do."

"Ah." You hear the smile in his voice broaden. "I'll text you the other ones later."

He finally posts the picture and accompanying message. Once they've loaded, he checks them one last time and then shuts his phone off, turning onto his side to face you. His fingertips kiss a spot underneath your eye and he shows you the single eyelash that he's picked off.

"So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

"Can we just do this? Rot in bed together?"

"If that's what you want."

"A little bit of rotting, then," you say, reaching up to comb through his colored hair. "Then cooking something good and watching a movie."

"Do we need to get ingredients?"

"I got everything for japchae."

"Okay. Japchae it is. Then a cool movie." He pecks your nose and presses his forehead to yours, sighing in the same way you had earlier.

Underneath the blankets crumpled in tissue paper-like formation, you idly nudge your foot against his, feeling the gentle push back. You close your eyes and smile. In the contented silence that follows, there lingers the simple fact that he is here, lying beside you, and that you wouldn't mind a thousand more years of this simple existence with him.

[kewpidity]

kewpie's slapdash tips and tricks for making moodboards

ive been asked a few times about how i make my moodboards and my MethodTM so here it is!

this is an image heavy post and as detailed and comprehensive as i can possible make it, if you have any questions let me know and i'll help if i can!

also, this is made with sites and apps for desktop- i have no experience editing on mobile so if that's what you're looking for im afraid i cant help you, sorry! ↷↷↷

Choose Your Fighter

let's get right into it- first thing first choose a character, or a ship or a series or whatever! i'll be doing a ship because it's a teeny bit more involved than just a single character or series

the ship will be grim x mandy from the one show

Picking Pictures

obviously the most important part of a moodboard is the Pictures

i use pinterest personally, and finding them on there is usually pretty easy, especially if i have an idea of things i want to include. a lot of people already have boards made up for characters as well, so just searching the character names under the 'board' option will usually get you where you need to go!

but i know some people prefer sources with free to use, royalty free type images, so i included those as well:

pixabay unsplash

you can have as many or as little as you'd like, but personally i prefer the classic 9x9 grid style moodboards, so im obviously gathering 9 photos

as for what pictures to choose, here are some things to ask yourself:

do you have a color scheme you associate with this character/ship? are there any themes that are relevant?

these are the pics i choose for my board- they're raw, unedited, and uncropped, which we'll be changing here in a bit

notice that ive chosen the color scheme of pink, black, and white because that suits them and is also the colors in their actual character palettes

ive also picked some things that feel relevant to the ship and its vibes- mandy is associated with daisies, so i got a picture with a girl with a daisy in her eye, which i also paired with a skull with a flower in its eye socket, bringing them together with a common theme. there are also little black shoes and a bloody knee for mandy, a psythe and what could work for cerberus for grim, and since their ship is kind of gruesome and mean spirited (affectionate) as well as the show having pulpy vibes, i got a heart shaped steak, a pulpy romance/horror cover, and an old horror movie card with their VibesTM

Formatting

now that we have our pictures, its time to figure out the formatting! i went ahead and already did that with the pictures above using a site ipiccy, specifically the 'collage' options

ipiccy

once you press 'collage', you'll open up to this menue, where im choosing the 9x9 grid, but as you can see there are other options there if you wanna use them! then you're gonna press 'add images'

then you add images here (mine are already loaded in):

afterwards, you play around with the placement of the images- its okay if they clip or dont properly fit in the box, this is Only figuring out where you want the pictures to go, we'll place them properly later in a different program

when im placing them i like to consider patterns and shapes- top left square is a 'mandy' square, so bottom right should be a 'grim square', as well as echo each other- in this case the flowers in the eyes thing, and so on, even down to the pointy little shoes and the pointy little sythe this part can be v subjective, so i encourage you to play around until it clicks for you

i hope my scribbles kinda help explain visually what i mean:

also as a small personal tip: when i make moodboards i want to capture the feeling of a character/ship/what have you Without just Saying it. because of that i lean more heavily on the pictures themselves and Only ever use One that has text on it. again this is subjective, but to me its a 'telling vs showing' thing and too many words makes the whole thing feel v cluttered with little room for the actual characters involved

once you're satisfied with your placement, take a screenshot to reference your placement, and then we move on to

PS/Photopea, Templates, Adjustments, and PSDs

this is where we get really into it

firstly, i know most people either dont have PS or are nervous about downloading a cracked version (def do not click this because it is def not a link to older ps files you can dl for free) but luckily there's an extremely comprehensive in-browser option that is totally free called Photopea, which can be found HERE

its basically a 1 to 1 rebuild of the real thing, and since its more accessible i'll be using that to finish up my board!

first, you'll wanna throw your template in there, here's the one im using

once you open it, you also need to open the pics you chose to use- i suggest doing this one at a time to not overcrowd the program

once the pic is open, copy it and paste it over onto the moodboard, and then right click the layer and set it to 'clipping mask' which will keep the pic within the bounds of just the template:

then go over the toolbar on the right, press the 'rectangle select', then right click the board and select 'free transform' to move the picture around freely:

now is where you look at the screenshot you took of the ipiccy placement, and then you simply move the picture in the proper place in the moodboard! you might need to select and cut off the part that doesnt fit neatly into the square

continue doing this until you have it all filled out, and take some time to properly fit the pics (for example, the pic with the text needed to be (to does this is photopea drag around the corners while in 'free transform, and if you dont want it to scale at the same dimensions press 'shift' on the keyboard while you drag, which is what i had to do with the text or the flower-in-the-skull to make it fit properly))

its important that All your layers are properly set to clipping mask, otherwise it'll be all messed up! so it should look like like this when you're done, and hopefully everything will be layered on the board properly, and we end up with this:

you could stop here and be done with it, the entire moodboard can be finished now, but i like to tweak things like contrast and value and levels, which are found here in the 'image' section at the top- ive been as tutorial-esque as i can be so far, but this one really comes down to playing around with it and making adjustments until you like the outcome (each layer can be changed individually)

i try to make it so everything feels even- the blacks match and the whites match and none of them feel particularly lighter or darker or more saturated than the others

so we go from this:

to this (if you cant tell the difference i didnt do it well ljksdf, its helped further along and made more obvious by the next step) :

and Finally the secret sauce: PSDs!

these are premade colors/effects that you drop on top of board to help even things out, maybe make some colors Pop

there are a Ton of them free to use on tumblr and deviantart, and Here is a tutorial on how to use them! (its done on mobile but works functionally the same as on desktop)

feel free to make adjustments to the photos more under the psd until it looks right to you

once ive selected and used the psd i wanted, i export it as a png, and this is the result!

i hope this is helpful and not Too confusing, if anybody has any questions let me know and i'll try to help!

