#which is old af to most of the people on tumblr lol

[terryfuckingturniptruck]

My birthday was full of unexpected interactions

[bronx-bomber87]

The rewatch continues! Onto 1x02 ‘Crash Course’ we go. Once again will credit all gif creators at the end of this review. Thank you for all you create. Tumblr wouldn’t be around if not for you. Off we go.

This ep starts for Tim in the hospital. Makes me sad to see Tim at the hospital so disgruntled and alone. Truly not expecting anyone to come pick him up or care. Surly af with the nurse. But it’s not a glow up if we don’t start at the bottom. ‘Started from the bottom now we here’ is a prominent thing for a reason in character growth. Starting at the ground floor with him emotional scars and all.

He is so genuinely so surprised Angela and Talia come to get him. He wants the help but sure as hell isn’t going to ask for it. He’s clearly been so shut down since Isabel. He’s lost trust and faith of those around him. So them coming to get him shocks him. Being s1 Tim though he can’t let them see that. How much this actually means to him. That there are people out there that still care about him. My poor broken boy.

Annnnnd the need for his approval and praise from Tim begins. She’s so excited thinking he was so proud of her and what she did in pilot (she did save his life and protect them both under duress) only to be disappointed by Wrigleys ‘No..’ Her eyes light up only to be crushed by disappointment. You’ll get there Lucy it’s just gonna be a bit ha

Tim dropping by the diner he conveniently ‘lives by ‘ and getting his pickup. Aka a Lying liar who lies. Really just dropping by to check in on her and his current test. To see if she’s losing her mind being a slug or she misses the action already with Tim. Clearly it’s the latter. Regardless of where Tim is emotionally and how she’s his charge. This is a little bit of a work flirt for him. Man took time out of his recovery from a gunshot wound to come see and her give her shit LOL She of course is ready and eager to prove herself even when he’s not officially her T.O. He’s clearly enjoying himself too much though haha

On the surface this is just a test is to see if she wants to be a real cop or a slug. We all know with her future UC predilections she loves the adrenaline. I do think on a deeper level, part of this test is truly to see if she’s gonna stick it out with him. Or if she going to bail on him which is the current state of mind he’s in.

Expecting that abandonment. He’s in fight or flight mode most of s1 cause of Isabel. Legit Survival mode really. So he’s going to distrust everyone around him for little while especially someone with promise like Lucy.

Alas we get to the end of ep for them both. Best part of this gif set is the utter look of confusion on Lucy’s face. Fairly certain she didn’t think Tim Bradford was capable of laughing let alone smiling LOL

What I love most about this scene is one it shows how sharp Lucy is. Telling him she figured out he had her purposely assigned to Wrigley. Two, This is also Lucy’s first moment of challenging him. Standing up to him by calling him a pain in the ass. When he says it’s ‘his job’ It’s her first strike into those walls of his. By insulting him with her little jab. Developing that rapport. We get the first Lucy induced smile from him. He’s actually proud of how she handled herself the entire day with Wrigley. Not half ass-ing it and he’s beaming.

When she watches his retreating form she looks so confused and slightly annoyed at his happy demeanor. But she also doesn’t hate it either. She has no idea she’s started her slow burn with him. That massive wall of his has the smallest crack starting to form. He’s so pleased with himself he doesn’t realize it’s happening either. He’s just happy with himself and how interaction went down. They’re so cute I can not. Eric and Melissa’s chemistry on full display. We had it from the jump with them.

~~~~~

Side notes for this ep. Talia was pretty damn funny in this ep. With all the property/city damage Nolan does haha Them getting kicked into the old school cop car.

The captain ripping those cocky detectives a new one. I always enjoyed her scenes especially ones where she’s mentoring the newbs. She was always so calming to listen to. So sage in her advice.

The Nolan/Lucy scenes continue to make me cringe but they have their purpose even if I dislike them haha

That wraps up ep 2. This will definitely keep me pre-occupied till we can get s6. Try to do few eps a week depending on life/work haha please feel free to like/comment I enjoy it so❤️

Gif credit to

chenfordsbee

tim-lucy x2

Thesweetnessandthesarcasm pain ass my job

relentlessescapism

Chenford source

[baconcolacan]

I remember in regimen, Tord recalled "fondly" When they lived together, waking tom up, and tom nearly stabbing him with a bottle cuz of it, any interesting stories to say about young tom and tord? Any times where tords small "obsession" With tom got them in interesting situations/adventures?

Stay au, i get that their relationship is hidden, but do they brag about eachother to anyone? If so, who does the most bragging/showing eachother off

Would, lets say, a rebellion group or another army be able to get a bunch of info were they to get access of Tom's VR (stay au) in a hostage situation. Is there anything Tord can do to stop that? Or Tom in that case?

You're probably sick from hearing this since your community is surprisingly wholesome af, But every day i check your tumblr its got me BOUNCING on my feet, You give me confidence

I see you're art and im like *chefs kiss* mm succulent.

but I'll stop rambling

Any video games, books, or movies you're into?do you think you'll start those stay au oneshots you mentioned before?And how are you? Cant help but feel concerned after u fell down the stairs, and then got sick (p.s. sorry for writing so much again, cant help it)

HAHAHAH Nawww its okay buddy! I'd be happy to answer your questions again ^^

I remember in regimen, Tord recalled "fondly" When they lived together, waking tom up, and tom nearly stabbing him with a bottle cuz of it, any interesting stories to say about young tom and tord? Any times where tords small "obsession" With tom got them in interesting situations/adventures?

Hmm, let me think of something I'm not gonna put in the fic itself. Probs will be in regiminis tho, just more in depth.

Well, as teenagers, Tord often tried to get an explosive reaction out of Tom in public, especially when they were in school. At this time, Tom still somewhat cared about his image in front of other people, yknow cause teenager lol, so even if Tord tries to tease/bully him he wouldn't react too much in fear of making a scene.

One day though, Tord decided to kick it into overdrive, to the point where he finally got Tom to snap and lunge at him in the middle of the cafeteria. They got into a really nasty brawl that ended with both of them getting sent to the headmaster. Surprisingly though, even if witnesses say that Tom was the one who started the fight, Tord actually- happily- admitted that he was the aggressor, and that Tom was defending himself.

"....Why did you do that?" "It's the truth, Thomas. Why should you be punished for something I started?"

And that started Tom off on his confused and mixed emotions about Tord, but don't be fooled though. Tord didn't say this out of goodwill. Remember, even at this point, a small obsession with Tom has already blossomed. Meaning what he said is actually; Why should you be punished by someone else who doesn't even deserve to touch you?

Stay au, i get that their relationship is hidden, but do they brag about eachother to anyone? If so, who does the most bragging/showing eachother off

They can't. No matter how much they want to they can't tell anyone. This applies more to Tord, as Tom is content with only having people he loves/is close to know about his relationship, Tom has always been more private out of the two of them. Tord on the other hand....he wants to brag about his husband so bad. Especially during the times Tom succeeds in any of his field operations. Paul and Pat could be talking about how well Tom is doing and Tord is literally vibrating in his seat like 'Thats my husband thats my husband thats my husband that my husband THATS MY HUSBAND-'

Unfortunately, this means Matt is the only one Tord gets to rave to, which makes Matt's life a living hell, because he has to listen to his boss/maybe old friend foam at the mouth for his best friend.

"He was so cute this morning!! I had him in my arms when he was still sleeping and- and he smiled at me when he woke up and whispered 'Good morning, Elskede'!! AAAAAA I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM!!!!"

"Thats...nice, Tord."

"Omg also did you know that he likes to cuddle?? HES SO CUTE FUUUUCCCKK!"

"Yes Tord, I know Tom likes to cuddle you have told me this a million times, also Tom is my best friend I KNOW he's a cuddler."

"AND THE WAY HE SMILES I JUST- AUGH, And his laugh?? *SIGH* I don't know how I ever managed- *keeps rambling*"

"This is my hell."

