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knifehecker · 6 years ago

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undertale day [long post]

it’s the 15th!! happy 4th birthday undertale!!! normally i try to do a little art or something but this year i decided to do something a little different. there’s a lot of content that’s become core tenets of my experience with the fandom -- changed the way i thought about the characters, how i engage with the fandom, opened my eyes to new ways of writing -- and i thought it’d be neat to compile some of those into one post to share with other people. so without further ado!!!

40-minute Deltarune Piano Medley - FaceImplosion [MUSIC]

ok, i know this is deltarune and not undertale, but this medley incorporates songs from both games so i’m gonna say it counts. and honestly, i could say a LOT about this piece!! i’ve watched and listened to a lot of ut/dr medleys, and this has to be the most lovingly crafted of its type that i’ve ever seen. Ever. a lot of care has been put into the order and combination of the songs (some funny, some sad, some mindblowing, ALL amazing) and the art is so good that every time i listen i find myself watching along. there’s a lot of easter eggs, especially for the attentive listener/watcher, and this medley deserves far more than the 6k views it’s gotten so far.

Undertale Album Project - Various Artists [MUSIC]

Songs From Mt Ebott is a collaborative album project that contains dozens of tracks from a score of different artists. i have a lot of favorite tracks from this album, not to mention the individual track art created for each, and if you’ve never heard of this project before, i really recommend giving it a listen! (FaceImplosion also did a piano track for this album, by the way, which i’m linking separately because it’s one of my aforementioned favorites.)

Chara - tigerblossom [MUSIC]

im not gonna lie. this was my favorite piece of fan music for a long time. it’s a medley mashing a few different songs together, short and sweet, but it comes together in such an incredibly heartfelt way at the end that whenever i end up listening to it i find myself wishing the track was about five minutes longer. they also have an underfell version of your best friend that i recommend giving a listen!

Photographs - FuriousPoplar [FIC]

in terms of “post-paci everyone lives au”s, there’s been a lot of ground covered by a lot of different people, and after a while the concept feels almost a bit...same-y? but this fic covers a sorely-needed conversation between an alive chara and asriel in a way that i’ve never seen approached by anyone else before. it’s cathartic, it’s extremely well written, and it doesn’t shy away from the ugly sides of trauma and recovery, which is so greatly appreciated. it also hit me...REALLY hard, which i think is a testament to how amazing this piece is.

Turn Back - foxsgloves [FIC]

i read this one pretty early on in my time in this fandom, and it’s continued to influence me long after. the premise: frisk keeps loading over the brief time asriel has his body in the epilogue, and simply spends time with him as they both prepare to move on towards the end. it’s sad. it’s cute. it’s amazing. it’s something i go back to reread sometimes late at night when i want to reread something friendly and familiar and a little sad. and its been one of my favorites ever since i read it.

You Wear Your Grief Like a Badge - Draikinator [FIC SERIES]

how do you even TALK about ywyglb? do i talk about nate’s impeccable voice in their writing? how true to character they are with the kids? how they set the scene of a post-pacifist world still shaking with the echoes of the past? the series starts with flowey taking frisk’s soul captive while chara and sans form an uneasy alliance in order to get them back, and then spirals into a tense, sweet, funny, awful, heartbreaking experience that reshaped how i viewed the boundaries of my own writing. draikinator’s writing has been and continues to be a huge inspiration to me, and i heartily recommend giving any of their stuff a try.

A Numbered List of Things That Aren't as Badass as They Sound (ex. Monsters, Suicide, Burning in Hell) - rosyy [FIC]

a brief glimpse into chara and asriel just before It Happens, While It Happens, When It Happens. the prose here is the sort of flowery delirious feverdream you’d expect from a kid dying of buttercup poisoning, and i love it to bits. i also want to mention a dr who crossover by the same author, because it has kris as the doctor and frisk as the stray they adopt, and its also the perfect antidote to the angst the first fic provides.

Risen Up (or, Of Fallen Children and Mountain Kin) - paradoxpangolin [FIC]

oh jeezums, how do i even start with this one? post-paci, frisk comes to the conclusion that the best way to ease the tensions between human and monsterkind is to put on a musical about their time in the underground!!!!.....except this leads to its own host of complications, and things get a bit Messy. this fic hasn’t updated in a bit, but it contains so much in its 140k of already published writing that i feel the need to urge you to read it anyway. i’m really partial to autistic frisks, and this fic has what’s got to be my favorite portrayal of that in ... probably the entire fandom? honestly, most (if not all) of the characters in this fic are autist, and it’s just. very good. i love.

you’re like a mirror, reflecting me - batterytriplicate [FIC]

a daemon au exploring what frisk and chara’s journeys might have been like with the extra distinction between monster dust and daemon dust. i completely forgot about this fic until i was trawling through my ao3 history for this post, and i’m really really glad i found it again. i think i was in the middle of trying to figure out this exact au when i first found this fic, and it did everything i was thinking of (and more) so much better that i felt more than content leaving it at that. so if you like his dark materials and want to see a fantastic little daemon au, give this a shot!

soulless-pacifist - vsemily [ASK BLOG]

soulless-pacifist..... if you’ve never heard of this askblog, you’re in for a treat. i wasn’t with it from the very beginning, but i started reading towards the middle of its main story arc and stuck with it to the end, and suffice it to say, it has to be my favorite fandom askblog to date, purely for how well its written, how well its drawn, and how it’s one of the....only askblogs i’ve ever seen come not only to a FULL conclusion, but to a satisfying one! the mun also worked with a programmer to create a fangame for its final arc, which is so above and beyond that im still kind of in disbelief. in short: this askblog followed frisk and their passenger after the events of a soulless pacifist route, and continues on with them as they grow together and find their place with a whole host of twist and turns in store. also, memes.

Shine your light with me, chase all the dark away - FancifulRivers [FIC]

this au follows frisk and chara after the events of the game. unlike most post-paci runs, though, chara has their own body back, while they and frisk are hiding back in mt ebott after the monsters have left to avoid the complications of being runaways and also.... incredible guilt and trauma. things don’t really work out like that, though, and i really recommend this read. fancifulrivers has also been an incredibly prolific writer who’s uploaded a lot of really good ut fics, so this is a great starting point to jump off of for their other stuff!

repercussions - proximally [FIC]

this fic... i think this one fic is the one that’s impacted me the most during my early days of this fandom. it’s short, and sad, and is a twist on the soulless pacifist ending that i was left thinking about literally for months after i first read it. instead of saying any more and risking spoiling it, i’ll just leave the author’s desc: “You made a mistake, and you pay for it with your life. “

The Great Boondoggle - Masu_Trout [FIC]

the premise of this fic is pretty simple. post paci, frisk is walking home. they come across a Bad Guy. hijinks ensue. but what sets apart this fic from others for me is the way frisk is written here. when this fic was published in early 2016, most frisks i came across were the...sweet harmless woobies that were pretty typical from the fandom. this is one of the first frisks i came across that was kind of mean, and a little cold, and had very obviously had a long upward climb to being the sort of person who chose mercy instead of fight. this portrayal is a lot more common nowadays, which i’m super grateful for, but since this is one of the first fics i came across that really nailed this portrayal, i felt i should leave this here. i also recommend their pokemon/ut au, which is toriel and frisk centric and i also love to bits.

and....well, i was gonna say “that’s it”, but i honestly had to cut quite a few things from this list to keep it from stretching the dash too much. there’s been a lot of incredible content created by this fandom over the years, and this is by no means a comprehensive list of my favorites. but these are some of the ones that impacted me in a really special way, and if you were kind enough to check them out and maybe even liked them, please consider leaving a kind comment for the creator! if you’re the author of one of these pieces reading this right now: thank you so much! im looking forward to finding even more favorites in this year and the next.

#undertale #deltarune #fic rec #longpost #long post #techinically its NOT the 15gh for me yet but theres like. an hour left #and i cant wait to post this anymore SO!!!!#idk theres a lot of stuff this fandom has produced thats been pretty. terrible #but there's just as much if not more stuff people have created thats changed the way i thought #about other people and myself and the way i interact with the world and all that #etc etc etc #anyway. im gay

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00sheven · 5 years ago

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business as usual

(taking a scary and unpredictable time and making it mor scary and unpredictable.)

well shit,

unemployment.

unemployment is insisting on giving me a good spanking.

when I was on it before I was using it as a safety net. a lot of stagehands will file for it to fill in gaps between work ( it is considered being under employed) so at least they receive some income when things get slow. it's not much but at least its something.

in my case I believe if I made over 200 and change I wasnt eligible to receive benifits. (maybe 300 I dont remember, but it wouldnt be much over that) it is impossible to live on but you can pay a bill and buy some groceries.

well silly me forgot to log sick time into one of my certifications.

you practically need a course in simple accounting when being a freelance stage hand when filling out an unemployment certification. (jokes.)

when you know you wont quailifiy you have to do it anyways.

how many hours did you work?

tally tally tally tally tally

who were your employers?

list employers 1 through let's just say 10

A) employer's name and address

how much money did you make?

tally tally tally (didn't get paid yet) guess tally tally guess guess tally tally.

did you look for work?

yes

provide contact information.

who

what

where

when

why.

have you pooped today and if do how many times.

hopefully you are getting the drift.

I was happy to do it, it was helping me out.

anyhow, forgetting to log in sick time.

I forgot to log in sevral hours of sick time and was paid by my employer and unemployment.

honest mistake.

well, I had to pay back the money, fair enough.

then I had to pay penalty money, understandable. they will let me make payments.

we are going to refuse benifits for (I cant remember how long) okay that sucks.

(apparently) you must continue to certify for benifits during this period to be eligible for unemployment benifits. that you are not going to recieve.

what I have not mentioned.

I was going through such a bad depression at that time that I couldn't even put on my shoes. I would sleep for one or two days at a time. I would leave my bed to eat and use the restroom, it was difficult to do simple things like hygiene related tasks. I know it's hard for people to understand. you really cant unless you experience it for yourself, and I wouldnt wish that on anyone.

I worked when work was available, but it was very difficult.

I scraped by and made enough to pay off the debt.

I thought I was done and got off unemployment.

although I needed it I managed to get by without out it. I ended up getting a job with the AV company (the one i was working with full time until all this craziness started happening. see earlier posts) on a freelance basis, and doing music production as a runner. I started making good money and making ends meet. dont get me wrong. I wasn't making enough to get an apartment. but I was making enough money to live a little more comfortably at the hobo compound. ( see hobo compound in previous posts.)

kick in the balls time. (recap)

I have to move from the hobo compound.

(the overlords are remodeling wont be taking tenets anymore) I am homeless, goose moves in at the outpost.

(see money breakdown in earlier post. if you think my bills went down, they didnt.)

covid 19

I work in the entertainment industry. no shows. no work. I get laid off.

(lots of other fucked up shit happens. review the blog if you wish.)

I have to refile for unemployment.

my case gets accepted, no mention of previous problems.

2 maybe 3 weeks later. nothing.

I check my account online last night.

your benifits are denied for this week due to penalty period.

the next week

your benifits are denied for this week due to penalty period.

what the fuck.

I paid the money back.

I paid the penalty money.

I did the pointless certifications.

how much longer is this going to last?

I tried to make a call to talk to them.

they are no longer taking calls.

I go online and through an online maze to find something close to a predetermined question that I can choose from that matches my situation.

it allows me to ask for information.

message sent.

we will get back to you in 5 to 7 business days.

okay I'll wait.

