I just graduated with my second degree in December of last year, so now I'm back out of school, and figuring out where to go from here. I want to go to grad school (eventually) but still need additional language fluencies (and to figure out how on Earth I can get rec letters when all my past professors are cryptids) before I can apply. I've been wondering if maybe I should keep my eyes peeled for a third Bachelor's that grabs my attention or try my hand at checking to see if any apprenticeships are available locally. The former would be job-dependant for tuition assistance, but the latter would be highly situational since I'm only interested in artisan apprenticeships. Or maybe I should just stick to independent study again, for a while? There are some art guilds locally that I already know I'd be welcome to join from talking to existing members, and there's a bindery I want to become more active in. There's also a local marching band that keeps trying to recruit me, so maybe I should do that for a bit lol. They do international performances and that could be really cool. I've missed marching pretty badly.

I've got options, and I do think I've accomplished a lot so far to be proud of... But it's also been almost six months and I'm starting to get antsy again. 
AND THUS were Her children brought into the world; through great effort did She cut remnants from the holy Stream and graft to them Her will, as one would to expect fruit from an impotent tree. Following their birth the world fell into fits of terror, as the children harvested those souls of the plague-stricken cities of man, bringing their Mother great delight in man's struggle. For they could not forget the image of terror wrought upon them by the face of She who summoned the calamitous meteor; that terror of the splitting sky writ plainly on the faces of the children, who bear eyes of snakes and manes of quicksilver.

HEED THESE WARNINGS, and watch closely, you, wards of the planet! Though the plagues have passed, and the second advent collapsed, Her children yet walk the earth with twisted intent, and hatred shall settle where their essence dwells. As did their foremothers, the children shall take forms to cast illusions upon their marks and trick them with unnatural power; acting to drive mankind to despair, sating their incessant, vulgar hunger.

THE FIRST CHILD made manifest Her madness through its body. For its power is to cast illusions; by its hand it shall heal as well as curse, by its voice it shall lull as well as create tremors of the body. It shall take the shape of mothers, fathers, and mentors to the children of man. Mothers and fathers: take heed! The wrath of the first child shall leave progeny in a stupor and your own loins cursed; harvests wilt and livestock foul downstream of its furious presence.
Its true form shall be known by the flames of its tongue, and the eternal blood at its mouth.

THE SECOND CHILD made manifest Her allure through its body. Men and women alike are struck dumb by its cool breath upon the air. Those who are tempted and lie with the second child shall awaken with great shame and despair upon its departure, and its suitors shall throw themselves into the rivers of their homeland. It shall disguise curses as enchanting poetry and song, driving those who hear its voice to acts of madness and vulgarity. 
Its true form shall be known by the wheel of eyes upon its fair face, and the chasm set within its abdomen.

THE THIRD CHILD made manifest Her strength through its body. By its force of will it shall dissolve prayer and repulse all that is pure in the eyes of man. A peal of thunder shall fall upon those marked by its heavy hand, striking within the witness a great sorrow, and among this sorrow a seed of rage is planted that shall blossom within three days. Watch closely your melancholic fellows, for the mark of the third child may be left upon their bodies. 
Its true form shall be known by the black water as it pours from its eyes and mouth.

tanadin: Tremere antitribu symbol (goratrix)
([personal profile] tanadin May. 12th, 2026 12:06 pm)
It's so strange how one's alterhumanity can seem so intense early on, but mellows out and becomes almost mundane over the years. Tanix and I feel this most acutely, as we have been around for a long time and have fronted quite a bit and become extremely familiar with ourselves. Newer members of the system still experience some novelty around it, and it's interesting to watch, remembering how I felt about it before everything became so normal. I don't think it's better or worse, per se, just a different stage of life. I wonder where it will go next.

-Goratrix
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tanadin: A digital drawing of two wizards posed for the camera, each with an arm around the other, both wearing sunglasses. Medivh, on the left, wears black and red. Khadgar, on the right, wears silver, tan, and blue. (karazhan crew)
([personal profile] tanadin May. 11th, 2026 02:47 pm)
by Medivh Aran Chromatath of the DWW

One of our headmates, Caleb, has been kicking around since late 2023 and has always had a hard time interfacing with the rest of us. Thankfully, he seems to be able to interface with me more easily, and we're able to get him to talk about himself and even write poetry. He really hit it off with people during the poetry panel during the Centaurus Festival this March and has been writing poetry off and on since. It really works for him because he struggles with putting sentences together due to disorganized thoughts and speech (he didn't have that problem in source as much as he does here, but I think his brain was wired very differently) but poetry lets him kind of put things in a different order and break in weird places.

He's been fronting a lot recently, getting to know people, making friends, and making great progress with communication and caring about stuff. It's been nice to see him come out of his shell. We worried that we weren't ever going to really get a chance to know him, but I think things are going to turn out just fine.
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lb_lee: a penguin saying "Just because you decide to sell out doesn't mean anyone's going to buy!" ($ellingout)
([personal profile] lb_lee May. 11th, 2026 08:22 am)
There’s a thing we run into that we call “mugging for the audience.” It’s when you feel compelled to perform whatever you are, whatever you’re doing, as some piece of noble political theater intended to prevent your (unseen, at times entirely hypothetical) audience from coming after you. Anything that fails that performance shows secret evil within you and justifies whatever “they” do to you (whoever “they” are).

Read more... )
who_is_page: (Wolf skull)
([personal profile] who_is_page May. 10th, 2026 07:52 pm)
Howdy Internet friends, sorry it's been a minute. Part of the reason for that is in the title: we found four three-week old kittens in bad shape on my company's property in April, underneath one of the huge covered trailers in some tires. Two orange boys, a tuxedo boy, and one calico girl. Our sister-in-law is a vet and it was after all the shelters were closed, so we rushed them home to her. They were suffering from fleas, worms, malnutrition-- the works. Getting shelters to accept them was complicated, so one thing led to another and we've been taking care of the three boys around the clock for the last five weeks; the fourth, the calico girl (Tokyo), was given to a coworker of my husband's with far more kitten-raising experience than us + cats socialized for kittens, but she unfortunately passed away due to a respiratory issue.

