#tumblr really ripped the quality to shreds

[sharkportraits]

he can’t hear you elias there’s literally a door in the way

[ID: A gif that shows Martin Blackwood from The Magnus Archives from the chest up. He is a fat white man with curly hair and big round glasses. Fire reflects in the glasses. The fire is the only thing moving in the gif. Martin is smiling. /ID END]

[the-woild-is-y-erster]

BOYS

ITS DONE

tumblr is prolly gonna rip the quality to shreds but WHATEVS

BEHOLD, THE BOYS AS THE MUSES!!!

feat. race being the amazing queen he is, crutchie being not entirely sure what race is on abt, spot having the absolute time of his life, and albert thinking he's the bee's knees.

i couldnt decide what adaptation to make them, so i just made them as all our pfps are :)

anywhizzle, tagging because they asked me to, @watch-me-stand-watch-me-run, @toffyrats, @newsiesfixation

i based their dresses off of the muses from the movie, but the girls' dresses were white and you really think race would be that boring? no sir.

do not ask me why crutchies crutch is blue. its his party crutch. mmhmm.

[crushermyheart]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you to @fandomsbyladymelodrama for the tag! This should be fun...

How many works do you have on AO3? Presently, 24. (I joined AO3 3 years after joining fanfiction.net so there are a few more on there of questionable quality)

What's your total AO3 word count? 135,060

What fandoms do you write for? It varies greatly depending on what I'm watching, but mostly All Creatures Great and Small (2020) and Star Trek Voyager/Next Gen.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? My Dearest Lizzy (a Pride & Prejudice/Death Comes to Pemberley fanfic from AGES ago), Right Here (Mission Impossible, Ilsa/Ethan), Frozen Harmonies (hilariously, an overly dramatic Star Trek Next Gen fanfic, Picard/Crusher), For a Time Innumerable (Wheel of Time, series 1 aftermath, wrote this last year and kinda proud of it), Milk & Honey (All Creatures Great and Small 2020, in which Mr Farnon and Mrs Hall converse in the kitchen in the small hours of the morning, one of my personal faves)

Do you respond to comments? Yes! I love responding to comments and discussing my fics as well as commenting on other people's works.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? That is a good question... There are a great many. Potentially Some Shred of Goodness (The Crucible) which reflects on John and Elizabeth Proctor's relationship and if you know what happens in the play then the end of this fic, whilst sounding happy, is SUPER angsty.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Ooooh, um, either Little Ordinary Things or Knights and Dragons, both fluffy Siegfried & Audrey, All Creatures Great & Small fics.

Do you get hate on fics? I had one comment on a fic last year that was weird/not nice/super critical/generally confusing and it kinda freaked me out so I deleted the fic - until some lovely person came and found me on Tumblr asking where the rest was and to not give up writing it.

Do you write smut? Nope.

Do you write crossovers? I don't think I've ever written one? I do have a potential crossover in mind (added to the very long list of unwritten fic ideas)

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I don't think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No idea?

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Not yet.

What's your all-time favorite ship? Good grief I can only have one? Most of my ships have not sailed, lol. RIP. Or have yet to set sail *cough* Siegfried/Audrey from All Creatures Great and Small, and then Picard/Crusher and Janeway/Chakotay from Star Trek. Also platonic ship: Moiraine & Lan, Wheel of Time. My original OTPs will forever be Aragorn/Arwen and Han/Leia.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? The Star Trek Next Gen fic I started writing 10 years ago which has 5 different versions and is over 40k words in note form *cries*

What are your writing strengths? I have not been asked this before... I like writing descriptively, describing locations but also emotions. If you've read my fics I'd like to know what you think my strengths are?

What are your writing weaknesses? Coming up with titles. I have a tendency to edit to death. And then ending up in the cycle of I kinda hate this/this is the best thing I've ever written and trying to find an end. Also, not planning everything out and getting lost in my chapters.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? If it's called for, go for it! I'm currently working on a Witcher fic and have done a stupid amount of research into the Elder speech and Skellige jargon.

First fandom you wrote for? Technically Scott & Bailey on fanfiction.net, When it Rains it Pours. It is terrible, the punctuation is everywhere, it's hilariously dramatic, and still my longest fic to date.

Favorite fic you've written? Oh no, I don't know! I really don't. Possibly Milk & Honey?

Tagging: @fuel-prices, @phoenixflames12, @shelbyxhughes, @beanabouttown, @itsmeagain00O , or tag yourself ;)

[angelicyoongie]

Omg he speaks!🤯😳🫣 and that’s now so much more terrifying…. And I love it.

With the first one for me Jungkook was animalistic so it was easier to digest. He’s an animal predator with intelligence of an animal predator that you would expect. He could communicate but it was basic information nothing really complex. To me, he seemed to act more out of impulse rather than a lot of thought and intent. So I could neatly put him in he’s an animal predator box like “this is a highly aggressive grizzly bear it may look cute but it will rip you shreds if you go near it”

But with Seokjin speaking…somehow makes him human but way more dangerous than a human. The fact that he was willing to learn how to speak and can speak in complex sentences, that shows he doesn’t act on impulse(most of the time), there’s a lot of thought and intent into his actions to meet his needs for food, entertainment, and to improve himself. And that’s scary. For me that makes him more terrifying scarier than Jungkook.

Love how much your writing just keeps getting higher and higher quality. I’ll be honest I hardly ever come onto Tumblr anymore (mostly because of busy life stuff) and you are the reason why I honestly come onto Tumblr anymore just to see what you’ve added and to reread the other works that you have written.

I really really love this new story I can’t wait for the second posting! (secretly🫣 I wish it would be longer because I just find Seokjin character to be really intriguing)

💜CRS

I agree! JK felt more similar to an an agitated animal than a human, definitely the type you know you can't look away from unless you want to get hurt/killed. It was much easier to look at him and go "oh, he's just acting this way because it's his instincts and he doesn't know any better", but it's a whole different story with Seokjin!

Seokjin is indefinitely much more scary because he knows exactly what he's doing. Like you said, he's intelligent and calculated, and he understands right from wrong even if he couldn't care less about it. It's terrifying for sure!

AHH omg thank you so much!! 😭💖 That is so sweet, thank you for spending your precious time on me 🥺

The next chapter will hopefully be posted this month! Seokjin's character is a lot of fun to work with so I wouldn't have minded a longer series, but I just don't have time for it right now :( This was honestly just supposed to be a fun little story to give myself a small break from Abundance and Lovesick (it feels good to actually finish a story every now and then, lol ) 🤧 But maybe I'll do a TOP drabble in the future!

[gachagon]

I *think* I get what you were aiming at with the addition to that 'watch different types of media' thing. Namely, this notion that any given cartoon *must* have the same type of genre norms, morality nuance & audience viewer age level context as ATLA or She-Ra, which is a trap lots of snappy recent-media analysts fall into. So I'd say it expands the original point by noting 'accept there are different types of toon for a reason'.

Yes this is what I was trying to get across. "Kid's deserve nice things too" is often a common argument for why some people take kids media SO seriously, in that children deserve top quality tv just like adults do (though I would argue that even adult media can still be pretty childish and silly and that they made bank off of the fact that they were pure nonsense)

My point was that kids find that silly stupid stuff to BE top quality, because it just appeals to them. Like, they find it funny and enjoyable, it shouldn't matter to an adult whether or not they think it's GOOD enough for kids. Because the truth is that the people in the animation industry know what kids want. If something doesn't vibe well with children, it never sees the light of day. And the rare chances things that kids hate DO make it all the way to the big screen, guess what? Kids just don't watch it. They completely ignore it in favor of other things. (think of all those failed bootleg movies from your childhood that were clearly ripping off other more popular movies at the time.)

But some people take kids media so seriously and ignore the demographic it was originally made for so they can rip it to shreds and uphold what they think is the "best" kind of kids media or whatever. They make hours long video essays and tumblr posts for each episode and they shout at anyone telling them "hey dude, maybe it's really NOT that deep, maybe they just decided to make this movie/tv show/video game because it's silly and made for literal children." And they level an unfair amount of criticism at what was never meant to even really inspire that much emotion in adults or even the children watching.

[synonymroll648]

I posted 3,264 times in 2022

That's 2,912 more posts than 2021!

