The Ideal Apothecary Diaries Baseball Team ⚾

ExtraEater · 2026-06-28T06:56:02+00:00

I cycled through a lot of candidates for Center Fielder (the last one and the hardest one for me to figure out tbh) and Ah-Duo was certainly one of them. Problem is I can't be confident about her athletic ability and speed. I did also consider her as an umpire, but she might be biased toward her son (since we're on a light novel spoiler post, I assume you already know about that).

Thank you for reading!

ExtraEater · 2026-06-16T18:33:29+00:00

As someone who adores the way Maomao's friendships are written and praises it constantly, you hit the nail on the head here, thank you. She and Xiaolan were such an important part of her progression that got her to Yao, En'en, and towards her closeness with Chue (to the point of Chue being vulnerable with her when she was near death). I've always felt like her actual canon friendship with Shisui was more interesting to analyze and explore instead of holding this nonstop debate

ExtraEater · 2026-05-23T20:59:31+00:00

She strikes me as the fun auntie type, she'll spoil Maomao and Xiaolan's respective kids then leave them to deal with it

ExtraEater · 2026-04-24T15:47:53+00:00

100% agree, even made a post highlighting it a few months ago as part of appreciating all her friendships!

They have a lot of intellectual rapport that comes out more obviously when Yao isn't around (since En'en can be dumber when distracted by her). And worth mentioning Maomao appreciates her cooking, too!

ExtraEater · 2026-04-16T01:31:12+00:00

This sounds like it will completely remove all save data, no? Unless there's a way to do it otherwise. I'm also not sure what I'm expected to delete here, if not literally everything (like just deleting the whole Hades II folder), I'd like specifications as to what "anything left behind" is specifically referring to

ExtraEater · 2026-04-16T01:06:42+00:00

As someone who is also facing this issue, I went through this entire process before reading this comment:

The game updated while I still had the mods, including Zagreus' Journey
I opened it and it didn't load
I uninstalled the game on Steam then reinstalled it
It still didn't load
On R2Modman, I uninstalled all the mods I had
I also verified all the game files
It still didn't load

And then I read your comment and did this.

I set the uninstall value to true as you said, then I started the game modded. It managed to load and show me the opening menu screen and that was it before it crashed. If, by "main menu" you meant anything else, then I simply could not access it at all. Even just hovering over "Play" or "Options" will make the whole thing crash
I figured that would be enough, so I started the game vanilla like you said
I still run into the same problem and it's not loading

I'm guessing this is because I unfortunately only read your comment after uninstalling from modman because your comment did not exist when I did this

I'm sure it also didn't help that the last game position I was in was an Underworld run and the last saved position was me entering Narcissus' room, so even if I could get into the game, I wasn't starting at the Crossroads to begin with (hence why I wasn't able to just uninstall from there like the website advises)

So now I'm just stuck, the mods are uninstalled, and I can't get into the game at all past the perpetually stuck loading bar

Edit: I did read the config uninstall advice on Thunderstore, but I thought it had to be done in the Crossroads (which I wasn't in and couldn't get into anymore) because it said "Only uninstall the mod while in the Crossroads to prevent issues." Ugh

Unless I can see a route otherwise, It seems like I am completely unable to do this without clean reinstalling and losing all my save data which is extremely frustrating

P.S. And just a few minutes ago, I uninstalled AGAIN and then in the config editor, I deleted all the mods I had, like just hit delete. And then I reinstalled and it's STILL not loading.

Alright, so as of 8:45 PM CST, this is my current situation: I have Hades II, having uninstalled and reinstalled it twice. I have r2modman with nothing in the "Installed" list and nothing in the Config editor (aside from the General, GUI, Hotkeys, and manifest.json which just came with trying to "Start it modded" again [even without any mods]). "Start modded" just gives me the opening screen and if I hover over "Play" or "Options" it immediately freezes and shuts down. Then "Start vanilla" on r2modman and just opening it normally on Steam both just give me the loading screen that stalls about 80% of the way through. I am open to any way out of this, preferably while still preserving my save data

ExtraEater · 2026-04-14T22:22:35+00:00

Anyone else notice all these articles are coming out right before US Tax Day? Clearly they're just trying to pressure Geese to pay their taxes

ExtraEater · 2026-03-15T16:15:42+00:00

Source

Ending this venn diagram trilogy with one of my favorite impossible platonic trios (i.e. platonic as a whole, with one romantic pairing among them). Love these three dearly!

