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rickie-the-storyteller · 3 months

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Steph's Crew - Book 3 Summary

I was meant to post this last year to sort of close the Steph-related content and focus more on other projects. Actually, I was meant to post a lot of things last year...

Bretanie analysis (on here)

Season 1 of AU (on my second blog)

Jekyll and Hyde, but in the modern world (I've been working on that for fun on the side, and I've decided to post the full story on Wattpad)

Revealing the identity of the secret blogger (I'll probably do it in this post, since it is relevant to this part of the story as well)

I've been so busy, y'all. Sorry for the delays.

I just want to make sure I have time to do everything as best as I possibly can, so you can enjoy it. I think it was less pressure posting the Steph's Crew dialogues and snippets because they were old pieces of work, and since the time I first wrote them, I've neatened it up and made it considerably better than it was... I know that the stuff I've shared isn't the final product, so I don't feel the urge to make it perfect. At least not to the extent that I do with all these other projects lol.

Hopefully this can help make up for lost time. I'll get to the other posts mentioned on that list as soon as possible, but until then... here's a summary of the third and final instalment of Steph's Crew!

Enjoy!

Keep in mind that I'm still working on this one. It isn't finished yet, but I wanted to give you guys a rough idea of how it goes. And prepare for this, because it's pretty unhinged lol. I collaborated with my sister on some of the wackier ideas...

Book 3 is titled "Story of a Broken Thing." It picks up where Book 2 ends off, more or less (or at least, it fills us in on what went down since the end of Book 2). If you can't remember how UVC ended, then here's a link to that summary:

But to put it briefly, the crew have successfully solved the mystery, Brelise have split up again, Bret's gone on tour with his band, Dalice are together, Bephanie is over, and Stephanie got arrested... but then escaped from holding. Nobody knows where she could have gone.

Which leads us to Book 3. It is set a couple of years later (I think about 5 years after Book 2 ended), and a lot of stuff has happened in all that time...

Dylan and Alice have broken up. Wasn't meant to be, I guess. But don't worry - they're still friends, and there's no bad blood between them or anything.

Victor and Jen have unfortunately split up as well, leading to Jen moving back to Texas. Alice decides to go with her. She's doing alright - currently taking some classes at a local college, and helping out at her old dance studio in her spare time. She's also still making YouTube videos.

Bret's band is still doing well. They're not touring anymore at the moment, but they are super busy recording a new album, and filming music videos. Plus, they have been asked to perform at the Jingle Bell Ball towards the end of the year, which is very exciting. Even though he has moved back to the UK, because of the nature of Bret's job, he can't just stay in London with his aunt anymore like how he used to... but he still comes to visit her as often as possible. And he and Elise are still close friends, so that's cool. He's been seeing other people over the past couple of years, though.

Elise and Charlie are together. She decided to give him a chance. They're really happy together and they seem to have a pretty healthy, solid relationship for the most part (they've been together for two years straight by the time Book 3 has started). Charlie still harbours some degree of jealousy/wariness towards Bret, though, since she's still really good friends with him. He's never once brought it up to her, though. But it becomes a big deal in this part of the story... more on that later.

Ben isn't really in this part of the story... at least not until towards the end, when Stephanie randomly decides to call him for some reason. But he's doing fine. Moved back to his cooking job from Book 1 lol. It was good money, and now he doesn't have another person to share it with! Wait, that sad-

And by now, Dylan, Connor (who has finally moved on from Daisy! Thank God), Elise and Charlie have all finished their university courses. Yay!

In fact, this is what kickstarts the plot. Dylan's family (we get to see them again in this one! Specifically his mother, her new husband and his younger brother Sam. I feel like we didn't get enough of them last time) is very proud of him for finishing such a long, tough course (3 years, + 1 foundation year + 1 year of masters), and they decide to reward him with an epic summer trip to Australia. And it is during this holiday that he sees Steph again (she's not in Australia btw - he sees her when he goes with a family friend to the Samoan islands).

She fills him in on how she got there. I haven't neatly worked this part out... but basically, Reggie helped her leave the country (idk whether to make him a villain or some kind of loose cannon/antihero type of guy. Like, he's awful most of the time, but he's also one of Stephanie's oldest friends, and he can be genuinely nice when he wants to be. Especially to her. He needs to be in trouble tho lol. I think the thing about him is that he gets away with his awful behaviour easily, whereas Stephanie is kind of forced to be held accountable, even if she actively runs away from the consequences of her actions sometimes...)

After that, she was stuck on her own again for a while and needed a job. So she applied for a job at a local Natia hotel (Natia is a famous line of hotels... kind of like Hilton, to give a known real-life example). She didn't have enough money for a cab or bus, so she had to walk the whole way there through heavy rain. By the time she got there, she looked terrible lol. But when she arrived, she bumped into a handsome young man who kindly helped her out. He got her a room and some clothes to change into, which helped in making a good first impression and whatnot. She got the job!

Later, she found out that the guy's name was Jordan Natia. The son of the hotel line founder (he also owns the hotel she got a job at). She thanks him for her help, and he invites her for dinner... and the rest is history.

And by history, I mean she ends up marrying him lol. Dylan finds out that she now lives at the resort that he and his family friend are currently staying at. She also has a baby daughter named Mia (short for Miranda. Not suspicious at all). She loves her life so much right now. She's always prided herself on being a strong independent woman who can take care of herself, but she's surprised at how much she's enjoying being a stay-at-home mother and housewife lol. She loves spending time with her baby, and she loves her husband a lot, too. He takes good care of her. However, similar to Ben, he doesn't really know all that much about her (Jordan goes through a similar arc to Ben's in Book 2, where he finds out the truth about Stephanie, and it changes the way he sees her. Minus the cheating lol).

Dylan is shocked at how much Steph has changed since the last time he saw her, but he's happy for her at the same time. He can see that she's genuinely happy and seemingly at peace, which is great.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, Charlie has decided to propose to El. He's taking it VERY seriously - even asked for her family's blessing and everything. They all said yes... even Adam lol (he's grown to like Charles by now). One summer evening, he pops the question (in a truly beautiful and romantic way btw), and Elise says yes in the moment, but she doesn't know if she truly feels ready for marriage yet. Something about the situation feels wrong to her, but she doesn't know what it is. However, instead of communicating her mixed feelings to her now fiance, she decides to distract herself with hangouts with her family and friends, as well as getting into her work and other hobbies, preferring to think about anything other than her problems (man, does THIS sound familiar lol). Charlie starts noticing a change in El's behaviour and it begins to really upset him (especially since Bret is one of the people she starts spending more time with, and we all know how she feels about him), causing more strain in their relationship. It only gets worse when they find out about Stephanie's whereabouts...

Dylan messages the others about his trip everyday through a group chat. One night he reveals that he's reunited with an old friend of theirs and sends a picture of him and Stephanie hanging out. The others are shocked. Elise especially.

The situation started becoming somewhat of a controversy in the news... people started talking about it more online, many blogs and news websites (including The Looking Glass) started covering it. Alice made a video on YouTube talking about it (and it came from the unique angle of her knowing the person from school and being their friend and everything. She didn't mention Steph by name, though). It blew her channel up.

The story of Stephanie's escape was quickly resurfacing back into people's minds after being forgotten for such a long time. And this wasn't good for Steph lol. Especially after finally making a life for herself that she was genuinely truly happy in.

But that's not the end of the story.

I'll tell you the rest in part 2 of this summary!

#rickie-the-storyteller #writerblr #steph's crew #original content #book 3

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the-bjd-community-confess · 19 days

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I stopped buying from Newcl0ver last year after I saw first hand how greedy they have become. (I use plural pronouns because I refuse to believe Chr1stina is one person.) I had an order in on this bust stand that was per my recollection 3-4 months production time on the product page when I first purchased it. They delete the product pages after preorders so I don't remember. Anyhow, it took way longer than that, I asked them about the order multiple times since I saw people on IG get theirs, and they just kept saying "soon, soon". At 8 months I said I want to cancel. They said that it's ok, but they can only refund me 75% of the price because they will make a loss since they cannot cancel the order to the store and have to resell my order at loss. I agreed if only to be out of it, because I thought it's fair that we share the loss.

Well, a few months later I saw *my* bust stand listed in their "in stock -30% off" category, with my exact order options, and they were asking MORE than I paid during my initial order. I was still able to access my order notes through my profile and check. So I guess that's why they remove the original listings before people get their goods, huh? -30% off? Compared to what? Not the price I paid. I felt like they just scammed me out of 25% of my payment using the pity card and then cashed in some extra on someone else, too.

Their Taobao fees have skyrocketed. A couple years ago, it used to be the price in CNY x 0,19, but now it's already price in CNY x 0,22. One CNY is 0,14 USD so for every dollar you spend in their store, 36 cents go directly into their pocket for just receiving your box and sending it forward. And it's true that the fee includes free standard international shipping to most countries, but still, it's quite a big fee to pay for sending them a ready list of Taobao links and having your stuff drop-shipped to you. The difference in past and current service fees is even more gross considering they used to send monthly 10-15 usd off or 5% off coupons with their newsletters, but no longer do. When I asked them last year why the fees have risen and discounts stopped, they said it's due to the bad exchange rate of CNY to USD. I googled it and while it's true that the rate momentarily fluctuated in 2021-2022, for the past 6 months the exchange rate of CNY-USD has been at the same level as in 2020, so their excuse seems lacking.

I have had several missing items from each of my six large Taobao orders, but I was patient with reminding them about the items because I thought my orders are painfully big (100+ items). But, if you get paid the price you named for your service, is it really on the customer to feel like a burden when you eff up? It was often the expensive items that I had to chase after, too. Like, once when I ordered 30 bags of beads ranging from 1 to 20 dollars, it was the freshwater pearls that cost 20 dollars that were missing. She did always refund me or send the missing items, but it took me a lot of time to check and report, and I had to pay extra customs fees for the after-deliveries.

I used to be a loyal fan of Newcl0ver but I've removed all the messages in my socials where I nudged people towards ordering from them to avoid M00nlightbjdh0use's scammy high agent fees. Now I place Newcl0ver at the same low level as M00n. I'm gonna have to find myself a new doll dealer, since the two big USA dealers don't match my criteria, either. I have heard good things of Magus' agent services, but have yet to try them. Christina is not an official agent of most the artists they claim to represent, anyway, so it's the same to straight out go to someone who is open about not being an official dealer and prices accordingly.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #Community Confessions #BJD Dealers #Shopping Services #Shipping

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tavina-writes · 8 months

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When will we ever get something like yanxi palace and story of ming lan, the fact that they were allowed to take revenge on the people who caused the death of the women they loved most, there was no "revenge is bad" or "we're better than this" no. Ming lan schemed and planned so meticulously and ying luo when she found out Erqing played a role in the empress death she brought her in front of her portrait and strangled her to death without fear or hesitation. Dramas nowadays would get cut and censored to hell if they did anything close to that. I want my complicated badass smart women back, I'm so tired of shows trying to convince me very hard the leads are smart by having people say it again and again when the actual writing doesn't show it...

I feel your pain on this "the leads are very smart because people keep saying they're smart" nonny. I, too, sometimes question why it is that that happens, but I'm not entirely certain its only censorship at play!

