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foone · 8 months

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You know, It doesn't matter if you belive in God or Science or Both, trans people are natural and awesome.

God? Well, we humans are made in God's image. We're all a little figurine of the Creator, and we Create. We create ourselves, our environments, our situations... God made the world and Man gave names to all the animals. We catalog and explore and determine and change. We make the wine and the bread, God made the grapes and the wheat. Of course we make our genders just as much as we make houses and clothes and stories and names. There's a bit of the divine in all of us and it's the part of us that Creates and Loves.

And Science? Oh boy! We are tool-users of the highest order. Changing things is just what we do. We built the pyramids and the dog and the horse and the computer. We've built cities out of swamps and lakes and put flags on the moon. Changing things so they work better for us is just our very nature. We heal our broken bones and build glasses and hearing aids and wheelchairs, because fuck our limitations. We invented corn and the Amazon rainforest. Transformation is in our nature just as much as being bipedal and featherless. We see a world and a body and a mind that doesn't work for us, and we change it. We build roads and skyscrapers and prosthetics and drugs, and the resulting humanity is better. We spent thousands of years building our world and our knowledge of how to change it and we're very good at it by now.

My point is, it doesn't matter if you think we're a unique creation by an omnipotent creator or a hairless ape that evolved to be particularly good at being social tool-users who can cook and throw things, our nature is Creation and Transformation. Of course some humans would be transgender and non-binary and generally genderqueer: those things are just reflections of what it means to be human.

God gave Adam the first tongs so he could smith, and the ape knapped a stone into a point so a spear could be deadlier than just a rock. Transformation is the core of humanity. Of ourselves, our environments, our tools, our stories. There's never been a humanity that was unchanging and rigid: we're not made of stone. We're made of clay and wood and reeds. Endlessly shapeable and cuttable and weavable. We decide what shapes and purposes we are meant for.

#Trans #my writing

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blu3b3rryj4mp1r3 · 2 years

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You should talk about the cutie mark crusaders and what you like about each of them!!!

oh I'd love to!! 🍎🌸🎀💛💗🔔🎶🛴🧡⚡

I love how applejack gave them her old clubhouse to use and that it's located in sweet apple acres, I like the idea of applejack coming to check on them sometimes or maybe bringing them freshly baked cookies from time to time 🍪🧡 and how fun wouldn't it be to play together amongst all the apple trees (when they aren't busy crusading ofcourse! 😄)

the cmc in general: they turned something they were teased for and that used to weigh them down into something they could bond over and in turn made a life long friendship stronger than the toughest of diamonds 💎👑 later inspiring and helping others who are unsure of their destinies just as they were and I think that is so powerful! the episode call of the cutie is a great introduction that really leaves you wanting to see what they're going to do next and how they will achieve their goal 🧡💛💜

they're the sisters of rarity, rainbow dash and applejack! which makes for some great episodes featuring them all together. sleepless in ponyville, the cart before the ponies & campfire tales for example! spending so much time together would not only bring them closer with their sisters but it probably brought applejack, rarity and rainbow dash closer too, and I love that!

all of their songs are great! their voices blend together very nicely in my opinion. Amanda Renberg as Scootaloo, Linn Johnsson as Apple Bloom and Annelie Heed as Sweetie Belle all did a wonderful job voicing their characters in the iconic trio! (ofcourse this is from my perspective, and those are the swedish voices but the same can be said for the original english ones!😊) my personal favourites of the cmc songs are babs seed, hearts as strong as horses, find the purpose in your life and all of the songs in the crusaders of the lost mark (& they are all so fun to sing!) 🎵

youtube

favourite cmc episode: crusaders of the lost mark! all of their searching finally paying off, helping their bully to see her purpose and the fact that their special talent turns out to be helping others find/rediscover their own special talent is just PERFECT, we were all wondering how it would turn out right? and this was just better than every other potential outcome, they all belong together to help others find themselves, just as they did! 🥺😌🧡💜💛

Apple bloom 🍎🌸: has my favourite colour scheme, she reminds me of apple flavoured candy, I'm also biased towards anything fruit themed! and I adore her bow!! 🍎💛🎀 I can relate to her fear of being alone the episode on your marks and also to how she's scared at one point that her family won't like her if she turns out to be different to them (when she's scared her cutie mark won't be apple related). and I love her relationship with her family, the end of family appreciation day and brotherhooves social just warms my heart! 💛🍎💚🥧 also I love the cupcake song scene where she's baking with pinkie and that she got interested in potions and magic after meeting zecora! (also the fact that she as a foal was the first to befriend zecora and not be so judgmental!!)

favourite apple bloom episode: (oh glitter all of these are so hard to pick!! 🤣 but I think cutie pox, somepony to watch over me or call of the cutie 🍎🌸💛🎀

scootaloo⚡🛴🧡: I actually have only watched flight to the finish once because while it has been dubbed I somehow missed it (and can't find the whole episode in swedish, only the songs) but I have watched it on my latest rewatch (where I watched it in english :) and I love it so much, I'm not physically disabled myself, I am mentally disabled (though I feel really weird saying that for some reason) but I think scootaloo is a really great disabled character because being disabled is not her whole character, far from, and I think there should be more characters like her! I also think she's really funny, her scooter tricks are awesome and I adore her idolizing rainbow dash and wishing for her to be her sister and then in sleepless in ponyville when she's scared of rainbow dash not thinking she's cool enough then rainbow admits that she's scared sometimes too and that it doesn't make her weak and then she like adopts her as her sister and aaaaaaaahhh!!! I love found family story lines so much, also the episodes parental glideance in season 7 and the washouts in season 8 broke my heart and then put it back together! 😂🌈🧡⚡and I love how she stood up for herself and what she wants to her parents in the last crusade in season 9, people often disregard kids feelings because they're "just kids" and I think scootaloo is a really strong pony for doing what she did in that episode 🧡🛴

sweetie belle 🎶💗🔔: she's just precious! her singing voice is so beautiful and I like how she has a hard time speaking up and putting together words sometimes because I can relate and it's really funny! I love sisterhooves social and I laugh every time I watch that scene where she argues with rarity and comes to the conclusion that applejack should be rarity's sister so she can teach her how to be a good one 😂 oh or when apple bloom allows her to "borrow" applejack as a sister for "ONE DAY"-🍎🌸 to me she is a very caring pony and maybe the most relatable of the 3 to me personally (all though saying that I feel like I find all of them relatable but in different ways)

favourite scootaloo episode: flight to the finish, I think! 🏁🧡

favourite sweetie belle episode: I want to say sisterhooves social but I also love for whom the sweetie belle toils 🔔💗🎶

so those are some of my thoughts on the cmc! thank you so much anon for making me write this and inspire me to draw the cutie mark crusaders, I love these little foals so much! 🥺😄💗🧡💛

#mlp #mlp fim #mlp ask #my art! ☆#cmc #cutie mark crusaders #my little pony #friendship is magic #scootaloo #sweetie belle #apple bloom #the cmc #☆.asks #my pony art ☆

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fogsrollingin · 5 months

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Time for some more Good Omens fic recs! These are the most recent fics I've read and loved. For all of them, nav to https://fogsrollingin.neocities.org/recs/goodomens 😈🪽 Cheers and happy readings! 📚🥂

Ocean of Secrets (illustrated) by magicbubblepipe. Explicit, 16k words, Aziracrow. Summary: When Crowley uncovers a plot to sink a so-called unsinkable ship, he decides to take credit for it and collect a commendation from the safety of his London flat. That is, until he spots a certain flaxen haired angel with a weakness for expensive creature comforts boarding the ship. He's forced to take action, lest his beloved be horribly discorporated. TL;DR Crowley and Aziraphale were on the Titanic. https://archiveofourown.org/works/23713294 The Titanic one - this one really stayed with me. It was such a lovely read, and I loved the epic horrifying proportions and backdrop of the Titanic. The author described the disaster very well.

Slow Show by mia_ugly. Explicit, 95k, Aziracrow. Summary: In which temptations are accomplished, grand romantic gestures are made, and two ineffable co-stars only take four seasons of an award-winning television program to realize they’re on their own side (at last, at last.) https://archiveofourown.org/works/20395261 Okay as someone who generally dislikes celebrity AUs, but I love drug addict redemption stories, I gave this one a shot (with over 12k kudos, it wasn't a hardship). Very well-written (you just know it's gonna be good when the author starts with a Richard Siken quote). Some terrific heart-wrenching angst that I adored. I appreciated the way the author mixed scenes from Good Omens into the fake TV show they were in. It worked really well for extra visualization.

