#aier

[thefreethoughtprojectcom]

Tyrants and rulers will always seek power, but they depend on followers. People making meaning of their own lives is one the most effective ways to prevent that siren’s call.

Read More: https://thefreethoughtproject.com/solutions/the-necessity-of-making-a-meaningful-life-people-power-and-freedom

#TheFreeThoughtProject

[karlstad]

aier | liter

[dewgongs]

i want to mangle him like an individually wrapped yellow cheese packet

[yebreed]

Abandoned Ming dynasty rural graveyard, Zhejiang.

Photo: © Aier闽

[sariri-blog]

La marcha federal universitaria, Buenos Aieres, Argentina.

[pastanest]

if you’re wondering why I’m having to repost this, or why you were perhaps previously following me but no longer are, please refer to this post. I was able to retrieve this thanks to the very lovely friends who have relentlessly sifted through tumblr archives to recover them, thank you all so much!! ♡

Thranduil x Short!S/O

- first of all, Thranduil is supposed to be like 6’5”, so around 99% of the world’s population is going to be short in comparison to him

- but as a dignified short person, I know that an actual short person is anything less than 5’5”, and considering Im exactly 5ft tall, Im a particularly short person, and this one goes out to all my fellow shorties

- needless to say, your height was a bit of a shock to Thranduil, even considering the fact that you arent an elf

- the fact that your personality exceeded your size so much was fascinating to him, and he quickly became utterly entranced by you

- I’d say Thranduil would dwarf you, but using the word “dwarf” as an example of anything positive in front of the Elven King is probably a bad idea

- but he adores your height!!

- he finds himself being thrown into spirals of anxiety every time he loses sight of you, because you’re so small you can easily disappear into a crowd

- he does tower over everyone though, so he’ll always find you soon enough, but he still freaks out about losing you

- Thranduil has realised that a vast majority of the time, he’ll hear you before he sees you

- whether it be singing as you skip down the halls, laughing very loudly, or just simply shouting to get people to acknowledge the fact you’re talking to them, he will hear you a good few minutes before you enter his line of sight

- to add to this, as a gift he crafted an anklet for you that is decorated with beautiful silver bells, so that even when you arent being particularly loud, he wont lose you as easily, because the bells on your ankle will alert him of your presence

- Thranduil had COUNTLESS elven robes tailored especially to your size, but whenever you wear his robes, his heart just sings

- on a more saucy note, the fact he towers over you so much is a bigbig turn on to him

- he loves picking you up and spinning you around, and even though he’s a king, he will gladly give you piggyback rides for days on end if you ask him to

- because of your size, Thranduil is far more protective of you than most people

- it’s not that he sees you as inferior, he knows you can handle yourself in battle, but people have a habit of not seeing you, so they trip over you or walk into you

- and if the King hears of anything like that happening, he will not be best pleased

- so he tries his best to prevent such instances, by always having you at his side in order for others to see you, or having you stand slightly behind him so that you are protected

- your small stature is utterly adorable to him, and whenever he sees you doing literally anything at all, he finds himself smiling because you just look so cute when you exist

- he refers to you as any combinations of petnames that he can incorporate your height into

“Good evening, ai’mela(little love)”

“Did you sleep well, aier(short one)?”

“What is it that amuses you so, ai’ arwen/ai’heru(little lady/little lord)?”

- Thranduil does not tolerate anyone talking badly or laughing at your height, especially if they use that as a reason to invalidate your royal status or your marriage to him

- despite usually being a pretty calm and collected King, he has had to force Elves and other creatures alike up against walls and remind them who your protector is, whenever he’s heard of them joke about/criticise your height

- since you dont take up much room, most of the time he’ll insist that you sit on his lap and share his throne, rather than sit on your own

- this is also his best excuse at getting you close to him, so that he can admire you and kiss your features

- your body fascinates him, not just in terms of being the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, but in a biological sense he is in awe of how all your vital organs and bones are compacted into such a small form, he thinks you’re a miracle

- again, Thranduil is apparently 6’5”, so majority of people are short in comparison to him, meaning all of these events can apply to mostly anyone

- but an especially small person? you become his little jewel, and he’ll never let you forget it

“You are like a star, ai’mela(little love).”

