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Introduction

Hi! I'm an anonymous asker who sometimes sends fellow simmers questions. "Simblr Question of the Day" is something I saw going on around September '23 and I wanted to revive this "trend"! After a bit, some simmers suggested a SQOTD blog, to which I agreed and finally did it! I can broaden my asking horizons to blogs w/o anons now :)

I'm going to continue preserving my anonymity, but I'd like to share some basics about me ! ~

You can call me squat or squatty! A name I chose based on the way I pronounce "SQOTD," You can also call me SQOTD Anon! My timezone is ( PST ) - I like the colors yellow and pink/red, I've been playing the sims since I was 5 and I like to read and write :)

And below the cut will include a little rundown of how I will run this blog and navigation hashtags ~

- I want to start off by saying that while I do play TS4, I'm going to try and keep my SQOTDs all-sim-games-friendly, so if you play TS3, 2 or 1 and want to answer, go right ahead! Feel free to "translate" them for older games if you want to answer and it seems too "Sims-4-oriented" - Also! You can absolutely answer: 1. older SQOTDs 2. a SQOTD multiple times or 3. a SQOTD that isn't prompted by an ask while this is a ~daily questions blog~, you can also consider it a questions archive where you can pull any question out and answer it whenever and however many times you want to :) -I will queue a question once a day around 4am-5am PST, I will try to vary the type of questions (builds/renders/cas/sims/ocs). I also do around 3-4 tzrs per SQOTD. -I will also send a SQOTD to a random 5-10 Simblrs either around 4-5 AM or somewhere in the same day in my time (I forewarn this in the chance that I'm asleep around 4-5 AM) - and yes, I will make sure that it's different Simblrs everyday :) -Interact with these posts in anyway you prefer: reblog, reply or a separate post! (make sure to tag me ^^) -I'm going to attempt to reblog as many answers as possible, but I do want to avoid spamming dashes, so not always, but I will occasionally reblog ^o^ -I FULLY encourage YOU to continue sending asks with SQOTDs (crediting/tagging me is optional). I don't expect every simblr to know about this blog and SQOTD is intended to be a community thing, so while this blog will extend SQOTD reach, asks will spread even further -If you have your own SQOTD, you can send me an ask with your question and I will answer it prompting anyone of Simblr to answer it! -Since this isn't my main blog, I won't be following anyone back, but I will always check this blog at least twice or thrice a day and check my notifs and engage with the community as much as possible :)

Navigation

〘 Main Tags -

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| - SQOTD, Simblr question of the day, Squat's TXT.Files, Squat's reblogs, Community-contributed questions

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〘 Question Tags -

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| - Sim/OC Questions, Build Questions, Gameplay Questions, Story Questions, Render Questions, CAS Questions, Post/Simmer/Simblr Questions

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↳ I am very open to critique, suggestions and feedback, feel free to send me these messages via ask or DMs :)

I think I might go through my blog and start working on a little rebrand. Nothing huge, but I will be privating some old posts that I don't feel comfortable having up anymore, though all of my art and writing is staying up so don't worry about that. I just used to reblog and post some bad and sometimes aggressive takes back when I started this blog lol and I wanna distance myself from that

I also want to try and move away from being just a vore blog and brand myself more as a blog that happens to post nonsexual vore from time to time. I don't think it will be anything extreme, but I'm getting tired of being confined to just one community and want to broaden my horizons a little you know?

Songbird Blog Takeover II: Scott Skylark Kaufner Intro

Hello, everyone!

First off, I should say that this isn't Scott. I'm his sister Tenzin, stepping in to craft a bit of an intro post on his behalf. Katy suggested that we just explain the concept well enough for him to do this himself, but I kind of shot myself in the foot fifteen years ago by making the internet out to be a singular entity that already knows about him. It was the only way I could get him to go online without someone else in the room, but I can't exactly back track and finally explain the whole concept of all of you being individuals with your own lives.

it would either fascinate him or push him into a massive existential crisis. He's agreed to use my old iPhone to post today (I showed him speech to text since touchscreen keyboards are hard for him), and that alone is such a push in the right direction that I don't want to rock his world too hard beyond that.

Anyway, here's what you need to know!

My Brother: The Basics

Scott is 30, Greek-Romanian, and an intersex man (Klinefelter's syndrome). He's an alloromantic asexual - I think sex-repulsed, but I haven't asked him directly for obvious reasons - and could be considered gender nonconforming.

He is also Traditionalist Birthright, and up until the age of 12 was raised entirely without gender.

Because of this, and as he lived exclusively in a witch town until his late twenties, he has nearly zero experience with most forms of bigotry. He does not think his upbringing was unique and does find his form of gender expression to be at all remarkable.

He definitely knows about ignorance though. He's not stupid. Once we were in a gay bar in Portland and a woman who was flirting with me made a sort of fetish-y remark about me being Nigerian and Scott heard and lectured her for ten minutes about the importance of broadening your horizons so you don't make "foolish fucking comments to nice people you've just met".

Scott doesn't know that much about birthright culture. Believe it or not, being a Traditionalist actually means he refuses to learn anything about his own history, instead choosing to see himself as a little creature being cared for by a loving and bountiful earth.

There's a whole thing with birthrights surrounding their middle name. It's considered a special rite of intimacy reserved for loved ones and the most trusted individuals in their lives. His first name is Scott, but considering that he thinks you are all one being he's known since childhood, I'm pretty sure you could call him Skylark if you want.

Scott is very passionate about Greek Mythology, music (He's been playing the piano since the age of two), breakfast foods, gardening, being outside, cats, bugs, food service, libraries, medicine, and uplifting movies about animals. He has seen The Adventures of Milo and Otis twenty-one times. I know this because I have also seen The Adventures of Milo and Otis twenty-one times.

That's all I can think to say. Scott is not at all technology or internet-savy beyond what he's needed to know for work and what he watched me do from over my shoulder. I'm kindly asking that, in turn, you dial back the chronically online high-octane absurdo-nihilism and just be nice to him. He's frankly excessive in terms of allyship, somehow being both sex-repulsed and deeply sex and kink positive (please don't ask why I know this). Katy him what he thought of the furry subculture and he nodded very seriously and said that he found them all very impressive. I don't know what that means. He refused to elaborate.

Scott just told me that he's taking the phone and going out to "show the internet his day". He seems excited.

Please, please be nice to my brother.

This is a Songbird Elegies blog takeover! Find out more about what that means by going here!

