#but did this for funs so figured i'd post it

[city-tickles]

Two Tickle Sessions In One Day!

Hi!

It's been a while but I hope you are doing well. I am still on break from posting clips or requests but I wanted to let you know about my recent sessions.

A month ago I was in one of those bad tickle moods. One of those moods where it was all you could think about and the rush of getting tickled or tickling someone was intense. I don't get these moods often and usually when I do, I don't like it because the last couple of times that has happened, I've received bad news about someone I care about, so it also makes me a little anxious when I get that way. Thankfully, it did not happen this time.

I needed to get the mood out but there was no one in the area to session with. Since no one was available, I decided to check out two parties that I have not been to in years. One M/M party and one Female Foot Party.

When it comes to M/M, I am 100% lee and it is something that does not give me much if any arousal. It's just tickling, and I can appreciate it. I'm sure I'd appreciate it more if it could "get me there" but I've seen enough clips and done sessions, and it usually doesn't. I also rarely do M/M because I have to be in a mood for it. This time, I was in a big mood for it, so I decided to go.

I've spoken about the M/M party in the past. Last time I went about 8 years ago, I just wasn't comfortable or ready to be there and it seemed like the owner took umbrage with that when I tried to leave. I figured a lot of time has passed and I have gained more experience, so hopefully things would be fine. I explain why I wanted to go to the party, and I was allowed to go.

I entered the party, and as a cis-identifying male, it's a little overwhelming at first. Action (Everyone is clothed) is everywhere right in front of you, but everyone is also very nice and doing their thing. I like to give people space, but there was no space to go, so I was just watching everything go down lol.

While waiting, I was introduced to a guy, who had grey hair and , who was also into tickling and we began talking. At first, the convo was small talk, but then we realized we knew each other from a previous meeting, which made things easier. After some talking, he asked what I was here for and when it comes to males, I am strictly a lee, so I told him I wanted to be tickled. Luckily, a massage table opened up and was cleaned off and ready to be used. We asked the table owner, who was a tall, slender man with grey hair and facial hair, if we could use it. Lucky or not lucky for me, we were allowed but the table owner was also into tickling. They asked me if he could join in and I figured why not?

I laid on the table and decided not to be bound because sometimes I stay still anyway. And before I know it, I have two lers all over me, testing out my spots and trying to find where I am most ticklish. They would glide their fingers all over my sides, under my arms, my tummy, my thighs and of course, my feet while I laughed and didn't move around too much. It was extra sensitive because 1. With the massage chair, I'm mostly looking upwards and can only see the ceiling. And 2. I'm getting teasing from all angles! The two very skilled lers keep saying things like, "Oh, he's real ticklish!" "I think he likes it!" While others at the party are watching and saying things like, "I think he doesn't want it to stop" and "He's having a lot of fun now"

With two lers on me, I never had time to have one spot make me off the wall ticklish because it was always changing. Sometimes it was their fingers lightly tickling my stomach that was the most intense. Other times, it was harder touches on my feet by one of the lers. Sometimes it was an attack under my arms. There were a lot of different moments during the 20-30 minutes of tickling that just kept making me laugh hysterically. I do know at one point, a hairbrush was used because I felt it and that always felt more surprising than ticklish. The other interesting part about having two lers on your feet were both styles were different. One was lighter and the other was harder, but both were effective!

(I couldn't find a MM/M gif)

After my time was done, I thanked them for the session and decided to wrap up since the party was coming to an end anyway. It was time to go to the next party.

This party, which I also had low hopes for, runs all the time in NYC and it is pay-to-play. I was that down bad, that I was willing to do it this evening lol. I went in with very low expectations and the reminder that if the first few moments are bad, I can just leave.

When I got there, it took forever for them to let me in, which already set my expectations to low. Despite this, I walked in and heard laughter already. Someone was getting tickled under the sheets, so I knew I wasn't the only tickler in the area. The girls that I saw in there were nice and chill to talk to for the most part. Some were more personable, while others just wanted to make their money, which I am not upset about. They're not there to be my friend.

The first lee was a tiny girl with red hair, and was ticklish but not that reactionary. I don't think she was ticklish on her feet at all, but I would always ask if it's okay to tickle elsewhere. Thankfully it was, and her upperbody, especially her arms, were her weakspot. She did not seem into it in the slightest, so I tried not to overdo it.

The second lee was this tall, black girl, with long hair and very nice to talk to. She wasn't sure how ticklish she could be, so I would tested some of her spots. Her feet were tolerable, her knees were very sensitive, and under her arms, she was almost unable to do!

I brought some tools that I didn't bring out at the M/M party (my bag at that party was all the way on the other side I just didn't want to bother with it) I ran an ostrich feather up and down her soles and her legs, which felt more relaxing to her. Then, I brought out TicklingDuck's device vibrating device.

As the device touched her soles, she would laugh hard, squirm around, cover her mouth, and was genuinely shocked at something being so ticklish on her. I asked if I could use the device on her knees and she went "Oh no!" and let me do it anyway, which I didn't do for long because she couldn't handle it.

The third lee was another redhead, who was also a nice person to talk to and wearing boots and long socks. I tickled her through the socks first, which made her giggle a bit, before taking them off and scribbling on her toes and soles so more. Her feet were also moderately ticklish, so I asked if I could tickle other parts of her body. Her weakspot was the ribcage and made any other spot look like a 1 compared to them! I spent most of my time on her feet since the ribcage was so intense, but we did play a few games. I would tell her if she could let me tickle there for 10 seconds, she would get a reward, which would be a foot massage or other foot worship. She agreed and barely opened up her arms until I scribbled in there and teased her further, saying "You gotta let me get in there or I'm gonna increase the time" She opened up her ribs and it was the longest 10 seconds of her life. Afterwards, I would congratulate her for making it through and doing such a good job.

After we were finished, I was ready to go since I had an obligation to get to later in the evening, but another taller woman approached me and asked me if I like tickling. She mentioned that she liked tickling to and wanted to know if I wanted to session. I was skeptical at first, because it felt like a money-grab, but I figured I'm already here so why not?

Best decision I made at that party. I started by spider tickling all the way up from her feet to legs, to her sides, across her tummy, back to her ribs, and of course under her arms. This woman was genuinely ticklish everywhere and was a lot of fun to play with. I would caress her thighs and tease like I'm about to tickle there, only to sneak attack and tickle her tummy. I brought out the TicklingDuck device again and we played another counting game to see how long she could last without moving, and I made sure to count the longest 30 seconds I could, running my fingers all across her tummy and under hear arms while she laughed her head off underneath the covers. The last thing I did to her, was bring out the pair of stocks that just arrived. I was itching to try them on someone and she was so excited to see stocks. We locked her bare feet and the stocks and I ran my fingers all across her soles and under her toes, while she was unable to get away or pull them out. While these sessions lasted 10 minutes, this one was definitely longer and we both knew it. After she was done, she complimented my ler skills, saying most male lers are rough, but I was very gentle with her, but also devastating, which I took as a big compliment.

Before I left, I had one request for her. I had a hard time locking the stocks on myself at my home, but when I did, they were not very comfortable. I asked if she could test the stocks out on me to see how good they were. She obliged and got my feet in the stocks. Once I was locked in, she began running her nails across my soles, which was one of the more intense tickles I got all night! I laughed hard and and was unable to do anything else, my feet were trapped and that definitely made the tickling worse! She would tease me and say things like "Aww! Is someone ticklish?" And "Now who's ticklish" until I had to stop her because I really had to get going. I thanked her for the fun time and planned to come back in the future.

Overall, it was a great day of tickles and satisfied my ler and lee moods!

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

The State Birds Initiative: Connecticut (#5)

Hoo boy, it's been a minute! But hey, here we are again, after taking some extra time to figure stuff out. Welcome to the fifth official poll of the State Birds Initiative! Before the poll, though, one thing real quick. My suggestion is that you read the post below before voting in the poll below. That's especially important if you're lacking any context about the birds being presented as the new (or old) State Bird of the Nutmeg State, Connecticut. This is to be fully informed as to why these are being presented, and to make your choices appropriately. Lastly, some of these birds, you will notice, may go against some of the rules listed in the introduction post. All is explained after the jump where the explanations are, I promise you that. And apologies in advance, the spiel before the actual bird selection is...long. But with that...OK! Here's the poll!

