#but it’s not anything expensive by any means

[jack-bytez-genuine-corner]

I hate being politically knowledgeable so I'll give some real quick off the cuff reasons why you shouldn't doom scroll but should be a little hopeful and stay engaged, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take a break over long periods, I'm basically just laying out some potentials for why you should be joyful towards 2026.

* 2/3rds of government would be needed to enact a large chunk of Project 2025 not counting outright SCOTUS intervention. This matters as for the SCOTUS to even exist as an institution Trump can never be more powerful than they are, putting their interests square opposite of Trump's want to be a dictator. Similarly the business wall street interests that propelled Trump to this point will be facing the harsh realities of an unstable economy long before anything even happens. As Trump becomes more unglued he will lash out more and more which will put Wallstreet, that only wanted him for the immediate sell off we're seeing now, pressed between a dictator wannabe's wishes and a US that is even more isolated from it's allies and trade partners while the citizenry themselves are forced to buckle down due to the very little high tariffs that will double the price of everyday goods forcing companies to either drastically drop prices and sell at a loss or keep prices high like they are now and push it off on the consumer who will buy infinitely less as a result. The most scary part of the Republican agenda is a deck of cards that falls over predicated entirely on Republicans ability to maintain the balance between worshipping corporations and keeping the peons angry and content enough to not strike out.

* 2026 is an inevitable Dem flip for 2 reasons. 1, people will actually live with Trump again and will remember exactly why so many people found him unpalatable in the first place. You can also be sure that any RNC mandate to ban say "Porn", that being anything queer or woman health centric, IVF, Abortion and the rolling back of social safety nets will inevitably cause innocent people to die and shell shock the exact same people who voted for him this time around. After all it's incredibly hard to be Latino, MAGA and happy when your own elected officials hate your guts and very real people you know are being deported in one of the most expensive and brutal moves in American history, rivaling Asian internment camps. 2, none of this is predicted on Trump doing anything more than what he already has promised to do and it is not reliant on Republicans being actual, considerate human beings. Even looking at the vote currently lots of voters chose the couch over voting for Harris with Trump propelling his margins in large part due to Fox News, Rogan, Musk, etc. Dems for their part can just play the fact he is killing any indictments against him, can play the populous card as blue dog conservative l institualist Dems is more dead than ever before and actually focus on the issues that get Dems out to vote, and any and every gaff is just going to be free fuel for Dems. Even more, legacy media has effectively scorned more and more Americans who are now engaging alternative media sources like Brian Tyler Cohen alongside other podsters. I include him specifically due to his high quality but you have the Pod Save America guys, you have The Bulwark, all the way to the obvious loony bin manosphere with the first three being examples of HOW Dems can appeal and win future races while the last one is a highlight of a soon to be burned content mill, most notably because, again, it's going to be real hard to hate women that much when women you know and love have to suffer for no reason. You can also guarantee that the worse parts of Trump's base can and will be reinvigorated to be horrible people which is, again, part of why he lost in 2020 to begin with.

