#vespertinecat

[vespertinecat]

It's my 13 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

My blog is... quite aged. I've never changed my username or avatar once in thirteen years. Sobs. I really should change it one of these days.

[onenicebugperday]

@vespertinecat submitted: Hi there! I just thought that now that submissions are open, I'd send in my collection of photos for everyone to see. This isn't exhaustive, and I have many photos of these (or multiples of the same species/at different stages), but here's a nice collection of them identified to the best of my ability! All of these are taken in North Texas.

1. Yellow garden spider.

2. Wolf spider, specific species unknown; if you know, I'd love to know as well!

3. The same wolf spider with coin for scale. They were released outside afterwards.

4. Spotted orbweaver; this picture was tough to get due to any little breeze shaking her entire web.

5. The same spotted orbweaver with her web illuminated! Every single day she took it down, then at night she put this magnificent web back up again! This thing was a couple feet in length overall. Absolutely impressive from such a little spider.

6. This, my dear friends, is a bedbug. I have photos of various sizes and such. You don't want to know. Don't ask. You can ask to see the other bugs, though.

7. Unknown cobweb spider. Unfortunately, onenicebug and I weren't able to identify this one, but there's a whole family of them living in one of our bathrooms. We no longer have gnats.

8. Resh Cicada. To the best of my knowledge, this is a Resh. It was just hanging out on my house, chilling. Probably taunting the yellow garden spider below; who knows.

Hello! This is indeed a great collection. The wolfie is a rabid wolf spider. Beautiful and impressive orb web on the next photos, though! What an industrious woman. I'd guess triangulate combfoot on the cobweb spider, but I think I told you before it's difficult without a better angle. Nice of them to keep down the gnat population either way! And the last dude does look like a resh cicada as far as I can tell just from the one photo :)

[massivetittiesandwarcrimes]

@vespertinecat yeah there is an older version of this movie made in the 1930s, but it's also based on a book published in 1929.

This is so fucking funny, apparently “war bad” is liberal propaganda now??? Yes, war IS bad you fucking dipshit.

All Quiet on the Western Front (the original book) was written by a German WWI veteran who was determined to show just how utterly horrifying, disgusting, and senseless the war- and by extension all war- was. The book and its adaptations take great pains to portray the suffering endured by the common soldiers on both sides, who didn’t even really want to fight but were manipulated/forced into it by those in power. The book was even banned in Nazi Germany and the author had to flee the country because the Nazis believed the book was “anti-German” and would hamper their war efforts by showing the German people the real horrors of war.

So in some ways I guess history is repeating itself, more right-wing idiots are hating on this brilliant piece of anti-war media 🙄

[jeanjauthor]

Thanks for replying to me. I suppose for me to putting it all to paper is a bit different; I share many of these worlds with my friend, but becoming a writer used to be my biggest dream. I gave up on it after one of my trusted professors didn't seem to respond well to my plans. I have a pile of books for research, but I can't get my motivation stronger than my crippling depression. When I think of my ideas, I wonder if it's all been done before. I want to put it to paper, but my own mind stops me. It's rough.

*gives a major spiritual wedgie to said professor...perhaps three or four or fifty-five times...*

It is indeed rough. It hurts when you express your dreams and aren't met with matching enthusiasm, encouragement, etc. Especially from someone you look up to and whose opinion you're inclined to weigh more heavily in its importance than the same words from someone else. I know that feeling, it's debilitating, discouraging, and flat-out sucks.

I don't know what to say to help you get past that debilitating depression, other than to hold fast to how good your story ideas make you feel, and repeat to yourself your encouragements from your friend. And then maybe just...focus on some of the worldbuilding, sketch that out, write it down in little notes to yourself, so the details begin to remain consistent?

And then maybe plop a character into those details, and ask yourself, how would so-and-so react to such-and-such? You can literally borrow characters from other writers' universes for this (which is how fanfic sometimes gets started). The way how The Doctor of Doctor Who fame will react to something is going to be vastly different from the Doctor of Star Trek: Voyager versus any doctor from, say, Grey's Anatomy the t.v. show. Or maybe Buffy the Vampire Slayer versus Bella from the Twilight novels. Or even Shrek from his eponymous movies versus The Incredible Hulk (comic book, t.v. show, or MCU, your choice).

...Sometimes it's easier to start telling a story in someone else's sandbox than it is in your own, or with someone else's "story toys." It's often not as intimidating. You don't have to do all the work, because you're playing with characters and/or a setting that someone else created.

