#i am running around borking and having a great time
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Personal update about my anxiety
Time for another personal update! At the moment, I'm not really in a creative mood and my projects are all resting.
I am working on more stuff in my real life, including cleaning/decluttering my apartment and working through an anxiety app which will hopefully get me to start exposure (though I shudder at the thought alone).
The funny thing is, the app is for social anxiety, and I do have some social anxiety, but I think I mainly have agoraphobia (but there is no medical app available for this at the moment, so I took the next best thing). The app said: "Let's make a gradual steps plan, you first choose a very easy step, then one that is a little harder and harder, and so on until the hardest step comes at the top." And for the easiest step, it actually suggested one of my hardest steps: going into a store, buying something, and interacting with the cashier.
Checkouts give me such anxiety. I once had a full-blown panic attack because I couldn't remember the PIN number for my credit or debit card. And I very rarely get panic attacks. Luckily, my brother was present and he was able to pay for me while I almost hyperventilated and tears were streaming down my face.
Generally, I start sweating and get shaky hands which does not help while handling cards and remembering pin numbers. I get tunnel vision and cannot focus on anything that is going on around me. Sometimes, blood rushes in my ears so I have a hard time picking up whether someone is saying anything.
Then, all items need to be put into bags at lightning speed, and I always fear that I am not fast enough and that everyone else in line is annoyed and angry with me and this makes me even more nervous. Putting things away with shaky hands is tough!
So I send my boyfriend shopping for me or buy online most of the time. If I absolutely must, I can go shopping with one of my loved ones because I feel a tiny bit calmer and know I have a safety net with me. They can also help me put stuff in my bags. But alone? That's nightmare fuel for me. Same thing with using public transportation, I just can't do it. I also have a very hard time sitting in waiting rooms at the doctor's office, I get so tense and do not know what to do with myself. Oh, and I also have severe anxiety when I need to make a phone call 😫
But all that is seriously impacting my life, as you can imagine. And I want to change something.
Since the app is not helpful with suggestions for my gradually harder steps to take, I have to come up with my own, and it is harder than I thought! All the things I think about are really hard for me, I cannot think of less hard steps to take 😣
Even just going outside without a destination/going out by myself is also anxiety-inducing for me. I feel like I am watched all the time, I get tense and my thoughts start racing or going in circles.
This also happens while I am in a store to shop for something. I get paralysed sometimes with decision fatigue and if someone else comes into the same aisle, I have the urge to run away instantly. I get so distracted that I need to spend way more time in a store than usual and this is of course not making me calmer. I am just super exhausted after going shopping!
I am proud that I leave the house twice a week now to go for a walk with my best friend though. We have just established a second day of the week this year, and we still do not go twice every week, but pretty often, which is great. And I love to walk in nature, it calms me (if there aren't too many other people around). 😊
I am also making progress with my borked sleep cycle. I am a night owl 🦉, but being awake the whole night clashes a lot with my family's plans. I have tried for months to shift it, but in the last one to two weeks, I actually made real progress and went to bed 2 to 3 hours earlier than normal, which is really huge for me! I found out that there are lots of free audiobooks on YouTube that authors upload themselves. So one hour before I want to sleep, I put one on, set a shutdown timer of 60 minutes so it will turn off after that time, and then go to bed and listen to it until I fall asleep. This has motivated me enough to actually go to bed earlier.
As a result, I get more daylight and I am more inclined to do housework, which I also struggle with in general, so this is really great! I am focusing more on that now.
I also started playing Subnautica again, but I can only play for a few hours on end because it can get pretty intense.
I kinda want to play Sims 4 again (weird, I know). My anxiety app wants me to think more positively, so instead of thinking that it is no use updating my mods because the minute I do, another patch drops anyway and I have to start all over, I should think more positively. I will probably drop the game after playing for a day anyway, so it does not need to stay updated for long! Maybe downloading and updating mods is more fun than actually playing anyway? 😆
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Chicken
Last night at 4 am a chicken started screaming frantically. I leaped out of bed, very nearly fell over in a heap, and then thrashed and scrambled my way through two doorways and across the dark house. Lady was bouncing at the door, ready to GO and BORK FORCEFULLY at something. Chance was cowering on the floor, he does not do the midnight-chicken-menace routine. I never ask him to; we respect his limits.
I lurched out the door, still barely conscious, and grabbed for the walking staff I keep there. I got the broom, lightweight and relatively ineffective, but I didn’t have time for anything else. Armed (pathetically) with a broom and a grumpy attitude (and a half-shepherd-mutt) I raced down the steps and around the corner of the house. A trumpet fanfare would have been much appreciated. Did not have a light. Running out the front door instead of the back meant I hadn’t turned the outside lights on. No matter, I have great dark vision. Lady zoomed back and forth around the yard with her nose to the ground, but unfortunately she doesn’t know how to track a muddled trail, and the ground was running wet with evening rain. The chicken had shut up, either dead or back to sleep. We stomped around for some time, then headed back inside.
This morning all the hens were still present. Our exodus of the house, as disorganized and unarmed as it was, apparently scared off the critter. Did I ever get back to sleep? Not so much. Lady was refreshed and invigorated by our adventure, but I was tired all day.
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The Road Movie
Most movies follow a general script type depending on genre, and this is used to tell a story that has a satisfying ending. It is interesting when a movie mixes up type and tone and goes against genre type. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it is terrible. Great directing and acting can make the subversion of expectations less jarring (or more depending on the end goal), but the end goal and tone allows us to attach a film to a genre. But what about films that aren't about the end goal? There are many films that are in a sub-genre that focus on the journey with little regard to the end goal. These are what are called "road movies" and can fall under many different genres since the end goal doesn't really matter. Let's address some famous road movies through the years that are also classified in a variety of other genres:
Huckleberry Finn (1931)
The OG of travel films, this was the sequel to Tom Sawyer (1930) and had the same child actors. This wasn't what you would call financially successful, but this was largely due to the Great Depression. The 1939 version of the movie did a lot better and was one of the well known films of child actor Mickey Rooney. This story of travel was an early role for many actors including Rooney, Ron Howard, and Elijah Wood. Although there were threats of death and portrayals of slavery, this film was considered a family adventure in the pre-code film era. I guess a boy escaping his abusive father in the company of an adult escaped slave where people are actively attempting to rob and kill them was considered a fun family romp in the early 30s. This was the same story that came from a book that was banned in schools during the 1980s. It is a great story and I love the works of Mark Twain; I am just surprised at the genre.
Stagecoach (1939)
This is a great movie that transcends the Western genre of which it is categorized. A group of people all have different reasons for traveling from an Arizona territory over to New Mexico. There is word of vengeful thieves and angry Apaches that threaten the small band of travelers. It is actually very intense because the threat feels very real throughout the film. The entire film focuses on the journey and the relationships forged (and broken) on the way. This was the breakout role for John Wayne and was part of an amazing string of films directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne.
Easy Rider (1969)
This is a film that really spoke to the hippie movement during the Vietnam Era. It is statement on how difficult it is to truly be free and how society fears that freedom and tries to destroy it. The film might very well have the worst dialogue of any movie I have ever seen. Actors Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper were actively using drugs throughout film production, so the real draw was the sweet rides and the moving soundtrack. This is a movie where I actually want more driving montages and less character development because I don't identify with the characters at all. Maybe it is a generational gap.
Paper Moon (1973)
This film is amazing. It is the story of a traveling grifter who takes a little girl on the road with him after her mother dies. He teaches her how to make a living cheating people and they form a father-daughter type of relationship. It is a comedy drama that won the girl an Oscar for best supporting actress when she was only 10. Some nice back story, the girl is Tatum O'Neal and is the actual daughter of the grifter, played by Ryan O'Neal. It is kind of strange, but this is a "coming of age" film on the road.
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Now this is what I am talking about. Two brothers go on a trip after being released from jail because they got a message from God. I am pretty sure that this film still holds the record for most crashed vehicles in a single movie. It is also interesting that the film is technically a musical. The brothers stop at different locations and songs break out. In between stops, they are chased by the police in an almost demolition derby style chase. I really enjoy this movie and believe that it really keeps a fast pace (literally and figuratively), but, like many road films, I can't say it is good because it is more of an experience than a story.
Thelma and Louise (1991)
This was an interesting twist on the "run from the law" type of film. Two women are friends and decide go on a weekend retreat. They get in trouble after killing a man who tries to assault them and have to run from the authorities. It has a reputation for being very feminist (despite being directed by accused mesogenist Ridley Scott) because of the negative portrayal of men. It obviously wasn't that bad since it was nominated for 6 Oscars including both leads for best actress. In fact, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon were both nominated for best actress at the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs, and the Golden Globes. It is the quintessential road film since the end goal is constantly changing and best defined as "away from here."
Natural Bork Killers (1994)
This was kind of a strange film. It is a crime drama where the audience follows two killers with traumatic childhoods as they meet and go on a murder spree. Similar to Bonnie and Clyde, but with gory murders as the focus over bank robberies. It is directed by Oliver Stone, and criticizes the glorification of violence by the media. It is most definitely a road movie because the end goal for the two is simply to be together and enjoy the rush of breaking the law. Hm. It is actually quite a bit like Bonnie and Clyde. Interesting. I would like to make a note that my mom hates this film because of the shaky cam and Dutch angles. It made her feel sick at the theater.
Road Trip (2000)
OK. This is far and away my least favorite film on this list, but it is the most famous "boner road comedy" that I am familiar with. It is a high school/college coming-of-age film that focus on the sexual pursuits of a group of young men. These types of films are marked with gross out humor, gratuitous nudity, and boys trying to have sex. There was a bunch of films like this that came out around the early 2000s and they all had to do with boys traveling some place in search of idealized sex (the plot on this one is a little different, something to do with a sex tape) and generally they find that the best girl for them was there by them all along. It takes a nice idea of character development and throws raunchy jokes and boobs at it. I was not a fan, but it was definitely a thing.
Death Proof (2007)
This is much better shlock. It is the Tarantino version of exploitation grindhouse films of the seventies, but updated to be a women empowerment film. It was part of a double feature that was paired with a horrific zombie outbreak film directed by Rod Rodriguez, but this one is much better on its own. It is the story of an old stunt man who travels around looking for unsuspecting victims whom he can run down in his indestructible car. This is a great example of what a road movie can be because Tarantino took the concept of a slasher and put it completely on the road.
Mad Max Fury Road (2015)
Here is an action revenge film in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where most of the film is driving. The producers couldn't find a director who they trusted with remaking George Miller's Mad Max franchise so the 70 year old Miller said "hold my beer" and made this masterpiece that is arguably better than any of the first three (edit: I guess Miller always intended to direct but it took so long to go into production that he joked in interviews about giving up on it). The original trilogy with Mel Gibson presents an amazing world where most people are nomadic and traveling can be a life or death proposition. Fury Road is the further adventures of the character and his interaction with one Furiosa. The use of many practical effects on moving vehicles that was garnished with CG effects made for one of the best action films in the last decade. It was more than a simple movie about traveling; it was a land were the road was life and everything surrounded the ability to be mobile enough to get supplies in a dead world.
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This is by no means all of the road movies. The Wizard of Oz is technically a road movie. The Grapes of Wrath is a critically acclaimed road movie from around the same time. Comedies like The Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit, and National Lampoon's Vacation can all be classified in the genre. Rain Man is one of the best films of all time and it can be classified as a road movie. What it comes down to is that, when considering characters, a writer should think about the journey itself and think of how the leads interact with this entity. The road might be the best character in the whole story.
