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#oh the interesting stuff that you learn from social media
rebeccathenaturalist · 8 months
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ETA: I wrote up a guide on clues that a foraging book was written by AI here!
[Original Tweet source here.]
[RANT AHEAD]
Okay, yeah. This is a very, very, very bad idea. I understand that there is a certain flavor of techbro who has ABSOLUTELY zero problem with this because "AI is the future, bro", and we're supposed to be reading their articles on how to use AI for side hustles and all that.
I get that ID apps have played into people's tendency to want quick and easy answers to everything (I'm not totally opposed to apps, but please read about how an app does not a Master Naturalist make.) But nature identification is serious stuff, ESPECIALLY when you are trying to identify whether something is safe to eat, handle, etc. You have to be absolutely, completely, 100000% sure of your ID, and then you ALSO have to absolutely verify that it is safely handled and consumed by humans.
As a foraging instructor, I cannot emphasize this enough. My classes, which are intended for a general audience, are very heavy on identification skills for this very reason. I have had (a small subsection of) students complain that I wasn't just spending 2-3 hours listing off bunches of edible plants and fungi, and honestly? They can complain all they want. I am doing MY due diligence to make very sure that the people who take my classes are prepared to go out and start identifying species and then figure out their edibility or lack thereof.
Because it isn't enough to be able to say "Oh, that's a dandelion, and I think this might be an oyster mushroom." It's also not enough to say "Well, such-and-such app says this is Queen Anne's lace and not poison hemlock." You HAVE to have incredibly keen observational skills. You HAVE to be patient enough to take thorough observations and run them through multiple forms of verification (field guides, websites, apps, other foragers/naturalists) to make sure you have a rock-solid identification. And then you ALSO have to be willing to read through multiple sources (NOT just Wikipedia) to determine whether that species is safely consumed by humans, and if so if it needs to be prepared in a particular way or if there are inedible/toxic parts that need to be removed.
AND--this phenomenon of AI-generated crapola emphasizes the fact that in addition to all of the above, you HAVE to have critical thinking skills when it comes to assessing your sources. Just because something is printed on a page doesn't mean it's true. You need to look at the quality of the information being presented. You need to look at the author's sources. You need to compare what this person is saying to other books and resources out there, and make sure there's a consensus.
You also need to look at the author themselves and make absolutely sure they are a real person. Find their website. Find their bio. Find their social media. Find any other manners in which they interact with the world, ESPECIALLY outside of the internet. Contact them. Ask questions. Don't be a jerk about it, because we're just people, but do at least make sure that a book you're interested in buying is by a real person. I guarantee you those of us who are serious about teaching this stuff and who are internet-savvy are going to make it very easy to find who we are (within reason), what we're doing, and why.
Because the OP in that Tweet is absolutely right--people are going to get seriously ill or dead if they try using AI-generated field guides. We have such a wealth of information, both on paper/pixels and in the brains of active, experienced foragers, that we can easily learn from the mistakes of people in the past who got poisoned, and avoid their fate. But it does mean that you MUST have the will and ability to be impeccably thorough in your research--and when in doubt, throw it out.
My inbox is always open. I'm easier caught via email than here, but I will answer. You can always ask me stuff about foraging, about nature identification, etc. And if there's a foraging instructor/author/etc. with a website, chances are they're also going to be more than willing to answer questions. I am happy to direct you to online groups on Facebook and elsewhere where you have a whole slew of people to compare notes with. I want people's foraging to be SAFE and FUN. And AI-generated books aren't the way to make that happen.
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inthedoghousern · 3 months
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settle down
pairing: lando norris x fem!reader
summary: lando has always been a good friend of your brother, so you know he's off limits, but sometimes you just can't help yourself. guess you'll never learn. inspired by "settle down" by the 1975.
contains: 18+, cursing, alcohol/drinking/smoking, suggestive content (make outs!).
4.4k words
a/n: ok let me clarify: loosely inspired. this isn't reallyyyyy the 'storyline' of the 1975's settle down, but that's okay!
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You're wearing your hair down and it slightly covers your face as you go to answer the knocking coming from your front door. When you open it, you're surprised to find your brother's best friend standing there. 
"Oh, you're early, no?" You ask, puzzled, while pushing your hair behind your ears. You knew your brother was throwing a party tonight, but that was in a little bit, and your brother wasn't even home at the moment. 
"He told me to come early to help set up. Whatever that means," he answers. 
"Not sure if he knows that because he's not here," you tell him. Your brother is an idiot. "Well come in I guess." You shrug and move to the side, motioning Lando in. 
You didn't really mind. Of course, you and Lando were friendly, considering he was so close with your brother. When you were younger you even hung out with the two of them a lot. As you got older, their racing and your school stuff just caused the friendship between you and Lando to be more casual. And it was fine. Sometimes schedules would work out and Lando, your brother, and you would cross paths. But for the most part, you just followed his life online like everyone else. 
Though you had to be honest, back then, Lando didn't seem to have much of an effect on you, but now as he stands in front of you, you feel a lump forming in your throat. When did he get so good-looking?
You don't know what has come over you as the two of you enter the house. You feel like falling all over the place. You two make your way to the living room and sit on the couch. It's silent for a moment before Lando speaks up.
"Where even is he?"
"Pretty sure he's stocking up on drinks for tonight. I don't know why he wouldn't have waited to bring you, or just like, tell you to come later." You shake your head. 
Lando laughs and shakes his head too and the silence returns. 
Now you ask a question. “Hasn't been just us in a while, huh?”
“It's been a minute.” Lando chuckles along with you, the silence now slightly less awkward.
You lean back on the sofa. “So how are you? I haven’t seen you in forever,” you ask with a smile. 
“I’m good, I’m good. Honestly, nothing too interesting going on.” He shifts on the couch.
The two of you sit in silence again, until Lando speaks up. 
“You're staying for the party, right?”
“Yeah. Thought I’d stick around this time.”
Lando tilts his head to the side. “Is that so?”
Your stomach does a flip. You try to shake away the thoughts entering your mind. He’s your brother's best friend, you've known him for years, you need to relax. 
“Mhm,” you hum in response. 
Lando looks down for a moment and then over at you. 
“When’s your brother getting back?”
“Not sure.” You open your phone and check his location. As you look away, Lando eyes wander to your neck, then your torso and legs, then your lips, all in the span of a few seconds as you sit on the couch next to him. He had spent countless hours with your family, sat and talked with you many many times. What a familiar face yours was to him. But today he couldn't help but notice something had changed between you. Was it all the time you had spent a part? Or maybe the fact that he's finally seeing you in person and not through a screen. Lando would never admit it, but lately he tended to linger on your social media posts longer than he should.
Lando meets your eyes again when you look up from your phone.
“Yeah, I have no idea, looks like he's still shopping. Do you want me to ask?”
Lando shrugs, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. 
“It’s alright, I was just asking.” He leans back again, stretching his arms over his head as he does.
You can’t help but look at the exposed skin of his stomach when his t-shirt rises. Your eyes glance down, but you look away as quickly and inconspicuously as possible. 
But Lando does notice your brief glance down and back up again. If you could see his expression, you’d notice it’s a mixture of amusement, and something else. He doesn’t say anything though. Instead, he leans forward, speaking slightly softer. 
“You know, I've missed seeing you.”
You can feel heat rising up the back of your neck. Still, you feel a smile tugging at the sides of your mouth and now the two of you are making eye contact. “Oh really?”
Lando can feel your breath on him. He lets out a small breath himself, letting out a shaky laugh. He looks you deeply in your eyes and brings his arm to the back of the sofa behind you. 
Time seems to move extremely slowly. The atmosphere is charged, your eyes locked on to one another. Lando holds your gaze for a moment, waiting to see if you have anything more to say. 
You lean towards him. He feels you press yourself against him. The two of you are so close together, you can feel Lando’s body heat rising, his muscles tightening.
He leans forward, brushing his lips against yours very softly.
You kiss him back. As you do so, Lando gently moves his hands to your waist and pulls you closer to him and you wrap your arms around his neck. The kiss continues and grows much more passionate. You feel Lando’s hands moving up and down your back, the two of you fully enveloped in one another.
Your position shifts, and now you’re sitting on his lap. Still connected in your kiss. 
Lando’s mouth moves along your jaw, “Fuck Lando,” you breathe out as he kisses your jaw and neck. Your hands are buried in his hair. 
Your words bring a small chuckle from him, and he smiles into your neck. He's finding himself so fixated on the girl with the soft sounds. Her hair all over the place. 
You're also fixated on this boy. Lando Norris. The guy you've known your whole life. The guy who's best friends with your brother. The guy who was off limits. He isn’t supposed to be the guy to make you feel like this, and yet, here you are, on top of him. 
Lando’s hands slide under your shirt as he continues to kiss you. 
The feeling of Lando running his hands all over you and his suffocating kisses are almost enough to make you forget where you are. Who you are. Almost. The illusion breaks when you hear a sound from outside. 
