#for small creatures such as we

[metatheatre]

"Do you know Janis Joplin?" the driver asked.

Yes, of course, we said.

"That is what I like about America. In Sierra Leone, each village has its own songs. Here, everybody knows the same ones. Do you sing?"

I'm nasal and rhythmless. Jon less so, but no, we said, we don't sing.

"You must sing together!" The driver was emphatic, as though our marriage was lacking something as basic as communication or sex.

We're really terrible singers, we explained.

"It's no excuse," he insisted. "You still must sing. Any song, just sing! A-B-C-D..."

A beat passed. Jon and I acquiesced: "E-F-G?"

We continued from H, the three of us singing into the night, the car careening down Ninth Street. We made it to Z, miraculously alive, and invigorated.

"Once a week, you must sing together," the driver said. "Be playful and you will stay united."

We reached the restaurant, left the car, and asked each other, did that really happen? If I were a believer I would have thought this was divine intervention. But since I'm not, I think it was a very kind, very wise, slightly nosy stranger who we were lucky to meet by chance.

My parents raised me to see love as holy, and Jon and I have always thought of our love as a kind of religion. Not supernatural or preordained but something to trust in, something to honor, something to cherish - and not to take for granted.

Like any religion, our love has its hallowed origin story (the steamy night our friendship finally turned romantic) and annual holidays (the anniversaries of that first night, of the day we decided to be exclusive, of our wedding) and those occasional, rapturous moments of transcendence. But we'd been missing another crucial element: a weekly sacrament, a regular reaffirmation of the devotion and joy at the core of what we'd built together. The thing you are obliged to do regularly, at an appointed time, to remind you of your values even when you are grouchy, busy, or annoyed. Even when you really don't feel like it. And this cab driver, whose name I desperately wish I had gotten, gave us that.

A lot has changed since that cab ride. . . . Yet the alphabet song is immutable. We've sung it every weekend, almost always on Saturday morning, usually upon our first eye contact of the day. We take a deep breath and hold it a moment, a kind of signal, and then begin. We sing the alphabet when we're crazy in love, when we're mad at each other, when we're rushing to be somewhere. When we're apart, we sing it over the phone. . . .

The alphabet song, particularly, would not be the right thing for everyone. It’s incredibly silly. Almost too silly. But over the five years since that cab ride, it’s occurred to me that that’s kind of the point. It’s the silliness that brings down one’s defenses, that creates the bond, that makes it special, that makes you feel vulnerable. That is what’s essential to being part of anything bigger than yourself, like a marriage, or our whole wide universe.

-- Sasha Sagan, For Small Creatures Such As We

[worldanvil]

Solo Journaling RPGs

What are Solo RPGs? Janet sat down with game designer Anna Blackwell to discuss common elements of these fun journaling games, and how they can be a great way to keep playing - even when your gaming group's schedules are a nightmare.

[spaceandfluff]

Don’t know if anyone has heard of it yet, but about 2 weeks ago the Kickstarter for the solo sci-fi tabletop game For Small Creatures Such As We released a little racing “minigame” as part of possible character backgrounds! It’s a space race with 12 competitors including you and a potential rival all trying to win the Galactic Cup! I’m gonna do a few posts that’ll detail bits of the race, plus I really wanna do something to try it out and share the fun! If you wanna know more about FACSAW, I’ve linked the Kickstarter page. Even though it ended quite a while ago, I recommend you keep an eye for it once it fully comes out for public sale!

[vmkhoneyy]

“People are inherently terrible” no!!! Have you ever seen a child wait for their friend while they tie their shoelaces? Have you ever known someone who would bring hurt squirrels and rabbits and mice to the nearest vet just so it doesn’t suffer? Have you seen someone grieve? Have you ever read something that hit your heart like a freight train? Have you looked at the stars and felt an unexplainable joy? Have you ever baked bread? Have you shared a meal with a friend? Have you not seen it? All the love? All the good? I know it’s hard to see sometimes, I know there’s pain everywhere. But look, there’s a child helping another up after a hard fall. Look, there’s someone giving their umbrella to a stranger. Look, there’s someone admiring the spring flowers. Look, there’s good, there’s good, there’s good. Look!!!!

