#esmer says stuff

[irate-iguana]

Okay I've calmed down enough to maybe put this into words.

Fourteen's ending was so validating to me as an aroace person, specifically because they chose platonic love. Often, QPRs are treated as a last resort, a poor consolation prize for people who can't have romantic partnerships. But Donna has a husband, and while I firmly believe the Doctor is on the ace spectrum, the Newton conversation implies that Fourteen isn't aroace. Despite the fact that he could be in a romantic relationship, the Doctor chooses a platonic partnership. And Donna gets to have both! What's more, her husband and her best friend get along, they aren't jealous or competing for her attention. It's so rare for media to treat platonic relationships as equally valuable and desirable as romantic/sexual ones, and it gave me so much hope for my future.

[ednaeflowers]

she nods with approval. a long, long time ago, edna had once played in the flower fields and came home covered in grass, flowers, and dirt, but those are just distant memories now. presently, she is a lady: ladies do not play in flower fields anymore, stained with old memories of onii-chan scolding her. if she isn't a lady, then she'd have to be that same child again, the one who cried when he left home—and edna vowed to never go back to that. she is a lady. ❛  'luna-p?' what does the 'p' stand for?  ❜ though, the question of curiosity is soon replaced by awed blinking. she stares, and wonders if luna-p is just a shape-shifter. edna's seen one of those before. they're ( she's ) nothing but trouble. 

❛  ...if you already have such an advanced umbrella, then i don't see why you need to go shopping—but i suppose it'd be better to have a variety of different ones on hand. let's go; i want one with a cute design befitting for me. you should pick something that suits you too.  ❜ how would a seraph actually buy a new umbrella, though, is a mystery... ❛  where are we anyway?  ❜

"absolutely not!" a lady should be seen, right? she was used to not being heard so that aspect of being a lady was something she was already used to. people never paid much attention to her or forgot her entirely so standing out , as she did now , was preferable to her than being forgotten. "you mean luna-p?" she holds her hand out to the floating toy and it beeps sadly. hmph! what was it so sad about! "hmm... i suppose we can hang luna-p from my parasol, but luna-p can also turn into one." she demonstrates for the other girl and luna-p turns into a dark magenta umbrella. "i once used it to launch darts and spear my mother, but i don't think that's what you had in mind. shall we go shopping then?" as long as they did not encounter esmeraude. she was as loud as a hyena and as annoying as one too. 

[liaswritesrobots]

👉👈 can i req mer!deathcobra and bot!leozack? just something cute? maybe ft the fact that cats are afraid of water?

Ever since he was a young bot, Leozack had a fascination with the ocean. Sure he hated getting wet, but the smell of salt water and the sound of the waves often help him calm down. He'd often take walks to the beach alone after he had a little disagreement with Lyzack or when Deathsaurus yelled at him.

His curiosity only grew more after he fell off the pier one day and was rescued by a fish-bot hybrid creature.

He came back the day after and got his name. Deathcobra.

Odd. You'd think with a name like that the creature would have pulled him to a watery demise.

But here he is years later, alive and well, packing an extra treat for his fishy friend as he gets ready to head down to the beach.

Lyzack had wanted to come today, but unfortunately she came down with a virus. He promised to pick up some good medicine for her on the way back home, and he knows she's in good hands with Esmeral, still, he's rather worried.

"I'm heading out," Leozack shouts down the hall so Lyzack will hear him, "I'll be back soon! Don't do anything stupid to make yourself worse, I'll have the medicine when I come back!"

He hears her cough, "You're one to talk!" She shouts rather hoarsely, teasing him.

He lets out an annoyed hum before leaving. He figures he should stop and get the medicine first, just in case he loses track of time with Deathcobra and the shops close, so he heads there first.

After getting the medication he hightails it to the beach. It's rather crowded today, but that's fine, because he knows of a little cove off to itself where he and Deathcobra can talk alone. Hei sure Deathcobra is probably already there waiting for him.

