#LIKE OVER 200 GLOBES

[prettycottagequeer]

ok maybe I'm a little late to this BUT I'm gonna do a to-do list motivation thingy because I've had the worst two weeks since I started college :)

SO these I should start on asap:

50 I make the snack I really want but I haven't had the motivation to make

100 I clean my dorm. another thing I've been meaning to do for a week

150 I do the presentation about mid-victorian fashion I've been putting off (due Monday)

200 I start memorizing the monologue that was due a week ago (now due Tuesday)

these can wait longer:

300 I spend time outside. It's so nice but I'm getting stuck scrolling because I feel like shit. vicious cycle ect

500 I start setting a better weekend routine (aka getting up before noon)

1k I start working out again. I was doing a routine to get more masc and build muscle and I liked it but life hit me like Crowley driving the Bentley and I've missed like 3 weeks

2k I buy my first binder. I've been coping with sports bras for almost a year now and I haven't been able to justify spending $50+ on a binder even though I know I'd love it and use it everyday.

Do I tag people? I don't know but I'm going to. @the-globe-theatre-maggot @weirdly-specific-but-ok @howmanyholesinswisscheese

here's just some context if you want to read, feel free to skip. some of this I've talked about in the maggot server, some I haven't, but I really just need a place for this to go that's out of my head. tw homophobia, transphobia, car crash(??)

How I Have Been Run Over By The Bentley Going 90 In Central London What Feels Like 50 Times In The Last Two Weeks

I'm going to college about 4 hours away from my parents, and it's been really nice. They.. suck, to say the least. transphobic/homophobic ect, super traditional conservative catholic, racist, all of it. so i tried to move somewhere where I wouldn't have to think about them and I could be myself and do what I can to be happy. March 1st was the start of my spring break, which meant going home because the dorms close. I was already not excited, but I was prepared. the problem with being away from home is I forget just how bad they are. My optimism gets the better of me and I think maybe this time they'll be better. so I decided to not hide my septum piercing.

that was a mistake. it starts a whole fight where they say we know you're trans, you're actually a girl and you always will be, we have the bones argument, they think I'm being influenced by demons or something (if only they knew about crowley) because I want to change my name, and they tell me that going on t will completely ruin my body and give me cancer and other things. They're also mad about my dyed hair, septum, and general style, and say I'm setting a terrible example for my (5) younger siblings and make it a point to tell me just how much of a disappointment I am. I think I'm pretty cute and fun but y'know, whatever. very fun time. I lie so much, don't give them any more details about my identity, and say I'm not planning to go on t to save my ass. which is all on instinct which makes me feel worse because if I'm really trans I should be able to stand up for that, right? maybe I'm faking the dysphoria.

the next morning I wake up really sick, and spend the rest of the week sick and feeling like shit because I'm home and back in the same place and situation I was a year ago that I thought I escaped. at one point I pretty much lose my voice but also kind of get gender euphoria from it. it's weird.

On Friday it's time for me to drive back 4 hours to school, and I make it about 3/4 of the way when google maps takes me on a random gravel road and I crash my car, really crash my car, like sideways-in-a-ditch-windows-broken-crawling-up-out-the-door crash it in the middle of nowhere. (I was fully paying attention to the road, it was raining and super slick) I call my parents because I have no one else to call and I sit in a Subway for 3 hours while they drive to get my car. when they get there they're (understandably) really mad, and they tell me that I'm not mature enough to be going to school so far away and I need to get my shit together and stop depending on them. which. is probably true. but made me feel even more stupid about the fact that I crashed my car. I get back to school and I'm still Very Sick with no energy or motivation to do anything. So I've spent the last week trying to get better and honestly to do anything. it hasn't really worked. I'm a lot better health-wise (Not emotionally), still sick but I have a lot of work due, so I really need a push to get started

[spatialwave]

“𝓪 𝓰𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓵’𝓼 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓹𝓮𝓻”

pairing: cooper howard/the ghoul x fem!reader word count: 1k summary: you’d proven to cooper that you were a tough young thing, a vault dweller with a bit of edge—and a thing for mean-mannered ghouls. you were quick to indulge in being his plaything. warnings: mdni! smut, dom!cooper, sub!reader, rough, degrading, withholding/edging, cooper is mean i’m not sorry! notes: these are getting too good ya’ll hehe, i hope you like it! this scene was inspired by @ghoulphile and their amazing cooper writings! please go check out their blog! 🧡

when you first met cooper howard you had been doused in confusion, why the hell were you attracted to this… thing? not a human, but too handsome and sentient to be labelled as lowly as a ‘creature’. he couldn’t be wrangled into the likes of mutated animals, but you hadn’t met a ghoul before, so you didn’t know what to make of him. nor could you understand the way you’d grown slick between the thighs by only looking at him.

fascination struck when he settled striking eyes on you—soon forcing you along to seek out the information you’d gained through your years as a vault dweller.

and it’s not like you fit anywhere else anyway, even your vault allowed you to make way for the surface without an attempt to hold you back from your curiosity— you were stuck with nothing. not even a bottle of water to your name. so, if it meant having to suck up to a bounty hunting ghoul and beg for your life to stay afloat, then you could manage. you hadn’t any ounce of shame or pride, you were a prisoner to the wastelands.

a lover to a damned, 200-year old ghoul.

your face was shoved against the sandy floorboards of an old, battered saloon—destroyed and flimsy. one harsh rad storm and it would collapse into a corpse of a building that once held a proud number of guests before the war.

“cooper, fuck—“ you groaned, pain mixed with pleasure as your cunt burned.

the ghoul had stripped you completely, your vault jumpsuit tossed behind the broken bar, boots across the room and pip boy a few inches from your face. he left your naked body exposed to the cold night air, easy for him to ravage and indulge.

this was a constant repetition in your life now, when cooper was having a stressful day he took it out on you. the first time was near-frightening, thinking that he might end up snapping you in half while fucking you with his revolver shoved into your mouth like a deathly, make-shift gag.

you loved it—it was fucking disgusting, and you craved it like a lowly whore, a term of endearment that came so lovingly from the ghoul.

“quiet down,” he hissed, gloved hand landing harshly against your ass so a loud smack echoed through the dilapidated building, “i’ll shove your panties in your mouth if you keep this up, whore.”

his cock was buried deep into your pussy, swollen and aching around his hardened length that pushed against the ring of your cervix. the fleshy muscle shooting pain through your hips and thighs with each thrust, uncaring if it was painful. large hands massaged the globes of your ass, covered in reddened marks and bruises that would make sitting down hard—it was rare you had that privilege, though. cooper had made sure you two were always on the move.

“maybe i want that, cowboy,” you giggled sloppily, fucked so dumb you could hardly think as you looked over your shoulder at the ghoul, his hazel eyes piercing into yours just under the brim of his hat. you hated that he kept himself mostly clothed during these rendezvous.

cooper groaned, eyes narrowing as his left hand kept your wrists pinned against your back—face rubbing raw against the floor every time his cock slid through your wet walls. he’d been the biggest you’d ever taken, not like you had much experience.

