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derived-centrosaur · 1 month ago

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Arrhinoceratops brachyops

(Re-upload because I forgot to sign it)

This is the first of a series of paintings I plan to do on the fauna of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation.

This image took me quite a while. There was a lot of digging and cross-referencing and swapping taxa. Originally I was inspired by a small farm pond near where I live, the pond scum, dead leaves, and dark branches looked like a good setting to plop a dinosaur into.

But which one? My go-to is always a ceratopsid because they're my favorites, and I'd been wanting to do some Horseshoe Canyon stuff for a while. So, the initial candidates were Pachyrhinosaurus (because it's my favorite) and Anchiceratops (because of the body fossil, more later). I decided against Pachyrhinosaurus as it's known from at least 3 separate monodominant bonebeds, one for each species within the genus, and at least 2 of those are floodwater accumulations. So, to me I think Pachyrhinosaurus + water would equal a wildebeest crossing the Mara composition, rather than a moose in a lake situation.

So I began on an Anchiceratops in the water.

But I couldn't leave well enough alone, I knew a little about the odd body fossil assigned to Anchiceratops and it's potential implications from an old TetZoo post (on TetZoo v2, which now no longer works properly so no images). So I went to digging and found that particular fossil got a proper description by Mallon and Holmes in the New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs book.

Side-note: This specimen is referred to in older works under the accession number NMC 8538 but in Mallon & Holmes (2010) it is referred to as CMN 8547. My best guess is that the designations got changed when the National Museum of Canada restructured itself into the Canadian Museum of Nature. I spent an entire day trying to find Lull's 1933 overview only for it to get a passing mention under the old number, but with a photo to confirm it was the same thing

Regardless, this fossil is a complete skeleton from the first to last vertebra, including every rib and every toe and every finger save for 2 hooves on the left hand. Unfortunately the skull is almost completely gone, only 4 fragments of the frill remain and they're barely enough to show it must've been a chasmosaurine. So, why was this touted as Anchiceratops for almost 100 years? In their description the authors make a compelling argument that Sternberg assigned it to Anchiceratops by default as he was likely unaware of any other ceratopsids from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Edmonton Formation at the time).

This body fossil is odd amongst ceratopsids for a couple reasons. normally ceratopsids are very conservative in their postcranial morphology, with the only notable differences manifesting as slight familial differences between centrosaurines and chasmosaurines, and differences due to different absolute sizes. CMN 8547 conversely has a few trait that ordinarily could be diagnostic, but without sufficient overlapping material (the head) it can't be directly compared to any of the chasmosaurines within the Horseshoe Canyon Formation. These include 2 extra sacral vertebrae, 1 extra dorsal vertebra, and 1 extra cervical vertebra. That extra cervical is particularly interesting because it's part of the syncervical, a uniquely ceratopsid structure composed of the first 3 (in this case 4) neck vertebrae fused together to hold the weight of their massive heads. The ribs are very thick for its size and additionally the olecranon process of the ulna is large and the deltopectoral crest of the humerus is HUGE. Taken together these traits have been interpreted as possible indicators of semi-aquatic habits; a Mesozoic hippo!

But who is it!? I'm painting a very specific body fossil, standing in the water where it's less than visible, and it's a ceratopsid. It needs a head! Another specimen is mentioned in the Discussion section of the description that preserves a skull and left forelimb, ROM 1493. This specimen, they report, had been previously assigned to Arrhinoceratops and later to Torosaurus. Torosaurus? that's an odd dinosaur to show up at this time and place, so I checked their citation on that; Farke (2007) in a different book on my shelf! There is no ROM 1493 mentioned, but ROM 1439 is! It's only mentioned in passing, basically stating that 'a thin frill is not enough to diagnose fragmentary fossils.' The mention is not suggesting this mystery overlapping specimen is actually Torosaurus. So I checked the Arrhinoceratops citation, Tyson (1981), which was also mentioned within the Torosaurus paper. In that paper this second Arrhinoceratops specimen is mentioned right near the beginning and is labelled as ROM 1439. So Mallon and Holmes made a typo. Further, Tyson states that at the time of her study ROM 1439 is both not fully prepared and its location unknown.

I done a Hail Mary and google searched ROM 1439. Lo, and behold! that specimen was both found and prepped, and then described in 2014! It has a badly crushed skull, partial neck and most of the left arm. Of the overlap with CMN 8547 the two important elements are the syncervical and the humerus (the ulna is not preserved in ROM 1439). The humerus does have the huge deltopectoral crest, but what is left of the syncervical is composed of only 3 vertebrae. Still not helpful.

I'd gone about as far as the fossils could take me, it was time to make a judgement call. I reckoned that the large deltopectoral crest was a unique defining trait that I could use to justify the pairing. The syncervical mis-match could be due to the poor state of preservation of ROM 1439, so maybe. This leaves Arrhinoceratops as a very tenuous identification for the body fossil, and while this is a super shaky referral, it's better than Anchiceratops which from what I could find has no known postcranial material; several skulls, but no bodies. Therefore, I continued on with my painting!

Below is my master process file from after my taxonomic super sleuthing spree.

I got a little wrapped up in the dinosaur and lost the focus on the environment I originally started with, but I do like how it turned out.

More Horseshoe Canyon to come!

References:

The body fossil CMN 8547:

Mallon, J. C., Holmes, R. (2010) Description of a Complete and Fully Articulated Chasmosaurine Postcranium Previously Assigned to Anchiceratops (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) in M. J. Ryan, B. J. Chinnery-Allgeier, & D. A. Eberth (eds.) New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium, pg. 189-202. Bloomington; Indiana University Press

The Torosaurus 'identification"

Farke, A. A. (2007) Cranial Osteology and Phylogenetic Relationships of the Chasmosaurine Ceratopsid Torosaurus latus. in K. Carpenter (ed) Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs, pg. 235-257. Bloomington: Indiana University Press

The Arrhinoceratops mention

Tyson, H. (1981) The Structure and Relationships of the Horned Dinosaur Arrhinoceratops parks (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae). Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 18: pg. 1241-1247

The Arrhinoceratops second specimen

Mallon, J. C. et. al. (2014) New Information on the rare Horned Dinosaur Arrhinoceratops brachyops (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 51: pg. 618-634

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wishing-on-a-staranise · 1 year ago

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pt. 1: Manic pixie dream girl

(s.h. x desi!fem!reader)

warning/tags: use of (y/n), she/her pronouns used, based in 2010s, mention of cheating, bad parents, arguments, alcohol, mention of homophobia, toilet jokes (literally. i apologize), everybody is atleast a lil bicurious (except robin ofc)

a/n: and it starts!! i know i rreally kept yall waiting on this one and i probs will continue to do so (oops) im just out here trying to teach yall about delayed gratification lol soz

this fic went in crack fic territory for a bit of this chapter (yes the toilet museum is an actual place) i swear i don't know why my fics end up having potty humour sometimes I'm sorry

word count: 6.3k

series masterlist

masterlist

…

[Challa]

The last time Steve Harrington went on a vacation was with his parents when he was thirteen.

When he turned fourteen, his dad told him to focus more on school and sports and stopped bringing him around.

And sure, maybe it was also because during that past vacation, Stanley Harrington was found with screwing around with his secretary by his wife. Steve didn't remember much of it; he was hiding in the other room when the shouting began. Thankfully the walls muffled most of it.

it was after that vacation, things changed, Steve finally started to see through the cracks in the image his family always put up– the picture-perfect family. The well manufactured family photos hanging throughout his empty house tried their best to hide everything ugly. He started to see how in the photographs, his dad refused to stand closer to his mom, how his mom didn’t smile.

The expression on his father’s face that closely resembles a scowl, as if he was forced to take a picture with a business partner and not his own wife and son. The expensive dress his mom wore along with her makeup done perfectly. The grey bags under both their eyes.

Finally, himself– hair shorter than it is now because his dad always told him a real man never lets it grow past his ears, all slicked down and brushed aside, his expensive suit that made him better dressed than any other thirteen year old in town and his teeth stretched in what his mom called his ‘million dollar smile’.

It was after that vacation, that his mom stopped trusting his dad, and Steve didn't blame her– he stopped trusting him too. from that point on, Steve's mom would always go with his dad for his business trips. He tried not to think about if his dad ever saw that girl again.

Things changed. His mom, who had always loved gardening, hired a guy to take care of the flowers instead. the flowers were never as bright as they were when she used to take care of them. And sure, she had always liked wine, but now, Steve couldn't recall when he didn't see her with a bottle next to her or with the twig of wine glass twisting between her fingers.

Things changed. They are tired now, both of them.

So yeah, he didn't have the fondest memories of vacations.

But when his two best friends, Robin Buckley, and Eddie Munson suggested a trip before the latter leaves for a band tour he had managed to land, Robin gets into her new college and he himself gets ready for his dad's work– Steve just couldn't say no.

Currently they were in a random shop of the airport. Steve's legs are stiff from the long flight, same with his neck. if it was socially acceptable to lie like a puddle between the aisles of a store in an airport, he would do it.

“Robs, how long is this going to take?” Steve asks.

she ignores them as she cards through travel brochures and books, her back to the two boys. Steve adjusts his hold on the heavy basket, the thing filled to the brim with random snacks and some alcohol because the in-flight meal really was not it, plastic of the handle digging into his palm.

“Just pick one and let's check out already.”

“No.”

Steve once again readjusts his hold on the basket, hoping that the robin's crankiness is because of the long flight and not because she is still mad at him, “why?”

“Because someone has to plan where we are going to go. And neither of you two are too keen on it–”

"Don't drag me into this Buckley-" Robin shoots eddie a stern glare before he could even finish his sentence. He clears his throat before excusing himself from the aisle. The wheels of the suitcase he carried squeak behind him as they roll over the clean tiles of the airport.

Steve sighs– yep, she was still mad at him, “Robs..”, he trails off, hoping she spares him a glance. when she doesn't and instead continues to flip through the glossy pages of the thin book, he speaks up, “Hey, Robin.”

He hears her sigh. “Here", She tosses the books in the basket he had been holding and makes a beeline towards the cashier without sparing him a single look, "let’s just go.”

…

[Ek akela is sheher mein]

The sky is in this inbetween of day and evening with grey clouds above them while they load their luggage into the cab.

Eddie sits upfront, his frizzy hair now in a bun. Steve sits in the back with Robin, hoping to strike up conversation with her but the pair of headphones over her ears don't let him do so. Steve sighs, he can tell that she isn't listening to music, but they make it pretty clear she doesn't want to have a conversation.

The windows are cranked open, they have dried up water streaks– it might have rained not too long ago. The asphalt is glistening, reflecting the yellow streetlamps and the red taillights. The cab driver drives like Eddie– a bit too fast for Steve’s liking. Tires splash murky rainwater into little mesmerizing sprays when bikers drive through the puddles, surely wetting some of the passersby with the dirty water. Steve doesn't think of the dirty laundry those people would have to do though, or the showers those people have to take. Instead, he focuses on the sound the water creates, ringing against the metal of the underside of the car, a satisfying sound.

The cab driver takes so many turns, Steve lost count after the third one. A song plays on the radio, an old song, he can tell by the static and that accompanies the singer, the crackle at the beginning of the song. He doesn't know what the man sings in the song, it is quiet with its percussion, delicate with the strings. Steve catches Eddie absentmindedly tapping his fingers on his knee.

Steve looks over the console, it reads 106.4 FM. They're stuck in traffic when the song fades off. two voices come on, who Steve assumes are the hosts. They talk amongst themselves, joke, laugh, yet they speak with a perfect cadence that makes him think they've done it for ages. By the time the traffic gets moving, another song starts playing, this one more chipper than the last one.

The driver weaves through the crowd, making sure to use his horn more than is necessary. when he turns into a lane, Its a tight fit, the car and the road, yet somehow, he manages to maneuver the vehicle around the lamp post and random wrongly parked bikes.

The entire time they are checking into the hotel, Robin stands separately, flipping through the magazines near the sofa of the waiting area. Steve and Eddie fill in details and she only speaks up when asked for an id card. The staff helps them take their luggage to their rooms. Robin wordlessly goes into her room.

It is when Steve is taking off his shoes, Eddie jests, "what a scene ain't it Harrington?" Looking up, Steve finds the older boy holding the curtains wide open, the window faces a brick wall, despite being promised a good view. Steve doesn't say anything, he breathes out what can only be described as a half-hearted chuckle.

“What do I say to her?" Steve asks, running his hands over his face.

“Don’t ask me,” Eddie shakes his head before hanging his jacket inside the closet, “it's you two who have the whole platonic soulmate shit going on, I'm just a third wheel over here”, he mumbles rather dryly, heading towards the bathroom, the door closing behind him.

...

Robin's room was right in front of theirs-- room 105. Steve knocks on the wood. The door swings open after a few seconds, and there is Robin in comfier clothes, makeup taken off and a deep furrow between her brows, “hey.”

“You plan on being mad at me for all of this vacation?”

“...No, but you make it really easy”, she rolls her eyes opening the door a bit more so he could come in.

“Yeah… I’m sorry”, he apologises with a small grin as he slips in.

“I know dingus”, she chuckles a little, closing the door.

he looks around the room, “Dude, this room is so much better”, this was definitely more spacious than the one he and Eddie were in, “Or maybe that’s ‘cause mine has Eddie in it.”

She holds up the bottle of vodka they had picked up at the store earlier, “don't mind if I do”, Steve makes grabby hands at the bottle, grinning when she passes it to him. He twists open the cap and pours it into the glasses she holds up that already had some water in them.

the corners of her lips curl up as well, “mine has somewhat of a balcony too”, she tells him, handing him his glass.

“dude, what?”, his eyes widen. and when he walks over, pulling the curtains aside he is met with the glimmering city skyline, “our window faces a brick wall”

she laughs before sliding the glass door open. stepping forward, the balcony is small– the railing a mere two steps past the threshold of the sliding glass door. Robin leans, her elbows resting on the cool metal railing and Steve wipes away some of the rain droplets with his palm before following suit.

