#and also the water is full of human waste so even if you managed to get rescued you might still die anyways from cholera or sepsis

[viralarcadian]

watching a video on the sinking of the ss princess alice, a ferry which sank on the thames in the east side of london during that period of time when all the untreated sewage was pumped there in the hopes it would just wash out w the tide (it did not)

[yaekiss]

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒉𝒔

꩜ Room Content: GN! Top! Bathysmal Vishap! Reader x Subby! Bottom! Neuvillette, spoilers for Genshin Archon Quest 4.2, no gendered terms for reader, reader is a bathysmal vishap, Neuvillette has a dragon form, both reader and Neuvillette have hemipenes/two cocks, cloaca fucking (Neuvillette receiving), frotting, praise (Neuvillette receiving), lmk if I missed out anything ! ꩜ A/N: If you don't want to read about dragon vishap smut, don't read this one LOL. I know I said "between 800-1500 words". This one just ran away from me ok shhhh. I also made up some draconic courtship lore, don't look too hard at it (but please tell me if you think it's cute thank you <3) anyways ENJOY !!! ꩜ This was written for @coingbee as part of my Care for a Fic fundraising event for Gaza! If you would to request a fic of your own, do check out the event post above ^^

The Hydro Sovereign has returned to their full power.

From beneath the surface, your head lifts. Judging by the excited clicks and chirps made by the rest in the community, it seems as if the others have sensed it too. 

Whilst your fellow bathysmal vishaps murmur and chatter wildly with each other about whether or not to head up to the surface, you’ve already come to a decision. Without wasting another minute, you’re already hightailing it upwards towards the surface, tracking the whereabouts of your Hydro Sovereign via the trail of draconic power traces.

Following the trail takes you all the way into Fontaine. Along the way, you’ve adamantly ensured not to take routes with higher human traffic. The very thought of even crossing paths with one sends your mind twisting with a hatred and loathing so foul. 

As your journey progressed, the ebbing and flowing stream of the trail you’ve been tracking gradually grows stronger and stronger as your distance travelled increases. Until, finally, you’re sure you’re close to the end and even closer to meeting the Hydro Sovereign when the trail stops and seems to be wholly focused and condensed into a solitary being nearby.

Your head emerges from beneath the water, breaking the still surface, sending ripples outwards. Eagerness bubbles within you as you anticipate finally meeting with the Hydro Sovereign that the bathysmal vishaps have been biding their time for, restlessly awaiting the return of their Dragon Lord. The moonlight of the evening is lovely, reflecting off the flow of the ripples.

And yet, as you crane your head to look over to where the water laps gently at the shore, to where the trail you’ve been tirelessly following should end, you feel your blood chill.

All you see is a mere human who stares out into the vast sea.

A split second is all it takes for any previous semblance of anticipation to morph into disbelief and bitterness. Surely, this can’t be! After all this time, was the undying hope in seeing the return of the Hydro Sovereign wasted on some farce? A prime example of a cruel sadistic joke the high heavens would play at your expense, just to see you inevitably crumble at the grand reveal? 

Consumed by your emotions for a moment, you can’t help but regret not having forsaken your sight as your ancestors did. For perhaps if you had followed in their footsteps, you would’ve been able to bask in the exalted presence of your Sovereign leader, albeit for the price of blissful ignorance. 

However, there is still a stubborn, restless part in your mind that wishes to understand just how you could have been so misled like this, how you had managed to be fooled into tracking the trail of a human all this time. 

In a bat of an eye, you swim and make it to the shoreline, the coarse sand crunching under your claws. The disturbance causes the human to notice you, startled by the sudden appearance of a bathysmal vishap. (Although, strangely enough, no trace of fear shows on their face, and they make no move to scurry away.)

As the tension between the two of you grows, you advance slowly towards the human, low hissing sent to them as a warning. And suddenly, they try soothing you in a tongue that’s nothing but familiar to you.

Before your mind can keep up with the fact that this mere human can communicate with your kind, your head has already instinctively lowered along with your gaze pointed down towards the ground in deference to the undeniable traces of draconic authority in their tone and voice.

And when you feel a gloved hand lightly patting under your chin, trying to usher you back up to your previous position, you're struck with the dilemma of relishing in the awe of the unmistakable power of the Hydro Sovereign thrumming beneath or scorning the fact that you've allowed a human to touch you so casually.

(Does it really matter if the human in question is technically your Dragon Lord? The uncertainty leaves a sour taste in your mouth.)

Nevertheless, with enough insistence, they manage to raise your head back up before they start up the conversation.

“Greetings. I am sure you must have many questions regarding my form-” you nod, “-Very well, I suppose an explanation of events both recent and bygone is in order.” Through this, you learn briefly about the matters that have transpired, that his name is Neuvillette, that he is the both Iudex and the Hydro Dragon.

“I expect that you would take this information back to the rest of the vishaps, and that soon I might see more of you on the surface-” his tone drops to one more stern and absolute, “-With this, should any of the human Fontanians meet any unjust or unreasonable form of harm from your kind, I shall not hesitate in enacting the appropriate judgement.” 

An understanding reached, you return back to your community as a sort of newly appointed mouthpiece. However, this proves not to be your last meeting with the Sovereign. No, far from it, really.

The sun starts to dip below the horizon as you slink languidly behind Neuvillette on a stroll together at the area outside of the Opera Epiclese. A couple melusines ride atop your back, Blathine and Veleda. You’ve come to remember their names after Neuvillette encouraged you and the melusines to get along more. (And you might have a soft spot for them after realising the fondness the Hydro Sovereign extends to them.)

The sight of the Chief Justice, along with a literal vishap essentially piggybacking two melusines might seem to be an odd sight to most. However, Fontanians have simply gotten used to this after the first few instances. 

“Ah, there goes the Iudex and the melusines, and that big ol’... weird lizard he keeps around again, for the third time this week,” you hear someone in the surroundings say.

“Huh. Good for him, I guess,” someone else says in reply.

Despite all the time you’ve spent around humans while at your Sovereign’s side, you still haven’t quite managed to readily want to take up the form of one. Hence, the reason why there was a vishap right in front of the Fountain of Lucine. 

Sometimes the Fontanians comment that you’re some sort of big guard dog for Neuvillette. (Honestly, you can’t quite find it in yourself to be opposed to being seen as a protector for someone you hold dear. Plus, it made for easier piggyback rides for the melusines and you enjoy seeing the warmth on Neuvillette’s face when he sees them having fun.)

As the sky darkens and the stars above begin to twinkle, the both of you drop the melusines off at their destinations. Soon, you’ve strolled to the coastline, the soft sound of sea water crashing against the shore blending into the ambient noise in the peaceful evening. Admiring the moonlight glistening and skating across the body of water, you break the comfortable silence first.

“I shall be travelling back to the depths tomorrow, is there any message you would like me to pass on to the bathysmal vishaps?” 

Ever since your first meeting with Neuvillette, more and more of the others have been venturing out and up to the surface with the return of the Hydro Dragon. Due to your enthusiasm in meeting with the Sovereign, the responsibilities of monthly reports and announcements now fall on your back. (Sigh, is this what you get for being the first one back up? “The early bathysmal vishap meets the Hydro Sovereign,” or something of the like?)

“Ah. Has it already been a month since the last one?” He pauses to think, before continuing, “No, I don’t have any information or messages to relay.”

Another short lull in the conversation, you note that he seems to be mulling something over as he thumbs along the handle of his cane in quiet contemplation.

“I hope I am not overstepping as I say this, however, I find myself reluctant to part with you. I find that the time that we spend together is invaluable and that I oftentimes catch myself longing for your presence whenever we are apart,” he communicates this to you, the vulnerability apparent in his words.

“Perhaps, my confession would be more sincere if I were not restricted in my human form.”

As he says this, he wades into the waters, then dives under when deep enough. There’s a change in the atmosphere surrounding you, a heavier pressure forming and coalescing as a vivid bright blue starts to glimmer from the depths.

You look out expectantly, waiting with bated breath, and before long, the mirror surface of the water begins to ripple and distort from something significant moving underneath. Its streamlined movements rocket it towards where you’re standing, and as the level of the water decreases, more of its form is revealed until ultimately, the Hydro Dragon stands before you in all of his glory.

His serpentine frame towers high above you, almost double your height, with smooth iridescent azure scales covering the top of his body and claw-tipped flippers. The colour of his scales transition gradually from blue to ivory white in areas like his underside and neck. His powerful tail relaxes in the shallows, occasionally swishing, causing little waves in the water.

Casting your gaze further up, you see the familiar sight of his glowing tendrils, extending down from the two sides of the back of his head. He cranes his head downwards in one fluid motion, closing the distance between the two of you as he levels you with piercing lavender slitted pupils.

Driven by natural instinct, you bow at the display of ancient authority.

“Raise your head, after all, have you not managed to worm your way into the space next to my heart?” You hear his voice in your mind, the edges of his words pronounced with the slightest hint of a gravelly growl in this new form.

He shifts in closer, nudging his head under yours to lift your gaze back up so that it meets his own.

“As I expected. This form truly is more freeing for myself. Now, I am able to do this,” The tendrils by his head seem to glow more intensely before he can continue. The almighty Hydro Dragon is… blushing?

“Forgive me if I am too forward, however,” there’s nothing but sincerity in his gaze, “Would you allow me to entwine with you?”

Neuvillette's simple question sends your mind reeling. The act of entwining is an incredibly  personal act of intimacy and often indicates the start of courtship in draconic species, one that signals everlasting devotion and commitment.

Usually, entwining is done with tails in regular vishap species. However, species with tendrils can also choose to use them instead of their tails since many believe the gesture to be more heartfelt. It is also said that the closer the frills or spines that the tendrils wrap around are to the head, the stronger the affection that the dragon has for the receiving party.

“I ask this of you not as the Hydro Dragon but rather, as Neuvillette. The one who has seen you cherish and care for the melusines, the one who has had walks under the rain with until the stars have emerged in the clear night sky.” He tilts his head down, tone serious. “That is to say, I do not wish to have your agreement only be one made out of obligation to authority.”

A beat of silence passes as your brain scrambles to process Neuvillette pouring his heart out to you, and you realise that your lack of an answer causes him to hesitate. (His tendrils droop a little and you think you see rain clouds starting to form.)

Before he can apologise or backtrack, you shift forward, headbutting him lightly to shake him out of his crestfallen state.

“Of course, Neuvillette.”

Upon hearing your answer, he instantly brightens and he goes to nuzzle his cheek against the side of your snout. 

“Do excuse me if I execute this wrongly, I’ve never done it before after all,” he comments before gingerly manipulating his glowing tendrils so that they coil around the spines closest to your head on either side. 

