#i'm a visual learner so i had to include pictures

[hedonicghost]

Hi, @onewomancitadel! Sorry to use your tags as an excuse to show how to do this, but we were hesitant about this as well for the same reasons! But it turned out to be super easy AND simple to reverse if necessary, so I'm going to make sort of a step-by-step guide for those unsure!

TAMPERMONKEY INSTALL

i linked to their website jic you werent using firefox (which you should be if you arent) but it does just end up linking to the firefox addon store anyway.

so go ahead and add that beast!

it asks for quite a few permissions, but tampermonkey itself doesn't actually access any of this to any extent. it just gives whatever code you write/install the ability to. so, in general, as it says on their page after you install it...

DON'T DOWNLOAD BAD SCRIPTS! read through it a bit first, only download stuff with reputable comments if you're nervous, etc etc. Tampermonkey itself, again, doesn't really do anything that could put your privacy at risk.

DASHBOARD UNFUCKER

github has always scared me, tbh. there's too much going on on that site, so this is the fastest way to gtfo of that site. you can also generally follow this plan of attack for any other userscript you want to slap into tampermonkey, but some devs make it easier than this even! it depends on where you get your stuff from. anyway, access the .js file by clicking it.

i personally like to get the raw file in my broswer so i can just ctrl+a to select the whole page and copy it that way, but you can also just. copy the code from this page. either way, you need to copy the ENTIRETY of what's typed up in that .js file

PUT THEM TOGETHER!

look to wherever you're hiding tampermonkey (toolbar, extension folder, etc) and open up the dashboard

click the little + sign box over there. you don't NEED to do anything on the extension dashboard if you don't want to, they do all of the work for you by default

see! the even give you some code to start with! we don't care about that right now, though, so get rid of it and paste the code from github in there

((i guess you could also have just saved the .js file and imported it into the new tampermonkey file...? but i like throwing things around lol))

anyway! after sticking the code in, hit FILE and then SAVE and... from there, that's basically it! tampermonkey will see all the details the developer put into those comments and it'll be set up to inform you when there's updates available to the code! or you don't have to update it! or you can check on it occasionally on your own! either way, you're done.

i'm hitting a word limit i didn't know existed, but this is what it looks like after you install it! it's a bit glitchy and weird looking on some pages, but it's at least not whatever the fuck it was before. also i have xkit and some userstyles installed so i might have even more of a glitchier experience than you might, but i've been really happy with this for a few days now!

to conclude: PLEASE make sure you're reporting FEEDBACK to staff about this update. they won't do anything if we just ignore it, you HAVE to tell them what you think or they'll just keep throwing this shithole down the drain. if you've read this far (and maybe even installed it!!!!) i hope you have a GREAT day!!! you're cherished and i'm very happy you're crossing my path today :3c

get tampermonkey and download the dashboard unfucker right now and send staff feedback on the desktop site

[huevoconfrijoles]

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ Guess *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Summary: he wants to guess the color of my underwear

Authors note: I’m so down bad for Joost it’s crazy.

Today was the day I decided to tidy up my room. The closet door barely even closed with all the clothes sprawled on the floor from times in which I swore to myself I would pick them up once I got home. I groaned, looking at the mess I made myself.

I managed to fix and rearrange most of my closet, but not without distractions. I found a bunch of clothes I stole from Joost including shirts and hoodies that were too big for my own body. The scent of his cologne lingered on my nose.

God, I miss him.

Wait, he hasn’t even texted me.

It was getting late, so I showered and got in bed, putting whatever show I came across first on Netflix for background noise. It was another hour before I received a text from Joost.

we just got done

you up? :p

Of course, I was up and he knew it. I can’t sleep without telling him goodnight. I mean I can, but I don't want to

yes im upp

im sleepy tho

I snapped a quick picture in bed showing off the shirt I had clearly stolen from him. A white t-shirt that read ‘I ❤️ Joost Klein��. That man loved himself maybe a bit more than me. I don’t mind.

what are you wearing? 🤨

a shirt lol

just a shirt then?

ofc not 🙄 im wearing stuff under too

i hope it’s another joost klein shirt with joost klein socks. he’s a cool guy.

yeah he’s the bestt

and unfortunately it’s not another joost klein shirt sorry 😔

i don’t know i might need proof

My cheeks started to burn up. He’s not even here next to me, and he knows how to make me flustered.

Fuck it.

I quickly pull off the sheets and roll my top up a bit just so there’s under boob.

see. just 1 joost klein top here.

id rather there be no top involved.

But let’s not say

My heart jumps at the notification.

1 image attachment

joost klein underwear over here

Like I said, that man loved himself more than me at this point.

