#Lockdown 3 diary

[sophsweet]

My Diary 2021 - week 4

It all starts with Sorry Sophie Scrambled – RAF_Luton on Twitter

[applethieves]

reflecting on half a decade ago; the freak social experiment i live in the hangover of, and my best friends who were close to strangers.

even though it is of course arbitrary, what / who i watch on youtube has always been important to me. it has always deeply influenced me, my interests, my hobbies, how i spend my free time. and during 2020 (which makes me sick to think was now 5 years ago), my interest in youtubers became even more important. as I, like everyone else, didnt have much else to do. i made a twitter account, and made friends with people who had the same interest as me. and as a 13 year old, who didnt have a whole bunch of friends to begin with, and was now deprived of social interaction for months, these people who i talked to everyday, meant the world to me. there would be stretches where they were the only people i talked to aside from my family - who i didn't talk to much either. ive never had relationships like it since. it was horribly dysfunctional. we all fed into a strange, obsessive hivemind. an echo chamber of teenagers in warped mental states. we were all rapidly going insane, encouraging it in others. acting in a way 'you couldn't waterboard out of me' now. it was completely mad, and frankly unsettling. my friends were a groupchat, up to 30 people sometimes, ages ranging from 12 to 19 - we acted like that was normal. most of them I didnt know real name of, the face of, i had no idea who these people were. we were spread across the world, in america, europe, australia. playing out a kind of freak social experiment investigating brain development. one im still trying to unpack the results of 5 years later. on one level, i was horribly unhappy in this time. days blended together, i didnt go outside, i cried every night, i hated myself. I dont remember most of lockdown. what im describing comes from the fragments of memories I do have. but theres a lot my mind has blanked out. on another level, these people, whoever they are, still mean the world to me. most i dont talk to anymore. most i dont remember the names of. a small amount i follow on instagram and occasionally message, only two i have anything close to a kind of relationship with now. but I still think of every one of them. I often wonder where they are now, who they are now, how theyre doing. my life is full of little reminders of them, when i notice i follow accounts with distantly familiar names, parts of it comes back to me. these people were my friends, in a weirdly twisted way, and i remember them as such. and even though that time was utterly insane, there were moments that were really, really enjoyable. and the nature of it is, that is a joy i will never replicate again in my life. i will never be 13 again, laughing alone, with my bestfriends who were close to strangers. theres a bittersweetness to knowing that. I once described my life in 2020, as feeling like a drunken blackout that i still live in the hangover of. every now and again, something prompts you to remember part of it, and you just think, "what on earth was i doing?" its a complicated, conflicting feeling. i could never put it all into words. but i know im grateful, for all those strange people i got to meet on some strange level. and im grateful ill never do it again. and i only hope they're all happier now. because god knows, we were all deeply unhappy then.

[monsterrae1]

Tumblr story time

Tagged by @spotsandsocks @shipperqueen6

Given this blog is like 16 years old at this point I don’t really remember it all 😂

I do remember my friend made it for me cause I didn’t have any social media at all at the time so she made me a tumblr blog, a Facebook profile and a Twitter profile (I’ve long abandoned Twitter though)

At first I was an aesthetic blog but I quickly shifted to fandom content with supernatural, the vampire diaries, and teen wolf. I was a superwholock for a while and then a marvel blog too.

I’ve always reblogged more about my current hyper fixation but I keep my other interests around as well so it’s always been a mess 💀

I took a break for about 2 or 3 years when I was in college cause I didn’t want the distractions but after I settled on a job once I graduated I made my way back slowly.

I had been watching 911 for a while before I fell to the pull of the fandom but during the first lockdown in 2020 i decided to read buddie fics and follow some folks from there on here and well, 4 years later here we are 😂

Im just a silly lil guy having fun here but also i try to help out if I can with signal boost post and other stuff. Still mostly im just here for a good time and to have fun!

Tagging if they’d like to share their journey

@loserdiaz @hoodie-buck @bi-buckrights @eddiebabygirldiaz @saybiwithme @doublecheekedkinard @honestlydarkprincess @bigfootsmom @spaceprincessem @bidisasterevankinard @jackluvsdaniel @jesuisici33 @evanbi-ckley @katries @thewolvesof1998 @canonbibuck @ronordmann @underwaterninja13 @steadfastsaturnsrings @theplaceyoustillrememberdreaming @rogerzsteven @exhuastedpigeon @loveyouanyway @hippolotamus @watchyourbuck @father-salmon @giddyupbuck @devirnis @elvensorceress @queerdiazs @spagheddiediaz and whoever else wants to do it

[notjosieyouremy]

every edsheeran book ive ever read and what i thought

*reblog without tags please

update #1: i just finished reading Letting An@ Go by anonymous. the teenage drama and romance is gross and annoying. the protagonist has a lot of strong opinions about peoples weight, especially her mother’s, which is very triggering. plenty of m3an $pO if that’s your thing. rampant fatphobia. i give it 3 out of 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

5 star tier ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• hunger: a memoir of (my) body by roxane gay. one of the best edsheeran books ive read. it’s about sa, food addiction, boolimia, feminism, fatphobia, the struggles of just trying to exist black woman in a large body. would recommend

• i’m glad my mom died by jennette mccurdy. it’s so good. i think i finished it in a day. it’s about a lot more than edsheeran. highly recommend. go read it right now

• unbearable lightness: a story of loss and gain by portia de rossi. a gay actor’s struggles with edsheeran. one of the few i’ve read more than once. would recommend

