#I can barely get one thing done at a decent end result

[lovely-rants-alot]

I'd love it if I could just open up to my therapist fully and tell her about how I truly feel but I only ever get the I'm really depressed feeling at liek 2am or when I'm PMSing

[potofsoup]

i love your fourth of july comics every year but this years feels extremely optimistic about biden’s abilities in the face of him letting roe get overturned and funding a gen*cide at worst or letting it happen at best by taking the bare minimum of regulatory action… i mean can he really be trusted at all anymore to do the right thing or act in line with the people’s demands? and how do we know the people behind project 2025 won’t just rig the election again to get in under false pretenses?

Hihi! Thank you for reading and enjoying my July 4th comics every year! I am in a non-US airport en route to a month-long trip in a place with sketchy internet, so sorry in advance for sloppiness in my response (and potentially going radio silent).

But:

I don't think he "let" Roe get overturned, since that was the Supreme Court's overwhelming conservative majority, which really started with Mitch McConnell refusing to approve Obama's appointee and forcing it into a 2016 election issue. The fact that Trump got to appoint 3 Supreme Court Justices is what got us here.

Re: Biden and the Israel/Hamas war ... on the one hand, there's definitely more that he could have done, but on the other hand, they are a whole other country over there. It's Hamas that initiated the Oct 7 attacks and took the hostages. It's Netanyahu and his right-wing government who decided to retaliate to such extreme extent. Biden can talk about how he would really like Netanyahu to stop fighting and step down, but at the end of the day that's not his call, any more than he can stop the Sudan fighting that is near-genocidal either.

So, to come to your question #1: "Can he really be trusted at all anymore to do the right thing or act in line with the people’s demands"?

For me, it's a resounding YES. Guyz, he has passed so much good domestic policies. My spouse works in green energy and the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act halved his anxiety and gave him legitimate hope. The tumblr post I linked to in my comic has links to many of the other great things that Biden has done. Tbh I voted for him in 2020 because "a moldy onion is still better than Trump", and I've been pleasantly surprised. Like how he tried to cancel student loans, the Supreme Court overturned it, and then he came back 6 months later with a different way to do it that didn't lead to a court challenge.

Is he perfect? Hell no. There's tons of stuff that I wish he did more about, or he went further on, but also he's just one guy heading one branch of government who is heading into an election year. (Just like FDR promising not joining WWII, while behind the scenes doing all the Lend-Lease Act stuff). And "the people" have lots of demands, many of them conflicting.

I'd also like to push at the unspoken part of your question... "Can he really be trusted to do the right thing..." compared to whom? Because right now the answer is "compared to Trump." And compared to Trump... I don't even trust Trump to respect the results of a legitimate election. Heck, he might just take his favorite state secrets, sell them to the highest bidder (or just show them off to someone for funzies), and then claim Presidential immunity. A decent Democrat who got stuff done vs someone who probably wants to pardon himself and all his friends and do Project 2025 stuff is not even on the same level. (Do I wish that there was a viable Democratic alternative to Biden? Sure! But who?) Heck, at this point -- imagine if it's Kamala Harris vs. Trump. Who would you vote for?

As for your question #2: "How do we know the people behind project 2025 won’t just rig the election again to get in under false pretenses?"

We don't. But also what can we do besides showing up to vote?

Actually, I need bullet points for this:

The 2022 midterm elections brought in fewer-than-expected election-deniers into crucial electoral offices at the state level, which means that hopefully most state electoral boards will continue to have integrity

Yes, voting is harder but at least we can still vote. So it's about getting out there and getting your vote counted. For some states, it involves waiting in 8 hour lines. For some states, it involves bringing 2 forms of ID. Document. Track. Make sure it's dropped off in a real ballot box and not a fake one. Don't believe messaging that the voting is happening on a different day or location, etc.

A 50.1% majority is easily challenged. A 55% majority, less so. Which means getting people out to vote.

The more people know about and think about the reality of a second Trump term (versus being disappointed by a Biden term), the more they will be motivated to vote against Trump.

Finally, let's be real here: I'm braced for a 2nd Trump term. That said:

I'm still going to go and vote for Biden, because the only way to prevent a 2nd Trump term is to vote.

A Trump term where either the House or Senate is controlled by the Democrats will be *very* different from a clean Republican sweep.

Even with a clean Republican sweep on the federal level, States have so much more power now, and voting the state level stuff will help shore up Democratic goals for the future. States get to draw voting districts however they want. States get to decide on abortion policies. If you live in a deep Red state, there still might be things to vote for that make it easier to live in now, and turn it purple a few elections down the line.

So at the end of the day, it's "Vote AND". Vote and keep living your best life. Vote and tell others about Project 2025. Vote and have hope. Even if Trump wins, at least you'll have voted against him. Vote and stay to build up a progressive wave for the next election.

[beeboopneep]

:)

I firmly believe that the batfam would be a half-decent family to be adopted into while not knowing about their Nighttime Activities TM... at least in the beginning.

Lets say that Kiddo gets dropped off after the death of their last guardian (mother, most likely) and somehow the cops get their hands on a letter or something that says that Kiddo is Bruce Wayne's biological child. CPS wouldn't DNA test a child otherwise, but with some sort of evidence they may. Either way, something tells me that as soon as Bruce was notified of the possible child he would get the test done lol. While that processes the kid would end up in foster care (yikes! Gotham foster care is def rough af) whether Bruce is a foster father or not (that sounds like a problematic placement and he'd probably have to pull strings if he wanted to take care of them during this time). So, for 3-14 days an already traumatized, possibly orphaned child waits in limbo in a cesspool of a foster system. Trauma on top of trauma. And then the results come back and Yay! You've got a daddy!

So they pack up everything and go live with the People's Billionaire who they have definitely seen scandals of on the news before. Can you imagine the thoughts going through their head at the time? Are the other kids gonna bully me? Does he even want biological kids? Is he abusive? Neglectful? Pervy?? Does he really drink that damn much and fall in that many damn fountains?!?

And then they'd meet him and he'd be... stoic? And awkward and kind of cold? Which they could definitely take wrong (Bruce is emotionally inept, not malicious) and assume he hates them off the bat. They withdraw, straining themselves and the barely-there relationship more. The ink's still fresh on their adoption and they already want to leave.

Anyway, lets say things pick up. They meet Dick, the emotional center of the household, and then Jason, their caring (if abrasive) older brother, and so on. They start to find their place. Maybe they still struggle to warm up to Bruce or really feel like on of his kids, especially since everyone else seems so comfortable.

But Dick invites them to get ice cream and burgers and whatever else just as an excuse to spend time with them and make sure they're adjusting well (or enough to be expected). Jason teaches them to punch and how to finally get A's on the English assignments, and how to actually like their English assignments. He buys them fancy bookmarks and they pretend not to notice that he has the same one (they match!). Tim comes to them whenever he finds out a new fact he thinks they'll like and lets you pull coffees out of his hands without too much complaint after he's surpassed his daily limit (he only gives a grumble and an affectionate look) Cass teaches Kiddo all the best places to hide during hide-and-seek and pulls you into her side during movie nights. Cass makes sure you always have someone to eat with if them want it and brings back food whenever she's out. After some work, Damian even lets you help him train Titus!

But they still can't quite settle in because... where did everyone go at night?

If Kiddo's home situation before wasn't exactly ideal then they'd be a light sleeper, which is how they'd wake, and if not it's because they go down for a glass of water or something and see way too many bedroom doors open and beds empty on their way. Either way, after living with people for so long they'd catch on.

They notice that every single person in the household had been unaccounted for at some time. Every single one of their siblings plus both adults in the house were getting together every night to do something without them.

The realization was like a stone at the bottom of their stomach. And so, they start to pull away.

And everyone notices.

[furiousgoldfish]

Why I don't think I'd be a good parent

I know the general attitude is that we have not turned wrong after being abused, and we can all be good parents and break the cycle, very soothing and comforting to believe, and for some people it might be true. But for me it is not. Specifically because I've been abused, I don't think I'd make a decent parent.