Up close, you can see everything so clearly, the tenderness in his gaze that he holds specifically for you. You can’t help but playfully bump your forehead against his, making him emit a content low rumble.

When he untangles and pulls back up, you swipe your tongue briefly against one of his tendrils, something akin to a quick kiss. This elicits a shiver from Neuvillette, his eyes squeezed shut.

“Apologies, ahem, it seems that my tendrils are quite the sensitive area. This full form is still somewhat new to me, and I have not had the chance to discover and understand everything about it just yet,” he squirms lightly against you.

“So how about we find out together? No time like the present, after all,” your tone is sly, charged with a salacious intent that causes Neuvillette to stiffen, tendrils glowing even more intensely than before.

Saying nothing, he swiftly manoeuvres his lithe body until he’s lying supine on his back,.  he exposes his vulnerable underbelly to you, an act so trusting that it roots you to the spot in disbelief for a brief second. Your eyes travel down until you catch sight of his cloacal opening already growing slick.

“Teach me well, beloved.”

Using his tail, he ushers you onto his larger form, where you clamber until you've positioned your slit against his. And when you grind downwards, you can feel him tremble beneath you.

“Hah… I wasn’t aware that it would feel this good,” you hear his voice shake with arousal in your mind. Maybe it’s a side effect of telepathic draconic communication, yet, it’s almost as if you can feel everything he’s feeling, like all your sensations are linked with his, increasing the pleasure bubbling up within you twofold. 

He takes the initiative this time, pushing his bottom half upwards to rut against you. It’s not long before the both of you are reduced to grinding against each other, each moving in tandem in order to maximise the pleasure. 

Suddenly, Neuvillette halts all action, causing you to freeze and check up on him.

“I’m alright. I only stopped because it seems like your hemipenes have everted.” Bashfully, he averts his gaze elsewhere, as if he had been caught seeing something he shouldn’t have. (Which is laughable considering the fact that the both of you were just writhing on the ground, tangled up in each other.)

In your haze, you hadn’t even noticed your cocks evert. Neuvillette’s are still somewhat concealed within, only the drooling tips peeking out of his entrance. 

“Yours haven’t yet, that won’t do. How else are we supposed to help you understand your new anatomy?” you shake your head, a faux forlorn tone decorating your words. “Would you allow me to penetrate you, Neuvillette?”

He nods at your suggestion and you line up one of your tips at his opening. Aided by the copious amount of slick fluid, you’re able to slowly enter him, sandwiching one of his dicks between the one you have in him and the one rubbing against his exposed head.

The new sensation has him throwing his head back, drawing out a loud throaty groan.

“D-Don’t stop, please, beloved.”

Spurred on by how wrecked he sounds, when you’ve made sure he’s comfortable, you start to rock in and out of him, shallow unhurried motions to start then transitioning to a faster pace once he starts to meet your thrusts. Slowly but surely, as Neuvillette gets increasingly worked up, his hemipenes gradually evert until they’re fully revealed.

They’re slender, each with a pale white bulbous base that then curves and morphs into a tip that’s more flared on the bottom edge, like a blunt fishing hook.

“There we go, how are you feeling, still fine?”

“Yes, but allow me to catch my breath first before we continue. Thank you for checking with me, beloved.”

When he’s ready, he experiments and frots his cocks against yours, hissing at the heat and friction as they drag along your lengths. The slick sounds do nothing to quell the rising desire within you and you can feel yourself reaching your peak.

The dragon under you is faring no better as well, judging by how wound up he’s getting. His tail is flicking wildly to and fro in the water, churning up the sand as a desperate mix of growls, chirrups, and pitched calls leave him. Despite it all, he’s still the most gorgeous sight you’ve ever had the opportunity to witness.

“You’re nothing but beautiful, Neuvillette. Ah! I’ve grown to see the overflowing compassion you have within you,” he keens at your words and you can sense the pleasure he’s feeling melding with yours.

“How fortunate I must be to stay at your side, to call you mine, as I, yours.” And this is what does him in.

As he spills over, his tail goes to loop around yours tightly whilst his muscles lock and shake. You follow suit not long after, a sticky mess forming between the two of your bodies

A quick splash around in the water washes most of the evidence off. You rest next to where he’s curled up comfortably, the waves rhythmically lapping up against him. The atmosphere is relaxed as the both of you wind down and converse.

“I’d love to stay with you till the late morning but you have a trial scheduled and I promised to find Pahsiv first thing in the morning to catch up,” you lament.

A rumble from his chest, he’s chuckling. He tucks his head next to yours, caressing a tendril across your cheek.

“I’ll wait for you. Return safe, my beloved one.”

Thanks for reading! Consider supporting me on kofi if you enjoyed this or check out my other works hehe ♡

If you'd like to request a fic of your own, do consider checking out my event post!

[christall77]

~❦Caught Feelings❦~

​​

Merman x F!Reader

This is actually my first time writing about falling in love and stuff, so I hope I did good!

The art used doesn't belong to me, but to it's rightful owner @weyowang!

TW: ENTANGLEMENT OF MARINE LIFE, other than that it's pure fluff!

Another fish is wrapped up by a loose fishing line, it was the fifth one today Tullius has come across on his way close to the shore. The lone merman wastes no time and swims over to help the poor puffer fish in need. His long, strong, pale tail pushing him through the water with no effort.

Reaching for the puffed up creature he carefully untangles the thin line from its spikes and removes the hook puncturing it's pectoral fin. Luckily the brown and white spotted fish isn't badly hurt and manages to swim off just fine, deflating in the process. That has become an almost daily routine for the male. Everyday Tullius would swim to the beach located not far away from his shipwreck he calls home and collect various trinkets he found. Helping other sea life on the way if he sees them in trouble.

Tullius himself hasn't been safe from the trash and other gadgets humans have lost, or thrown out to sea. Having the scars and even part of a worn out net wrapped around his tail to prove it. The material dirty and grown with algea and tiny barnacles. It's also one of his reminders why he was shunned and eventually exiled from his previous home. Trying to get it off with the help from others when he couldn't do it alone, only for them to end up chasing him away.

Anything and everything human related is frowned upon in his folk. As more people came to visit the beaches, mermaids and mermen were forbidden to come anywhere close to the surface, by order of their king.

But despite knowing how bad it is for his home which he calls the ocean, he can't help but still be curious and fascinated by humans and their strange knick knacks. There's a whole wooden shelf in the downed ship full of things he's collected. One new strange, or in his eyes, beautiful object found throughout his trips is added daily. The merman doesn't even know where to stock the rest of them he'll find in the future!

Tullius has come to like it out here by himself. It's not like he was well liked before either. Tullius was seen as an outsider already by not having a vibrant color of a tale, or beautiful fins like the others.

Of course he has kept safe distances from the shore to make sure he wouldn't be spotted, but lately he can't stop himself from peeking out of the water every so often. Swimming closer day by day, just to get another glimpse of something. Or more like, someone.

Tullius has seen humans before, but when he first saw you he couldn't take his midnight blue eyes away from your figure walking along the beach. Cradling and comforting a seagull you've rescued from drowning. From this day on he couldn't stop himself from visiting, just to hope to get another glimpse of you from behind a few rocks. His organ in his chest beating faster and a warm giddy feeling spreading throughout Tullius' body. At first he confused the feeling with sickness, or the tiny fish he had for breakfast, swimming around in his belly. But then he remembered, food that's been chewed and eaten can't swim anymore.

The male came to realize, this strange feeling returns whenever he's watching you from the distance, but it's not uncomfortable. No. He likes it. A lot. And it grew as time passed, the longer he watched the more enamored he became.

Tullius desperately wants to get closer to you but, what would you think of him? Would you like him back? Or would you look at him with disgust like his own kind? He sure hopes it's not the latter.

Another dreamy sigh leaves his lips as Tullius rests his head in both of his palms, half of his body leaning on top of the rocky surface on his usual watch spot. White tail lazily swinging back and forth in the blue ocean waters. Admiring your (body type) figure doing small dances while you keep singing to your favorite song that's playing through your earphones. Hardly anyone comes to this part of the beach since it's so secluded and luckily for the merman, you've decided to live in a small hut close by! It just happened recently but he couldn't have been more excited, especially since he gets to see you everyday now.

With a soft smile Tullius listens to your lovely voice, his wine colored ear fins twitching occasionally. No matter how good or terrible your singing is to you, he thinks it's the most beautiful sound in the world. The white haired male would love to sing with you, if he could.

Tullius snaps out from his thoughts when he heard a loud "oof" and thud in the sand. It seems you've stumbled over yourself and landed almost face first into the warm sand, for a second he was worried you might've hurt yourself only to make a quiet noise of relief when you get up unharmed. Immediately ducking behind the rock for cover when you take a look around to make sure no one has seen that clumsy act.

His heart beats against his ripcage hoping you didn't notice him watching, taking a quick peek over again Tullius lets out a small sad grumble when you make your way back into your hut and out of his sight. Yes, he does want to get to know you, but he always just gets too nervous for his own good.

But he told himself to finally approach you, the merman just has no idea how. So he ends up swimming around in circles in deep thought. The sound of panicked splashing suddenly makes him look over to the beach where a poor sea turtle is trying to get into the water. Half of its shell wrapped up tightly in a net which is holding the animal just barely away from the incoming waves. Tullius swims over quickly, looking left and right for any sign of another human around.

The male crawls onto shore and drags himself over, his arms lifting his upper body up from the heated sand, the small ocean waves now just barely reaching his white finned tail. Tullius, like others of his kind can breathe in air just fine, but he still has to hurry before his gills and other fishy half dries out in the hot sun. The animal notices the merman closing in and continues to struggle, sand flying in the air and some landing in his messy locks in the process from its flippers.

As Tullius tries to comfort the turtle his scaled hands grasp onto the net and he tries to pull it away, with no luck. It looks to be wrapped around to tightly, almost suffocatingly for one to just pull it off. And slowly but surely he feels himself get dryer. The tides also seem to go against him as well when he notices the water drawing back and further away from them. His eyes start loosing focus and Tullius can feel himself growing weaker and dizzy, until he collapses onto the sand beside the other sea creature.

In his barely awake state, he notices something approaching in the distance, but he's to weak to react or make a noise that would alert the stranger. They come to a short halt and seem to call out to him, whatever it is they're saying rings through his head in a blur. His lack of response makes them hurry over until they finally reached him. Tullius barely feels his hands being lifted and freed from the net, before being held up and brought to who knows where.

Until he feels himself being submerged into the familiar salty water, he splashes for a short moment before calming down and letting himself float to the surface with relief. Dry skin regaining its needed moisture.

Then his deep blue eyes meet your wide surprised (e/c) ones and he yelps, submerging himself in the shallow water to hide.

