#and id leave if i could

[unforth]

On the one hand, yes.

On the other hand, this is a true story as someone who HAD squirrels in their walls in the US.

See, we rented that house. We couldn't repair it ourselves. We were just broke college students, what did we know?

"Landlord, there are squirrels in the walls."

"Well, I checked the outside of the house and I can't find a hole. Are you sure there are squirrels in the walls?"

"YES! I'm sure! Except they might be cats or raccoons or some shit cause I can't see them but I can hear them THERE ARE DEFINITELY ANIMALS IN THE WALLS."

"Can't fix it. Sorry."

Flash forward a few months later...

"Landlord, there's a leak from the upstairs bathroom into the living room."

"I'll get right on that." And he does! He comes over, and he rips a hole in the living room ceiling, and he does a fix, and says, "test that and let me know if it still leaks."

He doesn't patch the hole, of course. Cause if the leak still leaks, he'd just have to rip out the patch.

And no, the first time doesn't fix the leak. Neither does the second or the third.

And meanwhile, I get home one day and the first thing I see is the tank where I keep my pet mice, and the bag of peanuts I keep behind it as a treat for them, AND A WHOLE ASS FUCKING SQUIRREL CHOWING DOWN ON THE PEANUTS. IN MY FUCKING HOUSE. because now theres a hole in the wall, AND a hole in the ceiling, and the squirrels were in the walls and apparently the ceiling too so now they just have the run of the place.

We got bats, too.

And we lived with that hole in the ceiling for OVER A YEAR.

And look. Now I'm 40. I look back and I say, why didn't we just fix the ceiling hole ourselves? I could do it now, easily. I do much more complicated repairs on current home. But I was broke and I was 19 and I'd lived in rentals my entire life and it was the landlords RESPONSIBILITY to fix this shit!

And the squirrels weren't so bad. It didn't happen often. It's not like we could afford to move, any other place we found would be either more expensive or have a worse landlord. Cause yes, our landlord was actually pretty chill. He came at 11 pm on Christmas Eve one year to help with our furnace. He let us get months behind on rent when we couldn't afford to pay and never started eviction proceedings. I mean, where else would he find a bunch of tenants willing to live with squirrels?

(The answer was, he couldn't. A few years after we moved - school was done, time to head elsewhere - the house was condemned. Last I checked it was still a vacant lot.)

I lived in that shithole for 4.5 years. And while some of the issues I could have fixed myself, if I had the right tools and know-how (I could have fixed the ceiling) others I couldn't have without help (how could I safely, alone, have checked all the walls and roof for the place where the squirrels got in? And then fixed it when I couldn't even afford to live some place that didn't suck?)

So as I said. I get it. I get why people outside America see us this way. And I get that there are people inside the US who are like this, who actually want the squirrel. And I get that what op wrote is a metaphor.

But my story isn't a metaphor. I'm not making this up. This literally fucking happened to me in an actual rust belt city in the actual US, when I was as liberal as you could want but I was also still a kid. I was barely 18 the first night I spent in that house. I'd never lived somewhere before that didn't have a competent grown up in charge. Even though at least some of these problems WERE actionable by me at the time, I had my own problems and struggles and I also just had no idea what I was and wasn't capable of at the time.

So I'm glad you chose this metaphor, op. Because yes, it's an apt one. But it also makes it extremely easy to demonstrate that actually some of us HATE having squirrels in our walls, but it's not something we have the time, equipment, money, clout, ability, skill, etc., to change ourselves.

And so we're just fucking stuck living with squirrels in the walls.

Imagine inviting someone to your home as a guest and you're settling in and they say "wow, your squirrels are so quiet!" and you have to pause and ask them what the fuck they mean. The squirrels in the walls. How do you keep them so quiet and out of the way? Still not quite comprehending what you're hearing, you ask them to repeat that. Why would they think you've got squirrels in your walls.

And your guest frowns in equal confusion, incredulous that you don't have squirrels in the walls. LIke, at all? Then something clicks together in their mind and they go "oh, you do the same thing as [mutual friend] does? Patching up the wall thing? So it actually works?" and it takes you a minute to process that they don't seem to actually believe that not having holes big enough for a squirrel to get in through actually leads to not having squirrels in your house.

You verify that yes. Everyone else has fixed the squirrel problem by patching the walls. Everyone else but they actually patches the walls, and nobody else but they keeps having the squirrel problem. They're the only one who does that instead of patching the wall. Your guest is insulted by your tone, insisting that it can't be that simple and that it's completely unrealistic to always keep your walls patched or to never have a squirrel in your house ever. Everyone has a squirrel in the house sometimes. You won't win this argument.

