#its genuinely a godsend

[local-magpie]

if i could marry my electric toothbrush, i'd still be single, because it would reject my neglectful ass. but i'd still go down on one knee for it

[spearxwind]

Honestly i Get It now i do get why people build things constantly

[shooks-stupid-stuff]

after like 3 years of saying i was going to, i've finally started playing len'en

i like this guy a lot

[bmpmp3]

utaformatix... save me..

utaformatix

save me utaformatix

[volfoss]

actually crying and shaking at the news of finding raws for tokyo babylon... i can only hope theyre less yucky

[i-like-gay-books]

been stuck in my apartment with covid for a few days and its starting to feel like im in an alternate dimension

[orangegaytorade]

Favorite past times as a certified keeper of my own peace:

- looking into a post about Sam and Dean being brothers in a comical way and blocking anybody who reblogged it with Wincest

- using the filters on ao3

- deciding on watching something before telling people I'm watching it so that I make up my mind and don't listen to other people's opinions to dissuade me

[yyokkki]

Hiiii~ any headcannons on how we meet/court/rizz/woo malleus or kalim? Or even trey?

Hii!! You're my first writing request!! I'm sorry it took this long though, this trio in particular are hard to write for me,, 100000 character analyseseses later and I'm finally done TT Trey's is kinda mid cuz I'm actually so blank rn but I hope you don't mind!

---

Your mere existence is enough-

Jk jk, to be totally honest with you, even though I love the Malleus Otome Game allegations I don’t think he’s even considered you like that-

For one, you are first friend and rather than romance he’s more focused on the platonic bond you have.

It’ll take some time for him to see you as a romantic interest, most likely after he manages to befriend others at NRC.

Once that hurdle is passed, we can get to the wooing phase >]

He’s someone who has a very limited knowledge on human customs beyond what he’s learned in Biology class so you’d have to make a trip to the library to read up on fae courting rituals.

Offerings. Lots and lots of offerings. Ice cream, precious jewels, pretty rocks, basically anything you think is nice.

He’ll be quick to catch on.

I do think it’ll take some time for him to accept your feelings. He doesn’t know what it’s like to be in love and he can’t tell if his heartbeat speeding up whenever you’re around is because you’re his best friend or the love of his life.

That’s where peepaw Lilia comes in!

The self-proclaimed master of love himself!

He probably got impatient and decided to just speed things up by having the love talk with Malleus 50 years ahead of the schedule.

(Lilia is really cheering you two on. He’s grown on you as an individual and sees the genuine care you two have for each other.)

Malleus dates to marry, (It was straight up marriage before so thank Lilia) so he brings up the topic of royalty and its duties and dangers. 

He understands if you back out but if you stay? Prepare yourself, for when a Draconia falls, they never climb back out.

Now, making Kalim Al-Asim fall for you is no easy feat. It’s easy to have him like you, sure! But love?

He’s accepted that his future marriage will be arranged by his parents, and he plans to make the best out of it!

But if one day he discovered his smile got a tad brighter around you than anyone else?

Kalim is full of hope but he isn’t innocent or dumb. He knows how he feels and he knows what would happen if he were to act on said feelings. 

Your life would be in constant danger to the point that one day you might come to hate him and he dreaded that possibility.

So instead of running into your arms, he keeps his distance. It’s not obvious enough for you to notice but he keeps himself steadily behind a line.

To earn his love is to earn his trust.

Trust that you’d never make yourself unhappy just for him.

Trust that you won’t be burdened by his emotions.

Trust that you’d always appreciate his existence.

Trust that he doesn’t need to do anything grand to keep your love.

Trust that no matter what, you’d never be able to hate him.

Trey hates conflict. So much of his life is based around avoiding it.

But after Riddle’s incident he’s come to realise that letting something stew for too long will make the pot boil over.

Thus, someone who balances him out, knowing when to act to stop a problem in its tracks would be a godsend.

Someone who despite his ‘normalcy’ loves him for him. Not the completely average student, the kind and caring vice dormleader of Heartslabyul or the dental obsessed freak. Just Trey Clover. For all that he is.

Besides that, he’s always had a longing for domestic bliss. Icing wiped onto noses, matching aprons and the like.

If you were willing to live that out with him it would be all he needed.

While he does enjoy the occasional flirt, wooing him is as simple as that. Calling him out, loving every part of him and savouring the treats he’d made with you in mind.

Next thing you know, you’re receiving ulterior motive cupcakes every week!

[capsyst]

I am deeply touched that so many people enjoyed my little animation of Technoblade. I genuinely didn’t think that my post would get spread much, if at all, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for reblogging it and giving me such kind words.

While Procreate does include a playback feature, unfortunately the playback for how I animated this is 45 minutes long and well beyond the capacities of tumblr’s compression and limits. And since I don’t yet have a YouTube channel to host such a lengthy video, the best I can to is provide this quick and dirty breakdown of my process.

I animate the roughs in procreate and you can see that I am VERY loose with my initial pass. I often forget if I’m drawing him with 4 or 5 fingers, I changed his outfit halfway through the animation from a draping cape to a coat, and proportions fly all around. The most important aspect of this initial pass is just to get the timing and movement right.

I then do a second cleanup pass. It is not shown here, but this is what the lineart will eventually be based on. This pass is to refine the art and solidify it. Fix anatomy issues, those finger and clothing issues, and just generally work on sticking closer to the model I had chosen for my reference.

