Holy crap I completely forgot I attempted to download the entire Unus Annus channel right before it got deleted. I just found an old hard drive in my desk I forgot I even had, and like - dude. I have no idea how many videos are on here but it HAS to be in the triple digits, including thumbnails. This is friggin' insane.

can i just word vomit for a min...

there was a point in late 2023 where i felt like i overstayed my welcome on simblr and i planned on just wrapping frozen pines up as quickly as possible and moving on. continuing to write when it's clear that the audience for it is dwindling felt so embarrassing that i almost didn't even want to put effort into it anymore, because i was afraid it just looked pathetic (obligatory disclaimer: no one made me feel this way, you're all so lovely, it's just the nature of seeing a community change over 7 years). writing already feels very personal to me and it's becoming increasingly harder for me to put my work out there (again, for reasons unrelated to simblr and entirely related to mental illness 🤙🏻). i know my story is so long that it deters new readers, and so sporadic that it makes old readers drop off with time. this has really been bothering me lately because i don't know what i can do to fix it. i don't think there IS anything i can do.

but. okay. don't make fun of me for saying this. dan and phil returning to youtube kinda changed my mindset? they may be pulling a fraction of the views they got in their peak, but they're happier than they've ever been and they're working on things they actually want to do, not things they think will be particularly popular. seeing that has made me realize that it is possible to keep finding joy in a community that has largely moved on without you. obviously my little blog is nowhere near the same scale, so this feels kind of silly, but i've been thinking about all the things i used to do on simblr that were never fun for me, i mainly did them because i knew they would get notes or because i felt like i had to do it. making cc, lookbooks, sim requests, reshade help (oh my god the reshade help), lot downloads, etc. they DID get notes, but i can't imagine spending my time doing any of that stuff ever again tbh.

on top of that, it makes me sad to scroll through my dash and realize that i don't recognize most of the people i see anymore. i still talk to some wonderful people here who i consider friends and that's invaluable to me (💖), but the broader community aspect is something i no longer feel a part of. and believe me, i know i'm at fault here because it's not like i'm going out of my way to talk to new people or participate in trends like i used to. i don't blame anyone except the passage of time!!

frozen pines, and simblr by extension, played such a gigantic part in my life when i needed it the most. and that's not to say that i don't still care about it, because i absolutely do, but it's a different kind of feeling. i've always promised that i would give frozen pines a satisfying conclusion rather than silently abandoning it someday, and though i do intend to keep that promise, i know it's possible that i might never get there. but i don't want to let my own insecurities get in the way of something i really enjoy doing. writing is an intrinsic piece of me that i'll never quit doing, but sharing my writing on tumblr is something that can't (and shouldn't) last forever. i know that. but i'm going to enjoy it to the fullest while we're all still here together 💞

to anyone who's still reading my silly story after all these years (especially those of you who still check in on my blog even though you're not on simblr anymore): thank you thank you thank you THANK YOUUU. you don't have to change a single thing about what you're doing. this is not me fishing for compliments or putting down an ultimatum, this is just me trying to make sense of my feelings.

but with all this being said, i've decided to quit simblr and start my own exclusive streaming service for $60 a year, i hope you'll all support me as i increase my production value 😌

(just kidding. ily. okay that's all)

So. I played Side Order (or rather I finished Side Order, aside from a few completion marks that doesn't offer any spoiler stuff!).

I've been seeing stuff on Tumblr, on Discord servers, on YouTube comments by people who were… Not entirely happy with it. Or rather disappointed. "They could have done more…", "This character was underused…", "I preferred the Octo Expansion…", "Let's re-write it for something better…". And let me tell you, I was (and still am) infuriated when reading these. Not because those comments and posts and messages were unfair, unjust and idiotic or anything (well maybe the re-writing thing was uncalled for), but because I actually loved that DLC. I think that's pretty normal to be angry with seeing a thing you love being shit on, even if I get what all of you meant. But I still wanted to share my own thoughts (because why not, I like saying what I think).

First and foremost, let me just say that I have a pretty different relation with Splatoon than most people. I was in since the release of the first game. I didn't play it due to a lack of Wii U, but I watched a lot of videos. And I liked it! I even had Splatoon OCs, I could be considered a fandom veteran at this point! But after some years, I put it at the back of my head as something I loved. When the Switch came out, I didn't have the money for it and no one would buy me one, so I continued to be a PC gamer. And when I saw the news of a Splatoon 2, I dismissed it like it was something silly, "what can you say more about Splatoon!?" I knew there was some new idols, some stuff about a DLC, Callie being kidnapped, but that's all. I dismissed all of this, and as a result I don't have much of an attachment for it. But in 2021, when I saw the news about a third game, I was ecstatic again. And in 2022, when I finally could afford it, I bought a Switch. Not just any Switch, the Splatoon themed one, and I pre-ordered the game. And when it came out, I spent less than a day to finish the story mode, and it was one of the best day of my life, I played Splatoon for 16 entire hours. Splatoon 3 is now my most played game on the Switch, more than 300 hours (that can seem not that much for some of you, but I'm a casual gamer, I don't play every day, so that's still a lot!). I even bought Splatoon 2 and the Octo Expansion after that. Splatoon 2 story mode was incredible, because that's the game I never got to play but more mastered. Octo Expansion was incredible, because it was… incredible. But I still liked Splatoon 3 story mode better. Is it because I've played it before? Because I hadn't the one year of unskippable Off the Hook news to make me like them before the DLC (to be fair I didn't know much of Deep Cut too!)? Because it clicked more on me? Honestly I don't care. It's not important, because it's still my preferences. But let met tell you, when the news of Splatoon 3 DLC dropped, I was roaring. Every crumbs of news and trailers widened my life expectancy. I was finally sharing the hype that you felt for Octo Expansion. And…

Two days ago, I played it. And I loved it. Why? Why did I love it where so many people seem disappointed? This will not be an analysis, I'm not good at those, just… Here's how I see things. Also there will be huge spoilers so if you haven't censored the tags for whatever reason, I will hide it beneath a read more because I'm nice.

First, the gameplay. When I heard it was going to be a roguelite, I was intrigued, because it seemed interesting. I was wondering how it was going to play out, more like The Binding of Isaac, or like Hades… Okay I only played those two. And it was like Hades. But I think the best thing to come out of this gameplay is… Well, the fact is every mission from all other story modes (including octo expansion) are pretty much the same in that they have an intended way to be beaten. Sure, for OE and S3 you have a choice of weapons, and there's probably unorthodox ways to finish them (including speedruns), but it's still organised around a specific way to deal with the levels. You go at one point and there you're done. And that's why I will never re-play the story modes I already finished. I know the ropes, so… Why? But here… The gameplay itself doesn't change much. It's an amalgamation of most Splatoon gameplay since now, Salmon Run, Ranked Match, Octo Expansion levels… But the way you APPROACH this gameplay is different and that's why every thing changes. Because you are now free to choose. You don't want a stage? Choose another one, the cost of a good chip and membux not being that punishing, you want a specific type of chip? Go for it! There is so much fun combos to do, I have fun at every run! They told us it was going to be replayable. And they haven't failed to give. Because when I want to replay a game, then I know it's good. Aside of multiplayer games and games made to be replayable (TBOI, Dishonored…), some of favourite games are Half-Life 2 (my favourite game in general), Hollow Knight and Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story. Once you've finished exploring it all, well there is nothing else. But I still want to experience it again. And again. I have tens and even hundreds of hours on each of them. So yeah. If a game makes me want to replay it, I like it! And also… The final fight. The "phase 2" of the final fight. It was probably the most satisfying gameplay in all of Splatoon. Every path you took? Every path you didn't take? It was there. And you could experience it all together and finally finish your first run, empowered by it, in-game and outside. This was so good. I really wish we will get updates like more stages, bosses or even chips, because wow.

