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More Big Kitties in a Teacup! Also available in my shop! :D

SHOP

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I have just found out that, like leopards, servals can also be born black.

Look at this beautiful baby

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FedEx: shits on my box, stomps on my box, kicks it, dumps gasoline on it, throws one of my chickens into the back of the van UPS: whispers at my front door “is anyone home” as quietly as possible before leaving a “we missed you!” note, tries to gaslight me into thinking my address doesn’t exist USPS: sets my package down gently where it’s not visible from the road, knocks on the door and kisses me directly on the mouth

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Barclay Shaw, 1995. 

#holy crap #I think I read this book

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🪞👁🪞

𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 by POLER.T.INA (@ poler.t.ina | #poledance | #BetweenMirrors)

🪞👁🪞 https://www.instagram.com/p/CbL-nJXuaQk/?utm_medium=tumblr

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@NintendoAmerica: As of late March 2023, it will no longer be possible to make Nintendo eShop purchases for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.

Hack your 3DS. Hack your Wii U. It's easy and fun, and you will gain access to so much shit, you will not lose access to one of the largest generational game libraries, you can access even older games.

It is always morally correct to pirate Nintendo games. Fuck them.

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🪞👁🪞

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐒! 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐋𝐄. by DUNCAN EVANS (@ curlykidlife | 2021 #vfx #animation| #BetweenMirrors)

🪞👁🪞 https://www.instagram.com/p/CZdJht6FbQ6/?utm_medium=tumblr

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“The prince just fell in love with Cinderella because of her looks!”

Wrong. Okay, picture this–

So there’s the prince, okay? He’s like, smack dab in the center of the ballroom, and he is like, horrifically aware that this whole ball thing is a result of his dad falling into a panic about the royal lineage or whatever and he’s stuck listening to highborn girl after highborn girl, all lined up, introducing themselves like, “Oh yeah my family’s been a longtime supporter of the crown, and I think you’re cute, *cough* I’ve been told I have child-bearing hips *cough* Who said that? Anyway–” and Princey boy is just smiling through it, he has been the center of attention for entirely too long, he misses his emotional support horse, and is just internally like “Someone please kill me now.” And then… he sees her–This isn’t a love at first sight thing, this is a ‘what the hell is going on over there’ thing, because this girl has not gotten into the Debutante line for a solid 45 minutes. 

She’s just at the hors d’oeuvres table going HAM on the prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, and like, she’s polite about it, she’s happy to move aside for other people grabbing punch and canapes (and she’s really so sweet with the wait staff, it’s kind of cute because they’re like… definitely not used to being acknowledged) but it’s like, “Damn girl, did you not eat today?” and then the prince is kind of stuck with the uncomfortable thought of ‘how many girls starved themselves to fit into a corset for this.’ And then the Prince realizes he’s missed the past 4 Debutante introductions because he’s watching Mystery girl hork down crab rangoons. So he’s like, “Excuse me” and manages to break free from the never-ending parade of girls who will hop on his dick for status.

 And as he’s approaching Mystery Girl, it’s kind of hitting him that something’s not quite natural about her. Not fake, but not quite real. But at the same time this whole evening’s been just a whole circus of people acting fake as hell, so like, someone seeming a little off doesn’t seem bad, necessarily. And he sidles up to her like, “Hi,” and she’s like, “Oh–hey, have you tried the tapenade?” and she points to one of the plates, and at this point, he could hit her with the “You don’t know who I am, do you?” deal or the “Very funny, I see your play” deal, but at this point it occurs to him that, no, he hasn’t had anything to eat throughout this whole damn ball, partially because of being stuck in the debutante parade, partially because of nerves, and there’s something so disarming about the question that he grabs a crostini and she still seems so food-focused that it doesn’t seem possible that this is a play. So they both grab little plates and ditch the party.

She pretty much clears her plate in under two minutes and then has half of his plate, he’s cool with it, mostly he’s just absolutely fascinated listening to her.

