sweatersadkitty

[sweatersadkitty]

[sweatersadkitty]

I am not a hardcore kpop stan by any means but that one song from K-Pop Demon Hunters? "Your Idol"?

It lowkey reminded me of some dialovers content...so uh...putting THAT out of there

[sweatersadkitty]

I just discovered foodtimeline.org, which is exactly what it sounds like: centuries worth of information about FOOD.  If you are writing something historical and you want a starting point for figuring out what people should be eating, this might be a good place?

[sweatersadkitty]

Out of pure curiosity and fun!

[sweatersadkitty]

been thinking about fantasy/scifi rule systems and free will

[sweatersadkitty]

My brain at all times:

[sweatersadkitty]

decay sounds more gentle than rot. when something decays, it is gently taken apart in it's comfortable eternal slumber. when something rots, it's violently taken apart with agony. in this essay i will

[sweatersadkitty]

(source)

Unsplash -  photography, illustration, & art

Pixabay - same as unsplash

Pexels - stock photos and videos

Getty Images - photography & illustration

Veceezy - vectors and clipart

Gumroad - photoshop brushes (and more)

StockSnap.io - stock photos

Canva - needs login but has lots of templates

Library of Congress - historical posters and photos

NASA - you guessed it

Creative Commons - all kinds of stuff, homie

Even Adobe has some free images

There are so many ways to make moodboards, bookcovers, and icons without plagiarizing! As artists, authors, and other creatives, we need to be especially careful not to use someone else’s work and pass it off as our own. 

Please add on if you know any more resources for free images <3

[sweatersadkitty]

I WANT SOMEONE TO TAKE THIS SOUL. I CAN'T BEAR TO KEEP IT. I'D GIVE IT JUST TO GIVE. AND ALL I WILL TAKE ARE THE CONSEQUENCES. WILL SOMEBODY TAKE THIS SOUL? then, of course, nothing replied, nothing speaks to you in the night. and i walked my way home, there was no one in sight. save a bird, watching me. so i stopped and let it watch until i found it had said, now i'm taken, the night has me. you won't hear me singing. you're a cage without me. your pain is eased but you'll never be free, for now i'm taken, the night has me.

[sweatersadkitty]

Reading Twilight by S. Meyer: Chapter One

Today, (20-Nov-2023), I read Twilight's Preface and Chapter One: First Sight.

First impression: huh, this is...not what I was expecting.

I am vaguely aware of the events of the first movie, but my recollections of the movie itself are so far off that I may as well be experiencing this from nothing.

The book actually starts off with a quote from Genesis 2:17. And, I cannot believe this, it caused me to pull out my old Catholic school bible. So, really, strap on in for this weird ride.

The version cited by the book goes as follows:

"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

The version of the Bible I'll be citing goes as follows:

"[--] except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die."

Ok, so, you might be asking "kitty, why are you voluntarily retraumatizing yourself for this?" Well, I'll tell you why.

Citing biblical sources without their full context is all the rage nowadays, but I've always found it annoying how certain citations are left without their full context. At least tell us how the sentence started, y'know? So, let's add to that, shall we?

Genesis 2:16-17 goes as follows:

"The Lord God gave man this order: 'You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.'"

Already, this some heavy stuff. I'm writing this with no idea of how to put it into words. Let's move on...for now.

PREFACE

Ok, so. Book starts off. Things of note:

First person perspective. Okay, Y/N.

Whoever this person is, they're young. Young and healthy enough to have never thought about dying, at least.

They are dying in the place of someone else (who they love)

Name dropped location: Forks.

"When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end."

Ok. Okay? Okay. Right off the bat, there's a lot going on, especially in terms of language. For someone who is going to die, they don't seem to regret what is to come. There's also something fascinating about the language used. Whoever this hunter is, he is pleasant and friendly and he saunters.

This is not the perspective of someone who is, let's say, ok. Especially if they haven't thought about death despite having had reason enough to do so.

FIRST SIGHT

Chapter one!!!!!! What do we learn

Our narrator is one Isabella "Bella" Swan. She is moving to Forks, Washington State.

Bella hates Forks

Bella thinks her mother is "hare-brained" and cannot fend for herself. Adittionally, Bella is around 16 to 17 years old (summers in Forks till she was 14, three summers in California, you get the gist)

Bella has sacrificed herself by going to Forks and spending time with her dad, Charlie, who she does not perceive as a father figure.

Bella has scarce funds. We know this because her house in Phoenix was in a lower-income neighborhood, she didn't have the money to buy more winter clothes and buying a car, while not impossible, was not expected.

Bella is alive. She's witty and sarcastic and she lies. She's unhappy, but she's alive.

That being said, Bella has the thoughts of a pessimistic 17 year old...so that's something.

Bella does not seem to care about the goings on of her fellow classmates. Except for the Cullens.

This is a very rundown occurance of the first chapter. Bella's thoughts genuinely surprised me. Sure, my first impression of her is that she's a victim-complex judgemental teenager who describes herself as essentially "pretty but only when the colors around me say so". But she isn't boring, like I thought she would be.

There is life to Bella Swan. And there's something awfully tragic about her. The world of Forks is muted and she describes everyone with clear distaste but then the Cullens appear. Bella sees temptation and beauty and inhumanity and almost instantly she yearns.

