#49 years of being awesome

[johnnydany]

September 1974 49 Years Of Being Awesome 49th Birthday Gift T-Shirt

Get your styles: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/48867722-september-1974-49-years-of-being-awesome-49th-birt

[wilwheaton]

hello mr wil wheaton when you were my age (like exactly i think) you were filming stand by me

I turned 13 during production, so if you're about to become a teenager, I hope you'll let me offer some thoughts that I wish an adult had shared with me, then?

I know this is a wall of text, and giving someone this much of your attention is a HUGE ask. Maybe bookmark this for another time, if you're not into hearing an old man talk.

I wrote this a few days before I turned 50. Thank you in advance for listening, and I wish you a life filled with joy, unconditional love, kindness, and adventure.

Hey everyone! An old man is talking!

In seven days, I will be 50 years-old. This is ... weird. I do not feel the way I expected I would feel when I was approaching 50, nor do any of my friends. The only time I feel like I'm middle-aged is when my body does some bullshit that takes me down for hours because I had the nerve to stand up quickly. And I really hate it when I have to use the flashlight on my phone to see a menu. I mean, at that point, I may as well be dropping my pants for free and singing the Old Gray Mare.

Anyway. This has been on my mind for a little bit, so I had something to say when someone used my tumblr ask me thingy earlier this week:

Q: I hope I'm as cool as you when I'm 49. I'd like to think I'm taking the right steps towards that version of myself. A: So I'm not sure I'm cool, but I do know that I don't suck, and that it's a choice I make every day. I desperately wish someone in my family had told me, or shown me by example, that getting older doesn't mean getting stupid and boring and stuffy and extremely uncool. I wish I'd known that, because I spent all of my life until I was in my 40s feeling like there was this day coming very soon when I would have to stop listening to punk, stop playing video games, put on a suit, and start yelling at kids for no good reason. I didn't know that you don't have to suddenly stop being who you are and become something or someone you hate, just because of a certain age. I know that's super obvious, but to young me, it was not. My dad was an asshole, my mom never showed up for me. Directors and people on set had been treating me like a thing for my entire life. I got yelled at for no reason from adults who knew better almost every day. Most of my elementary school teachers were authoritarian, evangelical assholes. All of these different adults, consistently, shut me down and made me feel like I didn't matter, the things I liked were stupid, and my opinions were invalid because of reasons I didn't understand because I was a dumb kid. So I presumed that when you got to be a certain age, that's what happened. I didn't want to be that, at all, and I was sincerely afraid of the day it would happen. But as I got older, I discovered that all that stuff I hated about adults doesn't automatically happen. Those adults I just mentioned all made a choice to be an asshole. I just didn't know it. I was in my early 20s when I did a movie with a cinematographer who was, I think, 45 at the time. He was the coolest, kindest, most artistic dude I'd ever known. He mentored me and we had epic fun making great art together. I remember telling him, "I'm not afraid of being in my 40s like I used to be. I didn't know you could still be cool." It's sad, that I grew up in such a toxic environment, and didn't know any of these things. So, 9 days before I turn 50, here are a couple things I have figured out: You know who sucks when they hit 49 and 50? People who sucked when they were 20 and never grew up. You know who is an asshole at 49 and 50? Yep. Someone who was an asshole as a kid and never experienced consequences for being an asshole. Hitting middle age has been awesome for me. Other than the aging of my body and its reluctance / refusal to do what I want it to do, I love everything about it. I wish I hadn't spent so much of my life being afraid that, when I hit 50, it was all over. Because honestly it's kind of just starting. The coolest stuff in my life to date has all happened in the last ten years, and I'm so grateful that it coincided with me figuring out a lot of shit so I could enjoy it.

The best part of getting older, by several thousand light years, is the part where we figure out how to stop putting up with other people's bullshit, and we contract our social circle until it's only populated with a VERY few people who deserve us. And I am incredibly grateful for these occasional opportunities to be a 49 year-old dad who can say all the things that would have been reassuring for 19 year-old me to hear (he wouldn't have understood, but 29 year-old me would have remembered, and he would have understood. I think.) I sincerely hope someone hears it and finds it helpful. Anyway, you're gonna be fine. Just remember that being cool, kind, honest, honorable, reliable, listening and showing up … they are all choices. If you want to be cool when you're 49, make the choice and set the example for someone to follow you. Treat kids the way you wanted to be treated when you were young. Listen to them when they offer you the privilege, because that means they trust you, and you have credibility with them. Be a mentor. Be supportive. Show up. Make a choice to be the person you need in the world, and never stop being that person. Start today, and when you're nearing 50 like I am, hopefully you'll remember who you needed right now, so you can be that person to someone else in the future. You're already asking the right questions and taking the first steps. I believe in you. You've got this.

Okay, if you've come this far, perhaps you'll follow me a little bit more, and read a thing I wrote about talking to students just a tiny bit older than you, which contains my core values.

Be honest. I’m a very old man, relative to y’all, and I’ve learned that the only currency that really matters in this world is the truth.

Be honorable. This dovetails with number one. You attract to yourself what you put into the world. Dishonorable people will take everything from you and leave you with nothing. Do your best to be a person they aren’t attracted to.

Work hard. I don’t mean, like, at your crappy minimum wage job you hate. I mean do the hard work that makes relationships work, that gets you ahead in your education, that gets you closer to your goals. Everything worth doing is hard. Everything worth doing requires hard work. Sooner or later, you’re going to run into something in your life that’s really hard, and you’ll want to give up, but it’s something you care so much about, you’ll do whatever you can to achieve it. It’s going to be hard, but it’s going to be less hard for someone who has practiced doing the hard things all along, than it is for someone who doesn’t know how to do the hard work because they’ve always chosen the easy path.

Always do your best. Even if you don’t get the result you wanted, doing your best — which will vary from day to day, moment to moment — is all you can ever do. We tell athletes to leave it all on the field. Whatever your version of that is, do it.

This is the most important one. This is the one I hope you’ll all hear and embrace. This is the one I hope you’ll share with your peers: Always be kind.”

When I read number 5, I looked up at them. I was so happy to see a classroom filled with teenagers who were all listening intently, even the ones I thought had tuned me out. “Here’s the thing about being Kind, versus being Nice,” I said. “I have interacted with lots of nice people who are incredibly unkind. Why is that? How do you choose to be nice but not kind?”

I pointed to my head. “This is where nice comes from,” I said. Then, I put my hand over my heart. “This is where kind comes from.” I put my hands out, like, “get it?”

There was this collective gasp of realization that I did not expect, at all. One kid said “Oh damn!” I saw a few kids look at each other like the trick had just been explained to them. They heard me. They really, really heard me. And it was amazing.

Okay, that's all. If you're still here, thank you for giving me so much of your time and attention. I hope you'll come back in a few years, and let me know how you're doing.

[karlachian]

baldur's gate 3 wyll ravengard grand duke coronation tumblr simulator

🩸 bloodlover

he said WHAT about me

🦴 jonfromshop

i love <3 that we are livign in this day and age of baldurian politics. this is fucking awesome

2,235 notes

🪼 slenderweaver

TWENTY. FOUR.

#AND WHAT WAS I DOING AT TWENTY FOUR. FUCKALL!!!!!

6 notes

🪡 tailormadewares Follow

now why is the coronation happening in the middle of the night. some of us have jobs!

🐦‍⬛ ulderravengard Follow

the new duke consort is kind of like an evil stepmother but for the city

🦴 jonfromshop

AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE READING OUT THE GREAT LAWS RIGHT NOW LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOO

4,458 notes

🌊 tavalina

very extremely proud of one of my best friends in the whole world wyll ravengard. can't make it to the coronation because of the whole bein g stuck in hell with my wife thing can a sweet mutual please. keep me updated.

🐺 simfolicity Follow

duke consort astarion lastname has clearly micromanaged the whole thing and ulder ravengard and him might be trying to kill each other during the ceremony. wyll is just happy to be there i think

🌊 tavalina

oh okay so business as usual

🏹 highharper

business as usual

49 notes

💋 bladethatthang

why is NO ONE talking about the geopolitical ramifications of the future grand duke being engaged to marry a CLEARLY evil looking mean cunt of an elf. not to MENTION the problematic age gap.

🩸 bloodlover

mad because he's fucking me and not you????????

💋 bladethatthang

i genuinely wish we all had died with the elder brain

🪡 tailormadewares Follow

HERITAGE POST

#bringing this back for coronation day

38,493 notes

🪼 slenderweaver

i;m sorry. wyll ravengard is TWENTY FOUR YEARS OLD? HE SHOULD'VE BEEN AT THE ELFSONG

🛎️ i-live-in-the-dumbwaiter

quite famously he was at the elfsong. like i understand where you're coming from but that was a whole thing. he was very polite about ordering food at 3 in the morrow in the sense that he didn't. do that.

🪼 slenderweaver

oh so now we are fucking doing elfsong pedantics about the TWENTY FOUR YEAR OLD RUNNING OUR CITY.

348 notes

📦 zhentingthatrim Follow

this is so fucking stupid i WANTED to do a coup a mutiny an overthrowing even today during the coronation but no one wants to fucking do revolution anymore. you say can we PLEASE try and kill the new grand duke for trade opportunities and freedom of will. and then they will say well why would i want to do that. wyll ravengard is soooooooooo handsome and sweet and nice. trying to kill him would be RUDE. WE USED TO BE A FUCKING CITY.