Would, lets say, a rebellion group or another army be able to get a bunch of info were they to get access of Tom's VR (stay au) in a hostage situation. Is there anything Tord can do to stop that? Or Tom in that case?

It wouldn’t really work tbh. Tom’s visor is strictly registered to his biometrics. If you saw my drawings that have him in it, his temples have ports where the visor connects to, thats how he’s able to access and see through the visor, his eyes are actually glass eyes.

If there were attempts at hacking into his visor, it would self-destruct. Just fizzle out when it’s still connected to Tom, and straight up explode if it isn’t connected to Tom.

Of course, Tord would get a distress signal if Tom was ever captured and he can’t handle it alone. In which case he would send out Red Sentries first, troops second, Paul and Patryck if the first two don’t work, then come himself last. (This is for the sake of their safety, Tord would WANT to go first, but they have to go through command chain to maintain their personal lives.)

For Tom, if the situation gets desperate, he will resort to using his hellhound (again, his monsterform in this AU) but like I said, as 3rd gen the shifting is agony, so it really only is a last resort.

You're probably sick from hearing this since your community is surprisingly wholesome af, But every day i check your tumblr its got me BOUNCING on my feet, You give me confidence

DHAJSJ NAWWWW I don’t get sick of hearing it, it REALLY REALLY warms my heart that you guys are so supportive of me, it gives me confidence in my works knowing someone enjoys it.

AND YEAH!! Everyone is so SWEET!! You guys are such kind-hearted people, I’m so glad the people who came to me so far are the kind of people I would be happy to associate with! My mutuals are all good, kind, and talented people, and you guys like I said are so so sweet! I like to think I’m cultivating a little corner that’s soft and calming, it really costs me nothing to be kind, especially in today’s climate, when I’m here I want to forget the bad things and rave about the stuff I like, so I’m glad you’re all here to do that too ^^

I see you're art and im like *chefs kiss* mm succulent.

*hides in a bush to scREAM /pos*

Any video games, books, or movies you're into?do you think you'll start those stay au oneshots you mentioned before?And how are you? Cant help but feel concerned after u fell down the stairs, and then got sick (p.s. sorry for writing so much again, cant help it)

OOOOH! Well I like the Bioshock series, Dishonored, Journey, Sky: CoTL, Fire Emblem, Bravely Default, Pokemon, Don’t Starve, and lately I’m getting into Hades but haven’t gotten that far yet ^^;

For books I’ll always recommend the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld, if you’re into historical war retellings with steampunk aspects.

The Monstrumologist series by Rick Yancy if ya fancy some monster horror

The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa if you’re into faeries and smoochin faeries I guess lol

Steelheart series by Brandon Sanderson and Villains series by V.E. Schwab if you like post-apocalyptic/dark superheroes stories.

aaaand Ascendance series by Jennifer Nielsen which is a series I read when I was younger which is about war, royal conspiracy, and all that funky stuff lol

Of course I also love some of the classics like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes plus lots of the Shakespearean plays bc I’m a stupid theater kid wjsjfjsnd

So yea,,,,,my book tastes are….inconsistent. As long as the story is cool, I will eat it lol. Plus, all these authors and books practically raised the type of writer I am lmao.

And, I’m not much of a movie fan? I think the Ghibli movies are cool though, and I like silly goofy movies like Knives out and Bullet Train so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As for how I am, tired, overworked, still a little sick, I was born pretty weak with a broken lower respiratory system so thats just how it is lmao. The studio also has been piling work on top of me so thats….neat, but at least I can afford food??

But thank you for asking!! I hope you’re doing well too ^^ And don’t worry, I never mind when you guys write to me a lot.

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

Book recs based on stuff I read in 2023

Nonfiction

Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer (2003) - it's outdated by about 20 years which leads to one hell of a jumpscare at the end, but I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested at all in Mormonism, high control groups, FLDS, and the history of abuse against women and girls in the LDS; it covers everything you need to know about the ways the LDS church has cultivated a paedophile/domestic abuse culture and it's fucking haunting and it's the most upset a book has ever made me

Black Tudors: The Untold Story by Miranda Kaufman (2017) - a really fun read; it's a collection of case studies of the real life Africans living or working in England during the Renaissance, with each chapter focusing on a different individual and what we know about them from parish records, legal documents etc. It's also a great primer on England's relationship with the slave trade and African nations from the 16th to 17th centuries. Also I listened to this on audiobook and the lady's voice is super soothing

Problematic gay rep

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (1956) - yeah okay turns out Baldwin is the GOAT of queer lit for a reason. I don't even like 20th century stuff but Baldwin can WRITE man I was sucked in! And David is the BLUEPRINT of problematic gay rep! I loved watching his awful decisions I hope he suffers eternally! It's a short and easy read and a classic for a reason do give it a chance

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite/William Martin (1996) - I'm not sure if I'm deadnaming Martin here because I bought the book earlier this year and it was still being attributed to Poppy Z Brite so I guess it's being treated like an author pseudonym now? I think? Anyway, don't read this book unless you're a disgusting freak like me who enjoys torture porn. This book comes with every content warning under the sun and I had an AMAZING couple of afternoons reading this book. American Psycho, Jeffrey Dahmer and NBC Hannibal had a baby and Martin delivered it; it's a raw, twisted and angry scream into the void about AIDS, homeless queer youth, homophobia and cultural stigma, wrapped up in a bow made of intestines. I went into this book hoping to see people get tortured and came out of it quite melancholic with a lot to think about, and I accidentally got attached to the victim oops!

The Charioteer by Mary Renault (1953) - I was gonna make a non-problematic section just for this book but then I remembered all the rampant femmephobia xD and Ralph and Laurie would 100% be bootlicking gays against pride. This book personally isn't for me - it's a lot of love triangle nonsense - but I think the tumblr demographic is particularly primed for gay World War II love triangle stories, and it's a softer, happier love story than my other recs. Would recommend if you can get past the main characters being pick mes.

Manga

No Longer Human by Junji Ito (2019) - this is a story about being a bad person and ruining everyone's lives especially your own lol; I loved the original prose version, but Ito's spin of the story makes everything so much worse and if I hadn't literally read a book about irl paedophilia the month before I think this book would have put me in the angriest and most violent place I've been all year. Love gorgeous art? Love mental illness? Love despicable spineless main characters? Get on this

Other fiction

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (1980) - it took me a month to read this entire book. It's so self-indulgent and long winded and contrived and the big twist is laughable and I wouldn't have it any other way! It's just some old guy playing in his sand box with his little monk action figures and it's charming af. Plus the concept of a monastic murder mystery involving several orders of monks will never not be fun, and I'm biased towards the book cos my guess at the very start as to whodunnit was right >:) would recommend if you like Sherlock Holmes and long long diatribes about medieval Catholic geopolitics

Garth Marenghi's Terrortome by Garth Marenghi (2022) - this one's just a bit of a laff. The horror comedy ramblings of a man going stir crazy during COVID lockdowns. You don't need to have seen Garth Marenghi's Darkplace to understand the book but it is recommended if you can access it. Content warning for explicit man x typewriter

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (1962) - it's a modern day (relatively) witch story! Jackson was writing about and for all the weird autistic little girls out there with this one. It's a gothic murder mystery about two co-dependent sisters who are outcasts in their village. It was a great introduction to Jackson's work

[floriumm]

Everyone shits on Tumblr and it is by no means perfect, but it’s still my favorite social media site. FB is well what it’s always been. I feel like I’m too old (31) and lazy to make use of TikTok, plus everything on there feels so forced and obnoxious. IG is again, IG. Not terrible but run by FB and the fact that you miss stuff from most of the people because of ads is annoying af.

And then there is Tumblr. I can keep my shit organized and tbh I feel like communities *can* be more welcoming than other places. For example on Twitter if you have few followers people think you’re a bot or fake. It feels very much like you’re either part of the clique, invisible, or part of the rampant toxicity. Every interaction I’ve had here has been pretty pleasant. I have like 5 followers yet people still interact with me way more than on any other platform which makes me feel like I’m not a ghost or just annoying af.