460 posts created (14%)

2,804 posts reblogged (86%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@when-wax-wings-melt

@camelspit

@even-if-in-another-time

@gay-otlc

@xanadaus

I tagged 2,141 of my posts in 2022

Only 34% of my posts had no tags

#ask - 287 posts

#kotlc - 211 posts

#keeper of the lost cities - 205 posts

#fitz vacker - 77 posts

#sophie foster - 68 posts

#keefe sencen - 67 posts

#anon ask - 48 posts

#winterfireice - 42 posts

#kotlc shitpost - 41 posts

#xanadaus - 37 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#by “something” i would say “talk like hooty” but canon is in 2015 rn and fitz’s last updates on the human world are from 2012 and that’s way

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

fitz, taking a deep breath: dad, i’m bisexual

alden: you can sing alto and soprano? good for you, son

fitz: ...that’s bisectional. i’m bisexual, dad

alden: psh, you’re far from being over two hundred years old

fitz: dad, that’s bicentennial. i’m bisexual

-half an hour later-

alden: i, too, walk on two feet

fitz, This Close to screaming: that’s bipedal. i’m BISEXUAL

190 notes - Posted January 13, 2022

#4

cassius ripping keefe’s art that he worked really hard on to shreds because he didn’t study for an agriculture test (even though he did)?

nonono, we don’t do that here. 

we do:

-elwin hanging up almost - if not all - of the artwork/sketches keefe leaves out across splendor plains. hand poses etched into a napkin taped onto the wall, etc. 

-we do keefe getting embarrassed because “elwin, those are just bad doodles, don’t hang them up for everyone to see!” and elwin cheerfully going “they’re certainly better than my attempts at drawing stinky the stegosaurus! of course they deserve to be hung up!” 

-we do keefe spending a whole day holed up in his room painting some incredibly elaborate piece and wrapping it up in dinosaur paper as a gift for elwin

-we do elwin’s brain basically breaking at the quality and the gravity of the gesture and crying a lot of happy tears and lots and lots of hugs

-we do elwin still hanging up keefe’s “bad” doodles, but framing the paintings keefe gives him and putting them in spots where he sees them All The Time

basically: we do dadwin. dadwin for the win.

211 notes - Posted January 30, 2022

#3

if keefe and fitz aren’t roommates in elite levels, then what is the point

219 notes - Posted April 24, 2022

#2

ten bucks there’s a TON of helpful confidential and/or illegal info in alden’s office. and twenty bucks that the lore and plot would get a lot spicier if sophie & co broke in 

270 notes - Posted May 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

“average elf has one ability” factoid actually just a statistical error. average elf has zero abilities. Sophie Foster, who is part horse & has over 10,000, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

303 notes - Posted September 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[crystalkleure]

The timeline corrects itself, eventually

Would’ve done Atsuya too, if I hadn’t lacked both the time and inspiration for it, since they oughta be together like this. Hiroto and Atsuya were both dead originally.

[the-possum-writes]

Could you do HCs of Marshall or Fiona taking their SO out on a adventure? Thanks!

Hii, sorry it took me a while to respond. Tumblr has been glitching out on me ^^;

Adventuring with Fionna and Marshall Lee

Fionna

Fionna is an excellent partner to have during adventures since she’s got the experience. If this is your first time adventuring with her. Fionna would be worried for your half of the time, constantly giving you side glances to make sure you're alright. You are precious and important to her, and she would never forgive herself if you got hurt on her watch.

When you ask Fionna for her to let you join in on her adventures, she's a bit doubtful at first.

Fionna: "I don't know (y/n), I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Eventually she complies. Although at first Fionna can be a little overprotective.

She basically handholds throughout the dungeon like the beginning of a tutorial.

"I have more experience with the rough part of Adventuring, you can stay back as I handle things for you."

This makes you grow a bit frustrated, because you want to fight side by side with her an not just have her fight for you.

It eventually culminates when Fionna gets stuck or trapped somehow. And you prove to her you're more than capable of taking care of yourself and helping her out.

Fionna: "Sorry for hand holding you, I didn't realize I was underestimating you. Let's go defeat the demon lord hiding in this dungeon... Together."

Marshall Lee.

Marshall is pretty strong to say the least, being a vampire/demon hybrid after all, so there’s nothing that terrifies him anymore when adventuring. So his approach towards danger is more non-nonchalant, often brushing off dangerous foes since he can defend you two.

 Due to his laid back behavior even on difficult times, he gives you way more freedom during adventuring expeditions like ruins, dungeons or haunted locations.

Marshall Lee: “Whoa careful with that trap, it could’ve sliced ya in two hehe”

His attitude makes him feel a little uncaring for your safety, letting you handle monsters on your own.

Eventually it reaches it point were you grow frustrated. 

You: “Looks like you have everything under control, why did you even bring me here if you don’t care about me.” you grumble. Marshall Lee: “Babe is that how you’ve been feeling? that i don’t care about you? it’s quite the opposite really! i’m worried sick, but i know that you are fully capable of taking care of yourself so i try to give you your space. I brought you because i wanted to spend quality time together!”

The revelation makes you feel better, relieved that Marshall does value you deeply.

It also becomes apparent when a giant monster does harm you, this makes Marshall furious, growing into his giant bat form and ripping the monster to shreds. Proving how important you are to him.

Marshall Lee: “Stay close to me from now on, i’m not letting anyone or anything hurt you ever again.”

[monkberries]

OG Paul anon here: Generally I agree with you, and I'd never presume that literally the whole fandom has one line of thought. However, I have been involved in the online fan community for many years now, and it's precisely because I've been involved in many fan spaces that I felt compelled to write my original hot take. If it was only something I came across in certain places it wouldn't bother me but that's not the case. It's way more frequent than it used to be. 1/2

As forums have shut down and Beatles communities on tumblr and social media have shrunk, you're not left with many options. So when those limited options are making your experience a miserable one, it's going to be a real problem. Back in the day when George was rising in popularity it was easier to find balance. Eventually those George fans either moved on or got sick of Paul fans bashing him & they left. This happened simultaneously in multiple places & quality of discussion suffered. 2/2

Yeah, sorry, that post wasn't really aimed specifically At You, it was more your messages sent me off on a tangent about like, fandom dynamics and online spaces and it spiraled. (This response will probably be similar where I'll explain things but please don't think I'm trying to talk down to you like you're an idiot or anything; I'm more trying to work things out with myself using your asks as a springboard.)

Unfortunately, yeah. I feel ya. That's the way of backlash. It's just a much slower moving backlash than most things online tend to be, I feel like, because of the insane amount of literature and huge spread of fans across generations and countries and online platforms. It's more like steering an ocean liner than moving a pendulum. Like, backlash online tends to swing wildly depending on the hour of the day. I remember a YA author on twitter getting butthurt that some college sophomore didn't include her book on a list of recommended books for some reason, and all her friends piled on and the college girl was run off of twitter within a couple of hours. But a couple of hours after that, there was a huge backlash against this YA author; and then the NEXT day there was backlash to the backlash, like, ooh did people go Too Far on that YA author? And there was a more balanced take after people got further away from it.

That's like, and incredibly simple example of the backlash boogie that goes on, but I feel like you can extrapolate it out to what's been happening in the Beatles fandom over a span of decades now. First there was the John Era, and in the past few decades it's been the HEY WHAT ABOUT PAUL Era. My assumption is that the Paul fans you've experienced see this as a balancing of the narratives; John got his days in the sun with Paul in shadow and now Paul gets to be on the pedestal and John gets to sit in the shadow. On the one hand, I get it, like, it must suck to be a Paul fan and see most of the popular media for the first 25 years of Beatle lit rip him to shreds. But I personally wish we could skip the second part where the scales tip the other way and just go straight to the part where we're far enough away to be even.

[thejoshuaglenn-blog]

You're a Good Boy, Charlie Brown

The key purpose of a Tumblr blog here is really a brain dump: logging thoughts, feelings, narrative and such is easier in long form than via a brief Facebook post that generates half a dozen "oh no, what happened" comments. As I'm writing this, most of it seems like bullet points and organized timelines. If you're looking for a TL;DR or current state of thoughts, it's the last section titled The Day After, and the Day After That.

A few days ago, Niko and I said goodbye to our first dog, Charlie Brown.

I'm not keen to chat about it a lot. There's more to process than I have time to type; most of it centers around being fair to myself and to Niko, taking the time to appreciate his life without beating ourselves up, and avoiding the overwhelming mire that grief can become.

