themaskedsongbird - Tumblr blog

[themaskedsongbird]

I genuinely worry for the day I choose to take on the role of becoming a parent, and how I'll need to help my future child or children navigate the world as the thing that it has become, because honestly I don't know how or even if I would have been able to make it as far as I have if the world in which I spent my childhood looked the way it does today.

"My childhood was so awesome. Kids today don't even know!"

Isn't a flex.

It's a lament.

More people should understand that.

[themaskedsongbird]

Sounds like something halfway to a Kafka novel.

You’ve been arrested for a horrendous crime and your only ticket to avoid life in prison is to become an undercover cop. The main thing is, you have no idea what crime you committed, and they’re not telling you.

[themaskedsongbird]

“listen to me. listen to me. i am a bard. my entire trade has to do with words. you, through your sheer and utter idiocy, have just rendered me speechless. do you understand how much of an accomplishment that is???” 

— the bard to an unfortunate npc, who was [in the bard’s defence] admittedly being quite stupid

[themaskedsongbird]

I initially misread this as Martin Sheen and was very confused, lol

This man never ceases to amaze me or amuse me

[themaskedsongbird]

I feel this so much (well, maybe not so much the makeouts, but yeah). I think I find that I'm more likely to see new reviews on fanfiction.net than I am on AO3 though when I compare the performance of both uploaded versions of the same story. I don't know if it's because of the genre, the content rating, or the chosen source material for the fic that accounts for this difference, but it's something I've noticed.

getting comments on ao3 makes me go so power hungry like. oh yeah you read the thing?? you read the WHOLE thing and even took time out of your day to give your WRITTEN INPUT on it???? make out with me.

[themaskedsongbird]

You, a fool, when characters state different or contradictory things about backstory events or how the world works: This is a plot hole!

Me, wise, enlightened: Not so, neophyte. Have you considered all the exhaustive possibilities in which one of these characters simply has no idea what they are talking about, or better yet, is a fucking liar?

[themaskedsongbird]

Currently writing a fanfic novelizing the original Metal Gear, and it just occurred to me that all the research I'm doing to keep the weapons, tactics, and setting consistent and at least sort of realistic (well, realistic for Metal Gear, anyway) might have put me on an NSA watchlist somewhere for all the times I've googled questions like, "what's the caliber, original date of manufacture, and maximum range of x weapon?" or "how might a guerilla fighter combat y vehicle type without getting killed?" or "how big is this type of explosive and how is it triggered?" All of these questions being right alongside more benign stuff like "common South African boy/girl names," "CIA activities of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s," "geopolitics of the 1990s," "mercenary groups active in 20th century Africa", and "map of the Czech Republic/Iran/Wisconsin/Great Lakes/insert placename here."

It kind of makes me wonder how many authors and screenwriters have asked sus questions on the internet for research purposes and how many of them might be on government watch lists for it? Lol

[themaskedsongbird]

Was always really fond of this idea. The goal isn’t to be perfect, but to just be a better person than you were yesterday.

oh I didn't realize you used to be a huge piece of shit

now this may surprise some of the audience, but the majority of humans have to survive a phase called “being a teenager” and the results are often catastrophic

[themaskedsongbird]

D&D Shenanigans

I once played a D&D oneshot at my local gaming store where we had an aging dragon questgiver who was stuck in a small space who wanted us to fight a big-ass monster (I can't remember if it was a sea monster or something from another realm of existence or something, this game was like a year or so ago).

My character's response? Use charisma to convince the dragon into letting me polymorph it into something small that we could carry it out of its hiding place (I want to say I was playing a druid) in my bag of holding and undo the enchantment when we got outside to start the encounter, essentially telling the dragon, "you want the big guy dead so bad, why not do it yourself?" The DM was baffled by the batshit idea, but kind of impressed by it too, so he let me roll for it, with disadvantage.

One Nat-20 later, we were engaging in a skirmish with the boss monster's underlings attacking the village while a kaiju battle raged in the background. I don't remember if we finished it before the store closed up shop, but it made for an awesome game.

[themaskedsongbird]

I like this line of thought, because it also implies that this mindset kind of works with regard to the less friendly parts of the world as well.

I think knowing the world around you not only makes the world friendlier overall like you said, but also hones your survival instincts so you have a better idea of what you really should be afraid of, while either befriending or disregarding the things that aren’t so scary. 

Fear of the unknown is so potent precisely because it’s so paralyzing. The darkness renders you blind so that you can’t navigate, and you don’t see the real threats until you’ve almost stumbled into it. When the only fact you know is that you don’t know what’s ahead of you, it can make you too afraid to move at all.

But when you shine a light on the things in the dark, you know who and what your real enemies are. And a thing that is known is a thing that can be defeated or avoided.

One thing about researching world around you is that it becomes a bit friendlier once you know it better. If you see a random spider- you get scared. You see plants and consider them just weeds. You look at night sky and see a bunch of stars.

And then, you learn names.

Now, it is an orbweaver, and you consider them a friend. The greenery around is a laurel, or an alium, or osmanthus, and you know which of them to keep away from, and which of them are great herbs for tea. Now, you look up and see a whole parade of Venus, Ursa Major, or Orion. You now know their names, and, if you respect them- they become allies of yours.

[themaskedsongbird]

Oh wow, I kind of forgot this blog existed; thought for sure I'd deleted it years ago. Well, tumblr has become a way more chill place over the years, so now might be a good time to come back and post something stupid, lol

[themaskedsongbird]

2008 was a better time…

[themaskedsongbird]

Yay, I finally got a job!!!

[themaskedsongbird]

RE: My wordpress

I’m currently putting up my backlog of stories. For those of you interested in it: if you find that you like it and want to see more, could you do me a favor and help make me less invisible by telling your friends and associates about it?

[themaskedsongbird]

So I’ve got a wordpress blog now...

I’m posting all my short stories, poetry, and other stuff there now. If there’s anyone following this blog who might find that interesting, go here: worldofsongbird.wordpress.com

[themaskedsongbird]

Idea for a song’s lyrics

I walk on up the street

Looking out for a new life

I watch the sunset

O’er the crashing waves

The sea air fills my lungs

Clouds painting streaks of white

The horizon stretches out

Welcoming the end of the day

And I look out and wonder

At the sunlight,

Asking myself,

“How far does it reach?”

Staring out into

The eyes of the world,

Standing on the bluffs

Forever and a day

I stand in the night

The waves up to my thighs,

My glasses off,

Seeing the void that Lyra gave

The whole world before me

Disappeared into darkness

No sight, just the sound

Of thundering, crashing waves

And I look in the dark, and

I wonder to myself,

“How far does that

Moonless void reach?”

Standing out staring into

The end of the world,

Standing ‘midst the waves

Forever and a day.

Lyra’s waves, she cradles

My body to its rest

She welcomes me 

With tender, loving arms

I close my eyes, 

Leaving my old Story

Ready to see my new life

At the whims of Lyra’s charms

And I close my eyes

As I descend deep

And I wonder, “How far

Does Lyra’s depths reach?”

Looking for a new life at

The end of the world,

Down beneath the waves

Forever and a day.

[themaskedsongbird]

I don’t know what show or movie this is, but I kinda wanna watch it now? Like, I adore schmaltzy stuff...

casually tying ghost’s hair into  ponytail and feeding them snacks.