But yes, there are obviously still issues with the site. Tbh most of them don’t directly affect me or bother me but I know they are there and I hope they get addressed because I really wish I knew more people who used it or would come back.

I know one thing I would like to see added is something similar to Twitter circles where I can post privately to a specific group of people without them having to buy a sub or w/e weird shit tumblr added.

Anyway I’m just talking. As usual no one really cares lol.

ETA: oh I forgot to add, I can also write walls of text here without limits and without paying for a blue check mark lol.

[thaleleah]

awe yeah your mom was vulnerable and stepshit took advantage of that 😭 dw tal, your person will come at the right time 🩷

ikrrr his dick needs to be snipped 😂 man is almost 80 years old, it's nastyyy

my stepmom is a literal child, she actually throws tantrums it's actually so fucking embarrassing. a literal slipper 😂 now i'm worried cause are you gonna hit your 2 year old like that if he acts up or doesn't listen to you? LOL tal ilyyy for not liking my dad either cause he doesn't deserve it! too little too late

omg you write for avatar too? 👀 look at you go girl! what's the avatar fandom like? it seems like it's chill and drama free. the reason i starting watching avatar was because of jack 😂 i'm a huge scream fan so i needed to see what else this man has been in and was so surprised he was in avatar 2, i actually didn't recognize him because of the hair but he still looked so fine! i need to rewatch avatar 1 and 2 because i actually really enjoyed it! and the cgi is amazinggg (much better than marvel) - and yes ghostface is so fucking hot, especially in the new one, i think cause it was more serious and the mask was like decayed. ughh i have a predator/prey kink too it's just so so hot! getting chased and hunted by those two was soooo ughhh! can you tell i only have a thing for villains? the heros barely capture my heart 😂 look and you and both simping for tom and jack; we have amazing taste in men 🩷

i'm so glad you got some writing done and it didn't feel forced, never force yourself, tal 🥰 you got this babe 🩷

🍯🐝

Babes, the way I tried to respond to your ask TWICE with a rant about how my stepdad must want me to hit him with my car because of how he treated my mom this weekend on her birthday weekend, and Tumblr closed out on me both times without saving my long af rant. SOOOOO maybe that's the universe trying to tell me to let that shit go. Which, like, okay. But . . . OOOOO THAT SHIT MADE ME SO MAD. So, anyway - thanks for listening to me tell you about a rant I would have made you read had Tumblr not told me no twice lmaooo

I feel so sorry for the two year old. Hopefully your stepmom will refrain from being a vile evil bitch to him. At least I hope. And yes, nothing your dad does could ever make me like him. Fuck that man lol

I doooooo write for Avatar! Avatar is the only fandom that I've consistently been in for nearly my whole life and I can't ever see it going away. I have such huge respect for James Cameron cause the world that he's created is just so amazing and beautiful and the detail and meaning of it all has me in constant awe. I could literally watch the movies over and over again and never get tired of them. December 2025 can't come soon enough for A3, I'm practically vibratingggggg. The fandom is def not chill and drama free though, especially on the smuttier side. It's actually been super toxic recently which is really disappointing cause I feel like Avatar is one of the fandoms that should be the least problematic but...here we are. My mutuals get tons of anon hate messages daily and sometimes there's even drama between accounts. Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with as much bullshit as they have since I'm a smaller blog, but I have gotten my fair share too. I know it really doesn't matter what fandom you're in, all fandoms have haters and most writers or artists get nasty messages, but it still sucks. All my mutuals are great though and they remind me of why I started being active in the fandom in the first place when things get a little too rough. Some people write some good Spider fics since you're a Jack Champion fan 👀

Love youuuuu 🥰

[daddyd0nt]

Anon you are not alone, after gaining weight from Meds/ED recovery I completely gave up on being masc Im not femme either, I don't do make up or shave, but I mostly wear dresses because that is what is most comfortable on my fat body and, no matter what i wore, my body fat distribution would keep me from passing (I have a lot of hips/thighs and a e-cup chest which a binder doesn't exactly flatten). I sort of just gave up my trans identity because if i had to be fat im miserable in my body anyway so why throw confusing grandma and getting my mom in trouble at cult-church into the mix for no more real change than a letter off my pronouns. I have strong dysphoria but Im never going to look like the man i want to look like (an emaciated 20 year old Dennis Cooper heroin-chic twink) so why bother/upset the old people/make things weird(er) with my fiancé's parents if Im still going to be trapped in a body I hate anyway. Sometimes its not even a safety thing, sometimes the closet is just more comfortable and all your shit is in there so why make a formal deal of coming out. my close friends know, my fiancé knows, im open about it on tumblr, but I consider myself a detransitioned trans man not a re-identified cis woman if that makes sense. Sorry to ramble on your post it just struck a nerve. OP you can rock whatever you want, fat butches are sexy af, I promise you're not the only fat butch on the planet who isnt hot lol its a sexy look but I know what a struggle it is to present Masc when Masc clothes weren't tailored to fit your curves, you wind up wearing a lot of baggy shit lol but there's nothing wrong with being a fat butch/masc im sure you're very handsome in at least some way Ive never seen a completely ugly person unless that ugliness was in their soul. Best of luck on your self discovery and self acceptance journey. Remember that you are your harshest and most unkind critic.

I try to dress in a butch style but can't stop thinking that I will only look good and handsome until I get skinny because now I'm just a fat woman and everything looks awful on me...

I do not have your eyes and I do not walk in your experience of life, so I cannot convince you that you do not look awful. I only ask that you go about losing weight safely, as this mindset often leads people to try to lose weight as quickly as possible. 💜

[kyidyl]

Ok naughty children time to learn about NAGPRA. It’s not pretty and it’s not gonna have cool pics but it’s important. Since it’s kinda boring tho here’s a pic of my sister’s dog sleeping on my bed last night as payment:

That’s his “I’m lazy sleeping but would like belly rubs plz” pose. Note how much space his chonky self takes up on my twin bed, lol.

Anyway, so what is NAGPRA? The answer here is relevant to a lot of things that aren’t archaeology. NAGPRA stands for the North American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. It was signed into law in 1990 and it is the landmark piece of legislation in any field that includes native artifacts and remains in any way. That includes archaeologists, but also museums, construction, universities, etc. It’s an American piece of legislation, but it was the first of its kind and has spawned many other important laws in countries around the world concerning the handling of artefacts and remains. We are taught about it at all levels of our education, and it’s such and important piece of legislation that I even learned about it during my masters in the UK. I wasn’t even in the US and they were like “so, NAGPRA...”. But what does it do?

If human remains are found on a dig, all work must stop immediately. The cops are called, they bring in a bioarchaeologist or forensic anthropologist (usually a forensic) to determine if the remains are historical or not. If they are, then the state archaeologist is contacted. That person then contacts the leadership of the tribe who is responsible for the land that we’re on (it won’t necessarily be the tribe to whole the individual belonged bc, well, genocide.), and they determine what they would like done with the remains. Sometimes they don’t care and they allow you to dig them up. Sometimes they care very much and they take custody of the individual.). Again, a lot of this depends on context. At our site, if we find anyone they’re likely to be native but because of the civil war history also might not be. I am capable of determining which is which, so if we find human remains we’re lucky on that front. Native remains are pretty distinctive, as long as you have the skull or teeth. These laws don’t apply on private land, but most archaeologists will follow them anyway out of respect.

Requires that all new construction have an archaeologist on site to handle any artefacts or remains that are found during construction. This is why most archaeologists work in commercial archaeology. It’s also why what trump did down south with blasting things apart in his rush to build his stupid wall was 100% illegal.