A car door shutting. 
The two of you freeze. As one, you both turn your heads. The sound is followed by footsteps. Heavy footsteps. 
It’s your brother.
“Fuck,” you laugh, panicking. You quickly slide off of Lando. 
“Goddamnit.” Lando shakes his head with a smile and sits back. 
You’re both a bit of a mess. You two are breathing heavily and you're flushed. Your hair disheveled. You’ve just barely finished fixing yourself when you heard your brother’s voice from the front door. 
“I’m back.”
“Hey!” You clear your throat. “Lando’s here." 
“Thought so, I saw his car in the driveway.” Your brother steps into the living room, a bag in his arm. 
“What’s up man,” Lando gets up. “You got more stuff in the car?” He asks your brother. 
“Yeah a few more boxes,” he responds. 
“Alright let me help.” They walk back outside together and you lean back on the couch, looking up and covering your face with your hands. 
You sit there for a moment, feeling a bit shaken. You feel a little dirty almost? But you can’t stop thinking about the way Lando kissed you.
You let your hands fall to your sides before the two of them walk back in. Your brother sits on the couch and Lando sits in a chair across from you. Just a few feet away. It’s like nothing happened. You know he can't be found with you.
Luckily, your brother is completely oblivious. 
“People should start getting here in like an hour,” he comments. 
You get up from the couch. “Alright, I’m gonna get ready then. See you guys later.” 
You rush upstairs and shut the door. Your heart is pounding, and you’re still in disbelief. As you lie down on your bed, your mind races with everything that just happened. 
You cannot let your brother find out.
He would probably kill you, or kill Lando. 
No, he’d kill both of you. 
-
You spend more time than you should getting ready, but you’re hoping to calm down a little. Eventually, you start to hear music from downstairs, and the bass shakes your floor. You also begin hearing the sound of voices and laughter as your brother greets people at the door. 
You take a deep breath as you look at yourself one last time in the mirror. Now or never. Just avoid him. 
You walk down the stairs and are immediately met with 'hellos' and 'heys' from different directions. You greet as you weave your way through the house, and finally, you get to the kitchen. You beeline to the fridge, getting a drink. 
“Hello helloooo,” you hear from behind. When you turn around you're met with your best friend. 
"Hey!" Her arrival is a breath of fresh air after feeling so out of sorts with Lando. She gives you a big smile and hugs you tightly.
“Thank god you’re here,” you say as you pull away from the hug. “Get a drink and then we need to talk. It’s important.”
Your best friend gives you a curious look, raising her eyebrow at you in surprise. She glances around for a moment and then back at you. 
“What is it? Is something going on?” People are in and out of the kitchen around you two. The house is getting busier and busier. You look around quickly and then whisper in your friend’s ear, “It’s about Lando.” 
“Shut the fuck up,” she whispers, a look of excitement in her eye and concern as well.
“Yeah, I know. Now get a drink and let’s get outside or something,” you laugh. 
“Are you being serious? Did you fuck Lando?” She leans in closer as if she doesn’t believe what she’s hearing is real.
“Shush! Oh my god come on.” You pass her a drink and grab her hand, pulling her behind you. 
Though, as you try to exit the kitchen people are also walking in, causing a bit of a standoff. And of course. It’s Lando and your brother. 
“Hey what’s up!” your brother greets your best friend. 
Out of you four, your brother is the only one who is out of the loop on the current... situation.
Lando directs a nod toward your friend but soon looks back at you. You're staring back. 
“Hi nice to see you both I was just going out for a smoke talk to you later goodbye," your best friend quickly rambles to the two boys, and then you both push past out of the kitchen. 
You can feel Lando's eyes on the back of your head as you go out the door.
-
You sit on the porch and she lights a cigarette, taking a drag, and then turning to you, “I can’t believe it. You’re not fucking with me right?” She says laughing. 
You laugh and put your head in your hands. “I’m being so serious," you mutter but then look up again. "But we didn't sleep together. It was just a... heavy makeout...? That got interrupted."
She starts laughing and you laugh with her, the two of you in disbelief. 
“Dude you can’t just hook up with Lando! Oh my god, your brother is going to freak out.” She says, still laughing. 
“I know. He cannot find out.” You smile and take a sip of your drink.
Your best friend looks at you over her cigarette, “…well, I mean, was it good?”
"It wasn’t bad…” you trail off with a grin. Your best friend smirks as you speak, raising her eyebrow and laughing out loud. 
“It wasn’t bad.” She repeats, and you can hear the amusement in her voice. 
“You’re a mess.” She says, and the two of you burst out laughing as if it’s not a big deal at all. She's right, you are a mess. You're avoiding him and yet wondering if he's talking 'bout you too. 
The two of you keep talking and drinking on the porch until your cans are empty. “Alright,” you say slapping your knees and standing up. “We should be social, and I need another drink.”
“You would be right," your best friend says immediately and gets to her feet. You’re relieved to have her with you, maybe she’ll help you keep your mind off of Lando and what just happened. And getting another drink wouldn’t hurt either. 
“C’mon.” Your best friend pulls you away from the porch and the two of you reenter the party.
-
You're back in the house and the night resumes. You have fun for a bit, talking to your other friends, drinking, and doing some shots. You know Lando is here somewhere, but you don’t know where and you don’t really care. Don't want to care at least. 
At one point, your best friend pulls you aside again, “I’m gonna have another smoke, you coming?” she asks. 
“Yeah sure, I could use some air.” You two go outside again. It's gotten later and you're feeling the cold air prickle against your skin. 
She lights her cigarette as someone else from the party comes out, and they light up too. The three of you talk for a while, but you're starting to feel too cold, and you're the only one not smoking. 
“Hey, I’m going back in,” you tell her. She nods, “Cool, I’ll see you inside later, I’m gonna chill out here for a bit.” 
You head back into the party, and once again it’s crowded: people are moving between rooms, there’s music blasting, and you can smell the liquor in the air. 
You're pushing through bodies as you walk through the living room. You pass someone and the two of your arms collide hard. You go to mumble a 'sorry', but you stop yourself when you see who it is. 
Lando. You both pause. 
You feel the heat coming off of his body and your chilled skin from the night air touches against him. You're cold and he burns. You shiver, unsure if it's from the temperature outside or the man standing in front of you. 
“Cold?” he asks leaning close so you can hear him over the music. 
You laugh, “I was just outside. Won’t take long to warm back up in here though.” 
He smiles slightly at you and nods, but the look in his eyes reveals he knows there’s more to it than that. 
You can still feel the heat coming off of him, and you don’t know how to avoid it. You’re trying to block out the memories of what happened in this living room earlier, but it’s pretty obvious the tension between the two of you is still there.
“Wanna go get another drink?” he asks. 
There’s a part of you that knows you should say no, but there’s also a certain adrenaline rush that courses through you in his presence. He doesn’t seem to care about the circumstances, and he’s actually making this interesting.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Let’s get a drink then,” he says, grabbing your shoulders and turning you towards the kitchen. You walk ahead as he follows with his hands on your shoulders. The sensation of him holding you makes your heart race, you feel like his touch could burn a hole right through you. 
You get to the kitchen and Lando lets go of you, making his way to the fridge, grabbing you both drinks. You sit on the counter as Lando stands in front of you with his own drink.
You take some time to just look at him, your eyes locked on his, and he looks right back at you. There’s this air of tension between the two of you and despite neither of you outright acknowledging it; you both know. 
“Having fun?” you ask him, taking a sip of your drink. 
“Yeah, I’d say so,” he teases you, taking one step forward so that he’s standing closer than he was before.
“Are you having fun?”
“Yes, I am,” you say looking down at him from your position on the counter. 
“Good.” 
It’s such a simple word, but the way he speaks it is almost provocative. Everything about him right now is like that.
You both sip from your drinks, and he’s so close to you that you feel like you could lean forward and kiss him without moving. The idea has you feeling a bit dizzy.
You don’t say anything and neither does he; everything between the two of you is so intense, so silent. You're losing your words. You two are speaking in bodies. 
You break the eye contact and don’t say anything as you put your drink down and get off of the counter. You and Lando are nearly pressed together for a moment when you get down, but you move to the side and start leaving the kitchen. 
Confusion is all over Lando’s face, he turns as you walk by. 
“Where are you going?” He laughs as he starts to follow. 
You start moving through the party to the stairs, and you don’t look behind you to see if he’s following. You know he is. As you get to the staircase you start climbing up and Lando's nearly on your heels with every step you take. 
When you reach the second floor and it’s dark and quiet. You open the door to your room and walk inside, Lando is right behind you as you do so. You enter the room and hear Lando closing the door and clicking the lock. The party is downstairs, and up here it’s a different world. 
You and Lando stand there for a moment, and the silence is deafening. You both know why the other came to this room and in the low light, he moves closer to you. 
You can feel his hand wrap around your waist slightly and he pulls you towards him. Lando smiles softly as you wrap your arms around his neck. Your fingers play with the hair at the nape of his neck, and your body is pressed against his. 
