#like some kind of pidgeon...

[secondlife-ooc]

[da-janela-lateral]

THIS PERSON'S MIND

Returning to society can be a hard mission. Good thing Serizawa has friends that took him under their wing!

[sharenadraculea]

The primarchs having dinner together

Lion: He is a cat. He only eats the meat. Not even touching his veggies. He doesn‘t really get why they are having this dinner, but Luther thought him some decent table manners and he is happy to eat the meat of everyone who doesn‘t want theirs. He is eyeing the pidgeons sitting outside the window. They are gone by the end of teh evening. Fulgrim: He has some really bad allergies. Like one small bite can easely turn into a medical emergency. He really hoped to eat the same food as the others, but it‘s not safe. He takes his own food with him and feels pretty bad about it. Ferrus needs to comfort him. Perty: Grumbeling the whole time. Magnus dragged him here, saying it would be fun. Maybe it kind of is. But Calliphone still cooks better. Jagh: He is very excited to try some new food, very adventurous taste. He‘s having a great time, very supportive of his brothers who are a bit more picky than he is. Offers to buy everyone drinks. Leman: He has a lot of fun too, needs to be stopped from drinking too much. He is a bit sceptical of everything more complicated than bread and meat. A chocolate dessert needs to be ripped from his hands to avoid a medical emergency. Rogal: He has ARFID, so eating in general and especially going out to eat is difficult. Brought his own food with him and when told he eats like a toddler, goes on a extended rant/presentation about ARFID. Brought some extra dino-nuggets to share with his brothers. Ends up distracted and builds a fortress for the dino-nuggets to live in. Konrad: So much food! He has no idea where to look first. Eats very fast and has no table manners. Despite this, he won‘t touch his veggies, because cat. Heroically liberates Morty from both his meat and dessert. Somehow catches the rat which he nibbles on between courses.

Sang: He has perfect manners. Tries everything on the table, does a extensive food criticism. Definetly asks for the recipies of some things, the cook is crying in joy. At some point goes on a long tangent about food on Baal and how good snakes taste. Everyone is shocked that Sang would be a fan of raw snakemeat. He isn‘t very picky. Also eyeing Konrads rat and Lions pidgeons. Ferrus: Not enough stones for his taste. Attempts to also eat the plate. Very worried about Fulgrim and kind of hoovering around him. Lactoseintolerant and is carefull not to end up having a horrible stomach ache, Angron: The nails make tablemanners difficult, he has decided that everything is fingerfood. Surprisingly calm, ripping apart food probally helps. Rob: He got the menu weeks in advance to mentally prepare. Still, it is difficult to eat so much new food. He is kind of regretting that he didn‘t bring his own food like Rogal. Someone notices how stressed out he is and asks the cook if they can send him some spaghetti. This helps a lot. Morty: Meat just gives him the ick. Can‘t eat it, very glad to give his to Konrad. Very happy to eat Konrads and Lions veggies. Kind of intimidated by eating with so many people and very quiet. Looks like he thinks someone will take his food away any moment. Ends up hiding some food in his pockets to eat later, Magnus: He has brought his books with him, just in case. Not all that interested in the food, but keeps three conversations going at the same time. Later drinks two glasses of wine and is passed out, transforming into a blob of warp-goo. Horus: Loudly commenting on everyone else and what they are eating. Then Rogal lectures him and he is humbled for approximatly three minutes. Lactoseintolerant, which he fully ignores. Later loudly complains about his tummyache. Lorgar: His religion has pretty strict rules about what you can eat, so he is very angsty. But he also doesn‘t want to cause problems and it looks and smells so good and Angron keeps handing him squished things and that‘s weirdly cute… Vulkan: He is just so happy that they are all here. Buys everyone some icecream for dessert. He has brought his mothers extra spicy BBQ-sauce with him and puts it on everything. It is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by everyone not from Nocturne. Corvus: Has some food-related trauma (specifically the hadn‘t had emough as a kid) and so keeps eating pretty much everything handed to them. Evem tries Vulkans BBQ-Sauce, which does not end well. Vulkan buys them birdseed in exchange, which makes them very happy. Alpharius Omegon: Somehow got their hands on a McDonalds Happy Meal. Very happy to witness all the chaos

[phantasmatoucan]

Can I ask whoever designs the voices (I think owl) how they came up with there designs?

HEY MOD OWL HERE, I THINK ILL PUT THIS IN A READMORE BC ITS GONNA BE LONG

FOR ALL OF THEM I HAD WIDELY DIFFERENT IDEAS BUT FOR MOST I HAD SOMETHING SPECIFIC IN MIND BE IT A THING OR A SYMBOL

HERO: FOR HIM I HAD OFC A KNIGHT IN MIND I WAS GONNA GIVE HIM A FULL HELMET BUT I WANTED FOR HIS EXPRESSIONS TO BE SEEN SINCE HES A VERY EXPRESSIVE PERSON IN GENERAL, I MANTAINED HIS EYES UNSEEN THO SINCE HERO IS ALWAYS SOMEONE WHO WILL FOLLOW THE DECIDER BLINDLY AND ONLY AT THE END IS WHEN HES FINALLY ABLE TO REACH HIS FULL POTENTIAL [which is if i did a drawing of one of the ends, heros visor would be lifted up] ALSO HES THE MOST HUMAN LOOKING SINCE THE LONG QUIET PROBABLY HAS A VAGUE IDEA OF WHAT A HERO LOOKS LIKE BUT HE PROBABLY THOUGHT IT LOOKS SIMILAR TO THE PRINCESS

