#i'm just so blah about what's happening and if it's not fixed i'm gonna die inside.

[theminecraftbox]

to be honest, I think fandom exaggerating dream's analytical and intelligent abilities dream's plan is literally so stupid, like, many refer to it as "ignoring feelings for the sake of strict calculation, the end justifies the means blah blah blah a smart, logical plan that will nevertheless lead to psychological dissatisfaction", but the plan is literally the most ill-conceived thing I ever heard, like, that's not even a plan?? they're testing the revival book in hopes that one day it will somehow help them achieve immortality and restart the server - that's just ridiculous and I also have no idea how dream expects that restarting the server will solve his/their/servers problems, like how is that supposed to work? and this “if we are immortal, no one will have to suffer and we can live forever and know and blah blah blah” such naive crap, honestly I could ask a thousand probing questions or give a thousand reasons why this plan wouldn't work in any reality, and I doubt dream wouldn't have asked these questions in the months they've been running their tests; the plan is literally just his feelings: afraid to die → need immortality, lost everything and it's killing me → need a restart and so on - there's no analysis behind this shit

I literally find it strange not the fact that punz allows this, although the plan harms dream, but the fact that he really believes in this plan and follows it, like, come on, punz is +- fine, there is no trauma that can overshadow his ability to think, why is he indulging in this stupid idea?

strongly agree / agree / ambivalent / disagree / strongly disagree / don’t care whatsoever

I think you're conflating a bunch of things. Dream's plan is not the same as his methodology. His methodology is not the same as his motivations. Having emotional reasons for a plan is not the same thing as that plan being stupid. "lost everything and it's killing me → need a restart" isn't a description of a stupid plan, that's a description of an over-emotional motivation for a plan. Just because you disagree with what his goal was trying to achieve doesn't mean that the strategies he took to achieve that goal were stupid.

Like, take staged finale as an example. I can argue that it's overkill or a poorly considered goal to imprison himself in dangerous circumstances chiefly to achieve a) protecting his close ally b) getting the server off his back and c) getting a sick base. But I won't claim that the steps he took to set up and execute staged finale aren't evidence of someone successfully using strategic thinking to accomplish his goals, which is generally what people are talking about when invoking strategist!Dream.

Dream expecting that his plan will fix his emotional problems isn't stupid in that it's a failure of logic. It's stupid in that it's a failure in identifying that his problems are actually emotional. Which gets covered pretty handily in the genuine finale! Tommy didn't say "your plan is stupid because you neglected to consider these reasons that curing death won't actually work." Instead, Tommy said, "your plan is stupid because you're failing to see that you're hurting people here and now and you could have the friends you want here and now if you just put down your damn book and make peace." which, I'm gonna be honest, also sounds a bit like naive crap to me.

Also, you're acting as if his plan is based simply on an unspecified fear of death when all signs point to it literally being a reaction to the existence of the revival book! Like, sure, when you phrase it like "hur dur maybe this magic book will fix my problems" it sounds pretty stupid. But what actually happened was more along the lines of "permadeath didn't exist on this server as a concept, now it does. revival didn't exist on this server as a concept, now it does. maybe one of these can be used to fix the other." Which is pretty damn straightforward to my eyes!

I really, truly don't see what the problem is with "plan fix death" when you literally have a necromancy book. (Like, logistically, not ethically or whatever.) It seems like the supernatural complications with the balance of life and death, whatever XD's deal is, the server reset, Foolish and the experiments upsetting the balance, all of that, came later (and lacks its conclusion for doylist reasons). but WHY the complaint that fixing death doesn't make sense????? that's like. thing numero uno when you have a damn revival book. sorry if I'm getting carried away but I've seen this argument before and it genuinely makes no sense to me. Reads the same to me as "if you have a hammer and some wood and nails why are you trying to build a table." maybe because I have the tools for the job?

Not to mention that even if we pretended that Dream's only motivation was trying to stop conflict, the plan "learn how to revive people" is still a really obvious solution! Make conflict not have permanent consequences? that's like. an easy mitigating solution.

Also, there's a more general conflation happening here between Dream's unwellness and a more general notion of stupidity. Which I also disagree with. His paranoid spiral led to him locking himself in a prison, but that doesn't mean it was stupid for him to conclude he needed protection, and that his allies needed protection.

The thing with Punz is a separate question, but it's one that I think Punz has answered handily himself: Punz wants knowledge and power, he says so outright, in simple language. He's not indulging a stupid idea: he's in cahoots with a guy who's brought him a ton of knowledge and power. The revive book is real, it's got real results, and it's shown Punz a glimpse of a world he clearly thinks is achievable: a world in which the supernatural shit has indeed been solved. And I don't see why you think he's silly to believe so, given the evidence he's seen with his own eyes.

[birdiesaves]

THE MARTIAN ( novel by andy weir ) change as necessary !

mankind reaching out to send people to another planet for the very first time and expand the horizons of humanity blah, blah, blah. 

i’m pretty much fucked. 

they got the parades and fame and love of the world, i got a firm handshake and a hot cup of coffee when i got home.

i would only be “in command” of the mission if i were the only remaining person.

what do you know? i’m in command.

it wasn’t your fault. you did what you had to do. 

in your position i would have done the same thing. 

it was a ridiculous sequence of events that led to me almost dying.

everyone thinks i’m dead. 

ok, i’ve had a good night’s sleep, and things don’t seem as hopeless as they did yesterday.

i won’t be able to whip something up with tinfoil and gum.

fear my botany powers!

but hey, time is the one thing i’ve got.

i wonder if they'll ever find out what really happened.

i’ll spare you the math. the answer is _________

bleh. i’m going to bed

my life depends on you

i played a lot of dungeons and dragons.

i have an idiotically dangerous plan 

i suppose i’ll think of something. or die.

the answer is: i don’t know.

all i accomplished today was thinking up a plan that’ll kill me

also, i have duct tape. 

after a search of everyone’s personal items i found my answer.

that was sarcasm, by the way.

this all sounds like a great idea with no chance of catastrophic failure.

do you have any idea the magnitude of shitstorm this is gonna be?

how come aquaman can control whales? they’re mammals! 

i expected it to be cold, but jesus christ!

now, on to my next task: sitting around with nothing to do for 12 hours.

i ask for a picture and i get the fonz?

the whole world’s been rooting for you. 

really looking forward to not dying. 

please watch your language.

sorry we left you behind, but we don't like you.

you're sort of a smart-ass.

your request for “anything, oh god anything but disco” is denied.