A.Z. Fell Cooking (aka vlogger au) Series by MostWeakHamlets. Rated General Audiences, 35k words, Aziracrow. Summary: Aziraphale has a cooking show on the internet. It started out with three viewers, but now he's known as the happy grandfather that blew up overnight. Crowley occasionally makes cameos, has dedicated his garden to giving Aziraphale fresh herbs and vegetables, and struggles with living after the apocalypse. ___ “Taste this, my dear,” Aziraphale said. He held a spoonful of jam to Crowley’s lips with his free hand cautiously under it, ready to catch any dripping. Crowley leaned forward to wrap his lips around the spoon. Most likely his shyness came from the small tender moments Aziraphale was not afraid of showing the world. It had been the topic of many long conversations after Aziraphale took Crowley’s hand in St. James Park, causing Crowley to freeze and break out in a cold sweat. Being discreet had always been their top priority. For 6,000 years, someone would have surely seen them if they embraced in the middle of London. But now, Aziraphale had assured Crowley, things were different. They no longer needed to hide, but Aziraphale would go as slow as Crowley needed him to. It was almost funny how their roles had switched after the apocalypse. https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610359 Oh man I loved the first chapter of the second fic installment where it's written like we're voyeurs watching the heart-wrenching reality of Aziraphale caring for Crowley, who's super sickly and frail in the winter (is usually back to normal in the spring and summer). The amount of love and trust that goes into the relationship depicted in this fic is sooooooo This is mainly a South Downs curtain fic btw. It sounds like a social media AU thing, but the YouTube vlogging aspect is a side quest / cool awesome vehicle to give us some fantastic hurt/comfort

Honey, You’ll Survive by HotCrossPigeon. Teen+, 12k words, Aziracrow. Summary: Crowley only popped into the bookshop to say goodbye. He might not have been thinking straight, due to that bloody great big hole where his stomach used to be. Aziraphale, quite rightly, refuses to let the demon pop his clogs in his bookshop of all places, thank you very much. https://archiveofourown.org/works/20790638 Aziraphale saving a fatally hurt Crowley and being super straightforward about wanting cuddles was the best thing in the world. Crowley was written really well in this fic - doing his best to be snarky and sarcastic, anything but sincere and vulnerable (but he gets there. Oooo how I love that 🥰🥰🥰)

Untouched by Etaleah. Teen+, 3k words, Aziracrow. Summary: A demon's life is a lonely one. What Crowley wants is so simple, yet he can never have it. https://archiveofourown.org/works/20505689 Touch starvation. When Aziraphale finally hugs h Crowley and basically breaks him 😭 literally the best

Someone Reaching Back For Me by lorenzhellmangloucester. Teen+, 1k words, Aziracrow. Summary: Aziraphale tries to soothe, tries to rock him, completely unsure if he’s helping or not; he’s never seen Crowley lose control in quite this way. Sometimes Crowley lashes out in anger or hurt, and he’s seen him vulnerable before, but nothing like this. Nothing this fragmented, nothing this… shattered. It’s like watching Crowley break, this shivering, terrified creature clinging to him like he might disappear, and oh. Oh, Aziraphale thinks, feeling very small and fragile himself all of a sudden. In the immediate wake of the almost-apocalypse, Aziraphale realizes he's not the only one who was afraid of being left alone. https://archiveofourown.org/works/19241956 I really adored this - I love the concept of Crowley going snakey when he's upset & panicking, and especially that Aziraphale would just wrap him up in hugs and cuddles no matter how monstrous he's looking 🥰🥰🥰 I *love* it so much.

side effects by darcylindbergh. Explicit, 7k words, Aziracrow. You don’t have to do this, you know, Crowley said, somewhere around Aziraphale’s stomach. His hand was rough around the hem of Aziraphale’s jumper, tugging a little, like he was trying to convince himself to let go. I’m fine on my own. I know. Aziraphale touched carefully—he was learning how to touch, like this—searching out the place right above Crowley’s left eyebrow where the migraine lived, pressing on it. You don’t have to be, though. You can just consider me a side effect. https://archiveofourown.org/works/35166532 This was super emotional and so well written. The amount of hurt/comfort and nonsexual intimacy was amazing. There was a bit of sexual intimacy but it was... it was lovely. Definitely going to reread this one.

Recompense by Flywolf33. Mature, 21k words, Aziracrow. Summary: At first, he didn’t realize anything was wrong. They’d had a row, which wasn’t entirely unusual, and Crowley had stormed off with a few harsh words he didn’t mean flung over his shoulder. Aziraphale had flung a few of his own untruths, though he always knew they hurt the demon far more than either of them would admit. To his everlasting shame, Aziraphale didn’t start looking for another two years. By that time, the trail had gone cold and he couldn’t sense Crowley’s aura anywhere. In which Hell gets hold of Crowley and Aziraphale has to try to put Humpty Dumpty back together again - if Crowley will let him. This has nothing to do with my other GO stuff at all. This has been bouncing around in my head and I finally got it on paper. https://archiveofourown.org/works/21471934 Aziraphale barging into hell 50 years later to rescue Crowley. The slow burn of recovery and angst (the scene where Aziraphale says he'll let Crowley go forever if that's what he wants and needs to feel better and recover) and love. The device-pulsifiers family supporting them was so brilliant too. Fantastic fic.

#good omens fic recs #aziracrow #crowley #aziraphale #anthony j crowley #good omens #good omens fanfic #good omens fic #good omens fanfiction #ineffable husbands #my fic recs #moonlight readings #fanfiction recommendations #fic recs

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simbico · 11 months

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Sims Get To Know Me

Tagged by @damseljamsel @simsdastra 💜 (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)

I put it under a cut because it’s quite long. I didn’t know who to tag because I’m so late to posting this with everything that has been going on.

What’s your favorite sims death? I never thought of this one... Maybe death by pufferfish nigiri because the ghost has a little pufferfish floating inside them and I think that’s cute because I really like puffer fish (not to eat). I’d love to have a little puffer fish buddy with me in the afterlife.

Alpha CC or MaxisMatch? I lean towards MaxisMatch most in my game but I don’t mind the aesthetic of alpha either. There’s some nice alpha stuff out there.

Do you cheat your sims weight? I have only because no matter what I do, toddlers living on the long lifespan always gain a lot of weight (the calorie system in the game is kinda weird) but outside of that I haven’t (although I never adjusted Fern’s weight when she aged up because I just decided not to for no reason whatsoever).

Do you move objects? Yep! I could not live without it in Sims 4.

Favorite Mod? I don’t have one favorite mod so naming one is difficult. I could not enjoy this game without the majority of mods I have. More Traits In CAS is one of my faves because having those extra traits through the life stages has helped create some depth to my sims’ personalities, at least in my mind. It’s helped to keep my interest in playing longer than a few months.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack? I bought everything in the order it came out for Sims 1, 2, and 3. For Sims 4 (iirc): Get To Work/Outdoor Retreat/Perfect Patio

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing? aLIVE.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? It’s a tie between Hector and Sophie. (Most of my faves have been born in-game)

Have you made a simself? Yep! Back when it was still just the CAS demo. I don’t have her around anymore though.

Which Sim traits do you give yourself? Social Awkward, Cat Lover, Creative, probably Gloomy too if I’m honest.😅 (But I don’t show that side of me to others, a lot of people think I’m Cheerful. lol)

Which is your favorite EA hair color? That light brown shade that was added around when Snowy Escape came out.

Favorite EA hair? I don’t think I have one.... I have some I don’t care for... I just like that there’s finally a variety of hair types/styles that aren’t just straight hair.

Favorite life stage? I don’t think I have one... I have the most fun when I have a variety of life stages to play (although it can feel overwhelming sometimes).

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? Gameplay. I don’t mind building in Sims 4 but it’s rare when I’m having a good time doing it.

Are you a CC creator? Nope. I tried to recolour the kids’ bicycles and gave up. lol I might try again but I need the time and focus to do it.

Do you have any simblr friends/ a sim squad? I guess it depends on how those are defined since people define them differently. I do know a lot of really awesome people on here who I enjoy interacting with though. 🙂

What’s your favorite game? Right now it flips between Sims 4 and Genshin Impact. Used to also be Overwatch, which I still enjoy on occasion, but not as much as I used to.

Do you have any sims merch? Nope.

Do you have a YouTube for sims? Nope. I have the charisma of a wilted lettuce.

How has your « sims style » changed throughout your years of playing? I went from creating haunted houses in TS1 to playing legacy style in Sims 2 and beyond (and creating a haunted house by more ethical means). I only ever managed to finish one legacy family to 10 generations and that family will forever be lost somewhere on Live Journal as it should be. (I have a picture chart of all their faces though.)

