#which are y'all signing up for?

[corbinite]

"when I say someone's a narcissist I'm not insinuating they have NPD, I'm just using the colloquial definition" would only hold water if the people using it actually WERE using the colloquial definition. 10 years ago the colloquial definition of narcissist was a person who was self-absorbed or vain. The stereotypical 'narcissist' was a teenager taking too many selfies. The idea that a "narcissist" is someone who is evil and manipulative and inherently abusive only exists because of stereotypes about people with NPD, and only exists because of raptorial pop psych articles about "how to spot this new breed of evil person to be terrified about". You cannot say "I'm not talking about NPD" while specifically using the toxic mythologized NPD stereotypes, it just doesn't work.

[emile-hides]

Someone on my dash keeps posting really good really aesthetic photos of their inkling at Grand Fest, and I thought it'd be fun to do that too

And then I got really, REALLY distracted.

[prince-liest]

ALRIGHT, first draft of ch 3 of the bodyswap fic is done!! Now I need to meal prep so that I have things to eat for my next several shifts. +^+

5.6k words, so a bit longer than the previous chapters! And chapter count is definitely up to 4 now, haha. I always do this to myself.

I'm gonna need to write some adorably shitfaced platonic radiodust shenanigans after this to cope, haaaa—

[cesium-sheep]

yaaaaaay my lungs feel better enough to get the long last note on the chemical worker's song :) (proof that it wasn't just deconditioning like people keep trying to fucking tell me)

[crossbackpoke-check]

Why I Am Not Coming In To Work Today [abridged], Jess Zimmerman

part one | part two

[dragonsongmakhali]

since we're all bundles of social anxiety I'll go ahead and pop myself out on this limb

If any of you ever want Makhali's character data and/or want to send me your character data to take some of those fun hangout pics let me know! I would adore for Makhali to have more friends :>

[hippo-pot]

Btw, re: my opinion that computers are not gonna be able to translate sign languages in our lifetime, it's not that sign languages are necessarily More complicated than spoken/written languages (I truly don't know how you'd measure that but I'd assume they're equally complicated). But video is, in terms of sheer data, much bigger and presumably harder to process than audio. I cannot imagine this happening without *astounding* computational resources which would take far more energy, water, and money than a human interpreter (and, more importantly, wouldn't work as well, at least for the foreseeable future). I assume the computation would happen off site in most cases if it did work, meaning the Internet connection is gonna need to be phenomenal (there is already widespread dissatisfaction with VRS human interpreters used in medical settings because half the time the connection drops). Speech to text, with all the issues it still has, seems like a breeze in comparison to 'understanding' a video.

I also cannot wrap my mind around how a machine would handle depictions. Like, with some practice behind me, my human mind is now able to understand (some) depictions I've never seen before (thank goodness, because there will ALWAYS be new depictions I haven't seen before, bc Deaf people are resourceful and creative), but I don't see how a machine would. That's pure sci fi to me. I also wouldn't expect a machine to do a good job translating stuff it's never heard before in a spoken language (e.g. wordplay, or the way you can sometimes tell the meaning of a new slang word from context, or an uncommon name even), but the thing is I think depiction is a much bigger part of daily life than wordplay is?

[rindemption]

I have a question

Posting my drawing practice and doodles and wips has, in the past, been a pretty effective way to get me to keep drawing. Accountability and all that.

Would there be any interest in seeing those posts here on my main blog, or would people rather I kept it to a side blog?

[cryingyetcourageous]

I was tagged by @paralianprince to make Raivis into a dragon, but I was stuck, so going on how many reptiles work-

Left - calm, cold, and/or trying to blend in Right - excited, warm, and/or trying to make self look flashier (ie communicating with others or trying to scare off predator).

At first I tried to work with the colors of his flag, but it didn't suit his personality or what kinda dragon he'd be (100% living in forests and minding his own business. Semi-arboreal. Just wants to blend in against the wood and relax, which is why I chose patterns broken up into chunks to mimic the texture of cracked bark) SO!! I made him forest colors, but his wings are amber when excited (bc Baltic amber being very important culturally and historically) and his duller form is made by choosing the Stained gene in Crimson coloring, with crimson matching his flag.

I also couldn't decide on hatchling or adult since teen is right in between, so you get both options.

I definitely overthought this and I'm sorry fghjk

[thevegetablewhichnoonedaresname]

I love college cause you just go there and they tell you stuff. Four years in and I'm still not over this

[lowkeyed1]

i keep thinking back on that convo with the girl from my job who turned out to be way into that Q stuff. and it's been a while since i was paying attention to that end of the internet but i'm starting to think pretty much everything she brought up was one of their things, and she was kind of feeling me out in plausibly deniable ways to see if i was on the same page as her, or might be interested in her various cult beliefs.

[troutfur]

A kit for Sandclan! Cobrakit, a short-furred ginger tabby tom

(Forgive that I'm not giving Featherstorm's reaction for this one. It's not personal, I simply have run out of fun things to write for that section.)

A TOM!!!!! YES, THANK YOU! We are severely lacking those, our gender ratio is sooooo skewed.

But anyway! Chart!

