#not much new in the ep if you have been following this issue for a while

[tanadrin]

I have nothing to add to the Maintenance Phase episode on Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, which is very good, except that (so far, I’m only about halfway through) they have not stressed what I think is the most obvious objection to parents’ transphobic bullshit, which is that 1) parents are often (obviously, in the case of many ROGD anecdotes) deeply emotionally invested in their child’s gender and gender presentation, and 2) most parents don’t know shit about their adolescent children’s inner lives. Indeed, many parents rarely seem to imagine that they *have* inner lives, and will struggle even when their children are adults to treat them like fully autonomous human beings. It is easy to be surprised by someone’s behavior when you invest very little energy in understanding them as a person in the first place.

[losergames]

Chop Shop is strictly 18+ for language, themes, and potential explicit content. 

🔗 - Game Intro | Bug Report | Ko-Fi

Episode Three is now available! (+ 86,000) - PLAY HERE

Get your first taste of the underground car scene.

Meet some other players in the game.

Be made an offer.

5 achievements up for grabs!

And more!

AN: thank you so much for the patience - i've been dying to put this update out. lots of new characters and lots of variation!! there are 3 major paths to choose between in this ep, i recommend trying them all out! and thank you to my betas for keeping me sane lmao

This update comes with a patch and UI refresh (Version 1.1.2) Notes are under the cut. If preferred, you can access them in game in the start menu.

STORY

EPISODE 01:

MC should now be able to smoke! Buying cigarettes at the shop was not triggering correctly. If playing with an old save, you DO NOT have to restart as code at the beginning of EP 03 has resolved the error. Player will need to restart if they wish to read smoking related scenes in previous episodes.

Updated MC Name selection. Player can now choose from a list of names instead of having to input one to proceed.

Player can now give Taha their chocolate bar if it's in their inventory.

When asking Maz about their scars, the second choice 'You want to ask about it but you're going to keep your mouth shut.' should now take you to the correct response.

Extended and updated 'End Game' scenes.

EPISODE 02:

If MC is faint after exiting the car, but also drunk, they should now get the fainting scene, followed by Dilani helping the MC in the bathroom.

UI + TECHNICAL

SETTINGS:

Autoname Save is now defaulted to ON. This is to add ease and flow to gameplay, especially for mobile, tablet, and app users, instead of calling for an inputted saved name. If player wants to input save names, toggle Autoname Saves to OFF.

Autoname Save previously only used the forename of the MC but now includes the surname as well.

Removed the Fullscreen toggle as it is only intended for desktop use. Player can still toggle fullscreen function via the UI bar on the desktop interface.

Added a choice indicator toggle. (This probably won't come into effect until EP 04 or 05)

Changed serif font from Vollkron to EB Garamond.

OTHER:

Changing the MC's pronouns via the Dashboard has been updated. Additionally, after confirmation will take player back to the Dashboard and not close the dialog boxes entirely.

Hovering over 'Personality', 'Motives', and 'Skills' titles in the Dashboard will now display an information box with a definition. Mobile and tablet users will need to tap on the title.

'Resume Game' now only appears on the main menu when there is an autosave in the saves log.

Choices styling changes.

General UI and button style changes.

Fixed errors with the text message styling.

Added styling for reading text off of a page in game.

Darkened blue in light theme 'Skyline' to reduce eye strain.

CREATE A SAVE

Introducing Create a Save! This feature allows players to quickly manufacture a save file and start at a later point in the game.

Set your identity, appearance, history, and statistics; including personality, motives, and skills. Continue to set key decisions made in previous episodes.

Randomise options available for creating a PC and key decisions.

OTHER

Fixed gaps and spacing issues.

Minor phrasing and sentence structure changes.

Grammar and typo fixes.

whew -- that's a lot of patch notes! apologies for so much that needed to be fixed.

this update shouldn't break/ mess with saves but as a disclaimer i will say, if you spot anything funky, broken, or you don't think things are triggering correctly, try starting a new save. the new create a save feature is incredibly code heavy, and it's been tested relentlessly, but i wouldn't be surprised if something crops up.

if starting a new save doesn't resolve your issue - please submit to bug report or just send me an ask/message.

some things have been meaning to get fixed for Some Time - thank you to everyone that is using the bug report form!

apologies if there are typos and/or bugs - this was a long one to edit and my lovely betas did an OUTSTANDING job reading so much for ep 3 - thank you so much again!!! this time i am going to give it a bit more time before i put together a patch so i can grab more error responses haha.

create a save has also added a wee chunk to the word count, somewhere around 6k, but i'm not including it in the episode 03 word count as it's purely code. so, if you think the total wc is off, that's why!

if you've read this far, happy reading and thank you so much for the continued support!! :) - becky <3

[florwal]

PORTSIM SAVE FILE 1.0

portsim is a small city in the south. it was established as a town in 1752, and the current population is 97,915. it's full of history and has a lot of culture. with increasing poverty rates, gang violence, and a drug epidemic, crime is at an all time high. will the city’s new mayor be able to make portsim a safer place?

CONTENT WARNING: storylines involving drug use & violence

download + info under the cut

OUTDATED - download 1.1 here

watch my save file overview on youtube

4 months in the making and it’s finally here! huge thank you to everyone that’s been following me through the process. ♡ y’all are so kind and supportive and i really appreciate all the love. this was originally going to be a personal save, it’s inspired by my hometown (portsmouth, virginia) most builds are based off real places around me, and some households are based off my friends and family. this is very much still personal to me!

willow creek, newcrest, and magnolia promenade have been rebuilt, repopulated, and transformed into one large town

i own all packs and kits, if you don't you can still play this save but build and cas objects will be missing

check out the portsim townie index (wip) to read their bios and keep up with their stories. some already have posts but some are empty, i’ll be adding more as i play

21 residential lots / 19 community lots - please read community lot descriptions because most are multi functional! i also left some empty commercial spaces that are “for lease” so i can add things as new packs come out

added new holidays - i changed names to be more realistic and added a few (spring cleaning day, easter, independence day, halloween, christmas eve)

added 5 new clubs (city officials, a gang, a cult, a record label, painting classes by a townie)

notes:

view update log here

i’ve never made a save file before, and this is just the first version. please let me know if you run into any issues. i want to eventually add more households, and i also want to add + rebuild other worlds

i highly suggest turning the eco lifestyle ep’s eco foot print + npc voting off, unless you want the town to look apocalyptic and the trinity church community space to be set to the winter version during summer etc

i turned neighborhood stories off, but sims were still adopting babies and divorcing each other so i kept them all in the my households tab, you don’t have to keep them there!

shoutout to @cowplant-snacks and @nightlioness for letting me use some of their sims as background townies so there's not as many ugly npcs

next world that’s going to be added: oasis springs + del sol valley - idk which one will be out first! but they're coming soon ♡

DOWNLOAD on patreon (always free)

*required mods for the lit version*

please tag me in anything involving the save! id love to see how y’all play in it!

[gabatronnie]

I feel ya sis, with that said can you do "it" with crush!chaggie(Charlie and Vaggie). Reader and them aren't dating yet.

Reader is a strong overlord but suffer from depression, their insanely strong. (This part is my personal headcanon) reader has no limits shapeshifting, like they could shift into anything, lost an arm? Make a new one. Want different hair style? Just change it, something like that.

This takes place after ep 8. The hotel has been rebuilt and everything has settled down, and reader was still overwhelming stressed.

Reader resides in the hotel in one of the many new rooms, they had a anglic dagger(ordered from Carmine herself) and they just had the urge to do "it", and so they did it. But Charlie and vaggie had went to get them for an activity, and saw them do "it".

Basically i just want them to comfort me🥲

No need to do it if it makes you uncomfortable, and sorry if it's too long just thought you might want some extra details. The rest you can do as you please.

Thanks if you can do it, and no probs if you can't do it

chaggie comforting reader after they relapse (hcs)

this piece includes the following: self harm, blood, depressive (possibly suicidal) thoughts

it was vaggie who initially walked in on you whilst in the act, with charlie following soon after, and it’s safe to say that well… they were shocked.

charlie was confused more than anything, you seemed perfectly happy inside and out, and to say she was shocked was an understatement, and even if you weren’t all those things, she couldn’t understand why someone so amazing would do something so awful, especially if it’s to themselves

vaggie was more so personally upset with herself, as we see throughout the course of the show, vaggie can get hard on herself when she feels as if she didn't fufill some kind of quota on how much she's supposed to do for you

but aside from all that, vaggie will softly but sternly tell you to put the dagger down, as charlie softly mutters “what happened..?”

charlie and vaggie approach you slowly, a bit hesitant to push anything, but vaggie takes the dagger from you and softly places it somewhere safe before the three of you have a conversation

it may seem like your being scolded or lectured by these two, but you’re not, they just want to be safe and happy, that’s really all that matters to them

charlie will probably shed a few tears, she feels awful, and feels like she’s failed you in a way - like she hasn’t properly down her job

you three go over that your girls want you to be safe and happy and they understand life gets hard and people make mistakes, but that this isn’t the way to do it

once you three address the main issues and go over a few ground rules, they just wanna hug you, especially charlie

it’s safe to say that after this, charlie and vaggie both try their best to be more aware of your behaviors and emotions, charlie makes sure to include more mental health themed activities for the hotel residents, and vaggie ensures that you aren’t alone for an extended period of time on a regular basis

a/n: originally this was gonna be a oneshot but it didn’t save so i spent like almost all day writing this but as headcanons 😔 either way i hope it’s still enjoyable

© gabatronnie - don't translate, heavily inspire, feed my work to ai, or repost it on other platforms.