SMITTEN: HEARTS, THATS BASICALLY ALL I HAD IN MIND FOR HIM, I LOVE DESIGNING CHARACTERS WITH HEART MOTIFS SINCE ITS FUN TO MESS AROUND WITH THAT [keep it simple or making it a bit more goreish] I WANTED HIM TO BE ROUND AND FRIENDLY SHAPED, THE HAT CAME FROM OLD ROMEO AND JULIET CLOTHES THAT I SAW IN IMAGES AND THE CLOTHES ARE MORE FROM OLD TIMEY BARDS, I HAD THOUGHT OF MAKING HIM A PEACOCK AT FIRST BUT DECIDED I PREFFER HIM LOOKING MORE LIKE A PIDGEON SINCE THEYRE MORE ROUNDER AND ARE MORE COMMON BIRDS THAT PEOPLE SEE EVERYWHERE, THEY APPROACH HUMANS MUCH MORE EASILY AS WELL

SKEPTIC: I WANTED TO GIVE HIM LIKE A DETECTIVE SHERLOCK HOLMES KIND OF FEEL, BUT WHEN I HEARD HIM MORE HE FELT MORE LIKE A NOIR DETECTIVE THAN THAT SO THE FEELING FOR HIM CHANGED [also fun fact his clothes are based on inspector gadget lol] HIS WINGS POINT DOWNWARDS SINCE I WANTED HIS SILHOUETTE TO FEEL MORE HOURGLASSISH FOR HIM, THE OWL PART CAME FROM THE FACT THAT MOST OF THE OWLS IVE SEEN IN MEDIA ARE STUDIOUS CHRACTERS OR ATLEAST TRYING TO LEARN SOMETHING, IN GENERAL I FEEL THE VYBE OF OWLS ARE VERY CURIOUS CREATURES SO I GAVE IT TO SKEPTIC WHO IS THE MOST INQUISITIVE CHARACTER OF THEM ALL

COLD: HARDEST TO GET DOWN I HAD A GRIMM REAPER IN MIND, WITH HIS COLD PERSONALITY, I WANTED HIM TO BE ONE OF THE TALLEST ONE AS WELL FOR HIM TO BE A LITTLE SPINDLY LOOKING, HIS HAS A LONG CLOAK AND WANT HIM TO BE COMPLETLY COVERED IN CLOATHING SINCE HES VERY MUCH CLOSED HIMSELF SO HE CAN BE UNFEELING AND DON'T FEEL ANY PAINT, THE ONLY OTHER PARTS THAT ARE VISIBLE APART FROM HIS FACE IS HIS ARMS WHICH HAVE LONG PLUMAGES SO IT LOOKS LIKE SLEEVES, AND HIS HANDS ARE LONGER AND MORE HUMAN LOOKING AND COMPLETLY WHITE [hard to notice since i draw them all in black in white lol] SO IT LOOKS LIKE SKELETON HANDS

OPPORTUSNIST: SINCE WE HAD AN IDEA OF WHAT HIS FACE LOOKED LIKE I WANTED TO GIVE HIM A BIG BIG SMILE FIRST WITH HIS LONG BEAK, I ALSO WANTED HIS CLOTHES TO BE VER FORMAL [so i went to look for tumblr sexy man clothes lmao] WITH HIS SLEEVES UP, SO THAT HE LOOKS LIKE HE MEANS BUSSINESS, HIS TAIL IS LONG AND DRAGS BEHIND HIM TO LOOK LIKE A LONG OVERCOAT, HIS WINGS ARE ALSO BIG AS WELL [atleast bigger than most of the voices] SO THAT HE TAKES A BIT MORE SPACE IN THE ROOM, I WANTED FOR HIM TO BE SOFFOCATING AND INTOXICATING TO LOOK AT lol, HES ALSO VERY FLUFFY WHICH IS MORE NOTICIBLE ON HIS NECK, SO THAT HE APPEARS A BIT MORE HARMLESS [under his regular clothes hes very fluffy as well] TO ALURE A SENSE OF FRIENDLINESS THAT CONTRAST THE REST OF HIMSELF LMAO

HUNTED: HARE WITH BUNNY, LITERALLY MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS A BIT OF A LLONG HARE WITH BIRD LIKE FEATURES, I WAS DEBATING IF GIVING HIM A SNOUT OR A BEAK WAS A GOOD IDEA BUT I WENT WITH THE SNOUT SINCE IT MAKES HIM MORE DISTINCT TO THE OTHERS [he also has sharp teeth like stubborn but theyre mostly barely visible since he usually doesnt open his mouth too much unless threatend] THE BANDAGES COMES FROM THE FACT THAT I WANTED ALL OF THE VOICES TO HAVE SOME TYPE OF CLOATHING THAT DEFIND THEM, BUT SINCE HUNTED WOULD HAVE NO CLOTHES I WENT WITH SOMETHING LESS NOTICIBLE

CHEATED: DISHEVELED LOOKING BIRD I WAANTED FOR HIM TO LOOK LIKE HE JUST GOT OUT OF A CAR CRASH SO THATS WHY HE HAS A LOT OF BANDAGES, I THINK I MAY CHANGE THINGS ON HIM TO SINCE I WANTED FOR HIM TO HAVE A SCAR ON HIS NECK THAT WOULD BE VISIBLE [since thats a way to get to the razor route] BUT FOR NOW SINCE ONE OF THE VOICES WHO IS ALWAYS THE UNLUCKIEST I MADE HIM THE SHORTEST OFC AND WITH CUTTED WINGS, WHICH ARE LITERALLY USELESS, HIS CHEST ALSO HAS BANDAGES BUT ARE NOT VISIBLE BC OF HIS CLOTHING

