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Cleaning up the ocean with targeted efforts 1000% more effective than straw bans September 3, 2018

Posted by Erin Ptah in News Roundup.
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“…skipping a plastic straw in your next Bahama Mama may feel conscientious, but it won’t make a dent in the garbage patch. So what will? A recent survey by scientists affiliated with Ocean Cleanup, a group developing technologies to reduce ocean plastic, offers one answer. Using surface samples and aerial surveys, the group determined that at least 46 percent of the plastic in the garbage patch by weight comes from a single product: fishing nets.” Plus: concrete ways to make that better!

“Our seas are choking on plastic. A staggering eight million metric tons wind up in oceans every year, and unraveling exactly how it gets there is critical. A recent study estimates that more than a quarter of all that waste could be pouring in from just 10 rivers, eight of them in Asia.” Cleanup targets!

In more disheartening links:

“In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy pummeled the island, causing the already rising seas to spill over the streets and into the homes of Tangier’s 481 residents. A few days after the storm, Carol steered her skiff toward the island’s uppermost tip to survey the damage. Along the shoreline, soil was sluicing into the bay each time the waves hit. A human skull floated at the water’s edge—the remains of a body broken free from an eroded grave.”

“Foote’s paper anticipated the revolution in climate science by experimentally demonstrating the effects of the sun on certain gases and theorizing how those gases would interact with Earth’s atmosphere for the first time. In a column of the September 1856 issue of Scientific American titled ‘Scientific Ladies,’ Foote is praised for supporting her opinions with ‘practical experiments.'” (But people keep giving the credit to a guy who rediscovered the same thing years later, because of course.)

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Multifandom Recommendations – Pet Shop of Horrors, Madoka Magica, Cabin Pressure, Red Dwarf, Harry Potter, Discworld August 29, 2018

Posted by Erin Ptah in Recommendations.
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  • Red Dwarf | Dwarfers, Mr. Meeseeks | T | Meeseeks A Higher Mark
    Lister wins a mysterious box from a GELF poker game.

    The side of the device simply reads:
    – Press button
    – Make a request
    – Keep it simple

    Rimmer asks the impossible and all smeg breaks loose.
    series:red dwarf,series:rick and morty,fic:one-shot,crossover,genfic

  • Pet Shop of Horrors | D/Leon | T | PSOH Postcards
    Leon sends Count D postcards from everywhere he travels.
    They’re never returned to him marked ‘Addressee Unknown’ and don’t they always say ‘hope springs eternal’?
    series:pet shop of horrors,fic:one-shot,pairing:d_leon

Monday Works Roundup, 8/27 – webcomics, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Rainbow Six, Adventure Zone, others August 27, 2018

Posted by Erin Ptah in But I'm A Cat Person, Leif & Thorn.
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But I’m A Cat Person
Sari Kara Lynn (sketch | Kara Lynn | worksafe)
BICP sketchpile 2018 (sketches | various | worksafe)
Monsters in the Shadows (art | Blake, Walker, Ilsa, Patrick, Kara Lynn, Reseda, Poe | worksafe)

Leif & Thorn
Character Expression Meme – Leif (art meme | Leif | worksafe)
Once and Future Queen (stamp | Rhòdon | worksafe)
Prototype in Black (sketch | Woman in Black, Agent D | worksafe)

The Adventure Zone
Taacocest (sketch | Lup/Taako | worksafe)

Angel Moxie/Leif & Thorn/Magical How/Phoenix Flair/Shattered Starlight/Sleepless Domain/XII: Of Magic and Muses
Magical Girls of Webcomics, Unite! (art | Arcturus, Undine, Holly, Riley, Phoenix, Willow, Gabe | worksafe)

Pokemon
My beautiful thief (sketch | Guzma/Lusamine | worksafe)

Rainbow Six
Rainbow Six – IQ (chibi | Monika Weiss | worksafe)

Sailor Moon
Senshi Hairstyle Swaps (sketch | Haruka, Michiru, Makoto, Ami, Minako, Rei | worksafe)

Skin Horse
Project…Saw-Horse? (art | Artie, Nick!Bubbles, Tip, Unity, Sweetheart | worksafe)

General/Miscellaneous
Rainbow Flag Pride Stamp (stamp)
Lesbian flag stamp – base (ditto)

This Week in But I’m A Cat Person:
Look, it’s not every day you get asked to help the mission by stashing a murderous Being in your hotel room.

This Week in Leif & Thorn:
Something’s up with Cedar — but what? Also, Thorn and Kale finally reach each other through the vines.

