#and for the summer i have a few very thin and smaller ones

[c4tto626]

anyways merry christmas to everyone who like me celebrates this evening, my mom knows me well and got me a 2x2m super soft and fluffy red blanket which my cats also love very much lol

[storm-angel989]

🎀IM SORRY FOR BLOWING UP YOUR INBOX! But Val/Vox(idrc which one) x Anorexic Daughter Reader?🎀

PLEASE READ BEFOREHAND

Hi Friend,

You’re not blowing up my inbox- I keep every request in a google doc and when inspo hits I work on it! If I ever decide I won’t do a request I won’t just delete it- I’ll post and say it directly <3 

Preface for this work:

 I’m considered a plus sized equestrian/plus sized human. Eating disorders come in all shapes, sizes and issues. I believe it’s Blythe Barid who said “If you develop an eating disorder when you are already thin to begin with you go to the hospital. If you develop an eating disorder when you are not thin to begin with, you are a success story.”

Stories like these are based on my own experiences and issues- and on this topic, I’ve had quite a few. Please remember that all bodies are worthy of love and respect, care and concern. It's a tough concept to wrap our heads around, and admittedly I still struggle with it. 

A little background info: 

ED’s are a huge part of my writing that I haven’t published. Ana and Mia are characters I have created (or maybe my own food issues created them). Either way, they’re  separate entities for separate stories- demons that I imagine have their own place in hell as well as in my writings (all of which have been in existence far longer than Hazbin). That being said, naming your ED is something I did and I have done. Even for the purpose of writing this story, the entire thing felt wrong without Ana running the behind the scenes. 

With this one I tried to pain the pain, the anger and frustration behind that never feeling good enough feeling. I would be open to doing part two if folks would be interested. Please also know I’ve written on this topic in several other forms if you explore my masterlist (or I can directly send you the links if you PM me). 

<3 Mandy 

I stepped on the bathroom scale and looked at the number that flashed below. The words of my coach echoed in my mind- I needed to lose the summer weight, or else I would be benched for the rest of the season. She had helpfully provided me with a journal to keep track of my weight, what I ate in a day, activities I did and how many calories I burned in accordance with my VoxTech watch. 

A month ago, I had met her goal, thus ending the weekly weigh-ins. According to her, I had lost enough weight to maintain my place on the team. It was on me now to make sure that I maintained that weight, or lost more. In her exact words, you could never be too skinny. 

“Bebita? Breakfast,” my fathers voice called from the hallway. “Come on, before it gets cold.”

The number told me I hadn’t gained weight, but I hadn’t lost weight either. I picked my backpack up and slung it over my shoulder. 

“Sorry, Dad! I’m late! I’ll eat at school, I promise,” I answered back as I rushed out the door. 

Surely skipping breakfast wouldn’t hurt. 

Skipping breakfast turned into skipping lunch. Skipping lunch turned into avoiding dinner. Sugar free jello and skinny pop became my go to snacks as the numbers in my book slowly but surely began to get smaller. Somewhere, a little voice inside my head began to cheer my successes on the scale. Over time, I learned that she had a name. 

Ana. My secret diet partner. My invisible cheerleader. The willpower I needed to keep going on the hardest days. And most importantly, someone who paid attention to me, 

With each passing day, Ana grew louder. She encouraged me to keep my diet a secret from my family. After all, they wouldn’t understand. Pleasing her, it became almost like an addiction- a game I played with myself to see just how little I could become. Food became nothing more than numbers, an obsession that consumed every minute, every second of my thoughts and desires. 

In my household, it wasn’t hard to keep it to myself. Hell, one could argue that I wasn’t technically even keeping it a secret. My father had a very important job, after all. And my Auntie Velvette and Uncle Vox also wouldn’t have had the opportunity to make the connection. A quick, I ate earlier, sorry! And I got off scott free. Ana cheered with each no thank you I uttered. My head between my knees after practice had become a ritualistic practice. Waiting for the black spots to fade, taking deep breaths to try to regain the energy to stand up and walk out to the awaiting limo. It wasn’t like there was anyone waiting at home for me anyway. 

On the daily, I kept a careful eye on my voxtech watch. The first time my blood sugar dropped, I got a call from Vox. Paniced waves rushed through me. A suggestion from Ana to bribe to a friendly tech demon. A brief trade later, I had constant vitals being sent from my watch, my real ones hidden behind a password. With this newfound freedom, outside of homework and practice, my time normally devoted to hobbies or hanging out with friends became time to sleep. After all, I was working on the perfect body. I needed my rest. 

For almost six months, Ana and I were best friends. 

Saturday morning. Game day. One of the busiest days for my father. After all, lust and depravity raked through the weekends like wildfire. Or at least, that was what he claimed. I stood in front of the mirror trying desperately to tighten the drawstring 

“Hey bebita?” I heard my fathers voice call from the hallway. “Baby, are you up?”

“Yeah, Dad. I have a game today,” I snapped as I tied another knot in the string. 

Why the fuck wouldn’t these stupid shorts stay up? I fumed to myself. Every part of my body ached, and even yanking on my shorts sent black spots and exhaustion rushing through my body. I leaned my head against the mirror and tried to take a deep breath. I could do this. I had to do this. 

The next thing I heard was my fathers voice, felt his hand shaking my shoulder. It took every ounce of energy to open my eyes. 

“Bebita? Reader, can you hear me?” Valentino asked frantically. “Princessa, wake up, now!”

“I’m fine,” I muttered as loudly as I could. Somehow, I managed to push myself upright. 

“You most certainly are not fine,” he replied sharply. “I’m taking you downstairs to the doctor, right now.”

Doctor. That meant I would miss the game. No, I had an obligation to my teammates. Somewhere in my head, Ana screamed.

Get up, fatass!

You really want to fuck this up for everyone?

You better not let him take you to the doctor, you do that and you’ll never find perfection. 

“I’m fine,” I growled, louder this time. I pulled myself to my feet and black spots dotted my vision. I felt my fathers arms around me and in seconds, I was off the floor and in his arms.

“Put me down, I can walk,” I tried to yell. Inside my head, Ana screamed louder, demands and insults about my current predicament. I pressed my hands to my head and curled my fingers in my hair, “Dad let me down NOW!” 

He ignored me as he carried me down the hallway. 

“Vox? Velvette? Both of you, with me. Now. We have a problem.” He said loudly. 

“Woah, what’s going….” Vox’s voice began. 

I shoved my hand against my father as he walked through the living room.  To my relief, he set me down on the couch. 

“What?” I snarled as three sets of eyes stared at me. “What the fuck are you looking at?” 

Vox checked his phone and then walked over to me. With one finger, he lifted off my Voxtech watch. 

“Hey! Give that back!” I demanded. “I’m going to be late to my game!”

All three of them ignored me. Wordlessly, Velvette walked away and returned moments later, bathroom scale in hand. She set it infront of the couch and gave me a hard look. 

“Step on.” 

“Fuck you,” I snapped as I stood up. I tried to ignore the black spots that danced just out of sight. “My weight is none of your fucking business.”

“Reader!” Valentino said in dismay. “That’s no way to talk to your Aunt.”

“I’m leaving, I’m already late. Thanks, Dad,” I continued sarcastically as I kicked the scale aside. 

Inside, Ana cheered. I bent down to pick up my backpack and the world around me spun. Three steps,  and Vox’s hand gripped my upper arm. The last thing I heard was Ana’s voice screaming indistinguishable words. 

When I came to again, I found myself in a room of gray and blue. Wires stuck out from my chest, and I tried to cough and spit the feeling of something painful in the back of my throat. I tried to reach up, to shove my fingers down my throat, and my skin met padded white cuffs. 

What the fuck?

You’re going to have to work hard to get yourself out of this one, Ana taunted. Great job getting caught, fatass. 

“Hey, baby, it’s alright, Papi is here,” I heard my father’s voice say somewhere far away. 

“Mr. Valentino, I promise we’ll be in touch when she’s more stable,” a new voice said. “For now, it might be best to give her some space to…”

Indistinguishable arguments. My fathers refusal and reminder of who exactly was in charge here. My Uncle Vox and Aunt Velvette chiming in, a mix of talking him down and agreement. 

Panic shot through me as the haze slowly began to wear away. Realization. Through the fog, only one word came to mind. 

Fuck.

[amynchan]

I'm going to reblog this sometime in August, but I need American College Freshmen to know this:

*cups your face gently* Do Not Take 5-6 classes for your first college semester. This is Not high school. Classes are counted differently here.

Each class has a specified number of units. Most classes are 3 units, some electives are 1 unit, and some classes with a required lab component are 4-5 units, depending on the college and the class itself. If it helps, think of those units like intensity levels.

In college, a full load is 12 units. Twelve. Let me break it down a bit.

