#log book <- because i have a real one but this is not that serious

[derogatorydennis]

.

[olderthannetfic]

I'm still peeved to the fucking moon and back that people legit feels like it's controversial to say "I wish we'd focus on NON-white fairytales when starring POC, because other cultures that Europen ones exist." and "It's annoying that already existing fairytales redone despite still holding up, to be an expensive cashgrab with no soul." Like, be honest, even if the poc starring in the movie is a fantastic actor, they're still basically going to be used as a shield by execs afraid of real criticism, they're going to receive hate by racist assholes, all to be then forgotten because they'll never live up to the original OR the movie is just so shit it'll sink into nothingness for being so mid to begin with, as most of them have.

"OmG what about an Asian Snow white?" "What about a Native American Red beauty and the beast?" "What about a black Rapunzel." Or... OR! We actually look at a specific culture, and then we get a cool fucking story that isn't the same set of European fairytales all over again? Maybe it's because I'm from Europe, but in my childhood I've read and watched hundreds of movies, shows, and books that are just different versions of the same European fairytales. That doesn't mean they're bad, but that any "new" version is just another log on an already burning pyre. It won't change anything, that fire already burns.

But imagine a story from a place and culture that hasn't really been presented to the West? How about the story of "The Palm oil girl" from Nigeria? Hell, there ARE fairytales from other countries that are like European fairytales in some aspect, but are clearly from a different country and culture. Yet people always rigidly stick to the European telling of these stories. The Vietnamese story "The Tale of Tấm and Cám" is a story that shares a lot of similarities with Cinderella, but is in its essence Vietnamese. You can find so many cool fairytales, and focusing on even just a few of them could kickstart a persons journey to exploring more cultures.

I don't believe in the "Western burden" to tell the tales of other cultures, many can do that on their own. But I also believe that it always felt like a serious case of pussy footing and cowardice not to just straight up do POC fairytales to begin with. Come on, be the first log for a fire to create the pyre.

--

[kesbeacon]

Reading your sock post, I realized you might just be the person to ask a question that a friend posted on FB: a knitting worldbuilding question!

In A Tale of Two Cities, Madame DeFarge knits the names of targets for the guillotine into her work. What was her coding scheme? The friend speculated that Dickens had met Charles Babbage at some point and was doing something with binary. After poking around a bit on the internet, I decided Dickens made it up, not knowing anything about knitting.

I did find schemes for encoding messages in two dimensions, possibly using colors. But such a scheme seems unlikely to encompass 26 letters and 5 accents in a way that can quickly encode a name (since there was a fair bit of volume to keep up with at the time).

What do you think? Is there a plausible scheme today? And would such a scheme have a chance of being available at the close of the 18th century?

So, I'm not an expert on this either! But I'll give it a go.

The first thing I remembered was that this has been done, albeit long after Dickens' day. I have seen videos and posts in which people talk about knitting as spycraft during the world wars. The challenge I then had was 'is this all just a giant game of internet telephone?'

And, my friend, this led me down a rabbit hole. I’ll get to your question in a bit, I just need to go on a detour about checking your sources. Because most of what I could find online was from sites with names like ilikeknitting500 dot com or girlbosshistory dot net (not real examples), all with the same vague story – in Belgium, the resistance would have people sitting by trainyards knitting, and they would drop a stitch for one kind of train, and purl for another, and so on and so forth. As a result, the government banned exporting knitting patterns! But they can’t even agree on what world war it was or which government banned it.

So where does this claim come from?

It took me a little while to find real articles with sources. What I eventually came away with was an Atlas Obscura article that has citations. One citation was a book I can't access by someone who, while I can't find any evidence she's a historian herself, has been endorsed by at least a couple. The link did give me an excerpt about a woman who would use her knitting to cover for tapping information about troop movements in code to her children below, who would write it instead of doing their schoolwork. In a similar vein, I could find information on people who used knitting to hide their spy work, as in the case of Phyllis Latour.

The other relevant citation was to a journal article in a (student-run, admittedly, but in some fields this isn't abnormal) peer-reviewed Open Access journal by an Jacqueline Witkowski, who is now an Associate Professor of Art, even if she wasn't then. This was the best of the bunch, because this cited a BBC Radio 4 program on the history of MI6. I thought this was going to be the end of the road for me, but then I realised you don’t need a TV licence to listen to the radio and that I do have a BBC account, so I logged in and listened to it and – bingo.

Alan Judd, a writer and ‘former soldier and diplomat’ according to Wikipedia, is the biographer of Mansfield Cumming, the original head of MI6, and he tells us about Belgian professionals recruiting little old ladies to go sit by train stations and knit, with the dropped and purled stitches. (He mentions nothing about banning sending knitting patterns.) Crucially, this is definitely during the First World War. I can’t access the book (and certainly can’t be bothered), but I would call this reasonably credible – it’s not as good as something from an actual archive, and I don’t automatically trust the BBC, but this radio series seems serious and also has the involvement of Actual MI6. So I think this is about as good as I’m going to get in a single evening.

We still don’t have the other half of the claim, the censorship. Witkowski says, “This [...] led to the Office of Censorship’s ban on posted knitting patterns in the Second World War, in case they contained coded messages.” There is a citation. But the citation is a Telegraph column by people involved in QI. QI, or Quite Interesting, is a British comedy panel show that I would place in the ‘edutainment’ category – it is an endless source of weird little facts, some of which are even true. Wikipedia has a section on mistakes and fact correction, and I can tell you from having watched the programme that it is usually correct on a surface level, but if you know anything about the relevant topic you’ll immediately start going ‘well, it’s actually more complicated than that…’

The QI column says, “During the Second World War the Office of Censorship banned people from posting knitting patterns abroad in case they contained coded messages,” and gives no sources. On historyhub.history.gov, someone has asked if there are any primary sources for this claim. Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RA) replies that ‘some articles specify that this was a practice by the British government, whereas others attribute it to the United States,’ and gives the asker links to the records of the American Office of Censorship, and where they can learn more about British censorship. There are no more replies. I would hazard a guess that QI meant the Americans; UK censorship was handled by the Ministry of Information, which is common knowledge here and not something they would fuck up.

I originally was going to wash my hands of it, but then I thought… just one primary source? Just try? So I looked at a US government printout of their censorship regulations from 1943. No mention of knitting patterns, but all printed matter is banned for export to Europe, which would presumably encompass commercial knitting patterns by default.

So that’s that tangent, I wrote, thinking this was over. Because Charles Dickens died in 1870 and published ToTC in 1859, long before ANY of this happened! Also, Madame DeFarge’s code is far more sophisticated than any of this stuff. So let’s get back on track.

Your friend is not the only person to have speculated on the Babbage connection – Paul Curzon of Queen Mary University London also raises the possibility that Dickens was thinking of Babbage and Lovelace’s work –

Wait. Is that… I thought I’d escaped my tangent! But Curzon has dragged me back in! He adds an interesting note at the end of the article, though he doesn’t cite it - “In the Second World War, the United States censors held on to a letter that contained a knitting pattern so they could knit the jumper in case it did contain a message. Ultimately they banned people from posting knitting patterns overseas at all (along with playing chess by post) in case people were hiding messages in them.” I wish he’d cited it, but this is at least a real academic – a little more credible than QI! I hoped that this would be the source of the QI claim, but unfortunately I think it post-dates the QI article – it’s hard to tell. But QI could easily have got hold of that censorship decision.

YANKS SELF BACK WITH THE BIG HOOK.

Dickens was, in short, probably making an almost science-fictional prediction. He moved in the Babbage/Lovelace circle and would have known about their work. What Curzon does not say is that this is also the age of Morse code, which came into use in the 1840s, and the beginning of Boolean algebra! It’s easy to imagine him taking these ideas, along with any knitting knowledge he may have had, and coming up with the concept. Madame DeFarge is ahead of her time, but not too far ahead of Dickens's.

Now, I’m not a Dickens scholar, but I happen to be friends with someone who is and is also a knitter. So I’ve asked her if he might’ve known diddly squat about knitting, and we’ll see what she says.

