#seriously i have read some newer books recently that i really wanted to love!

[miss-m-winks]

it falls under what i consider a type of fourth-wall-breaking in stories.

"therapy speak" where the character talk about their emotions and problems with an uncanny level of precision and professional competence.

moments where the narration or dialogue style suddenly switch to a "modern internet post" sort of vocabulary and cadence just so the story can look you in the eye and say things like "this is about feminism/diversity/civil rights, by the way. did you notice? are you noticing yet? we're using language and phrasing that make you wonder if you read this in a tweet recently, because we just want to make sure, in case it wasn't obvious enough yet, that this story is dealing with Modern Social Issues. you noticed, right?"

or other moments where the writing style seems to break character just to wink and nudge at the reader.

it's not done well, most of the time. it really breaks the immersion and i kind of hate it. yes, i noticed your characters were having internal conflicts, you didn't need to therapy speak it at me. yes, i noticed your themes about feminism, it was very clear, i really did not need the fourth wall break about it. yes, haha, i see you over there making modern references in a presumably more medieval fantasy! no, it's not really that funny. sorry.

if you're gonna break the fourth wall, you really need to be clever about it.

That post that's like "stop writing characters who talk like they're trying to get a good grade in therapy" really blew the door wide open for me about how common it's become for a character's emotional intelligence to not be taken into consideration when writing conflict. I remember the first time I went to therapy I had such a hard time even identifying what I was feeling, let alone had the language to explain it to someone else. Of course there are plenty of people who've never been to therapy a day in their life who are in tune to their emotions. But even they would have some trouble expressing themselves sometimes. You have to take into account there are plenty of people who are uncomfortable expressing themselves and people who think they're not allowed to feel certain ways. It also makes for more interesting conflict to have characters with different levels of understanding.

[zebee-nyx]

Nine People You Want To Get To Know Better

Many thanks to @winterandwords for the tag! (^.^)

Current Book I’m Reading:

“Lunar Chronicles: Scarlet” by Marissa Meyer. Something about sci-fi retelling of fairytales is a novel idea. [I’m sorry lol (>v<)]. Seriously tho, nice book thus far and I really enjoyed Cinder as well, the previous book in the series.

Last Song I Listened To:

"My Love Mine All Mine" by Mitski. Newer song [as far as I can tell, just spotted it today for the first time] from Mitski who makes a lota wonderful songs that make me go (T^T) or (^u^) or some mix of the two. Is nice!

Currently Watching:

So actually just finished watch an anime called “Gene of AI”. I enjoyed it but not really on my top anime lists. First season [only season] ended with an episode I really enjoyed, but rest of the episodes kinda feel like filler or have the “end in same situation we began at” sort of thing going on. Which is fine, but kinda annoying when big things happen that is left on a “wondering what happened/will happen” that sometimes never pays off in any way (-.-)… I’m rambling…

Current Fic I’m Reading:

Imma be honest I don’t think I’ve ever read a fanfic series. [please don't hurt me ('o.o)] Enjoy small little ‘one shot’ / short story AU stuff or ideas [best ones are where tragic characters get to be happy cause they didn't get that in the official cause they deserve it and by damn someone's gotta write those sadbois some joy (T.T)]. But haven’t read any recently.

Next On My Watchlist:

Thinking Imma watch season 3 of "Dr. Stone" anime next now that it magically appeared at some point without me noticing it til a couple of days ago. (^.^)

Current Obsession:

Rn honestly just vibing here in the blurg and getting to meet all 'n interact with the lovely people here has become my little mini-obsession. (^.^) Aside from that literally can’t stop thinking about 2 things as follows: food and writing (mostly worldbuilding) lol.

I shall gently tag @amaiguri, @moonfeatherblue, and @username-cause-i-need-one if you so desire to participate. Of course any one else who so choices is free to join in. (^v^)

Blanks questions below for those who do:

Current Book I'm Reading:

Last Song I Listened To:

Currently Watching:

Current Fic I'm Reading:

Next On My Watch List:

Current Obsession:

[paandaan]

7, 10 and 12 from the media asks also happy new year !!

7. What are you looking forward to seeing in art in years to come?

im the worst person to ask this because i know nothing about anything in depth </3 but you know what ... i really want some horror movies to come out of the subcontinent region, some seriously good horror movies - whether they're low budget or high budget (the latter not preferable considering the high budget film catalogue of recent years) ... something that really explores the folklore of the countries here because i am slowly getting around to looking into the folklores of our country and while people have written short stories for them they haven't delved into the horror aspect of these folktales ... also would love for literary magazines in pak to make a comeback we are seriously lacking in them and it's something i feel like we can learn a lot from what we had in the 80s and 90s and incorporate a lot of the newer digital aspects into it ...

10. Did you get into any new fandoms this year? Did you do any art/fic/fannish things for them?

you all saw my weekly breakdown over no home and chainsaw man </3 but - no not really, i try to stay really far away from fandoms and admire meta analyses from the peripheries; so that's all i did this year again

12. Do you have any watching/reading/listening goals?

i haven't really kept any strict reading goals for this year, i am going to read more actively + deliberately instead of rushing through books / passively going through them without thinking about what i am reading (which i don't really do - but i did start falling into that routine last year that i want to get rid of) ... i do really want to read more books in urdu, i went around digging and found a few authors i want to read so <3 that's my primary goal ... other than that keeping my watching goals at least 50 for this year 🙏🏽 hopefully that'll happen, and nothing much for music really ... i listen to everything that comes my way <3

[mermaidsirennikita]

hey there! Sorry if you've answered this already. I tried searching your blog and didn't see any posts specifically for this:

My cousin is really getting into romances. She's specifically interested in romances where the FMC is in her mid-late 30s or older and/or has time travel shenanigans. She really enjoys outlander and recently read and enjoyed A Stich in Time by Kelley Armstrong. She also told me she likes shifter romances, but she tends to lean more historical from what I have gathered.

Do you have any recs I can pass along to her (or get her for the holidays?)

FWIW she took that quiz you made and got Gentleman in the Streets / Freak in the Sheets, but I think she's flexible with hero archetypes.

thank you!!

Thank you for reaching out! I'm so glad she's getting into romance, it's such a fun genre.

It can be harder to find heroines who are in their thirties or older, unfortunately. However, we are starting to get more. The overlap with time travel can be harder, I think in part because writers feel intimidated with time travel due to Outlander in general, but...

Time Travel Recs:

What the Wind Knows by by Amy Harmon. It's been a whiiile since I read this, and I don't remember it being a FAVE, but it's bordering on women's fiction so it might be a decent "transition" book for newer romance readers, especially those that love Outlander. Not sure about the heroine's age, but I'm pretty sure she's not super young. What I find really interesting about this book is that I believe it focuses on Irish independence and the IRA, which you like, never see in romance.

A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux. Okay. This is an old school, and I largely recommend it because it's a SUPER influential romance novel (would be shocked if it didn't influence Outlander) and I personally love it. But it is dated, the way and 80s or 90s book can be; the heroine is not in her thirties, and she has some maturing to do (which I think she does). She basically gets ditched by her boyfriend and his daughter (who she does internally fat shame, heads up) and is crying about needing a knight in shining armor when one APPEARS lol. He's actually hilariously dickish and does some growing of his own, before getting catapulted back to his own time. She follows, of course. It's actually a pretty daring book, and I find it so entertaining.

Mid/Late Thirties and Above Heroines:

Joss and The Countess by S.M. LaViolette. A recent love, heroine is 39 and hero is 28, she's his employer and a widow, and basically they end up in this very sexual relationship that is at first cold but then grows into something more emotional and intense. Hero is a former sex worker. There is a lo of discussion of SA, but none on the page.

Waiting for A Scot Like You by Eva Leigh. Heroine is 46-47, hero is about 12 years younger, and he ends up being her bodyguard on a roadtrip to a scandalous party now that she's widowed.

The Countess by Sophie Jordan. Heroine is around 38 and married, and has a horrible husband. Her wants their daughter to marry this rich business man about 5 years the heroine's junior, but--plot twist, the businessman wants the heroine instead. Fun and frothy with some seriousness.

The Dueling Duchess by Minerva Spencer. A fun romp with an adoring hero, the heroine is 35ish I think and he's a few years younger. She's actually a sharpshooter in a traveling circus, but there's a lot of historical detail to this one that's super fun.

The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt. I forget how old this heroine is exactly, I'm thinking 33ish, but she starts working as an earl's secretary because she's poor. They develop some tension, she finds out he's visiting an exclusive brothel, and out of annoyance she disguises herself as a sex worker in the brothel and... it's on.

The Lady Who Came in From The Cold by Grace Callaway. This one is super interesting because the hero and heroine have been married 12 years and have three kids. But it kicks off when he finds out she was a spy before they married, aaaand she lied to him about being a virgin, and you know, her entire life. Separation ensues, and she tries desperately to get him back. TW for discussion of past SA, which I didn't love, but the setup and passion and the hero having to realize that he's been a moron is great.

A couple of "not quite mid thirties but she may like them" recs:

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt. A classic historical and all time favorite of mine. The heroine is 32 and a glamorous high society widow who begins tutoring a 26 year old Quaker schoolmaster in etiquette so that he can get patrons for the orphanage he runs. Except whoops, he's a masked vigilante saving kids off the streets at night, and the two of them keep having charged run-ins. So romantic, so hot, so interesting re: class stuff. Heads up, she does struggle with infertility and multiple past miscarriages. No "magic baby" resolution.

The Return of The Duke by Lorraine Heath. I think this heroine is 30 to the hero's 25. She's actually his dead father's former mistress, and he seeks her out because he believes she knows something about why his father was wrongfully (in his mind) convicted and executed, with the hero deprived of his title, for attempting to kill Queen Victoria. A lot of angry charge here.

Shifters:

Pleasure of a Dark Prince--werewolf book, heroine doesn't look mid-thirties but is thousands of years old as she's a valkyrie lol. Favorite of mine, it does have a very aggressive hero who's actually soft inside, and TW: for flashbacks to/discussions of SA. But it's such a romp otherwise. This is a fated mates type book, and if she hasn't tried that yet, she should.

[introvertbibliophile]

Rules: 10 (non-ancient) books for people to get to know you better, or that you just really like.

Tagged by @seiya-starsniper!

This is going to include non-fiction, because I don't think I could come up with 10 relatively recent novels!

Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye - I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, but I'm leaving the originals off this list as they are pretty old at this point! But! If you want a great pastiche, with a great plot and pacing, this is for you.

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien - Look, I read the trilogy for the first time in 8th grade and never looked back. I have four different copies. Enough said.

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman-- It's a bit dated by now, having been published in the '60s, but remains a solid intro to WWI's causes and first weeks. Her writing style is very readable, so don't be intimidated by the page lengh!

The Heir to the Empire series by Timothy Zahn - I've loved the original Star Wars Trilogy for a long time, though the newer stuff is less my cup of tea for various reasons. Before Disney + was even conceived of, there was a whole universe of quasi-spin off novels chronicling Luke, Leia, Han and the rest of the gang's adventures post-ROTJ. This series is one of my favorites, and introduced one of my favorite antagonists-- Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett - I adore all of the Watch books, but this one is probably my favorite. Dorfl's introduction, Vimes and Vetinari, Cheery, I could go on!

Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa - stealing this one from @seiya-starsniper, for a lot of the same reasons. Amazing, nuanced-characters, an insane plot, and a death I am still not over, all these years later.

Observations by Gaslight by Lyndsay Faye - Yes, two books by the same author, so sue me. This anthology is a masterclass in outsider-POV stories, and brings out another side to the duo of Holmes and Watson.