[tbhimnoteasyonmyself]

TAN IS NEW

Hello, fellow associates, I, local deranged man, bring you (by request of @ayansbff who said I should "go make a post and patent it fr." thank you, Naga <3) once again a theory as insane as whatever has been going on in the ASOIAF fandom in the last 10 years (but no, I'm not here to tell you Tan is a horse or New is a faceless man).

For this week's episode: Tan is New (but with some spice).

Pls beware, this will require a certain level of "bear with me", ok? Ok.

Also: long ass post, guys. Be prepared.

So, 1st things 1st: New is obviously studying abroad.

This would mean that, in all the episodes we've seen of the flashback, we wouldn't have seen New. Because he's literally in a different country (cue theory: New is Mhok working as a cook in Hawaii ksksksk /j).

Nevertheless, in the latest events of the past storyline, Non has just gone M.I.A. Which is definitely something you'd tell the kid's brother about. I'd be pretty pissed if I was New and no one fucking told me about my brother vanishing.

(I think it could definitely be argued that their parents might try to hide the whole getting involved with money laundry and even the pedophilic child revenge porn sex tape on Twitter thing, especially their mother. bc, considering their treatment of Non this episode, it would definitely cross my mind that they'd think something along the lines of "New shouldn't be worried about what his fuck up of a brother is involved with, he should just focus on his study". And idk if Thailand's national news would arrive to New in the US just like that (maybe, maybe not, I won't try to speculate too much, I think it's too much of a wild card). YET, I still think, regardless, they'd have their limits even if the rest was true and they'd tell him about his brother being literally MISSING. So yeah...)

So back on track: sure, the police "think" Non has run away with Keng

Or, was convinced by Tee's uncle to accept that storyline

but Non's parents don't believe that shit

("They're TRYING to make our son LOOK LIKE" not "They think our son HAS")

And I think the same feeling could've been passed to New by his parents or just by New himself. But even if not, I think it's pretty reasonable to assume he'd come back to Thailand after that news. Like, if my brother was missing, I'd feel pretty bad, my parents would feel pretty bad and I'd want to go back home and be with them a bit, follow things up close, at the very least.

So, assuming that's true, it's not weird to presume New could be back in Thailand by the time The Hidden Character (the film Non wrote, not the BOC reality show thing) airs. Which would lead us to:

Now, I've seen people say it's Tan, I've seen people say it's White, I've seen people say it's Bible (?)... To me, that's Tan. The voice that calls "Phee" seems to me that's Mio's voice and the person we see in the door, albeit he does resemble Bible, reads to me as him as well.

Besides, we see him being introduced to the class in the ep.9 preview so, yeah, it could be to throw us off, but I genuinely think it's just bc it's Tan.

Regardless, even if not, Tan will appear next episode. So... There's that. Question is: why?

We see both Tan and Phee moving to the gang's class next episode, which the gang points out as "weird". Now, idk why it would be weird to see people change schools in 12th grade but fine, I'm not gonna argue, maybe they know something I don't. Ig you could argue it's bc it's the last year but I'd say people have issues all the time (being the last year of school doesn't change that) and people also move houses all the time. So I wouldn't question it but ok. Moving on.

We know Phee has a connection to Non (as his ex-boyfriend) but we don't know why Tan would be there too. Sure, we can argue Phee has to have friends. But, ngl, if my friend asked me to move schools bc he wants to find out what happened to his bf who mysteriously disappeared, I'd politely decline. I'd support him in his endeavours, of course, but I wouldn't change my entire life for it. I could even go as much as to help him befriend them and hang out with the fuckers but I wouldn't move schools, I think.

So Tan must have a bigger motive, right? And what bigger motive than being the brother of Non, am I right?

Furthermore, we have to consider legal matters. They're all minors. Phee's father, of course, knows about Phee being, at least, friends with Non. And, even if he told him to stay out of trouble and that he himself would not go around poking in the business for Phee's own safety, I think he'd be okay with Phee moving schools for grief reasons (a.k.a being close to Non because that was his school) or even bc he knew Phee was trying to talk to his friends (I don't think he suspects the kids too much and honestly that's a terrible lack of sight on his behalf but, I mean, they're kids, I think it's fair to assume they're innocent).

But what about Tan? Assuming Tan is not Non's brother, would his parents let him move schools to the school where all those nasty kids who keep appearing on the news study??? I don't think so. Sounds dangerous. Things change, of course, if Tan is not actually Tan but New.

Non's parents, despite their obvious lack of parenting skills, care about him. He's their son. They'd want to know what happened. And, sure, New getting involved would be terrible for them (bc he's their son and clearly the favourite child and god forbid he wastes his potential studying there bc of Non's failures AGAIN), but if New specifically requested that, would they go against it? Would they go against their talented son and his show of altruism and love for his brother?? Especially when the police are not doing anything and it's just trying to close the damn case??? I don't think so.

Thus: Tan is New.

"But what about his legal name???", I hear you say. "If they're siblings they'll have the same last name!!" And yeah. That's true. Especially in Thailand where most surnames are exclusive to a singular family. But I thin- "What about the age gap??? New is older than Non!! His mom even refers to him as Non's phi!!!" Yes. I know. That's where the spice comes in:

NEW IS ADOPTED.

There, I dropped the bomb. This would mean that, maybe, his legal name wasn't changed from what it originally was. Sure, it could've, since he's now part of a different family but they also could've kept the original surname. Which is likely if New wasn't adopted in a normal fashion.

We have to consider how poor Non's family seems to be. Whether that's a new situation or it has always been like this we don't know. But that's something. Now, I'm not Thai nor do I live in Thailand but from what I read, income does factor a lot into whether or not a family can adopt a child (at least in theory). So I'd assume a poor family would struggle with it. Nevertheless, it seems Thai law puts a lot of value into family ties with the child so, maybe New was someone else's child originally like of a brother or a sister of one of Non's parents. Or maybe something else entirely, I don't know. I don't think it matters that much.

"That still doesn't explain the age gap though. Tan is only 2 months older than Non!!"

Well, that's still older. Would that qualify him as "phi", idk? Both Pimpa (Non and New's mother) and Non refer to him that way. But maybe that's just another way for the series to tell us there's a ver clear hierarchy between these brothers and Non comes second. Idk. (if you're Thai or know Thai culture well and would like to add input here, pls do)

"WHAT ABOUT THE PICTURES, DANTE???"

Ok, yeah, I know. They make a compelling case.

(I took the liberty to brighten them bc OMG WHY IS THIS SHOW SO DARK????)

And yes, in the picture further to the left it does seem like they have a huge age gap but also, in the picture right next to it, it doesn't seem so (in fact the kid in blue seems about the same age in both pics, only the other one doesn't). So maybe the kid in pic one is not Non, it's some other kid (could be, especially considering he's wearing blue and, as the fandom's most dear colour theorist @shannankle has pointed out on a lot of posts but most especially this one: Non's colour is red). Or maybe it is one of them and they just grew up at different paces, idk. It happens, man.

TBH I'm not greatly concerned about the pics. What I am concerned about is the narrative implications of this. That his parents's (and, as previously established, especially his mother's [who is the most present parent in his life, as stated by the parents themselves in ep.8])

favourite kid is the one who isn't even theirs by blood. That their favourite son is the one that is not actually their son (I obviously do believe adopted kids are as much people's kids as biological ones, family is made not inherited, but I mean this as strictly talking about the blood relations of these people)! That no one ever loves Non enough to actually save him from doom (bc, like a fairytale princess, the thing that could prevent Non's demise was love).

If his peers had loved him enough he wouldn't have felt the need to cling to that awful gang. If Jin had loved him enough he would've helped him get away from Tee in this episode, at the very least. If his parents had loved him enough, they would've prevented him from falling prey to so many people or, at least, would've been trustworthy for him to talk to and helped him get out of the situations he was getting himself into.

This would also play well with the character's names:

Non. That which/whom isn't.

Who isn't seen, who isn't heard, who isn't loved, who isn't perfect, who isn't who people expected him to be, who isn't the gang's friend, who isn't his parent's perfect son (not blaming him but that's how they see it), who isn't the boyfriend Phee hoped he would be (not blaming him for the sexual assault he suffered, just seeing it through Phee's eyes, pls don't misinterpret).

New. That which/whom is fresh, original. That which just arrived.

Who is a prodigy, a talent, one of a kind. Who is so different from Non and his "crooked ways". Who arrived at the family later. Who just arrived in Thailand, who just arrived in Non's school. Who is a new person, who has a new identity, who has a new life goal.

So, yeah, it is a bit crazy and depends on a lot of circumstantial and potential facts that have not been hinted towards AT ALL by the show. And I recognize that. But I think this is what is fun about theories and speculation and, even if this is not true (likely), I still had fun crafting this and showing it to you guys. At the very least it's entertaining and keeps us thinking.