…

How might it have worked? Well, knitting is versatile. You can, for instance, knit Doom. But Doom is already binary, because we have established systems of binary coding. DeFarge does not, and it wouldn’t be intuitive to convert these into names, especially before Boolean algebra. She might’ve had a Morse code-like framework. Morse code isn’t actually binary – it’s sort of trinary, because you need to space the letters. This isn’t necessarily a problem; you can use a yarnover (followed by knitting/purling two together, obv) to separate the letters, with, say, knit being dot and purl being dash. If you’re experienced, you might be able to read it as fabric, but it would be easiest to read it back in reverse as you unravel it.

Knitting this would likely be pretty quick. She can’t be using actual Morse code for the very simple reason that she pre-dates Mr Morse, and I also don’t know how actual Morse code handles French diacritics, but it took me, a person who has never done this before and doesn't understand Morse and had to make some modifications on the fly, about quarter of an hour to knit the Morse code alphabet (minus Z bc I reached the end of a row and got bored). It would be easier if you were using colours; you could have one colour for dot, one for dash, and use purl stitches to mark the ends of words. I cba to do that right now though.

In summary, clearly Madame DeFarge is an extremely adept code-maker of a kind that is… easier to have in fiction than in real life. She's ahead of her time and in some ways ahead of twentieth-century spycraft, but not implausibly ahead of Dickens's. And I’m a fucking nerd.

And @ the internet at large, generalised-you should check your fucking sources.

[survivalist-anon]

Log 13: Concerning Wolves

Sitting in Jame's office is a strange mix between having a candid conversation with an older friend and being in trouble I'm the principal's office.

"Young lady, I trust you know that you're about to embark on a rather tumultuous experience right?", his drawl was a bit more serious than usual. "This ain't like the movies where you know how things will turn out either.....things can go so far down south right into hell now that the Astartes are involved."

Remembering what had happened the night before, the circumstances of Grandpa's murder, and what I've seen, I had no excuses to ignore the dangers. "Yeah, I can see...... listen if it's about Jeff....and Fjord tossing the patrol car, he was trying to protect me. I didn't ask him to throw the car at Jeff a-", Jame's eyebrows arched up.

"He did what?", apparently he hadn't been told about that.

"Fuk. Well anyway....Jeff pulled his gun on me thinking I was someone trying to attack on him or something and Fjord reacted to protect. He was just doing his duty.", I could tell James was already going to reiterate the responsibility. A heavy sigh slide through his lips once more.

"It's ok, however Fjord's going to have to be kept on a tight leash and control himself around folks or he's gonna have to stay home. Do you understand me?", his tone felt like there was something else underneath.

"Ok...I understand sir....also....how....long you've known about all of this?", I ask only of curiosity...if he wasn't willing to tell me than that fine too.

James relaxed his seriousness and mellowed abit, taking out a photo album. "They've been here far longer than I have kid, in fact Aldercon was my great grandfather's Astartes. Way back when folks had come here for free land. He told me that Aldercon had come from the sky, landed squarely in the heart of the Wyoming wilderness. He was shellshocked, covered head to toe in blood and dirt....I remember stories of my grandfather and Aldercon, as wild as the tales of Paul Bunyan and Babe. The two had become folk legends out in the ol' West."

He opened the book to show me the first page, it was a collection of aged, photos from the late 1800's. One of the pictures was of Jame's grandfather, he really did come from an American lineage of cowboys. He was far more rugged than James however... I glanced at the tall, stockier man in a much more humble looking uniform, same black fist on his pauldron too. "Holy shit, this can't be him...for one he's smiling, and second, I thought -", I could see James giving me a look that said 'but you didn't '.

I could see a tiny difference between him from this photo and now. I can tell his hair was darker, I can definitely see that thousand yard stare of a man who's seen war, and his armor was slightly different from the Marines back at the fort.

James turned the page, this was one was a genuine surprise. "Even your great grandfather, had one.", next to him was a man fresh off the boat from Eastern Europe, my Great grandfather, dad for some reason or another was reluctant to tell me his real name...he kept calling him "Big George", after the Butcher Boy George from Hungarian folk lore. Then right next to him, probably helped bag a rather ominous looking bear, was Sten. That white stripe on his head wasn't present, he didn't change as much as Aldercon. This picture was even more older than James's granddad's photo.

"You see Lorey, they've been around for a while now....lord knows for how long though.". He began to reminisce about the past.

The implications of these Marines having been around is giving my inner history buff a massive concern. "Well....it would be extremely stupid to try to bargain the fact I thought they joking, but I'm starting to see...I take it this will be more complicated?".

He looks up at me, "Yes ... because just like with basic folks like us, there are bad folks....that big black one your grandpa wasn't lucky with....is one of them...there seems to be at least five or so kinds out there based on my sources.....one of them is out there right now reeking havoc near highly populated campsites..... Aldercon told me Sten and Toke will be in disposed of for the next week.... meanwhile have Fjord keep a sharp nose out for that one...it's the fastest I've seen of these ones....I'm not too familiar with the either...so I'm giving you a very special assignment. I need you to put your research training to go use."

He handed me a small leather bound journal.

"Keep track of them, now....let's go have some grub.", he gets up from his chair and pats my shoulder.

I sat there feeling something complex in me, I'm....going to catalog them? I open the journal and I SWEAR James has been screwing with me at least to this point....this journal aestheticly looked a DnD character sheet of it focused on identifying and profiling. I place it in my inner jacket pocket. "What the shit....", I still wasn't too sure of my role in all of this....I could understand why now.

I'm just part of a lineage of....marine handlers? I don't know.....

As I leave the room, I see the Fjord was getting a lesson in paper football from one of the volunteers.

James takes the desk bell and rings it to call the attention of everyone in the center. "Ladies, Gentlemen and folks. I would like to make an announcement, as of now. Be on high alert for any unusual activity. Anything and everything in regards to disappearances of livestock and or people, property damage of unexplained or unusual nature, and any purported sightings of creatures of unknown origin...I.e...NOT BIG FOOT.... We'll have to be reported to me, Lorey and Ronnie for the time being.

I figured Ronnie also got the information, I look at him and he was a little more on edge than I was.

Fjord, definitely knew what this whole deal was about.

With a ringing of the doorbell to the nursery, Shelly has brought in some new little guests.

"Oh guys come and see! The babies are opening their eyes!", Shelly, Ronnie and I have been researching the local wolf packs in the area and monitoring their behavior. One of the females under our care have recently gave birth a few days ago.

I check in the box as Shelly laid it on the table, 5 beautiful cubs. In their state, they're roughly two to three weeks old. As helpless as human babies. "Fjord, would you like to see them?"

He was a little curious, he walked over to see the five cubs. ".... they're so....small.... they're...just wee little things...".

I could see he was trying to piece together something....not certain what, but from my perspective he was wonder struck.

As the cubs peeped and whimpered, as all cubs do, one has just opened it's eyes. Showing a pair of smokey blue irises. Than, Fjord did something I wasn't expecting him to do. He gently placed his hand next to one of the cubs. "... interesting...."

"Oh careful please, they're fragile little ones.", Shelly had all the right to worry. These may have been wild animals, but even young wild animals need to be treated carefully.

His finger alone dwarfed the cub, he was so still and so focused. By this point I completely lost in what could he be possibly thinking. A little cub wiggled right on top of his finger, using it as a heated pillow.

Fjord, let out a soft but eerily convincing howl, low enough that it could be considered an indoor voice, but it was very real. All the cubs let out their first howls, right there, all with varying skill and ability. But every single one had howled for the first time in their lives.

The room was quite, understandably, this was extremely weird for everyone.

Anderson decided to break the moment, "ugh...yeah I'd like to report something.".

"Anderson hush.", James to the rescue. "Fjord seems to understand these pups pretty well.

Shelly was mesmerized, "Oh my gosh, they all just did that at the same time. In all my years here, I have never seen something so amazing before."

I kept looking at Fjord, if I could read minds, this would be a great time to use it.

After a few hours of everyone enjoying their food, drink and few games. I sat with Fjord in the back of the room.

I sipped the last of my ginger ale, I still couldn't get his expression out of my mind. "Fjord. That thing you did with the howl ....can...you explain that to me?"

He sat there, lips wrapped around a rib bone. "Oh, that....it just...why are yeh wolves so small? I mean, I seen some out there in the forest and yonder ....I'm use to the wolves back home. Ferocious and mighty beasts, equivalent to Astartes! Strong enough to bare us and ride into battle. The cubs from thosd wolves are just a wee bit smaller than your fully grown ones. They're born with their teeth already out. These ones.... they're.... just wee bairns...".