I'm going to need some of those underwear

I’m sure the ones you have on right now are wayyy better than some loser named joost klein…

i bite the inside of my cheek at the thought of where this conversation is heading.

wouldn’t you like to know

i would.

what color are they?

He’s such a guy, of course he’d want to know

guess

pink

see through?

no idea (i’m a visual learner btw)

I soon got an incoming FaceTime call from a red-cheeked Joost.

“So was I right? ” His face was illuminated, but I could see the tiredness in his eyes mixed with lust.

“Not even close”, I laughed and sat up a bit.

“You’re lying, let me seppe.”

I gently bite the side of my lip while I fulfilled his wish. I lift the oversize shirt that was covering my lower half painfully slowly. So much that Joost groans out of frustration.

“Such a tease” he muttered.

I finally gave him a peek at my black lacy undergarment. The look on his face was pure desperation. He roughly swallows and ruffles his hair.

“I wish I was there with you” he says.

“I know baby” I said, looking into his blue eyes through the screen.

“ Can you touch yourself for me?” he quietly asks, to which I nod and comply.

My hand travels down from my chest to my thighs, my phone in the other tracking my actions.

I could hear his phone shake a bit. He adjusted the position so that his upper torso and lower half of his body were in the frame.

He palms himself through the tight fabric of his boxers. Soft moans escape his mouth every so often as his eyes follow my every move. His gaze never faltering from the screen.

My hand travels down to push the lace fabric to the side. My fingers work in a fast motion against the slickness, dipping in and out occasionally.

Our moans fill the atmosphere in my room. We both come down from our highs and are a panting mess.

“I love you, but now I have to go clean up the mess you made me do” he says, winking at me through the screen.

[duusheen]

Duu, I apologize if I'm asking too much, but would you mind doing a tutorial on how you use Rig Plus? The creator's tutorial is too complicated for me to understand :(

omg, okay. this is how I do it, but I'm fairly new to using this, so it might not be perfect. Still, it might help you get started 👇🏽

I'm going to make it as beginner-friendly as possible and include a lot of pictures because maybe you're like me, anon and you're more of a visual learner 🙃

First, let's check that we have the correct version of TS4 Studio and Blender (this is important, trust me). Following the creator's instructions: "It's compatible with any recent Sims4Studio Star (beta) that supports Blender v3.3 & v3.6". so I have Sims4Studio v3.2.1.2 and Blender 3.6 (Is that the latest S4S? I don't know, but it works for me).

you need to download both files. Only extract the one that says 'vyxated - RigPlus v1' (if you extract the other one, Blender won't recognize it. Don't ask me why, I have no idea, but I extracted it and it didn't work, so I had to leave it as it is. we learn from mistakes, I guess). It should look like this:

Ok, can we make the poses now, Du? No, I mean, you can if you want. But first, we need to make sure we have everything ready to export it when we're done. For that, we need this:

You can see this in the right column of the Blender window, under the 'Scene' section at the bottom

Do you have it in your Blender? If you do, yay, then you can make your pose. If you're like me and you don't have it, don't panic yet! I'll tell you how to get it. It's as easy as opening an exported rig from S4S in Blender, and magically, the little window appears. Now I'll show you how (assuming you previously synced your S4S with Blender from 'settings'. I'll assume you know how to do that; if not, send me another ask, and I'll tell you how).

now what? nothing. you SHOULD have that S4S tab (when I first opened the EA Rig+ it didn't show up for me until I did that. You can close that blank rig; you won't need it anymore). ok NOW can we make the poses? yes! wait, no. the Add-ons. that's pretty easy: "File > Blender Preferences > Add-ons > Install… > select vyxated_RigPlus_extras.zip /.py"

NOW you are ready to make a pose. here's mine 🤠

We're going to save the pose. For this, the process is a bit different from saving a pose normally. Just follow the steps and you should be fine. You can check if it's saved correctly at the end; I'll show you how, don't worry.

fist, HIDE 'the RigPlus_Adult' (that's the one with all the controls to move the sim).

It should appear orange, both the selected parts and the points on the sim body. According to the creator's instructions, you MUSTN´T insert keyframes while in Object Mode or you'll end up with the T-pose in the game. Orange = OBJECT MODE, blue = POSE MODE. You need to be in POSE MODE (all blue dots) to insert keyframes. let's see some pictures.

don't insert keyframes here ☝🏽

NOW you can inser keyframes (in other words: on your keyboard, you press A and then I > Location & Rotation). IMPORTANT: always remember to have Rig_Adult selected to insert keyframes.

Now hide Rig_Adult and leave only RigPlus_Adult visible because we're going to insert the keyframes there too. Same process: make sure you're in POSE MODE > A (to select all) > I > Location & Rotation.