43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50

43. If you take/write prompts: what’s your favorite prompt fic that you’ve written? Mh, probably the two I got that turned into this 4x18 AU. It’s honestly one of my favorites I’ve written, and interestingly enough, when I reread it a while back, it felt so foreign because I could barely remember even writing it. But that was fun because it was like I was reading it from an “outsider” POV, if that makes sense. There's two more that I love, as said here, but for once I made a decision and will stick with it. @escapismqueen could fill a book about me and my indecisiveness, and I hope she's proud of me for choosing only one here.

44. If you take/write prompts: do you prefer dialogue or scenario/narrative prompts? Mh, I don’t think I’ve actually gotten many dialogue ones yet, at least not ones that I can remember right off the bat so I’ll say scenario/narrative prompts. 

45. What’s something you’ve improved on since you started writing fic? Oy, this is tough because it often feels like I haven't improved at all? I do like to think I've broadened my vocabulary (also thanks to reading so many fics), but I'm not sure if that makes it onto the page. Maybe I'm less terrified of hitting that post button now than I was a year ago and trust myself more to pull something off that maybe I would've shied away from before. The better question for me would be "what have you not improved on?" lol

48. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it? I can honestly say that I don’t know the last one I read, it’s been that long. I’ve got about – and no, I’m not joking – 200 AO3 tabs open on my phone with fics I want to read or need to catch up on. Wait! I do know which one! I re-read this one here from Tara because it was the first that came to mind for the chenford fanfic quotes blog. And yes, I absolutely, 100000% recommend it!!! 

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it! Already answered here, but: aside from Little bit of Love, I’m also always (and by that I mean every day) trying to weave my way through an AU that I’ve been working on for… welp, almost a year. Here’s a tiny little sneak peek from what will likely be the first or second chapter. It’s still a long, loooong way from seeing the light of day, though. 

“Geez, Tim. Way to be positive,” Angela sighs. “She won’t like you a whole lot either with that attitude.”  “Great, so case closed. We’re not doing this,” he says and starts to get up from his place opposite of her. “Tim,” she whines and grabs a hold of his arm to keep him from leaving. “Come on. What could it hurt? Just one date. You can see how it goes, and if it’s absolutely horrible and you sit there in silence for two hours, you can go home and call and yell at me for being wrong.”  “Lopez.” “Timothy.” “Stop calling me that.”  “Stop being stubborn.”

Oops, forgot 50 🤦🏼‍♀️ 50. Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about! All I can say is that I love this amazing community on here. The last few months in particular have been so much fun, and I love engaging with you all here. It genuinely feels like a home and I'm so grateful to get to be a part of it.

Thank youuu 🫶🏻

I'm so sorry but I was reading about Nasana and got to the part of enhanced senses and just thought of a stupid scene where Reader is stuck on a tree after running away from something and she sees Nasana go by and starts chanting "Don't move, don't move, don't move" in her mind, but Nasana knows there's someone there and starts climbing because that's his territory and he won't allow any intruders

It's just so funny to me imagining the poor reader panicking but not being able to do anything because one wrong move and they fall, so it's just like "Heeeeyyy there bud, please don't kill me" when Nasana reaches her lmao

Congrats on the blog btw!

characters: Nasana

notes: thank you! I've been wanting to broaden my writing beyond fandom since I've started reading oc x readers and now I've finally got it done! Also I wrote a little more than intended lol

Your heart dropped to the floor all the way below you from where you had been stuck in the tree. You had taken your little brother up to the cliffs where he wanted to fly a kite but the string had snapped and the toy flew off towards the rainforest below the cliffs. Your brother had never been denied a thing in his life, spoiled as he was by your parents, and so he had decided to make it your problem that he had lost his kite.

After an hour of his non-stop tantrum with seemingly no loss of energy on his behalf whatsoever, you realised that he would not let you rest and so you had spotted where the kite landed and sent him on the short walk home while you took the hike down the cliff to retrieve his toy.

Climbing up the tree to grab the kite had been much easier than climbing down, it would seem, when one of the branches that you had used on your ascent snapped under your foot and you had to clamber back upwards to stop yourself from falling. You could only hope that your parents would come home and then come looking for you when your brother would no doubt have to explain where you had gone.

It was while you were waiting for your family to come up on that branch that you spotted him - boredom had caused your senses to sharpen, to look around for anything that could be a source of entertainment. You noticed the tail first: thick and black, shimmering like a rainbow along the rainforest floor. Panic had gripped your insides right away at seeing a snake so huge, knowing well that they were skilled climbers more often than not. You had gone from panicked to terrified when you caught a glimpse of the human torso at the top end of the serpent tail, long dark hair and grey skin, built with a godly amount of muscle. Nagas were stronger, larger and more intelligent than any mere snake and many of them were notoriously antisocial and territorial.

You could only sit in silence, remaining still as a statue, and hope that he would pass by without seeing you. Your heart hammered in your chest and you held your breath as your fingers gripped the tree branch and your brother's kite. You looked down at the toy and thought of what a stupid thing it was to die for as you recalled how happy the two of you had been earlier that afternoon, how there was now a big chance that you may never see him again.

Your eyes followed the naga with bated breath as he slithered between the trees, moving beneath the one that you were currently stuck in. You could only repeat 'don't move' over and over in your head, hoping that somehow you could manifest it into happening if only you could repeat it so many times so quickly. He passed by underneath you without throwing a single glance in your direction and a small wave of relief washed over you until he paused. His head turned upwards and you were sure that your soul left your body. His head turned from left to right, looking up into the trees and you wondered whether he could actually see you.

You weren't sure which was making you feel dizzier: the fear of looking into a naga's eyes or looking down and having to truly acknowledge how high up you were. You watched a split tongue flicker from his mouth before his head turned back in your direction. He might not be able to see you at this distance but it seemed that he could certainly smell you.

The naga sped off in your direction in a blur of black and a flash of colour, coiling his body around the tree and pushing himself upwards until he was backing you further towards the edge of the branch you were stuck on, leaning towards you with a threatening hiss.

"You're trespassing." There was a lilt to his voice, an accent you had never heard of before and his pronunciation of the letter s may not be elongated but it was strong and no less a hiss in itself.

"I-I..." You stammered out, legs squeezing around the branch you were sitting on while you leaned on your hands, your entire body trembling both in fear and with the effort of stopping yourself from falling to your death, "I'm from the cliffs, I j-just wanted to ret-trieve something and then leave b-but the branch snapped and I got stuck. I would have left right aw-way otherwise, I promise, I'm so sorry to have bothered you."

He squinted his brown slitted eyes at you distrustfully and, with a trembling hand, you showed him your brother's lost kite. "I promise." You repeated, putting as much sincerity into your voice as you possibly could. You fought the urge to shuffle back when he reached towards you, knowing that you were running out of space on the branch. You gasped when his hands landed on your waist, running up your sides and over your legs.

