A book in a sea of volumes

[shinigaminoballad]

I have no idea what to do with this fic or art-wise, but I was rewatching The Two Towers the other night, and this scene,

reminded me a lot of a certain, pink, Magical Girl.

Like I said, I have no idea what to do with this connection or how I’d go about writing any crossover that involved them, but..I..kind of want to see Aragorn and Madoka fighting or motivating people together. Hell, just the two of them in some sort of family relationship would be interesting.

[johntgonzales-deactivated202101]

I need a Serial Experiments Lain/Twin Peaks crossover

[shinigaminoballad]

I have no idea how Coop would get involved with the ‘net, but I’d love to see him dealing with the mess that is Lain’s life and trying to make it better (Anyone else interested in seeing Coop as a better father figure to Lain?)

[shinigaminoballad]

hello. hum, no rudeness intended or anything, but i read your post about ayano and i can't help thinking that you missed out on a lot of information about her. or maybe you just don't remember (i mean, it's been years since the anime and her song were released). i don't know how deep your involvement with this fanchise is, but it feels like all you know about her comes from her song. that isn't bad per se but it's not enough to interpret her actions.

Hey! Don’t worry, I don’t think you’re being rude. ^^ And I admit, I’m not fully up-to-date on the manga (which is the only form of this series that I can stand, other than the music videos, since what I’ve seen and heard of the anime was shite and the light novels are just atrocious-I couldn’t even make it through the first one), but I’ve had friends who were way deeper into both things than I ever was, and I do try to keep as up-to-date on things as I can with TVTropes, so I don’t think I’m completely talking out of my rear here. All throughout the years, that’s been my feelings and impressions of Ayano.But it’s fine if you disagree with me! ^^ There’s nothing wrong with having alternate views on the character, and I know my viewpoints are probably pretty unpopular in the fandom anyway. ^^;

[shinigaminoballad]

I keep getting the feeling that I’m one of the few people who doesn’t like Ayano with every little fiber of my heart and being. Don’t get me wrong! She’s an interesting and likeable character, but..she’s also deeply flawed, which I think most of the fandom either ignores or chooses to gloss over. It’s obvious that she loves her family and her friends dearly, and she’d do anything to help or protect them. But she’s also clearly depressed, and her plot to help everyone blew up in her face-which anyone could see that it would if they’d just taken five minutes to calm down and think about it. Heck, even talking to people might have convinced Ayano not to go through with this. But Ayano didn’t calm down and think or talk to anyone. And the two big songs that revolve around her and her suicide-Transparent Answer and Ayano’s Theory of Happiness-make me think that, while Ayano might tell herself and others that she died to save people, she might have really died because of her depression and a possible martyr complex that’s bigger than anyone knows, including herself. This is what I mean when I say that Ayano’s an interesting and likeable character. She’s not a horrible villain who intentionally wanted to fuck things over, like Kuroha, so it’s easy to like her, especially because of the meaning she holds in the other characters lives, but..she is flawed. Which makes her interesting. You rarely get to see a character that’s well-liked by most of the cast and fans, but still broken and flawed underneath the surface. It just means I don’t like her as much as other people, or feel that sad at her death. The other characters reactions to it get to me more than the fact that she chose to kill herself alone. 

[shinigaminoballad]

Hey, if there’s anyone in the tiny part of the Kingdom Hearts fandom that still produces fan content and isn’t into BBS or DDD and all the shit that comes with everything after KH II, please, please let me know. I thought I was out of this fandom, but..I’m getting nostalgic for it right now for some reason. ><;;

[theexoticvet-deactivated2022070]

Several weeks ago a pet skunk came in to see me because it just wasn’t acting right. The skunk had been purchased from a breeder and had lived with the owner for five years. Although normally an indoor pet the owner had built an enclosed area in the back yard so that the skunk could be safely outdoors. When the owner first purchased the skunk it had gotten a rabies vaccine and a clean bill of health from a veterinarian but had not been in to see a vet since then.

