#already benefitting from it and you don't want them to benefit from it. because that means your weather ball probably isn't going to be good

[kiame-sama]

Humans Are Extinct (Yandere!TWST x fem!Reader) Monster AU pt 18

(Epel and other flowering Earth/Plant Nymphs have a symbiotic relationship with the bees of Twisted Wonderland. Where the flowers don't create seeds for the Nymph, they can still be benefited by the introduction of pollen from other flowers the bees visit, as it helps their immune systems to fight off plant related pests and infections. The immune system of a Earth/Plant Nymph is not the same as the blooded creatures of Twisted Wonderland because most Nymphs of all kind have no true blood.

Fun fact: Trees are rather carnivorous and will crack open bones with their roots if close enough for the marrow. They can consume meat very quickly. This is true for the Tree Nymphs of Twisted Wonderland.)

Warnings; multiple yanderes, platonic and romantic yanderes, mostly fluff focused chapter with a strong dash of angst and toped off with a bit of dodgy humor from Floyd, food focused chapter (fried food, fruit, meat, sweets), Floyd has no chill, Hellcat, Dragon, Vampire Bat, Shinigami, Nemean Lion, Gnoll, Harpies, Selkie, Shadow-man, Minotaur, Sphinx, Raiju, Cervitaur, Unicorn, Kelpie, Water Nymph, Cecaelia, Mermen, mention of Drider

~~~~~~~~

Despite the stress earlier on in your already delicate balancing act of life, the rest of the week passed quietly. Even getting your stitches removed went without a hitch and you were somewhat able to return to your daily life. Though you had been cleared to walk on your leg for more than a day, Malleus had been insistent on keeping you off of it until he was certain.

In the early morning you awoke before the rest of your ever present nestmates. Malleus had reluctantly agreed to let you walk around a bit the night before and you were eager to get back to moving around on your own. Despite how kind Silver was to be carrying you around, your classes were not his own and he had an education to attend to. Not to mention the fact you refused to allow Malleus to join you for classes.

You slowly slid out of the nest, taking care to not wake the Dragon that had curled himself around you as you all slept. During your gentle extraction from the nest, you managed to scoop up the still sleeping Grim without waking him. His little paws stretched out somewhat as you cuddled him close. You grabbed comfortable clothes and easily snuck away from the Hoard and the Dragon that guarded it.

It was nice to have some time to yourself, even in those small moments. It had become a little more than suffocating to live the way these monsters did.

The faint sound of a videogame could be heard as you quietly padded down the steps and past the main lobby where Ortho and Idia played a co-op platformer. They were so immersed they didn't even glance in your direction as you walked by.

It was early enough that you could still justify sneaking around a bit, wanting to get to making the things you knew you missed. Grim was still in a deep sleep as you quietly grabbed a blanket from one of the couches and wrapped him up in it before setting him on the table in the kitchen gently. He curled up much like a regular cat with his wings tucked in at his sides, snoring softly.

It began with acquainting yourself with the new deep-fryer that Idia had constructed for you, noticing it was mostly a hands-off kind of tool unlike the ones from your world. Once you got it heating to get the thick oil to the right temperature, you set to gathering up the ingredients you would need. Your cupboards had been restocked with a wider variety of spices and food-items thanks to Sam and paid for by the elder Shinigami Papa Hades.

You were going to start the day with breakfast and then move on to the other meals. Thankfully, you didn't have classes that day and intended to ask several of the various monsters you had met to come to your dorm. The reason you were inviting them was simple as you intended to put them to work helping and tasting the foods. Due to your own experience in the kitchen and what you were lacking from home, you already had plenty of foods in mind that you needed to make for your own comfort. Beyond just the fryer, there was the standing mixer that you planned to use to make a donut dough and glaze for the donuts.

The first task you set to was shredding the potatoes and forming them into patties to be fried. While you worked on shredding, another pair of hands joined your work. Clearly the three Shinigami of the Dorm did not need much sleep, nor did they sleep often as Papa Hades silently began to aid you in your cooking endeavors.

It was nice to work with someone who knew what they were doing, his only moments of unguarded curiosity being when you began frying up the shredded potato patties. You figured he was curious as he had not touched the new fryer despite the fact that Idia had been the one to make it. The other possibility was that he didn't wish to use it before you did and without knowing the primary purpose of it. He also seemed curious as you chose a particular cut of pork-belly, cutting the meat so that it had clear stripes of marbling before tossing it into a pan to begin cooking.

Various savory scents began to permeate the air as you flipped the patties to fry on the other side, an ever familiar sound of yapping and scratching drew your attention. Ruggie's familiar sandy-brown hide made you smile as you opened the door to greet the hungry Gnoll. He wasn't the only one waiting. Standing with Ruggie was a mostly asleep Leona who looked like he was regretting getting up.

"Morning you two. I expected Ruggie, but good to see you too, Leona."

"I'm only here because Ruggie never shuts up about the food here and you still owe me that meal your promised."

"Well, then be prepared to be here all day, seeing as Crowley said everyone should have no classes today. I'm making a full feast for every meal today and something tells me there's going to be more than a few visitors. Come in, but please try to be quiet because Grim is still sleeping."

Ruggie muffled his own excited yapping even as his tail wagged at max speed at the idea of a day of feasting. Even Leona seemed pleased by your words, taking deep breaths of the food you already had cooking as they entered the kitchen. Papa Hades only spared the two a single glance as he returned to his task, already having made more than enough for double the amount of visitors you technically had to feed.

You were bold enough to snap a quick picture of the Nemean Lion cuddling the Hellcat to send to Falena, having gotten the number of the Sunset Savana King. Surely it was rare to see Leona deign to be protective of any young especially after his fumble with Cheka, and you figured the Lion King would appreciate the domestically comfortable photo of the less than domestic Leona. Even Ruggie seemed amused by your quick photo as he chuckled softly and the Lion's ears twitched in response to the sound.

Leona surprised you by walking over to the table, sitting down in one of the chairs closest to Grim and settled down for a nap. He seemed to pause with his head resting on his arms before he reached out and pulled Grim over to him, careful not to wake the kit. Once he got his arms situated around the sleeping Hellcat, he was quick to join the slumber.

You were taking the potato hot-cakes out to cool when your phone buzzed impatiently in your pocket. It was Crowley saying he and the other staff members were on their way over to discuss the idea of you starting a Magicam account of your own. Apparently he already told Vil and the Harpy would be arriving around midday with Rook to discuss how to proceed. Though you hadn't expected the decision to be so quick, you had figured Vil and Rook would be involved as they were the ones who seemed more knowledgeable on the various platforms. Luckily, there was going to be plentiful food for these interlopers as you had made extra as well, given your excitement to use the new cooking tools you had been gifted.

A sudden thumping noise paired with the sound of quick steps told you the rest of the Hoard woke up and had taken your absence in the nest as a sign of danger. Malleus was first to enter the kitchen, his emerald green eyes glowing in the early light of the morning. That glow seemed to dim somewhat as his sight landed on you and he began to relax as he took in your uninjured and relaxed appearance. The Dragon was followed by his two retainers and teacher who all seemed to calm upon seeing you cooking away.

"Good morning, Malleus. Be sure to keep your voice down, Grim and Leona are asleep."

He glanced at where the Lion and Hellcat slept, then back to you with a nod.

"I am glad to see you are uninjured, (Y/n). It was... concerning... to wake without you and your cub tucked away safely in the nest. I trust you aren't straining your leg?"

"My leg is fine, Malleus. I've been itching to move around and try out some of these new gadgets in the kitchen. I will say now, however, I intend to be making meals and treats all day, so you may want to pace yourself if you choose to partake. I do hope you'll like what I'm going to be making."

Lilia was quick to join the conversation, bouncing over to you with a pleased smile as he wrapped his wings around you. The Bat nuzzled your neck and hummed with a kind of content joy that made you wonder why he was being so cuddly that morning. Curious if he was seeking more blood or not.

"Though I do detest early mornings, it is always a pleasure to see you, (Y/n)."