[thejessc0de]

Do you have any tips for someone who is trying a more realistic aproach for their art style? your painting and lighting are so good that I had to ask 🤠

Thank you!

So this question is actually pretty hard to answer, mostly because I still consider myself a beginner/hobbyist, and I'm pretty sure a lot of my technique comes from the ~5 years of classical art training I received in middle school and high school, and that's so fuzzy I can't tell what's intuition or muscle memory! I can go over some of my workflow/thoughts though and hopefully some of it is useful!

The first thing is that for realism, You. Need. References. It is impossible to replicate the level of detail in a realistic painting without a reference. I usually pick a reference, try to draw that reference exactly, and once I have the proportions correct, I'll change it to match the character/scene I'm drawing (move an arm, tilt the head, add a hand, make the eyes bigger, add anime hair etc. haha). Over time you'll get more comfortable moving away from a specific reference and piecing together a bunch of references into something more unique.

Here is an example of a recent post that was fairly simple. I take the reference image (link to reference here) and try to match it, and then I change it to match the character details, in this case, Kashimo.

As for the lighting, when I first started, my colors were a mess! I already know basic color theory which helps, but it didn't help enough haha. What I think helped me learn the quickest was color picking - in krita you can select a color directly from an imported reference figure. So I'd find a reference that I really liked the lighting on, and color picked from it while paying attention to the actual color I was grabbing (how warm it was, gray it was, what the typical skin tones were, etc).

Later on as I started to learn what types of color palettes I really liked working with, I'd open the reference photo in Krita and tweak the image's contrast and sometimes completely change the lighting and colors. However, at some point I started using it as a crutch and my skills stagnated, so you need to be careful! However, now I've progressed to the point of doing a painting in black and white and adding the colors later (with no color picking!), sometimes even without a reference for the color. This was a slow and painful process, so don't expect things to make sense overnight!

Also, don't forget that you don't have to make the colors perfect in one shot. Usually I'll color things using a color layer with minimal detail and basic color tone (Itadori's hair is soft pink, his hoodie is bright red, etc), and then create shadows and lighting with multiply and overlay layers (blues and purples for night, etc.). Eventually I'll build up the color and merge all the layers together, and then add details in full color. I can color pick from other parts of the painting to maintain consistency. Then to finish things off, I almost always tweak the colors and contrast using filter layers.

Here is an example from that same Kashimo painting, going from black and white to full colors using color, multiply, and overlay layers, and then ending with full color details.

As a side note, starting out in black and white can make things so much easier. When you're only worried about values, you can really focus on shadow depth and the shapes of things. It's so much easier to explore rendering when you're not trying to do color on top of everything! Don't try to do everything at once.

The rendering style I use is based heavily on trying to replicate the feeling of actual oil painting. I use the (free!) art program Krita, and my favorite, most used brush is from a free pack I downloaded from deviant art (here). I use the brush called R T Masked4 (shown below) for basically 90% of any painting I do. I use about 4 brushes total on a typical painting (R T Masked4, that same brush but tweaked to be narrower for hair details, a smudge brush that I discovered maybe 10 days ago that I'm now obsessed with, and sometimes a scratchy brush for additional texture).

One last thing - don't be afraid to use tracing! Block in a reference photo to get the head and shoulders in the right place!! Trace a few hands to see how it feels!!! Obviously don't trace somebody's art and present it as your own, and it should only be rough approximations of shapes so you learn how to break down the body into parts. Otherwise, it won't be helpful at all. I only use photographs for tracing, including pictures I've taken of myself. One of the more helpful things I'll do is free hand my drawing and try to make it match the reference as closely as possible. Then, on a separate layer, I'll trace the reference photo (again, no details, just general positioning/shapes), and compare it to my original drawing. I can immediately see the issues, and I'll use the liquify tool to get things in the right place. I've learned that my horizontal spacing is usually pretty good, but I struggle with vertical spacing, especially on faces. So now I triple check my work for those specific things!

This kinda turned into a book, I'm sorry! I hope some of this is helpful and doesn't sound like the 10:30pm ramblings of someone who didn't get enough sleep haha.

[hopeymchope]

I've finished playing through Another Code Recollection!

You can see my thoughts on the "Two Memories" part in this first post on the topic. But now we've got to talk about how they handled "A Journey into Lost Memories."

A lot of North American players probably never experienced the Wii original. But as big lover of CING's games, I soft-modded my Wii and imported the European release of "Another Code R." And I loved the CRAP out of it. They really took the innovative puzzles of the DS original and took them to a new level with the Wii Remote.

So. How does the "Recollection" version of ACR fare by comparison?

As I expected after playing through Two Memories, the new puzzles in the "Recollection" version of ACR are a lot simpler than the original. These are more typical to what you find in adventure games and less, shall we say, experimental. There's not nearly as much effort put into using the Switch's unique form/functionality in unexpected ways, but I still had fun solving them. I even got momentarily stymied by two of them this time! The "Two Memories" remake only ONCE had me stuck like this, so I really think they gave "A Journey into Lost Memories" a bit of escalated challenge, and I appreciate it!

