092 ☆

Jun. 13th, 2025 10:14 pm
tinkaton: jill warrick | final fantasy xvi (♥︎ shiva)
[personal profile] tinkaton
Sorry for the radio silence! I have just not been in a writing mood, I guess. But I'm back to talk about video games! A singular video game. I beat Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 a couple days ago.

If you've seen other people's reviews, mine will come as no surprise. This was a great game and I highly recommend it. Clair Obscur is a single-player, story-based RPG with turn-based combat about a city of people living in a fractured world where a mysterious entity called the Paintress counts down a new number each year, and every year anyone of that age is erased, an event called the Gommage. When the game starts, the oldest people in the city of Lumiere are 33. Every year an expedition (mostly of people with one year left to live) goes out to try and stop the Paintress and the Gommage for good. You play as the members of Expedition 33 as they set out on this year's expedition.

This fascinating premise is what prompted me to pick up the game, along with all the positive reviews I'd seen. I was very glad to discover they weren't lying--this game slaps! The combat is fun and engaging, the soundtrack is gorgeous, probably one of my fave video game OSTs, and the story kept me hooked from the very beginning to the very end. It's a story about grief, and about family, and about art. It's also a game where you can beat the shit out of freaky mimes and dress up your characters in outfits with baguettes and berets. I would definitely recommend checking out this game.

For those who have played it, VERY SPOILERY thoughts continue below the cut: Read more... )

The Friday Five for 13 June 2025

Jun. 12th, 2025 05:25 pm
anais_pf: (bunny photo)
[personal profile] anais_pf posting in [community profile] thefridayfive
This week's questions were suggested by [livejournal.com profile] pleepleus.

1. What item would you be embarrassed for people to know you own?

2. What is something you splurged on just for you?

3. What is something that you own with no real world value that is priceless to you?

4. Do you collect anything?

5. What item belonging to a friend/family member do you covet?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!

May Wrap-Up

Jun. 11th, 2025 05:26 pm
spiltwishes: (Default)
[personal profile] spiltwishes
i have little to no notes for this month and kept putting this off! i’m falling behind on all my monthly journaling and doodling!

aaaaah! )

🌙

Jun. 11th, 2025 06:36 pm
adore: An Edwardian gothic girl levitating in the woods (vetsdaughter)
[personal profile] adore
Moontime began today. I've got tea, pain relief cream, and some cloth pads as extra backup while I use period underwear.

My well-meaning friend, Sre, messaged me saying that she was sorry if this would bring up any negative feelings for me, but she knew mid-20th-century writers are my jam, and would help me shop for them when she was in my city. She attached a picture, and I didn't process it correctly at first, because it was a shelf full of Persephone Books. I assumed it was a picture from Persephone Books themselves, since they have a store full of shelves of just their books. I thought she was offering to buy one for me and bring it with her when she came here. I told her that she was sweet, and right about them being my jam, and also that after years of being unable to pick up a book without pain related to the bookstore that broke my heart, referred to on this journal as Spinebreaker, it was books like these–Virago green books that were out of print, and Persephone Books which are unavailable in my country, that helped me read again, specifically because I knew Spinebreaker would never be able to stock them. The owner had said that she was trying to bring Persephone Books to her store and wasn't able to get distribution here, and that was a few years ago.

Sre said she didn't know getting them here had been a challenge–and that's when I realise that the picture she had sent me was of Persephone Books stocked in Spinebreaker, and that's when I realise that she didn't know that I didn't clock it.

I've posted here before about moments when I was at risk of relapsing and didn't, and how far I've come and all that. Well... this particular moment is a struggle for me. I've been struggling with sorrow, suffocating waves of them, because... this is a bit like that moment when I visited Spinebreaker for the first time, saw Barbara Comyns on the shelves, and thought it must be A Sign because I had never seen her books here before. A whole shelf of just Persephone Books, in MY COUNTRY not to mention my city? It seems like a miracle. It was something I didn't think was realistic. Just like that whole damned bookstore, just like seeing Barbara Comyns stocked there, just like the chance to work there... it was just never realistic.