“How so?”

“You appear so small, but the closer I am to understanding you, the more your beauty exceeds the drop of starlight in the sky that I once thought you were.”

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Block Google from Scrapping the entire internet for gen ai in the UK.

Yes, it's Daily Mail. No, there isn't an alternate source. And yes, there is something you can do about it.

Sign the petition: https://www.aitrainingstatement.org/

I'm posting this since a lot of anti-AIers left Twitter after Elon Musk Announced that if you like it or not everything you post will go to genAI Grok. If you're still on Twitter, BTW, Poison the Well. Use Redact (it's free) and start shit posting, putting up bad grammar, etc.

Let other people know. Do not let people take copyrighted work for free and not Gen AI.

[trickricksblog08]

The Fed Is Bankrupt | AIER

[losergendered]

ID: a set of two images. the first is of cal bowman from sex education with a white outline in front of a flag splice of rots listed identities. the second is a blank flag splice. END ID

Cal Bowman from Sex Education is a nonbinary, queerfuckoff, genderhyd, bluecolauric, xiaminic, fuchsean, casubutch, transmascneuagen, raneusol, vicicanis, shroomsylvica, sagxexygender, zombimutt, quoesygender, celescozdragic, medievadragonic, mascuvoicecoutic, teengraffriendic, limfortcreepic, rebelrevelic, muttfinalperson, obumbrofluid, abanotraskatic, unrealunentity, fleuriskatic, wolfdogmasenoi, sleepyfelic, pintathundric, invigloweystepdog, traumascminus, invinsectsky, chaoneualign, neurainpetric, genderdezerto, urbakour, polyneutral, distortherian, desetalux, nyctylviarestic, meandyourmamica, hellnbackica, deadmansongic, weirrorfnafic, fierinottea, honestsongic, natdestrebech, dragoflitigrilic, darkforestcreatic, mascpunk, chillperspesque, morvivgender, notteskatic, graffurbel, bohorclypse, draconine, wolfgender, noctlupus, noctuwolfean, rabwolfgender, wolforestic, darklunaesic, musidrownstimmic, zombisgender, phosdragonial, kittydragoplushic, immodragonic, monscarecaguro, genderplated, genderostex, baggycargoeuphic, putregender, lasurvivoric, tensic, astradracatic, dragonlexic, determigender, apodystomen, sylpinotteic, ghostminic, paracelesneonic, antiherolexic, blackwolfdoggic, phosdragoflamial, parkoutia, genderdragane, draachgender, coffinwoodaesic, crepumothic, immortaldragongender, isoforespirperspesque, indestructilycanic, tapelucidriz, wolforestic, zomdoggender, zomysterestia, guardetrayal, 🛹emojic, ⭐️🎸🎧emojic, yucca jeularene, veldarcbian, sapphillean lesboy ox who experiences tutelary attraction! Cal is a high-content transwolfdog zombiekin wolfdogkin that uses they/them, scale/scales, gold/golds, dir/dirt, grim/grime, aeir/aiers, wy/wyvs, cy/cyr, dra/drac, rot/rots, ze/vaer, claw/claws, lup/lupus, hou/houn, mutt/mutts, scar/scars, rip/rips, mon/mons, bo/bones, wy/wyrm, zomb/zombs, and 🪦/🌘/🎸🎧🛹/🎨/🪶/🐲/🦴/⛧self pronouns! They are autistic, depressed and have voice dysphoria, ADHD, and chronic wrist pain!

For 🌖☄️ anon!

[dewgongs]

honestly ive been doing so fucking much better it isnt even funny

[thesagebrushkid]

Everything you asked me about AIers and more,,...UPDATE!