#road movies#thelma and louise#stagecoach#huck finn#mad max fury road#death proof#road trip#natural born killers#the blues brothers#paper moon#easy rider#introvert#introverts
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the big ‘so you’ve found my blog’ post;
So. The follow button has led you to me, and now here you are with me on your dash. I assume you’re here for one to three reasons: the ffxiv content I post and reblog, my character(s), and/or the aesthetic content. Possibly also my riveting commentary on why ffxiv hasn’t added a sidebraid hairstyle yet. You’re all valid and welcome here.
Maybe you’re curious about me and my OCs, but you don’t want to go digging through my blog and the absolute mess of tags I’ve amassed over the years. I’m here to present a half-assed solution to your curiosity instead of fixing my tags in any sort of meaningful way.
WHO RUNS THIS BLOG?
I’m Alicia, I run this circus.
she/her pronouns, I’m cis.
I’m 31 years old at the time of writing this post.
This blog is 5 going on 6 years old.
If you see @alannahcorvaine that blog is also me but I don’t use it anymore, as it’s a sideblog and I moved over to this blog years ago.
I’ve been playing FFXIV since 2015.
I also play Elder Scrolls Online and World of Warcraft and have separate blogs for related OCs, content, and aesthetics.
I’m a cat person but I also love dogs.
I have a five year old black cat named Kilala who keeps me in line.
I’m not much of a people person, I’m made of anxiety and paperclips.
I yell into the void a lot, the void being my blog.
I don’t really RP outside of spectacularly outstanding circumstances these days, but character and world building are my jam.
Even if I don’t RP, I’m always down for character connections and relationships. I’m totally up for brainstorming and bouncing around headcanons.
Most of the time in game you’ll find me either standing around my house or out in the world taking screenshots. My mailing address is gpose.
I have a full roster of 8 characters on Balmung, but currently only 3 are active. You’ll probably see screenshots of the others too from time to time.
THE OCs
A L A N N A H C O R V A I N E
Your first assumption on seeing my blog name is that it’s probably the name of the titular OC that this blog focuses on. You would be correct. All of my OCs have their own blogs, however I am infinitely lazy and just end up posting screenshots of everyone here because this is where the followers are and the sideblogs end up being used as aesthetic warehouses. Anywhoo, here’s some need-to-knows about Alannah.
Alannah has two main verses: Warrior of Light and Non-WoL.
Her non-WoLverse is actually the primary one, but with Shadowbringers I’ve been focusing more on her WoL story.
I also have an infinite amount of AU verses for her based on various media but nobody has time for me to list all of those.
In both verses she’s a White Mage, a capable healer, but focuses more on offensive elemental spells (wind, water, earth).
Alannah is my only OC with a Warrior of Light verse.
She’s 23 years old.
She has severe allergies to grass, pollen, dust, dander, and certain foods.
Her allergy reactions are largely kept at bay by a delicate chain diadem made and blessed by padjal. It also helps correct her shitty vision, magic is great.
Her deepest fears include deep water and phurbles.
She has four older brothers: Faron, Ean, Davon, and Brennan.
Family issues. Just so many family issues. That’s an entire post on its own.
Her hair is dark brown, not black. I cannot state this emphatically enough no matter what my edits look like.
The white streaks are magical scars, the cause of them vary by verse.
Non-WoL Alannah is married to Nine Outway, they have a three-year old daughter named Aislinn.
Warrior of Light Alannah (hereafter known as WoLannah) I ship exclusively with dead ghost boyfriend Ardbert.
Deep-seated anger issues buried beneath a placid and friendly exterior.
Her aether is just irreparably borked and highly chaotic and is controlled via her staff and arcane symbols painted onto her arms in aether ink.
Her childhood dream was to be a powerful thaumaturge, which didn’t work out with her aether control issues.
R E B E C C A “B R I N A” C R O S S
( @thesilentcygnet )
26 years old.
Born to a moderately wealthy Limsan merchant family.
2 older sisters: Pippa and Lacy.
Jacke Swallow (of rogues guild fame) is her best friend (and secret love) since childhood.
Her entire family was murdered when she was 16 because her father made shady deals with the wrong people and owed them money.
She’s been mute since the day of the massacre after witnessing the murders while hiding in the cellar beneath their feet.
She’s been staying with Jacke and his cohorts in the Dutiful Sisters of the Edelweiss since then, though he’s the only one that knows her true identity.
A long chain of events has lead to her being kidnapped from Kugane, shipwrecked off the coast of Othard twice, sucked into a magical whirlpool, and left stranded on the First.
Will she ever get home? Perhaps, when I’ve finally decided that her ridiculous journey has been Odyssean enough.
K H I A R N A K H A
( @khi-tastrophe )
29 years old.
An incandescent ball of unquenchable rage, probably for valid reasons.
The daughter of the khan of a minor offshoot of the Kha tribe.
Had a twin sister named Khiela, who pretended to be kidnapped by an aggressive suitor and lead Khiarna on a wild goose chase across Eorzea in an attempt to find her.
Khiela and her lover conspired to and succeeded in murdering her father.
Khiarna returned to Othard and murdered the shit out of both of them in retaliation for killing her father.
She was then unanimously chosen as her father’s successor and currently reigns as khatun to the nomadic merchant tribe.
While traveling across Eorzea in search of her errant sister, Khi was involved in a relationship with a pathological liar, which has severely damaged her ability to trust people (on top of her family drama).
Currently in a relationship with Sidirahg of the Sixth ( @sidirahg ), who has the patience of a saint with her issues and also might be a masochist.
Khi is a shaman and uses a mix of conjury and pugilism in combat.
She covers her fists and feet in a solid layer of rock and then lights them on fire, using a combination of speed, flexibility, and disorienting blows to fell her opponents.
COMMON TAGS I USE
#alannah aesthetic - aesthetic tag.
#screenshots - tag for unedited screenshots of my characters.
#edits - tag for screenshot edits done by me.
#drabbles - tag for writing done by me.
#about alannah - tag for character profile memes, ask replies, relevant quotes.
#art of alannah - tag for art i’ve commissioned of Alannah.
#commissions - tag for art i’ve commissioned that also includes my other OCs.
#lanna things - tag for posts relevant to Alannah.
#9 - tag for posts related to Nine Outway.
#familial faultlines - tag for all of Alannah’s family issues.
#benedictions]&[bulletholes - ship tag for Alannah and Nine (contains screenshots, quotes, and aesthetic inspiration).
#the gravity of guilt - sub-B&B ship tag referencing events at the ruins of Nym.
#scars of nym - another B&B tag because I don’t have enough of them.
#otp: as one fool to another - ship tag for WoLannah and Ardbert
#AU: Warrior of Light - WoLannah tag.
#AU: Gloriana - tag for the AU in which Alannah goes power mad / angry at the world and misuses her magic to become an unstoppable force of destruction.
#AU: Dark Sunrise - tag for the AU in which Nine perma-dies and Alannah sells her soul to the darkness.
#keeper’s captain - ship tag for Brina and Jacke.
#boyfriend adjust - ship tag for Khi and Sid.
#tbd - tag for me yelling into the void that I pretend I’ll delete later.
OTHER BLOGS
@eastofean - ffxiv aesthetic inspo blog for Ean Corvaine.
@aether-and-ash - ffxiv aesthetic inspo blog for Aislinn Outway.
@blacklacelullaby - ffxiv aesthetic inspo blog for Katja Iryut.
@cleric-stance - salty healer memes.
@sundownsanctuary - nsfw aesthetic inspo blog.
@lannahlearnsart - my hoard of digital art tutorials.
@halion - general World of Warcraft blog and inspo for my WoW OCs.
@veil-of-blades - ESO inspo blog for various Elder Scrolls OCs.
@theviciousnothing - my personal aesthetic blog.
PARTING NOTES
You’ve done it, you’ve reached the end of this post. All of this is just a basic overview of me and my characters, if you ever have any questions about anything please feel free to drop me an ask or a DM any time. Thanks for following. ♥
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2x2 rewatch
Eeeeehehehehe, why the fuck am I laughing this hard when I realized it was the roadkill compost episode? That is not in the least funny, it’s actually pretty gross, but I’m literally paused 3 seconds in chortling to myself so hard that I’m having to wipe away tears. ...I think the stress is getting to me. Anyway, back to fictional Wyoming!
It’s actually a pretty genius business model, to be honest. Taking a sadly repeating resource and using it to enrich the soil? Tough work, no doubt, physically and mentally, but a smart and very niche thing. I hadn’t thought about the fact that cleaning up roadkill would have been part of Walt’s job as a deputy. Lucian said in S6, in his fantastically circuitous way, that it had been 10 years since he and Walt had worked together (if I remember correctly). Which... wait, is that right? Had Walt really only been sheriff for 4 years when the show started? Which is a single term, before Branch ran against him. I think I’d had the impression that he’d been sheriff for longer than that. Or is my math just super borked? (A very real possibility.) Who were Walt’s deputies before these three? Branch has probably been a deputy for a while, Vic was hired a few months before the show and it isn’t clear for Ferg but it’s implied at least a chunk longer. So who were his deputies for the rest of those 4 years? (Aaaaaand this is how I grow OCs. Shit.)
She names the roadkill? Eeeeeh...
Branch, you douchecanoe. You are very clearly not welcome in her home anymore; the fact that she hasn’t moved the spare key isn’t a fucking invitation to break in and invade her privacy, oh my gods I hate you so much. This is predatory behavior. You need to either go through official channels with the department to do a wellness check or FUCK RIGHT OFF into the deepest reaches of hell. Excellent plan, fucking off.
Henry, I adore you beyond measure. “Thanks-taking.” Vic... Seriously? “God, you people really hold a grudge.” Somehow, I think they’re kind of entitled to, what with all of the wars, genocide, stolen land, racism, broken treaties, and the like. Get bent.
Genuinely, Henry’s dry as anything sass is quite possibly the best thing about the whole show. We didn’t get nearly enough of it during the later seasons. And his little smiiiiile at having made Walt chuckle, oh my heart.
The “Hands up!” O.o “Hands down!” little comedy gag is totally sold by KS’s face, haaaa. And Ferg’s bafflement, but collected response to those truckers thinking he was a rentboy was solid.
I kind of have to applaud that sex worker’s gumption to just try to take off in the truck. Not the best thought out plan, to be sure, but gutsy.
Ok, Branch has just had a line establishing that they’re not in Absaroka, and then Vic and Ferg look annoyed/confused when Walt tells them to cut the sex workers and customers loose, but then Branch finishes with, “Absaroka County wishes you all a fine evening... at home.” So are they in Absaroka, or not??
Kudos to Walt saying, “Which will allow you to get out of here. If that’s what you want.” Not falling completely into the savior complex bs is good, and acknowledging that she is an adult who can make her own decisions, even if they’re ones he would wish she wouldn’t is good. ........If only he could extend that same courtesy to his own daughter.
Branch, wtf. It’s a felony to even have burglar’s tools. Legit, it’s a felony punishable with up to 3 years in prison or up to $3k, or both. Unlawful entry is 10 years and/or $10k, and I’m pretttttyyyyyy fucking sure you don’t have a warrant to be in Cady’s house. FUCK OFF. You giant douchecanoe. (Min and I also have a headcanon that the random coloured empty frames are Branch’s fault, because they don’t really go with any of the rest of the decor, and we hate them. So we decided that when he saw the Andy Warhol style print she had that he got those for her and she just never got around to taking them down after they broke up.) And isn’t tampering with someone’s mail a federal offence? You are the worst.
