#it's not nearly as creative as it used to be

[frogsandfries]

I was introduced to the concept of zines in college, because of a partnered creative project. The first zine I ever contributed to was about social media. It did cost a fortune to print because it was done at the school's favored print shop, in full color.

I don't know how prevalent small bookshops selling zines used to be before the age of the internet, but I think I've only been to one bookshop that sold zines. Which is a real loss, imo. I wish there were more small bookshops and that I had more opportunities to explore zines. I think it's kind of inevitable that the internet caused things to change. Chicken wings and ribs used to be poor people food until they got gentrified. Printing on paper used to be the only way to access and disperse information. Now that we have the internet, it's unfortunately not surprising that zine making has been gentrified.

Plus, I'm sure a lot of people who would like to make zines wouldn't know what to put in one that they'd actually like to share with people. Furthermore, it can be hard to swallow the concept of "if I spend five dollars, I can share this with (let's say three people, for example)" when I can hit reblog or forward or send or submit.......for free.

And then there is the cliche of turning your hobby into a grind. If I can spend five dollars, make three zines, sell them for three dollars apiece, etc etc, maybe I don't need enough money to sell a hundred zines, I just need money to make fifty and I can use the rest of that money for groceries or rent and still keep making fifty zines every time I want to make a new one.

Oh, let's not forget that a lot of USians don't carry cash often if ever, anymore, so now I have to factor in the cost of card transactions, into the cost of my zines. Most people aren't going to find themselves in an avant garde bookshop. Most people may not even find my zines on Etsy or Shopify. This kind of forces an (optional) evolution: if I make a fifty page basically a proper magazine, but because it's full of (idk messages about the best places for poor people to eat in LA), I 'can' call it a zine, I can sell it on like, Amazon, or use a Kickstarter and distribute it nearly infinitely.

I can't look at zines through a pre-internet perspective. I don't have that perspective. I understand that zines should be accessible to those who have very little if any money left over after Life. It can feel tempting to make the flashiest, full color zine. It can feel necessary to print your twenty page zine in full color. It can feel necessary to do the entire thing on the computer. It can feel necessary to make it as professional as possible. It can start to feel like making an "old school" black and white, no computer, xeroxed zine is going to get your zine looked over because it's not flashy enough and nobody likes plain ole boring black and white. Or if I add a cardstock cover, maybe my zine will look a little more professional.

I think a lot of us don't come into zines with any kind of mentor to guide us and regulate the culture, and us younger folks come into it with a mindset that we have to have in the rest of our lives: one upsmanship. If the last guy or the first zine we ever saw had a really professional looking cover, we need one full color page. If that guy used a black and white cardstock cover, we need a color accented cardstock cover, we need a glossy full color cover.

Anyway, all this to say, personally, I don't think zines are the right medium for my creative endeavors. I don't think I say this as like, begging for someone to prove me wrong. I say this as a person who cannot tell a short story. I don't need to rely on zines to get my fanfic (although, even if AO3 did not exist and a monthly zine was the only way to get my Spirk fix, personally, I still wouldn't know where to get some sweet sweet Spirk zines; but that's a me problem).

I feel like I'm about twenty-five years too late to the zine scene.

the whole point of a zine is that it's cheap to produce, amateur and homemade. if you're being asked to apply to participate in a print project, it is not a zine. if the final product is being printed and bound professionally, it is not a zine. if you are being asked to enter into any kind of licensing agreement more complex than "my work can be reproduced as part of this publication" it is not a zine. nine times put of ten if the final product costs more than $5 you have left zine country. im so serious about this.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Ideas: Fantasy Settings

Fantasy settings - the locations where fantasy series, novels, short stories, and movies take place.

Ways to Create Fantasy Settings

Place modern concepts in a medieval setting. George R.R. Martin had great success inserting thematically modern storylines into his vaguely medieval fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Try your own version of this by thinking up a fantasy story idea that feels contemporary yet is set in a medieval world.

Envision a quest that crosses many terrains. The quest is a classic fantasy trope, and it remains ripe for innovation. Use a quest narrative to think up a fantasy world that incorporates many settings, each with its own unique geographic flavor. Think about how the setting will impact your protagonist's quest both for good and for bad.

