#Either way activity will be increased on here next week

[xxlordalexanderxx]

I got a handful of older threads I do intend to answer I'm just working on wrapping up the last of my freelance work for the remainder of this week and by Tuesday I'll be more active til mid-August. I'll be taking a good chunk of the summer off. Til then I'm just favoring either small interactions or what I got muse for.

[morganski-19]

part 1, part 2

Dustin visits the next day, sitting next to Wayne with the same book he’s had for the past few days. Turning to the page that was dog-eared, reading. Voices and all. Just like Eddie does when he’s practicing for one of those campaigns. Claiming that it’s better to get it down with someone else’s words so he can improvise. So he doesn’t have to memorize some script and can be in the moment. Let his mind do the workings along with the players. 

It’s one of the many parts of Eddie that Wayne sees in this kid. The dramatics, the drive. The snobbiness about certain things that don’t really matter to the rest of the world. But it matters to them, so it matters to the people who care about them too. 

If Eddie were awake, he might yell at the kid for turning the corner of a page instead of using a bookmark. Even though all the books he gets are second-hand and already torn and bent in all sorts of ways. But it’s about keeping the art pristine. The author put their heart and soul into this work, it’s not meant to be sullied. Wayne saw Eddie bend the corner of a page a million times over though, he just likes making a big stink about nothing. Just to get a rise out of people, make them laugh. Wayne can imagine that Eddie liked to make Dustin laugh a lot. 

“Have the doctors said anything new?” Dustin asks after finishing the chapter. 

Wayne shakes his head. “Same old, same old. Don’t worry about it too much though, he wouldn’t want you to.”

“He wouldn’t want a lot of the things that happened over the past week. So he’ll have to deal with it.” After a pause, he asks, “How are you doing?”

That makes Wayne laugh. “You don’t have to go worryin’ about me either. You’re just a kid.”

“And you’re just a man waiting for your kid to wake up. The same way I’m waiting for my friend to wake up. At the end of the day, we’re all still people. That sometimes need a break. So, how are you doing?”

It’s scary how much Wayne sees Eddie in this kid. “It’s hard comin’ here to hear the same thing every day.” That’s all Wayne’s willing to say to a kid. 

Hard is definitely a word most people would use to describe his situation. Difficult, disheartening. Maybe even hopeless. But there’s still some hope in this old heart that keeps Wayne coming back day in and day out. Keeps him moving while only getting a few hours of sleep a day. Cause as soon as the night comes around, it’s right back to the plant. Making the money to pay for the care his boy needs to keep living. To pay for the roof over his own head enough so he’ll live to see it happen. 

Truth is, Wayne’s dying here. From the fatigue. From the endless waiting. From the slowly draining pool of hope. Nothing seems to change. Nothing gets better. Six days in a medically induced coma with no hopes of ever waking up. Wayne’s not dumb enough to think that the chances increase the more days pass without him showing any signs of improvement. 

Part of him says that this is the state Eddie will be in for the rest of his life. Wonders if it’s worth all of this just to keep him alive. If he’s really suffering in there and would be better off resting forever. But then the heart monitor keeps beeping and his brain is still active. Wayne’s boy is still in there, he’ll come back soon. 

“Yeah, I bet that’s hard. I still have hope though, I was there when he came in. He looks a lot better now.”

There’s a knock on the door that keeps Wayne from responding. It’s the Harrington boy, in normal clothes this time. Discharged. 

“Sorry to interrupt but your mom said it’s time to go home.”

Dustin dramatically rolls his eyes. “Which one, my actual mother or you?”

“Your actual mother, but I happen to agree with her. Come on, you got school in the morning.” Harrington crosses his arms, looking like he’s ready to start a standoff. 

But instead of fighting Dustin stands. “Have a good night Mr. Munson. I’ll still try to visit as much as I can even though school’s starting back up again.”

“Thanks, kid, I’ll try.”

Harrington ruffles Dustin’s hair as he walks out the doorway. Standing there for a beat before turning back to Wayne. “We’ve never officially met, I’m Steve.”

Steve holds out his hand, waiting for Wayne to shake it. Wayne debates whether that’s a good idea or not. Apparently, it takes too long as Steve returns his hand to his side. 

“I wanted to apologize for the scene I made the other day, you didn’t deserve that. I was just so shocked that they actually cuffed him to the bed. Still have him cuffed to the bed.” Steve looks at Eddie with a guilt that Wayne doesn’t understand. Like he’s the reason Eddie’s strapped to the bed. 

Wayne continues to say nothing, not quite sure what would be appropriate. Tell him that it’s ok, that it didn’t bother him. Or thank him for believing that Wayne knew was true. That his boy was innocent. 

There was more to this story than he knew. Something to do with the kid being there and the rich boy standing in the doorway looking like this is all his fault. When Wayne knows the same scars mark Steve just as much as they do Eddie. Steve made sure that everyone knew that. Using it as proof that Steve was there, and that Eddie was innocent. 

Steve was ready to offer himself up as a witness for a man that the town hates. Wayne should be grateful for that, but it doesn’t seem right. They were part of different worlds. Different status, interests. It didn’t make sense for them to be in the same place at all. Yet here they are supposedly having gone through the same vicious attack. 

“Let me know if you need anything,” Steve continues when Wayne stays silent. “I’m more than happy to help out. Eddie was kind of a new friend and I hate seeing him like this as much as you do.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Wayne snaps. He hates charity, especially from this kid. For some reason he doesn’t really understand why. 

Steve is taken aback. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend.”

“I’m sure you didn’t, but you did. I know my boy and I know how my boy thinks about people like you. So don’t go ‘round gaining sympathy points from the real people who are suffering.”

“I, I wasn’t,” Steve stammers. “I would never.”

“Steve,” Dustin yells. “Get your ass moving, we’re your ride too.”

Steve sighs. “Coming, Jesus. I’m sorry for offending you. I won’t bother you again.”

Wayne shakes his head when Steve leaves, letting out a deep sigh. Maybe he was too harsh, maybe he wasn’t harsh enough. He’s not sure. 

He’s not sure about a lot of things anymore.

part 4

tag list, let me know if you want to be added or removed: @the-they-who-nerded, @insteviewetrust, @croatoan-like-its-hot, @jettestar, @tinyplanet95, @steddie-as-they-go, @slv-333, @littlecelestialmoth, @thatonebadideapanda, @fandomsanddeath, @marismorar, @wonderland-girl143-blog, @glass-bottle03, @gutterflower77, @here4thetrama, @goodolefashionedloverboi, @jaytriesstuff, @cryptid-system, @manda-panda-monium, @resident-gay-bitch, @anaibis, @xxsutherlandxx, @forevermineliv, @mugloversonly, @gregre369, @n0-1-important, @different-tale-student, @spectrum-spectre, @tartarusknight, @devondepresso, @swimmingbirdrunningrock, @cheertain, @anti-ozzie, @autumncrocusandladybug, @greeniebean911, @cr0w-culture, @stillfullofshit, @connected-dots, @daisynotquake, @morgannotlefay, @a-little-unsteddie, @dolphincliffs,

[anipgarden]

Un-Actions, or Restriction of Activities

This is my first post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps! 

There’s a good handful of ways you can help increase biodiversity in your yard that don’t require buying things--in fact, these may actually help you save money in the long run! They may seem small and simple, but every bit counts! Whether you can do these in totality, or just limit how often you do these actions, it’ll make a difference.

Not Mowing, or Mowing Less Often

Turf grass lawns are considered a monoculture, meaning they don’t provide much opportunity for insects to find habitat--so few other creatures find them enjoyable either. An expanse of turf grass is, in many ways, a barren wasteland in the eyes of wildlife--too exposed to cross, with few to no opportunities for food or shelter, leaving them exposed to blazing hot sun, freezing cold, or any predators that may be lurking nearby. A place to be avoided. The simple act of letting your grass grow unbothered gives a chance for wildflowers to grow, and for your grass to grow taller--providing more habitat for insects, which then provides more habitat to birds and other creatures that feed on said insects. Wildlife want nothing more than to skirt by unnoticed, so even leaving the grass tall along the edges of a fence or yard can help a little. Even restricting mowing to every other week, or at a higher blade setting, can be a huge help. If HOAs or city ordinances are fussy about lawn length in the front yard, you can likely still keep grass higher in the backyard. Or, you can create a ‘feature’ where grass is allowed to grow long in a specific area. If it looks purposeful, people are more likely to accept it. Not mowing under trees or close to shrubs not only leaves space for wildflowers to grow, but also means you don’t have to deal with mowing over bumpy roots and other difficulties. Cutting different areas at different times can be an option for letting grass grow long in some areas while still having available places for play and entertainment. I’ve seen some people plant flower bulbs when pulling up weeds, so in the future they'll bloom in early spring before mowing is usually necessary. This could be another fun way of adding biodiversity to a lawn without--or before you--begin mowing in spring.

Not worrying about mowing, or doing it less often, saves you in time, money, and energy. You won’t have to buy as much gasoline for your mower, and Saturday afternoons can be free to be enjoyed in other ways aside from being sticky and sweaty and covered in grass stains. In addition, you’ll likely be lowering your own carbon emissions!

If you do have to mow your lawn, I’ve got ways you can use your grass clippings to boost biodiversity later in the post series!

Not using pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc.

One of the next-biggest non-actions you can do asides from not mowing is using fewer fewer to no herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides in your yard. This’ll easily allow for more biodiversity. Allowing more insects and a wide array of plants to thrive will feed back into the entire food chain in your area. In addition, these types of chemicals have been tied to algae blooms, death of beneficial insects, harm to birds, fish, and even humans. Soil is supposed to be full of fungi, especially fungal mycelium that essentially acts as a network for plants to communicate, share nutrients, and support each other--fungicide kills that, and typically makes all other lawn problems even worse in a negative feedback loop. It may take awhile to see the benefits of avoiding these chemicals, but once you see it, it really is astounding.

However! I can’t lie and say that there haven’t been points where I needed to use pesticides at some points in my gardening journey. In these cases, try to use products that are organic--like diatomaceous earth, neem oil, etc--and use them accurately, correctly, and sparingly. Follow instructions on how to apply them safely and responsibly--for example, on non-windy days and during times when bees and other pollinators aren’t likely to be out and about. With some pests (read: oleander aphids, in my experience), a simple jetstream of water is enough to force them off the plant where they’ll be too weak to get back. Eventually, you should have a balanced enough ecosystem that no one insect pest causes a major issue with the work you’re doing to boost biodiversity.

If you can bear to, try handling pests manually. Squishing pest bugs in your hand is a pretty foolproof way to get rid of some problems, or spraying them with a mix of soap and water can do the trick on some insects. Alternatively, picking them off your plants and into a bucket of soapy water is also a valid option. You’ve heard of baptism by fire, now get ready for… baptism by soap?

But also! Try reconsidering what you consider a pest! Tomato hornworms are hated by gardeners, for devouring the foliage of beloved tomato, pepper, and potato plants. But killing the tomato and tobacco hornworm means getting rid of sphinx moths, also known as hummingbird or hawk moths! Hawk moths are vital to the survival of many native plants, and are sometimes even the only species that pollinates them. If you can bear to, consider sacrificing a few tomato plants, or growing a few extras, so we can continue having these beautiful moths for years to come. After all, they may not even do significant damage to the plants!