See here’s the thing about Cinderella:

1. She doesn’t know he’s the prince. Like yeah, he’s been at the center of the room, but she’s kind of spent half the party eagerly looking around everywhere she’s allowed to go (”Have you seen rose garden? Have you seen the solarium??” further confirmation that she doesn’t know who she’s talking to) and the other half stuffing her face with food. 

2. She assumes she’s never going to see anyone here tonight again, and no one recognizes her, so she has no filter.

So she’s just talking about whatever with this guy. He seems cool. She talks about her friends, who are rats. She makes little outfits for them. Sometimes they bring her little gifts. She is already the coolest person the prince has ever met because of this. She pretty much offhandedly talks about whatever is fucked up about the kingdom that would take his advisors two hours of hemming and hawing and watering down to address. She just says it like it’s nothing, just funky little things she’s observed, and again, she’s not aware that he’s the prince, but it’s still pretty damn bold to bring up at a literal royal ball.

She… seems to have the majority of graces that lots of girls from Respectable Families™ have, but there’s something strange about it, something simultaneously broken and hardened, like the way you can see where ice has thawed and re-frozen. Also the way she talks about her family, and the way she avoids talking about her family– is raising several red flags, not in the “Oh this is another person trying to take advantage of me” sense, but in the “Oh fuck, something’s gone really wrong and you need help” sense and also lowkey a ‘damn is she even getting fed?’ sense. But he can’t say, ‘Hey, that’s not fucking normal for people to say that to you or treat you that way. We need to get you out of there,’ without sounding crazy himself, so for now, he’s just going to chill, make sure she’s comfortable, and keep enjoying the evening. She’s somehow befriended like 4 of the waitstaff so they’re willing to cover for them while they disappear for a little bit, and they get plenty of time to talk, but eventually it hits her that she hasn’t danced yet and she’s like “Come on! I bet we can make the prince jealous!” and he just bursts out laughing at that like “hell yeah, let’s make the prince jealous. He’s a real asshole.” Like clearly she’s having a good time, so who is he to make it weird? So they head back to the ballroom and they dance. And our girl, Mystery Girl, Cinderella, while they’re dancing, becomes acutely aware that everyone is staring. That doesn’t seem quite right. Like, yeah she’s hot, she knows she’s hot, but at least a good third of the party should still be focused on the prince, right? Where is that guy, anyway?

Oh.

Oh wait.

Oh shit.

And Princey Boy actually picks up on her realization and they whisper argue for like 3 minutes. “Why didn’t you tell me?! Now I feel like a goddamn idiot!” “I dunno it was nice being treated like a normal person” “Well me treating you like a normal person makes me a goddamn felon or something did you consider that?!” “Hey–Hey–it’s cool–you’re cool–I think you’re amazing, and if anyone says shit about you, I can shut it down.” “Well I don’t like that! That’s fucked up!” “I agree. It is fucked up, but I believe in you, and I think you should have a chance, and I’m here to back you up. I know power is fucked up right now. I know. But are you cool with working with me to change that?” And our girl Cindy pauses on that for a couple seconds, because.. she’s just spent hours with this guy and like.. she knows he’s a good guy, she knows he means well, so she’s like, “I don’t know how long I can actually work with you.” and the prince is like “Look, I know your home situation is complicated right now, but I really think we can–”

And then the bell starts ringing.

It’s midnight.

And then she takes off in a panic, and our prince just met the coolest person ever, and like, he’s pretty sure whatever situation they’re headed back to is fucked up, and all he’s got going to find her is a shoe. A shoe. 