He runs off to the cove, not paying much attention to the other bots there enjoying the sun and waves. Once he arrives he places the medicine on a stone that is coming out of the wall, treating it like a little shelf, and pulls out some rust sticks and high grade oil from his subspace.

"Deathcobra? Are you here?" He yells and his voice echoes out in the cove, "I brought some good oil."

Moments later Deathcobra jumps from the water, causing some to splash on Leozack, who pulls back and yelps.

"Sorry about that," Deathcobra chuckles, "Keep forgetting you don't like the water."

"It's not that I don't like it, I just don't like getting wet unnecessarily." He huffs.

"Right," the cobra eel mer says swimming closer to the cove's rocks before hopping up on one beside Leozack, keeping his slender tail dipped in the water, "I still don't get why you want to hang out at the beach then."

"It's calming." Leozack responds.

"Not if you saw it from my perspective."

"Come on, what could be a bigger threat in these waters than you?" Leozack laughed, handing the mermech a bottle of oil.

"Plenty of stuff. Great Sharkticons to name one. Plus I'm not the only merperson, a lot of us can be pretty territorial," he pauses to take a swig of the oil, "Ah, you did get the stuff. How'd you sneak this past your boss?"

"Psssh, it was easy, Deathsaurus is too dumb to notice anything other than himself." Leozack boasted, munching on a rust stick.

Deathcobra smirked at the younger bot's arragonace, he finds it endearing, cute even, "His wife gave it to you didn't she?"

"N-no!" He looks away to hide the pink tint of his cheeks and his pout.

Deathcobra smiles. Leozack can get away with a lot, but when it comes to him, Deathcobra knows that Leozack blushes and pouts when he lies to him. Though Leozack's lies are usually something trying to impress Deathcobra, so he doesn't mind too much.

"Anyway, like I was saying," Deathcobra takes another sip of oil, "Some of us merfolk can get into fights. I've been in a few myself, I have a few scars to prove it."

Leozack turns his helm back towards the mer in curiosity.

"Like this one," he lifts his tail and points to a wide, somewhat faded slash on the side of it, "That one was from fighting a mermech called Pinpoint."

Leozack looks at the mark with surprise, "Looks painful."

"It was. This is the healed scar."

"So it's not gonna get any better than that?"

"Nope. I also gave this one on my arm," he turns his finned arm to show off a huge vertical scar, "That one was from a fishermech after I messed up his net. He was trying to poach in my territory."

"What happened to him?"

"His remains have probably hit the bottom of the ocean by now." Deathcobra smirks.

Leozack smiles at the mermech.

"Wanna feel it?" Deathcobra asks, laying his arm next to the bot.

Leozack hesitantly moves his servo towards Deathcobra's arm. He carefully slides a digit against the scar, noting how firm and muscular Deathcobra's arm is. Deathcobra watches as Leozack feels his arm and notices his cheeks slightly glow pink as he feels the mermech's muscles. Leozack finally looks up to meet the mermech's gaze. They wordlessly stare each other down, unknowingly leaning closer.

Leozack's lips gently brush against Deathcobra's and he leans back, "Sorry!" Leozack yells out, "I didn't mean-" He's cut off by the mermech's lips crashing into his. His optics go wide with surprise before slowly closing as he leans into Deathcobra's kiss.

This kiss lasts for about a minute, but to Leozack, it feels like a lifetime.

At least until Deathcobra pulls back. Then he feels like it could have lasted longer.

Deathcobra moves his webbed hand up to Leozack's face, brushing his thumb over his cheek. He leans in and presses his he helm to Leozack's, "I've been waiting to do that."

Leozack smiles, "Yeah, me too."

[cleverthylacine]

1, 3, 7, 8, 11?