What’s your origin id? Simbico but I don’t have anything worth looking at on there. It’s usually for my own backups.

Who’s your favorite CC creator? It’s hard because I have so many I like and not just one favorite. 😭 But RavenSim is one of my many favorites because their hair helps make my sims’ infants/toddlers/kids even cuter!

How long have you had simblr? According to my first Sims 3 post, at least since 2011 but I did abandon it for a long time. I was so happy seeing some familiar simblrs still posting when I came back. 😊

How do you edit your pictures? I used to use Photoshop but now I just use Reshade. I use a really old version of Photoshop from 2012 for cropping and stuff but I tend to not do much more than that. I don’t have the time with the amount of pictures I take. lol

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite? TS1 - Makin’ Magic | TS2 - Open For Business | TS3 - Pets | TS4 - Growing Together, maybe tied with Country Living (the EP that kept bringing me back).

#tag meme #text post

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palettepainter · 10 months

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So happy to hear you liked the Jamie x Rand fic!

Do you have any headcanons about Jamie? Like her relationship with Janice or anything like that?

*chuckles and rubs my hands together* Oh, I have headcannons alright (and it was awesome I love Jamie and Rand sm!! They've got my opposites attract dynamic loving heart in their hands) this ended up a lot longer then I thought so I'll stick general headcannons at the top and then my thoughts on Jamie's and Janice's bond at the bottom! I discussed some of these ideas with @teds-topia who also writes Muppet works on AO3!

General Headcannons:

-I can't remember if this was said in the series but to me if felt like it was implied, Jamie is the younger twin

-Unlike Janice, Jamie's voice is very clear, she lacks that laid back, hippy drawl to her tone Janice has. She only ever sounds like that when she's drunk

-Jamie, as opposed to Janice, isn't much of a social butterfly. She's happy to add to a conversation if she feels like she can contribute something to it, but overall, she's a very driven, work focused person (picture S1 Twilight from MLP)

-Also unlike Janice, Jamie has a very straight laced job in marketing. She's a fine worker and quickly rose to the head of her department, she runs a tight ship but is actually quite fond of her work team and her job

-Despite her being the head of her department she's a very accepting person. When they where in school Jamie was one of the few who totally accepted Janice's hobbies, so she's pretty unphased by things others would consider weird or bizarre

-Always dresses very smartly, often in a blazer

-Jamie also has the ability to detect lies, however she is not allergic to them like Janice (Jamie still questions if one can actually be allergic to lies or not-)

-Can do large calculations without the need of a calculator

-She loves desk plants and is the type to give them all names. She's also heard that talking to plants can help them grow, but she gets very flustered when her co-workers overhear her quietly whispering words of encouragement to her cactus

-Since she works in marketing she can sometimes, unintentionally, come off as a little intense

-She doesn't like Floyd, it's not that she hates him, she just really, really, really, really dislikes him. She often feels awkward around him and is unsure of what to say so avoids him for both of their sakes. She also doesn't hold her tongue when she is forced to talk with Floyd, unlike Janice who often tries to see the good in every situation. Floyd tries to be nice, he's one of the few that knows of Janice having a sister, and he knows Janice misses Jamie deeply.

-She keeps an old picture in her wallet of her and Janice when they where younger

-While she does like to eat healthy like Janice Jamie isn't opposed to eating cheap microwave food or snacking on cold lasagne

-She likes routine and order, her parents never-ending support sort of back fired and it gave Jamie a strong people pleasing attitude, so when things change and she doesn't know how they'll end or how people will feel about her afterwards so she shy's away

-Behind her facade of professionalism she's actually a rather nervous, dorky individual. She enjoys documentaries on the rainforest, treating herself to an at-home spa day, going to zoo's and awing at the koala's and interior decorating

Jamie's and Janice's relationship:

-Janice and Jamie where born to two very normal, average, if a little dull and strict at times, parents. They both worked your typical 9-5 jobs with their mother taking on less hours after Janice and Jamie where born

-They where a lot closer as kids, in primary school they loved pulling the prank of pretending to be each other, confusing their poor teachers. All harmless fun, they never got into any real trouble (aside from the few times they snuck frogs and wild mice into school in their pockets). It was when the two entered their teens and went into secondary school did their bond hit a bump in the road

-Janice was a friendly student. She was bright, got along well with her teachers, and was totally unphased by classroom bullies (or so she let them believe)...but she wasn't the brightest bulb. Janice did very poorly with her grades, only really excelling in art and music. Jamie on the other hand, was very good academically! She was considered the "teachers pet". However, where Jamie excelled in her learning, she sort of sucked at making friends, preferring to instead keep to herself or shuffle behind her sister who was always the better one with talking (best way to imagine Jamie in school would be S1 Twilight from MLP)

-With Jamie being the nerdy kid with no actual friends she grew up very lonely in her later years at school, and clung to Janice fiercely. Jamie would always, always shut bullies down if she heard them muttering about her sister, she would always help Janice with her studying and try to phrase their studying material in a way she'd understand, she'd always support Janice and her weird fascination with crystals (Jamie didn't really understand Janice and her unusual hobbies relating to crystals, aurora readings and yoga, but Janice was happy and that's what mattered to her). Janice was Jamie's confidence boost, her rock to lean on and shield to hide behind when social stuff got too much, and in turn, Janice turned to Jamie first when it came to help with her homework, or to gossip about the newest energy reading she'd picked up from the new student that joined

-Years go by, Jamie graduates with high grades while Janice barely scrapped by. Over the years of the two being in school their parents ended up pushing Jamie a lot. Janice insisted her talents simply lied else where, which her parents took as her being dismissive of her studies. Janice's and Jamie's parents weren't cruel, but Janice never felt truly understood at home (it's referenced in some of the muppet movies that Janice's mum in particular often disagreed with her way of living). Naturally, their disappointment and frustration at Janice only turned into a reason to push Jamie to achieve high grades

-Jamie did genuinely want Janice to be happy, but she also wanted her sister to...well, get an actual job that paid in something other then "good vibes". Sure her crystals looked nice, and Jamie was glad they made Janice happy, but aurora readings and trapping negative vibes in crystals wouldn't pay bills. So, Janice gets a job, she bounces around a few but eventually settles into a groove of working in a hair saloon. Jamie goes off to have some high paying job, their parents couldn't be prouder! But Janice is not happy, in fact, she's utterly, down right miserable. In a spur of the moment like situation Janice quits her job and declares she's leaving to find her destiny, it didn't exactly go down well at dinner with their parents.

-Janice packs her things in a huff and despite Jamie pleading for Janice to not leave, to not go, to please just stay and they can talk this whole thing over and have a good laugh tomorrow if she'd just stay, Janice insists she's going. Both of them where emotional and may have said some hurtful things, things that neither of them really meant. (side note Jamie totally didn't spend the following weeks sick with worry, totally didn't buy some crystals meant to wish good luck to loved ones in hopes Janice would be okay and come home-). Jamie felt like Janice leaving her alone and that made Jamie scared, and Janice felt like Jamie was just siding with their parents by not believing in her

-This idea was discussed with @teds-topia: Years go by where the two don't talk but life eventually leads to the two sister bumping into each other when they're young adults, when Janice and the band are passing through Janice's home town. By some coincidence, Jamie happened to be in town for work, and the two end up wondering into each other. After their shock and unsure greetings, the two begin to relax, just a smidge, and talk about how life has been treating them. Jamie admits she's very happy to see Janice, glad that she's home, glad that Janice has come back and they can make up and be sisters again

But no, Janice happily tells her that she's joined a band, that they're just passing through for supplies, that she's on a spiritual journey discovering her calling. Isn't is wonderful Jamie?? Jamie does not thin it's wonderful, she thinks its stupid. Janice was just- just going to follow around a bunch of strangers around the world just for some dumb spiritual journey malarkey?! Jamie it crushed at the realisation that Janice really didn't come back for her, to say sorry. Janice is hurt that Jamie is being so rude and dismissive of her journey of growing. Another argument breaks out, the band beginning to awkwardly glance over at the commotion that sounds less than friendly, especially from their laid back, always happy Janice

The two sisters storm off with a huff, Janice unnaturally grumpy for the rest of the ride on the road. When Jamie gets home she promptly screams into the nearest pillow she can grab, then kicked the door and bruised her foot. She swears up and down that she is thoroughly done with Janice! To hell with Janice and her stupid soul growing journey. So what if she wanted to travel to god-knows-where with a buncha weird strangers she barely knew, if things went south it was gonna be her fault! She didn't need Janice anyway, hpmh! (Jamie still keeps that picture of her and Janice from when they where kids, often finding herself staring at it in thought when she's feeling lost herself, hoping that Janice is remembering to eat well and that she's doing okay, where-ever she is)

-I'm not too sure how these two eventually make up and become family again but I imagine it ended with the two gross sobbing and hugging

#Muppets #The Muppets #Janice #Jamie #The electric mayhem

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tobiasdrake · 8 months

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I love Akane. She's one of my favorite characters in DR2. She's funny, awesome, and full of personality. I need to make that clear because I am about to complain about this character at length.