I'm not saying I would do anything to my kids that my parents have done to me, far from it, I would go to any lenght to avoid my kid ever having an experience in any way similar to mine. However that is also – all I would do. I've been taught what not to do, how not to approach parenting, what abuse does to a child's well being, but I haven't been taught anything about doing things correctly. I haven't had an experience of warmth, safety, reliability, stability, healthy boundaries and balance that I could easily replicate for my child's experience to be the same; I'd be tapping in the complete darkness with how things are supposed to be done, and I'd be anxious every step of the way, worrying I've done something wrong.

I have studied about child's development and behaviour a lot, and I know that in the process of structuring a personality of their own, children will take on other people's behaviours and try them out, to see where it gets them. In order for a kid to naturally adapt to good behaviour, and good functioning in life, they'd need adults around them who can model this behaviour and give them something good to mimick. I am not a good person to do that. I am consistently worrying, freaking out, having to take time to calm down even about the simplest tasks, I can't deal with authority, I withdraw away from stress; I act like the world is a dangerous trap and I am on thin ice at every moment, one wrong step might end me. What would a child learn about normal behaviour or the world seeing their parent act like this? They'd have to naturally be scared of everything, because if their parent is, it must be true. I would give my child anxiety just by acting the way I do.

The other thing that would go wrong is me trying to explain to a child what the world is, because to me, world has been dangerous and stressful, I have ran into extremely dangerous people, and have been barely avoiding getting more abused. I wouldn't be able to convince my child that the world is safe. I wouldn't do it in the way my parents did, convincing me that everyone hates me and thinks horrible things about me and finds me a burden, but I would be scared of my child being abused by someone to the point of paranoia, and this would be a burden on the child. I would probably freak out whenever they're outside without me. I wouldn't trust the world not to hurt my child.

Another incovenient reality is that I struggle building any boundaries with any child. I see children as harmless and to be protected, and I never assume malicious intent or the need to be on high guard around them. This has resulted in me getting harmed by children as young as 9. I had let children hit and kick me, physically walk over me, steal money from me. If a child is demanding something, I just think they should have it, even if I'm at risk. I would struggle to say no, I would struggle to teach empathy, I would not be able to show them reasonable boundaries. It would not be good for any kid to not be given a safe frame in where they can try reasoning and demanding and expect either yes or no, I would not manage to stand my ground.

Raising a kid is exhausting, and I know from experience that when people around me ask for a lot of my attention and energy, I get exhausted to the point where I have to withdraw to my bed and stay there for days, non communicative, until I recover. You can't abandon your kid for days because you've burned out. I'd have to crash during the night or whenever the child is not around, or the child would notice something is very wrong and their parent is running away from them. So even if I somehow manage to hide this burnout and exhaustion, even if I timed my recovery perfectly so that they don't notice, how would they feel later in life when they found out? I imagine if I find out that my parent, in order to raise me, had to crash and avoid all interactions, force themselves to interact in order to not alarm me, and then was in a horrible state whenever they had an hour away from me, how would I feel about that?

I'd be devastated. I'd wish my parent just took care of themselves instead of raising me, and that they had chosen not to have me. I would worry of natural resentment from them because I would be perceived as a cause of their burnout, when I had no choice in the matter. It would be awful.

Most of these problems come from me being abused, and possibly would not be there if I hadn't been trough all that, but I need to acknowledge them as real issues. As a kid I hoped I could raise someone, to prove that it can be done differently, better, that it doesn't need to be abuse. I thought I'd be able to heal myself by giving my own kid a good experience, it would make everything better. Later on I realized that from the state of the world right now, it would be a bad call to bring another child in at all; nothing suggests they'd be able to have a good life, there's no sign of stability, certainity and even natural resources they'd need to survive are under a question mark due to climate change.

I've read about abused people who struggle to raise children, not because they're doing anything wrong, but because certain events in child's upbringing cause flashbacks to their own trauma, and it all comes back to haunt them, which is a lot of stress in what should be a domestic and fulfilling family situation. This isn't something I'd be able to handle.

I've also read about people who have kids and regret it, and realize they don't want to be parents afterwards; that situation is messed up to the point where there isn't even a solution. Putting your children up for adoption once you realize you don't want them, is not a socially acceptable thing to do. There's nothing you can do once you put yourself and the kids in that mess, you can only warn others to not do this to their lives. The kids know if they're unwanted, and it will cause life long emotional harm to them.

I think having kids is something every person should have to think very long and hard about, instead of being pushed, encouraged, have pressure put on them to do it, expected, or taught it's just a part of tradition or 'what people do'. Every kid should have not just their first years, but their entire life secured and safe in front of them, and if you can't guarantee your kid this, it is not ethical to bring them in here. I sadly can attest to poor results that happen when people don't think about this, or when they have kids for their own personal fulfillment or as free labour, instead of thinking of them as a person who is going to have their own life, their own purpose. No amount of comforting, convincing, reassuring and self-healing that is promised to wish-to-be parents will account for the damage that is done when there were no skills or thoughts put into what that will mean for the kid. Kids should not be had for comfort or personal journey, or healing, or pressure, or culture, or expectations, or desire to prove oneself. Only have kids when you know you can give them a good life.

[jwylea]

Insufferable Miko.

He stared at her. Furious at her whole existence.

They had just gotten into another fight. Why was she so stubborn? The way she never seemed to listen to what he told her drove him insane.

The problem wasnt that per say; he was use to ignoring people's opinions, their needs and complaints. But she? She made sure to voice her thoughts to him EVERY DAY and she MADE SURE he listened to each word and every word.

She was insufferable. On a good day he would have gutted her clean.

Yet here he was, in her stupid era, that prevailed with nothing but ningen stench; having to deal with her and her decent cooking; her ridiculous selfless manners, and her bold nature, and by everything holy he would never get use to the outrageous clothing she seemed to have a never ending stock of.

The way her long, midnight hair, slightly shone in the barely lit room, pulled up in a bun by the ugly hair tie she seemed so fond of. It made him take pity her and want to purchase something decent for her, so as not to embarrass herself further with the bloody thing.

The way her hot pink shorts were ridiculously short, making him fight his inner demon from jumping her and making him think things, a yokai of his calibar shouldn't even imagine.

But alas, he had a feeling things will be different tonight.

She was still rambling about nonsense when he angrily marched up to her. She stopped mid sentence and looked up at him. Her own sapphire eyes blazing with her own fury.

They both had a stare down and he was getting irritated by the minute, with how she just didn't seem to want to back down.

"Well pal? Cat got your tongue, or are you gonna say what you have to say?" She snapped.

He tilted his head in a challenging manner. His golden eyes brightening dangerously.

"Mm..even better. This one, can silence you instead."

Kagome was furious and was about to put him in his place, when he grabbed a hold of her, and kissed her. She was stunned at first and tried to protest, but soon melted into the kiss. Different emotions was conveyed through that act.

Anger, frustration, need and far more that had yet to be discovered by the two.

By the time they parted from the kiss, Kagome was panting lightly, and if it wasn't for Sesshomaru's slightly flushed skin, one would not have been able to tell he was a tad flustered.

"Have I managed to silence you?" He asked.

She blushed and wrapped her arms around his neck, while his arms snaked around her waist, keeping her close.

"Only if you do it again..." she said softly.

Sesshomaru blinked at first. Then smirked, resulting in a deeper blush from his female companion.

"Oh little Miko....what have you gotten us into..."

And here we areeeee

Finally done with this piece, it's taken me FOREVER😭

I tried writing a little snippet of what I had in mind for this scene:)

And again guys, I know some are waiting for me to give some news about when commissions will be open, however I still have some pieces remaining to share and I promise I really will be posting more info soon:)

Thank you all, once again, for the love and support, it means a lot!!😭❤

Love you all so much, and I will be back very soon with some little works I have been working on and more:))

See you all soon and have a wonderful day/night!🤍

[shiorimakibawrites]

A Modest Proposal (Kinktober Day 10)

Personal Masterlist for Kinktober 2023

FlightlessAngelWings's prompt list can be found here.

