#semiprofessional

[marshbarks]

i was encouraged (lying) so here's cleaning headcanons for the m5 :3

stan doesn't typically clean by choice, he's the kinda guy who needs a little bit of a push. like "hey, there's a lot of dishes-" and he'll be like yeah i'll get there eventually. and to his credit, three hours later he walks by the sink and he's like well... i don't have anything else pressing to do. so he'll do a load, and then clean up the counter or w/e afterwards. he'll also do the Heavier Action cleaning stuff like vacuuming or yard work, but he finds those actually fun, so they're less work to get him to do.

kyle, like i said, cleans in a mania way. he's generally tidy, doesn't let stuff fall into bad disrepair, but sometimes he just has his Moments. where 'there's too much dirt on THIS specific object and i'm going to kill everything and myself" until he's got it cleaned to the point of sparkling. it makes everything else look messier in comparison but at least that one object is good. (haha, no, he hates that everything else looks messier but he's exhausted the manic energy already and just sorta spot-cleans around it, fans out the cleanliness almost like a gradient around that object)

eric is cleaner than you'd think. he values having a good space to be able to make a mess. he can get bad sometimes, just, like fuck. his room can end up a DISASTER, but he does actually clean up nice. he's always cleaned up nice, even if a lot of it is 'shove it under the bed/in the closet'. at least it looks good! he's not big on using actual cleaning supplies, more likely to fucking spit on a spot on his desk and rub it off with his sleeve. whatever, gross, but it looks clean! he wants to look clean.

kenny hates cleaning their own space, but is more than happy to clean for other people! not big on chemicals either; but is willing to at least use soapy water in a spray bottle. maybe some awesome if they have to. if asked, and let loose, they'll clean a whole place top to bottom because its cathartic and fun? gets nervous around fragile or sharp objects, but isn't like. going to freak out/not clean something. will just take their time. so methodic and quiet. most of this is mysterion doing it, he loves being able to methodically go through something.

leo doesn't like cleaning! oh my god he fucking hates it! it makes his hands hurt under the skin and gives him a headache. trauma manifests in specific and weird ways in him. more likely to do it with help, but he gets... bossy... he's not cruel, but he's better at delegating tasks. kenny and tweek have both sorta gotten used to this and are good at working with him usually.

[inventors-fair]

(Lyric commentary is coming slowly but surely)

About ten left to go. I'll be getting as much done as I can today—with 27 entries all together, there's a lot to go through. Thank you for your patience!

[astriiformes]

Would any of my friends or mutuals be interested in a Bluesky invite code? I have been poking at the site as a Twitter replacement for a bit now and have a few to spare.

If you're a fellow scicomm/history of science person I can also recommend some feeds and folks to follow over there; I am so far liking the community for those areas of my interests and would love to lure some more fun people to the site if you're intrigued.

[ihopeucomehomesoon]

using “if he wanted to he would” on my professor who’s research project i was supposed to spend most of the summer working on. we had a rough start and i guess we’ll have a rough end since he hasn’t emailed me in a few weeks and i keep putting off emailing him myself

[hettiebridges]

they are! :3 I will be yapping under the cut, fair warning! :3

(here we go again!)

This individual is a Black-Footed Cat (Felis Nigripes), the smallest species of cat in Africa, with females like Gaia being around 35cm long for head and body, and with an approx. 16cm tail, weighing around 1.1 to 1.6 kg, though males are slightly larger.

Before mentioning their own hunting success rate, I should provide some context for what percentage of successful hunts most species, especially those we know as top predators, sit at.

Canids, such as several species of wolf and dholes, approximate 20%, or 1 in 5 hunts resulting in a successful outcome (though one very notable exception is the African Wild Dog, with up to an astounding 90% rate, thanks to their advanced pack hunting strategies, making them one of the most lethal vertebrates)

Members of subfamily Pantherinae, or what we colloquially refer to as ‘big cats’, seem to have numbers ranging from 10-40%, across species like lions, tigers and leopards

Peregrine Falcons and Great White Sharks, two renownedly deadly hunters, both average at just below 50%

Other members of subfamily Felinae, which include the majority of non-big-cat felids, like lynx, caracals, ocelots and domestic cats, have numbers from 30-50%, excluding a few notable high numbers, one of which is our focus species

Black-Footed Cats have been recorded hunting mainly small rodents and birds (though have been known to target mammals and birds that are larger than themselves), with one especially prominent 1993/94 study by A. Sliwa, - shout out to that guy for essentially 26 straight days of observation, plus who knows how many more elsewhere out in the field, for this amazing data - with this quote on his findings hopefully speaking for itself:

Black-footed cats have been observed to attempt catching 10 vertebrates in five hours of hunting, with a mean of six successful attempts.[5] In 1993, a female and a male black-footed cat were followed for 622 hours and observed hunting. They caught vertebrates every 50 minutes and killed up to 14 small animals in a night. (Source)

This speaks to a 60% or so hunting success rate, highest of any cat: evidently, despite their minute size, these cats are lethally effective hunters.