* I mentioned Wallstreet, courts and businesses earlier but it is no secret that the incompetency in each of these places is seeping through to a pretty forceful change towards unions, but even past that they have hit the point where they are the dog who caught the speeding car. Taking the business interests first, consumers have become more and more direct with their connection with businesses not being predicated on convenience nor price but on morality. When Target and Bud Light caved to altright extremists who believe the very idea that different people shouldn't be allowed to exist that opened up a Pandora's box that has seen Target and Bud Light continue to lose business, not because Republicans were their core base, but because the common person believes that queer people are acceptable while treating them as second class is not acceptable. Tesla and Musk are on the up in the stock market but the reality is that Tesla itself has been seeing less and less sales vs 100% tariff Chinese EV's due to Musk's extremism. The immediate bump they're seeing now is great for the current rot economy where infinite growth is the only acceptable outcome for investors, but there is absolutely a potential for these companies to scorn so many people that they become persona non grata and can't continue to operate. We've seen the same thing with anti DEI measures and book bans leading to less teachers and schools, abortion bans leading to less workers period, you combo that with the guaranteed hyper inflation the tarriffs will cause and the financial strife we're looking at an economic down turn that a golden parachute can't save you from, mostly because the people themselves will want a lot more than they were demanding prior. For Courts, the overturning of the Chevron decision, combo'd with the historically low effort supreme court means that more and more laws are becoming impossible to enforce, requiring constant SCOTUS intervention, but if that keeps up like we are already seeing it do so the courts will become paralyzed and cause unrest that we have not seen before, again, as the stalling tactics they used to save Trump will now be the reason for people to be subjected to unjust laws waiting on appeal. The SCOTUS, for their part, is guaranteed to be Republican majority who can and will overstep yet again like they did with Roe, but they can't cede power fully to Republicans/Trump because if they do they will cease to have any power, because dictators don't need a court because they are the court. This tightrope means that any dissent is very likely going to cause these current supporters of the RNC being forced to buck the current support they give. This will be made even worse for them when inevitably Trump pardons January 6th insurrectionists, his cronies and himself, reigniting the heated eyes on the courts without the safety net of Dem institutionalists who will likely lose all power following the collapse of the Harris and Biden campaign. Reminder that it was a nigh gift to Republicans that Biden appointed Merrick Garland, a feckless, cowardly institutionalist himself that was so scared of Republican name calling he refused to actually try and charge Republicans WE KNOW we're involved with the insurrection in order to seem nonpartisan, the miscalculation is that there will BE no more feckless conservative Dem institutionalists as the main two are no longer in the running for leadership with Obama and Clinton having now burned every perceivable bridge to guide the party. I won't say this will lead to a Bernie progressive party, but it will absolutely be more populist and you're going to see way less outreach to Republicans and far more to actual voters who actually matter. Republicans win on low turnout, this was a low turnout election, and NOTHING increases turnout like rage, and honestly? American Dems have a lot more to be angry about that Republicans at this point given the complete and total failure of every single institution meant to act as a check on the President and Political officials.

* The only bill Republicans could pass among themselves was a tax cut for the rich from 2016 to 2018, with a lot of their "Accomplishments" being pen and paper executive orders which are just as easily made as they are broken. Their current R House Congress is one of the least productive in history. Do you truly believe they can actually pull off any dangerous bills or constitutional amendments without absolutely fucking themselves over, especially now that McConnell is out of the picture in Senate and any competent Republican in the House like Cheey, the only person who was capable of getting Republicans the SCOTUS and the only person capable of pretending the party has any morals? The answer is they can't. I have no doubts they'll pass some horrible shit, but will they have to kill the filibuster? Will they have a house majority? If they have a house majority by how much and will they play nice long enough among themselves to pass the bills? After all Gaetz and other MAGA Republicans are not popular among their cowardly peers and their cowardly peers have bucked them before. If you ask me I don't think they can. The most dangerous things they can do involve federal agencies and state governments, but if they do those dangerous things it'll piss people off and we'll go right back to the original point that a pissed off population will be extra bad for Republicans due to the fact that institutionalist Dems are now completely out of favor.

Long worded way to say that you can be hopeful for the midterms. I know this country seems like a horrible place filled with horrible people, cause it is, but that doesn't mean horrible people out number people who care about trans people, queer people, women, POC, etc. The issue is getting those people to vote and not just sit on the couch and it also lies in actively talking the insane Republicans back into reality, a thing they desperately don't want to do thanks to Fox News and Republican media sources. I'm hopeful for 2026, I'm just extremely angry that very real, very innocent people who didn't have to die, who weren't going to die, will, because too many people would rather they die than a Black Asian woman be President. Like I can't even begin to state my disgust that we're back at 2016 again, but like with 2018, 2026 will not go well for Republicans who, even in this election were doing worse among the exact same demographics they had in 2016. A rural vote may be worth 100 votes where I live, but make no mistake that they can and will feel the squeeze that they brought upon themselves, and hopefully they'll learn this time. And if they don't, well, I hold the same common courtesy I do for Nazis; I won't even piss on them if they are fire, cause you can't keep hurting innocent people and expect infinite kindness in return.

[so-i-did-this-thing]

Hello!

I wanted to ask a question, if that's okay. So, I'm genderfluid afab and feel like a man sometimes (probably more often than I allow myself to realise). I don't have access to a Binder or anything of that sort (transphobic parents).

