#like it's still absolutely possible to get covid and for it to even give you symptoms

[c0rpsedemon]

when i saw 'cabin in the woods in middle of nowhere new hampshire' bad i mean it. i have a 65 year old father from northeastern mass that's the only type of vacation i ever go on (if you're wondering what it's like it's like a modern day yellow wallpaper btw) . i know my cabins in middle of nowhere new hampshire. i've been to multiple with better wifi than i currently have. that says a lot btw.

[navree]

at the risk of sounding blasé (which i hate to do but it is a risk),

you did not "lose two years and counting" to covid, you lost a year, at most a year and a half. and that ended in 2021. which WAS two years ago

[hiseyeisonthesparrow]

hi!

im lds too. I mean kinda. my family got shunned by our ward and then stake and its caused a lot of shakiness in my faith. I want to believe and go back but it's so hard when I share my experiences with others and they mitigate my pain and excuse the actions of the men who caused this. Any tips?

Thank you so much for sharing your story with me!

This is going to sound like the opposite of what you are expecting or wanting to hear, but when everyone else in the world seems to have turned their back on you, the most important thing you can do is build your relationship with God and Christ themselves. Sometimes the only people who will fully understand you is the one who created you (God) and the one who felt all the pain and hurt and misery you have experienced, are experiencing, and will ever experience (Jesus).

Going back to the basics of the Gospel has been really important for me -- instead of challenging my faith by trying to understand complex social issues with strong emotions behind them [stuff like queer membership, race in the priesthood, abortion, et cetera], finding things that I know I can believe and trust is important, even if it's as silly or simple as "I believe that some celestial force out there loves me because I was able to buy my favorite shirt before it sold out forever" or "I believe that being in the temple makes me feel peaceful" rather than things I still can't say with confidence like "I know the church is true" or "I believe the nuclear family unit is eternal".

When Covid struck, I was attending a ward in Utah. We kind of absolutely hated it -- after attending multi-cultural, multilanguage wards our whole life, the sudden plainness and overpopulation of Utah wards was so strange to us. Suddenly, lockdowns happened. Church was online and sacrament meetings were held from our home. The year or two we spent doing "home church" -- a weekly Zoom call with our extended family where our cousins would take turns giving talks, and my deacon brother would pass homemade bread to us -- was one of the most spiritually strengthening experience of my life. After Covid restrictions ended, we couldn't go back to our old ward -- none of them would wear masks, and my youngest brother couldn't get vaccinated. We ended up moving our records to a Portuguese branch half an hour north, and it was one of the best decisions we've ever made.

I don't know what your family situation is like. I am not going to pretend like The Power of Christ Can Heal All Intergenerational Trauma. While Christ did help me learn to love my parents and understand their perspective, it did not take away the fact that they did not support me through my most difficult times. But I will say this: if there is anything you can do to possibly come closer to your family, do it. This is a hard experience for all of you, I can imagine. If there is a way you can strengthen each others' testimonies, it will be unimaginably helpful. Finding others who understand the hardships you are going through is one of the best ways to get through it, and it's really convenient if those people have a) known you your whole life, and b) live with you. It may not work. They may never support you or understand your pain. But try.

Instead of turning to hate those who have hurt you, make an effort to focus your energy on the things of the Gospel that make you feel joy. Making death threats to Dallin H. Oaks will never be as helpful as being a good example for those around you, or learning to love Christ's gospel. It will be one of the hardest things you will ever do. But to quote Yoda, "Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering" -- for all parties involved. Allow yourself time to grieve, to be angry, to feel hurt. But simultaneously let those feelings be washed away in time by the healing power of the atonement.

If you ever feel alone or unloved by Christ or far from salvation, you are wrong. There are armies here and on the other side of the veil to bring you back to Him. Some of the strongest testimonies I've ever encountered have been here on Tumblr, by people with backgrounds similar to mine. We are here to help you. That's what being Christ's disciple entails -- helping others. Queerstake and Tumblrstake are here for you. I am here for you. Christ is here for you. Reach out with questions about your faith -- we love to answer them.

(Also if there's an opportunity to sneak into another ward or stake's church services, do it. You don't owe anyone an explanation of who you are or why you're there)

Thank you so much for your ask! I hope I answered the question well enough -- if anyone else has anything they think would be helpful, please share it!!

[bekolxeram]

8x02 specs based on promo and stills

I've been having so much fun picking out details from promos and now the stills, thinking of all the possibilities and coming up with my own predictions. It's like smashing two things I love together to create something wonderful. Thanks 911 S8, I've been absolutely fed for the past month. (It's just a bit scary actually posting my specs) Anyway, here we go:

Elderly couple, possibly going to Hawaii to visit a baby. Woman with cute dog. I hope they turn out okay. Airport 1975 is about the passengers as much as it is about Nancy and Alan Murdock. I suspect 8x02 would be structured a bit like 7x03, the first few scenes would be a flashback sequence about the passengers' background, before we continue on with the mid-air collision and Gerrard's busted head.

I wonder how Dennis Jenkins factors into all this. Is he going to get hurt and Athena must decide whether to save him or not? Is he going to spring into action and help the injured passengers in the cabin? All we know is that he cleaned up after killing Emmett and became an upstanding member of the society, we don't fully know his credentials. (Or maybe he's helping to land the plane, just because the writers want to psychologically torture Athena😬)

Oxygen masks are deployed when the cabin altitude is higher than around 14,000 feet, which should be where the plane is flying. In a loss of cabin pressure event, it's standard protocol to rapidly descend to 10,000 feet, so that the people onboard can breath normally. You see all the passengers here not wearing their oxygen mask, they should be fine for a while at 14,000 feet. But if you happens to run into a situation like this, be sure to wear your oxygen mask as soon as possible.

