#Southern hub

[networkthoughts]

Weekend Musings: The southern hub

Edition 42 Early this week, Air India formally announced its third hub and first southern hub at Bengaluru. The deal involves having a lounge at Terminal 2 for domestic passengers and amongst other things an MRO which had already made news in the past.  This announcement is a big boost for Bengaluru – which has had its own set of challenges with runways and terminals and seen multiple ownership…

[postcard-from-the-past]

Cargo hub in Lunel, Languedoc region of southern France

French vintage postcard

[cyberphuck]

I'm sorry, but the fact that the CEO of Norfolk Southern couldn't even get the words "we're sorry about the train derailment" out of his mouth before YET ANOTHER one of his trains derailed is fucking hilarious to me

Just some increasingly haggard looking asshole rich person grimly pressing through with his apology speech while trains fly crazily around in the background like they're on a glitched physics engine

[polyamorouspunk]

“Why Don’t You Just Move?”

A look at rural queerness and the hardcore scene.

With the recent and still on-going tragedy left in the wake of Hurricane Helene, a lot of light is being shed on southern states that make up Appalachia.

There’s a lot of misconceptions about Appalachia and the southern United States as a whole. There are a lot of good users on this website that have put a lot of effort into combating these harmful stereotypes and clearing up misconceptions.

But there’s more than just Appalachia in the south. There’s a lot of middle ground. Places that aren’t as rural as Appalachia, but places that aren’t as populated as cities like Raleigh, Richmond, Memphis, etc.

Places where people gather surrounded by other agricultural hubs.

There are queer people everywhere. In every culture, every religion, every country, in all of history, we have existed. We cannot and we will not be erased.

A common narrative that’s floated around for many years is “if red states are passing laws that are constructive to the LGBT+ community, then why don’t those people just move?”

So why don’t we just move?

I’m sure you can find a lot of well-written posts on here explaining many reasons why queer people not just in the southern states, but all over the world don’t “just move”, and one reason I’ve seen echoed over and over again is that “we have thriving communities here too”. We exist too.

How does one “be punk”?

It’s a question my mutuals and I get a lot, and a lot of us are tired of hearing it.

What does it mean to be punk?

Is it about the music? The clothes? The politics? Can you be punk if? Is it punk if you? Who? What? Where? When?

One common beginner tip to “being punk” is to find and join the local scene. This can lead to a lot of other questions, though. What is a scene? Where does one find the scene? How does one participate in the scene? Is there a minimum requirement?

Rest assured, literally no one is asking this offline.

A hardcore scene is so much more than just hardcore. A scene is a group of people where music is a common thread that builds the basis of other connections. A hardcore scene isn’t necessarily even hardcore.

“You have to listen to punk music to be punk”. Sure. But here’s the thing. In your local hardcore scene you will find: metal musicians, rappers, and more. You will attend shows with blues music, orchestras, and more.

Sometimes it’s not even music at all! Sometimes there is drag! Sometimes there are movie nights! Sometimes there are group outings!

It’s almost like… it’s just a social construct.

What is the local scene? The local scene is loud music. It’s smoking and drinking. It’s stopping by the corner store and the smoke and vape. It’s carpooling. It’s movie nights. It’s text chains. It’s group chats. It’s he-said-she-said. It’s they said. It’s AMAB enbies. It’s people who don’t care about “passing”. It’s DIY HRT. It’s she was a lesbian until she met him. It’s situationships. It’s hooking up and coming down. It’s bouncing from place to place to meet up with each other. It’s showing up someplace and seeing who’s there and waiting around to see who’s coming. It’s late nights spent partying on the weekends and back to school and work come the weekdays. It’s knowing someone by looks or name even if you haven’t put the two together yet. It’s trading socials. It’s Instagram stories and comments. It’s “DM for Address”. It’s “are you going tonight?” It’s “do you need a ride?” It’s “who else is going?”. It’s going somewhere and asking who’s coming. It’s sitting around on broken chairs and lawn furniture passing around a blunt, sharing a 24 pack of beer that 4 of you ran out to get with money you all pooled together, it’s “should we order pizza?” It’s “I brought donuts”. It’s hanging out in each other’s houses and rooms. It’s respecting the businesses that offer to house you. It’s generational friendships. It’s listening to your friends as they joke about their heritage and talk about their cultures. It’s the dog you pet when you’re sitting on the curb in ripped fishnets taking drunk selfies with your friends. It’s the man playing you the harmonica as you sit outside the THC drink bar on a Saturday night. It’s sitting out in the yard listening to someone play an acoustic set where they talk about the war and poverty and politics while you slowly get high surrounded by your friends. It’s sitting on a dock in the middle of the night fishing listening to emo music huddled together with your friends. It’s autistic people showing each other the bugs they’ve found in the dirt. It’s talking about your disabilities together. It’s shoving your friends in the pit and then holding their hands. It’s seeing the cos guys in their 40s and 50s who tend the bar and work the register calling you by whatever name and pronouns you give them. It’s all of this and so much more, and it cannot be conceptualized by one single fashion style, one single music style, one single belief system. It’s not someone calling you out because you went to Chick-Fil-A and don’t you know that’s bad, it’s not someone telling you that you’re a poser because you like Chappell Roan too or your clothes were bought at Forever 21 not thrifted and DIYed.

Everyone likes to talk about folk punk and other genres that bands like Dayz and Daze have popularized- or according to some, commodified and commercialized- but if you’re going to talk about music like folk punk, you’re going to have to respect the areas that it originated in.

Everyone want’s to talk about “local punk bands” when half the bands you’re seeing don’t even fall under the genre of punk.

Your local scene isn’t always going to be skate parks and thrash music.

Sometimes it’s the mom cooking you and all your queer friends dinner on a Friday night in her kitchen with crosses and a picture frame of her family with the quote “live, laugh, love”.

Sometimes it’s sitting around and listening to men who are old enough to be your grandfather with Vietnam Veteran hats play the blues while a pig roasts in a backyard BBQ, even though you’re in your 20s and you have blue hair and pronouns.

It’s sitting around and listening to your elders talk about how the scene used to be “back in the day”. Talk about the shows they’ve been to, the bands they’ve seen in their prime.

It’s asking what you do for work, where do you live, what brought you down here, what’s your college major?

It’s people. It’s people connecting to people. Regardless of the color of their skin. Regardless of gender or sexuality. It’s people of all ages coming together to listen to music with the idea that what you all have in common is living here and now, hating politicians, and thinking that someone should do something about the shitty state the world is in. It’s not a conglomerate. It’s individuality, and there’s no real wrong way of doing it unless you’re a Trump Supporter or a Nazi, and even then, they still have their own factions of the punk scene that are going to overlap with yours on occasion. The best you can do then is stand up for what you believe in and stay safe.

There are scenes just like mine all over this country. In southern states, in rural areas, in places that other, mainly white queers have “written off”.

So why don’t we just move?

Because this is our scene, and it’s what we make it, and in the heart of the south in the Bible Belt, we’re making it a queer-inclusive space despite what’s happening around us.

[faultfalha]

The call had gone out, a whisper among the savannah, a quiet plea to technology and entrepreneurship to solve an ancient problem. It seemed almost absurd to think that a handful of entrepreneurs, unaccompanied by a large-scale infrastructure or government subsidies, could restore the African ecosystem, once ravaged by climate change and unchecked exploitation. But the response was extraordinary - ten sustainability startups emerged, pioneers of a new age, promising to bring stability and prosperity to the continent. In a bold exercise of gambler's courage, the Ecosystem Restoration Africa programme welcomed them, ready to start the journey towards what seemed like the impossible. With little more than inspiration and determination, they sought to restore what had been lost, to bring the ecosystem back to its rightful beauty and strength. It was their mission now, their sacred duty, and the outcome was still unknown.

[crystalsandcrochet]

Lethbridge, Alberta

Southern Alberta’s UNESCO hub

[mythmash]

LA Wildfire Resources

this is a collection of all of the information and resources i've found to help those affected by the los angeles count wildfires. this is not a completed list, and you are welcome to send me an ask with any additional links, fundraisers, information, or other resources that you know of and i will update this post accordingly. if there are any missing or incorrect links, please let me know. stay safe out there 💜

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Live Updates on the Southern California wildfires & Evacuation Orders

LA Scanner - Coverage of Pursuits, Crimes, Wildfires and More.

2025 Los Angeles Fires - Resources for Californians impacted by Los Angeles Fires.

LA Wildfire Resource Center - Resource navigator for finding emergency resources and support services.

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Mutual Aid Los Angeles & their Fire & Wind Storm Spreadsheet - An ongoing spreadsheet of resources such as shelter info, animal boarding info, addresses for distribution centers, volunteer opportunities, etc.

LAFD Emergency Funding Alert & Fire Zone Map - Donations to help support the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies - Lists of evacuation shelters and hotlines for those who are disabled and in impacted by the fires.

Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

Thread of mutual aid groups assisting through Los Angeles

CleanAirLA & MaskBloc LA - Mutual aid project to distribute free masks and respirators in the so-called Los Angeles area. They are currently taking donations for masks.

MaskBloc LA & their Mask Requests and Volunteer Interest - A form to fill out if you need masks or want to volunteer.

List of shelters, animal boarding, distribution hubs, and free items

Pacsun providng clothes and listing organizations to donate to

World Central Kitchen - Donate to support their efforts in Southern California to support first responders and families impacted by wildfires in the Los Angeles area.

Thread of organizations to donate to - Thread including links to disaster relief, firefighter aid, food banks, first responders, etc.

SoCal Wildfires: How You Can Help - Article including links and info for Californians. Links are also included in the Thread of organizations to donate to above.

Pete and Thomas Foundation supporting Pasadena Humane & LA Animal Care - How to support, injured wildlife hotline, and listed shelters for large and small animals.

Thread of GoFundMes to support people affected by the wildfires

What to keep in a grab & go bag - List of things to keep in a easily accessible bag in case of emergency evacuation.