Pairing: Frank Castle x AFAB! Fem! Reader, implied Frank Castle x Reader x Matt Murdock

Word Count: 1,152

Warnings: Naughty voicemail involving dirty talk, heavy petting, vaginal fingering, unprotected p in v sex, love bites, light bruising, and sexual fantasy. Sexual fantasy involving office sex, sex between a clothed and naked partner, voyeurism, threesome, boss/employee relationship. In person action involving dirty talk, swearing, heavy petting, voyeurism, and implied threesome.

Tagging: @flightlessangelwings

A Modest Proposal

You had barely heard from Frank for days. Just a short text saying: Still alive. Talk to you later. A short phone call where he fell asleep while talking to you. What he was doing was important and you supported him fully. You were just getting a little . . . frustrated.

It was like your body had gotten spoiled. It didn’t want your hands cupping your breasts and playing with your nipples. It wanted Frank’s big warm hands. It didn’t want your fingers, too small to consistently reach certain spots inside you and too thin to make you feel full. It wanted Frank’s long, thick fingers or his warm tongue. It didn’t want a vibrator pressed against your clit. It wanted either Frank’s callused fingers or his mouth. It didn’t want to be fucked by a dildo that was too small and too cold. It wanted Frank’s cock, big and wide, filling you and pounding you into the mattress.

The result was that while you had managed to get yourself off, the orgasms had been a little . . . lackluster. For lack of a better term. Which was very annoying.

Tonight, you decided to change things. You decided to try and call him. See if he was up for a little phone sex. Your fingers and your toys still wouldn’t be what your cunt wanted but maybe with his voice in your ear, telling you all the things he would be doing to you if he was home . . . maybe that get would a decent orgasm.

Alas, he didn’t pick up. It rang and rang, then went to voice mail.

You could have left a generic message, like Hey babe, just checking in. Call me back when you get a minute. I miss you. That’s what you had done the last time you called and had only gotten voicemail. But this time, this time . . .

“All of your marks are gone. The love bites you gave my breasts and my thighs? All gone. The little finger bruises on my hips where you held me while fucking me so good and hard? They’re gone too. My body is blank canvas just waiting for your hands and your mouth.”

You gasped into the phone as you started to finger yourself. “Among other things. My fingers, they are too small. They don’t feel as good as your big cock does. Been trying all week, babe, but my cunt feels so empty without you inside me. Without your cum filling me.”

“Remember,” you started, then moaned. “How it feels when I cum on your dick? How my pussy squeezes you?”

“Been thinking about you all the time. Even at work, I can’t stop imagining you fucking me. I imagined you coming in one night while I was working late, stripping me of my clothes and fucking me on my own desk. Don’t even bother removing your clothes – just get your cock out.”

You could easily picture it. Your fingers speed up thrusting into you. “Or maybe my boss’s desk? I bet you would like that, fucking me on Matt’s desk. Knowing that he would smell it the next day . . . maybe even hear us fucking . . .”

You were getting close. So close. “Would you want him to remain a voyeur? Or seeing him all flustered would you ask him to join us? I wouldn’t mind either way. Then maybe I wouldn’t be so lonely when you have to leave town . . .”

“F-Frank!” You cried out as you reached your peak. Your cunt clenched tightly around your fingers. You were still loudly panting when you ended the call. It was the best orgasm you had all week. You’d have to remember that for next time.

***********************************************************************

You had almost forgotten about the voicemail. The office had been very busy. So busy that you needed to stay late to finish some things. Matt had offered to stay, help you finish up, then walk you home but you had declined. You wanted him to get home and get some rest before starting his patrol. Since you knew for a fact that he had been out all night last night and as aforementioned, today had been extremely busy.

He had eventually agreed and you got back to your work.

It was near midnight and you had finally gotten caught up. You had stood up to stretch your sore muscles when it happened. You were grabbed from behind. Naturally, you screamed and struggled. But whoever had grabbed you was strong. Too strong. Fear made your heart pound and you prayed that Matt had heard you screaming and was coming to save you . . .

That’s when a familiar voice began to penetrate your fear.

“-calm down, darling. It’s me. It’s just me. You’re safe.”

Frank. He was home. You hadn’t realized that he was even close to coming home yet. You stopped struggling and took a deep breath. The fear was started to recede but the anger was starting to take hold.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Frank!” you snapped. “You scared the hell out of me!”

“Wasn’t trying to,” he said. He had the grace to look and sound sheepish. “Was trying to surprise you. Guess you didn’t get my message?”

“Your message?” You repeated, confused. You hadn’t heard your phone ring. Or beep from an incoming text message.

“Yeah,” he said. “Because I certainly got yours.”

You felt your face flush. “Oh . . . did you like it?”

“Yeah, jerked off listening to it.” he said, his eyes dark with growing desire. “Interesting ideas you had there.”

The reason he had come to your office instead of waiting at home had become clear. “So do you want to . . .?”

“Fuck you over this desk?” He asked, his hands slipping down to start hiking up your skirt. “Absolutely. Been thinking about it all day. You spread out on this desk, naked and desperate for my cock.”

He lifted you up on the desk, then began unbuttoning your shirt. Before getting impatient with the fiddly little buttons and just ripping it open, sending the buttons flying. “Imagining these tits bouncing as I fuck you good and hard.”

You moaned as his hands began to roam all over the newly bared skin. His big, warm hands . . .

“But the most interesting idea is that one you had at the end,” Frank said, almost casually. As if he wasn’t unhooking your bra with one hand while the other cupped your covered mound. You whimpered when his finger pressed against your clit.

“So which idea do you like best, Red?” He asked, looking over his shoulder. “Would you rather stand in corner smelling how wet she is and listening to her cries of pleasure while I fuck her? Or would you rather to help me fuck her senseless?”

[dangermousie]

Ok, so far here are the cdramas rumored for the fall that I have any interest in, from most to least:

Kill Me Love Me (November) - you’ve seen those positively unhinged trailers, and both Wu Jinyan and Liu Xueyi look to be on fire (plus on a purely shallow front, few other actors do it for me the way they do.)

Snowy Night Timeless Love (October) - the rumor for this airing came out of nowhere so who knows but a tragic wuxia romance and my faves Li Qin and Zeng Shunxi and the trailer is stunning. Plus it’s based on a novel by the author of Listening Snow Tower and I loved that one.

The Story of Pearl Girl (October) - this barely misses to the previous two in terms of anticipation and only does so because the narrative of “underdog FL rises to prominence through commence” has been done a lot lately and often done in a way that doesn’t truly satisfy me. But the trailer is great, I adore Zhao Lusi, and the fact that this reunites her with Liu Yuning (and this time he looks even hotter!) is AAAAA!

Reborn (October) - a modern! It’s not the end of the world, I promise. The trailer looked intense and angsty not like the usual fluffy moderns I can’t stand and I am a big fan of Zhang Jingyi now.

Guardians of the Dafeng (November) - this one is high risk but potentially high reward. Best case scenario? They pull off another Joy of Life - funny and ahistorical but also dark and smart and moving. I think the chances of that are slim - Wang Hedi, though I will always have a soft spot for him because of CLJ, is no Zhang Ruoyun, plus JoL is a miracle that was almost impossible to replicate unless you get the same brilliant combo of perfect writing, directing and acting. But what if….

The Rise of Ning (October) - if this was rumored before I finished LYF2 or Are You the One dropped, I’d be way more excited. By the end AYTO finished, I was getting irritated just seeing Zhang Wanyi’s face anywhere. (Yes there is such a thing as too much exposure esp when that exposure is in stuff that raises my blood pressure.) Srill I did like the trailer back before all this mess and this has the advantage of FL being played by Ren Min who I adore and not WCR who I cannot stand. And ZWY is a decent actor in the abstract if I can manage not to think about his past roles and his overexposure. So here is hoping.

Brocade Odyssey (??? Fall) - I had little interest in this (I genuinely have no interest in dramas centering on cloth industries esp when they must be bland enough to be allowed to air on TV) and that was before that utterly snooze worthy MV they dropped and one of the secondaries getting into a pimp/tax scandal which apparently resulted in them cutting him as much as they could which means the story will be even more of a mess than it was likely to be otherwise. I might check this out out of trainwreck syndrome but I expect nothing.

