nursinggeek

[nursinggeek]

Final Day to Back the SCHOLARLY PURSUITS Campaign!

We're in the home stretch on our crowdfunding campaign! It's not a "miss it and miss out" situation - late pledges are available for some backer levels, and the book will be published roughly 6 to 8 weeks after we complete fulfillment - but still! Back the campaign! Get awesome merch! Help us hit our second stretch goal! Be awesome! We'd appreciate it!

Alternative: boost this post to be my hero.

Learn more about the crowdfunding campaign for Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Anthology of Cozy Academia Stories now!

campaign ends August 12th at 1 pm Eastern time.

[nursinggeek]

[nursinggeek]

The Importance of a Fourth Wall

So, before I was awake enough to think better of it, I clicked on a Reddit post this morning. There was a rant posted about things fans are saying/doing/creating related to a couple of MCYT creators who recently had a baby. This post has been brewing since then.

Here's the thing, and this is going to be a hot take some folks are going to disagree severely with: fans are gonna do what fans are gonna do.

The important thing, imo, is to do it in a fandom space separate from the people making the thing you're a fan of. This is the downside of MCYT players interacting with fannish stuff on Reddit. It's not a clearly-delineated fannish space, from what I can tell. The players interact with fans all the time on there. Sometimes they do react videos to art and memes, and people are aware of this.

Unlike Tumblr. Tumblr, I love you so.

I've actually not seen anything that was described in that rant on Tumblr. I've seen drawings that role-reversed the new parents, but when hasn't fandom gone for an mpreg opportunity? The thing is, the drawings I've seen were clearly of the cubitos Smallishbeans and LDShadowlady, not humans Joel and Lizzie.

Not every fan makes that distinction, though many do. Not every player makes that distinction! (Looking at you Jimmy Solidarity commenting on a fanart diverging from the IRL player's appearance but consistent with the MC character skin.) That distinction is important to me, though clearly not important to everyone. And that's fine! It is definitely much blurrier than an actor and the character they play in a scripted and professionally produced show or movie. RPF is also fine, even though I have no desire to read it.

That's why I think it's not just useful but important to have fannish spaces that the creators aren't actively engaged with. Yes, a few are on Tumblr, for example, but they're clearly aware of what they're getting into (e.g. Martyn reblogging all the Treebark fanart). Creator recognition of this is also important, imo. Jimmy, for example, has outright said he doesn't do Tumblr because he can tell he's not the target audience, which is a good thing. Reddit, on the other hand, appears to have become an online con of sorts. Probably not the intent, but since it has, it's probably not the best venue for fanworks that blur those creator/character lines.

I'm not sure what that means to Redditors. Why I even get alerts from Reddit is something of a mystery to me. There could be an argument that it is a fan space and it's on the creators if they choose to engage. If so, fair enough. In general, I think we, as fans, need to at least attempt a boundary.

In Supernatural, that meant "ship what you like, but don't ask the actors about Destiel/Wincest at panels." I'm sure other fandoms have/had similar boundaries. (And breaches, whether it be fans bringing shipping to the actors at cons or on Twitter or the show having the characters react to discovering shipping, which was fun but also weakened what little fourth wall SPN fandom even had.)

In MCYT, I think that needs to mean something like "ship what you like, make what you're inspired to make*, but at least make some attempt to keep it to spaces that are clearly For The Fans and not the creators." Tumblr, imo, meets that criterion, as does AO3. Any creator who ventures in should be aware that here there be dragons fannish nonsense that has zero to do with them personally. Ideally, that should probably also be true on Reddit, but from what I can tell, that horse left the barn a long time ago.

*And yes, that includes art/fic/headcanons that blur character/creator lines (e.g. anything related to Boat Boys or "I need you to bam me in the bunker" that also includes the RL detail of a recent baby). Again, not my thing and I'm very uninterested in reading/seeing it. But go ahead and make it. Just ... please tag appropriately and think carefully about where you post it and how likely the creators are to see it.

[nursinggeek]

Past Life Recap - Week 2

The MCNN Recap team must navigate the Lifers weaving lies oh so intricate, and you get to reap the benefits!

Missed our past weeks of coverage? Catch up here! Week 1

[nursinggeek]

A day after I got out of the hospital for the second time since I had a baby two weeks ago, my cat Snurps started throwing up digested blood. His admission has already cost us thousands, but for the sweetest cat in the world & with a good prognosis from the vet, we couldn't do anything else. He's deaf and blind and already survived cancer (minus one toe), he should get the longest, healthiest, happiest life he can. We need help, to get him the care he needs.

[nursinggeek]

Pride Dragons Merchandise Kickstarter: Back NOW!

Our Kickstarter campaign to make stickers, magnets, key chains, earrings, washi tape, and lanyards out of ten adorable Pride-flag-themed dragons by Florilège has launched!