Aaaand then Walt calls the Collettes showing Ross Lanten’s wife video of him with prostitutes “interfering in his marriage.” Okaaaay. Because helping get a woman and kids out of what has several hallmarks of an abusive marriage is “interfering,” I guess. Not the happiest about that word choice, I’m not gonna lie.
Aaaaaand then Whitish is super racist, and I hate her. Henry handles it with grace, but fuck, I cannot imagine how wearying that must be. And Branch makes obnoxious and offensive assumptions (playing to his strengths, natch), and Henry once again demonstrates how he is also the Actual Best.
Nobody has heard from Cady recently, but the tiny little hesitation Henry has before he confirms that he hasn’t heard from her either is so good. LDP is so good. Just from that, it reinforces how much that bothers him, and that he’s worried, but also that he really doesn’t want to talk to Branch about any of it.
“If you do, will you let me know?” “I most certainly will not.” Such a classy way to basically tell Branch to fuck off and get wrecked.
A lady threatening Henry with a knife and I should not be focusing on how great he looks in a vest, but heeeeere we are. (I do love that brown vest.) And even after she is drunk and rude and racist and threatens him, Henry’s look when she says that she knew the dead man still has concern and compassion in it. Waaaaaah.
Do I remember what Walt did to his hand? Was that something from this episode that I’m not remembering right now, or are they actually having some intra-episode continuity and that bandage is him still recovering from the start of frostbite? [Dang it, my Xbox controller just pooped out. Now I have to go swap it out for the other one and stick this one in the charging dock. But I’m so cozy in bed with my jar o’ tea and everythinggggg. Boo.] ... [It has been long enough since I wrote that last bit that my Xbox has shut itself down twice in the interim. Oops. I’m super great at focusing.]
Fuck, that “I was some place I shouldn’ta been” hits hard. This whole seen in rough.
Aaaahaha, why is the fact that Ferg is also standing there looking at Walt when he wakes up so much funnier than if it had just been Vic? And his little grin. And Ruby with a mug of his toothbrush and such for Walt! Rubyyyyy! (Holy shit, the fact that they have this little set up is alarmingly adorable, and I heckin’ adore Ruby.) And then she sasses Branch, and I just want nice things for her.
Walt’s “If you want,” to Ferg came off to me more like, ‘waste your time if you want to,’ (though that could well be my own issues projected” but I’m proud of Ferg for running with it. And I do appreciate Walt calling the sex worker a lady.
Of course, he pulls Henry into his bs, getting him to solicit a sex worker. Why does Henry put up with him? I’m sorryyyy, but the pointing is so awkward and I cringe so hard, but what else is he going to do, I guess? And how does he recognize her anyway? Did Walt take a picture of her before letting her go, or something? It doesn’t seem like he even got her name, to pull up a picture from a rap sheet, sooo... Why am I even worrying about it? And at least Walt doesn’t think that it’s not rape just if it’s a sex worker.
The flashback scene sure hits hard, too. Damn. I’m trying to remember the last time I saw anybody other than Vic actually pull on a glove in consideration of fingerprints. I think there might have been one time or something, but nothing comes readily to mind.
For all that I rag on Walt for just collecting his assumptions and taking them to the bank, there is heavy irony with him now laying out the reasons he’s not arresting Whitish, because there is reasonable doubt in the form of the Collettes.
Ooooooope, and then Branch brings up Cady. I sure this can only go really well. Aaaaaaaaand of course Walt has one of his Longmire Epiphanies and just walks off in the middle of the conversation, such as it was.
Does a college registrar’s really have your birth certificate on file? I’m pretty sure I didn’t have to submit a copy to mine, but I also don’t really remember? But that seems weird.
Ah, the bandage was about the frostbite. I appreciate the continuity.
Hmmmmmm, Cady leaving her phone at home when she drove to CO seems unlikely. It seems unlikely as a generality for her generation, and on practical levels (directions to the precinct and such?), and just... That’s pretty hard to buy. If I don’t want to talk to somebody, or even a bunch of people, I’d ignore calls or even block numbers, but her not taking her phone gives the impression that there is literally nobody that she would want to talk to, and that plays into this really weird bit of characterization void that the writers fell into of Cady just not knowing any single person other than her dad, Henry, Ruby, Branch, and Ferg, and I guess Vic. As if she just doesn’t exist outside of her relation to one of them. She doesn’t want to talk to any of the 6 of them, so there is not a single other person on the planet who she would want to be able to talk to/have them contact her? There’s not a single other person on the planet that she knows who if they called and said, “I have an emergency, can you talk/help?” that she wouldn’t want to be available for? Bullshit. The entire rest of the series when she’s onscreen is showing how much she cares. She’s a fucking Hufflepuff, and she’s not going to leave her damn phone at home while she drives 6 hours away into another damn state. If you so desperately need to that she’s not even seeing his call, have her leave it in her car when she goes into the Denver station. Like, unless she has a second phone that she did take, I’m not buying it. Even as an attempt at “she’s so caught up in her mother’s murder now, oooo, Longmire tantrum and singular focus’ characterization. Just, boo.
#Longmire#cady longmire#walt longmire#Henry Standing Bear#The Ferg#Branch is such a tool#episode commentary
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Quarantine, Day 129
July 18
I'm feeling extra tired tonight and I'm not sure why. Just kind of run down, I guess, or maybe feeling one of those bouts of ennui that sometimes sweep in when you've had too many of the same day in a row. Maybe it's because I started MPRE study today and it reminds me that I really need to get a job even though I have no idea what school is going to look like this year or even what searching for a job will be like or who is hiring. It's just easier not to think about that stuff whenever possible, but at some point I'm going to flop face-first into all of it and I'm going to have to deal. And that is a depressing thought.
Good news this evening on the kitten front; all four kittens were accounted for at feeding time tonight. At first it was only the same two tabbies as last night and I was worried, but then the third tabby and the tuxie joined in and they all ate like tiny starving wolves. Mama didn't show up at all, which was a little weird, but I guess I can try and trap her separately if I really have to. The kittens are much bolder and more foolish when she isn't around, so that would make them easier to get in the drop trap all at once. I've inched the food a little further away from the storm drain to get them used to coming out for it, but at the same time I don't want them coming out too far and attracting attention from people in the parking lot. That just makes things more complicated. Day after tomorrow is trap day!
The kiddo played Minecraft most of the day, with mixed results. When he is having fun with Minecraft he has a lot of fun, but when it is bad, he is super-frustrated. Today he managed to both blow himself up with some misplaced TNT and bork his entire world by doing a command line to give himself 1000000 rockets instead of 100. Hopefully this sort of experience helps him learn to cope with frustration in productive ways, but right now it's just unpleasant for everyone. I was able to commiserate at least, having rage-quite Minecraft several times myself over various misfortunes. The thing about Minecraft, though, is that it is always there and you always go back to it eventually.
Tomorrow is grocery day again, or rather, a few groceries and a lot of school supplies. Last year Walmart did not offer school supplies for grocery pickup, but this year they are, even the rollback stuff. Assuming it works and is not all just unavailable tomorrow, that will be very excellent! We still don't know what school is going to look like, but I figure I can safely assume that notebooks, pencils, glue sticks, etc will all still be required. And I simply cannot resist a good twenty-five cent notebook! I'm also getting all the snacks that will be required for our trip. The idea of going anywhere is kind of scary, especially on a trip that is very likely to require an overnight in a hotel room. It's funny because six months ago we spent ten days in a hotel room at Christmas with my folks and it was great because we had our own space to spread out, a pool and unlimited hot water. Now I don't want to even overnight in one. But sixteen hours really is a very long time to drive all in one day.
I heard on my local community group that Virginia Beach's titular beachfront got shut down today because of too many people on the beach. I am at once rolling my eyes and grumbling that people are morons and admitting to myself that I understand the impulse. The guys have gone to the beach twice since we got back, though they have gone during less popular hours and to less popular beaches where there are not many people. Not everybody really has that option, and the beach in VA Beach is beautiful, especially when the weather is so hot and muggy. And most people did not have the chance that the kiddo and I did to decamp to a privately-owned island back in March to wait out the first days of the pandemic on a beautiful and practically empty beach (also empty because the ocean is _cold_ in March, but the beach is still fun!) Being safe without going crazy is a luxury that varies wildly with your financial and family situation. We personally do not have a lot but we still have the main breadwinner's job, one that can be done remotely. We also have families with greater resources than us who can backstop us and help out, as well as provide other places to go and still be relatively safe.
It doesn't keep me from judging entirely when I see people doing objectively dumb things, but I'm trying to remember compassion and empathy as well. Back when I ran the soup kitchen, I would get incredibly frustrated by people who would intimate (rarely say aloud, because we were all pious churchgoing folk) that most people who needed our services were there because they made bad choices and if they would just do x, y and z, they could better themselves in no time. And of course maybe x, y and z would help, but how do you do any of those things when you don't have a home, or a healthy mind or body, or if you're so deep into an addiction you can't see a way out, or you have a criminal record that will keep you from ever being a real part of society again? You can't know what people are going through unless you're willing to sit down with them and hear them and actually try to understand. Sometimes all you can do is give them a hot meal and a smile and some human contact they don't have to sacrifice their dignity to get.
I don't know why the people go to the beach, or the bar, or the dine-in restaurant. I don't know if it's their only outing in months, or if they're at the end of their rope from staying indoors, or if they're just desperate for things to not feel so bad and scary all the time. I suspect that many of them do it because they are willfully ignoring the risk, which is not great. I absolutely think they ought to be wearing masks because that is an easy way to help yourself and others. But the only person whose heart I really know is myself, so it behooves me not to pretend like I know why other people do things that seem foolish and risky. So I'm glad they closed the beach today, but I'm going to try and do better about judging the people who went there.
In slightly related news, my sixteenth wedding anniversary is next week. I am feeling kind of bummed about the extremely limited date options available to us, but it'll be okay. Honestly, I suspect that if we gave the kiddo his own pizza and pop and unlimited screentime for the evening, he would happily babysit himself in his room and allow us a romantic living room date. But I think we may just have takeout for three and a raincheck for when things are not quite so strange.
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Would you rather see GB buff Zane's other trees, buff everybody else to be on par with Seein dead Zane, or nerf Seein dead?
Why only stick with one? Let's go for D, A mix of everything, plus other class mod buffs (for all!). I can't imagine Seein Dead Zane is the strongest VH atm (as far as I know, I haven't been keeping up with meta because this game beyond my own little bubble is kinda making me sad-o lately. I thought that award went to IB Moze nowadays), but regardless of my knowledge yes I'd genuinely love to see everyone at the same power level. Buffs ahoy! Or nerfs. Whichever works, so long as the game is actually fun and satisfying to play.
