#my life

[voiceoftreasons]

Feeling pretty

[weaselle]

two or three years ago i picked up skyrim again for a couple months, and at that time i tried a few mods for the first time

(i'm a plays games but isn't a gamer, doesn't do a whole lot with tech kind of person, who is terrified of doing things that will ruin my computer or console)

ANYway, i've decided to give skyrim another go recently (i already have the game and the console, so at least it's recreation that doesn't cost me any money hallelujah) but this time i spent several days researching and testing mods, and i've currently got my game modded to the hilt.

WHAT a great difference!

Every town, village, settlement, fort, and city has been revamped and added on to, the lighting, the weather, the sky, game play mechanics, music, re-textured almost every surface including skin, every bridge, the water, hunting and camping mods for immersive realism, added a bunch of NPCs, beefed up the khajiit caravans (they even have khajiit children with them now) boosted orc presence and the number of argonian followers ...

I put in a bunch more dogs of different kinds :) and now hunters and farms and patrols sometimes have huskies or hounds or herding dogs with them, i added cloaks, and altered how the magic and smithing work, I even added to and improved the public transportation system

and the cities are thriving! Whiterun has, like, a whole additional district built up around the stables and farms with merchants and houses and everything, Solitude docks are big and bustling as behooves a capital city with a major port... even lowly Dragon's Bridge now has a larger, livelier outpost there along with some homes and businesses.

plus i got to skip the wagon through the Helgen escape intro, thank gods. Classic for a reason, but unnecessary af at this point

best of all, it's perfectly matching my characters backstory for RP immersion.

Since i'm so familiar with skyrim already i decided my character grew up in Skyrim but has been away for fifteen years. So it's normal to run into people I know, but the cities and towns are more developed with higher populations.

It's perfect, i keep walking around like "wow Riverwood's turned into quite a town since i was here last!"

It's my first time really getting into game mods, and they are amazing! It was pretty difficult to get arranged enough for the game to function, I had to spend like a total of five hours over the weekend just loading the game, seeing it break, researching load order and mod compatibility, and then adjusting my mods, rinse repeat... but it's worth it. I've got a great game going, it's the perfect blend of familiar comfort and new exploration.

anyway, i return to skyrim every few years, and this time i'm falling freshly in love with it, the modding community is a thing of beauty

[mamaspark]

Drove with my daughter to pick up her new car. Congratulations! He is a beaut!

Well, I've had a bit of a rough week. A deer totaled my (new-to-me I've-only-had-it-a-year) car when it rammed headlong into to side of it on a dark back road, and set off the passenger side side airbags (on the doors, not the dashboard ones). Thankfully I was completely unharmed aside from ringing ears and it did not do a whole ton of damage running into the side of the car (as opposed to the damage that would have been done the other way around, if I had hit it), but unthankfully it hit the airbag sensors and the airbags going off made it unable to be repaired for less than the cost of the car. The deer did not even have the decency to drop dead on the spot so I could eat it, it took off running back into the woods (at least according to the guy behind me that saw it hit me, because personally I thought someone had fuckin' shot my car, because the airbags are apparently explosively powered and smell like gunpowder and smoke).

So, I've been away dealing with that and looking for another car. I was not in love with the Patriot, even though I stuck cool jurassic park stickers on it (rather, I stuck cool jurassic park stickers on it because I was not in love with it), and I was still badly missing my Liberty. So imagine my surprise when I found a new listing for a 2010 jeep liberty with nearly the exact same number of miles on it (70,139) as the patriot I just lost (70,106). It looked practically pristine, came with a clean bill of health from Carfax, and was within a few hours drive to go get. On top of that, it was listed as marked down because it was at non-same dealership that wanted space back, so it was less than the insurance payout. I still called, and I still asked them to do me better than what they had it up for, and the guy was SO busy explaining how much trouble it would be to give it to me for the price I asked with all the taxes and fees and stuff included but that he would valiantly go talk to his manager that I didn't get a chance to say I MEANT just the car price not including those things. So he came back with a price, I asked again for lower again if I could bring cash today (offering the price I wanted to pay total in the first place, had he stopped to listen) and they accepted it.

So, I drove down in my mom's car with her, and took him out for a spin. He drives like a new car. Whisper quiet compared to the lawnmower of car the Patriot was. Tight steering, gas, break pressures, good wheels, great pickup and go, rides high like my old Liberty did, huge backseat/trunk space for caging and hay and stuff. They had detailed the inside so it was pristine and even smelled like new car. Stunning little beast.

