#it's crazy how vital they are for this story to feel right

[ponyosmom35]

show him

Simon Ghost Riley x reader

Liability series chapter three!

synopsis: reader is struggling with the aftermath of disrespecting Ghost. Everyone seems to avoid her now. Gaz and Soap come to the rescue and enlighten her about Ghost.

Link to full Liability series!

https://www.tumblr.com/ponyosmom35/733401347573088256/simon-ghost-riley?source=share

She walks into the lunchroom, her back aching. She’d been with a soldier all day dealing with an impalement. She was able to save him and keep his vitals stable. She made herself a plate of the food being served, it was taco Tuesday her favorite day of the week. Walking over to an empty table and sits down, she looks over her shoulder at the others staring back at her. She’d made quite a reputation for herself as rumors spread around that she’d spoken to Ghost. She rolls her eyes, feeling like she was back in high school all over again. 

“Hey ankle biter what are you doing over here?” Soap asks as he plops down across from her with a plate packed to the brim with food.

“Hungry?” she asks 

“Starved” he says inhaling his first taco

“I don’t think anybody wants to associate with me right now” she admits “feels like high school all over again”

“Eh fuck em’, they don’t know what to make of you lass. Nobody speaks to Ghost the way that you did, plus there ain’t many young American beauties around here” he adds, she rolls her eyes and sets down her food. 

“He’s hated me from the moment I got here, I shouldn’t have done it but I’ve had enough, someone needs to take him down a peg” she explains causing soap to cackle. “That you certainly did, you’ve got quite a reputation round here. You’re the bravest person here, I’m surprised you survived, LT ain’t one to take back talk” Gaz says as he sits beside her.

“Hey Gaz” she says 

“I don’t know how you did it, I work with the man everyday and you’d never catch me mouthing off to him, look I’ve got chills just thinkin bout it” Gaz says showing them his forearm

“Whats his deal?” she asks “I mean the mask, the attitude? Why is he like this?”

“Not my story to tell love” Gaz says with his hands raised in defense

“LT doesn’t hate you, he wasn’t trying to be rude, he just comes off that way” Soap explains

“What do you mean?” 

“Ghost ain’t afraid to speak his mind, doesn’t matter if it hurts. He’s blunt and straight to the point. He takes his job seriously, this is his life. He’s got high expectations of everyone he works with. He doesn’t accept failure, he doesn’t entertain anything less than perfection” Gaz says

“How am I supposed to be perfect with him breathing down my neck? I’m not one of his soldiers, I mean who does he think he is?” she exclaims angrily 

“He’s the greatest fucking solider I’ve ever seen” Soap says defending his leader

“Ghost isn’t some random LT bossing people around, the guy is fucking lethal. He’s the greatest asset the SAS has, there ain’t nobody in the world like him” Gaz explains 

“He’s a fucking legend, half the world is terrified of him” Soap adds 

“Great, now I’ve got a target on my back then?” she asks 

“He’s not like that love, you’ve just got to earn his respect. It’s tough but once you do, there is nothing that man wouldn’t do for you. He’s a loyal motherfucker, does anything for his team, there is nobody else I would want leading me into war. You just have to give it time, you’re here because you’re good at your job. We’ve all seen it, now show him” Soap says placing a hand on her forearm “you got this ankle biter”

“Stop fucking calling me that” she laughs 

“How about ginger snap?” Gaz asks 

“Even worse! You guys are so unoriginal” she responds, finishing off her taco. In the time they’d spoke, Soap had demolished at least seven tacos and a side of dip. 

“Jesus take a breath” she jokes 

“No time” he responds before standing up

“Where are you going mate?” Gaz asks 

“Seconds” he deadpans, staring at them like they were crazy

“He doesn’t joke about taco tuesday” Gaz says nudging her shoulder to cheer her up. She sends him a smile.

chapter 4:

https://www.tumblr.com/ponyosmom35/733948907969740800/my-sisters-keeper?source=share

[sincerely-sofie]

Chapter 8 of Sofie Plays "Slay the Princess": The Hero and the Princess (Round 3) + The Damsel

This is a love story, but it's a love story that I wrote at thirteen during my Warrior Cats phase.

[ Beginning ] - [ Previous Part ] - [ Next Part ]

... Hopefully she doesn't mind the flesh rotting off of my avian visage?

This run is going exactly like the one where I was forced to kill her by the Narrator--- I'm hoping I can change it by not alluding to her gnawing off her own limbs and just checking upstairs for a key.

FRICK.

Interestingly, the option to slay the Princess is no longer available here. The run is a bit different, despite being very similar.

I can't select any of the options. Am I stuck like this?

IF YOU SCROLL DOWN YOU CAN WARN HER. OH MY WORD. THE ANGST IN THIS SCREENSHOT.

Can I please chuck the blade away so that she can defend herself with it. Please. Pretty please. Narrator pleeeeeeeease---

Huzzah! Okay new game title: Slay the Borb.

... I didn't think that was actually going to be the route we took, but alright. Fair. Knowing the way the writing in this game has gone, she's going to miss anything vital and just make it hurt.

This is probably the single game I hate having so many predictions about prove to be correct.

Oh, shoot, it's a new chapter? I couldn't see through my tears.

New party member: Now introducing the Voice of the Simp! ... Smitten. Voice of the Smitten. Yes. That's what I said.

Mirror check! The Smitten is a dork. Moving on.

Once again, I didn't take the knife. I really gotta see what happens when I enter the basement with it in hand.

The Smitten ranting about how much he loves the Princess to the Narrator and Hero's utter dismay like:

I don't have any comments to make on this exchange other than how hilarious it is and how relatable it feels for someone who's had hallucinations try to talk to real people in the past.

The Hero was pulling out a squirt bottle for the Smitten two minutes ago, but the second the Princess calls him a hero he's competing for the Smitten's title. Peak character right there.

The idea of the Princess having a sort of Narrator instructing her on how to behave and what actions to take / things to say is INSANE and a question I had the second the Narrator told me to go down into that first basement. The immediate deconfirmation is a little saddening, but the Smitten's comment makes me wonder if the one who has reality warping powers here isn't the Princess, but us.

Hear me out. The way we interact with the Princess in the first chapter of every loop seems to dictate what the next Princess will be. It's like our opinion of her shapes what she becomes. She savaged our player character in that very first interaction, and then in the next, she was a wild animal that swallowed us whole. In the chapter preceding the Stranger, we never entered the cabin in the first place. We never met. And when we finally did, she was a fractal of possibilities--- almost as if because we hadn't formed an opinion of her yet.

GIRL HUH. Yeah no she's not real. This is a cardboard cut out with a speaker behind it.

NOPE DON'T LIKE THE FACT THAT THE MUSIC IS VERY MUCH CHANGING.

Hey wait her eyes look different. Am I crazy?

Yeah no a lot more than her eyes are different! The gal is having a crisis of identity that is represented by the art style and that is VERY COOL and also VERY DISTRESSING

Chickened out and didn't press the issue of her having her own wants beyond leaving the cabin beyond a second question. I said that if she wants to leave, then we'll leave, and she was abruptly back to normal. Sweetie you need therapy.

The Smitten just said "We have each other. We don't need the world for our happy ending." and that COULD just be his mushy romanticism showing... but what if it's not?

Turns out the Narrator is the one who's been locking us in the basement 90% of the time, not the cabin itself, or the Princess. When we were locked in, I asked the Princess if she thought she could open the door, and said I believed in her when she asked if I thought she could.

THE POWER OF DATING A MARY SUE Y'ALL

Ultra Princess I'm genuinely so thrilled to hear your terrifying ambience again this princess scares me infinitely more than the ones who gnaw off their arms or eat me please take her away ;w;

FINALLY GOT A SCREENSHOT OF THE ARMS. THIS TIME I WAS READY, HECKERS!!!

Continuing this in the next post. Can't wait to take my next mirror selfie! I'm not scared whatsoever :,D

[libbee]

Safety first: protection against manipulators.

Inner planets in 8th house/12th house/generational planets (Jupiter, Saturn in 8th house)

Sunday evening. You sit along with your friends and family for a nice relaxing hangout. Tea, snacks, gifts, laughter, full of energy. People sharing their stories and experiences. All well, few hours later, party over. You are still in the warmth of energy, joyed by the event, feeling good to be alive. Then.. something clicks. You are confused. This couple said things that dont sit right with you. What is it? You know in your head that this person was lying, the manipulation was so subtle that you only see it now, they were grooming the crowd to give them what they want. Welcome to the dark side of human psychology.

Intentional or unintentional, it does not matter, but you were manipulated and that is real. Some people go through life carefree and unbothered. Others know a little more. Every conversation we have with others is either an influence or a manipulation. Parent influences child. Teacher infleunces student. Spouse influences partner. Customer influences seller. Every person influences others, but when this influence is loaded with malicious, selfish and one sided exploitation, then you know you are being manipulated. When you give more than you get, are being misled and misinformed and being used as a social toy then you know you are being manipulated. Most disturbing manipulation happens from those who are closest to us, that is family, siblings and partner etc. When someone lies to you, they paint a picture in your head that does not exist. The lies distort your perception and affect your decisions, presuppositions about the world and opinions.

Why do some people never identify liars and manipulators? Because these people know what they want from others, are dominating Alpha type, extremely charming and love bombing, speak over others and assert their opinions on others. All of us have emotional needs and vulnerability, most necessary is the need for social acceptance and participation. We crave to belong to someone and some group. A lot of people never identify liars and manipulators because they are not so emotionally sensitive and enlightened. As unfortunate as it is, the world is after all not a bubble of well meaning and fair deal people.

