#some have a great region. some have a great story. some have just a solid gameplay experience. all of them have great music lol

[ravenwolfie97]

all pokemon games are good but they are not all equally as good

send post

#pokemon #as a person who has played pretty much every main pkmn game in some capacity #i can find things in them that are worth praise #but like obviously they can't all be the same level of good. there are so many factors to a pkmn game to be balanced #some have a great region. some have a great story. some have just a solid gameplay experience. all of them have great music lol #i could even play devil's advocate and praise bdsp for being a truly faithful remake and pretty incredible for a studio first Real game #but mainly i keep thinking like. everyone has shat on the new pkmn games ever since gen 5 especially #but then over time people are like Huh they aren't so bad after all #like once you get out of the gamehate wormhole generated by inflammatory social media posting you can appreciate a thing more #and there may still be people out there who think red/blue are the best ones. and y'know they have a point #even though objectively those games were littered with bugs to the point where some normal mechanics were not correct #and things just got more complicated and sophisticated with abilities and new types and better moves and stuff #the original games are absolute Miracles to have been made at all and for what they're worth they were Revolutionary #it was a simpler time but the ideas put forth were still pretty complex. especially considering this was the First One #this is the foundation all pokemon games thereafter rose from. and it's a pretty solid foundation despite all the hardships #anyway. i love pokemon. and i love that even after all this time - over 25 years - its spirit from back in 96 still remains in some form #it may not be about catching em all anymore. because physically that's really hard to do with over 1000 guys now #but it's still about finding joy in following a dream of adventure with a bunch of cool animal friends #and sometimes you save the world a little bit. that's p cool

[allhailthe70shousewife]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/12/southern-strategy-kevin-phillips-republican-party-trump/

Opinion The GOP’s ‘southern strategy’ mastermind just died. Here’s his legacy.

Greg Sargent

“The whole secret of politics is knowing who hates who.”

That insight was the brainchild of Kevin Phillips, the longtime political analyst who passed away this week at 82 years old. Phillips’s 1969 book, “The Emerging Republican Majority,” provided the blueprint for the “southern strategy” that the Republican Party adopted for decades to win over White voters who were alienated by the Democratic Party’s embrace of civil rights in the 1960s.

Phillips advised Republicans to exploit the racial anxieties of White voters, linking them directly to issues such as crime, federal spending and voting rights. The strategy, beginning with Richard M. Nixon’s landslide victory in the 1972 presidential race, helped produce GOP majorities for decades.

Though Phillips later reconsidered his fealty to the GOP, updated versions of the “southern strategy” live on in today’s Republican Party, shaping the political world we inhabit today. So I asked historians and political theorists to weigh in on Phillips’s legacy. Their responses have been edited for style and brevity.

Kevin Kruse, historian at Princeton University and co-editor of “Myth America”: Kevin Phillips was a prophet of today’s polarization. He drew a blueprint for a major realignment of American politics that is still with us. For much of the 20th century, Democrats dominated the national scene, because of the reliable support of the “Solid South.”

But the “Negro problem” of the 1960s, Phillips argued, presented Republicans an opportunity to take the South and Southwest, too, a new region he anointed “the Sun Belt.” All they had to do was appeal to the hatreds of White voters there, through racially coded “law and order” appeals.

Phillips, of course, proved correct about the regional realignment. Republicans won every single state in the South in the 1972, 1984, 1988, 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns. Today, Republicans dominate the region partly because they still employ Phillips’s polarizing politics of resentment and reaction, from complaints about Black Lives Matter to panics about “woke” education. Donald Trump’s continued dominance of the GOP shows that the underlying instinct to exploit division and inflame hatred remains.

Nicole Hemmer, author of “Partisans: The Conservative Revolutionaries who Remade American Politics in the 1990s”: Phillips helped shape how the Republican Party navigated the last 50 years of U.S. politics. His big contribution was the idea that White southerners could be potential voters for the GOP, because the solid Democratic South had become newly fractured after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

Phillips argued that the Republican Party needed to change the way it conducted politics to reach out to disaffected White southerners. For Nixon, that was “law and order,” something Ronald Reagan used to great effect along with stories about “welfare queens.” George H.W. Bush’s campaign ran the “Willie Horton” ad, which played up fears of Black criminality.

Trump picked up this rhetoric. He launched his campaign on the ideas of Mexican migrant and Muslim criminality — that all these minority populations needed to be under much stricter surveillance.

The strategy that Phillips helped popularize worked just as well with some northern White voters as it did with southern White voters. It helped solidify the Republican Party’s base as almost exclusively White even as the nation has grown more diverse.

Bill Kristol, a former Republican turned Never Trump conservative: It was happening already in 1968, but Phillips’s book and his subsequent promotion of the southern strategy did have the effect of making that reaction to the civil rights movement more coherent. It gave politicians a way to think about shaping that reaction politically.

Newt Gingrich, who defeated lots of Democrats in southern House seats in the 1994 midterms, was in spirit a Phillips protégé. That culminated in 2010, when Democrats got obliterated, and in the red state-blue state divide today.

From Phillips to Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, there is a through line. DeSantis, Abbott and others are operating in a world anticipated and partly created by Phillips. The reaction of much of the White working class and Republican politicians to Black Lives Matter and “cosmopolitan elites” is a close cousin of what Phillips predicted and helped shape.

Michael Barone, senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner: I think Phillips was noticing what was happening rather than causing it to happen. Dwight D. Eisenhower got 49 to 50 percent of the popular vote in the South in 1952 and 1956; Nixon got nearly that much in 1960. When the national Democratic Party became more dovish, circa 1967, reacting against the Vietnam escalations of its own presidents, Southern Whites — always the most hawkish voters — turned away from national Democrats not so much because of civil rights but because of dovishness. It’s what Tom Eagleton later told Robert Novak: “acid, amnesty, and abortion.”

Corey Robin, political theorist and author of “The Reactionary Mind”: Phillips understood that the old Republican Party establishment could not begin to take on the New Deal and Great Society until it developed a mass popular base. He saw that the White working class — not just in the South, but in the North — was growing disaffected with the New Deal on economic and racist grounds, and that Republicans could turn that dissatisfaction into governing majorities.

Beginning in 1972 with the reelection of Nixon, Republicans built this majority in the spirit of what Phillips imagined. George W. Bush, the last Republican president to get a popular majority, was the last spasm of that vision. The irony is that, under Phillips, the idea was to expand the Republican Party into a permanent governing majority.

But once the White working class diminished, the electoral return of that resentment dramatically dwindled. As a result, instead of relying on robust electoral majorities, the Republican Party, to win power, relies on the electoral college and the malapportioned Senate. Phillips’s blueprint made the heyday of Republican power — and ultimately unmade it.

#us history #trump #gop #gqp #republicans #nixon #reagan #southern strategy

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

RotG and HiJack Recs

Alright, I'm building this list because some of these fics are just a tad dusty, and they could use more love. (A lot more love, I am literally dying from how much I adored these.) But note that a good few are incomplete.

Let's start with:

INCOMPLETE FICS

The Long Road:

Presently Gen, but Hiccup very much falls for Jack. He does however retain his feelings for Astrid, so bear that in mind. There's the classic Viking mindset when it comes to homosexual relationships that's pretty much giving Hiccup like a lot of anxiety.

But beyond that! I cannot shower this fic with enough praises! It gives me the same sort of excitement that the RotG movie does. Jack's characterization is Spot On. He's friendly and outgoing and also incredibly secretive and flighty. It balances out Jack's blunt mannerisms with a joyous charm and just that hint of vulnerability (which he keeps so well hidden lol).

The plots take place after HttyD, during the Riders of Berk TV series. Jack is folded into the Dragon Rider group who considers him some kind of Elf. Yes, this is Jack Frost in all his frosty glory. The way the story builds on a solid foundation of camaraderie and friendship, giving plenty of scenes to show how Hiccup and Jack became great friends, lends well to the Hiccup's realization of: "Oh I'm into him". Without giving too many spoilers, that "oh" moment is forever ingrained into my memory because of how PERFECTLY timed it is.

This blends Guardians of Childhood book verse with HttyD book verse, mostly via cameos over lore. Overall, a beautiful, fun, and simply enchanting read. I cannot recommend this enough.

A Story about Ice, Dragon Fire, and Belief:

Another gen fic. Mostly, it's about North looking at Jack and going, "he's my son now", and Jack having absolutely none of it. When placed together with Stoik and Hiccup's relationship, it becomes an almost interesting study of contrasts. North is the guy who's trying to prove something to a boy that he disappointed. Hiccup is the guy who's trying to prove something to a man that he disappointed. But ultimately, it ends up the same with a schism forming between the two pairs the harder one of them tries to breach it.

Also, it talks about how Jack is a force of fucking nature? And his blizzards can kill and have killed in the past? There's a little bit of trying to reconcile that with his new ID as a guardian. North is not doing a great job helping here.

But really the Crown Jewel of this fic is North and Berk's reactions to North (and by proxy his relationship to Jack). We go a little into the historical Viking side of things (like the pillaging et al), and apply that lens to this jolly old man. Let's just say some troubling (hilarious) assumptions are drawn. Also...