1. The most recent time I cracked up over a comment, it was "let raf swear!" (This was not the whole comment.)

3. Hasn't everyone? Ravage makes me laugh a lot because she has been through some really horrible things, but she's incredibly snarkastic about it; plus, she says things like "I'd rather sleep with Nautica than you!" in a fit of pique, and then stumbles into a situation where that is actually an option. And then she does, "but you'll be the pet, and you'll be the one wearing the collar". (I really need to write that smut as an outtake.)

I have also cried over Ravage and Soundwave a lot, particularly during the years when Ratbat had both of them over a barrel, but I think my most recent bout of weepies was over Howlback, who loves Grimlock in her allosexual but aromantic way very deeply, and also blames herself for his brain injury, because Overlord ended up on Garrus-9 as a result of her attempt to arrange a prison break, which Overlord managed to commandeer.

7. I don't know what my absolute favourite paragraph of all time is, but I'm really really fond of the scenes in "A Few Small Repairs" and "Designs and Persuasions" where Ravage and Soundwave slip into each other's minds and act without speaking. A lot of these are sexual, but the one I'm going to post under the cut is the one where they're dancing together. There's also one where they're interacting with Marissa Faireborn over essentially a Zoom as one, while at the same time communicating various things to Rumble, Thundercracker, and Rafael, but that one wouldn't make sense out of context. Ravage does the talking. She's more comfortable with words than he is and when his autisms are doing the things, that's when he drops everything but the verb, the object and occasionally the subject of his sentence (interestingly, the way he will suffix the subject with a colon reminds me of the Japanese topic marker ha/wa).

The close second is the entire chapter of "Every Day is a Winding Road" where Deathsaurus and Esmeral's war leaders are getting down with the DJD and the chapter soundtrack was "Love Shack" because it was too damn funny.

8. The files for the parts of Voice of Stanix that I haven't written yet. Everything else I really care about is either backed up somewhere that's not attached to this computer or posted somewhere that I could get it back from or one of my friends has it. Also, I think VOS is the best thing I've ever written in my entire life.

11. I don't actually have a formal beta, just this one friend that I bounce stuff off of all the time, but the thing that I do that I hate most is this very Soundwave-like thing where I sometimes in the process of editing myself, or rewording things, lose accessory words that are actually very important! I usually catch this when I read it through on AO3 because it looks different than it did in MSWord. So, for 7, part of the dance scene from chapter 8 of "Designs and Persuasions", which is kind of a difficult fic because it's about Ravage and Soundwave being together again, and also about how the fuck do you manage a space station while trying to be an anarchocommunist, and also about dealing with that fucker Galvatron, and also with dealing with the fact that now it's the Autobots who've gone all colonialist. The part of this scene that I'm posting is only about the first of those things.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Soundwave laughed with pure delight at how light she was in his arms. After whirling around with her, he set her down and began to dance in his own style, gently guiding her into complementary motion with the lightest pressure of his hands and thoughts. She moved with him, but every time took an extra step back, leading him into the centre of the floor. Soundwave’s dance was defiant and deliberate, keeping time with the heavy percussion; Ravage’s hips kept the beat, but her limbs and neck and tail moved with the melody. Sometimes he lifted her, and let her swing by her arms from his neck and shoulders, or by her feet and legs from his waist and hips. They couldn’t have done it unchoreographed without his telepathy and their spark-bond, but they did have both of those things, and they’d had them almost as long as they’d known one another.

Soundwave danced like a mech who was also a man. Ravage danced like a femme who was also a cat, and at one point, her tail with its bladed tip wrapped round his arm, one leg round his waist and one delicate semi-digitigrade foot on his shoulder, he kissed her instep, slid his arm just under her shoulder blades and jumped with her, swinging her into a dip as he landed. He brushed his lips across her forehead, lifted her back up to her feet, and released her.