Displaced Black Families GoFund Me Directory - Spreadsheet dedicated to black families devastated by the Altadena fires.

Advice from a survivor of the 2017 Thomas Fire on insurance, rebuilding, etc.

California Volunteers - Donate, organize, and volunteer for wildfire recovery here.

Baby2Baby Disaster Relief and Emergency Response Program - Donate to help distribute supplies to children impacted by the wildfires.

Guitar Center is replacing instruments lost as a result of the LA wildfires

Sunny Optometry is offering support to those in need of glasses, contact lenses, eye drops, face masks, and wi-fi

Stratia is offering a free place to work if you need a work space with wifi right now, and donation drop off/sorting + storage site for people who organize.

Seconds Market & their Match Donation Program - A program designed to directly connect donors with individuals affected by the LA fires.

Anti-Recidivism Coalition & their donation page - Donate to help support the incarcerated fire crews, including the 30 young men from Pine Grove currently out fighting the LA fires.

Spreadsheet of Free Mental Health Services for the LA Wildfire Crisis

Tips from an attorney on dealing with insurance companies

County of LA Vital and Property Records Access - LA County residents directly impacted by the fires can request property and vital records free of charge to help with recovery efforts.

Azay in Little Tokyo, LA - Donate to help provide free meals to evacuees, first responders, volunteers, folks who can’t leave their homes, and their houseless neighbors.

[no-passaran]

In the weeks since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed more than 15,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, and destroyed thousands of homes in the territory.

And there have also been tremendous losses to the region's ancient and globally significant cultural heritage. The region was a hub for commerce and culture under Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Byzantine rule. It remained influential for centuries thereafter.

A recent survey by the group Heritage for Peace details the damage done so far to more than 100 of these landmarks in Gaza since the start of the present conflict.

The casualties include the Great Omari Mosque, one of the most important and ancient mosques in historical Palestine; the Church of Saint Porphyrius, thought to be the third oldest church in the entire world; a 2,000-year-old Roman cemetery in northern Gaza excavated only last year; and the Rafah Museum, a space in southern Gaza which was dedicated to teaching about the territory's long and multi-layered heritage — until it was hammered by airstrikes early on in the conflict. (...)

"If this heritage be no more in Gaza, it will be a big loss of the identity of the people in Gaza," said Isber Sabrine, president of Heritage for Peace, in an interview with NPR. (...)

"The people in Gaza, they have the right to keep and to save this heritage, to tell the history, the importance of this land," he said.

The 1954 Hague Convention, agreed to by Palestinians and Israelis, is supposed to safeguard landmarks from the ravages of war. But landmarks in Gaza have been destroyed by Israeli strikes in earlier rounds of fighting. Dozens of sites, including the now-obliterated Great Omari Mosque, suffered damage in 2014. A report by UNESCO, the United Nations body that designates and protects World Heritage sites, cites further destruction to cultural and historic sites in Gaza in 2021. (...)

Destruction of historical sites and other cultural sites is part of genocide, it's the destruction of the proof of a people's relationship to the land and a horrible emotional blow at the community. UNESCO must act immediately against Israel's destruction of Palestinian heritage, and every country and international organism must expel Israel and impose sanctions to make the genocide and apartheid end.

[sayruq]

Officials from the US’s main humanitarian agency attend daily meetings on an Israeli military base that also hosts a notorious prison for Palestinian detainees where torture reportedly runs rampant, the Guardian has learned. According to three officials with the US Agency for International Development (USAid), Israel’s humanitarian relief hub began operating at the desert military base Sde Teiman on 29 July, with a regular US presence. USAid is tasked with facilitating urgently needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

The Guardian viewed an internal USAid document that referred to “the present JCB location on Sde Teiman IDF base”, located outside of Be’er Sheva in southern Israel. In the document, the base’s name links to its Wikipedia entry, which features photos of blindfolded Palestinian prisoners and details their mistreatment. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Guardian that two USAid officials travel to Sde Teiman daily for JCB meetings with Israeli and UN officials. “I can’t sleep at night knowing that it’s going on,” one US official told the Guardian. “It’s another form of psychological torture to make someone work there.”

[serpentface]

A Korya man astride a camelops, both wearing their winter coats. [redo of an old post]

The camelops is part of a widespread genera of large ungulates that are native to the temperate, subarctic, and arctic regions across the northern hemisphere. Camelops used to have a near-ubiquitous geographic range, but the last equatorial and southern species went extinct long prior to the behavioral modernity of any sophonts.

There are several domesticated strains of camelops (stemming from a few different species), and they are the (very distant) second most common riding animal used by humans and elowey. They have advantages over khait in regions that see significant yearly snowfall, being superbly adapted to the cold and having broad feet that effectively distribute their weight in snow, and are especially valuable in dry tundra and grassland due to their resistance to dehydration.

The Korya peoples are located in the central-north of the landmass above the Inner Seaway. Their lands are temperate and encompass prairie, woodland, and forested regions.

This man belongs to the nomadic plains Korya, who subsist primarily on herding camelops and secondarily on seasonal hunts of large wild ungulates (bison, aurochs, and deer most notably). Their camelops are rarely slaughtered for food and leather, as the living animals are key to subsistence. They are invaluable for survival in the short but often harsh and snowy winters in open grassland, carrying their riders over deep snow, supplying wool for clothing and milk and blood for consumption. Most hunting of large ungulates is performed astride the camelops, allowing for close approaches to prey and quick responses to the movement of fleeing herds. Plains Korya are also noted as formidable in combat as mounted archers and spearmen.

While a primarily nomadic people, the plains Korya have several permanent settlements across their lands that function as neutral meeting spaces between clans and hubs for trade and artistry. The Korya peoples at large have shared traditions of silverworking, and plains Korya specialize in elaborate silver pieces worn as jewelry and for ornamentation on tack.

TANGENT:

The Korya peoples are part of a cultural-linguistic complex spread throughout the far east of the supercontinent. In the contemporary, this complex can be roughly divided into the Keppeji, Korya, and Finnic sub-groups (each of which can be substantially further divided)

This map attempts to illustrate the spread of these languages (over the course of centuries) and the people that carried them. Note that the lands marked as contemporary settlements do not represent countries/discrete regions/singular peoples, rather just the lands PRIMARILY inhabited by the various descendant peoples of a distant shared common ancestor.

[ihavethedreamies]

Matter of Pride | Hongjoong [NSFW]

Kim Hongjoong - ATEEZ

Rating: M (18+) MDNI

Word Count: ~5.8k

Pairing: Lion-Hybrid!Hongjoong x Gazelle-Hybrid!AFAB!Reader

Genre: Hybrid AU!, Historical?/Ancient?, Reader-Insert, Fluff, Smut, Some Plot, Strangers-to-Friends-to-Lovers

!!This is smut…if that much isn't clear you should probably leave now!! MDNI!

Warnings: She/Her Pronouns used, very tiny mention of noncon, Pet Names (Doll, Sweetheart, Sweet, Love, etc.), Swearing, Kissing, Biting & Scratching & Marking, Bonding/Mating, Heat/Rut, Pheromones, Oral (F! Receiving), Unprotected Sex (This is pre-birth control so…), Monster(?)!Hongjoong (not really, he's a lion hybrid)

Author's Note: Okay, here we go lol. This is NOT Omegaverse, but they do both go into rut/heat. They have animals ears and tails and he's got a spiny lion cock. Hongjoong is not necessarily bigger than reality, the reader is just small. I did also imagine this more to be set in the steppe of Central Asia/Southern Siberia rather than Africa.

-> Series Hub <-

🐕 Yeosang's 🐕

🐻 Jongho's 🐻

🐯 San's 🐯

Revised (1/31/25)

I am cross-posting this on Archive. Please reblog! Share, even if its to the other sites! Let me know if you want to be on the taglist!

Ever since you were a calf, the elders of your herd told you to stay away from predators. You aren’t for sure why though, since all they told you is that they’re dangerous. You find that quite odd considering you’re not full animals, and as far as you know, predator hybrids do not literally eat prey hybrids. There’s probably some ancient lore-based superstition or something, and it isn’t till you’re older do you really think about the real facts. Despite logically knowing that they aren’t going to eat you alive, you are still a bit scared about meeting a predator.

One day you’re traversing the rocky steppe of your homeland, right at the foothills of the mountains. Crouching down, you run your fingers through the grass, feeling for the tell-tale mound of the root you’re looking for. The sun is beginning to set, the cool of late spring settling in the air.

"No." you grumble, not feeling anything. Standing back up, your attention is quickly drawn to a new sound. Your furry ear, sticking out from the side of your head, flicks at the noise. The wind shifts and your sensitive smell picks up something unfamiliar, but it triggers a deeper, primal part of you. Predators. Logic tries to fight back against instinct, the sound is voices, not the growls of an actual animal. Still, your heart races, the sound of blood pumping thuds in your ears. Your furry tail swishes back and forth nervously, and despite your apprehensions, you move toward the voices. Finding a path that leads a bit further into the foothills, you see fresh boot marks. Gently, like doing so might trigger something, you place your own foot in the print, the size difference is striking. You’re not a child, you’re actually quite a bit bigger than the other women of your herd, but… A boisterous laugh hits your ears, your head turning toward it on its own, instinctually. Swallowing hard, you follow the tracks and when you come around a large boulder, you peer around it. There’s a small clearing created by tall, jutting rocks, and a camp has been set up there. Three figures sit around a firepit, great furry pelts wrapped around their shoulders and necks. Lions. There’s a fourth figure, leaning against one of the rocks, making him closest to you. Peering closer, you see he’s… beautiful. Sharp eyes and jawline, his hair isn’t as long nor as shaggy as the others. His pelt is much nicer as well, and he’s the only one with a tunic shirt on underneath his pelt. A large axe-like knife is attached to his belt, and he has a deep red cloth tied around his bicep. You feel the end of your tail brushing over the rock as it sways, your nose twitching as the wind carries their scent. You have a hard time pinpointing the exact fragrance, but the one closest to you is the most potent. And the most pleasant. The three around the fire smell like the smoke wafting around them, and like sweat and dirt. The other one though, he smells like spiced tea and fragrant tree bark. The wind shifts again, coming up from behind you, carrying your scent right into the clearing. You barely have time to realize what happened, trying to back away and completely out of sight, but he notices. As you duck to hide, his deep golden-brown eyes meet your own. The intense look shoots fear through your very DNA and you turn to bolt, using your species' long and fast legs to sprint. You don’t make it very far though, and the back of your tunic is seized, and you bleat as you’re hauled back. Turning to look at your captor as best as you can, it’s the handsome one. He smells even better so close and looks even better. Your face is hot, for many different reasons, and you wonder if he can smell your fear. Is that an actual thing?