[wysteria-clad]

Emi:

It's the equivalent of dads shaving their face, and their babies seeing it for the first time, freaking out and crying.

[fyllophobia]

[owlsie-hoot]

The Repulse came under enemy attack. She's gone down off the coast of Malaya.... // Audrey Hall's journey

[myfandomistingling]

October has been very giving...

[hellostranger1961]

shots of skeldale house from channel 5's all creatures great and small, from production designer jacqueline smith

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 305

So. Uh. Danny feels like laughing hysterically, because? Ghostwriter was doing a thing, and one of Pandora’s curses escaped and erm, well, now the six of them are in a whole other dimension. At least this place has a lot of abandoned warehouses but still. And well, he guesses he’s no longer the only ‘monster’ now? 

But seriously they all need to find a way back home sooner rather than later, even if they might now be stuck in this world… Fuck.

[stubz]

The younglings played. The younglings read. The younglings talked. The younglings laughed. The younglings paused as they noticed their teachers watching them.

Not their usual mindful gaze, not a glance, not a watch to let them know they are being watched...a different kind of watch.

It was not unsettling. It did not frighten the herbivores. It did not threaten the carnivores. It did not alert the omnivores.

It was a watch that was familiar in a way. Different but familiar.

"Stop staring at us!" they cried

"We're not staring. We're thinking." they replied back, their gaze deepening.

"Well stop thinking at us." the boldest ones said

"Your still staring." the smartest ones said

"What are you thinking about?" the curious ones said.

"Your so small."

"..." "..." "..."

"WE AREN'T SMALL!" the younglings protested. The oldest most offended. The middle most annoyed. The youngest most loud.

"We don't mean your size." one started.

"We mean you're so young." the other finished.

"I'm 8 years old!" "I'm 5!" "I'm 3 and a half!"

"And you have so much to experience." they smile

"You still have to experience taking the shuttle by yourself." they grin to the eldest ones.

"You still have to experience losing your first tooth." they beam to the middle ones.

"You still have to experience your first playdate." they whisper to the youngest.

The younglings pout and huff. The younglings protest being small. The younglings, the smartest ones, figure out what's so familiar with the watch.

It was the same watch they got from their parents. It was the same watch they got from when they told them about the new friend they made. It was the same watch they got when they learned how to make a snack by themselves. It was the same watch they got when they learned something new and exciting.

It was the same watch they would see from their teachers for days to come.

[bowtiesarecool11]

"North pole veterinary service for wounded reindeer, how can I help"

I love Tristan so much

[starry-on-ao3]

All Creatures Great And Small (2020-) (1x7) The Night Before Christmas

"What's his name?" "Bob." "And has Bob been eating something he shouldn't?" "Mistletoe"

[titipounamu]

chocolate tube slime/Stemonitis sp • aotearoa

[rottmnt-residuum]

Just wanna say that me and my friend have been gushing over this comic like crazy

Quick question tho

How do you guys not get burnt out making this? It's been running for years now, most comics I've read in fandoms have been cancelled bc the author became burnt out or not interested.

I love this comic so so much it gives me so much serotonin (and sadness /pos) I love it so much

i mean. it's because there's two of us, really.

a lot of residuum's momentum comes from mutual enthusiasm, and when one kind of... loses it, the other's just drags us along until it's back. and regardless of enthusiasm, we don't force ourselves to work on it if we can't.

on residuums part itself, it helps a lot that the story is entirely outlined. we don't really have to think that hard about what comes next because it's just one foot in front of the other at this point. the starts and stops you see in the story's schedule comes from executive dysfunction lmao

[itssoinevitable]

Audrey watching Siegfried & baby Jimmy All Creatures Great & Small (2020) Season 5, Episode 1