The Sleepwalkers: How Europe went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark - I know, more WWI non-fiction. I majored in International Relations, what do you want from me? But seriously, as cliche as it sounds, that timeframe spawned a lot of stuff we're still dealing with the fallout from.

The X-Wing Squadron series by Michael Stackpole & Aaron Alston  - This series has it's issues (look at you, sexism!), but if you want a solid action series featuring some lesser-known Star Wars characters, this is a pretty good place to start.

Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula by Loren D. Estleman -  The title kinda says it all, right? Not as cracky as it sounds, though suspension of disbelief is useful.

Tagging: whoever feels like doing this. :)

Rules: 10 (non-ancient) books for people to get to know you better, or that you just really like.

Tagged by @wintersmitth and @bluesundaycake, thank you both for thinking of me!!! I definitely saw a few books on both your lists I'll be adding to my to-read goals for this year :)

This was a bit of a challenge as I was a very avid reader of novels as a teenager, then just���stopped for about a decade. I still read, but I transitioned over to graphic novels and Japanese manga, developed a massive fanfic addiction…and then read 77 books in 2022 LOL. But these are the books that have left a mark on me over the years.

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice - I first read this in 2003 when I was far too young to be reading it but well…what can you do hah. This novel single handedly jump started not only my vampire obsession, but my obsession with the supernatural genre and supernatural romance in general. I am pretty sure I have a monsterfucker fixation because of Anne Rice ahahaha. I’ve reread this novel many times over the years so it is very near and dear to my heart.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Teenage me and adult me LOVED the hell out of this book. The imagery, the loneliness, the prose, I could read Gatsby over and over again and fall in love with some new piece of it. When the copyright expired last year, I went ham on reading as many spinoff novels as I could. I still have one in my queue of things to read actually. 

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess - My first foray into psychological horror. Goodness I absolutely devoured this book, and I know it’s controversial for a variety of different reasons (mostly the ending change), but it was the first time I had really read a book with a protagonist that was just absolutely unhinged and unapologetic about it. That being said, I personally prefer the original ending to the Kubrick film ending, I don’t care what my fellow Americans say, it made perfect sense to me.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Was I 100% the target demographic for this book series when it was being published? Absolutely. Did I go completely feral when each book and movie came out like a basic young adult? Yes indeedy. Are its overarching themes still relevant today and plenty of people, including people involved with the movie, seem to miss entirely? YOU BET. I have a very soft spot for this series, and I’ve been on the fence about reading the prequel. If anyone has any thoughts, I’d love to hear them!

World War Z by Max Brooks - Max Brooks my beloved. Zombie Survival Guide was my first exposure to him as an author, but World War Z really made me think about how people would react to a zombie virus, or any virus that affects the world. It was unfortunately rather prophetic when Covid rolled around :/ But I think that is partially the brilliance of it. I have a signed copy of the book that I hold very near and dear to my heart. I still read passages from the book from time to time and highly recommend it.

Fullmetal Alchemist - As I mentioned at the beginning, I tapered off novels and moved into graphic novels/manga, but in all honesty, none have left nearly as lasting an impact on me as Fullmetal Alchemist has. It is by far one of the best series I have ever read in my life. Do you want philosophy on the value and meaning of life? A realistic depiction on the horrors of war and genocide? Well written female characters that are not tropes? Endless short people jokes? This series is for you!  

Wolfsong/Green Creek Series by TJ Klune - I know TJ Klune is more well known for his YA books, and they are fun, but generally not for me. But this. This book series is what got to me. Still gets to me! If you want queer romance + found family + werewolves with none of the squick of omegaverse tropes, this series is absolutely for you. I had initially read the series for @lyriclorelei because she had heard the third book in the series featured an ace character, and that particular character is in fact, my blorbo. I love him. I cried throughout his entire book because I love him so much. 

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall - I credit this book with jump starting my reading binge in 2022. I knew from reading Green Creek that there was a lot more queer fiction out there, but this was the first time I had ever seen fake dating outside of fanfic and well…I got hooked! At my core, I am a romance reader at heart, and I was pleasantly surprised to find all the ways the genre had evolved since I stopped reading. Truly a fun introduction to get back into reading for me.

A Marvellous Light/The Last Binding series by Freya Marske  - MY. HEART. Do you want queer wizards? A unique magical system that has not been done before? A murder mystery tied to a curse? Enemies to lovers? Queer self-awakening? This book and series has all of the above! It is absolutely fantastic and I am SO EXCITED for the final book to be published at the end of this year. Just cannot say enough good things about it.

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy - In addition to romance, I found myself binging celebrity memoirs in 2022, and Jennette McCurdy’s was the best. She’s an incredibly witty writer, and I found myself laughing and crying in equal parts throughout the book. It is, in fact, a rather triggering book considering what she went through, I definitely found myself triggered a few times, but, it was a really eye-opening thing to read, and I absolutely recommend consuming it via the audiobook because her delivery is just fantastic. 

Tagging: @valeriianz @sans--seraph @the-cloudy-dreamer @rooftopwreck @historyandqueershenanigans @introvertbibliophile @mallory-x @quellawrites @aquilathefighter and whoever else wants to do this! A few of you tagged me in the other ask game, and since I already did that one, I'm tagging you in this one :3

[nortonluv]

Hi I saw your requests for the wattpad book was open and was wondering if I could please have some Katagawa Jr content because the only ppl who write him make him creepy as heck.

I don’t really mind what you write about him but I like to think he’d treat his partner like a gentleman and would love spoiling them. I don’t really mind what gender the xreader is but if it’s no trouble could it be a female reader.

If you can’t do this then it’s no worries xx. I will be reading your Handsome Jack book as soon as I have time also.

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REQUESTING SOMETHING WITH HIM!! Just to let you know the Handsome Jack book is gonna take a while because my motivation is all over the place but I can definitely write this because Katagawa Jr needs more appreciation if you ask me!

I'll make the a reader gender neutral

My redbubble if anyones interested in buying something <3 you can really see the difference in my newer work than the older stuff if you ask me

Katagawa Jr x reader

Not my gif!!

Pairing: Katagawa Jr x Gn! Reader

Reader pronouns used: They/them

Warnings: None unless you notice something that may need a warning plus keep in mind that this is Borderlands

Summary: Katagawa Jr being absolutely adoring towards his s/o <3

I hope you don't mind that this is after he tried to kill Rhys. I also apologise for my kinda bad writing, I need to try and get into it and learn to do it better so just try and believe in me to improve!

Y/n - Your Name

L/n - Last name

F/c - favourite colour

⁽ʸ/ⁿ'ˢ ᴾᴼⱽ⁾

The war between Atlas and Malian soon ended due to Katagawa growing tired of fighting for something he wasn't going to get. Well, that and the fact his Zer0 tech malfunctioned on him and seriously injured him.

He pulled out of the war when he was once again conscience and thank whatever God's there may be that he survived. I'm not sure what I would've done with him not there. He's a bit of a spoiled brat to everyone else and acts like the typical big corporation asshole to them but to me, he's an absolute sweetheart.

If he died that day I would have lost my entire world.

Of course Katagawa soon got back to work... Oh no! Not work as in Maliwan!

His work on keeping our relationship being perfect. It's something of a goal in life to him for everything he does to be perfect. He never wants us to split up and he's become a bit too clingy recently. With the near death experience though, I can understand why.

"Kat! Where are you?" I shout into the hallway of our shared home. There's a faint groan from the bedroom. It's faint right now but it's there.

I walk to the room and open the door to find Katagawa on the floor reaching for the crutch I placed across the room. He was concentrating so hard on getting said item he didn't seem to realise that I had come home.

"Need some help?" The man in front of me jumps slightly out of shock and he looks up to meet my eyes. He sighs and makes a gesture for me to help him up.

I lift his somewhat frail body up and place him on the bed again. I grab the crutch and go and sit next to him. "why were you one the floor?" I lean my head on his shoulder.

His eyes are trained on the floor as he lets me lean on him.

"I wanted to do something for you but you put this," He waved the crutch slightly " too far for me to reach"

"why would I need anything from you right now? You're healing and it's my turn to look after the big shot company man" I rub his back as he now begins to lean into me instead.

"I realised how much I lost, and how much I could've lost in that war," He paused and turned to face me " I lost the Zanara, I ordered the murder of my own family and if I let it go on longer. I could have lost you"

He pulls his ECHO into his hands and shows me a picture of me and him sat on one of our earliest dates in one of the Zanara's cat cafés. This was long before the war and a few months after I began to work for Malian. Well it wasn't originally a date more of a way for Kat to be a friend rather than a boss, until we became official at least.

Simpler times.

Flash back*

"L/n, you will be coming with me to the Zanara. Tha-"

"That's your pleasure yacht, yes I know sir." I sigh. This may have bin the thirtieth time he's told me and as nice as his voice is, I could care less about the Zanara.

"Lose the attitude please. A new Cat café is opening and you will come with me to see the opening of it." He turns his back and looks back over his shoulder slightly to say, "wear something casual."

I didn't get to properly answer I just nodded even while he was out the door. I wonder if he's a cat person, he does strike me as that person. You know, evil and cute.

He could've asked any other person, he practically has the best eye candy he could have picked from with him being rich and all and yet he picks me.

Of course I'm grateful beyond belief, but could it be because he's lonely?

*Time Skip to 11:48*

"Hello Sir." even though he told me to dress casually this is still part of my job to attend events but despite this, I see none of the other visitors of the Zanara anywhere near this café.

Katagawa Jr's back is turned to mine but he greets me with a slight nod of respect. The person who has been placed in charge of the café opens the door with a large, warm welcome to the two of us as we are the only guests here.

Katagawa walks to a booth in the corner, the f/c walls being a slightly faded version of the colour. He finally faces me as he goes to sit.

His eyes widen as he actually takes in my appearance.

"You look.. Well.. You look good." He finishes after clearly struggling to find the correct words. "If I look good then the people around me must look good too." He scoffs and turns like the spoiled brat he is.

*End of Flashback

"Katagawa, before we were a thing I took care of myself pretty well. I don't need you to look after me." we hold one another as we remember the favourite parts of our past.

"Just as long as you are with me, we'll both be fine"

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

OK ITS NOT MY BEST WORK AND I APOLOGISE!! I kind of rushed it at the end because I thought I was taking to long with writing it.

I'll have to practice my writing but luckily that's exactly what having requests is for, practice! I apoligise for how crap this is tho

Please feel free to request for any characters on the master list

Here's my redbubble if anyone is interested in supporting me. It may push me to write more and write better but it's mostly for cosplays and general money problems.

The Rhys Request I was sent is being worked on and I hope it's less sucky

Thank you for reading and I'm so sorry this is so bad

[morceid]

Thomas Edison Can Kiss My Ass

Dad!Spencer x Fem!Reader

Summary: The power goes out in your house, and Spencer knows how to kill the time with your kids.

Word Count: 939

Category: fluff. very much fluff.

Content Warnings: implied smut, some swearing, pregnancy mentions, implied character death

A/N: inspired by recent asks and concepts on @subspencer​ ! i love talking about dad spencer over there lol

You woke up to an empty bed. It was normal after Didi was born but she was now 2 years old and could go through a whole night on her own. It was just something you would have to get used to with another baby in the house. 

You walked into Ollie’s nursery and saw Spencer sitting in the rocking chair, cradling the baby on his chest. You wanted to stare at the sight for hours.

“Hey. I heard him crying about an hour ago, so I came in and he kind of just fell asleep in my arms. I was able to make breakfast though. Eggs are on the counter.” He whispered as he rocked back and forth.

“I love you so much. I have to run to the store after I eat, are you gonna be okay here?”

Even though Spencer was still on call, he guest lectured online for the community college on Saturdays.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Didi will probably want to sit in with me anyways.” He smirked.