Then I do the lineart pass. I did this in Procreate Dreams by importing the animation as a video, lowering the opacity to 50%, and using it as a guide for the lineart. Here I refine the animation further and clean up any lingering problems.

Finally once the inking is done I color the animation. In Dreams I realized that groups are a godsend for this process. Every color was its own separate layer. But once I finished a layer I could group it together and Dreams treats it like it’s own singular track on the timeline. Then once I finished another color I would group those together with the group I already finished. And then again and again and so on until eventually I only had one layer for all the lineart and color. But if I ever needed to fix anything I could expand those groups and go directly to the frame in question. It’s a really handy feature!

Because he looks out the window at one point I wanted to have the light cast shadows on him. So I colored all the frames before and after the window in a darkened pallet, and the frames where he is at the window in the actual colors. Then I animated a shadow layer that I placed over those frames where he’s at the window at 30%.

For the background I drew an extra wide scene in Procreate and imported it into Dreams. I included an outside, and inside, and three curtains. Two closed, one open. With all of this in Dreams I then added the camera move, and a warp effect on the open curtain to make it seem like it was pulled open quickly. It was surprisingly easy to do!

As a final touch I added a reddish tint to the end when he goes full crazy.

If anyone has any questions about the animation process, or about Dreams or anything, please feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to answer as I can.

Again, thank you for enjoying this animation. I’m deeply touched by the response.

As an added bonus, here’s my 3 favorite smear frames!

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Perfect Draw

Shoutouts to this being one of my favorite queer developed TTRPGs in a while and it only fully came out after I had chosen my pride month line up

Touchstones: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Cardfight Vanguard

Genre: Card Game anime, Shonen

What is this game?: Perfect Draw is a tabletop rpg about card games and the kids who play them

How's the gameplay?: Perfect Draw is a powered by the apocalypse game, more info on that here, the narrative bits have some interesting mechanics that play into other systems, but that's not really why you're here. While Perfect Draw's narrative roleplay systems are certainly competent and fun, the REAL meat comes in the form of its extensive in-depth combat system. Players get to build their own deck of custom cards, using either custom or pre-made effects, and get to duke it out in a simplistic albeit very fun TCG, a major thing in the game design is the idea that Winning will always be a hard bargain, and sometimes winning might be the incorrect choice!

What's the setting (If any) like?: Perfect Draw technically is setting agnostic, but it does have a default setting in Shuffle City, a city inspired by the many different cities in Yu-Gi-Oh (Domino City, Heartland City, arguably Neo Domino from 5ds?), its a large city with many strange and unique characters, and a strange underbelly of mystical powers fighting each other for power! Perfect Draw's setting is very loose however, only really requiring the vague idea of magic (kinda) and card games to really get started. What's the tone?: Perfect Draw often has the tone of the anime its based on, high action friendship-fueled powers abound! It's very cute and optimistic, but I've seen darker games work decently well

Session length: Combat can take a little bit, but 2-3 hours is realistic

Number of Players: Perfect draw is, very deliberately, built around smaller groups, 4 players (including GM) is advised

Malleability: As said above, PD does not have a setting, you could theoretically run anything within it!

Resources: This is sadly where the game falters a bit, right now there's a few unofficial Tabletop Simulator add-ons, but that's about it, there's also an official card maker, a card balance calculator, and a few homebrew playbooks, also there's a huuuuge sheet of community made keywords for cards (some of which are written by yours truly!)

I'm a MASSIVE fan of card game anime, they're just so genuine and silly in ways that not a lot of media nowadays is. so seeing a game that appeals so much to me was a godsend! It's a fantastic game made by fantastic people, and I highly recommend it

[withgreatpowercomesmyfuckingdick]

Hi! Imma do something rare and actually make content, but its 11 at night and i just had a brain worm

for those of you that don’t know, i work at an accounting office. we do taxes. it is tax season. and now im thinking abt how AGSZC does taxes and what their papers are like and im inflicting it on the rest of you even if its gibberish

Angeal: A godsend. Keeps his forms in order and filed properly, calculates everything else himself like a good man. Papers honestly aren’t too bad, maybe 10-12 just because of his career/insurance plus his doubtless donations to charity, but aside from that. straightforward and done at his kitchen table

Genesis: A fucking NIGHTMARE. no doubt pays someone else to do it. and for fucks sake, i know he invests. constantly and consistently and probably in anything he thinks stands the slightest chance against shinra on the market. his 1099-B is a mess and definitely Not Totaled, so his is the bullshit you have to insert one. investment. at. a time. He’s the type that keeps fucking calling too, I can just tell. but, aside from the 1099-B, he’s probably got simple stuff as well. probably several 1099-INTs from several different bank accounts, maybe a couple 1098s floating around from vacation houses or some shit.