I'd personally like them to swap the Seein Red capstone with Seein Dead, but without the +25% kill skill buff. (aka: Seein Dead (mod): activate kill skills on action skill start. Get +25% kill skill efficiency. Seein Red (capstone): Zane has a chance to activate Kill Skills when shooting/damaging an enemy). Seein Dead would still be his top mod probably, but at least it would open him up for other playstyles (somewhat- we still actually need damage in his other trees). He's almost unplayable end game without that mod, because of his reliance on the skills it buffs, and I'd love to try a late-game build on him that isn't centered around kill skills for once. I tried to make a Conductor build and gave up after it took 4x as long to do anything. His new mod (won't go into more specifics bc spoilers) is looking a tiny bit promising for an Under Cover build, but we'll have to see how well that actually plays out when I get down into it. I get the feeling the damage output is going to be 'not good'. But I will be very happy if I'm wrong!!
That said, I really want to be able to use any other class mod at M10. Op8/10, my main VH Zer0 had the sniper OR melee build and even for the melee build (I am a dirty melee zer0 main) I could swap between two legendary mods. In Bl3 that difference is felt even harder because class mods are supposed to give us unique skills. But it's a pretty goddamn easy choice between "get a random dot when freezing an enemy" or "activate all your kill skills and also they get a 25% damage buff". They could've buffed Death Follows Close and Seein' Red, you know to match pre-release values (and maybe also swapped their positions back to how they were iunno just a thought), but instead dropped that class mod on us (BEHIND A PAY WALL NO LESS) and said 'whelp. We did it, boys. Zane complainers are no more'. If anybody wants to play Zane late game, they've gotta drop money on the Handsome Jackpot dlc to get their hands on the mod. That's so... Messed up? Like it feels like they locked his fix behind a pay wall and a gear slot. Like, Zane mains don't get to experiment with the new class mods that drop because we know it's never gonna top Seein Dead. Even if it's kind of 'okay' in comparison. So maybe buff his other mods? Fix Zane's skill trees? Both?? Like why. Okay. Hear me out. Seein Red: activate kill skills on AS start. Wonderful! CCnC: (potentially) infinite AS uptime. Cool! But trying to mix those two together? There's no synergy. Why does Good Misfortune buff Zane's AS uptime when the literal next skill in the tree rewards short uptime and fast cooldown? Same with Borrowed Time. There's so much... Non-synergy in his trees it's almost comical. Fixing Seein' Red would open up a ton of possibilities. Running a CCnC/Seein' Red build could actually be possible if they made it so Seein Red activated Kill Skills on damage. Or! Fix CCnC so each proc of it counts as both action skill end AND action skill start. Do *something* to make his skills synergize instead of being polar opposites.
And it's not just Zane, but he's the biggest example in my books since I know him the best. I hear Amara only has 1 (2?) good mods, too. She definitely only seems to have 1 good action skill and it's unfortunately the Phaselock redux. They could buff her other two skills, make phaseslam or phasecast actually hit hard at later levels, but they don't. It's the whole Deathtrap thing again, except now they proved its possible for AS to deal damage in m10 with iron bear and Blane (Zane's clone) so what's the deal? Also, I'd love to see Amara actually deal decent damage with DoTs at higher levels given how many of her skills are dedicated to them. It would make that one class mod that applies your AS element dot to all enemies hit by your AS really cool for mobbing.
So, okay, clearly I'd love to see everyone balanced at one level, but honestly I think they need to get to max level before they do that. I don't think we're going to have a 'Salvador' situation in 3 unless they fork up the new skill trees Big Time, so I'd love to see all the VHs at one power level (whatever they decide is best). The constant tweaking to max levels and adding new skills/gear/Mayhem levels is doing not great things to the balance (or fun-ness, imo). I get the game is still in development, and I get that they wanna buff longetivity with grinding with each level cap, but my biggest wish is that before they add new content, that they'll fix the stuff we have now so there's a base to go off of. VH skills, class mods, guns, grenades, Mayhem levels, all of it. I especially want them to test stuff at M10, given what happened with the Guardian Takedown on launch.
I know the borderlands games aren't... The best... At scaling/balancing issues late-game. But I really hope they will try to fix that this time. It is extremely disheartening to see every patch/hotfix that Zane is still... Basically borked at the base level. He's had a handful of really good fixes (stacking kill skills, the buff to quick breather) but a lot of his trees/skills are still pretty messed up, especially when you think about synergy. Also, you know, just saying, the Under Cover tree is just... So bad after tier 3. I used to vouch for CCnC, but why use CCnC when we have good misfortune which is 3x better with none of the restrictions? And why use his ice-based life steal skill, when you can get life steal at tier 2 on *any* enemy, frozen or not? Someone just needs to scrap the whole tree and remake it from the ground up. That capstone is... Blegh. So bad. I have not seen a single viable, m10 build with that capstone. You can make Seein Red work. You can make Double Barrel work. Fuckin distributed denial? N O P E. I tried. So got-damg hard. But it's a headache when it doesn't work with at LEAST half the shield effects in the game and you don't know which ones it won't work with without testing and also it's mainly for multi-player and none of my friends wanna play because the balance is so forked and...
Aw geez. This just turned into a rant about things I want fixed haha. Sorry about that, it's late and I get cranky and rambly at night.
So uh. To answer the question: yes. Just. YES.
Tl;dr: Someone please fix Zane I want him to be playable late-game without players needing to drop money on DLCs. plz thx.
#Sorry I ramble when I think about his skills :(#They're#So bad#Just.#They seem good in theory but no#Someone fix him please#Is asking for a full overhaul of a character after year 1 is over too much? No.#Fix him!!!#Ech#I could go on for years#I won't#But I could#Any who#Thank you!!!#Ask#I appreciate the chance to go feral for a moment#Bl3
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hc; og dante 12
In honor of @dwellsinme who inspired me with her HC to post mine, because I’ve had it but haven’t gotten around to actually posting about it.
Dante - my Dante - is very much ADHD.
It’s kind of a tossup whether his nature as a hybrid has anything to do with it (see: PJO series), but he is definitely, definitely ADHD and has been since he was a kid. Unfortunately, in the late 70s-early 80s, neurodivergence wasn’t as big or talked about a concept, so no one really had any idea, and Dante’s so detached from the normal human life at this point it’s probably never come up and never will. He functions....as well as one would expect with that on top of cPTSD and depression, but, yknow, he manages. So it’s never been a real, true problem. Drove his parents and teachers crazy as a little, and definitely drives people crazy now, but...that’s just how Dante is.
I’m gonna go into more detail under a cut just because long post incoming:
To start I’m just gonna drop a list of symptoms here, so you can kinda see what I’m getting at: bolding is mine, and is the symptoms Dante visibly explicitly shows and expresses (for the record, he definitely has combined type, which has symptoms of both inattentive and hyperactive)---
Inattentive type:
Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another
Have difficulty maintaining focus on one task
Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless doing something they find enjoyable
Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing or completing a task
Have trouble completing or turning in homework assignments, often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities
Appear not to be listening when spoken to
Daydream, become easily confused, and move slowly
Have difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others
Struggle to follow instructions
Have trouble understanding details; overlooks details
Hyperactive type:
Fidget or squirm a great deal
Talk nonstop
Dash around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight
Have trouble sitting still during dinner, school, and while doing homework
Be constantly in motion
Have difficulty performing quiet tasks or activities
Be impatient
Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequences
Have difficulty waiting for things they want or waiting their turn in games
Often interrupt conversations or others' activities
Okay, so maybe he leans a lot heavier into hyperactive type, but, I mean. Watch him doing stuff, especially in 3 and 4 --- he’s definitely very easily distracted, doesn’t seem to listen a lot, and focus is only kept when he’s really interested in something, otherwise he super ignores it. And details? Ha! What are those, he just jumps in and does things.
As for the hyperactive symptoms, I don’t think I need to point out many specific instances, it’s...we all see it. He’s constantly running his mouth, constantly in motion, constantly moving, playing with things, bouncing on his feet, fidgeting, fighting, moving a lot as he fights...I mean look at him playing with every single new toy he gets immediately, and especially look at him with Cerberus. He’s loud, he’s present, he’s very impatient --- we see that a lot in 3 re: puzzles and locks --- and honestly he’s very good at interrupting people. Not to mention that thing about saying inappropriate things, and being unable to restrain emotions or actions? Definitely Dante, demonstrably so.
Other symptoms Dante definitely has --- and this is speaking as me, an ADHD person, who sees a lot of my bullshit in Dante --- are:
MOTIVATION ISSUES (don’t @ me Vergil): Look at this guy, he can’t or won’t do anything that doesn’t click into his interests (and even then!!) unless he gets pushed or bullied or bribed into it. He needs to be given a significant and heavy reason to get up and do shit, otherwise he’ll just sit around or blow it off and claim pickiness. And sure, he is picky --- because specific criteria on What Will Interest Him is another ADHD thing!! --- but man, even then, you can see in the anime he has to be pushed out the door to get shit done sometimes. This is clearly contributing to his broke situation. And when he’s Depressed it’s worse, look at the state of his office in 5!!
REJECTION SENSITIVE DYSPHORIA: Now this one isn’t quite as obvious, because he’s REALLY GOOD at pretending he’s fine, but he really does not cope well with being yelled at/rejection/being pushed away by people, especially people he likes. That’s a mood. This was worse by far when he was a kid, and is part of why he’s such a pushover and can easily be bullied into doing things for people he likes or people he wants to like him. He doesn’t want to be rejected or criticized, so time to do what they want me to! No problem, no argument!
SLEEP PROBLEMS: Either he is like LOOK MA NO SLEEP I CAN DO THIS ALL WEEK or he’s sleeping constantly and looking like Rip Van fucking Winkle. Now this does overlap with the depression, but ADHD internal clocks are borked to hell and back, too, so his sleep schedule and how much/little he sleeps is just. What even. How.
TIME PROBLEMS: Either something is Now or it is Not Now and if it is Not Now it is not worth caring about or worrying about.
IMPULSE CONTROL: As mentioned above, but with the added problem of “what is delayed gratification I don’t know her”, and needing rewards for what he’s doing Now Please Thanks.
DECISION MAKING: When confronted with difficult decisions, either you a) freeze because AAHHHH TOO MUCH or b) just Do Something because panic without thinking. Also what the FUCK is a plan, there are no plans, plans don’t exist.
BOREDOM IS EVIL: No being bored, ever, oh god, nope, fuck that cannot be bored boredom is the devil and causes BAD BAD THINGS. Must always be doing things, needs entertainment, needs stimulation or will quickly devolve into a lump on the couch. If thing is boring, will NOT do it, nope, fuck that.
CHILDLIKE BEHAVIOR: Like whew. I mean. Local 42yo man acts like a 10yo boy pretending to be an 80s action hero like in the movies, constantly, as if he thinks that mimicking that is how Adults Are. And just, generally acting like an enormous child.
WEIRD KID: Just...generally coming off as weird or different or Outside The Norm, not good with normal human social cues and responses to things, acts weird and like an outcast and doesn’t seem to quite fit in with normal people.
FIXATIONS: Pizza pizza pizza NEVER GET BORED OF PIZZA I COULD EAT PIZZA EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE also sundaes.
MUSIC...GOOD: This is more subjective, but Dante’s thing with music strikes me as a thing mostly because I am that person who NEEDS TO BE LISTENING TO MUSIC ALL THE TIME HOLY SHIT, I CANNOT STAND IF THERE IS NO BACKGROUND NOISE TO MY LIFE. I get so antsy I want to jump off a cliff when there’s no background noise/music in the car and I Need music on to do anything; but at the same time I can’t listen to podcasts or videos because music I just tune out and it’s There, Good, Wonderful, but if it’s something to concentrate on with Words To Understand, it is BAD and it needs Full Focus or I Don’t Hear SHIT. So, yeah, that too.