You woke up Didi and made sure she ate before heading out. The thunderstorm outside surprised you and you had to take the car instead of walking to the dollar general on the corner like normal. You only needed to get a couple of things like cereal and fruit snacks for Didi, so you were back before Spencer’s classes started to take Ollie from him.

Ollie was playing with his teething ring in his crib and you were sitting in the rocking chair next to him when the power went out. You heard a scream from Spencer’s office and picked up Ollie, holding him to your chest as you walked through the darkness and into the room you knew your distressed child was in.

Didi was sitting in Spencer’s lap, face red and wet with tears. He bounced his leg up and down, shushing her.

“Where did awl my fwends go?” the toddler whined.

“The power went out, Didi. They’ll be back later. It’s okay.” Spencer said, repeatedly kissing her forehead.

“What now?” You asked.

“Well, I’ll email my students with my phone, and Didi over here can finally dig into the rainy day box I have hidden in the closet! Come on, Didi!”

She leaped off of his lap and ran to your shared bedroom, Spencer in front of her. You sat on the couch in the living room, still holding Ollie. A moment later Spencer walked in holding quite possibly one of the largest boxes you had ever seen.

“Seriously? All of that just for a small power outage?”

“What? Power outages are fun!” He said, pulling out multiple candles and flashlights from the box.

Ollie started to fuss in your arms so you pulled your shirt down to reveal your breast and letting him latch on. It was easier to not wear a bra when Ollie was nursing instead of hassling with an extra clothing item. God, Spencer’s kids were just like him.

Didi had climbed onto the couch next to you, Spencer on the other side of her. He pulled a scrapbook out of the box and started flipping through it.

“This used to belong to your grandma, Miss Diana Reid. It has pictures of me when I was as little as you.”

“Really? Daddy, why were you so tiny?” Spencer chuckled at his daughter.

“Because, everyone is a baby at one time or another.”

“A baby? Like Ollie?”

“Yep. Exactly like Ollie. Momma was even a baby once. I can show you those pictures.”

“Oh absolutely not, Spencer. I love you but if you show our daughter that I might have to cover Ollie’s ears and have a talk with you.” You burst into laughter with the family around you.

“I can handle that.” He closed the leatherbound scrapbook and placed it back in the box, taking out a smaller, newer one, “Do you wanna see you as a baby, Didi?”

The four of you sat there, occasionally laughing at the pictures of before and afters of your pregnancies. 

“I think that’s all we have so far. How about a puzzle?” Spencer dug back into the box.

You watched as Didi picked out a puzzle that would show the image of a butterfly when completed. Your family was so perfect. It was everything you had ever wanted.

Eventually you presumed you had fallen asleep, because when you woke up you were back in the bed you started your day in. Spencer had taken Ollie back to his room and put him to sleep. The exhaustion from the new baby had finally subsided for just a little bit when you realized that the bedside clock read 10:12 and that you had probably slept all day. Spencer climbed into bed behind you.

“So, Spencer, what did you do with Didi after I fell asleep?” You asked, rolling over to look at him.

“Well, we finished the puzzle, and then smelled something weird from the fridge. It was a super old take-out box. Probably from before she was even born. It was a good opportunity to teach her about mold though. I threw it out and then we read practically every book on her shelves. I ordered pizza for lunch and dinner.” Spencer had never been one to like cooking.

“Is the power still out?” You noticed the lights still weren't on, and a candle had been placed on the bedside table.

“Yep.” Spencer confirmed.

“Good. We shouldn’t have power more often.”

“And what? Go back in time and kill Thomas Edison?”

“Thomas Edison can kiss my ass.”

“Not if I do first!”

[margridarnauds]

I think it’s just awful how so much mythology, folk lore, local local legends etc. Aren’t easily available online. But is their a reason why those with access to these stories aren’t able to put them online themselves?

Mainly, as far as I’m aware (keeping in mind that I’m just one person in the field and I’ve not been here for very long), the reason is copyright.

 That and, to be honest, a little bit of classism (can’t have the rabble accessing our nice, bright, shiny sources!) My field, while we’re gradually accepting that you can be a Celticist coming from a lower class background, still do kind of pin a bit on the idea of the gentleman scholar - A polymath who’s already studied French, German, Latin, and Greek and who can therefore take to Old Irish and Medieval Welsh like a fish to water. For many in the field, there’s the expectation that you already have at the very least an understanding of Gaeilge, or that you already have a strong linguistic background, and that can cause a massive break between the public and the scholars involved. Especially in the instance of editions which, by their nature, are JUST the Irish, with no English translation. Because, hey, it’s just Old Irish, right? There’s a dictionary at the back! 

Both UCC and UCD have, to their credit, done an IMMENSE amount of work in making these resources available to the public. UCC has done wonders with their CELT database and Irish Sagas Online, UCD with their Thesaurus Lingua Hibernicae. They’ve done a truly magnificent thing there, and I wouldn’t have been able to enter the field without the diligence and hard work of everyone involved in both projects. The problem is that many of the sources involved are...well. Old. We’ve learned a lot about the Irish language since a lot of these were done, specifically about Old Irish. A lot of them are in very archaic language, because that was the translating style at the time, and some of them cut out whole portions of text. Because it’s got to be in the public domain to be legal, unless you have an instance where the scholar is able to grant permission for their recent edition/translation to be released, such as in the case of Gray’s Cath Maige Tuired, which was given a special release on CELT. On a folkloric level, Duchas is doing amazing work. 

What you have to keep in mind is that, unlike Classical studies....we’re a BABY as a field. Many texts still haven’t been translated. Many texts still haven’t even been given editions. And a LOT of work goes into making both editions and translations happen and there are...very few of us that can do the work to make it happen. I would estimate that there’s fewer than 100 Celticists worldwide. It might be as many as two hundred but I strongly doubt it. Hence why, in many of the cases, the last translation was made in either the 19th or early 20th century. It’s because, frankly, since then, no one’s had the time or energy to go over it again, and people were trying to do new editions/translations. With stories like the Iliad and the Odyssey, you can VERY easily get ahold of one of those online because, while there are a ton of newer translations that you won’t be able to get ahold of as easily (Emily Wilson’s Odyssey, for example), there are a LOT of older translations that are still very viable, because you’ve had people studying these texts for literal centuries. In our case, we’re lucky to have one older translation. We...we’ve been around for a little while, really getting our first breath of life in the 18th century, but we only really hit our golden age with the Celtic Revival and the establishment of the Republic, and then we kind of fell out of fashion. A lot of the time, when I ask my supervisor “Has anyone done anything on x subject?”, he’ll give me this kind of beleaguered “Well....”, not because Celticists haven’t cared about the material, but because their hands have been full in a hundred places. 

And it’s worse for mythographers, because we are a very tiny section of Celtic Studies. Tiny. You’ll notice that, in my source list, a lot of the names repeat a lot. Why? Well, part of it’s because I personally like their work, but part of it is also that these ARE the big names in the world of the Mythological Cycle. These are the ones who are REALLY focusing and doing a ton of work on it. Other scholars might touch on it, do an article here or there, but very few really commit to it, in the end. In my own program, I’m basically the only one of the MA students with a mythological focus, and even in the department as a whole...I’m basically one of very few. Ulster Cycle and Fenian Cycle get more, but the Mythological Cycle...I don’t want to say there’s a STIGMA against it, but there’s........a different feeling, being in it. A lot of mythological material is still being transcribed and translated, a lot of it is still being talked about for the first time, and we’re pl

In my time, I’ve done two editions/translations of a text, the latter of which was almost completely incomprehensible at points, the vellum that the ink was written on being of a very poor quality; the bottom third of so of the folio was totally faded. Both of those times, it fell to me to transcribe the material, reading it letter by letter, trying to figure out what various abbreviations meant (Irish scribes used a very specialized form of shorthand that, while perfectly comprehensible to them, isn’t always so to us), and then having to translate it, keeping in mind that in some cases, the Irish was a mixture of later Irish and Old Irish. Translating Old Irish is a bit like trying to wrestle with a snake at times - It’s unpredictable, it’s wriggly, and it feels, at times, like just when you think you’re holding onto the head, it shifts and you realize you’re holding onto the tail. It isn’t something that you can really do just because you feel in the mood to do it one day and then publish on Tumblr; it’s a VERY intense process that involves a lot of time, effort, and tears. (Seriously. A lot of tears.) 

And...no one gets rich out of Celtic studies. Every one of us who’s either entering into the field or is actually in the field has accepted that it’s a labor of love; I’m statistically unlikely to get a job IN the field and I’ve accepted it. It could very well end up that I get my MA, maybe even my PhD and then...that’s it, done. Now, this isn’t meant to be a pity party, but it does explain why a lot of scholar’s can’t JUST give out pdfs of their books - They do need to get paid, at least a little, though if I’m not mistaken, once they submit their articles to a journal....that’s it. They’ve gotten as much money as they’re going to get. So that could be a factor in why articles tend to get handed out much easier. Books also....keep in mind, we don’t digitize a LOT of our stuff. It was part of why Covid kicked Celtic Studies’ ass. Suddenly, you had a bunch of scholars around the world used to having access to a library who...no longer had access to a library. Or the books in them. I was personally amazed that Tom O’Donnell’s recent book on Fosterage and Mark Williams’ Ireland’s Immortals were actually released in Ebook format, because that’s still a little on the unusual side. We’re slowly coming to terms with the 21st century, but it’s difficult. 

Anyway, that’s the answer: Most of it isn’t INTENTIONALLY trying to keep the public out, and for many of the scholars, I know very well that they really want the public to have access to that stuff, but their hands are tied by copyright law + needing to make some amount of money in the very unfair world of academia. I hope that some part of this makes sense. We do want to do more work with the public, it’s just that...well. Copyright law and academia. They’re bastards. 

[didilysims]

Any thoughts on the Star Wars EU novels?

Of course! (Long post ahoy.)

Disclaimer: I haven't read many yet, but I'm chipping away at the pile...and really what I've collected is just a drop in the bucket for all the Star Wars novels, so there is a lot I haven't gotten to and probably never will. I'll actually talk more about what I read in the past, because I only started revisiting the Extended Universe in the past week or so, and I'm rereading some anyway.

My first foray into the Star Wars EU was several years ago when I decided to stop fighting the SW geek within and give them a try. Allegiance was my first book, and it was not only better than I expected, but a great read! I read the sequel, Choices of One, and then, following some advice from a self-proclaimed Star Wars nerd, delved into the books that started it all: the Thrawn trilogy.

All of these books are by Timothy Zahn, and he's a very good writer. His plots are intricate and have good payoff, and his characters not only feel like their movie counterparts, but have believable thought processes as well. They don't always make good decisions, but they make decisions believable to their characters, and I appreciate that. Sometimes I felt like Thrawn was a little too smart, but after my recent reread I realize he made some miscalculations as well (so he can still feel 'human'...even though he's an alien), and even if it is too much, I definitely prefer an intelligent villain to a stupid one. Also, Zahn's world-building is excellent and I really like how he makes the galaxy feel diverse and big...even though main characters still have to all conveniently end up at the same place for the plot. :D

Next on my list was The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyres, and I remember thinking it was okay: a good read, if not really memorable. But after that I got into two trilogies written (one in full, another in part) by Kevin J Anderson. Ai-yi-yi.