Once you identify manipulative people, you also understand how futile it is to confront them. These people live in a different reality. They go to any lengths to manipulate people's perceptions because it benefits them. They are crazy making tricksters. Can you ever be "friends" with a trickster? No, in the end you lose more than you gain. Here is something you can learn from:

Here is quotes from the video: "The victims of people such as con men and snake oil salesmen, are those who are unconscious of trickster – they have been tricked by their own naivety, greed or self-deception. We have to be a little tricky, to guard against being tricked."

"We can deceive others or be deceived, but we can never deceive ourselves. Trickster forces us to look at ourselves in the mirror, and to the persona that we are putting on to impress others, to the detriment of our instinctual needs, our creativity and playfulness that is so vital to give us the energy that we need in our daily life."

Once you understand that the manipulators outside are a mirror to your internal trickster, it is time to change your beliefs about yourself and transform a little. This is why the 8th housers, scorpion, 12th housers are the ones to identify manipulation because their natural ability is to transform. Someone who has inner planets in 1st/2nd/3rd houses in air/fire signs simply would not have the ability to transform - but they can be a trickster if they are unevolved. Sadly, a lot of air/fire people stay unevolved because their natural ability is not to do self reflection. Water house/sign natives can learn from these natives, because it is said that the people who hurt you the most are your spiritual teachers.

“The so-called civilised man has forgotten the trickster. He remembers him only figuratively and metaphorically, when, irritated by his own ineptitude, he speaks of fate playing tricks on him or of things being bewitched. He never suspects that his own hidden and apparently harmless shadow has qualities whose dangerousness exceeds his wildest dreams.” - Carl Jung, C.W. Vol. 9.1: On The Psychology of the Trickster Figure.

In the so called transformation of 8th housers and scorpion lies the enlightenment and coming to the consciousness. It is to shed the ignorance of unconscious and primitive way of life. It is to dissolve your previously held ego and step into a new way of life. It is to get in touch with your spirits and the soul that is you. To change your habits and interests. One example, to stop listening to music and songs rather meditate, watch your impulse and emotions, create music rather than consume. This is a new way of life. One that will both change your interpersonal relations and your own inner life.

[teecupangel]

Hear me out:

Soulmate au where soulmarks were created by the Isu to ensure that the right matches would be made in order to get to the chosen one.

They appear the moment two soulmates see each other for the first time, and they start itching after a few days of separation. After a week or so, they start burning.

By the time Desmond is born soulmarks are exceptionally rare, so he does not expect to get one himself, (and by all means he shouldn't get one, since we know that he is the chosen one) but he does, and it's right after he wakes up in Abstergo's Rome facility.

He's really hoping that his soulmate is the cute blonde lady, and not the crazy old guy.

(Ideally this would start as a Desmond/Lucy story only to then switch to a deconstruction of the soulmate trope as they both fall in love with different people instead. Time travel might be involved, for AltDes purpuses.)

(It's up to you whether Desmond and Lucy's soulmarks are a mistake on the Isu's part or something more sinister, maybe Juno's plan to get a new body by being reborn as Lucy's daughter after Desmond dies to save the world? Of course this would imply that in this timeline she doesn't kill her in Brotherhood...)

Or…

It’s a man-made created soulmark?

Like Abstergo managed to get the device that had been used to add the soulmark into humans and they tried to reverse engineer it?

It’s not perfect but they managed to make it work and all they have to do is inject a person with the ‘solution’ from the device that makes use of other chemical components that would trigger the ‘soulmate symptoms’ plus a secret ingredient.

The blood of the intended ‘partner’.

This isn’t how the device actually worked. The device itself used the DNA as seen in the calculations to set up the solutions which would be added to the humans’ genes using another device but Abstergo can’t find the device itself (the device is actually the Eye in the Grand Temple as that’s the one which has the capabilities to see into the future and thus can connect with the Calculations stable enough for the Capitoline Triad to add in the solutions into the Calculations) without the need of any injections to the targets.

So, Abstergo make do with creating an injection, calling it ‘YN-001’ and they injected it to both Desmond and Lucy while Desmond was unconscious so it only triggered when he first got out of the Animus and his eyes met Lucy’s.

Why?

Because by making Desmond believe that Lucy is his soulmate, he’d be easier to control for Project Siren.

But it all come crashing down when Juno controlled Desmond in the Colosseum vault, calling Lucy an abomination and showing everyone using the golden holograms that Lucy and Vidic had injected Desmond with YN-001 to make him believe Lucy is his soulmate.

If you want Lucy to live, Desmond’s feelings for her (which he believed to be love because he did believe he and Lucy were soulmates) makes him able to control his body before he stabs Lucy and he managed to strike a little to the right, missing her vital organs instead.

He still falls in a coma and Clay tells him the truth of Juno’s words. How the soulmate system had been created to ensure that Desmond was born. It was never about fated love or true happiness, it had always been to ensure the birth of the chosen one.

So… AC Revelations happen with Desmond jaded because of Lucy’s betrayal and the truth about the entire soulmate system.

When AC3 rolls around, Desmond actually confronts Bill and asked if he ever loved Desmond’s mother.

The hesitation in Bill’s voice as he tells him that he cared for his wife and she cared for him as well was all Desmond needed to know that they might have been soulmates but his parents didn’t even love one another.

So what did that mean for Ezio?

For Altaïr?

Ezio got the courage to leave the Brotherhood because he believed that Sofia was his soulmate and that they were meant to be together.

Altaïr married Maria and raised a family with her for decades because of the soulmark they shared.

Did that invalidate their feelings?

Did that invalidate their love for one another?

Desmond didn’t want to believe it.

Because if that was true…

If the whole soulmate system was meant to ensure that people would give birth to individuals that would later end up becoming part of Desmond Miles’ genes…

Then… didn’t that meant the feelings soulmates held for one another were their chains?

That they were unable to break from?

Unorganized Notes (AltDes because I was given an option and I will take it XD):

Desmond is under the impression that the soulmate system can influence feelings. It does not. The soulmate system relies on humans believing they are meant to fall in love with their soulmate to work. It can only trigger hormones and the burning sensation if they’re not with their soulmate but, other than that, the feelings are their own.

Desmond doesn’t believe this as he did fell in love with Lucy but her betrayal and the truth about the soulmate system made him believe that his own feelings were 'created' beyond his control and the only way to finally stop the feelings is after their ‘part’ of the calculations is done (which is true as Bill and his wife have been separated since the attack on the Farm and Bill doesn’t show any pain that should have come from the ‘burning’).

Desmond gets sent back in time a few months before the start of AC1 (late June 1191). From there, Altaïr and Desmond meet and they fall in love.

Desmond’s love for Altaïr is real for him because it’s not the soulmate system. However, he also knows that Altaïr would fall in love with his soulmate once they met. Altaïr doesn’t believe he has a soulmate and his feelings for Desmond are real for him as well. He also knows that Desmond hates the very concept of soulmates while Altaïr actually holds it in a high regard because his own parents were soulmates and he lost both of them at such an early age that he wished to believe they had been happy.

Desmond knows that and that’s why he could never tell Altaïr the truth about the soulmate system. It would be cruel and… Desmond loves Altaïr too much to tell him that his parents had him to ensure that Desmond Miles would be born.

Desmond is also jaded enough to tell Altaïr that once he meets his soulmate, he will ‘forget’ about Desmond so… Desmond doesn’t care how fast they were moving. He only had a few months with Altaïr and he was greedy enough to take and take as much as he could until Altaïr would no longer be by his side.

Altaïr wants to show Desmond that he won’t go anywhere even if his soulmate were to appear so he indulges all of Desmond’s wishes.

Altaïr and Desmond’s relationship is a secret… with only Kadar knowing about it because he saw the both of them together once and he promised not to say anything.

Then… June 1191 came and it’s up to you if Kadar survived or not.

Throughout Altaïr’s hunt for the Seven, Desmond is the only person who stayed by his side, not judging him for his failures. Some of the Assassins and informants try to help Altaïr because they wanted to but their actions are tainted by Al Mualim’s orders to make Altaïr work for their support. Because of this, Altaïr feels isolated with Desmond being the only one who stayed by his side. Desmond doesn’t stop him from thinking that because he knows their time together was slowly coming to a close so he holds Altaïr as tightly as he could for the few remaining weeks they have left.

Until…

September 1191 rolled around and Altaïr meets Maria Thorpe. His soulmark appears at the same time hers did and they both stared at each other with wide eyes before Altaïr runs away.

Instead of going to Malik like in canon, he goes to Desmond and Desmond knows just by looking at the rattled expression on Altaïr’s face that he had met Maria. He unclasped Altaïr’s hidden blade and stares at his soulmark, marking Altaïr’s left arm, before saying goodbye. Altaïr tries to stop him but Desmond tells him that the soulmark cannot be erased and Altaïr is ‘destined’ to be with Maria.

“Maybe… maybe in six years… you will remember that you loved me. Maybe…”

Altaïr promises never to forget his love for Desmond but Desmond believes he will forget it. Instead of saying that though, Desmond just smiles at him and tells him he has to go to Malik and save the Brotherhood.

The rest of the plot happens and Altaïr returns to Jerusalem as soon as he could even as he took the mantle of mentor. Instead, he finds Desmond’s home empty and… Maria there, holding a letter that Desmond had given her when she had been looking for Altaïr.