With that in mind, be friendly to your natural pest managers! Lacewings, ladybugs, praying mantises, wasps, birds, bats, and more will help manage pest populations in your environment! Encourage them by planting things they like, providing habitat, and leaving them be to do their work! Avoiding pesticides helps make your garden a livable environment for them, too!

Letting Weeds Grow

Many of the plants we know as 'weeds' are actually secondary succession species and native wildflowers. Milkweed was regarded as a noxious, annoying weed for a long time, and now people are actively trying to plant them after learning about the important role they play in our environments! Weeds are adapted to take over areas that have been cleared out of other plants after a disaster, so they're doing much of the initial work in making a habitat for other creatures. In fact, many of them will simply die back as the environment repairs itself.

An important thing to note is to please make sure that your ‘weeds’ are not invasive species. Work on learning how to identify native and invasive species in your area, and pull out what’s harmful to leave room for what’s good!

Don’t Rake (Or At Least Don’t Bag Your Leaves)

Many insects overwinter in piles of leaves that we often rake away and bag up in the fall and winter. By doing this, we are actively throwing away the biodiversity of our neighborhoods! If you can, leave the leaves where they fall! 

If you do need to rake, put the leaves in places wildlife can still access it instead of bagging it up. Move your leaves into garden beds to serve as mulch, or along the edge of fences to rest while keeping egg cases and hiding bugs intact and free to release come spring.

Leave Snags Where They Are

Snags are dead trees/dead branches on living trees. They provide an important wildlife habitat--many birds nest in them, or use them to seek cover from rain, and many insects will also live in snags (making them an additional food source for birds and other creatures). Tree cavities are used as nests by hundreds of bird species in the US, and many mammals use them as well, such as bats, squirrels, raccoons, and sometimes even bears. Some trees form cavities while they’re still alive, but in conifers they’re more likely to form after death. Crevices between the trunk of a dead tree and its peeling bark provide sun protection for bats and amphibians, and leafless branches make great perching areas for birds of prey to hunt from above. The decaying wood is home to insects and fungi, who then feed birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.  Do check on the snags regularly to ensure they don’t serve a threat to any nearby structures, but whenever possible, leave them be! 

Keep Your Cat Inside

If you have an outdoor cat, consider making the adjustments to have it be an indoor cat. If you have an indoor cat, keep it as an indoor cat. Free ranging cats impact biodiversity through predation, fear effects, competition for resources, disease, and more. Keeping little Mittens inside does a lot more to help than it may seem from the outside.

That’s the end of this post! My next one’s gonna be on things you can add to your space that aren’t directly related to growing plants. For now, I hope this advice helps! Feel free to reply with any questions, success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in! 

[gisellecnz]

𝐀/𝐧: Okay, first of all—anon, I am SO SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING, I've had a new sy started so I was a little busy..😭😭 and I'm sorry maybe you wanted me to answer your ask directly to the post wherein I publish the fic already, so here's a photo of your ask in a screen shot form. 😭 Also, first would be gojo, and then next is Geto!!

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: gojo x reader

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: gojo took longer than expected to go home so reader is worried, angst to fluff, gojo babying you, fluff at the end

tick, tock, tick, tock

You stared at the clock, watching it tick and tock. It was past twelve, and each second felt like it lasted forever.

Satoru told you that he'd be home around 9 or 10 from his three-week overseas mission today, but there was no sound of keys clanging at the door, nor any update from him telling you that he'd be home in how many minutes left.

A tired sigh left from your lips, your eyelids becoming heavy as you slumped down on the couch that was near the entrance – your worry increasing every second for Satoru.

You grabbed your phone that was sat on the wooden table, turning it on as you checked your lock screen to see if there was any notification from Satoru – still none.

You opened the app where you and Satoru always communicated, whenever you two were separated. Your recent message to him – "Satoru? Are things going okay with the mission? How many hours left till you're home?" – was still left on delivered after 5 hours. It didn't show that he was active either. What was going on? He'd always text you back immediately. That was not exactly like him at all.

Anxiety was growing inside you each and every second you think about Satoru. Did something go wrong on his mission? No, you shouldn't think about that. He's strong—he should be able to survive. But what if he encountered a dangerous cursed relic?

Sigh. Negative thoughts kept filling up your mind, you tried to reassure yourself that everything went fine, but it just couldn't stop to the point it brought you to tears.

After a many minutes later, you heard keys jingling outside, indicating that someone is trying to open the door outside. Was that Satoru?

As the door creaked open, you quickly wiped away your tears and sat up straight, your heart pounding in anticipation.

And there, you saw him. Satoru was standing in the doorway. He looked more worn out than usual but was still unharmed. His hair was slightly tousled, and had dried blood stains on his jacket. You eyes looked down to his hands, which were holding on some sweets and a gift for you.

"Hey," he said softly. He noticed the tired look on your face, and the way your eyes we're wet and slightly puffy. Did you stay up all night for him? He felt bad. He closed the door behind him, and dropped his gifts on the couch beside him.

"Satoru, " you breathed out, relief washing over you as you ran to hug him tightly, whilst more tears were running down your face. "I was so worried. You got home so late and you didn't respond to my messages."

"I'm so sorry baby." He said, pulling you into a tighter embrace. Leaning in to give your forehead a gentle kiss. "The mission took longer than expected, and I forgot I had my phone inside my pocket while fighting and it broke...I was absolutely panicking when I realized I wouldn't be able to text you." He pulled back slightly to look at you, brushing a stray tear from your cheek with his thumb. "But I'm here now, yeah? I'm safe, dont worry. You shouldn't have stayed up all night to wait for me baby... " he plants another kiss on your forehead.

You buried your face in his chest, the familiar scent of him calming your racing heart. "B-but... How can I not sleep after you were gone for so many days, and you came home later..." Your words were a bit muffled due to you burying your face into his jacket, giving him a small weak punch on his chest as you sniffled in your cries.

Satoru's face softened into a sad expression, guilt evident in his eyes as he looked down at you. He gently cupped your face, lifting it so your eyes met his. "I know, I know. M'very sorry baby. Didn't mean to make you worry so much."

Seeing the tears streaming down your face made his heart ache. "It's okay baby, don't cry anymore. Hm? It's okay, I'm here now."

He rested his chin on top of your head, "I bought you some sweets and a little gift. I knew you'd be upset once I came back."

"You didn't need too..."

"Why not?"

You can imagine the pout on his face as he starts to gently sway you from side to side, whilst rubbing your back in circles.

"Alright, alright. Let's go back to bed now. Don't want my princess to get sick from staying aaaalll night long just for waiting for me.

in the end you both cuddled so tightly and you woke up to a bunch of gifts, he felt bad about you worrying so much about him and he thought the gifts from last night weren't enough 🥲

[going-to-ikea-for-the-fries]

I'm really sick and Satan's sacrificial waterfall is here AT THE SAME TIME!

I don't know if you do blurbs or headcannons, but if so, would you be willing to write for the boys (either taskforce 141, or singular characters,) taking care of an afab reader who has never had anyone wanting to take care of them?

If not, sorry to bother!

I don't typically take requests but... since I'm in the same boat (sacrificial waterfall is probably going to come over the weekend for me), I'll 100% do it.

A while back I also posted this: "You're feeling ill" and it's also along the same vein, if you'd like an extra little pick me up.

Period woes.

Rating: G Words: 1K~ tags: afab!reader but you/your pronouns, SFW!, fluff, comfort, periods and associated symptoms.

A person’s period might be the most hypocritical moment of their routine. They’re expected to continue moving, working and living their live as normal, all with a smile on their face, while their uterus actively attempts to cut off its own circulation… as if for any other injury or sickness you wouldn’t be expected to lay down and STOP for a moment and allow yourself to heal up, or at least improve enough to not be miserable.

But no. You’re expected to deal with it alone, to not show a reaction, to not be irritable, or groaning and writhing in pain. Take a shower, stock up on painkillers and slap a smile on your face, you’ve gotta go out in the world and act as if you’re not actively dreading every waking moment you spend on your feet.

That’s why you’ve learned to hide it when you’re going through your monthly. Your family, partners… not even your girlfriends know when you’re having it. Ever since you were a young teen, just starting out, it was very much a conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know, sort of moment.

But it’s miserable. You’re always miserable. Everything hurts, the cramps, the headaches, the back pain, hip pain, your sore chest… Plus the blood, the lack of appetite (or increase in appetite), the nausea, the fact you want to cry one moment, or break dishes and scream the next, the way your colleagues annoy you beyond compare, how certain sounds grit your nerves just. enough. to make you feel like you’re losing it… And then you can’t sleep.

And of course… he notices it. How could he not?

Ghost is discreet about it. He doesn’t mention it, doesn’t make a big deal about it… But he’s VERY good at taking care of you without you noticing he’s doing it. His love language is acts of service… So he simply goes around giving you a hand on whatever you might need. Food? Made. Dishes? Done. Laundry? Washed, Dried, Folded and Put Away. He finds you trying to do something? No. Give it here, he’ll do it.

The inevitable day that a leak happens and you find yourself angry at yourself as you strip the bedsheets off the bed, trying to be discreet about it so he doesn’t see it, he silently grabs the sheets off your hands and murmurs a “Go take a shower and change. I’ve got this.” before turning to put the sheets in the washer, clean the mattress and remake the bed so you can lay down again by the time your shower is over. It makes you emotional, sometimes, that such a stoic man will gladly take on every other responsibility to allow you to heal.

Gaz, blessed be him, is an absolute sweetheart… But he’s also a silly boy. He notices and although he’s not going to make a big deal about it, he’s still very… Boyish about it. Uses all the silly names for your period (“The Communists are coming”, “Shark week”,  “Satan’s waterfall”, “Carrie”) and affectionately calls you “My little ketchup packet”. 

He’s all for ordering takeout and getting you whatever you want when and how you want it. He’ll rub your back and be very careful about where and how he touches you. He’s ginger with touches around your waist and lower stomach, looks at you with those big brown eyes of his, as if checking that he’s not hurting you or crossing a boundary. You find yourself getting emotional when he whispers about how strong you are to deal with this every month… Keeps asking gently if you need anything… It makes you feel so safe.

Price’s older. He’s been in many relationships before. He notices your period is coming before it even does… Notices how you’re acting. Jumpier, grumpier, sadder… Notices how you toss and turn the couple of nights leading up to it. And he’s silently prepared. He’s made a supply run to the grocery store to get what brand of period products you use and some painkillers and puts them where you can see them in the bathroom. 

Fills you up with warm herbal tea and food that he knows are easy to digest and help with your state. No fucking chocolate and sugar or potato chips, you’re being pumped full of soups and stews and veggies and cut up fruit. He’ll sit by your side with a paring knife and an apple and slowly peel, core and cut it, before slowly feeding you (and himself) the slices. When you try to resist it, at first, too used to doing things alone, he’ll grab your face with both hands, look into your eyes and tell you. “And why exactly would I let you do that, when you’ve got me here to help you? How does that make sense?”

