#shes catnip for me specifically

[gilfrespecter]

Tho tbh the only thing keeping me from being insane about sister carpenter RN is Beautiful Fall Weather and Anticipation For Rewatching Rgu And Also Work

[arodykeism]

all you ever need is to be nice and friendly

[lazer-screwdriver]

Sometimes I’ll see something happen in canon and it will just sit in my head for a few days until I think about it properly and then it takes me out at the knees. Anyway I’m incredibly unwell about thirteen using the drums as a personal broadcast/private message between her and the master in spyfall.

[ms-demeanor]

Like. It is difficult to express how much I know and care about cats.

I had a cat fancy subscription from the ages of 11 to 15 because I was obsessed with cats. I had every book on cat behavior that I could find in my library. I tried to get my teachers to call me Alli Cat. When my girl scout troop was assisting younger troops at camporee, the troop leader had us name ourselves "[Herb Name] Bear" - like "cinnamon bear" or "tarragon Bear" and I asked if I could be cat bear and if i could put a cat on the teddy bear tee shirts we were making and she said no so I got out an encyclopedia and found out that catnip was sometimes called cat mint so i called myself Catmint bear and put a cat head in the tree on the shirt design and claimed it was a bird's nest. My girl scout silver award project was collecting donations of food and money for an animal rescue to help cats.

You know how there are horse girls? I was that but with cats. I had eleven cats at one point. I *adore* cats. In the eight grade class people voted me "most likely to become a crazy cat lady."

So when people come at me with "oh but it's cruel to keep a cat inside, you can't do that and keep them mentally healthy" or "it's natural to let cats roam, they aren't doing any harm and it's perfectly safe" they are not only getting into a "discussion" with a pathologically argumentative research junkie, they are doing so with a pathologically argumentative research junkie who has been terminally annoying about cat behavior and welfare SINCE I WAS A TWEEN IN THE NINETIES.

so you can see, perhaps, why this feral cat situation drives me, specifically, insane, and why I'm utterly incapable of being normal about this.

[fuckyeahisawthat]

I think the key to writing Viktor is remembering that we the audience see far more of him than any character in the show does. Including Jayce. "Emotional and super sensitive but very guarded" is the way Harry Lloyd described it, and I think that sums it up very well. The way you show that in a visual medium is by letting the audience see things that no one else does.

Viktor isn't shy or meek at all, but everything intense about him is so contained. He has an expressive face and big big feelings (like, canonically he comes to the conclusion that his problem is having too many goddamn feelings) but we get to see far more of that than he shows to anyone in his life. Seriously, go back and look at the blocking in his scenes and how often we can see his face when no one else in the scene can. Outwardly he can appear confident, calm, earnest, passionate, wryly funny--at least until he gets too sick to hide his exhaustion and pain. Meanwhile anything that might express a vulnerability, a need, is tucked away where no one can see it.

All those sneaky glances and yearning looks thrown at Jayce? Jayce doesn't see them. Usually there is no one else there either. All his interactions with the Hexcore--the frustration, fear, reckless determination; the apprehension and then triumph of running on the dock? He's alone. Crying over Sky, curled up in a ball on the floor? Alone. Everything in the astral plane--the open curiosity and wonder, the casual physical closeness with Sky's and Vander's astral bodies, the despair after Jayce rejects him? Alone. Astral Sky isn't real; she's a figment made up either by the Hexcore or by his own brain (I think either interpretation works) to make him feel less alone. I 100% believe that no one whose mind he looks into is allowed to look back at him, up until the few moments at the end where he allows Jayce to see him.

When he's angry--and he does get angry--it's a cold, still anger. Contained. He glares and his tone gets sharp but he doesn't so much as raise his voice. He doesn't shout or use big gestures. The one time we see something that might be considered an outburst (when he slams his fist on the desk and scatters his notes in frustration at trying to understand the Hexcore), he is (1) desperate and scared, (2) very clearly angry at himself, and (3) once again, alone.

A bit of a tangent but I think it fits here: this extends to his physicality with his mobility aids too. I realized that the reason "Viktor whacks people with his cane" always bumps me in fics is not just that Viktor isn't casually mean like that--although he's not. It's that when it comes to habitual, everyday movements, he never uses his cane or crutch for anything other than support. He doesn't gesture with it or use it to grab things or stick it out to stop a door from closing. (Which makes the rare instances when he does use it for something other than support really stand out.) It's not like he's hiding it, but he doesn't do anything to draw extra attention to it. He lets it fade into the background as much as possible, for as long as he's able to. Contained. It's a very specific physicality that I think says a lot about how he's trying to be perceived.

And like, to me, lover of wordless longing and isolated/self-isolating characters (which could mean nothing) all this is fucking catnip for fic material, because prose gives you such easy access to a character's interiority, and then you get to watch them hide things from other characters and deny things to themselves. (Love a character being confidently wrong in the privacy of their own head.)