Requires that all remains and artefacts currently in museums be returned to whence they came, if at all possible. This is the R in NAGPRA and is called repatriation. This is an incredibly slow, tedious process because of how poor the record keeping was when the stuff was collected and how many of the owners aren’t living anymore. Some stuff can’t be returned because of the decimation of the tribes that took place. This process started in 1990 and is still far from complete, but IS underway. Usually this won’t result in an empty museum. Often what happens instead is that the museum either creates replicas or the tribe loans the artefacts back to the museum. In both cases, new displays are created with the help of tribal leadership, so as you might imagine the quality of native information has skyrocketed since the introduction of NAGPRA. But I’ve noticed that a LOT of people on tumblr don’t know this is the case and they get real angry about native stuff in museums. I can’t speak for museums overseas tho bc NAGPRA doesn’t apply to them. The British Museum is notoriously bad about repatriation.

In the beginning, and sometimes even now, NAGPRA caused a lot of friction among scientists who didn’t think they should be beholden to natives when doing science. But for the most part we’ve worked it out, and the science has *vastly* improved due to actual communication between anthropologists of all kinds and natives. NAGPRA transformed all 4 fields of anthropology in a comparatively short period of time, and it very much has been for the better. It had a knock-on effect of making the whole discipline more respectful, more accepting, more open, and more meticulous in their work. It made it easier to add much-needed native voices to our work. Is it perfect? No. It’s not. There’s still a far amount of arguing (Kennewick man being a famous case.). There are still old archaeologists who didn’t come up under NAGPRA and don’t like it. There are construction companies that pretend they don’t find remains or artefacts because they don’t want to slow down their work so it all can be removed instead of destroyed. There are still anthropologists who are racist AF (tho far fewer than in other fields, IMO, because of the way we’re taught now.). But our work is ABSOLUTELY a million times better than it was and as the older pre-NAGPRA generation leaves the field, it’ll get even better. As repatriation work continues it’ll get better. So this is one of those cases where legislation was a good thing and subsequentially changed behaviors.

Anyway here’s another pic of the dog being spoiled and not wanting to get off my bed so I can sleep as a reward for getting this far, lol.

[stellasaeculum]

Oof (the about me intro)

Been a long time since I was over here on Tumblr, but since the bird app has been taken over by a comic book villain and the ice age app is clunky, here I am. Granted I've kinda missed Tumblr and all the fandoms, lol.

I reckon I'll make an introduction for anyone that stumbles upon me and didn't find me from the bird app first.

The Mundane Stuff

As far as the mundane goes, I'm the mother of a 16-year-old, live in the rural United States, am 36, am pansexual, and use she/her pronouns. I speak English fluently, conversational Spanish (although I'm out of practice), and bits & pieces of several other languages.

My major in college was Business Admin/Marketing and my minor was Psychology with a focus on Abnormal Psychology. I'm a huge advocate for human & social rights, so I tend to land on the left of the political spectrum although I consider myself an Independent. Fighting for equity, justice, and equality are passions of mine.

I’m on the Autism spectrum & have Bipolar 1 and PTSD. I wasn’t diagnosed with ASD until I was in my 30s, developed PTSD in my 20s, and have been dealing with Bipolar since I was 14. As such, I’m also a huge advocate for mental health awareness, mental wellness, and neurodivergence acceptance. In addition, I also have three autoimmune diseases so my physical health is kind of a train wreck, lol.

I love animals of all kinds, music from many genres, fantasy/horror novels & movies, history (especially the 18th Century), and learning about different cultures. Cultural anthropology is of huge interest to me and what I initially intended to get a degree in, but life has a funny way of throwing curveballs.

Beliefs

I've been studying different belief systems and schools of thought for over 23 years, and I've been blessed to have had the chance to talk with religious leaders, teachers, and mentors of various cultures and beliefs.

Most of what I believe is based on quantum physics and my own intuition, along with many years of studying philosophy, psychology, the sciences, & world religions, both historical and modern. As far as my own theosophical beliefs go, I consider myself an Omnist. I can find truths in any path (or lack thereof), but I don’t think any of them are 100% correct.

Esoteric Stuff

Time for the weird shit.

The tl:dr is that I'm an alien stuck in a defective meat bag. Yeah, I know it sounds absolutely batshit, but I promise I’m very sane. 

I’m an interdimensional, or what the new agers like to call a “starseed.” Basically, my soul doesn’t originate here but I’m old af and incarnate down here on 3D Earth from time to time to help out & learn things. While down here, for all intents and purposes, I’m human. I deal with my crappy health, pay my bills, get stuck in traffic, waddle around looking for toilet paper, etc. Granted I’m one with some unique gifts.

I was born with the ability to read & manipulate energy, and have known since I was a small child that I'm an interdimensional. Back then, we didn't have words like "starseed," so I just told people I was an alien stuck on Earth in a human body. As you can imagine, that went over well, lmao.

I’m not necessarily a healer, although all of us that work with energy are healers in one way or another. I'm more of a steward if I have to be lumped into one of the stereotypical groups. I keep an eye on stuff, pass insights to people, and neutralize/balance energy. I can do quite a few other things that involve manipulating energy (what others usually call magick or alchemy), but I typically don't. After all, you never know when you could be interrupting someone's karma and everything comes with a price.

The biggest thing I do is keep an eye on other interdimensionals both incarnated and not, and try to stop the spread of misinformation from bad sources. Which is a massive pain in my ass when it comes to other “starseeds” that aren’t actually interdimensionals. Nobody is “chosen,” nobody is more “special” than anyone else, and nobody is part of this stupidass 144,000 thing I keep seeing. Those of us down here are here, as I said, to help and to learn, and most importantly, we volunteered for it. A lot of the crap I’ve seen people spewing is rooted in n*zism and eugenics, which is not effin cool.

Tarot Stuff

Tarot and astrology to me are tools that I like having in my arsenal but don’t necessarily need. It’s sorta like, if I was taking a road trip and had a traffic forecast, map, and GPS, then astrology would be the traffic forecast and tarot would be the GPS. I can get where I’m going with my energy reading “map” just fine, but they help speed up the process.

I throw tarot for donations in my downtime and have read for people around the world. With my extra kick of energy reading, it adds a significant “oomph” to what I can do. You can see my suggested donations and book a reading here if you’re interested.