Pls feel free to add stuff or question stuff in this post, I'd love for us to work together as a community for our little murder gays show. Hehe.

Also, I'll leave you a question myself: if this is true, does it mean Phee and Tan are working together as the killers, only one of them is killing or neither is committing murder? 🤔

[snailsgarden]

If the requests are open and your in a mood for Adventure Time,can you make a Prismo x reader? Hcs,Drabbles or oneshots whatever floats your boat,but...

Like if you watched or remember the end of the "Jake The Dog" ep where Jake said he gotta get Prismo a girlfriend? I was wondering if it's possible if you want to make like Jake being the wingman on helping reader and Prismo together? have a good day and stay healthy!

★ playing matchmaker :D

summary: jake gets prismo a partner. sorta.

cw: friends to lovers, relationships, you send a kiss to a wall, loser prismo 🤕, reader isn't shy, food and eating, icalled jake a starving dog as a metaphor.

"i need to get this guy a partner or sum."

said jake, when he left the time cube.

as you and jake headed to the treehouse (you left your bag there, you needed to grab it before BMO looked through your stuff)

"just set him up with someone?"

you'd suggest.

"the issue is, i have no one to".

he replied.

"hum.. i can do the job."

you nodded to yourself.

"you'll help me find someone?!"

the dog beamed happily, tail wagging.

"no."

?

"i can be his date."

??????

"DUUUDEE, you're into prismo?? i mean, uhh, yall match n stuff, but WHAT??"

you guys, the three of you, were good friends.

you'd usually spend time together, prismo would present his new pickle recipes to you and jake, to which you'd give your opinion on while jake absolutely ravaged all the remaining ones like a starving dog having it's first meal in days. (he'd just ate)

then you'd continue your day, playing card games, watching something on prismo's tv..

just three (or four, when finn joined in) friends hanging out.

"can you not shout it out loud for the world to hear??", you whisper-yell at Jake.

"yeah, yeah. im super secretive, you know it"

he isn't. you're sure he's gonna tell at least five people the moment you're away.

but u decide on trusting him, and letting him setup the date between you and prismo.

a few days pass, and before you know, prismo had sent you a note,

"hey! how 'bout we hang out tonite?",

how could you refuse him?

so you took a shower, dressed up, and went to the time cube.

as you got there, you couldn't help but notice the following scenery:

first, a table. in the middle of the cube, a table with scented candles, your favorite scent.

a chair, only one, prismo himself didn't need it.

the lights were dimly lit. weird.

"wishmaster?", you called out.

and there he was.

the figure of his curly hair looked slicked back, mostly on Jake's advice, and you were all for it.

i mean, yeah.. slicked back hair is ugly, but you like him. and he tried.

"hey. sit, wont you?"

you heard music in the background.

is that-

is it Jake's viola.

you bite back a scoff, impressed at how terrible-in-a-good-way he was at matchmaking.

"so, whachu been up to?', you asked prismo.

"work. tv.." he looked shy as he replied, chuckle at the end of his sentence as he was a bit ashamed.

you walked up closer, sat on the chair as you rested your elbow on the table, prismo's figure being across from you.

"that's nice."

talk goes, talk comes, and it's noticeable how much he complimented you during that afternoon.

from saying your outfit looks good to saying you look good.

and you'd smile. that pretty smile he just loved seeing on your perfect lips.

all he wanted was to take up a human form and just smooch.

and he'd ask you to be his, right then and there.

but he didn't even know how you felt.

and you knew how he felt, because the room reeked of your favorite scent, and it had such a romantic atmosphere, music playing in the background, and it'd remind you of those times where jake would partner up finn and some girl he'd fallen for.

which made you imagine prismo struggling to learn his advice, and it made you smile more.

would it be wrong to just.. wish for him to become your boyfriend?

you decide on ignoring that thought.

as your little date continued on, casual conversation as always, prismo became more and more nervous.

how he'd stutter and look to the side as he spoke..

"and what's with the new hairstyle?" you smiled as you asked.

"just.. changing things every once in a while. what'd you think?" the male almost died when you pointed it out, it being just another reason for how nervous he was, unsure if you'd even look his way in any kind of light, let alone thinking he looked good.

"its nice." you chuckle.

"so.. are you.. single?"

the way you looked at him, confused, made him want to immediately back away.

"yeah. you know that."

"right... haha.."

awkward.

it's awkward, and he doesn't know what to say.

"hm.. so... would you go on a date with me sometime?"

"sure."

and it's then that he knows how you feel about him, because you wouldn't put it so nicely if you didn't like him back.

then he'd get a little more confident, the conversation would flow better on.

by some time, you got straight to the point before he could - he was winding it so much

"you like me, right?", you said it jn a way you could change the direction quickly if he'd say no.

only if, because as soon as you say it, he goes

"of course i do!"

"you're amazing and who wouldn't be happy just to have you around.."

he was cute, but also sounded a bit desesperate as he spoke

"we could be together. if you want"

and honestly? he couldn't be happier to hear that.

[gummilutt]

Cyjon Loan Jar Modifications

This is an old creation of mine that I never got around to sharing, that I thought might make a nice release to celebrate 100 followers on tumblr. I never really expected so many of you to find and enjoy what I shared, but it's been wonderful once again getting that feeling of possibly helping someone enjoy their game more :)

I enjoy making my Sims lives more difficult financially, to have a real reason to work and run businesses and such, and being able to take loans is an important part of that. While Monique's computer is great in many ways, I never liked how interest is handled which is why I mainly use Cyjon's Loan Jar for loans. But even set to the lowest interest of 1%, the daily increase quickly gets out of hand on a big loan. I wanted more flexibility, and that's how this creation came to be.

Download from simfileshare

What's new?

The option to control which days of the week interest is added, with individual days or all at once setting options

An optional pop up dialog that informs you when interest has been added, and how much interest will be next time. When enabled (which is the default) the pop up will occur daily at 7am, regardless of whether there is a loan or not. When a loan jar is on lot with no active loan, use the setting option to turn the alert off :)

Easy overview of current settings regarding days, alert and interest rate

Support for pop up dialogs where you can enter rules you use in your hood, so you have easy access to them from inside the game (see picture included in download for example)

Jar and note subsets created by gayars, along with a new glass jar mesh and recolors by gayars

Paper note made recolorable by gayars, with recolors by gummi with game icons to make it possible to differentiate different type loans from each other (see picture above for examples). Set different interest rules for different types of loans, and use the icons to help you tell which is which :)

Alternative object models if you'd prefer something that blends in, with a pop up list to show you the options and what order they are in.

If you are unfamiliar with Cyjon's original, you can find more information about it's original functions on Cyjon's website. For more work by the very talented gayars, check out her website or her tumblr. Thank you my friend, for agreeing to make a new mesh to separate my version from the original, and for making the note recolorable. Being able to tell which jar is which loan is one of my favorite features :)

Requires Uni or a later EP according to Cyjon. Separate guid, so it will not overwrite the original, you can have both. Found in misc/misc, costs 1 simoleon. Has been tested in my game for years without issues. I hope you enjoy :)

[thetangycheesemanwithaplan]

Some speculation I have for the next episode!

Yes I'e been having a lot of speculation and maybe (most likely) i'll be wrong but its just some fun ideas I've been having

I talked about this with @buck-up-buck and she is a prophet (check out her posts here to see her vision-with a small contribution from me about the AA meeting being a thing) she has some theories that happen after this theory of mine which I'm excited for her to share with you all as she see's the shrimp colours.

And so with what we've seen in the promo, the still that Tim has shared (I have brightened it so it can be a bit clearer) here's what I think will happen. Especially in this still

So firstly the order of events I believe will be the AA meeting then the Bathena conversation and then the motel drama, just as we are shown in the promo. There will be other things sprinkled in but the next two eps will be very Bobby centric. So when i saw this still i immediately thought of the following ideas/spec:

So Amir makes his speech at the AA meeting, it slowly dawns on Bobby the connection they share and obviously this sends Bobby mentally spiralling. It's been 10 years since the fire and Bobbys come far but hearing from someone who he affected by his past actions is definitely going to stir up shit (duh). I feel like we may get some flashbacks to the fire, maybe even Amir's perspective (how he got his scars) because our boy Amir is angry (you saw his stare, seeing bobby has reignited his fire). I feel like Bobby may attempt to speak to him after but Amir is angry and storms out or Bobby is in shock and cant say anything.

We then see the conversation with Bathena. It looks like Athena was asleep and Bobby hadn't come to bed yet. Athena woke up and came looking for Bobby to find him hunched over his laptop going into a bit of a dive on Amir and who he was and who he lost. Athena maybe talks to him about it and Bobby is very much adamant on making amends (Step 9). Athena wants to support him but the sergeant in her is concerned at this guy. So she supports him in the moment but hatches her own little plan.