A full load means that college should be on-par, time and effort-wise, as a full-time job. That's probably why some of the higher tiers of financial aid require full load; these guys have very little time for extra income to help them get through. A full load can be tough, and you should only go above it if you are absolutely determined to make it through in as few semesters as possible and if you are willing to sacrifice the extra time, mental work, and emotional stamina to get there. A full load should allow students to also participate in extracurriculars, but it is still tough, and you should not go above full load if you are in a sport or a club. No, it's not extra padding "in case you fail a class." No, it's not a security blanket or something to lean on. It is a disaster waiting to happen. You will burn out.

12 units means that the number of units for all classes in one semester should add up to 12. Here are some examples:

Let's say I take a science with a lab like biology (4 units), a mathematics course (3 units), a choir course (1 unit), an intro to college course (1 unit), and a speech class (3 units). 4+3+1+1+3=12 That's 5 classes to get 12 units, but that's because I took two 1 unit courses.

Let's say I take an introduction to art class (3 units), a government class (3 units), an English class (3 units), and a mathematics class (3 units). 3+3+3+3=12 That's 4 classes for 12 units, and that's more common.

Summer course loads are smaller, I believe, so check with your college if you wanted to try taking a summer course to try and get used to the type of work college will be expecting of you. A warning, though: summer classes are really fast and can be hard. I dropped my first one, and there is No Shame in it. It helped me figure out the culture difference between high school and college Real Quick.

Why am I saying all of this? Because I am seeing this pattern in the freshmen that I have in my classes. The ones I have to drop are the ones with 5, 6, 7 classes all at once (a lot of times even while playing a sport! wtf????), and in spreading themselves thin across those classes AND a sport as well, they are failing at everything, including their own health. Guys, I am a teacher, not a torture dungeon master. I want you guys to get your degree and thrive, and you cannot do that if you are working yourself to death.

For my college freshmen just coming out of high school, not knowing any better, still used to having to take 6 classes every year of high school and thinking 6 is gonna be typical or 5 will be a load off, it is not what you think. Please, I am begging you. Look at your load and lighten it if necessary. As you get the hang of college, maybe you can add more on, and maybe you can rub it in my face of "nyeh-nyeh, you were wrong!" Sure, go for it afterwards! But I'm begging you to not burn yourself out.

First semester. 12 units only if you want a full load. Test yourself first with this type of load. Do your best, but don't burn out.

(also, if any first gen students want college tips, tricks, and hacks, I will straight up give them to you for free.)

[therealmofstarwars]

hey! I’ve seen a few posts about your server & it seems like an interesting idea! but I think your expectations/tone may be putting people off.. i know for me, I like a server where I can come and go based on my time & interest, and a lot of servers im in have dozens of members with a much smaller core active group. I can see how that’s frustrating as a mod! but your posts would make me nervous to join the server because it sounds like high expectations for creative output. & ultimately fandom is a hobby, that i do when it’s fun & when inspiration strikes, which sadly i cannot control. I can only speak to my own thoughts & experience of course!! but I wonder if others are feeling similar & so you’re ending up with low engagement :((

I understand perfectly thank for sharing your side of story you need to understand why I am pissed off why my tone and expectations is like that but you need to understand it just really annoying from my side of story just trying to get along with people who change their mind leave last minute without communicating sabotage plans for server which is rude I am doing with same problem for last 8 months one years it fucking annoying I am not putting people off I am just finally venting that all is really I am Aries I am very passionate my personality is like Anakin I have no regrets I can’t take this shit anymore I am fed up . It stressful I am recovering from college burnout my patience is thin I am exhausted I try to patient a good sport I finally had enough in general the mask just slipping

For this summer I just want to relax and write as fun hobby collab with others for fun

That what my server is I am a hothead when I vent I just let it out writing is art form I have no regrets

Sorry my tone come up like that and drive you away just know we are all humans with on and off days

I am finally venting it fucking annoying I am tired with this shit to the point I am thinking of disbanding my server and writing group chat all together just join fandom writing support group

I am done pleasing others fix in box as young adult you have zero fucks to give at this point

I try to be patient it really annoying. 😒

I am pissed off tired had a lack of sleep I finally vent

I am a writer I am tired of being a motherfucking saint. I am over it. I being my true self.

Fanfic is fun hobby I am a only mod in dead server also in a dead SPN writing group

When I try to collab everyone is offline my reaction privately 😒 believe me I am friendly try to communicate others just keep wasting my time

I am trying not to give up it just so annoying

It so annoying. It pissed me off. I am a perfectionist type A so I finally vent because I am writer it catharsis.

I don’t regret finally venting

It really annoying

I don’t care if my posts are passive aggressive I just finally had enough.

No I will not give up. Just understand where I am coming from.

Have a great day.

Aries do not sugarcoat they tell how it is. I am an Aries a passionate and leader sign.

I been patient for a year I am over it. Done being a motherfucking saint. I just want a break and go to spa.

Now I trust the universe go with the flow.

Have a great day.

Thank for being honest Guest I just need to vent.

I am glad we trust each other to be honest.

Just know I am not changing my post tone

I am done pleasing others I am go with my guts trust in the universe

Stay safe guest 💜✨💫

[shakespearefreak]

The Addy doll shown in my last post is my childhood Addy. A few years ago, my mother and stepfather moved to a smaller house, and held an auction for all the stuff they didn’t have space to store anymore. I went through my AG dolls (Molly, Kirsten, Josefina, and Addy) and all their stuff, deciding what to keep and what to sell. I still have Josefina; I auctioned off Kirsten, whose hair was extremely thin and messy at that point; and I decided to sell Molly and Addy online later, as I knew they go for more. I’m not the biggest Molly fan, but the thought of selling Addy tugged at my heart a little; however, I thought someone else would be able to give her more love and attention than me, and I didn’t want to be selfish and keep her just to keep her. So I dressed her carefully, put her hair up in a bun, hugged her tight and promised she’d go to someone who would take good care of her, and put her away in a box under my bed. I posted her on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, but no one bit, so I’ve only taken her out twice since then: for the 2022 post with her and Makena I mentioned before, and for this one I just made.

While I was taking the photos of Addy for that last post, I began to feel super close to her again. I tried to tell myself I didn’t need her, that I barely have room for the dolls I have… but then I caught myself double-knotting her shoelaces. The reason that’s important is this: my cat, Spork 🐱, is very rambunctious and likes messing with my dolls. One of the things he’ll do is grab their shoelaces in his teeth and try to untie them, so I always double-knot all my dolls’ shoes and hair ribbons, etc. When I saw I was double-knotting Addy’s laces, I realized that I’d already lost the battle: she was staying.

The frustrating thing is that I already sold all her clothes at the auction! 😤 Furthermore, I realized when browsing Mercari and eBay to get them back that someone got some VERY good deals. I had her Pleasant Company rope bed, her limited edition stilting outfit, and her summer dress complete with the berry pin, and they went for such a small amount that I’m ashamed to tell y’all how much. 😓 I did my best to research how to price everything properly back then, but I was new to this whole thing and I really had no idea.

Anyways, while I'm working on getting back her books and finding her some clothes again, I did restring her cowrie shell necklace (I don’t think it was ever the official version, in hindsight; it has a metal loop hot-glued to it for the cord, rather than a hole drilled into it), removed a shine mark on her nose with a magic eraser, and, after some consideration, took a steam cleaner to her hair — it’s still definitely textured, but far less frizzy than it was (check out the 2022 post to see the "Before"). I also learned how to do her braided bun properly (before I’d just put it in a regular braid down her back and pinned it up with bobby pins) and gave her a new blue hair ribbon. One of her eyes has a tiny bit of silvereye, the smallest bit of wig “scalp” shows near her hairline from certain angles, and she has a tiny scuff on her cheek, but otherwise she’s in fantastic condition. As mad as I am at myself for selling her clothes, at least I didn’t make the big mistake of letting her go, too. ❤️‍🩹

[whatavery]

Camp Colvin (Comm.)

Here's a little comm. I wrote for @akilleanchameleon featuring his OC Cole and Calvin (AKA Freckle) going on a little camping trip. I had fun with this one, I thought it was a very cute idea! Hope y'all enjoy it!

-----

As the car came to a halt off the side of the dirt road, the shifting of the tires kicked up a small cloud of dust. Once the car finally came to a complete standstill, Cole turned to smile at the ginger tabby by his side. “Well… here we are. Last chance to back out now, Cals.”

Calvin had his hands together in his lap, having been mostly quiet for the duration of the car ride. The orange tabby’s yellow eyes met Cole's, before he cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t head back if you paid me.”