no. you’ll fuck it up and die.

i took it apart, found the problem, and fixed it.

i don’t see anything... i can hear it, but... it’s down here somewhere, but i don’t know where.

the subtle and refined “hurl my body at the wall” technique had some flaws. 

named after the greek goddess who traveled the heavens with the speed of wind. she's also the goddess of rainbows.

i'm not giving up. just planning for every outcome. it's what i do.

your poster outsold the rest of ours combined.

why are you such a nerd?

you should try to be more cool. wear dark glasses and a leather jacket. carry a switchblade.

you started my training by buying me a beer.

so now i have to do boring-ass experiments with test tubes and zzzzzzzzzz....

frankly, i suspect you're a super villain.

just once i'd like something to go to plan, ya know?

no? ok... what was that!? oh, nothing? ok...

for now i just want to go home.

there's always hope

are we just watching a tragedy play out?

you’ll survive this. i don't know how, but you will. 

i've defiled enough historical sites for now.

tomorrow night, i'll sink to an all new low!

tomorrow night, i'll be at rock bottom!

be a smart-ass to a guy seven levels above you. see how that works out.

i remember when you were shy

the attitude comes with the job

and by “enjoying” i mean “hating so much i want to kill people.”

there aren't many people who can say they've vandalized a three billion dollar spacecraft. but i'm one of them.

what's our role in all this? if something goes wrong, what can we do?

how do you come up with this shit?

i admit it's fatally dangerous, but consider this: i'd get to fly around like iron man.

i need you to come back in and make a bomb.

i knew that guy was a mad scientist!

i think we should just go with my iron man idea.

well if you won't let us then- wait... wait a minute... i'm looking at my shoulder patch and it turns out i'm the commander. 

give me a minute. you're the first person i've seen in ______.

i think about the sheer number of people who pulled together just to save my sorry ass, and i can barely comprehend it.

i represent progress, science, and the interplanetary future we’ve dreamed of for centuries. 

they did it because every human being has a basic instinct to help each other out. it might not seem that way sometimes, but it’s true.

yes, there are assholes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do. 

[aelaer]

I try not to get too invested with fiction, but the what...if finale makes me want to puke! I keep telling myself it's fiction, but it feels like an awful nightmare.

If it wasn't for Benedict's incredible acting, I would be done with marvel and Stephen Strange. (I'd just retreat into the beautiful world of fanfic.... which is what I'm gonna do)

Sorry for ranting, I just want to know more of your thoughts.

Ugh. I had a whole reply here, and my PC blue-screened. 2nd time it's done it in 2 weeks; I'm wondering if the poor thing's starting to die. Anyway, sorry it took me a while to get back to you, my RL crap, blah blah blah, energy, blah blah.

Anyway. My points in my original post were:

I was getting Marvel burnout in early 2022 but I figured it'd be revitalized with MoM

It wasn't and I was sorely disappointed with MoM the longer time passed between viewings.

I was also looking forward to Thor 4, and when that turned out to be a total joke, I stopped looking forward to Marvel stuff until I got proof from others that it was actually good stuff. GOTG 3 is the last film I watched since MoM and I haven't watched a full show since Hawkeye. So, yeah, I'm checked out of MCU and I live through fandom instead. I write my own stories and fix its and I worry less and less about post-Snap canon in fanfic.

What got me through that episode in particular were the wonderful Stephen fans at A Strange Server on Discord. We ranted together in the What If thread we had going and just commiserated in our disappointment regarding the episode and how it was presented. I love this community and it's a great place to be for a Stephen Strange fan.

(The community itself is filled with many types of shippers - CleaStrange, IronStrange, ScarletStrange, FrostStrange, as well as non-shippers such as myself, and generally speaking we try to discourage anti-behavior since everyone has their favorites, though naturally there was some snark against Wanda in MoM and Carter with this last What If episode since those were the characters pitted against him. Snark definitely happens from time to time. The only exception to this anti-rule is that there's really no tolerance towards AI art on the server since it's crafted from stolen material, and the artists present are not shy about pointing out this fact).

[misc-obeyme]

SO. I finally finally finished season four so I’m all caught up with the main story. I wanted to get through it before Nightbringer came out and I have done it.

I would like to begin by saying that I am in love with Thirteen. She's perfection.

I wasn’t sure about Raphael at first but he grew on me by the end. His enjoyment of Solomon’s cooking is concerning, but at least someone likes it??

I actively disliked Mephistopheles at first but he also grew on me by the end. Now I’d say I'm willing to give him a chance and I find him intriguing.

I still don’t feel like I know these characters well enough to write for them though. 😮‍💨 I need more content!

I have some OPINIONS but they’re spoilery so I’m gonna put them under the cut in case anybody wants to read them.

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH SIMEON I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW.

I mean, I already knew that he was human now so it’s not like I was surprised or anything. Even if I hadn’t encountered this truth by spending too much time in the fandom, it’s pretty easy to guess.

But I’m annoyed because it MAKES NO SENSE.

I really enjoyed season three and I loved the angels running the cafe, all of that was great. And I get that this happened because Simeon was already a human by that point, but there could have easily been a different reason for it.

This game isn’t exactly known for being consistent or even making sense most of the time, but this whole Simeon is a human thing feels even more haphazard than the usual stuff.

First, what even is the angel’s blessing? How does not having access to it make Simeon straight up human instead of just an angel without powers? Is he mortal now? Is he gonna start aging like a human would?

Second, Simeon saved MC and/or Lucifer’s life (depending on your choice iirc) by taking the Ring of Light. MC’s powers were so great that it was causing actual harm in the world that would only get worse. The Ring of Light fixed that without anyone having to die. Isn’t that more important than the fact that Simeon took it without permission? Is the Celestial Realm so weird about rules that they can’t see past them when it’s necessary?

I’m not exactly fond of the Celestial Realm in general. I know the brothers always seem to be like we miss it and oh yes what a lovely place and blah blah, but it sounds bonkers. They're stuck up, overly strict, and too fond of punishments that don’t fit the crime. I much prefer the Devildom where that sort of thing only really manifests as a leftover in Lucifer, at least in my opinion. (I mean, the punishment for skipping class at RAD is detention and while writing lines is pretty old school, Simeon's line was "I may smile all the time, but I'm scary when I'm angry! ♡" So you know.)

Third, Lucifer said that Simeon couldn’t go back to the Celestial Realm now. So does this mean they not only took away the angel’s blessing, but also straight up kicked him out? Or is it more like you just physically can’t get there without the blessing?

