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Word of the Day:
"Tolkien's Gun" - An object within a work of fiction which is described in exhaustive detail but which is ultimately of little significance to the plot.
Usage: "Oh, I guess that candlestick was a bit of a Tolkien's Gun."
As we're only a few hours away from the summer solstice, have some photos from the 2007 solstice (exactly 18 years ago, yikes) when I went, with a couple of friends, to fursuit at Stonehenge for the summer solstice. (The girl in pink with us in several of the photos was not anyone I knew — she just… adopted us as her furry solstice friends or something!)
I want to go back someday, assuming they're still doing the solstice night/morning open event.
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=8172615%40N02&tags=kelsey+stonehenge
There are few things more wholesome and sweet than being there for a friend during one their first times fursuiting.
💛 @azakir
🐺 Dimitrius
📷 Rattie
⌚ #FursuitFriday
‘A recent study estimated that 80% of UK homes overheat in the summer.’
A throwaway line in this piece warning us of the dangers posed by 32C heat this weekend in the UK and the fact it’s been directly caused by burning #FossilFuels.
But seriously, our homes are where we retreat in this heat…but there is no escape when they are so poorly insulted, ventilated and shaded from the sun.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/20/england-weekend-heatwave-worse-climate-crisis
High temperatures likely to cause deaths and will worsen in future as global heating intensifies, scientists warnDamian Carrington (The Guardian)
Oliver and Elliot
Part of an art trade with the amazing Mudkipper, during an art jam at FWA, taking his color markers because I hadn't brought my own.
His characters are so cute, aaah!!
"I worry about the prince," the king said.
"What is the issue?" said the witch.
"We held balls with all eligible ladies, but he found none. So we held tourneys, with all eligible knights. Still none."
"There are those who seek none."
"So none can turn his head?"
"Perhaps. Ask him."
"Amazing!"
@aurakle Fairy tales usually operate on a love-at-first-sight principle, with no requirement for realism.
I wrote this after recalling ace friends rolling their eyes at how some "gay accepting" people are unaware of or even denying the existence of ace/aro people.
I have had basically this conversation with most of the people I consider close to me over the past few months…we all agree with Snoopy regardless of age and previous political persuasion…
Snoopy says: “Stop shaming the POOR for buying things that might not be necessary, and start shaming the RICH from profiteering off everything that is essential”
#Inequality
#WealthGap
#Privatisation
#EatTheRich
This cartoon obviously struck a chord with me, despite its dubious creation.
I am stunned at how it spoke to so many others here.
A raccoon peeking out from a tree.
A little painting like this is the most honest thing I can do. Not for anyone else, not even for an audience, just for the part of me that still needs to say “this is how I see the world.”
Creating used to be play. Then it became survival. Now, I’m still figuring out what it is, but I know I still need it. To breathe. To speak. To be.
This was done during an art jam with friends at a coffee shop.
Traditional. Acrylics.
This piece will be exhibited at the Anthrocon's Art Show.
I had previously bought a frame at IKEA, just to see what I could make fit in it, so I painted this exactly to size.
Well... that was a big order!
Good thing Marauder was around to help the waiter raccoon.
Continuation of the piece "That's a Big Order!", that was originally in crayons over a Denny's tablecloth.
This pic is for Marauder, color pencils over mix media paper.
Adam Curtis, "Hypernormalization", 2016Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thLgkQBFTPw, 27/10/2020George Dunlop, "ELIZA: a very basic Rogerian psy...YouTube
2FA using a mobile phone as the second factor sucks.
Yesterday, the phone's battery went flat and I couldn't log into anything.
Today the phone wants to do a massive update of the OS (and, from the snail-like speed, firmware) and I cannot log into anything.
Contrast to other systems to which I need to connect that accept a code from a device that plugs into a USB port but also supports NFC, on which I need to press a button.
What really stuck out for me at #CambridgePride this weekend wasn't the shows, the banners, or the hot topless guys. It was a group of kids in their v early teens. One of them had a masc body type but was wearing a very fem chiffon blouse thing over a tight vest: possibly just going for a femboy look, or maybe dressing as their preferred gender. (The outfit looked more like the latter but I don't want to assume, especially in the setting!) They looked a bit flustered but happy enough to be dressed like that among a (mixed but all cis looking) group of peers. And as it's Pride, I wondered if it might be their first time dressing that way. Either way, I hope they learned that day whether they liked it or not.
Even among an atmosphere of campaigning, protesting, and supporting, it was the most wholesome thing I saw that day, and it gave me hope. Do what you like, transphobes. You're too late, the kids already know how to be true to themselves.
"Bajo el Cielo de Verano"
El sol comenzaba a caer, tiñendo el cielo con tonos dorados y anaranjados. El campo, cubierto de pasto fresco y flores silvestres, parecía suspirar con la brisa suave de la tarde, como si supiera que aquel momento era especial. Sentados entre las sombras de unas hojas, dos figuras peludas compartían risas y miradas cómplices. El azul de uno contrastaba con el rojo intenso del otro, pero entre ellos no había diferencias: solo calidez, cariño y una conexión que iba más allá de las palabras y más allá de una simple amistad.
---
"Under the Summer Sky"
The sun was beginning to set, dyeing the sky shades of gold and orange. The field, covered in fresh grass and wildflowers, seemed to sigh in the gentle evening breeze, as if it knew this moment was special. Sitting among the shadows of some leaves, two furry figures shared laughter and knowing glances. The blue of one contrasted with the intense red of the other, but there was no difference between them: only warmth, affection, and a connection that went beyond words and beyond simple friendship.