Secondly, the atmosphere. This point will be much shorter, but holy shit this game was incredible to be immersed into. The cold and sanitised atmosphere of the Spire? Amazing. Obvious Portal and liminal spaces vibes, but hey. And the music… Really the music makes a lot of it. The final fight music is absolutely incredible, one more time, and the credits theme is probably my favourite credits theme of every Splatoon game and DLC (that VIOLIN, that heckin' VIOLIN). I wouldn't be able to say which one of Octo Expansion and Side Order's atmospheres was my favourite. I guess I'm less sensitive to childhood memories and such but hey. Both DLC's atmospheres were incredible good.

Finally… The sore point of everything I guess, the story. I guess we expected more. Even myself, I expected something darker, deeper, more mysterious and esoteric… Have I been disappointed. No. I understand that some people were, but I am not. And frankly, I feel like I don't have to be. Like what do we really wished for? More octoling lore? Marina's past uncovered? Mature themes and dark atmosphere? I am just describing Octo Expansion. We didn't need Octo Expansion 2.0. Every theme that I've seen wished for? Octo Expansion tackled them, greatly even. So did we really need to do the same thing again? I feel like Splatoon 3 was the great conclusion of the other games' story modes, where all marine life finally united against the common enemy: mammals, the past of Earth's life coming back for its great revival. And it was a spectacular conclusion. And Side Order was Octo Expansion's conclusion. But it wasn't that bombastic, it was more of a calm conclusion, an epilogue of some sort. Marina wasn't in great danger or anything (well she was but less than we expected), we didn't need to expand the damsel in distress role for confirming Marina and Pearl's relation (which was pretty much hinted on greatly without it lmao), we already knew that. We didn't need some dramatic story about Marina's departure's effect on the one she was close to, like some people predicted for Acht. I think some fan comics explored this way better and Nintendo telling their own version would have been disappointing either for it or for the fan comics' versions! We didn't need more insights on Eight, because once again Octo Expansion ALREADY did this. Eight seems happy with their new name and identity, so why should we uncover more? They already won a lot with Octo Expansion and their sacrifices would have been dull if there were reveals on "who they really are".

Nah. Side Order, how I see it, is a story about fixing the damage made in the Octo Expansion. It's a story about recovery. About finally confirming your place in the world and accepting that everything will not be like you think it will. Acht is not there to expose Marina's errors, Acht is there to show how this recovery can work. She symbolises every octoling Marina left when she quit the army and ESPECIALLY every octoling she swore to help. And she's also there because it would have been less interesting to see an octoling we've never seen before, especially since she is an octoling we knew got Kamabo Co.'d! Every palette is someone we already know, an anchor to the world of Splatoon, and for Eight, an anchor to their memories, as the locker was their palette. As they know more and more people, they know more and more where their place in the world is. And the end of your first run? The start of the final boss phase 2? Yeah the music is Pearl, Marina and Acht's. But it is Eight's pulse that got everything back together. Their heart beating made the world beating again. They found freedom, now they found their place in the world. They're finally complete. Like you complete your palette with every chips at once. Octo Expansion final fight was their last fight for freedom. But I think this was their last fight for identity.

But outside of that, I think Order/Smollusk is more than that. More and more we advance through completing the palettes, we learn that Smollusk is the result of Marina's wish for order in her life (and her fellow octolings') and especially the other octolings developers dreams. And I think that's really important, because after that, we learn that why Smollusk still fights us is because it's… alone. And Acht seemingly understands that. You know why this is? Why it doesn't understand Marina's intentions by "betraying" it? Because Marina, as opposed to the other developers and Acht, found someone. She found her partner for life, the love of her life you could say, she found someone else that could offer her something great. And I think the other developers didn't find that companionship, so they had other goals with the Memverse, and Acht, left behind by Marina, felt this loneliness too, taking refuge in music, so that's why she understood what Smollusk felt. I think Splatoon story is a lot about isolation, solitude and loneliness. The (Inkadian) octolings were chased from the surface, living in the underground, isolated and forced into military life. When they risked survival, they stole the great zapfish and we sent then back into the dark. So they retaliated by stealing it again and also kidnapping Callie, separating Marie from the person she holds dearest (while Callie thought she could offer them company and finally uniting back the two people). Octo Expansion was also about isolation from the surface, for everyone involved and Tartar… Well the mammal (and adjacent) survivors don't really have it well, huh? Judd was made immortal, a great lonely situation for one of the last mammals, even if the professor give him Lil Judd for that (isolating the latter from self expression, oops!), Tartar wanted finally someone who could understand the knowledge he was bearing, and in his final instants was longing to return to the professor and for Grizz… We saw what happened in the logs! But this is not where it ends. The first final Splatfest was literally choosing between the Squid Sister, separating one from the other. And when the Splatocalypse happened, we thought it would be the same, that both option were going to be negative. A endless world of anomy where nothing makes sense against a cold and dystopic dictatorship. But we saw Chaos rather meant a world of differences where anyone can be what they want to be and still be reunited with people. So now we see what Order meant: reuniting people by putting them on equal terms. And at the end, that's what you and Smollusk agreed on! He'd be a difficult final boss and you'd be a formidable opponent for him! Splatfests weren't meant to be divisive or anything, it's just a fun way to see what do people choose in their life. So to face loneliness and meet new and fun people, what will you choose? Chaos or Order?

I guess I understand if it wasn't the story you wanted to see. But I liked it either way, as I also struggle with loneliness and finding my place in the world. And as I also like roguelites!

i lied! i did big fibs, i have more to say about the watcher situation after all. some assorted thoughts:

1. i'm a little surprised at just how big the rift is in the fandom post-apology. if i go into the tag, it literally alternates between "you guys are twisted sickos for bullying them into walking back the new platform" and "you guys are major chumps for accepting the apology and my trust is permanently damaged." this is a fandom that previously seemed pretty monolithic to me as an outsider, so i wonder if this will have long term implications for the sustainability of their fandom.

2. they said there'd be a "free subscription" to the platform for patreon supporters. makes sense, since their patreon tiers are mostly more expensive than the watchertv sub. this was presented as an indefinite sub dependent on continuing to pay their patreon, but patrons are receiving emails saying the sub is actually only for 3 free months. i'm like 90% sure this is the same kind of situation where they encouraged password sharing even though the platform doesn't enable it. they once again just seem to not fucking know what the vimeo ott platform they're using is capable of doing. they have to stop making statements like this until they get a better understanding of it because it's continuing to make them look bad.

3. there are multiple reports on reddit that at least ryan and sara (shane's spouse) are deleting comments on their instagram. look, i get it, some of the things people are saying are downright vile. the pointed targeting of steven and the borderline fanfic-writing quality of some of the theories about what went down interpersonally on the team during this decision is fucking weird at best and racist/invasive at worst. furthermore, i dont think making comments on personal instagrams is a good way to be heard. but on the other hand, controlling what people say on your platform right after you made a "we hear you" statement is really bad optics. obviously i think they have a right to delete anything that's outright bigoted, but it seems like they're deleting anything decidedly negative.