Joining the Family

CB was a rescue, a hapless victim of the 2016 Louisiana floods and a happy-go-lucky participant in a "dog for a day" event hosted by a local shelter. I fully expected to rent him out for a day, give him a few great experiences, and return him. For myriad reasons, we never did bring him back to Pet Rescue by Judy, and he's been with us ever since.

At adoption, he was estimated to be around 4-8 years old. With a kicked-in shoulder that offset his collarbone and ribcage, some assorted dental issues, and other little signs of damage (cigarette burns, what the heck is wrong with people), it was tough to really gauge his age. That means he left this world at the ripe old age of something like 9-13, which isn't terrible considering all he'd been through.

Charlie Brown was the iconic good boy. He seldom barked, he never licked or jumped, and just wanted to be in the same room as his favorite people. He had a few toys that he cherished, never ripping them up, just carrying them with him from room to room and whining a bit, unsure of where he could store them for safekeeping. Apart from some separation anxiety issues and an occasional urge to bolt out the door and book it as far as he could, CB was by all accounts an easy first dog: more like a low-effort cat than anything else.

Slowly Falling Apart

Over time, the health issues increased. Intermittent but predictably regular upset tummy. Bad gums, bad teeth. Random gooey skin lesion. Eye ulcers. Since October, we've been averaging 2-3 unplanned vet visits a month — many incurring some hefty bills. We'd take out another credit card, find another financing plan, but it adds up. So does the emotional toil on the family; so does the anxiety toll on the dog.

You start to think about quality of life for the dog, you know? He'd had a few teeth removed to sew up his gums after they kinda detached and fell apart from his jawbone — so he couldn't chew anything hard. Couldn't even chew a tennis ball, which was the only toy he took interest in anymore. Couldn't have any fun treats like peanut butter or other soft chews, as his tummy would have bad flare-ups that usually ended up with him attached to an IV bag. After finally settling in and learning to play well with Atlas, Charlie Brown started to get pretty irritable whenever Atlas got frisky.

He still loved running around outdoors, and was in otherwise great health.

I can't tell you how guilty that makes me feel, even now.

Moving to Waltham

Before we left Orlando, there were so many crisis moments in emergency vet offices where Niko and I talked about how long he could ride this roller coaster. CB obviously was not a fan of vet visits: loved the staff, but was notably anxious and panicky when separated from us, and he had grown very loathe to the process of poking, prodding, and whatnot.

Shortly after moving to Waltham (he was a champ in the U-Haul), Charlie Brown had a severe colitis flare-up. He was losing so much fluid and was growing very lethargic over the day. Vets are hard to get into these days: with the sweep of "pandemic puppy" adoptions, the vet industry as a whole is saturated with demand, and practices are responding as best they can. There were just no emergency clinics available to us within 20 miles, except one that noted "we have no availability, but you can come and wait, and we might be able to see you in 4 or 5 hours." So we did.

It was a very late night. Charlie Brown came home with us with another round of the same antibiotics he'd been taking almost regularly since December for his assorted ailments, and some probiotics. The next day, CB seemed a bit better and brighter, and Niko and I went into the city for part of the day. We came home to find he'd had an accident, but it was just... blood. So so much. And he looked so in pain, so ashamed, so guilty, so anxious.

So we went back to the vet ER. It was another very late night. I didn't know how many of these late nights we could afford; neither of us knew how many of these late nights it was fair to expect Charlie Brown to endure.

Do you plan on letting a pet go after an extended crisis visit? Do you plan on letting a pet go in a time of relative peace?

Camping Analogy, and a Best Last Day

When you're off on a long hike, and you see daylight start to fade as the sun begins to set, you begin to think about finding a good place to set up camp for the night. It's abysmal to do this after the sun has already gone down: where you could have had preparation and structure, you have chaos by flashlight.

A dog's life is in your hands. You're his whole world: all food, adventure, pampering, challenge, treatment, and care come from you. More than anything, we wanted Charlie Brown to have a peaceful, restful life. Now that we started thinking about it, we wanted to be able to give him a peaceful, restful passing as well: not as the climax of another overnight crisis with injections and yelps and beeps and cowering and anxiety and fear, but in the still quiet of familiar sounds and smells.

His very last day was a great one. Fresh Pond in Cambridge: a massive stroll around a colossal lake with an absurd bounty of new smells, kind people, happy dogs, and a brisk New England breeze. He got to swim in a little side pond — that boy lived for jumping into random lakes. He ran around the broad field that is Kingsley Bowl, chasing a thrown ball the very very farthest his sad pop could throw it — and he brought it back. We bought him a steak. We told him how much he brought to our lives.

And then we waited.

Lap of Love is a sort of home delivery service of dignified passing for pets. There's more to say on that hour than I care to pen, but throughout the procedure, we never left him. Charlie Brown passed enveloped in our arms and laps and sobs and hugs.

The Day After, and the Day After That

The rest is just thoughts. Your head starts to feel like a coffee shop where your grief comes in, sits at a table with you, and unloads. You nod, listen, and wish them well. I hope I can keep processing this way — I find it helpful, and less overwhelming.

I wish he had been able to play with his tennis ball more. Since his jaw surgery — even out on Kingsley Bowl, nearly a month and a half after he should have been fully healed — any kind of chewing would cause renewed bleeding and pain.

I wish we had hugged him more. But truth be told, he didn't like hugs. They made him uncomfortable. So we gave him a hand to lay his head on, or a knee for him to pop his head upon, as often as he liked.

There were so many times I felt inconvenienced by owning a dog at all. They weren't the majority, but... now each remembered time feels like a splinter of selfishness.

I miss how familiar the back of his neck felt under my hand, just behind the ears, where the waves of fur meet and crash and make a long cowlick of foof and fluff.

His happy smile and his stressed smile were very similar, but you could still tell which was which.

I loved being there for him in thunderstorms.

When you think about it, we sort of were hospice care for him. We weren't his original owners; we just wanted the rest of his life to be painless and fulfilling. He had so many trust issues when he first came to us. And in the end, he loved anyone he met.

I miss feeling around with my feet to make sure I don't step on him on my way to bed. I miss setting my feet on the floor as I wake, stooping down, and giving his head a good squishy rub.

He never did get to see Boston snow. I mean... thousands of dogs never get to see snow. But I was really looking forward to sharing that experience with him.

I wanted so badly to bring him to a point of health, and then say goodbye when he was feeling well. Seeing him have his Best Last Day, part of me whispered "murderer" with cold accuracy, and I have a hard time shaking it. He was so happy — but between jaw bleeding after playing with a tennis ball, seeing him scratch his eyes that were starting to ache with ulcers again... I know the unbridled happiness came with the reality of his declining health.

Atlas was the best thing that ever happened to that boy. I know Charlie Brown was at least a little disgruntled that his easy-going day-to-day had been interrupted by a chompy puppy, but Atlas brought out the young pup in CB: ripping palm fronds to shreds, playing tug, playing tag, meeting new dogs with confidence and assurance.

I used to get so mad at my mother-in-law for feeding Charlie Brown cinnamon donuts. I wish I'd given him more. Heck, I wish I'd given him more peanut butter. I'm frankly surprised he hadn't died of peanut butter overdose years ago.

Where Charlie's health had limits, we kept going with Atlas. That might mean taking Atlas out to play with a ball or a tug toy, because CB couldn't. It breaks my heart now to think of Charlie at the glass door just watching it happen, all because he physically couldn't play the same. I know he didn't understand that.

We took him out to Park Ave maybe once or twice. I wish it had been more. Truth be told, it was the same as the dog park, though: he was kind of a loner. Loads of people or dogs made him anxious. So while I might idealize the past and wish he had sat at our legs for lunch after lunch at an outdoor thoroughfare, ... I think he would have been miserable. I think he would have rather just curled up at the base of the couch and dozed while we watched a show.

He was so trusting. I could just drag him onto his back and onto my lap for cuddles and a good tummy rub. No complaints.

He looked so gaunt these past few months. I keep looking at earlier photos, and I really didn't realize just how grizzly and drawn he had become lately.

I miss seeing him randomly waiting for me outside the bathroom door — or curled up on the bath mat while I was in the shower, having sneakily nosed the door open and wanting my company while I was rinsing.