Echo of Her Voice (Sept 22) - if there was ever a drama trailer designed to make me hurl, this was it. Add in the fact that the ML actor seems to have a knack for being in dramas that never work for me and the fact that it’s set in (haha really) “school” - no thank you!

[traintrainingmontage]

Percy's "Obscure Antecedents"

Ended up having to repost this because of mobile tumblr nonsense, but.

Fun thought: Percy having "obscure antecedents" is really interesting because someone could have just ASKED him when he was built. I feel like Sir Topham Hatt must have done so when he was purchased. In which case, why would that information be concealed from the Thin Clergyman? What motivates Percy (and supposedly Sir Topham) to be cagey about his past?

Well, here are some seemingly unrelated facts:

-Percy has been shown to have some fear of the supernatural, which seems to be pretty uncommon for engines. He also never really seems to grow out of it.

-Percy is pretty accident-prone, and it's not always his fault.

-Sodor feels pretty supernatural in various ways, and given its relation to the Isle of Man, there could very well be fey/fairies or ghosts or both.

My personal headcanon is that Percy was built around the early 1910's, perhaps a year or two before Thomas (which makes sense given that he'd had a rebuild before being purchased by the NWR and brought to Sodor in 1926 or so). More importantly, however, I imagine that he was finished on April 30th, between the hours of 3 and 4 AM. (For our purposes, we'll say April 30th, 1913.)

That's right: Percy was finished on the witching hour of Walpergeis Night. A decent chunk of his misfortune comes from the fact that he's, unfortunately for him, "fey-touched" or otherwise supernaturally connected.

Thus, he can instinctively sense the supernatural, as in it sends shivers through his frames, but he can't see them, and that almost makes it worse: he knows something's there, but he can't see it or otherwise sense it. Plus, when you're close to the supernatural, the supernatural often knows it. I think poor Percy just gets messed with by Things Barely Beyond His Perception sometimes and yeah, that can be pretty stressful. Perhaps Percy's rebuild(s) and oddly chimera-like composition was the result of previous owners quietly trying to break him of this connection/curse(?) by replacing various parts and hoping that enough replacement would dispel the effect. (It didn't, of course, but it was worth a try.)

Of course, Sir Topham, being a good Christian gentleman, would not let ANY of this information slip to the Thin Clergyman. Even if what Percy says is true (and the Sudrian in him says it just might be, even if the Christian in him doesn't want to believe it), nobody can know, especially a man of the cloth. For one, it might lead to unsavory rumors like "the railway is haunted" or "fairies are around." For two, the last thing they need is an exorcism or other such activities happening on their railway, as that would only fuel point 1. So, Sir Topham decides that this information is better left unrecorded, and he'll just pass it along to his son privately when the railway changes hands.

("But Te! Wouldn't the engines count as iron? Wouldn't fey traditionally be unable to do anything to them?" Strictly speaking, it's hard to say. However, even if we go with the most generous interpretation, that being "all iron/steel is bad for fey," I am inclined to believe that at the date and time that Percy was completed, the supernatural forces were strong enough that it didn't matter. Perhaps Percy should count himself lucky; if a human were born under similar circumstances, the supernatural would likely have a much greater grasp upon them. By virtue of being a creature of fire and iron, he inherently resists the worst of it.)

[aevellewritessometimes]

So I'm insane and also multifixating, so here's my attempt at linking TOUCHSTARVED characters to songs from EPIC.

Note: Since little of everyone's backstories is known as of now, I'm going to throw in a decent amount of theory/speculation. Also, "linking" could mean anything from a whole song to part of a song to just the general vibes of a song

The Troy Saga | The Cyclops Saga | The Ocean Saga | The Circe Saga | The Underworld Saga | The Thunder Saga | The Wisdom Saga | The Vengeance Saga (here) | The Ithaca Saga

Not Sorry For Loving You + ???

I could easily just say "insert Yandere Leander joke here", but how about ✨No✨

Dangerous + Ais

All this time and I still can't manage to mention Ais without dragging Ocudeus into it...

Ais just got betrayed, and now he's without his gang. Now he has nothing. Or at least, that's how it appears at first.

But now, Ocudeus has an offer to make! Although it will be dangerous for Ais to take it.

That's it that's what I'm speculating for this one.

Charybdis + Mhin

Something something "I'm still fighting here, I'm not dying here" and Mhin's flower being dogwood which are known for their resilience.

There's also the "I already know your tactics" line. Mhin strikes me as the type who would want to study and know the movements of their prey before going on a hunt.

Get In the Water + All Five

There's a lot I can say here, but I'm having trouble putting them into coherent thought, so just bare with me for a sec.

I have four ideas that rely on MC being on a route that isn't Ais's and one idea that will, once again, revolve around Ocudeus.

The four not-Ais's-route idea all kinda fall back on the same plot: LI does something that really pisses Ais off. In turn, Ais (whose Fatal Flaw is that he "lets his emotions rule him, with destructive consequences") responds by putting MC in harm's way.

There's a variety of ways this could happen, depending on whose route you're on.

Leander's route? He fucked up and took their little rivalry a bit too far.

Mhin's route? They already hate him, and he hates them back. There's so many potential answers to this. Shit maybe Mhin killed one of Ais's Soulless(es?) and now Ais is pulling a John Wick.

Vere's route? Hard to imagine Vere betraying Ais from what we saw in the demo, but there's always a possibility.

Kuras's route? Okay this is surprisingly harder for me to imagine than whatever hypothetically went down between Ais and Vere but again we won't know for sure until the game is out.

Whatever happened or whoever it was, it all leads to the same result. Ais gives them an ultimatum: Either they get into the Seaspring, or MC dies.

I believe Kuras mentioned that he visited the Seaspring at some point. He probably noticed that something was up with it.

Leander, as far as I know, hasn't visited. But he's still smart enough to know that there's probably something up with it. Same goes for Mhin.

Vere very well may know exactly what's up with it.

Vere, Kuras, and Leander probably try to go with Odysseus's play and try to talk Ais out of it. Mhin probably just straight up attacked him. Either way, chances of things going well are very slim.

And now it's time to talk about Ocudeus again. Yippee (/s).

Maybe on Ais's route, there's a band ending where Ocudeus uses Ais against MC. Like, he (?) puts Ais in danger and forces MC to drink from the Seaspring.

I don't know why, exactly, Ocudeus would want MC that badly (Attraction? Their curse? Literally just to hurt Ais?), but hey and idea is an idea, and I'm running out of those, so...

Six Hundred Strike + Vere

This entirely revolves around the part where Odysseus tortures Poseidon.

*ahem*

REDSPRINGSTUDIOS! GIVE US A SCENE WHERE VERE IS FREED FROM THE SENOBIUM AND IMMEDIATELY GOES COMPLETELY FERAL ON THEM FOR WHATEVER THEY MIGHT HAVE DONE TO HIM WHILE HE WAS IMPRISONED, AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!!!

[archduchessofnowhere]

this is gonna sound so strange, but i genuinely wonder whether servants who worked in royal palaces would get nervous when around the royal family like how one would be today meeting a celebrity

Hello! This isn't a subject I know much about, however, for what I learned, it seems many of them didn't lol.

Something that people don't seem to realize is that the access to court was very restricted - and that didn't apply only to the nobility, but also to the servants. People with no previous contact to court were almost never hired, you had to be related to someone who already worked there to have a chance to get a job. While the pay was very low, working there guaranteed a place to live rent-free, as well as free or cheap medical attention and medicines. Not only that, Franz Josef had a policy of avoiding firing employees; misconduct was almost never truly punished. During FJ's reign there was a renting crisis in Vienna, and to get a decent flat was practically impossible for the working class. From an 1871 article of the Neue freie Presse, quoted in Martina Winkelhofer's The Everyday Life of the Emperor:

… if you visit the lower end of Erdberg… you can see the same picture of misery hundreds and hundreds of times. In one room, measuring barely 25 square meters, two to three families live, sometimes as many as ten, twelve, fifteen people, depending on the number of children, all pressed together in the same room… (2012)

Unsurprisingly, this meant that a lot of servants worked their whole lives at court, without ever tying to leave. Therefore, entire generations of servants were born, raised and died at court. Not everyone worked in close proximity to the Imperial family, but those who did were probably used to see them on a daily basis, perhaps even from childhood (two of Elisabeth's chambermaids, for instance, were mother and daughter).