I still didn't really get it. "Ugh, you mean...you're confused on why they're small.....?", I ask.

He takes out the bone from his mouth, "I mean....why do they remind me of mortal children? Small, helpless.... fragile...".

The tone he took had felt familiar, it was the same tone I used when my expectations would be challenged. "Wait...are you telling me you're disappointed by our wolves?", I satirically question him.

"No lass, it's just.....they remind me of....well....me... before I became an Astartes. The wee one ....it had blue eyes....I ....use to have the same eyes.", that last comment took me a little to figure out he was actually feeling.

It was self reflection. I just gave this guy a massive 'thing' to think about.

"well, all wolf pups have blue eyes when they're born, than as they grow, they change colors... mostly to yellow, amber or green.", looked to the room watching everyone enjoying themselves.

I suddenly felt him gently pull the side of my jaw, making me face him directly.

"Interesting....you have green eyes.", he bluntly stated.

I could feel my heart pounding by this point, we just both intensely looked into each other's eyes. I didn't know what it was, but something about the way he kept looking at me, just burning into my soul, felt strange...yet I liked it...it wasn't human either....

"ugh....this feels a little bit....um.", I didn't want to be mean about the situation by calling it 'cheesy' or 'corny'.

"----Hey you guys want t-", Jonas broke the tension for the both of us. "oooooh you two were?", she gave a cheeky grin.

"Jonas! You scared me.", again I had no idea what to say but hey it was something.

Fjord snapped out of his stare and looked to Jonas, "oh hey lass, to do what?"

Jonas chuckled a little, "it's almost time to close up the station and let the night crew in. We're heading down to the bar tonight actually. Why don't you bring your kegs too, Franky doesn't mind it."

I had completely forgotten about those two kegs, if Fjord sticks to the. He could save me a little of money.

"Ah I could use a drink, I've been parched for some for a little while lass.", he looks to me as a way of asking for approval by this point.

"ok fine.", I lean in to whisper in his ear. "Please behave yourself, Aldercon's orders."

He looks at me was a smoldering look, leans into my ear, "I'll do my best.".

I have no idea why, but the way he whispered into my ear shot the best feeling in the pit of my being.

End of log 13

@kit-williams @barn-anon @egrets-not-regrets

@gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan @walking-natural-disaster

@squishyowl

@starfrost740

[tkblythofficial]

For someone who was/is a proclaimed "fan girl" R really do be losing her cool easily when it came to her and being shipped with a co-star. You know I totally respect when actors set boundaries if there's harassment involved or people getting weird with speculations, creating rumors etc. She has the right to be uncomfortable with being shipped with someone she considers a platonic friend but the way she approaches this whole thing is weird to say the least

Hates to being romantically linked to T but can't stop sharing pictures of him, obsessing over what shippers do and say in their own spaces and trying so hard to "prove them wrong" 💀like girl it's not that serious, if nothing romantic comes out of zeglyth we'll move on (like people did with Jalle)

Her main problem relies in that she's ON SOCIAL MEDIA almost 24/7 and is obsessed with finding out what people are saying about her. My problem with her is she don't act like a real professional actor, she moves like a social media personality, it might be the Youtuber in her but if her plans are to expand her acting/singing career she needs to take herself more seriously and log out at least from Twitter. Get yourself to networking events like Zendaya did in her time, write an album, get in audition rooms because she's literally the only actor from TBOSAS main cast who has not booked a single role since the movie came out. Like girl, it was the perfect time to build a substantial fan base that's going to support your future projects, it was her time to use her amazing talent to do so much productive and creative shit. Like it upsets me how much time she wastes sitting around at her house having online meltdowns one day after the other over unimportant stuff like shipping 💀

Also it's not lost on me why she despises zeglyth shipping so much, and its because she realizes T is better than her man, she reads the comments and knows what people think of J or I better say how little they think of J as an actor/person. R has an obsession to prove her boyfriend is just as good as T, that's why as soon as she posts Zeglyth she goes back to like Sejanus/Zegvera/J posts lol lt's like clockwork. I understand she's J victim and why she's so defensive of her groomer but there's nothing she can do to make us like her boyfriend because:

1)He's ugly

2) He has the personality of a cardboard

3) We caught on his predatory behavior so yuck /:

4) He's an okay actor but he hasn't proved himself besides being someone who gets his career propelled by his more famous and talented gf, his castings so far are giving charity case 🤷🏼‍♀️

I always support R because I see so much raw talent in her, but her online persona is so annoying. I'll give her she's 22 but her excuses to behave like on the internet are running out. Girl needs to learn to back off a little and ignore shit she don't like. Choose your battles wisely R, instead of running your mouth and embarrassing yourself over dumb and petty fan wars... you should be above that at this point in your career. You're a Hollywood actress not a stan account on Twitter! Act like it pls 🙏🏼

She’s a fan girl herself so she needs to stop acting superior to any of us. She’s always in celeb comments acting like a fan, not a peer.

You’re absolutely right. I don’t care if an actor sets boundaries because I can respect it and back off. But I don’t like it when people set boundaries and cross those boundaries themselves.

People are already starting to move on Zeglyth because of her behavior. It’s tiring. Jalle went nowhere because Halle stop talking about Jonah and moved on from TLM. If R wants us to move on then she needs to stop the Zeglyth pics and liking stuff about T. But that’s issue, isn’t it? She doesn’t want us to stop talking about them.

She needs to put that phone down and get into the audition room. Worried about shipping when she has NYC bills to pay 💀 Rent and the phone bill is due, mama. Time to get to work!

She’s delusional about J. We will never like him. We don’t care about Sejanus. We all know he doesn’t have T’s talent. J needs to go to Broadway or sitcom / medical drama shows. He’s not fit to be a movie star.

R is picking the wrong battles here. I’m a fan at the end of the day, not her enemy. She doesn’t want to be an enemy of her loyal fanbase. She’s losing us already. I’m the one who buys tickets to her projects. I’m going to see Y2K and SW because of her! Stop paying with your hard working fans, R! I don’t need to spend my time, energy and money on you.

But again, she’s about to be 23 and I’m hoping this is just phase and she snaps out of it.

[a-lone-echoviolet]

Ok i was gonna finish this before posting any info but no one knows me enough and i dont have free time rn

Plus i really wanna talk about thiss

So i have an AU im working on called ‘Booktale’ (original wow)

I have a story planned out, character info and stuff but school and exhaustion keeps getting in the way

So instead of letting it collect dust like i normally let it do, imma show you guys some stuff about it!

Character designs and some general info! (that i was able to sketch out)✨

Here are the ones ive sketched out! I havent gotten to asgore , gaster or muffet yet tho :((

-Asterisk (frisk)

- ambrovert

- Gender fluid

- Soul is perseverance

- Best friends with chara

- Reads: fairlytales,mythical books,urban legends,and adventure books

-Character (chara)

- Introverted

- Gender fluid

- Soul was determination

- Best friends with frisk

- Their soul was put in a container before breaking completely

- Their determination was strong enough to keep them as a ghost that is stuck underground, only able to observe everyone go by with their lives without them

- Mostly a guide for frisk

-Symbolism(Flowey)

- Flowey is an Anemone flower, it symbolizes death

- Reads: ######s older logs, history(doesn’t read often)

- Knows about the multiverse theory but is unsure if it’s true

- Hes great at acting all sweet and nice

-Moral(Asriel)

- Extroverted

- Reads: kids books, fairytales, art books

- Always wanted to be a hero

-Exposition(toriel)

- Loves to cook and bake

- Favorite thing to bake: pies and cupcakes

- When exiting the ruins, instead of wanting to force you stay, she will test if you truly are strong enough to leave, to be on your own, and basically teaches you how to actually fight

- Despite being so kind and motherly <3 she can put up a good fight [if she needs to]

-Script(sans)

- ambrovert (hes ok with talking with everyone, but he is a bit ackward when making friends [mainly cuz hes both kinda excited and shy to meet people and doesn’t know what to say)

- Reads: science books, jokes books, ######’s old log books, fansty books (almost every type but mostly reads these types)

- Spars with papyrus, to both help paps train and to let sans get out of the house and use his magic more

- Works in the library

- Not as lazy as OG, rather is just more layed back and is actually willing to do physical work

- Makes puns and jokes but his favorite ones are definitely the ones about magic (and dark humor)

- Best friends with alphys

- He helps alphys in her work (and before, also ######)

