#quoth the raven...

[songbird-sunrise]

i’m sure it’ll be fine, it’s not like he has a history of pinning all his hopes and dreams on one very specific concept. or that he has a history of overreacting to disappointment

NOT HELPING CHAT

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[thatsbelievable]

[geezmarty]

my durge brigha got a lil raven companion from a side quest he's like her lil witch familiar I'm obsessed with him <3 (ft jealous karlach)

[onyx-angel]

i have so many eyes theyre all different colors do you wanna see *fucking blinds you probably*

[catflowerqueen]

Initial Travel timeline for Siffrin Scales a Wall gang post-looping would be to heal up in Dormont a bit and then travel to Bambouche and hang out there until the spring thaw--since I am pretty sure the game implies that it is currently the tail end of summer. That would give everyone some time to integrate Petronille in with the group, Petronille some time to get her and Bonnie's affairs in order so they can pack up and dedicate some time to travelling, and give Loop adequate time to bodycraft themself a human appearance.

Siffrin could also take the chance to get in some exposure therapy about Houses of Change by taking some classes with Mirabelle in Bambouche's House. With his obvious first choice being hairdressing, which they would be more or less a natural in despite not really putting too much work into their own haircare regimen--especially since he hasn't dyed it in a while. From there, the teachers would probably encourage them to eventually make their way to Corbeaux and continue lessons in the bigger city. It has some really good cosmetology schools, but they all require references from a House cosmetology class before accepting new students. And the House of Bambouche would be more than happy to give Siffrin one! Not due to his status as a savior, but due to their genuine talent in the subject.

The House of Bambouche is actually quite discerning when it comes to theses types of references, actually. As a small coastal town, they get a lot of foreigners coming in hoping to get an easy reference so they can move on and seek their fortunes elsewhere, so they have gotten very good at being able to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of dedication and actual talent. A sort of, "don't underestimate the little guy" deal, you know?

In fact, they are so picky and discerning about who they give out references to that the last one was years ago--discounting weird time effects from the freezing curse and the looping through time that was going on.

Funnily enough, that student also had darkless hair and a similar accent...

They kind of wonder what happened to him--it's a bit hard to check that, since the name he signed up for classes with was the Vaugardian equivalent of "John Doe" since the poor man apparently couldn't remember his actual name, and as far as they know he hadn't picked out a new one when he left for Corbeaux...

[edgarallanpoevis]

You missed the perfect chance to call urself Edgar Allan Pelvis

:(

Quoth The Raven; Woah Mama, But that’s the job of @pelvis-presley, I would never take another Elvis’s Job Hummina Hummina

[rosieleej]

SOTR! Spoilers! (Tw mentions of abuse as well I guess)

I just finished SOTR and never a book has let me as shocked and stilled. I can’t even process what I’m feeling. I’ve been a fan since catching fire came out and no book of the series has been as heartbreaking, breathtaking, hard to stomach as this. Brutal in a way I can’t articulate. I’m serious. Maybe it’s just post reading depression that has me talking but I’m not getting over it soon.

Haymitch, Lenore, Louella, Lou Lou, Wyatt, Mayslee, Ampert. I won’t be able to stop thinking about them anytime soon, which is bad, because next week I have big girl responsibilities and duties to attend to, and I cannot think about fictional characters all day (which is exactly what I’ll do).

Overall I think about Haymitch… there’s days when grief drowns me so deeply, so throughly, and I feel like I had never seen someone put that feeling into words as good as Suzanne did in Haymitch’s words. It shocked me really to read the last chapter before the prologue. The self hate, the dizzying pain, the self-destructiveness; all the feelings that are born from years of being abused and the incapacity to have healthy copying mechanisms and the loneliness and the unmanaged trauma and the fear. Oh Haymitch Albernathy! I’m so sorry that I understand a fraction of what you mean.

Anyways, the book was good. 5/5 stars lol.

[glittercrows]

Hi friends, can I ask a favour?