One of the most unrealistic things about Airport 1975 is that a light aircraft coming in contact head on somehow only tears a small man sized hole in the 747 cockpit, without doing any other damage. There should've been debris flying everywhere. Here we see there seems to be an even bigger in the cabin, so good job. Coincidentally, a hole in the cabin is exactly the one occasion where the cockpit door would blow open on its own.

So uh... RIP Captain Dominguez? The first officer doesn't seem too well either. The flight attendant is doing exactly what he was trained to: help the incapacitated pilot out of the cockpit, transfer him to the galley, give him oxygen, and search for medical professional onboard.

Athena is attempting to contact approach and declare an emergency here, but you do have to press some buttons and flick a few switches before you can reach air traffic control. You can't just talk into the mic, you don't want to hot mic ATC the whole flight. It's possible that Athena doesn't know how to operate the radio system. This is yet another thing that requires tweaking from the original Airport 1975 plot. Nancy had to figure out how to use the radio, Athena and basically everyone in 2024 has a cellphone, so she can simply call 911.

911 would most likely refer Athena to someone at the ATC center. Not only do they help guide Athena to the nearest airfield for an emergency landing, they need to know Athena's every move in order to divert all traffic in the airspace out of her way. In fact, I think emergency services have already been notified by the time Athena gets inside the cockpit. Air traffic controller must call 9-1-1 immediately when they witness an accident.

ATC supervisor from 5x01, good to know she's still working there post-covid. She's talking to someone on the phone here, maybe Athena? In the next still, we see a man holding the same phone, but he doesn't have the ATC badge on him, so who is he? A cop? A flight instructor? The airline boss? Another controller but we just don't see his badge?

I don't see the plane landing next episode just yet, it's a 3 episode arc after all, and in universe they probably want to take some time to assess the situation and test out which parts of the plane are still working. As for how faithful to the original will this Airport 1975 inspired disaster be, I hope not too much. Yes, I know talking a total layman through flying then landing a jet airliner is immensely difficult and risky, but can you imagine saying this about Athena freaking Grant-Nash?

[spacelazarwolf]

Can i ask why people seem to only refer to black and brown people? I'm east Asian, and it can feel kind of bad not really being included in the language surrounding talk about racism. We're one of the groups that faces the most discrimination and hate crimes, especially with how covid started. Me and nearly every Asian person i know has faced racism over our lives and many of us have very pale skin. It feels very alienating to be, in a way, left out of the discussion. I understand that often we're included somewhat implicitly, but it doesn't look like it when the language doesn't represent it.

so before i get into it, i'm giving two caveats: 1. even though i'm jewish and my family and i have had a complicated history with being racialized as non white, i'm still racially white. so while i always try to take into account all the things that my family has experienced and that the people of color i know have taught me, that's still the individual perspective i'm speaking from. 2. i live in the us, so that's the culture and society i'm talking about. it may apply to different places in the west (or even outside the west idk) but it may not so like inb4 "#american centric" bc i am literally talking abt america.

re: your actual question of why people seem to only refer to black and brown people, i think it's mostly used to talk about issues that affect darker skinned people of color, but sometimes used as another variation of "people of color" that's meant to encompass all nonwhite people. i've definitely used it that way before without really thinking about it, but i can see how that could make groups who may not see themselves as being black or brown feel left out of a conversation that still absolutely pertains to them. i think we as a society are currently struggling with what vocabulary to use when we talk about racial issues. there's a bunch of different acronyms and phrases people use, and listing out all the different racial and ethnic groups we can think of always leaves someone out.

but i also think our struggles with vocabulary are caused in part by the way our view of race has become very black and white. especially when it comes to east asians, i think people fall way too easily for the model minority myth + think lighter skin = less oppression, so they think east asians don't need as much advocacy as other groups. but as you said, especially since covid, there's been a massive spike in anti asian racism, and that's something i don't think people are really taking seriously. there's this one scene in station 19 (cw for discussion of anti asian hate crimes) that i feel like addresses this so well. people are afraid to downplay the severity of anti black racism (which is understandable considering that anti black racism has been downplayed for hundreds of years), but they end up gaslighting other racial and ethnic minorities or even themselves about the other kinds of bigotry that exist. and as one of the characters states in the clip, "it's all bad."

and like, as a jewish person, i definitely feel a lot of solidarity with east asians because our struggles are dismissed in similar ways. for those of us who are light skinned, we're often told (in my experience, usually by non black people) that basically our skin is too light for people to care because "black people have it worse." people use any success our communities have had as a reason why what we experience Can't Possibly Be That Bad. but what they're missing is that it's all connected. the same people who are perpetuating anti blackness are likely perpetuating anti asian racism and antisemitism too. you can't get rid of anti black racism without dismantling white supremacy, and part of dismantling white supremacy is addressing anti asian racism and antisemitism. we can't just keep hacking away at one brick and expect the entire wall to come down. we have to bulldoze it all.

[willowmosby]

So I decided to watch the new abc Doctor Odyssey, because God forbid I finish one of the multiple other shows I'm working my way through. My thoughts are below the gif (that i did not make in case that wasn't obvious)

Please please let me know if you have thoughts id love to know how others are vibing with this show!