Despite it being around 9 pm, looking at the skyline it seems the city of Delhi never sleeps. there's a faint buzz of upbeat music playing somewhere close– there must be a club nearby. or a wedding.

“We should go clubbing tomorrow”, Robin suggests, raising her glass up in the air towards him.

he hums while raising his own. glasses clink, “sure thing, partner” he says before he downs the entire thing, face scrunching at the burning taste on his tongue.

Robin sips some of her own, her gaze moving down to the road below. There is a litter of puppies chasing each other around the empty street, the warm yellow light of the lamp post filtering over them. an older dog sits by the street light, watching over them. it's quieter than what the rest of the town seems like, hushed, calmer than the rush they had met on their way here.

Steve frowns at his already empty glass and goes back in the room to retrieve the bottle, pouring himself some more on the way back to the balcony, “shouldn't we offer some to Eddie?--”

“we need to talk”, she interrupts him.

they both pause as he gulps a bit of his drink before saying, "well, we are aren't we?"

"no, like talk-talk"

“ok”, he nods once before his brows meet in confusion, “about..?”

"you said it yourself, I can't be mad at you the entire time we're here."

“Robs, it's okay–”

“I think it's pretty obvious I don't like you going for that job.”

“mhm, yeah, you've communicated that well enough.”

"exactly! and you still can't get it through your thick skull"

"what exactly?"

“you don't want that job steve! I know you. you don't like that kind of job and I don't want you to do this thing just because your dad is pushing you to do it”, her grip on her glass tightens, “it's-- it's stupid. thats a stupid thing to do.”

“it's not stupid Robin–”

“i want you to do a job that makes you happy, finance doesn't make you happy”

“believe it or not robs, working at scoops also didn't make me all that happy, working with my best friend did. and you'll be moving out to chicago”

"if I get in", steve takes offence to how quickly she shuts down that possibility.

"you will. I know you don't believe it Robs, but you'll get that college you wanted and then you'll move out. and Eddie is doing all these gigs, trust me", he turns to her, silently begging for her to look him in his eyes, "me going for this job is the best option, Robin." When her eyes stay trained on the street below, he sighs before looking back up at the sky-- no stars in sight. "and you're right, it's not a job I want. but I do need it. and if my asshole dad is still willing to help my sorry ass then I should seize it right?"

he glances back at her, he doesn't get a response from her, yet Steve looks at her with furrowed brows, begging for her to agree.

two of the puppies wrestle amongst themselves, it's all high pitched barks and rolling around, dirtying their fur in the process.

its quiet for a while, he sips his remaining drink. for a while its just that ambiance, the muffled city noise, dogs barking, the hum of air conditioners.

"dude, you're going to become a finance bro", Steve finally hears her say, "then I'll be best friends with a finance bro, ew", she scrunches her face the way he knows it's mostly playful, a laugh falling from her lips by the end of the sentence.

I want you to do a job that makes you happy.

I want you happy.

he laughs too, breathy. he readjusts his grip on his glass, leaning against the rails next to her. “I'm gonna save up, robs”, he promises looking her right in the eyes-- its hard to see the blue in them in this dark, “and if everything works out we can just get an apartment in Chicago then we can be roommates?”

she looks back at him, brows shooting up, “...you promise?”

“pinky.”

she gulps before taking another sip from the glass in her hand, “I don't wanna lose more people steve”, she says, her thumb wiping the condensation on the glass in her hand, and he can tell she's trying her darndest to not let her voice crack.

her parents hadn't taken kindly to her coming out. she hadn't even meant to come out. Vickie's ex boyfriend had outed both of them to their parents– it had been a mess.

whenever she'd tried to call her parents, as soon as they'd realise that it was her, the line would cut off. Once they recognised that she'd always call from either Steve's or Nancy's, they stopped picking up altogether.

it's been months.

“you won't ever lose me Robs”, he immediately says because there is no doubt in it, meaning it more than anything else.

She leans her head on his shoulder, letting in a deep breath, and somehow Steve just knows it means ‘I love you, dingus’

He wraps an arm around her, squeezing her shoulder ‘love you too birdie’.

Silence takes over, but it isn't all that much quiet, the puppies bark, their feet splashing against the little puddle they are playing around now. The two who had been fighting are licking each other. The faint music is still present, cars still honking away in the heart of the city– people honk a lot here. It's all faint but there.

“So", he takes in a deep breath, "you plan where we're going yet?”

Robin takes her head off his shoulder before clearing her throat, “yeah, a bit–", she takes a sip of the forgotten drink in her hold, "there's just so much– there's too much honestly. maybe we get a guide but like those are expensive aren't they? I don't know, maybe they aren't–"

"Robs slow down"

"Okay, okay uh... I have a couple places down", she walks back into the room, picks up the book she had gotten earlier and hands it to him. Flipping through the glossy pages, Steve sees a few monuments and tourist attractions are marked by a pen, Steve is sure he can't pronounce most of these names.

“Oh, did you know they have a toilet museum here?” Robin speaks up after some time.

“wh–”

“before you say it, yes I'm being serious, they have a toilet museum, and were going there”

“seriously? they have historical buildings, monuments, tombs and shit and you wanna see a toilet museum?”

"we'll go to those places too but I also wanna see a toilet museum"

"why?"

"so I can find a place for you and Eddie to live."

“thanks", he deadpans.

They discuss and talk through their plans for the next day. its after midnight when Steve says his goodnight, the bottle of remaining vodka in his hand. for Eddie of course.

“Night Steve, kiss Eddie goodnight for me!”

“shut up.”

….

Despite having zero concrete plans, Steve, Robin and Eddie were definitely behind on their schedule. Sleeping in too late made them miss their free complementary breakfast that the hotel offered.

Steve was so hungry that he would eat Eddie if it was morally and ethically an okay thing to do.

They instead had to order the hotel food which took way too goddamn long to come. Thankfully, when they were done, the hotel manager offered them a guide and a cab to show them around.

The guide was fluent in english, talking about the history of the places he took them. Qutb minar, Jama Masjid, Swaminarayan Akshardham, Humayun's tomb, india gate, lotus temple, All historical places and important monuments. And as beautiful as they were, all the information sort of muddled together for Steve. although incredibly knowledgeable, the guide was going a bit too fast for him.

when the tour for the day was nearing an end, Robin bought up the toilet museum. If the man wasn't getting paid such a good amount, he wouldn’t have bothered to even hide his judgement like he did.

...

“That one looks like a confession booth”, Eddie points to the wooden seat that looked to be from the olden times, and much to his credit, the description was in fact apt.

“That one just looks like a bird-bath!” Robin points to the one in question and once again the description was accurate.

“This one is just a glorified flower pot.”

“Is it really glorified though?”

“Do you think… they'll let us sit on it? I wanna sit on the confession booth one”

“.. I dont know robin, why dont you ask them.”

“Please, do not touch them”, the guide interrupts them immediately.

“Dude, that one looks like a therapist's chair!” robin skips towards the toilet seat in question, having the time of her life. The other two follow behind. Steve looked around at the multitude of posters hung on the walls– who knew toilets would have such rich history. Along with informative posters, the walls were also covered in comic strips related to poop– toilet humor at its finest, truly.

Steve takes a big gulp from the water bottle Robin had made to hold. just when he is doing so, he feels someone bump into his shoulder, some of the water spilling onto his shirt from the action.

"oh shit, I'm so sorry!" you apologise with wide eyes.

a "sorry" falls from Steve's lips as well even though he didn't do anything.

Your wide eyes morph into a shy smile, “oh shit", you mumble, giggles erupting from your throat before you even know it, "You know ‘cause– uh.. Shit", you try to explain, gesturing around you.

“Oh, yeah, yeah I get it”

“Sorry, by the way”

“Its okay. I wasn't looking”, you smile a little shyly when he shakes his head, “I was just looking at… all this”, he pointing his thumb in the general direction of the wall. You hum through a small laugh "I mean who would even think of a toilet based museum?"

“maybe it's a dig at how the British took everything else so…."

"holy shit, that's an interesting way to look at it"

"yeah, pretty sure it's not true but that's how I choose to look at it"

“I– I’m sorry, I didn't quite catch your name–”

“Hey, Steve!” he stops midway when he hears his name from across the hall, voice belonging to Robin.

“Sorry, I have to go, I've been here for hours,” you start walking past him, glancing at your watch, “Fun meeting you, Steve.”

"Who was that girl?" is the first thing Robin asks when Steve finally walks over to them.

He shrugs, "the hell am I supposed to know?"

"So you talked to her for like half an hour and you don't know?"

"It wasn't that long, Munson."

"it felt that long, especially considering the second hand embarrassment I felt from way over there."

He rolls his eyes, unscrewing his abandoned water bottle and taking a swig from it while walking ahead.

“Hey dingus, quit being sulky.”

“I'm not being sulky”

“Yeah, you are. I mean, what were you expecting Harrington? a meet-cute?”

“no, dude. I was just trying to talk to someone normal”

“I know the urges are there harrington”, Robin starts, making Steve scrunch up his nose at her choice of words, “its been months since the break up– I get it. There's a time and place for everything. This was not it.”

“Oh my god”, Steve mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Give poor Harrington a break Robin”, Eddie’s hand claps the boy's shoulder, speaking with a kind cadence– one too kind for Edward Munson, “maybe he hasn't moved on, didn't he say that she was the one?”

“The one? Doesn't our hopeless romantic say that about every girl? Even me, at one point– if I remember correctly?”

“God, you're never gonna let me live that down are you?”

“No.”

“Okay, stop”, Steve holds up his hands, “I wasn't doing anything. she just bumped into me and… small talk happened, that's it. end of story. and I'm not being sulky or anything. and yes I am very much over the break up, it happened months ago. So can you both stop bringing it up all the time?”

Robin and Eddie share a look, “..sure.”

…

Eddie and Robin had already collected back the room keys, and already left for their respective rooms. Crowning Steve with the responsibility of handling the finances with the tour guide. It is when Steve is paying the guide, the glass door opens. And when Steve glances over, he is met with your face. He can't help the smile that creeps onto his face.

You haven't noticed him yet, instead walking straight towards the counter. "Room 111”, he hears you say while he tries to hand the money to the guide as quickly as possible.

The guide nods, thanking him with a smile. The key clink when the manager puts it on the counter, Steve is there and the words come out of his mouth before he even knows it. “Toilet museum girl?”

Your head snaps towards him, features morphing into what can only be described as disgust. There is a flash of recognition before you say, “uh… what the fuck did you just call me?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just– we just keep running into each other, don't we?”

A smirk comes onto your face, you swipe up the keys from the counter before you start moving towards the elevators, “That we do. Are you stalking me?”

“uh, not intentionally, no", he clarifies, following behind you.

You give him a look, "uh huh."

"I know it looks bad but I swear it's happenstance"

The elevator button lights up beneath your finger when you press it, "Sure", you say in a tone that says you do not believe him at all.

"i swear I'm–"

"I already said ‘sure’", you deadpan, the doors ding open and the both of you step in. He sees the corners of your mouth curl up when you move to press the button for the floor you both were on, Steve couldn't help but smile too.

"yeah but the way you said it... said otherwise"

"what? what way?" your brows pull together, voice with the same sarcastic lilt.

"you're doing it again, toilet girl."

"Here's a deal steve, don't call me anything toilet museum related and I'll stop using that tone."

"deal. but... what should I call you then?", he asks, shoving his hands in his jean pockets– trying to take a confident pose, "I could call you by your name... but you won't tell me"

"have you heard of stranger danger Steve?", You cross your arms, turning towards him, "what if I was a serial killer who only murders in small suffocating elevators?"

The elevator dings again, the door opening on their own accord, "then it's a good thing we're here already!", he says, gesturing for you to step out, "and we aren't really strangers--"

"we are."

"Well, we can change that, can't we?", you stop at your room number. you don't answer, but Steve is sure he heard you hum under the rattle of your keys.

When the lock clicks open, he speaks up, “Hey, uh... what're you doing tonight?”

You turn around, “... uh, Sleep probably”, there’s that tone again.

“No, princess”, he mimics your sarcastic tone but the nickname comes out before he even knows, “before that.”

Your eyes narrow, maybe at the tone, maybe at the nickname, “Nothing, I'll probably rot in bed or something”

“You're alone?”

“Does it matter?” you counter immediately.

“Well we’re going to a club nearby, you can tag along? and if you're with someone you can bring them along too?"

"Why must I? You could be an international axe murderer"

“You think such a handsome, pretty face could ever murder?”

“And what if I say I don't do alcohol?”

“Then you can be our designated driver?”

“Yeah, no”, you sigh, the door knob twisting in your hand.

“Okay, well if you change your mind– it's the club right down the road.”

“Have fun with your friends”, is all you say before disappearing behind the door. And Steve is left behind, staring at the wood, the number 111 mocking him.

God, what the fuck was he thinking?

…

The next morning, they thankfully wake up on time despite being definitely and awfully hungover. So here Steve was, with his messy bed hair and sleep mussed eyes, standing in line for the toaster, with a plate in his hand.

Steve blinks slowly as the queue moves, the air smells like coffee, warm toast, and waffles. He can smell spices too, probably from the dishes which he had never had before or heard the name of. And as much as Steve loves trying out new dishes, a hangover is not a good time to experiment with his taste buds so he thinks he’ll have to chew on toast and wash it down with mediocre coffee this morning.

The line moves forward again, he feels something brush against his back but he chalks it up as an accident and ignores it. He turns when he feels a finger poking into his shoulder and it's you. “Hi”, you smile up at him, you're wearing jeans and a pink embroidered top. Your hair is untied, tucked behind your ears and a little damp.

His free hand immediately flies up to his hair, fingers running through the messy strands to make it look a little more presentable, “uh, hi”, palm smoothes over his wrinkly t-shirt.

“Is.. is that your friend?” you say pointing to Eddie who was standing over at the waffle machine, pouring some honey on his stack.

“Yeah, yeah that's Eddie”

“Oh, makes sense”, you say, met with confusion written on Steve's face, “He kept trying to strike up a conversation. Also his waffles are a little burnt– I wouldn't share if I were you.” Steve laughs at that, fingers still trying to tame his wild mess of hair, “So, I see you had fun at that club last night”

“That obvious?”