I've been receiving updates from Maryam in Gaza (@mariam-gaza11 - vetted by association), and her family - including a newborn - is in dire need of help.

I've been sharing her posts and donating when I can, but since I'm on disability pension and my own country's cost of living is rising drastically it's not feasible for me to donate as often anymore. It would mean a lot to both of us if you could donate to her campaign here or share this post so it reaches people who can.

Here is an excerpt from her GoFundMe:

"I am Maryam from the Gaza Strip. I am 35 years old. I am married and have two children, Muhammad and Mahmoud. I am now seven months pregnant*. I was living happily with my husband and children in our beautiful house until October 7th came and the war on Gaza began. Because of the war, I lost everything: my home, my job, and my husband's work. We became homeless, and because of death that always follows us I was displaced with my husband and children with all feelings of fear and pain, escaping from the bombing and under the showers of bullets on foot."

*This section of the campaign description is out of date. Maryam has now given birth to her baby, but she is still living in a tent with no income to feed herself, her husband, and children, who have endured all kinds of injury, illness, and loss. As the IOF continues to hinder and even kill those providing aid in Gaza, it's getting harder and harder for Maryam and other Palestinians to afford food and treatment.

Thank you for reading and passing this on <3

[songbird-sunrise]

Well if saying don’t panic is making you panic then, start panicking, panic like you’ve never panicked before

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'M FUCKED I'M FUCKED QUACKITY'S GONNA KILL ME

[corvidacryptida]

Yeah, I'm a hoe.

A Poe hoe.

[songbird-sunrise]

(Wilbur blinks, eyes going a little wider as Quackity downs the water.)

Yeah.

Do you want help?

(Wilbur watches Quackity lay out the foundation from her chair. Why Quackity didn't think to hire one of the many workers he has under him to at least help, Wilbur can't really guess. Although, it probably has something to do with the downtrodden look in his eye, bitterness and grief mixing together. She can see it in every block she slams down.)

(He grabs a bottle of water and holds it up toward Quackity.) Hey! Big Q! Come get some water!

-@songbird-sunrise

(Quackity's clothes cling to his skin. At one point, he'd pulled the first few buttons of his dress shirt free. The setting sun shines in his eyes as he looks Wilbur's way. He throws one more block down before stumbling to his feet. Everything hurts - his back, his legs, his chest, his pride. Collapsing down beside Wilbur, he takes the bottle. Half of it is downed in seconds.)

Thanks.

[indecisive-v]

abridged alfheim online being an education game that uses poetry for spellcasting chants is still a banger idea btw

[pratchettquotes]

"I'd better be going," said Susan. "Miss Butts always checks the dorms on the stroke of midnight."

"How many dormitories are there?" said the raven.

"About thirty, I think."

"You believe she checks them all at midnight and you don't believe in the Hogfather?"

Terry Pratchett, Soul Music

[ravensilversea]

Pillowfort

So writing a mini-guide to Pillowfort wasn't necessarily on my radar today, but here I am doing it anyway lol

Pillowfort can be loosely described as if Livejournal and Tumblr had a baby. It features privacy controls, communities, a reverse chronological dashboard that displays posts from the people and communities you follow, and allows for NSFW content. Terms of Service Here if you want to take a look at them (they include the official content policy as well), and Staff's Pillowfort 101 post if you want a better overview of features. You can also login as a Demo User if you want to poke around the site before signing up.

Sign-up is via a rolling waitlist, invitation, or buying a $5 registration key. I hear the waitlist isn't very long at all, but I can generate some invites if people are interested. The site is also completely user-funded via premium subscriptions and donations- there's an entire Pillowfundraising community dedicated to encouraging people to donate by offering small commissions in exchange for proof of donation.

Additionally, Pillowfort now has a PWA app! Mobile Firefox currently does not support PWA apps without using extensions, so if you're a iphone user like me, your mobile option is the mobile site, which is pretty decent tbh.

I mostly use Pillowfort like I do tumblr except with more original posts and more frequent ghosting because I'm predisposed to lurking (You can find me here btw).