"Flattery gets you nowhere, Vanrouge."

"It isn't flattery if it's the truth. Good to see you walking again, though. You seemed so ready to burst with boredom!"

"You try sitting around for a week and see how bored you get."

Lilia just chuckled and let you return to your tasks, sitting at the table as you finished up cooking with Papa Hades. While you transferred the plentiful food to their proper serving dishes, Idia and Ortho entered the room with the five staff members you recognized in tow. Ortho was quick to set the table with Idia's aid, Sam jumping in to help out as well as he got a good look at the delicious smelling feast. From fresh fruits to the pancakes stacked high, even Crewel, Trein, and Vargas seemed rather enthused at the prospect of a good meal.

You grabbed one piece of bacon and walked over to Leona and Grim, holding the warm cooked meat close to the nose of Hellcat who woke with a loud snort. Leona was also quick to rise at the smell of food and eyed the meat in your hands with a more than interested look. He didn't argue as you picked up the blanket and kit from his arms, missing the almost smug look the Lion gave to the seething Dragon behind you.

Grim was quick to eat the nicely crisped piece of bacon and purred excitedly from the quickly melting fat of the meat. Seeing Grim get to have the first bite of that feast sent Ruggie into a loud cackling protest, wanting to take as much as he possibly could. Clearly the others were of a similar mind as everyone took their seats, Malleus once again making a clear show of sitting next to your place at the table and keeping others from taking the chair-high-chair hybrid.

You were eager to see what the others thought of the hash-brown patties and thankfully got first pick for most of the food at the table before the others got to it. Papa Hades took his seat at the head of the table, Crowley sitting across from you and excitedly serving himself a decent share of the food. Grim was eagerly using his tiny paws to stuff food into his face, his little tail waving as he bit into the warm hash-brown and immediately purred loudly. The others had a similar reaction to the fried food, all seeming to savor the crisp golden outside and warm inside.

"So crispy, so fluffy..! Is this what you wanted to make so badly with that oil fryer you had me create?"

"One of the things. I'll be making several foods today with that fryer and even some sweets. Trust me when I say, you haven't lived until you've had some of these foods. Of course, everything in moderation, I won't lie and say they are fantastic for your health if you have too many or too much all at once. You will be wanting the recipes and your own fryer for Ignihyde though. Plus, I plan to use that electric churn you made to make ice-cream at some point, something tells me that one will be popular too."

It was while you were talking with Idia that Leona began to understand just how much good food he had been missing out on. Ruggie had tried many times to get the lazy Lion to come with him in his morning and evening trips to Ramshackle and Leona had sent him away with a bored response. Now he could see just why the loud Hyena man religiously made daily excursions to your dorm and he couldn't believe how foolish he had been to not accompany the Gnoll earlier.

Sam seemed to savor every bite of the food and you were happy to return the favor of a meal to the Shadow-man. He had fed you during your cycle and had been your rock during such an emotionally charged week. Now you could share in the labors of good food and that meant so many foods were suddenly back on your menu.

~•§•~

Lunch was starting to roll around and Trey had already arrived at your behest. He brought Riddle, Ace, Deuce, and even Cater along to help out. Cater was quick to start on dishes and avoided directly talking to anyone other than Trey and Riddle. You knew that eventually you would have to confront Cater and get all of this resolved, seeing as the Nymph was quite different from when you first met him as a result of his own actions and realization of the harm those actions have caused.

Trey was not only excited to try out the sweets you were intending to make, but was also excited to make food with you again. The standing mixer did most of the hard work for you and Trey was eager to ask Idia about it. Naturally, the timid Shinigami tried giving short answers at first but quickly became excited to explain the intricacies of the machines he made using your ideas and recollection of their functions.

Even as Ace and Deuce worked on cutting out the ringed pastries, you were interested in making more than just sweets. You had time in-between making icings for the donuts and actually frying the dough to just take a moment for yourself. After breakfast, Divus talked in depth with you about what he and the other staff had agreed upon in terms of making and managing these photo accounts for you.

He told you of the one photo that had circulated most of Twisted Wonderland and the negative impact it had as a whole due to the fact you looked so uncomfortable and unhappy in the photo. Apparently several activist groups had gotten ahold of the photo and decided to use it to fuel the fires of removing you from Night Raven College. Your idea to have your own photos was unorthodox, but it couldn't do more damage than the first had especially considering the fact you already had a target on your back.

To some extent, you wondered about deciding that Cater should be in charge of the account, seeing as Cater had previously been very interested in Magicam and other such social media platforms. According to Trey, Cater hadn't touched the app after you were attacked and had since withdrawn from others, most of whom likely blamed him for your injuries. Looking at the crimes committed against you, Riddle was technically more dangerous to you than Cater had been, but Cater caused a cascading event that left you in constant danger.

"Hey, Trey?"

"Yes, (Y/n)?"

"Why won't Cater talk to me?"

The Kelpie flinched at this and looked away with a sigh before turning to fully face you, seeming somewhat stressed by your question. It was a fair question, but Trey didn't know how to best approach the topic with you. Cater was Trey's close friend and the two had been near inseparable for the years they spent in school together.

"He... Cater blames himself for your injury. Others blame Cater for your injury. Sage Island has become a hot-spot for poachers, species enthusiasts, and- ahem- 'Humanfuckers' due to that photo Cater took."

"... Humanfuckers?"

"Various species that have idolized and sexualized Humans as a whole. It wasn't so prevalent or considered all that harmful when Humans were extinct, but now there is a confirmed Human living here..."

"The Humanfuckers came out in droves."

"Yes. Many have made what they call 'pilgrimage' out here to try and find you. Many have contacted Cater for more... revealing... photos of you. Some even try to threaten Cater to make him do what they want. He's deleted the Magicam app from his phone, but some are desperate enough to dox him for more photos of you."

You felt more than a little repulsed by the idea of these monsters trying to take sexually charged photos of you and hearing the mistreatment Cater recieved made you feel a twinge of guilt. Sure, Cater played a dumb game and won a dumb prize, but that didn't mean he deserved to have every aspect of his life uprooted. It certainly didn't mean you deserved the same, but your life had already been uprooted the moment you fell into this world. Cater wasn't a monster, but he was being treated like one.

"Okay."

Turning on your heel, you abruptly ended the conversation with Trey as you made your way to the Water Nymph that seemed more than a little forlorn. He visibly flinched when you reached out your hand and touched him, seeming to want to be left to his own dark thoughts. You persisted.

"Cater?"

"..."

"Cater, turn to face me."

The Nymph turned to face you, his green eyes refusing to meet your own. His face was very different from what you remembered when you first met him. Where he once seemed to never stop smiling, all that remained of that previously cheerful look was a sullen expression and sunken eyes. Now he faced you, you could see the apparent change that had overcome the Water Nymph.

What could be considered bruises littered his translucent skin and made it more than obvious to you that someone had been beating on him. His once vibrant hair seemed dull in color as he avoided looking you in the eyes and slightly shook as if afraid of what you would say to him. He had thinned compared to how he had been prior, now seeming to be almost a shell of his former self. His eyes were dark and almost looked bruised, a distant look on his face as he refused to meet your gaze.

"Cater, please look at me."

His eyes flicked up once to your face before darting to the side again, unable to hold eye contact with you.

"I'm sorry," Cater's voice was a soft whimper instead of the loud and boystrous tone it once held, his eyes welling up with tears, "I'm so sorry, (Y/n). I didn't know... I didn't think... It's becuase of me that...! I'm sorry. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry-!"

There was a kind of genuine pain in you upon seeing the once outgoing and social Nymph reduced to a poor-excuse caricature of a social outcast. Your hands moved before you really had time to reflect on what Cater was actually saying, pulling the distressed man closer to you. He flinched and almost writhed as if burned by your touch, but you held fast to the struggling man.