BROKEN: PENGUIN MAN, I WANTED HER SHAPE TO BE SIMILAR TO THIS ∩ WHICH MADE ME THINK OF PENGUINS AND THATS HOW HE CAME OUT, HE HAS LONG DROOPY EAR FEATHERS THAT ARE TATHERED SINCE IT WAS HARD TO DEMONSTRATE FOR ME HOW UNKEMPT SHE IS, HIS LONG CLOACK COVERS MOST OF HIS BODY WITH A PENGUIN LIKE PATTERN ON IT, HIS EYES HAVE WRINKLES AND HE ALWAYS LOOKS SAD OR UPSET BY SOMETHING, I WANTED HIM TO OCCUPY LITTLE SPACE SO HE FEELS VERY COMPACT IN HIS OWN DESIGN PARANOID: WANTED TO MAKE HIM LOOK VERY JUMPY AND WORRIED, I HAD AN IDEA FOR HER TO HAVE SPIKIER PLUMAGE LIKE AN EXPLOSION [which is how the plumage of her face came to be] SINCE HE SEEMS TO ALWAYS SO NERVOUS AND READY TO SCREAM AT ANYTHING AGREVATING HIM, HER LONGER EAR FEATHERS CAME TO BE BC I WANTED THEM TO WIGGLE WHENEVER HE WAS CONCENTRATING TO KEEP US ALIVE, I WAS ACTUALLY GONNA GIVE HER A LONGER TAIL LIKE AN ACTUAL FANTAIL PIDGEON, BUT CONSIDERING HOW HE IS I MADE THEM VERY SHORT TO GVIE THE IDEA THAT SHE PLUCKED THEM HIMSELF, ALSO HIS WINGS BEING SO CLOSE TO HIS BACK FOR COMFORT, THE PONCHO CAME MUCH MUCH LATER BC I DIDNT ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT CLOTHES TO PUT ON HIM, I THINK I SAW A CHARACTER I LIKE WITH A PONCHO [cant remember which one] AND WAS LIKE maybe he can have a tattered poncho AND THATS HOW IT CAME TO BE

STUBBORN: DRAGON!!! I REALLY WANTED EYE OF THE NEEDLE TO BE A BIG DRAGON LADY WITH WINGS SCALES AND SUCH BUT WHEN I SAW HER NOT HAVING THOSE I WAS A BIT DISSAPOINTED SO I GAVE IT TO STUBBORN LMAO, HES IS ABOUT AS BIG AS THE LONG QUIET PROBABLY LARGER THO lol, THE MACAW PART CAME FROM THE WAY HIS FACE IS SHAPED, SPECIFICALLY THE BEAK, HIS LOWER TEETH ARE MORE NOTICIBLE THAN HER UPPER ROW, HE IS SCARED OFC FROM THE BATTLE YOU HAVE BEFORE GOING INTO THE ADVERSARY, HIS CLOTHES ARE BASED ON BEOWULD FROM SKULLGIRLS ACTUALLY I WANTED HIM TO HAVE SOMETHING LIKE ANIMAL PELTS AROUND HIS WAIST, SO I WENT WITH A FLUFFIER DRAPES AROUND HIS SKIRT, HIS WINGS ARE IN SIMILAR SHAPE OR THAT OF A DEMON MORE THAN A BIRD SO THAT THEY LOOKED MORE DRAGONISH

CONTRARIAN: JESTER BC I LOVE JESTER AND OFC JESTER CONTRARIAN PROPAGANDA TOOK OVER MY BRAIN, AS I SAID MOD TOUCAN IS THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED THE HUMMINBIRD PART OF HIS DESIGN SO HIS WINGS ARE LONGER AND TAIL IS AS WELL, HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO I HAVE ACTUALLY COLORED AND THAT IS ON PURPOSE SINCE NONE OF THE OTHER VOICES HAVE COLORS, HE ALSO DOESNT HAVE A SET COLOR PALLETE SINCE HE CAN BE WHICHEVER COLOR HE PREFFERS AT THE MOMENT, HE ALSO DOESNT HAVE DIGITRADE LIKE FEET SINCE I WANTED SOME SIMILARITIES OF HIM AND HERO, HE STILL HAS BIRD FEET THO THAT WILL NOT GO AWAY lol, HIS BEAK IS POINTED UPWARDS AND HIS MOUTH IS NOT REALLY A REAL THING, ITS MORE A ABSTRACT LINE

[krys-kros]

my random yellowjackets fancasts

(i make changes to this post a lot just because, i try not to remove just add but like yea just a heads up)

Adult Laura Lee — Sarah Chalke (I saw fancasts of Dianna Agron...they do have a resemblance. I just dont agree)

Adult Mari Ibarra — Jessica Matten

Adult Akilah — Teyonah Parris

Adult Gen — Liza Lapira (based on Mya Lowe)

Adult Javi Martinez — Oscar Isaac (I genuinely think they have some resemblance, specifically with Steven Grant from Moon Knight)

Teen & Adult Rachel Goldman — Sarah Pidgeon & Kim Rhodes (died in the initial crash, for shits and giggles and just an excuse to add Sarah Pidgeon)

The only ones I don't have so far are Crystal, Britt and Robin.

HONORABLE MENTION

Adult Jackie Taylor — Robin Tunney (I didn't originate this one but I wholeheartedly agree. There's an entire twitter thread just proving that.)