And here is where we see the still (it's clearly at the hospital)

Athena has found out where this guy works and goes to speak to him. Amir is just finishing his shift when Athena catches him. She introduces her self and that she's Bobby's wife. Amir is immediately angered by this but keeps himself calm, only showing annoyance. Athena talks about how she knows who he is through Bobby and that she's sorry for Amir's loss. She expresses concern for how he raised the issue to Bobby and asks that they can work towards making amends. She says that Bobby has come so far to turn his life around (gives examples of what Bobby has accomplished. Captain of the 118, his new family with her and the steps he has taken in recovery) and all he wants to do is carry on moving forward. She doesn't want this incident to cause Bobby to fall of the wagon, they've been through a lot and she's concerned (she also getting alarm bells from this guys so is trying to gauge his intent whilst also trying to clear the air)

I think this angers Amir, again he wont show it but it sparks something in him further than what has already been sparked. He starts scheming (@buck-up-buck's theories about the loft burning down hehe) I feel like he'll make some comment to Athena about how he's glad Bobby could move on so easily whilst everyone else was left cleaning up the mess(throw back to the comment he made to Maddie) Obviously Athena defends her husband and says something like "it was far from easy, he clawed his way out of the darkest place and fought tooth and nail to get where he is now. If he can do it so can you." cause Athena has clocked that this guy is massively holding a grudge.

But Amir doesn't want to hear it and maybe just says something like 'Good for him' before walking away from the conversation.Amir is angry because its been 10 years and he's still affected by the fire, he hasn't let go of the pain and the hurt (as he mentioned in his speech) but now seeing that the guy who caused it has a new family, that he's moved on and is happy, is captain of a firehouse (irony not lost on him) and Amir has been left scared and hurt and his life hasn't bounced back just absolutely fuels his revenge plan.

Athena tells Bobby that she tried to reason with Amir but there was no reasoning with him and that he's very angry still. She tells Bobby she knows he needs to make amends and he should but also says he should be careful and wait for him to calm down a bit first and that whatever he does he shouldn't do it alone. Bobby of course listens and agrees but also he understands Amir better than anyone and thinks he can get through to him (remember Bobby is shook up by this whole thing and won't make the smartest decisions) so when Amir reaches out and asks Bobby to meet at the Easy Motel, Bobby does go and then, Amir starts his revenge

Amir wants Bobby to suffer again like he did (he doesn't acknowledge that Bobby did loose everything in that fire, he's to blinded by his own grief and mad that Bobby has a shiny new life and seems unbothered by his past to listen to reason) he wants to rip Bobby's family away from him, saying he doesn't deserve a second chance.

[spotlightlowlife]

ep 5 Hazbin the best so far

It moved the story along quick, which was needed.

We meet Lucifer and he is exactly what is to be expected of a character who is here to be powerful but liked. He's he's awkward, silly, cute, depressed, defeated, not responsible for a major issue because it's someone else's fault but come on, he is so. He also validates the 'Chalie follows in her parents footsteps bad turn' by being so much like Charlie only seasoned, competent and fed up.

Still, he's likeable non the less.

Charlie was outclassed, no surprise there but I actually forgot what it was she wanted until her dad chose to give her exactly what it was. Charlie's 'daddy issues' were weak and I'm grearful for that, there relationship going from not really existing to great all hinged on 'daddy gimme what I want, you love me don't cha?' which quite frankly fits at this point, she's rather silly.

Charlie referring to the sinners as 'her people' fits too, she comes across as a pampered rich kid, specifically a celebrity's child, who wants others with much less to know they're cool and down for everyone, their angst is generally their boredom, guilt and fear of being judged unfairly, they assimilate their frustration into the frustration of those they watch who tend to have a lot to worry about. This felt like a bit of progress for her character, looks like we just need to meet Lilith next for Charlie to truly blossom.

Mimzy was fun, she told us a little about herself and her life back when she lived, she let us know of her history with Alastor along with a bit of his backstory. She bought trouble for Alastor to flex on, still she held her own very well, pity she was just passing by and is no longer welcome.

Alastor showed that he isn't composed all the time and can be needlessly reactive and does enjoy getting his hands dirty. He also quickly inserted himself between Lucifer and Charlie to mark some territory and showcase just how ambitious, ruthless and competitive he is.

It is a shame that two women were used to contribute to mens stories, especially when the woman with the least charisma happens to be the leading character who barely has a story of her own, but even so, as much as Alastor 'missing 7 years like Lilith, Charlie's new daddy and Lucifer's have a go rival' shoehorned his way to spotlight, it was interfering troublemaker Mimzy who stole the show for me, and Lucifer who revealed that he still works with angels and told us a little about heaven, which he has access to.

There are some pacing issues, all that happens in ep 5 could have happend earlier imo (maybe prior to the board meeting featuring all those characters we didn't know), giving us some Charlie content and progress, an explanation for a lot of her absence because heaven has to be a big place? A number of the subplots could have took place in the same meantime.

Still, best of the series, things atleast picked up, went somewhere and remembered the source material. No thanks to any lead character.

This post has been in the backburner for a whole day and wow there are still no gifs for this episode, I thought this show was popular?

[simmearly]

A Sims 4 Players Guide To The Sims 3 By Simmearly

I am putting this together based on my own gameplay experiences and expectations, so some of this is purely my opinion.

I recently decided that with my new PC I would re-install The Sims 3, and All EPs, to see how it ran and play around with the features I miss in TS4,

I followed this guide on steam to set the game up to run smoothly.

To paraphrase just a little, this includes a TON of information, but basically, it shows you how to replace the launcher, and run the game on modern machines without issues.

Gameplay would not be possible for longer than an in-game week or so without the fantastic NRAAS & Lazy Duchess Mods.

I Use, Nraas Overwatch, Master Controller, Register, Error Trap & Traveller, which is my personal favorite, as it allows you to travel to more worlds for vacations, and own vacation homes in them etc. It also allows for you to move to a new town and retain relationships from the other town(s) you've lived in.

I recommend good default skin and eye replacements, as well as default replacements for Eyebrows and Beards, I Recommend Checking out @brntwaffles on Tumblr, as they have these as well as lighting mods to brighten up the in-game lighting and water!

Gameplay Mods,

I really enjoy TS3 Vanilla gameplay, so this list is short (For Now) however I do want to expand upon it, the Growing Pains Mod - adds a lot to the child stage and I feel like it integrates so well with Vanilla that it could have been in the game from the start.

Smaller Quality of Life mods,

Nectar Glass Replacements

Sim Drinks - Adds Buffs For Bar Drinks

Shop For Clothes at Clothing Rack, TS2 Style

That's it For Now, I will probably update this post as my Legacy continues, I am currently on Gen 4, and am having a BLAST!

Also - I do own quite a bit of the Store content and I have found myself using it more than expected, I bought a lot of it years ago, and I failed to realize then just how much gameplay is involved,

The Steam it up sauna is currently my favorite object due to its regenerative properties, but the Business-as-Usual industrial Oven, placed on your home lot allows for you to basically have a private chef! (Don't pay full price for any store content, wait for a sale or find it on other avenues) ;)

Thank you to all the amazing creators mentioned, none of this would be possible without YOU!

Edit - TIP! Reset your town using Nraas every few sim weeks to keep things running smoothly

[quixoticall]

This Could Get Ugly 3. The Rise and Subsequent Fall of Eddie Munson

Summary: It's 1983 and The Downsides need another lead singer and you just happen to need a band--it's a perfect match. The only issue? You have to pretend to be in a relationship with your bandmate, Steve Harrington, but you can't help but be drawn to the band's broody guitar player.

pairing: s.h. x fem!reader, e.m. x fem!reader, j.b. x n.w., r.b x n.w.

warnings: Heavy drug use, misogyny, angst, past!Eddie x Chrissy

MASTERLIST🎸

Previous Chapter 🎹

WC: 2.7K

A/N: Halloween came early this year I guess! Take this early chapter as a thank you all for your follows, reblogs and likes! The idea of my fic being so well-received warms my heart! Enjoy!

***

EDDIE: Okay, here we go.

 I’m Eddie Munson, lead guitar for The Downsides.

 I  grew up trailer trash in some town that no one’s ever heard of. My mom died when I was eight and my dad was in and out of jail pretty much my entire life--well, until those royalty checks started rolling in, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

  People always use the dead mom/jailbird dad thing to either turn me into a sob story or villainize me, so I generally tend to avoid talking about it but since it's you, I'll say this: the thing I remember most about my mother is her absence and there is not a single redeeming thing about ole' Munson Sr. but I don't think they're responsible for any of the ways I've fucked up over the years. Nah, kid, that was all me.

Let’s get to the good stuff, shall we?

At the tender age of ten, I was gifted an old beat-up guitar by my uncle. Clearly, something he had picked up at the local Goodwill to try and keep me occupied and out of trouble. The neighbors hated us after. They hated us, even more, when it turned out that I could actually play.

When I was 18, Uncle Wayne got the idea that I was ready to commit to a life of indentured servitude over at the factory and that did not sit well with me, at all. I wanted to be a musician. But, instead of talking to him about it, you know, like a rational person? I just ran.

I sold my van and got a one-way ticket to LA. The metal scene was starting to pop up on the strip and music—metal—was the only thing I was good at, so I thought, ‘what the hell!’ and booked it. I slummed it for a few months and then, through some stroke of luck, I heard about a band that was auditioning for a new guitar player since their last one got hitched and quit. The Metal Gods smiled down on me the day of the audition because that same afternoon they called me back and told me they wanted me on as lead guitar.

1982

“It Was You”, your duet with The Letterman’s peaked at number 6 on Billboard’s Top 100 in October of 1982.