It took several moments for him to stop trying to pull away and several more seconds for him to return the gesture. As your arms wrapped around the shaking body of the Nymph, you felt the tears rolling from his eyes against your shoulder. Shuddering sobs were pulled from the raw throat of a wounded man. His skin was an unusual texture compared to your own, almost like a jello or some kind of gel bead beneath your touch.

"I'm sorry..."

"I know. Cater, you need to stop blaming yourself now. What has happened cannot be undone, and what happens in the future is out of your control."

He pulled away at this, shaking his head and trying to wipe away his tears as if he were angry with himself for crying on your shoulder. You could see the rough way he almost scratched at his own skin in an attempt to keep his emotions down and contained.

"But it's all my fault! I thought a few stupid likes from people I don't even know were worth bothering you. Now, because of me, you've been attacked, you're not safe to spend any time alone, all of your injuries are my fault-"

"Cater."

He flinched again, but stopped his rapid-fire speaking, still refusing to lift his gaze. You gently grabbed his hand with your own, lifting it up until his palm rest against your non-dominant arm. The skin was still discolored and marked from the deep wound that had cleaved through it and he visibly shuddered at the feeling of your scar.

"You didn't cause this injury. Riddle did this. Mr. Rule-Enforcer-I-Know-What's-Best-For-You himself. You didn't do this. You didn't hire the Wolves that attacked me, we already sussed that idiot out and I'm told he is now facing trial for his actions and possible execution in the Queendom of Roses. Cater, you made a bad decision and it hurt someone other than you, but driving yourself into the ground and taking on all of the blame is genuinely unfair."

"But the others are right, I'm a wretched-"

"I don't give a singular fuck what the others say. They aren't me. They do not speak for me. I speak for me. And I am saying- no, I am begging you to stop hating yourself for what you didn't realize. If we hate ourselves and punish ourselves forevermore, we do not grow past it. We can never become a better person when bogged down by the mistakes of our past. Mistakes that cannot be changed or undone. You need to decide to get better, to move on knowing you are not the same person who made those mistakes."

"But, I-"

"They were and are a part of you and your past, but you aren't that same Nymph. You aren't who you were yesterday. We grow and learn and come to realize what we did in the past was the mistake of someone who didn't know any better. Now you know better. Healing takes time and effort to be better, I envy those who can move past their mistakes in mere hours, but most can't. I don't hate you. I'm not happy I can no longer be left alone, but I don't hate you. Cater, if you didn't do it, others would have. I assume others already have. I don't doubt that other, less introspective students, have taken photos of me for a bit of extra cash and clout even after the one you took."

"Please..."

"I don't hate you, Cater Diamond. I don't want you to hate yourself so deeply. Forgive yourself for what you didn't know and what you didn't realize before the hate you feel for yourself consumes you. You're not a bad person. A little misguided, and a little lost, but not bad. You have a good heart, sometimes you forget to listen to it."

The second hug was less of a fight than the first, Cater melting into the affectionate gesture quickly. He finally started to take deep breaths and with that deep breath came a relaxation of his tensed limbs. Stress and the heavy burden of his actions rolled from him slowly, but so long as they continued to fall away any progress forward was enough for you.

"Sorry doesn't fix everything. Your actions going forward show if you have changed or not. Now, if you really want to help me, then help me by forgiving yourself. I want you here. Trey wants you here. Even Riddle wants you here. You deserve forgiveness as much as anyone else. So come with me, help me make this meal, and try to forgive yourself the mistakes you made before you knew better."

"Okay... Okay. I can... I can try."

~•§•~

You finished up the fried chicken with Cater as you waited for the dough to finish proofing, letting it rise in the warm peudo-oven also made by Idia. Once the dough proofed enough, you would start frying the donuts but had to wait until then. A polite knock came at that side door and you were happy to see the familiar polite simper of the tall Eel-man Jade. Behind him stood his compatriots Azul and Floyd who happily joined Jade as you invited them in.

"Come in, come in! I hope you three brought empty stomachs, because I have a few new foods for you all to try!"

"Oya, your kindness knows no bounds, (Y/n). Thank you for inviting us over despite my recent failure."

"You didn't fail me, Jade. We didn't know what was waiting for us. Besides, I figured I may as well extend the invite since so many others are already here."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I mean the dorm leaders of Ignihyde, Pomefiore, Heartslabyul, Diasomnia, and Savanaclaw are already here. I asked Silver to invite the Housewarden of Scarabia, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet about them."

"My, that is quite the arrangement. We were happy to accept the invitation."

"Good to hear."

You easily moved among the several students that were all mingling around the large table, Idia hiding by Ortho and Papa Hades. Many cast nervous glances at the large Shinigami but even the ancient man didn't seem too put off by the hesitant behavior of the others. You set out the large plate of fried chicken, grabbing a leg for Grim and feeding the little cat.

Azul could feel the way his mouth watered at the absolutely delectable scent from the chicken in front of him. Truthfully, had had chicken in the past and was somewhat fond of it, but it never smelled this good before. He was curious as to the taste of the food but nearly wept upon his first bite.

Warm breading paired with the crisp skin of the meat as it danced on his tongue an played a symphony with his senses almost made him audibly moan out. Food could actually taste like this? The things he could do with something that tasted this good, even beyond the Octolounge and just for his own stomach, had Azul's mind racing with the best contract he could ever write.

"You're looking kinda love struck or even turned-on, Azul. Like Jade whenever he talks about little Shrimpy! Got something in mind?"

"We need to ensure Octavinelle is next to guard her. Whatever it takes."

"So you are horny-"

[titanomancy]

I was admittedly flummoxed by the announcement that the forthcoming Eldar update would round our the remaining Aspect Warriors and Phoenix Lords when that seemed like exactly the kind of specialist unit that you'd want to use to sell Kill Team sets, but sure enough that is exactly what Games Workshop is poised to do.

We've already seen the spicy elf so the rest of his boys aren't much of a surprise. All of these kits have been incredibly faithful to the 2nd Edition sculpts and that remains the case with all three of the Aspects revealed today.

Swooping Hawks have probably benefitted the most from their long delay as the production team learned how best to make "in-flight" poses work for miniature that are very much subject to the laws of gravity. I have already heard some early grousing that people don't like the Asuryani ruins they're posed atop, and to those people I say get good at basing – there is literally nothing stopping you from pinning them to the battlefield detritus of your choice.

Warp Spiders are probably the most changed of the lot, if only because the switch to plastic enables the model to more accurately represent what it was trying to depict in the first place. It does a fantastic job of unscrunching the tiny, hunchbacked pewter models that were limited by the realities of centrifugal casting molten lead.

And of course, Phoenix Lords including for the first time Lhykis the Whispering Web, Phoenix Lord of the Warp Spiders. This has been a hole in the Eldar range since the '90s, so hopefully they make her introduction interesting in the codex.

[coffeegnomee]

for the inevitable day I can be proven wrong, I just want to say just how many times I think Kab and Mane are secretly working together and I get really convinced it all makes sense and if she is as good of an actor as she insists then this is just not a crazy take at all.

But then I remember what she says on her streams and I remember I have zero belief that that could be true in the slightest.

But then something like Hannah conveniently being logged out right above the claymore and becoming the perfect scapegoat for how mane found it, or the signs that mane could have found it himself covers up the concept of a mole on the team. How much it reminds me of what spoke was like in the s3 finale. How much it's in the little moments that expose a liar regardless of what they say.

How zam literally gave her the example of working with mapicc to kill pangi and how that showed how dedicated he was to him getting the mapicc kill. How convenient it is for her if the claymore fails so she can be the one to kill mane. How easy it would be dm mane that. and mane can take care of covering for her by saying he found it. how i definitely believe he would be intrigued and pleased with the possibility of a story like that.

how much mane targets her and how easy of a justification that is for her to infiltrate the opposition. How incredibly offended she gets when anyone implies this isn't her kill, while she stays to the side making other's plans come to light.

How much she insists on knowing all of zam's plans. always asking questions.