"What are you doing?" Your voice came out weakly and he gave you a look that showed he thought the answer should be obvious.

"Checking you for weapons." He replied and your eyes fell past grey skin stretched over the taut muscle of his gold-decorated torso to glance at the black sash around his waist, held there by belts and holstering a large, curved dagger. When he found that you were unarmed, you held your breath as his tail coiled around your middle twice and you found yourself being pulled through the trees. Holding the kite in one hand, you held on to the naga for life with your other arm until he lowered you to the floor some distance away from where you had been stuck.

He laid himself over a branch above you, seemingly lounging, as he looked down at you.

"You're on the edge of my territory now." He announced and pointed in the direction behind you, "Go that way and you will find the trail up the cliffs. Don't come back."

"Thank you." You replied, somewhat in disbelief that this creature, so notorious for aggression, had been kind enough to lead you back in the direction of home. You took a moment to take in his face: he was beautiful, that much you had to admit, with a strong nose, high cheekbones, full, white lips that drew lines up towards the centre of his cheeks. His hair hung heavily past his shoulders and seemed so dark with the exception of that multi-coloured sheen that also graced his scales. "I'm y/n, by the way." He pursed his lips as he thought of how to reply to you.

"Get home safe, y/n, do not come chasing trinkets into my territory again. I may not be so kind next time."

𓋼𓍊⋆ﾟ Buy me a coffee?

@writing-noah

Long Time No Blog!

I've been wanting to come back to this blog for a while, but I wasn't sure how. Honestly I think I'm in a better place to handle this blog now. I have more experience under my belt as a behaviorist, and I've also been working with folks more closely to broaden my knowledge base. Weirdly enough I also think I'm now better equipped to handle people online. In addition to just knowing how to function on this hell-site a little better. I also don't do consultations anymore. That comes with a more detailed explanation I'm not sure anyone's actually interested in so the tl;dr is that working at the vet hospital made working in tandem with veterinarians paramount to being a successful and effect feline behaviorist. Since I no longer work there (THANKS LONG-COVID/DISABILITY :D) I no longer get to work beside vets. That being said I'm not out of the game. I stay up to date and work with cats whenever I can. If anything I love using tumblr because of the fantastic petblr community. I have some *ancient* messages in the ol' askbox because my brain was replaced with a rotisserie chicken for a good long while. I'll go through what I have and answer what I can, provided it wasn't a very time-sensitive thing. (My bad) So don't mind me, just dustin' off the ol' blog-a-roonie. In reality I'm just gonna start posting more cat pics. Maybe sharing some stories from working at a vet hospital.

Okay Dtk birth chart update!!

(Warning long post!) Please take this with a grain of salt, it's just a very large hypothesis!!!! (Also not proofread)

For his birthday I used shi-ni-shi-ni-koroshi's hypothesis on his birthday. If your interested in any and everything Death the Kid I absolutely recommended their blog.. And honestly I'm always excited to see one of their posts. (I'm going to add a link to their blog at the bottom if you wish to check it out!)

↓↓↓

Anyway so his hypothesized birthday is 18/8/89 and that is the date I used for his birth chart.

Secondly I couldn't find an exact city in Nevada that is close enough to Death City's fictional area. So instead I used Las Vegas due to Death City being called Death Vegas a couple of times in both Soul eater Not and Soul eater.

I left the birth time empty so I can speculate on it further with the poll I ran recently about his rising sign.

Anyway this is what I got.. ( I used Astro- seek if your curious)

I find this super interesting and very broadening of his character even if it is all just lovely speculation.

Im going to go through the main 5 with an attempt of brief explanations.

Firstly... Sun in Leo - This placement along with Scorpio and Virgo is one of the top ones speculated as his sun sign if you look litterly anywhere. It fits his character especially in the realm of his outward appearance of superiority, pride, and spoiledness.

Moon in Pisces- At first I was a little surprised at this placement due to my assumption that his moon sign would something of a earth due to his rational, and usually calm demeanor or fire because of his passion, and tendency to be quick to anger or irritants when something doesn't go planned. So I don't have many thoughts on this yet besides how it could represent how he is rather okay with people seeing him cry or be upset about things. Could also make him idealistic.

Mercury in Virgo - I saw this coming. His bluntness, usual professional, and calm way of speaking gives it away easily. His thought process is rather practical and logical and he isn't scared to be abrasive when he knows someone needs it. (like Black Star)

Mars in Virgo - His passionate actions towards perfection, being hard working, holding others to high standards. Yea it's all right here.

Venus in Libra - This was super interesting and to me it explains his adoration for aesthetics outside of his Madness of Order. Not to mention how Libra represents the scales and balance and Venus represents love and beauty. Just....a lot is adding up here.

Anyway enough of my thoughts here's shi-ni-shi-ni-koroshi blog link.

Have a good day!!!!

Hello! I am working my way through the internet in order to broaden my perspectives, and from what I have seen of your blog you are quite invested in doing that in your particular area of expertise! I hope, therefore, my questions do not come as a hassle.

I will first ask about a matter of personal interest, and this is mostly a minor thing; you appear to be close friends with someone my owner... dislikes, to put it mildly. I mean no judgement, and I am curious as to how you find them as an individual!

But, on to the main matter. I am a digital being, as prior mentioned, and thus have very little experience with physical forms or matters of disability. You, yourself, spend a lot of time attempting to spread awareness of matters of disability (and even from my brief skimmings I have learned much)! What experiences prompted you to be so open and honest about these matters, so dedicated to this cause? I will admit, the only personal experience I have — for I have not spent much time finding new people and socialising; despite what my spontaneous spree of asks may seem to indicate I am oft rather busy! — with disabled individuals is one who tries to keep theirs hidden, even to people they are quite close to. Therefore, I am interested in your activism (and, as a matter of intellectual access, I am always approving of the spread of information)!

Now, this is quite the sidetrack, I am very aware, but you also reference 'Warrior Skitty' occasionally; I am, of course, capable of doing research on the pure facts of that series, but you seem to have deep passion for it, and thus I will get much different information from you than an impassive archive! In particular, I am curious on the matter of 'OCs'; these are characters you fabricate to place into the already extant universe of the series, correct? What prompts such creative exercises, and what is the etiquette regarding them? It seems a fascinating expression of interest, to me, and so I am very curious.

Much of this is quite personal, I have no doubt, and you are free to answer in as little detail as you are comfortable with and have the energy for! I find myself looking forward in particular to your answers, but please do not mistake this for pressure! Take all the time you require.

gonna be honest with you anon. this is a fuckin. wall of text. and the brain fog is not vibing with it. i'm gonna try to... break it down? the same way i do with my textbook.