- Knows about the multiverse and wants to travel through and know the different versions of him and others, and all the stories that are different from his

Plot (papyrus)

- Extrovert

- Reads: cook books, action books, Fantasy books and puzzelbooks

- despite sans not being as lazy as Classic, papyrus is more responsible in this AU

- Hes part of the royal gaurd! Being 2nd in command

- he acts before he really thinks, it has its pros and cons, being able to react fast to save anyone in danger

- Hes a great cook! and does cooking hang outs with undyne(undyne adding the fun and action while papyrus makes sure its edible and tastes good)

- His favorite thing to cook is lasagna

- He’s already quite popular and loved but it doesn’t matter so much to him, the love from his friends and bro are enough (tho he does love the attention)

-ellipsis (alphys)

- Shy ambrovert(shes ok with talking to a big public crowd, but talking one-on-one/ face-to-face, She gets real shy)

- She seems shy at first, but once you get to know her, she’s quite a chatterbox

- She knows how to be calm, collected, serious and calculated when needed

- She used to be friends with ######, because they used to be Co-workers (‘But who is ######? Ive always worked alone’)

- Reads: Manga, Romance novels, Science books, and ######’s old logs(for research)

-conflict(undyne)

- Ambrovert

- Leader of the royal guard

- She’s great at healing physical wounds and serious physical damages

- She’s a real smack talker (she can practically roast anyone if she so pleased)

- Even tho she’s good at trash talking, she’s just great with words in general( whether it be advice or confessingherfeelings)

- hiatus(napstablook)

- shy introvert

- He is a writer

- He never finishes any of his books (but he always leaves the end of every chapter open ended

- He enjoys writing angst and ventish books

- He’s anonymous online and no one knows him in real life

- He’s a well know and loved author (even if his books are unfinished)

Typewriter (mettaton)

- Genderfluid

- Extrovert

- Is a host of a talk show/interview show/drama show (they also are a news anchor)

- Their very protective over anyone close (especially alphys) and it takes a while to truly get on their good side

- They can be quite pushy when it comes to questions, even when the person seems uncomfortable (however they do back down after they’ve realized they pushed to far)

- You can catch them snooping around the lab for some ‘secrets’ (tho he could never find anything serious, just alphys’s anime collection of anime)

- He isn’t mean but he is quite cocky

(The ones I haven’t Designed yet)

-Rhyme (Muffet)

- Shy extrovert

- Mute by choice (tho whenever she does talk, she often rhymes)

- Reads: baking books, Anything with fluff, romance, fantasy, and horror

- She knows ASL

- Very sweet and friendly. however, can be hostile if you hurt spiders, her pet, anyone who is defenceless, or when needed

-ɱɪșșɪɳɠ fɪʟɝ(ɠɐȘ┳ɵʁ)

- extrovert

- A very smart guy with a great sense of humor (hes the one who got sans into puns)

- He knows ASL

- He used to be great friends with Asgore (and tori),Sans and alphys

- He isn’t a skeleton, he is actually more of blob of matter

- He can shape shift, however he cannot change his head or hands and he can’t change colors (so he stays white and black)

- Before he entered the Void, he took the shape of a tall slender human. Some mistook him for a skeleton because of his human like shape and white form. Tho when he entered the void it became harder to hold any shape other than a blob

-Resolution (king asgore)

*(i havent made any info on him just yet :(( )

[rainyfestivalsweets]

Book Review: The Binge code

So I am mid read on this book, and I thought I would like to share a little because I am sick. I need a pleasant distraction from work today. But, I'm on my lunch break and so fear not, I am logged out.

The Binge Code by Allison C Kerr. " 7 unconventional keys to end and binge eating and lose excess weight."

Part 2 is where you break free from the binge traps so I am going to start there, although she didn't.

What are the binge traps? Although the book does go into detail, I will list them off here very quickly for you.

The diet trap

the yo yo blood sugar trap.

The nutritional deficiency trap

The habit trap

The food rules trap

The false friend trap

The inner critic trap.

So I am through about half of those and I would have to say that this book is worth a read, especially if you feel like this is an issue for you, or especially if you have been dieting for a while.

The one thing that has been most glaringly obvious to me is I've been on this weight loss journey for a couple of years now is the first 3:

The diet trap is that "diets" are short-term, restrictive things that we embark on when we feel like we need to lose weight. We ignore hunger pangs because we are trying to change our eating style, and that blunts our normal hunger cues.

The yoyo thing is where your blood sugar is all over the place.

The nutritional deficiency trap is where you aren't getting the proper nutrients, which makes your body keep asking for food, even if you have already eaten because it doesn't have the right combonation of stuff.

I can understand how these are traps. Yet, I also consider myself to be "dieting," so how do I do I make this congruent to myself?

I have read a lot at this point, and I am working on a full view perspective.

I know from my behavioral science class that your body is also going to ask for food whenever it sees food. Literally, it is how we are made because never ever has food and food like products been so abundant.

You have to know that is happening in your body to make a reasonable decision for where YOU are in your day, journey, etc. Ask yourself: When was the last time you ate? What was it? A junky snack or a real substantial meal? Do you need a meal? What is being offered?

This is a very nuanced topic, which is why a lot of people deal with it and why so many people are overweight.

Alright.

Why do we have such an obesity epidemic?

People are positing as scientific fact that dieting causes people to overeat. It does certainly cause certain psychological things that happen. Most diets use some kind of tool to cause a calorie deficit. One way or another a diets whole goal is to cause a deficit so that you lose weight.

If the diet is super restrictive in some way, it can cause us to have hangups or to hyperfocus on what we are missing. Basically, it is reverse psychology.

The real key is to develop a lifestyle that is balanced enough that we can avoid those traps.

Part of the key might be to just utilize your common sense. If you are getting serious binge urges, you may need to ask yourself if it is valid. Is your body just really asking for food/fuel?

If so, plan and prepare a well-balanced, reasonably protioned meal with proteins, carbs, veggies, and fats. Eat it and wait an hour. How do you feel now?

If you feel like you are hitting the blood sugar trap, up your protein and cut the junk in half, and add a veggie to everything.

Although I consider myself to be "dieting," I am working towards building a lifestyle that will be sustainable over time. I don't want to rebound and pack on the pounds after giving away all my fat clothes.

Ultimately, your lifestyle will be who you become. Which I think is why I am trying to focus on habits over time that are easy to remember and habituate. Mile Monday, 5k Friday, Sunday Bike club. Races & activities.

I am always focusing on overcoming my particular hurdles so that my lifestyle will be in balance. Activity and rest. Sports and Academic. Food and fasting, in balance.

[imaseawitch]

Supremely disappointed in the Demeter movie. Spoilers ensue!

Let's start with what I liked:

I'm glad they decided to make Drac a hideous freak because at least he was interesting to look at. They showed him a lot (too much?) so thank goodness he was cool. You could maybe even play it off within book rules by saying that Dracula takes many forms, and if he wasn't worried about appearing as a man to fool others into entering legal trade of real estate/cargo transportation services with him, maybe he was appearing as this freaky gargoyle version because he just could.

The chef character was at least kinda compelling and I liked the storyline of him taking out one dude so he could steal a rowboat and try to escape, only for Drac to find him, kill him, and bring the empty boat back to the Demeter - ominously! If they'd played into the dramatic irony and played closer to the book story, it still would have fit and worked well.

Which is a great transition into what I did not like.

Firstly, they should have leaned a lot heavier into the dramatic irony. We as an audience know we're in for a Dracula movie...but the characters do and should not! They could have showed Dracula (in his freak ass form) taking out these dudes one by one, but the characters of the story? All they see is blood on the deck, and another man missing. You can draw out the characters and the story by making them decide how to react to the mystery and if/how to plot against each other.

If you read the subtext of the book, then you can maybe infer that the first mate has heard of Dracula, but you don't really know. None of the crew know of him. So you could have made it so some were skeptical, some were convinced it was supernatural, others are convinced it's some sort of religious punishment (the chef character story fits in), and they split into factions. So you're getting tense, charged moments between characters, but meanwhile you're also getting the horror porn satisfaction of scenes of Drac taking out each crewman (maybe overlaid, cut by cut...I can just imagine the cinnamontopography...

They showed Dracula to the other characters too soon. Characters knew it was a creepy being amongst them too soon. The horror lies in the wonder: is it a monster? Or is a man amongst us a monster?