“Wait!”, That sweet voice of yours calls out to him and he slowly rises his head to the surface until just the top of his head and eyes are poking out from the water. You try to appear as nonthreatening as possible. Throwing the small knife away which you've used to cut through the seams of the net to free both the sea turtle and merman. With a quick glance down Tullius also discovers the lack of a familiar old net wrapped tightly around him now gone.

Keeping a safe distance and speaking in a calm voice as you show you're empty handed now. “It's OK... I'm not going to harm you. See? I also freed your friend if you're wondering.”

Tullius meanwhile almost can't believe his own eyes, the human girl he's been fawning over for who knows how long has saved him. And she's not afraid of him! He keeps staring at you with big sparkling eyes, ear fins twitching happily. “Can you talk?”, the merman tilts his head once he snaps out of his small daze and shakes his head lightly, small waves rippling around his head. While the male has learned and understands human language, he can't answer. Only communicating with clicks and other noises merfolk would use.

“Ah that would've been cool. I can't believe I'm actually meeting a real mermaid! Uhh merman..?” you let out a small chuckle at the end and look at him with big amazed eyes, not believing that a supposed mythical creature is right in front of you. “My name is (y/n) it's very nice to meet you!”

Tullius let's out a few clicks in return, introducing himself despite knowing you won't understand him either way.

The two of you spend a little more time together, the merman still mostly submerged while you've sat down onto the sand with your feet dipped into the shallow waves. Having what feels like more of a one sided conversation since he can't really talk back. But nonetheless, you still understood the small gestures he would make.

Only when the sun slowly starts to set did both of you notice how late it actually is. Standing up you give the merman a small wave, “It was really nice meeting you, Mr. Merman. I hope we can see each other again some time.”

Tullius perks up at the suggestion that you want to meet him again. Tilting his head slightly to the side he makes a small squeaky sound, wanting to know when that time will be and where you're going. Of course you didn't understand him and assumed he was saying his own goodbye, you give him a sweet smile before returning back to your hut.

