#mundane reads

[themundanemudperson]

Should I start reading Jane Austen?

Cuz, like, I have the Jane Austen collection (that I got for Christmas) and I never really had an interest in classics, so I didn't touch it. But now I've seen some things that people have posted abt her works, so I am Intrigued

[damianstarastrology]

astrology observations 1.26.25

Moon conjunct ascendant people tend to move away from home at some point in their lives.

Transit Sun and Moon conjunct your ascendant could indicate an upgrade to your living situation; this could include moving homes or making renovations to your current home

Scorpio Venus people tend to only have a few serious partners in life before settling down. These people are fiercly committed and do not feel the need to play the field for long if at all. Messy breakups are common with this placement especially with a square to Mars in Leo/Aquarius

Venus square mars people have intense relationships with others. The relationships modeled for them in childhood effect and shape their early partnerships

Jupiter conjunct ascendant individuals have a strong pallet for aquired tastes; they enjoy eating foods from a variety of cultures

Transit Jupiter in the first house is an auspicious period of life. You will enjoy rich foods, experience beautiful enviornments and financial boosts

Aquarius and Scorpio Rising have likely lived in an apartment or communal living space at some point in their lives. These placements can be indicative of a lack of privacy growing up resulting in hermit-like tendencies in adulthood

Saturn conjunct Venus in the natal chart can inhibits social connection in youth and could indicate an awkward personality especially if aspecting the Sun

Transit Saturn conjunct natal mars is a period of necessary delays, contemplating options and longevity of plans rather than taking actions

Sagittarius Venuses are best suited for partners who are not from their place of origin

I have noticed prominent Aquarius placements in many people who identify as queer/LGBT+. Aquarians thrive on labels from a young age but likely resonate with a different label or evolve to reject labels entirely as they age.

Aquarius Risings are likely to change and evolve in coming years with Pluto crossing their ascendant. This evolution will be the natural progression of the changes you have been taking in recent years

Capricorn Risings have had a difficult time these past few years with Pluto passing through their first house. Friends have been lost, familal relationships changed forever, likely a significant death in the family happened during this time.

Over the next 20 years, Capricorn Sun and Rising will be working toward owning a home and achieving a steady, reliable form of income. By the time Pluto enters Pisces, they will likely have paid off a mortgage and own a property of their own, or they will have inherited a home, property or business

Capricorn Venus usually have a one that got away. They have a difficult time letting go of past partners

Cancer moons love going to the beach. Being near the ocean has a cleansing effect on them

Gemini placements connect with others through humor. They love to laugh at themselves. People get offended when Geminis poke fun at them, but it is all in good humor and harmless. This is just their way of connecting with you

Capricorn Moons can come off as mean spirited but they are actually the opposite; these people are very compassionate and easily hurt, they are accustomed to others disappointing them and so are emotionally guarded and reserved

Having Aries in the 10th/11th house indicates running your own business and/or being your own boss especially if the Sun, Mercury or Venus are in Aries

Sagittarius/Pisces Midheaven and Jupiter conjunct MC/in the 10th house indicates higher education, recieving bachelors, masters, or doctorate degrees

Taurus Suns are easily annoyed by people with big personalities. They can’t stand loudness or obnoxious behavior. They prefer the company of other relaxed, easy going individuals

Sun in the twelfth house tend to randomly disappear from people’s lives without a trace

Sun in the sixth house are recurring characters in others daily lives. They often run into people at the grocery store or out running other errands. A ton of household names are sixth house suns; Charlie Chaplin, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Gordon Ramsey just to name a few

Moon conjunct Saturn experience seasonal sadness during winter months

Mars in the first house and mars square pluto people are argumentative and intense. They can turn any conversation into a ranting session

Saturn in the third house get their drivers license later than their peers

Neptune conjunct ascendant people have a close connection with the arts. Music, film, media, television, theatre, art and culture vastly shaped/warped their worldview growing up

Uranus conjunct ascendant/in the first house in Aquarius probably had unmonitored internet access growing up

[caffeccino]

What do you do when the dream is over and your heart is broken? You can read ✨ Mundane Magical Girl: Astronaut Sunrise ✨on my patreon 😳 Maybe Sunrise can learn to live with her heartache... maybe something magical will happen!

[readerattheend]

Han Yoojin is "normal."

Everyone sees him as "normal."