[meetmeatthecoda]

Sorry if this is kind of random, but I've always struggled with finding friends in a fandom because I get too nervous about interacting even in small ways and end up keeping all of my fandom stuff secret, like most of my tumblr reblogs are private and I don't tell anyone about my ao3. But I've recently resolved to work on that, so I'm planning on starting over with a new blog and a new ao3 handle and moving all of my fav old content to it and being more interactive going forward. But...old habits die hard, and since you're so so so kind and friendly, and you're one of those ppl who's known in their (corner of a) fandom, like other writers call you by your name and anons send you prompts/theories/feels and people just!! talk to you about your fics and stuff and!!!, I was wondering if maaaaaaybe you could give some pointers on how to "join"/integrate/idk!!! in a fandom? Sorry if this is a really weird or difficult question aaaa, anything even your own experience would be nice but it's ok if you don't want to answer. Happy early halloween from a debilitatingly anxious anon 💙

Hi there, anon!! ❤️ Omg, firstly let me say that while yes this is an unexpected ask, it is also a very welcome ask!! I can't say I've ever been asked something like this before, but I can also say I've perhaps never related to an ask more before!! I 1000% also... identify as... an anxious person (I'm tip-toeing with my wording here bc - while I have always been an anxious/nervous person, especially socially - I've also not been professionally assessed or diagnosed, which is solely my own doing, but I know that can be a dividing line with this topic sooooo I'll just say that... I believe that I can understand at least a little of how you feel) & fandom can be a very intimidating & nerve-wracking place!! Prior to starting this blog, I was only ever on the outskirts or in the background of the fandoms I was interested in -- The Blacklist was the first fandom I made an effort to actively be a part of, so I know how jumping in with little to no experience can be scary!! Also... ever since I hovered on the edge of fandom - peeking in with envious eyes at active bloggers, shippers, & content-creators - I have always wanted to be someone... well, someone exactly like you so kindly described me: someone who's known in their fandom & has a nickname & is even sent asks & I honestly can't believe it happened to me. And while this is by no means the only or best way to experience fandom, it is so gratifying & heart-warming & fulfilling to be so connected amidst a fandom community, especially a relatively small one like TBL!! BUT enough of my blabbering!! I'm probably the last person qualified to be giving the kind of advice you're asking for, but I'm more than happy to share my experience with you, anon, bc I feel like we're very similar people!! So, I'll list some bullet points below (under a cut bc we all know I never use one word when twenty will do lolz) on my thoughts on how to join/integrate in a fandom... if you'll be so kind as to take it all with a sizable grain of salt LOL 🤗

OKAY SO my first tip - bc this is what I remember doing the most in my baby!blog days - is:

Start by engaging with fandom content in whatever small way you feel comfortable with!! And the best way I found to do this?? Is the tags!! Tags are your friends!! That's literally all I did for the first few seasons of TBL after making this blog!! In my mind, the tags are kind of an optional/extra credit situation; you can leave them if you want to AND people can choose to acknowledge them or not. You can use them as a filing system, a place to leave your own thoughts or feelings (me AF lmfao), OR a dropbox for direct praise for the OP, which they will see in their notes!! Therefore, I've always found that to be the perfect, least stressful way of interacting in a fandom. That way, your perspective is there for anyone who chooses to see it, but people have that choice of whether or not to respond or follow you based on what they see. Plus, finding & engaging with the content you like helps you to follow the people who are making the content you like!! And, once you have, & don't be afraid to TELL THEM you like their content!! People love compliments, especially about things they're passionate about!! And I can tell you from personal experience that some of my best fandom friends were made over a love of each other's content!! On that note -

If you feel inspired, don't be afraid to step up & make your own content!! This will ID you as a fellow active fandom member which will attract the people you want to befriend!! Sidenote: this isn't necessarily why I started writing fanfic, but it was a delightful facet of the result!! Before I was a writer in the fandom, I simply reblogged gifsets & text posts by other talented creators & hesitantly - but slowly more enthusiastically - shared my thoughts & feelings!! And by the time I started writing, my blog was Lizzington-themed & familiar to fellow shippers... And when I became something of a content creator in the form of fanfic, that's when I think I really started getting asks, which is a whole other lovely part of fandom!! Of course, it always helps to be friendly & approachable (which you already are, clearly, just based on this sweet ask!!) & to leave your ask box open & your anons on if you're comfortable with that!! So, when you feel ready, be willing to converse & engage with people in comments & replies on your content, bc people want to bond over their favorite things!! And tbh in that way?? Fandom is sort of easier than real life, bc the awkward phase of "finding common ground" is already done!! OH & ON THAT NOTE -

Try to remember that anxiety is your worst enemy, even in fandom space!! Personally, I've always found fandom a place to let go of the anxiety that plagues me more in real life, but of course it's not that simple & anxiety can still be very present in online interactions!! But try to remember that other people want to make fandom friends too!! And reaching out to someone to try & make a friend is 99% of the time NOT going to be a bother to them. If you feel unsure about reaching out (which I often do!!), just picture being on the receiving end of your kind messages & offers of friendship!! Would you ever be annoyed at someone polite or reject someone kind or shun a fellow member of your fandom?? No!! And the odds are that like-minded people won't either!! But worst case?? They just won't answer & that's okay, too, bc you've lost nothing by trying!! 😍🥰❤️

So yeah, I don't know if this is good advice for you, my dear anon, it's literally just my own experience... but I have to say that I'm so proud of you for wanting to work on your fandom shyness!! (NOT that that's a necessity btw!! I'm a firm believer that SHY /DOES NOT/ = BAD!! Shyness is not a trait that needs to be "fixed" or "worked on" & it is not inherently better or worse than being "out-going", regardless of what the rest of the world likes to tell & show us. It is simply a different, equally good way of being that brings an essential variety to the world.) But the difference here is intent. You WANT to change your fandom experience & therefore you're going out of your way to do so, even though it's tough, & that's very brave!! I'm proud of you!! 😊 Anyway, if this long-ass response hasn't scared you off, feel free to pop back any time, dear anon, whether it's for more (crappy) advice, support from a fellow anxious person, or just to chat about Lizzington or anything!! Good luck to you, my friend, and remember: you can do it!! Much love to you, always!! ❤️

[sports-and-fandoms]

The thing with Kate and Tyler is a mix of many things. Of course, there’s some jealousy and gatekeeping involved. But i mostly think Kate is perceived as a fangirl who successfully finessed the system, mostly because she was blessed with good looks. I mean there’s is plenty of evidence of this. First, she left many many thirsty comments on his instagram posts and slid into his dms, long before he ever acknowledged her. There were those weird spam instagram and twitter accounts that kept popping up which were clearly created by someone who knew her well. I mean they called her Kitsy in many of those, which is how her sisters call her. Those accounts would post stuff like: oh Kate is Tyler’s girlfriend, oh Tyler needs to introduce Kate to his family. This was beyond ridiculous. A lot of the stuff said about her i dont really believe, tho… like the mean screenshots about Tyler’s sisters? Clearly fake. But Kate had a plan: she wanted to be Tyler’s girlfriend. And she did all she could to make it happen. I guess you could say that she basically willed herself into being his girl.

Hey! Thank you for replying! Sorry for the late response, tumblr hid your reply for 3 days and suddenly went “surprise!” Lol

I agree about what you said regarding the screenshots. I haven’t seen them (idek where to find them… lowkey not even interested because the whole story seems super fake lol). I also agree about the whole jealousy thing. Fans can get… intense, to say the least.

Now, your point about those fake accounts and her finessing her way into being his gf is very interesting to me. I didn’t really know about the fake accounts, so it’s like blowing my mind a bit lol i guess props to her for playing the game and winning (debatable) 🤷🏽‍♀️ I 100% feel that their relationship is very weird and inorganic, ya know? Like, if the thing about the accounts is true (even tho i feel like it isn’t enough to catch Tyler’s attention over like thousands of other people), it’s still very very weird and manipulative and probably used as a way to seek people’s attention. So, I see why this would be one of the reasons why people hate her.

Edit (literally 10 mins later): ok, omg lol WAIT! Im shook. So, I told my friend about this whole Kate thing and she found tweets about those accounts you were talking about. I stand by most of the stuff I said above except about her playing the game and winning because these tweets are way too much just to get official gf status. Darn those tweets are weird and kinda stalker-ish. It’s very troubling and weird. I think I didn’t quite understand how weird they were until I read them and man, OH MAN, it’s weird af. I KNOW I KEEP SAYING IT’S WEIRD, IM SORRY, BUT IDK HOW ELSE TO DESCRIBE IT. My friend also sent me some tweets about Kate’s old comments on Tyler’s posts and that’s also kinda bizarre.

All in all, the tweets from the fake accounts give me a lot of bad vibes.

[calaofnoldor]

i wanna try something...

UPDATE: there is no more one fic a day requirement! it’s simply whoever reblogs the most hidden gems this year wins!

so it’s come to my attention (through this post and others) that a lot of writers’ note counts have been dwindling as of late, whether on tumblr or ao3.

i wanna try to help remedy this by reblogging as many under-appreciated fics as i can throughout the entire year of 2021 as a way to sort of re-boost writer morale :) 

if anyone wants to join me, please do! i'll be using the tag 'hidden gems reblog challenge'. alternatively, you can simply send in fics that you believe to be underrated if you prefer not to take part in the challenge yourself!

huge thanks to @sams-sass for helping me come up with this idea and title! 🤍 there’s more details and some tags below the cut:

WHY hidden gems? there’s just too much good stuff out there that gets lost and, as @girl-next-door-writes so eloquently puts it, “hidden in the tumblr fuckery”, which is both incredibly discouraging for writers and also unfortunate for readers in search of more amazing fics!