This may be due to their hunting strategies (yes, plural).

They have three main recorded ways of carrying out a hunt:

Stalking, where the prey is followed stealthily and slowly (around 0.5 mph) and meandering through grass, until a kill can be made

Fast hunts, where prey is chased out of cover at 2 mph or so to kill

The ‘sit and wait’ ambush strategy, wherein the animal remains motionless, sometimes with closed eyes to rely solely on their hearing, outside a rodent den, until a prey animal is located

This is likely what lends to their high kill rate, especially as this species is exclusively nocturnal and solitary, and their minute stature may make them especially well suited for their stealth-based hunts.

Sources:

https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1997.tb01194.x

Insanely good wiki page by the way, wish every species had something this detailed with this many useful linked studies.

That has to be the most humiliating way to describe one of Earth's most terrifyingly effective predators.

[comas-are-for-sleeping]

cannot be responding to a semiprofessional discord message w “shapes :D”

[elodieunderglass]

Hi, Elodie —

I have been allowed to fire a number of replica historical firearms and am happy to share my method.

Find your local reenactors (they may only be semi-local) for the period you want or as close as feasible. Go to an event. Meet the reenactors and explain your needs. Someone will almost certainly let you have a go, with blanks obviously, on-site or at a later time in a less-populous place, depending.

They will ABSOLUTELY talk you through the steps, care, and features of their weapon and let you hold it and take photos.

Warning: they will try to recruit you and they’re a ridiculously fun bunch so it might well work.

(In reference to this post - They need to do that thing where actual professionals in certain fields have seminars for writers but with letting historical... – @elodieunderglass on Tumblr)

That's absolutely lovely, thank you so much! Hey @werewolfetone - here's something for you!

I myself am not super interested in firearms! I can shoot tin cans with an air rifle and perceive that as being perfectly sufficient. if I ever write a story with guns in it - just watch out, if you're beer-can-shaped, that's all I can tell you. you'll also be like "what about the gunpowder elodie" and I'll be like "air's good enough for me and it's good enough for you. I don't like percussive noises. AU without gunpowder."

My husband is good at them - firearms, I mean. Percussive noises also, I suppose. Upon moving to America, he took them (firearms) up as a hobby, was adopted by all sorts of deeply odd older men, took some progressively specific tactical courses, and placed unexpectedly highly in some semiprofessional competitions.

I remember conservative older American guys being absolutely bewildered that foreign nationals like Dr Glass technically shouldn't be allowed to, like, purchase their own home-defense cannon or become licensed arms dealers or go on Secret Courses or whatever the hell they kept encouraging him to do. "I'm English, stop arming me," he'd say, but they wouldn't.

when we moved over to resolve our two-body problem, the old man gun friends were so disbelieving that Dr Glass could TRULY permanently returning to Europe that one of them kept and stored his guns for him for years, and only recently sold them on his behalf.

anyway some of them were indeed re-enactors and they would be fully like. hey dr glass would you like to come along. you can be a good guy if he like. and he was like. can you please stop arming the british (me). thanks for your enthusiasm though. thanks.

where was I going with this? thank you.

[perpetuallyexhaustedlibrarian]

More Wind Breaker thoughts!

In chapter 70, Sakura, Suo, and Nirei go to meet Tsubaki in what they eventually realize is the red light district. They fight some guys harassing a local singer named Shizuka, who is besties with Tsubaki. Turns out both girls work at a bar where Shizuka sings and Tsubaki dances.

But Tsubaki doesn't do just any kind of dance -- she pole dances!

I am actually a pole dancer myself, and I can say that this is a reasonably accurate depiction of pole dancing, notwithstanding the below move that is physically impossible - just need to move that leg, Tsubaki-chan! But in my semiprofessional opinion, it seems like the mangaka did their research... I don't have any complaints, which is rare in most depictions of pole dancing.