So, more angst happen here and there, Altaïr refuses to fall in love with Maria, Maria is torn between wanting to hate Altaïr and pitying him because she can see how much Altaïr was in pain, and…

Well, we can go for various endings for this one…

Possible Endings:

Downer-ish ending: Altaïr and Maria do fall in love in the end but Maria will always know that Altaïr’s feelings for her paled in comparison to how he feels for Desmond. When Sef is born, their soulmark stop trying to burn them if they try to leave each other’s side but, at that point, Altaïr loved his sons too much to abandon them. (If you want to turn this into a bittersweet complicated ending: Desmond visits after Sef’s birth and he asks Altaïr if he remembers how he loved him, Altaïr replies he never forgot and Desmond would have to live with the guilt of hurting Altaïr needlessly but still remaining by his side and becoming Altaïr’s lover who has a strained relationship with Maria)

Good-ish ending: Kadar stops Desmond from actually leaving and Altaïr manages to catch up, begging Desmond to stay by his side. His soulmark with Maria forces Maria and Altaïr to be near with one another every few days but Maria knows Altaïr’s heart belongs to Desmond. Desmond feels guilty for hurting Maria but Maria just waves it off as she has no reason to fall in love with a man in love with someone else. Maria and Altaïr’s chains finally break when Sef is born and Maria leaves Masyaf as she had always felt like a stranger in the Brotherhood (happy ending for Maria and our KadMar agenda: she goes stay with Kadar in Jerusalem instead and this could end up as romantic or platonic).

‘Golden’ ending: Altaïr uses the Apple to find a way to erase his and Maria’s soulmark with Maria being his ally as she doesn’t want to have a soulmark of a man who is obviously in love with another person. The Apple brings them to an Isu temple and Desmond is also there because, the truth was, he couldn’t bury his feelings for Altaïr and he wanted to be selfish for once so he was looking for a way to erase Altaïr’s soulmark so he can ‘remember’ Desmond. They end up using the device in that Isu temple after Altaïr tells Desmond that he never stopped loving him and the reason why they’re there is to erase his soulmark as well. Maria’s just there, feeling pity for the pain the two had gone through but also annoyed because a lot of the drama wouldn’t have happened if. They. Had. Talked. To. Each. Other. Instead. Of. Desmond. Running. Away. In. The. First. Place. Anyway, happy ending with Altaïr finally erasing his and Maria’s soulmark and Maria goes her own merry way with her dreams of wanting to find her own path.

(sidebar: if you want a soulmate AU AltDes, then may I suggest Zero Eclipse? The soulmate mark is an Isu invention in that one too (by the Isu Inanna) with a similar premise of ‘you will earn your soulmark if you do what we want you to do and follow the Calculation we chose’)

[foolsocracy]

I love felicia. Why is she written like that. How is she so badly and well written simultaneously. I hate it. I hate her. Its bad. Its good. Why did they make her sleep with noir. Why is she reduced to an object. She's so much more than this and I know it. She's more than her relationships with men. But also they're so vital to her in ways no one understands. I'm crazy about her.

felica is unknowable. she is an enigma but ive been itching to talk about her.

There's a lot about her that I do really like! She has great bones for a complex character and if there was more source material I feel like she could have had more time to be understood and explored.

I really really wish that there was another woman present she could have riffed with. Spider noir is a man-fest which makes her really man-centric because thats all she's got to work with. Its a huge disservice! I do understand that nightclub life and working with powerful NY politicians and criminals will lend itself towards men, but come on now. Easy spot to throw Gwen into (fanfics love to do it lol), or even swapping the gender of someone else like they did with Jean DeWolfe.

I love that she runs a speakeasy which lets her get right in the middle of soo much information. And historically this can pull really well from 1920s hostesses.

In fact, one of the most highly developed skills of nightclub hostesses in New York was their ability to fleece unsuspecting customers. Trained by their bosses "to get as much information as possible from prospective suckers regarding their bank accounts and business," hostesses come on to male patrons with the express goal of "mounting the check." "After enough money is spent," one hostess recounted [...], the goal is to get "the sucker drunk and the works [will] follow." (Dry Manhattan)

[at high end speakeasies] these hostesses earned tips and commissions on the checks they mounted, often as much as one-third of the total, which could bring them from $150 to $400 a week. (Dry Manhattan)

And this was during a time when the average yearly income was $3,269.40. I could totally see her finding her way like that in the early 20s before opening up a place for herself w/ all that money. The only shitty part is it makes her an accessory to men, plus w most of the story being told from Peter's POV we aren't privy to her thoughts. I think because she's basically the only woman with agency that her narrative relationship with men is so bad tasting.

Her character has so much beneath the surface. She knows everything about everyone!! and we never get to see it because she's jaded and secretive and doesn't trust anyone like that, especially not a dumbass teenager with a death wish.

AND HER RELATIONSHIP WITH PETER. don't even get me started. 1) WHY? They didn't have to go there. I know I know its a noir trope. As per the BBC the first rule of Film Noir is "A Dame With a Past and a Hero With No Future." And the Spiderman Noir team committed to it. If only they didn't commit so hard to Felica making multiple comments about how much of a kid Peter was after she was introduced as his mentor's ex. There has to be at least like 15yrs of an age difference between them.

but theres also the flip side that the noirverse is obviously fucked. Media doesn't have to be 100% moral and whatnot (especially in a noir setting), but it doesn't mean i have to root for pete and felica as a romantic couple LMFAO. Ive seen people rewrite their relationship as the strangest, oddest, most fucked up dysfunctional family and you know what i'll take that.

even having that aspect of her character being something where its telling of her past/present, where she doesn't know how to separate pete, a (frankly) dangerous person she needs to keep tabs on and know his secrets, from everyone else she works with. She's been so deeply enveloped by her need to keep herself one step ahead, to have physical power over another in any way (the only way) she knows how, that this is the means she resorts to. but of course we dont know any of that because they didn't bother delving into her more. it does make for a dimensional character at the very least. now if only she wasn't the only main woman.. so that character arc doesn't seem so sexist. and if only pete wasnt so fucking young my gooodddd. but thats what we're working with. such is life

[letsberealgenz]

slow mornings

Probably you’re already judging this story through the title and the first thought that came across your mind is this:

“Oh I can’t have slow mornings. You do not know how busy my life is. This is so unideal for me. How can I even have slow mornings?”

If you’re one of them, I want you to stop whatever you’re doing and read this with an open mindedness. Sometimes you got to recognize new opportunities knocking on your door even when it feels so foreign because you never know it could be that life-changing opportunity that you’ve been waiting for.

As someone whom was starting up in life, I had a crazy busy schedule as soon as I got off from bed. This idea of time passing by fast and I have limited time for the day really got control over my life till the day I hit a wall.

I realized that the busier I got, the more things piled up and that’s okay. But the things that were piling up were so unnecessarily repetitive, in fact it was ruining my productivity level. Just because I was busy chasing time.

“How foolish a man can be thinking he can get ahead of time but little did he know it’s time that always catches up.”

As soon as I realized this, I took a different approach. Instead of panicking and getting crazy all over the place. I looked at the most important time of the day which was generally the mornings. It didn’t took me long enough to realize that the way you begin your morning holds such an integral ripple effect that triggers every movement of yours throughout the day.

Stack those days up, it turns into weeks. Stack those weeks up, it turns into months. Stack those months up, it turns into years. Stack those years up and that’s your life eventually. BOOM! That’s why we often hear this:

“It’s those little things that makes the most difference in life.”

I knew it’s not the “surface-level” problem that was causing me the distress but it’s the “root-level” that I need to tackle on. Turns out to be it is the #1 problem most people are having in todays world.

scrolling through your notifications as soon as you switch on your wi-fi first thing first in the morning

This was the “root-level” problem that was causing anxiety or even crippling fear which triggers your emotion to start rushing for the day.

rushing while preparing yourself

rushing while having breakfast

rushing while commuting to work

And you know how this goes, all through the end till you get on your bed. Now, we are going to change the narrative. How does a slow morning looks like?

waking up way earlier than usual

taking your time to brew your coffee

read while looking at the nature

moving your body

meditating and having that solitude time

The only difference is instead of you waking up at the very eleventh hour and rushing to work. Now, you can spend some quality time with yourself boosting your vitality and setting the right tone for the day before things gets messy.

The most astonishing part for me was when I started experiencing some major changes in my day to day. The way I carry myself. The way I feel. The way I speak. The way I handle situations that piles up for the day. The way I started managing various high-pressure tasks.

All I can say is, the changes were super positive. In fact, I felt like I was living a new character. The only character I would want to live forever in life now. Slow morning is the answer my friend.

[gayedmundo]

how are you feeling about the buck/tommy ship these days? because i'll be honest i'm getting more annoyed by it as time goes on

oh man. ok you want me to be really honest? i'm gonna be really honest but i'm gonna put it under the cut so that anyone who ships them that follows me doesn't have to see me being a hater.

I truly, TRULY do not get it. I think my taste in ships is just very different from some people because I'm more confused and baffled than anything else. Like, I get being excited about Buck being in his first relationship with a man and being happy about that! I feel that too. However, the intensity in which people are shipping it is what is shocking me and the amount of love that people have for Tommy as a character after so little screen time is confusing me.