• wasted: a memoir of an0rex!a and boolimia by marya hornbacher. really deserves to be in a class of its own. it’s the best written edsheeran book out there. it’s sad, hilarious, intelligent, perfectly captures the internal voice of mania. highly tr!ggering, so proceed with caution. after wasted was published she relapsed, which she speaks about in madness: a bipolar life. it’s also a very good book but edsheeran is not the focus

4 star tier ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• insatiable: a young mother’s struggle with an0rexia by erica rivera. if you wanna read about someone who takes fistfuls of bisacodyl and exercises intensely, you might like this book. it’s very good. would recommend

• dying to be th!n by nikki grahame. imagine being so severely malnourished as a child that you never go through puberty. thats how serious her illness was. she basically grew up in treatment facilities, managed to recover against all odds, went on big brother (the reality show), published a book, relapsed, and tragically passed away in 2021. the covid lockdowns were hard on her mental health. would recommend

• the girls at 17 swann street by yara zgheib. semi-autobiographical work of fiction. what sets this one apart is the protagonist isn’t a teenage girl. she’s, like, 28 i think? something like that. would definitely recommend if you get tired of reading about teens and preteens all the time

• elena vanishing by elena dunkle. at a certain point, all these books can be summarized in one sentence: she had to choose between recovery or death. it’s a very good memoir. would recommend

• born round: the secret history of a full-time eater by frank bruni. we love to see male representation in the edsheeran community. he was a chubby kid, turned to unhealthy means to achieve we!ght loss, eventually learns to heal his relationship with food and becomes restaurant critic for the new york times (ever heard of it?). would recommend

• sure, i’ll join your cult: a memoir of mental illness and the quest to belong anywhere by maria bamford. if you don’t know who maria bamford is, she’s one of the best stand up comics, period. that’s not even my opinion, it’s just an agreed upon fact within the stand up community. she’s brilliant. the book is about her mental illnesses and all the different self help groups she joins (so many!). she does go into her struggle with exercise boolimia, though that’s not the primary subject. it gets 5 stars as a book, but 4 stars as an edsheeran book because there just isn’t a lot of dis0rder talk

3 star and below ⭐️⭐️⭐️

• stick figure: a diary of my former self by lori gottlieb. good but i had trouble relating to the protagonist because was quite young and immature

• the art of st4rving by sam j. miller. some much needed male representation in edsheeran literature. and some lgbtq representation. it’s YA (young adult) fiction, not really my taste. would recommend for those who like YA. great cover art!

• wintergirls by laurie halse anderson. a lot of people love this book. i thought it was ok. it’s a work of fiction by an author who isn’t really part of the edsheeran or recovery community. it’s another YA book. i will always prefer memoirs and non-fiction

• fat chance by lesléa newman. this was the first edsheeran book i read. it was assigned reading for my high school health class. it’s a YA novel about a 13 year old girl who wants to lose we!ght. she re$tricts, she b;nges, she poorges, she becomes boolimic. i can trace my edsheeran back to this book. i started d;eting, b;ngeing, and abusing lax4tives as a direct result of reading this material. it did the exact opposite of its purpose, trying to steer young people away from toxic d!et culture. my take away was, i’m overweight, therefore i should be willing to do anything to get th!nner. it’s not very good tbh. maybe if you like YA you’d like it but otherwise, would not recommend

[zahri-melitor]

Cataclysm and No Man’s Land, to me, are one of the parts of DC Comics that are the most concrete in their time and place.

The Cataclysm happened mid 1998 (around American Independence Day). It SHOULD be Independence Day. This is a very American story, about national identity. No Man’s Land happened in 1999. For about 18 months there the Bat books run almost in real time.

Mr Wayne Goes To Washington at the end of 1998. He’s going to appeal to Washington to save his city even as the US have midterms. Of course nobody wants to pay to save Gotham - they have elections to win, and there’s no votes in spending big on Gotham, in blowing a hole in the budget.

They blow the bridges at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Even as firework displays go off, as people celebrate, they destroy the connection to Gotham and damn those left behind.

This is a disaster that happened before Y2K. The lack of Oracle’s computing power for the year is almost referential of the oncoming worries about whether all the computers ARE about to crash and the world fall into lawlessness.

Barbara’s diary date count is real, a running concept of time in a place where the date no longer matters, the only thing that matters is how long it has been happening. I understand her record on a deep fundamental level. I too counted lockdowns by day, and knew it was Day 51, Day 97, Day 108. Days since the only important thing happened, since my world changed.

And then, when Tim Drake’s rescue finally captures the outside world’s attention? It’s in late 1999, even as candidates for President are positioning themselves for the 2000 election.

Lex Luthor moves to rebuild Gotham as much to position himself as a possible President, to start his election campaign, as he does to try and acquire cheap title to half of Gotham and screw Bruce Wayne.

No Man’s Land happened in 1999. It must always have happened in 1999, to me. Even with comic’s sliding time scale. It could have happened 3-4 years ago in the past, except if it had, it would be a different disaster, with different effects. People would have reacted differently.

[twig-tea]

A question for you because you seem like one of those people who has watched everything: how did you get started watching bl, and what are your ultimate favorite shows?

Double-barrelled! I'm honoured.

How did I get into BL?

The short answer is that ~2016 the YouTube algorithm served me up Lovesick and I immediately went EXCUSE ME WHAT IS THIS and looked up everything else available and watched literally everything I could get my hands on (which at the time was easy because there was only a handful compared to today, but it still felt like a wealth of content to enjoy).

The longer answer is that I used to be really involved in GL (I was the secretary at the first Yuricon in North America in 2002 or 2003) and then BL manga fandom (was in a scanlation group for awhile) through ~2006? so its extra hilarious that this wasn't my route in; I apparently took a break right before they started making live action versions in Japan. But when I got into Thai BL it was fun rediscovering these tropes in a new medium and through the lens of a new-to-me culture, noticing how they differed and how the genre had matured (and how it hadn't), and on catching up on the stuff out of Japan, seeing some of the manga I read over a decade ago come to life! So I mention this history because it's definitely a part of why I stayed (and probably why the algorithm found me relatively quickly).