Fourth, Lucifer also suggests that Raphael is there to watch over Simeon. I find the motivations here questionable. If Raphael volunteered to be an exchange student for the express purpose of looking out for Simeon, that would make sense. Raphael seems to be genuinely fond of Simeon. So if the motivation was his own and he just wants to look out for his friend, that checks out. And it makes me like him more. But if it was more like the Celestial Realm (Michael??) being like, hey Raphael can you go watch that guy for us? Then I find it concerning.

I thought all of this might make some sense if Simeon is meant to fall completely at some point and become a demon, but no. That still makes no sense. Lucifer and his brothers fell after a major war, it wasn't like they gradually started going down or anything. And there is no mention of any other angels falling and becoming demons, so I don't know if it's even happened again.

I just don’t get where they’re going with this. Is MC supposed to help Simeon get his power back somehow? Because while I would like that to happen, it’s annoying that it had to happen in the first place. Especially since Simeon DID THE RIGHT THING.

I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO KNOW WHAT IS UP WITH THE REAPERS.

Thirteen is obviously still living in her cave, which is fine and all, but is she like one of many? It sounds like she is. And apparently they don't belong to any one realm, so are there reapers living in all the three worlds? Do they have some kind of leader? How many candles do each of them keep in their own caves? Like there are a lot of humans so there must be a pretty decent amount of reapers needed to keep track of all the deaths and what not. The existence of the brothers' candles also implies that they can in fact die, especially since that was the whole reason for going to the cave to begin with. But I'm confused about how that even happens. Like do demons just live a really really long time, but then at some point they age rapidly and fade away? Or is it more like at some point they just meet with a terrible accident or something?

I think the big issue for me personally with all of this is that I want EXPLANATIONS but this is not really an explanation sort of game. The focus really is on MC's relationships with the brothers and others, not really about how the Devildom/Celestial Realm/magic works.

But because I have so many questions, I have a tendency to want to fill in the missing information for myself. I could absolutely answer all these questions in fic form in a way that makes sense to me personally, you know? Do I have the time to do that, no not really, but do I very much want to? YES.

We'll see, maybe I'll do some more long form stories exploring some of this stuff. But I'll probably wait until after Nightbringer because with any luck they'll give us some answers! At the very least, they seem to be about to give us some Barbatos and Solomon backstory which is another thing that I HAVE MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT.

And don't even get me started on the whole student council joining nonsense, what even was all that about? A dark crevasse, really?

All I really want is for Barbatos to say he loves MC in the main story. Is that too much to ask?! You can leave all my other stuff unanswered if I can just have that. (Though it'd be really funny if that actually has happened and I just forgot about it. I wouldn't be surprised haha. But I can't remember him ever saying that or anything close to it in the main story.)

I just love him so much and I really thought he was going to say something about his feelings at the end, especially when you choose to say I love you to him, but he didn't. Even if you choose the other option, he doesn't. I want to both shake him and smother him with kisses.

Okay, okay, rant over. Clearly the brain rot is all consuming. I didn't even realize I had quite this much to say and I could keep going. Now I'm also greatly concerned for my own sanity.

But it's okay, it's about to get worse because I'm ready for Nightbringer! I can't believe it's coming out so soon! But there's no doubt in my mind that it's going to increase my obsession.

If you read this whole post, you are truly a lovely person and I appreciate you. Also if there are inaccuracies in what I've said because I forgot something or misinterpreted something, please let me know!

[mlobsters]

supernatural s8e1 we need to talk about kevin (w. jeremy carver)

new season, new me. *silent wish goes up for smaller sideburns*

of course they had to include "dick is coming" in the recap. we can't let the opportunity for a dick joke slip out of our hands

very xfiles

okay i threw this in lightroom real quick to make it less dark because what is going on here? it's very... strike a pose, for feral!dean. and the kids are like from a painting. it's very dramatic. maybe i will paint it some day.

well the infamous benny appears. i also didn't realize purgatory was gonna be a time jump like hell. read something not too long ago that was fairly evocative of the environment of purgatory so i was thinking some of the show happened there (though i suppose flashbacks are also a possibility).

lol i'm already upset, broad strokes know how this goes with their reunion emotionally.

this is so ridiculous. i was just complaining how i felt so blah with the end of s7. well here we go, let's hurt my feelings with brother conflict stress and i'm gonna be upset about it? make up your mind

okay so some fics i've read are like "sam didn't look for dean while he was in purgatory" but i did not pick up that for all intents and purposes, sam had no reason to assume he wasn't dead.

there's a lot going on in this scene. like the semi dodging the cas questions, how he got out, etc.

SAM Yeah. Yeah, I – you were gone... Dean. Cas was gone, Bobby was dead. I mean, Crowley even shipped off Kevin and Meg to parts unknown. DEAN So you just turned tail on the family business.

are you kidding me right now, dean? like he should carry on hunting because it's the family business??? i'll chalk this up to being mad and fucked up for being hunted for a year.

SAM Nothing says "family" quite like the whole family being dead. DEAN I wasn't dead. In fact, I was knee-deep in God's armpit killing monsters, which, I thought, is what we actually do. SAM Yes, Dean. And far as I knew, what we do is the thing that got every single member of my family killed. I had no one – no one. And for the first time in my life, I was completely alone. And, honestly, I-I didn't exactly have a roadmap. So, yeah, I-I fixed up the Impala, and I just... drove.

💔

DEAN After you looked for me. Did you look for me, Sam? [SAM looks away.] Good. That's good. Now, we – we... always told each other not to look for each other. That's smart. Good for you. Of course, we always ignored that because of our deep, abiding love for each other, but not this time, right, Sammy?

well i can see now why fics harp on this point. so i'm assuming sam thought dean was in heaven. would dean expect sam to try to get him back from there too? tucking 'deep and abiding love' into my pocket

okay right i've talked about this before too, how sam is always the fuckup begging for forgiveness and dean is the righteous man. and i'm tired of it! this thing with the voicemails from kevin tran is just... cruel. i don't like the point they're making.

real life, anyone in sam's situation would be a fucking mess. i still don't really think sam would flake on the phones with kevin like that.

whoa whole new desktop. so long untitled 1 and 2

oh we get urls now in the new web browser! and look at that, already an invalid web url http://www.searchtheweb/main missing your tld, friend 😔 1 out of 2, at least

lying about the dog in the car too. all right

okay, purgatory flashback after all. umm. what happens when you die in purgatory? respawn there? or is that the way to the big empty i've heard about

DEAN Hmm. So what was it, hmm? What could possibly make you stop just like that? A girl? Was there a girl? SAM The girl had nothing to do with it. DEAN There was a girl. SAM Yeah. There was. And then there wasn't. Any more questions?

