laterinthenight

[laterinthenight]

i'm not "undiagnosed" i'm largely headcanoned as neurodivergent but with no confirmation in canon. i hear a showrunner said something at a panel last year but it hasnt been leaked on youtube yet.

[laterinthenight]

scientists are in labs right now creating the thinnest and worst material known to mankind so they can make women’s clothing

[laterinthenight]

"You can say that [orangutans] are not dependent on social support and approval, and if you admire this in them, that an orang is irredeemably his own person, 'the most poetic of the apes', researcher Lynn Miles told me once in an unguarded moments. What she had in mind was the difference between orangs and chimps in the way they carry on their discourse with the world.

Chimps are much admired for their tool use and for their problem-solving relationship with things as they find them...the orang is, let us say, not so replete with enterprise. Give an orangutan the hexagonal peg and the several shapes of hole, and then hide behind the two-way mirror and watch how he engages with the problem.

And watch and watch and watch--because he does not engage with the problem. He uses the peg to scratch his back, has a look-see at his right wrist, makes a half-hearted and soon abandoned attempt to use his fur as a macramé project, stares dreamily out the window if there is one and at nothing in particular if not, and the sun begins to set. (The sun will also set if you are observing a chimp, but the chimp is more amusing, so you are less likely to mark the moment in your notes. An orang observer has plenty of time to be a student of the vanities of sunset.)

You watch, and the orang dreams...when casually and as if thinking of something else, the orang slips the hexagonal peg into the hexagonal hole. And continues staring off dreamily."

Vicki Hearne, "The Case of the Disobedient Orangutans"

[laterinthenight]

You guys do know you're supposed to reblog things, right

[laterinthenight]

[laterinthenight]

Friends, A grassroots movement is calling on all Americans to abstain from shopping with major retailers — including Amazon — tomorrow, February 28, as part of an “economic blackout.” The purpose is to send a clear message: We have the power. We don’t have to accept corporate monopolies. We don’t have to live with corporate money corrupting our politics. We don’t have to accept more tax cuts for billionaires. We don’t have to pay more of our hard-earned cash to Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg or the other billionaire oligarchs. We don’t have to reward corporations that have abandoned their DEI policies to align themselves with Trump’s racist, homophobic, misogynistic agenda. We have choices. Most Americans are struggling to keep up. Most live from paycheck to paycheck. Most can barely afford housing costs, food prices, and pharmaceuticals — kept high by monopolies, and fueled by private equity. If politicians won’t hear the voices of average Americans who are being shafted by corporate America, we have to deliver our message to corporate America directly. From midnight tonight to midnight Friday night, please: No Amazon, no Walmart, no Best Buy, no Target, no Disney, no Google, no Facebook. Don’t spend on fast food, major retailers, or gas. Avoid using credit or debit cards to make nonessential purchases. Buy essentials such as medicine, food, and emergency supplies, of course, but make those purchases at small, local businesses. Consider this a test run. If lots of people participate, I’m sure a longer one will be organized. (Tomorrow’s economic blackout is an initiative of The People’s Union USA, which describes itself as a “grassroots movement dedicated to economic resistance, government accountability, and corporate reform.”)' I hope you'll join. What do you think?

[laterinthenight]

Literally where would be as a society without the soup store video

[laterinthenight]

rb for sample size

[laterinthenight]

cats would be so fucking upset if they understood they were missing out on the ability to lie verbally

[laterinthenight]

hese Hyalophora cecropia are the largest moths found in North America

[laterinthenight]

I want more female characters who are just so bad at comforting others. Not for lack of trying or caring, they just get so so awkward when someone's upset, and they try to repeat things they've heard even if it doesn't necessarily apply to the situation, or they accidentally say the wrong thing and make it worse. If someone cries they panic and throw every single comfort technique down at once and it only helps because it's such bizarre behaviour

[laterinthenight]

This counts as vent art.

[laterinthenight]

love the CC function on emails. "you should know about this but you don't have to take care of it."

[laterinthenight]

Intentions - Part 10 (Khravel x Taliyra)

alien romance breeding alien x human

Summary: In the future, humans are nearly universal surrogates and Earth has taken to profiting off the ability. However, while humans can intermix with aliens, it doesn’t mean it’s without complications.

When Taliyra signed up to be a Companion to an alien, she had expectations. Mainly a lot of sex in an attempt to conceive an alien baby. What she didn’t expect was her counterpart to be so distant and - for lack of a better term - relatively hands off. For all intents and purposes, Khravel seems completely disinterested in her and will not hold a discussion to explain why.