So my thoughts. Is this a theme heavy pick apart the screen for details hold be accountable for their options show. No and honestly I'm kinda glad. Like I love me some Buffy or Black sails, of interview with a vampire. But honestly right now I'm super excited for super sexy boat time so whenever I use the world silly in this review please know I mean it in the best way possible.

The only weird thing is that I felt super weird the covid is now old enough to be a tragic backstory. I mean covid is absolutely tragic backstory material but like I thought we would give it a few more years.

Unless it ends up in some twilight zone shit it will be a little murder she wrote in the sense that like there's no way that a small town has that many murders and people still want to live there. There is no way they have even 3 emergencies a week that are as serious as this weeks on a cruise ship of that size. - but hey I'm not mad cause " work like a captain party like a pirate" is so silly but also so sexy and the ship is show shiny and pretty and the homoerotic tension is so there.

Like Tristan and Max had way more chemistry than either of them had with Avery. I could see an Ot3 cropping up but I don't think ABC is going to be able to actually do that - like it's still a stretch for me to think they'll go through gay route- but I think that could be fun.

The bit where Max decided not to sleep with Avery did feel very much like he's gay and just not out about it and got caught up in the homoerotic fight but somehow ended up with the girl? (Like you know that scene from how I met your mother where it's not Ted fighting someone for a girl or the girl and someone fighting for ted? )but if it's not that's fine too we love a man who realizes there is a power imbalance.

I just think it's a weird way to set up a straight will they won't they. You know cause most times in a will they won't they It takes them a while to get to the first time. Like if they were setting up a romantic trope they did it better with enemies to friends to lovers ( please please let this be the case) with Tristan and Max.

Anyway Sorry sorry for the ship discourse it's too early in the show to really tell maybe next week the cast will have settled in and the chemistry between Max and Avery will be off the charts.

For some ship discourse I do really like the set like it is so clean and sparkly and like it just feels like a glamorous, sexy, and fun time. Like nothing too serious or gritty can happen here no sir. Which isn't always my cup of tea but this time I think it could be fun.

I like the captain as a character cause he goes so far in being serious that it comes back to silly. I do think that if the show wants to last a long time it needs a few more regulars. I don't need a full ensemble ensemble but like 4 characters that we know by name is not enough. Give me a reoccurring lifeguard or bartender or something

Anyway just thought I get some thoughts out there while it's relevant, who knows if I will actually continue to watch ( just so many shows so little time) but I will try my best.

I'm super excited to see other people's thoughts and feelings!

[khaire-traveler]

I’m going to be brutally honest, I am a minor who is afraid of worshipping anything or anyone. I’m afraid because I think of the possibility that gods or goddesses are not real and my mind is making that allusion to comfort me due to me not having friends and usually being lonely. I want to start. I really do. I want to experience feeling that at least someone is going to be there for me through my thick and thin. I don’t have an alter nor do I pray. I’m currently sick with Covid and I feel awful. It was my first time praying to a Greek god. I prayed to Apollo, I mentioned his family, and his parents. I don’t know what to do or get started. I obviously can’t openly do stuff due to my parents. I want to start, I want to do this, but I’m so lost. I just need help. I know some knowledge about Apollo and his stories and his family as well. This is kind of stupid and I know I’m going to regret this but what if someone else is going through the same thing? My name is Khloe but I’m called Koko.

Have a goodnight <3

Hey, Koko,

There's no shame in feeling doubtful, but if I'm going to be honest, this isn't something I can answer for you. I can give you suggestions, but unfortunately, I don't have all the answers. This is the kind of thing that you have to figure out for yourself, in my experience. I used to have the same fear, and it took a long time for me to push through it. Even then, I still struggle sometimes which is completely normal. Many people have felt this way; you are not alone in this worry.

The way someone put it to me once was "So what if they're not real? You still grew as a person because of your faith. It still improved your life." Initially, that didn't really help to hear, but as time went on and I became more comfortable with the fact that I may straight up never know "the truth", it became something I understood. In any spiritual path, I feel this is a fact many people have to face: the reality that we don't know anything for sure... and that's actually ok. That doesn't make our beliefs any less valid. It doesn't make our time spent worshipping or the words we said in prayer any less real. If your faith gives you hope, that's what matters. Faith can be a beautiful thing, even when it's a little scary due to the uncertainties, but there aren't many things in life that are certain. Another thing is to keep track of your experiences, specifically things that renew your faith in a sense. It takes time to build a good list of these things, but even things like an answered prayer or a reminder that a deity is present are helpful to look back on.

Honestly, I can't tell you what's right for you. I can't force you to work through the fears and worries you're having. All I can do is suggest the things above and advise you to do what you feel is best for yourself. I say give it a chance because truthfully, what do you have to lose? You could be denying yourself an absolutely amazing experience, but you won't know until you give it a try. And if it turns out it's not for you, that's ok, too! There's nothing wrong with deciding that it isn't your path later on. I wish you well, and take care. 🧡

[lover-of-mine]

On Taylor, too..... Just wanted to add. I'm with you and the other anons annoyance of having to stick up for her. But we are also introduced to her in S2 when Eddie is dealing with his wife. Of course, I shipped Buddie back then, but literally, I'm all the way down the hole now. When she is reintroduced in Covid. That's the point I thought they were maybe going to finally diverge the Buddie storyline. I thought Eddie would go off with Anna. And Buck was lonely. He was isolated and not on a winning streak, so I was actually happy he got "his whale" in a way. But that was the shows last chance. They did will reveal. It was clear there wasn't doing to have a divergence in their story. So exactly why would I accept someone now who doesn't have 20% of the development of Taylor. So many years later where the only thing that stops bUddie from being married is they haven't gone to pound town yet.