The story makes sure we know he's "normal."

And we get to see that being so undeniably human is miraculous when you're surrounded by these people who don't show their human mundanity.

This is a guy who takes spam calls for fun, and the god-like Sung Hyunjae makes him breakfast and knits for him.

This is a guy who is excited to meet a celebrity and the best water-based Hunter in the world goes to school because he tells her to.

This is a guy whose ability is just to love and be loved, and he is so, so loved by a being who is more monster and more fire than human.

He doesn't just bring out existing humanity. He sparks humanity.

[bonefall]

a while ago you said that Starclan cats design kittens and customize them with patterns and colors from their parents genes. So, do the clan cats raise any eyebrows when it comes to people who know cat genetics? Is there a geneticist who is holding their head wondering how these two cats have this colored kit while their starclan designer was just playing around? Or do the Starclan designers still have to stay within the rules?

Basically, do the humans notice that some of these clan cats are sparkle cats lol

I try to not get too "lost in the weeds" since the humans aren't the focus of the story, just taking care that they DO have real motivations behind their actions rather than construction crews materializing out of nowhere to Do A Chaos, but...

First, the genetics of cats in Albion are different than humans in equivalent Great Britain.

Partially, this is because I honestly just don't really enjoy learning about in-depth genetics or applying them realistically. I like drawing anime characters and writing anime battles, so they have anime genetics. But more than that, off-screen, the intelligence of cats has altered the timeline of this world.

If cats really were capable of higher thinking, that totally would have had some butterfly effects. I like dropping crazy alt-history and then not elaborating on it, because it's funny. Archimedes' cat helped him invent a death ray, btw.

On that note of genetics though, you guessed right. StarClan designers DO have to work with what they have. Whatever the genetics of this alternate universe of cats are, every kit born still abides by the laws of nature.

Which brings me to...

Second, the researchers do notice that the Clan cats are special. In fact, there is a "study of magic" in this universe-- Thaumatology. "The science of wonder."

(There's no world where magic actually factually exists that science isn't all over it lmao)

Thaumatology facts I haven't shared so far since it's all offscreen and just Bonus Worldbuilding;

It is a "soft science," not a hard one.

It has a LOT of problems with replicability. Thaumatologists and Quantum Physicists have a lot of in-jokes.

The most well known (to the point of being a cliche) is "magic and quantum particles both hate being watched."

Magic is highly variable based on a bajillion very personal factors, like emotion, environment, culture, personal background, etc, so it's severely difficult to re-create it in controlled environments.

Thaumatology has a lot of overlap with sociology, archeology, and theology, so people from these fields work together a lot.

There was absolutely not a dedicated Thaumatologist working in the Research Team early on, sadly.

It was probably discovered when the Battle of the True Eclipse blew out a bunch of field cameras.

It's pretty common that photography equipment fritzes out a bit during "supernatural" times like eclipses, but the damage was extensive enough to be noteworty

The Clan cats were initially notable just for the fact they had advanced culture.

Cats are usually comparable to crows and monkeys, in this universe. So cats with fire and a crude writing system were enough to SHAKE the field of zoology.

The fact they're cats helped a lot. The public loves cats, enough that since their discovery after Speckletail attacked a bulldozer, massive outcry has secretly helped the Clans several times.

The discovery that the culture also has Thaumatological elements is more of a goldmine for a scientist than the public, though.

It's common knowledge that "animals are magic," because humanity projects traits onto them. "Of course they do, they're cats...?"

The Thaumatologist is freaking out because "THE CAT IS PROVABLY DOING ITS OWN THAUMATURGY"

Most people don't know the difference between Thaumaturgy (the functional work it does on the world) and Thaumology (the study of that as a whole), so this particular scientist is going to have a hard time explaining WHY this distinction is so special.

(And possibly even offensive to certain groups, who would insist only humans are capable of this)

In any case, eventually there would be Thaumatological interest in the Clan cats, but they weren't there in the mid to late 2010s when BB!ASC takes place.

[lazycranberrydoodles]

read right to left :)

recently rewatched the way of the househusband and i thought this scene was very them lmao. this is traced over the original manga by kousuke oono. follow for more crossover nonsense!

