#and how many brain cells

[carolrain]

an invitation to say yes to

Hi, so NaNoWriMo starts in a week, and maybe you’re thinking about doing it? (Or maybe you’re not, but keep reading.) I thought it was a good time to share this thread by Linda Holmes. She wrote it on Twitter on October 31, 2022. I read it a year ago and have thought about it often since.

She starts by saying that sometimes NaNoWriMo (or just using the occasion of NaNoWriMo to do your own thing) is useful because some of us have to psych ourselves into writing. She says, “If you have to bet yourself, trick yourself, bribe yourself, that is fine. Especially at first.” Then:

I just really like the framing she’s giving us—to think about invitations to write, and to think about saying yes.

[pedrospatch]

take a shot every time he says lie

jk don’t do that you’ll black out in minutes

[ricky-mortis]

Curtwen Week Day 5: Disguise

[thecmaly]

no thoughts, head empty <:3c

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more trigun comics

[canisalbus]

I thought I might try my hand at moodboards, too :')

.

[killyourlocalmisogynist]

hey guys so i took some time off of tumblr after i suddenly out of the blue magically became sexually attracted to 6 different men. see ive always thought men were hot but not in like a sexual way just like a 🥰 i have eyes way and those eyes can see a sexy hot man when they spot one🥰 so this was was obviously a total shock. so yeah from now on this is going to be a bisexual positivity page. hope everyone can accept that. maybe i return to lesbianism in the future but for right now my boyfriend makes me the happiest 🫶🤭🙈😘

[kara-knuckles]

I'm honestly baffled by how many people seem to get "Manfred is freethinker, Ascalon is sheeple" from Babel and "Manfred outsmarted Hoederer" from 14. I can at least begrudgingly understand the former, because the narrative goes out of its way to invalidate Ascalon's every decision so you need to be invested enough to take a step back and see it's actually bullshit, but with the latter W outright mocks Manfred for acting exactly like Hoederer predicted, and this is despite Ulsulah's advanced warnings about the situation on Lifebone. Hell, the fact that Hoederer doesn't even try to fight (presumably because he is acting as a bait and this minimizes his potential injuries) and complete lack of reaction from everyone else suggest that everything was still proceeding according to plan B (separate Manfred from his men so you don't fight them at the same time), even if plan A (intercept him) got Damazti'd.

[electric-plants]

alhaitham: please stop being so reckless you are not invincible

cyno: if i’m not invincible then how come no one has ever beaten me?

alhaitham: please you’re so intelligent why is this the one thing you choose to be dumb about

[thecaroliner]

also would like to thank the movie for confirming that these two do in fact share 1 brain cell

[retrogradedreaming]

After watching s2 of Link Click, I’m rewatching s1, and when Cheng Xiaoshi dove for the Emma murder, he comes back after diving by himself, and Lu Guang yells at him about how he could’ve died, and while it’s not exactly an unjustified reaction, it makes so much more sense now

All I keep thinking is how, after LG went to the trouble of messing with the timeline himself, he’s like “why are you trying so hard to undo all the work I did to keep you alive”

[mbirnsings-71]

these are gifts for @pup-pee because they adore rendog so yeah!!!!

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: July Wrap-Up.

This month, I picked my knitting back up with a vengeance, started a Three Sentences Writing Challenge, AND participated in several work-adjacent Social Events (who am I, even), On Top Of accidentally nerfing myself with several brick-like books, so! This little stack isn't half bad. Photos and/or reviews linked below:

ORDINARY MONSTERS - ★★ This was a miss for me, y'all, AND it was a brick, so it took a hot minute to read. I wanted it to be better than it was, but it rambled and wandered Too Much (which, coming from me, you KNOW is bad). Salty also-rambly 1.5k review linked.

IF FOUND, RETURN TO HELL - ★★★½ Way cuter than I was expecting!! I had a good time with the second person. Hugely relatable (which. wild. all things considered.).

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE - ★★★½ Funnier than anticipated, and very readable for something out of the '50s! I see why it's a cornerstone of the (sub)genre. Glad I have a copy on hand now.

THE ACTOR AND THE TARGET - ★★★★★ This Rewired My Brain. It took me three (3) weeks to get through. It was so good. If you're a writer, definitely check this out, 10/10 recommend.

WHEN AMONG CROWS - ★★★½ I checked this out from the library because hardback novellas are Expensive if you're not sure you vibe with the author's style, but I had a good time! Witcher fans should descend on this, I think.