For his first few years with us, he was incredibly playful. I've been going through old videos — it's like going outside just blew his mind, and toys were either for cherishing daintily, or thrashing about and throwing to oneself and gnawing. He lost that after a time. He regained it a bit when Atlas joined the party. But it still faded. I'm sure that's inevitable, but it makes me sad to see the early vibrant puppy in those old recordings, and how different he had been in recent months.

[hunxi-guilai]

holy shit tumblr’s notifications actually informed me of a tag game for once

okay so first of all blanket apology to anyone who’s ever tagged me in a post, I can’t even keep up with my email inbox much less tumblr notifications so odds are I just totally missed it in the daily deluge

@paledreamsblackmoths​ tagged me, and one does not simply refuse a tag game from the author of one’s favorite MDZS fic

Top Three Ships: oof, full disclosure, I don’t really actively ship things? That’s just not what I’m usually looking for when I consume media, so you’ll never see me write a fic exclusively for ship purposes.

But I am a happy voyager on the following ships:

songxiao (CQL/MDZS): what can I say except that I love them, they’re wonderful, and that they deserved the world?

jamaya (Dragon Prince): I don’t know if that’s the official ship name because I’ve never interacted with a fandom on tumblr aside from CQL or Cosmere, but listen -- their relationship is cross-cultural enemies-to-lovers in which their love language is COMBAT, and I’ve always been weak for battle couples

Kaladin/happiness (Stormlight Archive): would it be me if I didn’t shoehorn Brandon Sanderson into a post? Anyways I adore Kaladin Stormblessed with every fiber of my being, but if the entire cosmere could stop throwing trauma at him, that’d be great

Last Song: (checks phone) oh, uh, this cover of 天下有������ / Under Heaven, Lovers sung by 李克勤 Li Keqin and the inimitable 周深 Zhou Shen (who you may recognize from the CQL companion album). This song is beautiful and relentless and the lyrics are just... damn:

爱是一朵六月天飘下来的雪花 还没结果已经枯萎 /

Love is a snow-flower floating down from the sky in June,

withered before it can bear fruit

爱是一滴擦不干 烧不完的眼泪 还没凝固已经成灰 /

Love is a teardrop that cannot be wiped or burned away,

turned to dust before it can congeal

[...]

爱是迷迷糊糊天地初开的时候 那已经盛放的玫瑰 /

Love is the rose that has already bloomed its fullest

when sky and earth first split apart 

爱是踏破红尘望穿秋水 只因为爱过的人不说后悔 /

Love is treading through the red dust of the mortal realm,

seeing through autumn waters,

all because those who have loved will never regret 

爱是一生一世一次一次的轮回 不管在东南和西北 /

Love is life after life, world after world, time after time reincarnating,

unheeding of east, south, west or north

爱是一段一段一丝一丝的是非 教有情人再不能够说再会

Love is each segment, each section, each shred, each thread of right and wrong,

that teaches those who have loved the impossibility of saying 

‘we will meet again’

do I understand these lyrics? absolutely not. is it bizarrely beautiful in its synesthetic quality? absolutely yes

Last Movie: 《乱魄》/ Fatal Journey! Finally got around to watching it! Thoughts coming soon :)))))))

Currently Reading: rip I haven’t had the brain space to start anything new, but I’ve been reading and re-reading This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar for... reasons...

Food I’m Craving: I could really go for some 乌龙奶茶三分糖少冰 oolong bubble tea right now, 30% sugar, less ice right now. I left all of my tea (and alcohol) in my apartment when I fled the city and I miss being able to easily make myself a drink

People I’d Like to Get to Know Better: consider yourself tagged if you’d like to participate! but I’m going specifically call out @acutebird-fics​, @cangse-sanren​, and @besanii​ for most consistently stepping on my heart 

[saifa-ao3]

I have a request for femslash february, if you're still taking those! Pairing: Catty/Bratty - prompt: Catty and Bratty discuss Burgerpants, Mettaton, and whoever else, but at some point during their gossiping Catty accidentally lets it slip she likes Bratty (or vice-versa).

I’m late. But I did it! I’ll get to the other requests hopefully soon.

H e y,  c h e c k  i t  o u t. 

Rating: General Audiences

Title: I wanna, like, totally be your garbage!

Summary:While scavenging for garbage to sell, Bratty thinks over her feelings for Catty. Will she confess her feelings to her best friend?

Relationships: Catty/Bratty

Tumblr version under the cut.            It had been a while since anything new could be scavenged, and it looked like Bratty and Catty were the first ones to arrive this morning. Bratty laid her tired eyes on the new mountain of tangled debris that had fallen into the garbage dump during the night. Her keen eyesight was accustomed to the cavern’s darkness and gave her an advantage in spotting what the other monsters usually missed. The mound was comprised mostly of plastic bags and other useless synthetic and rusted debris. Among the musty dampness, there was a pungent, rotting smell wafting from the pile. Looks like whatever was salvageable would require a deep cleaning. The goods Bratty and Catty sold might be garbage, but it was premium quality garbage.

            The ankle deep water sloshed from Bratty’s approach. Carefully, she tugged at a handlebar from a bicycle to test the mountain’s stability. When nothing rained down, she shook other metal pipes and tires in search of a loose area to begin her excavation. The debris proved stubborn. In fact, barely anything seemed to budge save for a few empty aluminum cans. It seemed their salvage operation would be a tricky one, so it was best to get the easy pickings at the base first. Squatting down, she felt around in the water for anything interesting.

            “Like, ew, this mound totally reeks, Bratty!” Catty said, breaking away from their shopping cart while covering her nose with a grimace.

            Bratty gave her best friend a toothy grin. She loved the way Catty’s nose wrinkled from the smells in the dump. It was incredibly cute and the sight was one of her favorite parts of scavenging. “Like, totally, Catty. But just think of, like, all the garbage we can sell!”

            “Like, you’re so right, Bratty!” Catty giggled, covering her mouth mischievously with a paw.

            Bratty giggled too, but for her own reason. Catty’s laugh was bubbly and incredibly infectious as it bounced off the cavern walls and ceiling. There was a light chime to it like the high notes on a xylophone that made her soul flutter. That realization dawned on Bratty when she found the instrument on their last excavation. She had watched Catty curiously tap on the bars with a makeshift mallet and listened to her friend laugh playfully while composing a signature jingle for the two of them. It was then that Bratty associated Catty’s voice with music.

            “Oh, did you, like, find something?” Catty asked. She looked over Bratty’s shoulder and extended her whiskers. Grabbing their old, reliable shopping cart, she parked it next to the mound. “Chuck it in the cart here.”

            Bratty held up a figurine of a humanoid character dressed in pink with hair and cat ears to match. In her opinion, Catty was way cuter than this figurine. The girl wasn’t even entirely a cat, but definitely not a monster. Bratty had no idea what this character was, but she knew one thing. Catty had prettier ears. Besides, Bratty prefered purple over pink, and something told her this character would never be caught dead in a garbage dump.

            “Oh my god, like, isn’t this one of those things that Alphys likes?” Catty asked. She leaned over and rested her chin on top of Bratty’s head while her paws settled on Bratty’s shoulders.

            “Like, wow…” Bratty blushed when she felt the warmth from Catty’s paws and the soft fur tickle the scales on her neck. The warmth from her friend was a delightful comfort in the damp darkness. It took her a moment to snap her attention back to the conversation. “Uh… I totally think you’re right. What was it called again?”

            “Um, like, animu?”

            “Yeah, like, for sure animu.” Bratty said, placing the figurine in the cart. ”What even happened to Alphys anyways? Nobody has seen her for, like, ever.”

            Catty straightened and shrugged glumly while kicking at the water.

             Bratty looked from her friend to the figurine. They both missed Alphys dearly, but Catty took Alphys’ disappearance from their lives especially hard. Seeing her friend so glum about losing someone she considered an older sister, Bratty did her best to cheer her up. In Alphys’ absence, the two monsters had grown closer to the point of being inseparable and Bratty began to notice her favorite things about Catty, such as the way her friend’s whiskers would twitch out of curiosity or her pupils would widen when she saw something she adored until her irises were thin, golden rings. If only Catty would look at her the same way as when her friend found that empty gun and hoard of junk food. That day Catty was so excited for their find, and Bratty had to admit that was one of their most successful scavenging excursions yet.