There are two more things to consider, and the first is the paralyzing fear of "what if my writing turns out crappy / riddled with errors???" This is a common one among writers. (Yes, even those of us with literal dozens of books published, like myself!) And I gotta say--even if you won't believe me--SO WHAT?? (Sorry for the scary shouting, but...)

One of the upper-crust storytellers that I know, like easily top 20%, maybe top 15% of those who are amateurs and those who are pros...is absolutely horrible at spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. But she tells an amazing story. My inner editor dislikes all those errors, but I love the twists and turns she brings to her stories. And as I've told her many times, if you have technically perfect writing, go write a technical manual. If you can tell a story, tell that story. The polishing of that story is the part where you just go find or hire a good patient editor or beta editor who is willing to work with you.

Don't worry about the quality of your writing. WRITE. The rest only comes with practice, and the only way to practice is to--you guessed it--just write.

Try little things to get the pump flowing. Write down a character description. Write down a location description. Write that character interacting with said location, like...they're in a fancy dressing room, do they sit at the vanity table and start brushing their hair, applying makeup, triming their moustache, or putting on socks and shoes?

...The other point of consideration is your comment about whether or not your particular story has been told before. This is...both moderately true, and yet very false.

Story archetypes have been told and retold for generations. So if you have a story of a kid who gets dragged off his farm to go on a dangerous adventure, gets taught how to swing an enchanted sword, ends up having to fight an enemy with a vast army, blah blah blah...did I just recite the tale of young King Arthur...or Luke Skywalker? Or Garion who becomes Belgarion in the David Eddings Belgariad series?

This is quite possibly true for pretty much 99.98% of all stories, they almost all share story archetypes.

However, no one would ever claim that the Belgariad quintilogy is the same as the Star Wars stories is the same as the Arthurian legends.

The exact story you choose to tell, the elements you choose to put into it, can and will make your story unique.

Don't believe me? Have the twins be swapped, and it's Leia Skywalker rescuing Prince Luke Organa, and suddenly there's a whole different dynamic to the original Star Wars movie. Leia will make slightly different choices (similar due to her upbringing, but different), and while she could wind up with Han...well, Han and Prince Luke could've wound up having a yaoi love interest thing going on.

If you fear your story is risking running into "way too similar to another already established tale" territory ...then mix it up. Swap roles, genders, presentations, social statuses, love interests, et cetera. You can fanfic your own writing as much as you want, especially when trying to figure out what you want to write.

And by writing short little fanfic snippets...you'll find it easier to write. They're fanfics, they're throwaway. You can always hit Delete. Or hit Save As, and save it under a file name such as "Don't Look At This number 317".

You have stories to tell. Tell them to yourself, tell them to your friend, tell them to your wordprocessing software or your spiral notebook, or your cat. Or maybe your dog. A dog might actually try to listen; not sure about a cat. it depends on the cat.

[spongebob-autisticquestions]

I just want to say thank you. Your blog is very, very enlightening. While I'm not autistic myself, I feel like it's given me a much better understanding of my friends and acquaintances who are. Not to mention, the whole thing of certain sounds just causing such a physical reaction and not being able to handle them (for me, napkins are like nails on a chalkboard)... I can't remember the word for it, but I thought I was just weird for having that issue. I don't feel so alone now. Thank you.

I’m happy to hear that you feel less alone now ^_^

[moryera]

vespertinecat replied to your photo “(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧ ��”

I didn't understand the 1867 and it made me think like 1867-2017 like you're some kind of immortal being who is very excited to have a car after a century and a half of horses and walking

Nope, just the state sesquicentennial. Everyone’s plates say that. (Although it is kind of amusing how much it looks like tombstone dates--I made it to the ripe old age of 150.)

[tricos-here]

@vespertinecat 's commish :^)

[quilyate]

Why would you put that in the tags on not share the Lego buildings

@vespertinecat

you ask and you shall receive! (refers to this)

these are all from my town! :D

they're made by Jan Vormann, a German sculptor who travels the world in search of old and battered buildings and structures. He fixes the structures by filling them with LEGO's!

Here are some of my favourites from around the world:

[lifewithchronicpain]

Butterfly I saw at my friend's house

tagging @russetm @altahoradelanoche @altheterrible @thanakite @youngchronicpain @vespertinecat

Thank God for the autofill to help me find familiar usernames because I can't remember usernames for shit.