I walked into the room and saw the owner with several blood soaked paper towels wrapped around his hand. The skunk was in a carrier on the table growling and biting at the bars. I asked him if he was ok and he said yes, the bite was very minor and it happened all the time. Slowly I approached the carrier and the skunk began screaming and biting the sides of the cage.

“Has anyone else been bitten?” I asked.

“Oh, probably my whole family. He’s never been very nice.”

Slowly I bent down to look into the carrier again and the skunk rammed the front snarling and snapping. I felt drops of saliva hitting me in the face. Gently I explained to the owner that I was extremely concerned this skunk was rabid and his entire family and anyone else that had been in contact with the skunk needed to get to a hospital immediately and get rabies post-exposure treatment. The owner was understandably upset and asked me to please look at the skunk close. Politely I refused and told him there was no way I was going to open that carrier nor expose my staff to a possibly rabid animal. After several more minutes of discussion he agreed to allow me to euthanize the skunk and have it tested for rabies but he wasn’t going to go to the hospital.

“What could happen if it is rabies?” the owner asked.

Very sternly I told him, “You’ll die. There is absolutely no treatment for rabies and the only possible outcome is death. You will die. Your family will die. Anyone who has been bitten or exposed to the saliva will die.”

“Is it expensive?”

“If you have insurance it should cover it. If you don’t, yes it can be expensive. But this is literally a matter of life or death. I understand being concerned about medical bills but the alternative is death.”

The owner said he would think about it. I sent the head off for testing and didn’t think anything more about it.

A few days later I got a phone call from the health department telling me that the skunk was positive for rabies. The phone numbers and information the client had given me, which I included on the submission form to the lab, were wrong and the department could not get in touch with the family to tell them they absolutely needed to get to the hospital. I got a little sick to my stomach thinking about the saliva that had gotten on my face and likely into my eyes as well. Luckily I had already had the pre-exposure vaccinations so would just need to get two booster vaccines and would be fine. If the family did not get medical help soon they would die of rabies. I gave the health department all of the information we had on the clients.

A few days later I got word that a man had gone to the hospital saying he had been exposed to a friend’s skunk that was diagnosed with rabies. Luckily that man was able to give the correct information to the hospital and the health department was able to get in touch with the family and they came in and were all treated for rabies exposure. I don’t think they ever really realized how close they came to dying.

There are a few lessons to take home here:

Skunks don’t make good pets. Leave them in the wild where they belong.

Rabies is not an old timey disease that people used to die from. It’s still here and vaccinating against it is still very important.

Give the proper information when you go to the vet! These people probably gave false information because owning a skunk is illegal where they live but vets aren’t interested in turning people in. We desperately needed to contact them to save their lives.

Finally, rabies is nothing to mess with. There is no treatment; there is nothing that can be done when symptoms begin. It is far better to pay for vaccines than it is a funeral.

[zooophagous]

Jfc

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

This is a good example of how scary rabies can be. And I’ll always generalize this to - do not fuck with wildlife. If it’s behaving strangely enough to let you near it, you do not want to risk exposure to what it could be sick with. 

[irisbleufic]

Fandoms don’t die when their source material ends.  Far from it.  A fandom is what you make of it, and most fandoms don’t fully come into their own until long, long after their source canon has first been published, or released in theaters—or stops airing on television.  If my years in fandom have taught me anything, it’s that you need to build the fandom you want.  Keep on creating.  Keep on connecting.  That’s what fandom always has been.  The fandom you love dies if you stop.  The source of official content might stop, and sometimes it’s just time for that to happen.  Pick up where it leaves off.  Find new ways of parsing, reshaping, and transforming what already exists.  Feel what you need to feel, but don’t stop if letting go isn’t what you want.  Among many other things, I’m devoted to a single novel that was published 28 years ago.  We occasionally get, say, a radio or television adaptation, but those several hundred precious pages are all the canon we have. The rest of what fills a fandom that has lasted nearly 30 years, glorious and constant and endlessly surprising? Is us.