I have an indefinite amount of money to sustain the goose and I while we wait.

it's cool guys.

this commercial break is brought to you by the circle jerks and the endowment for the arts.

youtube

I wake up to a vague text message from the insurance adjuster.

as you can see from my response I required a little more information.

why?

what you dont know.

when dealing with my insurance company

I was kept in the dark

they didnt respond to my calls

I found out they settled my claim when I went to pay my bill

they sent the check to the hobo compound.

the check was issued to the guy I bought the car from.

they didnt notify me of a settlement at all.

they didnt inform me about where I should go to get my car fixed. as far as I know they got a random estimate and then subtracted 500 dollars for my deductible.

the payout to my claim was like 730. somthing dollars.

when I called them to inquire

goes though phone maze.

waits on hold due to covid 19

finally gets through.

it appears we forgot to subtract 20% for some type of fee. you were over paid we are going to stop payment on your check.

we can write you another check minus 20% or you can contact the insurance company the other party yourself to see if you have better luck. we are terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

yeah, fuck you.

so I call the insurance of the other party.

phone maze

on hold, covid 19

we thought this claim was closed

no it is not. I rejected the offer from my company. why would I pay a 500 dollar deductible when I am 100 percent not at fault.

we need to talk to your insurance company call you back.

they call back

we see you want to settle through us we are going to send a guy in a couple of days.

yesterday.

guy shows up hella early in the morning. (yell talks.) is rude. tells me a guy is gonna call me to discuss outcome of my claim. takes pictures. leaves.

today.

hella early receives text message.

try to text number the text originates from.

you can't text that number.

why would I want to speak to someone regarding my claim you ask.

well I'll tell you. it so happens I'm my case that people are dropping the fucking ball mother fuckers and I want to avoid any more possible complications and dragging this situation out any further than it needs to be.

so.

I call insurance co.

goes through phone maze

doesn't have correct option.

chooses incorrect option in an attempt to speak to someone.

gets put on hold due to covid 19

someone answers.

you need to talk to claims. I will try and contact your adjuster. (knows who I am because of phone number.)

your adjuster isn't available. I will put you through to someone who can give you the information you've requested.

gets put on hold.

other person picks up.

I repeat information to new person.

new person has no idea who I am. (has no information tied to my phone number.)

new person asks when the loss occurred.

I dont know that off the top of my head.

new person can't proceed without that info.

I dig the info up.

new person what was the other parties name.

I'm getting really annoyed at this time

digs up other parties name.

new person can you spell other parties name

I spell other parties name.

new person do you have a claim number

how may fucking people with that name on that date have had accidents mother fucker.

gets put on hold.

waiting on hold

new person comes back.

new person. here is the number and extension for you claim adjuster.

hangs up

calls insurance company

goes through phone maze

puts in extension

phone rings

some weird electronic music comes on.

electronic music plays instead of going to voice mail.

keeps playing

I hang up

calls insurance company

goes through phone maze

something goes wrong hangs up

calls insurance company

goes through phone maze chooses different option

something goes wrong hangs up

calls insurance company

goes through phone maze

chooses different option

gets put on hold due to covid 19

something goes wrong hangs up

calls insurance company

goes through phone maze

puts in extension number again

gets put on hold due to covid 19

adjuster picks up the phone.

the clouds part and Angel's sing

talks to adjuster for 3 minutes confirming information is correct.

hangs up the phone.

next.

3/31/20

red tape circle jerks

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valiantleigh · 5 years ago

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What I Learned From 5 Years of Minimalism

The Beginning of a Learning Curve

It all started with clothes. Oh boy, the clothes that 14-year-old Brenna chose to wear. Walking into Rue 21, determined to make all my fashion dreams come true, I‌ [un]wisely chose 3 pairs of brightly colored skinny jeans⁠—electric blue, shockingly emerald green, and maroon⁠—and cheaply made circle scarves and tops to match. This was it. This is how I would gain the “oohs” and “ahhs” and admiration of my fellow trendy Freshmen at Parowan High.

Eventually, the glamour wore off. Frustrated, I realized that rare shades of spunky green could only match with so many things. Dressing fashionably was more of a chore than I had ever wanted it to be, and somehow I still didn’t measure up to the girls around me. How would I‌ ever be comfortable with how I looked and achieve the effortless style I longed for?

Enter minimalism⁠—the worldwide movement touting the universal benefits of decluttering, downsizing, and “less is more.” Capsule wardrobes and black and white outfits seemed like the perfect solution to my personal style dilemma, and at age 15 I proudly declared myself to be a “minimalist.”

(If you are not familiar with the term “minimalism”, this article, and this article both give a good overview.)

I‌ began to devour every piece of minimalist literature and media I could find. I strategically began buying clothing that was guaranteed to pair well each day. I was ruthless as I decluttered my belongings and challenged myself to thrive with only the things that were necessary. Everything had to go. Frivolity and excess became enemies to my ideal of perfection.

At one point, I was successfully dressing myself for school each day with only 3 shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shoes, and one jacket to my name. Decided pickiness and a limited budget didn’t allow for much more, but at that time it was all about the numbers. I was proud of myself for proving it was possible to “live with less.”

But minimalism isn't strictly about clothing. It's a way of life. Mistakenly, I began to pattern myself after the lifestyle I saw on other people’s blogs and YouTube channels, convincing myself that this was my best life. Minimalism changed a lot of things for me: how I‌ viewed my time, my dream [tiny] house I‌ would build in college (ha! not happening), constant dissatisfaction with the untidiness of any room that wasn’t mine, and even how I‌ lived the gospel. Clearing the excess left me feeling empty instead of whole.

It took a little while but I finally realized that I‌ don’t want the smallest home possible; I don’t want to grow all my food and live off the grid; I‌ don’t want to constantly obsess over having the “right” stuff. And white walls and furniture? Forget it! I’m gonna be a mama, after all.

What I Got Wrong

In the end, minimalism wasn’t the solution to all my problems. For a young girl who felt that having full control over every detail of her life would bring the peace she desired, maybe minimalism wasn’t the best thing. However, looking back I wouldn’t give up the lessons I‌ learned about the relationship between possessions and my individual worth. While there was certainly a time that I cut out too much in order to live the lifestyle I‌ thought would save me, I have now kept the best parts of that journey and found balance and joy in more fulfilling ways.

So what are the best parts of minimalism? A few years ago, I totally missed the mark on that score. “Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.” (theminimalists.com, emphasis added) I, however, was using this tool as a justification for striving for unattainable flawlessness.

While I recount my past misunderstandings concerning minimalism, my goal is to dissuade you from it’s vices, not it’s actual tenets. Younger Brenna was reading words between the lines that weren’t meant to be there in the first place.

In fact, nearly every minimalist influencer out there pleads that newbies to the movement avoid conforming to any one way of using minimalism, especially if it isn’t right for them.

According to Colleen Valles of No Side Bar, “the beauty of minimalism” is that “there are no standards.”

“Minimalism is not about following someone else’s rules or way of living as a minimalist,” offers Melissa of Simple Lionheart Life. “It’s about figuring out what is important to you and getting rid of everything that’s distracting you from the important stuff.”

As I made this mental shift from a sort of utopian/restrictive minimalism to a mindful/carefree minimalism, here’s a few lessons I picked up on:

Lesson 1: When you find out what is really important to you, you’ll actually want it, and have a clear path to get it.

In this busy, busy world there is so much to choose from. With all of these choices vying for our attention, decision fatigue eventually leads to self doubt and feelings of failure.

But do we really even want the things that we choose on a daily basis? Do we want to scroll through our Instagram for 6 hours a day? Do we want to impress people whose opinions don’t matter to us anyway? Do we want to avoid things that might challenge us just because it is safe and easy? No one, when making a list of their priorities in life, even thinks about these things. They don’t make the Top 100!

So ask yourself, “What do I really want? And what is stopping me from obtaining it?” When I talk about actually wanting something, that includes taking the necessary action to reach for it and then make it a reality. This is different than saying something is a priority, or knowing something should be important to us.

You don't really want it unless you act like you want it.

A powerful gift that we have been given from our God is our ability to choose. By realizing what you really want and don’t want for your life, daily decision-making won't necessarily become easier, but it will certainly be simpler.

In my own life, instead of wearing certain styles of clothes to fit in or measure up to someone else, I‌ wear them because I‌ want to. I dress modestly because I want to. I‌ wear my vintage mom jeans because I look dang good in them, and because I‌ want to.

Instead of counting how many objects I own in order to fit into some made up ideal, I‌ keep it to the necessities because I want to. I‌ want my stuff to be organized, so I organize it, not worrying about how unorganized other people’s stuff is (because people are more important than stuff).

Once I figured out what I‌ really wanted, my life truly became mine, not some miserable copy-cat existence. My biggest hope for you is to recognize just how much power you wield when you make the choice to choose what your life is going to be.

Lesson 2: You can’t have everything you want, but you can be content.

I know this seems counter-intuitive to "choose what you want in life." But hear me out.

I am a firm believer that when we decide to choose the important stuff, it invites those things into our lives like a magnet. But I also know that we can’t choose every situation, or heartache, or trial that becomes a part of our mortal journey.

I like to think that our freedom of choice falls into two categories: (1) the things we can control or influence, no questions asked, and (2) the things we can’t–in which case we still have full and complete control over our attitude, our outlook, our reaction, and how we cope with what is placed before us.

My decision to be a minimalist was born out of discontent. I‌ just wanted more, more, more, because I didn’t feel like I was enough. But today, I’m here to tell you, that whatever you do have–whether it’s less or more–you can be content, and even grateful, right where you are. You are enough, and all that surrounds you is enough.

Even after all my talk of action and knowing what you want, I know that sometimes there is no amount of action that can change what our reality is right now. Some of our desires only come to fruition after we’ve been reaching for a very long time.

Remember those two categories of choices? I‌ think that they can be separated by time as well. The first category, the things we can control, are all in the future, at some later date. And while we wait, we make the category two choices: our attitude, how we view our situation. Contentedness is “satisfaction with things as they are.”

Plainly stated, we will never be happy or fulfilled with what we have in the future if we don’t accept our current situation–the “right now.”

What I am trying to say is this: maybe you want x but you need y. You want a clean home, but you need less stuff. You want freedom, but you need to take charge of your choices. You want peace, but you need to make space for it by letting go of something first. You want to be productive, but you need to measure your success differently.

After you know what you want, being content in your day-to-day existence–with yourself, your situation, your stuff, and the people around you–is the best way to love the journey while you reach for your desires.

Lesson 3: Money matters, but not in the way the world tells you.

Long before minimalism, I‌ learned my most important lesson about money management from paying tithing. Giving 10-percent of my earnings to the Lord–as a act of faith and obedience–has always multiplied the other 90-percent.

Minimalism taught me how to more effectively use that 90-percent. It’s easy to think that we are free to spend money just because we have it. I have been shopping for about 5 out of 20 years that I've been alive, and every purchase that ended up not working out in the way that I expected–whether I‌ was expecting increased happiness, popularity, or some easy fix to a deeper problem–was a lesson about treating my money well.

When you treat your money with kindness, it will treat you kindly too. So be nice to your money. Think carefully before you use it. Save some of it to show that you appreciate it. Invest it in something for the future. Spend it on that which is good and wholesome–especially the things and the people you treasure. But in all of your budgeting, don’t be too stingy with it. Money will ebb and flow through your life. Treat yourself! Use it as a tool to improve your life and lives around you. The mistakes you make with money will always be lessons for the future. Money is forgiving when you try to mend your ways; all it takes is some time.

Livin’ the Slow Life

I‌ hope you realize how recently these lessons took full effect for me. It didn’t happen right at first, or even all at once.

Over time, I’ve come to distance myself from the world of minimalism. I‌ no longer pour over articles from minimalist bloggers. I‌ know enough, and it sits well with me. Still, minimalism has been a big part of my growth, and I can’t pretend like it never happened.

Now that I know myself and my stuff a little bit better, I’ve decided to call what I do “slow living.” With a quick internet search you will find that there is certainly a slow movement going on, with decades of history behind it, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm just doing what works for me (and borrowing the term). How I approach productivity, money, and how I spend my time is largely influenced by minimalism, but recently it’s become something all it's own. (Of course, I’ve always been influenced by the gospel of Jesus Christ.) Right now, I’m just focused on “embracing my pace.” And I can’t wait to tell you more about it.