WHO can join? anyone! readers, writers, big blogs, small blogs!

WHAT can you reblog? any fic that you believe deserves more love! whatever fandom you like, new or old fics, doesn’t matter. i don’t want to define ‘under-appreciated’ or ‘underrated’ with a set numerical value because it can be different for everyone (a very popular writer can have one fic that does less well than the rest of their work, though it may still have over a hundred notes, some fics only get likes and no feedback, sometimes writers develop a huge following over time but their older fics still lack love, etc.) but as a general cue, i will personally be trying to focus on fics with less than 200 notes, and anything under 100 notes will be tagged ‘underrated af’ lol. 

- writers, you may also reblog one of your own fics (what you believe to be your most underrated piece) if you want! please use the tag ‘my own hidden gem’ if you choose to do so, mostly cause i’m super curious 😉  

WHEN is this happening? you can choose to join WHENEVER you want this year. the goal is simply to spread more love and discover more fantastic stories and writers!

PRIZES? given that i’m just an obscure, wee little blog, i honestly don’t know if there’ll be any many people joining, but if this catches on and we get enough participants, there will certainly be prizes! i haven’t decided exactly what yet, but i do run a little shop over on redbubble so it’ll probably be something from there!

HOW do you win? let’s say the person who finds and reblogs the most hidden gems in a row this year will be declared our winner! you can compile all of your awesome shiny finds into one masterlist for easy viewing and reference (feel free to use the banner above if you’d like 😊) and make sure to tag me when you’re done! chapters in a multiple-part story count as one.

HOW do you join? if you’d like a chance to win, please send me an ask to let me know you’re signing up! otherwise, feel free to simply use the tag ‘hidden gems reblog challenge’ and go wild, reblog as your heart desires! if you don’t want to participate in the challenge and just wanna help spread the love, you can choose to send in hidden gems to help out your favorite participants (given that they’re ok with it!). this blog will be accepting any under-appreciated winchester fics you might have to offer ;)

ok, that’s it. sorry for being such a wordy motherfu- HAPPY READING/DISCOVERING!!!

i’m gonna tag as many people as i can think of in case y’all wanna signal boost or better yet, tag some more friends and join in!

@girl-next-door-writes (i know you’re hosting a bingo, so you’re kind of already doing this rn but i just wanted to give you a shout out cause you helped inspire this!) @sams-sass (thank you again, babe!) @sammit-janet @carryonmywaywardbucky @beskaradberoya @anaelsbrunette @downanddirtydean @deanwinchesterswitch @swiftlymoniquesblog @mrswhozeewhatsis @thinkinghardhardlythinking @idreamofplaid @becs-bunker @fangirlxwritesx67 @hoboal87 @superbadassnatural @moosewinchester @winchest09 @peridottea91 @idabbleincrazy @firefly-in-darkness @idreamofhazel @imagineteamfreewill @there-must-be-a-lock @kickingitwithkirk @ruined-by-destiel @austin-winchester67 @maxineswritingcenter @my-proof-is-you @flamencodiva @wonder-cole @muchamusedaboutnothing @impala-dreamer​ @supernaturalfreewill​ @imhereforbvcky​ @averil-of-fairlea​ @fromthedeskoftheraven​

[black-rose-writings]

I read Ruin and Rising because I’m bored

And I also hate myself

Like with the last book, I have a vague idea of the plot and stuff from tumblr and fanfics. I will also be refering to Darkling as Sasha for most of this.

I am still Darklina trash and don’t particularly like Mal.

On a different note, I’ve finally moved for college, but the internet here is trash, so I’ll probably have a lot more reading time now, since most games I play are online and will crash without internet.

Before

Cool story. Let’s hope Alina stays a badass.

Who am I joking, I know how this ends.

Chapter 1

So far so good. I hate the Apparat, per usual. Alina’s there basically dying and that bitch can’t wait to see her do so.

Cult leader to the core this one. He probably hates that his figurehead is alive and also not brainwashed.

Cult leader doesn’t like swearing. How surprising.

My boy David is completely right. What kind of irresponsible dingus keeps centuries old books in a fucking wet-ass cave? (Or a tree for that matter *cough cough* The Last Jedi *cough, cough*).

Genya is fun to be around.

Oh, shit, let’s go.

Chapter 2

Jesus Christ, Alina, Zoya isn’t that bad.

This is one hell of a shitshow.

I live for this version of Alina. Badass. Scary. I want more of this Alina.

Chapter 3

Out of all the random little details from crappy smut fics, I did not expect Oncat to be from the books, lol.

Mal actually has a supernatural tracking ability. Like, literally, they put a bug into the pouch with gunpowder so he could make the shot. I guess this was kinda said before, but never this directly, right?

Alina’s merzost-skyping Sasha now, yay.

Alina is horny for Sasha boy. Yay.

Alina canonically has a praise kink. Nice.

I hate LB with all of my heart at this very moment. How dare she bait us Darklina people like this? How DARE she? (Shipbaiting is the worst, seriously.)

Yes, yes, yes. These two lines. That’s what their relationship is all about. They’re each others foils, the yin to the other’s yang and... ugh. I am Darklina trash to the core and this hurts.

Darklina: You have a terrible taste in men.

Alina: I liked you once.

My boy Sasha walked into that one.

Chapter 4

Alina is a Queen. And we love her.

David, my beloved, my spirit animal.

It’s surprising they can read it at all, given it’s been centuries. Have you ever tried reading medieval manuscripts?

Honestly, with a father that crazy, it’s no wonder Baghra’s a bitch. And I’ve seen it said somewhere that the books imply Ilya’s experiments are what caused Baghra to be a shadow summoner and you know what? I can see how you’d make that connection.

Why is there so few Tidemakers in the books? Waterbenders are useful. I want more waterbenders.

Alina picking up some habits from Baghra I see.

Ah, yes, we love an educated giant.

I’m starting to think Harshaw is a bit nuts.

Shut up, Hershey. Or at least share the weed with the class. I’m not here for this “He’s mean to you because he likes you”. I might believe that in like, elementary school, but yall are (more or less) adults. Jesus.

Well, that was a bombshell of a twist.

Chapter 5

Oh boy, we’ve got some trauma bonding for out merry band of misfits. Yay.

Adrik has a crush on Zoya. And she hates it, lol. Cut the kid some slack, he’s like 15 or something.

That reminds me, I have a four-leaf clover pressed in books from close to year and a half ago. Time flies.

They’re really diving into the Mal has supernatural powers, huh?

Ghosts, let’s go.

Alina “I’m so happy to be outside I start to shine like a fucking fairy” Starkov and Mal is entranced. He’s definitelly nicer now. I’m not forgiving him for all the shit he’s pulled before and for using the silent treatment way too much, but hey, at least he’s improving.

I am not a Zoyalina person, but like... gay? Please? Rivals to grudging allies to friends to lovers, 300k slowburn? Sounds more fun than whatever Mala dn Alina have going on, lol.

(I’m starting to realize I’m not as much a Darklina person as I am anti-Malina person, lol. Like, literally everyone has a more interesting dynamic with Alina than tracker boy over there. Malina is at best boring AF and at worst toxic, codependent and emotionally abusive, while also being boring AF at the same time. It has literally nothing going for it except God herself liking it).

I can see why Nadia is gay in the show. The book version of her definitelly has a crush on Tamar. Homegirl likes a woman, who can murder her with the flick of her wrist and honestly? Same.

Alina has some big “coming out of lockdown after a year” energy atm.

The cat is one of the most realistic characters in this thing, lol.

And since Tamar is also heavily queercoded, our lovely ladies make off into the night, flirting. Or maybe not. Let me dream, though.

At least Blade Boy is aware that his tattoo is stupid. To quote someone ranting about him on tumblr: He’s embracing his identity as a tool.

Oh, boy, this will be fun.

Evil soldier is horny for Mal. Saints, is there a woman in this book who isn’t horny for Blade Boy?