"What's wrong Hongjoong?" One of the other lions calls and he’s able to hide you with his own body. He isn’t as big as the others, but still a good seven or eight inches taller than you.

"Smelled a doe, I'm going to see if I can get her." He shouts back and they go back to their raucous conversation. The lion holding you wraps his arm around your middle rather than gripping your tunic and easily carries you around the boulder fully and down the slope. You hang there, not sure what else you can do, and he only lets you go when he gets to the end of the path that led you in.

"S-sorry!" You spin around to face him, not trusting him at your back, "I wasn’t eavesdropping!"

"I'm not worried about that, doll. Be glad the smoke covered your scent for the others."

"W-why? Will they…" You swallow hard, your quivering obvious to him. So are your twitching ears, and he can see your tunic shifting from your wagging tail.

"Will they eat me?" Your question throws him off, to the point that he flinches back.

"What?" He huffs, "No, of course not. Is that what you’re told?" You shrug, feeling embarrassed now.

"That's not what I'm worried they would do to a cute thing like you." Your arm reaches around your back, twisting so you can wrap your fingers around the end of your braid, tugging on it. You can’t meet his gaze, especially because you understand his implication. Also, you aren’t sure how you feel about him calling you cute.

"What are you doing around here? What herd are you with?"

"I was gathering herbs…I'm with the gazelle herd southwest of here." You motion vaguely behind you.

"What were you looking for?"

"Valerian root. It's too early for the plant to be flowering so it's hard to find." He doesn’t reply for a bit, glancing behind him.

"There's a big tree, east of your village?"

"Y-yes?" You’re a little concerned he knows the area so well, but at the same time if they know where your herd is, and have left it be, it’s probably okay.

"What else have you been looking for?" His change of subject catches you off guard, but you answer.

"Meet me at that tree tomorrow evening, and I'll have some for you. Don't come back this way, those others aren't safe."

"You are, though?" Your question doesn’t sound as bold as you want it to. He chuckles a bit, then exhales hard through his nose.

"Short answer, yes. I don’t want to be working with them, but I don't have a choice right now."

"What do you want in return?" You ask, why would he help you just to be nice? It’ll be a lot of work to gather the herbs you’re looking for.

"We'll see how hard it is, then I'll tell you. Deal?" He holds his hand out and you eye it. Finally, taking it, the strength behind the grip jolts you.

"I'm Hongjoong. Do you have a name I can call you?" He smirks softly and you pull away from the handshake likes he’s burned you suddenly.

"(Y/N). About this time?"

"Sure, doll. Now go home, and don't come back here." Hongjoong steps back and nods for you to do so. Turning back to look at him a few times as you go, you trot back home, your bag lighter than you had planned on it being.

All through the next day, your eyes keep flitting to the sun behind the clouds, waiting for it to reach the right point in the sky. You’re glad you’re the head healer, if you hadn’t come back with a good haul before your mentor retired, she would’ve swatted your hands. In the beginning, it was weird to return to an empty tent, but after nearly six months, you’re used to it. It isn’t like she’s dead; it’s just weird she isn’t there anymore. Your hands move on muscle memory as you work through the day, thoughts spiraling, always returning to the image of the lion you meet the day prior. It doesn’t help that he’s so attractive, the encounter would’ve been significantly less captivating without that factor. It’s clear he doesn’t like his comrades, even past that, his appearance is very different from theirs. He’d been standing far away from them as well and had even lied when he found you.

The closer toward the horizon the sun grows, the more distracted you get, and you’re so antsy that for the last hour before the designated time, you stand at the edge of the village. Some of your herd have questioned your odd behavior through the day, and you brushed it off, telling them you’re thinking hard about where to find more herbs. That time of year is difficult with so many different plants sprouting up, and most people accept your reasoning. Only your mother wasn’t convinced, but she also knows not to press too hard, or you’ll lose your patience. You don’t have too much of that to begin with.

From where you’re standing, you can kind of see where the tree is, well, the rock that’s hiding it. It’s behind the big rock. Glancing up at the darkening sky, you can finally see the twinkling of the northernmost star, and you start to trek out. After you descend the slope, and get over the hill after it, you know you’re out of sight, and break into a quicker pace. For some reason, you’re excited. Is it the thrill of doing something that others will frown upon? Is it that you get to bask in the presence of the extremely attractive lion once more?

You reach the boulder faster than normal, it seems your body is just as eager, and has decided to move faster than your brain realized. Swallowing hard, your hand brushes over the smooth stone surface as you move around it, peaking around. Feeling a small sense of déjà vu, when you can see around the rock, you see him under the tree.

"There's no need to hide, doll." His voice is warm, and you giggle a little in embarrassment, fully coming around. Right when you get close enough, he takes a bundle off his shoulder, leaves poking out from the leather wrap. Taking it gently, you crouch down so you can untie it and look. You gasp seeing everything that’s there. Not only did he find everything you needed, but there’s also a lot there.

"H-How did you get so much?" You look up at him from your squat and he shrugs. No verbal response, but you’re too grateful to question.

"H-here." You reach into your own bag, your string of coins jingling as you pull it out.

"No, (Y/N). You don't need to pay me."

"But!" When you move to give him the coins, he wraps his fingers over yours, so they wrap around the metal pieces.

"What do you want as payment then?"

"Don't worry about it."

"I have, um. I have this mulled wine my grandfather makes…" You go back to your bag, going to unite the cord of the wineskin.

"No."

"Um, okay, I have…" You shuffle stuff around in your bag, looking for the flute you still don’t really know how to play.

"(Y/N). You don't have to give me anything, it’s fine." He’s closer then, trying to get you to stop your frantic search. His fingers go to your chin, forcing your head to tip back so you can meet his gaze.

"A-are you sure?"

"Yes." He drops his hand and steps back once more, not wanting to make you uncomfortable.

"N-nothing?" You feel bad, it would have taken you hours to gather that much.

"If you really want, you can sit and talk to me for a bit?" He suggests and the request flabbergasts you.

"Really?" Hongjoong hums with a nod, turning so he can move to the tree, sitting at the base in a divot in the large roots. Sitting down next to him, you truly feel small then, scratching at a root with your blunt fingernail. Your eyes go to his own hands, sharp claws sit at the end of each finger. You also have noticed when he smiles, his canine teeth are bigger and sharper. His golden-blonde hair, rounded ears, and tufted tail all scream that he’s a lion, even if his demeanor doesn’t. He isn’t scary, but he’s majestic and beautiful.

"Have you ever met a lion before me?" He rests against the tree trunk, and you shake your head.

"Have you ever met a predator?"

"Not really. Just seen them from afar." You pick at a dried bit of some poultice you made that stuck on your tunic skirt.

"You aren’t as afraid as I thought you’d be, then."

"If it had been one of the others, maybe."

"Why am I different?" Hongjoong's gaze on you makes your face hot, you can’t return the look.

"You could’ve given me away to the others, and you didn’t." Yep, that’s it. Nothing more to it.

"That's it?" He sounds a bit disappointed.

"Why didn’t you?"

"I told you; I don't care for them."

"Then why are you travelling with them?"

"It's hard to be a solo male out here. It's easier to work with a group before I try and get my own pride."

"Oh. So, like, a bunch of wives?"

"More like two or three. Not like full lions, but..." He doesn’t sound super eager for even that.

"Are all lion hybrids like that?"

"More or less. Never appealed to me much, to be honest."

"Really?" This piques your interest, and you don’t dwell too much on why.

"It's rare for lions to have one spouse, out in the wilds anyway. I've debated leaving for the capital, but…"

"Why not?"

"I don't mind living off the land, but I don't know where else to go to find a wife. Most lionesses also want to be in a pride, like some ancient call."

"Huh."

"Are gazelle monogamous?"

"Hybrids are. Have a shit ton of kids though." Your response makes him laugh; the sound rumbling through you.

"Can you roar like a full lion?" You’re too curious. You needto know.

"Uh, no. Can you actually bleat like a full gazelle?"

"Not really…" Now you feel stupid, ears flicking nervously. Your tail thumps a bit on the ground, your eyes meandering down to look at his. It’s much longer than yours, like his full animal brethren.

"What about you?"

"Me?" You look up at him.

"Do you want to get married and have a shit ton of kids?"

You hum in thought. No. It’s more because you don’t want to be pressed into a mold. Most herbalists never marry, let alone have offspring, that’s part of the reason you chose the trade.

"No."

"You even want kids?"

"Don't know. One might be nice, but that's not how it works…" You stare in the distance toward your village.

"How many siblings do you have?"

"I'm the oldest of eleven."

"Fuck." He huffs and his reaction makes you burst into a guffaw.

"Yes."

"Is your mother…okay?" This makes you laugh harder.

"Uh, I can't imagine five singletons plus three sets of twins would make anyone okay."

"Not your ideal future?"

"Oh, fuck, no." Hongjoong smiles at your obvious newly relaxed state. It’s then you notice the sun has set completely, little white stars twinkling in the dark purple abyss.

"I need to get back!" You shoot up, retying the bundle he’s given you.

"Wait!" He stops you with a hand on your wrist. Turning to look back at him, he licks his lips, letting you go.