Soap’s… Well… Soap’s got a bunch of sisters… Each of them dealing with their periods in wildly different ways... So one thing he knows for sure: He’s not about to assume anything. You do what you’ve got to, he’ll adjust to you. He needs to go to the bathroom but you’re in there? Copy that, he’ll go piss in the yard. You’re having a cry in the kitchen because nothing looks good but you’re hungry? Talk it out with him, what do you want to eat? Let’s figure it out together, bonnie. You need to lie down in a dark room because of a migraine or headache or just to catch on sleep you’ve missed? Johnny’s blacked out every window, gathered every stray pillow and blanket in the house and will make you a nest if he’s got to.

And when you wake up in the middle of the night with a whine and a stretch because your back hurts and you’ve got cramps and cannot for the life of you get comfortable, Johnny’s hands are rubbing over you, pressing kisses to your temple and murmuring little “I ken, love… It’ll be over soon… I’m sorry you’re going through this…”

[stories-and-chaos]

Tarnished: Honeymoon

[Helluva Boss AU where Blitzø’s childhood theft from Stolas’ palace is discovered and major consequences ensue for everyone involved.]

[Word count: 2291]

[CW: dubious consensual sex, consensual sex, rough sex, light bondage, oral, alcohol use]

—————

Two weeks after Stolas and Stella’s wedding

Stolas did his best to maintain the peculiar balance of tension and blank focus. The sooner this was done with… he shoved away the thought of wanting this to be over. That was the quickest way to waste this evening with Stella. He felt himself reach the tipping point. His body shuddered with relief as he came, taloned fingers tearing into the sheets as he let out an involuntary moan. Stolas would have grabbed onto his wife’s thighs but she made it clear how much she hated his touch.

He’d tried to be affectionate on their wedding night. Just because they had a duty to conceive an heir, that didn’t mean the act couldn’t be enjoyable for them. Stella rejected that immediately, pushing him away when Stolas tried to kiss her. “Why would I ever want to kiss an imp fucker like you?” She then demanded they get the sex over with as quickly as possible until she laid their egg.

“Ugh, finally!” Stella said from above him. “Took you long enough tonight,” she continued in a scornful tone. She stopped riding him once his orgasm passed. She didn’t move off him right away and Stolas didn’t pull out either. The whole point of this marriage was to conceive an heir. Both of them wanted to increase the chances of a child so they stayed in position until Stolas’ cock softened enough to slip out on its own.

With a huff, Stella rolled off. She settled onto her side of the bed before bringing out her phone. She opened up her cycle tracking app to mark that they’d had sex that night. She was very thorough about it; logging any symptoms, notes on her mood and diet, tracking her basal body temperature. The regal demon wanted this heir business over as soon as possible.

Coitus logged, she started looking up activities for the next day. The newlyweds were halfway done with their month-long trip through all of Hell’s Rings. They had some formal events with the rest of Hell’s royals. But the next couple days in Gluttony were free. “Let’s see here, oh, Bee has a tasting of her new distilled Beelzejuice. There’s also a chocolate sculpture competition and the day after tomorrow the hotel is hosting a hors d'oeuvres sampling. Annabelle will love that and Gustav will jump at the chance to try Beelzebub’s newest brew.” Stella quickly texted her two closest friends to make plans.

“Three days from now we’re scheduled to judge a Hellforged Chef competition, so you’ll have to find something to occupy yourself until then,” she continued with a dismissive wave in Stolas’ direction. “But don’t forget you need to perform again in two days.” Her tone was haughty as she gave him a raking look. “Honestly this whole conception nonsense would be so much easier if you weren’t such a pathetic bore in bed, Stolas.”

The owl prince felt his face heat up with shame. Satisfied that she’d landed an emotional blow, Stella responded to her friends’ messages with a smirk.

Stolas turned away, listening to the rapid pings of texts. After a few moments he felt steady enough to get out of bed. He didn’t bother with the princely garments he’d worn earlier in the day; instead he grabbed casual shorts and a t-shirt. As usual, he wished her a polite, “Good night, Stella,” as he exited their hotel suite. As usual, she ignored him.

Once out in the hallway, Stolas slumped against the wall. He slid to the floor, hands gripping his scalp. We’ve been married two weeks. Get it together stupid bird. He’d signed on for a lifetime commitment with Stella. He had to shape up.

The pocket of his shorts buzzed, making Stolas squawk in surprise. Blitzø was texting him.

At teh bar. Dcikweeed bratndr won’t get me a dirnk. Sez im undregae

Stolas felt his beak twitch with a slight smile.

You are underage dearest. So am I for that matter. So is Stella, not that it’s stopping her. Or her gossipy friends that she keeps inviting at every opportunity on this trip.

Wuts teh ponit of royltea if you kant get bend rooles an shit?

Normally I’d advocate for not breaking the law but this is my honeymoon and I feel a drink or two is warranted in such situations. I’ll be there shortly to discuss things with Mr. Dickweed at the bar.

Fuk yes

Face to face with a member of the Ars Goetia, Mr. Dickweed promptly poured some top shelf Beelzejuice for them. The Hellhound’s paws shook a little as he slid the drinks to Stolas. The prince paid the demon double what the drinks cost to ease the bartender’s nerves.

Blitzø and Stolas claimed a high table. Stolas sat on the barstool with ease but the imp had to climb up. “Fuck I feel like a toddler in a goddamn high chair.” Fortunately once he was seated, the table wasn’t too high for comfort. “Thanks for the assist, Floof, didn’t think I had that much of a baby face. Gotta say it’s bullshit that you’re legally old enough to marry but not old enough to drink.” The imp continued to grumble as he tossed back some of his drink.

Stolas savored his drink. Blitzø’s running commentary had been a familiar constant on this trip. “I’m sure you’ll look more mature once your braces are off. They’re a sure giveaway to your underage status.” That set the imp complaining about the braces, his orthodontist, and his inability to eat certain foods. Stolas listened and made agreeing noises at appropriate times. He’d heard all of this many times before. He knew Blitzø was complaining for the sake of it.

By the time the imp’s rant ended, most of his Beelzejuice and half of Stolas’ were gone. He eyed the Goetia over the rim of his glass. “So. Stella got your feathers in a twist again?” The owl grimaced, nodded, and gulped down a huge swallow of the honey sweet alcohol. It left a pleasant burn down his throat; a good distraction from his wife’s opinion of him.

Blitzø didn’t let up though. “C’mon, spit out what she did. You’re gonna stew over it for ages otherwise.”

Stolas’ eyes narrowed at him. “I would prefer not to talk about this Blitzø,” he said, choosing his words very carefully to avoid activating the binding. The imp inhaled sharply at Stolas’ tone. He made himself relax and wait.

The silence continued as the prince nursed his drink. Eventually he gave in to Blitzø’s patience. “Am I a pathetic bore?” he asked quietly. “Am I that terrible a lover?” His four eyes heated with frustrated tears and he drained the last of his glass to distract himself.

Blitzø snorted. “Well, yeah, of course you are.” Stolas felt his heart drop in shock but Blitzø continued. “With her at least. I mean, you guys don’t even like each other. Why would you be good at fucking her?” Now Stolas’ jaw dropped. His heart rose closer to its home in his chest as Blitzø kept talking. “I’d have told you if you were shit in bed by now. Not to mention, you’re power bottom. Doesn’t really mesh with straight up bitch.”

Suddenly, the prince felt something sliding up his inner thigh. Blitzø’s hands were above the table but a seductive smile played across his lips. There was no denying the heat in the imp’s eyes as his tail tip slid under Stolas’ shorts. The spade shaped end stroked underneath the owl demon’s clothes, just barely brushing his groin.

“If you’re up for it,” Blitzø said with a purr in his voice, “I can give a demonstration.”

Stolas felt his face heat at the thought. Blitzø’s tail continued to tease until his feathers puffed up in excitement. “Mmm, please do.”

Moments later, they were in Blitzø’s room, a few doors away from the honeymoon suite. Like the other servants that accompanied the Goetia, he had a very basic hotel room with a single full sized bed. The imp had Stolas pinned to the mattress. His tongue swirled in the prince’s mouth, sliding far enough to touch his throat. His tail was wrapped around Stolas’ thigh, the tip still teasing the owl’s balls.

When Blitzø finally broke the kiss, Stolas was gasping for air. “Oh my- FUCK!” Blitzø had bit into his neck before he could catch his breath. Even the imp’s pointed teeth couldn’t easily sink through all Stolas’ feathers. Which was why he bit down hard. “You do like to be in charge, don’t you Blitzø?” The imp ripped the shirt off Stolas, tearing the fabric as he scratched the prince’s chest.

“You fuckin know it.” He slid his body up Stolas’ torso. His smug expression was full of rough desire. Blitzø flicked his forked tongue at the tall demon’s beak. Stolas’ mouth parted open as he leaned toward Blitzø’s tongue, desperately wanting it back in his mouth.

Blitzø chuckled. “And your lanky ass loves it.” He pushed Stolas back onto the mattress with one hand as the other grabbed part of the torn shirt. Using his teeth, he tore the fabric into a long strip. “Aw shit, thread in my braces. Hang on.” With his tongue and claw he tried to locate it until Stolas reached up to delicately remove it. Blitzø thanked him then grabbed the taloned finger in his teeth. Stolas moaned in pleasure as the imp then pulled the finger into his mouth and sucked on it.

“Oh, yes, I do love it, Blitzø. I love when you take command, when you’re in control. I love when you [redacted] my [redacted] [redacted] with your thick [redacted].” Stolas continued to list what he liked from Blitzø as the imp removed his finger with a ‘pop!’ He grabbed both of the prince’s wrists and used the t shirt strip to tie them together.

He flung Stolas’ bound wrists back over the Goetia’s head. “Told ya so.” With a lustful look, he stripped off his own shirt and pants. He left his tight black underwear on. Not that it hid his bulging erection. Stolas let out a soft whine as he eyed Blitzø’s hard cock straining against fabric. The smaller demon laughed huskily. “Nah, I don’t think you’re desperate enough yet.”

The teasing promise in the imp’s voice made Stolas tense and squirm. He could simply order Blitzø to strip fully but that took all the fun out of things. Keeping himself from issuing any demands also added an odd thrill to their liaisons. So he held back any words as Blitzø played with him.

Blitzø bit and kissed, stroked and scratched, teased and tormented Stolas. Blitzø brought him to the edge of coming before easing off. The imp snuggled up against him, gently nuzzling his neck feathers as Stolas relaxed. Then he sank his teeth into Stolas’ collarbone and began the delicious torment again.

Once he had Stolas whining in desperation, Blitzø took off his underwear and straddled him across the chest. His tail quickly wrapped around Stolas’ cock. The prince gasped and Blitzø took the opportunity to grab both sides of his head. The imp roughly pulled Stolas’ head to his groin and thrust his cock down the prince’s throat. Stolas was vaguely grateful he didn’t have much of a gag reflex. Then he couldn’t think of much of anything as Blitzø face fucked him.