“Very.”

"Where are you planning on going today?", you ask.

"not sure, Robin is deciding right now probably"

“Robin..?”

“Oh, she’s over there”, he points to his best-friend who was sitting at an empty table, coffee already in hand, flipping through pages of a book.

"you three really didn't plan any of this huh?"

"no, not really."

…

"so you're telling me you're travelling by car and barely trying any street food. jail. jail time to all of you", you were sitting with Steve and his friends now.

"how the hell were we supposed to know? the guide didn't tell us"

"what was the poor guy supposed to do? you can't see so much in just a couple days"

"but there's just so much", you hear Robin speak up for the first time.

"yeah! and you have to accept that you can't see everything, no matter what you do, you're always going to miss something. so shorten this list of yours. and the things you do see, take your time with them. or you'll forget them."

“Ok bud, then where should we go?”

"well if you want to you can go to the red fort, then chandni chowk and then Hazrat Nizamuddin dargah? Its thursday so it’ll be absolutely packed"

"Okay. Will we find you there?"

"I hope not." you say non-chalantly while sipping your chai.

"maybe– maybe we can all go together?" Steve suggests with raised eyebrows. you make an unconvinced noise at the offer. "Still on the fence about the axe murderer thing?"

"Always."

…

Steve wasnt sure how, but he had managed to convince you to come along with them. He sat infront of you in the auto rikshaw, your hair had dried by the time you reached your first destination.

The tour around red fort ended rather quickly than he had anticipated, before you pulled them all to chandni chowk.

your hair was now tied up, some of the baby strands sticking to the back of your neck. you looked like you felt right at home, skipping from one shop to another. stopping for some delectable street food every now and then.

you were all enjoying a sweet syrupy jalebi when you called for Robin's name, “Do you like wearing earrings?” you ask.

the girl looks at you, a little hesitant when she answers, “Uh.. someti–”

“Here! This one would look great on you”, you say holding up a pair of glimmering silver and blue earrings. "do you like it?"

"I- um, I do", you grin at that.

steve wasn't where the time flew, but they were already headed to your next destination on your list with bags of little things he, Eddie and Robin bought.

...

[kun Faya kun]

It felt weird to be barefoot, you had given all the shoes to a man by a store. Where the four of you stood now, the street looked breathtaking. Small shops, some selling flowers and incense, some selling religious blankets that you had called chaddars, others selling attar, and so on and so forth. The bright greens, reds, blues and oranges of the chaddars illuminated by the warm lights of the shops looked akin to a canopy of swirling colours.

Currently, you were helping Robin put on a scarf you had gotten earlier from a shop in Chandni chowk over her head, just the way that you had. When you were done, you instructed the two boys to cover their heads as well. When you were met with confused looks from the two of them, you clicked your tongue before covering their head with their handkerchief and tying it behind their head.

The man at the store then handed you a few plates with flowers, incense and a few threads, “what are those for?” he asks, pointing at the threads.

“You make a wish with them”, his brows scrunch up together, “come on, I'll explain”, you say, grabbing him by his wrist.

…

“You see these walls? people come from all over, they tie a thread”, you say pointing to a man who was tying the red string into the lattice of the wall. the entire wall had such threads tied to them-- all little prayers and wishes made by someone out there. so many people want something. “and they make a mannat. you tie a thread and make a wish. it's like you're asking for a favour.”

“so I ask for whatever I want?”

“whatever you want", you echoed with a smile before pointing to where a lot of men were by the wall, “you boys do it over there, me and Robin are going there– it's reserved for women".

When Steve is looping the thread through the hole, he does so mindlessly, and only when he is about to tighten the knot does he stop to wonder… what exactly is he wishing for? what the hell does he want?

He looks over at Eddie, who already has his temple leaning against the wall, his eyes closed. Steve wonders what he asked for. he thinks he has a hunch.

Without even thinking, his eyes start searching for robin. he sees you help her tie it before the girl leans her head against the wall too. Steve knows full well what she wants.

And then he sees you, you hesitate while looping the thread. you hesitate when tie the first knot. you hesitate for the second. even from this far away, he could see the hesitation in your eyes before you close them.

He blinks and his gaze snaps back to his own thread, the knot still not tightened. His fingers move on their own when he ties the first one.

what does he want?

He twists the red thread, looping the long end through the loop.

what does he want?

And when he ties the last knot, it echoes in his brain, “what do I want?”

…

The group of men sing at the top of their lungs– their voices carrying experience, a roughness that only years of singing can bring. Eddie explains to Steve that the instrument the man was playing was called a harmonium and a dholak.

“how do you know that?”

“I know a lot, Harrington”, he chuckles when he says it.

Steve glances to where you and Robin are sitting among the other women. and despite being surrounded by such a huge crowd, he can tell Robin is calm which he is glad of. He sees you; you're looking at Robin with an expression he can't quite read, and when she glances your way, you quickly flash her a smile before reverting your eyes back to the singing men.

Its awkward, he can tell that much from afar. He thinks Robin is a little nervous around you, maybe finds you attractive with how little she makes eye contact with you, and how everytime you had said anything to her, it was answered in merely a couple words. He can't make sense of your behaviour though, or the way you look at her a little forlorn. he thinks maybe you're hurt by how unwilling Robin might seem to talk to you despite your constant attempts.

[Aaj jaane ki zid na karo]

You all had come back to the hotel an hour or two ago. As soon as you all had arrived, you had left for your room, something about a call you had to make. And now after taking a bit of a rest, they were getting ready to spend whats left of the night at the club they went to last night.

Steve had his fingers crossed, planning on inviting you with them, hoping to god that you agree because he had fun. a lot more than he would like to admit to you or even his friends.

They're all in Steve's and Eddie's room. Robin all ready, sitting on the edge of his bed. Eddie is tying his shoes, his hair already up, his favourite rings on his digits.

Steve himself was trying to get his hair right, despite how much he had styled his thick strands at the start of the day, they were a little flattened now after the day. after he put some pomade on and his hair was just the way he wanted it, he sprayed on his cologne. just when he was contemplating whether to take his ray-bans with him or not, there was a knock on the door.

Eddie who had been putting on his jacket, was the closest to the door. when he clicked open the door, he was met with your face.

"Hi", you say with a smile before noticing that they're all getting ready to go somewhere. "what're you guys getting dolled up for?"

"We were just going to the club nearby--"

"d'you wanna come with?" Steve offers immediately, walking closer.

"um.. I– I can't..", you mumble apologetically, fingers fidgeting, “I just came here because I wanted to say that I had a lot of fun. And uh, all that.”

"So did we”, Eddie says.

"I just wanted to meet you guys before… leaving"

Steve’s face falls a little, “What do you mean?”

“I'm heading out around 2 am. I have a flight at 4. I'm going south after this."

“Oh.”

Its silent. Nobody says anything, what could they say anyway, you were still technically a stranger– they didnt even know your name yet. You hid your hands behind yourself, perhaps picking at your cuticles. Your eyes flitting between all three of them, “I didn't just want to leave so…”, you lift your arms, Eddie who was the closest, hugged you first. Then you moved to Robin, not giving her a second to say anything, you wrap your arms around her shoulders. After maybe a second, she wraps her arms around you too, patting your back a little awkwardly. When you pull away, her face is a little red. You offer her a smile and she finally returns a rather timid one herself.

Your eyes meet Steve’s, you walk over, he moves closer as well. And when you are face to face, you smile up at him. There's a light in your eyes, subdued but there. And from up this close, he thinks you can see it all, all of him. All his doubts, his insecurities, anxieties. Yet you're smiling up at him.

You rock him a little when you hug him, taking him off his balance. He envelops you in his hold, squeezing tighter than he thought he would. "I really had fun”, his eyes close on their own accord when he feels your warm breath on his neck, when he feels your smile on his skin.

“My name is y/n by the way."

Steve pulls away just a little, eyes trained on yours, "can’t you come with us before leaving? It won't take too long."

"Steve...", you start, voice all soft and apologetic.

"No, its okay", he shakes his head before smiling.

You return a smile back before looping your arms around his neck once again, "I'm glad we met Steve."

"me too."

You pull back, looking him in the eyes, you whisper, "goodbye."

"anyway… Um–”, you clear your throat, Steve's hold loosening on you and you remove your arms from around him as well, stepping away. You stiffly walk towards the door, stopping at the threshold, the knob in your grasp, “you guys have fun! don't get robbed or scammed or whatever. Bye." you gave them one last sheepish smile before closing the door.

...

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #stranger things #steve harrington x reader angst #steve harrington angst #steve harrington x reader fluff #steve harrington x desi!reader #desi!fem!reader #stranger things au #stranger things fic #desi!reader #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x fem!reader

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bpddexter · 5 months ago

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Can we know more about your oc relationship with Dexter? I'm so interested, im vibrating out of my skin, I think you're cooking

YESYES OMG OFC... thank you for asking anon... this is long I'm so sorry

Cameron and Dexter have known each other since 1986, from when Cam joined Dex's high school after moving from Fort Myers. Dexter and Cam just.. know each other, they understand one another on so many levels. they're like a puzzle only they can figure out. of course, to protect Cameron, Dexter hides his dark passenger. they officially become a couple in 1991 after Dexter invites Cameron to the last school valentines dance before graduation!

they both end up getting Internships at Miami Metro, Dexter in forensics and Cameron in detective work. even though they're busy working, the pair are still so in love. they graduate college together and begin working at Miami Metro full-time.

in the events of Dexter (2006), the pair have been dating for 15 years now, and are still head over heels for one another. after some time and encouragement, Cameron moves in with Dexter. Dex was first afraid as he didn't want Cam figuring out that he was the Butcher.. but he couldn't hide that secret for long. one day, Cameron sees something he shouldn't.. and Dex has to come clean. Cameron asks him to promise to keep safe and stick to the Code.. if he does that, Cameron will hide his tracks as best he can. they do end up getting married around 2009, as Dexter needed a bit of encouragement to propose (how cute!)

around 2010, Dexter gets a bit too close to getting found out and decides it's not safe in Miami, and moves to Alaska with Cameron.

around the time of New Blood, Dexter and Cameron are settled in Alaska with their daughter, Angie. they live in a small cabin away from everything, and they all have each other. even though the couple are getting old.. they're still like they were then they were 20.

little do either of them know, little Angie also has a Dark Passenger!! so Dexter has to teach her the Code to keep her safe and her urges in check.

one of Dexters old enemies track him down to Alaska, and as payback, kidnap Cameron after a harsh argument between the couple. Dexter and Angie have to work as father and daughter to save Cam. during the fight, Dexter is shot, but Angie takes down their perpetrator and frees her father. Cameron can't be happy yet, not with his husband bleeding out on the floor. he drives him to the nearest hospital will Angie sits in the back, trying to support her dad.

then of course, Resurrection happens. they get older. but they're still the same kids in love!!

hope this answers ur question anon!! thank you!!

#txt #ask #anon #my writing #my oc: cameron fraser #dexter #dexter morgan #dexcam

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chronotsr · 1 year ago

Text

No. 7 - S1, Tomb of Horrors (October 1978)

Author(s): Gary Gygax Artist(s): David C. Sutherland III (Cover), David Trampier Level range: 10-14 Theme: Meatgrinder Dungeoncrawl Major re-releases: So, so many. S1-4 Realms of Horror, Return to the Tomb of Horrors, Tomb of Horrors (2005), Tomb of Horrors (2010), S1-4 Dungeons of Dread, Dungeon #213, Tales from the Yawning Portal, Tomb of Annihilation (sort-of)

I said earlier that S1 is probably the only adventure more ported than G1, and I was right. You have so many options for S1. The original monochrome, the green cover, the compilation version, the silver anniversary version re-erlease-and-sequel, a 3.5e port, a 4e port, a DND Next port w/ 4e porting instructions, and then finally the 5e port in Tales from the Yawning Portal. The only people being left out here are the 2e people, and making 1e adventures go into 2e is as natural as breathing.

As the cover points out, this was originally run at Origins I, and there is so much community lore surrounding this module that I will spare you the rigamarole. If you know where I stand on the "meatgrinder vs fair challenge" argument, go read the Theme header again.

These illustrations are iconic. In basically every re-release they are kept as is, one of the few things that makes the 5e release stand out is not including the original 31 illustrations. And while the new art is OK, I, it can't hold a candle to the sheer charisma of the originals. And -- why no green devil head? That's the single most memorable thing from the scenario? We get one, actually, but it's on the map and I think it's an image from the archives because it looks an awful lot like an old cover of Dragon. If you do run this in 5e, you really owe it to your players to hunt down and use the original illustrations.

I am now morally obliged to tell you that, when I went through Tomb of Horrors (5e version, that's what I can find GMs for), I died to the Juggernaut. Which is actually extremely funny, because earlier when I was in Tomb of Annihilation I died the exact same way! So I guess Juggernauts are my personal arch nemesis. I personally didn't like my time there, but there is value in a module that everyone has played. I wouldn't've picked S1 for the task but I'm glad we have one at least. In general, this will be a a sparse entry in the series. The Tomb of Horrors is Tomb of Horrors. It is both extremely notable and also weirdly bland -- there's just not much to say about a lot of these trollish traps. They're highly specific and only really work in the moment, for very specific tables, at a very specific cultural moment. It's actually kind of boring to read in 2024? How much can one really say about a 20-colored mural with a variety of "it does nothing" effects?

Alright, enough stalling. The module starts with now-traditional Gary intro of "hey, your players are going to try and get extra information in [obvious way], defeat that." Today's edition is that Legend Lore is rendered useless by a combination of obscurity and….too much information? Ok… And then the also very Gary "If your players are dumb stupid idiots they will hate this module", which he also did in G1-3.

Eventually, your party finds this stupid looking thing, which is (I know this is repetitive) iconicly so-bad-its-good. And everything about this intro is trolling. So There are three routes into the tomb, two of which are trapped and fake. 2024 DND players would never think to try any of these things, but I do get the sense that in 1978 it would've occurred to most veteran players to try things like "poking the wall with sticks" and "extensive excavations". Anyone who tries to be clever and bypass shit by phasing into a parallel plane gets got by Demons, and I like the theory that Seth Skorkowsky aired a while ago that the Demons are the ones maintaining the Tomb so you should steal that.