And that's what it's like to talk with americans on the internet.

[shroomerr]

omg kahl broflobster !?

[glo-shroom]

yes & no by Natalie Wee | Trigun Ultimate Overhaul

[littleplantfreak]

been thinking about ur fav assisting you with the hand job you’re giving him. Either you’re not used to giving one or maybe their cock is big enough that your hand can’t wrap around fully, but regardless it has them putting their hand over yours and showing you how they like it. They’re dribbling over both your hands with pre and really all you have to do is watch while they use your hand to get themselves off atp

[feeshies]

I never got into Harry Potter, but I have a lot more respect for someone who can say “these books were an important part of my life, but I recognize the pain and harm that comes from supporting them, so I’m making an effort to stop engaging with them” versus someone who’s like “lol the books were always bad, I don’t have to worry about boycotting them because I have Good Taste.”

Like, if you think you never have to think critically about the things you like because you only engage with “Good Art,” then that’s awfully convenient

[wandixx]

Seriously chaotic fashion misadventures

I realized I posted a teaser and never really followed up on it, so here is some more of that

“Hey, Dami?”

Boy hadn’t looked up from the kittens he was bottle feeding but let out a hum indicating he listened.

“I'm thinking about trying out a more girlish style. Do you think it would suit me?”

Well, Damian had no idea but if Dani wished to give it a chance, then, well, the only proper reaction was to offer his aid.

*-*-*

“Father, I require access to your rouge gallery.”

Bruce almost choked on his breakfast when his youngest made this announcement.

Rouge gallery, as his children playfully called it, was vast collection of lipsticks, which he collected to uphold his Brucie persona. Famous playboy with head constantly in the clouds couldn’t not show up with discreet signs of scandal from time to time. And it couldn’t always be the same shade. Or scent when he choose more subtle approach and used one of his more feminine perfumes.

In all honesty, he enjoyed this.

But that’s not the point, point was that Damian wanted to use it and Bruce needed to know what disaster would fall upon him if he agreed.

“Mind telling me why, chum?”

Dick, who visited Manor for a weekend, barely stifled his laughter while Tim stared at his empty coffee mug like it personally betrayed him. Cass just wore her usual knowing and mischievous smile.

Damian shifted in his chair, hands clenching on butter knife. He was nervous and suddenly Bruce dreaded the answer he was about to hear.

“I don’t see how me sharing this information would change anything. It won’t be used to cause harm to anyone but it’s necessary in the extracurricular project I just started.”

“Dami, what project?” Dick asked, voice oozing with genuine curiosity and excitement. He was almost bouncing.

“I don’t want to disclose it.”

“Is this a hero or civilian type of deal?”

Damian didn’t look any of them in the eyes, both hands clenching on his seat as he kept shifting. Bruce narrowed his eyes. Was his youngest… flustered?

“Civilian”

“Alright, great” Dick swung back with single clap, almost tripping his chair over “I think B won’t have anything against you using his rouge gallery, will he?” Man knew his oldest son well enough to recognize his ‘don’t you dare to disagree’ tone. He was confused but there wasn’t any harm so he nodded with affirmative hum.

“Thank you, Father”

Boy practically inhaled rest of his food and rushed outside. Despite all his training and all his efforts, they clearly saw his excitement. Tim pinched himself and returned to staring at his mug.

“Cass, have you seen what I’ve seen or am I overreacting?” Dick asked, barely restraining his enthusiasm. Girl nodded eagerly, shoving more crumbs into her mouth. Young man cheered, throwing his hands up.

“What have I missed?” Tim mumbled, frowning a little.

“BABY BAT HAS A CRUSH!”

Cass nodded again with wide smile.

Oh.

Oh no.

Who were they? What did he know about them? Was Protocol 3r0s started? Did someone run a background check already? What could they do if they somehow hurt Damian? Was this person a risk to their identities? Oh gods, oh no.

He probably will have to do The Talk™.

He always dreaded having The Talk, with any of his kids. He felt The Talk with Damian would be even worse. Understandably so.

“Also sleep in at least three da-”

“Fuck off, dick.”

“Was this insult or-”

His children remained obvious to how much work it meant, cheering and sassing each other like they often did.

*-*-*

Damian did not know how it was possible but he lowered his guard enough to get caught.

"What are you doing?" Brown choked out after they stared at each other for a long moment.