🩸 bloodlover

bunk 42, flaming fist barracks, basilisk gate

📦 zhentingthatrim Follow

AYO?????

🔥 florricking Follow

open the door

8,376 notes

✨ princessofhousenightstar

do your required reading you little wretches and understand that i am here fundamentally to talk about wyll where he can't see it. i love the man but sometimes i like to keep things to myself. anyways doesn't he look sooooooo dashing in his coronation outfittttttttt 🥰 i made ittttttt

🪼 slenderweaver

does anyone remember when this was an embroidery blog

🏹 highharper

you are a strange strange little man astarion

#HOW has he not found this blog yet is the question i think

16 notes

🩸 bloodlover

i want ulder ravengard dead

🗡️ bladeoffrontiers

:(

🩸 bloodlover

i want ulder ravengard mildly inconvenienced

🐦‍⬛ ulderravengard Follow

we are literally tumblr mutuals. for your evil and nefarious purposes no doubt.

🪡 tailormadewares Follow

we're all going to fucking die

6,459 notes

🦴 jonfromshop

wh

the grand duke isn't an option because he always sweeps.

[leodette]

Hello! Would it be possible to get some Max + 49? Thank you very much!

no. 49 - holding onto the other’s shoulders for support

Please, I’ve Been On My Knees | MV33

fandom: Formula 1

pairing: Max Verstappen x OC (not named)

names/faceclaims: -

summary: she needs small helpful hand before leaving for FIA Award Ceremony

warning: -

requested: yes / no

**********

“Baby, did you see my phone?” Max yelled from the bedroom, looking around for the familiar case with a cat face on it.

“It’s in my clutch already, Maxie. So you wouldn’t loose it,” his girlfriend answered, walking out of the bathroom, applying the final layer of lip oil.

They were in Baku, at the annual FIA Award Ceremony. Basically said - if you were a rookie, or top 3 in the championship, you had to be there. Max attended the ceremony two times already, claiming his two world championship trophies, but he was always accompanied by a family member. Either his mom, or his grandma, or his sister. This year it was the first time he would have his girlfriend with him. They met at the last year’s ceremony, her being the daughter of one of the patrons. Flashforward, and this year she was by his side, her father sending her in his stead.

She was hiding her dress from him, murmuring that it was a surprise and he didn’t need to match since he only needed a black tuxedo and a black bow tie. But despite that, Max knew that his girl would look awesome, and that was confirmed when she entered the room, closing the pocket mirror and looking at him. Max was like he saw a ghost - mouth open, not able to think properly. Because he didn’t expect a long silver gown that covered her body like a waterfall, with a deep cutout at the back that almost showed the top part of her gorgeous bum.

“Did the dress come with a sleeping mask as well?” he asked finally, coming to his senses. She stopped in her tracks, her eyebrows furrowed.

“Why a sleeping mask?”

Max smirked. “Hope you don’t expect me to allow anyone else to ogle you,” he put his hands on her waist, pressing a kiss on her neck.

“Oh stop it you muppet,” she giggled, pushing him away.

“Note to self - don’t allow her to spend so much time with Norris, his vocabulary rubs on her,” Max murmured under his breath while picking his suit jacket, throwing it over his shoulders and taking her bag.

“Shall we go?” he offered her his arm, but she she smirked.

“You want me to go barefoot? Seriously?” she motioned for a pair of silver heels on the other side of bed, making a step in their direction.

“Don’t,” Max stopped her, picking the shoes and lowering himself on one knee in front of her, gently grabbing one of her soft calves.

“May I?” he looked up at her. She had her lip between her teeth, blushing slightly.

“Mhmmm,” she hummed and grabbed his shoulders for stability when he lifted her leg and put the shoe on her foot, tying the satin ribbon around her shin.

“Second one, please baby,” Max motioned for the other leg, and she lifted it on his command, allowing him the same treatment as the first time. He tied the bow, not too tight but not too loose, and pressed a kiss on the inner side of her knee.

Her breath hitched.

“Behave,” she whispered breathily, and Max smirked, knowing well what affect he had on her.

And he wanted to continue when his phone in her bag pinged, announcing the arrival of their car. It broke them out of the heated bubble, the pair exchanging smiles before finally picking all their necessities and walking out of the room, her allowing Max to lock the door.

[cheesecakeislazy]

Hey, I hope you have a nice day. I also hope you enjoy MORE FUCKIN HEADCANONS WOOOOOOO

Sally Headcanons

1. While yes, Sally loves the color pink, it isn’t actually her favorite color. She doesn’t have one. She loves blue, green, purple, all colors.

2. The only color Sally dislikes is orange, due to this, she hates oranges and tangerines

3. Sally has the body of a 7-10 year old, yet she is mentally older.

4. Despite the fact Sally is mentally 16, she still has childlike characteristics within her mindscape

5. Sally has a hard time trusting adult men; females and younger males are more trustworthy to Sally

6. Mr. D (Sally’s teddy bear) is a normal teddy bear

7. Every single person inside the mansion has seen Mr. D move on his own; nobody knows how or why as Slender has confirmed it has no supernatural tendencies within it

8. Sally likes to watch Bluey

9. Sally likes to hang out with BeN, Jeff, and Toby; viewing all three of them as older brothers

10. Jeff and Sally hang out the most

11. Sally used to have a little kid crush on Ben; Sally no longer views BeN that way because she thinks that dating is gross

12. Sally is AroAce in my AU, because despite physically being 7, she’s mentally around 16

13. Sally constantly asks Slender for a puppy

14. Sally hates wearing socks

15. Sally also hates wearing shoes of any kind

16. Sally doesn’t leave footprints anywhere, not in snow, mud, anything.

17. When Sally has tantrums Jeff calls them her “poltergeist attacks”

18. When upset, Sally can make objects levitate.

19. Sally usually throws the objects she levitates, due to the fact the objects are usually plates, vases, cups, and Toby- Damage is always present after a Sally tantrum

20. Sally cannot levitate objects on command.

21. Sally calls Slender “Mr. Slenderman”

22. Sally gave Slender a white mug that had “#1 Mr.Slenderdad” written with black sharpie on it

23. Sally isn’t an innocent little girl, she also loves to commit war crimes

24. Sally usually kills creeps, molesters, perverts, etc.

25. Sally has constant bruises and cuts on her from her death

26. The wound on Sally’s head eternally bleeds forever, it’s annoying but she’s gotten used to it

27. Slender puts bandages around her head to somewhat stop the bleeding

28. Sally and Jane argue a lot

29. Jeff managed to convince Sally that Jane is a bitch

30. Sally is a Princess Peach main in MarioKart

31. Sally is one of the few people that Ben likes to play board games with because she doesn’t destroy the game board/pieces

32. Sally likes to play house and dress up

33. Sally serves real tea and desserts at her tea parties

34. Sally doesn’t really know how to defend herself, so she can’t go on intense missions or go on missions alone

35. Sally is 4’5

36. Sally needs to be babysat whenever a majority of the mansion is on an expedition

37. Babysitting duty is rotated around the mansion

38. Jane hates babysitting duty because Sally never listens to her

39. Jeff is rarely on it but when he is, he loves it

40. Most of the proxies see Sally extremely often but don’t really know her

41. If given the chance, Sally will cling onto Slenderman all day

42. Sally loves Ben’s brownies (the not weed ones)

43. Sally loves chocolate chip cookies

44. Sally and Lulu are decent friends

45. Sally and Lazari have play dates together

46. Sally and Lazari share a room in the mansion

47. Sally and Smile dog have a complicated relationship

48. Sally loves Smile Dog because he’s a dog and constantly tries to play with him

49. Smile dog.. is an intelligent dog that usually wants to be left alone; he doesn’t hate Sally he just finds her a lot to deal with

50. Sally used to be really bad at painting nails, now she’s actually quite good at it due to BEN teaching her

51. Sally likes to draw and finger paint

52. Sally’s art skills are the same of a preschooler (aka fucking awesome)

53. Sally has a bad habit of randomly falling asleep; Slenders arms, Slenders tentacles, tea parties, while standing up, taking a bath, etc.

54. Sally likes fruit punch and grape juice

55. Sally likes to say Fuck (Jeff taught her)

[deadpresidents]

Can you tell us more about James A Garfield and is there any media of him that you recommend? All I know is the book by Goodyear..

I always say that Garfield was one of the big "What if?" Presidents in American history had he not been assassinated. He was a fascinating character and could have been the transformational leader that propelled the United States through late-Reconstruction and the Gilded Age in ways that the other Presidents between Lincoln and McKinley were unable to do. Garfield was young (just 49 years old when he died), energetic, charismatic, absolutely brilliant, and aggressively progressive. He had ideas and the ability to implement them instead of simply being a steady hand. And, like JFK in a way, he brought his young, attractive family to the White House and that could have helped him lead the country in a different direction than his less engaging contemporaries who immediately preceded and succeeded him like Grant, Hayes, Arthur, Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison. Garfield also had a somewhat mystical quality to him that I also believe would have captivated many Americans in an entirely new manner than most Presidents. The fact that he was only President for 199 days -- most of which were spent fighting for his life after he was shot -- is one of the great missed opportunities of American history.