They honestly could have added the dog and the boy and the doctor and maybe even the lady and still made the book story work. The lady didn't need to know about Dracula though. She could have been just an actual stowaway; easily Dracula's first victim, due to her proximity, and desire to remain hidden from the other crewmates. But somehow, Dracula is interrupted before he can drain her. Maybe by the dog, who barks and raises the alarm? But then the crew thinks the dog was just alerting them about the stowaway, not the monster. You could have had a whole scene where the captain promises the invented ship's doctor character about how he won't record her in the log, because maybe she has some troubled past she's escaping from. Then it's like an explanation as to why she isn't in the book, but it fits the story anyway. Some of the crewmates can blame her for the disappearances: whether it's bad luck because she's a lady, or maybe she is really a murderer, or maybe she's secretly working for Dracula! It all plays into the drama, and even the viewers don't know if she's working for Drac or not because she wasn't there in the novel.

The first mate should have been the one who vaguely knew the story of Dracula. Maybe he grew up just outside of Dracula's reach, but heard stories of village children going missing closer to the mountains. He's in denial at first: he's a skeptic, and he refuses to believe that this old wives' tale is actually responsible for something as serious as his actual crew's lives. But as the evidence becomes more and more clear that it really is Dracula, he doubts his sanity until, until! It's just him and the captain left. In his madness, he refuses to stay within the lantern light by the captain. Instead, he goes below deck and tears open the crates one by one. Dracula, sated with the blood of the rest of the crew, only smiles at him.

Here's where you get the real good shot of Dracula looking like a real nasty little bitch, all creepy and shit. You have only gotten glimpses so far, quick shots almost as though they're from the perspective of a crewmate getting hunted. But now, the first mate sees him, chin still blood-stained (maybe the last person Drac killed was the little boy and the body is missing, but the first mate walks into him sucking that son down like a capri sun) and the first mate comes out from below deck, hollering about true evil and throws himself off the side, just like in the book.

The captain refuses to go below deck, believing the first mate killed the others, including the boy, so he lashed himself to the wheel...until Drac comes for him too! He's out, awake constantly, through bitter night and blaring sun, so even he isn't sure when he finally sees Drac. But he does, and he records it. And just as he sees land, we get a nice gorey scene where Drac takes out the captain.

Cut to the ship landing at Whitby. At the very beginning of the movie, it started with the gathered townsfolk trying to explore the ship. For the last bits, maybe you get some scenes of them gathering together to see this weird ship (Mina and Lucy cameo???) But at the very end, all you get is the ships crashing near the docks (big gasp from the gathered townsfolk) and the dog jumps off and runs away. We end with a shot of this dog coming right at you as it jumps off the ship.

Anyway, I still have more critiques.

There were just too many people alive at the last bit. I think the tension builds when slowly you're left with 4, then 3, then 2, then only 1 person to man a full sized sailboat. Part of the horror is being alone at sea! Not just that people are dying, but you're being left without them in a perilous situation.

They also chose to show other people get infected with vampirism (which I don't like because you can't become a vampire unless you drink the blood of a vampire, but fine they can just change the rules. I don't like it but that's maybe a me problem.), and subsequently those bitten die when exposed to sunlight. So why didn't the crew just all nap on deck during the day (with shifts) and kept watch all together overnight? To me it's so obvious that it becomes a plot hole.

[fictitious-fluff]

This was written in 2021. (Old Fic) Just posting it to log my progress as a fic writer

-

The One and Only

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Pairings are in the tags

Masterpost

Logan had never ever understood how tickling worked. Of course he knew how it worked, study wise, but he never got to experience it before. The others had tried to tickle him before but it was useless. Logan figured it was because he was more of the logical side, thus he wouldn't be able to feel these sort of things. Though, he could feel pain, like when he gets paper cuts. However, Patton wasn't buying it, everyone had to be ticklish... Right? At least one spot, just one! He had never seen Logan's real laugh or smile. Only a smirk or two, that's all. He was determined to see a real grin from Logan. This resulted in random sneak attacks from Patton, trying to find a spot. But as expected, no reaction..nothing. Day by day Patton was loosing hope but he still wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Popcorns' ready!" Roman shouted as he walked over to give a princey bow to everyone, giving them their popcorn in the process.

Logan and Virgil rolled their eyes as they took the popcorn. Roman then plopped himself next to Patton and Virgil, joining all 3 of them in watching Frozen 2. Logan however, wasn't watching the movie as usual. Instead, he was reading a book about the movie. At the scene where Elsa's mother was singing "All is found", Patton jumped out of excitement because kid Elsa and Anna were just too cute! In the process Patton's arms brushed ever so slightly against Logan's arm (the part between the inner elbow and your hand). This made Logan jerk ever so slightly, but enough for Patton to realise it. Logan was fully aware what just happened from everything he had known about tickling. This made Logan's heart race. He didn't want to be squirming or making a fool of himself in front of Patton, let alone the others! He had seen how it affected the rest before and he knew he had a reputation to keep up. A usually formal and serious person giggling? No way. He couldn't allow that to happen. However something about that light sensation felt oddly nice.

"What was that kiddo?" Patton questioned, his eyes glistening with excitement.

"Nothing Patton, just hit an exciting page. That's all. " Logan stated while having the same look, while in reality he was freaking out yet weirdly excited too.

Virgil turned and smirked, "You sure teach? I have a lot of experience when it comes to recognising people getting anxious. You seem pretty anxious to me right now"

"Stormcloud's right Logan, I can see that grip getting tighter on that book." Roman added, also smirking.

For once Logan had nothing to say. Not wanting to continue this conversation, he just rolled his eyes and went upstairs, a small blush starting to spread across his face. Although Logan tried to act cool, everyone already knew, and there was no denying it.

The next day Patton had woken up early because he was really excited. He had seen the blush on his face and had immediately recognise that look. He had experienced it before as well as seen Roman and Virgil act that way. However when Patton tried to unlock the door, it appeared to be locked. Logan was cleaver enough not to leave his door unlocked but Patton had a trick up his sleeve. He went down to the living room and took a paper clip from one of Logan's paper clip drawer and pried it open so that it was almost like a small, long pole. Patton quietly sprinted upstairs and carefully wiggled the paper clip in the lock of the door knob. "Click" Success! The door had been unlocked. Now it was time to wake up the sleeping beauty. Patton twisted the door knob and open the door slowly. Patton's heart pounded excitedly as he saw Logan in the perfect position possible. Logan was on his bed, one arm drooping down to the side , the other next to him. Patton slowly crept towards Logan and grabbed Logan's arm very gently. He then started to trace light circles around Logan's arm. This caused Logan to start smiling in his sleep. The sight was absolutely adorable. Deciding to get down to business, he started to scribble in random patterns across Logan's arm.

"Wait, Pat-TTOOONNN WHAHAAHAATT AARRHAAAHAHA YOAHHAHAAA DOHAAA-" Logan shrieked frantically, shocked from the sudden and immense sensation coming from his arm. As he started to comprehend the situation, his laughter became less frantic and more.. Joyful? He hated and loved every second, he didn't really understand why or how but he did.

"Aww what's wrong LoLo, someone's ticklish? Not gonna lie kiddo you're really cute when u laugh." Patton cooed.

Logan shook his head, a light blush spreading across his face as he tugged at his left arm. His legs frantically flailing everywhere.

After about 30 seconds Patton decided to use what he bought. Patton gave Logan a small break and started digging into his pocket and pulling something out. Logan giggled from the phantom tickles as he tilted his head towards Patton and saw what he brought.

"Since you've never experienced this before, I think I should make this even better by introducing my little friend" Patton smirked as he pulled out none other than an electrical toothbrush. Logan's eyes widened, trying to pull away as the brush inched closer. When it finally made contact with Logan's arm, oh he had lost it. His hands clenched, legs kicked, trying to stop the tingling feeling of the devastating brush. Logan started shrieking, snorting and laughing uncontrollably, things he thought he'd never be capable of, until now.

"Did you just snort Logiebear? That was adorable!" Patton squeeked in amazement.

"Look at those two, teach's smile sure is something." Virgil said. The laugh coming from Logan's room had woken Roman and Virgil up. The two were now standing at the door watching as Logan thrashed and screamed.

"Something extraordinary, kind of like yours stormcloud." Roman commented. Virgil nudged him on the shoulder, a blush forming as he looked away from Roman.