Welcome to the Nutmeg State! A small state, mostly known for being between Boston and New York City, this is one of the foundational states of southern New England, while also having a somewhat...divided identity, we'll say. So, I grew up in CT, for part of my childhood, in both the classic upscale suburbs, and in the middle of the goddamn woods, right on the Connecticut River. For the record, the name "Nutmeg State" is based off of salesmen from the state known for peddling nutmegs. However, there's some speculation that the nutmegs sold were actually made of wood, but that's also probably from people who didn't know that nutmegs were supposed to be grated, and instead assumed they had to be cracked like walnuts. They tried, that failed, and they accused Connecticut Yankees for selling fake nutmeg as a result. So, yeah, a confusing legend at the root of the state's nickname.

You'll notice my use of the word "Yankee" there. Well, despite New York's domination of the term, it should arguably be most associated with Connecticut. "Yankee Doodle" is literally the state song; people from CT were previously and historically referred to as Yankees (which was also an epithet applied to northerners in general, to be fair); and it's actually possible the word was first used by the Dutch in reference to Connecticut settlers, according to multiple theories and historical references. But maybe most prominently, Yankee was used as a demonym for people from CT by one of its most favorite residents: Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain.

Twain is, of course, Connecticut's most famous author, having written some of his most famous works while living with his family in Connecticut in his West Hartford house (which every central Connecticut middle school kid has been to at least once, I guaran-goddamn-tee it). Fun fact, though! Did you know...uh...ah, fuck it. Why keep stalling at this point? Look, as much as I love talking about Mark Twain, he was nothing to do with this post. Fact of the matter is...this was a hard one.

Look, I love Connecticut. It was the first state I remember living in, having moved there when I was a kid from the United States Virgin Islands, which I had been really looking forward to for a bunch of reasons. Admittedly (and unsurprisingly), a lot of that was because I was looking forward to seeing the birds! As a kid, I was also obsessed with birds, and I had never seen the birds in the US mainland before. It was an exciting time for me, and I honestly enjoyed growing up in CT, for the most part. I'd be there for almost 6 years of my life, and I have a lot of fond memories of the state. But, uh...ironically enough...finding State Bird nominees for Connecticut has been HARD AS HELL.

We will, of course, talk in GREAT detail about the American Robin (Turdus migratorius), as it's an important bird for more states than just Connecticut, but I'll give you a spoiler now: this is a boring choice for a State Bird. For any state. Don't get me wrong, I love robins! They're an extremely charismatic and iconic bird, and everybody has seen them at least once in their life if they live in the USA. They're also most likely an early bird (pun slightly intended) for people to encounter on a personal standpoint. Again, we'll get to them, but they're a notable entry in this list. And if one of the states kept the American Robin, I would understand. But, uh...is that state Connecticut?

OK, let's look at the state in the same vein as we have others. I'm sure this won't be the last difficult state to examine in the future of this project, so why not do the same here? Starting with habitat, Connecticut is another state placed within the Northeastern Coastal Zone, with a ton of deciduous forests dominated by oak, chestnut, hemlock, and white pine. There was a lot of clearance during early settlement and beyond, but succession has taken over in recent years to grow the forests back. The state's cut in half by the Connecticut Valley, with large floodplains dominated by maple and cottonwood, with the large Connecticut River right in the center of the valley. Finally, the Berkshires in the northwest corner of the state give us some classic New England flair with sugar maple (Acer saccharum), ash, beech, birch, oak, and hemlock trees on higher-altitude slopes, creating a hilly area that turns beautiful colors in fall. Man, I love Connecticut autumns. And the rest of the year, for that matter.

OK, what are Nutmeggers most known for, culturally and historically? It's a diverse state with a lot of mixed culture, partially as a result of its proximity to New York City. A lot of people tend to joke that Connecticut is just New York City, especially people from elsewhere in New England. And having been to NYC a lot when I was a kid, with a mom who worked there part of the week, and an aunt who lived there all of the week...yeah, fair. But Connecticut has a much more detailed culture than that. It's the home of the cotton giiiAAAAAAH, bad place to start that list. Uh, let's see, it's the home of whaliiiiiiing. Jesus. Uh...home of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe? OK, that's better. It's a major seat of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, leading to it being a production hub for textiles, clocks, typewriters, machining, sewing machines, steam engines, aircraft, and honestly, women's rights to a certain degree. After all, it's the home of the Radium...Girls. Huh. OK, CT's history has some bumps in it, but what state's history doesn't?

As for modern Nutmeggers, they're industrious, generally well-educated, and honestly quite a bit eccentric. I've gone back to the state a few times in the last couple of years, and I forgot how honestly weird people are there. In a good way, not in the fucked-up MAGA sense of the word. It's a state whose people are unafraid to express themselves, from my experience. Probably a result of the diversity in the state, and the diverse perspectives that result. Its political atmosphere is a bit complicated, but overall pretty liberal. Which...doesn't translate super-well into birds at first blush, but hey, we'll see what we get!

OK, with that, let's jump into the selection of the birds for this list. Real talk, if anybody has a suggestion that I hadn't brought up here, send it my way! I will absolutely add another poll if there are entries I think could bear fruit. But, in the meantime, read on if you're interested in the possible choices for the State Bird of Connecticut!

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find an citizen of the United States of America who hasn't seen a robin. This is, by far, one of our most iconic songbirds, and is certainly one of the most common and widespread. For some of us, they're a sign of spring. For others, they used to be a sign of spring, until global warming prompted some individuals to stick around through the winter, shifting their diet to frugivory a bit more and brightening the snow as well. They're prolific breeders with bright blue-green eggs (which are iconic in their own right), and can have up to three broods in a given season! Extremely successful and very common. And that...is a problem, for our purposes.

See, Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin have the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) for their state bird, and none of them actually have a good reason for that choice. In Wisconsin, it was chosen by schoolkids because it was recognizable. That was also the reason for the Michigan Audubon Society to choose it as state bird. And Connecticut? Absolutely no goddamn idea. It's almost certainly for the same reason, but there is no real recorded reason for the choice of the American Robin as a state bird, as far as I can tell. For literally all of those states, it's a pretty bad choice by virtue of not being a good choice, at the very least. But that said...I mean, it's not the worst possible choice for a State Bird. For one state, anyway.

Robins, for the record, were named after a different robin entirely: the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula). Another red-breasted and beloved songbird, the European Robin was an immediate thought when American settlers saw the American Robin, hence why I keep saying "American". The two are so often confused in pop-culture, even Mary Poppins was guilty of it! That GIF above comes from the film, and in case you haven't realized it yet, that's an American Robin in England. Yeah. Wrong bird to use as a model for your animatronic, Disney. That has bothered me since I was a little kid, I swear to GOD. Erroneous film biogeography is one of my biggest pet peeves...but that's a separate conversation.

Back to the American Robin. Personally, I love robins of all species, and even recently did some genomics work with them (DNA extraction is fun). They're a commonly seen species, and a great entry-level bird for kids to get into birdwatching and nature. As an American icon, I genuinely think these guys should get some recognition...but I'm hard-pressed to say Connecticut needs them as a State Bird. We'll see what people think, but there's not a great case for them to get the title. To keep it...like I said, we'll see. Maybe the others won't be deemed as good a fit for the state. For now, let's move on from a popular backyard bird to a MUCH less popular one.

Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera)

Here's the eBird pick for Connecticut, and for good reason! The vast majority of the Blue-winged Warbler's (Vermivora cyanoptera) breeding population is in...Wisconsin. Wait, what? Hold on...yeah, actually, Wisconsin, New York, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia all have higher shares of the population that Connecticut, with 5% overall. That's still a lot better than the American Robin's share in CT (0.2%), but still...seems like that eBird article is SEVERELY outdated, or I'm using the database wrong somehow. Either way...huh. Well, let's make an argument for the Blue-winged Warbler, anyway.