4. some of the comments getting deleted are about potential "fake" or "plant" patrons trying to skew the narrative positively on the watcher patreon. i frankly think this is unfounded conspiracy shit until i see substantial proof, but deleting these comments in particular without responding can cause some straight up streisand effect. this can really quickly start snowballing if they make it look like they don't want anyone talking about it. overall i just don't know if they understand just how much they're under the microscope right now. i didn't have to search very much to dig this stuff up - people are watching and documenting them. i think the variety article revealing they did initially intend to remove their backlog and them trying to pretend they didn't walk that back has caused a lot of people to hyper-inspect their every move. they're already in the youtube drama content cycle, and they risk someone making a blowout exposé if they aren't careful.

Hey DogMan, random question but do you still like the Dsaf games and the fans keeping the series alive?

I wrote out 6 different incarnations of this answer and I had to delete them all because they either sounded more bitter than I was intending or sounded too optimistic to be honest. This is my best draft. I promise it ends on a very positive note, if it seems negative at first. Also, I know this is long, but this is very important for me to state. Just give it a chance.

The truth of the matter is: 

I work on Dialtown now. Statistically, almost everyone who plays DSaF does not try Dialtown out, which I know because I have access to both my GJ and Steam site-analytics. The reason why: because Dialtown is not Five Nights at Freddy's related, pretty simple. DSaF's success has literally nothing to do with any of the positive qualities of my own work: it's because it's a fangame of a very famous series that some big youtubers promoted years ago. That statement is true of most FNaF fangames and I’m 100% at peace with that fact. The series doesn't really need to be 'kept alive'. It gets hundreds of downloads a day (despite being over for years) and has every single day since I started DT development. I get nothing from DSaF. GJ doesn't even give me ad revenue anymore. I just host the games bc people would download them from dodgy sites and get viruses otherwise. It’s the right thing to do. There's DT ads all over the DSaF page, so, y’know, DSaF fans know where to find me. The fact they don't follow through shows that these fans aren’t interested in DT. They're uninterested because they know Dialtown isn’t another FNaF fangame, y'know? Therefore, it's a lil odd when I get questions about whether or not I'm happy whether or not the series is still alive because it doesn't have a whole lot to do with me, these people don't like my work, they like FNaF. These are Scott Cawthon's fans, not mine. I'm still very much attached to some of the characters I made, though telling DSaF fans that my original (non-FNaF related) DSaF characters appear in DT did not attract them to DT. I like the story I told in DSaF, but telling fans that DT's story has similar themes but is WAY better executed did not attract them to DT. DSaF's success is specifically and totally... just because it's a FNaF game on GJ that people have heard of and ultimately, the same thing largely happens to other game devs when they move on from making fangames. I’m not in any way unlucky in this aspect, this is very normal. It’s very important for me to say: I'm not a victim or anything, quite the opposite! Dialtown has done better than I ever thought it would as an independent product and it's really neat to say that DT achieved (mild) fandom status, even though the DSaF fandom broadly ignored it and most youtubers in my circles refused to touch it because it wasn't Five Nights at Freddy's related and therefore: easy clickbait. I have so many DT fans that never touched or even heard of DSaF, and that's really special to me. It shows that the game succeeded on its own merits, and that it isn't just riding on DSaF's or even FNaF’s coattails. I love the Dialtown fandom. The amount of fantastic fanart I get is astounding, just look at what I share here and on Twitter! I have intelligent, empathetic and very supportive fans and I couldn't be HAPPIER with my current fanbase! I even get MONEY for doing DT, which is such a really nice bonus. DSaF was just something I did for free, kinda... thanklessly. The fandom was honestly really hard to handle at times, very volatile and the amount of fucking crazy people that felt entitled to vast amounts of my time was just... ho boy. I never got paid a cent to deal with any of that (save for me having a lil Patreon tipjar during 3′s development which didn’t net me a whole lot either), I just... did it out of the kindness of my heart, and in the end, it seemed pretty unappreciated, seeing how that fanbase talks about me on other sites now. I’m not really sure how ostracizing a developer for content in a game that someone still follows/actively promotes, when the developer doesn’t stand by that content and has humbly apologized for it, but the game timelessly displays it forever makes a whole lot of sense, but hey, what do I know, right? I’m so so glad to say: I've never had to delete DT fanfics that display minors in NSFW situations! Not as much for DSaF. I've never received a graphic (or any sort of) death-threat from a Dialtown fan. Ditto. When I mess up, my fandom helps me correct my errors and improve myself without insisting I intentionally did something wrong as soon as they have a possible argument to make. I remember when I launched DSaF 3 and one of my artists included a very commonly used word (big internet meme at the time) that I found out was offensive later. Some DSaF fans instantly made out that I’d intentionally said something offensive and wanted to go scorched earth without even approaching me to ask first. Being seen as a human by my fanbase is so so important to me and I’m really happy to learn from and acknowledge my mistakes if people are willing to let me do so. I’m a human and I’m always up for learning how to be a better one. I don’t want to do anyone intentional harm, so if you ever see stuff in my writing that can be more sensitive to delicate social issues/marginalized groups, please (politely) let me know. I love-love-love my current fanbase, no other way to put it. So, this isn't a sad story, but a happy one. There's content in DSaF that I outright HATE now, and DT is entirely free of it! DSaF had some ignorant (not intentionally hurtful, mind you) jokes in it (being a meme game from the last decade), and DT is free of that content as I've now learned better. I'm happy with how things have turned out. Of course, I get that not everyone can move on from things, people on the internet like conflict, they like ostracizing others and taking other people down a peg. It’s not really about about protecting anyone or anything like that, more so just angry people wanting to bully others but wanting to phrase it like they’re doing a good deed because they can’t bear to be spoken to the way they speak to others. So, they exclusively target people they can blame for saying something ignorant in the past and will go digging for something to throw at a person they want to see others target, often finding quotes from times when people were en-masse way less socially conscious and before someone’s views evolved. It’s different being a public figure on the internet because your social evolution is public and locked in time. To become more socially aware/sensitive, you have to first have been less socially aware and finding someone that is openly and very supportive towards marginalized groups said something ignorant without realizing that they’ve apologized + corrected isn’t really as big a thing as people think it is. Likewise: Telling someone to kill themselves, no matter what they’ve done, does not make the world a better place under any circumstances and if anyone tells you otherwise, they are not looking out for your best interests. We live in a very radical and angry age where people are looking for someone to blame for how bad things have gotten. Be kind. The world needs it. But to circle back, DSaF is not a part of my life anymore and while the idea of going back to it one day and 'fixing' it (even still now!) is very appealing because it was my first big thing that people played and it’d be cool to do it again, but better and show off my new skills: my main priority right now are my loyal DT fans, who don't just follow my work because it's popular, but because they genuinely like it. They like my characters, my stories, it's not just a FNaF thing. I'm so, SO grateful for my current fanbase, y'all have no idea, and if you’re a DT fan reading this, remember: that includes YOU. I really hope this helped clarify my exact position on things. I'm very very okay with how things have turned out, don’t get me wrong. I simply couldn't ask for a cooler fandom and better friends than I have now and I don’t wanna go back to how things were before.

I think it's time for me to come clean with something I've never admitted to anybody before. And it's not something I've done or anything like that. It's not an action I've taken. It's an opinion I have that I know is something that would cause a lot of...let's say strife with most people if they knew I had it. It's not a controversial opinion I'm particularly proud of the way I'm proud of my opinion on John Lennon being a boring hack, or my opinions on YouTube content creators being, by default, talentless nobodies compared to literally any other professional creative, or my opinion that sport hunting journalists and politicians should be, if not actually legal, than at least one of those victimless crimes that never actually get prosecuted. This opinion I'm about to share is something that my own parents would never understand if I were to admit it to them, which, to be honest, does sting a bit when I let myself think about it too much.