You're ready to export your pose. But wait! Remember I told you we needed that S4S window? Here's where that comes in. To export your pose, you need to have 'Rig_Adult' selected, otherwise, it won't save properly. The way to check if you're selecting the right one is by looking at that S4S window. Let me show you how:

You go to Scene, and at the bottom where it says 'S4Studio Animation Tools,' it should say 'Rig_AdultAction.' If you have the right one selected, you can now save your pose as you would normally do.(you know, going to Files > Save As…)"

That would be basically everything!! ✨Now, Some tips:

to view/use the Asset Browser (where you can find objects), you have to go here:

And to install it, in the creator's words: 'Edit > Blender Preferences > File Paths > Asset Libraries > add the vyxated - RigPlus Assets folder you've extracted'

I don't know how much you know about Blender, anon, so I'm going to be super basic here. To move the "bones" use R, RR, and G. Just press one of these keys and see if it moves where you want. Doesn't work with R? Then Ctrl+Z and try RR. Still no? Ctrl+Z and G. Just try until it looks the way you want 😁

Oh, right! I mentioned you could check if the pose was exported correctly and almost forgot to tell you how lol. Once you put the pose in your pose pack in S4S, all you have to do is export the pose you made from there (in the same way I explained to you above). I export it to the desktop, double click and open it. If the pose looks exactly like what you made, then congratulations! You've done it right. If all you see is the T-pose, then go back to the saving step because you've done something wrong (in my case, I was saving the pose in Object Mode, but I also had issues when I didn't have Rig_Adult selected when saving the pose 😆)

Alright, that's all! I hope it's not too confusing and that it helps you! Let me know if something isn't clear, nonny! 💖

[frogsandfries]

Hopefully real quick

Because on the one hand it's bothering me, and on the other hand, again, I still want to get some typesetting work done.

So, I know I mentioned that I got a book. I don't think I remember mentioning or showing which book it was. It's Little Bead Boxes by Julia Pretl.

It's supposed to be an easy to follow guide. But it's not. And it's bothering me.

My granny didn't teach me beading. I am entirely self-taught when it comes to beading. My dad kind of just indulged me with a pack of beads and I had to figure it out from there. I did use some magazines from the library to learn some stuff, but of course, the magazines assume you're an adult with a tray of a variety of stuff. I only had one packet of seed beads, so maybe a lot of opportunities were lost there.

I really had to improvise and reverse engineer to figure this out for myself, like last night, digging scrabbling really, with increasing desperation and frustration, for a guide that showed how to peyote stitch a triangle in a way that made sense for me.

From there, now I'm sitting here trying to get a couple steps ahead in my mind. I don't really want to be stuck when it comes to the going into three dimensions with the beadwork, which is the whole point of acquiring the book: Finally learning something interesting to me to do with the beaded projects that I create, seeing as bracelets and necklaces give me sensory issues.

But I'm trying to continue my reverse engineering to really figure out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing, per the pattern, both to increase my skill in reading patterns, as well as to confirm that I'm doing this correctly so that I can ensure when I get to the more complicated patterns, I can actually follow them, since this book is, funny enough, not really aimed at visual learners.

I'm sitting here I wish I had some vellum and some decent quality sticky notes so that I can annotate the book for myself without messing up the book by scribbling all over it.

First, having the rows in the diagrams numbered would have been a great addition. I frogged my triangle like three times thinking I was doing it wrong. Second, some kind of page that explains like you're five how to read the damn pattern. Like, okay, A(1) means one of color A. But what the fuck is "nc"; why is this thing bolded and that thing is not. What the fuck is the ellipse for.

Oh, my third big issue is that increasing is included right there in the written instruction section, but fucking decreasing is in it's own section. What the hell! Who allowed this?? This organization makes no goddamn sense.

Again, I'm not a read the instructions person. I'm a look at the pictures person. I imagine many, many visual creatives are. A little more grace extended toward these types would have massively improved this book. It brags about step-by-step instruction and being suitable for all experience levels. Experience levels, perhaps; learning styles? Not remotely

Anyway, if I'm such a great teacher, why don't I publish my own bead-working book? This book was published in 2006 which was technologically a long, long time ago. I could easily produce a beading book full of painfully complete, step-by-step photographic instruction.

With this all said and out of my head, I'd like to focus on the project I have moved my attention to for the little time I have left till I have to go back to work.

If someone came up to me tomorrow and offered me a job working from home with four ten-hour shifts a week, I would jump ship so fast.