When I'm writing a new pairing I am often trying to figure out, like, what's the tension? The tension on the relationship can be subtle, but if a smut scene is not popping off for me I often find it's because I haven't correctly identified the tension, or I've released it too early. Sometimes the tension is societal or interpersonal, but often (for me) it's internal. The main thing holding the characters back from uncomplicated enjoyment of each other is themselves, their own traumas or fears or insecurities.

I think something clicked for me with Medicinal where I was like, oh, the dynamic I like for them is when their natural state is to stick together like magnets, and they are constantly having to pull themselves back. Viktor doesn't shy away from Jayce's touch or his attention; he craves it and is constantly having to take that firehose of yearning and reel it back in, because he thinks Jayce doesn't feel the same way. Contain it. Yeah man that's the good shit.

P.S. I would be remiss if I didn't include the god tier example of the kind of Viktor POV I'm always striving toward, Uncover Him by spqr.

[followthebluebell]

would love a list of low energy enrichment activities to try with cats. im always looking for more ways to be involved with my cat but she is 3 and very high energy and after a long day i often dont have the spoons to chase her around with a toy while she finds new exciting hiding spots to look at it from. this makes me sad :( i dont want her to be understimulated

Food-based enrichment:

Feeder toys are a favorite! But these carry the drawback of requiring cleaning afterwards, so calculate that into your spoons. Some of them are machine washable, so that may be an option if you've got a dishwasher.

Snuffle mats - another favorite, these also require the occasional clean but don't need to be cleaned every time you use them. You can make your own pretty easily. Or, hell, just grab a very cheap bath mat from a dollar store. Your cat won't know the difference.

Scatter feeding - literally just. Throw a handful of treats or kibble on the floor or down the stairs. Literally, that's it. Calculate clean-up into your spoons because cats aren't reliable vacuums. But it keeps them busy for a few minutes.

Toy based enrichment:

Get a cardboard box. Crinkle up some brown wrapping paper or whatever cheap paper you've got on hand and put it in the box. Congrats, you've now combined your cats two favorite things in the world: boxes and paper. For extra fun, add catnip (or silvervine or whatever your cat's drug of choice is), toys, or treats.

Ripple Rug: this is actually a specific product. It's literally a square of carpet or rug with velcro on the bottom that attaches to ANOTHER square of carpet or rug. It's fairly stiff. The idea is that cats can dive into it and make their own little tunnels. My cats LOVE it. You can probably recreate it quite cheaply using cheap rugs or carpet, tbh.

Cat crinkle mats: again, this is something fairly easily made at home. You get some cheap crinkly plastic and sew it into two old washclothes or something similar. Congrats. You now have a little mat your cats can sit on, bat around, and crinkle. You can also just buy them in multiple sizes. Many have catnip in them too.

Paper bags: cats just love paper bags. Be sure you remove the handles to make sure no one gets their head stuck. Most cats entertain themselves pretty well with bags.

Cat springs: those little plastic springs are a favorite, and so are those cheap rabbit-fur covered mouse toys.

Cat race track toys: another favorite.

Cardboard cat scratchers: the cardboard ones require MORE cleaning because they leave little bits of cardboard all over the place, but it is kind of nice that you can just throw them out when your cat is done. Any scratcher is good, though. I've listed cardboard for ease of clean-up and because it's a very popular material for cats.

Cat tunnels: like bags and boxes, cats just love tunnels.

I'm not a big fan of laser pointers or robotic toys. I haven't seen many cases of light chasing disorders in cats compared to dogs, but it's an issue enough that I don't readily recommend them. I also don't really recommend robotic toys because a lot of them make noises that cats don't like. If your cat enjoys these things, congrats; I just don't find them universally popular enough to really recommend. But I had to mention them, because if I didn't, my notes would be full of 'but what about Product X!!".

I've tried to keep this list to low cost toys and activities. There are other things you can do, like installing wall shelves or getting a big cat tree, but these things are more likely to be expensive, either in terms of money, time, or energy. I wanted to focus on low cost activities that I felt were more accessible to disabled folks.

[mortalscience]

top 5 garvez episodes! (or moments if you'd prefer)

oooh this was actually SO hard to decide. there's so many good moments and episodes.

first off honorable mention:

the Night Lights housewarming party flirting scene, god damnnn, it's just hot the way they're looking at each other, like GET A ROOM.

(5) Collision Course - I talk about this episode so much, I can't help it, they're just so fucking cute in this episode. Luke being charmed by Penelope the whole episode and he helps Penelope down off a curb and calls her hotshot and tells her nobody else is as good as her and he supports her when Spencer gets denied bail. !!!!! We get lots of good Garvez scenes throughout the show but this is one of the consistently Garvez episodes from beginning to end.

(4) Saturday - A classic!! Luke sacrifices his whole day for Penelope just because she asked him to because she wanted to help this rando and Luke is like I will do whatever you ask me to because I love you and acts of service are my love language. So Luke spends his whole Saturday being Penelope's Emotional Support Crimefighter and he fucking loves every minute of it and then he swears his sword to her when he finds out about her stalker. Luke worrying over Penelope is catnip to me ;_; And they manage to get some cute flirting in too even though it's kind of a more serious angle for their story in this episode because it's personal for Penelope.

