#my definition confusion isn't your problem its all good 😂

[snickerdoodlles]

Feel free to just ignore this if you really dislike the phrase that much, and then I will just try to remember never to use that phrase for your stories again, but I wanted to let you know that I consider "crack taken seriously" to be one of the highest accolades to give an author. Because they took something that anyone else would have made into a one line gag and filled it with life; with joy and fear and insight and inspiration; brilliant worldbuilding and inspired character development.

I don't like most humor. It usually just comes off as mocking and mean to me. But crack taken seriously is when someone takes the bitter absurdity of those "funny" bits of our world and cracks it open to show that there is an entire story full of beauty and hope inside, not just the momentary embarrassment and frustration I expected.

And also, it's just really hard to do. Most people don't have the imagination to find an entire universe in a silly joke, much less the skill to write it. Douglas Adams is crack taken seriously. And Terry Pratchett, JRR Tolkin, William Gibson. Anyone who thought of something radically different than our reality, and then wrote it so well that we all saw our own lives reflected in it. In fact, it showed us ourselves reflected so clearly that it taught us things about ourselves we never thought to look at; changed us in ways that a story that pandered to our expectations of how the world works never could.

Done right, absurdity and silliness leaves the reader receptive to considering radical ideas they might have ignored in any other context. I find it an amazingly powerful literary device. Most cracky fanfic doesn't go that far, of course. But even when it's just used to give a different interpretation of a cannon scene, not political commentary, it hits me harder than more conventionally structured works trying to do the same thing. And I can't write it at all so I find it really technically impressive when someone pulls it off. The timing and pacing is really hard to do!

( crack taken seriously tends to be something that makes me giggle or go "WTF?" at first, but ends with me sitting in stunned silence, thinking "OH." I mean, there are variants, it's not like a rule, but that's kind of the core feeling I get from it.

It's an actual unique genre in my mind, not literally something silly treated as serious)

Oh friend it's okay, I don't actually need anyone to change up their tagging systems for me! And thank you for sharing your thoughts on the 'crack taken seriously' tag 🥰 I do objectively know most people mean it in a good way, it just also catches me off guard every time because the pieces of my writing that I think people label me as a 'crack' writer for aren't what I'd label as 'crack', so there's a disconnect for me (ie something like my necromancy AU I haven't written yet, where Chay can just raise the dead as he pleases and I use that to dig into Big's relationship with personhood, is crack taken seriously to me; stuff that just plays off silliness like an accidental pony-play or ridiculous friendship shenanigans i'd just tag as humor). plus, the definition for 'crack' is all over the place-- I always assume the nicer definitions for my own sake, but I'm not entirely sure sometimes.

so in a combination of my own writing insecurities and the definition mismatch, I feel very...odd? ig? about the label. it's very much a me thing, I know that, but sometimes the specific combination of tags left on my stuff feels more like "this person's a crack writer BUT--" and it kinda feels like I'm being put on the backfoot/dismissed, or that what I like to write is somehow 'less' and needs to be justified to be liked. this is still a me issue, but sometimes the disconnect hits strong and I just feel baffled for the day.

#*fr tho: its fine if you tag my stuff with 'crack' tags! i dont actually mind #my definition confusion isn't your problem its all good 😂

[phantomrose96]

Okay I have a story.

So my birthday is this Sunday (May 26th). My mom ordered some presents for me but one of them (an Etsy purchase) was seemingly stuck in transit and might not make it on time. I tell my mom all good, no worries. She gets in contact with the seller. After a long delay in response they get back with "Right we'll fix it!" It ships, tracking label and everything, good to go! ETA May 22nd (yesterday.)

During the work day I check the tracking and it says it's been delivered in/at mailbox! I double check with my mom "hey, is it mailbox size?" because if not, I don't want it sitting at the front door where anyone walking by could snag it.

She says "it's definitely NOT mailbox size." Okay. I text my neighbors in the building "Anyone seen a package delivered? It's a birthday gift from my mom and I wanna make sure it gets inside!" Success! Floor 2 David (not to be confused with Floor 1 David) had brought it inside. Inform my mom. All good!

I stop by home briefly around 4pm, because yesterday was hot-hot and I just installed my window A/C that morning in the living room, and according to my cat cam my stupid cat hasn't spent a single second in the climate controlled living room and is, instead, voluntarily baking herself elsewhere so I'm like "great" and hop on my bike to go home (10 minute ride) to check on her.