At the moment, I happen to be reading Amelia's Intrigue by Judith A. Lansdowne. It's sweet, gentle, cosy, funny and endearing. A perfect comfort reading. It's also out of print so Spinebreaker can never stock it, so there. I'm enjoying it.

When I was bringing myself back into reading I picked up books that would never be stocked at Spinebreaker, or so I thought. Books the owner couldn't get, books that were out of print, and books that were independently published or books she doesn't want to put on her shelves. I got to read some amazing indie books by friends on DW. I also bounced off quite a few books that are made for the indie market but not made for me, just not the sorts of books I enjoy.

The thing is, I imprinted so hard on Spinebreaker because of the books in it. I identified with it so hard because of how it's curated. This means that a book that is stocked there is highly likely to be a book I'll enjoy and a book that's not stocked there is not likely to be a book I'll enjoy. That sucks. But it is what it is.

I have to be okay reading books that are also stocked in Spinebreaker. I have to enjoy them without pausing for pain. I have to get to that point, and I guess I'm frustrated that I'm not there, that I've not healed completely so that there's no chance of feeling all that hurt all over again. It's also the kind of thing that very few of my friends IRL understand, because it just seems trivial to them, like they don't understand why it's been affecting me so much. So I'm glad I can journal about it here.

I'm touched that Sre thought of me when she saw the sorts of books I love, so I don't resent her bringing this up. I would have found out eventually. Because most people I know, including my closest friends, go there regularly and they have talked about the books they've gotten there without me feeling like this because those were books that were accessible otherwise as well, and available elsewhere. But I bet I would have heard about these at some point.

Sre said she could take me to Spinebreaker when she's in my city, if it would help me if she's there. I thanked her and told her I'd rather not go as I don't feel welcome there. I mean, the owner blocked me, lol. She said that instead she could go buy me a Persephone Book from there, but I really don't want to give Spinebreaker any money. Since all of the authors of Persephone Books are dead, I'll pirate them if I can't access them any other way. I love the publisher though and will buy their ebooks when possible; they don't publish most of their books as ebooks, which I think is a pity, but they do have a few in ebook format. I bought Diana Tutton's Guard Your Daughters that way, and of course they've made Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson available as an ebook, since it's their star title.

Puff

Jun. 10th, 2025 08:47 pm
lovelyangel: Nagisa Kubo from Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 10 (Kubo Usagi)
[personal profile] lovelyangel
Puff
Puff
Nikon D810 • AF-S Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G
f/13 @ 60mm • 1/30s • ISO 400

The Soft Gray Bunny I bought two weeks ago on my Excursion to MudPuddles Toys & Books needed a name. The manufacturer, Douglas Cuddle Toy, named the bunny Stormie. I thought the name was a bit harsh for a critter so very soft and cuddly.

I considered Mofumofu (which means Fluffy) – or maybe Mofu-tan. But these names seemed too bulky for my little bunny. So I’ve decided to call her Puff.

Puff will inherit Mr. Bear’s position when Mr. Bear retires (due to age and wear). Mr. Bear is hanging tough after 17 years, though. Amazingly, the pads on Mr. Bear’s paws are still silky soft. I think he wants to be hugged every night forever.

Apple WWDC 2025

Jun. 9th, 2025 07:57 pm
lovelyangel: (Eve Angel)
[personal profile] lovelyangel
I generally follow Mac Rumors for detailed coverage of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Based on rumors earlier this month, I was not expecting anything particularly notable at this year’s WWDC – and that turned out to be true. I don’t need new features anyway; I’d be happy if Apple simply fixed broken things. Nonetheless, there was an avalanche of small features and changes that will be either useful or annoying and generally balance out as zero net gain. Apple isn’t the company it was twenty years ago.

It did take me quite a while to read through all the WWDC 2025 posts at Mac Rumors. Definitely worth reading if you live in the Apple ecosystem.

As I expected, Frieren, my recently retired 2017 iMac Pro, is excluded from the list of computers that can run the next major version of macOS – macOS 26 Tahoe. (See: macOS Tahoe Compatibility) I upgraded my Macintosh just in time. (Mac Migration Assistant doesn’t work properly if old and new Macs are not on the same version of macOS.) Still, the iMac Pro had a decent, 8-year run. (Mine was over 7 years old when it was retired.)

