#but poor Oz doesn't have it easy

[kiruamon]

Part 24

Any second now. Oz stood there, eyes widened in shock and paralyzed. It would take a miracle to free himself from his current dilemma. What could he do? Run away. He had to run and find another way to get to Pip, but his useless legs were failing him again. Meanwhile, his classmate was coming closer and closer. He felt the panic inside him rise even further. And then he noticed it. A monstrous figure moving towards them at an incredible speed. His breath stopped. Thankfully, he didn't needed air to survive.

The shape grew bigger and bigger, took a powerful leap, rose into the air and in the next moment the cursorial bird in front of him was dragged to the side by his long neck from the huge weight of the predator.

A single strangled cry of horror escaped Leonard's beak as the werewolf yanked him around like a toy, causing the mirror to fall from his beak to the ground among the green grass.

Half scared to death, Oz stared in pure terror at the picture that presented itself before him. Why was all this happening? W-why did this werewolf suddenly attacked Leonard? Although he might have felt relieved to have escaped the magic of the mirror, Oz was still too confused and stunned to feel anything in that regard. The frightened entity was trembling and even his phobias were huddling together in fear.

A piercing howl of victory filled the air before the massive, hairy beast reared up - still holding their classmate's long neck in his mouth - and before letting out a deep husky laugh. "Huhuhuh. That big chicken was easy prey! My bros will be so surprised when I bring it back!" the pack member spoke excited to himself with a full muzzle and tail wagging in delight not noticing Oz at first.

Could today actually get any worse? All he wanted was to help his friend. Finding out if he was well or… or... No! He shouldn't think about the alternative… not yet. Oz was still shaking, but despite the dreadful experience he just had, a new thought managed to raise his voice loud enough to get him finally to act. He had to grab this chance! As long as the werewolf was distracted by Leonard, he could leave this place to search for Pip.

His feet still felt wobbly as he took his first step. And although Oz hadn't been particularly loud, the small movement was enough to attract the attention of his predatory classmate. Immediately, the werewolfs head shot up, ears pointing up and the two green glowing eyes fixated on him in bewilderement. Obviously, the jock had completely blanked him out during his euphoric mood. At least until just now...

Green eyes narrowed suspiciously as Oz sensed that the other was trying to figure out if he was a potential threat to him or not. The muzzle of the fur-covered monstrous wolf released its - most likely from shock - unconscious prey, which fell to the ground with a thud. One of the enormous paws rested on Leonard's now feathered back. Even under all the fur, the flawless interplay of the thoroughly trained muscles was clearly noticeable. Oz silently prayed that his classmate would not just rip his head off of his shoulders.

With bristled back fur and a low and threatening growl, the pack member approached him. "What are you staring at?" the werewolf jock asked him, his voice full of suspicion, before he clarified even louder: "This chicken is mine! I hunted it down all fair, so back off and find your own meal! I won't share with someone like you!"

In his mind, Oz could already see his pathetic life passing by. This guy would eat him for breakfast if he didn't act quickly.

What would he have not given away at that very moment? For Brian's unwavering nature. For Amira's boundless confidence. For Vicky's endless optimism. Or simply for the fact that his mind - instead of coming up with a plan - wouldn't go blank in an emergency situation like this!

What should he do? What was he supposed to say? What could he… Calm down… he needed to calm down. Oz squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could, forcing himself to breathe more calmly.

He could do it. He would make it work. Hopefully... Not fully convinced by his own encouraging words, the still frightened student slowly managed to raise his head again and withstanding the urge to dodge the jock's piercing gaze. Or to run away as fast as possible. Instead, Oz looked the still intimidating looking werewolf straight in the eyes.

As carefully as possible, he raised his hands in a soothing gesture. "I-I d-don't intend t-to take any… anything away from y-you," tried Oz to reassure his scary looking classmate, which earned him a frown from the latter.

But at least the canine monster seemed to listen to him. That wasn't such a bad sign, right? The small entity gathered up some more of his little courage. Maybe… maybe he could somehow convince this guy to listen to what he had to say. For the first time, the desperate student felt hopeful again. It didn't seemed impossible anymore that he could retrieve the mirror in order to return to his friend with it. "H-honestly I-I h-have only one f-f-favor to a-ask y-you, if you cou-could just l-let me have t-the m-"

"ARGH! I knew it! You are after my chicken!" the werewolf immediately growled angrily without letting him finish his question.

"W-what? N-no!", Oz gave a startled cry. "T-that's n-not wha-what I-I w-w-wanted. I-If y-you w-would o-only l-listen to m-me, please… "

"LIAR!" Without waiting another second, the member of the Wolfpack took a step towards him. Oz heard an ominous creaking sound as the werewolf shifted his weight onto his leg causing the massive paw to break the glass of the mirror beneath it.

… Oh no…

A cloud of white smoke appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the enchanted figure of the kappa. Confused, the werwolf tried to catch a glimpse of something through the clearing smoke that hid his prey. Even Oz wasn't quite sure what was really happening right now. That was until he saw Leonard. Still unconscious, but back to his normal self! The magic of the mirror must had lost its effect as soon as the artifact was broken!

"Why is my chicken suddenly an ugly duck?" the werewolf asked, visibly shocked, before his ears flattened and a dark concerning sounding growl escaped the jock's throat. The fur was all ruffled. The canine monster gritted his sharp teeth while his muzzle crinkled itself. Oz gulped. That didn't looked good for him.

The former surprise in the predator's face was fully replaced by blind rage as the werewolf turned to Oz looking not amused in the slightest.

Oh Gosh... He really couldn't have a break, could he?

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY CHICKEN! TELL ME! OR I WILL BREAK YOU LIKE THE LITTLE TWIG THAT YOU ARE!" Startled by the drastic rise in volume, Oz flinched hard. His ears rang from the roar of his opponent. He already expected to be devoured at any moment - even more so now that the canine predator had lost his original prey.

"B-but I-I j-j-just w-wa-wanted t-to...," Oz stuttered, nearly choking on his own words. He barely had the strength left in him to speak loud enough to be heard and was cut off once again.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

His fault. The words repeated themselves in his head. Over and over and over. Oz felt his knees finally giving out and he lost his footing. His hands scraped the hard floor as he fell. The angry hollering mixed with threats kept continuing. It was too much at once. He couldn't bear it anymore. All the yelling, screaming, the constant feeling of danger and fear. Not knowing how to handle it any longer. It was all too overwhelming. So exhausting. Draining. His mind went blank and Oz couldn't even manage to unravel the words of the other student. All these words were nothing more than static in his ears. There was nothing he could do but stare wide-eyed in fear at the grim face of the pack member in front of him, imagining how the other would end him in three dozen different, equally gruesome ways. Fine, maybe he couldn't die, but it would still be very, very painful…. His fingertips felt numb, though he could sense an irritating prickling in them. Why? Why couldn't he bring his body under control? Instead, the overwhelmed entity felt that he had begun to tremble even more, although he didn't believed that this could had been possible. His hands felt damp and ice-cold. He was afraid. So very afraid. From witnessing the brute strength of his canine classmate firsthand any second. Afraid of being yelled at again. Of not being understood if he tried to speak up. His chest rose and fell in unsteady motions, while his vision began blurring before his eyes.

And yes... yes... It was his fault. Completely and solely his. Just because he wasn't strong enough. Because he wasn't brave enough. If only he had never meddled with things that weren't his business. Without my help, it wouldn't have come to this, the thought crossed his mind. Pip would have surely found the magic artifact shortly after his transformation and would have changed back long ago if he hadn't picked him up. All these things had only happened because of his interference. Only because of him Pip was probably hurt now. Because he hadn't stopped Leonard. He should have protected his friend! But none of this could be changed now. There… there is nothing I can do about it anymore… nothing… Tears came to Oz's eyes as he thought about all his mistakes. He felt so helpless. And even though he didn't needed to breathe in order to live, he felt like he was almost suffocating. All the times he let others push him around. First Leonard and now this nameless werewolf. Yet all he wanted was to see his friend again. In order to help him. Was that so wrong?

