soaringdragon0

There was a Tyra clip to preface this, but the OP deleted it since. Nothing like a pair of "typical" looking furries sharing their sex lives with a live studio audience, though they weren't zoophiles, thank goodness.

So society, y'all need to chill the hell out with furries.

All right, there's something in it to embarrass anyone: the delusions, the wish fulfillment, the escapism, the besital overtones, the drama, the lack of hygeine or physical beauty in its most remote form, the social awkwardness with its aspies and therians. The melting pot of all fetishes from amputation to zoophilia and everything in between. And yiffing. Gods, the yiffing. I'm sure that kind of a list could make Freud's head spin (and his heels click together, as they're purely motivated by sex, right?).

I once read somewhere that describing oneself as "furry" is extremely loaded, since shows like CSI have done a good job of demonizing the less childhood-friendly portions of the fandom (here's looking at you, Mickey Mouse). And the thing about the furry fandom is that there is no cohesive definition, no clear border between "this is not furry" and "this is furry," so those who like walking around wearing felt cat ears can be taken to mean they peg their dogs in their spare time -- every interpretation will stick.

The end result is that the label "furry" serves as a kind of "force multiplier" of statements, negatively so, owing to the exponential growth of what it encompasses ("cub" art, especially, which could cause Australia to lose access to some furry art sites with the upcoming firewall). People may display disgust at someone who loves fat people, but when that someone demands their mate (word choice intentional) put on a fursuit, HOLY SHIT. Suddenly, that someone has gone into the internet nerd's basement and curled up in a pile of that nerd's excrement.

I say enough. There are furries who truly deserve our societal scorn because what they espouse is not compatible with moral, legal, ethical, and even medical statutes (those same furries would probably argue against absolute concepts of good or evil (what is that philosophy called, again?) or try to rationalize their behavior.). Some are simply so intellectually or socially inept that our only recourse of action is to assassinate their character. But even still, we must face an unpleasant reality.

Making fun of furries has become too easy.

I think the TV shows have done enough. Drop the word "furry" around anyone who's dabbled in Internet subculture enough and they'll respond like you told them the world's funniest joke (except they won't die). I can't think of much else to come up about them that hasn't already been dredged to the surface to fry like Pearl from the first Blade movie. After you're done with the spoogified costumes and the arrogant attitudes and their strange fetish for diapers, what will you bring up next?

You don't have to worry about answering that question, as the end result of such a thread is invariably a feeling of "I am better than someone else," no matter what content was discussed, and even if the someone in question is a furry. And I think that is what I hate the most about snarking on furries, as I get vibes of complacency from anyone who does it.

I used to think Plato said something like, "Perfection is impossible, therefore, there is always room for improvement," but I can't find him saying anything like that. The point is, there are better things to do with one's time than going "Man, furries are icky." You'll always have people who'll respond to that kind of statement, and they're going to be as complacent with themselves as the OP. It's a feedback loop that goes nowhere.

As designated internet punching bags, furries will forever be daunted by their detractors. And I'm surprised more people aren't sick and tired of these cycles of exploitation. Come on, society, leave them to their own devices and move on unless they're trying to do your horse. Then call the cops.

Just a short bit inspired while waiting for the 5:30 ferry back to Bremerton. To think that just ten years ago, we didn't have mp3 players and BlackBerries.

( Untitled )

EDIT: I hope seannau is a troll. That user may have unleashed every dramallama, fangirl, butthurt unpublished YA author and snark on LJ with a single post to writer's block. Well played, my friend. I fell for it.

"Which currently active MLB baseball player do you sire?"

Several things.
1) MLB doesn't need "baseball" after it; it's there in the acronym.
2) If I sire an MLB baseball player now, he can't be "currently active" unless he falls out a vampire fetus.
3) Every player in the MLB is older than I am, anyway.
4) Wait... is this question assuming I'm a vampire too and asking me to bite an MLB player? NOW I GET IT.

Peace, too wtfed/roflcoptering to answer this question earnestly.

P.S.: The fuck kind of term is "sire" there, anyway -- vampires reproduce by sucking necks, no need to hide that, and it's also male-biased.

Cross-posting from DA~~~~

Who wants a cookie?