Moments later, she jumped up into his joined hands and leapt up, twirling around in the air before she came down, folding into a crouching lunge. When her forepaw-hands landed light on his chest, he slid under her, down to the floor, knees bent under him as his back curved and the crest of his helm came close to the floor. Ravage leapt over him and pulled herself inward, then stretched out a hind/leg for balance and drew herself up to bipedal again, leaning over him and offering her hands. To an observer it would have looked as though the delicate feline were pulling tall, boxy Soundwave up to his feet again. She laughed in his mind: no floorwork, Viridian’s on her way home and I know I’ll end up with my panels popped.

Soundwave couldn’t deny it. Before he could decide if he wanted to make a counteroffer, a scratching noise tore through his forebrain. Something was dreadfully wrong, pounding and not in time with the music, dissonant, screeching.

[stainedglassgardens]

Watched in February 2021

Beyond the Black Rainbow

Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris

Student (Студент)

Beginning (Დასაწყისი)

Miss Juneteenth

The Collector (Koleksiyoncu)

You're Sleeping Nicole (Tu dors Nicole)

Another Year (Еще один год)

Lessons of Darkness (Lektionen in Finsternis)

Space Sweepers (승리호)

Synchronic

Dead Pigs (海上浮城)

Basket Case

Pariah

John Wick: Chapter 2

Frankenhooker

The Dark Crystal

Palm Springs

The Village

I could take them or leave them

Student (Студент, Darezhan Omirbayev, 2012): This film from Kazakhstan was supposed to be an adaptation of Crime and Punishment, which I have not read, and maybe that is why I didn't quite get it

Miss Juneteenth (Channing Godfrey Peoples, 2020): I was a little disappointed by this, like the film itself is very good but I feel like I've seen a dozen exactly like this one

Space Sweepers (승리호, Jo Sung-hee, 2021): This could have been a good-enough action sci-fi moment but the plot was messy and the characters not particularly endearing

Pariah (Dee Rees, 2011): I should have watched this sooner... I built it up in my head and ended up expecting something better than it was. Still a great lesbian coming-of-age story, just maybe not for me

Fun times

Basket Case and Frankenhooker (Frank Henenlotter, 1982 and 1990): These were both on Mubi so I thought why not?! They're very silly, very enjoyable. Frankenhooker did make me uneasy with its depiction of sex work though, so I preferred Basket Case

John Wick: Chapter 2 (Chad Stahelski, 2017): Very silly! Loved it

The Dark Crystal (Frank Oz & Jim Henson, 1982): Not sure what I can say about this. It was good? The animation was impressive, especially for 1982. And yes, I had a good time

Palm Springs (Max Barbakow, 2020): I'm a slut for time travel and when I saw Andy Samberg was in this I jumped in! I wasn't disappointed. It's a perfect sci-fi comedy

The Village (M. Night Shyamalan, 2004): I didn't think this was particularly great but it made for a pleasant hour or two

Really enjoyed

Beyond the Black Rainbow (Panos Cosmatos, 2010): The first film from the director of Mandy is aesthetically perfect

Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (Terence Dixon, 1970): In this short documentary James Baldwin finds himself in conflict with white British filmmakers. He is, as usual, wonderful

The Collector (Koleksiyoncu, Pelin Esmer, 2002): This is a documentary about the director's fascinating uncle who hoards many things in his small Istanbul flat. Highly recommended

You're Sleeping Nicole (Tu dors Nicole, Stéphane Lafleur, 2014): A coming-of-age story that is sometimes sad, sometimes very funny, and has the right vibe for a long summer

Lessons of Darkness (Lektionen in Finsternis, Werner Herzog, 1992): A documentary with barely any commentary, just images of the aftermath of the Gulf War

Synchronic (Aaron Moorhead & Justin Benson, 2019): Maybe I was a bit disappointed by this follow-up to Resolution and The Endless? It's very good, but I expected something amazing

Dead Pigs (海上浮城, Cathy Yan, 2018): I watched this because I was intrigued, having seen Birds of Prey, and I'm pleased to say that Cathy Yan's debut is infinitely better. Had a great time watching this