Original written in Spanish by SgtoChera.
Picture inspired in a real place and a real moment.
Picture for Sgto Chera and Sinh the Husky
Result of a charity auction commission, where the funds were donated to the Mexican Bat Conservation Program (PCMM for its initials in Spanish) (https://bioconciencia.org.mx/nosotros/) , charity auction organized by Confuror in their 2024 edition.
Digital. Procreate.
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You can watch the short time-lapse process video, shown on the first comment of this submission on my Telegram art channel: https://t.me/panda_paco
You can watch the full time-lapse video, download the high resolution, see the WIPs I was doing of this drawing, WIPs of drawings I haven't shared yet, and even finished drawings I haven't shared on my galleries. At supporting me on Patreon or Ko-Fi, that also helps me to keep working on art.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/pandapaco
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/panda_paco
Thank you!
I have grave doubts...but that was kind of more fun than I expected it to be.
https://youtu.be/ZNJr59zY_z8?si=BalBDc_FRxZ1nIvM
Check out the official trailer for The Naked Gun! In theaters August 1, 2025.Only one man has the particular set of skills... to lead Police Squad and save t...YouTube
"May I have your name?" the faerie said.
"William," she said with a smile.
"Ah ah!" The faerie gave a wicked laugh. "I have your name! Now no-one will call you by it!"
"Thank you," she said.
"To win it back, you must- what?"
"I will find me a new one," she said, "one that suits me better."
ahh that's perhaps not as bad as I feared it may have been...
I've honestly hated having to say I need communication like this, and sadly I've had to be extremely forceful in some circumstances - just to get communication in a format that is accessible for me.
Sadly it's had consequences too - for example, one credit card company offered an interest free repayment plan... Really cool huh? Well... Only if you phoned them... I couldn't email and ask for it, I couldn't even do snail mail....
So I complained to them, got nowhere, had to go to the Ombudsman not one, or twice, three times!!
All occasions they ruled in my favour... I got a small amount of compensation, but still not the same thing they offered people without a disability.
The end result was they terminated my account. Presumably because people like me are not worth the effort... 😞
I think my aspie brain struggles with injustice, especially when I've experienced it myself, so always encourage people to stand up for their rights!
Anyhow, apologies if I was projecting a bit!
‘#NoKings organisers have released an estimate of the turnout for today’s protests, saying the day’s events have drawn several million people so far. Several hundred demonstrations are still under way.
Protests were held at about 2,100 locations nationwide, in all 50 states and in some cities abroad.’
How many other news outlets are reporting the scale of this protest?
Millions show up to thousands of anti-Trump demonstrations despite killings in Minnesota; Virginia and San Francisco report vehicles driving into crowdsLuke Jacobs (The Guardian)
"This again?" the dragon said. "It's been just a few centuries since the last time.'
"Please," the knight said.
"I asked you to make sure you had a way of getting rid of bad kings yourself, before you made any new ones."
"We didn't understand we made a king."
"You are such fools. Very well."
I honestly believe that this is the best talk that I've ever given on secure by design, and all it took was a non-nuclear audience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Y1OBsqlFM&ab_channel=NetUK
Speaker: Rob Barnes (Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd)https://indico.netuk.org/e/netuk1The UK has a long nuclear history stretching back to the late 1940s, when the world...YouTube
Now Rudie is the floor, and Afi is victorious.
Light as a feather, smug as a champion, and absolutely not moving anytime soon.
Drawing for Ironwolf, including Rudie the hyena and Afi the dragon.
Digital. Procreate. Taken at TFF but done during the flight back.
And since I did it on Procreate, you can see the short video process on my Telegram art channel: https://t.me/panda_paco
(Hey, psst, you can watch the whole video, download the full resolution, and see pictures before I post them on my galleries!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/pandapaco
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/panda_paco
Thanks a lot for your support!)
If you're a Windows user, the writing is on the wall. It's time to start learning other operating systems and looking at other options for your main OS before changing goes from an option, to a necessity.
Microsoft won't fall tomorrow, but they're already showing signs of a relatively swift decline.
https://youtu.be/01Hee3AXbLg?si=cYYzG8SSyFPjybWZ
Microsoft has just sped up the decline of Windows and this is the current state with options other than Windows.►► Digital Downloads ➜ https://www.cttstore.c...YouTube
I fiiiiinally got myself together enough to actually phone the motorbike service place near Guildford and ask them stuff. My bike's chain almost certainly needs replacing, along with the sprockets, because it has a few stiff links that, while I thought I'd managed to free them up, still seem to be making it very hard (nigh impossible) to adjust the chain properly. The left fork oil seal has just slightly started leaking so that needs doing, and they suggested replacing both at the same time, which makes sense - both would be around the same age, after all. And the front tyre is near the limit.
The place near Guildford can do all these things, and I've been there before to have tyres replaced (as that seems to be their speciality) (and also they give IAM members a discount) but, once I'd reached the end of my list, the guy did ask how much the bike was worth, presumably with the suggestion that it might actually be better to replace it than get it fixed. And now I don't know what to do.
I don't want to start bike-shopping at this point - I like my SV and have always assumed I'll stick with it until I can afford to switch to an electric motorbike. I don't want to spend lots of money, but I do want to get the bike roadworthy again. Ugh. Maybe I should phone other places and ask them the same things and see if I get different answers. But I also don't want to have to make yet more phone calls. Hmmmm.