*insert omg yay plz here*

*ahem* All right, in all seriousness. Does your writing style contain any facets you can't stand but keep resurfacing anyway, time and time again? Do some constructions become the bane of your existence as they block you from writing because their existence on the page is that implacable?

One of my banes, for instance, is the way I begin sentences. Permutations of "It is" or "There are" are driving me close to the point of tears for the following reasons.

One: They shift the action of the sentence into a statement of being. The sentence then loses energy and becomes static. Even if that sentence contains a dynamic change, its two senses war with each other and annihilate whatever beauty it might have had.

Two: Most of the time, they lack antecedents -- look at the definition of a pronoun: it's meant to replace a noun previously specified. College writing classes have awakened my grammar Nazi and now he won't let me write a first draft ;_;

Three: 9 out of 10 sentences that cross my mind begin with those words. It -- at-tta! right there! -- I want variety in my writing, but consciously wishing for variety only contrives it even more. Is it better (oh no, that's no good (and look at that! This shit's recursive)) for me to accept my simple, declarative style and get it over with or can I find a way to work something else out?

I also have a tendency to insert additional words: Look out for "seems", "just", "basically", and other words of their ilk. To me (and feel free to differ), short sentences are powerful -- though I love using dashes -- Five-line, six-line monsters are fine every now and then but they become tiresome to read after a few pages; people get to fretting in their seats and wonder, "Does this sentence have an end?" but not even the punctuation within the quotation marks can alleviate their anxiety, that being a technicality of the vulgar language.

All right. Long sentences can be fun. Just make sure they're in character. Too bad Haraan doesn't seem the type to indulge in them.

I definitely need to step out and try different approaches to writing -- different characters, different POVs, different tenses. Grinding along with one single voice can get irritating and I wonder when I'll learn to try new things?

The idea is to answer this as best as you can, so that the more points you get, the better you know me! All right, let's see how careful I've been with my info since 19xx.

(1 Points) What's my first name:
(1 Point) My last name:
(5 Points) Take a stab at my middle name:
(2 Points) Where do I live:
(2 Points) What color are my eyes:
(3 Points) Who am I in love with:
(2 Points) Where did we meet:
(3 Points) What am I afraid of:
(4 Points) Describe my taste in the opposite and/or same sex:
(2 Points) Do I smoke:
(3 Points) Do I drink/What do I drink:
(2 Points, +1 point for each name) How many siblings do I have:
(2 Points, +1 point for each name) How many pets do I have:
(4 Points) What's one of my favorite things to do:
(3 Points) Who is/are my favorite person/people:
(3 Points) What's my favorite type of music:
(3 Points) What do I eat on pizza:
(3 Points) Name something I hate:
(3 Points) Name someone I hate:
(5 Points) What are my parents' names:
(4 Points) Name a talent I have:
(5 Points) What are my vices:
(5 Points on creativeness) If I were stranded on a desert island, what would I bring:

As ripped from Mera, who ripped it from Felix

Dear Santa... Dear Santa, This year I've been busy! In September I invaded Iraq, broke it, and couldn't glue it back together before Mom got home (-1012 points). In June I signed my organ donor card (28 points). In August I pulled atomicfiction's hair (-5 points). Last month I stole bluedragon3's purse (-30 points). Last Monday I punted defy_gravity_13 across the street (-20 points). Overall, I've been naughty (-1039 points). For Christmas I deserve a spanking! Sincerely, soaringdragon0

Write your letter to Santa! Enter your LJ username:

There are no words.

E:

Dear Santa... Dear Santa, This year I've been busy! Last Wednesday I committed genocide... Sorry about that, therony (-5000 points). In January I gave aestheticized a wet willie, then I took it back (-5 points). In July I gave rednic a Dutch Oven (-10 points). In April I put money in gryphax's expired parking meter (14 points). In November I ruled Canada as a kind and benevolent dictator (700 points). Overall, I've been naughty (-4301 points). For Christmas I deserve a lump of coal! Sincerely, soaringdragon0

Write your letter to Santa! Enter your LJ username:

NOW there are no words. Who can hit lower?