Suddenly, everyone wanted you to be featured in their songs. Your EP did well enough, but it didn’t even crack the top 30. That didn’t keep you from being the hot new thing on the scene and a

huge part of that was your reputation.

Of course, people knew who you were because of your groupie days, and you unintentionally built a reputation for being romantically involved with different musicians. So, when you broke out on the scene with a romantic duet, people started talking, and the tabloids began to spin stories about you and Jason being romantically linked which only caused a buzz for the song. You, of course, hated this and vehemently denied being involved with Jason to anyone who would listen. Jason, meanwhile, played it coy with the press, only fueling the rumors and your rage.

“Listen, I hate the guy as much as you do, sweetheart, but you got to respect the strategy,” Murray had said after hearing you gripe about one particularly salacious headline.

Before the year was through, you had been featured in five other duets. All with male artists. All resulting in more and more outlandish dating rumors. And all enjoying a lengthy stay on the top of the charts.

Starcourt had begun to push you to take it a step further and Brenner had asked for Murray to arrange outings between you and whatever male artist you were collaborating with. The meetings—you refused to call them dates—were always somewhere that was strategically public, somewhere where there was always at least one paparazzi with their cameras locked and ready. The pictures they would take would always make it to at least one gossip magazine, which resulted in even more publicity for the song.

Your partners—you refused to call them dates—were, at their best, cordial and business-like, one or two of them even asked for your permission before holding your hand. At their worst, though, they were handsy, entitled, and rude. None of them ever tried to ask you out on a real date and you weren't sure what that said about you.

Soon you were racking up duets and notoriety in equal measures. Radio DJs would make jokes about you every time they would play one of your songs—and they played your songs a lot. Once, while you were walking around Rodeo, a woman stopped you in the middle of the street and told you, very brazenly, that you needed to stop sleeping around so much. Before you could even tell her off, though, she proceeded to gush about how much she loved your duet with The Letterman's.

It seemed like everyone seemed to see you in a similar light though: they thought you were some sort of despicable maneater but all they wanted was more of a reason to talk about how you were a despicable maneater.

Murray had his work cut out for him, “We just need to find a way for you to have this same buzz all the time.”

***

EDDIE: Things started to pick up with Corroded Coffin. We were playing shows pretty much every night.  As I said, metal was on the rise and we were at the forefront. Eventually, record label bigwigs had no choice but to acknowledge that.

Some of them got smart and started poaching bands early on, like Starcourt. Corroded Coffin signed with them in ‘82. We thought we were hot shit after that.

There’s a certain lifestyle that goes along with that, though, you know? A reputation that you have to uphold.

I'm not trying to make excuses for myself here, trust me. I'm just...trying to explain myself.

People always love to talk shit. They'll call you all sorts of names before they see you as an actual person. Trust me, I would know. But, these interviews are an opportunity to set the record straight, to finally be seen as an actual person.

So, there I was, a nineteen-year-old kid from Bumfuck nowhere, finally making it big, finally feeling like I belonged somewhere--like for the first time I wasn't a freak whose mom died or some trailer trash high school dropout--of course, I was gonna get swept up in it all. Of course, I was going to start picking up the bad habits and doing drugs. There was no one there to tell me otherwise.

It started out as something to get us through the madness that was our schedule: between the live shows and the studio time, we needed uppers just to keep us on our feet. Then, obviously, you needed the downers so you could fucking relax because the uppers made you so tense. 

I stopped enjoying the drugs pretty early on, but at that point quitting wasn't something that I was willing to put that much effort into. 

1983

The first time someone asked for your autograph, you were at a show at Whiskey a Go Go. Murray, acting as a sort of manager, had set up a photo opp with Charles Riva, your latest duet partner. He hadn’t shown that night but you never walked away from a live show.

Two girls, not much younger than you, appeared behind you as you were ordering at the bar and tapped you on the shoulder.

“See, I told you it was her,” the shorter one, a strawberry blonde with severe bangs whispered excitedly to her friend, a taller brunette.

Before you could ask either of them exactly what they wanted, the strawberry blonde spoke again, “Can we have your autograph?”

You could only nod dumbly as they handed you a cocktail napkin and a pen. You tried to think of something meaningful to write, but in your shock, could only come up with “Best wishes, xoxo”. You didn’t even ask them their names. The best you could do was offer to buy them a drink, which they happily accepted.

You regretted the offer as soon as you registered how young they looked underneath all that makeup, an observation that made you unsettlingly sad. You were reminded of your first days on the Strip: lonely and young and wanting someone to notice you for the right reasons.

Your thoughts became too heavy to deal with at that particular moment and you abruptly excused yourself, leaving the two confused girls behind. A shame, you thought to yourself, in another life you might’ve all been friends, but no one really wants to be your friend these days. They just want to tell people they’re your friends. Walking away saves everyone the disappointment.

You needed a drink.

By the time the main act had taken the stage, your vision had started to haze at the edges as a result of the multiple drinks you had procured for yourself. You watched, half-interested as a band you’d never heard of, Corroded Coffin took the stage, your eyes tracing after each member, eyeing the things only a fellow musician would: the models of equipment they had, the way the band queued each other up.

You didn't know enough about metal yet to know whether you'd consider yourself a fan or not but even with the little familiarity you have, you can tell this band is good. Their playing is unpolished but overflowing with energy and the crowd is feeding into it, screaming the lyrics along with the lead singer.

All of it reminds you of your first show at the Strip—what seemed ages ago—and that memory summons a whole other thought entirely: the reason that you had gotten into music was to actually make music you liked, not to be a topic of discussion in a gossip magazine, getting no say in the music you created.

You don't even remember the last time you had even written a lyric.

You think to yourself that maybe you should wander backstage after the show, like you once did and talk to the band. Maybe you could pick their brains about songwriting. They clearly didn’t care about mass appeal if they were making metal music which means they were probably doing it for the art.

At the very least they probably had a decent stash of pills.

Either way, it would be worth it.

***

EDDIE: It was pretty much love, at first sight, the moment I saw her in the crowd that night at Whiskey a Go Go. I remember seeing her for the first time halfway through our set and it was like I went blind for a moment. I had completely forgotten what I was doing, I think I even missed a cue. After the show, I made a beeline for the bar where she was standing, trying to act as cool as I could but I was shitting it.

***

Once that band had wrapped up, you made your way to the dressing rooms. You maneuvered to the dressing rooms like you had dozens of times before, but the band wasn’t there.

You milled about for a bit, before growing bored and leaving wondering if maybe they had seen you coming and left.

***

EDDIE: I ordered a drink just as an excuse to get closer and it worked. She was even more beautiful up close and so, so kind. Told me she loved our show and even pointed out specific guitar solos of mine that she liked. She always had a way of making you feel special like that. Chrissy Fucking Cunningham. Even her name was perfect, not a syllable too few or too many.

I asked her for her number that night and we went on a date two days later, I could hardly keep it.

together having to wait two days to see her again. Then, after a few weeks, we were going steady, as the kids say. It was perfect. I never really had anyone to myself, you know? She was the first person that ever made me feel seen and cared about.

I remember one time; she was hanging out at my place while the band was in the studio. When I came back, she had done all my laundry. When I asked her why she had done that, she just said “I dunno, just because” then, all of a sudden there were tears streaming down my face. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had done something like that for me “just because".

My life had never been better--so of course, I fucked it up.

***

While you did not manage to meet Corroded Coffin, you couldn’t stop thinking about them, even days later. It was like seeing them play had awoken you from a daze you didn’t even know you had been in.

You spend a few days getting incredibly drunk by the pool after that. But no matter how much you drank or how many pretty dresses you bought yourself or how many pill you took, you could not shake the feeling.

A few mornings later, you had called Murray, “This stops now, Murray. No more duets or features or whatever else. I want to meet with Brenner. I want to do this my way.”

Murray, not used to being awake so early, gave a weak attempt at talking you down.

“No,” you urged on, “you said once I started making money, I could have a say. Well, now I’m making money and I’m tired of Starcourt just using me for that. So, I want something permanent and I want to write my own music, got it?”

“You have a contract,” Murray parroted back, half-heartedly.

“Yes, I do, and I plan to honor that contract but so help me God I will make life a living hell for you and for Brenner and any other exec that tries to get me to do another duet with Jason fucking Carver. In fact, I will find a way to lose Starcourt money if you don’t get me out of this. Am I clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Great, I’ll see you at lunch Murray.”

He signed, “See you then.”

***

EDDIE: My drug use was getting more out of hand. Chrissy hated it, but I couldn't bring myself to quit. Especially the things that I thought I needed to make it through the day.

Chrissy was a saint throughout the whole thing, until one night when she caught me in the dressing room of Whiskey with a girl who was not her. She walked away and I don’t really blame her. Out of all the regrets of my life—and trust me, kid—that was one of the biggest.

She moved out that day and refused to take my calls, moved in with one of her friends and I spent days just calling her, sending her flowers, the works.

She told me she wouldn’t budge unless I got clean. So, I checked myself into rehab. She was a good enough reason to quit. 45 days later, I checked out, clean as a motherfucking whistle.

Chrissy was gone though, I had no clue where she had disappeared to, but wherever she went, she didn’t want me to find her.