"Can you meet me back here in two days? Same time?" Your eyes widen a bit at the request, but you feel a smile tug at your lips.

"Yeah, I can."

~υ.υ~

You do go back like he asked.

"You came!" Hongjoong seems genuinely surprised, standing up straight from where he’s been leaning against the tree.

"Of course?" You’re genuinely surprised at his reaction, "why wouldn’t I?"

"I was a bit worried you only came last time for the herbs…" He won’t look straight at you, and you notice he has something in his hand. It’s obviously plants.

"Is that why you brought that?" You point to them, and he brings them around from behind his back.

"Y-yeah."

"Hongjoong. You're the first guy that still gives me the time of day after saying I don’t want to have twelve children." You motion behind you toward your village, "honestly I've been really impatient, waiting for…now." Your face warms and you swipe your leg back and forth, drawing an arch in the dirt with your toe.

"You're the first girl who didn’t look at me weird when I said I only want one wife…" He huffs, the confident smirk coming back to his face.

"Is it weird that we're so different?" You voice the obvious concern between both of you.

"Maybe. But it doesn't feel like it."

~é_è~

For nearly two months you meet at the tree, every two days. One night, under a full moon, when you arrive at the tree, he meets you right as you arrive, immediately sweeping you into his arms. A bit shocked, you return the hug, warmth flooding your entire body. You speak like normal, sitting together, shoulder to shoulder. That time though, there’s something in the air. You can’t place your finger on it, and when you go to leave for the night, he hugs you once more. When he pulls back, his hand goes to cup your cheek.

"I…I don’t want to let you go." He barely pulls away from the hug but does release you. His head is bowed to be closer to yours, forehead brushing yours.

"Hongjoong?" You aren’t for sure what he means, considering he literally lets you go.

"Run away with me. Come to me. Stay with me." He tilts his head, nose brushing yours, his breath mingling with yours. Tears prick your eyes, a rush of emotions knocking your breath away as he steals it. His lips are hot on yours and a tear escapes your eye. When he pulls back, his eyes meet yours, and he grimaces at your tears.

"Tomorrow. I'll come to you. Here?" You ask, ready and willing. You do want to at least say goodbye to your family, gather your things…

"No. There's a cave near where we first met-"

"Behind the vines?"

"Yes."

"I'll be there."

~/)>3</)~

Your mother doesn’t ask too many questions. She knows there’s been something on your mind, and she knows and sees that you aren’t happy in the village. You never will be, especially not after meeting Hongjoong. You don’t have the heart to tell your father, so you say goodbye to him like it’s any other time you go to gather herbs. It isn’t like you’ll never see them again, but you aren’t sure when you’ll go back, not sure where you’ll end up. With one last glance behind you, you leave your village, your bag more full than usual, but no one notices.

Standing at the entrance of the cave, you swallow hard, parting the hanging vines and stepping in. He’s there. Of course he is, it seems he’s been living there. A very convenient hole lays in the ceiling, casting the sunlight in. The whole cave smells of him, and once he sees you, he moves forward. You gasp, his hands cupping your jaw, lips sealing over yours. This kiss isn’t anything like the time before. Hongjoong pulls back slightly, just so you can breathe, and you whimper at the loss. Your tail rapidly flits back and forth behind you, ears twitching just as fast. Hongjoong's spiced aroma has grown stronger, a slight rumbling building in his chest. His hands are still holding your jaw, the claw on his thumb just barely ghosting over your skin. Stepping even closer, your hands fall on his chest, and you marvel at the hard muscle underneath the pelt around his shoulders. The rumble grows stronger under your touch, and you can already feel your core clench around nothing. Swallowing hard, you breathe in his scent, over and over, likes it’s a drug.

"Fuck, (Y/N)."  He practically growls, one hand moving to rest on your waist. His face buries into the crook of your neck; nose pressed to your jugular. Your blood spikes and you feel your entire body shudder. You’re unsure if it’s arousal, or a sense of danger, having the large fangs of a predator near your weakest spot.

"You smell so good." Hongjoong groans, hauling you closer, leaving barely a space between you.

"Like what?" You want to add, 'like a meal or a mate?', but don’t want to ruin the moment.

"Like when the apricots blossom." His other hand on your jaw moves instead to the back of your head, the one on your waist to the small of your back. You gasp at the pressure of his body, feeling him growing hard against your stomach. His face leaves your neck, and he kisses you again. You wonder if that’s what the elders implied by being eaten alive. His tongue has easily entered your mouth, swiping over yours, his large canines clacking against your much blunter ones. You expected his tongue to be rough, but he didn’t know yours would be as well, though not nearly as coarse as your full animal kin. It seems though, that he’s literally drooling, the extra saliva makes his tongue glide around yours. You whimper again, the muffled noise is nearly a bleat, and the rumble of his chest nearly a roar. Hongjoong's lips leave yours, a strand of spit connecting your mouths, another trail leaving the corner of his mouth. He licks away the extra, breaking the trail, his pupils have narrowed to slits. Your own pupils are blown wide, the black nearly eclipsing the color of your iris. Part of you feels the need to run, flee, that you’re being hunted. Somehow though, that thought turns you on all the more.

"Are you sure, (Y/N)?"

"Huh?"

"Once I have you, I won’t let you go." His voice rumbles through you, straight to your cunt, and your scent of arousal builds to the point you can smell it yourself. The spiced bark of his own aroma fills your nostrils, making your thoughts hazy.

"You already have me." You reply, voice very soft, to keep it from shaking. Your brain doesn’t register his next move till it’s already done, your back pinned to the rock of the cave, his hand still on the back of your head to make sure it doesn’t smash against the stone.

"Tell if it hurts too bad." His voice is in your ear, nose pushing against the collar of your tunic. Your hands around his neck move to his upper back, gripping hard into the pelt as his teeth sink into your shoulder. Your eyes roll back, the stinging pain just arouses you further, and his hips rut forward once, pressing his even harder cock against your tummy. As his fangs leave your skin, he licks over the spot, and you flinch at the sting. Just then, his scent spikes, the aroma becoming sweeter, mingling with yours. You know predators bond through mating bites, but you had no idea what it would do to your body. Your entire body feels like it’s on fire, blood rushes in your ears and a drop of slick starts to flow down your inner thigh.

"Gotta warn you, sweetheart." He huffs, a cocky smirk gracing his features, tongue licking over the drop of blood still on his lip. He palms his hard-on through his tunic pants, "might look a little different than you're expecting."

"Huh?" You aren’t fully registering what he’s getting at. Hongjoong's fingers wrap around yours, bringing your hand to his covered cock, letting you palm over him yourself. You whimper, you have dealt with plenty of naked males being a healer, and none compare. The thing that you notice - what he’s really talking about - are the little spines at the base of his cock and below the head. Your eyes widen, normally that would concern you some, but your body is ready and waiting. Eager even, begging.

"They don't hurt like a full lion’s, but I wanted you to know."

"I don't care, I just want you to split me open on it." Your bold declaration makes him chuckle, his tongue licking against the tip of your ear. It flicks under the touch and the hand at your head brings your lips back to his. He swallows your mewls, the hand he has on your back moves lower, gripping the base of your tail. When he tugs, a bleat escapes your throat, and his hard thigh nestles between your quivering ones. He immediately feels the heat of your cunt through the thin leather of his tunic pants, your slick quickly dripping over the material.

"You're soaked, love." He presses harder, your hips jumping, the slight friction intensified by whatever hex he seems to have you under.

"Sorry, sweet. You're sending me into a rut." His chest is rumbling again, deeper than before, "It'll be hard to hold back." Is that what is happening to you? Is he putting you into heat? Yours are normally extremely weak since you’re unmated, is it much worse because he’s a predator? Does your body need to compensate for his own body’s greater power? The hand on your tail moves to cup your butt, then to your thigh, prompting you to pronk up and into his arms. You wrap your legs around his waist, the bulge of his cock pressing over your bare cunt and you whine, breath hitching. You feel so small then, he easily holds you up against the cave wall, broad enough that most won’t even know you’re there but your legs around his middle. Hongjoong kisses over your neck, down to your collar bone, rough tongue searing over your skin. Your hands scramble, gripping and pulling at the pelt around his neck, trying to get it off. He helps you, reaching under to undo a small button and you pull it up over his head, letting it flop to the ground. His toned arms are fully on display then, the red cloth around his arm somehow makes the sight all the better. He never told you what it means, and you just assumes it’s an accessory. Before you can start trying to wrestle his tunic top off, he holds you to him, carrying you to a pile of pelts it seems he uses as a bed. Softly, he lays you down on it, but his following movements are anything but. He rips his shirt off and you don’t get time to ogle his bare torso because he proceeds to literally tear yours off. You were only been in a linen tunic dress, but still the ease with which he turns it to shreds is incredible arousing. His palms are rough against your soft skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

"Hongjoo-!" Your breath is kicked from your lungs, vision spattering with dots of light when his tongue buries into your cunt. You hadn't even realized he was down there, hands pressing to your thighs to hold your legs open. Even the slight brush of his lips over your clit as his tongue licks over your walls is intense. A strong wave of pleasure is quickly cresting, your womb pulsing hard, walls clenching.

"Fuck~!" Little bleats and whimpers leave you, your tail whacking against the pelts beneath you, dull nails raking through his hair. While you’ve never had an orgasm, you know that's what’s rising. With how quickly he brings you up to and over the edge, you know you’re in for a long night. Hongjoong growls, his purr rumbling through his tongue into you, drinking your essence as it squirts from your cunt. Smirking, he pulls back, thumb gathering a drop from his chin so he can lick it off.

"You think your cute little cunt can take my cock?" His knuckles brushes through your folds, careful of his claws.