Everyone loves the sleigh.

I think this is one of the few RotG and HttyD crossovers that really do a good job of merging the two movies. Primarily because it's not just Jack in Berk. And this just made me hungry for more fics where more of the RotG cast arrive as Berk, and be just 100% fantastical and strange as the bedtime stories they are. Put some respect on the Guardians name, if you know what I'm saying.

In the Shadows of My Mind:

This one is an RotG only fic. No pairings except for whatever's going on between Pitch and Nightlight (and by proxy Jack). It's not a for real pairing. That said, it's such a complex and intricate relationship that doesn't resemble a romance but remains markedly intimate. Basically, this fic takes advantage of Pitch and Nightlight's ridiculously long history then throws Jack into the mix. Alive, human Jack in an early 18th century colonial town wherein he very recently did not drown (and boy, isn't that suspicious?)

My favorite thing about this fic is how spot on the dialogue feels? The lexicon, the syntax feels true to the time its set in. Although, I can't say that it is accurate as I'm not an expert of this time period in this region. Regardless, it certainly appears that a good stack of research went into this.

All that said, this fic has captured Bill Joyce's writing style the best, but with a deeper, more complex, more mature layer underpining that bedtime like vibe. There's a good host of OCs but genuinely, I didn't notice them as OCs. I could really believe they were characters of Joyce's books. Not to mention, they feel like fully fleshed out individuals even if they have like maybe two paragraphs of screentime.

The entire premise hinges on the idea of "what if Jack survived the skating accident" and everyone's reactions to that, as well as... the hidden secret thing that involves Nightlight. GoC spoilers are hinted so beware. But the little interplay between Nightlight and Jack is such a delicious little mystery, and also makes me so sad. These two boys deserved better.

Then we throw in Pitch for fun, because Pitch is always fun, and he just makes the whole thing even more complicated or as Jack calls it, "unnatural". But he's not even the main villain. It's Christianity. JK. That said, the fic does explore the idea of well, how would a fairly backwater colony be able to explain how Jack survived or... the powers that's slowly revealing itself from within him. There's a particularly nasty boy (around Jack's age), who is an OC and I believe an exceptionally well placed one. The OC understood his role to play and he plays it fantastically. Everytime he shows up, I too feel scared and indignant and excited all at once.

Speaking of great OCs, shoutout to Jack's Da. His appearances are brief but the impact is maximized with each appearance. He has that sense of realism and whimsy baked into him that I could gush endlessly about.

Overall, just a pure delight to read. Will re-read again and again.

Zastruga:

Total Gen fic. And a classic in my opinion.

I started reading this when I was in college - note the publish date. Nevermind the update date. Because even after all these years, this story? Still good. Still very very good.

This takes the original RotG plot and makes it more epic, and also more sad. RotG was very joyful at its core, which this fic somehow manages to retain. But it's just under a layer of sad. It's not overwhelming angst though, just enough to really pinch your heart.

Also whereas the movie has a few epic battles before things go really wrong, this fic stretches that out into a proper war against Pitch (and Jack). That's right. Jack is with Pitch ala Mother Gothel/Judge Frollo style. Jack isn't locked up entirely. He's given just enough rope to hang himself with. Mind the Jack whump is what I'm saying. But also do note that Jack's character remains as steadfast and loyal as he ever was in RotG, so the whump just hits nicer since this Jack isn't so irrevocably changed.

I have re-read this before. I will re-read this again. Nevermind the incomplete status. There's plenty of chapters that simply give me great joy.

COMPLETE FICS

It's the Great Spirit Sleigh, Hiccup Haddock:

Gen fic, in that there's no pairing actively getting together. But remains faithful to the original canon's hinted love interests. So Hiccup has a big crush on Astrid and Jack leans towards Tooth. That said, the relationship between Hiccup and Jack is just plain adorable and also heart-wrenching. They care about each other. So Much.

Now this is just a good holiday cheer. It literally has the Hallmark movie template, which is the point really. You know, the whole "oh no, a holiday is ruined" followed by "clever and charming ways to fix the holiday". With Hiccup and Jack taking the starring roles.

If you know your Hallmark movies, then you know that the leads get together in the end. And they don't in this fic. But the amount of "Gosh do I care about you" is so good. It's a lot of hurt and a lot of comfort. And I am here for it.

Also, this fic was completed way before the HttyD 3 movie so it doesn't have a canon compliant ending. That may be a bonus for some of you.

Scary Monsters and Super Creeps:

Pre JackRabbit (Bunny/Jack). But honestly the pairing isn't the main focus, mostly that Jack and Bunny admit to liking each other (but not to each other). So their dynamic remains in the best bros category. The pairing mostly shows through the plot machinations.

So long story short, Pitch opens the Guardian-Verse and recruits the other versions of the Guardians - the corrupt versions. And it's good, action/adventure fun. There's some gore, so mind that. Because the corrupt versions are nasty little things that fight dirty. Which makes the action feel like there's legit stakes. Also makes for a quick read because you must know what happens next? Did they get out of this sticky situation? Are they going to be okay? That sort of thing.

#rise of the guardians #how to train your dragon #hijack #frostcup

[rainbeausworld]

The Horned Serpent

So before I get started on this one, I have a couple of things to get out of the way. First, I will be using she/her pronouns for the Horned Serpent; this is just because UPG and because I'm used to it. I know someone else who venerates/worships the Horned Serpent, uses they/them pronouns for them, and considers them to be beyond gender / present as whatever gender they feel like. Second, I will be focusing on my interpretation of her on the Gundestrup Cauldron, in part because there's really not a lot of literature on her, even when you include works that specifically analyze Cernunnos' depictions. Third (and related), I will be using the National Museum of Denmark's estimate as to when/where the Gundestrup Cauldron was made, which is roughly in the Danubian or Wallachian Plain(s) around 150 BCE to 1 CE (link).

So first a little historical & cultural context. This area, as far as culture groups, would have been a heck of a melting pot, between the Dacians and Thracians that already lived there, the Scythians coming in and also living near by, the Gauls that moved in around the 300s-200s, the Greeks who came up and started establishing colonies along the Black Sea in the 300s, and the Romans, encroaching on everyone's business around the time the Cauldron was built. A pretty solid primer on the history of the region is A Companion to Ancient Thrace, published by Wiley Blackwell.

So I'm gonna try to make sense but it might be a little disorganized going forward. Anyway, onto the actual thoughts & stuff. So anyone who's taken even a passing glance at Cernunnos is well aware of the Horned Serpent, since she is present in basically every ancient art you can find with him. On the Gundestrup Cauldron, she appears three times, all on the interior panels. One is at the Hero's heel, who's holding the wheel; a second is at the end of a line of heroic riders, which seems to be a Thracian horseman motif; and of course the famous Cernunnos panel. In Thracian Tales of the Gundestrup Cauldron, published by Najade Press, Jan Best presents an interpretation of the interior panels as a story, and assumes that Cernunnos is singing in his famous panel, specifically about the secrets of immortality, a concept which was very popular at the time. I agree with this and I also assume that the depiction of Taranis / the wheel god is that he is also singing, and if he is singing then the lions and griffins - both predators associated with kingship (griffins were protectors of the pharaoh, and also decorated certain tombs out in ancient Persia), then the action of passing off the Wheel must have symbolic meaning, such as being handed the Wheel of Heaven.

The Gundestrup Cauldron's exterior also has very clear influence from the Scythians, you can almost 1:1 map the gods based on Herodotus's retelling of the Pontic stories. I believe there are also thematic parallels going on here on the Wheel God panel, featuring a new god/king being given the symbol of his domain. Wikipedia actually has some relatively thorough articles on Scythian religion as well as the genealogical myth specifically, which is the myth that I personally associate with the wheel-giving panel. As well, the animals in this panel don't appear to be particularly concerned with attacking anyone - if anything, the griffins and lionesses are slightly tilted from one to the next, which makes me think it's more likely that they are dancing, especially if the human/divine subjects are singing, especially if the human with the helmet is receiving a high honor, potentially his rank amongst the gods. In this panel, she is just at the hero's feet, not really joining the parade if the animals, but clearly not ready to attack either, but her attention does seem to be drawn towards the hero.

The final panel she is on is the panel featuring the nine soldiers and the heroized dead, represented by the "Thracian horseman" motif. After Alexander the Great and his penchant for having statues of himself be on horseback, it became popular for wealthy men and nobles to depict themselves riding horseback to a goddess or sacred tree (unfortunately my best source discussing this in English is also not great and he comes up with some..... questionable theories), but the popularity seems to have blown up to the point where even deities such as Zeus were depicted on horseback in a similar manner. There are also mentions in a few other sources that the Thracians believed in the ability for people to essentially become immortal after death. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble sorting out my notes and this essay has been nagging me for weeks now.

Anyway, I interpret this panel as what is expected to happen to us after we die - the "ordinary", so to speak, are lead to a deity, likely to be reincarnated (this is honestly just a guess on my part largely due to the popularity of that in Greece for ever, and Grecian influence was in full swing by the time the Cauldron was made), meanwhile the "extraordinary" are lead by the Horned Serpent.