I've been rotating this for a while now since I still haven't found anything that strikes me as hard as Yanxi/Minglan/Ruyi in the years since then, especially since I love political dramas with cool female leads and I'm always on the hunt for new ones. I think the Yanxi-Minglan years were a real treat for us tbh. I don't know that things are necessarily more watered down now solely because of censorship exactly, because we've always had to work around censorship. Yanxi famously cut Yingning's storyline as well as Chenbi's Korean costuming just to get by the censors, which is also why the back half of Yanxi lost like, 10? or so episodes? and we lost some supposedly STUNNING scenes in there because of those cuts to get past censors. (There are photographs that I drool over about the cut plotlines every now and again while shaking my fist at the sky.) Minglan was originally 80 episodes long instead of seventy-three. I'm not entirely certain what they cut from there, but there is a rumored director's edition with 80 episodes that I haven't been able to get my hands on that's apparently also very good so it's not like Minglan escaped the censorship cuts either.

However, like, I think stories like Yanxi and Minglan are so rare because it is very difficult to get the whole package together -- the actors, the costuming, the sets, the screenwriters, the directors, the ost, the editing, the air dates, the audience interest, the companies investing money and budget into a production, and yes, the production clearing the censorship hurdle. In my ~15 years or so of watching cdrama, I'd say that the Yanxi-Minglan years were still some of my all time highs when it comes to cdramas that really grabbed me and it's because for these productions so much of this came together. It's always vastly easier for a writer to say "this character is very smart! this character is very smart and other people know it!" rather than showing that the character is smart or setting up a plotline where the character is smart and getting the payoff back from that. We see this all the time in every sort of media. Most of it comes down to bad writing and the writers being so afraid of like, actually going for the throat rather than censorship (though of course the censorship doesn't help a writer lose their fear of going for the audience's throat on a plotline or a character moment).

So I think a lot of more recent cdramas that fall into that pit are in there more for bad writing than censorship tbh, and bad writing unfortunately has always existed, and shows that claimed their characters were super smart while also making my eyes bleed also existed prior to and during the Minglan-Yanxi years as well as after. (Looking at you Brocade Heart Like Jade, I still haven't forgiven you for baiting me.)

For the record I've been watching The Side Story of the Fox Volant which came out last year in 2022 recently with @autumnslantern and some of those scenes are dark. We're about 5-6 episodes in right now and it's been really fun and well constructed. This show definitely is not at all holding back with showing bloody deaths, societal troubles, or the implications of the jianghu being a dangerous and often miserable place. So I think that cdramas with smart people and extremely vicious moments do still exist! Or at least they did up to last year.

TLDR: I think it's a combination of "the censorship is obviously not helping" and "stories that good are rare for reasons other than censorship because it's so much harder to tell a good story."

I do feel you though nonny, when will a show like Minglan or Yanxi and a main character like Sheng Minglan or Wei Yingluo EVER COME BACK from the WAR. I WANT.

#asks and answers #the story of minglan #yanxi palace

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exeggcute · 9 months

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hello! you seem to know a lot about skincare stuff, so i'm curious what products you use for general daily use? i also have adult acne and it's very annoying. i would also appreciate any lip moisturizing ideas if you have any. thank you, and hope your day's going well!

oh yes! although fair warning that I am not a skincare expert at all (I don't even understand half the lingo that people use when they talk about products lol) so take any of my recommendations with a grain of salt...

other than sunscreen, literally all of the stuff I use is either from paula's choice, the ordinary, or good old cerave. I don't even bother trying other brands at this point because I assume they'll just be overpriced junk—plus, you can get almost all cerave products and a good chunk of the ordinary's products at, like, target. I'd also note that you don't need to (and really should not) go out and buy a million things at once; I have a pretty good arsenal at this point but it took me a couple years to build it up by trying one or two new products at a time and seeing what I like.

both paula's choice and the ordinary have "shop by concern" sections on their websites, so if you want actual targeted advice about what to try then I would definitely defer to them lol. but for some specific examples of what I like:

diehard fan of cerave face soaps. they have a foaming pump and a non-foaming pump, depending on whether your skin is more oily or more dry. I mostly use the latter, but since noelle uses the former I'll occasionally steal a pump of the foamy one if I'm having an oily streak lol.

likewise with cerave moisturizer, specifically for your body, but also works great on your face as a final skincare step. will not make you break out. however (important info incoming!!!) the pump lotion is far inferior to the giant tub of lotion—the pump stuff is just kind of watery and sad in comparison. get the tub. you deserve it.

the ordinary hyaluronic acid 2% serum is another "help I have dry skin but also acne" lifesaver. you can apply it directly to (damp!!!) skin or (wet!!!) hair or put a couple drops in your lotion for extra-moisturizing lotion. but it works by drawing outside moisture into your skin/hair, so make sure you're not applying it to dry skin/hair or it can backfire and actually dry you out.

paula's choice enriched calming toner = dry skin savior.

for acne specifically, paula's choice pore-reducing toner fucking rules. it's not harsh at all so you can use it as much as you want. pairs well with paula's 5% AHA exfoliant (which only use when I'm really flaky, since it is a little harsh, but you can temper it by applying lotion right after).

the ordinary azelaic acid 10% suspension is a little tingly, so I only use it when I'm actively breaking out (which tbf is often lol), but it's a great at starving out pimples.

from the paula's choice CLEAR line, I looooove the purifying clay mask. I use this one a couple times a week as needed, usually right after I get out of the shower, and then I'll wash it off and do the rest of my face potions as usual. even if my skin is pretty clear I just like how tight and clean everything feels after. I also recently tried the CLEAR 5% benzoyl peroxide daily skin clearing treatment (only because I got it as a free gift... otherwise I would Not have tried a benzoyl peroxide product lmao. bad memories of childhood acne treatment snake oil shit.) and was surprised how much I liked it, although I've been applying it verrry sparingly. the bottle recommends applying it (1) to your entire face and (2) EVERY DAY, but I've had luck using it as a sporadic spot treatment. pairs well with the enriched calming toner.

I've also been using this prescription tretinoin cream off and on for the past year (from the dubious skincare-as-a-service online pharmacy "forhers" lol) and it's Good but not a miracle. my skin is already pretty sensitive so I try not to use it that often, but it would probably work a lot better if it did. also makes you photosensitive as hell so watch out (sunscreen is a must).

specifically for lip moisturizer, nothing beats plain old burt's bees lip balm imo but if you need something heavy-duty I do like the paula's choice lip and body treatment balm. it's a little greasy but has great staying power and the tub lasts forever!

also important to note. you should always do stuff in this order: wash your face (duh) > toner > other stuff > lotion/moisturizer. I know you're supposed to do the "other stuff" in a specific order if you're stacking multiple products but tbh I just kind of wing it lol.

#meanwhile my mom gave me a goop exfoliant for christmas and it was so nasty I had to throw it out

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soapskneebrace · 3 months

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It’s going to sound mean but you seem so pressed over Umiko’s alleged earnings, it’s worrying. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that seeing what she probably earns could make you feel hurt, but you sound jealous and not in a ‘I wish her well and I hope I’ll be able to earn as much or even more’ but more like ‘why the hell people pay her for her art if they don’t pay me for mine?’. And mentioning her specifically couple of times in your recent posts??? It almost sounds like you have a problem with HER and that SHE is being paid for her art and not you. I both write and draw, I know how much work, effort and time it takes and I am happy for Umiko and other artists, because it seems that people are willing to pay for what we create, you just have to know how to sell your product and it is not Umiko’s fault that it took you this long to figure something out. I’m happy her success motivated you and you decided to talk to your friend who can help you with your art, but seriously your recent posts made me feel like you have a serious problem with that girl. One more thing, you mentioned that she earns more in whatever amount of time than your mom in a year like what about it? Is it Umiko’s fault? People per her because they want to support her and they want to have access to her art, and I guess she wouldn’t earn as much in a normal job.

So first of all, I welcome you to quote directly (not paraphrase--highlight, copy, and paste) where I said or even implied that I think that Umiko should not be paid as much as she is.

Second of all, I mentioned Umiko as often I did because she is one of my favorite artists, not because I dislike her. I adore her work and believe she deserves every dollar she has made. She works very hard and is one of the few artists who I think is actually getting adequate compensation for that work. In addition, she seems to be a very kind person, and I will never resent the success of good people.

Thirdly, am I like not supposed to be jealous of someone making nearly $1million a year off fandom work????????????????????????? Sorry, but I think I'm allowed to feel envious that someone in my community is making more than twenty-four times the money I make, especially considering that I've been making fandom work for cod for about as long as she has. Maybe not as much, but I've been pretty consistent for the past year, despite the fact that I've been doing it for free.

I'm allowed to be salty that fandom culture permits her to ask for payment but fanfiction is just taken for granted as free content. Fandom does not bat an eyelash when artists ask for a subscription fee to access fanart porn, but writers can barely get readers to kick them an occasional $5 through ko-fi. Umiko didn't "figure something out" before I did--she has been allowed to monetize her work every step of the way because fandom has collectively agreed that it is acceptable for her to do so.

Umiko is not the only artist, either--Bluegiragi and Wombywoo are both making a significant amount of money off of their fanart. This is not guesswork on my part; the number of these artists' paid subscribers is available publicly on their patreon pages, and if you went to fourth grade math you're probably able to multiply that by the average fees of their tier lists. It is not hard to figure out that these artists are making a very comfortable living, or at least an extremely lucrative side hustle, off of work they produce for the Call of Duty fandom.

And I'm not saying they shouldn't! I never did! My beef with this fact is that this mode of income is not available to fanfiction writers! I have known writers who have written full length novels of carefully crafted stories that will never see even a fraction of a penny for their work, because fandom insists that fanfiction should not be monetized!

And knowing what I know now, I reject that notion entirely. It is beyond ridiculous, it is exploitative. My work, and the work of my friends, is just as labor-intensive, just as time-intensive, and just as skill-intensive as the work Umiko and the rest produce. If these artists deserve compensation for their fanwork--and I reiterate, they do--then how can we say that fanwriters don't?

As a postscript, I think you took my arguments in very bad faith, and I don't appreciate the finger-wagging you came into my inbox to do. I don't have to simper about other people's worth for my assertions about my own to be valid.

#answered

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bonearenaofmyskull · 6 months

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I wanted to let you know how much I admire your writing. Your talent for storytelling is incredible, and I've been a big fan of your work for a while now.(You could see my comments in ao3)

Going through the comments in ao3 one thing was clear that u DO wanted to write a s4 fic but I guess u must be very busy which is understandable and if u need any help just let me know. I would love to assist you

I've been thinking about how amazing it would be to read a Season 4 fanfic from you. I can't help but imagine the magic you'd create with those characters and plotlines. So, I wanted to make it clear that it's now my mission to gently (or not so gently) nag you to write a Season 4 fic, every week.

I would definitely stop if it's not acceptable.

I'm really excited about the idea, and I would be absolutely thrilled to read your take on it.

Your writing has a special place in my heart, and I believe a Season 4 fic from you would be nothing short of extraordinary. Please consider it, and know that I'd be eagerly waiting to devour every word of it.

Looking forward to any updates on this mission of mine!