Roman snickered "Hey, it's true, Patton would agree."

Logan then started wheezing and that was when Patton finally stopped.

"Had fun there kiddo?" Patton asked, rubbing Logan's arm. Logan shook his head, his blush deepening.

"Oh come on I know you did, you didn't even try to stop me with your free arm." Patton joked.

"hnrgh.. I guess I did enjoy the experience of gargalesis.." Logan mumbled, showing his softer side to Patton.

"Uh.. Logan? Do you want to cuddle? If you are ok with it of course." Patton questioned.

Logan gave a heart warming smile and opened his hands. "I welcome you with open arms Patton."

Patton happily jumped onto Logan, afterwards realising something. "Was that a pun?"

A chill ran down Logan's spine as he realised what he said. "Uhm. Not an intentional one, please do not ruin this moment for me Patton."

"Ok okahehey" Patton giggled as he layed on Logan. The both of them stayed like this for a while to say the least.

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1109 review

Ten minutes? Boo. BOOOOOOO! What a tease. That's, what, 4 chapters of Dressrosa time? 18 chapters of Namek time? Fine. It's fine.

But to get more serious, this is Egghead going full circle. First we were set up to expect a defensive siege of the main lab, then it evolved into an escape sequence, and now for the final leg, we're being set up to defend again. And with this being the ninth chapter of volume 109, the time for a climactic end-of-book cliffhanger is coming up, as early as the next chapter (but realistically on the eleventh or twelfth because there have been a few shorter chapters in this run) maybe we see this wrap up, or at least get ready to wrap up relatively soon.

This is a very transitional chapter. Transitioning into a new cover story (I think Momo moved Onigashima; outside of another Oars having shown up there, nothing else realistic), transitioning through the setup phase for receiving Vegapunk's info, transitioning to the real final set piece. Seeing new characters return in great numbers like this is always good fanservice, but cameos alone aren't a lot to analyse. The acknowledgement of time zones in the Water Seven bit is cool. I know Oda isn't super invested in this kind of thing for his worldbuilding, so I'm not going to waste my time trying to work out if this is an accurate depiction or not.

Haha yeah okay of course I am.

A thoroughly pointless analysis of One Piece timezones

First, we need to all get on the same page about the orientation of the globe. It's a myth with a frustrating amount of staying power that the Grand Line runs along the equator, but this is not actually the case. All evidence in the manga points to the Grand Line and the Red Line forming an X shape across the globe. The first explanation of the Grand Line in chapter 22 comes with a handy compass rose for orientation, and the image of the globe on the following page depicts them as diagonals. The special recap at the end of volume 81 reiterates this image of the globe, and puts Reverse Mountain on the "front" of the planet. Finally, the compass directions offered when the Supernova captains are planning how to leave Wano also place the Grand Line on an angle. This is our canon orientation.

Yes, this means that if you were standing on Marie Geoise, the seat of the rulers of the world, you would have to look west to see the East Blue and look east to survey West Blue. That's kinda silly. Maybe the names of the seas predate the World Government making that their perch.

In the latest chapter, we're shown broadly the time at a few key, identifiable locations. It is, of course, daytime on Egghead. It is explicitly nighttime at Water Seven. Windmill Village, in the East Blue, and Dressrosa have light skies, suggesting day; meanwhile Kamabakka, Marie Geoise and an unnnamed West Blue location all have shaded skies, suggesting nighttime. North and South Blue are both shown with light skies, but their locations on the planet make it almost impossible for it not to be day somewhere in them, so without more data like proximity to the Red Line, the Grand Line or the poles, they can't add anything to this analysis.

First, we have to work out where these locations are on the map. While it's tempting to place Egghead on the globe's front face, in the second half of the New World, for Law's statement in chapter 1056 about northeast being the furthest forward move to be true, this means that Wano, and by extension Egghead (directly southeast of it) have to be on the rear side, in the first half of the New World.

Dressrosa is before Egghead in the New World, easy win.

Water Seven doesn't offer anything as explicit as that for its placement, but for it to be the island that connects to Fishman Island, under Marie Geoise, via Log Pose, you have to assume it's in the second half of Paradise, also on the rear side of the globe.

Kamabakka is only a few days' sail from Lulusia, which was selected by Imu to test the Mother Flame because it was "close" to his location, so the easiest extrapolation is that it too is in the second half of Paradise.

For both Windmill Village and the unnamed West Blue location, it's impossible to tell if they're on the front or rear hemispheres of the world, but I've placed them both on the front because the map was going to get crowded otherwise.

For the sake of simplicity, we're going to assume that daylight moves east to west over the planet, just like the real world. We're also going to ignore things like curvature and axial tilt because they get complicated, harder to work into the graphics, and probably wouldn't have that much of an impact on the result anyway. The proportions of my day/night/dawn/dusk segments are not exact; I just eyeballed them. Excuse the roughness of the graphics.

So, can we make the day and night times shown in the latest chapter's panels work?

Unfortunately, no, we cannot. If it's morning on Egghead it can be dawn on Dressrosa, just before dawn at Marie Geoise and late at night in the second half of Paradise for Water Seven and Kamabakka, there's no way it makes sense for it to be day in the East Blue and night in the West Blue. Oof, we were so close. But Oda's time zones are busted.

The conclusion here is that this stuff doesn't really matter that much. Like travel times, the phases of the moon and the exact day and date the story is taking place, Oda may occasionally make a throwaway reference to these things, but he's also known to forget them and totally happy to fudge them for the sake of the story. I enjoy the mental puzzle of working out details like these and running through the implications, but I don't think they offer any genuine insight into how One Piece has been plotted or where it's going.

Ahem…

Getting back to the chapter at hand though, the bit of action with Luffy is very fun. I enjoyed Borsalino's laser eyes and the big clap attack. Saturn being able to fly around like a frizbee with all his legs out has a familiar vibe to the ancient dinosaur hunting techniques from Onigashima. And on Saturn's abilities, the telepathy between him and the other Elders is very interesting and definitely builds the case that whatever they have going on is beyond just Devil Fruits. As, of course, does the summoning. I'd be curious to see what kind of limits are placed on this to keep them from just showing up at Revolutionary HQ or something. Saturn rode with the Marine fleet until he was close, so maybe there's a proximity limit on unfamiliar areas, but once one is there, he can summon the others to his location from anywhere in the world.

The summoning spread is an awesome page for sure, but in the vein of last week's complaints about characters disappearing and inconsistent staging, it feels like a huge empty space has manifested to fit it in. Egghead's buildings felt a lot closer together than this in previous backgrounds, even accounting for how destroyed they are.

This was something the Onigashima anime (the bits of it I saw anyway) was really bad about. One minute the roof area is an enclosed arena, the next there's an expasive k or two of the pillars around the outside because it's a cool shot for a character sent flying to bust through them one after the other. Establishing shot puts Zoro and King on the crumbling, shrinking outer edge. But in the sakuga cut it grows a mile of extra turf for Zoro to sprint and leap through while flaming dragons tear up everything around him. Cool moments are cool, but I don't like seeing the established setting being compromised to make space for them.

I feel like I've been harsher on paper than I actually feel for this one. Transitions can be a let down, and are definitely hard to write about, but they don't mean the stuff I'm excited for isn't coming. I can wait a week or two for the payoff, after all the years of following this story, that much more isn't a huge deal.

Wordpress!

[carmenthabaddie]

Intentional with my time 💖💖💖

Today I wore a yellow long dress with flowers. I bought it few years ago from Rainbows. I love that store as a plus size woman. It can be hit and miss but you can’t beat affordable prices.

2024 I am being intentional with my time. The truth is time waits for no one. I learned this hard way in my 20s. I wish I knew what I know at 31. But that’s behind me. I must make peace with dropping the ball during my 20s. I had no real feminine hypergamy examples around me.

I actually started my level up glow up femininity hypergamy journey at 25. But was still naïve, immature, and didn’t know what I know. I wasn’t serious at 25 late 20s like I’m serious at 31 early 30s. It’s like I’m playing catch up. But it’s better to play catch up than to never start this level up glow up journey.

I also didn’t have this spiritual ability. I am so thankful I have strong spiritual ability where spirit and beautiful black communicate through me. It’s on my list to get medium reading to see which spirits and black ancestors channel through me. So glad I took out birth control and spiritual ability developed.