how much she insists that she cares about zam but has also said multiple times she wants to do a crazy arc on zam. the two can be true because they do care about each other outside of the server.

how she picked mane's iron farm for the conversation with bacon way back when. How she flew off to mane's lag machine area when talking to woogie. How coincidental that of all the places it was two manepear locations in the same week. How much i believe that that is the kind of audacity that kab would love to write into a story.

I just can't shake the Jumper paranoia since s5. How convincing jumper was for being a part of the team. How there were clear points of her being a traitor that got so completely brushed under the rug with easy excuses from her. How easily Spoke s3 got in on zam's team without trying because zam was willing to trust him instantaneously because they once shared views. Zam did all the heavy lifting for making Spoke not look sus, spoke just had to go along for the ride and make tiny silly mistakes that implicated every other member of the server while systematically leading to clown finding the bases himself.

But then i remember Kab is simply always happy when something benefits her, and so not being upset in the slightest over mapicc's claymore not working is so much easier explained as her just being happy her plan can work. Rather than already knowing it was never going to work.

And then I remember how afraid she gets about doing a plan and how much she overthinks before doing it. How much it feels like she's a bad actor when she turns on the acting, so it feels like she's just not good at acting. But what if she isn't.

The possibility is so low and yet the examples are there.

Because she's either the worst manipulator in the world and cannot read people and has only succeeded due to the shortness of other servers, or she holds out for the long con and can handle lying over a very long period of time and covering it by talking about her random other plans as cover for the long term, and she's lying to chat as well in every moment she is streaming. Which is a mind fuck I was not prepared for.

Because you don't need to actually characterize people well in order to manipulate them. You just need to understand yourself. And you just need to craft a narrative that makes enough sense for others to fill in the gaps.

but that's just a conspiracy. one that blossoms in every zam stream and dies in every kab stream. Hopefully I'm wrong but either way we'll know at the end of the season.

[quillpokebiology]

Have you done any research about Espurr? I caught one not that long ago and I'm worried if I'm doing something wrong, thank you!!

Other than a crossbreed, i haven't out anything about Espurr on this blog. I can though

Espurr Facts

-The scientific name for Espurr is "Felis restricta" which roughly translates to "Restricted cat"

-Espurr are felines, and their closest relatives are Meowth and Skitty. They are also related to eevee, as Eevee is both a feline and a canine

-While meowstic are omnivores and use their psychic powers to hunt small prey, Espurr are strictly herbivores as they want to avoid most conflict (unless their mother brings an already dead pokemon to them. Then they'll eat it)

-Espurr is one of the few psychic type pokemon who have their psychic organs located outside of their brain. Solosis is another one of these pokemon

-Espurr walk on their toes, but since they make themselves float to get around, there really isn't much of a benefit to this. It's instead most likely a leftover trait from other felines

-One reason Espurr are so powerful is because their psycoptical lobe is a lot larger than the average psychic type of their size

-Espurr's eyes are already very moist, which is why they don't blink much. It's like a baby's eyes

-Because of their psychic abilities, Espurr are known for getting a lot of migrains. Their not as frequent or intense as Psyduck's migrains, but it can still be pretty painful for them. They have medicine to treat it.

-Their ears also can hurt from their psychic energy. But, they make special ear drops for Espurr that can help the pain stop. You don't have to fully open their ears to put in on; just moving it slightly to place drops is enough

-Male espurr are calmer than female espurr and are recommended as better Housemon. Female espurr are more aggressive and are more often used for battling

-When kittens, Espurr struggle to control their powers a lot more. Just one lift can result in a psychic blast. Please be careful when handling newly hatched espurr

-The psychic organs under Espurr and Meowstic's ears are called Oculobes, referring to their eye-lime structure

-Even when asleep, most Espurr will keep their eyes open

-Espurr might lose control over their powers when they sleep. Because of this, Espurr will sleep in short bursts throughout the day. This is completely normal for them, but if you're worried that your Espurr isn't getting enough sleep, please take your Espurr to the vet

-Most cats use their tails to keep them balanced when walking. Espurr don't have long tails because they often make themselves float long distances and walk short distances. Meowstic gain tails as they walk more

-Despite most felines having a great sense of smell, Espurr's sense of smell isn't that great. They instead use their psychic abilities as their main senses. But, their sense of hearing is great. It can make them very sensitive and scared of loud noises though

[laswells-ashtray]

Okay, so we have Young Price already, but let’s to a mashup: Sergeant dragon hybrid Price with human MacMillan!

I can imagine the things this man has to go through on a daily with Johnathan being the only hybrid on base ALONG with being his youngest sergeant.

Imagine John is upset with Mac over something petty and flies to the roof to pout until Mac talks him down.

I could also imagine other military bases being after John to use him for their own gain and Mac protects that boy with his life. It even gets to the point where they’ve got a meeting with the board to discuss John’s place on Mac’s team going forward. Not to mention that the sergeant has to wear a tight muzzle and padded gloves since he’s seen as a ‘threat’, which pisses Mac off to a whole other level.

On a lighter note, some funny things about dragon hybrid Price is that when he’s upset about something, he’ll blow smoke from his nose or beat his tail on the floor to try and annoy Mac. Something else is that when he was playing around with a rookie he got too rough and accidentally hurt the man with his claws, prompting his captain to trim them.

Bad idea.

Trying to trim John’s nails is like trying to get a cat into the bath. A mess. He ends up succeeding after a few threats and candy sticks and now John is lounging in his office doing a word search and eating his well earned candy like a kid.

One thing MacMillan realises pretty quickly is that other people don't like John for the same reasons he does. He likes John because John is an asshole who disrespects authority while still being one of the best soldiers he's ever seen. Unlike half of the other blokes he works with, John doesn't try to kiss his arse and sook up to him. John has a fierce personality and no off button.

He doesn't see John as a dragon hybrid who's value lies in his use. He sees John as an asshole who steals his fags and perhaps has wings.

When another Captain asks him about loaning John out for a few missions, he stares back at them blankly before he realises why they're asking.

"No, but you can take Kerr or Wallace."

"They don't exactly have the... capabilities I'm looking for."

"Shame."

He isn't letting people treat John like a weapon, that's for sure.

When they force John into the muzzle he wants to kick off, wants to call everyone involved a cunt but he doesn't. He stands silently, listens to them discuss the benefits of allowing them to pass John around different teams as needed and keeps his hand on the back of John's head. If he loosens the muzzle while no one is looking then that's on him.

Despite how many of them try to go over his head, they don't get John. They don't get to pass him around like he's a threat instead of a sergeant. Because MacMillan tells them privately that if they so much as attempt it then he'll put a bullet through Sergeant Price's kneecap and then no one will get to work with him. John doesn't know and if he did, maybe he'd hate him but Mac knows it's for the greater good inevitably. And maybe he's selfish. But no one else is getting his sergeant.

The incident with the nails that happens is a poor thing, MacMillan feels bad for all parties involved because John might not have intentionally scratched the poor rookie but he can also see the boy's pinkie bone.

He's the one who approaches John about the idea of trimming his nails, only after looking into it and making sure it isn't some cardinal sin in the dragon hybrid community. They probably should have long before now but he has a habit of letting John away with things he shouldn't. Besides, John has been talking to that new CIA girl and she appears to be decent impulse control for him. God bless the poor fuckers who started spreading the rumours that they're involved, MacMillan likes Kate, he does. He also likes that she tries to be discreet when checking out that soldier of his with the brown hair and the tattoo of scissors on her arm. So, he's been letting John away with more recently because at least he's been behaving with his new friend.

He is, of course, the only one that John will allow close enough to trim his nails. Doesn't mean he won't be a dick about it though.

"Stop twitching."

"Stop clipping my claws."

"I swear, you're like a nippy wee wain. Right, five-gallon jug and a three-gallon jug, how are you getting four bloody gallons?"

"They did this in Die Hard 3. Fill the three and pour it into the fi- Oi, quit it."

"See? Wasn't so bad now, was it? If I give you a mint crumble will you et me do the next one?"