I know most of you don't follow me for personal BS, and I respect that, so I'm going to put a cut before I state this opinion so people who don't really care to learn more about me as a person can easily give it a skip. For the rest of you, all I ask is that you try to keep an open mind, and understand that this is as hard for me to admit as it is for you to read.

George Carlin is a terrible fucking comedian.

I know. I know.

But hear me out.

I'm not saying he's not funny, because he can be. Certainly he was hilarious to 12 year old Little Me who would watch clips of his acts on Comedy Central long after my parents went to bed. But as I got older, I started to notice something. It wasn't that I was "growing out" of George Carlin. That's silly to say. That's like saying someone grew out of watching Eddie Murphy's Raw. You're not even supposed to be watching that stuff until you're grown.

No, the thing I noticed was that he isn't actually a comedian.

He's a blogger.

Again, he does tell jokes, but telling jokes does not a comedian make. Everyone tells jokes. What makes a comedian a comedian is that they are so funny that people will pay money to laugh at their jokes. And that's not George Carlin. That's not why people go to see George Carlin. They might think it is, but it's not. No, they go to see him for the same reason he stands up in front of them and speaks.

They want to hear their own opinions parroted back at them, and then they want to cheer. Just like George doesn't really want to make people laugh. He wants to give his opinions on social issues and politics, and then he wants everyone to clap and validate those opinions. The laughter is completely secondary. It's not even necessary past the point of telling just enough jokes to both get people in the door, and to allow those people the illusion that they're at a comedy show and not reading a blog.

And Carlin isn't the only blogger pretending to be a comedian. You probably know quite a few already. The Jon Stewarts, John Olivers, and Jimmy Kimmels of the world who just want to be cheered for stating their, often idiotic, opinions on things. I used to call this "Applause Comedy", and I've always hated it with a passion. But these days I just call it blogging, because that's what it is. And George Carlin is its grandfather. His entire career is based on "telling it like it is" instead of "telling jokes". And let's be fair, some of his opinions are right. Of course, these days the people he roasts are usually not on the same side of the political divide as the ones he was intending on roasting. He is another terminal victim of the 60s, so don't ever mistake him for being even remotely right wing.

(I wonder if, were he still alive, would he be one of those few boomerlibs that actually recognize how batshit insane the left has become? Or would he be one of the ones that now supports all the things they railed against 40+ years back because their identity as a leftist is more important than their supposed principals?

I could speculate, but I won't.)

But being able to comment intelligently or eloquently on political or social issues isn't a skill one should look for in a comedian. And getting cheered for stating an opinion isn't something a real comedian should look for in their audience. A comedian tells jokes. He makes people laugh. He tells stories and weaves tales and creates an atmosphere of joy. He allows us to keep the outside world at bay for an hour or so, and leaves us with a small shield against that world when his show is over in the form of fond memories and shared enjoyment.

You're more likely to come out of a George Carlin show more angry at the world than when you went in.

And that's not comedy.

That's not entertainment.

That's blogging.

Lily (and Ginger) commenting on how much she’s grown…

Growth? What growth?? She’s seems to be the exact same person she was before? Am I missing something?

Is it because she’s had a lot of shit thrown on her this year and she didn’t break down? Things like her sister calling her out on the fact she r**ped her, or YouTube videos made about her and how toxic she is?

Since enough people caught on on how awful she is, she gets more hate, but her “powering through it” and not taking accountability counts as growing?

Is she…a child? What part of anything that’s happened this year considered growth? Sounds more like regression to me.

i don't know about you, but i don't really take the judgement of the fan that was groomed since they were 15 as unbiased objective fact about the person that groomed them in her 20s. let's remember for a second that none of us is LO's friend (thankfully) or are in close relationship with her, so it's possible that there are some sign of growth that we aren't privy to because of that. having said that... from what i have seen, LO has been willing to show and even the things that LO has slipped without fully intending to.... i don't see either what growth either of them is supposedly refering to. this year alone LO has doxxed an artist for copyrighting a video of MO after she used their fanart without permission, lied about having had cancer to try to distract people from child molestation coming from her real life sibling, to whome she quickly turned to accuse of being responsible for the CSA she suffered despite being a 6 year old child. she has lied about the sexual history of Brittany to pathetically include herself on it like a loser creep. she is currently enabling the rapist of Sunny because he dared to call her out for racism. she has ignored every warning possible about an actual child predator cozying up in her community that she knows includes vulnerable people. she is defending the rapist of Courtney just for a chance to prey on her niece and nephew.

she has taken zero responsibility for anything wrong she has ever done, including the plagiarism, and in fact she has double down to say that she "has never done a damn thing wrong my entire life."

if i was really needing to come out with something, then i guess at least she's not yelling insults to anons as frequently as she did before. but she should have never done that in the first place, and in that post i shared she still blames the people affected by her abusive violent behavior of being "stubborn" and not aknowledging her growth, and she never uttered the words "i shouldn't have done that, i'm sorry", so i'm not actually taking that as a sign of anything but LO being the same insecure, vindictive, spiteful, horrible person that i have known her as for years now.

New S7 WK Eps - [Spoiler Free] Review + Predictions/Thoughts:

New Wild Kratts Season 7 episodes are on the premises after a 4-month hiatus. The episodes were found on https://metadatabank.pbs.org by a few Twitter users, with premises to boot.

Two of the episodes were uploaded on the TVO Kids' YouTube Channel. For anyone who doesn't know, full episodes of PBS Kids shows are uploaded on that channel and are only accessible directly to Canadian viewers. The only way U.S. viewers can access them is through a VPN.

To prevent heavy spoilers, especially for those who don't have a VPN/want to wait until the episodes come out in America, I won't provide any links. I have watched the first two episodes of the new batch, and I will be doing a [spoiler-free] review of them below the cut, again, because I know that not everyone is going to/is able to immediately hop onto a VPN and watch the eps months before they air on television. The other 2 episodes are yet to be televised or uploaded, so anything I say about them will be pure speculation until the U.S. airdate.

This is not a 100% spoiler-free thread. If you have seen the episodes on the VPN and intend on reblogging with spoilers, use the spoiler tag/cut appropriately; Spoilery comments in the thread are prohibited overall because there's no way to loop around that, so bear in mind:

Backpack the Camel:

The gang travels to the Gobi Desert to discover the last remaining wild camels in the world. They experience the harshness of the desert landscape and are rescued from it only by the wild Bactrian camels and their amazing survival skills.

No Name Dream:

Martin has a dream that he's forgotten to name some baby animals and awakens in a sweat. Aviva tries to reassure him that he named them all, but Koki, after checking the data base, confirms that Martin's right! The Wild Kratts' mission is to go back and name all the ,unnamed, and along the way, learn more about their creaturenality and share some wow facts about their animal friends!

Fish Out of Water:

After a Creature Power Disc mishap, the bros become marooned in the world of a mudskipper, a fish that can walk on land. They must find their discs within a foreign world of intense competition, with unexpected dangers at every turn

Our Blue and Green World: Parts 1 & 2:

While doing their annual Laundry Day, the Kratt Brothers disagree on what's better; blue oceans or green forests. Can the gang get Martin and Chris back in synch in time to save Planet Earth from Zach and Paisley's villainous plans?

Again, no confirmed airdates, so we know what we're in for, but we'll just have to wait. But I'll post my disjointed thoughts and predictions on each episode in this big-ass compiled post bc I'm too lazy for separate posts:

—————————————————————————————————

Backpack the Camel - REVIEW

How the fuck did it take us 12.5 years to get a camel episode? There was literally a live-action opener featuring camels and llamas which segwayed into a fucking Koala episode? I know it doesn't really matter, but it's so jarring

The episode's humor is..... not that good. It feels like they were trying too hard to make it "meme" material with a recurring facial gag but it gets old really quickly. Luckily it's not present throughout the episode, and compared to previous scenes in the show (ex. that awful dabbing and floss scene from the ant episode), it's pretty tame.