Head to outer space. To get creative with outer space, pick a setting that breaks the known laws of physics, incorporates aliens, or forces its human inhabitants to adjust in an extreme way. Imbue your your sci-fi fantasy setting with myths and a deep lore.

Dip under the sea. Underwater settings are popular in the fantasy genre, but not nearly to the degree of medieval worlds, dystopian future cities, or distant planets. As you pick an underwater setting for your novel or screenplay, decide whether your characters will be regular humans or whether they're amphibious creatures that can breathe underwater. Like all fantasy settings, an underwater world is a great vehicle for character development, so make sure to build out your protagonists and antagonists at the same time you embark on world-building.

Examples of Fantasy Settings

Middle Earth: J.R.R. Tolkien set The Lord of the Rings trilogy in this land resembles a pre-historic Europe filled with mythical creatures like dwarves, orcs, and wizards.

Westeros and Essos: These two lands comprise the setting of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, which takes a page from Tolkien's high-fantasy world. Martin's books, and the TV series it inspired, Game of Thrones, overlay real-world motivations like lust and power atop a mythical domain filled with dragons and White Walkers. It’s a place where people take magic as a given.

Narnia: C.S. Lewis set The Chronicles of Narnia in a fantasy world that children can reach. This is established in the first book in the series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In this sense, Lewis distinguishes himself from his English contemporary Tolkien by intentionally merging the real world with a fantasy land.

Roleplaying games: Sometimes the best fantasy settings are those created in real-time during a roleplaying game (RPG) like Dungeons and Dragons. In D&D, the world is filled with wizards, dragons, elves, orcs, and mystical clerics. Many games involve epic clashes of good and evil in lands reminiscent of medieval Europe, but the exact course of a game will depend on the decisions of the people playing it.

High Fantasy vs. Low Fantasy

In high-fantasy storylines, the entire world is constructed and clearly operates differently than the world we know. High-fantasy worlds may resemble certain areas of earth at specific periods in time, but their laws of physics and cultural customs are unique.

Low-fantasy stories are set in the real world as we know it but incorporate magic or other fantastical elements.

Fantasy settings tend to bend the rules of real life.

Some fantasy settings recall eras past, such as steampunk novels set in Victorian England or epic fantasies that recall medieval Europe.

Other fantasy books and movies use futuristic sci-fi settings that incorporate spaceflight, time travel, and other tropes of science fiction.

Meanwhile, dystopian urban fantasies often take place in post-apocalyptic settings.

In classic fantasy books and fairytales, the fantasy settings enable the main characters to grow and evolve.

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[allgoodnamesrgoneee]

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Silent Conversations

Masterlist

𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 — After living in Madrid for nearly a year, Jude's gotten the hang of spanish. So he never thought he’d have to learn a new language just to flirt with someone—until he meets you.

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 — Jude Bellingham x Deaf!reader

𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 — 9.7k

Warnings! FLUFF!! Jude is kind of obsessed with you in the best way, lover boy, you're very adorable in this one, reader speaks but can't hear, reader can read lips,

Preview

********** Being deaf and a chatterbox is a contradiction that most people don’t know how to wrap their heads around.

But it’s who you are.

Since you can remember, you've always loved to talk—loved filling spaces with words, with thoughts, with laughter. Being deaf has never stopped you. If anything, it’s only made you more creative in how you communicate.

People underestimate how much talking you can do with your hands, how much personality you can pour into a single sign, a raised brow, a quick smirk. They think "talking" only means sound, that conversations without voices are somehow lesser, as if the absence of noise makes words any less real. You’ve spent your whole life proving them wrong.

And tonight is no different.

Your little brother practically vibrates with excitement next to you, hands flying as he signs about how insane the game was. He’s been a Real Madrid fan for as long as he’s been able to walk, and your parents had gone all out for his birthday—jerseys, meet&greet tickets, the whole experience.

So far, the night has been going well.

Your family has been cheering and chanting for Real Madrid alongside the thousands of other fans packed into the stadium, their voices blending into the electric hum of excitement that fills the air. The game has been nothing short of exhilarating, each pass, each near goal sending waves of emotion through the crowd.