Blue-winged Warblers are a species of some conservation concern, making them automatically of interest. They're also extremely interesting to geneticists and ornithologists because of their relationship to other members of Vermivora, especially the Golden-wined Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) and extinct Bachman's Warbler (Vermivora bachmanii), with having documented hybrid offspring with the former that's of interest for various reasons. But outside of that, they of course breed in Connecticut, and represent an interesting bird to look for and find, with a recognizable song and appearance. It's also prized by birdwatchers, and would be a good bird for any aspiring or experienced birdwatchers. It also inhabits shrubland, which is of some conservation interest to CT government and environmental officials. But other than that...not too much else.

Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis)

No. Look, I'm just gonna say this now: no. The Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis) not only doesn't breed in the state (and possibly has never bred in the state), but it's pretty much not found there. Like, at all. This is not an easy warbler to get anywhere in its range in the US, but Connecticut isn't included in that distribution. "But lonelywretch," you scream at your computer screen, "why is it called the Connecticut goddamn Warbler if it isn't even from the state?" First of all, not to police your emotions, but stop screaming; way overboard for this situation. Second of all, it's called the Connecticut Warbler because its describer, ornithologist Alexander Wilson, first saw it in a fly-by during migration while in Connecticut. And...yeah, that's it. They do fly through the state very occasionally during migration, but it's definitely not a reliable bird to count on for local birders there. Honestly...bad bird for the state.

Side note here: there's a lot of talk about renaming birds that are named after people, and I agree with that in almost every case. But here's a hot take to elaborate on in another series: location-based names need to be re-examined. Not all of them are bad by any means, but the Connecticut Warbler is a great example of a bird whose name makes NO FUCKING SENSE. Rename this bird, I BEG of you. If anybody has suggestions for a renaming of this bird, throw them in notes for something! Keep in mind, Gray-headed Warbler is taken (by Myiothlypis griseiceps), so come up with somethin' else. Warranted inclusion in the list for its name, but we're gonna move on.

Osprey (Pandion halieetus)

It's at this point in the list where we get into some interesting candidates...and where I had the most trouble. But I'm fairly satisfied with what I've come up with, so let's move forward! This entry's a somewhat controversial pick for a few reasons, but an interesting one for a bunch of reasons. Now, I don't know about you, but I love Osprey (Pandion halieetus) a whole bunch. An iconic raptor, as well as a very unique one, they're a pescivorous bird found throughout the entire continent. And in Europe. And Asia. And Africa, Australia, and South America. Yeah, they're a cosmopolitan species, found in every continent except for Antarctica. That automatically should make them a bit dodgy of a choice for a State Bird, since they can be found in every state (yes, even occasionally Hawaii). So, why Connecticut?

First off, Connecticut has an intimate connection with the shore and rivers, especially the Connecticut River. Seemingly a loose reason, but the Osprey, AKA the river hawk or sea hawk (we'll get to that later) is an iconic riparian raptor, and a common sight in Connecticut. Having grown up on a river in the state, we used to see Osprey all the time, and it was awesome every time. But their commonness in the state is an important story in and of itself. And, if you know anything about Osprey at all, you know where this is headed. And Connecticut is a great example of this story.

The Osprey is one of the most iconic victims of the DDT crisis that hit the country, as well as a symbol of the environmental success story that resulted from its banning. I won't go into the full story if you haven't heard it, but the short of it is that the pesticide DDT was inadvertently ingested by fish-eating raptors, especially the Bald Eagle (Halieetus leucocephalus) and the Osprey, causing the eggs they laid to have weakened, soft shells. This caused a massive decrease in these and other species, nearly driving both into extinction. However, once environmental movements prompted by Rachel Carson and her book Silent Spring advocated for its eventual banning, the populations recovered. And in Connecticut, they've recovered A LOT.

In 1940, somewhere near 1,000 nests were recorded for Osprey between New York City and Boston. By 1970, the number in Connecticut was down...to 8. Jesus Christ, that's a hell of a crash! One of the worst in the country, in fact. However, today in Connecticut, there are 688 active nests in the state. Which, yeah, doesn't seem like the ultimate success compared to previous, but what's interesting is the rate of increase. Because in 2014, according to the Connecticut State Audubon, there were only 210. In ten years, the number of breeding ospreys known was more than tripled. That's incredible. This has quickly made the Osprey a symbol of conservation in the state, because of a massive amount of monitoring increase. There are states with more of a population, but Connecticut has a pretty good argument for having the Osprey. But that said...other states could also claim this species. Florida and Maryland definitely have claims on it for population size alone, not to mention, well...the most iconic state of all when it comes to having ospreys as a symbol. But we'll get to that one WAY later. just keep that in mind before you vote for Connecticut to have the Osprey.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)

The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus OR Astur striatus as of recent taxonomic proposals), on the other hand, is another bird of interest. The smallest hawk in the United States of America, this already seems a fitting choice for one of the smallest states in the country. It's listed as endangered in the state, immediately making it of interesting conservation focus. The reason for this status is likely because of window-strikes, which are common for the species in Connecticut, meaning that there's some public outreach needed to protect it. Protecting the forests they nest in (which are in danger) is one thing, but putting up protective window decals to help the species is another. Definitely a cause for focus.

However, there is one...minor detail that makes this a harder fight for public opinion, as well as a potentially ironic one. This is the first species we've discussed whose diet is basically exclusively birds. If you're in the Northeastern United States, and you've seen a bird get attacked and taken at your birdfeeders, it's almost certainly this guy. Which is cool, and important for the species' survival, but the average person being asked to protect a bird that kills other birds, especially birds like the American Robin, is...a palpable irony. Granted, it genuinely needs protecting, and has monitoring programs in the state, and it is a genuinely interesting raptor! But, this is a slightly harder fight to win because of that noncharismatic factor. But hey, it's a cool bird in genuine trouble in the state, it's a scrappy bird for a small state, and it's an interesting species to highlight!

American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)

This is another difficult bird to fight for, but one that needs attention, for God's sake. The American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) is a rapidly disappearing duck species, and not for the reason you think. Let's get to Connecticut representation first. It was the first bird to be used for the Connecticut Migratory Duck Stamp in 1993, the first one issued for the state. It's one of the few states in which it breeds (although it's not the primary state of focus, detracting from its candidacy). And, it's a controlled bird by Fish and Game, meaning hunting of the Black Duck is extremely limited. There is, surprisingly, a point to that statement, but I won't be elaborating here. We'll see how the vote goes, and I'll address it in the Results post.

So, why is this a potential issue? Well, Maine and New York arguably should get this bird instead, as they have a higher population. And the breeding population of this bird is incredibly important to promote, because it's disappearing. Why is it disappearing? Well, some of you may have looked at that picture and asked yourselves: "Wait...isn't that just a female Mallard?" And the answer is, no! But a lot of people think that. A lot of birds think that. Mallards think that. Which means that hybrids between Mallards and Black Ducks are incredibly high. SO high, in fact, the species is being bred and hybridized out of existence! They're so similar to Mallards on a genetic level at this point, that they'll be subsumed if their individual populations aren't preserved. So, yeah, these guys deserve some focus. Do I think they're a great Connecticut symbol? Well, to be fair, the state is regularly assumed to be either greater New York City or greater Massachusetts by outsiders. And it's not; it has its own identity that deserves to be preserved for what it is. So, yeah, maybe a good fit for Connecticut after all.

Also, it's the state in New England with the highest proportion of Black Americans (yes, even more than Massachusetts), so...I dunno, that's also something? Probably not, but as a black dude that grew up in CT, I felt the need to bring that up.

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

OK, sing it with me now!

Yankee Doodle went to town, a-riding on a pony; Stuck a feather in his hat, and called it "macaroni"! Yankee Doodle, give it up! Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mind the music and the step, and with the girls be handy!

Ooh, that last line aged a little rough, but Yankee Doodle! The Connecticut state anthem! Yes, really. Most Americans in the Northeast know this song, but it's got a unique resonance for Nutmeggers, seeing as it was allegedly based on the son of a Connecticut mayor! The state chose it as their song in 1978, and it's been a beloved symbol ever since. But, for the uninitiated (and probably to most school kids like I was), there is one weird word in there that needs a little explanation: macaroni.