Teen Jeff Sadecki — Drew Starkey (the only reason this is in Honorables is because Teen Jeff is not that important to me, but I want to mark it like a checkbook, also I have that one post that said Brandon Butler. I flip flop. I just wanted someone other than the one in the pilot)

The Other Shipman-Sadecki Children

Lowkey it was kinda hard to fancast an older sibling for Callie because Sarah Desjardins is already 30 and so it was like 'ok who would look like her, look like her older sibling but also convincingly 24-ish the way I still have plausible deniability over Sarah playing a teenager'

Wilderness Baby (Jack?) in 2021 — Kyle Allen or Milo Manheim (Depends on the vibe I'm going for, right now might prefer Kyle Allen)

Molly Sadecki (Deleted Character from the Pilot) — Emily Rudd or Sarah Pidgeon (Yes I did Sarah Pidgeon twice...who cares)

I took this kind of way too seriously I compared faces between these two^, Callie, and Adult and Teen versions of their parents just to see if they would make believable siblings for Callie (fanon Teen Jeff because...idk why not? he's not that important)

[drtwit]

Here I am, your least favorite gremlin out of her garbage can, with another gremlin idea for Menaces AU .

The Butterfly™ is actually stupid enough to step into Paris, AKA Hawkmoth's territory, and not only that, but to prove that he can do whatever he wants in moth's turf and nobody could stop him, he tries to steal Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculouses, and even—takes an interst on Nathalie. This motherfucker actually went into HK's turf, fought his enemies, and by pure stupid coincidence, ended up interested in his assistant. The perfect concoction of disrespect to piss Hawkmoth off.

Everyone would expect him to react bringing an akuma like "Reflekta", "Multiplier" or "Miss Squirrel" (that definitely is not a ripoff of Mr. Pidgeon), overall, expected him to bring an akuma that Butterfly could defeat.

Nobody expects Hawkmoth to bring in Cthulhu.

Does least favourite implies that I have multiple gremlins on stand by?

Hawkmoth: "Send in Cthulhu."

Adrien: "…Like, a Cthulhu-based akuma?"

Hawkmoth: "No, no, Cthulhu. He owes me a favour."

Adrien: "For what?"

Hawkmoth: "Don't think about it. Here's his phone number, just don't look at it too long, the numbers are cursed knowledge or something."

Adrien: "This number is our HR department."

Hawkmoth: "He's the head of the department. Does good work."

Hawkmoth: “Here’s his calendar. Pick a day when the planets aren’t aligned, or else he gets cranky.”

Adrien: "We had Cthulhu in our back pocket this whole time and we never sicked him on Ladybug?"

Hawkmoth: "Ladybug isn't harassing my assistant with dirty messages."

Adrien: "He sent her a poem."

Hawkmoth: "A filthy, perverse poem."

Adrien: "He just says that her eyes 'reflect the boundless cosmos'."

Hawkmoth: “Reflects the boundless cosmos? Reflects the boundless cosmos? Are you hearing this, Adrien? This slimy… insectoid casanova thinks he can just waltz in here, spill a few poorly-disguised innuendos, and charm my assistant?"

Adrien: “I… Don’t think it was an innuendo, Father. He just… Mentioned her eyes?”

Hawkmoth: “Oh, sure, sure! Just innocently musing on her ���infinite, alluring gaze,’ hm? And what’s next? Calling her his ‘celestial muse’? Describing her beauty as ‘indescribable, yet timeless’? This whole thing has one intention, Adrien, and it’s the kind of intention you don’t put in a Hallmark card! It's all code for unspeakable desires, and poor Nathalie has to suffer through it all."

Adrien: "So… Cthulhu?"

Hawkmoth: "Some disrespect requires a beating, some require eldritch intervention."

Nathalie is, of course, sitting off the side with a glass of wine basking in Gabriel's jealousy.

[sea-lanterns]

Some (hopefully) unique animal ideas!

Ferrets (I've been studying up on them for a while bc I've been wanting to get ferrets as pets, so I'm 100% projecting)

Binturong (also known as the bearcat. They live in trees, have prehensile tails and look like koalas with an edgy color palette. They're great!)

Wolverine/Honey Badger/Any other kind of badger (I just love them. They're oddly-intelligent and usually fairly committed to their partners!)

Dingo/Striped Hyena/Maned Wolf/Any other wild canine (Every sanctuary needs a good doggo. I'm partial to the striped hyena and maned wolf (especially the maned wolf, since I believe it's the tallest in the canidae family))

Seals!/Or otters (Doggies of the water! I want them to interact with the crocodile!)

Cassowary/Secretary Bird/Bird of Paradise (every good sanctuary needs a bird of some kind. It could be a pidgeon, idk)

Wild boars, chipmunk, komodo dragon, bear, pufferfish... (idk, just hoping this helps for variety :>)

I'm picturing the sanctuary to be in a humid, temperate rainforest, so my ideas are heavily biased. Look up what some of these lil' guys look like if you don't know any them already!

I don't expect you to use all of these or anything, but I'm hoping they help you out somehow <3

—🪽

This list is so cool! I think I would love to see more wild dogs in this AU! Like hyenas, jackals, coyotes, etc. we have quite a lot of wild cats, but not a lot of wild dogs besides the thought of Wolf! Arlecchino 🤔

Besides needing more wild dog hybrids for the sanctuary, I would also love to see some birds of paradise, some reptiles, and perhaps a badger because I can’t stop thinking about that one mockumentary about the honey badger. (Iykyk)

I would love to see the Vet trying to deal with a violent ass honey badger hybrid that acts like the boss of the entire sanctuary. I think it’d be so funny to see how she’d handle such an aggressive animal who doesn’t give a shit about anything and does their own thing 😅

[rozonrozark]

Why do i feel like marinette is about to get akumatised? if she will, well good fucking luck everyone. Real question is why she haven't so far? Considering how shitty her life has been so far she should have been akumatised more than that pidgeon guy himself. I guess plagg gives some protection or feeling shitty is the usual for marinette?