Favourites of the month

Beginning (Დასაწყისი, Dea Kulumbegashvili, 2020): Not sure what I can say about this film to do it justice. It's very sad, very masteful. Hard to believe it is the director's first feature

Another Year (Еще один год, Oksana Bychkova, 2014): This month's film that made me cry! Films never do but this one had Take This Waltz vibes and it was unbelievably sad. Of course I loved it

In February I also rewatched Upstream Color (loved it a little less this time), Boy and Heavenly Creatures (still love them just as much). I also took pains to spend more time reading and less time watching stuff. I'm happy to watch 15-20 films a month so I'll try and keep going like that in March!

[rpsocsandcanonohmy]

Cordell shuddered just thinking about the poor quality drink he'd been forced to endure lately. Hopefully this Prohibition stuff wouldn't last too long.

Cordell wasn't much of a wine drinker but he wasn't going to say no to whatever Esmer had to offer. It would be rude and, honestly, he needed a drink. "I'm so glad you finally decided to ask me to coffee...."

[Immortal!Cordell]

Living and dying over and over again wouldn't be so bad if he had someone to share it with. But there would never be anyone like that. As far as Cordell knew, he was the only one. Not that he ever let himself get close enough to someone to find out if they were also immortal or not. Getting close, making connections.... It was too risky. They all died on him, in the end.

He was a drifter, doomed to wander the earth with no person or place to call home.

Or, at least, that's what he thought.

Esmer was a faerie. Or maybe a half-faerie? Maybe something different completely, he didn't really know. But he couldn't die. So that was fun. He'd never really gotten any bigger or older looking since his mid-twenties, which was also great fun all the time.

He had been around for... for a long time. Sure, he knew other beings that were around as long (some longer), but he'd never felt like he belonged, between existing relationships or simple incompatability.

Then he started to notice the cute man. Beautiful eyes, tall, handsome. Warm. He almost said hello, almost got involved. But that was a dangerous path that only ever lead to hurt. But then he saw him again, about 50 years later. The same. But surely it was a descendent. It was unusual, though, to look so much like him.

Then he kept seeing him, dozens of years apart.

Eventually, nearly a century after first glimpsing him, Esmer spotted him again. It had to be the same man. It had to be.

Esmer worked up the courage to approach.

"...I've wanted to ask since 1823 but would you get a coffee with me?"

Might as well let the man dismiss him as crazy right up front.

[moonraccoon-exe]

Hi Moon! c: How are you? It's been a little while! I'm a little further in Ni No Kuni (in a volcano!), and have been watching lots of baking videos (especially the beautiful cake decorating ones). What have you been up to? I hope you're having a lovely summer so far!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSPSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

IRIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ.｡ｏ♡

*TACKLE-HUGS YOU*

IRIDAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE MAH BBY FLOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FLOUR IT U!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT U IT MY BUDDY IRIDAE HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ZOMG IT’S BEEN A WHILE I’VE MISSED YOU I THINK  ABOUT U WHEN I WRITE IGGY AND THE BEAST SOMETIMES WHICH I HAVEN’T DONE IN A COUPLE DAYS I’’M SORRY OMG I FAILED OTL BUT I’M FOR SURE WORKING ON IT ALSO WHENEVER I SEE SOMETHING NI NO KUNI RELATED I’M LIKE AYE MY FRIEND FLOUR IS PLAYING IT AND I’M HYPED ABOUT IT AKLSDJ FLKDGJH LFKAJ GLKDJ

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

FLOUR IT’S YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! HEWWO!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DROPPING BY, YOU’VE MADE ME SMILE LOTSA! ( ´ ▽ ` )♡

Lemme add a keep reading real fast!