Live valiant leigh,

Brenna

[Originally posted on September 3, 2019]

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johneward35 · 5 years ago

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5 Ways to Stay Social While Youre in Quarantine

In the age of coronavirus, we’re all self quarantining, or we really should be. Memes are being shared instead of germs and the way we socialize and communicate is rapidly changing. Making connections with people through sharing the plant has always been one of Dockside’s core tenets and we are here to help you facilitate some good old fashioned community bonding without getting physical.

Create a Spotify Playlist with Friends

Maybe you’re old fashioned and prefer the classic mixtape or CD. But times have changed! Make a playlist for your friends and loved ones. Or get your group of friends involved and collaborate on the ultimate quaran-tunes playlist!

Share Recipes

Gone are the days of potlucks but thank goodness for technology! Do a recipe swap with friends and change up your mealtime routine! You could also create a Facebook virtual potluck group to share recipes and pictures. Invite all your friends and take turns live broadcasting cooking your casseroles!

Group Chat

Social support from friends and family can help you get through the most stressful of times and we need all the support we can get right about now. Being part of a friend network gives you a sense of belonging and self-worth, which can help you in combatting anxiety and depression. One study found that for women in particular, spending time with friends and children helps release oxytocin, a natural stress reliever. This effect is called “tend and befriend,” and is the opposite of the fight-or-flight response. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, you shouldn’t expose yourself or others and it’s best to limit your physical interactions. Try face-timing or gchatting a friend or get the whole gang together and video chat with apps like BlueJeans. Local comedians in Seattle have taken to the screen. Joketellers Union uploads their live-streamed shows for all to enjoy! Don’t forget to donate and support your local artists.

Start a Book Club

Start a book club or if you’re already in one, make it virtual! Books are great for anxiety and can prevent mental decline. Escape into a book unless that book is The Plague by Albert Camus. Maybe don’t read that one. If that happens to be your genre, check out this long list of pandemic themed books!

Netflix & Chill Netflix & Chat

Getting stoned and watching Netflix alone can be amazing, but it’s even better with friends. Plus you don’t even have to leave your house (not that you could anyway).

Thanks to Netflix Party you can now sync up with friends and strangers virtually and watch the same show or movie while simultaneously chatting it up! You’ll need to have a Netflix subscription in order to participate.

Install NetflixParty (please note that this extension is only compatible with Chrome browsers) Once on the site, select “Install Netflix Party”

Next, Select Add to Chrome:

Click “Add extension”:

Access Netflix and click the Red ‘NP’ to the right of your browser search bar. Now you can start your Netflix Party!

Party on!

Netflix Party extension may not be compatible with all devices. We recommend watching on a computer browser and if you have issues, please reach out to Netflix Party.

The post 5 Ways to Stay Social While You’re in Quarantine appeared first on Dockside Cannabis.

from https://www.docksidecannabis.com/5-ways-to-stay-social-while-youre-in-quarantine/

from Dockside Cannabis - Blog https://docksidecannabisdispensary.weebly.com/blog/5-ways-to-stay-social-while-youre-in-quarantine

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tipsfprsports-blog · 6 years ago

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The most effective method to Utilize Web journals For Marketing Your Online Business

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The second way is The manner by which to Weblog for Moderate: The how to weblog for intermediates way will require the middle of the road learning and involvement with web improvement. It is entirely near the learner way anyway knowing PHP structure is a reward. Along these lines, you will have your blog on a free server like Go Daddy. When you're setting up the facilitating bundle on Go Daddy pick WordPress facilitating. Along these lines, you are utilizing Go Daddy's servers, yet at the same time have the pre-made layouts and modules of WordPress. This is a lot less demanding at that point constructing your entire site without any preparation.

The focal points are:

You are on a free server, not WordPress's.

You can have advertisements advancing anything.

You can use the same number of hyper-connects as you need in the body of your blog.

You don't risk your account being closed down.

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The disservices:

You should physically include the majority of the modules to your blog.

You may need to know php structure.

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Not very many limitations on customizing your site.

Costs cash

The Third way is The means by which to Build up a Blog for Cutting edge: The how to build up a blog for cutting edge way, you will have your blog on an autonomous server like above. Anyway, you fabricate it without any preparation. You fabricate your formats and modules.

The preferences are:

You can truly modify your site at any rate you might want. There are no confinements

The burdens are:

You need to completely recognize what you're doing.

Costs cash

So since you thoroughly understand sites and how to utilize websites for marketing your online business There is nothing keeping you away from making a crazy measure of focused traffic to your webpage and expanding your change rate. So make a move and begin on the most proficient method to build up a blog. Here's to your prosperity.

#tips for sports

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smarmykemetic · 7 years ago

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anon bc my kemetic blog is a sideblog; I dont understand this (message 1/2 or 3) Re: "disrespecting the NTRW" thing; I've read so many sources on people getting angry at them, threatening them & their temples like...obv it's not good to do that but i feel like they would understand if humans feel hard done by and pissy. Not to say they wouldnt *also* be angry that youre arguing or outright threatening them but its not like the way it is in christian spirituality (as far as i understand)

(2/2 unless i add more) and then as far as i know, thru my own research people also applied their own ideas to the NTRW all the time and joked with/about them??? And i feel like all-powerful or not- everyone enjoys a damn joke. And the “politics=/=religion thing” weirds me out too bc kemetic (place, not religion necessarily) politics was innately tied w their religion because their religion kind of like WAS their society. The NTRW influenced every aspect of fckn everything.

(since you haven’t sent anything else im just publishing like this lol)

I agree, for the most part. Based on the sources we have, it’s up to the individual practitioner (and their gods, naturally) what kind of piety requirements, if any, are enforced. We have hymns and poems naming the gods as perfect, beyond reproach, deserving of eternal adoration; we have written records of insulting the gods being considered a crime and punished accordingly. Then we have some myths that pretty clearly portray the gods as doing silly or immoral things (i.e. The Contendings), which even if you insist these are not “real myths” but political satire, still indicates that in antiquity, these kinds of irreverent jokes and portrayals of gods were…well, maybe not common, but at least on some level accepted. You have the portrayal of Set, which changed based on a period’s politics, sometimes going so far as to call him literally evil or equate him with A/pep itself, often myths centered around not only Set’s defeat, but his humiliation -which should count as unacceptable blasphemy against a netjer the way the kemetic piety-police-wannabes act, but it is undeniably something that happened in antiquity. Then we have the spells and rites where people threaten the gods, talk about eating them in the Cannibal hymns, or even call themselves the gods as a way of achieving a magical end. Talking about in any way overpowering the gods, or being ‘equal’ to them (even only in a ritual sense of taking on their mantle for a spell), is exactly the kind of thing that gets these people’s panties in a bunch, but I mean. The ancients #did that. Are we supposed to ignore historical precedent because it makes people uncomfortable, or doesn’t sound respectful enough for somebody’s pious sensibilities?

The historical records we have, to me, show that there is a diversity of acceptable, historically-verified ways of interacting with the netjeru in different situations. But people seem to hold the first example as the only kind of historical interactions with the gods that modern practitioners are “allowed” to engage in. Some people even seem to think that they have the right to assert that the NTRW “wish that hubris was part of kemeticism”, which sounds A) unlikely, since they had millenia of state religion to make such an idea part of their theology if they wanted to; B) ahistorical, since while the idea of being disrespectful and arrogant is certainly found in the ancients’ writings on ma’at (usually uhmmm talking about how people should treat each other but whatevs I guess), the Greek idea of “hubris” was just that, a Greek idea, not an Egyptian one, and C) pretty goddamn arrogant for a human to speak for their gods unilaterally, using their UPG literally to say that how other people are practicing and believing is wrong, even as they’re claiming not to. (Yes, this is in response to one person’s recent statements in particular, but I’m keeping my response to this pretty clear vagueing on this person’s part also a vaguepost, because I genuinely don’t think there’s anything to gain through a real argument.)

This kind of rhetoric, in my opinion, claims to be “for the gods’ benefit” while is really more focused around the tastes of one group of kemetic practitioners, wanting their particular religious practice and ideas -which, to be clear, are no better and no worse than anyone else’s- to be “the gold standard”, and everyone else’s to be categorized as lesser, heretic even. I think it’s more likely that the gods want some people to be more formal and reverent in their practice than others, and they should be supported and celebrated for doing so, but well. We aren’t all priests. We aren’t all the same, and we shouldn’t try to be.

And yeah trying to claim that politics and religion should be completely separated is ludicrous because not only is ‘separation of the Church and State’ something that only became the norm (allegedly, as it doesn’t really happen much irl) over the last few centuries, but “politics” basically encompasses or at least affects every single aspect of human existence anyways. Just like how Evangelical Christians in America have largely erased the political implications of Christ’s sermons against greed and his commands to care for the poor, modern-day kemetics want to erase the political implications of the tenets of ma’at that command us to care for the beggar and the orphan, not to wink at (close your eye to) injustice. They want to water the concept of ma’at down from a powerful moral imperative to keep us fighting for justice and actively working to create a world of harmony, into a safe little idea about reverence for the gods, correct ritual practice, and being ~nice and polite~ regardless of the situation.

To Ammit with all that bullshit.

#asks #anonymous #kemetic #ma'at #piety #that's a little joke btw im not actually calling for anyone to be damned #or have their hearts eaten in other words

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askdawnandvern · 7 years ago

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A Lamb Among Wolves

Sorry I was a day late with posting this, but I had a really rough day yesterday and it sort of set me back a bit. It's mostly that I'm sick, coupled with some bad news that I'm still sort of getting over and now I'm trying to catch up. So it's official, we are now in act three. (Day three) of the trip in the story. All the set pieces are in place, and it's now more of a matter of moving things along. I'm going to be trying to hit the story as twice as hard at this point to get it out and finished faster than my previous rate, but it's still going to take a bit to get back to one chapter a week. But I'm going to be making a dedicated effort to try and get there so I can wrap this up.

That said, the ask blog might take a slight hit due to it. Mostly in the form of more 'text base answers' and less extended comics in order to achieve this goal. But at this point, there are only about 16 or so chapters left, and I'd prefer to get it all wrapped up before Summer.

Anyway, sorry for the delay Here's hoping we wrap this up quickly and satisfyingly in the coming months. WT, out.

And if you'd like early access to chapters and access to other perks you can check out My Patreon. www.patreon.com/wastedtimeee

Chapter Thirty-One: The Cultural Tenets of the Northern Roaropean Lamb

"Much like the wolves of old, ancient sheep as a species could be found on nearly every continent in some form or another. From the coldest mountain regions to some of the hottest climates, an ancient wandering mammal had a significantly high chance of running into a flock of sheep without even trying. In fact, sheep are considered to make up one of the largest representative species on the planet next to mammals in the canid and feline families respectively. And as you can imagine, that kind of density of species has lead to quite a few...unsavory rumors about sheepfolk in the eyes of other mammals. Especially thanks to the work of many Rams who wielded any sort of power, many of whom were in my family. But I am getting off track. The point of this entry is to discuss how sheepfolk tended to work in a society, their beliefs and social rules. More specifically those which pertain strongest to my genetic background, that being sheep of Schottish ancestry.

Now we've already discussed the general structure of early ancient sheep herds, and the system of hierarchy in place among them. Caprids have been, and remain a largely docile species that focus primarily on defending themselves rather than antagonizing others aside from a few notable exceptions. There was one key term i forgot to explain though, that being the word 'flock'. I had mostly referred to sheep as being 'herds' in the previous historical entry as it was easier to digest for most prey species and other predators. But the term 'flock' was a unique phrase that sheep's used to refer to their herds. I'm not sure exactly how common knowledge this is, but I thought it was a good idea to throw this in for good measure.