[mei-k-deactivated20190919]

I have this tablet that I have not used much so I’d like to give it away.

Please reblog to enter this giveaway.

It ends on July the 31st.

You don’t have to be following me.

I’ll be shipping internationally.

[radioactivepeasant]

Well out of the blue I just remembered today the time I accidentally joined the cast of a production of The Princess Bride….in the middle of the production.

[lafemmedefandom-blog]

And you’re gonna just leave us there

[radioactivepeasant]

I mean, if you guys wanna hear the story, it is a pretty fun one

[lafemmedefandom-blog]

[radioactivepeasant]

Okay, so this is what happened,

Some years ago (6? 7 years ago, I think?) there was a pirate exhibit at the state museum. We had actual artifacts from the Queen Anne’s Revenge, creepy wax dummies, historical costumes etc, it was awesome.

I was really into Pirates of the Caribbean at the time, because I played the mmorpg with some high school friends of mine (and some of their parents sometimes, who also got addicted to it), so of course when they announced “Pirate Night at the Museum”, in which visitors were encouraged to dress up, I was over the moon. So I’m there with my friends, my parents, and my sisters, running around the exhibits after the museum is technically closed.

They replaced the creepy wax dummies with people in costume at this point, and it was pretty epic.

The highlight of the night would be a showing of The Princess Bride. The movie would play on the big screen while actors would be on a stage below, acting the whole thing out word for word and shot for shot as it happened. Any audience members who knew lines were encouraged to shout them out as they heard them.

Here’s the thing. My parents love that movie. Like you don’t understand they were quoting it to us in its entirety when we were still in highchairs. I could reenact the battle of wits scene before I ever actually watched it. So my family sits in the front row, behind the railing, quoting everything right along with the actors and film.

And then comes the part in the Pit of Despair with the Albino. And the cast didn’t have anyone on the stage with Wesley.  I don’t know if the Albino couldn’t make it that night, or if they’d never cast him, but it was really weird to see Wesley just lying on the stage awkwardly while the Albino is supposed to be treating his injuries.

I started twitching. My mom and sister look at me and they’re like “do it.” And one of the ushers is like “you know the part? do it”

So I launch over the railing, run up onto the stage, and take over from there, doing my best impression of the character. Being that I was a 5′2″ blonde girl in a corset and puffy sleeves, Wesley had some trouble keeping a straight face.

Then they got to the scene with Humperdink telling the guard to clear out the Thieves’ Forest, and…they didn’t have the guard either. So my twin sister up in the audience is like “hang on, I got this” and then she launches over the railing to make sure Humperdink isn’t just sitting awkwardly talking to thin air.

This meant that yes, I got bopped on the noggin by Fezzik, and yes, my sister got to do the “Give us the key.” “What key?” “Fezzik, tear his arms off.” “Oh, you mean this key!” 

They made up stay on stage and take a bow with the cast when it was over, it was hilarious. Then the next year, since they still had the exhibit, the museum called my sister and was like, “So….that was super fun last year. Do you and your sister want to be audience plants and do it again this year?”

The answer, naturally, was heck yes. Since we had new volunteers playing Count Rugen and Inigo this time, this also led to my sister actually choreographing their fight scene herself. Which was awesome.

[esser-z]

My favorite part is that this is entirely in tone  for Princess Bride.  

[beeftea78-deactivated20200113]

why DO teenage girls go through a witch/occult phase? I had tarot cards and a spellbook and I knew a group of girls who messed with ouija boards and another who had ghost hunting equipment. “oh yeah Cindy’s just going through that girly phase where she tries to raise the dead.”

[shinigaminoballad]

I obviously can’t speak for all girls, but I think part of it (at least on the witch side of things) stems from how teenage girls are viewed and treated in society. Society kind of looks down on teenage girls and does it’s damndest to paint the things they love as ‘shallow’ or ‘complete drivel’.