These precious, playful, cat-like dragons are in the colors of the polyamorous pride flag, the genderfluid pride flag, the bisexual pride flag, the Gilbert Baker pride flag, the intersex-inclusive progress pride flag, the pansexual pride flag, the demigender pride flag, the genderqueer pride flag, the aroace pride flag, and the non-binary pride flag! You can get one of them or get them all, mix-and-match our merchandise options, and customize your order – or, if you love them all, you can get full sets of merch, flag sets featuring different merch with the same flag, or even get one of everything we’re offering (and get a discount when you do, of course)!

We’re aiming to raise $2,900 between now and July 2nd. I hope you’ll give us a hand by helping spread the word or by becoming backer!

HAPPY PRIDE!

(artist: @echo-bleu )

[nursinggeek]

Speedrunning (not really ) a comm so the guy can post it so then i can post it too ;;u;;]

[nursinggeek]

Y'know, I'd said in the comments that I felt like this needed to be karaoke'd at Twitchcon. Had no idea that was actually a thing that might happen.

Dumb Ways to Die in MCC

Just in time for Twitchcon Rotterdam!

This is the full version promised if the "Alpha Axlotls" made it to MCCR2 last year, which they did. Enjoy! More below the cut.

There's also a performance version:

And various audio-only versions.

Spotify

Apple

For nostalgia purposes, this was the original version from their MCCR2 application:

[nursinggeek]

You are an immortal who has been alive for over 2000 years. Nowadays, you work as a history teacher. Thing is, a lot of the history textbooks are just flat-out WRONG, and you would know; you were there for a lot of the events they cover. Fed up, you decide to teach what ACTUALLY happened.

[nursinggeek]

Reactions to... getting unexpectedly hugged

"Well, this is new."

"You don't need to be afraid, I'm not leaving."

"Oh no, please don't cry. See, I'm hugging you back, please stop crying."

"This is one way to say hello."

"Hmm, it seems that I did miss this."

"Wait... are we doing this? Right now?"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Oh, okay. This is nice, I guess."

"What am I supposed to do now? Do I hug you back?"

"Great, now I'm crying too."

"Woah. You're catching me off guard here."

"Did I miss a memo? What's going on?"

"I guess this is alright."

"That's enough, please back off."

"Okay, okay. What do you want?"

"Didn't expect that, but I'll take it."

"Whoa! Um, okay... so this is happening. Hi?"

"Oh! I can't breathe, I can't... please let go!"

"Stop hugging me like this in public. You're ruining my reputation.”

"If you wanted a hug, all you had to do was ask. No need to sneak up on me like that."

"What's happening? Am I being attacked?"

"Okay, uh, well, now I don't know what to do with my arms. This is fine, right?"

More: Reactions to... Masterpost

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[nursinggeek]

You are the highest paid member of your Adventuring Party. Not because you can fight, or have magic. You'd die to a cat, let's be honest. But because you can cook, clean, set up camp, also have a fierce sense of business. All things they more or less completely lack.

[nursinggeek]

Questions Your Character Is Too Afraid to Ask

(But desperately needs the answer to) Because these are the thoughts they won’t say out loud, but they shape everything they do.

If I stopped trying, would anyone notice?

Do they actually like me, or do I just make their life easier?

Am I hard to love?

What would they say about me if I left the room?

Would they stay if they saw the real me?

What if I’m only good at pretending to be good?

Was it actually love, or just obligation?

What happens if I fail again? What’s left of me then?

How long until they get tired of me?

What if I deserve the things I’m afraid of?

Am I healing or just hiding better?

Why do I feel more myself when I’m alone?

Do I want to be forgiven or just forget?

What if I never become the person they believe I am?

Am I still angry, or just numb?

Why can’t I let go of them, even after everything?

If they hurt me, and I stayed, did I hurt myself more?

Am I building a future, or just distracting myself from the past?

Is this what I want, or just what I’ve been told to want?

What if I was never meant to survive this, but I did anyway? Now what?

[nursinggeek]

using "what were YOU doing at the devils sacrament" to mean "yeah i made an embarrassing reference but you understood it which is also embarrassing" is very funny to me

[nursinggeek]

life tip: sometimes there's a bird outside & you can look at it

[nursinggeek]

scar keeps talking about how tango looked really cool in the pink jacket with tassels… it seems like no one took/posted photos of it though. All I’m going to say is that I would sell my left kidney to see your take on this

so about that left kidney

[nursinggeek]

Dumb Ways to Die in MCC

Just in time for Twitchcon Rotterdam!

This is the full version promised if the "Alpha Axlotls" made it to MCCR2 last year, which they did. Enjoy! More below the cut.

There's also a performance version:

And various audio-only versions.

Spotify

Apple

For nostalgia purposes, this was the original version from their MCCR2 application:

[nursinggeek]

We’re going to be adding items we use during the liverstream to the Gamers Outreach auction page all weekend.

Music lovers, keep an eye out for this one once we have the chance to sign and play it on stream!