(3) In the Dark - Luke finds Penelope crying and refuses to walk away when she tells him to and he is like I WILL BE YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM AND THAT IS A THREAT and decides then and there he has to fix whatever is making her cry and it's Spencer being in jail and then he's like okay protecting Spencer in jail is now my whole personality because it will make Penelope feel better and he calls in favors and acts all hot and threatening just to make it happen all the while in the back of his mind he's like THIS IS FOR PENELOPEEE. And then at the end he gives her a present of a squeaky kitty because he's specifically thinking about her when he's away from her and wanted to get her something just to see a smile on her face because she's been so sad and he HATES IT WHEN PENELOPE IS SAD. *takes breath* OH this episode. SO GOOD.

(2) Swimmer's Calculus - This one is so fresh so maybe I'm grading on a curve here but I honestly love the Garvez scene in this soooo much, even when I objectively think about it, it's just SO GOOD. Luke hearing Penelope out about her empathetic streak towards Voit, and supporting her, and through the whole time they're talking they're just touching each other, so casually and intimately and it's CRAZY WORK. LIKE??? Luke just has his hand on Penelope's knee for like their entire conversation ajskldjskflds. It's so small and simple but gesture like that is so crazy intimate. Knees knocking and hands on each other's legs like, damn. It really did something to me and I love it because it also shows just how far their relationship has progressed, how close they are to one another now. My heart's melting talking about it. And of course the heartburn crack and the fact that Luke can't walk away from such a heavy conversation with Penelope without touching her one more time and making her smile so he knows she's good because her emotional wellbeing is like his number one priority. D:

(1) Dead End - Luke is Once Again acting as Penelope's emotional support in this episode (something of a theme going on here) and the main scene between them fucking kills me. Penelope is panicking about Tyler and Rossi maybe both dying and Luke fucking throws his whole self into being there for her. MAYBE IF WE LEAN ON EACH OTHER WE'LL HAVE THE STRENGTH TO GET THROUGH THIS TOGETHER. excuse me luke????? *faints and dies* And they are literally physically ONCE AGAIN hanging on to each other through that scene while Luke wipes away her tears and they make that "ME AND YOU" dedication to each other like WHAT THE HELLY. It's WILD. Characters declaring allegiance to each other mind body and soul are just. holy shit. It's definitely my favorite scene between them because it just shows the level of attachment and dedication to each other (especially Luke to Penelope lbr) and it KILLS MEEEEEE.

[sophie-hatter-jenkins]

Hello <3

I love LOVED evolution and i always checkout your rec list !!

Do you have any recommendations for extremely angsty (rated m or t) hinny?

Just delicious angst- which obviously ends with them together- it could be emotionally unavailable harry, or FWB or anything really.

Lots of love <33

Hi, Anon! 

Thanks so much for the ask, and for saying lovely things about Evolution, I am so glad you enjoyed it!

Sorry for the delay in replying, while I was putting this list together I found myself getting very distracted reminding myself why I love all these fics.

Anyway, let's get on with what you came for, shall we?

Welcome to Sophie’s Hinny Fic Recs: Angsty Edition!

You specifically asked for T or M rated fics, but there are a few here that are rated E. I’ve included them because 1) they’re great, 2) some of the M rated ones are no less explicit and 3) angsty-Hinny really can’t seem to keep it in their pants. Anyway - I’ve marked which is which, feel free to use your discretion on which links you click.

I’ve got a bunch of completed fics for you, and also some great WIPs, if you want to hop on to those with me!

But let’s start with the Completed ones:

Castles - @pebblysand - Canon-compliant Post DH - rated M

God, I find it hard to explain how much I love Castles. It’s just extraordinary - and certainly angsty! Hinny is core, but, there is SO MUCH MORE here. Mind the tags, there is some difficult (though sensitively handled) subject matter here.

The Potters and the Weasleys - @goodlifewrites - Hogwarts magical AU - rated G

Enemies to lovers done really well, which is hard for Hinny, plus extra bonus points for being Jily Lives, basically my catnip.

Knowing Where To Look - @ala-baguette - Canon-compliant Post DH - rated T

Hinny are not the focus here, but they're definitely in angsty mode and it hits just right. Plus it’s a rollocking good mystery, super-atmospheric and a really interesting POV.

If you never bleed you’re never gonna grow - mp143 - Post-Hogwarts canon-divergent - not rated, but I’d say definitely M

I recently rediscovered this fic, and while it’s not the angstiest on this list, there’s plenty of pining and soul-searching on show, plus (magical aspects aside) one of the most true-to-life pregnancy stories I’ve read.

Off-Kilter - @remedialpotions - Canon-compliant Post DH - rated M

Interesting first-person Harry POV, as Hinny struggle to sort themselves out post-battle. You’ll want to go straight on and read the sequel, August, too.