Pictures of the little hedgehog, lying lifeless on the cold ground, while red blood collected in a puddle in front of the tiny body, made his chest tighten, although he actually knew that Pip should have changed back by now. But what if not? What if he was severely injured? He had to get out of here. He needed to run to him! So why? Why… wasn't his body moving? It was so frustrating! Why couldn't he move even though he tried so hard? Even though he wished for nothing more than that. His fears paralyzed him, made his legs shook, and his eyes teared up even more. Why… why was he just such an useless loser… ? "I'm s-s-so s-sorry. J-just bec-because o-of m-me… " Oz sobbed. Pip… Somebody… Please, someone had to help his friend. Someone had to make sure Pip was okay! "Somebody! Help! Please! I beg you! Please, somebody has to help my friend! He's hurt!" It surprised even Oz himself that - despite everything - he somehow managed to raise his voice loud and clear enough and that he was able to extend the radius of his message as far as he could - all over the school grounds. Even though he didn't know if his call for help would reach someone who would follow it. Or when this help was about to arrive. But maybe… maybe someone would find Pip. He needed to hope for the best... His loud cry for help seemed to stop the werewolf for a moment. Irritated, the athlete shook his furry head back and forth as if trying to shake off an annoying fly. But it didn't lasted long, and just a few seconds after Oz had fallen silent, the fierce green glowing eyes focused on him again. And this time the wide open mouth with its sharp rows of teeth approached his face without mercy.

_

To be continued. Next time we reach the final part of the story!

[bimobuddy]

Fizzarolli x Asmodeus TK Headcanons

I love these two so much!! If you haven't seen S2 - E6, I highly suggest you go do that right now.

These might contain spoilers, but nothing too big, I don't think

Fizzarolli

Lee:

He's a giggler!

While he usually wakes up first, on the rare days he doesn't, Ozzie will tickle him awake. Partly because he thinks the sleepy giggles are adorable, but also partly out of revenge for the air horns (it's not gonna stop Fizz from using them though)

With anyone else, he'll fight back, but with Ozzie, he enjoys it and finds it fun. He'll even go as far as to try and provoke him sometimes.

Worst spots are his sides and tail, he'll probably start flailing. If you're unfamiliar with how he reacts, it's easy for you to accidentally get swatted, but Oz knows him and knows just how to avoid the swinging limbs or wagging tail

The tip or 'blade' of his tail REALLY gets him kicking

Tummy gets him curling up and giggling, tail thumping against the floor happily

He even gets flustered and giggly when Oz starts kissing on his cheeks and forehead. Not the most ticklish place, but just enough to get him giggly and smiley

Ler:

Back when they were kids, Fizz used to go after Blitz all the time. He'd usually win most of their tickle fights

Now, his main target is Ozzie, even if he isn't able to get him most of the time, as Oz usually just turns the tables on him

With his extendable limbs, it's pretty easy for him to wrap up his victim and still get at their sides or tummy

This is usually how he gets Ozzie, the rare moments his attacks actually work

Has chased Ozzie around their room a couple times during a chaotic ler mood (Poor rooster is just such a big guy though, it's hard for him to get away)

Has only ever gotten Blitz once since they've made up, but Blitz is an assassin now and was very quick to escape and turn it back around on him

Asmodeus

Lee:

Usually isn't much of a lee, as Fizz is really the only one able to get close enough or catch him off guard

And even then, it only works if he's in the mood or if Fizz sneaks up on him

DEEP CHUCKLES DEEP LAUGH

Fizz absolutely adores his voice, especially when he laughs

He knows he could easily overpower the little imp, but why in Hell would he risk hurting his Fizzy or ruining his fun? He'd much rather sacrifice his sensitivity to Fizz to see him happy

If you get him good, he'll accidentally crow. This has only ever happened one time when Fizz snuck up on him and grabbed his hips. However it didnt last long because he IMMEDIATELY wrecked the imp afterward

Sometimes Fizz starts kissing (or even scritching under the chins of) the other two heads in Oz's fluff. It's not exactly super ticklish, but it has gotten a chuckle or two from the Prince, as it felt weird, and he'll usually gently pull Fizz away with a soft "stooop"

Worst spot is his hips

Ler:

oh boy

This man can be absolutely ruthless

It's easy for him to scoop Fizz up in one hand and tickle him with the other

If he's feeling evil, he'll go after Fizz's tail and hips

But he's also such a sweetheart though, the SECOND he hears Fizz so much as even start the word 'stop,' he stops. He'd feel so bad if he overwhelmed his little clown

When they're alone, he'll start peppering Fizz's face with little kisses, while his other two heads do the same to his neck (in a sfw way) and it gets him super flustered and giggly

Big fan of teases. He'll go for the cliché 'tickle tickle tickle,' and stuff, but he'll also make kissy noises, make that clawing hand motion right over Fizz's tummy, or make him ask for it. ("I don't understand what you want, Fizzy, you're going to have to ask")

He's got feathers, he's basically a demonic chicken man. Sometimes he molts (sheds) his feathers too. (see where I'm going with this?)

When he loses his feathers, all he's gotta say is, "You know, Fizzy, it's molting season," and the imp is either immediately running away or hopping up into his lap for the gentle tickles.

Just like Fizz, he gets chaotic Ler moods too. He can and WILL chase or hunt down his partner, which is sometimes a challenge. Yes, he might be bigger, but Fizz is also very good at outmaneuvering him

But jokes on Fizz, this just makes the attack worse when Ozzie finally catches him

On mornings when they don't have to work, when Fizz goes to get up and out of bed, Ozzie will just hold him close to his chest, not letting him up, and give morning tickles

[hellokatieyoursocrazy]

The portrayal of Frances having dementia and how Oz and Vic dealt with it was so real that it was painful. And the conversation between Eve and Sofia was so good! I especially loved when Eve said that,"it must be easy to see things in black and white", to Sofia. Like, the constant commentary on the rich/poor dynamics in Gotham is perfect.

I also like how this episode keeps reminding the audience that Oz is not to be trusted. Multiple characters keep pointing out he doesn't care about anyone or that he backstabs everyone he works with, and I think that will really show in the last 2 episodes. I think Oz likes to think he is a good person who wants to stand up for the little guy, but really, he only cares about himself.

[like-rain-or-confetti]

Imagine Gotham rouges with a very Aloof S/O lol

Uh oh😂

Aloof.

The Riddler: "You should consider yourself lucky to be with me." He needs the validation. No, seriously. His brain does gymnastics because you're NOT praising him. If you're not praising him, then not only is he clearly doing something wrong, but so are you. What kind of moron gets in a relationship with a genius and fails to acknowledge the genius? That's just ridiculous, and you need to show your worth and appreciation to him. Now go away he needs to figure out something to woo and impress you.

Scarecrow: "its been 45 minutes and neither of you have said a word to one another. Trouble in paradise?" "Of course not." Such a weird couple. Neither give much of a conversation yet you two are in love? No one can see it most of the time. See when Jonathan isn't in the mood for chatter, no one -unless you were the Riddler or Jervis- could comfortably keep a conversation. Yet your apathy seemed to make it look a breeze.

Two-Face: "Get over here. We shouldn't have to ask you twice." It kinda works. It kinda doesn't. So, on one hand, when they want the space, It works well for both. Until they decide they want the attention. There isn't a middle ground it's all or nothing. Meanwhile, you're one a constant contentment of keeping your distance. This might be a bit annoying on your end because why is he so demanding all of a sudden but you don't really have a choice but to go along with it so you don't get on his bad side. In more ways than one.

Black Mask: "Are you even fucking listening to me!?" hot-headed crime lord for the mob and his apathetic significant other? Not exactly the best of both worlds. It often meant Roman got incredibly angry, and his significant other had nothing to say... making it worse and Roman spiral. Which in all honesty makes the pair really bad for each other, almost toxic. The one win is that Roman can cheat all he wants, and you won't care or you won't notice, and he'll probably do it more to try and get you to notice.