NON SEQUITURS EVERYWHERE: You know that THING where topic A comes up and in your head you jump ahead five things in a way only you understand, and then you speak up and bring up topic F out of nowhere because YOU got to it in your head but everyone else is like what the fuck, so you kinda shut up or laugh it off? Yeah. Also that other feel when you’re still on topic B but the rest of the group went on to topic C or D and you’re internally screaming because NO I STILL HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO SAY GET BACK HERE.
WHAT THE FUCK IS VOLUME CONTROL THIS IS MY NORMAL SPEAKING VOICE I’M NOT SHOUTING????: Self explanatory.
BAD AT HEARING THINGS: Needs VERY specific instructions, but also things need repeating a lot because he’s quick to accidentally tune stuff out.
READING: Trouble reading LONG blocks of text. Magazines Good, short articles Good.
Local Man Laughs At Own Jokes, WHAT THEY’RE FUNNY
MALADAPTIVE DAYDREAMING: He did this more as a kid, but it still applies; local child looks like he’s just kind of vibrating quietly but otherwise paying attention? NOPE he’s having an epic adventure in his head and is not listening to a word. Vergil will tell him later if it’s important.
THE LEG BOUNCE: Speaking of, he CANNOT SIT STILL. He’s at the MINIMUM rocking in his seat or bouncing his foot or tapping his fingers, sometimes as chords to a guitar but other times just taptaptap.
Stopping What Is Stopping, or alternatively, HOW TO START EVEN IDK.
Getting/being increasingly SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE but just sitting there with a smile while internally going AAAAAAAAAAAAA in increasing volume, because you have no idea how to disengage.
Things not immediately in view or immediately important Cease To Exist Entirely.
Related, visual exhaustion aka I HAVE LIVED WITH THIS MESS SO LONG THAT THE MESS IS BACKGROUND NOISE AND DOES NOT EXIST TO ME, I NO LONGER SEE IT, IT IS SCENERY.
Is the only member of this family who can drink caffeine, ADHD cancels the effect out.
Actually Pretty Goddamn Smart, but the disconnect of not having any education after 5th grade and that GOOD GOOD RSD thanks to bitchy clients kicked in and he internalized that he’s dumb now oops, might as well not try. See Also That Good Good RSD RE: bitchy dates, guess he’s just A Terrible Date, whoops, gonna just Not do that anymore. Basically if enough people give him shit about a thing, guess he’s just NOT gonna do that thing anymore!! Yep!!!
Bad at doing things The Proper Way, procedures and rules and bureaucracy are BORING GOTTA GET STUFF DONE NOW MY WAY. Never showed his work in math ever.
Actually really smart, but got in trouble a lot for lack of visibly paying attention, being unable to sit still in class, and not following instructions. He could do the work and do it right, with or without listening to the lecture, but because he did it on his own terms and by his own rules, even if he got the right answer, he got in trouble. RSD convinced him later in life he was an idiot, but he still is really good at out of the box thinking and figuring shit out with limited information.
Gets Frustrated, Stops Doing Thing (or IMPULSIVITY ACTIVATE FORM OF DOING STUPID SHIT TO GET THING DONE)
Bad habit of WORRY when understimulated, also tendency towards insecurity, this is made WORSE x100 by his PTSD. Not to mention a bit of chronic low self esteem because of most of the above.
Low self esteem feeds into really bad self-awareness; he really doesn’t quite understand or process the effects he has on people, for good or ill.
ADDICTIVE!! BEHAVIOR!!! (see: The Booze)
Stopping this here because a) you get my point by now and b) I’M going full ADHD on fixating on this post so I’m cutting myself off here. Anyway, yeah. There’s this.
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Les Misérables 2018, Episode 1
So I guess all the cool kids are doing episode reviews, huh?
As I’ve said, we can’t properly evaluate this adaptation until we find out whether Gavroche makes fun of Enjolras’s beard, but here are my thoughts so far.
The Good:
• Merging the timelines so the narrative can follow all three protagonist groups simultaneously was a brilliant adaptation decision. It slightly borks Fantine and Cosette’s timeline, but it was so, so worth it because it solves the “my second protagonist iz pastede on yay” problem that afflicts so many versions of Les Misérables, including the Brick. I understand why Marius is there, but I’m not convinced Hugo’s audience cared even at the time, and if they did 50% of his narrative purpose evaporated at the Battle of Sedan. If Davies wanted to do a reasonably faithful adaptation that gives Marius equal time with Valjean he really needed to address this problem somehow, and he did, and it works. The intercutting was maybe a little faster than ideal, but this was an inspired choice.
• This adaptation has the best sense of place of any I’ve seen, including the 1934 French one which was actually filmed on location but didn’t really believe in establishing shots. The bagne was extremely well done, Digne looked like Digne, Paris was passible.
• The Pontmercy/Gillenormand group were FLAW FREE. Baby Marius was adorable, Georges was hot and sad, Gillenormand was a flaming pile of royalist trash. I felt like this adaptation really got him in his horrible Ultra soul. These are far and away the best English-language Georges and Gillenormand we’ve ever had, and possibly the best of all time.
• Nicolette is the hero of this episode apparently? I am very okay with this, and I feel like Hugo would be too.
• Favourite was great. OOC, but great. 2018!Favourite can stay.
I’m very unconvinced by the “If Fantine had real friends she wouldn’t have so many problems” criticism I’ve been seeing. Real friends are up for giving you sound advice like “These guys are not marriage material; don’t fall for this ‘I’m a ~poet~’ bullshit” and “Use the tour, Fantine; that’s what it’s there for.” They are not up for subsidizing your poor family planning choices for more than a decade until your baby is old enough to bring in a wage. They might be able to club together to cover Fantine’s rent for a quarter – and perhaps they do; she doesn’t leave Paris until Cosette’s a toddler – but they’re living on the margins themselves. Favourite is canonically supporting her mother. Ultimately they have to be saving so they have the capital to form their own households. This is a classic “secure your own oxygen mask first” scenario, and Fantine’s situation is not something they are equipped or morally obliged to handle.
• Good English accent decisions, more or less.
• The costuming was pretty decent. The bagne uniforms were very, very good.
The Meh:
• So far I am not a fan of the interpretations of either Valjean or Javert in this, although their character-defining scenes won’t come until Montreuil.
That said, I think Valjean’s extreme aversion to violence post-redemption tends to eclipse in people’s minds the bit where he stood over Myriel’s bed contemplating whether or not to stave his skull in for no fucking reason, which was also a thing he did in the Brick. The fact that we’ve never seen him act violently doesn’t mean he was incapable of it. He’s clever and good at exploiting an opportunity, and at that stage of his life he hates the world in general and the bagne guards in particular an awful lot. The “rocks fall, guards die” sequence is not an adaptation choice I like, but I think it’s a defensible one.
Likewise, Smugvert is a time-honored tradition even if it’s one I find trite and point-missing, and Oyelowo is clearly having a ball with it, so you do you, 2018!Javert.
• Myriel was neither great nor bad, although shoutout to Mme. Magloire for that “Was all that silver really ours in the first place?” “Yes, of course it was!” exchange.
• Baptistine and Mlle. Gillenormand apparently don’t exist in this adaptation? I’m choosing to believe they ditched their controlling relatives and ran off together to have fabulous lesbian Catholic zealot adventures somewhere.
• There was a shitload of Tholomyès in this. He was perfect, but there can be enough of a perfectly adapted thing. In Tholomyès’ case “enough” would probably be around 30 seconds’ worth. I jest, but I think there’s some merit in the criticism that we were seeing the relationship more from his perspective than Fantine’s. It might have been better to spend more time establishing the dinginess and drudgery of her daily life prior to becoming his mistress, and less time on him.
• Starting with Waterloo makes the Pontmercys the primary leg of the Valjean/Fantine+Cosette/Marius stool. On some level I guess that’s fair enough, since they never get their fair share of attention in adaptations and they’re the thing this adaptation is doing best, but it’s very odd.
• I don’t loathe the French background dialogue, but neither am I convinced it was a good idea.
• I’m still a bit annoyed about the inaccuracy of the bagne chain situation, although I think there are actually sound narrative reasons for not giving Valjean a chainmate.
• For an adaptation written by a guy who hates the musical, this miniseries sure seems convinced that the guards only address the convicts by number, and very keen on having Jean Valjean shout his name at regular intervals. None of that is from the Brick.
The Bad
• The red location titles. WHY.
• We shall not speak of the women’s hair.
• Not to kinkshame the Telegraph but we understand people in history had the same bodily functions that we do. It’s not actually necessary to watch them perform them.
• There were some really odd decisions about how to allocate screen time: the timeskip sky montage, picking up Valjean’s nighttime wanderings after he’d been denied a place at the inn rather than spending 30 seconds to show him getting chucked out, some of the grisette scenes.
• Some of the complaints about the dialogue seem unjust to me, but some of it was... not the best.
• I’m happy to accept a pre-redemption Valjean whose antisocial hostility is a matter of firm conviction rather than a vague, inchoate resentment, but even under those circumstances “YAAARGH!” is not an appropriate response to someone you just tried to rob giving you expensive candlesticks.
• Likewise I am happy to accept that the robbery of Petit Gervais was a deliberate act, and possibly a sort of fuck-you directed towards Myriel’s decision to buy Valjean’s soul and sell it to a third party without his consent after nineteen years of people doing shit to him without his consent, but if Valjean’s not in a fugue state running about two feet down the road half a minute after the kid is out of sight does not constitute an adequate attempt at restitution. This would have been a good moment for a timeskip sky montage.
On balance, pending the Judgment of Gavroche, I think this adaptation is fine. It’s not doing what I want with my favorite characters, but I got my Valjean and my Javert in 1978. It’s only fair the Georges Pontmercy fans should get their turn.
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If there’s one thing I’ve learned
it’s that I can’t manage to stick to one hobby for long. So why not just make a variety blog?
Today’s theme:
Anime
Or more specifically, fall 2018 anime. What’s been good? What’s been meh? What’s been just awful? (Just kidding we don’t talk about that last one.)
Run with the Wind
I knew this would be near the top of my list in the first few minutes of the first episode. When Haiji asks “Hashiru no suki ka?” and Unison Square Garden takes it away... I just, oof. I knew I’d watch this one to the end.
But for those not immediately sucked in by the first 2 minutes, what the heck is it?
Run with the Wind is a show about a rag-tag group of college guys who have been gathered together in a mad attempt to run the Hakone Ekiden, a big ol’ relay marathon type race in Japan which afaik is a Big Deal TM. These dudes generally have little experience running, so it seems ludicrous that they could accomplish such a feat, but that’s honestly not what matters.
Like running itself, it’s every step you take along the way that matters, not the finish line. These are good boys (plus one very good dog) who are just doing their best to improve. Skepticism gives way to hope as you see these boys progress and come together as a team. There are of course challenges along the way, clashing of ideas, and even rivals and potentially some big dramatic twists. That last part I just figure is coming based on what I’ve seen so far.
Of course the show also looks great. The style reminds me a lot of Haikyuu which I super enjoyed (it’s actually the show that got me into sports anime)! Sometimes you can tell CG models are used, such as when there are just way too many runners on-screen at once, but tbh they look fine. CG has come a long way and the technique is used pretty sparingly in this show.