Now, this does not, of course, reference the easy cheesy favorite of every child (and college student). No, this is a reference to an old 18th century term for a form of fashion back in the day. It's what the 2000s called "extra", or bourgeious (pronounced "bougie", of course). Basically, it's somebody who dressed WAY over the top in high-designed clothes and accessories to the point of looking...well, extra. Another applicable 2000s term would be "metrosexual", I guess. The macaroni became a satirical character in British culture, and would later become another character known as the "dandy". It's sort of a class-related satire, to be honest. In any case, the macaroni was known for over-the-top fashion, including...wigs.

So, what does literally any of this have to do with the Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)? More than you'd expect, actually. First off, the egret has a pompodour-like crest of feathers that makes it look quite like a stereotypical macaroni, in my opinion. Secondly, it does breed in Connecticut, albeit extremely rarely, sparely, and barely. Its population in the state used to be a lot greater...until people came around and starting hunting it down. Why, you ask?

Let's just go ahead and call that macaroni now, while we're at it. To be clear here, quite a lot of birds were used in millinery back in the day, but the Snowy Egret (and the Great Egret (Ardea alba), for that matter) are special. Those long white feathery plumes were heavily prized as hat decorations, enough so that the species nearly went extinct from hunting them for the hat trade. As a result of that, people began to turn their eye towards conservation of the species, and the protection of birds in general. Two women, Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall, got a group of women together to protect the birds. They rallied the troops, and their organization became fairly popular. Eventually when they sought to name it, they did so after one of the most famous ornithologists in American history at the time: John James Audubon. And from there...well, you can guess.

The Audubon Society is one of the premiere bird conservation organizations in the world, and especially in the United States, and is well-known to the public sector. And it was born right here in...Massachusetts. Oh. Wait, have I jumped the gun on this one? Maybe a little, yeah. But, in my defense, the macaroni is linked to Connecticut through its state anthem, and the Snowy Egret is linked to the macaroni, as mentioned. But, OK, maybe this is a better proposal for Massachusetts, not Connecticut. But, uh...there may be another contender. Kind of.

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

OK, here me out on this one. Look at this picture of a classic macaroni character (on the right, for the record). Does that hairdo not kinda look like the crest of the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)? Like, just a little bit, at least? I dunno, I can definitely see it. But OK, outside of that, is there another reason for the Tufted Titmouse to be the State Bird of Connecticut? Well, they're extremely common, they've got some charisma to them, and they're definitely found breeding in Connecticut. But...I don't know. I think they're plenty charismatic, but I'm not sure that makes them a great contender.

Still...they should be represented somewhere, right? I mean, the species breeds entirely in the USA, even though it can be found in Canada as well. Plus, other than being very recognizable, they're also an easy bird to find and support with backyard birdfeeding. And, if you want a fun fact about them, they're prone to kleptotrichy. That means, they pluck the fur from mammals to use as insulation in their nests! Yeah! They actually pick the winter coat off of dogs, and use it for their nests! Adorable. But yeah, does this really count for a good State Bird of Connecticut? I doubt it, but I'll let you vote! And I swear to God, it better not be just because of the name that it gets votes.

There you have it. Some complex and controversial choices. I miss any that you think are a valid choice for the state? Do let me know, and I may just issue another poll if this one isn't good enough. We shall see. But, for now, I think it's time to move onto the next state. And lemme tell you, I'm real excited about that one, since...well, I live there! And I have some ideas, lemme tell you. And some people will...disagree with me. For sure. Anyway, see you next time in Boston, kid!

See you next time, and happy birding!

[askyofexplodingstars]

coloured a doodle from the recent doodle sheet, just cause

and as a bonus, before i added any filters, and one with just screen (the above has screen and overlay)

[ch1zzie]

The original in the bottom

Plus the picture I mainly drew but decided to draw the rest for funny

[gyroidroves]

Tails from a color palette challenge on Magma :3

[stardestroyer81]

In honor of having binged well over half of The Looney Tunes Show, I decided to take what I learned of the show's artstyle and revisit my TLTS sona Micah Lambelle— and with a few design touch-ups as well as a hefty deal of stylizing, I was able to draw a full render of her as well as a few exemplary doodles to compliment it! 💙✨🏳️‍⚧️

[hecatesbroom]

Young Rose & a chicken (coloured version under the cut)

(I prefer the sketch so that's why this is under the cut, but I thought I'd add it anyway!)

[dredshirtroberts]

hey just cause i'm thinking about it: if you're struggling with feeling like you don't art so good, watch other, better artists do their art and take note of what they're doing. my whole Technique has been altered by doing this more consistently over the past like year or so. also talk to your art friends i bet they know how to do the thing you've been struggling with and if they don't they might know where to look that you haven't already. anyway thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[paigemathews]

Whenever I actually sit down and start posting the next gen series, one of the things that I really wanna do is kind of... incorporate reader's choices into it? Not in big ways bc my plan is to write like a full season before I start posting episodes and that can affect it, but like. smaller beats.

One example is that I have an episode idea where there's a big emotional thing for three different characters and our resident empath has a discussion with each of them, but it's reader choice which scene we see. Another one is an episode where it's reader's choice for who gets hit with some kind of emotional puncture and just spews emotions everywhere. It'd be mostly character and relationship scenes for arcs that are already happening, but readers would have the chance to see their favorite or the one that they're most curious about up close on "screen." Not for every episode, but like. maybe once or twice a season or something. Idk, thought it might be interesting.

[safyresky]

Frostmas Year 6: Behind the Scenes

Prologue | Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | Y5 | Y6 | Y7 | Y8 | Y9 | Y10 | Y11 | Y12

[To Read Frostmas: From the TOP on ao3 | ff dot net]

Holy shit. Year SIX. This one was a DOOZY and NOT for the reasons you think. For those who don't know, the year it was published (2016) was deffs one of if not THE worst year I'd had. 2023 was brutal too but 2016 was fifty shades of FUCKED UP.

Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one with a whole ass diary entry before we even GET to the proper BTS notes!

I was having a bad go of it in general because:

I was forced, after a year out of my parent's house and half a summer away, to move back for the next summer and that was a terrible environment at the time

(it still is but I have had THERAPY and have COPING MECHANISMS and RESOURCES and I know HOW to take myself OUT of the pattern and that walking away ISN'T a bad thing)

(still have ways to go, espesh after last year, BUT WE WILL GET THERE)

My mom essentially strong armed me into working with her for the summer and I fucking HATED IT

I wanted to find a job here in KTown and stay away but she managed to set me up with a job and I couldn't take no for an answer because I had just gotten back from the UK and I had SO MUCH TRIP RELATED DEBT TO PAY OFF, AND NOBODY IN KTOWN HAD CALLED ME BACK!

Richard was away in Europe for half the summer and we had our first really big test of the relationship (AND WE DID IT WE MADE IT THRU)

I finally had had eNOUGH of cramps that were almost killing me dead and decided to go on the pill, but getting the right dosage/brand was a TIME and it seemed every one I tried made me want to straight up DIE

If ANYONE is ever like "oh, Birth Control Pills don't make you depressed" THEY ARE. LYING. Some do!

All of this was one thing, but the pièce de résistance was this: my laptop fucking DIED. It FELL off a KITCHEN PENINSULA, ONTO A STONE FLOOR HARD DRIVE SIDE DOWN.

It blue screened. Then black screened. And would not boot up. And my writing wasn't saved to the cloud bc the cloud kept draining my laptop battery (she was old), so I was saving locally.

I lost everything.

All of Crystal Springs, all of my notes, old WIPS, and all of the progress I had made on Frostmas Y6 at the time (and I had just cracked out like 3k the week before!) and the Winter's Birthday oneshots. Not to mention, my photos from the last 5 years up to that point! And while I did manage to recover Frostmas and make it BETTER than it was before, Winter's Birthday is still hanging by the wayside and this was almost a DECADE ago! There are STILL photos I lost that I will NEVER get back bc the hard drive itself is FUCKED!