Similar to how they removed the bad ending from "Two Memories," they took out some of the possible branches/decisions in ACR for this remake. You no longer have any means by which to identify/describe your lost bag to Dan, ultimately affecting whether you get it back later in the game; the path to retrieving your bag is now different and linear. The subplot where Ashley is briefly accused of robbing the guesthouse also only has ONE solution now. In the original ACR, if you were clever enough to snap a picture of Matthew in the back room while peeking through the blinds, you could actually bypass the entire "prove your innocence" semi-puzzle by just showing that photo to Tommy. But you can't pull out your camera during that part of the story in the remake, so you have to deal with the puzzle no matter what.

3. I positively love the redesign of Janet??? What a glow-up! They added some much-needed diversity into this one with her and Ranger Dan's new look, too. You can tell that both Janet and Dan are now people of some color.

4. The biggest shock is just how much Recollection changed the story of ACR. This is most notably present in how everything wraps up and comes together at the end. Matthew's storyline is NOT left hanging for a future game to pick up this time... he gets closure, though I admit the actual "solution" to his mystery doesn't quite add up and feels a little half-assed. But I understand that the devs had their hands tied a bit here... how do you end his storyline when you don't have a whole other game to expound upon the answers and you ALSO don't want to spend a ton of time destracting further from Ashley's own plotline? It's a tough situation.

5. The biggest change is undoubtedly Ryan Gray. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that Ryan's entire backstory is now different and MUCH more sci-fi in nature. It gets pretty wild! It does at least tie into the resolution to Matthew's storyline, although he also loses some of what made his ending so satisfying in the process. But in fairness, he also GAINS something: Ryan becomes more a sympathetic presence and far less of an emotionally detached person in this version of the story. However, unlike in the original ACR, Ryan no longer leads us to learning the ultimate mastermind behind all the tragedy in the series. Which is... a hell of a choice to make, because now it's kept very VAGUE who the actual mastermind was. I'm not sure if the game actually says who it is (one person is clearly implied to be responsible, but... ) or just leaves it vague for a possible future installment. But shit, if you were gonna do that why not just leave Matthew's storyline the same at that point... ?

6. There are other small changes throughout, of course. Most of them have no real impact on the storytelling to me, but personally, I really missed the scene where Ashley talks to Matthew about D from the first game after Matthew first witnesses a ghost. It's a great moment I wish they'd kept. Also, a funny change is that the characer of Sam Hillman - who never really did jack shit in the original game - is just straight-up removed now. Janet gets a slightly expanded role that lets her step into Sam's position instead. Sorry/not sorry, Sam. LOL.

7. It is once again impossible to overstate the value of the enhanced presentation. The voice cast does an absolutely amazing job throughout, and the more detailed facial animations give Ashley so much more SASS than she ever had before. I fucking LOVE it.

8. The ending credits had me literally choking up... just like the end credits of the original ACR did, but in a totally different way. The montage of beautiful artwork and that pencil-style animation of Ashley feeling hopeful and full of joy is just... SO beautiful. Seeing Ashley in her original outfit from ACR! Seeing Matthew with his dad! Seeing Charlotte's extended family! KYLE FUCKING HYDE cameo appearance! (So glad to see MORE confirmation of the shared CING universe.) That ENDING SONG - so beautiful and touching!!! LOOOOOOVE.

9. Ultimately, if you asked me "Is it better to play the original Trace Memory/Another Code games or just play Recollection?" I'd say "Yes." I can't honestly decide if I love this revision or the originals more, so just PLAY ASHLEY'S GAMES. The story is better presented and the dialogue is better-written here, but I prefer the puzzles and small branches/choices in the originals. But either way: They're beautiful, satisfying stories that, even when they're sometimes predictable, are still thoroughly worth experiencing and full of delightful characters and touching resolutions. I want more people to love these characters as much I do. JUST PLEASE PLAY.

10. #AshforSmash6 :D

[corvus--rex]

bodyguard au, trans omega Keith/alpha Lance

I started this and it got away from me, so this is the original unedited twt thread. whenI have the spoons again I'll finish and post the second part to twt first and then here and then the rest (along with the expanded parts 1&2 will be posted to ao3.

Also, there is a description of a nsfm image so...

Keith needed a bodyguard. The vocalist/guitarist of Marmora had a stalker and it had reached a point he couldn't ignore, not when he'd been sent pictures of himself in his own home - pictures taken at different times of the day, doing anything and nothing.

Given that he was both trans and an omega, he'd dealt with shitty fans before, but this was terrifying. it had started over social media, unsettling comments on the band's posts that shifted to Keith's public accounts. For every account that was blocked, another took its place, and the comments continued.

But that morning he'd found the manila envelope on his doorstep, well inside the safety of his security system. He almost threw the envelope in the fireplace, not wanting to know what was in it, but curiosity got the better of him. Over a dozen blown up photos, all in black and white, taken from a different place each time.

There was one of him rolling around in the backyard with his huge husky mix Kosmo, one of him sprawled across his sofa late at night, the glow of the tv lighting his face, sitting at the huge kitchen island, coffee in one hand and his phone in the other, one from his bedroom, fresh from a shower with nothing but a towel loosely wrapped around his hips, several others he only glanced at.

After the post-shower picture, they increased in intimacy until the last in the pile, another from his bedroom, naked, back arched and head thrown back as he came, his favorite knotting toy in clear view stretching his soaked pussy.

Keith stared at it, knowing exactly when that was taken. It was the night his last heat had started, his nest only half made before the first wave hit. He pushed the photo away, dislodging a single sheet of printer paper and sending it to the floor. He picked it up, dropping it to the island's surface when he saw what was on it.

Beautiful. You'll look even more exquisite screaming my name. Soon, darling. I'll have you very soon.

Minutes later, Keith was pulling out of his driveway, nearly crashing into his own gate in his desperation to get away from his own house. Kosmo whined in the backseat, but Keith was too afraid to leave him there alone or be without him. He hadn't managed to put the photos or message back into the envelope, and the image of him with Kosmo stared at him from the passenger seat. He forced himself to focus on the road, not looking away until he reached his manager's office building.

