#i used to hate when i had to post filler bc of pacing reasons

[reinemichele]

Also... I decided not to put this in the new cat post, both bc I didn't want it to get long and I decided to leave the reblogs on it bc the pictures are cute, and I didn't want This portion to be reblogged. I know a lot of people feel the same way I do, and that's a great thing, but I don't... want a lot of attention on my posts or blogs. The trauma, etc. So I don't want this to escape containment but still want to talk about it, and am turning reblogs off. Like, this is a journal entry that I'm letting people see at a sleepover, not a speech I've prepared for my public speech and debate class. You know?

So, that preamble out of the way: I feel like... a resigned frustration about people Still clinging to the myths that cats are cold, unloving, distant, only around humans for food, only tolerate us and think we're stupid, etc etc. Or express surprise when they see examples of cats being loving and affectionate. (I... don't want to talk about the stupid ass misogyny and bioessentialism being applied to cats, but that too)

Like, it really truly isn't difficult to befriend a cat and in turn receive their affection. All you have to do is 1) show them, consistently, that you are safe and don't pose a threat to them 2) go at their own pace and respect their boundaries/comfort zone (like, hold your hand out for them to sniff instead of petting them straight away; don't force them to cuddle just because you want to) 3) treat them with unconditional love, initiate moments of affection occasionally instead of waiting for them to initiate each time (like, call them over, talk/meow/sing to them, get out their favorite toys to play with, etc. Do things that convey that their love is reciprocated.) 4) try to understand and read their body language, and back off when they give warning signs like twitching tails or flattened ears 5) provide them with fresh food, water, litter boxes, a clean environment

These things are basically tweaks on the foundations of establishing a friendship with another human, obviously the last one aside. So, why do so many people have an issue with the idea of treating an animal like their an autonomous being whose personal space should be respected? (Rhetorical question). I know that this is the ND, struggles socially, just had a viral poll about not knowing how to make friends, website-- but generally speaking, the people who make comments about cats being mean and unloving aren't the people who make up this site's userbase. ND folks honestly tend to have a much easier time socializing with animals than humans, for a variety of reasons.

I personally hate being touched, so I never had to be taught about respecting a cat's space and boundaries. Part of that is taking the "do unto others" rule very literally and to heart, and part of that is that I don't want to make any other living creature feel the way I do when I'm touched without permission. It doesn't matter if that's a cat, or a bug, or another person. But there's lots of ways to be ND, and like I said, a variety of factors that contribute to us connecting with animals easily.

And I know it's a harsh thing to say, but if your cat is genuinely cold, distant, tolerates you, etc... it's most likely due to something you've done as their owner, not in the "inherent nature" of an entire species, especially a domesticated one. Maybe you make a lot of noise that scares them, maybe you use negative reinforcement (Does Not Work On Cats) like squirting with a water bottle. Maybe you yell at them. There's a lot of things that can make a cat feel afraid of you and fracture their trust in you. Maybe you force them to cuddle and hold them in place when they try to get away.

I think the idea that cats only like us for food stems in part from what I discussed briefly in that previous post, people who exclusively feed their cats dry food. Most dry foods, especially the cheaper ones, are full of fillers of vegetables and carbohydrates like wheat, which cats cannot digest. Cats are obligate carnivores that need to eat meat, and specifically the protein taurine, which is typically found in abundance in the heart of other animals. So feeding cats a diet of only dry food is like if your parents fed you potato chips for every meal. You'd eat a large quantity in an attempt to feel full, but your body would make it known that its needs aren't being met. So, cats fed only dry food cry for more food more often, wake their owners up at early hours and aggressively, get more persistent when their meal is 1 hour behind (like the jokes about daylight savings). People get automatic feeders, but that doesn't solve the nutrition deficit, so it doesn't solve the cat's "behavior" (cries for help! to the person responsible for their care!) and both the cat and owner become increasingly frustrated with each other. The desperate eating of more dry food to get the nutrition they need is the cause of a lot of the overweight cats you see, and can lead to hypertension, kidney disease, diabetes, depression, lethargy, apathy, chronic joint pain, difficulty jumping/exercising around the house which makes all the above issues more difficult to combat, etc.