Now, Bella does not yearn vocally. She does not sing her "I want" song for the reader, but actions speak louder than words. Bella asks and asks about the Cullens to her classmates, the most she's interacted with them from this chapter. She sits next to Edward Cullen in Biology and, upon learning he wants to move seats, has to hold back tears.

The reason I mention Bella as a tragic figure is that, despite her views being biased, she reminds me of teenage hypocrisy. She wants to be accepted, but she's perceiving hostility from those that want to get to know her (Charlie, Jessica, Angela, Mike, Eric, etc.). She's pretty, but not pretty enough. She finds it impossible that a stranger could take a sudden, intense dislike towards her and she's validated when others think her strawberry shampoo smells nice.

I think Bella is fascinating. And I'm beginning to see why Meyer cited Genesis at the start of the book.

References:

New American Bible. (1970) The New American Bible. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/_P4.HTM

[sweatersadkitty]

Reading Twilight by S. Meyer: Introduction and Context

Hi, this is a long winded pre-amble to my reaction/analysis to Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

My name is [REDACTED]. You can call me Kitty. I'm currently feeling incredibly impulsive and also incredibly sad. Instead of feeding the economy by impulse shopping or doing something harmful to myself, I decided to read Twilight for the first time.

TL;DR of this post: local person reads twilight. wants to practice their analytical skills. also, they've only interacted with twilight through second hand content, so this'll surely be unbiased (sarcasm)

Disclaimer: I don't really feel like supporting middle-aged mormon women's vampire fantasies so I did not buy this book! Moreover, I do not feel comfortable inspiring people to buy this book. Twilight was released over a decade ago: either get it second hand or don't get it at all or sail the ocean like a pirate, idc.

Yes, you read that right. I am, riding the tail of the Twilight Renaissance wagon, analyzing Twilight. Quite original, I know.

Now, don't laugh at me, but I was one of those kids in school. Y'know the ones. "Still a better love story than Twilight" kiddos who had never even touched the piece of media aside from reviews calling it a failure. I was, once upon a time, part of the Twilight hate mob.

Then, I, well, grew up? Stopped reading, stopped writing, got depressed, y'know, the human experience. Twilight faded from my consciousness because, well, I was too busy doing [REDACTED] to care.

Then, wham! Bam! COVID-19, Twilight Rebirth, Midnight Sun and a swarm of Twilight content in my feed. I perused Twilight the same way most people did: I watched the first movie, stopped midway through the second and read Twilight hot takes in the Year of Our Lord 2022.

I was the casual observer, absorbing and regurgitating the takes without ever interacting with the media. In some ways, I hadn't changed from before.

But today, on a rainy, wet, cold-by-PR standards day, I decided to read the first Twilight book. Lord help us all.

additional disclaimer: I am in no way, shape or form a trained media analyst or critic. I am barely a writer as is. My thoughts are my own and, whenever I reference someone else, I will do my best to credit them as is due.

[sweatersadkitty]

This is why I read the reddit comments

[sweatersadkitty]

your poor little meow meow fucking bit me

[sweatersadkitty]

Hey kids here's a piece of actual for real experienced adult advice: don't make songs you like your alarm. Ever. You're gonna Pavlov yourself into hating it or sleep through it and have weird dreams. Don't do that to yourself. Seriously.

[sweatersadkitty]

I have Not Yet played Baldur's Gate 3, but I did create a character for the game already cause I can :)

Her name is Myriam and she's a forest gnome sorcerer. I have a rough outline of what I want her to look like, but since I haven't Seen the full character creator, I don't have anything put down.

I'm really excited for BG3, as I hope it'll help me flesh out different character archetypes and study character motivations alongside consistency.

I'm also just really fukin hype.

Additional thoughts under the cut:

IDK how to feel about the lack of sources regarding gnome characters in BG3???? Like, it was difficult to picture BG3 world's views on gnomes (without getting spoiled lol) and how this impacts/would have impacted Myriam.

I'm also not sure who she'd fall for, given the circumstances. Astarion (ie Tumblr's favorite twinky vampire) has issues with gnomes, and Myriam wouldn't feel right with him. I was thinking anyone other than Astarion would be cool tho (I'm thinking of romancing one of the female characters...but I'll see based on approval or disapproval rates in game)

ALSO this might seem kinda dumb but I'm stuck regarding what sorcery class Myriam should use. I want storm sorcery, but dnd sources say its kinda lame???? I also haven't seen much regarding gnome sorcerers, so its a tough call to make. (I'm also stuck regarding what background she should have, but that's just me having difficulty narrowing down stuff in general :P)

[sweatersadkitty]

I might've added the BG3 Art Book to my dnd assets stash

It's got stuff like the 5e players' handbook + 5e’s character sheet, the dm's guide, critical role's explorer's guide to wildmount, baldur's gate and waterdeep city encounters, 101 potions and their effects, volo's guide to monsters, both of Xanathar's guides, a bunch of other encounters, one shots, class builds, and other fun stuff!!

[sweatersadkitty]

i made a nanowrimo account, but i don't think i'll be able to participate this year, as it's uni cram month :)

Good Luck to everyone participating this year!!!!! Wish y'all success and no writer's block!!!!