I added three more points to my take on people that abuse the right and skills of humanity to generate AI ART.

People ask me about my view point on AI ART and so here it is:

If you paid someone to create a picture for you, telling them what you want to see in the picture, does that make YOU an artists?? NO! And the exact same thing can be said for AI. You did not create the image. There-fore you are NOT an artist. You are just a narrator. You gained no experience from it, you gain no true feeling of self-worth, you used no true skills nor assets. And the AI program cannot be called an artist because only a human can create art. SET - POINT - MATCH. GAME OVER. I WIN. CASE CLOSED. YOU LOSE. GO TO JAIL, DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200. CASE CLOSED. BAILIFF TAKE THESE AI LOSERS AWAY.

1) If you use AI to create images (the proper term is IMAGES, NOT ART) Then you are lazy, a thief and essentially a murderer. You are also an advocate of Satan and all divine powers of evil.

2) If you do not list the images you are posting as rendered by AI, you are a liar.

3) If you render AI images and post them but do not have a profile filled out, you are a coward.

4) If you claim you cannot draw and that's why you use AI to create images, you are a karen and a bullshit artist of the highest degree.

5) If you ask me to forgive you because you feel you can create "art" by "uttering a few words to a computer" the answer is no. You are a pathetic karen of a life form and you deserve no forgiveness. If that's the only way you can create then becomes a writer and leave the REAL art to REAL ARTISTS. if you REALLY want some art made, PAY A REAL ARTIST. Sorry if it takes more than 15 seconds to get done. but you are not the center of the universe.

6) If you call yourself an "artist" and what you create is "art" then you are a moron and need to go back to school and learn what art is.

7) If you call yourself my friend and say you support my art and career but go behind my back and use AI, you are a two-faced bastard.

8) If you use AI to create any form of porn or sexual fetish images, you are a pervert, mentally deranged and need serious intervention. Not to mention a Boy/Girlfriend.

9) If you consider "INSPIRATION" and "THEFT" as meaning one of the same thing, in the terms of "AI ART" (or anything for that matter) then you are a totally uneducated buffoon for not even knowing the different meanings of the two words and need to go back to school.

10) If you live in the USA and render AI images, then sign them and put them up for sale, you are (as of the latest governing laws of 2024) committing a crime and officially labelled a criminal in all forms of the word.

11) If you print out AI images and host them at a convention or museum as ART, then you are not only a liar, criminal and a thief, but you are a pathetic piece of wasted air and flesh that needs to be (censored)

12) If you claim your ADHD or Dyslexia prevents you from learning to draw, you are a pathetic narcissistic sot. There have been great painters throughout history with mental and physical problems bigger than yours. So, cry me another river KAREN!

13) If you put a watermark on AI images, you are a serious piece of shit and are ignorant about the laws currently in play against "AI art."

14) If you hide your AI image and ask for a donation to see them, you are breaking the law and need to be arrested.

15) If you tell your computer to render the image a God or any other religious figure head, you are a sinner and breaking your own faith's moral codes. Remove yourself from the world of the living please.

16) If you use an AI program to render images of any Aboriginal or Native People from anywhere in the world, you are an immoral turd fest and no better than the people that treated them centuries ago.

17) If all you do is render images of underage boys and nothing more (clothed or not), you are a Pedophile and you need to have your member, and hands chopped off with a dull axe and locked away for life.

18) If you use AI to create images to spread hate, lies, fear and violence to people you are prejudice against, you are just the product of Satan's seed and a Daemonette's egg. From Hell you were born and back to Hell you WILL go.

19) If you claim that you are "expressing yourself" with AI art", you are an asswipe. You are lying to yourself and no, you are not expressing yourself. Expressing yourself comes from inside yourself and artistic talent, be it traditional art, music, or dance. It comes from inside you; your heart, mind and soul. You are not expressing yourself; you are lying to yourself.