Pole dancing making an appearance in Wind Breaker is exciting by itself (for me as someone who does the sport) but I also want to talk about how the main trio reacts to seeing Tsubaki perform:

They are interested and excited! They think Tsubaki is so cool! And Sakura, being the little cat-you-found-in-the-dumpster he is, has no idea what's going on. And that's fine!

No one shames Tsubaki for pole dancing, being a slut, or doing a 'female' activity, and I think that's huge.

I live in the United States, and I do not tell people (except for close friends) that I pole dance, for fear of being judged. Pole does have its roots in stripping, and I want to emphasize that sex work is work and should be destigmatized. However, as someone in the US where conservative Christianity reigns, it is so refreshing to see a character pole dance for the fun of it and not be shamed or called a whore, especially in a manga I love so much.

(also I know now that the mangaka has confirmed Tsubaki's pronouns as he/him, but she's she/her in my heart)

[talonabraxas]

To Þórr who strengthens me, to Óðinn Aldaföðr who teaches me, to Rig who guides me, to Freyja who loves me, I give honor this day... To the Æsir and the Vanir, the gods most High, to the Asynjur whose love sustains me daily... To the Alfar, who delight me with their beauty and grace, I thank for your many gifts... I walk the Norður-vegr, Ásgarðsvegr, for this is who I am.

Freyja - Norse Goddess of Witchcraft, Love, and War Talon Abraxas Freya (Old Norse Freyja, “Lady”) is one of the preeminent goddesses in Norse mythology. She’s a member of the Vanir tribe of deities, but became an honorary member of the Aesir gods after the Aesir-Vanir War. Her father is Njord. Her mother is unknown, but could be Nerthus. Freyr is her brother. Her husband, named Odr in late Old Norse literature, is certainly none other than Odin, and, accordingly, Freya is ultimately identical with Odin’s wife Frigg.

Freya is famous for her fondness of love, fertility, beauty, and fine material possessions – and, because of these predilections, she’s considered to be something of the “party girl” of the Aesir. In one of the Eddic poems, for example, Loki accuses Freya (probably accurately) of having slept with all of the gods and elves, including her brother. She’s certainly a passionate seeker after pleasures and thrills, but she’s a lot more than only that. Freya is the archetype of the völva, a professional or semiprofessional practitioner of seidr, the most organized form of Norse magic. It was she who first brought this art to the gods, and, by extension, to humans as well. Given her expertise in controlling and manipulating the desires, health, and prosperity of others, she’s a being whose knowledge and power are almost without equal.

Freya presides over the afterlife realm Folkvang. According to one Old Norse poem, she chooses half of the warriors slain in battle to dwell there.

[girlfromflor]

AND MORE!

- 21

- 23

- 24

- 27

(i hope i’m not asking a lot, ‘m just curious, LMAO!)

MOREE, yess!! i love you, it's never too much. thanks again, dear<33

21. a song that evokes a good memory? sunshine by stray kids, it was my favorite song in 2020 when i got a semiprofessional camera as my 15th birthday present. we have the tradition to throw big parties when a girl debuts at 15 but i didn't want a party, so my dad bought a camera because i love photography.

23. do you prefer phone calls, facetime, or texting? facetime for important matters and big gossips. texting for other things bc it can get so fun, especially if you can hear the person's voice in the way they type.

24. your favorite pet name from your partner? in brazil, probably "amor" (love) or "meu bem" (which basically means "someone who brings me good", my dear). in english, it has to be "sweetheart".

27. 3 things you love about yourself. honestly... my temper (i'm very patient, until i'm not), my overall kind impulses and how i always think about the others first (because now that i can practice self respect i have the perfect balance of both).

[mayakern]

I'm wearing your thistles skirt to an interview tomorrow. It goes perfectly with my turtleneck. Thank you for making clothes that I can feel myself in as a fat girl but that I can still be semiprofessional in. I really appreciate it.

ohhh good luck with the interview! i hope the skirt can help bring you comfort and confidence so you can absolutely ace this thing!

[cptapathy]

There is a point in every creative hobby where the hobbyist will look at their creation and knows what steps and work are needed to become more proficient.

Then they must make a choice, continue with their current level of expertise and be content seeing how they could experience more satisfaction with their creation, or

choose to begin putting in more work with more diligence, raising their skills to semiprofessional levels

[flagellant]

It's another Mythic Magic Morning stream LIVE!

Not an evening stream kind of person? Are you an evening stream kind of person but on a radically different time zone than I am? Come hang out as we continue our desperate attempts at being semiprofessional about a regular streaming schedule with our climb into Mythic ranked MTG Arena! Newbie friendly!