You know what? Let's just go into keyed mode.

I do not respect this "only these express options work" mindset. It's very anti-ttrpg to have pre-programmed solutions Naturally, the second door cannot be removed by strength, only by one of 5 spells and thinking to wedge the door with iron in a specific day works. IDK bro I know the idea is Acererak is an asshole and has bewitched this complex to high hell but cmon, even the fake doors are borderline invulnerable?

There's a riddle-poem that hints at the solutions to the dungeon's puzzles. I actually really like this poem, and for all this module's sins I disagree with commenters who think the poem is too vague. At least when I was playing, it was just right.

That is the most off brand Ancient Egyptian tomb hallway I ever did see, and I do kind of love it. As for how confusing the wall-door-chest trap is, it's trollish but it makes sense to me. The chest is a red herring to distract you from the actual secret door, which is a literal door, and honestly that's a hint I consider fairly on the nose.

The misty arch sucks. The short version is that if you press the glowing stones in the right order, you progress, otherwise you get teleported to one of three random rooms. The solution is inscrutable to me (why that order? you could brute force it but that'd be suicide) and I really wish that the book spelled out what the puzzle logic was -- a lot of newer adventures will explain the operating logic in parentheticals next to the solution. If the answer is "you're supposed to brute force it", I have no respect for that mindset.

The devilhead is obviously iconic as hell and we love it. As many commenters have noted, the often-cited "our whole party climbed in and died" story is incompatible with a RAW or RAI interpretation -- your GM was just an asshole, your character died as soon as their head got annihilated and the party would see their body go limp suddenly. There is no way all 5 of you piled in without removing a body and discovering they're Very Dead.

The lever room also sucks. You could only guess the solution, and the act of testing will get you killed. And don't give me "well your hirelings" your hirelings are not going to test any traps after they see the 2rd guy get turned into meatpaste, and while ADND lacks the hard cap on people hireable that Basic had, you're still going to run out of guys who are willing to commit suicide in here in short order.

"Yet there are also depicted various religious symbols of goad alignment, and a faint aura of good can be magically detected. What a puzzle! Could the demi-lich actually have been of good alignment" This will fool no-one Gary. It's the Tomb of Horrors, not the Tomb of Hope. He clearly bewitched the chapel to appear as good, which literally anyone would think of. Heartbreaking: worst lich you know has access to revolutionary SRS magic.

It's at about this point where I realized how little there really is to comment on in this dungeon. It really is just a sequence of obtuse murder traps that are faintly hinted at. The things that are iconic about it (the devilhead, the acerack fakeout) are actually exceptions to the rule -- both of those are super clear traps that are designed to tease particularly foolish players. The majority of the dungeon is, tap random objects and get gassed by poison or dropped into spikes. In a lot of ways ToH feels like the bad timeline version of White Plume Mountain, which is trollish in a more memorable way? What I mean here is, when people complain that ToH is unfair they're burying the lede. A hard dungeon can be fun. An unfair dungeon can be fun! The issue is that Tomb of Horrors is boring. Every room being a puzzle tied to a deathtrap with almost no combat or negotiation is tedious.

Basically every tomb of horrors room has this setup:

You walk into a room with an illustration that looks cool, and there is some vague image, object, or feature in the room that is conspicuous

There is either no obvious exit (strongly implying a secret), or an extremely obvious exit that is currently impassable

You have to try fiddling with any object in the room that can be fiddled with, or grope around for an illusion

There is a roughly 25% chance there is a vague hint from 3 gameplay hours ago that will help you if you interpret it correctly, and a 75% chance that this is intended as attrition

You fuck around for a while, and maybe you work out the puzzle and maybe you don't. Almost certainly, someone takes 50% damage or has some vital asset removed or changed about them.

You eventually pass into the next room

Really the variety of traps in this dungeon is surprisingly narrow -- something like half of these traps are "activate these objects in a specific order or orientation". The other half are some variety of mist or gas or cloud or other fluid that kills you if you do not avoid or interact with it in the specific way. Occasionally when you're lucky, you simply turn a lever and get skewered -- what a treat!

The final encounter with Acereak, you will be unsurprised to learn, also sucks. If you touch his jeweled skull, he instantly steals your soul and ruins your body (no save, no appeal). If you guess one of the, again, explicit list of options to destroy the skull (which you have already established will instantly kill one ally per touch) which is of course very specific (essentially, holy attacks, the most powerful magical swords, and inexplicably gem-slinging), you can kill him in 50 hp. Weirdly, the soul gems that you get trapped into do offer some escape from death, but it's a terrible one -- IF you pass your save, IF they crush the gem, IF there is an eligible body for their soul to go into (yours was ruined), then you may come back to life in a very different form. Completing the Tomb gives you, of course, 100k exp. And in ADND that'ssss…. actually not very much. At level 10, 100k exp is not even a full level for most classes to get a level (thieves are the exception) and your actual treasure haul I think is going to be fairly meager -- I think the average character will get maybe one level of experience after distributing the loot. For going through one of the most dangerous dungeons ever.

I remain a bit of a ToH hater.

In blog news, we are looking at post 7.5 coming up, in which I will do another retrospective on the year's developments, and as a special treat we will be briefly discussing the first Dragon Magazine dungeon!

#1e #chronotsr #dnd #dungeons and dragons #tsr #ttrpg #adnd

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cornfields-td-nonsense · 1 year ago

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I'm also AUTISTIC autistic gimme the TD timeline

*cracks knuckles*

let's fucking do this

SO. for the sake of arguments we're going to assume that the first season takes place in 2007 because that's when the show premiered. that's our starting off point. at some point in the summer of 2007.

we know that TDA starts mere days after the end of TDI, so we're still in 2007. I'm gonna say that's a total of about three or four months. so beginning of TDI to end of TDA = early summer to beginning of autumn in 2007. simple enough so far.

but TDWT is when things begin to get fuzzy. we know it's been a while since Action, because we had an entire Celebrity Manhunt special about what the cast had been up to between seasons. so it's been way more than just a couple of days.

BUT we do have a concrete date for the end of the season. in the Drumheller episode (I believe - it's one of the last few), it's Cody's birthday, and we know his birthday is April 1st. so the season ends in early April.

and fortunately, since we're in a different country every episode, weather does not factor into judging which season it is! so I'm going to say that World Tour begins in February 2008. begins in February, ends in April. why Chris had his summer camp show happen during this timeframe is beyond me, but who knows why Chris does anything.

now Revenge of the Island doesn't have any dates to adhere to, BUT. the next season does. Congrats, All-Stars, your existence does have a purpose!

so in TDAS Alejandro says that he was stuck in the robot suit for a year. we can be a little flexible with this since he probably didn't mean exactly one year to the day, but we can safely say that about a year has passed between the end of World Tour and the beginning of All Stars. or should I say, April 2008 and early summer 2009.

And just to keep things nice and tidy we can say ROTI takes place in summer 2008, just a few months after TDWT ended.

right, so we're in 2009, All Stars has ended and the island sank into the lake. awesome. now what do we do about Pahkitew?

well, I'm not sure exactly how long it would take to build a fully working mechanical island complete with waterworks, artificial flora, animatronic creatures and weather settings. but I'm assuming it doesn't take a few days. oh, and speaking of which, since the weather on that island is artifical, I also don't need to take weather into account when determining when this takes place. so since I don't have a concrete time frame for Pahkitew, let's allow the general ballpark of six months to a year. either way, we're in 2010 now. woohoo!

now let's go on a bit of a tangent and talk about Chris.

because in this season, Chris tells Topher that he's 30. if he's 30 in 2010, that would make him 28 in 2008, when TDWT takes place as we established.

although maybe he's not necessarily 30 exactly. maybe he just rounded off his age to sound younger (which is in character for him tbh). so he's 35 at most. which would make him 33 at most in TDWT.

um.

in that season, Sierra says Chris was in a boyband in the 80s. as in, the 1980s. as in from 1980 to 1989. if he's 33 in 2010, he was 12 in 1989. if he's 30 in 2010, he was probably BORN in 1980.

either way, he was in a boyband before he was even a teenager, possibly before he was ten years old. what the fuck.

hm. to be honest, being exposed to the celebrity world and cheesy tabloid fame at that age would explain a lot about him. remember Geoff's corruption arc in TDA when he becomes the new Chris? who's to say Chris didn't have something like that happen to him, but at an even younger, more impressionable age?

...either that or he was lying to Topher about his age. which. honestly might be more likely lmao. but I still think about the boyband thing sometimes.

anyway back to the timeline!

so TDI and TDA take place in summer 2007.

TDWT takes place from February to April 2008.

ROTI takes place in the summer of that same year.

All-Stars takes place one year later in spring or summer 2009.

Pahkitew takes place six months to a year after that in 2010.

(and if we're adding Nautilus to this thing, let's say Pahkitew takes place only six months after TDAS in January-February 2010, and Nautilus takes place in summer 2010. if Zeke was 16 in 2007, he'd be 19 in 2010.)

and just to wrap it up, we already know the time period for the reboot. it takes place fifteen years after the first season, and fifteen years after 2007 is 2022. I doubt a full year has passed between the first and second reboot seasons, since not much seems to have changed, so I feel confident in saying we're still in 2022.

God knows why Owen still looks 16 at the age of 31, though. Maybe the makeup department made him look younger to make him as much like he was on the show, to... increase marketability or something. I do have my own personal conspiracy theory that the guy who showed up in the baking challenge in season 2 of the reboot wasn't actually Owen, but who knows.

anyway I did it I nailed down a solid(ish) timeline for this show. you're welcome anon.

*passes out*

#total drama #total drama nautilus #td owen #td chris #td sierra #td alejandro #total drama timeline

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maddiviner · 2 years ago

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Hi and I hope you are having a good day. What were the witches on 4chan like? Until I read your posts about Thelema, I didn't know there had ever been anything like that on there. Did it involve Pepe the Frog invocations? I picture Tumblr but completely the opposite politically.

Witches on 4chan? Were there?

I began lurking the /x/ board in 2010-ish after discovering it as a hub for posting creepypasta. There also were threads on /x/ about Tarot and the occult. I'd been occult-obsessed since about 1999, so I dove right in. That said, I'm not sure 4chan had a "witch community" when I was there.

There was an occult community, but witches?

Didn't know many people called themselves witches on /x/. I didn't use the term at the time. Most people on there kind of shuddered at the idea of being called a witch. Wicca especially had a bad, fluffy rep.

People used words like magicians, mages, and similar. In case that doesn't clue you in, ritual (ceremonial, "high," whatever) magic got an emphasis, as did chaos magic. That said, it's not as if the techniques and concepts didn't overlap some.

(I realize there's nebulous terminology at play here. Where does witchcraft end and ritual or so-called "high" magic begin? What counts as "chaos" magic? Good question, eh?)

The Golden Dawn system was popular. There were plenty of disagreement about the best way to talk to angels or summon demons. Most of it was a xerox of the kind of discourse you see anywhere ritual mages gather.

Aleister Crowley, as a major propagator of the Golden Dawn stuff, got lots of attention on /x/. Thelema became a regular source of arguments on /x/.

In case you're not familiar with Thelemic cultural traditions and customs, arguments are a huge Thelemic tradition. Inside and outside of that, people had slapfights over whether Frater So-and-So was the real Such-and-Such of This-and-That.

Many people tried to charge/cast sigils by posting them on /x/. There was an element of attention equaling sigil success? An ancestor of "likes to charge, reblogs to cast?"

The most popular threads were for Tarot readings, though. People would post using tripcodes and do readings for anonymous users. I did this a bit as practice, but it was hard to get feedback of course.

All in all, it wasn't much more than a chaotic online space with occult vibes. Those aren't exactly rare. You could find plenty on Facebook and Amino. Heck, Tumblr shares some commonalities.

The kind of right wing community 4chan would become known as was only in its early stages at that point. It was also self-quarantined to other, non-/x/ boards, and rarely mentioned elsewhere. I suspect the site, or at least /x/ itself, was more center than right-wing, at least at the time.

Back in the early 2010s, I'd recently left school, where I hadn't exactly learned much as far as I'm concerned. When it came to social/political issues, I didn't know my ass from my ears. It's a good thing I didn't run into too many covert fascist types. Instead, I scrolled through posts about One Man Hide and Seek, OTO discourse, and the Hatman.

Don't get me wrong. There were definitely (some) genuine (loud) bigots and jerks on the site back then, too, of course. And there were small cults that sprang up via Skype, people harassing their exes, and so on. JoS (and we all hopefully know who they are by now) would sometimes try and recruit, with mixed results.

But that alleged Pepe egregore stuff? Not a thing on /x/ when I was on there. Pepe as a regular old meme rather than a political symbol was a thing, though. It was innocuous at the time. He showed up in /x/ memes, doing Enochian evocations or talked to Goetic kings, stuff like that.

I was on /x/ around the same time that Gamergate happened, and 4chan made the news about it. I'm sure this was a huge topic on boards like /pol/ and /v/, but it didn't get much attention from other places on the site.

As a 4chan janitor (won't name them) put it back then, "the girl posting on the origami board doesn't know or care about Gamergate." The media's image of 4chan as some kind of underground attack site has never been accurate.

Overall? 4chan's /x/, at least in 2010-2014-ish, wasn't much worse than (for example) current-day Facebook. A mess, yeah, but not exactly the swamp of bigotry you might've imagined. Mostly just ridiculous, over-the-top, and dramatic.

That doesn't mean I've plans to go back, or that I recommend it, but it wasn't like you're thinking. I don't know what the site, or even just /x/, is like now, of course. I ended up leaving the site and a lot of related communities over the years.