"... Give me two."

[front-facing-pokemon]

[rabbithaver]

every so often i will see a post from a leftist on this website that is so egregiously ableist that i remember that like. oh yeah the userbase of leftists on this website is violently anti-disabled people and will jump at any chance to demonize any of us for any reason. i just forget that fact because i'm extremely dedicated to curating my space

i'm paraphrasing here but i saw a post that said, "every time i see an American [disabled person] mention being scared about the election because they're afraid of losing their benefits i have to laugh. anybody who wants blood-soaked money from the US government deserves to starve" which. like. goodness that's a lot to unpack. i think we should burn the whole suitcase instead !

[dbphantom]

Listen if you're gonna send me an ask about why I shouldn't interact with a person, can you at least do it off anon so I can request actual proof privately? I'm not replying to these since the only way to respond to them is publicly and I don't want to contribute to an unsubstantiated rumor about someone. That's not fair.

[archaeren]

How I learned to write smarter, not harder

(aka, how to write when you're hella ADHD lol)

A reader commented on my current long fic asking how I write so well. I replied with an essay of my honestly pretty non-standard writing advice (that they probably didn't actually want lol) Now I'm gonna share it with you guys and hopefully there's a few of you out there who will benefit from my past mistakes and find some useful advice in here. XD Since I started doing this stuff, which are all pretty easy changes to absorb into your process if you want to try them, I now almost never get writer's block.

The text of the original reply is indented, and I've added some additional commentary to expand upon and clarify some of the concepts.

As for writing well, I usually attribute it to the fact that I spent roughly four years in my late teens/early 20s writing text roleplay with a friend for hours every single day. Aside from the constant practice that provided, having a live audience immediately reacting to everything I wrote made me think a lot about how to make as many sentences as possible have maximum impact so that I could get that kind of fun reaction. (Which is another reason why comments like yours are so valuable to fanfic writers! <3) The other factors that have improved my writing are thus: 1. Writing nonlinearly. I used to write a whole story in order, from the first sentence onward. If there was a part I was excited to write, I slogged through everything to get there, thinking that it would be my reward once I finished everything that led up to that. It never worked. XD It was miserable. By the time I got to the part I wanted to write, I had beaten the scene to death in my head imagining all the ways I could write it, and it a) no longer interested me and b) could not live up to my expectations because I couldn't remember all my ideas I'd had for writing it. The scene came out mediocre and so did everything leading up to it. Since then, I learned through working on VN writing (I co-own a game studio and we have some visual novels that I write for) that I don't have to write linearly. If I'm inspired to write a scene, I just write it immediately. It usually comes out pretty good even in a first draft! But then I also have it for if I get more ideas for that scene later, and I can just edit them in. The scenes come out MUCH stronger because of this. And you know what else I discovered? Those scenes I slogged through before weren't scenes I had no inspiration for, I just didn't have any inspiration for them in that moment! I can't tell you how many times there was a scene I had no interest in writing, and then a week later I'd get struck by the perfect inspiration for it! Those are scenes I would have done a very mediocre job on, and now they can be some of the most powerful scenes because I gave them time to marinate. Inspiration isn't always linear, so writing doesn't have to be either!

Some people are the type that joyfully write linearly. I have a friend like this--she picks up the characters and just continues playing out the next scene. Her story progresses through the entire day-by-day lives of the characters; it never timeskips more than a few hours. She started writing and posting just eight months ago, she's about an eighth of the way through her planned fic timeline, and the content she has so far posted to AO3 for it is already 450,000 words long. But most of us are normal humans. We're not, for the most part, wired to create linearly. We consume linearly, we experience linearly, so we assume we must also create linearly. But actually, a lot of us really suffer from trying to force ourselves to create this way, and we might not even realize it. If you're the kind of person who thinks you need to carrot-on-a-stick yourself into writing by saving the fun part for when you finally write everything that happens before it: Stop. You're probably not a linear writer. You're making yourself suffer for no reason and your writing is probably suffering for it. At least give nonlinear writing a try before you assume you can't write if you're not baiting or forcing yourself into it!! Remember: Writing is fun. You do this because it's fun, because it's your hobby. If you're miserable 80% of the time you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong!

2. Rereading my own work. I used to hate reading my own work. I wouldn't even edit it usually. I would write it and slap it online and try not to look at it again. XD Writing nonlinearly forced me to start rereading because I needed to make sure scenes connected together naturally and it also made it easier to get into the headspace of the story to keep writing and fill in the blanks and get new inspiration. Doing this built the editing process into my writing process--I would read a scene to get back in the headspace, dislike what I had written, and just clean it up on the fly. I still never ever sit down to 'edit' my work. I just reread it to prep for writing and it ends up editing itself. Many many scenes in this fic I have read probably a dozen times or more! (And now, I can actually reread my own work for enjoyment!) Another thing I found from doing this that it became easy to see patterns and themes in my work and strengthen them. Foreshadowing became easy. Setting up for jokes or plot points became easy. I didn't have to plan out my story in advance or write an outline, because the scenes themselves because a sort of living outline on their own. (Yes, despite all the foreshadowing and recurring thematic elements and secret hidden meanings sprinkled throughout this story, it actually never had an outline or a plan for any of that. It's all a natural byproduct of writing nonlinearly and rereading.)

Unpopular writing opinion time: You don't need to make a detailed outline.

Some people thrive on having an outline and planning out every detail before they sit down to write. But I know for a lot of us, we don't know how to write an outline or how to use it once we've written it. The idea of making one is daunting, and the advice that it's the only way to write or beat writer's block is demoralizing. So let me explain how I approach "outlining" which isn't really outlining at all.

I write in a Notion table, where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry. I do this because it makes writing nonlinearly VASTLY more intuitive and straightforward than writing in a single document. (If you're familiar with Notion, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If you're not, imagine something a little like a more contained Google Sheets, but every row has a title cell that opens into a unique Google Doc when you click on it. And it's not as slow and clunky as the Google suite lol) (Edit from the future: I answered an ask with more explanation on how I use Notion for non-linear writing here.) When I sit down to begin a new fic idea, I make a quick entry in the table for every scene I already know I'll want or need, with the entries titled with a couple words or a sentence that describes what will be in that scene so I'll remember it later. Basically, it's the most absolute bare-bones skeleton of what I vaguely know will probably happen in the story.

Then I start writing, wherever I want in the list. As I write, ideas for new scenes and new connections and themes will emerge over time, and I'll just slot them in between the original entries wherever they naturally fit, rearranging as necessary, so that I won't forget about them later when I'm ready to write them. As an example, my current long fic started with a list of roughly 35 scenes that I knew I wanted or needed, for a fic that will probably be around 100k words (which I didn't know at the time haha). As of this writing, it has expanded to 129 scenes. And since I write them directly in the page entries for the table, the fic is actually its own outline, without any additional effort on my part. As I said in the comment reply--a living outline!

This also made it easier to let go of the notion that I had to write something exactly right the first time. (People always say you should do this, but how many of us do? It's harder than it sounds! I didn't want to commit to editing later! I didn't want to reread my work! XD) I know I'm going to edit it naturally anyway, so I can feel okay giving myself permission to just write it approximately right and I can fix it later. And what I found from that was that sometimes what I believed was kind of meh when I wrote it was actually totally fine when I read it later! Sometimes the internal critic is actually wrong. 3. Marinating in the headspace of the story. For the first two months I worked on [fic], I did not consume any media other than [fandom the fic is in]. I didn't watch, read, or play anything else. Not even mobile games. (And there wasn't really much fan content for [fandom] to consume either. Still isn't, really. XD) This basically forced me to treat writing my story as my only source of entertainment, and kept me from getting distracted or inspired to write other ideas and abandon this one.

As an aside, I don't think this is a necessary step for writing, but if you really want to be productive in a short burst, I do highly recommend going on a media consumption hiatus. Not forever, obviously! Consuming media is a valuable tool for new inspiration, and reading other's work (both good and bad, as long as you think critically to identify the differences!) is an invaluable resource for improving your writing.