[practically-an-x-man]

Souriya "Spider" Prakash-Cooper

(picrew is @potato-lord-but-not's Persona Creator, moodboard by @negative-speedforce, faceclaim is Mamoudou Athie (not pictured))

Full Name: Souriya Prakash-Cooper Pronouns: he/him (cisgender omnisexual man)

Nicknames: Spider (usual nickname), bandar (from his mom, slang term meaning "monkey" or a mischievous child) Pet Names: ??? (how do you have pet names when nobody's allowed to speak?)

Relevant Tags: #oc spider, #souriya prakash-cooper

Birthday: June 20th, 1994 Age in Chapter One: 25 (about to be 26)

Universe/Fandom: A Quiet Place, specifically Day One

Physical Traits: 6'1", with the build of a speed climber (athletic, wiry but with muscle in his shoulders, quads, and especially forearms). He has particularly large hands and a long wingspan, traits that aided his success in climbing. Of Lao, Indian, and Black American descent, he has an oval-shaped face with heavily-lidded black eyes, a wide flat nose, thick but expressive eyebrows, and a crooked smile with moderately full lips. His hair is naturally a very dark brown and between a 3B and 3C hair type, though he frequently dyes it a bright cardinal-red. It is styled as an undercut, with the top reaching down to his shoulders, though he ties it into a bun or a tight braid when he climbs. He has earlobe piercings in both ears, along with an industrial in his right ear and a septum ring in his nose.

Character Traits: Highly observant and detail-oriented, good at pattern recognition, but also a confident social butterfly who thrives around others. He's charismatic and funny, if a little eccentric, and has no problem making himself look the fool for the sake of a laugh (or for his job). He's a problem-solver by nature and good at thinking outside-the-box, though tends to struggle when said problems fall outside his skill set.

Relationships: - Family: Adhira Nanette Prakash (mother), Darius Cooper (father), Devi and Manichan "Minnie" Prakash-Cooper (sisters) - Friends: A thriving network of friends within the film business pre-apocalypse, roommates Newt and Ginger, climbing buddies "Ghost" (Jaxon), "Dart" (Sophie), and "Sparky" (DJ); post-apocalypse finds allies in Sam, Eric, Marcus (OC), and Amina (OC) - Romantic Partner: Unsure (probably Eric but I haven't sorted out the details yet-)

Additional Information: - Was born in Seattle, but moved to Los Angeles as an adult to pursue a career in foley effects - At the time of AQP:DO, he was in New York for a television project - Also was a semiprofessional speed climber, and very briefly held a world record for a 15-meter prepared climb - Regularly carries around a handheld tape recorder, and uses it to record any interesting sounds he comes across - He also tries not to tape over sounds he's already recorded (unless he absolutely has to), and has whole crates of tapes collected and labelled in his home - He understands sound extremely well and is capable of moving near-silently when he tries - a combination of his impressive body control from climbing and his innate knowledge of sound from his foley career - Has recorded the sound of the Death Angels' echolocation-clicks and uses the sound to temporarily distract them when he needs a quick escape - ^ as a whole, he chooses to imitate the creatures' noises and movements rather than attempting to remain completely silent, which is a terrifying but often effective strategy - He is a sensation-seeker and often tries to experience as many different events as he can (demolition derbies, skydiving, rage rooms, live sports and concerts, etc.) - both to collect interesting sounds and simply to enjoy the experience - His nickname, Spider, was originally given to him at his climbing gym (for his long limbs and fast, eclectic climbing style), but he later began using it in his personal life as well - ^ However, he always had himself professionally credited by his full, given name, as a credit to his parents and a refusal to Anglicanize himself for film credits - First gained his interest in foley from Bollywood films and sci-fi/horror movies, since the sound design was intriguing to him

[olderthannetfic]

Hi, I’m the rare case of a person who actually *does* bruise as easily as a stereotypical erotica Delicate Flower. It’s because of a blood condition, and doesn’t happen as significantly if I’m faithful about taking my meds.

Practically, this means that while I like rough sex, I have a firm rule against any biting/sucking/clawing/etc. in areas above the waist that a t-shirt doesn’t cover. Some markings will linger for *weeks*.

If you’re writing a character who bruises/marks up as easily as I do in fic and they also need to present semiprofessionally, they may enjoy breast/nipple suction/biting instead of neck biting. I also get a lot of mileage out of the armpit/bicep region. Armpits have a lot of nerve endings!

--

Armpits are so neglected.

[saa-na]

you take your photographer friends for granted until you don't have one when you need to get a semiprofessional headshot taken