#And with good reason

[pharawee]

S H A D O W ♢ Ep. 6: Funhouse

[nessberry]

I love all the fun silly posts about daniel and his daughters but I'm 99.9% sure if they touch on those relationships at all they'll definitely be reflective of either louis or lestats relationship with claudia

[bluehandbag]

Honestly, I think them live-action shows/films are trying too hard.

They think they can make the perfect villain, make him hot, make him sad, make him not really a villain, make him morally ambiguous, add sad backstory, change the lore to make him more sympathetic, tick all the anti-hero/anti-villain boxes, etc, etc...

Meanwhile we're over here losing our minds over a triangle.

[amarithecat]

ROUND 2. FIGHT!

[inusmasha]

As much as I complain about being lonely, I do have to admit that I have the best boss/job ever.

I’ve been working part time at this acupuncture clinic that primarily focuses on women’s health and fertility for the past…. 5 years I think? Meaning that I’ve watched and helped this company grow into a successful safe space for the women in our area. We take a lot pride in providing care for our moms and tbh educating them about their own bodies! Bc! As a society! We don’t focus on women’s health! A lot of the tips and advice you hear about health caters mostly to men. Women’s bodies are in constant flux due the hormones, cycles, pregnancy, menopause, PERI Menopause, ECT! … and buddy… everyone’s body is unique on top of that. It’s easy to get lost.

Women/period having people need to have medical practitioners who share their struggle in existing in these bodies. Bc who else would understand or be better at guiding them? Anyway!

Our boss treats us (5) to sushi almost every Wednesday. (We actually treat the woman who owns the sushi biz down the street from us too so 😂 it works… she sometimes joins our sushi meetings lol!) During these sushi meeting we’re constantly looking for ways to improve not just our business practice but the ways that we can make it easier for women to have access to our info and services. Women need these third place spaces. Places to hang that’s not just about work or being alone at home. We’re trying to foster a community here.

And if they can’t afford it well… our boss gives low income folks a hefty %80 percent discount if they need it. Because everyone deserves care!!! I’m really proud to work here. I really am.

[lilisouless]

Skipping breakfast sucks, never try it

[typhin-hoofbun]

My roommate made a card game!

So, my roommate has been working on a project for a while. I've helped, but it's mostly her thing. She finally took the plunge and hit Publish, so now it's available for purchase! I know I have very little reach, but maybe people will think it's neat and spread the word? Worth a shot!

I'm putting the ad copy below the cut, but the short version is that you're apprentices to a wizard who's asked you to buy materials from the Fairy Markets. They don't deal in coins, they deal in trade, so you have to trade the items you start with and draw for the items you need. Some items can also be used to affect the game, like causing a player to skip a turn or discard a card. You can also buy the favor of one of the Fae to do large effects like sweep the Market and replace it with something new, or grab any one item regardless of cost.

Collect the items from the Lists, turn them in to get points, and the person with the most points at the end wins. Strategic play from simple rules.

Right now, it's available as a "Print on Demand" product for a physical box set. It comes with the card decks, the manual, and the point markers. We're hoping that as word spreads, we can eventually get enough momentum to even get it in physical stores (and printing in bulk would allow us to drop the price, especially after the printer raised the price of On Demand printing last year). We'll also be looking into setting up a Tabletop Simulator version with proper scripting and features and such, but that might be a couple months out.

We are proud to announce the launch of the newest game from CrabBattle! Games, Fairy Market!

The Faerie Market opens at dawn. There are many strange and wonderous items to be had in the markets, for a price, and I've instructed other apprentices in the market to trade with you as well. Return to me when you have the items and I shall give you other chores. Continue to serve well and I shall be mightily impressed. Be warned, Time passes strangely in Faerie, and Beware deals with the Fae.

As an apprentice to an absent-minded wizard in town, you've been sent to the strange and wonderous Faerie Markets to do some shopping. Trade for Magical items, use them to gain an advantage, and even make deals with the fairies themselves. Compete with other apprentices to bring back the goods, and beware deals with the Fae.

Fairy Market is a 2-4 player game in which you will trade goods with an ever-changing market, racing to complete lists for the Wizard. Strategize how to get the cards you need, without letting others know what you're after. Play cards to change the market, change your hand or even lock your opponents options, but beware, the market can be unpredictable.

Includes rules for either a lighter game or a more strategic "Timeless Realm" Variation.

CrabBattle! Games is a small group of game developers in Madison WI, with a focus on making games that are simple, with an eye towards Accessibility, and still have un-plumbed depths.

Fairy Market is available NOW on thegamecrafter.com!