“You know…” he whispers to you, “I really would like to finish what we started earlier…”
“Or is the idea of your brother being downstairs too much?” he whispers softly, as his hands move to the small of your back, holding you gently and close to his body.
The air seems to be hot as you press yourself against Lando. Your hands wrapped around the back of his neck, the heat coming off of his body as he leaned his own against you. 
“I love the guy but I really wish he wasn’t here. Or that anyone was here,” his voice almost a whisper, “but I guess that means we have to be really quiet…”. 
You smile and shake your head, “I guess…” your eyes are flickering from his eyes to his lips. You shouldn’t want this, but you really do want this. 
Lando smiles back, his hand trailing your back slowly. It’s a tease and you know it. His one hand starts to move up your back, making its way towards the back of your neck, and he brings his free one to the side of your face. Your arms are still wrapped around him. He traces his fingers along your cheek slowly, and you feel your breath catch in your throat. 
Your bodies are close together and you can feel their heat against each other. The air is thick, and you know what needs to happen next.
You both lean towards each other and meet in the middle, finally tasting each other again. The kiss is filled with passion and you can feel his lips on yours, his tongue meeting your own.
Lando deepens the kiss and you're pushed back into the door. Pinned between his body and the wall. He doesn’t break the kiss and his hands slide down your body, moving down to your hips. 
Lando starts kissing down your jaw and neck again. There is an ease about the way he moves now, he can take his time now that you're behind closed doors. 
He makes his way down your neck, leaving a trail of kisses behind him. The feeling is electric as his hands rest on your hips still, his touch is soft and tender as he moves his lips back up and kisses you again on the lips.
The feeling of your hands in Lando's hair makes him grin against you. Your kiss becomes more passionate as you pull his hair, and you can feel touch of his hands beneath your shirt. Fingers against your skin. Your mind is hazy from the kiss and the alcohol but you let the feeling wash over you. 
He tugs at the hem of your shirt and pulls it off of you. 
You break the kiss finally and breathe in the heat of the room. With your shirt removed his hands trail the bare skin of your back and sides, and his lips trace your neck.
The heat is so intense it makes your body feel like it has a mind of its own.
You lightly push him off, towards the edge of the bed, with a laugh. He laughs with you and goes along with your push, sitting down. You see that he has a smirk on his face, and as you look him over he leans back on his hands and continues to watch you. 
The air is tense with a build-up of tension, waiting for the next move.
You stand in front of him and grab both of his arms, lightly pulling them up above his head. Lando chuckles softly at the move, and with your help, he lifts his arms fully to keep them there. 
You pull the shirt off of Lando slowly, revealing his bare chest. You can see his muscles twitch slightly from your touch.
When the shirt is tossed, Lando’s hands rest on your hips again, bringing you closer and pulling you down on top of him. 
He's watching you with half-lidded eyes, a soft smile on his face, and his hands slide up your sides and your back. The feeling is intoxicating, you feel your breath coming quicker and quicker as Lando’s hands make their way up your body.
You kiss him again, hands grasping his shoulders. Your bodies are pressed together and the heat of the moment is too much to resist. You can feel Lando’s hands all over you, caressing your shoulders and neck, and playing with your hair.
He groans as you grind against him, and he lets one of his hands move to the small of your back to pull you closer to him. Lando wants more of you.
Then
Suddenly someone is trying the door handle and there's knocking. You and Lando quickly break away from the kiss. For crying out loud. 
“For fucksa-“ Lando starts but you slap your hand against his mouth. 
“Settle down,” you mouth at him. 
“Hey, are you in there?” You recognize your best friend's voice from the other side of the door. You can feel Lando smiling into your hand. He shakes his head and leans into your shoulder. 
You clear your throat, “Yeah I’m in here!” you answer. You hear Lando chuckle softly but he keeps quiet as he is pressed against your shoulder. 
“Are you alright?” your friend asks from the other side of the door, “I’ve been looking downstairs for yo-”
“Yeah I’m alright” You interrupt. 
“Okay, well….” you hear your friend hesitate for a moment, “...wait. Shut the fuck up.” You hear her familiar laugh. 
“Do you have Lando in there with you?” she asks, her voice sounding louder, she must be closer to the door now. 
This question makes Lando laugh out loud. You hit his chest. He was the one who was saying we had to be 'so quiet' and now he just confirmed his presence.
You can hear your best friend laugh as well on the other side of the door, and you know she won’t stop until she hears you answer the question. 
“Yes, I do," you admit, “Now go away!”
Your best friend laughs even harder outside. “Alright alright. Bye. Bye, Lando. I’ll try to keep your brother away too, you're welcome!” She finishes and you can hear her leave. 
“She knows?” he laughs against your ear, “I thought this whole thing was secret…”
“Shut up. Be happy it was her at the door and not you know who,” you joke. 
Lando grabs your hips and lifts you off of him. In a few swift motions he has you lying on the bed and he’s on top of you. He leans down and kisses up from your collarbone to just under your ear.
“If we get interrupted one more time…,” he trails off into your ear and then pulls away looking at you. His face right above yours. 
You shake your head smiling, you run your hands through his hair looking up at him. 
Lando smiles back at you. You can see the desire in his eyes. 
You can still feel his breath all over you from his kissing just moments earlier. Your skin is sensitive from the heat, from him, and you feel a wave of goosebumps run up your body just from his touch. 
Lando leans forward and the two of you kiss again.
The bass from downstairs vibrates through the floor and drowns out the music, the voices, the party. 
Your head is spinning. This is so wrong. But also it feels sort of right. Whatever was happening between the two of you was going to make your life chaotic. But even so, the same thought keeps running through your head…
Now I just can’t stop myself around you. 
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pkmn-redirect · 7 months
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Chapter 2 - Page 24
First | Previous | Next | Latest Index (chapter 3 info under cut)
Chapter 2 has finally concluded! A whole 8 pages longer than the first!! Woo!! I have a feeling they may just get longer as we get more into the story haha. Oh well! Like last time, I'll be taking a break between chapters to rest a little, get the plot points for the next chapter more polished, and try to get a solid backlog of pages ready. Going to take about of month off- POSSIBLY a month and a half? Depends on how well prepping the chapter goes (I have doomed myself by setting it in ancient Ecruteak City and am not as familiar with classic Japanese architecture as I would like hahaha- time to find some refs and do a bunch of studies!). Either way- it will be back in mid-late November! That DOESN'T mean that the comic feed will be quiet though! Like last time, there's a between chapter Interlude page that will be going up on October 11th! And after that, I plan to post some behind the scenes development stuff on days that the comic would normally update- so if folks want to they can get a look at how I put this together. If folks are interested, I could also open up the ask box for a little while? Do a bit of Q&A for comic related things (I won't be answering anything too spoilery, but you're welcome to ask!). And since it has been asked for (and rightfully so, this thing is getting long and difficult to navigate) I've compiled a pinned masterpost to make navigation easier for folks on mobile. There's been an Index Page set up for the web version since the beginning- unfortunately it's hard to get to normally on mobile, so a lot of folks didn't have an easy way to thumb through pages, and that's no good! So- fixed! I'm also in the process of going back and putting "Prev", "Next", "Read from the Beginning", and "Latest" links on each page update. Which honestly I SHOULD have been doing from the start, but hey- live and learn I suppose? Also ALSO am going to see about getting the Neocities page for the comic that I started months ago more finished so it has its own home away from Social Media- but that's a bit lower priority at the moment haha.
But yeah! Honestly, thank you all so much for reading! The response to this silly little passion project has honestly blown me out of the water, I can't believe how many people are keeping up with it now. :'D I love love LOVE reading reactions and speculation in the comments and tags! Thank you all for sticking around so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy this self-indulgent little project as it goes!
~Ann
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bones4thecats · 2 months
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What Are They Like With A Rafiki! S/O?
Type of Writing: #7 - Poll Result Characters: Cater Diamond, Leona Kingscholar, and Lilia Vanrouge Name: What Are They Like With A Rafiki! S/O? Original Poll Link: Here
A/N: My hands are currently dying! I'm making the special stuff for the 19th! Also, I will not be posting that much that day, since I'll be out of my home for the day to spend time with my family. Anyways, I do hope you enjoy this!
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💎 Cater first heard about you from Ace and Deuce, and he had to admit, you sounded quite entertaining
💎 You were noted by many to be quite nutty-sounding, as, whenever someone came to you for advice, you'd offer it in tounges. Words sewn together for the listener to figure out for themselves
💎 Even he'd have to admit, for someone who uses hashtags and quite a bit of social-media related lingoes in his sentences, your words were confusing!