The characters are great. Everyone’s got motivations for taking part (or not taking part) in this race. They’ve all got their own personalities and struggles in this, and you can probably find yourself in at least one of them at some point in the show.
So yeah, Run with the Wind. I highly recommend it.
Next up...
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Oh no, another isekai?! Oh yes, another isekai!
Lately I’ve been giving a lot of isekai shows a chance and have been pleasantly surprised on numerous occasions. I quite enjoyed Overlord, though I came close to dropping it a few times. I found How Not to Summon a Demon Lord uh... fun, if only in the way where you can just turn your brain off and try to laugh at the ridiculous fanservice. These shows where the protagonist is OP as heck have regained some freshness after the likes of Konosuba and Re;Zero have redefined the genre by turning it on its head.
You may be asking yourself “so what’s this got to do with Slime show?”
Yes, yes, I’m getting to that.
In That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, the titular Slime character (who I will refer to as Slime-san) used to be a regular human, until he went and died. His dying words were used to generate his new form in a new world. But people say weird stuff when they’re dying, don’t they? Oh yes.
Slime-san us the result of some borked interpretations of regular, if slightly odd, statements. Making far-flung interpretations is the kind of thing that I love to do just as a mental exercise, and is thus a great start. This was probably the lure that brought me to the hook.
Awoken in this new world, Slime-san does what any person in a strange world would do, they interact with their environment in the only way they can, by absorbing stuff in their slime body. This leads to the character combining more weird stuff together to get weird results in ways that take me back to the days of Kirby 64, where combining abilities was amazing and novel. Oh yes, this hook looks tasty.
And of course, the art style is great. Even in a cave, with a character who is for all intents and purposes just a soft orb of slime, this show looks great! Every episode I am again floored by the wonderful art style and animation bringing this world to life.
And you know what’s the best part?
For the first month or so of watching, there were almost no boobs in the show at all!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with boobs, but in this day and age of isekai shows that are more fanservice and self-insertion than anything, I am so freaking ready to have a break from the squishier parts of female characters. We have our squishy main character, Slime-san, so why should we need anything more?
(Of course there are some more fanservicey characters and scenes later on, but it feels a lot more manageable and not just forced on the viewer from the start.)
The one flaw I hear often for this show is that the main character is overpowered, so it gets boring after a while. I can see how folks would come to this conclusion when reading the manga, but when watching the anime week after week, it feels like there is still enough tension and/or uncertainty for things not to get stale, especially when you take into account the show’s other redeeming factors. ...Plus I’ve seen plenty of shounen series go on forever with undefeatable main characters (I won’t point any fingers) so I’m not really sure what people are expecting.
All in all, if you feel you might get tired of that kind of thing, then it might be worth skipping That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, but I honestly feel like the show has so many redeeming qualities that I just can’t seem to get tired of it. I look forward to seeing how far this series may go before that happens.
Zombie Land Saga
Hey do you like idol shows? No? Well how about giving this one a spin anyway?
Honestly, I have to watch more of this show. The main thing holding me back is the fact I like it so much that I want to share it with people, and then scheduling problems get in the way.
This show is absolutely hilarious. I don’t know if the plot will ever make sense, and I honestly don’t care. I just want to see these zombie gals try their best to make sense of this situation they’re in. And of course I want to see the manager shout. I just need more of manager man’s shouting in my life. I don’t know why.
The characters are funny and endearing, all exceptionally cute waifu material, and they’ve all got their own background (i.e. previous life) to grapple with before they can really shine as idols. Their goofy antics as a group make for some really crazy shows, which is refreshingly different from (as far as I know) just a bunch of CG idol girls jumping around in fancy costumes for 4 minutes per episode.
So just give it a look. If you aren’t into it after an episode or two, that’s fair. But otherwise it is way too easy to overlook this crazy rollercoaster ride of a show.
Anyway
this post is getting obscenely long, I’m gonna wrap things up and say to go check out these shows. I think when the season ends I’ll try to put together a more cohesive overview of the season’s anime. I’ve got a few ideas.
Of course I also want to hear what y’all have been watching in the comments below. I am always down to check out any shows I may have overlooked! That’s usually how I find my favourites. So don’t be shy!
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Version 453
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I had a great week. I ended up mostly fixing bugs. If you have a large client, the update may take a few minutes this week.
bug fixes
I discovered a semi-important tag processing bug last week--for some users, files that were imported ''before'' they added the PTR were not getting all the correct tag info and would not appear in some tag searches. I fixed the underlying file-tracking bug and have added a retroactive 'gap-filler' to this week's update. If you used the client for a long time but added/reset the PTR recently, you'll have more gaps so your update will take longer.
Another persistent issue has been the 'tiling artifacts' with my new tile-based image renderer, where at certain zooms an image would have one or more horizontal or vertical blurred/janked line of pixels. You'd notice it on cleaner vector images where a smooth curved black line would suddenly jag at one zoom. I had trouble reproducing this at first, but some users got it quite often, and with their help I was able to figure it out. I have rewritten the part of my renderer that was failing, and I ''think'' I now have the artifacts completely fixed for all 'normal' zooms. Let me know how you get on!
misc
Network job widgets have a little user-friendly update this week. I brushed up some of the status texts, made the text lay out better, and when the widget counts down waiting for something (like free bandwidth), if it doesn't get it because another downloader did, it says so before resetting the countdown clock.
A helpful user wrote a new darkmode style called OledBlack. Check it out under ''options->style''!
I added OR predicates to Client API file search!
If you are an advanced user, you might like to read this idea I had for setting up multi-tag processing workflows: https://hydrusnetwork.github.io/hydrus/help/advanced_parents.html#parent_favourites I suddenly thought of it a couple weeks ago and it worked so well for me that I decided to write it up. It basically involves using local parent tags to group PTR tags into a pseudo-OR search that you can easily edit.
full list
qol and misc:
the network job status labels around waiting for 'subscription'/'download page'/'watcher' forced wait slots are reworded. now they just say a more plain 'waiting to work' with a time estimate, and if a job does not get a chance to work this check cycle, it says 'a different xxx got the chance to work' for a few seconds.
if a network job does not get bandwidth on a check cycle, it now says 'a different network job got the bandwidth' for a few seconds
when waiting on bandwidth or gallery work, network jobs should count down more smoothly, one second at a time, not skip a second so often
network job widgets are now better about updating the layout of their two text labels. the status text on the left should take all the available pixels much better, sharing with the '64KB/s' speed text as it changes width and disappear
added a new user-made darkmode QSS stylesheet called 'OledBlack' to default hydrus, try it out under _options->style_
if the tag domain in a search page is other than 'all known tags', the 'selection tags' box, which limits itself to the current domain's tags, now explicitly labels itself with that domain
consolidated and optimised the pre-work checks on all importers/downloaders in pages. pages with idling/finished/paused downloaders will consume just a little less CPU and need to talk to fewer important objects
renamed the shortcut sets for viewer/preview media windows and clarified that they are mouse only for now. the new seek command works with these, but you'd have to map ctrl+right-click or something
improved the system predicate unit tests to catch datatype problems like with last week's hotfix and system:time imported
advanced archive/delete stuff: wrote up a neat idea I had about using local parents applied to the PTR to make fast multi-tag processing workflows here: https://hydrusnetwork.github.io/hydrus/help/advanced_parents.html#parent_favourites
.
bug fixes:
an important tag search bug is fixed. for some users, files that were imported before a service was added were not appearing in some of that service's search results, or their tag counts were not added in certain tag autocomplete results. this file miscount is fixed, and holes will be filled on database update. it should not take too long to fix, although different users will have different situations
this bug was leading to artificially fast PTR processing speeds on some clients as their older files were being skipped. if you have used the client for a long time but only added the PTR recently, sorry if you notice it slow down! it is now working correct!
fixed an important bug in the image rendering system that was causing tile artifacts (little lines of double-pixel jank along tile borders) at a variety of regular zoom levels. the way ideal tile size was being calculated was often incorrect, so I have replaced it with a better calculation
the system predicate parser can now parse 'system:is not the best quality file of its duplicate group' (only 'isn't' was working, previously) (issue #954)
if the collect-by dropdown is fed garbage namespace data from the namespace sort options, it now recovers with a nicer error message (issue #904)
misc db code cleanup and minor refactoring
.
client api:
OR predicates are now supported in the client api! Just nest within the tag list, and it'll bundle the nested list into an OR. there's an example in the client api help
some permissions testing in file search is tightened up--now we have OR and system predicates, if you do not submit any regular positive tags, the search permissions have to be 'allow anything'
fixed an issue where the client api would let you ask about sha256 hashes of incorrect length (and would ultimately make a master database id for these borked hashes, even the empty string!!). now the client api throws a 400
fixed a bug in /manage_pages/get_pages where all pages were marked as 'selected'=true (issue #841)
in the client api, if you use missing file_id(s) on a request for a file, thumbnail, metadata about a file, or when trying to add a files to a page, it now gives 404 correctly (rather than 500) (issue #961)
added a section to the client api help on variable encoding, including an example of how to convert a python tag list to JSON+URL encoded string
added new unit tests for OR pred parsing and the hash length check
client api version is now 20
next week
Unfortunately, I did not spend time on notes parsing as I had planned. The people helping to run the github issue tracker pointed me to old bug reports that I had not been keeping track of, so I am going to spend a little time prioritising clearing out that queue (and generally trying to integrate important github issues into my weekly routine more, as I often have trouble naturally focusing on priorities). So, next week will likely be more like this!
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¯\_(ツ)_/¯
¯\_(ツ)_/¯: do you have any tumblr friends? if so, who are they?Really, I've got too many cool people around here to list them all, so here's a few. @rosefxllen - I know, not necessarily a fan of being tagged, but I can't not put you here. You're a great person, and one who deserves a lot of credit. Despite running into complications fairly often, you're still the person I end up smiling about the most frequent. Not because you're foolish, but because, even though you do much to hide it, you're still warm. @brnzsniperbabe - How could I not put the blog here that pretty much got me into Csbon RPs? Your May is a treat, your OCs are treats, and I can finally crack Wrestling jokes with someone. You know, because Sienna definately didn't get Mick Foley'd with her ear or anything. Nah. @ourmissallison - Despite not talking for a long while, and sort of cutting ties between Allison and Sienna, yes, I still consider this a friendship. Might be a little one-sided, but really, having Characters Fight doesn't mean the Muns have to take a disliking. @combat-heelys - You're annoying at times, and way too focussed on cars to have a really deep conversation with. But, the fact I say that open to your face already speaks volumes. You might not always realize it - because I am a total bitch at times - but you're great. A friend to Chat to when noone else is around, and someone I think deserves a lot more attention than they get. @sadisticicecreamprincess/ @blue-fire-eyes - "Woof" "Bork" Do I have to say more? ;)And I guess I can't discredit who got me into the joys of RPing, which would be someone that isn't exactly a Tumblr friend, since I knew them in Real Life before Tumblr, @midian-alexandra. I can't really say too much about them, because really, there isn't much to say that I haven't already said to their face.
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Video game ask 5-9 and 15!
5. Ever use cheat codes?
Oh heavens yes! I use exploits and glitches to my advantage whenever possible! But not the first time round, usually. I like to play around once I’ve done the game legit. Except Force Unleashed. Fuck off with that force meter crap, we space wizard now. I did constantly use cheats for Apocalypse on PS1 because as a child, as I am now, I was a huge bitch. Massive. I use the false depths to finish new Bloodborne characters quick, too. I’d suicide run overpowered gear in Dragon’s Dogma if I remembered how.