Multifandom Recommendations – Houseki no Kuni, Scooby Doo, Steven Universe, Madoka Magica, Red Dwarf, Cabin Pressure, Hellsing, Sailor Moon August 22, 2018

Posted by Erin Ptah in Recommendations.
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  • Red Dwarf | Rimmer/Lister, Cat | G | Dressy
    Rimmer thinks Lister needs something new to spice things up in the bunkroom, and a little cross-dressing could be just the thing. Pure ridiculous fluff without anything other than dialogue.
    series:red dwarf,pairing:rimmer_lister,fic:one-shot,trope:genderplay

Multifandom Recommendations – Madoka Magica, Pet Shop of Horrors, Sailor Moon, Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, Animorphs, Jeeves & Wooster August 15, 2018

Posted by Erin Ptah in Recommendations.
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  • Madoka Magica | Madoka, ensemble | T | An Anticlimactic Ascension
    Madoka has worked up the resolve to go and make her wish and help Homura. Unfortunately no responsible parent would ever let their child wander unsupervised into a hurricane, so the whole things ends up a bit anticlimactic.
    series:puella magi madoka magica,fic:one-shot,genfic,fic:parody-mst,crackfic

  • Red Dwarf | Rimmer/Lister, Kryten, Cat/Cat | T | Holly Hop Scotch
    Of all the possible universes to hop into, the last scenario they expected was a Red Dwarf teeming with life, resulting from a very much alive Arnold Rimmer and one Deb Lister.
    series:red dwarf,fic:one-shot,pairing:rimmer_lister,trope:genderplay,trope:kidfic

  • Madoka Magica | Homura, ensemble | G | the perfect timeline
    Everything was perfect now- no matter how many times Homura woke up she never did so in a hospital room, no matter how valiantly she searched for white cats with smug empty smiles she never saw any. Her friends- and they were really her friends- lived with her- they even seemed to like her. Maybe even love her? Maybe. She didn’t want to count her soul gems before they hatched.
    series:puella magi madoka magica,fic:one-shot,yuri,pairing:homura_madoka,genfic,trope:hurt-comfort

Monday Works Roundup: Danger and Eggs, Steven Universe, Dreamworks’ Home, and more August 13, 2018

Posted by Erin Ptah in But I'm A Cat Person, Leif & Thorn.
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But I’m A Cat Person
Magical Girl Cybele (art | Cybele | worksafe)

Leif & Thorn
If only I had a gardener here (art | Kale, Thorn, plant | worksafe)
Afternoon in Eveningwear (dolls | Leif/Thorn | worksafe)

Home/Danger and Eggs
Danger and Tips (art | Tip, D.D. | worksafe)

Steven Universe
Kirai Senshi Sailor Homeworld (art | White Diamond, Pink Diamond, Steven | worksafe)

General/Miscellaneous
Asexual Flag Stamp – Base (stamp)

This Week in But I’m A Cat Person:
Miranda is the only person here who can pretend like she knows what she’s doing.

This Week in Leif & Thorn:
Everyone’s trying to sneak into the vine-choked wing of the opera house. Some more successfully than others.

Danger & Eggs review: It’s really good, but mostly not for the reasons it gets hyped for. August 10, 2018

Posted by Erin Ptah in Erin Watches.
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So I finally had a chance to watch Danger & Eggs, the Amazon Prime animated kids’ show. Only one season so far, 13 episodes, most of them consisting of two distinct 12-minute segments.

It’s a lot of cute fun.

You know how Phineas and Ferb is partly about mundane suburban family stuff, but the kids’ adventures keep pushing the bounds of fantasy and sci-fi, and meanwhile there’s a world of secret-agent animals fighting mad scientists that they keep intersecting with?

That’s the energy Danger & Eggs has. It centers around a city park where people walk their dogs, rent the clamshell for concerts, hold ren faires…and don’t bat an eye at the underground full of leftover experiments from a failed mad-science organization.

Our heroes are D.D. Danger, human girl whose father was a famous stuntman, and Phil, giant talking egg whose mother is a house-sized mutant chicken. D.D. is wild, energetic, and adventurous; Phil is nervous, quiet, and safety-conscious. They are Best Friends. The comedy writes itself.

And it’s never mean comedy, either. They appreciate each other’s differences! There’s an episode where they wander into a labyrinth controlled by a slightly-deranged AI, get separated, and the AI creates an “ideal” simulation of each of them to entice the other into staying forever. But its strategy backfires — holo!D.D. is quiet and listless, holo!Phil is reckless and hyperactive, and the real kids discover that this isn’t appealing at all, that their friendship works because of how they balance each other out.

So that’s the good part.

The bad part is, before I started watching, all I knew about the show was “it’s full of LGBTQ characters! It has such good gay and trans representation! The whole last episode takes place at a Pride parade!”

Which meant I got pretty let down as the stuff I was expecting…didn’t happen.