Stolas closed his eyes in bliss. Blitzø’s thick penis filled his mouth. The owl demon used his tongue, stroking and tasting every hard inch as Blitzø kept thrusting. “Fuck, Stolas. That. Feels. So. Fucking. Good!” He punctuated each word with a sharp short thrust. Meanwhile his tail was wrapped around Stolas’ cock. Each thrust of his hips made his tail slide around the owl’s length.

Stolas moaned around the cock in his mouth. Blitzø started to thrust faster, grunts of pleasure and exertion escaping his throat. Suddenly he went rigid. His claws flexed as he held Stolas’ head against his crotch. Stolas could feel Blitzø twitching and pulsing in his mouth as the imp came. Warm cum filled his throat. The sensation of Blitzø orgasm in his mouth tipped Stolas over the edge. He came hard, coating the loops of Blitzø’s tail.

The two demons stayed frozen in place for a moment. Then as the tension eased away, leaving the soft pleasure, Blitzø let go of Stolas’ face. Stolas swallowed the remaining saliva and cum, his head relaxing onto the pillows. Blitzø unwrapped his tail to let it flop off the side of the bed. Then he shifted to lay next to Stolas.

With his arms still bound, Stolas brought them down, maneuvering to embrace Blitzø. The pair laid there for a time, basking in the aftermath of shared pleasure.

Then, once Stolas could think clearly again: “Thank you, Blitzø. It seems you were right.” Blitzø, not quite able to speak yet, waved a horns sign with one hand. Stolas smiled and nuzzled the imp’s forehead.

A few moments later, Blitzø extracted himself to clean off his tail. He brought back a towel and bottles of water for the two of them. Cleaner and hydrated, he untied Stolas so they could cuddle better. They chatted idly for a bit, brainstorming activities for the next couple days. Blitzø wanted to visit an all-you-can-eat hot dog bar while Stolas was interested in a local bookstore that specialized in works on local cuisine.

Plans made, Blitzø shifted on top of Stolas again. “Well, Mr. Power Bottom. Ready for more?”

With a smirk of his own, Stolas rolled them so he had Blitzø pinned. “Very much so,” he murmured, kissing his lover softly.

—————

A/N: This is what Stolitz nation wanted with The Full Moon right? I’ve been wanting to write this bit for awhile and after the emotional damage of Full Moon I needed this feelings bandaid.

Side note, updates have been slow due to Striker still not vibing with my brain and our kiddo being on summer vacation. Writing mature audience content with an elementary schooler around all day does not compute for me. So new parts are coming out slower but the tale must go on!

Tip me through Ko-Fi if you’re enjoying my content!

🖤🩶🤍💜

[fanfiction-blep]

Imma need a part two of caught please lol. Like reader is a bad b either with a new man or single but had a glow up and doing good while miles is a wreck and has to suffer the pain of messing up

A lot of people wanted this! And honestly It's a great idea.

Caught: Part Two.

Warnings: Angst, unrequited feelings. mentions of cheating.

The balls of (Y/N)'s feet hit the cold floor or her room, she had swung her legs over the bed. She knew this day would come, but she didn't think it wouldn't happen so soon. She had been reassigned to security, she had spent the last four months reinforcing security for the new structures being built throughout Pandora. Yet she was needed, apparently the blue team had began to falter. their efficiency had depleted. And she had been brought in to fix the problem. She racked her hands over her face a sigh leaving her lips. She really didn't want to see him, she hadn't gotten back into the dating scene the opportunity for causal dating isn't as abundant on Pandora as it is on Earth. She didn't want to show up see them together and be single. She couldn't think about her personal life with this task, she could make it a quick job. Figure out what's going wrong write up a report listing a solution and then she could leave. She stood up stretching, muscles aching from her late night gym session. Her shoulder length bob brushing against her skin. Instead of focusing on getting back into dating she had focused on herself, working through the emotional trauma of what her ex had done.

She needed to work on herself, build herself back up again. She wasn't about to jump into a rebound and get hurt all over again. She needed this, she needed to build herself up. So she could come back faster and stronger than ever, a glow up. She brushed through her hair, she was in off the record today she didn't need to be strict with her appearance, despite this she dressed herself in long camo trousers and a black tank top. She exited her room, having arrived in the early hours of the morning, no one knew she was here. And she would prefer it stayed that way until absolutely necessary. But that moment was arriving in twenty minuets. She left her room a pit of anxiety forming on her stomach, she wanted to never see him again. She wanted to leave and never have to look back knowing he would be two steps behind her. He had tried to reach out the first few weeks she was gone, and she never replied. In fact she had him banned from accesing her private channel. She knew he would try and talk to her while she was here, she knew he would try to win her back even if he was dating. Her.

She froze, Z-dog was the first in the briefing room. Her face growing pale at the sight of the human in front of her.

"Morning" (Y/N) Spoke trying to be neutral. It would be harder than she thought, but she was too petty to not be the bigger person. Walking over to the hologram projection table she picked up a tablet flicking through the blue teams reviews over the last few weeks. After a few moments she realised the decrease in activity and efficiency had started two weeks after she had left. 'no fucking way' she thought. She heard voices in the corridor increasing by the second she kept her back turned beginning to throw the stats and reports onto the screen. Her job was the present how shit they had been over the last few weeks kick them back into shape and leave. She had the most experience with the recoms and had served with them all as humans. She knew each and every one of them personally, and thus she was chosen for this job. No one bedsides Z-dog had noticed her, the other men just laughing while Miles stood in the corner not paying attention at all. "Right" She spoke turning around, meeting his gaze. Shock and pain filled is expression. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen her when he walked in. "I have been brought back here for one reason. You lot are not doing your job. So in the next day I will tail you. I will see exactly why you aren't performing to standard, I'll write up a report and I'll be out of your hair. Until then, I will be up each and every one of your asses, understood?" There was an unenthusiastic mumble of agreement "See you all on the flight deck in fifteen, get too it" Quaritch just stood there, mouth a jaw. In awe. She was more beautiful that he imagined, her new hair cut suiting her perfectly. Her appearance took his breath away and he didn't know how to respond. She turned her back to him, not giving him any kind of reaction. However a slight smirk was plastered on her lips, seeing how shocked and sad he was to see her made her happy in some way. And seeing that they were obviously not together, even happier. She knew she didn't want him back, but knowing that she had moved on and he hadn't felt like penance in a way. Maybe she wouldn't hate being back Afterall.

[lilith-little-world]

Sneak Peek of Chapter 2|| The Isekai’d Oracle

Well, chapter 2 is done, just going to look over it and post it tomorrow. Sorry for taking so long and not being active here. Just been feeling, bleh. The meds I'm taking worked well until it stopped so I have been feeling tired. After updating the story I'm gonna post more here. I just stopped so I can focus on chapter 2 and finish it.

Also thank the season 4 special giving me some motivation and the last push I need to make me finish this. Wukong’s dad bod tho-

“Now this is more like it, Almond!” You said in eagerness, giving a small bowl of shredded meat to your dog. Today was a pain in the ass but at least you’re celebrating with a good meal tonight. A few meat and custard-filled steamed buns with actual soda and alcohol. Lately you have been drinking pure water or sometimes juice. Since they were cheaper. However, after a long week of work and this stressful day, you decided, you’re going to treat yourself. So you turned on the TV to some cable channel that had a Chinese Drama. Unfortunately, it was only in Cantonese, but hey better than nothing. You ain’t complaining. Spider Queen was extremely generous when she gave you an increase of pay. Maybe it was her plan all along to get you to be at…her little ritual.

Maybe you should try and ask around next time. You are going to work for Jin and Yin for a while. They might know something, maybe…

You sat in bed and stare at the TV. Almond’s fur brushed against your leg as she slept next to you. Full from her large meal. The show was entertaining enough, which was saying a lot since you don’t know what’s happening. Only get hints and clues from their expression and atmosphere. It was either this, the news, or educational channels.

From what you gathered, this drama looks old. The resolution was low and blurry. The show follows this priestess around and her weird encounters with demons or trying to be the best priestess she can be. It’s quite cute and funny. Then again, you’re half asleep and drinking alcohol.

“What?! But I thought you need some priestess stuff, why are you running off with that dragon?!” You shout at the screen. “Ugh, come on, you need to be more responsible.” Your words slurred slightly as you mumbled off. Dozing off, staring blankly at the show.

“Be…more responsible…”You mutter quietly. The words echo in your head. Tomorrow, you’re definitely going to organize your thoughts and make a plan on what to do next. You are in the show you been obsessed with for a while now.

Yeah, that’s what you’re going to do, tomorrow. Organize your thoughts, get info, and make a plan on what to do. You’re also going to have fun while doing it. Depending on when you enter this world, you can technically avoid all of the ‘bad events’ that are to come. What is the worse that’s going to happen?

You already worked yourself to death in your old life. There’s no way you’re going to do that in this life. You are going to have fun and enjoy this one.

A chill went down your spine, swearing the room temperature dropping out of nowhere. You put the plate and bowl on your nightstand with your drinks. Turning off the TV, you decided it was the best time to call it a day and rest. Glancing down, you see Almond stir and look at the window tiredly. Her ears were down and was shaking. Due to the dropping temperature or for a completely different reason.

“What’s wrong?” You gently pet her head. She immediately leans into your touch. You glance at the window and try to see what she’s looking at. The blind covers the window but there was no shadow or any indication of anyone outside.

Sighing, you got up and head to the window. Moving the blinds slightly, there was nothing, no one outside. Your hand grazes the freezing glass, making you pull away from the sudden coldness. Your skin tingling and burns from the sensation. As a cold and heavy feeling settling deep within you. Making your head spin.

“What the…”

Almond whines trying to catch your attention but you kept it at the window. You noticed a slight frost at the edges of the window. Again you reach out to touch it, almost as if it was calling for you, but Almond barks. Finally, you turn around to face her.

“What is it?”

“Woof!”

“I hope you do know, I can’t really understand you.”

“Woof, woof!”

“Do you want me to leave the frost alone?”

Almond nods and jumps off the bed. Trying to push you away from the window. Her paws nudges your knee and you took a few steps away from the window. A confused expression is written across your face. Maybe it’s best if you save this for a different day and maybe when you’re not tired.

“Alright, then I'll leave it alone for now. I won't go touching it, calm down.” You pick Almond up and went back to the bed.

“Let’s go to bed, alright? Now stop worrying about me so much, okay?”

You stroke her head and lay the small dog in bed. She was oddly anxious. You had never seen her this worried before.

“It’s fine Almond, just go to bed.”

It didn’t take much for her to go back to sleep. You quietly lay there for a few more minutes. You’re eyes glancing at the window and back to Almond.

A sigh escapes and cover yourself up with the blanket. Almond told you to leave it alone and it’s for the best. Who knows what will happen if you touch it? It looks like Almond does and that’s a good enough reason for you.

“I really hope this doesn’t lead to anything crazy.” You mumbled finally drifting off the sleep. Just wanting this night to end.

[p5x-theories]

A new post was made detailing how updates/plans will work in the future, here's the highlights:

Future versions "will be roughly divided into three types: "mainline version", "event version" and "game version"":

>"The "mainline version" is a major version that contains important updates to the mainline content. For example, the upcoming 2.0 version will update the main plot of Chapter 3."