“you love talkin’ with that filthy, cocksucking mouth of yours, don’t you?” cooper groaned, hands tightening around your wrists as his hips snapped sharply against your ass.

to make sure your needs were taken care of, you bit hard onto your bottom lip to muffle any sounds that may escape your throat. it was difficult when his cock stretched you thin, rubbing raw inside you as tears gathered in your eyes and all you wanted to do was scream his name until your voice cracked and the dry, dusty air stung your throat. you clenched tight around his cock, hardly able to keep yourself up on your knees, and he could feel how close you were to collapsing.

“not yet, darlin’,” cooper mumbled, his free hand latching to your hip and pulling you back to your knees when you’d nearly collapsed. then, the same hand slipped around your hips, so his bare fingers rubbed at your swollen clit that had been neglected.

“coop—“ you whimpered, eyes daring to shut tight as he pounded into you mercilessly, barely hanging onto reality as you had begun to see stars while your eyes rolled back.

he fed off your soft mewls of pleasure as you tried so hard to keep quiet, a smirk tainting his lips as he watched with excited eyes and a newfound sense of vigor.

“you gonna’ cum on my cock, lil’ helper?” he whispered, leaning forward so his clothed chest pressed against your back and locked wrists, “say it and i’ll think about lettin’ you,” he huffed, voice coarse as his warm breath tickled the shell of your ear and his finger pulled away from your clit—pulling you away from the edge you’d nearly fell over.

“i’m gonna’ cum on your cock,” you slurred—whining desperately for more, “can i, cooper? please, i’ve been good,” you pleaded, forcing your eyes to focus so you could look at him. you’d been fighting off the coil of heat tightening in your lower gut, waiting so patiently for your lover to say yes like the darling love you were.

you bit back a gurgled moan, eyes shutting tight as he allowed a few, long seconds to pass before his finger rubbed tight, fast circles on the sensitive bud, “go on then,” he breathed low, lips parted as he waited for your release.

all it took was for you to relax your body, then the pleasure soared through you like an explosive. cooper pulled himself upright and let go of your wrists so you could cover your mouth with your delicate fingers—moaning a saliva-filled mess into your hand while you came. every thrust sent your head swirling, sending your body into flames as his radiated body took one final snap of his hips before he spilled deep inside and felt the stress of the day vanish into thin air.

you were certainly this ghoul’s helper.

[penultimate-step]

Have you ever thought about how weird it is that "the colors on the screen changing to black and white" has become such a common shorthand in media for a scene that's a flashback?

If I had to guess, I'd say that the practice first began because when the news or documentaries show old footage or photographs, those were in monochrome - because they were taken before color photography or video was common. So creators can use it for a quick visual association to an older era.

But the association has transcended beyond being a mere reminder, and stand on it's own. For instance, you can find the same technique used in videogames - a level taking place in somebody's memories, for instance, may be made in monochrome geometry, and players will understand what is being implied. This is despite the fact that a visual reminder for a videogame would look completely different - you rarely see something like PS5 game start using PS1-like graphical entries to represent the past. (Though I can think of a handful of examples that do actually do this, its not completely unheard of.) The color palette change as visual shorthand for the past is now something that people understand even independent of being in a medium where those associations are natural.

Which makes me think about the future. Color has been possible in movies for over a century, color TV began to be in use in wealthy nations in the 1950s, and by the start of the 90s completely overwhelmed black and white across the globe. In that time most cameras also made the switch. Viewers in their 20s or 30s today likely don't remember a time where black and white media was the predominant form of visual media; the black and white visual association works for them not because it is in their memory but because they've seen older shows and photos and know they were made before they were old enough to remember. Is it possible that 200 years from now, greyscale color schemes will exist as an artifact of the past, a visual cue that denotes the past even when casual watchers don't have any first hand experience with true black and white media? Will it seem inexplicable, somewhat how some kids today think of floppy disks as "the save icon"? It's interesting to think about.

[black-arcana]

EVANESCENCE To Enter Studio In November

During an interview with 89 FM A Rádio Rock at the Rock In Rio festival in Brazil on September 15, EVANESCENCE's Amy Lee was asked about the band's plans for the coming months. She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're in the creative process right now, but we're not deep in the throes of it yet. We've been doing a lot of creating, and we just have, like, tons of ideas. So we're gonna get serious and get in the studio in November for the first round. Round one."

EVANESCENCE will embark on its first headline tour across Canada in 15 years this fall. Produced by Live Nation Canada, the trek kicks off on October 15 in Vancouver, British Columbia, hitting cities nationwide before wrapping on October 29 in London, Ontario. EVANESCENCE will be joined by special guests, post-grunge/metal rockers HALESTORM across all stops. Alternative sister trio THE WARNING will open all shows.

Delivering a number of dynamic rock hits over the last two decades, EVANESCENCE recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of its landmark debut album, "Fallen", originally released in 2003. They recognized the milestone with a special anniversary edition of the smash album, which spawned gigantic rock hits like "Bring Me To Life", "Going Under" and "My Immortal", kickstarting a thriving career they're still carrying out today.

To date, EVANESCENCE has released a total of five studio albums, including the multi-platinum "The Open Door" (2004) and "Evanescence" (2011),both of which topped the Billboard 200. In 2021, the band thrilled fans with their first album of new material in a decade, "The Bitter Truth". Now 20 years on, EVANESCENCE continues to scale new heights. Featuring a lineup of Amy Lee (vocals, keyboards),Tim McCord (guitar/bass),Will Hunt (drums),Troy McLawhorn (guitars) and Emma Anzai (bass, backing vocals),the band continues to travel the globe, staging some of the most successful shows of their career, having wrapped a run of sold-out shows in Latin America, including Allianz Parque, a soccer stadium in Sāo Paulo, Brazil, which was the biggest headline show of EVANESCENCE's career to date, drawing 40,000 fans.

Shortly following its release in March 2021, "The Bitter Truth" rose to the top of the iTunes Album charts in 22 countries and also landed the top spot on Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums chart.

EVANESCENCE first topped the Hard Rock Albums chart in October 2011 with its self-titled effort. The album stayed atop the list for three weeks.

"The Bitter Truth" was recorded during the pandemic and confronted the dark realities of the world head-on. Yet its resounding message was one of light: pushing through is better than giving up.

[lesbiansforboromir]

Spare a thought for the cartographers of Pelargir who had to throw out literally every map ever done of their lovely, simple, flat Middle Earth because now the whole fucking thing has been stretched around a globe (???) and this fucking Merenor guy has come up with this infuriating cylinder projection that, whilst vital for nautical maps in order to keep every line as a constant bearing, now means you have to draw the Forodwaith like 35% bigger than it actually is and you’re sure the religious trauma is bad for some people and okay there’re two new kingdoms now and Numenor is destroyed or whatever but you REALLY don’t have time to think about that because you’ve gotta fucking REINVENT THE WHEEL OF CARTOGRAPHY suddenly at the ripe old age 210 because some jolly mathematician in Umbar confirmed using two pillars 158 lár apart that the shadows are different lengths at the same time of day now, which means not ONLY has Arda become round, but we have an approximate circumference of about 4153 lár WHICH IS A FIGURE YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU’D BE ABLE TO GET and now you owe that blasted Elvedui fellow 200 castar over a drunk bet you made 100 years ago that Arda was only 2000 lár long from west to east that you didn’t actually believe you just thought it was funny when he got so angry about it TRULY!! You are suffering more than Turin Turambar right now.