(more…)

Multifandom Recommendations – Doctor Who, Hellsing, Magic School Bus, Don’t Trust The B, Rivers of London August 8, 2018

Posted by Erin Ptah in Recommendations.
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  • Doctor Who | Missy/Bill, 12/Missy | T | Take Control of My Whole Body
    Bill is determined to learn the choreography to Little Mix’s ‘Touch’ video, but needs somewhere to practice. Cue an afternoon of dancing in the Vault, and Missy insisting on helping Bill get it right.
    series:doctor who,fic:one-shot,yuri,pairing:bill_master,pairing:doctor_master

  • Hellsing | Integra/Alucard | M | His Reward
    While Alucard loves a good hunt, sometimes it’s not quite enough to scratch the eternal itch that immortality gives you. And Integra is more than willing to reward her favorite vampire for a job well done.
    series:hellsing,fic:one-shot,pairing:integra_alucard,kink:bdsm

  • Rivers of London – Ben Aaronovitch – J’attendrai
    Probationary Constable Peter Grant met me for the first time when I walked up to him by the portico of the Actors’ Church on a freezing winter night and said, “Hello. What are you up to?” However, I first met Detective Sergeant Peter Grant when he jogged up to my doorstep on a mild autumn afternoon and said, “There you are, sir. It is you, isn’t it?”
    series:rivers of london,pairing:peter_nightingale,trope:timetravel,trope:hurt-comfort,fic:chaptered

  • Doctor Who | Eight/Master | T | Any Time At All
    “There honestly needs to be an AU in which Roberts!Master kidnaps Eight and convinces him that he is his husband.”
    series:doctor who,fic:one-shot,pairing:doctor_master,trope:marriage,trope:hurt-comfort

Well, this sucks. (climate change, debt growth, school shootings, and more) August 7, 2018

Posted by Erin Ptah in News Roundup.
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“This two-part article is based on 18 months of reporting and well over a hundred interviews. It tracks the efforts of a small group of American scientists, activists and politicians to raise the alarm and stave off catastrophe. It will come as a revelation to many readers — an agonizing revelation — to understand how thoroughly they grasped the problem and how close they came to solving it.” They’re…not kidding. It’s heartbreaking.

“By almost every measure, the U.S. economy is booming. But a look behind the headlines of roaring job growth and consumer spending reveals how the boom continues in large part by the poorer half of Americans fleecing their savings and piling up debt.”

“Twice as many students have been killed in school shootings [in 2018] as have members of the military who were on deployment.”

“Terrorist attacks committed by Muslim extremists receive 357% more US press coverage than those committed by non-Muslims, according to new research from the University of Alabama. […] The disparity in media coverage is particularly out of sync with the reality given that white and rightwing terrorists carried out nearly twice as many terrorist attacks as Muslim extremists between 2008 and 2016.”

“Some of the jurors who imposed the death penalty on Charles Rhines, who was convicted of murder, have said they thought the alternative — a life sentence served in a men’s prison — was something he would enjoy as a gay man.” This one has turned up some awful comments about “well, he deserved the death penalty, regardless of how he got it.” No. Stop. You really think this problem will only affect “the bad ones” and leave “the good ones” alone? Because that’s Not How It Works. See previous link. Or, alternately, all of history.

Monday Works Roundup, 8/6 – Rainbow Six, Sailor Moon, Tokyo Ghoul, and more August 6, 2018

Posted by Erin Ptah in But I'm A Cat Person, Leif & Thorn, Works Roundup.
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But I’m A Cat Person
Wolf of State Street (art | Ilsa | worksafe)
I Am Not Free While Any Woman Is Unfree (cover art | Sparrow, Emma/Bianca, Cybele, Miranda, Walker | worksafe)
Sparrow as Thirteen (sketch | Sparrow | worksafe)

Leif & Thorn
Bramble and the Kids (art | Bram, kids | worksafe)
Grandma Clover (art | Clover/Plum, Leif/Thorn, baby | worksafe)
Rapier Hearts (wallpaper | Quince, Birch | worksafe)

Rainbow Six
Twitch (chibi | Twitch, robot | worksafe)

Sailor Moon
Dwarf Planet Fuku Swap (art | Pluto, Ceres | worksafe)

Tokyo Ghoul
I could just eat you up (sketch | Furuta/Rize | worksafe)

General/Miscellaneous
Chibi Cress (reward chibi, worksafe)
Webcomic Woes #20 – Confidence, how does it work (comic, G)
Transgender flag stamp – base (stamp)
Intersex flag stamp – base (stamp)
Chibi Lucca (reward chibi, worksafe)

This Week in But I’m A Cat Person:
Sparrow does her first successful sigil-whammy.

This Week in Leif & Thorn:
Ragnild and Iona ponder the age-old question: if everyone else was jumping off a balcony, would you do it?