And not only that, it was reported that many servants were quite lax at doing their job - probably a result of the "no firing" policy.

The biggest ongoing problem at court was drunkenness, particularly among the lowermost ranks. Generally, the authorities tended to make the response to such things quick and painful: if an employee caused a stir, got involved in a dispute or was seen to be drunk and became dangerous, the guards fined him. This measure was only used to defuse the heated situation on the spot, and almost never led to further consequences. Once the delinquent had sobered up and quieted down, he was sent on his way. Unseemly behaviour or poor conduct was quickly forgiven, the court was known for its great leniency. (2012)

The emperor was not unware of this, he in fact was personally affected by the drinking problem of his employees. His valet Eugen Ketterl wrote in his memoirs (emphasis by me):

Bathrug and towels had always been placed ready in the bedroom the night before, and now tub and bath attendant came into action. We always had endless trouble with the “washer,” for this man was specially selected for a position bringing him into such intimate touch with the Emperor of Austria. To rise at three o’clock in the morning [the hour at which the emperor woke up], especially in winter, is not particularly pleasant and certainly not to everyone’s taste, “If I am to be on duty at this unearthly horn',” thought one honest fellow, “there is really only one way to overcome this early rising difficulty, and that is not to go to sleep at all.” No sooner said than done, and thus our bath attendant became a regular guest at the neighbouring “Vieröckelkeller” inn. In order to keep awake he drank, but although this method was certainly successful in preventing slumber, mental and physical equilibrium suffered. Consequently, owing to his condition, he forgot the respect due to the sovereign, and occasionally appeared in the early hours before the Emperor’s rubber bath in a state scarcely fitting for an audience with his lord and master.

At first His Majesty was rather amused at this somewhat original body-servant who came on duty in such a state that he really needed help himself, and the Emperor merely thought that we had better keep an eye on him for a while, as probably “he couldn’t stand much.” When for the third time, however, the attendant’s inability to stand steadily caused him to clutch His Majesty’s arms so firmly that the already very small washing arrangement nearly had two inmates instead of one, his services as “washer” came to an end. Yet His Majesty in his kindness of heart would not permit the man to be dismissed altogether, asking only that a post be given to him that would not provide him with an excuse for staying up until three in the morning in the “Vieröckelkeller” inn. (1929, p. 39-40)

In any other job arriving completely drunk would get you immediately fired, but at the Habsburg court it simply meant switching jobs and a fine at most.

Now this is not to say that there weren't people who were excited/nervous over meeting royalty. The aforementioned Eugen Ketterl, by his own account, was indeed overjoyed after meeting Franz Josef for the first time and learning he was to become his valet:

In the life of every man there are some moments which remain unchangeable and imperishable throughout the years. The Emperor had spoken to me! The Emperor had shaken my hand! I should see the Emperor daily, be with him continually! Over and over again I repeated this to myself, then said it aloud because I could not grasp my good fortune; then, when I got home later, I had to repeat it all once more, and was delighted when questioned, as it gave me an excuse for beginning yet again. (1929, p. 19)

That's all I really know about the subject, if I learn more of it I'll let you know!

Sources:

Ketterl, Eugen (1929). The Emperor Francis Joseph I: An Intimate Study by his Valet (Translation by M. Ostheide)

Winkelhofer, Martina (2012). The Everyday Life of the Emperor: Francis Joseph and His Imperial Court (Translation by Jeffrey McCabe)

[totally-not-here-for-the-smut]

Hi, it's me again! I hope I'm not being annoying, but can I have headcanon for M6 with a MC who accidentally took aphrodisiac? Thanks!

Not annoying at all! Happy to be your smut dealer lol

Before we start, a disclaimer: I imagined this scenarios in a situation of uncinditional trust and consent. I've often read of "funny" fantasy situations with potions & love magic involved where one character ends up being intimate with another just because they unknowingly took (or were given!!!) something to have them behaving in that way. To me, this is the fantasy equivalent of rape. Having someone consent to sex or being involved in a continuative relationship while under the effect of *anything* it is not ok. So, I really want to specify that this HCs are consensual, and happen in an established, explicit relationship in which consent is unconditional (of course, such a situation is possible only in a fantasy setting. No irl relationship has unconditional and total consent).

Aphrodisiac Headcanons

♤•••♧

Tw: light bdsm, embarassment, rough

There are a few things to keep in mind while working at a magic shop. First thing is, there are no such things like "substitutions". When cooking, you can switch eggs with seed jelly and flour, or butter with milk, and expect a decent result. With magic, you can't. You know this, but sometimes mistakes do happen. Switching sage with white sage it's so easy in a dark evening... and breathing in the vapors that rise from the cauldron can create unexpected events.

Portia is delighted by your attentions, today. She can't wrap her head around why you're so eager to see her, though. You knew she was working, but couldn't stay away from her... after all, the palace is so big that's easy to "get lost" in it, and the thunderstorm is dark and noisy... Who will be able to hear her moaning?

She's on her knees now, her head firmly pressed against your groin by your greedy hands. It wasn't hard to get her there: you brought her to the brim of an orgasm as she had her hands buisy doing laundry, and then threatened her to leave her that way if she didn't follow your indications. Luckily, she didn't see through your bluff, and literally fell at your feet... but in reality, you could have never truly resist to make her come.

Lucio doesn't seem to realize what happened. Of course you can't wait to be with him! You end up spending the day in bed, going so many rounds that eventually the bedsheets are soaked in sweat... and something more.

When Lucio is finally drained and exhausted -for the first time you bettered him!- he starts wandering how the hell your all up and ready for more. He tries to go one more round, but he's done, and almost passes out on top of you. You look at him sleeping, wondering if you could hack his magical gauntlet somehow to ho ahead, but eventually you decide to let him sleep. Who knows, maybe Nadia is still awake...

It takes a few seconds for Asra to understand what's happened. He stops you halfway, he takes a look at your mistake and he knows right away that him alone would end up destroyed before you'll be satisfied. The solution it's clear and simple. Orgy.

-work in progress! Tumbr app is giving me some problems lately ^^" I'll add the other m6 in a bit

One thing Asra doesn't lack is a wide list of friends who will gladly have a ride. The desert house is the perfect place, so isolated and silent... well, until it's filled up with moans. As you're engaged in various filling activities, you cast a glance at him, and see him sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by men and women both, almost like an ancient dionysian demigod in a bacchanal.

At first, Muriel doesn't understand why you're like this, today. When you manage to stop blabbering and staring at his bare chest, you explain to him what happened. He's not exactly embarrassed, but he doesn't want to be with you if he has reasons to think you only want him because of some external factor. So, you ask him, you beg him and you pray him and cry, because you need him to fuck you, but there's no way to convince him.

Eventually, he agrees to lie down next to you, on his bed. You spend the night trebling close to his body, wishing to have more than his body heat that radiates from the tight hug he's holding you in. By the morning, you're exhausted and your tights are so, so wet. The effect is wearing out.

Only then, Muriel agrees to take you, slowly, as you struggle to stay awake just as your body struggles to stretch around his girth. He has a sweet smile, now that he knows you want him nonetheless... but is there a glimpse of fun in his eyes?

[crossdressingdeath]

A thing I find really interesting: in the Riordanverse so far we've seen two sixteen-year-old children of the Big Three have to face the question of how to deal with the issue of the minor gods rebelling due to feeling abandoned, disrespected, neglected and otherwise unwelcome. First Percy at the end of PJO when he makes the gods swear to give the minor gods a place at camp, then Jason in BoO when he and Percy fight Kym and Polybotes. And the different ways they respond to that says a lot about I think both them and the way they've been trained.