Too Close - Scared Of Clouds - Magical AU - rated T

Bodyguard fic, in which Auror Ginny is assigned to protect an extremely uncooperative and reclusive Harry. 

persist and resist the temptation to ask you - @nuatthebeach - Muggle AU - rated M

Well, you didn’t think I was going to do a rec list without including it, did you?? Seriously, I am on an absolute mission to make more people read this!

such a beautiful blank but smooth it - Pocketfullof, smutty_claus - Groundhog Day/Fairy Tale-inspired magical AU - rated E

Ginny is doomed to try and win Harry’s heart, over and over, in just one day. It’s such an interesting premise, with much angst for poor old Ginny.

In Case Of Emergency - lilyevansJan30 - Magical AU - rated M

Auror Harry and Quidditch Player Ginny find themselves in an exes-with-benefits situation, which is absolutely fine, right up until it isn’t.

And now for the WIPs!

This list would absolutely not be complete without including the undisputed queen of Hinny Angst, the marvellous @takeariskao3, and two absolutely top notch angsty WIPs

Already Gone - takearisk - Amnesia fic - rated M

Ginny wakes up in St. Mungo’s following the battle at the Department of Mysteries … or so she thinks.

The Path From You - takearisk - Magical AU - rated M

Angst-drenched exes are forced together when Auror Harry is assigned to Quidditch Pro Ginny’s case.

Beasts - @whinlatter - Post-DH canon-compliant - rated M

One of my very favourite takes on Ginny, in her final year at Hogwarts after the end of the war.

you don't know what's lost 'til you find it - mp143 - Magical AU - not rated, but I’d say definitely M - features a major character death

Told in two alternating timelines - how Hinny got together in the wake of an unimaginable tragedy, and how they reconnect after years co-parenting their daughter strictly as friends.

Whelve - @seriouslysam8 - Magical AU - rated M

You want angst? I’ll show you angst! An older Hinny deals with the return of their eldest son 11 years after being kidnapped as a young child. Devastatingly awesome.

[kyutushi]

could we get a husk x reader in which charlie’s cat leaves some catnip around him and he just divulges into his cat side bc cats n catnip

❧ꨄ 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞! 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤! 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝

☙🝮𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬! 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐱 𝐠𝐧!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

`❥𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬; 𝐬𝐟𝐰, 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐢𝐩, 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝.. 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐨𝐜

it had been an awfully long day at the hotel and what is there better to do than to drown your thoughts out in pure cheap alcohol? as you made your way over towards the bar you noticed a familiar figure laying on top of the bar. “well that’s odd..” you mumbled as you approached. upon closer inspection, husk was laying on the bar, zoned out, a euphoric expression on his face. “um husk?” you whispered as to not startle him, you note the small scratches on the bar top.

of course your attempt at trying not to startle him fails, he gets up with a start with his eyes wide. you sit on the bar stool giggling at the scene in front of you. he was completely out of it, eye slightly twitching.. he was a mess. “sooo are you gonna get my drink?” you smirked teasingly. “fuck y/n don’t scare me like that..” he grumbled as he fetched you a glass of the cheapest fucking thing ever.

after sliding you the glass he slumps over face smushed into the table… he passed out. you blink a few times before giggling to yourself. after finishing the drink you carry him up to his bed. “alllright husker let’s get you up to bed..” a soft purr escaped from him as he looked up at you with half lidded eyes. you set him down on his bed and as you were about to head out he held your wrist, not tightly or in a forceful way, he is very gentle. “can you like.. stay with me or whatever..” he looked up at you, still a euphoric look on his face. you sighed and nodded, laying your head on his furry chest, he began to purr as he fell into a deep sleep.

“alright, what the FUCK happened here..” vaggie said as she looked at the scene, specifically the bar which was indeed covered in claw marks with a few broken glasses. upon further inspection she noticed a little pile a green. bending down, she picked up some and looked at it closely. “fucking damnit, HUSK!” he looked over at her a shrugged, “wasn’t me.” it very well was him, but the catnip surely wasn’t his fault. to be fair he hasn’t seen it in a long time and had the bright idea to taste test it, leading to the event from the day before. “oh nooo! i’m so sorry guys this is all my fault- i gave keke some catnip the other day-“ charlie frowned as she looked at the bar, keke was by her leg. you giggled as you remembered the scene from yesterday, husk turnt towards your direction signaling for you to be quiet. “not a fucking peep..” he put a paw on your hip and pulled you closer, his once serious face replaced with a small smile.

[dr9com9ge-ix]

Were there any ideas that you considered for your Sprunki AU before scrapping it at the last minute?

So alot of Sunshine suburbia is like- Being developed still! So “Last minute” isn’t really that… Applicable? I’ll just list a bunch of things I remember changing. (Also the delays and inactivity isn’t a loss of interest- Its more so I’ve grown a bit busier with having a job for a moment!— Also headaches ow)

- Most of the character bios (aka the initial design posts) on this account are technically outdated compared to the sprunkisunshinesuburbia blog’s, especially like… A bunch of designs (I stare at OWACKX/Oz’s old design and shudder…)

And like portions like “Raddy was a bounty hunter” etc- Aka don’t really take too much of the info of those posts as canon to the au.

