Alien: So What Did You Specialise In?

alien: So what did you specialise in?

human: adaptation.

alien: Adap- you can't do that. Adaptation is meant for the PROCESS of specialisation. You can't SPECIALISE in adaptation.

human: Sure I did. I'm actually the apex predator in every surface inch of my native planet.

alien: And every species you classify as human is capable of producing viable young? Where would the mixed-adaptation offspring even live?

human: Anywhere they want, really. External, genetic climate modifications are largely just for the aesthetics these days.

alien: What about temperatures? Could a human adapted to the coldest climate just move to the hottest region, or vice versa, and survive?

human: Oh yeah they do that a lot. They'll need to be taught how to properly equip proper tools, clothing and shelter maintenance in order to keep themselves to tolerable temperatures, but yeah.

alien: Tools and maintenance?

human: Yeah, there's machines that can make hot air cold, and cold air hot, so while outdoor survival is only possible temporarily, it's possible to make housing structures that are comfortable in any climate.

alien: I don't... I don't think that counts as "adaptation". That's not what natural adaptation means.

human: Actually humans don't consider it "natural" either. We kind of consider ourselves separate from other nature.

alien: Well that sure explains SOME human behaviour, but... That's not natural adaptation. That's not how any of this works.

human: Nah it works quite well. We've specialised in making tools and machines for adaptation.

alien: That's not how it works.

human: Nuh-uh. Is too.

alien: Are you SURE you're not specialised in being exhausting to deal with?

human: Well actually I'm a pursuit predator as well, so literally yes.

The old ways of Chandrila. ANDOR, S01E08 | Narkina 5

So a friend of mine has an Etsy store that's taken a hit this year, like many others, and is getting buried by the algorithm under the weight of stores run by corporate manufacturers and sweatshops posing as artisans and small businesses that Etsy won't weed out. Since her work seems very in line with Tumblr's aesthetic, I thought there might be folks on here who would be interested in it!

She makes hand-bound leather journals, using eco-friendly sourced materials. From her page: "All of the leather I use have been sourced as a by-product from the upholstery and automotive trade which may otherwise end up as waste." (I actually use her offcuts to make leather thimbles, so the recycling continues!)

They're GORGEOUS btw:

Rainbow colors!!

Rainbow pages!!!

Sizes!!!

She does really gorgeous work, right? I have one of her journals and people are always asking me where I got it. So if you're wanting to spend your Christmas gift money on a small business or individual artisan and you like lovely leather journals made from offcuts that have been saved from going in a landfill, I can't recommend Jackdaw Bindery on Etsy enough!

I know for me that sometimes I don't respond to comments because I’m busy and then, if enough time passes, I become anxious about responding, especially when it’s one of my older fan fics as I open and respond to my newer/ongoing ones, and avoid responding because it’s making anxious thinking about opening and reading the comment regardless of knowing that if they left a comment that odds are it’s positive, though I have gotten a few comments saying that they didn’t like the story, but now I’m too worried about answering and what they’ll think of me answering ‘late’ that it’s better to not open it and dump it in my fan fic folder in my email where I save all the comments, likes/kudos and following.

It didn’t happen often but I recently sent a comment, unopened, to my fan fic folder due to experiencing anxiety when thinking about opening it.

Right now I’m not getting much if any comments as I haven’t had the opportunity to get anything ready to be posted in quite some time.

I don't know if this is a question the witches will answer or not but I keep wondering so I'm going to ask anyway. But it's okay if you don't answer it.

Why do some fic writers respond to comments and some don't? I like when I get a reply because it makes me feel like we're talking or something since I don't really know any of them. It just makes it friendlier, I guess? I want to read more of their stuff if I know they're going to be nice if that makes sense.

We agree, it is nice to feel like you have a connection to a favorite writer through some kind of communication in the comments.

There are lots of reasons authors don’t reply to comments. Just like some readers worry about what to write for comments, authors can and do worry about how to respond.

Of course we encourage everyone to leave comments, but they aren’t a form of currency. Readers should comment (and kudo) because they love a fic, not because they’re expecting something in return. The writer has already given us something by gifting us with their ideas, words, time, and creativity.

Whether you receive a response to your comment or not, the witches are positive the author was thrilled that you left it.

Ever hear the phrase: never meet your heroes?

“The difference with the prequel Jedi is that they are not really anti-heroes, but they aren’t classical heroes either like Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia. They are something else, almost in-between. Unlike anti-heroes, they don’t operate from the streets or the backwaters; they aren’t vigilantes or criminals with hearts of gold. Rather they are the authority, the idealized leaders, the wise monks with the stringent code of ethics. To anyone who has seen the original trilogy, they are mythic and grand, until you actually meet them in the PT, that is. Then you witness their moral shortcomings, their blindness, their coldness; but unlike anti-heroes, these traits are not affectations to make them edgy and cool; their moral shortcomings are alarming and uncomfortable because we have been encouraged to think of them as above reproach.”

— Michael O’Connor’s Beyond Good & Evil in the Prequels (via padawanlost)

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