#the rain is 100% better imo

[pandagobrr]

I need to settle an argument

[txttletale]

bundletober #15: the sunless seasons

almost halfway there. woah. living on a prayer and all that. today's bundletober is interesting in that i'm not looking at a standalone game. the sunless seasons is a blades in the dark--i hestitate to call it a supplement, it's more a play tool or as the cover proclaims, a toolkit--by eskur.

so, for those who haven't played it--blades in the dark is my favourite ttrpg. it's a heist game set in duskvol, a city in the middle of a blighted perpetually dark wasteland, a dark and brooding take on a world like that of dishonored or bioshock that embraces character competence, the over-the-table conversation, and cutting out all the parts of stories and games that aren't the fun parts.

the sunless seasons is a very short set of pages containing tables of plot hooks, vignettes, and weather conditions for each of duskvol's seasons.

the weather tracking works with a pretty ingenious hex grid--you roll to move a counter between these hexes at different intervals--you can base it off in-game time passing or between scenes for when you want a dramatic hard cut. it's a simple thing but it takes another element of 'being the world', of creating an immersive and breathing space to play in, off the sole shoulders of the GM.

the plot hooks provided on the 'weird weather' hex are very cool, too. this toolkit gives duskvol a pulse--i'm always talking about how games can be co-authors, and this is pure game-as-co-author, this is game as someone who interjects 'oh, and it's raining' at the most dramatic point. if you play blades in the dark, you should 100% read the sunless seasons, if not to use it, to get some inspiration for how you describe duskvol. even if you don't, it might inspire you for whatever ttrpgs you do play, or to include something similar in your own game.

this, imo, is better to make a place feel real than any amount of lore or timelines or family trees or could be. it's something material and present, something you use in play rather than just read and forget about. this is how you make your world feel real.

the sunless seasons can be downloaded for free through itch.io

[yesloulou]

pleaseee sort all drivers, i am here for this crossover!

thank u for this ask i had so much fun i acc made a lil graph for it lol

first of all. daniel is a slytherin 100%!!! see tags on this post:

max -> hufflepuff: he's hard working (training in the rain) he's patient (waiting all those yrs at rb for a winning car) he's loyal (actually said he'll retire at rbr) and he's extremely fair (ad 22 when he refused to block charles to help checo his teammate get p2 in wdc)

(my chirlie mutual started hate shipping lestappen after this lol)

checo -> hufflepuff:the fact that his loyalty still lies with force india/racing point to this day... also the fact that he's able to maintain a surprisingly good relationship w daniel even though every day 20730847 articles come out talking about daniel taking his seat?? (according to c horner max and checo actually get on better when daniel is there). i feel like this is bc checo is a compassionate person (he had been in daniel's shoes in 2020) and he sees that it's fair daniel will ofc take the chance if he's able to get his old rb seat back.

charles -> slytherin: 1. the ambition of envisioning himself driving for ferrari since he was like a fetus 2. the being comfortable with lying for the greater good 3. the following jules his god father who was a first gen FDA driver pretty much step by step (heritage) 4. and the resourcefulness of getting himself endorsed by the Todt's at age 14.. that mouse is a slytherin!!! in fact. did you know he's affectionately known among the italian tifosi as 'viperella 🐍'? plz refer this brilliant scholarship by @dhufflebee.

carlos -> hufflepuff: when he said 'i was very good i was very fast today' with barely suppressed tears.... when he said his penalty was 'not deserved it is TOO SEVERE i said please please please please to wait to wait until the race is finished and speak to me'........ that was a man trembling w rage bc he was treated unfairly and his hard work was not valued

lewis -> ravenclaw: he's obviously either ravenclaw or slytherin and i think the fact that he likes to distance himself from his peers a lil bit to focus on racing puts him in the former. also whenever he's asked about things happening on the grid (daniel losing his seat, seb's retirement...) i get a feeling that he's very cordial yet doesn't get involved all that much.

george -> slytherin: you would think he has a similar family background to lando's bc of the extra posh accent he maintains and the way he dresses so well... wrong. you're actually looking at a man who values heritage more than you might think. he's ambitious and prepared and driven yet subtle about it (suffered all those years in williams for the merc oppurtinity). he's also a very prideful person imo (see: flipping vb the bird immediately after portugal 21 crash). slytherin thru and thru

fernando -> slytherin: next

lance -> ravenclaw: i can see the slytherin argument bc he comes from money but i feel like he values truths and facts more than he is prideful or unrelenting. see: fact checking max over 180 cm height (where the iconic 'he claims that?' came from). see also: 'ask george about my vegas tag junior win in 2012.. ask him about it.. yeah hahaha ask him about it...' also he has a certain calmness and resignation that comes from valuing facts and observations above else. see:

lando -> slytherin: i love him but the amount of times he whined on the radio so mcalren would team order daniel to maintain position and not fight..... the cunningness, the being comfortable with exaggerating his situations to his engineer... the benefiting from his heritage (the millions of pounds of norris money injected into mclaren).. the resourcefulness of somehow getting z brown involved with his personal brand quadrant which subsequently established mclaren and himself as a package deal... he's a slytherin. he makes fernando alonso proud.

esteban -> ravenclaw: idk esteban that well but the fact that he used to count checo's sins to every media post race back when they were teammates at racing point, then go on twitter with receipts knowing full well it wouldn't change a thing bc checo had the sponsors he didn't... este speaks with facts and he embodies ravenclaw's signature 'resigned cynics'

(the 'perez tried to kill me 2 times!' 😭)

pierre -> gryffindor: suzuka 22 post race where he hesitated but then started talking about jules anyway ("i don't think what happened today was respectful towards jules and his family"). he got a very heavy handed penalty from the fia afterwards which to me feels retaliating. that's a very brave boy. also he is not afraid to show his temper (example) and doesn't easily back down (the alleged shouting match with, and i kid you not, adrian newey). he is very gryffindor.

yuki -> gryffindor: he's obviously passion driven, hence temper <3. also i think the fact that he and pierre became such good friends despite being teammates and having incidents on track rlly speaks for how much they trust and are loyal to each other

alex -> hufflepuff: idk alex that well but the whole concept of drs train conductor is so very hufflepuff coded. i worked hard i was patient i dragged my tractor in front of yours so you're not overtaking me. it's all fair game.