So the wait between Y5 and Y6 was nearly 3 years. Almost as long as the wait for Y11 is shaping up to be, though that's for whole other reasons! My laptop did NOT fall and I save everything to the cloud now, I'VE LEARNED.

Anyway, I managed to recoup most of my loses but I did lose: a soulmate au wip, a baby Dite wip before she was developed more as a character and became Hedone, Winter's bday outline, a rewrite of an old fic I thought had potential (so I decided to rewrite it for my me to enjoy), old Jacqueline and CHARLIE shipping oneshots if you can BELIEVE it (one of which was HELLA ANGSTY and involved him DYING of old age and her trying to avoid him about it) and I think Into the Shadows? It was still up at the time tho so I was able to download it and my other stories from fanfiction dot net and I sorta. Started back up from where I left off.

And I HATE to say this bc it SUCKED so much (I was a mess, I couldn't even explain to my parents why I was so upset—I mean, how do you? How do you explain to your emotionally immature parents that you had built this entire little world that ended up being your way of healing your traumas, made so many amazing friends from it, and had just lost all of that because THEY were FIGHTING? How do you cope when your own Mother says "I can't deal with you when you're like this" as you are BAWLING your EYES OUT at this loss, and she straight up WALKS OUTSIDE TO SIT IN A LAWN CHAIR AND AVOID YOU INSTEAD OF COMFORT YOU AND TRY TO HELP YOU EXPLAIN THINGS? AND YOU'RE NOT QUITE 21 YET? AND YOU'RE ALREADY HAVING SUCH A SHIT TIME?), but it's true: after the laptop fell, my writing took an ASTOUNDING upswing! It improved SO MUCH! And Dite became Hedone and had a more developed back story that made SENSE and Frostmas Y6 turned out WAY BETTER THAN IT WAS and I managed to plot out the rest of the Years (I had not written down notes for what would happen until halfway through Y6! By June 2016, about 3 months post-harddrive gate, Y12 notes were DONE) and I only went UP FROM THERE

But it still SUCKED to deal with all of that.

I felt so bad that Y6 took so long to go up, and when I did post it and it was (checks notes) 14,206 words (we'll see if that changes as I read through it and prep it for cross posting next week) I decided to put the AN in my profile and wrote this at the very top of Year 6:

A/N-14,206 words sans these blurbs. Sorry for the length, and for the delay! I have the explanation on my profile page, under the PSA and Frostmas Year Six AN. Please enjoy this mess of a year! Here is a previously on Frostmas for your convenience: Previously: Jacqueline revealed her decision to freeze as a farce. She showed Bernard and they decided to test it on Jack, who seemingly accepted it. Jack made a deal with Jacqueline for bygones to be bygones, so she could stay at the Pole and help him instill some order. Instead she, aided by the Elves, sabotages the Pole, deciding to be Jack Frost in all ways—including the pain-in-Santa's-neck way. Jacqueline takes to exploring the Workshop when she's not following Santa around, and discovers an old area, stumbling upon Jack's secret rooms…and making a shocking discovery.

I EVEN INCLUDED A PREVIOUSLY! BC I THOUGHT IT HAD BEEN THAT LONG! I think a few reviewers mentioned having to go back to reread so I figured this'd be way more convenient for them! :) (And me too, tbh)

The A/N in the chapter was as follows:

A/N-You can see my full author's note on my profile, I think this chapter was long enough. Thank you for reading it! Please please PLEASE do review! I cannot begin to tell you how much going back to these reviews helped me keep writing Year Six and getting over the hump. I look very forward to your thoughts! And thank you all for your patience :D PS-The breathing trick is legit. Try it, it works wonders.

And the long one I put on my profile RIGHT AT THE TOP for people to see and read it (bc I really didn't wanna bog people down with what was going on in my life. FUNNY bc nowadays I get on hellsite dot faesite and I'm like BUCKLE UP COWPOLKS BECAUSE YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT BULLSHIT HAPPENED TO ME TODAY) was as follows:

Frostmas Year Six AN: My heart is racing, I finished year six like 10 minutes ago (1:48 AM December 16th, 2016) and it is 14188 words. I am honestly so sorry about the length and hope that if anything, it is at least a decent apology for the long break in updates. Year Six took me much longer than I should've to write, because I had to rewrite the bit of Year Six that I already had written prior to the death of my laptop. I started rewriting it when I got mad at myself for being so sad in August, but then ran out of steam and just couldn't do it because I kept comparing it to what I remembered having already written, and thought that it was not as good as it originally was and never would be. It wasn't until I got back to my home (i was staying at my parents house which is never a Fun Time), fixed my prescription and began taking the time I needed to help myself feel better (seriously my Summer was a train wreck) that I was able to slowly trudge through what I began to call the hump—everything I had already written and had to rewrite. After getting through the semester, in November I began planning the Years again. And I was determined to get through the hump. I had already written stuff for Year SEVEN and had Year Eight basically written in full in note form. I just had to get through the hump. And so by the first week of December, I did it! And then just had all the new content to write...which was a LOT especially because Jacqueline decided to break into Bernard's house! I promise, Year Seven won't be as delayed as Year Six. And I really hope you enjoyed all 14k of that Chapter! And most importantly thank you for sticking around this long, it really means a lot to me :D

And my heart WAS racing. I cannot begin to describe to you guys how it felt, after ALL OF THAT BULLSHIT IN THE SPRING/SUMMER, finally seeing Y6 go up after ALL the struggle. My god. I was flying high. I may have cried. I was so, so relieved and so, SO proud of it and let's get into this behind the scenes now to see if I still am proud of it—survey says yes, I think I will be!

And thank you for reading this lengthy prelude to the Y6 BTS. NOW, without FURTHER ado, THE BTS FOR THE INTRO AND ON!

--

Intro

Okay so the decision to have, not only Jack almost discover her, but her parents also discover her dumbass plan, was brilliant on my part

The DRAMA this 900 word intro has! AH!

It didn't even need much work—just a bit of sentence spacing and some awkward turns of phrase fixed and that's that on that!

I can definitely tell I was marathoning Doctor Who for the first time at this point, given Jacqueline's repetitive "I'm so, so sorry"'s as she is RUNNING AWAY from very confused Blinter

Who promptly give her space after THAT

I'm not sure how she managed to avoid them through to FEBRUARY tbh

ALSO it just occurred to me. Upon rereading. Jacqueline being like AM TRAPPED! Oh wait. I'm MAGICAL is a clever bit of foreshadowing on my end for the REST of Y6 lol

It's funny, reading this a wee bit older I'm like. WOW. I feel so bad for blinter—they're trying so, SO hard and poor Jacqueline! She knows she could go to them but she is so, so afraid

I'm a WORDSMITH

Anyway. Onto scene 1!

Scene 1: You won't be in trouble, I swear! Jack lied.

Because he totally did. He is a liar. (smacks head of Santa Jack) this baby can fit SO much malice in him

I wonder if he waited for Jacqueline to be around just to try and catch her up. I'm gonna say he deffs did. And that I totally planned that (I did not)

In terms of references, there isn't a lot! this whole scene is msotly me being a Bernard stan in the "I love the way he acts with the elves and how he cares about them all and how he is able to placate a huge crowd every god damned time", not the usual "I want this elf" kind of way

I do not want him. I want to see him grow strong and be safe and that's that on that

And I also want to see him bug Jacqueline. And be bothered back in return lol

BUT YEAH I really love Bernard as a character, espesh the leadership bits. the scene in tsc2 where he talks to the elves? the smooth, nervous cadence and silly "and do not use the word "plastic" bit? This blorbo has EVERYTHING—anxiety, sass, jokes, AND great public speaking/charisma skills!

So this whole like. Getting into gear bit? SUPER fun to do.

Especially with him consistently not letting Jacqueline say HEY MAN HE'S BRINGING BACK THE FUCKING THEME PARK IDEA! Writing her get consistently more and more irritaited and frustrated was delightful >:)

The BIG bit here is CURTIS!

So like. He gets all. Manager-y and very into his role when we see him at the Theme Park in the Frostmas bit in the movie, right? So the whole time I wrote this I was like, okay. How does Curtis get from wanting to help and be progressive to capitalist hellscape master? How?