This is where I tie all three together to my upg/theology: The Horned Serpent is a friend and ally to Cernunnos. He teaches the secrets of life after death to those who will listen. The Horned Serpent is by his side during his teaching, and when we die, if we have proven ourselves worthy during life, she guides us through the trials of the afterlife. If we succeed in these trials, we are awarded with apotheosis - becoming a god or godlike - and she stands by our side as we earn this prize.

@musingmelsuinesmelancholy sorry it took me so long x.x & I hope this makes sense!

#cernunnos #thracian polytheism #gaulish polytheism #dacian polytheism #scythian polytheism #the horned serpent #balkan paganism #celtic paganism #paganism

[sagau-my-beloved]

Hi ! I just wanted to say I really enjoy your writing it’s great . And since requests are open ( and sumeru is coming up ) I was wondering if you could write some sagau sumeru content ? I’d love to see it ! Have a great day / night : D

Sumeru sagau headcanons:

Hello! Thank you so much! I'm super excited for Sumeru honestly

Since I don't currently have a whole lot of information on all the stuff surrounding that, I can really only do basic headcanons, but I would be happy to flesh this stuff out a bit once the content is actually released and we get more solid information surrounding the region and characters and such

But for nowwww

Warnings: Spoilers for the Sumeru trailer, general sagau stuff, vague mentions of death, general obsessive like behavior

• In Sumeru the disappearance/death of their God was particularly painful because of how much it resembled your disappearance

• A being that embodied wisdom, kindness and love, falling tragically to something they could only ever speculate, was almost the exact same as what legend told of your past

• Those stories ended up intertwining themselves with one another, to the point that some of the people in Sumeru considered you and there Archon God one in the same

• Not in a literal physical sense, but some of the more outlandish conspiracies are that their old Archon God was a reincarnation of you in a way

• If you return to Teyvat before the rebirth of the new Dendro Archon, then the people of Sumeru rely on you more heavily than any other nation

• In that instance, they would be a godless nation, and since they already consider you to be so closely related to their former God, it's almost as if this dissension was something of a rebirth for their land and the wisdom it held

• If you arrive after the rebirth when the nation is a bit more stable, which is the most likely situation to happen, you've got a bit more wiggle room

• The people aren't so heavily reliant on you to be their guiding figure then

• But, either way, when you do get to Sumeru, it's going to be very difficult for you to leave

• The people living there often use the serenity and beauty of nature to keep you, why would you rather be anywhere else?

• Their Archon is the youngest, the least experienced, and this can be worrisome for some of them

• They know that having you around would both help with general morale, and the guiding of their realm to what it once was through your hands

• Their land could only truly flourish under your reign of course

• It only makes sense that you, in your all knowing and all seeing wisdom, reside in the nation of wisdom when they need you the most

• All the regions fight to be your permanent residence really, it's considered the greatest honor for them

• And you certainly have a place to stay in each, the work you do requires travel, and why wouldn't you want to indulge in the beauty of your lands?

• But Sumeru is widely known to have pushed the hardest, been the most persistent, sacrifice the most in order to provide you with a place that you would truly want to reside

• A place that you could consider home

• When it comes to forms of worship, each nation is kind of known for offering things that relate to their element

• So in this case, you better be prepared for a whole lot of flowers

• You're going to be absolutely covered in them, almost everything you touch is also going to be covered in them

• And everywhere you step and everywhere you look and—

• You get the point

• They're a domain that is lush in beautiful greenery, of course they're going to use that to their advantage

• Also every single statue of you that is in their domain has a flower crown

• In some of the smaller towns it's turned into a local ritual, who gets to make the daily flower crown that goes on their personal statue of you

• They, like every nation, believe themselves to be your one true successor nation, the one you favor most, the one that is most in your image

• It boils down to the concept of life and death, growing and dying, that's what their domain is founded on when you dig deep enough into it

• And of course, what is more godlike than that?

#genshin impact #sagau #yandere genshin x reader #genshin x reader #sumeru

[intheholler]

I've lived all my life in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, in a small town a little less than an hour northeast of Knoxville, Tennessee.

When I was a little boy, my mother and stepfather rented a house way out in the holler. I spent a lot of time in a thicket of woods not far from the backyard, just me and my dog. In retrospect, it was probably way too early for me to spend time alone in the woods, but part of the reason I did it was to get away from my stepfather's abuse at home - one of the dark symptoms of living secluded in Appalachia, especially before the modern Internet age.

It was these experiences, however, that filled me with the love for the region that I have today. Using a solid branch as a walking stick to clear thorny bushes and cobwebs out of my way, or walking so deep into the woods that I'd come out in a small clearing carved out to hold one of those towering, Eiffel Tower-like metal power lines. I'd just stare at it and listen to the buzz it made in the air.

When I stopped to rest, I'd watch my dog sniff around while I sat under one of the many persimmon trees that grew all over the forest. Persimmons are still my favorite fruit after all these years, which is a bummer because you can't usually get them at a grocery store!

Later, I got more experience with (and affection for) the land when I went hiking and camping with the Boy Scouts, but nothing makes me more fond of the area than those early memories of just eating persimmons with my childhood dog.

But, as should never be forgotten with stories of Appalachia, there's often a dark cloud behind that silver lining. Again, thanks to the more outlaw, "nobody's watching" mentality of the modern holler, things can get ruined.

My childhood dog was poisoned to death. My mother never lived in the city again, and so was always recipient to the full whims of my stepfather. I escaped to the inner town to live with another family member, and go to the city schools. I got cable TV, good A/C, and in middle school an internet connection (on a very outdated Windows 98 PC, without a sound card, in 2005... I was still elated.)

But I never did get to eat persimmons under those trees again, and I haven't been under any persimmon tree since. Sometimes, just for those persimmons, it feels like I made the wrong trade. I know I didn't, but I miss 'em.

Because of all that, before my time here is said and done, I'd like to have a little slice of the holler in my backyard again, and a good dog to walk in it with, and if there's no persimmon trees in that neck of the woods, I'll plant some.

Thankye, for your great curatin'.

i keep debating on whether or not i even want to add anything onto this. it's such a gorgeous story that i think anything i say will just dillute it.

thank you so so much for sharing. i hope you get your persimmon trees soon <3

#cw child abuse #cw pet death #cw poison #appalachia #asks

[noorahqar]

A, N and V for the ask game!

A: Of the fanfic you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?

Oooh. Hard question, because I absolutely love almost all of my fics. But I THINK I can narrow it down. To three. (I'm indecisive LOL)

this year it taught me (lost and ambitious) was my first longfic ever (even if it's more of a collection of short stories) and is my pride and joy. The title may suck - I have no clue why it's so long - and there's plenty of flaws, but I'm very proud of this guy. Every so often I reread it and it's always a blast - past me covered a lot of different topics, a lot of relationships, and I think it had some pretty good characterization!

Educational Quandaries and Academic Arson are the silliest things I've written but also by far my favorite of my oneshots. Writing Sky as a miserable college student and hero is my favorite thing ever. It's also quite representative of myself right now - I have exams in a few weeks I should be studying for, and yet… 

N: Any fic ideas brewing that you’d care to share?

A solid handful. These are all WIPs, actually, not ideas, but I hope you'll forgive me for considering them interchangeable!

In the TP manga, Twilight's backstory includes him accidentally vaporizing the city he lived in before Ordon. I think they turn out to be alive and well, but fanfiction where him and Legend bond over seemingly destroying entire civilizations they loved. 

HTTYD AU! Kind of. Everything's the same, and Sky essentially has a role similar to that of Hiccup in HTTYD 2 - he's an adventurer, mapping out the region around what will eventually become Hyrule. He also has Hiccup's cool-ass flying suit. I want to give Sky a cool wingsuit. That's it. (This is barely an AU, lol. I'm not an AU person for the most part. Excluding modern AUs.)

Speaking of - fanfiction where Warriors and Legend are in a car, and that car gets hit by lightning. Inspired by the same thing happening to my aunt. It didn't really do much except be frightening, surprisingly? Legend is appropriately frightened.

That's everything notable. The rest are all completed short stories and vague ideas that are more emotions than anything, lol. 

V: Are there certain comments you’ve received on your stories that have stuck with you?

As I think everyone who's responded to this comment has said, I love literally each and every comment I receive! There's definitely often some that stand out, though. Some people inform you that you've hit the mark you were aiming for with your writing, others tell you about how your writing affected them personally. The latter always makes me emotional, lol. It's also fun seeing a person comment multiple times in a row on different fics - it's like, HI!! I SEE YOU BINGING MY WORK!!! I APPRECIATE YOU!!!!

Getting comments from writers you admire is great, too. As someone who used to have a huge following on my previous Ao3 account, logically I know they're just some random people who like their blorbos. But I always end up incredibly excited anyways, haha. 

There's also no greater joy than a returning commenter. Often, I've found myself in like… a symbiotic relationship of commenting long paragraphs? It's amazing. I made one of my closest online friends this way, over a discussion about tea in my comments!!