logan -> slytherin: i mean obviously this was taken right outside of their commom room

– end –

p.s. shout out to @tyrannosaurus-maxy for organizing the sort the grid polls you're truly our trend setter!!! ✨

[mikkokomori]

Everyone with their own Headspace AU anon: I always thought Rain Town felt like something Basil would have in his Headspace. It says the water can "see into another world" and that just sounds like someone else's mind to me. Plus the whole "Chosen One" thing reminds me of how Basil idealized Sunny. So Rain Town is the access point to Basil's Headspace from Sunny's (and it makes sense that they were closer because they were already best friends and then shared trauma/guilt) also the Something Variant found there, Lili? To me it resembles Basil's Something more than any other. (The only thing that would be better is Little Ones being there, since they are internally called "Little Basils")

Basil's Headspace is more Stardew Valley inspired (not 100% but the vibes)

Hero's is more Undertale (so Hero can help people and not hurt them) and I feel like it HAS to connect through Last Resort.

Kel's imo would be very much like a combo between Shadow of The Colossus, LOZ BOTW and Minecraft (many biomes that don't necessarily logically connect together, and huge locations that inspire awe and just an overall adventure vibe) Kel's connects through Outerworld.

Aubrey's... I have no idea what game to compare it to... never played one like it (vibing strong contrasts: dark/light, City/Country, etc and punk themes. Still retains Aubrey's softer side, bunnies and tea parties etc). I feel like Aubrey's probably connects through... Maybe Sweetheart's Castle? Idk I'm trying to connect to the characters through the location but idk which area is the most Aubrey

Bonus: (since she comes back in this AU) Mari. Her headspace focuses a lot on perfectionism and death, but like... In a positive way? (Death as peace and freedom and not something to fear. I have strong feelings about Mari feeling like her death while obviously traumatic for everyone, but it allowed her to be more herself in her second go round since I headcanon her as being pressured into a lot of things by her father) tons of headcanon stuff for Mari once she comes back. Her headspace connects to Sunny's through the tire swing in the Vast Forest (f-ed up? Yes. But I have a dark sense of humour)

Very interesting...

As for Aubrey. the one I can mostly think of was this one fighting game I've seen around every once in a while... I'm not sure what it's called, but I do think it has a character named Bridgette in it...... nevertheless, I do think it'd be something like that sort of... if that makes sense? (Though I may be wrong, since I know next to nothing about it).

I think it's always a little fun to add in ironic jokes inside AUs.... so I can see the humor in it :]

[chaoscradle]

assigning GUTS songs to stranger things characters (i know this has been done a ton of times already but i'm doing it anyway):

all-american bitch: nancy

"I know my age and I act like it"

"I'm a perfect all-american bitch"

"I know my place, I know my place, and this is it"

"I'm the eternal optimist, I scream inside to deal with it"

"I pay attention to things most people ignore"

(el could also work with this one, but i felt like with the whole nuclear family thing the wheelers have going on that nancy fits better)

bad idea right?: max

"'I only see him as a friend' the biggest lie I ever said"

"can't two people reconnect?"

"but god, when I look at you, my brain goes 'ah', can't hear my thoughts"

vampire: joyce

"every girl I talked to told me you were bad, bad news"

"you're so convincing, how do you lie without flinching?"

"I've made some real big mistakes, but you make the worst one look fine"

"the way you sold me for parts"

"you said it was true love, but wouldn't that be hard? you can't love anyone, 'cause that would mean you had a heart"

"I loved you truly. gotta laugh at the stupidity"

lacy: el

"I linger all the time, watchin', hidden in plain sight"

"aren't you the sweetest thing on this side of hell?"

"I feel your compliments like bullets on skin"

"and I despise my jealous eyes and how hard they fell for you"

ballad of a homeschooled girl: mike

"and I hate all my clothes, feels like my skin doesn't fit right over my bones"

"the party's done, and I'm no fun, I know I know, I know, I know"

"I made it weird, I made it worse"

"everything I do is tragic"

"I'm shocked I'm still alive"

(this could also work for robin tbh)

making the bed: mike

"another perfect moment that doesn't feel like mine, another thing I forced to be a sign"

"push away all the people who know me the best"

"every good thing has turned into something I dread"

"and I tell someone I love them, just as a distraction"

logical: will (psa this is from will's pov i don't think any of this of mike)

"come for me like a savior, and I'd put myself through hell for you"

"and I fell for you like rain falls from a February sky, but now the current's stronger and I couldn't get out if I tried"

"oh, why do I do this? I look so stupid thinking two plus two equals five, and I'm the love of your life"

"'cause if rain don't pour and sun don't shine, then changing you is possible"

"you lied, you lied, you lied"

"I guess love is never logical"

"the sky is green, the grass is red, and you mean all those words you said"

"I know I'm half responsible, and that makes me feel horrible"

"I know I could've stopped it all, god why didn't I stop it all?"

"'cause loving you is loving every argument you held over my head"

get him back!: max (NOT about lumax, just how she'd handle a different breakup)

"I want sweet revenge, I want him again"

"do I love him? do I hate him? I guess it's up and down"

"I wanna make him really jealous, I wanna make him feel bad"

"I wanna break his heart, then be the one to stitch it up"

"I wanna meet his mom, just to tell her her son sucks"

love is embarrassing: will

"and then, you kissed some girl from high school"

"waited by my phone like a goddamn fool"

"god, love's embarrassing as hell"

"and I consoled you while you cried over your ex-girlfriend's new guy" (minus the new guy part)

"you found a new version of me"

"I give up, I give up, but I keep comin' back for more"

the grudge: lucas

"how could anyone do the things you did so easily?"

"I try to be tough, I try to be mean, but even after all this, you're still everything to me, and I know you don't care, I guess that's fine"

"one phone call from you and my entire world was changed"

"and I doubt you ever think about the damage that you did, but I hold onto every detail like my life depends on it"

"and I know in my heart, hurt people hurt people"

(this song doesn't 100% represent lucas and max's relationship in s4 imo but it comes the closest)

pretty isn't pretty: el

"there's always something in the mirror that I think looks wrong"

"when pretty isn't pretty enough, what do you do?"