[“Fine but keep an eye on her alright? I don’t want to hear about a girl committing suicide due to bullying.”] please please please tell me this isnt some kind of foreshadowing i would literally cry out of anger if she dies and no one cares

I know you said things will get better but??? How??? Literally nothing in her life goes as how it should. I think she should ditch Paris and move to New York or smt.

Alright for the question about Marinette not being akumatized that is something I will need to dive into in a further chapter but to put it simply you need a large burst of negative emotions. A sudden spike of anger or a huge wave of sadness, etc. To put it simply Marinette in this story is constantly putting out negative emotions it is kinda like background noise that Hawkmoth/Gabriel has been tuning out for years so he never notices. Add onto that she has her emotional support kwami, Plagg, and she can hold up for a while.

Now onto how things could get better, I will not say as that would be spoilers. But don't worry like I said things will get better.

[alicethethreshershark]

Silly Game Time: The classic gryphon/griffin has the head and front talons of a golden eagle and the body and back paws of a lion. Sometimes it also has an eagle's wings. But today ... we're going to change things up by combining a different bird with a different cat for some grifFUN! [pause for laughter/booing]

Which kinds do you choose? Attach a photo of each so people can get a sense of how your gryphon/griffin looks!

(If you don't know varieties of birds or cats well enough to choose, try using a Random Letter Generator, and then search for "birds/cats that start with [your letter]" until you find one you like. Or one that'd look messed up. Whichever.)

pidgeon + Iberian lynx

[jacqueline-p-rose]

I’ve been tagged (by @nohoperadio) so I guess I’m It. I believe the conceit of the game is “list ten books you would like to read this year,” but as I am already two generations on from the rules being broken, I figure I’ll continue the trend.

The concept of “books I would like to read this year” is slightly antithetical to my current objective when it comes to reading. For the last couple of years I’ve been deliberately less deliberate about the books I pick up, often buying and reading literally anything anyone mentions or recommends, sometimes just grabbing something from the op shop that looks like it might be interesting, often literally judging a book by its cover. The point of this is to expand the kinds of things I read, and avoid being pidgeon-holed into any genre or author. I found that while I read a lot it tended to be the same stack of books over and over, and as I am aspiring to write for myself, I knew I needed to expand my horizons and take in some stuff I had previously considered not to my taste, and I’m sure glad I did. So instead of “ten books I’d like to read this year,” I’m just going to talk about books generally for a minute, and if that includes some stuff I would like to read in future, then so be it.

Starting from the top: unexpected favourites and slight disappointments. Diving headlong into things you don’t expect to enjoy is daunting sometimes, it’s a little premeditated sunk-cost fallacy, but having done so, I can report it’s absolutely worth it. Crook Manifesto (Colson Whitehead), Monks (Des Dillon), and A Tale for the Time Being (Ruth Ozeki) have proved the rule. Crook Manifesto in particular was fantastic, Whitehead has a wonderful turn of phrase: “She had an hourglass figure, not in its shape but in the melancholy reminder that time is running short and there are things on this Earth you’ll never experience.” Yeah. It’s not always fun and games though, Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë) was fiiiiiine I guess (I didn’t hate it, it was just… idk.. fine?), and The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula K. Le Guin) was like baby’s first exploration into gender diversity (to be fair, this was super-hyped up by a cis-hetero guy as like a groundbreaking deep discussion into the depths of what gender means, and to an old queer like myself it’s a little basic, I like the book though, and I like Le Guin, so I’ll read anything else I find). I’ll keep reading any recommendations and enjoying them or not as I see fit; at least I’m developing an opinion on things I do and don’t like, and why, from a position of having interacted with it directly and consciously.

I have an e-reader which I love: an Onyx Boox Page. It’s a dumb name I know, but it’s my favourite piece of technology I’ve ever owned. It gives me so many options for finding and reading both new things and old favourites, has a front light with customisable warmth, physical page turn buttons(!), and runs on android with full access to the Play Store (more on this later). It also has a built in “store” which has thousands of public domain books freely given and able to download immediately. Through this I’ve been making my way though H.G. Wells’ catalogue again, taking in some Russian literature, a few classics here and there, random short stories, et cetera. A lot of the things on there are pulled from Project Gutenburg, and if you haven’t heard of Project Gutenburg, then I highly recommend looking it up (you’re still able to look things up on the internet right? I don’t need to spoon feed you). It has a list of the 100 most downloaded e-books if you really want to follow along with a lot of stuff you’re “supposed to” read, and I’ll probably work my way though the list eventually, but not in any order and not because I feel like I have to lol. They’re all free and formatted well enough, go take a gander. I have so many things lined up on my reader from this, too many choose from.

It’s now later and I will expand on the app thing, you can download apps lol. More directly, you can run Firefox, just regular Firefox, which means I can read from online magazines on a comfortable e-ink screen. Strange Horizons, Apex, and Bourbon Penn are all pretty great. These kinds of mags are really good for finding new authors, I found Naomi J. Williams on one of these (I can’t remember which one), and her historical fiction Landfalls, about the 1785 Lapérouse expedition was one of the best unexpected things I��ve read in the last few years. Low Tech magazine is also good value, and I really enjoy consuming blogs and newspapers on here too. I know this isn’t really books, but reading is reading right?