For more on Garfield, the C.W. Goodyear biography that you mentioned, President Garfield: From Radical to Unified (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO), is the most recent (published in 2023) and fresh look at his life and career. But there are several others that I'd highly recommend checking out:

•Garfield by Allan Peskin (BOOK | KINDLE), was published in 1978 and, for many years, was the best, most in-depth full-fledged biography on Garfield. It's still a must-read, in my opinion. •Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield by Kenneth D. Ackerman (BOOK | KINDLE), was published in 2003, and is an excellent look at Garfield's shocking nomination and election in 1880, brief Presidency, and tragic assassination. •Touched With Fire: Five Presidents and the Civil War That Made Them by James M. Perry (BOOK | KINDLE), was also published in 2003. It's not a full biography of Garfield, but a look at the five Presidents who saw combat during the Civil War -- Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, and McKinley -- and how those experiences shaped them. •Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by the always-awesome Candice Millard (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO), was published in 2011 and it is the definitive book on Garfield's assassination. It's a detailed illustration of the shooting that wounded Garfield and his brutal, two-and-a-half -month-long battle to attempt to survive his wounds -- a battle that was ultimately lost largely due to the botched medical "care" that the President received after he was shot. Candice's book reads like a novel and it's apparently the basis for the upcoming Netflix series, "Death by Lightning" featuring Michael Shannon, Betty Gilpin, Matthew Macfadyen, and Nick Offerman.

Also, PBS's American Experience released a fantastic, two-hour-long documentary on Garfield's assassination in 2016 called Murder of a President, which was also partially based on Candice Millard's book. I'm pretty biased when it comes to American Experience, which I believe is a national treasure, but Murder of a President is especially good. I don't know if you can watch it directly from the PBS American Experience website right now, but you can find the film on sites like iTunes and Amazon Prime.

[brookesophelias]

think about how

each five total time i read The Hunger Games Trilogy, the more times I THINK "WE WERE ROBBED" when it comes to Haymitch Abernathy & Gale Hawthorne.

IMAGINE

Gale Hawthorne: the resourceful hunter who thought his 42 slips would give him so much more than... well, nothing. (his family is still wanting, the girl he's crushing on doesn’t see him like that. HE'S A COAL MINER JUST LIKE HIS FATHER TO KEEP HIS MUM ALIVE).

of course, Gale's angry because the Capitol says all he has to is play The Game & he'll be full. But he never gets to play. He has all this anger at his government, for the sickness he sees. so much that it blinds him & all he yearns for is revenge. REVENGE is the only thing that lights him up these days!

he has no empathy for Victors—as he's unaware Haymitch doesn't allow anyone clean or cook for him, doesn't understand Haymitch sleeps with a knife every night for 25 years, & gets through the days drunk because he knows every tribute District 12 lost, the all 49 tributes he fought—when they have all the money & food he ever could dream & don’t do anything with it.

(Gale never knew Peeta's mother beat him for throwing bread to Katniss, doesn't realise Mrs. Undersee's maiden name is Donner).

so when Katniss wants to run into the woods with everyone AND Gale, Gale's (only?) sees "Loverboy," "the Mayor's daughter," as well as the single town Victor who trips on live TV like a drunken idiot.

therefore,when Alma Coin lures Gale into making Rebel weapons, he's enthralled. He is finally doing something useful with his skills & IT'S AGAINST SNOW? sounds awesome!!

it's not his fault President Coin wants to usurp Snow & is using anti-Hunger Games rebellions to do so. it's not his fault Primrose Everdeen is dead.

ok, but there’s Haymitch: resident Quell Victor who begrudgingly lets Hazelle in his Victor’s Village house. Hazelle, with her young children & whose son is pretending to be Katniss' cousin?

i mean (honest) gale/katniss is a major damage to the star-crossed lovers angle

is it because he could young Gale in himself? where Gale is skilled in building & planning & hunting, Haymitch knows methods & truly making something from for nothing

does Haymitch look at Gale's broken body after Thread whipped him & know that the younger man is already more than physically broken without even stepping foot in the Games?

does Haymitch just wish he could drill into Gale Hawthorne's cocky head that being angry at the Capitol is great motivation, just not how he's going about it.

Haymitch would probably give a month's worth of his winnings for life to Gale, just to hug the younger man and tell him: i see you, your effort, your determination to stop suffering?

the thing is: Gale believes he'd be able to survive the arena and still be himself & Haymitch knows that nobody can do that—not Maysilee; not even Peeta.

in all reality, Gale was just a kid that hungered for more than he received in return.

[theprogrockbstheorist]

HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY GEDDY!!!!

(meme credit to u/rtphokie on reddit)

OH, AND WHAT’S THAT?!?! IT’S ALSO THE 49th ANNIVERSARY OF NEIL PEART JOINING RUSH?!?!

In order to celebrate these wondrous occasions, I have compiled 70 reasons why I love Rush (especially Geddy):

70. They don't have any unlistenable albums. I can put on any Rush album and at the very least enjoy it, which is saying a lot!

69. ANDDDD they have 19 studio albums!!! 167 songs!!!

68. Alex's iconic Hall of Fame induction speech.

67. The movie I Love You, Man. The main plot of that is just two guys geeking out about Rush and then going to see them in concert.

66. The Bb5 in "Cygnus X-1 Book 1: The Voyage". For the record, the other famous Bb5 sung by a male singer in rock is the high note in "Bohemian Rhapsody", sung by Roger Taylor.

65. Geddy's range in general. Say what you will about his voice, but he had range.

64. Their pre-concert videos.

63. "Hey baby it's 7:45 and I need to go to bed soon, let's fuck"- In the Mood. The debut album was something else, man.

62. They wrote songs during soundcheck when they were on tour. This includes songs like "Tom Sawyer" and "Chemistry".

61. They went to a Yes concert while recording Caress of Steel, and almost quit making the album. I, for one, am very glad they didn't!

60. The "rap" in "Roll the Bones". Sit back, relax, get busy with the facts...

59. Gene Simmons thought they weren't into women because they didn't want to party with KISS. True story!

58. They listed their baseball positions in the liner notes for Signals.

57. Neil wrote lyrics to a song using only anagrams. The song is called "Anagram (For Mongo)", and is on the album Presto.

56. They thanked themselves in the liner notes for Hemispheres. Listed as Dirk, Lerxst, and Pratt, ofc!

55. They would challenge themselves to write last-minute songs. Results of this experiment include "Hand Over Fist" from Presto, and "Malignant Narcissism" from Snakes and Arrows.

54. The mere existence of "A Passage to Bangkok". I wonder what their thought process was to put a song about smoking weed around the world after a 20-minute long dystopian prog rock epic...

53. "La Villa Strangiato". Just... everything about it.

52. The kimonos. You know the ones!

51. Their nicknames for each other!! (see above)

50. They had the second-longest stable line up in rock music! The only ones with a longer stable line up was ZZ Top.

49. They had a 40-year career! Even longer if you include pre-Neil and their adventures since the R40 tour.

48. The synth era. I unapologetically love 80s Rush, especially Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows.

47. "The Necromancer" basically being self-insert Tolkien fanfic. I wonder who the "three travelers" are supposed to be... OH WAIT!

46. They're giant nerds. All prog bands are, but they are especially nerdy.

45. Hugh Syme's awesome album covers. He did every single one from Caress of Steel onwards, barring the front cover for Snakes and Arrows.

44. The 7/8 section in "Tom Sawyer". That was my first intermediate bass line! Thanks, Geddy!

43. They're Canadian icons. Unironically, they're the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions "Canada" to me.

42. The horribly cheesy, terrible, but also really funny music video for "Time Stand Still". That song, btw, might be my favorite 80s Rush song, and is probably in my Top 5.

41. The triple-entendre pun of Moving Pictures. They're filming a movie (moving picture) of people moving paintings (moving pictures), while someone is getting moved by the scene (moving...pictures...).

40. They quote the 1812 Overture in the overture for "2112".

39. Geddy taught Les Claypool how to properly play "YYZ".

38. The Permanent Waves era glasses!

37. The opening of "Xanadu".

36. The weird stuff Geddy would have on his side of stage after he stopped using amps. This includes rotisserie chickens, washing machines, dryers, and popcorn machines.

35. "Music by Lee and Lifeson, Lyrics by Peart" on almost every single Rush song.

34. The ending of "Spirit of Radio". OF SALESMEN!!!

33. Their inside jokes. Example: The Bag.

32. They took French classes together, and began announcing their songs in French in Quebec.

31. The progressiveness of Counterparts. What other 40-year old rockstars were talking about healthy relationship boundaries and openly supporting gay people in 1993?

30. Their vaults are practically empty because they scrapped songs that weren't up to their standards. This is why we have no sub-par Rush material!

29. Choosing to end their careers with grace.

28. Ending the last show of their career with "Working Man", the song that got everything started.

27. "Dreamline"--"Learning that we're only immortal / For a limited time".

26. Geddy and Alex inducting Yes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

25. Then, of course, Geddy playing "Roundabout" with Yes during their induction! (Unfortunately, he did not play his Rickenbacker :( )

24. No decisions were made regarding the band without it being unanimous.

23. "Closer to the Heart". To me, that song is like a musical representation of their friendship, and it always leaves me with a warm, fuzzy feeling after listening to it.