I only started tracking things in a spreadsheet in 2020 (and it's not nearly as comprehensive or useful as @absolutebl 's), but I did try to backfill the highlights of what I've seen and I have over 550 rows on there, fwiw. I'm a completionist so I do try to watch everything, though that's getting more and more impossible these days.

Ultimate Favourite Shows

This question is so hard. I know you didn't even give me a limit but you have to understand @lurkingshan, I can't choose favourites, I have a draft top ten list that has been blank for 3 years because I can't commit. Okok. I'm just going to list shows as they come to me (not in any particular order):

Thailand: Until We Meet Again, He's Coming to Me, Diary of Tootsies, WhyRU, Ingredients, Not Me, Secret Crush on You, I Told Sunset About You & I Promised You the Moon, Triage, You're My Sky, Make it Right, La Pluie, My Ride, Bad Buddy, My School President, Laws of Attraction, Moonlight Chicken, Dear Dr I'm Coming for Soul, To Sir With Love/Khun Chai, The Eclipse, Midnight Museum, Lovely Writer... Grey Rainbow [ducks, hides, runs away]

Japan: Doushitemo Furetakunai (no touching at all), Kinou Nani Tabeta (What did you eat yesterday?), Our Dining Table, Takara-Kun and Amagi-Kun, Old Fashioned Cupcake, 7 Days (mon-thurs & fri-sun), His (miniseries & movie), I Want to See Only You, Kieta Hatsukoi/My love mix-up, the Cherry Magic Movie, Life~Senjou no bokura/Love on the Line, 180 Degrees Longitude Passes Through Us, Given (anime is my fave version), Tokyo in April Is..., Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, Utsukushii Kare/My beautiful man

Korea: Our Dating Sim, Semantic Error, The Lover [BL side], Color Rush, Blueming, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, Love Class 2, Made on the Rooftop, Discipline Z, Light on Me, To My Star (yes both seasons), Strongberry (faves are Long Time No See, Confidential Coffee Break, and A First Love Story), Sing My Crush, Just Friends?

Vietnam: Goodbye Mother, Hey! First Love, Nation's Brother, You Are Ma Boy, Follow My Sunshine, FOOLs, Tien Bromance: My Small Family, Love Bill

Philippines: Gameboys, Gaya sa Pelikula, Boys Lockdown, Cheat [warning: horror], Your Home, Better Days

Taiwan: Be Loved in House, My DNA Says Love You, We Best Love (1 & 2), HIStory (Crossing the Line is my fave, and second fave is...Make Our Days Count [ducks, hides, burrows into ground]).

Other: Summerdaze (short from Singapore), Stay Still (Hong Kong), HeHe and He (Hong Kong, final season in progress but s1&2 are so funny) and the bromances/difficult to categorize: Scumbag System, Word of Honor, The Untamed, Guardian, Coffee Prince, Bromance (Taiwanese), Great Men Academy, Mr Queen, Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, SCI Mystery

*deep breath* ok I'm stopping lol narrowing it down any less than this gives me pain so I won't try. Also I'm sure I forgot something obvious (and Tumblr was eating drafts of this at various points). All I can say about this list is it's under 100 and that's the best I could do.

Thanks for the ask, and to anyone who made it this far thanks for reading!

[hrhmiat]

Fun Fact:

I have been a fan of the Princess Diaries books since the second book was released in the summer of 2001. I read each book as it came out until book six, which is when school and extracurricular activities became super duper busy. However, as busy as I was, I always bought the latest book, thinking I'd catch up one of these days. Once the 10th book came out, I told myself I had to re-read all the books because I couldn't really remember what happened. But I never did. By the time the 11th book came out in 2015 (I think I just stumbled upon it by accident when I was in the bookstore when it came out!) I told myself I really needed to re-read and actually FINISH reading my favorite series. Well, that didn't happen. I didn't finish the series until 2022. It had been sitting on my shelf for a good 10 years, always on the back of my mind to finish. I am so grateful I did! (Although I wish I had during lockdown since it seemed like everyone was reading it or rereading it) oh well! There are many things I wish I had done during lockdown, but I have to keep reminding myself that my time wasn't wasted since I sewed over 300 masks for people when no one could get masks at the time. In the end, it was worth the wait! I still love this series so much! Now I'm thinking about it. I sorta did this with Harry Potter as well. When the 7th book came out, I lost my place 2/3 of the way, and I was worried I'd read something that would spoil me, so instead of just back reading a little bit, I set it aside and didn't pick it up for TWO YEARS!!!! (I honestly don't know what I was thinking.... I mean I do... I just didn't want my childhood book to end.) I'm amazed I was never spoiled, but then again, it was a different time back then, too. I'm extremely happy Meg Cabot spoiled all of us with another book last year. I hope that she continues to update us on Mia's life in the future. It's good to know she still cares about the series and has gifted us with two extra books after the series ended.

[downthetubes]

In Review: "3 Stories featuring An Egg, A Saint, and Border Guards" by Edward Taylor

A dive into the thoughts of a sleeping egg, a snarky cat and bewildered border guards, Edward Taylor is back with a doozy of a comics anthology

We’ve previously featured award-winning comic creator Edward Taylor‘s wonderfully inventive work on downthetubes, most recently with 2 Stories (Both Involving an Egg), released last year and, previously, Godzilla’s Lockdown Diary and Godzilla Tries To Get Out. Well, good news, he has a new book out, offering three often bizarre but always engaging tales – 3 Stories featuring An Egg, A Saint, and…

[chibabymumma]

This is my private Diary, obviously not that private as it's on Tumblr, but a place where I can scream, vent, cry and freak out without judgement from those close to me, I have to be balanced constantly which is battle.