Honestly I have no idea what even happened in those books: they were so tedious. I was really excited for the Jedi Academy books because Luke rebuilding the Jedi order sounded like a pretty fun story to me (plus the video game Jedi Academy was awesome, though completely separate from these stories), but uh, no. Basically everything that Timothy Zahn did well, Kevin J Anderson did very very poorly. His plots were boring and I got lost so many times in them; his characterizations were irritating, and I remember being ticked off at Han especially, though all were just...bad. They felt more like caricatures of themselves to me. And the Callista trilogy: UGH. To be fair, 2/3 of those books were written by another author, and I think the awkward romance-ish stuff was mainly in her books, but it was very painful to read and the whole time felt very pointless to me...like it wasn't going anywhere. And by the end, yeah, that's exactly how I felt: we'd come in a full circle and really nothing seemed to have changed. Sorry to any Anderson fans out there, but he just didn't do it for me. (Kind of dreading the Young Jedi Knights series he co-authored that were included in my thrift store trove...but maybe he does better for younger readers.)

The Courtship of Princess Leia I found disappointing--it just fell flat to me--but again, can't really remember much of it. I vaguely recall some interesting worldbuilding ideas, but as a whole it didn't feel very strong.

As for The Crystal Star...it was the absolute worst SW book I've ever read. Luke was completely off his rocker in it--actually the entire plot was off its rocker--but Luke especially was so pathetic it was very hard to read. I think the main plot was something about the Leia's kids being kidnapped but they were annoying so I didn't care much about them. Meanwhile there's some mind-controlling dude running around and possibly that's why Luke is such a loser here (?) and something to do with a star crystallizing and giving the evil villain superpowers while all our main characters just run around wringing their hands. Seriously, if you are wanting to try out the SW novels for yourself, do not start with this travesty of a book.

The next book I read was quite a jump in terms of publishing date: Revan, based off one of my favourite games of all time: Knights of the Old Republic. I'd heard the novel was not well-received by fans, but wanted to try it out for myself. I actually didn't mind it much until the ending, which felt like a forced twist to me, and kind of made everything before it pointless. Also some of the character decisions felt...off. So I can see why people didn't like it. And I guess I'm one of those people too, although I don't have intense feelings about it. I liked the descriptions of some of the worlds and there is one that I can still imagine, so that was fun.

I could talk a lot about my thoughts on a video game vs. a novelization spin-off too, but that's a completely different topic. But I do think that the difficulties of translating the one into the other are major factors into why this book was not so well received. I'm pretty 'meh' on it, but it was kind of fun with a let-down ending.

Anyway, I think that is where I ended my first Star Wars novels adventure, and journey #2 has barely started with me just finishing my re-read of the Thrawn books. Does it sound like I'm very negative about the EU? Maybe. Honestly, most of the books aren't great, with some big exceptions, but I don't go to Star Wars for highbrow culture. I love the SW movies (uh, the old ones anyway: I only saw the first new sequel) but I'll be the first to admit that they have a lot of flaws, particularly in the writing! But they're fun and exciting and I root for the characters and sometimes feel bad for the bad guys, and that's what I want. Maybe the more recently published books are higher quality, but I kind of doubt it. There's no denying this franchise is a cash cow and quantity trumps quality in that case. It's easier for me to find the old books than the new, but one day maybe I'll give some of the new books a try...

One last comment: I realize that every single book on this list has been deemed "Legends" since the Disney takeover, and only the newer books are now considered canon. Whatever, they can do what they want with their property. I do not have strong feelings about this, and actually understand why they did it because the Extended Universe is honestly a big mess. But I'm still going to read the big mess of "Legends" because that will always be my Star Wars era, and whether it's canon or not, there are still some fun, trashy, terrible, and exciting stories to enjoy.

In summary: If you enter the Star Wars EU with low expectations, you will never be disappointed, will probably still have fun, and sometimes might be pleasantly surprised. :)

[jimlingss]

Hey Kina!! any advice about the LSAT exam you could provide? I’m about to graduate as well, and I haven’t taken the LSAT yet QQ, I’m starting to study now and planning to take it August. I’m in Canada I’m hoping to get a response by December after I finish my application in Oct.

LG and reading comp. literally traumatize me with the time limit and I feel so burnt out whenever I look at the books and plan my time for how many hours i need to study a week. I’m only really only a week in and my head pounds.

I would really appreciate the advice! I’m an absolute fan of all of your stories, i don’t know how you manage to juggle writing with school and upcoming graduation, what a god 🤯

you give me too much credit but hell yes I have advice regarding the LSAT. That exam is really something and it feels like I’ve went to hell and back so I’m happy to help others however I can with it.

I’ll break this answer down with my experience and then my recommendation.

Experience: I started studying for the LSAT six months before I took it. I went in completely blind and started with practice test LSAT 40 and scored about 143. ofc I timed it. When you take the practice exams, you have to simulate actual testing conditions as best as you can, so that means printing it out and doing it with the timing restrictions. The first 3 LSAT tests I did I scored in the 140s. 

I gradually improved and hit the 150s range. At first I did the entire test in one sitting (with breaks ofc) but it’s so time consuming that I started just doing one section a day. But on Saturdays, I did one entire practice test and on Sundays I would mark that + go through it. So on average, I did 2 practice tests a week. 

But then disaster struck when I was stuck in the 150s. 

From practice LSAT 43-70 no matter how much I went through it, how much I studied, I could not break into the 160s that I needed. At best I could maybe get 159, but typically I was scoring 155. Which clearly isn’t enough. I started to panic. I knew I needed to do something different. 

So I picked up The Loophole by Ellen Cassidy. During that time, I didn’t do any practice tests whatsoever. I stopped doing LSAT and went through the book a chapter a day. And while it’s focused in LR, a few chapters really helped me out with reading comp. I think there’s 14 chapters (if I remember correctly) so it took me around 2 weeks to go through it. Maybe I should’ve slowed down but I was running out of time. But the book helped me break into the 160s. I loved it.

I was pretty happy and relieved and from LSAT 70ish-89, I was scoring from 160-169 with an average of 164. 

COVID was a thing by then so the LSAT was online. I had saved the two practice tests they have online and practiced with those and when the day came, I did it in a quiet space without any interruption. I ended up with a 160.

A bit of a bummer considering I was scoring 164 consistently before that but it’s good enough, I can’t really complain. I decided not to re-take it.

Recommendation: Honestly if I had to recommend to someone how to approach the LSAT, I’d tell them to take the first 3 LSAT practice tests blind w/o any knowledge of what it is and without any prior textbook reading. Learn by doing it and get the gist of what it’s about. 

After the first 3 LSAT practice tests, pick up The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim. I don’t have experience with it personally but I’ve heard great things about it from others. ((For me - I thought I didn’t need textbooks and I could study completely on my own but that was very dumb. I honestly wish I had more time, I would’ve picked this book up + the Loophole sooner)).

After completing The LSAT trainer (try to do it in a month? to not waste time? if possible). Then do a few more LSAT practice tests. I’d say 5 of them? 

After that, pick up The Loophole. Do that within a month. Then just keep rolling with the LSAT practice tests.

The most recent practice test released is your holy grail. That will be the test most similar to the actual test you will receive so make sure you save that one but make it one of your last tests. For me that was LSAT 89 (or 90?) but there might’ve been newer ones by now. There’s no point in studying LSAT 1-39 because they’re so old that it won’t be that similar to what you’ll take. 

ALTERNATIVELY - Sign up for 7sage. I know loooots of people do that. Don’t really know how it works since I haven’t used it but it’s advantageous if your LSAT will be online since 7sage is also online. 

I’d still pick up those two books I mentioned above tho. 

Other Recommendations - LSAT is sooo time consuming that your whole day is basically consumed by it. Not to mention you have to mark it and learn your mistakes afterwards. Look into doing a timed section a day? That’s only 35 mins so it becomes wayyy more manageable.

Also take marking very seriously. You learn just as much from what you did right and wrong as actually doing the timed section.

Another note, make a whole schedule to manage yourself. I made a google document on what I was going to do every single day. What section. What practice exam. What chapter of what textbook. Plan it all and then by the end when you have the plan, you’ll feel a lot more comforted. Like wow it’s not thatttt much + as long as I follow through with this and do a little a day, I’ll make it.

One more thing - take the exam when you start consistently scoring what you want to score. If you want to score in the 160s and you’ve been hitting that mark for the past 5-10 exams, you are probably ready. If you study too much, that’s a bad thing too. You want that sweet spot timing before you’re burnt out.

Also take breaks. Schedule them in. One day breaks. It’s easy to be burnt out.

((I got most of my practice tests for free btw on b-ok.cc)).

Now I’ll be a bit more specific in my advice....

LR - The Loophole helped me a lot with LR. Also I did a lot of LR practice questions and I naturally started to pick up on patterns. But this section fluctuated a lot for me. Sometimes I did well, sometimes I did poorly.

underline the ones you’re unsure about and move on. it’s better to just go back if you have time in the end then wasting time dwelling on it when you could be getting others right.

Reading Comp - At the beginning I fluctuated a lot with this section. But the first chapter of the Loophole really helped me improve and break down readings. The sentences in reading comps are very long winded and purposely written poorly, so keep that in mind. Just read slowly and soak in as much as you can the first time. I was never a fan of the advice of reading it over twice. It felt like a waste of time. Instead, the first time, as you read, try to guess what might be important or a question and underline it. That helped me. 

Games - My favourite section and the section that you can most easily improve on. Just do a lot of practice games and then watch the videos on how others do it. Once you master a game style, you’ll know how to replicate it in the future.

for some reason timing started to become an issue for me later on in the games section in spite of having improved on it, but I realized it was because I was dwelling and double checking when I didn’t need to.

In general: LSAT is a super interesting test as it’s unlike any other test. It’s not dependent on information that you’re supposed to know. It’s not studying info and being asked questions on it. It’s not regurgitation. It’s not memorization. And in that way, ANYONE can improve. It’s a test you can learn. So don’t lose hope!!

And good luck!

((edit - some things I forgot to mention. I tried to pick up Powerscore but their system was so complicated, I zoned out. some folks like the book tho. I’d still recommend the Loophole. also I hope this doesn’t make me seem like a know it all and that this is wayyyy too difficult - I literally started crying once while taking a timed exam. the test is stressful so its ok its understandable to have a breakdown. i sure did lol. so give yourself a break if you start getting stressed.)) 

[gutwrenchflowerbomb]

Note: This is long but I felt like getting it out there not just for the sake of newer fans but because it’s been a long time since I’ve written about wrestling and I’d like to get into the habit again.

So I’m still pretty new to the current form of WRESTLING TUMBLR™️ but I am a Tumblr vet (joined in May of ‘09 baybee). I am also a vet when it comes to being a wrestling fan. I’m talking 25 years (since I was 10). And I feel this urge to be the cool aunt to all the newer and/or younger fans. I don’t wanna act like I am some super authority figure or that my thoughts and opinions are fucking gospel, but like...apply the wisdom I’ve learned over the years.

Especially as someone whose favorite wrestlers tend to be somewhere in the lower to upper mid-card range.

There is a lot of anger/disappointment/etc right now regarding AEW and some of the recent booking and I just wanna say a few things about it that hopefully will resonate or ease some of that.

-People who are upset with Kenny and/or the Bucks being the champs because they are EVPs :

They deserve it. Why? Because AEW is their baby. Yes, Tony Khan is a big part of it but ultimately the Bucks, Kenny and Cody are the originators. They took a huge risk and it has paid off handsomely. So why is it that just because they happen to be EVPs that means they can never be booked to win big? This whole industry is and has been booked that way. Plus, it’s not like they put the straps on themselves instantly. It’s been over a year and I think it’s fair to say they earned it. Also: they won’t have them forever. Wrestling isn’t fun when the belts never switch hands. We know this and they know this as well.

- Chuck and Trent being underutilized and Orange Cassidy being pushed the moon:

I am a HUGE Best Friends fan. Have been for years. In fact, one of the first shirts I ever bought that wasn’t WWE was a Best Friends shirt and I’ve worn that bitch to All In, Double or Nothing, All Out and Revolution. Do I think they could be on Dynamite more often? Sure. Do I think they are being buried or anything like that in favor of Orange? It’s not that simple.