Penguin: "Can't help but notice how one sided this is. I'm giving you my heart and soul- and my money- and I barely squeeze a hug outta you." Oz -when it comes to his loved ones- is a people pleaser. He'll give you his money, his time his very soul just to feel a little bit deserving of love. The good news is, it'll be rather easy to convince him of your love. The bad news is the poor man really could use the TLC and it often looks more like a sugar daddy/sugar baby inspired relationship.

[radfemfox5]

What do u think about the arguments of the brains on transgender people? I have seen that the standard response is "brain sex is not a thing". But I have seen that there is a great discussion between scientists about this and there are proofs that brains between men and women are different in some little ways. I also see this through autism lens, because I'm autistic and females are underdiagnosed and there is a discussion about it too: socialization or brain differences that make more easy the masking and faking neurotypical behaviour.

But of course, even if the brain argument is correct, I don't see how transition is the logical next step to take then. Like, is ur brain, u can take therapy and be gender nonconforming if that's the case anyway. Brain can be trained due to neuroplasticity and kids with gender dysphoria can be treated in a way to become more comfortable in their bodies.

Sorry for my poor english, I'm chilean.

Hi, thank you for your question. Don't worry, English isn't my first language either.

So, this is hard to answer. The short answer is that no, brain sex isn't real. If brain sex is not real, then trans-identified males cannot be born with a "female brain." I feel like this has been retired as an argument for transgenderism, as it's not only a nebulous concept but also goes against the concept that you can identify as anything you want (ie: no biological component to gender).

The long answer is that it's complicated. We don't know enough about the brain to fully understand which part does what, let alone what minute differences there may or may not be between the functioning of a male and a female brain. It's been proven that men and women use different parts of the brain to process the same information, so while there are no structural differences, there could be functional differences that we simply don't know about yet.

@woman-for-women has an excellent post about brain sex here (archive), and I'll use the sources she links as references for my next points. Go check out her posts, seriously, she's incredibly thorough and condenses difficult subjects into easy-to-digest infographics.

I'll first go over brain sex, why it's not real / not proven, and consequently why a male having a "female brain" is impossible. This turned out to be very long, so more under the cut.

In my opinion: the myth that males and females behave differently because of innate differences in brain structure comes from 2 things:

Logic / Common sense. If you present a man with a stressful situation, he will not react the same way a woman would. In our everyday lives, it's easy to assume that men and women are simply wired differently, since we have unique behaviours and thought patterns. Contrary to popular belief, most of this doesn't stem from innate biological differences, but rather from gendered socialization. It's hard for us to gauge what portion of our gendered differences is nature (innate) and which portion is nurture (socialization).

Anecdotal evidence and misconceptions about brain function. In the 18th century, it was discovered that a woman's brain weighs on average 5 oz lighter than a man's. This would lead the general public to assume that, since a woman's brain is smaller, this has an impact on her overall intelligence, which is not true.

Assumptions are often made in the general public and even in neuroscience when it comes to which part of the brain does what based on preexisting notions of what a man is and what a woman is. The study I just showed, for instance, was misconstrued in order to strengthen sex-based stereotypes.

What a surprise, my personal interpretation of my results just coincidentally happened to match gendered stereotypes that I was taught. How bizarre.

In all seriousness, this study and its methods have been ripped to shreds by people much smarter than I.

"As Gina Rippon, author of The Gendered Brain and outspoken critic of neurosexism shows, the hunt for proof of women’s inferiority has more recently elided into the hunt for proof of male–female ‘complementarity’. So, this line goes, women are not really less intelligent than men, just ‘different’ in a way that happens to coincide with biblical teachings and the status quo of gender roles. Thus, women’s brains are said to be wired for empathy and intuition, whereas male brains are supposed to be optimized for reason and action."

In reality, according to more recent studies with bigger sample sizes, men and women don't have significant differences in brain structure to conclusively say that brains are sexually dimorphic.

If you're a more visual person, here are the graphs from the first study, showing overall brain matter volumes and volumes for specific brain structures. The second study's visualizations are less easy to understand, as they're brain scans and brain tissue images.

These graphs are called bell curves, and they're used to demonstrate a distribution. Basically, the peak of the "bell" shape means that this is the most common value for a certain demographic, while the extremities are outliers or rarer values.

As you can see, "considerable distributional overlap" means that these bell curves are nearly identical in most brain structures. However, white matter, grey matter and total brain volume are different in men and women, with women in this study typically having lower numbers. This doesn't affect overall intelligence, as we saw earlier, or affect the overall proportional volumes of different brain structures. This is just a result of women having smaller skulls on average.

So, if there is so much overlap between the sexes, then why can't a male have a female brain? The graphs do have overlapping sections, don't they?

The thing is, brain structure is nearly identical in both sexes. Therefore, there is no typically "female" or "male" brain, but rather "unique mosaics of features" which aren't uniquely male or female.

A good analogy that woman-for-women gives is this: if a man's height is closer to an average woman's height, does that mean this man is now a woman? No, he is a short male. Being in the overlap of this graph doesn't mean that you aren't a part of your own bell curve.

This is a complex topic that was very interesting to look into. If you have more questions about this, feel free to send another ask or look into the sources:

Sex beyond the genitalia: The human brain mosaic (archive)

The human hippocampus is not sexually-dimorphic: Meta-analysis of structural MRI volumes (archive)

Sex Differences in the Adult Human Brain: Evidence from 5216 UK Biobank Participants (archive)

Delusions of gender: How our minds, society, and neurosexism create difference. (archive)

[susandsnell]

The Batman/Reevesverse Scarecrow Speculation Post

So, with the hope that the Reevesverse Scarecrow spinoff still goes through (what with WB's currently tenuous position under Zaslav), here are some speculation points I've had for a while with regards to how dear Dr. Crane could fit into the Gotham universe of 2022's The Batman --

The Drops Trade: Probably the most obvious thread wherein to integrate him. As some rumours about the Penguin spinoff TV series have hinted that they'll pick up on this subplot (since we do see Oz is involved in it in the movie), and there is apparently already an epidemic in this universe's Gotham City, lacing a new strain with fear toxin would be an easy way to spread it massively through the city. This could easily tie him in with the mob characters (Oz et al), and would work well with the Se7en-esque mystery/detective story approach they're taking to Batman's character, with the inexplicable terrifying effects of this new strain of Drops leading Bats down a trail that ends with a disgraced former professor of psychology. What works against this is that it's argably too similar to the very rapidly abandoned drug dealer Scarecrow plot in The Dark Knight. But given that as with every Nolanverse Scarecrow plot point, that kind of just happened and went nowhere until Crane Barbied his way into a new job, and the fact that the series hasn't shied away from similarities/nods to TDK trilogy, there's still a solid chance for there to be a unique spin on it here.

Riddler leaks: Since this universe's Edward Nashton is big on exposing corruption and has a strong online presence, maybe he - or one of his following, acting in his name - will kickstart the start-of-darkness plot by prompting his firing from Arkham or Gotham University (if he works at either in this continuity) by leaking Dr. Crane's more unsavoury dealings and/or unethical practices and experimentation. Perhaps the Renewal Fund flowed through Gotham University and Crane siphoned from it to finance his fear toxin research? While I love the "this man fired a gun in his classroom to illustrate a point and got extremely mad that there were consequences" origin to death, I can admit this origin might be either considered either too silly or in poor taste for a grounded universe like the Reevesverse that does have at least some social commentary. Points against this route, however, are whether they intend to do much more with Edward Nashton; Paul Dano is reportedly signed on for more entries to the series, but given he had a whole movie to himself, and a prequel comic run, they might not want to saturate us on him. On the other hand, Matt Reeves has expressed an interest in building a full and robust Rogues Gallery, and the most successful visual adaptations that have done this have understood the value of the Rogues' relationships amongst themselves.