Akane is a prime example of the "Character who is fantastic whenever saying and doing things onscreen but really deserved better writing around them than what they got" phenomenon.

Let's start with her fucking Talent. The Ultimate Gymnast.

Akane's Talent is the most arbitrary in the entire franchise. It never comes up. It never influences the course of the story. In fact, it has no influence on her personality or skillset either. It's literally just there.

Akane's skillset is general all-around athleticism. She has the natural physique and huge appetite of a shonen protagonist. These are explained by her growing up in extreme poverty and scrounging for food for her and her siblings, and by her constantly having to run away from people.

A generous interpretation of that is that she was a food thief. But given that every anecdote about her past is sexualized in some way, I have concerns about what she was running away from. Akane comes from a lot of abuse.

In any case, she did a lot of parkour growing up and then one day, one of her abusers was like, "You should do gymnastics." So she did, and her naturally powerful physique allowed her to excel. She doesn't actually care about gymnastics but it pays the bills. It's just an activity she was able to drop into with her physique for easy money.

Like. Okay. Gymnastics? That's not an activity you can just drop into and then coast on pure physical acumen.

Like. Sure. I could buy Leon being naturally gifted without trying because he's a pitcher. His job is goal-oriented. All he has to do is get the ball over the plate. There's a lot of technique that goes into that but if he's got the skill to do it, then he's got the skill. He's not being judged on the precise placement of his fingers on the ball's stitching. If he can get it in the catcher's glove, he wins. Regardless of how he makes that happen.

Gymnastics is a cutthroat industry that's more artistry than objective. It's judged on technique by extremely unpleasable dicks who will throw a fit if they see so much as a bra strap sticking out of a leotard. You can't just drop in and go on pure physical strength alone. That's like saying, "I'm naturally graceful so I just started doing spur-of-the-moment ballet performances." That's. Not. How. That works.

There are plenty of athletic activities you could have given your Girl Goku character. Ultimate Distance Runner. Ultimate Weight Lifter. Ultimate Street Brawler. Things where a character being naturally strong but having no patience for training or routine would make sense. Hell, you name-drop parkour in her backstory; why not make her Ultimate Parkour?

Instead, you chose gymnastics. A field where physical ability only matters insomuch as it helps you carry out your well-rehearsed and thoroughly practiced routine, which is judged primarily on technique and not on how high you can jump.

And then you gave her gigantic tits that are constantly falling out of her shirt because she doesn't wear any kind of support whatsoever, and barely even buttons up her top. As a character design choice for the master of a field where having large, unrestrained breasts inhibit the ability for athletes to progress beyond a certain point.

The fact that Akane doesn't give a shit and just lets her ladies fly fits well with the idea they seem to be going with here: A female shonen bro who's socially uninhibited and coasting on naturally gifted physical superiority. Girl Goku barely even notices that her tits are out. It fits the personality archetype.

But it's a bizarre character choice for a gymnast. And it's made weirder by how much of her backstory is about being sexually harassed and assaulted. She tells an anecdote about this time her weirdo stepdad wanted her to serve food without panties and how she refused to do it. But she also doesn't care if her tits fall out of her barely-closed top whenever she gets excited.

If you want her to be the fanservice lady, sure. I'm just saying it's weird that the fanservice lady's backstory is about how much it sucks to be groped and harassed all the time. And that her well-endowed chest clashes with her Talent background which in turn clashes with the rest of her backstory and personality.

It's also weird that she doesn't have an ounce of muscle tone on her body. She's as skinny as any of the other girls. In stark contrast to Sakura Ogami's ripped physique, Akane is built like Junko Enoshima. A skinny hourglass frame to accentuate her fanservice lady appeal. She's given some strong poses in her sprites, but her body could easily be mistaken for any of the other girls in the group.

Not being super ripped does make sense for a gymnast. But, as noted, certain other attributes of hers certainly don't. And also, she's not trying to be a gymnast. She just does that on the side. She wants to be a fighter. Sakura Ogami is what Akane actually styles herself after. So why doesn't she look like it?

And on the topic of her fighting: Okay. Like. You made this character whose defining character traits are a bottomless appetite and an equally bottomless battle-lust. And then you made her trash.

Akane's actual fighting ability seems to be summed up simply as "She tries". She makes an effort. Never gets anywhere. Never wins a fight. She just constantly loses to Nekomaru, to Monokuma, to Sakura herself in some of the bonus side content. Her career is an endless string of L's. The one time she wins a fight is against Nagito, who isn't even trying to defend himself.

She's not so much a badass fighter lady as she is enthusiastic about losing. She's written like the shonen hero's lady sidekick. And. Like. That's her whole thing.

You made a female character who is defined by her love of fighting and then immediately put her next to a male character who can effortlessly defeat her and then explain to her why she's trash at the only thing she does.

In a battle anime, this would be the setup for Akane to work hard, master her art, surpass Nekomaru, and then kick a big bad villain's teeth in. But this is not a battle anime. So getting beat up by Nekomaru and then getting beat up by Monokuma is all she gets. She just sucks at her one thing, she never gets a chance to surpass the guy who's better than her at it, and that's all she gets to be.

There was a bit of that to Sakura as well, but it was just in her backstory. It wasn't what defined her role within the plot itself. But for Akane, it's what defines her role within the plot itself. Being too weak to surpass her male counterpart at her main skill is Akane's actual plotline.

It's honestly aggravating how misused Akane is. She's a poorly conceived and poorly designed rare example of a female version for an archetype dominated by male characters, whose story is about how bad she is at measuring up to men in her field. And it's absolutely wild that we got her from the same series that just gave us Sakura last game.

I love this character.

I just wish the creators cared even a little bit about her when they were making her.

#danganronpa #danganronpa 2 goodbye despair #akane owari #owari akane #revisiting dr2

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wherestarsarestillasleep · 10 months

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second batch of p3p impressions, just met aigis. talk to me abt persona games

-Akihiko is so autism. “hey girl did you know the breaststroke is the most efficient swimming method due to ababaabba” “i have no interest in this information.” autism to autism confrontation

ALSO why is his social link a different arcana than his persona?? Ik in the base game he didn’t have a social link and still had an associated arcana but like, Minato also had a Magician slink and they still gave that to Junpei

also it’s funny that the stat requirement to start his slink has absolutely nothing to do with his own standards

-persona games are so fucking fun and addictive. it’s impressive they’re split into two very different kinds of gameplay and they both manage to be pretty evenly fun and engaging. im way more optimisation brained with this one than 4 and 5 and you can restore your whole partys hp and sp for a fraction of the amount of money you naturally make exploring tartarus and apparently originally if you went to the ground floor tired party members would leave but i guess not in portable so like. It’s just completely viable and optimal to do everything possible in tartarus on one ingame date only in a huge chunk so that’s what i’ve been doing. i was in there so fucking long. the dark "”hour””

-Okay so in persona 5 for the first arc, maybe also the second, you are introduced to ryuji and he fucking rocks. he’s so cool he’s set up to be a really great character i would love a lot and for the duration of kamoshidas palace he is that. also in persona 5 for most of the phantom thieves they have a cool plot focused on them for the dungeon you recruit them and then the writing has little idea what to do with those characters for the rest of the game. the result is ryuji is awesome for one maybe two dungeons and then is replaced by an imposter because his main story focus is over and the priority with his character then becomes making him fit better into the Persona Funny Pervert Bro Character trope which mostly fucking sucks and makes ryuji mostly fucking sucks

Junpei is presumably the character that started that archetype for yosuke and most-of-the-game-ryuji to follow, despite this for the first while he highlights the good parts of that archetype the funny bro who is your friend half and then it got harder and harder to continue liking him as i progressed and then the beach scene was predictably dogshit and added him to the very large pile of persona characters who i have to mentally overwrite significant things about in order to like them

When you first meet him Yukari assumes he’s hitting on you but it seems like no he was genuinely just being nice and concerned about a new transfer student and his social link continues being that he is your bro and he even offers to be your wingman for other dudes with zero jealousy and then his main story dialogue is. not that. And like. I assume he has the same july jealousy arc with the male protag because it is mostly about him generally feeling insecure and directionless but it Really Fucking Looks Worse with femc route when Junpei has more than one case of dialog about how He Should Be The Leader Cause He’s A Strong Man And You Are Girls it looks like THAT’S the main reason he’s so pissy for a while. he does earnestly apologise though. i still want to like him but i hate persona

-YUKARI though yukari is good i like yukari more and more i still haven’t seen as much of her link as some others but she’s thoughtful and outspoken. i dont have as many words to say about her but i like her a lot and that she takes initative on things and called out mitsuru and shuji directly and also apologised for it later as well. also i was very confused for a while why she couldn’t take a single hit when she had the same endurance as Minako that was because she was tired.