Is there any way for me to look/be more masculine? I'm a bit scared of goggling because I don't want to accidentally take advice from Tate people or the like.

(PS. I really like your Siegfried Farnon cosplay!)

Heya!

This is a tough one to answer. Because "masculine" means different things to different people. And "passing", as well.

Like. When I wear my fleece jacket and baseball cap, I'm deliberately passing as a certain type of man. But I felt more masculine the other day wearing an ascot.

So, I think we need to break down this question:

1) If you're looking to pass, there are going to be trans masc guides out there that will direct you to a very particular gender presentation. They tend to assume you are white and skinny. They present themselves as a list of Dos and Do-Nots, and at the end of the day, do more harm than good, imo. Because passing guides are almost always about hiding parts of yourself physically, often to the expense of hiding parts of your psyche.

Seek them out if you must, but when it comes to passing for safety, all I can suggest is ambiguous layers, a hat, keeping your head down and your mouth shut. The best way to pass is to not draw attention to yourself, alas.

2) If you're looking to dress more masculine to alleviate gender dysphoria, then you need to drill down to what makes you dysphoric and start there. My smaller feet is one area of contention for me, so I look for semi-dressy shoes that look long and elegant (like Taft boots). Since you can't get a binder, consider layers, if your chest bothers you.

3) If you're looking to dress more masculine to seek gender euphoria, then figure out your aesthetic masculine ideal. Make a pinboard of Looks you enjoy and see if there are trends. Some folks are drawn to athletic wear. Work wear. Perhaps a vintage aesthetic -- Rockabilly. 90s grunge. 1940s British country vet (meeeee, lol).

Ask yourself: What are the hallmarks of this style? Are there casual and formal versions? How does it change seasonally? How much of it is clothing and how much of it is the body (haircut, being muscular, etc)? And above all - what is this style trying to communicate to others?

Once done, see what sort of fashion tips are out there for your style. Who are the fashion experts and how much do you care about their advice? (Menswear guy has great tips about how a modern suit "should" fit, but a lot of his advice is also personal preference with a big dollop of classism.)

Pay close attention to how men wear their clothes -- where they sit on the body, how they style the outfit. Compare how a man is styled in your preferred look to how a woman is styled and see what that sparks in you. How much of it is the clothing or body? How much is posture? You might discern some visual shorthand you can harness to be read as more masculine. You might also come up with ways to have plausible deniability around your parents by being able to pivot a masculine look to be more feminine, when needed.

After all this research, get yourself to a thrift shop or other second hand option and start experimenting. Buying actual men's clothing is probably going to be your best bet, but depending on your Look Book, that may not always be the case.

No one can tell you how to feel more masculine -- that really needs to come from within. Once you figure that out, then it's a matter of reconciling your ideal look with the peculiarities of your body. (And all men have their own challenges wrt the fit of clothes.)

Afford yourself as much grace as possible when it comes to your body. And again, remember that feeling more masculine and passing more masculine may not always overlap and could even be at odds. And only you can determine if and when that is a problem.

[lkfarrout]

Fifty (family fic)

No ships, just Stan being a father figure

Summary: Wendy finds herself in a tough situation and has to ask Stan for money

Warnings: light angst, mature themes (16+)

"Come in!"

With a shaky hand, Wendy slowly opened the door to Stan's office. Her boss was sat at his desk, fez off, a pen and calculator in hand. His frustration at the figures in front of him permeated the room.

"Wendy?" He barely glanced up at her before returning to his work, "Its your day off, kid. What do ya need?"

"Umm..." Wendy considered saying 'nevermind' and just walking out. But she didn't really have a choice. "...fifty dollars."

Stan started to laugh until he looked up and saw the tears welling in Wendy's eyes.

He rose to his feet and she continued, talking very quickly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Pines. You can take it out of my next paycheck, but I need it today. I didn't know who else to ask."

He came around and leaned on the edge of his desk, arms crossed. "What's it for?"

She just looked at the floor and rang her hat in her hands.

He moved closer and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, "Look, kid. Whatever you did, I'm sure I did worse at your age. D'ya owe someone money?" She shook her head.

"Then what's it for?"

"You can't tell my dad."