Arkham Doctor: A usual starting point for Crane, but nonetheless, we've established Arkham already in this universe, and with named and known characters staying there. There's also rumours of an Arkham Series that could bridge with the Scarecrow spinoff proper, and while Crane experimenting on the patients is rather typical, we do have some interesting opportunities -- a chance he interacts with Riddler and Joker, who are set up to be there, again laying the groundwork for a new Rogues Gallery (Poison Ivy is also confirmed to have a spinoff in the works, so she might be involved also), but moreover, an access to the records on Martha Wayne, nee Arkham, could bring him into the leverage/Wayne family drama, which would be especially fun if he still doesn't figure out Bruce's identity as Batman, he just resents the Waynes. Then again, even though Scarecrow's class struggle angle goes back to the earliest comic appearances, this ground has already been well-trodden with Edward Nashton and Selina Kyle in the first movie, so it depends on whether they want to take a new tack or expand Gotham's class disparity to be a major theme of the series.

anyway, these are just a handful of ideas - would love to hear other thoughts!

[doctorhouse5343]

The cow kingdom was known for it's kindness and resilience so when a letter from a cat kingdom that was always at war (they never could get one peaceful day) sent a letter requesting their assistance, the king immediately sent a letter back, stating that the cow people would help in every way possible. It was soon discussed that the prince from that kingdom would arrive at the palace at sundown with his advisors to form an alliance that would benefit the two kingdoms greatly and it was with excitement that Hob prepared everything for the cat people's arrival, with the advice of his consort Dream, who was gifted to him a long time ago when his own kingdom fell. Due to Dream being a cat himself, his wisdom was very much appreciated so when the sun began to set, all preparations were made to welcome their guests.

When the prince and the advisor didn't arrive, the king found himself getting worried : did they face trouble along the way? It was just as he was about to send out a letter that his court heard a bloodcurdling yowl, mixed with a lot of insults and threats that left the servants quite terrified as the guards came in the room with a very angry cat person. The cat person had blood running down his chin, blood splatters on the white half-skull marking on his face and large gashes on his body, as if he got himself into a scuffle. Hob frowned at the sight, asking the guards why his hands were chained up, to which they quickly explained that he was already like this when they went to fetch him. An audible gasp echoed through the court : the one standing before them was none other than the prince who was supposed to be accompanied by his own delegation. When asked why he was in this state, the prince refused to reply and instead showed them a scroll all the while glaring at everyone, the contents of the scroll stating that as a gesture of good will, the cat kingdom would be giving the cow kingdom their prince as a gift to celebrate their potential alliance. The king was livid, there was no mention of this in the letter sent to them but he didn't want to just send the poor prince away so he made sure that he would get bathed and taken care.

Dream was asked to supervise the bathing as to make sure that the servants didn't accidentally tick the warring prince, which he did so without a problem : the prince didn't attack but he did give a few hisses and glares, it was clear that he wasn't going to make it easy. It was after being given a proper meal that Hobo Heart, the cat prince gifted to the king of the cow people, began to explain that he had just returned to his kingdom when he had learned of this change of plan and no matter how much he protested, he was sent off in the carriage anyway. The wounds and the blood were from the battle that he was in, he didn't have the time to patch up due to being told to return to his people immediately. During the conversation, Hob was trying to not cry while vowing to himself that the prince's new life in the palace was going to be much better, he was going to protect the cat all costs with the help of his beloved and give him all the milk that he could give

to everyone who don't know Hobo Heart, been wondering about him or just stumbled on my fics, allow me to enlighten you : He is a character made by an artist named Chris Oz Fulton, whose specialty lies in horror, hence the character's appearance. He is a Creepypasta but in my stories he is either human (Safe In Your Love, Fields Of Dandelions) or something entirely different : the only thing that doesn't change is the appearance and the name. Hope this bit of information was helpful

also this AU is called Your Skeleton Grin, title from the song of the same name by Lord Of The Lost

[jack-ofspades]

fischl and diluc thoughts:

so, concept: fiscal, bennett, and razor, right? best friends, thick as thieves, etc. but, for fischl, they’re really her only companions, so when she sees razor heading toward’s the favonius library to study with lisa or bennett waiting outside in the knight’s training arena for kaeya, she can’t help but get a little jealous. she loves them both dearly and is happy for them, but doesn’t she deserve a cool mentor too? (it’s definitely it's her aching want for an adult figure to believe in her, to support her unconditionally or anything, no sir). but she isn’t someone to mope around, so she decides to take things into her own hands, and find herself a mentor. her first idea is to ask jean (a princess deserves the best mentor around, and who would be better than the acting grandmaster?) but jean is, you know, the busiest woman alive. still, fischl decides to wait outside of the knight's headquarters to talk to jean. sitting there, she sees a flash of red on the rooftops below and sends oz to investigate. and he comes back and tells her that it’s the darknight hero, and oh yeah that's definitely diluc ragnvindr. fischl goes, “oh?” and then the next day she overhears someone calling diluc the uncrowned king and then she goes “OH?” and then decides that jean is probably too busy to mentor her so she’s moving on to her second plan, but really, it should have been her first, because uncrowned king sounds so much cooler than acting grandmaster (fischl has her priorities in order, obviously). so she walks into angel’s share one day and asks diluc to mentor her. diluc blinks, and then he tells her he can't. she asks again very nicely, and somehow through this conservation a bit of miscommunication makes diluc believe she’s blackmailing him with knowing he’s the darknight hero. (she is not; he is just a little too paranoid for his own good). so then he agrees, taking her out and really easy missions hoping she gets bored one day and lets it go. (also, even, if he thinks she is blackmailing him, he would never want to get her hurt). she does not; she gets more excited every day. but then, she does get hurt on one of their missions; nothing horrible, just a sprained wrist from landing badly when dodging. but when he sees her hurt, diluc goes a little crazy and rains hell on whatever poor hillihcurl camp they were cleaning out. fischl thinks that is the coolest thing ever but also is afraid that this really is it, she’s lost her chance, but diluc comes to her side and helps her wrap her wrist carefully until they can get it properly healed, and he examines her bow and notes that it needs new things, and tells her he knows better ways to dodge, and that he'll show her when her wrist is healed. this, built from the guilt from getting her hurt, suddenly, slowly, becomes him actually mentoring her for real. she ends up with a room in the winery, and becomes a fucking menace on the battefield, and diluc ends up spoiling her horribly without even realizing it. fischl is fucking thrilled (free older brother!); diluc doesn't even realize how attached he is until kaeya teases him about wanting to meet their new little sister.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, January 9

XANDER: No, no, no. You're not going out. SPIKE: I have to go. XANDER: Buffy was very clear about the not leaving of you. SPIKE: I know what the Slayer told you. It's not true. Now let me go, and I'll find a way to prove it. XANDER: OK, I'm gonna list the reasons that won't happen. One - (Spike punches hi in the nose, knocking him out) SPIKE: Ow!