They've had cute scenes, I don't dispute that. I want Buck to be able to enjoy this relationship for a little bit. However, people acting like they should be endgame or that they are fated for each other with an invisible string is CRAZY to me personally. Tim has already said he thinks this is an "entry-level" relationship for Buck. Oliver has already said he wants to see Buck exploring his sexuality by dating more people after Tommy. Narratively, episode 6 made it pretty clear where the story is heading just with the costumes at the party. A character setting up a costume party that they're very excited about and their current love interest not joining in on it while their endgame love interest goes all in with them is such a classic and on-the-nose trope.

I'm not inherently anti-multishipping. I just think that the idea of settling for a ship that got together after knowing each other for one episode when we have the potential to have an epic, groundbreaking love story is. Odd to me. It's probably just a difference in how I engage with media and shipping, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me personally. Also, while I don't think that Tim or the other writers would likely change their minds on a potential Buddie endgame just because of the people shipping Buck and Tommy right now given how popular Buddie still is, it is still something that makes me a bit nervous because I know how much networks do NOT want to take risks on behalf of LGBTQ viewers ever so I also don't want people to just say "ok I'm fine with this" and stop fighting for something that could be so, SO much better.

I'm also an Eddie Girl first and foremost. Like my love for Buck is very VERY close but Eddie is my fave. So it's hard for me to just forget about him and be okay with him never getting to have his coming out story when it is really vital for his character arc. Especially since we know that they have gotten so close TWICE now before getting shut down. So Buck/Tommy potentially being endgame makes my tummy hurt WAY too much on behalf of Eddie.

Generally I didn't mind it as a ship at the start but I agree with you that over time it's getting more grating to me as certain shippers get more bold in hating on Buddie and Eddie. I've seen that much more on Twitter and Tiktok than on here, but still it's souring it more for me. Ultimately, I don't want to stop anyone from having fun and shipping what they want but it will just NEVER come close to Buddie for me and I will continue to feel really goddamn confused when people act like Tommy, a guy we've known for 2 minutes, is Buck's soulmate instead of Eddie, a guy we've known for 6 years that has been raising a kid with Buck and understands him more than anyone in the world and would die for him in a second.

[misogynisticmediatournament]

I think the warrior cats and warriors in your submission list are the same thing,btw do you have reccomendations of like. anything that writes woman well

Ah, you might be right; I think I skimmed that entry's propaganda, and it was very specific to whatever series it was about without dropping the full series name, and I was like "Maybe this is Warrior Cats? I feel lazy, I'm not going to look heavily into it."

So, as a reminder: use the full but common name for the series! For example, Miraculous Ladybug (this seems to be the most common title despite being a shortened version), Warrior Cats, BBC Sherlock, etc. And check that you don't have a space after the title's entry, as that counts as a different entry than the title without the space when using the UNIQUE function in Google sheets (which is how I count the unique entries).

As for recommendations, this is hard because I watch a lot of trash, especially recently, but:

- You can never go wrong with Revolutionary Girl Utena. Note: this show (and start with the show, not the movie) has a lot of potentially triggering stuff, so check out those warnings before you start if you have any triggers at all. It uses the triggering stuff very well and to tell its story and explore its themes, not just for, like, titillation though. Indeed, it is, I would argue, necessary for the story and themes the show seeks to explore. It is legally free on Youtube in...I want to say 480p, and in better resolution on Crunchyroll and Funimation (yes, Funimation's site is still up; I find it superior to Crunchyroll's since it actually includes closed captions for dubs, although it doesn't include newer anime from after the two companies merged). Also, you want to watch the sub for this. I'm normally not one to say "the dub is bad" and stuff and be a purist about it—in fact I normally go to bat for dubs—but, uh... yeah, the dub is bad this time. Crispin Freeman and Dan Green are delightful in it though, I'll give it that.

- Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood uses its female characters well. Maybe it could be better, I've seen some people in these tournaments have beef with it, but it's a pretty perfectly told story, like solid A+, with a lot of really great female characters who I find very satisfying so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. This is on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and I believe Amazon Prime?

- Don't let the title fool you: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a fantastic show with great female characters who are complex and human, have compelling arcs, and are vital to the story. The relationship between Rebecca and Paula is central to the show and SO good, especially as the show goes on. The title is because it explores the trope of the crazy ex-girlfriend in a very humanizing way, and the title/opening song even mentions how the title is a sexist term, but it's a lot more nuanced than that. Also, it's a musical with very good original songs every episode. But check trigger warnings for this show too though. The show is streaming on Netflix last I checked.

- Uhh... maybe the first two seasons of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic? It's a kid's show, but it's good. I haven't seen it in years and years though, so I don't know if I can still fully vouch for it. I believe it is streaming on Netflix?

- Revue Starlight? I haven't thought about it heavily, but I had no beef watching it. This is streaming on HiDive.

- I've heard good things about Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, but I can't vouch for it personally. It's streaming on Crunchyroll.

UPDATE: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is also legally on youtube!

Honestly, I know more imperfect shows that I'm satisfied with, like I give it a B+ to A- at least, but that I haven't thought heavily about than stuff where I'm like, "Oh, yeah, definitely, definitely, nothing I'd pick out there as a problem." For example, Baccano! is probably imperfect (as well as not streaming legally anywhere), but I don't remember being, like, struck by a bunch of problems there. So, I'm not the best for recs that I can give a 100% guarantee for.

[prinnamon]

@spiderh0rse has been posting some fantastic notes while it makes its way through Freeman's Mind, so i got inspired to do the same for Mind of Ryan today! it's a shorter series, so here's my thoughts on all eight episodes plus extras. was not expecting to sit down and watch it all today but i was overcome by the need to do so. you know how it is.

WIKI

full name: Ryan Harrison Sullivan

date of birth: August 25, 1976

has received HEV training

working in "mechanics & AI development"

EPISODE 1

listening to "Anywhere But Here" from the album The Story Of The Mechanical Man by Behavior at the start of Episode 1, meaning the series must take place after its release in May 2001.

drives to work ("helicopter rides are too expensive," so apparently the employees have to pay out-of-pocket to fly out to the facility)

didn't sleep well the night before. yet another mindverse character who refuses to get good sleep or eat a nice meal

wears his lab coat all the time even outside of work because he thinks it makes him look "cool as fuck" and because it's very comfortable. people think he's weird for this.

he used to live in michigan

one time a raccoon bit into the power lines and this knocked the power out for the entire town he lived in

willing to shrug it off when people start talking like sephiroth in his mentions say concerning shit. very "haha ok whatever you say man"

barney is his roommate. ryan thinks of him as lazy. barney relies on ryan as his alarm but ryan is not above giving the fuck up since barney is a heavy sleeper

excited at the sight of a mechanical keyboard (based)

appreciator of air conditioning. his college (presumably UChicago; see Episode 6.5) had no a/c.

ryan knows barney gets pissed about it when he finds a safety violation like a lack of handrails on a staircase or walkway, but he never reports these violations

just. casually hops over a counter to throw something away in an inaccessible trash can. tells people to get over themselves about it when they react negatively

EPISODE 2

ryan works in sector G as a robotics engineer

wonders if he's "the only young scientist here," so probably either doesn't know Gordon, Felix, Stark, and Ramirez or is only referring to his department

KNOWS COLETTE GREEN. LIKES HER. THINKS SHE'S COOL. (based)

"she is just the right amount of crazy." is a little younger than her

hasn't been late to work often.

could live without his break, but it would suck.

thinks the transit station is "unnecessarily huge"

can get a little mean in a tense situation (calls a guard a "dumbass")

mind goes blank in a crisis ("i just don't even know what to fucking think right now!")

EPISODE 3

his chest hurts when he wakes up. presumably from cpr.

"my brain isn't really registering everything that's happening. i feel like i should be panicking, but i'm not."

hates roaches. does know they're a vital part of the ecosystem and that his hatred is irrational but hates them anyway

"hi, rat."

notices his lab coat is dirty. he's unsure why he's fixated on that when he has bigger problems.

cold and wet and NOT having fun!

illustrated end card shows him holding his flashlight up over his shoulder

EPISODE 4

gets attacked by a headcrab, which presumably gives him the little cut on his right cheek seen in every end card from this episode forward!

uncurious about the aliens. does NOT want to know what they are. just get him outta there

knows everything about the tau cannon. recites facts about it to calm himself down. i think his mental "happy place" is just a rotating 3D model of the tau cannon. which is incredibly real. also he calls it the tau cannon (based)

his plan for today, if he'd actually gotten to work, was to "see if [he] could apply a self-limiter to the alt fire to prevent it from overcharging."

he wishes he was in his lab right now.

his reaction to seeing a dead guard lying next to their equipment is "oh, hey, a bulletproof vest!" and he takes it and puts it on with NO hesitation. he then immediately starts searching the corpse for other useful shit. and this is like. one of the first dead bodies he came across. really just getting right to it. who needs to descend into apathy when you can save time by starting there?

able to recognize that this situation is incredibly fucked-up but not really able to engage with that fact emotionally.

it feels wrong to him to kill the headcrab zombies. he recognizes that they probably used to be his coworkers. after taking out two of them, he resolves not to do it anymore.

EPISODE 5

his black mesa-issued flashlight is a shake-to-charge light.

barnacles are "ceiling tongues."