"Okay, I won't."

Wendy continued to avoid his gaze.

"What's it for, kid?"

Wendy sighed, "...plan B."

Stan took a step back and rubbed the back of his neck. "I see."

An awkward silence filled the room.

Stan continued with a light chuckle, "It's fifty bucks these days? Sweet moses, I'm gettin' old."

Wendy didn't laugh.

"Look, it'll be alright. Head out to the car, I'll give the twins an excuse and meet you out there, okay?"

Wendy muttered a thank you and quickly left the room.

---

A rock song played inaudibly on the radio and Wendy stared out the passenger window at the trees going by.

Stan gripped the wheel, trying to think of anything to say.

He stuttered as he began, "Kid, I-- look, I aint gonna pry you for details. But if I need to go knock some sense into some knucklehead kid, I will."

"It's fine."

"It was some knucklehead kid, right? Not, y'know... an adult?" Stan cringed at his own question, but damnit, if he was gonna let some creep take advantage of a young girl like Wendy.

Wendy nodded, "Yeah, just Robbie."

"So why the hell isn't he paying for this?" He'd meant it as a joke, but quickly realized how mean it sounded.

"Look, I aint mad about paying for it, I just. He needs to learn some responsibility."

"We were responsible. It just, broke. And neither of us had the money. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I'm... glad you told me."

Stan pulled the car into a parking spot.

"Stay here."

"It's okay, I can get it."

Stan insisted, "No, someone will recognize ya. I don't want you in any trouble."

He cracked the windows and shut the door with a click. Several minutes later, he returned and handed her a bag. "Hope that's the right stuff."

Wendy dug through it, surprised to find a bottle of water, a comic book, and a bar of chocolate in addition to the small cardboard box she expected.

She looked at Stan, who shrugged. "Figured you might need a little pick-me-up."

"Thanks, Mr. Pines. I'll work an extra day, or--"

He cut her off and waved his hand in the air, "Ah forget that, consider it free. It was... less expensive than I thought anyway." He looked away suspiciously before glancing back at her.

She punched him lightly in the arm, "You stole it?"

"No!" Stan protested, "I paid..."

She raised her eyebrows at him and he finished, "...for the water."

Stan laughed and Wendy smiled for the first time that morning. But her smile quickly dissipated with his next question.

"So, should I take you home?"

The look on her face was the only answer he needed. "Alright, you can hang at the shack today. But you'll have to put on a happy face for Dip and Mabel."

Wendy sighed, relieved, "Yeah, I will."

"I told the kids I was picking up lunch. How's pizza sound?"

---

They entered through the giftshop. Stan held the door open for Wendy with one hand, a pizza box in the other.

"Hey, uh, make sure you read that box real close and if you start to feel sick at all, let me know, okay?"

"I will, thanks." Wendy stayed behind like they'd discussed, and he continued toward the main part of the house before pausing.

"Oh, and use the phone in here to call Robbie. He should know that you got things worked out."

Wendy nodded and gave him a small smile.

"Guess who got pizza!"

The twins exclaimed happily and started to dig in.

Through a mouthful, Stan casually spoke. "Oh hey, save some for Wendy, I saw her walkin' over just a minute ago."

[homocidalpotat]

Okay, I think we need to talk about the stigma or even just lack of education around being gluten-free.

I am coeliac. I have been coeliac since I was 7 years old. Coeliac disease is an immune disease which means I can't eat anything with gluten in it. If I do, I risk diarrhea, throwing up (for hours), being ill for over a week, intense cramps and lots more. My symptoms can last between a day and a month, and I don't even have it bad. If I don't throw up the gluten before it has got to my intestines, the gluten destroys the villi in my intestines, meaning I can't properly digest a lot of food until it heals. Before being diagnosed, I spent about a year experiencing intense fatigue- I would eat anything just so I wasn't in pain or starving (including fabric, books and all sorts of inedible things). If I didn't get that diagnosis, I don't even know if I would still be alive. And any form of gluten can trigger this- I accidentally inhaled a bit of flour and had to be off school. You get it, it's a really serious issue.

For those of you that don't know, gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. This is found in flour (therefore bread, cakes, etc), and other things. Companies will even put barley into foods that don't need it. It is really common, and helps dough to stay together, for the most part.