When I climbed in to drive home, I found a heads-up penny sitting on each front seat. I think probably the dealership guy put them there in reality, but I choose to believe that it was a peace offering from the universe. Or perhaps the car trying to tell me his new name: Lucky.

I managed not to cry about having a car so much like my good boy Colt back under my hands, but it was a close thing. Anyway, here's to the next 200k miles! Let's see if we can beat Colt's record :)

[fullbattleregalia]

One of the senior market analysts at the investment company I work for sent out a company wide email with a breakdown of how the US tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China are potentially going to effect the stock market and various economies.

They titled it, “Not Tariff-ic”

Between that, the Halloween pranks, and my coworkers gift wrapping literally everything on my boss’s desk for his birthday, I can only conclude that I am actually employed in a sitcom.

[goode-kingsman]

This is my very first knitted pair of socks. The first one (the right one on the first picture) is not very pretty (my circular needle was too long and I really suck at knitting with a magic loop. I used a shorter circular needle for the second one). And I really need to learn how to do a better rib stitch with a circular needle. But still, this is a big step for me. So I am very happy with these socks. Knitting the heel was a very scary part, but I did it, so I'm happy.

[jubrunaikovics]

[greentrickster]

I used to have a big, fluffy orange cat named Skimble. (He passed a long time ago, but he's still with me in that special way cats have.)

Anyway, more importantly, one of Skimble's things was that he LOVED popcorn and potato chips. Probably because of the salt or fat, maybe because of the crunch, but, whatever the case, if I sat down with a bag or a bowl of them, he showed up, wanting some. Common occurrence.

The interesting thing was that I had a very specific rule about these foods: if I was eating popcorn, he could have three pieces; if it was chips, he could have one very small one. That was his 'tithe,' as I called it, and he got it on the grounds that, while neither food is good for cats, they were very small quantities given very infrequently and they didn't actively make him sick.

And, most importantly: he followed this rule as well. You'd think that giving him a little taste would encourage him to try and get more and more over time, but no - he'd just come up, get his three pieces of popcorn or one chip, then just leave again. Wouldn't even stay for cuddles or pats, he'd just come, get his tithe, and go back about his business. And he followed this to a T for years.

I hope, wherever he is now, he's still getting his tithe.

I hope he's still with someone who respects that he also wants to do something that's enjoyable as opposed to good for himself every now and then, the same as we do.

Love you always, my good bad boy.

[not-terezi-pyrope]

Today I discovered that "bro visited his friend/the visiterrrrrrr" isn't necessarily a widely known meme outside of tumblr after I referenced it irl and seemingly came across as a complete maniac, ironically exactly creating the circumstances of the original meme

[aprillikesthings]

“April what were you doing back when she ra first came out”

lol

But yeah that first kda song was released nov 2nd and the first season of spop was nov 13 and it’s weird to think how my life might look completely different if those dates had been reversed!

The last two months of 2018 were the worst of my life tbh, and I know that’s why I was batshit about kda, I desperately needed a new hyperfixation at the time

But yeah I posted my first kda fic on nov 15 and started the kdgay discord a few weeks later and then Daci joined the server and started flirting with me and now here I am

Starting this server was my best idea ever

Also I’m addicted to pinning every single meme people post to the chat

[thestuffedalligator]

My brother-in-law has a Thing where he gives me increasingly rare copies of The Bee Movie and it’s long since gone from “Goofy running gag” to “I don’t know how much money he’s willing to commit to this bit and it Scares Me.”

Where the fuck can we go from here

[weaselle]

i want to talk about real life villains

Not someone who mugs you, or kills someone while driving drunk, those are just criminals. I mean VILLAINS.

Not like trump or musk, who are... cartoonishly evil. And not sexy villains, not grandiose villains, not even satisfyingly two dimensional villains it is easy to hate unconditionally. The real villains.