Kick the TWICE Can Down the Road

Jun. 8th, 2025 05:24 pm
lovelyangel: Sana Fridge Interview Teaser (Sana Fridge)
[personal profile] lovelyangel
With my computer and photography budgets for 2025 getting blown out of the water, I’ve looked to cut back in other areas. I had originally planned to use my Electrify America credits (like 700 free kWh remaining) before they expire in August to take a road trip to SF – but I killed that idea.

One big unknown in the 2025 budget was what I might end up spending if TWICE went on tour this year. My budget let out a sigh of relief when the group recently announced the schedule for their THIS IS FOR World Tour, Part 1. Part 1 allocates the last half of 2025 for stops across Asia and Australia. This means that Part 2, for the Americas and Europe, won’t be until 2026. I kind of expected this as major U.S. stadiums are dedicated to American football in the fall and winter. For 2026, I’ll budget for one or two visits to concert cities in the U.S.

Human Words Project

Jun. 8th, 2025 03:51 pm
brithistorian: (Default)
[personal profile] brithistorian

I learned today about Chris Osmond's "Human Words Project," a way for writers to indicate that their work is 100% human words, i.e. not generated by AI. Here's the logo for it, which you can add to your projects, if you want:

Human Words Project logo

ETA: Note that this is not the original logo. The website was moved after the original logo was created. I took the liberty of editing the logo to reflect the current URL, and at the same time changed the size of the logo, deleted a lot of white space around it, and changed the file type to JPG (thus making the file MUCH smaller).

//cracks knuckles

Jun. 8th, 2025 06:26 am
adore: (word witchery)
[personal profile] adore
I'm participating in The Wheel of Chaos in which we collectively pounce on our keyboards and become chaos gremlins for an unforeseen amount of time. Signups are here: link!
retrogrrrl: (I D O L)
[personal profile] retrogrrrl
I don't care to fuckin' call it a brand, yeah? But if the shoe fits, I might as well stick the label in it to make it easier to identify so people will leave me alone.

Sure, my punk has political undertones as it is my natural self. But if I were to make music it would not be so overt. After all, my personality and my taste is fun, passion, rebellion. It's implicit, not preachy. It's the combination and love letter of all things I love. The bands that I admire the most, that hit the closest to me, really put it into words. The Cramps, The Damned, Billy Idol, Motorhead, Toy Dolls...

Working class fun, subtle politics, full energy. That's really it.

The Friday Five for 6 June 2025

Jun. 5th, 2025 03:38 pm
anais_pf: (Default)
[personal profile] anais_pf posting in [community profile] thefridayfive
1. Have you ever been to summer camp?

2. Have you ever made a s'more?

3. Have you ever slept under the stars (no tent/tarp)?

4. Have you ever had a member of the opposite sex sleep over at your house?

5. What type of bed do you have (queen, twin, bunk, etc.)?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!

Album review: Bad Desire by ENHYPEN

Jun. 5th, 2025 09:43 pm
haitangkitty: (heeseung bad desire)
[personal profile] haitangkitty


"A heaven without you must be like hell"

The concept photos and concept cinema for this comeback were really amazing: bdsm, horror, scifi. Based on them lot of fans speculated this album was going to be like Dark Blood given the dark vampire vibes. But compared to that album, Bad Desire is more emotional, desperately romantic, and the sound is more fresh than dark. I would say this is top3 album from them. Dark Blood is number one and second is Romance: Untold daydream version. Based on the concept photos i had excepted maybe a little bit more from this album. But it's still very good overall. One thing that annoys me is that the title track Bad Desire is too short! It's a beautiful song and i feel like it should have been longer since it's an emotional song (if it makes sense?). Some people said it was underwhelming, but i see it as a similar emotional title track as Le sserafim's "Hot". But it definitely goes to my top Enhypen songs! 

This album really makes me want to get into their vampire lore that their manhwa is about. (and also read more vampire sunsun fics...)