Sephiroth: Does his own. In ridiculously early. Makes almost no personal purchases so hardly has anything to pay. I can’t imagine not having a last name or not knowing his birthday doesn’t end up a legal problem somehow, so he likely has to walk directly into a damn tax office to say hey this is me and this is my shit no, someone isn’t stealing my identity. has one singular document and it’s his W-2. Which is. Fucking astronomical. Like, the number doesn’t even look right. His paycheck as a SOLDIER isn’t taxed, so he doesn’t really get much back on his refund. The only first without a healthcare /insurance form because why tf would Sephiroth have healthcare? What’s he gonna do, get sick?

not getting into how doing his own taxes was definitely a fight between him and Hojo at some point and ended up getting hashed out in a board room. Hojo didn’t like him having the autonomy of filing for himself instead of being claimed ad Hojo’s ‘dependent’. Sephiroth deadass threatened to go to court abt it. The President told Hojo to suck it up so they didn’t have to deal with scandal, Hojo wouldn’t tell Seph his birthday to be difficult, and here we are

Zack: Panicking. Late. Doesn’t know if his forms came in the mail, doesn’t know where he put them most of the time. Scrambles around for a fuck ton of receipts, ultimately has to request Shinra send him his shit again. DEFINITELY pays someone else to do it. W-2, 1095-A, 1099-C(s)(he has several debts i can feel it i love him but he screams bad financial decisions), probably some shit for his bike too. He customs it so I can see him listing some parts he buys for it as work expenses. Jokingly puts some money he gave aerith for flowers and what he spent to make her wagon as donations to charity and it actually goes through because the church is still considered a legal entity. Definitely has to pay late fees.

Cloud: Pays Tifa to do it. Filing for both of them is a nightmare cause all their shit burnt in Nibelheim, so once Edge gets right with the WRO they have to do all their paperwork from scratch and get reassigned SSNs. He genuinely has a fuckton of paperwork from doing the Strife Delivery Service. Luckily, only ‘employee’ he has is Tifa, and even then she doesn’t do things regularly aside from pick up the phone. Doesn’t make his business an LLC until he’s literally forced to due to his number of clients and someone trying to sue him for damages. 1099-NEC for TIfa for sure, then once he’s an LLC, some yearly maintenance to keep legal. Mileage and gas expenses go CRAZY on his self employment form, I fucking bet. I bet Cloud’s handwriting is shit tho. Tifa’s at her desk counting up his gains and losses for fucking ages because his fives look too similar to sixes. Eventually she wrangles him into installing some shit on his phone that counts it up, if only to cure her headache. Funnily enough, he does get veteran benefits from what’s left of Shinra’s shit, reparations of sorts, but he doesn’t keep it. All goes to charity, so that ends up in the books too.

alright, that was unnecessarily in depth and way longer than i planned. good night LMAO

[honeybeedrabble]

what it is hoe, best writer ever, can i please request an abbacchio x reader but christmas themed?? like mistletoe and santa hats and passionate smut pls pls pls 🎄🎅

This is gonna make a great gift… for christmas…

CW: piv (unprotected so be safe), cream pie (don’t do thaaaat…), very soft honestly, lots of fluff, breast play, mistletoe 🤭🤭, lmk if i missed anything.

Team Bucciarati was coming over for the annual Christmas dinner party you and your boyfriend hosted at your house. The food was ready and the table was set, however, there was a crucial element that was missing at this festive feasting.

“Oh c’mon, Leone. What ever happened to your Christmas cheer?” you giggled, setting a floppy santa hat on your boyfriends head.

He sat on the loveseat, arms crossed as the red and white hat adorned his grumpy face so perfectly.

“What are you talking about?” he huffed, adjusting the hat as the small white puffball swung from side to side.

“Look around, isn’t the place missing something?” you asked. Abbachio looked around, an eyebrow cocked.

“No… the stockings are hung, the trees been decorated for weeks, there are about a hundred lights in this room alone, and I genuinely believe we wouldn’t be able to fit a single poinsettia anywhere else in this house.”

You softly pouted, leaning in the doorway from the living room to the dining room, tilting your head to the side and looking up at the bare ceiling.

“Are you sure we aren’t missing something?” Just then something clicked inside of him. The mistletoe. He tried to hide his blush, but you knew this look all too well and felt your lips tug into a smirk.

“Last year Mista wouldn’t let up until we kissed under that god forsaken ceiling bush…” you couldn’t help but blush yourself as you reminisced.

“Come on, it was cute.”

“It was indecent…” he said, a slight hint of humor in his voice. “I don’t see why you feel the need to try to impress them so much with all your decorations.”

“Because it means we get to spend time together making this place a home… our home.” You added softly, walking over to the nearby coffee table and grabbing the mistletoe.

Abbachio stood up from his seated position on the loveseat, walking over to you where he would gently take the plant from your hands and hang it right above you on the ceiling with a nearby thumbtack.

“Well when you put it like that…” he smirked, towering over you as he positioned the decorative plant just right.

“So you’ve come around after all?”

“Well I’m no Scrooge, and if doing this means I get to see you happy then I don’t care what they’ll ask of us tonight.” Abbachio looked almost proud of his decorative skills, admiring the perfectly symmetrical placement.

You looked up at him and smiled, wrapping your arms around his waist and burying your face into his chest. He looked down at you with a curious face, interested in your sudden display of affection.

“Looks like it’s just us under this thing.”

“It seems so, and what of it, hmm?” he asked, his large hand caressing the back of your head and smoothing your hair down from its ruffled place against the santa hat.

“And it means we have to kiss now.”

“Oh really? I wasn’t aware,” he teased, something that was rare from him and heavily welcomed by you.

“Well then now you are, and you need to fulfill your duties and kiss me,” you smiled, an arm unwrapping around his waist as your hand snaked up his abdomen and lay against the warm skin of his chest.