[isagispuzzle]

CONGRATS ON 200 🤍 you deserve that and so much more !!

for your event, even tho it's rlly hard to pick just one trope, i would say that the second chances trope has been one of my recent favs lately!

HEHE THANK YOU NISHIII anyway are you in my walls.... because i've been thinking about doing a part 2 for my oliver angst piece like this timing is too perfect HAHAHA

oliver might have played it cool when his teammates found your makeup bag, but now, his heart is about to explode.

it hasn't been long since you moved out of his life. he found your makeup bag in his backpack the day after you left, but he didn't reach out to you till a month later. he told himself it's to give you time to rebuild a routine without him, to let your heart start to miss him a little before he re-entered your space. of course, he knows that's just an excuse, and he only hesitated to text you because he wanted to hold onto the remnants of you for just a little longer.

oliver doesn't fear much, but when his thumb hovered over the send button on his phone, it trembled at the prospect of giving up this last piece you've left him with, the last relic of your love.

yet, despite his selfish reluctance, he arranged to meet you at a cafe to return your makeup bag, because he knows how much the earrings inside mean to you.

(did he hurt you enough for you to give up retrieving a piece of your heart just to avoid speaking to him again?)

he reaches the cafe at four on the dot, like you agreed to. he scans the room and is surprised to see a jarring lack of you. you're not at the counter, nor at the window seat you loved, nor at the shelf on the inner wall, admiring the owner's memorabilia from across the globe. so he finds himself choosing the table, staring at an empty seat in front of him, without any sign of you.

barely a minute passes and his leg starts bouncing restlessly under the table. oliver checks his texts to see nothing new from you. he looks out the window just to see a new wave of strangers exiting the subway station, and when he doesn't see you in the crowd, he starts to pick at the nail on his thumb. his thoughts start to race. oliver wonders if he's been stood up. he doubts you'll ever break a promise with him, but what's to say that hasn't changed, now that he's no longer someone special to you?

oliver's palms start to sweat and he feels his pulse in his neck. this sucks, he thinks. he hates feeling like this. like he's grovelling for your scraps, like he's hanging off every little thing that could be related to you. he's always been the one to care less, the one with nothing to lose, the one who left the other begging for more.

yet here he is, breathing the biggest sigh of relief when you finally show up, five minutes past the agreed time. you're straight faced and composed, and you haven't done anything to your hair. in the fleeting moment when you walk past oliver, he notices that you smell different.

"you're early," you say as you sink into your seat, and his stomach drops.

you're echoing his words back to him, from back when he'd turn up late for dates and never utter a word of apology.

oliver sees the satisfaction billowing in your eyes. he recalls all the times there were tears in them instead, when you'd beg him to love you more.

(which, he never understood why you ever doubted his love for you, because you're the only one he's ever held onto for this long. you're the only one he could truly be himself with, the only one he never got bored with, the only one he wanted to build his life with. you're the only one he's ever truly loved.)

it's only when oliver catches himself apologising for everything he's done to you and promising he'll do better that he finally realises you were never a gamble to him. there was never any doubt that you're the one for him, and there was never any chance that he'll truly let you go. you were never a gamble to him, but a promise, which he now swears to keep like a vow.

you might be repeating the mistake of letting oliver into your life. but you see the sincerity in his eyes and the desperation in his words, and you convince yourself that he's learnt from his mistakes. the walls you prepared around your heart for this day crumble when you realise they had only kept him in your heart, not out.

so you reach out a hand for him to take, a peace treaty and a warning, a second chance and an ultimatum.

instead of the red string of fate, oliver sees a thin, translucent fishing line around your pinky and down his throat, because you've got him hook, line, and sinker.

[svndaysaweek]

Aftermath — {Feat. Kazuha}

1.8k words

A/N: After math is science. Hope y'all like this one too,, Also thanks to everyone for 200 followers and big big support on e^(iπ)+1=0!! I hope I've improved a little. Inclined words are scientific terms so google it if look unfamiliar!!(Certainly will help you understand this)

Tag: Science (?), Loving sex, creampie

******

The ride's finally over. Even before you turn the car off she eagerly hops off. Kazuha opens the door for you.

"Zuha–Owff!"

Now she hops on your arms.

You are suddenly burdened with her body, but not the weight. As if she is violating the law of universal gravitation. Although you weigh her much more than the Earth you two are stepping on—in fact Kazuha isn't—this time Earth just lets her go.

"Carry me inside,"

That famous position—arms around your neck, both legs on your arms, face right in front of yours—and that cliché progress, which is to carry the girl inside and then make love. You follow just that, but with a kiss it's clicheic no more.

You were wrong then, to allege that Kazuha violates the law of universal gravity. You are now pulled into an absorbing kiss, like the light and a black hole, like an apple and the Earth. A kiss that does nothing less than force your eyes shut.

Almost blindly you open the main door to enter her house.

"Which one?"

You detach from the kiss and gaspingly ask her.

"First,"

Inertia—Newton's first law. There's no turning back from here. Even if there's extrinsic force it's from Kazuha, and it only adds positive acceleration to you.

You open the first door you see as told, carry Kazuha to the bed and toss her onto it. Accelerated, you hastily take your shirt off. Kazuha successfully gets rid of your pants and boxers while you take your bare torso out.

A supernova itself—a breathtaking explosion to leave the core only. Kazuha takes her own clothes off, to leave the cruelty of her body only. As she brings her hands behind her back to unclasp her bra, you stop it.

"Let me,"

Chest unlocked.

Without anything to hinder the observation, you now get an immaculate visual on the pulsar. Heat beaming in tandem with her heartbeat is the clue notifying you of her anticipation.

Then the formation of a black hole—your hands are driven wildly toward those breasts. This close to her beautiful mounds, time doesn't make sense. You touch eternity, immortality, permanency, to tip yourself over the event horizon, into oblivion.

Her hot breath steams your face up, and you feel the ultimate need to devour her tits. The inclination to Kazuha's breasts is far above scientific explanation.

It's a lunar globe, you would say, faced with how her spit-glistening tits reflect the dim moonlight. Not so big, not too small. One in your mouth, another grabbed firmly by your hand. You thoroughly clean them both by dirtying them with your saliva, which is flooding with your instinctive intention full of filth.

"Baby, I need you down here."

Kazuha takes your hand softly down to her hot crotch. Her both pairs of lips have their energy right on you. You kneel on the floor to find her gushing core. Kazuha eyes you approval with her lower lip tucked in by her teeth.

Newton's third law—action and reaction. Your tongue presses on her third nub to draw such a raw response. An agonizingly addictive taste blesses your nerves, as Kazuha makes a wild reaction to the electric action you take. She pulls you in and she is definitely being pulled in, too.

Even the slightest actions of your tongue make her reactions go crazy. Her squirming even almost feels like struggle not to reach the wanted high—or the opposite.

"Fuck, baby just like that…It's so good,"

Like the Moon orbiting around the Earth. Like the Earth rotating around the Sun. Your tongue draws an imperfect circle around the very centre of her system. Not too far, not too close—you've found the Goldilocks Zone on her clit.

And as you remember, Goldilocks Zone is where liquid water can exist–

"Haa, I-I'm cumming…!"

Kazuha herself proves it, as she proudly waters your face with her cum. Ironically it tastes fatal. You lap up the remnant of her godly liquid, readying to truly fuck her.