💎 But, once he got past of all of that and he saw how tame you were with maintaining this 'Circle of Life', which he guessed you meant by how things chase others and whatnot, Cater grew to start admiring you
💎 The reason you used those metaphors to drive many insane was because it taught them to think and learn that wisdom is not something you can just grab, but it's something that one must learn, with difficulty, after all, as you say;
" Nothing is easy to obtain when it comes to wisdom. Wisdom is something that pushes and pulls on your struggles and weak spots like children playing tug-of-war in elementary school. "
💎 Cater loves to mess around with people, especially when you come into the mix and make them not only annoyed, but confused beyond belief
💎 It also makes him laugh when you play chess with your old friend, Leona. You're basically the only person that he knows that can beat him in the strategic game
💎 He also adores watching you draw things using some random items, such as fruits and flower's petals/colorings to make one colorful
💎 Your boyfriend loves posting stuff on his Magicam, and ever since he noticed how amazing you were with both magic and hand-to-hand combat, he would take videos of you training in Savanaclaw and post them with a classic Cater-style hashtag
" Oh, my lovely S/O is so talented with that bakora stick! " #caycay'sdarlings/o #caycay'ss/otraining #caycay'saveragedaywiths/o
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🦁 Leona and you grew up together
🦁 While his ego blocked him from doing so, deep down in his heart, he admired how talented you were with magic and your words
🦁 He also found it entertaining watching you speak with your words twisted around to confuse everyone, including his older brother, Falena, and his wife
🦁 Leona first became interested in you when you began to study the darker-parts of magic, the stuff that your family and ancestor had banned from being learned in your home
🦁 Due to your flaw in 'rule-remembering', you were transferred into Night Raven College, just after your first years at Royal Sword Academy and NRC respectively
🦁 People from all different dorms could tell there was some tension between the Savanaclaw housewarden and the vice-housewarden, and Ruggie used this to his advantage a lot
🦁 Or, he attempted too...
🦁 The two of you are very strong apart, but when you come together against something, those you have seen you fight know that that person better just hand in the towel, unless they want to get their asses handed to them
🦁 Leona loves watching you use your wisdom to your advantage, teaching your under-classman about the value of knowledge and acceptance of all types of magic
🦁 He also adores watching you train with a new member of Savanaclaw each year, using your mandrill-beastman abilities to leap into the trees to hide and plan you next attack or use your bakora stick to whoop them into place
🦁 By the way, he plays chess with you whenever he maintains energy, and he gets very grumpy when you win. And by that, I mean he doesn't let you get up from your napping-sessions for two hours
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🦇 You were the mentor of the Kingscholar brothers, so, when you walked up to their group of four Night Raven College students when visiting the beastman's homeland for the Tamashina-Mina Event, he gained an extreme interest in you
🦇 He noticed that Leona was appearing annoyed, but in his eyes he held a glint of adoration and joy at seeing you so joyous at meeting his so-called 'friends'
🦇 When he asked Leona about you after you left, he learned everything
🦇 You and your friend Kifaji were the maintainers of their home and helped raise the boys whenever their parents were busy with their royal duties, and you had been the main caretaker of the younger of the boys
🦇 From teaching him about magic styles to the many ways to fight hand-to-hand, you were the person who Leona was closest to, and Lilia had to admit, he was smitten by your personality from the start
🦇 Despite your age, you were a very well-versed person. You were fairly eccentric and happy-go-lucky, and the way you spoke made everyone who heard you confused
🦇 All except Lilia, who understood exactly what you were saying
🦇 Lilia and you quickly bonded and began spending a lot of time together, and when he went to perform his part of the event, you gave him a big thumbs up, showing your support full-on
🦇 Leona wasn't very happy to see his only parental figure being close to such a 'fae-dickhead', but, he had to admit, seeing you so happy and carefree with the guy made him feel slightly good
🦇 Before he had left to go back to his adoptive son(s), he gave you his number, winking at you and slyly telling you to message him sometime
🦇 He has never felt thing young in years!
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alastor-simp · 8 months
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Vice Dorm Leaders + Ruggie & Floyd with a reader who sings like the Japanese singer, "Ado"
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🍀Trey Clover
-Trey enjoys listening to music especially when he is baking in the Heartslabyul kitchen. He doesn't really have any favorite music genre, as he just listens to whatever is playing or whatever Cater sends him. He had no idea you could sing so well until he heard you singing softly next to him when you were helping him bake tarts for Riddle. "Wow Prefect, you never told me you could sing so well. Its very nice." After your baking session, Trey learned about your video channel and listened to all of your songs in about a week. He knows it must be a lot of work to be a very popular singer, so whenever he has time, he bakes sweet treats for you and brews you tea to soothe your throat. His favorite song of yours is "Eien No Akuruhi" , he loves how it expresses the theme of falling in love.
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🍩Ruggie Bucchi
-Ruggie is not really focused on social media and all that other stuff, as his mind is occupied with donuts and making some money. He discovered your talent when he came to the botanical gardens to wake up Leona, until he saw the both of you there, with Leona laying on your lap and you singing a lullaby to him. You stopped singing when you heard Ruggies famous "Shishishi" laugh, and saw him walking closer to you, then lay down on the grass next to you, arms wrapped behind his head and a cheeky smile on his face. He told you he came to get Leona, but he changed his mind and told you to continue. Great job! You got a cute hyena boy as your official cheerleader, as he would always pop into your recording sessions, quietly cheering you on and dancing to the beat. His favorite song of yours is "Odo", he thinks the beat is crazy and loves how energetic it is.
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🍄Jade Leech
"Oh my, you seem to very talented, Prefect-san." Jade is always interested in the unknown, so he was very elated to discover you could sing without him knowing and that he found out without using his unique spell. He happened to hear your beautiful voice, when he was serving customers at Mostro Lounge and heard you at one of the far tables in the back, humming some lyrics, while writing some words on a notepad, most likely coming up with ideas for another song. Once you realized Jade was next to you, you greeted him and thanked him for the drink he made. Jade gave you his best gentlemen smile and said it was a pleasure, but before he left, he walked closer and leaned against your ear, whispering "You have the voice of a siren, Prefect. I wouldn't mind listening to you more, in private, of course." Chuckling, he walked away to finish his duties, leaving behind a flustered you. His favorite song of yours is "Love ka?", he loves the oceanic vibe of the song and how slightly twisted the song is.
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🦐Floyd Leech
-If there is one thing to know about Floyd, is that he loves music. Music is his best subject at NRC, and he is a very talented dancer as well. He came to discover your singing, when he was training in the gym for an upcoming basketball tournament, and noticed you sitting at one of the bleachers, with headphones in yours ears and you quietly singing. Giggling to himself, he slowly came up behind you and lunged towards you in a bear hug, making you jump in fright. "Ehe~ Koebi-chan~, you're amazing", Floyd squeezed you tighter, super happy that he learned something new about you. After he let you go, you told him about your channel, but before you could talk more about it, he had already taken his phone out and subscribed. Floyd was a very chaotic supporter, as he often spammed the comments section with silly phrases and happened to squeeze you in happiness whenever you uploaded a new video, but you found his support sweet nonetheless. His favorite song of yours is "Rebellion" , he likes how its about breaking free and how he relates to it as he is a slight delinquent/rebel himself.
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🐍Jamil Viper
-Jamil was a man of many talents even though he tends to hide them from others around him, but despite being skilled in cooking and basketball, he also happens to have a great singing voice and amazing dancing skills. He happened to discover your singing talent from Kalim, as Kalim was enthusiastically jumping up and down in joy, telling Jamil about your singing voice and that a celebration should be held. Jamil was annoyed that he had to prepare for another celebration again, but he was interested in your singing voice and wanted to learn more about it. He did come to wonder why you don't show your face in your songs like most other singers, but once he found out that is what you preferred to do, then he wouldn’t question you further. His favorite song of yours is "I'm Invincible" , he likes how describes the feeling of being confident and achieving their dreams.
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🏹Rook Hunt
-"Oh la la! Your singing is merveilleuse, Trickster!" Rook hunt is a very interesting fellow, he is very poetic and loves to express his joy for findings things beautiful, but he tends to become a bit stalker-ish, when he finds a person very interesting. Well, enjoy being stalked around by this hunter, he is going to be following you 24/7. He is the definition of an obsessive fan, just minus the craziness. Vil has noticed that Rook has become a huge fan of your talent, but he rather it be you then Neige LeBlanche, yet he does tell Rook to suppress some of his antics as he can imagine how much stress it may cause you. Rook is always present whenever you are singing/recording for a new music video, swooning over your voice and holding up signs that say "BEAUTE! 100 POINTS!" It's very hard for Rook to chose a favorite song since he adores every one of them, but he does tend to listen to "Yoru No Pierrot" more out of the others. He loves the colorful animation of the video
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🦇Lilia Vanrouge
-Lilia is very up to date with the latest trends and is the most knowledgeable about pop culture, like Cater. He is very talented in the music field himself, as he is shown to have a very beautiful singing voice and is part of the Pop Music Club with Kalim and Cater. He was on his way to his club room, when he heard the sound of singing nearby and went to go explore. He saw you in one of the empty classrooms, sitting on top of the desks, singing to yourself. While in the middle of your singing, Lilia had appeared above you, and gave you quite a scare. "Kufufu, your singing is quite lovely," Lilia said as he placed a hand on your cheek, while still staying upside down. Blushing, you thanked Lilia and he asked if you would be interested in joining his club. Before you could give your answer, Lilia had already dragged you out of the room and ran towards his club room. Lilia was happy to found out you had a channel on Magitube, and became your second biggest fan as Idia had already won the title of number one. Lilia was the most understanding of you not revealing yourself in your MV's , as he believes that you are already expressing yourself enough with your voice, and that it shouldn't matter whether you show your face or not. You did mention wanting to collaborate with his band, and make a song together, to help them gain some popularity. Once you told Lilia that, he was overjoyed. His favorite song of yours is "Tot Musica" , he can't get enough of how powerful your voice is and how intense the lyrics are.