"man, that thing killed Bob. he was two days from retirement. how could you do that?" i have no idea if he's being serious and he recognized the construction worker who got killed by a barnacle here or if he's making a joke to dispel the horrors—oh. yeah. he flat out says he has no clue who that guy was

his robotics lab is in the biology building! he doesn't understand this, but he also doesn't mind. (Heather's a biologist! maybe he knows her, since they work in close proximity.)

ditches the vest for improved mobility.

chuckles in disbelief after managing an impressive feat of acrobatics

says electrical failures and brief power outages were regular occurrences even before the incident

takes a snickers bar off a dead guard

could go for a pizza right now

can't rule out that the facility's haunted

"what the fuck is that? wait. that reaction is not suitable. allow me to rephrase: AAAAAAAAHHH!" hmm. i see. makes another tally mark on my "Ryan's first instinct in this situation is not to panic, and he only really does so because he thinks it's what a reasonable person would do right now" list

EPISODE 6

lived out of a storage unit for a while when he had no other option. he packed all his stuff in a rented storage unit and hid his bed behind the stacks of boxes. it was always miserably cold in there and he did Not have bedding. being in the drainage canal reminds him of what that was like

acknowledges he may have to fight the headcrab zombies eventually but "just can't stand the idea of beating them to death" because of how violent and brutal it feels

really doesn't wanna leave the guard with the broken leg to die but reluctantly accepts his weapon when he says he's "never gonna make it"

even with a gun, he'd rather run from danger. gotta conserve ammo.

"why is it so difficult to leave the building?!"

impressed that the guy in the control room hacked the announcement system. tried to do so for April Fools last year but failed to bypass the firewall

panics and accidentally kills(?) mister control room by shooting the bullsquid attacking him with a shotgun, sending both the bullsquid and the guy flying out the window. feels really truly quite bad about that.

EPISODE 6.5

ryan went to the university of chicago!

ryan drinks squirt (the grapefruit-flavored soda)

in 1995 he spent $1500 on a giant fucking heavy ass laptop while absolutely not having the money to do so. he regrets nothing. he love computer

EPISODE 7

OH RYAN HAS A CUSTOM 3D MODEL. OKAY. SICK. ANIMATED OPENING.

has a cell phone on him

injured his leg pretty bad when the elevator fell but doesn't seem to have lost consciousness at any point. yeowch!

concerned about how the pain in his ears from firing a gun in a vent is significantly less than the pain earlier from the houndeyes' soundwave. wonders if he's sustained permanent hearing damage.

his tune has changed regarding vents. hated being in the first one he had to crawl into. now they're a nice change of pace, because he at least knows larger enemies can't follow him in and chase him.

barnacles ceiling tongues are now "tongue monsters." he addresses one as Chunky the Tongue Monster.

a little sad/guilty watching as guards fight for their lives and he ascends on an elevator towards the surface. "this whole situation is just so fucked, man. you just kinda have to look after yourself, and if anybody gets hurt or dies, you just have to leave them. damn."

his phone is a Nokia 3300B. it is a thing of beauty.

once he gets high enough to have cell service, he gets a call from Tod Arlen, who's been trying to call him for hours. Ryan says Arlen's "the last person [he] expected a call from."

arlen has already escaped with Kate by this point!

arlen warns ryan that he's heard some black ops chatter and they plan to blow the place up. ryan is silent about this until arlen's like "are you there?" and ryan very calmly/dismissively says "yeah. well don't worry about me, man. im almost at the parking garage so i'll be fine :)"

they make plans to meet at the clayton airport when ryan gets out. (and, over the phone with arlen, ryan does seem pretty confident it's a "when" situation, not an "if.")

ryan seems calm and casual throughout the phone call but lets himself freak out about the gravity of the situation as soon as he hangs up. ("i'm going to fucking die.")

EPISODE 8

the wiki suggests that an eighth episode was in production at one point, but there's no such thing on YouTube unless you count an unlisted video called "Shotgun SFX Test - Mind of Ryan Episode 8"

there's an end card for ep8 showing ryan having survived being shot. i don't believe episode 8 got made. i think the illustration is all there is.

there is a speedpaint of the episode 8 end-card tho!

"STARTING OVER."

"the only way mind of ryan will come back is through the form of a reboot, and i don't know when or if that's going to happen."

[goldeaglefire1]

soooooo. Skullgirls Twitter may or may not be giving hints as to what Marie's story mode entails and I don't see anyone talking about it here so. me, being the guy who loves speculating about shit forever, am going to do it myself

(note: going to be long so here's a read more for all your sakes. also it's 12AM and I am tired so coherency may or may not be a thing. godspeed)

okay so! first, probably most vital thing! the first gameplay clip they ever showed of Marie (by which I mean like four days ago) is just her in the character select screen. nothing too crazy, except. in the character art that pops up when Marie's selected, she does not have her usual skull eyes

now you might think "well this is all extremely early footage that could be a placeholder and they just haven't put the pattern in yet" except someone pointed it out and the official response was

so. from the sounds of it this is intentional. she intentionally does NOT have the skull eyes associated with the Skullgirl, even though she's clearly using the Skullgirl's power. so there's one thing

thing number two! one clip later, and we get this right after

now this could be a tongue-in-cheek joke about exactly how different playable Marie feels from boss Marie - because yeah playable Marie looks absolutely nuts - but considering the skull eyes thing I have my doubts. and it's not like the tweet is wrong - compared to her usual set of minions, the skeletons in playable Marie's moveset are notably more expressive compared to the complete lack of emotion in the boss fight. I mean, everyone's pointed out the ribbon on Laser Skeleton's horn! that's just adorable!

hey speaking of undead minions. this piece of evidence may or may not age well depending on what the next clips show us but do you know who hasn't shown up at all in Marie's moveset thus far? her undead Medici minions. or for that matter the Lamia shadow she summons to blindside you from across the screen whenever she wants you to know your place. neither of those have showed up. meanwhile there HAVE been several moves regarding Marie's previous experience in housekeeping, which isn't exactly NEW for her since in her concept art from way back when there were a bunch of moves referencing housekeeping already in the cards, but seeing it directly from Marie feels distinctly. out of place somehow. hmmmmmmmmm

in the trailer that first revealed Marie in 2022 there was a line that was like "after ten years...a shard [of the Skull Heart] still remains" which got people speculating about what exactly it could mean if it even DID mean anything and wasn't just cool advertising bullshit. well, it seems fairly clear to me that Skullgirls Twitter is hinting at the reality of the situation, and what exactly that might entail

the Skull Heart is a corruptive influence on Marie. we know that; this has been established since Squigly's story mode, where Marie nearly drops a building on a bunch of innocent bystanders before realizing what she was doing and caught the top half of Medici tower. and then there's the more recent development that Marie becoming a Skullgirl gradually led to her forgetting the actual reason for why she made the wish (to save Patricia) vs. what the Skull Heart wants, which is for everything to get razed to the ground (which Marie ended up narrowing down to "fuck the Medici in particular", to which I say: fair enough)

so! as far as I can tell, this moveset (and the eventual story mode) for Marie explores what exactly she's like WITHOUT the influence of the Skull Heart compelling her to murder everything. how she managed to pull if off is still a mystery for now, but we should get an answer for exactly how she came back later down the line.

[marcelwrites]

I'm falling asleep listening to an ambient album I secretly recorded and released in 2012 during a late night of homesickness and longing and a four track. I think I went to make some angry Black Metal chronicle but didn't want to wake up my housemates so I ended up making an ambient album with my Ashton, an old acoustic guitar that may have been a Gibson, and an old keyboard with a good variety of synths and tones. I'd forgotten of its existence for years but remembered it randomly about 20 minutes ago. This was a dark period in my life where I struggled with a sex addiction and almost went to rehab for it. I forgot about that until just then, too. I want to write a book about my time in university, people always tell me I have the best stories, but do I actually though? Other people just want to hear attractive people talk about sex and their sex lives, the bands they were in, the crazy parties they threw, the line outside their door, the revolving door policy of their bedroom, etc. There were some good times but also I became an asshole because I hung out with an asshole bodybuilder and we did a bunch of coke and I'd bartend over the weekends without sleeping and we felt like gods, we felt like our shit didn't stink, and when I think of Melbourne I can remember us running down King St at 3:30 in the morning, just off our rockers and in ecstasy as the rain fell on our skin and the steam heat rose from our bodies in the cool night air. The sound of distant trains and roadworks both hideous and disgustingly poetic, it was the essence of Melbourne, the vital tug of modernity and the sweep of vast human constructs. I remember the first time I hooked up with a man and how it felt so utterly right, and how I felt so masculine and powerful as I lead the charge and conquered, and we embraced and our flesh met, and the feeling of his lips on the skin of my neck was as pure as any spring water from some untouched and pristine source. I wrote about it afterwards and could still smell his cologne on me, the aromatic and masculine, the ripe fruit of humanity and masculinity, and the secrets we keep but never share. The screen is blurring, I need to sleep and dream of the past, and the future, and probably you. As you haunt my dreams yet again. Your lips and perfume. Permanently tattooed on my psyche.