When I write, I usually lay down, close my eyes, and play the scene I'm interested in writing in my head. I even take a ten-minute nap now and then during this process. (I find being in a state of partial drowsiness, but not outright sleepiness, makes writing easier and better. Sleep helps the brain process and make connections!) Then I roll over to the laptop next to me and type up whatever I felt like worked for the scene. This may mean I write half a sentence at a time between intervals of closed-eye-time XD

People always say if you're stuck, you need to outline.

What they actually mean by that (whether they realize it or not) is that if you're stuck, you need to brainstorm. You need to marinate. You don't need to plan what you're doing, you just need to give yourself time to think about it!

What's another framing for brainstorming for your fic? Fantasizing about it! Planning is work, but fantasizing isn't.

You're already fantasizing about it, right? That's why you're writing it. Just direct that effort toward the scenes you're trying to write next! Close your eyes, lay back, and fantasize what the characters do and how they react.

And then quickly note down your inspirations so you don't forget, haha.

And if a scene is so boring to you that even fantasizing about it sucks--it's probably a bad scene.

If it's boring to write, it's going to be boring to read. Ask yourself why you wanted that scene. Is it even necessary? Can you cut it? Can you replace it with a different scene that serves the same purpose but approaches the problem from a different angle? If you can't remove the troublesome scene, what can you change about it that would make it interesting or exciting for you to write?

And I can't write sitting up to save my damn life. It's like my brain just stops working if I have to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen. I need to be able to lie down, even if I don't use it! Talking walks and swinging in a hammock are also fantastic places to get scene ideas worked out, because the rhythmic motion also helps our brain process. It's just a little harder to work on a laptop in those scenarios. XD

In conclusion: Writing nonlinearly is an amazing tool for kicking writer's block to the curb. There's almost always some scene you'll want to write. If there isn't, you need to re-read or marinate.

Or you need to use the bathroom, eat something, or sleep. XD Seriously, if you're that stuck, assess your current physical condition. You might just be unable to focus because you're uncomfortable and you haven't realized it yet.

Anyway! I hope that was helpful, or at least interesting! XD Sorry again for the text wall. (I think this is the longest comment reply I've ever written!)

And same to you guys on tumblr--I hope this was helpful or at least interesting. XD Reblogs appreciated if so! (Maybe it'll help someone else!)

[snekdood]

i just struggle to believe theres any ethical way to harvest meat. farm animal dying of old age? yeah. ok. sure. but farm animals aren't going to be perpetually dying of old age enough to fulfill the demand for their meats. you can make better and more convincing arguments to me for ethically harvesting eggs, wool and milk rather than meat.

[normal-thoughts-official]

So apparently some Swiss company found out that Brazilian blood has more immunoglobulin (which is used in some medications made by pharma companies) than European blood, and now international pharma companies are lobbying to change Brazilian law to allow them to use our blood as a resource

There is no current evidence that those things are related, but it just so happens that at the same time there is also another law being discussed that would get rid of "bureaucracy" when it comes to ethics analyses of trials on humans. It would also remove the right, which all brazilians currently have, to access to the medication resulting from the trials they participated in

Both sources are in Portuguese because both news have been recently broke by a Brazilian investigative news agency, but if you don't speak it, you can always use automatic translation

I know there's a lot of fucked up shit happening in the world right now, but please pay attention to medical rights in Brasil right now. Especially if you're European, because virtually every company related to this is from your continent and plans to benefit you above all

ETA: using blood as a resource for these medications is not new; however, current law in brasil only allows that use to come from donated blood (because it comes from the plasma and apparently not all of it is used in blood transfusion; I'm not a doctor so I'm not clear on the details but that's the gist of it) and to be processed and used by Hemobrás, the State-owned company that handles this type of medical technology. The new law would allow for private companies to buy our blood from blood banks for their use. It is worth noting that at least one company has already explicitly stated that they won't be making the resulting medication available in the Brazilian market, so, essentially, they will be taking blood Brazilians donated to help other Brazilians and using it to treat immunocompromised Europeans, to the detriment of immunocompromised Brazilians that need the medicine. In the process, they will be making it harder for our State-owned company to use that same blood, forcing us to import from them and therefore making the medication more expensive. They also want to make it possible for Brazilians to sell their own blood - a deeply ethically questionable practice that is discouraged by the WHO and that has led to HIV outbreaks in Brasil in the past

[creature-wizard]

Okay y'all, going forward, this is what we're doing.

Shit's scary, I know. But we absolutely cannot afford to surrender to that fear, because that benefits the GOP. They want us to feel powerless, because they know we are not powerless. That's why they have so many shills and bots discouraging people from voting.

We will not demoralize ourselves and each other by doomposting in our moments of panic. If we have a panic attack, that's okay. But we are not going to spread that fear to other people in public. We will save our most scared thoughts for our private journals and close friends. And we will support our friends who are feeling hopeless.

We will remember that spreading awareness of Project 2025 and Agenda 47 has been hurting Trump. And we will continue to do this.

We will remember that right now, our only option is Biden, because without ranked choice voting, getting a third party candidate in is simply impossible. We might not like it, but that's why we're going to push like hell for ranked choice voting once we get his pruny old ass in to office for a second term. (And thank God, he can't have more than a second term; the Democrats will have to find someone else afterward.)

We will not spread conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are the weapon of the enemy. We don't need them.

We will not publicly mock Trump in all of this. Making Republicans feel even more victimized is a losing strategy. "But it's my blog-" I'm sorry, are you playing for political keeps or are you just here to fuck around and put everyone's life in even more danger?

We will emphasize the ways that Project 2025/Agenda 47 will hurt everyone. And we will keep talking about it.

We will remember that the UK and France have already avoided far right takeovers in their elections.

All right? You got that? Because we got this if we stick together and keep at this. Shit's bad right now but that doesn't mean it has to be bad forever. We got each other, and we can do this.

[chussyracing]

Can I ask why you don’t like mclaren?

TLDR: I'm just not the target audience for this team, but agree they can be appealing to lots of especially younger people.

I'm in my mid-twenties and teenagers don't do it for me. If I wanted kids, I'd either produce my own or take more babysitting shifts.

I don't even fall into the new audience category either, because I've been on and off fan since I learned to walk.

I don't enjoy the lack of personality showed by Oscar, nor the plethora of it showed by Lando.

I'm not the fan of the humour if all those digs and jokes can be described by "humour".

I'm not even the fan of the team in general, last person I liked was Charlotte Sefton and she left afaik.

But yes, there was a time I thought they would be a nice team I could follow. Fortunately you grow and learn with time spent in the fandom.

[phebbsl]

Just Benefits

Something I whipped while procrastinating on my other fics bc brainrot got to me. Lmk if there's any typos. May or may not make this into a full fic hehe

Sebastian x F!Reader

content: nsfw

MDNI!!!

⋆｡˚ ☁︎⋅ ˚｡⋆｡˚☼˚｡⋆｡˚☁︎⋅ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆｡˚☁︎⋅˚｡⋆｡˚☼˚｡⋆ ｡˚☁︎⋅ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆

Sebastian who is completely shocked when you propose a friends with benefits situation with him.

Sebastian accepts because why the hell not? He finds you attractive and you’re steadily becoming one of his favorite people in the valley after some late night chats by the lake and generous surprises of his favorite gifts.

Sebastian has to smoke to calm his nerves as he walks down the mountain path to meet up with you for the first time. He makes sure to not litter on your property and stuffs the dirty cigarette butt into his pocket before knocking to enter. 

Sebastian decides to just kiss you after an awkward greeting. It’s slow and fumbling at first but the two of you soon find your bearings and it becomes deeper and neither of you can get enough. 

Sebastian lets himself get pulled to your bed, only to push you on it and beneath him so he can kiss you more, he can’t stop his hands from roaming your body and tugging at your clothes. 