ALWAYS COMING HOME - 76*/618 pages read; will report back later. I asked the People about this one, and the People have Spoken (read: this won my What Do I Read Next Poll), but I may or may not have miscalcuated how many brain cells I have available lately between work and writing, so I may or may not be cutting this with library books. I'll finish it. Eventually. (*asterisk because she keeps referencing Other Pages In Line, and every time she does I jump ahead to read those pages instead and then come back to where I was. I'm dual wielding bookmarks through this tome, it's an Experience™ so far!)

Under the Cut: A Note About ~*★Stars★*~

Historically, I have been Very Bad™ about assigning things Star Ratings, because it's so Vibes Heavy for me and therefore Contingent Upon my Whims. I am refining this as I figure out my wrap up posts (epiphany of this month: I don't like that stars are Odd, because that makes three the midpoint and things are rarely so truly mid for me)(I have hacked my way around this with a ½). Here is, generally, how I conceptualize stars:

★ - This was Bad. I would actively recommend that you do NOT read this one, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, not worth the slog. Save Yourself, It's Too Late For Me. Book goes in the garbage (donate bin).

★★ - This was Not Good. I would not recommend it, but it wasn't a total waste or wash--something in here held my interest/kept my attention/sparked some joy. I will not be rereading this ever. Save Yourself (Or Join Me In Suffering, That Seems Like A Cool Bonding Activity).

★★★ - This was Good/Fine/Okay/Meh. I don't care about this enough to recommend it one way or another. Perfectly serviceable book, held my interest, I probably enjoyed myself (or at least didn't actively loathe the reading). I don't have especially strong feelings. You probably don't need to save yourself from this one--if it sounds like your jam, give it a shot! Just didn't resonate with me particularly powerfully. I probably won't reread this unless I'm after something in particular.

★★★½ - I liked this! I'll probably recommend it if I know it matches someone's vibes or specific requests, but I didn't commit to a star rating on Goodreads. More likely to reread, but not guaranteed.

★★★★ - I really enjoyed this!! I would recommend it (sometimes with caveats about content warnings or such--I tend to like weird fucked up funny shit, and I don't have many hard readerly NO's). Not a perfect book for me by any means, but Very Good. This is something I would reread! Join me!!

★★★★★ - I LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS, IT REWIRED MY BRAIN, WILL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE AT THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION (content warning caveats still apply--see 4-star disclaimer). Excellent book, I'll reread it regularly, I'll buy copies for all my friends, I'll try to convince all of Booklr to read it, PLEASE join me!!

[semantic-vegas]

i’m loving kidnap so much. it’s really interesting to see the reactions… despite being such a different show concept-wise, it’s reminding me of discourse around we are, re: “nothing happening”/being boring

[dirtyoldmanhole]

.

[tigirl-and-co]

The hardcore sci-fi+ xenofiction parts of my brain are always on the lookout for literally anything I can use to extrapolate the culture of saiyans

I just hate how unreliable Vegeta technically is as anecdotal evidence bc he was only like 6 when his species disappeared so there's lots of stuff he wouldn't know bc it wasn't important either at his age or to someone in his position

What would a six year old prince need to know about child rearing. Nothing. Or the gathering of non-meat foods. He would have had people to do that (probably, but actually WE DON'T KNOW)

Ough. I would gladly write a saiyan culture textbook if I thought anybody would read it

Bring Nappa back so I can ask him about Saiyan courtship.

[weirdcat1213]

Ngl I don't exactly know why I'm not able to tolerate my current job for longer than a month. Maybe it's because I went from fun freelance to Mega Corp Customer Service too soon, maybe it's because of my age, idk.

But I do know that my roommate keeps wondering how do I have the energy and discipline to do freelance while working full time and idk how to explain that I was genuinely born for fiction/writing. Not even in a poetic way, it's just that my brain can't do anything else without going into the Depths of Hell tm. Like my brain just run out of every positive chemical ever if I don't consume the things I like or do the thing I like. I always thought I would need a job along side the freelance for a while and that it wouldn't matter what the job was, that I would be able to hold on. But ig that's not the case???? My brain said no to customer service but for example it didn't say no to the job writing non fiction articles for kids or the (hopefully pls pls pls) future job writing proposals for people. Genuinely what's wrong with my brain.