The camels in this episode are beautifully animated. I swear to god, you could clearly tell that they wanted the camels to look as detailed as possible but still retaining that WK-style look.

The Camel Power Suit, I thought it was going to be awful and at first I hated, but it actually turned out to be pretty good. It gets right what a the more recent quadrupedal power suits get wrong. Though I’m fairly certain that this is going to be an unpopular opinion once the episode comes out.

Wild Kratts has a pretty good track record for debunking animal myths so if you're frustrated with how the mainstream media misrepresents camels or how many myths and misconceptions about them are spread, then this episode is definitely for you.

Ranking: 7/10

No Name Dream - REVIEW

We started off the season with Chris angst and now we’ve got Martin angst. I can’t comment too much on the dream sequence but… let’s just say that the animators were having a lot of fun with it. It’s giving Zooboomafoo vibes if anything.

I feel like MK IRL realized that there were some unnamed baby animals, and decided to write this episode as a meta ref to that. Overall, it feels like the most self-insert-y episode of the show to date (even moreso than Liturgusa Krattorum)

This episode highlights what Wild Kratts does better than most shows nowadays. It knows how to do fanservice correctly. Mainly in the form of callbacks to inventions/locations, power suits, and animals that we haven’t seen in years. The reason they do this correctly is because they don’t do it for the sake of it, there’s a very intriguing plot around it that gives it a point/purpose and it overall makes sense. The crew goes around naming unnamed baby animals from past adventures. That’s something I have wanted to see in years (I even made up my own fan-names for some baby animals that didn’t get a name, though one of them is rendered non-canon in the ep.)

In fact, the modern seasons of the show do this pretty damn well, what with the return of Aviva’s rollerblades in the S6 finale, the tellurium crystal cameo in the raven episode, giving Paisley Paver a solo role in this season, and this episode, where we get a lot of cool callbacks to the earlier seasons when the crew travels around the world to name the unnamed. I think the reason they do this is because they know that after 10 years, people are going to get nostalgic - That and because PBS Kids’ horrible scheduling that forces viewers at home to wait months or even years for new episodes to come out, makes the show runners try and work their way around it through the episode’s quality, so that if it’s great, or hell, even if it’s good, that would compensate for the episode’s wait. It’s one of the many things that gives me hope for Season 7.

I kid you not, there is one scene in this episode that made me scream at my iPad when I first watched it. It’s clearly fanservice, but in the best degree. I’m not going to give ANY hints because it’s too spoilery, but let’s just say, as someone who is a longtime viewer of the show since S1, and has been begging for years for untapped stuff in the earlier episodes to make a comeback, this certain scene in this episode felt like an extremely detailed love-letter to my childhood, if not a very clever witty response to my brainrotting on the blog. This scene is kinda why I’m very adamant about the “no spoilers” thing; The majority of the fandom needs to see this scene televised.

The baby animal’s names vary. Some are cringe, (I guess,) some are okay, and then some are actually alright. Also, cute baby animals!!!!!

Ranking: 8/10

Fish Out of Water - Predictions/Thoughts:

Again, almost 13 years to give us a mudskipper episode? If it wasn’t for that one episode of Octonaughts, I wouldn’t have even known what a mudskipper was if you showed it to me. Side-note, mudskippers are cool.

Ok but a Creature Power Disc mishap? Even after getting disc-holders, these mf still loose these damn discs 😭

Going back to the “WK magazines show Creature Powers of future episodes,” there was a page of a mudskipper shown in a magazine from 2019 that I cannot for the life of me find.

Mudskippers live in Borneo. I hope this implies that we’ll see more animals/Creature Powers of that location since we haven’t gotten it since S4 (more than 5 years ago).

Here’s a Wow Fact about Mudskippers: Their eyes bulge out of their heads unlike other fish and can move independently from each other (not unlike chameleons). They can also live on land apparently and, well… they skip pretty well. I’m expecting the name of a mudskipper to be something like “Skippy” or “Skipper” or something along those lines.

Oh, these motherfuckers can also CLIMB.

Our Blue and Green Earth - Predictions/Thoughts:

This episode was hyped during the premiere marathon week of S7, where Martin originally called the special “Blue and Green: The Living Earth” and listed the animals we’d be seeing in the new special.

Honestly, am I the only one who’s kinda bummed that this is the 8th/9th episode of the season? I mean, didn’t the article that first disclosed this special say that S7 would be breaking the 200 episode milestone? I feel like a huge one-hour special with an aesthetic title like that would be a good contender for Episode 200. Unless this was 200th episode of the show to be produced, but the network fucked up and broadcasted this special early and had another one in its place… it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done that though.

I’ve gone on about a Paisley/Donita team up, but Zach and Paisley also fit too. Both have a grey aesthetic, have alliterative names, are executive CEOs who are both implied to get away from the law via nepotism/capitalism. And both villains have engaged in logging and habitat destruction. Whilst Donita and Paisley have an “opposites attract” thing going on with them when you put them together (which is one of the million reasons why I hardcore ship them), Zach and Paisley are like two peas in a pod.

I guess this is another “disagree” episode, like in Fireflies, Bass Class, or Wolf Hawks. Don’t know how they can drag it out for 40 minutes but let’s see how they do it.

I think they may be planning this as an Earth Day special. Blue and Green, whilst associated with the Kratt Bros, are also associated with the Planet Earth, so it makes sense to air this on Earth Day. Additionally, the 100th episode, Animals Who Live to Be 100 Years Old, had aired as an Earth Day special, as part of a week-long Earth Day marathon of S4 episodes (including Spirit Bear, Paisley’s debut episode). So I think it would be thematically appropriate to air this episode on Earth Day.

I think it’d be like, really funny if the double-episode had the “blue” as one part, written by Martin, and the “green” as another part, written by Chris.

I predict that the climax of the episode will involve the brothers having to defend the opposite climate of their preference. Like, Chris using Blue Whale Powers to defend the ocean animals from the Zachbots, and Martin using Indri Powers to rescue the forests from the Pavers. This is what brings them back in synch after realizing that blue and green are equally important and can rightfully co-exist… just like them (awww).

If there is not a Blue Whale Suit, I might actually cry.

Let’s hope that these episodes air on TV at the end of the year because this hiatus is killing me.

Jikook were wearing matching earrings in Run today. Guess they bought a pair & split it and each wore one or they own the same pair and wore them coincidentally at the same time. Nothing big, just another cute moment of them matching. Speaking of matching, when Jikook wore those matching gold & black & gold & yellow wedding bands, what happened to that footage? Do they every plan on releasing it? We know they were doing stuff together a group, but we only got snippets & never the actual footage.

I'm convinced yall don't read my posts before sending in asks. 🙃😂

REGARDLESS. What do you mean what happened to the footage? This wasn't a documentary released or much of anything. The Instagram clips and stuff posted WAS it unfortunately. The gold band behind footage came from Dispatch D'FESTA shooting clips. They posted it on their Instagram and some on youtube shorts. The rest was paid content only available AT the exhibition, stages, etc.

They also did the group painting for the D'festa celebrations

Here's an unboxing someone did of all the photobooks too in case you wanted to see them

And a thread of photobook scans

More Behinds clips of them filming their performance videos for D'FESTA

And their actual performances here too. DNA:

And PTD:

And I have this post here of all their posters and all the members comments translated from the comments they left on each other's posters.

