there’s something special about closing night of a community theatre/school/college play.
a group of people from a wide variety of walks of life - as few as a half-dozen or as many as a hundred - spend months perfecting something solely to bring joy to themselves and others. and they pour their hearts and souls into it night after night for audiences. each performance is unique. special.
and then it’s over, more quickly and abruptly than seems possible, or right.
that last show?
it’s the very last time that a given group will perform a show. never again will these actors embody the characters. oftentimes, video recordings don’t exist.
and yet, somehow, the actors still get on stage and smile and entertain with jubilance and joy.
it’s an ending. it’s sad (i’ve seen the tears backstage, shed a few myself).
but it’s also a culmination, a celebration of accomplishments and of things learned and of skill and talent and of community and friendship.
so much ends after withering, shriveling up. but such a play ends at its peak, before it has time to grow old or dull or uninteresting.
so many lasts in life are uncertain, messy, sad.
there’s something special about a last that’s definitive, clean, even happy.
This is the aspect of theatre I’ve struggled with the most so far.
You get used to that group— and they’re gone.
My brain knows that there’s a very good chance I’ll work with most of them again: but it’s still such a bittersweet thing. I think I’m getting used to it. But damn.
Also… our last show of Robin Hood, zero fucks were given. Brave Beverly played it drunk drunk, Friar Tuck replaced his prayer with a Gregoria chant, they scared one actor with a stuffed animal he hates hidden on a table, we collectively decided that when Robin is trying to enter the tournament, all script went out the window and just, chaos. 😍
This is the aspect
of theatre I’ve struggled
with the most so far.
Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.
whenever i see a noir detective in the rain i’m like yeah man… that’s exactly where you’re supposed to be
Noir detectives are actually meant to be stressed, it’s their natural state. A Noir detective with nothing to be stressed about, will quickly revert to a more highly stressed state than normal.
Noir detectives require stress to be healthy, that’s why it’s a good idea to make sure that an Inside Detective has access to regular difficult and alarming cases to solve and also a shower they can stand in (fully clothed or not) to agonize, since they can’t go out in the rain. Don’t be alarmed if they bang their little fists on the tile and howl, that’s a normal part of the display. If they sit on the floor and cry, though, they may be overstimulated and need some hard alcohol and a nap to help them settle down.
It can be difficult, but if you have a friend with a Femme Fatale, arranging a (supervised) playdate can be enriching to both of them.
it’s important to allow your Noir Detective to bundle your Femme Fatale into an airplane at night at least once a year, as it provides them both with a rare excuse to let themselves openly cry for emotional catharsis and clear out vestigial tear ducts, which are dangerous to clean at home. in particularly difficult cases where neither has cried for years, artificial rain may be required to provide some cover (and will also provide a humidity boost, an underlooked but important part of trenchcoat health). Be sure to provide your Noir Detective with additional replacement trenchcoats after airplane enrichment, as the Femme Fatale will probably steal his to line her nest.
the man who owns and runs the thai restaurant in my town knows me by name. he is one of the kindest and most thoughtful men i know. i started ordering from his place back in january, which was when i got my fibromyalgia diagnosis. back then i was using a walker, had limited mobility in my entire body but especially my hands, and was very visibly in pain. i always ordered the same thing: yellow curry with no meat, potatoes and carrots only (i have texture and other dietary issues). he always made it a point to make sure i could get out the door and carry the food safely. he had his workers package the food so that it was easier for me to open. as i kept coming back and i told him a little bit about my health status, he would always encourage me to keep going. he told me about how the spices he used were good for inflammation and began to edit the recipe just for me so that spices that were even better for fighting inflammation were used. he’d give me extra portions and despite the fact that i would tip every time, i realized later that he never charged my card for them. as time went on and my condition began to get better, he would make encouraging remarks and tell me how happy he was for me. the day i came in without my walker, he practically jumped for joy, and despite my insistence, he gave me my meal for free that day. i continue to make progress with my conditions and i continue to go to the thai place. this man who does not know me personally and who i hardly know anything about is one of my favorite people. it’s interactions with humans like these that make loving life easier. and his curry really does help my chronic condition. it’s comfort food taken to the next level.
You deserve love now. Not once you lose weight. Not once you accomplish that thing. Not once you move. Not once you get on medication. Not once you start therapy. Not once you get that job. Not once you’re more like them. Now. You don’t have to earn the right to be loved. You deserve it right now, and always have.