There are many forms of being gluten-free. Allergies, intolerances/immune disorders, and choice. This is where a lot of the stigma comes from- people will intentionally go on a gluten-free diet even though it is bad for them. Being on a gluten-free diet is only healthy if you have a reaction to gluten. Gluten-free food is also less common, more expensive, and usually less delicious. The variety in gluten-free food is miniscule in most places. I haven't had a churro since before being diagnosed, and I don't even know what doughnuts actually taste like any more.

Because going on an unnecessary gluten-free diet is SO foolish, a lot of stigma arises. The majority of gluten-free people these days are gluten-free as a choice. Being a petite, young, white female, a lot of people assume that I also chose to. People make this assumption a lot. If I ask for a gluten-free option at a café, I get judged and glared at all over. "Oh look, another one of those idiots. She must think it's so cool to do that. It's not even healthy?". I have had my needs ignored or abused by caterers, party hosts and even my food-tech teacher.

Sure, people that choose to go gluten-free don't deserve that stigma. Maybe someone chose to be gluten-free to support their loved ones, maybe they are scared they could touch their loved one and make them ill. Maybe there are more gluten-free people in their household than not, so it makes sense to only make a gluten-free version of a meal, rather than making one. There are good reasons a person might go gluten-free other than medical reasons. Obviously, there are influencers (and influenced people) who think gluten-free diets are just another way to be trendy and lose weight (when they are denying their body something they need), and that is stupid, but it's not worth being hated on. Sure, as a coeliac person, I feel mocked and hurt by those people, but if someone asks for their food to be made specifically or whatever, just do it? Don't ask questions, you don't need to know.

On another note, so many people don't know what it is. A shocking amount. I once stayed at the hospital overnight and in the morning asked a nurse for a gluten-free breakfast and she said she didn't know what that was. I have been invited to so many parties just to be told "Oh, sorry, I didn't get anything gluten-free for you because I didn't know what it was". Representation matters!!! With representation, the world becomes safer for gluten-free people. With representation, more companies will increase and improve their gluten-free options!!! I'm tired of going to a bakery and the only gluten-free option is a brownie (I'm not joking. About 75% of all bakeries I've been to have said their only gluten-free option was a brownie, and I don't really like brownie.)

Please reblog this, especially if you aren't gluten-free. You don't know how many people you are saving from being ill or miserable. Let me know if I missed out on anything in this post, and feel free to add your own opinions and facts! This is a post about being gluten free and having food restrictions, don't derail.

[annarcana]

Some I’ve used or considered:

“Intelligence” is a maladaptive trait, and generally self correcting. The universe is teeming with life, but so-called “civilization” either drives itself to extinction, or is evolved past, in fairly short order on a cosmic scale.

There *was* intelligent life in the galaxy, but a contagion of interstellar proportions wiped out all sapient life prior to humankind’s emergence onto the galactic stage, and the only other survivors are similarly young and primitive yet.

We’re out there, but all too young yet to have discovered an effective means of interstellar contact. Once discovered, a new epoch is bound to break out.

Space is just too expensive. The resources required to escape a gravity well are simply too demanding for all but the most massive planets, and without cheap enough travel to become ubiquitous, interstellar travel stalls in its infancy.

There are evolutionary traps in the development of sapient life that when encountered seem like advancements but inevitably destroy the species, or at least fundamentally stall further development, like fossil fuels, nuclear weapons, computers, capitalism, etc.

The same technologies that are required to escape a gravity well, are also one of those evolutionary traps, and only a rare few species, if any, thread the needle enough to avoid the trap while still making it to space.

Humans are just really gross. Every other species in the galaxy is actively avoiding us like that one corner under the fridge you keep seeing silverfish, but don't dare go investigate because it doesn't seem to be harming anything, and you're too grossed out to investigate further.

We're not actually that "intelligent" on a galactic scale. Because of the barriers involved, the only beings capable of achieving interstellar civilization are so incomprehensibly vast and complex that we would be unable to comprehend their presence, while to them we would be as ants, all but infinitesimally beneath notice.