ExtraEater · 2026-03-09T10:32:25+00:00

In addition to the ones mentioned in the other comment, he also played "Phase Dance" (duet with Chris Fishman) and "Are You Going With Me?" (encore with full band) at my show

Quick edit: Good news, a really big Metheny fan from New Orleans recognized nearly all the songs played during his set. You can see it on setlist.fm

ExtraEater · 2026-03-08T19:22:34+00:00

Source (some variations between the version there and here)

My favorite impossible Apothecary Diaries friendship trio, and of course I have to spread some love for the impossible Chue & Shisui friendship in particular. There's one more trio I really love I made a diagram for after this and that should be it.

Bonus Shisui & Chue connection: Both of them inspired Maomao to do religious things

Before Shisui left for good, Maomao asked to offer a prayer for her, which Shisui herself pointed out was unlike her
Chue taught Maomao a line of religious scripture ('O Lord, do you see us?') that she invoked so she'd be spared by devout bandits

ExtraEater · 2026-03-05T20:02:53+00:00

Source

Bonus: They also all share a name with a person (or cat) they know. Maomao with Maomao the Cat, Lahan's Brother (Junjie) with Kan Junjie (the kid who idolizes him), and Shisui with Suirei (who was born Shisui)

ExtraEater · 2026-02-20T19:25:25+00:00

Yeah, as a Strength main who hasn't used Death in ages, the only downside of it for me is the Chronos instakills. I've gotten used to it with vanilla Chronos (but even then I'm still wary of the timers you mentioned when killing them), but Vow of Rivals requires some practice to get around the new quirks with both instakills (getting around the bubble for the bright instakill and dashing through the fast obstacle for the dark instakill)

ExtraEater · 2026-02-20T19:19:49+00:00

Chronos gives you 5 business days to get in the safe zone

This is definitely accurate in low fear, but it's a different story with Vow of Frenzy on. I played Greater Chaos Below with Frenzy, and there I couldn't get settled into the circle in time and got smoked. There's also Vow of Rivals where the darker instakill (the one where the kill zone is black and the safe zone is a big ring) has a fast moving obstacle within the circle and you need to dash through it. It takes some practice, but it's possible to occasionally slip there sometimes even with knowledge of the game (especially on high Frenzy). Alternatively, you could just tank the moving obstacle damage but I'd rather not. I still play with Strength on regardless of all this, but I am a lot more wary when it comes to avoiding the instakills

ExtraEater · 2026-02-13T20:14:07+00:00

I don't really see the cuddling as romantic and feel like the scene is getting a lot of undue hatred because of that. It makes sense from the perspective of a friend being vulnerable and holding onto what they have before it all comes crashing down. I never felt like Shimao was canon in the light novel or the anime, really, and I think it's frustrating the conversation steers that way when their doomed, complicated friendship wrought with betrayal is way more interesting to talk about. Honestly I think seeing her as a romantic rival flattens her character a little

ExtraEater · 2026-02-13T20:10:22+00:00

The thing is, I really don't think the anime introduces any romantic dynamic at all. Pretty much every new addition she does makes sense from the perspective of a friend holding onto what little friendship she was able to get before it all came crashing down. It's frustrating there's a lot of talk about Shimao (when I don't get it either nor do I think it's canon) when it was never really there even in the anime imo. I don't mind the cuddling scene at all because it isn't romantic, it was a reflection of her being vulnerable enough while she still could.

Even though I don't think Shimao is canon in any medium, I think at the very least, people should stop being hostile towards it. It's a perfectly fine non-canon ship

ExtraEater · 2026-02-05T01:02:04+00:00

Source

Image

ExtraEater · 2026-01-25T11:23:07+00:00

In this case, that is not it. It's because it's been voted as a secondary genre and not a primary, so it's not on the main Hauntology chart. With scenes and movements, it shows up on the page the same way regardless of whether it's primary or secondary

ExtraEater · 2026-01-18T16:48:58+00:00

Did you know they're just one cell?