IT’S BEEN A WHILE INDEED!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN’T FEEL IT BUT I’M VIRTUALLY SQUEEZE-HUGGING YOU MY FRIEND, HELLO!!!! <3

I’m doing okay!! I’ve had a couple moments of feeling down in the dumps, but that’s okay, it happens to everyone! So it’s been just a matter of not being harsh with myself and standing back up. It’s been calm and tiring even though I’m not doing anything other than be home, which is a bit puzzling, but I’m feeling fine!!

HOW ABOUT U. HOW ARE U MY FRIEND. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN. ARE U HAPPEH. 

HOHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! NI NO KUNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DID YOU SEE THERE’S GOING TO BE A NI NO KUNI MOVIE!? AKLSJDFG OMG I STILL WISH I COULD PLAY THE GAME AAHHH ;A; There’s no PS4 version, and I suffered because they announced it for Switch AND I DON’T HAVE A SWITCH OTL

WHICH MAKES IT MORE EXCITING WHEN YOU TELL ME OF YOUR PROGRESS THERE!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH, FLOUR THE GAME IS SO BEAUTIFUL, I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE ENJOYING OF IT AND ITS COLORS AND ALL ITS FANTASY THINGS!!! <3

A VOLCANO!?!? AKSLJDFDLGKJHLAKDFJADLKGJDALK THAT’S AMAZING! Volcano levels are GREAT! I think you did tell me last time that you were in a volcano, or heading there? I remember volcano! But you’ve progressed ever since, that’s AWESOME! Is the volcano level exciting? BETCHA IT IS :D

BAKING VIDEOS, HEKK YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! \O/

It’s sO GOOD to know you’ve been enjoying of that, Flour, especially with how much you enjoy baking stuff!! CAKE DECORATING VIDEOS!? I don’t bake and even I enjoy those videos, they’re always so much fun to watch and I’m always left going WOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH at the wonders they make! IT’S ART, ISN’T IT? I LOVE IT SO M UCH, they make it look so easy, and the results are always SO M ESMERIZING LIKE HOW DO THEY DO THAAAAAAAAT

Hek yeh for cake decorating videos, pal! YOU ENJOY OF GAMING AND CAKES <3

Aaah, I haven’t been up to much, really! Doing my daily nothing at home, having no luck at working, and just waiting until the date to sign into the school I applied for earlier this year. So in the meanwhile it’s me, my writing, my doggo, and moping around because I’m tired for no reason askldjgha. But I’m doing okay!! Thank you lots for asking!! :D

Summer is going great, I think! It was HORRIBLE at first because of the weather, it was far too hot, but now I’ve got gentle nice rain and some cloudy days so that’s perfect to me, and it’s been calm. Not much out of routine, really, so I can’t say it’s especially good, but that means it’s not particularly bad either! :3

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW HAPPY SEEING YOU IN MY INBOX MADE ME!!!!!!! It’s always such a joy when you drop by to say hello,  and a joy to get to reply to you!

You always carry with yourself such a beautiful aura and light. You feel so light and fresh, it’s so refreshing and I don’t know how to word it. Thank you for sharing a bit of that with me :3

Hoping you’ve been doing FANTASTIC, Flour!! LOTSA HUGS FOR YOU! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ

[jess-oh]

Reflection

honestly, today was a really good day.

i just wish i brought my camera to capture all the moments.

i woke up this morning with more than enough time to get ready. but, i was feeling kind of lazy and was tempted to just skip out on church cause why not. but i decided to go anyway.

before service is always kind of awkward bc i feel like people are already in their own groups and im just an outsider but surprisingly, i didn’t feel that today. with anyone. i felt totally fine saying, “hello!” or just speaking to anyone like a casual friend. and having that fear gone was honestly so refreshing. i played with Jed and he enjoyed my company and Hannah Ahn gave me my Pill-o-Pal from Lois! I was kinda disappointed bc idk if i’ll have enough room to pack it but...we’ll see i guess! maybe i’ll stuff it in my backpack along with my ukulele. 