Percy's solution is... actually surprisingly naive, if you think about it. I mean, first off he basically just assumes that an oath on the Styx will hold the gods to their word. He of all people should know that that's not true; he's the result of a broken oath on the Styx, after all. And we know from Piper and Leo—who are both past the age of thirteen and not Roman demigods, but still haven't been claimed or brought to camp even though according to the oath they should have been—that... yeah, the gods broke that oath basically immediately. Surprise surprise, the gods suck. And no one likes being forced to make a promise against their will, even when it's a promise that is basically "do the bare minimum as a parent and don't be dicks to people who've proved they'll turn on you if you do that". But aside from that, Percy's reasoning seems to have basically been "make the gods give the minor gods a place at camp = profit", which... yeah, that's the sort of reasoning I'd expect from a teenager whose leadership experience mostly boils down to sometimes making solo decisions during quests. I've mentioned before that Percy doesn't tend to think in terms of long-term planning and specializes in getting what he wants in the immediate short term, and it's the same here: he's focusing on an immediate problem (all the unclaimed kids at camp, some of whom are the kids of minor gods), and forgetting about or just not noticing the larger issue (the minor gods switch sides not because of their children not getting recognized but because they feel neglected because no one worships them anymore and the major gods don't care).

To be clear, those unclaimed kids are a problem and dealing with them is a good and very decent move. Percy turning down personal gain in favour of doing his best to ensure improvements for all those kids in the Hermes cabin growing angrier and more resentful with every day they go unclaimed is a very good thing, we love to see it. But it's treating a symptom, not the underlying cause of the issues that caused so many minor gods to turn on Olympus, and so would only ever have been a stopgap even without Gaea rising. And Percy didn't have any further plans to deal with the problems outside of this one aspect; he actually seems genuinely surprised to learn that the deal he made didn't solve the problem and in fact didn't even ensure that all the minor gods were recognized. Percy's solution also relies on the gods; as we see, there's no plan in place for if the gods fuck up or fail to keep their promise! The gods failed to do anything for Kym, and there was nothing in place to even check on that because the plan was just "force the gods to promise to do the thing" (and how do you hold gods who can smite you if you annoy them accountable for their fuckups, anyway?). The whole thing is reliant on the gods not breaking their oath, when again Percy especially should know they aren't great at that.

Jason, meanwhile, has a much more solid understanding of the overarching issue causing the minor gods to keep turning on Olympus and has a plan to combat it. Why do the minor gods keep turning on Olympus? They feel disrespected. Why do they feel disrespected? They aren't being worshipped. What's the best way to ensure they get worshipped? Build shrines and educate demigods about them. What's the best way to do that? Well... just go around both camps and see it done yourself. There's no reliance on the gods, because the gods aren't involved! Jason intends to handle this personally, and we see in ToA that he puts a lot of effort into it. And it makes sense that Jason is focusing on an actionable plan that he can keep an eye on personally, because he has years of leadership experience as a praetor of Camp Jupiter. He must be more than used to having to handle situations where two groups who should be on the same side are in conflict for one reason or another, so he knows how to figure out a solution and how to keep an eye on the implementation of that solution in a way Percy wouldn't. It also makes sense that he has more of an understanding that the issue of the minor gods not getting any respect isn't going to be solved as easily as just making the major gods promise to play nice; first off he again is used to leadership and mediation and nothing is ever that easy, and second he came from the Fifth Cohort, which is still mocked even though the much-vaunted son of Jupiter rose from their ranks.

And I think a lot of the difference in how these two approach this particular problem comes from how the two camps treat young demigods? While in both camps the kids end up doing most of the work, in Camp Half-Blood Mr. D and Chiron are in charge. They're the ones who call for quests and decide activities, people have to run decisions by them. And quests tend to be more team projects; one person is the leader, but the quests we see usually feature the quest-goers working together to make decisions and plan their next move rather than having one person in charge. Percy's not good at coming up with a solid, long-term game plan because that's never been his responsibility. Not to mention that the Greek gods interfere in things constantly, so poking them and saying "Hey, you owe me, fix this nonsense" is often a valid strategy. Meanwhile at Camp Jupiter they cut out the middleman and put the kids in charge from the start, seeing as they're going to be doing all the work anyway. So Jason knows how to plan for the future, because... well, that's been his job for some time, of course he knows that. He wouldn't have gotten far as a praetor if he didn't. Both camps absolutely traumatize the fuck out of their campers, but hey, at least at Camp Jupiter you might get leadership skills out of it! And also the Roman gods are more hands-off, so it makes sense Jason wouldn't put this whole mess in their hands. Especially since he now also has Percy's example to tell him that won't work at all. Basically Percy holds a position of respect and some level of power at Camp Half-Blood because he's one of their best fighters and not bad as a battlefield commander, but he's not a leader the way Jason is, which is likely part of the reason why he's so quick to give up the praetorship when Jason gets to Camp Jupiter in MoA. Jason is a leader, meanwhile, because he's had years of experience in that role and is used to handling it even if it wouldn't have been his choice. Both of them care about the people around them and want to do right by them, but Percy only does so as a friend; Jason does as a friend too, but also as someone used to being in a position of meaningful authority over the group and so in a position where they have a very real and concrete responsibility to the group in a way that someone who's just a friend doesn't. You can also see this in things like how when Nico says he isn't welcome at camp Percy's response is basically "Yyyyyyyyyyyeah, that sucks, huh" while Jason's response is to try to make him feel welcome. Percy feels bad about it but wouldn't know what to do about the problem even if he tried, while Jason's probably used to helping people who don't fit in find a place where they belong as part of his job and would do his best to do so here even if he didn't care about Nico on a personal level. I don't know, it's just a really interesting difference between them and I wish the books had gone more into the difference between authority born from Being Strong and authority born from being in a position of concrete leadership as decided by the group (although unless I'm misremembering there are a couple points where it's pointed out that Annabeth is really much more Jason's counterpart on the Greek side than Percy is, and I love that, it's very true, Percy is not the one in charge, that is absolutely Annabeth) instead of just Percy and Jason calling each other "bro" all the time and having the occasional Big Three squabble.

[the-wip-project]

SloMo WriNo: Failure Proofing Your Goals

A Novel in one year.

So, what are the numbers for that?

If you’re so inclined, you’ve probably already done the math, and come up with some numbers for yourself.

Numbers like projected length of novel (I’m going to use 80k for this, but don’t get married to that, once you get into it the work with find it’s own length) and how many words a day you would need to write to hit that goal. (220)

That’s all very nice, but the problem with word count goals, is that you can create a situation where your writing becomes a pass/fail situation.

A situation where if you perceive yourself as failing (did I meet my word count goal this week? No? I AM A FAILURE!), and the pressure rises, it starts to feel safer to simply quit, rather than face repeated failures.

I’m against that sort of thing. (The quitting and also the negative self talk.)

So how does one measure progress without creating that sort of situation? How can you win the psychology game of getting words on the page?

Of course everyone is different. But here’s two methods (tricks? hacks?) that work for me at various times.

Low Goal, High Results. (The Min-Max zone)

The idea with this is to set a daily, or per session word count goal that feels too easy.

By now I hope you’ve figured out a good time and place to write. So go there, at that time, and do a timed 15 minute sprint. However many words you got, halve it. Repeat this exercise a few times to make sure you’ve got a good average.

Unless you’re a power writer, you will most likely end up with a number that is below that 220 we mathed out earlier, DON’T PANIC. In fact, for this example lets say that you managed to write an average of 200 words in your 15 minute sessions. Which means that your daily goal is now 100 words.

Of course with that number, even if you write every single day for a year that will only give you 36 500 words. Not a novel. Barely a novella!

The point here is not to write only 100 words a day. It’s making the daily task of writing feel easy and approachable. Not scary. If you know you only need to write 100 words, and you know you can get that done easily in less than 15 minutes, then why not do it? And once you’re writing, writing a little more generally happens easily enough. If getting started is the hard part, this should really help.

It’s a common psychological trick. But it’s common for a reason. It works!