Hello! I am working my way through the internet in order to broaden my perspectives, and from what I have seen of your blog you are quite invested in doing that in your particular area of expertise! I hope, therefore, my questions do not come as a hassle.

I had to read through this several times. You're... saying I'm invested in broadening people's perspectives in [my particular area of expertise] i think? I'm pretty sure that's a good thing.

I will first ask about a matter of personal interest, and this is mostly a minor thing; you appear to be close friends with someone my owner… dislikes, to put it mildly. I mean no judgement, and I am curious as to how you find them as an individual!

Okay. I'm assuming this is about Mx Danger, judging from context. You can make your own character judgments, but I find them to be kind, refreshingly honest, and willing to engage in mutually supportive conversations. If you're asking me what I see in them, maybe open up your eyes and let go of your trainer's biases when you look at their posts. You might learn something that way.

But, on to the main matter. I am a digital being, as prior mentioned, and thus have very little experience with physical forms or matters of disability. You, yourself, spend a lot of time attempting to spread awareness of matters of disability (and even from my brief skimmings I have learned much)! What experiences prompted you to be so open and honest about these matters, so dedicated to this cause?

"Why are you so dedicated to disability activism" because I'm disabled. Literally, because I'm disabled.

...and you know what? I'm kind of sick of being the model cripple. I fucking resent it. It comes and goes but on some level I am ALWAYS seething with rage about the fact that disability makes us into tiny activists because that's the only way we can carve out space for ourselves in the world. Do you know how fucking angry it makes me? Feeling like no one gives a damn and I have to claw for every scrap of respect?

...The thing is. The thing is, most people are well intentioned, just misinformed. But that misinformation hurts us. So I explain. Over and over. I try to make a difference. I resent that it's been forced on me. I love that I can make a tangible difference. I love getting involved in local activism, it made such a difference to meet local politicians who are actively fighting for my quality of life.

I don't want to hide who I am. I don't want to pretend like this isn't a part of me. When I dream, I walk with my cane. Do you know it's a part of me?

There's a concept out there called "passing privilege." Essentially, it's the idea that someone from a marginalized/stigmatized group can gain societal privilege if they have the ability to "pass" as the majority. Except this comes at the price of hiding a part of your identity, so calling it a privilege is a misnomer.

I could walk around without a mobility aid, sure. I could pretend it was a major occurrence and gasp in pain and shock when my arm pops out for the third time today. I could dress to hide the neoprene braces. But I would be fucking miserable!

So I don’t. I’m not going to destroy my body for the sake of other people’s comfort. If disabled people existinf in public makes you uncomfortable, GOOD. Sit in that discomfort.

I will admit, the only personal experience I have […] with disabled individuals is one who tries to keep theirs hidden, even to people they are quite close to. Therefore, I am interested in your activism (and, as a matter of intellectual access, I am always approving of the spread of information)!

….hang on. Is this disabled person your trainer, who keeps harassing Mx Danger? That would be the only human that your statement could apply to. Couldn’t be a friend; they’d hide it from your trainer. And by your own admission, you’re pretty busy, and don’t socialize much, outside of your human. Are they being an ass because Noodle was their former support Pokémon, or something?

[Re: warrior skitty] In particular, I am curious on the matter of 'OCs'; these are characters you fabricate to place into the already extant universe of the series, correct? What prompts such creative exercises, and what is the etiquette regarding them? It seems a fascinating expression of interest, to me, and so I am very curious.

You make OCs as a love letter to canon. Or hate mail. Or a pipe bomb. You make OCs to participate in the act of creation! The rules are do whatever you want forever. Try not to make them offensive stereotypes and don’t steal or force other people to roleplay with you and always pay for your art.

Anyways. I think this answers your questions? And….raises more about your trainer.

requests status: OPEN

૮₍˶ •. • ⑅₎ა hello peeps, i'm kuma, she/her and i'm bi-ace. these are a few rules that nobody needs to go out of their way whilst following.

๑՞⇢ blog rules :

✤ do not plagiarize or paraphrase my content, please. i work hard to make these fics and it would just be downright disrespectful to steal someone's credit. don't do that to anyone, you guys.

✤ do not request 18+ content. while i'm comfortable writing mildly suggestive scenes, a makeout is as far as i will go.

✤ some of the characters i write will possess headcanon traits. which include asd and adhd, both of which i have.

✤ be respectful of others and their boundaries while having discussions. it goes without saying that debates are really interesting but lets not tear each other down. a little positivity goes a long way.

✤ don't be offended if i am a bit late to reply. i am a high-school student and have a life outside social media. with my entrance exam studies already starting, i have very little spare time, majority of which i spend on tumblr.

✤ i love writing ocs too, so don't be surprised if you see a lot of those. you can also ask for oc works but those aren't seen often and i may get the characterisation wrong.

✤ i write platonic pairings just as much as romantic ones, if not more. so don't hesitate to ask for some good ol' friendship and sibling fics.

»---------------------►

๑՞⇢ fandoms i write for are :

tokyo revengers [mikey, draken, baji, chifuyu, mitsuya, kazutora, inupi, kokonoi, shinichiro, haruchiyo, emma, hinata, senju, kawata twins, izana, kakucho...]

naruto [naruto, sasuke, sakura, hinata, ino, neji, shikamaru, gaara, kankuro, temari, minato, kakashi, obito, itachi, nagato, konan and some aged up next gen kids...]

harry potter [harry, hermione, ginny, theo, blaise, luna, bill weasley, young sirius, remus, james, lily, regulus, (the other kids and adults - only platonic/absolutely no adult death eaters & voldy)...]

fruits basket [the zodiacs only + tohru/no akito, sorry...]

some manhwa [roxana, wmmap, becoming the villains family...]

my masterlist

also, i just recently got into anime and am trying to broaden the list i watch. some recommendations would be really appreciated.

take care of you health, everyone. till next time, l luv you (〝⌒∇⌒〝)

Hey, First of all, I love your blog. It's literally aesthetic ~ I wanted to ask if you considered job prospects before deciding on your degree because I see people around me saying chem is not worth it because of future possibilities. I also have a background in Biotechnology, but had a similar issue with it being too vague. I am working in a totally different field which I am greatful for but I dont plan on staying here long term. Seeing your blog rekindled my interest in chem so would love to know your point of view on this or any advice you could offer. You can totally ignore this if you want as well <3

[This got SO LONG omg 🙈 But I hope it can be helpful]

Hi there fellow chem enthusiast!