After four months of this behavior, she’s had enough. Confronting Khravel, she gives him an ultimatum: either he sits down and talks with her about what the problem is or she’s going back to Proxypanion and requesting a transfer.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Part 1 | Master List | Part 9

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Three days passed with no sign of Taliyra. She didn’t come to visit him in his offices nor did she try contacting him over communique. Whenever he thought about the situation, Khravel wasn’t sure what to do. She had seemed upset at the conclusion of their last liaison, but he still didn’t understand why. He had carnally served her then fulfilled the needed steps for potential reproduction.

Of course, he wasn’t that dense. Part of him knew what she wanted and knew he had failed to give her that. Considering what was at risk – her very physicality – if he caved, Khravel hardly felt bad for his actions.

It seemed prudent to wait until she contacted him.

However, the longer he waited, the more he pushed the bounds of the Companion contract. By day seven, Khravel found himself at Taliyra’s door, bag of gifts in hand, buzzing for entrance. He swallowed against the throbbing beat of his pulse, the itch of anxiety crawling over his arms.

He wondered if Taliyra would be pleased with the gifts he gathered for her. The first thing he’d gotten was a pair of shorts he had bought to replace the ones he’d ruined. Then, after much discussion with colleagues, he added a mix of Tivikonian and Terran sweets, a small wheurga plant that would blossom with fruit, and a collection of Tivikonian plays to be uploaded onto her gauntlet.

Then the largest concession: a booklet detailing upcoming events – some of which tied into the collection of plays he had gifted her – with a note for her to choose some and he would try to attend with her.

Anxiety started to claw down his spine the longer he waited for Taliyra to open her door. Surely, she’d be in. It was evening and she never risked missing their meetings before.

“You two really didn’t need to walk me to my door.” Khravel perked up, hearing Taliyra in the complete opposite direction he presumed she’d be. He turned to face the hall just as she rounded the corner, trailed by Delegate Yivo and his Companion, Laryse. The two wore matching blue outfits, Yivo with a bodysuit and white jacket while Laryse donned a similarly blue dress.

Khravel’s gaze didn’t linger on the other two very long. Unlike Yivo and Laryse, Taliyra wore an opaque deep reddish-magenta bodysuit with a semi-sheer long crimson jacket. Her braided hair was piled atop her head, threaded with red beads, and dangling metallic earrings hung from her lobes, catching the light as they spun.

For a brief second, her eyes widened as she caught Khravel standing at her door. He was the last person she expected to see, but she supposed quite a lot of time had passed. Trying to hide her surprise from Ghensil and Laryse, she smiled. “Oh, hello. I didn’t expect you tonight.”

“Yes, I brought you some things.” Khravel couldn’t help glancing to Yivo, not quite sure what was going on. There was nothing in the ProxyPanion contract that said Companions could not hang out with each other, with or without their contract holders present. His colleague flashed a pleasant look toward him, apparently unaware of the clash of feelings roiling inside Khravel.

Taliyra’s eyebrows quirked up in surprise when Khravel mentioned bringing her some things. He was not one to give her gifts.

Laryse glanced from Taliyra to the Tivikonians, quietly assessing the situation. Soon enough, she wrapped her arm around one of Ghensil’s lower arms, gently tugging him away from the other two. “Well, we should take our leave so you two can enjoy the rest of the evening.”

“Good night, Tali. Maybe Iedro should join us next time!” Khravel watched silently as the ever-cheerful Yivo nodded to him and waved to ‘Tali.’ It took all of his self-discipline to not balk at the pet name. Had Taliyra given him permission to use a nickname? Or had Yivo merely taken it upon himself to assign her one? He was rather terrible about personal boundaries.  

“You two have a good night.” Taliyra nodded to the two, watching them retreat down the hall and around a corner. A small part of her felt left alone to fend off a beast. She wasn’t sure what to do with herself once the silence settled over the hall.

“I wanted to make up for upsetting you last time.” Khravel lifted up the bag again, explaining his intentions while being left to languish in the quiet. His eyes unable to meet hers as he shifted awkwardly on his feet, casting a look at the wall opposite of him.

“Ah,” was all Taliyra could bring herself to say as she moved toward her door. Waving her gauntlet in front of the console, she stepped in and motioned for Khravel to follow.

This had been a moment she had been dreading. After she had time to think over their last meeting, she had come to a decision. It wasn’t one she wanted to land on. It clashed against her desire to do her job and her intrigue of Khravel as a whole. However, his actions made his own sentiments clear enough to her.

As the lights bled on, she kicked off her heeled boots, settling them onto a laminated section by her front door before moving further into the living space. She managed to get beside the couch when Khravel approached. Once again, he lifted the bag, proffering her gifts. Taliyra eyed it warily, as if it would bite her, before accepting it from him.