> ""Event version" is a large version that includes large-scale theme activities. For example, the upcoming version 1.3 will include three minor versions: 1.3.1, 1.3.2, and 1.3.3. Each minor version lasts about two weeks. Version 1.3 will start the second phase of the P5 linkage event."

> ""Gameplay version" will be interspersed between the above two types of major versions as a buffer and transition, with a short duration and with gameplay updates as the main content. For example, the upcoming 1.4 version is such a version."

Each update cycle will include a mainline update and an event update; Mainline updates will "last about 2 weeks", event updates will "last about 4-6 weeks", and gameplay updates will "last about 2 weeks". I'm taking "last" to mean that about that amount of time will pass after that kind of update before the next update is added?

It sounds like the upcoming updates will go 1.3.1 -> 1.3.2 -> 1.3.3 -> 1.4 -> 2.0

They may have to consider breaking mainline updates into smaller updates in the future due to the content becoming "richer" (I assume a nicer way of saying it'll take more work to finish those, either because they're more elaborate or less of the work is already done)

Future 5-stars added will be added to the confidant system, and "can form intimate relationships matching their age and gender" (presumably, given what we've seen so far, saying Wonder can date them if they're female and around his age)

They also mention "festival-themed characters (such as summer swimsuit characters that will be updated later)" as an exception to this- "the stories of such characters will be presented in the form of event plots"

Future 4-stars, however, "will be shaped through personal exclusive plots"; I'm guessing this means, similar to Marian, they won't be confidants and will instead have dedicated side quests

They're considering changing the rate players get energy at and/or lowering the required points to rank up with someone, in order for players to progress confidants faster

Kiyoshi and Toshiya (Key and Sepia) are confirmed as confidants that they're updating the script for and will be added (in Kiyoshi's case, added back) later; Riddle is confirmed to be getting a personal side quest instead

They're also planning to work on adding plots for Puppet and Kotone (Mont), though it's not clear from Google translate whether this will be a confidant, a personal side quest, or if they've even decided yet

In Version 1.3.1, King Frost, Bishamonten, and Melchizedek will be added as Personas

They're generally planning to increase the rewards from various daily quests/things like that, to help players power up characters more easily

[faithintaiwan]

july 27 - taitung rice museum, green tunnel, & aboriginal museum

It’s our first day back to our program! Last night in the hotel was definitely an experience I would not like to repeat. I was so exhausted after traveling all day only to be met with the dustiest hotel I had ever stayed in. It didn’t have a shower head in the tub rather the shower head was hung next to the toilet with a flimsy curtain separating the two areas. In my complacency, I had not bought slippers like I said I would before I left and it was definitely needed for this. The hotel had two pairs for us in the room but they were absolutely not ones that had been replaced or cleaned anytime recently. Fanny and I trekked in the rain to Family Mart where I bought more disinfecting wipes and a travel set of soaps. After wiping everything down, I was able to take a shower which went better than I thought it would. The room also had a door that led to Andy and Eli’s room so we had fun yelling at them through it!

After eating convenience store food for four days straight and tons of it before the typhoon I am so sick of it. Luckily we had the best hotpot today! There was so much pork, lamb, and beef I almost cried of happiness. I have never craved a homemade meal more in my life but we don’t have a kitchen so it isn’t possible. The hotpot definitely saved me, though.

Unfortunately, it was raining all day so some of our activities were cut short. Our first stop, the rice museum had the cutest cat and a store full of snacks but not much in the way of educating about the industry. After not getting to pet the adorable kitten at the hotel because she was so skittish, I was so happy that a cat had come up to me to be pet!!

The second thing on our itinerary was the “green tunnel”. Imagine for a second what that would look like. Maybe a tunnel through the mountain that’s been painted green or a cave with moss. No. It was a normal road with trees on either side. We stood outside it and stared at it as it poured rain. A low moment in my life for sure.

But it’s ok because the aboriginal peoples museum was incredible. There were so many exhibits detailing the prehistoric details of Taiwan and the history of the native people. It even went up to modern day with commentary about harmful stereotypes and major contributions to Taiwanese society and culture. I’m really glad we got to explore the museum and read about everything! Even if I was suffering through the rest of today this definitely made up for it and was a highlight of the trip!

Luckily there is only one more night at this hotel before we go to Kaohsiung. I am so excited for there to be more than only two wall chargers, a shower with an actual barrier, and food that’s not an hour away by bus!

Academic Reflection

On the party bus before we reached the rice museum, Peter told us about the industry. He said that Taiwan is self sufficient for rice with the biggest producer being in Taichung. The new generation is also not demonstrating as big of a demand for rice resulting in many governmental efforts to increase the popularity of it. People are now going for pasta or other goods that have to be imported making it more expensive and putting rice farmers out of business. He said to eat some rice while we’re here to support the local industry! This definitely made me feel better about spending so much money on sushi in the past few weeks.

Our next major stop was the prehistoric and aboriginal people’s museum. Here we learned about how Taiwan was created out of a complicated tectonic boundary that remains active resulting in destructive earthquakes like the one a couple months ago. Much of the infrastructure is thus created with earthquakes in mind reducing the deaths that the country unfortunately experiences with each major one. Taipei 101’s giant ball is one example we’ve seen of anti earthquake measures. Taiwan also boasts tons of mountains with many of the volcanoes now dormant and only two active ones left. The museum also detailed the history of the aboriginal people. Similar to the Native Americans, the people here crossed 30,000 years ago when the Ice Age lowered sea levels enough to expose a strait between China and Taiwan. They then created villages and cultural regions with differences in beliefs, lifestyles, and even themes in pottery. One particular thing that stood out to me was in the 1970s and 80s the Taiwanese government dumped dangerous nuclear waste under the guise of a fish cannery onto Pongso no Tao. The waste infected the water of the fishing grounds that the people survived off of and greatly harmed the local population. Rising levels in fish mutations, cancer, and more have been effects of this dump

[pixiemage]

There's Not a Word Yet - Pt. 1

[ — | Next ]

Inspired by this post by @raviodoesstuff {This work can also be found on Archive of our Own}

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was a rumbling and a sparking and the overwhelming churning hum of a portal that drew everyone to the rift again, in the end. Jimmy was not the first to arrive but not the last either, his wings tucking tight against his back with his dive and snapping out to catch the air again before he can collide with the ground. (He ended up alighting on the bridge alongside False and Scott, their eyes all locked on the purple glow emanating from the cliffside. Fwhip was saying something to Sausage off to the side but he refused to listen, too focussed on the rift and its sudden activity to pay any mind to his ex-deputy.)

The Festival had only been a few days ago, and there hadn't been a response to the message they'd sent through, and - well. This was the most active the rift had been since its unexplained appearance a few weeks back.

"Was anyone mucking around with it?" Jimmy asked Scott, the closest to him, all while squinting at the flowing purple light from beneath the brim of his hat. Beside him, Scott hummed thoughtfully.

"Not that I know of," he drawled, his words slow, even, pensive. "I was one of the first few here. Gem was first but she seemed about as confused as I did, and Sausage showed up with me, so..."

"...so it started doin' this all on its own?" Jimmy guessed, and Scott shrugged.

Very helpful.

Nobody dared get too close, nobody except Lizzie, but Fwhip was quick to pull her right back to the bridge the moment she tried, muttering about 'Gary' and 'Sniff' and 'we don't know if it's safe'. Safe or not, Lizzie didn't get much of a chance to argue either way, because before anyone else could say much of anything the hum of the rift increased in volume, the light coming off of it increasing in intensity, and every person on the bridge had to cover their ears and turn away when a blast of purpureal magical energy radiated outward from the portal with enough force to nearly sweep Jimmy's hat from his head.

(Except, of course, any good Sheriff with even an ounce of self-respect had a proper and well-fitting hat, so it wasn't so easy to knock it free from its perch.)

Jimmy rubbed at his eyes to dispel some of the imprints from his vision, barely aware of Joel murmuring soft comforts to Hermes and Pixl muttering to himself about unprecedented phenomenon. And then–

“There’s people!”

Lizzie’s gasped shout drew Jimmy’s attention in an instant and his head snapped up, his eyes narrowing in on the rift. People? …holy moly, there were people. A whole crowd of them, at least a dozen in total if not more, all littering the small platform that had been built for the Festival. They were strange too, some in various forms of armor and elytras, all in vastly different styles of dress. Many, too, weren’t fully human as far as Jimmy could tell - the man with parrot wings looked strangely familiar for a reason he couldn’t quite pinpoint - but the appearance of hybrids and non-humans wasn’t all that strange. After all, the folks standing with Jimmy on the bridge weren’t exactly the most normal people around. Maybe…maybe the newcomers were from other empires, from another place? Maybe they were each rulers in their own right? Maybe–

Maybe, as the Sheriff around these parts, Jimmy ought to greet them and see what had brought them here in the first place.

Jimmy was in the air before he could really stop himself, his wings catching the air quickly. He heard a few of his friends protesting his decision but just as many seemed to be joining him in the air if the sound of rockets behind him was anything to go by.

“Do you even have a plan here, Jimmy?” Scott called out, catching up quicker than the rest. (Perhaps he had followed first?) “Or are you just running headlong into trouble like you usually do?”

“I was planning on being polite,” Jimmy snapped back. “I’m also the law around here, aren’t I? I should make sure they’re not planning on causing trouble in the first place.”

He beat his wings a little harder, a little quicker, darting ahead again and ignoring whatever new protests Scott might have been tossing his way. (If there were any, he couldn’t hear them past the wind in his ears anyway. The feathers around his ears twitched and curved, trying to lessen the noise.) When he landed it was with slightly less grace than usual, his boots barely catching him and his knees giving out a bit from the harsh landing. He ended up in a crouch, one hand planted on the wooden platform to catch him, his wings splayed out for balance. He cast a glance up from beneath the brim of his head, trying to get a good look at the gathered newcomers before he started off with introductions.

Many of them were distracted, their focussed pulled in every direction by the members of the other empires that were landing around the edge of the platform. Joel, most notably, was being as bombastic as ever, though - thank the void - he was standing at his normal, human-sized height for the time being. Jimmy huffed in frustration. It looked like it would be difficult to gain anyone’s attention in this chaos.

“...Timmy?”

Or…not? Jimmy straightened, confusion dancing over his face at the sound of almost-his-name, his eyes finding a shock of red as one of the shorter players shoved through the crowd to the front. Red sweater, blond hair, a cheeky grin, parrot wings–

“Grian?” The name left him before he could stop it, immediately followed by utter bafflement when the name in question met his own ears. Grian? How did he…?

“I…know you,” he mused, eyeing the other avian and his vibrant, strangely-familiar feathers. “How do I know you?”

“What d’you mean?” the guy - Grian - asked, chuckling incredulously. “Tim, we’ve known each other for years.”

“...have we?”

Had they? Jimmy wasn’t sure, but that sounded right. Though…something about the red and yellow and blue of Grian’s wings and the dark color of his eyes felt…off, somehow. He frowned, flicked up the brim of his hat, and tilted his head to the side.