And that's where this bit came in—along with the list reading bit back in Year 2? 3?

Which is why, when Jack is like "hmm I need to keep track of theme park related things without giving it away—ah yes! Curtis!" is what comes to mind

And why he's so ACTIVE in the Resort, you know? If that makes sense. Idk, I wrote this bit at 3am.

BUT YEAH. CURTIS IS A LIL GUY. JUST A LIL GUY. TRYING TO DO HIS BEST! AND NOT EXPLODING!

Scene 2: A cold front heart-to-heart

Jacqueline and privacy. Hehe. I loved carrying that bit over from CS.

She's awful, just. BARGING in places with little to no warning!

I'm sure she'll mellow out with age

Unless you are Jack

She'll probably bug him forever.

ANYWAY.

This scene DID need a little reworking! Jack read as slightly OOC and there was some weird repetitiveness. Which checks out—this scene was the scene I wrote days before the laptop ko'd

This scene also felt like what I imagine an elaborate game of chess feels like. Trying to think of what Jack does and doesn't know, and what Jacqueline does and doesn't know, and both their motives, ALL WHILE WRITING FROM JACQUELINE'S POV? My god. Brain exploded

But it reads much better now! Their motivations are way more clear!

Poor Mason. He's a good kid! Unfortunately for the plot to continue on I needed SOMEONE to come forward to get their ass FROZEN

It's funny bc like, reading it again (and I don't think I ever reread this chapter after posting it! I think this is my first time since it originally was written reading it again!) the ideas were THERE! Just…not fully formed. And given everything I was going through slash dealing with at the time, that checks out.

Scene 3: NO RUNNING IN THE WORKSHOP

I briefly had this whole dilemma about if Jack freezing the elves was Too Much. Then I remembered a number of things: he canonically freezes two whole ass people. He tells Lucy he's had people beg him to freeze people for them. The whole POINT of putting him post-Frostmas and post-tsc3 in a redemption arc is to show CHANGE so YES, mans could, would, and has frozen people before and will do it again

or in this case, make Jacqueline do it

and of course she'd agree to it bc. y'know. she's trying to keep her cover going and what happens if she says no? and gets banished? then what? what will Jack do?!?!

she's caught in quite the conundrum, isn't she?

anyway I remember when I wrote this scene I wasn't expecting Judy to pop into the scene but she did and I kinda like that that's how it went

Jacqueline ending the section saying "B-Man location secured" I think is also me reminding myself what the purpose of this scene was, lol

Scene 4: Bernard's Office

not me doing the bts read-through and realizing that Jacqueline acts like she had 0 idea Mason was there, when Judy JUST TOLD HER he was heading that way. FIXED, LOL.

I am referring to the carnival in Quebec when Jacqueline says LIKE QUEBEC. I've been a handful of times and the ice/snow sculptures ALWAYS got me. They're gorgeous.

The breathing trick was the very first one I learnt that year (for obvious reasons lol) and it worked every time! I was excited to use it and share it as it'd been helping me quite a bit. Twas one of the ah, early tumblr mental health posts I had seen AGES ago!

“It’s too bad we can’t take Mason and push him somewhere else,” Curtis mused.

^This is a meme reference, yes indeed!

"I’m not great at clandestine operations," Jacqueline says, as I yell through the screen, "YOU AIN'T SLICK GIRLIE! YOU! AIN'T! SLICK!"

(she's really not)

"An airline? Like planes? Air planes? In the frostbitten sky? He bought an airline?!”

This is a NEWLY ADDED reference! From this post :)

Believe it or not, Bernard saying "wait and see" was NOT a reference to Mr. Gaiman's famous refrain regarding Good Omens spoilers—but I thought it was hella funny with that context rereading it in 2024 now lol. (It originally went up late 2016!)

The evidence bit is new too—makes much more sense now, why they lollygag enough for Jack to initiate Lockdown lol.

I GOTTA BE THREE STEPS AHEAD OF TEAM JACQUELINE AND FOUR STEPS AHEAD OF SANTA JACK

IT'S A STRUGGLE

Hence the long gaps between years, too, it's a LOT of info to churn through and back referencing and such

but damn if it isn't a fun project >:)

Scene 5: Time Out/Lockdown

So this is where I picked up POST laptop falling. I could only recover Year 6 up to the office scene, I believe

What I lost? A whole scene after it where I had written nearly 1400 words about this whole subplot I had in mind involving how Jacqueline's frozen elves would look more sculpture like than Neil and Laura did when Jack frosted them up

There was this whole bit about her lamenting on how it looked different, more opaque, and Jack would be able to see right through it (pun intended on my part) because he'd KNOW it wasn't done properly, the way he did it? I think it involved a story about a frozen squirrel?

I had started writing it, went back and read it, went "huh this makes no sense"

Moved on the plotting out Winter's bday before bed

The next day I stationed myself in my parent's kitchen, and before I could even LOOK at the document and what I'd done before, my laptop crash landed on the stone floor

yeah

ANYWAY I obvi AXED that scene, it wasn't making sense then and when I finally got back into it, I didn't even BOTHER attempting to recreate it, just skipped it and went right into the freeze day

anyway, I'd like to take this moment to recognize Mason. He is taking this like a CHAMP!

I'd always pictured him as one of the elves in Porkchop's squad, lol

"Get my nose right" is a Tangled reference, lol. Fun fact! It's one of my top 3 disney princess movies (the other two are Moana and Princess and the Frog :)

I just strongly relate to Rapunzel (given the mom-nanigans I mentioned in the diary entry before this you can see why) and Eugene makes me laugh and the soundtrack SLAPS

Kingdom Dance? HELLO?!?!?!? THE MUSIC AND THE ENTIRE STORY TOLD IN THE SCENE IN THE SCORE? AH

okayokay. frostmas time

Perhaps one day I will write the little silly thing that explains why Jacqueline insists Jack taught her everything despite not being around for most of her formative years! Maybe one day :)

Lockdown is also NOT a reference to OS CORONAS. This predates that, too, lol. It was an idea I'd been sitting on for Into the Shadows (Dark Shadows at the time), and I was excited to use it (and have Jack abuse it) in Frostmas!

I had to keep Jacqueline from going to the Council, after all!

“Because it’s exactly what I would’ve done.” The full impact of what he said hit as he turned around, surveying me with an unreadable look. “And you did it.” I came to a grounding stop, my heart falling in my chest. Jack chuckled quietly to himself. “Exactly. Now, I’ve got tons to do! We will chit chat later, Jacqueline—I’ll make sure your rooms are done up for your stay. Ciao!” And, shooting me a smile and double finger guns he disappeared, leaving me alone in the corridor as the crushing weight of what I had just done—and what I had agreed to do—came falling down on me. I stood in the hallway, motionless. The sounds of the chaos of the Workshop dulled before disappearing completely, nothing but a white noise as the world faded out from me and I realized that yes, Jack would've done it. And I had done it. I was turning into Jack.

NOW WE'RE COOKING WITH GAS! THIS IS THE GOOD SHIT! THIS IS WHAT FROSTMAS IS ALL ABOUT BABY! WOO!

Writing this scene was so fun. Jack's little villain monologue after he figured he'd one? EXCELLENT. I'll take two, please.

Scene 6 (5.5 really): BREAKING INTO B-MAN'S HOUSE

I couldn't believe Jacqueline did this, lmao. But I absolutely LOVED it

What's breaking and entering to a sprite who does not give a shit about privacy on a good day? 🤭🤭🤭

This whole brandy bit is once again brought to you in part by how much I love love love Just An Elf, and am once again STRONGLY ENCOURAGING YOU GO AND READ IT. They're such good oneshots, my GOD! PRIME B-Man characterization and I will shout it to the moon and BACK

"Point being, you wouldn't have frozen them. See? That's the thing. You're not Jack. You're Jacqueline. You think and act differently from Jack, and that's what makes you you"

Bernard is out here spitting facts that take Jacqueline a whopping 12 plus years to learn 🫠🫠🫠

"It's what friends are for"

Oh my god I have some fun BTS for this. Okay, so, I NEVER planned for Jacqueline and BMan to be buds. In earliest drafts of CS (and I'm talking EARLY, the notes I made while posting MtF early) the MOMENT Bernard clocked Jacqueline he'd march her to Santa like LOOK WHAT THE POLAR BEAR DRAGGED IN

But THEN Jacqueline managed to invade shittyelfwriter's brain and made her way into Rules of Engagement (The Emissary Clause, at the time) and she and BMan like, vibed in that fic

So THEN I assumed they became pals after all THIS in Frostmass, right? And had this whole passage initially showing that yeah they had become friends because of this, and it came over into Crystal springs and that's why they were so buddy buddy

But man. The more I wrote them, the more I went "B-Man wouldn't look at Jacqueline and judge her because of Jack. He just WOULDN'T."