[navybrat817]

Lovelies, please send me good vibes or thots or a fictional husband to get me out of work before I lose it. ❤️

[themundanemudperson]

lmao

[damianstarastrology]

Moon signs

Today, I was thinking about how Lightwands once said that Aries moons are like fairies in that they experience one really big emotion at a time. Since then, I cannot seperate aries moon from this archetype! Aries moons emotions are almost too big for their own bodies. Fairies, alike aries moons, also are mischievous and sticky-fingered.

Taurus moons can be warm and inviting, but they often come off as cold to those outside of their household. They have a limited threshold for nonsense and obnoxious people.

Gemini moons center friendships in their lives. Their friends range from casual to childhood bestfriends. This does not make them extrovert or introverted, they are a little bit of both. They are likely experiencing a social boost right now with Jupiter transiting Gemini.

I find that most Cancer moons have a creative outlet and experience bursts of creativity during their natal lunar phase.

Leo moons are like cartoon characters in real life (I think of Robert Zemeckis’ Who Framed Roger Rabbit.) They are naturally animated, expressive, and entertaining. Everybody wants Leo moon to like them.

Virgo moons are ethereal. They are like stained glass on church windows; like the light reflects the glass to create beautiful colors and patterns so is the virgo moons inner world reflected into their outward environment.

Libra moon can be conformative by nature. They need to have things in common with those around them in order to feel safe so they will take an interest in your hobbies. Very emotionally reserved people even more so than Capricorn moon.

Scorpio moons, like Aries moons, wear their emotions on their face. The difference is whereas Aries moons will use cuss words and low blows while they’re angry, Scorpio moons kills with dirty looks and rejective body language. They magnetically draw people in but they can just as easily propel you away when they chose.

Sagittarius moons have visions of grandeur. Nothing feels too far fetched for them. They philosophize their emotions, having profound and meaningful insights daily.

Capricorn moons seem tough but they’re like a raw nerve. They won’t let you see it, which makes others think they’re cold or weak. They aren’t, they just have exceptional emotional willpower. Very bruding moon sign.

Aquarius moons are like those clear/transparent computers that had an online resurgence around 2021-2022; you can see slightly through their outer shell however, even if you look closely, you will just see a complex, elaborate system that only skilled technicians can understand.

Pisces moons feel like they are living inside of a movie. I think of the song Movies in My Head by the 6ths. Like the other Jupiterian moon sign, Sagittarius moon, nothing feels out of the realm of possibility for Pisces moons.

[caffeccino]

The cruel reality hits home for poor Sunrise 🥺

Tho maybe she's too old to be a magical girl... a magical girl she now is

[tea-tuesday]

currently doing peachtober for the first time in my hobonichi 5-year🍑 !! i've never been much of an artist but this is my best attempt.. i haven't done today's entry yet but yesterday, i went into the city to trim my bangs and explore union market 📚☕️

[knightofthebluearms]

the concept of valec calling an ambulance for bree is so funny to me. like wydm the 200 year old demon who owns an off grid magical bar just. can call an ambulance. after a demon attack.

[lazycranberrydoodles]

modern AU where they meet again at the fast food place Xie Lian works at and Hua Cheng has to figure out how to romance a customer service employee

[visions--of--collisions]

i'm a very, very firm believer in hobie having approx. 300 nicknames for miles, and also in his being both a) a sap and b) a nerd, so the classic lit/fairytale-related ones are in regular rotation - e.g. peter pan (usually prefaced by gwendy), bambi, sleeping beauty, red riding/little red (when miles wears sth red/hooded), snow white (say if hobie's trying to goad miles into sth), jack (typically with ref. to himself as the beanstalk), etc

[feroluce]

For reasons to be expanded upon at a later date (because I love the little bits about Boothill and possible paranoia/betrayal canon gives us so very dearly HNGH) I think Boothill like... He won't let himself fall into disrepair or anything of course, but he reeeeeeeeeeally does not like letting other people poke around at his body. It's a necessary evil to him. He does whatever maintenance and repairs he can himself. He started out with a massive knowledge deficit, simply because he didn't really have any exposure to that kind of technology until he left Aeragan-Epharshal, but he's taught himself a lot since then, he worked really hard at it!

Anyway, the point being, Boothill generally isn't super trusting of people.

But I think he would come to make an exception for Himeko, since he trusts Dan Heng a lot, and Himeko is one of Dan Heng's once-in-a-lifetime dearly beloved companions.