You detach your mouth from her pussy and raise your hand to wipe your mouth but, no.

"Give me a taste,"

She holds your arm from going further and calls you in for a kiss, a wet one. Kazuha needily licks over your mouth with a long, low, satisfied moan, which turns you on too much to let her continue.

So you challenge her.

"Mmm…"

During the kiss you bring your dick to her waiting pussy and rub it on her entrance, collecting the wetness needed. Kazuha's arms slowly lock behind your neck, simultaneously with her legs around your hips.

She bites your lower lip, pleading you to push inside her.

"Mmm–!"

As you smoothly push in your cock, her animalistic response hits back.

Kazuha's entire body is becoming an undeniable proof that Earth is round: Her tongue curls inside your mouth, around yours. Her back arcs upward to form a sexy curve you can't unsee. Just like what Magellan did, you could wrap your arms around her body.

There's only space for you to fill up, but you are pulling back—same reason why Mars retrograde occurs, how heliocentrism was invented. Nothing in the universe works straight, not even light. Things curl, get absorbed, go back, and those are the most basic, the most natural things to happen, even when written rules carry straightness only.

(Besides, to such a perfection of a body, who wouldn't dare to break the rules?)

You gradually up the pace of your pistoning, in the second time of asking—Newton's second law: F=ma. With your accelerated, massive cock making love inside Kazuha, she is forced to cum.

And you've experienced it so, so many times. Tachyon flies slower than you, as you travel back to every night you shared with Kazuha. You are fucking her until time runs backwards, not giving even the slightest bit of fuck to the theory of relativity—actually, you are giving all the fuck to Kazuha right now.

Oh, Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me. Kazuha's lips always remind you of this phrase. You can't just let them stay idle. She already came once so the main sequence starts now. Like protons undergoing nuclear fission, you two in bed are tangled, synthesized, fused into one—into a totally new individual.

"Come on, baby. You need to cum, too."

Your body that once was over Kazuha's is now reversed and under hers, but again, you feel no weight at all. Like she is the light itself.

With almost no mass, she feels light—maybe that's why it was named that. That however, is not the only reason you compare Kazuha to the light.

The horny side of Kazuha, sexy, hot, wet and curvy. That's a wave. The lovely side of Kazuha, on the other hand, cozy, comfy, cheerful and straight. That's a particle, a photon. The duality you love, you adore. Whenever you notice the deviant changes in her eyes in bed it enlightens you, makes you wonder what her real nature is—that's what even Einstein wouldn't be able to discover, of course.

"God, Zuha… You–"

You bring your hands to her ass to start your thrusts, but then Kazuha stops you by pressing your arms down on the bed.

"Let me."

Hypnotized, you let your arms down in compliance with her direction. She then puts her hands on your heaving chest, readying herself to start riding you.

"I can feel your heart,"

You too. Your head is thumping loudly at your heartbeat, as if your brains are now working as another blood pump. And Kazuha raises its rate so easily.

"How does it feel?"

You ask, putting your hands softly on hers, on your chest.

"I don't know,"

The last thing you see is Kazuha's divine smile, before your eyes are forced shut by her sudden tightness descending to the base of your cock.

You feel her fingers dig into your chest as she gradually accelerates the speed of her ride.

"You, maybe."

You smile and look at her. What a cheesy girl, you think to yourself. And at the same time the lust-filled look on her face is so cute—opposed to what's going on down there.

"Baby…"

Kazuha breathes out her word then halts.

"Go ahead,"

You give her the knowing smile.

"I love you."

Yes. Love. Love is the only correct word to be spoken right now.

Because, as always, you feel how wonderful, how powerful it is. Within just a night you've witnessed so many examples of how easily love ignores laws of physics like they're nothing.

After saying that she never loses eye contact with you as she almost hazardously rides you out. Her tightness is fatal, fatal enough to vitalize your throbbing dick inside.

"I'm close, Zuha… Keep going,"

She knows you are. You try to sit up to kiss her but her arms sternly deny it.

Let me make you cum, her eyes tell you.

You can just stay there, let me serve you, her lips whisper.

Let me pay your love back, Kazuha's love speaks for itself.

You can even hear it, as your ears go numb. You see the ecstasy itself, as your eyes slam shut. You breathe loving words out, as you stop breathing.

"Zuha, I'm cumming…!"

You grab on her ass and begin to pour your seed into her.

"Go on, baby. You deserve it."

Kazuha doesn't stop grinding on you for a little more until you ease down completely. She then climbs down and lies beside you.

That is when you again admire her presence. Her black hair, dark enough to absorb any light except herself. Her blushed face and even redder lips perfecting the angelic façade of hers. Her perky breasts heaving up and down to indicate the intensity of the love between you two. Her toned, tight abs, wet crotch and both silky legs that are on yours.

How did I even end up next to this girl?

She deserves much more love than I can possibly give her.

"Zuha, I–"

Lack of strength out of the aftermath haze blocks you.

"Go ahead,"

This time she throws a knowing smile back to you.

You can only laugh at this moment. Kazuha being such a perfect partner, you can't help but say–

"I love you, Zuha."

Beside her is the best place on the planet, you could proudly announce.

You look at her in awe, and she turns her head to you with a grin.

"What, wanna go for another round?"

[therwriter]

The way Arknights pulls from real world history is fascinating, especially the way it mixes and matches different parts of history, and historical geopolitics, to create such a fascinating, rich world that utilises our understanding of the real world to add depth and realism to its themes while still being a science-fantasy setting with magic, gods and eldritch horrors

The way Arknights pulls from real world history is also infuriating, because I feel like I need in-depth knowledge of the entire history of the globe over the last 200 years to really get into what they're putting down here.

The founding of the US and war of independence is within living memory, but it is also the cold war nuclear/space arms race. WWI is on the horizon. The imperial conquest of much of the globe has not yet started in earnest but is coming soon. France no longer exists and Iberia is essentially post-apocalyptic.

I think it draws most heavily from the 19th century, specifically the late 19th century, but it also draws on a lot of other time periods and situations too. It's obviously deliberate since every location is named and patterned after real world nations, meant to be like our world but not quite. Feels like there's a lot that could be talked about with the geopolitics of Arknights, but I don't know enough to get into it right now.

The one that bugs me the most is France. Why was it destroyed? What was the war of the four emperors? I'm sure HG is cooking something but I don't know enough continental European history to figure it out!!

Very funny that fantasy Australia is a mining company in a trenchcoat with a population predominantly made up of an invasive species though. Real subtle HG.

[scotianostra]

On August 15th 1771 Sir Walter Scott the poet and novelist was born in Edinburgh.

Walter survived polio as a toddler which left him with a limp and he used a cane the rest of his life. He was the first author to have international fame in his lifetime and is credited with inventing the historical novel.

Scott used the great storytelling tradition of the Highlands to help bring back the Scottish identity that had been cruelly crushed by the British. His Waverly novels were very popular in Europe and America starting Romanticism and influencing American writers such as Thoreau and Twain.