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credit to Japanese singer, Ado
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Note
So I don’t know if you know of Doug Walker, but recently released his Disneycember review of The Owl House.
While he praised a majority of the show, he criticized the main villain, Belos, of how he was written.
Many of the comments tried to defend the writing of the villain.
Doug Walker..
Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.
Yes, I am very familiar with Doug Walker; I loved his stuff along with Channel Awesome years ago and then the allegations came out and fortunately, the other contributors on that channel moved onto bigger and better things. Meanwhile, Doug just stayed the same, so I don't watch his stuff anymore.
Any way, I think it's funny people are scrambling to defend Belos' writing because, despite my own personal opinions on Doug as a critic, I actually agree with him.
For a show that is ostensibly about subverting tropes and not judging a book by its cover, by showing how people can choose to change or not, etc. Belos is a throwback to an earlier era where the Big Bad had basic motivations and characterizations. And for a show like toh, that actually ends up hurting the narrative.
I have categorized the comments I found defending the writing and here are my responses to them:
Belos does have a deeper layer, you just have to look for it.
While a show can certainly foreshadow and provide little hints about a major character, eventually all of that setup will have to pay off somehow. There has to be a reveal both to reward the viewers that have been paying attention and to inform more casual viewers who may not have. Fans analyzing every little frame to extrapolate a major character's backstory only for that backstory to really not matter in the end despite it being set up for a season is just bad writing. full stop. [A viewer should also not have to look on social media for crucial information on a major character.]
It's also not clever that the show left so much room for interpretation on Belos; it just means that they didn't make a commitment to what was being set up and reduced his character to glib one-liners whenever we learn something interesting about him (Masha's "little bro was jealous of big bro" line and Papa Titan's whole spiel).
2. Belos would have been written better if the show had more time.
The Toh crew knew about the cancellation during production of Eda's Requiem and wrote all of 2B with it in mind. So they knew they were working on a time crunch but still introduced elements like the Collector when they should have spent the time wrapping up their story. The cancellation is not an excuse for sloppy writing.
3. Belos as a villain works more on a meta level.
So the argument here is that Belos is the antithesis to the BI; it's accepting and diverse while he is hateful and only accepts things that conform to his worldview. The characters in the story change and grow, while Belos does not. The problem here is that a villain can't only work on a meta level, it has to work on a narrative one as well.
If the BI is place that accepts weirdos then how did someone like Belos come to power? Oh, he lied his way to the top and created problems that never existed? That just makes your populace look dumb and easily manipulated. The BI being so accepting also undermines the threat credibility of the Emperor's Coven because why should we worry about them if they have no real influence over how the BI residents think or behave aside from when the plot needs them to?
Also, I strongly disagree with anyone who says that toh has a "people are complicated and choose to do good and bad" theme when all of the good characters can blame their bad actions on being manipulated or on circumstances outside of their control OR the narrative ignores/downplays anything bad they did (cough cough Amity and Lilith). Meanwhile, the villains are just shallow with basic motives and this is supposed to be a deep message about how Some People Are Just Bad.
If you're going to contrast why your good characters are capable of growth then you need to show why your villain does not. What is stopping them? How do they react if given a legitimate reason to change (that isn't a cheap jab at Steven Universe)? What is their justification for their actions?
Whatever the answer is, the narrative has to support it and not undermine it with a stupid joke.
4. Belos is so refreshing when every villain character is redeemed.
Watch more shows. If you think that every cartoon villain post-Steven Universe is being redeemed then you're incorrect. Redemption of a show or movie's Big Bad is still in the minority while the redemption of the main villain's lackey is a dime-a-dozen.
Ultimately, I think the problem with toh is that so many of its fans take its thematic statements at face value without ever really stopping to think about the execution of those themes and if they really work or not.
Belos just happens to embody this little trick that toh does: it claims to have bold and timely statements and important themes, but the structure and execution of the plot, character development, and world-building undermines any attempt at a consistent or coherent message.
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nerves-nebula · 6 months
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chelloooo the tmnt getting more racist thing is actually rlly interesting to me because I don’t think it’s getting more racist , I just think that as more and more pieces of media with good Asian representation come out (eeao, amphibia, and even elemental are the first things I can think of) there’s more stuff to compare it to and realize that tmnt is just… not it. And that although it’s gotten less blatantly stereotypical, it just hasn’t followed the curve of good Asian representation in media. It continues to be lacking. It improves in small ways. It’s just slow 
and I also think it’s because how tmnt handles japanese and east asian culture in general took such a fucking nosedive with mutant mayhem. Look at splinters entire character and the fact they learned to be ninjas from mostly popular chinese movies. Like almost everything about this movie shows how much the creators were looking through it with an orientalist lens
Like. I don’t think tmnt is getting more racist, I think the amount of racist shit is staying relatively the same.* So as western culture and pop culture starts to be less racist, tmnt starts to look more racist as a result. And also because socially and culturally speaking, tmntmm is Rlly Bad. Like look at it once with ANY IDEA of racist stereotypes and it’s Bad. It would have been fine like any year before 2023. But compare it to any popular piece of media that’s come out in the past 1-3 years and its…. Lord. It’s not it ………
(I like tmntmm etc. I just have to ignore a lot of the racist stuff in it, as I have to do with most pieces of media. But for something that came out in the 20s it’s so much harder to turn a blind eye to it than other stuff.)
*imo it improves the most with rottmnt. But that show was also racist in other ways, just not towards japenese culture. It handled being asian american and an immigrant surprisingly well
(also for judas’ followers who don’t know me I’m asian 👍) -angie and jonah
OHHH YOU PUT IT PERFECTLY INTO WORDS. Tmnt isn’t really getting more racist it’s just improving very very slowly compared to a lot of modern media.
Like it feels weird when racist stuff happen in old media but you kind of expect it in old movies & tv- but when it’s still present in modern day it’s kinda more noticeable.
And yea I feel a similar way about mutant mayhem, it’s very good in a lot of ways! Racially isn’t one of them!
Not even just with Asian stuff either- which I think you’ve covered pretty well here- but from a black perspective it’s not great either. superfly is kind of weird to me cuz he’s clearly black and his coding is clearly pulling from black culture and he’s all macho and chains and I love that for him. I think he’s so cool.
But he’s basically just another one of those villains who’s an oppressed person who’s faced violent discrimination and fought back- and that in itself is framed as explicitly evil. Him telling the story of how he was being chased by a mob and faught back is when we’re supposed to start thinking he might be evil.
and so he’s like, coded as an activist or civil rights leader, but instead of fighting for equality rights he wants to kill all white people (in a metaphorical sense) and it’s like oh ok cool. This again. Greatttt.
Anyway point is: ur so right
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centrally-unplanned · 2 years
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Bocchi The Rock! is really hitting sweet spots for me on how it presents its main character’s core plot concept. Bocchi is essentially K-On! but if main girl Yui was too introverted to function instead of too stupid to function; which is a challenge to make interesting. The Yui of this show, Hitori, is a social train wreck who convinced herself learning guitar would substitute for having a personality and make her friends, with the expected 0% success rate. The plot follows her new desperate attempt to achieve friend-dom by joining a band. Which is a character concept that gives us some extremely relatable content: 
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Yet the show does still have the challenge of making a character who sucks at socializing be the main character of a Slice of Life show about socializing. Its a comedy, obviously, but still that can get repetitive fast, these character types are often side characters for a reason. Shows like WataMote keep it fresh by making main girl Tomoko a degenerate scumbag on top of a shut-in, its the *degeneracy* that powers the show; you want to have an angle on characters like these
Bocchi’s angle is both character & directorial. On the character side, what endears me to Hitori is how much she is halfway there on understanding social interaction. She might be a breathing pink stress ball but she isn’t clueless, she knows, kindof, what you need to do to make friends - her panic-attack levels of social anxiety just preclude it. So you get opening scenes like these, where she dresses full-musician to go to school to inspire musician-types to talk to her:
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And it falls flat on her face because she has been there for months already and still refuses to initiate anything:
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But that is what fashion is for! She did look good, in another context this would work (and does accidentally to trigger the ~plot later)
Or when learning about her new also-weirdo band mate Ryo, she goes from “yes friend!!”:
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To, 5 seconds later on hearing that she spends her time visiting ruined buildings & second-hand clothing stores, “oh no, not like me at all”:
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Which is actually pretty smart for 5 seconds of thought, Hitori groks that interests correlate with personality and people relate to being alone differently.