#witchcraft #witch #occult #magic #pagan #witchblr #4chan #thelema #ritual #eliza.txt #doused

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ptts2023 · 2 months ago

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TM GAME TOURNAMENT MAGAZINE ANNOUNCEMENT 12 PART 02

Written By: Neng Hong Lam Date Written: May 01, 2025

Table of Contents: Introduction Part 01-09 Chapter 01 Chapter 02 Step By Step Long Journey To Acceptance And Forgiveness Part 11 Chapter 03 [1.] Cursed Versus Blessed A. Nothing Will Ever Change B. Showing Leadership In My Country-Side Step By Step Long Journey To Acceptance And Forgiveness Part 12 Chapter 03 Continue C. Beneath the Orphanage [2.] Generation Gap A. Rich Older Brother In Hong Kong B. Consultant Meeting

Beneath the Orphanage

That day me and my followers hiked to about 100 yards away from a building which we thought is the Orphanage building.

Not all the people in my country-side have the same thoughts as me about the orphans. There are people doesn't allow the orphans to be at the public places. Example: If those people see orphans in the public places, then those people would raise their voices at those orphans to go away.

In addition, there are people who doesn't show sympathy by thinking it is very sad seeing the orphans watching other children's parents buying ice creams for those children.

There are days I couldn't stop myself having thoughts about why I'm being haunted by ghosts at the nighttime? Why I have nightmares all the time in my sleeps?

Cruel Country-Side Activities: Putting salts on snail. Putting firecracker inside ant's hole. Watching my older brother eating cricket.

Rebellion Argument: I started the rebellion force in my country-side. The most beautiful and beloved baby broke Scorpion's nose in the Empty Handed Combat fight.

Life Is Suffering Argument: This argument is my parents knows I'm suffering. If they wanted to end my suffering, then when I'm sleeping at night they could use a pillow and put it over my face. And, suffocated me to death.

I puts it at: Me and my followers stopped at 100 yards away from the orphanage building. Because the thought of the most beautiful and beloved baby became an orphan make me sick to my stomach.

What is beneath the orphanage? Why are those ghosts haunt me at the nighttime? Why do I have nightmares all the time in my sleeps?

What beneath the orphanage is related to those ghosts and nightmares.

I didn't think too much about it. Me and my family speak a Chinese Province dialect that I don't know the origin. The country-side I live in is in Vietnam, but we are not speaking the Vietnamese language. I'm writing this healing process in the English language.

Even though, I asked my parents multiple times about the foundation that made donations to our country-side. But, only the parents and adults get to have those donations. Example: Those donations are distributed to the families in our country-side, but only the parents and adults get to go collect those donations.

In the dictionary, the words, American Red Cross mean help. The symbol, Red Cross is universe to mean help and hospitality.

Like I wrote above, me and my family speak the Chinese dialect. So, it is told to me in Chinese dialect. Also, I'm 6-7 years old, I don't have a lot of power.

Later on in my life, during my high school years at around 2000. I try very hard to find time to trace the origin of the Chinese dialect I speak by traveling to China. But, in China, I didn't have enough time to find it.

So, I been telling myself that those foundations that made donations to my country-side is the American Red Cross foundation.

Around 2010, Rebeca Karcz, club vice-president of Mesa Multimedia Club and me walking at the swap meet (like a Block Party). For years, because of being club president and club vice-president, me and her have got into debates about how to find the most affordable ways to live each day. Because of these debates, so it make us look really poor.

So, she bought a cotton candy in the swap meet. Then, she peel off a few pieces for me.

Her mother is a nurse at one of the swap meet booth. So, her mother gave me a vaccine shot for free. That vaccine shot usually cost around $10-20 at the nurse office in the Mesa college campus.

Anyway, that day been going so well so far. I don't have to spend any money. I have a great time with her. Before leaving the swap meet, I hurried over the American Red Cross booth and put 1 dollar into the donation box.

Back to my country-side. My whole life I been telling myself the American Red Cross foundation made donations to my country-side. That is why I needed to put that 1 dollar into the donation box in the American Red Cross booth.

Does the donations matter to the children in my country-side, since only the parents and adults could collect those donations?

It is hard for me to says the following:

[Begin]

I'm those children leader. I should give me and those children some encouragement about facing the problems in our life. Also, give us positive thoughts about life. Yet, I'm confuse or I don't know what to says about the overwhelming odds.

I keep thinking that the American Red Cross foundation will make donations to save us. But, did I translated the Chinese dialect to English language correctly, it is called the American Red Cross?

Even if I got the name correctly, only the parents and adults get to collect those donations, so if I tells those children to relies on those donations could be argued as I'm giving those children false hope.

What happen with my parents, why did my father beat up my mother like that?

Will the most beautiful and beloved baby going to save us all from what beneath the orphanage including ghosts and nightmares? Could the most beautiful and beloved baby save himself?

[End]

Generation Gap

Rich Older Brother In Hong Kong

In "Night Life in the Country-Side", I wrote the following: "Story Time Custom: People gathered around my house front yard to listen to my father telling stories during the day time."

Many of those stories my father told are stories about his Hong Kong trips.

Even though, the packages that he brought back from his Hong Kong trips already enough proof about his Hong Kong trips. But, there multiple times his son (my older step-brother) and adopted son would return with him back to our country-side.

I'm going to try to spell out their names using the Chinese dialect pronunciation. My older step-brother is On. On is 20-30 years older than me. I don't remember my older adopted-brother name. For now, I'm going to call him as Ken. Ken is 15-20 years older than me.

Ken is a heavy weight that is over 6 feet tall. He is the most heavy and tallest among my brothers, step-brothers, and adopted-brothers.

So, my father put Ken to be in charge of watching over the luggage in the airport.

This is Ken first time in Vietnam, so he followed my father's order and watch over the luggage, but he didn't expected Vietnam to have so many thieves.

As my father step out of the Vietnam airport. He slapped Ken on the head. "What happen to your hand bag?" Ken shook his head when he saw his hand bag got cut.

Minutes later, as another thief grabbed another bag from the luggage. Ken grabbed the collar of that thief. Then, he took the bag back from that thief. Then, he let that thief go.

My father told that story of how Ken caught that thief many times in the Story Time Custom. My father could tell that story better than me.

Whenever Ken is around, he would usually carry me on top of his shoulders. Also, he would play with me and our 2 brothers, Ho and Du. My father would tells me and my family that On and Ken is rich in Hong Kong. So, if me and my family need anything, then On and Ken could buy it for us.

To me, I like it when On and Ken come to my country-side, because they play me and carry me on their shoulders.

On is the oldest brother. Also, he is the boss in Hong Kong and China. My father told our family the story many times how On went from a struggling importer (or smuggler) teenager boy (around 12-13 years old) to a rich boss in Hong Kong and China.

Even though, my father didn't says you could go from poor country boy to become as rich as On someday. But, I think he telling us those stories about how On becomes a rich boss. He is implying that me, Ho, and Du could be like On someday.

My father is 50 and more years older than me. On and Ken is 20 and more years older than me. So, I think there is a generation gap. Also, I'm around 7 years old, so I don't have a lot of power.

During each visit, On stayed in my country-side for around a week. Ken stayed in my country-side for around 3 weeks.

In my country-side, I sees that in each families, there is usually a husband and a wife. So, it is a bit strange to me when I found out that my father have multiple wives.

Because On is my older step-brother. This mean On's mother is my father second wife. My mother is my father third wife. I didn't ask my father if he have any wives that he didn't went through marriage.

Consultant Meeting

It is the third world country. It is in a strange place. It is a country-side close to the forest. I'm going to keep it at the following:

On the surface, the argument is I'm the most beautiful and beloved baby who lived a rich life comparing with other children.

Beneath the surface, I would argues I'm not that much different than those children in my country-side. Me and those children come up with recreation activities to play. Wanting our country-side to be like a playground.

But, I'm obligated to showing leadership and maintaining my image as the most beautiful and beloved baby. In addition, I'm being haunted by ghosts during the nighttime and having nightmares all the time in my sleeps. Also, there are generation gap and multiple wives in my family.

On top of all of that, my father favorited me as his favorite son among my brothers, step-brothers, and adopted-brothers. There is the following question: How could a poor country boy be compared with On who is a rich boss in Hong Kong and China?

Yet, in this strange place, my father have brought some inventions, developments, and productions to this strange place. Example: He gathered people together to build a homemade basketball court. Put together a low-production movie theater. And so on.

In addition, I heard that he is a Chinese Chess Champion in my country-side. What else have he not accomplished in his life?

Furthermore, he started to have "Consultant Meeting" in our house. It is usually in the living room. The way I sees it. It is very important and high priority meeting. There are 4-6 people including my father in that meeting. Those people must have high rank positions. This mean those people have a lot of wisdom and power.

I would argues this "Consultant Meeting" is a generation gap, because I'm around 7 years old, and I don't have a lot of power.

One day, as I'm walking around the living room at a far distance from the "Consultant Meeting". He called me to come over to his meeting.

For good habit practice, in the morning, I would brew tea. Then, place a cup of tea at each of the altars around our house. There are a total of 4 altars . 2 altars inside our house. 1 altar in the backyard and 1 altar in the front yard. The way I see it calling it as a tea ceremony is easier to understand for people who are not familiar with the buddhism faith. I would argues placing those cups of tea at the altar to honor the gods. In return, the gods might protect me from the ghosts haunting me during the nighttime. Also, maybe I might have fewer nightmares in my sleeps.

Anyway, I thought that maybe he is calling me over to brew tea for the guests. Or, a simple demonstration of mannerism.

When I got next to him. He asked me if I wanted to join the meeting. My thoughts are I'm 7 years old and I don't have a lot of power. My followers are all children who have lesser power than me.

But, I couldn't help it to have the following thoughts: Ever since I have been having followers following my leadership I'm lesser afraid of the dark places. Ghosts haunting me during the nighttime. And, the nightmares in my sleeps.

To Be Continue...

"Step By Step Long Journey To Acceptance And Forgiveness Part 13" continue in TM Game Tournament Magazine Announcement 12 Part 03.

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the-moon-is-coming-to-me · 2 months ago

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A retrospective on Tumblr in the 2010's

I started using this site about a decade ago. At the time I was in my early teens, desperately lonely both at school and at home, and attempting to cope with my clusterfuck of feelings using a steady stream of media (mainly manga and fanworks) and what little virtual interaction I could get by the grace of anonymous Internet strangers. I stopped using this site sometime in high school, and now, as I'm about to graduate university, I've somehow come back to it again.

I have to admit that it's kind of an odd feeling. Purely from an aesthetic perspective, Tumblr as a site hasn't changed all that much. The buttons and the tabs are where I remember them being ten years ago; the features too are still basically the same. On the other hand, the popular fandoms, tags, and blogs have all undergone relatively large changes.

I can't help but wonder what became of all my old haunts and Internet friends. I remember getting pretty involved in the D. Gray-Man community; I ran a couple art blogs and posted headcanons of my favourite ship on another. I even ended up joining a Skype group chat to interact with other people running similar blogs. (Discord hadn't yet been released.) I remember thinking that these people were so cool. They were all older than me, more experienced than me and so talented in art, in writing, and unlike me they seemed like they had such rich social lives even outside of the Internet. Of course, I didn't mention anything that would give away my own considerably younger age. This was done in part for self-protection (I would strongly advise against anyone giving away their age on the Internet, especially if you're on the younger side), but also in part as an attempt to integrate. I wanted to be treated as an equal to these people I so admired, to receive even a sliver of positive social feedback. At home I couldn't speak to my parents without it escalating into an argument at best and a screaming match ending with them threatening to kick me out of the house at worst. At school I never managed to click with a close group of friends. I yearned for a place to which I could belong, and like a dog begging for scraps I took what I could get from this band of nerdy Internet strangers. And who knows; maybe they could in fact tell that I was much younger than I wanted to let on. At the very least they didn't call me out on it, and they treated me as one of their own.

Although that time was very painful for me and although I would never ever choose to relive it again, I do feel grateful for the small shards of light they unknowingly gave me. I remember that time as fragments of loneliness, melancholy, and apathy tinged with a quiet desperation to grow up and to be independent as soon as possible, to take flight and to leave the boughs of my childhood home and city that had somehow warped into a noose around my neck. I truly believed that deep down, at my core, there was something fundamentally wrong with me, something putrid and despicable and rancid---why else was I so disliked by everyone? Why else did my behaviour push them away? In a way this site and the people on it raised me. Sure, I know that the credit for physically pushing me across the line to adulthood goes to my parents, and for all the problems in our relationship, I am thankful that I have never wanted for anything physically speaking. But (as pathetic as this sounds) I could only turn to the Internet to fulfill my emotional and my social needs.

So now as I'm scrolling my feed all these years later, I can't help but wonder how those kind Internet strangers are doing. I remember one of them worked a restaurant job in Louisiana. Another was trying to learn French. Yet another was worrying about how to cut her hair to look good in the school's yearbook. So many lives, temporarily brought together like a fibres spun into yarn, before fraying and dispersing in myriad unknown directions again.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. I guess I wonder why now of all times have I chosen to come back to this site. A lot has happened in ten years. I have a couple close friends at university, and I get along well with my colleagues at work. My relationship with my parents has eased as they've mellowed out with age and as I've learned how to disengage from conversations that have the potential to turn into arguments. I've also managed to get some internships for which I'm being paid more money than I could ever have expected (though whether I'll be able to get a full-time job is another story with the way the job market is right now...). By all accounts I'm doing well for myself, and much, much better than I was in my teens. I don't need a coping mechanism anymore because there's nothing about which I need to cope. Maybe it could be nostalgia. Trend cycles follow a period of 10-20 years, so maybe now's about the time for me to yearn for my teenage years, though, as I think I've made it abundantly clear previously, I doubt I could ever be nostalgic for that part of my life. Still, maybe there's something comforting about coming back to a place (albeit digital) with which I'm intimately familiar. And who knows, maybe I'll unknowingly cast some of my own light onto someone else who needs it too.