Disregarding everything I’ve said up to this point, I do have some direction in choosing what to read. Recently I re-read the 1-2-3 Punch of Romulus, My Father (Raimond Gaita), To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), and The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton). It’s a fascinating shift of perspective from reading them in (Australian) highschool as a teenager, and reading them now as an adult whose children are now highschool teenagers. All three of these books have both sides of the coin: “child trying to figure out the world and their place in it” and “adult caretaker trying to teach that child how to be a good and whole person”. My eldest is definitely going through the rebellious phase where they are rejecting my influence in favour of that of their peers (as we all did), and it’s as difficult for me to get through to them as it is for Romulus or Atticus or Darry, but I’m not so old as to not remember reading them as a teenager and feeling like these three are just stuffy old people who don’t understannnnddd mannnn. It’s been eye opening for me as a parent and re-contextualises my kids capricious behaviour. I might go more into depth on this in another post, but regardless, it makes me want to read some of the other books that I was assigned as course work and perhaps didn’t fully appreciate at the time: Holes (Louis Sachar), Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck) and 1984 (George Orwell). These three books have movies made of them, which brings me neatly to my next paragraph.

Over the last few months I have been watching movies after reading the novels they were based on (didn’t see that coming did ya?). It started with Howl’s Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones), which I highly recommend everyone read, it’s so much better than the Ghibli movie, and far more comprehensible. Whatever, I’m not here to yuck anyone's yum, but that started me on a series of, well, series. I followed that up with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (you know who) and Dune (you know this one too). I re-watched Trainspotting, one of my favourite movies, for the first time in like 10 years, and have the Irvine Welsh book it’s based off sitting next to me right now waiting patiently. I’m planning Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Philip K. Dick) and Bladerunner/2049, and I’ve got the Silo saga: Wool, Shift, and Dust (Hugh Howey) to re-read before sitting down to dine on the Apple TV series. I will probably continue doing this until I forget about it and move onto something else. It’s good fun, if you can resist the human urge to complain that they got the movie wrong and the book is better. Clearly I cannot.

That’s pretty much all I have to say about that. I recommend all of the things I’ve mentioned in this post, but more than anything I recommend to not take it all too seriously. Pick up a book, any book, give it a read. Maybe you’ll enjoy it, maybe you won’t, but you’ll probably get something out of it regardless. Don’t be ashamed to duck out of something halfway through because it sucks or can’t hold your attention, Do judge a book by it’s cover, first impressions can be wonderful even if the relationship sours soon after. Don’t listen to what people say you “have to” read, Do listen to what people say they loved reading. Don’t compare your reading to others, Do love yourself and take pleasure where it comes.

I don’t know a single other person on this earth so I’m not going to tag anyone, but if you want to play along, rules or no, then let me know so I can steal some recs. If there’s something you’ve read in living memory and thoroughly enjoyed, then let me know down below. Like, comment, and subscribe. I’ll see you next time.

[squirrelwrangler]

Same anon again, thank you for the response! I enjoy fitting tragic or bittersweet endings and such, so the bit that mostly worried me was the idea that people seemed to feel that there was a better alternative that the books had or that this did a disservice to siuan's character, so your more informed book thoughts reassured me somewhat! Yes, I was going to ask what books you might recommend, I do enjoy this sort of high fantasy epic stuff even without queer rep, but without characters like moiraine more constantly about like in the show I think it would probably be less my cup of tea than the prequel - no offense to rand but also full offense to rand

As a certified Book!Rand hater, but who the show has yet to make his presence into that the black hole of boredom and misery that Book!Rand became - the last line makes me laugh so much, Kind Anon. (there's at least two characters that thanks to fandom I hate more nowadays, but for a long time Rand was atop that list, specifically about main characters that the reader wasn't supposed to hate).

I will say this for a non-spoilery version explanation of Siuan's book fate: If/When we get to Season 4 and the show does what it will almost certainly do with Leane Sharif, just imagine if Siuan was doing exactly the same (and if there wasn't any of the Moiraine and Siuan scenes except a shortened version of the first Tower meeting, the back half of their Dream discussion going to the Eye of the World, and some of the scenes in Cairhein. Aka if they were just exes and there wasn't extra narrative weight and presence given to Siuan's storyline before Elaida's coup). Especially imagine if Season Four doesn't have the anti-Elaida/Resistance Aes Sedai rally around Siuan's memory like the show so obviously will lean into. That's what was "taken" from Siuan.

My book bias take is that the show will write Siuan as a martyr. And it sucks, yes, to have a queer martyr if for the longest time martyrs seemed to be where queer, especially black female characters, would be pidgeon-holed. And if Siuan was the token rep on this show- but she's not. And her fate isn't tied to her queerness. As I posted on Bluesky, I guessed Siuan's book fate would change to an earlier death independent and before I wondered if they would commit to showing her and Moiraine's relationship as romantic. So my stage of grief has been at acceptance for years, and thus why I might come off as callous. As a martyr, the rest of the Aes Sedai will hold Siuan up as a role model, as inspiration, as the rallying cry of vengeance. People who hated Siuan in life will be convinced to follow Siuan's memory when Siuan wouldn't have been able to. Notice I'm not talking about Moiraine. Because the death fixes something about Siuan's book storyline and fate that has nothing to do with Moriaine (because Siuan's character is in service to someone else). Siuan's death accomplishes something that only she can be, whereas what's left of her book plot can not only be handed over to Leane and other Aes Sedai but done in a way that lessens the humiliation and reduction of their character and role.