-Mitsuru is so cool and pretty and epic. that is all. maybe if you were a Genius she might spend time with you. Fuuka is my friend :). Akihiko is my favourite probably.

Currently Yukari is maybe the least useful party member and fell behind a bit but i like the look of her final skills in the end. Junpei for the last 2-3 boss fights has been almost exclusively rotating buffing everyone else also it is great that he can take a hit. Mitsuru is great for big damage and big heals and I like that Akihiko can passably fill any role you want him to be in at any point

It’s so cool that persona has both constant party members in your actual party members and a constantly rotating party in your personas because fusing newer higher level ones is much more likely than levelling your personas quickly enough to keep up. I made Oberon a while ago and he’s mad good, he’s still statistically up to par with higher level personas and with the skills i have on him he can take any role. in 4 and 5 i didnt pay all that much attention to exploring beyond the basic mechanics but taking deeper advantage of all the very many gameplay options they give you is really satisfying because persona games are difficult enough going out of your way to do all that leaves you well equipped without trivialising, at least this early into the game

-been trying to do all elizabeths requests but 1. i just missed exactly one on accident 2. fuck the golden shadows im not doing that ive managed to enter combat with exactly ONE hitting it from behind and then it had advantage and ran away immediately within battle?? 3. the requests where you get her an item from someone on a specific date i thought that was just the FIRST available date so i missed a lot of those... Also it sucks that enemies only drop items for her requests after you accept the request so I had to go back down floors

-odd that pharos main story link is a couple lower than sees main story link

-winning the low bar of least homophobic persona game. ik i just got past the part with the transphobic scene but i guess they removed it from either portable or femc’s route so I haven’t actually seen that

#p3posting

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crystalclear97 · 1 year

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I WAS AT STAGE WITH PARAMORE 💜

Wow. I can't believe I'm writing this. Here I go.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language and I'm writing this at the airport on my phone without thinking too much. So, sorry if I mess up with the grammar or something 🙏 (by the time I'm uploading it I'm already at home cause I wanted to add some pictures).

I made this account very recently because I was embarassed about fangirling too much at my main blogs where irl people followed me.

I dedicated this account mostly to aruani (snk) fandom but you've probably realized that I also share a lot Paramore stuff.

Well, I wasn't planning on ending anonymity anytime soon but... something BIG happened to me.

Last thursday I was able to go to my first Paramore show ever at Dublin. I've been dreaming about it for so many years. I've watched so many videos of fans going up stage at Misery Business and I've cried so many times watching them. I travelled from Spain, wrote in a huge sign "I crave to sing with you", arrived at queue at 8:15 am aprox, and waited (I had General Acces tickets!). The amazing Tom gave us some numbered wristbands so we could leave the queue and stay warm and healthy without losing our spot. He was the sweetest. Meanwhile I took a walk around, lucky enough to meet Brian Robert Jones and take a pic with him!!! Around 4 pm we were back at the queue and, yes, I was able to be at the same spot. ❤️

The second I entered the arena and realized how close I was to the stage I started ugly crying hahahaha. Rozi Plain was so sweet, Bloc Party was awesome (I really like them as well!!). And then they came out. At that moment I wasn't even crying anymore, I think I was disassociating a bit 🤣

They were amazing. Hayley is so talented, pretty and fun. THE ENERGY. I was holding up my sign maybe for too long and I could hear some people complaining about it behind me, which I totally understand... I felt so bad I started crying about it so I decided to not hold it up again until Misery Business :_) But soon the guilty tears turned into emotional tears, and I cried a lot during most of the show. I was SO EMOTIONAL during Last Hope... 🥺

AND THEN

Misery Business starts. Time to make Hayley spot me 🙏 Omg my stomach hurts while writing this... SHE. PICKED. ME. SHE FUCKING PICKED ME. I didn't realized, my boyfriend literally had to tell me because I was so nervous I didn't realized. Ok I think I'm going to cry again hahahaha.

She said she had been watching and knew exactly that it was going to be me. I can't believe it. At that moment I was so euphoric that I just went with the flow. Obviously I'd been preparing myself for this but you need to know I'm a very socially akward person, I have many anxiety issues, but IDK WHAT HAPPENED TO ME BUT I'M VERY PROUD OF MYSELF 😭😭😭 Hayley hugged me very hard, I told her I love her and thanked her a billion times. She is very tiny and I'm a big tall person but she PET MY HEAD 😭😭😭❤️ I can't believe she was so sweet!!!! I did it, I sang the song, I danced with Hayley, she said my name, we headbanged together... an amazing dream come true. I asked her to sign my (diy grow up) jacket and SHE DID IT!!! I was told to left very quickly (obviously 🤣) but she managed to sign it for me on time 🙏❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ (I also brought a marker in my pocket on purpose). I mean I WAS SO READY FOR IT 😭❤️

After that people were AMAZINGLY NICE TO ME. THANK YOU ALL WITH ALL MY HEART. It means the world to me that the other fans felt happy for me, so many people congratulated my, you are in my heart FOREVER. I felt kinda bad because I'm from Spain and I started thinking that maybe I didn't deserve it, that it should have been anyone from Dublin... I find it very difficult to feel worthy of all the goods things that happen to me, and to hear so many fans telling so many nice things, hugging me, even asking for pictures... You really made a difference in me. I'm crying. I wish I could share with you the feeling. THANK YOU DUBLIN. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! ❤️

This has changed my life forever. I also met Louise from Bloc Party after the show and she was LOVELY, eveything about that night has inspired me forever. I've been dreaming about making music by myself since I was a little child and just started to actually make it (kinda 🤣) a few months ago. But now... I feel so blessed and inspired I'm gonna try harder from now on.

MY WILDEST DREAMS CAME TRUE. Thank you Hayley for choosing me, thank you Paramore for changing my life, thank you Dublin for the unforgettable experience, thanks to the lovely fans I met there, and THANKS TO MY AMAZING BOYFRIEND for being there with my ALWAYS by my side. He knew it was going to be me. He fucking knew. I'm so grateful. I've been crying since that night. I'm crying right now and I'll never stop crying about this. This is a once in a lifetime experience, I am the luckiest person. A picture could not contain the way it feels.

WE LOVE YOU. WE LOVE YOU AND WE ARE PARAMORE. ❤️

Pics by Eleanor (check out her work omg):

Pics by Charlie:

Pic by Laura:

13/04/23

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mercerislandbooks · 7 months

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50 Years of Island Books: Laurie Raisys

Laurie and Victor Raisys bought Island Books in July 2015 and became the fourth owners since the store opened in 1973. They are both accomplished Microsoft alumni, but don't let that fool you into thinking they've had an easy road. Underneath that busy exterior are community builders and devoted parents of four. For our final 50 Years of Island Books installment, I sat down with Laurie in the back of the store. Here’s our conversation:

Miriam: Let's start with your favorite book category.

Laurie: I’m a total fiction person. Not historical, but thrillers, current fiction and romance. I love messy, dysfunctional families — I am a Lisa Jewell person all the way.

Miriam: Ha! OK. Tell me about your proudest accomplishment. Laurie: Making it through COVID. It was so incredibly hard and I felt the pressure as an owner with employees, responsible for their livelihood. I remember seeing all these bookstores closing, watching it happen on social media and talking with Victor about being so sad and scared about what would happen. Nobody knew what was going to happen. And then Victor wrote that [Laurie points at a sign on the wall in the back room] and stopped by the bookstore and gave it to me. It says “Believe, make it happen. We will make it.” And we did.

Miriam: That sign is from during COVID. Laurie: That's from during COVID. Miriam: And you drove books around to individuals all over the island. To me, that was incredible.