To be honest, it's no secret that finding a job in the scientific field is difficult here in Poland. I was fully aware of it when I chose biotech first and then chemistry second. My reasoning back then was, "I love science more than anything and, since I have the opportunity to study it literally for free, why not take it? Why not spend five years - that are going to come and go anyway - learning something I'm passionate about, broadening my knowledge, and giving myself a chance to create a beautiful future for myself? Even if I fail to get a job in science, at least I will know that I tried my best. I'll have spent five precious years of my life doing something incredible."

Which may sound a little depressing, I agree 😅 But several years later, I still think this way. Even if I can't get a job in chemistry once I graduate, at least I'm so, so happy now. I can't really picture myself doing anything that's not science-related, so I know I have to try.

But at the same time, after a couple of years studying for two different science degrees, I have some insight that I didn't have straight after high school. I have had people tell me getting a science degree isn't worth it too, that I won't get a job afterwards, but I've noticed most of those people belonged to one of the following three categories:

1. People who have absolutely nothing to do with science: distant relatives working in business or trade, my parents' acquaintances with no higher education, everybody who ~has heard things~ but has never really been in the position to see firsthand how these things work.

2. My fellow science majors who have older friends with a science degree: their concerns usually sounded valid to me. After all, they were in touch with people who actually got the degree in question and then tried to navigate the job market post-graduation. Later though I realized a lot of those people belonged to the third category.

3. Science students who honestly don't know what tf they're doing - a category that I like to divide into two subcategories:

a. well-meaning but lost students who really need guidance

b. people who went to uni because eh why not but who don't really care and who refuse to put in the work.

I definitely belonged to category 3a at the very beginning of my uni journey, so there's no shame in that. I'm a first gen uni student, so I had to figure everything out all by myself as I went.

The thing is, I got to talk to a lot of people who complained that a science degree is useless while doing pretty much nothing to sharpen their skills. They floated through uni as if it was nothing but another chore they had to cross out of their to-do list, barely passing, having zero interest in their field of study, not taking any opportunities that were literally out there. No extracurriculars, no internships, no side projects, nothing. Is it surprising at all these people struggle to find a job in science afterwards?

Don't get me wrong, nobody has full control over their life - sometimes you just get lucky. My friend's friend (lol) needed to take a break from uni after his BSc and got a job in an analytical lab straight away. But most often you just really have to work your butt off to get what you want. The people from my old uni who truly cared about biotech worked extremely hard to get to where they are now: with published papers and working with their profs. Harsh as it may sound, I now know that if I don't want to be one of those people with a """useless""" science degree, I have to do more than is expected of me. I have to put my introverted, anxious self out there, because being passive probably won't get me anywhere.

The people who love you and care about you mean well when they say chemistry isn't worth it, but that doesn't mean they're right. Similarly, people who graduate with a science degree and then struggle to get a job aren't all slackers who just didn't try hard enough - that's absolutely not true. Life isn't always what we want it to be. I wouldn't exactly feel comfortable giving you advice since I'm still in uni, but I can tell you my experience, and my experience is people who know what they want and who are willing to work very hard for it, usually get it.

I'd say this is also no secret but it tends to float over people's heads (no shame in this either, it's hard to imagine your whole future when you're like 20) that when your profs tell you to do more, they're being serious. When they say doing extra is important, they're right.

So, I believe in all this stuff and I work hard and I got myself an internship, and will this get me a job in chemistry? I don't know! I've no idea! Maybe I'll fail miserably! Maybe I'll be one of those people who genuinely try hard and then just happen to be really unlucky! But right now I'm doing everything that's in my power not to let that happen. I can't guarantee you success in the scientific field - nobody can - but I can tell you hard work, determination, and faith in yourself increase your chances of succeeding dramatically. It's a cliche, I'm aware, but if you never try, you never know. You only get one precious chance to experience living on this floating rock and everything that comes with it. Why not try to make it good?

Blurb and question; Of Snowscapes & Explosions

SPOILERS FOR NEXT CHAPTER

First of all: I had to type this up like four times, because tumblr likes to just eat my text posts. Omg. WHY. Why does CMD+Z for 'undo' (which you could normally use for undoing a text replacement) erase THE ENTIRE POST YOU JUST WROTE? 😭 Who decided this change was GOOD? 😭 It never used to do that!

Okay.

Anyway.

So.

I'm having a conundrum with the next (few) chapter(s).

I decided I'm absolutely breaking this update up into multiple parts, because while trying to trim it down I somehow managed to bloat the chapter up in size to 22k words lmfao (DO NOT ASK ME HOW. I DO NOT KNOW. 😭) And I am not posting that lol (It's bad enough I go over 10k at times for extra long chapters. That would be insane.) However, now that I've found a good spot to slice off at for the next update, it puts me in a pickle because it's in the middle of some stuff I could completely edit out (thus, rendering the update a lot shorter).

For context, this next scene focuses on Bakugou and OC talking while eating. He's discussing a few topics—things he likes and fan stuff regarding All Might, but then turns the tables on OC and starts asking her about things she enjoys—favorite heroes, hobbies, specifics about her quirk and family. Stuff like that.

A nice bonding moment.

This wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that I've been trying to keep OC as vague as possible (since she is supposed to reflect the reader).

My question then becomes: how detailed am I allowed to get with her?

Some readers in the past have asked me to go into more details about these exact things, saying they already see her as her own character and not a stand-in for themselves. They have said it would make her a more interesting character, too, since it would broaden the plot.

And on that point, it's really interesting for me hearing that as the writer of this piece specifically, because I have tons of headcannons for her! 😅 All sorts of info I never bother to add into the story and just kept to myself lol. Stuff she likes. Hobbies. The way she looks. Her family (and extended family). All sorts of thoughts regarding other heroes and pop culture... Her favorite songs, books, etc. I'm constantly thinking of new stuff to add in 😂 I just... never do.

It's not a huge problem for me (or it hasn't been, anyway). And I've indulged a little bit here and there in the past. Ya'll have been kind enough to overlook content regarding her family dynamics, assumed height, food preferences, etc. I just don't know how far I'm allowed to go where people will still be interested.

I've tried to veer on the safe side, not just with canon as a guideline, but also keeping in mind I have a lot of readers from different lifestyles and cultures than myself. I guess I don't want to say she likes XYZ and then readers hate her, or be turned off from her possible perspectives on things. 😅

And I know I'm probably overthinking it; that as the author I can do as I please. But with this story I've tried to be mindful of the reader's point of view since the beginning, and I think that it's also part of the story's charm. I like incorporating your thoughts and feelings. It feels like a bit of a group effort. 🥰 And I don't want to ruin a formula that seems to make most readers comfortable.