A little bit about myself I am a mum of 4, 3 adults 1 toddler, the Toddler who will call little lion, has Congenital hyperinsulinemia, hypoglycemia,heart defect, peg fed, sensory issues, possible autism, non verbal, oral aversion and is literally a baby shark! If you can see the state of my arms you would believe me.

I just so need a safe space where I can find some sort of solace in my journey, of being a older mum navigating through the horrors of menopause after finally getting my autism diagnosis at age 49! And ADHD, with the sheer terror of having a little lion and about to be a grandma for the first time! Oh Goddess help me! And the new and improved tantrums now little lion has hit 3!! How do you cope with it? When my premenopausal self just literally wants to lay in the road with him and scream and shout at the injustice and sadness at the world, but no I move forward gently trying to get little lion to stop having a meltdown in the middle of the road, while he's biting my knuckles so hard they are swollen when I get home! All around me people are staring and tutting at me, I don't blame them he's a complete diva when he gets started, the ear piercing screams can shatter the sky, they certainly shatter my ears and my heart.

Little lion was a surprise. I wasn't expecting him, he just sort of arrived, I had at this point as well as my 3 adult children, 6 miscarriages. 3 very painful ones in the few years leading up to his arrival. My husband noticed first I thought the perimenopause had started and only did the test to say "nah see the changes have started" and there they were those 2 clear lines. I freaked out I'm not going to lie, Gave my poor husband a heart attack squealing and fainting. I remember the day so clearly one of my adult children had got COVID I was beside myself with worry this was the day the UK went into lockdown. My wee boy well man, was working ok a diary farm away to try and boost his funds, we had all just watched the news conference and I took the test reading about the effects of COVID lamenting my sadness and worry for my other boy, praying he would be ok, the world was a scary place. The test was next to me. As I read I got more and more panicked for him, I barely noticed the test I finally got my head out of the BBC news site I picked up the test and instantly had a meltdown! The joys of being me. And that was the start of this insane ever ongoing saga that is my life.

[iviarellereads]

All Systems Red, Chapter 2

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which the humans, in true human fashion, want to packbond.

When MB wakes up, it's up to 80% efficiency, and Mensah has extended the security lockdown an additional four hours, but left a message asking MB to report to her. MB has never been asked to do this by any client, it seems, but thinks maybe she wants to go over the planetary hazard info packet and why it didn't mention the giant predatory worms.

MB takes a moment to say it really doesn't care about its clients or what their goals are.(1) It knows that these clients are from a freehold (not associated with a major corporate confederation) called PreservationAux, and the survey is to see if this planet is worth buying a share in the planet's resource extraction potential. It wasn't expecting much from them, but they've been surprisingly easy to work with.(2)

MB cleans itself off, and puts its armour in its repair slots. It doesn't want to dig out the spare armour set, so it puts on the uniform provided for it instead, something like exercise clothes.

When MB goes out into the main hub, everyone is talking and Mensah is busy, so it waits silently. Ratthi is the first to notice it, with a comedic double take. MB comments that's why it prefers wearing armour as much as possible: the humans like to pretend it's a mindless robot, and that's easier when they don't see a human body shape.

Ratthi asks who this is, with the security lockdown preventing anyone coming in or out. Mensah is busy on an interface, so MB has to say it's their SecUnit. They all look almost as uncomfortable as MB feels, and it wishes it had taken the time to get the spare armour.

Part of it is, they didn’t want me here. Not here in their hub, but here on the planet. One of the reasons the bond company requires it, besides slapping more expensive markups on their clients, is that I was recording all their conversations all the time, though I wasn’t monitoring anything I didn’t need to do a half-assed version of my job. But the company would access all those recordings and data mine them for anything they could sell.(3) No, they don’t tell people that. Yes, everyone does know it. No, there’s nothing you can do about it.

Shortly (subjective: half hour, objective: 3.4 seconds) Mensah turns and sees MB, and asks it to review the hazard report, just as it expected. It does so, and can feel Dr. Gurathin, an augmented human with his own interface, poking at the data while the others, on touch interfaces, are more distant.

At first, MB thinks they're being paranoid, but it finds discrepancies in phrasing, indicating deletions in the warnings and the section on fauna. Everyone's pretty pissed off about it, and MB likes their openness with each other. It outlines their interpersonal relationships, and says they're very low-stress and restful to be around… just as long as they don't try to interact with it.

The team speculates on what biological niche the hostiles fill, but Pin-Lee brings them back to the important bit: who removed the subreport? She asks MB directly, can HubSystem be hacked? MB thinks how it hacked it easily from inside, to hide its hacked governor module, but from outside… it says it's possible, but more likely they were sent an incomplete report. Mensah assigns Pin-Lee and Gurathin to tracking that problem down, and asks if the other group on the planet, DeltFall, were given the same damaged report. MB checks with HubSystem, which says it's likely, but MB is skeptical of HubSystem's reliability. Aloud, it only says, "Probably".

Mensah gives instructions for the team, and MB asks if she needs it for anything else. Mensah says no, she'll call if they do, but… it could stay in the crew area if it wants.(4)

They all looked at me, most of them smiling. One disadvantage in wearing the armor is that I get used to opaquing the faceplate. I’m out of practice at controlling my expression. Right now I’m pretty sure it was somewhere in the region of stunned horror, or maybe appalled horror.(5) Mensah sat up, startled. She said hurriedly, “Or not, you know, whatever you like.” I said, “I need to check the perimeter,” and managed to turn and leave the crew area in a totally normal way and not like I was fleeing from a bunch of giant hostiles

Back in the ready room, MB is upset that it gave away that it doesn't want to be around them. It worries, because it has too much to hide to make mistakes like that. A slip leaves the rest of its secrets less protected.