Love 😘

Cassy from ao3

Yeah, this is not a good idea. Don't do this, especially not now. I don't know if you're a member of the group of friends who recently overwhelmed my private messaging with questions about season 4, almost creepy enthusiasm, and nagging for responses. But if not, be aware that after something like 56 messages in less than two days, I actually started blocking people. This is something I've rarely done to non-porn bots--I've probably blocked real people less than 5 times in the 10 years I've been on tumblr. I appreciate that you like my work, but with this context in mind, now is not the time.

And just a note for the general audience out there and those people I blocked in case they're lurking about: I'm not a meta tap you can privately turn on for your Hannibal fix, nor a stand-in for Bryan Fuller and production now that most have lost hope for a season 4. I still enjoy Hannibal but have mostly moved on to other hobbies, and if I do ever write another fic or a season 4 fic, it will be when I feel moved by inspiration, not by being inundated by demands.

For the record, what specific ideas I have for a season 4 fic will remain unstated unless I write it, and what speculations and predictions I have that seem realistic for the actual show, I've probably mostly stated in previous metas, or if not, have kept to myself for personal reasons. I'm sure some of it I've forgotten by this point.

The right way to approach me for a meta discussion is to send an ask to my inbox like Cassy here did, so that I can make a public response and generate a discussion if possible: that's how a meta blog generates content for blogging. No one who writes meta has time to write whole analytical essays and arguments for an audience of 1, unless that audience is a very close and trusted friend.

With that said, I do understand that this isn't that satisfying since I haven't answered asks in a long time, and when I have, my responses have been brief. The truth is, I just haven't got that much to say about Hannibal that I haven't already said in the past. I believe there are a variety of more recent Hannibal meta blogs out there, as well as ones that reblog and index meta from multiple writers. Good luck to you all in finding what you're looking for.

Cassy, I do appreciate your enthusiasm, and I'll make an effort to catch up on my AO3 comments here in a bit.

#hannibal meta #bear answers #season 4

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junk-thrillz · 5 months

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I wanna hear you talk more about Cody because he makes me insane.

Anon, I would LOVE to talk about Cody. He makes me insane too, he's been one of my favorite pnat characters since I first got into the comic (he was my ultimate favorite until Violet shoved him out of that spot a few months later). Putting all of this under a Read More because it got to be a LOT

It's hard to say what his initial appeal for me was. I think I mostly loved his whole theme of masks and actors and mysteries! The school store scene and its surrounding scenes was my favorite part of pnat basically from the moment I first saw it, and I was DELIGHTED to find out that all of these background characters had insane, hidden depth to them. Cody was especially delightful because him being a dhampir is a crazier fucking reveal than even the school store's existence itself, and once that was revealed it was like a layer of his character had been peeled away. Suddenly his status as the nice, responsible boy was turned on its head, revealing an underlying personality that's a million times more jaded and hurt than was ever previously comprehensible and FUCK it was just so!! Good!! I don't think it was ever about him being a monster, I think it was about the reveal and the intrigue.

I've always loved digging into his character. Before Chapter 8, Chapter 5 was the majority of what we had to go off of for his characterization, and what was in Chapter 5 was already a goddamn goldmine of information. There's a reason why Chapter 5 is my favorite pnat chapter (though my favorite page in the whole comic is in Chaper 4 lmao)!

In the centuries-old past of late 2020, your local weirdo Junk was incapable of separating Cody and Violet from each other in aus, analyses, headcanons, etc. They used to be tied for my favorite character, and it was because I was (and still am) fascinated by their dynamic, the way their respective complexes and insecurities and emotional walls cause problems for them... their argument in Chapter 5 was my favorite scene-within-a-scene for a very long time. All this to say that there's a reason I keep bringing up Violet in a post about Cody; it's still really hard for me to consider one without the other. I love the way they're both protectors (knighthood theming goes crazy in this comic), and I love the way they differ so fundamentally in why they're protectors and how they approach that sense of protectiveness. I love the way Cody jumps to revenge during the Hijeff situation, and I love the way Violet counters that with appalled confusion.

God, can we talk about the revenge thing? The way Cody behaves is fascinating. He's very clearly picked up certain behaviors from his dad, but he thinks that makes him some sort of evil rather than understanding that everyone is a product of their environment. Compared to his dad he's just so... fundamentally kind, with his heart in the right place, but he can't see that because he's 12 years old, in a horrible situation with a horrible parent, and a complicated social situation at school and and-

I'm really glad that he has nice things he can cling to. I can't imagine the nightmare it must be to live in that house. He's got fun clothes he can wear at home on the weekend, he gets to go over to Jeff's house, and those might seem like small victories but they are still victories. I really hope he gets out of there soon. Jesus Christ

Oh oh oh, let's talk about fancontent! I'm going to talk about my own stuff, because there are a lot of very old ideas that will probably never see the light of day otherwise. In the post I'm assuming you came from, anon, I mentioned how I'd mischaracterized my way into the right characterization, and by that I mean both my earliest and most recent interpretations of him really played up his cutesy, smiley demeanor. Very anime girl esque vibe, very over exaggerated movements, very 'actor in a play' type energy. I would often come up with au's that would shove him into some sort of magical girl role, often paired with a healthy amount of body horror for the tonal dissonance. It was, of course, also an excuse to put him in cute, fun outfits. To this day I struggle to draw him in normal outfits that don't make him look like the leader of a magical girl. (If you want a funtastic magical girl au that was actually made for me, check out astralibrary's AU over here.) One of my favorite au's I've ever made was one in which Cody was a magical warrior from another world who fell through a portal and ended up in an ordinary, spirit-free Mayview, where he then had to rely on Violet to get him through the day normal-guy-style. Looking back it's one of my favorite au's in part BECAUSE it involves so many shenanigans revolving around Cody trying to be normal and failing miserably. I believe it to be accurate to canon LMAO

I have so much more I could say about him but I think I've hit the point where I can't put my thoughts into words. To wrap it up, here's a compilation of my favorite Cody panels and bits of official art;

^Chapter 8 Page 44!!

^Chapter 5 Page 44!!

^Chapter 5 Page 58!! I love the way the blur makes his ear look pointy!! You can even see his fangs, a bit!!

^Chapter 5 Page 57!! I love Zack's expressions for him so much

^Chapter 5 Page 165!! "So embarassing", he says, as if he isn't VERY invested

^Chapter 5 Page 167!! Top ten panels that permanently altered my brain chemistry

^Chapter 5 Page 283!! This panel made me nauseous the first time I saw it. Kill your dad, Cody

^Chapter 1 Page 33!! A classic. I love his Chapter 1 look a lot. I love how he's climbing on his chair/desk

^I have an emotional attachment to his old cast page photo.

^CHAPTER 5 PAGE 48. This panel inspired the tiger spectral cody au (not my au, if you haven't heard of it before), and thus made me insane

I think I might have hit the image limit. I got carried away. Here are the honorable mention pages

Anyways. Thank you, anon, for giving me an excuse to go absolutely insane about Cody. I did NOT know this post was going to get THIS long, but once I started it was like I couldn't stop LMAO. I hope you enjoy this thought dump, feel free to send in more asks if you want to ask about something specific/want more lovingly crafted Cody content. If I ever manage to upload a fic to Ao3 with Cody in it, it'll be dedicated to you in the author's notes or something LMAO

#paranatural #pnat #cody paranatural #violet paranatural #<- for the mentions #anonz #i wanted to respond to this earlier but i spent a LONG time writing this LMAO #puzzlethrillz

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newhologram · 11 months

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New's T skincare (and more) recs🏳️‍⚧️🥄

Hello! I'm a enby spoonie trying out a low dose of testosterone for gender and health reasons. Some of you asked how I'm managing my skin now that it's oilier on T, so here are some recs. If you find any of this information helpful, please consider dropping a tip in my ko-fi, becoming a Patron, or donating to my GoFundMe. Every bit helps me afford medical care and stay afloat when I'm too sick to work. ❕ Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or an expert, just an ex-retail worker with a special interest in skincare. These are products/routines that work for me, so you'll have to experiment to find out what your skin responds to. Always patch test and if your skin really struggles on T, definitely talk to a dermatologist. This isn't my entire collection of skincare, just stuff that is especially good for managing/healing acne. I'll still be listing some products I don't have yet but plan to get in the future as suggestions. If you want to know about other things like under eye care, send an ask and I'll try to answer. Also, you don't have to be on T to try any of this stuff out. If you have some of the same skin concerns I do, then some of these things may be a good match for you. Even before T, it took work to keep my skin clear. It just takes more intensive care now.

ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ᴡᴇ ɢᴇᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ ɪᴛ: 𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

✨Keep in mind that I'm really extra and having a fancy routine like this is part of how I self-regulate. I also have different routines depending on time of the year, time of day, my cycle, whether or not I wore sunscreen/makeup/a mask that day, etc. You absolutely do not need to go as hard as I do with so many products. If you're completely new to skincare, it's fine to keep it simple with cleanser, toner, and moisturizer (and sunscreen when going out!), with masks or spot treatments as needed. 💊A little more info on my situation: I'm on T in short cycles for subtle changes and it turns out that T is really good at treating some chronic illness as well, especially autoimmune disorders. I'm diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, type 2 narcolepsy, fibromyalgia, myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS), and more. I've been "suspected" for RRMS for a few years due to all of my neurological symptoms but my MRI's don't show much other than some bulging discs. I'm not officially diagnosed yet but am suspected for endometriosis, with an enlarged ovary, backed-up kidneys, unidentified lesions on my colon/bladder, and daily debilitating pelvic/back pain. My periods kill me dead but even when not on them, I'm still in a lot of pain all the time. So far the T really helps with fibro pain and definitely gives me more stamina. My periods have been easier too. Still not pleasant, but not killing me as much. The fact that I've been able to work even one day on my period the past few months is a huge improvement, even if I'm still doubled over with a heating pad. One concern I had with starting T was my skin. I've never had severe acne, but I'm still acne prone as an adult. Luckily I worked in skincare for a while, so I've had a solid skincare routine for a long time now. Since starting T, I've been refining my routine in order to minimize breakouts and heal ones that do happen. The same goes for my hair/scalp routine since I have psoriasis and have to do clarifying treatments twice a week anyway. T can carry the risk of more oil, clogging, and fall out. This post will mostly be about skin but I'll add some of my hair and other recs too. ─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

♥𝚃𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜♥ I: Skincare 1. 𝘾𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝘢. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 2. 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙨/𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝘢. 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘩-𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘣. 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘤. 𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 3. 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 4. 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙨 𝘢. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘣. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘴 5. 𝙈𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝘢. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘳𝘴 6. 𝘽𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙖𝙘𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 7. 𝙀𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 8. 𝙀𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝘢. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦

II: Haircare (coming soon) III: pH care (coming soon)

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦ Skincare 1. Cleansers

I have a lot of cleansers because I like to be prepared for every situation, so only a few are pictured here and only ones related to acne care will be listed below. If you want to know what other kinds of cleansers I use, send me an ask! a. Morning Cleansers - In the morning, I usually just do wipes to avoid stripping too much. I'll only actually do a cleanser with water if I feel particularly oily or if I'm actively breaking out and need to start the day with something that's more of a treatment. Senka All Clear Water White - Shiseido, the makers of Senka Pure Whip (one of my fav cleanser lines!) now has a micellar water line. I've tried a lot of micellar waters over the years and this is definitely my favorite one. The Fuji Sakura essence and licorice root are brightening for dark spots (a problem I have after acne) and the Uji Green Tea essence is to remove excess oil and keep the skin matte. I wanted to try the Fresh version which is better for oily/acne prone skin, but was only able to get my hands on the White version but it works great. If I end up finding it, I'll update this post with my results. Fourth Ray Beauty Detox Sesh Purifying Cleansing Wipes - These are fabulous for oily break out mornings. Lots of good stuff like tea tree, witch hazel, and willow bark to treat acne. Can sting a little bit if you're sensitive, but hasn't given me any major issues. Sometimes I use it with a little bit of the micellar water to get an extra cleanse.