Once inside, he walked past Kolivan's admin and straight into his office, not caring who could be in there. Fortunately, his manager was alone, a spreadsheet of Marmora's upcoming tour and appearances on his monitor. Keith threw the stack of photos, emtpy folder, and typed message on Kolivan's pristine desk. He didn't realize he was shaking until Kosmo pulled on his sleeve, dragging him to the sofa.

"What's this?" Kolivan asked, but stopped when he looked through the first few pictures.

Keith had kept them in the same order they'd been in, note included, and said without looking up from Kosmo's head on his lap, "Keep going."

Kolivan handled each photograph carefully, taking in each image until he got to the last one. "Your bed doesn't face the windows and the curtains are drawn. How was this taken?"

Keith buried his fingers in the thick fur of Kosmo's neck. "I don't know. You-you don't think they've gotten inside do you? Set up cameras I don't know about?"

"I certainly hope not, but we can find out. Let me make a few calls." He picked up his phone, turning back to Keith once he'd found the contact he wa looking for. "I know a good private investigator. But with everything and then this," he gestured at the pile of photos and that note he'd stayed silent on, although Keith saw the rage in his hazel eyes, "I'm getting you a bodyguard, no arguments."

"Won't get any from me on that."

TBC…

-

divider/warning banner credit @cafekitsune

[nogenderbee]

HI! can I req shizuku, akito and tsukasu x reader when their sibling caught kissing them?

HAVE A GOOD DAY<3

Awww that's so cute idea! I wasn't sure if you meant readers sibling catching them or char sibling catching them so I just did character siblings, hope it's alright! And feel free to ask for different version if that's not what you meant ^^

Anyway I hope you enjoy <3

Getting caught by their sibling with Shizuku, Akito and Tsukasa

Tag List: @qwnelisa - come get your Shizuku~

You had classic date at your partner's house and the two of you just wanted to share a little kiss together but unexpectedly their sibling came in...

⊱ movie dates weren't anything new for Shizuku or you, unfortunately you couldn't spend that much time with her sister because she didn't wanted to be around her older sister often

⊱ the fact that your girlfriends younger sister didn't spend time with you was nice because you usually had your lovey dovey moments, but also was sad because you didn't wanted to have bad relationship with her family

⊱ tonight was one of those days when you're just watching some romance movie while being cuddled into each other, and something just made you want to kiss her so you did! After all why should you stop? But unexpectedly her sister showed up

"Hey Shizuku, I remember I borrowed you my brush- nevermind. I'll come later."

"Oh, no, wait Shiho! It's on my desktop. I'll-"

"No need. I don't need it immediately either way."

⊱ to your surprise Shizuku acted like it's normal and was unaffected meanwhile her sister immediately picked up on romantic mood and gave you your moment that you truly appreciated

⊱ your girlfriend didn't thought much of this situation and just got back to giving you kiss she didn't ended

⊱ Akito loved having a sleepovers with you, especially the fact that you always were so cuddled into each others and just were rambling sweet nothings

⊱ you actually had good relationship with Ena since she gave really good place recommendations and once you even posed for her painting that she didn't ended because of Akito...

⊱ tonight was one of those times when you were cuddles into each other at early night and just gave each other sweet kisses on cheeks and forehead just to end it with passionate kiss on lips but when you started, his sister rushed into his room

"Akito!!! Where the heck did you put my jewelery?! I need it RIGHT NOW!! I'm already late..."

"Get out of my room!"

"After you give me my jewelery back! You better not be the reason I'm late to school!!"

⊱ if not the fact that you were there he would still argue with her but he wanted to go back to kissing you

⊱ so after he FINALLY got Ena out of his room, he continues kissing you which was more demanding than before

⊱ Tsukasa adored inviting you to his house at karaoke dates and he had great fun with you! Sometimes he even started dancing and you maybe even catched up to his thoughts and matched perfectly!

⊱ you had really good realtionship with his sister, she just was so supportive for you two, and you saw her as a good friend and so she did saw you! So it was pretty often when Saki joined you on karaoke dates and you had fun in three! (even if she was third-wheeling, she still had a lot of fun, believe me!)

⊱ today tho you and Tsukasa were alone because his parents had something to do and his sister was hanging out with her group and you had your karaoke date, and after singing (and maybe dancing too) great song you two just had to share a sweet kiss. And none of you expected his sister to come back early

"Hey! I hope I'm not interrupting but can I- ohhh nevermind~ you be cute together!"

"S-Saki?! Thank you...! I think..."

⊱ surprisingly his sister was quick to leave, maybe she even took a sneaky photo of how cute you two were togetether, although she won't post it anywhere. If anything she'll just send them to you two

⊱ but Tsukasa on the other hand was extremely red and just stared at the door for a little while still hodling you processing what he should do. And later on he decided to just give up with that kiss since now he's too much of a mess to initiate it either way, so if you want to go back to that kiss you have to initiate it yourself

❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉

[crehador]

package day! it's nuis nuis and more nuis this time (plus misc but all smic)

first the asanuma cover issue of seiyuu animedia aka the only thing i was originally going to buy lol

it's a lot bigger than i thought it would be and the pages are all thick like a proper photobook, asnm's warumono-san photoshoot is fucking glorious in its entirety and there are soma and shoutan spreads in here too (which is written on the cover but i was too asnm-focused to even notice until i flipped through)

got two copies to potentially cut one up for poster-making but... idk if i can bring myself to do that, might just keep a spare lmao

OK SO NOW THE NUIS. ALL THE NUIS

the family grows!! and by like a lot lmao

ew02 nuis have finally been obtained, and yes i got the new ones that i said were ugly (it was like an affectionate sort of ugly!)