Sebastian who asks for permission before pulling off your bottoms and gets harder with your shy agreement. 

Sebastian who can’t help but gawk at the wet patch already forming on your panties and ends up kissing that very spot, over and over until you beg him to just take them off. 

Sebastian who ends up making out with your clit, flicking his tongue piercing along your folds and pumping his long fingers in and out of you until you come for the first time. He doesn’t even notice that he’s been humping the mattress until after you’re done, he’s already so high from your taste and smell. 

Sebastian who eagerly shuffles off his jeans and boxers when you ask to reciprocate. He has to bite into his hands to keep himself from whining too much.

Sebastian nearly finishes in your mouth but pulls you off because he just needs to fuck you so badly instead. 

Sebastian who asks again to make sure you’re sure before slowly pressing into you so you can feel every single inch and vein.

Sebastian who has to grip your sheets hard because it's just so, so difficult not to immediately come, and he really doesn’t want to let you down. 

Sebastian listens to all the sounds you make to make sure he’s fucking you how you like, every gasp and moan is a direction to him. 

Sebastian who fucks you harder when you ask for it, who holds your legs open so he can angle his hips just right to thrust harder and faster right into the spot that makes you whine his name. 

Sebastian makes sure to rub your clit right when your legs start to shake and your voice gets all pitchy to help you climax. 

Sebastian comes when you do, unable to hold back when he feels your walls getting wetter and tighter, practically milking him. He continues to thrust into you though, working both of you through your highs. 

Sebastian feels awkward when the afterglow fades, he’s unsure of if you want him to stay or do aftercare, but ends up fetching you water and giving you some cuddles before deciding to leave as to not overstay his welcome. 

FWB!Sebastian starts coming over more often now, whenever he’s annoyed at home or just whenever you text him. 

FWB!Sebastian who starts to shamelessly introduces new positions and kinks to try after getting more and more comfortable. 

FWB!Sebastian who also figures out that he likes it when you praise him and that you like it when he makes sounds, so he makes sure to let out his moans and whimpers too, even if he thinks it a little embarrassing.

FWB!Sebastian who will smoke in bed afterwards if you allow it and if he notices that you find it attractive. Otherwise he weans himself off smoking more and more unconsciously if you don't. 

FWB!Sebastian who stays for the night almost every time now, he enjoys your bigger bed and doesn’t mind being the bigger or the smaller spoon, he goes along with whatever you prefer.

FWB!Sebastian alternates making breakfast with you whenever he stays over. He notices the new coffee machine that mysteriously appears soon after, and he hides his little smile and red cheeks with his hair when you enter the kitchen. 

FWB!Sebastian rarely jerks off anymore, he has you now, but when he does, it’s always to the thought of you.

FWB!Sebastian who ends up gravitating more to you whenever you join him and his friends at the Saloon on Friday night. He starts to arrive earlier and stays later just to talk to you more. 

FWB!Sebastian doesn’t even notice that his habits are changing, also waking up earlier as a result of your early schedule. 

FWB!Sebastian who finally realizes his feelings after some off handed comments from his mom and Sam about how different he acts when he’s around you. 

FWB!Sebastian doesn’t want to mess things up so he eventually resolves to just keep the friends with benefits arrangement because he’ll take what he can get. 

FWB!Sebastian really can’t stand it though. You consume every moment and every thought, he just wishes that you would feel the same. He starts to become more awkward around you now, and even avoids you sometimes because the butterflies in his stomach become too strong whenever he sees you. 

FWB!Sebastian who starts to fuck you gentler sometimes, as if he’s making love to you as a boyfriend instead of what it really is. He presses kisses to your forehead and cheeks tenderly and just wants to hold your hand. 

FWB!Sebastian accidentally confesses during a particularly intimate round of sex as he’s finishing, and he runs away when you ask him what he said as the two of you cuddle. 

FWB!Sebastian who panics in his room after because he’s really fucked it up this time now, hasn’t he?

FWB!Sebastian really avoids you now, burying himself back into work and sending clipped responses to your texts. 

FWB!Sebastian who eventually spills the whole situation to Sam because he just really needs to get it off his chest. Sam verbally hands his ass to him, and encourages him to really confess, because holy shit, everyone’s realized that the farmer is not as happy as they used to be. 

FWB!Sebastian feels so guilty when he hears that, he knows he has to fix the situation, so he prepares. 

FWB!Sebastian texts you to meet him at his place. When you arrive, he has his bike out and he asks you to go on a ride with him. His palms sweat in his gloves as he drives, and he can smell your scent even through the helmet. 

FWB!Sebastian akes you to his spot on the cliff. The view is beautiful that night, looking over Zuzu city, and the sky is clear for all the stars to shine, but he only has eyes for you. 

FWB!Sebastian says that the two of you need to talk, but he comes off as too serious, and you think he’s breaking up with you. He panics and confesses his feelings, not following the script he set for himself, but he can’t stand to see you cry. 

FWB!Sebastian who hugs you tight after you say you feel the same, he feels so overjoyed. He kisses you, you kiss back, and it really does feel like the two of you are in a movie. 

Boyfriend!Sebastian feels like he’s on top of the world when the two of you drive back to the valley, he screams out his happiness as he speeds along the empty highway and the two of you laugh the entire way. 

Boyfriend!Sebastian who can’t get enough of the way you smile at him when you get back to his place and remove the riding helmet. He loves the way it grows when he gives you the bouquet he stashed behind a bush. 

Boyfriend!Sebastian who races back with you to the farmhouse so he can properly worship you as you deserve, and this time as his girlfriend. 

[inkskinned]

i don't mean to sound ungrateful, but as a content creator on this site, there's a part of me that's like. they absolutely just stole my work.

i'm not, like, unaware that tumblr has been shuffling downhill for years now. sometimes i play with the idea of switching platforms, turning myself into the shark. i often get tens of thousands of notes - i could be "doing numbers" on a platform that actually pays me to do so. i could have statistics that i could use to sell myself, i could rebrand and make content pay-to-play and make brand deals. i could have the other life, i mean.

but i don't want to. i like the quiet nature of tumblr. i like that it still feels like i'm writing poetry, not like i'm fulfilling ad spots. i like the community, and that i can sometimes still take someone by surprise and write something that really speaks to them. i like the tags and reading things like oh of course it's fucking inkskinned i love you inkskinned you gay mess. my girlfriend recently told me that people tag things "inkskinned" because they assume it is similar to tagging "creative writing". that's wild. i made this word up when i was 19, and have always assumed people tag me in things so i read it (and i often do). i have nothing but love and gratitude for you all, for this tiny scoop of family.

and i haven't made any money off it. i had opportunities, and i turned them down. i could have sold this thing like a thousand times. i thought about moving my work elsewhere - over and over and over i thought about it. i weighed each option specifically. but my tumblr felt like ... it's for you guys, only. if you're still here and reading this, you deserve to do it for free.

tumblr has now, most likely, skimmed my work (and yours) in order to make money. i will never see a single cent for that violation. something about landlords, i guess - my work pays their rent.

i just lost my job on valentine's day, and am working on scrambling for solutions. i am writing this to a blog that they will probably scrape with AI. and like, what number to do you think it was? do you think it was only a couple hundred thousand? no way it was close to a million, right? my time, effort, energy - it belongs to someone else now. how many silver pieces for them to completely sell out their user base.

and it's kind of like - funny? when it isn't very-sad. because i personally don't know what to do, ya know? i might as well move to a different platform, where my efforts are ai-scraped but could eventually pay me. where i know my privacy is the cost - but it could result in actual money. anyway. i need to figure out how i'm paying for meds. i need to email like six people about COBRA benefits.

my work is powering someone else's AI. it will be a beautiful fabricated poem, made from words i've already said.

[beatrice-otter]

I’ll be honest, when one party’s aiding and abetting the genocide and the other’s outright gonna kill all my friends, I don’t really care if the fascists “win”. They’ve won already.