OK, so it's not really so grand, as I'm basically gonna summarize what happened -- and why is it that everything starts slipping out of my head the second I started writing this damn thing? D:

Wednesday (Preview Night): Made plans to meet with Mera at the con at 5:00, but she called me for directions two hours before that and got there an hour early. Good plan: 163 southbound was backed up worse than an obese man after a cheeze pizza binger.

And so I arrive to a badge line triple the length of the convention center itself! So after saying hi to Mera outside, I cut the line. Har har, unethics, for the win.

I also got to meet with Felix and Jessica that night and hit it off really well with them. I wish I'd been able to spend more time with them, as we kind of formed this "from-the-four-corners-of-America" gang together (I'm from Georgia, for the short-term memory challenged). They were cool -- they played with toy Japanese busts with impossibly exaggerated breasts AND BOUGHT SOME.

I was more conventional (har har *shot) and bought dragon prints. It was cool that Ruth Thompson recognized me from the year before, very nice.

Thursday (Day 1): SPOOOOOOOORE

Now that I have that out of my system, Will Wright is possibly one of the most wickedly funny minds I have ever encountered. He knows how to work an audience -- he came right out and explained everyone present was a creepy Japanese otaku (at least on his powerpoint. The visuals would continue to play counterpoint to his words, most effectively by presenting a "Happiness Booster" geared to improve morale on a colonized planet as a skyscraper-sized wind sock puppet.).

Thursday would also kick off a three-day-long fish and chips habit -- every time lunch came around, I'd have fish and chips. The Tin Fish is an excellent establishment and I can't wait to go back next year. I think it says something that their clam chowder's better
than what I can find in Washington. xD

Met up with Mera and her posse again, but Jessica got replaced with Kara... who apparently has a beach house. I was very much jealous. She seemed nice, which is always good. After a while, I split off to raid the video game section and got my drumming ass handed to me in Rock Revolution, Konami's upcoming answer to Rock Band. Didn't stop me from 5-starring "Given Up" later on, though!

I'll do Friday, Saturday, and Sunday some other time. Right now, I'm just tired, and hope this'll suffice for the moment.

Doing this as Haraan, pre-change, to better gauge his character. He's an unknown to me.

( It's way too late to be taking these things )

So there were 101 questions! Very sneaky, el-jay. That was... interesting. I liked how consistent his responses were, actually :o

( Whassat? You decide. )

Well, since Mera got her redesign her character :D contest going on over at her deviantart, I was bored and wanted to give it a whirl. I'm aware that kangaroos/Zafaras aren't a total reinvent, but I did have some fun with this. The thought process for this piece was kinda random-- "I wanna draw a kangaroo. WAIT. Mera should be a NEOPET instead. And since some of the most kickass neopets ever were Zafaras (Assassin, anyone?), I figured this rendition was most appropriate.

I like how her hands came out, as well as her hair-type stuff. Not so keen on the wings at all, and pretend that she's just flexing that one toe up in the air. Don't even get me started on the tail-- and while we're at it, realize that I SUCK at drawing females.

^{_{Mera with boobs... yikes.}}

Hope you enjoy it!

I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms about the printer/scanner I have acquired from you that is supposed to work magnificently out of the box. So far, it has failed to recognize print cartridges, won't scan due to USB connectivity issues despite a secure cable connection, and comes laden with more dialog boxes than a flowchart of a typical airing of The O'Reilly Factor.

If these problems are not rectified post-haste, I shall be paying the Epson fellows a visit.

Yours faithfully,
Sir Hyunmandias Keliean Sookim (robot).

P.S. I have never hacked your databases and rigged your sprinklers to go off every 16:00 on Fridays.

My brother challenged me to determine my typing speed in words per minute. Why don't you take a look at the prompt? :3

( Bloody keyboard! )

( Follow-up! The second round )


By the way, you can access this same test by googling "typing tutor." Ish fun.

... about deciding that Haraan's name means "seaweed?" *shot*

I've been listening to this too much. I mean, it's a pub song about... what else? Seaweed. Those crazy Irishmen.

I stayed up 'til five this morning on nothing but two glasses of Coke. Small ones. And I had to make myself go to sleep.

Odd, because so-called "energy" drinks do nothing but make me go more often. :/

So... everyone's concerned about writing the next Eragon after seeing what Paolini could pull out of his fifteen-year-old head, but there are so many people who'll leap onto the "cliche!" bandwagon as soon as someone calls him out on Star Wars and LotR.