Your hands ache from the number of times you’ve signed to your brother, asking for updates on what’s happening when the movements on the field become too chaotic to follow. He’s been patient, grinning as he translates key moments for you, his enthusiasm infectious.

When the final whistle blows, confirming Real Madrid’s victory, the stadium erupts into cheers. Your family is ecstatic, jumping to their feet and embracing one another in celebration. You smile, soaking in the energy, but exhaustion is already creeping in. The weight of tomorrow morning sits heavily on your shoulders.

You love nights like this—love the way your father’s face lights up after a good match, love the way your younger cousins beam with pride, shouting the players’ names like they know them personally—but you can’t afford to linger. Not when your boss expects you bright-eyed and fully alert at the crack of dawn.

You sigh, glancing at the time. If you leave now, you’ll get home at a decent hour, and maybe you'll get six hours in tonight. I should go, you sign to your brother.

He frowns. So soon?  

"I have work in the morning."  

He relays this to the rest of your family, and they groan in unison. Your mother reaches out, squeezing your arm in understanding. "Text us when you get home," you read on her lips.

You nod, exchanging quick hugs before making your way toward the exit.

The corridors are still crowded with lingering fans, some of them stopping to take pictures or rewatch highlights on their phones. You weave through them, emerging into the crisp night air just outside the stadium, and pull out your phone to call for an Uber.

Five minutes.

Not too bad.

You exhale, shoving your free hand into the pocket of your jacket as you make your way toward the designated pick-up area near the parking lot. Your feet ache slightly from standing for so long, and the cool breeze is a welcome relief after being surrounded by so much body heat. You scroll through your phone absentmindedly, debating whether to pass the time by answering a few messages or just watching the people around you.

That’s when you feel it.

A presence.

It’s subtle at first—a shift in the atmosphere, a slight prickling at the back of your neck. Then, footsteps. Slow. Unsteady.

You look up just in time to see him stumbling toward you.

The acrid scent of alcohol hits you first. It’s overpowering, the kind of stench that clings to a person’s skin and clothes, the kind that makes your stomach churn. He’s disheveled, his jacket slipping off one shoulder, his eyes unfocused. But there’s something sharp in the way he grins at you, something that immediately puts you on edge.

"Hey," he slurs.

Your grip tightens around your phone. You don't respond. Instead, you take a step back, angling your body away from him. But before you can put more distance between you, his hand shoots out, gripping your wrist with surprising strength.

"I'm talking to you, you little bitch!"

Panic spikes through you like ice water.

Your breath hitches, your heart hammering as you instinctively jerk back, trying to free yourself from his grasp. Your hands move on their own, the motions quick, desperate. Leave me alone.  

The man’s face scrunches in confusion. "What? What are you doin' with your hands?"

You swallow hard, pulse racing. You try again, this time forcing yourself to speak, hoping the sounds come out right. "I can't hear you. I'm deaf."

His expression twists into something cruel. "Deaf?" He laughs, loud and mean. "You serious?" His grip tightens. "C'mon, don’t be like that. Just talk to me.I can show you a good time."

Your throat constricts. You shake your head quickly, signing, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, over and over, even though you know there’s nothing to apologize for. It’s just instinct. A plea for him to stop, to let go.

But he doesn’t. If anything, your silence only makes him angrier.

"Stop doin' that shit!" he snaps. "Just say something!"

Before you can react, before the panic fully settles into terror, a shadow moves behind him. Fast. Deliberate. A hand clamps down on his shoulder, yanking him backward with enough force that he nearly loses his balance.

"That’s enough, mate." The voice is low, firm. Unmistakably authoritative.

The drunk stumbles, blinking in confusion as he turns to face whoever pulled him away. And that’s when you see him.

Jude Bellingham.

He’s taller than you expected, broader too, his frame imposing even in casual clothes. His coils are damp, like he just stepped out of the showers, and there’s an undeniable exhaustion in his features—deep shadows under his eyes, a certain heaviness to the way he holds himself.

But none of that matters right now. Right now, his entire focus is on the man in front of him, his jaw tight with barely contained irritation.

The drunk sneers. "Who the fuck—"

"Walk away," Jude says flatly.

