pockymun

[pockymun]

I was today years old. That is disgusting.

No Child Left Behind is one of the worst things to ever be incentivized in schools. It was signed into law when I was 14. Reading Rainbow was my show as a kid. LeVar Burton played a big part in why I became an avid reader to date. The joy of it. It's an adventure around the globe and through different time periods without stepping on a plane or time machine.

Children parrot behavior. In grade school, I always wanted to read the same amount of books as my teachers (50 books) and managed to double that each year. Before No Child Left Behind, book fairs and Scholastic catalogs were a serious matter like your grandma's Fingerhut catalogs. Libraries were (and still are) a wonderland.

Reading comprehension and proficiency in schools has been declining for decades. A crisis. The joy of books isn't pushed anymore and I'm always saddened by it. It's one of the reasons why I post my book reviews and recommendations on here, as well as posts from others to encourage reading and (novel) writing. Kids will parrot your behavior while the education system sadly fails to return as that example.

[pockymun]

Same applies for fan favorite characters. While others portray them as Perfect and Hot, I mock and make fun of them mercilessly.

Knock them down a few pegs from the lofty pedestal they're on.

[pockymun]

if you c*nsor anything in a post you are l*gally required to put all of the omitted v*wels at the end as a footn*te

*eeoo

[pockymun]

Summer Fanfic Reading Challenge, where you read a whole bunch of fanfic and get badges or clout or whatever. There would be a list to fill out with fics read, and links would need to be provided.

But to get credit, you have to leave a comment on the fic so there's proof and a timestamp that you read it. For multi-chapter fics, you only get credit for one comment.

I'm not going to do this myself, but I put it out there for someone to do.

Reminder that Summer Reading Programs begin at participating libraries.

[pockymun]

2025 Garden by the Month

I just wanted some overall comparison pictures of the garden through the season.

May

June

[pockymun]

Reminder that Summer Reading Programs begin at participating libraries.

[pockymun]

It will be three years in August that I began working on an original work. I've only just started to plot this year. The last two years have been nothing but worldbuilding, and now that is incredibly boring. I am two thirds done with worldbuilding, and that last third is dragging. Hopefully I can actually start writing before next year, and before I get bored of the whole thing.

[pockymun]

religious killer: i can hear God speaking to me, to kill the demons that live in this world with my gun of justice

atheist killer: I kill only because of my own moral code. Whether it's for money so I can survive, or self-defense against a threat, I am the one who chooses when I kill.

agnostic killer: nobody really knows why I shoot people

[pockymun]

Honestly, Harlow is not my preferred type of character to write (which is why I never have any ambition to write her story). I like her as the big country bumpkin with an attitude that doubles as a helpless lesbian, but it's not what I'm into writing.

I need my Mad Woman in the Attic. Truth Coming Out of Her Well. The Woman in White. Boudicca.

I miss writing an unreliable narrator with delusional thinking.

[pockymun]

Unreliable narrators are one hell of an idea. You can just write whatever, and if a reader points out "hey the way this scene happened should not be physically possible if it's done the way this character described it", you can just be like "yeah I don't trust that fucker either."

[pockymun]

[pockymun]

I really wish fandom would distinguish more between found family and … y’know, having friends.

[pockymun]

[pockymun]

[pockymun]

Harlow plays with the power window so much that it has to be locked on her side of the truck.

"Why are you on a first-name basis with the sheriff?" "...It's a small town."

She argues about directions.

She finds a Big stray dog and brings it along even when she's told No Dogs.

When left alone in a hotel room for a couple days, she orders the adult channel on the TV.

She also causes damages to said hotel room with the Big stray dog.

"Can we pull over? I have to pee." "Why didn't you go to the bathroom at the rest stop ten minutes ago?" "I didn't have to go then!"

Harlow isn't allowed to drive often. Too many side trips.

"We shouldn't restore the monarchy. We should kick out the aristocracy altogether and elect actual representatives from the people every couple years to govern us as a fully democratic government. That way, no one stays in power for too long and the people have the real power because the representatives have to appeal to them in order to get elected." "For the last time, that doesn't make any sense! That's not how government works. Just go to sleep already!"

Harlow and Cid get up to mischief if left alone together for too long. He's a lot like her grandfather, with the tinkering and all, but more fun because he blows up more stuff. Cid is her favorite.

"If I'm your only child, that means I'm your favorite, right?" "Not even close."

In the sequel to Reluctant Crownsguard, Harlow goes on a road trip and she is exactly the person you would never want to go on a road trip with.

She is that kid that the kidnappers would return because she's annoying.