I get in the building door. Patches is crying from the top floor because she heard me. I maneuver my bike in the front hall. The ugliest fucking 6-foot-tall cat tree(?)/totem(?)/statue(?) I've seen in my entire life is just. Standing there.

My first thought is "What the fuck is that." My second thought is "Oh fuck that is for me." I look around at the floor in case there's perhaps anything else that might, in fact, be the gift.

No. Me and Cat Pole.

It's taller than me. I turn it around to face me and its face is painted and this is, in fact, uglier than it looked from the back.

Um.

Patches is crying. So I just haul it up to my level. MAYBE it was supposed to come with twine that I wrap around it (and hide its face from the world) for Patches to scratch. Maybe this is a prank. Maybe this is an inside joke, because when my mom moved into her current house the neighborhood gifted her some ugly-as-hell totem that apparently, by tradition, each newest-comer to the neighborhood is required to have and display in their window so maybe this is a very good riff on that.

Patches rubs against it. She's not afraid of this horrid facsimile of her kind.

Great.

Meanwhile SHE'S fine and the condo is a little toasty but totally liveable so I'm like "Good, cool, you're not baking. You're having a good time. Enjoy your new sister, I guess, I'll see you later."

I go back to work because this is a problem for later me.

After work, after my run, after whatever, I get home and it's like 8:00pm and Patches is so happy to see me and the totem pole is still just. There.

I text my friends like "so a bday gift is here from my mom and it's the Biggest Ugliest cat pole I've seen in my life. Is this a bit? Did my mom go 'that's so ugly haha! send!' Maybe she genuinely found it cute. How do I navigate this." My friend Sarah has the good advice to maybe text my mom neutrally like "Got the cat pole!" and feel the waters whether my mom is like "Isn't it ugly? 😂" or "Hope Patches likes it! 🥰"

My mom goes to bed early so I don't do any of that yet. Problem for tomorrow me.

This morning, Patches wakes me up for breakfast. I get her situated and I'm staring at the fucking Cat Pole again. I wonder if my Mom's been wondering all night what I thought of it.

I take a picture. I text her.

Okay.

I get on call with my mom. I ask for clarity that the ungodly horrid thing is NOT my birthday gift and is in fact a mix-up from the seller who sent me this instead of my actual gift. She's wheezing between words. She thinks I'm being too charitable for the amount of Absolute Fucking Ugly this is. I have to gently talk her out of using the word "monstrosity" while messaging the seller asking what the hell happened here.

I tell her I need to apologize for harming her dignity with Floor 2 David, who thinks this fucking thing is my mom's idea of a great birthday gift for her to-be-28-year-old daughter.

My heart goes out to the poor soul who did actually order this cat totem and is lacking it on this lovely day.

#chrissy speaks

[stuffnonsenseandotherthings]

Cupid's Last Wish Episode 1 - A Collection of Random Thoughts.

Earth and Mix may be headlining this drama but don't be fooled, the real stars of the show are the cows 🐮

Who knew that picking cow names could make for the cutest opening scene ever? Korn and Win just lounging together, teasing each other and feeding each other as they work through a list of names like they're about to name their own child? FRICKIN ADORABLE.

Live calf birth was a bit of a surprise but part of me suspects Mix was in his element and is probably the reason it looks so realistic.

I also want a Katin plush doll please and thank you 🙏 (also I might not be an expert but I do embroider and, judging by the stitch Korn was using, Win was sitting giggling and watching him stitch for at least half an hour. Plan ahead next time Korn)

Not going to lie I'm a bit confused about when Win's dad died. I thought it had been a while but they're also just having his funeral so it's actually quite recent?

Damn Win went from "He's family and more useful to the farm than you" to "gtfo of my house you snake" real quick 😳

Love a good throwing clothes off the balcony at your cheating lover scene, even if the person having their clothes thrown at them is not a lover or a cheater. 10/10 on the drama queen scale.

1 year later and we still hate Korn (and everyone else?) for reasons I don't really get but sure.

NGL Win the on site bakery is a great idea and would probably help the farm's finances quite a bit. I don't know many people who'd travel to just go and see a working dairy farm for fun but if you offered them fancy cakes at the end of it....