Most people . Only feed their cats dry food because it's cheaper than buying wet food . And I Try to be understanding about like, poverty, the housing crisis, economic turmoil, price gouging, etc etc. But if you want a cat, you're committing to at least 10-18 years of providing for this animal. If you can't afford to actually provide for them and meet their needs, you need to, like, play a pet-raising sim instead of fucking up an animal's health in irreversible ways, or making them loyal to you out of fear. This animal is supposed to be your friend, supposed to trust you implicitly and have a mutual bond of unconditional love.

I've never had any difficulties making friends with cats; the only time a cat never became receptive to my company was one that had been in a very abusive household. Neighbors and family friends' cats have all quickly sought out my attention and pets/cuddles. My cats have all been affectionate, trusting, and receptive to my emotions/physical pain. I have enough examples to fill its own post, but trust me when I say that every day my cats show through consideration, companionship, body language, and seeking out pets/cuddles, that they love and trust me, and my family. (Actually, I had a cat that would pee in one of my abusive aunts shoes whenever she visited our house <3 That cat said "your vibes are rancid and you're not welcome here")

This post is already pretty long, so I'll wrap it up here. I just wish that more people would put in the effort to learn/understand cat's body language and meet cats halfway instead of expecting cats to act like dogs do. (AND . I wish people would apply the above listed steps to how they treat dogs . You should be respecting their personal space and showing them respect too, asshole!) If you know what to look for re: a cat's body language, you'll see that they're telling us in a myriad of ways how much they enjoy our company, respect us, love us, etc.

[cinnamonkittenz]

Rating the ninjago season based on what I’ve gathered from binging the show in 3 weeks while not paying attention 70% of the time

(Spoilers obviously)

Season 1 / Pilot: not often on TV but a very good introduction to the story, love the concept of the skeletons and Garmadon being a knock off Hades, I wish they continued with that instead of the snakes, sadly kinda too fast paced but hey it’s supposed to be a movie I guess, 9/10

Season 2: what my local kids channel played for 5 years on loop, a classic but I’m tired of it bc I’ve seen it too often, has a lot of plot holes and the snakes are too goofy at times for my taste, terrible animation in comparison to the newer seasons, 5/10

Season 3: not as good as I remember it to be but their outfits slap, we finally get to meet PIXAL our queen, the trip to space was kinda random and unnecessary, but the shock when Zane died tho???? 12 year old me was devastated, 8/10

Season 4: really interesting premise, I wish they had committed to Zane staying dead or at least staying away for longer tho, the tension is lost halfway through the season somehow, we need more Skylor content, 7/10

Season 5: Nya has powers now?? And oh it’s just the thing we need to defeat the ghosts???? And airjitzu????? Really?????? Great writing very wow, but Cole being turned into a ghost had me shook so that’s really what saves this season for me, gonna have to subtract some points again tho bc Morro is yelling so much and so loud and it’s annoying, 5.5/10

Season 6: I like the idea of the evil dschinn in a bottle but the rest?? Dschinnjago (how tf is it even spelled)?? What the fuck where’s the creativity, and I hate how literally no one gets character development besides Jay and Nya, literally everyone else had no personality and then gets sucked into that sword, if you’re a jaya stan good for you but this season was so boring to me, 4/10

Season 7: okay this is a hot take bc apparently people kinda like this season and maybe it’s bc I paid even less attention than usual but it was so bad,,,,, snakes again? Can we come up with something different please? Yes the time blades are a cool concept but the rest?? And the character design of the villains is so bad, like seriously what the fuck, my eyes are bleeding, 2/10