Yeah, that's the thing really, up until suspicion and the shooting, buddie was very much still up in the air. It could've gone any direction because, besides some key moments, they are best friends, to tone it down a little bit and let them be besties with their respective wives seemed like the most plausible scenario. If there was no shooting, Eddie would've settled and had a decent life with Ana in my opinion, I see season 4 Eddie just accepting that was all he could get, he liked her, Chris liked her, life could be nice and that would be it. And Taylor, she was framed as this multiseason great love. They developed her character and her relationship with Buck, during First Responders and Treasure Hunt they are establishing a connection they could've worked with to keep Buck with Taylor. Let's face it, we were all looking at buddie and liking their interactions and seeing the potential but it is the shooting that changes everything, it's the "Because Evan" that makes them possible. Everything about the shooting is romantic. The slow-motion of the blood hitting Buck, the wide-shot of the both of them, the impression they give that they have their eyes locked across the pavement, Buck doing the saving alone, the focus on hands, "are you hurt", Buck escalating from we got you to I got you, from just hang on to I need you to hang on. And if that wasn't enough, they hit us with the will reveal. After Buck had already stepped up. Eddie putting Buck in his will is not inherently romantic, hiding it and only revealing it because he needs Buck to see he's loved and that his life matters? Absolutely is. The level of understanding between Buck and Eddie that was shown during Survivors destroyed any possibility of them not ending up together and it still being satisfying. And they keep playing that up. It wasn't an isolated event. Sure, it was a fantasy, because we were dealing with two guys that were being presented as straight, but the idea of them not ending up together feels unsatisfying and that's exemplified by the ending of season 6 because if that was the actual ending of the show it would've been deeply meh for both of them. And now Buck is canonically queer. Which means buddie is an actual plausible possibility. The amount of work that would have to be put into a character for them to even begin to feel as satisfying as a partner for Buck as Eddie or vice-verse was already a lot, but now that they are an actual possibility, come on. The work that was put into Taylor is the bare minimum. The idea that I should lower that bar now just because the person in question is a man is laughable to me. Eddie is right there. Six seasons worth of development, and friendship, and partnership, and understanding. I need at least half of that to even begin thinking about considering accepting someone else as a possibility.

[scribbleshanks]

I hope this isn't prying too much. I also have a march in my city for tomorrow (the 2nd) and I'm considering going, but I've literally never gone to a march before. Do you have resources on how to potentially prep for one like this? Is this one I should keep my phone off and my face covered? Being just a march instead of a protest, I don't think I have to worry about anonymity as much, but I have no idea what to expect.

you're good dude but honestly I also don't know what I'm doing, and I unfortunately don't have any easily available resources on hand about how to prep

but I remember this short comic by Dan Schade I came across that gives tips on what you can do to prepare in case you might you're worried about your safety, considering these sorts of things can be targets for police violence. I really recommend checking it out

here's a summary of it:

obscure your face, ie w a covid mask or bandana (for anonymity reasons but also covid reasons, still in a pandemic)

plain anonymous clothing, nothing identifiable

multiple water bottles, ear plugs

safety gear: safety goggles, spray bottle with milk in case of tear gas, neosporin

pepper spray if you got any

leave your phone at home; if you must bring it disable location services, put it on airplane mode, and keep it off until you need it

stay with the group, don't stray off, stay aware of your surroundings

don't take any pictures/don't post any pictures

don't talk to the police if you encounter any

to be completely honest it's possible you might not even need to do everything the comic suggests, but if you ask me it could be better to do some of the precautions in case anything happens

going to the march can really help boost the numbers and add your voice to the people there calling for a ceasefire in palestine, but I totally get that it's super nerve wracking as a first time thing (also my first time going to a march, I feel like I'm going to shit my pants). if you choose to go it doesn't hurt to do some of the small stuff like obscuring your face and turning your phone off if you're worried about anonymity or cops

wishing you absolutely all the luck anon, I hope you'll be safe over on your end

[animegirlsakurablr]

Shenanigans in the Grand Order, part 728

*deep sigh* And what do you mean by that, sir?

Oy vey, oy vey...

So, what you said (back then) is, essentially, an oxymoron?

And your semi-amnesia is goddamn pointless!

I feel like actual!Dobrynya would get along with Odysseus.

Heh, and he gets summoned to take care of a kid. And not just any kid... It's Koyanskaya.

And the (what feels like a last second) reason why she looks like Tamamo: Amaterasu came by (Why? Who tf knows) and granted her a life.

Anyway, this is now done. It's... not as awful as many make it out to be, but this chapter definitely has problems. It feels just so rushed. I know that story chapters and event stories usually have months to "wait in the oven", so to speak, but Tunguska felt like it only had weeks to prepare.

I'm not sure if it's because:

1) Sakurai also wrote the Christmas event and also this one, therefore writing two things back-to-back

2) Covid still causing some amount of trouble (remember, this originally came out two years ago on JP)

3) Sakurai was beginning to write Fate: Lost Einherjar and possibly being roped to be one of the writers for Samurai Remnant, and also possibly beginning to write the story for Summer 7

4) Some sort of combination to the above or some other reason

Like. I'm way more curious to what went on behind the scenes for Tunguska than I am for any of the other story chapters. Give me the goddamn tea.