"It does not concern you–"

"You're rummaging through my wardrobe, not many things concern me more and also, that's frickin creepy don't do it to anyone outside of the family"

She did have a point however he was not convinced it would be the correct approach if he shared his plan. Father's wards (even unofficial like Brown) tended to make assumptions and overreact based on these conjectures. Dani wasn't easy to scare off but he didn't want to check if his family would manage. They often did things thought to be impossible.

He tried to get away but the blonde stood fiercely in a door, leaving the window as the only way out. He wasn't this desperate. Yet.

Girl looked more and more angry at his silence. He had to give her some answers.

Now that he actually considered it, she could be a useful asset. She was far better versed in women's fashion and if he phrased it correctly, he wouldn't even need to bribe her. Question was, how should he phrase it?

"I have an acquaintance- I have a friend," he corrected himself "from the animal shelter I volunteer at. She mentioned wanting to try out more 'girlish style' and asked for my opinion. I wanted to see if you had any clothes that would fit her. She is smaller than me so I thought that whatever I take, it wouldn't be missed." 

Brown grinned with an unsettling gleam in her eyes. He suddenly regretted opening his mouth if not coming to this room in the first place. 

"Say no more, I have a plan Demon Child"

[mrmeepsmadmind]

starscream: WHY must every bot be SOOO irritating? EVEN MORE THAN THEY USUALLY ARE. & THAT'S A SKY HIGH BAR . ..Why can't i just form my new cybertronian republic in peace. the only thing that could make this worse Besides megatron (because he's a Constant. ) is the totally asinine, in no way possible, abstract nightmare of being haunted by annoyingly-upbeat commentary that only i can hear.. thank primu-

the Heavenly Bee:

[dreamwinged]

anyway HIIIII!!! i'm sorry for going inactive out of nowhere! i missed u guys, and i hope every1 has been doing well :> to be honest, i've realized this site makes me really anxious so i likely won't be coming back or being active like i used to be. i'll still keep my blog up, and might pop back in every now and then to say hi, but i probably won't post consistently or anything like that :<< however, i srsly love and value all the connections and friends ive made via this blog so much, all of u are so lovely, and ill miss u lots 💘 i am (embarrassingly) active on twitter, so if anyone has it, dm me and id love to be your mutual there! :D fair warning i talk a lot about my selfship, but i find that for whatever reason im just more comfortable there :} ((OH AND DISCORD. IF ANYONE WANTS TO EXCHANGE DISCS MSG ME!))

sooo yeah!! ueueue i dont know how to end this... wishing peace and love and f/o kisses for all my moots

[ghost-proofbaby]

telling myself to continue on like normal and write like normal but how am i supposed to do that when i know my world is ending in 24 hours?

tw for tags: i accidentally rambled on and aired out all my grief for my dog

[lesbiancarat]

for anyone wondering, what about Han Sungsoo? 🤔 it seems that he hasn't been the CEO of Pledis since early 2022, the role until now was filled by Lee Dahye, a former VP for Bighit. HSS has still remained in the company but was demoted to an internal director

if you're wondering how you missed this, don't worry, there was never an official announcement! 🙃 carats had to find this out more than a year after the fact by doing some digging

but now Lee Dahye is being replaced by Kim Yeon Soo, who's the original VP of Pledis before they were acquired. He's the one that appeared on SVT Club, and he has historically had a good relationship with Seventeen. the way I always thought of it is Nu'est was HSS's project group, where Kim Yeon Soo oversaw the creation of svt. after the acquisition, he was put in charge of Hybe Labels Japan. it seems now he will remain in that position while also taking over as Pledis CEO

personally, I don't know what to think of this yet. on one hand carats have always had a positive view of Kim Yeon Soo, and he's always seemed to have a close relationship with svt. and I would say I'd rather have him in charge than a hybe plant

but the timing of it is very convenient. this is pure speculation on my part but with Seungkwan's Instagram post recently and all the stuff going on with hybe, it wouldn't surprise me if hybe was bringing in Kim Yeon Soo to try and appease the members (and possibly other Pledis employees). it definitely feels like they're trying to appease /somebody/ with this move, and I can't see it being the fans since most carats didn't know about Lee Dahye being the CEO in the first place. so I can only assume it's people within Pledis they're trying to appease 🤷‍♀️

[flowerakatsuka]

Osomatsu-san ~Le bourgeon~ & ~Fleurir~ Hikokuji (2019)

[ohposhers]