[atlantic-riona]

@an-spideog

That's a really great question. I do have a fondness for O'Siadhail's Learning Irish, mostly because that was the one used to teach me when I was a child. I like that he includes a lot of grammar, I like the fact the exercises have you translate from Irish to English and from English to Irish, and I like the audio. I don't like that the grammar can be confusing as an independent learner—I was very confused for a long time about several grammatical items and O'Siadhail's explanations were very technical and difficult to wrap my head around, even as an adult.

I've tried the Gaeilge gan Stró series as well. I like the dialogues, but the set up of the chapters themselves can be a little confusing? It seems to jump around a bit.

I like the Buntus Cainte series, from what I've seen of it on archive.org, but it looks like it's very light on grammar explanations, and focuses more on speaking and hearing and seeing. Which is fine! But it seems like the kind of book used best in a classroom, with a teacher to help provide those explanations.

I've tried a lot of textbooks, online programs, etc., and I feel like my problem with most of them is that they focus extensively on reading/writing, not enough on speaking and listening, and they either do too little grammar or too complex grammar in the beginning.

I could just be really picky. I don't think there's a perfect language book out there for any language, but it seems like other languages usually have new and updated textbooks coming out, and a lot of the heavily recommended ones for Irish are from the 1960s. This is probably because Irish is an endangered language, and it seems like most "newer" textbooks are aimed at Irish schoolchildren (which is great! I want the focus to be on reviving the language in Ireland).

But it is kind of frustrating sometimes to see the same problems in every adult learner course for Irish. I've taken German, Italian, and Japanese classes, and none of them were perfect either, but maybe because there was more available to choose from, it felt less frustrating to work around?

I think my ideal Irish course would be like the Tobira Japanese textbook course, which I absolutely adore. They have audio for all the vocabulary, dialogues, texts (including repeat audio where there's space left for you to repeat the word or phrase). They have a two spread page before each chapter with all the vocabulary, and then another spread with all the same vocabulary next to pictures. Each chapter opens with three dialogues that cover the vocabulary and grammar that will be used in the chapter. Then each activity works piece by piece through each point of the lesson. I loved that the first chapter was all about correct pronunciation - it broke down every sound made in Japanese, and had audio of the sounds so you could repeat them and have better pronunciation, rhythm, and tone. There was a workbook that had additional exercises, and also writing exercises - I would love an Irish book that focused beyond simple translation to things like spelling or other writing needs. I also loved that it was so visual - there were pictures and cartoons everywhere. For every activity, you could do more than one thing. So for example, if you had a "telling time" activity, you would have the various characters shown doing different activities in front of the clock or calendar. You could progress from "it is 9:00" to "Naomi is swimming at 9:00" to "Naomi swims in the pool at 9:00." It was really helpful for building on previous lessons and tying concepts together. It was repetitive, but simple, so you grew more confident and were able to tackle the more complex ones later. They have a website, and I'm sure it's used in courses, but I did it as a self-study course/refresher before I went to Japan and it was very helpful.

when you want to try learning Irish again but all of the adult learner textbooks make you want to scream

[anonil88]

Wandavision Ep. 9 (series finale) liveblog

Obviously there are spoilers below read at your own wishes im including a gif to give you more time to scroll away

The picture is the family together in fight stance omg omg let me hit play

We back right where we left off.

Yea she wants to absorb your power sis, nah fuck that Agatha you can fuck right off.

I can see the cgi in the window and car.

Oh fuck this white mother fucker. Vision please come save your wife. Ayyy my guy!

I mean is he her ex? Or just her exes body.

Multi boss battle time!

This has to be Peter from X-men just being manipulated.

Wanda really did create an entire man the only thing missing is the body.

Um we are missing a few scenes here. When did they capture Jimmy?

You handcuffed a magician? Stupid.

Cliff? Who's that?

So they are about to have a boss battle amongst civilians lmfao. They probably won't even notice what's happening.

On the nose entry of the Darkhold.

It's not her destiny to destroy the world at all. Even in the comics she fights and fights that destiny time and time again.

Oh no, angry puppets. Run Wanda run!

Mrs? Ralph is that you?

Oh it is Ralph they casted Evan Peters to tease us all about x-men im guessing.

That is fucked up to tease us with that.... I'm just saying that is fucked up.

She doesn't even know how she has done this, she really thought she was doing the right thing.

Ugh this feels like when grief gets overwhelming.

No WANDA NOOO, oh shit she really doesn't know how to control it fully at all.

Get out everyone get out!

Wtf is Agatha planning?

Oh no Vis! His soul, if only he gets closer to her.

No the boys....if only she could find a way to tether them to her and not the world she created.

She is going to try and suck wanda dry oh my lord.

Haha family stance too cute. A family that fights together, stays together? Maybe.