anyway, i went to sit for service and although i was alone and did feel a little bad at first, judy soon came to sit next to me and i was really glad that she did. a part of me still wondered if she only did so out of pity but i later realized that she genuinely does enjoy my company and for that, i am beyond grateful. p. billy gave an AMAZING sermon once more and hit us with a truth spell. honestly, it was a little boring at first bc it felt more like a lecture but once he got passionate, MAN, he was on a roll. I think learning about the importance and value of community has really given me a heart to invest into Lakeview. I previously wrote about how I felt that God wanted me to begin a spiritual movement within Lakeview and that was just solidified even more so today. I was reluctant at first bc the task seemed so daunting and I knew that Lakeview was my Nehemiah but man, being home and just freely praising the Lord was so refreshing... and I really loved that honesty and genuineness. during our last bit of worship, i decided to get down on my knees, a task to which i’ve been self conscious about performing for a while. but i did it. and i loved it. bc it really was just about God and me and not about how anyone else saw or perceived me. i was having my time with Him and that’s all that mattered and it was really nice. and I really want to be able to freely do this once I go back to Lakeview too. Even when the lights are on and I’m in a pew, I want to be able to freely get down on my knees and pray because it feels right to me. And if someone judges me, who cares! Maybe they secretly want to do the same but are too nervous. If so, I want to influence them through my love and passion for you, Lord. Please, use me. Let your will be done. Not caring about how others perceived me today....it was the happiest I had ever been in a long while. After service ended too, people were genuinely happy to see me and I felt the same to them. I danced with Grace An, I expressed my joy when I saw Sarah Chong and all my conversations... just felt into place. And I felt even better when Grace An decided to switch seats and come next to me after the meet and greet.

After service we went out to a class outing and although I didn’t stay for long, I still had a really blessed experience. Just hearing about Lily’s mission trip to Thailand and Grace An’s recount of staffing at the eHigh retreat were really great to hear. I’m honestly so happy to hear that they’ve grown and learned so much.

I think a big reason why today went so well is because I really wanted to know and understand other people. It wasn’t about me at all. All my attention was on them. I didn’t ask Lily out of expectation or obligation. I asked because I really wanted to know.

Finally, I met up with Alexis after service and although I was late, I discovered that he was late too. And I think just being on that joyous high rolled over into our hangout. I did feel nervous and rushed at times but overall, we had a really great time just talking and catching up for hours and hours. I especially felt good when he told me that no one liked PAL anymore but how Lauren Gullion stood up for me and said that the only reason it exists is because I made it a thing. In this context, it sounds like I started the complaining but how Alexis explained made it seem like she called the PALs complaining out on it and gave me credit for creating it in the first place. And to that, I felt honored and touched because my legacy lived on. I know Hazel still remembers me and I know Mya and Nawal still love me but ahh, man. I’m just glad that I am remembered at all. For what I did and the work that I put into it. I know I could’ve done a lot better and invested more into PAL than I did. I do remember feeling salty toward Esmer bc she was totally trying to overstep me but honestly, she wasn’t always wrong. We did need more events and Mr. Garrett wasn’t making that happen. We had to take matters into our own hands. I was stretched pretty thin in between different clubs, yearbook, church, and my job but, as President, I do think I could’ve done more. I really didn’t want it to just be a title. I was willing to put in the work and effort. I can’t change the past but I can do better in the future and at least pass some advice onto the next President and keep him/her in check. Check ya self before ya wreck ya self.

[jack-of-ash]

Esmer shrugs. "I don't know either. Maybe it was just the tarot stuff."

He opens the door and greets the young handsome owner in rapid fire Romanian, giving him a gentle hug. The owner says a few other things, blushing and glancing furtively at Dani, and Esmer laughs softly.

"he wants to know how I came to know a goddess of beauty," he translates.

Gil cleared his throat. “Actually, it might be better if you stayed on for this case. No one on my team, or even my precint as far as I know, knows anything about these cards. We’re likely going to need your help if we’re gonna catch this guy.”