"Please, need it~" Your foot comes up, pressing over his hard-on. He grunts, wrapping his hand around your ankle, forcing it off so he can take his pants off. You watch, hazy eyes trying to focus as the leather hits the cave floor. Your eyes subsequently widen, brain fogging further. Little spines circle his cock, thick and long. Hongjoong kneels between your legs, spreading them and hooking one of your knees over his elbow to keep you open for him. He chuckles at the twitch your entire body seizes from when the hot head meets your dripping folds.

"It might sting, love." He warns once more, the thumb of his hand on your waist rubbing small circles over your hip. You nod, trying to relax but also steel yourself. Yes, it stings, it burns, but it’s amazing. Each little bit he sinks his fat cock into you, the little spines rub and pull at your walls. Your slick allows an easy glide, but his own head is swimming from the tight vice of your cunt, eagerly sucking him in. You shudder with each breath, heat searing through you from your core out, and he’s barely half-way in when you feel another orgasm cresting. You thought the pain would diminish the pleasure, but it’s the opposite, the burn heating you even further. Hongjoong lays kisses over your shoulder around his mark, letting you adjust to the stretch, even if it’s nearly painful for him to go so slow. As the head of his dick presses against your eager and weeping womb, the little spines at the base brush your clit and folds, and the final little push finishes you off. You throw your head back, eyelids fluttering, nails leaving crescents on his shoulders. He groans as your tight cunt pulses around him, more of your slick spurting out from where he’s filling you. When the waves of your orgasm fade, you’re still shuddering, tipsy on the pleasure.

"Ready, love?"

"Hongjoong~" You mewl, fingers rubbing over his hot skin, blunt nails scratching a path down from where you had them. Your other leg ends up hooked over his elbow as well, and when he pulls out, only about halfway, the little barbs tug at your gummy walls. He snaps his hips then, burying back inside, battering the fat head against your cervix. He was right, he can’t hold back. He wants to start slow, let you get used to it, but he can’t. The next thrust has no warning, his pace immediately relentless, your knees pressed up toward your ears. He’s fucking you stupid, the noises you let out sounding more and more like your animal kin, bleats and moans melding. Your body has gone limp, only your arms have any strength, hands digging into the pelt under your hips. Your head lolls and your breasts bounce with each thrust. You can’t think to let him know as he barrels through your third orgasm, more slick gushing from your cunt. His noises are animalistic at that point, anyone passing would think a real lion is rutting in that cave. His tongue runs over his long fangs, saliva spilling from his lips as he growls and grunts.

"Aw, fuck, (Y/N)." He chuckles, burying his cock as deep as he can, pressing those little spines against your groin, pumping your eager womb full. You aren’t even sure you can actually get pregnant, but he’s bound and determined to fill you to the point that it’ll leak out of you for days. The heat of his cum inside brings you over the edge too, a much smaller climax racking you. He’s still hard as a rock though. You gasp, your lungs spasming as he pulls his cock all the way out, those little barbs digging in. Your world spins, your chest and stomach to the pelts below then, and he yanks your hips up, sinking his cock back in once more. At this angle he gets even deeper somehow, each rough plow of his dick battering your back walls. Your vision blurs further, eyes rolling back, fingers futilely digging into the fur below you. His hips pummel against the skin of your ass hard, the smacking combined with his beastly grunts makes your ears twitch. His hand goes back to your tail, wrapping around the base, tugging a bit. Shivering shoots straight up your spine from where he has you, cunt weeping along with you, tears and drool leaving a puddle on the pelts under you.

"Fucking hell, love. You're so good for me~" He groans, chuckling as your walls flutter through another climax. Your cunt and clit sting from the overstimulation, but you need more, you need him to pump you full more. The bite on your shoulder flares with heat, so does your skin as his hands wrap around the small of your waist. His thrusts once again grow unsteady, instead they’re hard and shallow, pulling back just enough to rake those little barbs over your clit over and over.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck." You ramble, vision already spotting with white, then nearly scream when he comes again, spurts of white hot jizz leaking from your hole, not able to handle the amount. Your cunt spurts as well, the mix of your release leaving a mess on the pelts. You gasp for air, heart thudding, sweat dripping from your forehead. He’s still hard. Maybe that's why your people are warned about mixing with predators. His stamina is a beast in itself.

"Can you keep going love? Lions go for a whole day sometimes." Hongjoong groans when your cunt clenches again, really hoping you can keep going. His body needs yours, just as bad for both of you, and he wants to fuck you the rest of the week if he can. He might be able to, you on the other hand…

"Fuck me stupid, I don't- just your cock~!" You whine and moan, giggling like an idiot as his hips roll again. Picking back up to his monster pace again. Every drag of his dick seems to eek a tiny little orgasm out of you, your body strung so tight, it sings with every one of his movements. Your brain vaguely registers as the sunlight fades from the hole in the ceiling, fading to the cool moonlight. You don’t think you can walk for a week after, he’s fucked so many orgasms out of and into you, you lost count. Globs of thick seed slips out of your cunt when he finally pulls out, cock finally softening. Your face is blank, eyes open but barely conscious.

"Sleep, my love. I'll need you again in the morning."

-> Series Hub <-

Master-Master List

ATEEZ Master List

[reasonsforhope]

The loss of life and impact on the communities in Helene’s path is unfathomable — and both the immediate and long-term needs are vast. 

If you’re reading this, it’s likely because you want to help and care about making a difference for those who’ve been impacted by Hurricane Helene.

You’re in the right place. When we see tragedy like this happen in the news, it’s important to not tune it out. Instead, pay attention and truly feel the heartbreak of it — t​​hen, look for and be inspired by the people stepping in to help, and use that energy to make a difference ourselves.

Looking for the helpers

Instead of turning away from tragic events like the devastation from Hurricane Helene — we look closer for people stepping in using what they have, where they are, to make a difference for others.

Inspired by Mister Rogers’ famous quote, we call them the “helpers,” — and they’re usually found wherever there’s bad news in the world. Hurricane Helene is no different. Here are some people, businesses, and organizations helping right now:

Chef José Andrés and ​World Central Kitchen teams are serving thousands of meals to communities in need — from Mexico, and the Big Bend of Florida, and into Appalachia.

Volunteer pilots with the Port City Aviators Flying Club are flying supplies to storm victims in western North Carolina.

The national Disaster Distress Helpline is providing free multilingual crisis counseling to those in need.

Southern Smoke Foundation, an organization that supports food & beverage workers in crisis, is providing financial support for groceries, medical bills, lost wages, and more.

Volunteers with veteran-led disaster response organization Team Rubicon are on the ground in Greenwood, South Carolina clearing roads of trees and debris.

A local library branch in Asheville, North Carolina served as a hub for community members in need of internet service.

Workers at Waffle House were “unlikely heroes” providing food to people in need.

A local Fox News correspondent stopped his live broadcast to help rescue a woman trapped in her car in rising floodwaters.

Emergency response teams rescued more than 50 staff, patients, and caregivers from the roof of a hospital in Erwin, Tennessee.

The SPCA of Brevard rescued 20 animals from Hurricane Helene’s path — and it’s now helping them get adopted.

‍

How to make a difference

After we’ve allowed ourselves to feel the weight of the pain and heartbreak associated with bad news, and look for hope and helpers in the midst of it — we always have the opportunity to join in and make a difference, too. 

Here are some ways to help — whether you’re local or far away:

Donate to national organizations 

Here are just a few large-scale organizations that have helpers on the ground in the region.

American Red Cross

World Central Kitchen

Feeding America

United Way

Salvation Army

CARE

Donate to local organizations

Local organizations, recovery funds, and mutual aid groups have been deployed across the states impacted by Helene. Find donation links and updates below:

All States:

GoFundMe Hub for Hurricane Helene Relief

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief

Southeast Climate & Energy Network

Convoy of Hope

Appalachia Funders Network

Americares

Organizing Resilience

The National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster

Tennessee:

East Tennessee Foundation

First Aid Collective Knoxville

RISE Erwin

Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee

North Carolina:

North Carolina Community Foundation

Hearts With Hands

Manna Foodbank

BeLoved Asheville

Foothills Food Hub

Haywood Christian Ministry

Samaritan’s Purse

Forsyth Humane Society

Hope Mill

‍

Volunteer locally

Organizations in the affected area are seeking volunteers to help distribute resources and support crucial aid efforts. While many of us are not local to the region, those who are nearby are encouraged to join in a myriad of volunteer opportunities.

(Note: If you aren't in the area, the best way you can help is by supporting local efforts with a donation. Keeping roads clear for rescue crews and local relief agents is vital in maintaining safety in these already devastated regions).

For local volunteers, check out:

World Central Kitchen

Operation BBQ Relief

Marco Patriots

Operation Airdrop

Baptists on Mission

‍

Contact your elected officials and ask them to take climate action

Climate scientists agree, the intensity and extent of the devastation brought by Hurricane Helene was made worse by climate change. 

While we can’t go back in time and burn less fossil fuels — we can make a difference now to secure a safer future and prevent future climate disasters. 

In addition to talking about how this disaster is connected to climate change in our own conversations and holding media outlets accountable for how they talk about climate change — this is a great time to tell your elected officials that you want them to take meaningful climate action.

We’re making incredible progress in the U.S. and globally in reducing emissions, but we need to work even faster — and incorporate climate mitigation efforts into our plans — to limit the most severe impacts of global warming.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Degrowth basics

"The word degrowth stands for a family of political-economic approaches that, in the face of today’s accelerating planetary ecological crisis, reject unlimited, exponential economic growth as the definition of human progress."