20) If you dare utter "what is the harm?" you are inhuman and you deserved to be dragged into the street and (censored). Today 4/2/2024 NYC is starting to post AI art on subway tunnels and on billboards. That alone had taken jobs away from a reported 52 REAL ARTISTS, not to mention food off the tables for their families, utilities unpaid, rents and mortgages unpaid. But I guess you do not care if kids go hungry. Just do not complain when you see more people living on the street because YOU PUT THEM THERE!!!!!

21) If you say you do not have the mind to learn art, then you are a born loser. If you were able to graduate HS, College, learn to drive a car, restore some old furniture, do laundry on your own and play sports, you can learn to draw. you are just a Lazy Loser looking for any reason to cheat your way through life.

22) If you tell yourself, you do not have the talent to be an artist, that makes you a Double Loser and even more Lazy. You are not BORN an artist; you teach yourself art. Do you seriously think that it's going to happen overnight or in an hour? AI generators are not art generators, they are a dangerous and addictive drug. and they are being used to create the most dangerous lies this world has ever seen.

23) If you post your AI shit on X/Twitter, you are most certainly a Demonologist. Just admit it and take a sip of the orange Kool Aid. From Hell fire you were wrought and to the brimstone of Hell you will return.

24) If you feel humbled by AI generators of any sort, that's not the true feeling of what it is. What you are feeling is addiction and embraced by the lies you are surrounding yourself with. If you think that's "humbleness" you are feeling, then you have utterly no idea what the word Humble means and you certainly have no love for humanity. Please Stick a Pistol in Your Mouth and...(censored). You are a waste of air and flesh. I so feel sorry for your folks for wasting their time to give birth to your deplorable life.

25) If you say AI generators are "just a toy" then you are Piece Of Shit and I dare not dwell on what toys you had as a kid. Nuclear Bombs and Radiation, more than likely. Something that steals and takes away the livelihood of others is NOT A TOY. What do you give kids for their Birthday and Christmas? Battle Axes, Cyanide and Dynamite??? But forgive me, I forget, you do not care who you hurt. All that matters is that quick wank you get making porn art. Thats clearly more important to you than a woman feeding her kid or someone being able to pay their bills. I see.

26) If you claim your dyslexia is what stops you from learning art and that's why you use AI generators, you are a lying factory of turd and a Manipulative Karen. If you can sit there and type a series of prompts for hours to get what you desire over and over, you are NOT DYSLEXIC. you are just a Moron using the world to get what you want. If you can sit or lay there for an hour typing in prompts, you can sit there and learn how to draw and paint. Oh, I am sorry it takes time and patience. And I am sorry if you may actually learn a new skill set. Gods forbid you do something constructive with your Pathetic Life. And if you collect government money because you claim to be dyslexic but can still type prompts for hours, you need to be arrested for embezzling and lying to the government.

27) If you create AI art to make porn because you feel you are too ugly to get into a relationship with someone, then you are a helpless case of crap. And you never will find someone so long as all you do is hide yourself in the dark corners of your house and wank off to images of 7 fingered and 3 legged people created with AI. And you are right....No REAL human being will want to be with you. You think you are ugly? Yeah, well you are. Your soul is filthy and so is your mind. You never will get that dream guy you are asking the computer to make. About the only people that MAY want you is another AI renderer. And really, what sort of life would that be? Two pathetic losers living together, living fake lives? YOU ARE ALL JUST UGLY LOSERS!

28) If you know all this and still play with AI generators anyway, you are a Demonic Monster. And I most certainly pray for your destruction. Just put a gun in your mouth and take yourself out of the gene pool.

===============================================================In short, AI art is NOT ART and never will be ART. Art can only be created by human beings. No other creature on this planet. Art is the product of imagination, study, time, practice, technique, style, control and love. Art is not JUST expressing yourself, it's the ability to step back and look at the completed work and gain a sense of accomplishment, be its good or bad. And from that completed work, we learn how to improve. Art comes from the mind, heart and the soul. AI imagers are not artists. It takes away the very things that make us human.

