So there’s the idea of “kitchen table poly,” AKA “everyone in the polycule needs to be able to sit at a kitchen table together and get along like friends.”
One of my roommates just came up with a counter idea, which is “poker table poly.” Everyone in the polycule must be enemies. No one is allowed to get too chummy or they’re kicked out. They all also likely owe eachother money.
On the left we have the caribou, the only deer species where the female also grow horns, and keep them longer than males. Antlered deer have long been used as symbols of power. The supporter on the right is the whiptail lizard. These lizards are famous for having all-female populations which reproduce basically by cloning themselves…but in order to stimulate parthenogenetic egg production, they need to mate with each other. An entire sapphic species! As the crest we have the pelican. Lesbians were big on spreading awareness in the AIDS crisis, as well as providing dignified care, and donating their own blood to help (protectors of the community). In heraldry, pelicans are often shown feeding their offspring their own blood, plus the drop of blood looks pretty badass.
The mantle consists of violets (Sappho often mentioned violets in her poetry) and lavender. On the shield we have the labrys (a historical lesbian symbol), two queen bees, and a lioness for strength.
The compartment represents the island of Lesbos (where Sappho is from). Above the banner are waves. The motto is currently a placeholder.
I just reada really good fic but halfway through I realized “oh shit this is really familiar…. didn’t I write something like this once?” And as I kept reading I kept predicting what happened next and the further I went the more convinced I was that they’d ripped off my story-
like, copied the ENTIRE plot and re-written it, just better than I had? The characters were more fleshed-out than mine were, and the POV was more interesting, and the pace made more sense- but it was MY STORY?
So close to the end I was like “holy shit.. do I message them? Ask if my story inspired theirs? Should I be angry? Flattered?” Cause their tags and description didn’t mention me AT ALL, which, sure, it’s fanfiction to begin with, but if you’re using my work than at least credit me as inspo, right? Just to be courteous?
But I get to the end of the final chapter, and it’s not finished, and I’m kind of disappointed cause I never finished my story and I was really immersed in their version now and had been looking forwards to seeing how they tied up my loose ends- so I scroll to the bottom to leave a comment, and.
It’s MY URL.
IT WAS MY STORY THE WHOLE TIME.
THE ONE *I WROTE*.
In *2013*.
And FORGOT ABOUT
BECAUSE I WAS SO INSECURE ABOUT MY SLOPPY, SHALLOW, AMETEUR WRITING
And I’m just sitting here now staring into space thinking about every shitty story I’ve ever written now like
Cryptids & Creatures of Folklore Drawtober Day 24 — Cactus Cat
The Cactus Cat is a creature from American folklore. Cowboys and pioneers in the early 19th century reported encountering this strange creature in California, New Mexico, Nevada, and other areas of the southwestern US. It was described as a bobcat-like animal covered in sharp spines, having a tail with cacti-like branches, and with a sharp bone or barb protruding from each foreleg which it used to slash open cacti. It would wait for the exposed juice to ferment before partaking of it and becoming intoxicated.
Also known as Faunwood, Zimmerman’s entrancing flora and fauna inspired works take on delightful three dimensional forms in this show of ceramic sculptures.
[Text ID: The black oaks fling their bronze fruit into all the pockets of the earth pock pock, / they knock against the thresholds the roof the sidewalk fill the eaves the bottom line, / of the old gold song of the almost finished year what is spring all that tender green stuff, / compared to this falling of tiny oak trees then the clouds, / gathering thick along the west then advancing then closing over breaking open, / the silence then the rain dashing its silver seeds against the house. /End ID.]