The point is that Hitori’s social failure is stacked on top of social insight, the humor derives from what she gets right vs wrong. Her *almost* getting it is more enjoyable, and more importantly way more likeable, than her just flailing. She holds the stupid ball for sure but you get why, she is trying to throw it away at least, which is endearing instead of frustrating.
More exceptional is how the show communicates her struggle; she can’t talk good right? So tons of her dialogue is internal dialogue - which you have to spice up somehow, static shots w/ voice narration is not very fun. Bocchi has a grand time playing one of anime’s trump cards of having fantastical brain-scape setpieces to communicate mood. That ‘she is a loner’ revelation ain’t settling for some sparkling pink-background; we have a full apocalypse to carry her aborted dream instead:
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Communicating information hits the same struggle as emotion; this is a show about music after all, and another of anime’s strengths its presumption the audience actually is interested in the details of the niche hobby stuff the show is about. But Hitori-in-actuality couldn’t teach someone how to breathe let alone music tips, so instead we get random artistic cutaways to diagrams and explainers by imaginary instruments:
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Which I love! Its expressive, you can shift the artstyle in a way that doesn’t clash, it lets the animators flex technique, and the information gets across without dragging down pacing (a lot of media, *unable* to do this, simply cuts the information out entirely, primarily to spite me). 
And of course since all of this is happening inside Hitori’s head, she is, apparently, immensely creative - I love her now, teach me your ways my gumball princess! Her head would be a great place to be if you could lobotomize the anxiety somehow. All this means that Hitori, while awkward, is rarely cringe - partly because the directing always cuts away from any shots that would focus on cringe, but mainly because Hitori is too interesting to be cringe, you got other things to think about.
All in all Bocchi the Rock is my favourite silly-Slice-of-Life show of the season, and I hope it continues this level of playfulness going forward.
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stocious · 7 months
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bisexual carl thoughts
so listen, we got robbed of some bisexual content in the show with fiona’s exit so me and nosho ( @creepkinginc ) got talking and you know what? bisexual carl. we’re here for it. so we made him a boyfriend. meet ben.
carl brings his first ever actual boyfriend to sunday family dinner and at first the gallaghers are kinda confused because ben looks like a nobody. he has a boring name and a boring look, very average, nothing special about him. carl has had a slew of very interesting women and he’s with this guy? makes zero sense.
until ben opens his mouth. it makes sense then.
they learn he’s a baker and works at a bakery close to the police station and that’s how they met (”cops and dounts, huh?”) but ben had to give his number THREE times before carl got the hint. because why would a guy flirt with him? it took him a minute alright.
but ben also tells them he’s been a park ranger in new mexico where he’s from, a construction worker, for a while he worked with removing snakes and shit from peoples houses, you know, normal ben stuff.
at which the gallaghers tell him the story about carl killing the bald eagle hoping to get a laugh outta the guy
but he looks dissapointed and says he wishes he was there so he could show them how to prepare it properly. which then send him into a story about that time he killed and ate a poisionous snake.
the gallaghers just stare but carl nods and looks like its the most normal thing ever. ben informs them that they have to remember to bury the head should they ever have to do that because you can still step on it and get poisoned.
he then goes on to tell them about other wild animals you can eat. seagulls, snails, bugs, possums. and how to best prepare them.
alright so ian spots his tattoo and asks about it. its a ruler on his forearm and ben just shrugs and tells them he uses it to measure fish he catches sometimes. you never know when you have to measure something. its handy at ikea and when you gotta make sure a hole is deep enough. a hole for what? oh you never know when you need a hole with just the right size.
they keep talking and frank/monica/parents comes up and ben tells them about his survivalist father who dropped him in the woods one time with a swiss army knife and a lighter and he had to find his way back home. by himself. at 12.
(thats also the time he ate the snake. ya boy had to eat)
there’s just this distinct feeling ben could build you a house and do your taxes, but he’s also the typa guy who could tell you the best way to make a body dissapear and how to make a deadly weapon out of a paperclip and a stick. mcgyver style.
eventually it turns into this thing where everybody just waits for him to piggyback of whatever story they tell with a ”that reminds me of that one time…” and they all just KNOW its gonna be something outta the left field. just ben stories.
ian voices his concern about ben being a red flag to mickey but mickey’s like ”firecrotch, you married ME. if we turned out fine im sure ben and carl will be fine too. he’s weird as fuck but i kinda like the dude. good for carl the little pyschopath”
eventually they wanna add him to the gallagher group chat but he doesnt use facebook. or any social media sites. but he does have 17 different apps for hiking trails and apps for identifying plants you can eat or not eat and a compass app and— all the apps but not facebook. sorry.
so yeah, ben looks like he wouldnt make sense with carl but they get it now. he makes total sense with carl.
(i wrote this on my phone and didnt spellcheck so take it for what it is)
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catwalkvivi · 1 month
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well hey, since hardly anyone's looking at this corner of the website anyway I might as well take the opportunity to vent (it's annoying to do it on twitter with the character cap)
Man, social media is hard.
I see so many people posting regular content consistently for years and years without even seemingly breaking a sweat, while it's always been so difficult for me... Calculating engagement, deciding the best times to post, or, hell, even just sharing what they think/feel/made/fucking ate that day just seems, like, so easy and second nature for pretty much everyone around me. It's genuinely incredible to me that somebody can share what they've learned about idk shitty impractical tanks made in WW1 on this website and make it such an interesting read that hundreds of people engage with it!
But I've tried keeping social media accounts for art and stuff so many times now, on here, on Instagram, on Artstation, on Xitter, and eventually it just- kinda- fades away, it just feels so exhausting to keep track of all the things necessary to Chase the Algorhythm™ if you wanna have any relevancy. Is it a charisma thing??? Where do I grind to get a stat boost on my Cha???
I'd love to say it doesn't matter to me, since I've been drawing shit for myself for years now, but unfortunately artists do need social media presence if they wanna get work. Not to mention, well, I wanna reach people with the stuff I do! I want people to react to what I made, to say what they liked about it, or how it made them feel, and then when I post something I worked on for hours only to get, like, almost zero visibility? idk, man, it just kinda hurts. It's probably selfish and immature for me to say it, I know that it takes time and effort to build an audience and all that, but damn I get happy when people show me that something I've made has affected them positively. I like the connection, I like the conversations, I like meeting people who enjoy the same nerdy trash that I do!
(I was very fortunate to have an art post of mine reach a lot of notes here years ago, which was amazing, but it's such a rare thing)
God, and, like, there's all these weird unspoken rules about interacting on social media too.
The other day a friend of mine came up to our friend group and was like "oh my god this girl liked my stories on instagram it means something does she like me" and I was SO confused and then they were like "well, when somebody not on your friends list likes your stories, it means they're interested in you"
Then some time later another friend was telling me that somebody stopped liking her posts and unfriended her and how that is a horrible offense and my fucking brain hurt, like- okay I get the unfriend part kinda but there could be a hundred reasons for it??? it's not like you have a deep personal connection to all 300 friends you have on your account???
Then I see so many people out there simply sharing something they think or did only to have some rando twist what they said and come at them like they're the shittiest person on the planet that deserves everything bad in life actually (except the ones that are willingly spouting/promoting hateful shit to begin with. Those can rot in hell and I shall not mourn their demise)
Like??? It might be the Power of Autism™ in me but it always feels like I'm one step away from either making a fool of myself or offending twenty different people or both. It's both the fear of having hundreds of thousands of eyes on me and the fear of having none at all. And that makes it really difficult to share anything on the internet for me. I already have to deal with my entire existence as a trans woman making some cunts around the world mad, it sucks that I have to risk it in places where I just wanna post dumb drawings and talk about dumb things that make me happy with others.
I dunno. Word vomit I guess. Social media is hard. Interacting with humans is hard. Sharing stuff is hard. I prefer Pokémon
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fandomwritingbit · 10 months
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Heya!! This is my first request so I'm kinda nervous in case it gets rejected ngl.
I was thinking about an scenario where William is stalked by a person he sees everyday on his routine, let's say at a bus stop or a specific store.
William pretends not to notice but actually does.
The stalker is caught staring and following him, yet they don't know that William's realized this.
He eventually confronts them scaring them at first, but then in a kind of flirty/dom way
This is kinda silly but i hope you actually do this one!!! I'm so happy that ur back from hiatus/break and i hope ur doing alright!!
Hi, oh my god I loved doing this request! Honestly I've been meaning to do some darker stuff and this was just perfect, thank you so much!
Also thank you for your kind words, its good to be back and making debauchery. Please feel free to send in anything else xxx
william afton x stalker reader
You would never have considered yourself an obsessive person. Sure, you could become interested or hooked on things, but today that was called 'fandom', not obsession. Obsession is dirty and dark, you weren't some true-crime case study, not in your own mind.