Himeko is so unflappable, I don't think she would even bat an eye about anything he throws at her, either. Like she enters the Parlor Car one morning (she's always the first one up) and Boothill is already there, waiting for her.

"Mornin', Madam Navigator."

"Good morning, Mr. Boothill."

And despite the fact that he blatantly broke into the Express (Pom-Pom is NOT happy about this JDKSAJDSKL), Boothill tips his hat, greets her politely, and is nothing but respectful when he says he has a favor to ask of her. Except it won't stay a favor long, of course- he has every intention of paying it back.

Himeko never agrees to things blindly, but she does bring up that all the knowledge Boothill contributed during the Charmony Festival was essential to preventing the universe from being pulled into Ena's Dream. And they were able to hold onto the Jade Abacus because Boothill used Tiernan's burial relic to summon the Galaxy Rangers instead. The Astral Express owes him a debt of gratitude, and besides, he's a friend of Dan Heng's. Of course she'll try to help him.

Boothill fidgets a bit, quickly brushes off the thanks, and tells Himeko he's having a problem with error codes. He keeps getting the same one, seemingly at random times, but the darn thing has no obvious cause. Dan Heng mentioned Himeko had been the one to rebuild the Astral Express. He knows it ain't the same, but it's not like he's askin' for any major repairs or nothin'. He was wonderin' if she could just take a look, maybe offer him some insight, since she seems to be somethin' of a mechanical wonder.

So Himeko walks him back to a another car, where she goes to tinker with machines without them crowding her bedroom. It's all neatly laid out and organized, and it only takes a second for Himeko to locate some specific device with a long cord. Instead of plugging it in herself, she holds the end of it out to him, like an offer rather than a demand, and Boothill visibly relaxes a bit. He still eyes it just a little warily for a second, but he accepts and plugs it into the port on his side.

Himeko pulls up the list of all recent errors, and they really are all the same. Boothill has had multiple temperature alarms over the past couple of weeks since the Charmony Festival, and they know it's not the environment, because Penacony is mostly dreamscape and kept mild year-round. The long-forgotten natural deserts are too far away.

Boothill is staring from the corner of his one good eye, so Himeko turns the hologram to let him see what she's doing easier. They don't appear to be false alarms. His internal temperature spikes and then slowly lowers again, high enough that if it lasted it would eventually cause damage.

One option is for her to start rooting through personal data, figuring out what he was doing at the time of each code, and tracing cause and correlation.

Instead, Himeko reads out the timestamps, and asks Boothill if he minds sharing what was happening around him when it occured.

Two weeks ago: He and Dan Heng went to explore Dreamflux Reef and found a bar- nice place, good atmosphere. Woman runnin’ it was a doll. Boothill left fer not even two minutes to get them drinks (Dan Heng knows like nothin’ about liquor, Madam Navigator, can you believe this guy) and when he came back, someone had already stolen his seat and was hittin’ on Dan Heng! Dan Heng didn't even care, just shooed ‘em off. Boothill laughed and said not to let him get in his way if he wanted to meet someone. Dan Heng looked at him like he'd grown a second head. Why would he want to leave with someone else, when he came here to be with Boothill?

Twelve days ago: While laying low- er, just rustlin’ up some grub- in the Moment of Blue, Boothill passed Dan Heng with March and Caelus playin’ on the beach, buildin’ sandcastles and the like. When he passed by again almost two hours later, they were still out there, with Dan Heng pullin’ March through the water on her inner tube and Caelus hangin’ off the back of it. He swam so fast! You'd think he was part water snake or somethin’. He looked happier ‘n a cat in a sunbeam… He has a nice smile, doesn't he?

Eleven days ago: Boothill was killin’ time in Dreamflux Reef when he turned the corner down a shady alley and saw Dan Heng, surrounded by three men demandin’ “protection money.” None of ‘em stood a chance, they were all on the ground before Boothill even blinked! So cool! Boothill wants to see that spear of his closeup- Anyway, Dan Heng stepped on one of ‘em on his way out, hahaha! Boothill stepped on the same guy a second time as he hurried to catch up.

Eight days ago: Here on the Express, actually. Boothill had mentioned bein’ curious about the archives, and Dan Heng personally invited him.

(“I remember that day, I saw you in the hall.” “Was there any problem with the heating that day?” “No, none. I don't think the temperature has anything to do with these error codes. I have a different theory, keep going.” “If ya say so.”)