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/fairy-market

Any questions or comments, please contact us at crabbattlegames@gmail.com, or @CrabbattleG on Twitter! Enjoy!

[adhd-mode-activate]

hmm okay so a very interesting thing is rereading Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus for the first time since I was...15 or 16 (important background: I read Heroes of Olympus twice before I ever read PJO because they were at the library and PJO wasn't)

1) I haven't actually read HoO after PJO before now. There's so much my little 10 year old self missed in The Lost Hero and didn't even realize it

2) I...love Percy a lot more now, and it's actually super therapeutic to realize this. Because when I first read HoO, I liked him but he wasn't my favorite. I thought he was a little rash. When I read PJO for the first time, I straight up didn't like Percy. Why? Because the thing I had taught myself to do with my anger and and frustration with authority figures and untreated adhd and trauma was make myself invisible. Percy was too vocal, and it scared me. Now? I have the freedom to be angry when I need to be, and I love Percy. I could do a whole post about that honestly

3) oh my gosh if I told my little preteen self, reading House of Hades for the first time, that we're an asexual biromantic who went through a whole gender crisis, she'd be so confused. Partly because I was a sheltered conservative Christian, and partly because...oh my gosh when I first read the scene with Eros (hate him so much), I was confused. "What's the big deal about having a crush on Percy? Isn't everybody equally attracted to guys and girls? Are you embarrassed because he's taken?" buries head in hands how did it take me so long to realize I was bi honestly I thought that was normal

[straightlightyagami]

u ever see someone with extremely fucked up views (or actions) and think wowww if a couple of things in my life went the tiniest bit differently that would have been me

[noperopesaredope]

I wish we had more female characters like Eleanor Shellstrop. One of the most unlikable people you've ever met. Read a Buzzfeed article on most rude things you can do on a daily basis and decided to use that as a list of goals. Makes everyone's day worse just by being there. Dropped a margarita mix on the ground and tried to pick it up, only to get hit by a row of shopping carts which pushed her into the road where she was hit by a boner pill delivery truck, killing her instantly. Cannot keep a romantic partner despite being bisexual. Had a terrible childhood but will die before she gets therapy. Best employee at a scam company. Just the worst but also can't help but root for her to improve.

Absolute loser. Girl-failure. Bad at almost everything. Literally perfect female character.

[nitw]

i miss the bad guys. like they really took the only good thing about zootopia (furries) and made it infinitely better by Not being copaganda

[langernameohnebedeutung]

Lae'zel's character and her entire situation at the beginning of the game becomes so much more funny when you find out she's 22. It makes so much sense. Imagine you're 22 and you're exposed to this dangerous toxin or chemical or something - but not to worry, you learnt that this can be easily fixed, you just need to dial 911 real quick. Common knowledge. Everyone knows that. You learnt that in kindergarten, it's up there with fire alarm drills.

But the people you're stuck with have no concept of modern medicine and when you say "let's go to the hospital" they will say shit like "i think they kill people at the hospital" and "we should ask this swamp lady" or "this guy over there told me about this homoeopathic healer kind of guy but he got abducted" or "this random bard wants to help" and "I'm not going to dial 911 because I don't want the government to know my home address" or "maybe we should consider a deal with Satan". And then a bunch of them KEEP consuming the chemical because it makes them "stronger". One guy might explode for unrelated reasons. You have a few days before this situation is getting critical and suddenly they're solving crime and doing general charity for the community.

And FOR SOME REASON you still try to help these idiots and you STILL want to help them get the cure even though they all keep insisting the "doctors" at the "hospital" might try to "kill them" and they don't have insurance. And you keep telling them to just. go. to. the. hospital. before the time runs out and you all die very horribly of a very treatable condition.

And also you're 22 in a foreign country and you're responsible for shepherding this gaggle of idiots who are all ranging anywhere from 24 to 240 years old.

[sanguinarysanguinity]

Expanding a thought from a conversation this morning:

In general, I think "Is X out-of-character?" is not a terribly useful question for a writer. It shuts down possibility, and interesting directions you could take a character.

A better question, I believe, is "What would it take for Character to do X?" What extremity would she find herself in, where X starts to look like a good idea? What loyalties or fears leave him with X as his only option? THAT'S where a potentially interesting story lies.

In practice, I find that you can often justify much more from a character than you initially dreamed you could: some of my best stories come from "What might drive Character to do [thing he would never do]?" As long as you make it clear to the reader what the hell pushed your character to this point, you've got the seed of a compelling story on your hands.

[badwaves]

finishing up some wips because the book of bobos reinvigorated me. ford get that toxic waste off your porch

[aropride]

[canisalbus]

✦ I've been saving all my summers for you ✦