Grinning Cole gently patted the other cat’s shoulder, before he opened the left-side door and got out. Once the two of them stood outside, Cole cast a glance around. Sweeping hills surrounded them, the grass out here coming up to their knees. A path ahead led up to a forested area, many of the trees with their lush canopies situated on higher elevation up on the hills. The sky was darkening noticeably, but the sun didn’t seem like it was going to fully set for another hour at least.

It was so quiet out here, so far from the noise of the city; the familiar sound of footsteps on sidewalks, of cars rolling along the cobbled roads, people talking. It was so peaceful out here…

Cole was lightly clad, given the warm summer weather that didn’t seem like it was going to change anytime soon; over his button up shirt, he wore a thin, brown jacket, alongside a pair of blue denim pants and a pair of hiking boots. Calvin had likewise taken to wearing a pair of brown pants and a dark gray sweatshirt – attire that would keep him warm as it would soon get dark, but not too warm. He also wore a pair of large, sturdy-looking boots that dug into the dusty ground as the two made their way to the backseat of the car. Inside, they each pulled out a large rucksack and put it on. The two of them had been planning this particular trip for a while now, and finally time had allowed for it. They planned on staying out here together for a few days.

“Alright, you ready? Sure you don’t want me to carry that for you?” Cole asked as he closed the car door, offering the shorter cat a smile.

“Oh, yeah… It’s fine, I can handle it,” the smaller cat replied, face mostly neutral as Cole locked down the car. Cole nodded and smiled pleasantly. He knew not to underestimate Calvin; he may look like a small, unassuming fella, but Calvin had surprised Cole before in several ways. He was stronger than he looked, and not just physically.

When they first met, Cole had thought Calvin had initially seemed like the kind of man who might break down from being spoken to in a harsh tone. Cole had later come to realize that this was how others may initially see his lover, but he knew that Calvin was special. Small, often quiet and reserved, and polite to boot, Calvin had caught Cole's notice quickly. What they had now was… certainly unorthodox, they both knew that, but they were both perfectly happy.

When the calico offered a hand to Calvin, the smaller cat took it, grasping it firmly, as if his life depended on it. That was one of the traits Cole liked; even if Calvin might not often use his words, his actions were often times more telling of what he thought, what he felt. Cole gave his hand a squeeze and walked with him.

Leaving the black vehicle behind, the two walked along the path together, tall grass on their sides. They'd packed plenty of things for camping and Cole had most certainly made sure they had more than enough food. He'd most certainly brought everything necessary to cook as well, even if it wouldn't be quite as elaborate and fine as the food he'd normally have made Calvin, had they been somewhere with a kitchen.

Climbing the gently sloping hill, Cole glanced sideways at Calvin. Even without him saying a word, he could tell Calvin had a lot on his mind. “So, what did you tell your ma then?”

The calico’s tone was gentle, and yet Calvin gave a slight start. Their eyes met, but Calvin averted his gaze quickly. Cole had learned that Calvin often did that – not out of disinterest or rudeness, but just a natural habit he had.

“Oh… I- uh… I just told her I was going camping – that’s all,” Calvin responded, his grip on the taller cat’s hand still as firm as ever. “With a friend…”

When Cole chuckled, Calvin's rounded ears laying back in a somewhat embarrassed display. Cole gave his hand a squeeze. He of course knew why he’d told her that specifically. Nina McMurray was many things, as far as Cole knew. He knew she was a woman of faith, and he knew she would likely have a cow over her son seeing another man in the way he did. At least if what Cole had heard about her was to be believed.

Cole hadn't yet met her, mainly because neither of them was quite sure how to go about such an introduction. This wasn't a normal case of bringing a significant other home to meet one’s parents, after all. Looking sideways, Cole couldn’t help but smile, remembering how guilty Calvin had felt about his feelings. Making Calvin come around to see that they were just a couple like any other had taken time, but all Cole wanted was to make the tabby happy.

Once the two made it to their designated campsite, the sky had already gotten considerably darker. Soon, bats could be seen flying overhead and already fireflies were coming out, hovering around the woods like floating Christmas lights. It was a small clearing near a large lake, the dark water still, safe for when the occasional summer breeze created ripples on the surface

“Cole?” Calvin gave his hand another squeeze to get his attention. Instead of saying another word, Calvin shifted his hand till their fingers were interlocked, their palms firmly pressed together. Taken by surprise, Cole blushed quite a bit, but being initially flustered didn’t stop him from grinning like an idiot.

Once they came to the center of the clearing, they did need to let go of each other’s hands, however, in order to remove their backpacks. Each was stuffed full of everything they’d brought. Cole had barely put his rucksack down before a pair of short, yet surprisingly firm arms locked themselves around him in a bear hug, pinning his own arms to his sides.

“Calvin…” Cole chuckled, going red in the face under his tri-colored fur. The hug didn’t last forever, but they both savored it, before they set about being at least a little productive as it got darker. Setting up a campfire was easy enough; there was plenty of wood around they could use to fuel the flames. Cole couldn’t help but smile once the fire took hold and illuminated the area; Calvin appeared to positively glow, given his orange fur – at times he almost looked like he may have caught on fire, though Cole hoped he wouldn't have to throw him into the nearby lake. With the trees around them, the last of the daylight was mostly blocked out, but above the clearing they could still see the darkening sky taking on a more purplish hue.

Setting up a tent in the darker lighting conditions wasn't ideal, but the two of them made do – if there was one thing Calvin could do, it was hammering and he made sure the pegs that held the ropes in place weren't going anywhere. The tent was an old one, which had clearly seen its share of wear and tear over the years, a testament to how strong it was. It seemed like it would still keep out water if it started raining.

Though dinner wasn't the grandest of feasts, it was still nice to just sit with Calvin, roasting bread, sausages and even cooking beans over the fire. The scent of food also added to the coziness. Though he'd initially seated himself opposite to Cole, Calvin eventually moved to sit beside him, the two of them sharing a log for a natural seating arrangement. They had dug it slightly into the ground, so it wouldn't be wobbly.

Calvin rested his fuzzy head on Cole's left shoulder, while they each enjoyed their little campfire dinner in mostly silence. Occasionally, Cole would break the silence, telling Calvin about this and that. He knew Calvin didn’t enjoy talking about his own work, but Cole didn’t mind talking about his. It was how things worked for them and Cole wouldn’t want it any other way.

Though dinner wasn't the most exciting, once they’d eaten, Cole took to trying to entertain Calvin the best he could. Stories and songs with funny words seemed to do it. Cole wasn't sure if it was his singing or the words that made Calvin chuckle, but regardless he wasn't going to complain. Calvin's laugh was small and soft, but it was one of Cole's favorite sounds in the world.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Cole exclaimed as he put more wood into the fire, stirring up the embers as he did. “I discovered something new we could try.”

“Uh… And what’s that?” Calvin wondered aloud, sounding nervous, but Cole knew he would enjoy it. From his own rucksack, he produced a couple of things; chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers. Calvin eyed the ingredients curiously, before looking up into Cole's eyes, which seemed to gleam in the firelight.

“Just watch,” Cole said excitedly. Of course, roasting marshmallows on a thick, sharpened stick was nothing new, but it was what Cole did with it afterwards that he was excited for; placing the marshmallow on top of a piece of chocolate between two crackers. “It’s called Some More.”

“Some More? Some more what?” Calvin asked, though he seemed quite curious. Cole let him have the first one as he set about making another.

“Beats me! I saw it in a book, but I’ve never heard of ‘em before,” Cole said pleasant as he watched his lover sampling the treat. “How is it? Any good?”

“Yeah, I like it. It’s sweet – like you,” the smaller cat said. Though their fur hid both their blushes, the firelight made their cheeks appear a warm orange regardless. Leaning on over, Cole placed a kiss on Calvin's nose, which almost made him drop his Some More. “I… I think Cole’s a much better name than Some More, though…”

“Aw, look who’s being sweet, Cal,” Cole said, his own cheeks feeling so warm. As they sat together and enjoyed their Some Mores, they held hands as the sounds of the night’s critters sounding all around them. At this very moment in time, there was nowhere else Cole would rather be; as far as he was concerned, nothing else existed beyond the threshold that was the clearing itself; the world was reduced to their little space here, and nothing else mattered.

By the time the two of them dressed down to just their pants and undershirts, and climbed into the tent, it was completely dark out. Their bedrolls were comfortable enough, despite them not being the most ideal of surfaces to sleep on, but they were certainly better than the cold, hard ground. A flashlight helped illuminate the tent once it was closed. The fire was out, reduced to embers and so the only light in the clearing came from their tent. Laying on their backs side by side, they looked up at the roof, nocturnal insects congregating on the outside where the flashlight shone through the tent.

“This used to be my father’s,” Calvin said suddenly. Cole turned his head to look at him curiously. Calvin smiled. “He took me camping a few times, before-… He would’ve liked you, I think.”