The Schotts, being herbivores in nature like all sheep relied largely upon farming and agriculture in order to sustain their close-knit communities, and thus their religious beliefs revolve largely around harvest and protection. The chief god amongst caprid kind being 'Hornunnos', roughly translating to 'he of many horns'. His multiple long, and numerous horns representative of his great wisdom, virility, and strength that came with being a well-developed ram. And on the feminine side, we have 'Cervidwen' goddess of bounty and the beauty of life. Cervidwen, roughly translated to 'hooves of grace' held sway over nature, the seasons, and nurturing the arts. It was she the Schotts prayed to for mild winters and bountiful harvests. And it was she who supposedly inspired the songs and stories that were birthed from some of sheepfolk's greatest minds. Tales of beauty, first love, and adventure. As well as tales of woe and warning to young little lambs that I will be touching on shortly.

Sheep shared a reverence for the moon, and its cycle just as wolves did. However, whereas wolves looked to the moon for guidance and prayer, it held in most sheep a powerful, paralyzing terror. A full moon was seen as a terrible omen to the native Schotts, which can be directly connected to the Norwulves preference fighting and going to war under its terrible glow. Fighting and warring that almost always found itself laying its paws at the shores of the Schottish Isles. As such a great deal of Caprid nursery rhymes and stories feature the presence of the full-moon as a dreadful set-up to a young kid or lamb being dragged off into the night by a fearsome wolf to be dined upon under the moon's sinister glow. Some going into excruciating and morbid detail about lamb's blood and pearly sharp teeth gleaming under the cursed glow of that hateful orb.

One of the most well known and shared stories that still persists to this day despite how much society has changed is the tale of 'Little Red Riding Hoof', a story originating from cervines and quickly adopted and adapted to the Schottish cannon. In it, a young doe, or in the case of the Schotts, a young ewe, travels to visit her ailing Grandmother in order to bring her a basket of goodies. But she leaves on the night of a full moon despite her parent's protest to wait till the morning, as her Grandmother is in dire need of supplies. They warn her of wolves, and their treacherous ways, but she is adamant that she can handle herself alone. Along the way she is silently stalked by a, you guessed it, hungry wolf, who eventually confronts her under the premise that he is simply a weary traveler looking for food. The fearful ewe is somewhat hesitant to even talk to the lone wolf, but takes pity on him, offering a small morsel of her Grandmothers supplies to soothe his hunger pangs. She remains firm however, that the small bit of food was all she could offer and reveals the nature of her journey to the creature. Much to her surprise, the wolf lets her go, and the ewe finds herself doubting her parent's warnings about wolf treachery.

But the wolf, now aware of the nature of her trip, and familiar with the cottage, sneaks ahead of the ewe and mercilessly devours her Grandmother whole. Once Red Riding Hoof arrives, the wolf masquerades as the ewe's ailing Grandmother. Poorly donning her ill-fitting clothes and trying his best to deceive the ewe into getting close enough to bite into her. Which the ewe foolishly acquiesces to.

To be fair, that part never really made sense to me in any iteration of the story. As a ewe, I couldn't conceive a lamb so dumb as to not immediately recognize that the mammal pretending to be her Grandmother was just that, a pretender, a fake. Then again, as a little lamb, I hadn't realized that my best friend had been a wolf until my Father had discovered the relationship. While I had heard the term wolf, the picture that had been painted for me was a snarling, drooling hideous beast, much as the story depicts.

And so the little friendly ball of fluff that quickly became my playmate didn't exactly fit the bill when it came to my Father's description. I simply couldn't make the connection, neither there, nor with his nickname, 'Puppy'. It was the name his brothers gave him, but only I was allowed to call him. But as to the meaning or implication of that title I was still far too naive. And my Father was quick to make sure I never made that 'mistake' again.

But again, I've wandered off track. (Note: re-read this and consider revising it or shifting it to a later section.) Sufficed to say, the ewe is somehow fooled by the wolf's act. But unlike today's sanitized, family-friendly version of the tale put forth by companies like Dismurinae where the courageous woodsram bursts in at the last second and saves the foolish young ewe. The traditional version of the tale ends with the wolf simply devouring the lamb and escaping into the night, leaving her family to grieve the loss of their daughter and Grandmother. It was meant to be a staunch warning, a story that no matter how it played out it always ended the same way, death by the jaws of a hungry wolf.

As I've said, it is one of many caprid fear-mongering tales all aimed at warning young, impressionable lambs of the horrific nature of wolves. But stories like these were more than enough to force most of the Schotts to rely primarily on the sun and daylight for mapping their calendars and properly timing their harvests. And on a moonlit night, the average Schottram resident was hiding inside their home, with doors barred and windows shuttered and secure.

Lastly, I feel it is of obvious importance to explain the inner workings of caprid marriage. While the ceremony is fairly common among a variety of prey species with little variation, it is less so with predators, many of which ascribe to their own more unique ceremonies. But again, for the purposes of this particular book, I will only go into the rules and traditions of your standard 'Schottish' wedding.

The caprid take on marriage was one of the first popularized union ceremonies in Roarope, finding its start in the 'flocks' of Schottram and Irelamb before spreading and mingling amongst a variety of other prey groups and societies. It is a simpler ceremony in organization when compared to the rigorous approval process involved in the Norwullf or Canidean wolf 'tithing' ceremonies. Essentially, any ram is allowed to marry any ewe they wish without familial approval, although it is customary as a sign of respect. And in the case of the Schotts it came with many a hefty bonus. Entitlement to land, the merger of farms, and most commonly the bride's 'dowry'.

This 'dowry' was a small sum of money bestowed to the wedding ewe by her parents. it was intended to act seed money for the budding mates new family. Although today, the 'dowry' has fallen out of favor pretty much everywhere outside of Schottram.

The ceremony is usually held by day in a meadow or field, not at night for obvious reasons. In the ceremony family and friends are expected to attend, and a caprid pastor is employed to officiate the union under the eyes of the gods. Most commonly the gods invoked to bless the ceremony are of course Hornunnus and Cervidwen, again for reasons that should be obvious to you given what importance I previously ascribed to them.

In the times of the Ancient Schotts, these pastors played a revered roll in most caprid communities. They were seen as the direct connection between the flocks on Animalia and the will of the gods, much like the 'seers' among the Norwulves. And as such their approval was tantamount to the success of any prospecting wedding couple. In order to reach the respected status of a pastor, these mammals underwent numerous trials to prove their hardship and devoting to the gods. But in reality, these were simply rites of passage that were approved over by other 'pastors' as a 'direct sign of approval' from the gods wasn't easy to provide evidence of. Most of these ancient trials have been lost to time, the ancient writings describing them varied and scattered. But the few fragments that remain describe anything ranging from lasting three days with no food or water to searing oneself with a hot iron. However, in today's society, becoming an 'official' caprid pastor is as easy as the click of a mouse, much to the relief of a great many sheepfolk.

The ceremony begins with the pastor invoking the god and goddess directly, before turning his attention to the wedding couple. This part of the ceremony remains quite traditional, so much so that the original text has barely changed in the thousands of years since its origin, and it goes as follows.

'Blessings and merry we meet, Gentlerams and ewes alike. I beseech the great god Hornunnus, whose wisdom is unparalleled, and dear goddess Cevidwen, graceful lady of plenty and merriment to lay their gifts of virility and bounty upon at the feet of the couple who stands before me.'

He would of course lead with the males name, followed by the female, announcing them both the audience as well as the gods.

'Noble (insert ram's name), and Lady ( insert ewe's name) have asked for thee to share in their joy and to declare the depths of their love for one another before you all. To be blessed by both those among us, and those above as they embark on this journey together.'

It was then the pastor would ask the budding couple if they were certain of their choice. Fairly standard among most prey weddings aside from the wording.

'Lord (ram), are thou certain of the love? Does thou retain an inkling of doubt or fear?

If the response is 'Nay, I am certain.', then the ceremony continues with the pastor repeating the same line directed at the Lady. And with her assent marches onward.

'In as much as this Noble (mammal) and Lady (mammal) have pledged to one another to be married on this day. We call upon the gods to bless this union, and their lives together. Therefore, should there be any lamb assembled among us that can show just cause why these sheep should not be joined, then speak now, or forever be silent.'

The pastor would then hold for objections, again, another standard of most prey ceremonies aside from the archaic language. If there were no objections, the ceremony would continue.

'Great Hornunnus and Lady Cervidwen, holders of the unforeseen knowledge beyond knowing, we humbly ask of thee to bless this union. To bless their lives with merriment and plenty, and guide them through their trials and sorrows. To bless them with strong, healthy and mirthful lambs to carry on their proud name. '

Then of course, the pastor turns his attention directly to the couple.

'Do you, Noble (mammal), take unto thyself as wife the Lady?'

To which the groom should respond.

'Aye, for our lives, and into the hereafter.'

From there, the bride is asked a rephrased version of the question, and upon her agreement, the ceremony moves to a very interesting portion. At this time, the caprid pastor opens the floor to the wedding couple, offering them a chance to speak to one another in their own words. This is commonly referred to as the 'trading of vows', and it is intended for the couple to write their own speeches to one another. Professing love, and the depths of it and so forth. It's easily one of the most popular portions of romantic films involving prey weddings, leaving us with many eternally romantically quotable lines.

'It is now time for the trading of the vows, and with it, I open the floor to thee Lord (wolf) and Lady (ewe).

And of course, this is where the vows would go, but as they are generally unique, I don't exactly have anything to place here. So try to imagine the most romantic, beautiful sweeping statements delivered with passion and grace. The groom declaring his bottomless love for the bride, his unwavering trust and belief in her despite the slings and slander of others. And the bride, declaring how she is undeserving of love, yet overcome with joy to be loved, and of her lover.

Thanking the groom for his unwavering support and love, his care and devotion, the way he seems to treasure her like a precious stone when others treated her as if she were a malformed pebble. That her love for him is eternal regardless of the pelt he wears, the sharpness of his teeth, or his rugged good...

Ahem, Well I'm getting off track I think, I'm not sure where I was going with that. I mean, you must get the idea by now. (Note to self: shorten or remove vow examples?) After the vows, the pastor continues by presenting the traditional rings to the couple to be wed. The rings are traditionally made of polished ash wood, the grooms inlaid with gold edging, and the brides with silver. Each ring contains the other mammal's name etched on the interior of the band. While rings are a common practice with prey ceremonies, only caprid and cervine ceremonies use rings made of polished wood. It is what is believed to bind them to their natural roots, the forest from which they came, and the gods and goddess that watch over.

'Gods, bless these rings which the Noble Vernon Hunter and Fair Lady Dawn Bellwether have chosen to mark themselves as to be forever unified in heart and within their spirits. As they give and receive these rings, may they testify to the world of the covenant made between them.

Then Vernon would say.

'Dawn, receive and wear this ring as a symbol of my trust, my respect and my undying love for you.

And then I would say.

'Vernon, receive and wear this ring and make me the happiest ewe in all of Animalia!'

(Note: This section needs to be revised heavily, this is supposed to be clinical, not emotional. Still, at the moment I can't bring myself to erase it. So fix it later!)

Then the pastor ends the ceremony with what most movies about prey marriages feature heavily. The kiss.

'With the recitation of the vows, and the rings you now wear, may this union be made official. With a kiss, the purity and endless depths of their love will be laid bare for all to witness and embrace. You may now kiss the bride.'

With that comes the kiss of course, followed by the usual celebration of the newlyweds in the same meadow in which their union was consecrated. A fringe benefit of having an outdoor ceremony being that you don't have to have two separate venues to hold the celebration.

At the ceremony toasts are made, traditional food is eaten and merriment is made. Well wishes and gifts are shared and music is played and generally this part is all left up to those throwing the party. There are a few small traditions that are sometimes employed such as the tossing of the bouquet, and the removal of the garter, but otherwise, the afterparty has never been a very rigid, strict affair, and has easily adapted to the times. Even going so far as to make additions to the whole affair, adding the ever popular and the increasingly elaborate 'Honeymoon' as part of the package. All things I thought I was never going to have, and now...'

Dawn let out a pleasant sigh as she skimmed back over her previous handiwork. A smile forming on her lips as she quietly re-read the slight error in her clinical recounting of a traditional caprid wedding ceremony.