The male watching your form getting smaller with his ear fins cast down and a pout forming on his lips. How he wished he could follow after you just to spend more time with you. Oh wait. He can.

~~~

It's around ten at night when all of a sudden you hear something entering your small wooden hut. As if something heavy got knocked over. You left your window open to let the small ocean breeze in, and you never expected someone to actually break in. After all, you're basically alone on this part of the island. You made sure when you rented this hut for your summer holiday. Wanting nothing more but to relax and enjoy the beach without having other people there.

But when you sneaked out of your small kitchen with a frying pan in both hands, just in case, you find that merman you've met earlier today, laying face first on the wooden floor. Lowering your weapon you let out a surprised gasp “You? What are you doing here?”, at the sound of your voice he quickly looks up from the floor with big eyes, a happy purr rumbling through his chest as he sits up to the best of his ability. Seemingly proud that he has found you and entered on his own. Because it was definitely not that easy.

Now that he's out of the water you can finally admire the merman more closely. He seems to be your age, soft looking fair skin with small various shaped scars littering over his entire lean and slender body. Clawed hands littered with wine red fish scales spreading from the back of his hands leading up to his forearms and fading in color until they reach up his elbows, where on each a triangular fin with the same color is situated. Three slits on each side of his neck now visible which you guess are his gills are closed shut to instead breath in the air instead of filtering the oxygen through water.

One long dorsal fin, also colored wine red, travels from the back of his neck down and along his spine to the middle of his white tail where another triangular shaped one connects wandering down right to the end. Two extra pairs on the sides of his hips and the other one further down his tail. They all look like they've either got cut or teared on the edges and you wonder if it's as painful as it looks.

Your (e/c) eyes travel back up to his head where a mop of messy wet white hair just barely covers those beautiful dark blue eyes that seem to glow in the darker corner of your room. The merman crawls closer, making your form stiffen up slightly but you do not dare to make a sudden move.

Once he's just a few feet away from you, Tullius opens his fist he's been kept closed the entire time and reveals a (favorite color) star snail sea shell, holding it towards you. “For me?” The male nods with a chirp avoiding his gaze but glancing back at you to watch your reaction. You carefully take it from him, putting the pan away and look at it with awe exclaiming that you love his gift.

Tullius' tail slaps against the floor in delight, a sharp toothed grin and small blush spreading across his cheeks, seeing that you like his courting gift.

And this is how it would go on for a few weeks. The merman slipping into your home in the middle of the night and bringing you gifts, all the while hanging around with you so long until he has to go into the ocean again. While at day time you'll see him peaking out from the waves waiting for you to come visit him.

You came to know his name after you showed him how to write, being amazed what a quick learner your new merfriend is. The both of you bonded quickly and you would end up spending most of the time with Tullius and getting to learn more about him, as he does about you. Even sharing his collection with you and receiving some as well he's never seen before.

Eventually you come to feel a certain way for the merman, and you were hoping that he would feel the same.

Little did you know, you've already captured his heart way before you even knew him.

But the day where you have to fly back to your home from your vacation came quicker than you could count, and it made you sad about leaving Tullius for who knows how long. You have to tell him how you feel before you're gone from this island. So as per usual the first thing you do this morning, is walking out to the beach looking for the merman. And there he was, waiting for you at his usual spot by the small wooden pier leading to your hut.

Smiling he waves at you and does a few happy flips before climbing up the structure and leaping on top of you for a tight hug making you fall onto the wooden surface. Your clothes getting wet in the process but you don't mind and giggle as he purrs and nuzzles up against you.

Tullius has become more affectionate and clingy the closer you two became, but not in an overbearing or annoying way which you admit you find pretty cute.

As the two of you spend the time together, Tullius still having his arms wrapped around you chin resting on your shoulder while playing with your hair, you reveal to him about your vacation time and you ending up leaving this island. His reaction of course as you imagined makes your chest feel heavy. The merman is now pulling you tightly against him, his ear fins pulled down and whimpering softly, pleading for you to stay with him.

While Tullius understood that you had to go, it was very hard for him to accept it. After all, he just got closer to you and now you have to leave! He's worried you'll leave him forever.

“I know... I'll miss you too... ” Tullius rests his forehead against yours at your words clicking in response. And as a final goodbye he gently cups your cheeks slowly leaning in until his soft wet lips meet yours in a sweet kiss, surprising you but returning it with as much love as he's pouring into the gesture. A promise to him that you will definitely come back and visit him.

He pulls away with reddened cheeks and loving smile, loosening his hold and preparing to go back into the ocean waters. Neither of you wanted to leave but it would make it harder to say goodbye. And before he finally leaves, Tullius gives you one last look back and finally manages to form his usual noises into five simple words that fills your heart with warmth and will stay with you until the time comes that the both of you will meet again.

“I... love... you... forever...(y/n).”

[akutasoda]

In relation to my last ask too,

I just can't stop thinking about how they would react?@,#?@?@, also pushing my "Blade actually cries" agenda :3

I feel like Blade would freeze INSTANTLY. You're handing him the key to your own heart, something that is so important, so sentimental, so fragile.

You're trusting him enough to basically hand over the only thing that separates you from death itself. He can't even begin to process how to react, but one thing he does is grasp the key that is in his hand. Holding it so tightly that the marks of its edges would start to engrave in his palms.

The only thing that snaps him out of this trance is the feeling of your hands gently reaching out and touching his own. Their warmth was immediately recognized as he lifted his head to look at your face.

That sickly sweet smile painting your lips, the loving gaze in your eyes. Did he deserve that? How did he manage to find someone who would love him with such devotion? How can he even begin to try to prove to you that he loves you just as much? You're literally handing him the only thing that keeps your soul in this plane of existence.

"If you keep holding it like that, it might mold with your skin," you said with a chuckle. And he might actually want (need) that. Attach something so important for you to his own body so he will never lose or forget about it. If he could, that key would be already carved to his body.

Again, you're making him experience these strange new feelings for the first time. Just as you managed to make him feel love, now you're making him feel gratitude. Gratitude for having someone like you love a weapon like him.

And just like a cracked dam finally breaking, tears cascaded down his face, drop after drop quickly turning into a gentle stream of water. His arms wasted no time and quickly wrapped around you, his fist still closed around the key as he leaned against the crook of your neck.

"Thank you... love."

This was supposed to be a LOT bigger but I felt nervous and I don't want to send you a fucking Bible sized ramble so I had to cut some paragraphs out DGBDGZGDBDJ SORRY IF IT'S STILL WAY TOO MUCH

Ps; TUMBLR WORD EDIT SUCKS SOOOO BAD I HATE IT.

omg.. this is too good! you seriously need to write this!

this has got me thinking about a whole contract and irony of how the person teaching him these new feelings is in fact a puppet(?). something that normally isn't alove, something that normally doesn't even have feelings and yet you are making him experience the feeelings he hasn't felt as blade.

and yes i agree, blade does cry. ot may take alot but something like this would truly remind him of his humanity and that's when he allows himself the same weakness at the moment you're offering him something so precious to you.

and im very much welcoming a full-length idea :) especially one's as good as these

[acti-veg]

hello! im vegan; I love our nonhuman friends and hate speciesism. but like what is to be done about cockroaches. i have an infestation in my apartment. i recognize that humans are a minority on this great big planet, that we have taken space that belonged first to insects and animals, but. cockroaches. are there ethical ways to make them stay outta my place? is that an ethical desire in the first place. also great blog you are eloquent and patient and i tell all my vegan friends about your posts in da group chat

Thank you for the support, I really appreciate that! This is a common ethical dilemma for vegans, and I've answered it in general terms in my FAQs here, but I'll offer some more specific advice as well.

With cockroaches, prevention is the best thing you can do. I realise that it is too late for this for your apartment now, but you should start doing these things regardless, if you don't already, since they may drive out the roaches already there:

Do a deep clean immediately. That means disinfecting everything, paying special attention to areas like the top of your fridge and behind it, the backs of cupboards, behind the oven (if you can move it), under your bed, the tops of doors, behind furniture. Anywhere that you don't clean on a regular basis. Get all your furniture and appliances out and clean thoroughly. If you're doing this properly, it should take a full day of work.

Once you have done a deep clean, throw out or seal away any clutter that cockroaches could live and nest in. Paper is especially attractive to them - so any books, letters, cardboard, but also linens, piles of clothes, dishrags, tea towels etc. Get rid of it or seal it away in plastic boxes. You want your space to be as empty as possible, at least until they are gone.

While we're on throwing out, look up what their eggs look like. If you find anything with their eggs on it, sterilise it or throw it away. If it is something like a book, you will not be able to sufficiently sterilise and you'll need to throw it away (in an outside bin). Check all of the books you own, even if they look pretty clean on the shelf.

Keep your space extremely sterile after this, you need to go overboard on this now. Especially make sure you clean all surfaces that you have prepared food on, or eaten nearby. Do this daily, or as often as you can.

Wash plates and utensils immediately after use. Dry them and put them away, don't leave them on the rack.

Keep bins completely covered, clean, and empty them regularly. A separate bin for food waste (emptied daily) is a good idea. This applies to pet bowls as well.

Cockroaches are most active at night, so before you go to bed, check all the above has been done. Leave nothing out over night that they can shelter in, eat, or drink. Make the environment as inhospitable for them as you can.

With you being in an apartment, they may be coming from a neighbouring property. Seal gaps around doors and windows to prevent entry - you may need to speak to the landlord or property manager about this if you're renting.

Cockroaches need water, so take a look at whether you have any leaks around water pipes that could be providing them with a drinking source. Things like mop buckets, wet toothbrushes, drip trays in the fridge, the bottom of the bath/shower, and wet sponges also count. Anything moist needs to be covered up, or dried off after use.

This alone may well be enough to drive them out and prevent them from returning, but there are also natural deterrents (and chemical ones) that you can use. This includes bay leaves, pepper, garlic powder, dishwashing liquid, essential oils and baking soda. There are many pre-made natural ones online too, if you're concerned about chemicals.

Try these things over a period of weeks, but if that doesn't work, you need to call an exterminator as your last resort. You just cannot live in close proximity with cockroaches, they pose a health risk and they may damage the property. Your landlord or housing association may be able to pay for it or at least help with the costs, especially if you can get one or more neighbour to come out and say that they have cockroaches as well. The law requires this in many places.

Hopefully it won't come to that, exhaust everything else here before you call a professional, but don't feel bad if that is what you have to do. So long as you're doing everything possible and practicable to try and drive them out humanely, then you really don't have any other choice available to you. Just know that even if you do call an exterminator, if you don’t do everything else on this list, they will almost definitely come back

It speaks well of you that you’re concerned about this from an ethical perspective, but remember that veganism has to be practical for it to work. You have to look after your own wellbeing first, and it just isn’t reasonable to expect anyone to tolerate cockroaches in their home purely on ethical grounds.

[zooophagous]

Hi! I'm here from a popular post of yours about humanity's love for sheep and saw you were a sheep caretaker. This is a job i really want to do. That said i am extremely frail (i have no disability that i know of, but it still sucks) and fear that the job might be too physical for me. I cant find any resource detailing the average day of a sheep caretaker in my native language except for websites trying to hire. So i guess my question is... what does your day look like (or can you get accomodations of sorts, like focusing on milking the sheep idk)! I am really motivated and ready to accept a part time job but if i knew i could manage with a full time contract i would love to get that extra money lmfao

Hi friend. I'm glad the post inspired you to love sheep as much as I do.

I will preface this with a very important distinction: my sheep were petting zoo sheep. It was a very small managed herd in a relatively small area that was kept immaculately clean.