“Aren’t your wings supposed to be purple?” he asked, unable to really stop himself. He must have said the wrong thing - or maybe the right thing - because Grian’s expression dropped and he stared, his eyes wide.

“...oh. Oh, I’m sorry, you–” Grian’s eyes flashed, a vibrant violet, and he took a polite sort of step back. “Sorry, Jimmy. This world is - right. Right. Of course. Sorry–”

“Jimmy!”

Jimmy barely had time to turn toward the shout before someone was tackling him in a ridiculously warm hug, his wings flailing to keep them both balanced while Jimmy got a face full of blue-gray fluff. He pinwheeled, staggered slightly, then awkwardly patted his strange attacker on the back with a baffled chuckle.

“Uh…hi?”

The stranger stepped back, and it was only now that Jimmy got a good look at him. He was decked out in dark blacks and blues, a mage’s robe of some sort, with keys hanging from his belt and fur lining his cloak. He wasn’t human either, his eyes and hair glowing a sort of soul-flame-blue (and maybe it was actual flames, he mused, remembering how warm the guy’s hug had been), and when he grinned at Jimmy his smile was inhumanly sharp. Netherborn, maybe? That sounded right, felt right, though Jimmy couldn’t recall having met a netherborn before in his life.

“I’ve missed you!” the guy was saying now, an immeasurable level of excitement and joy in those three words, and Jimmy…blinked blankly at him.

“Er…”

“Tango–” Grian reached a hand toward him, looking uncomfortable, looking sad.

“What?” the guy - Tango - rolled his eyes at Grian, shaking him off with a laugh. “Maybe it hasn’t been that long since Double Life, but forgive me if I’ve missed the guy. You get to see Scar every day. It’s not even–”

“Er, sorry, but–” Jimmy interrupted him, waiting until Tango’s focus was back on him before pulling on a polite smile and carrying on, “–who are you?”

There was a moment, a brief moment, where Grian seemed to hold his breath. Tango stared at Jimmy owlishly for all of a second then let out an aborted and uncertain sort of laugh, his mouth still grinning but his eyes turning confused.

“C’mon Jim, I know I look a little different, but it hasn’t been that long…” He cast a look toward Grian. “...has it?”

Grian opened his mouth, closed, it, glanced between them, then swallowed.

He murmured something into Tango’s ear that Jimmy couldn’t hear, shooting a pointed look over his shoulder to where a white-haired man was watching Joel and Sausage with a strange look in his eyes, a dark mask hiding the lower half of his face from view. Jimmy wasn’t entirely sure what Grian was getting at - hell, he could barely remember why he even knew Grian at all - but something about the little exchange must have made sense to Tango. The (presumably) netherborn’s eyes widened and he seemed to understand, nodding jerkily. He let go of Jimmy’s shoulder and hip where he’d still been hanging on and stepped back with the same politeness as Grian. When he gave Jimmy a friendly sort of smile it wasn’t quite as bright as Grian’s had been, something that Jimmy might not have even noticed if it didn’t seem…familiar, somehow. He was smiling though, and that had to count for something. Right?

Somewhere in the rush of the crowd, Grian slipped away, whispering hurried words to the rest of the newcomers that had appeared through the rift as he went. Jimmy watched him go with a thoughtful frown.

“Sorry man,” Tango said, huffing out an awkward sort of laugh and drawing Jimmy’s attention back to him. He was fussing with the goggles that Jimmy hadn’t noticed hanging around his neck, his other hand running through the blue flames licking across his hair. “I think I got you mixed up with someone else. No hard feelings, right?”

Jimmy blinked at him but returned the smile with a friendly one of his own.

“Er - no, of course not,” he denied quickly. He tugged on a brighter sort of grin. “I think this entire situation is a bit chaotic for everyone involved. I’m not surprised there’s a bit of confusion going around.”

“Yeah, totally!” Tango nodded. “Totally.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, his shoulders looking a bit hunched - though that could have been the fluff of his hood playing tricks. “You, uh…yeah. Hah. I’ll just–”

“Tango, hey!”

Another one of the strangers separated from the crowd, this one seemingly human. He was dressed in yellow and black, the beard and fashion of his clothes reminding Jimmy startlingly of a dwarf even though his height certainly didn’t match it. Tango knew him too, clearly, because when the guy slung an arm to hang around Tango’s shoulder, the netherborn all but melted into his side.

“You good, buddy?” dwarf-guy asked, sounding worried. His eyes flicked to Jimmy for half a breath. “Grian said to look for you.”

“Hey Impy,” Tango murmured, his grin looking forced. (Though Jimmy wasn’t sure how he knew that.) “All good. I was just introducing myself to, uh–”

“Jimmy Solidarity,” Jimmy was quick to chime in, a friendly grin on his face as he extended a hand to Tango’s friend. “Sheriff of Tumble Town.”

“Impulse,” the new guy grinned right back, his handshake firm. “Nice to meet you. You’ve already met Tango, it sounds like.”

“Sheriff huh?” Tango smirked, eyeing Jimmy curiously, and Jimmy couldn’t help the way he went a bit stiff, readying himself for some kind of scathing remark– “That’s a good look on you. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sheriff.”

…oh. Jimmy blinked, warmth rising in his chest at the genuine compliment he heard in Tango’s words.

“I - oh. Er, thank you.” He nodded, tipping his hat with a smile. “Pleasure to meet you too.”

Impulse cleared his throat.

“C’mon Tango, Grian wants to round everyone up.”

Tango didn’t move for a moment, still watching Jimmy with something in his eyes that Jimmy couldn’t quite name. Hope? Loss? Sadness? Longing, maybe? He wasn’t sure… But then Tango was gone, sticking to Impulse’s side as they made their way through the throng toward the flash of bright feathers Jimmy could barely see through the crowd.

For the next few moments, Jimmy did his best to banish the strange feeling in his chest, the one that told him he was forgetting something important. He swallowed back the feeling of melancholy that welled up at the back of his throat, and ignored the way his eyes kept seeking out flashes of blue flames as he and Scott and Fwhip tried to wrangle in the chaos and come up with a plan. He tried not to think of how much he already missed the warmth of Tango’s hug, that brief moment of excitement and joy that had washed over him even when he hadn’t known why Tango was so excited in the first place.

(He still didn’t fully understand that, either, and Tango brushing it off as ‘mistaking him for someone else’ made less sense when Jimmy remembered that Tango had outright called him by name, but…but he couldn’t think about it.)

Above all, he tried not to wonder why he felt like he knew Tango already, why he could recognize the differences between his real smiles and his fake ones and why some of the netherborn’s mannerisms were dancing at the back of his mind.

The look on Tango’s face when Grian whispered in his ear. The resignation, the stiffness, the wide-eyed understanding. The way his pointed ears pressed back against his head for a tick or two, and the way his tail lashed at the air behind him even while he grinned through the rest of the conversation.

He was upset, Jimmy found himself thinking, the realization making something ache in his chest for reasons he couldn’t pin down. When his tail twitches like that - it means he’s upset and he’s trying not to show it. Or that he’s so upset that the energy doesn’t have anywhere else to go but out his tail.

Jimmy didn’t know how he knew that, and he didn’t know why the thought pained him so much, but he couldn’t pay attention to that. Not right now. Right now, he had to be the Sheriff, because they had a dozen strangers to handle, and - if Lizzie was to be believed - the rift wasn’t letting them back through to wherever it was they had come from.

If Joel would quit trying to declare himself in charge of the situation, then maybe they could get this whole mess sorted before sundown.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[A/N: Title inspired by lyrics from "I'm Going To Go Back There Someday" from The Muppets - "There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met". Actually, the entire first verse of that song hits real hard for this one shot but - well. I limited myself to just that one line lol. ANWAY! Hopeful ending? I did leave in threads for a potential continuation if folks are interested. BUT ALSO this was written on 10/23/22 so whatever events MIGHT happen between Hermitcraft and Empires have not happened yet, thus there's potential that this entire fic will be rendered completely canon non-compliant lol. Hope you enjoyed anyway!]

[ — | Next ]

[the-gamer-blog-for-anyone]

Hey, I figured I’d update y’all on why my posts have been few and far between. It’s a bit of venting but nothing terrible. Read if you want.

I’ll start by saying that I’m sorry for disappearing off the face of the earth every so often. I don’t mean to do that, life gets in the way a lot.

Now onto the stuff.

The major I was in (Music Ed) was a big factor this past semester. I got so stressed about things I had to get done that I got sick, not once, but twice in a row with the exact same illness. Mind you, this was within the span of a week or so, not a month; I have never had that happen before. My immune system is pretty good, so I usually heal pretty quick and am back on my feet, so twice with the illness, especially with it being almost worse the second time, is a problem. Even though it wasn’t something detrimental to my health (like pneumonia. Again.), I still know that if that stress had kept up, something like that could’ve happened.

Unfortunately, music education requires hours, and that moves into classes that need them for you to pass. I had already told the school that I didn’t have a car, but even that did not stop them from assigning me to somewhere that would require one. I thought I had it worked out because I was going to go during spring break, but that was when the illness I had the week before decided to make another impromptu visit. Yippee.

On the other end of things, I basically live in a glorified dorm right now at home. My mom, my brother, and I share a room (stuff and all). That leaves no space, which also leads to even more stress. Living with someone who wants us to wait on them every time we are home is not helpful either (meaning the three of us serve them), but we’re working on boundaries, even if they don’t want to participate.

The last thing is that I had already injured my leg before, but because of that injury and the surgery they did, I was informed recently that the increased leg pain I’m having is just something I have to live with until I can get it replaced (which can’t happen until you’re over 55). Considering I just turned 20 over a month ago, that already feels unusual; Most people my age are doing things I can’t do. It’s not that I hate that them for being able to do those activities, nor do I think that they are judging me for my lack of ability to do them (at least not logically), I just wish I could be a normal 20-year-old who can do them.

I’m mainly telling you so 1) you know why I may be somewhat depressed or go radio silent, but mainly because 2) things are getting better, and I plan to be back.

I’ve already changed majors- Bachelor of Arts as opposed to Music Ed- to take some of the stress away. Taking that off my plate already helped a lot. Plus, now I can actually get back on track for my Psychology minor (which has led me to question what my future goals are, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it).

In terms of housing, we recently heard from a friend about a better place to live temporarily until we can get a house of our own. That would help us a lot if that happens, but even if not, we can work it out. My family knows I need space, and I know they need it, too. After talking recently, we’ve figured out how to work it.

PT is doing good for at least keeping my leg stronger than it has been, and that’s a step in the right direction, even if I still have to get surgery within the next year or so.

Are there things that are still stressful and complicated? For sure. Here’s the thing though:

On top of all this, I know I have a good roommate for this coming year who knows me and my quirks. I also have, aside from my moots and friends on here, good college friends I can hang out with and know I can trust to understand if I need a break (love you @lovelyunknown and @joannaksworld). That makes life so much more bearable knowing I’m not alone.

Anyway, I plan to be back making plenty of happy posts very soon… Unless I have no ideas, which is definitely not impossible.