Ooo are together gonna fuse?

She is a hero and learning very very fast.

Ayyy boys

Monica lets goo! Take that Hayward.

Hayward is an entire bitch. Fuck him.

Oh they are gonna have a logic battle or a battle of the brains. Exactly you are both vision now kith.

Who will this new vision be? Not quite how I expected it to happen with an awakening but yay, the rebirth of vision!

But, will he stay alive at the end of this? This new vision not Wanda's remade husband.

Let's go red wiggly woos and nightmares. Destroy you with your worst fears or your regrets.

Dammit.

A witchhunt really?

No wanda not like this. Agatha is a liar and has shown that why would you trust her?

We all thought vision would die but what if it's Wanda? Oh no.

Me to Agatha Harkness:

Oh? Did she unknowingly cast another spell?

Ah ha that's why she was hitting the barrier so wanda is a visual learner.

I hope she gets that Darkhold book and reads it.

She is writing her own damn story. I know that's right.

COME ON CROWN

COME THROUGH OUTFIT

Ngl you can see they ran out if cgi budget this episode BUT I love this cute redone style of the comic book outfit. The new ones not the old ones.

Also she doesn't need you, she has a guy named Dr. Strange that she can call.

Awe this is so sweet but I know that this will end. I love that we see her vision and her boys happy all together because we do not get to see that in the comics really like all at the same time.

They are now friends in the comics that share kids, yaknow divorced parents that stay friends but can't make a relationship work.

At least for a couple moments we get a happy power family in house 2800, that get some last sweet beautiful moments.

They will live forever in her heart.....and cough eventually reincarnated cough. Their sound are very real.

I hope she saves that photo at least.

She healed and found out more about herself and who she loved, thats beautiful.

So he's not gonna tell her that he gave her vision the other back?

Awwww they are so in love and marvel doesn't even let them be happy in the comics.

I mean you literally will say hello again his body with his memories is flying outside right now.

Aww vision.

Emo wanda has returned in aesthetic. Starts playing BMTH or PTV

She's like I'm sorry, oh and she said it.

Oooo with the hood and cape on yesss. She is pretty much a rejected member of society and "herodom" now who runs off to discover herself after a really fucked up situation and then a messy engagement similar to comics. Kind of like how Peter is set up to be in the mid credit scene at the end of far from home.

Wanda really said:

Midcredit scene reaction!!

Is Jimmy gonna be director?

Coronet?

Yes a skrull! Talos heard? How? Yay Monica is going to space like she always wanted!!

AN END CREDIT SCENE!!!!!

Thats the lake from the other movie right? Uh all these wait is Thor around? Oh wonderful I love this oh yes give me Wanda educating herself with this book. And she has learned sustained working projections without creating another hex, I love that for her. Two places at once. WE GOING TO THE MULTIVERSE, which i don't think she will be a villain for.

For a finale this was just okay like not great but good enough to pass because after all this is Marvel not Starz or HBO (GOT aside). I understand now why the executive or was it director said this would be a dissapointment. A lot of people had so many theories running but even with my own theories i haven't been conflating them as definites. The only one i did was Monica's scientist and now Pietro being just Ralph revealed. After seeing last weeks episode I just said imma just fully enjoy this last episode and didn't pay mind to many of the new theories.

Anyways I'm not super disappointed this was just an okay finale. So was Legends of Tomorrow's last season finale which I still found some enjoyment in. But, I'm not as excited for Falcon and the Winter Soldier because I can tell from this episode we are going back into movie marvel action with little depth.

I really enjoy the non-officially but official MCU shows like Jessica Jones or Agents of Shield because they often do both. The depth and the action which this show did with a much larger budget. I get there are probably plot holes in this episode for time or filming restriction reasons but still like dang it. Well this has been fun thanks for whoever reads these haha.

[killemwithkawaii]

Sal, can you tell us about how you first saw and fell in love with Senpai? I'm rootin' for you <3

Heheh, that means a lot... It’s nice to know some of you are in my corner now. [Maybe if they see you all cheering me on, Mitchie will let me hold them soon 💙]

Sure, I’d love to. I’m going to be reminiscing about it with them later today anyway, so this will be a good practice-run of the story. It might get a little long...

First off:

I noticed that Mitchie has made several ‘moodboards’ with us in mind. I thought making one for each time we’ve met would be helpful for them, since they’ve always been a visual learner. As for the story...

The first time I met them was during another one of my stays on death row. I had gone through about two hundred timelines at that point. In around a third of them, I had been sent to prison after having to murder whoever had been tainted by the darkness in that timeline [again]. In the majority of the rest, I had died some pretty gnarly deaths before I even got a chance to try and change anything [again]. Either way, the result of my effort was the same as it always was: I had failed. Again. Just like always.