"Dawn, receive and wear this ring as a symbol of my trust, my respect and my undying love for you." Dawn murmured softly to herself, smiling warmly at the words on the screen.

'He probably wouldn't say it exactly like that...' The ewe thought to herself. 'Knowing him, he'd find something better.'

Dawn began to yawn, doing her best to quiet it with one hoof while stretching with her other arm. The other girls were all still asleep, Malcolm snoring loudly as he unconsciously scratched at his belly, and the ewe was still keen not to wake them with her own troubles.

The ewe had no intention of waking up as early as she had. It had to have been at least an hour before the first glimmers of morning light began to filter through the windows of the large bedroom. But there had been a number of factors at play to rob the ewe of sleep that night, forcing her to turn to her writing to drive them back, and Malcolm's snoring was probably the least of it.

To start with, the collapse of Ada's bed and the lack of proper spares in the room had more or less forced the group to take Audrey's advice and have two of the girl's bunk together. Naturally, or at least Dawn should have immediately assumed to be the natural solution, Ada and Vanna concluded the two smallest mammals in the room should be the ones to split a bed. They of course, quickly focused their gaze on herself and Qali to further emphasize the choice had already been made.

It made sense to Dawn, her own bed proving much too large for someone of her size anyway. But what the girls had neglected to mention, was that the diminutive little vixen was quite pawsy in her sleep.

Perhaps they didn't know, or perhaps it had been the ewe's own fault for having invited the fox to pet her wool that night. But Dawn had spent the evening fending off the vixen's attempts at grappling the ewe's wooly poof in her sleep.

The first two times the sleeping fox had managed to get a tight grip around her hair, Dawn had reluctantly woken the vixen up to let her know what she was doing. Qali, of course, was terribly embarrassed, apologizing profusely before shifting over to the farthest edge of the bed as she could before going back to bed. However, it didn't take long for the slumbering canid to drift her way back over to Dawn's side. And before the ewe knew it, the vixen was once again entangled in her wooly mane, letting out contented little sighs as she presumably 'counted sheep'.

Eventually, the ewe gave up fending off the impromptu cuddle session, choosing to embrace the little excitable vixen's unintentional affection in the interest of a good nights sleep. But despite the slight discomfort of having a mammal practically suction cupped to her head, it was something warm. It was an affectionate gesture the fox clearly couldn't control, and it was certainly more welcoming than what awaited Dawn in her dreams.

Each time the lamb had managed to drift off into slumber, she found herself in that darkened study. The acrid yet sweet scent of brandy overwhelming her nostrils so strongly it caused her to gag. The dim shine of the lighting against its bronze and deep green fixtures creating a glare in all directions as the ewe struggled to find her ground. She could still see the wolf, seemingly towering over his desk now as he glared back at her with hateful eyes. Piercing grey eyes that smoldered with an unrelenting disdain for the increasingly smaller ewe standing before him. His lips curled around his gleaming, sharpened teeth as he spat bile in her direction.

The same speech, over and over again, only now without her protests. She couldn't muster a defense, and with every hateful statement or unkind word, she felt herself shrinking smaller and smaller.

In desperation, she called to her primal self, the beast that once haunted her dreams before her encounter with her Father in that old factory on the frigid tundra night. Anything to give her the strength to stand back up, to defend herself. But it never came. It was gone after all, now a part of her that for some reason she couldn't conjure as Dorian continued his incessant berating.

"Ya'll came out here expectin' everything to go your way." The wolf repeated, his grimace deepening as the disgust in him rose. "You were thinkin' about yer selfish needs!"

"N-no!' The ewe waivered.

"You think I'd ever accept you as one of our own? " Again word for word, the wolf's most painful barbs playing on loop for her own personal torment.

Dawn tried her protest, but each wave after wave of painful insults and untrue statements was wearing her down. Reducing her to nothing more than a heap on the floor of the dimly lit office until she suddenly found herself on the wolf's desk. The ewe now no bigger than an ant, surrounded by the various golden baubles on the now massive wolf's desk as he raised his decanter in the air preparing his final blow.

"As long as I'm head of this household, you ain't never gonna be a Hunter!" The wolf bellowed at a deafening octave as the ewe clutched at her ears in pain.

Then the decanter came down. Faster, faster and closer as the ewe found herself unable to move. Paralyzed with terror as she tried to scream out.

"NO!"

And just like that she was awake again, dripping with sweat and gasping for breath. Thankfully Qali proved to be a heavy sleeper, or perhaps the ewe would have woken her. Instead, the slumbering fox remained gripped to her hair, hanging off of her slightly as the ewe sat up, trying to regain her composure.

And so the evening went, and each time the ewe closed her eyes she was back in that place. The room that stunk heavily of fine brandy, the golden reflections that seemed to blind her, and the fierce and towering Dorian. It played on repeat, the same way each time. And Dawn could do little to stop it other than waking up and escaping that terrible realm of her innermost demons. And eventually, the ewe resigned herself to staying awake, rather than be forced to face it again.

After carefully prying the fox off of her head and easing her back onto her own pillow, the ewe went right to burying herself in her work. Doing her best to bury the terrible dream behind volumes of text that still needed to be typed. Losing herself in hazy visions of a blissful and beautiful caprid marriage to the wolf she loved so dearly. It was something she could still take some sort of solace in. Despite Dorian's hateful words, and outright refusal to accept her as part of the family, at the very least he couldn't deny her a caprid ceremony. At the very least she and Vernon would have their ceremony, with or without his approval. They would stand together in a beautiful meadow, before the gods and the members of their families that chose to attend and pledge their love to one another. Their devotion, their loyalty, and their honor before joining as one in heart and in spirit.

The ewe had so lost herself in her fantasy, her safe haven, that the world around her had managed to fall away. Only managing to tear herself away from her work when then first rays of the morning brought her back to her reality. She was still in the Hunter home, still in Dorian's domain, and soon enough she would have to face the day and whatever it was set to bring.

The ewe carefully eased herself off of the mattress, doing her best not to wake the tiny vixen still sleeping peacefully as she tightly grappled her pillow in the place of the ewe's fluffy poof before cautiously rolling her suitcase out from beneath its place under the bed. With deliberately soft steps the ewe made her way across the room, carrying the suitcase to keep the wheels from rattling against the hardwood floor as she approached the room divider. Once behind the privacy of its curtain, the ewe too to dressing herself in the most worn out and comfortable set of clothes she had packed in preparation for working the stand. And old lavender blouse with flowing sleeves that she could easily roll up should she need to work with dough. And a simple, but trusty deep purple skirt to go with it that she didn't mind staining.

Taking a seat on the hardwood floor, the ewe pulled her pocket mirror from the case, as well as her usual wool care equipment to spend a few minutes getting her wool back in order. The diminutive vixen had done quite a number to her usually solid and bouncy spherical bouffant, but it was nothing a few minutes with the wool brush and a heavy application of wool cream couldn't manage to tame.

Adding the last touches to her hair, the ewe prepared to snap her compact shut only to freeze just short of the nearly involuntary action. She stared at the weary-looking ewe staring back at her, the sadness etched into her features appearing almost permanent in the bleary reflection. With a wavering sigh, the ewe tried to assure herself that she was okay. That everything would work out. To take her own words she had spent yesterday evening telling Vernon to heart and trying to remain optimistic despite herself. Dawn forced a smile to her muzzle, and for a moment she nearly had herself convinced she could do it.

"As long as I'm head of this household, you ain't never gonna be a Hunter!"

Her smile dropped the second the words replayed in her head, the ewe letting out another weak and shuddering sigh as she felt herself faltering.

Dawn wasn't sure how to press on with this facade. With Dorian in charge, any sort of leeway made at Hunter Household with the other members of the family meant little. What sort of organic relationship could she truly hope to foster with the icy white wolf acting as a roadblock? Certainly none that required visiting the Hunter Ranch to say the least. The ewe wondered how her sisters would react to Dorian's assessment of her, or the Hunters for that matter? What about Audrey, his mate? The ewe couldn't even begin to picture the disaster that was waiting to happen should she breathe a word of her confrontation with the wolf to anyone in the family, especially Vernon. The damage done would most certainly be devastating, and the rifts that would be driven between members of the family might prove far too vast to mend.

Yet she had to endure two more days. Two more days of biting her tongue while Dorian's words ate a hole through her stomach. And in that moment, the ewe remained uncertain that she could stand it.

Then she saw it. Behind her reflection in the mirror she could see her suitcase. The purple container still left open, with notes and clothes haphazardly strewn about. But among the various bits of necessities and wool care products she could see the edge of a familiar band sticking out from between two notebooks. The bracelet she extracted with great care before laying it to rest gently in her palm.

"Puppy's Best Friend." She read softly, a warm smile forming on her muzzle.

Carefully the ewe slid the familiar, albeit childish looking bracelet onto her wrist. Dawn gave it a gentle spin, letting out a quiet chuckle as a few of the translucent bead caught glimmers of light as they spun before clutching down on the bracelet with her other hand. The ewe squeezed it tightly, holding it as if it were a sacred talisman that would protect her from her own thoughts. Drawing strength from the simple presence of it on her arm. A reminder that no matter what, she had her 'Puppy Love'. And in the end, that was all she really wanted.

Dawn could feel her confidence returning as she clutched the bracelet.

She could do it, she could get through it. And then, once they returned to Zootopia she and Vernon could start planning their 'real' wedding and put Dorian's nastiness behind them. While she loved her new sisters and brothers dearly, she could get along just fine without returning to the ranch, and would be more than happy to invite them out to Zootopia should they be so inclined to see her.

'Vernon probably doesn't even care about getting a 'tithing' ceremony.' The ewe reassured herself. 'Between the official caprid wedding and our partnership license I'm sure he'll be more than satisfied.'

As Dawn closed her suitcase, zipping it shut as quietly as possible she continued the positive mental self-encouragement. The ewe growing more confident with each soft stride she made on her way back to her bedside. With a quiet huff, the ewe slid her case back under the mattress and eased herself back onto her bed next to the slumbering arctic fox.

Gently closing her laptop, the ewe came to a final conclusion.

"I can wait to tell Vernon what happened when we get home." Dawn mused to herself. " He'll be mad sure, but with that much distance between him and his Father he'll have time to cool off and then..." Dawn paused, the next words even her more optimistic approach was having a hard time parsing. " Maybe they can talk it out like adult mammals."

Vrrt! Vrrt!

Dawn nearly jumped out of her pelt at the sudden, abrupt noise. It was a quiet droning sound, but it was close enough to startle her. The ewe's eyes began to scan wildly for the source, glancing back at Qali for a moment and raising an eyebrow. The fox was still slumbering away, her paws choking her pillow to death.

"Did you...?" Dawn muttered softly.

Vrrt! Vrrt!

This time Dawn felt it, the slight and familiar vibration trembling through the blanket beneath her. Glancing over near the side of her laptop, she spied her Carrot phone resting softly where she had left it to charge. The screen of the device now dimly lit with a message prompt.

The ewe rolled her eyes at her moment of brief stupidity before quickly scooping the phone into her hands before it could make any more noise. With a flick of her hoof the screen came to life, the text alert now clear and visible as it hung over her home screen.

"Two new messages from Judy Hopps."

"Lamb Sakes..." Dawn uttered quietly. "I completely forgot about Judy!"

Opening the app, the ewe was greeted with both messages, each sent within seconds of one another.

"Judy: Dawn, you awake? I know it's pretty early, but I wanted to check in."

"Judy: Unless you were asleep and my text woke you up. If so, I'm sorry."

Dawn rolled her eyes, letting out a soft chuckle at the rabbit's message string. It was clear from the split seconds between the messages and the second-guessing herself the rabbit was already firing on all cylinders. Dawn's reply was considerably shorter, and what the ewe could only imagine in comparison to the rabbit, slower.

"Yes, I'm awake". The ewe texted back.