“I'm glad. I’ll make sure to take you camping more often – and give you lots of love too,” Cole said warmly, reaching over to stroke Calvin’s cheek. Putting out the flashlight, Cole felt Calvin shifting by his side, before he pulled him close. Cole held onto the tabby protectively, listening to his breathing, feeling his heartbeat. In the dark, their lips met in a gentle, slow kiss. Out here in the dark, no one could judge them or their love. “I love you, Calvin. I’m so lucky to have you in my life, you know…”

[sigyn-foxyposts]

The lokissons twins head cannons!

Vali 🐺

Vali's birth name is actually Nari because Loki thought it was cute making the twins have matching names.

Not only do they sound similar but Loki thought it was fun to reference how some twins look when born: one big the other small.

Nari's name. means "feeder/nourisher"

Vali's name is unknown, but it could have something to do with valley's.

Nari likes going by Vali or Val instead of his birth name. He doesn't hate his actual name, but he just prefers it more.

Odin actually took and used Vali's name for his own son. Intentionally causing confusion between the two and wanting Vali to be forgotten when punishing loki.

Odin thought it was stupid to let Vali use another name when he was already given one. Loki did not appreciate this.

Relationships!

The other kids in Asgard like calling him Ali out of innocent fun.

Because Vali never understands who they're talking about until they tell him it. Vali finds this as annoying as it is funny.

Vali really looks up to Loki and is definitely a daddy's boy. Their chaotic nature match up after all.

He thinks Loki is super cool in whatever he is doing, even if it gives everyone else second hand embarrassment.

He also looks up to fenrir for pretty much the same reasons. I mean what isn't cool about having a giant wolf as your older brother?

Vali and Thrud are best friends, not just because their fathers are, but because they genuinely get along.

Their shared interests are: play fighting, playing make believe, exploring and collecting rocks.

Likes and dislikes:

🟢Forests, Mountains, the colors blue and green, being read/told stories, open spaces, jumping in puddles, the rain, His family, Magni because he looks out for him and Narfi, protecting others & Narfi, doing very dangerous stunts, drawing on anything, climbing on everything, wolves/dogs, bears, snakes, playing hide and seek.

🔴 Rules, Closed spaces, mud or clay, Modi because he's mean to him and Narfi, getting in trouble, being blamed for something (even if it is his fault, seeing someone get hurt/cry, heights, bugs.

Narfi 🦊

Narfi means "narrow or difficult birth"

Since Vali doesn't really use Nari as his name anymore, Narfi uses it as a nickname because he has an attachment to the name.

If it wasn't obvious, Narfi was the smaller twin out of the two and like his name suggests he came into the world with a few difficulties.

He looks very pale and sickly, he is smaller and thin in comparson with Vali and has health problems.

He tends to get sick very easily during winters too.

This is probably why he is so careful in nature compared to Vali. Who unlike him doesn't have much health problems and is a Daredevil.

Relationships!

Narfi looks up to Sigyn more than anyone else because she has always been there to care and protect him.

He knows whatever she is doing is always to make sure he is okay, which is very comforting to him.

They have a very close bond, which makes Narfi quite the Mama's boy.

Narfi also really likes Hel and Sleipnir, both being very calm and collected people.

Though he mostly favors Hel because they've gotten to bond more with her. This is because Sleipnir isn't much around.

Narfi doesn't really socialize with anyone but his family, when he does though he prefers people such as Njord, Forseti, Idunn or Bragi.

They tend to have a lot in common, especially with Forseti.

But because Loki isn't very fond of Baldr's family whenever Loki sees Narfi hanging out with Forseti he makes the hard decision of stepping in and taking his kid out of there.

Likes and dislikes:

🟢 The color yellow and brown, reading or being read to, snuggling with Sigyn or his siblings, making flower crowns, riding on his families backs, quiet environments, being around Vali, Sigyn or Hel, Summer & autumn, listening to bragi's poems or music, drawing and writing, foxes, deers, cats.

🔴Loki's behavior, being told he looks like Loki, listening to Loki's rules, winter, being sick, slipping on ice, Skadi for winter alone, Modi because he picks on him and Vali, being scared/crying easily, being around too many people, social situations, loud noisy places, mud or clay, playing hide and seek because Loki always wins.

[balioc]

I am a newer LARPer and I have attended a couple of blockbuster games, but I'd love to get more into the theatrical LARPing community. Do you have any recommendations for theatrical games planned in the coming year that might be looking for a motivated and interested player? I live in Oregon, but would happily travel for the right game. My ideal would be a weekend or multi-day event with lots of narrative intrigue, but I'm flexible on setting and playercount. Thank you for any help!

Mrgle.

So -- real weekendlong litform theater-style LARPs are pretty thin on the ground, these days. Standards for writing and design have gotten high enough that a weekendlong is just immensely hard to write. My own extended LARPing circle has generated three such games within the last few years, and that was after a very long period when there just weren't any coming out; the one I wrote took the better part of a year to create, for three serious and experienced authors. Organizing and running them, once they're written, is also very difficult and expensive.

(The blockbuster games of which I'm aware tend to be a somewhat different kind of thing -- to my mind, a worse kind of thing -- in that they are generally much less prewritten and much less narratively-integrated.)

Point being, if I become aware of an upcoming weekendlong run, I'll point you in its direction. But (a) right now I'm not aware of any, and (b) anything of which I am aware will probably be in the Northeast.

-------------

If "multi-day event" includes "opportunity to play a bunch of smaller games in a row," that's much easier. You should go to a theater LARP con; that's precisely what they are. And the Northeast has a bunch of those.

Unfortunately, your timing here is poor. The big-ticket event, the five-hundred-pound gorilla of theater LARP cons, is Intercon; the 2024 Intercon is this coming weekend, so, uh, not a lot of time to jump on that one (plus most of the games are full). The other LARP con I frequently attend is Dice Bubble at RPI, which is also coming up very soon (end of March). If the travel difficulties aren't too burdensome for you, you might consider checking out Summer LARPin' (July in Boxborough, MA).

-------------

I do know some Bay Area LARPers, and if they have any big events that are looking for people, I'll get you in touch with them.

[ennaku-sirri-da]

Rose hip November, autumn I'll remember

Gold landing at our door, catch one leaf and fortune will surround you

Evermore

Evermore

Evermore

[ ID: Traditional art colored digitally of Kamal Bora and Dr.Habit as kids from Smile For Me the game.

In the artists interpretation Kamal as a kid is much shorter than Habit. He has short straight hair and thick eyebrows. He wears a special new dress this time. He is seen in two circular gold earrings, a necklace with bells, and a slightly puffy dark purple space-themed frock with planets, stars, suns, moons and galaxies. It sports a pale ribbon at the mid stomach area.

Here Habit is a really tall kid. He has a thick build. He has a muppet-like appearance with yellow-greenish fur, very long rose-pink curly hair in two tones, pink blushing cheek patches with three freckles, ears stuffed with cotton fluff , deep red nails. The palms of his hands are coated with cotton and have a few stitches. His eyes are yellow, indicating happiness, circled below by red ruffles and have some pale purple eyeshadow. He wears a teal buttoned shirt with wavy darker pants that have yet darker stripes on them. Basically it's Kamal’s outfit from the game. Both of them are barefoot.

Kamal poses dramatically best as he can atop a tree trunk. He keeps a hand behind his head, juts the other out, one foot slightly bending outward. He makes some kind of awkward duck face, cheeks rosy. The tree trunk is in shades of yellow, green and brown with slightly rigid looking swirls engraved on it. The very top has more fluid swirls in a ring form. A number of fungi like bready-colored ones with caps, smaller greyish white ones with stringy structures descending from their caps, white bracket fungi with brown accents grow on and around the trunk and even from inside its cracks. Much moss also accompanies them. A few of the trunks leaves and branches also sprout up tall.

Beneath the trunk's sprawling roots there is a cover of lush green grass and small long-stemmed yellow flowers with brown centers, a scattering of some bready mushrooms too. Near it is Habit. He jumps and claps for Kamal's show, butter-yellow eyes sparkling with his wide smile.

Behind them is a tree in much the same shades as the trunk, thin with different patterns of lines drawn on its patchy-colored appearance. Each patch has its own pattern, some repeated. Like diamonds, ovals, short wavy lines. Numerous autumn-hued leaves with many points hang in vivid shades, but green appears too. It is a transition period between summer and autumn. Common wood pigeons perch the trees. Some sleep, some eat, some spread their wings, some sit, some puff up. Some bushes represented by bouncy shapes are seen in the BG.

There is a very warm-toned filter over the whole thing making it appear deeply colored in a honeyed way. The second piece doesn't have this filter. All colors used in both are mostly harmonious with each other. End ID]

---Talk below the cut as always!