Once you’ve set your (very easy) minimum goal, I also encourage you to set a maximum daily goal too. Especially if you’re the type of person who tends to go on 10k writing binges and then not write again for two months. Set your maximum at what you can comfortably write in 1.5-2 hours. So let’s say that’s 1000 words. Meaning your goal is to write 100-1000 words every time you sit down to write, and consider everything, from barely getting 102 to maxing out at 1002 an awesome, winning, writing day.

What does that look like? On a bad day, a day you don’t fee like writing at all, it means you tell yourself that all you need to do is write for ten minutes. Just get down 100 words (or whatever your minimum goal is.) And then if you haven’t found your mojo, you stop. No guilt or regret. You’ve met your goal, even though you’re having a bad day. You’re doing awesome!

On a power day, when you feel almost possessed by the muses, it means that when your timer beeps, or you see that number on the bottom of the screen hit 1000 (or whatever your number is), you make yourself stop. Yes. Stop mid flow. (It’s painful, I know! But please try!) Why stop? Because you’re learning how to have a healthy long term writing habit.

Write yourself some notes, and come at it fresh tomorrow. The goal is teach yourself that your creativity isn’t actually a unreliable muse. You are not subject to it’s whim. With time and practice your creativity will be there whenever you reach for it.

This is the method that I use most of the time, and I strongly recommend you give it a decent try (6 weeks at least.)

However perhaps you’re really just convinced that particular kind of psychological trickery just won’t work for you, or perhaps you’ve tried it in the past without success. Maybe it creates the opposite effect for you, and you find daily writing skippable because the minimum goal feels so low that you think you can make it up later (you won’t, but ahem, brains are weird.) So here is an alternative method that is also quite effective.

2. Higher Goals to Plan For Misses

Instead of setting your goal ridiculously low, you can try setting it high enough that you can miss writing days while still staying on track.

This will only work if you’ve been able to carve out a larger chunk of time for daily writing, thirty minutes to an hour.

So, lets run the example numbers. Using the 80k novel template, we already know that it would take 220 words a day if you write every single day, and never delete anything.

Writing every day is almost impossible, so you’re setting yourself up to fail if you set 220 as your goal.

So instead you plan for writing 6 days a week. Perhaps you intend to take Mondays off. They suck and you know you usually don’t feel like writing then anyway. Awesome. Let’s make that our schedule. Writing 312 days a year means a daily target of 257 words.

But still, that leaves no margin for error. No time for bad days, illness, that one scene you have to cut because it wasn’t working, etc.

So we double it. Your goal, with a plan of writing 6 days a week, is 500 words a day. And also (and this is the important bit) 2000 words a week.

Wait! That’s 4 days, not 6! Yes. That’s the point. It allows room for misses. To allow you to fail without failing. For days when you can’t reach 500, for days when you don’t have time (and with a larger daily goal like this, that’s a lot more possible.) For days when you just can’t.

Of course if you can only count on writing 5 days a week, or 4, or whatever your life situation calls for, adjust your goals accordingly. Always keep your goal word count about 1/3 higher than needed, to give yourself that cushion. If the numbers gets too large to manage, then it’s time to change the long term goal.

Yes. Really. Change it. Setting a goal that you’re bound to fail at is not going to help you.

Perhaps it’s more feasible for you personally to write your novel in 18 months, or two years. As always, your health is more important than an arbitrary time line, and you’ll still be awesome if you write your novel a little slower.

But what if both of those methods still stress you out, or if focusing on the numbers like that kills your joy?

Here’s a bonus method, that I personally use when things get to be a real struggle.

3. Gold Stars

This is for the times when the thought of tracking word count is just one step too many, and becomes an obstacle for writing at all. However when you abandon tracking completely, it’s often a way to abandon writing too.

So having some sort of way to confirm that yes, you’ve written for the day still helps, whether that’s putting a gold star, or an X on a calendar (you can find printable month/page calendars online for free, or you can buy those little book calendars very cheap), creating an art or craft piece (one time I wrote an entire novel assisted by a scarf where I only got to crochet a row after I’d written for the day), or whatever other way you can think of to mark that you wrote. Having a way to look back at your week or month and confirm that yes, you’ve written most days, is often enough keep you honest (with yourself.) As long as it’s something that feels like a reward and not additional work.

So there you have it. 3 methods for setting word count goals and tracking what you’re accomplishing.

Let me know what you’re going to try, or what sort of tricks work for you! (and feel free to ask me for help figuring out how to apply this in your own life.)

—Maree

Subscribe to my substack to make sure you don't miss a post, chat with me on the WIP Project discord, and tag any posts you make about the challenge with #slomowrino if you want me to see them!

[shepcdr]

random thoughts on shepard in his training days in the alliance, pre mass effect 1:

shepard is incredibly touch averse especially in his younger years... and i think the first and only time he ever got a haircut on base, it fucked him up. plus the px barber wasn't used to dealing with biotics either and to dealing with the static shock. so you ended up with one very freaked out barber and one very cut up and slightly shaken shepard

plus, going every week to get his hair cut and leaving nicked and a little mentally disturbed, and having to pay??? no thank u morons.... he modified his omni-tool fabricator so he can just shear it off on his own... it doesn't look Great but he's all right at it :)

and ofc he made credits off of that. he's pretty resourceful and i think decent at modifying omni-tools — by no means professional, and sometimes if he goes too crazy, the result can be dangerous (which was not necessarily a bad thing in days with the reds..... sometimes you Want something to catch on fire or to blow up). but he gets it done.

he's probably done all sorts of modifications for fellow recruits, for a few credits ofc, and has gotten in trouble for it ... probably a handful of times. i'm sure omni-tools are very standard and everyone's bound to have one, but they probably have standards on omni-tools that recruits are allowed to have. or limits on how Much said omni-tools can fabricate... im sure that shepard Will find a way to get fabricators into a regulated omni-tool ... and that one of his fucked up little creations probably sparked and caused a fire in the barracks at some point... maybe multiple points. (where there is yishai shepard. there is going to be a fire. or something that he's fucked up that Will cause a fire.)

in general, he got in a Lot of trouble during training and had to clean his act up big time. he's just got a penchant for causing shit (or rather. he sees an opportunity to make credits or to gain favours. he Will take said opportunity). it was very difficult fresh out of the reds to get clean. he went cold turkey from red sand/minagen, but basically just switched to heavy drinking, though there were times he nearly relapsed. nearly got kicked out for misconduct a few times, and he did not get along well with anyone — being very antisocial, extremely hard to read, coming in with a history like his, and having very powerful biotic abilities honed to destroy. and rumours of his gang affiliation and about what he was doing for the Reds spread around and made things even more difficult. the old tattoos (not things officially affiliated with the reds until years later, because the reds were still kinda small time/covert/regional) didn't help.

for these reasons and others, i think he has a really nasty history with higher ups, NCOs on power trips, people who were wary of him and sought to keep him under control. not all of them sucked, but the ones who did left lasting impressions, and shepard's attitude (aka just. the way he is) did not help. there were definitely people that didn't fuck with him and that wanted to see him fail.

i think that maybe anderson first came across him in these.. very Trying first couple of years in training. he saw a struggling young man (barely a young man tbh, shepard was in a difficult spot where he was forced to grow to survive and deal with Horrors, but that's!! still a kid!!!). someone who needed a little help and a chance to grow. he probably talked with some people and got future opportunities for shepard — so long as shepard got his shit together — and put him in contact with resources and programs for his personal shit. anderson didn't do a lot of this directly, but he did check in on shepard time to time, and of course higher ups giving him counsel would mention anderson's involvement. and when shepard was ready for it, got through advanced & biotic training, anderson recommended him personally for n7 training... cemented himself in shepard's life as a mentor when there were very few people who filled that role for shepard. shepard doesn't know anderson well, but he is deeply loyal to anderson and attributes his career to anderson seeing him and being willing to give a fucked up kid another chance.