Dawn watched the screen in silence. For a moment it remained still, but soon enough Dawn could see the ellipses denoting the rabbit was in the process of typing a reply.

"Judy: Couldn't sleep either?"

Dawn's expression shifted to a dull glare as she let out a quiet, sarcastic laugh.

"Define sleep... Dawn responded.

Again Dawn watched as the ellipses danced below her last message.

"Judy: Yeesh, that bad huh?" Came the reply.

Dawn placed a hoof over her eyes, slowly pulling it down her face as she let out an exasperated sigh. The ewe taking a moment to release some of her previous tension before continuing the conversation.

"Bad, is putting it lightly Judy." The ewe answered.

There was a slight pause before the rabbit began to type her response.

"Judy: You want to talk about it?"

Dawn let out another soft, sarcastic chuckle before keying in her reply.

"It would take me hours to go over everything." Dawn texted. "It's really something we should save for discussion on a coffee meet after all this is said and done."

The pause was longer this time, leaving Dawn to imagine the rabbit was pondering her next statement with a greater degree of care.

"Judy: You sure?" By the time the message popped, Judy was already typing a follow-up.

"Judy: How about a 'Clop's Notes' version?"

Dawn smirked at the response. The ewe wasn't sure about exactly how to distill all that had happened to her in just the two days she had been at the Hunter Ranch, but she supposed she could try. Dawn pondered quietly, organizing and trimming her planned response in her head in order to get as much information out with the least amount of text as possible. It had to be getting close to breakfast time now, and soon enough the ewe would be far too busy to keep up with a long-running test conversation.

"Well let's see..." Dawn texted, preparing the rabbit for the oncoming info dump.

"To start with, Vernon's Father hates me." Dawn added, feeling a particularly painful sting inside her chest as she pressed send. " I mean, he told me to my face more or less, but I haven't told Vernon yet."

As Dawn continued to type, Judy gave a short and simple reply.

"Judy: Oh..." The text popped up.

"Judy: I'm so sorry Dawn." She followed up with.

" We also got kicked out of the fair yesterday for being a pred/prey couple, the North Meadowlands Representative going so far as asking Vernon's whole family to leave." Dawn continued.

"And to top it all off I had my remnant estrus yesterday, and Vernon and I got caught rutting in the family cornfield because he howled during it." Dawn added.

Judy's response was immediate.

"Judy: Yikes... -_-* " The text popped up.

"And that's not even the half of it..." Dawn replied. "There is so much more that's happened over just the last two days. It's been a rollercoaster." Dawn shook her head dismissively as she typed. " I just gave you the 'highlights'."

It seemed like at least a minute rolled by before Judy began typing a response, giving the ewe time to make a quick scan of the bedroom to make sure she still hadn't disturbed the other Hunter girls. Fortunately even Qali, who remained tightly gripped to her pillow, coiled around it protectively.

"Judy: I hope there are some positives... :/" The rabbit eventually replied.

Dawn chuckled softly to herself.

"Oh there are, it really isn't all bad." Dawn typed a reply. " I get along well with Vernon's Mother, as well as most of his brothers."

"Judy: 'Most', huh?" The rabbit was quick to reply.

Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Well, I suppose nobodies family is perfect right?" The ewe replied. "You can't really win 'em all."

Before Judy could finish her reply, Dawn tapped out another quick addendum to her list of positives. " I've also gotten very close with Vernon's Sister-in-laws."

The rabbit's ellipses paused, giving Dawn time to add more or less conclude her statement.

"But the way things have been going, The negatives are beginning to wear me down faster than any of the positives can help build me back up." Dawn sent, letting out a soft, tired sigh.

The ellipses on Judy's incoming message remained frozen for a moment or two, most likely waiting to see if the ewe was done with her line of thought before pressing forward with her reply. But eventually, the little dots began to move again.

"Judy: You want to talk about imperfect families?" That response forced a ewe to stifle a giggle. She could already tell where the rabbit was going.

"Judy: Not to belittle your struggle, but getting the approval of seven siblings instead of three-hundred has considerably better odds, trust me."

Dawn shook her head trying to keep the rising smirk that was desperately trying to form on her muzzle as the rabbit continued.

"Judy: The thing that really baffles me is how my Dad is acting about me and Nick." Judy added. "Well, not really baffles me, but it's certainly hypocritical."

Dawn was quick to reply, eager to hear what must have been the starting point for the doe's own weekend struggle at the Carrot Day festival.

"Oh?" Dawn replied. "But I thought you told me your Father liked Nick?"

Dawn waited, Judy seemingly taking a moment to figure out how to reply. The ewe knew from previous conversations that Nick had been on trips with her to Bunny Burrow several times over the years. Unlike her and Vernon, the family was quite familiar with the fox. And when it came to Judy's Father, he was absolutely enamored with him. The prospect of someone keeping an eye on the rabbit in her 'dangerous' line of work, and his knowledge of the inner workers of Zootopia proving to be an easy angle to charm the older rabbit. Judy had even mentioned the fact that Nick had been teaching him a variety of way to gain the upper hand in her Father's weekly poker game. Sufficed to say, all of the previous accounts from Judy had lead Dawn to believe the two mammals had a healthy and robust 'bromance' between them. After a few moments, the rabbit finally texted back.

" 'Judy: Liked' being the key word here. " Just replied, ending her sentence with a frowning rabbit emoji. "He loved Nick when he was just my partner. But now that I announced we are dating...well...you get the idea."

Dawn chuckled quietly to herself as she read the reply.

"Judy: Now the old buck is acting like Nick committed a crime against mammality or something." The rabbit followed up.

The ewe lets out a sigh, at least she wasn't the only one suffering when it came to this issue. although she found herself wondering if the situation was just as bad as hers. Still, the ewe wanted to keep the conversation light, and trying to compare the nuances between their situation would have to be reserved for a later time. Nor did Dawn want to fall into the trap of playing the game of 'who has it worse'.

"Sounds like we both are having Father problems. :/" Dawn replied. "It feels better to know I'm not alone at least."

The rabbit was already typing a reply as the ewe hit send.

"Judy: The worse part is that Nick being Nick, is actively making it worse by antagonizing him. Bleh." Another frowning rabbit icon followed the statement. "Judy: Nick actually asked him last night if "Plowing the field was as rough for him as when Nick 'plows' me."

Dawn clasped her muzzle tightly in an effort to keep her laughter from escaping at the fox's statement. She was sure it was embarrassing to Judy, but being outside of it made it particularly hilarious.

"Judy: The two of them are starting to drive me crazy!" Judy typed back, a rabbit emoji with swirly eyes following the text. "Judy: But I'm going to settle this stupid thing once and for all today."

The ewe quirked a curious eyebrow as she read over the question. Judy was always the kind of mammal to take the initiative when it came to solving a seemingly impossible problem. It was something the ewe admired about the rabbit. But in this instance, it didn't seem like a problem one could just force a fix upon.

"How?" Dawn responded dumbly, her lips mouthing the word as she typed.

The rabbit was quick with a reply.

"Judy: We're going back to the fair today." Judy replied. "Judy: And I'm forcing them on to the Ferris wheel together."

Dawn scrunched her muzzle in confusion, the rabbit's plan seeming more baffling than her initial declaration.

"O...kay...?" Dawn replied, but the rabbit was already typing.

"Judy: I know the rabbit who runs the Ferris wheel, and he owes me a favor." Judy continued. "I'm going to have him stop them at the top, and Mom and I won't let them down until they bury the hatchet!"

Dawn stifled a chuckle out the outlandish plan, it was a classic Judy solution.

"I don't know if I could do the same thing in my case..." Dawn replied, a frown returning to her muzzle. "I feel it's a bit more complicated than that with Vernon and Dorian."

There was a momentary pause before the ellipses danced at the bottom of the screen again.

"Judy: His Father?" Judy finally replied.

"Yes." The ewe typed back.

"Judy: How so?" Judy fired back almost as quickly as Dawn had sent her message.

This comment was drawing the conversation dangerously close to treading back on having to be a three-hour discussion, something the ewe was certain she didn't have time for. Dawn tried to think of a short reply, eventually coming up with something to move the conversation along. But while she was in the middle of typing the reply, a soft knock came at the bedroom door, drawing her attention away from the screen.

"Dawn, ya'll up?" The door opened slightly, and the ewe spotted a familiar nose wiggle its way in between the crack. "Honey Lamb?" The muzzle whispered.

"Vernon?" Dawn whispered back.

The door opened wider, allowing the wolf to poke his head in the rest of the way. Vernon flashed the ewe a small smile.

"'Mornin' Darlin'." Vernon said softly, his eyes scanning the room slowly before shifting his attention back to the ewe. "Dressed already?" Vernon asked.

Dawn rapidly cleared the unfinished message from her screen, entering a quick reply before shutting the phone down and sliding it in her pocket. 'Saved by the wolf.' She thought to herself.

"I'll talk to you later, Vernon's up. gtg." The response read.

With her cell tucked away, the ewe eased off the side of the bed as quietly as she could before scrambling her way over to the wolf at the door. as she approached, Vernon widened the gap, allowing himself to slip partially inside the bedroom. The wolf was dressed in a simple grey hoodie, and a beat up pair of jeans, wearing one of his favorite bandannas around his neck.

"So are you." Dawn replied in a hushed voice as she came up beside him.

Vernon smirked, glancing down at his hoodie.

"Takes me about five minutes er' less to get ready fer the day Floof's." Vernon chuckled softly. "It ain't like I'm the type to fuss with my looks too much." The wolf ran a paw through the tuft of fur on his scalp, letting out a soft sigh as he dragged it back.

"You sleep alright Mutton Chop?" The wolf's features took on a look of concern. "I mean considerin' the prep ya'll do in the mornin' I take it you've been up fer a while now."

Dawn looked away slightly, she couldn't really bring herself to look the wolf in the eyes, but the lamb played it off as glancing back at the other girls.

"Eh..." Dawn muttered. "I slept okay." Dawn shrugged as she brought her attention back to the wolf.

Vernon chuckled softly as he stood on the tips of his feet, glancing further back into the bedroom. Following his eye line, she could see the wolf had settled his gaze on the still snoring Malcolm. The wolf was now laying on his back, his muzzle opening and closing widely as he practically snarled in his sleep.

"Yeah..." Vernon smirked, looking back down to Dawn. "Suppose I should have told you Malcolm's a snorer."

Vernon giggled quietly as she turned back to Vernon.

"How does Xavier sleep through that?" Dawn asked.

Vernon rolled his eyes slightly. "Earplugs." The wolf said bluntly before placing a paw by his face and leaning down and closer to Dawn. "Malcolm don't know, so don't tell him."

Dawn had to stifle a laugh as the wolf rose to his feet again.

"So, ya'll ready to get some food in ya before we head out?" Vernon asked, slipping his paws into his pockets. "Ma made 'caramel prench toast' just fer us. And trust me, it's amazin'. "

The ewe quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

"Just for us?" Dawn glanced back at the other mammals still peacefully asleep just in time to catch Malcolm scratching his gut again. "You mean, we aren't going to wake them up?"

Vernon shook his head dismissively.

"Ma thinks it's best to let 'em sleep in." Vernon replied with a slight frown. " Considerin' Pa's 'ban' and all it ain't like they'll be comin' with us, plus most of 'em are probably gonna need to help set up fer the barbeque." Vernon shrugged. " 'Sides, Ma thought it might be nice fer the three of us to have a nice, quiet meal together." The wolf flashed her a soft smile. "And I kinda liked the idea."

"But what about their breakfast?" Dawn asked, throwing another glance back at the slumbering mammals. "Surely they don't want to miss out?"

Vernon shook his head. "Ma says Malcolm's got 'em covered. He's on home cookin' duty today anyway." The wolf said with a smirk. "He always handles the barbeque cookin' after all."

Dawn nodded, taking another glance back at the sleepy mammals. The idea of a nice, quiet breakfast without the wild clamorous din of the entire Hunter family, as much as she loved them, did sound rather nice. It certainly was a reassurance that mammals like Yuri and Ulric wouldn't be there to start the day off even more so on the wrong hoof than it already had.