Season 8: I was kind of sceptical when they suddenly started with that royal family stuff but Harumi,,, my beloved, the one and only girl boss, I think she’s the best villain of the entire show (yes her goal is kinda cheap but the reason for it and the way she behaves is just top tier villiany), the motorcycle gang is kinda fun as well, dad Cole has my whole heart, and the ending???? BRO?????? 9/10

Season 9: in retrospect it’s really just 4 gays raising a kid in the desert, gives me big mad max fury road vibes at least the aesthetic (i haven’t seen the movie lol), the junk yard baron guy and the faith plot are kinda cringe tho and the HTTYD scene with Kai?? They don’t even try to conceal that it’s a knock off, same camera angle and everything, the plot in ninjago city is like,,,, bro is this still a kids show?? This is straight up ‚a bunch of teens try to fight the fascistic regime in a post apocalyptic world‘, the whole season feels like a filler tho so 7.5/10

Season 10: that Lloyd / Garmadon fight really is something, have the creators forgotten they’re making a kids show??? Don’t remember much besides Harumi straight up dying and thinking that Skylor needs more screentime besides being a plot device, 7/10

Season 11: the beginning is veeeery slow which is kind of annoying and what happened to the plot with Aspheera?? Did I not pay attention again or....?? but the rest? Chefs kiss, love it, Akita my beloved,,,,, I didn’t see Zane as the emperor coming at first (although it’s pretty on the nose now that i think about it) but it’s so dark and so well written I love it,,, like I said a thousand times without the advisor guy and them not having to make it suitable for kids it could have been even better, the ending was so rushed tho and the conflicts were resolved way too easily, that’s why I have to subtract a point, 9/10

Season 12: this season could have used so much more superstar rocking jay content,,, seriously if you give Jay yet another season then fucking commit to it, the second half of the season is literally s6 all over again and I hate it, yes we get it jaya rules but please,,, give the other characters some screentime and development, the way the conflict with unagami is solved is,, questionable??? Like that’s not how it works bro, 6.5/10

Season 13: not at all what I expected it to be bc I had seen so much amazing stuff on here so I was pretty disappointed bc it didn’t feel like Cole’s season, the evil dad trope is overused so pls stop it, the uply (???) and their animated short slapped, we need to see more of Cole’s mom,,, pleeasseeeee, 7/10

Season 14: what the fuck?? Is going on???? Is this even a season??? What’s up with the western colonizers club????? I know it’s set up for s15 but I really didn’t like it esp the portrayal of indigenous people as savages (at least it has the vibe), 1/10

Season 15: listen I’m just not a fan of non human species in the lego world, the snakes were okay but these sea bitches look horrible, the evil son had a great voice actor tho, and the ending,,,,,, bro i still haven’t recovered, I never expected them to commit to something like that, 6.5/10

[bxebxee]

do you have any writing tips? i get frustrated with my writing because it never comes out the way i want it to and i wish i could write like you -sad anon

this got pretty long because i don’t want you to be sad!!!! but i want to preface this by saying that since i don’t know who you are or what your writing level is like, these are very general tips. please take everything with a grain of salt! the important thing is to avoid getting discouraged. Persist. Continue. Take breaks when you need to, but come back.

Big Disclaimer Part 2: again, these are generalized tips that i have found work for me. it’s an amalgamation of various things i’ve read or picked up in class or seen other writers do.

1- Read!! Reading a lot is essential to becoming a good writer, and it goes hand in hand with writing. But what I do recommend is that you read outside of fandom fics if you want to improve. This isn’t knocking fics At All. But we internalize a lot of the things that we read, and broadening your diet of literary consumption will be a help to you.

Don’t know where to start? I recommend starting with reading the morning paper. News articles are FASCINATING because they are designed primarily to convey information in the most efficient way possible. Most articles aren’t meant to tell an elaborate tale; they exist to simplify. The best news articles are short but informative.