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RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS—Here is America’s only soldier to ever receive Israel’s highest honor conferred on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. On this day 77 years ago, facing the threat of immediate execution, he and his men displayed an act of courage and character that exemplifies what it means to take a stand against evil. US Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, the “Golden Lions”, was captured by German forces at the onset of the Battle of the Bulge. A native of Knoxville, TN, Edmonds was 25 years old. He had only been on the front line for five days when his unit was overrun.Edmonds’ captors marched him east where he was transferred to Stalag IX-A, a camp for enlisted personnel just east of Bonn, Germany. As the senior noncommissioned officer at the camp, Edmonds found himself responsible for 1,275 American POWs.On January 27, 1945, the Camp Commandant ordered Edmonds to assemble all the Jewish-American soldiers so they could be separated from the other prisoners. Defiantly, Edmonds assembled all 1,275 American POWs.Furious, the German commandant walked quickly up to Edmonds, placed a pistol against Edmonds’ forehead, and demanded that he identify the Jewish soldiers within the ranks.Edmonds, a keen and dedicated Baptist, responded sternly, “We are all Jews here.“Edmonds then warned the commandant that if he wanted to shoot the Jews, he’d have to shoot everyone, and that if he harmed any of Edmonds’ men, the commandant would be prosecuted for war crimes when Germany lost. Edmonds then recited that the Geneva Conventions required POWs to give only their name, rank, and serial number, not their religion.The commandant backed down.Edmonds’ actions are credited with saving 200 Jewish-American soldiers from being murdered. He survived 100 days of captivity, and returned home after the war, but kept the event at the POW camp to himself. He never told anyone. Edmonds later served in Korea.It was only after Edmonds’ death in 1985 and the review of his diaries by his son that his story came to light. Jewish-American POWs, including Sonny Fox who after the war became an executive with NBC. He verified the story as did other POWs who were glad to share. The State of Israel declared Edmonds “Righteous Among the Nations” in 2015.Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. As we pause to remember the 6 million Jews and 11 million others murdered at the hand of their captors, we also commend all Allied Veterans who helped bring the tyranny of the Third Reich to an end. Master Sergeant Edmonds and the 1,275 American soldiers who stood defiantly with him on this day were a part of that story. We are the benefactors, and we pause to give our thanks. All The Way and more.

Photo, courtesy of Yad Vashem: World Holocaust Center, Jerusalem, The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous and The Rev. Chris Edmonds. #WeRemember #WeShareToRemember #holocaust #onthisday #neveragain #HolocaustMemorialDay #HolocaustRemembranceDay

WWII Airborne Demonstration Team

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What I'd love to see is constructive criticism receiving criticism in return. Critics should want to improve how they deliver their criticism, yes? Too often I see offered the "positive negative positive" sandwich that is, frankly, quite middle school, and on the other end, critics usually have no background that builds my confidence in their ability to help the writer.

Sure, the critic is the first to complain that "oh, so this means I can't criticize movies if I don't have a film major degree? I can't criticize literature without an English degree?" To which...no, not without perhaps a background of experience in either literature, pop culture, film, etc. This sort of critic can criticize it to the level of a layman, but to express issues with mise-en-scene, genre, character, etc., the amateur critics are simply not going to have the toolbox to discuss the author's craftsmanship. In the same way I can't criticize artists or musicians beyond a "I don't care for this 'cause of that" statement, the uneducated, unpracticed critic can only give their shallow, surface reasons for their annoyances and displeasure.

Can a critic with no formal training rise above this limitation? Of course. A solid background of experience can easily trump a degree. There are plenty of directors who learn by doing. There are writers who craft novels and short stories before they ever take a class. Certainly, without a film degree, one can criticize a film with some solid bonafides and confidence.

But if this was what is happening in fanfic criticism, we wouldn't be having this argument--because critics would have enough understanding and experience to either demonstrate some ethos to their arguments or they would deliver their criticism in a manner that resonates with their audience and demonstrates the means by which to improve.

That isn't happening, however, except in rare occasions. The critics who can indeed help an author are far and few, but they do exist. The rest, in my 25+ years of doing this, are people who, for whatever reason, feel better for being a critic without ever putting a dog in the fight, so to speak. Not that they need to have written something to be a good critic, but if their critique leaves me severely doubting their ability, then the lack of anything else to support their critique means that they have nothing to offer.

At which point, they often fall back on the "I don't need to write a fic to critique writing, etc." True. But their attempt at criticism was just that--an attempt. That failed. You'd think they would want to improve.

#in a nutshell #criticism #constructive criticism #can we go back to livejournal or something yet?

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i’m just. very frustrated as an adult on a 17+ app being treated like i’m a little baby who can’t handle adult content or curate my own experience. it’s fucking stupid

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...tumblr resurgence just means we haven’t found a decent substitute yet.