On top of that, my band was fucking pissed. I left the band for 45 days without telling anyone, right as we were finishing recording our debut album. Yeah, they weren’t happy. I was in something called “breach of contract” with the suits over at record label and they wanted to take me to court, and not the Star kind.

I definitely didn’t have lawsuit type of money back then, so it was in my best interest to work something out with Starcourt and jump back on fulfilling my contract. Problem was, Corroded Coffin didn’t want me back anymore, even though the guy they replaced me with wasn’t half as good as I was.

I thought that because my old band didn’t want me, that meant that I would be free of my contract. I was wrong. What actually happened was that my fate was then put into Starcourt’s hands and they could place me in whatever podunk production or band they wanted. They owned my ass.

And that’s how I ended up with The Downsides.

NEXT CHAPTER 🎺🎹

Taglist: @rexorangecouny

[strugglingatart]

Jr Year ep 3

This is me live blogging bc I need to get thoughts out also would love fandom friends full spoilers bellow the cut just so no one accidentally reads anything they don’t want to this will be long

EX GIRLFRIEND I will legit fight Brennan why did we at least not see it....

btw me saying I will fight brennan is mostly a joke like I get why we made all these changes, I don't actually love everything but I do trust all these people enough that it will serve the story and play out great

Immediately clocking the fairy festival (Frosty whatever it is I'm so sorry Brenan says it and then it's immediately out of my head) connection we love

love love looove the aguefort projections, so many Arthur statues!

Riz's manic energy is such a vibe, not exactly healthy but a vibe I get

the astral realm where all the dead gods go

lowkey love that Gorgug and Fabian are solid like the boys lowkey play them so dumb but that's just teenage boys for ya (also thought maybe Fabian would be in less trouble but still some so this makes my anxiety relax a bit, only issues we already knew off)

Actually for the wizards I'm really chill is an A+ and also probably true sentence

ah the answer I needed about Fig's multiclass

Ah the society of shadows again, and a college for sad alone adventureres lol

their record is bad but it should be worse when talking about the one person sports team is SO FUNNY to me

the friends bit is so good, everythig about it, all the laughing, Emily failing intentionally, Ally letting it work even tho it shouldn't, perfection

Lydia still making half orc meals we love and stan

Adaine-Riz friendship is SO IMPORTANT to me

the sibbling energy our girls have are amazing

the Thisstlesprings will literally just go into sex ed and Gorgug's reaction is gold everytime

"Can I run from you?" LMAO

ok I'm getting the silly energy they were talking about now

listennnn we are gonna get into Gorgug isn't a good barbarian according to his teacher again aren't we? it's why it wasn't pre approved? I will fight this teacher he literally saved the world twice as mostly a barbarian let him be a chill barbarian

WHY DID GILLEAR NOT TALK TO FIG

yes Fabian make Fig go to class

yay new lunch lad

also I legit thought the time quangle was just an explain continuity errors away and also get rid of the agueforts who break encounters thing but it might be related to the plot now that it's come back up in the recap and in the intercom in story

Fig has Gillear's luck confirmed ok

Zac's physical comedy continues to be SO GOOD

the sillies really are here I'm laughing so much

straight away this lady is insane

four different dogs is such a good burn, love agro Kristen

do not trust this people at all

ohhh skullcleaver, Katya's aunt? cousin? I don't recall the seven mentioning that

listen Fabian's house being party house is lowkey dangerous

Kristen being a disaster gay even when trying to help friends flirt is a mood and a half

ooohh I like mazey

don't trust the attomaton tbh

also yes I just thought of this now so it's late but going back to Kipperlilly whatever her name is, like homegirl can't make big institutional changes youre class president not on staff

rules always being followed to the letter is tbh scary there has to be room for interpretation, perfect order doesn't exist

YES PLOT love how it's already too much bc mood and "yeah I cannot think about that right now" and "embodyment of writers block" oh this season is gonna continue to hit me in the face

Wanda Childa is wild

she was a turncoat, more importantly she was a mirror

why is Ally's hey girlie voice so terrifying

fully forgot porter was the barbarian teacher and I will fight porter LET GORGUG MULTICLASS...

aaaa I'm going into a worry is here, legit thought it was gonna be in battle but I love Gorgug's energy here bc I've been there where you do things kinda nontraditional way and have teachers make the achivements sound so much worse just bc i didn't get there through the path they wanted me to take

love terpsichore immediately

they get 30's fairly often now we love level 10

fabian is such an arsty kid at heart and always was like Lou wanted to make a jock maybe but never did

listen trashbag sandwich is worrying but it was indeed fine

I get that Riz is type A but he is the non annoying kind

homegirl who desn't like technicalities and ppl gettign away with stuff got out in one huh? also I have no idea what that means the teacher found her? what?

Jawbone I love you and also I worry about how much I relate to Riz

I so hate this girl I'm with Adaine, she's the worst we've had

oh no the Applebee's

ok so I have a huge like essay somewhere about both why I don't like how Kristen is dealing with Cassandra but also how I 10000% understand her as someone who abandoned religion but was then forced to still be in similar roles and religious enviornments after that somewher in my head buut also who cares but just know it exists

omg Bucky giving her a hug I cry

Kristen is not doing well but that was actually a pretty good parental confrontation tbh I'm proud

oh damn poor Adaine I'm sosorry my dear you don't deserve this

Brennan really went you know what? we are not having your wildness work for you this time Emily, your shit is catching up to you

yay fig went to class finally

we got SO many designs with all the teachers and such and they are all so great

oh nooo Kristeeen, each step I take the step behind me vanishes is such a raw ass line like this poor teenager is legit so lost like someone help her please (also that was a relatable little monologue.. am I ok?)

love the cleric teacher a lot

ok but i love cassandra alright twilight, mystery and doubt are such a cool ass domain you can sell it and embrace it Kristen I belive in youuuu

but also again: a good ass teacher

awn I love that they're back in the forest

again Siobhan promised no taers and I have cried twice now maybe three times in three eps??? rude af

the bad kids should've helped with the whole Cassandra stuff I just realised I'm so sorry

oh shit not Kalina again.... I feel like i got stabbed in the heart

oh I am sooo pumped for next ep!!!!!

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 23rd July ✨

This week has been such an amazing week of listening! I’ve found three new shows that I absolutely adore and I can’t wait to tell you all about them ✨

Spoilers ahead!

🌲@hellofromthehallowoods (126) FIRST OF ALL 🚗🚗🚗 BEEP BEEP GET IN LOSER, WE’RE GOING TO GET MOTH 🚗🚗🚗 So glad to hear from you again, Ray!! This line: “the devil’s a better man than I am” had my eyebrows disappearing into my hairline and that’s all I’m going to say at this time. It’s always a risk listening in public, because the scene on the beach made me want to cry a little. I hope in my heart that they’re all going to make it out of there but I have no idea how right now! 

📻 @monstrousagonies (106) the first letter this week made me laugh so much! I was fully expecting the ‘moocher’ to be a brownie or someone like that, so it was a fun surprise to hear of a demonic midnight snacker! I may have to use that excuse when my baked goods don’t turn out so baked or good . . .  

🎞  Tiny Terrors (021) What a welcome VA jumpscare from Mx Wellman!! I loved the story (I, too, would feed the mega-toad to make it happy) but the surrounding footage was really creepy... I sure hope the gang goes to investigate the Riverside Institute. What’s the worst that could happen?? 👀

🌍 OOH the most recent episode of @lastechoespod was genuinely empowering! The political pressure the Archivist is under seems to have ramped up this ep, and reading @skyfullofpods’s thoughts on it last week makes me want to listen to it all again with fresh ears! 

🧛‍♂️ @re-dracula What a great week! Alasdair Stuart nails it as the Captain of the Demeter. His voice in the first ep is the calm surface of the sea, hiding the teeming mass of life and death below. The Renfield arc honestly unsettles me so much, but I, too, would love a kitten if there’s one going spare … 

🧬 Regina Prime (ep 4) The revelations!! I loved the sound design of the getting ready montage in this ep but I loved the lore drop even more! 300 clones?! And cloning is something that’s happening commercially? Damn. The last line actually made me grin, Epsilon is quick-witted and brave (or stupid!) and I like her a lot. Every episode I get more enthralled by this show and everyone needs to be listening! 

 💫 Wolf 359 (20-22) Hot damn. The tension aboard the Hephaestus is something else… the paranoia is written so well, you’re listening with your most suspicious face trying to unpick it and getting nowhere. I love how I have no idea where this is going but I know the ride is going to be BUMPY. 

🎩 I started @ethicstownpod this week and it deserves ALL the hype. The show uses a well-loved audio drama trope to bring us a very interesting new story. The writing and voice acting are spot on from the get-go, and the sound design choices feel fresh despite the radio format. Most podcasts make me feel, but this one makes me think as well! I really love it!! I’ve been following the development of the show on Tumblr for a while and I remember the creator being so excited about January’s VA and yeah, I totally get it. Amazing. Hard to believe the role wasn’t written for him. 

SPOILERS: I love how the main ethical issues are presented while January currently seems oblivious to the ethical quandary of keeping important information from someone and who has the right to make that decision . . . ALSO Artemis and Grace are very close in age . . . imagine if they became friends . . . and then Artemis found out . . . . HOO BOY. 