6. Ever buy strategy guides?
I think so? Years and years ago, though. I think I had a Pokémon Silver/Gold one and I think a Halo 2 one.
7. Any games you have multiple copies of?
I have, I think, 3 copies of Serious Sam 1 on OG Xbox and two copies of Halo CE for Xbox, too. 3 Sams because I thought my first copy was borked, but it was the console and I somehow wound up with more copies. Halo because I bought another in a thrift store because I wanted the box, got rid of the box for the original I had for some reason.
8. Rarest/Most expensive game in your collection?
I wouldn’t know, to be honest... I’ll name of some the stuff that I think it might be rare: Okami PS2, Project Zero/Fatal Frame Xbox, Panzer Dragoon Orta Xbox, Warhammer 40K Fire Warrior PS2. Because I never see that shit ANYWHERE. Painkiller for Xbox. Expensive? Probably a PS4 game. Those are expensive.
9. Most regrettable purchase?
F O R H O N O R what a fucking mess, honestly. I played the open beta on PS4 and it was great fun, I remember that very fondly. Then I bought it for my birthday and it turned out to be completely broken, unbalanced trash. It’s combat system, which is really cool, is utterly wasted on it. I left before the first wave of new characters got released. Don’t regret that.
I mained Conqueror because, not gonna lie, his basic emote became a chain of crotch thrusts if you mashed the button and it was really funny to me. But he also had a flail which is cool. Messed around with Lawbringer, too. But guess what, they were fucking garbage because anything faster then them was likely to win 9 times out of 10. I will never forget the hours of frustration and immediate sense of defeat seeing a Peacekeeper, Nobushi, Orochi, Shugoki, Valkyrie or whatever else. The name Peacekeeper, to this day, triggers my fight or flight responses.
4v4 and 2v2 was shit because it always - without fail - became a gank fest. The king of the hill mode was the only one I even halfway enjoyed after a while and even then - gank fests. In every mode people would just lurk by ledges to push you off for an easy kill,never fight you properly. Of course that when those modes even worked because the matchmaking was broken and sessions would just die halfway through or just never start at all.
I will never not be mad about For Honor, for its squandered potential. I would love LOVE to see a Warhammer Fantasy game with For Honor combat, though. Humans, Orks, Chaos. Imperial soldier, Bretonnian grail knight, Kislev warrior. Night goblin, Ork warrior, Weirboy, maybe. Beastman, Norse, Bloodletter. Three basic factions. Add in elves, lizardmen, tomb kings, vampire counts, ogres, dwarves in waves.
15. If it was a requirement to get a game related tattoo, what would you pick?
If exile from the nation wasn’t an option, then probably a Caryll Rune from Bloodborne, because I’m just like that. Impurity, the League rune. I would die for the League.
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Hooray, requests are open! Can I ask this? Through a magic, an experimental food or just a dream RFA, V, Saeran became MC's pet. What kind of animal they be, what will be their funny habits and how MC treats them? From their POV if it's possible. Feel free to reject my idea. Anyway, I want to say that your writing is great, so funny and sweet! Thank you!
Thank you so much! Hope you like these~
Zen: (Hamster)
He knew he shouldn’t have eaten that take out last night
Now it was morning and he was a hamster lost in his own bedsheets
He goes to find you in the kitchen
You’re busy cooking breakfast so he tries to get your attention by nibbling on your heel
You get freaked out, not expecting a hamster in the house
You grab a broom and he bolts
After a long chase around the house, you realize he does kind of look like Zen
Finally the misunderstanding is cleared up and you both decide to wait it out
You were kind of gushing over him
You kept petting him while he ate and tugging his rat tail
One time he got really annoyed and bit you
You tapped his nose and he got really offended
He really wants to work out–even in hamster form–so he crawls into one of those hamster balls
He’s having a blast until he gets stuck between the couch and the wall
His pride dies a little when you get him out
Yoosung: (Rabbit)
You had left the room for second
Something happened in that second, and before Yoosung knew it, he was small, fluffy and had huge ears
He was a little upset until you started showering him with affection
Petting his fur, hugging him gently, cradling him
He’s terrified he’s going to get stuck somewhere, so he’s following you around the house wherever you go
When he follows you to the kitchen, you get him some carrots and give it to him
You’re recording as he’s eating cuz his tiny mouth is just moving in such a cute way
You put him in a bunch of outfits
And he’s super upset, but he can’t say anything
One time, his angry bunniness gets the better of him and he nips at you
But he feels bad immediately and hops in your lap and nuzzles your stomach as an apology
Unfortunately, that’s also when he turns back into a human
Well, now he’s on top of you ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Jaehee: (Mouse)
She was just drinking her coffee when somehow she was as big as her mug
Lets out a loud squeak of disapproval
She knew if you came in and found a mouse on the table, you would freak and probably kill her or something
So, she started making letter shapes out of the crackers on the table
When you came home, the letters, “I am Jaehee” were spelled out so you were pretty updated
You were still squeamish about holding her
But you would slowly slid pieces of cheese across the table
She hated cheese, so she would just push it away politely
Instead, you ease up and give her a small spoon of jam or fruit
Somehow you started opening up about your day and troubles, and she was forced to listen because she was trapped on the table
You get a little courage and start stroking her head, and eventually she curls into a ball and gets the sleep she finally deserves
Jumin: (Corgi)
He wakes up in the morning and reaches out a hand to pet Elizabeth on the bed
Only, he sees a paw land on her head
She turns to him and freaks out
He calls after her, but only a “bork” comes out and he realizes what happened
Being a dog did not stop him from wearing a tie
This was the only way you also knew it was Jumin
You were expecting more, but he’s like a cat in a dog’s body to be honest
He starts scratching at the cabinet with wine, and you quickly put it out of his reach
“You already made wine for cats. You want wine for dogs now.”
You see his tail start wagging and you look into the distance, “I’m sorry, Jaehee.”
The cutest thing is when he waddles up the stairs
You really can’t help yourself and you pinch his fluffy, wiggling butt
He stops and turns his head and gives a disgruntled bark before running away
Really likes it when you rub his belly though
Seven: (Parrot)
He was chilling at your apartment on his computer
You had stepped out for a second, and a lot of time had passed
He got up to get a snack and realized he was actually in the air…and had feathers
You returned from the store and freaked out when you saw him
You had left the window open, so you assumed something got in
He started flying around her, chirping “707”
He almost got swatted a few times before you understood
He tries to get some HBC, but you keep shooing him away
You weren’t sure if parrots could have them or not, so you only gave him crackers
He was salty eating his salty crackers, “Saeyoung doesn’t want a cracker.”
He doesn’t like you touching his feathers, so he flies away
He accidentally lands on a remote and music starts playing on the speakers
Cue cute birb head bopping
Honestly, he was such an annoying twerp the whole time, and you were so glad when he turned back normal
Saeran: (Kitten)
He was taking the most glorious nap, and when he woke up he was literally trapped in blankets
He tries to groan as he untangles himself, but instead he hears a meow
When he stretches he sees a paw, and he knows what happened
The first thing he does is find building blocks and spell out what happened
By the time you find him, you’re already informed
He wishes you hadn’t
You keep trying to do cute stuff with him, and he’s not having it
He hides most of the time…unless you’re feeding him a small little bowl of ice cream
At one point, you settle on the couch and pet him
He’s about to run away, but you hit just the right spot and he’s purring
He’s also freaking out inside his head, “Am I purring?”
Lets out yet another purr
Freaked out even more when he switched back to being human and was still purring
There was a side effect where he kept meowing at random times of the day
You adored it, but Saeran was so done with this
V: (Fish)
He was lucky you were there the moment he turned into a fish
You hurriedly put him in a bowl of water
Poor guy can’t see well even as a fish so he keeps bumping into the glass
He has trouble eating the food you give, but sometimes you’ll put it in a net so he can find it better
He’s loving the aesthetics you keep putting in the tank though
He would blow out happy bubbles every time something was added
He loved when you gave his head a gentle pat once in awhile
But he was bored with being a fish after a while, and was glad when he turned back
But…he did have a strange craving for seaweed after the incident
Check out our other headcanons~ Masterlist
#Anonymous#mystic messenger#mystic messenger zen#hyun ryu#yoosung kim#jaehee kang#jumin han#saeyoung choi#luciel choi#saeran choi#mystic messenger v#jihyun kim#mystic messenger scenarios#mystic messenger headcanons#mystic messenger imagines
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On Path of Fire
I haven’t done one of these in a while (or rather I wrote them and then forgot to post them lel), so maybe I’ll actually post this one for the new GW2 expansion after spending the week running around.
Overall, I found the expansion to be pretty solid; the maps are beautiful, the mounts are hilarious and well-implemented, the story was interesting and decently paced, and I’m still experimenting with the new elite specs. Massive spoilers below the cut!
Questions on anything I wrote, thoughts of your own? Feel free to boop me; I know I wrote a lot.
But really, don’t say I didn’t warn you. There are a LOT of bullet points beneath that cut. xD
On the maps
Obligatory: they are huge. It’s fitting since they were designed against HoT’s verticality and more geared towards the use of mounts, so it’s more of an observation, less of a complaint. There’s a lot of detail and a lot of little things here and there, and it’s incredibly fun to see what you can get away with using mounts to get around the terrain.
That being said I do miss the verticality of HoT maps. Maybe a combination of both pls? :3
I kind of wish there were more large obvious meta events, but I haven’t gotten to see all of the sort of meta events that go on in the PoF zones. I do think the large metas add replay value, but again a balance is a good thing.
We spur-of-the-moment yolo’ed the Ruptured Heart meta with 11 people. It was actually pretty fun. Also so many cannonades ;-;
Hearts feel like they take just a little bit too long. Some of them are amusing, but when trekking through zones doing map comp (or redoing hearts to get collection items) they drag on a bit. Guild chatter about hearts was fantastic though:
“These nobles are useless. What should I do with the chamber pot, throw it off the side or throw it at one of them?”
“I’m throwing flowers at people and making them happy?”
“Matchmaker heart best heart.”
Bounties are hilariously fun? Sometimes you get unfortunate bullshit combinations of modifiers (anti-stacking fleas + pls stack in the bubble to actually be able to hit the boss mob, I’m looking at you), but overall they’re quite fun. We spent a good few hours trekking through all five zones murdering things and getting murdered.
These actually look super promising for replayability; our goal/challenge as a group has always been to optimize and work together, so it should be fun to go track down bounties and see what kind of dumb shenanigans we can get up to.
I actually find these really fun in small groups of 5-10. Zergs sound...unfun. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The caffeinated skritt is...kind of annoying. Mostly because it doesn’t operate like the treasure mushroom in HoT and you have to be on the class you want the collection item on, and the maps are so large someone could trigger a chest and no one would be the wiser.
A tip though for people wanting to complete multiple collections: you only need to loot the last bag it drops. If you’re wandering around with friends and they’re nice enough to chill at the bag, you can reload with other characters and grab the bag again for another collection item (until it despawns). I have no idea if this was intended, but I burned a few TP to friends on this for the lulz.
I had a lot of GW1 feels running through these maps, especially going down to the Desolation and Vabbi. I appreciate that these places still exist but have changed with the years, and it’s nice to see what happened.
Although Vabbi is one weird-ass place now.
BUUUUUUT Zomoros’ lair was hilarious.