And this is actually a very important and difficult skill, and in the storytelling context, knowing how to do this makes your writing powerful!!! so every morning I read the news (generally nytimes, mother jones, the new yorker, some huff post stuff if it’s good…etc).

my favorite go-to books for literary inspiration are mostly classics, and i think i’ll do a separate book recommendation post if anyone’s interested. (lmk bc i won’t waste time if no one wants it LOL)

2- Know Your Mechanics! I get a little uneasy whenever I see people who are fic writers that complain about grammar because it’s like saying you’re a physics major that hates math. It doesn’t make sense!! Grammar and mechanics only serve to make your writing Better!! Grammar is your Friend!!!

It’s confusing and the rules may seem arbitrary at first, but I promise that having a good foundation in mechanics will only make your life better. There are TONS of references online, but I think the most accessible crash course in grammar comes from Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style.

I won’t ever agree with people who are needlessly rude about grammar and pride themselves on being embarrassingly nitpicky about it! Grammar is largely CONVENTION-based, meaning it’s a communal thing that changes over time based on the mutually agreed upon standard. And we have Seen grammar change in front of our eyes!!! HOWEVER!!! There’s a Big difference between purposeful bending of the conventions for rhetorical impact versus just Not Knowing.

3- Kind of continuing on from mechanics, one of the things that will stick with me from college is a professor telling me to Be Specific. I got a gross B- on a paper during freshman year, and when i went to the professor’s office hours to debate the grade, she, IN FRONT OF MY EYES, took her pen and circled every single spot where I was either equivocating or being wordy for no reason.

and then she told me (and i’m paraphrasing here) “we are all worse writers than we think we are” and i thought i had just ascended into heaven because no one in my entire life did what she did for me. She was very nice about it!!! And we talked for two hours which is WAY more than the office hour time slot!!

Anyway, from that and from a lot of practice, a “trick” i learned was to use the most specific noun possible in that given situation. And this is something we all do without really thinking about it, but once you start to conscious think about this, it’s going to change the way you approach description. When your noun is specific enough to say what you mean, you will need less adjectives and adverbs for filler.

Again, this is more of a stylistic thing than anything, but I personally try to avoid adjectives and adverbs that assign value to something from a narration perspective unless it’s being written from the POV of a character. and what i mean by that long nonsense i just wrote is best shown by example:

(a) Yoongi sits on a pretty, red chair chair next to a beautiful, warm fireplace.

Although there are Lots of adjectives here, this sentence is actually pretty vague!!! we know yoongi is sitting on a red chair next to a fireplace that we are assuming is lit because it’s warm, but what purpose do the words “pretty” and “beautiful” have in this context? what do they mean? and i can’t really answer that, so “pretty and “beautiful” are empty descriptors that aren’t doing much except taking space.

to correct for that hideous sentence above, i would write something like:

(b) Yoongi sits on the red rocking chair he made for you last summer. The chair creaks ominously from his weight, confirming your prior statement that the chair was more for show than for actual use. The electric fireplace is warm enough to emanate heat towards his frozen form, and despite looking like someone had taken a bat to the exterior, the fireplace is the best thing he’s seen all day.

This is an extreme example to show Contrast. By eliminating “pretty” and “beautiful”, i am forced to insert context to make my writing Meaningful while avoiding empty descriptors.

I think this is something important to stress because when you know how to make your writing meaningful, you can then express what you want to write. You can SAY what you want to say in exactly the way you want to say it.

4- Stop comparing yourself. This is hard, and i am a giant hypocrite for saying this, but don’t compare yourself to other writers. Learn from others and enjoy what they produce, but do not compare yourself because that will make you Miserable.

Just like people learn at different paces, people write at different skill levels and paces too. Improving is interesting because sometimes it’ll feel like you’re stuck, but then overnight you’ll have improved in leaps and bounds. Sometimes you’ll feel like you’ve actually regressed, and this is normal.

The important thing is to keep at it.