As well as popularising the historical novel, his books more or less invented tourism in Scotland. A family holiday to Loch Katrine inspired Scott to write the epic narrative poem The Lady of the Lake; a romantic, stirring tale of secret identity, love and loss. It was a publishing phenomenon and readers flocked to see the landscape Scott had described. Thus when travel entrepreneurs such as Thomas Cook began selling packaged railroad tours in the 1840s, Scotland was one of the most popular destinations. Victorians who had grown up on Scott’s Waverley novels, and now technology made it possible to reach these areas

Scott was a prolific writer, publishing two novels a year. Readers around the globe devoured his tales of historic Scotland and its noble, heroic people.

Composers in particular found inspiration in his work, among them Gaetano Donizetti who was inspired to write the tragic opera Lucia del Lammermoor based on Scott’s novel The Bride of Lammermoor.  Franz Schubert was similarly moved, setting text from The Lady of the Lake to music to create his much-loved work Ave Maria.

When King George IIII visited Edinburgh in 1822 Scott was put in charge of the festivities. This was the first time a reigning monarch had made it north of the border in over 200 years and Scott masterminded a spectacular Scottish show in his honour.

He created a romantic - and, some argued, and still do argue, an unrealistic - vision of the Highlands on the streets of the capital with parades, gatherings of clans and swathes of tartan on display. King George himself lapped up this romantic symbolism, dressing in a kilt for the occasion and, like a 19th century influencer, prompting others to wear it too. It marked a turning point in the way the world saw Scotland, and the return of tartan to fashionable society following a ban enforced by the government in the aftermath of the Jacobite rebellion.

Scott’s influence in society allowed him to lobby on causes he held dear.Sir Walter Scott got involved in a number of political issues. Particularly, his interested in issues where the government was trying to impose things on Scotland. For example, the Bank of England wanted to withdraw the right of Scottish banks to print bank notes, it's testement to the man that he features on bank notes not just today, but going back to the days of smaller nbanks, like the Linen Bank in Scotland, The Bank of Scotland range of notes still carry his portrait. Scott He stirred up such a furore that the government backed down, so you have him to thank that your not carrying English bank notes around with you, imagine a life where we Scots couldn't have a good old moan about businesses in England refusing to take our money as payment!

Scott’s popularity as a poet was cemented in 1813 when he was given the opportunity to become Poet Laureate. However, he declined and Robert Southey accepted the position instead.

Having suffered a stroke in 1831, which resulted in apoplectic paralysis, his health continued to fail and Scott died on 21st September 1832 at Abbotsford, I hope to read and post more about Sir Walter Scott in just over a months time.

[laurellynnleake]

🚨 June 6th 2024: USA COVID Alert 🚨

SARS-CoV-2 rates are rising across the USA, especially in the West - mask up to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Remember, the US government is now actively hiding COVID data across Turtle Island, hospitals are rarely testing or masking, and death certificates do NOT list COVID-related complications like heart attacks and strokes. That means we have to rely on public wastewater data (measuring viruses in sewer water), and even that's being suppressed, and everything's on a 2 week delay. So when the numbers we CAN see go up (like the current official 430,000 infections per day), that's just the tip of the iceberg...Right now wastewater numbers are about TWICE AS HIGH AS THEY WERE LAST JUNE, before the US declared the pandemic over.

These graphs are from wastewaterscan.org and Iowacovid19tracker.org. They collect a lot of local and national data too - look up your own area!

SARS-COV-2 aerosols hang in the air like smoke, and can infect you hours after the contagious person's gone. Keep yourself safe by wearing a well-fitting respirator mask (like N95s or KN95s) whenever you're in CROWDED and COVERED areas, and when CLOSE to people (that includes outside pride events, protest rallies, backyard cookouts, etc). Whenever possible, keep indoors air moving by opening windows, and improve air quality with HEPA air filters (ex. DIY Corsi-Rosenthal box fans).

If you're sick: https://tinyurl.com/currentlysick

Mask database: https://tinyurl.com/maskdb

Air filtration resources: https://cleanaircrew.org/

How To Talk To Your Loved Ones About COVID: COVID.tips

You do NOT want to get COVID-19 if you can avoid it - the initial infection can be nasty, and the long-term effects brutally disabling. Wearing a mask is the quickest and easiest way to break the chain of transmission, and to stand in solidarity with marginalized people fighting to survive across the globe.

Spread the word and take care of each other out there!

[ID 1: Screenshot of IowaCovid19Tracker on June 7th, showing a map of SARS-CoV-2 viral activity in the USA for the last week of May 2024. Hawai'i is blue with the highest "Excessive cases", followed by Wyoming and Utah (red, "Substantial"). New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, Arkansas, Montana, Missouri, Maryland, California, Washington, and Texas are all orange, meaning "Moderate" cases. Most of the Northeast and Alaska are yellow, or "Low", with the remaining states green, or "Minimal." ID 2: Screenshot of WasteWaterScan.org tracker showing data for all sites averaged together as a single line graph. The line starts at late March 2024 to early June, at around 275 parts per million (SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids found in wastewater samples). It slowly decreases to about 125 per mill by April 21st, then slopes upward jaggedly until it spikes to around 375 at the end of May. ID 3: A screenshot of the WasteWaterScan.org tracker showing data for all sites stacked on top of each other in a line graph, with the lower end of the spectrum having so many blue lines so as to appear almost as a solid color. The graph shows late April to early June, and has the most lines around 200 parts per million, but a good handful of lines extend up to 2400 parts per million. Below the line chart, a historical chart shows a longer view, with peaks in the winter of 2023 and 2024. Looking at the last month or two on that scale, there appears to be an uptick starting in mid May that is about twice as high as the same time in 2023.

[beauspot]

The Bear Season 2: And Why I’m Fucking Annoyed (Full Spoilers below)

*Long Post*

The Bear is something truly special. When it dropped in June of last year it wasn’t a major hit right away. It was a sleeper and it grew its fanbase over time. If you were here this time last year you remember how small the fandom was posts on every platform could barely reach 200 interactions, but with the Golden Globe wins and the word of mouth this fandom began to grow and expand, because season one of the show was just so good.

Season 2 however is an interesting piece of media. I am well aware that I have some bias in this department and I can’t view this season objectively, but neither can the rest of you so I’ll say what I want.

To start off I really enjoyed some of the episodes this season, the first two? Excellent. The Marcus Episode(with my husband Will Poulter at his side)? Fantastic. The Richie Episode? Perfection. And let’s not even talk about Fishes, which was beyond words. I genuinely went into this season wanting to like it and praise it the way I did the previous season because I thought it was good. The writing—which is spectacular in nearly every other place—takes a nosedive with this romance plot. I still do think it’s good, but I can’t act like this whole season hasn’t left a sour taste in my mouth, because it has. Because the show runners are lying racist misogynistic nasty assholes who bullshitted us for nothing.

Toward the end of last year/beginning of this year Chef’s Kiss fans words made their way to some journalist who then asked about the potential for it with the actors and the writer( in an article stupidly named “don’t worry the bear doesn’t want carmy and sydney to kiss, either” the writer of which goes on to ship carmy and marcus so clearly they have excellent taste 😒) who all shut it down. Fine. That’s fine. That’s their opinion and it doesn’t affect us. What bothers me is the words of the co-creator Chris Storer who said this 👇🏾

He went on to say the show was also just meant to be focused on these people doing their jobs. So fine. We said even if it won’t be canon there’s no way they would bring in a new love interest cause that’s not “the vision” they have for the show, right?(He also goes on in the pic above to act like we couldn’t separate our love of the plot of the show from the ship which is…infantilizing and annoying) continuing on though, he also said this

He thought it would be cool to see a show with no romantic plot. Mind you this statement was made in January and the show starting filming in February. So unless they want me to believe they added this romance plot as some last minute thing (which very well could be the case as Claire has quite literally no personality outside of being pushy and being Carmy’s girlfriend) they knew they were having a romance plot in the second season and chose to lie about it. So the actors, the creator, basically everyone who was apart of this project said that Syd and Carmy were a weird ship (a strange thing to say to your, at the time, small audience even if that’s how you felt) just for them to turn around and have Carmy with a new love interest from school and have Sydney and marcus develop feelings for one another in the second to last episode? can y’all be fucking forreal for one minute?