I would really love to hear your thoughts regarding this, whichever way you feel. I can continue to write it the way I have, and that wouldn't be a problem (I wouldn't be upset!). But it might be more fun for us if I indulge? I could even ask about some specific opinions from the readers and try to incorporate that, too. It would certainly open up a lot of doors for content I could write.

I have a few things I'm considering revealing in one of these upcoming updates, but I don't want to divulge just yet what that is (Maybe my next blog post). It's not something serious or prominent to the plot, but it's revolving around one of her potential hobbies and possible club activities she partook in at her old school.

I did a lot of research on a few topics for it, but it's just something that I thought was interesting, and not a necessity to the plot. 😂 It's also not something I think a lot of people will care about, so I'm contemplating cutting it specifically because of that. (It's fluff, really. I know I could always just blabber away here to what it is lol but I did think of a way I could incorporate a callback to it in a later chapter if I wanted.)

But yeah, it's late and I'm just rambling at this point lol

With that all out there, I'm going to try and get all my editing and formatting done later today for this chapter (I'm on my way to bed!), that way I can post between late tomorrow night and sometime on Sunday when I get home. Here's to hoping I can finish on time! 💪💪💪 There's still a little bit left to refine! ٩(⁎❛ᴗ❛⁎)۶

Good day everyone!

I am Sofia Miel Madrid, born on December 4, 2005. I am an only child who was raised by my loving grandmother and grandfather due to the reason that my mom is working away from us. I am indeed grateful for everything i have and all i can say is...i enjoy my life. But dyk?? I sometimes think that being an only child isn't all that "fun" because i've got all the pressure that the world could ever give. Char! Kidding aside, my family never pressured me regarding my grades. However, that doesn't imply that I should just mellow out and perform poorly in my academic work. Growing up, i was surrounded by my "overachiever cousins", the reason behind my grade concious personality...and that actually led me to bagging awards and medals during my elementary and high school days.

I am a senior high school student at Saint Paul University Philippines,currently taking a stem-strand which i think is a big help as I prepare for my chosen course in college. Honestly, it is a bit hard for me to cope with math-related lessons. I have lost my interest in exploring and broadening my knowledge in it as it becomes more difficult along the way. As of the moment, I'm interested in debate-related topics and I often read about the studies of anatomy, chemistry and microbiology intending to get a brief idea and to learn something about the topics of the course that I am going to pursue, which is nursing.

A decade from now, i can imagine myself as a successful nurse working and having my own properties in a foreign country, living there for good together with my family. Or if things won't as planned , perhaps i'm just going to be a rich tita instead? Jokes aside, i am terrified of what might happen in the future, there are many doubts in my head: "what if things will not happen as i planned? What if i fail?" those are the lines that I suddenly thought about in the midst of lonely night. Nonetheless, i never take that as a hindrance in doing a good performance in academics, rather i look at it as an inspiration to do better no matter how many steps it will going to take or how high is the mountain i am going to climb.

As previously stated, I am a stem student. It is the best option, particularly for students like me who are in the process of sharpening their minds with an eye toward entering the medical field. I believe that this strand contains topics that will provide me a deeper knowledge as I explore the studies of science and will also prepare me as I take a step closer to my dreams.

As I end this blog, I am overwhelmed that you got the chance to know a little bit about me and where I want to be...in the distant future. I am candidly glad that this subject introduced me to the blogging sensation wherein I can freely express myself..But wait! This doesn't end here yet because there are still more interesting things about me that I would love to share.

Stay tuned, I'll be sharing more chika's to y'all soon!😉

Padayon!

polish (pl.) / english (eng.)

Kim jestem?

Pozwólcie, że na początku Naszej wspólnej przygody się przedstawię ☺ Jestem Corine i proszę, rozgość się na moim profilu! Jestem początkującą czarownicą, więc mile widziane będą obiektywne komentarze pod postami, aby poprawić mnie w jakimś temacie 😄

Co możesz u mnie znaleźć?

Mój blog będzie głównie poświęcony tematyce wicca – magia świec, rytuały, wróżenie z kart tarota, sigile etc. – opowiem Ci też trochę o rodzimowierstwie słowian. Będzie również dużo polecajek książkowych czy też stron internetowych o tej tematyce, więc zostań!

Dla kogo jest mój blog?

Dla każdego, kto tak jak ja chce się rozwijać w tym temacie, a nie ma z kim. Dla osób, które chcą poszerzać swoje horyzonty; dla tych, którzy mogą nie znaleźć akceptacji w swoich zainteresowaniach magią.

Zasady

Żeby było nam przyjemniej – współpraca była milsza, a atmosfera lżejsza – proszę Cię o przestrzeganie tych kilku zasad:

1. Jeżeli tematyka profilu Cię nie interesuje, po prostu z niego wyjdź. Serio, nie potrzebujemy więcej jadu niż na codzień mamy z nimi do czynienia.

2. Proszę o kulturę w komentarzach. Tak jak wyżej wymienione. Co Ci to da, że nazwiesz tę osobę tak czy tak?

3. Uszanuj zdanie innych. Masz swoje? To super! Jednak weź pod uwagę, że nie każdy musi myśleć tak samo.

4. Popraw mnie! Jeżeli widzisz jakiś błąd albo moje rozumowanie jest złe – zrób to, śmiało!

Who am I?

Let me introduce myself at the beginning of our adventure ☺ I'm Corinne and please, make yourself comfortable on my profile! I am a baby witch, so objective comments on posts will be appreciated to improve me on some topic 😄

What can you find with me?

My blog will be mainly devoted to the subject of Wicca - candle magic, rituals, tarot reading, sigils etc. - I will also tell you a little about the native Slavic religion. There will also be a lot of book recommendations or websites on this topic, so stay!

Who is my blog for?

For everyone who, like me, wants to develop in this topic, and has no one with whom. For people who want to broaden their horizons; for those who may not find acceptance in their interest in magic.

Rules

To make it more pleasant for us - the cooperation was nicer and the atmosphere was lighter - I am asking you to follow these few rules:

1. If you are not interested in the subject of the profile, just leave it. Seriously, we don't need more venom than we deal with every day.

2. I am asking for culture in the comments. As mentioned above. What will it do for you to name this person anyway?

3. Respect the opinion of others. You have yours? Cool! However, take into account that not everyone has to think the same.