Lord OKAY. I went too hard with these responses, I think, but I have a lot of thoughts. Thank you for asking, Rose!! :D

#qar answers #...renegade rose #am i doing this right #also i get sooo concerned when a returning reader just disappears #it is in my nature to be unreasonably worried about people i know exist LOL #linked universe #linked universe fanfic

[reality-detective]

Who is involved in screwing up the planet? You? Me? I don't think so. I would say the United States, DARPA and HAARP are most certainly involved. They just blame us. 👇

Was the true purpose of building the pyramids to prevent the cyclical cataclysmic event described in the ancient texts? From Antarctica and the South Pole to Alaska close to the North Pole… (speculation time)

It is a well-established fact in geophysics that the strength of Earth's magnetic field, now over 35% weaker than it was 300 years ago, is declining at an increasingly rapid pace. Electromagnetic energy is a fundamental component of the Earth's magnetic field.

The movement of charged particles, such as electrons, in the Earth's magnetic field creates electric currents, which in turn generate magnetic fields. This process is known as electromagnetism.

The Earth's magnetic field interacts with electromagnetic energy in various ways. For example, the magnetic field plays a crucial role in shielding the Earth from the solar wind, which consists of charged particles emitted by the Sun. These particles would be harmful to life on Earth and could potentially disrupt electrical systems if they reached the surface without the protection of the magnetic field.

Some are predicting that the next catastrophic event will involve the disruption of electricity power, primarily attributing it to a potential hacker attack. But this might happen due to the weaker magnetic field and the solar flares. The hacker attack might be the cover up.

According to the censored book by the CIA ‘The Adam And Eve Story The History Of Cataclysms’ this leads to reducing the Earth's inner MHD (Magnetohydrodynamics) energy to such a low level that the shallow molten layer, which begins at a depth of 60 miles and extends to 120 miles, is able to function as a free liquid lubricating layer between the Earth's crust and solid interior.

Eventually, this process leads to a sudden 90-degree flip(Polar flip), resulting in widespread chaos and all hell breaks loose leading to the massive floods.

Now how is this connected to the pyramids?

In 2018 scientists published a paper about ‘Electromagnetic properties of the Great Pyramid: First multipole resonances and energy concentration’ in the peer-reviewed scientific journal ‘Journal of Applied Physics’.

Researchers have proposed that the Great Pyramid possess electromagnetic resonance properties. This idea suggests that the pyramid's shape and composition interact with electromagnetic waves, potentially focusing or amplifying them. The geometry and structure of the Great Pyramid's influence how it interacts with electromagnetic waves. The pyramid's shape could cause scattering or diffraction of these waves, altering their behavior.

So, could it be that our advanced ancient ancestors built this technology to strengthen our magnetic field during periods of natural weakening, thus attempting to maintain a balance?

But technology can be used for both good and bad purposes, as we can see from its utilization in our militaries. Every new technology is initially employed for military purposes.

The biggest gatekeepers of the UAP/UFO phenomenon the US Navy, the US Air Force and DARPA have made a similar project in 1993 called HAARP. It is designed to investigate the properties and behavior of the ionosphere, which is a region of the Earth's upper atmosphere.

The radio waves used in HAARP are a form of electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic waves are a combination of electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space. They include a broad spectrum of waves, ranging from radio waves with low frequencies and long wavelengths to gamma rays with high frequencies and short wavelengths. HAARP operates in the high-frequency range of the electromagnetic spectrum.

HAARP utilizes a high-power, high-frequency transmitter array to emit radio waves into the ionosphere. These radio waves interact with the ionized particles in the ionosphere, creating artificial auroras and modifying the ionospheric properties.

So, how did these three crucial agencies involved in the UAP phenomenon decided to recreate a project that potentially resembles the function of the pyramids?

But now it gets interesting because this same technology can influence the behavior of the population, it can make them aggressive and less aggressive.

Tom DeLonge, Linda Moulton Howe, and other UAP researchers have discussed an alleged giant underground pyramid in Alaska that is purportedly still 'activated' and is believed to impact human consciousness. But if there is a pyramid in Alaska close to the North Pole, there is a pyramid in Antarctica on the South Pole further more adding to this crazy theory…

So, how can this technology influence our consciousness? If we read the ancient texts the last days before the catastrophic event are described as being filled with corruption, love for money, arrogance, disobedience, lack of self-control, wickedness, theft, and murder, which ultimately lead to God's judgment.

Two scientists at Hahnemann Medical College conducted an experiment with two groups of mice. One group was placed in aluminum cylinders under a magnetic field similar to our Earth's, while the other group experienced a magnetic field similar to being halfway between Earth and the Moon.

Both groups had the same physical environment, including food, lighting, play area, and water supply. After three months, the mice in the low-density cylinders experienced the same effects: their protein structure broke down, and more than 35% of them developed visible cancers throughout their bodies. Internal cancers were not analyzed. Also, the mice turned criminal (cannibalism, aggressiveness and rape) in their low-density magnetic field environment.

This was the conclusion of Chan Thomas (the author of ‘Adam and Eve Story) for the behavior: Lowered magnetic field environment could give its occupants a sense of impending doom. Certainly, there would be a feeling that something out of control was destroying them, so why not get what they want irrespective of consequences? In the case of humans, those without empathy turn criminal first in the case of animals, it is probably proper to assume that there is little or no empathy there to start with.

So, apparently this technology can be used to manipulate human behavior, but it also has the potential to save the planet from mass extinction. So, what happened? Why did the event occur again? Did the technology fail, or did the ancient 'elite'—the ones flying the UFOs today—use it for a different purpose?

Remember the saying; "It's Not Nice to Fool With Mother Nature(Earth)" These people are playing God and they are horrible at it. Think about it. 🤔

#pay attention #educate yourself #educate yourselves #knowledge is power #reeducate yourself #reeducate yourselves #think for yourself #think for yourselves #think about it #do your homework #do some research #question everything #ask yourself questions #earth #just thinkin #spilled thoughts

[g0dtier]

the list that makes me and @dentist-brainsurgeon mortal enemies from now on i guess

extremely lengthy explanations under the cut:

i actually think the S+A tier speak for themselves?

S tier: the goats. im aware its full of third versions but they just happen to be extremely good and added some insane shit to already solid base games (ok diamond and pearl werent solid but the foundation was there). replayability is insane for these.

A tier: the Oh Fuck Yeah games. not in any particular order actually. hgss is absolutely the best remake of all, only held back by the few inherent flaws of the Johto region and by not emulating Crystal enough. as much as i like bw, reverting back to only one region of pokemon never sat right by me, but it's been a while since ive played it, and nowadays i make much more of an effort to try out all new mons. so i could change my mind on this.

i liked usum more than sun/moon, if only for the post game. replayability isnt as high because of the cutscenes every 3 steps, and rotom dex is annoying as shit. aside from that, insanely solid story & postgame imo. red/blue and gold/silver are brimming with weird places in their regions and are chock full of in game lore and legends, which i really like. the ruins of alph & pokemon tower are some of the best locations theyve ever made imo

B tier is the "good but couldve been better" tier. lets go is insane for shiny hunting, but it stops at that imo. the new rival is garbo. sun and moon are good, but the postgame + alola in general is just lacking enough in these games that they dont reach A tier for me. loveeed the island challenges tho. alola itself has just such a good vibe. you really feel like its about community rather than competition. legends arceus couldve been insanely good, but i have never felt as ripped out of a pokemon game as i did when i walked through that cave in the coronet region and started seeing stray pixels around my character. which wasnt a one time thing btw this happens to anyones game & every time as far as ive seen. its gonna sound dramatic but this combined with other graphics glitches made it so clear i was playing a game that it just took me out of the adventure entirely. this is where the graphics glitches really started, and they havent stopped since.

C tier: yellow is just kinda there? i dont care for starter pikachu. i want to, but it gets killed when breathed at, so. idk. the gimmick doesnt work that well for me. sword and shield introduced some insane mons that i love and i want to call it solid real bad, but the story was hot garbage even for pokemon standards, and while the wild area was a great idea, the execution was lacking & because what i assume is a time crunch, the towns were boring as shit as well. diamond & pearl are mediocre to bad, with a great story and mediocre to bad execution, and i shouldve put oras in the :( tier, but the postgame is worth it.

actually im gonna rant about oras. i was so hyped for it but, just, ugh. if youre gonna turn a 2d vague not-specified-what-a-character-is-doing-or-feeling player character to 3d, at least do it correctly. 2d sprites where someone can fill in the blanks not seen on screen but hinted at in text (ie expressions, actions like handing someone something) work infinitely better than 3d sprites who show it badly. also still suffers from the desaturation curse that the 3ds games suffer from. postgame was dope, though. shame the mega latis are ugly as shit.