I seriously do not care if this post causes me to lose any or all of my watchers with this post. I would rather have no watchers at all than a whole bunch of demonic AI crime lords on my board, there just for a quick steal or sexual fix. And I find solus in that when the time comes, all the people that use AI generators are destined for hell.

If you are an AI "art creator", you are a pathetic piece of life form that need to be publicly executed and your body rocketed into the sun for all the sin, harm, lies and evil you create. Go ahead and lie to yourself and the world. Show us exactly who you are. It will make it easier for us to find you and make Satan's job so much easier when your time comes.

[blimbo-buddy]

Sometimes when I'm talking about any pronouns people I just make up pronouns on the spot to look cool. Ever heard of aie/aier? Me neither

You gotta do what you gotta do, sometimes.

Sucks though because when people say they use any pronouns, everybody defaults to they/them, rarely using he/him or she/her or any other pronouns because they think "I use any pronouns" always equals to "I use he/she/they"

[logarhythm-bees]

To Unearth and Back Again; ⛅Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Six | Table of Contents | Chapter Twenty Eight

See ronithesnail's absolutely wonderful art for this story!

I hunt the grounds for empathy And hate the way it hides from me Of care and thirst I have become You have a home in my queendom You have a home in my queendom You have a place in my queendom You have a home, 'Till queendom come

-Queendom, Aurora

It wasn’t too hard of a trek, the last part of the way to the castle, an almost-normal hike up the mountain, quotes of encouragement passed between them in earnest as they walked the rest of the way. After a little walking in the cool breeze, the winds carrying their laughter, they stood at the entrance to the castle, a little wooden door decorated with a rock doormat, and a familiar phrase around the door’s border.

“Imagination is the key,” Roman read aloud.

He tried just turning the knob—no luck—and then turning the knob while imagining the door opening— still nothing from the door.

“Worth a shot,” he sighed.

“It was a good idea,” Logan agreed. Patton nodded.

“Maybe we all have to try it?” Thomas suggested, stepping up beside Roman. 

Roman nodded, and they all grouped together, all a hand on the golden doorknob.

“Think about it opening,” Roman instructed, and they all turned the knob together.

The door did not budge.

Virgil blew a raspberry at it, untangling himself from where his arm had been looped over Roman’s head. “What if we just bash it in?”

Thomas kicked at the door experimentally and flinched. “It’s pretty solid. I don’t know if that’s the greatest idea.”

“Well, what other options do we have?” Virgil kept a handle on his tone, but he was obviously creeping into ’pretty annoyed’ territory. “Climbing the castle?”

Roman looked up at the stone walls consideringly—it was a relatively small castle, aiering closer in size to a particularly fancy bouncy castle than a proper palace. It wouldn’t be too difficult to climb, but it would still be difficult, and they didn’t have any sort of climbing measures besides the stone bricks jutting unevenly out of the turrets, easy to grab onto but rough against any of their hands.

He heard Logan mumbling to himself, trying to think of an alternative way in while Virgil sized up the castle wall and how much of it he might be able to scale unassisted.

Roman was lost in thoughts of his own, re-considering the ‘kicking the door down’ option when the ground moved underneath him.

He yelped and stuck out his arms for balance, but the ground didn’t move by much, only raising about an inch or two off the ground. The flat rock that had been sitting in front of the door like a doormat had become elevated, and so a few of the smaller scattered rocks around it, each jutting out of the ground by a few inches more than they had initially. It looked like a video game puzzle mixed with an Indiana Jones mission, the rocks looking almost like they were asking for some sort of rare artifact to be placed on top of them. He touched the nearest one with his palm, marble cool against his skin.

Patton “oo!”ed at it, hopping onto one of the stones, doing a little twirl on top of it. “Maybe we stand on them?”