These sheep had lots of 1 on 1 time with humans and saw caretakers as a source of food and safety. A commercial sheep operation has the potential to be VERY different.

Range sheep are often barely handled except to be given vetting on a tight schedule, and otherwise live in large flocks outside where they don't directly interact with people on a daily basis. These range sheep can be semi feral and not at ALL cooperative like a small herd of sheep managed by a hands on shepherd like what you might see on, say, a smaller farm or just for fun operation.

So suffice to say, if you're working with a very large herd of range sheep, your experience will differ from my experience with my Jacob's sheep pals who saw me every day and got hands on messing with several times a day.

I know exactly how you feel with being frail. I've never been a strong person and I have a low heat tolerance. Farm work, even on a petting zoo setting, is always going to be very hard work.

My day consisted of raking out the sheep pens daily, including sweeping out any old hay or straw and replacing as needed. The entire pen, even the outdoor areas, was cleaned. I would then feed the sheep (a hay bag with approximately 5 pounds of hay per sheep) and water the sheep (five gallon bucket which had to be dumped and refilled and carried back to the pen by hand)

I also gave the sheep enrichment items such as branches or small pieces of fruit. Old enrichment items had to be removed and reusable items like balls or toys had to be cleaned. Reusable items would be taken back to the dish station far away from the pens, scrubbed, and returned.

In addition, I would also take the sheep waste in a large trash bin to the compost heap with the help of a small tractor. The waste bin containing the droppings and old hay could weigh anywhere between 15 to 40 pounds depending on how much water waste got into the hay that day. This bucket had to be loaded by hand into the back of the compost tractor.

These tasks would continue every day no matter what weather. Our weather here is highly variable and can range from 100F in summer to -50F in winter.

It is a very physically demanding job to care for a petting zoo, and while I was often physically exhausted, I did also gain quite a bit of muscle from the experience and by the end of my time there I had more strength and endurance than when I had started.

Keep in mind, if you were to get a position similar to mine, you would be dealing with more than just sheep. I was also personally responsible for horses, cattle, goats, chickens, rabbits, alpacas and a giant sulcata tortoise. So you will be doing all of the same stuff you did for those sheep for the other animals in your care, and if you get big ones like cows, the weight limit goes up. I often had fifty pounds or more of cow waste alone. And that too was loaded by hand.

My animals were friendly and a joy to take care of, but the level of cleanliness demanded by the facility meant that the work done was very messy and had lots of lifting.

If you work with range sheep, you probably won't be scooping poop with a rake while a friendly lamb bothers you for attention. You may be physically pinning an angry ewe nearly as big as you are in a pen to force feed her an antibiotic while she tries to smash you. You may be herding sheep on a four wheeler. You may be assisting with births and expected to perform procedures such as banding, docking or mulesing.

If that level of activity is off putting, you may be able to find some fulfillment in volunteering for a livestock rescue or even working part time at a livestock auction house. If you're strong enough to manhandle a sheep you could even learn to shear. But regrettably there isn't any physically easy way to care for sheep that I am aware of.

I hope this helps you get a feel for the level of activity you'd expect in a similar role. Livestock animals are very fun and rewarding despite the effort they take. I hope to own my own small herd of Jacob's sheep as pets and pasture ornaments some day.

[yuukiyuunairumafan]

My Owari no seraph oc

Name: Yuuki Suzuki/Hyakuya (She is also in the Shinoa Squad)

Gender: Female

Race: Full human

Age: 16

Like: Cold water, takoyaki, spending time by reading a book and studying. Taking care of the others, training to grow stronger, hanging out with Shinoa or Mitsuba.

Dislike: Mean and rude people. Wasting time. Bully.

Crush: Yuichiro Hyakuya and Mikaela Hyakuya.

Birthday: 11th August

Appearance: Yuuki is a young, beautiful girl underneath that smiley mask. She have long white hair with side braids, tied by black ribbon and crystal blue eyes.

Family member: Yuuna Kiana (Mother, deceased), Leo Suzuki (Father, alive), Yuki Suzuki (Older brother, alive)

The word yuuki [勇気] means courage, bravery and daring. Beware that it can also mean ghost or spirit [幽鬼] or simply something organic [有機]. It's an interesting word that can give a good meaning to a Japanese name. Unfortunately, it is also not usually written with the ideograms of courage [勇気].

愛喜] is a common way of writing yuuki which means love and rejoice. [優希] which means tenderness, kindness and hope and pray. In addition to [優輝] which means tenderness and brightness. 

Backstory: Yuuki grow up in an abusive household. Her mother died after giving broth to her and her father hated her for that. Her bother, Yuki, always be the one who protect her as those two were the only child in the Suzuki household. In my AU, the Suzuki is the second royal family after Ferid's. However, in one certain day, Yuuki went towards Yuki room, holding a novel. She know that Yuki like to read novel so she brought some from the school library. With a smile on her face, she knock on Yuki room before opening it slowly.

"Yuki-nii, I brought you a bo-" Her smile faded once she saw that Yuki was nowhere to be seen. His room were messy, book and paper scatter around the floor and his bed sheets were torn apart. She panicked, dropping the book. Her father, Leo, who saw this begin to smirk. She slowly looked at her father, asking him only for her to get such an unexpected answer. "Oh? Your big brother? How sad. I sold him. He sure having the interest of older woman. I got many money because of that."

She didn't expect her father, her own flesh and blood, to sold her own brother just like that for money. Leo smirk and slapped her hand on her cheeks before turning around and walked away. Yuuki started to cry silently, muttering "Big brother" over and over again as she hold the book close. After a month, Yuuki personality changed. She's no longer cheerful like before. She's now very cold, quiet and distant towards other. Even though her timid and shy self is still there.

At 12th of December, when she was 8, her father told her to get dressed. She did as she was told, changing her clothes. She wore simple plain blue shirt with black skirt and a pair of long white sock and black mary jane shoes. Her father drove her into his car, driving to an empty, cold, dark streets. He grab her by the arms and drag her off the car. He then let go of her. With a disgusted and cold look on his face, he spoke in stern voice. "I don't need you anymore."

With those last words, he turn around and walked away. Leaving Yuuki all alone in the dark and cold streets. And since then, she had a hard time trying to survive up until the manager of the Hyakuya Orphanage begin to notice her. They asked Yuuki if she wanted to stay with them so that she can have a place to live in. Yuuki hesitated at first, not fully trust them but nodded later. The manager took her to the orphanage, and this is when she begin to meet Mika before meeting Yuu a weeks later.

So, my oc also escaped with Yuu after Mika plan failed. Her cursed gear is the same like Yuichiro. A swords/katana. Her demon name is Adeline. Adeline have long blonde hair, red eyes, fangs, pointy ear and seraphic wings. She wore white dress and a pair of white leather boots.

Fact:

-Yuuki is still searching for her brother.

- Yuuki wear mask to hide her face. She is not good at expression her feelings so it might be very awkward since she had a very stoic and blank expression on her face most of the time without the mask on.

-She's inlove with Yuu and Mika, unaware that they also feel the same.

-Yuuki emotion died a long time ago from the abuse of her father.

-And now that she has her emotion returning slowly one by one, she's still lacking of it. And she still can't describe what she was feelings most of the time after a years of not having any emotions and feelings.

-Yuuki love cute things. Her room were filled with teddy bear and such things as plushie, doodles, and much more.

-Her favourite color is black. She didn't like bright color.

-The only color she allow in her room is: Black, white, cherry pink, blue, aqua green and purple.

-Yuuki find Shinoa personality amusing and interesting. Especially that smug grin.

-Yuuki think that Mitsuba deserve the right to kick Yuu since he is very stubborn and act out of order. Or before Shinoa command something.

-Yuuki feel a twinge of jealousy when she see how close Shinoa is with Yuu.

[harrowharks-iliac-crest]

Day Two

Mush For Breakfast—Honesty’s Job Goes Terribly Wrong—The City Has A Worse Day—Camilla-And-Palamedes—“Keep Her Home Tonight”—Four Days Until The Tomb Opens.

Four days.

Starting to understand the format of this book: A "dream" about John, about Alecto, followed by a Day in Nona's life. Who's keeping track? Who knows when the tomb opens?

...Pyrrha?

Either that, or Nona is being watched by someone else.

Either way; One day down, four more to go. Let's get started.

7

Second skull. (Judith? The Cohort?)

Nona’s dream cut off abruptly. [...] “It’s the sitting part. My feet are in the nice water, the safe water. The water’s in my boots. My socks are full of it. I’m talking to her but I can’t see her face. I tried to, Cam, but it’s what always happens, I don’t manage to look at it, it just doesn’t work.”

Nona isn't dreaming about John; she's dreaming about someone else. The picture face, she called it the day before; we still don't know whose picture, do we?

“I’m touching her hands. She’s touching my hands. But in the dream it’s always my hands, remember, Cam, I’m touching my own hands but they’re not mine.”

I'm counting this as evidence that Nona is Alecto. Her hands but her hands are Nona's, she is Nona.

“There’s eyes all around us, red eyes. In the darkness. I remember this time, they’re red.” “Do you have any thoughts?” “Yes,” said Nona. “I’m hungry. In the dream. Really hungry.” The pencil stilled. “You’re hungry?” “I’m so hungry,” said Nona.

Welp, this isn't alarming or ominous at all. Red eyes? So hungry?

“Who do they feel like they belong to? Do you like them?” Nona chortled. “Not one bit.” Nona hated having hands.

That's interesting. Nona loves every part of her body. But not her hands? Or at least, not the hands in her dream?

I really wanna know more about this.

“Pyrrha—why does We Suffer hate you?” “Because I remind her that her God was just a human being who could get tired and fuck up,” said Pyrrha instantly. That was the wonderful thing about Pyrrha: she didn’t waste time saying things like “What made you think of that?” or “Why?” She went ahead and answered. In a way though, it was also a bad thing about Pyrrha, because she lied and told the truth at exactly equal top speeds.

So Pyrrha does lie, and could be lying about any number of things, including this.

Interesting that We Suffer considers Wake her God. I assume that's what this means.

“If you’re that charming,” said Nona, “how come you’re single?”

Oooooohhhhhh, sick burn. Careful Nona. Though if I were to guess, I'd say the answer is "because she's busy keeping you safe, Nona".

Pyrrha had used to be like Camilla and Palamedes and now her equivalent of Palamedes was gone—really dead—killed by a terrible monster that nobody would describe to her.

Yeah no it seems basically impossible to even describe the resurrection beasts. And also, yeah Gideon is dead - but that's most likely only part of why Pyrrha is heartbroken. She's lost all her old friends - all the first Lyctors are dead! - she's lost her necromancer, she's lost Wake as well, who she had a passionate affair with. Pyrrha is unspeakably old and everyone she used to know is dead. She must be so lonely.

“Who, and whyfor, did you bribe?” “Some guys. Site C,” said Pyrrha succinctly. “For God’s sake, Pyrrha, if it’s that hard to access I’ll swap you Site B, Cam and I have ways and means of accessing—” “I would pay any amount of money to stop you taking that risk you take,” said Pyrrha,

Palamedes and Pyrrha bickering is almost cute. But also what the fuck are they investigating? And why won't they tell Nona anything?

Oh -!!! They're talking about some kind of trial, which makes it very likely that Pyrrha helped Camilla and Palamedes achieve Lyctorhood. And they can both be present at the same time, only it puts a massive amount of strain on Camilla's body. Interesting.

“What d’you want from the cheap-jacks, No-No?” “Oh, nothing—except it is my six-monther soon,” she reminded Pyrrha. Camilla said, “You can get a present once it’s been a year.”

Is this what we're leading up to? Nona's six-month anniversary of being alive? Is this what her "birthday" is going to be?

I was wondering about that, and about how they'd know it was her birthday if she wasn't remembering anything, so that might explain it.

But Pyrrha said, “God, you think she’s ever gotten presents? I visited her hometown back before Anastasia got settled, and it was grim as fuck then. Just spooky caves all the way down…”

Damn, good point. I think the closest to a present Gideon ever got was that two-hander - and Harrow, that lollipop when she was like three. Fuck man, these girls have led extremely depressing lives so far.

Nona goes to school, Honesty has a black eye, and when he tells the story of what happened -

“Said the eyes was all white. But he said he was moving quietly, real quietly, and these guys—they’re all just sitting around—they all look up … they all look at him ��� with these white-out eyes … they all look up at the same time. They look at him. He kept saying that,” he said suddenly, breaking off. He said, “Kept saying, they saw me, they saw me, oh my God.”

What the fuuuuuuuck. Who are those guys? Eyeless creeps? Necromantic puppets? Pupilless necromancers? Victims of some kind? More experiments?

But then … then the driver said we were being followed … and the guy goes crazy sobbing and apologising, saying he fucked up, he got us in trouble, and then one of the old chicks is like, get the kid out, and … and they stop the car and there’s another two big trucks pulling up behind us, militia trucks with guys, and…”

Militia trucks? Jeeeeeeeeeez...

“I know what it was. I hang out with you lot. I know the deal. Nobody ever asks poor old Honesty … Honesty could’ve told him not to try and knock off the goddamned Convoy.”

The CONVOY????

The Convoy was mentioned in one of the previous chapters - the rumbling, earthquake-like transport that nobody quite knew what it was.

THIS is what it is????