"I could change up my body and change up my face, I could try every lipstick in every shade, but I'd always feel the same"

"fix the thing you hated, and you'd still feel insecure"

"I chased some dumb ideal my whole fucking life, and none of it matters and none of it ends"

teenage dream: will

"they all say that it gets better, it gets better, but what if I don't?"

"when am I gonna stop being wise beyond my years and just start being wise?"

"I'll blow out the candles, happy birthday to me" (birthdaygate)

"but I fear that they already got all the best parts of me"

"will I spend all the rest of my years wishin' I could go back?"

[chaotic-history]

History questions 1, 6, and 9 👀

Thanks for the ask!!

I'm sure no one will be surprised to hear that it's Voltaire lol. Love that weird little guy

6- Military unit?

If we're talking type of unit, cavalry. If we're talking more specifically, is the Band of Thebes too basic of answer? I know basically nothing about military history lol.

9- Favourite historical film?

I'm torn between 1776 and Mein Name Ist Bach. 1776 is *better* imo, but... Mein Name Ist Bach deserves to be a cult classic. That movie fucked me up because ough Fritz saying he felt trapped and isolated by his father and then Amalia saying Fritz was taking away everyone she loved from her... And then the weird gay-adjacent scene with Fritz and Bach's son in the stables? Maupertuis' fluorescent dog poo? The whole thing ending with V looking like THAT while it's pouring rain on the shitty Prussian roads and the parallel between him and Bach?? We need more history movies that are just an hour and a half of mental illness dialed to 100; I want to see this same movie about like Caesar or Alexander or someone, screw the military stuff, I want sad wet mental illness, artsy gay drama, and interpersonal problems.

Two vaguely relevant Voltaire quotes, aka I just really like them especially the second one:

"A canal that connects two seas, a picture by Poussin, a beautiful tragedy, a discovered truth, are things a thousand times more precious than all the annals of the court, all the narratives of war. You know that with me great men rank first, 'heroes' last. I call great men all those who have excelled in the useful and agreeable. The ravagers of provinces are mere heroes" - Letter to Thieriot, 15 July 1735

"Great king, I love heroes very much when their mind gives them over to sweet pastimes, to kind words; for then they are at rest and they don't harm anyone. I love Caesar, that brilliant man Caesar, whose fortunate hand, destined to win all the laurels, makes Rome great and ordains for it another sky and another year. I love Caesar in the arms of the mistress who yields to him. I laugh and am not perturbed to see him, young and attractive, above and under Nicomedes. I admire him more than Cato, for he is tender and magnanimous, eloquent like Cicero, and sometimes cheerful, sometimes sublime, like a king whose name I will not say. But I lose a little of my esteem for him when he crosses the Rubicon, and I cry when this great man, good poet and good orator, having fought so hard for Rome, fights Rome to the point of its misfortune." - Letter to Frederick, June 1743 (originally was a poem but I hate translating poems)

[bluest-planet]

Some fun Mexican HCs for Miguel as a mixed Mexican/Salvi first gen American person (don't take these too seriously I haven't read his comics so sorry):

Being Hidalguense I am claiming him for my state >:) suck it Michocanos, Oaxaqueños, Poblanos, Yucatecos, Morelos, Leonés, Potosinos, y Jaliscienses! (And every other state I missed lol.) ((Also this is a BIG joke of course he can be from any state lol))

Not only does he love empanadas but he also loves Pastes. Basically the same thing but better imo. I feel like he'd like Mole Verde, papa con carne, and tinga the best (totally not projecting)

Ik he's from the future and raised by his Irish parent (?) But that man has eaten barbacoa somehow. Idk when Idk how but he has. Bonus points if he's helped in making with friends or smth but I doubt it.

Has tried pulque and does not like it. Loser for this.

Has fished mojara in a shallow lake with his bare feet and claws I bet. Enrichment. I feel like he'd totally know how to skin and gut em to cook but he's also... From a cozy looking futuristic world so maybe he's too modern to get his hands dirty lol.

Tried tenango embroidery at some point as a hobby. Did not work out.

Big fan of drinking atole in the mornings instead of coffee.

Has the weird ability to tell when it's gonna rain. Cause it's always raining in Pachuca lol.

Maybe he visited or stayed in Mex for a hot minute for mission and came back he was friendlier, saying good morning and other pleasantries more often bc the older folks there would constantly say hi to him in buses, streets, shops whatever. (It's actually kinda nice. It fosters camaraderie between strangers in public spaces 100% recommend being friendly to strangers more often.)

Likes fresh juice and agua frescas. Particularly fresh OJ and agua de jamaica.

On that note he also likes fresas con crema. He makes a good bowl and doesn't share with the kids (all of whom try to steal a bite cause it's simple but good)

Starting to realize this is all about food.

Uh

MOST DEFINITELY HAS A PAIR OF NICE HUARACHES and a good leather belt. Necessities.

Do you think he'd have that stereotypical Mexican dad sombrero/cowboy hat? I think it would be so funny if he did but probably not lol.

Doesn't like soccer (yes I'm American ik I'm being a traitor by calling it that) so he gets another loser point for that (not that I like it either tho so like. Same hat.)

One of those customers that somehow knows when the panerias just finished baking a good batch and comes back with bags full of fresh bread for the commissary/as a reward.

My man's just likes carbs okay.

Actually I don't think he'd last very long in the campo.

Spent one night in a rual town and came back covered in bug bites in the worst places (bad experience he also has now.)

One bite was on his eyebrow and got hella swollen and red. Avoided the kids at all costs while it was healing so they wouldn't roast him.

Scolds miles for his spanglish but never offers to correct him so he embarrasses himself. (I'n a teasing way)

Miles picks up on Mexican slang from him like Ashcale doña! Me calle gordo, tragasolas, nada pescadito! and more. He also picks up on saying: "aguas!" As a warning/heads up like Miguel.

They talk shit about others in Spanish in the rare moments they get along.

Miguel always wins at loteria.

Does that thing older relatives do where they sit and talk to each other for hours outside on a sunny humid day breaking and eating countless peanuts and/or walnuts. Then sends the kids with pocket change to buy some homemade popsicles from an old lady down the street that are the best damn popsicles you'll ever eat in your entire life for only 5 pesos. But only when they actually get over their issues and bond.

Certified glass bottle guava bong! Fan. If you know u know.