In reality, you were addicted to this man. The first fix a nothing event that snowballed into the burning dependency of today. William Afton is your dopamine and the days you don't get to see Him are filled with withdrawal.
It all began on your nephew's birthday, he turned six and was in love with three things, bright colours, animals and pizza, so your sister got him a party slot at your local animatronic franchise Freddy's. Truthfully, you'd gone reluctantly, not exactly buzzing to be surrounded by a swarm of kids for an hour and a half; but you went out of obligation.
Stained carpets. Humming lights. Plastic chairs. A bear, chicken and rabbit. Excited screaming. Spilt slushes. And Him. The second you noticed Him you were flooded with everything an abundance of butterflies, your heart pounding and an unquenchable sensation between your legs that to this day wouldn't be sated.
He's so handsome, oozing a sleazy charm as He came to your table to check everything was going well. "Where's The birthday boy then?" He asked, the child-friendly smile not quite reaching His eyes, "Tell you what, take some extra tokens." He gave a wink to your sister, who thanked Him. You didn't think to, you were too enthralled, tingling from the cockney accent that tinted His words.
He's just... something else. That sharp jaw with a 5 o'clock shadow this early in the day. Dark rings under His striking blue eyes. But what caught you most was the cracked skin of His knuckles, it shattered the charming businessman façade, exposing something much darker and you were hooked.
You had spent the rest of the party trying to keep your eyes on Him, His tall frame making it fairly easy, until He left and you became deprived. Later, touching yourself in your car, parked in a lay-by, did very little to help quench this newfound thirst. Laid in bed that night doing the same still wasn't enough.
You researched Him, finding the restaurant's social media to reveal His name: William Afton. It suited Him. William Afton. You spoke it over and over just laid there, but aside from that one staff profile, that was clearly aged, there was nothing, no personal accounts, nothing. Forcing you to get your fill the old-fashioned way.
That was six months ago.
Opposite the restaurant there was a small bistro, which suited your needs perfectly. Every morning you were there like clockwork, just to catch a glimpse of Him, taking what photos you could without drawing too much attention. Getting hold of His number plate was orgasmic, because now you had His address.
It’s such a nice house, on a 'good street', fairly large with a lovely garden. But it was always dark. Even when you knew He was there, the only life was the front-facing bedroom, which you'd come to learn was His sons, His own never visible. Curtains never tweaked, leaving you locked out. It was irritating, but the image of Him covered in darkness was something special and it placated you a little.
You try to go to His house as much as possible, but it doesn't miss you how risky it is, what you are doing is wrong and if you were caught it could ruin your life. Yet, how could you willingly deny the temptation.
And recently as the weather began to warm, you were overjoyed to see Him hanging out His washing, it caused an idea to strike you dumb. You could have a piece of Him. Or pieces? You had to limit yourself to taking only a few pieces at a time and it was a cruel struggle. Over the next few days, you created a decent collection of shirts, socks, boxers; enough to wear, or to clutch to your chest as you slept. Or to press over your face as you fucked your hand, His name on your lips.
The day you began taking His stuff was pure bliss for you, little did you know it would become your downfall.
~
Of course he noticed clothes going missing, at first, he brushed it of as strong wind, or even mischievous kids getting kicks by being arseholes. But what he couldn't brush off was the consistency. The... grace. You never left anything else out of place, no footprints, scuffs on his fence, nothing. That wasn't a youth's action. He was curious now.
All it took was a small camera, placed at just the right angle to allow sight of your form, not going over his fence like he'd have thought, no. Using some kind of tool to hook the latch on his gate and slip inside, which explained the lack of marks. Then, it became very clear to him, your motives weren't... menacing, you took his things not to be a nuisance but for yourself. Now, he was more than curious about You.
Knowing Your face opened a whole world for him because You were everywhere. At the shops a few feet behind him, at the restaurant close to the end of the night, at the café over the road every damn morning. He should have been outraged, but he was never one to not feed a hungry beast.
~
Him coming into the bistro was a game changer, He was so close to you, your heart fought its way to your mouth almost making you gag because it was so visceral. You watched Him in disbelief, His easy pace to the counter to order a coffee, then waiting patiently for the barista. Would He sit inside? That felt too good to be true.
As if feeling your gaze, He turns, meeting it unflinching. He set your whole body alight, making your mouth practically water. In anguish, you had to force yourself to look away, nearly shaking in your seat with emotion.
When His order was finished, you watched Him thank the barista, looking over to see where He was going to sit. But your eyes widened when instead of sitting He walked directly over to you, a smirk on His face as He pulled out the chair opposite you and sat. He placed His drink in front of you, large hands surrounding the cup and saucer. You could do nothing but stare, it was too achingly real. Like a bucket of ice down your spine.
He lightly chuckled, "Now, where do I recognise You from?"
I'm open to doing smut for this...
Edit: I did link to pt.2 here
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rabbitsrams · 8 months
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here's part two of the jschlatt x neurodivergent! reader bc i can't get enough of it😭i made a whole list of headcannons in the car this morning enjoy
(also kasey i hope u see this <3)
♡ listening to music in the car with him and ur kinda just in ur own world stimming to the music but also u belt the lyrics with him lol it depends on the song
♡ he listens so intently to your infodumps about your special interests and hyperfixations
♡ and depending on what it is he actually gets into your special interest if he’s interested enough
♡ the first time you did that you apologized a lot but he assured you it was okay and he wanted to hear it
♡ and ofc him wanting to buy you anything and everything related to it
♡ you into a certain media? expect merch from that
♡ you have a hobby that requires things? he buys you an entire stock
♡ buys you all the physical media for your music/tv/movie/what have you special interest
♡ absolutely loves seeing you get excited over your special interest, he thinks you’re so cute when you’re all giddy and stuff🥹
♡ always has a backup pair of headphones if you need them :(
♡ especially if you’re in a loud place and need the noise muffled
♡ if you get sensory overload and you need to leave a place he guides you out and waits with you till you’re okay
♡ if you have trouble forming sentences and words verbally (like i do) he’s very patient. waits for you to finish your thought and helps if you need
♡ okay hear me out: kissing him as a stim
♡ like if you’re cuddling or something and you kiss his cheek or lips or wherever
♡ and you just start to do it more as a stim
♡ oh he LOVES it
♡ cuz more kisses from you!!!
♡ eases up on any sort of teasing if social cues and distinguishing tones is difficult for you
♡ if you can handle it then it’s okay but if you tell him not to tease then he stops immediately
♡ also learns text tone indicators and uses them when needed
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anogete · 8 months
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Oh my goodness
Hello to anyone who remembers me. Real life and mental health both sank their claws into me. I've been avoiding social media because... well, many reasons but most because I feel like I'm a big ol' disappointment.
But today, I've come here like the humble whore I am to ask for a beta. Before you get excited, I have to warn you that it's not for Marvel, which (if you remember me) is what you likely know me for writing. Read on for an explanation about where the fuck I've been and what fandom I've spiraled down into lately.
In 2019-2020, I had a lot of grieving to do for some close loved ones who passed on. This led to a really shitty space for my mental health where I went into a functioning depression. I was doing things, but only the bare minimum required to exist without people catching on that I was in a bad mental space. I can't say I've completely kicked that, but I'm trying to do better. At the same time, I had a bunch of stuff going on a work. Specifically, I work for a team of advisors who provide financial planning services to individuals/families. I was promoted to an associate in 2020 and then we went through a merger with a larger firm in 2022. So, work has been crazy with me taking on additional responsibilities and working to build new processes after the merger. In addition, I managed to finish my bachelor's (20 years after I dropped out of college!) and take classes toward getting a CFP designation over the past 2 years. I'm scheduled to take the CFP exam in November. It's a 6-hour bear of a test covering pretty much all aspects of personal financial planning. And then next year I'll be continuing with my team as an advisor myself. Do I have anxiety? Fuck, yes. But I'm trying to stop cockblocking myself on the career front.
ANYWAY, enough with the boring stuff. I've been drowning in material for classes and studies with so little fun in my life. Somehow I got on CODTok (Call of Duty) and my little imagination ran wild as I watched these absolutely filthy edits of those boys. And for the first time in a long time, I felt that itch to write. I really should be focusing on studying for this exam, but all work and no play isn't fun. It's taken me 3 years to learn that lesson, but it has managed to finally sink into my thick skull.
My problem is that I know virtually nothing about Call of Duty because I don't like video games. As for the characters--I only know minimal info (mostly from YouTube videos and a COD wiki). It would be nice to have someone more knowledgeable than me to look over what I've written. And if not that, then it would be nice to have anyone other than me give it a beta read to point out my stupid mistakes or plot holes. I have about 16 pages of a Ghost/OFC written. It's my usual--heavy on the dialogue and sexual tension with a side of plot/action. I don't know how fast I'll be at writing this. Work is kicking my ass and I still need to dedicate my weekends to studying for this test. But if you're willing to take a little ride with me, I'd love some input. Send me a message or email me at [email protected] if you're interested. I miss and love ya'll.