*heavy sigh*

not getting through this episode tonight. reconvene tomorrow

[tealenko]

About the Tomb Raider 2 ending...

So, it's no news to anyone that I despise the RotTR ending because:

It didn't happen (no matter how much the canon wants to say it did)

*Spoiler alert* Jacob dies Thanos style along with the best ship that has ever existed.

Anyways, been working in this fic for a while now to fix that, but never got to the "how on Earth I'm gonna fix that final scene and make it fit in my fic" part of the problem.

Until today.

Today I slept 3 hours, went to work, chugged a can of generic energy drink and, in a 30 min break, planned the whole thing in one go. And the result is so AWESOME and I love it so much that I wanted to share my notes for this one with the 5 people that follow me for my TR fic.

Anyone that's here for art feel free to ignore me XDDDDD

Btw, spoiler alert for chapter 7 (I think this one will be the 7th, you never know for sure XD) of my Three Letters fic.

⬇️Here's my new TR2 Ending plan⬇️

New ending of RotTR

We begin in the Divine Source's chamber

Ana is about to shoot Jacob

Lara stops her

Please, please, please, idk how much it costs: ARROW TO THE KNEE XDDDD

Lara stands in front of Jacob to protect him: NO ONE IS DYING ON MY WATCH!

Ana enters in *evil injured character speech* mode -> “Another Croft doesn’t have to die for this” -> works both ways, for her and for Lara.

Lara warns her about the divine source

Konstantine paper/scroll showed in the prison escape scene: “only the worthy will be able to blah blah blah…”

She thinks that’s the reason some people lose their shit by becoming immortal and others, like Jacob, stay the same (except for the whole not dying thing, I mean). 

Ana goes “fuck it”.

Shoots Lara, on the arm or something.

Grabs the source

Lara tries to reach her but doesn’t make it in time.

Ana dies, in terrible suffering, and disappears Thanos style. HA! TAKE THAT SQUARE ENIX MUAHAHAHAHAHA

Lara catches the source before it falls to the ground.

Jacob goes to her.

The divine source switches its owner.

The source judges Lara as worthy and start to give her ownership -> aka last owner must pay the price and give back his years of immortality, *Pirates of the Caribbean 4* style.

Jacob falls by her side.

Jacob is ready to die

Lots of lights and flashes surrounding them: Raiders of the Lost Ark style!!

Part of Jacob speech

He’s glad to die

Now I must pay the price

Change Lara’s “You knew I’d destroy it” for “You knew I’d stop her/them”

All the deathless kneel and surround Lara/them

End of Jacob speech

In all my years…

I just wanted…

You already have…

+ I’m ready to die

And Lara is like: hell no.

Lara freaks out and destroys the source

Losing the option of immortality

Saving Jacob, who is now mortal too

And fluff, we're here for the fluff.

Maybe end it in a Lara mind speech about what just happened and why she chose Jacob above her main quest/mission/objective of proving his dad was right.

Aka: boy you got me helpleeeeeeesssss 🎶🎶

[waterforlorn]

day three. october 9th. 9:02am (it's crossed out a bunch of times)

we've been making slow progress with driving. i think nico doesn't like it, but he's too stubborn to tell me and thinks he's got to like .. do it for me cause he's the one taking me out on this ...trip or whatever. i don't mind slow progress, i always enjoyed long drives, i always felt free on the road - always moving with no end in sight. yeah, it's a pretty good feeling actually. i almost forgot how much i enjoyed it.

i'll ask him later if he wants me to drive for a while, but he said he has some place in mind for today, so i'm .. letting him. as for emotions and thoughts. doing pretty well. a little restless, i guess, but what else is new. it's been a bit rough, but i'm holding on. i think nico's helping even though he isn't doing anything specific. but with him i feel .. calmer. it almost feels like i can control the urge.

not forever, though. i can feel it scratching inside me, begging to be released. i'm not giving up, though. not for now, not for a while i hope. i know my resolve is gonna falter at some point, but i hope that by then we'll be away from people so i can't hurt anybody. actually.. right now would be okay. it's just us on this long-ass fucking road for miles. although... i dunno if letting go's gonna fix the issue, never really did that, did it?

i remember that little fuckwad carter in school thinking that his height gave him the right to push other kids around. other kids being me. the little boy who always sat alone and not ONCE got to unpack lunch in school cause my mom never fucking MADE any for me. she didn't even think about it, or what it meant for me in school. cause kids notice these things. a kid coming to school with bruises, no lunch and second-hand clothes? pfffht. fuck her. took me a few weeks to get vengeance on him, but ... yeah, i'd do it again. but the voice never quite shut up, not for long. he had to get stitches when i was done with him. he never dared fucking touching me again.

but the calm lasted for like what? a day? it wasn't even always me looking for trouble. it always found me regardless. kind of a little like now, only that i signed up for it this time. fuck, no idea why i'm thinking about all that shit, or writing it down even. nobody's business but mine.

guess i'm just tired of fighting it. i do miss the army. every. single. day. sure, camp's ... fine and i wouldn't do much different if i got a second chance, but army was simple. do or die. fucking sarge johnson saved my life, i wonder what happened to him. wonder if he ever looked for me to see if i stuck to his program. i did. i am. mostly. i try. i can't just drop a mission mid-way for meditation, or lunch - or training, but i AM trying my best. i don't think nico realizes how bad it's looking inside me. i'm not sure how to tell him.

i suppose part of me is still hoping i won't have to. i also don't want him to feel guilty. it wasn't HIS fault he triggered it. it's my fault for being unable to fucking control myself. which only shows in how i keep hoping one of the cars passing us stops - or for someone to stop us. cops. anybody. how badly i want one of them to challenge me so i can let go. fuck. i've been fine for so long. why the fuck am i so restless lately? nico helps, but i can't rely on him for every minute of the damn day.

ugh anyway. emotions, thoughts. blah.

emotions... i'm annoyed at myself. thoughts? we've left the interstate and nico said we're taking a detour. wonder what he's up to, but he won't say. we're gonna sleep in some motel in minnesota tonight. safe to say i'm curious. no doubt it's gonna be something sappy. but i'm kinda waiting for it.