i still need to get clothes for the 15cm fanmade ones, they're absurdly adorable (more stiff than i imagined, in a good way) but completely naked. so photo gets cropped here for now lol. did pick them up a... familiar-looking jacket they can share in the meantime though

ichiro cosplay jumpscare! not for wearing, will see if i can somehow incorporate it into a nui house/nest area

(just to be fair to the two blorbos i picked up a set of samatoki cosplay bracelets too lol)

anyway. most of the nuis are new but the orig design ichinui and samanui are dupes because......

these new ones have bones! and beef. with the original originals. but. surely they'll start to get along soon......

i thought a lot about getting just the bones and doing the surgery myself but honestly i don't have the heart to cut them open. or the skill lmao. so luckily managed to find a listing for bone-in ones

grabbed a bunch of clothes for them too

and love them, holy shit they fit so well. if i can find this shop again i might buy more next time

(they're too cute for me to change their clothes now... will get around to letting them try on the other outfits later)

last but abso-fucking-lutely not least FOOD CRIMES GEORG HAS BEEN PROCURED

been on the hunt for these stands since the designs first came out tbh, candyapplegate will never die. to me. ichiro what is the matter with you

(the stands are TINY but i love them to bits)

so yeag the "just two magazines" order became very much. not that lmao. there's also a postcard that deserves its own post so i'll get to that once i clean everything up

think i finally have enough nuis now <- guy who has 2 more on preorder for this month lmao

[vaimetanyx]

Part three - refusal of the call

Because, and I can't stress this enough, there is no way these greaves can be worn without stabbing your own feet when you move, let alone dash. So here's my non-foot destroying version!

(Full process under the cut)

[Skull pauldron] [Belt] [Greaves] [Toga + sash] [Wig + Laurels] [Armbands] [Flaming feet] [Satyr Sack] [Stygius v1] [Stygius v2] [Nectar]

To start off with, more pattern making!

(And remember, if you don't want to suffer needlessly, make your back closure straight. Don't be like me)

Once you have you have your pattern (WITH A STRAIGHT BACK SEAM) then it's time to cut it out of foam, contact cement it together, and heat shape. This was my first time making any sort of fitted armour so I tried them on and held them closed with masking tape. Terrible Hozier socks are courtesy of @afternoon-softea

Next up, skulls! As per my previous posts, I cut out the pattern, contact cemented the pieces together, dremelled the edges and added depth + tidied things up with foam clay.

Now I made a hero's journey joke about refusal of the call at the start of this post but genuinely I had so much trouble with these bevels/ridges/whatever, and even the finished product still looks super rough if you focus. I was so mad and focused while doing them I don't even have progress pictures, but here's the end look with an unflattering closeup on the bevels.

But they ended up getting done, which meant time to heat seal and plastidip! The original paint I was going to use for them turned out to look absolutely terrible, so I had to do a late night Bunnings trip to get an actual nice metallic grey. I then did some shadows around the skull and painted the eyes black, and proceeded to forget to take photos of any of that.

Painting! late night bunnings trip to get a decent one bc the spray paint you originally picked was terrible! Black in the eyes, a little bit of dry brushed highlights and shading and that part's done! Forget to take photos again!

For the closure, I knew I didn't want to have an obvious zip so I could match the art more accurately, so I thought 'hey, I'll just super strong velcro!'

...

If your closure. Isn't even. You will have so much trouble keeping it closed properly. No matter what you use. Version 1, which I wore to my first convention in this cosplay, had an internal velcro closure and some on the edges to try and get it to sit evenly at the seam. it sort of worked. I also did this before painting and then had to redo the edge velcro since the velcro got clogged up with plastidip and paint.

I later went to modify this and still use velcro! It didn't work! so I decided fuck this all, and made it lace up using spare hook and eye closures I had lying around, held together and shaped with a LOT of hot glue.

I was originally going to use some black string I had, but it couldn't handle the tension needed to keep it closed flush, so I changed to fishing line. I also added some more highlighting and shadows on the skull part

The tension did rip off a few of my tiny hook and eye closures during the con, and I had to cut myself out of them at the end of the day, but they did end up sitting much better (and no annoying velcro sounds if I moved too much and put pressure on the closure). I kinda want to remake them now knowing what I do about making cosplay armor, but who knows when I'll have time to do that. They're good enough for now, especially considering the amount I walk into things on a daily basis.

[bunbeeplays]

The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 77 - It's Official!

Engagement photo shoot time!

After taking some engagement photos to post to Simstagram later, Ophelia and Xander head over to the Pappas Manor to tell Xander's family the good news. Xander's not used to having to knock on his former home's door but luckily everyone is home.

Ophelia barely says hello before she blurts out the news.

Hilary: I'm so happy for you two! This is brand new information!

Ophelia knows Hilary knew because she helped pick out the ring but she's too excited to care. She wants to announce her engagement to everyone!

Lots of hugs are in order!

Greta: Congrats, Uncle Xan. I can't believe YOU of all people are getting married to a celeb.

Xander: I can hardly believe it either. Guess I must have been doing something right!

Jace: Does this mean you're my aunt now?

Ophelia: I guess it does!

Jace: Congratulations, Aunt Ophelia!

She considers Travis and Becca's son her nephew, but she's going to have, like, a legal nephew and niece now. She couldn't ask for better kiddos to be an aunt to!

Ophelia: Now that you're my nephew, I have a very important job for you. We need a ring bearer for the wedding. Think you're up to it?

Jace: Sure am! Just don't get mad if I steal the show with my boyish charm.

Ophelia: I'll do my best.

Xander: I know you're probably too cool to say yes, but we need a Flower Pal-

For once, Greta doesn't do the aloof "or, like, whatever" act.

Greta: OMW of course! Can I use the flowers I've been growing on the balcony?

Xander: Of course, kiddo. Come here.

One more important question needs to be asked.

Xander: Ignoring He Who Must Not Be Named, you're part of the reason Ophelia and I met. We know it's a lot to ask, but we were hoping you would be our officiant. We couldn't think of a better person to help us tie the knot.