- Deciding all sprunkis have tails of some sort, For mostly just “Tails are cool. This makes them more interesting silhouette-wise” and like it makes me happy they’re a little less ‘ just a colorful human’ and more ‘Colorful critter!” This especially applied to Jevin who uh… I was almost gonna leave as is but people kept making bald jokes and I was getting a little annoyed.

Actually not a little! Very annoyed. But the current design I made is like… My favorite now so at least the bald jokes made something good happen! (I also REALLY didn’t wanna give him poofy emo boy hair I’ve seen alot because like… Idk I just did not think it fit him for whatever reason and also I think he should be allowed to be a little bald… as a treat.)

- During christmas, My friend Mira gave me the design for Luxia, The Lighthouse creature so she and some more characters got incorporated into the story. Initially the town was only going to have Glowe and Therman as sort of duo running the town but then it became 4 people when I made Syno and Nymn aka the Lighthouse keepers. (Wonderful Art below by @knightmira )

- Also making Glowe and Therman a biiit older than like late twenties— They where formerly like 20+ but I went “That’s a little young to be founding an ENTIRE town” so I tacked on a decade. I also think people should be less scared of making characters older than 20 or something.

- Making Tunner actually have a horse- Its now a weird critter thats horse-like but not a horse! It’s called a honse! (Very different I know but I think it’s funny and it stuck) A bunch of the critter designs (Including Honses and Blinkers) are by my pal Aqua! Also the doodle below is of Tunner’s Honse, Cornbread! Possibly from an earlier period… She’s an ol’ girl. She’d be alot scruffier but he takes good care of her.

- Having like… “Normal” animals. I’m a big proponent of “I could do MORE with the world building!!! There’s NO way critters on Cacophony would be exactly the same as earth animals!!!!!” so like— Making equivalents/counterparts for certain animals! Like cats- I’m telling you now that they’re called “Meows” in this solely because I think sprunkis would call alot of animals after their sounds. (Not all- But like some of em)

- Similar to the animals- Some plants are more fantastical. I say this specifically because like. In Vineria’s old bio on this blog that she smokes weed- It’s actually Sprunknip now! It’s a bit siller- Works like weed and catnip to sprunkis!

- Sky’s age- I actually for awhile thought he was 15 but actually he’s 14. This one is literally just me forgetting and then remembering.

I think! That’s about it? Idk what else to put here!

[usssnarfblat]

Did Anastasia deserve to die for her family's crimes against Fieval's family?

I've always found it interesting that "Anastasia" and "An American Tail" were made by the same guy...

My mom got us "An American Tail" as kids, since we were Jewish, and a Disney-like movie with Jewish characters was a one-of-a-kind thing. ("The Prince of Egypt" was still a few years away. Yes, I'm that old.) More to the point, my dad's side of the family is largely Russian Jews, who immigrated in the early 1920s, for exactly the same reasons as the Mouskewitz. Being a child of this background and very literally obsessed with cats, I had mixed feelings about the movie.

When "Anastasia" came out a few years later, Mom didn't let that history stop us from enjoying the new princess movie, but she didn't shelter us from it either. We regarded it like we did the real history behind any sugar-coated princess movie. She even got us some history books about the real Romanov family, and we were fascinated by the subject.

Still, it's an odd elephant in the room, watching "Anastasia" and knowing that her granddad was the one who sent those Cossack cats after Fievel's village, and her dad himself continued doing it to the Jewish mice who didn't leave.

"Go, Pompom, Kibble and Fluff-Baron! Kill those Jew mice, and I'll give you extra catnip treats tonight!"

Don Bluth presents both the Romannov family and their victims with equal sympathy, even opening both movies with the family celebrating a holiday, with the kid heroes getting a plot-specific present, before being viciously attacked.

"Wow Grandmama! Fieval and Tanya could use this as a merry-go-round!"

*Cough* "Yes uh, about those Jewish mice Sweetie..."

Bluth's portrayal of the Romanov family is not entirely inaccurate. By all accounts, Nicholas II was a deeply loving father who both doted on his children, but raised them not to be spoiled. Despite being royalty, the princesses shared bedrooms and did charity work at hospitals.

It's a baffling irony that Nicholas was nevertheless was a tyrant, and not remotely just to his Jewish subjects. When I was about twelve, Mom got me the Dear America book A Coal Miner's Bride, about the Catholic Polish immigrants who also fled the oppression of the Russian Tzar. (Anastasia's family conquered part of Poland in the 1800s, banning the Pols from speaking their own language and drafting their sons into the Tzar's dick-measuring contest wars.) Anyway, that's what my mom's side of the family was fleeing when they immigrated. Yes, my family has double reason to hate the Romanovs.