22. Neil's books. Ghost Rider, in particular helped me get through a rough time earlier this year.

21. Geddy's Big Beautiful Book of Bass. I love that thing, and I am looking forward to his memoir in November!!!

20. That incredible Rickenbacker. I know it hasn't been his main bass since the early 80s but...

19. All their other creative projects. Geddy and Alex have a solo album each, Alex is involved with Envy of None rn, and Neil had his blog.

18. All their other stage interactions.

17. "ATTENTION ALL PLANETS OF THE SOLAR FEDERATION! WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL!" -"2112". Just... all of "2112".

16. They got me into prog. I wouldn't have this blog right now if it weren't for Rush.

15. The Lifeson chord. The F#7add11 voicing that you can hear in so many of their songs (it's the opening to "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres").

14. Neil's drumming. They call him The Professor for a reason!

13. Geddy's bass playing. And his singing. And playing keys. And... yeah, we would be here all day!

12. The Dinner with Rush video. I make daily references to this that no one notices...

11. "The measure of a life / is a measure of love and respect"- "The Garden". The final song on their final album, and possibly the most amazing closer of all time.

10. Their charity work. IIRC, this includes giving away the aforementioned rotisserie chickens, as well as various fundraisers.

9. Their constant strive to improve themselves. Including Geddy working with a vocal coach, Neil working with Freddie Gruber, and of course, disavowing that Ayn Rand shit.

8. They give me something to strive towards, both as a musician and as a person. If I could make records half as good as Rush, and handle the fame with half the grace that they did, I would consider myself well-accomplished.

7. Neil's lyrics inspired me to get back into writing.

6. They inspired me to become a musician, and to pursue a career in music. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have stayed in choir or picked up bass, and I would've never considered a career in audio technology.

5. Their music helped me bond with my dad.

4. Geddy talking about his family's story of survival during the Holocaust. I think that's really important to talk about.

3. Other Rush fans. Well, okay, some of them like to brag about how many concerts they've been to, or tend to be a little gate-keep, but most of them are really chill people.

2. Their music helped me get through the toughest times in my life. Without getting too personal, I even credit them with saving my life on multiple occasions.

However, what I admire about Rush, above all else...

1. Their friendship with each other.

Once again, happy birthday Geddy! Your music has inspired me in so many ways, and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it.

[gerbiloftriumph]

Floating Castle Liveblog (first read)

The King's Quest series has been graced with a very silly and very wonderful trilogy of adapted novels, and of them all, the first is my favorite. I have read it more times than I should, and liveblogged my musings on Goodreads in real time, er, multiple times.

Below is my first readthrough. Follow along with my initial, baffled, but ultimately delighted, self. Obviously, spoilers for an objectively terrible but subjectively amazing video game novelization from the 90s.

(and if you want to read the Floating Castle yourself, well, [I'm sure there are avenues online] but you didn't hear that from me)

May 7, 2018 –

page 0

Let it be officially known: I am terrifically excited to read this, and a little nervous, too. Please be good. Please be good. But please don't be SO good that I want to break my wallet trying to get a copy of See No Weevil. [side gerbil note: at the time, one of the only copies of See No Weevil, the third book in the series, available for purchase online was selling for $8k. No, that's not a joke.]

page 6

I miiiight be wrong, but wasn't Merlin's Mirror blank for all the years Alexander was missing, too? I have a feeling I read that somewhere...eh. I should read the actual game manuals sometime.

page 9

It's a touch on the fluffy side. A whole paragraph is dedicated to Alexander getting out of bed. But, let's be clear, that fluff worked really well a few pages ago with the storm, so. Plus, it's from the 90s, so. For some reason fantasy from then seems to be fluffy

page 10

You out of shape magician boy, you. Then again, 4 deep flights of castle steps (probs rough flagstone, rather uneven) is probably hard to climb, so. Fair.

page 14

Graham is such a good king. Like. Really really good.

page 26

Come on, magician prince. You can think of somethiiiing.

page 18

Sir Brian of House Blessed, I presume.

page 40

A: Oh, you stuck Graham's soul in a crystal? Very Ocarina of Time of you. What year did this come out? B: ...why is this actually kind of a good book? Like, from an honest fantasy novel perspective, not just a King's Quest adaptation perspective, it's actually not that bad. Slightly dated with its fluffy descriptions, but I've read plenty of worse fantasy before.

page 47

I didn't expect to enjoy a magician turning into a tree as much as I am, and I love Alexander being all good and diplomatic and not swearing anyone out for Cyril's complete uselessness.

page 49

I wonder how old Alexander is. I don't think it's said. How far past Manannan are we? Has KQ5 happened yet? These are not crucial questions, and yet. I'm curious. Do we know about Crispin? He's probably fractionally more useful than Morowyn. But only fractionally, cos he's still mostly useless.

page 54

Alex (paraphrased): So. All I have to do is sneak into Telgrin's evil doom castle, figure out where he hid a crystal of undetermined size with King Graham's soul in it, steal it (it had better not be car sized), sneak out without getting caught, and get home before his empty body dies, and you can put the soul back in? Cyril (quote): Oh, yes. Almost certainly. Probably. I think. Sounds like a PLAN, guys. Let's go!

page 54

Addendum to the above REALLY AWESOME PLAN. Do it before Telgrin tortures Graham's soul into hideous unrecognizability. Y'know. No pressure or anything.

page 58

I like Cyril. Road trip with the boys!

page 65

What sort of spooky ringwraith nonsense....

page 74

That’s....that’s just lembas bread. Literally just lembas.

page 81

Okay, there’s a thing I don’t like. Little episodic things periodically happen but so clumsily. I think it’s to give Alexander “items” to solve later puzzles, like the games. Direct quotes here: “Good apple,” Cyril said. “Very good.” “Sweet.” “Mmm.” And that’s the end of the exchange. Like. I get it, apples will probably be important later but. That dialogue is less than riveting

May 8, 2018:

page 87

"He’s going to try to ride a kelpie. I’ve never been so excited about a plot development in all my life!

page 108

I very much enjoyed that bit with the ogre, and now we’re hiding in barrels to sneak in. This book is like, nothing but all the best possible Fantasy Highlights.

page 123

Also, I’m fond of this exchange: “You are an evil man.” “So it has been said.” Telgrin shrugged. “Personally I’ve always found that such abstractions do not apply well to the real world. They make matters that are by their very nature complex seem rather too simple, don’t you think?” “Evil,” Alexander repeated."

page 133

Ewwww what is that thing. That’s a horrible beastie.

page 139

Where was he? Yes. Who was this beside him? Yes. Alexander those are not answers to your questions.

page 146

“All I’d have to do is wait until Telgrin is out of the room, step through the mirror, reclaim my father’s soul, and return through the mirror.” Alexander *liked* this plan."

page 162

It's absolutely just The Best Parts of Any Fantasy shoved together in one frantic ball of fury, with maybe three pages at most devoted to each new Fantasy Segment. I'm so into it. It's not a challenge to read by any stretch--I'd say it's middle grade fiction level--but, like, yo. It's crazy fun so who cares. (darn it, book, you broke my theory about where Telgrin had stuffed Graham. Boo. I was enjoying my guess.)

page 163

If my baby boy has broken his arm punching this ringwraith there will be hell to pay from me. I will protect this scarf-wearing lad at all costs. I say, when he's probably my age and knows at least a little magic and how to use a sword and has no problem crawling around dungeons and enemy castles.

page 165

Alexander is SUCH a pile of snark. Yeah, this is going well, he thinks. Now we have *four* knights chasing us.

page 168

“Cyril, I really don’t think—“ “*Enough.* there’s no time for discussion. Prepare yourself.” “No, Cyril, I— Aieeeeeeee!” Boys please

page 170

Are you KIDDING. It took us ages to get INTO the castle. And now we’re stuck outside again. P sure Telgrin is going to raise security after that debacle and kerfuffle you just caused.

page 175

Cuss the ever loving frick out of that tree root. You’ve earned a little less-than-princely reaction after this hell day.

page 181

Graham’s been soul-less for about a week at this point if I’ve added up right. He can wait a bit more, probably.

page 183

THIS IS NOT A HELPFUL SOLUTION TO THE MANY PROBLEMS AT HAND.

page 185

“Did you speak, Sir Frog?” “That’s Prince Frog to you.” Alex, please reign back the sass a little bit. You’re not helping matters.

page 194

We’ve found a princess, convinced her to smooch, he turns human again, and the first thing she says is “but....you’re *beautiful.*” Agreed, yo.

page 204

He’s been walking around with a hat this whole time? I hope it has a feather in it.

page 219

My baby Grahaaaaaam. Sorry about the week of agonizing torture. We came quick as we could. That whole scene with you and Telgrin was so cool and you’re so brilliant and I love your stupid regal face. Also. This exchange; “What happened?” “I’m not exactly sure. All I know is that Telgrin came uncomfortably close to killing me.” Y’know, no big deal.

page 223

"It opened its eyes, blinked, and said, “Hmph. What’s happening? Where am I?” “It’s all right, dear,” the first head said. “Go back to sleep. I am just going to kill this man here.” “Oh, that’s all right, then.”

page 228

I’m amazed Telgrin hasn’t raised hell and panic after losing Graham and his staff. Like. This isn’t a good event for our villain but we everyone seems remarkably calm.