And here comes Niki to save the day.

Chapter 6

Niki saved the day.

Fiberglass? And David being David. Genya being in love with her nerd of a boyfriend.

Jesus Christ, this one crazy kid has moved the technology in this universe a whole century on his own. So, when is David going to propose to him?

Baghra hasn’t changed much I see.

Baghra’s about to drop some truthbombs, but no, we have to be rudely interupted because Genya’s rapist is throwing a fit.

Chapter 7

How does Mal sound? Is she gonna say the Blade boy sounds like her dad? I mean, I know voices are partially genetic, but it has been tens of generations between them, probably.

So, we’re finally taking Genya’s trauma seriously after all this time? Good. Better late than never, I guess.

I wish that regicide was already finished and I’m pretty sure that Genya does, too. Stop defending the fucking king, narrative.

David’s a nerd in all things I see.

Someone please just kill the king already. And the queen, too, for good measure.

Now that’s a romance.

Infodumping and listening to said infodumps is a legitimate love language, Alina. Let them nerd out over poisons.

Wait, has Alina never directly killed anyone before? I thought she did... hmmm.

And just like that, it should have been over. Ugh.

Somehow, Baghra is a better teacher now than she was before. She half feels like a completely different character.

Nevermind, she’s back at it.

Chapter 8

Holy shit, Nadia and Tamar are canon. They have canon gays here.

So, which one of them is gonna die?

Chapter 9

We arrive at that scene. The one, where they should have fucked.

Jeez, girl, get a hold of yourself. Life is short, fuck a villain.

In other news, Genya and David definitelly fucked.

Chapter 10

Poor David. He just wanted to know.

Damn... I never realized just how young Baghra was, when she killed her sister.

I’ve already made a post about this, but it really does strike me like Baghra has already decided to end her life at this point in the book.

Why is that whole “but what if we’re related” thing even in there?

Chapter 11

We love a suprise attack.

When did Sasha boy learn that trick?

Baghra really just did that. Oh boy.

Chapter 12

No, don’t kill the kid... ugh.

Emotiona support cat. She should be friends with Milo.

Porrige for brains. Oof.

So Nadia was the one, who got bees set on her in the book. Cool.

That’s a good question. Why was it never brought up to Alina, that other Grisha get blocks, too?

David already thinking of steampunk prosthetic for Adrik is honestly kinda sweet.

Chapter 13

Back home... kinda.

Is that really... you really care about Mal bonking the Grisha school mean girl over a year ago? Okay.

Chapter 14

Angst! Yay!

And more angst.

Chapter 15

Sasha really went “My mom killed herself to save you? Well, I’ll kill the closest thing to parents you have.”

Chapter 16

Nikolai’s alive. Kinda.

And these two have such a sibling energy, I can’t.

And then they fuck. Ew.

Chapter 17

Wait, wait wait... so Alina isn’t even the one to destroy the Fold?

Okay. That’s... weird.

Holy shit. That was...

So, Aleksander is dead. Mal isn’t. Someone else destroyed the Fold for Alina and now she has no powers.

Okay.

That’s a weird-ass ending.

Chapter 18

The gays survived, so that’s nice.

Genya made good on her promise of making Alina a ginger, lol.

After

What emotion is this supposed to give me? Cause all I feel is kinda sad.

[murfeelee]

Check In Tag

(Once again Tumblr deleted my whole effing post....)

Long story short, I’m posting this questionnaire cuz I saw it on my dash and I got nothing better to post--blame RL.

why did you choose your url?

Cuz I’m an uncultured swine who couldn't think of anything clever or creative.

any side blogs?

Almost 10, it’s madness.

how long have you been on tumblr?

2013

do you have a queue tag?

I queue everything, so I don't bother with a tag.

why did you choose your icon/pfp?

She’s Sakura Rain, my first TS3 sim, back when I was obsessed with Tinkerbell and the Pixie Hollow faeries (don’t judge me). She’s my fave berry sim.

why did you choose your header?

It’s a vestige of my old TSR theme/aesthetic.

what’s your post with the most notes?

My TS4 Still Unimpressed Rant, from 2015. I still DGAF about TS4, as EA barely scratches the surface or gives us anything we’ve never seen before. We FINALLY got llamas (they’re technically just reskinned cows, EA, you ain’t slick), but the rest of Cottage Living’s just a retread of TS3 Store stuff with new graphics & animations & half the gameplay (TS4 in a frikkin nutshell TBH).

And eff TS5; I want a TS1/TS2 remake, the same way Final Fantasy 7 and Resident Evil 2 got remade. Watching The Red Plumbob’s meticulous videos hammers home how badly EA’s failed to move FORWARD with this dang franchise, so they might as well go back to the frikkin start. I’m tired.

how many mutuals do you have?

Bunches, and I know for a fact half are inactive.

how many followers do you have?

Too dang many, since I never see most of y’all--unfollow me, and just track the Sims 3 CC tag, or bookmark my Build/Buy CC page & CAS CC Page. I keep telling y’all you don't need to follow me to find my CC, and I still get people showing up on my front lawn.

how many people do you follow?

Tons--simblrs, fandoms, art, trivia, fashion, etc.

have you ever made a shitpost?

Nah, I’m a ranter. I’m liable to go off on just about anything, but EA especially.

how often do you use tumblr each day?

I’m super sporadic. I’m most active on the weekends, when I try to catch up with tracked tags, messages, etc.

did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

Omg right after I posted that TS4 Unimpressed Rant I got this heated--and I mean H E A T E D--message, with some salty AF EA employee nonnie cussing me from A to Z. I clearly struck a nerve. XD #EAYouSuck

how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts?

I reblog whatever I want. I try to keep most stuff off main though, and put it on my personal blog.

do you like tag games?

I hate thinking of people to tag; it’s so stressful. Cuz I’ll inevitably forget someone, then I feel bad for leaving people out.

do you like ask games?

Y’all know I jump on these things even when no one’s tagged me, LOL.

which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

Who frikkin knows; people come and go.

I tag anyone!

[venteamocha]

Hello! Sometimes I see you post stuff from IF blogs and I've recently started playing some IF games, which I've enjoyed so far. Do you have any IF stories you'd recommend in particular? I'm not attached to any particular genre and I don't need romance or a self-insert main character, (though I'm not opposed to either). Though, it's a definite plus if it's LGBTQ+ inclusive! I'm not really sure what the "cornerstones" are of IF so I'll take any and all recommendations haha

Oh god, I play so many IFs. So many. And it’s not even close to all of them, but I’m trying!!

Tbh IFs without romance seems to be very rare, I think because when I think IF I think Choice of Games, and those pretty much always have romance in them. At least, the most well known ones do. But a well done one without romance would be nice too!

Okay, this is a list of my favourites! They’re all LGBT+ inclusive, and most have gender selectable love interests, or at least ones that change gender depending on the gender and sexuality combination you pick. In no particular order, of course.  Behind a cut because I’m gonna give them each a mini review. Because I haven’t done that yet.

(There are so many.)

Mind Blind: I absolutely love our big brother Nick, I love how witty and sharp so much of the dialogue is, I love how the MC clearly has a rather large handicap, but is still such an important person to so many people and not looked down on in the slightest. And when they are, we all know it’s because that person is a jerk! They’re not defined by what they aren’t, but what they are, and that’s a great message.

Shepherds of Haven: Part of why I love this one so much is I just love fantasy settings and this one just pulls it off so well. The cast is full of amazing characters, and I gotta say I die inside pretty regularly for not being able to afford the patreon content, lol. The author puts so much amazing stuff on there, and gives us so much great content in the game and through answers on tumblr, and you can tell this whole thing is just the best thing ever to them, and that makes it the best ever for us readers too!