Trader Joe's Tea Tree wipes - Been using these for a really long time. They're quite strong, with tea tree and alcohol, so I mostly use them on my neck, chest, and shoulders for break outs there. But I still use them on the face a few times a week as needed for acne. There's also witch hazel, chamomile, ginger, neem, and more. Just a good combo of stuff. Since it's a bit stripping, be sure to tone and moisturize after.

b. Evening Cleansers - In the evening, I usually focus on double-cleansing, especially during a T cycle or if I've been out wearing sunscreen/makeup/mask. Double-cleansing is usually when you use an oil-based cleanser or balm to first cleanse other oils/gunk from skin, and then you use a foam or scrub-type cleanser after (or over) it to get that extra deep cleanse. Just make sure to tone/moisturize well after (will cover those steps too!). Trader Joe's Tea Tree Face Wash - A really simple but effective lathering oil cleanser. CeraVe Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser - CeraVe products are great to start with, as they feature essential ceramides to maintain the skin's barrier. 4% benzoyl peroxide to clear acne, but also with hyaluronic acid to retain moisture and niacinamide to soothe. Senka Perfect Whip - One of my longtime go-to cleansers. It's perfectly soft and foamy, with a bunch of different types now for different skin needs. The original is great during warmer months when I'm oilier anyway, but in the winter I usually switch to Perfect Whip Collagen In for a little more moisture. They have a new Perfect Whip Acne Care foam with the inflammatory agent found in licorice root. I just got my hands on it in May and have been loving it. It's gentle but still potent enough to keep my skin super clear. Momo Puri Peach Moist Cleansing Wash - BCL is a brand I use a lot and their peach line is amazing for the probiotics and peach ceramides. Another great foaming cleanser to replenish the skin barrier but still get nice and clean.

Dark Angels - One of the only LUSH products still worth buying in my opinion (as an ex-employee). I've used this since it came out and it never lets me down. Charcoal and rhassoul are great for pores that get clogged easily, and it's got avocado oil to condition the skin. I scrub this one all over my face, neck, and chest to leave on for 5-10 minutes as a mask while I hang out in the tub. It clears me up fast without irritating my skin. How do I use foam cleansers? Four ways, depending on my needs/spoons that day:

Apply directly to wet skin and massage gently with hands

Apply directly to wet skin and use a very soft handheld brush in small circles. I got mine at Tokyo Central/Marukai Market, but can't recall the brand, sorry!

Use a foamer device to make big whippy clouds, then apply to skin and rub in circles/let sit for 20-60 seconds. Mine is from DAISO.

Apply cleanser to face and/or automatic cleansing brush. I use COSLUS brand. It was affordable and came with a lot of different brush heads, so you can use the one that's right for your skin's sensitivity. I love this thing! I normally use it maybe 1-2x a week, but now on T I use it a little bit more to make sure I get a deep cleanse. ⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

2. Masks/treatments

a. Wash-off masks - Such as clay masks, gooey masks, or scrub/dissolving type treatments. Tsururi clay packs - Another great product from BCL. I've used these masks for a long time too, definitely my go-to for a quick but effective clay cleanse. These dry in less than 10 minutes. They have a few different types and currently I'm using the Mild Sea Clay pack with Okinawan clay and moisturizing things such as honey, collagen, and olive oil. This one is good if you're more sensitive, but I still find their regular mask gentle enough. They have a limited edition red clay and ghassoul pack that I really want to try as it'll be even better for blackheads. (Tsururi also has a white clay foam cleanser that I tried a few years ago, it's really nice) Tsururi Pore Cleansing Power Hot Stone - I've used this since I was a teenager, it's like magic. It warms up and dissolves gunk in the pores, so I save it for when I'm especially clogged or if I need my face to be extra clean before/after makeup. It's meant to be rubbed in for 60 seconds and rubbed off, but I tend to leave it on for a few minutes to let it do its work. I know this is fine for my skin, but be careful trying it out if you're extra sensitive. Ghassoul, zeolite, grapefruit extract, witch hazel, peppermint - just lots of good stuff for problem pores. SKINFOOD Pear Mint Mask - I'm fairly new to SKINFOOD but have been loving their products so far. This mask is a winner. The mint is cooling and refreshing, and so is the pear with the added benefit of moisture and nourishment. The base is kaolin clay so it's mild but still effective at cleansing pores. This brand has a bunch of other popular masks, so I can't wait to make my way through their lines. Next I want to try their Black Sugar Strawberry Mask. Mad City Soap - Tea Tree & Mint Foaming Facial Scrub - I've bought soaps and body scrubs from this Etsy shop for a decade but only now started trying their skin and hair products. This one is more of a cleanser than a scrub but I use it as a treatment with my other cleansers. It's soo nice. It's creamy and soft, so minty and tingly and wonderful for current breakouts or for preventing them. I use it 1-3x a week as needed. Very potent and a little goes a long way. I'm From Honey Mask - My all-time favorite mask, it leaves me glowing. It's a little bit on the pricier side for me, but it's always worth it. I've been using this for several years and I save it for skin emergencies or special occasions. Honey is a recurring ingredient in a lot of my skincare because it's just so good. It's anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, soothing, and helps with elasticity and moisture. So it's not just great for acne, but for anything, really. This mask is very deeply healing so I usually use it after I've had to go hard on harsher acne products and I'm wanting to soothe and repair my skin barrier. This can be a quick 10-20 minute mask but I also leave it on for a full hour when I really need the extra help. This mask uses honey from the Jiri Mountains in South Korea, which have such an abundant variety of flowers that the honey is just jam-packed with healing properties. TONYMOLY I'm Honey Deep Moisture Rescue Mask - If you're on a budget and can't afford the I'm From mask, this one is a great alternative. Honey, propolis, and royal jelly all soothe and hydrate. Still really effective for soothing after harsher acne treatments or during colder weather.

b. Sheet Masks - These masks are great for delivering a bunch of moisture and treatment to the face. I typically save these for emergencies or special occasions but they're also great to use once a week. Make sure to squeeze out what's in the bag too, you can rub it on your neck and chest if you like. Most sheet masks are meant to be left on 10-20 minutes. Ingredients I use a lot are: tea tree or charcoal for break outs, honey or aloe for soothing/healing, strawberry or other fruits for exfoliation, snail mucin for barrier restoration. Naisture - A brand I've used for over a decade, with a lot to choose from. Their tea tree mask is great for break-out days and they also have really soothing aloe and honey ones too. There are a lot of sheet mask brands out there. Other brands I like are Lululun, Kose, and My Beauty Diary. BCL has a 1-minute all-in-one morning sheet mask line called Saborino. They cleanse, moisturize, and prime. I usually use them on work days or tired mornings. I've only tried the grapefruit/avocado one so far but they have so many now. They even have night time masks which would be soothing especially after acne care and covers toner, lotion, essence, cream, and mask in just one minute (but you can leave on for 5-10 if you really need to). ⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹ c. Spot Treatments

MediHeal Tea Tree Trouble Pads - These are great because I don't always want to do a full sheet mask when I have just one or two problem areas. These are like mini sheet masks that come in square pads. I like to cut them in half so I can more easily place them in strips on my face.

Sunday Riley Saturn Sulfur Spot Treatment - I've used this spot treatment for years, it's wonderful for clearing current break-outs and preventing more. Though it can be a little strong and make me red/itchy, so I use it sparingly and always do soothing care afterward.

MAREE Acne Patches - Pimple patches are life-changing. Great way to not just heal acne with the hydrocolloid gel plus ingredients like tea tree and green algae gel, but it covers the acne up to protect it while you go about your day. A very fast and gentle way to heal stubborn pimples. ⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹ 3. Toners

A lot of people skip toners completely and so I get asked a lot why they matter. Toner is an important step for a few reasons: after cleansing, sometimes we can be stripped of natural sebum (oil), so toning is a good way to replenish that moisture. But it also helps prime the skin for moisturizer. The skin's like a sponge, so it's going to absorb moisturizer better if you wet it first with a toner. These days, there are so many kinds of toners with different ingredients and purposes. So I choose a different toner depending on the time of day, weather, how my skin is acting, etc. Fourth Ray Beauty Fresh AF Mist - A very gentle rehydrating spray toner made with rose and cucumber water. Great for refreshing throughout the day too. SKINFOOD Peach Sake Toner - This is from SF's Peach Sake line which is fabulous for oily skin. Sake is astringent but peach is nourishing and rehydrating. I use this on my face, neck, and chest to control oil production. Super matte! Momo Puri Peach Moist Barrier - another peach line that's amazing, with peach ceramides and probiotics to restore the barrier. BCL has a few different kinds of this toner for your needs. I go with this regular light version but they have a milky version if you're on the dry side. Naturalism by Baeville Turmeric & Honey Glow Toner - Another great Etsy find. Turmeric is great to even out skin tone, but this one also has a lot of other great ingredients for acne prone skin such as witch hazel, rose water, aloe vera, rosemary, chamomile, tea tree, green tea, and more. Another one I love to use on my face, neck, and chest. COSRX Full Fit Propolis Synergy Toner - My current evening toner. Not only anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial for acne, but very soothing and moisturizing for glowing skin. ⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹ 4. Serums/essences/emulsions - I typically use different serums for morning and evening, rotating them as well or switching it up as needed. This is just what works for me. Some people prefer retinol only at night, for example. So listen to your skin and find what works. a. Morning Serums

SKINFOOD Black Sugar Serum - This one has been highly rated for years for sebum (oil) control, so when I had the extra money to get it, I was so excited. It's really nice, both hydrating but also helps to control oil. Definitely keeping my skin clear. SANA Nameraka Honpo Isoflavone Essence - Sana's Isoflavone products have been a staple of my skincare for over a decade. They have soy and arbutin which is great for collagen production and brightening hyperpigmentation. I've used their cleansers, toners, masks, moisturizers, eye creams, and spot treatments. They never disappoint! And they even have so many lines depending on your needs, such as CoQ10, acne control with extra arbutin, and more. This particular essence is one of their basic products, I use it mostly to keep my skin tone even. It's also super soft and moisturizing. Definitely something I use a lot in the winter. SKINFOOD Peach Sake Pore Serum - More Peach Sake because it's so good. This serum is so softening and helps the skin stay matte. CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum - An amazing must-have retinol serum to fade acne marks. It's also brightening and uses ceramides to maintain the skin barrier. Retinol can be a lot on the skin, so I only use it every other day. If you're new to this ingredient, definitely start slow and see how you do. Retinol can cause peeling if you go too hard. Always, and I mean always, wear a good sunscreen if you leave the house on retinol days. b. Evening Serums