It decides to do some work instead of moping, and gets its spare armour to do the perimeter walk, check on the hoppers, double check the emergency supplies, everything it can think to do for its job parameters. Then, it goes into standby with some more Sanctuary Moon.

It's just fast-forwarding through a sex scene(6) when Mensah sends it some images. It's interested enough to pause and save its place. It hasn't really looked at the satellite maps, because it hasn't needed to, but now that Mensah's pointed it out, there are six huge swaths of the planet missing from their documentation.

MB is so grateful that Mensah did it all over the feed instead of insisting on in-person, it gives her its honest opinion: the package was cheap, and it's likely the pieces are missing for that reason, but the only way to know is go out for yourself and see if there's something worth seeing in the missing regions.

MB feels Mensah's attention pull back from the feed, so it tunes into the hub cameras to listen to the humans' discussion. They're all in favour of going to check it out. They've already had a conversation with DeltFall, who agreed to send the missing files, but MB knows how this is going to go, and that they don't know security like it does. It wants to go alone, but if its governor module were working, the failsafes would fry it if it went further than 100 meters away from all the clients, so it can't volunteer.

So when Mensah opened the feed again to tell me they were going, I told her security protocols suggested that I should go, too.(7)

=====

(1) I think this is a little too much protest, if you feel me. MB may not be the most reliable narrator of its relationships. It could have followed protocol and left Volescu in the crater in chapter 1, but it didn't. It could have been aggressive in getting him out, but it wasn't. It took the time to get his attention and, in a totally appropriate manner, distract and guide him out of it. (2) I wonder what MB's criteria are for "easy to work with". Following directions without question from a trained professional? Not complaining about things like the security lockdown while it regenerated? (3) Sound familiar? (4) Humans packbond even with the most unlikely of creatures. We packbonded with dogs and cats, and honestly, we've been packbonding even with the autofill chinese box text generators they're calling AI these days. Of COURSE they're going to want to treat MB like a person when they see that it's person-shaped. Mensah in particular recognized that MB didn't have to do as much for Volescu as it did, and I like to think she sees a spark of something in it. (5) Our dear MB, on the other hand, has little urge to be treated like a person, because that means interacting with people, which it has never been trained or encouraged to do outside the boundaries of its contractual requirements. (6) MB thinks it has no interest in sex scenes in media because it has no gender or sex-related parts, since that would make it a sexbot, not a murderbot. This has, however, led to more or less canon assertions that MB is just ace. This could be considered problematic in some senses, because real ace people are accused of being broken or lacking in some supposedly essential quality, just like MB literally lacks sexable genitals. Notwithstanding author bigotry I'm not aware of, I (occupying spots on the aro and ace spectra) am inclined to forgive the false equivalence because MB is a bot, and even with organic bits, it still has some drives and capabilities that seem inextricable from its constructive and semi-programmed nature. This is not to say anyone else has to feel the same way, or that this counts as any sort of representation because to me it really kinda doesn't even if MB is relatable in this way for some people including myself. This is just the space to put my thoughts as I read. (7) Do you think this is purely fulfilling its function, or does MB seem a little too eager to make sure these humans survive? (I'm in camp the latter if that's not clear, no matter what it says.)

[stargrlinthesky]

ABOUT ME !! <3

I consider this page like a diary or personal blog of some sort so I just wanted to do this for me.

I love music, deftones has been my favourite band for years now but my taste is relatively diverse :) I like most music. I also love TV smmm. My favourite shows atm are bojack horseman, skins and mlp (obviously fluttershy is my fave)

TW->I've struggled with mental health for basically my whole life but I don't actually know why. I can't remember anything up until about a year or two ago, terrible memory 💀. I've struggled w sh almost all of my life in some sort of way but actually started understanding and cxtt1ng around 10, but I'm getting clean !! I've struggled with binge eating disorder too but it got really bad around lockdown, so I've started watching what I'm eating recently.

My Sw is 250 lbs and my cw is 236 lbs My Ugw is 80 lbs so I have a long way to go but im doing well at the moment.

If u see this, I hope u have a great day, remember you're loved and take care 💞 !

[tflegendarium]

ORIGINS

The first part of the pre-war/early war section that introduces key characters.

Volume 1: Wastes & Towers

-> "The Lost City": C-01 stumbles upon a ghost city while lost and faces three temptations from heroes and villains of legends.

-> "the shine from the eyes of ghosts": Blaster is heading north following an offer from his sister Karmen to sponsor him for a work Visa. On the way he falls into the hands of a group of "roaming bandits" and is saved by a ghost story.

-> "Why You Don't Answer Greetings At Night": Scavenger attempts to keep the new build Dagger alive when the idiot stumbles into a haunted old ruin and they get caught in a ghost story.

-> "The Locked Tower": Thunderclash's diary outlining his days in the Tower and desire to improve for his mentor. More importantly they outline his discovery of Zarak.

-> "Dancing Doctor": Lockdown is hired by the Prime's very own medic to hunt down proof of a young up and coming doctor breaking corporate copyright and repairing those contracted to them. Ratchet leads him on and embarassing chase through the party center of Iacon.

-> "The Seventh Bride": Tailgate is trapped in a building with a monster and the latest victim. He tries desperately to save them, only to discover he was wrong about who was being hunted.