I love OC. He’s cool, fantastic in the ring, looks good but most of all he is just soooo different than what most casual wrestling fans are used to. In this case, it’s worked out to his (and the company’s) advantage. I can’t tell you how many videos I’ve seen online that show people who don’t know shit about wrestling reacting to him in the ring. The Buzz is good and the result is TNT is VERY interested in OC. We all know TK loves him too. The result has been Orange getting more screen time. But I hope most folks realize this is not his fault. Plus, there’s always gonna be like...designated roles in a wrestling stable. There’s gonna be your singles guys, the tag teams and sometimes a woman or two. It’s just naturally how stables are. And people who are in stables generally are seen supporting their fellow members.

The Best Friends do appear to be on the back burner as far as storyline/prominence goes right now and that’s ok. There is so much talent on that roster, especially in the tag division. If you pull back and look at the episodes objectively, you’ll see that they (the bookers) really try to get everyone screen time as much as possible. When’s the last time PnP had a match? Or Jurassic Express? I can count on one hand the number of times TH2 have been on dynamite this year. That means that a lot of times a team won’t actually have a match on Dynamite for a while. They usually try to even that out by having them on Dark. Again, that is ok. The only alternatives to this would be to A.) cut screen time to several other performers in favor or just one or two teams or B.) have more performers on but the matches would have to be cut to 3-7 minutes. Personally, I would rather have longer matches less often then every week have some dumb ass short matches. 

- My favorite ______ deserves ___!

Listen, everyone has favorites and naturally we all want to see our favorites as much as possible and want them to be dripping in championships. The reality is, if the same people/teams are the champions all the time it’s boring as fuck. Seriously. In good companies, there is a nice ebb and flow of changing of championships. Titles changes that happen too often lose their prestige. When they take too long to change hands it becomes boring and predictable. 

In my over two decades of watching wrestling I’ve learned to embrace this. When your favorite finally gets booked in a higher profile feud, it makes it all that much more exciting and important. Take my current favorite AEW star: I am patiently waiting for Colt Cabana to get something bigger than his current position in the Dark Order. It may be a while. It might be in a few weeks. In the mean time, I just appreciate it when I get to see him at all. 

- The women’s division is trash in AEW right now

It could be better, but believe me: it could be way fucking worse. If any of you remember the Diva’s Championship era of WWE know what the hell I’m talking about. I think that right now, with Covid-19 and injuries for some performers, the women’s division is in a holding pattern. It sucks. There’s no way around it. If you watch Dark, that’s where the ladies shine. There is often 3-5 women’s matches on there and they feature some bigger players and some lesser known jobbettes. Sometimes that means there’s a squash match. But often the performers are given a solid 6+ minutes to go at it. That doesn’t sound long but it’s actually pretty generous especially for those performers who are new/unknown. Yet on Dynamite we usually only get one MAYBE two matches and generally it’s involving the same people. 

I think this is probably going to continue to be the case until the pandemic is under control and they are able to travel again. Not just travel in the sense of going to different cities, but also travel for performers. I personally cannot wait until we get some of the wonderful Joshi ladies back in the mix. I honestly think AEW really truly wants to have the women in their company to shine as bright as the men but they are struggling to figure it out. When the company was started, they had some big, well known names in the men’s division i.e. Chris Jericho. I mean, Double or Nothing we got Mox debuting. That’s some name recognition that the women’s division didn’t get and I think they have suffered because of it. That doesn’t mean that the women are any worse than men or that they are any worse than other companies’ women’s divisions.  

I hope if anyone actually read all this comments to let me know what they think. Again, I never want to come off as an elitist (lol) or know-it-all but rather like the weird old cat-lady who’s lived through some. 

[popwasabi]

Why I don’t give a fuck about canon

Recently, after randomly coming across some dope pictures of Transformer toys on Instagram that gave me a strong case of nostalgia, I was inspired to revisit an old childhood favorite in “Beast Wars.”

“Beast Wars,” in case you never watched or heard of it as a kid, is the continuation of the Transformer’s story set in the future as descendants of the Auotobots and Decepticons, the Maximals and Predacons, respectively, accidentally travel to prehistoric Earth to continue a centuries long battle between the two opposing factions.

There’s a lot of to digest there, so I’m not going to go into extreme detail over the plot, but the cast features colorful characters such as Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rattrap, Dinobot and Megatron to name a few. They all have interesting and distinct personalities and generally play well off each other. It was a big part of my childhood and I collected an ungodly amount of their toys back in the day.

(This was my first ever Beast Wars toy and I think it’s beautiful.)

My rewatch though was…a mixed bag to say the least. The graphics have not aged well. The adventure of the week setup of the plot was repetitive and lacked real character development at times. There were characters that were added in last minute to the show clearly to promote a new action figure over the story on numerous occasions. Though I found the humor to still be pretty good, the action was stale and just lacked high stakes most of the time, save for a few episodes.

I was not shocked it didn’t land terribly well on my rewatch but you know what did? “Beast Machines!”

“Beast Machines” was the follow-up to Beast Wars that had the Maximals fighting on Cybertron where Megatron has taken control of the whole planet using a virus that changes Transformers into mindless drones to do his bidding. The remaining Maximals manage to survive however after Optimus discovers The Oracle which reformats them into animal robot hybrids that are both mechanical and biological. This sets them on a quest to stop Megatron and bring biological and mechanical balance to Cybertron once and for all.

The series is much more narrative based than the previous as it follows a steady trajectory to its epic conclusion. The animation is much sharper, and the soundtrack is fun as hell to listen to still. The pacing is much faster as the stakes couldn’t be higher for the Maximals and all the old characters from the previous grow in interesting ways and develop into more organic people (literally in some ways). Optimus is a more hardcore and emotionally damaged leader and Megatron goes from being something of a punchline in the previous series to a far more menacing and calculating nemesis. The story touches on themes of balance, authoritarianism, PTSD, love and reunion to name a few and for a kids’ show it is, dare I say…more than meets the eye.

I absolutely loved it as a kid and I might actually love it even more as an adult, so it was shocking for me, to say the least, when I read further into the history of the show, that a lot of fans straight up rejected it back in the day.

Common complaints I came across were they didn’t like how characters, such as Ratrap especially, “changed.” They didn’t like the new bio/mechanical Maximals and couldn’t believe that Cybertron was once an organic world.

Their big reason (in just about every forum and video I saw about it)? It didn’t adhere to “canon.”

Now, I’ll start this by saying there is no objective way to critique or even not critique a story. People can like or hate something for a variety of reasons that don’t follow a strict logical pattern. Gods know I have a few questionable/divisive favorites in my catalogue that I have written about here that are based on abstract ideas and personal experiences.

(The Matrix Reloaded is still great btw)

But I will say, if you judge a mega franchise’s latest entry on how well it is supported by established canon it is, in my opinion, a flawed way to critique a work of fiction.

Canon, sometimes referred to as “lore” by fans, is most often applied and used to describe the long running back stories of franchises that stretch beyond just the main books, movies or series, or even the original narrative of the plot. Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and to a certain extent Harry Potter, all fall into this camp of series with so many interconnected parts, with more than one main character featured in each, that fans follow along this canon like ancient monks studying scripture and history books.

And they can be just as fanatical and over zealous about it.

(I wish they were more fanatical about proper hygiene or at least deodorant...)

My problem with the ways fans often view canon is that their conceptions of what a new story should be is based entirely on the past rather than what is happening right now with the story and what themes the writer is trying express with it this time. 

They base their impressions of the story on external continuity more than the internal continuity.

Yea, the changes in a series like “Beast Machines” are jarring to say the least. Cybertron was formally an organic world like Earth? Rattrap doesn’t have confidence in himself and actually at one point sells out his comrades? Transformers can be biological now? It’s a lot to take in but when watching the story play out it’s not like these elements aren’t explained through the text of the new story.

Cybertron lost balance between its robot inhabitants and its biological life forms and its why it’s out of balance now, and Megatron is the logical progression of that inbalance. Rattrap is struggling to understand his new form, half his friends on the Maximals have been turned into drones, and the remaining team out loud say they don’t have confidence in him. He has PTSD from both the events of this story and the Beast Wars and feels insecure because of how others view him and that’s perfectly logical to not just the story but also the canon. If a fan is willing to give a story a chance they will see that the canon hasn’t actually been destroyed in much of any way and the logical progression is actually there if they simply listen to what’s going on.

(Seriously, it’s not that deep.)

Fans need to stop confusing a character achieving a franchise long arc with being “suddenly different.” In this way, criticisms of canon in new entries in long running series reveal that fans really just lack imagination to connect the dots. It would be like complaining that Luke Skywalker can’t become paranoid and make a grave mistake in judgment because people never change, nevermind the character already has changed a lot from his origins in “A New Hope” to where he was in “Return of the Jedi.”

(Oh wait, people did do that…)

But that’s not to say you have to like the new direction either. You can understand these changes and still be like “well, it’s not for me. I don’t care for a PSTD angle or a new origin for Cybertron,” but that’s whole lot different than saying the new series “rapes your childhood” or “Bastardizes the canon.” All the old canon you hold nostalgia for still exists. My love for “Beast Machines” is not harmed by the existence of newer Transformers properties that don’t meet what I look for in the series.

Too often, fans take changes to established “lore” very personally because it doesn’t fit their expectations or have the same nostalgic feelings they had before. When new entries in mega franchises occur fans often try to judge it by how much it is like what they watched before, rather what makes it different and what it is saying now. Again, you don’t have to like new directions in tone or character but consistency to established work DOES NOT equal good storytelling.

I have not been immune to this myself in the past, of course. Back in the day I wrote a 2500-plus word diatribe on “The Amazing Spider-man 2” that mostly went after how it changed the character I grew up with in a bad way and butchered the established back story I knew him by.

You know what other story doesn’t follow canon very well though? “Spider-man: Homecoming.”

(Now, hear me out...)

Spider-man in the MCU is generally agreed upon to be a good thing by fans. Both movies were big hits both critically and financially and fans often go as far as to say Tom Holland is the “definitive” Peter Parker. 

But Holland’s Spider-man differs quite a bit from the comic-book webslinger. This Spider-man does not have a spidey sense. His best friend is not Harry Osbourne but in fact a retcon of a Mile Morales character. His father figure is Tony Stark, something that never happened in the comics, instead of Uncle Ben, which no matter what way you spin it is arguably his most important relationship in the series.

His character is a reverse of traditional Peter Parker too. Where comics Peter is a reluctant hero, who if anything hates being Spider-man and the burden of his responsibility, “Homecoming” Spider-man actively seeks out responsibility and in many ways enjoys his role as the famous webslinger. In fact, his whole arc is about him earning a spot as an Avenger. He wants to be THE hero and be worthy of it. It’s completely different from what we know of Spider-man.

(He just wants Tony sempai to notice him uWu)

Now I know some fans actually do complain about this Spidey from a “canon” standpoint, but most don’t. So why did this Spider-man get a pass for many but not “The Amazing” one? Quite simply it’s because stories, as cheesy as it sounds, are about feelings and stories like “Homecoming” tell a good story that effectively make those feelings connect with the audience.

We root for this Peter Parker and his journey to becoming an Avenger and successor to Iron Man because the story is told well, the emotions feel earned, and frankly both films are fun and enjoyable.

It’s easy to complain about canon for many nerds because it’s something tangible that they can point to and make a big stink about when they don’t understand why a movie isn’t reaching them. I don’t doubt that many neckbeards genuinely hate a film like “The Last Jedi” (Hell, I’m not a big fan myself) but when those same nerds enjoy something like “The Mandalorian,” a series that has its own loose relationship with canon and establishing new rules in the series, it tells me it’s not about the “lore” to them.