The Wayhaven Chronicles: I’d be shot if I didn’t mention this one, the series that literally killed dashingdon when the book 3 demo dropped!! Again, another author that cares a lot and does their best to do right by their fans. We’ve been given drip after drip of these amazing characters backstories, and I just cannot wait for more! It’s definitely very romance centered, but the overall plotlines are also very good, and I have to say that no matter who I romance, I just feel like the group as a whole is a family. And that’s wonderful.

Speaker: I really like the lore. I really like the lore. I can’t wait until we get more of the overall plotline. Mostly I want my Speaker to get in deep trouble so Seb, Li and Seer (best sister ever) go off and beat the shit out of whatever is causing it. This probably says something about me, but what can I say, I thrive on angst and inflicting near death injuries on my OCs. Sometimes I even kill them, although all of this is offtopic. Or is it? I guess we’ll find out, although I doubt we’ll actually be able to kill off Speaker. And yes, I am definitely playing the Seb & Li poly route. I love them both so much. 

Wilhelmina: I love vampires, ok? Ok? And this one is based off Dracula!! The OG!! And you can choose Drac’s gender!! Shit, sign me up forever!! Yeah, she might be literally killing my bff, torturing my fiancé and low key fucking with my mind, but vampires are hot!! Let me live! Or not. But yeah, this is a really well done retelling of the Dracula novel and I like how well it works as an IF. Did I mention I like vampires?? Especially when they get all monstery?? (This one has an MC with a set gender, as it’s based on an already existing literary figure. Mina can have a same sex relationship with dracula, if you make drac a female, or with Lucy, a female love interest.)

More Things in Heaven and Earth: Hi Nell!! First off, I gotta uncover a deep shame of mine. My family literally has a Shakespeare heirloom collection. As in, my greatgrandfather passed down through the family a collection of Shakespeare that was published in 1911. In ye olde englishe. I tried to read it when I was like 10 and was like what language is this?? What the fuck? What the fuck??? And ended up reading As You Like It, a bit of Romeo and Juliet, and a little of Hamlet. Didn’t touch the rest of it. I only got into the other stories through trashy ya reimaginings. That said, this retelling of Hamlet inspired me to go read the whole of the original and now I have a lot of fears for these characters that I’m so much more attached to, oh god I hope my Ophelia has a happy ending. I hope Hamlet himself has a happy ending. The dialogue is so well done, everyone is engaging, and yeah it made me finish an old af book when nothing else did. (This one also has an MC with a set gender, female, for the same reason. However, there are two gender variable love interests, so you can very much play a bi or gay Ophelia if you so choose.)

Guenevere: I love King Arthur. All the myths. I have so many books based on the King Arthur mythos, oh dear god. I love pretty much every version of it. All the movie and tv shows too! I just can’t get enough of those knights. I could go on for paragraphs about how courtly love worked and how all the different social castes were, but I’ll try not to. This series lets you customize Guen as a character to an amazing degree, considering that she’s also based on an actual literary figure like the other two I mentioned above. It really feels like she becomes your own character, and yet she still exists within this world very very well. I worry quite a bit that the author might have bit off more than they can chew with the current book they’re working on, what I’ve seen of it looks absolutely massive in scale. What is out so far is a wonderful read though, full of drama and laughter and lots of chances to make the story your own.

Bastard of Camelot: Yep! Another King Arthur series! Sue me! This one lets you set Mordred’s gender though, so it’s more inclusive in that way. It is very interesting to play as one of the “bad guys” of the King Arthur mythos. You can play them as straight up evil, as good, or you know, a bit of column a and a bit of column b. Or they can just be a rude little shit. It’s got dragons too! You get a dragon pet! Dragons are cool. It can be a bit tough to play sometimes, since a lot of people dislike Mordred quite a lot because of prejudices. Hopefully this will change a bit later in the series if you’ve been a fairly good person up to that point. Gotta say though, as a warning, that Mordred is a product of incest. It’s not glossed over, and it does cause a lot of problems for them in the story.

God of the Red Mountain: I just love that this inspired me to read more chinese mythology tbh. There is just so much here! And it’s just such a good read. I wish I was better at describing things. The MC being a spirit that you can define, the whole setting, most of the love interests also being spirits, the massive amount of history and culture and lore, how it all fits together. It is such a well done story. I really wish it got more attention than it does. I still miss Big Sister. I still can’t wait to find out more about the foxes, and how we can heal our MC.

The Nameless: Another one that lets you play as something otherworldly. I love the lore behind this one, and I love all of the cast I’ve met. I kind of like that our MC isn’t loved right off the bat, that we’ll have to win over all of our love interests and even the other npcs. I’m up for the challenge! Everything I’ve read on the tumblr for these characters just makes me love them all more tbh. I love how much they’ve written for all of them! Most of all though, I love Oisein. All the art of them is just *chef kiss* and their personality is magical.

A Mage Reborn: This is a really recent one but!! Wow, it’s really well done! That cliffhanger!! Oof!! Not many books literally start with killing your MC off! That takes guts! I told the author this already, but I love the way they formatted this, the way it starts with the end, so to speak, and then fills it all out. It just made everything feel so poignant, how MC is literally looking back at all these moments in time in the last minutes they have before they die. Shit. That’s powerful. And there’s gonna be more??? Can’t wait for that angst. Give me that drama. Of course I picked the one who had me killed, that’s just how I am!

These are all just the COG type games, there are a few twine games with graphics I’d throw on here, but the list is long enough as it is and they feel like they’re in a different category to me. Maybe it’s just me?

[mellindi]

Check In Tag ✔️

I was tagged by @mamabearssims and @storiesbyjes2g. Thank you ladies! (I got tagged in a bunch of other things too. I’ll get to them at some point, lol)

Why did you choose your url?

My old url was mellocakes so when I wanted a change, I just took the mello and added my first name (India) so mellindi is what we got!

Any side blogs? If you have them name them and why you have them.

Yeah, I still have the mellocakes url (didn’t want anyone to take it and be weird) so since I have it, I just use it to reblog non-sims things like recipes but mostly writing advice. I also have my cc finds, mellofinds too.

How long have you been on tumblr?

Since... 2017! It’s been a nice few years.

Do you have a queue tag?

I hate the queue, lol.

Why did you start your blog in the first place?

Back in like 2016 when I first started playing TS4 I was looking for cc and discovered that there was an entire community on tumblr full of gameplay and stories and everything and fell in love. It took me a whole year after lurking and silently reading other people’s stories to finally take the leap and create an account. Glad I did it :)

Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

It matches what I have going on, on my Wordpress blog.

Why did you choose your header?

I don’t have one!

What’s your post with the most notes?

I’m not sure! But I do know its something related to mod recommendations or tutorials.

How many mutuals do you have?

I don’t like talking numbers so lets just say a lot, lol.

How many followers do you have?

See above please.

How many people do you follow?

Take one more look above.

Have you ever made a shitpost?

I’m not sure! I make posts about the random shit my kids say/do sometimes but I mean, as far as I’m concerned, that’s Grade A content :D

How often do you use tumblr each day?

Not that much, lol.

Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

Fight? Argument?? With a sims blog??? I am a grown ass woman, I’ll have you know.

How do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts?

I feel like people don’t have to do anything they don’t want to do. I sure as hell don’t so I think its weird AF for anyone to think they have that kind of authority over anyone else.

Do you like tag games?

Sometimes! If I get tagged in them and I actually remember to do them, lol, I don’t mind!

Do you like ask games?

I never reblog them cause I have this thing about not wanting to flood people’s dashes but I think they’re cool!

Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

It’s tumblr... “fame” is non-existent, lol.

Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Yes! My girls @lovearound5am and @storiesbyjes2g who keep me sane!

Tags?

Umm.... let’s do @lovearound5am @mysimsloveaffair @justsimroarks @frequenciii @kouzeesim and anyone else who wants to do it!