YEAH this took a W H I L E

Another piece in the Roseverse AU for their halcyon days!!!

I'm really proud of the unlined look in this one. It's certainly a shitton more effort to put in ( half a MONTH )but the process AND product are both very worth it. I remember being really chilled and relaxed making this. I guess sometimes my hardassery to detail works out pretty good!

There are like a thousand little colors in this and I hope they speak for me more than I possibly can. You know, this was made not that long ago but since I've taken a step back from focusing solely on S4M things and have gotten into OCs due to unavoidable circumstances, its still really really sweet and good to remember. It feels like I AM there, reminiscing with those two old guys, heh heh.

My friend said it'd be silly but they'd like it if Kamal and Habit went back to this same place when they're grown and the trunks still there and I said HELL YEA this is ROSEVERSE where magic REAL bro

Habit still thinks Kamal looks like the stars in a dress.

I think when this actually happened Kamal would be really shy at first but Habby's a great hype man so his posing starts escalating HSHJSJDJS

Catch baby if he falls!!😤( huffing emoji )

[paledoptera]

Glad you liked the snowberry clearwing suggestion! Big flashy ones like a lot of saturniids are somewhat hard to come by here (one of the more notable instances I've been able to find is the time someone found a cecropia cocoon in the woods and it ended up on the news because nobody who saw it initially knew what it Was lmao), so we've got a lot of smaller, less distinct (or at least less well known) ones - That clearwing is probably the most unique of them, but there's some others that are relatively notable, I think!

We've got a few sphinx moths - While at the mall this past summer, I had an encounter with a lettered sphinx, namely one with a reddish spot on the back like the one in sighting 1347349 on butterfliesandmoths (dot) org, but I would argue the one that leaves the most impression after the clearwing is the white-lined sphinx! They're another one that's fairly commonly referred to as a hummingbird moth, despite not being closely related to the hummingbird hawk-moth of Eurasia - A lot of sphinx moths around here have similar sizes and flight patterns to hummingbirds and also tend to hover around flowers when feeding, so they're all largely lumped in as "hummingbird moths" by casual observers, but the white-lined sphinx is probably the one most commonly referred to as such.

Outside of the sphinx moths, a REALLY distinct family we have here are the plume moths - They have a frankly bizarre shape to them, with a long, thin body almost more resembling a dragonfly than a moth in shape, and long, thin wings near the front of the body, so that, when at rest, they form an almost T shape. There's a few different species here, but the most common one I've seen is the morning glory plume moth - There's usually one or two hanging out on my front door during the warm months at night! Weird little dudes, they give me robber fly "what the fuck is that??? what IS that?????" vibes.

As far as smaller, less distinct moths go, there's a few here that are better known for their status as caterpillars than the moths themselves - We have both Isabella tiger moths and Virginian tiger moths here, better known as the wooly bear and yellow wooly bear in their larval forms, respectively! There's also the American dagger moth, which has a rather nondescript appearance as an adult, but a very distinct one in its larval form! As caterpillars, they've got a very dark face, and are covered in pretty vivid yellow yellow hairs, with a few black tufts that resemble spikes - There are some reports of skin irritation from their hairs, but they're seemingly non-venomous!

Another moth larvae that causes skin irritation, this time due to their hairs being toxic to humans, is the brown-tail moth! They're not native to the US, but there is a population in New England after they were introduced, and they've been particularly widespread where I live for the past decade - In 2018, the front wall of my then-workplace was absolutely COVERED in the adult moths, which are white with, as the name implies, brown tails (sometimes bordering on reddish). A few of them actually made their way into the building, and I brought them back outside - Interestingly, they lose the toxins in their hairs after they pupate, so adults don't cause a rash the way the caterpillars do! They used to be significantly more widespread through eastern North America, but they've declined for... not-fully-clear reasons, but one theory suggests that their population was suppressed by parasitic fly species introduced to counter ANOTHER introduced moth, the spongy moth (Whose scientific name is lymantria dispar! The name spongy moth is a relatively new one for it, so you may find more documentation using its scientific name than its common one. It was formerly known by another common name, but that name also happens to include a slur, so! I'm gonna make the choice to Not include that here 👍👍👍)! They've got some neat sexual dimorphism going on - In addition to the relatively common antennae size difference, males are a light brownish color, while females are a rather bright white with sort of rippled brown striping on the wings! I personally think the females stand out as more flashy than the males, which is neat to see, as someone who also gets a kick out of birds, where the opposite is often true - Usually in birds males are the ones with the more flashy plumage, or at the very least, females tend to have more spotted or mottled colorations in species with dimorphism, to help keep them more hidden while nesting. Even species with relatively little dimorphism beyond size tend to display this pattern - Common barn owls, for instance, can often be differentiated by spotting on the breast and the color of the feathering around the facial disc, where females tend to have heavier black spotting than males (whose breasts are often white with no spotting at all, though they get speckling occasionally) and also have darker facial disc feathers. (I follow an artist in the UK who has livestreams of the raptors that use the nest boxes in his garden, and he works alongside a rehabber who visits when their hatchlings get old enough - Some of the species he has are hard to differentiate even as adults by visual alone, but for barn owls, those are the standard ways of sexing owlets when they're getting their ID rings. But that's getting a bit off topic lol)

Anyway, the male spongy moths veer a bit in to LBJ territory, to borrow a birding term (LBJ stands for "little brown job" and is sometimes used by birders to refer to those fairly common brown birds that are difficult to distinguish - Trying to tell sparrows apart at a glance, for example), which is where a lot of the other moths here fall into. A lot of them aren't especially distinct, often various browns and greys - I'd say even that lettered sphinx I mentioned at the start probably falls into that territory if you're not as Normal About Bugs And Birds As Me. We do have one seemingly-LBJ moth that stands out off the top of my head, though - Amphipyra pyramidoides, or the copper underwing of the US (a distinct species from the copper underwing of the palaearctic), looks like a pretty unremarkable LBJ when its wings are folded up at rest, but as the name implies, the underwings have a distinct copper color that can be seen with their wings outstretched! Underwing moths have a bunch of species with that trait of colorful lower wings, highly recommend poking through them if you have a chance.

Anyway, that's a bit long, so TLDR: I'm Just A Touch Autistic and had a bit too much time at work with the snow this morning keeping customers away and yelling about moths is how I opted to spend the slow day, I suppose bfnfngmdngndn No pressure to read all of that if you haven't already, or to respond to it, naturally! I just get a kick out of cramming excessive amounts of words about bbugs (and bbirds) through my ISP's wires haha. Thanks again for the moths, and I'm glad to hear you're recovering well! And I gotta say, even if they're intended as a sort of quicker and easier, tiding things over while you're sick solution between the more detailed pieces (which are Very Good, for the record), I also love the ms paint moffs tbh. Iconic.

i don't know who you are anon but i love you thank you for putting an entire ass essay about moths in my inbox i knew about a lot of these species (because i'm a nerd who does a lot of research about shit) but i didn't actually know about plume moths!! they look really cool, def gonna draw them at some point.

they remind me of like, dragon wings or bat wings

[iwrite-sinsandtragedies]

[prev.]

Second sprite is done! \o/ halle-fucking-lujah I even added a little Cove outline for the height ref this time!

Background below:

[CW: anxiety, depression, eating disorder, PTSD, survivors guilt and self-harm]

Song: Billie Marten - La Lune

As the years have gone on, China has developed into a spritely young teen with a bright smile and brighter personality. Her favourite nickname is still Ai, but she's also reluctantly fond of the kids at school calling her Chai (she loves the tea) and Sky, as shortened from Schuyler.

At 13, Ai is a hardworking student and intense swimmer and dancer - she's small (even smaller than her peers) but athletic in her own right and she's not afraid to show that she can hold her own. In fact, her stubborn independence towards anyone but Cove can sometimes become more of a problem than a benefit, if she's not careful - and, as much as the adults had hoped that Cove might temper her wild side, they found themselves resigned to watching that influence they had on each other go both ways and it's lead to no shortage of stress and surprises for all of them. Ai is certainly a confident young girl, prone to standing up for herself and for others and not afraid to fight for what she thinks is right.

Despite those tomboy-ish aspects to her personality though, she's still sweet and soft in a lot of ways. She still loves pretty things, like lipgloss and nailpolish, flowers and nice dresses, brushing her hair. Many would agree that Cove brought out the best in her with his own sweet smile and sensitive disposition. Ai wouldn't even disagree. When she feels like closing off from the world to curl back up into the safety of herself, he is always there to guide her back out again. Only Cove really seems to notice the full depths of her anxiety (not for anyone elses lack of trying, Cove is just the one she opens up to). He even has some inkling onto the idea that she's sometimes just sad for no reason but, on her request, he's promised not to tell anyone about it. In their own little world, they always protect each other first.