page 231

“Is *everyone* in Daventry this obstinate?” Yes. You messed with the wrong royal family, tbh.

page 234

I love this. I love this book. In ways I cannot express because truly it is not a good book and yet. And YET. The setting is phenomenal, the cast both old and new entertaining, the language occasionally dips beyond melodramatic into actually decently lyrical, the action is relentless, and EVERYONE IS SASSY. Be it Alexander, Graham, this new princess, Telgrin. Everyone.

page 243

“I don’t suppose that you’ll tell me what you were up to.” “I don’t suppose.“ The sass is too strong. It’s blinding. I don’t want this book to end.

page 248

“You know, Alexander, I am not normally given to strong emotions. I do not often make declaration of animosity, for these do not agree with my usually thoughtful and scholarly nature. I must, however, tell you that I hate you.” The sass.

page 249

“The wonderful thing is, I have the power to make it all come true. All of it – the pain, the disfigurement, the death. I tell you, sometimes it’s a truly marvelous thing to be me.” Stars above I’m dying this is so good

page 250

This book is amazing. I am dying.

page 252

No, seriously. I am actually laughing out loud at this point. I love this. “She shall marry me unwillingly, or not at all!“

page 255

“Oh, I see the way of it. It’s blame-everything-on-Telgrin time, is it?” It hurts. My joy hurts too much. I’m crying with joy.

page 260

Cool guys don’t look at explosions.

page 269

This castle even has murder holes. Like. This is actually a good solid piece of fantasy, with accurate castles.

page 273

“I could attempt to fly you down.” All in all, Alexander thought he would rather just jump."

page 293

Graham is such a flirt.

page 297

No there’s no more page to turn!!!!!! Nooooooo I want moreeeee. .....aahHahdhsbdjdhdbuebfjxi.

May 8, 2018 – Finished Reading

five stars out of five stars

[johnnydany]

October 1974 49 Years Of Being Awesome 49th Birthday Gift T-Shirt

Get your styles: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/48813376-october-1974-49-years-of-being-awesome-49th-birthd

[a-smol-cosplayer]

im back on my ‘contributing to the wednesday/wyler fandom as a whole’ here are some incorrect quotes for y'all :)

Enid: I am SPEECHLESS!! 

Wednesday: *narrating*: despite being speechless she managed to lecture me for the next ten minutes 

/

Wednesday: If you had to separate your bees from 49 other identical bees that were all equally excited to see you, how would you determine which bee was yours?

Eugene: I would take my 50 bees home and live like a king

/

Xavier: who would win a fight, Enid or Tyler?

Wednesday: I cant answer that - Tyler is my boyfriend.

Xavier:  so Enid?

Wednesday: definitely 

/

Yoko: I hate going into the kitchen only to realise im the only snack in the house.

/

Tyler: *drops keys*

Tyler: you’ve got to be key-ding me

/

Enid: MURDER IS NEVER THE ANSWER!!

Tyler: Of course not! Murder is the question 

Wednesday: And the answer is always.

Bianca: All of you are wrong. The answer was 12. This is why you all failed.

/

Wednesday: I would be the worst PR manager ever. My client would be like ‘there are rumours going around that I’m gay and a satanist’ and I would just be like ‘haha awesome!’ 

/

Eugene: drug dealer? No, hug dealer! Come here 

/

Ajax: anyone would be lucky to date me, I was called ‘a pleasure to have in class’ when I was in primary school 

/

Wednesday: in my defence I was left unsupervised 

Enid: weren’t you with Thing?? 

Thing: In my defence I was also left unsupervised 

/

Wednesday: idiotsaywhat

Enid: pardon?

Tyler: sorry?

Bianca: excuse me?

Xavier: what?!?!?

/

Enid: Yoko! Did u know that there is a rumour that you are gay!

Yoko: rumour!?!?! a RUMOUR!?!? U mean people are doubting it!?

/

Enid: can you turn the lights on?

Ajax: I don’t need to, you’re the only light I need in my life.

Enid: Ajax please I cant see.

/

Eugene: I’m a genius, I finished this lego set in 3 days!

Wednesday: so?

Eugene: The box says from 4-7 years

/

Wednesday: we’re so in sync, it’s like we finish each others-

Enid: homework

Wednesday: huh?

Enid, sliding her maths work over in tears: please

/

Enid: you were so drunk at the party last night

Tyler: no I wasn’t

Enid: actually you were

Enid: you called a taxi to take you home

Tyler: so? Thats responsible, I didn’t want to put anyone in danger by drinking and driving

Enid: the party was at your house, Tyler...

/

Enid: if a plant is sad, do other plants photo-sympathise with it?

Yoko: I chlorofeel you man

Bianca, tired as hell at 3am: are you guys fucking serious?

/

Enid: I have a boyfriend now

Wednesday trying to be encouraging: a boyfriend?

Enid: *reflexively does a panicked peace sign*

Wednesday: TWO boyfriends!?!?

/

Bianca: do you have any chicken or pork?

Waitress: no, but we have beef

Bianca: oh, WE have beef, huh? You really wanna fight? Alright, let’s do this. Kent, hold my breadsticks.

/

Enid: I changed all of my passwords to ‘incorrect’ so whenever I forget it, it will tell me, ‘your password is incorrect.’

Yoko: genius

Wednesday, already hacking into all her info: dumbass

/

Tyler: I just hid Wednesdays typewriter so she would hang out with us… how long do you think I have left to live?

Enid: 10

Tyler: 10 what?

Enid: 9

/

Enid at 3am at a sleepover: how do tall people sleep? Wouldn’t their feet go right past the blanket?

Tyler: Enid it’s 3 in the morning

Enid: you can’t sleep?

Tyler: …

Enid: is it the blanket?

/

Tyler: Awe look at you Wednesday, getting romantic with all these candles

Wednesday: first of all, I’m summoning a demon

/

Enid: *stabbing air between Wednesday and Bianca with a butter knife*

Wednesday: what are you doing?

Enid: trying to cut the angry tension between you two

Enid: it isn’t working

/

Tyler: I haven’t been this happy since-

Tyler: 

Tyler: oh, wow. I’ve never been this happy!

Tyler: huh!

Tyler: that’s bad!

/

Tyler: I really wish you would just own up to it when you make a mistake

Wednesday, calmly stirring her coffee: I prEFER it with salt

/

Xavier: *hugs Wednesday*

Wednesday: what are you doing?

Xavier: appreciating the little things in life

Wednesday: bitch

/

*playing scrabble*

Enid: I will put down my ‘A’ to spell ‘A’

Tyler: I will put down my ’T’ to make ‘AT’

Wednesday: and I will add onto your ‘AT’ to make ‘BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC’

Enid: *flips board*

/

Wednesday: What if I pour coffee into my cereal instead of milk?

Tyler, taking the coffee pot as he walks by: what if you don’t.

/

Yoko: Wednesday, someone dropped your manuscript

Wednesday: are you joking? That manuscript is my best friend and I will straight up ASSASSINATE-

Yoko: it was Enid

Wednesday: of course she did never mind then. 

/

Enid: truth or dare?

Wednesday: truth

Enid: how many hours have you slept this week?

Wednesday: uhh, dare

Enid: I dare you to go to sleep

Wednesday: I don’t like this game

/

Tyler: Wednesday Addams could slap me in the face and I’d say thank you

Xavier: i’d say thank you too

/

Bianca: theres a monster underneath my bed and its really ugly

Kent, on the bottom bunk: honestly, fuck you

/

Enid: a Z is just a sideways N

Wednesday, trying to concentrate: can you shut up?

Enid: zo

/

Enid: what are you guys doing?

Kent, Yoko and Ajax: *taking a quiz to see what kind of dog breed they are*

Yoko: important stuff

/

[after the gates mansion gets cleared]

Wednesday: Nothing good will ever happen to me again!

[twelve seconds later]

Wednesday: so far my theory has been confirmed.

/

Wednesday: Tyler annoyed me today so I told him that I can’t wait to see what he has planned for my birthday tomorrow.

Enid: but it isn’t your birthday tomorrow.

Wednesday: But there is something special about watching the colour leave his face as the panic takes over

/

Enid: you were supposed to do something about the rat in your locket

Ajax: I did

Ajax: I named him fluffy. He likes coco pops.

/

Wednesday: my boyfriend is too tall for me to kiss. What should I do?

Bianca: Punch him in the stomach so he doubles over then kiss him.

Enid: tackle him

Yoko: kick him in the shins

Tyler: just ask me to lean down?!?!?

/

Tyler: why would you give a knife to a child?

Wednesday: Enid felt unsafe

Tyler: now I feel unsafe

Wednesday: I’m sorry...

Wednesday: Would u like a knife?

/

Ajax: you’re up early

Literally everyone: ......

Ajax: you never went to sleep did u?

/

Tyler: my criminal record? The only illegal thing I’ve done is absolutely killing it on the dance floor

Tyler: hahaha just kidding, I’ve killed a man

/

Enid: why are you smiling?

Wednesday: what? Can’t I just be happy?

Bianca: Xavier tripped down the stairs

/

Enid and Tyler: You will have a hard time believing this because it never happens but it was a mistake we swear—

Wednesday: A MISTAKE?!? *gestures to the table that is on fire*

/

Bianca: Have you ever been scolded by Enid?