#idk lol #spilled ink

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theghostpinesmusic · 2 years ago

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On Reading In Circles

So, I'm on sabbatical during the upcoming academic year. Technically speaking, this sabbatical runs from this coming September until September 2024. Accordingly, I'd originally planned to take this summer as a "normal" summer break, maybe spend a little of my free time formulating ideas (mostly while sitting in tents during rainstorms or taking afternoon hiking breaks perched on this or that high rock) and then dive into "properly" working on my sabbatical project starting in September. If you're a frequent reader of my word-dumps, though, you know that at least for the last few weeks, the wildfires, the smoke from the wildfires, the general weather, and now my own health have not really cooperated with this plan (the month before this one was AWESOME, though, it bears repeating). I have this fragile hope that September will be better for hiking, and that maybe I can take advantage of not having to teach in the fall to do some September/October/November backpacking trips, but that remains to be seen. In the meantime, I made a promise to myself that if I work now, during the time of year when I'm supposed to be taking a break, I can play later. We'll see how that pans out in the end.

What it means for now is that over the last two weeks I've dove (maybe we should change this to "diven"?) into a huge initial reading list of texts and essays relevant to the project as a way of getting my feet back under me as a researcher (the last time I really did serious research in the field was 2013) with the idea being that these texts will be the foundation that guides how I write over the next year and beyond.

Mostly by chance (though partially because I already own them and it's expensive to buy theory books), I've started by reading through a lot of the same books I read during my dissertation research, back in 2010-2012. In most cases, these are even the same literal books: I've found a ton of my old notes in the margins, brackets around relevant passages, complaints about the quality of coffee shop sandwiches, etc.

At first, honestly, this felt a bit silly to me. These books are not, generally speaking, short reads. They're extremely complex and time-consuming, and, in theory at least, I've already read them and internalized the core concepts (albeit a decade-plus ago): shouldn't I by reading new stuff?

The process, though, has actually been fascinating: many of my old notes are on concepts that I have significantly developed (and hopefully improved) my thinking on since the 2010s, if not exactly through new research, through conversations with my friends, colleagues, and students, and through just living my life (which tends to be filled with a significant amount of self-reflection, for better and worse). Lots of quotes I emphasized before now show symptoms of that sink-or-swim way you learn to read in grad school: plowing through 500-1000 pages of reading assignments a week necessarily forces you to speed-read, digging for quotable quotes instead of trying to (or being allowed to take the time to) understand the whole argument. It feels like I'm actually reading and understanding many of these books for the first time, in spite of my essentially being granted a Ph.D. for having read them "well" the first time.

And this brings me to the point of this latest of word-dumps, which only still requires an (incredibly brief) description of my current project as a setup.

So, in addition to some pedagogical/class development work, the main purpose of my proposed sabbatical is for me to have time to research and write a book proposal. What's the book about? Well, I'm not glad you asked! In (very very) short, the idea is to use the heuristic (nerd alert!) of summits and circumnavigations to explore how the humanities can contribute to the discourse around global warming. There are about a million topics that get caught up in this currently in my head, but essentially the idea is that summiting a mountain requires a series of epistemological assumptions about one's place in the world (experiences are linear, the point of life is progression and/or accomplishment, the natural world exists to be conquered and understood by man), as does circumnavigating a mountain (experiences are circular, the point of life is to learn through that circularity, things don't really massively change, but sustainability is possible, and natural world is a cycle or series of cycles that inescapably includes humans, etc.).

If you've read this far, you might see where I'm going with this.

If not, here goes: it popped into my head today, at the peak (get it?) of my existential crisis about whether or not I should be spending weeks rereading old books, that the circumnavigation metaphor applies here, too. That is, returning to texts after ten years can't be a waste of time and is, in fact, almost mandatory because of how much I've changed since then (since the last "circle," if you want to beat the horse to death). Of course there's more to learn. And skipping past these texts because I've been there once before would actually be against the basic spirit of the thing I'm reading them to be able to write (an argument for circularity and sustainability).

Whew. So, I'm sure that wasn't as fun for you as it was for me, but thanks for reading this far if you did. Expect more of these in the future as my brain slowly grows/dies from reading THE TOMES.

In the meantime, here's some music from today's reading session. If, by some weird chance, you're a fan of Outer Wilds, there might be some thematic overlaps here with what I was just writing about. Otherwise, it's just a nice song you can enjoy.

youtube

#reading #writing #research #Youtube

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queerfables · 2 years ago

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Hmm, some of this is... I think "subjective" is the best word. I do not think that Sterek was ever seriously on the table as a potential canon ship. No one outside of fandom would have looked at their dynamic in s1 and thought there was something romantic there. It was a very contemporary slash dynamic, which is to say they were funny and snarky and it was easy to imagine their antagonism was a cover for a different kind of tension. I think Arthur/Eames from Inception hit similar notes (and, similarly, captured the fannish imagination with only a few scenes together). A lot of Marvel ships worked the same way, especially around the time the first Avengers movie came out. It was a popular dynamic, is what I'm saying, a common dynamic between (apparently) straight male characters, and yeah shippers will always find that kind of dynamic compelling but to your average audience member or network executive, it's all just funny banter and watchable interpersonal conflict. The only difference is these big blockbuster movies were absolutely never going to make their heroes queer and fans thought just maybe there was a snowballs chance in hell that a trashy mtv drama might. I'm not sure that belief was supported by anything other than the comparative likelihood of Iron Man and Captain America making out on the big screen of 2012, though.

People hoped that Jeff Davis would push the envelope on how queer the show could get. And he did! Danny didn't have a huge role when the show started, but it grew, and more queer characters were introduced through the show's run. My personal guess is that the deck was stacked against Davis precisely because he was openly gay. The whole "I don't care if you're gay just don't shove it in my face" argument was pretty big in the early 2010s. Even if he wanted to have a queer romance between two members of his main cast, it would have been a really hard sell to the network. In the unlikely case that any of the main characters came out, I suspect they would have ended up paired with an established queer side character or a newly introduced love interest. My money was always on Stiles/Danny above anything else, and even that was a long shot.

I'm not 100% certain on this, but I'm relatively sure that just-turned-19 Derek was always a fanon interpretation of his ambiguous age. When his age was made explicit, he was actually much younger than I'd assumed (and his relationship with Kate was way creepier than the early seasons implied, imo!) Yeah, Stiles says Derek is "a few years" older than he and Scott are, but he also says the fire that killed Derek's family was ten years ago, when later that season it's confirmed to have only been six. He's basically just sharing gossip, with precision being much less important than mystery and intrigue. Maybe I'm forgetting something, please let me know if canon contradicts me on this. It's just... If Derek had been 19 during s1, he would have been 13 when the fire happened, and regardless of how old Kate was - even if she were the same age - it would have been a very bold move for MTV to casually imply they were having sex at that time and skip right over any follow up questions. I'm not saying 13 year olds don't ever have sex, but they don't usually have sex in light-hearted MTV shows aimed at teens.

So, yeah, my initial understanding had been that Derek and Kate were around the same age, both older teenagers/young adults when they dated. Their relationship was explicitly paralleled to Allison and Scott's, so I took that as a rough benchmark. It was later confirmed that Kate was 21 and Derek was 16 when the fire happened, which put a whole different spin on what happened between them. Incidentally, these are roughly the ages of Derek and Stiles at the start of the series. This is another reason I'm skeptical of any age retconning related to whether a Kate/Derek or Derek/Stiles age gap was more uncomfortable. They could easily have leaned harder in one direction or the other if that was their concern.

It's true that Sterek fandom had some weird moments towards the cast and showrunners but in fairness, the show shamelessly exploited Sterek fandom right back. Anyone remember that infamous "we're on a ship" video? The term queerbaiting gets some dubious use these days but if anything qualifies... Listen, I'm not a Sterek fan but that was egregious.

Anyway it probably was the case that you had to be there. It's also true that some of us who were there still ended up shipping Scott/Stiles the most, lol.

bordering on entering s4 of teen wolf and i fully do not understand why sterek is the fandom’s number one ship. they’ve talked like maybe ten times across 3 seasons. stiles absolutely wants to fuck him but stiles wants to fuck anything that moves. and derek needs to be 51/50’d and enrolled in an extensive full-time therapy program for a minimum of 3 months before he’s in a place to be dating ANYONE let alone the human personification of adhd

#teen wolf

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sitp-recs · 3 years ago

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Liv Liv Liv Liv

I’m on my knees begging you to please forgive me for being so annoying when I ask this if you but could you please recommend some fics in which Harry and Draco are so attracted to each other but hate the fact that they are. Bonus points for accidental kisses (they’re mad about kissing each other).

Thank you so much I owe you

I got you anon!!! This trope is so delicious, I wish I had read more but would love to receive some extra recs from my followers :)

Phoenix in the Fire by @fw00shy (2021, E, 1.4k)

Their first time was an accident. "Sex pollen," Draco claims, though everyone knows it was too much Ogden's after Puddlemere beat the Tornados 240-230.

You Either Fuck or You Get Fucked by @fw00shy (2021, E, 2k)

"Except I'm not getting fucked." "I'm pretty sure we're both going to get fucked."

Try Again, with More Conviction by FleetofShippyShips (2019, E, 3.5k)

After a mission goes sideways and they're lucky to walk away unscathed, Harry doesn't want to deal with the ensuing argument and floos home mid-angry tirade from his partner. He doesn't count on Malfoy just flooing through right after him to pick up where they left off.

Hurt Me, Fuck Me (Just Don’t Hate Me) by @l0vegl0wsinthedark (2017, E, 6k)

Potter is panting moist puffs of air into his face and grinding what is now a full-on erection against Draco’s own, glaring at Draco with the same mixture of confusion-exasperation-helpless-raging want that Draco feels for the git, day after day, coursing through his bloodstream, making him feel at once like he’s flying and drowning.

Checking out the Opposition by birdsofshore (2014, E, 6k)

Harry and Draco seem quite wound up after their latest game of Quidditch.

Playing Dirty by @sweet-s0rr0w (2021, E, 8.5k)

As punishment for screwing up yet another mission, and with their magic going haywire, new partners Potter and Malfoy are sent to clean the Auror locker room, the Muggle way. Will they make it out alive? Does Malfoy ever work out how to use a sponge? Do they actually even hate each other, or is it all just misconstrued sexual tension? How long until they accidentally end up naked?

The Page Eleven Wars by fireflavored (2010, E, 8.5k)

In a gossip-hungry post-war Wizarding World, Rita Skeeter has a wildly successful column in the Daily Prophet known as Page Eleven. Naturally, her favourite targets are the poster boys of the two sides of the war: Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. Bored and annoyed, the two take up tabloid baiting for sport and pleasure.

The Things They Never Say by @bixgirl1 (2017, E, 9.3k)

Harry and Draco don't know how to talk. So they do other things instead.

I'll never be your chosen one by @andithiel (2019, E, 15k)

Draco doesn't know what exactly he’s doing with Potter, he doesn't know how their unspoken agreement even started, and doesn't know where it will end. The only thing he knows is: he's not in love.

Vanishing Cabinets by @romaine2424 (2008, E, 18k)

Take one Wizarding Family Values politician who has a secret life, and add one Auror who detests discrimination of any type, but becomes a bit obsessed with said politician, and you have enough sparks to ignite a Beltane fire.

This is Never Happening Again by hpleems (2018, M, 32k)

“Potter,” Malfoy said, shaking his head. “Do I look like I care about your holiday plans? Trust me: this is *never* happening again.”

That Old Black Magic by bixgirl1 (2019, E, 77k)

Centuries ago, marriage contracts were the norm — ready-made alliances between families, expected and complied with, without complaint. But norms have a way of changing, and when a long-dormant contract flares to life, Harry has to navigate an unexpected splintering of the path he'd thought would be easy after the war... with Draco Malfoy.

#asks #anon #drarry reclist #resentful attraction

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galaxythreads · 3 years ago

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NO NO CRINGING I LOVE THAT FIC - HOW DARE QUESTION 😠 so many scenes from stygian live in my head rent-free. goons dragging Loki away????? Nat getting Loki to eat a banana???? the ELEVATOR bit with Clint alone. cinematic masterpiece. the DRIVING???????? BUCKKY????????????????? the entire thing is iconic honestly it's like "we don't have any keys" "what? what on the nine do we need KEYS for?" "to start the car!!!" "KEYS?!" and the Avengers getting along - making a smoothie the first time sakjdjgshjfek Loki not being able to see and tehrefore not being able to eat at the start and not know where things are around him and who is there without magic ;-; Bruce talking to Loki when the adoption comes up and the entire conversation being so dkjfsgsdg like neither WANTS to be there fr like yes i'm going to figure out his medical history but oh no this conversation has devolved into a um. metabolism lesson? Thor shows up and Bruce is just guilty the entire time but curious too akjsfhv and I remember whenever there *was* any improvement with Loki's condition it felt like such a BIG thing - possibly because of the time and struggles along the way to get there? like he doesn't show to be improving with the sight till WAY into the story. and ALSO how could i forget the fic OPENS with Loki disrupting the ENTIRE RAFT like COME ON that's so cool and secxy and am not the anon from before but i'm VERY happy that fic is there even if you don't look back on it so well so thank you for it and I hope you find your more recent writings better to yourself because ALL of them are a delight

anon.

no jokes, no exaggeration, I love you with my whole soul. I will give you my firstborn.

Thank you. Thank you so so so much.

I had NO IDEA anyone felt so passionately about this fic. I know people like it, but it's so rare for anyone to tell me that now, given how old it is. It's literally so strange to me to think about anyone actually....enjoying my fics. I love the support I get on my fics, I really really do, but specifics on WHY a story is so beloved to them is so rare and so precious to me.

And like. Okay. Stygian is a mess of grammatical errors and weird inconsistencies, I know that. I want to go back and edit it up into fighting shape because I think I would do a much better job now, four years later, than I did initially, but the thing is--I don't want to remove the comfort of the fic from people. There are fics that I reread all the time despite the grammatical mess and I know the sentence structure and word placement by heart and if anything changed I would have a breakdown, and I imagine there are people that feel the same about Stygian so despite my frustrations with it, I leave it the same.

this just-- it just reminds me how much I love the story. I planned the fic out in a notebook across several long, lazy summer afternoons, completely embracing the tropes of loki and avenger fics because I wanted to and it was enjoyable. I meticulously plotted out an arc for every avenger + thor and loki and carefully detailed when and where their POVs would be the most impactful. It was my first real exploration into the characters and everything felt so raw and exciting.