D'FESTA was Dispatch putting on a Kpop festival to celebrate their anniversary and BTS was part of the lineup. BTS pre-recorded all of their segments. And what we get video wise is either what Dispatch released as teasers or what ARMYS who paid for tickets and went filmed for us and shared the BTS cuts of stuff there and so video quality was, well it's just okay, its what we get when we steal content for free basically. Lol but Still wonderful!

Hope that helps a little. I think that's everything from BTS during the D'festa filming, at least, it's everything I can find easily.

EDITING TO ADD:

D'Festa released a movie with even more. I don't have a good link to watch the movie DVD in full without you needing to buy it (but I'll add it if I find one) and here is a thread with all the jikook moments from the DVD here

I watched Michael Knowles video on Hazbin Hotel so you don't have to.

I have sectioned off this post so you can just read the funny bits (in bold), there's a warning in the second paragraph, and some introductions to this in the beginning. I can't put subway surfer gameplay next to my blog but I hope this will do. I was shared a funny video about a highly religious YouTuber named Michael Knowles, which by the way no witch hunting it doesn't accomplish anything, and I found the video hilarious but I will give some warnings.

His content can be incredibly offensive. He's proud of this but despite having nearly 2 million subscribers his last videos, which he posted in the past 24 hours, all have under 60k views one of which only has 11k. Despite the whole point of being a content creator is to be likeable and make content people like I'm sure he'll complain about cancel culture being the reason he's failing any day now. That's what people like him say to justify people not liking them. I'm also making this post because, even if you're not worried about certain triggers, this dude will not get out of my recommendations. I'm legitimately considering getting a new Google account. He is completely unironic although it wasn't until I watched a couple other videos to know this. I'm not making the typical "haha I thought this was satire it's so bad" joke I mean I genuinely thought in all honesty he was satirical. His whole personality is about how he thinks he's right about everything. The first line in his YouTube bio is "Bask in the simple joys of being right". That and about leftists yada yada. He doesn't have beliefs of his own, he's just an echo. He looks and sounds like a discount Ben Shapiro and even I think that's too mean against Ben Shapiro. He has a cup with "leftists tears" on his desk. To make your whole personality about how you hate everything must be miserable. Extremely, miserable. The amount of effort this dude spends trying to claim his mentality doesn't make him miserable is incredibly telling and the cognitive dissonance to dedicate a channel to things that offend you and then to claim you do it because others get offended so easily is incredible, but back to the main subject. The video actually starts of interesting. Hazbin Hotel has inspirations from various myths and legends and this person knows a lot about them and shares some light on where Vivziepop probably got some of the plot points from (e.g. How Lilith is portrayed in Judaism). It is all down hill from here though. This is me trying to be, no pun intended, open minded and a devil's advocate.

Despite the show being rated 18+ he claims it is for children and then after he's made up in his head it's specifically made for children he gets angry because of that. He talks a bit about "hook up culture" and does not seem to understand that two people hooking up can be beneficial for both people involved. That sex between two people can be an equal exchange for them. I feel so sorry for his wife. He also goes into how demons can't love but Hazbin Hotel of course does a great job at questioning this subject. If Hell is forever it doesn't make sense. Do you humans lose free will the moment they enter heaven? They're immortal at this point eventually they'll sin so would they not go to hell or is it inevitable even if you make it into heaven you're eventually damned for eternity? Can angels do whatever an remain in the sky? In the bible Lucifer shows there's a limit to what you can do so it is possible. However, Michael Knowles usually only tackles dilemmas he has an answer to and even then they're not great answers. He talks about how Eve was considered an equal to Adam in the bible but then goes into how Eve completely submits to Adam which would not be equal. Do keep in mind he watches the opening season to episode one and that is it. The rest of the show could expose him to a few too many beliefs that he doesn't share and we can't have that. He goes into how the right is riled up, radicalism, and satanism. This was a roller coaster the first time I watched it because the first minute or two I'm like "Oh cool it's kind of educational" and then the rest I'm like "Is this some sort of dry humor I'm not picking up?". "Leftism from the beginning has been a rebellion against God".

Legatum Invenire, a indie webcomic that YOU should check out me thinks...

Hello reader! It seems you have stumbled upon my little project. If you are interested, there's info that you can read to learn more about this blog and it's purpose! I advise you to give it a read. Who knows? Maybe you'll find something that's enticing for you.

What is Legatum Invenire and what is it about?

Legatum Invenire is an indie webcomic series that will be released on Tumblr. It follows a group of characters who are unsatisfied with their current lives, getting transported into different realm layers in strange ways and trying to find their way out while taking a look back at their life choices and trying be the better version of themselves.

SQA Section

(It stands for self-question-answer)

Q: Where will the comic release/continue to release it's issues? A: Despite Tumblr's recent buffoonery, I sadly don't know a platform that is easy to do this than Tumblr meaning they will release here. I might switch over to posting them on somewhere else but for now Tumblr will the main platform to read the comic. Q: Will this blog only be for releasing the comic? (besides this post) A: No. I'm planning to post; the comics themselves, news, sketches/fun stuff and teasers with their tags of course for clean archivation/blogging. I don't think I'll use it much but, Legatum has a Twitter/X account that I'll only use to like retweet fanart/fan content and news but idk if I'll use it. Q: Who is making/working on the comic and how many? A: As of writing this post, only one person (me) is working on the comics. I don't have a social media account I can link since I don't use anything besides Youtube. Q: What is the comic's intended target audience? A: Despite it's character designs, it is intended for people who are in the age groups of 16-20 (Teens and Young Adults) for depicting content that can make people uncomfortable. (swearing, depression, death, violence etc.) My plan is to not show anything that I'm unexperienced in to not hurt anyone's feelings and if I do, I'll be respectful as I can. Saying that, no need to worry because I don't plan on going this deep in the beginning. We silly. Q: What programs will be used to make Legatum Invenire? A: Mainly and probably only Krita. I don't have the money to buy the popular ones, besides supporting indie stuff is cool! (plus krita is like really good imo) I'm planning to share the process of making the comic and just general Krita tips in general if people ask for it. Finally the last one: Q: When will the first issue be released?

A: Idk... hopefully in summer of this year, don't count on it though just because this is a passion project and there's this thing called "life" sucks but It prevents me from hogging it full time.

Well you've reached the end of the post... Hoping I got you interested in my little passion project! I will be posting frequently because I don't like long silences for stuff so yeah. Goodnight everyone.

Hello, to the person who clicked on this! If it's just myself, clicking on this to read it again- hi. Go through your inbox.

To be fully upfront: I don't know if this is going to be much of anything, but I'd like it to be. It's been a while since I've spent time on Tumblr, and I do miss it. So, I'm going to start a catalog of my new hobby: bookbinding! Specifically, binding copies of my favorite works of fanfiction.

I started because books and fics are two of my favorite things, and I started wondering if I could put them together. Turns out, I very much can. And it's quite fun, too!

I'm going to showcase my process, both for my own purposes and to see if anyone else possibly wanted to observe. Fanfiction being in a physical book, something you could hold??? omg. Something about that just soothes me in a fundamental way. I know there are others out there doing this same thing, which is just about the coolest thing. (I might make a reference post about them later, once I do some poking!) If I can spread this idea any further, I'll be happy.

As for the nuts and bolts of this blog: I intend to keep documentation of the books I bind. So- pictures of the final products, links to the fanworks on ao3, and maybe even a bit of a review from yours truly. (Keep in mind, I'm only really binding the ones I love. It'll be a lot of gushing, exclamation marks, and way too many adverbs!)