The man wobbles slightly, his mind struggling to catch up as he starts recognizes Jude. His eyes widen. "I was just—"

"I don’t care." Jude’s voice is sharper now, cutting through the drunken haze like a blade. "She’s not interested. Walk away."

There’s a moment of hesitation. A beat where the drunk seems to consider whether or not this is a fight worth picking. He glances between you and Jude, his lip curling in annoyance, before finally, begrudgingly, releasing a scoff.

"Whatever," he mutters, stumbling back. "Wasn’t even worth it."

You don’t breathe until he’s gone.

The moment he disappears into the crowd, your entire body sags, tension draining so quickly that your knees feel weak. You swallow, pressing a hand to your chest in an attempt to steady yourself.

Jude turns to you then, his brows knitting together in concern. "You alright?"

You nod automatically, even though you’re not entirely sure it’s true. Your hands tremble slightly as you sign, Thank you.

Jude watches your hands carefully, and your gaze shifts to his lips expecting him to say something next—to offer words you wouldn't be able to hear. Instead, he hesitates, then lifts his hands.

You… okay? The sign is clumsy, the movements stiff, but the effort makes your heart stop.

He had recognized what you were signing before. He had understood. you think.

You nodded, your throat tight with gratitude. He relaxed a little at your response, but still glanced around, protective. "You waiting on someone?" His lips move slower this time, giving you a chance to read them.

You nod again, holding up your phone. "Uber." The words come out in a bit of a slur but he understands them.

Jude frowns, looking at your screen. "Two minutes?"

He must have seen the time displayed on your phone because there’s no way he could’ve understood the tone of your nod. "Yeah."

The way he scowls in response makes you think that’s not an acceptable answer. His eyes shift, scanning the parking lot, and you can practically see the wheels turning in his mind. "Look, you want to wait inside? The security team can keep an eye on you till your Uber arrives."

His concern is sweet, and you find yourself nodding before you can think. "Okay. Thank you."

You let him lead you back to the main building, where there’s a security team waiting by the entrance. He explains your situation, and they offer you a smile. They won't let you stay inside the stadium since the game has already ended, but they’re willing to stand outside with you until your car arrives.

You nod in gratitude and wave a goodbye as Jude makes to leave. You expect him to keep going, to be on his way, but instead, he hesitates. For a second, he just looks at you, as if deciding something, but he shakes his head, offering a quick smile as he slips away into the night.

The security team stays with you the whole time. They make sure you’re safe and wave down your Uber when it arrives. You thank them and climb into your car, making your way home.

That’s it, you think. That’s where the story ends.

But it’s only the beginning.

**********

-Bianca🌻

[grishamanimationstudios102]

My thoughts on the 2025 Smurfs movie trailer

After watching the 2025 Smurfs movie trailer, I’m feeling a mix of emotions—some excitement, but mostly disappointment. On the positive side, the animation itself looks decent. It has a vibrant, polished look that stays true to the Smurfs' classic design while taking advantage of modern technology. The blend of 2D-inspired textures with 3D animation is well done, and I appreciate that the characters still resemble Peyo’s original designs rather than the overly glossy look from the Smurfs live-action hybrids.

That said, the creative choices in this film already seem questionable. Bringing the Smurfs back to the human world again feels like a step backward. One of the biggest strengths of The Lost Village was that it kept the Smurfs in their medieval fantasy setting, allowing for a story that felt more in tune with the comics and original cartoon. But now, once again, the Smurfs are being dragged into modern society—probably for easy pop culture jokes and to cater to mainstream audiences who apparently can’t enjoy a fantasy film without a real-world connection. It just feels uninspired.

And then there’s the attempt to make the film overly trendy. The part with DJ Papa Smurf is downright cringeworthy. Who thought it was a good idea to turn the wise, fatherly leader of the Smurfs into some kind of hip-hop DJ? It just screams “trying too hard.” This is exactly the kind of thing that ruined other beloved franchises—shoehorning in modern slang, flashy neon aesthetics, and dance sequences that feel more like they belong in Trolls than in The Smurfs. It’s like they’re copying DreamWorks’ formula rather than embracing what makes the Smurfs unique.