You deserve love now. Not once you lose weight. Not once you accomplish that thing. Not once you move. Not once you get on medication. Not once you start therapy. Not once you get that job. Not once you’re more like them. Now. You don’t have to earn the right to be loved. You deserve it right now, and always have.
You deserve love now. Not once you lose weight. Not once you accomplish that thing. Not once you move. Not once you get on medication. Not once you start therapy. Not once you get that job. Not once you’re more like them. Now. You don’t have to earn the right to be loved. You deserve it right now, and always have.
[IMAGE ID: blinking guy meme - a photo of the guy with eyes open in the top panel next to the text ‘I’m writing a standalone novel!’, the guy with his eyes closed next to a blank panel, and finally the guy with eyes open and the text 'I’m writing a trilogy’ /END ID]
Hey! Are there blacksmiths in your story? I’m a hobbyist blacksmith and I’m here to help!
Blacksmithing is one of those things that a lot of people get wrong because they don’t realize it stuck around past the advent of the assembly line. Here’s a list of some common misconceptions I see and what to do instead!
Not all blacksmiths are gigantic terrifying muscly guys with beards and deep voices. I am 5'8, skinny as a twig, have the muscle mass of wet bread, and exist on Tumblr. Anybody who is strong enough to pick up a hammer and understands fire safety can be a blacksmith.
You can make more than just swords with blacksmithing. Though swords are undeniably practical, they’re not the only things that can be made. I’ve made candle holders, wall hooks, kebab skewers, fire pokers, and more. Look up things other people have made, it’s really amazing what can be done.
“Red-hot” is actually not that hot by blacksmith terms. when heated up, the metal goes from black, to red, to orange, to yellow, to white. (for temperature reference, I got a second degree burn from picking up a piece of metal on black heat) The ideal color to work with the metal is yellow. White is not ideal at all, because the metal starts sparking and gets all weird and lumpy when it cools. (At no point in this process does the metal get even close to melting. It gets soft enough to work with, but I have never once seen metal become a liquid.)
Blacksmithing takes fucking forever. Not even taking into account starting the forge, selecting and preparing metal, etc. etc. it takes me around an hour to make one (1) fancy skewer. The metals blacksmiths work with heat up and cool down incredibly fast. When the forge is going good, it only takes like 20 seconds to get your metal hot enough to work with, but it takes about the same time for it to cool down, sometimes even less.
As long as you are careful, it is actually stupidly easy to not get hurt while blacksmithing. When I picked up this hobby I was like “okay, cool! I’m gonna make stuff, and I’m gonna end up in the hospital at some point!” Thus far, the latter has yet to occur. I’ve been doing this for nearly a year. I have earned myself a new scar from the aforementioned second degree burn, and one singe mark on my jeans. I don’t even wear gloves half the time. Literally just eye protection, common sense, and fast reflexes and you’ll probably be fine. (Accidents still happen of course, but I have found adequate safety weirdly easy to achieve with this hobby)
A forge is not a fire. The forge is the thing blacksmiths put their metal in to heat it up. It starts as a small fire, usually with newspaper or something else that’s relatively small and burns easily, which we then put in the forge itself, which is sort of a fireplace-esque thing (there’s a lot of different types of forge, look into it and try to figure out what sort of forge would make the most sense for the context you’re writing about) and we cover it with coal, which then catches fire and heats up. The forge gets really hot, and sometimes really bright. Sometimes when I stare at the forge for too long it’s like staring into the sun. The forge is also not a waterfall of lava, Steven Universe. It doesn’t work like that, Steven Universe.
Welding and blacksmithing are not the same thing. They often go hand-in-hand, but you cannot connected two pieces of metal with traditional blacksmithing alone. There is something called forge welding, where you heat your metal, sprinkle borax (or the in-universe equivalent) on it to prevent the metal from oxidizing/being non-weldable, and hammer the pieces together very quickly. Forge welding also sends sparks flying everywhere, and if you’re working in a small space with other blacksmiths, you usually want to announce that you’re welding before you do, so that everyone in a five-foot radius can get out of that five-foot radius. You also cannot just stuck some random pebbles into the forge and get a decent piece of metal that you can actually make something with, Steven Universe. It doesn’t work like that, Steven Universe.
Anvils are really fucking heavy. Nothing else to add here.
Making jewelry is not a blacksmithing thing unless you want jewelry made of steel. And it will be very ugly if you try. Blacksmithing wasn’t invented to make small things.
If there’s anything here I didn’t mention, just ask and I’ll do my best to answer.