"God" was an alien, and we are but a failed science project that was left to go moldy in the corner of the galactic equivalent of a bedroom closet. We had all best hope his mother doesn't make him clean his room anytime soon.

If you were a sci-fi writer, how would you solve the Fermi paradox? That being the discrepancy between evidence for alien life, versus the likelihood of their existence? (basically. If alien so likely, why we not see?) The Dead Space series has an amazing cosmic horror solution, but i'm curious what you're brain could come up with!

There's a lot of possibilities, some more interesting than others.

The speed of light and the distance between inhabited stars makes it prohibitively slow to detect, make contact with, or reach any star with alien life. It doesn't matter if we're not alone, our corner of Space Reachable Within A Human Lifetime is so comparatively small that we may as well be. We're all blindly wandering through an infinite desert, calling into the void. Space exploration is a long game, and on that timescale, even whole civilizations blink out very quickly. If we manage to catch a signal and follow it, we might find nothing on the other end but ruins - or an asteroid field where a planet's orbit used to be.

The universe is too young for us to find anyone else out there. We're the first. How will we shape the galaxy to make life better for those who come after us?

The life that formed on Earth is terrifyingly invasive. The atmosphere and ocean is choked with monocellular life, and its surface is coated with a mass of multicellular organisms finding new ways to devour one another. Even extinction events don't keep down the biomass for long. If life on other planets looks anything like us, the problem isn't going to be detecting it. It'll have gotten everywhere. The problem is going to be not immediately getting colonized and eaten alive by it. And if life on other planets DOESN'T look like us, our whole planet is probably a class 1 biohazard and contamination risk. Multicellular earth organisms contain microcosmic ecosystems that proliferate explosively when they die. If anything inside them can find ANYTHING to eat, it's over.

Life evolves frequently, but always in oceans. It is extremely rare for any alien life to leave that ocean and adapt to life on land. Without this step, the jump to space exploration - even space contemplation - becomes infinitely more unlikely.

Monocellular life is seeded on planets from an outside source and allowed to self-cultivate and grow until the biomass reaches a certain volume. Then the farmers return to harvest it.

There is not a single other species on our entire planet that humans can actually reliably communicate with. It takes tremendous amounts of training to make an animal capable of recognizing even a handful of words, and very few of them can use them. Humans can't even communicate with other humans with 100% clarity, even if they're using the same language. When we find alien life, if we even recognize it as anything resembling life as we know it, we have absolutely no way of communicating.

Space colonialism has been disallowed by the space geneva conventions due to massive past tragedies, parasitic exploitation of worlds and senseless loss of life. Human expeditionary efforts are being watched warily through targeting sights.

We've known about radio communication for less than 200 years. We haven't yet figured out the medium through which all advanced civilizations communicate.

Alien life exists in abundance, but the vast majority of it is extremely tiny. We wouldn't spot an anthill on a satellite photo, and none of their ships are large enough to survive passage through our atmosphere.

Earth's oxygen atmosphere is an anomaly, and our first and most enduring extinction event. The explosive proloferation of cyanobacteria and their oxygen photosynthesis irreparably altered the planet's prebiotic atmosphere and wiped out everything that couldn't handle the sudden massive increase in a highly reactive and flammable gas. Earth is considered highly toxic and unstable, though recently detected increases in methane and CO2 might signal that nature is finally beginning to heal.

[rosicheeks]

17. an earliest obsession you remember?

Always been obsessed with crowns 👑

[tangledinink]

clenches fist. finally sucked it up and ordered a new ipad...

[lady-harrowhark]

listing stuff for resale online and i'm just... so tired of taking pictures. cropping pictures. taking measurements. weighing out postage. finding boxes. writing descriptions. i'm so tired.

[m00ngbin]

I'm trying to pick a major that I would be the most interested in just because it would make my life so much easier and right now I have like three ideas and they all have a million problems

[cloudpools]

Blythe was completely enrapt, bright emeralds boring into Gurin as he explained the layout of his home. A clam. They were inside a giant clam! How did that even work? Was it still alive? If they were inside the mollusk then where was the mollusk nestled? Her jaw drops to ask her ever-growing pool of questions, but she hesitates as he continues after a brief pause.