Laurie: Sofija [Laurie’s oldest daughter] and I did a lot of that. Victor and Erik [Laurie’s son] did some too. Everybody helped. By the end, we knew the island like the back of our hand. Miriam: It was awesome. Tell me about what it was like when you started running the bookstore. I remember when you took over in the back. Laurie: When I bought the bookstore eight and half years ago, I didn’t know anything about books other than how to read them. And Garry [the longtime receiver] was leaving. I said, “Hey, receiving the books is a perfect entry point for me.” And what a great thing to learn, because you see everything coming in. I’m forever grateful that I got to do that. Of course, I made mistakes, and Garry was so incredibly patient. He was the best teacher. And then, when the store became mine, I still handled receiving for a long time. Just the other day I thought, I can’t believe what I know now versus what I knew then. I never knew that books come out on the Tuesday or that we have a lot of hardcovers because libraries demand them. And I’ve learned so much from the publisher’s reps who moved from Roger to me. We’ve all taken on new responsibilities and learned a lot. It’s been an enormous education.

Laurie and Victor during ABA’s Winter Institute Bookstore Tour

Miriam: Tell me how you all work together. Laurie: As a team, we are solid. I appreciate the fact that the longer a staff member has worked here, the more they know how to do a lot of things. When we don’t know, we ask others. It’s a team effort and that synergy feels like a huge accomplishment.

Miriam: It is. That’s how a small business keeps running. You support each other. How would you say your staff would describe you?

Laurie: Grumpy? Miriam: Can I put that in, because it's funny?

Laurie, Lori and Cindy wearing red!

Laurie: [Laughs and nods] Grumpy, kind, and generous. It can be a challenge, as a private business, to do a lot of the things we do for the team, but I do it because they all work really hard. I don’t waste a lot of time when I’m here because, for a long time, I spent sixty hours a week working in the store. When I needed to step back and ensure I had a little more home-life balance, that’s where the trust came in, giving people more responsibility. When I’m here I just get stuff done, although I love talking to the customers. And I do really appreciate my staff.

Miriam: You’re never sitting! I would say many of your efforts are invisible to the outside world. You work with other small businesses, put on author events, book clubs, school fundraisers, and story times and it only happens because you do so much outreach. Organizing and planning takes so much time. Did that surprise you?

Laurie: There are a lot of people that reach out to you. You can’t say yes to everyone. And it’s not because you don’t want to, but it’s a lot of effort to set up for an event. And when you do it and the turnout is low, it’s disheartening for everyone involved. Now we are very thoughtful about our events. In October we have a great lineup. It’s a month of really interesting and diverse books.

Laurie and Miriam hiding books around town

Miriam: I was going to say you do an excellent job of curating toward local interest.

Laurie: I mean, for us, when we do an event, we can only promote to the people who follow us at Island Books. So authors need to let the people who follow them know, “Hey, I'm going to be in this place. Come see me.” And then more people know where to see that author because they may not follow our store. The major Seattle indie bookstores have an easier time getting people to attend their event. But we’re in an off-the-beaten-path location, even with the draw of parking.

And not all of our community involvement happens in the store. We sponsor the farmers market. I’ve given support to the high school band for years, and I always place an ad in the high school newspaper during graduation season to say congratulations. I’m the chamber board’s current interim president.

Miriam: You've hosted weddings.

Laurie: That was so exciting. We just had our second senior take pictures here. She is a local swimmer, and I supported the high school swim team this year. It's just a great community. They have supported us for fifty years, and in my eight years, especially during COVID, they kept us alive. We would not have survived without them. It’s not just the people on this island. People who grew up here and moved away read the Slate story or heard from their parents that we were struggling. They called in and ordered not only tons of books but gift cards. People talk about their community bookstore being their third place, and I’m proud that Island Books is at the top of the list in terms of representing what a community bookstore means. It’s a very reciprocal relationship. Miriam: Island Books is a hub on Mercer Island. You get a unique look at the community. Laurie: My husband grew up here, and all my kids have been raised here. When you’re that involved in the schools and raising kids here, you see how the community works.

Vaiva, Sofija, Luici, Erik and Luna Raisys all grown up

Miriam: That’s so true. What does 50 Years of Island Books mean to you?

Laurie: I just think it's incredible that it's 50 years. It's 50 years in one place. And not without challenges. But to be in one physical space for 50 years is incredible. It's amazing to me. There are customers who still shop here that can say, I was here on the first day. Lola Deane, who opened the store, is still here. We’re so lucky. People are funny. They'll come in sometimes and ask, “Is this an independent bookstore? There's so few left.” Which always surprises me, because we have around 28 independent bookstores in the greater Seattle area. We are so fortunate as an entire Pacific Northwest community because there are many independent bookstores. It's ridiculous. We're rich beyond rich. Miriam: And we have fascinating individuals who own and run them. Laurie: The owners are the coolest people with a unique perspective. It's so vibrant and a great community, too. Hey, did you see we just had the first Asian bookstore open? [mam’s books]

Miriam: It’s so wonderful. Laurie: I love to welcome new community into our bookstore universe. I was fortunate to inherit a store that already existed. I don't know how I would feel if it was brand new and I had to do it myself. The fact that the store was already running lowered my learning curve. Our network is how indie bookstores will survive: if we have a community and we have each other.

Miriam: Helping each other is essential. Is there anything else you'd like to say to finish up?

Laurie: We're excited to celebrate our Golden Jubilee and hope the community comes to the store! We're going to have little things happening all day on November 4th. The typewriters will be out. We'll have story time in the morning. There will be a blind wrapping contest. We’ll have cookies and cool stickers that say, “I've been booking it at Island Book since…” so people can write down how many years they've been here. We’ll give away gift cards every hour or so. And then we'll have cake and champagne at five o'clock and say thank you.

Miriam: Well, first, thank you, Laurie. Congratulations. I’ve enjoyed creating this 50 Years of Island Books blog series and feel honored to share it with you.

To our Island Books community: Lori Robinson will be back on the blog next week with an invitation to the party! Stop by the store on November 4th and join the celebration. It wouldn’t be happening without you!

—Miriam

#islandbooks #laurieraisys #miriamlandis #50 Years of Island Books #victor raisys

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rachelbethhines · 10 months

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60 Years of Doctor Who Anniversary Marathon - Davison 9th Review

Skaro: 20 Years of Time Travel Reviews - Fanzine

So what is a fanzine?

A fanzine is a fan published magazine.

Before the days of the internet, chat rooms, e-mails, forums, blogs, and social media, there was fan clubs, news letters, charity publications, and magazines. The fanzine was the primary way to share opinions, analyzes, fandom news, fan fiction, and fan art.

There have been several Doctor Who themed fanzines through out the decades; hundreds even. Skaro was one of the more professional looking ones that came out during the early 80s, and had connections with a fairly large fan club called the Doctor Who Appreciation Society.

While Skaro is no longer in print, the DWAS is still going and even publishes a different fanzine today... albeit digitally now. http://www.dwasonline.co.uk/

As for today’s issue, I manged to grab a copy off of ebay for eight bucks, and it came with a bonus issue as well.

Each are about 8 by 5 inches, printed on thick matte paper, and are all in black in white. Despite being held together by obvious staples, each zine looks and feels more like a thin cover-less paperback than what you would think of as a magazine on a store shelf today.

As for the contents of the zine, this special 20th anniversary issue features reviews of each season up to that point by 20 different fans.

It seems rather pointless to review a bunch of other reviews however, so I will just point out two things.

First, the print and layout of the various articles and production photos was very well handled, easy to read, and pleasing to the the eye. Outside of the occasional typo and one or two tiny printing mistakes, I can see why this particular fanzine is well remembered in fandom.

The second matter, and perhaps my only real criticism of the issue, is that while by and large most of the reviews are full of love of the show, one or two reviewers couldn’t seem to stop nagging on the then current era.

I mean it’s an anniversary special for goodness' sake! You’re telling me you couldn’t find a single fan in all of the UK who enjoyed season 18 enough to write a positive review of it?

I’m fine with people voicing dissenting opinions, but there’s other times and places for that. Not at the anniversary celebration though.

The next issue gives a look at what the magazine normally featured and I gave it a quick glace through.

We start off with an introduction by the editor and some legal copy-write disclaimers and footnotes. Then comes an assortment of fan letters talking about fandom things, the DWAS, and expressing general appreciation for the magazine.

Following from that we get an article from a fan gushing over the Brigadier and how awesome his BrOTP with the Doctor is. Then we’re treated to more reviews, this time of three individual episodes from season 13. While the next submission is a more heady piece of intellectual analysis discussing gray morality in the series as a whole.

We also get treated with some fan art and the third part of a three part story featuring Nyssa and the Doctor. Sadly, I shall not bother reading this particular fan fic as I have no way of obtaining the rest of it.

After that we get a particularly whiny bitch complaining about Doctor Who ‘catering to Americans too much’ because JNT dared to make the next companion from the US and had the gall to advertise the show to overseas markets! Yes, how dare a TV producer do his job! Worst Show-runner Ever!

Moving past that outdated unpleasantness, we come to the ‘advertising’ portion of the issue, which is just listing previous issues and talking about what to expect in the next.