We're keeping the runt of the litter, an orange tabby with white socks named Yams (he's mine), and the tuxedo boy, Bloodstone Commander Igris ("Iggy," he's my husband's). The biggest and healthiest orange tabby is going to be our neighbor's very first cat-- she'd been debating getting one for a while, and he happens to look exactly like her cat in Stardew Valley, even down to the name we'd given him: Creamsicle. It's a good thing she picked him early too, because he's such a friendly little guy that I have no doubt we might've ended up keeping him otherwise.

Cat tax of Yams and Iggy snuggling various polycule members below.

 

Otherhearted flag design by ill-either-live-or-die-alone. It features stripes in light purple, pink, orange and beige colors with a thin white stripe in the center that runs through a white interlocking circle/heart with a diamond at the center. Symbol designed by aestherians.

Submissions now open!

There's not nearly enough talk about hearttypes, so we wanted to to get conversations rolling by making a collaborative zine about it!

Otherhearted describes a person who has a strong fundamental connection to a species or character which impacts their core sense of self. This is most commonly described in terms of identifying with a being as opposed to identifying as one, although this is not always the case. - Otherkin Wiki

This zine will be a collection of artwork, writing and more all about being otherhearted. Whatever that means to you - both fiction and nonfiction pieces would be accepted. If you got something you wanna express about hearttypes, we'd love to hear it!

Submissions are due by November 15, 2026. Once the deadline has passed, the submissions will be compiled and posted on itch.io as a free PDF.

Learn more about how to participate and the submission guidelines on our info doc here
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lb_lee: A B-movie blond young man with a pompadour, resembling a Cabbage Patch Elvis, grins weirdly into the camera. (wowzy wow wow!)
([personal profile] lb_lee May. 8th, 2026 11:09 am)
Rogan: while chatting with Mori, we realized that while we aren’t really good at what most people call fandom, when we’re into something, we STAY into it, often for five years or more. Read more... )
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lb_lee: Rogan drawing/writing in a spiral. (art)
([personal profile] lb_lee May. 5th, 2026 05:19 pm)
Hey everybody, it's that time again: time to vote for which stuff gets the LiberaPay/Patreon money this month!

As always, anyone can vote (please do!), but LiberaPay and Patreon patrons get double weight for their votes.  (Due to Patreon's porn purges, I really encourage you to use LiberaPay, if you get a choice.) If you want to see the blurbs for any of these works, those are here!  (You can also leave your requests there; requesting a story or essay is always free!) If you don't have a DW and so can't do the poll, that's okay; just leave your vote in the comments below; anon comments are turned on.

Which works gets the money, and thus posted this month?  YOU CHOOSE, readers!

Poll #34566 2026 May Fan Poll
This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 21


Did you toss LiberaPay/Patreon money my way last month?

View Answers

Yes (my votes count double)
6 (100.0%)

What writing gets posted this month?

View Answers

Infinity Smashed: Born Lucky
4 (19.0%)

Reverend Alpert: the Traveling Exorcist
3 (14.3%)

Henchwench for Hire (F/F supervillainy)
3 (14.3%)

Rutless (trans omegaverse porno)
2 (9.5%)

Kayfabe in the Coliseum (psuedo-Greco-Roman gladiator fights)
3 (14.3%)

Crazy Boys Join Forces (narrative autobio)
11 (52.4%)

The Golem Always Dies At The End (essay)
11 (52.4%)

What art/comic/zine gets posted this month?

View Answers

Cult Comix (doodle strips of Cultiples BS)
3 (15.0%)

Death Watch (bony lady comic)
7 (35.0%)

Protection (one-page dark side of protector duty)
3 (15.0%)

Thrown Away
3 (15.0%)

Fluff (Mori/Rawlin silliness)
8 (40.0%)

Possessions (text-only poetry zine of haunting incompetently)
7 (35.0%)

Dr. Frankenstein vs. the Queerborgs (book spine poetry)
7 (35.0%)

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gillman: (Default)
([personal profile] gillman May. 5th, 2026 12:38 pm)
 Went to my professors office today. He looked at me. 

"I'm scared. I've seen everyone's grades. I thought grading everything would even out, but I guess not." He smiles. "There is something funny going on." 

Well, yes. That's what I have been telling you! I have not hidden the fact that there is something Funny going on! Oh my goodness!!! 

My friend was with me, and she looked at him and said: "We're scared, too!" 

Luckily, he HAS graded nearly everything, so I am formulating a plant to get things back together and for me to pass. I've gotten no lower than a 95 on everything that I have turned in so far. If my first paper gets anything above a 70, I can do half of my missing assignments, pass this final paper, and get out of here with a B. Which is crazy to me. All of this, and I will still get a B. Man. Wow. Ugh. 
lb_lee: A happy little brain with a bandage on it, enclosed within a circle with the words LB Lee. (Default)
([personal profile] lb_lee May. 4th, 2026 06:12 pm)
We will be tabling with Boston Dyke March next month, on Friday June 5! Stay tuned and mark your calendars, for some unfathomable reason the queers are getting rowdy!
lb_lee: A colored pencil drawing of Raige's freckled hand holding a hot pink paperback entitled the Princess and Her Monster (book)
([personal profile] lb_lee May. 3rd, 2026 10:25 am)
Rogan: apparently I just like collating data about my library for fun. And last night, I wondered: what decades are on my shelf?

more than I thought! )
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