:( tier: garbage, im so sorry. SV's only redeeming factor is the area zero story. there is nothing else in the game that held my attention. fuck the star team, fuck the big pokemon quests, fuck the towns where you cant talk to anyone or find anything interesting or walk into a house and where every shop looks the game. fuck stores not even having an interior anymore. fuck this larger but emptier and stripped down world full of graphical glitches. fuck the weak ass gyms, fuck geeta, and fuck terrastalizing most of all. i will die for Koraidon & the professor fight fucking ruled but that's all the game had to it for me. do any of yall remember the gym leaders besides like, iono and the snowboard man? no you dont, stop lying to me. gen I put more life into lavender town by making a npc reference some ghost hand on your shoulder than SV does for any town, and they only had black and white 32mb cartridges or whatever to work with. for fucking shame gamefreak. give your devs some time to make a halfway functioning game.

firered and leafgreen do nothing new. i will not discuss the sevii islands. what the fuck even was that. boring. same with brilliant diamond and shining pearl. theyre lower than diamond and pearl because why the fuck did they not decide to remake platinum. what the hell was their damage. seriously platinum was RIGHT there. i caught a full odds shiny ghastly in that game and i still dont care about it.

X&Y suffers from. everything.

[adobe-outdesign]

What do you think of cubone?

You really can't go wrong with Cubone. A little dinosaur-ish creature wearing a skull makes for an interesting visual and unique theme as-is, but the heartbreaking backstory is what really helps people remember this line, what with the whole "it constantly mourns its dead mother and wears her skull" thing it has going on.

Arguably this backstory doesn't make much sense when applied to the species as a whole, especially when you can obviously breed them without the mother dying, but the powerful imagery associated with this 'mon can't be beat. I think just fleshing out the lore behind it would help it a lot; maybe skulls are passed down through generations when one dies, thus explaining where the Cubones that have mothers get their helmets from.

Backstory aside, the design also looks solid; the skull has a good sense of shape and depth to it (also love the cracks, even if it's a bit weird that they're always in the same place), and a nice, neutral body to compliment it. I wouldn't have minded a bit of a darker brown for contrast, like the above art sports, but otherwise I have no real complaints.

Marowak has some really interesting lore behind it: basically, Cubone's grief makes it stronger, and when it comes to terms with its loss, it evolves:

It kind of adds a nice moral about accepting grief into an otherwise sad story, even if you still have to try not to question the "dead mom" thing too much.

Visually, it does the logical thing and fuses the skull with the head completely. I do kind of question it changing shape, given that it's supposed to be the skull Cubone wears, but it at least looks nice and streamlined.

I guess my one problem with Marowak is that it maybe looks a bit too similar to Cubone? They're not the same, obviously, but it feels like the concept could've been pushed more at this stage. Make it ground/ghost, make the underbelly look like rib markings, add a skeletal tail tip, that kind of thing. Really advance the skeleton motif it has going on.

Another option would've been for Cubone to not carry the bone club until it becomes Marowak, which would've done the same "advancement" idea with drastically changing anything. It's not bad as is or anything; just could've been pushed a bit more.

Thankfully, Alolan Marowak is one of those designs that comes in and does everything the original design doesn't.

First, the dark body and skull markings look great; they compliment the skull well and add some much-needed contrast. Meanwhile, the fire adds some nice pops of color. And not only does this Marowak add fire to the bone it carries, but it also has some great vertebrae markings on its back, going back what I was saying about Marowak pushing its visuals a bit more.

Combine all that with fire/ghost typing and a fire dancing theme going on with the bone, appropriate for the Hawaiian-based region it's from, and you have a pretty perfect regional that's honestly far better than the original in my opinion.

My sole nitpick with it is that for some reason the body way skinnier than on original Marowak, giving it a weird top-heavy appearance for no real reason. Also, while I'm not opposed to cutting pointless regional pre-evos, it does feel weird that regular Cubone drops ground in favor of fire and ghost typing out of nowhere, but that's beside the point.

So overall, Cubone is a adorably pitiful Pokemon with a great theme and solid design. Marowak is fine, but doesn't push its design as much as it could; Alolan Marowak makes up for that with a refreshing take that really breathes some new life into the design. Overall, a very solid line.

Also, final side note: the Gen 1 betas reveal that the theorized connection between Cubone and Kangaskhan was indeed real via a third evolutionary sprite, though exactly what the intention was lore-wise here is left ambiguous. It might have been interesting, but at the same time, I feel like it might've distracted from Cubone's own themes a bit by tossing a baby in there. Too hard to say without knowing the context.

#cubone #marowak #alolan marowak #pokemon #pokmeon reviews

[scarletwritesshit]

🌿Raiden Shogun (Ei) x Tighnari 🌿 A Guide to the First Flower's Bloom

Inazuma sure has changed drastically since Tighnari last had a chance to visit. No raging storms pummeling the island every other day, no Vision Hunt Decree on patrol, nothing. Just a relatively calm, peaceful region as far as the eye could see, recovering relatively well from the recently concluded war. It was the perfect chance for him to explore the flora and fauna of the region for himself in almost complete peace.

Venturing out into the wilderness first thing upon arrival in the region was a tempting move indeed, but Tighnari was not as familiar with Inazuma the way he was Sumeru. He couldn’t stick every mushroom he found into his mouth for a little taste test, lest he accidentally consumes something extremely poisonous. Some plants were notorious for not being safe to touch, either.

The best place for him to start his research would be seeking out the assistance of an Inazuman field guide from someone who at least had a solid idea of what they were doing. He didn’t need to traverse the depths of the islands to seek out the most talented of biologists, just a simple field guide to better prepare him for the dos and don’ts of the region.

He made his first official stop be Inazuma city, where he figured that it would be his most accessible option for the time being. A little handbook, that’s all he was looking for, but the book vendors on the street felt overran with fiction as far as the eye could see. It felt as if he could find everything but what he was after, from godawful cliché romance novels to teen fantasy books that always attempted to be more unique than the rest. It was indeed a great contrast to Sumeru, which was full of thoroughly researched encyclopedias and reports as far as the eye could see.

He would have to find something eventually. Theres no way that the simplest of practical resources would be hidden away amongst a long-forgotten community of scholars, or something.

As he was picking up the books and wincing at the strange covers and titles of each, his ears picked up the sounds of two women discussing books close nearby. The chattering could lead him to yet another merchant to check out, so he looked up from the books he was observing and looked to see where the chattering originated from.

He blinked his eyes a few times blankly before dropping the book that he was holding in his hand right onto the stack.  That long, braided, purple hair was recognizable anywhere, even to an outsider like him. Especially once news of Inazuma’s situation reached outside of the region, there was no mistaking who that was.

He was looking directly at Raiden Shogun, browsing books and giggling like a little girl with shrine maiden Yae Miko.

He stood there in total disbelief. Wasn’t the Shogun defeated at the end of the conflict? He must’ve not heard the entire story, not like it would pertain to him very much as he’s from Sumeru, but it would still seem like a very important fact to note if she were still alive. The two of them did not currently seem to be of any threat, but Tighnari hastily went back to browsing the books in front of him, keeping his ears perked up just in case. All he heard was pure, innocent giggling and light chatter. Not one trace of the booming maniacal laughter that he would expect to hear from the Shogun. It was rather hard for him to refrain from turning back and glancing over just to reassure himself that they weren’t secretly trying to eye him up. Admittedly, he also found them both to be rather gorgeous in person. Even though he only had a look from behind, there was something about their radiance that drew him towards them. Especially Raiden, her deep purple hair more beautiful than any Sumeru Rose that he had ever laid his eyes on. His tail softly wagged every time he gave in and snuck a peek, until he eventually realized it and grabbed his tail to force it to stop moving.

While he was attempting to make himself focus on the books, and only the books, he looked further to the right of the stand and caught the Shogun herself browsing for books out of the corner of his eye. They made eye contact for a moment, and Tighnari froze in both fear and awe. He braced himself for a possible outburst, but the Shogun instead looked away rather awkwardly. Tighnari remained still, careful as to not make any sudden movements, but she didn’t seem too hostile, oddly enough.

"Shogun?" Tighnari said, to break through the awkward silence.

"Ah! Please, it’s just Ei. The Shogun puppet is dealing with matters elsewhere!" she said, a little startled.

Puppet? Elsewhere? Tighnari sure had a lot of catching up to do on recent Inazuma happenings. He perked one of his ears up in further curiosity.

"Forgive me, but I’ve never seen a kitsune with such large ears before!" she said, holding back her excitement.

"Probably because I’m not a kitsune?" he said.

"Do not pay any mind to her, dearie," Yae Miko said, startling Tighnari. "She’s normally far more reserved than this, but it holds true that she cannot resist a fox of any kind."

Ei reached out to touch his ear, though he flicked her hand away with his ear in response. He had enough common sense to not let every pretty lady touch his ear so casually…as much as he would honestly like to in this situation.

"Now now, have you forgotten your manners after all of those years alone?" Yae said, grabbing her by the shoulder and guiding her back from Tighnari.

"Ah! My apologies, it’s…been a while," Ei said.

Tighnari didn’t know what to make of the situation. Inazuma’s two highest ranking leaders having an ever so casual chat with him in the middle of the city. All he was after was a mere field guide for plants, but it seemed like he would need a survival guide for just getting through the day.

"No worries... oh great Shogun," he said with a tinge of sarcasm.

"Please, just Ei."

"Right. So anyways, if you’re really all that mighty, could you at least help me find the book I’m looking for so that I could at least be on my way faster?”

"Oh, absolutely! And please, do not worry about spending time here, Inazuma is quite open and welcome to all!"