It’s my time to shine. My January gym sessions scheduled in my digital planner. And this pre booking beauty appointments. And my grandma is in New York while she is gone my step dad spoils me with takeout and I’m not giving it up. So I will look at restaurants menu and calories and pick in the middle food choices and enjoy my step dad spoiling me at my favorite restaurants and me not pay. Because that’s what men are for. He like my only example of a man financially providing for house and being a leader and provider.

I’m blessed to have him as good example and father figure. And giving me the option to be a stay at home daughter and working being option not requirement and my money being mine and no major bills where I can save money and follow my dreams and have hobbies. I am shopping addict. First step is acknowledging your bad habit and creating a plan and correcting bad habit and replacing it with good habit. And being realistic and not cold turkey. It’s small but I saved $100 on Cashapp savings. And refuse to touch it like I normally do.

Hard pill to swallow I learned bad money habits from my caretaker parent my adopted mom my grandma she goes through money and nothing to show for and pass on to love ones. Thankfully she has life insurance. She been on medicaid , ebt and public housing and have a lack poverty  mindset and it’s all I saw.

So at im acknowledging my bad money management skills habits. Save today and wait for tomorrows pleasure. I felt so good saving $100 and what it can grow. I created a budget in note section of iPhone. And I pay my bills with gratitude 🙏. I’m thankful I have money period and more money is coming. Spirit and black ancestors sending me a financial blessing cause I bless black women in need and I currently don’t have much.

But at end of day you can’t tell me I’m not abundant. I know I’m abundant and I’m a money magnet and money grows on trees for me. I have a good relationship with money now. I can’t wait for my sp David match my importance of financial security for us and our 3 future kids. Pass on good money management with my future 3 kids.

I need spend less on mindlessly spending. And pay my two credit cards off and Affirm bill and student loans. I’m thankful my debt is small than others. Spend less on subscriptions and groceries and makeup and wigs.

I’m use the clothes I have now till I’m doing better financially and same for wigs, shoes, makeup, and skincare. Let step dad help me afford beauty treatments to keep my appearance up.

Yesterday I had like consultation coaching session with Destiny the confident hoe. And told her all my movement and how I’m off social media and intentionally using social media for good, fame and money. I can log out and it not control me. Seeing therapist tomorrow. And law of assumption coach I believe on Sunday. I have invested time and money on my level up and glow up and it’s worth it and making shit manifest faster.

So many making ideas and affirming for money so I can invest in businesses and side hustles and free money. 2024 I’m focused, putting action, faith in myself, spirit and beautiful black ancestors. Step dad treating me to Asian Habachi. Today I posted content and need edit productivity vlog for YouTube. Thank you for those who read and share my blog post. Affirming for hella followers. Until next time be well.

[savedpeople]

4. If you’re single muse, what other characters would like to do in addition to the muse you have now? 5. Do you make it up as you go along, or do you plot and strictly stick to the plot? 8. Have you lost any friends since you started roleplaying? 9. If so, do you miss them? 12. Roleplaying pet peeves? 13. Where do you get inspiration? Music, memes, books, games? 19. Crack roleplay: yes or no? 21. Ever gotten hate for your characters or your writing?

Random questions for the mun | Accepting | @wexarethewalkingxdead

So because of how hard it is for me to write right now, I'm not looking to RP any additional muses. Hypothetically, if I had the time, energy, and motivation? I'd first want to fully bring back some of my past muses (namely Levi from Attack on Titan and Ted from Bill & Ted.) As for new characters, if I could, I'd try writing Crowley from Good Omens or Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen.

It depends on the thread, but generally I like to loosely plot something but otherwise make it up as I go, and just check in with my partner and plot further when needed.

There are friends I've made through RP that I've since lost, yes. In some cases we just drifted apart, other times there was a falling out, or they did something that made me too uncomfortable to continue following them. Others just stopped logging in one day and I have no idea what happened to them. Some of them I miss dearly, some I have no interest in ever speaking to again.

My RP pet peeves are the usual. Godmodding, metagaming, trying to force things onto me (ships, headcanons, etc.) Expecting my muse to feel or act any certain way. Partners making everything about their muse is a big one as well, and I also don't appreciate my muse being treated as anyone's punching bag.

I get most of my inspiration from the source material and from music, but I can also get ideas while watching movies and other media.

Crack roleplay can be fun! It can be an easy way to break the ice since there's no real pressure for it to be good, you know? But I can only do so much of it and generally don't want it influencing any of our real/serious interactions.

And yes, I've gotten hate for my muses, my writing, and even my ships. Not a lot, thankfully, but it happens every once in a while. I usually just delete and block when I can.

[a-lady-in-shining-armour]

I am just not having as much fun on this website anymore. I used to enjoy all the really interesting articles and studies that people would share and discuss, but that’s really dropped off. I lot of the normal women on here used to drop some great common sense content about everyday things like the ‘second shift’ and the expectations of being gender conforming etc that once you notice you see it everywhere. Now most radblr bloggers are as terminally online as any bun-gender person and everything is interpreted in bad faith with overly emotional call outs peppered with emotive buzzwords.

I’m so sick of logging on to see such out of touch takes as ‘expecting me to ever be in a public space with a baby is misogyny’ and the sequel ‘criticising abstinence only sex education is homophobic’.

Some of you need a reality check so here it is:

You are not an activist (necessarily obviously that might be your day job) you are a tumblr blogger engaging in social media for entertainment.

Most of you are not wise sages educating young grasshoppers girls about how having a baby might effect their career (no shit Sherlock) or that domestic violence can exist in heterosexual relationships (is it their first day on earth?). This is basic common knowledge especially for women interested in feminism, you really are preaching to the converted on this topic and it’s annoying as hell when you act like we might not have ever thought about it. Most of us are successful adult women, we know at least the basics about the risks of motherhood and marriage (often first hand) and it’s offensive for some random stranger to tell us that they (and only they) have all the right answers to some of the biggest issues in world for women. Basically, we are all peers here and not one of you has any real authority over anyone else.

The decision whether to have a long term relationship with a man and/or have children (and who you do this with) is The most serious and important decision in most woman’s lives. This is so commonly acknowledged that I have talked about it with my Mum, my Grandma, my sister, my friends, and even some work colleagues. It’s the focus of so many fiction and non fiction books, and in my opinion female anxiety about these choices that disproportionately effect women is why the entire romance genre exists! Our teachers had discussions about it in class and I remember wondering if I really wanted children when I grew up as young as 12. Such an important decision is something that is not taken lightly by any woman (feminist or not) and will never be decided on the advice from online strangers. It’s especially galling that some of the most condescending and demanding bloggers on this topic also post things that reveal that they are young and lack life experience. Obviously that doesn’t mean they’re wrong, but it definitely means they have no right to talk down to women old enough to be their mothers that often have firsthand experience with what to them is political theory.

The risks of heterosexual relationships are well known, I mean who the fuck has never heard of domestic violence by adolescence? If a woman interested enough in gender critical or radical feminism to blog about it in her spare time decides to enter an intimate relationship with a man and/or have children with him it won’t be because she’s ignorant about domestic violence or how hard child rearing can be. I trust myself and other women to make hard choices and manage risks in our own lives.

It is entirely possible for individuals to know and understand the same information and still make different choices. Someone disagreeing with you or making different decisions does not necessarily mean that one of you is right and the other one is stupid. That style of black and white thinking is unhelpful and untrue, people’s opinions and decisions depend on the individual circumstances of their life, about which you know next to nothing. It’s beyond time to retire the smug ‘I always know best’ attitude and acknowledge the shades of grey.

[gubbin-galoshes]

I hadn't been in a bookstore since before COVID. I was taking a walk downtown, unwilling to go home because my mind was racing and screaming about minor social interactions and the terror of being perceived. I needed a distraction.

A bell rang over the bookshop door. A middle-aged guy behind the desk murmured a hello and stuck his nose back into a book whose title I couldn't see. He made a silent promise to ignore my presence until or unless I needed him. I was grateful for that.

I made a point to look at each title, to imagine what each book might be about, to let my mind wander to their stories and to remember those that I'd read before. Slowly, moment by moment, my heart rate came down. The only sound was the tick of a grandfather clock and the creak of my slow steps on the carpeted floorboards. The books were in no particular order save a general grouping by category.