I had Clint call Natasha his partner because of CBS Elementary and how Joan Watson and Sherlock Holmes call each other partner despite being completely platonic. It felt like such the perfect word and I STILL use that today.

I planned the "WE NEED THE KEYS YOU FOOL" scene after one in Sorcerer's Apprentice 2010 and how cool it was that Balthazar started the car with magic.

Loki was blind because of an image that I saw on Pinterest that looked cool and i looked for other fanart of blind Loki and it just kind of went from there. I barely knew how blunt force trauma actually worked. I didn't even know how many bullets a gun could hold on average.

Loki and Thor had their major argument based off of a fic I read for BBCs Sherlock.

The scene where they’re in total darkness and being attacked in the tower was based on a Spider-Man/Avengers fic I read a long LONG time ago. I can’t even remember if it’s IN the fic I’m thinking of.

Lila was obsessed with cats because my younger sister was going through a phase and her line "I want to have so many kitties I can't step on the floor" was something she said.

I had no idea how Loki, Nat and Clint were going to break into the HYDRA facility and made that up on the go. The facility being where Clint was kept at the beginning was a happy accident

I wrote some chapter beginnings in notebooks to fight my writer’s block. The original version of Steve waking up after they escape the Tower was written in a notebook with a purple pen.

I completely planned from the start that the beginning would be the Avengers saving Loki from HYDRA and then Loki saving them to parallel it.

The amount of people who have asked me if Loki was still blind at the end of the story is insane. TO ANSWER THIS: THE ANSWER IS NO, HE COULD SEE.

And also the sight thing--Loki being blind is a HUGE part of the story. It wasn’t supposed to be this vague thing that happened and then went away. It was intentionally kept there for the majority of the story because the story is called “Stygian” which means darkness. When Loki healed and was able TO see the story was over. That was the goal.

I couldn’t even drive when I wrote this story. I had to look up how to drive a car, oh my gosh. And how a dishwasher works. And guns. And ventilation. And how to shoot a bow and arrow.

There was so much love poured into this story, so much exploration. I forgot about that. Yeah, it’s cringy and kinda terrible, but I worked so hard and put so many countless hours into this fic.

Anyway. Wow my brain went away from me there. But thank you. Here’s a garbage dump of my thoughts about it. anon, I really do love you. You’re a blessing <3

#stygian #my fics #answered

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qqueenofhades · 6 years ago

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Re: the post you reblogged about Bush. I'm 21 and tbh feel like I can only vote for Bernie, can you explain if/why I shouldn't? Thanks and sorry if this is dumb or anything.

Oh boy. Okay, I’ll do my best here. Note that a) this will get long, and b) I’m old, Tired, and I‘m pretty sure my brain tried to kill me last night. Since by nature I am sure I will say something Controversial ™, if anyone reads this and feels a deep urge to inform me that I am Wrong, just… mark it down as me being Wrong and move on with your life. But also, really, you should read this and hopefully think about it. Because while I’m glad you asked this question, it feels like there’s a lot in your cohort who won’t, and that worries me. A lot.

First, not to sound utterly old-woman-in-a-rocking-chair ancient, people who came of age/are only old enough to have Obama be the first president that they really remember have no idea how good they had it. The world was falling the fuck apart in 2008 (not coincidentally, after 8 years of Bush). We came within a flicker of the permanent collapse of the global economy. The War on Terror was in full roar, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were at their height, we had Dick Cheney as the cartoon supervillain before we had any of Trump’s cohort, and this was before Chelsea Manning or Edward Snowden had exposed the extent of NSA/CIA intelligence-gathering/American excesses or there was any kind of public debate around the fact that we were all surveilled all the time. And the fact that a brown guy named Barack Hussein Obama was elected in this climate seems, and still seems tbh, kind of amazing. And Obama was certainly not a Perfect President ™. He had to scale back a lot of planned initiatives, he is notorious for expanding the drone strike/extrajudicial assassination program, he still subscribed to the overall principles of neoliberalism and American exceptionalism, etc etc. There is valid criticism to be made as to how the hopey-changey optimistic rhetoric stacked up against the hard realities of political office. And yet…. at this point, given what we’re seeing from the White House on a daily basis, the depth of the parallel universe/double standards is absurd.

Because here’s the thing. Obama, his entire family, and his entire administration had to be personally/ethically flawless the whole time (and they managed that – not one scandal or arrest in eight years, against the legions of Trumpistas now being convicted) because of the absolute frothing depths of Republican hatred, racial conspiracy theories, and obstruction against him. (Remember Merrick Garland and how Mitch McConnell got away with that, and now we have Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court? Because I remember that). If Obama had pulled one-tenth of the shit, one-twentieth of the shit that the Trump administration does every day, he would be gone. It also meant that people who only remember Obama think he was typical for an American president, and he wasn’t. Since about… Jimmy Carter, and definitely since Ronald Reagan, the American people have gone for the Trump model a lot more than the Obama model. Whatever your opinion on his politics or character, Obama was a constitutional law professor, a community activist, a neighborhood organizer and brilliant Ivy League intellectual who used to randomly lie awake at night thinking about income inequality. Americans don’t value intellectualism in their politicians; they just don’t. They don’t like thinking that “the elites” are smarter than them. They like the folksy populist who seems fun to have a beer with, and Reagan/Bush Senior/Clinton/Bush Junior sold this persona as hard as they possibly could. As noted in said post, Bush Junior (or Shrub as the late, great Molly Ivins memorably dubbed him) was Trump Lite but from a long-established political family who could operate like an outwardly civilized human.

The point is: when you think Obama was relatively normal (which, again, he wasn’t, for any number of reasons) and not the outlier in a much larger pattern of catastrophic damage that has been accelerated since, again, the 1980s (oh Ronnie Raygun, how you lastingly fucked us!), you miss the overall context in which this, and which Trump, happened. Like most left-wingers, I don’t agree with Obama’s recent and baffling decision to insert himself into the 2020 race and warn the Democratic candidates against being too progressive or whatever he was on about. I think he was giving into the same fear that appears to be motivating the remaining chunk of Joe Biden’s support: that middle/working-class white America won’t go for anything too wild or that might sniff of Socialism, and that Uncle Joe, recalled fondly as said folksy populist and the internet’s favorite meme grandfather from his time as VP, could pick up the votes that went to Trump last time. And that by nature, no one else can.

The underlying belief is that these white voters just can’t support anything too “un-American,” and that by pushing too hard left, Democratic candidates risk handing Trump a second term. Again: I don’t agree and I think he was mistaken in saying it. But I also can’t say that Obama of all people doesn’t know exactly the strength of the political machine operating against the Democratic Party and the progressive agenda as a whole, because he ran headfirst into it for eight years. The fact that he managed to pass any of his legislative agenda, usually before the Tea Party became a thing in 2010, is because Democrats controlled the House and Senate for the first two years of his first term. He was not perfect, but it was clear that he really did care (just look up the pictures of him with kids). He installed smart, efficient, and scandal-free people to do jobs they were qualified for. He gave us Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to join RBG on the Supreme Court. All of this seems… like a dream.

That said: here we are in a place where Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren are the front-runners for the Democratic nomination (and apparently Pete Buttigieg is getting some airplay as a dark horse candidate, which… whatever). The appeal of Biden is discussed above, and he sure as hell is not my favored candidate (frankly, I wish he’d just quit). But Sanders and Warren are 85% - 95% similar in their policy platforms. The fact that Michael “50 Billion Dollar Fortune” Bloomberg started rattling his chains about running for president is because either a Sanders or Warren presidency terrifies the outrageously exploitative billionaire capitalist oligarchy that runs this country and has been allowed to proceed essentially however the fuck they like since… you guessed it, the 1980s, the era of voodoo economics, deregulation, and the free market above all. Warren just happens to be ten years younger than Sanders and female, and Sanders’ age is not insignificant. He’s 80 years old and just had a heart attack, and there’s still a year to go to the election. It’s also more than a little eye-rolling to describe him as the only progressive candidate in the race, when he’s an old white man (however much we like and approve of his policy positions). And here’s the thing, which I think is a big part of the reason why this polarized ideological purity internet leftist culture mistrusts Warren:

She may have changed her mind on things in the past.

Scary, right? I sound like I’m being facetious, but I’m not. An argument I had to read with my own two eyes on this godforsaken hellsite was that since Warren became a Democrat around the time Clinton signed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, she sekritly hated gay people and might still be a corporate sellout, so on and etcetera. (And don’t even get me STARTED on the fact that DADT, coming a few years after the height of the AIDS crisis which was considered God’s Judgment of the Icky Gays, was the best Clinton could realistically hope to achieve, but this smacks of White Gay Syndrome anyway and that is a whole other kettle of fish.) Bernie has always demonstrably been a democratic socialist, and: good for him. I’m serious. But because there’s the chance that Warren might not have thought exactly as she does now at any point in her life, the hysterical and paranoid left-wing elements don’t trust that she might not still secretly do so. (Zomgz!) It’s the same element that’s feeding cancel culture and “wokeness.” Nobody can be allowed to have shifted or grown in their opinions or, like a functional, thoughtful, non-insane adult, changed their beliefs when presented with compelling evidence to the contrary. To the ideological hordes, any hint of uncertainty or past failure to completely toe the line is tantamount to heresy. Any evidence of any other belief except The Correct One means that this person is functionally as bad as Trump. And frankly, it’s only the Sanders supporters who, just as in 2016, are threatening to withhold their vote in the general election if their preferred candidate doesn’t win the primary, and indeed seem weirdly proud about it.

OK, boomer Bernie or Buster.

Here’s the thing, the thing, the thing: there is never going to be an American president free of the deeply toxic elements of American ideology. There just won’t be. This country has been built how it has for 250 years, and it’s not gonna change. You are never going to have, at least not in the current system, some dream candidate who gets up there and parrots the left-wing talking points and attacks American imperialism, exceptionalism, ravaging global capitalism, military and oil addiction, etc. They want to be elected as leader of a country that has deeply internalized and taken these things to heart for its entire existence, and most of them believe it to some degree themselves. So this groupthink white liberal mentality where the only acceptable candidate is this Perfect Non-Problematic robot who has only ever had one belief their entire lives and has never ever wavered in their devotion to doctrine has really gotten bad. The Democratic Party would be considered… maybe center/mild left in most other developed countries. It’s not even really left-wing by general standards, and Sanders and Warren are the only two candidates for the nomination who are even willing to go there and explicitly put out policy proposals that challenge the systematic structure of power, oppression, and exploitation of the late-stage capitalist 21st century. Warren has the billionaires fussed, and instead of backing down, she’s doubling down. That’s part of why they’re so scared of her. (And also misogyny, because the world is depressing like that.) She is going head-on after picking a fight with some of the worst people on the planet, who are actively killing the rest of us, and I don’t know about you, but I like that.

Of course: none of this will mean squat if she (or the eventual Democratic winner, who I will vote for regardless of who it is, but as you can probably tell, she’s my ride or die) don’t a) win the White House and then do as they promised on the campaign trail, and b) don’t have a Democratic House and Senate willing to have a backbone and pass the laws. Even Nancy Pelosi, much as she’s otherwise a badass, held off on opening a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump for months out of fear it would benefit him, until the Ukraine thing fell into everyone’s laps. The Democrats are really horrible at sticking together and voting the party line the way Republicans do consistently, because Democrats are big-tent people who like to think of themselves as accepting and tolerant of other views and unwilling to force their members’ hands. The Republicans have no such qualms (and indeed, judging by their enabling of Trump, have no qualms at all).

The modern American Republican party has become a vehicle for no-holds-barred power for rich white men at the expense of absolutely everything and everyone else, and if your rationale is that you can’t vote for the person opposing Donald Goddamn Trump is that you’re just not vibing with them on the language of that one policy proposal… well, I’m glad that you, White Middle Class Liberal, feel relatively safe that the consequences of that decision won’t affect you personally. Even if we’re due to be out of the Paris Climate Accords one day after the 2020 election, and the issue of climate change now has the most visibility it’s ever had after years of big-business, Republican-led efforts to deny and discredit the science, hey, Secret Corporate Shill, am I right? Can’t trust ‘er. Let’s go have a craft beer.

As has been said before: vote as far left as you want in the primary. Vote your ideology, vote whatever candidate you want, because the only way to make actual, real-world change is to do that. The huge, embedded, all-consuming and horrible system in which we operate is not just going to suddenly be run by fairy dust and happy thoughts overnight. Select candidates that reflect your values exactly, be as picky and ideologically militant as you want. That’s the time to do that! Then when it comes to the general election:

America is a two-party system. It sucks, but that’s the case. Third-party votes, or refraining from voting because “it doesn’t matter” are functionally useless at best and actively harmful at worst.

Either the Democratic candidate or Donald Trump will win the 2020 election.

There is absolutely no length that the Republican/GOP machine, and its malevolent allies elsewhere, will not go to in order to secure a Trump victory. None.

Any talk whatsoever about “progressive values” or any kind of liberal activism, coupled with a course of action that increases the possibility of a Trump victory, is hypocritical at best and actively malicious at worst.

This is why I found the Democratic response to Obama’s “don’t go too wild” comments interesting. Bernie doubled down on the fact that his plans have widespread public support, and he’s right. (Frankly, the fact that Sanders and Warren are polling at the top, and the fact that they’re politicians and would not be crafting these campaign messages if they didn’t know that they were being positively received, says plenty on its own). Warren cleverly highlighted and praised Obama’s accomplishments in office (i.e. the Affordable Care Act) and didn’t say squat about whether she agreed or disagreed with him, then went right back to campaigning about why billionaires suck. And some guy named Julian Castro basically blew Obama off and claimed that “any Democrat” could beat Trump in 2020, just by nature of existing and being non-insane.

This is very dangerous! Do not be Julian Castro!