(Easy, fanboys...)

I have come to understand, in my growth as a nerd, that my problems with a lot of movies and TV shows in my favorite series rarely, if ever, have anything to do with the story not meeting some arbitrary guidelines regarding canon. It has more to with the story simply not connecting with me emotionally. The story isn’t drawing me in and keeping me on its narrative path. I’m not feeling the same magic that someone else might feel enjoying it because either a) it doesn’t feel earned to me or b) it just stylistically isn’t for me.

To paraphrase a line from another mega franchise, also owned by Disney, the canon is more like guidelines than actual rules.

(Didn’t expect to see ol’ Barbosa in this write up, did ye?)

It can show you where a story comes from but it isn’t law that you strictly adhere to it. Of course, when writing a new work in a popular series you should consider what came before it but I would like writer’s the freedom to try something new and most importantly fans to be open to it. You don’t have to like it but the idea that new entries in a story MUST remain strict to the canon is bull shit. Not even the original Star Wars trilogy adhered to its own canon perfectly, as clearly the writers were in fact making it up to a certain extent as they were going along.

(hmmmm...)

And that’s ok, because some of those changes were great! Made the story better and made the conclusion stronger.

Again, you don’t have to like every new entry that tries something bold or confrontational in your favorite franchise but if writers strictly followed canon to the T we wouldn’t have things like “Homecoming,” we wouldn’t have “The Mandalorian,” and we certainly wouldn’t have my favorite Transformers series “Beast Machines.”

Canon shouldn’t be a trap for writers and it shouldn’t be a litmus test for fans digesting it. There are so many better ways to judge a story than whether or not it fits neatly into established lore. A good story is a good story, regardless of whether or not it’s supported by something as static as canon.

“Beast Machines” has its flaws here and there, but canon isn’t one of them, at least not for me. Again, if you feel that the lore is important, that’s fine, you don’t have to ignore it but I would ask you to look beyond what came before when critiquing a new story.

Otherwise, you might miss something special that comes next…

Now then... 

[ghostsofmemories]

Writing My Obituary (context on my weird poetry collection)

I realized today that I very casually bring up my poetry collection all the time and a large majority of my followers have no clue what I’m talking about, so here’s a WMO explanation post thing! I should definitely give a content warning though: this book deals with suicide, abuse (both physical and emotional, by both parents and other people), homophobia and transphobia, allusions to major appetite and stomach issues (which while reading sound a lot like eating disorders), toxic relationships, just a lot of really heavy emotions in general. Please don’t read the book or this post if those things could trigger you. This post also ended up super long, so the rest is under the cut.

So. first thing’s first, this collection is being published by Pure Print Publishing this fall (due to covid there aren’t any exact dates available). I didn’t query it, someone reached out to me after reading my poems on Instagram, hearing that they were in an unpublished collection, and basically connected me with their friend who runs the indie publishing house and is an author himself.

A big part of the reason this book is so difficult to talk about in context is because that requires getting pretty vulnerable - most of this book is just me dealing with everything I’ve struggled with over the last 4 years of my life. So if there’s discussion about the book in the replies, please keep it to the content of the book and not the validity of these experiences or details of things that happened to me.

The collection is about me and my journey from 13 to 17, starting with my suicide attempt at 13. There are several poems from around that time in my life, but they’ve changed a lot over the four years of editing. However, you can definitely still see changes in the way I write and the way I approach poetry by the end of the book - which was the goal. The book is centered around learning about identity, about how relationships should work, about friendships, about learning to handle mental and chronic illness, and above all, growing. There’s really no “breaking point” where everything about the way I write changes all at once, so in context, the change is almost difficult to see. So to sort of represent these changes, I’m putting a poem from the beginning, from the middle, and from the end all right next to each other (and some bonus analysis of my own poetry!).

Call me a monster is probably the most stark change from the past to the present. I almost never rhyme my poems anymore and if I do, they’re fleeting and mostly for rhythm. The lines are also extremely short, which I only do now when it really fits - in general, I make an effort to avoid consistently short lines. I like to tell myself that it’s symbolism I did on purpose to represent how all over the place my brain was, hopping from one thought to the next, but I don’t think it’s symbolism. I think my brain was really too jumbled to have more than five words in a line.

 I also took my own poems very seriously back then - writing a poem was an Occasion, so the first letter of each of those lines is capitalized like I’m some sort of English classics major. Both stanzas are also the same length (I still do that now sometimes, but back then it was in so many of my poems that I think I thought it was a requirement). Basically, I wrote this like I was going to turn it in somewhere.

Still pretty heavy on the capitalization here, but I definitely got more flexible with stanza length and slightly longer lines (7 whole words, yay!). This poem was somewhat of a turning point for me, basically realizing that I could not only vent through poetry, but still make it poetic and artistic in a lot of ways, and also explore contrast in my own emotions and conflicting feelings. For some reason, prior to this, I thought a poem could only be one emotion at a time, but now I think a poem can be one topic and the way multiple or conflicting emotions revolve around it. This is also one of the first poems I wrote that I was proud of from beginning to end.

This poem isn’t totally representative of the last couple changes I want to talk about (especially line length - for being relatively recent the lines are still pretty short), but I don’t want to use too many poems that haven’t been posted online before and this one has been posted and read aloud on an Instagram live, minus one stanza I added, which I’ll get to. I also wanted to choose this one because it has a direct reference to The Universe In You and several other poems, which gives me a chance to talk about how much I love referencing my other poetry in my poetry. Buckle up, this one might be long.

By this point, I had pretty much realized that there actually aren’t any rules at all. I’ve figured out what I want to say and I’ll say it however the hell I want to - I don’t need to capitalize things unless it suits the form, I don’t have to be totally consistent, I can repeat things as much as I want. I reached back into my 15 year old angst for this one, though, so I could more properly write about the relationship in a way that made sense. 

Now, I could honestly write a whole other book about how I reference other poems in each poem, but for now I’ll just break down the ones here.

Sort of a half reference right at the beginning: I have so much to say. I bring that up in different words in so many poems, both about my relationship and my dad. This is probably because, growing up as someone who had a speech impediment (meaning I talked too much no matter how little I said because of how long it took to say it), I always felt like I never had the space to say everything I wanted. It’s brought up in at least 3 other poems.

lost signals: a direct reference to my poem Thread Unavailable:

We’re riding down a dirt road in the middle of a conversation and lost signal. Message failed.

empty spaces: a reference to The Universe In You!! Pretty much the whole reason I included this poem.

burned poems: this one is basically just a reference to all the poems in the collection that are breakup poems, or poems where I directly addressed my ex saying don’t read this, you don’t have to read this, I shouldn’t have written this, etc. Specifically, A Long and Lonely Letter, Tired Eyed (The Homecoming Poem), and The Poem That Shouldn’t Exist.

another July come and gone and I didn’t write about you: this reference is hard to really understand the context of unless you know me in real life, but in two other poems I mention the month of July, in a couple others I reference summer, but there are dozens of poems that didn’t make it into my cut of the collection that talk about July. Basically, in context of the relationship, it was the only time we were actually happy and we split up and got back together over and over trying to replicate that fleeting, 30 day feeling that was overtaken by school, seasonal depression, and our own instability as people. For so long, all I could think about was that one month, and that line was my way of showing how I was done writing about it.

you told me, once, that we’re soulmates: this entire little stanza is directly copied from Tired Eyed (The Homecoming Poem). In order to continue talking about it I’ll throw a piece of that here:

If you want to come back, be sure of me. Be sure of yourself. I don’t want to be a consequence of your impulses.

You told me, once, that we’re soulmates. That once you find a person you want to spend forever with, it feels like nothing else matters. Do you believe that like I do?

That’s just a really short chunk of a really long poem, but basically the re-use of that section goes to say that me truly believing nothing else mattered was not good and extremely unhealthy. I put it there even though the poem was just fine without it because I really wanted to get that message across, especially since most of my target audience falls between middle and high school.

I know love in so many shades and I give it in every color: this references a couple different poems that aren’t in the collection, but in terms of the book, it’s a reference to Red, Like You, which is about color association and love and stuff? I I still don’t totally get it. I say in the poem that I don’t totally get it. No one totally gets it, but all in all I went from loving just one person in just one way to loving everyone in tons of different ways and realizing that those other types of love are just as, if not more, fulfilling to me, and that romance is not the be-all end-all of love and happiness.

All the other references are repetitions so I’ve pretty much already explained those. But anyway, that’s my book! It has 77 poems total, quite a few of them more than a page, and some that are probably several pages once in paperback format because, you know, I never shut up. Since I did my mini beta reading round (I got a lot of necessary feedback but that was so much to keep track of, I’ll probably just get a couple feedback partners next time), I’ve cut 34 poems and added 16 newer ones, edited the crap out of the whole book, and gotten the perspective of a professional editor.

 This book, even though there’s a lot of it I’ve grown out of, is super important to me and it’s so hard to let it go. Part of me wants to keep this book going forever and just keep growing until it has thousands of poems, but all of these “character arcs” in my life are finished. I left my toxic relationship and friendships, I figured out my gender and sexuality, I learned how to love openly, I cut off my dad for good. There’s obviously always more to learn about my relationships with these other people and myself, and I do that unconsciously every day. But in all honesty, I have nothing left to say about these people or events that would change the conclusions I’ve already come to - they would only further prove them to be true.

I absolutely always want to talk about this book, so if you have any questions, send an ask! Also feel free to scroll through the poetry tag on my blog and ask me about any poems I have posted there, there are a few that I’ve written since the completion of the collection that’ll (most likely) end up in whatever I write next. Basically, I’m obsessed with poetry and want to talk about it all the time. Please ask me about it.

[stimmypaw]

Stimmypaw reads Darkest Night! The fourth text post!

Back with these uh live reading comments! Remember those? yeah! I'm on the fourth book of Warrior Cats: A Vision of Shadows :D I read The Apprentice's Quest and Thunder and Shadow and Shattered Sky and now!! I'm here :D and boy did I have a time. Click read more to see it!

NEEDLETAIL?????????

Needletail???????????

What?????

OH???????

Wh THIS GUY IS TALKIN 2 DEAD PEOPLE????

HOW WHO IS THAT

OH MY GOD

These guys are weak and dumb skyclan is epic and sharing the territory with them is good, but of course sparkpelt isn't dealing well with change wink wink nudge wink nudge nudge huh???? (this is a nod to how I project into her and say shes autistic)

I am getting anxious for tinycloud SERIOUSLY how much longer until those kits??? Everyday you show up and its WOW my tummy ssure is HUGE AND BULGING I just Wonder Oh When They'll Be Born, probably pretty soon!!! :) and then they arent!!!! Birth dammit!!!

Cherryfall cut the sick and hurt cats some slack jeez youre Fine, youre not feeding half the forest and you have THREE medicine cats ready to help you if youre not feeling well

Bastard Cherryfall I hate you /lh

Dovewing and Tigerheart have relationship drama again. What is UP with those two I simply do not understand them

Watching Bramblestar trying to control this bizarre situation is actually funny he is so close to screaming "PLEASE dont be mad :c"

SOON WHEN???? JUST KIT THOSE KITTENS DAMMIT

Get her, Alderheart

They LITERALLY said something about sharing the territory, they were like "Stars have five points baby and we need those 5 clans togetherrrr" what else do these cats want??? I know its a big change but its necessary

Wait everyone shut up that cat is named Podlight this is so important to me

Dang these cats are really still struggling :c I wish they didnt blame each other

Harestar is so cool

What the FUCK mistystar????