So, I personally don't have a lot of sympathy for Nicholas II. But the horrors his poor wife and children endured in their final moments never fails to get the reaction from me.

The rationalization for the murder of the children and queen was that it was the only way to ensure that the monarchy never returned. But I assume most modern-thinking people would say that the ends do not justify the means in this case.

That said, millions of families like Anetka's and Fievel's suffered as bad or worse than the Romanovs, because of the Romanovs, and no one remembers them because they didn't wear tiaras. This no doubt was another factor that killed sympathy for the Romanov children. But they were still children.

The question today is, if we can feel for a family that was literal royalty, despite their father being an undeniable tyrant against our own families...can we also feel for Palestinian and Israeli families, during a conflict that is vastly more complicated than Imperial Russia?

Or do they need to be cute mice and glittery princesses to get our attention?

[scrawleditalix]

kinda unbelievable that we got lesbian catnip Arkady Patel and lesbian cocaine Sana Tripathi in the same main cast and they are, like. Endless devotion & trust. Bicker like a married couple. Soft nicknames. Will find each other across the vast emptiness of space again and again, because fate wills it so. If I took a bullet for you it would be the best thing I ever did. You are the only person I can lay my burdens on. I’d sooner cut off my own hand than believe you’d betray me. etc.

and like yes this dynamic is clearly 100% platonic. but what’s truly hysterical is you can see it bleeding into the specific way that Sana tortures herself over Campbell because she either lost or never truly had a conception of love beyond self-sacrifice and she cannot fathom what she would ever sacrifice of herself that could measure up to what he is willing and able to sacrifice for her and it’s like. that’s so interesting I wonder whose love you’re able to accept because you feel like you have something to give them. I wonder who you could give your life for. I wonder who you’d give up your honor for. I wonder who, no matter how many hits she takes, no matter how much of her soul she stains for you, will never feel like she has paid back what you’ve already given.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 12/3/2024

no tuesdaypost next week! some real martha stewart homemaking ass activities going on rn tho

listening

extremely rare musical fallow week, mostly bc i have not felt well enough to drive places or walk around my apartment complex. i have mostly been relistening to old Well There's Your Problem episodes, a podcast about engineering disasters (with slides).

of course this would fuckin happen in jersey

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reading

im having a brain time related to an unpleasant anniversary and have been churning through my stacks of weird little paperbacks. i am in the bad habit of picking up cheap interesting-looking older scifi and fantasy and then not touching them for years on end. the trouble with loving scifi and fantasy as a genre is that most of it is not very good. u gotta wade through a lot of chaff to find one thing that sort of delivers on its premise.

unrelated to all of that, ive had a little stack of cold war and wwii spy paperbacks sitting around since i bought them in high school. these have been with me through So many moves. unfortunately i have only enjoyed one of them, Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise novel I, Lucifer.

i did not know anything about ms. blaise before reading this sixties spy/thriller but it was catnip to me. it has not aged particularly well, but the stuff per chapter is very high. lots of the latest and greatest sixties Cool Stuff- amateur parachuting competitions, trained dolphins, paranormal and ESP cognitive tests, impersonating american tourists for fun and profit, packets of industrial diamonds. a genuinely fun and inventive ransom method. evil marionettes? the next time i am in a real used bookstore and not a half price books i will look for more of these little fuckers.

modesty is so much fun. she gets to sleep around and be her own boss and have fun but also have her own moral code. peter o’donnell is good at writing a fight scene, and good at setting up and paying off much later but unfortunately he is still subject to the social mores and orientalism of his time.

“I’m going to try and make the black couch a thing,” Gifford says as she arranges a selection of pumpkin decorations in her living room. “Hopefully that becomes identifiable as my couch.” It’s a sentence that would sound absurd on its own, but this is the minutiae that can preoccupy the minds of influencers — especially if they live in a constant state of unease, worrying someone else will copy their life. The fierce competition of this industry means you can’t be normal about your living room furniture.

“I’m going to try and make the black couch a thing,” Gifford says as she arranges a selection of pumpkin decorations in her living room. “Hopefully that becomes identifiable as my couch.” It’s a sentence that would sound absurd on its own, but this is the minutiae that can preoccupy the minds of influencers — especially if they live in a constant state of unease, worrying someone else will copy their life. The fierce competition of this industry means you can’t be normal about your living room furniture.

i think this was a longreads suggestion from the new tabs suggested articles on firefox?

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watching

racked up eighteen things on letterboxd this week, mostly bc kanopy had a collection of thirteen betty boop shorts. the one that tickled my fancy the most was Bimbo's Initiation (1931). six and a half surreal and horny minutes about secret society and fraternity initiations. the ass slapping machine was a real thing you could buy specifically marketed toward initiations like this.