~~Buffy Season 7 Episode #130: "Sleeper"~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Disaster Avoidance Strategies (Buffy, T, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure xover) by madimpossibledreamer

Up All Night (Buffy/Spike, M) by veronyxk84

finds me unafraid (Xander, T, multiple xovers) by madimpossibledreamer

When she failed her sacred duty (Buffy, Willow, G) by FPBarbieri

Beckoning Beat (Oz/Reader, G) by CasuallyShrieking

It's you that I lie with (Oz/Reader, G) by CasuallyShrieking

Music to my Ears (Oz/Reader, G) by CasuallyShrieking

The Depth of You (Darla/Kendra, T) by MadeInGold

A Sexy Meal (Buffy/Spike, M) by DeamonQueen

Wanting (Buffy/Giles, T) by zombiesam

Untitled (Giles, Buffy, unrated) by

Creature of the Night (Faith/OC, M) by smartycvnt

[Chaptered Fiction]

Vamp for Rent 17/18 (Spike/Xander, M) by forsaken2003

Forgiveness Doesn't Come Easy Ch. 15 (Buffy/Spike, E) by slaymesoftly

What If Love Was Enough?, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Spikelover4ever

Three Little Words, Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Maxineeden

Ressentir la peine, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, G) by Miss Kitty

Who's Pole ?, Chapter 1-2 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Desicat

Pack My Box with Five Dozen Liquor Jugs, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, E) by honeygirl51885

The Neighbor's Point of View, Chapter 75 (Buffy/Spike, ) by the_big_bad

A Waxy Gent Chuckled Over My Fab Jazzy Quips, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, T) by violettathepiratequeen

Poor Man's Treacle, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, G) by mcgnagallsarmy

The Witch‛s Gift, Chapter 30 (Buffy/Spike, E) by RavenLove12

Constellations, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Maxineeden

Truth and Consequences, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, M) by JamesMFan

Truth Hurts, Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Geliot99

A Second Chance- Their Story, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Loup Noir

Lesson the Second, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Girlytek

Wayward Girl, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, E) by ClowniestLivEver

Love Lives Here, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Passion4Spike

Clean Slate, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, G) by hulettwyo

It's Easy Time, Until It's Not, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, G) by hulettwyo

The Freak Show, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, E) by hulettwyo

Love Ridden, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, E) by scratchmeout

Liquor Good, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Girlytek

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:Balthazar by drawandpaintbyfire

Artwork:Angel sketches by genericaces

Artwork:Buffy, Dawn, & Willow by pzyii

Video: AtS Women | Rid of Me by mercer-queen

[Reviews & Recaps]

PODCAST: Episode 111: Season 5 Wrap Up by Mythtaken

PODCAST: BTVS 507 - Fool For Love by Another Buffy Podcast

PODCAST: Two To Go S6 E21 by Buffy and the Art of Story

PODCAST: Episode 10 - Chocolate Hurricanes and Chicken Tender Subs (Nightmares) by The Sunnydale Diaries

[Fandom Discussions]

Day 8: Favorite Season 1 Episode. by k0nstantly-tragic

Was rewatching Homecoming earlier for unrelated reasons when I noticed a familiar name on Buffy’s list of likely voters by coraniaid

I find it so funny that in Something Blue, Spike seems to hesitate by hermyohkneegranger

This was fantastic! I picked up on an interesting parallel with watching this video. by girl4music

rating buffy characters for how disproportionate their reaction to buffy’s 3 month absence was by hauntedhikingsociety

Urban Fantasy Worldbuilding and the USA by alpaca-clouds

Two of the most critically acclaimed episodes of Buffy are episodes that I don’t really care for. by wendyliddel

If you think about it in Buffy The Vampire Slayer theres a loophole to create infinite Slayers by takato1993

Another thing that Wynonna gets right that Buffy didn’t. by girl4music

What music goes with Lilah Morgan? by Pumpkins217

What if Lilah Morgan and Jenny Calendar met? by Pumpkins217

AtS Season 4 is the worst by modeyink

Opinions on each season of AtS by Pumpkins217

How would Wesley react if Lilah had survived in season 4 by LightBlueSky55

Best ship of each season? by Pumpkins217

Joyce’s Death. Did she really need to die? by thrasherbuffy

A better villain than the Initiative? by buffysmanycoats

Pylea by pengchod

Buffy killing the knights of Byzantium by SafiraAshai

5x16 and 17 by ZealousidealMiddle13

I started watching Buffy in October, currently in mid-S6. My thoughts so far. by InnocentPerv93

Comparatively, how strong is baseline Buffy? by mbene913

Question on Illyria’s disguise (spoilers) by JellyfishDry9464

Anyone else love seeing the start of Buffy and Riley’s relationship? by Suspicious-Thing5215

Hot take: Dawn wasn't real by vasopressin334

Crack theories. by ZombiePhantom

Is there a term for how characters in BTVS speak? by Inspirational_Owl

Can we discuss the Pylea arc? by Pumpkins217

What is your favorite season? by Pumpkins217

S2E8 The Dark Age by Pumpkins217

What is your favorite season premiere in the Buffyverse? by Pumpkins217

Which seasons did you find the characters most likable? by Excellent-Durian-509

A lot of talk about Riley, but there's one thing that I haven't seen discussed... by RuthlessKittyKat

S2E17 “Passion” by Pumpkins217

“I Only Have Eyes For You” is amazing. by Pumpkins217

Any good long Buffy/Angel fics? by goodandpure

Rent by pengchod

Angel the Series on the Internet Archive by emerald447

Cordy and Angel by pengchod

Did Buffy the Vampire slayer gain any controversy when it was airing? by Toni-Cipriani

Any theories you had while watching that never came true/were proven? by Could_Be_A_Spy

Wesley’s such a heartthrob in season 4 by modeyink

Doctor Xander? by UpsettiSpaghetti16

Fred's voice by BabsLuck

Where do we go from here. by Syn_33

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[cimmerian-chaos]

A rant on stupid people's ideas about poverty:

We as a society really need to stop shaming people on benefits. "B-but people on benefits are going out and buying steak, and they have a nice phone and things!" Since you probably don't even know how benefits work beyond "people are getting free food that I'm paying for" (along with all kinds of other things) here's the 2019 benefit amount state averages, courtesy of the USDA. The national average is $239 a month for two people btw. Just let that sink in a little.

But let's talk about that steak, because that's what's important, right? On Walmart's site, cheapest price I can find for a pair of steaks is $17.97. 10 lb bag of russet potatoes is $5.97, that's the best price per unit. And you can stretch that for another meal or two. $2.74 for a 32-oz thing of frozen broccoli. Two medium russet potatoes are about a pound. So you're looking at $24 for this one meal. So what if someone on benefits can get themselves a nice steak dinner? We're all having to try to streach the rest of our meals across the week. You're lucky if you can get together a balanced meal, because the rest of them are going to be unbalanced. And only getting one, maybe two filling meals a day, if that. If there's a food pantry, that'll usually help a bit, depending on where you live and whatnot.

But when you're poor, you do your damndest to not look like it. You sit and rationalize everything that you do with your money. It's not easy to stay within your means, even if you keep an eye out for things like plasma donations, things that people who have money seem to consider beneath them or not worth the hassle. You might try to tuck money away in case of an emergency, but it's rarely enough. The rise of people turning to strangers online isn't a sign of "everybody's looking for a handout these days." It's a cry for help because they're out of options. The system is antiquidated and broken, and yet rather than making something better for everyone, you feel you deserve everything since you've made yourself a diligent bootlicker for a company for 20 years. It doesn't matter if we have nothing because you think "that'll never be me, because I have a plan for my life."

About that iPhone, or whatever nice thing someone who's poor might have. When you need something, it's a fact that you get what you pay for. Case in point, I bought what has to be the 100th crappy $30 keyboard and mouse combo, and started to save up my money, because I was tired of having them die left and right for well over a decade. So when the craptastic one predictably died a few months later, I bought myself a mechanical keyboard. I thought for a while about what I needed. It'll hopefully be the last keyboard I'll ever have to get. And yet, I beat myself up over it long after the money is gone, just because I have it. I haven't set up my macros because I couldn't figure out the web based configurator that even @dragongirlcock struggled with. ADHD plus memory loss means that I'm doing it with zero experience in coding in general, nvm QMK. And yet, the part of my brain that comes from a lifetime of poverty says to me, "Why did you even get this? It's so expensive! You're not using all the features right now. If you're not using it for every single thing that it's good for, then you're not really appreciating it. If you hadn't done this, then you'd have money for this other thing. You should be 'practical' (aka only spending money on adulting related things) "

All of this, all of these messages that are passed from society to poor people, who teach it to their kids, who often also are in poverty and with people becoming poorer all the time, we need to stop perpetuating the message that you only deserve nice things if you're middle class. Everyone deserves nice things that they enjoy.