            “Oh my god, Catty, maybe we could go to the lab and drop this off for Alphys. Like, pay her a visit, you know?”

            “Oh my god, Bratty, you really think she would see us?”

            “Uh, like, totally! We got this animu after all. You can give it to her and say, ‘Hi, like, what’s up?’ you know?”

            “Oh my god, Bratty, that’s such a cool idea,” Catty giggled excitedly.

            “For sure,” Bratty said with a wink. “Let’s see if there is anymore of this animu junk.”

            The two set to work sifting through the water, tossing aside rotted wooden planks and shredded fishing nets. A few waterlogged DVD cases and fishing poles later, Catty decided to brave the mountain. Using tires as footholds and secure metal rods to grasp, she scaled the mound agiley with ease until she reached the top. While Bratty sorted her way through the surrounding base, Catty set to work on attacking the pile from the top and removing the shoddy goods. Whenever there was an intriguing find, she would toss it down to add to the shopping cart.

            “Like, come on!” Catty grunted as she struggled to pull out a shower curtain rod. She dug her heels into the soggy magazines and crushed cans and tugged hard. When she finally ripped the rod out, a mess of stained fabric and fishing line wrapped around the pole followed.

            “Oh my god, careful, Catty!” Bratty shouted up. She circled around the back to catch her should she fall. It wasn’t often this happened, but on more than one occasion Bratty had broken her friend’s fall. Honestly, she never minded whenever this happened, and they would lie in the water together having a good laugh, then pick up where they left off. The first time Catty fell into her arms was when she finally noticed how warm, soft, and silky Catty’s fur was.

            Catty waved her arms in an effort to fight against gravity as she leaned backwards precariously on one leg. Her tail twitched wildly in an effort to regain her balance. At last, she thrusted the end of the pole into the mound and pulled herself forward. Sighing heavily in relief, she grinned down at Bratty and covered her grin with a paw. “Like, wow, that was a close one, huh?”

            “Uh, yeah,” Bratty said, smiling in relief. “You, like, totally were about to fall. Did you find anything interesting at least?”

            Catty leapt from the top and landed in the water with a splash. She held up the pole and pulled a pair of scissors from her pocket to snip away the massive knots of fishing line to get at the fabric. Holding up the unfurled fabric, she and Bratty squinted at what appeared to be burger patterned pajama pants.

             Bratty rolled her eyes and scoffed at who this article of clothing reminded her of. “Oh my god, Catty.”

            “Oh my god, Bratty, are you thinking what I am thinking?”

            “Like, Burgerpants, that creep?”

            “Yeah!” Catty’s eyes lit up and she shot Bratty a grin. “Like, we should totally give this to him!”

            Bratty folded her arms and tilted her head. There was a pang of jealousy in her soul that crept up everytime Catty brought up that guy or suggested hanging out with him. What did she see in Burgerpants anyways? After all, she thought he was a creep too, but that didn’t stop her from suggesting saving his life with their friendship and coolness. Catty was always so happy though, and Bratty didn’t have the heart to ruin that. “Uh, like, why?”

            “Because it totally suits him, duh! He could, like, be indebted to us and stuff. I mean, the guy doesn’t even have clothes other than the ones Mettaton makes him wear. I mean, have you seen the stuff he has to dress up in? Totally yuck! He’s gonna look totally cute in these.”

            “Uh, like, you really have no standards, do you?”

            “Nope!” Catty giggled, tossing the pants into the cart.

            “You would really pick Burgerpants over our robot husband?” Bratty asked in hopes the topic would change.

            “Oh my god, our robot husband. Do you think Burgerpants could, like, convince Mettaton to sign my butt after getting us Glamburgers?”

            “Uh, maybe?” Bratty said, uncommitted. All she wanted was to move past this conversation. She didn’t want Catty to see her wrestling with this jealousy. “Hey, what do you say we catch the new episode of The Robot Bachelor tonight?”

            “Oh my god, that’s tonight?” Catty asked brightly. “Like, absolutely! I can’t wait to see which dating option Mettaton will pick.”

            “Uh, yeah, though all the options are Mettaton,” Bratty grinned both in relief and excitement for the new episode. Of course, Catty’s laughter lifted her spirits too.

            “Oh my god, if I was on that dating show, I’d totally choose Mettaton, and then he can finally be my robot husband! What about you, Bratty? Like, who would you choose?”

            “Mettaton, obviously. He’s, like, totally my robot husband too.” Bratty paused as she considered other monsters she could choose from if she were on the dating show, but Catty’s bright laughter intruded upon her thoughts. “Like, actually, I think I’d totally pick you,” Bratty said under her breath. The words had tumbled out before she could catch them.

            Catty’s ears swiveled at that and her laughter stopped abruptly. Her paws flew to her mouth as she stared at her friend with wide eyes. “Oh my god, what?”

            Bratty stared back at Catty, uncertain of what to say. When she finally found her voice, it betrayed her with a crack. “Uh, like, I’d totally pick Mettaton, duh!”

            “No, after that! You’d really pick me?”

            Bratty’s hands fidgeted together nervously. What could she say, that she never wanted to be apart from her best friend? Every time she caught Catty, she never wanted to let go because the best garbage in the whole underground was in her arms. The faintest brush of Catty’s fur warmed her scales in a way Hotland never could. Forget pink no matter who was wearing it, whether it be that anime girl figurine or their shared robot husband. Purple was the coolest color the Underground had ever seen. Even if they never saw the surface, Catty was all she would ever need.

            “You really mean it?” Catty asked, extending her whiskers out of curiosity. Her eyes were two golden rings encircling night.

            “Like, yeah…” Bratty blushed. “You’re really cute and…”

            “Aw, Bratty!” Catty beamed. She embraced her friend tightly and nuzzled her cheek. A low purr formed in her throat that only increased in volume.

            Bratty felt the heat from Catty’s cheek and embrace, though the warmth felt more intense than any physical contact she had with her friend before. It chased away the damp chill from her body, leaving her to wish this feeling would never leave. Never before had she realized how soothing Catty’s rumbling purrs were until now. Truly, it was a new melody she never wanted to hear the end of. The vibrating notes and trills rippled across her skin and sank into her. Once again, Bratty found herself reluctant to let go.

            “We’re the coolest girlfriends forever!” Catty cheered. “Like, wow, I totally never would have thought I’d find the best garbage ever today!”

[lucarioisinthevoid]

AAAAAAAAAA HI LUCARIO- gjufsklkfdvkj ok ok lemme calm down. I'm KittenLatte/CalmCalculators from Wattpad! I just found out you have a tumblr. :,)

Why H E L L O THERE!O L D E S P O R D E !IT’S NICE TO SEE YOU CALMCALULATORS!Welcome to my SHAME. To my BIGGEST mistake. To this NIGHTMARE of a blog where I fuck up ALL the characters.I gotta say, I do regret having made a tumblr, now I gotta worry about things like not mixing up any things that happen here vs what happens in my stories, risk dealing with people who think writing about Serial Killers means you like real life murderers and fight off the temptation to give this place a needless and way too convoluted plot.The joys of making a tumblr blog!You found me! Despite me hiding it on chapter 34 or something, WELL into the damn mess of a story-And well, my description, but who would ever read that? I’M HAPPY TO SEE YOU! HOPE YOU’RE HAVING A GOOD TIME ON THIS FANTASTIC HELLSITE! ENJOY ME RIPPING YOUR BELOVED CHARACTERS TO SHREDS PERSONALITY-WISE UNTIL THEY’RE ONLY ARE EMPTY HUSK FOR MY MINDLESS CONSUMPTION!I A M G O D !Enjoy your stay on the blog, have fun messing with the characters and destroying timelines! Glad you found me, hope to see you around if this strikes your fancy! ;3Honestly, you seem way too excited to have found me, and it flusteres me, but I also very much worry you get a bit disappointed with the low-quality shitposting going. BUT HECK, I’M REALLY HAPPY ANYWAYS, IT’S SO NICE TO GET TO RECOGNIZE PEOPLE! Makes me feel like my story really does make people want to check out all this silly extra material. Okay, but enough of that, you go have a good time! Enjoy your day!