What is Degrowth? | Caracol DSA

Why degrowth is the only responsible way forward | OpenDemocracy

Degrowth and MMT: A thought experiment

We Need A Fair Way To End Infinite Growth | Current Affairs

Degrowth: A Call for Radical Abundance | Common Dreams

Can degrowth save us and the planet? | Nottingham Trent

Defending limits is not Malthusian | Undisciplined Environments

Can We Have Prosperity Without Growth? | New Yorker

The Urgent Case for Shrinking the Economy | The New Republic

Giving Up on Economic Growth Could Make Us Cooler and Happier | The New Republic

A guide to degrowth: The movement prioritizing wellbeing in a bid to avoid climate cataclysm | CNBC

What is ‘degrowth’ and how can it fight climate change? | Popular Science

Enough for Everyone | Yes! Magazine

Toward a Post-Capitalist Future: On the Growth of “Degrowth” | Lit Hub

All we are saying is give degrowth a chance | The RSA

A pathway out of environmental collapse | newsroom

On Technology and Degrowth | Monthly Review

What is degrowth (and more importantly, what is it not)? | META

Green growth

"There is no empirical evidence that absolute decoupling from resource use can be achieved on a global scale against a background of continued economic growth."

Is Green Growth Possible? | Jason Hickel & Giorgos Kallis

The Myth of America’s Green Growth | Foreign Policy

The decoupling delusion: rethinking growth and sustainability | The Conversation

Is green growth happening? | Uneven Earth

Green Growth | Uneven Earth

The Delusion of Infinite Economic Growth | Scientific American

Degrowth is not austerity – it is actually just the opposite | Al Jazeera

A response to Paul Krugman: Growth is not as green as you might think | Timothée Parrique

Deceitful Decoupling: Misconceptions of a Persistent Myth | Alevgul H. Sorman

Degrowth isn’t the same as a recession – it’s an alternative to growing the economy forever | The Conversation

Degrowth and the left

"In the middle of an ecological emergency, should we be producing sport utility vehicles and mansions? Should we be diverting energy to support the obscene consumption and accumulation of the ruling class?"

The Left should embrace degrowth | New Internationalist

Ecosocialism is the Horizon, Degrowth is the Way | The Trouble

Degrowth: Socialism without Growth | Brave New Europe

Toward an Ecosocialist Degrowth: From the Materially Inevitable to the Socially Desirable | Monthly Review

For an Ecosocialist Degrowth | Monthly Review

Degrowth and Revolutionary Organizing | Rosa Luxemburg NYC

The necessity of ecosocialist degrowth | Rupture

Degrowth is Anti-Capitalist | Protean Mag

Degrowth Communism | PPPR (Part one | Part two | Part three)

Economic Planning and Degrowth: How Socialism Survives the 21st Century | New Socialist

Degrowth and the South

"Southern countries should be free to organize their resources and labor around meeting human needs rather than around servicing Northern growth."

Who is afraid of degrowth? A Global South economic perspective | IBON Foundation

The anti-colonial politics of degrowth | Jason Hickel

Unlearning: From Degrowth to Decolonization | Rosa Luxemburg NYC

Degrowth requires the Global South to default on its foreign debts | Resilience

Journals/Reports

Degrowth: a theory of radical abundance | Jason Hickel

A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: synthesizing the insights

What does degrowth mean? A few points of clarification | Jason Hickel

Providing decent living with minimum energy: A global scenario | Global Environmental Change

Urgent need for post-growth climate mitigation scenarios | Nature Energy

Degrowth and critical agrarian studies | Julien-François Gerber

Decoupling debunked – Evidence and arguments against green growth as a sole strategy for sustainability | European Environmental Bureau

Incrementum ad Absurdum: Global Growth, Inequality and Poverty Eradication in a Carbon-Constrained World | David Woodward

Degrowth can work — here’s how science can help | Nature

A New Political Economy for a Healthy Planet | Jason Hickel

Planning beyond growth. The case for economic democracy within limits

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions | Cleaner Production Letters

Is green growth happening? An empirical analysis of achieved versus Paris-compliant CO2–GDP decoupling in high-income countries | The Lancet

Books

Exploring Degrowth: A Critical Guide | Pluto Press

A People's Green New Deal | Max Ajl

Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World | Jason Hickel

Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job | Verso Books

The Future is Degrowth: A Guide to a World Beyond Capitalism | Verso Books

The Imperial Mode of Living: Everyday Life and the Ecological Crisis of Capitalism | Verso Books

Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism | Kohei Saito

Degrowth & Strategy: how to bring about social-ecological transformation

27 Essays and Thoughts on Degrowth | Giorgos Kallis

Videos

Yes To Limits To Growth! | The Other School

How Degrowth Can Save the World | Andrewism

How We End Consumerism | Our Changing Climate

Demystifying Degrowth | Rosa Luxemburg NYC

Degrowth is not Austerity | John the Duncan

Degrowth and Ecosocialism | Planet: Critical

Degrowth in 7 minutes: Fighting for climate by living better | Think That Through

The Future is Degrowth (w/ Aaron Vansintjan) || SRSLY WRONG

"Degrowth means power to the working class!"with Jason Hickel | GND Media

Others

degrowth.info

Degrowth Journal

Doughnut Economics

[born-in-hell]

Hi!

As some of you might know, southern Brazil, specifically the state of Rio Grande do Sul, has been struck by heavy rains and a consequential flood. The rains started on monday (29/abr) and only stopped today (5/mai), in Porto Alegre ─ the state capital, and the city i live in ─ and in the other cities nearby.

The lake that borders PoA (named Guaíba) has reached more than 5m up its normal level. This is higher than on the historic 1941 flood. The city's center ─ a big residential and commercial hub, beyond being the host of most of our public services (such as the city hall and the state government) ─ is completely taken by the water. Many other neighbourhoods were also affected.

Smaller cities that also border Guaíba were even more heavily affected, such as Eldorado do Sul, whose territory was almost 100% flooded.

The state is, for a lack of a better word, abandoned by the people that were supposed to aid.

Our governor, Eduardo Leite, is more worried about his plitical campaign ─ making dramatic videos, changing his facebook pfp to one of him with a public defense vest, making streams with no useful information ─ than with the people's lives. This year, he destinated only R$50.000 (~ USD250.000) for the Civil Defense. For the entire year. He is now, delegating the responsibility of recuperating our state to the Federal Government, stating that "the rbuilding of the RS will demand a Marshall Project".

Porto Alegre's mayor, Sebastião Mello, has vanished. He sold our city out to big enterprises ─ Melnick, Zaffari and Panvel, mainly ─, and hasn't destined any public resources to maintaining the Mauá wall (a wall built after the 1941 flood with a system made to protect the city from other floods), which caused many points to fail and the water to invade the city.

This is the danger we all face with a neoliberal system.

Neoliberalism is an individualist ideology. All these people and companies I named did close to nothing to help us. Or even made it worse. The Civil Defense, for example, published a map of all the areas that would be affected, but had to take it back, since it didn't consider the topography.

Its the people for the people.

This situation is being aided by people using their own resources. Donations of various natures and volunteer work. It is very beautiful, in a way. It shows that colaboration and union can do great things. It shows, at least to me, that the world can reach, one day, a self sustaining way of living, contrary to the ultra-individualistic capitalism some preach. Humans can, and are, good.

But it also lays out how much the people that govern us failed us.

Human lives were lost because of their negligency.

This flood isn't normal. It is a product of the huge levels of degradation multi-billionaire companies are causing the world, supported by higher class and their representatives. Eduardo Leite changed almost 500 points of our state's Environmental Code, for the worst, when he was first elected in 2019. His actions, and the actions of all other neoliberal politicians, such as our ex-president Bolsonaro, are what created this situation. They are responsible for everything that is going on here.

This flood isnt the only environmental crisis this state has faced in the last 6 months. This isn't the last one that will happen.

This text is, beyond a personal vent, a warning. We need to keep fighting against a system that is actively trying to kill us. Please, do not support ideals and people ─ especially if said people will rule you ─ that go against the environment, that preach that the capital, the money, the posesions, are more important than lives. Of the people, of the animals, of the environment. Fight for a better world, i know there can be one.

Always be aware of the climate in your areas. Things like this won't happen only here. Please be safe.

Sorry for the long post.

If you're interested in donating, @decaf-lesbian made this post with some links for international and national donations.

-> If you're from Brasil, check this link, that has a copilation of maps of risk areas, shelters, places to donate to, etc, made by a UFRGS student.

[faultfalha]

A programme that aims to restore ecosystem in Africa has selected 10 sustainability startups. These startups are working on innovative ways to improve the environment and the livelihoods of the people in Africa. This is an important step in restoring the ecosystem in Africa and helping the people who live there.

[mickandmusings]

i. true blue

part one of the 'hangman & honey' series!

summary: The summer he turned nine, Jake was convinced he'd spend it like any other summer: riding his bike down dirt roads with all the other kids, lending a helping hand on the family farm, and brushing up on his backyard football. His life hits a tailspin when a new family moves into the house just down the road, leading him to a friendship and feelings he never saw coming.

word count: 4.5k

warnings: cute childhood friends to lovers, small sections of angst, tragic backstories and southern traditions. primarily self indulgent. this is written by someone from the most southern small town imaginable, so it's written with love as an ode to my own hometown, enjoy. <3

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In the great state of Texas, just a few hours south of Austin, sits a small town called Haven. It was a fitting name for a town so picturesque-miles and miles of endless farmland, stunning sunsets and sunrises, and the beauty of the state's flora and fauna. However, in all it's Southern small-town glory, it was home to little else. There was the hub of activity 'downtown'-the one school system, a family-owned restaurant, a convenience store, the First Baptist Church of Haven, and a hair salon. On the outskirts of Haven sat a large patch of barbed-wire fenced farmland, one that spanned most of the remaining parts of the small town, more than the eye could see. It was large enough to have its own unpaved road-Seresin Farm Road-and was home to only one house, the Seresin family house.

The Seresin family had owned the land long before the turn of the century, and had been passed down from generation to generation ever since. The Seresin's owned much of Haven to begin with, their farmland excluded. Most of the businesses rented their buildings from Jacob Seresin Sr., with the exception of the school system and the church. Despite their seemingly looming hand of ownership, you'd never know they held power at all. Mrs. Janet Seresin-first lady of the Seresin estate-was known as the town egg lady, always more than happy to pass out dozens of Styrofoam cartons free of charge. She held the unofficial prize of having the best homemade ice cream in all of Haven, and anyone in the small town would attest. Jacob Seresin Sr.-head of the Seresin farm and Janet's husband-was regarded in the same warm fashion. You could find him driving up and down the main street in his trusty red farm truck, often loaded with feed or some kind of good necessary to keep his place up and running. He'd stop and talk to anyone and everyone, literally everyone, he knew. He had been the one to help nearly everyone in his community rebuild after natural disasters, always willing to help someone in need, never asking for anything in return. The Seresin's were Haven's unofficial first family, leaders of sorts, in the small town.