Welcome to all? Sure didn’t feel like it with all the weird looks I’m getting.

"If you say so," he said, blinking. "Now, I’m looking for a guide on local flora. Anything to make sure I don’t kill myself eating something that I ideally shouldn’t."

"Well, it would help if you looked at the right stands. Most of the vendors down here sell purely fiction."

She’s not even going to question why I want to taste test the local plants?

He looked once more at the stands around him. Tighnari took a moment to closely read the covers of the books that he could see, and indeed, they were all works of fiction.

"Sorry, Inazuman script is a bit different than Sumeru’s."

"I can teach you!" Ei blurted out, then immediately covering her mouth with her hands.

Tighnari’s ears perked back out of both surprise and embarrassment. Sure, that meant some more time for him to get to know the lovely Ei personally, but was seeking such company with Inazuma’s Archon truly appropriate at this time?

"Goodness, little ol’ Ei seems quite fond of you to be inviting you over so hastily," Yae said with a smirk. Tighnari still was unsure if he should be flattered or fearing for his life, so he stood there attempting to calm his breathing and stop flushing before he became Yae’s next victim of teasing.

"...Can you just help me find a field guide please?" he said, wanting to get things done and over with.

Yae Miko pulled aside Ei and started whispering in her ears. He wasn’t sure what good she thought that would do, considering how he can still very clearly hear them.

"Go on. Show the little fox boy your knowledge of the vendors here. What was his name, again?" Yae said, a bit loud for someone trying to have a conversation in secret.

"I didn’t quite catch it-"

"Dearie! You couldn’t even have bothered to properly exchange names! You’re really a lost cause when it comes to these things."

"What kind of things? What do you even mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean," Yae said, spinning Ei around go face Tighnari. "Now, go ask him his name and show him around Inazuma little."

"I can indeed! What is your name, before I forget to inquire?" Ei said, as Yae looked on giving her a look that just said "you already forgot to."

"It’s Tighnari. And sure, whatever gets me onto the field faster."

Ei didn’t waste a second at Tighnari’s acceptance. She grabbed onto his arm and dragged him further up the city, a little too eager to show him around the different vendors. Behind them, Yae Miko joyfully giggled, and purposefully lagged behind in order to give the two of them space.

“Oh dear, this should be entertaining,” she said to herself.

#fanfic #fanfiction #genshin impact #genshin impact fanfic #raiden shogun #raiden ei #tighnari #tighnari x raiden shogun #tighnari x ei #ei x tighnari #raiden shogun x tighnari #einari

[heyitssashag]

It’s been a busy week. Appointments, emails, phone calls, meetings, texts and trying to have a bit of fun and exercise thrown in there. Last weekend, the kid and I hung out together and went shopping. We rode the stuffy riders, too.

I also got my hair cut - but I didn’t have the guts to chop it all off. My stylist cut over six inches off. It feels slightly healthier but the grey looks and feels on the dry side. (I haven’t coloured it in 3 years so this is all my natural colour.) I have some deep conditioning products that will hopefully help. Although, due to all the drugs I’m on, it’ll probably not make much of a difference.

Anyway, there will come a point where I’ll just get ultra fed up with it and get a pixie cut or something. It’s been long my whole life (aside from when I had chemo 5 years ago and it all fell out).

I managed to do a 10km walk today with a couple of short breaks. I’m proud of myself. I walked the kid to school and then I just continued on. It was a beautiful day for it. Walked all along the water…

Below is a (now) inactive ferry terminal from Sidney, BC to Anacortes, Washington. The service was suspended in 2020 and it won’t be starting back up again until 2030 due to (apparently) not having any vessels. Seems weird but whatever. (It’s probably something else politically related.) It stinks, though. Was a lot quicker to get to Seattle from there. There’s still the Coho ferry that runs from Victoria to Port Angeles. (Whenever there’s a big event in Seattle the Coho is packed.) There’s also the Clipper that goes directly to Seattle but it’s foot passenger only. I’m not sure why I’m discussing all of this other than the fact that I hope to make it back to Seattle one of these days when I’m feeling better. It’s a nice city. Nice people, too. I just have this crazy fear of crossing that border then something random goes haywire with my health. I don’t want to be stuck in an American hospital getting raped by medical fees. Unfortunately, getting out-of-country health insurance when you have stage 4 cancer is tricky.

Anyway, I did talk to my oncologist this week, too. My iliac region lit up more on the bone scan - both sides. Meaning, it shows further progression. However, the CT scan shows everything is stable. So, again, the scans don’t jive which is weird and really frustrating. I do have a new issue with my left hip locking up when walking but I’m not sure if it’s related. I have lower back pain but I always have lower back pain. Other than 3mm of progression in my neck, there’s no other solid evidence that these drugs aren’t working. So the big question is: do I go on chemo or do I wait? We decided to wait. My oncologist is sending me in for scans again in 2 months (instead of the usual 3-4 months). He’s also referring me to the radiation oncologist. I want to blast all the cancer in there. (Apparently, there’s a significant amount.) I’ve been holding off because I don’t exactly love the idea of being radiated, again but if it could potentially buy me more time on this current treatment, I’ll take it.

I did see the shrink again and he prescribed me 2 different medications that are supposed to help with pain, depression and anxiety. I haven’t taken them yet. I keep staring at them every day and I’m like… blahhhhh. Do I have to go on more drugs? (Even with the amount of pain I was in today, I only took 3 - 1mg hydromorphone pills. That’s hardly anything for someone in my boots.)

I did get some great news last week that the article I wrote for the magazine was accepted. Yes, it’s a real “print” magazine (not just online). Yes, I’m getting paid for it, too. (These are the first two questions my Mother asked me when I told her. lol). I don’t think I’m allowed to re-publish the story now that they’re using it but I can read it out loud. So I’ll post a video. I’m pretty excited about this! I get to see a draft in a few weeks. It will be available to purchase mid-October. Once I have all the info, I’ll post it.

Tomorrow, I have my comedy class and I’ll be running through my set. I have a Zoom show on Monday. Yes, I get paid for that, too. lol. (Not much but it’s something. 😆)

It’s not even 9pm and it feels like midnight. I think it’ll be an early night for me.

Rocky Raccoon says, “Hi”.

#metastatic breast cancer #10k Thursday #life update #blogging on my blog

[risu5waffles]

[LBP - LBsP 02/16/24] 295 - DLC Dive: Metal Gear Solid

Well, we did it. A bit surprised; it wound up coming pretty much to the wire, but we did it.

The big takeaway is MGS remains a really great set, even played in LBP3 (wiv some caveats); but gosh do i ever wish they'd stuck wiv the scrapped Shadow Moses theme, instead of the vaguely Middle Eastern one we got.

Depicting real worldiness isn't impossible in LBP, i think, but it's always going to feel a bit uncomfortable if it's not done wiv a deft hand. There's a bit of the saccharine to SackThing, which, honestly, i love; but it makes things outside of strict deconstruction a little tough. Having iconography that is clearly invoking real war, that effects real people, and then putting SackThing in the midst, and it's a bit... but why tho'? Couple that wiv the story itself being tongue-in-cheek chiding on a completely low-stakes subject, and... like, they really should have gone wiv Shadow Moses.

All that being said, like, it's a good set. Probably the best of the lot for bang-for-your-buck, if you're asking me. The material set is incredibly solid, and super easy to build wiv. The decos look nice, even if they're a bit limited in the environments that support them (and even then, i shrunk those missile pods down and used them as braille strips in my train station hub, and they're a bit bumpier-looking than the real thing, but not so much as you wouldn't recognize what they are supposed to be). The stickers... well, the ones that work, work really well. The ones that don't (for me, the realistic branded ones), they just take up space.

All the levels are pretty much bangers, and don't overstay their welcome. The full lot probably takes 40minutes max to finish if you're really poking around. There's nothing that requires multiple players, so you're not juggling controllers, or feeling sol if you can't swing couch co-op. It plays a little worse in LBP3, but not so much that things are broken (except for the Super Sentry Turret you get as a collected object, that's just busted and nothing i tried could get it to fire properly).

i do recommend playing in LBP1 if you have the ability; it looks gorgeous, the Rex fight is a bit trickier and more tense, and you can still get 10 out of the 11 trophies.

All told, if they'd just gone wiv a different setting, and given us the "Middle Eastern" (actually probably Moroccan) materials in, like, the History set (they're all really nice materials, and that region doesn't really get any rep in the mainline LBP games), this would be perfect. ---------------------------------------------------------------------

The way they handled the "cutscene" here was pretty neat, and i really liked that they gave an active reason to replay the level by changing it into a shooting gallery. It's a little confusing as to what you're actually supposed to be shooting to get the prize bubbles to drop, but the level's only about a minute and a half long, so replaying isn't so much a chore.

This one is really, really keen. Incorporating the tutorial into an actual playable level instead of shunting it into the tutorial menu (and having it be possibly not implemented in LBP3 and locking us out of the logic tools, like wiv the Move cursor and the Memorizer) was really clever. What really makes this one special, tho' is how different it is when you play it the second time. Even in story mode, we seldom saw really big changes like that (that one race in DaVinci's Hideout is the only one i can think of off the top of my head). i can understand why. Trying to do something similar wiv the scenic/challenge modes for the archives and flag level, and it's really a lot of work. This one being short and sweet probably made it a lot easier from a design standpoint.