God what a disaster of a gathering Starclan is gonna be so pissed everyone is doing the opposite of what they should

I was holding my breath oof

I hope thunderclan gives some territory too thats too small a space for Skyclan

Oh boy oh boy oh boy i am Anxious for these Kitties

Violetpaw is me having nightmares every night

Macgyver is a heavily gringue name and I have No Clue how to say it how the hell do you say it

Update its either Mick Guyver or Mac Guyver apparently

Its fun to see how different the sisters are from one another, I love them both

I also love their mom with the name identical to puddleshine wish I got to meet her

IM CRYING BRO........M...MDB.....NFBANN.....VIOLETPAW BELONGS MY DARLING MY DAUGHTER

Sadly Twigpaw is for gender binarism 😔 /j

Twigpaw is often in her thoughts and doesn't pay attention to anything around her and I love her for that

Bad news Finpaw is gonna lose his tail, good news I can draw his tail fin-shaped

Puddleshine surgeon moment!!!

I love Graystripe and Millie

And I love that being flirty is a part of Sparkpelt's personality, I don't know what Alderheart is talking about she's always been dandelion-headed

Ok this is epic, I’m glad we’re breaking gender roles in Warrior Cats my heart dropped when the books called Briarlight cr*ppled, that’s the thing they promised not to do anymore recently right? I’m not sure but, I could use some uh less ableism on my Warrior Cats, the series is old but the newer books should be better, so yeah, good modernize these cats babyyy

OH COOL Skyclan journey!!! Fun I hope they find someone :] also fuck Molewhisker and Cherryfall bastards.

Jayfeather is gonna miss Alderheart too much for him to leave hehehe

ALL of Starclan showed up just to call out Riverclan pahahah

oooo is shadowclan haunted?????

FINALLY TINYCLOUD IS KITTING YES GOD YES GO QUEEN GOOOO!!!!

I wonder why Twigpaw wants to stay behind, there has to be more than just the camp stuff

"I wish I were more positive like Twigpaw, but at least I'm just as scarred by the death of my loved ones as my dad :] I like being like him"

Violetpaw witnesses a car crash 😔 that was a bit messy what happened to those cars also why the hell was one of them smaller was it a bike??? Or ???? Idk what's up with it!!!

Needletail just happens to have slow-down turned on for her on the discord chat so she can only say like a few words each hour :/ why the hell is she here tho Violetpaw needs to get OVER your death!!!!

This short exchange has made me love Dewpaw

Also, I love Twigpaw, I still wonder why she stayed behind tho

Ahh, is it cus she feels too estranged from her family :c ? I wish her mom was around maybe that would help

Jee Twigpaw be a tad more empathic, I can see Twigpaw struggles with that sometimes

You can't cheer him up right now he's grieving, just find him on common ground, talk to him, don't try to make him happy just try to keep him company

Oh wow finpaw that's a dangerous thing to say I hope Twigpaw doesn't crumble under the pressure to never be sad because people like her because she's happy and her being sad would be bad

ALSO I JUST REMMEMBRERD UH TWIGPAW MENTIONED BRIARLIGHT BUT BERRYNOSE IS RIGHT THERE???? HE IS RIGHT HE DIDNT DIE OFF SCREEN IM SURE OF IT WAIY

BERRYNOSS IS RIGHT THERE I CHDCKED!!!! HE LOST HIS TAIL TOO AND HES A GREAT WARRIOR, TWIGPAW!!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED IT ITS MORE RELATABLE

Okay I'm glad they're getting along this is nice

Oh look twigpaw you Are like your father :] this is cute

Skyclan begins to fish competitively I'm glad

I like it when medicine cats bicker about their leader's behaviors ehheheh, Jayfeather talking about how weak Shadowclan is, Alderheart being annoyed at his father for wanting to stay silent, the others worried about the tensions this is all cheff the kisser

Jayfeather spitting the truths about how Starclan doesn't know shit, and he is very much one to speak

Puddleshine: Rowanstar stepped up the patrols :c

Leadstar: He has warriors enough for that?? Damn good for him

Dang poor Skyclan I hope they manage stuff better soon

Oooo the girls are fighting!!!

Alderheart starclan anxiety time dang

Sheep :]

Needletail :[

I'm sad Ravenpaw isn't here, this is a lovely reunion scene but knowing Barley will be alone when they all leave breaks my heart

Oh, maybe not, but if they stay I'll be sad also cus Skyclan needs its warriors

Aw man, Twigpaw is struggling :c

OUCH

I WANT SKYCLAN 2 SWIM THO......

Omg crimes

That sounds kinda possessive twigpaw!

DOVEWING?????

T

WhHAHAGAHAHA WHERE DID THAT COME FROM

omg tigerstar 2 real

Whats he gonna do to rowanstar???

ALRIGHT THATA OVER THEN PAHAHA

Aw, I'm glad they're having fun tho, and that twigpaw sees herself as skyclan

Alderheart, as he meets someone for the first time in a while: ARE YOU OKAY???

Blackstar protagonist moment

The medicine cats: our gods are toying with us again and destiny is uncertain

Leaders: I cannot DO this right now PLEASE leave and let me care for The Real Issues

Alderheart: YOU WILL hang out at my house Willowshine this isn't up for debate

Riverclan suffered enough and it's their turn to throw a tantrum about it, honestly good for them hsghahah

Alderheart asks his father to go on a quest to check people's feet

WHAT THR HELL IS A CANTANKEROUS

Alderheart and Willowpelt sitting there watching Shadowclan fight

This is really funny

HEWWO????

Puddleshine, in his eyes: help help

I love Skyclan

Ok this sounds like it's gonna be very very fun

Mission impossible: Escape From São Paulo

Oh, is Fallowfern deaf? That's so poggers omg I wanna see more of her

Edit: fallowfern is an elder that lost her hearing with age and retired after that happened :/ boring

I love leafstar so much

Juniperclaw: aren't you gonna punish her????

Leafstar: why

Juniperclaw: when I tell rowanstar he's gonna be pissed

Leafstar: don't tell him

Juniperclaw: the fuck is wrong with you and your clan??? Where is everyone???????

Leafstar: busy

Icon

I don't trust abled people specially able-bodied people telling disabled people they just have to train harder and feeling sorry for yourself won't help.

But this is the closest to a positive message to disabled people we have ever had in warriors so I guess I'll take it but I want better

IVYPOOL!!!💖💖💖💖💕

Dang ivypool what a way to show someone you miss them hahaha

Twigpaw: uhhhh how's dovewing?

Ivypool: what do you mean did she do something illegal I'm sure she did

Ivypool is a seriously funny character WHY are you yelling at the young adult about your sisters illegal activities she doesn't know anything about it!!!!

Alderheart goes on an adventure

Feet inspector on the road!!!!

Jasper is so funny I love him

Omg what's he got against clan cats??? What's his sad backstory????

YEESSSS SPARKPELT MY LOVE 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💕💕💕💕💕💕💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💕💕💕

Sparkpelt your opinion sucks but I love you

I'm really really glad they had this moment this is really sweet, they hadn't talked for a while but this is genuine like, we hadn't had this sort of relationship in so long in the books with just, dialogue yknow??? THEYRE TALKING ABOUT THINGS

And the pause Sparkpelt takes between her speaking to fix what she's saying "I'm sorry for saving you :c no wait uhh not exactly but like" this is so good so natural so fun I love you sparkpelt

I get why she has a diferent opinion on Skyclan it's good for someone close to Alderheart to have a different mindset from him and for him to have someone like uh be opposites from him a lil yknow contrats his characteristics makes both siblings fun round and full of kitty do you get what I'm saying???

I love this

I love Sparkpelt, love her lil anxious moments, love her, love that she just wants to fool around with toms and enjoys Larksong but doesn't want to get serious you go girl

They wanted to write smart-ass they wanted to write smart-ass so bad

They're doing this in the rain?????

I'm quite certain Violetpaw is a young adult by this point its valid for her to go

Wh why did you let your cat out in the rain dude!!! When it comes back it's gonna dirty up the whole place it's wet out there!!!! And the cold is gonna get in the house!!!!!!!

I WAS HOLDING MY BREATH OH LORD

That was SO INTENSE AND SO FUNNY AND SO MUCH, IM SO GLAD SHE MADE IT I GOT SCARED

Oh this is so epic

That moment when your cat nearly dies and then it runs off and you go after it and then a bunch of other cats show up and start running with it

I hope Twigpaw can see the others soon

Glad to see her keeping her medicine cat knowledge ehehehe

???????

Sandynose I hate you you are so abled

Sandynose: I don't want my son to feel distanced from his peers so I'm distancing him from his peers

DOVEWING???

SANDYNOSE SHUT UP IM GOING TO KILL YOU ANS MURDER YOU

I'm so upset with Sandynose WHY isn't leafstar seeing this WHY DOESNG ANYONE SEE THIS SOMSONE PLEASE CONFORT AND LOVE MY CHILD TWIGPAW DOESNT DESERVE THIS

Angry sad upset why

Piscina

Thanks graystripe

Ok who's dying this time

Ok no one just a background cat got hurt he will survive otherwise it would be relevant

This was intense though what will happen now???

YES FINALLY

Oh this is lovely so good they're here!!! The rest of skyclan has arrived and we are all happy together

That dream felt good

NEEDLETAIL??? AGAIN

Where were you at!!!!

What!!!

Check this man's feet how many toes are there this could be good

What

Hegshahwha what the fuck is up with this guy

Okay I like him

Ohhh THATS tree

Change your name if you don't like it you sound trans already

Yeah nothing makes one smarter like dying

This is very fun I'm excited for more of whatever happening

Twigpaw :c

HIS SNIFFLES

Oh no

Hhhhnn I want Twigpaw to be happy so bad, I hate seeing her struggles

Sandynose you are so evil and very detested by me

You can and you SHOULD feel angry at Sandynose he SUCKS and he is being needlessly mean at you!!!!! There are much better ways to bring up the possibility that maybe you'd be happier with thunderclan!!! Fuck off Sandynose

Oh so Snowbush hasn't improved, maybe he will die?

Poor Alderheart

Oh fuck there he goes

Yeah

Aw man, rip to the background cat

That was a heavy death too

Aw, I was hoping the rest of Skyclan would show up before the gathering, maybe just after it???

I wonder what's going on in Shadowclan

TIGERHEARTS MISSING HUH???

The couple was kidnapped

HUH????

Oh my lord oh fuck

Can't anyone step up to lead why do they depend on Tigerheart so much???

Jesus christ

Alderheart kills his gods

This is so chaotic and funny I'm worried as hell for shadowclan but excited a lot is happening

HI TREE AGSGAHAH

Tawnypelt >:(

Puddleshine: WAIT DONT KICK HIM OUT, CHECK OUT HIS FREAKY FEET INSTEAD

Oh dear

Twigpaw :c

TWIGPAW :CCCC Man rememebr when I said I hope Twigpaw doesn't crumble under the pressure of being happy for others? yeah

GET OUT SANDYNOSE I DONT CARE YOURE BEING REASOMABLE FOR ONCE YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN LATER

:C

I'm so heartbroken for them

Uh pdhsgahab okay then

Bye finpaw

Wow that was easy for him

This is fun

I'm still sad as hell

Okay there's a lot going on right now wow

The owl scene was funny as hell to picture, this dramatic prophetic moment and the cats just "uuggh is that a prophecy??? Nooo"

Okay so

There's some shadowclan cats missing, considering the many sleekwhisker maps I'm sure she's up to no good but I have no clue what happened to the others and I hope they're okay

Wow! That was really something

Fantastic ending to a very good book its, definitely a different energy from the third but I'm really enjoying this I'm still excited as hell!!! I got worried things would get kinda bad from here but nope!!!! Very fun stuff for now this is very very good and I am enjoying it

This is definitely one of the most fun arcs I've read so far!!! The drama the stakes the little moments everything is tying together really well into a very fun story I'm enjoying a lot!