I was in my first real-deal, post-becoming-a-universe-hopping-immortal slump. I was depressed, indifferent, numb... I felt like shit, frankly. I declared that timeline another bust [biiig surprise].

I considered jumping, but I knew that once I did, my only options were to go through another door and so I could try and fail all over again, pop over to my original timeline to bug Ash and Todd, or go hang out with Jim in his workshop. I didn’t feel like doing any of those things [or feel anything, really], so I just kind of sat in my cell and let myself wallow in my misery while I waited around to be evicted from yet another body.

But then, at the beginning of January, I got a letter. One that wasn’t boobytrapped hate mail or religious propaganda or just straight-up pictures of someones junk. It was a blue envelope with these little pink strawberries printed on it, with a return address and name [just 'Mitch'] I didn’t recognize.

Inside, there was a short note. The author wished me well and asked how I was being treated in prison. They mentioned that they’d noticed I was always wearing the same jumpsuit in my broadcasted interviews, so they had donated a little money to my commissary fund so I could get a new one, and maybe treat myself to something [”a late Christmas gift”], too.

I thought it was a prank until I had a new uniform and a bar of cheap chocolate in my hands. I looked [and smelled] like a new man. I wanted to write back a thank-you note to 'Mitch', but I couldn’t really give them much of a gift in return. A Larry had taught me some dollar-bill origami at some point, so I did my best to fold the candy wrappers into some of the shapes that I could remember. I made a throwing star with the inner foil [and threw it around my cell for a while before it was confiscated], and folded the paper wrapping into a collared shirt and a pair of pants in honor of my stylish new ensemble. There were a lot of creases where I'd made mistakes and had to start over again, but I thought that sending them that was better than nothing.

I got a reply about a week later. They lived close, so it didn't take long for their letters to get to me. 'Mitch' thanked me for my ‘beautiful paper crafts,’ which they now had on their bedroom desk, and said I should make more of them because I 'have a knack for it'. They included two polaroid pictures in the second letter: One of the paper shirt and pants, which they had added hands, feet and a head with blue pigtails to to make a little me-doll, and a picture of themselves smiling and waving at the camera. They said that they had included the second one because they had seen me plenty of times, so they thought that it was only fair that I knew what they looked like, too.

We wrote back and forth regularly for months after that. It felt good to be able to look forward to something again. Over time, 'Mr. Fisher' turned into 'Sally,' 'Mitch' turned into 'Mitchie', 'sincerely,' turned into 'your friend,'. We both started doodling in the margins of the letters, and I got to know them pretty well through their stories and little comics: 

They loved anything cute and pastel. They liked cooking for their loved ones. They always tried to make friends with stray cats. They were a sucker for a bargain. They loved strong coffee. They liked cold weather and the clothes that came with it. They were perusing an art career against their parents wishes. They moved away from home to prove that they could make a name for themselves. They came to Nockfell because the tuition at the community college was cheap and the rent was cheaper. They had a hard time making new friends, but treasured the few they had dearly, which now included me. 

It all seemed too good to be true, considering that with that timeline, I had basically said 'fuck it.' I was tired, nothing else I had thought to try before had worked, so this time I decided to tell the bottom-feeding news crews everything. The whole thing. The ghosts, the cult, the aliens, the universe hopping, the very likely approaching end of the world as they, in this timeline, knew it. The footage was soon chopped up and broadcasted in an hour-long 'Unmasking the Sally Face Killer' special on Nockfell Public Access. It was really poorly edited with a lot of dramatic stock-footage and public domain music. It was apparently too cheesy for most of the conspiracy theorists/ supernatural enthusiasts in the broadcast area, so the ratings were super low.

Mitchie was one of the few viewers. They told me that they originally had the television on for background noise while they drew late at night, but saw me on-screen and became absorbed with the program. At first, they couldn't believe how ridiculous it was. Then, they noticed just how much my interviews had been cut up and cobbled together and taken out of context. They recorded the rerun of the special, as well as my interviews on the news, and painstakingly pieced together the footage so that my story was in order and as complete as possible. They had spent hours rewatching and taking notes on those tapes, and eventually confessed that they had drawn me quite a few times before they'd written that first letter.

I couldn't help but feel a little prideful every time they sent a new drawing of me, and was downright giddy the first time they drew us together. We talked a lot about how much we wished we could hang out in person, so most of their drawings were of us doing regular things: watching TV, walking outside, sharing a meal... They drew us holding hands once, and the guards rushed in to check on me because they had never heard me make so much noise before. They sent me more photos, usually of their art or a meal they had cooked that they wished they could share with me, but a few were of themselves and the doll they'd made of me, strategically placed so the perspective made it seemed life-sized next to them.