Year thirteen for Ai is also the year when a lot of things finally come to a boiling point. It starts in early spring, with her breaking her leg (a tourist hits her with his car as she runs across the road to Coves house, it's a terrifying time for all of them). The bone splits from the skin and she needs surgery, the event leaves her on crutches for a few months afterwards (the scar is red and vivid above her knee, at least they both match now, right? That's what Cove says) and things only go more downhill from there for her.

Throughout the years, her choices to keep quiet about her childhood traumas have resulted in something of a complex developing. She's driven to help people through their struggles and takes it as a personal failing when she can't solve a problem - somewhere in her mind, she's begun associating failure with death (ie. feeling the car accident was somehow her fault / feeling she must make up for surviving it). Put plainly, the survivor's guilt is eating at her and the hit and run from early that summer only makes her feel worse, because she takes it as some divine punishment.

It's a long and slow process of less and less eating - one that no one really notices at first. She's thin, but everyone tells her she's so pretty, so it gets glossed over and people just think she's very healthy and fit. The nightmares are a more obvious tell but, she clamps down on her responses to them quickly. It's only the first months after the accident that she gets any attention for them from her parents, and then they stop seeing them happen and hopefully assume that means she's gotten better. Elizabeth doesn't seem to ever notice anything about China at all and Ai honestly prefers things that way.

China starts getting into books on biology. She was hurt and she couldn't fix it so now she reads medical books almost religiously. She learns a lot of interesting things and it ends up helping when Cove burns his hand one day in the kitchen, so she keeps with it.

Time seems to slip by her, in the months following, and summer is there before she's even realised it's happened. Like a blink.

And, like some siren song, Cove pulls her back into the world again.

It's a good summer, really. She can say that confidently, at the very end of it. Getting to the end of summer was much more of a chore in the actual moments of it, of course (punching a kid at a birthday party could have ended much more badly than it did!). There were several moments during it where her anxiety had fully peaked and it was only for the grace of Cove and Derek that she made it through those moments in one piece, she thinks - she adores them dearly. There was a full week where her relationship with Elizabeth and her Mom's was very touch and go - after the 'where you came from' talk, that is, and China had to hold all her shame and disgrace at living and breathing deep down inside of herself for days. She spent a lot of time at Derek's in that space.

The climax happened violently and suddenly, after dinner one night at Coves. It was an emotional affair (raised voices, tears, arguing with Cove) but, everything turned out okay in the end - even if Ai herself had only felt like an ugly bump on a log throughout it, despite whatever she had happened to contribute to saving things. What she'd done just hadn't actually felt like enough to her...

So she hurt herself, as punishment.

Rather stupidly, she did it right there in the kitchen with a knife she was putting away. Right as Elizabeth was walking down the stairs. Frankly, she barely remembers thinking about doing it - only that she knew were to hit on her arm to not bleed out and that she should probably aim there. She wasn't trying to die after all...

Right?

Elizabeth was, justifiably, very upset - practically livid - with her. It was by god's good grace and some quick and clean first aid, that she was convinced to at least hold her tongue on the whole situation, but only with the ironclad promise that Ai would tell their Mom's what happened herself. Immediately.

She did.

They were also very upset, more than China had expected, and not at her specifically - which was a surprise. Ma cried the most, and held her daughter in her arms so tightly and protectively that Ai found herself crying too before she'd even realised it happened. They had a long talk afterwards and they set China up to go and see a therapist as soon as they could. It wasn't easy to talk about her feelings with a complete stranger but, surprisingly, the diagnosis and the meds she received afterwards really helped.

And Cove was there, through all of it, of course. So was Cliff, more than anyone expected him to be. Derek too, eventually, and obviously Lee when she could be. Kyra even showed her support, once she heard the news. At first, China was mostly just ashamed or embarrassed at all the attention - like she'd been caught doing something bad (technically she had) but, the unyielding support did a lot to make her feel a little more okay each new day. It was the closest to her family that she'd ever actually felt since they had adopted her. For the first time, she started to feel like she belonged.

Summer ended with her summer soiree and that one pretty mystery boy that just wouldn't get out of her head, even days after. It ended again with her and Cove's feet hitting the pavement in the early morning light, trying not to laugh too loud.

Soon, she would be fourteen, and then a new year would be upon them. It was for the first time in such a very long time that she found herself looking forward to it without dread in her chest - but hope.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

THE COURAGE OF PLACE

These quotes about luck are not from founders whose startups failed. The investors would not infrequently collude to push down the valuation. They assume ideas are like miracles: they either pop into your head or they don't. Microsoft would crush them. Imagine if, instead, you treated immigration like recruiting—if you made an open-source operating system? I said before, a large random factor in the mathematical sense; see equation above in readability. That's why I write them. America plus tragedy equals the Civil War were. The empirical answer is: no. Actually the best model would be to say that.

Some we helped with technical advice—for whatever people want. If you plan to get rich can do it by feeding the cat, going out to buy something they need for their apartment, meeting a friend for coffee, checking email. This focus on the user. But this can't be an intrinsically European quality; previous generations of Europeans were as ambitious as Americans. 7% of a much larger number. Indeed, one quality all the founders shared this summer was a spirit of independence. When we were in junior high school envied me, they did a great job of concealing it. And indeed, that might be a good idea is therefore a million dollar idea. At a good college you're concentrated together with a lot of ways to get rich by counterfeiting, talking about making money? No matter how much you're getting done. We felt pretty lame at the time. Co-founders really should be people you already know.

Perhaps high schools should drop English and just teach writing. But every institution was at one point they were a just a couple guys in Albuquerque writing Basic interpreters for a market of a few smart friends. That principle, like the Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent Britain under the labor governments of the 1960s and early 1970s. The good news is, the highs are also very high. Perhaps the reason more startups per capita happen in the future had few fonts and they weren't antialiased. At this early stage, the product needs to evolve more than to be built out, and that's usually easier with fewer people. If this is a recipe for deadlock, and partly because it tends to create deadlock, and delay is the thing a startup can least afford. A friend of mine started a company in Germany in the early 90s, and was shocked to discover, not something you can do more than anyone expected.

It seems obvious when you put it that way. What if you built a peer-to-peer dating site? The ones on startups get tested by about 70 people every 6 months. In theory it seemed that the conclusion of a really good job, is a language that makes source code ugly is maddening to an exacting programmer, as clay full of lumps would be to say that angel rounds will increasingly take the place of investor-controlled rounds are taking the place of series A rounds, but in other fields where they have a natural monopoly, like nuclear waste dumps, aircraft carriers, and regime change, you'd find plenty of projects isomorphic to this one—and indeed, plenty that were less successful. John McArtyem. Having strings in a language seems to be a situation with measurement and leverage. It certainly is possible for individual programs to be written as thin enough skins that users can see the same program written in two languages, and one that most people never seem to make, but are definitely launched as companies. The only catch is that people were doing it before, just haphazardly on a smaller scale. I'm glad I phrased that as a kid you're sitting on the shoulders of someone else who's treading water, and that you have so many choices.

That's kind of hard to imagine. I think, is that it has such a core is one of the most surprising things I discovered during my brief business career was the existence of the PR Society of America gets to the heart of the matter: Bloggers are sensitive about becoming mouthpieces for other organizations and companies, which is the number of elements, where an element is anything that would be trivially easy to implement. As E. We had a chance to do this well. The fact that it has such a core is one of Lisp's distinguishing features, and the people who need them. What you want to go faster, it's a problem to explain: why are unions shrinking now? Hiring too fast is by far the greatest liability of not having gone to the college you'd have liked is your own ad copy. We had the opportunity to raise a lot more, than they would if that were their only motivation.

The true test of a language to see if there are any laws regulating businesses, you can manufacture them by taking any project usually done by multiple people and trying to do in an essay about it. They're the ones in a position of independence, they develop the qualities they need. Once they realized this, they may simply violate it and invite you to sue them. Getting rich means you can stop judging them and yourself by superficial measures, but that they can do it by changing the world. When she turned to see what had happened, she found the steps were all different heights. Another reason people don't work on big things, or split the moral load with collaborators. Immigration policy is one area where a competitor could do better. They're not what you might think. We were supposed to do for the next couple years, a good idea in the first six months is that it can be wrong, so long as, in the very word thesis. In general, to make great things. The ideas start to get mixed together with the study of ancient texts had such prestige that it does everything with lists. You don't see all the false starts.