Hada Labo Shirojyun Premium Whitening Emulsion - This brand has been getting popular online. I don't usually use emulsions but this one is highly rated for fading post-acne hyperpigmentation and sun damage. It has vitamin E, C, hyaluronic acid to moisturize and nourish. Glycyrrhizic acid (from licorice) is also anti-inflammatory so it seems to even help prevent acne. It's very light too, so I haven't felt like it was too heavy for my oily T skin. This stuff works so well! One day I'll try their other products. COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence - I've used products with a little snail mucin before and they were nice, but this is the real deal. My friend let me try it at the bath house one night and I was hooked. Snail mucin is intensely hydrating, healing, softening, and calming. It works great with harsher serums such as vit C or retinol. Perfect for barrier-rebuilding. This is great for any skin type, so I've been able to use it no matter what condition my skin is in. This is something I will be buying probably forever, it's really effective and feels great. They also have creams and other snail mucin products, I can't wait to try! Dear Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum - I've used this serum probably 8 years by now. Also super soothing and hydrating while not being heavy. This one is great if you're having a sensitive skin day or spent time in the sun. There's also a moisturizer in this line which is really great. Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum - Another new try for me this year. Propolis and niacinamide are great for inflammation, controlling oil, and treating hyperpigmentation. The reviews for this one said it was great for preventing acne and also healing it. It really does give the skin a lovely glow and it's gentle enough to use on sensitive days. (This brand also has a retinol + ginseng eye serum and it's seriously the best eye care I've ever used. Revives my tired spoonie eyes well.)

Fourth Ray All Clear Purifying Serum - A very potent acne clearing serum. Salicylic acid is usually my go-to for an active break-out. Also has tranexamic acid for those pesky post-acne marks. It's supposed to be gentle enough for daily use but I'm extra sensitive so I only use it as-needed, a few times a week usually. Momo Puri Booster Serum - This serum is so powerful that I save it for skin emergencies or special occasions. Seriously intensely healing, and so thick that each little "peach" pack lasts me two uses. ⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹ 5. Moisturizers - I rotate moisturizers a lot, so my line up typically changes year to year. But I usually use gels more than creams (or mixed gel-cream types) because they don't clog my pores.

a. Morning moisturizers SKINFOOD Peach Jelly - For a while I was using pure aloe vera gel as a morning moisturizer, which works great. When I saw SKINFOOD had a peach version, I immediately got it since I'm super into peach skincare lately. It's just really great for repairing the skin barrier and retaining moisture. This one might be a limited edition though, it seems to run out fast. They have a plain aloe version too. Another brand I'd recommend for super sensitive skin is Aloderma, they have a ton of great aloe products. Sana Honey Shca All in One Gel - I've used this product for almost a decade. It's really gentle and soothing while technically covering all your bases: toner, serum, cream and mask. So this is good if you're in a hurry in the mornings. Lately it's been running out of stock online but I always see it at Tokyo Central/Marukai Market. b. Evening moisturizers Momo Puri Sleeping Jelly Cool - A cooling sleep-mask version of their gel that really helps calm inflammation overnight. Feels great in the summer. Can sometimes be hard to find, but I also recommend their gel cream. Fourth Ray After Hours Detox Face Oil - Aa powerful oil for treating acne during sleep. Bamboo charcoal, salicylic acid, tea tree, watermelon seed all help to unclog pores and keep bacteria from causing trouble. This stuff packs a punch. Sunday Riley U.F.O. acne treatment oil - This one's more on the expensive side with the smaller size being $40 so I haven't bought it in a while, but I wanted to include it because it's really good. 1.5% salicylic acid, tea tree, black cumin to clear skin, licorice for hyperpigmentation. To prevent drying it also has cucumber seed and there's chamomile to soothe inflammation. ⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹ 6. Body acne care - Body acne has been a recurring struggle since I was a teenager. Sometimes I'll go long stretches without it but then once summer or a bad PMS time hits, I break out on my chest, neck, back. T has definitely made it harder for me to manage at times, but here's what I use.

Dove Acne Clear body wash - A solid salicylic acid and bamboo extract wash for body acne. Amazon Basics Clarifying Grapefruit body wash - also with SA. DemiDoeNaturals Turmeric Carrot Honey soap - Excellent soap for fading acne marks. My skin turns very red when I break out and the marks take a long time to fade, so ingredients like turmeric and carrot are just what I need to heal.

To reach my back and exfoliate, I use the brush with the long handle. The smaller brush is used on my chest and neck. I got the big one at the 99c store and the smaller one is from a boar hair dry brushing kit. AcneFree SA body spray - body sprays are really useful! This one works really well. I did have some trouble with the actual spraying sometimes because of my weak grip. This one's a little more expensive, around $20, but it lasted me a long time. It dries nice and quick too. Nature's Cure body spray - Another good spray, easier to use. Trader Joe's Tea Tree Oil - Any tea tree oil will do but I've used TJ's since I was a teenager. I add it to other oils for scalp treatments or spot treatments on my body/face. Make sure you dilute it, it's very strong. ⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

7. Extra things that can help - These are things you don't necessarily need, but have been worth the investment for me. Face powder - A small compact translucent powder can make a huge difference, especially during the hot weather. I've recently started using Skin Food's Peach Cotton Pore Blur Pact, a sebum-controlling powder. It's very silky and gentle, with a mild peach scent. Keeps my face nice and matte without drying out. On especially oily T days, I reapply it once or twice. Ice Globes - Very cooling and soothing, helps with inflammation. Also great in general for headaches, chronic pain, etc. Glass ice globes are popular because they're pretty, but they can break easily. I'm clumsy and didn't want to take that chance, so I use stainless steel. I keep mine in the freezer and use as needed. If you're sensitive, maybe start out just keeping them in the fridge, because the cold can be intense. Gua sha - This has gotten popular in the past few years, love to see it. I mostly use gua sha on my body for circulation and pain management. But facial gua sha can be really helpful in keeping the skin clear. I wouldn't use it on an aggressive active break-out, but it's great for prevention. The roller kind is good for gentle use and the flat kinds are good for when you need to get some deeper work. Red light therapy - This has been a big one for me. I initially got a red light panel (with red light and near-infrared light for deeper penetration into organs and bones) to help manage chronic pain (osteoarthritis, endometriosis, ulcerative colitis, kidney issues, etc), but the first thing I noticed was how well it worked for my skin. Just 5 minutes a day on my face keeps me really clear, heals inflammation super fast and also boosts collagen production. I have a Hooga which I find simple and effective. I don't hang it, but simply prop it on the floor while I do yoga. If I need to concentrate on my back for an acne or pain flare, I just lie on my side and rest while basking for about 10-15 mins. Chlorophyll - I've been taking this in liquid form for over a decade. Initially it was for anemia and to help my colitis, but it does seem to make a big difference in my skin's condition when used consistently. Mulberry silk pillowcase - Even washing my old pillowcase regularly, I felt like it was time for an upgrade that would be even better at keeping my skin fresh. This one is a little pricey, but it's already made a big difference. Plus it's so cool and comfortable. Mine is by Alaska Bear. Clean your phone! - This one can be hard to remember since I don't talk on my phone all that much. But our phones are nasty, seriously. That can transfer to our face and cause problems. So I try to keep electronic cleansing wipes near my desk as a reminder to wipe my devices down every now and then. ⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹ 8. Example routines - Just some examples of what my line up might look like. a. Example morning routine: Let's say I'm not breaking out yet, but maybe just a little, so I want to try a preventative approach. I might cleanse with the Detox Wipes and micellar water, use the Peach Sake toner to keep my skin from being too oily, then retinol serum to help with cell turnover. To give my skin some nourishment, then I'd use the Sana Soy Isoflavone essence and top off with Sana's Honey all in one gel. b. Example evening routine: Later, I'm still trying a preventative approach but my skin needs some soothing. So I might wash first with the tea tree oil cleanser, then scrub with Dark Angels and leave it on for a few minutes like a mini-mask. Synergy propolis toner and snail mucin to soothe and keep my barrier strong. Then Hada Labo emulsion to bring down inflammation, and the Detox Oil to keep the break-out at bay. I hope this was helpful. I may add haircare and other things to this since T definitely affects my scalp too.

#skincare #hormone therapy #hrt #testosterone #testosterone therapy #new's T skincare

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anotheruserwithnoname · 5 months

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Some good news and some bad news regarding Season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The good news is that now that the strikes are over, production of Season 3 is set to begin next month! This is good because there have been rumours swirling around possible cancellation in the wake of Star Trek Discovery being ended after its 5th season. But SNW continues (Lower Decks has also been renewed for Season 5). The only caveat to that is Paramount Plus still cancelled Star Trek Prodigy even with its Season 2 complete, so nothing is a guarantee anymore. (And even then, it's been reported that Prodigy S2 will at least get some sort of Netflix release).

(Further good news is Season 2, with its amazing musical and Lower Decks crossover episodes, is set for Blu-ray release before Christmas.)

The bad news - though this is likely educated speculation on Screen Rant's part - is the possibility that the 10-episode 3rd season my be split, with only 5 episodes airing in 2024 and having to wait till 2025 to see the rest. Aside from that wrecking viewer momentum, those 5 weeks will come and go very quickly. If this news is correct, though, they could be telegraphing some sort of 5-episode story arc, which should be good but I actually prefer SNW's episodic format as it better supports the type of experimentation we got with not only this past year's musical and part-animated episodes, but the episodic format is what made TOS what it was. No official word on any cast changes, though I will be surprised if S3 doesn't reintroduce Dr. McCoy in some fashion.

I haven't written much about SNW but it's my favourite of the live action modern Treks. I stopped watching Discovery and Picard but SNW has kept me. I've had songs from the musical earworming for the last week or so after I rewatched it. And I greatly appreciated the time-travel episode "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" for finally canonizing an explanation as to why the prequel series haven't always lined up with what we know as canon from TOS, TNG, etc. which as far as I'm concerned frees the writers to deviate and retroactively serves to rectify canon issues dating all the way back to some episodes of DS9, never mind Enterprise, Discovery and SNW itself. I will explain for those who don't know but I will put a spoiler break here for those who might be waiting for the Blu-ray or haven't had a chance to stream season 2 yet. If the break doesn't appear below, stop reading now if you don't want the spoiler.

The episode reveals that due to the many time travel events over the years (including ones we haven't seen on screen by enemies of the Federation; the episode relates one involving Mary Queen of Scots (in-joke for the actress) what we have been seeing in SNW etc. is an alternate timeline. Maybe not as extreme as the Kelvin timeline of the films, but events such as the Eugenics Wars - indeed, the birth of Khan himself - were delayed by decades. This major change to the timeline - and then you fill in the blanks by factoring in even minor changes such as the guy who accidentally killed himself with McCoy's phaser in City on the Edge of Forever, Sisko replacing Gabriel Bell in the Bell Riots, the Voyager crew going back to 1996, Archer and T'Pol heading off agents of the temporal cold war in the early 2000s, etc. - and you can see how it's possible that things progressed differently resulting in SNW and Discovery being more technologically advanced than TOS-era ships should be as established in TNG, DS9 and Enterprise that used the original tech and designs. Also character differences, like Pike's crew being aware of T'Pring and Khan when Kirk's crew in TOS did now despite Spock having worked with La'an Noonien-Singh and Kirk being aware of La'an's feelings for him. Or the lack of reference to Kirk's brother, who dies in a famous TOS episode, having been former Enterprise crew. And it literally stems from two lines of dialogue. It's exhibit A of how quickly and simply a show like Doctor Who can fix things.