I love Book!Siuan and her later book arc (mostly), even if I can, now that I'm no longer a teenager, acknowledge the problems with it and fully understand why it is actually one of the most hated plot developments. I am a rare fan of it, and as said fan the revisionist history towards the plot grates. But I don't want it for Show!Siuan.

[gravcyards]

okay, gonna try to actually make a decent plotting call this time which i've been meaning to do for awhile but was mobile when i came off hiatus SO here we go here's the short version (long version is after the read more thingy): looking for long-term writing partners who will match my energy and excitement about our plots and characters (surprisingly hard to find for some reason????) and hopefully if we vibe ooc & ic then we can just be fuckin rp besties who throw plots and muses at each other w/o a second thought and luv writing together<33 rn i'm dying for more f/f plots but i'm also fine with m/f and m/m esp if we have multiple plots sooooo pls hit that like button or (preferably) slide into my dms even if we've previously talked / tried to plot / have written together before pls still hmu idc if one of us dropped off the face of the earth i get it life happens :)

OK SO. 21+ and discord only pls. i'm semi-selective now just bc i want ppl who match my energy/excitement about our plot/characters like if u give me nothing to work with in ur replies i'll probs not respond. i'm v v comfortable writing smut (even kinky, taboo kind of shit) but pls don't take that as a deal breaker i'm cool with no smut/fade to black just lemme know :) (also just a warning - i luv hurting my muses so most of them have shitty/potentially triggering backstories but they're still my babies and they r very well thought out) i'm gonna just list particular plots/pairings i've been thinkin bout lately but shit definitely isn't restricted to just these they're just ones i've been rly wanting to write

plots/verses:

zombie apocalypse (the walking dead preferably but also tlou)

twitch streamers best friends to lovers

love island but like... make it f/f

hogwarts????

outer banks (not the dumbass treasure hunting plot but just like the verse of obx)

best friend's older brother/sister

boyfriend's gf x boyfriend's sister

fake dating turned actually in love w each other

student x TA or professor (in college so legal age gap)

effy x cook from skins vibes

THIS

protective gf x golden retriever dumbass bf

i got a lot of traumatized af male muses so if u wanna play a female muse against any of them lmk

probs more but i don't wanna make this super long

pairings/fcs (bold is who i wanna play):

kie x sarah (obx)

madison bailey x madelyn cline

courtney eaton x any girl fc

sabrina carpenter x any girl fc

madelyn cline x anyone

danielle rose russell x kaylee bryant

danielle rose russell x any girl fc

renee rapp x sabrina carpenter/renee rapp x any girl fc

wanted opps:

renee rapp

madison bailey

courtney eaton

kaylee bryant

rudy pankow

sarah pidgeon

dylan o'brien

kaya scodelario

joe keery

tom holland

daniel sharman

zendaya

hailee steinfeld

again, not limited to the above fcs/pairings/plots just ones i've been wanting lately

[galpal-galaxy]

I don't know why but since last year i realy began to like doves and pigeons. Am unsure if it's because i took care and raised a wild ringneck dove hatchling that my mom found took care of and made sure it was afraid of humans and other stuff they need to survive in the wild before realising it ( it is ilegal to own wild animals here of any kind without paperwork and some other permits and that's a bit expensive)

It made me intrested in pidgeons and doves how smart cute and intresting pets they are. How many spiecies there are and the few kept as pets (dodo birds where related to pigeons) how some thing i saw everyday and never noticed can be so wonderfull like they all are so cute the sounds they make, the way they look and how they act. Now over the winter i am reaserching and preparing to own one of theese birds a diamond dove (who is called a pidgeon here) who if everything works out i will be getting from a breeder ( i was planing on getting a maybe rescue pidgeon/dove but where i live its not permited to own bird bigger than a cockatiel so i can't have them diamond doves are small so they are permited) who will be checked at a vet.

I just wanted to share this and also ask if i am doing something wrong.

[voidpidgeon]

💌 but reversed! You're genuinely hilarious. And friendly, and talented. And terrifying <3

Well, Uno reverse reverse!

You put so much effort and dedication into stuff, even if you downplay it sometimes! Whether it is the hundreds of prompts you did for the 16th day event or the extra effort put into running a hunger game.

Not only that, you are probably my top 1 person (tree), that will engage in fun way with a goofy or weird ask. I think some of our exchanges have been some of the most fun I have had in this fandom :P

I think, I was meant to be some kind of cosmic horror, but alas I am just a little pidgeon (unless😳)

I love seeing your post on my dash regardless of if it meta, shitposts or writing honestly. You are like the blorbo from dashboard to me, always a joy to see!

My personal fav of your fics is Candlelight!!! Your Rivals make me sad, but also I understand them huuuurghh

[stvrdsts]

Is that  MARY MACDONALD  stepping out into Diagon Alley? Ministry records tell us that they were born on  12TH JULY 1956  and are a  23  year old,  MUGGLEBORN  who works as a  HEALER.  Some have said that they can be described as being  CHARISMATIC, PROTECTIVE & REALISTIC,  however, they also see themselves as being ISOLATED, CALLOUS & VENGEFUL.  Apparently,  SHE  look(s) a lot like  SARAH PIDGEON,  whoever that is, and if they had to pick a side in the war, they would choose to  JOIN THE ORDER.

god hood is a lot like girlhood ; a begging to be believed.

basic.

Full Name: Mary Estrella Macdonald.

Name Origin: mary; star of the sea, bitterness, beloved. estrella; star. macdonald; world ruler.