Roman shrugged, though his facial expression was encouraging. He stepped from the larger main rock onto one of the five smaller ones. Virgil stepped up on the one next to his, smiling carefully, and Logan and Thomas took the other two. Roman took a deep breath breah, looking at the door.

It did not open yet, but the inscription above the door began to glow faintly, barely even visible in the daylight. When Roman hopped off the rock to try to the door handle, the glow faded, going back to the ordinary inscription it was before.

“I don’t think that’s quite it,” Roman noted, “but we’re close. Is there something we’re holding that we could put on them, maybe? Like our cloaks, or my sword, or-“

As he reached for his sword for emphasis, his hand brushed against the plush dragon he’d stowed there, and he beamed in realization. “Of course! The plushies!”

He took the plush out of its hold and placed it on the rock where he had been standing a moment before, positioning it so it was sitting neatly in the center of it. Virgil followed suit first, arranging Muffet on his own rock.

Logan and Thomas were already working on their own when Roman looked up at them, but Patton responded in hesitance, slow and afraid in removing the little plush otter from where he’d stowed it on his belt. His fingers were trembling slightly even as he brushed gently at its fur, smoothing out the places where it had become messy in the travels. 

“Patton?” Roman prompted, quiet, but Patton startled nonetheless, nearly dropping the plush. He seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in, fumbling for it and making a strangled noise as he placed it hurriedly on the rock.

“Sorry!” Patton squeaked, shoving his hands together in a stance that emanated nervousness, fingers drumming against each other and feet rocking him back and forth. He tried to hum too, provide any sort of nonchalance to his appearance, but he was clearly concerned by something, no matter how much he tried to hide it. 

“Are you okay?” Roman asked, coming to stand next to him. “You look like you did when Thomas tried going into a haunted house.”

“I’m fine!” Patton answered quickly, and then stilled and slumped, ceasing the rocking of his feet. “Ok, no, I’m not, but it’s okay. I just, uh-” He fidgeted with his hands, searching for the words. “It was pretty scary back there,” he whispered, biting his tongue. “Mr. Dottie has been one of my closest cuddlin’ pals, and I know it wasn’t really him that attacked us back there, but it is, still. Scary, I mean. I feel like–it’s the one that was tied to me, and it’s the one that hurt us.” He clutched his hands to his chest, blinking wetness out of his eyes. “What does that say about me?”

“Hey, hey,” Roman said, placing a hand on Patton’s back as Patton started to swipe at his tears. “You defeated it, remember? You saved us.”

“That doesn’t–” Patton sniffled, wiping tears on his cloak, “I still think– it hurt us, and it was mine–”

“Roman is right, Patton,” Logan said, taking Patton’s hands in his own to keep him from rubbing his eyes too much. “You are the one that saved us from it—and either way, you are not responsible for its actions. These creatures came to be animated as representations of our insecurities, and I would be remiss to believe that you were not afraid of hurting us.” Logan knocked their foreheads together, shifting one hand to hold both of Patton’s and using his free one to lift his cloak to Patton’s eyes, drying the wetness. Patton sniffled, and Logan leaned closer. “What happened back there was not your fault.”

“It’s the truth, Pat,” Virgil said, crowding closer to Patton too. He breathed out forcefully through his nose, air coming through in a rush. “Maybe– you might have hurt us before, yeah, but never like–like that, and we’re trying to get better, right?” Virgil was holding Patton and them all in a sort of half-hug, uncertain but wanting to provide comfort. “We forgive you. We uh, love you, y’know?” 

Patton’s breath hitched, and he leaned abruptly into Virgil, who made an “oof!” sound as he caught an armful of clinging Patton. Patton clung to his neck like a koala, and Virgil patted his back a bit awkwardly but with care nonetheless. 

“Sorry.” Patton said after a little, pulling away. “I missed hearing you say that.”

“I’ll say it a lot more,” Virgil replied instantly, flinching but not taking his words back as he heard them aloud. Patton smiled at him like the sun, and Virgil faltered for something to say that wouldn’t replace his words but would uphold his increasingly fragile emo image.