I worry for Twigpaw and hope for her happiness, and Violetshine too, hope her and Hawkwing deal well with missing her. Tree is being interesting. Alderheart wasn't much of a focus here but always fun to see him trying to solve the damn prophecy no leaders seem to care about. Mousewhisker was okay??? Lots of very fantastic turns for all events and uh let's see where this all goes next!!!

[philip-seville-archive]

15, 16, 19, 20

What’s your proudest moment/accomplishment in BDRP?

answered but have another! i originated the labors like pitched the whole insane thing bc i am a chaotic neutral and i wanted to get my way quite frankly! but i am proud of its legacy and that its become something that other people do and want to do. i remember when i pitched it i was like ‘and no one will be crazy enough to do it so its not like u will ever have to worry about it again.’ im glad i was wrong lmfao. labor stuff is so fun. 

What thread that’s not your own do you remember watching closely?

i was reading a recent eilonwy/lachlann actually bc it took place in hatter’s and so i was like well what if there are things here i could Overhear xP and i just LOVED their relationship of course. they are so sweet !! 

Write some love for three Muns of your choice!

this is kind of stressful but i’ll do some newer people ok 

Z, seriously!! I’m so happy you’ve returned and brought such lovely characters to us. Our Nemo/Ian is still one of my favourite threads, and I really like the relationship that Pipian has too. You play Ian so thoughtfully and have amazing ideas. I also felt like personally so happy when u picked up Edward since that was one of my favourite skeletons i had written in the past year. You once again have AMAZED me with ur interpretation of it-- the book that gains a page, the narrator’s voice...literally chef kiss buddy. 

Jean!!!!! you are such a delightful presence! you really made an impact with Lachlann and it shows. I love how you embraced the spill...really helps me feel less self-conscious or insecure with it sometimes ehe. and also again, our threads have been full of surprises. i like writing with partners who i cant predict and who also can’t predict me if that makes sense...we just kind of Ride The Vibe of the para. I never would have thought lachlann/jun would go where it went and i hope they get another para soon! 

Emma, you sent this to me so!! You already know but we mourned ur absence for years. I’m glad u came back and decided to stick around and am constantly inspired by how inventive you are with plotting and with twitter lol. you’ve even started that amazing new friends day (!!) thing which is so cute and just shows what a natural community builder you are. Happy that we have Henleigh, a doomed and twisted ship, but genuinely do wanna say ashleigh has more affection than she lets show. also phinnip ahahahahha look when i send you 20k of the phinnip au please roll with it lkfajldk

Write some love for three Muses of your choice!

these r gonna be more ridiculous here we go 

pip....... my shiny lavender scented glade plug-in. stop hijacking my brain we get it you’re awesome! keep doing exactly what ur doing, don’t change, get more embarrassing, be meaner actually!!! maybe ur the inner mean girl i never was and this is performative art! whatever it is, you’re right im wrong shut up!

nemo.......................................................i conclude. jk i just sdkjflkdal very happy u r getting off-dash help rn lmao. ur honestly my favourite trope out there, aka the good bean. to contrast wht i just said about pip, being a good kind person is way harder than being mean, its complicated and interesting to read about in my opinion. i love how hard u try. 

jun! my favorite thing about u is how i can write something i just Disagree With Completely. I’m like oh ho ho, this boy is WRONG! i also like how u (secretly) know its wrong too but u wont admit it, you’d rather die. also getting really emotional these days about how you are probably on the grayro scale but how different your grayro-ness is from john darling or mel or andrina or olaf and how that helps me understand different types of aromanticism beyond my own. :) lets keep learning about each other buddy! this got serious??? my bad!

[thedoctornumber11]

Munday post

I figured maybe this week I’d do a different type of Munday.  Most of my long time roleplay partners already know me quite a bit and I also try to introduce myself to newer partners as well, however I figured this could be a good chance for everyone to really get to know me.  I’m including everything under a read more not because long post and also because I know not everyone likes seeing this type of thing.  It’s just a bunch of random facts about me and my favorite things along with a munday pic under the cut.  I didn’t want to just throw out a munday picture like most would do.  I’ve done that plenty of times before and there’s nothing wrong with it, I just felt like doing something a bit more unique and different this time that might really give people a chance to get to know me :D

So long post under the cut.

So, first off, my name is Derek.  I’m the mun.  I just recently turned 30 and I’m from Indiana.  I work in a preschool, essentially as a glorified baby sitter.  I help the teachers get their breaks.  

I’ve been interacting on here since November of 2013 and I’ve had this exact blog with this exact URL the entire time.  I wanted something really generic and not just a quote or something like that.  I first tried TheEleventhDoctor, but obviously that was taken so this ended up being what I went with.  As for the theme, it too was made a VERY long time ago.  The TARDIS theme with the opening doors on the TARDIS actually used to be quite popular when I first started interacting on here, particularly with the Doctor Who RP fandom.  Although I’m the only one I see with it these days, if you go looking for older Doctor Who blogs that have gone inactive you are actually likely to find a few other blogs with it.  As for the background picture, I found that one myself except for the part with Matt Smith/The Eleventh Doctor edited on.  That part was done by someone I used to interact with who just surprised me with it one day and unfortunately isn’t on Tumblr anymore :(  Having been on this platform for so long I’ve obviously seen a lot of blogs come and go and I miss every single last one of them :(  However I also enjoy everyone I currently interact with and would recommend almost any of them.  Seriously, if anyone is looking for new people to interact with, let me know you are looking for people and what fandoms you enjoy and I can probably recommend a few blogs!

Outside of Tumblr RP, I enjoy video games, yugioh, reading comics, general super hero related stuff, watching movies, playing Pokemon Go (I help run the local PoGo community) general board games, watching my shows, figure collecting, and cosplay, most of which I’m sure is stuff many of you also enjoy.  My fandoms include Doctor Who (obviously), DC, Star Wars, The Legend of Korra/ATLA (I’m one of the few that likes LoK more than ATLA), Marvel, Star Trek, Firefly, Power Rangers, The Walking Dead, Yugioh, Pokemon, Sherlock, general Nintendo fandom, Digimon and Harry Potter.

Here’s a few things about me in list form.

My favorite musician is Weird Al Yankovic.  

My favorite book is Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robbison.  As someone who’s been diagnosed with aspergers syndrome myself, this book really spoke to me in my original read through and since then I’ve purchased it multiple times.  I own at least three or four different copies of this book, partially because I kept loaning it out to people.

My favorite book series is the Harry Potter series.  Don’t ask me for a favorite book in the series, I love them all about equally.  

As for comics, right now my favorite thing I’m reading is the Power Rangers series that Boom is putting out.  Some of my favorites of all time include Power Ranger Soul of the Dragon, the Star Trek TNG/Doctor Who crossover, the Power Rangers/Justice League Crossover, the original Spider-Gwen series, Poison Ivy Cycle of Life and Death, The Dark Knight Returns (I know anything Frank Miller related is a bit controversial but I enjoy it for what it is) and Batman: Hush.

Favorite movies include UHF, Scott Pilgrim VS the World, Captain America The Winter Soldier, Captain America the First Avenger, Avengers End Game, the Justice League movie, anything and everything DC animated, anything and everything Spider-Man related (yes, I even like Spider-Man 3 although it wasn’t as good as the others), anything Star Wars related although I’d say Force Awakens is my favorite one, the 2017 Power Rangers movie, Serenity, The Lego movie and it’s sequel, Yugioh Bonds Beyond Time, Mystery Men, Galaxy Quest, all the Star Trek movies, the corny 90′s Mario movie, the Doctor Who movie, and Detective Pikachu.  Really, any of the Marvel and DC movies could probably make this list as well, I’m not super picky when it comes to movies.

Favorite TV shows is something I am a bit pickier about.  Doctor Who is obviously on the list, and I’ve watched and enjoyed most of the Marvel and DC live action stuff although I have a huge preference for the arrowverse and 70′s Wonder Woman.  Animated stuff tends to vary but a lot of the older stuff from the early and mid 90′s seems to be best for that.  Power Rangers is obviously on the list as well, along with The Walking Dead, Digimon, Avatar the Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Sherlock, Yugioh, Firefly, and off the top of my head that’s about it.  Everyone always assumes I’m huge into anime as well, but I’m not actually that into it.  Just not my thing.

Now video games has potential to be my longest list as it’s easily my favorite medium of story telling due to the interactivity.  First off, Nintendo and Playstation are my general consoles of choice.  Nothing against Xbox, I have a lot of respect for the brand but I can’t really afford to have three consoles (even though I wish I could) and Nintendo and Sony have more offerings for me personally.  I also do dabble on PC a bit, but I don’t really have a high end PC and it’s mostly just for Sims.  That being said, my favorite games and game series include Watch_Dogs, The Sims, Mario (mostly the “main series,” 3D games and 2D platformers but I do enjoy some of the off series stuff like Mario Kart and Mario Party as well) , Pokemon, Super Smash Brothers, The Force Unleashed series, Injustice, most of the Spider-Man games, The Last of Us, Tomb Raider, most of the Batman games, Wario Ware, The Last of Us (still haven’t played the sequel yet.  Waiting to get it for cheap after seeing reviews), Days Gone, Control, Horizon Zero Dawn, No Man’s Sky, 51 Worldwide Classics for Switch, No Man’s Sky, the Tony Hawk Games (still haven’t played the new one yet), Time Splitters, The Movies, Hulk Ultimate Destruction, Zombies Ate My Neighbhors, Kirby, The Legend of Korra game (the 3d one, not the really bad one for 3DS), Donkey Kong, Street Fighter 2, Punch Out, Metal Gear Solid 5 the Phantom Pain, Sonic Heroes, and the list could go on and on.

My favorite drink is root beer or chocolate milkshakes if that counts

My favorite alcoholic drink is probably just a basic screwdriver tbh

My favorite food is Cheeseburgers, although Chicken Pot Pie is also a top contender tbh

My favorite color is green

My favorite Doctor is Eleventh obviously, but Thirteen, Two and Twelve are tied for second

Favorite companions are Amy, River (if she counts), and Donna

Favorite New Who episode is The Eleventh Hour

Favorite Classic Who story is Genesis of the Daleks

Since I’ve mentioned super heroes a lot, my favorites are Batman, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man, although Supergirl, Batgirl, Captain America, Scarlet Witch and Black Widow are also pretty high on the list.

Favorite game in the Pokemon series is X and Y

Dragonite is my favorite Pokemon

Favorite 3D Mario game is Odyssey although Sunshine would be next up on the list.

This is my only Tumblr RP blog.  I also have an ask meme blog and I used to have a personal but I haven’t logged onto it in years.

I’m on discord and I do add people from Tumblr on there, but I mostly only use it for Pokemon Go tbh

I spend every Wednesday and Sunday at the local comic book shop playing Yugioh

For anyone wondering in relation to that last fact, my current competitive deck Barrier Stun.  Some of my favorite casual decks that I play or have played in the past are Lightsworn, Blue-Eyes, E-Heroes, Greed, Sacred Beasts, Penguins and Six Samurai.

In the last decade I’ve moved about 3 times

I own pets!  I have one dog and one cat currently, but a few years back when we lived in a more country like setting, we owned 7 cats and 2 dogs at maximum.  Most of them died of old age over the last few years.

Before my current job I used to work at Walmart.  Long time followers of the blog may remember that I hated it there.

I don’t have a whole lot of writing experience outside of Tumblr tbh.  While I do enjoy writing on here, it’s the interactions itself that makes it fun for me and while I’ve tried to write a few things myself, it’s just not the same as roleplay.

Anyway, I just sort of wanted to do something different for munday besides just posting pictures of myself so I hope anyone who read this enjoyed it.  Here’s a pic of the mun to go with it.