And then When Bernard Met Jacqueline happened (I really oughta post that to ao3!) and I realized okay, they've. They've been friends for a hot minute

SO upon crossposting to ao3, I have properly edited this WHOLE PART to just further underline how much of a TIME Jacqueline is having

Forgets she has a whole ass friend

Also has had a rough go of it with friends growing up, but that's neither here nor there right now lol. She explains it well enough in the next bit and of course, I myself had to tease her about the Dite thing :)

I am once again mentioning Elle and her status as ??? purposely to hurt shittyelfrwriter >:) it's okay tho it's a friendship stab, don't worry about it! :D

Sleepy Jacqueline just happened this edit. I don't know why, but I love it. It had me wheezing. "hot diggity dog" lmao

Newfies comment: fun Canada fact for you: most of the stereotypical accent, the HEAVY one, is because in Newfoundland and the Maritimes they sound like that, lol.

We sound sorta like that here too the farther away you get from Toronto! A lot of my friends in uni were from small Letterkenny towns so they have that Canadian lilt going on and now I find myself sounding more like that some days too 😅

Scene 6 (for real): Plan Time

"My hair a half frozen, half thawed mess": FUN FACT! This is the first in your face hint I've dropped at the freeze becoming real! Were she fully thawed, her hair would be the next day too...but it's not 👀👀👀

The TUNNELS! I've always thought they had tunnels under the Pole, and I've read a few fics where they do, and it's one of my favourite tropes in this fandom so I used it for Frostmas! :D

Also a gr8 excuse to drop CS lore re: Kringle Elves >:)

Scene 7: Dig a tunna, dig dig a tunna~

I started condensing things when I got to this point bc it was at the time approaching 15k and that was way too long by my books at the time

Now, post refinements for ao3/2024 glow up, it's a solid 21.6k words

WHOOPS!

I didn't even add anything crazy new! Just dialogue!

The mental image of Jacqueline, Bernard, Curtis, Quinitin, and Mason tossing pencils and shit into the ring and nothing happening is hilarious

The mental image of Jacqueline conjuring a little snowy guy, and gesturing to the elf ring, and it standing there like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is somehow funnier (and new!). I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did :)

For all you non-metric system users: 5km is equal to about 3 miles, I believe.

Scene 8: in which Bernard comes up with a brilliant idea that Jacqueline simply cannot resist acting on >:)

On that note, I vaguely recall doing a HECK of a lot of research to see how feasible it was for 5 magibeans to be able to dig one kilometre with just shovels mostly

I don't remember my results at all. I remember chatting with my housemates and with the husbando about it and the conclusion I came to was "yeah. makes sense" or "SUSPEND YOUR DISBELIEF" if it was my friend near!

Which is a good lesson we should all keep in mind when reading fantasy/sci-fi and fiction and the like in general. Anyway

Jacqueline is losing her mind digging, I'm losing mine writing this whole thing, we are ONE

Scenes 9-whatever: In which Jacqueline does her own version of Super Giant's hit rogue like dungeon crawl Hades

Oh this was the BEST montage I ever got to write. EVER. I genuinely don't think I could top this!

I did tidy it up/refine it! I added more dialogue so Jack was in character and increased Jacqueline's annoying Jack stat tenfold! VERY fun to write!

Needed to do some slapstick bc it's fun to slapstick Jack

Jacqueline HAD to extract revenge bc her snow cloud ideas was GREAT (I concur)

This whole myriad of scenes had me thinking of what ways my siblings really annoyed me and turning the dial UP on them as I wrote Jacqueline's bits, lol.

YER A BLIZZARD, SANTA is an outdated reference to YER A LIZERD, HARRY. I really should like, axe it, but it makes me giggle. Anyway, jay kay arr sucks and Jacqueline Winter Frost HERSELF said TRANS RIGHTS, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk

Candyland, I am proud of myself for THAT reference

Half of writing Frozen?Jacquie is me trying to think of the most JACK LIKE THING she could say, and then having her say it

Foolproof formula, 10/10 would recommend.

"The physical appearance of the please makes no difference, Jacqueline.”

Despicable Me reference, It's one of the husbando's fave movies and that is my fave line in it I think, and there are a lot of bangers tbh

Jacqueline would think stopping snow was an actual crime

Her least favourite movie is probably Frosty Returns bc of the asshole adults who make the snow-be-gone spray and try to murder frosty with it and also, all the lovely SNOW

also, did not mean to indirectly quote frozen in this last bit? But the "it's a green christmas everywhere. EVERYWHERE?!" bit is really giving "You kinda made it Winter everywhere. Everywhere?!?!"

Hallmarkian isn't a word but I will damn well MAKE IT a word

And finally! She escapes!

And I leave you with this fact: Jack only lets her go because in his heart of hearts he knows it's too late. She can come and go, but nobody else can—she can tell everyone what happened, what's going on, but only she can go in and out. So what can they do? Nothing, tbh

I explained this bit to the husbando and he was like >=O that SUCKS. That's SO frustrating

That's the point >:)

Oh how fast a glimmer of hope can be snuffed out.

ANYWAY! If you read all the way to the bottom, thank you! It means a lot. Enjoy the BTS, the Dani lore, and enjoy the freshly swept Frostmas! I'm gonna try to actually have Y7 up on the 13th of July, lol, but we'll see how that goes. Trying not to rush but I just. THE AESTHETIC, YOU KNOW? I MISS POSTING ON THE 13TH!

[snekdood]

bitches prolly out here psychoanalyzing my old art on behalf of my abuser to cushion their belief that im a Horrible Person but then dont see the irony when I point out the shitty things my abuser has drawn and how I see it as clear evidence of their mindset and beliefs (of what's okay to do and how to treat people) descending and pairing that along with everything else they've done and it paints a clear picture of how this person got to the point of thinking it was okay to abuse me the way they did and then the people looking for reasons to hate me through my art will act like "they're just drawings !!!" about their art. which one is it. does someones art say something about them or not? or does it only say something about them if you hate them?

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

The thing with the Mari Lwyd, though, is that it's being... I don't know, 'appropriated' is the wrong word, but certainly turned into something it isn't.

Thing is, this is a folk tradition in the Welsh language, and that's the most important aspect of it. I feel partly responsible for this, because I accidentally became a bit of an expert on the topic of the Mari Lwyd in a post that escaped Tumblr containment, and I clearly didn't stress it strongly enough there (in my defence, I wrote that post for ten likes and some attention); but this is a Welsh language tradition, conducted in Welsh, using Welsh language poetic forms that are older than the entire English language, and also a very specific sung melody (with a very specific first verse; that's Cân y Fari). It is not actually a 'rap battle'. It's not a recited poem. It is not any old rhyme scheme however you want.

It is not in English.

Given the extensive and frankly ongoing attempts by England to wipe out Welsh, and its attendant cultural traditions, the Mari is being revived across Wales as an act of linguistic-cultural defiance. She's a symbol of Welsh language culture, specifically; an icon to remind that we are a distinct people, with our own culture and traditions, and in spite of everyone and everything, we're still here. Separating her from that by removing the Welsh is, to put it mildly, wildly disrespectful.

...but it IS what I'm increasingly seeing, both online and in real world Mari Lwyd festivals. She's gained enormous pop-culture popularity in recent years, which is fantastic; but she's also been reduced from the tradition to just an aesthetic now.