And speaking of forced modern elements—Rihanna. Look, I respect Rihanna as a musician, and I’m sure she’ll do fine as Smurfette, but her presence already makes it feel like the studio is prioritizing star power over authenticity. And hearing her sing a pop cover of Heaven Is a Place on Earth in the trailer? That just doesn’t fit the Smurfs at all. In the Hanna-Barbera series, the Smurfs danced to classical music, folk tunes, or cheerful, whimsical melodies. Not radio pop hits. It makes me worried that the soundtrack is going to be full of chart-topping songs instead of anything that actually matches the Smurfs' traditional charm.

The introduction of Influencer Smurf is another point of contention. Many fans of The Lost Village have expressed their displeasure with this addition, and I have to agree with them. It feels like a contrived attempt at modernizing the timeless and classic Smurfs. Also, whoever heard of the internet in the Middle Ages? It didn't even exist yet. The Smurfs are supposed to be timeless, not the 2020s.

Furthermore, the Smurfs' unique language, where they replace various words with "smurf," has always been a charming aspect of their identity. However, in the 2025 trailer, this quirk seems overdone, especially when used to censor curse words. In the Hanna-Barbera series, this language was used sparingly, adding to its charm. But hearing "smurf" in nearly every sentence becomes tiring and feels like a forced attempt at humor.

According to fans of The Lost Village, the 2025 movie is nothing more than nostalgia bait. It seems the studio is banking on the Smurfs' legacy to draw audiences, without offering anything genuinely new or respectful to the original material.

I was hoping for a new Smurfs movie that embraced the heart of Peyo’s creation, not one that feels like it was designed by a marketing team trying to make the Smurfs “hip” again. Based on what I’ve seen in the trailer, I don’t think I’ll be watching this movie anytime soon.

And no offense to those who are hyped. I’m not bashing anyone who likes Smurfs 2025; it’s just my personal opinion. If others are excited for it, that’s totally fine! It’s just not what I was hoping for.

[blaqcats-fics]

I have a question, and need serious answers. If Jason had never died and took a dip in the green kool-aid, what would he actually look like once he matured?

Because I’ve been thinking about this for too long and can’t come up with a defined answer for myself and I know I can use my own creative liberties, but I want this to be as accurate as possible given Jason’s childhood and how malnourished he was and how that can stunt growth.

Like I don’t think there’s solid research on catch-up growth that’s stable enough for me to reference, without there being some big margin of error, especially since malnourishment can affect everyone different (depending on age, how long, change of environment).

My assumptions for his body are that he wouldn’t be nearly as bulky as he is, especially if there’s a lack of training on his side (if he fully weren’t a vigilante). I think he’d more lean and toned. He might have a sleeper build idk, esp he’d be more noticeably nerdy with his interests since that’s something he could focus on more.

I also think that he’d soft looking. He would have the same amount of stress, anger, or pressure anymore on him. So, I think he’d seem more younger (or age appropriate considering a lot of comics make him look like he’s having a mid-life crisis).

Either way, I’d look some tips if I’m wrong about anything, or what anyone else thinks he would look like.

[swordandstars]

Fun headline and teaser from the New York Times on Friday, February 7, 2025:

Full article copied below. Some of the best bits are at the very end.

But a few key takeaways:

1) The calling and other outreach is definitely working and getting attention. Keep it up.

2) Elected officials care most about the opinions of voters who live in their districts. Prioritize your own reps first.

3) Remember: when you call or write an elected official, your outreach becomes part of the public record. If a malicious federal agency/employee/ President/ whoever wanted to cherry pick things to discredit you or get you thrown in jail, they can use your calls and emails to do it.

When making these calls, cosplay as a very polite, but Very Concerned, Good Citizen. Your greatest joy in life is sorting your white socks every Sunday afternoon. You think plain yogurt is too spicy.

Swap out the profanity and threats for quotes from the Bible, the Founding Fathers, or any other highly esteemed entry in the American Pantheon. Get creative! Building out your pearl clutching persona can make this exercise in Democracy a little more fun.

As Trump and Musk Upend Washington, Congressional Phones Can’t Keep Up

In the three weeks since President Trump took office and gave Elon Musk free rein inside the federal government, millions of calls have poured in to members of Congress, jamming the system.