Any positives? Beyond that it does end (albeit not in a satisfying way), Taigong Wang's nice, and the soundtrack introduced here is good too. And that's kinda it. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

And besides how rushed it feels, where do I begin with the negatives? The way Ibuki is given semi-amnesia, but the only characterization is "the party girl who is also the brute"? The two mounts who add nothing to the story? Why are there two halves of Koyanskaya now running around in Chaldea? Several characters repeating themselves ad nauseum- scratch that, that's sadly a Sakurai writing tick.

And oh man, Dobrynya and how Koyan came to be. I absolutely despise FGO's take on Dobrynya. Not only because it's yet another case of "it's this person, but it's actually that person!" (this case being the wife Natasha), but her design holds nothing to either of them - and what I mean by that is that her design is almost literally a recolor of her illustrator's FF14 OC. I am not kidding with that. And while that isn't particularly new, Raita did that before with Raikou. But here's the thing, Raikou - even with her "I can't take this character seriously because of her assets" design, she still fits in with where she came from in a more fantasy way. Dobrynya doesn't. And don't get me started with her coloration (oh yes, I want to be snow-blinded by a character's art /s).

And Koyanskaya's backstory... On one hand, being the embodiment of many animal souls because of a natural event (the Tunguska explosion) is a really interesting concept for a Servant, and I kinda want to see other kinds of concepts in the future. On the other hand, how it connects to her love/hate relationship with humanity is a load of crap. "Oh, the animals mistook the sound of the explosion for gunfire-" let me tell you how bullshit that sounds. Animals can be damn intelligent. They know what humans are. Several of them know in what way we do. They also can tell before any of us know when something is wrong, whether it be reacting to something that we don't see or when something like a volcano is going to go off. I don't know if the whole "animals mistook the explosion for gunfire" is something Sakurai herself wrote, or is something that Nasu wrote who just passed it onto her, but it really is just a bullshit reasoning for why Koyanskaya hates humanity. You could've made her the embodiment of something that humanity actually was responsible for, like Chernobyl for example. Just. Why.

I plan to get through Traum later this year, and then after that I'll be waiting for... LB7... Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay...

SQ used: 0

Revival stones: 0 (I wish to bonk the devs for not allowing the players to use the stones for main interludes with a bat)

[crownedinmarigolds]

6, 23, 24, 27, 45 and 63 for Khloe? :3c

Oh my goodness! SO MANY! Thank you!! :0 I think for fun because the questions seemed posed like an interview, I may have Khloe "answer" these herself! (Ask Meme Post here!)

Her hands are laced in her lap, and she can feel her heart pound in her chest as the interviewer gives her a quick smile over their notes to put her at ease. The questions shouldn't be too invasive, right? Khloe sits up when the other person appears ready. 6. Are you more mature than you seem? Less? Khloe laughs a little, though the question itself isn't amusing really, it's more like a valve release to get out the stage fright. "I get told I look younger than I actually am, so I guess I would technically be way more mature than I appear. I'm thirty but I get told I don't look like it. So that's nice!" 23. How did you earn a living? "I am still working for the company I was at before." She gets a bit more comfortable in her seat and smiles. "I'm just a data entry clerk, but it's work from home and I pretty much make whatever schedule I want, so it's pretty perfect for my, uh, current lifestyle." 24. Did you have any real friends? Khloe cringes a little, ouch. "I fell off accidentally with a lot of people. I just got busy, COVID hit and it was hard to meet up and then you forgot to meet up... Days just blurred together and before you knew it months passed. I would say though my Mom was probably my best friend..." Her voice trails off, and for a split second her eyes appear melancholy before she looks back to the interviewer. 27. What was your first brush with the supernatural? "Unfortunately, my first brush with the supernatural was my Embrace. I have lots of books and movies and games and whatever centered around the supernatural that I love, but I never thought it was real-real until I woke up a vampire. I wouldn't call me a complete non-believer, but I definitely didn't think every bump in the night was a ghost or a werewolf that's for sure." She shrugs, "I gotta say, wasn't impressed initially with the whole being a supernatural being either for a hot bit there. Thanks to being Thinblood, my heart still beats, I still feel things working, I don't even heal good - uhm, well I mean. So aside from feeling ravenously hungry, it wasn't very different than being human." 45. Why do you think they (your sire) chose you? Her nostrils flare a little, and though she tries to remain polite she can't help the slight disdain in her voice. "If everything she tells me is true, which sure I am inclined to believe her, then it was all an accident and my Embrace was out of the goodness of her heart. Or maybe even a weird motherly pull because she knew about her issues with Embracing. Either way, I don't think I was a real choice, just an opportunity that presented itself when she slammed her car head-on into mine and I went flying into the street." 63. Do you have a permanent home at all? The frown she had from the question about her sire remains, and she looks at her lap, "I have an apartment but I don't really stay there anymore. I stayed with my boyfriend in his trailer, but that's gone now too. I stay now with my coterie in our shared home - but who knows how long that will last. It's just the nature of the life I've chosen to dedicate myself to, right? You don't revolutionize without possibly getting hurt, and you can't always trust that your own bed is safe..." Her lips then quirk into a smile, "Though, I guess sorry to be so cheesy, I would say my coterie is my permanent home. That I can say for absolute certain."

[mushroompone]

Hello! I really love your writing and with all the hype going with the mlp infection/zombie I was wondering how do you approach writing horror/gore? I mostly like to write slice of life, romantic, fluffy stories, so whenever I try to write something darker, a zombie apocalypse for example, the violence feels juvenile and the horror falls flat. Your stuff is absolutely terrifying and amazing, so I'm just sitting here wondering how?? I know that's a broad question, but I would appreciate a peek into your thought process for writing horror. Thank you and have a good day!!