Dawn turned back to the wolf, flashing him a weak smile.

"That sounds lovely Vernon." The ewe whispered.

Dawn could see the wolf's tail wagging softly behind him as a warm smile curled across his muzzle.

"Excellent" The wolf went to clap his paws together, nearly making the impact before the wolf caught himself. The wolf tried to play off his mistake by quickly running one of the offending paws through his hair. "So, ahem..." The wolf cleared his throat. "Ya'll ready then?"

Dawn smiled at the goofy canine, giving him a soft assenting nod.

"Just let me put my laptop away and get my jacket, okay?" Dawn replied.

Vernon smirked, giving the ewe a nod as she turned back toward her bedside. Making her way back to the bed, the ewe slid her suitcase out from beneath the mattress once more, unzipping and opening the purple case before reaching for her laptop. The ewe gingerly rested it on top of her clothes, pulling the plug free of the wall before draping it on top of the computer.

As Dawn reached for her coat that was sticking out of the side of the bag, she felt a familiar rumble in her pocket.

Vrrt! Vrrt!

Clearly Judy had replied, but the ewe waited until she had closed her suitcase and returned it to the spot beneath the bed before pulling the phone free of her pocket.

Making her way back toward Vernon, her coat slung over her shoulder, the ewe opened the phone once more to read the rabbits reply.

"Judy: Alright, good luck Dawn."

Dawn smirked as she slid the phone back into it's resting place within her pocket before turning her attention back to the awaiting wolf.

"Got a message?' Vernon asked. "Nothin' important I hope..." The wolf flashed her a worried look.

Dawn let out a soft chuckle.

"It's nothing Puppy, just Judy." The ewe replied.

The wolf's frown dissipated, a smile returning in its place. "Aww, rabbit cop again? Tell I said hi!"

Dawn giggled. "Later, okay. Now let's go eat." Dawn said, grasping the wolf's paw with her free hoof. "I'm famished."

Vernon chuckled softly. "Alright. Alright."

As the couple walked away from the bedroom, the wolf gingerly closing the door behind them as they stepped away, Dawn continued to ruminate on Judy's last text. The words resting in the forefront of her mind along with the other mantras she had been focusing on just moments earlier.

"Alright, good luck Dawn."

"By the gods, I hope so..." Dawn thought to herself. "I certainly need it."

#Zootopia #zoosona #fanfiction #Assistant Mayor Bellwether #furry #wasted time #dawn bellwether #wolf #OC

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scriptmyth · 8 years ago

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I know you may have gotten this before or get this a lot anyway but how hard is it to create a myth/new religion/god(s)? What is the basis for a religion with mythical beasts and the like? I'm trying to write a story centered around a fictional small religion and am kind of confused when referencing other small religions. Thanks for running this blog btw! It's been an extremely helpful reference~! <3

Hello Nonnie,

Our answer for this one is courtesy of Dave, a writer and a friend of one of our chorus members:

I’m going to give you an answer that sounds like a complete and utter cop-out, and it sort of is but bear with me. It Depends. And it does. It depends on quite a few things. But it mainly depends on how…let’s say “realistic” you want this religion or mythology to be.

What you can do is just toss out ideas and string them together: the names of gods, what they’re the gods of, whether or not a particular god is a complete dick or not. Boom. Easy. Simple. Boring. Bland. You want to make a fictitious religion or mythology that isn’t that? You’re going to need to ask yourself a few questions.

The first question is “what is the purpose of this mythology?” Back when I was in college (just over a year ago, now; how time flies), I took an elective my final semester: the Anthropology of Religion. It was not quite what I was expecting (I was hoping for more discussion on world religions, an analysis of their tenets and how they relate to the modern world, that sort of thing), but I still found it fascinating. And the one thing that I really took away from it was what the purpose of religion is, anthropologically-speaking: religions exist to make sense of a world that probably doesn’t have any sense to it. That is the purpose of religion, in broad strokes: making a crazy world a little more sane.

But I’m rambling.

I’m not talking about why this mythology exists in-context; when you ask yourself “what is the purpose of this mythology,” you need to think about the meta-context, the context you’ll be using it in. Is it for your tumblr roleplay blog? Are you writing a novel? Coming up with a setting for your D&D campaign you DM on Saturday nights? The reason you’re creating this mythology is going to, in part, determine how much detail (and thusly how much work) you need to put into it. Let’s look at each of the possibilities I mentioned above.

Let’s say you’re creating a tumblr roleplay blog for a character who is, oh… a generic fantasy dwarf. Short, taciturn, unhealthy lust for gold and gems, The Beard, whole nine yards; you want to detail your dwarf’s religious beliefs. In this case, broad strokes might be best; there’s little need to sit down and write out the entire mythology beyond the most general details, at least at first. In this case, you’d have the luxury of time, and you can expand on your basic foundation as you roleplay, adding new elements as time goes on.

If you’re DMing a D&D campaign, you might need to do a little more work. Here, detailing each god in a pantheon and their relationships to each other (and deities outside of that pantheon) are probably more important than in the prior example. You might want to detail the more temporal side of things: how religious rites and ceremonies are conducted, church hierarchies, etc. You still don’t need to write an entire holy text yourself (unless that’s your thing; more power to you if it is), but you should keep in mind that while the broad strokes are fine at first, your players WILL want to know more details, especially if they happen to have a character who is a cleric or a paladin or otherwise has important and deeply-held religious beliefs. I speak from experience here. Luckily, you can get your players to do some of the work for you. Have them make up details, scripture, customs, etc. They’ll get more invested in their character, in your campaign, and in your world.

But suppose you’re an aspiring novelist trying to crank out a best-selling fantasy novel about dwarves and their gods. Well, this is where you really have your work cut out for you. Broad strokes may work best at first, but like the players of a D&D campaign, your readers will want to know more, and unlike in a D&D campaign you can’t get them to fill in the blanks for you. You’re going to need to do all the explaining, all of the details, all of the work here.

The next question you should consider is that of your setting. What sort of world are you creating this mythology for? If it’s a fantasy setting, chances are you’re going to want a detailed mythology as religion is a prominent element of many fantasy settings (even the lower-fantasy ones; look at how important religion is the George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire”).

Is it Earth, perhaps a modern-fantasy setting akin to “The Dresden Files” or “American Gods”? You may want to be careful with creating a new mythology with a setting like that, as you’ll have to account for why all these other religious beliefs are (presumably) false and yours is (presumably) correct (unless they’re ALL true, but that’s a different matter entirely). Not to mention you have to consider why your mythology is (probably) not the dominant one on Earth.

Is it a science-fiction setting? That seems like a curious choice, but consider Frank Herbert’s “Dune”. It is, at its heart, a sci-fi epic, and religion plays a major part in it. Indeed, I would say that “Dune” is probably the best example as to how to write a believable fictional religion.

The setting you’re writing a mythology for and the purpose behind your creation of this mythology are both important factors that decide the level of detail you’re going to want to use. And you get these details by adding myths to that mythology. Mythologies are made up of myths. Crazy, right? And all myths really are, are stories. Lemminkäinen drowning in the river of Tuonela. God parting the Red Sea so the children of Israel could cross it. Zeus turning himself into a swan and seducing Leda (as a swan; I swear I’m not making this up). That one time that Mjölnir was stolen by the giant Þrymr, so Thor had to disguise himself as Freyja to recover it and almost married Þrymr (I’m not making this up either). Brahma beginning in nothingness and, by thought alone, creating waters, into which he deposited his semen, which created a golden egg which Brahma was born from (This one takes the freakin’ cake).

Myths are stories that explain the world from a culture’s viewpoint, stories that explain a culture’s customs and beliefs. Consider the Þrymskviða, that aforementioned story about Thor crossdressing and reclaiming his stolen hammer. It reveals that Norse culture was violent (the story ends with Thor getting his hands on Mjölnir and killing Þrymr and everyone else at the wedding), their sense of humor (nobody realizes that “Freyja” is obviously a man), their value of community and cooperation (the entire plan is Loki’s idea in the first place and his continued aid is the only thing that allows it to succeed) and the Norse idea of justice (Þrymr stole Mjölnir, so he has to die). It is not enough to simply know that two gods in a pantheon hate each other; there has to be a reason why, a reason that reveals something about the people who believe this mythology to be true.

This is a fairly nuanced and intricate topic, but that’s the long and short of it. Is it hard to create a mythology? Not particularly, really. But creating one that is believable, one that makes sense no matter how outlandish or bizarre it might be? That takes thought and effort. Like so many other things in life, what you get out of such a project is what you put into it.

But hey, that’s just my opinion.

-Super Special Guest Dave

#religoin building #mythology building #guest answer #Anonymous #ask #answer #myths #mythology #D&D #norse mythology

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fineillsignup · 8 years ago

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I'm so happy I found your blog, it was starting to feel like I was the only person who likes the pairings but doesn't like the ending because of all the flaws! Even better you love both Sakura and Hinata! Hinata has been getting so much hate over the last few years because of the ending and all the cross tagging is annoying. I love how you're ready fight if need be, you and your blog are great!

Hahahahaha thanks. Yeah guess who was in debate club back in the day. Tumblr is actually a very bad medium for debating. Even back and forth reblogs get cumbersome very quickly, and it’s really impossible as soon as a third or fourth person gets into it. TBH most social media is really bad for debate? Twitter and Facebook and so on aren’t any better. And you’ve always got the text problem where tone and body language and facial expression aren’t there, and there’s the online disinhibition effect, and it’s all really just stacked against people trying to discuss things!

If you believe at all in the McLuhan tenet that the medium is the message, modern social media is actually quite worrying in this regard.

I think there’s a real tendency to swing the pendulum completely the other way and label all debate/discourse as “negativity”. Dare I say that criticizing media can be enjoyable in itself? Don’t so many of us learn things about ourselves and the world through media and its messages?

But life is short and, as I said in the first paragraph, social media generally/Tumblr specifically are rotten for discussion, and life is so fucking stressful anyway for most people, so I can’t blame people for just blanking it out altogether. I’m somebody who finds it difficult to resist, and I’d probably label that a personal fault–not that I should never speak up, but that I tend to speak up without due consideration too much.

Anyway. Welcome? That was a quite long winded welcome.

About me: 100% wants to be nice to everyone, 110% ready to fight at any time, 120% ready to say mutual apologies afterwards and get back to being nice? I am a complex person.

#it me #from my place in the trash i thank you all #everyone's welcome #i can disagree with you and still like you #i should have a tag for asks

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templified · 6 years ago

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Best WordPress SaaS Themes | Templified

New Post has been published on https://templified.com/best-wordpress-saas-themes/

Best WordPress SaaS Themes

We’re back with some more outstanding WordPress themes, these one are all about SaaS, software, subscriptions, killer applications and technology in general. With this collection, you’re going to see quite a number of high quality web templates to choose from, giving you access to a fantastic starting spot to building a really great software service provider website.

What is SaaS anyway? Well, it’s an acronym, it stands for Software as a Service, which is a relatively new construct, it’s a piece of software that is licensed online via a subscription, rather than outright purchase of a license. Think of services like SEO, monthly subscriptions to paid sites like Semrush or Ahrefs, things like that. Anyway, if you’re here, you’re looking for a WordPress theme specifically built for providing exactly what SaaS providers need. A great looking website with tons of features, a great user experience, modern style and a really simple backend for customization.

If that’s all you need, you’re in the right place. We’ve found a bunch of the absolute best SaaS themes for you, making sure each one is the aboslute best it can be.

Codiqa, Web Application and SaaS WordPress Theme

This is Codiqa. This theme delivers on a promise of high-quality platform for promoting and selling your software or application services. it’s great for presenting any sort of digital product and selling it online, ideal for startup companies, consulting firms and marketing agencies, just the name of you. You get five different pre-made demo styles to highlight your content and services, the huge number of internal pages to make sure that presenting your content never gets dull and ensuring that you get exactly the features that you want on every page. There are nine different hairstyles, full support for WooCommerce and responsive layout. Whether you choose a boxed or fluid design, you can make those types of adjustments thanks to the huge theme options panel on the back end.