I had a client who was a retired executive for one of the big oil companies, i think it was Shell or Chevron. Had a home just outside of San Francisco that was wall to wall floor to ceiling full of expensive art. Literally. I once accidentally knocked a painting off the wall because it was hanging at knee height at the corner of the stairs, and it had a little brass plaque on it, and i looked up the name of the artist and it was Monet's apprentice and son-in-law, who was apparently also a famous painter. He had an original Andy Warhol, which should have been a prize piece for anyone to showcase -- it was hanging in the bathroom. I swear to god this guy was using a Chihuly (famous glass sculptor) as a fruit bowl. And he was like, "idk my wife was the one who liked art"

I was intrigued by this guy, because in the circles i run this dude is The Enemy. right? Wealthy oil executive? But as my client, he was... like a sweet grandpa. A poor widower, a nice old man, anyone who knew him would have called him a sweetheart. He had a slightly bewildered air, a sort of gentle bumbling nature.

And the fact that he was both of these things, a Sweet Little Old Man and The Enemy, at the same time, seemed important and fascinating to me.

He reminded me of some antagonist from fiction, but i couldn't put my finger on who. And when i did it all made sense.

John Hammond.

probably one of the most realistic bad guys ever written.

If you've only ever seen the movie, this will need some explaining.

Michael Crichton wrote Jurassic Park in 1990, and i read it shortly thereafter. In the movie, the dinosaurs are the antagonists, which imo erases 50% of the point of the story.

book spoilers below.

In the book, John Hammond is the villain but it takes the reader like half the book to figure that out. Just like my client, John is a sweet old man who wants lovely things for people. He's a very sympathetic character. But as the book progresses, you start to see something about him.

He has an idea, and he's sure it's a good one. When someone else dies in pursuit of his dream, he doesn't think anything of it. When other people turn out to care about that, he brings in experts to evaluate the safety of his idea, and when they quickly tell him his idea is dangerous and needs to be put on hold, he ignores his own experts that he himself hired, because they are telling him that he is wrong, and he is sure he is right.

In his mind, he's a visionary, and nobody understands his vision. He is surrounded by naysayers. Several things have proven too difficult to do the best and safest way, so he has cut corners and taken shortcuts so he can keep moving forward with his plans, but he's sure it's fine. He refuses to hear any word of caution, because he believes he is being cautious enough, and he knows best, even though he has no background in any of the sciences or professions involved. He sends his own grandchildren out into a life-threatening situation because he is willfully ignorant of the danger he is creating.

THIS is like the real villains of the world. He doesn't want anyone to die. Far from it, he only wants good things for people! He's a sweet old man who loves his grandchildren. But he has money and power and refuses to hear that what he is doing is dangerous for everyone, even his own family.

I think he's possibly one of the most important villains ever written in popular fiction.

In the book, he is killed by a pack of the smallest, cutest, "least dangerous" dinosaurs, because a big part of why we read fiction is to see the villains face thematic justice. But like a cigarette CEO dying of lung cancer, his death does not stop his creation from spreading out into the world to continue to endanger everyone else.

I think it is really important to see and understand this kind of villainy in fiction, so you can recognize it in real life.

Sweetheart of a grandfather. Wanted the best for everyone. Right up until what was best for everyone inconvenienced the pursuit of his own interests.

And my client was like that too. His wife had died, and his dog was now the love of his life, and she was this little old dog with silky hair in a hair cut that left long wispy bits on her lower legs. Certain plant materials were easily entangled in this hair and impossible to get out without pulling her hair which clearly hurt her. When i suggested he ask his groomer to trim her lower leg hair short to avoid this, he refused, saying he really liked her usual hair cut.

I emphasized that she was in pain after every walk due to the plant debris getting caught in her leg hair, and a simple trim could put an end to her daily painful removal of it, and he just frowned like i'd recommended he take a bath in pig shit and said "But she'll be ugly" and refused to talk about it anymore.

Sweet old man though. Everyone loved him.

[foldingfittedsheets]

So that’s how my morning is going.

[strangerthanfictionlife]

Went on vacation to San Francisco and had some fun at the beach

[gatheringmoss]

a graveyard full of flowers

at the end of September

[jubrunaikovics]

[e-vay]

I was waiting to show you guys my fully healed tattoo via a cutesy video but you know what? This tattoo is the only thing bringing me joy right now and I feel like many of you could probably use some joy too, so screw it! Here's my finished Sonamy tattoo!

I loved it even when my tattoo artist first applied the ink, but now that it's healed I think it's even more beautiful than before! It has been a life-long dream of mine to get a tattoo that I illustrated myself, and my tattoo artist helped bring my illustration to life even better than I had imagined. I couldn't be happier with this ink!