He bent down to your height, gently cupping your face in his hands and placed his lips against yours in a soft kiss. You always loved this, the way he held you so gently, the way he seemed to calm even the slightest of nerves in you with his kiss alone. It was moments like these you considered him a godsend.

He gently caressed your cheek bone with his thumb, then broke the kiss as gently as he started it. You opened your eyes to see him and felt your heart ache at the look he gave you. His eyes were blown wide, lilac hair softly drooping towards his face. You smiled as you collected his hair and tucked it behind his ear. That stupid santa hat on his head knocking the lock of hair back in his face. You two giggled, then looked back in eachothers eyes.

You hadn’t realized how anxious you really were for this party until you felt how relaxed you were now. It’s as if all that time you spent running around for gifts and wrapping them, mixed with the troublesome time of decorating the house and preparing the food hadn’t happened to you at all. You knew in a way that was true. Who was there to tell you Bucciarati’s jacket size when you didn’t know? Who was there to help you with the food when you still needed to go grocery shopping? And who was there to help put the star on the tree because you couldn’t reach? It was all Abacchio. In your heart you always knew you loved him, but now you were finally presented with the knowledge of your devotion for him. As if it was something that kept the world going.

“Have you opened the wine? You have that heavy lidded look to you,” Abbachio asked, thumb still caressing your soft skin.

“No no, it’s not that.” You smiled, eyes shutting as you tilted your head into his hand, placing your own on his wrist.

“Well then, beautiful, what is it?” He spoke so softly, something he regularly did to you out of respect.

“It’s you, Leone. It’s all you.” You opened your eyes, watching how his cheeks warmed up at your sentiments. “You know I love you. I couldn’t ask for a better gift than you, in fact you might’ve just ruined all presents anyone may have gotten me tonight.”

“I hope that’s not true, I have something special planned.” He smiled. “But regardless, I was thinking the same thing.”

He kissed you again, more hunger this time. His arms wrapped around your waist as yours interlocked around his neck, your jaw going slack as he licked along your lower lip. A sigh escaped your mouth, one of your hands tangled in his long, silky hair. You could feel his smirk against your lips, his teeth running along your lower lip to tease you as you threw your head back.

“It’s shocking to me how easily you can switch on the flip of a dime for me,” he softly cooed, bending down further to lick a stripe up your neck.

You shuddered as he latched into your jaw, sucking a small hickey just underneath it that would be impossible to hide. Your hands continued to tangle in the back of his head, legs threatening to give under his massive presence if it weren’t for your arms holding on tight.

“I love it when you get like this,” he whispered sensually in your ear, his grip on your waist becoming more firm as he kissed you again, swaying side to side with you.

He gradually led you over to the loveseat he was sat in previously, moving gracefully almost as if he were dancing with you there. He sat down on the loveseat and pulled you into his lap, stroking your neck as you looked deep into his eyes that twinkled in the soft light of the christmas tree.

His hands were now on your hips, guiding you closer til you could feel the heartbeat pounding in his chest, along with the growing erection hitching in his pants as you slid further into him. You shuddered at the feeling, your skin growing hotter and the exchange becoming steamier.

There was an small yet audible groan rumbling in his throat when you shifted your hips just right, his jaw falling slack, urging you to explore eachothers mouths more on the velvety couch. His large hands slid up your back, sending chills up your spine until they settled at your upper back, pushing you further into his chest.

You ran your hands up his chest, landing on his neck, you lightly moaned as you felt goosebumps rise on his skin as you two continued making out in the living room. You could feel every subtle moment, the smooth curves of his muscular neck, the was his tongue caressed your lips before diving back in your mouth, the way his muscles tensed when you ground against him just right, the texture of his long hair as you pushed it back for more leverage. By now he was sure that all he wanted was you, he was also sure he’d be replaying this moment over and over again throughout the evening if he found himself alone.

“Abbachio…” you whimpered his name softly, legs shivering in excitement, the movements only arousing his hunger for you.

Abbachios hold on you became tighter, he wasn’t even aware of it in the heat of the passion. His hands left your back and moved up to the front of your blouse, unbuttoning it and feeling up your soft skin that was just underneath it.

As your blouse opened up so did the rest of you, with a sigh your head fell to the side, exposing yourself even further. Abbachio was pleased as he unclasped your bra, his tongue caressing your cleavage before your breasts spilled out of their confines.

Quickly you reached for his pants and undid the button and zipper, signaling you wanted them off. You got up on your knees which was enough for him to slide off, a strange hardness hitting you inner thigh as he slid them off. You ignored it, preferring the hardness hitting your stomach right now.

“You know we’re going to have to make this quick, if I’m not mistaken I think everyone’s about to be on their way soon.” Abbachio turned his head to the large grandfather clock next to the roaring fireplace.

“Trust me, we can get this done pretty quick.”

You pulled your panties to the side, your red skirt making his access easier. Delighted, his hand lifted it up caressing your folds with his thumb. You shivered, grasping his shaft and replacing his fingers for his tip, running it up and down, spreading his warm precum along your clit. You bit your lip when he smiled devilishly at you, wanting to grab you by your waist and plunge himself deep into your cunt, but stopped himself when he realized it would be at his pace instead of yours. It was something he did to let you warm up the way you saw fit.

Lucky for him you sunk down onto his length soon enough and you could feel his muscles tense up when you took him until he bottomed out. You put your hands on the headrest of the couch and kissed him on his forehead.