By Maya C. Miller

Reporting from the Capitol

Feb. 7, 2025

Americans dialing their members of Congress for basic services are going straight to voice mail. Interns and young aides can’t answer the phones quickly enough. And a system that usually handles a few dozen calls per minute is straining to keep up with more than 1,500.

President Trump’s moves to upend the government — and his decision to empower the billionaire Elon Musk to carry out a slash-and-burn campaign inside the federal bureaucracy — are dominating the news and reverberating across the capital and beyond. And nowhere is the impact more apparent than the beleaguered congressional phone system, a major conduit for citizens to contact their representatives in Washington that in recent days has been nearly crippled as it absorbs tens of millions of calls responding to the new Washington order.

Congressional phone lines have been jammed to the point of failure, according to lawmakers and officials on Capitol Hill, in a stark reflection of a political system buckling to a breaking point under an emboldened and unbound Mr. Trump.

Calls are pouring in from constituents outraged about Mr. Trump’s unilateral moves and how he has allowed Mr. Musk to gain access to and begin dismantling critical parts of the federal bureaucracy, and demanding that members of Congress take a stand against them.

Others are calling Republican senators incessantly to either demand that they fall in line behind Mr. Trump and his cabinet nominees, or plead with them to break ranks and challenge the president.

The sheer volume of vitriol from both ends of the political spectrum has all but drowned out a core function of Congress: allowing Americans to seek and receive help from their elected representatives interacting with the government for basic needs.

Senators were informed this week that the Senate phone system was receiving 1,600 calls per minute, a sharp increase from the usual 40 calls a minute, according to officials who received the private notification and spoke about it on the condition of anonymity. While the phones had not completely stopped ringing, as they have in the past under heavy loads, members were told that some constituents would be sent straight to voice mail to prevent a complete shutdown.

“I want to thank Alaskans who have been reaching out to my offices in D.C. and across Alaska,” Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, wrote in a recent post on X explaining the overload of calls.

“Thank you for your patience as my staff works to review your messages and share them with me,” she added. “We’re all working to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible.”

An aide for Senator John Curtis, Republican of Utah, estimated that about 60 percent of the calls coming into his office were critical of Mr. Musk, while the other 40 percent concerned Mr. Trump’s nominees. The ratio of favorable to unfavorable calls varied by the day, the aide said. For example, before Mr. Curtis came out in support of Pete Hegseth, now the defense secretary, a majority of the callers were urging the senator to fall in line behind him. But afterward, more calls came in urging Mr. Curtis to change course, defy Mr. Trump and vote against Mr. Hegseth.

“Most of the time, the voice mails are full,” said Janice Germann, a liberal activist and retiree from Florida who said she had called the offices of her state’s two Republican senators, Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, at least once a day since Mr. Trump’s inauguration. Mr. Scott’s staff has answered the phone only twice, she said, and Ms. Moody’s office never has.

On the other side of the Capitol, Representative Becca Balint, Democrat of Vermont, said she normally has two aides monitoring the office phones, enough to handle the handful of calls they typically receive each hour. But since Jan. 20, she has reassigned at least six additional staff members to keep up with a nonstop flood of calls. Most are from constituents outraged that Mr. Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency gained access to personal and private financial information through the Treasury Department’s federal payment system.

“What we usually get in a month, we got in three days,” said Sophie Pollock, a spokeswoman for Ms. Balint.

A junior aide who usually answers the phones and who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with the office’s policy described the recent influx of calls as “overwhelming,” but also said it was “heartwarming” to see that people were engaged enough to call their member of Congress and share their concerns.

Some offices are encouraging people to share their stories through the member’s website in order to relieve phone line pressure and free up staff members to help constituents with basic services, such as navigating the Internal Revenue Service, passport and visa applications, and issues with Social Security or Medicare benefits.

“We’re trying to be creative about how we can be responsive to people’s understandable fear and panic right now, but also still conduct constituent services and have my staff be available to participate in staff meetings,” said Representative Nikki Budzinski, Democrat of Illinois. “They are really overwhelmed with outreach.”

And even though offices are already strained, opponents of Mr. Trump are urging constituents to keep calling their members of Congress.

“We can flood the zone with people,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote in an email blast on Friday. “Keep calling.”