You know who would be delighted to hear that? Trump and Putin. The US far right and the Russian government have poured lots of time, effort, and money over the last decade+ into convincing US leftists and liberals that things are hopeless, there's no point in even trying to make things better, and the Democrats and Republicans are functionally interchangeable. They do this because one of the easiest ways for them to win is if the left gives up and stops trying. Every person on the left they can convince to give up in despair brings them closer to complete control. Defeatism on the left actively supports victory on the right.

I think your statement is wrong on a number of levels, both factual and emotional. It comes from not understanding what the actual options are for the US government and the President specifically, either at home or abroad. And it will allow actual fascism to flourish and make the world far worse than it is now.

On an emotional level, the way to address this is to stop doomscrolling. Stop focusing on the worst things happening in the world. Don't ignore them! but don't let them consume you. Start looking for the things that are going well. Find places in your community that you can get involved in making things better. Even if it's only on a small scale like volunteering in a soup kitchen or homeless shelter, it will help you realize that you aren't helpless, that there are things that can be done to make the world a better place. Stay informed about things on a local, national, and international level, but limit how much time and attention you give to things that depress you that you can't affect. Instead of sitting there thinking about all the ways the world sucks and how awful things are, look for things you can do that are productive, and then do them. You'll feel better and you will have made your corner of the world a little better. And you will be a lot less likely to unintentionally fall into the despair, nihilism, and passivity that the fascists want you to be consumed by.

Always remember that the worlds problems are not resting solely on your shoulders, or solely on America's shoulders, and neither is the hope of fixing them. Everyone has things that we can do to make the world a better place, but there are also things that are beyond our control. We can control what we do; we cannot control what others do. We can and should try to make the world a better place, but focusing on the things we can't change has no positive benefits. Focusing on things we can't change accomplishes two things: it makes you feel bad, and it stops you from doing the things you actually can do to make things better. Neither of these things is good for you or anyone else. Look for things you can do and do them. Keep informed on the things you can't change, but don't focus on them.

On a factual level, let's look at "aiding and abetting genocide," shall we?

First, it's important to remember that the US President is not the God-Emperor Of The World. The US government has limits to what it can and can't do in other countries, and both legally and practically. If the US wants to intervene in a problem in another country, there are a variety of things we can do that boil down to basically four categories. It's a lot more complex than this in practice, of course, but in general here are the categories of things we can do:

Send in the troops. Invade, either by ourselves or as part of a NATO or UN operation. (Or maybe just send in a CIA wetworks team to assassinate the head of state.) I hope you can see the moral problems with this option, and also, we've done this a shitton of times over the course of the 20th Century and pretty much every time we've done it, we've made an already awful situation worse. On a moral level, it's pretty bad, and on a practical level, it's worse. Sure, we could stop the immediate problem, but what then? Consider Afghanistan and Iraq. We got rid of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, and everything went to shit, we spent twenty years occupying Afghanistan with pretty much nothing to show for it. (The Taliban is back in control of Afghanistan.) Things were worse when we left than when we arrived. So this option is pretty much off the table (or should be).

Diplomatic pressure. Now, the thing is, they're a sovereign nation, they don't have to listen to us if they don't want to. We have a lot of things we can leverage--including financial aid--but the only way to force them to do what we want is to invade and conquer, and that only works temporarily. Since we can't force, we have to persuade. This requires us to maintain our existing relationship with the country in question, and possibly strengthen it, because that relationship is what we're leveraging to try and influence them to do what we want them to do. If we do not maintain our relationship, they have no reason to listen to us.

Cut ties and go home. Break off any existing relationship and support, loudly proclaim that they're awful and doing awful things and we wash our hands of the whole situation. This keeps our own hands lily-white and pure, but it also means we have zero leverage to work on any kind of a diplomatic solution. They have no reason to listen to us or care about what we think. We can pat ourselves on the back for doing the right thing, but we destroy our own ability to influence anything. Not just now, but also in the future. Let's say the current crisis ends, and then ten years later there's another crisis. If we want to have any effect then, we would have to start from square one to start building a relationship. Cutting ties would be great for making Americans feel better about ourselves, and there are times when it's the only option, but it should be a last resort. If there is any hope of being able to influence things for the better this will destroy it at least temporarily.

Cut ties and impose sanctions. Break off any existing relationship and support, loudly proclaim that they're awful and doing awful things, but also use the might of the American economy to isolate and punish them. We've done this a lot over the 20th Century, too, and it has never actually resulted in the country in question buckling down and toeing the line we want them to. What happens is the sanctioned country has an economic shock (how long it lasts and how bad it gets depends on a lot of factors) and then pulls themselves back together economically, except this time they're more self-sufficient and less reliant on international trade and financial networks. They tell themselves that America is evil and the cause of all their problems, and so not only do they not listen to us, they actively hate us. And they have fewer international relationships, so fewer reasons to care about what the international community thinks about them. So they're most likely to double down on whatever it is they're doing that we don't like. This one is completely counterproductive and utterly stupid. It's great for making Americans feel better about ourselves, but if we actually care about being able to use our influence for good (or, at least, to mitigate evil) this option shoots us in the foot. It encourages other nations to do the very thing we're trying to stop them from doing.

So, with those four options in mind, both option one (invasion/assassination) and option four (sanctions) are off the table for being immoral and counterproductive. That leaves "breaking our relationship and going home" and "using diplomatic pressure" as our only two viable options.

Biden has chosen option two, diplomatic pressure. Yes, he and our government have continued financial support for Israel ... but with strings attached. They have put limits on it that have never been put on any US foreign aid before. They have taken legal steps to lay the groundwork to target Israeli settlers (i.e. Israeli citizens who confiscate Palestinian homes and businesses). We've been hearing reports for months that Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister, and a far-right-wing demagogue) hates Biden's guts, because Biden is pressuring him to stop the genocide and work towards peace. Biden is maintaining the relationship, and he's using that relationship to try and influence things to curb the violence and pave the way for a just peace settlement of some sort. Biden has also mentioned the possibility of a two state solution where Palestine becomes its own completely separate country. That's huge, because up until this point the US position has always been that Israel is the only possible legitimate nation in that territory. If Biden stopped US support for Israel, it wouldn't force Israel to stop what it's doing ... but it would let them ignore us. It would remove any leverage or influence we might have.

Biden's hands aren't clean. But the only way for them to be clean would be to also give up any chance of influencing the situation or working to protect Palestinians now or in the future. Only time will tell if it works, but I personally would rather have someone who tried and failed than someone who didn't even try. You might disagree about whether this is the right course of action, and there's a lot of room for honest disagreement about the issue (there's a lot of nuances that I'm glossing over or ignoring). But please do acknowledge that Biden isn't supporting Israel because he supports genocide; he's doing it so that he can continue to maintain diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop the violence.

Which brings us back to "aiding and abetting genocide." Trump is not like Biden. Trump is good friends with Netanyahu and backs Israel to the hilt. Trump thinks that all Arabs are terrorists (and all Muslims are terrorists) and genuinely believes the world would be a better place with them dead. Biden is continuing to support Israel, but using that support as influence to get them to stop or slow down. Trump would be using that influence to encourage them.

And those are the two choices. Someone who is trying to curb the genocide, and someone who actively supports it.

I really hope you can see the significant and substantial difference between those two positions.

But let's say that you're right and Biden's policy towards Israel and Palestine is every bit as bad as Trump's would be. If there was nothing to choose between them on foreign policy grounds, there would still be a shitton to choose between them on domestic policy grounds. You admit that the right wants to kill your friends, and yet you don't seem to think that stopping them from killing your friends might be a good thing to do.

"We can't save Palestinians, so we might as well let Republicans destroy the rights, lives, and futures of LGBTQ+ people, women, people of color, people with disabilities, poor people, non-Christians, and anyone else they don't like." "We can't save Palestinians, so why bother to try to save the people we might actually be able to save." "We can't save Palestinians right now, so there's no point in trying to build up a longer-term political bloc that might drag US politics to the left over the long run."

Do you get why there's a problem with that line of thought?