[patrickztump]

RE: SRAR - I 100% agree with you, that it is a very red album to me too!

The Pheonix. Light 'Em Up. Death Valley. Young Volcanoes. So many of the song titles directly use imagery of fire, or miserable, all-consuming heat. I don't think it's a coincidence that the first two songs I mentioned are the two we heard first, and they both invoke the idea of burning everything down, in order to build something new. Even the poem you hear at the beginning of the "Miss Missing You" video ends with something like the words "Burn 'em all", iirc. And it's perfectly fitting, for where the band were then; They've passed through fire, and they're now reforged from the flames with new purpose.

And there's also, of course, plenty of red imagery throughout the Youngblood Chronicles, too. The aforementioned fire. The snakes with their red bands that appear a few times. The red pickup truck. The apples. And of course the blood. So much blood!

"Don't trust a band that wouldn't bleed for you" after all, right?

yes to all of this 😩 that's the thing i love about save rock and roll, it's the way songs are intertwined, often tightly, and there's a very consistent theme throughout every facet of it's creation. those themes are blatant with other records as well, but this one is very in your face about it – to me at least.

even songs that don't mention fire or heat in their titles still touch on it in their lyrics. "your hot whiskey eyes have fanned the flames / maybe i'll burn a little brighter tonight / let the fire breathe me back to life," "if heaven's grief brings hell's rain," and of course "rat a tat" is absolutely littered with fire references. i suppose you could even count the smoking of cigarettes in "where did the party go" as an indirect fire reference, as a flame is needed to light them and they glow orange from their heat. eight of eleven tracks involving flames of some sort is certainly painting the album as red.

and yes, the quote at the beginning of "miss missing you" – that was later added to copies of the record – drills the point home that the album has a specific theme. quoting it because it's so post-apocalyptic to me and i love the image it conveys:

they just sat back laughing at the wounded city, each breath sucking in ashes and fumes. oh it bled all right; drier than moore county. all expatriate fumes hurrying to find new nations of blinding dust. but the two of them. they just squinted at that pipe-cleaner skyline, and it burned hotter in their oil slick pupils. one elbowed the other and said "i've seen better." knowing that they were paid to remember the past - he blew out a hot breath and said "burn it all."

it's just so good?? and it makes so much sense being paired with "miss missing you" but also as an addition to the album. i don't know.

and touching back to the intertwining of songs, the redundancy of lyrics is so fun. some may argue it a lazy tactic, but imo it works so well that it's not. not even close. i've said it once and i'll say it again, "alone together" and "young volcanoes" are sisters to me, twins even. "this is the road to ruin," "when rome's in ruins" / "and we're starting at the end," "we're the beginning of the end" / "do you wanna feel beautiful," "do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby." and the "and i said, i'll check in tomorrow if i don't wake up dead" between "alone together" and "rat a tat"? i love it so, so very much.

and of course the call backs in "save rock and roll" to "chicago is so two years ago" and "sugar, we're going down" is very fun and a [leonardo decaprio whistling and pointing at the tv] moment.

anyways, back to your original ask on color before i got completely side tracked (but felt i had to discuss). i am so glad you brought up the various calls to red in the youngblood chronicles as i have a project i've been working on for save rock and roll's 11th anniversary and it heavily revolves around red. and i can't elaborate because even i have no idea where i'm taking this lmao. i'm just going where the wind (curious thoughts) takes me.

so yeah. sorry for going off. i was on topic mostly until i became distracted by lyrics and the little cd booklet.

tl;dr: you are 100% right when you said "so many of the song titles directly use imagery of fire, or miserable, all-consuming heat" as the album is a scorcher in so many ways, and certainly is red through and through.

[hyunrun]

my thoughts on asy ep 04 😋 live react !! (warning: I can never remember anyone's names bear with me + lots and lots of spoilers ahead)

Where is zhengting I'm partially here for his face card 🤲🤲

I keep forgetting how much I dislike Rain and then I see him and I am reminded but Rainism is rlly too good of a song 😭

1. PHANTOM

Okay first team up 😎 Phantom Galaxy I'm loving their concept

Albert is looking gorgeous as always HIS EYE MAKEUP?

All their voices slayed omg WHOEVER HAS THAT DEEP ASS VOICE IN THE CHORUS AYOOO

Blond's high notes... I see u

My vote would go to Albert (with ponytail) or blond dude or black hair dude with the silver makeup (Axinran?)

OKAYY team two flying to the dining hall (WHAT IS THIS NAME LMAO)

This group is somehow just better...

But blond here is a bit soulless idk I'm not liking him 😨

My vote would 100% go to Skye idk if he's one of the already debuted ones but he was INSANE I loved his stage presence rn he's stolen me, he's my fave in the whole show

But I also really liked the pink hair guy 😭 (is his name really John... I need to learn their Chinese names I cannot be calling this gorgeous man John 😭)

KENNY NOOOOOOOOOOO his hands shaking stop 😭 I hate this pls no

Not surprised Team 2 won, it was expected.

2. ONE AND ONLY (I'm so excited)

Pure Love Warrior is such a queer team name HAHA One is looking so fine today tho

They're STRUTTING onto the stage I love the energy

Not them recreating the iconic finger touch painting 😭 rlly about that pure love

Maybe I'm feeling disappointed because this is one of my favourite songs but they didn't do it justice at all 😭 the only one who caught my eyes was One. However I appreciate that they tried to bring out the silly goofy concepts while keeping it kinda mature to fit themselves.

ORENDA CALLING THEIR COSTUME UGLY 💀💀 real

My vote would go for One 🤞

Idk anyone from this Magic Cube group but I have hopes (OH WAIT IK WALKER I LIKE HIM his pink eye shadow makes me RAA I LOVE)

Every opinion Orenda has matches mine and that means we're soulmates basically 🤞

I'm liking this

PINK GUY IS SO CUTE

Whoever did the high note failed but it's ok 😭😭

YELLOW JACKET DUDE IS GOOD TOO HOLD UPPP

Red dude is making me kick my feet why is he giving like cool football player (?? Idk I'm tryna think of the American cliche) at school YK 😭😭 hes so masculine in a yum way

Okay I love everyone in this group except black and white jacket

WALKER BEING CALLED PAPA STOP NAWWW

Oh pink dude is Wang Muqing? My vote goes to him !!!!