🥾@doyoucopypod The first two episodes are very promising! In the first ep, the pod-within-a-pod recording leads to some fun & cheesy dialogue which contrasts well with the jaded but wary interludes from [REDACTED]. I love a spooky woodland mystery and I’m really hoping for a Blair Witch style descent into terrifying found-footage chaos! The second episode really tugged on the old heart strings. I need a Does The Dog Die for this show bc I’ve had Wilson for 8 minutes but if anything happened to him I’d make that Dead Zone REALLY much more dead-er. 

🏴‍☠️ @levianpod This show has dropped its anchor right into my heart!!! DAMN. I’ve listened twice this week. I can’t recall the last time I was so immediately ALL-IN for an audio drama. I mean, firstly, that cover art is GORGEOUS. I genuinely think this show has it all, there’s LORE, there’s spiciness, there are sea captains who are also sea monsters (a GIFT for the wlw, thank you 🙏), there’s a teenage romance gone WRONG. Then there’s the voice acting!! Incredible performances right out of the gate. It’s safe to say that I am OBSESSED. Why are you still here? Go fucking listen to Levian. 

🎧 In the most recent ep of The First Episode Of, W Keith Tims talks to Packhowl - a creator I greatly admire. I love these interviews! It’s so fascinating to hear how other creators came to audio drama and it’s shed some of the brilliant The Madness of Chartrulean in new light for me. I miss grumpy space Jesus. 

That's it from me! PLEASE go listen to Ethics Town, Do You Copy and Levian!!

[chernikastan]

You know, this one particular phrase from Gou in episode 133 bothered me when I first watched the ep and it still bothers me a lot, even though I think I know why it's there now:

Hi hello I'm back with a textwall about Gou lmao. So yeah, what bothered me about this line in particular was that it came pretty much out of nowhere. Even worse, his character arc throughout the whole show had been him learning to let others in and letting them help him instead of going on ego trips all the time. So for 100+ episodes we have this slow and imo great build up to Gou learning exactly that. To communicate with his Pokémon and people, to work together with them instead of denying help because he had always been on his own when younger. Then suddenly this sentence is meant to be a new and important realisation of his and leads to a sudden 180 arc in the last few episodes of him lamenting being too reliant on Satoshi and others in general. And that's why he has to travel on his own now. You know, if there had been clear build up to that, I wouldn't have minded that conclusion at all. People first being reluctant to trust anyone and then clinging too much to someone to a point where they're scared of doing anything if they're not around is a very real thing and a nice idea for a character arc. But the issue here is that the "too dependent" sentiment suddenly happened in the last four episode of the series, with no signs whatsoever beforehand that he was over relying on his Pokémon or Satoshi. Quite the opposite, he's always been perfectly fine with doing things on his own. It's noticeable that he was still worried about having to work with others without Satoshi around, but the entire Project Mew arc took care of that. As for the Pokémon, he's often taken the role of the person the Pokémon rely on too, an obvious example being Grookey. The very episode he says this and its follow up even focus on Grookey taking the role of the protector instead of the protected for once. Also whenever Gou does rely on his Pokémon, it's in situations where he obviously would have to, unless he thinks he's a prick for having his physically stronger Cinderace battle a Pokémon instead of him himself throwing fists with idk, Mewtwo lol.

So even though him saying he's spooked of travelling alone and being too scared to tell Satoshi directly while Satoshi comforts him is a cute scene in the end, it is also a decision on Gou's end that didn't have any build up. Him saying in the episode prior that he chose this because he'd rely on Satoshi too much didn't have any build up.

Anipoke is no stranger to throwing in jarring decisions at the end to justify the existence of the next series, Game Shark user Tobias from DPP being probably the most obvious and famous example of that. But, correct me if I'm mistaken, it's never harmed an individual character's writing that much. Heck, it's never harmed a relationship between two characters as much. Satoshi and Gou had been built up as these best friends 5ever who slowly become closer and closer throughout the series. Gou says in the second to last episode that he thinks Satoshi would totally just tell him to go for it, to do the solo journey if he feels like it. It's exactly what he said too, so Gou certainly understands his buddy by now. However, this scene would have been the perfect opportunity to have Satoshi be called out on his niceness there, because sure he's a nice and supportive dude. But we know that he enjoys hanging out with Gou. We know that he misses him when he's not around. Heck, we see in the last episode, when they seperate, that he's not exactly happy to part ways with his friend. He completely puts Gou's sudden desire to travel by himself over his own desire to keep being around his friend. As if there's some outside force that forces them to separate against their will. As if they didn't have a choice but to go separate ways because what they wanted to do was impossible with the other around. But in the epilogue (and MPM) they literally do the same things they did together the 100+ episodes prior, so there clearly was no narrative reason for this.

So with all that said. Sorry for the longass text lol, I was thinking about just throwing this into my Satogou essay, but I don't think it really fits there so here we go. SO WITH ALL THAT SAID I think MPM's existence, the way the series goes, the knowledge of what the last episode seems to be about, the knowledge of the change of executive producer between JN and MPM and Yuyama's Animedia interview about MPM, I think the reason for the sudden change in character makes sense. Hear out my super kewl theory

The Yuyama interview makes it sound quite clear that MPM wasn't exactly planned ahead, unlike decisions like Satoshi winning the PWC and making way for a new series this year. It feels oddly disconnected from the series, because even though Satoshi uses old Pokémon and briefly travels with Misty and Brock again, the places they visit are deliberately nameless. And the episodes themselves, while conceptually just like any other "helping Pokémon of the day" episode prior, have little connection to stuff that happened in the actual show outside of small references like Rattata or Beedrill. While we still have to see the conclusion to the Latias plot, it feels more like a spontaneous idea to connect these 10 episodes until the last one than anything.

Oh also a relevant tidbit of information is that Yuyama equated the title of Pokémon Master to a rainbow, e.g. something you're fascinated by and try to reach without ever being actually able to. Might explain JN's heavy usage of rainbows, at least to some extend.

In conclusion, I think what has happened is that JN was written with it being Satoshi's last series in mind. And Gou has been written as the ideal counterpart to him, basically. He's essentially the Lugia to Satoshi's Ho-oh if you wanna, hence both of these mons appearing in the last JN ep. So from his conception, Gou was never meant to go separate ways with Satoshi. But then they realised they have three whole months to fill until the new series is able to premiere. And the idea of MPM was basically born, Misty and Brock as a no brainer nostalgia bait (as per Yuyama's words, the decision to have them be the companions for MPM was so certain he doesn't even remember how they got to the conclusion), episodes that fill the void until the new show etc. Of course to recreate the og trio, they'd have to get rid of anyone but Satoshi from the previous show. How do you get rid of a character that has been established as basically having no reason to leave the other main character and who's relationship with said character had been highlighted so much in both the show and promotional material? You just make up a reason lmao.

And yeah, I mean, as I said, Anipoke is no stranger to sudden decisions like that. Shudo, the chief director from OS to Johto said how he wanted to give the show a proper ending and wasn't able to because the show had to go on. The DPP series was clearly written to build up to Satoshi winning the league (and him potentially getting replaced entirely, since Gen 5 was initially meant to be a fresh new start to the franchise). XY also very clearly was building him up to win the league. Each time it was stuff that happened in the last few episodes that certainly didn't look like they were anywhere near planned ahead. And I am almost 100% certain the same happened in JN with Gou and the sudden change of heart in these last few episodes.

Had to write all this because not only did the decision itself bother me of course (don't get me wrong, I am genuinely looking forward to the new series and MPM had its neat moments so far, but the way JN, Satoshi's series and Gou ended was a wholeass mess imo) but other I've kinda been frustrated about how many people went "hahah told yall so Gou would leave XD GOne" (that pun IS funny tho). Like, no you guys, a broken clock is also right twice a day yada yada. I highly doubt yall saw MPM coming. I high doubt yall expected Satoshi's story to end. I highly doubt you could have been able to tell me what reasoning they'd come up with to have Gou and Satoshi separate. You guys' reasoning had always just been "because they always did it (except for the times they didn't)". Because the thing is, I had written them all up at some point, but all the arguments for Gou staying were based on what the series itself presented and relied 1) on Satoshi staying and 2) the producers of the show not changing their mind last moment to justify the existence of the next series. I'm gonna go ahead and assume the executive producer of JN (Tomiyasu) saw more importance in Gou and Satoshi's relationship and Gou's importance as a character, given that he's probably partially responsible for it being a thing in the first place, than the executive producer of MPM (Yuyama), who has worked on the series as it started and notably would rather stick to the traditions of the show instead of trying out new things. That's why JN's ending feels so out of nowhere and that's probably also why MPM feels so disconnected from the rest of the series, almost more like a spin-off. While Tomiyasu is much more keen on bringing new ideas and concepts into the series. You can see that, as once he started having a bigger influence on the series with Sun and Moon, there's notable changes in setting, writing of characters etc.

Now this was a really long rant fr lol oops. Uhhh... Gou best boi, I am glad the Satogou fandom is still alive and kicking, stay gold, Satogou Day is in two days and I completely forgot about it tho oops

[twig-tea]

Current Tag Game

Tagged by @waitmyturtles @lurkingshan and @wen-kexing-apologist!