Hilary: I would be absolutely honored.

Hilary can't contain her excitement and lets out a squeal of joy as her hugs her little brother… and her future sister-in-law! Things have been difficult since the divorce, but this is just the good news she needed.

[nancypullen]

A Day Off

Hallelujah! What a perfect day. I worked until six o'clock on Wednesday and practically danced out of the library. I have been rotating between the information desk and the circulation desk and the good citizens of this county have worn me out. The last several days have been a bit wonky. There were ten thousand calls asking if we have free eclipse glasses -we didn't, but could direct you to a place that does and/or provide instructions for making your own viewer out of a cereal box and aluminum foil. There was an event giving away free laptops to qualifying residents that was like the last flight out of Saigon. In the words of an unflappable coworker, "There was chaos in every corner of the building." Don't even get me started about Mercury being in retrograde. Like I said, wonky. Saturday was actually quite nice because it was opening day for Little League and there was a parade down Market Street with plenty of cute kids. When I arrived home on Saturday the Edgewater gang showed up and we celebrated Mr. Pullen's birthday. Jamie and I convinced the fellas to accompany us to a greenhouse to hunt for some plants, a greenhouse that the grandgirl said was "in the middle of nowhere". She wasn't wrong. We came home with lots of lovelies for the gardens, a successful trip! This is my favorite picture snapped over the weekend. Tyler and Jamie in a chess battle on the front porch. Never say it's not exciting around here.

I was back to work on Monday (eclipse day) for three busy days, and now I'm free! We delayed our trip to Lancaster for a day to let the bad weather blow through, so we'll leave in the morning, stay over Friday night, and come home later on Saturday. I'm anticipating some fun. Speaking of fun, here's another photo I loved. I'm pretty sure that I'm allowed to post this because she's masked. No one could ever identify her from this photo (and I've been good for six years). I'll delete if they ask. Anyway, this is our little miss on Monday. Isn't it cute pic?

Fast forward to today and I've shed all of the work nonsense and I'm feeling quite content. I spent the entire morning weeding and preparing flower beds, then planting some of the pretties that I picked up at Ball Greenhouses last week. I know I'm early, but these are hardy girls. If Mother Nature turns fickle I'll just be the crazy lady running around tossing sheets over gardens. Wouldn't be the first time. It's a small price to pay for the happiness of today. Working the dirt and dreaming of the blooms to come was good for my soul. I needed this day. Another little something that has recently delighted me is this stuff.

Because I'm at work for nine hours, I have recently become addicted to sugary, fattening, fancy coffee drinks. I'd zip through Starbucks on my lunch break and pick up an iced caramel macchiato , then I started buying the bottles at the grocery store and filling my big sippy cup (that I normally use for water) in the mornings. I was adding way too many calories to my day. So, I searched for a healthier replacement drink that would still give me the boost - and I found it! I'm not on Atkins or Keto or any of those diets, but I definitely appreciate the low sugar/carb count. This protein shake has the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, with added protein and fiber. It's a win! I can have this for breakfast and feel no guilt. Getcha' some! This post is sort of all over the place, sorry about that. I don't have a lot to say and I didn't sit down with a plan. I just opened my laptop and wanted to say hi. I do miss having more time to spend being silly here. The older I get the less I care about being silly. Look at these cool sunglasses I bought in a little shop in Chestertown. Silly for a woman my age? Yes. Do I care? Absolutely not.

I just notice that my name tag for work is all jacked up by my seatbelt. Hope I straightened that out once I got there, but I don't remember doing it. Oops. Several of you have asked about whether or not I'm enjoying my job. It's complicated. I've mentioned my lovely coworkers, I've mentioned that I'm having fun doing the displays, there are plenty of positives. I'm trying to focus on what I have gained and not what I have lost. I do miss having time for hobbies, doing more than work, eat, sleep, repeat. Of course, as I type this I'm looking ahead to three days off - wonderful! The 16th will mark three months in my position, so I do feel I've given it a fair shake...and I just don't know. I'm really pouring a lot of energy, creativity, and effort into this job and I do feel that it's appreciated. They are very nice to me and pay me adequately. I'm just undecided if it's a fair trade for my freedom. I mostly talk about the fun parts, the nice parts, but there are also the not-so-fun parts. A surprising number of books are returned with bed bugs. We have two large "stink boxes" that are usually full of books returned that reek of everything from cigarette smoke, pot, or just general funk. They sit in there with charcoal rocks until they're bearable. Lots of people are rude, really rude. I got used to that when I was in the airline industry, but it doesn't make it any more pleasant. I could go on, couldn't we all? No job is ever perfect, and in the past I tolerated the unpleasant aspects because I had no choice. I don't have to do that anymore. I've been asked to take on some summer programming work - fun activities with kids, outreach booths at festivals, that sort of thing. I'm looking forward to that, and it's been a while since I've had things to look forward to. Well, that's not true. I've had loads of fun family stuff that happened and even a trip to Ireland in the last year, but as far as having something that gives me a chance to actually use my brain and any meager talents I have - this is the first chance since we left Tennessee. I just wish it wasn't so exhausting. Is that just me being sixty? It's kind of funny that I'm twenty to thirty years older than nearly everyone I work with, but they're all so tired. I don't want to scare them about getting older, but I feel like I should drop hints like, "I hope you like ibuprofen..." or "Enjoy those cute shoes while you can..." Honestly, I work circles around most of them, and I shouldn't. Where is their energy? I have to admit that when I'm shelving, and for some reason all of our shelves have books at floor level (why??), it is not fun getting up and down. I actually love shelving because the more books I touch the more familiar I am with the collection, but that bottom shelf will be the death of me. I snapped this picture last week when I was processing books. Some were going out to other libraries, some had been requested locally and were going on our hold shelf, some were being checked in and returned to our shelves.