I have so many questions but mostly I'm just fucking baffled that the petty criminals Honesty was working with don't know about the Convoy. It must be somewhat common knowledge where they live, right?

Right?

... Yikes.

[cocogrrrl]

rendezvous

Chapter 3: Rough Starts

the story kicks off as kyle and yn get a drink while the black stones also brews a fun idea in the process

wc: 2328 cws: drinking (very light), mentions of rehab and drugs (brief) check the series master list here! previous chapter

All eyes were on Kyle that very moment—including YN’s. Kenny was right; she did seem like she was about to head out. He needed to act fast. 

All the attention garnered on Kyle made him rather uneasy, though. ‘Your name is Brad Plum. Kind of like Brad Pitt, but, like, the pits of plums.’ Kyle mentally told himself, reminding himself what he was here for.

He’ll be playing as Brad Plum, an overconfident, almost annoying man who’s a coward. He is a hiring manager for some food company, an awful one at that. He’s too caught up in his own business to be listening to others. He has no girlfriend, no pets, nothing. He invests his time in something stupid, like phrenology. He acts tough when really he’s a coward inside. In short, he’s kind of a fucking disappointment. Yeah, that’s who Brad Plum will be.

Is there anything good about Brad Plum? Yeah! He’s not hateful of others for something they can’t control, but that’s the bare minimum for humans. I guess you could call him shrewd to some extent. He definitely has confidence, to say the least. He’s a proud but a full of shit man. That’s kind of funny.

That was just to let the reader know who he’ll play, though. Kyle wasted absolutely no time standing and thinking. He made his way to YN with a confident stride. Luckily, the door slam had caught her attention as well, so her eyes were fixated on him. The longer time went on, the less people started to care about Kyle's existence. Thank god as well.

He took a deep breath in before he met eyes with her, a smug grin on his face. “You think I can buy you a drink, pretty?”

YN seemed taken aback, to say the least, but she seemed to be intrigued by Brad’s outwardness. Score. “Huh, well, why not?” She chuckled, getting back in her seat.

The two girls accompanying her, Red and Bebe, seemed entertained by Brad as well. She quickly turned to them, most likely asking if it was okay if she were to spend time here. They seemed to nod in reply, Bebe and Red quickly moving a few seats away from YN, giving Brad space to sit beside YN—which he took gladly.

“So, what’s your name?” He asked.

“I’m YN,” she said, leaning her upper body weight on the counter with her arms tucked under her chest, her head leaning to the side as she looked at Brad. “What’s your name?”

“Brad Plum.” He started to rethink the identity he took upon. It sounded like shit.

“You don’t look like a Brad or a Plum.” She replied, a small giggle following after.

“I know. I get that a lot. It’s what my parents picked, though.”

“Really? Where’d they get the name from?”

“My mom loves Brad Pitt.” Mom being Kyle. Well, he didn’t love Brad Pitt, he just loved him in Fight Club, Inglorious Bastards, and even Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Did you know Brad Pitt was Metro Man from Megamind? Kyle knew. He kinda liked Brad Pitt.

“Mhm.” She hummed.

The air felt stale. Brad's dry and seemingly disinterested replies, even if he was the one who asked YN for a drink, seemed to be failing. Maybe the overly self-assured and cold personality he’s putting up won’t get him so far. He should be a lot nicer.

“Sorry. This is getting awkward.” He shook his head, laughing at himself to relieve some awkwardness that had risen. ”What do you want?” He said, head nodding to the assortment of drinks presented before them.

“Hmm, I think I’ll just get a Riesling.”

“Really?” He raised a brow.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s very light.” In Kyle’s honest opinion, he thought that she’d go for something a little more strong—like a marsala or some vodka. 

“I’ve had some to drink already, and I gotta do something later. Can’t waste your offer on something completely boring.”

“Yeah?” He asked, not quite getting where she was heading at.

“Like, I can’t just go for some water, you know?. Although I’d be fine with it, I don’t think it’s worth the confidence you mustered up earlier. Everyone was looking at you, and I’d hate it if the person I asked out just wanted water after all the effort I gave.”

A surprised look was on Kyle’s face. Huh. He didn’t think that the city-infamous YN would be so considerate. Was this the right guy? I mean, she sure sounded like her, but the YN he’s taking down is the underbelly of the crime scene here. “How thoughtful of you.”

“Of course.” She said, giving him a polite smile.

The drinks would come later, though, since it seemed like Brad and YN were quickly caught in a string of conversations back-to-back. She seemed already very interested in him, to his luck. Perhaps she was just being nice to him as well, feeling some pity for a guy who got stoned by the harsh eyes of many people when he set foot in the bar.

Whatever the reason may be, it seemed like things were going well for him. From Drew Barrymore to airline food to the best dog breed, it seemed like their first 15 minutes together never had too many awkward silences.

“Personally, I’m more of a miniature dog lover, but we can always agree to disagree.” YN sighed defeatedly, raising her hands up.

Brad had just made an argument as to why golden retrievers were far better than Shih Tzus, even if Kyle didn’t really have much of a strong love for goldies. He was much more of a Borzoi type of guy. I mean, their long noses really sell it for him.

“Yeah? Shih Tzus are always just two things: a show dog or an Asian family’s common household pet.” Brad spat back.

“Well, golden retrievers are the white-picket fence of dogs! At least I’m not that boring.” You pouted, crossing your arms.

Out of nowhere, Bebe walked up to YN and gave her a tap on the back. Her attention was quickly diverted to hers. They exchanged a few words—none that Kyle could make out, unfortunately–—but YN turned back soon after.

“Hey, I’m just gonna go to the bathroom for a bit, okay? You go order our drinks while I’m at it.” She said, already getting up from her seat.

Brad aptly nodded. “Oh, sure.” Well, it’s not like he had much of a choice anyway.

You headed to the restroom with Bebe and Red, much to Kyle’s confusion. Why were you going there as a pack? Maybe it’s just a girl thing, he thought.

⋆｡˚ ✧ ˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚

Snickers and giggles filled the empty restroom as you went inside with the girls.

“Okay, so what do we think of the guy?” Red started.

“Hmm, I think he’s cute.” You hummed, looking in the mirror as pulled out your lip gloss to touch it up. 

In all honesty, you didn’t think that much of Brad yet. You thought he was kind of dorky, which you found adorable. He was also a bit too self-assured for your liking as well, but he was cute nonetheless.

“I’m pretty sure he’s a fucking narc, though,” Bebe said with a visible pout you caught by the corner of your eye, resting her back on the surface of the sinks.

“Huh? How do you know?” You asked, looking at the blonde through the mirror as you raised a brow.

“Remember Stan? The guy I met at rehab a few months ago and sold molly to?”

“Yeah?”

“I got close to him at one point, and he said that his best friend was the one who pushed him to go there. He told me he was a cop, then he showed me a pic of the guy. He looks exactly like that Brad guy you’re talking to.”

“Shit.” You said, clicking your tongue.

“Dude. I think he’s undercover. You know, he’s probably trying to get some dirt on us.” Bebe noted.

You sighed, shaking your head in disappointment. You thought you were gonna have some fun tonight. “Yeah.”

“Well, he definitely did his research well since he went for you, YN,” Red said.

“What do you mean?” You hummed

“You’re the only one in our group who’s single.”

“I guess you do make a point.” You chuckled, putting your lipstick back in your purse. Bebe was with Clyde, and Red was with Heidi, but most likely Brad was taking a lucky guess going for you. It’s best to strike at the head, right?

“Are you gonna ghost him, YN?” Bebe asked, raising a brow as you.

“No,” you answered as an idea started to form in your head. “Bebe, try to get in contact with Stan if you can. Red, Heidi grew up here, right?” They both nodded, sharing a slightly confused look. “I want you guys to look further into this ‘Brad’ guy we’re dealing with. I want to have some leverage as well.

“I think we should play around with him, see how far he’s willing to go get that dirt. You know, just for shits and giggles.” If you were going to end up getting arrested in the end, you might as well have fun while you’re at it.

Yet this seemed like a weird position to put him in. I mean, a few girls dragging a guy somewhere? If you played your cards right, you might be able to convince Brad to come. At the same time, though, what if the guy you got was wrong? You hoped what Bebe said was right.

If your guesses were correct, you were going to have to go the long route with Brad. Make him think that he's gonna have you by the end of tonight, when really you're gonna fake a "hard-to-get" thing that you know he'll never get.

Red already got on her phone texting her girlfriend whilst Bebe shared a devious grin with you. “We should bring him with us tonight,” She said with a giggle.

“You think he’ll come?” Red asked, cautiousness lacing her face.

“If he’s desperate enough, maybe. ” You smiled. 

⋆｡˚ ✧ ˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚

 After a while, Kyle finally catches YN exiting the restroom with the two girls, who made their way back to where they were earlier.

“Hey, Brad,” she greeted, taking her seat. Kyle noted the more cleaned-up look on her face. She must’ve retouched her makeup while in the bathroom. He wondered why. Maybe because she must’ve taken a liking to him already? Well, he’d hope so. “Sorry for taking so long. Girl things.” She said with a laugh.

“Don’t sweat it.” He gave her a reassuring smile, passing her the riesling she ordered.

“Thank you,” she nodded, taking the drink in hand. “Cheers?” She asked, raising the glass.

“Cheers,” Brad reaffirmed, clinking his glass of whiskey on the rocks with her glass of wine.

“So, uh, Brad,” he answered you with a hum. “What do you do for a living?”

“Huh?” He was taken aback by the randomness of the question.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to break the ice.” She laughed, placing a hand on top of his as her thumb rubbed on the back of his hand.

He was not drunk enough for this. “It’s totally fine. I’m a hiring manager.”

“Really? For what company?”

“Oh, Whole Foods Market.” He said, Whole Foods was the first company that came to his mind. It’s probably not like she was going to fact-check him anyway. ”What do you do?”

“I’m a storage facility worker or was. Recently got blown off.”

“That sucks.” He said, giving her a sympathetic frown. “Where’d you get money since then?”

“Comission side gigs.” 

“Huh?”

“I’m an artist.” Not quite the answer he was expecting.

He expected that she was going to say that she was on the streets dealing whatever substances she had, but maybe she was going to hide it from him for now. I mean, that’s why undercover missions take a while so that you can wait to slowly break the target.

“Yeah? Could you show me some of your art?”

“My phone’s almost dead, so I can’t show it.” What a convenient excuse. “Maybe some other time? I’d love to showcase it.”

“I’d love to see it as well.” He gave her a grin, placing his hand on top of hers.

“Thanks.” You caught a faint smile tugging at the end of her lips. “Say, Brad,”

“Mhm?”

“The girls and I have some business to tend to—if you know what I mean.” She said, dragging a finger on his forearm, a smug look on her face. “Do you wanna come with us?”

Had he already hit a gold mine? No, a diamond mine? As a first-time undercover cop, he felt incredibly lucky. Many of his higher-ups had told him how difficult it was to have their guys break and let them in. This had to be a joke. There was no way she was already inviting him to go commit some atrocities and shit with him. 

Be it a joke or not, it was best to take up the offer than not. If he gets in some deep shit already, then good for him. If not, at least he’s already building rapport with the three.

But what would this mean in a context if he weren't undercover? Shit, was he going to be brought to some weird orgy?

“Are you sure? I mean, I really hope I’m not interrupting anything.” He said worriedly, hoping it wasn't actually the latter.

“Don’t worry,” she smiled, the finger on his arm finding itself to now be her hand cupping his cheek. He held back everything to not blush. He couldn’t let physical affection break him like this. “We’d love to have you with us.”

“Sure, then.”

“Really?”

“Just so I could spend more time with a pretty face like you.” He smiled, hooking his finger under her chin.

next chapter.

[kermit-the-hag]

My name is Baraa Al-Shorfa, I am 15 years old. We are a family of 6, my mother, father and 4 children, my youngest brother is 8 years old, since October 7, 2023, we have been suffering from a brutal war that has destroyed our dreams and hopes, and has gone beyond the limits of human comprehension. During this brutal war, we have endured hardships that mountains cannot bear. We suffer from severe water shortages, and we often walk about a kilometer to get one gallon of water, which is equivalent to about 16 liters, barely enough for five family members. We also suffer from severe food and nutrition shortages due to the blockade imposed on northern Gaza for 10 months, which prevents the entry of basic materials such as meat, vegetables and fruits. This situation has forced us to eat animal feed such as barley, which has caused us to lose weight, suffer from multiple diseases, and greatly weaken our immune systems. As a result of the war, our home and agricultural land that provided us with our daily sustenance were completely destroyed and bulldozed. We also suffered from repeated displacement, moving from one place to another and from one area to another due to the horrific and brutal bombing. We also suffer from fear and terror due to the heavy bombing, fire belts and explosives, the sound of tanks was very terrifying. In addition, we were deprived of education and the opportunity to build a future. My younger brothers suffer from skin diseases, but the hospitals, which are the lifeline for every patient and needy, were also destroyed. We face a shortage of medicines and vaccines while diseases are increasing and spreading among us, with no solution in sight as there are no hospitals or medical supplies available here in Gaza. We live in constant fear for my younger brothers because they have not received their general vaccinations, especially after the spread of polio due to the lack of cleaning supplies and the massive accumulation of waste in the streets. I also should have been vaccinated against Tetanus and Typhoid fever, but I did not receive them due to the lack of vaccinations, and sewage water flooded the streets, posing a serious threat to our children. We suffered from jaundice, where we struggled for about two weeks with fatigue, dizziness and other symptoms. It is a deadly disease, my brothers' little bodies became full of red pimples and as I mentioned before there is no treatment available due to the destruction of hospitals and health centers.