Current Time: 12:27 PM

Current activity: Taking a lunch break from work between back-to-back meetings (during which I sometimes post to tumblr when they are not useful meetings lol).

Currently thinking about: Balancing work stuff with Palestine stuff with Shadow theories! Also trying not to think about medical news I am waiting for....my brain is a stressful place rn.

Current favourite song: So I fell down a TXT FreeFall rabbit hole; fell in love with Skipping Stones, which then led me to the artist who created that song, Hanroro, and am now obsessed with one of her other songs, "Even if you leave,". Her tone, mood, just everything. Obsessed.

Currently reading: These days I only read fanfic and nonfic. Oh and the Batman: Wayne Family Adventures webtoon lolol Shoutout to Yeaka on A03 who (among other things) writes pitch-perfect Ustukushii Kare ficlets that get me through the day; here's the one I read most recently.

Currently watching: lol here we go (in no particular order but semi-ranked in terms of how much space they are taking up in my brain?):

Shadow the Series: binged all 7 eps yesterday, eagerly awaiting the back half!

I Feel You Linger in the Air: finale this week; this one was really hard for me to watch at first due to the the sexual assaults in the first four episodes, but it's a really gorgeous piece of work and I'm glad I stuck with it (I did have a real moment to myself where I thought if this pattern was going to continue I would have to drop it, but luckily it did not keep going). There are a few powerful scenes that I've written about separately that will live rent-free in my head.

Kimi ni wa todokanai / I cannot reach you / won't get through to you: I'm watching this one grey thanks to the incredible sub work by @lurkingteapot (follow @kiminaisubs!) and am absolutely loving it. These are such wonderful characters. It's so interesting to be watching this at the same time as the next one, because the similarities and differences make comparing the two a richer experience watching both!

Kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo / If it's with you: Amane has rocketed up to one of my favourite characters of all time. Love how the family stuff is integrated into this show. I think I actually like this show more than I cannot reach you, but I've been providing the minimal insight I can into drafts of the subs for the other show so have been thinking about it more.

One Room Angel: very excited for this one, the humour is pitch-perfect and the themes are my cup of tea. I love supernatural stuff, and mysteries especially around supernatural mechanics, and psychology, and self esteem issues. and all that good stuff.

Kinou nani tabeta / What Did You Eat Yesterday?: Love that this show has retained the heart and quality of the previous work. Loving this a lot. It's not higher on the list only because I don't need to think about it a lot, it's SO legible, and so well done.

Mr Cinderella 2: I am having a FANTASTIC time with this show lol it is such a pulp; there is high drama, paranormal elements (rituals and potions), insidious psychological tricks, and really solid relationship writing. This show starts with the main couple together, and shows how they deal with all of these external forces--which works for me in a way it doesn't with Kiseki below because their response as a couple at first is to unite and shore up; they support one another through it. It's when they start trying to handle things on their own (and this is justified by the narrative) that things fall apart.

Kiseki: Dear to Me: Like everyone else, I have fallen in love with Ai Di the murder kitten. I think the mains aren't resonating with me as much because their problems are all external rather than internal, and they keep trying to handle them individually (i.e. without ever working as a couple to face these issues), but they are also very pretty and I appreciate all the lap-sitting.

Absolute Zero: Honestly I now watch this show with annoyance like "What are you doing with this scene, New Siwaj? Why?". The mechanics of the show are still interesting but I am mad at it so I now approach those questions with annoyance rather than interest lol

Venus in the Sky: I liked this one way more than I thought I would; it's miles better than Check Out and far more coherent. It's a decent pulp!

My Universe: I'm a bit behind on this one but mostly caught up now (one story behind); the quality of these stories varies wildly but it's an interesting short story format! I'm keeping track of thoughts for all of the stories and will do a post when I'm done if anyone wants to know which are worth watching (since they all stand alone)

My Dear Gangster Oppa: This just got started; the first episode was pretty! I think it's going to be a solid and enjoyable pulp lol

You Are Mine: This one I am not enjoying. Too much boss-using-his-powers-over-his-subordinate-to-force-proximity-and-not-actually-communicating, and the women pushing this male secretary at his boss as fodder really sits wrong with me.

Dangerous Romance: I have very little sympathy for the rich boy who doesn't think through the consequences of his actions or the people who enable him, and I'm annoyed that the Sailom character we got at the beginning of the series who was self-aware, confident, clever, and had his priorities straight seems to have disappeared. There is no internal consistency in this show.

Taskmaster series 16: I love this dorky show from England lol comedians are given absurd tasks and then are judged; it's got a very strong undertone-turned-overtone of kink, and yet is family-friendly, and I find that fascinating. What a good show lol

Current favourite character: HMMMM. Amane from If It's With You comes first to mind, to be honest. He's gay, he fucks, he has self esteem issues but he's working on them, he's brave enough to be honest to his crush even though he's been burned before, and he asks for what he really wants, and then hold hope that he might actually get it. And his behaviour around his crush is relatably cringe. I LOVE HIM. [@wen-kexing-apologist wrote this before I saw yours but YES, sad boy hiding behind happiness is THE BEST]

Current WIP: I have 4 asks that I have in my drafts that I owe @wen-kexing-apologist, @mynameisnotthepoint (this wasn't really an ask per se but it was an excuse to gush so I'm taking it), @wanderlust-in-my-soul, and @waitmyturtles. I have been working on all of them and do still plan on answering them! I also have a draft re: Hidden Agenda the novel vs the show that I realllllly need to just stop fussing with and post.

Tags: Tagging folks I've chatted with recently! @dribs-and-drabbles @my-rose-tinted-glasses @slayerkitty @neuroticbookworm @lurkingteapot @crowie @visualtaehyun @belladonna-and-the-sweetpeas @sorry-bonebag @thewayurant

[bengiyo]

Step By Step Ep 10 Stray Thoughts

Last week on HR Violations, Jeng made his feelings plain to Pat, and Pat was not prepared for one more emotional blow. Jeng had a complete emotional breakdown in a standpoint bit of acting from Man Trisanu. We spent much of the week unpacking exactly what happened with Pat, and determined that he’s just 25, tired, and overwhelmed. Ae had her baby, and nothing made sense from a practical standpoint. Jeng broke all of us with “It makes sense to me,” and now we’re supposed to just stroll back into this.

I still approve of Jeng doing the responsible thing and keeping his distance from Pat.

I love Chot so much. I am loving this new trend in BL about shows encouraging people to respect the feelings people are expressing, and reminding characters (and viewers) that I takes a lot of courage to express them. It’s still okay to reject people, but treat people kindly. Love Chot making the overall situation plain for Pat and confused viewers.

“It’s been eight years already. I’m used to it,” feels like a subtle commentary on BL itself. Chot has not been able to live his live a openly as he’d like with his boyfriend because the family wouldn’t approve. Coincidentally, that’s the same amount of time we’ve been in the current era of Thai BL. For all the money and interest that’s been poured into BL, lived queer experiences still face daily struggles.

 A carrot cake? Pat, please do better.

I see. The show is going to make me cry about Chot. It’s time to write an essay about Step By Step.

“It’s alright. I own this place.” Sir!!!

My man just trashed his own kitchen to get it in.

Smitten looks good on Pat.

He let me hit so I can follow back on Insta

These two have lost all composure. Hooking up in the company parking lot!

Chot is trying to cover for these two, but they are being unfortunately way too obvious.

I’m having complicated reactions to the homelessness scene. Feels like the show wants to quickly shine a lens on an issue important to the filmmakers, but it feels awkward as hell.

Hey, it looks like the Fjord project went well.

Okay, Pat’s dad is funny. I like his specific beef with Jeng. Still, I kinda hoped he’d ask harder questions like, “How is this supposed to work if you’re still his boss?”

They keep going to this one shot when they go to the bedroom that’s clearly from the closet and using Dutch angles. This feels intentionally designed to make me uneasy.

Oh they're using P' and Nong now.

Ben has a happy trail. Let me pause and collect myself.

WHERE IS THE BABY??

Did they give the hets a camera angle kiss??

Oh nevermind it was meant to cut to Pat and Jeng as a potential future.

Now you know Ae was aiming for Pat with that bouquet. She is messy like that.

Wait, so Jaab is seeing someone else now?? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to get from Jaab and Jen.

Okay, we found the baby.

I like that Beam and Ae didn't touch each other, if I'm reading this right. Glad we can put this to bed.

Oh, I don't like Jeng promoting Pat into his position. That's not good for either of them.

Suddenly, a glow up for Ying?

Whoa, was not expecting this EXTREME GEN X ENERGY from Ying in Pat's corner.

"Haven't I been strong enough?" is a whole mood.

Yet another instance of BL reminding us that they both have dicks.

"I want to be happy with you." Oh, Jeng. I am also lonely in my 30s. I get it. I really do. But, my man, you cannot put this on Pat.

Pat's resignation was inevitable. Jeng, who's normally so controlled, definitely lost all composure this episode.

I'm not jumping directly into the discourse here, but I will say clearly that I am only watching through Gaga. Do not send me comments, asks, or messages about episodes only available legally through WeTV fast track. I don't subscribe to spoiler culture, but please don't be rude.

As for this episode, I feel a bit muddled. I'm going to spend some time thinking about core themes and seeing what this show actually wants to explore.