My favorite part is of course my bias Heeseung's heavenly vocals. Apparently he's been making a mixtape for a year now and recently posted a photo with a producer. I'm super excited for his solo because he is so talented.


Song ranking:
Bad Desire (With or Without You)
Helium (this is such a good song and Jay was one of the producers! Apparently he came up with the idea and had a major part in making this song)
Flashover
Loose
Too Close
Outside

Also with both Bad Desire and Loose i prefer the English version.



prince of the stage~

Jun. 5th, 2025 10:19 am
saturnsissy: (Default)
[personal profile] saturnsissy
since they released ad rewards on EN project sekai, i JUST got a 4 star card from the random reward ad!? and it's LEN, whom i don't have many cards for! spreading good ad reward luck if you're a willing ad watcher!

here it is, in all it's glory~ prince of the stage!



MISAMO at the Tokyo Dome

Jun. 4th, 2025 02:11 pm
lovelyangel: Sana RTB Special in Japan (Sana Concert)
[personal profile] lovelyangel
MISAMO Japan Dome Tour 2024 “Haute Couture” Blu-ray box set
MISAMO Japan Dome Tour 2024 “Haute Couture” Blu-ray box set

DHL today delivered the package from CDJapan on the actual release date of the MISAMO Japan Dome Tour 2024 “Haute Couture” Blu-ray box set. The box set came with a 40-page color photo booklet and 12 photo trading cards (3 Mina, 3 Sana, 3 Momo, 3 group). I guess I know what I’ll be watching in bed tonight.

News is where you find it

Jun. 4th, 2025 01:23 pm
brithistorian: (Default)
[personal profile] brithistorian

My Google Alert on K-pop today included an article from The Korea Herald entitled "G-Dragon, Le Sserafim, Babymonster push on with overseas concerts amid COVID-19 surge in Asia". Since American news sources have gone radio silent on COVID, I ended up reading this article for infectious disease news rather than musical news. Here's the relevant part:

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Monday, countries including China, Thailand and Singapore have recently reported a notable increase in COVID-19 cases. While the situation in Korea remains relatively stable, the agency warned that a summer resurgence is possible due to international travel and regional outbreaks.

The NB.1.8.1 variant — now dominant in the affected countries — is known for its strong transmissibility and immune-evasive properties, although its severity and fatality rate remain relatively low. The KDCA is advising high-risk travelers to these countries to get vaccinated before departure.

Books read, June 2025

Jun. 3rd, 2025 05:00 pm
brithistorian: (Default)
[personal profile] brithistorian
  • 3 June
    • I'm in Love with the Villainess, vol. 3 (Inori)
    • Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, vol. 10 (Yuto Tsukuda)
  • 9 June
    • Komi Can't Communicate, vol. 21 (Tomohito Oda)
  • 11 June
    • Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, vol. 11 (Yuto Tsukuda)

Coco!

Jun. 3rd, 2025 02:38 pm
lovelyangel: Hidamari Sketch Manga Vol 8 back cover (Matsuri Angel)
[personal profile] lovelyangel
Coco from Witch Hat Atelier
Coco from Witch Hat Atelier
1/8 scale figurine by Kotobukiya

Yesterday my Coco Figurine from Witch Hat Atelier arrived from CDJapan. I’m glad Kotobukiya issued a re-release of this sculpture as I had missed it the first time around. The sculpture is about 8.5" tall and is nicely detailed. I’m pretty happy to have this in my collection.

Coco 1/8 scale figure by Kotobukiya

Coco 1/8 scale figure by Kotobukiya

Coco 1/8 scale figure by Kotobukiya

Coco 1/8 scale figure by Kotobukiya

Coco 1/8 scale figure by Kotobukiya

Louisiana is at it again...