“RECENTLY THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF PEOPLE ONLINE CHALLENGING EACH OTHER TO CHEW THROUGH WATERMELON. IS THERE ANYONE WILLING TO CHALLENGE ME??” *smacks head three times with plate* “[UNINTELLIGIBLE]” *gross wet chomping noises*
the most powerful man in the world
Ya’ll if this man ever gets bitten by a zombie we’re all fucked
the [UNINTELLIGIBLE] is him boasting that the watermelon is 500 kg
hey! thank you for this addition; i suggested wix back in april before i was aware of this, but as of present day i do not suggest using wix for your personal sites.
Mythical creatures exist, but they all like to take the form of humans, they do it so well that most of their own species wouldn’t be able to tell. One day your wife sits you down and explains that she is a dragon…you begin to worry about your secret stash of gold in the attic.
i know they took these bird banding photos of house sparrows like this in order to show the difference between male and female but it just looks like someone’s using them as dolls for a bird marriage
typecast as the spawn of Satan due to my affinity for grains
Hey, you are not an embarrassment for not knowing how to do certain household chores/basic self-care. They do not come naturally to us. A lot of it takes practice! Maybe you had a neglectful guardian. Maybe you had one that was very coddling and never thought to teach you. Maybe you haven’t lived in a place where these things were available to you or needed. Doesn’t matter. It’s okay to not know and far more common than you might realise.
That said, this website provides very simple instructions on how to do everyday tasks such as making your bed, using a washing machine, cooking different foods, washing dishes, taking a shower, etc. All you have to do is use the search bar to find the task you’re struggling with, and it’ll come up with what you need + other related how-to’s:)
If you’re having trouble navigating it, let me provide you with some examples:
It’s also perfectly okay if these don’t help or aren’t appealing to you. Unfortunately, nothing helps everyone.
Also if the reason you don’t know is developmental , intelectual or learning disabilities making you struggle even if you’ve been taught a bunch of times , you are so cool and awesome too :^) [smiley face ]
people want doing the right thing to be like pulling the correct lever at the correct time but actually usually doing the right thing is more like holding a moderate weight at arm’s length continuously for seventeen years
every so often since like, March, this post will spike in popularity, and I’ll just suddenly know that a few thousand people somewhere are Going Through It for reasons I cannot know in any detail, like I’m some small node in our collective lymbic system that doesn’t actually know what to do with the signals it’s given. it’s interesting.
people want doing the right thing to be like pulling the correct lever at the correct time but actually usually doing the right thing is more like holding a moderate weight at arm’s length continuously for seventeen years
every so often since like, March, this post will spike in popularity, and I’ll just suddenly know that a few thousand people somewhere are Going Through It for reasons I cannot know in any detail, like I’m some small node in our collective lymbic system that doesn’t actually know what to do with the signals it’s given. it’s interesting.
hi hey please talk about this as much as you can constantly over time
so often i’ve seen big-ass Stupid Bullshit News about Stupid Bullshit become absolutely nothing after like 3 days. i’m so fucking tired of it because it means that nothing changes, since we’ve forgotten what we need to change.
now amazon is getting sued. awesome! this is the first time i’ve heard of it. the suit was filed presumably somewhere between a few hours and a day ago, so that’s understandable.
is this really, really going to be covered after, i dunno, three days? i honestly don’t reckon so. amazon has enough money and probably apathy to make this not as much of an important lawsuit as it should - and maybe could - be.
i would love to be reminded every day for weeks and then months that amazon is being sued for operating an illegal monopoly. i want to read every joke, hear every update, see every move that’s made until this shit is wrapped up. i don’t just want to operate on hope and, inversely, a lack of faith on this one.
i want my anger over the way things are run to be grounded in things happening right here and right now, instead of historical events that make you go “that sucks. can’t change the past! :)” and move on, because that changes nothing in the present or the future. please talk about amazon getting sued by the federal trade commission and 17 state attourneys-general for breaking antitrust laws by being an illegal monopoly.
hi hey please talk about this as much as you can constantly over time
so often i’ve seen big-ass Stupid Bullshit News about Stupid Bullshit become absolutely nothing after like 3 days. i’m so fucking tired of it because it means that nothing changes, since we’ve forgotten what we need to change.
now amazon is getting sued. awesome! this is the first time i’ve heard of it. the suit was filed presumably somewhere between a few hours and a day ago, so that’s understandable.
is this really, really going to be covered after, i dunno, three days? i honestly don’t reckon so. amazon has enough money and probably apathy to make this not as much of an important lawsuit as it should - and maybe could - be.