Nicknames: mare, m, mack, little lamb ( this is a nickname she definitely hates)

Age: 23

Birthday: 12 july, 1956? did i math that correctly who knows

Gender & Pronouns: cis woman & she/her

Sexuality: bisexual

Relationship Status: single

magic.

Patronus: lynx

Boggart: being locked in a cage

Wand Type: i am going to come back to this

Occupation: Healer for St Mungos, sometimes helps the research department too

Affiliation: the order of the phoenix

Face Claim: Sarah Pidgeon

bio. trigger warning ; mentions of torture. general angst.

LIFE ISN'T FAIR. it was cruel and twisted, filled with bad creatures lurking in the darkest corners of the world. sometimes people who didn't love each other had kids. her father used to call her older brother the calm before the storm, with the storm coming two years later. her mother named her mary. for the first few formative years of mary's life it had been filled with laughter and love - at least that's what she thought, though it wasn't until her random bursts of magic had revealed the truth. her parents barely tolerated each other. that plus a daughter with unknown magic abilities? well.

she was a kid, trying to be the mediating adult between her parents - her brother was off with school friends, intent on never spending any spare time at home, so mary was often left alone with hushed squabbles behind closed doors, before one day her mother packed their things, and as soon as sebastian got home, she had taken the two of them from the only home they've ever known in scotland - travelling all the way to nottingham to stay with their aunt.

things seemed to be going well for a while ; mary was making friends at the local primary school, sebastian was hitting high marks in his classes, the macdonald family were slowly building a life. she was finally allowed to be a careless kid coming home with scraped knees and a wide smile, until the fateful knock on the door one saturday afternoon which changed their lives - mary was a witch, part of a magical community hidden to their eye. for a good while, she herself didn't believe it despite the facts laid out in front of her. weird things always happening in the vicinity of her, or if she was especially pissed off.

as she came around to the news, her mother had not, refusing to believe any of it was real until mary had to go and pick up her school supplies. her brother was supportive, but he was still a kid. he thought magic was cool. the days leading up to mary's eventual departure her mother had avoided her until the last minute, and it was sebastian that helped her carry her trunk to the platform.

despite the sour farewell, mary was well and truly excited to learn about magic, having poured over her school textbooks the night before, and when the hat was placed on her head it had called out gryffindor. home of the reckless. house of the brave. it was where she had made a home for herself, amongst the jokesters and know-it-all's. over the years mary had grown into a confident and kind girl, always willing to lend a helping hand. her easy going nature had made it easier for mary to make friends, and just as easy to make enemies.

[tw torture] because as kind as mary was, she was still a hot-head, often arguing with people in class, creating grudges bigger than she was. mary wasn't quite prepared for the bully named Mulciber, who had been sneaky with their attack; a facade of friendship until they had sunk their claws into her unexpectedly. a traumatic event at barely sixteen - all signs point to torture of some form, yet the night of the attack Mary's memory still remains blank. without the proof, despite being in the hospital wing for days afterwards, and a scar that kept coming back no matter how many remedies tried, mulciber was able to stay in school. [end tw] mary had reached out to her parents, at least to her mother and brother, but she doubted that her mother would even tell sebastian she had written to him - and after that night, mary stopped picking up a quill and parchment to write them.

it took mary years after the attack until she felt somewhat okay; instead of seeking help she instead buried herself in her school work, staying up until all hours of the morning with her head in her textbooks or drawing in her sketchbook by the window nook in the gryffindor common room. anger never looked good on girls that thrived from being kind to others, so within the new year mary had decided to put that anger to good use by joining the gryffindor quidditch team as a beater, and despite years of arguing that quidditch was a senseless game, mary felt like herself for the first time in years after her first match. she remained on the team until graduation, before being accepted into the trainee healers program.

that same day someone had come to her with a proposition ; one she couldn't refuse. sick of the injustice done to her, done to other muggleborns that weren't strong enough to get back up, mary gladly accepted the order's invitation with a fire in her eyes that no one had seen in years. she was grit. she was teeth. she was a girl who learned how to use her claws and smile while she was stabbing you in the back.

on the eve of her twenty second birthday, mary decided to go home, feeling nostalgic, missing the girl she could've been ; untouched by war, she'd almost be done with university, probably have a boyfriend she'd be planning her future with. instead she was in the middle of a war against her kind, a constant target on her back. what she saw made her stop her knock on the door - a crack through the curtains revealed her mother smiling and happy, with a man she didn't recognize. instead she decided to search for her brother, spending the night getting drunk on his couch and catching up. she might not have had her mother, but at least mary had her brother, promising to keep in touch - and to this day they still write letters back and forth, which has helped ground mary in the wizarding world.

her natural affinity for helping others and extensive knowledge had given mary a boost in her trainee program, and graduated a year earlier than her class, accepting a position at st mungos not long afterwards, while actively helping the order in her spare time; her flat soon becoming a pit-stop to patch up quick wounds if needed. a pillar of courage she's become, even if she's still haunted by her own memories.

[jimalim]

It's so cool that you got to meet Sarah Pidgeon and see her play! What was your favorite part of it?

Also happy belated birthday 🎂

Thank you so much! I was surprised by how funny the show was! I wasn't expecting it to have so many laugh out loud moments, but it's jammed packed with them. Sarah's character git a lot of good laugh lines, Will Brill's character Reg was hilarious! I can definitely understand why he won the Tony! I was also surprised they performed like 3 of the songs pretty much in full. I thought it would be more fragments here and there, so it was really cool to see the live performances, Sarah sounded incredible. Hearing her sing East of Eden live gave me chills! It was just such a fantastic show all around. I really hope they do some kind of proshot so people can watch it over and over again!