“Mmmm…” he hummed, face turning a pale pink when you put a twist in your hips. “Enjoying yourself up there?”

“Y-yeah,” you grunted, pushing yourself up only to slide back down into his lap with a breathy moan.

He placed a hand on one of your tits, his index and thumb rolling a nipple after he spat on it. You stiffened up, then arched your back, feeling him throb inside of you.

“Seems like y-you are too,” you let out, feeling juices run down your thighs.

“You read me like a book,” his other hand was now firm on the underside of your thigh, guiding you up and down his length as he deliciously stretched you out.

You let him take control for you, his slippery cock penetrating you over and over again, pushing against spots inside of you he was well acquainted with. He smiled when he watched your face contort, eyes watering with pleasure.

He moaned your name, gently nibbling your earlobe as he held you up and lifted his hips into you, his pubic bone grinding against your clit making you see stars. His pace began to become more and more rough, your cunt squeezing his girth tightly as his smooth tip explored your insides.

Abbachio became flustered as he watched you writhe in his lap, unable to help himself he turned you both over and grabbed the outer sides of your thighs. He realigned himself with you enterance and you both let out matching moans when he thrusted inside. You both got louder when you realized how much deeper he could be inside of you. In and out, over and over, the mix of noises between your gutteral groans and the squelching of your cunt only made him pound you harder.

You watched as his hat threatened to fall off and when it almost did you grabbed his face and brought it closer to yours, making out now as he fucked you senseless. You moaned in his mouth while you wrapped your legs around his torso, holding on for dear life.

“It’s good?” He asked, voice husky now as he felt you flutter around him.

“S-so good! Ngh- love… i love you!” you cried out, diving back in for another kiss.

You felt yourself shake, your stomach churn, and body burn hot as you came hard. You thought he looked so pretty with his hat on as he sunk his teeth into his lip, grunting while he rearranged your organs with his cock.

Soon enough he couldn’t help himself as he spilled his cum deep in your walls, you felt the way he shuddered and knew it was over before he did. He almost whimpered as he drained himself inside of you, your kisses became sloppy through both your orgasms. When he finally pulled out he noticed how late it was and was anxious to gain his composure.

“Shit… Theyll be here any minute now! I’m sorry my love, I’ll make this up to you later tonight- I promise!” He panted as his chest rose and fell, leaning over to kiss you one more time before rushing over to your linen closet to find a towel.

You reclasped your bra and buttoned your shirt, finally tossing off that santa hat. You bent down to pick up his pants so he could put them on easier when a small red box fell out of his pocket. It had a silver bow on the top and you smiled at how cute it was. Absentmindedly you opened it and froze when you saw a small ring sitting in the middle.

“Lay back and I’ll take care of the mess, okay?” Abbachio asked entering the room again. He also froze when he saw you holding his ring. “So you found it…” He sighed before letting out a small laugh.

“I was planning on proposing after presents and… at the very least while I was wearing pants, but I guess these things can’t be helped.” He walked over to you and sat down next to you.

“Marry me?” He asked, taking one of your hands and placing it on his chest, heart beating a million miles a minute.

You threw your arms around him, crying happily as you kissed his face all over, muttering soft “yes”’s over and over again. He placed the ring on your finger and grabbed your face gently in his hands. He looked up for a moment and you did too, seeing a mistletoe you must’ve forgotten hanging right above you. You two laughed softly until there was a knock at the door. You jumped and ushered Abbachio out of the room to change as you quickly cleaned yourself and fixed your hair.

Soon enough you opened the door and we’re greeted by all your friends, each one holding their own gifts for eachother. It didn’t take long for them to notice your ring and when Abbachio came out they all congratulated you profusely. Dinner went well, the whole party did. There wasn’t a moment you weren’t grateful for your fiancé, and as the night went on you realized that he wasn’t lying about making it up to you.

AN: happy holidays everyone !! i’m very grateful to have such amazing people interacting with my stuff and i hope everyone had a great holiday season !!

[bbyurnogoodforme]

Some of my safe foods/meals just for myself to keep track of!

Popcorn! Air popped without any butter or salt is around 30 cals per cup! unseasoned popcorn just tastes better than popcorn with butter imo <3

Sugar free gum bc duh! I really like the watermelon flavored gums cuz they taste soso good and they fill my sweet tooth!

These low cal cookies! 50 cals each, love baking these and pairing them with black coffee <3

Cauliflower rice! 27 cals per cup, and super filling! I dont usually eat it by itself, I like to mix it with some protein or veggies!

Rice cakes bc you know the drill, 35 cals each yum yum, I usually pair plain rice cakes with greek yogurt and a few of these stevia-sweetened dark chocolate chips!

Diet Arizona Green Tea! Tbh just any diet drinks, but this ones a personal fan fav! 0 cals, as all drinks should be <3

Shirataki noodles! Tons of fiber, only 5 cals, and filling! Make sure to look up a good way to prep them! I usually boil and stir fry them before eating them!

Boiled eggs! 78 cals each, but still super good for you <3

Teas, teas, and more teas! Theres a tea for everything from metabolism speeding to sleep aid, drink some tea!

Greek Yogurt! This isn't a revelation I've figured out by myself ofc but still! 100 cals per cup, and super healthy! Plus its a great substitute in a lot of cooking!!!!