I'll be uploading my step-by-step process instructions at some point in the next few days. I will add pictures to it; that may take longer.

ALSOOO just a disclaimer! My process is very new, and quite cobbled together (but it works!). It's based entirely upon a couple of YouTube videos and my own judgment/experience as a lifelong reader, and as of right now, I've been doing this whole bookbinding thing for about... oh, eleven days. I'm still very much a beginner!

If you have any hints or suggestions, I'd be ecstatic to hear them.

I wanted to make this blog to get the word out about this new hobby I love; I've only been doing it for this long and it's already brought me so much peace. Even though I'm an amateur, I'd like to share that. (Plus, you get front-row seats to all of my experimentations and/or fuckups. I will be showing them- what I did, why I did it, why I shouldn't have done it, and what I did to fix it. I'll definitely learn something, and maybe you will too!)

Regardless if this is to some person on the planet whom I don't know but has stayed and read this far, or if it's to my future self possibly looking for inspiration.

Happy reading! I'm glad you're here. :)

Let's get binding!

-Athan

Today is the last day I'm reposting this video. I get it. It's not that great. I knew it had problems, which is why it's posted on YouTube and not on Audible like I originally intended.

When and if I can get the money, I'll hire an editor first, then a reader next. Neither are cheap, so it'll take me a very long time before I can get that project done. I'm struggling to find work. It's really depressing.

So, after over three thousand views, only six likes and people only clicking on my audiobook and only listening to the first half hour and then likely never coming back, I get the message loud and clear. You hate it. Okay, fine. I was just bored and needed something to do. So, after this, no more reposts. I'll let it die.

Even though I know it'll never happen, I still think if Netflix produced this book as a miniseries, it'll work. I'll continue to believe in it even if no one else will.

I'll give you one spoiler, you find out that my main character's pregnant in chapter five. Is that the problem? You don't like listing to the backstory of my main characters for two chapters? This is meant to be a full story, not some fetish fuel crap. If you want that, go to DeviantART. Guarantee you, most of it is awful...and mind numbingly stupid too.

I also believe in my works because I know when something's good. I have produced two art journals in the past and declare them not worth spending your money on. They were good learning experiences. It's not that the artwork in them is bad, it's that I didn't know what they'd look like in print and made a lot of mistakes. Including some drawings that I later regretted placing in my for sale art journal because it would've been best not to have them shown to the public. Nothing bad technically, but I generally try to keep my graphic artwork G-rated for the public so if someone standing next to me looks over my shoulder, I'll have no reason to be embarrassed. I'm applying the same principle to anything I post online. I only leave the journals available for sale because I worked on them. That's it.

So, no, I won't say something's good if I didn't believe in it, even if it's my own work I'm talking about. In fact, I'll be the first to strongly criticize it if I feel that I did a poor job. I see the flaws...some of them anyway. I could try to fix them myself, but I want a more objective point of view in the editing of my novels. So, I got this hands-off policy until I can afford some professional help for them. And also, if I didn't think my work had really good potential after it was edited, I'd never bother to try to share it with the public at all. I've written a story like that that I never finished. Later deleted it. It was great practice, but total crap and I knew it.

If you can find the time to listen to my book, I'd love an honest critique. I know it's not perfect...and I don't have any illusions that it's highly unlikely that anyone will write anything. Got a couple of people who wrote back, but they tend to be years between comments and barely say much of anything of what they think. Anything is appreciated though.

Then again, I bet no one will bother to read this.

alicia, my beloved! would you do me a great favour and answer some of these?

🤡🛒🌌🎶🙋‍♀️💖🤗🧠 (tell me about our boy klaus)

(also i 100% rbed that post in hopes that it'll give me an excuse to pester all my writer friends with questions, mission accomplished! 😈)

🤡 - What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

Ella, bestie - there's so many. I mean not all of them are laugh-out-loud funny, but they always bring a little smile to my face. I think Caroline pushes Klaus into a pool in Into Eternity? That's a good one. But I think most the more funny exchanges happen in The Big Bad Wolf. Somehow that fic turned into crack along the way and honestly it ran away from me. My OCs are just really fun to write. Probably the scene that made me laugh the most in that, was the bacon scene. With the lunar cycles. And then later on Klaus throwing Kol's phone out the car window because he caught him texting Rebekah about the new information. Scenes with Titus, Klaus' horse, and Sam's raven Loki also hit the top spots. Sorry, I just can't choose one.

🛒 - What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

Found family. Or a sense of family or brotherhood in general. I have no idea why. It's just too wholesome to leave out. Also probably an element of spookiness and horror, because I'm edgy like that, and I like my settings/characters a little dark, a little violent.

✨ - Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Okay so there's no constellation emoji on the original ask list so I'm assuming you meant this one? I don't know, maybe I'm just blind but I can't find it.

So. A compliment.

Will you accept 'I write good'? Lmao I don't know.

🎶 - Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

I actually have a few playlists on youtube that I set aside for writing. My brain is really sense-minded, so like when I put that music on it knows it's time to write. I've got a klaroline playlist, which are basically klaroline music vids, and also playlists for my fics. And then sometimes I just freestyle, listen to anything that comes on. I need to share the songs I listen to for TBBW at some point cause they are amazing. Here Come the Wolves by Lola Blanc screams Chapter 1. And then I Know Your Secrets by Tommee Profitt (feat. Liv Ash) is definitely Chapter 12. I remember listening to Running With The Wolves by Aurora for Chapter 13 a lot.

🙋‍♀️ - Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

Yes. Sort of. A close friend knows. Though I have not shared my ao3 name nor my fics and do not intend to lol.

💖 - What made you start writing? 

I actually can't remember when I didn't write in some shape or form. I've been writing since I was a small kid, in like primary school. Probably Year 4? Maybe even Year 3? I would have been like 7 maybe. I basically remember watching the movie of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, and little kid me thought, oh I want to write a book! And so I started writing a book called the Dragon and the Peach. I think the plot involved a dragon called Sapphira, who like goes on this quest and eats a magical peach that makes her strong and powerful so she can defeat the villain. That story eventually evolved into a different, more complex plot as I got older, with more characters and backstories. By Year 6 I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. And then in my teens I found fanfiction and well, here I am, ten years later, still writing fanfiction lol. Nothing really made me start writing. I guess Dahl's books inspired me originally, I really loved them as a kid, but nothing made me do it. No one pushed me to do it, or said I'd be good at it. For me writing has always been a calling. I really had no choice but answer.

🤗 - What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

Read. Write. That's it. Read as much as you can, because that's the finest teacher of how to write. Literally. You'll find whatever genres and tropes you prefer to read will start popping up in your writing without even realising it. And when you do write, keep writing, even when you get writer's block - even if its 200 words per day or 200 words after weeks of nothing, at least its no longer a blank page. Write while figuring out how to plot, how to characterise, how to build up tension. Don't be ashamed of stuff you wrote a year ago because it sucks - it doesn't suck, you've just improved since then and now you can write better. It's a victory, not a defeat. And don't write for anyone else but yourself. Like I said before, writing is a calling. It's bleeding words onto a page because you have to get it out or you'll go crazy. You are your first reader. So write for you.

🧠 - Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favourite headcanon for them.

So. Klausy. Neeklous. Our boy Klaus. What headcanons do I have for him, hmm? 🤔

[I'm trying to think of one I haven't told you, it's a challenge]

Okay I have one. Not sure if I've included this in a fic yet, but a headcanon I love is that Klaus steals artwork from galleries and museums for kicks and replaces them with copies he painted before the originals are noticed as missing. The galleries and museums around the world have yet to catch on. He thinks its funny. Compulsion gets boring after the first few centuries, after all.