[cviperfan]

Bayo 3 Thoughts

-Not crazy about the Homunculi as enemies, or at least not about the human sized ones, mostly bc i feel like their windups are a lot harder to read, and don't have as clear gives as Angels/Demons did before.  But then some of the returning Angels have shorter windups/reads than before, so this is probably more representative of a general tuning of combat feel

-Trade-off from the "two weapons per set" to "one per set" is that while there's fewer combinations to play with, they are definitely more focused and interesting.  G-Pillar is such a smart second weapon to introduce bc it feels so immediately distinctive from CMW, whereas getting the Shotgun after SF in B1 really only offers minor differences all things considered.  Also, I can only speak for myself but in B1/2 it's extremely easy to decide on a couple sets, if that, to stick with for all your possible permutations (probably involving a sword(s) and whichever thing makes you skate around fast)

-Also was so used to Y (gun) just being the auto-fire attack with your quad pistol no matter what that when it did the anti-tank shot for G-Pillar I immediately went :OOOOOOO

-While I get completely the revamp of how acquiring weapons works here (acquired through story progress so you get all of them, instead of being found piecemeal throughout the world/through meeting specific requirements)-- and it makes sense, you want to make sure every player sees the entire toolkit and I can get being frustrated that some cool stuff like Pillow Talk/Sai-Fung in B1 requires pretty big asks, at the same time it makes it feel less special if you're just getting them like this?  Like i really do get it but still the routine of finding all the pieces of an LP and bringing them to Rodin to do his thing built up this sense of anticipation and encouraged exploration and really gave him a lot of personality too so it's just like... it's fine i guess

-Speaking of which, I both kind of appreciate the more openly "wide-linear" approach to level design while also feeling like the meh rewards for doing so kind of undercut it.  Like the RoT chests in B2 at least gave you vital upgrades like Witch Hearts/Pearls, so there was an incentive to take up the minigame or hunt down the really well hidden ones in B1.  Most of these chests are just like... materials???? and a lollipop?  K

So it turns out some of them *do* in fact have useful upgrades in them but I still feel this point kind of stands?  Because it's still more likely you can go through the trouble of some of these and then it's just materials and that's still annoying

-That being said these levels do feel HUGE even right off the bat.  there's at LEAST 2-3 Secret Missions per level, and it's hard to deny that the effort Platinum have made to ensure stuff is findable is hard to come back from.  Not having to do some obscure bananapants placement/timing shit to hit them is honestly a fucking godsend, the way Verse breakdowns post-fight are laid out makes it IMMEDIATELY CLEAR if you missed one so it's easier to double back, along with up-front indicators about Umbran Tears.  I swear to god I 100%ed Level 1 on my FIRST GO, a thing I never thought possible with the dense and easily-missable nature of Bayonetta levels, even if it took me just shy of an hour to do so.

-The mimic chests got me like :OOOOOO

-Honestly maybe the absolute best payoff of the new approach to level design is the Phenomenal Rifts, which open up after finding all of the Umbran Tears on a level, which are basically secret missions with guaranteed Really Good Rewards, like Accessories or even completely separate demons/weapons.  

-Not crazy about how instead of just unlocking the base pieces of your whole moveset from Rodin (stuff like the Heel Slide/Tetsuzanko in particular) now you just buy them all piecemeal per weapon.  They aren't super expensive but having it this way (while again making the whole suite of moves clearer to novices) really cuts into the ease of combat flow between weapons.  Like it feels like a retroactive justification for the upgrade trees which kind of subtly shifts the focus from gameplay mastery to XP grinding which hmm not crazy about

-It's extremely interesting how much this borrows mechanically from Astral Chain, and feels like a glimpse into how Scalebound might have played out too.  It's really clear they wanted to carry over a lot of those ideas, even if only in a more restrained and limited approach.

-Was not expecting to actually play as the Alternate Universe Bayos (BAyUs?) so that's a fun little treat.  Tokyo!Bayo reminds me of that time Platinum was like PLEASE LET US MAKE A SPIDER-GWEN GAME and it's clear they're still hoping for it somehow.  It's the fact that the Ignus Yo-yo's Gun attack is STRAIGHT UP THE FUCKING WEB-SHOOTER for me

-Not a fan of how slow some of the Ride monsters like Gommorah are, tho being in a chase that's like "avoid all these tiny objects or take damage" and the dodge command takes 4 entire years to complete does not help.  The Not-Gojira fight while extremely fucking cool suffers from a similar problem of slow-ass responses to tight counter windows as well

-THE FUCKIN LUPIN HOMAGES FOR JEANNES FUCKIN STEALTH SHIT

-The Jeanne stuff is... short, but interesting?  Definitely more mini-game than full-on concept

-Being a huge nerd?  Having a sword?  Punk haircut?  Cool jacket?  Semi-comedy relief character?  Customizable shirts?  The way we all called Viola a DMC character when the reality is she's absolutely a No More Heroes character

- OK so after playing as her for a while now I've concluded that while Viola The Character is a fun addition to the series Viola the Player Character is... kind of not?  And a big part of that is that her main defensive option, Parrying (instead of Bayo dodging to get Witch Time, Viola can only do it if she parries with Jeanne-style timing) feels-- especially in the context of Platinum's oeuvre-- really fucking bad????  Like maybe it's the fact that reading the move in the context of Bayonetta's classic gameplay/enemy types is extremely difficult or the compounding difference of enemy attack timing or the fact that you cannot move AT ALL to do it correctly or you activate your double-tap rush move (and related, the fact that it's ALSO ON THE BUTTON FOR THE DOUBLE TAP RUSH MOVE, A MOVE THAT IS NOT SAFE AGAINST ATTACKS) or it's a combination of all the above but it's extremely frustrating to have three whole games built around Bayo's dodge timing and generous window and then to play Viola and have all that working against you... feels bad man

-That being said the kind of tandem character combat (again, carrying over from Astral Chain a bit) she has with Cheshire is extremely good and it feels like she's actually a better damage dealer bare-fisted than with the sword???

-While some of them are pretty cool on the whole I'm kinda not crazy about all the Big Area Bosses being gimmick Giant fights?  Like I think Bayonetta as a series generally does a great job making Giant Boss fights feel readable and fun (a little less so in 2, but 1 is absolutely a How-To on making that work) when you're a human-sized character so largely setting that aside for the final game in the trilogy is... kinda weird ngl

-I do think it's funny as fuck we all saw the trailer where Bayo pulls her heart out to apparently summon a Giant Gommorah and everyone was like "oh shit this must be for the final battle... like a desperate last resort move at the end of her rope" and then in the game itself she's just poppin that sucker out every 3 chapters like it's no big thing lol

-One complaint I had about the first two games is that with a few exceptions the weapons aren't really unique or have distinctive characteristics (a more common quirk of the DMC games), which 3 has absolutely amended to its credit.  While there are definitely light/fast and heavy/slow weapons, there's a lot more uniqueness and interesting quirks to each of them (Dead End Express is a very light homage to the Motorbike weapon from DMC5, and requires specific timing on the charge attacks to do the most damage but will burn out if you hold it too long; the Mic can do Attack/Defense buffs; there's a FUCKING TWIN DOOR SHIELD THATS DEFINITELY NOT A SOULS REFERENCE), so they really do all feel very different and fun to play with.  Like this is absolutely an aspect of the game where designers got to let their imaginations run wild and it mostly pays off

-The entire (and i mean ENTIRE) final battle is honestly fucking hilarious bc it repeats this cycle of

Singularity: HA HA YOU CANT BEAT ME IM REALITY Bayo: gets the upper hand with some crazy trick Singularity: NOOO???? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE????????? I CANT LOOSEEEEEE Singularity: counters it anyway Bayo: noooo im losing (return to step one)

LIKE THREE OR FOUR TIMES and it honestly kinda kills the momentum after the third one

Okay so.  I finished the game and hooooooo boy am I emotionally am kind of all over the place.

So I think I, like a lot of other people, saw That One Polygon Review for Bayonetta 3 (pointedly entitled "Bayonetta 3 Broke My Heart") and kind of took the conclusion, based on how the article dances around spoilers, that the reviewer was let down by the endgame pairing and was maybe letting that dictate their response to the game?  However turns out there are much bigger problems here and I can honestly see now why they made their feelings so bluntly clear.

I think giving it such a downer ending, when that's never been what Bayonetta has pursued or been about, is such a bizarre turn that for a hot minute during the first part of the credits I was just like "no way this is the actual ending.  They're totally gonna pull a Bayo 1 and just when things seem most dire they're gonna fake-out the end credits and give us a better finale" and then.  they just keep going.  And then we get a random last fight with Viola with zero context?  And then the credits continue over the traditional pole dance bit and quick verses and??? that's really it the end of the game????

And I think trying to position Viola as The New Bayo (no literally) is such a weird choice when... again I like the character, but her gameplay is so totally different that if they're serious and she is gonna be The New Generation carrying the series forward there's no way that shit's not getting revamped.

And some of it feels really pointed (oh, the gays like Jeanne?  Even though she is specifically my, Hideki Kamiya,'s waifu?  Here's her getting a stupid and cheap ass death that Bayonetta only gets the Arthur Clenched Fist Meme response to) but half-joking it feels like Kamiya discovered a new set of fetishes (semi-goth punk rock girls with short hair) and looked at Tall-Milf-Domme-With-Glasses Bayo and was just like "I don't wanna play with you anymore" and tossed her completely in the garbage, literally erasing every possible version of the character to utterly stamp her out

On the subject of shipping, while I've always been in the Bayojeanne corner I never really expected the series to commit to it, or at least not in an upfront way.  Like honestly the most I expected was the comfort of ambivalence and ambiguity?  And I think B2 had so little to do with Luka and them barely interacting that I think a lot of people felt comfortable that Kamiya and co had apparently 180'd on the BayoLuka thing (especially since he has literally acknowledged them as a couple, like, romantically, in the context of several of his other explicitly romantic pairs) that I think B3 pivoting so hard on a "no BayoLuka was not only always it but THEY ARE LITERALLY FATED TO ALWAYS END UP TOGETHER GO FUCK YOURSELF" feels kind of spiteful (and is Kamiya a spiteful, petty person?  Yes.  Would he?  Also yes.)  And my thing is, in B1 I'm honestly kinda like they're fine?  Like the impression i got was for sure that they fucked btwn game 1 and 2 and then 2 makes it seem like they just moved on and never really hooked up again.  And to be sure if you look at Kamiya's body of work he absolutely loves this dynamic in an M/F couple so it's like... I can see this having been the endgame for him but at the same time it's extremely poorly done.  