The drawings and letters got longer and more detailed as time went on. In April, they mentioned that they were looking for a subject for the final piece in one of their art classes, and asked me if they could come for a visit so they could draw my portrait in person. Of course, I agreed.

I was so nervous. I was pacing around my cell and doing my best to make myself presentable [and to not have pit stains on the uniform they had bought for me] all morning. I don’t think the guards had ever seen me so energetic outside of an intense therapy session. 

When I got to the visitation room, Mitchie was there waiting with their sketchbook. They looked as nervous as I was. I picked up the receiver and managed to drop and dramatically fail at catching it about five times in a row. When I finally got it up to my ear, I huffed and said something like, “Well, that was an amazing first impression on my part...,” They laughed and smiled so wide. It was unreal to see them in person and to hear them speak after all those months... they told me they felt the same.

My fumbling turned out to be just the ice-breaker we needed. We chatted like old friends while they did some quick sketches of me. They said that I looked nice in my new uniform, that my hands had a nice structure, that they liked the way my ears stuck out a little, and that they thought it was really pretty how the light reflected differently in my false and real eyes. Nobody had ever said things like that to me before... I wanted to tell them similar things, but it was hard to find the right words in the ten minutes we had together before I was escorted back to my cell. They watched me for as long as I was in view and waved to me right as I got to the door and I waved back and they were still smiling so big... [heh, I could almost see the hearts in their eyes...💙]

They came back in June to show me a photo of their finished painting in person. They said was too big to bring through prison security, and they wanted me to be able to have a copy of it, anyway, but it was still okay if I didn't like it. 

They said that it was a commentary on the American prison system and the gross mistreatment of prisoners, as well as a tribute to me and my story. It looked like one of those paintings of saints you would see on the wall of a cathedral, complete with the bleeding stigmata on my upturned palm. I was in my prison uniform and seated in the visiting room with the receiver to my ear, looking at the viewer through the glass, with the yellowish light from the lamp above me reflecting in my eyes and hair and off my prosthetic and forming a hazy halo around my head. They said they had added embossing powder to the highlights to really make it glow, so there was a big contrast between me and the dingy grey background, but it didn't really show up well in the picture. 

It didn't matter. I was blinded by tears, anyway. I couldn’t believe that was how they saw me. It was gorgeous. It was so detailed. I could tell at a glance that they had put hours and hours and hours into that painting. Into me.

Nobody had ever listened to me or sympathized with my suffering quite like they did. Nobody had ever shown me that level of kindness or understanding after they had learned about all of the awful things that I've had to do. Nobody who'd ever seen me, really seen me for everything that I am, had ever said that what they saw was beautiful.... 

That's when I knew I needed to be with them. I had already said 'fuck it' to this timeline, so I decided I might as well keep rolling with it. I started trying to come up with a plan to escape before my execution date, but I ended up not needing to make one. 

A fire broke out near my cell block one night at the end of September. I don't know how it started, but prisoners starting fires isn't exactly unheard of. The building was old, like all the other buildings in Nockfell. The whole thing went up like tinder. It was chaos. Everyone was scrambling around and panicking, trying to escape. A decent number of us managed to make it out into the yard. There were enough of us making a break for it at one time that a few of us got past the fence while the others were being shot down.

From there, I ran. I ran for miles and miles through the woods in near-complete darkness, praying that all of the different maps of Nockfell I had memorized would guide me in the right direction. I knew the area they lived in, I knew their address by heart, I knew there was no other place I wanted to be. I had to find them, and I thought that that would be my only chance. 

I got to their apartment a little after 3am. I reeked like smoke and sweat and dirt and I couldn't catch my breath, but I fucking made it. I found their bedroom window and knocked a few times before they turned the light on. I wish you could have seen the look on their face when they opened the blinds and saw me standing there.. It was priceless. I thought they had dislocated their jaw for a second. They opened the window, punched the screen out, pulled me in by the collar, drew the blinds again and just looked at me with these huge eyes. They poked at my chest like they were checking if I was real, and when I assured them that I was and they heard my voice and knew it was me, we... well, Mitchie and I made up for a lot of lost time that night, muddy sheets be damned.

We packed up and ran the next morning. We both knew that their apartment would be the first place the police would look (right after they double-checked that none of the well-done inmates in the prison morgue were yours truly). We had to move, and we had to move fast.