Suddenly all you “yesss let men and women be friends, not every show needs romance” ass bitches want to ship something. I can tell you know Syd and Carmy have chemistry otherwise you wouldn’t have been shaking in your boots hoping the writers wouldn’t get them together. There was some dumb post i saw rooting for Claire and Carm but then adding ‘no one was better than platonic Sydcarmy’…

I see you.

I spoke about this before, but this constant sidelining of black women in these types of shows irks me. Sydney is basically hunting Carmy down for 85% of the season because he can’t do his fucking job he’s so consumed with Claire. And I know people are gonna say i’m being overdramatic, but it’s so clear they just did not want their main white boy to be with a black girl. Something that happens over and over and over again so many fucking times you can just lose count. Carmy, who in season one was so in tune with Sydney’s emotions he quelled his own anger and anxiety to ask if she was ok now ditches her at their restaurant to go help some girl he hasn’t seen since high school. He ditches her to go to a party then has the nerve to bring up Claire’s helping to inspire him.

Like yeah no shit Sydney is sorry that she’s there, y’all are opening a restaurant together which could fuck both your lives if it fails and Carmy is off doing god knows what instead of his job!

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!? And yeah, Carmy fucks it up at the end with Claire but that doesn’t negate the rest of the season. Chef’s Kiss shippers are strange and delusional and the show doesn’t need romance and then Claire is half naked in Carmy’s apartment? Look Carmy deserves happiness, his life has been basically nonstop stress and trauma since he was a kid and him ending the season thinking he doesn’t deserve fun or love is heartbreaking because it isn’t true, he deserves all the love in the world especially since he is actively trying to break the cycle (along with his sister). That doesn’t negate the fact that he agreed to being partners with Syd and then left her to make decisions on her own about a business they agreed to start together. Which is why he apologized and rightfully so.

And I know for a fact annoying Sydney and Marcus shippers are going to be like “well ackshully they are clearly setting up Sydcus this season so how can they hate black women.” I love Marcus as much as the next person and honestly after I saw where the writing was going I was like fuck it why not at this point, but if Sydney and Carmy’s shippers were living off crumbs Sydney and Marcus shippers were living off the memory of food. But sure that ship had development.

also no i don’t fuck with that syd and marcus ship because why the fuck are you snapping at sydney cause she rejected you and it wasn’t even really a rejection that was very incel core and it’s not about being upset half the kitchen is always screaming about something, it’s why he snapped at her.

I’m just angry so yeah fuck this show.

I’m genuinely contemplating if I want to watch the next season at all. I said if they wanted to go no romance, fine go no romance, but to not only lie about that but bring in some whole new girl we don’t know and throw the black girl to the closest guy despite the fact Sydney and Carmy are more alike than anyone else? You clearly need to do some introspection and think about why you can view Sydney and Carmen as friends but get sick at the thought of them being more.

There is a possibility (a slight possibility) that they are playing the long game we wanted, but i am wary because they lied and put a manic pixie indie girl in as a love interest this time and it sucked. But then I remember the scene with Syd and Carmy under the table and how open and honest they were with each other and even though their relationship wasn’t the best this season I can see it’s potential, because that one scene had more chemistry than all of that other ships other scenes combined. I don’t know.

This got me thinking though Will Poulter romcom when? I will be seated. Also the consensus on twitter is that people really didn’t like Claire and thought the show should have ditched their plot all together so that’s nice. A lot of people seem to think this is a setup for sydcarmy and idk, maybe i’ll rewatch when i’m more calm.

[whiskeylover75]

Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962),

She became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s, emblematic of the era's attitudes towards sexuality. Although she was a top-billed actress for only a decade, her films grossed $200 million by the time of her unexpected death in 1962. She continues to be considered a major popular culture icon. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage and married for the first time at the age of sixteen. While working in a factory as part of the war effort in 1944, she met a photographer and began a successful pin-up modeling career. The work led to short-lived film contracts with Twentieth Century-Fox (1946–47) and Columbia Pictures (1948). After a series of minor film roles, she signed a new contract with Fox in 1951. Over the next two years, she became a popular actress with roles in several comedies, including As Young as You Feel and Monkey Business, and in the dramas Clash by Night and Don't Bother to Knock. Monroe faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photos before becoming a star, but rather than damaging her career, the story increased interest in her films.

By 1953, Monroe was one of the most bankable Hollywood stars, with leading roles in three films: the noir Niagara, which focused on her sex appeal, and the comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire, which established her star image as a "dumb blonde". Although she played a significant role in the creation and management of her public image throughout her career, she was disappointed at being typecast and underpaid by the studio. She was briefly suspended in early 1954 for refusing a film project, but returned to star in one of the biggest box office successes of her career, The Seven Year Itch (1955). When the studio was still reluctant to change her contract, Monroe founded a film production company in late 1954, Marilyn Monroe Productions (MMP). She dedicated 1955 to building her company and began studying method acting at the Actors Studio. In late 1955, Fox awarded her a new contract, which gave her more control and a larger salary.

After a critically acclaimed performance in Bus Stop (1956) and acting in the first independent production of MMP, The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for Some Like It Hot (1959). Her last completed film was the drama The Misfits (1961). Monroe's troubled private life received much attention. She struggled with addiction, depression, and anxiety. She had two highly publicized marriages, to baseball player Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller, which both ended in divorce. She died at the age of 36 from an overdose of barbiturates at her home in Los Angeles on August 5, 1962. Although the death was ruled a probable suicide, several conspiracy theories have been proposed in the decades following her death. Marilyn Monroe is interred at Westwood Memorial Park.

[michverdun]

I cowered underneath my bed as I heard the pounding of giant footsteps. He was looking for me, and I could only hope he'd give up the chase before he found me.

I sat there, with my hands over my head as i heard the creak of an opening door. the room darkened as he stood in the doorway, easily blocking out the light from the hallway with his width. He lumbered forward, each step shaking the entire house, until he was standing right at my bed. I saw both of his feet, leading up to bulbous calves, the biggest I had ever seen in my life. I whimpered thinking of just how much muscle was on the rest of his body, and even that small whimper was enough to alert him to my location.

Without so much as a grunt of exertion, he lifted my bed up with one hand, the other trying (and failing) to cover his massive cock.

"Alright Dr. Frankenstein, time to quit moping and deal with your monster." He said.

Without hearing him, I started to beg him not to hurt me, still cowering on the floor.

"Woah, what? Hey," He put my bed over to the side and crouched down as best as he could. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm your friend. Where'd you get that idea?"

I stopped whimpering and looked up. He looked just as confused as i did, and while the extra muscle made him even more intimidating, I could tell that he wasn't lying.