Volume 2: Pits & Palaces

-> "Iacon Tales": A distant view of interlocking tales within Iacon.

-> "Things Done For Love": Sideswipe reflects on what he does as the older sibling and longs for a better life for him and his twin. Sunstreaker takes their fate in hand.

-> "Like Something Out of a (Tragic) Love Song": Devastator Maximus believes he is living out a love story. He is a tragedy.

-> "What Makes A Person": Prowl discovers how to be a person by learning to love someone (something).

-> "Ballad of Ariel": Ariel must make the final decision on her function training and realizes that her choice may not line up with the expectations heaped upon her from creation.

-> "With Patience, Good Cheer, and Unending Love": Ironhide prepares for the Primal Procession across Cybertron and for the brief glimpse of Chromia that it promises.

Volume 3: Gutters & Stars

-> "Bartering For Names": Ulchtar's latest plan for escape may involve biting off more than she can chew when the mech whose identity she purchased is being pursued by the mafia. Thankfully, her favorite client is there to help out

-> "Keep Your Deals, Mind Your Words": Doubledealer is hired for a job by a mysterious client and overplays his hand a fatal degree.

-> "Rust Narrows Monologue": Hot Rod reflects on life in the Narrows. At least he has good company.

-> "Swindling the Swindler": A worker on Monacus notices and interesting behavior in their Cybertronian guests.

-> "What Has Been, Cannot Be Stopped, And May Yet Pass": Arcee's latest exploration takes a strange and almost mystical turn when her team discovers a crypt.

-> "Miner's Elegy": D-16 gets to know D-13 during a mine collapse that leads them through ancient tunnels and long buried secrets.

[capture-so-i-wont-forget]

cameras and space

july 19, 2023 | 3:40 PM | obscure cafe, taft manila

hi, i am anji. i have circled the sun 20 times as of writing, another cycle to happen in a few weeks.

i live in manila. i’m in university. i want to become a dentist.

i’m currently trying to find who i am, as cliche as it sounds. i wasn’t given the privilege to have a clear border between youth and adulthood. in my defense, the world was under lockdown so i had different problems other than thinking about growing up.

but now the world isn’t locked nor down anymore. where does that leave me, a 17 year old barely out of high school, stuck in the body of a 20 something person?

i’m still trying to navigate through it. i slip and fall most times but i guess the bruises are medals i should be proud of. albeit, i wish other people would be looking in another direction whenever it happens.

for my 21st birthday, i gifted myself a digicam and printer hybrid. you may ask, “but anji, you already have a phone, why bother buying a separate camera?” well my answer to that is that i like shiny new things. that reason only.

but in all seriousness, in this trial of mine in searching my place, i realized how much valued memories i lost along the way. i simply forgot. i didn’t write it down. there is no solid proof that i existed for that moment in time.

when i took a step back and reassessed whatever this pathetic excuse of a life of mine was, i came to the conclusion that if i wanted to have a place in this world , i have to make it myself. i have to take up the space.

so here i am, fresh from failing an oral exam, writing in a cafe near my home, thinking on how i would kickstart this blog.

with the various projects i have created i highly doubt that i’d be consistent with this one. but hey, at least this is better than rotting in bed, right?

i hope you, whoever you are, enjoys this online diary of mine as i take pleasure in making it.

see you. anji.

[roseoswiins]

9 favorite albums in no particular order

Tagged by @an-ivy-covered-summer (forever ago but I finally got to it!!)

Tagging anyone who wants too!!!

Runners up Hamilton broadway soundtrack, Avril Lavigne - Let It Go, Sheppard - Away, Princess Diaries 2 soundtrack, Adam Lambert - Trespassing, Fall Out Boy - Save Rock and Roll, American Beauty/American Psycho, and Mania, Meghan Moroney Am I Okay? And every other Taylor album, every other Shania Twain album, every other Chesney album and all the mix cds my friends in high school gave me that I still have

1. Trick Pony - Self Titled. I'm going to go full hipster here in that I am 100% sure I'm the only person on tumblr to ever heard of this band (I checked). But according to my parents this is the first cd I would ask to be played on never ending repeat on drives to the point my dad couldn't stand it and bought me my first cd player just so he could listen to something else. Songs I recommend: Party of One, Pour Me and Just What I do

2. Kenny Chesney - When the Sun Goes Down. Another album I would play on repeat. According to a story my dad would tell apparently I learned how to be quite by being handed lyric booklets to read and listening to this. Songs I would recommend: the title track, I Go Back and Anything but Mine

3. Shania Twain - Come on Over. Iconic. Just... purely iconic. If you don't know the opening beat to Man I feel like a Woman. I will say you have lived in cave for the last 30 years. Songs I would recommend: Man I feel Like a Woman, Honey I'm Home, That Don't Impress Me Much.

4-6 Marianas Trench - Ever After, Astoria and Phantoms. I tried so hard to find an image of all albums as one . Do you have the time to listen to over 3 hours of music? Reasons 1-100 why it is so hard to recommend my favorite band is that all three of these albums are connected telling one story in a fairy tale, an 80's adventure (ala the Goonies) and lastly an Edgar Allan Poe style horror poem. Set ups and callbacks can be traced through nearly every song. (There is also one other album that could be tied with it but I thought 3 was enough slots). Every song is written by lead singer and sonically cohesive is putting it mildly. Songs I would recommend the opening and closing tracks of each album

7. Halsey - Manic. It took me far too long to discover Halsey outside of the songs used in every other amv. This was the first album of hers I bought and I couldn't stop listening to it for weeks on end. She is amazing and I cannot wait for the Great Impersonator. Songs I would recommend: You Should be Sad, 3 Am and Clementine