Sidenote I think it's fucking hilarious that the game tries to play a few bits as recurring tics of their perpetual romantic entanglement which... are completely not (Luka's "Fate brought us together, and it will never tear us apart" is NOT EVEN A LINE HE SAYS TO HER, AT ANY POINT THROUGH THE GAMES IT'S A THROWAWAY PICKUP LINE HE GIVES TO SOME RANDOM NPC IN GAME 1 AND THATS IT???? or Bayo's "only the Luka I know would be bold enough to call me 'Cerezita'" which is ALSO something he has never said to her, except technically to Baby Her in B1 again).  Like I am actually pretty open to het pairings provided that they have good chemistry and the thing in question is not Forcing its Hand about how Meant To Be they are and the B3 writing really hits every branch of that tree on the way down

And the thing about B3 going "No Actually Luka is the most Important and Super Special Awesome guy in the multiverse" is it's so disrespectful to the Bayonetta character??? After two other games of her killing God and in this one of her summoning every possible version of herself to fight a man-made god which isn't enough?  And it's not even tied to any of the established lore it's some random new Third Thing too???  

And the thing for me about all the great scores and recommendations in reviews for B3 that don't even touch on how bad this ending is is that most of them are like "lol no one cares about Bayonetta's story" and people are like "Platinum are bad writers and can't tell a story" and I'm just like.  Compared to what, exactly.  Platinum's track record isn't consistent to be sure but there are way more games than not that actually cannot tell a satisfying or interesting narrative, and while Platinum has never been one for subtlety or gravitas most of their big games have themes and ideas they're conveying mostly successfully, and for all its bombast and background lore the Bayonetta games up to now have told a pretty solid and entertaining story with a consistent internal mythology.  Like B1 and 2 actually form a pretty tight duology that answers pretty much all of its own big questions and closes its time loop and like sure, you don't *have* to care about the narrative, you *can* just engage with them mechanically and still have a good time, but I think acting like there's nothing there, no thoughts head empty is pretty shortsighted.  Like you're never gonna see a Vaatividya take but there are ABSOLUTELY people making Bayonetta lore vids just like there are people making sick combo vids.

And the thing that stands out to me the most about Bayonetta 3's writing is it really feels like the team at Platinum took that "no one cares about the story" dismissal and decided "yea fuck it I guess so"

Like despite this being the end of a trilogy and supposedly a wrapping up of the story to this point, it has almost no connection to everything that came before it (supposedly after all the debate about whether this was an AU Bayo or not the Bayo of this game supposedly is?  And then through some multiverse shenanigans it seems to imply that the Bayo we played as in 1 and 2 are ALSO not the same character and are variants themselves which????? fucking weird and stupid if so????) aside from some cameo Angel/Demon fights.  They try to recreate the time displacement character reveal thing from the other games with Viola but it really doesn't work bc 1) it's extremely obvious VERY early on what her connection to Bayo/Luka is but 2) she makes effort to very carefully tiptoe around saying it for most of the game for no reason when being upfront about it would make for better character moments??? Like this isn't a fucking Back to the Future scenario it's not going to fuck up the timeline if they know (Like it works in B1 bc Baby!Cereza is a literal fucking toddler and then it works for Balder in B2 bc it's clear Bayo understands that connection so it feels impactful when it turns out Balder understood without her saying anything).  WE LITERALLY NEVER LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT THE VILLAIN, WHAT HIS GOAL IS OR WHY.  There's no monologue, no connection he has to the lore of the series, what the Homunculi exactly are or why they exist.  Faeries are a thing now I guess!  Where are they from?  what's their purpose?  how do they fit into the Angel/Demon dichotomy? WHO FUCKING KNOWS BUT NOW LUKA IS A WEREWOLF TYPE DUDE I GUESS AND HE ALWAYS WAS SHUT UP.  I've seen some reviewers call this a Celebration of Bayonetta as both a character and a series but aside from some pointed references and the Multiverse shenanigans it feels a lot more like, again, the trappings of the series up to now getting thrown in the dumpster.

And speaking of it feels like while they're cool in parts the series honestly does not gain a lot from dipping its toe into the New Hotness of Multiverse Stuff (aside from Egyptian!Bayojeanne, who at least have both the Devoted Princess/Knight dynamic and have big Oh They *Fuckin* energy).  Like at least it's mostly there for Mari Shimazaki to fuckin flex (as one of the pillars of the foundation of what makes Bayonetta Bayonetta, her design work remains absolutely on point no matter what), but they're pretty perfunctory and while the advertising makes a big point of our Bayo teaming up with these BAyUs she really only meets them for like a minute and then they die but she gets their weapons/demons so hey lol works out for her

Honestly at the end of the day Bayonetta 3 just left me... extremely mixed on my feelings.  I'd played DMC and Ninja Gaiden before, but Bayonetta 1 really awakened my love for character action games, and from all accounts with the dark direction Platinum is taking towards the Live Service hellscape, I had the sinking feeling that Bayonetta 3 was going to be the last true Platinum game; a reasonably sized title that keeps you coming back not with the promise of Endless Content(tm) but a densely packed title with compelling gameplay and loads of reasons to revisit it.  And while gameplay-wise it definitely feels that way, its story feels like a disappointing cap-off to a great series and a company I loved as well.  I guess we'll see if this vague promise of a B4yonetta comes to fruition.

[radiantlyrey]

Thoughts on Uprising Ep19 “Terminal”

- i’m not ready guys

- cold open: so Mara seems really dead set on blaming the Renegade for Able’s death. and she’s not like…. wrong. but she doesn’t have the full picture, as it were. and it’s interesting how she and Zed have basically swapped positions on the Renegade; like Zed here isn’t fully convinced that the guy he was calling a “menace” fourteen episodes ago or whatever did kill Able. also Beck tries to agree with Zed and Mara (rightfully) calls him out on never being there anymore. so Beck takes his frustrations out on holo-Tron, and then—Tron freaking falls over and Does Not Look Good.

- Beck tries to save Tron, but he won’t heal for some reason…. and that reason turns out to be Cyrus, whose fight with Tron compromised Tron’s healing abilities. that fucking virus Dyson implanted is ravaging Tron, and he’s got maybe a couplefew days/cycles before it’s all over. dire stuff. also Tron wanting to pass the mantle of his name to Beck when he just flat-out REFUSED to give it to Cyrus is…… making me a little verklempt. shit.

- also the scene with Beck trying to empty Able’s locker about had me in TEARS. oh my god. those kiddos and their boss/dad. fuck. Zed is being a good friend here, too……… like. was legit about to bust out crying at this SCENE. FUCK

- and then Beck gets surprised by a random program who turns out to be Cutler from the second story of the show!!! what!!!! good to see you again, guy!!!!!!!

- EXCEPT NOT BECAUSE THE FUCKER’S BEEN REPURPOSED. FUCK. FUCK EVERYTHING. a very cool lightjet dogfight ensues, and Beck manages to mostly outrun Clu’s giant-ass Recognizer and escape to Tron with vital information: that giant-ass Recognizer? has a chamber for repurposing programs (or maybe just repurposing Tron), that would, in all likelihood, heal Tron of the virus Dyson infected him with. and so. they….. hatch a crazy plan to get Tron healed, but stop the repurposing process before it completes, which would put Tron back on the top of his game and spell the worst for Clu.

- we had a semi-B-plot in this episode!! Zed trying to convince Mara that the Renegade did not kill Able, and she admits that… her theory doesn’t make sense. and Zed (rightfully) points out that the Renegade cannot be everywhere at once. and then: Asshole of the Month Pavel shows up to make Able’s garage state property, which is always…. he’s just the Worst, okay. The. Worst. I hate him. (not as much as I hate others, but… a lot.)

- ngl I was COMPLETELY CONVINCED that Beck’s plan would not work, that Beck would not get there in time, that Tron would be repurposed and we’d have a Rinzler situation going on……… like. shit. it was very tense there for a moment. I finished the episode 15 mins ago and I STILL feel the intensity of that countdown, holy shit.

- BUT IT WORKED. Tron gives Beck a scare for a moment, then proceeds to utterly beat the crap out of a shitton of Black Guard, while Cutler goes after Beck. and Beck is about to have his head taken off and then decides to SHOW HIMSELF TO CUTLER and try to break through his repurposing and it ALMOST FUCKING WORKS—it does! and when Cutler falls off the edge, Beck tries to save him, he does, and then……. it doesn’t work. Cutler is gone. and Beck has to let him go and watch him die. and this the first program that Beck has allowed to die since he became the Renegade, I’m pretty sure???? (I’d have to rewatch Price of Power to see whether he did there, but I don’t think so??) so that’s gotta be tearing up the poor kid. ugh.

- the Giant-Ass Recognizer crashes right in front of Able’s garage, and Tron’s stuck under a strut, so Beck takes the disguise disc and leads the searching guards on a merry chase—only for Pavel to spot him, and send his guards after the Renegade and then—

- and THEN: Mara comes to a decision. she’s not gonna let this happen. and Zed stands with her. and Link. and that female program from “Grounded”!! and pretty much the entire crew of mechanics! put their feet down and take out their discs and say NO. WE LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER NOW. AND WE WILL NOT LET THIS HAPPEN. (and I bet Zed really enjoyed turning Pavel’s “House of Pain” line against him.)