[c-sand]

Tbh I'm a big jonerys fan and know if there was a romance between the characters GRRM would write it well, however, the way it happened and how it is happening on the show is p cringy and even I, a shipper, sometimes can't look at their interactions. The show just generally has pretty awful writing after the first few seasons :l

My feelings on got’s writing really goes with the wind. I know some people really despised season six, but it’s honestly one of my favorite seasons. There are definitely bumps in the road and the pace got sped up, but I don’t think we were at jet-packs yet, so I was fine on that end. But, there is also some god awful writing. Season seven, I think, was in general a mess. I don’t think the whole thing was, it’s just that the bad in it was SO. BAD. that it kind of becomes a brown spot on the rest of the apple. It makes the whole thing suffer. Beyond The Wall was one of the worst things I’ve ever watched on television. I even thought the walking and talking was weak, to be honest. 

It’s not really a secret that I do not like Jon and Dany’s relationship. [And by “do not like” I mostly mean “despise”]. But, I feel your pain in the sense that it really reallllllly sucks to watch something you ship be……….bad. I do think there’s something positive in being able to look at things you ship and how they’re going and be like, “…..This is a mess.” For instance, I ship Karen and Frank 4evs. I have an entire network blog dedicated to it. But, the last bit we ever are gonna get of them has left me so so annoyed, because it’s so cringy and awful to watch Frank once again push her life aside – it’s infuriating. And then there’s got – I ship Jon and Sansa and every time he cuts her off or begs for affirmation that’s she’s already given a million times I’m like, maybe you should give her some trust, you idiot. 

For Jon and Dany, I think the cringe is coming from multiple factors. The writing of their scenes, in general. The dialogue. It’s not good. It’s super cheesy. Kind of uncomfy. If it’s actually supposed to be truly romantic, than I have no clue what they’re doing in that writer’s room. The content of their dialogue. Her openness with him contrasted with the fact that he tells her absolutely nothing about himself. If they’re really supposed to be connecting, why don’t they actually have him connect with her in return? Maybe kiss her with his eyes closed or something.

I guess we’ll have a better idea of how much better GRRM will write it once we see how the show plays out, because as I said, I do not like them. I love Emilia. I love Kit. I think they’re both good actors. Neither one the strongest on the show [*coooooooooughs that’s alfie*] but good. I truly believe Emilia’s doing a good job at showing us Dany’s in love – I said that yesterday, I think. I watch her interacting with Jon and I believe that she’s head over heels for him. But, I just do not get that in return from Kit – who I believe can play this emotion. Who I’ve seen play this emotion on this same show. So, until proven otherwise I have to just think that this is a long con from Jon, which is a lame thing to say to you, because you do ship them. But, because nothing they’re giving me feels authentic otherwise. That it feels this way, because it’s supposed to feel this way. That George would write it just as unbalanced and awkward and off brand Aladdin, as what we’re getting, because we’re getting what he wants. That Dany’s all in and Jon’s thinking about the taxes he forgot to file or something. 

If it’s not true……………………..I still don’t think I’ll accept that, because I find the HTTYD fanfic I’m watching to be quite painful. But, if it isn’t true and this really is supposed to be a great true love [I….just…can’t…with…that, but if it is], than I truly do hope for you that GRRM writes it so much better than what they’re putting on screen. That you and the rest of the readers who want them together have crafted two characters in your minds who actually have some kind of romantic chemistry, because it’s reading and imagination and people get to do that – instead of the complete non-chemistry ‘romance’ between Dany and the emotionless cardboard cutout she’s making out with, that we’re unfortunately suffering through on this show. And that you actually get to enjoy this ship you ship, instead of watching with a grimace, because it’s playing out so lame.

[cityoftheangelllls]

Hotel Transylvania 4 Predictions!!

Because I'm bored and sick of waiting for it.

- When Drac realizes his friends have turned into humans he's going to instantly recognize all of them except for Griffin. Like, I imagine that when he gets to Griffin he's going to be super confused and ask who he is, and Griffin is going to look Drac dead straight in the eye with a resting bitch face and not saying a single word as he removes his glasses and holds them up. Then Drac would realize it's him.

- Mavis is going to be semi-immune to the Monsterfication Ray. I mean, what else would explain that ear she gets in one of the trailers, and, in all the other scenes I've seen with her that appear in the trailers and which must come afterward, she's fine?

- Mavis is going to run up to her Uncle Griffin and hug him because she's so excited that she finally gets to see him for the first time in her 125+ years of existence. Even though Griffin gave an incredibly awkward first impression.

- Frank is going to take a group selfie with Murray, Wayne, and Griffin right after they all turn human, much against their will.

- Wayne is gonna act like a dog at least once when he turns human.

- Wayne's kids may not recognize him at first when he shows up as a human and get all aggressive when he tries to approach them. Except Winnie, of course.

- Frank is going to be so in love with his new human form that he's going to crave a mass social media following and he's going to create at least one account and document his every waking moment and it's going to annoy the living hell out of his friends

- Given how I saw Griffin carrying Jello!Blobby on a plate in the trailer that came out in July I assume that he's going to be the first of the Drac Pack to get extremely protective of him and take every measure to keep him from getting eaten or damaged. Extra points if he talks to him like he's still sentient. I also think that, after Blobby transforms, the Drac Pack is going to have no idea what he is (assuming they've never been exposed to Jello before) but they think he looks super tasty and want to take a bite out of him, and Griffin is going to rush to pick him up and be all like, "No, that's murder!" In some of the sticker gifs that got released, I saw Blobby sticking cups inside of himself and making "punch" for his friends, and they drink it and seem to like it, so it's probable that this could happen.

- Referring to the above, if David Spade makes an Emperor's New Groove reference as Griffin ("NOOOOO TOUCHY! No touch!") I would fcuking die.

- AT LEAST ONE "blah bluh blah" joke. I mean it's been the royal running gag of the series!!

- Griffin is going to run into Crystal, and she'll be visible, but for a completely different reason than the Monsterfication Ray

- A carpool karaoke scene. A CARPOOL KARAOKE SCENE. Where Drac and his friends are in a car, Griffin is driving, and the pack is singing along to a song that would be hilarious to see a bunch of middle-aged dads sing, like "Barbie Girl" and totally jamming out, and Drac is just sitting there like WTF. Fuck, this doesn’t even have to be in a car, I just want to see everyone acting like goofy daddies

- Drac asking Mavis to bite him in an effort to turn him back into a vampire, and Mavis being super hesitant, "No, you're my dad! Why would I bite you?"