It paints this image, this sexist stereotype that all teenage girls speak in a high-pitched, annoying voice, without any substance to what they’re saying (and yes, I am calling this stereotype sexist. I can think of a few men in media who fit this mold, but they’re few and far between, and given how many male characters there are to women characters anyway, they stick out far, far less.). This society would like you to believe that teenage girls are too stupid to think about things that are outside their stereotype, or that they can’t do things outside of it.

And I think most teenage girls understand what society and media is doing and saying about them. Maybe not on a conscious level, but I think we understand just how little power or even respect this patriarchal society gives us at that age. So, we try to rebel. We try to carve out power for ourselves without any men in it, without society breathing down our necks, and what’s the first thing you think of when you wonder about a women who’s outside of and hated by a male-dominated society, and yet, still has mystical, unknown powers that could lay them all to waste? Powers that only exist in your wildest daydreams?

A witch! So I think that’s partially why teenage girls go through a witch phase. Plus, the imagery and aesthetic is just cool, so that’s a big plus.

As for the ghost side of things..I honestly have no idea? Maybe it’s another way to grab power by being able to communicate with spirits that no one else can? As a kid who was interested in ghosts, it was a way for me to try to get a hold of my fears. You fear something far less if you better understand it, and I was terrified of ghosts when I was a kid, so I think i started reading about them to better calm my nerves with knowledge. And, over time, that’s where my true interest came from. But that’s just me. I have no idea what the reasons might be for other people.

[nyxelestia]

You can tell someone's fandom age by how aggressively they save fanfic

2014-present: lol why bother?

2007-2014: I know I should, but the likelihood of losing it isn’t that great, so I’m not too worried about it…

2007+: omfg save EVERYTHING! YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE FIC OR THE USER OR THE ENTIRE GODDAMN WEBSITE WILL VANISH AND YOU LOSE YOUR FAVORITE FIC F O R E V E R !!!

[shinigaminoballad]

As an old fandom person, I feel the last category in my bones. Maybe too much, but it’s hard not to when I’ve literally seen fansites and forums come and go like the chilly, brief wind of autumn, and when 100 chapter fics I loved and adored can no longer be found. Only talked about by those who managed to glimpse and/or save them.

...At least it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who feels like that, judging by the comments in the notes. ^^;

[nabdea]

Hey Ive never seen xfiles or anything but is it actually aliens? Is that guy right?? Are they actually investigating aliens and stuff or is he just fuckin wild. Whats going on

[shinigaminoballad]

Congratulations, for it is both! It is actually aliens (except when it starts to be not aliens during the later seasons, though that just reeks of pure bullshit to me, quite honestly), and Mulder is fucking wild.

You absolutely should watch it though! It’s a good show, and if nothing else, watching Mulder’s wild and horrible antics (the guy really has no social skills with people who aren’t just as nutty as he is) will give you life. He and Scully have great chemistry together, and she’s good at calling him out on his bullshit when he goes overboard. (There is also a reason lesbians fan themselves whenever Scully’s around. I’ll just leave it at that.)

And if you ever get to him, Skinner’s great. He’s an idiot sometimes (you never make a deal with Cancer Man), but he tries. He genuinely cares about the people around him, despite his cold, hard-ass exterior and his cowardice.

[nabdea]

This whole response is equally wild but I feel Ive gained knowledge. Never make a deal with Cancer Man

[shinigaminoballad]

I don’t think I’ve been that wild, but you’re welcome! I’m just happy to share X-Files info and thoughts whenever I can.

And I know it sounds bizarre if you don’t know anything about the show, but it’s true: Never make a deal with Cancer Man.

[shinigaminoballad]

When I was a kid, I really loved drawing, and when I became a teen I still liked it and got a bit better at it, but because I kept comparing my slow progress with all the pieces my friends were putting out and was thrown onto the Depression Train, I just..stopped doing it, claiming that it was stupid to put all my energy into two things (art and writing) when I was only ever going to be good at writing. Plus, I no longer had an image in my mind as to what I wanted to draw. All my drawing inspiration just left me.