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randevu-01 · 4 months
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2023 art summary time!
some of my thoughts and comments are below the cut :)
This was... an interesting year. I got out of my DmC shell (after 3 or 4 years) and spent most of the year obsessing over other fandoms, e.g. Call of Duty of all things lol. I also got into Trigun, watched and loved both adaptations, as well as Fullmetal Alchemist and Death Note - quite an accomplishment for someone who generally doesn't like anime. Oh, and closer to the end of the year I discovered a whole new world of music band fandoms after I somehow got invested in Sleep Token and Ghost (it's the masks I'm sure)
Productivity-wise, even though I couldn't even fill in all the spots in the template, I feel like I did pretty good. Some months I didn't manage to finish anything, but October was wild, I did a lot of nice complete pieces then. A significant portion of my time and effort was put into drawing comics for the DMC ask, and I also took some commissions at the start and in the middle of the year, so there was very little time for me to make personal art, which I miss greatly and hope to make more of in 2024.
Speaking of future plans, I definitely want to give more attention to my OCs from Waffen AG and City Ghouls. When it comes to making OC content, I tend to stop at colored sketches at best, but in 2024 I hope I can make actual polished art of my characters. (Though I'm convinced that this will make my social media reach even worse than it is now, I'll try to not gaf, 'cause I learned that making and developing OCs can be super fun, and oh boy do I need that serotonin lol)
Skill-wise, I think I've definitely improved at making comics, lineart and anatomy, which were my 2023 goals a year ago. However, I feel like I could've done even better. But, again, I was pretty busy with irl stuff, so it's okay.
In general, life was pretty exciting in 2023. I visited 4 cities this summer, met my old friends and made some new ones. Despite some heath issues, I had a great time!
Thank you all for sticking around and appreciating my art! I cherish every little comment and reblog ^^
Hopefully, I'll be able to reach even more people on this platform in 2024. Happy New Year!
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choliosus · 1 month
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Happy one year to the QSMP!!!!
There’s a lot going on with the server right now that is being sorted out, but I just want to share my appreciation for every part of this project.
This server means so much to me. I used to watch DSMP and it will always hold a special place in my heart, but as anything does, it ended. It was already dwindling out but I think the thing that really did it was technoblade passing. And I’m gonna be honest I’m still not over that. I watched him more than any other creator, he means so much to me. The time in between his death and the start of the qsmp was especially sad. I was just missing a lot. Him, the server he played on, that community, etc.
I wanted to engage with the content from the people that he played with, but it was hard. Every update about him, such as technodad streaming, dream making the song about him, was a lot emotionally.
Also not to mention I was sooo hyperfixating on both him and the dream smp as a whole. So it left a big void in my life. I wanted to be wholeheartedly invested in something again.
Around the beginning of 2023, I started watching old Quackity vods and that became my new comfort thing. Just the silly ones where he was watching soap operas and stuff.
Then not so long after I had started doing that, he announced the QSMP. I cannot describe to you my excitement. That week or so before it started I was just so excited. And before that lmaoooo I was not thriving. School was crazy busy, I cut my own bangs and it looked terrible, and that pretty much exemplifies where I was at.
I remember switching to slimecicle’s perspective at some point during the first stream and I followed him, fit, roier, and Mariana as they went mining and were very silly. I smiled the whole time. And then, I watched more the next day, and the next day.
I had forgotten what it felt like to be a part of something that was actively taking place. It had been a while since that was how the dream smp was. I would go weeks or months without any updates, and I would just be by myself reading fanfics.
It felt really fucking good to be able to enjoy something new. Not to replace what I had before, but to start a new adventure. That’s what it feels like to me.
There was a lot to keep up with at first and luckily I had social media to sum things up for me.
Fast forward and the Brazilian members join, then the French. Each time I was a little hesitant to accept them with open arms into my mind palace but it wasn’t very long until I couldn’t imagine the server without them.
And from day 1 I was so impressed with the planning and story of the server, forcing people to stay interested. That’s something the dream smp didn’t have. I honestly don’t think I would need any of the events to have a good time, but oh my god do they make it so fun.
And the animatics???? Hello?????? I love it so much.
Now I’ve learned to accept any new members immediately. Korean members join? TIME TO DRAW THEM!
Quackity started this project with a clear vision. It is so clearly a huge passion project for him. I don’t doubt for a second that it will keep going no matter what happens.
This server has exposed me to so many creators I would never have even heard of and that’s the point. I only speak English. Without this server, I would not know half of my current silly little blorbos.
I can’t believe how creative and funny Roier is. I think about Cellbit Bagi’s lore all the time. I find myself saying “I am the best!” After Etoiles. I’ve tried to absorb as much of the fuga impossivel lore as I can. I adore Baghera’s chaos. Even some of the English speaking people I didn’t really watch that much, like jaiden, fit, even slimecicle, who I now watch probably more than anyone else.
The other day, I watched the stream of cellbit and roier playing hospital 666. In Spanish!! I don’t speak Spanish!!! I only understood about half of what they’re saying and I’m sure that half is because of QSMP. That’s incredible. This is something so much bigger than any one of us.
QSMP has given me so many people to start watching and drawing/writing/thinking about. It has given me hours upon hours of laughing and smiling. It has given me a new hyperfixation to occupy my thoughts before bed.
It means so much to me. Ever since it started, I’ve been so much happier. I could never have imagined something like this would come around. Honestly, there is not anything like this. It is the first of its kind, hopefully not the last 👀
A year went by fast. And I’m so glad to have been here since the beginning. But even then, new people join this community all the time. That’s so cool. This server has in just a year added so many more content creators, and by extension, fans. It’s insane.
And I am so, so excited for what the future will bring us 😊
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copperbadge · 10 months
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hey sam! i was just ruminating that it's a fantastic time for authors to do dvd commentaries, and other 'ask the author' memes. it's additional material and feedback all in one package! (after we explain what a dvd extra is)
I suppose I'm of two minds about it. My immediate thought was that authors have always done Q&As, but it's true that they used to be less accessible both to readers and to the authors if they weren't big names, because they required travel (and in the reader's case, knowing the author would be traveling, plus having to go out to wherever they were doing the reading). Authors still do book tours and signings for that kind of purpose, but being able to do that kind of thing online as well now makes it easier and cheaper. Although I wonder whether there's less sense of connection because it's not face-to-face. But yeah, I would imagine it's pretty great for gauging what the overall readership is interested in. Certainly in dialogue with readers when I put my books up for review, I always learn a lot.
The idea of a DVD commentary is kind of interesting because I was like "How would that work with a book, though?" and I guess you could annotate an ebook -- like, offer a version with little widgets where if you clicked them you'd get the author adding notes about the book. I've never been a fan of actual DVD commentaries -- I don't like filmed interviews because they take so fucking long to actually say anything, and with a DVD commentary you've now got the addition of "talking over the story". But I could see how if you loved a book you might like having a version where you've got extra notes.
I struggle with the idea of "additional material" somewhat. I suppose that's ironic given how much I discuss outside-of-book on this blog, but that's just....I don't know, it's answering questions, it's not like "building the canon outside of the canon", and if I think something is good enough, it always goes into the books. The whole "They speak English with a Welsh accent" thing was amusing, but then I was like "Yeah let's actually put that in the text, why should it live on Tumblr alone?"
There's so much media now where it feels like if you aren't spending every waking moment interacting with every aspect of it, you just don't get to...be a fan, in an active sense. There are podcasts I follow where if you want to do anything other than listen to the episodes, even if you just want to attend a live show or buy merchandise, you have to dedicate significant time weekly to following them on all the social media and actively read their Patreon. And I just can't. I really like that creators can put that kind of thing out there, I think overall that's to the good, but it feels like something I'm blocked from participating in.
So, I keep all my shit here. I've had it suggested that I'd benefit as a writer from having a newsletter, which I actually agree with, and it seems like it could be entertaining to do. But I get caught up in this dichotomy of "Well, won't people be mad that they have to go subscribe to this thing instead of just reading my tumblr?" and/or "Won't subscribers be aware they can just find all this on my tumblr?" and I get real in my head about it. Because I'd struggle with having to go two separate places for stuff like that.
Uh, to circle back to your actual ask, however, because all that was just like...IDK, weird anxiety digression, I do think it's a great era for extra-canonical material, and while it does mean creators have to be much better at boundary-setting than they used to be, I like that they can adjust their level of interaction as they see fit.
Oh and uh. It's felt awkward to actually talk about it, but if you guys do want more material I do have a sideblog, @shivadh, which is where I stash everything I want to make note of for the books -- research, imagery, stuff I've talked about here that hasn't got a place to go in googledocs yet, that kind of thing. It's not extra material per se, it's just me shoving shit into a filing cabinet, and I don't do image IDs like I do here because it's more for me, plus I do delete posts once I've made use of them. But folks are welcome to follow if they want to.
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