i would love to be reminded every day for weeks and then months that amazon is being sued for operating an illegal monopoly. i want to read every joke, hear every update, see every move that’s made until this shit is wrapped up. i don’t just want to operate on hope and, inversely, a lack of faith on this one.
i want my anger over the way things are run to be grounded in things happening right here and right now, instead of historical events that make you go “that sucks. can’t change the past! :)” and move on, because that changes nothing in the present or the future. please talk about amazon getting sued by the federal trade commission and 17 state attourneys-general for breaking antitrust laws by being an illegal monopoly.
guys i am fucking crying i got an old copy of pilgrims progress from a used booksale and i just opened it and there’s a handwritten dedication to a girl from her grandfather from christmas 1888 and she put a little fucking drawing in the back and im sitting on my bed losing my fucking mind over a hundred years ago a grandpa gave this book to “miss maggie” and she loved it and it’s lasted a century and im holding it right now
i showed the book to my mom when she came home from a trip and she reminded me that in little women (1868) each of the march sisters got a copy of pilgrim’s progress under their pillow for christmas there is a high, high, HIGH chance that this little girl was a huge fan of little women and talked to her grandfather about it and he got her a classic book just like her 1880s blorbos i am flailing on the ground humanity is so special
hi hey please talk about this as much as you can constantly over time
so often i’ve seen big-ass Stupid Bullshit News about Stupid Bullshit become absolutely nothing after like 3 days. i’m so fucking tired of it because it means that nothing changes, since we’ve forgotten what we need to change.
now amazon is getting sued. awesome! this is the first time i’ve heard of it. the suit was filed presumably somewhere between a few hours and a day ago, so that’s understandable.
is this really, really going to be covered after, i dunno, three days? i honestly don’t reckon so. amazon has enough money and probably apathy to make this not as much of an important lawsuit as it should - and maybe could - be.
i would love to be reminded every day for weeks and then months that amazon is being sued for operating an illegal monopoly. i want to read every joke, hear every update, see every move that’s made until this shit is wrapped up. i don’t just want to operate on hope and, inversely, a lack of faith on this one.
i want my anger over the way things are run to be grounded in things happening right here and right now, instead of historical events that make you go “that sucks. can’t change the past! :)” and move on, because that changes nothing in the present or the future. please talk about amazon getting sued by the federal trade commission and 17 state attourneys-general for breaking antitrust laws by being an illegal monopoly.
it’s very funny to grow up and become the age you used to think adults were so old and wise at and realize that their inner monologue was ABSOLUTELY “shit shit shit shit shit shit” the whole time
My mom was 23 when she had me.
If I’d done the same, I’d have a kid in school right now, with a personality and everything, and because I don’t, I have ice cream for breakfast sometimes.
I remember once standing in our kitchen and asking how old she was, and she said she was twenty-six. She was getting her driver’s license, and had stuck some documents onto our fridge. I’m older than she had been then, now.
I have no idea what I’m doing. She had no idea what she was doing. There are kids right now who don’t know what they’re doing, but they think I do. So I guess I gotta fake it for them, right? Just like mom did
Im not a parent, but I know that so many issues with kids misbehaving could be solved by giving them a simple task to complete instead of just yelling “stop” until they cry
Over the summer I went to an art museum with my S/O and their son (age 10). The son wasn’t as engaged as we’d hoped, but also we probably should have known.
He whined about and my S/O said “we went to legoland for you, this is for us adults” which is fine, but that didn’t stop him from whining about.
Immediately jumping into teacher mode, I pulled out my notebook and a pen and I said “hey, every time we stop to look at a painting for a while, I want you to draw it.” He didn’t draw a single picture. I showed him how to do it, still didn’t draw a single picture…but he also stopped whining. He couldn’t complete the task, but his focus was taken away from “I don’t want to be here” and was transferred to “what does this image look like? how can i draw this”
It doesn’t always work, but it teaches kid to channel energy and focus instead of wondering what “stop” means. Because “stop” really means “do something else”.
for some reason your icon being a knife gave me the really strong impression you were telling me all this information at knifepoint
you need to be around freaks and weirdos who dress ugly and have weird kinks because the more you’re exposed to it the next time you see a conservative try to get you scared about ugly drag queens you’re not gonna think “oh my that is a scary drag queen she must be doing scary things” you’re instead gonna think “hey that looks like the people in my friend group. that’s a relatable down to earth person. what’s your fucking problem”