Boothill was fascinated by an entry on aeons, and from a single question he asked about Lan, the two of ‘em ended up talkin’ fer hours. About aeons and Paths and Emanators, Acheron and Self-Annihilators, the Sea of Nihility, Tiernan, the Nameless and the Galaxy Rangers, their burial relics and their customs. Dan Heng finally just started writin’ and editin’ the entries in real time, with Boothill pointin’ things out and tellin’ him what to add in. They were at it so late that Boothill ended up sleepin' on a couch in one of the cars.

He'd figured there had to be something to make Dan Heng chatty- he'd caught just a glimpse of it that first night they met, sittin’ at the bar in the Reverie together. He'll have to ask about the archives more often, if it gets him all revved up like that.

One week ago: After that night of energetic discussion, Dan Heng was apparently hyped up, because after he'd downed some of Himeko's coffee (“You had some too, right? What did you think of it?” “It was great, even better'n chewin’ bullets!” "Thank you! That was my newest brew, I can't wait for everyone else to try it.") he actually asked Boothill to go hunting with him. Boothill asked who their target was, and was surprised when Dan Heng pulled out photos that looked like they were from March's camera, of all things, instead of a bounty or wanted poster.

And as he sat there, studying these pictures, Dan Heng explained that he wanted to hunt down these specific memory zone memes to record them into the archives. Planets with so much memoria are a rarity, especially with the Stellaron's activity thrown into the mix, which has surely affected the local “wildlife.” He might not get another opportunity like this for a long time. And Boothill had talked last night about his extensive expertise in tracking and hunting, so he should have plenty to offer here, Dan Heng would like to learn from his experience and see how he does things!

And oh, Madam Navigator, by the time Dan Heng was done speakin', his eyes were practically sparklin'! Just lit up like the sun! Boothill could scarcely believe it! The two of them couldn't even wait another day, they set out that very morning. It had been a long, long while since Boothill had tracked someone- er, somethin’- without the intent to capture or kill. It was…actually really nice. Nostalgic, but in a good way. It might even have been his favorite day on Penacony…so…far…

Boothill trails off as a couple of realizations crash into him. All the temperature alarms he's spoken about thus far- they've all happened in the company of Dan Heng. And now that he's thinking about it, he's pretty sure even the ones he hasn't yet talked about were with him, too. Dan Heng has been responsible for all of his error codes, every. single. one.

The screen in front of Himeko suddenly refreshes to the top of the list, displaying a new notification for the current time. Alert! Core temperature above normal range.

Himeko's knowing smile is sly as a snake.

Wwwwwelp, would ya look at the time, Boothill has some errands to meet, people to run, y’know how it is, he should really get goin'-

“Oh, Mr. Boothill? About that favor.” And Boothill jolts to a stop in the doorway because fudge, he can't just leave without hearing her out. He'd given his word. He has no problem running out on someone he thinks deserves it, but Himeko really had been kind to him to try and help him out. Her voice is just as knowing as her smile, Boothill can't turn around to look at her, or else he knows he won't be able to disguise the sound of his cooling fans kicking on.

“Don't make Dan Heng wait too long, ok~?”

“Y-Yes, ma'am.”

[dreamerinsilico]

You’ve heard of the browser wars....

I just recently made a long-overdue defection in the search engine wars, and I’m entirely pleased with it. 

You know how shitty Google results are when you need some fairly niche information that won’t be in a Wikipedia article, mainstream news, or some shitty celebrity gossip outlet, these days?

DuckDuckGo has cleared my skin, watered my crops, etc.  I was kind of ambiently glad it existed for a long time, but was like “well, privacy good, but my infosec practices are already sketchy at best, and google’s been doing this for a long-ass time; they’re probably better at it, so why bother.”  But no, my friends, google is better at something but these days that something is delivering clickbait to your fucking eyeballs.

I was frustrated with a very specific science question the other day and getting absolutely fucking nowhere with google, swapped over to duckduckgo on a curious whim, and it... didn’t get me exactly what I needed immediately, but it did give MUCH more relevant search results than google did.  And that’s, well, because enshittification.  Maybe someday, duckduckgo will also live to see itself become the villain, but for right now, it’s fucking useful, and it is now my default search engine on every device I use (and also every work computer i have reason to touch).