“Thank you, Virgil.” Patton said, recognizing the struggle and offering him some reprieve. Virgil gave him a fumble of a smile back, but it made Patton laugh either way.

“Aww,” Thomas said, and Roman had to echo the sentiment. “Yeah, right?”

“Shush,” Virgil said as Logan smirked at him, embarrassed but with no bite in his voice. He looked around for something to draw the attention away from himself. “Wait, look, the door opened!” 

Roman spun his head towards the castle to see that the door was, indeed, open–the words above the door were lit in a bright rainbow, and inside the castle he could see a spiral staircase, heading up towards where the stone turret was. 

“Let’s go!” Roman yelled, bolting for the stairs, the others right on his tail.

Each step up the winding staircase set his heart lighter in his chest, his journey so close to being done. One of the sides was calling behind him– “Slow down, Roman, we don’t all go on adventures like this regularly–!” Probably Logan, based on the deep breathing of someone who did not do a lot of exercise. Roman just yelled back to “Hurry up, Captain Book!”, jumping up the last couple sets of stairs as he heard voices at the top. 

He threw the door open, panting, Remus already looking at him over his shoulder with a manic smile. Janus was sitting at the other side of a little circular table, eyes going wide as he met Roman’s, and a stir of conflicting feelings came up in Roman’s chest. He opened his mouth, but the exhaustion of running up a set of stairs overthrew the adrenaline of an adventure near completion, and he gasped loudly, taking in air and slumping in the doorframe.

Thomas came in behind him, which Janus seemed even more surprised about than Roman’s appearance for a second, before Logan and Patton entered the room. Janus’s demeanor melted upon seeing them, sitting forward in his chair. Patton bounced across the room to him, throwing his arms around his neck and kissing all over his face as Janus spluttered in embarrassment and relief. Logan came over to him too, pace sedate but emotionwise just as ecstatic as Patton had been, though he was better at hiding it. He placed a kiss to Janus’s forehead as soon as he was in kissing-distance and placed a longer one to Janus’s lips as soon as Patton leaned back to allow him to.

“You both look gorgeous,” Janus said as Logan pulled away, the former flicking his cloak pin teasingly. “High fantasy is a good fit for you.”

“I would abstain from the notion that anything fantasy is a ‘good fit’ for me, dearest.” Logan leaned forward to kiss his head again, Patton returning to pressing overdramatic kisses with a little “muah!” each time to Janus’s cheeks. “But this has not been an… objectionable experience.” Janus raised an eyebrow at him. “Aside from your being kidnapped, of course,” Logan clarified. 

Thomas ruffled Janus’s hair, and Remus continued starting at Roman, still leaning in the door frame and breathing deeply in and out. Seemingly deciding that the amount of air introduced was enough, despite the fact that he was still sort of gasping, Roman stood straight up and pointed pointedly at his brother.

“I beat your challenge!” Roman declared, staring at Remus and his entertained grin. “I’ve conquered the land, and I am its ruler now! Move aside and let us free!”

“Fool!” Remus cackled, toppling backwards out of his chair in a coordinated move that only Remus and Olympically trained gymnasts could manage to pull off. “Hey Royal Majesty Highness Queen Garbage Can is already the ruler, and it’s up to her whether you stay or go!”

“What—” Roman started, putting his weight on the frame of the door again. “No she’s not!”

“Is too!”

“Is not!”

“Is too!” 

Most of the room was too engrossed in the debate of who was the true ruler of the land to notice that Virgil walked in– which was probably what he intended, considering the way his head was locked on Janus, wondering whether or not Janus had seen him when he had walked into the room.

Janus saw.

Janus quietly pushed Patton and Logan away, who looked at him in concern, but he squeezed their hands and pressed a kiss to each of their noses to relieve their nerves before he stood and walked over to Virgil.