"I'm sorry," I said, as i sniffled and stand up. "The other guys got pretty mean after I gave them a dose, especially when I refused to make them bigger. When you started yelling 'MORE' and 'BIGGER' back there I thought it was gonna go the same way."

"Shit man, I didn't know. I'm sorry, I was just really horned up by the feeling of growing. Kinda still am."

He flexed one of his arms to accentuate his point, the bicep swelling with mass. Even with the other people I had given the treatment too, they only seemed to gain around 50 pounds. Miraculous to be sure, but he had to have gained upwards of 200 pounds, maybe even closer to 300. Even with his height, the mas was crammed so tightly his muscles were fighting for room on his frame.

"Fuck, my pecs" He said, bouncing the giant globes of meat that hung off of his frame. "God, they used to be my weakest muscle group, now look at 'em."

"Can I feel?" I blurted out

I felt a rising panic once again, but he only shrugged and bounced them again.

"Go ahead. You helped make 'em doc."

I rolled my eyes at the new nickname that was apparently going to stick, but my hands still reached out and grabbed on to his pecs. The warm slabs of muscle filled my hands completely. I couldn't even fully hold them. my hands felt up his entire chest, just imagining the power present in those muscles, I only paused after I accidentally touched one of his nipples.

"Careful," he grunted "Really sensitive there. Don't wanna have to clean my cum out of your carpet."

I noticed that his hands were clenched, and looking down I could see his throbbing cock was fully hard, with 2 orange sized balls just ready to fire a load. Knowing how receptive he was to both my treatment and my touch, I knew what I had to do.

"Do you wanna get even bigger?" I asked.

He let out a groan as he came hands free, with most of it landing on my clothes or my carpet. He was left panting, looking right in my eyes with the most pleading look I had ever seen in my life.

It seemed like it was time for his second dose.

[finsandflintlocks]

Name: Fins & Flintlocks (FiLo)

Started: November 23rd, 2024

Type: Speculative Fiction, Adventure

Pages: N/A

Summary: Two fish, a dog, and a boy—sounds like the setup to a bad joke, right? Welcome aboard the WestBound Nautical Trading Company, where the lower ranks of the crew are just trying their best not to sink the ship. With wildly different motivations and personal baggage, they scramble to keep the ship afloat while their reserved, often troubled Captain grapples with his own mental and physical battles. Together, they navigate the dangerous waters of trade, rivalry, and adventure, all while circling the globe, one chaotic mission at a time. Can they survive the madness, or will they sink trying?

---

Overview:

In this world, all races are collectively considered to be under the classification of “human,” even if they do not appear traditionally human on an individual level. Their distinct forms and ways of life do not make them monsters but simply variations of humanity. They share the same intelligence, emotional depth, and societal complexity. The central conflict revolves around differing racial ideologies, technological advancements, and the occasional manipulation of these societies by powerful individuals.

The world and universe of Fins & Flintlocks began as a Minecraft-inspired setting known as "Brass & Dust" but evolved into its own unique creation, offering greater creative freedom. While it still holds subtle influences from Minecraft, it has transformed into an entirely original setting.

---

Racial Classification and Lifespans

Tall-Men (80): Tall-Men are the standard human race, widespread along with the others across various regions with diverse cultures and societies.

Harpies (80): Harpies are winged humans with feathers all over and talons for feet, often perceived as delicate for their hollow bones, which they have to achieve flight.

Lupinites (80): Lupinites are wolf-like humans with fur, claws, and tails, They are unique in where men and women are indistinguishable from one another, both having facial hair similar to beards or moustaches.

Gillborns (80): Gillborns are humans with fish-like features, such as gills and long tails, living near land where water stretches for about 50 miles.

Serpentfolk (600): Serpentfolk are humans with snake-like lower bodies, long lifespans of up to 600 years, and a deep connection to ancient wisdom. They are distinct by their long, slender necks, and lighter colours in the inner sections of their hair.

Sirens (600): Sirens are humans with fish-like lower bodies, known for their mesmerizing voices and enchanting beauty. living up to 600 years.

---

Lifespan Dynamics and UAM

The lifespan of each race influences its societal development, priorities, and role in the world of Fins & Flintlocks. Cultures with average lifespans (80–100 years) are characterized by steady progress, innovation, and generational overlap. In contrast, long-lived races (200–600 years) are deeply entrenched in their traditions, often slow to innovate but acting as custodians of ancient knowledge. Along with being the races with the smallest population, these long-lived races are deeply rooted in history, and their societies change extremely slowly, usually only in response to external pressures.

The Universal Age Measurement (UAM) system standardizes the measurement of age across different races, accounting for their varying lifespans. This system ensures that societal expectations and maturity are accurately portrayed.

Formula

Assuming the human lifespan is of 80 years as a basis:

Human Age = (Characters Actual Age/ Race Lifespan) × 80

Nonhuman age = (Human Age / Conventional Lifespan) x Race's Lifespan

---

Magic & Alchemy:

In Fins & Flintlocks, magic as it is typically known in fantasy settings doesn’t exist. Instead, magic is tied to rare phenomena, artifacts, or forbidden knowledge that produces effects mimicking magic. There are no widespread magic users, and individuals who claim to wield magic are either frauds or rely on extremely rare or dangerous means to produce what might appear as magical effects.

The closest "equivalent" to magic-users would be potion makers or alchemists, who can brew potions using ingredients from the world around them. Potions are limited in power, with effects that are typically mild unless rare ingredients are used. Their usage is on the decline due to the scarcity of necessary materials, and modern medicine has taken over much of their role.

---

[lavareview]

x - x - x

MODEL: THE WIZARD

Brand: Lava Lite

Introduced: 1998

Discontinued: 2003

Base and cap colors: black, blue, red, silver

Wax colors: blue, pink, purple, red, yellow

Glitter colors: blue, purple, red, silver

Fluid colors: blue, clear, purple

Size: height 16 1/2", diameter 4 1/2"

The Wizard is a rework of Lava Lite’s earlier 1974 Carlisle model. Like the Carlisle, it has a conical shape and small cutouts around its base allowing light from the bulb to shine through. It is however distinguished from the Carlisle by some notable features: where the Carlisle’s cap had a flat top, similarly to more classic lava lamp models, the Wizard’s cap is pointed, giving it a shape reminiscent of a wizard’s hat. The cutouts in its base are moon and star-shaped, as opposed to the Carlisle’s pinholes, and there is a row of matching cutouts circling the cap.

The Wizard also offered very different colorways from its predecessor: notably, while the Carlisle’s base and cap only came in a brass color, the Wizard offers four different base/cap colors, none of them brass, and it came with many more wax and fluid options, as well as glitter options.

Pictured: every wax color combination offered for the Wizard.

When examining pictures of the Carlisle and the Wizard, it also seems that the Wizard’s globe protrudes over the sides of the base slightly less, giving it a less pronounced “muffin top” effect, though this may be due to perspective. The Wizard is also two and a half inches taller than its predecessor (perhaps owing to the added height on its pointed cap).

Like some other Lava Lite models, the Wizard has a dimmer “for quick start”: the user would initially set the light bulb to 100%, making the wax heat up and flow faster, then dim the light as desired.