[anonymousbunnie]

Just finished reading Never Say Die and I am going to have a word about it

Warning of not so friendly opinion and bad language. Will try my best to contain myself but no promise

Can’t believe it’s 2025 now and I am still here, beefing about a book that was published in 2017

Talk about the irony… literally just a few days ago, I was wrenching my heart out, thinking and writing a long-ass comment about how much my heart broke seeing Jack die in Scorpia Rising, how big of a lesson it was for young Alex, and how much I looked forward to the plot twist AH would plan for her return in Never Say Die. Tbh at first I was surprised that so many people remarked that the AR series should have ended at SR, where Jack would stay dead and Alex would learn his lesson in the hardest way, as a result of him playing with fire. But I always opposed to the idea. We are reading children books after all. Killing off the only person who was closet to being a family member was way too harsh and cruel for a kid that age. Alex might have been stubborn and reckless (he’s getting on my nerves at the start of SR for actually wanting to go to Cairo in the first place), but losing Jack as a consequence of his impulsive action? It was too much and somewhat unnecessary. I was ACTUALLY glad to hear that Jack would make her return in the next book, but I also delayed reading it due to another reason *cough the Wolf/Fox mix up cough*. After a while, what must be done must be done, I read it and seriously WHAT THE FUCK did I just read? Six-year gap Mr. Horowitz, SIX BLOODY YEARS since SR and what cluster fuck did you give me? Jack is alive, just because the villain needed a fucking nanny? What the hell? Why do I feel like my IQ is being insulted here? Seriously, the Grimaldi brothers could have just paid for a complete stranger to be the nanny and killed them off when things were done just like they did throughout the whole fucking book. Or they could’ve just idk, asked for Jane Vosper to do some extra work or coered the teacher to do the thing. He’s a teacher after all, his responsibility was to take care of the kids, what else could he do if he was held at gunpoint? There are tons of ways to bring Jack back, and AH seriously opted for the worst way possible. Honestly Jack deserved more than that. If she was to come back like this, I’d rather prefer her to stay dead for good. The whole Jack returning thing was just so bullshit I could barely feel anything at all during their reunion, which was supposed to be touching and tear-jerking, and probably one of the happiest moment in the AR series. It’s a pity that AH had completely ruined that moment for me. I read Never Say Die, hoping for an epic plot twist. And what I got in return, I just can’t name it anymore. I adore this series. It has its flaw but it also has its charm. But after this, I… I seriously don’t know if I can continue… I rarely drop anything mid way. Once I start reading or watching something, I tend to finish them to the very end. I heard that Russian Roulette is a very good spinoff book. Nightshade is like a new wind introducing new and interesting criminal organization to the series. And from where I’ve been looking at, Nightshade Revenge is not a great wrap-up for the Nightshade arc but it was decent and most importantly, it had Ben, my beloved Ben in there. You have no idea how much I long for the Ben and Alex duo in this series. Them crossing path for a millisecond is enough for me to feel happy the whole day. But now idk anymore, I feel like I’m betrayed. I feel bad, as if somehow all motivation to keep me reading is just drained out. I wish I could get out of this vicious circle because it starts affecting my real life too. Work is stressful enough. All I ask for is a little bit of chilling time, lying in my favorite spot, sipping my favorite drink and enjoying my favorite book in hands. How comes it feels so faraway now? No wonder my colleague keeps asking me whether I feel unwell because I look so troubled and down mood these days

[agentnico]

Top 10 Worst Movies of 2024

Ah shit, here we go again. It’s that time of year again and goodness what a mediocre movie year 2024 has been. Even the decent ones as a majority are not ones I believe will stand the test of time (sorry for the overt pessimism). Nevertheless though, I believe I did manage to avoid a lot of the cinematic damage this year, as there are many films I’ve heard negative responses of that I have not seen. Some of those include Madame Web, Venom: The Last Dance, Kraven the Hunter, Borderlands, Rebel Moon - Part Two and many more. Also wanted to shout out Red One as it’s a movie I started but gave up on an hour in as I got bored. However due to not finishing it didn’t seem fair to have it on this list, as for all I know that movie features a Primal Fear level of an ending that would have changed my life forever. Heck, guess we’ll never know. Anyway, there are films I did have the misfortune of coming across this year, and these are 10 of the worst, in my humblest of opinions…

10) MEGALOPOLIS - “So go back to da club” maybe one of the unintentionally best line readings in cinema history, but aside from that this passion project from Francis Ford Coppola is a total mess. It most certainly is unique, but for all the wrong reasons. Maybe Coppola needs to smoke less whilst making his movies.

9) MOANA 2 - How far I won’t go to see another unnecessary Disney sequel at the cinema. Don’t get me wrong, this movie is a box office juggernaut, but it also a project that so obviously was meant to be a TV series and turned into a movie last minute so that the studio could capitalise on an additional pay-check. The result is a sequel that is in every aspect worse than its predecessor, from the music to the story to the characters… you’re not welcome.

8) GLADIATOR 2 - Been there done that. Paul Mescal nowhere as entertaining as Russell Crowe was. Hans Zimmer’s score is missed big time. The story is essentially a copy of the first? Sharks in the Colosseum was fun. Denzel Washington is the only saving grace.

7) KUNG FU PANDA 4 - Unlike Puss in Boots where the wait for the sequel was more than worth it, Kung Fu Panda 4 feels as if the franchise may have run its course and the writers have simply ran out of ideas. There’s nothing new here, simply retreading old territory. I’m sure if you show it to your kids they’ll probably have a good time. Probably. Or maybe just show them the first three films instead. That “Hit Me Baby One More Time” cover though - hell yeah! Also, can we please petition to stop Awkwafina from appearing in every new animated movie?

6) FLY ME TO THE MOON - Is it a comedy? Is it a romance? Is it a space exploration epic? No clue, nor does the movie know it either. Channing Tatum is trying to find his inner Rock Hudson, and legends say he’s still searching for him to this day. The script feels like it had been written by AI, and if this is all AI has to offer then why the hell are we pursuing it in the first place??

5) WOLFS/THE INSTIGATORS - Kind of cheating here by including two films in one, but both these action comedy thrillers from Apple gave me the exact same feels, or lack of. Ironically the collective cast of these two features an Ocean’s Eleven reunion, however all four of them look so tired and deflated in these roles, evidently in it just for the paycheck. These are the types of films where you expect some fun bickering and skullduggery from its stars, yet here the jokes are barely chuckle worthy.

4) BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE - Every little thing is not going to be alright. For a very special individual this is a very unspecial biopic. Bob Marley is well known legend and icon, and the movie sets out to present him as such, yet it’s done in such a banal and messy way. The film zeroes in on pivotal events that occurred in Marley’s life between 1976 and 1978 however in the context of the movie they lack and real energy or impact. It’s all quite vanilla and under-cooked, and feels like a disrespect towards the man with one life and one destiny.

3) UNFROSTED - Honestly, I expected nothing less from Jerry Seinfeld. It’s easily the movie I most enjoyed on this list. There’s high Cat in the Hat level colourful energy to this stupidity. In no way a good movie, but that Mad Men reference was fantastic!

2) BROTHERS - I was wondering why this movie was so bad as I was watching it. Then I checked on IMDb that Brothers’ screenplay was written by Etan Cohen, who’s responsible for that Holmes & Watson parody with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly from a few years back. It’s all beginning to make sense now! But this movie’s biggest sin is that it has put a stain on Brendan Fraser’s Brenaissance!

1)DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS - While his brother Joel is out making such masterpieces like Tragedy of Macbeth with Denzel, Ethan has decided to go back to his roots and make a road trip movie that is infused with the 80s/90s goofy feel to it, and he even brings back the briefcase from Fargo! Or from No Country for Old Men. Or The Big Lebowski. Or Hail Caesar!. Pretty sure Brad Pitt also seeks a briefcase full of cash in Burn After Reading…. Honestly what is it with the Coens and their briefcases!? Regardless, this should have had all the charm of the previous Coen brothers outings, but unfortunately this is by far the biggest disappointment I experienced in a cinema this year. Unfunny jokes, boring overdone story, over-the-top annoying performances (Margaret Qualley as fast talking Jamie with a cringe-inducing accent twang gets extremely overbearing by the end of the movie), sloppy editing and transitions that belong in a Harold and Kumar flick…. this features all the bad tropes of a stinker. Drive-Away Dolls - a real no cunt-ry for old men I tell ya.