- Drac is going to ride on Johnny and crash through the walls/ceiling of the hotel, and this is how Mavis finds out that her dad is a human and her husband is a monster/dragon, and when the “if we don’t fix you guys soon you’ll be like this forever” scene from the trailer happens

- Griffin turning into a hot dad for some reason. Because maybe Sony listened to the petitions after all, but are still slightly bitter about having to redo the whole Sonic movie.

- Griffin is going to tell his origin story (as David Spade said himself, we will learn a lot more about the invisible man in this movie!)

- Drac and Johnny are going to have a falling out because Johnny wants to remain a monster, and he's going to tell Drac how unwanted he feels regardless of whether he's a human or a monster before flying off.

- We already saw how pissed Eunice was at Frank when he turned into a human and the way she yells at him is going to be along the lines of "I leave you alone for TEN MINUTES and THIS is what you do?!?"

- I kind of spoiled myself by reading what bits I could of the junior novelization online and I found out that one scene is going to involve a bunch of evil Draculas. I can imagine one of them coming up to Mavis and saying, "Come here, honeybat! Give me a hug!" And Mavis will reply, "YOU'RE NOT MY DAD!" and proceed to lose her shit and unleash her fury and kickassery upon the entire army of evil Draculas.

- The reason Griffin says "Seriously?" in the second trailer is because the shirt he borrowed says something really stupid or contradictory to his personality and his friends are poking fun at him for it.

- I just want this movie to have SOOOOOO MAAAAANY HUUUUUUUGGGGGGGSSSSS. I want to see Drac and Johnny hug more than once and MEAN IT, and I want to see a group hug between everybody, god I just want to get PUNCHED IN THE FACE with feels!!!

What I DON'T want to happen:

- Fat jokes directed towards Griffin. I mean, come on, it's 2021, people. I really hope they nixed the idea of Griffin wearing that undersized shirt in the promotional material.

- Any more language errors in Brazil, like the "aeropuerto" one. Why can't these people do their research and realize that PEOPLE IN BRAZIL SPEAK PORTUGUESE?!?!?!

- potty humor/burp/fart jokes. They’re not fucking funny anymore.

Feel free to add more when you reblog, this is kind of all I have for now!

[syubub]

Hoseok soulmate reading

Let's get the disclaimer out of the way: This is for entertainment purposes only and shouldn't be taken as fact! This is my interpretation of the cards.

Oki. Before we begin I must say... I put this off as long as possible. For those of you who have followed me for a while, you know that hobi is THE HARDEST to connect with and tbh this was no different. I'll probably revisit this reading again at a different time (you'll see why)

So. To start things off... Hope has some.. strange(?) energy. His energy was really vague and weak. The color too is intresting because its 100% not a color I've ever seen and I'm not sure if something is afflicting the color of his energy? Its ruby red but also deep grey blue? Its really strange and honestly pretty but it doesn't feel like the normal color? The color is usually a nice red with some deeper hints but...Its usually a bit more... lively? It just feels dull right now.

It looks like this right now but with a little more red? Its really peculiar.

Now. Idk maybe some shit is going on with him right now? Or maybe bc there was a fuckin lunar eclipse in Gemini last night? Idk but the energy was a little.. hostile. That's not a bad thing but it kinda felt like he was being broody? Its all really strange but he was not very into the reading (more so than usual) blah blah he didn't want to talk and I asked some questions I probably shouldn't have and some stuff happened. Long story short his soulmate(?) Showed up and pushed our foreheads together so we'd have to connect.

I asked his soulmate if they could tell me what the fuck was going on and they said that they don't know him well. Idk if that means that they don't know him well on a soul level? I'll get into this more later but this feels like something that's already been concluded or comes back up from time to time.

"He's pretty closed off huh?" Yes soulmate. He is.

I asked for more info about them and they said May. I was like cool, is that your name or? "Nah" sick is that like you're birthday? "Not really" cool cool cool.

They did say that he deserves better than what he has. I'm gonna leave it at that but hobi is possibly going through some shit.

Now we can get onto the reading part. I do want to say though, this reading felt very disconnected and weird? Just like somethings off and I have a feeling that this soulmate is more of the "life lesson" type soulmate?

Oki. We have temperance, chariot, two of cups, queen of coins. This is a person who is definitely motivated and driven and 100% a business savy human. They are also very likely loyal and know how to balance work and play time very very well. Is well-off (or materialistic) lol. There's a very ride or die energy that tells me this person is the type of friend that will do anything for you but when you do stupid shit then you get a stern talking to. Idk why but it also feels lonely? Like they're on their own journey to find themselves and their path/happiness/self and if it doesn't fit in the wagon then it gets left behind. This person might move too fast and miss out on important things because they're always chasing after something. They take "its not the destination that matters but the journey that does" to a whole new level and they just never stop to enjoy the scenery bc they'd rather get the rush of newness.

As for their relationship. As I said before I think this soulmate specifically is the "life lesson" type and could definitelybe a platonicsoulmate too. The kind that provides you with an opportunity for growth. With the 5 of swords rev. I kinda think that this could be someone from either a past life or back in a less favorable time. The fool card to me makes me thin that this relationship provides a sense of being born again? Its that newness of having a new perspective and a whole new understanding of self. With the magician rev. Its about issues with communication i.e not being able to get across your needs and desires for both of them and a lack of energy to figure it out. I also feel like this was just something that they didn't fix and didn't want to fix. (I'm talking in past tense bc this reading feels like its someone from the past) This card also talks about deception. I'm not gonna go into this much. With the 3 of wands though!! Yay! This talks about progress and I feel like this points to them learning more and more about who they are and what they truly want. They're kinda like lines that were moving towards eachother, intersected and then continued going in their own direction. Its like this time together was formative in who they are as people and what they dream of! And with the father of cups it does seem that over all the relationship was/is (I don't know how to talk about this) relatively balanced and they had/have respect for eachother. This card specifically is about balanced emotions and emotional intelligence and I think that this is what they gain from this relationship.

Moving right along we have the oracle cards! Stand by you commitment, financial healing, unconventionality, socialize or join in and sensitive emotions. The flower cards are from hobi to soulmate and the others are from soulmate to hope. Now. Maybe his soulmate went through a failed business venture that they're recovering from or just general money trouble bc the whole world is being fucked over by a virus. Either way hobi is very strong in the message of commitment (that makes me think that its specifically about business or something they started but never finished) onto cards for Hope. He might kinda be going through the shitty times and his soulmates advice is to not isolate and celebrate himself more. He might be having some issues related to self image or a soul-identity crisis? Idk but hobi needs that good good self care and love.