He tried his best not to crowd, approaching Virgil in what he hoped was a normal invitation to talk and not an impression of a lion tamer coming at his animal to punish it. Or worse, to pity it. Nothing would send Virgil running faster than Janus pitying him.

Virgil didn’t back down, meeting Janus’s eyes the whole time in a challenge, daring him to try anything that he could. Janus did not dare. He dropped before Virgil in a bow, flourishing his bare hands at him as he did, because he was extra like that, even when he was as nervous as a middle schooler being forced to take the SATs.

“I’m sorry,” Janus said, looking up at Virgil.

The unshielded honesty must have thrown him off, because Virgil just gaped at him, opening his mouth and closing it a few times like a fish.

“Uh.” He said, ever-eloquent. 

“I was wrong to you.” Janus continued, because he wasn’t going to get anything out of Virgil for a while besides helpless astonishment, “I hurt you. I hurt Roman, too, and I’ll apologize to him as well, but I know I did a lot of damage to you when you were a dark side and even more when you left, and I want you to know that I regret it. There’s certainly more to talk about, more details I need to rectify, but not here,” he looked around at the room, still focused on what was quickly evolving into a sparring match between Remus and Roman, “not now. But I want you to know now. I’m sorry, Virgil, honest and true.”

Virgil let out a startled laugh, and Janus felt anger run through his bones for a moment that Virgil would laugh at him like this, but Virgil seemed just as embarrassed by the sound, biting down harshly on his own tongue.

“Ah–uh, wow.” Virgil replied articulately, still opening and closing his mouth in a good impression of a lost koi. “What did–what’d Remus do to you, Janus?”

“What he needed to do,” Janus said, moving to stand and dust himself off, but Virgil offered a hand to him, leaving Janus in surprise. He took the hand carefully, and Virgil pulled him up. Janus tugged gently to take his hand back, and Virgil let him go, watching him dust off the front of his outfit.

“I–appreciate it.” Virgil said. “You caught me off-guard with that one, but, uhh–”

Virgil clicked his tongue, shoving his hands into his pockets and visibly thinking as he bit his lip in contemplation.

“I don’t know if I'm ready to forgive you yet,” Virgil said, meeting Janus in the eyes, the latter resisting the urge to flinch. “But–I think I will be; and I want to be. Soon.” Virgil said, gently kicking his tall boot against Janus’s own platforms. “Thanks.”

“Thank you.” Janus replied, smiling questioningly, and Virgil flashed a hesitant smile right back, and immediately nearly jumped out of his skin as a crash came from the other side of the room.

"Get out of the way!" Roman yelled, trying to peek around Remus who was actively blocking his way. "At least let me talk to The Royal Buckethead if she's going to be the queen, I want to ask her about her policies!"

“Her Royal Grand Majesty Queen Miss Garbage Can will talk to you when she is good and ready!" Remus exclaimed indignantly, lifting Her Highness, holding the bucket in the air and standing on top of the table so Roman couldn’t reach it, despite his waving arms and frantic hops and almost resorting to biting Remus’s arm to drop it.

Patton blinked up at Her Royal Grand Majesty Queen Miss Garbage Can in awe, realization dawning like sunshine on his face. “Oh, so that’s where my giant googly eyes went!”

It made Logan snort, which spread to Thomas, then even Virgil and Janus, returning from the conversation they'd had at the side of the room. Roman flinched a little bit to see Janus looking at him so genuinely, but Virgil made a motion and a thumbs up to Roman that indicated, "he's changed, we'll talk later." Roman blinked, and then something metallic was dropped on his head, Her Grand Royal Majesty Queen Miss Garbage Can falling unceremoniously over his eyes.

In the face of everything, Roman laughed.

They were all going to be okay. He was sure of it.

[nasmu]

The Fed Is Bankrupt | AIER

https://www.aier.org/article/the-fed-is-bankrupt/

[streamingfanatic1963]

Trillion-Dollar Surprise in the Inflation Reduction Act – AIER

[eyewearcatherine]

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