Wednesday: Im not scared of her

Bianca: So thats a no

/

Wednesday *doing something risky* : I am going to do this and not you or god himself can stop me 

Tyler: *Starts typing on his phone*

Wednesday:

Wednesday: ..Tyler 

Tyler:

Wednesday:

Wednesday: *panicking* Tyler what are you doing?!? What have you done?!?!

Tyler: 

Enid: *bursting through the door* wedNESDAY ADDAMS DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL--

//

this ended up being way to long congrats to anyone that made it in the end

[cattimeswithjellie]

Stream Recap, Rendog 07/09/24

Not too many recaps this week, it's a busy week! I was gone all weekend for my 20th anniversary (yes, I have been married longer than quite a few of you have been alive), and now I have family coming to visit, but here's this Ren stream I started before I left and just finished up. In this stream, Ren gathers material for his autosmelter!

00:00 Ren opens the stream in video-with-music mode, running the countdown clock and bopping around the server to do various pre-stream chores. The title for today’s stream is “Gathering Stuff For A New Project” and Chat is happy to speculate as they filter in.

5:40 Ren turns down the music and greets the chat, welcoming them to the Tuesday stream. It’s been a week since he streamed because the Skulk Crane sucked the life out of him while he was building with it. He vastly underestimated the amount of copper required to make 500 copper trapdoors! He starts the day by checking to see if the shop actually made any money. He would be surprised. There have been no sales. Ren remembers that this is actually the worst permit in the world to have because nobody in the entire world (except Cubfan) ever does anything with skulk! It looks cool on its own but does not go nicely with any other block in the game. The skulk enthusiasts in Chat are hurt by this slander. Ren wishes he’d gotten at least one sale. Gem is doing a magic theme, maybe she will buy some in the future. Terrible sales aside, he’s very happy with the build, which is really very pretty and impressive.

9:50 Ren checks the diorite shop (no sales) and beacons (some sales) and thanks subs and donos. Today’s plan is a new project! He showed Chat a preview last week, but he’s going to build an autosmelting facility! His current facility is terrible and he has to smelt _so much_, so it’s time for a newer, bigger, better smelter. He warns Chat that among other things, the new build needs over 900 quartz blocks, so he’s got his work cut out for him.

13:40 A chatter has been subscribed for 11 months. Ren loves the number 11, it’s his favorite sub month number and also his birthday! He reminds Chat that his birthday is 10/11 and he will be seven years old. That is so old! Chat is impressed. ((It is not clear whether this is just a random bit or whether Ren is counting his age in dog years, which would make him 49 on his upcoming birthday.)) Chat encourages Ren to go to Impulse’s quartz shop and save himself a lot of grinding. Ren says that being an adult is 70% boring and 30% awesome, with the 70% subsidizing the 30.

16:00 Ren begins laying out his workspace. He has done the whole thing in creative already and sent it off to get a schematic made. He hopes to be able to show it off soon! Ren remembers he wants to give Cherrifire and Foxxology the Artist Badge, but he doesn’t know how to do it. Chat helps him out. He does it successfully, he and Chat are very proud. He gives one to Sanistratus as well, then realizes he has no VIPs. How has he been streaming so long with no VIPs? He is the worst streamer ever. He tries to make his Hermit friends VIPs, but none of them are watching right now and can’t be targeted. He tells Chat to remind him, then begins collecting quartz in his Gigaplex villager complex.

21:30 Ren is not sure if he wants to show Chat the finished creative mode version of the autosmelter before it’s really built. He sort of wants to in order to get Chat’s help with naming the building. He thanks more subs and donos and talks with a chatter about their new PC. He greets his mods and welcomes in the new chatters still filtering in. He wants to get as much as possible from the villagers, but he also has a ton of quartz tucked around in random chests that he hasn’t sorted well. Ren spent all his diamonds on copper for the Skulk shop, so he does not really have much to buy Quartz with. He needs 15 stacks of quartz, but he has 16 stonemasons to meet the need.

27:30 Quartz collection is going surprisingly well for the moment, and Ren realizes he may need more to do in this stream. He thinks about completing the tunnel to his farmer trading hall, a project he partially completed and then ran out of juice on. A chatter points out that Ren should be selling conduits, Ren remembers he’s supposed to be selling conduits but wonders if anyone will buy. Chat points out that Impulse wanted a conduit last week but had to make one because no one was selling.

29:30 Ren finishes his quartz collecting and waffles about showing off the autosmelter. Chat wants to see it and Ren lets himself be persuaded. He opens his creative world and quickly faces the sky to preserve the surprise, then turns on shaders for maximum effect. He slowly and theatrically pans downward onto… nothing, because he is facing in the wrong direction. He quickly looks back up and spins around, then pans down onto the beauty and majesty of the new autosmelter. Chat stops laughing long enough to admire the new autosmelter. Ren explains that he didn’t want to just make a big square smelter, his design has an interesting shape and lots of moving parts that make it look cool and satisfying. It’s not a huge smelter, 32 furnaces, and needs to be manually loaded for that Gigacorp feel. He shows chat how the autosmelter works, then notices something is not working in the model smelter and fixes it. The most interesting part of the system is that the furnaces feed into a system of droppers that spit the items out and down through an observation window before being collected into chests.

37:40 Ren smelts a bunch of cobblestone to show Chat how the autosmelter will work. Chat very much likes the way the items rain down and fall into the collection hoppers. He does some troubleshooting on locked hoppers and takes suggestions for names from Chat. “Hyper Ore Thermonator” is a strong contender.

42:50 Ren heads back to the server to hunt for the next ingredient, four stacks of light blue concrete. Ren has three stacks already. He greets other Hermits online (Grian, Zedaph, Skizz) and goes shopping for concrete at False’s shop. In chat, Zedaph remarks that Xisuma’s cam account is hot. Skizz agrees that it is likely the best looking one. Ren explores the shop while thanking subs and donos, he finds that there is no light blue concrete available. He buys white powder and decides to dye it. Chat hears background noise on the stream, Ren says his neighbor is mowing the lawn. He dyes the powder and goes to make the concrete in a pond, then takes a break to fly back to his storage room and fetch a cauldron just to point out how much better it would be if throwing concrete powder in a cauldron would make concrete.

48:00 Chat suggests Giga-HEAT as a potential name, the Hyper-Efficient Alloy Thermonator. Ren likes it very much Ren decides it will be the GigaHEAT-1 or maybe the GigaHEAT Facility. He decides that to keep the lore orderly, he should review all his existing names and see if there’s a way to keep some kind of pattern going. He has the GigaCorp Hangar Bay, the GigaCorp Terra-M1, then the GigaPlex, then the GigaTruck. The naming conventions are a mess! He considers the GigaCorp H.E.A.T Station. (Hyper-Efficient Alloy Thermination) Chat likes the Thermonation Station.

52:00 Ren returns to the storage area and decides that corporate rebranding over time is the cause of the naming differences between builds. He collects white concrete and looks around for the wood to make acacia trapdoors. He doesn’t know why False complains about his storage system, he only had to look in two buildings to find his trapdoors! He gets trapdoors and sandstone slabs, then powered rails. He needs more gold and heads for the gold farm, where there is one single block of gold available. Nothing is spawning in the farm at all. Ren is confused until he remembers that Xisuma is online. When Xisuma is online, nothing works! He flies up to the AFK platform anyway, whereupon piglins begin to spawn. Ren apologizes for his aspersions on Xisuma’s good name. He takes the opportunity for a short ad and bio break.

1:00:20 Ren returns from his break and checks in on the amount of gold that has accumulated. He got 11 blocks of gold in 3 minutes, not bad at all! He doesn’t need tons of gold, so that should do. Ren heads home and thanks subs and donos. He talks with Chat about who does and does not get served ads during ad breaks. Advertising on Twitch is not actually very lucrative. YouTube either, really. He finishes the powered rails and goes onto quartz slab. He might charge at the door for use of the autosmelter, but give free use passes to a few select Hermits. He moves on to quartz stairs, then briefly quails at the 107 hoppers. He convinces himself that it’s not really thaaaat many hoppers, compared to what other people do. He can always lagbust it later.

1:07:40 Off to the Gigaplex for black terracotta. A chatter tells Ren to give himself a compliment. Ren stutters for a moment, then says he’s a pretty good cook. Chat offers many other ideas for compliments. They know many good things about Ren! Chat also wants to talk about baked watermelon again, but Ren hates that. Baked watermelon disturbs him in his soul. Grape soup, too. Smooth quartz is next, but that’s the acutal reason he wants an autosmelter in the first place! He hates smelting quartz. A chatter drops subs, Ren thanks subs and donos. He welcomes the new Gigacorp employees, telling them of the many benefits of working for Gigacorp with only the small caveat of being plugged into a Giga-building for the rest of one’s life. The description of how this happens is nothing Chat wants to hear. Chat does want Gigacorp merch though, so Ren takes Chat down a Google rabbit hole of possible merch designs.