[theabominableblogger]

My Reaction to “Gotham” S5E2

In Which Harvey Continues to be the Best Goddamn Thing in This Show

I was a lucky son of a duck and managed to get this reaction while the episode was airing live on FOX last night.  For episodes 3-12, I will be waiting for Hulu to receive them because of an upcoming spring semester at college.  So for episodes 3-12, I will be in the dark until Friday or Saturday (so no spoilers from y’all).

Also, on TV, there are so many GOD.  DAMN.  COMMERCIALS.

AN:  I managed to record my reactions to this episode and hopefully I can transcribe what I said into this post.

*Recaps shows the chopper*  OK, so who freakin’ shot down the chopper?

Oh, Tabitha...

*We see a whole bunch of injuries on Will’s back*  What the...

“They call themselves the Soothsayers.”  The Sooth- what?

“They’re digging some sort of tunnel.”  *gasps and reels back*  It’s Jeremiah!  ‘Cause he has a tunnel!  Oh my God!

What’s the tunnel for?

OK, never mind then, I don’t think Jeremiah’s in charge of the Soothsayers

“The second you [Jim] step outside that door, someone’s gonna take a shot at you, and if it’s not you that’s getting hit, it’s the schmoe standing next to you.”  *laughs*

*Jim hangs up on the radio*  Who’s on the other end?

“Four shells each.  Half a mag each.”  Wow.

“Will says the Soothsayers are here, which means we have to pass through Sirens territory.”  Ooh.

“She’s [Barbara] gonna be thrilled to see you [Jim] after what happened with Tabitha.”  Ooooff...

Wait, so is the Dark Zone like around Gotham?  At the docks or...

What?

So this is Robinson Park, OK... so this is where Ivy is.

Oh, these sets look nice.  Getting some serious Arkham Knight flashbacks.

Swore I just saw someone move in the background...

*Bruce catches a guy trying to sneak up on him*  Yeah.

“They came for help too!”  What district are they from?  Why are they British?

*jams along with opening theme*

*silently headbangs to heavy metal cover of "Ring of Fire” by Social Distortion playing in Barbara’s club*

*Everyone stops dancing when Jim arrives*  Oooohhhh... ooohh hoo hoo hoooo...

“It’s a police matter.”  “You know, they should really write that on your tombstone.”  *laughs*

“Drive right into this nightmare you’ve created.”  Actually it’s Jeremiah... kay...

“HAVE AT HIM!  RIP HIM TO SHREDS!”  Ooof.

*Panning shot of an absolute dark Gotham*  Oh my God.

*laughs*  There’s just this one random burst fire hydrant!

So is this whole episode gonna be them [Jim and Harvey] fighting their way out of the Dark Zone?

*jaw drops when someone shoots an arrow at Harvey*

“It’s a freaking arrow, Jim!  IT’S A FREAKING ARROW!”  *scoffs in shock*

Whooooo I remember her [the Day of the Dead lady] from the trailers!

Yeah, that’s the same... freaking tunnel

“The smoke... you [Gabriel] should take it.”  No.

“It’ll give you energy-”  Oh my God, is that Viper?  Is that Viper from S1?

“-see the future.”  What?

Or does Jeremiah shanghai this whole tunnel later this season?

“Once this tunnel is complete, we will have exclusive access to the mainlands.”  Oh my God, they are going to the mainland!

God, that guy [Sykes] just spit everywhere!

Sykes?  Isn’t that the bad guy from Oliver and Company?

“In Penguin’s grace, we will remain.”  Ohh, that’s a good line.

“What are the cattle prods for?”  “Fun.”  *scoffs in hilarity*

“If he [Sykes] moves, kill him.”  Oh ho!  Jim’s not messin’ around!

Yeah, that’s that same tunnel that Jeremiah [and Ecco] are in in some of those pictures.

AN:  Take a shot every time I mention the damn tunnel.

So is Gabriel Will’s older brother?

“Why would anyone be a cop in a world like this?”  “Well, the Halloween shop was all out of gas masks so it was either this or Sexy Nurse.” *reels back in chair from laughter*

“Let take ‘im, boys.”  CHEESE IT, BOYS!

*Sykes and his men try to take the kids*  Oh no.

*Jim comes to the rescue*  Yay.

*One of the car tires get shot*  Ooohhh...

*Commercials start*  OK... OK... so... what?

Wait, so is Jeremiah gonna leave for the mainland?  Like “Syke, I’m gonna get out of here!”

Noo... because his mission is Bruce so I don’t think he even wants to leave Gotham.  It’s the whole “I don’t wanna kill you!  What would I do without you?” mantra going on.

Whaaaaaatt...

What is she [Ivy] wearing?

“You have to believe me.”  “Forgive me if I find it hard to do so.”  COLD.

“It wasn’t me.  It was the park.”  *in unison with Bruce*  The park?

“The plants are my protection.”  ...OK.

“Maybe we can help each other.”  Bruce...

TELL HER IT’S SELINA!

“There’s a seed.  It’s growing under the oaks.  It’s said to have magical qualities.  When digested, it goes to the damaged tissue and bone.”  A seed?

Wwwhhhhaaaattt?

Ed?  Hello?  How are you?  Where are you?  Are you in the library again?  Why are sleeping with your glasses on?

What is going on?

That [library] looks like Oswald’s old house [the van Dahl mansion]

Oh my God, are we gonna see Ed peeing?

EEUUGGHHH we don’t need to be seeing this...

Oh my God, there’s someone in the frickin’ [bathtub]...

“There’s nothing there.”  *laughs*

Waaaaiit... what’s going on?

[Ed] You’re gonna attack him [the Street Demon] with a toilet plunger!  *cackles*

“Did I uh...” *chuckles*

“We’re gonna have to do all this again?  Guess so...”  *scoffs*

What is that place?

“It’s not safe out there.”  No dip, Jim.

“Maybe there’s still good people left in Gotham.”  Mmmmmm....

Yeah, you’re [Jim and Harvey] gonna leave three kids there [in the lobby].  All alone.  In a strange building.  Great.

Harvey, you’re a blessing.

Yeah, you’re gonna leave the three kids there.  Right.  Great idea.  Great idea.

These sets are fabulous.

“Hello?”  Blaaggghh!  Jump scare!

“GCPD.”  Take a shot!

Was that a crow [in the background]?

There’s just a bunch of random folded clothes everywhere.

*Harvey finds the dinner table full of body parts*  Oh my God...

Are those teeth?

*Harvey finds a plate of bloody fingers*  :0

Oh my God, freaking- they’re freaking cannibals?!?

*gasps when Mother attacks Harvey*

*has to leap out of seat to cool off when commercials start*

Oh wow, I love Sweeney Todd.

*ends up coughing up a lung*

So far, again, this feels like a foundational episode.  It’s just like “OK, we gotta work on this, we gotta make sure this is safe,” and yeah.

I wonder if the Jaime Murray character is gonna show up at the end of the episode or something.

AN:  You may think that... but no.

I also wanna know what kind of crack these writers were on for this final season.  Tze Chun had the good shit; I dunno about the others.

*gasps in disgust when Ed hits the Street Demon in the mouth with a wrench.”

“[Ed] You wanted to know where the Street Demons base was.”  Why?

“Aaand you wanted to make sure the boss would be there.”  Why?

“OK, how did I [Ed] seem?  Was I... confident?  Flamboyant?  Charisma for days?”  *giggles*

“Or was I conserved, kinda repressed, a little nerdy?”  *laughs*

Soo... did Hugo combine the two personalities?  ‘Cause the pushing up the glasses is a new thing.

*gasps when Ivy kills the men who were holding her.”

“[Bruce] You are so utterly naive.”  Oh my God.

“[Selina] She is paralyzed and has lost the will to live.”  “Good.”  What?!?

“That bitch destroyed the last of the Lazarus Water.”  ExCUSe me?!?

“Let her suffer.”  Noooo...

You can tell that Peyton List [Ivy] is just wearing a whole bunch of face powder on.

“I am feeding the earth these wretched creatures.  It consumes them.”  She has lost her freakin’ mind.

*Ivy starts caressing Bruce’s neck*  Do not prick his neck.

“Those men you killed were right.  You are a witch.  A murderous, callous witch.”  WHOOOOOOO- oh my God...

Hoo!

“What’s your name?”  “I- I can’t remember.”  What?

“She found me?”  “Who?”  “The ghost!”  The ghost?

“She makes me call her.. Mother.”  *reels back and puts hands in the air*  It is Mother and Orphan!