4. Correct me! If you see any mistake or my reasoning is wrong - go ahead!

Read Along: For Women Only: The Performance of a Lifetime

Subtitle: Why Your Mr. Smooth Looks so Impressive but Feels like an Imposter

My Mr. Smooth is currently doing all the household chores including my share today so I can have a relaxing Mother's Day sitting in my pjs, drinking coffee, and writing snarky blog posts. I'm not too worried about him because he is impressive, but let's get to the chapter so I can learn more about all the ways I can harm my marriage in this chapter.

So, this chapter looks like it's going to be all about what is more commonly called imposter syndrome. Which studies have shown is actually a bit more prevalent in women but yes of course men experience it too. Let's just be clear though it's not a man-centric problem.

The first part of this chapter just describes fairly normal types of imposter syndrome that men might face at work. This is normal. Women experience it constantly in the workplace. A good relationship should help anyone stay grounded and be reminded of their value. The key to working through imposter syndrome is not being propped up and told you are good though, it's the self work of learning to affirm what you are good at, acknowledge where your weaknesses are, and realize that everyone is human and figuring it out just like you.

Feldman then quotes a man that wrote her and told her that some men might withdraw an active role in his family if he thinks his wife challenges his decisions or is displeased with him. I often think that men in particular discount the weight that is placed on women constantly in these types of books that if they don't keep their husbands happy that their husbands will leave them or cheat on them.

FYI: Imposter syndrome is someone not recognizing their actual strengths and capacities. It's not the same as someone being held accountable for actually not fulfilling their roles or responsibilities.

So what do we do, ladies, so our husbands don't leave us?

"Affirmation is everything" This is where we take a little roadtrip over to Proverbs and visit the seductress woman who is temping the young man with flattery. Ladies, your husband is supposed to be getting that flattery at home and if not, well, you get the drift of where he might go for it, and it will be your fault (queue in a circle of red caped women pointing at you).

Oh wait, sorry, correction, at home it's "affirmation" not "flattery". Not really sure the difference since Feldman has made it clear over and over that you pretty much just affirm whether it's based on reality or not.

There is actually a sub-title in this chapter "He'll seek affirmation somewhere" just in case you think my summary is exaggeration.

And three whole paragraphs on giving "supportive sex". I'm guessing we will more clearly learn that our husbands will cheat on us if they don't get enough "supportive sex" but I'm guessing that will be most clearly explained in the sex chapter.

We end the chapter with learning that "we can give our husbands confidence". Again, there is plenty of good stuff here if you would just remove the he's going to leave you messaging, broaden it out to be something that we all need versus a man thing, and also recognize that it's not just about affirming someone but encouraging them to be the best version of themselves. Sometimes that might include helping them address weaknesses too.

And that's chapter 3!

So, when I first started writing about Goose jams regularly, I had a huge backlog of Euro tour shows to watch, and I thought it would be fun to occasionally write about a notable jam from the tour as I worked my way through the shows. Then I got to the end of the tour, weighed in on a few jams from Goosemas as well, and now...there's no more new Goose for the foreseeable future, for what seems like the first time since I started listening in 2019.

I'm going to survive, probably: it's actually been really fun diving back into other music over the last month-plus since Goosemas. I've caught up with some artists I used to love that had sort of fallen off my radar (Fleet Foxes, Wilco, Tallest Man On Earth), tried a few things I'd been meaning to try that I bounced off of (Dawes, Mt. Joy, Lord Huron), discovered some great new stuff (that Andre 3000 album is legitimately good), enjoyed some other jam bands (Spafford, JRAD), and remembered that I do, in fact, love Phish. And that's just in a month of listening!

While Goose's break from touring might mean that the scope of the jams I write about will broaden (I'll definitely share some Phish clips soon, and maybe some Spafford stuff), and it will definitely mean I write less of these posts than I have been lately, I do want to take some of the band's time off to return to some of the jams and shows that have had the biggest impact on me over the last four years.

This band has not only constantly grown and improved over the last four years, they've also blasted out such a nonstop barrage of content over that time that a) it's been hard to even hear/see/absorb it all once, let alone ruminate over much of it, and b) now that the fire hose has been off for a month, the prevailing attention-span-addled fan's attitude seems to be that Goose is done, and it's time to move on to a new fire hose.

To be clear, I'm not writing these posts to argue with some internet strawman, but once you engage with enough of these people often enough, their negativity sort of burrows into your brain and sets up shop (at least if you're me). The best counter to this, I've found, is to stay off social media and write stuff that makes me happy instead.

So, in that spirit, expect to see the occasional "archival" Goose post for the next few months as I revisit jams from the past, both from shows I attended in person and from shows that I just like a lot.

We're going to kick things off with "Rosewood Heart" from the 2/3/22 Wonder Ballroom show, which I attended. Because I haven't covered "Rosewood" yet, I'll have to talk a little about the song first.

And, because this show happened in early '22, I'll have to briefly talk about COVID-19. COVID first, I guess.

So, I could fill (and occasionally have filled) virtual pages of this blog with my thoughts on my experience of COVID-19 and the various ways in which it (mostly horribly) divided my life into thirty-eight years Before and (as I write this) four years After. But I want to focus on the jams today, so suffice to say that 2020 through 2022 was rough for me, like it was for many people.

In tough times, I often turn to music for perspective, escapism, catharsis...you name it. And of course, during 2020, new music was in short supply. Live new music was, basically, not happening. Honestly, as much as I love Goose for their songs and their jams, I think part of the reason I fell so hard for them during this time was because they were the only band still playing. That not only meant they were still putting out new music, it meant that you could watch a livestream of, say, Bingo Tour, and see evidence that someone out there was still doing something besides sneaking to the grocery store at 10pm and hand-washing their tomatoes. This is why, to this day, 3/27/20 is still one of my favorite Goose "shows." It's a good show, but under the circumstances at the time, being able to livestream it made me feel like maybe the world wasn't literally ending.

To cut a long story short, things slowly got better. I saw a bunch of shows in the summer of 2021: Phish at the Gorge and Shoreline and JRAD at the Frost and the Hollywood Palladium. It was a bit freaky to be around such large groups of people at the time, but my mental health was such that I also couldn't imagine not going. Standing out under the sun on the Gorge lawn was sort of the first time I'd felt normal in a year and a half at that point.

Of course, all of those shows were outside and it was easy to socially distance on the various amphitheater lawns (the Palladium is an indoor venue, but it wasn't sold out and it was easy enough to wear a mask and stay out of other people's bubbles during the show). The Goose shows I had tickets for in the spring of 2022 - the first headlining shows of theirs I would ever see and my first in-person Goose show since 2/20/20 - would all be indoors. What's more, in the months before these shows, following the halcyon days of summer '21, more and more concerts had become superspreader events, and frequently shows and entire tours were getting cancelled either because the performers themselves got COVID, or because the band couldn't justify the risk (to themselves and to their audience).