We end the zine on yet another fan pointlessly complaining about JNT and how ‘the show is not as good at it used to be’, and finally the most interesting piece in the entire publication, an actual interview with the then editor of the official Doctor Who Magazine and one of the professional Doctor Who comic artists. Out of everything here, I’m most likely to go back and properly re-read that instead of just speed reading it.

So is the Skaro fanzine something worth getting?

Not really.

There’s a certain amount of novelty in reading a fanwork that is physically older than you are. It’s like uncovering a time capsule. But, nothing therein isn’t anything you haven’t heard before elsewhere on the web.

The most unique things here, the ones really worth preserving are the fanfictions and you can’t even read the entire thing in a single issue. And issues can run ridiculously high, most averaging around $25 and some going up to even $50.

Unless you’re a collector of fanzines specifically, it’s not really worth it. I lucked out on finding two issues for ten bucks (once you count shipping), and honestly I wouldn’t pay much more than five dollars for an issues anyways.

#doctor who #classic who #peter davison #jnt #skaro #fanzine

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iotauri · 5 months

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A lot of Musicverse lore

Now that I'm back from hiatus, I have a few things to share with you.

First, there are these adorable Uri references from the musicverse, created by my awesome friend Mihli (her twitter is here: https://twitter.com/mihli99).

Second, I can finally tell you a little bit more about her.

Ayana "Uri" Ruri. She's not very good at choosing nicknames, but hey, she doesn't care. Bison thinks she has no imagination, though.

She was a kickboxing star a few years ago and won many awards during her athletic career. However, an unfortunate leg fracture put an end to that career. The doctors literally told her, "One more fracture and you won't be able to walk, so it's time to stop".

Bison is her stepbrother (in case you hadn't guessed, a cat and a cow can't be related by blood). Their parents had a series of failed marriages in general, so Bison and Uri don't know how many more siblings they have. Uri stayed in Bison's family when her mother found a new husband because she decided "screw it, I'll stay with my brother". They are very close and have always supported each other while their parents were more concerned with their personal lives.

Bison's father, who adopted Uri, isn't a bad man all in all…. except that he's still the loser in his relationships. But he also took care of his stepdaughter, so Uri considers her family more than lucky. (unlike her biological mother, who just decided to throw her daughter away when she had the chance)

So, when we're done explaining her family circumstances, let's move on to the fateful broken leg that forced Uri to quit the sport. She really didn't know what to do (I think you know stories like this), she played guitar every day because her EX gave her a guitar when they were able to be friends after the breakup. He made her promise to play every day and try to sing because he liked her voice, and Uri kept that promise, but she didn't know what to do next. She didn't have a goal.

But one day Bison came out of his room and put a sheet of music under her nose and asked her if she could play it.

Yes, he began to write music for her, hoping that music would be the new meaning of her life.

Step by step, she gained popularity on social media, which her brother ran instead of her. Yes, he really took it seriously and realized that with popularity comes hate. So even now, her social media accounts are managed by her brother, while Uri has a private account where she watches cat memes. He can show her the positive comments and, just in case, has lectured her that one negative comment should not outweigh several dozen positive ones, but he still protects her mental health and takes on the difficult responsibility of communicating with the public.

Finally she joined the newly founded band "ACE", but even this was not an easy way. Firstly, Uri has stage fright (you wouldn't know it because she works on it every damn day) and secondly, she suffers from severe impostor syndrome. She still doesn't consider herself a "real singer", although she can't even explain what a "real singer" is.

Oh, and she's in love with Alune. This is a very difficult situation because Uri hardly acknowledges this fact.

It can be either mutual or one-sided love depending on the circumstances, but Uri has warm feelings for Alune either way.

(Once again, I remind you to check out Mihli's Twitter, where she drew this for me…. and much more)

And this is her merch poster

Bonus: her signature and logo (by Mihli again, I owe her my life, haha…)

#oc #artists on tumblr #digital art #oc art #league of legends oc #lol musicverse #oc lore #lore #character lore #lore dump #backstory

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dandthegods · 2 years

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So my area has a pagan fall art festival thing going on today. And I have some…thoughts.

first off, this is not meant to offend or accuse anyone of anything. We all practice differently and our lives are different. This whole thing is just based on what me and my fiancé experienced while there.

the whole week we’ve been looking forward to this. We’ve been to a few other art fair events around our area, but this was a pagan one so it added an extra bit of intrigue to it and it seemed exciting. But being there was kinda underwhelming with expectations and overwhelming without sensory issues and personal vibe checks.

just as a basic review of the event, it wasn’t laid out very well. Not sure if it was due to a cost to rent out the park they were in or what, but all the booths for the vendors were quite close together and the alleyways for people to walk through were so narrow. I would have preferred if they had a setup to direct the flow of foot traffic so it wasn’t just a crowd of people going both ways everywhere. The couple booths we went in and felt comfortable stepping into were nice, but the rest gave off very strange vibes. My fiancé picked up on them more than I did and can articulate better about it. But basically it was a very off vibe the whole time.

i think a big downside with this was there was little variety at what the vendors had to offer. It kinda felt like an Etsy search page where there are a couple dozen shops selling identical crystals, herbs, tarot decks, and jewelry. Some of the stuff there was cool looking, but all in all it was like “seen one, seen them all” type thing. Which, yeah that happens. Pagan and metaphysical shops tend to be few and far in between so they tend to carry the same things so people who want them can get them. But when you bring all those shops together they kinda just feel redundant. This is opposed to the other general art fairs we’ve been to over the past year. There are many booths that sell carving pieces or paintings or photo prints, but there is so much more variety there in terms of style, subject matter, and medium. And very few shops feel the same. With these shops, it’s the opposite.

im a very socially anxious person and when it comes to paganism I’m very reserved and private about it. Add that to the fact that Hellenism isn’t super common where I am and in the pagan supplies community in general, and I just feel out of place with a lot of these things. I’m not Wiccan, never have been, and don’t stray too far away from Hellenism stuff, so when things like this are 99% Wiccan/Druid based, it’s hard for me to not feel imposter syndrome wondering if I’m actually pagan. It’s awesome to see people be out and proud regarding their paganism, and I would love to do that as well (I’m trying at least) but some of the vibes I got from a good portion of the booths there just wasn’t good. Can’t explain it further than that, I’m afraid.

there was also a dude there that I’m pretty sure was from the AFA or some white supremacy sect of Asatru/Norse paganism. He was probably the worst vibe we got when we was silently stalking around, trying to hand out small pamphlet stuff. Luckily, the group that organized the event didn’t allow any white supremacy groups like the AFA or anything to have a booth there and I don’t think I saw any that could have been similar. But this guy was just bad news. And there’s only so much you can do with that kind of event, especially without any security detail, so it’s hard to stop people like that from coming in and trying to do their thing. He wasn’t talking about anything, he was just silently intimidating and creepy. But, on a happier note, we saw a lot of diversity there in terms of race, ethnicity, gender identity and age. So I don’t think the organizing group would have condoned that guy being there if they found out about him. The event goes on for the rest of the day so I hope he gets kicked out at some point and that everyone stays safe.

this was the first pagan event I’ve been to, and as an experience to say “I did this” it was nice. I honestly might not go again just out of personal preference and how my personality and mental health is. I wish everyone there the best, the vendors to be successful, and for all to be safe and get home safe.

Cheers,

-D

#random #personal #blog #post #hellenic polytheist #hellenism #hellenic polytheism #hellenic #hellenistic polytheist #thoughts #paganism #pagan fest #pagan festival #festival #vibes #art festival

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superannuatedseeker · 1 month

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Tumblr intro post 2024 Edition

Oh hello. I am Ren. Cishet, she/her. This is my tumblr. It goes all the way back to 2012, but I haven’t really been active on it for several years now. So time to reintroduce myself to the tumblrverse, I guess, and see if I can generate some social interactions.

So, I turn 61 in a couple of months. I know, that’s ancient in tumblr years, but I also know there are a few other Gen Xers out there. I always identify myself as a Mom before anything, even though my daughter @missr3n3 is a grown-ass adult and awesome creator, so check her out. But I am also Mom by nature, taking care of others, nurturing and encouraging them. Oh! And I’m a cat-mom to a female ginger named Starlord.

Since the pandemic, I work from home, which is essential since during the dumpster fire of 2020 I suffered a (mild)traumatic brain injury (yeah, mild, she gently shook her head disbelievingly) and if I had to go back to my pre-pandemic routine, well, I couldn’t and I’d be living a very different life. So let’s get the brain injury out of the way. It’s one of those invisible disabilities, and I’m quite functional most of the time, but it is still there and it is a bitch. It limits the amount of energy I have in a day, limits what I can do, where I can go, and even after learning to skillfully manage my life around it for more than three years, I am one bright light or loud sound away from spending a day or more in bed. Some things can’t be anticipated or worked around, and therefore, have to be endured. All that said, I try to stay focused on more positive things and not let this become my entire identity.