We also suffer from the absence of cooking gas, which forces us to use wood and plastic to light fires, which can lead to poisoning. We have been without electricity since October 7th, spending days in the dark, causing immense fear for my little brothers. This has also made it very difficult to charge our phones and night light batteries. We had to travel kilometers from our home to find places with electricity, which costs us a lot to charge our phones and batteries.

Moreover, we have not had a steady income since the beginning of the war.

This is our goal to achieve with your help.

I appeal to you to help my family so that we can live a better life.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/uybndx-alhrob-mn-alhrb?utm_campaign=٨p_nacp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/e/2PACX-1vTKQYInYewFiGUX4afdHK-rANJDT4dgOC4IV6elKYNvYI2HvOTf_6IsTqt5m2KXcr_pGxcqR8AvsAJi/pubhtml#

VETTED BY BUTTERFLY 🦋NU 911

He’s only managed to raise €137 so far so please help if you can 🇵🇸 even if you can’t donate, reblog if you’re able to

[mzannthropy]

Sam Claflin as Romantic Hero (Linda's Version)

So I thought I'd do a post (posts?) on the topic of Sam playing romantic heroes, bc this is what I disagree with the entire planet most about.

What I mean by "romantic hero" here is someone who I see would make a good partner. Let's go. (Under a cut as got long, no major spoilers.)

William (Snow White and the Huntsman)

A son of a duke and childhood friend of Snow White. When Ravenna, the Evil Queen, takes over their kingdom, the duke and his young son escape to safety. William grows up believing Snow White to be dead. When he hears she is still alive, he doesn't waste a second and goes off to rescue her, as she is being held in prison by her stepmother. His father tries to persuade him not to go, the quest is full of perils and would lead him through the dark forest, but William is determined. He feels he let her down, even though he had no control over the events, being a child himself. He joins the band of Bad Guys, led by Queen Ravenna's brother (who has an unfortunate haircut, but that's for another day) so that he can get to Snow White--this is the "do you need a bowman" scene. Oh yes, William is very skilled with a bow and arrow!

William is loyal, dependable, honourable, a skilled archer and of noble blood, and doesn't hesitate to engage his darker side when necessary--and what is more romantic hero than that?

Philip (Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides)

Philip is a missionary, a sole survivor of a ship that got captured by Blackbeard. Blackbeard's daughter Angelica persuaded her father to spare the young priest, believing she could save Blackbeard's soul. Philip believes everyone's soul can be saved, even someone as cruel and bad as Blackbeard's. Philip is not afraid to stand up to Blackbeard and even calls him a 'coward'.

The pirates are on a hunt for a tear of a mermaid, on their quest to find the Fountain of Youth. However, they soon discover mermaids are not to be messed around with. Philip manages to catch one (not realising this very same mermaid earlier saved him from falling debris by pulling him into the water). He stabs her tail with sword, but when their eyes meet and sees her, he instantly changes his mind. It's too late, though, the pirates turn up and capture her in a net. Philip regrets his action and spends the rest of the film doing his best to protect her. When she is being carried in a glass box, she starts choking bc she can't breathe, he insist they let some air in. When they don't listen, he grabs a sword from Blackbeard's quartermaster (who is a scary character), breaks the lock, pries the box open, and uses his Bible in to create an opening, so that the mermaid can have air. When the glass box breaks and she turns human on dry land (has legs instead of tail), she can't walk and Philip carries her. He takes off his shirt and wraps her in it, as she is exposed, after her scales turns to human skin. (This also means we get a shirtless Sam!) Philip and the mermaid, whom he names Syrena, talk and he finds out she saved his life, when Jack blew up a lighthouse. She could see he was different from the others, that he protects.

A clergyman might not be perhaps everyone's choice of a romantic hero, well not mine anyway (I grew up without religion), but it's incredible how brave Philip is. He is the only one who cares about Syrena's welfare and protects her. And he has unshakable faith. A man of principles--certainly a romantic hero to me!

Richard Sharp (Adrift)

Richard is based on a real life person, but for the purposes of this post, I will treat him as a fictional guy. Also I should add that Richard is a sailor and so your relationship would only be possible if you were also a sailor, or at least wanted to sail the seas. (I think those type of people drift together; lol a pun.) It's just a big part of who he is. But it is, of course, possible to imagine him in a different environment, of the same character.

Richard makes it known to Tami that he is interested in her, no fucking around, they have a date aboard his boat. He is certainly helped a lot by the gorgeous backdrop of Tahiti. When he gets an offer to sail his friends' yacht to San Diego, he immediately includes Tami in his plans. During their voyage, he proposes to her with a ring he made himself (he would buy an actual ring of precious stone once they landed). Skilled at what he does and committed to you--a good choice for a romantic hero, I'd say.

Henry Copper (Book of Love)

A point against Henry right from the start is that he is a rather unsuccessful writer. However, this is only bc the film has to be about something (so that he can team up with Maria), but it doesn't mean he is bad at writing.

Why I think he is a romantic hero is that he is most courteous to Maria, even after he finds out she changed his book while translating it. He agrees to work with her without complaining and takes her seriously. He asks what she's writing one night when they're staying at a hotel while on book tour, she tells him she wants to write her own book. She's a single mum and he does his best to bond with her son, attempting to speak Spanish. While they're out on a night walk, he has no problem admitting that he got scared when he heard a monkey scream--Maria remarks that none of the men she knows would ever admit to any such thing. When the book they're working on is ready for publishing, he makes sure her name, too, appears on the cover, so they share the credit. I also like the hot professor look Sam sports here.

There is some romcom-typical angst where he gets jealous of her ex-bf/baby daddy, but it doesn't last long. At the end, Maria publishes a book of her own, and Henry is backstage during an interview she does for a talk show, supporting her.

A man who respects you and takes you seriously and is your biggest supporter--easily spells a romantic hero to me!

[broken-clover]

Certainly! Ngl I always love having an excuse to talk about the aquarium.

-Sol is simply a very surly fishie who does not like anyone ever. Generally, though, it isn't as though he chases anything down until it's dead, once it's out of his personal bubble he won't waste any more energy. His main way of chasing things out of his space is through nonlethal (but still very painful) bites. Presumably on accident, he once caught Raven by the leg in just the wrong spot and bit through an artery. Raven insists after the fact that it was funny, despite them having to move Sol out and fully drain his tank in order to get all the blood cleaned out, not to mention the fact that Raven technically died both from blood loss and drowning in his own blood at the same time (he was fine though, came back to work the same week in good spirits)

-May, at least, is friendly, she just has the recurring flaw of not being able to recognize her own absurd dolphin strength. She's cost a fortune in tank repairs from how she keeps smashing things while playing around. It doesn't seem purposeful, she's just naturally very destructive. The most severe accident was smashing her own tank wall and flooding her entire section of the aquarium, which nearly took out Axl, Jack-O and numerous patrons all at once. Thankfully, aside from a few minor injuries, the worst of it was scaring the hell out of people and needing to replace the wall and carpets. Fun fact, May's tank plexiglass is 2.5x as thick as the rest of the aquarium's now.

-Millia has a similar sort of problem, not so much 'stronger than she thinks' but 'has tentacles that massively outdo human grip strength.' She doesn't tend to get outright violent, but whenever something annoys her, she tends to grab it with a tentacle and drag it away from her. During a routine cleaning while Axl was pulling old bits of food out of the fan vents, he got a bit too close, and Millia half-strangled him in the process of trying to get him out of her personal space. Cephalopod mer seem to have aggressive grip strength as a common issue, but we'll get more into that later...

-Baiken is a hard call. Half of the staff are pretty sure Baiken was intentional. Like Sol, she has a very volatile temper, and she keeps grudges. In another of Raven's 'tells it at company meetings like it's a funny anecdote and then gets surprised when everyone ends up staring at him in silent bewilderment and/or horror' Baiken managed to injure him, not with biting or scratching or any standard form of attacking, but by straight up smashing her tail so hard into the back of his head that it cracked the bone. It was one of the few times an injury was bad enough to convince Raven to go home, because he was concussed to the point where he kept slipping into Old German (nobody has any idea where the hell he even learned that), nearly stabbed himself in the side of the head confusing a screwdriver for his radio, and repeatedly mistook I-no for his aunt Frieda.

-Leo is just a big blustery idiot. His main issue is, like full-body catfish, he has sharp spines on his fins, and is also venomous. The venom isn't potent and isn't much of a worry unless it gets in someone's eyes, but being the size he is means he basically has multiple knives sticking out of his back. Part of protocol with him is ensuring you know where he is at all times while in the same space as him, because Leo oftentimes doesn't pay attention.

As for the intentional ones...

-Answer is an intelligent squid and he uses it for evil. Okay maybe not 'evil,' but it took a lot of mellowing out thanks to Chipp before they could ease up on the several full pages of special protocols on him, because Answer is just as smart as the aquarium staff, if not significantly smarter, and he is not afraid to make that very clear. If he gets fed too late or doesn't like the enrichment he's given, he knows how to shoot water above his tank in order to hit the ceiling and short out the power. He's responsible for Raven's second legal death (he refuses to explain what happened the first time, the best you'll get is vague mentions) After a very difficult checkup with him, the next time Raven came in to bring his food, Answer dragged him into his tank with several tentacles and managed to snap his neck. By the time they managed to wrestle him back out after several full minutes underwater and bring him to a hospital, everyone assumed he was a lost cause, and weren't extremely surprised when they had to sign the death paper...of course, the moment they did, the amiodarone finally kicked in, and it was a whole mess for everyone involved. Raven likes showing off the scar on the back of his neck that he got from spinal surgery

-Romeo is a biter. That's all there is to it. They wonder if it's just natural from him being a shark, but Johnny has never been anywhere near as bad. He's kinda like the resident feral cat. He hates being touched, hates being moved, hates being looked at for too long, and will respond to anything he doesn't like by chomping a hole out of it. Even just giving him a haircut usually involves tranquilizing him because he'll repeatedly attempt to bite anything that gets anywhere near him. He's gotten slightly better over time, very slightly, but it's best to approach him with thick gloves on and your guard always up. Generally, cookiecutter sharks aren't actually of any real danger to humans, but the majority of them are not 1. the size of a human adolescent with teeth to match and 2. filled with a disdain for every other living thing in existence

[deramin2]

Are you looking for an escape from The Horrors that also engages with the the root problems of society like capitalism and environmental destruction while giving you a chance to make your own better society? Do you like adorable animals in a solarpunk or cyberpunk dystopia society? Then you should try Timberborn!

It's a survival/resource management city builder set in a future where humans have wiped ourselves out in a climate catastrophe and intelligent beavers are spreading out to build new cities. Help them grow and prosper while surviving cycles of drought and toxic Bad Water.

It uses increasingly advanced water physics to let you build dams, manage irrigation, and safety divert the Bad Water. It uses a 3-dimentional block grid map and allows many building to be stacked on top of each other to manage space.

Mechanically it's one of the best city builders I've ever played. Lots of stats if you really want to dig into things (although no graphs yet), but mostly you can operate on basic numbers and vibes. It's easy to learn and hard to master, but any need to master anything really only applies to late game. (Lots of influence from Banished, but not nearly as hard to survive, especially in the beginning.) The crops/tree growing planting areas are so flexible and feel more organic.

The tutorial does a descent job of getting you going and setting up a stable colony, through I felt a tad lot at first figuring out the production chain for advanced buildings (mostly because I was overthinking it). But it also gives you all that information very clearly from the build menu if you actually read it.

Don't let it being an early access game deter you. The regular release branch is very stable, the new mechanics are being carefully expanded, and Experimental Release branch players are testing out all those new features (even those releases have relatively few bugs). It has more of the feeling of Stardew Valley where the work is never finished, but each iteration is also very solid.