Their son, Jacob Seresin Jr., was elusive and a topic nearly everyone knew to avoid. He had been raised on the family farm, attended the local school, lived and breathed the same life as everyone else, but found himself itching for more. He quickly fell into trouble with the local law, and with a last name like Seresin, he got away with mostly everything, which, perhaps, was his greatest downfall. He had gotten his high school girlfriend-a sweet local girl named Georgia Joann Smith-pregnant their senior year. When she broke the news, he'd taken off in his truck to Kentucky, where it was rumored he still was, looking for something he could never find. Nine months later, Jacob Thomas Seresin III, or 'Jake' as he preferred, was born, healthy, all ten fingers and toes. Just hours after birth, his mother fell gravely ill, and made her own swift exit in death. She left behind only one thing-her son. Jacob Sr. and Janet took him in with no questions asked, raising him as any grandparent would. Jake, luckily, seemed to inherit more of his mother than his father. His blonde hair gleamed in the Texas sun, turning almost gold in the heat-filled summers. His green eyes held his kindness-a sharp contrast to his father's dark brown eyes that seemed to only hold his anger. Jake bore Georgia's gentle soul, her wide smile and her witty personality, she lived on in Jake entirely. So when the new family moved into the empty house at the end of Seresin Farm Road, Janet had zero hesitations in sending Jake down to welcome their new neighbors to Haven. She'd spent the entire morning making homemade bread, having to occasionally swat away Jake's hands from the counter or tell him to completely get out of the kitchen while the loaves cooled. After lunch, she handed him a well-wrapped loaf and gave him instructions to take it to the newcomers, which Jake did without complaint. He'd placed the bread into the metal basket attached to his royal blue bike, trekking down their long and winding driveway. When he'd arrived nearly ten minutes later, he had parked his bike on the edge of the lawn, against a towering oak tree. He made a point to kick the dirt off his shoes, not wanting to track it onto the seemingly freshly painted, white wrap-around porch. He lifts his first to wrap against the door, one with a glass cut-out, much different than the screen door on his farmhouse. He fixed his windswept hair in the reflection of the window, remembering Granny's words of always looking well put together when meeting new people. The door's lock clicked, and when Jake looked up to see the man or lady of the house, he instead had to look down, finding a girl who couldn't be much younger than him. Her eyes were wide as they stared up at him, hair pushed out of her face with colorful butterfly shaped clips. Her eyes were captivating, and all of Jake's intended Southern charm had flown out the window. She smiles shyly at Jake, wondering why this stranger was on her porch.

"Uh, this is for you-or,uh-your parents," his arm extends the bread as he stammered. "My Granny made it, we live at the farm on the end of the road, we-uh, she-wanted to invite you to the neighborhood. I'm Jake."

Jake stuck out a clammy hand for her to shake, and winced internally. His Pawpaw would be reprimanding him if he saw this-it wasn't polite to make a lady shake your hand. Shaking hands was for business deals, and Jake had just shook her hand like she'd bought his show heifer. Jake's mind was clouded for a reason he couldn't explain, and he wasn't thinking straight. The girl blushed and smiled slightly.

"I'm Honey," her voice was quiet but pronounced. "That's not actually my name, but everyone calls me Honey, so, you can call me Honey. Um, is your house the one with the big magnolia tree in the front?"

Jake nodded quickly. Her eyes widened, shimmering with something Jake couldn't make out. Quietness settled over them before Honey spoke again.

"Is that your bike?" Honey points at his bike leaning against the tree.

"Yeah! Most kids ride their bikes everywhere here."

"C-Could I ride with you, maybe?" Her voice was suddenly shy, no longer meeting Jake's eyes. "It's just summer and I-I don't know anyone yet and-"

"Yes!" Jake cut her off, and mentally scolded himself, but as Honey flashed him a wide smile he couldn't find himself caring. She tossed the bread on the table just inside the door, slid on her purple jelly sandals and shut the door behind her. She led Jake to the empty garage, only full of empty moving boxes and a bright yellow bike. As she led them out of the garage and towards the edge of the yard, Jake's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her.

"Shouldn't you let your momma know you left, leave her a note or somethin'?"

Honey's eyes cut to her feet, her smile fading.

"She won't care, I'll be back before she will. S-She's a nurse, works the night shift at the old folks home in the next town over."

Jake nodded but said nothing, pedaling off on his own bike to lead her back down to his farm.

From that moment on, Jake and Honey were practically inseparable. The entire summer was spent with a blue bike parked next to a yellow one, swimming in the creek behind Jake's house, and running around the farm with nothing but their imagination and makeshift stick swords. Jake's Border Collie, John Wayne, became a frightening dragon of their imagination, and Honey taught Jake how to make flower crowns from the wildflowers in the fields. Janet had grown fond of looking out her front window to see Honey sitting next to Jake under her magnolia tree, reading her Boxcar Children book as much as she could with Jake chattering next to her. Even when Jake was busy with his farm chores, Honey would sit placidly under the tree, enjoying the occasional breeze as she read her book of the week. After the long summer, Jacob Sr. had started referring to it as "Honey's tree," and he'd laugh to himself every time he saw the girl sitting quietly under it. Both Janet and Jacob Sr. loved having the sweet but shy girl around, especially when they found out that she spent most of her time alone in that house down the road. On the last night before summer ended, Jake and Honey sat under the tree, swatting at mosquitoes as the Texas sun set. Jake looked over at Honey, who had finally put her book down, and asked:

"Why do you like this tree so much?"

She smiled a smile that Jake knew to be half-hearted and brought her knees to her chest, her chin resting on her kneecaps.

"It reminds me of home."

Honey had moved from her tiny town in Mississippi that summer, and she often talked of her home there, the friends and family she'd left behind, how her mother had left when her grandmother died, looking for a fresh start.

"My Gram had a tree like this in her yard, and she'd babysit me when Mom worked," Honey's eyes rested on the ground, where she was picking grass from the ground around her bare feet. "She'd read to me a lot, and it was my favorite place in the world. Sometimes when I read here it sort of feels like I never left."

Jake simply nodded, thinking of the mother he'd only met in pictures, and the grandparents he wouldn't trade for the world's richest man. Neither of them spoke a word about the statement she made, but they understood what it meant to both of them. Even at age nine, Jake was in love with the girl next door, even if he didn't know it yet. From the first year they met and every year after, Jake and Honey found themselves under the magnolia blossoms. Well, almost every year...

As the budding teens entered into their freshman year at Haven High School, the differences between their personalities became more apparent than ever. Jake was the ideal all-American southern boy: athletic, outgoing, someone who guys high-fived in the hallway, and one that girls would be late to class just to get a glimpse of. Jake was never one to let the attention get to his head, at least not too much. Sure, he enjoyed the feeling of being liked, and, sure, he could be cocky at times, but he was never the one to bully those completely different from him. Someone like Honey. Honey had always been quiet, shy by nature, and the very definition of an advanced student. She was beloved by her teachers, but not as well received by her classmates. With a town as small as Haven, it was either incredibly easy or incredibly hard to make friends, and for Honey, it seemed to be the latter. It wasn't as if Honey was perpetually odd-she wasn't homely or weird, just quiet. Jake was the only one who knew about her boisterous laugh that could be prompted with his corny jokes, or her wild streak, like sneaking into his bedroom window after she and her mother got into yet another fight.

At the beginning of the school year, she spent her breaks talking to Jake, and she sat next to him at lunch. He'd let her ramble about her current read, and he'd talk about yesterday's football practice. She'd leave with the promise to come around for dinner, Mrs. Janet was making her favorite. However, when football season started, and Jake had made an infamous saving play at one of the first few games, he had peaked in popularity. Honey found herself on the outside of his swarm of new friends, listening to him talk to his football buddies while the girls that followed shot her sympathetic or lethal glances. She'd ignored it at first, simply enjoying her paperback until Jake could spare himself a minute to talk to her. Eventually, the bell would sound before she even got the chance to say 'hello' to him, and, with her heart suddenly heavy, she'd make her way to class. The routine lasted for weeks and she'd find herself waiting by the phone, figuring Jake would call her after football practice, but she'd only be greeted with silence through the night. After the second week of no contact, she decided to leave Jake and his new friends to their own devices, opting to sit in the library for breaks, taking her lunch in the empty courtyard. It was like Jake hadn't noticed her absence at all, at least in her mind, but Jacob Sr. and Janet noticed immediately. They had missed her bright aura that lit up their farmhouse, watching as she greeted the dogs as she parked her now lilac bike in the driveway. Janet missed her companionship as Honey would watch her sew patches onto Jacob Sr. and Jake's clothes, and her husband missed catching up with her over dinner. The only time they'd see her anymore would be on Friday nights, at Jake's games. She'd sit in the bleachers with them, decked out in her navy blue and gold, watching intently as the boys in jerseys made their way up and down the field. At the end of the game, she'd say her goodbyes before Jake would find his grandparents and they wouldn't see her until the following Friday. In typical grandparent fashion, Janet had assumed Jake had done something. Her grandson was kind, gentlemanly, but he also had a sharp tongue and a big head, which he sometimes used in malice. So, over dinner one Thursday, Janet finally dipped her toes into the water.

"Maybe you should talk to Honey after the game tomorrow, she always seems to slip away before you two get to catch up."

Jake's eyebrows furrowed as he wiped his mouth, looking up at his grandmother.

"Honey? At a football game? Granny, I don't really think that's her scene. She hates when we have a pep rally at school, I don't think she's going to a football game voluntarily."