[sunder-the-gold]

Hello again! Hope you're having a swell time. What exactly ARE the Brother Gods? Wikia says that they originally one entity that split itself into two out of loneliness, but whether that story was the truth is subjective, so, drawing in other real-life and literature, as well as wild theories, what manner of entity was it that created the Brothers, or what they actually are? Entities that are cosmic eldritch things that had their more montrous aspects filed down in the filters of their creations to appear more comprehensive? Also why did GoL choose Ozma to return to unite humanity instead of someone that has no ties with Salem? What is GoL's definition of a united humanity? Why do the gods have no eyes? Seeing as eyes are windows to the soul shtick is Remnant thing apparently. Are the Brothers' "arrogant" countenance justified, seeing as they are immortal cosmic entities? How do you think RWBY would resolve the Judgement thing? Is humanity indeed lesser in the absence of the Gods? Did they truly abandon Remnant, or are they still watching the second wave of humanity, like scientists do? What would they think of Salem and Oz's mimicry of being gods like them, in a way? Eat breakfast!

That's a lot of individual questions. I feel some of the bigger questions could have been separate Asks, and the various little ones could have been bundled together on their own.

Each one of these following sections could have been a separate Ask.

Uncreated Creator

The extra-canonical story about the brother gods originally being one god who split himself in two... doesn't contradict any of the facts presented in the canon, but also doesn't really matter to canon. The most important take-away, I feel, is that it reinforces the message that the brother gods are the only divine game in town, and we shouldn't waste energy hoping or fearing that any other gods will intervene in their squabble.

A creator god who was never created (a Prime Mover) isn't any more paradoxical than a Big Bang consisting of matter that no one created. Atheists with their belief in an ageless cycle of Big Crunches and Big Bangs are stuck with the same "turtles all the way down" problem as theists. Theism at least embraces the absurdity of the paradox as a proof of theism, by supposing the original creator god 'pre-exists' the very notion of Cause And Effect.

Of course, the Brother Gods are far less cosmically eldritch than the Abrahamic God, since existing outside of Time Itself doesn’t seem to give them the ability to foretell the future. But maybe that was what their original form did, and when it divided itself in two, its two components became subject to Time when Time began.

Eyes

For modern audiences, eyes are windows into the soul, and that implies a sort of vulnerability or mortality or relatability.

The brother gods are already so expressive, so human, so relatable in their behaviors and flaws... if you gave them eyes like Jinn and Ambrosius, I don't think they would really seem like gods. I think it would be too easy to forget how godlike they're supposed to be.

Spirits like Jinn and Ambrosius, as powerful as they are, are still closer to the level of humanity than they begin to approach the power of the gods. Like humans, Jinn and Ambroius are created beings who labor under heavy restrictions. So you can give them eyes without risking anyone forgetting the scale of the gap between them and regular mortals.

Arrogance?

The God of Destruction is arrogant in that he doesn't want to acknowledge that he's his own worst enemy. "Boo hoo, the humans don't want to worship me, but I'm not willing to get rid of my Grimm or let my brother share the water of everlasting life with them, oh poor me."

The God of Creation isn't generally arrogant, he's just willing to enforce his boundaries when he can. Cashiers don’t deserve to be yelled at by Karen customers who insist the cashiers violate company policy specifically for them.

Lessened?

Humans lost magic when the gods left. By that metric at least, humanity is lessened by their absence.

Whether or not that loss is worthwhile is a related matter, but still a separate question, and not one I feel qualified to decide.

Why Ozma?

I believe the God of Light chose Ozma to return to Remnant because no one else would go. In life, Ozma was this too-perfect hero who lived to help other people, but even he found death so restful that he refused to go back to help anyone until he learned that the woman he loved would never join him in restful death otherwise.

Salem was the only human of First Humanity 'spared' by the God of Destruction, so none of the other resting souls had anyone left on Remnant to go back for. And certainly, none of them gave a shit about seeing Salem.

Except maybe her father, but I doubt Salem's tyrannical, murderous father was the sort of person that the God of Light would trust to leave Salem alone and help Second Humanity.

The Gods' Criteria For Success

The God of Light's exact words were, "if your kind is unchanged, if you demand our blessings while still fighting amongst yourselves".

That's two separate conditions. Taken literally, it would be technically fine if the humans continued fighting other humans as long as they didn't also demand blessings from the gods. This was more or less the situation on Remnant before Salem lead humanity to wage war against the gods to steal blessings from them.

Certainly, neither god intervened to save Salem from her father, to protect her father from the interlopers Salem's messages brought, or to save the interlopers from her father's guards. Humans killed humans, and the gods stayed in their dens.

Though definitely, the "without fighting amongst yourselves" part does get more emphasis from the God of Creation. But that may be more of his personal wish than anything his brother demanded.

Which makes sense. Would the God of Destruction really want to see humans stop killing each other? If he can't destroy them all, and if he can't count on them worshiping him like they do his brother, then at least he can take solace that they keep killing themselves.

Are the gods still watching?

The God of Creation was definitely still watching at least up until the point he sent Ozma back, or how else would he know how bad things were getting? He might not be watching anymore, since he can just wait for the summons from the four assembled Relics to deliver the good or bad news.

I think the God of Destruction might not have cared to watch Remnant until the new agreement with his brother gave him a new opportunity to just destroy it all and be done with created things. And now he might also not be watching, but just listening for the proverbial bell.

Reaction to Salem and Ozma’s global take-over?

Assuming they’re watching:

The God of Destruction might have found their antics pathetically amusing, while also envying that they got to go around bullying and killing anyone they wanted whereas he had stayed confined to his Grimm-infested den. He was likely waiting for them to fail.

The God of Creation was almost certainly horrified and disgusted the entire time.

How will RWBY solve things?

Ruby’s going to convince Salem to accept that she was wrong to lie, cheat, steal, and murder as though her pain made her more important than anyone else in the world.

Salem accepting that it’s wrong to hurt other people in order to get her way will allow her to serve as an example when Ruby lectures the God of Destruction into admitting that he was wrong for hurting his brother by destroying his brother’s creations, and that as co-creator of humanity he has also abused them undeservedly.

With Salem’s threat neutralized and the God of Destruction changing his mind, the criteria for sparing humanity can be relaxed so that humanity doesn’t have to get along any better than the brothers did. If the brothers could be allowed to quarrel until they came to an agreement, then humanity can be allowed to have quarrels, especially if they don’t drag the gods into it.

Regarding what happens after that, I already gave my answer to tokufan400.

My views on the ending of RWBY are split between what I think should happen, and what I actually want to happen.

What I think should happen is the God of Destruction changes his mind, magic is restored to Remnant, possibly all of the dead are brought back to life, everyone is immortal, maybe even the Grimm are erased, and the gods live among humanity in peace.

But that solves every problem so thoroughly that Remnant becomes boring from a storytelling perspective, so what I actually want is for Remnant to remain a Monster Hunter world that serves as a setting for a future video-game that doesn’t suck.

[c03xistentw01]

over the last few hours i so did many times; taking into consideration the (easy) possibility of suppressing it using (my) every known tool:

movies, tried wizard of oz. made me sick instead. but also wonder.

series, tried. worked a bit.

music, doesn't help anymore so that one is crossed the list.

book (I keep failing to start, I tried giving it a shot in the train to Trieste {another desperate trip i made recently, or in face, the only one i did since august, which in my measurements, a wanderer, shows how poor my psychological performance has been}),

sleep, always works. but then you wake up e di nuovo. lo trovi la. ti senti il peso.

suppress what: holy shit. here we go.

I can't argue about the job itself. job is job. something tedious you do to make sure you'll have enough money left to pay your rent and not occasionally starve to death by the end of the month. plus, it wasn't actually that bad or difficult it was just long and apparently that's not always the case.

the problem was the 134 index of the weather in padova at 4 am last night the fact that i was on the bus, cold, alone, tired, scared, helpless, desperate. i couldn't stop thinking about when we arrive to padova to via longhini and when i'd have to get on the bike (if by luck it was still there, in full integrity) and ride all the way in the thick fog or whatever the fuck that sick shit was, in that creepyass road along the river. Little did i know that i would find the bike there for sure, but with a flat tire.

as soon i got to the bike everyone became ghosts they either magically found scooters or bikes or got in their cars and drove away and left me all alone in the fog with a flat tire.