Some House Republicans say their phones are being overloaded by what appears to be coordinated groups of callers who all follow a similar script and criticize the members for their support of Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump.

“Many of the people use foul language and disparage the members for existing, so it is a particularly vitriolic set of calls,” said Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California. “It’s a technique that for 25 years I’ve seen, which is, ‘I’m your constituent, you have to listen to me,’” followed by an often profane insult, he added.

Representative Carlos Giménez, a Florida Republican, said most of the calls that have poured into his office in recent weeks have been from people who live outside his district. Those types of coordinated calls from activists, he said, have “very little impact” on him.

“That’s par for the course,” Mr. Giménez said. “We have to take the calls, and we will take the calls, but they are interfering with legitimate calls from my district.”

Maya C. Miller covers Congress and is a Times Fellow, a program for journalists early in their careers. She is based in Washington. More about Maya C. Miller

[stackslip]

i do have criticisms of chainsaw man part 2 tbh as much as i gleefully enjoy it, and one of them is that it feels so heavily built on fire punch that it must not do *nearly* as much if you haven't read fire punch beforehand. it's like half of a conversation and if you're missing the other half i imagine it must sound a bit like nonsense

[ki1ldeer]

I need to do a research paper on the correlation between me taking a chemistry class and me drawing Finn being sad

[boyfriendunsolved]

the new video was greatly needed if watcher had any hopes of staying afloat. unfortunately, this backpedaling does not change the fact that

1) high production "television quality" content is what they want to make

2) this content is evidently not what people want to watch (even post-apology i'm seeing a lot of people saying they liked bfu better than anything watcher has produced)

again, if they have a clear vision of what they want to make, that's great. but unless there's a market for that content, then it's not going to turn a profit, or break even for that matter. yes, artists deserve to be paid for their work, but art is always bought by people who want and have an interest in said art.

im an artist pursuing my dreams too, but i don't expect people to buy my niche paintings just on the principle that i am an artist creating what i want. if i wanted to make money from this and turn it into a business, i would take commissions and specifically create what other people want. that is what having any kind of artistic job is about, unfortunately.

it's great if what you want to create and what people want to see overlap, but that's not always the case. and i really fear this is the case with watcher and they won't pivot enough to fix any of their problems

[nana2009]

why does Dave drug karkat? Is he like…flighty or something??

buoy is he.

karkat is not the most compliant captive, see.... especially since dave doesn't seem to want to actively harm him and acts so passive most of the time, so even with the possibility of things going sour that does not stop him from trying!! unfortunately, dave knows much too well how to handle these situations :/

but since karkat is so persistent and loud, sometimes a buoy has no options u kno? ;T

[fictionadventurer]

Maybe I need to write Cardinal's Map so there's a contemporary book about the power of literature and reaching for a world beyond the mundane that isn't wall-to-wall inspirational platitudes with vague worldbuilding about the battle between the forces of good vs. evil.

[icewindandboringhorror]

a quite simple outfit, trying to use the little blue and white apron thing (which is actually a dress I think, that I just leave un-buttoned in the back and added an apron-like tie to lol)

[cultivating-wildflowers]

📒

[goldentigerfestival]

I love the vocal nuance in this exchange, but also posting this for my differences posts because this is one of the changes that infuriates me the most. Yuri didn't threaten Ioder, did not threaten him with a weapon, and just said he'd punch him in a lazy, half joking voice (half joking as in, he really doesn't want to hear that - that's just his way of saying so; but that's not the voice of someone who is super angry and threatening).

My other huge grievance is that this is a recurring issue between them in the dub. Yuri is pretty much always vocally rude to Ioder. Ioder has done nothing to wrong him or anyone and has only ever done good for the people where he's able to.

Yet despite Ioder being nothing but sincere, honest and polite with Yuri, in fact even happy to see him here and there, dub Yuri is outright tonally rude to him leading right up this scene where he threatens Ioder in this dark voice. Meanwhile he's actually just supposed to be… lazily telling Ioder he'll punch him in his Yuri Lowell way of saying "I don't want to hear that".

The dub really just wanted to turn Yuri into this dark edgelord and I hate that for my goofy, silly boy.

[hauntedorpheum]

first time people tell a content creator GIVE US MORE ADS