Jacob Sr. and Janet give each other a knowing look across the table.

"How blind are ya, son?" Jacob Sr.'s voice is accusatory.

Jake looks up from his plate, looking over at his grandfather with a confused look.

"She's been at every game this season, Jake," his grandmother's voice speaks, much softer than her husbands. "She sits next to us in the stands. When was the last time you two talked? Just the two of you?"

Jake scoffs at his grandmother's accusation, his head shaking as he tried to wrack his brain for the last time he'd talked to his best friend.

"Maybe a week or so ago, I-I can't remember."

"That's a damn shame," Jacob Sr.'s voice grumbled. "She's a sweet girl, smart too. I know she doesn't run the same circles as you and your new buddies, but she's a good friend Jake, and you're treatin' her as if she doesn't exist. She still comes to all of those games. I'm not tellin' you what to do, but maybe give her a call, and pray to the Lord above that she wants to talk to your dumb ass."

Jake's heart sank as he carried out his nightly farm chores that night, thinking of how he had treated Honey. He knew what the other girls in the group said about her, how she was 'quiet' and 'weird,' often making comments that were completely false or disrespectful. Jake always shut the comments down, but found himself not bothering to talk to the one person who had always been there for him. Was it his fear of his new friends thinking he was weird? Did he think he wouldn't be surrounded by his football buddies if they saw him talking to someone like Honey? As Jake shut the barn door, he sighed, deciding he didn't care about either. Honey had been his friend for years, long before high school or popularity, or stupid teenage rules. She'd never changed, she was still the girl he fell in love with all those years ago. That night, as he sat by the phone thinking of what to say, he'd heard the faintest knock on his door. He figured it was his Granny coming to tell him goodnight, so he made quick work of making his way to the door and flinging it open. Instead of his grandmother, Honey stood in front of him. She held an algebra textbook in her arms, her eyes never meeting his, her arms crossed protectively. Her eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot, tear streaks staining her cheeks. She'd been crying, and Jake knew Honey all too well, her tears had nothing to do with the algebra assignment. Something had happened to her.

"Uh, hey, I-I know it's late, and I didn't want to bother you, but I've been workin' on this stupid algebra assignment for three hours, and i-it's not making a lick of sense. You-You're the only person I know who could help me, so if you could just show me how to do one, I'll be out of your hair. I know you have a game tomorrow, and you should really sleep-"

Honey was rambling, picking the skin around her fingernails, she was nervous. It shattered his heart in his chest, he could never remember a time when she was nervous around him.

"No, no, you're fine, Honey. C'mere."

He opened the door wide for her to come in. She nodded in thanks, hovering awkwardly in the space between his bed and his desk. Any other time she'd plop herself down on his plaid comforter, all but curling into the sheets and falling asleep. Now, she didn't know what to do. She hadn't spoken to him in weeks, and he was different now. He wasn't just Jake, her Jake, he was Jake Seresin, up and coming star of their hometown football team, someone that a person like her should avoid in the hallway, someone that shouldn't even be talking to her.

He pushed the chair of his desk out for her, figuring she'd feel more comfortable there. She laid her textbook and notebook out flat, opening the book to the dozens of equations she couldn't make out. Honey was incredibly smart, but as her math classes advanced, she found herself staring at her own notes in utter confusion.

"Um, so, this is on polynomials," she started. "But I couldn't even tell you what a fuckin' polynomial is and I'm starting to lose my mind."

Jake quickly noted the physical manifestation of her worry-her hair messy with the way she had been running her hands through it, the chipped nail polish on her nails, and her chewing on her bottom lip. His heart ached, how had he not noticed her struggling? They were in the same class, she sat two chairs in front of him.

"Honey, I'm sorry."

She didn't even spare him a look.

"It's not your fault I'm stupid, Jake."

Jake took her arm in a light hold, turning her to look at him.

"I'm not talkin' about algebra, and you're not stupid, first of all. You're one of the smartest people I know. I'm talkin' about the way I've been actin'. It's not fair to you, I've been an ass. I've been ignoring you at school, treatin' you as if you aren't even there. You've come to all my games and I didn't even know. Thanks for that, by the way, but, I mean it, Honey. I'm sorry."

Honey shrugs, her face sprouting a faint pink blush.

"'S fine, people grow up, move on. You don't have to apologize for leaving me for people more like-minded. I get it, I don't necessarily fit the mold of your new friend group. It's okay. They seem to really like you though, and you seem happy. Plus Sam is...she's pretty. I get why you wouldn't want me hanging around."

"Sam?" Jake's voice was confused. Sam was a cheerleader, and she was friends with the girlfriends of his teammates. They had a passing conversation from time to time, but they weren't dating. "What're you talkin' about?"

Honey's brow furrowed, tapping her pencil's eraser against her book.

"Sam Vance told me like the third or fourth week of school that you were together, around the same time we stopped talking. I just assumed that was why you didn't want to talk anymore. It's sort of the reason I've kept my distance."

Jake's blood boiled, he was not dating Sam Vance. She was heinously mean, even to her own 'friends.'

"Honey," Jake started, his eyes full of sympathy, his flash of anger flickering. "I'm not dating her, not by a long shot. I don't know why she lied to you, I've never said more than a few sentences to one another, she's...mean. She's vicious, I'm sorry."

Honey's head only shook in a nonchalant manner. She was good at this, pushing people away, Jake had noticed it over the years. After years of practically raising herself, those she loved either abandoning her or leaving her in death, she expected everyone to leave. Honey herself knew that someday Jake would leave her, just like everyone else, so when he pulled away, she didn't bother trying to stop it, no matter how it hurt.

"Stop that. I know what I did was shitty, and it seemed like I didn't want you there, but this isn't me dumping you off, Honey. I swear. And I know something's wrong, you're not crying because of a homework assignment. If it's because of what happened between us, I'll do anythin' to make it up to you-"

Honey's bottom lip trembles, her eyes lining with tears as she shakes her head. She looks up at Jake, pain clouding her usually kind eyes.

"You don't have to worry about me, Jake."

"No I don't," he stated honestly. "I want to, Honey. You're my best friend, and you're hurtin'. You may not need me, but I want to help you. I know I haven't been a good friend, the worst actually, but talk to me, please."

Honey looks at her lap, bringing her knees to her chest in an action of protection Jake was familiar with-every time she has to get vulnerable, it's her defensive action, as if curling up in a ball would save her from hurt.

"For what it's worth," Honey started, her voice small and quiet. "I really don't understand polynomials, like, at all. But you're right, it's more than that." She pauses and takes a deep breath, Jake's heart shattering. Her inability to speak freely, the bags under her eyes, her nervous habit at the forefront-he'd never seen her so tired, so heavy.

"About a week ago, I came home and all of my mom's stuff was gone. I mean, all of it, her bedroom was completely empty. She left a note on the kitchen table." Her eyes focus on the Cowboys poster on the back of Jake's door, her eyes dulling. "She decided to move in with her boyfriend, and he-he doesn't even know she has a child, so she left the house for me. Which is fine, we never got along anyway, it's just been...lonely. She pays the bills and leaves money, so it's not like I'm fending for myself, but, it just really sucks she doesn't really care about me. I guess it shouldn't, but-" She pauses, eyes dazed out, silent tears running down her cheeks. "Sorry for the soapbox, I just, it all is piling up, and now I'm crying over polynomials." She laughs dryly. "Just, God I've missed you, Jake. I sort of pushed myself away from you because I thought you'd found people you'd rather spend your time with. I'm nothing like you interest wise, and-"

"Stop putting yourself down, I won't stand for it." Jake looks at her as she laughs in a quiet manner, hands wiping away her silent tears. Jake moves directly in front of her, making eye contact. "I mean it. You're ten times cooler than any of them. Most of the guys on the team, pretty laid back, cool, but all they ever want to talk about is football and how hot so-and-so is, and their girlfriends? Worse, by a thousand, at least most of them. I'd like to think I'm not that shallow, right?"

Jake Seresin was a lot of things, but shallow was not one of them.

"Please hang out with me tomorrow? I'll have Granny pick you up for school. You and I are going to talk until the bell rings, you've got to catch me up on that Scarlett girl in that book you were reading last time we talked. I'm sitting with you at lunch because Granny made me promise to bring you lunch, and you gotta catch me up on last week's Dawson's Creek episode. Then I'll see you at the game, and we can swing by The Burger Basket, you, me, burgers, fries, a strawberry shake for you and a chocolate one for me."

Honey laughed, nodding her head, her heart warming as she heard Jake ask for the things she thought he found annoying-her ranting about the books she was reading, or the TV shows she was watching. She wiped her tears, standing and hugging the blonde boy who knew her better than herself sometimes. Her chest felt lighter, it felt good to be known so incredibly well. He squeezed her tight before she let go. (Jake never, ever, let go first.) She sits back in the desk chair, sliding in next to Jake, her head falling on his shoulder.

"So," she spoke after a moment of silence. "Polynomials?"

Jake chuckles.

"Let's make a deal, Hon. I explain to you how to solve these equations, and you explain to me what the hell Shakespeare is talking about in those English assignments for Mrs. Elmer's class?"

Honey laughs, she and Jake were both good students, but in two very different subjects.

"You've got yourself a deal, J."

Jake smirks, taking the pencil that sat in the crevice of the book, his scratchy handwriting across her paper as he attempted to explain. In a matter of minutes, Honey began to understand, a smile forming as she grasped the concepts. Jake's green eyes met hers in the light of his desk lamp, glimmering, and the breath in his chest catches, his heart hammering. His palms sweat around the pencil and he can't look away from her.

"You alright, Seresin?" Honey's voice is laced with humor, and it snaps him out of his trance.

"Y-Yeah."

Jake had lied, he had just realized, for the first time since Jake had known Honey, he was beginning to see her as something more than just his best friend. When he looked at Honey, he noticed something he'd never noticed before, she was beautiful.

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