The stealth in this bit was a real fun concept, and i wish they'd made that section of it a little longer. The level's a fun one all-around, but it probably suffers the most from the tone/setting mismatch.

This one has the same tone issues as Act 3, but is also a really solidly designed, fun level. i think this might be the first time we see secrets implemented in an official level, tho' i'm sure there were creators in the community that were playing around wiv getting that kind of system to work by this point. The use of the paintinator for platforming wiv those drop-down platforms was really cool, and something i wish i'd seen more of in community levels. While i ran into the paintinator a lot, it was generally limited to "kill thing/open door." i know Paczek132 (shoot... was it 132 or 123?) had a level that really leaned into paintinator platforming, but it only really worked in LBP1, because of how they changed impact physics on the paintballs.

As much as i like this fight, and it does remain fun in LBP3, it probably suffers the worst from the transfer. There's something gone screwy wiv the rotation of one of the firing pods, and it shoots downward a lot less often than it does in LBP1, so it's a lot easier to just stay stationary for chunks of the fight and wait for the target to open up. Which, the third-phase target doesn't drop down the way it's supposed to; you can still hit it, but you have to be just about under it to manage. One oddity, but i played the set for the episode in all versions 1, 2, and 3, and all the visible tags we see here? They're visible in 2 as well. i wonder if it was an issue where Mm couldn't push an update on it, because of it being DLC? It seems strange that they would have just forgotten about it. When 2 came out, the tags thing was a known issue, and there were only the three big level kits out at that time (this, PotC, and Marvel. Monsters, History, and Incredibles were all one-offs). Maybe they just didn't think it was a big deal. They stand out like a sore thumb, tho'.

i can't hardly stand survival challenges. i just get bored of them way before whatever goal that's been set, and this one's no different. i think the only one i've ever really enjoyed was chronos453's Virtual Return, and i was totally pants at that one. It was really, really good tho'. i mention in the gameplay bit of the LBsP episode, but you can see all the plasma balls have green tags on them, and i would love to know what those were triggering.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's weird being done wiv this after spending, what, 3weeks or so wiv it taking up the majority of my brainspace and available time. i'm glad to see the backside of it, to be honest. Glad in the good way. This is a good episode, right up there wiv the Chapter Zero one. But it was a lot of work, and it's good to be finished.

i don't know if i'll do another of these. None of the other sets really hook me like this one does, tho' i feel like i could make a decent go at a Move Pack episode, and i have a lot of questions about the Marvel set. i really, really don't want to do a PotC episode. There is just nothing about that set aside from the introduction of water, and a couple of materials that really interests me at all.

Whatever i wind up doing, it's going to be a good while before i even want to get started on it. Want to spend some time wivout anything more pressing than keeping up wiv the DLC archiving. Let me tell you, the Move Pack (i'm working on that right now) is some kind of pain in the butt.

#littlebigplanet #little big planet #lbp #lbp1 #lbp3 #littlebite-sizedplanet #lbsp #littlebite-sizedarchive #lbsa #Youtube

[mejomonster]

some reasons Love Between Fairy and Devil is good:

the music. we got a lovely opening/theme song, a Liu Yuning secondary song, and a nice mix of traditional romance xianxia sounding stuff (think Eternal Love soundtrack etc) and rock music (which I personally love when xianxia do this - Love and Redemption and Men with Sword did this, and The Untamed did this with Meng Yao’s theme song). Just overall a solid soundtrack

the looks. while still distinctly fitting the usual romance xianxia aesthetic (think Love and Redemption, Eternal Love, Ashes of Love), its also got some individuality. Its partly taking some western fantasy elf aesthetics, which may be why it reminds me of Ice Fantasy so much (Ice Fantasy’s costumes felt very much like xianxia and western fantasy mixing with the design choices). As a result, some outfits really uniquely stand out, different locations have more distinct looks both set and Clothing wise (and its nice to see different regions have their own distinct looking culture and identity to a degree). Haishi city, Cangyan Sea, Shuiyuntian, and Lucheng all look like their own places with their own clothing. Stand out costumes are worn by our boy Qingcang who has some very cool horn-wood-piece looking crowns, and the Shuiyuntian headpieces remind me in a good way of Ice Fantasy a Lot. This show looks distinct enough to have its own identity.

the writing. consistent, straightforward, with meaning. While the meaning isn’t particularly deep, very much like Love and Redemption the main love is partly attractive because he respects consent (which when its lacking in a romance xianxia i tend to hate it - however the second love interest is also fairly nice in this, in contrast to Love and Redemption’s quite horrifying Bai Lin). Consent and abuse are definitely themes in this - just look at Dongfang Qingcang’s dad and him. Also, themes of compassion. While Love and Redemption really hammered home you should figure out right and wrong for yourself, and make your own fate? This show goes with similar themes but in a much different way. Destiny is much more set in this show - and YET we open early on with Lanhua purposely going against Fate to go save Changheng, so her entire relationship with Qingcang is a result of her breaking fate. While that hasn’t come back to bite her yet, it definitely puts her on a path outside fate - despite fate seeming much move inevitable in this show. Likewise, in the mortal arc, both Lanhua and Qingcang immediately change the ‘necessary fate’ of the people they’re trying to keep ON fate’s path. So I imagine this isn’t the last fate versus personal choice will get highlighted. Meanwhile goodness is somewhat critiqued in the sense of hypocrites (like Love and Redemption). But instead, its more like there’s genuine goodness to all the regions populations, and genuine suffering they’ve all been through. While showcasing all areas as equally capable of good and evil is very Love and Redemption, the way this show does it is more on a level that reminds me a bit of Goodbye My Princess. We get to know each area, care about them, and see why its so hard for the characters to decide what to do that would be best for their people and the world at large. Its not so simple as LaR - the god of war Changheng is genuinely good and kind, with good goals (unlike Bai Lin in LaR), meanwhile Qingcang’s father was awful to him, but the ultimate goal his dad (and he has) to help their Cangyan Sea is understandable and also an attempt to help their people. 

the romance. 1. absolutely love the acting (and they did great doing body swap scenes!) 2. the romance setup of ‘Big Bad’ guy as romantic lead i LOVE, of the commoner fairy who isn’t particularly strong and is not the ‘right noble class’ i LOVE (she might turn out to have some Important Identity but for the bulk of this story she’s very low power and treated as a nobody which I really like). They get along in a very nice way, its very “how do these characters interact” rather than feeling like tropes are forcing them together. The setup is literally just: orchid fairy accidentally saves Big Bad Type Character, and then Big Bad type due to a spell feels what she feels and more importantly HURTS if she hurts, so Big Bad has to care about her/help her for a little while. A very cool set up that reminds me of some big bad being forced to care for spiritual pet and learn life lessons as a result. But he’s not that bad, and she’s not threatening to him despite her control-option over him, so for the vast majority of time they just seem to have become ‘friends’ who mainly are caring about each other.  I just. I can’t express how cute they are, how they just Work together. I am real picky about my xianxia, and my romance, and my Romance Xianxia, so all i can say is if I like it then they are doing a Lot right in how they write the characters.

the characters. Like Love and Redemption this show is doing some new stuff with some character types, although less in a ‘lets subvert these obvious expectations’ and more in a ‘lets keep what parts of the types we liked and leave the rest.’ which is very cool. I can see elements in these characters that i’ve seen in other xianxia, and also unique bits special to them in particular. The god of war has some characteristics i expect (he reminds me a bit of God of War in Eternal Love) but then he’s also a younger brother, also very emotional and kind, just very individual. Meanwhile the original God of War reminds me of Xuanji-god-of-war in Love and Redemption (but without the abuse and trauma making her) again but with some very unique characteristics. Orchid reminds me a bit of the lead heroine in Love and Destiny, but Orchid is very genuine in a way that almost feels down-to-earth Everyday person in a way xianxia heroines don’t always feel. She really does feel like a Nobody in her realm, instead of someone Somehow Most Beautiful and Talented and Amazing. Our ‘big bad type’ mold is not so mean at all, on paper he’s fulfilling the ‘Devil/Demon Emperor’ mold, but he’s also genuinely emotionless to start like Xuanji in Love and Redemption (just emotionless but does care for his people and want to do the Right thing as best as he understands), and like Xuanji he is gradually getting his feelings back. In part I think this show reminds me of Ice Fantasy to such a degree, because the realms and characters do feel a bit more individual and less perfect maps onto the usual molds i expect in romance xianxia (and even Love and Redemption, while very much subverting and flipping molds, used a lot of expected Traits to comment on the molds in the first place - whereas in this show they just don’t really neatly fit the mold Ever). 

pacing. i just... cannot tolerate slow pacing for more than like 4 episodes max... and usually i give up if a cdrama gets paced slow for more than 2 eps. this show is so well paced im flying through it and never bored, which is always great in cdramaland where some dramas just Tend to Have a slow period of 5-10 eps at some point. 