[poealexholloway]

Books

A collection of book covers seen in the moyses hall in bury St edmunds. I'm going to write about them, what they convey and my own personal opinions on them, starting with one of my favourite books: The Hobbit

This is not the cover that I am most familiar with, I believe I have an older copy of the book, but this still conveys a similar feeling. To start, smaugs features appear exaggerated in the neck and face size, with the nose being particularly thin. The treasure in the majority suggests large amounts of coins but does not actually show all of them, and the defined items in the bottom right lack any finer details beyond its outline. These details all give the cover some fantasy feel as it feels like an image you would get from a tale being told to you by a bard at a tavern, or an old traveller entertaining curious kids. Omitting details in favour of a large picture, and exaggerating features to increase the presence in the story. The font used has the style of a quill and has additional curved flairs, which adds to the fantasy feel as the font is likely to appear in the universe. The borders at the bottom and top of gold with black dwarven runes also hints at some of the characters featured in the book. The whole cover also screams the main theme of the book: gold and treasure.

Brambly hedge. Books about mice, the covers reflect the name of the series, pictures of scenes from the book bordered by quite dense branches. As each of the books are based around a different season, it makes sense that what is growing on the branches is reflective of this, spring has leaves with flower buds, summer has the flowers blooming, autumn has more berries and less leaves as they drop in autumn and winter has the most amount of thorns growing, least number of leaves which have now gone red, and everything is frozen. The covers actually remind me of either tiles or coasters that have been hand painted very carefully. They also make me think of the 1980s and 90s, which makes sense as that's when they were made. You could also describe the covers as giving the feeling of looking into a smaller world because of the hedge border.

The dark portal has two versions of the cover shown, the older one on the left and the newer one on the right, both giving demonic feelings but differently. The one on the left has a wall with a window into darkness, bordered by candles and peering out are two glowing red eyes, highlighting the brow of the creature within. The face in this reminds me of the enclave power armour helmet seen in fallout 1 or 2 and the x 01 seen in fallout 4. The newer cover is instead bathed in orange light by an orb of fire encasing two eyes, held aloft by a giant rat creature, surrounded by the misty forms of the skulls of the dead.

I had fun writing that. The older cover gives the idea of a hidden cult, as its hidden in a wall and appears to be underground, and the candles have become linked with rituals at some point, likely due to the creation of electrical lights. The newer one, on the other hand, looks like it is showing what is one the other side of the portal, and is revealing some of the more supernatural elements of the book, and still giving a creepy feeling with the fog skulls. I prefer the older one to the newer one because of the hidden cult feeling behind it

The Deptford mice almanac. The cover feels like an old magical book with metal clasps. The golden hinges in the shape of paws and similar golden corners with large green gemstones makes the book feel important and the leather pattern makes it feel like an old journal or magic book. There is not much for me to say here, I feel like have seen this cover a few times, though I know I have only seen this once, the positioning of the mice in the centre looking over a book with light coming from it feels like it's been done for ages, so I'm not really interested.

Disney book covers. They feel like screen shots from the animation and I don't really like them. They may work well for kids books, the style is the same as what would probably be seen in the animation so would provide the sense of familiarity and they are easy to look at, and all the covers have the main characters in and can be described by their titles, they are really simple, and it bores me slightly, and epbecause it looks like they have just used sections from the animations it does feel slightly lazy. The only cover that looks interesting is the little mermaid, but unfortunately, the resolution is not good enough to have a proper look.

Narnia, the book cover looks fun. The border of the centre picture is stylised on a thick hedge, bush or tree. The trees on the side also look twisted and warped and move in ways that they possibly shouldn't. Given the setting of the book starts in world war 2 and focuses on refugees, it makes sense that they would want to escape to a hidden world behind a series of hedges to escape the house they were sent to as refugees to somewhere more fun and filled with adventure. The shape of the trees also suggests that this may not necessarily be real and could infact be just a dream or imagination

[xansmenagerie]

SYJKR: Chapter 1

See previous comment about sensitivity editing - I am pretty damn white, one of the protagonists very much isn't, and while I'm trying to do my research I'm expecting to get things wrong in draft. Reblogs are off, please be kind in comments.

Darcy Symonds crept down the stairs barefoot, running shoes in one hand, socks in the other. She'd learnt two lessons a long time ago; firstly that her father was a light enough sleeper that he would hear her if she walked around in shoes upstairs, leading to lectures, and secondly that socks on the slippery wood of the stairs in the half light of an early autumn morning was just asking for pain. As it was, the chill of the floor as she padded her way quietly around to the back door was yet one more reminder of the end of summer, and the imminent 'fun' of the new school year. Which school, she didn't know - she knew she wasn't welcome back at her old school, but in all honesty she wasn't going to miss much of it, and her dad hadn't discussed the new one with her at all. It would be a boarding school again, and hopefully it wouldn't be quite so...sure of itself as the last one.

Safely through the kitchen door, Darcy could relax a little; shutting the back door in any way that could be called heavy was still a big no-no, but smaller sounds would be okay. It was funny, when she thought about it; her father could sleep like a baby when out on an oil rig despite all the noise, but the quiet of the British countryside left him on edge even after a month off. Maybe the lack of sound was the problem. Moving to somewhere louder was out of the question, for all that neither of them ever saw that much of the house - too many memories.

She shook herself. "Come on Dar," she whispered, "It's not time for autumn maudlins just yet." Resolutely she put on her socks and shoes, checked her bandana one last time to make sure her braids wouldn't escape and let herself out back.

It was one of those rare mornings where the sky shared the blue of a robin's egg and seemed to go on forever. Darcy grinned to herself in anticipation, turned on her music, and started to run.

---

Darcy Symonds woke up ingloriously - face down in a slightly damp pillow, blanket draped vaguely over at least some of his body, and with his mum shouting at him from downstairs.

"Darcy Everet Symonds, if you don't get out of bed and get down here right this second your breakfast is going in Smokey! I don't care that it's the holidays, I mean it!" Darcy groaned and rolled over, dragging the blanket with him, and considered disobeying. Apparently he considered it slightly too long; there was a warning thumpa-thump noise that got louder, the click of his bedroom doorknob being turned. Before he could even sit up the beast charged through the door and was upon him, claws, slobber and all.

"Dammit Smokey!" he yelled, trying to make sure that none of those claws ended up anywhere too sensitive. The giggle coming from the doorway made it doubly clear who was responsible for this indignity - his little sib Robin took after their mama and that included both being a morning person and having an evil sense of humour. Darcy gave up trying to safely remove Smokey from his bed and settled for giving him a really good scritch behind his jaw, one of the few places where the drake's scales were thin enough for it to work. Smokey leaned into the scritch, making grumble-rumble noises of approval deep in his skinny chest, and only held Darcy captive for another minute or so before slinking down onto the floor.

The moment he was free Darcy rolled off the bed, grabbed his dressing gown and pelted for the door. Even if Smokey was upstairs that was no guarantee that Mum's threats wouldn't be made good, and now he was awake Darcy was hungry.

---

On the long home stretch down the hill, Darcy reflected to herself that this was very much the other reason why they would never move house. There weren't all that many places in Britain that a twelve year old could safely go for a long run without a responsible adult, after all, especially one who didn't fit in with the local colour scheme. It both helped and hindered that in the village she was pretty instantly recognisable. On the one hand, being "poor Margaret's daughter, isn't it terrible what happened" gave her a certain amount of protection from the tabloid readers and the like. The village had had eight years of getting used to the idea of "one of theirs" having a black daughter before the accident, and as her dad had kept being so very respectable they were willing to overlook this one foible in this newer "one of theirs" within reason and would probably step in if anything happened. On the other...well. The tabloid readers still existed, just were a bit quieter about their views, and she knew far too well what route to take to avoid upsetting anyone by existing. It could be a lot worse, but there were times she envied the freedom of some of the other kids her age to get up to mischief without any significant consequences.

There was a postman walking up to the front gate just as she arrived. That wasn't unusual in and of itself; what was notable was that it wasn't Mr Collins, and the only time it wasn't Mr Collins was when he was on his two week holiday just after Christmas. Darcy eyed up the unfamiliar postman cautiously, just in case he was secretly some sort of weirdo who only pretended to be a postman to get close to his victims and she was going to need a second wind.

"Ms Symonds?"

Grudgingly dropping the serial killer theory - although he could be a really well-prepared serial killer - Darcy nodded. The postman reached into his satchel and pulled out a large cream envelope, the address printed very formally under a curly crest.

"While this is for your father, I shall entrust it to your safekeeping." He proffered the envelope with a touch of a bow. "Special delivery."

Darcy had never had childhood dreams of being a princess, and yet there was something in the bow that hit all the right buttons to fluster her. She took the envelope, stammered a thank you, and fled around the back of the house. By the time she was inside there was just time to spot the postman through the window as he crested the hill and disappeared out of view.

The envelope was not addressed to her personally, but it was fairly clear to Darcy what it was about. She felt that it was only fair to her father to save them both some time and opened it, pulling out a fat sheaf of papers and a train ticket. It was, as she'd expected, the start of term information for the latest boarding school. Being met at the station, uniforms to be provided on arrival - oh joy, one of those schools - all necessary equipment to be provided, pets only with special permission...