Settling herself down on the couch, she started to slowly unload the items onto the coffee table. As she did, Khravel dropped to his knee next to her, uncharacteristically babbling as he pointed to the items in turn. “There’s new shorts, to replace the old ones I ripped, and some popular treats in there. Well, I’m told those are popular Terran treats, but I am not really sure. I also got you a plant and a selections of plays that–“

Taliyra couldn’t focus on what he was saying. Her eyes just flickered over the gifts, wanting to feel happy he’d gone to such lengths but unable to find the emotion. Shaking her head, she held up her hand. “Stop.”

Khravel’s head snapped toward her so fast, Taliyra flinched. His ramrod straight posture slunk lower, his red eyes widening as he tried to seek out the problem. A frown curved across her lips, her expression pinched and strained. He glanced back to the goodies he got for her, frowning and wondering where he had messed up.

Silently, she watched him. He was trying to understand what was lacking with what he brought. In her lap, Taliyra grasped her hands together tighter, a swarm of confusion feelings warring in her chest. She had made a choice earlier and needed to see I through.

“After spending time with Laryse and Ghensil, I’ve decided to give you what you want,” she started softly, her eyes focusing on her own flexing hands in her lap. From her periphery, she saw Khravel turn his head slowly toward her, could feel his red eyes on her skin. “I’ll notate that you’ve come around every few days, regardless of the reality. You can carry on as you want and Tivik-4 will retain good relations with ProxyPanion.”

It had been a hard pill for Taliyra to choke down, but seeing how easy the other two operated just affirmed her dread. She and Khravel were ill-matched and it didn’t make sense to push him. Avry had been the first Companion and he was still hung up on what happened with them. He had his reasons and he was concerned for the state of relations between his people and ProxyPanion. They were admirable concerns.

“I see. I’m glad you have come to understand my side of things,” Khravel heard himself say, his tone crisp as if he were speaking to a colleague. Something inside him cramped and felt as if it were withering. Nervously, he got to his feet in an attempt to ease the sudden burst of prickling energy inside his veins.

He didn’t want her to distance herself so entirely, but did he really have a right to say so after he himself had placed the boundaries?

It took all of Taliyra’s determination to look up at him, meet his gaze head on, and cooly reply, “Of course, Delegate Iedro.”

Khravel froze at her tone, the smoothness of her voice. She was distancing herself, far more than he had seen her do. He liked that even less and his mind raced around potential solutions. No reasonable answer landed in his mind.

When the silence stretched on beyond politeness, Taliyra cleared her throat and stood. Raising her hand toward the front door, she managed to shoot a wobbly smile in Khravel’s direction. “If you don’t mind, it’s been a long day and I’d like to get some rest.”

Frozen, he stared at her for a half-beat, blinking as her words forced their way through his brain. She was dismissing him. She had never dismissed him.

Pulling himself up to his full height, Khravel steeled his spine. Well, that was it. She asked him to leave and he would do just that. Stiffly, he nodded his head to her. “Rest well, Ms. Deyva.”

Before he turned around, he was meanly glad to see a stricken look pass Taliyra’s face similar to the feeling he felt when she called him ‘Delegate Iedro.’

◯  ◯  ◯

Another week passed. Then two. Other than occasionally visiting Taliyra so she wouldn’t have to lie completely, Khravel had not touched her again. He supposed, even though she hadn’t said as much, Ghensil had taken over that part of the contract.

It didn’t matter. As long as the Tivikonian’s managed to fluff their population numbers, it didn’t matter who impregnated whom. Many ProxyPanions were often shared, as was. This was not atypical and Ghensil Yivo was a caring male. And apparently one better suited in size for humans, Khravel bitterly thought.

Still, hard-to-label aggravation clawed through him whenever he thought about the whole situation. As he was wont to do, he ignored it completely and focused on work. There was always so much to do.

He was up to his upper elbows in work, reviewing documentation on new legislation and rewording it to be better understood, when Mx. E’verra burst into his office.

“Delegate Iedro!” They scrambled over to his desk, slamming two hands down on the surface. Their eyes were wild, skin a pallid, and everything about them seemed to be in disarray.

Before Khravel could address Mx. E’verra, they burbled out breathlessly, “Delegate Yivo and Ms. Rena have been taken hostage! Ms. Deyva was with them!”

Khravel did not remember much after that, except for his vision going red.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Need more Khravel and Taliyra?

Parts 11 and 12 are live on my Patreon. :3

[laterinthenight]

MØUSE マウス (2003)

[laterinthenight]

in an ideal world i would have 8 beverages with me at all times and i would just be able to pull them out of my pocket like an animal crossing character