#love between fairy and devil #lb #theres a lot more i like but these are definitely some key reasons

[ac-liveblogs]

Back in Mondstadt, Genshin has literally never written scenes like this before. Sucrose and Collei are getting extended focus, and we even get to sit on extended conversations between characters that don’t involve the travellers.

Unlike Lantern Rite ‘23, despite also being a mix of characters that already know each other/are just meeting, a lot less time is spent on introductions and more is spent on fleshing out dynamics or learning about each others. Albedo quickly developing very different rapports with Cyno and Tighnari, and then identifying what their relationship was like quickly enough to poke fun of them, is something an actual character with a personality might do, and it’s great to see HYV improving like this. Cyno is a funny character. I’m enjoying him a lot more than I ever did in Sumeru.

The Cyno-Collei-Tighnari dynamic, despite not being explored that much prior to this, has already been solidly established. I have no questions about what their relationships are like, which is something I cannot say for, say... Xiao, Venti and Zhongli, despite also seeing all of them meet up in Lantern Rite.

Sucrose and Collei are not the duo I expected here, but I’m enjoying that two very shy people found a common interest to bond over. It feels like growth for both of them, though on Collei’s end this is very obviously the end of a character arc we didn’t get to see (as her story started in the webtoon, and then Genshin had her grow off-screen for however long it’s been since then. I’m seriously getting more and more confused about that. I thought Diluc had only been back in Mond for a year or so?) That is disappointing, and Genshin really likes cutting... not corners, but most of the trip, I guess, so not too unsurprising.

We are getting some meat with Amber and Collei, but again, we’re missing some stuff that came before it first. The game... really does assume you’ve read the webtoon or Collei’s Story, though. Which I have, but others may not have, so that is a pretty big weakness in the writing right there.

I’m also enjoying conversations without the Traveller or Paimon. Unsurprisingly, the dialogue flows a lot more smoothly and is less grating without Paimon’s commentary. It’s a good start, I hope they do this more often. I seriously don’t know what it is about Mondstadt, but the last few events have consistently had a much higher quality of character writing and interplay than any other region, it’s wild. It’s even saving Cyno, Tighnari and Collei. Does Mond just have different writers or what?

The conceit of this quest is pretty Convenient, but the character writing is probably going to stay solid enough that it wouldn’t bug me as much as Iradori did despite having a superficially similar concept.

Biggest complaint is that they didn’t bring the archery minigame back.

#ac plays genshin impact

[kob131]

I plan on making an expansive version sometime in the future but here's a rough shot placement of how I rank the generations-

9- Gen 6. Pokemon is at its best when it goes for both story and gameplay as one complete package than two seperate things. X and Y doesn't push either one with pretty bland gameplay (with the exception of Super Training) and a bland to bad story (I cannot name a single thing about the rivals, the team is as bland as Gen 1 Rocket with nonsensical motivations without the Gen 1 excuse and the Champion exists). Aegislash is rad as hell though. Megas are a mixed bag- why does Mega Garchomp exist?

8- Gen 1. Obvious stuff: the glitches in gameplay, really slow pace, starting some of the worst practices in Pokemon like Mythicals, trade evolutions, version exclusives ect. Blue, Lance and Giovanni are interesting characters...outside the Gen 1 games. But the sprites are pretty cool...even if Machop still looks like a gingerbread man to me.

7- Gen 3. Yeah the starters are pretty damn good, they have nice dungeon puzzles and the introduction of abilities was great. But to be real- I can't name a single interesting thing about any of the characters aside from Norman being the ONE dad in Pokemon and Steven being kind of cool. I can't name a thing about Roxanne, Brawly, Watson, Flannery, Winona, Lisa/Tate, Wallace (even though he became a CHAMPION) or any of the Elite Four. I also really don't like Team Aqua and Magma for how shallow they are. Again, they're roughly equal to Gen 1 Team Rocket which could have been fine...if Gen 2 Rocket didn't prove GF was capable of making simple but effective villain teams. Flannery's White Herb Torkoal would have given the games some credit...if not for Juan's stupid ass Double Team-Rest-Chesto Berry Kingdra canceling it out through Evasion hacks.

6- Gen 2. This isn't a condemnation of Gen 2 rather than how old it is. It brought in the Dark and Steel types which have helped make great type matchups and interesting new Pokemon. It made Team Rocket actually pretty interesting since they help embolden the theme of 'times are changing' with them clinging to power and relevancy with Giovanni refusing to show to showcase how their time has come and gone. Lance reinforces this theme by taking over from Blue and Red before teaching Silver, who starts the trend of more dynamic rivals. The sprites are actually really good because it's right before RSE started having blurrier sprites with clear and colorful sprites. It's just other gens adapted what makes it good.

5- Gen 7. The original stuttery Gen, though Pokemon like Vikavolt being a bettle-railcannon, Incineroar being a heel wrestler, Mimikyu's...everything and Lycanroc being a good fast Rock type making some standout Pokemon. It also introduced regional variants with solid additions like Alolan Muk and Alolan Ninetails. It's UI is also a great integration of the region's colorful aesthetic with paint brush splashes. Hau, Lillie, Gladion, Guzma and Lusamine are real standout examples of more in depth Pokemon characters and I think Team Skull is a pretty fun team to feed into the innocent tropical feel of the region. The Totem Pokemon also make for more unique boss battles. The Ultra Beasts are insane from a conceptual and gameplay perspective. I also really love Zygarde's Complete form.

4- Gen 8. A real tossup between this and Gen 7. This is a lot cleaner in terms of visuals but trades off a lot of the color and mix of tropical relaxation/insanity with a clean and flat sports aesthetic that I think is less memorable. Cinderace has an amazing signature move animation but the other two's aren't very interesting in either design or moves. I really like Sir Fetch'd and Obstagoon as new evolutions alongside Orbettle and Toxitricity as great new additions but the clean and simple presentation does make it less memorable. The gyms are also less memorable though the likes of Nessa's design and Raihan's design AND battle are very memorable. Also Leon's battle is really cool...even as he has a nostalgia baiting Charizard. (and I STARTED the series with Charizard). And then we have Hop, the first rival to actually challenge N's spot as the best rival in the games. What really pushes it over the edge is Legends Arceus for being a pinnacle of gameplay, atmosphere and story integration in the series.

3- Gen 4. This might be a little biased considering my clearer memories of Sinnoh. I think with Platnium has one of the best experiences in the games with a well-paced story, great balanced gameplay with the physical and special split allowing for more diverse Pokemon. The starters take advantage of this with the likes of Inferape being a mixed attacker, Empoleon being a special Water/Steel type and Torterra being a physical Grass/Ground tank. We get a great backstory for the Pokemon world in the form of it's creation myth and I think the best Gym Leader rematches in the 2D games. It also helps that this Gen remakes the Gen 2 games, improving the Gen 2 games and gives them the advantage of the more refined Gen 4 sprites and animations and fixing it's leveling issues in Kanto.

... Never forget the issues with the DP's speed and locking several postgame hook resolutions (Shaymin, Darkrai and fucking ARCEUS) behind LIMITED TIME DISTRIBUTIONS.

2- Gen 9. To try and make this quick- the best cast of the games with Arven, Nemona being one of the best rival and Penny being the best friendly team leader alongside the great authority figure in Principal Clavell, memorable Gym Leaders like Larry, Iono, Katie and Rhyme and the sad story of the Professors and how they ended up. They also made the first Legendary Pokemon that's an actual character in Koraidon/Miraidon. The open world allows for more expression of Pokemon's personalities (like how Tauros charge at you to show their aggression, weak and timid Pokemon run from you, Slakoth and Slowpoke lines not reacting to your presence, friendly Pokemon like Hoppip floating towards you, Tyrogue eating berries ect. The updated model textures make the Pokemon look more like actual animals that exist which helps make them appear more like pets. And this is without going into the DLCs which contain either the second best or the best rival in the series in Kieran. However the performance does in fact have issues and there should be more puzzles like in the 2D games. Also if the Pecharunt event is limited time- I'm having words with the developers.

1- Gen 5. Probably the most unique generation since it was the last 2D Gen with sequel games rather than remakes or third versions. This aspect changes a lot since it basically doubles the story of the generation which helps with things like Cherran and Bianca's character arcs with Cherran's use of held items foreshadowing his intelligence and thus his capacity for teaching or Bianca's weaker team reflecting how ill-suited she is for battling to justify her becoming Juniper's assistant. The locations are stunning in their visuals due to the combination of 3D environments and 2D sprites. The Gym Leaders have some great standouts like the Straiton City brothers, Lenora, Elesa, Skyla and Drayton. We also have Team Plasma and how they tackle a concept that Pokemon has long since tiptoed around (Pokemon abuse) being led by their leader N, who stood uncontested as the best rival for a long time.

... It's not perfect. Many of the changes in the sequel are justified by Memory Link events that you can't get normally, the Legendaries are a bit too busy and N probably came in a little early since he's a very verbose and grand rival with big talks of ideals and truth...in the generation right BEFORE we got more in depth dialogue choices. Which kind of makes the writing deflate a bit. Still, probably the best generation we have.