8. Taylor Swift - Evermore. (Pretty sure my mutuals would think I was hacked if I didn't have at least one Taylor album) While I will always have a soft spot in my heart for folklore and all the songs on it. My preferred of the lockdown albums. I loved the more mature love story. Bon Iver's voice is still a jump scare on the title track. Songs I recommend Tis the Damn Season/Dorothea, Marjorie, Cowboy Like Me

9. Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department and Anthology. I remember my brain going full blue screen the first time I listened to it. This album was such a surprise to all who understand it. But I have grown to love it and it has found its place in my top 3 of hers. And it may be recency bias but I do think this one takes Red's place as her standout album. Songs I recommend The Alchemy, The Manuscript, The Prophecy

[candy-floss-crazy]

This isn't going to be a coronavirus diary par se. Its more of an occasional ramble of what we are doing and thoughts about the way things are going. To be honest its more to give us something extra to do rather than being a serious social commentary. Like everyone else we are in lockdown. Luckily our house is built on the side of our business premises, so we have a fairly secure 3 acre site to wander, rather than being stuck in a small gardenless house. My significant other is starting to repaint all of our external fences. Tbh they don't really need doing yet as she did them about 18 months ago, but she's happy that it gives her a couple of weeks work to pass them time on. My daughter, who hasn't been speaking to me for a couple of weeks due to my refusal to let her make a trip to Birmingham, has come round a bit. We have decided to spend some of our time learning a language. After a bit of debate we have settled on sign language. We don't interact with the hearing impaired all that often, but it would be nice to be able to show we have made the effort on the occasions we do. Learning Something New When we built the wild west stagecoach photo booth, we added quite a number of props to it. One of which was a ukulele (and indeed a banjo, because we were going to recreate the scene from deliverance). This has sat on the top shelf in the office for quite a while now. So I decided I am going to learn how to play it. Lol, by the end of the lockdown, I will either be a musician, or I will have a ukulele shaped dent in the back of my head. We usually refurb our carts and equipment a couple of times a year. This enforced downtime will let us go through them all ready for when the events industry re emerges. It will also give us time to look at possible new ideas and lines to add for the forthcoming season. I have just had a months stay in hospital where I ended up losing 2 stone. In truth I needed to lose a bit of weight, but that is probably half a stone too much. As soon as the remnants from my surgery heal up enough I intend to have a fairly heavy exercise regime, it would be nice to tone up and keep my weight down. We have a few basic items such as kettlebells so should be able to cobble together some basic exercise sets. Woah boy overdoing the exercises a bit there. Truth be told mentally I am not feeling the lockdown too much. When ever we were not at events, I always had plenty of promotional work to be doing on the computer, so I am just doing what I would normally do. It will let me get our blog and seo work well in front, and take the pressure off me once things get moving again. The World At Large In the wider world, I still can't believe just how many people are totally ignoring instructions to stay in. The police broke up a party in Derby yesterday, where they had a disco and buffet, the full works. Are people really that stupid, or are they just plain ignorant. I got into a debate with a guy I fly with, a liberal democrat activist who claims the government haven't been clear enough about having to stop in. WTF, every time you turn the telly on it is telling you to stay in. Every other post on Facebook is tellling you the same, what more do people need, Zeppelins roaming the sky with the message painted on the side? What it really needs is the North Korean method. It was reported there that a guy refusing to isolate was shot. I bet that wouldn't need too much promotion from the government before it was adhered to. So in summery everyone; Stay SAFE Stay IN And check back for more ramblings from our Coronavirus diary. Read the full article

[twatkcox]

[The Keihancarl Diaries: September 14, 2024]

Keihancarl here. The weather feels kind of unpredictable, as there’s the possibility of rainfall during the weekend. Well then, I’m heading to the SMX Convention Center for this year’s Manila International Book Fair, the sixth MIBF event I’ve attended since 2017. And of course, if the weather cooperates, there’s a chance I’ll get to visit Ayala Malls Manila Bay for the second time, as well as the Parqal Mall, both located in the nearby Aseana City.

xxxxxxxxxx

I’m going all-black for this weekend. Not that unusual, right? Well, I have to make sure to make the most out of this day so I really have to leave the house early. I'll probably have to deal with traffic along the way, but I guess it's pretty normal nowadays. Anyway, it was still sunny when I left, and (luckily) traffic was light along Commonwealth Avenue, well, except for North Fairview. I managed to reach North Avenue about an hour later.

On the way to North Avenue, I was having a hard time deciding between riding the MRT-3 to Taft (with a short jeepney/bus ride to SM Mall Of Asia) or taking the EDSA Bus Carousel all the way there (and save me the trouble of switching transport later). I ended up taking the MRT anyway.

I load up my Beep card and head inside the train. Looks like there's rain in the Ortigas area, but only for a bit. Well, the weather report says that there’ll be a chance of scattered rainfall throughout the day. I was hoping it wouldn’t rain in the Pasay and Parañaque areas, since I’m planning to visit a couple of malls at the Aseana City after the MIBF.

Reaching MRT Taft Station, I took a short bus ride (EDSA Carousel) to the Mall Of Asia Complex. Oh, and I happened to see the LRT-1 Gen 4 trains while passing by the overpass to the EDSA Bus Carousel. Would love to ride these new trains soon, well, probably on my 34th birthday.

I reached SMX about 10 minutes past twelve. As soon as I got inside, I decided to have a hotdog (on a stick) at one of the stands. Although I’m starting to get hungry, I don’t feel like having lunch just yet… well maybe later. 

I decided to check some of the booths on the first floor, including Fully Booked, National Book Store, and the Precious Pages Group (including Black Ink Comics). I bought a copy of The Restaurant Of Many Orders (at 20 percent off) at the Fully Booked booth, and three bargain-priced manga books at the NBS booth.