AAAA UR SO COOL dude you're genuinely one of my favourite artists, you interact with the community so well and always try to stay positive when dealing with certain situations I ADMIRE YOU A LOT 💗💗 just thought I'd let u know 😼👍

GRAAAA THIS IS SO DAMN SWEET THANK YOU SO MUCH IM GIGGLING AND KICKING MY FEET AND ROLLING AROUND THE FLOOR AND BITING MY PHONE im genuinely so grateful i can make so many people happy with my goofy fanart, you guys fr inspire me to keep making trolls content this silly fandom on god helped me keep my head above water during a really tough point in my life and i owe you guys everything for that

[feelo-fick]

Headcanon: Chilchuck and his Bad Takes on Literature

i think chilchuck would be like my mom in the sense that he wouldnt like sad stories. dont get me wrong, cautionary tales? absolutely fine. they serve a purpose to him which is to tell people "dont be an idiot and do this or else something bad will happen"

generally sad or angsty stories though? no point to him, and in his perspective its really confusing how people just read things that make them sad. like whats the use of reading something if its just gonna make you sad. whats the lesson? its not even real so it doesnt help anyone.

whats the point in making yourself cry when you could just avoid that entirely by not reading it at all?

but the one of the biggest reasons why sad stories exist is to let you release all the built up grief in you. to send you something to let out all your emotions in a healthy way. catharsis. empathy.

even when i dont relate to the tragic experiences in some stories, several ones ive read have lead me to realize that im in a bad situation or that im following in the footsteps of the character suffering. its like a wake up call.

and making yourself cry isnt inherently a bad thing. if crying allows you to let go of building pressure and tension in you then thats good!

but chil wouldnt see that. of course he wouldnt, hes avoidant of most situations that would allow him to release emotion, and fearful of letting his mature (read: repressed) persona slip.

hes someone that runs away to quick comforts and distractions at the earliest sign of issue. hes already been in too many horrifying situations, dealing with another is a pain. and he knows denying everything and refusing to look at the situation doesnt help, but it definitely provides a quick and easy happiness in the comfort of ignorance.

because of this, reading something made to make one empathize with and confront these bad emotions is defeating the point of his cowering. if he faces his issues, even if only through the perspective of a story, he'd have to deal with acknowledging that things are bad and need fixing, and he'd feel terrible and guilty in the moment - which of course is the worst thing that could happen to a person (his thought, not mine).

which is why i find the concept of him being/becoming a tragedy himself at the same time as this headcanon soooo interesting. imagine the irony of him bashing on the protagonists of tragic stories for acting on emotion and impulse rather than logic, when he himself has fallen victim to irrational thinking while in grief.

cause... thats what people do when they grieve. they lash out, make bad decisions, ruin themselves, ruin others.

for a tragedy to be prevented, the protagonists would have to change fundamental parts of themselves, and act perfectly rational when under extreme stress. and chilchuck holds himself to these kinds of unrealistic standards because he unwittingly believes he can handle it all.

he cant, obviously. we see it for ourselves in his relationship with his wife. they were doomed from the beginning by chils already-established avoidance and lack of emotional vulnerabiltiy (and whatever else his wife had going on).

this is all just to say that if you told him about orpheus and eurydice, he'd probably be one of those idiots trying to point out the "plot hole" that he couldve "just not looked back" and "just trusted her"

i dont understand. whats the point in reading tragedies? the protagonist is stupid, anyways. why would you take bitter medicine? why subject yourself to that?

i think its just a bad story.

[angelpuns]

I wish I could be very normal and ' enjoy each day as it comes' and 'live in the moment' but unfortunately if I do that how will I be prepared for the future in which I am more miserable???

[cockringvarric]

any chance you could drop a link to buy the sunscreen you mentioned if you get a chance? i genuinely believe it might change my life :) thanks!

Sure but I am NOT an expert in skincare at all! I tried a mineral one and it was nice but then the saleslady showed me like three others once I told her idc about chemicals lol. all four had slightly different immediate textures (more lotion to more serum, etc) but dried down pretty much the same (at least to me) to be non-greasy. still had to wipe down my fingers after rubbing them all in on different parts of my arm. a little went a looong way and still was one MILLION times better than that cunt neutrogena

anyways. I didnt take down the names of the testers and I just went with the cheapest option lol, Bioré UV Aqua Rich:

[faunandfloraas]

Sometimes I remember lee know saying he wants to do a song with Seungmin and I.N bc he'd like to be a part of vocalracha and then I remember that was well over a year ago and there's still nothing.... </3