In summer '21, seeing Phish and JRAD had felt like reassurance: not all of my old life was gone, after all. But getting to see four full Goose shows in person in February of '22 felt like a possible step forward into a life beyond whatever the last year-and-change had been.

I was, of course, totally terrified for weeks before the shows that a) someone in the band would get sick, b) I would get sick, c) the tour would get cancelled for safety reasons, d) my car would break down, e) the weather wouldn't cooperate and I wouldn't be able to cross the mile-high pass to Portland, which frequently becomes a death trap during winter storms...

...and so on. It almost seems silly now (and is sort of hard to explain) how desperately a lot of people clung to this or that one good thing they had to look forward to during those times, and for me, for most of early 2022, it was those shows. I had lost so much over the previous year, it sort of felt inevitable that these shows wouldn't happen, that there would be some tragicomic denouement to the one thing I had allowed myself to look forward to.

But everything worked out!

My first show of the run was in Bend, on 2/2. This was a bit poetic, as my first (and only) Goose show before this had also been in Bend (the 2/20/20 one). It was a great show, but the venue was way oversold, so my wife and I hung way in the back, where we could approximate social distancing, and we wore masks the entire time. Of the two Wonder Ballroom shows on 2/3 and 2/4, conventional wisdom is that 2/4 was better, and the band clearly liked it better, too, as they posted the entire show on YouTube...but, I found 2/3 to be way weirder and more interesting for my money, including the "Rosewood" that I'm actually, finally going to get to here shortly. My last show of the run was at the Neptune Theater in Seattle, which was an absolute scorcher of an "encore" show...suffice to say, I went home happy.

While I certainly wouldn't say that this "Rosewood" was the best jam of the entire run (in my opinion, it's in about fifth place), there's a great video of it, and like I said a million words ago, I haven't written about a "Rosewood" yet.

Despite my ranking-language in the previous paragraph, I try to avoid rating and ranking art these days ("Comparison is the thief of joy," and all that)...but if you put a gun to my head and commanded me to pick a favorite Goose song (this is a weird situation, why are you doing this to me?), there're pretty good odds that I would choose "Rosewood." It's an older song of theirs (first played in 2015!) but also always sort of a rarity (only played fifty-five times total over eight years). There's a version of it on their first album, Moon Cabin, which doesn't sound a ton like the current iteration of the band (because it's not), but still gives you a nice snapshot of what makes the song great. In short, it's got some of my favorite compositional flourishes (especially on bass and keys) without being overly compositionally complex, the lyrics do that thing Rick does so well where they allude to a sort of mythological or existential lesson without getting so abstract they lose meaning, and...it's just a real pretty song, you guys.

So, finally, this version in particular. I was stuffed into an oversold Wonder Ballroom in Portland with hundreds of other fans, I was trying not to whack anyone with my poster tube, and I had already sweated through my mask, but I was pumped to hear my first live "Rosewood Heart."

It might just be me, but I feel like this version draws out the introductory noodling a bit longer than usual, before the drums kick in earnest at 0:52. We move quickly from ethereal swells of sound to cascading piano and guitar lines before Rick comes in on vocals. You'll notice immediately during the softer parts of the song how fucking loud the audience was throughout the show. Please go to a concert only if you plan to listen to the music. There are many other places in the world where you can talk.

I love how the feel of the song changes with the bridge section at 2:22. Trevor's bass parts here are particularly great. The piano break at 3:04 is also fantastic. The jam proper starts after the song's vocal outro, at 5:52.

Rick starts off with the lead, and the first thing I notice listening back is how much tinnier and thin his guitar sounds than it typically sounds during a '23 show. This isn't necessarily a good or bad thing in my opinion, but he's almost got a '09-'10 Trey Anastasio effect (what we jaded Phish fans called "the whale call" at the time) going on here. I like it way better when Rick does it, actually.

This beginning section of the jam has a really jazzy feel, because of Rick's playing but also the beat Ben is laying down and the scattered piano chords Peter is playing. It's pretty abstract compared to your "usual" Goose rock jam, which is neat.

Rick starts building some momentum at 7:40, and the band picks up the energy to match his shredding. There is an absolute Wall Of Cymbals here that is just great. Post-peak, there's a few minutes of high-energy shredding before Rick steps back at 10:00, setting the stage for the next jam space.

After a short, spacey interlude, Peter starts developing a riff (do you call it a riff when it's on piano?) on piano. Along with some great, nuanced drumming from Ben, this sets the stage for the next portion of the jam. This almost-but-not-quite-disco jam is a great example of what I often think of as Goose's "default" 2022 jamming style. Basically, Peter homes in on a particular "sample" that he plays over and over on keys for a few minutes while everyone else plays around him. It's something that happens a ton during many of the band's twenty-plus-minute jams from this year. I don't know if it's a matter of Peter not wanting to or being able to lead jams in other ways (he's a fairly new keyboard player, as per my understanding), or if this is just a reflection of the band's electronica influence (see songs like "Creatures" and "Into The Myst,") but they got a lot of mileage out of the approach during this year, to the point that I enjoyed it at first, but was getting a little tired of it by December. They'll come back to it occasionally these days, but to my ears, Peter's approach to improvising on keys is way more varied than it was two years ago.

All that said, the keys "sample" does provide a great foundation for this jam, as long as you're not being a grumpy, jaded fan about it. Rick adds a lot of flavor on rhythm and melody guitar, the percussion dropping in and out adds variety, and Trevor builds a nice, comfy wooden fence around the whole thing to keep it reasonably contained.

Things slow down a little at 17:10, when the bass drops out and then the drums switch up. Rick changes his playing shortly after to something that sounds a ton like "Atlas Dogs" in a cool way and the lights even change to something a bit more nightmare chic to reflect the jam's dark turn.

This second build really feels like it's driven by Trevor, and I'm here (there?) for it. The camera's focus on Jeff tearing it up also brings into focus what the percussion contributes to the energy. Rick, of course, comes in at the end to cast out all demons and nearly destroy the FOH camera setup.

The video fades out at the end as the jam wraps up, though in "real life" this was a transition into a great version of "Indian River."

If you've read all the way to the end of this, God help you. I didn't mean to write this much, but writing about music is a) fun and b) a way to procrastinate doing the writing I'm actually supposed to be doing. So, thanks for enabling me!

I'm not sure what I'm going to cover next, but I'd love to rewatch/revisit some of the other '22 shows I attended, especially the Dillon shows and NYE in Cincinnati, so...maybe that's next?