It had been obvious to Blythe that mentions of their first meeting brought him a lot of discomfort. Even just her presence (regardless of their current predicament) seemed to make him uneasy. The memory hadn't been pleasant for her either, but she didn't carry any scars from that night other than a deep anxiety to never have Zeyrfial yell at her like that again.

Veril also remembered that night well. He'd found Gurin crumpled, pierced, blood pooling around his hanging form. Gurin cursing as Veril cleaned the wound, used what little healing magic he knew, and bandaged him up. The grumble of thanks as he limped him back to his quarters. Veril hadn't asked any questions that night, but the pieces were slowly falling into place now that he'd met the cause of the incident.

The red-skinned demon's smile grew more as he watched his friend flounder. It was so odd. Normally Gurin was so suave with women, whisking them away with a wink and silver tongue. Gurin didn't need to tell Blythe anything about this place, but it seemed that he was doing so to put her at ease. Not because he wanted to seduce her, but because he wanted to assuage any worries she may have. To give her reassurance that he had a plan, and everything was going to be fine.

And then the elevator doors opened.

Blythe doesn't move right away, in awe of the main hub, but when she notices the crowd coming for them to take their own elevators to their own destinations, she gasps, scrambling behind Gurin and latching on once again. Veril is quick to reactivate the necklace with the snap of his fingers, hissing as other demons pushed past. "Yea, Brenn! Watch it!" Trying to position himself in a way that would keep Blythe safely nestled between the pair (which was rather difficult now that she was invisible), their merry(?) band made way for the thick of the crowd. How unfortunate that they'd have to pass through in order to make it to the main lifts.

Blythe stays completely silent, using all of her concentration not to trip or bump into anyone, while simultaneously eavesdropping on all the passersby. Veril quirks a brow, throwing a look at Gurin. "Is it a holiday or somethin'? Why's everyone scrambling around? What's the hubbub all about?" If Veril would take five seconds to listen in, like Blythe, he would hear the whispers of his coworkers.

"...Ukolai came personally...." "... breach in security..." "....his whole guard..." "An inspection?" "No no! A celebration?"

"Shit." Veril's curse startles Blythe, and she looks up to find his gaze trained on a formally dressed, bespeckled demon. "Dravok's here.... which means...." Dravok was a large demon, and an even larger asshole. You had to be when you were the head of an archdemon's honor guard... He was doing his job, scanning the perimeter when his eyes fell on an unusual sight. The glasses he was wearing were special. Expensive gems cut thin that allowed those who peered through to dispel any magical tricks or disguises. You never could trust anyone.

Especially those who were invisible...

"VERIL." Reflexively, the portly demon stiffens, and all eyes shift to what most would see as just a duo. "What in the hells are you hiding this time?! How many times have I had to have a talk with you about using counterfeit gems?! You better have a damn good explanation this time or else." The crowd parts, allowing the blue-skinned guard a path directly to them, the rest of the guard filling the gap around Ukolai. And it's only now that Blythe realizes... Dravok is staring right at her.

Panic sets in. Should she run? Should she hide? Maybe she was overreacting? Maybe it would all be fine? She begins to quiver as the guard stands before her, towering, muscular. Blythe is swallowed by his shadow, and there's no mistaking it. He's looking down on her. "And who might you be? A new pet?"

Blythe contemplates answering, but instead ops to tug on Gurin, shaking only getting worse. She was caught! What would happen to her now?!

These depths and tunnels didn’t allow conventional sources of magic to function as they should. This mine was, after all, not unlike an oyster- long dead, tunneled through for its precious pearls of stone deposits. Lost geodes of congealed … hells know what. Gurin had the vestiges of understanding the rules and laws of the creation of these stones but the inner workings went above him. That made it all the more bizarre how Blythe had made it in. But at least, for now at least, the localized spell that Veril had utilized would do what it needed to.

…right???

In the safety of the elevator, it’s revealed its not quite as steadfast as one would hope. As if Gurin hadn’t already felt pangs of anxiety with how it flickered when one were to touch the little lady. Something that was bad enough already. Shit. It’d almost be easier to dress her up as a demon than whatever this was. Coulda woulda shoulda. Who the fuck is Gurin kidding? He didn’t have anything on him to put on airs or disguises like that.