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SaasLand

This is SaaSLand. It’s creative WordPress theme is all about software promotion, apps, software-as-a-service, startups, agencies and other related products. It’s a very competitive industry with lots of new competition coming online every day, that’s why it’s so important to have an attractive and feature-rich WordPress theme to help you achieve your goals. Here is what the themes developer has to say about they’re brand new template. Keep in mind, this developer has been quite successful on ThemeForest, they have nearly 3,000 sales so far and promise fantastic support for everything that they have created. The HTML5 version of this particular template is currently rated with a perfect 5-star rating come up meaning that I believe the WordPress version is going to be equally as successful. That’s not a guarantee, but it does seem fairly likely that they’ve got another big hit on their hands.

Saasland is a creative WordPress theme for saas, software, startup, app, agency and related products & services. It is 100% responsive and looks stunning on all types of screens and devices. You can use Saasland as a better way to present and promote your start-up or running digital marketing agency website. Users will love your site because it gives them a unique user experience (UX), clean, modern and beautiful design.

This theme supports the Elementor drag-and-drop page builder, it’s got a clean, beautiful and modern design and it’s well-organized. The admin panel is powerful and well-organized, there are plenty of short codes to help you achieve the look and feel that you desire and it is based on the Twitter bootstrap grid system, a fine way of organizing a Website Layout. There is a working contact form, support for Google fonts and font awesome icons. That’s really just scratching the surface of what this particular template has to offer so I believe that it’s well worth further checking into see whether or not it fits your needs. Check out more business themes for WordPress in this collection.

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StartIt

Startit is one of the best-selling Tech seems ever made, at least one of the highest selling themes on theme of forest. Select themes is the developer behind it, and they’ve given you over 21 different home pages to choose from. Each one of these homepages Works hand-in-hand with wpbakery page builder, they all support woocommerce and each one of them is fresh, flexible and user-friendly starting point to building a great software services provider website. You get multiple different blog templates, portfolio layouts, everything is incredibly intuitive and easy to adjust, making this a really great platform for building a cool website for SaaS.

If you’d like to see some more WordPress application themes, you know we’ve got a collection for you. You have a collection for her just about everything, and that collection is a great place to look for I really awesome happening.

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AppLand

AppLand is a WordPress theme that was primarily developed for SaaS products and online applications. Like many app themes, AppLand has a very clean and flat style. This 100% responsive theme looks great on all devices, which means you can promote your content no matter what device your reader happens to use. For start-up mobile apps, digital products, software and SaaS applications, your readers would love the clean user experience and the modern and beautiful overall design.

AppLand has over 90 custom short codes, those can really help to ease your workflow. This template was meant to simplify your website building experience, you can add items from any of the nearly 100 different content elements, customize their style and design and it all happens instantly, thanks to the live update feature. Once you’ve added your content elements, if you don’t like exactly where they’re located, you can drag and drop them around the page to arrange them just have you would like.

With AppLand, you can construct a classic multipage website, or build a nice looking single page WordPress website instead. No matter what you choose, you’ll get a user friendly result, a responsive page that loads up fast on all devices and it can all be accomplished with just one click, thanks to the demo data import.

While this template does look like it should work for almost any sort of app or software service promotion, we like to give you a lot of options. That’s why we have gathered up a huge collection of WordPress themes that are similar to this one, but offer slightly different features and styles.

That’s what makes the world go round, a little bit of variety. Variety is the spice of life, or so they say. I think that those tenets are just as applicable when talking about WordPress themes. Your mileage may vary, but I think a wide variety of choices is a great thing to have. That’s why our collection of app themes is one of the largest on the internet. We continue to add to it, ensuring that only the freshest and best WordPress themes are showcased. If you see something in that collection, you will know that it is one of the best themes available for promoting your application or selling your software service.

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Stratus

Stratus is a powerful theme for SaaS, apps and tech startup companies. This theme combines the power of WooCommerce with the Elementor page builder to give you a dynamic and engaging platform for building a software services provider website. With a nearly perfect reading of 4.9 and almost 5,000 sales, this SaaS theme is the right mix of popularity and quality. It has been consistently updated since its original release, giving you an effortless setup process, premium design that looks great for that companies and software service providers, dozens of widgets and Page templates that come ready to go, pre-made, and the flexibility to develop anything you want using Elementor. This is a very user-friendly theme and one that people really seem to love.

For more WooCommerce themes, check out our collection of great starting points for building a cool looking online store.

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Startuply

Launching a startup, whether it is an online application or a software service, it’s never been easier. That’s thanks in large part to WordPress, but great looking WordPress themes like this one also help make the job a little bit easier. Some of the time-saving tools that are included with this team or the powerful admin panel, the simple adjustments that can be made two colors, fonts and even layouts, you get a highly optimized SEO friendly theme and it even comes with the Photoshop files for deep customization. This themes great for businesses that want to offer software services online, helping you to Market your products is just one of the things that this template does its very best to provide. It includes startup landing pages, corporate Style information pages and a whole lot more.

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Pursuit

This theme is called a Pursuit, it’s a flexible app and cloud software theme that gives you a premium design that focuses a lot of its attention on lead generation, though it doesn’t forget about all the other important features that make it possible to build a very successful online business. This theme even offers modern templates for cryptocurrency exchanges, digital wallets, Bitcoin companies and more. But, this review is all about software-as-a-service, so I will try to keep concentrated on that. The developer wants you to remember the five main options that set this perceived theme apart from the rest. It’s got the element or page builder do you remember the five main options that said this pursuit being apart from the rest. It’s got the element or page builder, the set of process is incredibly ever list, the premium design was designed to specifically for apps, SaaS and, more recently, crypto currency. There is a live theme options customize her, giving you access to immediate changes to website and these support and service are highly rated and fast. There are over 100 different how to guide and more being added constantly, making this really well supported theme and ideal formula nurse.

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The SaaS X

With over 100 different block templates, a highly intuitive visual page builder, a variety of headers, Footers and some of the cleanest code around, the SaaS X is a WordPress theme that is a real stand-up in the field of software service provider templates. This theme is quite popular as well, it has racked up nearly 2,000 sales and its rating is 4.8 out of 5 stars. People seem to really like the support offered by the developer, among other things. They also enjoy the fact that this theme is licensed 100% GPL, making it an open-source theme that fits right with the guidelines of WordPress. For applications, businesses that want to provide software services come up marketing Pages, startup companies and web applications, this theme is a great blend of power and user-friendly attitude. Not sure what that name means though.

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Foton

This theme is called Photon, it’s a software and app landing page that was created by an elite author on ThemeForest, Mikado Themes. They are certainly among the best selling theme developers on the web, dedicated to making modern themes that have tons of features, are easy to use and have the flexibility to work with whatever you want to throw at them.

Photon is billed as a multi-concept tech theme with a SaaS specific homepage, a general Tech homepage, digital agency, Parallax showcase, product presentation and a presentation demo, I’m on several others. Each of these. Most house gives you a lot of great features to help you make a website the easy way. Visual composer is included for drag-and-drop functionality, you get several different amazing layouts and no coding is ever required. Slider Revolution is fully supported and included with your download for free, something that I think a lot of people are really going to Value. This theme supports WooCommerce, it is fully responsive and it allows for Limitless typography. The support is fast and professional and this thing is well documented as well.

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Nanosoft

This theme is called a Nanosoft. Nanosoft was built exclusively for Tech startups, application companies and other sorts of digital technology businesses, including SaaS providers. It’s written already, easy to customize and fully responsive. Nanosoft is an intuitive, powerful and highly flexible theme. Built to suit the needs of all sorts of online businesses, Nanosoft was built with utility in mind. That can really help to make your content pop with several different pre-made layouts. This theme includes all of the most popular premium plugins on the market, Revolution slider, Advanced custom fields and visual composer to name a few. Using these plug-ins, there’s almost any type of layout that you can create and everything is going to look Fantastic. Four application landing pages, cryptocurrency, lead generation sites, product showcases and software companies, this high-tech solution can really help make your website come alive.

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Proland

If you’re launching a new SaaS product, this Proland Theme could be a kick-ass presentation page to help Market your product. If you want to allow for pre-orders, collect emails of customers who may be interested in your services and you need a premium quality landing page that can be set up to go live with in less than an hour, this theme could be a great starting point. If you make a cool products or gadgets, this theme as the flexible style and features needed to help set it apart. It’s a complete solution for product related presentations, perfectly responsive, built with the latest bootstrap version, it includes video tutorials, customization options and extensive documentation. This theme has lots of different layouts, plenty of short codes and hundreds of options to help keep things functional and flexible. Support for the steam is topnotch, documentation is extensive and updates are constantly being released to keep it on the Cutting Edge for any SaaS provider.

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Sofbox

Sofbox as a harmonious design and an incredibly cleaning look that can help make your website look amazing. If you’re shooting for a beautiful and elegant presentation for yourself for services, this theme has what it takes to help you achieve your goals. This theme works perfectly with all of the major web browsers, smartphones and tablets. It’s perfectly responsive and that is all important these days. With one click demo installation, you just need to replace the images with your own and upload your content, you’ll be off and running in no time. This is a Sleek, clean and Powerful web app, software landing page or SaaS template with a stunning user interface. It’s the perfect package for just about any type of digital product that you could possibly want the market. Some of the core features include visual composer, powerful bootstrap 4 code, hover effects, fast load times, friendly and reliable support, plenty of documentation and the flexibility to adapt it to almost any use.

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AppStorm

This theme is called Appstorm and it’s a well organized, well conceived WordPress theme for promoting web applications, software and startup companies. With so much competition out there, having a great looking web presence is critical, so you should be sure to download a great looking theme to make the right first impression. I think Appstorm could be a wonderful fit.

This clean app landing page theme is all you need to introduce your new application to the world. It can be used as an overview of your newly created app, or it makes for a wonderful application or software review site. The theme was created with the absolute latest WordPress technology, it has a fluid and responsive layout, which never compromises your users experience on all devices. What’s more, AppStorm loads incredibly fast, which is always great for SEO.

This theme has a predefined style that is out of this world, helping to represent your app overview information. That demo style can be imported with just one click which can and save you a lot of time getting your website started up. For developers who are building a website to help someone else promote an app, that time saving feature can be worth a lot of money.

King Composer is one of the most popular drag and drop page builder plugins out there, so it’s great to see that AppStorm makes use of this page builder. It has everything you need to create an awesome and responsive website in just a few minutes. But, like I mentioned, the predefined style that this thing comes with could be exactly what you need anyway. This template is fully integrated with the WordPress customizer, you’ll be able to modify the appearance of your theme and see a live preview of what’s to come. It doesn’t matter what you change, the background image, typography, text and images, layout style or colors, you’ll be able to see the results instantaneously. There are smooth, attractive animations too, so say adios to clunky and ugly animations that are anything but smooth. The framerate of these animations is highly optimized and that makes it look even better. You’ll also get lifetime updates with the purchase of AppStorm, a very nice feature to have indeed.

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Utouch

If you’re looking for a remarkably high quality or dress name for SaaS services, startup companies or it companies, online businesses or digital technology companies, this thing could be right for you. This is a magnificent WordPress theme that helps you create an incredible website for your software company. Bill using the trendiest, newest techniques, clear code and the King composer, any idea that you have in your head can be achieved with just a few clicks. This is a WordPress business theme with plenty of functionality and flexibility. For web developers to eCommerce experts, businesses and startups, IT and technology companies, this is soundly crafted, eye catching WordPress theme gives you all the functionality you need to satisfy any requirement. Because you complete freedom to adjust and adapt as you see fit. Here are some additional WordPress eCommerce themes that are all the rage these days.

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#App #SaaS #Software

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