Oh my gosh you're so kind!! First off, thank you! I have really enjoyed writing horror for this community for many years now, and it's been sorry cool to see this massive interest during of of nowhere for MLP horror content!

Second, definitely a broad question, but I can offer some broad tips in response:

(1) Work with what scares you. Horror actually comes naturally to most of us, you just have to be willing to explore some of the darker corners of yourself. Consume horror as much as possible and try not to shy away from what scares you. Most importantly, though, understand why you find it scary. This leads to step 2...

(2) Drill down to the core fear. There's a lot of creatures and things that pop up in horror again and again: ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and certainly zombies. But to work with these effectively we have to understand why they scare us. The answer is different for everyone! Let's take zombies as an example: for me, zombies are scary because they are infectious. I find plagues and diseases to be really really scary, even pre-covid lol. For others, it's more about loss of control - becoming a zombie means becoming an animal, or something else inhuman. Dig until you find the why. Then...

(3) Give someone the worst day possible. Picking your protagonist is critical. The monster has to be difficult for them to face! So think about what will play well off your core fear. If you've found zombies as your monster and distilled that to loss of control .. well, Luna would be a great choice! She's all about loss of control. That's super scary and very real for her. If you're going in more of an infectious disease direction, Twilight would make more sense - she would make a very believable germaphobe, yet still be driven to help those around her and find a cure. If you do it right, all you have to do is...

(4) Sit back and let it happen. It helps to have a destination in mind (even if it's as simple as "happy ending" or "real downer"), but if you've set yourself up this way you've got a concept and you're ready to let it rip. Start writing. Be gross. Scare yourself. Look over your shoulder and wonder who might be watching you. If you get stuck, ask yourself this: how could this possibly get any worse? Then do that. With pizzazz.

The details of writing prose that is gooey, gory, and chilling come from reading. You'll start to get a feel for where to linger, where to hold back, where to describe, and what to leave up to your reader's imagination. The hardest part is the balancing act - keep some things obscured. Leave some mystery while making it clear what is scary and why. However, once your audience knows the precise size and shape of what they're dealing with, it becomes a lot less scary! My rule of thumb is that I never want my audience to be able to plan a way around the danger. They should never be able to devise their own means of escape - something should always be left uncertain or shrouded in darkness.

I hope this helps!! If you'd ever like someone to look at what you're working on, I love beta-reading pony horror :) actually, come to think of it, I love beta-reading all horror!

Again, thank you! Your an earned my heart ❤️ I love hearing that my sacred are still scaring!

[squirrellypoo]

I will be your blood loss consultant

Hey IWTV fic writers - want to ensure your character's blood loss feels realistic? Got a situation where a petit coup has gone too far, or a character got gravely injured? I've got a unique perspective to offer to the fandom - I've lived for extended periods of time with extremely low blood counts* and I'm happy for you to send me WIP snippets or to ask for advice on blood loss storylines.

To break it down a bit further, from my experience, how being low on the different types of blood feels/affects you:

Red blood cells - Red blood cells carry oxygen around the body, so if you're low on these, you're effectively low on oxygen in the blood. This is the most obvious, but you feel really sluggish, tired, and will be breathing heavily at the slightest physical exertion. Physically, it kinda feels like you're moving underwater, and your limbs feel heavy, and even short walks feel hard. (I went from running 10km 3x a week to getting out of breath just walking up stairs, for example). Cognition is fine, but frequent naps are a requirement.

Platelets - Platelets are what allow your blood to clot and heal cuts, so a lack of these means you bleed and bleed for a long time. But also you bruise super easily, and bruises last a really long time (weeks/months). You can also have spontaneous burst blood vessels in the whites of your eyes. Parts of your body that wouldn't normally bleed also do - like waking up to blood on the pillow because your gums bled overnight. The most unexpected part for me was having a constant background rushing sound in my ears - kinda like holding a seashell up, but all the time (until a transfusion).

White blood cells / neutrophils - A lack of these doesn't make you feel that different, tbh, but a lack of WBC means you can't fight off viruses so you pick up every single cough and cold, and have it for twice as long as normal people. A lack of neutrophils means you can't fight off bacteria, so your body's normal bacterial cohabitors cause problems that can really mess you up. So you've got to be insanely conscientious about what you eat (no runny eggs, unpasteurised cheeses, raw vegetables!), and brush your teeth and mouthwash after you ingest anything. You'll really only need to worry about these symptoms though if you've got low blood levels for an extended period of time (several weeks+).

Overall though, I've described the extreme examples. If your character is young and healthy, they will probably only experience the red blood loss symptoms (and possibly minor platelet symptoms) for a few days, depending on how much blood was lost. If they're in a situation where a hospital would give transfusions, be aware that you'll only ever be given enough to get you out of the dangerously low territory, never so much that you'd be "back to normal" counts after the transfusion(s). But transfusions do make you feel better almost instantly (better, but not good).

But again, feel free to message me with any specific questions (I can also tell you how chemo, meningitis, spinal taps, surgery w/o anaesthetic feels if that's of use!), I'm happy to talk about all this and I want to give back to this fandom and IWTV fanfic writers in particular to say thanks for the hundreds of hours of enjoyment you all have given me!

* I'm absolutely fine now! Over my lifetime, though, I've survived off the blood of literally hundreds of people. A bone marrow transplant saved my life 14 years ago and I run marathons now and am probably healthier than most 40-somethings, except I'm still Clinically Extremely Vulnerable to Covid and can't go into crowded places or unmask indoors. But my bloods have been fine for over a decade and this is in no way traumatic for me to talk about!