Now the two unicorn cards. Those are also from his soulmate to hope about some personal shit and I will be leaving that out because its not my fucking business. (Hobi is fine don't worry)

Woo wee lets get on to traits! First for zodiac sign. Earth, fire, air. Possible Libra and Taurus placements.

Tiny cards. Light hair, dark hair, sweet, extrovert, hard working, tall, business oriented, loud, fate, sorry, open, faith, happy, wait.

First off I get brown hair vibes (maybe medium brown?)

The word cards sound like his soulmate trying to give him a pep talk so I pulled an affirmation card that says in stillness I receive. I think hobi is going through some soul stuff and I'm not sure if this specificly translates into his life right now (though I think it does and he's repressing it or hopefully he's sorting it out on his own privately)

Oki oki oki. Idk why but it also might be that hobi is doing work to heal his inner child? I honestly don't know whats going on or if its affecting him in his day to day life at this time but I want to come back and do this reading at a time that he might be in a better energy space?

Hobi is ALWAYS hard to read and its even harder when he's less open than usual.

I'll get another soulmate read from hobi at some point and see if I can catch a "future/current romantic soulmate"

I am confused 😕

Also!! I have a Ko-fi now! I'll drop the link here but its in my bio! Absolutely no pressure but its there for people who want to tip me and were looking for a way to support me! (Also, I'm not taking readings through ko-fi so please don't drop money and request a reading there.)

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/syubub

[obligatorynasty]

Can you share your writing process? I saw on your recent chapter comments that it was your fifth edit? What do you do when you edit???

Sure, babe, I can share. Settle in though because this is gonna be long and confusing, and I won't elaborate –

My current and ever-evolving writing process starts with notes. Usually a plot summary or basic info about what characters are involved or what kind of scene I'm trying to describe. If it's a longer story, I think about what message or metaphor I want to convey. Stuff like that. It will just be one rapid fire shorthand paragraph, but if I'm feeling fancy, I add bullet points too 😅 but not always.

Next step is usually writing dialogue. I'll go through the exercise of picturing the scene in my head in detail and as I do, I'll write all the dialogue between characters without any descriptors or actions. Literally like: "Blah blah blah," Character A said. "Hmmm..." Character B said.

After that, I think about the setting. What do I need to write in order to craft this image into my readers' heads? Use the five senses to invoke real world connections. I'll add all that imagery in, while filling in descriptions and actions between the dialogue.

At this point, everything I've written is usually trash but I don't care because I'll edit later. Write bad so you can write good, as they say.

From there, I go through from the top and fill in anything that is missing plot-wise, and fix stuff that doesn't make logical sense. I know the characters, their motivations and limitations. I know my plot and what needs to happen for it to flow. So I fill the gaps. Biggest question here: what did I miss?

The next, and most important, step is adding the feelings. What are the characters feeling about what is going on or being said in the scene? What can I say to convey those feelings to my readers?

Next, I take a break. I stop looking at my work entirely to give it a second to marinate. Then I come back and cringe, but then I edit the cringe out.

Editing is multi-faceted. I'm adding whole scenes, removing bits of dialogue, fixing typos and grammatical errors, adjusting the tone and the meaning of what I'm writing. Making sure the POV is clear and doesn't unintentionally stray. Sometimes I throw the whole thing out and start again, salvaging whatever possible from the first draft. I'm fixing diction and syntax, and slowly losing my mind from reading the same paragraphs over and over.

Ultimate goal is and always will be this: If I found this fic as a reader, how hype would I be about it? Is this fic going to make me happy? My best kept secret is that my true comfort fics are the ones that I've written. Full stop. I write for me first, and for you second.

Also: no beta, we die like me after finding a typo in a fic I wrote years ago.

Hope this helped, babe! Thanks for the ask! 😘😎

[swiftdemise22]

Check out The Magicians. It's like Harry Potter but a little darker and more realistic. By realistic I mean, the main character isn't a dumb luck-everything-is-going-to-work-out-no-matter-how-stupid-my-choices-are type of hero. I wouldn't even call him a hero. It's just this kinda smart-ish loner dude who gets randomly picked to take a test to see if he is eligible to go to this super secret magic school. He makes it in of course but magic isn't all fun and wands like Harry Potter, it's dangerous and people have died and or gone missing trying to learn magic. He finds out that some of the other students are traumatized from this one girl being sucked out of existence right in the middle of class and they just dont talk about it ever. The main dude ends up falling in with a group of slacker, rebellious types who arent half bad at the magic thing and decide they're gonna go on this dangerous quest that is supposed to be just a fairy tale but is actually real and more dangerous than they thought and I think someone dies or gets trapped in this alternate world where the quest takes place and the other guys including the main guy gets their magic buffed so they can kinda do whatever they want now but there's always a catch to shit and stuff goes wrong so then some of them are like "shit, this is fucked I wanna get rid of this extra power and go back to my regular magical self" and they have to go on another quest. And they just keep doing dumb shit trying to fix the other dumb shit they did. And I think they smoke a bunch of weed and drink alcohol which is how they end up making some of those bad choices and one or two people hook up. I think one of them becomes a "villain" (like any of them were really good to begin with 🙄) and it just seems to me like 'The Magicians' is a realistic take of what might happen if we actually had magic in our world. Or like, like how Potterheads are always like "hee hee, I'm waiting on my letter from Hogwarts blah blah" but imagine if it actually happened. Like one day you find out magic is a real thing and you can learn it only it's nothing like the magic you read about in books, and you might die if you use it and there are no wands or flying brooms. Turns out magic is actually really complicated and more like trying to learn quantum mechanics.

Anyway I only read the first book when it first came out and kinda forgot to finish the series but they made a tv show of it on SyFy channel I think but i haven't watched that either so idk I honestly dont know if anyone survives the bullshit they started in book 1 but it was good and I do plan to reread and continue the book series when I get through my backlog of books to be read.

we need more books that are written like YA novels but have characters in their 20s… like I can’t keep reading books about teenagers but I’m also not ready for the weird adult romance section of the book store

[hangonimevolving]

The Iron String.

“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”

--Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance

Here we are. It's August. Five months plus since the start of the U.S. pandemic, lockdowns, and general disruption to society. Over 5.26 million confirmed cases in the United States alone to date, and 167,000 deaths. Our world around us has changed.