#strange new worlds #strange new worlds season 3 #strange new worlds spoilers

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destinygoldenstar · 3 months

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Why I Don’t Want To Talk About RWBY Again

Yes. She decided to show her face again.

And she will probably instantly regret it.

So, this isn't usually the media I talk about. However, I addressed it in my post 'Is Screen Time An Issue For A Character', where I talked about multiple media to gain a wider perspective on a solid critique point to figure out where this possibly came from? And in terms of the RWBY-related stuff I said there, I got... some honest, fair, completely non-personal attacking feedback. No personal attacks whatsoever.

I thought 'okay, maybe I am wrong' if everyone is so insistent that I am 'incorrect' and what they're saying is 'facts'. We all make mistakes. So I decided to rewatch the show in it's entirety and actually see Volume 9 for myself. I actually hoped that maybe I was wrong and they were right and I could see this show for the masterpiece that it is...

Uh, short answer: Not really...? For the most part, the points I made in the past are still how I feel. (I just didn't word it very well in that post. I'll take the L for that one)

I'm disappointed I learned nothing too. I really wish I did.

Okay, so for my background, I jumped on the train of this show just about a month or two before Volume 6 came out. I got it recommended from a classmate in school who was obsessed. And I thought it was... okay.

And then I got bullied and harassed by the person for the remainder of the school year. Cause I DARED not said it was a masterpiece.

(Yeah, this is a running trend for me)

But with every new Volume from there, I rewatched the show as background noise for homework, to the point where I've at least rewatched it 5-6 times, maybe 7 including this rewatch. But with every rewatch where I actually noticed certain details... the certain volume would get a little worse. (Except for one case)

Maybe it's because I'm a jerk. I've been called that more than once.

Maybe it's because Celtic Phoenix's rewrites of the show are a thing. But that’s also a topic for discussion here.

But I know the exact point when I abandoned the show for over two years. When Volume 8 came out.

It was... it was a miserable viewing experience for me. And for me, this was my last straw with the show and I fell to the dark side. There were so many production problems where I could see why it turned out the way it did. There were so many decisions with the plot that I did not agree with.

And the biggest reason why I left. And this is a thing that's been consistent anytime I engaged with the show in any way. And the reason WHY I don’t feel safe talking about this show.

The fandom is terrifying.

It's not as bad as the Dhar Mann situation, I don't think, but it's still a nightmare to engage with.

There are so many toxic entitled people online that feel the need to bully and harass anyone who says ANYTHING about the show that isn't 'I think this was handled perfectly'. You say anything even slightly neutral, or even hint that you may not think perfection, you will get cyberbullied.

And I MEAN THAT when I say cyberbullying, you get personally attacked, you get cursed at a lot, you get accused as homophobic and misogynistic, and you get double bullied and ganged up on when you ask for feedback towards you to be impersonal and focused on the work itself. There is NO breather to this.

People just really love to attack every single being they can find. Over a CARTOON.

If this was some real life documentary or something, then I would get it.

But this is a FICTIONAL SHOW.

It's very unwelcoming and it's miserable for people like me to engage with these people as a result.

NO, I AM NOT SAYING EVERYONE IS LIKE THIS. I'm sure there are still good civilized decent people in this fanbase. But the ones that are like that are the loudest.

There's also a 'hate-fandom' spawned. Which I also despise cause it's basically just the same thing but the opposite approach. And why are you even tearing apart something as sport? That's sick. Do something else with your time. Do literally anything else.

You have to pick a side.

Either you love the show, if you don't you're a horrible person.

Or you hate the show, if you don't you're a horrible person.

THIS is the real reason why I left the show.

And the fact that I'm even daring to say this guarantees that I will get backlashed.

At least I anticipate that this time. (But I'm just gonna ignore this behavior and I will only respond to people who keep things impersonal and just focus on the content. I don't care if you have a valid point against what I say, if you personally attack me or anyone else, and act like you know me, I won't listen to you. It doesn't make you better than me, it's cyberbullying.)

For the sake of this rant post, I am OPTING OUT of the idea that 'I have to love the show or hate the show'.

I'm a neutral saying my perspective as a neutral.

And I will say that as long as you're not a cyberbullying racist/sexist/homophobic piece of garbage, your opinions towards this show is VALID in my book.

If you think this is the best show of all time, that's VALID.

If you think this is the worst show of all time, that's VALID.

If you disagree with either of those two statements, then you can leave my post right now.

I am not going to take either side, as I really don’t want to. I am not the type of person to be openly happy all the time, as when I feel any emotion at all I will say it. And I am not going to hide my emotions to make other people happy. That’s not who I am.

But I also don’t want to be seen by the public as a hardcore complainer for that. Spending all your time whining is just exhausting and tiring and unrewarding, when you could be doing literally anything else, and healthier stuff, with your time. I should know. I used to criticize Dhar Mann videos. While those were worth critiquing it cause multiple mental health problems for me. So I stopped and did other stuff with my life.

So really, if I were to pick a side, either one, it would be doing injustice to my character. And the fact that people have to be split in fandom sections for a single show is insane. I’d be harassed endlessly no matter what.

And harassment like this over a cartoon is just not worth it. Even if you try to calmly explain yourself and defuse a fight, you’re not gonna be heard. They’ll just keep arguing until you reluctantly confess to their side. Which is gaslighting.

And this is a both sides issue. So you know. Again, I’m not picking sides when I say this.

This is not a ‘this side good ; this side bad’ issue.

At that point it has nothing to do with the show itself, or a rewrite of said show that some people made.

Fixing RWBY, that rewrite project on YouTube, is not immune to criticism. It’s not better than the original show. It’s not worse than the original show. It’s just a thing that exists. Like all rewrites do. This whole project is just a group of people approaching a story in their own writing style, like fanfiction tends to do. It’s really just a group of artists and writers coming together to play around and have fun.

So obviously that makes this project a crime against nature and a product made out of pure evil spite. /s

FIXING?! FIXING a show? HOW MALICIOUS CAN YOU BE?! YOU DARE IMPLY THAT YOU THINK THE SHOW ISNT PERFECT AS IS?!

Now, take note, I myself HAVE seen the entirety of this fan project. I have my own problems with it, and it certainly did not fix everything. But I can also safely back up that SOME PEOPLE are fat liars with their critiques on this project.

There’s being critical, and there’s lying.

That’s it. That’s all I’m saying about certain users. Because this isn’t really a ‘one person is entirely to blame’ problem so I don’t want to pin blame on one user.

And the worst part about all that is that it’s one thing to be a critic towards anyone’s work, you know, looking at their work and giving feedback. It’s another to act like this is personal.

It stops being about the show and more about throwing around accusations on people as though you personally know them.

News flash: ten to one, you don’t.

And it’s not just me. There are multiple blog users and YouTubers who said their peace on this and said the same things I’m saying. People will go out of their way to personally insult and harass neutrals to make sure their point sticks and they take it to heart. Because if it’s about the person and not the work, they have to change their mind, right? No one wants to be called a gross human being after all.

That’s not how that works. This is why if you go to my blog you see me more often than not making posts about other media. Not because I think these shows are better than RWBY (I’ve criticized them plenty as well, criticisms that I think are deserved), but because I feel more welcome in their fandoms…?

I’m not gonna pretend they’re perfect, every fandom has some nasty people, but at least I’m not gonna get barraded for every single opinion I have as though my opinions over cartoons are a judgement of my real life character.

Yes people have disagreed with me and given me criticism, but at least it’s focused on what I’ve written and the flaws in my logic of writing style. An IMpersonal critique towards me. That gets more through to me than personally insulting everyone and treating everyone that isn’t you like they’re pure evil.

Even when I try to look at RWBY related tags, it’s just this exact stuff.

You say an opinion that isn’t 100% positive? BASH.

You like something about the show? BASH.

You make art of a ship someone else doesn’t like? BASH.

You try to make an analysis post? BASH.

You write a fanfiction? BASH.

You like a fanfiction of the show? BASH.

You don’t like a fanfiction of the show? BASH.

You dare title that fanfiction ‘fixing’? BASH.

Then people really love to use buzz words fir extra power. ‘Sexist’ ‘Racist’ ‘Homophobic’ and all kinds of bad words. Without ever actually hearing an explanation.

You like a certain ship? BASH. YOU’RE HOMOPHOBIC. (Never mind nobody ever said they hoped their ship was canon or said they preferred that ship over a canon one)

You think a villain character is a well written and interesting character? BASH. YOU SUPPORT TERRORISM. (Never mind there’s a difference between agreeing with a characters POV and just liking them as fictional characters)

You like a character that so happens to be male? BASH. YOU’RE SEXIST. (Never mind that no one said they should’ve been spotlight characters or anything. And the least sexist people don’t even give a shit about the gender of the character)

You don’t like this character? BASH. CLEARLY YOU DONT LIKE THE CHARACTER BECAUSE THEYRE NOT STRAIGHT WHITE MEN.

Completely ignore if the person who says the opinion actually explains WHY they don’t like the character. Completely ignore if they don’t even mention the race, sex, or sexuality of the character once in said explanation. Completely ignore if they even said they like other characters that fit those same categories as the one they didn’t like.

Completely ignore actually checking out the persons blog to see if they like other characters in anything, not just RWBY, that have some sort of diversity to them. Maybe even love those characters and praise them.

Nope. Doesn’t matter. You don’t like one character, clearly you just hate women.

CLEARLY everyone who doesn’t agree with you are dares to say why and how they personally would’ve done it is a PURE EVIL HUMAN BEING GOING OUT IF THEIR WAY TO SPITE AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY. Don’t even bother hearing the person out or letting them say WHY they feel this way or WHY they changed it, (like the FRWBY writers DO in streams btw) NOPE. PURE EVIL. SOLELY BECAUSE YOU MADE A REWRITE.

It’s not like rewrite fanfiction as a concept is all about people reimagining someone else’s work into their own vision, and multiple fandoms do this with varying intents, whether it’s out of fixing a critique they had or trying a different tone or ‘what if’ scenarios or whatever. And again, multiple fandoms do this. (Hell, I did it with Total Drama’s Season 2. I don’t think that show is perfect, either. Far from it.)

But I don’t even trust myself to word this all right, so I’m case you don’t trust my word. I’ll link some people who have said the same things I’m saying but in more detail than I could ever. That way I can avoid plagorism.

Judgemental Critter and Twilight Guardian go VERY in detail of these problems. They go in depth about certain users I don’t feel comfortable talking about myself, they go in depth about how this is a both sides issue, and so much more.

Go look at both of these.

It’s all so unwelcoming and I just… can’t.

I can’t take that.