SERVICE WHAT ARE YOU SAYING HE ATE SNOT ??? 😭😭 taking back his cool footballer status but tbh I didn't even know he missed the lyrics

okay I'm sorry how did One's group win 😭😭 I'm glad for them but the other boys were way better imo

3. LYDIA

First group is Deep Hidden yum

I'm looking forward to Archie

Vocals slayed as expected and they did better than I thought they would tbh

Hoodie guy was by far my favourite tho but Kingsley was rlly good too

Group 2 Daily Quest ee

Thier concept was really nice

The guy who opened the song had such a soulful voice I liked that

I liked everyone tbh not much to say

Sky's eye makeup is very pretty

Group 2 won as expected !!!! Gemini is so cute

Icb they're making me wait till next week for Ely and Ollie but alr 😭😭

[jordaninthevalley]

Mods that I use / reccomend

So this is a list of various mods that I use, and in turn reccomend for other players that want to mod their game or are looking for new mods to add to their game.

I will only directly link to the mod that I am talking about, if you go to download something on the list you will most likely be required to download other mods to make it work. The mod page itself should give you a list, as well as links, to the mods that you need to download!

Everything I list should be updated for 1.6!

Modsite I use: Nexus

Stardew Valley Expanded: A common mod that Stardew Valley players download, and was actually my first mod I ever downloaded! It adds new NPCs, locations, events, fish, expands on the Joja Story, new forage and more, so it's really fun to download once you feel like you've compeleted the vanilla storylines enough that you could do them in your sleep with no issue! It also has links to two optional new farm types, and I highly suggest downloading the grandpas farm one over the immersive farm that they have on the download page because it just fits in better, imo, with the feel of the game.

Ridgeside Village: Another common mod that Stardew Valley players download! It also adds new NPCs, items, locations, shops, festivals, quests, events, food, fish, and many more. Another great mod to add if you're wanting new storylines and new romances!

East Scarp: Also a common mod for players to download, once again it adds new NPCs, items, fish, locations, events, quests and much more. A good expansion mod all around.

Alongside East Scarp I do like to download Always Raining In The Valley which adds even more NPCs, recipies, events and dialogue! Helps to make the village and the surrounding areas feel even more full!

Cape Stardew; Another expansion mod, it's really good if you want a more fantasy related playthrough!

Downtown Zuzu: Adds downtown Zuzu to the game, which adds new characters, quests, events, and many more things! I think it adds more realism to the game in a lot of ways.

Luna - Astray in Stardew Valley: New NPCs, new locations, and new fish. I, personally, feel like this is a bit of an underated mod.

I do really reccomend exploring these mods on their own once and then playing with all of them together! It really does elevate your game play and does provide a lot more fun content.

More Warp Points V2: Provides the ability for you to warp to various points within the game, which can be really helpful for a variety of reasons. I tend to use it for traveling to the desert or ginger island and back without having to pay for it, and warping home if it's nearly 2am and/or I am almost at 0 health so that I don't lose any of my stuff! [Follow the link to see all of the various places you can warp to!]

Experience Bars: Adds a visual on your screen so you can see how far you are from leveling up in one of your vanilla game skills. AFAIK it will not show modded skills. This is a great mod to have if you're like me and completely forget about leveling up skills because "out of sight out of mind" plus it adds a great visual for those of us that only have the drive to finish something if we can easily see how well we are doing.

Skull Cavern Elevator: Skull cavern is basically bottomless and it's hell to get through. This makes it easier for you to continue to get depper within the cavern, and if you use it to help you reach floor 100 it doesn't trigger the "negative" lines from Mr. Qi (or, at least, it hasn't for me).

The Love Of Cooking: New cooking menu, redone recipies, new tool, new skill, and new recipies. I really like the cooking aspect of Stardew Valley and this really expands on it in a variety of ways that I find really enjoyable.

Canon-Friendly Dialogue Expansion: New lines for the vanilla villagers, I just like when they have more personality.

True Love Valley - A Romance Dialogue Expansion Pack: Same as above, new lines for the marriage candidates! [Note: This mod is a WIP]

Lookup Anything: Lets you look up any villager, animal, monster, crop, fish, crafted item, building, and pretty much anything and everything else you can think of in game. It's really useful for finding out what someones gift prefrences are, and what something is if you've never seen it before.

Automate : Automatically puts / pulls items from one thing to another. My favorite part of it is that you can utilize more space for kegs, perserve jars, and casks because instead of needing room for you player to be able to walk through to get everything, you can fill your entire shed / greenhouse / basement / whatever else with your item and only leave enough room for two chests and you to be able to get in and gather items. I like using one chest as my input chest and one chest as my output chest!

Bigger Backpack: Adds another backpack to Pierres for 50,000g which gives you 48 slots instead of 36. This is really useful while fishing and farming.

Chests Anywhere: The ability to access any chest from any location is very useful. I typically use this to put all of my community center items in a couple of chests and then grabing from them while at the community center so I can just provide everything all at once because instead of running back and forth I can just hit a button and grab what I need.

Personal Greenhouse: An, objectively, better looking greenhouse. Has optional fruit tree spots, a bigger crop area, and other optional aesthetic choices.

Farmhouse Vists: Exactly as it says, NPCs will now randomly visit your house. This does include modded NPCs. I feel like this helps to add to the realism of the game.

CJB Cheats Menu: A cheats menu. I like to use it to get all of the professions toggled minus the fishing ones because those seem to be a bit janky, as well as to upgrade my walking speed so I zoom around the map. Sometimes I will use it to change the weather for the next day if I am trying to catch certain fish or get the mermaid pendant so I can get married by a specific day. I also like to pause the time in the mines so that I can spend however long I want in them.

CJB Item Spawner: An item spawner. I mostly use this to decorate my farm, but sometimes if a certain quest is taking me too long and I just can't figure out how to get what I need or I am just tired of having the quest in my journal after multiple years for whatever reason I'll just spawn in the quest item. This is usually done for quests in relation to cooking.

UI Info Suit 2: [NOT on nexus] Shows you a variety of in-game things to make planning your day, or the next day, easier.