I really don't want that to happen with Heritage, but as my librarian once told me (and reinforced by Mera), cliches exist because people are familiar with them, so it's not as if they're wholly without merit; sometimes a good idea is a good idea that has to be used; you just have to put your own spin on it. So, like Mera, I'll take this quiz and see how many cliches Heritage DOES have, on technicalities, if need be, as it's better to look ahead and see potholes than to look down at your dash and maintain your glorious 700 mph record no matter what. From the site:

"Ever since J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis created the worlds of Middle Earth and Narnia, it seems like every windbag off the street thinks he can write great, original fantasy, too. The problem is that most of this "great, original fantasy" is actually poor, derivative fantasy. Frankly, we're sick of it, so we've compiled a list of rip-off tip-offs in the form of an exam. We think anybody considering writing a fantasy novel should be required to take this exam first. Answering 'yes' to any one question results in failure and means that the prospective novel should be abandoned at once." -- RinkWorks

Note: Capital X's represent absolute cliches, small x's indicate technicalities.

( Luves me some TL;DR )

I've found that a lot of these questions, taken in a fairly loose interpretation, couldn't be applied to Heritage: my seadragons don't eat stew, they don't carry gold, they don't drink mead, and they certainly can't bale hay. In fact, my absolute cliche count is well below ten, strictly speaking, but getting 1/3rd overall's kind of eye-opening. What do you think?

Calculus is kicking my ass. D:

Six AP classes, plus one independent study
Then after school tennis
Then college applications and visits.

Then... band camp? I've been recruited into strangling marimbas in the pit from 8 to 8, with breaks for lunch and dinner for the next week or so, and then at football games and other related events when the actual school year starts.

Point is, I'm tired. Someone needs to slap me upside the head for taking on so much stuff... but at the same time, I pull this off, I can hang more with my lunchmates, who all happen to be in the band. And I've already heard amazing stories about their competitions and trips...

Good news! I just found my lost iPod! :D

Bad news! I found it at the bottom of the washing machine! D:

I use my iPod alarm to wake up in the morning, normally around 5:55 (although I get my iPod to lie and say 6:05, oh the cleverness of me), so that I have plenty of time to hit the snooze button and roll over, not necessarily in that order.

Well, as I reset the alarm to go off fifteen minutes later I became aware of a very loud buzz alarm going off in my brother's room, across from mine. No big deal, it's not like any human could sleep very long with that going off in his ears, so I put my head back onto my pillow and tried to go back to sleep.

Five minutes later, I could still hear that buzzer.

A quick trip to my brother's room followed by a curt "Alex!" woke him up. He had on the kind of "oh" look one gets when he discovers a expired subway pass outside in the rain-- nondescript and apathetic. To his credit, though, he DID turn over and mash the snooze button. I went back to my room assured of some decent snoozing.

I literally got into bed and just closed my eyes when his second alarm went off. "No," I told myself. "He'll still be awake. There's no way in hell he could ignore that thing."

...... Five minutes later, I rolled out of bed prepared to give my brother a good beating down, but he got some warning; apparently, he woke up at the sound of my door opening.

"Alex? How?" He just shrugged me off, disabled that alarm and went about his unconscious business.

Did I mention that he'd hit the snooze button the first time around? With my great luck, I ask you to guess at how long that snooze actually lasts. Apparently, not enough.

So I went back into Alex's room, we had a chat, he said he responds to different sounds, I told him to use his Zune, he told me it doesn't have an alarm, I dropped thinly-veiled hints of seeing a sleep specialist. All that lovely business. As a decent person, he told me he'd make it up to me by taking first shower, but after two minutes of snoozetime. And despite my protestations he went off anyway into whatever deaf hinterland he frequented in his nights.

That was the opportunity for sweet revenge. It wouldn't have been much, adjusting his clock forward two minutes, but I could still sock it to him if he refused to get up. That plan went nowhere, however, as he perked up the second the adjustment knob clicked.

Can anybody explain this to me? :(

Here's that meme everyone's been frontin'. 17 questions, can you handle it?


Create your own Friend Test here

Enjoy.