38, 41, 99, 180, 188, 202, 213, 214, 227, 235, 236, 238, 239, 266, 268

38- do you wake up cranky?

Cranky? No. I'm usually just not awake enough after getting up to care about anything lol

41- share 2 habits

I stir my drinks with knives, not spoons

I never use people's names with them. I will use names in reference to people (when asked by another friend if I call her Buffy, my Buffy explained it pretty well. "To my face? No. In front of me? Yes." She also stated before "when Spike wants your attention he just gets your attention" when discussing with another friend that I don't use names like others do)

99- say 6 facts about your home town

1. It's small. Like... it's not technically a town. Or even a township. It's a charter township, we are technically one step above being a village

2. My hometown mostly consists of churches, liquor stores, and pizza places

3. The only thing to do there is go to the roller rink which is still the go to Friday night hang out for teens

4. Until very recently you had to drive into the city for gas

5. We have more stabbings than shootings

6. During one of the worst winter storms we were the only school district to not close, the surrounding areas made fun of us for years. And we didn't even have high enough attendance for it to count but they still made us stay the whole day

180- share a relationship story

While visiting their friends in CA for a con years ago we broke into an old abandoned zoo for cosplay pictures. We were doing punk!Lion King and even got some shots in the old lion exhibit

188- put your music player on shuffle and write the first ten songs that play

Doubt -Twenty One Pilots

Rise Above -Black Flag

Song for Ten -Doctor Who

Sleep Tight -Rhett and Link

What Do I Get? -Buzzcocks

The Devil You Know (God Is a Man) -Face to Face

Cretin Hop -Ramones

Blister in the Sun -Violent Femmes

Main Offender -The Hives

Sex and Violence -The Exploited

202- what is the first curse word that comes to mind?

Right now? Bollocks, for some reason

213- if you met me what would you do?

Tbh not much lol I'm not the most...friendly person meeting new people irl and tend to not say much, and I usually look intimidating which doesn't help put folks at ease meeting me

214: YOU have to leave me a random/ridiculous question:

What's the strangest thing in your fridge?

227- is it the thought that counts? Or is that phrase circumstancial?

Circumstancial

235- five words/phrases that make you laugh

I honestly don't really laugh much unless you wanna count those small semi amused exhales because that's usually all you'll get from me, there aren't any specific words/phrases that get me. Now if you want people who make me laugh I suggest you watch Mythical Kitchen on YouTube, Josh will make me genuinely laugh out loud

236- share a story of something that makes you smile

I got a cameo from James Marsters when we were doing OMWF and he starts it off with "I bequeath unto you the role of Spike" and it was super genuine and he talked about how playing Spike helped him deal with personal stuff and hoped it would help me the same way. He also said he was a bit jealous because I was getting to play Spike live and he never got to do that

238- what is something you used to enjoy, but was ruined for you? What's the story behind that?

Ok so you know Inkheart? The book by Cornelia Funk (not the movie that was rubbish) well I absolutely love it and had intended to read the whole series but my brother read Inkspell right before I was going to and as he was passing the book off to me he told me my favourite character gets killed. I refused to read it then and still haven't gotten myself to actually do it. I have the books...I just get so mad at my brother for telling me about their death every time I look at the books

239- describe one of the most awkward experiences of your life

In high school I was accepted into this special week long Shakespeare program where we worked for 1 week with professional Shakespearean actors from Stratford. At one point we had to do these bonding things and had to hug one of the others, you had to keep holding it until you were breathing together and say "I love you, [name]" we would mill about the room until they told us to stop and turn to the closest person and do this. I don't like saying those words and especially back then would basically refuse to say it to anyone, so having to say it was already awkward. We only did it twice but the first one one of the other kids was in the bathroom so I got paired with one of the instructors who I thought was attractive so that was awkward enough but then the second go I got paired with the girl I had a crush on 😬 the whole thing was real awkward for me

266- have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Honestly not sure how to answer this, I have a hard time figuring out if I have a crush on anyone really, it takes a lot of work for me to differentiate feelings like that

268- make a confession

I hate tiktok because so many people make their videos impossible for those with processing disorders to watch. I will watch the ones Buffy sends me (typically ADHD based videos) and have agreed to make tiktoks with her when I have my Hades cosplay ready, but I really hate tiktok in general

After perusing my youtube homepage to see what the algorithm might be erroneously trying to recommend to me, I came across something and felt compelled to leak my unloveliness across the internet.

I am continuously baffled by the fact that there are still people out there who think that a specific tactic is wise and or good--though it probably IS somewhat efficacious.

You've probably seen these channels. They have flashy thumbnails and attention-grabbing titles like "IS MARVEL DEAD!?" or "DISNEY HAS RUINED STAR WARS!!" or some shit like that.

Just look at these:

I'm not going to bother sharing the name of this channel. I've already told youtube to not recommend it to me anymore. The video that brought this channel to my attention was "DISNEY DOESN'T UNDERSTAND LIGHTSABERS!!" which... um... okay... it's a fictional weapon, and I didn't really see anything in the mainline Star Wars movies that suggested this but go off, king.

Just looking at the thumbnails, without clicking on any of them to watch the videos, they all seem like reactionary, factory-fresh hot-takes just WAITING for you to get mad and write an angry comment because negative engagement is still engagement. I could be completely wrong. I could click on any one of these and it could be a thoughtful discussion of why some people think the thing found in the thumbnail, and it's intended to be satire to draw in people who WANT to argue. It very well could.

I don't want to click to find out.

Because it's just as likely--if not more likely--that these are all exactly what it says on the tin. It could be that it's done in a satirical manner to make fun of these kinds of reactionary knee-jerk people... but there's a problem with this thinking.

Satire is only effective if you KNOW that it's satire.

Satire--by definition--must be obvious, otherwise, it runs the risk of being confused for the very thing that it is attempting to satirize. At which point, it stops being satire. Oops.

I get channels like this popping up in my recommendations from time to time, because the Youtube algorithm is just... really good at understanding me... just the absolute best, no notes, completely perfect, roll it out to everyone and it will solve world peace.

(see how I used satire there?)

Every time I find one of these channels, I have to take a moment to look through their list of videos to look for the common red flags: - Click-bait thumbnails using reactionary hooks - Click-bait titles of the same sort - A relatively high video release cadence (multiple videos a month with relatively similar subjects) - An 'About' description that says A LOT without saying much

According to this person, "The Last Jedi" is, to quote them, 'very, very bad'. Now, far be it for me to say that someone is wrong for not liking a movie. If you don't like The Last Jedi, that's your right to hold that opinion. I don't agree, but that doesn't mean I'm right and you're wrong...

...that said... there's a very specific kind of person who thinks it's super important to announce that they think The Last Jedi is very, very bad. In their About description.

And right here is what I'm talking about when I say there's a specific kind of person who thinks it's super important to announce to the world that they are a big-brained genius who "knows" that a specific star war was one of the bad ones.

It's also why I don't think this person is attempting satire... but I know there are plenty of people who there who DO attempt satire of this kind of thing--and they end up looking exactly like the thing they're trying to satirize.

I don't really have much of a point here.

I guess I'm just kind of ranting.

I'd like a better class of video to be shown in my recommendations--not this hot garbage.

But that youtube algorithm just KNOWS ME SO WELL!!!

I guess that's why I follow a bunch'a folks whose work I genuinely like over on Nebula, so that I don't always have to put up with this nonsense when I'm looking for good stuff to watch.