Much of the last two months of summer for me were spent in an agonizing holding pattern concerning the almighty School Question. What would happen in the fall? Would schools be reopening? If so, how would that look - would we just act like life is normal, or would there be modifications to help prevent transmission of the virus? If so, what on earth modifications are even possible for young children that are reasonable, and to which little kids can even feasibly adhere given their ages and needs? If it proves too difficult to reopen schools, what would be the plan? Would there be some sort of virtual learning program, and how would it differ from the shifts that happened this past spring, with teachers scrambling to educate themselves on distance-learning technologies and teleconferencing utilities in order to teach a room full of kindergartners on Zoom? Surely, with several months to ponder the possibilities and plan for vairous contingencies, schools would be more prepared with better, more structured and thought-out plans for fall, than what they had in the spring... right?

Er, wrong. WRONG. The short version of how this situation ended, at least in our geographic area, is that the public school system (and my own kids' small, family-owned private school) made the decision to reopen to face-to-face teaching by the middle of July. Late in the game, both also hastily threw together a virtual option for students - but the virtual option was tantamount to a continuation of the fly-by-night Zoom teaching that had been put into effect at the very start of the lockdown.

I for one was entirely disappointed and disgusted with this. With SO much time to plan, this is really the best that could be done?! Bruh, NAW. I wasn't having it.

So blah blah blah, hem, haw, blah. Research, research, research. Reading, millions of review websites, forums, blogs, legal defense funds, Department of Education website, nonprofits, clubs and associations and collectives.... a phone call with an old friend from high school with over 10+ years experience, and a series of long and informative text message exchanges with two other friends, one a veteran with over 15+ years with three now-adult children, another a mom about my age of children about my kids' ages, facing this situation just like me and working through options just like me...... and, after all this, I knew exactly what I would be doing. What WE would be doing, in our family.

By June 13, it was official, and it was all systems go.

Ladies and gentlemen.... I am officially a homeschooling mom. Like, a LEGIT homeschooling mom. As in, I am doing a 100% parent-led homeschooling curriculum plan, FULL-time, with my two children.

I won't lie. In a million, bajillion, baskillion years, I don't think I ever intended to find myself in this place. I'll also say with honesty, that I have admired from afar the rare few homeschooling families that I somewhat know, and the flexibility and creativity with which they approach academics and learning in general.

I have also been increasingly dissatisfied and frustrated with the academic progress of my own children... Dr. Spouse and I have had long discussions where we've tried to speculate on the things that we haven't been satisfied about in our kids' schooling. The list has been long. But even as we were able to identify specific shortcomings in our children's particular educational environment, I've felt a rising sensation of control-freakism and bootstrapism in my chest, that has whispered to my conscience: "if you feel something is wrong here, don't sit around waiting for someone else to fix it. And, when you articulate your concerns in a constructive, non-threatening, but clear way, and people have smiled and nodded and claimed they'd follow up on those items, but in the end, they havent taken those concerns seriously - then it is time to man the f&* up and TAKE CARE OF THAT SHIT yourself. Because YOU are the only one you can trust. YOU are the only one who can do it right, in your own view. So either do it, or stop feeling dissatisfied about it."

So here it is. Our original plan, prior to the pandemic, was to switch the kids to the local (A-rated) public elementary school for this coming year. We had hoped that a change in environment, teachers, and the accountability of being a reputed school in the public school system, would mean more organization and oversight, and that hopefully this would translate into better academic progress in our kids.... but the pandemic changed all our plans, and besides, I don't know if more "in theory..." type things ever really translate to palpable, effective change at the individual level (at least not for me anyway, I never have such luck).

Rather than seeing this weird, surreal circumstance has having forced me into the homeschooling decision (which, maybe it sort of did) - - for reasons I can't explain, I dove headlong into it, with great excitement and hope. I can't really figure out how I have been as enthusiastic or jazzed about it as I have been - - but lookie, I'm jazzed! Seriously. From the moment we made the decision to do it, I felt like a 1,000-lb. weight was lifted from my chest. No more feeling anxious or on the edge of my seat about decisions that are being made outside of my control. In this matter - I stopped waiting for other poeple, and I TOOK CONTROL. For my own kids, anyway.

I'll write a detailed post at a later time about some of the particulars of the homeschooling plan that I am using, the research I did, the materials I ended up purchasing, the knowledge and insight I required while in the preparations phase, and other stuff. But, for now - I've droned on long enough. I'm gonna share some pictures now.

To bring it back to the start of this post - - with this homeschooling plan, I have found my iron string. I literally felt this resounding, reverberating sense of CONFIDENCE the moment that I decided to do this, and effectively brought Dr. Spouse on board. NEVER, in my life, have I felt so right about a decision. I feel a tremendous inner harmony about it - like I've come home to myself, if that's not too weird to say.

Sooo.... here are pictures of Week 1 of our great homeschooling adventure.

Obligatory "First Day of School" picture....

Our newly-tweaked home office - - now serving as our homeschooling classroom!

Particularly proud of our new training clock, our large-format calendar, and the "today's date/weather" board that I made with vinyl die-cuts from my Cricut, some chalkboard-surface Contact paper, and some rainbow sparkly duct tape :)

Spanish class: kids use a fun new app for two class sessions a week

Dey working on simple addition/subtraction with Teddy Bear Counters

Dey slaying his worksheets in Handwriting class - we're doing both print letters and cursive

Vev learning to tell time, and to recognize and convey the time in both analog and digital notation

After reading several history textbook chapters on the origins, diets, nomadic lifestyles, housing practices, and modes of dress among prehistoric humankind - we did a "History in action" lesson where the kids were given 10 minutes to construct a shelter out of a "mammoth skin" (blanket), "two tree branches" (pool noodles), and several large "rocks" (throw pillows). They didn't need the full 10 minutes :)

Vev enjoying one of his first chapter books - an "I Can Read" reader during a Language Arts learning block

After a week reading science textbook chapters about the earth's atmosphere, we conducted science experiments to better understand the properties of air! The boys had a "paper race" using construction paper and pieces of cardboard as fans, to race two paper structures across a finish line. They discussed their expectations and each articulated a hypothesis about which paper would travel faster, prior to conducting the experiment; afterwards, we determined whether our "guesses" (hypothesis) were accepted or rejected :)

This is just a smattering. There's been so much, and in only four days. I can't believe how much we are able to learn and cover in our homeschooling time. And the crazy thing is, we are able to do Phonics and Grammar, Reading, History, Read-aloud time, Math, Spanish, Handwriting, and Science in only about 3 hours per day. We integrate things like art, movement, current events, and practical life skills into pretty much everything we do, but on occasion we are even able to do a discrete, planned-out period of time for these topics too.

The iron string is taut, and secured in its proper place. We are ready for it to guide us through this school year.