1:18:00 A chatter makes a big donation with a Do-Not-Read message, which accidentally triggers the text-to-speech. Ren dives in and catches it before it gets to far and warns chat that Rosie does not understand DNR and will read any dono above ten pounds. He talks with Chat about trainers and retro shirts in Gigacorp colors. Chat is into it. Ren is Googling without a net, Safe Search turned off, but so far so good. He really likes the 80s style knit polo shirt. Chat thinks it looks like a dad shirt. Ren says of course it does, dads are from the 80s these days. Ren doesn’t have the selling power to do a whole line of merch, but he’s pretty sure he can do one or two things successfully. Chat agrees with merch, but think Dads may also be from the 90s these days.

1:26:00 More materials gathering! Ren has most of the next few things he needs, though he has to smelt even more quartz. He does more farmer trades and buys more quartz. Chat is coming up with more merch ideas for Ren. Ren thinks about a Gigacorp tin lunchbox. Chat is into it. Ren thinks about a Gigacorp calculator. Chat doesn’t think calculators are still a thing. Ren thinks about a Gigacorp Casio Watch. It would be difficult, but would be a cool piece of merch. Economies of scale might not be in his favor. A chatter sends a dono with a gently sarcastic message about how often Ren talks about merch without making merch. Ren admits that is true, but he can’t afford to take a loss on merch. He has to be really careful.

1:36:00 Ren smelts his stairs and thanks subs and donos. Speaking of merch, he has a new exclusive preview for something coming soonish! He can’t show too much and he can’t talk about it, but he can show a little, little bit. He shows Chat an image of what appears to be the top 25% of a plush Rendog, which is mostly a Ministry hat with diamond band, some curly hair, and the top of pointed ears. He tells Chat he will not be answering questions, this is all they get. He is nearly done with gathering supplies, good progress is being made! Ren is better about this than he used to be, getting stuff together first makes it so much easier to build than finding something every time you need it. He is down to items he only needs one stack of, so the gathering is going quite fast now.

1:46:00 Ren reorganizes the shulkers and then goes for the last bit of stuff, including the 32 actual furnaces the autosmelter requires. He realizes he may not have enough redstone, and does a time check with the chat. Some chatters are just waking up (10am Pacific) while some chatters are up very late. He realizes he doesn’t have enough lightning rods, but he cannot possibly give even more money for copper to Xisuma! Xisuma already has all his diamonds! Pearl shows up in Chat and Ren tells her to stay put so he can VIP her. He does so successfully and is satisfied, but does not know if VIP actually does anything. Chat explains that it makes Pearl a Very Important Person. (One clever chatter suggests Pearl is a Vertically Inverted Person) and that it’s basically just a free sub but it also allows her to talk in emote-only chat like mods do. Ren thinks that’s an abuse of power waiting to happen and laughs about it. If Chat bothers him he can make them emote only and only Hermits and mods can talk, perfect! He also thinks about who else he needs to make VIPs, and whether some of the OG chatters should be VIPs. That will be for a future stream.

1:55:00 Back to the item collecting! Except Ren wants to show Pearl the crane he spent all his copper on, and Iskall shows up in chat and needs VIPped! Pearl somehow runs afoul of the automod in Chat and gets timed out, then logs onto the server to tell Ren about it. Ren admits that his Twitchbot is very grumpy and decides to just mod Pearl so she’s immune to the bot. He VIPs Iskall, Jono and Cub. Iskall lets him get some copper from his chests. Ren realizes that nobody can be a VIP and a mod, and that Mod Pearl is no longer VIP Pearl. He does not like this. Chat points out that Mods are Very Important by default. Ren decides to keep Pearl a mod so the automod has no power over her. He realizes he also needs to remod Iskall and Jono. Now it all makes sense! He knows why he has no VIPs, because he makes all these people mods instead!

2:04:00 Back again to item collecting! Ren is deeply, deeply pained at the idea of using waxed copper trap doors for anything. He goes back to the creative world in the hopes that maybe there aren’t actually copper trapdoors in the design, but it turns out they are there and they look cool, so Ren cannot bring himself to exclude them. He shows new arrivals the autosmelter, which is broken again, and fixes it. The torches he placed earlier to unlock the hoppers has broken the loader. He hastily backs out of the creative world and decides he will fix that later. He gathers more items while still complaining about the lack of sense in the mod/VIP dichotomy on Twitch.

2:11:00 Ren needs a bunch of redstone blocks that he definitely doesn’t have. He thanks subs and donos and reminds Chat that he has no diamonds to purchase redstone and redstone components. He collects up all the rest of the things he needs, which are generally in his chests. He notices chat talking about court cases and demands to know if he is being taken to court for anything. He should not be taken to court, he insists, because he always follows all of the rules of the server. In fact, he used to be the king of the server! They can’t take him to court! Chat is not sure, but they are somewhat concerned that Doc might be trying to divorce Ren. Ren thoughtfully considers the possibility of divorcing Doc and suing for half his diamonds. The trial was extremely stressful, after all, and Ren has not been the same person since. The press was also extremely critical of his lawyer’s performance! Chat hates the idea of this divorce and thinks Ren should sue Skizz for emotional distress instead.

2:16:00 Ren gets so caught up in court talk that he breaks one of his soul campfires. He replaces it and threatens to sue Chat for their intimations that his lawyer was wooden. He needs hay bales and goes to sneak some from Beef’s fields. Chat points out that Doc doesn’t have as many diamonds this season because he’s only taking payment in sand. Ren doesn’t really want sand. But Ren’s farms are going great, producing so many pumpkins and melons! Ren does replant the wheat fields, claiming this is one of the great unwritten rules, along with not farting in the bank. Chat may have been breaking that latter rule. Ren is appalled to hear that some chatters also break wind in the cinema. Chat is fascinated to hear that Ren goes into the bathroom to fart. Ren doesn’t want to talk about it and changes the subject to the weather. It’s windy.

2:24:00 Ren grows some acacia trees to get the fence gates he needs, still castigating Chat for their farting habits. Ren has some surprisingly complicated rituals for farting in public. Chat is pleased to be appalling. Ren tries to make a detector rail by memory and gets almost there. He has everything except the redstone blocks that he needs for the GigaH.E.A.T Station. He’s going to build it on top of the chicken coop, which is no longer needed.

2:30:00 Ren drops into the Giga-Truck, has a seat in the driver’s chair and goes to F5 mode to address the Chat. He thanks subs and donos one more time and says it’s time to call it a day. He wants to get an episode out very soon, but the smelter build may take longer than he thought. He thanks Chat, raids into SoupForEloise and ends his stream.

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

...Is there going to be a Kai vs Nya battle in the fight against the overlord? Like a one v one? Would Olivia and Kai team up to fight Nya? It's so angsty, pls don't do this even though i know u would. Also does Garmadon know that the Overlord is the reason behind his father's death? Does anyone, outside of Mystake, even know the overlord is a thing that existed? Also it's kinda funny that a 2000+ god has beef with a traumatised 14 year old

Is there a scene with Misako and Mystake, or like more scenes with Mystake, cause she's awesome, and when does Miranda get her prothethics, cause she's also awesome ( I have a newfound appreciation for these two characters after rereading Chp 1-49 of book 2) Also i like how you weave plot threads that are like seasons away, like the morro and Kai comparision, or playing the long game with Harumi's arc, making her part of the crew before scarring her for life (why, why did you do this to me)

And the most important question: do the ninja/ high school gang go to Dairy Dragon in Book 2?

Is there going to be a Kai vs Nya battle in the fight against the overlord? Like a one v one? -> Well, I mean, Kai takes on Nya during the Final Battle already in the show, so I wouldn't be surprised if I were to, like, extrapolate on that or something :P

Also does Garmadon know that the Overlord is the reason behind his father's death? -> He knows about the Overlord being a threat before Time Began (and so does Wu, if they apparently grew up hearing stories about the FSM's fights with him as per Crystalized), but Garmadon was not told how it connected to why his father "died" out of nowhere (only Wu was told, when he was given his father's staff and the protective robes). Saying more is borderline spoilers, so *zip*

Does anyone, outside of Mystake, even know the overlord is a thing that existed? -> The FSM Fam + Koko + The Order and Olivia indirectly but at this moment in time that is it. Everyone else is gonna be completely blindsided by the revelation.

Also it's kinda funny that a 2000+ god has beef with a traumatised 14 year old -> Overlord: Dammit it I was enjoying that nap of eternal rest and oblivion, what do you mean I have to wake up and do my job now???

Is there a scene with Misako and Mystake, or like more scenes with Mystake, cause she's awesome -> There actually is a scene of Mystake and Misako that I can guarantee, but I definitely want more down the line. Mystake also gets a lot of scenes with Wu, a couple with Lloyd, and at least one with Jesse, but she's got a sizable role to play in S2 regardless!

when does Miranda get her prosthetics cause she's also awesome-> It's in S2, but I don't wanna tell ya precisely when cuz it'll ruin the surprise. But I *can* tell you that we will be seeing more of her overall though!

( I have a newfound appreciation for these two characters after rereading Chp 1-49 of book 2) -> Well thank you!! Keeping so much of their stuff under wraps but well-paced was difficult!! along with all the other stuff mentioned!! There's a lot I'm playing the long game with aaaaaa (especially all the stuff that's gonna stretch straight to Crystalized now eyoooooo)

do the ninja/ high school gang go to Dairy Dragon in Book 2?- Yes, actually.

[hat0nie]

Thing's Rambles #1: Eggs

Eggs! You know them, you love them—at least I hope so, considering how awesome... Food?... They are. I think eggs are a category of their own. Ah, whatever, we're going out of topic.