Behold my Tower of Babel apartment and warehouse tower spanning two different districts. And my giant Bad Water diversion channel precariously traveling over my crop lands and full of hydroelectric waterwheels, windmills, and gravity batteries. It's not visible from here, but that dam is also partially suspended over my crops and directly threatening my main city if anything fails. I love videogame hubris.

[popawritter12]

Yantober: Third Day

-

"If the only way you will love is by making you crazy, then i'm gonna do it, darling"

There are traces of spit in the kitchen.

I never knew how to explain to my friends, or rather how to make people understand that I have never left spit in my house or in anyone's house, and I even doubted rats were capable of leaving such levels of that shit on the table, on the furniture, on the kitchen, or anywhere in the house. It was extremely stressful to explain to people that I found it inhumane to live in such depraved conditions.

It seemed so disgusting to me that more than once I hesitated to buy a gun, a camera, something to help me and my anger always increased when I stepped on it or touched it by accident.

It was so disgusting that I did not last even a month living with those levels of unknown saliva in my house. I thought about moving out of the house, and a few weeks later, I did it. For the first time in three years this person ---or whoever it is--- had managed to do what I never thought was possible; Took me out of my comfort zone, took me out of MY house to sent me to any place in the world, and for the sole reason that there was always spit in the kitchen, and I find so annoying to always find that horrible liquid in my food, in my forgotten breads or in my juice jugs ---and without going any further my bottle of water---, or even the tiny remains that I left on the table during the nights that I snacked on something or simply forgot to put it away properly.

But even in the new house, a few hours after arriving, where I realized that I had even more space than I ever had in my old apartment, or in my life in general, I always find the same traces of dirty and smelly spit on my bread; traces of slime on my table; traces of spit on my clothes; traces of spit on my furniture; any place that is part of my house in general since more than once I have had the misfortune of finding that viscous liquid.

I usually wouldn't complain if it were small remains, if it were a little more tiny, even if I could identify the causer of this the rats or any other rodent that decided to invade my home. But it bothers me even more to know that it was a person, or that it was some stranger who is obsessed with breaking into my house, eating my food and leaving as if nothing mattered, as if this were his house and not mine, not that of a poor man who only wants to stay on his feet in such a disastrous economy.

I started putting out rat traps, I also used that glue trap that my mom used to cockroaches invasor or I even bought different sprays to keep them at bay, but after a while the traps kept staying in the same place, unused; as if they were a modest decoration, just any one. And more than once I found them organized in different places; As if that person or strange entity was mocking all the effort I had made, all the money I spent to try to cope with this complicated situation, each and every one of my efforts.

I knew at that moment that I was doomed, doomed to live in this miserable house always full of other people's drool, doomed to have some kind of monster stalking me or a very mentally ill human who only wants to delight in my suffering, that is because anyone who knows me would know how difficult it is for me to deal with the issue of wasted food, or even worse; dirty places.

I was ---without a doubt--- an idiot who did not know how to organize or put things away after using or buying them, but I have never committed such a sin of not putting the ingredients away properly inside each bag ---although the only exception to this is nighttime meals---. No! My mother didn't raise me with so much effort to teach me the minimum basic notion about life, so that this stranger comes along and wants to change everything, leaving his disgusting drool behind.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, one day I woke up with that viscous liquid on my neck; it wasn't a droplet, or a mark that was dry, but it was accompanied by an unevenness in my skin; I was bitten, and the same traces of saliva were enough proof to know that, indeed, this person or entity seems to know perfectly well what they are doing to me.

I can't stop shaking; I drag my fingers along the already wounded skin, with a certain burning sensation escaping from my neck with each caress from my fingers, whose trace seems to always start and stop in the same place. I still don't understand what to do.

I feel my own words stuck deep in my throat, drowned, tied by the thread of fear, which so possesses my body, and which leaves so much horror on my skin.

But soon I had to go back to work, and the questions were accompanied by a mischievous look, passive jokes that caused a laugh or two among my colleagues, and a feeling of loneliness that embitters my heart.

I press each key of the keyboard with the same ease that it feels, but I can feel my mind going on.

Immersed in this field of terror, full of desolation, and with subtle clues that I refuse to even see or feel under my bare feet. The caresses of the grass have the opposite effect on my mind, and at the same time that I could feel dead in life, my head leaned subtly forward, trying to find a space to continue writing, to finish the report of the day.

And I fall, I fall against the keyboard, I fall into my imagination again. The light was conspicuous by its absence, and the darkness ruins my notion of time. Seconds passed into minutes, and minutes into hours, but I still saw everything completely dark, leaving in front of me only an almost permanent blindness. But my body, even if I am sunk in an imagination corrupted by the constant nightmare of the beast lurking behind the walls, is awake. It was contradictory, but I could understand that thanks to my constant alert to an unwanted attack from that stranger, my own body decided to stay awake, even if my mind was rested.

But it was useless to understand why I could feel everything around me; even if it was the gentle touches on my head from a companion or the feeling of wood against my legs, there was only one feeling that reminded me why this life was hell.

A hot air landed on my light blue shirt, being so heavy that my own body hair stood on end, and at the same time the feeling of my skin and clothes receiving that wind that moved my little beauty and garment was so constant that only that was going to be able to wake me up. Although that would be in a normal situation, and this was not a normal situation.

Soon the hot wind became even heavier, increasing its temperature level in a matter of seconds, going from what resembled a slow and soft inhalation and exhalation to heavy sighs, accompanied by a noise similar to that made by a canine when it's keeping its mouth open. And I felt it; first it was a small drop, then another, followed by a journey of both along the contour of my shirt, generating traces of drops on my clothes. And soon, his breathing felt heavier, closer, and his saliva fell more frequently, now leaving traces indefinitely visible to anyone's eyes.

And they lips collided with my neck, I knew it by the tiny 《muak》 that was deposited on my skin, right on the occipital triangle, and soon it was another, now on the collarbone, and another, and another, and another.

I painstakingly tried to move my body, but the space around my own muscle mass seemed oppressed, forced to stay in the same place, and its mobility was practically impossible. I wouldn't even have the strength to sob, since even the surface of my face was paralyzed.

Everything stopped, their breathing, which seemed more irregular with each unwanted contact, now moved away from me, slowly and surely. I celebrated internally, thinking that, at least for today, I had been saved from this kind of entity trying to somehow taste my skin, as if I were its victim, its prey.

And then, they bit me.

It was sudden, it was painful, and it was a long period of time in which they decided to cling to my skin. They teeth, selectively, clenched and released for several seconds, but without ever letting go of my skin. My own screams, now locked deep in my chest, do not express the discomfort I feel as my muscles were compressed in the same way, and the feeling of mental ambiguity seemed to be stronger, my body had accepted this horrendous fate; to suffer the strong and marked bites of an entity whose name I do not even know.

And I woke up.

A girl had woken me up, and seeing my eyes half open, a nervous grimace formed on her cheekbones, and as she moved her blond hair with the help of her fingers, a small whisper escaped from her lips.

---We have to go, unless you want to make overtime again.

It was a barely audible whisper, and I soon realized that I had indeed fallen asleep at work.

She left, and I was left in that office, still shaking; my legs could barely stand on their own, and my arms tried to find balance with the help of the furniture.

It is not until I notice a previously unknown level of moisture on my neck that I can touch that viscous liquid between my fingers again.

Characters that could be used in this story:

League Of Legends:

-Fiddlesticks.

-Nocturne(?

-Evelynn.

I honestly don't know anymore more, bc this looks like a medium- horror story(??? maybe I was reading too much Lovecraft.

[stoner-matsu]

gonna post my woes bc i cant take it anymore :)

i seriously dont know what to do i went from working full-time to working one day a week.

it started around when my boss moved houses (his whole business is run out of his house) the move was abrupt and at first i didnt think much of it. i understand the stress involved with moving but he started repeatedly talking down to me. he also wouldn't give me a chance to talk about whatever miscommunication problem that was going on.

im currently making efforts to be more on top of things at work. but theres only so much you can do when all the dogs are relaxing and all the humans are just... sitting around.

since im usually alone with my boss i try to make small talk, but he either ignores me or.... nope thats it actually :) he usually doesn't respond when im trying to talk to him, he gives he a rude one word answer, or he shrugs at me.

one time i came into work and he blamed me for "chores not being done" around the place so i asked which ones specifically have i been "slacking on"... he says im on my phone all the time and that i dont sweep or clean out the waste bins.

phone: id argue that i only use it when theres down time (and theres a LOT of down time) but okay i'll work on that if you want me to, fine. but the other two? a couple hours go by after we feed the dogs i say

"well, this is the perfect opportunity for me to do chores. what needs to be done around here?"

"i just need to you sweep and take out the waste"

"and when do you need those done by?"

"by the time you leave"

by the time i leave... in 4 hours :I so i ask

"... is there anything else that needs to be done? right now?"

and the answer was no of course! i was allowed to sit in awkward silence while my boss got to flee inside. the dogs were able to feel the tension because all of them laid around quietly.

my boss and manager both ignored me when i came into work today. i tried asking about the small changes i noticed coming in like extra water storage and a missing couch cusion, but my boss immediately got annoyed with me. all i could say was "sorry i was just asking..."

im so disappointment, i just dont know what went wrong! we all used to be friendly with each other, i hate getting close to people. i always drift apart from people i enjoy being around because eventually they'll get sick of me. just like every job ive ever had. and????? i understand that you dont need to be friends with everyone you work with. i used to go into work with my head down, and just focus on work. people have a way of out casting me when im not even doing anything.

pity pity pity sad sad sad cringe cringe cringe

[opiumtearstains]

Hello, I am a human medicine student from Gaza City. I am asking you for urgent help in publishing the link for my family and delivering it to people interested and able to help us. I did not want to do that, but the tragic situation we are living in is what made me have to do this. I feel sad and helpless, after we had Everything, we are now homeless on the streets, we live in a tent next to a dilapidated public toilet and there is sewage, filth and waste everywhere, we sleep on it! We suffer from terrible heat, insects and scorpions, the danger of death, bombs and missiles, in addition to hunger of course, and the danger of pollution and terrible diseases.Especially digestive, respiratory and reproductive! My younger siblings are suffering and very sick. They are terrified of everything, especially scorpions and insects. My father and mother cannot bear it any longer. You have the right to imagine that when you spend your life building for yourself and your children to live a decent life, all of this goes away in the blink of an eye, and now when you reach the age you should To rest in it, you are forced to start over !!? , but the most important thing now is to try to stay alive and protect your children from all the factors of death that surround us! I ask anyone who has humanity or conscience to feel our situation and put himself in our place. How can a person who has lived with dignity all his life accept this? We are dying slowly every day. Please, if anyone can help, even if just a little, do not delay! Your little means a lot to us!

https://gofund.me/5f12ba33

Good evening everyone and anyone,

Since the start of my page I’m like 2013 I’ve never been the kind of person to post directly, but I would really appreciate all attention on this family.

If you weren’t already aware it has been 10 months since Israel launched its genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. It has also been 10 months since Israel, who enacted a full military blockade of the strip years ago, has been preventing essential aid, fuel, medicine, water and food from entering the strip. 10 months of constant bombardment and sniping as collective punishment and ethnic cleansing. 10 months of Hell for families like Raghad’s.

Raghad Qanou reached out to me (I don’t know if you can see the message Tumblr has changed so much for me) to share the link to his go fund me page, and if you can I and Raghad would deeply appreciate any donations and spreading of his page please :)

Many thanks and Free Palestine

https://www.gofundme.com/f/qanoufam?utm_campaign=pd_ss_icons&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&attribution_id=sl%3Aba0ad924-68a5-4ce5-a5f7-00e6ce9d3a8e