I giggled the entire way through the cake baking scene, I couldn't take a single thing seriously I'm so sorry Korn 😂

Not a huge fan of Win constantly blowing up at Lin and his mum. I get he's stressed and angry but just no. It's just not a good vibe and watching him tower over them and drag them around as they cry...

Win may be in Lin's body now but he will remain consistent even if it kills him: Korn Must Die.

One accidental hug and Win is no longer out for blood (can't blame him we've all seen Earth's body arms). Also I think Korn knows, right? One touch and that man knows he's got an armful of dairy-fueled anger problems.

I'm a bit (a lot) confused about the inheritance issues and why Win is so apoplectically angry about everything (to the point of being genuinely awful to everyone around him) but over all a solid first episode. There's definitely a lot of chemistry between Win and Korn when Win isn't out for blood which shouldn't really be a surprise given its Mix and Earth. Really looking forward to seeing the story unfold next episode (and also maybe get some explanations) so Cupid's Last Wish continues to be a watch.

Watch It Or Drop It Challenge Masterpost

#watch it or drop it #watch it #thai bl #cupid's last wish #win x korn

[proudtobealuthor]

Warning: this ask contains unsolicited advice about college and financial aid. The user writing this ask is unaware of your knowledge of how financial aid, loans, advisors, and the politics of universities work so they are assuming you know very little. If advice is not desired from this stoned former college student that would fist fight God for fun and Definitely stab a shitty professor in the kidney for disrespecting my people, please feel free to delete without even reading. You have been warned.

I did go through the student loan song and dance a painful amount in college and I helped several friends decipher theirs. If I'm reading your post right, you got it right on the money (lol) about the sub vs unsub loans, with sub not developing interest until post graduation and unsub starting to gather interest from the moment you take it out. If you wind up needing more money, you can look into a parent plus loan if you have a parent who can sign for it. Parent plus loans are loans your parents take out For Your School to help bridge any gap left between financial aid and your due balance. If you Cant get a parent to do this...there's more than one way to cuddle a kitty.

The whole mess is stupidly confusing, I know, but I recommend emailing your advisor if you need help OR email financial aid department. FA can be pretty useless a lot of the time but its good to be able to say "I already checked with financial aid and they didn't help me At All" when talking with an advisor or professor for help deciphering it all. Since I have done the *email advisor* *gets told to email FA* *emails FA* *gets told to email advisor* *emails advisor and actually gets advice now* before. If you don't have an advisor yet or don't know who they are, email a secretary in the department your major is in or just anyone in the department you can find and say something along the lines of "hey, I'm sorry for bothering you, I know your time is valuable and I appreciate you reading this and any help you can give me but I am totally lost and confused. *insert details of problem here* Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated but I understand with the upcoming semester if you're unable to. If so, could you please point me in the direction of someone who could help me?" As long as you thank the profs for their time and are grateful, they normally will help however they can or point you to someone who can help more. Advisors are there to help you so seriously don't hesitate to shoot them an email. If your advisor is useless, ask to change advisors. You can either ask your advisor this directly if you're feeling bold or just ask their boss/department head. I know people that straight up asked their favorite prof "hey, can you be, like, my advisor? My current one isn't helping me reach my goals" And the prof was just like "sure, I guess, lol" in return.

All emails Should be easily found on the school website under professor profiles for the department. If not...find one email in the department and email them, asking for help and more addresses.

I hope this totally unsolicited advice helped a bit and wasn't a total waste of your time. I wont blame you if you just delete it since I know you didn't Ask for advice but I saw your post and I know a little about student loans and wanted to share what I thought might help. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the help!! I appreciate any and all advice provided to me when I come to tumblr and use it like a diary 😂 but truly this was helpful just to confirm I was understanding correctly and learning about the parent plus loans. I don’t need that one thankfully, though I will probably have to be taking subsidized and unsubsidized loans to get all the aid I need. Plus I doubt either of my parents would even be able to get that kind of loan for me. Their credit is terrible 😂

I do have an advisor and he seems like a pretty cool guy. So he’s already helping me with some other stuff right now, but I’m definitely reaching out to the financial aid office for more info and assistance but if they tell me I’m SOL I have an appointment with my advisor soon so i can just bother him 😂😂

But I enjoy unsolicited advice when it’s things Im not educated in, so thank you random citizen!