So what do I do, and why might you, fellow tumblor, be interested in following this here little blog thing?

Crochet – after a nearly three-year break, I have been able to pick up my hook again, and while it can be frustrating and slow-going, I’m quite happy to have it back in my life. This is a pattern by BonnieBayCrochet on Youtube.

Diamond Painting – instead of focusing on things I can’t do any more, I sought to find something I could do and diamond painting is one of these things, so I guess I’ll be posting about those projects, though again they move slowly.

Acrylic Painting – something else I had to take a break from that is still a frustratingly slow process for me. I am hoping I can build some accountability into this blog by posting any progress I make with it. This is a painting I finished awhile ago. Based on the work of Yobanka Art Paint on Youtube.

And this is the unfinished painting that has been staring me down for the past year. From a tutorial by The Art Sherpa on Youtube.

Television/streaming – I am a fan of Asian dramas, though good ones can be hard to find and subtitles do soak up my available brain juice. I wish I was enjoying “Mysterious Lotus Casebook” more than I am, given that I finally broke down and I gave iQiYi my $8.99 to see it. However, I got “War of Faith” in the bargain and after a couple of episodes I’m enjoying it. I find most American media too much for my brain to take, but there are plenty of vintage dramas on the free streaming platforms. I am currently working my way through “Have Gun Will Travel” and the original “Dynasty.”

Reading – I used to read – a lot – but I don’t have the concentration for it anymore. However, when I could, I read a lot of books and I’m happy to comment on them.

Music – this is the thing my brain injury truly robbed me of and the hardest adjustment to make. I love everything from classical to kpop, though the only group I continue to follow, just to see how my boys are doing, is VIXX. For now, when I can, I listen to classical guitar pieces played on very low volume, with occasional visits to vintage country music (Waylon Jennings anyone?), when my brain has the capacity. Favorites have always included Ian Hunter and Van Halen, but rock and pop tend to do my head in, so that is more from memory these days.

Other interests are Buddhist philosophy, cooking, cleaning channels on Youtube, and other people. That means you! Yes, you! I would love to know about your life, your interests, your ups and downs, hopes and dreams. Unless you’re a bot, or your only interest is porn, or you need my credit card information, or you are a horny old man who thinks this is a dating site. But I’m a glass-half-full kinda old cat lady, so I prefer to think there are plenty of people out here in Tumbland who are interested in sharing this journey, with a slice of cake and a cup of tea, of course.

#intro post #missr3n3art #brain injury #crochet #painting #diamond painting #books #music #gen xers #cdramas #kdramas #VIXX #waylon jennings #Ian Hunter #Van Halen #retro television #tea #cake

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ajoytobeheld · 6 months

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Thank you notes

August 16th, 2009

As everyone knows writing thank you cards is the most painfully excruciating social expectance we have in polite society. Every christmas you play with the generic body lotions your relatives bought you just to prove that they have no idea who you are, and your mum reminds you that you now have to write fourty thank you letters WITH THOUGHTFUL BLOODY DETAIL.

On tour everyday is like Christmas but we keep getting wondrous stuff we genuinely like, so well done , most of you know me better then my extended family and here are some thank you letters to show my appreciation….

Dear David,

You brought us cupcakes in Austin and they were truly awesome, I particularly enjoyed the frosting and the thought you put into getting a variety of frostings involved. I actually said to Alek how amazing it would be to have some kind of vanilla top and chocolate bottom, and there was one in the box so I was annoyed at my lack of originality but enjoyed the taste. Swings and roundabouts. I did clock you had some kind of bakery box when you came to watch the sound check and I did hope for some kind of buttercream treat but I think they exceeded my expectations. We are also hoping you could reply and let us know you are ok after the crowdsurfing, as I think you ventured into some empty space briefly…. thanks again

Dear Sergio,

I am so sorry I did not get to take my amazing gifts from you personally, I was in a state of dehydrated delirium and kind of wafted home after the show BUT Kelly (merch lady extraordinaire) gave me all the beautiful beautiful comics the next day.

Here is me with Civil War, which I have read (already) and loved, despite the fact I didn’t save my page and randomly opened it to a key plot twist thus ruining the ending for myself. Why do I despise myself this way? But thank you very much for my new exciting reading material.

Dear Jordon,

Your mum made us apple pie in Dallas, and then worried it would get a bad food review from the ever fussy Ollie.

Well she can breathe a well earned sigh of relief.

When I came back to the dressing room to sample my first bite of this beautifully presented pie post show it had already been attacked, and it continues to get eaten til this very day. It’s sitting at my feet in the van as we speak and I nibble at it. Your mother need not be worried that she used different apples, but I am worried when you said they were a pear – apple hybrid as I have never heard of such a thing, and thus think you are mental.

Cheeks kisses to all

Ellen x

#2009 #ellen!blog #lc!blog #lc!image

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pixel-bloom · 10 months

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SIMS TAG

Ahhhh thanks for the tag @natolesims ^_^ I’ll tag @ashubii @mosneakers @payte and @ashubii

What’s your favourite sims death?

Hmmm, drowning is classic but I was so shocked when the meteorite killed my sims in ts2, so let’s go with that one.

Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

Gotta go with MM; I tried Alpha back in the day but it just looks off in my game.

Do you cheat when your sims gain weight?

Not usually. I did have a pear shaped sim back in gen 3 of the insectas I fixed, but most of my sims keep their weight.

Do you use move objects?

Always.

Favorite mod?

I like SoL, but I’m looking into the other game enhancing mods...

First expansion/game/stuff pack you got?

Sims 1: Vacation, Sims 2: University, Sims 4: Seasons

Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing?

ALIVEEEE, like, “LETS DO IT LIVE”.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

I don’t MAKE too many sims (I steal them all from the neighborhoods) but Ant was my favorite for a loooong time. Theo is my favorite currently :) They’re both entertaining to “play” the game with lmao

Have you made a simself?

Yeah but she’s been sitting for years in her sad house in Windenberg. I don’t play simself stuff, but sometimes I’ll dress her up for a simblr challenge.

What sim traits do you give yourself?

Cheerful, Geek, Goofball. I’m very basic.

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

I don’t really have one...uhhhh, black!

Favorite EA hair?

I always use the city living hairs. Love the one ponytail with the braid on the side. I also love the Island Living hairs.

Favorite life stage?

I like my moody teenagers the best. The phases can be irritating but entertaining if I integrate it into the story.

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Gameplay but I actually really like customizing lots. I’ll download a lot or redo an existing one.

Are you a CC creator?

Nah, I honestly don’t have time :(

Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad?

I have some pretty awesome mutuals. I’m too MIA to be a part of a squad. Work, relationships, and life get in the way of playing sims lol. I’ve tried to join a general discord but I’m awful at using it.

What’s your favorite game?

Currently, Disco Elysium. Usually, Stardew Valley/Harvest Moon or whatever the current Zelda game is. (Actually I’m playing Minish Cap rn!)

Do you have any sims merch?

No T_T I might have in the past. I REMEMBER DISTINCTLY that I had the Sims 1 ONLINE but my mom and I didn’t understand how to set it up so she gave it away.

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

No, that sounds terrifying. I barely post on tumblr LOL

How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing?

Hmmm good question. I think it’s less “basic NPC” (base game??) and a little leaning towards my own lil funky style. When I first replayed sims 4 again in 2020, I downloaded all the basic CC that was trendy (and kinda outdated). In 2022, I moved my save to a new PC and started over, so that helped.

What’s your Origin ID?

I do not know. I do not use Origin or any EA app for socializing/sharing

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

Looking at my CC folder: simandy, clumsyalien, sentate, nolansims, and deetron.

How long have you had a simblr?

2020 I believe. Maybe a bit earlier but I didn’t post anything

How do you edit your pictures?

I used to have photoshop T_T (RIP) and used PSD and actions and EVERYTHING LOOKED SO GOOD. I lost access and I can’t bring myself to pay monthly rn. I miss it though, I hate the way my screenshots look now.

What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next?

I’d honestly like packs to be refreshed. I’m not one to ask for new stuff...I think there’s enough stuff. We need things to work properly LOL

What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far?

City Living has gotten the most focus from me. It’s SO much fun to go thrifting, go to festivals, and I love apartments. I’m sure I’ll love Island Living but I haven’t gottten to explore it yet.

#text

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