Please consider joining your country's bone marrow donor registry and/or donating blood regularly if you're able to! Both saved my life.

[imaginespazzi]

Hey bestie,

How are you? I hope you’re doing good! Me? Not so much after reading part 3 😭

My thoughts:

I wasn’t expecting us to finally get the fight from that night, so I was NOT prepared. This - When Azzi’s 18, Paige says those words, ones that sound a lot like giving up, and teaches Azzi that sometimes in life, even the people you thought would never make you feel this way, are the ones who'll break you the most – this broke me babe, and to think Azzi still held on despite everything. Like I know Paige was just hurting but maybe she does deserve the suffering (a little bit) after all.

The entire summer scene was fucking elite. Poor Katie and Tim, they just wanted a. nice. family. dinner!! And instead they had to sit through their daughter’s gay ass drama lmao, #freeKatieandTim

The bros standing ten toes down for Pazzi ✊ Jon and José not even trying sent me, like no sorry, P is our sister-in-law but we appreciate you dropping by. AND DREW, our MVP - Drew had looked over to Azzi then, his eyes wide and accusing, “you can’t be Azzi’s girlfriend.” – little man was a bit traumatised, like sorry pookie who is this girl and why is she claiming to be something she can’t possibly be? He’s the GOAT fr, I know when he and P got back home, he scolded tf outta her and it went something like- Drew: “Why are you letting Azzi be other people’s girlfriend?? That’s OUR pookie.” P: “I know, I’m trying bro!”. Drew: “Well try harder!!” *stomps away*.

Then the Cayman Islands - UCLA and UConn to each other: 😡😤🔪🤬🖕👿 while Azzi and Paige: 🥰😍🫂🤩💗👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 and then there’s probably Carol like: 😩 (she’s so over all this)

And then the ending! I’m guessing P left without saying goodbye because she probably saw the text from Zoe and once again was promptly reminded of their reality? 🥺

Speaking of Zoe, oh girl I’m so sorry, you deserve better – like damn, she just wanted to share some fucking pizza!!

Also, jealous Azzi making an appearance! (I’m such a shameful sucker for the jealous Paige and Azzi trope, I’m sorry!)

Oh and one final thing on part 3 – babe I know you said writing **** was taking years off your life, but we really appreciate your sacrifice because it was absolute 🔥🔥

What’s next (potentially)?

Oh man where to from here huh… I feel like Paige is eventually gonna get to the point where she's like "choose me, pick me", only to realise that Azzi just can’t do it cause she can't trust her with her heart, and I know it's gonna hurt bad. And even though Paige needs and wants more, she’ll also take whatever she can get even if it’s slowly killing her, because it’s Azzi and she’d rather have a little bit of her than none at all 😔

Also, a tension-filled game between them in the final 4 coming up maybe??

That part where Katie shoots Azzi a look of disappointment – I wonder if momma Fudd will ever call out Azzi over whatever’s happening between her and Paige and poor Zoe?

Either way, something tells me we’ve still got a lot of angst coming our way, and look as much as I want our babies to finally just get their shit together, I just can’t say no to more angst you know, I’m just a girl. 🤷‍♀️

Oh and this part - she’s even less sure about how she’d survived that one year where they’d practically lived in each other’s skins – is this something (I'm guessing this is their covid era?) we go into a bit more?? I do love all the allusions/references to how long they’ve always been something more and the blurring of the lines but never fully crossing it obviously until that fateful summer of 2022. I guess it does explain somewhat, though, why Paige felt so betrayed about Azzi not choosing her (UConn) because baby girl probably thought “ok once we’re both at UConn, we can finally be together 😌” - like her dream/vision of them playing together and also being together got ripped away from her ❤️‍🩹

As always, bestie, thank you for existing, thank you for your talent and for being so generous in sharing it with us. You outdo yourself every. fucking. time. 💐

Quick non-ucla fic side note: ESPN’s Bracketology having Utah and UConn on opposing sides of the bracket, so basically they’re saying Utah vs UConn championship game where I get to watch AP and PB ball out? Yeah ok, give it to me. 🤪 #APHiveUP (but bleed blue always ofc)

Favourite quote/line:

“You always say the right things,” Paige says quietly, and then even quieter, she whispers under her breath, “you make it so hard Az.”

Big love always 💗,

-🙋‍♀️

Hi bestie,

Omg I'm sorry....again 😭

I was gonna wait a little longer with the fight but it felt right to have it in this chapter and I wanted it to be from Azzi's perspective because it would hit just a little harder

Poor Katie and Tim fr like they should have just gone on a cute date instead of having to deal with this craziness

The brothers are the biggest Pazzi shippers like they're actually tired of their sister's bullshit at this point. Drew with the biggest truth ever really just shut everybody else up. "GET OUR POOKIE BACK BEFORE I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING" - Drew Bueckers at some point probably

I was gonna add a line about Carol and Charisma just frowning at their teammates and being all exasperated and then fully forgot lmao but yeah UCLA and UConn are big mad at each other. Though writing Nika and KK are Muhl and Arnold felt so weird.

Bestie you might be the only person who got my hint which apparently was not as obvious as I thought 😭

Zoe, poor girlie pop, y'all are gonna be absolute wrecked for her soon because girlie's just a sweetheart who does not deserve this but got caught in it anyway

Jealous Azzi might actually be worse than jealous Paige in this universe lmao but the waitress was doing *too much*

Part 4 is honestly a bit of a mystery to me because I've dug myself a bit of a hole but never fear, I will angst myself out of it somehow. 😭

#APHiveUp YES EXACTLY BESTIE!! Utah vs UConn for the national championship because actually AP vs AE would be pretty fun too and listen not to get at my girl AP, but AE would win that and then UConn would win and that's the only valid ending.

