Mandi

Titles

• My first title, "we get better" (hover: "we get things wrong and we get better"), is part of a quote from my favorite audio drama, Wolf 359. The episode that this quote comes from focuses heavily on mental illness (albeit from a unique and unconventional perspective), with one character wrestling with her demons while the other attempts to help. When the main character asks why memories can give her fears and insecurities and weaknesses, the supportive character responds, "Because you're a person. [...] No one expects perfection. That's never been the point. You're here to [...] have your own opinions, and your own unique perspective. And that means you're going to be wrong sometimes. That's the price." As the episode progresses, the supportive character later expands on this thought by saying, "That's the other thing about being a person. We can't just change who we are... but we get better. We get things wrong and we get better."
• My second title, "MEMORIA" (hover: "how we gentle our losses into paler ghosts"), comes from two sources. Memoria is the title of an episode from Wolf 359 (this is the same episode, in fact, where the quote in my first title comes from). The quote in the hovertext is from a novel by Peter Heller called The Dog Stars, which follows the tale of a man and his dog trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. My interpretation of this quote, which is preceded by the main character musing how certain moments in the past can start to feel like dreams behind dreams, is this: living and time can soothe the ache of grief into something less vivid, less noticeable, and allow us to better carry the memories of those loved ones who we have lost nearer within us. I read this book for the first time with my heart-dog, Snuggs, nestled next to me. When I re-read it half a year after his death, in part to feel close to him again, this quote spoke volumes to me.

Icons

• - This little golden key is given to 'Souls Moderators to identify them as such. I've been a part of the mod squad since 2016. If there's something you need help with, let me know!
• - I have been awarded Community Soul individually twice: first in August of 2015 and again in January of 2018. In September 2020, Community Soul was shared among the Staff. <333
• - Milos was awarded Spotlight Soul in February of 2019. <3
• - Since joining 'Souls in 2014, I have participated in Souls Super Writing Month (SoSuWriMo) and smashed it every year! Due to increasing RL demands, however, 2019 was my last year participating seriously.
• - Of all my pixels, this is the most personal of them. Since reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy way back in the late 90s, I have been enamored by the idea of Dæmons and have spent a good, long while trying to identify mine. In fact, he had a name (Sabicus) long before he had a shape. For the past few years, I've found that the Malayan Civet seems to be my closest match, although I'm currently exploring the Grey Fox as a possibility. If you'd like a fantastic resource for helping you identify your dæmon, The Dæmon Page is phenomenal!
• - This is the Black Rabbit of Inlé, a grim reaper-type deity from Richard Adams' novel Watership Down. I first read this book in the late 90s or early 00s and it was one of the first books I can remember genuinely being sad to complete. I didn't want it to end so much that I started looking online for WSD communities and eventually stumbled upon the very first PBP RPG I ever joined: Nepenthes Warren. I credit Watership Down and Nepenthes with my continued interest and enjoyment in writing today, so Inlé-rah is my tribute to that!