That back wall is my work area. To the left you can see some of the 50+ craft bags that I assembled to go home with our little visitors. I love those. They have all of the supplies and instructions needed to complete a small craft. To the right of the craft bags are a couple of shelves of books pulled for mending or labeling. Under the desk are the infamous stink boxes. I wish they'd let me decorate this work room. It needs color and art. It should be pretty. Pretty isn't very important around here. That's definitely something I miss about the south. I put a little bit of the south into one of my small displays. We have a good collection of cookbooks here, so I grabbed a tablecloth and sign from our house, and voila!

This hardly counts as a display - just two pieces of decor and some books, but it's working - people are checking out cookbooks! I swap them out every couple of days to keep it interesting. Here's another little bit of nothing - just pillow stuffing glued to cardstock for clouds, the raindrops are cardstock and string. Rainy Day Reads!

See what I mean? None of it is great (I have no budget!) but it's the fun part. So much of the rest is exhausting. They're advertising for a couple of new positions, so maybe if they find the right people I could work fewer hours. If that were the case I could do this for a long time. I'm already cooking up some fun ideas for May. I have my book lists ready and one display will definitely be "Once Upon a Crime..." complete with crime scene tape and a chalk body outline on the floor (actually white painters tape). I may do a Sci-Fi display with an alien saying, "Take me to your reader." We have a huge biography section though, so I probably should use those instead. I could make a giant name tag, like the ol' "Hello, my name is______" that we've all had to wear at some point. I could put up a sign that says Meet someone new, try a biography and put out a variety of interesting people - founding fathers to modern musicians, CoCo Chanel to Sally Ride. Anywho, just letting those ideas rattle around in my brain. I'll figure it out. Wow, I've rambled far too long and it's all disjointed and kooky. I guess I was overdue for a visit here. I'm happy today because I'm home. I hope that you're happy too, or at least on your way to being happy. I suppose we all have to figure out what that means for us, and where it is for us. I know it's not on that damn bottom shelf at the library.

The mister is turning off lights and heading for bed, so I guess that's my cue. We'll run off to Lancaster in the morning so I'll be back on Sunday to share a bit of that with you. It may be nothing but Amish buggies in the rain, but I have a feeling we'll find some fun. If you've made it all the way to the end of this snoozefest of a post, give yourself a cookie. You deserve it. Consider yourself hugged. Stay tuned for the Griswolds' adventures in Pennsylvania Dutch country! Until then, stay safe, stay well, and know how very much I've missed you. XOXO, Nancy

[xxxnightcorequeenxxxv3]

Roasting Tim And Jay's turn

Jenifer looks at the timed bettering war she set up. "Well, it looks like we have a betting war going on. I'll update you on that once the timer runs out." "Now, on to the RR roast." image here -> https://www.tumblr.com/xxxnightcorequeenxxxv3/741433780004323328/posted-this-to-the-wrong-blog-ops-im-not-writing?source=share "Looks like only a few of you said anything; well, I'll just have to point out the ones I think are funny." "for nr 1; Why brown? it's like S#/ brown of all colors? The costume does not vibe with the rest of the team; it sticks out like a sore thumb. Nr 2; yeah, beak nose, how flattering, not. Nr, 3; ohh, look, we got show girls feathers and staps for days, kinky. Nr 4; this is the worst one; it's like trying to dress edgy and failing so badly. Who let this child dress himself? Nr 5; Common guys, we are all thinking it condom head. The only reason it doesn't look bad on Batman is cuz it has ears. Not to mention, it ages RR by 30ish years. I love you. All these rosts are hilarious. I hope to see more engagement from the comment section next time, though. Don't leave me hanging." (You are encouraged to role-play in the comment section) Anyway, next on the Chopping Block is Red Hood. Here are the customs I got for sale. Remember Rost them.

And I know; thanks for the encouragement on my RR design. I'll send Some of my RH, too. Remember, it's not for sale or rost, though.

"And it looks like the results are in; looks like it's a tie between the two of you. Hang on, folks. I'll have to DM and see how we solve this." A bunch of clicking and clacking can be heard in the stream. "it seems like we have come to an agreement, folks. I have about two weeks to make a cast of my RRs, and take photos, and I'll be shipping one set of figures to Metropolis of all things, guess someone these is a biger fan of Gotham heroes over Superman, and one will be pick up by Myninjas, some sort of carries sever I've never heard of I'll update you on that later." past poll -> https://www.tumblr.com/xxxnightcorequeenxxxv3/741519887377350656/who-should-buy-the-tim-figurines?source=share Bonus; Image.

[gardengobbo]

When I'd gone around the gardens with my mom to figure out what was weeds and what were plants that were supposed to be there, I noticed that the raspberries at the back had a lot of dead chunks around them, so that was my next task.

Though the whole reason I noticed it was because I was asking for a hand marking the weeds with spray paint so I could pull them for mom, but shh. My brain says prune raspberries and if I wanna keep enjoying this shit I do what my brain says it wants.

I neglected to take photos beforehand, but trust me, they look much better.

This was the 15th of May, and the day I learned spending 3 days straight hunched over in the garden for 6+ hours at a time was not something my back was keen on. And also the day I agreed to do line dancing with my mom on Wednesdays with no previous experience. That's only relevant because my legs were already not happy and adding in my disgruntled attempts at following steps I have no knowledge of made my body scream in protest. To be fair the following week I did surprisingly a lot better.

I actually had to force myself to just chill for a couple days to recover. I've not been very active in the last while, so going from 0 to 100 in 3 days was probs not a good idea. My legs are still sore in some spots like 10 days later.

So let's jump ahead once again, and now were looking at the plants progress as of the 21st of May! I'd mentioned in one of the other posts that I'd had some mint under my lamp inside, and that was just temporary. As I was cleaning up the back of the garden by the raspberries I did find some mint. My mom made it sound like there was tons of it, so I was imagining catnip amounts. There was only 3 plants. But there was a frost advisory overnight and I'd just moved them from one spot to another and didn't think they'd survive the frost. So I'd dug em up, slapped em in a pot, and brought em inside.