As always, thank you for being here bestie. I love your long asks and how much you just get me and the UCLA fic which really wouldn't even be a thing without you.

Love you babes <3

[marybeatriceofmodena]

You seem to know so much about phantom and its history in general and this is probably such a stupid question I’m sorry but why the fuck have they closed it on Broadway and the west end? No matter how much I think about it it makes no sense to me that it’s not bringing in enough money bc if people aren’t seeing what are they seeing????? Just close all of NY and London down at this point like ? And now I’m feeling like I should have seen it at least one more time since the news came out but the first time was so perfect I didn’t want to ruin it. But I’ve just been feeling like it’s a publicity ploy? They’re gonna say they’re taking it off then bring it back in 5 years shinier… but no one else seems to think so. Now I’m feeling like an idiot for not seeing it 5 times in a row even though it’s in my back yard.

Anyway. I’m sorry just had to get that out somewhere I’m sorry it was to you

Okay, so, right off the bat - the West End production is technically still running. It's not exactly like the original, but it's still there (and it has a VERY solid cast as of now so I would still absolutely recommend to go and see it if you ever have the opportunity. If you're scared of getting the restaged tour, it's really not that). There are a few differences with staging, the wigs are different from what they used to be, the orchestra has been reduced, some of the choreography is a bit different - but it's largely the same show.

What *did* happen in the West End was that like all productions, it closed during COVID, the cast and crew waited to be able to go back, and Cameron Mackintosh (aka the producer, aka Satan) invited all of them to a Zoom call, where they learned that they were all fired and that they'd be replaced by a new cast and crew. That included people who worked in the orchestra for nearly 30 years, Philip Griffiths who played Reyer since, like... forever, and I'm skipping a bunch. The reason why CamMack did that was to reopen with a smaller orchestra, a few reductions here and there, and obviously, with a younger cast and crew working around, salaries will be lesser on the basis of experience. And understandably, a lot of people didn't want to come back and go through the whole hiring/auditioning process all over again. Philip Griffiths for instance basically went: "Fuck it, I played the role for 30 years and I shouldn't have to audition for it" (and he's correct).

Obviously, COVID has been tough on the arts industry in general, and there are several shows on Broadway who closed as a result of it (the whole deal with The Music Man revival with Hugh Jackman was to make as much money as possible to recoup for losts, because anything that has Hugh Jackman in it or The Music Man itself has always sold very well on Broadway). Phantom was not one of those shows that was struggling, because it's kind of like Wicked, Chicago, Hamilton, or any Disney show in the sense that it will reliably make money no matter what. It's expensive to set up and stage as opposed to, say, Six, but it still very much made a profit.

Cameron Mackintosh didn't really give a reason as to why he was closing it (at least none that I'm aware of, or if there is, it's probably PR fluff), but if I had to make a guess, it's probably going to reopen in a few years, just like the West End production did, but with the reductions I've mentioned above, with a cheaper orcheatra, cheaper crew, etc. and you get a nice little opportunity to have it get nominated at the Tony Awards for Best Revival.

So yeah anyway eat the rich

[lumslittleland]

Not Been Well Recently - Sorry (Covid x3)

I apologise for not having been active for quite a long time.

I have been struggling with ill health, work and personal life problems for quite some time. My new medication is taking quite some getting used to, and it's efficiency depends entirely on how and what I do, eat, breathe and sleep.

It works wonders, but it's like a master lock on a bloody safe to get it to work just right, and I'm finding it difficult because I've never had 'tightly wound and intricate' issues to deal with before - like food allergies or asthma, or shit that needs extreme care. So I'm not that good at being patient, or meticulous.

Then I've had Covid about 3 times, with the full blown rash, and everything that comes with it, and I'm starting to wonder if I've got it longterm now as it's caused me to have a few seizures and eating problems and (what might be, but prob isn't) early signs of mild skin cancer, so my GP has asked me to be part of a research program for Covid.

At this rate, I feel so ill I frequently wonder whether life is worth living - and yet nobody seems to understand as they just get up in the morning and 'feel good.' Even on a shit day, there's plenty they can do. I'm stuck like this for life, and it interferes so much with everything it makes living nearly unbearable.

Sorry for this little self-absorbed rant.

I had to get it out in the open, because sometimes I feel like I am struggling alone... and then there's this major dickhead on this game pretending to have cancer to get attention, when in facts he's alienated everyone from him because of his hateful behaviour, and normally I would just ignore that because I just haven't got the time or energy to be bothered about some twat on the internet lol.

But apparently he's now asking for gifts and money, and someone close to me died from cancer, and it kind of makes me angry to make light of a subject like that...

Anyway my Twitter username has changed, and I'm going to be posting updates on there more frequently than on here, because it's just easier.

So if you want to give it a follow, I'll be posting updates on my fanfiction and any fan arts that people gift me. I wanted to run a full Stobotnik Tumblr on here, and maybe when I have more time I will do. But for now, I just want to sleep, get better and do the absolute bare minimum...

I've also deleted a lot of my comments on the new Sonic trailer, as I realise that there's more to it than what I previously saw, and I think that's because I didn't fully grow up with the Sonic franchise.

There's still a lot I hate about it, and possibly even when I see the full film will still hate about it.

But as I don't want to ruin it for you guys, I've started afresh. Have fun xxx