Now that I’m older and a bit better, I see my bullshit arguments for the bullshit they are, but my inspiration still hasn’t returned. I pick up a pencil, but nothing comes to mind. So, what I really wanted to ask, for those of you who’ve gone through something similar like this, how do you get your inspiration back? How do you get back to that point where there’s some image or idea in your head that you just have to draw, no matter what?

[nabdea]

Hey Ive never seen xfiles or anything but is it actually aliens? Is that guy right?? Are they actually investigating aliens and stuff or is he just fuckin wild. Whats going on

[shinigaminoballad]

Congratulations, for it is both! It is actually aliens (except when it starts to be not aliens during the later seasons, though that just reeks of pure bullshit to me, quite honestly), and Mulder is fucking wild.

You absolutely should watch it though! It’s a good show, and if nothing else, watching Mulder’s wild and horrible antics (the guy really has no social skills with people who aren’t just as nutty as he is) will give you life. He and Scully have great chemistry together, and she’s good at calling him out on his bullshit when he goes overboard. (There is also a reason lesbians fan themselves whenever Scully’s around. I’ll just leave it at that.)

And if you ever get to him, Skinner’s great. He’s an idiot sometimes (you never make a deal with Cancer Man), but he tries. He genuinely cares about the people around him, despite his cold, hard-ass exterior and his cowardice.

[shinigaminoballad]

AU Idea of The Day: Mob Psycho 100 and Fruits Basket. (100 Fruits?) I have no idea what the plot of this crossover would be, but I mostly want it just to see Hana-chan and Mob interact and bounce off one another, for better or worse. Mob could always use more friends, and who better than Hana, Uo and Tohru? (Especially Tohru, the goddamn sweetheart.) Plus, Ritsu meeting Tohru might give him a chance to work on his issues. Or maybe him meeting Yuki and the ridiculous creature that is Ayame would. I’d really love to see that now, too. Also, Tohru absolutely would believe in psychic powers, given everything she’s dealt with, which means that not only would she genuinely try to befriend and get along with Reigen, she absolutely wouldn’t be able to see that he was a con man. And everyone else might not point it out because they’re worried about how Mob might react, because it’s obvious that he’s emotionally supporting this kid, even if he is a con man. And everyone in the Sohma family has to make sure that Mezato doesn’t find out about their secret, even if she suspects that something’s up there.

[shinigaminoballad]

Okay, I know this idea is completely made of crack, and I have no mental energy to actually execute on it (also because I’m working on another cracky thing for a friend right now), but please give me good Undertale and Trigun crossovers.

Not for the obvious reasons-not for the fact that Frisk and Papyrus would like Vash, not for the fact that Wolfwood and Sans would become pun bros-no.

I want someone to grab Legato, Mr. Telepath and Telekenetic Who Hates All Humans, Including Himself, with his obvious allegiance to Knives and toss him in front of Papyrus. Who is a superior being. That’s also convinced that not only are Monsters awesome, but Humans are as well! And that includes Legato!

Please give me Papyrus trying to give Legato awesomeness or self-esteem lessons while Legato doesn’t know what the fuck to do.

[shinigaminoballad]

Pokemon Trainer Concept:

A girl who lives in Mahogany Town and actually gets on with all the Gyarados living in the Lake of Rage. She herself is the sweetest girl you’d ever meet, and somehow, that sweetness has managed to melt the heart of a thousand, pissed-off evolved Magikarp.

While everyone likes her, most people are low-key terrified of her because..people who can command legions of Gyarados just because they’re friends with them are nothing to sneeze at. When she goes out into the world, her entire team is made up of Gyarados, some from home, some not, but all willing to defend their sweetheart of a Trainer who never seemed scared of them and never gave up on them.

Bonus: the sight of her petting and scritching her Gyarados like they’re cats is a sight to behold.