Wait, is that the kid?

*The kid stays behind*  It is the kid!  That’s Orphan!

Oh my God...

“The lights will make you dizzy.  And then you’ll go to sleep.”  Oh this is cool..

“Jim, I don’t feel so good.”  Wow, I love Infinity War.

Actually no, I hated it.  I was sick the first time I saw it.

*gasps when Mother sneaks up behind Jim*

They really do need to put a flashing lights warning on this.

*gasps when Mother fights off Jim and Harvey*

*Harvey tries to leave*  There’s an open window!  You broke a window!  Go through the window!

*looking through the Gotham tag on Tumblr during commercials*  Wow, someone wrote some fanfiction quick.

Oh wow, I love Ghost Adventures!

*gasps when Ed and the Street Demon find the Street Demon leader wiped out.”

[Penguin Was HERE] Really?!?

*imitates the guitar riff going off*

*Ivy leads Bruce to the seed*  Oh my gosh, that’s so pretty

*Ivy gives Bruce the seed*  I ain’t eatin’ that...

“One thing’s for certain... the seed will alter her [Selina] forever.”  Great.

“Some say, the darker angels of our mind-”  Great.

Also, yay for natural lighting finally in this show.  I love it when they use natural lighting in the show.  It looks so nice.

“What’s the matter, Bruce?  Don’t know if you can trust me?”  I don’t trust you.

“I don’t.”  “Good.  then you’re finally becoming a man.”  Ivy, you’re like his age.  shut up.

*Ivy sits in one of the low sitting trees*  OK, so if the tree branches just grab her and just sink down into the ground, this will be the greatest thing.

“Detective Gordon, your hand’s bleeding.”  Uhhh...

*Sykes and his men arrive*  Oh my God... monster truck!

“Wait just a minute!  Please...”  Whoaaa... who are you?

I don’t know who that is.  She [the Day of the Dead looking lady] looks cool though.

*commercials start*  Who is this?  Who are you?

Five bucks:  Barbara comes in and saves the day even though she still hates Jim.  She hates everybody.  She comes in like “I’m just here for the kids, not you.”

Oh noo...

“Did you [Bruce] find the witch?”  “It was Ivy.”  Great!  Alfred’s like “Oh bloody brilliant!”

“What choice do I have?”  Bruuuce...

“I want to help Selina as much as you do but Ivy’s a maniacal, cold-hearted killer.”  You met her like twice, Alfred!

But true, she is.

“So if Ivy wants to kill me, she can have at it.”  Oh my God...

Who wrote this episode?  I’m gonna have words.

*Bruce gives Selina the seed*  Yeah, you’re gonna shove that down your throat.  Great.

Is she gonna chew it?

*Selina starts chewing the seed like a gummie vitamin*  OK then...

It’s the Spiderman bite except in fruit form.

*freezes when Selina starts seizing*

“God, what have I [Bruce] done?”  *extremely sad face*

“I’ll tell you what!  I’ll [Sykes] take his head!  And you can have the rest of him!”  *scoffs in shock*

*gasps when Jim shoots the Day of the Dead lady*

Is that a monster truck?!?

My sister:  Is that a tank?!?

That’s a monster truck!

*both immediately at loss of words when Barbara hops down*

Wow, I love Hot Wheels!

*jaw drops when Jim uses his last bullet to kill Sykes and defend Barbara*

Wow... that just... came out of nowhere!

“Wow.  Wasted your last bullet for me.  Must be love.”  No it is not.  Barbara, how dare you say that?

*Barbara tells Jim she wants to kill Penguin.”  Great.  Great plan.

Wait, you’re gonna invite Barbara to the Green Zone?  Yeah, great plan, Jim.  Great plan!

*Jim and Co. arrive at the Green Zone*  Whoa!

He [Lucius] looks fab!

Wait a minute, is this [the Green Zone] that apartment complex that got blown up in the trailer?!?  Are you freaking kidding me?

They’re gonna freaking blow this place up later in the season.  God dang it.  Who did it and why?  Who does it and why?

We stan one future police commissioner.

“See you around, killer.  We have some unfinished business, you and I.”  Nooo you don’t.  Cool off!

Oh crap, is she [Selina] gonna be gone in the morning?!?

Oh my God, Bruce hasn’t slept in like 48 hours?!?  Great.

*gasps*  She’s [Selina] not there!  Did she go out the window?

Did she pull a “Dark Knight Rises” and back flip out the window?

“Bruce...”  Oh no.

She [Selina] looks like Michelle Pfeiffer.

“[Selina] How do you feel?”  “Different.”  Why are her eyes closed?  Open yo eyes!

“I’m better.  Even better than before in fact.”  Mmmmm no!

*Bruce hugs Selina*  Yay hug!  We like hugs!  We like some hugs!  Yay!

Oh my God, she’s gonna go on a murdering spree and kill some people, isn’t she?

*Selina’s eyes*  WHAAATT the frick?!?  Wha-

WhaAAAAttt?!?

*gasps when Ecco pops up in the promo for next episode*

*ejects out of chair to cool off*

AN:  Ecco, your man better treat you right or I’m gonna fight him AND the writers.

We’re getting WhaAAAtt??? WHaaaAAT?? 

Oh my God...

[stevensavage]

Eating Cheap And Healthy At Cons

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve's Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

After reading fabrickind's posts on eating healthy at a con, I figured I'd take a break from my usual posts on writing, psychology, and so on to talk food.  Well, you know eating at a convention in a cheap and healthy way.

This is based on a number of years of doing this and my own experiments.  I've put this into practice various ways, so some ideas are still experimental.  Still, this should help you out.

I'm not focusing a lot on premade meals, which may be good if you can freeze them and take them with you.  I'll focus more on doing stuff at the convention and using easy food to get.

One warning: BE CAREFUL HOW YOU KEEP FOOD.  If something has to be refrigerated, refrigerate it.  If something sits out for awhile, don't eat it.  If your cooler fails, anything that has to be kept cool is suspect.  Don't make yourself sick.

By the way, also remember this is a con.  You're probably not gonna eat perfectly nutritiously, or as regular as you'd like, and you might have a fancy meal out.  That's fine.

THE BASICS

The basics of eating healthy are actually pretty easy: the more diverse types of food you eat and the less processed it is, the better.  So really that's your goal.

I'd also add that healthy eating usually has enough fiber in it so you avoid unpleasant consequences post con.

I use the classic power plate - equal parts whole grains, fruit, vegetables, and legumes.  Note of all of those, only one (vegetables) is hard to store outside of a can or a cooler.  Now I eat little animal products, but there are options below.

THE LOCATION

First, scope the location of the convention.  Here's what you want to look for:

DELI AND LOCAL MARKETS:  You can get a lot of premade, healthy, and reasonably priced stuff here.  Plus fresher ingredients.

CONVENIENCE STORES:  Some carry fruit, nuts, and other reasonably healthy foods.  You might be surprised (but do read labels)

GROCERY STORIES: If you can get near one and stock up, great.

BULK FOOD STORES:  I had great success for years at a con using one of these for oatmeal, dried fruit, etc.

Look for ways to get ingredients and fast healthy cheap food.  Obviously, avoid fast food.

THE ROOM

Your room and what you bring with you affects how you'll eat.

A COOLER: If you can bring a cooler, awesome.  You can store stuff in it, like vegetables or premade meals if you keep it cool.  Sure you have to change the ice, but things should keep pretty well.

A MICROWAVE: Awesome.  A microwave is going to let you prepare all sorts of stuff, like steamed vegetables (put them in a bowl with a bit of water, heat a few minutes) or packaged rice.  Some hotels also have public microwaves you can use.

A REFRIGERATOR: Score!  You can keep anything in there.  In fact you can premake stuff, freeze it, then microwave it.

A COFFEE MAKER: Even if this is the only tool you have, it lets you make oatmeal or soup (more later).

WHAT TO BRING

So let's talk food and nutrition here.  I'll talk my faves and where they fit in.

GRAINS

BROWN RICE: I love those little heat-up-in-a-microwave single cups of rice.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD: I get locally made stuff that's basically sugar free and made of like 4 ingredients.

CORN CHIPS: Doesn't sound healthy, but many local brands actually are pretty good.

OAT BRAN: I love this stuff.  Basically higher protein part of Oatmeal.  You can make it in a micowave or hot water from your coffee maker.