No one deserves that level of harassment over something so not worth it at the end of the day.

It’s just a show guys.

This isn’t real life propaganda.

This isn’t Election Day.

This isn’t school.

It’s a product designed for entertainment purposes.

You can feel whatever way you want to about it. You don’t deserve to be shut out for however you feel.

I am not a perfect person. That much, I will admit. I will admit to my mistakes when I recognize I make them and try to improve myself. Just like the rest of you, I’m just a normal human on the internet talking about stuff I find interest in. But I will also admit I need to get better at defending myself when I recognize something is just plain bullshit.

So… yeah. I did a poll on the possibility of me doing commentary posts to expand my blog. I already decided I’m starting that experiment with The Amazing Digital Circus’s one episode right now. But I do have a set poll for shows people want me to do commentary on. And RWBY is one of the options. If that wins, then I’d have no choice but to explain all my opinions of the show in as much detail as I could.

No one deserves to feel this unwelcomed and unsupported. Maybe I would talk about the show more if I wasn’t this scared of harassment. But nothing is worth it if it’s accompanied by that amount of bashing. It has nothing to do with the show. It has to do with the treatment of said show. That’s the worst part.

And I personally don’t want to be a part of such an unsupportive and unfulfilling environment. Especially when I can do other stuff with my life.

Maybe I will try to talk about RWBY again one day. Explain my opinions fully. As honestly as possible.

But I KNOW no matter what I’m gonna say, I will NOT be welcomed with warmth, instead with guns pointed at my head.

And to that, I’ll just say, ‘Hit me with your best shot’

*sigh* Welp, if you excuse me, I’m barricading my windows for the mob that I know is gonna come at me for the sins I have committed here.

#rwby #fixing rwby #fandom #No one deserves to feel this unwelcomed #And unsupported #Maybe I would talk about the show more if I wasn’t this scared of harassment #But nothing is worth it #If it’s accompanied by that amount of bashing #It has nothing to do with the show #It has to do with the treatment of said show #that’s the worst part

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yourtoradorasextendedwarranty · 2 months

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No. You are anti science.

Ok so let me start this off by saying one thing very clearly. Far leftists are 100% anti science. They will deny facts right in front of their faces so long as it goes against their narrative, because they only thing they are even good at doing is gaslighting. And most of the time they are not even good at that.

What do I mean? Ok, so what have I seen or heard from Leftists (IE: People that worship the fact they are on the left) are as follows. And while not a comprehensive list, it's enough.

1-"All vaccines are safe and can't harm you"

2-"There is no differences between the sexes"

3-"There are no differences between physical races/ethnicities"

4-"Cat's can be vegan"

5-"Solar and Wind are actually better for the environment than anything else"

6-"Hormone blockers don't have side effects"

7-"Cow farts are killing the planet"

8-"The US and every 'White' Country are responsible for most/all the pollution on earth"

And I could go on. But let's address these shall we?

Vaccines are not a one size fits all. They never have been. Far leftists went from "I won't ever take Trumps vaccine" to "If you don't take Biden's vaccine you deserve to never get healthcare again and or deserve to be put into a wood chipper. Also we don't care if you are immunocompromised the "Vaccine" is perfectly safe. St. Faccui said it was safe for absolutely everyone." I'm sorry if you are like this, you are not "Pro Science". And on ONE person is "The Science". And if you believe otherwise you are a lunatic. Also, adverse reactions are a thing. No matter how rare they are some can lead to life long issues. And some can lead to death. That's just a fact.

There are a NUMBER of Differences between the sexes. And while I could write a BOOK worth of how, I'll stick with a few things. Immune Strength, Quick twitch muscle fiber, reproductive organs, hormonal influence on the body, fat retention, muscle building capacity, speed of development, etc, etc. *The list is long*

OK so this one is one of the dumbest ones I've heard, but let me explain something simple. Between melanin and MANY other variants genetically, we ARE different. Scandinavians are often extremely tall, Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese people tend to be very small. Then there is Sickle cell disease which is ALMOST exclusive to people with darker skin, more often much darker skinned people. WE HAVE DIFFERENCES. And the reason people are often scared to talk about this is because they are afraid that if they do talk about these things that it will lead to bigotry and racism. Except by pretending that all people from all places in the world are EXACTLY the same you are in fact denying science.

I'm not even going to go deep into this. SOME ANIMALS ARE JUST CARNIVORS! Cat's are one such animal. Stop being stupid because YOU chose something for your own life.

OK so I could BOOK this one as well but let me just say a few things. Battery tech has almost not advanced at all in the past 20 years. Every step we have made has been very.....minimal. However Solar panels only last between 5-8 years more often than not, and the amount of resources they take to make needs YEARS to offset how much carbon used to make them. This not also including the destruction of entire ecosystems due to the mining for the resources in 3rd world counties, which have also managed to pollute water reservoirs. No telling the amount of kids that die in the slave labor needed to mine all of this stuff. Or the long term effects on the natives of those lands. Same with wind. Except with wind, they need petrol to work. Specifically the lubes that keep the turbines working. And they don't last very long either. And when they break, much like solar panels, they can't be recycled. And the production of those needs 8-10 years to offset what it costed to produce them. Not to also discuss the amount of land decimated to put up both of them. Specifically bad with wind turbines that tend to kill avian life at a high rate, and when put into the water or on the water, they screw with the sonar of animals in the water that use sonar. Which has sadly killed a number of whales.

Hormone blockers actually have a metric shit ton of side effects. Though I guess you can more say effects. One of which, which is actually REALLY scary for younger people is Osteoporosis. Which is REALLY rare in people under 50. As often you develop it as you age. Except people that take blockers for long enough stop developing. That's the entire point in some cases. And here is what many of you LUNATICS don't seem to get. YOUR BODY needs he hormones it produces for you to develop properly. Your body does not just "Rebound" when you stop taking them. And when you take cross sex hormones, your body does not just "start development again", It has to actively fight it's own hormone production as well as your genetics meaning that there can be many medical side effects in general that can occur. But talking just about blockers your body does not just restart. Your hormones dictate a number of things. Brain development, bone development, immune health, height and weight determinates, as well as most of all your internals. If you pause your development, your body does not just pick up where it left off. If you take blockers for 2 years, you lose 2 years or almost 2 years of development. Many doctors have actually backed up all of this. Denying this makes YOU anti science.

This one is me just taking the piss as it were. Cows live off of what ever diet they have access to. However I have heard people, in no small numbers, say that we should reduce the number of cows. Not that we should change their diets. But that we should just CULL them. Despite the argument being "What they are being fed is producing more methane than usual. So it's fun to consistently hear from leftist that we should just kill a lot of animals.

China, India, and Africa have been not only not reducing their emissions. They have actually switched to using a lot of coal. And their emissions have only spiked over the last several years. It's not even remotely close. Meanwhile the US, UK, and most other Euro nations, have greatly done a lot to reduce emissions over time. If you think "The West" is the issue when it comes to your climate alarmism, then you are SORELY mistaken.

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joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh · 1 month

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I'm going to spend a little more time thinking about this show before I score it. Because I hate the show, right. I think at its absolute best it is a series that actively and aggressively fails to live up to its potential, and at its worst it is an atrociously bad overpowered protagonist lame comedy all around cringe shounen with a shit power system and all around awful writing. And I genuinely don't understand how anyone could like it, like, at all. The overwhelming ability of apparently almost everyone who has ever seen Frieren to just completely see past the things that frustrate me about it bewilders me. I think in general I'm pretty good at putting myself in the headspace of other people to see how they could like a thing, even things I hate, but I just can't do it with Frieren. The problems with this show are so violently obvious and frustrating to me that I fundamentally cannot understand how anybody could possibly enjoy it. I am convinced of my own problems with the show, right. To me it does suck and it is shit and I've been watching anime for almost 10 years now and this type of contemplative melancholy optimism genre is my bread and butter, shows that are like Frieren occupy a good majority of things I've given 10/10 scores to or consider some of my favourite anime. But this one specifically I just don't vibe with whatsoever and think is terrible at almost everything it sets out to do.

But I think for all that, I can't help shake the feeling that I'm being a liiiiiittle bit of a hater. Because the show sucks and pisses me off and whatever else, but I think I'm less mad at the show itself and more mad at the fact that massive swathes of people are convinced that anime is saved or something because of Frieren, it's so the best thing ever that it's sitting at a 9.37 on MAL right now, a score so ludicrously high that anything being scored with it would feel excessive. Everybody loves it, everybody thinks it's great, and I'm mad at them for not seeing the absolute shitshow that I see. And this problem I have I think has been amplified recently by just some tweets I've seen, of Frieren's fans accusing people that don't like the show of just, well, all sorts of bullshit, you know? If you don't like Frieren you are; a hater, a moronic shounen fan, a zoomer with a tiktok attention span, incapable of paying attention to anything slow or conemplative in any way, and just plain wrong and stupid. There is a sincere lack of willingness to engage with the idea that anyone could earnestly dislike the show for a variety of reasons, and it sucks. It's even worse because now that it's the top rated anime on MAL if you rate it low it's because you want FMAB to be at the top no matter what and you're just review bombing Frieren because you're a sheep or whatever. It just frustrates me so much that there's no conversation to be had here. You either think Frieren is god's gift to the industry and the best thing to air in the past 5-10 years, or you should make like Aura did and kill yourself. It's shit.

For what it's worth by the way, I get that I am both being a hypocrite as well as overly generalising people. I'm not willing to engage with the idea that Frieren is good, so why should people engage with the idea that it's bad? And all that "hrrr frieren fans are so annoying" is referring to like, ten tweets or something with a couple dozen replies each. I have literally spoken to people that are willing to engage with me about Frieren whom like the show but are more than willing to have a conversation and all that. But you know, it is what it is.

But anyway yeah no back to the scoring thing. Just to reiterate, I hate the show anyway, but I'm more mad at the reception and reaction to the thing. So I feel like if I scored it now I'd give it a 1/10 where my judgement is just absolutely clouded by being annoyed by the fans or whatever. Cause even while watching it I did occasionally find merit, you know? Not even just the production whoring but in the characters we were interacting with and the stories on screen. I think if I give myself more time to reflect I'll at least be able to give the show its due credit. I don't expect to score it higher than like a 4 or something maximum, and maybe I'll spend more time thinking about it and still just give it a 1 anyway, but like, I really do think I should spend a bit more time thinking before I decide anything further, so I mean, yeah. Frieren huh. If it gets any sort of followup I don't think I'll watch, and that way the Frieren tag will be cleansed of my bullshit, and the community can watch in peace. ggs.

#frieren #23.3.24

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monkey-network · 2 months

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Good Stuff: Megamind 2

I remember many moons ago that I reviewed Dreamworks's Megamind in all its brilliance. I remember around that same time spitballing about a sequel. Cut to 2 years ago where they announced one and my optimism was in it. I wasn't expecting much, I had simple expectations of this since Dreamworks never slacked when it came to their sequels, you know? Now we're here... and it's like how am I meant to feel? Should I feel grateful for this sudden monkey's paw, this baboon's dishwater soaked digits for giving us this take on Megamind? [sigh] I don't want to be too sour about this though.