Much like Tumblr has Xkit, Pillowfort has Tassel. Out of the two, I'd say Xkit is more necessary to site quality of life, but Tassel does offer some additional QOL and customizable options that Pillowfort does not natively come with

Cool! But what about those crickets you may have heard about? How can you actually find people on Pillowfort?

Firstly, there's an IntroduceYourself community dedicated to helping users find other users to follow. Secondly, that's where communities come in handy. A selection of active communities that may interest my followers are as follows:

Bookworms

Currently Reading

Fandom Calendar

ArtistAlley

Fanfiction

femslash

photography

Writing Games

Writing

(Sidenote: There is also Katekyo Hitman Reborn community. I mod it apparently.)

Additionally, a few users do community showcases to help people find communities. Examples here, here, here, and here

Finally, there are more than a few user-made Pillowfort Tips posts that make the rounds semi-regularly, like this one by DoktorHobo

[catflowerqueen]

Decided on some backstory for Siffrin in the Scales a Wall (also known as Swift Feathers) universe.

Spoilers below:

Siffrin’s original name was Saffron. Both because it is funny for them to have picked a name so similar to their original one, and because of the various meanings that have been subscribed to the plant. As well as the fact that it flowers in fall—right around Siffrin’s birthday.

His parents named him this for a few reasons. Primarily it was to honor a deceased uncle on his parent’s side. Siffrin never got to meet him, as he died very shortly after the bonding between his sibling and Siffrin’s mom due to a previously unknown pineapple allergy—which is where Siffrin got theirs from—but he had a plant-based name, so Siffrin’s parents decided that their firstborn would also have a plant-based name. It just took them pretty much the entire pregnancy to pick out the perfect one.

Siffrin’s aunt and uncle on his mom’s side cast their vote for “Poppy,” mainly as a joke due to how much Siffrin’s mom craved poppyseed muffins and bagels during the pregnancy. And while one of its meanings—remembrance—would have fit very nicely as the tribute to the deceased uncle, some of the others were a bit too heavy for them (mainly the ones involving death or sacrifice). Though they did often joke with Siffrin when they were little that all the poppyseeds that got consumed during the pregnancy with him were why Siffrin was such a sleepy and easygoing baby.

The other main reason for Siffrin originally being given a plant name is because of their parent’s work as a florist. Island florists had extremely demanding work because of how many wishcraft rituals involved flowers and their various meanings, so florists had to be well-versed in those—especially given how very easy it is for wishes to go awry when multiple are in play. So florists would have to be mindful of that so they didn’t, say, store two types of flowers with contradictory intent and meanings too near each other. Especially if they were part of bouquets specifically arranged for rituals. Or had shades that could invoke two different meanings depending on the intent behind it.

Which, of course, brought up its own issues—since colors do in fact still exist and it is just that people can no longer easily perceive them, the meanings and symbolism behind the different shades—the different colors—would still exist as well and still be taken into account by the Universe whether or not the people doing the wishing had awareness of it. So florists had to have very keen eyes and good attention to detail.

Siffrin’s mom’s job was some mixture of lighthouse keeper and coast guard—which is how she ended up meeting her partner. Her partner’s sibling’s job when they were still alive was some combination of pearl diver and general fisherman—with a special affinity for crabs. But they had to be rescued at sea one time by Siffrin’s mom, and Siffrin’s other parent got her a very special and personalized bouquet of thanks and gratitude for saving their brother’s life. And the two just kind of hit it off from there, eventually ending up bonding.

Incidentally, the boat that Siffrin “ran away from home” with once belonged to that deceased uncle. His sibling inherited it upon his passing, and they and their partner ensured that Siffrin knew exactly how to use it—both to honor their uncle and so that his mom wouldn’t one day have to rescue him at the sea the same way she did with said uncle so many years ago.

And given that Siffrin did, indeed, safely make it to Vaugarde with it after a certain individual accidentally made that wish that all but erased their homeland, it’s safe to say that the lessons stuck extremely deep.