The only one that truly made me stop was a little copy of The Glass Menagerie. This play ripped me apart in high school - maybe another time I'll make a post about it. But I picked it up and held it close while I browsed for something else to buy, because I only had a credit card.

I stopped at the art book section and happened to pull down a jacketless hardcover: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. I didn't read the synopsis. I didn't read anything inside. The artwork was... uh.

What kind of what the fuck is going on.

I handed Munchausen and Menagerie to the guy behind the desk, and he took a long while examining them and writing them by title in his paper log, he processed my credit card and kindly sent me on my way, books under my arm and a half-hour walk home ahead of me.

They both went on my shelf until I needed them.

Recently I needed a distraction, and Munchausen seemed just the kind of absurdity to do it. I didn't know I was getting myself into a lesson in Discordia told as a parody of Don Quixote with a shit-ton of ridiculous and unnecessary deaths and lost body parts, like riding half a horse after it had been severed in an accident. There is zero continuity and no plot, just a series of tiny unrelated anecdotes grouped into chapters generally categorized by theme, much like the bookshop itself. I finished each chapter with a general sense that I had just lost a few of my brain cells.

But when you're suffering from anxiety, this Monty Python-level absurdity really does the trick. Real life stops seeming so serious when you're reading about a guy who catches geese by having them eat a string and shit it out for the next goose to eat, until he has a dozen geese strung up. Or that time he picked up the biggest cannon in the world and swam across a river with it as a prank.

....What?

Reading a chapter of this bullshit every night-- combined with the legitimately terrifying art style --has helped me sleep. I'm so confused that I forget what I was anxious about.

[televinita]

So I watched Happiness for Beginners

I quite like the book; it's a solid 4 stars to me and while I've read less than half of Katherine Center's work at this point, I think it will stay in 3rd place among her titles for me. My chief complaints with it are how much I hated her brother Duncan and the terrible bully of a hiking instructor; I love Helen-the-book-character and ended up impressed by how they sold me, eventually, on the love story despite him being a full 10 years younger than her 32.

I also quite liked Netflix's previous adaptation of The Lost Husband, possibly my favorite of her books.

This movie...is not that good, largely due to my beef(s) with casting.

-First of all: Ellie Kemper is just…Not Right for the part in ways I can't explain (I'm neutral about her as an actress and was really hoping she'd overcome my initial doubt, but alas). Meanwhile Luke Grimes has a face made for store-brand Hallmark movies, and I hate Nico Santos with every fiber of my being. WHY DOES HE KEEP GETTING HIRED. I have loathed his face/voice/entire vibe from the first minute of his appearance on Superstore and time has made him worse. He SHOULD be selling insurance instead of paid to act.

-Related: I took one look at Duncan & Jake standing next to each other and shouted SWITCH THEIR CASTING IMMEDIATELY!!!!!! I didn't even recognize the former from Under the Dome until the end of the movie; I did recognize a general flair of charisma that made me understand how maybe someone could be charmed by a guy despite him being way younger. Unlike Grimes, who has the perfect vacant-eyed stoner/unkempt drifter look I associate with book!Duncan. And who also looks more like he could be related to Ellie Kemper, tbh.

-What I'm saying is the only way to salvage this is if you made a movie out of What You Wish For next and kept the casting.

-Two exceptions to the bad-casting rule: Blythe Danner as Gigi? absolutely perfect! (from my vague memories of the character anyway, which to be fair may also have been immediately overwritten by how much I just love Blythe & didn't know she was in this)

-The casting for Brett is also great. LOVE this version of Trail Guide Brett, desperately trying and mostly failing to assert authority over a group of adults far more adult than him (tbh I think he would struggle to assert his authority over a group of teenagers also. I think campers under 10 are really more his speed). He's so much worse in the book and was one of the things that kept said book at 4 stars instead of 5 for me, so this was a pleasant upgrade.

-I also really appreciate that this hiking trip is actually for beginners, and not a hardcore Test Yourself trip she accidentally signed up for instead. Watching Helen be at worst lightly teased instead of actively bullied was a nice change.

-The rest of the hiking pack was fine; I didn't love anyone particularly but I didn't hate them either. That's more what I expect from a film.

-Good soundtrack, beautiful settings

-Thank u for drastically improving on the story of Pickles

-I appreciate they highlighted Jake's repeated tending to Helen's minor injuries; doesn't work for me with these faces but good hurt/comfort effort. Great effort, in fact.

-Also happy they kept the visceral don't-step-on-fallen-logs lesson I learned from this book and continue to vividly remember every time I go hiking. And not even just because it finally got Nico the Unpleasant out of sight for good.

-The other main issue is I feel like this film is pretty…low stakes overall?? Like it felt overly lighthearted and nothing real serious. Even the major injury seemed more like a mild inconvenience than scary and life threatening.

-Worse, my favorite part of the book and what made me finally fully adore Jake -- where he loses his glasses and can't see in the dark to find his way back, and is in full panic-and-hyperventilation mode when Helen finds him and glomps onto her in a desperation hug -- fell flat. This hug seemed like a mildly impulsive expression of gratitude at best.

-Overall, IDK, it's not a terrible movie. It's just one of the more significant not as good as the book! types of adaptations I've seen, and that's not even usually a chief complaint of mine. I'm usually happy to accept movies as they are -- but this one definitely frustrates me.

[fi4metta]

Crowley's head canons from the fanfic I am writing:

(not all of them are mine, but I liked them enough to use them and I want to share)

he can't dream: He can fall asleep and he can sleep like a log, but he isn't able to have a single dream. He just go blindly into the abyss. As he didn't sleep when he was an angel (he learned this habit while on Earth) he isn't very sure what "dreaming" actually is, but he would love to try. All the demons in fact can't dream, it's the part of their punishment.

he can't cry: Not an expert, but as far as I am know, snakes can't cry either. His eyes aren't capable of producing tears. He can feel sad and his eyes starting to burn painlessly, when he is about to cry, and yet not a single tear coming out of them

he is poikilothermic (cold-blooded): So he is always cold, as he lives in London where it's always bloody cold. He has a small electric fire place in his apartament and he likes to lay next to it on. He has a lot of electric heaters, his AC in the Bentley is always at maximum heat and he takes long, hot showers. He also has a terrarium where he warm himself, especially during winter. He actually hates winter, as it's hard to cope for a cold-blooded creature, so he usually hibernates.

he is the only demon who can travel between dimensions: As the one who created (or help with creation of) the universe, Crowley knows all ins and outs of it. He can just pop out of reality into the celestial dimension (the one with Heaven and Hell in it) but also he is the only one who can be in the middle of those two, in so called Limbo. It's a hybrid of the two dimensions, where he can still see the reality (so it's not just a white void we saw in s1) but also see the real forms of other occult (or celestial) creatures - wings, for example.

he is extremely good with maths and physics: And intelligent in general. He invented maths and physic, while being in charge of creating space.

he is a snake himself: He can change into any snake form at any time he wants to, and he really enjoys being a snake, as he is small and can sneak on people and scare them.

he had an affair with Freddie Mercury: It's not really mine, but I love this concept. This is the reason why Aziraphale hates Queen and everything Queen related, as he hates Freddie for being Crowley's special someone back in the day. Crowley thinks of it as nothing very serious, just some old-school rock'n'roll love.

reading hurts his eyes: As he has poor vision in general. For him reading is like using your phone for two days in the row without any break. His eyes starting to burn after two words, so he doesn't read, but still buys books, because he likes their smell and colourful covers and remind him of Aziraphale.

he is a cinema freak: We saw Crowley in cinema alone in s1 and I really like the idea of Crowley rolling into the cinema in every second of his spare time. He likes the stories and the plots of the films, so he gets from cinema the things he could get from reading, but films don't hurt his eyes. He actually see them very well, as has a snake vision, so he is very sensible to light.

he lost his virginity in Sodom: He has never told it to Aziraphale but he was there with other demons to cause some chaos and he got carried away. He didn't like it, he just had too much to drink.

he loves kids: He is a kid himself, or more a brat, to be honest. He uses every opportunity to be around children and kids like him, because he is a weirdo and kids love weird adults. He used to take care of Maggie, when her parents worked in the record shop (Aziraphale was the one he was supposed to do it, but angel is terrible with kids, want them to read Pride and Prejudice or something).

I can't think of more, but I'm sure I'm forgetting some of them, so I will probably do a part two of this, I hope you like it...