- Beck and Tron observe this from afar, and…. it’s all all right, mostly? it’s fine?

- except Tesler doesn’t know about the Giant-Ass Recognizer. and he is…. Upset About It. to say the least. and then Paige gets a notice from the scanners at the docks………….

- Clu is coming.

- with Dyson.

- and a shitton of Recognizers and what looks like a giant shooty ship thing and

- and

- and

- cut to black

- and

- and

- credits roll

- “WHAT?!?!?!?!”

- and now I have to live with this cliffhanger, this horrible happening for………… the rest of my life, I guess?????????

- i'm not fucking okay guys

- slightly more okay than yesterday with “No Bounds”

- but still not okay. fuck.

[sluckythewizard]

EVERYONE GGET BAAACK IM ABT TO RAMBLE ABOUT FINN TIDESTRIDER. SPOILERS FOR EEVERYTHINGGGG ALL UP TO EP 113 YOU GOTTA RUN!! YOU GOTTA RUN AWAYYYY!!!!

ITS FASCINATING to speak to someone who has lived 80 years. almost every conversation involves me asking about a story of theirs, places theyve been, things theyve done. i feel like ive seen so much in only 20 something years of life, imagine that 4 times over?

all those stories, to have each and every one of them written down i feel like would be a beautiful thing. record keeping, storing that experience in an edible form, preserved for the future generations to study and cherish. imagine how many stories could be collected from not just 80 years of life, but 200? maybe more? imagine?

i LOVE characters that live to observe and document, keeping all their findings and knowledge and memories in tomes and records. i have several ocs that are functionally immortal, owning vast libraries holding all the knowledge of their lives. one of them is a man losing his memory, who has all his most vital memories tattooed onto his arms, so he will never forget what matters. FINN TIDESTRIDER. A MAGICIAN? WIZARD? SCIENTIST MAYBE. RESEARCHER ABSOLUTELY. CHRONICLER. LIBRARIAN. I HAD NO REAL STRUCTURE IN MIND FOR THIS POST. WHICH IS WHY ITLL SHOCK YA WHEN I BRING UP:

SEXUAL REPRESSION UNDER A CORRUPT RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION. MORMONISM AND SOME OTHER JESUS CENTERED RELIGIONS WILL TELL YOU THAT YOUR BODY IS A SACRED THING. MASTURBATION IS EVIL, IT CORRUPTS YOUR BODY, WHICH SHOULD BE SAVED FOR MARRIAGE. CELIBACY PRESERVES YOUR BODY, FOR YOUR ONE AND ONLY LIFE PARTNER. SEX IS NOT AN ACTIVITY, IT IS SACRED, RESERVED ONLY FOR PROCREATION.

i dont know if the undersea is Perfectly comparable to religions like that, but it is certainly a culture that upholds a very 'the elders are always right and must be followed'. polygamy is punishable by death, releasing spawn is a natural step after marriage, etc etc, i wouldnt be surprised to find that the undersea has a crazy Purity Culture thing going on. to live your whole long life down there, where so much is forbidden, and finally breaking into the surface world to explore the unknown, who knew your own body would be part of that 'unknown'?

in that episode, in the uh. Book. he says 'his first man was a (shiphand)' or whatever idk i dont feel like relistening. but HIS FIRST MAN!! ur telling me Finn Sexguy Tidestrider wasnt banging dudes down in the undersea?? maybe hes just talkin about his first Human but whateeverrrr. is homophobia a thing in the undersea?? i guess itll be a while before we know.

EITHER WAY. to break free from an oppressive climate and finally having the chance to be sexually free. to finally be familiar with your own body and the bodies of others, to LEARN so much about what makes you and others tick, to experience a unique form of intimacy with another. while having sex is not a VITAL experience, to have the freedom and choice to explore that IS SO IMPORTANT...

sex isnt a disgusting thing, its not wrong and its not naughty its not sinful its not gross. but sex also is not sacred, its not a big important thing, its not vital. sex is JUST an activity. a fun thing to do with ur homies or someone youre close to. there are dangers of course, which is why KNOWLEDGE about it is such an important thing. ohhh my god i constantly have a huge ramble locked n loaded about sexual education but ill GET INTO THAT ANOTHER TIME.

TLDR i reaally like finn tidestrider because TO ME, he is not just a wacky funny old sex-having wizard. hes a man who lived a looong fuckin time under a religious climate that discouraged sexual exploration, and after he left, got to spend decades and decades of being FREE to explore. in MY heart.

i get like, haha funny old man yaoi, the shock of the old guy havin sloppy gay fuck sex, but yknow. i dont expect it but it would be neat i think if this sorta thing would ever be taken seriously and explored.

THE TIDESTRIDERS FASCINATE ME. for finn to say YES i LOVE having SEX all the TIME; and for gill to say NO i am NOT interested in sex EVER.. those are BOTH forms of sexual freedom. its the choice!! THE CHOICE!!!!

[ge]

hello just wanted 2 drop by and say that over the course of the past month ive marathoned the entirety of rotmhs comic and up to latest novel ch translation and its been Such a fun journey thank u for advocating for it !!! I tend to burn out on rly action-focused stuff but both the comic and the novel have such a unique way of going abt it that I couldnt stop till finishing both,,,, Ik its been said a billion times but it genuinely is one of the funniest stories ive ever read like I was wheeze-laughing in front of my ma over it at points its such a delight<3 And while I adore the comic and cannot wait to see how it handles everything upcoming the novel rly truly stunned me with how emotionally hard-hitting it gets bc yeah its mainly sillay times and cartoon violence and scheming plotting but the little glimpses scattered thruout of how deeply the world was impacted by the war chung myung lived thru and how absolutely vital martial arts are to him and how others r inspired by him(whether thru his own willpower or just beating the hell out of them lol).. its genuinely whiplash-inducing and im in awe of it a bit. Also think its incredible how even tho the cast gets So Large everyone feels so vibrant and refreshing and almost everybody gets their own moment 2 shine and show off how theyre growing or changing their viewpoint (my faves so far have been Baek Cheon(he is like a baby alligator to me I love him sm) and Yoon Jong(his whole thing during the Nanman arc is Incredible) and Yu Yiseol(my favorite girlie in the world whos backstory Gets me sobad) and way more besides but I will digress 4 now...... Anyways! Apologies for the essay but tysm again and feel free to take this as extra testamonials to anyone considering giving rotmhs a shot u shant regret it♡

U HAVE NO IDEA HOW WIDE I SMILED READING THIS.. YOU GET IT YOU GET IT i truly couldntve put my feelings about rotmhs' intricacies into words better than u have just now u have no idea how happy it makes me seeing people enjoy this novel prompted from my crazy incoherent recommendations alone.... IF ANYONE who hasnt started rotmhs at the time of reading this ask right now, take this testimonial as a sign from a higher power and HURRRYYYY PLEASE

[girderednerve]

did you guys know that work sucks? crazy, right

so i did my first-ever storytime on thursday morning & it was pretty terrible. my performance left several things to be desired but i don't think i was remarkably horrible, i was just kind of stiff & haven't really picked up the trick yet of making little kids pay attention to you. there were >40 people in the storytime room, which is big for our room, & there was a really wide age range (babies in laps -> 7 year olds). most of the parents who came were fine & it was a little disorganized but we did okay. some of the parents were like, really unhelpful, though—totally checked out, texting or chatting while their children were disruptive; one of them did this awkward rude thing during the craft at the end where she started up a conversation with the teen librarian with clear hopes on getting her to do storytime instead? (the teen librarian was helping me & has done storytimes before, so i get why a parent would be like 'can we have the better librarian please,' except this particular parent cornered me for twenty minutes the preceding friday to get my whole life story & so knew for a fact that i am the only youth librarian & also that this was my first storytime before she walked in the door.) this was somewhat disheartening, i will be frank!

the previous youth services team was one children's librarian, one youth assistant, and a teen librarian who was also the assistant director & spent at least half of her time on administrative work. accordingly, youth services looked like four storytimes a week, occasional homeschool art programs, and teen programs which were almost all facilitated by teen volunteers. however, i want to do three storytimes a month (maximum), one loosely structured art program for younger kids, regular elementary/middle programs (graphic novel book club, tabletop RPGs), and bursts of special or more involved programming (e.g., tabletop wind tunnel). the teen librarian wants to offer life skills programs & craft workshops & pull in students at the high school & local community college. our boss keeps asking me about storytime & her about middle school outreach; when asked for specific expectations, organizational priorities, or a vision for our services, we get nothing. we are unhappy.

so i am trying to figure out how i could rework storytime to make myself less miserable, & i think a couple things are going to have to happen. we are going to drop the number of people allowed to register, and require registration. i think storytime being kind of bad (in comparison to what they had before, but probably also in absolute terms) will be helpful, because this program will become less in-demand & so the pressure will drop; there are a lot of libraries that are less than twenty minutes away from us that offer good storytimes, so i don't feel like i am cruelly denying anyone vital early literacy services. i am also going to have to figure out what kind of storytime presenter i am & how much i can get away with doing weird garbage in storytime to amuse myself. (here is an example: i want to do a storytime for workers' memorial day. does that make any sense? no! but we can read 'someone builds the dream' & maybe some version of 'john henry,' decorate hard hats, & dance to "shosholoza.")

if anyone has advice for this situation OR storytime theme suggestions that you think sound fun i would appreciate it but i am mostly just complaining. good luck out there y'all