I unlocked the bike and told myself there was no way i would walk all all the way back home all alone. so i got on the bike. i went into the thick fog in the rusty lil road in the park that led to the river and the bridge on top.

as i was passing the street i saw my coworkers fading away in the milky haze. as if they were never real. as if we never met.

idk how i got from there to home. i dont know i dont know i dont know. i dont wanna try to remember.

i remember the haze.

i remember the milky haze.

i remember it was everywhere.

i remember it had swollen me whole.

i remember the road to 'home' was too long to be followed.

i remember the darkness.

i remember figures passing me by on the bridge and disappear in the haze like small light dots.

i remember the screeching of my tire on the ground getting louder after each turn.

i remember reminding myself constantly that at least I might not be followed.

i remember holding on so tight to thinking "this is not real. it will soon be over".

but oh boy did it ever.

~

can't let go of thinking.

what if I'll never have it again.

what if.

what if I'd lost it.

what if I'd lost it good.

real good.

for good.

non riesco a lasciare andare il pensiero

cosa succede se non riuscirò a ancora lo mettere insieme

cosa succede

cosa succede se l'avessi perso per sempre

non è mai stato un buon ide

provare a esprimere le mie emozioni

IN ITALIANO?

[mixergiltron]

Feeling Groggy

On the menu of most Tiki bars is a drink with 'Grog' in the name. This is due to this gentleman:

His name is Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon,and in the pantheon of Tiki gods,he's right up there with the legendary Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic. Why do you ask? Because on the 21st of August,1740,the good Admiral issued Order to Captains No. 349 for sailors of the British Navy to be issued a daily ration of rum,watered down,and livened up with lime or lemon and sugar cane for "good husbandmen"(the lime later became standard issue to prevent scurvy,and is why the British are called 'limeys'). This became known as "grog",and was basically the very first Tiki cocktail.

Back in the day,life aboard ship was,how should I put this,crappy. One of the many issues faced on long voyages was a lack of potable water. Water was stored in wooden casks and would go bad in short order. Beer was carried aboard ship because it would last longer. But when British ships began operating in the Caribbean,they switched to rum because it was easy to find and cheap to purchase,and it would last longer. Originally it was issued straight,but as this caused 'disciplinary problems',it was later watered down. The name grog came from Adm Vernon's nickname "Old Grog",which came from his habit of wearing a grogham cloth coat or cloak in bad weather. The grog was issued twice a day,just before noon and again at the end of the workday. The rum used was generally around 114 proof,and this was confirmed by the Purser(or Pusser) who would mix an amount of rum with gunpowder and light it;if it burned,then it was of the proper strength to be issued. It is from this test that we get 'navy strength' rum. Fortunately,in modern times we have ice to mix with our drinks,so we can actually enjoy our grogs. So give these cocktails a try,and be sure to use the toast,"splice the mainbrace!".

Mix #10 Traditional Grog

1.5oz navy strength rum* 1oz lime juice 1/2oz simple syrup**

*I recommend Pusser's Gunpowder or Hamilton's Navy Grog Blend. **Rock candy or Demerara syrup work best.

This is basically a historically correct grog recipe,save that it is shaken with ice. It skews a bit sour depending on the syrup used,and actually utilizes navy rum.

Mix #11 Navy Grog

1oz light rum 1oz dark rum 1oz Demerara rum 1oz honey syrup 3/4 oz lime juice 3/4oz grapefruit juice 2oz club soda

Shake everything except soda with ice. Pour into double rocks glass and top with soda.

This is the traditional Tiki drink. The 'legit' method uses a cone made of ice with the straw going through it,but really regular ice works just fine(and doesn't require any extra effort). Note that with three ounces of rum,plus the honey,you will probably feel pretty groggy the next day after a couple of these.

Mix #12 Sailor's Grog

1.5oz spiced rum 1/2oz 151 Demerara rum 3/4oz lime juice 3/4oz orange juice 1/2oz falernum 1 dash Angostura bitters 1.5oz ginger beer

Shake everything except beer with ice and pour into double rocks glass. Top with beer.

BG Reynold's riff on grog is a spicy cocktail for folks who like a little zip to their drink. It terms of power,it splits the difference between the other two grog recipes.

FYI,the rum ration was ended by the Royal Navy on 31 July,1970(called Black Tot Day) due to concerns that consuming high proof spirits was not compatible with the complicated machinery and electronic systems on modern vessels. So now the poor squids have to drink beer. Yet one more reason why I was Air Force instead of Navy.

[justslowdown]

Some tips on eating as a poor person that aren't "live on dry beans and rice that take time and effort to make"

Food Pantries Exist For YOU!! I don't need one anymore but am so thankful for them. You may hesitate to go to them bc you don't think you need it as badly as others... but from someone who spent years with their dad going to several, the food is there and they want to help. It isn't embarrassing; the people who volunteer are doing it for a reason, and ime treat you as a shopper, not a charity case. There are sites to find food banks. If you go to one, they usually have pamphlets for all the ones in the area. We never had to prove income or anything like that. They want to help, I promise.

If there's a local farmer's market, check to see if they have a subsidy program for people on food stamps. Another thing my dad and I used. At two separate markets 5 hrs apart, both had a program where you could DOUBLE your food stamp money in farmer's market coupons. Healthy, fresh, local, ethically raised food for less than the grocery store

If you go to a store more than once in a blue moon get the discount/membership/whatever card. It's usually super easy and almost always saves you a LOT of money

When in a supermarket, look at price per ounce if comparing items. Do not look at total price vs visual package size. Companies are experts at packing less and less food into larger packages. Grocery stores with a price per oz on the tags are so so helpful, but if they don't, sometimes it honestly makes a difference to use your phone calculator

CHECK IF YOU HAVE AN ALDI IN YOUR AREA. They sell actual seriously good, usually healthy food way cheaper than crappy stuff at other stores. This is for a lot of reasons I won't get into. But, it's also just a more ethical system for their workers, who make well above minimum wage. Aldi is Life. Tip: if you don't have reusable bags, keep an eye out for empty boxes as you shop. They don't bag anything for you.

BIG LOTS or other similar clearance/discount stores. They get an ever-changing stock of things at deep discounts. Lots of nice luxury and/or healthy groceries at half price as well as your normal staples. Also my go-to for home items and pet supplies

Shop Sales. This one is obvious to some but others just aren't in the habit. I almost exclusively buy things on sales where I save at least 1/3, usually 1/2. You can have a fully stocked pantry and freezer and spend half as much as if you only buy things when you want to eat that particular thing. It does mean less fresh food, but y'know. Just develop a laser eye for a sale tag and know where the clearance section is. Second nature to people who grew up poor but I was amazed shopping with college friends who bought full price name brand food and had trouble paying rent

I haven't done this but my brother swears by it. He went in with a few friends on a communal Costco membership. Could also do this with Sam's Club. They shop together, and then split bulk items if there's a great deal on something one person couldn't eat on their own. Bulk is the way to go if you can find a way to have the up-front cash. Impossible for many which is why the communal thing is so genius!

If this helps even one person it was worth writing out! I've realized last year, I learned a Lot growing up under the poverty line. It doesn't just appear in your brain when you're 22 and can't pay your bills for the first time.

Please feel free to add other tips if you have them. Just don't shame people for eating what they choose to eat like those "vegan dollar cookbooks" or whatever.