So many people are talking/drawing about her as though she's a cryptid or a mythological figure, rather than the folk practice of shoving a skull on a stick and pretending to be a naughty horse for cheese and drunken larks. And I get it! It's an intriguing visual! Some of the artwork is great! But this is not what she is. She's not a Krampus equivalent for your Dark Christmas aesthetic.

I see people writing their own version of the pwnco (though never called the pwnco; almost always called some variant on 'Mari Lwyd rap battle'), and as fun as these are, they are never even written in the meter and poetic rules of Cân y Fari, much less in Welsh, and they never conclude with the promise to behave before letting the Mari into the house. The pwnco is the central part to the tradition; this is the Welsh language part, the bit that's important and matters.

Mari Lwyd festivals are increasingly just English wassail festivals with a Mari or two present. The Swansea one last weekend didn't even include a Mari trying to break into a building (insert Shrek meme); there was no pwnco at all. Even in the Chepstow ones, they didn't do actual Cân y Fari; just a couple of recited verses. Instead, the Maris are just an aesthetic, a way to make it look a bit more Welsh, without having to commit to the unfashionable inconvenience of actually including Welsh.

And I don't really know what the answers are to these. I can tell you what I'd like - I'd like art to include the Welsh somewhere, maybe incorporating the first line of Cân y Fari like this one did, to keep it connected to the actual Welsh tradition (or other Welsh, if other phrases are preferred). I'd like people who want to write their version of the pwnco to respect the actual tradition of it by using Cân y Fari's meter and rhyme scheme, finishing with the promise to behave, and actually calling it the pwnco rather than a rap battle (and preferably in Welsh, though I do understand that's not always possible lol). I'd like to see the festivals actually observe the tradition, and include a link on the booking website to an audio clip of Cân y Fari and the words to the first verse, so attendees who want to can learn it ahead of time. I don't know how feasible any of that is, of course! But that's what I'd like to see.

I don't know. This is rambly. But it's something I've been thinking about - and increasingly nettled by - for a while. There's was something so affirming and wonderful at first about seeing the Mari's climb into international recognition, but it's very much turned to dismay by now, because she's important to my endangered culture and yet that's the part that everyone apparently wants to drop for being too awkward and ruining the aesthetic. It's very frustrating.

[sysig]

Your Weekly TV Guide

On Monday you can expect:

2:30 PM: Hermitcraft - Rescuing Rusty

And Tuesday:

2:30 PM: Adventure Time

Wednesday:

2:30 PM: AT

Thursday:

2:30 PM: AT

Friday:

2:30 PM: AT - Petrigrof

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2:30 PM: Just Desserts - Pets

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[pierregazly]

but mama, i love him ꨄ oscar piastri smau

oscar piastri x leclerc!reader

the one where oscar's girlfriend has been soft launching their relationship for ages. and he's okay with it, especially if it means he can keep hiding in plain sight from her three overprotective brothers.

ynleclerc

tagged charles_leclerc

liked by charles_leclerc, arthur_leclerc, oscarpiastri, and others

ynleclerc omg omg omg... charles leclerc signed my hat? should i add it to the shrine? give them something to sacrifice?

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username any non-f1 fan would automatically assume ynleclerc is a crazy fan page for charles

username or a charles leclerc hate page... all she does it make fun of her brothers here

username she's offering her signed hat for the tifosi to sacrifice for a CL16 win??? that seems like pure love all around

arthur_leclerc i also signed your hat?

ynleclerc i also do not care? will a hat signed by you get me millions if i sell it for sacrificial purposes?

charles_leclerc what's next? my personal belongings?

ynleclerc is that an offer? if so, oui. i will take what i think will make me the most money next time i'm there, merci <3

scuderiaferrari if it gets us a 1-2 finish, sacrifice everything ynleclerc... please 🙏

username being a Ferrari fan is so satisfying when you remember ynleclerc is an automatic inclusion in everything and anything charles does

username the things i would do to have her as a McLaren fan... she's too beautiful for Ferrari 😭

oscarpiastri a piastri hat will get you good money in straya btw

username oscar??

oscarpiastri

liked by logansargeant, landonorris, mclaren, and others

oscarpiastri 'stop hitting me with the ball on purpose you jerk' was said more times than it should've been, by someone who really just sucks at tennis. had an awesome week back home, time to get back to it 💪

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logansargeant no wonder you're so worried about getting run over

username the coordinating outfits?? i'm gonna scream, who is she!!!

username what does logan know, tell us your secrets girl logansargeant

username oscar is gonna soft launch this relationship until the end of time. show us her face, you coward!!

ynleclerc did you pay her for all the bruises that tennis ball left?? poor girl

oscarpiastri it's not my fault she's a terrible tennis player, we all know i've offered to pay for a trainer

landonorris so this is why you couldn't come to bali with me 🤨

username lando really said i'm the third wheel??

username to be fair i'd probably pick oscar's girlfriend over lando for a week away too

username girly you don't even know who she is!!! she could be the devil

username i wanna be included in oscar's post week home photo dump :(

ynleclerc has posted a story

liked by oscarpiastri, logansargeant, pascale.leclerc.355, and others

replies

oscarpiastri you can call me pookie whenever you want if you're gonna post things like this

ynleclerc i'd call you pookie with or without your permission, mon amour

charles_leclerc who is this

charles_leclerc why won't you tell us who you're dating

charles_leclerc we won't hurt him

charles_leclerc answer my texts

ynleclerc

liked by oscarpiastri, pascale.leclerc.355, arthur_leclerc, and others

ynleclerc get you a man who can do both, luckiest woman in the world whenever you're around. mon amour 🤍

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username people involved in formula 1 and their obsession with soft launching everything NEEDS to be studied

username at least she posts her boyfriend and he isn't just a small figure in the background of every post (charles this is a direct hate comment)

arthur_leclerc this would have been very lovely if it weren't for the last photo

liked by charles_leclerc and lorenzotl

ynleclerc suppose it's a good thing you could easily ignore it. cheers :)

pascale.leclerc.355 trés belle, ma fille 💗

charles_leclerc maman?

username could you IMAGINE if ynleclerc told pascale but obviously hasn't told her brothers? i can FEEL the outrage

username starting to think this may be a driver, ynleclerc is at every race weekend and ALWAYS makes a post with her mystery man at some point during the week after...

username okay ms sleuth (i think it's lando)

username i'm like 65% sure it's oscar, and 35% positive it's someone that looks a lot like oscar

ynleclerc

tagged oscarpiastri

liked by oscarpiastri, logansargeant, landonorris, and others

ynleclerc someone exposed us on twitter, so i had to expose us on instagram 😮‍💨

comments on this post have been limited

oscarpiastri love you <3

oscarpiastri i will love you even when a ferrari has run me over, of course.

arthur_leclerc is this your way of telling me i was right, without texting me back?

charles_leclerc this must be a joke, non?

pascale.leclerc.355 so very excited to finally be able to invite the both of you for dinner. trés belle 🤍

charles_leclerc maman, you knew?

ynleclerc oscar and i will see you for sunday dinner, maman! <3

tresbelleleclercspam

liked by logansargeant, charles_leclerc, alexandrasaintmleux, and others

ynleclerc live feed of oscar running away from charles in the paddock when he said he 'just wanted to talk, mate'

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charles_leclerc i truly just wanted to talk about the race

charles_leclerc i did not have a speech planned, non

arthur_leclerc i did have a speech planned

lorenzotl i just wanted to welcome him to the family, as a good big brother should

oscarpiastri my apple watch warned me of an overactive heart rate 5 times today. why did you do this to me. why couldn't you have three sisters???

ynleclerc so very sorry, in our next life i'll try to make sure you only have to worry about sisters and not three overprotective brothers

oscarpiastri as long as i get to spend every lifetime with you <3

i actually got a request for something like this ages ago, and finally got around to finishing it. i so hope you all loved it as much as i loved writing it. thank you for all the support!!

i'm not currently taking requests, but if anyone has lil suggestions or prompts please feel free to send them.

[drev-the-procrastinator]

oh. damn that writing sure can resonate with feelings can't it