Canaloupe! 19 calories for a WHOLE wedge! A whole medium sized canaloupe is 180 cals!

Pickles! 7 cals each and suuuuper yummy imo <3 cucumbers are also a major safe food of mine I have them almost every day for a snack!

Soup!!!!! Tomato soup has around 80-100 cals for a whole bowl and its so yummy imo!!!!

Casabella peppers! (yall know those little peppers at in-n-out?) 10 cals each, literally any peppers are my favs, but my friends love to go to in-n-out together with me and I always love getting a diet coke and some casabellas to munch on <3

Chicken! Just in general! 120 for a whole chicken breast is the best thing ever <3

Almond milk! I've always been lactose sensitive so I've never genuinely had regular milk, plus almond milk is 30 cals per cup and full of calcium which is super important for hair and nails!

Miso Soup! My dad's made this stuff for me since I was a wee little kid, its just one of my favorite foods, period! When i found out it was only 50 cals per cup I was absolutely THRILLED

Healthy Choice power bowl microwaved meals. Oh my goodness absolute godsend! 170 for a whole DINNER!!!! Super filling, high protein, literally just put it in the microwave and bam omgggg its so nice to have these when I need them <3

Strawberries, Watermelon, blueberries! Oh my! <3

Low cal versions of my favorite meals! I've been experimenting with a bunch of low calorie recipes of different stuff and they've all been great! If you like cooking, it can be a great way to keep busy and keep with your goals! My favs so far are low cal pancakes, low cal tortilla wraps, low cal margarita pizza, etc!

I'll add more as I discover more! Stay safe <3

[annabolinas]

Tudor Week 2023:

Day 5: Most Used Tudor Related Resource: A Non-Comprehensive List of My Favorite Tudor Books

I know I said this wasn't comprehensive, and it really isn't; I used 63 secondary sources and 9 primary source collections for my novel alone. These are just my favs, the ones I go back to regularly, plus one surprise. Warning: this is a long post. *crying emoji*

Tudor England: A History - Genuinely the best one-volume history of Tudor England out there. If you're a Tudor buff, GET THIS BOOK!!! There's not only refreshingly balanced interpretations of every Tudor monarch, but Wooding is careful to focus on ordinary people in Tudor England, with chapters dedicated to their religion, literature, relations with the wider world, authority and dissent, and more! Plus, the footnotes and Further Reading are an absolute delight, chock-full of fascinating research. This is academic history at its absolute best.

The Tudor Chronicles - Ever forgot what important stuff happened in Tudor England in 1505? 1563? 1589? This is the book for you. It's a year-by-year look at Tudor history. This was an invaluable book while writing the novel; it really provided a chronological framework on which I could structure the story. Absolutely essential.

Henry VIII by J.J. Scarisbrick - Despite being published in 1968, this remains a classic biography of Henry VIII, one of the very best out there. While Scarisbrick has aged poorer in some areas than others (i.e. his underestimation of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Parr), his treatment of Henrician foreign policy and the struggle for the annulment has IMO never been bettered. Plus, he has a whole chapter on matrimonial canon law if you want to better understand the background to Henry's quest for an annulment from Catherine of Aragon.

Henry VIII by Lucy Wooding - I actually think Wooding is a better biography of Henry than Scarisbrick, if only because this was published in 2015. Understanding yet never excusing Henry, and with balanced and well-argued interpretations of every historiographical controversy in his reign, this is a book I keep coming back to! Plus, she manages to be sympathetic to Catherine, Anne, and Henry in the Great Matter, no small feat.

Henry VIII: The Mask of Royalty - A bit of an odd book, this is a psychological profile of Henry in his last years, 1540-7. Nevertheless, Smith is careful to never armchair diagnose Henry with anything, but rather bring out facets of his personality which are often ignored, like his obsession with honor and deep-rooted conviction in his close relationship with God as an anointed monarch. This was really helpful in fleshing out Henry as the main character in my novel.

Henry VIII: The Decline and Fall of a Tyrant - If Lacey Baldwin Smith focuses mainly on Henry's psyche from 1540-7, Robert Hutchinson provides a more general picture of these last years. He's particularly insightful on Henry's declining health, his war with France, court factionalism, and the economic woes England faced as a result. I wasn't as familiar with the non-matrimonial aspects of Henry's reign when I was writing the novel, so this book proved a godsend to me.

Six Wives - I know, I know, David Starkey is a racist POS. But he somehow managed to make the (so-far; I hope Suzannah Lipscomb will change this) best overview of the six wives. Weir is downright unreliable and Fraser repeats a number of myths and is a strong CoA partisan. It's Starkey who debunks myths and offers intriguing interpretations of everything from the dating of Anne and Percy's relationship to proof of Foxe's story of Catherine Parr's near-arrest.

Catherine of Aragon by Giles Tremlett - Why it took seventy years to supersede Gareth Mattingly's biography on Catherine, I don't know, but Tremlett did it. This is a richly detailed, fair book on Catherine, and while he is sympathetic to Catherine, he doesn't present her as a plaster saint. Still, it's hard to feel anything but admiration for her after this biography. This is the closest book we'll get to knowing her as a person.

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives - This book deserves to be called "the Anne Boleyn bible". An underrated feature of this biography is its fascinating and insightful analysis of Anne's faith, presenting convincing evidence of her evangelical beliefs, and her artistic patronage. Even if I don't agree with his theory of her fall, this is still the best Anne biography out there.

Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves by Elizabeth Norton - In a small field of books about these two queens, Norton manages to produce the best ones. Due to the paucity of evidence, there's naturally a lot of speculation and use of "might have", but she does the best of any book at producing a picture of these two queens as actual people (with thorough citations to boot).

Young and Damned and Fair by Gareth Russell - I feel I should clarify that I don't agree with Russell's analysis of Catherine Howard's relationship with Manox and Dereham; it was not consensual (although I think Dereham groomed her into thinking it was). That being said, Russell sweeps away many of the myths and misconceptions about Catherine to present a very empathetic, yet never biased book about this tragic queen. Plus, he includes a wealth of details about court life and anecdotes about Catherine not found in other bios.

Catherine Parr by Susan James - James is practically the expert on Catherine Parr; it was James who really proved that Catherine was far more passionate and lively than popular belief has it. Thus, it's no surprise this biography is superb. James is particularly good on Catherine's 1544 regency, household, and her Protestant beliefs, really giving you a detailed picture of her faith.

Letters and Papers (L&P) of Henry VIII and the Calendar of State Papers, Spain (CSP Spain) - These two Victorian primary source collections are invaluable resources for researching Henry's reign. They're collections of summaries (and sometimes transcripts) of primary sources for Henry's reign. This is the bedrock of nearly all books about his reign, so much so that excerpts of it are part of my set texts for next term. Plus, there's so much in it; it's a never-ending-buffet for Tudor buffs.

Dress at the Court of Henry VIII - What color shoes did Catherine Parr like to wear the most? How did clothes communicate royal status and political leanings, for both Henry and his wives? How did Henry's children, courtiers, and servants dress on different occasions? This book is the one-stop shop for Henrician fashion. My only complaint is that its illustrations are B&W, but if you combine this with the drawings of gowns in Herbert Norris' Tudor Costume and Fashion, you're pretty much set.

Elizabeth I - The later Tudors aren't really my wheelhouse, but I had to include this amazing biography of Elizabeth I. Forget Weir or Plowden, this is the best biography of Elizabeth out there, and it's a masterpiece of historical biography, period. This book manages to grapple with everything that happened in Elizabeth's nearly 70-year life without getting bogged down in details and preserving a sympathetic, nuanced picture of the woman behind the queenly mask. 10/10, highly recommend!!

[pennyserenade]

there is a plethora of good x-files fanfics out there and i've just started to develop the problem of reading a very good one and not being able to find it again. because of this - and because all of these are genuinely novel worthy and the writers are INSANELY talented - i've decided to compile a list of some of my absolute favorites. some of these are from ao3 & some of them i found on other websites, such as x-libris and the gossamer project. i hope you enjoy these as much as i did and do. they mean the world to my romantic heart.

incrementum by lepusarcticus (explicit) - this was the first x-files fanfic i ever remember reading. i was trying desperately not to spoil the show for myself and i found out that this fic followed along the narrative, which was a godsend. i got the best of both worlds: a delectable, angsty passionate mulder/scully fic (in which they fucked from day 1) and no spoilers. it was so so so so fun reading this alongside watching the show. this writer is brilliant

omens by lepusarcticus (explicit) - i was not lying when i said this writer is brilliant. this entire thing reads like a novel and i could not for the life of me put it down when i stumbled upon it. its angsty and interesting, and could very well be another episode of the x-files because the case mulder and scully are one is so compelling. it is not easy feat to write something this good. chris carter, eat your heart out

triptych by iconicscullyoutfits (not rated but i'd say mature) - THIS WAS SO FUCKING GOOD. i can't speak highly enough about this one. its an au where mulder is married to diana fowley when he meets scully. its so so so so amazing. like i'd very well call this literature because it expanded my mind (i learned a great deal from this, especially from the chapter ice). i think diana was a very interesting character and i feel as though this fic treats her with the interest she deserves. the writing in this one is simply insane too - i'm envious of it and so so so in love with it.

love in all the wrong places by sisterspooky1013 (explicit) - mulder and scully accidentally have cybersex with each other while trying out online dating group chats. what more can i say? (also i applaud this author for making mulder's online handle allshookup61. that's so fucking mulder)

universal invariants (set from 1 to early season 2) and its sequel, laws of motion (set season 5) (both explicit) by syntax6 - these both hold such a special place in my heart. it is an au that takes on the idea that scully's bf (who was cut from the pilot, never to see the light of day) stays in the picture and there when dana starts working with fox. universal invariants makes me want to weep to because dana and fox are both so young and earnest and stupid! and laws of motion is great because they're still stupid but they're wiser about it. this is very dana and fox. i love, love, love the parts of universal invariants that cover dana's abduction arc. god these are GOOD.

arizona highways by fialka (explicit) - if you're one of those girlies who really likes an x-files episode that has a lot of case-file and scully going on, this one is FOR you. it is angsty in the worst of ways, covering more of what we see in the episodes christmas carol and emily. this is another one that i would call a novel, both in length and content. it is great and it is a very good dive into the character of scully and how she handles problems in her life

heart's desire by malibusunset (explicit) - this another really great scully-focused fic, where mulder is being a bit of an ass - as he is prone to - but she makes him come to his senses accidentally. i love a good jealous mulder and i love it even more when scully isn't exactly aware she's making him that way. this is so good that i stayed up an entire night reading it. you should too!