“Seriously. Keep the regular job, Veril. That’s all I'ma say on that. You’re lucky the damn spell hasn’t dropped her through the floor. Or worse.” He heaves a sigh, feeling more and more like a chaperone or something. Between the helplessness of Blythe (not really her fault) and the foolishness of Veril’s (quite the opposite) he felt like the only sane person present.

Or the one who didn’t have other ideas in mind… he… didn’t have any himself? Did he? Another glance at Blythe, has him uncertain. A forced half-smile as he lifts his chin.

“Oy. You’re holding up alright for now, aren’t you?” Another breath. “Don’t worry… this place is confusing to get around, but when you know what you’re doing it’s quick work. We take this elevator back to the main body of the mollusk. We were down like a… a vein. That last place we met, where the ball was being held. Its not far from where we’re going.” An involuntary memory sends a small shiver through Gurin. An impulsive touch to where the lances of ice had pierced him. It’d taken no small effort to get those healed up. “Uheh. We’ll be taking another lift from there to get out to the transport circles- seeing as none of us know any magic that can take you out from that point.” Once again begging the mystery. “In the meantime, or rather once we get out of there you best– !!!”

The doors decided this was the perfect time to reintroduce to Blythe the crown of the mine. The sanctuary yielding unto the three the full bustle of the premises in which Gurin and Veril worked under Ukolai.

It was, for better or worse, much more open than previous areas. Though it was still dotted around the edges with crystals- these were left as decoration having little use as magical foci or structural need. Pretty, barely, and that was about it. Various carved stone walkways spread out place to place like boardwalks across a shallow marsh. Stairways. Balconies. Larger yawning holes of carved stone that lead down deeper pathways. Some leading to offices. Others to barracks.

Blythe is afforded a single generous moment to take in any new sights, before the presence of moment demanded they move. That’s a lot of people looking to get past them onto the lift they just came to. What the hell?!

“Hey. Watch it, you trying to push me over? Good grief, Brenn.” At the very least, Gurin was quick to adopt a more postured image, as he usually did. Locking gaze with the offending demon (one his equal in height) and shifting past. Hopefully giving time for Blythe to slip around and hells please have the magic put back to work. “Hell of a day for things to be this busy… and what’s going on down there now?”

Gurin can’t help but observe a crowd of various demons down near the main lifts, and others watching from afar… but from where they were standing it couldn’t be made out just yet just who or what had attracted attention. And even worse, they’d be learning one way or another if they wanted to get out.

[binders-and-beanies]

And on top of it all. $300+ stolen from my bank account

[bataranqs]

5 Happy Things

Tues, Oct 1, 2024

My mom made a typo! Usually it's me who makes them and I just thought it was so cute and charming of my perfect and super cool mom to make a lil mistake that I often do. Made me feel like "haha, she really is my mom"

Bought some osmantheus oolong tea and brooooo it is so insanely good. It was bagged and like $14/8 bags (equal to the cost of the groceries I was buying TT) but so worth it. The scent is really so lovely and distinct and the first steep barely had to be in there to be super fragrant and refreshing, and the second steep is a bit more astringent but rounds really nicely on the tongue and the smell stays really well

My water filter is working :D

Had zero problems doing the things I usually do! Putting on clothes, getting out of bed, going to class! Yay!

Did not blank out on my math test today and definitely passed!!

[seafoam-taide]

I feel insane. Listening to some people talk about struggling with balanced consistent eating and out of every point they make to why it's a struggle they keep circling back to its so expensive. I feel like. Can people hear themselves. Does anyone hear how insane that sounds. Food is hard because it's so expensive. Food. That thing you need to. You know. Survive. To live . The most basic. Food is so expensive nowadays it's so hard to eat enough. HELLO? THAT'S INSANE

[lotusnebula]

[monster-noises]

sent you a small kofi! I hope thats okay

Absolutely my dear, that's very kind and generous of you and I really appreciate it 🥺

[izzy-b-hands]

Putting on last year's trans rigs stream from Drawfee before i have to get ready to go out with my mum and her bf today (bc i have the worst feeling in my gut he's gonna make that An Thing for me if given the chance today, aka whenever i eventually need the restroom while we're at Mystic)