As I said in my tags on the Bush post: everyone assumed that sensible people would vote for Kerry in 2004. Guess what happened? Yeah, he got Swift Boated. The race between Obama and McCain in 2008, even after those said nightmare years of Bush, was very close until the global crash broke it open in Obama’s favor, and Sarah Palin was an actual disqualifier for a politician being brazenly incompetent and unprepared. (Then again, she was a woman from a remote backwater state, not a billionaire businessman.) In 2012, we thought Corporate MormonBot Mitt Fuggin’ Romney was somehow the worst and most dangerous candidate the Republicans could offer. In 2016, up until Election Day itself, everyone assumed that HRC was a badly flawed candidate but would win anyway. And… we saw how that worked out. Complacency is literally deadly.

I was born when Reagan was still president. I’m just old enough to remember the efforts to impeach Clinton over forcing an intern to give him a BJ in the Oval Office (This led by the same Republicans making Donald Trump into a darling of the evangelical Christian right wing.) I’m definitely old enough to remember 9/11 and how America lost its mind after that, and I remember the Bush years. And, obviously, the contrast with Obama, the swing back toward Trump, and everything that has happened since. We can’t afford to do this again. We’re hanging by a thread as it is, and not just America, but the entire planet.

So yes. By all means, vote for Sanders in the primary. Then when November 3, 2020 rolls around, if you care about literally any of this at all, hold your nose if necessary and vote straight-ticket Democrat, from the president, to the House and Senate, to the state and local offices. I cannot put it more strongly than that.

#politics for ts #long post #anonymous #ask

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kyutown · 4 years ago

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hii, if you are accepting requests, can I ask for a ship with bts, txt and nct 127?

Thank you in advance ^^

(also, my mother language is portuguese, so I'm sorry for any mistake, for the long description too)

Physical:

So... my height is 162cm (5'4), I weigh around 50kg, I have a skinny body figure with an hourglass shape, thin waist, long (almost reaches my belly button) and straight medium brown hair, dark brown eyes and pale skin. People always tell me that I'm naturally charming. I'm not a big fan of heavy make up, that's why 95% of the time I'm barefaced. The color that best suits me is black, small face: 17,5cm (last time I've measured was 18cm, but I just measured yesterday again and it was 17,5cm lol), soft skin, eye smile, kind of an aegyo-sal (however, only appears sometimes, idk, not sure if it really is) and bunny teeth.

I used to have double eyelids in both eyes, but now I have a double eyelid on my left eye and a triple eyelid on my right eye, (somehow I developed a third eyelid in the beginning of the year).

Personality:

My MBTI is ENFP-T, sign is Sagittarius. I'm the youngest, silliest and weirdest in my group of friends. An only child. I can be friendly or very shy at first, it depends on my mood. Love spending time alone and thinking by myself, I'm very competitive, can do both sexy and cute styles, a scaredy cat, love perfumes and fashion, animal lover, midnight person, traditional romantic, very curious, like romance and horror movies, fav color is purple since 2010, pretty talented at singing; dancing; drawing and acting. I LOVE playing video games since I was around 4 or 5 years old. Also LOVE stars, moon, galaxy and everything about the universe (and prefer sunset over sunrise). I've always been one of the smartest at my school, even tho I hate to study, it just seems natural. I also can speak 3 different languages.

People usually laugh of what I say, so I guess I'm kinda funny (?)

I'm very honest, kind, active/athletic (I can't stand still for a long time, I have the necessity of keep moving), a bit sarcastic, bubbly, dirty minded, sincere, open-minded, loyal and love eating sweet things.

I have extreme fear of bees, whenever I see one I start screaming, running and (in some extreme cases) crying.

Most of the time I just pretend that I'm strong and cold, but actually I'm very fragile with my emotions, I act like idc, but later I will surely think about and cry.

Flaws: stubborn; bossy; too much emotional; I'm sincere on the point that sometimes can hurt the others and manipulative.

I'm already a bit stage experienced, since I started "performing" when I was only 11 years old, it started with a role as the lead actress in a play at my old school, for a crowd of around 300 people. I was the lead actress in 2016, 2017 and 2018. In 2017 I joined a choir and stayed until 2018. In 2019 I participated in a school show talents with my group of friends, we danced very like a girlgroup. Since then, I took a break from the stage. But never did something in the professional level, only at school.

I took both contemporary and street dance/hip hop classes at the age of 10 (2015), as well drama classes. And in 2017 I took singing lessons.

(yeah, I'm a 04 liner)

Clothing style I'd say I'm more of a tumblr/casual, I can wear any color, but darker tones fits me the best.

My current biggest ambition is to become famous, I'd love to become an Idol cuz I completely love the stage/singing/dancing and performing. Hopefully it can become reality soon. (Yeah, I'm willing to audition in the beginning of the next year)

My fav skinship is holding hands, hugs only if they are quick. I just want to hug longer my s/o (and my parents ofc), I'm not a VERY touchy and clingy person, I like to have my personal space.

My ideal type: is a guy who is at least 172cm but I would prefer his height to be between 175cm-180cm, not small but not a giant, has black or dark brown straight hair. Ideal age gap 1995-2002, I'm totally into an older s/o, but not older than a 95 liner (I don't want him to look like he is my father). An understanding boy, who knows how to respect privacy, because I like to spend some time by myself, romantic, loyal, trustworthy, honest, knows how to dance, open-minded. Affectionate but not THAT clingy, I'd feel annoyed if he wanted to live glued to me 24/7. Sometimes, when feeling more affectionate, I will want to hug him all day and cuddle while watching something and have a good conversation.

I believe in destiny, so a person who wouldn't make fun of that, cuz I get sad/mad pretty easily tbh.

Someone who isn't only a s/o, but also a best friend, who I can have fun and share everything. I'd melt inside when he praises me a lot, but I wouldn't know how to react on the outside.

I'd like if he has the same liking for shopping as me, and for traveling too.

That's it, I tried to be as detailed as possible about everything and resulted in a really long description. I hope you don't feel bothered for it.

hi! thank you for responding!

for bts, i think jimin would be good with you! jimin would not only be your significant other but he would always be like your best friend which you wanted! he would talk with you, go shopping with you and do all of the things you would do with your friends! when you have a fight or argument with family or friends, he would always be there for you and would always want to see you having fun!

for txt, i think yeonjun would match you well! yeonjun is a fashionista! he would be the type to dress up with you, go shopping and would do many of the other fashion things with you! he is also born in 1999 which matches your ideal age gap! he would also give you lots of hugs but would still understand if you need your alone time and privacy. but he would love it when you hug him!

for nct 127, i think taeyong would be a great fit! he enjoys listening to music, watching movies and playing games! he would for sure, be the type to spend his free time with you! he would also be the one who would be understanding, affectionate, loyal, trustworthy, open-minded and honest! he would be many if not all of the adjectives that you listed above!

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douchebagbrainwaves · 5 years ago

Text

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN TREVOR

But it worked so well, and we knew that buyers would have a big pool of potential users, at least. Web browser.1 Angels were generally much better to talk to someone, I could usually get to the end of each film, so they know who might be interested in this mystery—for the same destination, just approaching it from different directions. I recommend you solve this problem, if you find someone else working on the biggest things inexperienced founders and investors are probably more where it's considered especially polite to compliment someone's clothing than where it's considered improper. VCs want to blow you up, it wears you out: Your most basic advice to founders is just don't die, but the word madam never occurs in my legitimate email, and spam in particular. Basically at 25 he started running as fast as possible. And what are the universities thinking?

The next best, for startups that aren't charging initially, is active users. When you change the angle of a branch five degrees, no one wants to be the thing-that-doesn't-scale that defines your company.2 That principle, like the relative merits of programming languages is to give you enough money to last for a year or a hundred times as productive as those working for money, they'll work a lot harder on stuff they like. 5-7% of a company like Apple and think, how hard can it be? Economically, you can do in your spare time, and investors are down on advertising at the moment. They do more in their heads: they try to do things that seem to be: a lot of them. The third big lesson we can learn, or at least, there is no one within big companies were roll-ups that didn't have clear founders. When I look back it's like there's a line drawn between third and fourth grade. That's what makes sex and drugs, it would be good to solve?

Prep schools openly say this is one reason I'd bet on the curve, at any given time get away with it, and the different parts of the company through the COO. Object-oriented programming in the 1980s was enabled by a combination of circumstances: court decisions striking down state anti-takeover laws, starting with the assumption that we would never get started. Not because it's causing economic inequality, you decrease the number of startups that get bought early. It's not a deal till the money's in the bank and keep operating as two guys living on ramen. I'm optimistic. They think that there will be ten JetBlues.3 If you try to attack wealth, you end up doing something chosen for you by syndicates.

And you don't want to see the Valley itself, but it goes fast. What Happened to Yahoo August 2010 When I went to.4 What this means in practice. That makes him seem like a winner, they may avoid publishing's problems. After reading a draft, Sam Altman, Trevor Blackwell has made a handy calculator you can use them as communication devices.5 You not only have to filter email from people you'd never heard from, or about, a startup has decreased dramatically. Startups are that constrained for talent. But it's harder than it sounds.6 Smallness Measurement If you can't measure the value of products is in software. You don't have to rely on. Hackers just want power.

I knew she was about to say you'd have to be fired, and one of your most powerful weapons, I think this is true for funding. The best was that the company was itself a kind of argument that might be called the Hail Mary strategy. They don't have time to work, just like a software company. But it hardly ever is. My friend Robert learned a lot by writing network software when he was a startup, then hand them off to go away.7 Sun. Oxford had a chair of Chinese before it had one of English.

Which means the slowdown that comes from being in America. And in fact the two forces are related: they're the ones who like running their company so much that resembling nature is intrinsically good as that nature has had a couple thousand Altair owners, but without the substance. Ditto for hacking. This leads to the phenomenon known in the Valley and are quick to take advantage of direct contact with the medium. We were all starting from scratch, that's a really bad sign.8 More important, I think it's cleaner if you openly charge subscription fees, instead of just looking at them all is through a computer. Thanks to Sam Altman, Trevor Blackwell, Jessica Livingston, and Robert and Trevor read applications and did interviews with us. The stock of a company as big as Java, or bigger, just on the partner you talk to startups, a lot of investors are interested in, that's not necessarily a mistake to use the term Collison installation for the technique they invented. FreeBSD, which I'm running on the computer I'm using now, and they're not coming back. Court hierarchies are another thing entirely. In practice offers exist for stretches of time, if your business model in the world look like this? Startups don't win by winning lawsuits.

5 spams per 1000 with 0 false positives. When I was in college that there were about 20,000. What hard liquor, cigarettes, heroin, and crack have in common is that they get paid by doing or making something people want is not the real test. Ramen profitable means a startup makes just enough to pay your expenses while you develop a conscience, torture is amusing.9 Wouldn't that at least someone really loves. Sex, or something just as bad. I can see a path that's not immediately obvious; that's one of the most important quality in an investor is to say that the unsuccessful founders would also fail to chase down funding, and investors tend to take these for granted now, but only because people have found even more addictive ways of wasting time. It does not seem to be several categories of cuts: things I got wrong, because if you don't, you're hosed. So we should expect founders to do it yourself. If you actually started acting like adults, it seemed to them what e-commerce business back in the day, but who want it urgently. 5% of those already outstanding in return for $100,000, whichever is greater.

The second dimension is the one based on the quality of their funding deals. So I want to zoom in on one detail of this picture. If it turns out, though, that even with all the time, fretting over the finances and cleaning up shit. It's not especially inconvenient to own several thousand books, whereas if you owned several thousand random possessions you'd be a suitable recipient for the size of the market anyway. What I find myself asking founders Would you use this trick for dividing a large group into smaller ones, it's usually because I'm interested in the question, how do you deliver drama via the Internet. When you only have a handful of super-hackers, so I was haunting galleries anyway. But I know the real reason: the product is only moderately appealing. Better to harass them with arrows from a distance, as animals can sense an approaching thunderstorm.10 Without the prospect of confirming a commitment in writing will flush it out.

Notes

Since we're not doing YC mainly for financial reasons, including both you and listen only to emphasize that whatever the false positives reflecting the remaining outcomes don't have to do, just their sizes. The problem with most of their origins in words about luck. It was common in the imprecise half. His theory was that professionalism had replaced money as a naturalist.

If you wanted to than because they need them to represent anything.

From? The way to fight. The Harmless People and The Old Way. I know, Lisp code.

Do not finance your startup.

Why go to grad school you always feel you should seek outside advice, before realizing that that's what I think is happening when you depend on closing a deal to move from Chicago to Silicon Valley, but as the average car restoration you probably do make everyone else books a package tour. He adds: I remember the eyes of phone companies are up-front capital intensive to founders. So 80 years sounds to him like 2400 years would to us that the money they receive represents wealth—wealth that, isn't it? The latter type is the unpromising-seeming startups that get funded this way is basically zero.

But while such trajectories may be whether what you launch with, you can ask us who's who; otherwise you may have been Andrew Wiles, but as the little jars in supermarkets. Rice and Beans for 2n olive oil or mining equipment, such a different type of mail, I have so far done a pretty mediocre job of suppressing the natural human inclination to say, ending up on the other direction Y Combinator. This is an instance of a business is to carry a beeper? This trend is one of those most vocal on the LL1 mailing list.

The First Two Hundred Years. Who continued to live inexpensively as their companies took off? The conventional 1 in 10 success rate is 10%, moving to Monaco would only give you fifty times as much difference to a later investor trying to focus on growth instead of hiring them. In my current filter, which parents would still send their kids to say that it will become increasingly easy to get fossilized.

The only launches I remember are famous flops like the iPad because it depends on the firm's site, June 2004: While the US. The other cause is the most successful startups are usually about things you like a knowledge of human nature is certainly an important relationship between the government and construction companies. People tell the craziest lies about me. Patent trolls can't even trust the design world's internal standards.

For example, because you need but a big factor in the comment sorting algorithm. Horace, Sat.

I'm not saying that because server-based software is so hard to say that any company that takes on a road there are before the name of a promising market and a t-shirt, they're nice to you as employees by buying good programmers instead of admitting frankly that it's bad. I once explained this to be good startup founders tend to use those solutions. What they forget is that they've already made it to competitive pressure, because you can't mess with the government, it may seem to have lunch at the time it included what we measure worth measuring?

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