the guts / the incision / cauterize by wtfmulder (not all of the chapters are explicit but i would call this explicit in general) - this one is so fucking angsty it made me ache incredibly. it is a sucker punch to the gut that only the lovers (or rather, dedicated haters) of the diana/fox/dana situationship can truly appreciate. also, if you like your mulder a bit of an ass (i do! i think he really can be! i think its good to talk about!) this author is for you!!!

doorway to gods by wtfmulder (explicit) - a fic where mulder & scully go investigate a supposed portal to other dimensions shortly after scully recovers from cancer, and they both find themselves in separate hellish alternative universes where other mulder & scullys aren't doing so well. this is angsty, TOP TIER angsty. some of the scenes from this i think about often still and i read this a month ago. also this is hot. i can't not mention that small fact

the tiger complex by longgunguy (i'd say r for graphic violence but no sex or anything) - i'll be real, there isn't a whole lot of mulder/scully romance in this thing, aside from the a hand hold and a lot of quiet affection but this IS the x-files. in another world, this fic is an episode and it is brutal. you'll be biting your nails as you make your way through this one. its got a great cast of original characters and an incredible case-file, up there with an episode like ice.

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

MAC HI don't mind me i just finished the genloss founders cut and im putting my ful lreview in ur inbox bc u said u weren't gonna watch it i think but i want 2 share my thoughts with someone who will not rip me to shreds for criticizing it even slightly <3

OK. I'M NOT GONNA LIE. IT KINDA SLAPPED. maybe i just think it was really good in comparison to the original four hours of streams that dragged on. i honestly thought the original streams of genloss were longer but NO all three streams add up to about four hours???? it just felt so much longer when i originally watched it i guess!!! u can understand why i am sure. but the founders cut was like two and a half and oh my goddddd cutting out a lot of it made such a huge difference. holy shit. like i definitely did get bored and skip through a little bit but honestly i didn't skip through much!! every time i got to a part where i was like "oh fuck not THIS bit that goes on for 30-45 minutes god dammit" it ended up being like maybe ten minutes at most which was SUCH A GODSEND. i am delighted to report that they cut the half hour cooking bit in the first episode down to like 7-8 minutes <3 the best surprise ranboo could have given me tbh. like with the way things were cut down and framed differently i actually laughed at a couple points????? WILD. did not think i would find any genuine comedy here. lowkey there were points that were funny. insane

honestly with the unfunny bits being cut down, it actually let the slightly more serious lore bits shine more, and the payoff for when it got to the third episode felt SO much more deserved. like. the original streams i'd probably give a 3/10 collectively and that's being generous but i would unironically say the founder's cut deserves like a 7/10. maybe a 7.5 if i found it in myself to ignore the bad special effects. (there was still plenty of bad comedy ngl i still don't know why charlie slimecicle's face was superimposed on a towel. that scene was nothing. it was literally nothing. they could have removed it and it would change nothing but they kept it in idk why)

ANYWAY. if they had released genloss like this first maybe i would unironically be a fan of it now. tbh. i would still be making fun of the bad comedy and the horror that was barely horror but i think i would actually be like participating in the fandom a lil and i would probably find it in me to find some charm in the bad special effects. all in all Not Bad!! not good, but not like actively bad. ofc im still running on the adrenaline of the ending because episode 3 was objectively the best out of them all so maybe my perception is skewed but. kinda decent. 7/10 👍 anyway i hope ur havin a good day i hope to finish pd season one soon over the next couple days!!!!!

taking the cowards route and putting my thoughts under the cut bc a lot of my mutuals these days really enjoy genloss and i don't want them to be mad at me

(genloss crit/neg/whatever under the cut)

dude this makes me so unironically sad . why the FUCK was genloss what it was the first time around when this was obviously the better route to go from the very beginning. I am still staunchly in my "I don't like genloss" position but. I DID WATCH IT. i sat through ALL of the original streams and it was so miserable for me. im not going 2 watxh the directors cut or whatever bc i dont hate myself enough to sit through all of that again but i trust your opinion!! if only it would've been planned out thought out prerecorded videos from the start I also probably would not hate it as much as I do!!! maybe I even would've liked it !!! (<< not likely bc i do have Other Issues with it than just the fact that it was too long too unfunny too unfocused etc whatever im getting into hater territory sorry. always welcome 2 genloss fans to try to explain to my why its Good Actually so i can recommend them actual horror media)

like . the streams added absolutely NOTHING to it other than that final choice scene or whatever. and even if they wanted to do that still u know what would've been an awesome smart choice??? prerecord and edit the whole thing and then premiere THAT video on twitch- then when it comes time for the final choice you can still have people vote!! then you can have two separate endings prepared based on which way the vote was swaying. like. its that easy. it would've made the whole experience so much more enjoyable . ughhghghg the fucking wasted potential on HOURS of unfunny badly improvved bits is so devastating

personally I still cant excuse the bad effects considering the amount of times ranboo bragged about the genloss budget like. maybe you should've used your resources better and also if it would've just been prerecorded from the start things wouldn't look as rushed as they did but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what do I know !!

anyway I'm so glad this version was better but for me it will always ALWAYS be tainted by the . misery I felt while watching the streams lmaoooo . I wanted to like genloss so bad. I tried so hard. head in hands !!!!!!!!!!!