(long shtick about eggs below, will bore u to death)

One of the reasons eggs, chicken eggs specifically, are so crucial to the past and modern day is because the birds who lay them can do so indefinitely as opposed to other birds who only lay a certain number at a time. So long as their nest is empty, presumably taken by predators (humans), then they can lay just about every day. In the industry, male chicks are basically useless, which results in a mass crush every day. Fortunately, scientists are working on changing the sex of the chick in the eggs. However, I don't know anything about that yet.

Speaking of eggs, a man somewhere in the 1970's conducted the '7 Country Study', his conclusion being that eggs raise the chances of CVD (cardiovascular disease, AKA heart attacks) by 17% due to the SatFat (saturated fat) and cholesterol. This, of course, raised panic and attention in the public, especially when the government set guidelines for saturated fat and cholesterol. While this link isn't necessarily 100% false, it is a clunking argument. Especially in comparison to the other study linking IR (insulin resistance) to CVD, which is also linked to high sugar and high carbohydrate consumption. And while it's still not an all-time cause, it's still true 90% of the time. Remember the '7 Country Study' I mentioned prior? It was actually conducted in 22 countries, except 15 of them proved to be against what the study was about, so he ditched them. What's even more baffling than this is that even after 50 years of study after study after study, these government guidelines are still in place. Eggs do not cause CVD, rather the exact opposite, and then some more.

I'm not completely sure what the nutrients that specifically fight against CVD are (mainly because they have unpronounceable names), but eggs still carry massive benefits for your skin, muscles, bones, organs, and even your brain! This is because of the many vitamins (especially vitamin B) and high protein. Time for the main part.

Laying it all out front, a whole egg contains: Vit A (has a part in yolk coloring), Vit E (good for the heart and skin), Vit K1, Vit B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, and Vit D. Those are just the vitamins. Eggs also contain DHA (omega 3), which is for the brain; folate for degenerative disease; choline to burn fat and help against fatty liver; and lutein and zeaxanthin, which are beneficial for your eyes. 

And then protein—my favorite part. It's amazing, really, because of its ability to help build protein tissues and the percentage of egg protein made into our protein. In comparison, we get 17% of its protein from soy, 16% from whey, 32% from meat or fish, and a whopping 48% from eggs. You can really see the difference between egg yolk and egg white when you take into consideration that egg white's percentage is merely 17%. 

Alright, so now that we know we get a lot of protein from eggs, what do we do with that protein? 

Well, how it works is that when our body receives protein, it either invests it into tissues (skin, muscles, bones) or energy (glucose). The ratio of how much protein is invested in tissues to glucose is actually dependent on the meal from which the protein is extracted. For example, when you get protein from meat, 30% of that protein goes into the development of your skin, muscles, bones, joints, etc. (tissues), and 70% of the protein becomes glucose (energy). For eggs, it's 49% for tissues and 51% for glucose, ranking it as the highest rate of protein for tissues, but only after breastmilk, which is a whole different and fascinating discussion.

So far, we've talked about why chicken eggs are special, scandals against them, and the great yet still incomplete benefits of them. Lastly, we will talk about egg quality.

-Is the price difference between cheap and expensive eggs worth it? 

Absolutely! You'll be getting more bang for your buck. In fact, some suggest that buying the cheap ones makes you gain 40–60% less worth. 

-Types of eggs: Pasture eggs are definitely the best type. The others are free-range eggs and no-cage eggs, etc.; eh, most of these are just marketing terms anyway. 

-Yolk color; do they matter? Well, yes, but actually, no. They do, sure, but you can't really be too sure since farmers are prone to using artificial coloring. 

-Grades: grade B eggs, grade A eggs, and grade AA eggs. Do these actually matter? 

No. Grades are mostly based on cosmetics, which can hardly matter much when you whisk them up for baking. Plus, your grocery eggs are probably already grade A eggs.

All in all, the quality of eggs depends on what the chickens are fed and if they're ethically raised, but you can't control those factors. But what can you control? The way the eggs themselves are prepared.

Dr. Berg suggests the best method is cracking the egg on a lit pan, waiting until the whites turn into their white color but not too much, and then scrambling them. This way, you can optimize how much nutrition and protein you can squeeze out of your egg. Too tedious? Just scramble them normally. 

I think the best part of eggs, despite how beneficial they are, is how relatively cheap and accessible they are. Don'tcha think?

P.S. Remember that omega 3 I told you about? The one that's good for your brain? That's a good omega. What's not a good omega is omega 6, specifically the oil restaurants use to fry eggs and such. This one actually increases the risk of CVD.

Time for fun facts! 

Fun fact: The egg white has no fat.

Fun fact: You can get 101% of the choline that your body needs in a day with just 4 eggs.

Fun fact: 90% (approximate guess) of the good stuff is in the yolks, so yeah, you're going to have to eat them.

Fun fact: This text is over a thousand words long! Congrats on reading that much!

[ist-das-kunst-oder-kann-das-weg]

Just was on a loose friend's goodbye party, now I'm on my way to Prague to have a fun two/three days with the chaotic friend from Hongkong before we go to Leipzig. There would have been a nice connection tmw starting in the late morning and arriving there in the evening, but everything was booked and you need a seat reservation for trains crossing the borders soooo. Instead I'm taking the night train and bc fast trains inside Germany are also booked, I figured I might as well take regional trains from Hamburg to Dresden. It took me a full day to figure that one out. I even called the fucking customers support to ask whether they had technical problems regarding the reservations. I will be in Prague in the evening tomorrow as well. Yay... (At least I get there, I know. After this, I wouldn't judge people flying the distance wowww.)

But yeah, for the regional service I went for the 49€-Ticket. After I got a booking confirmation I got an email saying that the activation is delayed. Okay, called the customer service again, because I need it tmw at 6, but they don't have calling times then. The woman there was condescending from the start, even before she told me I had a negative credibility score and it even went downhill from there. Okay, I know where that comes from, from at least five years ago when I was in this shitty relationship and not yet on meds and yeah. She thought I was arguing with that, which I wasn't. (Even though I think they should not do the credibility check because the ticket is (or could be) paid the end of the previous month so they have (or could have) zero financial risk. Call me naive, I am.) I was arguing about the fact that she/the system knew about the negative score and that, according to her, I would not be able to get this ticket, whin in my opinion warrants me an email telling me that. Instead I only got an email about the activation being delayed.

After the call I had a huge cry about everything because in general it just reminded me about the whole shit show those years were and also specifically I had this fear in my head about when the fuck up these past years were would lead to me fucking up in the present. And it was today that it happened for the first time and it sucked. Guess I got really lucky it wasn't earlier. I am immensely grateful to my sister who then booked the ticket on my name via her bank account. So at least I have a ticket now for every part of the journey.

Usually, I am really excited to go on a journey, but today I am not. I guess getting to the point was exhausting as fuck. Also I forgot lunch and thought I would eat something at the party but there were only meat options (it looked like the only ingredient was meat somehow?) and yeah. Then I also forgot to bring foodnfor the journey and also forgot to refill my water bottle. Fuck. (Also I might miss the one or other person but that will go away, I am sure haha.)

Tomorrow at this time, hopefully everything will be awesome.

[starrzies]

★[Week 4] Art Fight 2023★

[Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 ] [My Art Fight]

And that's a wrap!! Art Fight 2023 is over!! Man, this year was AWESOME, I had so much fun!! I got to draw so many cool characters and received so much cool art!! I genuinely enjoyed this year despite being incredibly busy IRL.

I beat BOTH of my goals this year!! (Of 20 and 35 pieces) I finished this year off with 55 pieces!! Actually insane!!

Thank you so much for all the fun!! Until next year!!

37 - @ Neocoon (Art Fight) | Míng Zhū 38 - @0-lunar-eclipse-0​ | Solar Eclipse & Lunar Eclispe 39 - @ nikaidoarts (Art Fight) | Mune 40 - @viioletshiine​ | Chiller 41 - @ berryteatime (Art Fight) | Xin Yue 42 - @ jinxkitti (Art Fight) | Angel 43 - @lavaflowe | Toudao 44 - @pintoissus | Turnip 45 - @maskarie | Yukio 46 - @nxptoons | Luhan 47 - @deviliciousnavy | Zhen 48 - @ glitchadeli (Art Fight) | Noki 49 - @ apocalypse_inferno (Art Fight) | Vincent 50 - @ icerasdrawing11 (Art Fight) | Felicity 51 - @ Sunny_Bunni (Art Fight) | Nila 52 - @ lotuslantern (Art Fight) | Song 53 - @osleeper | Kǒnghuāng 54 - @ starfilledram (Art Fight) | Jīn Tóng 55 - @wintressart​ | Xiaodan

Quick Reminder!!  I DO NOT allow people to reupload, repost, claim, trace, reference or use my art without my Permission! If my art is posted anywhere else other than my accounts it’s not mine! If you like my work, consider following me or commissioning me!! (This does not count if the art was made for you! Please remember to credit me though!!)

Art Trades are Closed!! (Until Mid August) Commissions are Open!! Do NOT ask me about Requests!! Do NOT; Reupload, Repost, Claim, Trace, Reference or use my art without my Permission! 💜

You can Dm me Questions or Concerns! Like my work? Check out my Carrd for where else you can find me!