She sighed, put the paperwork down on the kitchen table where her father would see it, dropped the envelope in the recycling bin, and headed upstairs to shower and change before breakfast.

---

Mum was not best pleased at Darcy being so dishevelled so late in the day, for all that she was no more of a morning person than he was. Darcy largely ignored the lecture while tucking into a pile of pancakes; it wasn't the first time he'd heard it, it really wouldn't be the last, and no one in the house (Mum included) took it seriously any more.

"Leave off him, love," Mama said as she bustled through mid-lecture, "The only thing that'll change our boy is the love of a good person, like you did for me." Mum retaliated, as so often was the case, with a floury handprint as Mama walked past. Darcy continued to concentrate firmly on his pancakes. While he loved both his mothers with the secret fierceness of adolescence they could be so utterly embarrassing, even in the privacy of their own home.

There was a well-timed knock on the door. Darcy abandoned pancakes with a quick "I'll get it!" - one pancake was snagged en route as a necessity. Smokey was already at the door when he arrived, scratching and whining, but batter-based bribery always worked. With the drake happily munching away Darcy risked cracking the front door open; the postman standing outside looked mildly perturbed at the noises coming from the hallway

"Mr Symonds?" Darcy nodded, distracted by keeping Smokey out of line of sight of a stranger. The postman handed over a chunky and slightly battered envelope, keeping as far away from the door as possible without being too obvious about it. "You should be careful, you know - there are around fifty dog attacks on postal workers every week."

Darcy smiled politely in response even as he resorted to gently shoving Smokey sideways with one foot. The postman harumphed (but only in a very professional way), turned, and walked back down the path. Darcy shut the door and headed back to the kitchen with an unrepentant drake hot on his heels. The envelope was neatly snatched from his hand by Mama as he entered the kitchen.

"Ooh, is that what I think it is? School paperwork?" As was unfortunately tradition, she neatly opened the envelope on his behalf despite his half-hearted protests, pulling out a sheaf of papers and a train ticket. Her brow wrinkled. "St Digby's? That doesn't sound right?"

From over by the hob Mum laughed. "It sounds close enough, love - they've probably had to rename and relocate again because of some busy-body with a drone or one of the students getting cocky with spells. You remember how many times it happened while we were there? It wasn't so bad when it changed between years, but that time it moved mid-term…?"

Mama rolled her eyes. "Morgana's teeth, how could I forget that one? With my parents coming to visit the next day and them ending up standing in an empty field in Dorset trying to work out what had gone wrong?" She replaced the letter and ticket in the envelope and handed it all back to Darcy. "Don't you lose any of that, trouble," she warned, ruffling his hair with her free hand.

As his mothers discussed travel plans and continued to reminisce about their school days over his head, Darcy finished his breakfast with a wry smile. Yes, he loved his mothers, but...right now, at least, five years of only seeing them in the holidays had a certain appeal...

[hello-patricks]

Meltdown and stress

I have been masking for so long that I don’t know how to feel like myself, and I don’t correctly identify those masked meltdowns, but these last few days I have been able to live one, live from my living room, so here it goes.

My brother is extremely ill, and is having an emergency surgery with unknown outcome. No one know what will happen.

So he calls me, and I book a flight to another country to see him: my ex-wife loans me the money for the ticket and travel, and I am ready to book it except:

1 – it took me one 90 minutes in front of the screen to see what flight to book – I couldn’t press the “book now” button.

2 – I forgot that I chose a flight that was leaving in 30 minutes, so of course I got late to the airport.

3 – The airline got me a reservation in another flight, I go back home, re-pack because I had forgotten all essentials, and go back to the airport.

4 – I forgot the passport. The airline changes the reservation for the next day, again, because they can see I am almost crying. I am a boxy looking old man, wizened, serious, and even so they were able to see the distress.

5 - During the whole thing I am sweating like crazy, which I attribute to the heat of summer, but I was with AC the whole time.

6 – I fly the next day. I forgot my very essential medicine, my toothbrush, my exercise gear, my rain jacket: all of those are on the bed, where I was packing.

7 – I have been traveling internationally since I am 6 years old. I have procedures lists methods that I use, and usually can get packed in 30 minutes or less. This took me hours to put my underwear and shirts, I got the wrong pants, the shirts are one size smaller, the toiletries are all forgotten, I took five trips to get the running short ready and there they are, on top of the bed next to my meds, one country away.

8 – Flashbacks: I was having thoughts reminiscing about those times where I have been sweating like crazy, and now I recognize as “about h=to have a meltdown-shutdown” but at the time I thought it was simply stress. The memories of stressful moments came back, flooding, and that is when I am realized the common thread between those moments and now.

9 – When my mother passed away, 20 years ago, I stopped eating and dressed only in black. Not a conscious mourning, but all my mind could do. Food was coffee and something else, and I must have dropped 60 pounds. These days I have been more conscious about what I eat: water, chicken wrap, some carbs on hand for when insulin demands, but even so I am not hungry.

10 - I tossed in bed last night for 49 minutes, my little watch told me, without falling asleep, just realizing how we all abandoned my little brother and seeing it now, first hand, how his heath fell, how his life fell. It looks good on paper until you see him, thin and haggard, his studio pretty much a bleak work environment without a soul, what his books are, the cupboard with only one for, one spoon, two knives. How did I not see this!

11 – The sweating is back, the memories are back – I am going to the hospital today for the surgery.

12 – The intrusive thoughts are back: “How did we fail this guy like that. How were we able to push his pain so far away. We are responsible for those we love!”

[rishuplantsfact]

How to take care of indoor plants!

There has never been a better moment to add some greenery to your home if you've been considering it. School children are leaving their classrooms to become environmental activists because the climate change situation has gotten so bad that we may not even be able to leave a healthy planet for them if we continue to consume at the current rate. Even though growing plants indoors might not be as beneficial as, say, planting a tree outside, they're still better than nothing. They will not only help your home's oxygen content grow, but they will also improve the atmosphere by keeping everything active and new. Like most things, caring for your indoor plants becomes much easier if you have some tricks up your sleeve. I must admit I have picked up most of these hacks from my mother, who is the real ‘domestic goddess’ in the family—so much so that sometimes I feel a little neglected when I think about the level of care and attention our plants get from her—but they’re all you’ll need to keep your plants lush, luxurious and flourishing. Scroll ahead for our top tips.

1. Refrain from overwatering your plants.

One of the few things you should always keep in mind when adopting plants is to find out how much and how often they require to be watered. Because of the high humidity in the air during the monsoon, some plants might not need any watering at all; nevertheless, during the summer, the converse may be true. Make careful to observe how your plants react to variations in the weather to make sure you aren't overwatering them.

2) Align them correctly

It is also essential that you evaluate how much sunlight your plant needs. If it needs very little sunshine, put it inside near a window to generate a somewhat warm area. As an alternative, place it outside on the balcony to get a little sun exposure.

3) Be mindful of the ground

Use excellent soil for your plants; dark red dirt has higher nutrient levels that will support their growth. Once every ten days, aerate the topsoil by stirring it with a fork or stick. Moreover, a fresh application of manure every two months will improve the condition of your plants.

4) Make use of kitchen scraps

All organic food that leaves your kitchen provides nourishment for your plants. In addition to offering your plants beneficial nutrients, leftover tea leaves, grounds from coffee, powdered eggshells, and peels of bananas can also be recycled and used to water your plants rather than washing grains, lentils, or vegetables.

5) Regularly remove pests from your plants

Watch out for insects that eat the leaves of plants and weaken them, such as caterpillars, weeds, and other bugs. Apply a thin coating of neem oil to your plants to create a natural, DIY repellent. Neem serves as an organic insecticide and anti-fungicide.6) Cut them off

According to how quickly they expand, prune your plants every three months to encourage renewal. Additionally, trim your plants after they have flowered. Remember to hold off on doing this till the buds and leaves have opened. However, take care to just trim the smaller stems and branches, as removing the heavier branches will prevent the plant from growing as it should. But always cut back a little at a time to avoid creating the impression that your plant has an ill-advised, rash haircut. Additionally, you can remove any excess material from the pots, such as overgrown limbs, limp stems, and dead leaves.

7) Play some music for them.

Similar to people, plants enjoy listening to music. Several studies have shown that plants respond to sound waves and audio signals by growing more vigorously and showing greater development. Given that classical music usually works, you might want to start your plants swaying to Beethoven right away.

8) Have a conversation with them

Horticulturist and botanist Luther Burbank once said, "Love, more than understanding science, is the secret to improved plant reproduction." Plants develop faster when they are conversed with. Indeed, research has shown that plants grow much more quickly when they hear a female voice.