[Image ID: Under the header “What will Cobrakit’s life be like? (02/12/2023)” 16 rows of tally marks crossed out two by two until there is only 1 or 2 left uncrossed. To the left, a shield chart at the top with the following geomantic figures: Via as the first mother, Populus as the second mother, Puer as the third mother, Carcer as the fourth mother, Puella as the first daughter, Amissio as the second daughter, Laetitia as the third daughter, Puella as the fourth daughter, Via as the first niece, Rubeus as the second niece, Tristitia as the third niece, Fortuna Maior as the fourth niece, Puella as the right witness, Albus as the left witness, Carcer as the judge, and Coniunctio as the sentence. Below the shield chart, an astrological house chart with the first twelve geomantic figures above mentioned assigned to houses 1 to 12 in the order mentioned above. /end ID]

This chart's a little more evocative. Immediately I notice Carcer as the judge and Coniunctio as the sentence so some kind of restriction or bondage, whether physical or immaterial, is the overall theme of Cobrakit's life but in the end it will bring connection and community. I'm lowkey hoping this chart will look overall favorable for a leader. Cobrastar sounds so cool. Anyway, our witnesses are Puella to the right and Albus to the left. Puella and Albus are weird in opposition, the former representing emotions and putting the needs of others before one's own and the other wisdom that comes with age. Is the chart trying to tell us Cobrakit will defy the status quo? Will they stand up to the establishment in service of others? Still hoping for a leader-like character here...

Via in the first house is always a welcome sight. The symbolism of motion and change always lends itself to eventful character biographies.

Populus in the second house is also welcome because I honestly just appreciate not having to think too hard about what the association of the second house with material posessions even could mean in this setting. This is seriously the biggest weakness in the method I believe. If anyone has any suggestion for how I could work the second house more cohesively into the system, I'm all ears.

On the third house we have Puer. I know I said that interpreting Puer and Puella simply by their meanings as signifiers of the gender polarity was boring and all but. I've wanted to give more of these siblings and we are in need of more toms so... an all male litter? I'm thinking three or so.

Carcer in the fourth house is something we have seen before! Strict parenting and/or mentorship. I'm leaning towards mentorship more. I do still want to see if I can finnagle this into Cobrastar.

Puella in the fifth house which I'm choosing to interpret as Cobra will grow up to be a nurturing parent. We love to see our den dads around these parts and I'm taking any excuse I can.

Amissio in the sixth house... You know what we are missing? A character with a cool scar or something. I am picturing the loss predicted here to be perhaps... losing an eye? Once again, would make a lot of sense if we're trying to slot this chart into a potential leader.

Laetitia in the seventh house! Good family life with his partner. I like that. I like that.

Puella in the eight house. Overlaps a little with Hickorydawn's whole thing but I think if I'm already dead set on leader for this one being able to be a comfortable presence for his clan in their time of need would be good. Honestly, between Puella here and Puella in the fifth house, I'm just thinking this dude would grow up to be just a super charismatic and comforting presence in the Clan.

Via in the ninth house. We already saw it in the first house and here it reinforces the idea he had a transformation of some kind. The rest of the chart is not implying it yet, but I think I have an inkling of what I can weave with the last three houses...

Rubeus in the tenth house is where I think I can get my angle in. While the chart has been portraying him as a pretty uncomplicated and chill dude thus far, the notion that anger and positions of power are related for him is certainly interesting. I could perhaps say, could he initially ascend to deputy on the basis of being a more aggressive type than he ended up being? Was the journey in question about mellowing out? Perhaps this is how he lost that eye I decided way back in the sixth house.

Tristitia in the eleventh house we can build this up further. Tristitia, sorrow, in the house of allies and supporters perhaps refers to how his supporters will react to his mellowing out. Perhaps as he turns to a new cat he can and becomes an emotional support for his clan his old supporters will lament a lot about who he used to be.

And finally Fortuna Maior in the twelfth house. He'll have to work hard to overcome adversities (perhaps those who liked him better how he was before?) but in the end he will thrive by his own efforts.

Putting it all together:

Cobrakit was born alongside two brothers. He was apprenticed to a warrior that was very strict with him and encouraged in him an aggression that would earn him a reputation as a ferocious fighter. He even lost an eye to show for it and everything. This put him in the radar of the leader as a favorite deputyship candidate of a certain vocal faction of aggressive cats within SandClan. He of course gladly accepted but the position of responsibility began to make him rethink his approach. Particularly as the Clan came to rely on him more and he took on more of an interest in being an emotional support through the tragedies of combat and death, he began to mellow out. The faction that had initially favored him for deputy felt extremely betrayed at this but Cobra now stood up for himself on his own authority and his likability as a deputy. Along the way he found a partner, raised children on his own, and has grown quite well into his duties as deputy and, eventually, leader.

So, give it up for the leader of SandClan Cobra(strike)star!

[stranger-awakening]

i love film festivals. here’s a heartfelt documentary that will make you cry. here’s a complicated mother/daughter relationship. here’s a silly little comedy series shown in feature length. here’s a sexy little score. here’s two people being boring for almost the entire 60 minutes. here’s a shot of rain there will be more of them. here’s a masterpiece that you will think about every day for the rest of your life.

[mootmuse]

Y'all. We've got to talk about that fucking gandalf big naturals joke.

If you're going to post a meme where the whole joke is just the image of a guy with tits, ha ha, look at this man, he's got tits, what more do I need to say about how hilarious that is, etc etc, at least tag it so people like me can block it. I get that none of y'all are thinking about what exactly it is you're laughing at, you don't mean it, but for a website full of people who never stop yelling at the top of their lungs about how trans inclusive they are, I'd think some of you guys could do a little better.

[nerdyfangirlingbooks]

I've had a stupid merlin au idea stuck in my head for days now and I know I'll never get around to writing it the way I want it written but I kinda wanna try anyway even though I am 100% of the target audience