Malcolm squeezed lightly. “If you want to help, fo course. Totally up to you.”

[irate-iguana]

Wesley’s arc is not a glow up, it is a tragedy! When he’s at his lowest, he puts on a Angel impersonation hyper-masculine facade as a defence mechanism, repressing all the vulnerability and personality quirks that he was shamed for growing up. While in s1 this is treated as comedy, in s3 he performs successfully enough to be convincing, but he ends up isolated, depressed, and losing his grip on reality. He can’t get help or rebuild his relationships because of his fear of displaying “unmanly” vulnerability. His fighting skills, which have steadily been improving as he gains confidence in his abilities, instead seem to advance because he stops caring about his own safety, and in the end it gets him killed. Wesley is not a role model, he is a cautionary tale.

[irate-iguana]

Where did you read the Odyssey and/or the Iliad? I want to read both but it’s a little overwhelming cause I’ve heard there are a lot of translations and I don’t know where to start. My library has them but I don’t know how to know if the translations are good

Hi! I totally get feeling overwhelmed by the number of translations, it’s something I’ve experienced myself. Different translations are going to prioritize different things. Your library will likely have lots of options, so I suggest deciding on your preferences. Do you want something that sticks as close as possible to the original Greek, or something less convoluted to read? Do you want a translation that mimics the originals by writing in verse/semi-verse, or do you want a prose translation? That being said, here are my suggestions:

The Odyssey:

While not quite as important to Ancient Greek culture as the Iliad, I think that the Odyssey is a better place to start if you’re not used to epic poetry. This is because its structure is a bit closer to a modern narrative, and it’s slightly lighter on the names and lore. It’s also my favourite of the epics! I recommend starting with Emily Wilson’s translation of the Odyssey. It’s written in accessible language and isn’t overly bloated. Wilson wrote it in iambic pentameter to give it a similar feel to the dactylic hexameter of the original. It also comes with an excellent introduction and some very helpful resources. It’s not the closest translation to the original text, being somewhat simplified due to metre constraints, so if that’s important to you, I’d suggest Fagles or Lombardo.

The Iliad:

Emily Wilson has a translation of the Iliad, too, but I admit that I haven’t read it yet (it’s quite new). As a result, I can neither recommend nor discourage you from reading it. Robert Fagles’ translation of the Iliad is probably my top suggestion. It’s in pseudo-verse, meaning that it captures the feel of the original while having the flexibility to stick more closely to the original text. The writing isn’t overly convoluted, and it flows.

Hope that helps! Other people, please feel free to chime in with your favourite translations — I’m far from an expert!

[irate-iguana]

Reasons That My Cat, Charles, Would Make a Better Monarch Than The Current King Charles

Today I will be explaining why my cat Charlie would make a better king than the current guy.

- He’s also a grumpy old man named Charles but unlike the current king, he has never had a single scandal hit the newspapers

- I mean just look at him. Which Charles would you rather have on your money?

- You just know that revenue from Buckingham Palace tourism and merch sales would go up if this guy was the head of state. And the UK desperately needs the money

- His ancestors have never enslaved people and his family bears no responsibility for the atrocities that continue to be committed due to British imperialism and colonialism. Charlie himself has never made a racist comment

- Really the king is just a figurehead and Charlie is very capable of standing around and looking nice for the cameras (just not in the above photo). Personally I think having my cat in charge will help to highlight the absurdity of having a monarchy in 2022

[liaswritesrobots]

More sims stuff

Leozack has walked in on Deathsaurus using the bathroom (embarrassing both of them), Hellbat tried to hug Leozack and also hits on the maid sometimes, Esmeral and Deathsaurus just randomly blow each other kisses a lot (it's adorable) and anytime they're around each other the chat box says "suggestive conversation", Leozack is learning to play the guitar, and Lyzack is surprisingly good at fishing