Found this on Twitter, so I thought, why not posting it here and doing a tag game 😊

Ok, I’ll go first

If he is the reason, I’d go to prison gladly 🥰❤️‍🔥

Tagging: @killerqueen-ofwillowgreen @nic-214 @milkyway-ashes @dr-radiation @whitequeen-ofwillowgreen @sunsetdaydreamer @therockywhorerpictureshow @delicatelyfantasticninja and everyone 😊

Sorry if I forgot to tag some of you!

[onenicebugperday]

@vespertinecat submitted: Another buggo rescued, another submission! Usually I'm saving bugs from my cats, but this guy, uh... this guy was in a rather crappy situation (ha). He was in the toilet! I managed to rescue this fellow, get some pictures, then release him outside. It's been so hot that I think more bugs end up inside looking for water. This is north Texas, so it's been roasty toasty and over a hundred every day for the last month or do at least. That said, any idea who our intrepid friend here is?

They will definitely come inside looking for water and relief from the heat, poor guys. This fella is a big-headed ground beetle and I'm glad you saw them before they drowned!

[a-typewritten-blog]

@vespertinecat - You’re very welcome on the information! Here are a couple photos I’ve posted before to ponder:

1) 1923 Remington Portable #1 that I got at a church thrift for $3. Works very well (not without its fuzziness because that roller is a century old, and an imperfect replacement spring on one hammer) and the ribbon is black/red. Compare to that Royal portable in the previous post.

2) 1963 Remington Fleetwing that I mentioned, which I found at a yardsale for $20. I feel bad that I don’t use this as often as I should, but it’s sitting right behind me for easy access, and the ribbon is green/blue. Remington (rather, Remington-Rand) machines that came out after this were rather bland in looks, and mostly black and blue and white, because they were sold as scholastic and business machines and someone thought they should be that dull.

[picopepin]

His name is Icarus and he is an absolute unit @vespertinecat :’D

[quilyate]

@vespertinecat

The striped fellow is called Obelix! He fell into a druid's cauldron as a baby and has become super stong because of it. The series is called 'Asterix & Obelix': two Gauls who continue to be a pain in the ass for the Roman Empire.

Some famous animated series from some countries in Europe.

by loverofgeography

[ausefulblogforputtingthingsin]

rosecorcoranwrites replied to your video “vespertinecat: justcatposts: Two cats won’t give up on trying to...”

I need that bag 0_0

Get. In. The. Car.

[nanonaturalist]

@vespertinecat asked:

Hi there, um... do you know this bug? I found it over a year ago in the DFW area of Texas just chilling on this window. I've never seen another one, but it's kind of cool looking so I've always wondered. Thank you for any of your help!

This is an ichneumon wasp! These wasps are parasitoids, meaning they lay their eggs inside other insects, and their larvae develop inside those insects until they emerge as adults. Exciting! Here are some Texas ichneumon wasps I’ve seen:

Ophion sp. [link to iNaturalist]

Enicospilus sp. [link to iNaturalist]

Netelia sp. [link to iNaturalist]. This is the only one I know of that has been reputed to sting! All the others have ovipositors that are good for laying eggs inside other insects only!

Opheltes glaucopterus [link to iNaturalist]

If you look at them, the common feature you notice: long abdomen, skinny waist, long antennae. Most of them follow this pattern! But of course, not all ichneumon wasps look like this. If you see an insect that looks like this, though, chances are it is an ichneumon, or at least closely related to one.

July 3, 2019

[jeanjauthor]

Hi. I'm not actually familiar with your books and instead randomly stumbled across your blog ages ago. I just want to say thank you. Your blog is one of my favorites and really makes me think about what I create. I'm not sure I'll ever actually put my worlds to paper (executive dysfunction and all), but your blog is such a wonderful resource for creative people. So... thank you again, be safe, and I hope you have a wonderful day.

I'm glad I could be of some help, and some entertainment.

Please do remember this: Whether or not you put your stories to paper doesn't fully matter. You are still creating stories, even if they "only" exist in your own mind. If they entertain* you...then that is enough.

It's not been easy to keep going through my health issues, which is why I switched from purely original content to, well, riffing off of others' works. But then I realized it was valuable because not everyone sees these connections, some of them obscure on the surface.

I do believe that inspirations for stories can come out of just about anything that we encounter, educate ourselves about, and/or experience, whether that's second-hand or personally.

And it honestly doesn't matter if you write it down or not. If you blather your plot ideas to a friend or not. (My poor poor friends, over the decades...) It's your story. You are your first and foremost reader, listener, audience member. Entertain yourself, and your story will be wonderful to the most important recipient of all.

The rest is icing on the cake.

(*aggravation & frustration, etc, also count as entertainment, because let's be honest, we storytellers are partial masochists, lol!)