OATMEAL: Also I love this stuff.

TORTILLAS: 'nuff said.  Always useful.

LEGUMES AND PROTEINS

PEANUT BUTTER: You'll want a fridge or cooler for most of the no-additive peanut butter (or keep it in an ice container).  Peanut butter is a protein bomb with nice fats.  Slap that on some whole wheat bread and boom.

CANNED BEANS: Canned beans are awesome, especially garbanzos which are nice and solid.  You can open a can, drain it in the sink, rinse in the can, toss some soy sauce on them and you got a protein cource for two or three.

TOFU: You'll need a cooler or fridge to keep it, but rip it open, dump on some spices and eat.

If you eat animal products, think outside of meat.  Precooked harboiled eggs and cheese are good if you can keep them properly.

FRUITS

Most fruits keep without refrigeration so you're good there.  Bring a nice amount.  Also don't forget dried fruit as well - but avoid the stuff with added sugar.

VEGETABLES

Ok this is a tough one.  Getting your veggies is hard, but there's a few ways.

CANNED VEGGIES: Don't discount canned veggies.  They may be a bit processed, but good quality ones keep and are decent sources of nutrition.  I'm fond of canned spinach which I can drain, microwave, or use in soup.  A bit of soy sauce and sesame seeds and you're good.

GREENS: If you have a fridge or a cooler you can keep some greens around like spinach, broccoli, or cabbage.  Get the prepackaged, pre-washed, and pre-shredded stuff if possible.  Some of this you can eat straight, or steam in a microwave.

SPICES

Keep some spices with you.  Some may need refrigeration or being kept away from moisture, but its worth it.

BLACK PEPPER: A forgotten spice, but adds a kick.

CURRY POWDER: A good curry (I recommend S&B) spices up soups, beans, and so on.

GARLIC POWDER: Adds that garlic flavor to anything, and it lasts.

LEMON JUICE: Lemon juice and a dash of pepper and garlic powder is instant salad dressing.

SALT: Also good for spicing.

SESAME SEEDS: Great if you make bowl meals or salads or want to jazz up some steamed or canned veggies.

SOY SAUCE: Works on everything.

SO WHAT CAN I PREPARE?

Some of the above is kinda obvious for food.  Peanut butter sandwiches.  Oatmeal and fruit.  But how can you go farther with what you have?  A few of my favorites . . .

COFFEE MAKER SOUP/CHAZUKE: This is one of my faves.  Make an herbal team (I reccomend lemon or ginger) in your coffee maker.  Dump it over some beans and shredded greens, and some soy sauce, and let it sit for a bit until the greens soften.  Then you have soup.

BOWLS: If you have a microwave (or can make rice in the coffee maker, I think it might be possible with precooked rice, don't know), you can make a bowl meal.  Rice, some canned beans, shredded veggies, and some spices.  You're good.

HUMMUS: No, really.  Pour that can of drained beans into a bowl, add spices, mash with a fork, serve with bread or chips.  Done.

SALAD: Throw some greens in a bowl, add beans, add soy sauce and lemon juice.  Salad.

GO FORTH AND EAT

That should give you a few good, cheap ideas.  Using these at one con I bought only ONE meal over the weekend.  Some of this advice is used day-to-day when I get lazy at home . . .

Steven Savage

www.StevenSavage.com

www.InformoTron.com

[sockdreams]

Brand Spotlight: The Big Tights Company!

When we brought in the Big Tights Company tights back in 2015, we were blown away by their stretch (as many of you know, it’s hard to find good tights in plus sizes). We were so excited that we brought in a number of customers to test them out with us! This blog post is pulled from our archives of that year; it’s still up on our blog, but it never made it in-full to tumblr, so I’m sharing it with y’all now!

♥ ♥ ♥

Sock Dreams is pleased to introduce you to one of our newest suppliers: The Big Tights Company! These beautiful styles are produced on a knitting machine that has been customized with the higher end of Plus Size in mind. Features include a deeper waist-to-gusset reinforced panty top to accommodate tummies and bottoms, comfy waistband, and the largest size boasts a hip stretch up to 90 inches while the thighs can stretch up to 40 inches.

On paper, these tights look amazing. So much so that we knew we had to get them on our customers. We put out a model call on our tumblr and it received hundreds of notes, and over fifty models applied. In the end we could only bring in six of these wonderful models, and it was an amazing experience for us! We got to put some faces (and feet!) to screennames, and had a lot of fun chatting and joking around while taking photos of gorgeous people. We also got a lot of amazing feedback about how these tights actually fit real bodies, and we were not disappointed.

Instead of waxing poetic for days about how wonderful these tights are, we'll let our models speak for themselves!

Leslie's thoughts on the Plus 20 Denier Tights in Black and Brown: "I was very happy with the fit and quality of the 20 denier tights. Even though I was close to the top of the sizing in the hips, I have plenty of room for stretch, at least a 3-4 inches. I especially like the way the tops were made. I don't feel like I'm going to rip the crotch seam, and they didn't bind. But they weren't baggy either."

Rakayla's thoughts on the Extra Plus 20 Denier Tights in Brown: I like them! As long as I have a knee length skirt on they're great. They're roomy and I wouldn't have even noticed they were on if it wasn't for us taking pictures in them. Lol. For tall plus size girls this is for sure an answered prayer. I give them an 8/10. Only because of that confusing seam thing* but besides that they're perfect."

*These tights have a double seam in the rear, which may take a little fiddling to get on correctly if you're not familiar with them. Here's an example of what that looks like.

Molly's thoughts on the Extra Plus 180 Denier Tights: "The overall fit is good, though for me a little loose as I'm shorter than average. With a 29" inseam, I found that I had to pull the tights up a bit more than expected to have them feel fully comfortable and not have "elephant" knees. The panty portion was amazingly comfortable, and there was no digging into my 63" waist. Also, there was no riding up into the crotch, or sagging. The knit of the tights were wonderfully soft, and reminded me of the cotton knit tights we had as kids, and always wanted as adults. I'm so glad they've made these. This is a perfect spring, fall, or even winter tight."

Molly's thoughts on the Extra Plus 20 Denier tights in Beige: "The pair I tried on were amazingly comfortable for hose. Unlike the tights, this pair didn't have quite the room in them. Even so, there was no riding up, cutting in, or sagging in the fit at all. Also, unlike other larger sized hose, this pair did not feel overly stretched on my 33" thighs and didn't cut into my skin. They honestly took all the blemishes and bruises and calmed them down to nothing. As my skin is so fair, it honestly didn't even look like I was wearing hose."

Sierra's thoughts on the Plus 180 Denier Tights: "Super soft, comfy, the waistband didn't roll down or bunch up, honestly better than any tights I've bought anywhere else. My only problem was they were a little too big, so they were scrunchy in some areas but it was a cute look."

Nancy had this to say about the Extra Plus 20 Denier Tights in Black: "I don't generally wear sheers because I'm hard on hosiery and shred them to pieces in minutes. These actually lasted through a whole day of work and play without a snag. Impressive! The toebox is really comfortable (my lil piggies are sensitive and hate being squished), and didn't migrate on me during the day. Initially the fit was a little tricky, as getting them seated over the fullest part of my thigh required a bit of wiggle and readjustment, but once I got them in place they fit well, with lots of extra room in the hip and belly, but not so much that they bagged out in the leg."

Allison's thoughts on the Plus 20 Denier Tights in Beige: "These really are incredibly roomy. Probably the only pair of tights/hose that I've ever worn that stayed in place at the waist without rolling down. Lots of crotch room, lots of stretch. They are very finely woven, though, which is great because they look very natural but you do have to be super careful not to pick or snag these with your nails or jewelry."

If you're interested in trying these wonderful tights, but aren't sure which size to choose, you can always drop us a line with your measurements and we will help you decide which will be best for you. And if you do buy them, please consider leaving an honest review on the product page with as much info as possible--you may be helping someone with similar measurements find the perfect product!

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We hope you enjoyed this peek back into our blog archives! We’ve continued to love these tights, and their sheers are some of the smoothest we’ve seen. If you’ve bought and enjoyed these tights, we’d love to hear your experiences with them!

♥Lucy Socks by Sock Dreams • Free Shipping in the US • $5 International Shipping Find us on facebook | twitter | pinterest | instagram | sock journal | g+