I haven’t explored for the sake of exploring in a very long time and it was really, really nice.
CHOYA PINATA.
On the elite specializations
I haven’t actually gotten to try all of them yet, but I’m also not super enthused about all of them (Spellbreaker, I’m looking at you). Also a gentle reminder that my opinions are mainly based on my background as a PvE player and moreso as a raider. Also they’re just initial opinions. Opinions change.
I started with thief (duh), and proceeded to do the entire story with Daredevil. I’m not particularly a fan of Deadeye; I appreciate the archetype but I don’t really see rifle having a place with a game designed more around active response in combat. Also as someone who still can’t shake the seaweed salad dance, rifle just feels really static and dull to me. But we’ll see. Maybe I’ll have to make the Predator hue. D/D Deadeye also felt strange, so idk. But we’ll keep fiddling with it.
Mirage still feels kind of odd but I need to get poor Naois the spec since he’s actually specced for condi, unlike Eet. It seems like an upgrade to condi mesmer, and the triple blink is hilarious.
I really hope Scourge ends up with some sort of place. Initial benchmarks look hilarious (but then, so did Soulbeast/Weaver/Firebrand ones), but I took out Richter again for Scourge and I’m actually really happy to play him again. It’s been so long ;-;
My brother told me, “do yourself a favor and put down a sand shade near some enemies, then press F4.” I tried it. I laughed pretty hard.
Weaver is so much button-pressing but it’s really fun? I’m still getting the hang of it but I do like it a lot. At least it’s more challenging than condi tempest. *grumbles eternally*
Soulbeast looks promising, although I hope it doesn’t lead to another “let’s use condi ranger/thief on absolutely everything” situation again. The new pets are also...interesting.
Although when it comes to ranger I’m a druid at heart, so we’ll see. Not that I’m usually conscripted for DPS roles anyway
Firebrand looks silly. And broken. I’m all for alternative sources of quickness (and alacrity in the case of other specs), but I don’t really want to see raid meta go to 2x PS 2x druid 2x chrono 2x firebrand (or something like that) with only 2 flex spots. That doesn’t sound fun at all.
Also I’m guessing Firebrand will be the first to get the nerfbat. The damage numbers people are getting are bonkers.
And hey look, they got the nerfbat. Down to 33-35k. At least that’s better than 50k? Ugh.
Renegade feels pretty decent. Revenant has always been in a weird “built around elite specs” class, and that hasn’t changed. I’m not sure how I feel about condi rev being more of a thing and less of a meme, but ayyy
Holosmith seems like it would be a lot more relevant if the transform wasn’t currently borked. Scaling damage to a level 76 fine weapon is...sad. If it’s fixed power Holosmith could be something legit? Maybe? Overall though I like the theme and look of it. Also lol lightsaber.
Spellbreaker I...idk. Thematically I like it a lot; I was a big fan of mesmer and shut down mechanics in GW1 and I like the idea of Spellbreaker, but from a mostly PvE perspective, it’s just kind of...eh? WvW and PvP I see it being incredibly useful but with limited boons to nom in PvE it doesn’t really look particularly great (especially with condi berserker getting tuned through the roof).
On mounts
I keep dyeing them funny colors. Yes Quill’s are all some shade of yellow.
I honestly think they were well done. I was never a supporter of adding them to the game (not against, but not for them either), but now that they’re here, I’m pretty okay with them.
I like that each mount is useful in some specific capacity - raptor for flat open stretches, springer for verticality, skimmer for no touchy floor, jackal for portals and evasion through high mob density areas, and griffon for the absolute lulz of flying.
I keep getting the “mount doesn’t render so your character model is riding away sunk in the ground while your camera remains in place” bug (I think it’s attached to trying to mount up before things are completely loaded), and while it’s funny, it’s kind of frustrating.
Mount swapping is a bit awkward, although binding each mount to its own key helps a lot.
I appreciate that the starting mount (the raptor) is still relevant even when you pick up the other three (four), as it’s definitely the fastest mount on flat ground and it’s improved leap is hilariously long.
Also it’s a giant scaly puppy so I have no problems with this.
The springer is hilarious. And super terrain-breaking. High cliff? No problem, bunny hop. Core and HoT map comp probably just got much, much simpler. Also JPs that don’t have mount restrictions.
The skimmer is adorable, and riding it around is strangely...calming? idk. Also as one of my guildies put it: “maybe this is Anet’s answer to underwater combat: glide right over it.” rip.
Of the four core mounts I think the jackal (blink doge) is my favorite. It has a gorgeous design and the blink/portals are super cool. Although the blink can get a bit titchy if you’re trigger happy with the jump button.
Of course I have the griffon.
IT’S SO FLUFFY.
I think it handles a little strangely (esp when you can’t dismount quickly, although you can divebomb), but it’s pretty solid. And adorable.
250g was entirely worth it.
Also that Tahlkora cameo hit me right in the feels.
On the story
I’d get here eventually! Eventually...;-;
All salad-shaped biases aside, the male sylvari VO is still my favorite and no one can convince me otherwise. There was a good amount of sass, seriousness, and everything inbetween. Ive is one to take everything with a “hahahaha you’re kidding what am I doing here help,” so overall the voice acting and dialogue fit him fairly well.
I’m a little disappointed by the lack of race-specific dialogue. Humans don’t seem to have any special dialogue with or concerning Balthazar, and everyone else doesn’t really have a chance to comment as an outsider. I know it’s more work and I still enjoyed the story as is, but it would have been a nice touch.
Like Ive would literally not give a shit about half of the things brought up. Not because he doesn’t care about others, but because he has no clue what anyone is talking about.
This was particularly funny with Joko in the Domain of the Lost, because his whole tirade about the PC not knowing who he is could quickly be shut down with “I’m a salad, I have no idea who the fuck you are.”
The “decisions” were interesting, although unsurprisingly they had very little impact on the game as a whole (maybe in the future? Doubt it). I did appreciate that depending on the order the “decide on Amnoon’s independence” steps are done in, the dialogue changes.
I admit that I’ve gotten a little less partial to Taimi as she’s edged closer to Deus Ex Machina territory, but her dialogue and conversations (both with the PC and with others like Phlunt later on) are quite funny.
I wish there were more Vlast/Gleam before he died. It’s sad that he showed up and just...died, but I can understand why they chose that path as well.
Although some of that was my own fault; the chapter with the Exalted and Vlast’s upbringing I got supremely distracted by the jumping puzzle and spinning around on my new skimmer.
Still. More Vlast!
RYTLOCK. RYTLOCK WHY. Nice job breaking it hero. Surely you would know better than to accept help in the Mists from a random shackled man who CONVENIENTLY knows how to relight your magic sword. Sigh.
I thought a lot about the Herald of Balthazar after finding the notes in Night of Fires. I went back to it after talking to my brother and came to a very similar conclusion as a theorizer on the GW2 subreddit. If that theory is true, that makes me very sad.
Pls say it’s true I like gut-punch feels.
Speaking of gut-punch feels, The Departing was amazing. It was super disorienting not having access to the inventory or the minimap, but it was a very well-done instance and I enjoyed it immensely. I appreciated that they stuck to the “you lost your name and purpose” thing to the point of replacing your character name (including in the hero panel) with Lost Spirit.
Balthazar murdering the PC was pretty neat.
Also Aurene showing up exactly on time was both cliche and NO BALTHAZAR BAD STAY AWAY FROM BABY DRAGON.
This, like a few other story missions later on, is super awkward to do as a group. It’s supposed to be rather personal, and so the not-instance owners are reduced to buffing wisps (like later on in the thrall party instance, not-instance owners are just awakened thralls), and idk I was lucky I was instance owner but that seems rather :|
Ive had a lot of feels hearing everyone’s voices again. Also the feels of him not exactly remembering everything and having to follow his purpose through his own memories and not quite remembering everything. Including Trahearne.
Also tfw the story mission is essentially Full Circle (as a sub-section of Closure) with a bit of bonus Balthazar.
Joko is being very obviously set up as a “you left me in a cage I swear vengeance rahhhhhh” villain. Or Anet is going to pull a fast one and he will never show up again, which would be hilarious.
Bonus feels for everyone else surviving and Ive being the only one dead (think Eet).
Backtracking slightly, I’ve never liked Kormir. I still don’t like Kormir. And the human gods are miserably terrible people. At this point there’s not much questioning as to whether or not they exist, but with the extent of their influence, their decision to just kind of peace is...rather appropriately god-like, for better or for worse.
Seriously though, gods pls. I can see some of the logic of “world will be destroyed anyway if god attempts to fight god,” but surely there are other things that need be maintained.
Also I like how Kormir notes that Balthazar had been stripped of his powers, and yet he still curbstomps the PC (unless it was entirely the imprisonment in the Mists that just locked his powers away, but Kormir’s dialogue suggests otherwise).
I would kill for a library like that. Seriously. So jelly.
The “let’s disguise ourselves as the Archon and go and convince Palawa Joko’s army to fight for us” part was so incredibly stupid that of course it worked. We spent the entire time laughing at how incredulous it was.
The battle at Kodash Bazaar was actually kind of awesome? There was stuff everywhere and my only inclination for the first part of the instance was “go hit things.”
It was incredibly weird to just have Sohothin for the entire instance. Yes I’m aware I could have dropped it. But it was hilarious in a Caladbolg sort of way. With less idiotic knockback, and more 300s cooldown skills.
AURENE. Balthazar stop hurting my dragon >:(
Also because he just yolo killed her other brother before she had a chance to meet him in person? rip.
Although now that I think about it, how would that meeting even go? Talking to the Exalted indicates that Vlast was isolated and not well-acclimated to the world around him, so by the time they realized he should be interacting with other races it was too late for him to form any empathy for anyone. His dialogue seems to imply that his motivation was simply the fulfillment of a goal; he seemed far more interested in fulfilling his legacy as Glint’s son than the reason why she needed him and Aurene to do anything in particular. He doesn’t really have a reason for what he’s doing, he just does.
Aurene is implied to have an empathic link with Vlast similar to her connection to the PC, but idk, it just seems like any actual meeting between the two of them would just be incredibly awkward.
I very much enjoyed both the penultimate and ultimate fight against Balthazar. Also because if you turned around, you could see Kralkatorrik’s massive face just chilling in the sky because oh shit angry elder dragon. It was...quite something.
I understand the PC’s current caution about killing elder dragons because of magic imbalance, and I also understand the need to stop Balthazar from being a total moron. I also understand that there’s not much you can do to stop a mad god besides killing him (since those with the means to imprison him decided to float on). But uh. I’m not sure what anyone expected would happen if you kill the god who absorbed two dragons’ worth of magic with another dragon just chilling nearby. Surely Kralkatorrik absorbing everything and flying off into the sunset while extending the Brand wasn’t a surprise.
Seriously though what did you think was going to happen.
Baby dragon absorb magik and is not quite so baby anymore. Aurene come back I miss you already ;-;
I commend you if you actually read all of that. xD
Overall, a solid expansion with quite a bit of content. We’ll see how replayable it ends up being as time goes on, but I am still quite amused by it and have plenty to do as it stands. The story was fairly solid (although sometimes strange with questionable logic, as always), and I’m looking forward to where they take it with LWS4.
#guild wars 2#path of fire#path of fire spoilers#seriously all the spoilers#the artist rambles#a lot#that was really long#and still not all of it but ayyy#bullet points
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