I did replant it into the garden with my catnip, so it's outside as of now. Chilling in the weird spot between two patches of catnip with my stargazer lily, the pink hyacinths, and the sad cactus.

But! The growth in the apples is going so well! I'm thinking I need to move them to their own pots very soon, I just lack the additional space to have 6 pots on the shelf as well as the two cala lilies and Lavender seed tray.

We've also got a leaf and two little bits poking out of the purple cala lily, and more length but still only one sprouted Lavender seed.

I was becoming a bit concerned for the yellow cala lily, so I took a chance and carefully dug it up out of the pot. Turns out I just buried it deeper in the dirt, and it's well on its way to poking out too! The day I replanted the mint was also the day I shuffled the yellow cala lily bulb up in the dirt a bit, and also picked a few lily of the valley for a small vase in my kitchen area.

I love lily of the valley. It's so dainty and simple yet so fragrent. It smells lovely out there now.

Thats all for now!

I feel like I need a catchy sign off for these posts. I always just want to say be safe, but I feel like I want to say more. Because with no context be safe can sound a bit ominous.

So maybe be safe, and don't eat random plants? (I was watching an Atomic Shimp video earlier and he'd mentioned that notnall foragable plants are safe to eat so thats why I thought of that. Despite me not actually foraging anything.)

I'll come up with something. For now, just be safe and stay zesty.

[postwarlevi]

Everyone in the group chat wants to wind up Levi. So, they send pictures of themselves hanging out with you (his wife or gf). Them just having fun meetups without Levi. They'd tease him more like talking about hanging out, but one of them saying nah can't they're hanging out with you etc. Levi would be like 'the hell is going on!?'

He'd ask you and you're in on the joke a bit. You'd look at the pics and just smirk. 'oh yeah, that was fun.'

Just the thought of Levi being all pouty about it is so cute 💕

Yes we are going to add reader to the mix for sure! Oops did I mean to write this much? Did I go off topic? LOL

Man do the cadets love you. You're so sweet and nice to them and can talk down Levi from handing out harsh (what they would call) punishments.

It starts off with Mikasa and Sasha shopping and meeting you, also picking up a few things and suddenly you're having a girls day, eating ice cream and trying on outfits.

Sasha of course posts a few photos talking about hanging out with you. Levi doesn't mind because as much as he loves you, you need some girl time.

"Hey Levi, we're seeing a movie, wanna go?" Eren asks in the chat.

"I'll pass. At work." It's a simple response and one they sort of expect.

Three hours later Eren uploads a picture of himself, Armin and Annie in the theater seats, with you sitting next to him.

"Captainess got us popcorn!" You're all grinning waiting for the movie to start.

Levi is confused by this when he takes a break later and sees it.

Turns out they had an extra ticket and invited you when Levi turned them down.

"But we were supposed to go see it together." Levi says when you come home later.

"Oh, I didn't think you were interested and didn't want to bother you." He doesn't usually like movie theaters and you know he's been busy.

"You're not a bother." Levi grumbles.

This continues when Jean and Connies car breaks down and they complain about it in the chat and Levi tells them tough luck.

You hear about it and instead of letting them walk you pick them up and there's now a video of the three of you singing Livin' LA Vida Loca being uploaded.

"They have feet you know." Levi tells you when you meet up later.

"No big deal. I was headed out anyway, and they bought me lunch!"

Yes, Levi is aware of this thanks to more pictures.

He has no idea when this all started and why everyone is documenting but he's getting irritated since you're supposed to be going to the movies with him, eating lunch together, going on car rides. He doesn't mind you at all being there for the cadets, but it seems work is getting in his way and now they're taking up more of your time.

When you pop up in the Captains Kids chat he panics momentarily wondering why he is in trouble. But that's not at all, everyone is just having fun with you and now you can all talk together.

Levi has to silence his phone from time to time when you all get extremely chatty, talking about reality shows or telling long stories.

Walking around downtown, going to a strawberry festival, taking in a soccer game, are just some of the things going on lately. He finally loses it when you meet with Historia and Ymir, Jean and Connie at the beach.

There you all are in bathing suits, enjoying yourselves in the water, playing games on top of Jeans shoulders, trying to push Historia off of Ymirs.

"Give me back my wife!" He demands, and the chat goes dark the rest of the day.

Once you get home the look on your face makes him nervous.

"Levi, what was that?" You wonder.

He crosses his arms and sulks. "I just miss you."

"Well they want you you to come too, you know. They want us both there. And sometimes I think they have a hard time and really need you. I know it's not an emergency, exactly, but it's important. Sometimes we have conversations that are very significant for them and I do my best. Armin was talking about thinking he's not good enough and Sasha didn't know why the boy she likes hasn't been responding. So I just try to help them through that. I know technically they're adults but, life is hard. And I don't mind stepping in and helping when you're busy. I know how much you care about them. Besides, it's fun for me too."

Levi understands better. An emergency isn't just being in trouble. They need guidance sometimes and you've been there to talk with them. Even if Levi isn't good at that, just showing up might have made a difference.

"Thank you." He pulls you in for a kiss, not even minding the sand and salt water. "I'll be better." Because he wants to spend time with not only you, but them as well.

"You're doing fine." You tell him with a smile. He shouldn't feel guilty.

"Let's get you in the shower." Levi pulls you along, making you giggle.

And from then on, Levi makes more time and when you're not having date nights alone together, you're both with the cadets at karaoke night (they have yet to get Levi on stage, but he cheers you on when you get up there), or at a hockey game. And Levi is buying them sodas and responding in the chat more, sometimes just asking how their day was. He mutes the chat less often now.

And you are right, they really do love it when either of you, or both of you are available to hang out or talk to. Levis gotten a little better about the latter.

"Hey guys? I missed the bus." Sasha puts with a sad face.

"Don't worry potato girl, we're on the way." Levi writes almost immediately.

send in a The Captains Kids scenario!