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

I don't even understand why just Ironwood was depicted as being evil in the council. Do the writers know that the reason the world is so fucked up is because there are multiple people in power who are awful and against the rights of marginalized people? Do they not realize that even if all of our authorities at the moment were good people, oppressive systems will still exist and getting rid of one bad person who takes advantage of them is not going to fix those systems? And why are there only five people on the council anyway? What do they do? Why is this dictatorship government so damn small? Why couldn't the plot be about the main characters ACTUALLY helping mantle because the vast majority of those in power are refusing to? It would have been so easy! Just think:

(long ass rewrite warning)

Jaques is already on the council by the time the main characters get there, and he's the main villain of the volume. His goal is to get rid of Ironwood because he already doesn't like him and he wants to get revenge for Ironwood cutting off his money supply and stealing his daughter. Watts is working with him, helping Jaques achieve his goals by stealing information to help make Ironwood look bad to the council, but he also wants to get rid of Ironwood because Ironwood is the only person who is capable of helping to defeat Salem.

The lead characters get split up into a few different plots. Blake discovers that the tensions between the Faunus and Humans in Mantle are extremely high due to Jaques monopolizing more businesses in response to the Embargo and causing a job shortage. She spends most of her time trying to peacefully work things out with them, trying to make sure that she's stopping Faunus subjugation in a non violent way that can create a better future for both faunus and humans.

Yang will spend her time with Penny and Pietro, learning about prosthetics and deal with some of the lingering trauma which Pietro, a man who works with amputees daily as a profession, will give her some clinical advice and also hint at an Ironwood backstory.

Weiss will decide to help take down her father and try to learn more about what he's doing in an attempt to stop him. She will meet May Marigold, who is still with her family, but using her position as an atlas elite to allow the happy Huntresses to steal dust and money from the rich and give these supplies to the poor down in mantel. (In this version of the story, Robyn Hill will be more like Eda Clawthorn from TOH) seeing someone in a high position using her position to help the poor, Weiss is inspired to try to fit back in with her family, going under cover to get to the bottom of Jaques's scheme (and also allowing her to see her mother and brother in a new light and reconnect with them without forgiving her mother immediately and treating her brother worse than her father treated her)

And finally, Ruby, Oscar, and Qrow will be with Ironwood. He will primarily want to speak with them because he views them as the most important in regards to the war. Seeing as how Oscar is Ozpin, Qrow is part of the original inner circle, and Ruby has silver eyes, which he believes will be important in his plan to defeat Salem. They will interact with Ironwood the most, and have a bunch of meetings both with him and without him to discuss their feelings on the situation.

I'm going to keep Ruby lying to Ironwood. I will have her hypocrisy be known, or have her be the only character that really understood why Oz would lie and is having a semi corruption arc because main characters should be allowed to make mistakes. I would even say that she doesn't actually lie about the lamp, but she doesn't tell him about Salem's immortality. The others call her out on lying by omission, but she explains her reasoning is because she recognizes that Ironwood's plan is being created under the impression that he thinks that Salem can be killed and she's afraid that if he knew the truth, he would stop working on the plan and then they won't be able to unite humanity anymore. (I don't mind Ruby making a mistake and lying to her ally, what I mind is that the show doesn't seem to realize she made a mistake and she never has a good reason for doing it)

The reason I want to keep her lying about the Lamp is because I think that Salem should be able to manipulate Ironwood into thinking that Team RWBY is actually against him and working for her. That way Salem will still be the big bad who is turning humanity against each other, and Team RWBY is right, but in a bad situation due to their own mistakes making them less trustworthy, and Ironwood isn't evil, just being manipulated by the main bad guy.

And then Vol 8 will have Team RWBY trying to fight Grimm hordes while avoiding atlas soldiers who think they're traitors, and trying to get through to Ironwood and get him back on their side while Ruby does whatever it takes to make up for her mistake.

Boom.

(couldn't think of what JNR should be doing because I don't care)

Hey anon!! It's very lazy and careless of CRWBY to insist that ONE person is responsible for all of Atlas's problems and the peoples suffering. Life never works that way. It is caused by an overall failure of many people failing to stop corruption and one good person cannot magically fix that. Star Wars TCW handles an arc like this a million percent better with Satine discovering corruption after corruption within Mandalore making things worse for the citizens and it becomes very difficult for her to know who to trust. We could have had something similar with James, have him not sure if he can trust the council and needing the Ace Ops and Winter and Penny as the only people he can trust because he doesn't know who Jacques owns vs who is just in general a terrible person vs who is trustworthy and really wants to make things better.

As for your ideas I really like them a lot! Actually give some fucking character development to the mains! I am not crazy about Blake's arc with the Faunus but CRWBY has handled it so poorly I am not sure how to better handle it but outside of that everything sounds really good!

I agree Ruby lying isn't necessarily a bad thing, the show just needs to acknowledge that Ruby did in fact make a mistake in lying. It is okay for a character to make mistakes and screw up and have a need to learn and grow. It actually makes a character more relatable because it humanizes them and makes them feel alive.

Also YES PLEASE we need to see Salem being an actual threat and manipulating things from behind the scenes. Make her someone dangerous and an actual threat because the show as is has only done things to make her less threatening. We should also be making Ruby actually be the light of Remnant who will unite everyone and what better place to start then the person she betrayed and caused a massive divide between them. Their was just so much missing in volumes 7 and 8 and so much that was mishandled and not used well. I like a lot of volume 7 but their were still major flaws within the script.

It's sad how easy it would be to fix so many problems but CRWBY just.....didn't.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Thoughts on the Buffy book "Paleo": I enjoyed it. More than I thought I was going to at first.

My issue at the get-go, was I sort of thought we had too many PoV sections from the two new characters (who were only going to be in this book), so much so that I thought it was even taking away from the Scoobies. But then half-way through, we don't really get any PoVs from them anymore, so maybe it all evens out in the end. I maybe might have tried to distribute all the PoVs more evenly, though (but that might have been hard for a certain reason). And I do understand why the author needed the newbies to set things up, and wanted us to at least care about Kevin somewhat from the get-go. So it probably was no easy thing here.

This book is basically Jurassic Park. Daniel and Kevin resurrect four dinosaurs. One dino that I forget the name of, and then three Tyrannosaurus rexes. And the moment the dinosaurs showed up, I couldn't put this book down.

And back to the Jurassic Park comparison: this novel did a good job of definitely making you feel fear and dread when Buffy and the Scoobies were trying to find any of the T-rexes to fight them. And you also felt awful for the people who ended up getting chomped on. And once again, Buffy gets more trauma added to her belt in seeing these people get eaten, poor girl.

So, the main characters in this book are actually Buffy and Oz, which surprised me... I don't think that's ever happened in anything, ever. But I really appreciated it. I also really adored getting to see the two of them getting to spend more time together, and interact one-on-one, and again I wish we saw more of that in the show.

But one of the main plots of this book is being leery of who your mentors are, as Kevin's mentor, Daniel, is definitely not a shining beacon here (it's his idea to try and bring the dinos back), and it ends up getting Kevin killed (them both killed, actually). Which is sad, because I definitely don't think Kevin fully deserved that. But alas). And in this story, this manager is looking to sign the Dingoes, but Oz has to learn to be uncertain of her, as well, because she definitely is hiding some shady things and isn't everything she was cracked up to be, either. (And shout-out to Willow for being the first person to kind of see through her, in being concerned for Oz. And then shout-out to Angel, for digging up the dirt on her--after Buffy suggested he look into her--and for standing beside Oz when he shut her down.)

Also, Oz is definitely the MVP of this book, for coming up with the solution to killing the third T-rex--as he and Buffy fight it together--is to lead it to the swimming pool in Sunnydale High and to drown it, which is definitely the easiest kill they have with these things by far.

Angel actually wasn't in this book as much as he is in some of the other ones (Cordelia wasn't really in it at all, sadly. As a whole, this novels was lacking some of the PoVs that it usually has). But that scene at the end, where Angel was kept out of the loop for a lot of things most of the story, and then walks into the climax and gets the 411 from Willow... and just his lines and reaction to things is really, really funny. As is his having to keep knocking Giles out, unfortunately (as Giles is possessed by the same demon that influenced Daniel and Kevin were, and will try to bring back more dinosaurs himself, if he doesn't).

It's also nice character development(?) that we get a PoV from Giles during said possession, as he's trying to fight it, wondering if that is what Angel feels like all the time.

Anyway...