With that, I hope you have a great day. I love you all!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Podcasting "Twiddler"

This week on my podcast, I read “Twiddler,” a recent Medium column in which I delve more deeply into enshittification, and how it is a pathology of digital platforms, distinct from the rent-seeking of the analog world that preceded it:

https://doctorow.medium.com/twiddler-1b5c9690cce6

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/27/knob-jockeys/#bros-be-twiddlin

Enshittification, you’ll recall, is the lifecycle of the online platform: first, the platform allocates surpluses to end-users; then, once users are locked in, those surpluses are taken away and given to business-customers. Once the advertisers, publishers, sellers, creators and performers are locked in, the surplus is clawed away from them and taken by the platforms.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

Facebook is the poster-child for enshittification. When FB welcomed the general public in 2006, it sold itself as the privacy-respecting alternative to Myspace, promising users it would never harvest their data. The FB feed consisted of the posts that the people you’d followed — the people you cared about — published.

FB experienced explosive growth, thanks to two factors: “network effects” (every new user was a draw for other users who wanted to converse with them), and “switching costs” (it was practically impossible to convince all the people you wanted to hear from to leave FB, much less agree on what platform to go to next). In other words, every new user who joined FB both attracted more users, and made it harder for those users to leave.

FB attained end-user lockin and was now able to transfer users’ surpluses to business customers. First, it started aggressively spying on users and offered precision targeting at rock-bottom prices to advertisers. Second, it offered media companies “algorithmic” boosting into the feeds of users who hadn’t asked to see their posts.

Media companies that posted brief excerpts to FB, along with links to their sites on the real internet were rewarded with floods of traffic, as their posts were jammed into the eyeballs of millions of FB users who never asked to see them. Media companies and advertisers went all-in for FB, integrating FB surveillance beacons in their presence on the real internet, hiring social media specialists who’d do Platform Kremlinology in order to advise them on the best way to please The Algorithm.

Once those business customers — creators, media companies, advertisers — were locked into FB, the company harvested their surplus, too. On the ad side, FB raised rates and decreased expensive anti-fraud measures, meaning that advertisers had to pay more, even as an increasing proportion of their ads were either never served, or never seen.

With media companies and creators, FB not only stopped jamming their content in front of people who never asked to see it, they actively suppressed the spread of business users’ posts even to their own subscribers. FB required media companies to transition from excerpts to fulltext feeds, and downranked or simply blocked posts that linked back to a business user’s own site, be it a newspaper’s web presence or a creator’s crowdfunding service. Business users who wanted to reach the people who had explicitly directed FB to incorporate their media in users’ feeds had to pay to “boost” their materials.

This is the (nearly) complete enshittification cycle: having harvested the surplus from users and business customers, FB is now (badly) attempting to surf the line where nearly all the value in the service lands in its shareholders’ pockets, with just enough surplus left behind to keep end-users and business-users locked in (see also: Twitter).

There have been lots of other abusive “platform” businesses in the past — famously, 19th century railroads and their robber-baron owners were so obnoxiously abusive that they spawned the trustbusting movement, the Sherman Act, and modern competition law. Did the rail barons do enshittification, too?

Well, yes — and no. I have no doubt that robber barons would have engaged in zuckerbergian shenanigans if they could have — but here we run up against the stubborn inertness of atoms and the slippery liveliness of bits. Changing a railroad schedule to make direct connections with cities where you want to destroy a rival ferry business (or hell, laying track to those cities) is a slow proposition. Changing the content recommendation system at Facebook is something you do with a few mouse-clicks.

Which brings me to the thesis of “Twiddler”: enshittification doesn’t arise from the special genius or the unique wickedness of tech barons — rather, it’s the product of the ability to twiddle. Our discourse has focused (rightly) on the extent to which platforms are “instrumented” — that is, the degree to which they spy on and analyze their users’ conduct.

But the discussion of what the platforms do with that data — the ways they “react” to it — has echoed the platforms’ own boasts of transcendental “behavior modification” prowess (c.f. “Surveillance Capitalism”) while giving short shrift to the extremely mundane, straightforward ways that the ability to change the business-logic of a platform lets it allocate and withdraw surpluses from different kinds of users to get them on the hook, reel them in, and then skin and devour them.

The Twiddler thesis, in other words, is a counter to the narrative of Maria Farrell’s Prodigal Tech Bros, who claim that they were once evil sorcerers, but, having seen the error of their ways, vow to be good sorcerers from now on, forswearing “hacking our dopamine loops” like vampires swearing off blood:

https://conversationalist.org/2020/03/05/the-prodigal-techbro/

People who repeat the claims of Prodigal Tech Bros are engaging in criti-hype, Lee Vinsel’s term for criticism that repeats tech’s own mystical narratives of their own superhuman prowess, rather than grappling with the mundanity of doing old conjurer’s tricks very quickly, with computers:

https://sts-news.medium.com/youre-doing-it-wrong-notes-on-criticism-and-technology-hype-18b08b4307e5

That’s what twiddling is — doing the same things that grocery store monopolists and rail monopolists and music label monopolists have always done, but very quickly, with computers. Whether it’s Amazon rooking sellers and authors, or Apple and Google’s App Stores rooking app creators, or Tiktok and Youtube rooking performers, or Uber rooking drivers, the underlying pattern of surplus-harvesting is the same, and so is the method. They do the same thing as their predecessors, but very quickly, with computers.

A grocer who wants to price-gouge on eggs needs to dispatch an army of low-waged employees with pricing guns. AmazonFresh does the same thing in an eyeblink, by typing a new number into a field on a web-form and clicking submit. As is so often the case when a magic trick is laid bare, the actual mechanic is very, very boring: the way to make a nickel appear to vanish is to spend hundreds of hours practicing before a mirror while you shift so it is clenched between your fingers, and protrudes from behind your hand (sorry, spoiler alert).

The trick can be baffling and marvellous when you see it, but once you know how it’s done, it’s pretty obvious — the difference is that most sleight-of-hand artists don’t think they’re sorcerers, while plenty of tech bros believe their own press.

There’s a profound irony in twiddling’s role in enshittification: early internet scholarship rightly hailed the power of twiddling for internet users. Theorists like Aram Sinnreich described this as configurability — the ability of end-users (aided by tinkerers, small businesses, and co-ops) to modify the services they used to suit their own needs:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vk8c2

Arguably the most successful configurability story is ad-blocking, which Doc Searls calls “the biggest boycott in human history.” Billions of end-users of the web have twiddled their browsers so that they aren’t tracked by ad-tech and don’t see ads:

https://blogs.harvard.edu/doc/2015/09/28/beyond-ad-blocking-the-biggest-boycott-in-human-history/

Configurability was at the heart of early hopes for mass disintermediation, because audiences and performers (or sellers and producers) could go direct to one another, assembling a customized, un-capturable conduit composed of an a-la-carte selection of payment processors, webstores, mail and web hosts, etc. Whenever one of these utilities tried to capture that relationship and harvest an unfair share of the surplus, both ends of the transaction could foil them by blocking, reverse-engineering, modding, or mashing them up, wriggling off the hook before it could set its barbs.

But — as we can all see — a funny thing happened on the way to the 21st century. The platforms seized the internet, turning it into “five giant websites, each filled with screenshots of the other four”:

https://twitter.com/tveastman/status/1069674780826071040

Three factors let them do this:

1. They were able to buy or merge with every major competitor, and where that failed them, they were able to use predatory pricing to drive competitors out of the market:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/16/tweedledumber/#easily-spooked

2. They were able to twiddle their services, setting them a-bristle with surveillance beacons and digital actuators that could rearrange the virtual furniture every time some knob-jockey touched their dial:

https://doctorow.medium.com/twiddler-1b5c9690cce6

3. They were able to hoard the twiddling, using laws like the DMCA, CFAA, noncompetes, trade secrecy, and other “IP” laws to control the conduct of their competitors, critics and customers:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

That last point is very important: it’s not just that big corporations twiddle us to death — it’s that they have made it illegal for us to twiddle back. Adblocking is possible on the open web, but to ad-block your Iphone, you must first jailbreak it, which is a crime. Yes, Apple will block Facebook from spying on you — but even if you opt out of tracking, Apple still spies on you in exactly the same way Facebook did, to power their own ad-targeting business:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

This is what Jay Freeman calls “felony contempt of business-model” — the literal criminalization of configuration. When Netflix wants to decide who is and isn’t a member of your family, they just twiddle their back-end to block the child that moves back and forth between your home and your ex’s, thanks to your joint custody arrangement:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/02/nonbinary-families/#red-envelopes

But woe betide the parent who twiddles back to restore their child’s service, by jailbreaking an app or the W3C’s official, in-browser DRM, EME — trafficking in a tool to bypass EME and reconfigure your browser to suit your needs, rather than Netflix’s, is a felony punishable by a five-year prison sentence and a $500k fine, under Section 1201 of the DMCA:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/09/open-letter-w3c-director-ceo-team-and-membership

This is the supreme irony of twiddling: Big Tech companies love to twiddle you, but if you touch your own knob, they call it a crime. Just as Big Tech firms turned “free software” into “open source” and then took all the software freedom for themselves, configurability is now the exclusive purview of corporations — those transhuman, immortal colony paperclip maximizers that treat humans as inconvenient gut-flora:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=vBknF2yUZZ8

If we are to take the net back, we’ll need to seize the means of computation. There are three steps to that process:

1. Traditional antitrust: Merger scrutiny, breakups, and bans on predatory pricing and other anticompetitive practices:

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/01/federal-trade-commission-justice-department-seek-strengthen-enforcement-against-illegal-mergers

2. Anti-twiddling laws for businesses: A federal privacy law with a private right of action, labor protections, and other rules that take knobs away from tech platforms:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/01/you-should-have-right-sue-companies-violate-your-privacy

3. Pro-twiddling laws for users: Interoperability (both mandatory and adversarial — AKA “Competitive Compatibility” or “comcom”):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/05/time-for-some-game-theory/#massholes

Monopolists and their handmaidens — witting and unwitting — want you to believe that their dominance is inevitable (shades of Thatcher’s “there is no alternative”), because the great forces of history, the technical characteristics of digital technology, and the sorcerous mind-control of dopamine-hackers.

But the reality is much more mundane. Digital freedom was never a mirage. Indeed, it is a prize of enormous value — that’s why the platforms are so intent on hoarding it all for themselves.

Here’s this week’s podcast episode:

https://craphound.com/news/2023/02/27/twiddler/

And here’s a direct link to download the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the Internet Archive ; they’ll host your media for free, forever):

TK

Here’s the direct feed to subscribe to my podcast:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

And here’s the original “Twiddler” article on Medium:

https://doctorow.medium.com/twiddler-1b5c9690cce6

Image: Stephen Drake (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Analog_Test_Array_modular_synth_by_sduck409.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

This Thu (Mar 2) I’ll be in Brussels for Antitrust, Regulation and the Political Economy, along with a who’s-who of European and US trustbusters. It’s livestreamed, and both in-person and virtual attendance are free. On Fri (Mar 3), I’ll be in Graz for the Elevate Festival.

[Image ID: A mandala made from a knob and button-covered control panel.]