[awake-ache]

Art Fight Teams I'll be on:

I have decided I am gonna be weird and say which AF team I am gonna be on based on which teams win this year and why! I'll also predict what their colors would be. I am bad at Color Theory so I shouldn't ever try to be an af mod for colors. My af is https://artfight.net/~Awake_Ache so go attack me when the time comes around! You're all garenteed at LEAST a sketched headshot :3 (P.S this will be my first year! Yippee yippee!)

Without further a-DO, here are the teams I'll be on and why!

Artic vs Tropic: While personally this team theme isn't the MOST exciting to me, I do know that the animation would be fire for it. I would be Artic though simpley because the ice clusters are melting and I am kinda mad at warm places because of it. I might switch teams just to make a joke about Global Warming. My guess would be Ice Blue and Tropical Green.

Clouds vs Caverns: This one might actually be my most nothing team theme. Not exactly much to talk about imo, but I would be team Cavern because I am a cave person. I wanna say White and Brown?

Comdey vs Tragedy: My personal favorite. I know it's only gonna be second place, but a boy can hope. I would be team Comedy because my life is already a joke. jkjk, but I do love the idea of being team funny in Funny vs Drama Queen. I am very set on it being Orange vs Purple.

Destruction vs Creation: Hard to pick, but I would wanna be team Creation so I can rebuild those Ice Clusters so we don't boil to death. I don't care about people saying it's too close to Bloom vs Wither. I think the team's have different enough names. Really hard to think of a color. I am gonna go with my gut and say dark Purple vs Light Green.

Flora vs Fauna: I also don't care that people say it's to close to Bloom vs Wither. It's different enough. I would be team Fauna because I like animals and I am allergic to flowers. I wanna say a Soft Pink vs a Soft Brown.

Fossils vs Crystals: Kinda hard to pick. On one hand, people be drilling the earth to find crystals. On the other, people be drilling the earth for Fossils. I guess I would be team Fossils because I lowkey am toxic masculine and ama fraid that if I go around calling myself a crystal people will think I am untrans :( I wanna say a Grey vs Blue

Heart vs Soul: Dang, no matter what I pick i would feel insecure about my masculinity. Having toxic masculinity only limited to yourself sucks. I would pick team Heart because I have no soul. Weird to think but I am guessing Pastel Pink and Baby Blue.

Heroes vs Villains: Easy. Team Villains but because redemption arcs are my favorite I would switch around July 15th. I love redemption arcs. I feel like it would work in a Green vs Red.

Knights vs Dragons: The animation would be fire even if I personally would be too board to pick one. Willing to be this will be like what happened with Vamps vs Wearwolves with Furries joining Dragons and Fleshys joining Knights. So since I am personally better at drawing humans I would go on team Dragon so all the humans I draw aren't forced to be a freindly fire. Color guess? Grey and Green.

Rain vs Shine: I would be team Shine. My life is too sad to be rainy all the time. So I would wanna be a lil sunny :D Colors would be Bright Yellow and Cloudy Grey.

Seafoam vs Stardust: Stardust, 100%. Seafoam is really gross and the fact this one is most likely gonna win scares me ToT. (Seafoam lovers don't @ me) My guess for team theme is Mint green and Pastel Purple.

Spring vs Autum: Not much to say for thus one. I hate spring. That's allergy season. Team Autaum all the way. As for colors: Spring Green and Burnt Brown

Time vs Space: Animation would be FIRE. Team space because I need Space and I have a phobia of thinking about being caught in an endless cycle of repatition. Team colors? Uh, Purple and I wanna say a Yellow of some sort.

Trinkets vs Treasure: This was last on my personal list because I didn't want my mom bothering me with phillosofic questions of 'Would you rather be sought after by all or loved dearly by one?" Hate that. I would be team Trinket because that's what my mom would want. Team colors Burnt red and Yellow.

[parakeet]

I got detective archives : rain code for my bday and I just finished it and it was pretty good.

It’s not as intense as a dangan ronpa game but the mysteries are still good and way less absurd than the ones in the DR games got. I don’t think it’s as good though. Tbh. Since the mysteries are taking place all over the city it’s less personal.

Theres a non binary character in it this time. Probably one of the better characters (most of them are misses… why is there always a creepy misogynistic guy in these games?). It’s pretty good though but if I didn’t get it as a gift I probably wouldn’t be spending that much on it. The limited edition being £100 is wretched imo

[aturnipsingularity]

Turnip, what's YOUR album of the year if you had to pick one? Pitch it to me, infect me with ur music taste

Okay, so I can't pick just one, so I'll throw a handful of my faves that I discovered this year into the ring. The most recent would be Eternal Blue by Spiritbox. Underrated alt/prog metal band, and I haven't heard a whole lot of others talking about them. I really like the way the first couple of tracks blend together, and the lead vocalist has an amazing voice. She has this really melodic singing that meshes well with her death growl. I also really like that there's a good mix of slower songs with the harder music. There's a lot of good variety, and the pacing is really nice.

Favorite song: Silk In The Strings

I also finally listened to The Death of Peace of Mind by Bad Omens this year. I had heard a couple of their singles before, but I hadn't checked out the full work until recently. I was really glad I did, because it's amazing. Lots of bangers in there, 10/10 would recommend. I really enjoy metal/post-hardcore in general, but the synths and electronics give the music a really nice boost to the energy (see one of my fave albums of all time -- Trauma by I Prevail). It makes it really punchy, and I love that!

Favorite song: ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE or bad decisions

I also want to recommend Take Me Back to Eden by Sleep Token, because I was very hyped for it to come out this year. However, I was let down a little bit and do have a few reservations about the album in general. I think it's great. The vibe of it is really ethereal, and I appreciate the fluidity of the songs in terms of tone and sound. But, it suffers from a lack of variety in tempo. A lot of the songs are slower, and the sequencing itself doesn't lend any room for picking up the energy it loses after the first 5 songs. I also hate the songs Are You Really Okay? and DYWTYLM. They don't feel like they belong. At all. They feel like filler/billboard top 100 and less of this otherworldy, almost ghostly sound they're trying to go for. It also took me a few listens to come around to Ascensionism and The Apparition, but I do really appreciate those songs, and I really quite like them now. It's a really good album that took a few misteps. The Summoning is so good, though. There's a reason it's their most popular song. If you're going to listen to it, I would recommend listening in the following order, because it's the best one I've found for right now. Although it's also not perfect by far, and you can hear the tonal shift after the first three songs, I think it feels a bit more balanced. I can't say I'm quite satisfied with it, but it's still a lot better imo

Drop Are You Really Okay? and DYWTYLM. Don't put them in the playlist.