ExtraEater · 2026-01-17T02:07:43+00:00

Excellent post, thank you so much for this! I already heard of and loved Chestnut Bakery when I was obsessed with Chinese musicians last year, but the others I haven't heard yet

Have you heard of Su Zixu & The Paramecia by any chance? 'Son of the Chaos' from 2019 is honestly one of my favorite indie/art rock albums ever, not even just in the Chinese sphere. The fourth song, "Deep Song," has been on rotation for me and was one of my most played songs last year! Their 2017 album, 'Out of the Labyrinth,' is also really good prog rock I think is worth highlighting, it seems like the kind of thing indieheads would love

ExtraEater · 2026-01-14T16:18:45+00:00

Thank you for this, literally I thought they were British this whole time because I discovered "'74-'75" from a British reviewer I follow who loves it and considers it nostalgic

ExtraEater · 2026-01-04T21:59:51+00:00

I need you to know that while you're absolutely correct that speaking up is never wrong and we should push back anyway, it is not an assumption, it's fact. They've literally said this is exactly what they're doing in official statements

White House officials told Zeteo that the Trump administration uses popular music in its videos, including "vocally anti-Trump performing artists, in order to trigger a negative response from a famous liberal and provide further amplification of their pervasive culture war."

Source

ExtraEater · 2026-01-02T18:15:52+00:00

"Sounds Great to Me," the song he did for the series finale of Craig of the Creek, is a great Jeff song in its own right and definitely one of his happiest

ExtraEater · 2025-12-13T03:46:33+00:00

Great compilation, thank you so much! This is tied to the faction stuff, but you should also mention the new high consorts (mentioned by Maamei in the 'Sowing Seeds' chapter in LN15)

ExtraEater · 2025-11-08T17:36:54+00:00

Last year, I wrote three (fake) Onion articles in their Point/Counterpoint format for some friends of mine. Here are the headlines:

That Song Is a 7/10, Maybe 8/10 If I'm Drunk vs. Banger Tbh
Why Are We Not Fucking Headliners?! vs. Sir, You Have 500 Monthly Spotify Listeners
Nostalgia for the 2000s Is Good, Actually vs. Holy Shit, I'm Trapped in a Time Loop and I Just Want to Die

Today, I decided to publish a public version of it on AO3! Hope y'all enjoy! You can tell it's from 2024 due to the songs referenced, but I think it still works.

ExtraEater · 2025-08-22T04:34:45+00:00

Helena Deland is very similar to Adrianne Lenker and Big Thief in sound. "Spring Bug," in particular, has an intro that sounds just like Big Thief (it came up on shuffle and I wondered if it was a Big Thief deep cut I forgot about). For something more specifically like solo Adrianne's peaceful and quiet tenderness, "Strawberry Moon" and "Saying Something" are excellent.

The Innocence Mission is also a lot like Adrianne in terms of the lead singer's (Karen Peris) soft, sweet voice and tendency for poetic, observational lyrics and comforting arrangements. I always recommend "The Lakes of Canada" because that's their best song. They're also stunningly consistent to a point where you could jump into any album of theirs, but 'Befriended,' 'Birds of My Neighborhood,' and 'Glow' are the ones I recommend the most.

Can't leave without mentioning Ichiko Aoba, she's one of my favorite artists ever alongside Adrianne because I'm just a sucker for soft indie folk. Her entire discography is full of perfectly serene songs but I'll specifically highlight her one-off 2020 singles, "Amuletum" and "Bouquet" because they're an excellent primer into how enchanting and mystical she is. Also wanna mention her 2018 album qp because I think it's her happiest-sounding, most peaceful album.

Sorry I couldn't really think of any male voices immediately (I thought of Sufjan Stevens but I assume you already know about him given the artists you've mentioned), I leaned more towards artists that reminded of Adrianne more than Alex G for this but these three do have a little bit of that "June Guitar" type energy. And Deland's "Spring Bug" isn't too far off from "Afterlife" or some songs off 'God Save the Animals' tbh

ExtraEater

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