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playing

bc i have nothing but time on my hands i compared a list of my hidden achievements in genshin impact with a list of known hidden achievements and have been knocking them off. some of them were embarrassingly easy and i do not know how i missed them. i do have a fat stack of commission-related hidden achievements (somehow the only nation whose commission-related hidden achievements i have completely finished is the new nation. i have been playing this game for almost five years since 1.0. augh). there are a ton of co-op achievements that i don't think i'm ever going to rack up bc i don't generally play co-op but like. that's fine. there are 1428 known achievements so i think 1273 is pretty fuckin good.

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making

sometimes i have a problem: loose threads, hang tags, etc on clothes bother the fuck out of me but i don't do anything about it bc i can never find scissors and if the kitchen scissors leave the kitchen i will never ever remember to put them back in the kitchen. the solution is getting rid of the friction involved with finding scissors and remembering to put loose threads in the garbage where my cats can't eat them and remembering to put the scissors away. too many steps! too much friction! i have reappropriated a little garbage can from my office to the laundry room and added scissors on a command hook. this will also help stop lint from piling up on top of the dryer. the second set of scissors is inside my closet, where i have command stripped up a pretty tea tin for a tiny garbage basket.

another extremely annoying thing/minor problem: i've had to wash my couch covers a lot lately. this is fine. they are designed to go through hell. however, bc i made them myself from giant dropcloths and just kind of tuck them in, it is hard to tell what the correct placement is on the couch.

there are vanishingly few practical applications for embroidery. i initially stem stitched the SHORT and chain stitched the LONG and then hated how the stem stitch looked a little messier, so i ripped it out and redid it. front & back below, there are dabs of fraychek on the knots to help them survive the wash a bit better.

i'll do the other futon cover too eventually but the couch cover has needed more frequent washing lately and was a little more of a priority. these were all extremely minor things that felt very silly to do but they did solve minor annoyances. yay.

[laswells-ashtray]

Hi hello! Can I request that you write some omegaverse Laswell content, and make it as self-indulgent as you want. Preferably shut, but as I said, self indulgent. Write whatever you wanna write about her!

Thanks in advance for if you get to this!

Omega Kate truther here so I apologize if that isn't what you were looking for exactly but it's like biblical scripture to me. Have to say, never thought I'd be on Tumblr talking about Kate Laswell's ideal nest but it's pretty solid to do. Anway:

Kate's ideal nest is very specific and she does not appreciate comments of any kind about it and no shifting things under the guise of helping. It is her nest and she will set it up as she pleases. She likes a nest that's packed and cozy, to other omegas it might be claustrophobic but it works for her.

She has pillows stacked up around the top of it to stop her from hurting her neck, a decision made from experience, but she also has a small wall of very specific pillows to the right side so she can lie with them pressed to her back. She won't rest in the middle of her nest, she likes to lie at the side so she can ensure there's always room for her wife.

She needs a certain pillow behind her head, it's stupidly flat and shaped like a sunflower. She's owned it for years and if she pretends, she can imagine there's still a faint smell of both of her parents attached to it.

There are four specific blankets that she needs and the rest of them are optional to what she has. The four blankets:

A forest green blanket that John once bought her years ago, long before she had ever met Sarah because she complained that the hotel that'd been set up in for a fancy [read: mandatory] event had put her in a room that was positively freezing. Any time John visited he'd temporarily thieve the blanket back so his scent always lingers on it and Kate would admit after various hours of torture that having the scent of one of her closest friends so close is in fact very comforting.

A blanket that is actually Sarah's, it's light blue with white cartoon cats printed over and it's ugly. If Kate doesn't have it in her nest then she will actually die, that's factual, she'll swear that her doctor told her. Sarah has given up trying to steal it back, when Kate wants to get it back them she'll give it back.

A Halloween blanket that has no sentimentality to Kate but she needs it to tuck over some of the pillows that have a scratchier material. No, she can't use any other blanket and asking her to will result in a very pissed off omega.

The last one is a child's blanket, Kate originally bought it to give to a pregnant coworker but never got around to it and on one occasion she'd been a blanket less than usual. She would not settle without the same number of blankets despite Sarah's attempts to convince her and in a fit of frustration Sarah threw the baby blanket into the nest. It stuck. They don't talk about it outside of nesting but it's something for Kate to run her hands over and if she's comfortable enough, she'll purr so Sarah has no intention of mentioning it and making her wife uncomfortable or embarrassed.

A single stuffed animal makes it into the nest, unless of of the cats drops one of their catnip mice in it again, and that is a blåhaj. It was originally Mini Kate's [Sarah's niece] but the little girl had left it at their house one day. When Kate had tried to return it the little one had refused, claiming that she noticed the women's lack of stuffies so they could keep hers. It warms Kate's heart and they keep it on their bed so it very quickly finds a spot in the nest when she is making it the next time after the shark incident. It reminds her of her favourite niece. Yes, it's the niece named after her. She's biased, sue her.

There are a few clothing items that often make their way into her nest but only one of them is a necessity. Sarah's Jurassic Park shirt that she sleeps in most of the time. It rests over whatever pillow Kate's head is lying on in her nest and it stays there. It smells completely of Sarah, the material is soft and worn, and Kate adores it.