1. Chokehold

2. Vore

3. The Summoning

4. Aqua Regia

5. Ascensionism

6. The Apparition

7. Granite

8. Rain

9. Euclid

10. Take Me Back to Eden

Favorite song: Euclid or Chokehold

And a small honorable mention to these albums that I finally got to listen to, but don't have enough thoughts on (yet) to rant about:

So Much (For) Stardust by Fall Out Boy

Rain City Drive by Rain City Drive

The Click (Deluxe Edition) by AJR (don't judge me I really like them)

Opal (original soundtrack) by Jack Stauber

Frontiers by Journey

Empire by Queensrÿche

4 by Foreigner

I really should have listened to the older albums sooner, but I just never got around to it -- even though I know multiple songs from each one.

I'll eventually talk about all of the other entries on this list, as well as my all-time favorites (not listed) and the other couple of recents I have yet to finish. Mostly just because I like talking about music lmao but today is not that day. Also you have to tell me about your music taste now!

[thelogicalghost]

A rundown of the Eurovision finalists from the official Youtube playlist

Apologies for lack of above-letter marks in non-English words/names.

("Peace Peace" is a reference to "Love Love Peace Peace," a legendary Eurovision host song throwing shade at common entry tropes. Highly recommend googling it. Somewhat equivalent to calling a movie Oscar-bait.)

—---------------—

ARMENIA: "Future Lover" - Brunette

Weird little pop song that starts out slow and then gets rap-adjacent. Rumor is that all the lyrics were lifted verbatim from viral social media posts.

ISRAEL: "Unicorn" - Noa Kirel

Bog-standard "I'm special" pop song. Rumor/joke/possible reality: Israel picked a mediocre song to ensure zero chance of hosting next year.

SWEDEN: "Tattoo" - Loreen

A pop song that would be better if the singer wasn't trying to do a weird vocal thing. Hoping the final performance is better than the music video.

FRANCE: "Evidemment" - La Zarra

Techno-pop song that absolutely slaps and has undeniable style. Extremely French. Got stuck in my head. Makes my top 5.

UK: "I Wrote A Song" - Mae Muller

Solid breakup pop song that definitely got stuck in my head. Upper tier but not top tier. Would love to see it do well in on US charts.

AUSTRIA: "Who The Hell Is Edgar?" - Teya & Salena

Quality techno-dance song elevated to Eurovision levels by lyrics about being possessed by E.A. Poe. Music video is perfection. Makes my top 5.

CZECHIA: "My Sister's Crown" - Vesna

Strong women-empowerment song elevated to Eurovision levels by a bizarre music video. Looking forward to how it'll translate to the stage.

SERBIA: "Samo Mi Se Spava" - Luke Black

Classic Eurovision goth vampire, this year trapped in a video game boss fight. Only downside is the singer's weird breathy almost-singing.

NETHERLANDS: "Burning Daylight" - Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper

Sad ballad about depression. Uncomfortably accurate feels, but too slow and sad for Eurovision.

ITALY: "Due Vite" - Marco Mengoni

Solo ballad in Italian, nothing visually interesting, very meh.

FINLAND: "Cha Cha Cha" - Kaarija

Frantic rock song about getting drunk in a club with epic music video of singer in a WWE-style fight. Very Eurovision, strong contender.

CROATIA: "Mama SC!" - Let 3

100% BONKERS rock song that never mentions names but is undeniably a "f*** Putin" anthem. Includes middle-aged men in drag. A must-watch. Makes my top 5.

PORTUGAL: "Ai Coracao" - Mimicat

Peppy fun little pop song with a peppy fun little dance number.

AUSTRALIA: "Promise" - Voyager

Australia still hasn't quite figured out what Eurovision is about. Decent alt-rock song but way too mainstream and polished for this rodeo.

SPAIN: "EAEA" - Blanca Paloma

Poignant Middle-Eastern style song about a mother's pain. Not sure what to make of this one, but recommend giving it a try.

GEORGIA: "Echo" - Iru

Standard pop song with standard "big fans and lots of flowy fabric" music video. Meh.

LITHUANIA: "Stay" - Monika Linkyte

Might've been a decent ballad about … trauma, maybe? … but performance is uninteresting and music sounds a little off.

SLOVENIA: "Carpe Diem" - Joker Out

Boilerplate party anthem with a music video about a party in a hotel.

UKRAINE: "Heart of Steel" - TVORCHI

Male duo aims for that specific "I'm a boss" style (I personally associate with US rappers) and falls short IMO. Feels disjointed.

SWITZERLAND: "Watergun" - Remo Forrer

"Peace Peace" ballad morning boys fighting in wars. Meh.

ROMANIA: "D.G.T (Off And On)" - Theodor Andrei

A song that can't seem to decide what genre it wants to be or what it wants to say, but it definitely wants to sing it in bondage/fetish clothing.

AZERBAIJAN: "Tell Me More" - TuralTuranX

Low-key pop/ballad that feels out of place in Eurovision, with an awkward hipster boy feel.

GREECE: "What They Say" - Victor Vernicos

Another meh ballad with a sad boy singing in the increasingly intense rain.

POLAND: "Solo" - Blanka

Boilerplate Instagram-girl pop song. Nomination caused outcries of corruption, and if you watch her performance in the Poland national finals you'll agree.

ALBANIA: "Duje" - Albenia & Familja Kalmendi

Haunting lament, I think about losing children. Solid music, really hope the final performance is visually interesting.

CYPRUS: "Break A Broken Heart" - Andrew Lambrou

Another sad rock ballad, very meh.

MALTA: "Dance (Our Own Party)" - The Busker

Party anthem for people who don't like parties. Fantastic music video and a saxophone riff cherry on top. Makes my top 5.

BELGIUM: "Because Of You" - Gustaph

Great homage to 90's hip-hop with fun dancing. Unfortunately song is a little too forgettable. Bonus points for Supremes-esque choir.