[aces-place-of-thoughts]

Vision Wielders Reworked

Series by Aces Archon Quest/OnlyAceishere

------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter I:

Kaeya: Knaenri'ah character done better

Third times the charm, am I right? Right? No no im not.

The Mondstadt Cryo sword unit. Where to begin?

Most people would agree that Kaeya has a decent kit for a starter but I still think a Knaenri'ah character can be done better and that's my goal today

Im here to do Kaeya better

------------------------------------------------------------

Normal Attack

Ceremonial Bladework

----------------------------

Remains the same 5 hit combo it always is.

------------------------------------------------------------

Element Skill

Frosty Favonuis Scythe

-----------------------------

Kaeya unleashes a scythe from Knaenri'ah and gains a 15% Physical DMG bonus but drains his HP but 25% per use

Defense is also reduced but 10% until the skill is disabled

Replaces his normal attack with a 5 hit Physical DMG scythe combo

Elemental Burst can be cast during Frosty Favonuis Scythe

Max CD: 30s

------------------------------------------------------------

Elemental Burst

Glacial Waltz

---------------------

Kaeya summons 3 icicles that deal Cryo DMG to opponents who touch them

CD: 15s

Energy Cost: 60

------------------------------------------------------------

Ascension Passive abilities

---------------------------------

Passive I: Frozen Blood

Each Crit hit of the Frosty Favonuis Scythe combo regenerates 2% of Kaeya's HP

Passive II: Icy Rage

Upon casting Glacial Waltz, Kaeya gains a 3% Cryo DMG bonus per icicle

When Constellation VI is unlocked the bonus icicle will be included

Utility Passive:

Decreases sprinting stamina consumption by 20% when Kaeya is in the party

Does not stack with utility passives with the same perk

------------------------------------------------------------

Constellation: Pavo Ocellus

------------------------------------------------------------

Constellation I: Blood Lust

If Kaeya finishes either his Normal Attack combo or Frosty Favonuis Scythe combo with a Crit hit, the next combo has its Crit rate increased by 5%

Constellation II: Never Ending Performance

When Glacial Waltz is active, for each opponent defeated, its base duration is increased by 2.5s, up to a maximum of 15s.

Constellation III: Dance of Knaenri'ah Eclipse

Increases the level of Frosty Favonuis Scythe by 3. Max upgrade level is now 15.

Constellation IV: Frost Kiss

Increases HP regenerated in "Frozen Blood" Passive by 2%

Passive now does:

Each Crit hit of the Frosty Favonuis Scythe combo regenerates 4% of Kaeya's HP

Constellation V: Frostbiting Embrace

Increases the level of Glacial Waltz by 3. Max upgrade level is now 15.

Constellation VI: Glacial Whirlwind

Glacial Waltz will generate 1 additional icicle, and will regenerate 15 Energy when cast

------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter I, Kaeya: Knaenri'ah character done better

Complete.

I may have made him a bit op but this was my first attempt so Im giving myself a pass

I contemplated adding a team comp section but idk

If anyone wants to make their own team comp for Scythe form Kaeya that's completely fine just tag me in it or something idk

If this reaches anyone interested that is

I wrote this three times in two weeks because the first copy was ready to post but deleted

The second copy didn't save and this one is the third

I had fun but suffered

Definitely gonna do this again

Every installment will be tagged with vision wielders reworked

so that way they're all easy to find

All Pictures and Gifs were downloaded from the Genshin Impact fandom wiki

Thank you for reading and reaching the end

Goodbye now

-Ace Archon

[the-corner-window]

Endwalker: A Retrospective (1/2)

Final Fantasy XIV's most recent expansion "Endwalker" has been a big point of conversation within the community for some time since its release back on December 3rd, 2021. It released to high critical acclaim as the summation of a ten year long saga within one of the most popular MMORPGs available on the market today. I want to look back at the long walk to the end before we blaze a new trail unto the dawn. As someone who's logged several thousand hours over the course of my journey throughout Etheirys I've finished many quests, ran a majority of the content (excluding Ultimates, in due time...), and met a wide range of folks sinking time into one of my favorite games. First off, we dive right into the Main Scenario Questline, hereon referred to as the "MSQ". Most of anything the expansion entails requires you to have conquered the arduous journey the game lays out before you. The production quality of the MSQ is well above where it started, and the increase in quality of the cinematic direction, the voice acting, and the narrative intrigue have all played into making Endwalker truly feel like the culmination of all that came before it. The emotional beats hit hard in some spots, and there's a good mix of light-heartedness in between momentous crescendos that act as a sort of palate cleanser to keep things from becoming strenuous or overbearing for an expansion story the length of a standalone single player RPG. I want to refrain from going into much detail in consideration of those players that have yet to complete the MSQ, but there were a few scenes that actually choked me up, and I'm not typically one to get emotional consuming media. Though that can be said for the base Endwalker MSQ, or the "6.0" content, there was something lackluster about the narrative that followed the climax that felt weaker in comparison. The quality is still there, and in some ways they showcased more of what I hope we get to experience in Dawntrail, however nothing about the more isolated adventure really had me buzzing off the same high as some of the previous post-patch story content such as within Shadowbringers or Heavensward. I do hope that we see some payoff in content down the line, perhaps in the next expansion or even further out, but as of now it felt like getting a lukewarm brownie as a dessert after eating a perfectly seasoned steak. That may seem a bit harsh, but I did still enjoy the brownie. On the topic of the endgame however, I must admit I'm speaking in near isolation since I was a much more casual player before Endwalker released. The encounters ranging from Extreme Trials to Savage Raiding feel really solid, if a bit intense at times. Raiding has been my primary focus in the game for nearly 2 years at this point aside from MSQ completion and it's been fun, but frustrating. Having done some of the more mid-tier content in Stormblood and Shadowbringers such as Eureka, Bozja, and Ishgardian Restoration, the options available to me in the post-patches of Endwalker seemed to amount to either Savage Raiding or using a spreadsheet to upgrade my Island Sanctuary which isn't my favorite kind of content by any means. I had no real drive to push through the new Criterion Dungeons since there was nothing they offered that I felt worth the hassle of pursuing, and Deep Dungeons have never been my favorite content so I've gotten little time in with the new Eureka Orthos. In the end, here just weeks away from Dawntrail's release, my biggest drive to log in is getting my alternative Jobs I've neglected up to the current max level, meeting new people through the more social aspects of the game such as visiting player-run venues, and running PvP activities to finish off my Series.

[queerwolfsstuff]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag @eyesofatragedy67

1. How many works do you have on A03?

121 so far, that number will increase within the next couple of months.

2. What's your total word count?

3,439,494

Holy shit, and that's not including the word count of unpublished works or the original novel I'm currently editing!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Actively: Supernatural; Good Omens; Our Flag Means Death; Red, White, and Royal Blue, (MAYBE DEAD BOY DETECTIVES BACK OFF)

Past: South Park; High School Musical; Beauty and the Beast; Harry Potter; Blades of Glory; and Glee.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos:

Top 5 in general (this includes co-written fics):

In a Mirror, Darkly (written with @anyreiart) - 3,068

Red, White, and Royal Blue Balls - 2,365

Playing with Fire (written with @anyreiart) - 1,748

That Wasn’t Supposed to Fucking Happen! (written with @anyrei) - 1,387

The Heart of Ophelia (written with @anyreiart) - 1,357

Top 5 Solo Fics:

Red, White, and Royal Blue Balls - 2,365

La Rose Cachée - 1,146

Twenty After Four - 390

You Know I’m No Good - 326

And Walk Yourself to the Laundromat - 318

5. Do you respond to comments?

UGH, not as much as I should, and I used to be really good about responding to all comments, but presently my inbox on Ao3 has 4402 “unread” comments and I just… I can’t, it’s too overwhelming at this point with working two jobs. But I read and genuinely appreciate every single comment, even if I can’t reply to every single one!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ah. That’s a toss up between Nothing’s Gonna Change My World and Through the Rift Series. In my opinion, the former, but I’m sure Any would beg to differ.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oooh, fun! Ummmm. Most of them have happy endings (both literally and figuratively). I guess the “happiest” ending goes to the crack fic I wrote for Any’s birthday seven years ago. Crack in the Fourth Wall

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Oh, you betcha. The first time we got a shitty comment on a joint fic, Any said, “We’ve made it!” Thankfully, when a certain newsletter was dismantled, the anti-destiel harassment died down. I/We still get the occasional “concrit” comment from readers who think it’s an okay thing to give unsolicited writing advice, and I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Constructive criticism cannot exist in already posted fanfiction world, you aren’t being constructive or critiquing, you’re literally filing a complaint, leaving a bad review. So either embrace the fact you’re a shitty 1-star Yelp review Karen, or stop leaving concrit.

9. Do you write smut?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

10. Craziest crossover?

I actually don’t write crossovers, but keep your eyes peeled! I recently participated in the CasDean Reverse Crossover Bang, and in a little over a week, I’ll be posting my Harry Potter crossover fic featuring art by the amazing @rezal-art!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not technically, or in a way that could be proven, but a very popular fic very much felt like a rip off of one of mine and Any’s fics, one that a well known author (a friend of the author of aforementioned rip off) made it a point to tell potential readers to not read the ending of because said author didn’t like the polyamory of it all.

Even funnier, that same author shortly after wrote their own poly fic. So, I guess personal preferences used to justify telling people to not read someone’s fic can sometimes beget a change of heart if it gets you more comments/readers.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Any and I have had a couple of our fics translated into Chinese, Russian, and Spanish! And we are here for anyone who wishes to translate any of our fics, just let us know and send us a link, and we will include it in the notes!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. At this point, I prefer to not write alone. Any needs to stop allowing it to happen.

14. All-time favorite ship?

Okay, so… technically, it’s Destiel. It’s the only pairing that survived the end of its series. Dean Winchester and Castiel are my two favorite archetypes of characters and their specific dynamic transcends canon bad endings and any type of universe.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I don’t have any! The last time I posted a WIP, it took me a couple years to finish, so I promised myself I would only post completed fics from now on.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Comedic scenarios and dialogue. I like the funnies and the speakings.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

DESCRIPTIONS. I fucking hate it, okay? Why can’t you all just know what’s in my damn head? I also have a toxic, codependent relationship with commas and sentence fragments.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

A little mixed. So, barring it being like… Latin, or a more archaic language that you use an unreliable online translator for or a language you speak, I believe for believable dialogue, you should have a friend or someone who can confirm/verify that the language is written correctly, otherwise, I vote you write, “they spoke in x language,” and interpret in the narrative. And no writing an accent in dialogue for characters where English is a second language phonetically! Like, authentic structure of a sentence, rhythm, or word choice is fine, but let’s not be offensive folks.

19. First fandom you ever wrote in?

Harry Potter over twenty years ago now. I’m an old.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Oooh, that’s fun. Ummmm. For co-written, it’s a toss up between Five Dimensions, or Dean’s Crusade: A Dance with Self Discovery with @anyreiart or Heaven on htraE with @eyesofatragedy67 and for solo it’s a toss up between I Wish for This and La Rose Cachée

Tag time! @anyreiart @punk-is-notdead and whoever else wants to do this!