[miloscat]

[Review] Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (PC)

Pew-pew eye-lasers not included.

Sayonara Wild Hearts continues to be one of my favourite games, and after my annual birthday playthrough of it, I decided to check out the Swedish developer Simogo's latest game. Unlike SWH it's not a technopop thrill ride but a moody and atmospheric puzzle adventure, which it turns out is more in their wheelhouse anyway as they have three other games in their catalogue that could be described this way!

In 1963 an eclectic German artist, Lorelei Weiss, is invited to an isolated hotel in central Europe by an eccentric filmmaker. Supposedly, they are going to collaborate on a new art piece, but what you find instead is a series of riddles and locks hiding a mystery that stretches into the past and the future. As you open more doors you uncover the series of occult events that led to a tragedy, and the reasons behind the surreal happenings at the hotel.

You control Lorelei as she strolls around this cramped and obtuse place (or breaks into a light jog if she's had an espresso recently). Helpful menus keep track of documents you've seen, your inventory, and a log of questions and events; referencing these is essential, but I also found it useful to have at least one other external source of note-taking (plus photos of the screen), to cross-check solutions and maps. These menus can be a bit fiddly with the "controller" interface, since it's a one-button game; I played this on my fancy new Steam Deck and it worked well apart from this. I haven't played too many of these deep game-wide puzzle experiences, but I certainly found this easier to get along with than Myst or La Mulana.

While you navigate the hotel, certain recurring themes help to reinforce the puzzle elements: specific years and character names have importance, and there's a maze featured prominently which you explore in a few different ways. There's plenty of spatial reasoning, number, and logic puzzles which are catnip for me, apart from which the game makes sure to have references for any required knowledge like Roman numerals, Greek letters, astrology concepts, etc., so it's all self-contained. Apart from getting hung up on certain puzzles that I didn't yet have the required clues for (I needed a slight nudge every now and then), I felt good about the difficulty and the game consistently made me feel smart when I made a deductive leap or connection.

The sound design is classy and minimalist, while the look of the game is very striking, mostly monochrome except for highlighting certain things in a bright crimson for effect, especially the eponymous laser eyes. The subtly shifting textures add to the heightened mood of this eery, slightly threatening place, but notably important things are easy to spot in the game world. I should note too that the threat rarely becomes overt; outside of specific, telegraphed events there is no risk of a game over, softlock, or point of no return, and the game doesn't jumpscare you or employ disturbing imagery for shock value.

LatLE likes to play with the reality of the story in fun ways too, and not just in anachronistic plot details. At certain points you play an in-game "prototype" of the game itself on a Playstation 1-like console, complete with tank controls, fixed camera angles, and texture warping. There's also sequences that ape early graphic adventures. These diversions are very relevant and mandatory, as all clues build towards a final puzzle in a most satisfying way. Of course, there's also the occasional optional diversion like collecting figurines representing Simogo's prior games, and even Game Boy-like minigames based on them, my favourite being the LatLE action-maze game demake!

I'm glad I gave Lorelei a chance; not being an aficionado of this genre, I nevertheless had a fantastic time puzzling through this intricate mystery. I love how it balanced fantastical elements with the mundane, in an authentically grounded European setting (and a bit of tongue in cheek wryness at times). It never got overwhelming, consistently dripfeeding problems and the necessary clues and tools to solve them, all while looking damn good doing it. Also, there's a cute dog! And maths!! What more do you need?

[butmakeitgayblog]

I just rewatched IWI and these are my thoughts (maybe spoilers?):

- plot is insanely tight

- the intro confuses me the first time round but this time it ties in neatly with the ending when everything is explained

- the mannerisms of the character (redacted) are subtle but revealing the second time round

- I don’t like the character Nikki but she’s a survivor and a great schemer, so it’ll be interesting to see what she’s going to do as (redacted) to regain her body and her life

- I think Maya just has chemistry with everyone, so I’m not seeing something more in her interaction with Nikki

- in the garden scene where every body is quarreling with one another, the director is actually playing with the viewer’s sense of reality by juxtaposing the bodies with the real characters (dead or alive) … I’m not explaining this well but this scene is worth rewatching to get that trippy “wait what?!!” feeling

- if you listened carefully, Maya is actually the truth-teller throughout the movie

OK FIRST OF ALL

They were girlfriends.

So jot that down 😤

Seriously tho listen I'm not saying anything actually happened or whatever, and I didn't say it was Maya who was the one acting fruity 👀, I'm just saying there was chemistry there intentional or not and the fact that I'm not the only one who saw it says something. Nikki specifically gave off very fleeting moments of having a draw toward Maya. Didn't she call her catnip? We are told she has a boyfriend and yet we never see him in pictures, she herself never brings ~him~ up, however when Shelby posts a picture as Nikki? The first thing that happens is a woman texts her.

I know what you are Nikki

Also how could you hate Nikki??

That is the baddest bitch in the game. Was she vapid? Yes. Was she vain as all hell? Yes.

But we support women's wrongs in this house 😤