Still better than what Wreck-it Ralph fans got, I guess

Now I'm not bothered by them making a film that's essentially a backdoor pilot to the TV series, nor that the original cast's been replaced, introducing new characters, and that the series itself isn't theatrical tier animation wise. That has always been an acceptable given with Dreamworks shows vs movies. What bothers me is that the new "film" couldn't have the same quality as before. Like this is unprecedented, where a sequel doesn't get the same stellar animation as before but is basically just episode 0 of the TV show. This never happened before, The Croods, Trolls, and Boss Baby never got downgraded to direct-to-DVD status with their sequels's animation looking worse than the fucking Paw Patrol movies. We JUST got Puss in Boots: The Last Wish couple years ago, so can you imagine how this kinda bothers me? I'm cool with it not having the same great writing and worldbuilding as the OG film, but this felt like the biggest disservice to any Megamind fan, heck any animation fan in general.

Presentation was the ONE thing this should have had

But I've been sour enough, is the film/show actually worth it story and character wise? Dear lord, it's corny. It makes 60s Batman feel like a Christopher Nolan production. The characters you know are basically the only reason to watch this as none of the new ideas given are compelling enough that makes this feel justified. It's nice getting a series about heroes and villains, and Megamind himself is the most enjoyable part about all this, but it's like even I can't sift out the hidden gem this could have with what I've seen. It's like kids will enjoy this as is like the other Dreamworks shows, but it's hard imagining any older fan of the original movie being ecstatic enough to even bother past the film. I'm sorry, it's overall serviceable but I can't offer any silver lining that can prove this was worth it.

Again, I can't even be mad. I'm used to this pain.

I don't know what else to say. Do I just lie to you all and say this wasn't a massive disappointment? This hasn't soured my feelings for Dreamworks, I'm still a believer given they aren't exactly the studio I go to for long running streaks of quality compared to others. It's not like Megamind was the biggest thing in my life, that goes to Shrek and Bluey, but I kinda wanted... more from this? This just barely does anything for me. I'm gonna watch a couple more episodes and honestly not look back when this weekend's over. What sucks the most is that this isn't the first time a sequel animation has made me feel this way, but this is a newfound low for me.

I give Arzette: Jewel of Faramore a 9 out of 10. Just a fantastic blast from the past.

Megamind 2 gets a 2 out of 5. Fucking fiasco.

#megamind vs the doom syndicate #megamind 2 #Megamind #dreamworks animation #dreamworks #cartoons #reviews #Good Stuff

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purplekoop · 6 months

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I officially Have Job Now (still in the process of getting a bank account because the past 6 years of my life have been an almost comical series "we'll get to it later" moments but at least I can rest easy enough knowing my hours are gonna be compensated when it's possible) but I'm still in a creative and artistic rut that I very much wish to solve with the metaphorical equivalent of being bashed in the head with a shovel to get on with it.

I'll be transparent here and say that art has been hard for me the past few months. Between frequent downward spirals of self doubt over my creative and technical capacity, and just general inability to muster the desire to do art despite the ever-looming dread of not doing art... I've had lower points in my creative journey but I've sure as hell had higher. Not dissimilar is my broader mental state, where I've been generally fine but subject myself to existential spirals when dwelling on something as simple as having a big cavity in one of my molars and no immediate access to dental care at the moment. This isn't meant to be a pity post, genuinely I don't have much to complain about right now, it's just the same sort of mental (and in some respects physical) issues I've been dealing with for a while now. It's just more poignant now when I don't really have much of a satisfying "distraction" in the form of doing stuff creatively.

Currently there's only a few "projects" (feels like I'm giving myself too much credit with that terminology) I really can commit much thought to lately, both of which, either luckily or predictably, I've gone into at least some depth publicly on this blog. Fortunately for what I assume is the majority of my follower base, both are based around Overwatch.

The Role Requeue AU is a very fun "project" for me (again, feels wrong to call it a "project" when it's something meant strictly for the concept phase, even just a workshop mode is beyond the scope of realism). It scratches all my itches for something fun to think about: no pressure to make it a "finalized product", the opportunity to conceptually tinker around with mechanics I'm both thoroughly familiar with and interesting in exploring beyond their official scope, and most importantly, people to share ideas to and even collaborate with! Seriously, I know it's almost certainly less than a handful of people who've even seen any of the posts on it, but the response so far has me beyond ecstatic. The greatest gift an artist can receive in my opinion is a "yes, and" to their work, and I'm extremely grateful that Role Requeue (shoot, down to even that name being a suggestion too good to pass up) has already inspired such.

The only technical restraint on Role Requeue is me sitting down and writing a long tumblr post, so once I have the time (as soon as tomorrow mayhaps?) I'll try and get another one out. I still have some specifics I want to sort out, but Symmetra, Sombra, and "Ashe" are all contenders for being the next one to get a post.

So that leaves the other project I've been able to work on at least to some extent lately: my original hero shooter concept, (still under the working title) War Bots. For those who weren't around or otherwise missed the intro, it's a team based shooter starring a cast of robot characters in a post-human earth, fighting against either another team of player-controlled bots or a ravenous horde of sentient, mutant plant creatures. The "game" (again, very much in the concept phase) takes heavy inspiration from both Overwatch and its precursor in the subgenre, Team Fortress 2. The general gameplay design of the cast takes inspiration more from OW, while the larger team sizes and loadout system are ideas from TF2.

If you're wondering why both of my creative projects I really have any ideas for right now are directly because of Overwatch, it's because. well hate to admit it but it's the most consistent thing I've played all year. Arguably the past 5 years or so, save for when the pre-OW2 content famine was really starting to hit and I finally gave TF2 a try myself in the meantime (didn't like actually playing it as much, sorry). But especially now with the steam release actually working on my PC, which the battle.net version frequently failed at, it's been my defacto "I don't know what to do right now" time waster, and to me at least it's fun enough to where I still haven't gotten sick of it. It doesn't help that my actual other biggest inspiration for War Bots, Bloons TD 6 (yes really) is my number 2 pick for that niche, and I honestly don't play games that much lately aside from multiplayer stuff or streams (yes I stream I need to make a pinned post linking my stuff). So, I got Overwatch on the brain, and when my brain has something on it, its general reaction is to try and put my own spin on it, hence the creation of the "Overwatch but different" AU and "Overwatch but not" the video game coming to somewhere you can buy video games eventually hopefully one day please. I play fighting games I come up with a fighting game, I like superheroes I make my own, I like the funny colorful character-based shooters I make notes for how I wanna do it myself.

War Bots is in an awkward spot though, because I already gave myself a hard cap for how much I wanna think ahead for a game so early in development that the sole developer doesn't even have a game making engine installed on their PC yet. The loadout system is meant to allow for a smaller roster, saving time on creating completely new characters with their models and animations and lore and so on, while potentially allowing for an even further variety of functional playstyles than what'd be possible with an exclusively character-based system like Overwatch. You don't need Soldier 76, Bastion, Widowmaker, and Ashe all existing separately with broadly similar weapon types, just one "rifle guy" with four different options for their main weapon.

Despite that, I love making characters too dang much and made a version of the roster with up to 25 characters. I since reconsidered, picking the characters I actually saw potential in, making sure to avoid redundancies that couldn't be resolved, and now have a cast of 15 or 20, ideally launching with 15 and adding 5 more post-release. A roster of 25 and possibly even beyond wouldn't be impossible after that, but I want to limit the scope of what I was considering at this point. I like the cap of 20 because my current idea is that the PvP mode is played in 10v10, and each of the game's 5 roles (Damage, Control, Tank, Utility, Support) would have four characters, while also letting a standard match (if desired) have exactly one of each character on the field at once. This pleases me. At the moment though, I have 3 characters for Damage, 4-ish for Control, 2 for Tank (shocking, I know), 3 for Utility, one guy who could either be Tank or Utility, and 4 for Support but I'm admittedly not as keen on one of them at this point. This leaves roughly 4 or 5 slots in the roster left for what I want to realistically consider right now, some of which I have ideas for based on prior iterations of the roster, but I'm still not settled on something super satisfying yet.

For now, I'm focusing more on polishing the loadout system and the alternate weapons for each character, trying to get as much out of the characters I've already established before I move onto jotting down new ones in my notes. I did however hit a snag, because the system divides your loadout into three different interchangeable options: Weapon, Body, and Accessory. The weapon is your main means of attack and (broadly speaking) determines your primary and secondary fire. The Body meanwhile refers to some interchangeable part of the robot's body that grants them unique abilities, typically aiding in mobility. In Overwatch terms this is "Ability 1", or Shift in default keyboard binding terms, while also potentially carrying a passive ability. Accessories are comparable to Splatoon's sub weapons, generally some kind of throwable thing that provides a burst of utility at the cost of limited availability, in this case a longer cooldown than your Body ability or requiring a special pickup on the map to regain faster, or possibly being limited by a character-specific resource. This is the equivalent to OW's "Ability 2" or "E" ability. The snag here was that each part of the 3-part system was given 4 variants, a default or "stock" option and three unlockables that take the basic concept and replace it with an alternative that provides unique functionality. The problem was that especially with the "Body" options, it was hard to come up with meaningful alternatives for every slot for every character without feeling redundant. My compromise was that while Weapons get 3 unlocks, Body equipment and Accessories only get 2 unlocks, unless I feel a special exception warrants it. I may deem a character would get more value out of more Body or Accessory options rather than main weapons, or if I have a really good idea for an extra of something.

oh and also semi recently I decided that reserve ammo should be a mechanic, but then I realized that doesn't work unless every character has an infinitely usable melee attack that can function without reserve ammo (and is also more robust than OW's piddly little mostly universal quick melee attack), but I don't want to make a whole fourth slot for each character for melee weapons, but otherwise I don't know what'd determine the properties of your melee attack if anything deviates it from the default, and also are melee weapon attacks always available or do they require switching off of your actual weapon, but does that make sense for the characters who'd logically just smack with their normal weapon, like does the wizard guy just hold their staff differently for a "melee stance", but also thinking is hard.

So between the partial downsizing of the Loadout system, the need to put "uses reserve ammo" or "doesn't require reserve ammo" in all of my notes for each character's weapon, and the need to figure out melee attacks/weapons, I have to do some very meticulous updates to my current notes, which doesn't make for a super exciting prospect. Hey, at least I can think of funny things for these goobers to smack people with!

I do actually have an art now, though it's not my most flattering work. Had some ideas for alternate weapons for Yanno, the explosives aficionado with a dragon-shaped fireworks launcher for a hand I shared in an earlier post. The eagle launcher rewards precise aim and improves your aerial capabilities, the hydra launcher unleashes multiple rockets at a time, and the shark cannon fires big, arcing bombs that roll on the ground before detonating momentarily after. Very obviously taking heavy inspiration from a certain other flying explosive enthusiast for a couple of these, and the shark cannon exists entirely to avoid needing a separate character just for a grenade launcher guy when rockets are already such a similar weapon type.

So uh.

...I had a point I think.

art hard but I wanna do it more. this was a rant post but got devoured in word count by War Bots so uh. oops if you don't care about that.

I think I feel better now? remind me when I get up though to make a post linking my twitch and youtube.

#koop's oc stuff #role requeue #war bots #long post

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