Jun. 3rd, 2025 08:39 am
brithistorian: (Default)
[personal profile] brithistorian

Pretty much every time I read a news story about Louisiana, I'm glad that I left Louisiana and am reinforced in my determination to never move back. Today is no exception: The Louisiana House has passed a bill banning chemtrails. You know, chemtrails? Those imaginary, thoroughly-debunked streams of chemicals that conspiracy theorists allege are sprayed from airplanes because they're too uninformed to understand the science behind contrails? Yeah, well, according to Louisiana legislators, those are no longer being used for mind control but instead are being used to control the weather, and Louisiana's not having it! (Because, of course, secret societies spreading chemicals through the air for nefarious ends are well known for their scrupulous adherence to state laws.)

On the bright side, they did at least have to foresight to include an exception stating that this law would not apply to "the injection, release, or dispersal of fire retardant or fire suppressant substances for purposes of extinguishing or suppressing fire, or to the aerial application of seeds, fertilizers, or pesticides for agriculture or forestry purposes." Of course, the exception would never have been necessary if they hadn't introduced their stupid law in the first place, so even the bright side isn't all that bright.

ETA: After Hurricane Katrina, A. and I did everything we could to convince her family not to return to New Orleans, but they insisted on going back. They don't seem happy to be there, and from time to time the idea of them moving will come up in conversation, but the combination of inertia and economics seems to have trapped them there. For the longest time A.'s mother would share any positive news story out of Louisiana, in an attempt to try to convince us to move back. She seems to have stopped doing that, but I don't know if this represents a change in her feelings about Louisiana or just an acknowledgement of the unlikelihood of changing our minds.

People download things...

Jun. 2nd, 2025 09:12 pm
brithistorian: (Default)
[personal profile] brithistorian

Today I got latest readership summary on my first master's thesis, on British educational policy, 1901-03. Apparently during the month of May, my thesis was download 10 times: Six times in Brazil and once each in Ecuador, Germany, the US, and Uzbekistan(?!). I wonder how many of those are going into training AI? (But like A. said "At least if they're using it for that, you know they're training the AI on something well-researched." Which is true — I spent hours sitting in the library reading Hansard's Parliamentary Debates on microform.)

retrogrrrl: (B O O M B O X)
[personal profile] retrogrrrl
There are two things cold stone rules I've got whirling around my skull anytime I have an existential crisis about my fashion and my presentation.

The first one: think of dress as social language. And the second: don't think about what you like, think about what you ARE.

But today a third mythical rule had become apparent to me, peeking out from the depths of my brain, hidden behind the crates of useless memories and horrible failures that I shoved deep into the shelves after they taught me nothing new in my time. There she was, a third rule that I feel has been kind of forgotten with the times. There is a time and occasion for certain attire. Or, as the kids call it through the colloquialism dictated by memery, TIME AND PLACE.

A simple fucking rule no one bothered to sit down and tell me. All I fucking got growin' up was that fuckwit rule that women should wear skirts. Y'can see how well that rule suited me, can ya? Dumb fucking rules. And that's my fuckin problem with fashion and fashion advice. It's always skinny fucks dictatin' me shit for my big ol' ass that can't even fit in normal commercial jeans, it's always people with the sense of a fucking rusted nickel tellin' me how to wear shit because they want people to be aesthetically pleasing or else they will create big ass mockin' campaigns on the internet but they never sit down and tell you about the fucking rules put in fashion's place to help guide us into creatin' a goddamn style that feels good, looks good and represents us. 'Cause guess what, they don't know shit either! They just regurgitate shit they either think is common sense or tips and tricks found in fashion magazines.

So now, at age "wouldn't ya like to fuckin'know" I have to sit down and learn the alphabet of a fucking language people purposefully made me inept in because they couldn't stand me expressin' differently.

Go fuck yourselves.

AGH!! Sigh.

But that aside, I have learned that maybe I will dress a little bit like a punk rock vampire during formal outing even if that's not how I dress everyday. And that's okay, time and place. At home I'll wear more toned down shit and it won't look like the way I do when going out, or maybe I'll look a lot more hip hop than punk when I dress casually to get grocery or running. That's okay, too! Time and Place!

But shit, I ain't even there yet. I have to, however, one day create my wardrobe and explore the realms of disappointment and frustration for not speaking a language properly. And that's going to be a real fuckin' pain in the ass when I get there. But I at least hope the guidelines can lead me in the right direction.

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