Heading to the second level, I passed by a couple of booths, Komiket and Tankobonbon. I bought a couple of books at the Komiket booth.

This is the first time since 2019 that the MIBF occupied two floors of the SMX Convention Center, excluding Function Rooms 4 and 5 (which are closed). And yes, this is the first time that I actually had a large haul of books from the event.

National Book Store finally made a comeback to the MIBF for the first time since 2019. Tuttle Publishing, however, was not among the list of exhibitors. The latter is one of the exhibitors I always visited at most of the previous MIBF events. But at least I bought one of the publisher’s books (the manga version of The Restaurant Of Many Orders) at the Fully Booked booth.

It was already 2:00 in the afternoon, but there was a lot of time left so I decided to leave the event (and the Mall Of Asia Complex) to visit Ayala Malls Manila Bay. It’s been more than 4 years since I last visited that mall (exactly a month before the COVID lockdown), but I knew that it was doing well since then. Might as well visit Parqal Mall while I’m there.

It only took me 10 minutes to walk to Parqal Mall, which is actually a strip mall with a large roof above it. The area was breezy when I got there, not to mention that it is close to the bay. Since I didn't have anything to drink since leaving the house, I stopped by The Marketplace Supermarket to buy something to drink (it's just a bottle of C2) and consumed it along the way.

From the Parqal Mall, it took me less than 5 minutes to reach Ayala Malls Manila Bay. I visited several shops inside the mall, including Flying Tiger Copenhagen (probably the Danish version of the Japanese brand Daiso) and Biblio. There was an event by Foot Locker at the mall’s atrium.

I was getting hungry, considering that I didn’t have anything but a hotdog for lunch. I suppose it’s time for Pepper Lunch (after noticing it from the other side of the balcony). Besides, it’s already 3:00 PM and I’m only at the mall’s second level.

I decided on beef pepper rice, which is so far the only item I ordered at Pepper Lunch (I initially thought of trying their salmon pepper rice). I took a moment to write this post while waiting for the food to cool down a bit. The weight of the books I bought at the book fair adds up to the slight feeling of exhaustion, along with the crowd of people at the venue. It was also quite stuffy inside since the air conditioning unit was under maintenance, hence the portable air coolers.

I then continued checking the rest of the upper floors, as well as some of the shops. The Sun Garden on the fifth floor is already open, the last time I was there it was still closed. So far, I believe only Zus Coffee is open.

After checking the rest of the mall, I headed back to the Mall Of Asia Complex and passed by the Neo Chinatown area. It only took me less than fifteen minutes before I reached the SMX Convention Center, though I didn't bother checking the MIBF again. Anyway, it's time to visit the two malls in the complex, starting with the S’Maison Mall. I got inside the mall via the bridgeway from SMX.

I only checked the Fully Booked branch there, which had already relocated to the ground floor from the second floor. Nothing much, considering that I’ve already bought what I wanted at the MIBF. And yes, all of the books are 20 percent off. Also, I didn't bother checking the rest of the shops inside the mall.

I made my way to SM Mall Of Asia using the other bridgeway at the other end of S'Maison. Once I got there, I checked Decathlon first. After that, I immediately head to the esplanade.

Looks like a reclamation project has commenced near the MOA Eye. Some parts of the esplanade were cordoned off as well. Also, I’m not sure when these lamp posts were installed, but they sure brightened up the area.

From the esplanade, I made my way to the other side of the mall, the part near The Galeon. I then checked some of the shops inside.

Feeling parched, I decided to have a drink from ChaTraMue, at the MOA Food Hall. I ordered a plum red tea, with konjac jelly. The drink was kind of sour and salty at the same time, like kiamoy (dried sour plums/prunes covered by some orange powder). Is that how the drink is supposed to taste like?

I took a moment to check some of the shops. Nitori is opening soon, as well as a gashapon shop.

I then checked the Sky Park for a while, and Aperitif (cafe/restaurant) is now open. I decided to skip the Fully Booked x Kinokuniya branch at the mall due to time constraints.

Later on, I dropped by IKEA at the MOA Square. I was taking pics of some amazing displays, but the gamer’s room was the most awesome. And the kitchen.

And it’s time to go home. Unfortunately, there were no more UV Express vans to SM Fairview so I’ll have to find another way to get home. I could’ve probably taken the MRT-3 or the EDSA Bus Carousel to North Avenue, but getting a UV Express ride from Trinoma or SM North is quite a hassle, especially if I’ll have to line up for about 15 to 30 minutes. Instead, I took a jeep to the Taft Avenue-Buendia intersection and took the UV Express van from there. Traffic is mostly light, with slight traffic in North Fairview.

I got home before 11:00 PM. That was the first time I’d been out on a mall-hopping trip for more than 13 hours, and my hips and my left shoulder hurt so much from walking too much and my bag’s weight respectively. Despite this, I had a lot of fun at the event, and I’m quite pleased with this trip, even with some minor problems.

xxxxxxxxxx

It sure was a fun weekend, even though I ended up feeling worn out. My all-black outfit sure was kind of ordinary, but it was complimented well with my usual accessories (particularly the black fingerless gloves).

I’m planning another trip for my 34th birthday (it’s less than a month away). When or where it will happen will depend on the situation, but I’m really pushing for it to happen. Manila might be the obvious choice, but I’m considering Ortigas/Greenhills or Alabang as well (the latter two I’ve yet to revisit). Of course, I’m gonna wear all-black on that trip as well.

I suppose this is where I’ll end this post. Until next time! Ciao!

All pics are uploaded to my Instagram account, @kcox_105, and shared to my Threads account.