Though discontinued, the Wizard remains popular with collectors. It originally retailed for $44.99. Second-hand, Wizard lava lamps are usually sold for $80 to $200. While many Wizards are sold second-hand and it isn’t hard to find one, it may be more difficult to find a specific colorway, and glitter Wizards are more commonly found than wax ones.

MY REVIEW:

The Wizard is my second-most desired lava lamp, but I’ve yet to find one sold in the specific colorway I want (blue base, blue liquid, purple wax) for a price within my means.

In this review, I won't be considering the glitter options of the Wizard, though they're numerous and appear more popular than wax versions. This is because I personally dislike glitter lamps, so including them would negatively impact the review.

SILHOUETTE: 10/10

The 1999-2000 Lava Lite catalogue describes the Wizard as having a “magical draw to its mystical shape”, and I’m tempted to agree. Whereas I find the very similar silhouette of the Carlisle to not be particularly appealing, the Wizard makes a tremendous improvement if only by changing the shape of the cap; and by recontextualizing its conical figure as a wizard’s hat, what could have been an awkward-looking lamp becomes evocative and magical.

DETAILS: 9/10

If any lava lamp model expresses boundless personality through simple and effective detailing, it has to be the Wizard. It avoids being gaudy or insisting upon itself; the wizardly appeal is apparent without the need for tacky visuals. When lit in darkness, the cutouts around its base create a constellation of light pinpricks, further increasing its visual appeal. The only thing I would change about it is the thick black circlet at the very bottom of its base, which isn’t very pleasing to the eye. (In 2013-2014, Lava Lite offered their "Heritage Collection", a throwback to some of their earlier models. The collection included three of the Wizard's colorways, and this time the black circlet was not included - the red Wizard pictured above is a Heritage model.)

COLORWAYS: 7/10

Several of the available colorways are particularly well-chosen: the black base and cap, the purple and pink waxes, and the blue and purple fluids particularly appeal to me. The red base/red wax/clear fluid variation, while not my personal favorite, is also striking. These colors definitely fit my mental image of “wizardry” and add to a magical atmosphere.

Unfortunately, I can’t in good conscience give it full points, as I feel some of the other color options just don’t quite size up. The green wax/blue fluid colorways evoke some sort of alien goo more than any wizard’s spell. The yellow wax/purple fluid and blue wax/blue fluid options are forgettable and don’t do the lamp’s unique design justice. I also generally feel that the silver base just doesn’t look that good with any of the wax and fluid colors.

If I had it my way, the green, purple and yellow wax options and the silver base would be replaced with a variety of new colorways using mainly purple, blue and black in different combinations (such as: a black base/black wax/purple fluid version; a black base/purple wax/clear fluid version; or a purple base/pink wax/purple fluid version, among other potential variations).

My take on alternative Wizard colorways I would have preferred to see.

A number of custom Wizards in various colors do exist and pictures can be found online from collectors - these may have been DIYed (painting bases, switching fluid or wax...) or achieved using alternative globes, such as globes purchased through Lava Lite's Custom Program. While browsing, I even found one matching my imagined "black base/purple wax/clear fluid" version!

POWER: 10/10

Though there are many lamps far more imposing in size, the Wizard dominates through sheer force of personality. The Wizard has no need for unnecessary frills and does not cross the line from “thematic” into “gimmicky”. It is disarmingly pleasant, yet not so whimsical as to become meek or juvenile. Where, had its styling been more heavy-handed, it could have been an inelegant children’s toy, its restrained and confident design instead makes it both esoteric and tasteful. In short, the Wizard is an extremely powerful lava lamp.

MY FINAL SCORE: 9/10

Is my information wrong? Did I miss a detail? Do you have a better picture of this model? Is there another model you’d like me to look into? Please send me an ask or submit relevant pictures!

[covid-safer-hotties]

Noah Lyles' collapse underscores our collective COVID denial - Published Aug 10, 2024

Read the full story at either link! (covidsafehotties archive is always free of pesky in-line ads!)

We keep pretending that the pandemic is done and over, but it keeps knocking us off our feet

The 2024 Olympic Games are serving up some less-than-subtle metaphors for how poorly we handle public health. Just after winning a bronze medal in the much-anticipated men's 200-meter race, U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles collapsed on the track in exhaustion — not just because he’d completed a brutal run in just 19.7 seconds, finishing third, but also because he was sick with COVID-19, a diagnosis that he’d concealed from others. He had been favored to take home gold, as he did in the 100-meter race a few days earlier.

But seeing an American Olympic star sprawled out and gasping on the track, and then taken away in a wheelchair, was more than a shocking image. It also represented the general “mission accomplished” attitude toward SARS-CoV-2: We think we’ve won against this virus and we haven’t.

COVID isn’t just spreading like wildfire through the Olympic Village in Paris — we are undergoing surges across the globe, with the World Health Organization tracking steep rises in infections in 84 countries. After more than four years fighting this thing, it is still knocking us out.

In some parts of the U.S., the amount of COVID is so high that experts are claiming this summer surge is on par with winter waves of the virus. But none of this should be unexpected at this point. This is no longer the “novel” coronavirus that once terrified people with its unpredictability. We know how it behaves, with surges in both summer and winter, and we know how to fight against it — yet our apparent strategy at the moment is to pretend it doesn’t exist at all, even when it swipes us off our feet.

It’s true that the pandemic is much different than it was in 2020. For one thing, in spite of this surge, deaths are relatively low, following trends since vaccines became available. In 2023, COVID dropped from the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. to the 10th, according to recent provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's not great, but it does indicate that widespread immunity (from vaccines, previous infections or both) is giving us some level of protection. Though let’s not forget that at least 1.2 million Americans have died to date from COVID. It’s nothing to sneeze at.

Deaths aren’t the only concerning metric, of course. Sometimes a COVID infection is asymptomatic, while at other times, the symptoms last for months or years or never fully go away. Patients call this long COVID and public health experts have described it as a mass disabling event. Lyles isn’t just lucky he won a bronze medal — he’ll be lucky if he doesn’t experience months of headaches, lung issues or extreme fatigue that never goes away.

Yet long COVID is rarely factored into discussions about this pandemic, even when kids get it. Instead, it’s treated as if infections are merely a mild cold at this point. Just shake it off, as Taylor Swift might say, while her summer tour dates become superspreading events.

Millions of patients can attest that COVID is anything but mild — and it's definitely not the flu. The SARS-CoV-2 virus can worm its way into nearly every part of our bodies, trashing our immune system and damaging our organs. We tend to think of the disease as a respiratory problem, given all the coughs and sniffles it produces, but it’s really more of a vascular disease, impacting any system that relies on blood vessels. That can include damage to the brain, which can manifest in symptoms like long-term cognitive impairment and Parkinson’s disease.

Yes, a virus that can literally cause brain damage is spreading at record levels and most people are acting like it’s just another wave. Just keep running.

But we’re not just paying the price with our bodies. The economy is also getting smacked by long COVID. A recent comprehensive review in the journal Nature Medicine found that the “cumulative global incidence of long COVID is around 400 million individuals, which is estimated to have an annual economic impact of approximately $1 trillion.” That's ignoring the long list of ways that long COVID wreaks havoc on the body, including, as the study notes, "viral persistence, immune dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, complement dysregulation, endothelial inflammation and microbiome dysbiosis."