GERMANY: "Blood & Glitter" - Lord of the Lost

German heavy metal in glittery carnival outfits. No idea what's going on here but it's very Eurovision.

IRELAND: "We Are One" - Wild Youth

Beatles-style throwback "Peace Peace" song. Would be unremarkable except for weird glitter masks.

SAN MARINO: "Like An Animal" - Piqued Jacks

Very off-putting rock song meant to evoke animalistic attraction, but the weird lyrics and creepy singer just make it uncomfortable.

MOLDOVA: "Soarele si Luna" - Pasha Parfeni

Rock-style Druid chanting, a Eurovision staple, including a distinctive wooden flute (possibly aping last year's winners?)

ICELAND: "Power" - Dilja

Another girl ballad. Very unmemorable.

DENMARK: "Breaking My Heart" - Reiley

Extreme teen/YA pop star vibes and the music video makes him look even younger. Standard sad breakup pop song.

NORWAY: "Queen Of Kings" - Alessandra

Girl wrote a rock anthem about her YA dystopia self-insert heroine and I'm here for it. Makes my top 5.

ESTONIA: "Bridges" - Alika

I can only describe this as Baby Adele singing not quite "Rolling in the Deep." Solid talent, hope she makes it in the industry.

LATVIA: "Sudden Lights" - Aija

Can't focus on or care about the song when it's playing over a music video that seems to include a cult, an empty pool, and a forced baptism.

[heredis-sanguinis]

What are some of the comments? Now you have me curious since I can't access twitter

//Oh dearie, they are amazing. Nothing vulgar or offensive that I've seen so far. Unlike a certain Star Guardian's community raising pitchforks and throwing death threats and such at the devs, guess a major difference in player base/community for champs involved imo A few examples: (Under Read More, because of length)

- I mean, his face is too similar to Ezreal's, his hair is basically Kayle's hair but I kinda like everything else, especially how he looks more noxian and the camavorian details are really cool, I just hope they update his voicelines to make this rejuvenation make more sense - The adding in Noxian architectural motifs on him was such a strange choice... why would nobility be running around like that - Vladimir is supposed to be weird and cringe and kickable like a wet paper bag left in the rain not a yassified twink...... riot plz let him be a little freak humanized ferret plz - I think his LoR design is better This is giving playboy vampire. Also where did the rest of his nail/claw things go?

- eBoy Vlad - They want the Zed mains - Vamp Ezreal - They even made him use grape juice - They yassified him - They twinkified him - Bloodmage Ezreal - Love the new Ezreal skin - League is 100% an anime game now - Vlad from Dracula into a member of visual kei band - Yassiffying Vlad is an impressive feat - They Genshin Impact'd him - Oh hell nah they turned ma onion head drac into noxian twink - Made a blood lord into an anime protagonist - Tifa might love your new outfit, Cloud

[clowndotgay]

if you dont mind me asking, how do you do the card renders?

so i'm not 100% sure how to answer this because its kinda vague - i'm not sure if you're asking about the card (image editing) part or the rendering process! if you want to know about the process of getting the characters and areas into blender, i've written a few posts about that already - they're under the "toontown models" tag on my blog, so they shouldn't be too difficult to find. RAMBLING ABOUT IMAGE EDITING BELOW THE CUT EXCLAMATION MARK EMOJI! THIS ISN'T A TUTORIAL IT'S JUST ME TALKING!!!! (only slightly related, but i'm putting it above the cut so more people might see it - i wrote some mock pokemon cards for managers a bit ago but i don't want to make them full images, would anyone be interested in me just posting those as text?)

the actual image editing part i do in photoshop! it's kind of a bad program but my usual art program dies when i try to do what i do for cards because it kinda struggles with text. i've started doing the text in-render for the cards recently, though, because it's kind of a blast?

it's probably obvious to anyone who's looked at them hard before, but my mock cards use the Series 1 Cog cards as a base (the official Disney ones)

they've just got a sort of weirdly unhinged vibe to them, they're so far off of the cogs representation in-game and kinda gives a look at (imo) how the cogs were originally imagined, as I feel that some of the card art is closer to original concept art (or probably is concept art) than it is close to in-game character appearances. man, Cold Callers card doesn't even look like the same guy! he's lanky here!

and i mean, kinda obvious, but i can't get the same level of craziness these cards are on with renders, but i can try. so i do! it's fun!

i don't know if anyone has really noticed it, but for the last handful of cards i've been opting for colouring the border of the card dependent on the department of the cog. green for cashbot, pink for sellbot, etc. here's a test i did of it a couple weeks back when i was playing around with the idea in my head (the renders were randomly chosen):

(the boardbot colour is kinda subtle - but that's just how it is in-game, exe bd skelecogs are super close to exe lb skelecogs, but maybe that's just my eyes)

the actual "process" of putting the card together once i've done the render is kinda just plopping the render into the .psd and telling photoshop what department the cog is (for the border colour) & then i'm done. the file is super simple, it's just a series 1 card but i edited everything out other than the border, bunch of layers connected to the border that give it the department colours, layer of a kinda-crappy filter i slap on to try and give it the same "feel" the card scans have, layer for the text (optional now that i do it in-render), layer with the render.

there's some extra fun stuff i try and do with effects in the renders, but i'm kinda new to messing around with blender stuff like that, so i try and hold it to a minimum. as an example, the CFO render is kinda hue-shifted so i could get the colours closer to what i was basing the lighting of the render off of! to use a better example of silly effects i used for a card, i'm gonna talk about this high roller card:

dude this thing took forever because i wanted to do Everything in-render (would've taken way less time if i wasn't stubborn). it's a bunch of layers and gradients and shine. i'm kind of tipping my hand here, but there's straight up just a blindingly bright cube in their hands that's making the shine, and then i kinda just. told blender to add a lens flare. and it did. i had to simulate rain for that one misty render and that was a time. y'know. i actually have to finish up a commission where there's blinding light emitting from something and it's really really good and probably one of the best renders i have done and it is 99% thanks to the commissioner because the ask is So Good.

anyways that's kind of all i wanted to say. i hope this answered your question? maybe? was your question just "what do you make them in?" if so, it's blender and photoshop. sorry for making you read a text wall instead. at the risk of sounding too silly, i really like speaking about the things that i do, but i feel weird talking about them unprompted? so i took this as being prompted and talked.