Mitch and I headed toward the mountains. It was actually really easy at first, given the time of year and rumors of my possible escape making the rounds on the news. My ‘special’ reran on TV a lot that October. Paper mache masks in the likeness of my prosthetic were a very popular costume choice, which meant it was cake for us to blend in, especially when Mitchie put on a mask, too. 'A real-live killer could be among us! Oooh, it's so scaryyy~' we had to laugh every time, because it was true whenever we said it. 

We had to do a lot of pick-pocketing and shoplifting and car stealing to get by, but other than that, we were happy as could be. We could finally do all the things that normal couples did, everything we talked about in our letters: We went to the movies, we took walks hand-in-hand around the little towns we stopped in, we went out for pizza, we went to haunted houses, we stopped at stupid tourist-traps and farmers markets and bought matching t-shirts to wear [or not wear] to bed while we stayed in all those shitty motels.... It was a regular honey-moon, all things considered. Everything went absolutely perfect. Until November.

People stopped wearing their 'Sally Face Killer' masks after Halloween. I stuck out like a sore thumb [who had killed 20+ people and escaped from prison] once again, so we could only travel at night on back roads. Mitchie had to start doing most of the dirty work when it came to stealing food and money. They always said that they were happy to do it for me, anything for me, if it meant that we could be together. 

We had stolen a crappy car and stocked it up with all the canned food and supplies we could get our sticky fingers on. We were headed into the mountains, hoping to find an unoccupied cabin to squat in until our trail cooled down a little. We thought we were being so careful... but something went wrong less than a week later. Someone must have spotted me, or reported the stolen car, or maybe someone noticed Mitchie putting sticks of jerky in their coat sleeve and decided to call the cops. 

We got so close. But, we didn't make it....

Or, at least, we didn’t make it until now. I made sure that we did, and Mitchie even got to keep their hands clean this time.

I’m hoping that telling them all this will help them remember so that we can start to make up for lost time again. I’ve been waiting for this for so long... I’m hoping that we can live like we planned. I’m hoping we can be normal, just for a little while. I’m hoping that they’ll love me again, like they already do, before November...

It has to happen before November. 

[kpenvs3000f21]

My ideal role as an environmental interpreter, what that entails, where it might be, and the skills I might need

My ideal role as an environmental interpreter would be to share knowledge and experiences about ecosystems and wildlife, including (but not limited to) elk, grizzly bears, or moose. In addition, why we should care about wildlife and their habitats, and how we can respect them along with these natural environments. This might entail in-person teaching within National Parks, or even posting to online platforms such as this blog. There are potentially a number of different skills I would need depending on which type of interpretation I choose: 

Personally, I prefer visual and tactile learning. So for in-person interpretation, such as a job as an interpreter for a National Park, I would require the ability to incorporate visuals to engage audiences and provide examples of wildlife activity. Then, I would need to know how to lead an exploration with people to show them wildlife first-hand (safely of course!). Additionally, this would incorporate a sensing learning approach that shows how the knowledge I originally shared through visuals connects directly with the environment we’re in. 

For example, I could provide images and videos of Elk, like the one pictured above. Then if we encounter them while out in the park, I can further explain how their antlers are sharp, males are aggressive during rutting season, and their bugle (their mating call) is the worst thing I’ve ever heard, all by observing them in their natural habitat. This should allow sensing learners to make the connection between the information I’ve previously presented and the real world event they get to experience. Utilizing visual, tactile, sensing learning, and a little bit of personal opinion on Elk bugles, all together to educate an audience on wildlife within a National Park. 

For educating others online, this post and my previously posted video are examples of using visuals and personal experiences to educate an audience (such as whoever is reading this post). Is it fair to assume if you’ve read this far, and seen my previous video, you have already learned a little something about Elk through audio and visual learning? Hopefully the use of anecdotes can help connect with audiences on a personal level and have them become more emotionally involved, and in extension, potentially care more about the information I’m sharing. This will hopefully make the experience more meaningful for those who participate, therefore succeeding in one of my roles as an interpreter. 

I think if I had to choose, I would choose the option of environmental interpretation through the use of online platforms. I find it can be strenuous to have constant interaction with numerous people from a public service standpoint. I'm not quite sure if my ideal role as an environmental interpreter would involve actually working a job as an interpreter. Instead, I might enjoy having the opportunity to share my experiences and knowledge with others on my own accord more. Online platforms provide an opportunity to carefully construct and prepare material, including responses to the audience. It takes the pressure off a little bit and gives you some time to prepare, as well as allowing you to post more freely. On the contrary, perhaps improving my abilities to interpret knowledge in ways a little further out of my comfort zone are skills I will need to succeed in being my ideal environmental interpreter.

This was a longer post, but thank you if you stuck it out until the end :) here's a snippet of some young bulls practicing for when they're big enough to mate more successfully!

Have a great week!